I looked to Jack and the five vault hunters I had come to think of first as friends, but now as Villains and maniacs. “Test subject Caith, reporting for duty.”

Jack was talking over the echonet to Moxxi as I said this "Mox, I don't know about thi- wait WHAT?!"

I looked to him, my pale rose colored eyes burning with determination "I said, let me reboot the eye, you guys go find the vault, I am through dealing with these ass hats and am especially done dealing with you Jack, you egotistical bastard, after this is all over, don't expect me to take your bull crap anymore, you killed four innocents in cold blood, and you six." I looked to the C14P-TP, the enforcer, the Gladiator, the Law Bringer, the baroness, and the Doppelganger, who held me back as I tried to save Gladstone and his companions "You did nothing to stop him, you disgust me." I turned my back on them and walked to the reboot console. "I will activate it once you leave the station, go."

The entire group looked to me in shock, Wilhelm even pulling out his caustic shotgun he looted a few minutes previously "You little shit! I thought you were our ally!"

I looked to them sadly "I was, but then you all were swept up in Jacks madness. Now go."

Nisha looked to Wilhelm and then to me, tears in her eyes "Okay... goodbye, Caith."

I heard the fast travel send them off and looked to the reflection of myself in the destroyer’s eyes. I was wearing a Grey duster shimmering with a strange energy appearing and disappearing on my body, with various strange markings and words forming and disappearing on the smooth material, the words were old, even I couldn’t understand them, but the one thing that I noticed in the pattern of the words was that they all gave me the feeling of war, of rage… It was these words that I focused

I was also wearing black cargo pants. I looked to my hand to find it wrapped in fire, to which I was well used to by now, as well as my strangely demonic wings made of fire and brimstone. "From one monster to another, I'm sorry this happened to you..."

I focused and created a fireball, firing it from my hand into the air, it went on a little bit before exploding in a massive burst of hellfire. I then reached around and grabbed what felt like a large handle and pulled out my buzzaxe, its blade wrapped in fire and the back of the axe having a Skag skull attached to it, smoke emanating from the eyes and mouth. I then heard a whooshing sound as two doors appeared on either side of me, one ahead, and another behind. “I’ll never go back…” I activated the reboot sequence and saw a massive hole open up to my right and was sucked into the one ahead....

When I came to, I was in some sort of Tavern. A thin, fit looking younger looking irish gentleman in a red business suit and black shoes, with a fedora neatly placed on his head. He was sitting back in a wooden chair, his sleeves rolled up, and a chaos star tattooed on the back and front of each hand. A cane leaned against the wall next to him, with strange markings running down it, etched into the bark, and shining as if it was waxed quite recently. A dragon skull was adorning the top of the cane, and fire and red crystal filled the interior of the skull. The Irish gentleman looked to me and grinned “Well hello there, Caith! Good to see yah!”

I looked to him cautiously, my life teaching me that anyone who knows my name without me telling them is more than likely dangerous. As I shifted my stance, the man laughed “Oh, no need to be on edge, I’m a friend! Well, more like a meddlesome old man, but still, I wish to help you.”

I nodded slowly, still wary of this strange being. I do not think he was a human, as he seemed to know what I was thinking before-

“Yes, yes, I’m omniscient, gets pretty damn annoying really, you have no idea how much a pain in the ass it is to know every possibility in the dimension you are in, and in fact see them all at once, layered over each other. Makes it hard to see what’s in the now, really.” he then grabbed at thin air over the table, pulling out a pint of alchohol. Smelled like whiskey, guy must have a damn high tolerance. “Well what would you expect? I AM a god.”

I sighed in frustration. “Will you stop that?”

The man chuckled “What? Reading your mind? Fine, But let me answer some obvious questions. One: I am named Raphael Zmatok. Two: I am a being of Chaos, not anarchy, so I am the good side of change. And three: What I am offering you is a second chance at life.”

I looked to him with a brow raised “I suppose that there is a catch?”

Raphael shook his head amusedly “No, no catch, just live life as you see fit. I have every confidence that you will do the right thing.”

“So… say I was to say yes… where would I go?” I could not afford to go to a new world without knowing anything about it.

Raphael smiled mischievously “Now where would the fun in that be? I’ll just give you a hint, you know the world very well.”

I sighed and nodded, sensing I would not get any more information from him “I guess I’m in…”

Raphael nodded and smiled, tossing out a miniature door that turned full sized mid flight and opened when it landed, I shrugged and walked through, immediately blacking out as the door shut behind me.

???

As I came to, I realised I was in a large poster bed, tucked in under some soft sheets and my head on a pillow, i looked around and saw someone was in bed with me, I spent all of two seconds in shock before I mentally shouted ‘Damn you Raphael!’ I looked over again to see it was not a human, but an anthropomorphic equine, an alicorn specifically, so I was in Equestria...wait… this was an ALICORN… A WHITE alicorn… Goddamnit it’s Celestia.

Just then, Celestia rolled over and saw me I shushed her desperately "It's okay, I won't hurt-" aaaaaand that's when she promptly screamed for her guards while punching me in the face. I leapt from the bed and to the door, keeping it shut with one hand as I turned to her to explain myself. Instead, I found a fireball striking me in the face and engulfing me in –harmless- fire. I willed the flames out “You done? Can I explain myself now?” Celestia used her magic to throw me aside in her panic before gasping and turning to me as the guards entered the room, spears ready to gouge my freaking heart out.

I looked to them in a deadpan “Go ahead, kill the monster… who cares if it can talk?”

The guards looked to me in shock “You can speak Equestrian?”

“Eeyup.”

The guards were awestruck as Shining stepped forward, I realized it was Shining due to his mane and eyes, not his uniform, as he was but a lowly guard, I must have come here earlier in the timeline than when the show started “How did you learn?”

“Who knows, I was born talking. So… Mama, Dada, Gun, yeah, it’s all pretty basic.”

Shining Armor looked to me curiously “What’s a gun?”

“It’s like a compact bow that shoots hunks of copper lined lead faster than the speed of sound, we have recently made guns that shoot explosives and pyrotechnics as well.”

Shining shuddered “You… don’t have any of those, do you?”

I smiled warmly at them “No, I DO, however, have a means of self defense.” I willed myself aflame and then willed the flames out, shocking the ponies around me. “I also have this baby.” I pulled out my buzzaxe and showed it to them, making them leap back in fear. “Don’t worry, I won’t use it on an innocent, I swear on my life.”

Celestia eyed me warily, undoubtedly because of my poor first impression “Those teeth… are you, by chance, carnivorous?”

“Eenope.”

Shining raised an eyebrow suspiciously “What are you then?”

I smiled a toothy grin. “I am omnivorous, I can eat meat, fruit and veggies, but while I need a high concentration of protein in my diet, I can live without meat, and if you are asking my species, I am a human.”

Celestia nodded “Okay, where do you come from?”

“A giant glass tube in a cloning facility, where I was tested on and almost driven mad every day, and anyone I became friends with was killed.” I paused before smiling “Oh, wait, you mean what planet? The giant war zone Pandora, where every day is a fight for survival, be it from the skags, who eat everything in sight, to the bandits, who kill anyone who is not a fellow bandit, and being a bandit is no guarantee even then that you won't be killed by your fellow bandits. I am quite happy to be rid of them, truth be told and before you ask, I cannot explain my wings.”

Both Shining and Celestia looked to me in shock “H-how did you survive such a terrible place?!”

I sighed “When someone tried to kill me, I’d kill them instead.”

Celestia blanched “You…killed others?”

I nodded “Eeyup, only people who tried to kill me though.”

Shining nodded “You said you are a clone, who was the original?”

“I am actually a clone of two people, Brick the Berserker, who is so strong he can punch people hard enough to reduce them to red mist, and some poor soul owned by Hyperion named Krieg, I have all their potential abilities combined, and given the training to be the ultimate soldier. I refused to kill for the Atlas Corporation though, so they just turned me into a glorified lab rat.” I explained

Celly paled even further as she realized what I had lived through, I never could understand how their coats could change color… “How long were you tested on?”

“Five years, I was trained for twelve.”

Celestia looked pensive for a moment before looking to me “There has been rising need of monster hunters in Equestria, and you seem to be perfectly suited to the job. Would you like to become a protector of my ponies?”

“I would love to, but I have two requests.” I responded

Celestia raised an eyebrow “Oh?”

“Yes, I want a place to live, and a family.”

Celly looked puzzled “A family? I can easily give you a home, but why a family?”

I looked away embarrassedly “I… I have always wanted one…”

Celly nodded “I see. Come with me, I’ll see what I can do, I was about to raise the sun anyway.”

Shining raised his hand “Princess, why don’t you have my family take him in? My mom has wanted another child.”

Celly smiled at Shining “That’s right, let’s go see your family.”

We made our way to Twilights home, us talking about my life in Atlas's possession as Celly raised the sun

Celestia gasped, “So this Vernie character was a self aware machine who worked for the Crimson Lance, and he would free clones he was ordered to kill?”

“Eeyup.”

Shining was also intrigued, judging by his facial expression “And he was your only friend in there?”

“Eeyup, and before you ask, yes, Atlas found out about Vernie, and got rid of him, who knows where he is now.”

Celly stopped “We are here, let me speak to Twilights Mother, you go and wait over by that tree.”

I nodded and went to the tree by her house, it was a healthy looking willow tree, well tended and loved, I sat at it’s trunk and sighed happily as Celestia talked to the ponies that must have been her mother and father, after a few moments I saw a younger, smaller Twilight run out the front door, straight to me. She was by no means a filly, but she was what looked like a teenager. “Are you the new creature that wants to be in my family?”

“Yes, I would love to be in your family, tell me, how old are you?”

Twilight smiled at me “I’m fifteen years old! My brother is nineteen! How old are you?”

“I am seventeen, and I am going to be a monster hunter.”

Twilight gasped “But that job is sooo dangerous! And you are the only hooman in Equestria!”

I laughed “Ponies deserve a protector from the monsters of the world, and who better than the most dangerous human alive, in this or any world?”

Twilight thought a moment, then nodded “That makes sense, hay, what is your name?”

“I am Caith it is… Scoltish, I guess, for War.” I said after I realized that there were no Scottish men in this world, and that ponies use horse puns in their naming of places and cultures.

Twilight looked curiously to me “Why are you named that?”

“I was made to fight as a soldier in an army, having a soldier who can beat anyone and is named after war would make for good PR.”

Twilight nodded “Um…excuse me, but why do you have such scary wings?”

I shrugged “I have no idea, I was born with them, same thing with my fire powers, apparently Brick had a fire artifact equipped when he got copied… maybe that’s why?”

Twilight nodded pensively as her parents then came over to me “So, you want a family?”

I nodded “Yes, I want people I can turn to when my luck sours, and to have people that will do so when that happens for them… to…” I looked away embarrassedly “to have someone who actually cares for me, and that I can care for as well…”

They looked to me and smiled “Welcome to the family, son.”

I looked to my mom and dad, crying happily. “Thank you, I have always wished for this…”

I then went to Celestia and hugged her “Thank you…”

Celestia smiled and wrapped me in her wings “Your welcome, my little human…”

7 years later

I was sitting next to Twily as she read a book I knew all too well, it was the book she read when she discovered Nightmare Moons return. It had been seven years since I came to this world and both me and Shining have been promoted to captains of our outfits, I am the captain of the monster hunters, and Shining Armor is the captain of the Royal guard. I have learned several things that neither Krieg nor Brick could do, such as my ‘Firestepping’, where I turn into flame and fly over to where I will myself to go, basically phasewalking. I can also control whether or not if my flames hurt others, lastly, I can go fully psychotic whenever I wish, and I completely double in size when I do so, unlike a Badass Psycho, on the downside, I discovered that my speech skills degrade when I get this way.

Twily finally finished reading aloud and got up “Caith, I’m going to do some research, I’ll see you later.”

I smiled and firestepped over to her side “Don’t think you’ll be rid of me so soon, baby sis, I said I was hanging out with you today and that’s that, you’re stuck with me.”

Twily giggled and kept on walking “Don’t you have work today?”

I grinned as I matched her pace while walking backwards, my arms behind my head “Eenope, I’ve got the week off for slaying that pack of Timberwolves that was terrorizing Manehattan.”

Twily nodded “You are the perfect match for timberwolves, what with your flames and all. Speaking of warmth, You know, I’ve gotta say, you’ve really warmed up to ponies over the years, maybe you should get a marefriend, hmm?”

I blushed and stammered “D-don’t be ridiculous! W-what mare would be interested in me?”

Twily laughed “I know a few.” She laughed as I rolled my eyes doubtfully

We made it to the library in record time as we talked, I opened the door for Twily “After you, mademoiselle.” She walked in and I followed suit, as she looked for the book on the mare in the moon Spike walked in.

“Hey Twilight, hey uncle Caith, what are you up to?”

I smiled as I firestepped over to where I remember Spike got the book from the show and grabbed the book on the Mare in the Moon “Twily is looking for the book I have in my hands, like she has been for the last half hour.”

Twily turned to me and twitched her eye “You knew where that was?!”

“Eenope, I just guessed.” I firestepped over to her and handed her the book. After she sent the letter and basically got a letter from Celly saying to get a life, we got in a chariot going to ponyville, and I honestly couldn’t believe I was going to meet the rest of the elements of harmony!

“I can’t believe Celestia is just ignoring this blatant threat to Equestria!” Twily fumed as the chariot landed

“I think she might be doing what she thinks is best for you, little sis.” I smiled as I saw Pinkie approach us “Hey, why don’t you talk to the Pink mare coming behind you?"

Twily turned to Pinkie Pie and attempted to speak to her, only getting out a nervous “Hello, I’m Twilight and-” before Pinkie gasped and ran off.

I turned to Twily “I bet you eighty bits she is planning you a party.”

Twily looked to me ludicrously before smiling “I bet you a hundred she is just plain crazy and there is no party.”

Spike raised his claw “I bet twenty on Twilights side.”

“Okay, if there IS a party, you both owe me a total of two hundred bits.”

Twily nodded and shook my hand “Deal!” We kept on walking until we made it to AJ’s orchard, where we found AJ bucking the apples out of trees. Twily walked to AJ and cleared her throat “Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle and-”

AJ looked to Twily and shook hands with her rapidly “Well Howdy doo there Twah’! Ah’m jes’ pleased as punch ta have y’all here, so what brings y’all here?”

Twily’s hand was shaking after AJ released her and Spike helped her stop her hand “I’m here to oversee the summer sun celebration, here specifically to check the food preparations for the celebration.”

AJ gestured to me “What about you, partner?”

I grinned and shook her hand hard enough to daze her like she did Twily “I’m here to keep Twily company and hunt monsters.”

AJ Gasped “Y’all are a Monster Hunter? Hoowee that’s right impressive!”

I smiled “Thank you, now how are those food preparations? Me and my sister here have to check the rest of the preparations as well.”

AJ grinned “How’s about I shows y’all?” She ran to a triangle and rang it with her spoon “Soup’s on everypony!”

A stampede of ponies swept us up and deposited us at a table laden with apple pastries, AJ then began to list off all sorts of apple foods and types, which also seemed to be represented by Apple family members, she then tried to give Twily a pastry by shoving it in her mouth but I gently put a hand on her hand, mouthing ‘not yet’ AJ got the message. “Say hi to Twalight sparkle an’ Caith! Shoot, I think yer practically part of the family already!”

Twily smiled uncomfortably “Thanks, but I really have to get going.”

Applebloom looked up to Twily sadly “You aren’t going to stay for brunch?”

I kneeled down and looked to AppleBloom, prepared fully to say no, but… then I looked at her puppy dog eyes and lost every shred of resolve, SHE’S JUST SO CUTE! “Okay, we’ll stay and eat.”

Twily shot daggers at me with her eyes “Hey, look at those puppy dog eyes and try saying no.”

Twily looked to Applebloom, tried saying no, sighed, then turned to me “I see your point…”

We each took a bite of an apple pastry, me eating a fritter and her eating a piece of pie, we then looked to each other so fast we cracked our necks loudly, then looked back to the food and dug in voraciously…

[After the feast]

“Oooh… my stomach…” I groaned as I finished barfing in a bush, Spike and Twily were puking in the same bush next to me “Well, at least the bush gets to digest delicious apples, maybe it’ll turn into an apple bush...”

Spike and me then helped Twily up as we made our way to the town square, where RD tackled Twily into the mud. Twily groaned as she got up “Owww…. What happened?”

I pointed to RD casually “She tackled you into the mud by accident, don’t hold it against her, she was going really freaking fast.”

RD looked to me in shock “What the hay are you?”

“I am a Monster Hunter, name’s Caith, and I am the big brother of the mare you tackled into the mud, don’t worry, she’s tough.” I walked over to Twily and helped her up. “You okay Twily?”

Twily shook her head clear of cobwebs, spraying mud all over me, to which I firestepped over to Twily’s other side so as to get the mud off of me, making RD freak the heck out

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF SPITFIRE’S SOARIN’S HOT FLANK WAS THAT?!”

I smiled “That was my special skill, firestepping. It let’s me basically teleport, except I turn into fire and fly where I want to go, and can control who the flames hurt.”

As expected, RD smirked after calming down a bit. “That’s pretty cool, not as cool as me, but still.”

Twily rolled her eyes as I pointed to her “Hey, skittles, mind cleaning up my little sis?”

RD laughed “My name isn’t skittles, it’s Rainbow Dash, and sure, hold on!” She flew off, returning a few moments later with a raincloud, which she bounced on to release a torrent of rain unto my beloved sister. This, of course while cleaning her off, left her dripping wet. “Oh! Hold on, I can fix it!” She flew around Twily in a tornado “There you go! My patented Rainblow dry!” We looked to Twily to find that she had a mane style quite similar to that of Pinkie Pies “*snrk* Bwahaha!” Spike and RD began to roll on the floor laughing, tears threading their eyes. Twily and I rolled our eyes as the two of them got back up “You’re a laugh Twilight Sparkle! I can’t wait to hang out again!”

Twily stammered as RD flew off, I looked to her and smiled warmly “Let’s go Twily, we have to go to our next stop.”

Twily sighed and nodded “Okay, BBBFF, let’s go…”

She led me to the town hall, where Spike gasped “Beautiful…”

Twily nodded “Yes, the decorations are stunning!”

Spike shook his head, steering Twily’s head towards Rarity “Not the decorations, her!”

I sighed and walked up to Rarity with Twily and Spike at my side, she was talking to herself about the décor “Oh, this just looks spectacular! But… there’s something missing…”

I saw the ribbon that she needed and firestepped over to it, I then firestepped over to Rarity and tapped her on the back of the head “Excuse me, but is this what you are looking for madam?”

Rarity turned to me and gasped “Darling, what are those… those RAGS you are wearing?”

I smiled “These are the only clothes I have that stay on and don’t burn when I firestep.” Rarity looked confusedly at me “Here, let me show you.” I firestepped over to in front of Twily “See my dilemma? Now, my sister needs to speak to you.”

I stepped out from in front of Twily and Rarity screamed in horror as she saw her mane “Why Darling! What ever happened to your couture?”

Twily looked confused for a moment “Oh, you mean my mane? Long story, but everything here looks fine, so I’ll just get out of your hair.”

Rarity looked to Twily sadly “My hair? But Darling, what about YOUR hair? Come with me, I’ll help you out.”

Twily tried to free herself as Spike floated after them and I followed to Carousel boutique, when I entered, Rarity had somehow already fixed Twilys mane, most likely using magic of some sort. She was now looking to me as she got ready a dress for Twily “So, tell me about yourself.”

I smiled “Well, my name is Caith, I’m a Monster Hunter, I am Twilight Sparkle’s adoptive big brother, and my weapon of choice is the buzzaxe, magical element focus is fire, anything I am missing, madam? If not, may you tell me of yourself?”

Rarity smiled “Gracious me, what a gentlecolt! My name is Rarity, I have a little sister named Sweetie Bell, I work at the boutique you are currently standing in, I am neutrally centered in my magic,like most unicorns, and I do not use weapons.” She then found the gown she was looking for and turned to Twily, putting the dress on her and tightening the straps on her dress “How about you, hmm? Anything you want to discuss, how about where you two are from?” Damn… she doesn’t even notice Spike…that’s cold…

Twily gasped as she struggled for air “I’m… from… Canterlot…”

Rarity gasped as she released Twily from the unintentional stranglehold “Oh! I’ve always wanted to go to Canterlot, the fashion, the sophistication, the grace!”

I sighed disgustedly “The snobs.”

Rarity looked to me a moment “Excuse me?”

“Excluding a choice few, most of the ponies in Canterlot are snobbish pricks who honestly don’t deserve your fashions. Especially that eggsucker Prince Blueblood.” I looked to Twilight to see her leaving in a hurry “I’ll tell you why this is true after the Summer Sun Celebration, okay?” I firestepped out the open window and down the road, right next to Twily as she walked down the road to find Fluttershy conducting her birds, as Twily was about to speak I shushed her “Spike, go tell her a pony and a rare creature are here to see her.”

Spike nodded and walked over to Flutters, who eeped and turned around to see Spike before he said his piece and Flutters nervously came our way, she saw me and began running faster than Pinkie on a quadruple sugar high “Oh my goodness! I-I’ve never seen a pet like this before! What’s his name?”

At this last comment she had turned to Twily, I cleared my throat “Excuse me, but my name is Caith, and I am a full-fledged Equestrian Citizen, not a pet.”

Flutters blushed “Oh, I-I’m so sorry…”

I smiled warmly “Don’t worry, I’ve gotten a thick skin against insults, as long as you are nice to my little sister I am fine.”

Flutters gasped “You have a little sister? Oh, she must be so cute!”

I laughed “She’s only younger than me by two years, but she’s the cutest little unicorn you could ever meet, I’m adopted you see, she’s right here.”

I gestured to Twily and Flutters hid behind her mane, Twily walked to Flutters and smiled warmly “Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle, who are you? You’re birds were extraordinary!”

“I…I’m Fluttershy” She was so scared she could barely speak, it was so adorable.

I smiled at Flutters and turned to Twily “Her name is Fluttershy, I’m going to assume her special talent is animal care, and I think she will need time to get used to us before she opens up, she seems quite shy.”

Twilight nodded and we turned to leave, but I felt a tug on my pantleg “C-could I come with you?”

I smiled and nodded, we walked to Golden Oaks Library with me, Spike, and Fluttershy talking the whole way, I managed to get Twily to add her piece here and there. When we eventually got to Golden Oaks I opened the door for my three friends and walked in. I found that the room was pitch black, I calmly waited as Twily looked for the lightswitch, the lights turning on quickly as all of ponyville jumped out “Surprise!”

Pinkie then ran up to Twily “DidIsurpriseyouIhopeIsurprisedyouhowdoyoulikethewelcomepartyIplannedthispartyforyouwhenIsawyouintownsquareIknewIneversawyoubeforeandthatmeansyoumustbenewwhichmeansyoumustbelonelyanditstinksbeinglonelysoIthrewyouthispartysoyoucouldmakesomefriendsbuttheauthormadeyououtofcharacterduetoCaithbeingyourbigbrotherandmakingyounicersoyoubeatmetoitandalreadymadesome!” Twily was ignoring Pinkie as she poured herself a drink, which I knew to be hot sauce, a massive part of me wanted to save her from the spiciness of her beverage, but I knew I should not interfere in this point of their getting to know each other, I was pushing it with Flutters meeting with Twily. I sat by the door as Twily drank the hot sauce and she ran up the stairs with tears in her eyes. Pinkie smiled “D’aaw, she’s so happy she's crying!" Pinkie then saw me and gasped “OhmygoshIorgottoplanapartyforyou!”

I smiled “No worries, you doing all this for my baby sis is plenty.”

Pinkie looked unconvinced “B-but… I have to throw you a party…” Her hair was beginning to flatten out, which I remembered to be a BAD sign.

I quickly sprung to action, doing the first thing that came to mind “Tell you what, go out with me some time and I’ll call it even.”…wat... HOLY BALLS OF FIRE DID I JUST ASK A MARE OUT?!

Pinkie blushed as her hair poofed up even fluffier than before “Y-you want to… d-date me?” No going back now… might as well go all in.

I swallowed hard and calmed myself before nodding “Yes, I would love to, but I thought I was asking you?”

Pinkie giggled and hugged me “I’d love to go out with you; you seem super-de-duper nice!”

I smiled as Twily came down and Pinkie detached herself from me, bouncing over to the rest of the girls and telling them what just happened, RD and AJ looked to me in shock as Rarity swooned, Flutters just said “Oh…My…”

Twily must have overheard Pinkie as she ran over to me “What are you doing?! You just met that mare and you started courting her!”

I rose my eyebrow in amusement “What, are you jealous I have a special somepony, Twily? If that is the case, I am certain you could find yourself a coltfriend, heck, you could probably have your own herd if you wanted. And what happened to you saying I should get a marefriend? Or are you mad you and Spike owe me those 200 bits?”

Twilight blushed and stammered; eventually Spike came to us, wearing a lampshade that I know not the origin of as a hat “Hey guys, it’s time for the summer sun celebration!”

I took 200 bits each from Twily and Spike before I opened the door and held it for the partygoers, I firestepped to the town hall just in time for Twily to burst out the front doors and run to the Library, to which I firestepped right back, I entered the Library and waited for Twily to come in, when she came and put Spike to bed I opened the window so RD could get in without making a mess. Twily was searching frantically as the rest of the girls came in. “Elements of Harmony, Elements of Harmony! Where is that book?!”

RD got in Twily’s face after she came in “Just what ARE the elements of harmony, hmm? And how did you know about Nightmare moon? What are you, a spy?”

I stepped in between Twily and RD “No, she read it in a book, heard of one, or are you too obsessed with being a mindless jock to have learned to read?”

RD looked at me in pure fury “Why I ought to! Put ‘em up!”

I smiled “No thanks, I’d rather not beat the snot out of a mare.” Okay, I’ll be honest, I really don’t like people smack talking Twily, and RD’s show offish ways just rub me the wrong way.

Pinkie looked to me in surprise “Why are you being such a meanie pants? You were so nice during the party!”

I calmly turned from RD to Pinkie “I apologize, but I do not appreciate ponies bullying my baby sister, somepony messes with her, they mess with me.”

RD looked to me a moment “T-that’s actually pretty cool… for a jerk.”

I smiled “That’s quite alright, I’m completely pleasant unless if you mess with those I hold dear, and you have every right to dislike me currently.”

I walked to the door and waited for Pinkie to give Twily the book, once this transpired, Twily opened the book and began reading, it was all quite familiar, until she got to the end “…Hey! There’s a note! And it’s to you, Caith!” I curiously walked over to Twily and took the note, it was on old, crinkled paper.

‘Dear Caith

True strength is when one holds on to their beliefs, and protects those dear to them, even when the world around them is crumbling at its very foundation and it would be easier to just let it all burn around you. You are strong; never forget that. An old ally from home is coming to assist you in your time of need.

See you soon; a friend.’

I smiled “Seems an old friend is coming to see me soon… let’s go save Equestria, hmm?”

Twily smiled and nodded to me “Let’s go Caith!”

Pinkie and AJ blocked the door “Hold on there! We’re coming too, y’hear?”

Twily piped up to argue, but I touched her shoulder and shook my head “Safety in numbers, young Twilight.” Twily huffed and went to the forest, me and the girls following close behind, I kept going at a calm pace until I heard something I should NOT of been hearing here, the low growl of Diamond Dogs “Girls, get back, we’ve got trouble.”

The girls got behind me as five D-dogs came out of the brush; they were larger than me by two heads, and were heavily armored. “Lookee here boys, a couple of nice young mares! Let’s bring ‘em to the Alpha for a sweet reward, maybe he’ll even let us join in on the fun!” Twily whimpered and backed up even further as the one closest to me laughed, unaware of the rage he was filling me with, and the danger he was in. “ Forget you guys, I’m having my fun with the purple one!”

I felt my rage reach its peak as I unleashed my inner beast and took out my Buzzaxe and rushed the D-dogs “The Voices Said Empty,” I reached the middle of the group and swung my axe horizontally, beheading two of them with ease “Hollow,” I grabbed another two and smashed their heads together, creating a crimson explosion of gore and fear “ AND THUD!”I grabbed the last survivor by the legs and flung him into the air, sending a fireball barreling into his chest cavity, making him explode into flaming meat chunks, which fell down to the ground.

I saw the alpha coming out of a cave in the distance and growled hatefully “Come to me, wrath sponge! I shall consume your heart of darkness and bleed out the light! Because I! AM! WAR!” I ran at the alpha and tackled him, then threw him at the feet of my friends before firestepping on top of him and grabbing his head, forcing him to look at my sister and friends, who had fearful, disgusted looks on their faces “NEVER FLASH A SASSY EYE AT MY LITTLE PONIES, OR I’LL KILL YOU ALL AT THE CROSSROADS OF MY MIND!”

The alpha nodded quickly “Yes, yes! I’ll leave ponyville alone! Just please don’t kill me!”

“THE PACK MUST BE STILL AS THE JELLIED FANTASIES OF MY WASTED YOUTH!”

“Yes, yes! The whole pack will back off!”

I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and marched to his cave before tossing him rump first into his cave, I then firestepped over to the girls and reverted to normal, again thankful that my duster and cargo pants were able to grow and shrink with me as I calmed myself down “Well, that was… unpleasant.”

Rarity looked sick as RD just stood there, Twily eventually broke the silence “D-does that happen every time you fight?”

I frowned “No, only when I deem it necessary, their version of ‘fun’ is torturing and raping ponies, the younger the better, hearing them planning to do that to my friends and family… that was intolerable, they deserved no mercy.” I saw the look of fear and mistrust in my friends eyes, and the fear in Twily’s… I could swear my heart broke right then… I looked to the general direction of the castle and began walking “…We should keep going…”

We made our way to a cliff and RD began to talk, but I was too depressed to listen to her, suddenly, the ground gave out beneath us and I slid to the edge and fell off, I firestepped safely to the ground, looking up to find Twily dangling from a ledge I frantically looked to either side of me to find two all too familiar pegasi “RD! FLUTTERS! CATCH TWILY!” Twily fell down right as my airborne allies flew to her aid, catching her in midair and taking her gently to the ground, I ran to Twily and hugged her “Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?”

As I held up three fingers Twily stood there dumbstruck “Y-you saved me… again…”

I nodded slowly as RD and Flutters helped the rest of the mares down “You are my baby sister, it is my job to keep you safe,” I looked to everypony and sighed “Look, I’m sorry you all had to see me like that, it’s something that was hardwired into my brain and I can’t fix it. I do not regret killing those mutts, however, as they had obvious practice with torture, I could smell blood on them…”

Rarity smiled at me “Darling, I think I speak for all of us when I say that while your methods were… unnapealing, you did what needed to be done.”

Pinkie jumped at me and wrapped me up in a hug “Yeah! You were just trying to protect us!”

RD nodded “That’s right! While it was kinda gross, it was also pretty awesome how you just beat down on those bad guys.”

Flutters smiled at me shyly “ You had the best intentions, I just wish we could of solved the problem without violence…”

AJ nodded “Shoot, I heard what those varmints were gonna do to us, Ah’d’ve dun’ wupped ‘em mahself!”

I finally looked back to Twily, who was back on the ground and looking up at me “I… I guess you are doing all this for us…l-let’s keep going…”

We kept going until we heard another growl, this one decidedly more feline. I saw a manticore approach as the girls tensed for combat, excluding Flutters. I stepped between the girls and the manticore, my arms outstretched “Wait, let Flutters deal with this.”

They all looked to me incredulously as Flutters went to the manticore, RD even flew up into my face “Are you nuts?! That thing will eat her alive!”

I smiled knowingly “Oh, don’t worry, I know she’s got this handled.”

“Now now, I know something’s wrong, just tell me what’s bothering you.” The manticore seemed to pout and hold out its paw to her, showing a ‘splinter’ the size of a large branch…ouch. “Oh, you poor baby, here, let me take care of that. Now, this may hurt a bit, just hold on.” She ripped the thorn out and the manticore roared in her face before licking her appreciatively.

I smiled and walked up to the manticore and petted its mane “Attaboy, thanks for trusting flutters here.” The manticore purred and pushed against my hand with its head “Tell you what, if you want I’ll give you a home just meet me when I call you, that okay?” The manticore nodded happily and licked my cheek “Now, how about a name? What about… Dougan?” Dougan nodded happily as I stood up. “Good, I’ll see you later, we’ve got to go now, okay?” Dougan nodded and let Fluttershy and I go as we made our way onwards.

Twilight stopped Flutters and me “How did you two know it had a splinter in its paw?”

Fluttershy smiled “Oh, I didn’t, we just all need a little kindness sometimes.”

Twily looked to me now. “How about you?”

I smiled “I’m a Monster Hunter, it’s part of my job to case my prey, and it was limping on the paw that had the giant hunk of wood in it.”

Twily blushed as she realized how obvious it was “Oh…right.”

I smirked “Don’t worry, let’s get going, we’ve still got a ways to go.”

Twily nodded and we made our way once again, as we walked Rarity began to complain “Ugh, my eyes could use a rest from all of this icky muck!” Just then, all light vanished from the forest “…I wasn’t being serious!”

I began to tune them out until I heard the girls all begin screaming in terror, I looked around to see faces on trees, they looked quite humorous actually, and Pinkie seemed to notice this, as she began to laugh at the trees Twilight looked to Pinkie in shock “Pinkie! What are you doing?!”

Pinkie giggled “Oh girls, don’t you see? When I was a-“

Just then, time stopped and Raphael appeared in front of me “You’ve heard this enough times to know what happens. I’m just going to skip it.” He took out what looked like a tv remote and fast forwarded the world around me, reality blurring until he disappeared and I was walking with the girls.

Pinkie huffed as we kept on walking, muttering under her breath “Meanie pants Raphie… skipping my song…” Pinkie sighed and kept walking as we made our way to a raging river.

Twily looked exasperatedly to me after recovering from being weirded out by Pinkie “Why are there so many things in our way?”

I smiled at my sister “Because life is a constant struggle? I don’t know, maybe there is some douchebag in control of our world who thinks this is funny.”

A rock the size of a football then clocked me in the head and knocked me into the shallows of the river and Pinkie pulled me out “Raphie! If I can’t break the fourth wall, neither can you!”

… nothing more happened

Pinkie smiled “Thank you!”

I just stood there in wonder at the one sided conversation, I then shook my head and got up to walk to the other girls with Pinkie at my side, I found that they had already met the sea serpent, who will now be referred to as Steven Magnet, had just had his moustache by Rarities tail hair…gross, that must smell like ass. Steven made his body a bridge for Twily and our friends, “Please, allow me!” as they hopped across, I firestepped to the other side of the river, getting bone dry in the process.

We made our way to the collapsed bridge and Twily almost fell down the cliff face, I quickly pulled her up as RD laughed “What’s with you and falling off of cliffs today?”

Twily sighed as Pinkie looked for another way across, not finding any “What now?”

RD flared her wings “Duh.” She flew over to the other side.

I firestepped right next to RD and took out my buzzaxe “You tie the ropes, I’ll stand guard.”

RD nodded and got to work as the Shadowbolts materialized in a dark fog, I stood stock still as they approached RD, not of my own free will, but from…something in the air… my mind was getting fuzzy… I couldn’t… think straight… I saw RD shake her head as if to say no, and then the Shadowbolts began to close in on us, I tried to raise my weapon, but I was greatly weakened by whatever this fog was doing to me. I tried to fight off the effects, only to fall to my knees, it looked like I was going to die here… Goodbye Twily, Pinkie, girls…

Just then I saw a familiar figure rush through the fog and slice through the Shadowbolts, turning them into a purple cloud of mist that flew into the castle, the fog and its effect on me gone in a flash. I stood up to find Vernie staring at me “Greetings Caith, it is good to see you again.”

I grinned “Vernie, I thought it was you who our friend was bringing here.”

I looked down to see he was equipped with a Katana that was made of the same metal his white chassis was, with black lines designed to look like veins going along the back of the blade. The metal was named, after Dr. Albertson, who invented the metal, the vain bastard. Vernie was a chalk white colored android with a perfect sphere for a head and a camera shutter as an eye, he had a humanoid build complemented by a balanced stance and quick, graceful movements.

Vernie nodded “I assume this friend sent you a letter as you awoke in a field of strange, chiming flowers that was located in an albertonium chest lined with chrome?”

I shook my head “Nope, mine was in a book I found seven years after being sucked in here by a giant eyeball, by the way,what did you name the katana?”

Vernie smiled, which basically constituted him projecting an emote smily face “ I named her little death god.”

RD looked confusedly to Vernie as the rest of the girls came across the bridge “Hey, Caith who’s this guy?”

I smiled and put an arm on Vernies shoulder and looked RD in the eyes “This is Vernie, my best friend from my younger years.”

Twily gasped “THIS IS VERNIE?!” She ran to Vernie and hugged him “Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou! You saved Caith’s life!” She broke the hug and looked to the girls with a blush “Sorry… it’s just that Caith told me about vernie all the time… anyway, let’s go! We have to get the Elements of Harmony!”

I smiled as the girls, Vernie and I walked to the front door, Vernie opened one end of the door and I the other as the girls walked in and us after them, and we found Twily was telling the girls to go as she tried to activate the Elements of Harmony. We left with them to wait on Twily until we heard her scream, we quickly ran into the tower that held Twily, the girls close on our heels. I saw Twilight look to us and a spark went off in her eyes; she smiled as she turned to Nightmare Moon “No, the Elements live on, in my friends!” The shards of the Elements of Harmony rose from the ground and orbited around the girls. “Applejack, who eased my worry with her words of truth represents Honesty!” AJ’s shards converged on her and formed an orange apple shaped gem with a green stem. “Fluttershy, who tamed the wild manticore and soothed its wounds represents Kindness!” Flutters eeped as the shards converged, forming a pink butterfly gem. “Pinkie Pie, who banished our fears by making us laugh represents Laughter!” Pinkie giggled as her shards converged, forming a blue balloon gem. “Rarity, who soothed a woeful serpent with a meaningful gift represents Generosity!” Rarity just stood there as the shards converged on her and formed a diamond shaped azure gem “And Rainbow Dash, who denied her heart’s desire in favor of her friends represents Loyalty!” they then fired their rainbow beam at Nightmare Moon, and We expected that to be that, but she dodged it!

Nightmare Moon laughed “Did you really expect me to stay still for that? How Foalish!”

I thought quickly, focusing on Nightmare moon with all my might, my eyes becoming red and demonic as I spoke out instinctively “Ruptor coronam chao!” Right as I sent the spell Nightmare Moons way, she sent a spell towards the girls, I leapt in its path and prepped another spell “chao clypeus!” I turned to the girls as my first spell hit Nightmare Moon, disorienting her as if she had a concussion. “QUICK! USE THE ELEMENTS!” I watched as the girls eliminated Luna’s alter ego and fell next to Vernie as the rainbow beam washed over him and felt…weak… I used… too much magic…couldn’t stand up… felt… so tired… Pinkie...running to me…sleep…

Author's Note

Yo, Krahtorra here, looking for somepeople to do artwork of my guys for the story. Anyone who wants to, please pm me for details!