Hollow Mask

Chapters

01 - The Librarian
02 - Dark Relativity
03 - Disturbance
04 - Shotgun
05 - Ashes to Ashes
06 - The Pink Bang (Interlude)
07 - Swords and Bullets
08 - Down the Rabbit Hole...
09 - ...and through the Looking-Glass
10 - Insane Predator
11 - Wrong Job (Interlude)
12 - Murphy
13 - High Seas
14 - Meet your fate
15 - Back Home
16 - Department 198/B
17 - Spaceship
18 - The Next Morning
19 - Tranquility
20 - Lich

01 - The Librarian

Twilight stirred in her bed. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling which was hidden by darkness. The darkness filling the room was uncanny. Different than normal. It was like it was moving, looking at her, judging her, reaching out for her. She cast a spell to light the room but it failed. Twilight's mind filled with panic. 'This is just a nightmare,' she reassured herself. That mental statement did nothing to calm her down.

"I assure you, it is not a nightmare," a female voice said, "However, I must say I don't like this darkness either."

Twilight saw a tall figure move in her bedroom. It stepped over Spike's bed with its two feet and now stood at the foot ending of her bed. The figure moved it's long arms and the darkness fled the room. It was now just dark in a normal sense. Twilight cast a spell instantly and looked at the strange creature as the light crystals glowed dimly.

Twilight could see it was female. She was bipedal, her skin was of a pale pink shade and she was only slightly smaller than Celestia. She wore black pants and jacket. The jacket was open and revealed a buttoned up white, long-sleeved shirt. Her feet were covered by black shoes. Her body was flat without much curves. Looking at her face, Twilight noticed that she was slim and her skin was slightly pale like a plant that needed more sunlight. Her hairs were blonde and combed into a style that reminded Twilight of her own. Large glasses in thin golden frames sat on a small nose. Her blue eyes looked at Twilight, absorbing her as much as Twilight was her. The figure smiled, revealing white and sharp teeth. Her right arm clamped a clipboard to her and in her left breast pocket was a small blue book.

"Are you done looking at me?" the figure asked, "We have things to discuss and Celestia will not wait forever to raise her sun."

Twilight hesitated. She was not used to some random creature appearing in her room and the talking to her like nothing happened. She took a few deep breaths while the creature waited patiently. "What and who are you?" she croaked out.

The smile of the strange creature dropped, "Hmm. I can't give you the full answer you want. I have no real name yet. You can call me the Librarian. That name about fits my job. For what I am, the answer is more complicated."

Twilight frowned, "How complicated?"

"Very complicated," said the Librarian in her soft and quiet voice, "For all intents and purposes I am a human. If you want the slightly longer answer, I have choosen this form not long ago and I quite like it. I designed my hair after yours." The human smiled slightly at Twilight shortly and returned to a more neutral expression. Her voice reminded Twilight of Fluttershy. "Yes. She had a bit of influence in the final pitch and my choice of words. I like her quiet style. Though the basis came from someone other. Fluttershy's kind voice has a more brutal impact on others," she quipped.

"You can read my mind?" asked Twilight bewildered.

"No," the Librarian frowned, "not fully. I can read out some memories or ideas if they are very strong or emotional. I would like to get to business now." She pulled out a pen with her left hand and hold the clipboard with her right. The strange appendage gave Twilight a uncanny feeling. She watched as tendoms and muscles shifted under the pale skin. Hunter had described humans to her. The pegasus mare had told her many unbelievable and strange things the day before.

The Librarian smiled again, "I know her very well, Twilight. She is part of what we have to talk about.

"First, I will give you a short briefing about Hunter and some things surrounding her. Then I will ask you some questions. My... Well... Let's call him my employer... My employer is concerned about the future of Equestria. Part of that is the reason he made me the way I am. Never met him in person, so don't ask. Even his gender is a guess. Sooo.... Shall we begin?"

Twilight stared shortly at the female human before she sat up and got in a more comfortable talking position, "Yes. You seem friendly enough. I'm very interested but also brutally tired."

A cup of coffee appeared on the bed, which Twilight quickly levitated with her magic and took a sip, "Perfect. This is the best coffee I ever had. It is a bit strong but thanks. I didn't know humans had magic too. From what Hunter said I gathered they didn't have it."

"I like my coffe a bit stronger but I already had my share on my way here. By the way, normal humans don't have magic but rules don't quite apply to me," the Librarian smiled, "Sooo... Briefing. Some of the informations you will receive are confidential. I must ask you to remain silent about anything we talk about tonight. You can Hunter that we met but that's it. My employer will not be happy if you spoiled any of what we will talk about. Trust me, you will not like the consequences.

"As you know Hunter was not a pegasus all the time. Not long ago she used to look like me, like a human, except 'she' was male. She doesn't show it, but it was quite a shock to find out. Hmm.. Tangents. She was brought to Equestria for a reason. My employer has the impression that you will not be able to deal with some of the... hmm.. problems that you will encounter. Hunter was one of many candidates to be sent here. He was the one with most potential and was transformed and sent here. Her memory about the transformation was wiped.

"Considering she sleeps on your couch I would say you took her in quite well despite the early troubles. She has told you a bit of her knowledge on physics if I remember correctly. I must say your face was priceless when she dropped the bomb about spacetime."

"I don't see her potential," interrupted Twilight, "How can somepony be a hero, if she is about as empathic as a rock. I mean, look at what she has done at Fluttershy's cottage. She scared her to death and then she didn't even react to the stare. Personally I think she has been abused mentally."

The Librarian sighed, "You could say that. Her mental condition is not... hmmm... great. Her mind has been partly damaged when she was still human. The time will come when the damage will be repaired but now you need her this way. Not everypony or everyone can stare into the abyss and let the abyss stare back like her. You will see what I mean.

"Now. Where were we? Hmmm... Oh. Well I think with your questions everything is said for the briefing. I will now ask some question and then we will be finished." The Librarian looked down on her clipboard and scribbled a few things on them, a chair appeared and she sat down, "Full name? Parents?"

Twilight hesitated shortly, "Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Velvet. Night Light. Why you need to know that?"

"Paperwork. Just answer the questions please. Current job or occupation?"

"Librarian of the Golden Oak Libary. Princess of something," quipped Twilight.

"The princess part will become clear soon. How would you describe your relationship with Lyra Heartstrings?"

"Your questions are very strange. I know her. She is very friendly."

The Librarian scribbled for a minute on her clipboard, "hmm... Good. How is your cooking?"

"What? Errr... Well not very good."

"On a scale of 1 to 10?"

"-2!?"

The Librarian cracked a smile, "Hmmmm... I told you I can fell strong memories. I must say that is a very crude way to try to assassinate a princess. I'll check the minus 6. Very good. Now. When did you eat your last muffin?"

"Hey! It was a total accident! Those noodles were poisoned from the start!"

"Sorry. Nothing personal. Just answer please. When did you eat your last muffin?"

"Errrrr... About two days ago, I think."

"Take a few moments and try to describe Hunter's mental condition to me. In note form please."

"Hmm... Slightly schizophrenic. Not very empathic. Socially awkward. about Twilight Level. Hehe. Errrr... Confused. Has retrograde amnesia. Should seek professional help but refuses to do so. Seems to enjoy brutality, though not towards the inhabitants of this world."

"Okay. Thanks. That about matches what I have here. How would you describe your relationship with her?"

The lavender alicorn thought about that question for a few minutes, "Interested. In a not romantic way. She is brilliant but gives me a uncanny feeling everytime I look her in the eyes."

"Hmmm... To be expected. She had quite a few problems back home as I said. Is she able to fly yet?"

"No. She can't even move her wings yet."

The librarian frowned, "Hmmm... Not good. Has she talked to you about 'the things in the dark' yet?"

Twilight was confused by this question, "No. What do you mean 'the things in the dark'? Is it something important?"

"No. Not yet. You can ask her if you want. Did she have or mention any flashblacks?"

"No."

"Very good. Very very good. Did she mention any sort of excessive pain in her abdomen or head?"

"No. Not that I know of it."

The Librarian looked down on her clipboard, her face showed relief, "Okay. On a scale from 1 to 10 how good is she at walking, trotting and galopping? Please state three numbers."

"Walking would be a solid 7. Trotting is still a bit sloppy. I'd say 4. The last time she tried to galopp she fell on her face in the first meter. A 'good' solid 1."

"Good. Good. On a scale from 1 to 10 how good is your flying, Twilight?"

Twilight responded with a sheepish grin and "about 2 and a half".

"Good good. That would be about it. I will come back and ask more questions in the future. I don't know when. Until then I will observe you, Twilight. I assure you, Hunter's health and safety is my highest concern. I value her life like my own. If you let anything happen to her I will come back. Trust me, you don't want me to see me unhappy."

"Can I ask you a question please?" whispered Twilight.

"You just did. But yes, ask what troubles your mind," replied the Librarian.

"Is this a dream?"

With that, the Librarian stood up and the chair she had sat on vanished. She tucked her clipboard back between her right arm and her chest and secured the pen somewhere in her jacket. She briefly smiled at Twilight, "It is a dream but why should that mean it is not real? Don't worry. Protect her for the time being. It will pay off for you. It was a pleasure talking with you." She merged with the shadows that seeped back in the room and was gone.

A pressure lifted of Twilight's mind. She wondered why she had submitted to her so fast and answered to her questions without any real hesitation. She barely knew her. And how can something be a dream and at the same time be real? She shrugged to nobody in particular and woke up.

02 - Dark Relativity

Twilight moved silently down the stairs. She stopped as the strange pegasus mare shifted into view. She had a bright cyan fur and dirt-brown mane. The only thing missing was a cutie mark.

She looked peaceful lying on the couch, just breathing slowly. Twilight thought about the day before. This pegasus had appeared from nowhere. She scared Fluttershy to the point that she had used the stare on her. As Fluttershy had reported she had just stood there and completely ignored the stare itself. She had mocked her and then just walked away like it was nothing. Twilight had found Fluttershy crying later the day.

When she had reached town she immediately crashed into Twilight. The pegasus had stared at Twilight in what looked like confusion before she blurted out an equation. An equation that had solved the problem that Twilight had worked on for over a month. She told Twilight that her name was 'Hunter' and fell unconscious. A rather strange name for a mare. After she woke up she had explained the equation to her and a few other things the alicorn still didn't believe.

Twilight proceeded to walk down the stairs and closed in on the couch. The breathing of the pony was the only sign that she was sleeping and not dead. Without any warning her eyes shot open and focused on her. Without moving her head, Hunter studied her intensely before she spoke up, "I see you are awake too."

"Yes. Care for breakfast?" Twilight asked. She moved back towards stairs to wake up Spike.

The pegasus got up quickly considering the fact that she was still learning to walk. Her eyes quickly scanned the room before she moved towards the kitchen. "I will help him," she determined, "Do you still have any questions?" There was little emotion in her voice.

Twilight stopped shortly on her way up, "Later. You should eat first. You need the energy."

"Maybe," the short response came back. Twilight vanished into her bedroom and walked over to Spike's bed. She looked at the sleeping dragon baby before she woke him up, "Spike!"

After a few seconds the small dragon slurred back, "What is it, Twi?"

"Can you make breakfast?" suggested the alicorn.

"No."

"Good. Then I will cook and you have to eat it," threatened Twilight.

The dragon shot up instantly and yelled, "NOO! I will do it!" He stormed through the door and down the stairs. The lavender alicorn snickered. There are perks to not being able to cook. That reminded her of something else.

The dream from last night shot up from the depths of her memory. What where 'the things in the dark'?

Spike had made pancakes. He had finished his sapphire pancakes a few minutes ago and was currently busy reshelving the library. Twilight rejoiced at the sensation her taste buds reported to her brain. On the opposite side of the table sat Hunter. She was very clumsy with the silverware. "Should I help you?" asked Twilight.

"There is no point in not trying to master my hooves," the pegasus replied, "You can ask your questions now."

Twilight was baffled for a few seconds before her brain shifted gears, "I don't think I understand that Space-Time thing fully yet. Can you explain it a bit better?"

The pegasus paused to try and eat his pancakes shortly, "You can think of it this way; Imagine everything moves in four dimensions. The fourth represents time. Your total speed is alway the speed of light. If you stop moving in the normal three dimensions you move with C through time. If you start moving in the normal three dimensions you have to slow down in time so the total speed does equal C. Time and Space are part of the same thing. The only thing you have to carry over is the causality of events. This is however are very rudimentary metapher."

Twilight stared at the strange pony for the good part of a minute, "This is going to give me a headache." She held her head in her hooves. For the past months she had worked on the problem why things can move. Equestrian scientists had discovered that no matter how fast you move, the speed of light is always the same. This had been a discussion for over a year now until this pegasus appeared and solved it in seconds. That thought reminded her of her dream tonight. "What are the 'things in the dark'?" she asked suddenly.

For minutes the pegasus remained silent and scanned every visibly inch of her. "I will not ask how you know of my theory and I don't want you to explain it to me," he said, "but I will answer nonetheless. Before I begin I have to ask; Are you afraid of the dark? I mean the real dark, that lingers in the corners of your vision when you wake up in the middle of the night. When you walk down the stairs only to find the darkness around you moving as if it will consume you at any moment. Are you?"

Twilight thought back to her dream when she had thought she had woken up, "Yes."

"Why?"

Twilight wondered about this question until she discovered that she didn't know any answer, "I don't know. It's just scary"

"Exactly. A wise man once said; 'Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong. 'Cause it's not irrational.' It was part of a fictional story. Were I come from we don't know any other species yet. Well, except me for now. However I knew that it was partly true. We instinctively know that we are never alone in the dark. That something watches us sleeping. Not everybody, or everypony in our case, comes back out of the dark.

"I don't know what exists in the dark, it could be anything. Vashta Nerada. Nightmares. Windigos. Skinwalkers. In short: Monsters. You could also say, 'the things in the dark'. I am a very rational being but I still think this must be true. Especially now, that I know that this seems to expand to here."

"Windigos don't live in the dark. They are beings of ice and disharmony," stated Twilight.

The pegasus smirked, "Here maybe. Were I come from the tale is different. Eating the flesh of your own kind will transform one into a windigo. They are fast. Faster than you could believe. They will happily rip the flesh from your bones and devour it. Their hearts are made of ice. I think that is the point where your lore is correct. They are immortal and they will forever feel the hunger for more flesh."

Twilight stared at Hunter in horror, "Why would anypony even think of something like this?"

"Exactly. Let me explain the other beings I mentioned.

"A skin walker is a human that rips the skin from others to assume their identity. Rather brutal. As long as they find a skin they can continue to survive. Nightmares are part of the lore of my people. The original would name would be 'Nachtmahr' which literaly translates to nightmare. They sit on your chest, induce nightmares and live of the pain the cause. It is believed they can also implant ideas and thoughts into their victims. Both are rather harmless compared to the last one.

"Vashta Nerada. If I remember correctly that means 'the shadows that eat flesh'. They are microorganisms. They live in dark woods. Have you every seen the little dust particles in the sunlight? That's them. They hunt in the dark. Sometimes ponies won't come back out of the dark. Am I right? As soon as they attach to you, you are lost. They never stop pursuing their victims. They are literaly the thing that lingers in the dark."

The pegasus paused shortly. "You don't look so good, Twilight," he determined.

The alicorn had become more and more pale as the pegasus continued with his story. The lavender fur had somehow shifted to a greyish white. "Is any of this true?" she whispered.

"That is the big question isn't it?" smirked the pegasus, "The truth is that all this is just a theory. But you have to ask yourself; why do people, or ponies, tell stories about those things? Why do people believe they are true? Why are we afraid of the dark? That is the big question, Miss Sparkle, and now I am in a world where I could finally find an answer it."

Hunter had finished her pancakes and slowly left the kitchen, leaving a disturbed lavender alicorn behind to think about what she just told her.

The pancakes had lost their taste to Twilight. She moved the plate away, stood up and followed Hunter out of the kitchen.

03 - Disturbance

"- So you say that matter and energy are the same?" asked a puzzled Twilight.

The cyan pegasus sighed and returned to the chalkboard. During this day she had learned to handle the chalk with her hooves. It was not easy but doable. Hunter scribbled a short equation on the board.

"Energy equals mass times lightspeed squared.... Are you sure that is right? This is a huge conversion factor," mumbled Twilight on her left side.

"Relativistic mass. I am sure. I would love to show you what we did with that. Can you think of any solution how I could share these images?" Hunter asked.

Twilight remained silent for the better part of a minute before she responded, "We could share dreams if I get Luna involved... I'll write her a letter later and ask when she could manage to join our dreams."

Instead of showing any sign of understandig the pegasus stared at Twilight. She didn't even blink. The little alicorn noticed that she was not staring at her, rather she was staring in the distance. Alarm bells went of in Twilight's head.

Slowly the wings of the pegasus expanded. She gave off a growling and her face showed pure anger. Her whole stance changed from peaceful to ready-to-kill. Twilight was reminded that she had been part predator in her former live. She made a mental note to investigate how many of her instincts carried over.

Hunter flapped her wings and within a heartbeat had reached the door, opened it and zipped outside. Twilight could see that she didn't even bother flying above Ponyville and instead flew right into the streets somehow dodging every single obstacle. The alicorn was stunned for a few seconds before she followed her.

"Hunter, what are you doing?" she yelled in the direction the pegasus had dissappeared. She traced the traces of his sudden ability to fly. It consisted mostly of ponies staring at where seconds before a pegasus had dashed past them, only inched between his wingtips and their face. The tracks ended right in front of Sugarcube Corner.

Hunter had crashed right into Pinkie Pie and tackled her on the ground. The pegasus looked like she was seconds from killing Pinkie. She screamed right in her face, "WHAT ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO HERE, PINKIE PIE? HOW DO I KNOW YOUR NAME YOU MONSTER?"

Pinkie herself was unfazed by the attack, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. Ponyville's Prismatic Pink Party Planer Extraordinaire! Wouldyouliketobemyfriend?Idon'tknowyousoyoumustbenewwhichmeansyoudidn'thaveawelcometoponyvillepartyyet." The words came faster out of Pinkie's mouth than Twilight could understand them. Pinkie let out a loud gasp, "Isohavetothrowyouaparty!"

Hunter had remained silent during the verbal counterattack but now she screamed at the pink pony again, "I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE PARTY! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE AND WHY I KNOW YOUR NAME!" With that last words the pegasus winced in invisible pain and fell over. Twilight spurted towards the strange behaving pegasus. She was unconscious.

"Pinkie, what happened?" asked Twilight the hyperactive mare.

She responded instantly as if she already knew that question would be asked, "I met her here. Why doesn't she want a party? I think she wants to be my friend. What is his name? I have to prepare the frosting. You remember the last time I made frosting. I used oranges for Zecora because I thought it would be funny..." She was silenced by Twilight hoof in her mouth.

The lavender bookworm sighed and began to levitate the unconscious pegasus, "I'm sure she wants a party but I don't think she is currently in the mood. Can you come with me to the libary? I want to know why she attacked you." With that she carefully removed her hoof from Pinkie's mouth, ready to jam it the moment Pinkie continued her bombardment.

The pink party planer remained silent and followed Twilight bouncingly back to the library. As Twilight looked to her right where the Hunter's body levitated. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the flank of the pegasus. The cutie mark showed a strange silhouette overlaid by a simplified arrow.

"You have to remain over there, Pinkie. I don't want you to close," commanded Twilight.

They had brought Hunter back successfully. She currently breathed peacefully on the couch where she had slept through the night. The appearance of her cutiemark puzzled Twilight. She could make any sense out of the little picture. The alicorn looked back to Pinkie Pie, "I still can't make any sense of it. I have no idea why she attacked you or how she learned to fly so good in the span of seconds.

Twilight almost jumped when she heard the pegasus talking behind her, "She is unnatural, Twilight."

"Stop doing that!" exlaimed Twilight. The pegasus had silently slid of the couch and stood firmly on her hooves. Her eyes were locked on Pinkie Pie and Pinkie stared back, though more because she thought the situation was somehow funny.

"I can feel it Twilight. She is unnatural. She can bend reality. We have to get rid of her!" the pegasus whispered in her direction.

Twilight gave him an angry look, "No. She is my friend. I know that she sometimes does things that seem impossible but she is not dangerous. If you even dare to touch her I will personally banish you to the moon."

Hunter's eyes became slits still focused on Pinkie Pie. She then looked straight at Twilight, the angry look in her face vanished, "Okay. But I still don't trust her." She looked out of the window for a second and gave Twilight a questioning look, "How long have I been out? It's already snowing outside."

"Three hours. It's strange, I know. The moment we entered the library it started to snow. Rainbow and the rest of the weather team should be really busy clearing up, they should have managed it by now. I wondered what keeps them busy... But for now we are snowed in... In the middle of summer," explained Twilight. "And Pinkie has nothing to do with it," she added when she saw her looks.

While Twilight held her little speech Hunter had moved up to the windows, "Twilight, did you notice something weird out there?"

Twilight was confused for a second, "No. Why do you ask?"

"Has this Rainbow personally told you that they are clearing up?"

"No. What's up?"

"If it is really snowing, why does nobody wear winter clothing?" asked Hunter.

Twilight rushed to the little window and looked outside. The strange pony was right. Not a single piece of winter clothing. She see ponies moving through the deep snow like it was nothing.

"I can feel the illusion. Have you tried to get outside?"

The lavender alicorn shook her head and moved over to the door. She tried to open it with her magic and her hooves. The door didn't even move the tiniest fraction of an inch. Out of frustration bucked the door as hard as she could. When she looked over her back the door didn't show any sign that it was ever hit.

"Thought so. Something is in this library and it doesn't want us to leave," Hunter determined.

"You mean, one of the 'things in the dark'?" whispered Twilight.

"No," the pegasus mumbled, "This spirit is one of rage and anger. Keep your eyes open, it will try to kill us."

Twilight and Pinkie looked shocked at the pegasus. Pinkie was the first to speak again, "You mean there is some meanie thing that doesn't like us and it wants my sweet mane?"

"Not only the mane. This one wants your flesh and soul. Integrate it into itself."

"How do you know that?" asked Twilight.

"Just a feeling," the pegasus answered, "Maybe it has to do with my cutie mark."

Twilight shortly wondered when she exactly noticed it and how she could remain so calm about it. Then she remembered that this mare was weird in thousand different ways. Hunter being Hunter. Pinkie being Pinkie.

Hunter's ears perked up. They had been searching the library for books that could help. He moved over to Twilight and Pinkie who were currently busy in the 'Fiction and Tales'-section, "Something changed."

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight. Pinkie had been silent since they discovered they could not leave. Her hair was slightly deflated and her fur looked more grey than pink.

Hunter walked towards the broom closet, "This." He opened the closet and something fell out. It's upper end consisted of two barrels that were joined together. On the lower end was a short piece of wood and pieces of a strange mechanic. Without hesitation Hunter picked up the strange thing and inspected it.

"What is it?" asked Twilight curiously.

"Shotgun. Double barreled. Winchester 1866. Looks exactly like in the game," came the cryptic response. Hunter cracked open the barrel and looked at two golden plates, "Loaded. Iron shrapnels. Deadly at a distance below 4 meters."

Twilight's ears folded on her head, "What?!"

"The spirit doesn't want to kill us. It provides us the tools to kill ourselves," explained Hunter and pulled out a small sack from the closet, "This one is for me. It even provided spare ammo. About 20 shots."

The lavender alicorn got curious, "What does it do?"

Instead of a response the pegasus closed the gun again and aimed at the nearest wall without books. For Twilight it looked complicated to hold it but Hunter managed it. She moved her wing and pulled on a small pin on the wooden end of the weapon. A loud bang and a burst of smoke errupted from the barrels and the wall infront of it was pierced with dozen of little black and grey dots. "Dead," commented Hunter.

The two native mares looked in shock at the shrapnels that stuck to the wall. Twilight's mind produced a mental image of what would have happened if she stood at the wrong end of this weapon. Her face went pale.

All the while the pegasus calmly reloaded the weapon, "This spirit will try to convince you that the others are you worst enemies. It will provide you the weapons to get rid of us. Don't listen to it."

"What will happen if I do?" asked Pinkie.

The pegasus aimed the barrels directly at the pink pony with the barrel barely a centimeter from her muzzle, "This spirit will never let you go once it got hold off you. There is only one way out if it got inside you. I will not hesitate."

While he said that Pinkie Pie stared down the black tubes inside the barrel. Like for most living beings the sight of the wrong end of a weapon was angst-inducing. Hunter aimed the weapon to the ground again, "I will know when it happens. I can practicly feel his presence in this library. This won't end well Twilight." - she shortly paused - "I'm forgetting something. Something important. What is it?"

The cyan mare groaned, "This headache will kill me. I still don't know how I know Pinkie Pie here. And how I know you Twilight. Something important."

Upstairs Spike was sleeping. He had finished reshelving the library a while ago and felt rather sleepy. In his dreams he was sitting at Donut Joe's. He had eaten multiple donuts and drunk four cups of hot chocolate at this point.

"How is my favourite customer doing today?" asked Donut Joe. He stood infront of Spike, the only visitor of the small cafe.

"I'm okay. Twilight has kept me awake the last months for her stupid problem and now it was all worthless because of this stupid mare," he sputtered, "Atleast she appreciates my pancakes."

Donut Joe leaned forward, "You know, this is all Twilight's fault if you ask me. She collided with this weirdo. And it was she, who commanded you to reshelve the library over and over again. She holds you back on Rarity."

"You are a wise stallion," muttered the dragon, "But I can't just straight up tell her that I don't like it being her assistant all the time, can I?"

"I think this is were you are incorrect. If you ask me, she should be corrected. She has been a bad mare and needs to be taught a lesson," said Joe.

"No. This is not the right way. I should discuss this with her."

"NO!" thundered a strangely altered voice through the cafe. For a second Donut Joe looked like he had been dead for months. His flesh was falling in big chunks from him. At some places his bones were clearly visible. Spike didn't notice.

Donut Joe returned to a normal look, "You have to correct her. While you were asleep she even invited that insane pink pony and brought the dark one. They have all to be corrected. They need to get their medicine. Correct these bitches. If you finish the job the manager has agreed that you will receive a reward. But you have those pieces of shit. THEY NEED TO BE CORRECTED SPIKE!" The last words were bellowed by Corpse Joe again.

Spike woke up. Anger flooded through him. These bitches need to be corrected, Joe was right. His claws firmly grapped the fire axe that laid in his arms. He would correct them. He would make the manager proud.

04 - Shotgun

"Spike," deadpanned Hunter, "We forgot Spike."

Twilight immediately ran towards the stairs only to be stopped by the wings of the pegasus, "He is already lost. I don't believe this spirit would waste a second fighting us."

"Doesn't matter! It's Spike!" exclaimed Twilight and ran up. Pinkie and Hunter followed her. When they reached the top Twilight froze. Instead of looking on the small second floor area they looked down a long lonely corridor. An old elevator had been build on the end of it. It's iron cage looked like an open mouth, ready to devour whoever was stupid enough to enter it.

"This spirit can alter reality in here. The library is it's domain now," determined Hunter. She observed Pinkie as she walked a short way in like a moth flies towards the light and opened a random door. The pink mare stared inside. The pegasus moved up and stood beside the party planer.

The room was filled to the brim with little white containers. Each had a little red warning sign with a black flame printed on it. Just behind the door was a little card on the floor. In big red letters that oozed down like blood was written: "For Pinkie. -Spike"

"What is this?" asked Pinkie, her voice shaking in fear.

"Gasoline. Enough to convert Ponyville into an ash pile. This is the weapon that was intended for you, Pinkie. I would say we close that door," said Hunter. She reached for the doorknob and carefully closed the door. Pinkie continued to stare at the specific door with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE BITCHES!" screamed a familiar voice down the hallway. Spike stood there holding a big red fire axe. His face consisted only of anger.

Twilight tried to calm Spike down, "Spike. Whatever happened, we can talk about it. You don't have to this." Her voice dropped towards the end.

"I don't think so. Because of you I never got together WITH RARITY. Because of you I had to reshelve this fucking library OVER AND OVER AGAIN! It is time that you take your medicine, you little bitch. And I will teach your friends a lesson too," the dragon exclaimed, "I will teach you how to..."

He was suddenly silenced by the blast of a shotgun. While he held his little speech, Hunter had gotten closer to him, close enough to blast his face with the gun. The shot left Spike's head as a bloody mess. Blood was spreading quickly from him and covered the floor from end to end. Without hesitation Hunter fired the shotgun again in Spike's face. She turned towards the other two mares who stood frozen on the floor, "RUN! That will not stop it!"

"Spike..." whispered Twilight. She looked absolutely terrified. Her gaze went from Spike's lifeless body to the pegasus that began running towards her, "How dare YOU! He was my friend!"

Hunter was stopped by a lavender glowing field of magic. She glared at the alicorn, "There is nothing left of him. He was dead before he even appeared in the hallway."

"We still could have saved him!" screamed Twilight. Besides her Pinkie began to cry.

The pegasus sighed, "We have no time. Believe me when I say that the spirit has ripped everything apart what you thought Spike once was. It killed him."

"HE WAS MY FRIEND!" Twilight was unable to do anything besides screaming at this point. Pinkie had curled up into a small ball by this point, short sobs emitting from her.

"Look. We have to get out of here, this thing will not stop hunting you two down. WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE. We have to hide in one of these rooms and find a way..."

It was now Hunter's point to be silenced. A big red fire axe was now stuck in the left side of her body. She looked down in a mix of curiosity and horror. Blood began streaming down on her left side. With a smacking sound the axe was pulled out again. Twilight wondered why the pegasus was still standing.

Spike appeared behind her left flank, his face still a bloody mess. The leftovers of his jaw moved in the crude attempt to speak. Despite his vocal cords and most of his mouth and jaw being obliterated by a shotgun blast his voice was clear. At the same time the mares heard the gurgling in his throat as air was pumped out from his lungs, "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

He swung the axe again, joining it with the lower part of Hunter's chest. There was no doubt her lungs and heart had been hit. When Spike removed the axe this time, the pegasus dropped almost dead to the ground. She managed to get one final word out, almost whispering by this point; "Run!" Her eyes closed and her breathing stopped.

Twilight and Pinkie looked up from the pegasus to Spike. He was admiring his gruesome piece of art for a few seconds before he redirected his attention to the two mares, "All work and no play makes Spike a dull boy... IT IS TIME TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE, TWILIGHT!"

Hunter felt the second hit in her chest. Coldness spread from the spot. Time slowed to a crawl when Spike pulled the axe out again. All her strength left her and she fell towards the ground. She couldn't feel the pain when her head smacked on the ground. With her last strength she whispered out one last word; "Run!" and died.

Darkness embraced and surrounded her. It was comforting. Warm. She heard a distant steady beeping in the background. Then she was yanked out of it.

She found herself infront of two swingdoors. Modern swingdoors, consisting mostly of glass that was completely opaque, with a thin metal frame on the outside. She extended her cyan arms and pushed the door open with her hand. She had still her pony colors but human features. Hunter moved slowly towards the doorstep and looked inside. A library. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

She was greeted by a clipboard that smacked right into her face.

"You moron! You weren't even there for TWO days and you already died," said a feminine voice on her right side. She couldn't do anything than be surprised and look stupid so the voice continued her rant. "Ohhh. She is the most promising candidate. But nooo, you are you moron. I doubt there had been a single candidate that was less incompetent than you. First you fuck up your name that has been carefully choosen and then you just die. You kind off deserve this, you know. I hope it was atleast a bit painful. Idiot."

The voice was obviously finished so Hunter gathered herself, "Where am I?"

The owner of the voice was not pleased, "Look around you. It's full of books. It's a library, you idiot."

Hunter looked to her side to finally see who was talking, "Who are you supposed to be? You look like a strange crossover consisting of Hermione Granger and Olivia Dunham."

The woman looked ready to smack her with the clipboard again, "It is not strange. I made it from your memories as a crossover from the two, you moron." She wore a black suit and had rather pale skin. The jacket was open and revealed the buttoned-up long-sleeved shirt underneath. She had her hair in styled as a perfect copy of Twilight, only that it was blonde. In her left breast pocket was a small blue notebook. She held her clipboard with her right hand while she pierced her through glasses with her blue eyes.

"Name?" asked Hunter.

The woman smiled slightly, "I currently have no name. The last time I showed myself I called myself the Librarian. Rather fitting don't you think?"

The dead girl scanned the Librarian from top to bottom, "I think that is a stupid name."

"Think of a better one," she deadpanned back.

"Olivia Granger," determined Hunter. The woman took her clipboard with both hands and smacked herself with it in the forehead. Hunter smiled satisfied, "Yep, that fits. Don't you think, Oliv?"

'Olivia' sighed, "I think I'm now stuck with this name, thank you very much. Now, we have to pull you back together. You are still dead."

"And how are you going to revive me after one of my lungs and my heart was pierced, not to mention the surely fatal bloodloss?"

"You still have energy left over from your arrival. We're are still within the 48 hour timeframe, so that isn't a problem," Olivia countered.

Hunter took a step back, "But?"

"It will hurt a bit."

05 - Ashes to Ashes

Twilight rested against the door. When Spike had attacked the pegasus it was all clear to her. Spike was gone. She let out a single sob. Her friend. She knew him since he had hatched from his little egg. Gone. Murdered by this monster that now used his body like someponies use a suit.

She looked around her. She was in a small white tiled bathroom. Pinkie laid where she had deposited her, as far away from the door as possible. The pink party pony hadn't spoken a single word since Hunter had died. Why hadn't she believed her? Why had she thought that somewhere in this monster there was still a piece of Spike left?

Her train of thought was interupted by a scratching sound outside. The Spike-thing was outside. She heard the axe being dragged over the floor. The sound stopped when it reached her door. She instinctively held her breath. Silence. Then the dragging started again. The monster moved on. Twilight let out the air she had held in a deep sigh.

Suddenly, with a loud crack, the head of a red axe stuck out of the door mere centimeters besides her neck. The Spike-thing laughed, "FOUND YOU!" Twilight raced on the other side of the room while the Spike-thing swung it's axe again and again at the door. Pinkie shrieked up and cowered behind the alicorn. Twilight's magic was now the only thing that held the door up. For a moment the Spike-thing pressed it's face in the hole in the door, "Here comes Spikey!"

Suddenly the face vanished followed by a quick cyan blur. A few seconds later Hunter's face appeared in the door, "I give you two seconds to get out of there and follow me!"

Twilight and Pinkie were stunned. "Wha... Y-You wer-were d-dea-dead," stuttered Twilight.

"I know. Now follow me! Getting bucked in the face by a pegasus doing nearly Mach 1 will stop it for a minute or two but now you have to FOLLOW ME!" Hunter exclaimed. His face vanished from the door. No longer being held by the magic of a now mentally idling alicorn, it fell flat on the floor.

The two mares in the bathroom stared at eachother before they stormed for the door. On the left, a few dozen meters into the corridor, Spike's lifeless body laid on the floor. It twitched and gurgled as the spirit tried to regain control. On the other end of the corridor stood Hunter. The decision was easy.

"Twilight. We have to split up again. It will go after me now. Save all the imporant things you really need. Get them outside, I cracked the door open. You have 5 minutes," yelled the pegasus as she lead them back to the living room. Once they had reached it, she ran back down the corridor leaving behind two confused mares.

Pinkie was the first to start moving again. In her usual Pinkie-speed she began moving the books from the fiction-section of the libary outside. Two seconds later Twilight helped her moving books, only that she took the non-fiction books and a few photos. Four minutes later the two mares had moved all books outside. Twilight had used her teleport ability and Pinkie was Pinkie. While they stood outside, waiting for Hunter, Twilight wondered about Pinkie's book selection, she herself had saved Daring Do and only a few other fiction books while Pinkie had gotten her hooves on more specific books, including a specific series about glittering vamponies, she herself never really liked.

On the outside of the library it was night. It was barely after midnight. A few ponies moved outside to see what the fuss was all about. By this point it had been a quiet and peaceful night. Twilight mentally noted that no sound had escaped the library while the monster had pursued them, else more ponies would have been outside.

A cyan blur, that was probably Hunter, dashed outside and stopped in an instant, only meters from the doorstep. She waited there. The Spike-thing appeared in it only half a minute later. The ponies, spare Pinkie and Twilight, outside gasped at the bloody sight of the dragon. His blood was dropping on the floor. What was left of his face after first being taken apart with a shotgun and then later bucked apart by a pegasus at near sonic speeds grinned. His broken jaw bones were clearly visible. They moved as he bellowed in the night, "YOU WILL COME BACK! NO ONE CAN ESCAPE ME! JACK TORRANCE NEVER DID! THE MANAGER WILL BE PROUD OF ME!"

Hunter remained calm and smiled, "Did you really forget it again? Do you never learn? Did you really forget the gift you made for Pinkie? Shotguns don't do well with gasoline, don't they? I must say it was hard attaching it to a egg timer."

Shock appeared on the leftovers of Spike's face. He ran back inside, "NO! CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN! CAN'T! NOT AGAIN! NO!"

Hunter turned around and grabbed the two mares. When they were about two dozen meters away, she stopped and let the two ponies stand on their own hooves again. Not a second later the library exploded in a big blooms of fire errupting out of it's windows. The flames shrunk down after the initial explosion but still remained. The library was burning like dry paper soaked in gasoline, which was partly true. Shortly, there was the image of something rotten and disgusting rising in the smoke and trying to fly off. Instead of drifting away to freedom, the smoke-like creature fell to the ground again where it scattered into thousands little pieces like burnt paper. The flames roared loudly, as they licked on the wood and leaves of the library.

Twilight was the first of Ponyville's residents to overcome her mental stupor. "What did you do?" she whispered.

"I took the containers from Pinkie's room and emptied them all over the place. Then I went to your kitchen and got one of the egg timer and attached it to the shotgun. Set it to 5 minutes. Believe me, burning down this place is the only option."

They stood there in silence. Only interupted by Hunter preventing fireponies and pegasi on stopping the fire. The deed was done when the sun started rising. Hunter walked over the ashes that were left over, at some places smoke still errupted from the smouldering woods. An hour later she declared the area safe.

Twilight entered what used to be the main area of the library. The ashes under her hooves made sounds like fresh, dry snow in the winter. Tears dropped from her face. She didn't even know where to start and search for Spike's leftovers. A part of her wanted to turn the whole area into a sixteen meter deep crater, just to be sure that this thing would never again possess anypony else.

Hunter moved up beside her, "Don't worry. It's gone this time. It will not come back." She laid a reassuring wing over the crying alicorn.

In a short bright flash Celestia appeared in the middle of the former living room. She was stunned by the looks of burned wood and furniture. After taking in the scene for a good minute she looked at Twilight, "I was alerted by a pegasi of Ponyville. What happened here? What happened to Spike?"

Twilight descended into sobbing and crying. Instead of her, Hunter answered, "Hello, 'Tia. Twilight is currently unavailable. Should I explain?"

The princess shifted her gaze slowly from Twilight to the cyan pegasus, raising an eyebrow at the rather impolite greeting, "Who are you? Are you responsible for this?"

"My name is Hunter, I ähhh... arrived here about one day and a half ago. If by 'responsible' you mean burning down the library here, I am guilty as charged but let me explain first, okay?"

Celestia stared at him for multiple seconds before she answered, "Let's move to a place where we won't have to see this mess. I hope for your own life that you had a good reason to do this." With that she teleported them in her throne room. She sat on her throne and looked down on Hunter and Twilight, "Now explain!"

"I should explain first who I am. I arrived in Equestria about two days ago in the morning. I'll spare you the long explanation. I was a alien creature before and was transformed into a pony. I don't know why, but there is apparently a reason behind it.

"Yesterday after breakfast some sort of instinct went off and I attacked that pink monster that you now as Pinkie Pie. She is alive, don't worry, Twilight assured me she would be peaceful, although I still don't like her. Meeting her overloaded my brain a bit. You see, I know your name, Twilight's name, Pinkie's name, I know the name of almost everypony I saw here even though I never met them. I should stop thinking about it to hard. Well, I fell unconscious and woke up in the library again.

"Something had possessed the library. A spirit that feeds on souls. It normally manipulates one into murdering their loved ones, though this time it was more interested into just possessing them and skipping the brainwashing part. In my world there is a good fictional book about this one. I was surprised to see it here. The only way to get rid of it is burning the place it inhabits, as far as I know. I used it's own weapons, that it created for us, against it."

The sun princess sat silently on her throne for two minutes, "What about Spike?"

"Once one gets possessed there is no way back. I shot him with a weapon from my world, which did kill him, but that didn't stop the spirit. It forced his body to continue it's mission. He burned with the library."

While Hunter spoke, Twilight had curled up into a fetal position, silently sobbing at her loss. Celestia returned to silence again. The pegasus sat down and waited calmly for any sort of reaction from the princess.

They silence was interrupted by the sound of shoes stepping on marble floor. Hunter turned around in surprise. The Librarian walked up to the throne calmly in slow steady steps. She stopped a short distance infront of the throne. "I'm surprised you are still alive," she quipped.

"And I am surprised you are here, Oliv," shot Hunter back.

The human sighed, "Uhhh, you had to say my new name, don't you? Anyways, I am here to get a final report."

"Who and what are you?" interjected Celestia. Twilight had gotten up from her furball position and stared at the human in disbelieve. Part of her wanted to know how she could even be here or if this was a dream.

"You know, Twilight asked the same question to me, only the 'who' and 'what' swapped. You can call me either 'The Librarian' or the stupid name Hunter here called me, 'Olivia Granger'. Call me Oliv if you want. For what I am I can't tell you yet. As I said to Twilight before, as much as it matters, I am a human. What Hunter used to be, only she was male. Now. Would you kindly not interrupt me again?"

"Okay. Sorry," agreed Celestia to Twilight's surprise. The princess of the sun shrunk in her throne in an attempt to be unnoticeable.

Olivia chuckled, "Would you kindly... Hehe. Now. Where was I? Right. The report. Hunter, I have a few questions for you." She readied her pen and clipboard, "Is the creature dead?"

Hunter hesitated shortly, "Yes. I burned the place and saw it die in the flames."

The Librarian wrote on her clipboard while mumbling to herself. "Death by incineration. Death confirmed. How many victims?"

"One."

"Name of the creature or origin?"

"The evil spirit from 'Shining'."

"Really?" Olivia deadpanned while noting down a few last words.

Hunter snickered, "Yes. It told me Jack Torrance never escaped so I take that as a strong hint."

"Good that will be all," said Olivia as she stuck her pen in her jacket and stuck the clipboard firmly between her chest and her right arm.

Hunter hesitated for a few seconds again before she could ask, "Who are you really? I mean, who are you to me?"

"I would like to know that too," interjected Celestia. Her interruption set the librarian off. She was over to her throne faster than anybody could look and smacked the princess with the clipboard right in the muzzle, "I said, don't interupt me again."

The princess, ruler of Equestria for the last thousands of years, who had seen civilizations rise and fall, who watched continents move and star formations change over time, was stunned. Her brain idled as it tried to process the fact that she had been smacked with a clipboard. On the muzzle. By some random creature she didn't even know. She decided it would be safer to just stare and do nothing until she had fully understood the situation or that creature was gone.

Olivia moved back to Hunter and Twilight, whose jaws had dropped to the ground. A wicked smile crossed her face, "You really want to know who I am to you, Hunter? Okay. I am very close to you. I mean very very VERY close. Want a taste? Yes? Do you remember holding the blade against your own throat? When you tried to decide if you should do it? 'Just slice across and the pain would end', that was your thought, right?" - Her eyes became little slits - "I know every. Single. Moment. Of your LIFE. I know you better than any other being in the universe could. My job is to protect you and report to my employer how good you do your job. Your job is to keep this world safe from the beings that others are unable to defeat. That's what your cutie mark means. A smile made of barbed wire crossed with a arrow. Find the unnatural and fight the evil. I hope your happy with that answer." With that she vanished into thin air.

The whole room was silent. Twilight looked carefully over to Hunter. Her face looked like every single drop of blood had vanished from it and displayed pure fear. The same fear Twilight had when the Spike-thing had used it's axe on the bathroom door but a few more zeroes on the exponent. She feared for her life and maybe even more. The pegasus reminded her of a picture of a hydra she once saw, cornered and deathly wounded. A predator that would at any moment break and start to attack, no matter the cost or the consequences, just to get out of it somehow.

Celestia coughed slightly, "Well, that was all kinds of weird. I say you two should go back to ponyville and find a place to stay. I think Hunter needs some assistance for now Twilight, she doesn't look so good." She rubbed her muzzle with her right hoof.

06 - The Pink Bang (Interlude)

Twilight entered the main living room of the Carousel Boutique. Rarity had voluteered to provide shelter until the library was rebuild, which would take atleast 6 months from now. The alicorn looked at the big stash of books resting against the wall. She had gotten the most important ones out atleast. She slowly walked over to the kitchen only to find the cyan pegasus, that called herself Hunter, taking cover behind a large round desk and peeking in the kitchen once in a while.

"What's going on?" asked the lavender princess.

Hunter deviated her gaze from the kitchen and whispered back, "Come here and take cover."

Curious what happened she followed and cowered besides Hunter and peeked over. In the kitchen stood Pinkie Pie with a rather bored smile on her face. Her pupiles where the size of dishes, atleast, and she seemed to slowly vibrate in the air, giving of a low humming sound.

"What's going on with Pinkie?" wondered Twilight.

Hunter looked over to her and answered, "You know, I was wondering if I could make some kind of wake-up-muffin. I took about 1 kilogram of coffee and managed to compress it into a single muffin." She shivered.

Realisation hit Twilight, "You don't say..."

"Yes. The pink monster came and ate it. There is enough coffeine to kill a normal pony. I'm partly curious what will happen," the pegasus explained.

Twilight dived behind her cover again, "What do you think, how much have we left?"

"I'd say about 20 seconds."

A shiver crawled down Twilight's spine, "And I still wanted to hear about human history. I even have sent the letter to Princess Luna. She would have done it tonight."

Hunter looked at her with an understanding smile, "If we survive this I will tell you as much as I can."

A loud pop echoed through the room. A few kilometers away a certain draconequus teleported himself into a parallel dimension and took cover in a nuclear bunker, just to be safe. Law's of physics began running around screaming and the number pi cowered into a corner, crying to itself while it rounded to exactly 3. Suddenly, everything became Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie. Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pinkie Pie Pinkie! Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Frosting. Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie Pinkie. Pinkie Pie laughter Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie.

Then everything became normal again. Carefully Hunter and Twilight peeked over the table into the kitchen. On the floor laid Pinkie, completely knocked out. Twilight sighed in relief, "Thank Celestia, that went well. Pinkie Promise me that you won't ever do that again, Hunter."

"Cross my heart, Hope to fly, Stick a cupcake to my eye," chanted Hunter while performing the associated motions while staring blankly into the little kitchen, "I will never do that again. Now if you excuse me, I have to try and reclaim the leftovers of my masculinity by blowing stuff up."

Hunter left, leaving behind a horrified and confused alicorn that wasn't quite sure what to do next, especially with the now snoring party mare. After few moments of solitude in the quiet shop, a letter appeared in front of her with a audible poof. It unfurled itself so she could read the words written on it.

My dear Twilight Sparkle,

NEVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN!

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Discord

07 - Swords and Bullets

"This is interesting," noted Hunter. She stood in a empty black plane, in front of her two alicorns, one lavender, one blue. Luna eyed him interested. Instead of looking like a pony, her mental self image was more like human. She looked like Celestia said the Librian had looked, only that her skin was cyan blue, her ears were on top of her head, definitely pony and she had a tail and wings. Upon entering the dream her first actions had been testing out her limbs with a mixture of excitement and curiosity.

"We don't have all night, Hunter," interrupted Twilight her inspection.

"Alright, alright. I will tell you as much as I can. I will not mention anything and may forget some important events or mix up some facts but I will try to stay as truthfully as I can," she explained. A big wall of text appeared in the plane.

The Incomplete, Mostly Incorrect and Slightly Censored History of Humanity

presented by Hunter

"Oh, wow," deadpanned Twilight.

The wall of text was replaced by a large map. It showed a bunch of countries and their respective borders. "Europa, around 1900 years after the beginning of our calendar. You will not know many names of these countries, though some might sound familiar. Most countries are ruled by some monarch or dictator. They all have contracts with each other, promising aid or assistance in form of troops in case of war. The the year is 1914. The archduke of Austria-Hungary visits Serbia in the summer. They get assassinated."

The image of a royal pair showed up, sitting in a wagon while several person approached through the crowd. One came close enough and used it's weapon to kill both.

"This action triggered a chain reaction. Fast forward two years. Most of all european countries are at war with each other. A war so large, that it encompasses the whole world. It ended it 1918. A total of 16 million casualties, from that 7 million were civilians. Later it was called the first World War. It was largely agreed that my country, germany, had lost the war."

She was interrupted by Luna, "You speak germane?"

Hunter blinked a few times before she answered, "Ja."

Luna let out an excited squeak, "Dann möchte ich vorerst nicht weiter stören, fahre mit deinem Vortrag fort." Twilight stared at the alicorn, she had not understood a word and was slightly surprised to hear the princess speaking something other than Equestrian. Luna noticed her look and explained, "Before Germaney was intergrated into Equestria, they were are flourishing country that I visited often. A country of poets and thinkers. Sadly their culture seems to have been lost in the last thousand years." She frowned slightly.

Hunter coughed sligthly, "You may not be so excited when you hear the next part.

"So. Next step. 1939. My country has been blamed for the war and forced to pay huge amounts of money. This led to the founding of a new political party, which told everyone that everything not german was evil. They took control of the government and started a new war. The most terrible war in human history. The second world war."

A new image appeared. It pictured a few pegasi and unicorns with weapons watching over earth ponies. The earth ponies were malnourished and some looked like they were sick. Twilight would never forget the look on their faces; they had lost all hope.

"People were inprisoned and killed for who their parents were or how they looked like. It was organized murder. The image I showed you is a rough equivalent of what that would look like here. What I showed was part of a concentration camp, peoples were killed daily there, sometimes only for the excitement of the guards."

"The rest of the world was again at war. Bigger than the first. Today we still don't know how many really died. Most assumed the numbers lie between 50 and 80 million. While the europeans were in their little fights the United States of America developed a new weapon."

The image changed again, for Twilight's relief, she didn't know how much longer she could have endured the torture it showed. The new image showed a large harbour town from a distance. Twilight noticed that it was not just an image but a moving picture. She watched birds fly across the screen and trees move in the wind.

"6th August, 1945. The year in which the war ended. The most powerful weapon to that point was released."

The image on the screen was replaced by a blinding light. Twilight looked away for a few seconds, eventhough she knew she couldn't be blinded in a dream. When she looked back she saw a cloud in mushroom shape rising from where the city once was. She watched as fire raced through the city, destroying more than two-thirds in the span of seconds. The screen went black not short after that.

"80.000 people dead in the blink of an eye. This was one of the smaller ones we built. Not long after that the war ended. The world was divided into two factions, that fought a cold war. It was a fight behind the scenes. During this time, one side managed to control the power of a sun. The Tsar Bomb, a bomb that fused hydrogen atoms together and released a huge amount of energy."

The screen now showed a large empty landscape. It was mostly empty, devoid of any plants. Twilight and Luna wondered what would happen here, before they heard an almost inaudible rumbling in the sky. The screen expanded and now Twilight and Luna stood with Hunter in the landscape. They could feel the cold wind blowing over their fur and singing it's quiet song in the empty area.

"A plane delivered the bomb, that contained about 50 megatons of TNT, which is our measurement of detonation power. It flew as high as possible and the bomb was attached to a parachute, so they could escape. They made it barely. We are currently 50 kilometer from the point where it will detonate."

They waited. For a long time nobody said anything as they stared in the same direction Hunter was looking. Twilight wanted to ask when it would happen but remained silent.

What felt like hours later the bomb detonated. All sound fell silent, like the calm before a storm, and a blinding dot of light appeared in the distance. It burned brighter than the sun above and was clearly visible for about two seconds. The light consumed everything the three could see. Twilight felt the heat traveling through the air, burning slightly on her fur. The light slowly dimmed as it was encompassed by a large mushroom-shaped cloud that slowly rose from the ground. It penetrated the cloud layer easily and grew and grew. The light had now finally faded away completely but the clouds still spread. The two alicorns could see a shockwave racing over the land towards them, burning everything in the empty landscape that was in it's way. Instinctively Twilight raised a hoof to protect her face but she knew that against such power, it was pointless. The shockwave burned over them but never really reached them. Minutes later the clouds finally rested to the ground and Twilight could see the sky again. She watched in awe at the still rising and expanding mushroom cloud. She had never seen such huge amounts of energy raging freely and destroying everything in its reach.

Their surroundings went black and the air, that had felt burning hot, cooled off. For the two alicorns it was almost as if they had been put in the freezer.

"After that not much happened. The cold war ended as one side could no longer support it with money and troops. We invented the computer, landed on the moon, invented the internet. A large network of computers all sharing information. You could upload and download almost anything. When I left, the world was at the edge of another war. I don't think there is a going back to my world, which is why I'd like to stay."

Hunter turned to the two stunned ponies and noted with a strange curiosity their shock and awe. They had seen in the abyss that was the human soul. She grinned. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar feminine voice.

"You should also not forget that you now have a Job, Hunter."

The two ponies and the half-pony turned to the source of the voice. The Librarian stood a few meters away, inspecting them with her cold blue eyes. "How did you get here and what do you want?" asked the pegasus.

"I have a new assignment for you. There is a... hmm... problem somewhere else and I wanted to tell you a few details. And if you really want to know how I did get here, there is an explanation that is short and easy. If you would know it, so much would be clear to you. I think I won't tell you."

Twilight heard a growling from her left side. She looked and saw Hunter with a sword. It was a long double-handed broadsword. It's blade was colored in a dull grey, like cast iron or lead. She now wore a light leather armor and focused only on the Librarian.

"Oh, really? You want to fight me?" asked Olivia while snickering, "Good, if you want."

"WAIT!" yelled Luna, "Give me a second!" Her horn glowed up and a few seconds later Discord appeared on her right.

"Luna, what is the matter?" asked the draconequus.

"You want to watch a dream-fight between two nemesis'?" queried the blue Alicorn to Twilight's astonishment.

Discord didn't answerd but instead summoned a large couch which all three sat on and two large boxes with popcorn. He immediately began crunching it down. Luna smiled slightly while Twilight frowned. The blue alicorn accompanied Discord in the act of munching popcorn.

The Librarian and Hunter looked at the three for a second before returning to their fight. Olivia summoned a small light and silvery shortsword but remained in her suit. The two combatants nodded at eachother before engaging in the fight. "I see mine is as long as yours," commented Hunter to which Olivia responded with a smile.

Their swords were moving at unimaginable speeds, transforming into grey and sliver blurs. Sparks were flying in every direction as the swords connected their blades over and over again. After a few seconds they slowed down and Twilight could observer their fighting style.

Olivia prefered a passive approach. She deflected Hunter's attacks and immediately searched for an opening in his defence. She choose no armor, so she could react faster in case Hunter managed to breach her defences.

Hunter on the other hoof was more aggressive. She used the weight of the weapon and her own to blow heavy strikes again and again to whittle down the defences of her opponent. She used lighter armor that was still mobile but provided slight protection against near-misses and weak blows.

The fight went on longer and longer but noone could claim victory. Hunter retreated, "I see we are equally matched." The sword disappeared. She summoned something that looked like two boxes put on top of eachother. The upper box was smaller and a long handle reached out from it. The front side of the lower box was angled back at almost 45 degrees and the top front was rounded. It was painted in grey and green colors. Hunter jumped in and the thing rumbled to live. It moved on large metallic chains that were hidden behind metal covers. The handle on top moved around to point straight at the librarian. A second later the air vibrated as the handle and the area were Olivia had stood exploded.

"Hey, that's unfair," scowled Olivia when she appeared a few meters beside the explosion crater. She created something that looked like what Hunter had created, only that it was slightly smaller and it's turret was round and flat to the front.

The two vehicles started circling eachother, firing bullet after bullet only to ricochet off their respective armor. After what felt like hours, Olivia managed to damage Hunter's box. The bullet wedged itself between the turret and the hull, blocking any further movement of the former. The same moment the now useless tank dissappeared. Hunter stood infront of Olivia's vehicle, both hands in the air, the left holding a little white flag.

Olivia appeared in the hatch to the turret and laughed, "Ha, can't beat me! Shall we talk business now?"

Hunter frowned, "I have to remind you that this will not be our last battle."

The Librarian snickered, "Yeah, yeah. Never give up, eh?" - her face returned to a more serious look - "I have a job for you, Hunter."

"I'm confused now. Luna, you said they would kill eachother," interrupted Discord. He laid in the couch, looking bored.

"Never said that, only told you they would battle. Although it could have been more epic, I agree," responded the blue alicorn, "I would say we end this experience here."

The dream collapsed into itself and Twilight woke up in her bed. She sprung up and raced from her guest room in Hunter's. When she entered, she saw the Librarian, waiting for Hunter to get fully awake.

"Now, tell me, what Job have you found for me?" asked the pegasus. She sat up and stared angrily at the human.

"Oh... it's out of this world," smirked Olivia, "Literally! And I have a nice present for you, too!"

08 - Down the Rabbit Hole...

It was night. Sunset Shimmer leaned against the statue infront of the CHS. She let out a short sigh. Things have been looking up for her. Her friends here at Canterlot High have been caring about her and she had learned many new things. Part of her was happy Twilight had left her behind, so she could discover the magic of friendship away from Equestria. Another part missed her home. Her real home. She let out another sigh.

The portal behind her suddenly lit up in a bright flash. Sunset jumped and took a few steps back. It wasn't supposed to open for over a year. She watched as a cyan-colored girl appeared in the portal frame. As she kneeled down, holding up on one hand and panting, her brown hair flowed over her. She wore a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, brown pants and a pair of sturdy looking black boots. On her back was a double-handed broadsword in it's sheath, which was strapped on her using three belts. The sword looked amazingly normal to Sunset, like the girl had took it out of a history museum.

The girl stood up, inspecting her hands and feets. Sunset noticed that she wasn't behaving like a pony finding herself in a human body. She wasn't trying out the new limbs, she was inspecting them. She moved all her fingers shortly, then continued to inspect her body, making sure everything was in place. Lastly she touched her ears, grinning slightly at the feel.

Sunset was still too baffled to speak when the girl noticed her. When she looked at her, she winced as if something had hit her on the head. "I need your clothes, your boots and your bicycle," she said with a wide smile. She had a raspy voice, reminding her of a mix of Rainbow and Pinkie Pie, that seemed out of place in the empty park in front of the school.

"Errr... who are you?" asked Sunset.

The girl came closer to her. She was a little smaller than Sunset. "Name's Hunter. Don't worry, Sunset, I won't take your stuff, was just a joke. I'm here because you have a problem," she claimed.

"Problem?" wondered Sunset.

"Does it look like I know? All I know, it will happen next month, that's all," Hunter answered. She looked around, "You have any place where I can stay, while I'm here?"

The former unicorn silently nodded. She was still a little confused by the girl, "What's that sword for? Who sent you?"

Hunter smiled again, "Did you think I come without any weapons to deal with the problem? Also it does this!" She pulled the sword from her back and in the same second she and her clothes transformed.

She now had wings and tail on her back and her ears transformed into those of a pony, additionally she now wore a light set of leathery armor. It looked heavy enough to deflect a swordstrike or maybe even a stray bullet. She swung the sword at unimaginable speeds, so fast that it transformed into a dull-grey blur. The sword was back in it's sheave before Sunset even fully processed the new clothing. As soon as her hand let the sword go, she returned to her normal attire and the pony-features vanished.

"I was sent by Twilight and another 'friend'. You could say, this is just a temporary assignment. I'm here to deal with something that will appear the next month. I can't say what it is but I can already feel it breaching through. Can't say where it is going to land, though. Feels weird without magic," Hunter explained, "Now, should we move on? It's rather cold and your place will certainly be warmer."

Sunset forgot the circumstances and laughed, "You haven't seen my apartment yet." She forgot her worries and let the strange girl follow her home.

Sunset walked down the street towards her apartment falling behind Hunter. She had observed the strange girl from the portal the whole way. Hunter was quite adept at walking on two feets and using her hands. She refused to take off her sword, even though it earned her a few curious glances from the few people walking the streets. Sunset cleared her throat, "I wondered, how are you this good at walking? It took me days to learn it properly."

Hunter smirked and looked back over her shoulders, "I had almost 20 years to learn it."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, "You mean you were a human before, got turned pony and now you are back?" She walked faster to catch up to her.

The cyan-colored girl laughed, "Not really. I'm not from here, but I was human." For a moment Sunset spotted a sad look on her face, but it was gone before she was sure.

As they walked past a dark alley the girl suddenly stopped and Sunset almost crashed into her. Hunter reached over her shoulder and touched the sword. This time only her pony ears appeared, the rest stayed hidden. The ears swiveled towards the alley and twitched, as if to catch a hidden sound. "Did you hear that?" she inquired.

Sunset looked in the alley but besides the feeling that she was being watched, there was nothing in it except a lonely and empty DeLorean blocking the alley further down. "No," she answered after a short pause. Hunter let go of the sword and hummed disapprovingly. She pierced the darkness with her eyes for a few more seconds before she looked back at Sunset.

"Must have been nothing. I believe you should lead the rest of the way," she determined.

Sunset shrugged and moved on towards the shady building that contained her apartment. If she were lucky today the heating would even be on. She didn't have a lot of money. Before Twilight had paid her visit Sunset had lived of money she had gouged out of others and what she could otherwise steal or acquire. Now she had to work on Sugarcube Corner and do various other jobs around town. The only thing that had been consistent after the Fall Formal incident was her apartment. It wasn't pretty but you could live in it. Sunset sighed.

Sunset unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped in. Hunter was right behind her. The hallway was only a few meters long and ended in a living-room-kitchen mixture. A small TV sat infront of a small couch. It was a small, warm and friendly little apartment, although it could use a bit of cleaning. Sunset dropped the keys on the kitchen table and watched as Hunter approached the little TV. It was a older CRT, parts of the plastic hull missing and replacement parts sticking out. It was cheap and it worked so Sunset didn't complain.

"Haven't seen a TV this old for a while," commented Hunter the outdated piece of technology. She crouched down and inspected the back, where most of the repairs hat taken place.

Sunset became angry at her guest, "It's not like I can go out and buy the newest technology anytime I want." The cyan girl looked over her shoulder to her in the kitchen.

"I like old stuff. It's sturdy," she determined, "and you can always make your own replacement parts." She stood up again and walked over to Sunset in the kitchen. She inspected the fridge and the various small compartments before she spoke again, "Should I try to make some food?"

Sunset considered the offer, "You know, I don't have much in form of edible food. If you want modly old bananas I cen help out though."

Hunter laughed out loud, "Let me inspect the fridge and your can reserves first. I'm quite good at cooking with leftovers." She walked over to the fridge and inspected its contents. She smiled and pulled out three eggs and a bottle of cooking oil and put them on the counter. The cyan girl searched through the small compartments until she found two cans of beans and some white toast. She smiled and put her treasures besides the eggs.

"Where are you frying pans?" she asked Sunset. She had watched Hunter assembling her supplies and wondered what she could make of it. "Below the stove," she answered. She didn't have a oven yet and relied on her microwave oven for such jobs.

Hunter pulled out on of the bigger pans and poured water in it. She switched the stove on and waited until the water was boiling. She put the toast in it and shoved it until it became a mush. She cracked the eggs and added them to the mix. At this time Sunset noticed the smell. It wasn't a pleasant one but made her hungry at the same time. Hunter used a spoon to move the yellowish-whitish mush in the pan. After a few minutes she looked satisfied and poured the beans in.

Sunset watched as the contents of the pan, that still smelled weird, assembled into a brown-white mush. It had about the consistency of old yoghurt. Hunter pulled out two soup plates and splitted the contents of the pan between the two. She took another spoon and gave it to Sunset. "Don't worry. It smells bad and it is certainly not a five-star-menu but it does its job. Add pepper if you want."

She proceeded to consume whatever she just made. Sunset hesitated shortly before she took a carefull bite or sip or whatever fit to this mess. To her surprise it tasted alright, almost like a taco, only a bit more... mushy. Certainly pepper was missing. She stood up and got it. After pouring a good amount into it she gave it to Hunter who did the same.

It tasted a lot better. After they finished their 'meal' they both sat down on the couch and Sunset switched on the TV. Both girls let out a satisfied sigh. "I always forget how substantial it is. You shouldn't eat anymore today if you want to live till tomorrow or want to get out of bed in the morning. Trust me," Hunter warned.

"I didn't plan on eating anything the next week," smirked Sunset, "On the other hand, I couldn't imagine eating this more than once a month, especially the smells."

"Yeah, you can make it yourself but be carefull. This will turn into puke-smell faster than you believe if you do it wrong," the cyan girl explained, "And if you eat it more than once every two weeks it tastes like shit. But it contains everything you need: bread, water, beans and pepper."

Sunset snickered and then yawned. This girl was certainly used to live of the remains in the fridge. She was sleeping before any more thoughts could form in her head.

Sunset awoke to the sizzling and smell of eggs in a frying pan. For a moment her mind hung onto the idea that she was back in Canterlot. That the whole human world had been just dream and she could now return to her old life.

But why was she in the kitchen? She was disappointed when she felt her fingers and toes. Just a pleasant thought. A new question rose in Sunset's mind. If she was in the human world in her apartment, who was cooking?

Adrenaline rushed through her and she shot up from her bed. She jumped off and wobbled a bit. She felt full and sluggish somehow. Carefully she moved into the kitchen to avoid greeting this new day by vomiting whatever she had eaten yesterday in the toilet or the sink.

In the kitchen stood Hunter. The cyan girl was frying two eggs in the pan. She had apparently heard the former unicorn enter the room as she turned around and smiled slightly at her.

"To greet you with the friendliest words of my people... moin!" she said and returned to finish the eggs.

Sunset's mind reeled in idle-mode for the better part of a minute, in which Hunter finished the eggs and offered them to her. Sunset didn't respond in any way so the cyan girl just put the plate on the counter in front of her and began eating herself. The jaw of the former unicorn eventually found it's way to it's correct position and she closed her mouth. She then shrugged, sat down herself and joined the strange girl in with her meal.

Hunter was the first to break the silence, "You have any plans for today? I might explore the city a bit and wouldn't say no to a bit of sight seeing."

"I planned to meet up with the girls on Sugarcube Corner. They wanted to start a band or something. I think they won't mind you sticking around."

Hunter nodded and took the now empty dishes to the sink. After they had finished washing the dishes Sunset went of in the bathroom. Not long after that Hunter heard the sound of the shower emitting through the door.

She walked over to the couch and grabbed the remote. Before she could switch on the TV someone knocked on the door. Hesistant she stood up and walked over to the door.

Without looking through the peephole she stopped before the door. "Pinkie, I know you are on the other side," she yelled through the door.

After a few seconds of silence the bubbly voice of Pinkie Pie came through it, "Hi, I wanted to talk with Sunset."

Hunter sighed and opened the door. She pierced Pinkie with her eyes but stepped aside to let her in. For a few seconds she had the impression that Pinkie's whole outfit had changed to something that would be considered too sad for a funeral and her hair was completely flat. The impression vanished and she shrugged it off as some part of her 'weird-sense'. "Sunset's in the shower but she might finish in a few minutes," she explained to the pink party planer.

"Hey,youarenewherearen'tyou?Areyougonestay?Areyou?IfyesIhavetothrowyoua..." Pinkie bubbled before Hunter stopped her with her hand.

"Yes, I will stay about a month. No, I don't want a party. And No, I don't want to be your friend," she sighed.

Pinkie looked sad for a second before she returned to her happy bubbly nature, "Nobody wants no friend. If you want I can be yours." She completed the sentence with a sound that reminded Hunter of a little rubber duck.

"No," deadpanned Hunter back, "You are just to weird. Nothing personal but you know..."

Her hair deflated a bit, "Yeah, I know but it won't stop me from trying."

Hunter sighed and resisted to plant her hand in her face. 'This will be a looong day,' she thought.

"Lyra, I will say it only once more. It's dinner time. Switch off that damn radio," yelled Bon Bon. She stood in the large doorframe, her arms crossed on her chest.

"Five more minutes. I swear. I just don't want to miss it," the mint-colored girl in question answered. She sat in front of a amateur-radio receiver. She had been sitting in front of it since lunch. She returned to her radio 'duty' and shut out the world. Lyra barely registered her roommate muttering something in her general direction as she left.

The transmission she heard in her headphones was simple. Numbers. Last month she had gotten her radio license and immediately started searching for hidden transmission of the government. Instead she found a single station transmitting numbers. Never stopping. Always at the same strength. She received at precisely 42 Mhz with a strength of 42 mW. No matter where she was. First she had believed it was an government station but who would sent nonsense? That was until 7 days ago, when she had found a pattern. It had repeated a few times now. Each time her amplifier exploded after receiving 30 digits. She had tried everything to prevent it but it was like it was cursed with magic or something.

She listened as it happened again; "Three - Sero - Five - Eight - Sero - Four - Sero - Eight - One - Five - One - Six - Two - Three - Four - Two - Sero - Four - Sero - Five - One - Two - One - Five - One - Eight - Sero - Five - Sero - One - One - Four - Two - Seven -"

She stopped listening when her amplifier exploded again. The parts where undamaged like always and it would work again in a few minutes. She looked down on her notes: "04|05|12|15|18|05|01|14|27" The first twelve numbers where always the same and she had stopped writing them down. The last ones changed. She was still decoding it but sure that they were paired in twos. What the numbers meant was beyond her, for now. She switched off her radio equipment and the lights, leaving the room in darkness, there would be no other transmission for atleast a day. If only the transmission times would be more predictable.

The dim light on the hallway crept through the open door in the room. It illuminated Lyra's notepad and the numbers she had written on it.

18|05|16|15|18|20|00|19|09

16|15|14|25|22|09|12|12|05

02|18|05|01|03|08|00|04|05

01|06|06|09|18|13|09|20|09

08|21|14|20|05|18|27|17|06

04|05|06|05|01|20|05|04|00

15|18|09|07|09|14|27|26|01

19|08|09|14|09|14|07|27|17

14|05|23|00|04|05|19|09|07

01|12|20|05|18|14|01|20|05

04|05|12|15|18|05|01|14|27

09 - ...and through the Looking-Glass

"When did I approve of this again?" asked Hunter. She stood on a small podium in the middle of Carousel Boutique while Rarity dashed all over the place.

After they had met up in the Sugarcube Corner, Rarity almost fake-fainted at the sight of Hunter's attire. She immediately offered to make her a new and better outfit. Hunter had tried to stop her by all means but at the end she had to comply.

Sunsat sat beside the podium on a small chair to observe the torture the cyan girl had to endure. She produced an almost inaudible muttering but Sunset understood parts of it, which involved insanely large amounts of gasoline and explosions. A part of Sunset was reliefed the local gas station only sold up to 200 liters gasoline per customer.

Hunter looked unhappy. Even that was an understatement. She looked ready to kill if somebody would even mention this outside the Boutique.

"I simply don't understand why you are so reluctant, Hunter. You will look absolutely lovely in your new attire," commented Rarity while measuring tapes were flying through the air. Sunset was sure that even the human Rarity was able to do magic as she observed the dance of tools in front of her.

Hunter grumbled before she responded, "I'm not used to such things. Also my current clothes are fine. I picked them because they're sturdy not because they're pretty and girly."

"Hmmm. I will certainly be able to make something like that, although a tad more harmonic with your appearance."

"Sunset, can we please just go to some random shop in the mall or something," begged Hunter.

Sunset smirked, "Oh. Just a few more minutes. I'm just having the time of my life."

The cyan girl sighed. Without any warning she suddenly reached out behind one of the clothes rack and pulled out Pinkie Pie. The pink party planer looked partly surprised by her sudden reveal and partly amused at the strange girls antics. She began bubbling out words, "Hi.Youwannabefriendsnow?" Her eyes went wide with a pleading look.

"No. Stop following me," demanded Hunter. She let go of Pinkie, who sat down besides Sunset after she pulled out a chair from nowhere.

"Okay, then I'm just going to watch Rarity making you fabulous," she bubbled.

Sunset smirked and nodded, "I think I agree. Let's make you suffer a bit more, shall we?"

"Oohh, come on," Hunter sighed, "This is just no fair."

Rarity demanded attention again, "Stand still, you don't want to get any needles anywhere, don't you?" She looked slightly resentful, mostly due to Hunter's attempts of regaining her freedom and Pinkie Pie rocking on her chair out of boredom.

"I feel like I have been mind-raped," sighed Hunter as the three left the Carousel Boutique.

"It wasn't that bad, wasn't it?" inquired Sunset with a smirk. The trio, consisting of Hunter, Sunset and Pinkie, continued to slowly walk down the street.

"Well, first thing the day, the pink monster appears - no offence Miss Pie - and threatens to make me her friend and then I'm forced to endure this torture of being made a tailored dress. My dignity has been raped and thrown into a dark alley to rot away."

"It was not that bad," commented Pinkie, "We had great fun."

"Shut up. NO. It wasn't fun for me," yelled Hunter.

Sunset frowned, "No reason to freak out like that. It's just a dress. Even I, as a rather unsocial unicorn from the pony-planet, have worn dresses in this world."

"Big reveal time, Sunshine; I was not a woman before I came to the 'pony-planet' so could you please respect this?" asked Hunter impatiently.

Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie stopped dead in their tracks. Pinkie smiled, as if she just played along with Sunset. The former unicorn however stared at Hunter.

"You know, it's impolite to stare at somebody so long," stated the cyan girl. She crossed her arms and shifted her center of mass on one foot, "What? Are you in shock or something because I've slept in the same bed as you? For your information, there was only one and I didn't plan on sleeping on the couch after moving you to your bed. So could you please close your mouth? It begins to look like your jaw has been detached or something."

Sunset blinked and then whispered almost inaudibly, "Well, that explains a lot."

Pinkie broke the awkward conversation, "I knew it all along." She squeaked like a rubber duck and smiled a big grin that certainly exceeded the ranges a normal person would be able to achieve.

Hunter facepalmed, "Yes, I know that the pink nightmare knows all things irrelevant." Sunset remained frozen in place. When Hunter noticed this she smiled, "Don't worry, the part of my brain that was male has been swaped out. I don't know which way I'll swing but I promise I won't do anything creepy." As she noticed that Sunset still didn't move she laughed.

The laugh caused Sunset to frown, "Sorry." The group began to move along the street again. Hunter looked interested into each shop they walked by. Some people they walked by stared at the large and heavy weapon on her back but she didn't mind.

When they walked by a fencing club Hunter stopped. She stared through the large window, looking at the fencers inside fighting and smiled, "Well, if that isn't Octavia."

"Who?" asked Sunset.

"Are you an owl? The one in the middle with the black hair. She looks quite good at fencing. Shall I test her, Miss Pie?"

Pinkie grinned fiendishly and tapped her fingers against eachother in a crude display of a stereotypical villain, "Yeeesss. But don't hurt her, I need her alive."

Hunter laughed and entered the shop. She stood aside the main training ground and watched Octavia fence with her opponent, a younger boy with green hair. Her movement was fluid and she always found another hole in the poor boys defence. He didn't even get to attack.

When the boy finally gave up, Hunter clapped slowly, attracting Octavia's attention. She had a british accent that sounded like upper-class to Sunset. "Tell me, can you do better?" she inquired angrily.

"Easily."

"Prove it!" Octavia yelled. The whole room was watching them. The members of the fencing class feared Octavias skill. A few bets were placed for and against her.

Hunter pulled out her large two-handed sword and smilled. Sunset wondered why the transformation didn't happen but apparently Hunter wanted to hide it. The view of the dull blade made Octavia laugh, "With that one? You will not be very fast with this blade and it looks like it would shatter at the slightest impact. Did you get it from a giftshop?"

"No armor?" inquired Hunter as if Octavia hadn't said anything. They had moved to the centre of the training grounds. Both presented their blades. Octavia nodded.

Without any warning Octavia made the first move. She moved the blade to her left and attacked Hunter in one fluid motion. To her surprise the blade of the broadsword blocked the attack. She looked in Hunter's face only to see her smirking. "That's all?" scoffed Hunter.

Rage pulsed through Octavia and she attacked. Her blade almost became a silver blur as she attacked with the blade. Hunter blocked each strike with ease and laughed. Sunset noticed that she never attacked Octavia and just blocked her attacks.

After minutes Octavia retreated. She smiled, "You're good. I'll admit that. One the other hand, you have a broadsword so it may be not a fair fight after all. Let's see how good you will be against another broadsword."

She turned around and walked calmly into the locker room. After a minute she came out accompanied by a girl with a hoodie drawn over her head and a broadsword on her hips. She had cyan skin like Hunter. She walked until she was in fighting distance but her face was still hidden by the hoodie. "So, you think you're more awesome than me?" asked the girl with a raspy voice.

Sunset recognized the voice, "Rainbow?"

"Hi Sunset," greeted Rainbow Dash as she pulled back the hoodie, "does she belong to you?" She took her sword out, which shimmered slightly in the colors of the rainbow as the light traveled along the mirror polished surface.

The fight lasted now for over 40 minutes. Both girls were panting and sweating heavily. Hunter had the speed and reaction advantage but lacked the skill Rainbow possessed. Hunter's sword was fine, except that it had lost color and was almost black. Rainbow's sword had gotten a few minor cuts in the blade but she didn't seem to mind.

Both combatants drew away from the fight. They both dropped the tips of their swords to the ground. A large crowd had assembled in the club, although they remainded silent as if not to disturb the harmony of the fight.

Hunter put her sword back in it's sheave, "You won Rainbow. I'm out of energy."

The rainbow-haired girl smirked while she was panting loudly, "Let's call it a draw. I couldn't continue either." She put her sword back and bowed to her opponent, which did the same. They both stepped forward and shock hands.

"You now a friend if you know how she fights, am I right?" asked Hunter, which Rainbow answered with a silent nod.

The crowd in the club groaned loudly. Noone had bet on a draw, so everyone had lost.

"Hey, Hunter, it's getting late," yelled Sunset, "If you still want to crash at my place we should go now."

Hunter looked out of the club and noticed that the day was really approaching it's end. "Tomorrow, same time, same place?" she asked Rainbow.

Dash smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Never had anyone that could match my awesomeness."

"Fiive moore minutes," slurred Hunter. Sunset had tried to wake her up for over an hour now. She decided to intensify her attempts.

Hunter was awoken as a ice-cold cup of water was emptied on her face, which Sunset had moved over so the couch wouldn't get wet... again.

"First day at school, you need to be awake. Care for a coffee?" she inquired.

"But a strong one," mumbled the cyan girl, "I'm not a morning person. Why do I need to be at school again?"

"You don't say," deadpanned Sunset as she moved to the kitchen, "Also, what are you going to do otherwise?" That shut Hunter up.

Five minutes later the cyan girl sat shivering at the counter and clinched her cup of coffee. She took a sip every few seconds. Sunset leaned on the opposite side of the kitchen and observed her. 'Definitely not a morning person,' she tought. Hunter looked like she had been pulled straight from a grave, the only thing that set her apart from an actual zombie was her quiet breathing and her shivering.

When Hunter had finished her coffee, Sunset gathered the few things she needed for school and Hunter her sword. With the half-sleeping girl in tow she left the apartment. "If Hunter had been a bit more asleep I would need to drag her on the ground to school', thought Sunset and frowned.

Hunter was more awake when they reached school, although Sunset wasn't sure if she already qualified for 'conscious'. The cyan girl leaned against a random locker and almost dozed off before she jumped, "Whoah, I'm awake. I'm awake." - She rubbed her forehead - "No need to give me that kind of a slap though."

"I didn't do anything," responded Sunset and scowled at her. The cyan girl looked at her for a few seconds, then her eyes seemed to focus on something miles away. She frowned.

"Shit," exclaimed Hunter and she looked down, bitting on her lips.

Sunset was puzzled, "Huh?"

"It has breached. Didn't know it would get here that fast," Hunter mumbled before she looked up again, "Who's the local conspiracy theorist?"

Sunset crossed her arms, "And what could she do to help you anyway?"

Hunter smiled, "Well, mostly she will believe me more than anyone. So, who is she?"

Sunset sighed and pointed down the hallway towards a minty colored girl, "Lyra. Don't tell her you're a pony, she will fangirl around the rest of the day. I learned that the hard way and I was lucky she forgot it after all the partying and drinking she did later that day."

Hunter zipped off towards the minty girl, "Hi, you're Lyra, correct?" Lyra was accompanied by a pink and blue haired girl with slightly yellow skin. She turned around and inspected Hunter for a few seconds.

"And who are you?"

Hunter paired her fingers, except her thumb, in twos and said, "Live long and prosper." Lyra's eyes became huge and she copied Hunter.

She squeaked, "A fellow conspirator and nerd. Yes! Aaaanyyyways, what can I do for ya?"

Hunter hesitated for a second, "Well, I need to know anything suspicious in the area, we might have aliens at school. There is a job waiting to be finished and it would help greatly."

Lyra tapped her chin a few times before she nodded, "Under one condition. I need to help me decipher something." She pulled out a notepad from her bag and gave it Hunter.

"It's from a number station I discovered. Unlike the others I and my fellows discovered so far this one sends a clear message. It consists of a short preamble and then the message. I can only get a few numbers before the message disables my amplifier. Couldn't decipher it so far but a second pair of eyes sure will help," she said as she pointed at the notepad, "I reckoned that they are paired in twos, like the preamble."

Hunter looked at the notepad, "I will look over it, make a copy and give it back to you after school. I hope it isn't anything too fancy, my crypthography skills are a bit rusty. May I ask what the preamble was?"

Lyra nodded, "Sure. 4, 8, 15, ..."

"...16, 23, 42," interrupted Hunter and nodded.

"You know this code? Shiny."

"No but I have heard the numbers before, I'm not sure where though. The meaning is Lost in my memories," Hunter stuffed the notepad in one of the pockets of her sword belts and turned around, "Thank you, for helping me."

"You're welcome. Now, Bony, we have to learn new math stuff and be minty!" exclaimed Lyra and pointed her hand towards the ceiling. The two-color-haired girl wheezed and followed her minty roommate with a deadpanned look.

After Lyra and Bon Bon had vanished from view, Hunter fist pumped, "Universal and Super Secret Conspirator and Nerd Greeting for the win!" She walked off to search and find the next computer lab. She made a quick mental note to refresh her programming and cryptography skills if she found the library. "No code will elude me!" she whispered with a manically grin.

10 - Insane Predator

The computer hummed slightly. Hunter was busying herself with a quick game of minesweeper. For the last two hours.

She had managed to misuse one of the computers in the school's library as her personal doom device. It had taken her less than a hour to write a simple program to try and get into the schools computer system. The little console in the bottom of the screen displayed the progress: "Installing backdoor... (058.7%)" Hunter sighed and locked the computer monitor with a password. Minesweeper can entertain only for so long.

Tired from the long seating session she stumbled towards the computer sciences section of the library and looked over the titles. The book selection consisted mainly of introductory guides. Nothing advanced or new she could learn.

The school bell rang and signaled the beginning of the first recess. Hunter was surprised to see Lyra entering the library not long after that and heading for the computers in the middle. Before she could react Lyra sat at the exact PC she had been sitting in front of and pressed a few keys.

"Ah ah ah - You didn't say the magic word... Ah ah ah..." came out of the speakers. Hunter sprinted over and unlocked the computer before any of the non-existent staff could notice. Lyra stared at her sudden appearance.

"Sorry for that, didn't want anybody messing around with my stuff," said Hunter as she hastily confirmed everything was done and deleted any traces of her little backdoor in the schools computer system.

Lyra raised an eyebrow, "Didn't know you were into computers, err... What was your name again?"

"Never told you but my name is Hunter. You would have trouble finding a bigger nerd than me in this school. I'm very good with computers and maths and stuff," Hunter explained, "I tried to decypher your message but found nothing yet. Did you try a letter-number one?"

"You mean A equals 1?" asked Lyra which Hunter confirmed with a nod, "Well, no. I thought it would be atleast something advanced."

"Let's try it shall we?" Hunter pulled up an image from the internet that displayed the alphabet and respective numbers. She took out Lyra's notepad and tore out an empty page. She started to translate the message.

After about a minute the first line was written down. "REPORT SI"

"Looks good," commented Lyra. Hunter continued with the second line. It took her less time than before. She translated letter for letter but stopped after the third.

"PON" Her hand was shaking slightly. She smiled at Lyra, "I don't think that one is a word." She skipped two lines and tried her luck on the fifth.

Part by part a new word appeared: "HUNTER" Her pupils dilated, her hands shaking heavily now. Lyra noticed this, "Are you okay?"

Hunter stood up and began circling the main area. Lyra noticed she had developed a strange tick with her right hand. She would randomly place one of her fingers shortly against her thumb repeatedly while mumbling to herself, "No... Can't be... Does someone know? Who is he?... Maybe Oliv knows... Should I ask her? Can't ... NO! ... Must be careful... Maybe... NO! NONONONO! SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP! Can't ... JUST SHUT UP!" She became even more angry as she continued her rant. Her left hand became more and more hectic as she entered a vicious cycle of paranoia. She squeezed her left hand into a tight fist.

She stopped and looked around. Hunter was shivering on her whole body. Lyra was worried, "Hey, ... errr ... Hunter, you okay?" She reached out and touched Hunter on her shoulder.

"NO! I'M OKAY! MAYBE! I DON'T KNOW! ... JUST ... JUST SHUT UP!" yelled Hunter and recoiled, slamming into the bookshelves behind her. She cowered down while silently mumbling to herself. Lyra backed off. The sudden change in this strange new girl frightened her. She had gone from perfectly normal to insane in less than thirty seconds. "I'M STUCK! I'M JUST STUCK HERE! WITH HER AND HER AND IT'S JUST INSANE! JUST SHUP UP! SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!" she screamed again.

Lyra ran off to find somebody to help her. She rammed into someone standing at the entrance of the library. She wore an official looking suit, had long blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. Her skin was a light shade of pink, almost white. Lyra believed she had to be the librarian of the school, although she had never seen her, "T-this... girl... Hunter is in the back. She's... loosing it," she stuttered.

"I know. Always when I'm busy," she said in a clear and soothing voice. She walked over to the cowering girl, that had started to sob loudly, and looked at her for a few seconds. Without a warning she grabbed Hunter, pulled her up and slapped her across the face, leaving no visible mark of the impact.

Hunter's eyes became glassy and unfocused for a second before refocusing on the woman in front of her, "Olivia."

"Pull yourself together. It is really distracting if you do that and I was in the middle of shopping at the mall. You know, enjoying the day off," Olivia explained. She let go of Hunter, who wobbled on her legs and almost dropped on the ground again before she caught herself.

"Thanks," she whispered while wiping away her tears, "I kinda lost myself."

"I noticed," deadpanned Olivia, "Now, if you excuse me, I still want to buy some stuff for you."

"Where did you get the money?" asked Hunter.

"I ... hmmm ... found this wallet in the pocket of this tiara brat," she explained as she turned around. Olivia walked out of the door without any further comment and was gone.

Lyra managed to speak again, "Who was that?"

"A 'friend'." said Hunter with a shacking voice, "I'm sorry, but I won't translate that message, ... don't think that would do me any good."

"I agree. If you still want to know, one of the eco-kids dissappeared during class. Went off to toilet and never came back, but she was probably just skipping class," said Lyra.

"Thanks a lot. Can I have some time for myself, please?" whispered Hunter. She turned around and walked off to a distant corner of the library. Lyra understood that she needed to be alone and silently left.

Hunter left the library as the bell rang again to signal the students that it was lunch time. She went into the bathroom and sloshed her face with cold water. She leaned on the sink and looked up. She looked at a face of a girl who had been crying for over an hour.

"You look like shit," she commented her looks. Hunter kept using the cold water to hide the traces of her tears. After she had composed herself, she left the bathroom and made her way to the cafeteria. As she walked down the empty corridor when she noticed an ajar door on her left. She stopped and slowly approached it.

Hunter opened the door carefully. On the inside was a small janitor closet with a single light bulb, the mandatory chain switch dangling from the ceiling. She reached out and lit the lights.

The new light showed a strange creature on the ground. A short trail of white slime lead to the door, ending shortly before it. The creature was lying on it's back, showing its internal organs, each one looked alien to the cyan girl. Its chitin skeleton was white like a bone. The whole creature reminded her of a frying pan turned into a crab.

She pulled out the sword, willingly preventing the transformation and poked the creature. She jumped as its legs jerked and yellow blood flowed out of it. The stream of blood began running down and reaching the ground.

As it touched the ground, a small smoke trail errupted and the drops sank into the ground, leaving a small hole in it. Hunter examined the tip of her sword, which now carried a small yellow drop. Unlike the drop on the ground the one on the sword remained inactive. She swiped it off and watched as the drop sizzled itself through the small piece of cloth she found.

She frowned, "Not good."

Hunter pushed open the cafeteria doors. She scanned the whole room, that was filled to the brim with students. She noticed Lyra sitting close to the door and Sunset with her friends more in the back. She nodded as Lyra noticed her and walked towards Sunset's table. Hunter grabbed the backpack in her left hand tightly.

The conversation on her table stopped as they noticed her coming. After she had sat down, Rarity was the first to speak up by clearing her throat, "You don't look so good, darling."

Hunter scowled, "I know. Doesn't matter."

"Don't be so a sad-face," bubbled Pinkie Pie, "Telling others your feeling can help."

"I said, it doesn't matter!" said Hunter sternly, "We have a problem." She threw the backpack on the table and opened it. On the inside was the creature she had found. Not a second later the acidic blood of the creature began to eat its way through the backpack and the table.

Fluttershy winced at the sight of the strange creature, "Did you hurt it?" she asked shyly.

"No, I found it already dead and I would be glad if I had killed it before it had procreated," Hunter stated, "One of the students in this room is infected. If we can find whoever it has used as host, we might have a chance to save his live."

In the back of the cafeteria a small turmoil started but Hunter ignored it, "Trust me, if the parasite finishes his breeding cycle we are fucked. This thing will not stop until it has killed every single student in this school. It will turn it into a breeding ground, creating more hosts for more of its kind. It will not stop until every single lifeform on this planet is either dead or a xenomorph."

"Xenomorph?" asked Rainbow, "Sounds like a egghead monster."

"Tell me that again after you saw it," quipped Hunter. The tumult in the back had gotten bigger and she finally noticed it, "What's going on back there?"

Sunset looked over, "Looks like someone has some kind of seizure."

Hunter jumped up and sprinted off to towards the turmoil. She parted her way through the students and looked at the twitching body of one of the eco-kids. A large section of his stomach had been torn apart and blood had sprayed everywhere. He was unconscious and in a few minutes he would be dead.

"Has anyone seen where the thing went?" yelled Hunter.

The general response was negative, they had just jumped out of its way. The students had been more worried for the one in their middle. Hunter calmly stood up again and walked towards the middle of the cafeteria. "We are fucked," she said to Sunset as she passed her.

In one fluid move she grabbed her sword and rammed it into the ground. Sunset watched in awe as the blade sunk in atleast 10 centimeters into the solid concrete. The sword began to radiate a blinding blue glow that died off after a few seconds. Sunset noticed that Hunter had transformed into her half-pony form with the light armor.

As she began to speak, her voice echoed through the whole building as if she would be using the PA system of the school, "The school is now under lookdown. All doors and windows cannot be opened or gone through until I will allow it. A monster has escaped and needs to be dealt with. All students have to remain in the cafeteria. Under no circumstances you are allowed to leave, this is for your own safety."

She pulled the sword out of the concrete and secured it again on her back. She turned to face Sunset, "I need you and Rainbow for this. Tell the others to keep the situation under control in here. We don't have much time." Behind her the creature in the backpack had finally corroded the table enough and it slumped on the floor with a wet thud.

Hunter peeked around the corner. "Alright, clear," she whispered. Sunset and Rainbow scurried around it and searched for cover immediately. They hadn't found or seen the creature yet but a few student trying to escape the school. Hunter always assured that noone would walk around alone.

"Why do you have to imprison the Great and Powerful Trixie and her fellow students again?" asked Trixie. They had found her trying to escape through one of the classroom windows.

"I don't want it running around the city, that's all," replied Hunter, "and try to keep quiet. You don't want it to find us."

"Trixie will not accept this..." began Trixie but was interrupted by a loud scream echoing through the hallway. They looked at eachother and ran towards it.

When Trixie got around the corner she saw a large black tail vanishing in the airvent above. The tail ended in a thorn and was segmented like it belonged to a insect. Below the airvent laid the lifeless body of one of the students. He had orange skin and blue hair. His face and most of his chest had been obliterated and scattered around the hallway. The light in it had been damaged, making it blink rapidly on and off, giving the whole scene a natural horror vibe. Behind Trixie, Rainbow ran off around the corner and threw up. Trixie and Sunset had the urge to follow her example.

"You believe me now, great and powerful Trixie?" asked Hunter dryly. She walked towards the body and inspected it. Blood was flowing slowly out of the several wounds. "Any of you know this guy?" inquired Hunter.

"I think he was part of the school band," mumbled Sunset.

"We need to get going again," stated Hunter, "and dump off Trixie at the cafeteria." She left the body on the floor untouched. The rest of the group stared at it for a few more seconds before following her.

The four girls walked slowly, observing the hallway behind and in front of them. When they reached a T-intersection Hunter raised her hand, signaling them to stop.

"We have to seperate. You will go right. Get Trixie to the others in the cafeteria. I'll go left and try to find it," she whispered.

"You said we shouldn't go alone. That it is dangerous," hissed Rainbow.

Hunter nodded, "I know. Trust me with this." She turned and walked down the hallway to her left. As she passed Sunset she whispered into her ear, "It is hunting us." Sunset hesitated but then followed her order and led the group to the right.

They reached another corridor, the lockers to the left and right and no classrooms. The lights above flickered randomly, some of the mountings were dangling from the ceiling. 'The monster must have gone through here,' thought Sunset just as she noticed movement from one off the ventilation shafts.

All three froze as the black chitin skin became visible. It slowly dropped from the ceiling, head first and then moving it's long insectoid feet under it. It cowered on the ground as the tail dropped with a thud. It spotted Sunset and the two others instantly and hissed. The lips moved and spit drooled out of its mouth. It let out a high screech that made Sunset shiver and moved towards them.

Suddenly it stopped and looked behind itself. A loud scratching from metal on concrete echoed through the hallway. Hunter came around the corner, fully transformed and dragging the sword over the ground. The dull blade cut atleast 3 fingers deep into the ground while red and yellow sparks emitted from it.

"Xe~no~mo~rph~," she singsonged, "I found you~" The alien was hesitant for a second, irritated why any creature would even think of attacking it. It screeched again, though it sounded a lot more uncertain than before. Hunter took the sword with both hands and swung it around, readying for an attack, "This will be so much fun."

The alien retreated by a step as Hunter stormed towards her, the blade emitting a faint red glow as it cut through the molecules and atoms in the air. The alien attacked with its tail but Hunter evaded and swung the blade at the alien.

Hunter skidded a bit before she came to a halt and turned around. At first it looked like nothing had happened until the left half of the monster hit the ground first. Its yellow and acidic blood slowly streaming out of it and burning a large hole the ground.

Hunter put the sword back in its sheath on her back. She looked at Sunset, "You okay?"

Sunset was still busying comprehending the situation, so she could only respond a few seconds later, "Err, yes?"

Hunter looked around as if she was waiting for someone, "Olivia, I know you can hear me."

With a faint pop the Librarian appeared. "Yes. What's so important?" she asked. Hunter pointed at the quickly decomposing body of the Xenomorph. Olivia's face raced through multiple colors of the rainbow before deciding on a deep red, "WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?"

Hunter winced before responding, "I did my job? Remember, fighting monsters and that?"

"THIS THING IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! YOU DID THE COMPLETELY WRONG JOB YOU MORON!" Olivia screech while her face tried to invent even darker hues of red.

"What you mean I have to stay?" asked Hunter disappointed.

11 - Wrong Job (Interlude)

Electro-magnetic waves travel through space, sometimes carrying different informations and sometimes only meaningless white noise. Sometimes it is speech or text. Sometimes the death of a star or distant light of galaxy. Using the right equipment you could filter them, only using specific frequencies and phases. A very specific frequency, to be exact 42 Mhz, was occupied by a very strange signal. Whereever you are on Equis you would receive it with exactly 42 milliwatts. The wave carried a voice. This voice said seemingly random numbers. Sometimes these numbers weren't random. Sometimes they had meaning.

A message was send using the numbers. Not a very complicated message, it was not even really encrypted; "Dept closing. Dept dealing with the merchant. Will be back in aprox 2 months. Portal will remain act until Tirek. Stop."

Not long after that someone else answered, using the same frequency and voice, "Copy. Unexpected arrival. Situation is normal. Stop."

The waves that died down suddenly, leaving behind an eerie silence only disturbed by the screams of dying stars and roaring of black holes in the distance. The voice that had read out the numbers for millenia was finally silenced, though only for a short time, a blink compared to the time it had been used.

Hunter sat on the rooftop of the Canterlot High School, letting her feet dangle over the edge. She looked up in the night sky, unaware of the silent conversations above.

"I'm sorry," said a familiar voice behind her and she looked over her back. Olivia had been walking towards her silently and now sat down on her left side. She looked tired and sad, "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"Apology accepted. But what did you mean back then? With the job and all." asked Hunter. She looked back at the stars above, admiring the beauty of endless space and time stretching out before her.

"The alien wasn't supposed to be here. You propably noticed that you couldn't feel it's presence unlike the ghost in the library or Pinkie Pie," she explained calmly, "Most likely it was sucked through when your job entered this realm. It's hiding, now that it knows that you exist. You attracted a lot of attention when you sealed the school."

"I had to. Imagine what would have happened if it would be set free," responded Hunter slightly angered, "Or do you want that thing to walk around here?"

"Definitely not. Again, I'm sorry," said Olivia. She looked even more sad than before. The conversation died down as they both watched that cosmic dance above them.

Hunter interrupted the silence, "Allow me one question."

"You can alway ask me anything," answered Olivia, "but I won't promise a honest reply. Somethings you are not allowed to know."

Hunter sighed, "How many of my memories have been deleted? Why do I know the names of these ponies or these monsters. I didn't know the Xenomorph until I saw it and now the movies feels almost familiar."

Olivia hesitated to answer, "Your memories haven't been deleted. Just surpressed. Some are allowed to surface if certain conditions are met. I didn't do it if you suspect me. I'm as much a victim as you are. But believe me, if you had all your memories you would have gone insane the moment you saw anyone here." - Olivia let out a loud sigh - "I hope that someday mine and your memories will come back fully. It hurts me a lot to know what you forgot and what you still know."

"So you have my memories?"

"Yes. I already said that there is a good explanation for this but it is part of what you have to find out yourself. I'm sorry. I know you are not proud of some of them. I understand. There is not a single other being in this multiverse that would care more for you than I do."

"And what is the job now?"

Olivia smiled, "Spoilers. The when really depends on many factors so I can't give you a deadline either." Hunter sighed again. "What is it? What is worrying you?" asked Olivia, noticing the sad look on Hunter's face.

"I'm wondering; if part of my memories have been surpressed, part of my brain swapped out to fit better with my body, how much of me is still me? Do I even have to ask these questions or do you remember what I wanted to ask?"

"Don't worry, you are still yourself. And, no, I can't really read your thoughts. It takes time to transfer. Your most recent events are a bit blurry, which is why I have to ask you all this paperwork stuff."

The cyan girl paused, "I feel so tired. Like I remember I felt back home. So tired. ... Would you stop me if I jumped?"

"Maybe."

Hunter sighed and looked down. Two floors down was the hard concrete ground. A fall from this height would atleast wound her fatally if not kill her instantly. Olivia grabbed her left arm, "You don't have to jump. Keep going. They promised to fix you up."

"I don't think anyone can fix me. I'm one step from being insane, I know that. I had to endure so much pain in my life. I'm tired, Olivia. I'm working at 200% all the time. I can't keep this up."

"I know. Keep going, like you always do. You have to."

"Why?"

Olivia didn't answer instantly, instead she looked up, "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they."

The cyan girl to her side gave her an angry glance, "That didn't answer my question."

"They have promised to fix you and believe me, they have the power to do that. They actually employ gods and demons," said Olivia. With a grunt she stood up and walked towards the access door and was halfway there when she turned around. "If you ever tell anyone I've gone soft on you, I swear I'll kill you," she hissed and vanished.

12 - Murphy

Someone knocked at the door. Principal Celestia paused drinking her coffee and put the cup on her desk. "Come in." Hunter opened the door and walked in the small office. She scanned the room shortly before she sat down in the single chair before Celestia's desk.

"I think we haven't been introduced," Hunter said, "My name is Hunter and you must be 'Tia."

Celestia's eyes narrowed, "Show some respect. You know why you are here?"

"No."

The principal sighed, "In the last few hours some strange things happened. I and Co-Principal Luna were absent during Lunch like most of the teachers. From what we have been told you held the entire school hostage and caused massive damage to one of the east hallways using large amounts of acid. Some of the students believe you hunted some alien creature, which I find hard to believe. Additionally one of our students, who is part of our school band, was brutally murdered. If you can't explain to me what else could have happened you are in deep trouble, my little student."

Hunter snickered, "Oh man, you are just like her."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, "Like who?"

"Princess Celestia, of course," laughed the cyan girl.

"Princess Celestia," whispered the principal, "So you came through the portal which Twilight used?"

"This is, indeed, correct. I was sent through to deal with the thing that caused all of this," Hunter explained, "You see, the thing that roamed your corridors is a perfect predator. It would not have stopped no matter what until every single student of yours is dead or host to its hellspawn. Its blood is highly acidic."

"That does not explain the dead student."

"It does not hunt because it's hungry. It hunts because it wants to taste blood. Believe me, we are lucky that only one of your precious little students died, Tia."

"Stop calling me Tia," said Celestia as her eyes narrowed further. Hunter was wondering if she was still able to see.

She put on a sterner face, "Make me. I'm not your student."

"I'm very sure the police would be very interested in you. What would stop me from calling them and let them arrest you?"

Hunter smirked and leaned back in her chair, "Olivia."

"And who is 'Olivia'?" asked the principal, "I'm sure no government agent could prevent arrest for murder, foreign or not."

"Last time I checked, she smacked a deity, 'Princess Celestia' in the face with a clipboard just because she could. Not only that but she managed to coerce and blackmail her into accepting me as Equestrian citizen. Should I continue or should I mention that I don't like her either? I'm very sure that even IF I get arrested she would propably blow up the entire prison to get me out."

Principal Celestia's face was pale. "Nono. I think we will," she said, pausing only to find a fitting phrase, "drop the charges."

Hunter nodded and stood up, "I'm sorry but I really can't risk being imprisoned. My time here is limited to about a month, plus minus a few weeks."

She walked out of the door and closed it, leaving behind a slightly confused principal. After a few seconds Celestia reached down and opened one of the drawers and pulled out a bottle filled with a crystal clear liquid. A label was glued crudely on it which read "Luna's Moonshine\approx. 70% vol." The principal took the coffee cup on the desk, emptied it and filled it to the brim with the liquid. "Why can these things never be easy?" she mumbled before she took a long sip.

Outside the door Sunset was waiting for Hunter. She had crossed her arms on her chest and was tapping with one foot on the floor impatiently, "That fast?"

Hunter laughed and walked past Sunset, "I just mentioned Olivia. She won't be a problem anymore." She stopped at a vending machine and pulled out a cola. She opened the can and leaned back beside the machine.

"Where did you get the money from?" asked Sunset, her eyes narrowing.

"Olivia 'found' a wallet and shared with me," the cyan girl responded, "She even bought some stuff for me, you know, clothing and that."

"That's stealing."

"So what?"

Sunset sighed loudly, "I hate you... Did Olivia say anything what your next 'job' is?"

Hunter shrugged, "She just said 'spoilers'. But, you know, what is the worst that could possibly happen?"

*french accent*

28 hours later...

"Aren't you a cute one?" cooed Hunter. She held the decapitated zombie head to her face, nuzzling it. She had rammed her sword in the concrete, looking like the famous sword in the stone. The head snapped at her while she baited it with her finger. Hunter threw the head at the wall and turned for the next zombie.

Hunter, Sunset and Rainbow where in a small empty hall. They had barricaded most entrances and dealed with the zombies that were still inside. The ceiling was about 3 meters high, the hall itself was about 10 by 15 meters. Except for support beams it was empty.

Sunset growled, "Oh god. Stop it, that is really disturbing." She turned around and the fireaxe she held burried itself into another zombie head.

"I have no problem with that. Smashing zombie skulls in is like the most awesome thing ever... except me, of course," Rainbow yelled from the back. She was currently busy decapitating zombies with her broadsword. Unlike Hunters sword, it was covered in various body fluids. The dull blade of Hunters sword was clean as a mirror, atleast as much as the dull metal allowed.

For Hunter it was more like a game. She repeatedly spoke with them like they were pets or tried to arrange them in artistic ways, all they while giggling like mad.

"Hey, where is the pink monster? Haven't seen her for a while," Hunter asked.

Sunset inspected the barricades, "You are weird, Hunter. Pinkie-weird at minimum."

13 - High Seas

Sunset walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. Through one of the doors in the back they had found living quarters, probably for the workers when they weren't on shift. The group had searched the entire building and they had found the kitchen, which contained mostly tea bags and canned food. Further down they had found a few beds and a small living room. Later Pinkie Pie had joined them, much to Hunters dislike.

When she entered the kitchen however, her mind and body frooze. She would never be able to get the mental image out of her brain, even if she would scrub it with bleach or acid. It was burned into her mind forever.

In the background Pinkie was baking cupcakes, currently finishing the topping. That would have been atleast somewhat normal, if she had worn any clothes. A large table stood in the middle. A chair at each end and four chairs at each side. The chairs at the sides had been 'decorated' with still moving zombie heads impaled on short sticks and carefully balanced. At the farthest chair and also without any clothes, sat Hunter sipping on some tea.

Sunset noticed that each zombie head had also a small filled tea cup in front of it. Hunter noticed that she had entered, "Hello, Sunset. You want to join our little tea party? Wait, I'll make some space!" She kicked the chair on her left-hand side, which caused the head to fall down.

"Hi, Sunny!" cheered Pinkie Pie. She was finished with the cupcakes and placed one before each head, two before Hunter, her chair and the empty chair for Sunset. Mostly out of fear Sunset walked over to the now empty chair, careful to not step on the head on the ground. She sat down on the surprisingly clean chair considering a zombie head had been dripping body fluids on it. Pinkie was finished placing down the cupcakes and sat down on the opposite side to Hunter.

"Umm... What are you doing here?" asked Sunset. The reaction was immediate, Hunter took her cup and threw it at the wall. She stood up and took another cup from the kitchen, filling it with tea, before she sat down again.

"We are trying to find out where the zombies are coming from. The pink one has been interrogating that guy over there" - she pointed at one of the heads - "before she had to make cupcakes." A mad grin spread on her face, "The tea party was my idea."

"I thought you don't like Pinkie?"

"Tea parties with interrogations are always fun!" answered Pinkie, also smiling. She pulled a clipboard out of her messy hair, "We have already found out that they are VERY close somewhere in the industrial district we are currently in. And they like the tea!"

Sunset decided that they both were irrecoverably insane. She already knew that Pinkie was kind of strange but this crossed the line. Mentally she was debating when it was safe to leave the two alone or if they should be left alone at all. The second decision she made was that she liked the tea and would look after the two for a while. Also she was interested in Pinkie's "Zombie Interrogation".

The whole thing was becoming crazier by the second. Pinkie had continued her interrogation by declaring herself 'Queen of the Kettle' and asking the zombies if they agreed. Hunter had cheered a loud "aye" at her declaration while Sunset just ignored the madness and drank tee. The last time she had tried to leave Pinkie's hair became flat and her screaming that she was a traitor until she had sat down again.

A new problem entered the kitchen in form of Rainbow Dash. She looked at the scene, which consisted of several zombie heads, a naked Pinkie Pie and Hunter and a normally dressed Sunset. After she overcame the mental bluescreen she let out a loud "NOPE!", turned around and left, completely ignoring Sunset's silent pleads for help. It didn't help that Pinkie and Hunter were screaming "MAD!" at eachother as loud as they could.

After a few minutes of continiously rising levels of madness Hunter suddenly saluted. "INTERROGATION OVER!" Pinkie declared loudly and stood up. They both produced their clothes from ... somewhere and dressed themselves. After all clothes were where they belonged they took their weapons of choice and killed of the zombie heads that were left. Sunset assumed that this meant the end of the whoel ordeal and asked Hunter what they had found out.

"They were reluctant to talk at first but Pinkie convinced them that we are their master. They said the 'Necromancer' is about two blocks from here behind large piles of zombies," she happily announced.

Sunset left the room, mostly confused on how that tea party actually produced any information at all. She later found Rainbow in the living room, sleeping on one of the couches and a bottle with clear liquid in one hand. Sunset shrugged and took the bottle. The label read "Luna's Moonshine/approx. 78% vol."

She shrugged again, sat down beside Rainbow Dash and began removing the events of the last few hours with help from the booze.

Two blocks away, the Necromancer received bad news. A few of his minions had been exploited and revealed his position to the enemy. He wasn't sure how they did it but that was now a secondary problem. He had found his source of power. No matter who wanted to attack him, they would fail.

The shadows that shrouded him, blowed away and revealed his armor. Any emotion he might had shown was hidden behind a large mask. He towered over all his undead minions as he reassured his grip on his sword. The necromancer was laughing loudly, which sounded more like a gravel avalanche rushing down a mountain than a voice. Briefly, almost invisible to any possible observer, a golden glint was seen on the hand that held the sword.

His rough voice echoed through the empty halls of the building, "May these fools find what they deserve." He looked down on his sword hand and smiled. The ring in his hand seemed to glint excited at the thought of tasting innocent blood again. The necromancer thought back when he still had an army under his command, about to finally win, once and for all, only to be defeated in a last effort attempt of his enemies. He would soon enough regain his might and cover this land in shadows and blood.

14 - Meet your fate

Hunter peeked around the corner. Only a few zombies littered the streets, many of them staggering towards the outer parts of the city, where the population density of the living was greater. When the area was mostly clear, she signaled Sunset and Rainbow Dash to follow. Two zombies noticed the shadows hushing over the street and began to limp towards them.

Sunset noticed the two and silently signaled her two friends trouble. They set up a small ambush in the alley they had reached. When the zombies limped around the corner, they were greeted with swords in their skulls. On had a dull blade, the other a mirror polish with a slight hint of rainbows on it.

"Anymore?" asked Hunter whispering.

Sunset looked around the corner and luckily the noises had not attracted any other zombies. "No. We're clear."

They two cyan girls sheathed their swords, Rainbow breathing a sigh of relief, "We are really lucky that we haven't found any large herds and... you know..."

Hunter nodded her agreement, "Yeah, but considering the fact that these are rather intelligent zombies, compared to the ones I know from movies and such, and they are led by an evil guy, I think he wants us to come to him. It's too easy."

"If he is to dumb to accept my awesome, than that is not my problem," countered Rainbow.

"Sometimes I wonder how you get your ego inside the school building," sighed Sunset, "You have any tricks?"

"Lots and lots of lube," smirked Rainbow.

"Ladies, we should get going, so could you please stop your latest sex fantasies?" asked Hunter politely, "Thank you." She walked down the small alley towards the destination.

On their way they encountered only few other zombies, most of which they could deal with before they alerted any large herds. Only twice they had to run into the next building and deal with the oncoming zombies but thanks to Rainbow and Hunter, it never became a real problem.

When they reached the next corner, Hunter could see their destination. The large warehouse towered before them. It had been neglected for years, which meant that the cheap iron sheets were covered in rust and mud.

The streets around it were mostly empty, except some lonely zombies staggering away from them. Hunter looked around, "Has anyone seen Pinkie?"

Sunset shrugged and Rainbow just shook her head. Hunter frowned, "Then it's just us, isn't it? Wait for my signal..." She looked around the edge again and scanned the street. After a few seconds she lifted her hand and the three stormed across the street.

Hunter slammed herself against the wall beside the backdoor. Quickly she reached for it and found it unlocked. She silently signaled the others and they entered.

They found themselves in the main hall, surrounded by zombies and the necromancer looking down at them. He easily towered his minions and was cloaked in shadows. His face was hidden by a mask, that punctured the darkness around him. He held sword in his right hand. A small golden glint could be seen on the same hand from time to time.

The necromancer chuckled, "So... tell me! How have you interrogated my minions? I'm rather interested." He placed the sword with a loud clang on the ground and looked expectantly at the three.

Hunter stepped forward, "Doesn't matter! We are here to end you!"

"I don't mean to pry, but how? With the little sword of yours? I possess powers beyond your imagination and can crush your any moment I want. The only reason you are still alive, is that I want to know how you managed to find my hideout."

"Yeah, yeah. The standard 'I am evil so tell me everything'-speech. Just shut up," whined Hunter. She readied her sword and took an aggressive stance, "Come on, fight me you coward."

The necromancer chuckled, "If you truly want to die." Hunter was the first to attack. The blade glowed in a bright blue light as it cut through the very fabric of space and time. The necromancer moved his blade to block the attack.

Sunset watched as the blade raced towards each other and expected Hunter's to just cut through the necromancer without much resistance.

To everyones, except the Necromancers, surprise, the blades crashed together with a loud bang. Sparks erupted and at the point where Hunter's sword had connected with the large blade of the Necromancer, it quickly became black like a piece of coal.

Hunter looked shocked while pushing against her opponents sword. She quickly recovered and they began a fast paced swordfight.

The blades whirled around, almost dancing, as the two fought. Rainbow and Sunset noticed that the zombies were holding back, watching the fight, which Hunter was currently losing.

She had retreated a few steps and her whole sword was black, a few pieces even missing in the blade. Her breathing was strained and fast.

"You still think you can defeat me?" asked the Necromancer. He looked like he just started the fight, the shadows still dancing lively around him.

"Yes," spitted Hunter out. The split second it took her to answer was enough to break her defenses.

The blade of the Necromancer sunk into her stomach, only slightly below the ribcage, before erupting out of her back. Hunter coughed, surprised by the impact.

"You feel that? Pain. It makes you weak, you pathetic human. You are an unimportant being in this small world and you just died for nothing," laughed the Necromancer. His laughter echoed through the building as he shoved the blade deeper in.

"You are wrong."

The laughing stopped. "What did you say?" asked the Necromancer.

Hunter grabbed the hilt of the Necromancer’s sword, preventing him from pulling it out, and took her own, "I said, you are wrong. Pain does not make one weak. It makes strong if you allow it to." With those words she swung the blade around, cutting of the arm of the Necromancer. The hand still held onto his sword as the rest dropped. Hunter took the sword and pulled it out, looking like she had just found an especially disgusting splinter in her finger.

Sunset could feel the rage in Hunter, even though she was standing a few meters away. If she had been a unicorn, she would have done a rageshift, Sunset didn’t doubt that for a second. The worst was her face. Instead of anger, it displayed calm. It was the eye of a raging firestorm that was fueled by her own life force.

The Necromance retreated a few steps. He wanted to speak but was interrupted when Hunters sword cut through his neck. His head hit the ground slightly after his body did.

The zombies around them took this as the signal to attack. They stormed towards Sunset, Rainbow and Hunter, the later already heavily injured but still fighting.

The fight only lasted a few minutes before all zombies were killed. Sunset turned around and saw Hunter, still standing, despite a large amount of blood gathering around her.

She took a few steps before she stumbled and fell to the ground.

Rainbow and Sunset stormed towards their injured companion. Hunter was already trying to stand up again while coughed blood. She took her blade, which she had dropped when she fell, and moved towards Rainbow.

"Rainbow, take the sword," she coughed.

"What?"

Hunter frowned, "I am dying. Nobody is able to take the sword if I did not allow them to. Take it."

Rainbow reached out with her hand, hesitated and took the sword. The instant her hand touched it, the blade changed. It now had a mirror polish and reflected a bright rainbow light no matter how you looked on it.

"NO!"

The scream echoed through the hall. All three looked towards the source. Olivia was standing in the doorframe, her face paler than ever.

"What is it? Something wrong?" asked Hunter between two coughs. She wobbled and took an unsure step back. She started to fall.

Olivia moved faster than anything Sunset had ever seen. She caught Hunter before she touched the ground.

“You’re pathetic, Olivia, do you know that?” Hunter whispered before she fell unconscious. Snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

“Nonononono,” yelled Olivia. Sunset felt the beginnings of a teleport spell. It wasn’t a nice clean teleport. The former unicorn could feel space and time being ripped apart as Olivia raced through. She didn’t bother to repair the damage she caused.

They impacted the destination, leaving a small crater in the ground, about five meters in diameter, some parts of the remaining grass even burning. The impact ring, the usual sign of a botched teleport, travelled outwards through the city and was visible for miles. It killed every single zombie in it’s way and even crushed a few buildings. Even with Alicorn magic it would be difficult to create such strong effects.

They stood in front of the portal statue in which Hunter had appeared some time ago. Sunset noticed that Rainbow had been left behind. Olivia walked over to her, “Hold out your arms.”

Sunset did as told and Olivia dropped Hunter in her arms, who was surprisingly light. Blood was covering her arms and clothes in a few seconds.

The Librarian stood in-front of the statue and carved symbols in it, using a strange blue fire.

She retreated from it and waited. After a few second the symbols glowed brighter before changing their color to a glinting red. Olivia’s face turned red. She moved her hand over the symbols, which turned to something resembling a keyboard only with a lot more keys. She ‘typed’ frantically on it. Multiple times the large symbols above turned red again, before returning to their normal blue color.

All the while Sunset was more and more worried about Hunter’s health. She had lost a lot of blood.

Suddenly Olivia punched the statue. The symbols flickered before vanishing, leaving the stone cracked and blank. She punched it again and again while crying out her pain into the world around her. It felt like an eternity until she stopped.

“If I ever get hold of Tirek, I swear I’ll make him wish he could die,” she yelled. After that outburst she broke down, sobbing silently. Sunset didn’t know what to do without dropping Hunter in the process.

“Sunset?”

Her voice was almost a whisper. She turned her head and looked Sunset in the eyes. Her face was covered in tears.

“Promise me that you don’t bury underground. Let her sleep under the stars. Please,” she whispered.

Sunset silently nodded. “Thank you,” said Olivia as she looked up on the sky, “The stars are beautiful tonight, aren’t they?”

With a flash of light Olivia vanished. Her form collapsed into itself, only visible as a small point of light for a few moments before blinking out.

It was the same moment Hunter’s breathing stopped. Her body relaxed, slowly cooling out.

In the last days Hunter had become almost a friend for Sunset. She had surprised her in many ways. She had been weird and crazy. Hunter had fought until the very last second. She had continued to fight even after she had been injured badly. The raw power inside her, in these moments, had left Sunset in awe and fear.

Sunset didn’t know what to do now.

Youtube Video

The funeral was short. The Apple family had helped to make a concrete casket which they had positioned a short walk inside the Everfree Forest.

The strange girl had influenced all their lives, except Fluttershy’s maybe, so all six attended. Big Mac, his cousin Breaburn and the two principles were the only others that were present.

The two Apples played an old family song with Big Mac's bagpipes and Breaburn's violin. Rainbow even saluted when she thought nobody was looking.

After about an hour they left the place quietly, only Luna stayed behind. They had put the casket in a clearing and the stars shone down on it. The moon passed over it not shortly after and the clearing flooded with the silver light of the celestial object.

Hunter had given her life to protect that of many. She had prevent the deaths of many students and later stopped a zombie invasion.

She had been around for only a few days but had left a strong impression on everybody she had met.

Luna moved closer and pulled out a bottle from under her coat. She placed it on top of the caket and left.

15 - Back Home

The body laid in the grass. It was dead and cold. Well, not exactly dead, it was more like just being inactive. But for most people the body would be dead. It had laid out in the cold for hours now, without breathing or a heartbeat.

A small drop of water fell from a nearby tree on the skin on the forehead. Although many nerves had fired beforehand, these signals managed to get deeper into the brain.

A very basic and small part of the brain activated again. It registered a few things. First, it was alive. Second, there was no heartbeat or breathing. Third, it was cold. Fourth, the consciousness was inactive.

Signals were sent into other parts of the brain and finally relayed into the body. The heart began beating again and the lungs filled with fresh air. Like a machine the body activated part for part. Warmth spread through it.

When every organ was working nominal the small network of neurons decided to proceed. It activated a larger part of the brain. It moved on from checking the body to checking the brain.

At first all things were nominal. That was, until it encountered a few holes. Specific memories could not be accessed. They were still there and active just not accessible.

As this was not critical for the brain to function the mechanism moved on. It crashed into a wall of errors when it tried to activate the consciousness. There was none. A black hole of nothingness where normally the thinking mind would reside.

The active part of the brain wasn’t really intelligent, merely a collection of instincts and programs imprinted into the brain, so it couldn’t panic but it tried. Signals raced through the brain, trying to do anything.

Suddenly it found something. A consciousness but out of place. It resided in a smaller part of the brain, usually responsible for background information but utilized the whole brain like a normal consciousness.

The mechanism did what it was made to do and activated it.

The woman woke up with a start. She gasped for air while moving into a sitting position. After a few coughs and overcoming the initial surprise that she was somehow alive, she looked around.

The park was small. A tree was standing right beside her. The rest of the park was almost empty, beside a few flower beds.

She looked around but didn’t recognize the area, so she activated her magic. The level of her mana reserves was dangerously low and they weren’t regenerating. Sparing as most as she could, she cast a simple location spell. The results were instant. She was back home. Or, at least, in the same universe.

“Not possible,” she muttered. The first words since she died.

She stood up and activated her SEP-field. The field didn’t require much mana energy, in fact you could power it with a normal flashlight battery for months, so it was the best option. Still, it would drain her in about 24 hours of continuous use, which put her mana levels in perspective for her.

The woman decided to find out where she was and walked out of the park. She entered the city around the park. The signs told her where exactly she was. It wasn’t a place she could find in any of her memories but she knew how to get to the house from here using the signs.

It was not really her house, depending on the point of view, but if she was here, so would he. It was pure luck that she had reappeared so close to it.

Without problem she used the subway to get into the right district. The SEP-field worked as intended, the conductor's eyes just skipped over her. From there it was only a few minutes until she stood before the door. A door that she had never seen but many memories from.

After disabling the SEP-field she touched the frame with a nostalgic sigh, then knocked three times.

“I’m coming,” said a raspy, deep voice from inside. It belonged to a man, she knew very well. She could hear footsteps on the other side before the door opened.

The man stared at her for about a minute. His hair and beard were long and unwashed. He looked malnourished, pale and his breath stunk of alcohol. His eyes scanned every part of the woman, who tried to interpret his expressions. Her suit was mostly clean, aside a few dirty or wet spots.

He finally spoke, “I’ve been wondering when you would turn up.” He smirked and blocked the doorway.

The woman sighed, “I’m as thankful to be alive as you are. It looks like, you neglected yourself a lot lately.”

“Why can’t you never just say hello, Olivia?” The man stepped aside and let Olivia in.

The Librarian walked in and found herself in the living room. The room was a mess; empty and full bottles laid around, most of them had or still contained alcohol. Despite the mess, no food laid around.

Olivia walked in the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was empty.

“You know, some people eat to stay alive,” she said. The man had followed her around. He just huffed.

“I haven’t eaten anything in the last month. Don’t know why but it told me that at least some part of the last two month where true. Were it two months? Can’t really recall,” he whispered.

“Well, that applies to me aswell, although I'm used to it,” Olivia quipped. They moved back in the small living room. Olivia sat on the couch and tried to relax while the man sat down in a small arm chair.

“You know, the last few months weren’t the nicest,” he suddenly said, “I mean, all these ponies and stuff and all the crap about dealing with evil and stuff. I’m just tired now.” He moved up his arm, which now held a revolver Olivia hadn’t seen before. She looked at the gun disinterested.

He held it against his temple, “Sometimes I just think; ‘Why not pull the trigger? Why not just end it?’ And sometimes I even do it - ” The gun clicked as the hammer hit against nothing “ - But I just can’t bring myself to load the gun. It’s just a nice feeling. The cold metal against my head. The certainty of death. Why not just end it, Olivia?”

“Because we still have a job, Hunter.”

The man yelled, “Pah, I don’t even remember my old name and I doubt you do. I’ve been living here for a MONTH, Olivia. I don’t need to eat, don’t need to drink. I just continue to exist. I died back there and you say we have still a job. A reason to live. I’ve nothing left, Olivia.”

“I still remember my name,” whispered Olivia. She wanted to curl up and sleep but she could allow herself to show weakness.

“If somebody or ‘somepony’ still cared for us they would have turned up by now. There is nothing left for me,” he sighed, “We should go and find a skyscraper to jump off from. You know, go up and look down. Then we rate the sight on a scale of one to ten and we jump off the best one. What do you say?” The gun clicked again.

“Give them a week or so, they might still come. Then we can go sightseeing all you want,” Olivia said defeated. “They will come,” she reassured herself in an almost inaudible whisper.

The man smiled and pulled the trigger again. The Librarian laid down on the couch and drifted off into sleep. Her mana was almost depleted now. Compared to her usual reserves the amount of magic needed for a SEP-field is almost unnoticeable but in the last hours she had drained almost half of what had been left. The sleep would regenerate a bit of it, not much, but hopefully enough.

For hours the silence in the apartment was only interrupted by their breathing and the clicking of the trigger.

Olivia didn’t know how long she had been asleep when a knocking on the door woke her up. She quickly checked her mana pool and found it still almost empty. For her, it was like seeing the battery indicator jumping from ‘0.1%’ to ‘0.11%’. Almost nothing.

She opened her eyes. Hunter was already moving towards the door and opened it.

The voice was raspy, dry and deep, “Hello… Hunter.”

Olivia could see how Hunter narrowed his eyes. She was now curious and stood up.

“Who are you,” asked Hunter.

The voice hesitated before answering, “It was a long time ago, that I visited this little ball of stardust. They called me many names. Pick one.”

Olivia was now close enough to see who stood there. He was at least 2 meters tall and incredibly thin. His skin was snow white, the bones clearly visible everywhere.

His hair was the same color as his suit; a black so deep, it seemed to darken everything around it. The red eyes burned through the air.

Olivia knew this man. Memories which had been suppressed, surfaced again. She remembered his name. Her face paled.

Her boss was here. When she said his name, it was loud enough that Hunter heard it, but still a whisper.

“Lucifer.”

16 - Department 198/B

The skinny man in the door waited a few seconds before he said anything. His voice sounded like a T-rex was gurgling on acid and surprisingly deep pitched. He spoke slow, as if he was thinking about every word individually.

“Hello, Hunter. Hello, Olivia. I think we have a few things to talk about,” he said and walked in.

Lucifer looked around the apartment, taking in every little detail. Hunter became increasingly impatient, “What do you want?”

Lucifer turned to him and pierced him with his gaze, “It is time to go back again” - he frowned - “We have a few problems.”

He looked around again, “We should not talk here.” With that he raised his arms at shoulder height. Then he clapped them together.

From the point where his hands connected a small explosion travelled outwards in slow motion. When it reached Olivia her vision blacked out for a second before she found herself in a corridor.

A few memories about it swam around her consciousness. When she looked at her side she saw Hunter back in her equestrian human body. She reached into herself and found her mana pool. It was full now. She smiled.

“Welcome to Department 198/B. Now follow me closely, I do not want you wandering around. We can talk in my office,” said Lucifer.

He opened the large double door at the end of the corridor and they entered craziness.

Offices boxes were crammed everywhere they could fit. That included the walls, the ceiling and even other office boxes. Beings of various appearances mostly bi- and quadruped but also tentacle-based. To say that the whole thing was total chaos would be an understatement.

A few yells across walls and the sound of constant exchange of papers filled the room. Lucifer walked in and they both followed. A few of the office workers stormed towards Lucifer and asked or demanded various things.

“I need a new budget plan for my team. We’re way behind schedule,” demanded a black and green tentacle monster.

The next was a small garden gnome who yelled over everyone, “Cthulhu wants to bring the Apocalypse to universe FF-T-Omega-82/Z and I need that signed NOW!”

“Silence,” said Lucifer. He didn’t raise his voice but everyone complied instantly. “All of you will get that through the postal system. I do not care how important it is.”

Everyone left them alone. His authority was clearly visible.

They continued to walked for a few minutes until they reached the back wall. Two small doors interrupted the endless stacks of office boxes. Two golden labels were nailed on them. The right said “Lucifer - External, PR & CEO”, the left “Fred - Internal, IT & COO”.

“Who is Fred?” asked Hunter.

“No one you will meet,” replied Lucifer mysteriously. He opened the door and gestured for them. “Go in.”

They both looked at each other and stepped in. It was a spartanic office, two seats for guest and one larger chair behind a desk with a small computer and screen. The system that the computer ran was foreign to Hunter. Numbers and input boxes were oriented in rings. The keyboard was larger than any normal one Hunter ever saw.

They sat down in the two chairs as Lucifer sat down in his own, larger seat.

“Now, you two got any questions?” he asked.

“I’m currently a bit involved in sorting out my memories,” said Olivia absently. Her mind was a mess of resurfacing memories.

His head turned to Hunter, “You?”

“Yes, why am I here?” she asked.

“Because I brought you here,” smiled Lucifer back, smiling.

“You know what I mean,” she growled, “Why do I have to do these jobs?”

Lucifer sighed, “We are a heavily organised institution… We are divided in two parts. The department itself, which includes everything you saw. The other part belongs to the reapers. They get the souls of the dead. They are even more bureaucratic than we are. … There is a list which souls have to be collected. Nobody is allowed to see the list, not even I am. Fate and all.”

He paused shortly, “The problem is, if a soul isn’t collected it can cause a lot of trouble. That includes remanifestation. Basically it starts walking around again.

“A few months ago the chief reaper contacted me.”

Hunter interrupted, “Let me guess, a few names were missing.”

“Correct. A single missing name involves about 200 signed papers for cleanup. It happens from time to time, about once every few million years. Get down. Get the soul. Kill it. Done. When he called, 279 names were missing. 279 souls roaming free. And not any souls. The bad guys. The souls that can cause more than problems.

“We dealt with it but since then more and more names are missing. Just to give you perspective. Fort Knox is nothing compared to the security around those lists. They are MADE by fate itself. Someone deleted the names and there are few persons with the power to do so.

“A few days later we opened a new position. It is basically a reaper without benefits, we call it ‘cleanser’. It would allow us to send the souls in a specific universe where our cleanser would reap them. Then our reapers can deal with it. Believe me it was the only option we liked.

“The really bad stuff is yet to come. More and more names are missing and I overheard the chief talking about… waking ‘him’ up.”

“Who is ‘him’?” asked Hunter, emphasizing the quotes with her fingers.

“Death. He is currently in a sealed off universe, managed by Department 0. About fifty feet under the earth on a planet that could easily go for the ‘Most-guarded-thing-in-the-existence’-Award. The safe zone is about 2 million light years in diameter. Everything inside it dies instantly, the region is completely sterile because of him. The last time they woke him up…”

Lucifer shuddered, “...Let’s say, nobody is older than that, except the creator. Only a few documents survived the extinction. … Even the merchant has started shuffling souls around instead of just tricking people into buying cursed objects. He is scared. That is part of the reason we had to close down and couldn’t get you. He is a Level 2 Abstract God and he is scared.

“I am a Level 3 Humanoid God. I can cancel the laws of nature or destroy universes with the snap of a finger if I want. When they wake him up we are screwed no matter what.

“Currently we try to keep our head low. You and about 500 other cleansers are busy killing what we shot around. You are not the first one to get herself killed. Although you are the first the get that unlucky. With all your powers and that.” He smiled.

“What do you mean?” asked Hunter. On her side, Olivia smiled.

“Sorry. Part of our contract involves a few surprises,” Lucifer answered, “If I were you though I would stay away from Aspirin. And your little payment is still waiting in front of the library.”

“What?” Hunter was now confused.

“Just a few hints,” he paused shortly, “Now, I believe it is time for you two to get back in action.

“I can not send you both back at once, so you have to share a brain until you are in Equestria again. Just cuddle a bit together. In other news, your body is still dead, Hunter. Get back through the mirror as soon as possible and wait the rest out...”

“Wait. I have a few more questions,” interrupted Hunter, “Why did you send me through the mirror in the first place?”

“The two worlds are heavily connected. Equestria’s universe contains a few extra variations of itself. We had two stray bullets.”

“What did you mean with ‘the first that got that unlucky’?”

“Most cleansers prefer to get some way of cheating death. For you; you have to be in Equestria when you die if you want to come back.”

He stood up and shook the hands of the two, “It was a pleasure meeting you two. You are a unique pair. Keep her on the ground Olivia…” He winked at the Librarian, who smiled. “Oh and before I forget; try not to be so stuck up, Olivia. Seriously, do these reports yourself. Nobody cares.”

Hunter hesitated, “Just one last question. Are you the Lucifer from the bible or…”

“I’m the one from the bible. But we fired the guy who was responsible for the little book. Smear campaign. He wanted my chair... I like my chair.”

He raised his hands again. “Good luck.” With that he clapped them together again. And Hunter’s vision went black for a second.

When she woke up again everything was black. The air was heavy and thick. Hunter stemmed against the lid of her confinement. It was heavy but after some time it fell off.

She climbed out of the casket. Beside it was the lid and a small bottle with a clear liquid. She picked the bottle up and tried to think what to do next.

‘We should get the sword back,’ a voice told her in her head.

“Olivia?” asked Hunter out loud.

‘You don’t need to talk, you moron. I know where Rainbow lives and she has the sword. Just let me steer,’ Olivia suggested.

“And how do I do that?”

Olivia sighed mentally before she shoved Hunter to the side. It was a strange feeling not being able to control her own body.

Olivia stretched a few times before walking towards the city.

“You really should go to the toilet BEFORE you die the next time,” she said, using Hunter’s voice.

Rainbow woke up as someone knocked rapidly at her door. When she managed to find the way in her groggy state and opened it, Hunter stood on her doormat.

Her sleepy brain took a few seconds to process who stood there before she fainted. The last thing she registered was the room tilting over.

When her brain had successfully rebooted and she was waking up again, she found a small note on her forehead. She stared at it crosseyed and took it of.

I took the sword while you were out.

P.S.: I stole a can of whipped cream. Or three.

-Olivia & Hunter

Staring at the note she slowly stood up and walked back to her room. The place where Hunter’s sword had been was now empty. She walked in the kitchen and opened the fridge. All her whipped cream was gone.

Realising what had happened she yelled, “WHAT?”

Extract from Starswirl's Compendium of Many Things:

Chapter: "Legendary Figures and Legends"

Hunter (Legendary Figure) - Reportedly employed by someone named Lucifer for unkown reasons. Known to appear at historic events. Sometimes accompanied by brown earth pony stallion. Reports about physical appearance, Cutie Mark and abilities inconsistent. Existence never confirmed or denied by officials. Considered "mostly harmless" (if not provoked).

See also...

Brown Earth Pony, the (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Cutie Mark, the (Passive Magic)

Butt Tattoo, the (Passive Magic)

Mostly Harmless (Phrases and Words)

Lucifer (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Brown Earth Pony, the (Legendary Figure) - The brown earth pony stallion appears all over history. He prefers to be called just the 'Doctor' although he has no medical degree. He is considered highly dangerous but not hostile towards friendly subjects. He is mostly accompanied by a blue unicorn with blue mane. They share their Cutie Mark, an hour glass. There are many speculations why that is so. Sometimes he is also accompanied by Hunter. It is speculated that he is either a time traveller or immortal.

See also...

Hunter (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Minuette (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Cutie Mark, the (Passive Magic)

Butt Tattoo, the (Passive Magic)

Timetravel (Theoretical Magic)

Immortality (Dark Magic)

Immortality (Theoretical Magic)

17 - Spaceship

The moment Olivia left the Portal she knew something was wrong. Or in this case, many things.

Pretty much everyone was staring at her, now separated from Hunter’s mind and back in action. “What?” she asked.

Hunter, who was also staring and back in her equine body, answered, “Ähhmm, you have wings.”

Olivia froze on the spot. She checked the spells responsible for hiding them and found them inactive. She guessed that they didn’t reactivate when she was exposed to the Equestrian magical field.

And now she was standing in Twilight’s Crystal Castle, her wings going from one end of the room to the other, which were almost 20 meters. Embarrassed by the reveal she furled the wings on her back and reactivated the disguises.

“Sorry for that,” she excused herself. She hadn’t planned on revealing it so early.

“Wait… Where are we?” asked Hunter, finally taking in her environment.

Twilight smiled and put a hoof to her chest, “You are in the Crystal Castle of Friendship and standing in front of the ruling princess of the Ponyville District of Equestria.”

Behind her, Spike finally stepped into view, “But it is not a library, Twi.”

Olivia focused on the little dragon. With a snap of her fingers she froze time and walked over to the little green lizard.

Bowing down until she could see him directly in the eyes she inspected his features, “You shouldn’t be here, little one. You shouldn’t be here at all.”

She inspected Twilight’s little friend using her magic. No shapeshifting magic. No leftovers of necromancy. She was about to give up when her scan found an anomaly.

“Heh, figures.” The little reptile was covered in Time Vortex Energy. Someone had altered the timeline and brought him back. ‘This will get interesting,’ she thought.

With another snap she teleported back in her original position and let the scene unfold.

Hunter remained frozen for some additional time, taking in the words Twilight and Spike had spoken.

“I’m in a castle?” she inquired.

“Yup,” answered Spike.

“That belongs to a pony princess?”

“Eyup!”

There was a short pause before Hunter reacted.

“EVERYBODY HIT THE FUCKING DECK. FLEE FOR YOU DIGNITY! I’M IN THE CASTLE OF SOME PRISSY PONY PRINCESS!” she yelled and jumped out of a nearby window.

“Hmm. I’ll follow her and make sure she won’t hurt herself,” said Olivia calmly and vanished.

Hunter was flying through Ponyville at suicidal speeds, taking almost impossible turns. She had already flown half across Ponyville when she was suddenly stopped by a solid object.

She hadn’t paid attention to the object, not because she was careless or because it was invisible, but because it was somebody else’s problem.

Hunter was now busy slowly sliding down the side of the object, after impacting it at high speed. Lucky for her, pegasi are quite durable and can take such impacts without much injuries.

After successfully sliding to the ground she tried to regain her bearings. Olivia appeared on her side, smiling.

“I see you have finally found it. Now, we don’t have much time now, would you kindly follow me into the library?” she asked.

Hunter complied, although still quite dizzy. “Hey, mum, you’re ‘n angel,” she slurred while walking towards the Ponyville Library.

After Tirek’s attack on Equestria, the library had been rebuild again. A quick scan using her magic, revealed to Olivia that it had been burned down twice. A few things were always constant, just like the library of Ponyville.

After they had both entered the library, Hunter had regained most of her senses, which lead to her asking the most obvious question.

“Sooo, wings, eh? What’s up with that?” she asked.

Olivia sighed. She had planned to hide this little fact for a while, until Hunter was ready. She was uncomfortable telling her, but since she herself couldn’t modify memories, there wasn’t much choice anymore.

“I’m an Angel.”

“Wut?” Hunter was surprised by the answer.

“Are you deaf? I said I’m an Angel. Immortal God. That stuff.”

“Last time I checked, Angels weren’t immortal gods.”

“Well, I’m not your everyday Angel either,” quipped Olivia while checking a watch she had summoned. “It is almost time.”

Hunter angled her head slightly, “Time for what?”

Olivia facepalmed, “I’ve been assigned to a moron. You are still dead. Kind of.”

“Aaand?”

“Time to cheat death,” Olivia smiled. She sat down on a nearby pillow on the ground and leaned back, “This will be interesting.”

For about half a minute the library was absolutely silent, as they waited for something to happen. The silence was interrupted by Hunter, “Woah.” Her eyes widened.

She looked down on her cyan colored hooves. A slight golden shimmer was surrounding them. Hunter looked up again, “So, I am a…” She didn’t complete the sentence but Olivia nodded.

The golden shimmer was slowly spreading upwards, covering more and more of her body. When it had finally covered her, the shimmer increased its intensity to an enormous level.

The explosion of light filled the whole room, some of it pouring out of it and blinding a few ponies outside the Golden Oaks Library. It remained lit for a few more seconds before it died down.

Alerted by the explosion, Twilight had finally managed to teleport into the library to investigate what had happened. She was almost certain that only Hunter could be the responsible. Her initial attempts to teleport were interrupted by a strange magical signature inside the library.

After she had fully rematerialised she scanned the whole room. Olivia was sitting on the couch and munching popcorn. In the middle of the room stood a rather dazed Unicorn. She had yellow and red hair. The hair was cut short and ruffled, giving her a slight tomboyish look. Her coat was yellow with a slight hint of orange. When she opened her eyes, Twilight could see that they were a bright red, like parts of her mane.

Ignoring the fact that she had never seen the unicorn she asked the more important question, “Where is Hunter?”

The Unicorn looked at her, as if she had said something wrong. Her voice was soft and deep, but at the same time demanding, “Hunter is currently not available. Please speak after the tone. Beeeep. Uhhh, scottish accent… Heeellooo… Test 1 2 3… Pancake…”

“I don’t have time for you shenanigans. Hunter might have hurt herself,” groaned Twilight. She didn’t have the nerves to deal with a psycho Unicorn right now.

“I don’t have the time either. Bye!” the Unicorn exclaimed. She changed her stance, as if she wanted to take off like a pegasus.

Not a second later she had tried to jump, which resulted in her crashing face-first into the floor. After a few groans the Unicorn looked at herself, “Well, atleast I beat him to the ginger part.”

She turned her head to Twilight, “If you ever tell anyone that I tried to fly without wings, I’m going to murder you, Twi.”

It was only then that the lavender Alicorn finally saw the Unicorn’s cutie mark.

“Hunter?”

“Who do you think I am, little miss sunshine?”

In the background, Olivia was rolling on the floor, laughing.

18 - The Next Morning

Normally, Hunter is not a morning person or pony. Normally she needs a fifth cup of coffee to even get moving outside the blanket lands.

Since her regeneration yesterday, she noticed that things were different. When she woke up, it was suddenly and unlike ever before. She was fully awake within seconds.

While Hunter thought about how unfair the universe is, by making her a morning person, she made herself some coffee.

This could have been a better morning if the coffee didn’t taste so bad. Upon taking the first sip, she immediately spit it back out.

Hunter eyed the cup carefully before making a few statements about herself; “A, I’m a morning person and B, I don’t like coffee anymore.” Her mood reached a new low when she thought about the consequences. The best she could hope for would be at least the ability to stay up late somewhat.

She was so deep in thoughts that she missed two things. First, she had begun to levitate the small cup in a red magical aura, and second, Olivia had appeared directly behind her.

“I see you mastered Telekinesis,” the Angel stated calmly but suddenly.

Hunter was startled by her sudden verbal attack and lost her grip on the cup. Said cup dropped to the floor and spilled the coffee over Hunter. “Thanks for the coffee stains,” she snarled. After she had removed most of the stains, she cleaned the cup and filled it with orange juice.

"I think we left a few questions unanswered yesterday," she stated.

"Maybe."

"Why do I need an Angel following me around?" she asked with an aggressive undertone.

"Technically, I'm not an Angel. If you find yourself in high-class society under gods, it is called an 'Angelic God', but since it is the snob-class, nobody cares. We are kind of the ... military and police force in one. We have pretty much the right to overrule anything as long as it is one the same pay grade as we are or lower.

"On the other hand, or hoof in your case, while we are insanely good at fighting stuff that is more powerful than us, we are almost incapable in magic or reality manipulation in comparison with other gods. Still powerful though.

"And I am here because part of your contract includes a bodyguard of some sort. I won’t look after you all the time, I have other occupations beside making sure you won’t set fire to the local environment."

Hunter narrowed her eyes, "I see." Then she emptied her cup of orange juice, turned around to leave the kitchen, slammed in the closed door of said kitchen and dropped to the floor unconscious.

Olivia sighed, "What did I do to deserve this..." She picked the unconscious Unicorn up and threw her on one of the cushions of the main area of the library.

She sat down beside Hunter and sulked about how unfair the universe was when someone knocked at the door. Olivia had a good idea who it was, so she opened the door with her Telekinesis.

A lavender Alicorn stormed through the open door and towards the two current inhabitants of the library.

“You can’t stay here,” she said between gasping. Apparently she had run all the way from the castle to here.

Olivia raised an eyebrow, “Why not?”

“It’s a library.”

The Angel sighed, “Twilight, as far as I am aware, you lived here for four years and nobody had a problem. Secondly, I am practically a librarian, heck, that was my name for some time, before that jerk named me Olivia, so I’m the best you will get for that job. And at last, I don’t think Hunter would stay anywhere else, including your castle.”

Twilight thought about that for some time before she responded, “But… that was… my library.”

“To bad. By the way, do I get paid?” the Angel inquired.

The Alicorn was stunned by the question for two seconds, “WHAT?”

“Well, if I have to take care of it, I want some bits.”

“But… but…”

“Would you kindly employ me as the librarian? How much do I get paid?”

Twilight didn’t have any choice anymore, “Urgh. Fine. You’ll get what I got, so about one and a half thousand bits per month. ... I hate you.”

Olivia smiled, “Thank you. Now, would you kindly leave?”

Twilight slowly trotted out the door and turned around before closing it, “I hate you.”

Olivia was reading a book when Hunter woke up again. Technically she wasn’t reading, it was more like looking at each page for half a second before turning to the next.

The first sign that Hunter was conscious were a series of loud pops in her back as she stretched. “Thanks for letting me sleep,” she muttered, “Did anything interesting happen?”

“Twilight wanted to throw us out of this nice little place.”

“And?” Hunter asked.

“I’m working as the town’s librarian now. ‘Would you kindly…’,” she smirked.

The orange Unicorn broke down laughing. After a few minutes she had recollected herself enough to resume normal breathing. “Oh man, that is like ten kinds of overpowered. Wish I could do that.”

“In Equestria mind control is forbidden. Dark magic and all.”

“And you?”

“I punched Celestia in the face. I doubt the jurisdiction can faze me. Additionally, I’m not using dark magic... kind of a loophole there.”

Hunter snickered, “I see. Well, I have to find something else than flying to do while I’m bored, eh? Any suggestions?”

Olivia looked up from her book and stared at Hunter, “Fly to space?”

“Ha. Ha. It just so happens that I have a spaceship standing in the backyard,” Hunter answered with dry sarcasm.

Olivia tipped her chin with a finger, “Well, it isn’t exactly in the backyard.”

The left eye of the Unicorn twitched, “You want to tell me, that there is a SPACESHIP outside and I didn’t NOTICE?”

“SEP-Fields are a bitch, ain’t they?”

The eye twitching intensified, “SEP? As in ‘Somebody Else’s Problem’?”

Olivia nodded, “You want to see it?”

“Why now?”

The Librarian was short of facepalming at this point, “The contract states a lot of things, including that you have to discover a few things yourself. Slamming into it at high speeds counts as ‘discovered’ for me. Better suggestions?”

“No,” the unicorn sighed defeated, “Well, onwards and upwards. Beam me up, Scotty!”

Olivia laughed out loud, “No beaming, sorry.” She stood up and waited till the Unicorn on her side was ready for departure.

She opened the door and led her outside. “And here you see your grant and totally awesome ship!” Olivia exclaimed. A few ponies in the general area began looking at her curiously.

“I don’t see anything,” said Hunter disappointed.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll switch off the SEP. Excuse me,” she sneered and disappeared with a plopping sound.

Seconds later Hunter’s eyes were finally allowed to focus on the ship in front of her. A few gasps were heard around her as the other ponies of Ponyville were finally able to consciously see it.

Hunter remained shocked and frozen at the sight of the ship. Olivia was standing on the open loading ramp, a mischievous smile on her face, “I take it you like it?”

“No fucking way,” Hunter whispered. She took a few steps forward and touched the ramp, as if to make sure that it was real. “No fucking way,” she repeated, a bit louder this time.

Olivia grew sick of the repetitive unicorn, “Yes fucking way. Now come in before the pony princess comes and steals it.”

That was enough motivation for Hunter to spring forward. When she passed the inner airlock she stumbled and fell on her face.

Olivia was already closing the loading ramp again when Hunter tried to stand up again. Said Unicorn noticed that she was, once again, in possession of hands. She shot Olivia a questioning glance.

“What? You wanted to fly this thing with hooves?” asked Olivia with dry humor, “Good luck with that. You should still be able to do magic with your hands, or if you find yourself with wings, fly.”

“Shiny. Where is the cockpit?” Hunter asked fanatically.

“Stairs up, left corridor, ahead,” Olivia responded. She watched the Unicorn raced towards her desired location and she slowly followed.

When they entered Hunter stared at the equipment with excitement. She sat down on the left seat and immediately began messing with the switches and buttons.

“Don’t you want to read the manual or something first?” inquired Olivia.

“Nah. Manuals are for chickens.”

She flicked a few more switches on which an loud alarm echoed through the ship and multiple red lamps lit up. A female, computerized voice echoed through the ship, “Alert. Main reactor core unstable.” She undid the settings and the ship returned to a somewhat normal state.

“On second thought, that may be a good idea.”

19 - Tranquility

Hunter was sitting in the pilot chair of the space ship. The little room in which the two main controls were located, was chaotic. Cables were visible all over the place and machines and computers had been crudely patched together with duct tape and more cables.

It was a mess. Even with the handbook, Olivia had provided, she needed about an hour to figure out how to get startup the main systems of the ship. Currently, she was typing numbers into the navigation computer, who hadn’t accepted any inputs as valid, yet.

Olivia was leaning back on the copilot seat, smirking whenever Hunter did something wrong or distracting her with small talk.

“Have a name yet?” she asked innocently. The short interruption distracted the yellow girl beside her enough that she got shocked by a blank copper cable when she slipped.

“Ouch. Maybe,” she said while observing her finger.

“And?” Olivia inquired further.

“You now, I wanted to name her ‘Tranquility’, similar to the only other ship I know of,” she explained.

“Tranquility,” Olivia tried the name, “I like it. Although not as good as Serenity.”

“Yeah, but that one is taken, isn’t it?” Hunter deadpanned.

Their small talk was interrupted when the navigation computer finally accepted the data and booted fully; “Navigation System Online. Data Accepted. Ship ready for launch.”

“HAHA!” exclaimed Hunter, “Ey, should I get Twilight and Dash? They would be excited!”

“Pff, your ship. Your problem,” said Olivia dismissively. She conjured up a book and leaned back, “Just don’t do anything, stupid, like ponynapping the princess or something.”

“Good idea.”

“I didn’t say anything,” smirked Olivia.

Hunter stood up and walked the gangway to the loading ramp. The airlock was opened and closed swiftly. She fell on her four hooves when the transformation aura of the ship ceased.

“I liked the hands,” she whispered with a sad undertone.

A second later Hunter perked up again. She had to find Rainbow and Twilight. Twilight wouldn’t be a problem, but Rainbow Dash didn’t know her new form unless Twilight told her. Dash probably wasn’t the kind of pony who would go adventuring with a random pony that appeared out of nowhere.

Hunter jumped when a shrill voice startled her.

“Heya, Hunter!” cheered Pinkie Pie.

Now that she was concentrating on it, she could feel the subtly pressure on her head caused by the pony’s strange abilities.

“How do you know it was me?” she inquired.

Pinkie began to explain, “Oh, easy, yesterday my little thingy made beep, which means a time lord regenerated or it boiled a chicken egg and I’ve seen the Doctor today and he is okay and I’ve seen you and my Pinkie Sense didn’t go off and the only new pony in town was you and since I’ve already met you that would mean that you are a time lord and have regenerated yesterday. Gasp. And I have to throw you a Regeneration-Party and a Welcome-to-Ponyville-Party now.”

“You can’t join that many sentences with ‘and’,” stated Hunter.

“Yes, I can. I just did it, you silly filly,” cheered Pinkie, “Now if you excuse me, I have serious party business to do. See you later, alligator!” In the blink of an eye she was gone.

“We’ll that was weird,” muttered Hunter, before she returned to her quest for Rainbow(s) and Twilight.

Twilight perked up when a nearby window exploded. She had been absorbed in a study about the effects of refined starlight on enchantments. Most would considers this book a bit boring or even dry but for Twilight it was the read of the century.

Well, until her window exploded, due to yet to be discovered reasons. The lavender pony decided that the cause of the sudden destruction of her window was more important than the book.

When she neared said window, she spotted a stone, about twice the size of her hoof, on the floor. She determined that it was likely the stone was partly responsible for the property damage.

She walked to the open window and looked outside.

On the street before her castle stood a certain red haired and yellow coated Unicorn, who, for some reason, looked angry.

“Finally,” she yelled, “I’m throwing rocks at your castle for like an hour, now.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “This is no reason to smash a window just because I didn’t hear you.”

“Yeah, I noticed you were completely oblivious to your environment, Miss Booknerd,” Hunter smirked.

“MISS BOOKNERD?!” Twilight yelled, her glare fixed on Hunter.

“Anyways, I apparently have a spaceship. Wanna fly?” the unicorn asked innocently.

“HOW DARE YOU AND CALL ME BOOKN…. Wait! Spaceship? As in, flying in space?” asked the surprised Alicorn.

Hunter smirked, “Yeah. Flyin’ in space an’ all. You want in?”

The anger about the destroyed window was forgotten. Twilight thought about two million things and studies she could do in space. New things, never seen by equine eyes beforehand, to be discovered. Space, ponykind’s final frontier.

“Yes or no?” Hunter interrupted the Alicorn’s thought process.

A creepy grin appeared on Twilight’s face, “Yeeesss,“ she whispered, “precious studies. My precious. Yeeeessss.”

“Well, I broke you. Time to go,” the Unicorn giggled, “Oh, and before I forget, tell Rainbow to come too, I’m currently too lazy for that. Thanks.”

With that she turned and left the grinning Alicorn on the doorstep.

Hunter was walking peacefully through town. At least, she tried to. Unnoticed by her, a Unicorn mare was following her, stepping in the shadows and out of sight when Hunter turned and looked around.

The eyes of the mare followed Hunter without fail, never looking at anything else. She giggled silently.

When Hunter stopped to observe the antics of one of the salesponies in his stall, she moved in for the kill.

Hunter was surprised when the blue Unicorn tackled her. Her mane was two-colored, in a darker blue and a greyish white. The steel blue eyes stared into Hunter’s, as if she wanted to suck her soul out through them.

While Hunter was struggling to get out of the Unicorn’s hoofgrip, said pony used her magic to forcefully open Hunter’s mouth.

The yellow coated Unicorn panicked as she imagined what the blue pony might do to her and all the while completely forgetting her own magic.

The blue pony looked into Hunter’s mouth and inspected something. A frown appeared on her face as she let loose the pony’s jaw.

“Brushie, brushie,” the Unicorn giggled and grinned again before teleporting away in a bright flash.

That left Hunter stunned on the ground. A giggling brought her back into the world around her.

Twilight and Rainbow were standing a few meters away, grinning at the Unicorn’s expense.

“What the fuck just happened?” asked Hunter.

Twilight coughed and switched into lecture mode, “That was Colgate. She’s the dentist. If I’m informed correctly about her schedule, you can expect her next week.”

“Expect her for what? And how does she make money like that?” snapped Hunter.

“She lives with Time Turner, who pays part of her bills and fines, plus, most ponies pay her for her little visits, too. If you don’t have anything to bad, you will wake up to a Unicorn brushing your teeth thoroughly. If it’s bad she might try to pull it out.”

“Oh, great; mouth rape,” deadpanned the yellow Unicorn, “At least I can expect it somewhat.”

“Where is the spaceship?!” grinned Twilight. Without the distraction of Colgate’s antics, her mind had returned to the important things of her life.

Hunter sighed, the Alicorn’s antics beginning to grind on her nerves, “Right in front of the library.”

The grin on Twilight’s face vanished slightly, “I would have noticed that.”

“SEP-Field. Short for ‘Somebody Else’s Problem’ or ‘Somepony Else’s Problem’ in this case.”

“Ooohh,” Twilight said with slight confusion, “Why does that even work?”

“I don’t know nor do I care,” Hunter snickered, “It just does. Now, move up little Miss Booknerd, we have a whole new thingy and stuffs to discover!” She moved towards the still ‘cloaked’ spaceship, which thanks to her visit, was now clearly visible for her.

She stumbled slightly when she passed the airlock and transformed into a human. Twilight stopped outside, confused when she couldn’t keep her eyes fixed on Hunter.

With a loud clicking the ship became finally visible for Twilight. Before the field dissipated she could have sworn she could see it out of the corner of her eyes, but now she could finally see it.

The whole thing looked rusty and old. It’s front looked like a swan’s head. Below it was the loading ramp, which had also an open door, presumably the airlock. The loading ramp was lowered and the inner door open and Twilight could see inside.

The large room inside the ship was almost the size of the ‘belly’ of the ship. It had several hanging walkways leading to different parts of the ship.

Twilight walked to the left and looked at the rest of the ship.

Behind the head where two large round things attached on little wings. Be the looks of it she determined that they could rotate in place and that they were most likely the engine.

The back of the ship looked a lot like a firefly. It had a giant bulb on it’s back that rotated slowly with an eerie yellow glow.

The whole thing stood on four little legs and protruded from it’s body.

(Google ‘serenity firefly’ if you want a picture of the ship. It is not my own creation. Watch the series ‘Firefly’ for more.)

“You want to come or look at the ship?” asked Hunter, interrupting Twilight’s inspection of the ship. The Alicorn sprinted forward, not paying attention to the fact that Hunter and Rainbow were already standing on two legs instead of four.

Rainbow was inspecting her feets and hands when Twilight passed the border of the field and face-planted into the ground.

She quickly got up and looked surprised at her hands then at Hunter.

“Transformation Field. Easier to fly,” explained Hunter. She wiggled her fingers to emphasize her reasoning. “You should get something to stop that nosebleed though,” she added.

Twilight reached to her nose. She felt something wet and warm. A bloody finger appeared in her face.

“Oh, great. Good way to start the day of the century,” she deadpanned.

Hunter giggled, “Follow me.” She slowly walked away, leaving the two ponies almost no time to adapt to a bipedal stance, which was easier for them than first expected.

When they had reached the cockpit they had two completely different reactions.

Dash tried to act casually, but was actually just confused. The machines around her beeped and whizzed, doing stuff and whatever. She put her hands in her pockets, which seemed entirely natural to her.

Twilight, on the other hand, found herself in heaven. The advanced technology in the ship could be the object of her studies for years and she wouldn’t have found all secrets.

“Radial-In engine not synchronized. Warning! Engine unstable!” echoed a metallic voice through the ship.

“What was that?” asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing”, dismissed Hunter and kicked a computer under her control panel.

“Radial-In engine synchronized. Ship ready for launch.”

(Radial-In would be synonymous with the port-side of a ship or the left side, in this case. Spaceships and stuff!)

Olivia, who hadn’t been seen by either Twilight nor Dash, perked up at this; “Well, this is my sign to leave.”

Hunter looked at her, the question obvious to everyone.

“Relax, the chance that you will blow up is rather low. … I think,” reassured Olivia, “I just have to… do some things and … stuff. Yes, stuff.” She smiled awkwardly before disappearing in a flash.

“Huh, well, anyways, you two should buckle up or something. If you want, that is,” suggested Hunter. She was controlling a few settings and typing data into the computers.

Twilight and Dash shared the left seat in the cockpit, staring outside through the windows.

“Landing Ramp closed and secured. Pressure and Life Support on go,” announced Hunter.

A hissing echoed through the ship, followed by a load roar. The seat underneath the two guest vibrated for a few seconds.

“Engines running and on go,” commented the captain, “Lift off in 10 seconds.”

There was a pause, in which nothing happened, except the rumoring of the ship and the constant movement from Hunter.

“5… 4… 3… Engines on full throttle… 1… Lift off!” yelled Hunter in excitement.

Nothing happened. The scenery outside didn’t change nor did the ship move.

Hunter cursed, “Dammit. What’s wrong this time?”

“Maybe you forgot the handbrake,” joked Dash.

Hunter blinked a few times, then facepalmed. “Fuck. Stupid Hunter.”

She grabbed a lever on her side, pressed a button on it’s end and moved it down. The ship reacted by vibrating heavily again and the finally moving.

Hunter’s left eye was twitching, “You will never speak of this. EVER!”

It slowly ascended into the sky, Twilight and Dash staring outside and the residents of Ponyville staring at the metallic monsters in the peaceful village.

Since monsters were actually quite common, most ponies continued with their daily business not shortly after they had spotted the craft.

Inside the Firefly-class ship, Dash and Twilight were trying their best not to act worried. During the few seconds the ship was in the air, several alarms of various degrees had gone off and Hunter had either ignored or disabled them.

Hunter was currently looking at the altimeter, which was ticking towards 100 meters. When it finally displayed a third digit, she grabbed the throttle and slammed it as far forward as possible.

The ship jumped and the two passengers were pressed in their seats before the artificial gravity corrected. A few seconds later, a loud boom echoed through the craft.

“What was that?” asked Twilight worried.

“Soundbarrier. Our current speed is 392 meters per second, acceleration is 12 meters per second squared.”

“That’s like… a lot,” interjected Rainbow Dash.

“We’ll reach space in about 8 minutes. It’s that much. Our acceleration will peak out at 92 meters per second squared.”

“But that much force on a body can be deadly,” cried Twilight.

“Nah. Artificial gravity will suppress the acceleration forces. I hope.”

The next few minutes nothing exciting happened, except the sky slowly fading to black. Without any warning, Hunter reached for the throttle and moved it down slowly before securing it in the zero position.

She coughed a few times, “Ladies, this is the captain speaking. We reached our cruising altitude of 301 kilometers and are currently traveling at a speed of 10981 meters per second. It’s a lovingly minus kill-me-dead degrees whatever-unit outside. Sunrise will be in 3 minutes. Orbital period is 1869 seconds or about 31 minutes.”

“3 minutes? It was barely lunch time when we started!” noted Twilight.

“Yeah, but we have flown quite bit already and are coming around the darkside. I prefer it that way, sunrises in space are cool,” explained Hunter. She switched something off and suddenly Twilight felt weightless.

The belts held Hunter in the seat as she watched amused how Dash and Twilight were adapting to microgravity. Dash tried to flap her wings and banged her head while Twilight tried to do something scientific about the situation and banged her head.

Hunter snickered a few times. “I want to see you doing better!” exclaimed Rainbow.

The challenged Unicorn released her belts. She floated a bit around before she grabbed the console and pushed herself forward into Dash. They collided in midair. Hunter grabbed Dash and stopped their motion near a wall. “Always grab something. If you stop moving in midair your screwed,” she ordered.

“Yeah, yeah,” dismissed the pegasus, “Whatever.”

Twilight observed Hunter while she tried to relearn moving around. Her wings were useless or better, too powerful for usage without proper gravity. Hunter seemed to adapt quite fast, seemingly losing all sense of up or down and just grabbing whatever was near to move around. Twilight felt her stomach getting sick and her head becoming dizzy from the disorientation. She closed her eyes and tried to breath deep.

“Whoah. If you puke now, you’ll have to collect it, Twi,” warned Hunter. She moved quickly to the pilot’s seat and sat down. “Get near the ground guys, fun’s over,” she said.

Twilight did as told, unlike Rainbow, who had way too much fun.

The damp sound of her suddenly hitting the ground echoed through the ship. For Twilight, the world was upside up again and her body calmed down.

“Ey, at least warn me!” yelled Dash after groaning from the pain.

“I did,” stated Hunter simply, “Now watch. Sunrise in space. Would be my first.”

“You never were to space before?” asked Twilight worried.

“Nah. First flight. Well, that depends on how you ask. Did fly a few simulators and stuff. Was called Kerbal Space Program,” she explained, “Relaaax, I’m a professional. Sort of.”

Twilight wanted to say something when the sunrise interrupted her.

Suddenly and without warning, the cockpit was filled with light. There was no slow and gradually rise, since there was almost no atmosphere to bend and reflect the light. After her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and the windows had dimmed like sunglasses she could see it in it’s full glory.

The sun was shining on a blue and green marble. She could see mountains, tiny as pinpricks sliding under her. She could make out great rivers, now nothing but a small trickle. The sun was moving visibly and fast upwards. A minute later it had passed the rim of the windows and Twilight could see the stars again.

She hadn’t paid much attention to them, but it was so different. They weren’t blinking but a steady burning little light, like someone had poked holes through black paper and was shining through them with a flashlight.

“What the fuck is that?” Hunter’s exclamation ripped Twilight out of her little dream world.

The yellow Unicorn pointed below.

The blue and green of the peaceful planet was suddenly cut of. Behind a visible rim of tall mountains was only a yellowish brown. It looked dead.

Twilight’s ears would have dropped if they would have been on her head, “That are the badlands. The great desert. Near the borders are a few tribes of various species, but farther in… Completely dead. It’s part of our history.”

“What do you mean?” asked Hunter.

“There isn’t a lot known about it, except that when Nightmare Moon ruled with eternal night, the badlands had eternal day. It was a deadzone before though, so nobody’s sure what happened. As far as our cartographs are sure, it covers 49.7% of the global surface.

“Did somebody activate something, like a doomsday device?” asked Hunter.

“Nobody knows. That’s like ancient history,” explained Twilight, “Even our oldest legends are younger than some of the sands below.”

“Hmm…” Hunter seemed lost in thought. Her head suddenly jerked up, “Anyways, I think it’s time for lunch, or breakfast considering local time.”

Rainbow’s stomach agreed.

“Oi, Twilight, do you know what bacon is?” asked Hunter innocently.

“You mean, like Haybacon?" Twilight responded slowly.

Hunter smirked, “Oh, this’ gonna be great.”

Celestia had just finished the last case of day court, the pony involved packing up and beginning to leave, when one of the dragon ambassadors entered.

“Celestia, I have an urgent message,” Azure Flame said calmly and eyed the guards in the room, “Top Secret.”

“Are you sure, Azure?” asked Celestia. Normally the dragons had few things that needed top classification.

“It’s a prophecy,” the blue dragon explained. He was only slightly higher than the other ponies around him, which is why he was selected for this job.

The dragons mostly kept their problems to themselves and had few contacts with pony society. Nonetheless, they had a government and therefore, needed an ambassador.

Celestia nodded, “Guards you may leave. Show Filthy Rich the way out.”

When the last guard had left the room and only Celestia and Azure Flame were present, he spoke again, “The Old One has made another prophecy. Almost equal in importance to Tirek’s destiny, if not more.”

The Alicorn Princess of the Day thought for a few seconds, remaining calm on the outside.

She nodded, “Tell me.”

Azure Flame coughed and unrolled a parchment; “I doesn’t sound very nice, are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then,

Risen through murder,

Fallen through gods,

She will conquer Time and Space,

Sowing Blood and Fire.

The Gods will bow to the Ignis,

they have created in their vanity.

Hear the Calm before the Storm,

Armies of Old are marching once again,

Equestria will Burn,

No thing left to shed tears

And only Ashes left to mourn.

Fire Incarnate

Will walk among us.”

Celestia almost choked on her own breath. The usual prophecies from the Old Dragon were a lot more peaceful and calm than this. This prophecy required utmost attention from every king, princess and ruler on Equis.

The Old Dragon had never been wrong.

20 - Lich

Olivia was sitting on the floor in the library. The Angel was reading a few books about Equestrian History, a field of study that was entirely unfamiliar to her, like many others.

A white flash alerted her of the presence of her boss.

Lucifer stood in the middle of the library, inspecting Olivia’s new home.

“It seems nice,” he commented.

Olivia sighed, “What’s up, boss?”

“You are drafted,” Lucifer simply stated while locking his gaze with Olivia’s.

“Why?”

“Protocol ‘Far Fall’ has been activated. We suspect that the Lich King is responsible for the Fate manipulations and he is on the loose.”

“You know I have a important job here,” Olivia tried to defend herself.

“This is more important. Leave a note.”

Olivia sighed, “Understood, … but I will not be the one responsible for anything that might happen.” She quickly wrote a note for Hunter and pinned it on the door.

Lucifer smirked, “That is not of your concern. If anything happens, I will take responsibility.”

Olivia nodded and they both vanished in a white flash of light.

About 300 kilometers higher, Hunter was watching Rainbow and Twilight eating a few bacon strips. The ships food supplies were generous at the least and had allowed for a Bacon-&-Egg-Breakfast.

“Dead pig,” smirked Hunter.

Rainbow stopped chewing and Twilight looked aghast at Hunter, “WHAT?”

“Like I said, normally it’s made of dead pig parts. The ship assembles it from various proteins, though, so it is technically veggie,” Hunter was short of laughing at this point. Rainbow reacted by shrugging and continued chewing her meal.

Twilight on the other hand looked like she was about to puke, “That’s disgusting. Why didn’t you say that before you let us eat it?”

“Because I’m evil and you never asked?” Hunter countered sarcastically.

Twilight deadpanned, “I hate you.”

“I get that a lot lately, especially from you,” Hunter laughed out loud, “Now, look at the time.”

She stood up from the table, taking the three empty plates and putting them into the cleaning unit.

“You two should buckle up. Reentry is a lot more dangerous,” she warned and then paused shortly.

The three of them entered an awkward silence, which Rainbow broke first, “Well,....”

“Yep,” Hunter agreed and they left the dining area.

Hunter entered the cockpit first and sat down in the pilot’s seat. She flicked two buttons overhead and the lights on the cockpit lit up.

“Now, I have to warn you. I’ve never done this before, except in simulation and this is extremely dangerous,” she explained while entering data into the computer.

“And what exactly will you do?” asked Twilight curiously.

“Reentry. I will reduce our velocity until we will dip back in the atmosphere. We will use the drag and air compression to slow us down. There are many dangerous outcomes. If I get the angle wrong we will burn up or bounce back into space…”

“Bounce? On air?” interrupted Rainbow.

“We are moving at roughly 10 kilometers per second. There isn’t much difference between air, water or concrete, except that the last two take a bit longer to get out of the way,” Hunter explained, “Now, as I tried to explain, I have to check the course the ship and maintain altitude through lift. The engines won’t operate at these speeds. We could do a direct entry, but I’m not very skilled with the main engine yet.”

“And how is this thing going to generate lift? It is about as aerodynamic as the castle in the Everfree,” interrupted Rainbow again.

“If you interrupt me ONE more time, I will throw you out of this ship WHILE we are still in space. Anything will generate lift if it’s moving fast enough” - Hunter lowered her voice - “or has enough boosters.”

“Any more questions?” she asked.

“Nah,” responded Rainbow Dash.

“Good. Along-sih!”

“Do I look like I fucking care? No? Good,” retorted Hunter. She pushed a few buttons and Twilight could see little blue flames at the edges of the windows in the cockpits.

Twilight saw how everything around them was spinning and moving around, giving her a feeling of nausea.

Hunter pushed the throttle forward when the movement stopped and watched a few counter ticking down. When she was satisfied with the numbers she cancelled the thrust again.

The ship had been surprisingly calm during this maneuver.

“Good… goood. Our reentry angle will be almost 5 degrees,” Hunter stated, “Reentry in T minus five seconds.”

Twilight mentally counted down the five seconds, but nothing happened. “Did we miss it?” she asked.

“Nope. We are on reentry. Might take a few seconds…” said Hunter absently.

Not shortly after that, the Alicorn-turned-Human noticed the first effects of reentry. Little flames were licking at the lower rim of the windows. The whole ship began rocking around and rattling, sometimes a high-pitched whistle from the rushing air cutting through the orchestra of sounds.

It felt like an eternity until it became even worse. The flames changed, growing into a living inferno, that promised to devour any unprotected piece of the ship and the sound of air crashing into the ship, the forces enough to break apart the molecules in the air and ionize the leftovers.

An outsider would see a burning tail of fire behind the ship, which itself was a bright sun against the sky as it fell downwards.

Twilight and Rainbow observed this process in silence. The Pink Pony Princess tried to calculate the forces acting on and around the ship, but stopped when she realized that most models of chemistry and gases wouldn’t work under these extreme circumstances.

Another eternity later the flames died down. It was almost anticlimactic seeing the fire outside die down within seconds, when the speed of the ship reached almost normal levels.

Hunter reached up and flipped two switches over. The metals of the ship screamed under the forces as the engine ignited and reduced the speed, the ship was traveling at, further. The cacophony of the ship reached a new apex with the rushing of flames and groaning of bending metals.

The two ponies could only see blue sky outside. It was clear, without clouds. Slowly a mountain rose out of the lower rim of the windows. They descended slower and slower, until a golden and white tower appeared in view.

The ship came to a halt, essentially hovering in place as the engines held it in the air. On top of the golden tower was a balcony. On that balcony stood a white alicorn, which Twilight recognized as Princess Celestia. She waved awkwardly at the princess.

Hunter smirked. Twilight was confused by the Unicorns gesture. ‘Why would she show her middle finger to Celestia?’ Twilight mentally contemplated while Rainbow growled on her seat. The pegasus knew the gesture from her childhood friend Gilda.

In a completely different place, again, in a small forest near Equestria’s border to the Griffin Kingdom, a small energy orb appeared.

Lightning bolts shot out of the sphere, impacting the environment and starting a few small fires. The noises attracted a few local predators, even two Manticores, to the area.

A minute passed before the orb disappeared again. The two Manticores stared at the empty space, the prey the hoped for now gone.

Within the blink of an eye, the two Manticores were dead. Anything in the area, that the orb had appeared in, dropped dead instantly, all color and energy drained. The fires died down, as if choked below a blanket, now only producing smoke.

In the middle of the area stood a skeleton. It was devoid of any live, only small bits of rotting flesh clinging on it’s bones. It was almost 3 meters tall, otherwise mostly humanoid and bipedal in stance. The only exception were the horns on top of the skull, one broken off, the other intact. It remained motionless for a short while.

Two green dots appeared in the eyes of the empty skull. They inspected their surroundings. They gazed on the two dead manticores for a second before diverting again.

It began to walk. Each of it’s foot steps was pounding like a giant drum. It left the death circle it’s arrival had created.

Each time a foot came down on the ground, the grass and plants withered away, even their color leaving them.

A brave, third Manticore, who had taken longer to arrive, attacked. Mostly for prey, but also to retaliate for his fallen brethren.

The skeleton stopped and turned. The Manticore’s attack wilted and it even took a few steps back.

>>HALT<<

The sound of the creature’s voice wasn’t normal. It was absolute, a commanding power nothing could overcome. And it was cold. Devoid of life and harmony.

The Manticore froze on the spot. Everything seemed to fade away as him had to watch the creature walking closer. When it was about to touch him, its jaw moved again, the voice out of sync with the movement.

>>Do you know what I am, creature?<<

The beast of the forest understood and hesitantly shook his head. His body was shivering, feeling his death approaching.

>>I am the Lich. I am the King. The finality of existence. The end of life. You are a puny creature, making the absurd attempt to stand in my way. I am the end. Your end.<<

The Lich reached down to the Manticore’s head. When he touched it, the Manticore screamed up in pain.

The evil creature seemed to enjoy this moment of lust, before the puny little life in front of him withered and died. The body crumbled into ashes, falling on the ground and being slowly blown away by the wind.

The Lich laughed. The sound of the laughter echoed in the forest, sounding hollow, without emotion and dead.

>>Darkness and Fire shall consume this world.<<

It continued it’s march towards Ponyville. Nothing could or would stop it from fulfilling its mission while the gods were concentrating on the bait he laid out. Nobody and nothing would protect them.