When I stepped outside the sun blinded me with its piercing rays. I squinted my eyes for a few minutes trying to get use to the harsh light. When I was able to see, I headed off into the woods to find a large enough clearing to place the small supplies of solar panels.

“Hey Sarah can you let Tyrock know that I'll be back by dinner time.” I said, tapping the activation button on the ear piece, making sure it has a connection.

“Sure thing. Do you have everything you need?” She asked, confirming I had a signal.

“I don't think that this will be enough to power the whole house completely. We will have to run the generator more often to keep the batteries charged, which we won't be able to do for long.” I said, stomping through the thick brush. The pigeon driving over it like it was a pile of paper. “But I think we could make something work.”

I bushwhacked my way for about three hundred yards before I came across a small river. It was five foot across and two foot deep. The water was so clear I could see the rock covered bottom. The bottom was covered in an array of colors, from a dark gray to a light golden tan, giving the impersonation of marble. I could see a small assortment of fish swimming in the crystal clear water, I even spotted some rainbow trout trying to swimming upstream, and a couple of bluegills hiding under the grassy river banks. Those were just the ones I could recognize. There was one that almost looked like it was on fire. The golden flames streaking behind it like it was a meteor falling through the atmosphere.

As I looked at the small fire ball, the pigeon came and bumped me in the back. I turned and held my wrist above the front panel and it backed up. The reason was, it is locked on to the watch I wore on my left wrist. So when its sensors couldn't lock on to the watch, it marked the area where it last saw it, then search from there. So it saw me moved my hand behind it, causing it to switched in reverse and backed up a few feet. When it stopped, I knocked on the top, causing it to park. I walked around to the back and climbed on top of the flat bed and removed my watch. After strapping it back up to complete the circuit, I threw it across to the other side of the river. Once it landed, I knocked on the top again and the pigeon lurched forward into the cool water.

I’m not afraid to get wet, I just don't want to have to deal with it while I’m working on the panels. You know, the whole water and electricity thing. As the front of the pigeon dipped into the water, I checked the panels and supplies making sure they were completely secure so the panels wouldn’t get damaged. I could hear the sound of the rubber padded tracks crunching over the pebbled bottom of the river floor. When it reached the other end of the bank, it stopped. I looked over the side, trying to see why, but couldn’t spot anything. Then the pigeon lifted up.

The main body of the pigeon is designed to lift itself like a scissor lift, but it can also lift each of its four tracks separately, making it so it could climb over rough terrain. This was one of the designs that Jason stole from us.

Just the thought of that made me remember that I was stuck on a planet that wasn’t my own. Then the pigeon lurched forward, making me have to grab one of the straps to prevent myself from falling off into the river.

“Son of a bitch.” I complained, pulling myself back up on the platform. “Note to self, check the transmission on the pigeon when I get back.”

When the pigeon was completely on the other side, I jumped off and went to retrieve my watch. Once it was firmly secure back onto my wrist, I continued bushwhacking my way through the thick vegetation. After going a hundred yards I came across a large clearing.

The clearing was about two hundred and fifty feet across with a strange looking blue flower growing in patches across the area. They were almost a baby blue, with a navy blue pin stripe down the middle of each petal. Then I saw something else that caused me to check if I was still sain. There was a flock of flowers floating across the clearing, each one was encased in a bubble. As I got closer I could see that It wasn't really a bubble; it was actually a very thin layer of membrane that gave it the appearance of one. However, one would be forgiven for confusing it for a bubble, seeing as how they floated over the forest floor, casually drifting in any direction. Inside the membrane sphere was a small, electric blue colored flower. Its long stem was extremely thin, and curled around itself within its orb casing, making it look like a green web. The plant also had some sort of natural lighting which caused it to glow in the shade, creating a jaw dropping beautiful scene as they danced across the clearing.

As one slowly floated towards me by a gentle breeze. I reached out my hand catching the fragile specimen in my palm. The membrane bubble was about the size of a grapefruit, and was soft to the touch, almost like a ball of cotton. When I caught it, I was suddenly looking at it as if it was being held out to me by someone else's hands.

The hands were almost a soft creamy white. The nails were painted a sky blue color with a yellow sun on each of the perfectly formed nails. That told me the person was a woman. I couldn’t see her face, or anything else about her. She was nothing but a dark shadow except her hands. There was a white wooden fence surrounding me, giving me the impression that I was in a crib. I was laying on my back, looking up at her as she was holding the flower above me. I could see there was also a small wooden mobile hanging above the crib. There was a yellow sun in the middle with six, six pointed stars circling it with a rainbow sitting above, between two white clouds. I reached out to touch the flower, but my hand were that of a newborn child.

“Careful sweetie, you don’t want to damage it or it won’t fly.” I heard a motherly voice say. It was slightly distorted, like it was through a bad phone.

“Oh let him hold it, he won’t hurt it.” I heard a male voice say, followed by footsteps on a plush carpet. Then I could see another shadow standing behind the woman. A hand rested on the edge of the crib, along with one on the woman’s shoulder. The hand looked rough and worn with small white scars, like the hands of a mechanic.

“He is a lot stronger than you think Ben.” She said, looking over to this ‘Ben’ person.“He’s going to be responsible for some amazing things.” The flower lowered closer to me as she looked away, putting it within my reach. As soon as I touched it, the flower exploded like a bottle rocked on the fourth of July, but only with a silent bang.

I shook my head, bringing me out of the vision. I looked down at the flower still in my hand, trying to make sense of what I just saw. I thought about it, the details became more and more distant but the irritating fact was that the name 'Ben' sounded so familiar. After a few seconds, I lifted my hand and let the delicate sphere float on with its friends.

“Stones how’s it going out there, any luck with finding a clearing?” I heard Tyrock say through the earpiece.

“I think I found one that will work.” I said turning to the pigeon and pulling out a small tool belt. “I should have the panels up in about five hours.”

8.25 miles away in Canterlot.

Celestia took in a deep breath and calmly walked into the dining hall, trying not to aggravate the migraine she has suffered with for the last half hour. When she walked in, she saw her sister sitting at the far side, already eating her lunch of daisy sandwiches. Seeing her sister brought a smile to her face. As she headed over her adviser, Silver Ink walked up holding a letter on a silver tray.

“Your majesty, I have a letter from shining armor requesting your presence.” He said bowing and holding out the letter.
“Thank you Silver ink. I’ll look at it after I have finished eating lunch.” She said turning back to her sister.

“Your majesty I hate to inform you but it came by magic.” When he said that Celestia stopped. The reason is normally shining would send it by pegasus if everything was fine. But if it was sent by magic, which means something was wrong.

“Thank you Silver Ink.” She said picking it up in her magic. She broke the seal and unrolled it looking at the contents.

Dear princess Celestia

I have received word from a squad of pegasi of some strange noises coming from the Everfree forest. They described the sound as thunder, but stated that there were no clouds nearby. When they landed, they came across a small black object in the middle of a clearing full of dead Timber Wolfs remands. They retrieved the object and brought it back to me, along with a Timber Wolf’s head. The Timber Wolf received some unknown injury to its frontal lobe, killing it, but leaving its head intact. I am requesting your aid with the cause of death. I fear that whatever caused this could put ponies lives at risk.

Sincerely captain of the royal guards, Shining Armor.

As she reread the letter, Luna came over and started reading it over her shoulder.

“Tia,” Luna asked after sitting back down. “What do you think it is?

“I don’t know Lulu,” Celestia said. “Not many creatures would attack a pack of Timber wolves, unless it was threatened but no animal in the Everfree can sounds like thunder. The closes thing I can think of is the Glitermights, but they would have burned the Timber wolves. That still doesn’t explain the unknown object or the intact Timber wolf’s head. Whenever a Timber wolf is killed they basically self-destruct ”

“Shining Armor thinks it could be dangerous. What do you think?” Luna asked, taking a sip of her tea. The calmness of the question didn’t go unnoticed by the older sister.

“You don’t seem worried dear sister. May I ask why?” Celestia asked, rolling the letter back up and placing it next to her empty plate.

“I have yet to meet a beast that came out of that accursed forest that could out match me.” Luna said, puffing out her chest slightly. “Besides, I don’t think anything has come out of that forest that the elements of harmony couldn't handle.” Celestia smiled a little at the younger alicorn's cockiness.

“Maybe, but I still want to send a small squad of guards to check and make sure it’s not a threat.” Celestia said, turning towards Silver Ink. “Tell Shining Armor to send a squad of his best to the location. Also, tell him to place the object in the artifact vault until its origin can be determined along with the remains of the Timber Wolf.”

As the hours clicked by, the panels, slowly but surely, started to be set up. I have completed about fifteen in the last three hours, so I was getting along nicely. Every now and again one of the floating flowers came over and I would think about what I saw. I wouldn’t dwell on the thought for too long. After a couple more minutes, I had another panel hooked up to the center box where the power will be combined then sent to the house. I looked up at the sky checking the position of the sun, seeing that I had about thirty minutes left of light. I tapped my earpiece sending out a signal to Tyrock or Sarah.

“Hey guys, how’s things coming at the house?” When I didn’t get anything back I tapped the earpiece again, repeating the message. Again, silence.

Why won’t they answer? I asked myself. I walked over to the shutdown pigeon and knocked on the top. It gave off a small beep then raised itself up a little.

“Protocol 24, release weapons,” I said, taking a step back. The front of the pigeon opened up displaying two MI6 along with ten mags of ammo and four grenades. After slipped five of the magazines into the tool belts open pockets I pulled two grenades from their containers and slipped the detonation handles into my belt. I pulled one of the MI6s off the rack and looped the strap over my shoulder. Just when I was about to charge off into the bushes, my radio clicked on.

“Stones, we have a problem.” I heard Sarah say in a hushed whisper.

“What’s going on?” I asked heading for the house.

“Jane is awake and she says we are going to have company very soon.”

“Good company or bad company?” I stated, stopping just before the creek.

“She won’t say. all she said was just to get you back here now. Where are you?” she said worried.

“I’m about three hundred yards behind the house, across a small creek.” I said, walking along the bank, trying to find the best way across.

“Alright, when will you be back?” She said again, worried.

“Why, you miss me that much?” I said, smiling slightly. There was a slight pause on the other end, followed by static.

“Get here now or I’m going to lock down your lab.” She said in a calm voice.

“Copy that, back in a few.” I quickly said, praying that she was only joking. As I looked around the creek, I found a downed tree stretching across it. As I walked over, I pulled the rifle up against my shoulder, ready for any attack. I took a step on the log, testing the strength. Once I was satisfied it would hold my weight. I crept across the log, checking my surroundings, trying to spot Jane's so called ‘company’. Just when I was almost across the creek I heard a splash of water behind me. I turn just in time to see one of the flaming fish jumping out at me. Instead of a golden flame I saw earlier, it was now a bright blue fire. I swung the rifle hitting the fish back into the water. When it landed there was a puff of steam then it changed back to a golden color.

“I’m starting to get the feeling that everything in this damn forest is trying to kill me.” I mumbled under my breath, jumping off the log on the other side. I touched the rifle where I hit the fish. It felt like the outside of a fresh cup of coffee, warm to the touch.

A few minute later, I arrived at the back door of the house. When I stepped in, I saw Tyrock and Jane standing in the living room. Tyrock was facing away from me, rubbing the back of his neck. That was clear sign that whatever Jane was saying, it isn’t good. As I walked across the room, he turned, a surprise look plastered on his face.

“What’s going on?” I asked slipping the rifles strap off, resting the rifle against the back of a chair. Tyrock looked at Jane as she stepped forward.

“We’re all going to die.” She said, then there was a flash of light through the window, followed by the sound of thunder. We all look outside then back to Jane. “I didn’t planned that.” She stated with wide open eyes.

What do you mean we’re going to die.” Again there was a lighting flash. I looked outside and glared at the storm clouds rolling in. Somehow, I got the feeling it was laughing at me.

“Okay, putting the storm aside. Celestia has sent a squad of royal guards to come and investigate the strange sounds coming from the Everfree.” Jane spoke as if she was talking about the weather.

“How do you know they're coming for us, and who’s Celestia?” Jane looked at me like I was insane.

“Celestia is one of the rulers of Equestria and the one who controls the movement of the sun.” I returned the look she gave me a few seconds ago. “Their investigating the sounds of you two firing those guns earlier.”

“Controller of the sun?” I asked in a calm voice. I was about to bust out laughing, but then I remembered everything that has already happened today. “You know what, fuck it. So Celestia is sending a squad of guards to kill us, great.”

“Yes, we have to stop them from finding the house. If they do, Celestia will destroy us.” She said, putting a sense of urgency into her voice.

“Okay, how do we do that?” I asked, folding my arms. “ Do you even know the size of the squad and their equipment?”

“Squad size is six members, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies, three mares, three stallions. The three mares are night guards the stallions are Celestial guards. Equipment is standard eighth of an inch steel plated armor, not very effective with its multiple unprotected areas. The weapons total to four swords, two bows, and two sets of electric claws.” She explain with a tone that made it sound like she was naming off a shopping list.

In my head, I was coming up with a mental image of the weapons along with the standard thought of ‘what the fuck,’ when she said pegasi and how she knew that much about the squad.

“Are you telling me that there are horses that can fly here?” Tyrock asked, sharing my thoughts. Then I thought, didn’t Jane already tell him.

“Yes, and the term is pony, please keep up, feather head.”

“Alright, do you know where they are or when they are going to be here?” I asked, picking up the rifle and pulled back the slide.

“They are on their way from Canterlot. They could arrive within the next ten minutes. Also, we can’t hurt them.” I looked at her then at Tyrock.

“Well that’s just great. How are we supposed to stop them from finding the house if we can’t stop them from returning to Canterlot, or wherever?” I said holding the rifle by the mussel and holding my hand out.

“We could capture them and force them to not reveal our location.” Tyrock suggested.

“No we can’t do that either. If one escapes, they will know that there are humans here.” Jane commented. We stood there in silence for a few seconds then Sarah spoke up.

“How about you just scare them. Like how you scared your comrades at the academy?” She stated.

“That could work, but we don't have all the needed equipment and we can't cause them harm.” I said after thinking about it for a little bit.

”Jane, do they have combustible engines here?” Tyrock asked, catching my attention.

“What’s a combustible engine?” She asked, looking between me and Tyrock. We both looked at each other and smiled.

“I got Big Red you get the runner.” Tyrock said, heading for the garage with me and Jane right on his heels. Before we stepped out the door, I grabbed the two sets of keys hanging on a hook next to the door. As we headed over, I threw one set to Tyrock.

“It’s time to have some fun.” I said as I unlocked the black dodge 2500 ram runner. Tyrock jumped in the red 3500 ram mega-cab pickup parked next to it. Both had a black roll bar and push bar with L.E.D. light strips on both. Along with a heavy duty winch in the push bar and 36 inch mud tires with a one inch tread pattern. The runner is faster and has softer suspension along with more clearance, and was a manual transmission. Big Red had more torque and stronger suspension and was an automatic transmission.

After sliding the key into place and pushing down the clutch, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes trying to slowing my racing heart, then turned the key. The truck shook and roared to life. After tapping the gas a few times letting the turbo spool up. I opened my eyes to the sight of Jane staring wide eyed in front of me. I popped the T-handle shifter into neutral then opened the door.

“Hey what are you standing around for get in.” I said with a smile. She shook her head then raced over. I sat back down and leaned over to open the passenger door. She gave a little hop then landed on the passenger seat. Then I heard a small bark. I leaned forward to see Tyrock letting Hunter into the passenger seat of Big Red. After making sure Jane was seated and the door was shut all the way, I reached up and press the small button on the door opener. As the large garage door opened, I looked over at Jane while flipping the L.E.D.s on.

“You might want to hang on to something.” Then I shoved the shifter into first and dumped the clutch, burning the tires and shooting out into the black Everfree and the waiting storm. The first few drops splattering across the windshield.

Author's Note

hey sorry if this one took a while, leave a comment. I do enjoy talking back. If you see some quotes let me know what you think. along with the hidden surprise for later in the story.

i would also like to thank Dreagknight for helping me with the editing and making the story better. I'm thinking about going back and editing some of the chapters to make them work better and run smoother. if you like the idea let me know.