Slices of My Life

Chapters

Now what?
And you are?
You want to connect with my what?
Why does everyone want to know my name?
Is there really no chance for us?
How far do you expect me to go?
Do I take the shot?
What is wrong with me?
Why does the world hate me?
What is wrong with the world now?
She can do that?
Do I have to?
Really? Again?
Am I ever going to say it?
So, how was your day?
There's nothing like a calming afternoon, is there?
Who's there?
So, this is how it all begins huh?
Would this be the calm before the storm?
Getting anxious yet?
I rescued who?
I'm sorry, my mother is who?
What Is That?
Is it worth it?
Did you bring enough?
What took so long?
What are you doing?
Darkness Consumes
Was I late?
Alternate Ending: Part 1
Alternate Ending: Part 2
Where am I?
You want to breath what into my eye?
So that's my first Slice, huh?

Now what?

The sound of the wooden door creaking open pricked my ear over the sound of hammering away at a block of wood with my chisel and a smaller block of wood as the hammer/mallet.

“What?” I shouted, hesitating to set down my tools; makeshift or otherwise.

“Prisoner, you have visitors.” the pegasus guard shouted back. This had me at odds for a moment.

“Visitors? As in plural?” I asked for clarification, finally setting my tools down on the solid wood chair i’d been working meticulously on for the last twelve days. Great thing about Equestria is that they apparently have massive fucking trees and no processing equipment beyond hand saws; this makes it easy to requisition blocks of wood as large as a pony to take a chisel to.

“Yes, visitors as in plural of visitor.” an entirely new voice replied. Female, mature, and sourced from the largest white Alicorn I’d ever seen (let's forget for a moment I've only seen one Alicorn and no more than maybe three different guards). Next to her was Princess Luna and judging by the crown on her brow, this newcomer was also a Princess; maybe the fucking Queen for all I knew.

“And you are?” I demanded so unbefitting of royalty.

“I am Princess Celestia” -I dragged my current project against the wall for later, just in case this would take a while- “And my sister tells me that you’ve yet to provide information on your unforeseen arrival into our world.”

“So she figured bringing in another Princess would coax any more information out of me?” I asked, setting my tools on the ground to take a seat on my unfinished chair/block of wood.

“Actually, I wish to talk to you about why you have no regard for your life.” Celestia replied, laying down on the ground before the bars. Great, if she was getting comfortable then we really were in for a long conversation.

“Oh good, my favourite subject.” I replied with a smack on the knees before standing up again to reacquire my tools and resume my work. “If you’ll excuse me, I'll get back to work.” I not so much as requested as informed, already sliding the block of wood out from the wall to get behind it and continue on chiselling out the back rest.

“Absolutely, I can wait.” Celestia replied casually, settling in for a quiet, evening? Afternoon? Dammit what time was it?

With an uncaring shrug I set my chisel to work, hammering out the wood scraps with the smaller block of wood I'd turned into a mallet; honestly it was just a cube of wood I'd shaped to fit my hand a bit better, provide a grip.

It was about 10 minutes into hammering that I finally set my tools down and looked at Celestia, wondering what exactly it was she had in mind.

“Alright Celestia, what is it you want?” I leaned against the back rest of my chair/wooden block, staring directly at the older of the two Alicorns laying before my cell.

“I am not convinced that you truly do not find value in your life. Even from just watching you work on your project, I believe you have found some value, some meaning in what you consider to be a pitiful existence.” Celestia eyed me over, watching me intently as I all but sat down on my mattress, my tools in my hands.

“Look, Princess. This is by no means a meaning for life. This is a hobby, something to otherwise occupy my time with while I remain incarcerated. A meaning for life would be love,” -Luna's face began to grow red- “happiness, or the pursuit of wealth.

“My girlfriend left me and my parents are dead. I have no love. I’m in jail for randomly popping up in a new world against my will; I have no happiness. I’m stuck talking to winged, talking animals between working on very slowly carving out a simple wooden chair; I have no need for wealth.” I explained as I looked over my chisel, checking the sharpness of the tip with a glance before running a finger over the edge. Could use a sharpening.

“Then perhaps you’d be willing to change your situation? Earn a meaning for your life?” Celestia suggested as I set my tools down again.

“What’chu talkin’ ‘bout Willis?” I demanded in my best impersonation of a TV show I'd never seen before.

“My name is Princess Celestia, I do not know this ‘Willis’ you’re speaking of.” Celestia replied with a thin scowl. I waved off the comment. “I am merely suggesting that if we provide you with more tools for your work, would you be willing to begin producing products that could be sold for profit?”

“Why would I do that? I’m still stuck in this dungeon.” I retorted, looking at Celestia and Luna suspiciously.

“I will admit,” Luna spoke up for her elder sister. “That I may have been untruthful to you over the last couple weeks.” my suspicion only grew with this announcement. “I have kept you locked up claiming that it was because you were to remain incarcerated until we could find out everything about you, however in truth I merely kept you there to keep you in one place.”

“Blue Princess pony say what?” I asked quickly, my face dropping in dull disbelief.

“What my sister means to say, is that you were supposed to have been released a week ago.” My mouth hung open with Celestia’s summarization. “However, I understand her reason to keep you here.”

“Which is?” I demanded calmly, trying to keep from blowing up at Luna like I had done before.

“Rent, or lack thereof.” Luna replied sheepishly, fidgeting in place. “If you were to be released into the world, our world, you would inevitably have to find somewhere to live,”

“Which would require me to pay rent?” I asked in confusion. I will admit, I was having a hard time following the train of thought here.

“Yes. I had hoped that in your time in your prison, you’d develop some reason to go on living through your carpentry work. That way, when you were formally released you’d have something that would allow you to find work and eventually find shelter.” Luna explained, magically unlocking my cage for the first time in a month.

“And you chose not to tell me this because...” I requested, standing up and stretching though I remained in my cell.

“Because I didn’t want you to leave.” Luna replied quickly under her hoof, her voice trailing off into oblivion because of it.

“I’m sorry, what? I didn’t catch that.” I replied, taking a step closer towards the duo.

“It’s not important.” Luna insisted quickly, avoiding all eye contact with me. “What is important is that you must show that you’ve regained a reason to live again so that you do not become, what is it the locals call it? A freeloader?” Luna looked to her sister for assistance, receiving a nod in reply.

“So what? I stay in this dungeon and continue to work on my carpentry; creating hand crafted furniture that I can sell to the public, earn a living and then- Pay my way out of this prison?” I tried wrapping my mind around the situation I was in and the option I had been given, if I understood properly that is.

“If that is what you wish for an arrangement.” Celestia replied, stepping up into an upwards seated position. “Additionally, because you are no longer a prisoner, I would like to extend an offer of procurement for any special tools you may need to advance your productivity. My sister and I can acquire any tool or instrument you require.”

“I’d also like to add that if we do not have a tool, we do have the magic to create it as long as you can provide detailed descriptions and images as to it’s use and appearance.” Luna spoke up having calmed down to look me in the eye.

“I’ll be sure to remember that, Princesses. If you can provide me with stationary I'll begin drawing up a list of more tools I'd like. I suspect, however, that they’ll be readily available as generic carpentry tools.” I replied, turning back into my open cage. “Oh, as curious as it may seem, I'd like to remain down here and out of the way of everyone above. If it’s at all possible, could you have something more comfortable for me to sleep on than straw?”

“Of course. How do you plan to move completed projects then?” Luna wondered, curious about what I'd had in mind.

At that moment a burst of green sparkling fire swirled in from a nearby window and anti-burned a scroll before Celestia.

“Oh, it appears we’ve received a letter from Twilight.” Celestia noted, putting the scroll under her wing for the time being. “We can read that later.”

I was more interested in how that scroll appeared.

“What was that fire?” I asked, leaving a hand to point to empty air.

“Oh don’t worry about it; I’d just received a letter from a student of mine. It’s not important to you.” Celestia replied casually.

“No, not the scroll; the fire itself. Can that fire transport anything anywhere?” I shook my head, ignoring the scroll.

“I suppose so, as long as there is a dragon to receive it or someone, like myself, who knows the dragon breath spell.” Celestia replied, putting a manicured hoof to her chin in thought.

“Sister, there are the dragon twins who lost their unicorns some time ago. We’ve yet been unable to match them back up again with a new unicorn pair. What if they were to work with the pris- the guest to move inventory?” Luna suggested as she boarded my train of thought.

“Do you mean Weiss and Eben?” Celestia remarked, looking from me to her younger. “I do suppose that could be possible. Since they’ve already been born they don’t require magic and they’re somewhat old enough to be able to work as assistants.”

“Dragon twins? There are dragons in Equestria?” I looked incredulously at the Princesses before shrugging. “I suppose in the land of myth and magic, anything is possible.”

“Of course. As I see it, you could have one of the twins remain here with you and have the other out in Equestria, serving as your stand in. Should you open a shop or stall to sell your furniture, the twin would be able to manage the sales and requisitions for you.” Celestia suggested for me, having stolen my thoughts directly from my person.

“Just what I was thinking, actually. As long as Dragon Breath doesn’t burn wood in transit.” I pointed out. “Wouldn’t be very helpful if I send in a fully finished chair or something and have a pile of ash come out the other end.”

“That is an excellent point, human.” Luna held an overturned hoof in gesture of agreement. “Shall I fetch the twins and have them test this theory on your current project?”

“Go for it. If they’re going to work for me I might as well meet them. Question though, what does dragon care look like, exactly?” I inquired, clasping my hands together to direct my question to Celestia and Luna trotted off to complete her task.

“I suppose it would be the same as caring for a child. Eben is the older twin, so he’s already used to caring for his sister and as such would be your best option for selling your wares as he can care for himself. Weiss will require a bit more attention. I shall have appropriate items brought down with your tools if you decide to go along with this arrangement.” Celestia explained, shifting around slightly. I did the same by walking around my cell in small circles, if at least to keep blood flow.

“Am I going to only have this small cell space to work in? Or can I utilize other cells for storage, work space, living space and what not?” I inquired. Celestia’s rather long horn glowed sunny yellow and the sound of cell doors being slid back echoed throughout the cavern.

"By all means; you’re the only creature we’ve had to bring down here in ages. Make use of the space as you see fit.” Celestia replied as Luna flashed into existence, two small dragon-things on her back.

“Eben, Weiss, this is-” Luna paused, trying to find my name. “What is your name?” she asked of me as the two baby dragons slid off her back, the white one standing timidly behind her older, not so pleased black scaled brother.

“It’s-” I began, crouching down to address the newcomers.

“Not important.” Eben decided, crossing his arms over his blue scaled chest. “I already don’t like him; I can’t feel any magic coming from it.”

“Maybe he’s just hiding it.” Weiss replied softly, her golden claws hugging her brother’s body.

“Nah, Eben’s right; I'm magic-less.” I shrugged in reply. “And you must be Weiss; nice to meet you.” I held a hand out in a handshake, waiting to see what would happen.

“And this is a waste of time. This creature doesn’t look like he’d be able to care for either of us, let alone one of us.” Eben decided, turning around and heading for the dungeon door. “Come, Weiss, we’ll wait for another unicorn pair to take us in.”

Weiss, however, remained in place as she rocked back and forth on her feet; nervously clicking her claws together over her chest.

“Come on Weiss, let's go!” Eben shouted back, having pulled open the door to leave.

“I like him.” Weiss decided, making both Princesses smile.

“What? He’s not even a unicorn! I don’t even know what he is!” Eben declared, stomping back to his sister. I knelt down entirely, giving Weiss the chance to cautiously approach me before climbing up onto my lap and lay back in my arms like a small child.

“Well, this is an interesting turn of events.” Luna remarked as Eben merely glared at his sister. “I don’t think I've ever seen Weiss take so well to somepony before so quickly.”

“No kidding.” Eben grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest again defiantly. “Fine!” Eben threw his claws up in the air. “We’ll serve him, if at least for Weiss’s benefit!”

“Yay!” Weiss celebrated by throwing her arms up in the air, allowing me to try and see if the golden scales on her belly would allow her to be ticklish. They didn’t.

Instead, I settled for raking my hand over Weiss’s forward faces spines acting as hair or something, seemingly achieving the intent of showing affection I figured I'd develop eventually.

“He does know how to care for dragons, right?” Eben glanced curiously at Celestia and Luna as he trudged over to me to sit on my knee, his tail up and out of the way to play with is backwards facing spines.

“No idea.” I replied in all honesty. Weiss looked up at me with golden eyes with concern for a moment, however changed back to happiness as she whispered up to me, “I’ll teach you.”

“Well there we go; we have reached an arrangement that should prove your benefit.” Celestia announced, standing up and stretching out her limbs. Luna followed suit, save for the stretching given she’d only just sat down. “Eben, Weiss and their new caretaker will have free roam privileges, though if you decide to remain” -Celestia looked up at me as she said this- “that is your prerogative. I shall have somepony bring you your tools, as well as proper beds and facilities.”

“Then I should get to work learning how to care for Weiss.” I replied as I moved to stand, Eben removing himself from my knee so I could do so before jumping up onto my straw mattress. "And we need to see if Dragon Breath burns wood in transit." I added as Weiss popped up, climbing down from my embrace.

"I'll do it! Lemme do it! I wanna breath fire on it!" Weiss hopped back and forth on her feet excitedly, looking back up at me as Eben merely rolled his blue eyes.

Eben hopped down from the mattress and stepped free of the cell, getting ready to receive an item almost twice as large as he was.

"Can you even bring up enough fire to convert it all safely?" Eben asked, tapping his foot-claw impatiently.

"We're about to find out!" Weiss replied, taking in the largest breath she could, her cheeks puffing out in the process. This was not going to end well...

Pushing out her green fire breath with as much force as she could; the half chair, half cube of wood disintegrated into magical sparkles and licks of flame before swirling around in the air a moment, seeking out it's target. So far, so good.

Eben coughed a few times as the swirls sunk into his body and chest, loading up what looked like a rather large belch in progress. Holding up a clawed finger, everyone watched in anticipation as he physically prepared himself before opening his mouth wide and let out the largest, deepest belch he could muster; the flames re-atomizing a half chair, half block of wood in the air before it crashed to the ground.

"Hurray! I did it! I did it!" Weiss exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her feet.

"Yes, yes; we all saw Weiss. I fail to see how this helps our case." Eben replied, climbing up onto the half finished furniture piece to take a proper seat.

"Now it means that you can go out into the world, set up a shop or something and sell everything I make. We'll likely work by special order only since I can't mass produce these which means that you'll be getting to know the customer, will take their orders and deliver them yourself. Weiss will remain here with me to help build or move them around." I replied as Celestia and Luna silently made their exits.

"I don't even have to stay down here?" Eben looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Apparently this pleased his highness. "I can work with that." he grinned. The rather sharp teeth were a tad concerning given the mischievous look in his eyes but I figured we'd build that bridge when we came to it. Another day.

Author's Note

Ok, so hopefully this chapter will help establish this story as an MLP Fanfic; I was notified by staff that the first chapter didn't cut it.

Anyways, so i've kind of established a general idea of where I want this to go, but it would only last a short bit of story time. After that, I have no idea what's going to happen.

Regards for Weiss and Eben, I originally planned for there to be only Weiss living with my character in the dungeon so that she'd deliver the final products to some obscure dragon working for some obscure furniture unicorn or whatever but I thought, "that doesn't make sense, let's give Weiss a brother!"

Also, one final thing that staff or readers may have concerns for, my character is not supposed to have a proper name introduction. I wanna try and write this for as long as possible where nobody knows his name.

Prost!

And you are?

“Excuse me?” a faint whisper of a young girl’s voice echoed through the darkness.

Poke.

“Excuse me?” the same whisper echoed once again, this time nearer. Her voice was accentuated by a thunderous applause- no, that was just thunder.

“Wake up!” a claw raked across my face as the flesh it was attached to bitch-slapped me across the face, jolting me awake.

“Weiss, what the hell?” I demanded as the small white dragon leapt off my chest and onto the stone floor.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” she asked innocently, staring up at me with golden eyes. The light in the dungeon was all natural, indicating daylight despite the gray skies that usually alluded to a thunderstorm.

“You- I was- I’m not even going to get into this.” I replied, holding my hands in surrender. “What is it?”

“It’s daylight!” Weiss stated, pointing a claw towards the window. “Time to wake up!”

“Weiss, you do realize that we were up at ungodly hours this morning and so I desire sleep? At least another five hours?” I replied, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands.

“I know, but Princess Luna is waiting for you.” Weiss explained, turning my attention towards the cell door and to the waiting dark blue Princess. “She’s been watching you sleep for an hour now!”

“I- I wasn’t- There was no- hmph!” Luna defiantly rejected all suspicious of creepiness as she crossed her hooves over her chest, just under her collar. “I merely came down here to see how you’d gotten on last night after my sister and I had left, and to see if you’d like lunch in the sunlight. Eben has already left to go and work on setting up your shop.”

“Lunch? What time is it?” I asked, forgoing to try and look out of the window.

“About just past mid-day I believe.” Luna replied thoughtfully, completely devoid of all nervousness prior. “Should you wish to accept our invitation, you are welcomed to join us in the Royal Kitchen. A guard will escort you to prevent undue attention.”

“Will there be gems to eat?” Weiss asked hopefully, standing on the tips of her toes; her claws keeping her balanced.

“Unfortunately we do not have any in the castle at the moment; however we have procured a few choice meats for your consumption, should you choose to partake of such ghastly behaviour.” Luna replied as she stood and exited the Dungeon.

“Well, free meat is free meat.” I replied with a stretch and a following up yawn. “Just wish I had some new clothes to wear instead of these ratty old things.” I added as I stood to scratch my ass over my ragged grey sweats. They were black when I got them.

“I don’t quite understand the use of clothes in the first place.” Weiss replied as she climbed up the back of my legs to fix herself in her new favourite riding position. “Everypony else just wears clothes on special occasions.”

“Yes, but in human culture it’s sort of illegal to wander around in public naked. Humans are shameful creatures my dear Weiss, so we feel the need to cover up. Had I the opportunity I'd be layered in as much clothing as I could get my hands on, gloves included.” I explained as I pulled up short of the wooden door.

“What is that?” Weiss and I wondered aloud simultaneously as a bag that wasn’t there last night sat patiently near to the door.

Pulling open the bag, I found what looked like actual human clothing!

“Holy shit I can wear clean clothing!” I shouted, doing a small dance on the spot and nearly throwing Weiss off my back in the process. With my calloused feet padding on the cold stone surface, I all but dumped the bag’s contents onto my bed and began sorting; underwear, pants, shoes! Shirts, jackets, even a pair of leather working gloves next to a comb!

“Oh my god I never thought I'd be so happy to see another comb in my life!” I announced in near utter bliss as I set to the painful task of tearing the tangles out of my silver hair; still no idea why it wasn’t brown anymore.

Soon I had my hair straightened out and combed back, out of the way behind my ears as I set to pulling my old clothes off and tossing them aside. Leaving myself in my boxers, I became aware of the female presence and curiously glanced at Weiss until she took the hint.

“Oh, right! I’ll be in my room!” Weiss scampered off with a nervous chuckle, her white scales flushing red. Taking the opportunity, I quickly swapped out for a clean pair before burying the old set under everything else I was likely to incinerate.

Pulling on a set of leather armoured pants; basically just a pair of jeans with leather panelling on the knees and calves; I pulled a blank black t-shirt on over my head before slipping into a thick leather jacket with odd leather loops on the back and shoulders.

“Alright Weiss, I'm decent.” I announced, picking up the comb to drop it into my back pocket for later use. The baby dragon rounded the corner and took one look at me before wolf whistling.

“Wow, who knew a fresh pair of clothes could make the male?” she announced as she almost free-ran up my back in one go before settling herself into place, grabbing onto the leather loops with her clawed hands and feet. “Handy.”

“And now the heavy leather makes sense.” I replied with a shrug. Pushing the remaining clothing back into the bag before setting the bag itself to the side, Weiss and I resumed our detour and exited the dungeon.

“Oh god, that sunlight burns!” I hissed as I stepped out into the courtyard, holding my hand above my face to shield from the rain.

“But, it’s raining! There is no sun!” Weiss replied, looking up at the skies and received a face full of water droplets in reply.

“I know, it was sarcasm Weiss; you’ll get to learn it if you stick with me.” I replied as a guard in gold and white with blue plumage galloped up to us.

“Sir, please come with me. I shall escort you to the kitchen as per Princess Luna’s request.” the guard commanded before turning and walking off. With a shrug and a glance to Weiss, I soldiered on after the pegasus and was quite content with myself when we stepped into the castle and out of the rain.

Of course, no sooner had we stepped inside than a roar of thunder rolled through, making Weiss yelp and dig her claws into my shoulder through the padding.

“Wow, okay, need more padding on the shoulders! Weiss, you’re skinning me!” I declared in steadily rising voice as I worked to release the tiny claws hold on my flesh.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Weiss replied, coming to grips with the world we lived in and released me. “I just hate thunder!”

“No shit?” I asked in no seriousness at all. “I love it. Has an awesome low rumbling bass to it.”

“Nope, I hate it! I hate it I hate it I hate it!” Weiss insisted, bouncing up and down on my back using her new handholds as a fulcrum.

“I get it Weiss, come on; let's go get lunch.” I replied, resting my hand on the back of Weiss’s head to comfort the small white and gold dragon.

“Sir, through here.” the guard ordered, blocking all access to the rest of the hallway with his wings as he pointed a hoof into a large kitchen.

“Ahh, thank you? As you were?” I tried suggesting, receiving nothing in reply. “Oookay…” I stepped past the guard and into the room where I was met with an all out buffet. Both Weiss’s and my eyes went wide. “Well shit, if this is how prisoners wrongfully accused by the Equestrian government get treated after their release, I should get dropped on my ass more often!”

“Meat!” Weiss shrieked, leaping off my shoulder and skittered across the stainless steel table towards a large slab of… Ham?

“Is that ham?” I asked pointedly, already drooling. Weiss dragged her claws over the meat, shredding off a slice before sucking it into her mouth in pure bliss.

“Oooohh, yeah!” she replied, having a moment to herself as a string of ham hung from her lips. “That is so good!”

“Cut me off a slab would you?” I requested as I grabbed a pair of plates for us. Weiss obeyed and drew her claw through the meat again, the slice of ham coming off as thick as my hand was wide. “Okay, cut me off a slab thinner than that, please? About half as thick?” I requested with a chuckle as I set the hammed plate down next to the dragon.

“What? Can’t handle my four inch slab of meat?” Weiss asked with a smirk, making me drop both the plate and my jaw.

“Oh! Baby dragon got jokes now!” I back pedaled a couple of steps as my jaw drop turned into a massive grin. “Damn! I knew I liked you!” I stepped back up to her and held my hand out for a high five before she reached out with a greasy claw. “Ooh, wait till you’re hands are clean.” I replied pulling my hand back again and retrieving the plate to let Weiss, still grinning like an idiot, slice me off a thinner piece; still about as big around as my face.

“Well you gotta admit, you kind of walked into that one.” Weiss replied, wiping her claws off on a nearby towel. As soon as her claws were clean her held her hand up eagerly, receiving a high five from me as promised.

“If that is the type of behaviour that you plan to be teaching and reinforcing in a baby dragon, then I weep for humanity.” Luna announced as she entered and immediately selected a plate for herself before tossing on a bouquet of flowers into it.

“While I'm right there with you on that statement, she surprised me with it as well.” I replied, surveying the rest of the buffet. “Ooh, blueberries!” I announced in a childish, higher octave of voice as I accelerated around tables to the table of blue wonders.

“What’s with all the cakes?” Weiss asked, hopping from table to table with her plate balanced on her head spines.

“Those are for my sister and you’d be wise not to touch them.” Luna instructed sternly as she sat down before an empty table to eat.

“No worries, not a cake person myself.” I replied having filled my plate with other assortments of food items. I sat down near to the Princess across the table from her, just in case there was some rule about sitting on the same side as an Alicorn. “I’m more of a pie person.” I added, taking a fork and knife to the ham as Weiss came and sat down next to me; her own plate stacked with everything but the kitchen sink.

“I shall have the Castle chefs prepare a blueberry pie for you then, should you decide to join us for dinner tonight.” Luna replied, watching my dragon friend and I tear into our ham steaks with disdain. “I know dragon’s occasionally ate meat, but I had no idea that humans also ate it.”

“Yup,” I replied with a mouthful before swallowing. “There are the occasional vegetarian or vegan but I'm too much of a carnivore to ever give up on meat entirely.” I explained with a new cut piece of pork in my mouth, the fork up in the air and threatening to drip juices.

“So I see.” Luna slowly remarked, a fork of flower petals hovering in her dark blue magical grasp. For a moment we matched gazes, both of our forks in transit to deliver precious cargo to our mouths however Luna froze as she stared at me, her eyes darting between my features.

“Now now Luna. I accept that as handsome as I may be, we are yet still two separate species. It is unacceptable in human culture for me to fuck a horse, pony, alicorn, whatever.” I announced, making Luna’s fork drop as Weiss all but burst into laughter, dropping her own fork in the process.

While Luna turned a lovely shade of purple as Weiss collected her faculties, I took another bite of blueberries and ham. Interesting combination, that.

“I genuinely have nothing to say to that.” Luna finally broke the silence, save for Weiss calming down from her fit of laughter. “I was merely noting that your right eye has changed.”

“My right eye?” I asked in all seriousness. “Does it look like a dragons? Reptilian in nature?”

“Yes, so you are aware of this change, then?” Luna replied, still purple but gradually regained colour.

“Yeah, I'm aware of it. Is it still blue?” I asked hopefully. Nothing against hetero-chromatics but I preferred my blue eyes, even if one of them was a Dragon Eye.

“It is. What is the nature of this development?” Luna inquired before finally filling her mouth with “food”.

“Last night the torches blew out prematurely. Turns out the dungeon gets dark enough to be unable to see anything. Weiss was kind enough to give me Dragon’s Eye to allow me to see.” I explained, turning back to my plate; as did Weiss now that she was upright and calmed. “Personally thought it was a temporary thing but, ehh, whatever. I’ll probably get her to even out the eyes with a left Eye eventually.”

“Actually,” Weiss turned to look up at me with golden eyes and a full mouth. “That trick only works on the right eye. We’d have to use a different gem for your left one and that, I'm sure, will change your eye colour.”

“So then what effects can be planted in my left?” I turned my head slightly to address the dragon-ling.

“Uhm, I think there was something involving a jet but I can’t remember the effect it had.” Weiss replied, placing a greasy claw against her chin. Rolling my eyes I grabbed a napkin and wiped off her mouth and face, surprising the small girl in the process.

“Regardless, I can’t help but notice the change.” Luna finally concluded, emptying her plate entirely to drop it off in a nearby sink. “If you’ll excuse me, I did have an ulterior motive for bringing you topside today.” Luna announced, sitting back down at the table floating a dessert from a nearby table.

“Oh really?” Weiss asked for me, given that I had a mouthful of ham and blueberries. “And what would that be?”

“I have spoken to some friends of mine and they’d like to place a custom order for some furniture.” Luna replied, bringing out a rolled up leaf of paper.

“Then take it to Eben, he’s the one who handles the requisition orders.” I replied with a shrug, having finally swallowed and finished my own plate and pushing it away from me.

“Very well, I'd just wondered if you’d have liked to meet them face to face to talk about the project.” Luna replied, vanishing the scroll from our reality.

“Yeah, living down in the dungeon does have that intended effect of avoiding the locals.” I replied thoughtfully as I sat back, relying on my legs wrapped around the table leg nearest to me to keep from falling backwards. Weiss took the opportunity to lick her face off in one go, push her plate back as I had and crawl up into my lap for a nap.

“I would recommend that until you can produce exemplary products to talk face to face with the customer.” Luna suggested, watching Weiss sleep peacefully on me with a smirk. “She has taken quite a liking to you, hasn’t she?”

“Yep, she’s already decided that my back is something to ride.” I replied as I gently stroked the dragon’s head spines. “I presume the clothing was a gift from you or your sister?”

“Very astute; yes, I'd seen you walking around Canterlot last night with her on your back and I figured that you’d want some extra padding.” Luna replied in all honesty, slightly turning red again as she avoided eye contact. What is with her?

“Well I appreciate the clean clothing. I’m impressed that you were able to size me up so perfectly for everything.” I announced, smoothing out the arms of my jacket as I sat back upright.

“I do have some hidden talents.” came the embarrassed reply.

“Fine, I'll meet these customers. Could you provide me with stationary so I can draw up some blueprints for them?” I requested, scooping Weiss up in my arms to allow for me to stand properly.

“Of course, there should be sufficient stationery already in the library.” Luna announced with a breath, standing up herself to lead me from the kitchen. “Please, follow me.” she announced, turning to look back at me over her shoulder while her wings popped up straight.

“Lead on, moon-butt.” I replied with a grin, making Luna’s tail snap downward to cover her flanks entirely.

~~~

“Friends, I've brought the one who will be building your new furniture.” Luna announced ahead of me, the latter half of her body sticking out of the doorway to the library.

“Well then bring them in, ah’ve been itchin’ for a new bed frame.” A significantly western, significantly young sounding female announced jovially.

“Indeed, are they capable of cabinetry?” a second pony added, her voice dripping with squeaky propriety. “My sister need a new cabinet to store her fabrics.”

“Trophy cabinet for me!” a third female announced, her pre-pubescent voice nearing on tom-boyish.

“We’ll see, everypony. We’ll see.” Luna replied as her head peeked back around the doorframe. “Are you coming or not?” I rolled my eyes as I shifted Weiss’s warm body in my arms to keep her comfortably sleeping.

Stepping around the corner in all my human glory -not including my right eye- I stood before three tiny fillies of each breed of pony.

If there was a record playing, the screeching halt would’ve echoed through the entire library as the girls before me froze up, staring.

“What is it?” the white one with the proper voice asked in a whisper, leaning into her friends.

“Great way to start off, Princess; thanks. Terrify three fillies all at once.” I mumbled under my breath, receiving a swift kick in the back of the leg from the glaring Princess.

“I mean, hi! I’ll be designing and building your new furniture!” I announced in the most ripped off happy voice I could possibly muster, making Weiss snort in her sleep. Dropping all happiness again I entered into the library, circling around the three tiny girls and their dropped jaws to take a seat at a table with paper, quills and ink all set up for me.

Setting Weiss down to sleep on a nearby deep cushioned chair, I pulled up to the table and sat myself down.

“Are we going to get started?” I asked in all dull boredom as I organized the pages before me.

“Ah’d really like to know what he is first!” the small yellow one requested, looking nervously at me.

“And why is he carrying around a white baby dragon?” The white unicorn inquired in a whisper, staring at Weiss up close.

“None of that is important; can we just get a move on? I wanna get back to work.” I replied in steadily increasing irritation. “Who’s first? Bed frame? Fabric cabinet? Trophy cabinet?”

“Ah suppose I'll go first, I guess.” the yellow one climbed up onto the chair next to me, warily watching me for any sudden movements. “Ah need a new bed frame!” She declared, putting her hoof down on the table next to me with a clack.

“You don’t say?” I asked in all monotone. “Size of mattress? Style? Height from the floor? Anything that can help me out here?” I requested, making the small filly turn her head up in thought.

“Ah think it’s a double; dunno for sure though.” she replied after a moment. A book helpfully labelled “Generic Equestrian Furniture” appeared in a dark blue glow from somewhere in the library before setting down on the table and flipping over to the section for bed frames.

“Well that’s convenient.” I muttered under my breath as the filly began leafing through pages with her nose till she found one that was apparently her size.

“This-un!” she explained, stamping a hoof down on the indicated bed frame.

“Double sized mattress, only a foot off the ground, three feet in length; I might as well be building a bed frame for a dollhouse.” I mumbled, looking over the design. “In that style or something else?”

“Nah, that’s much to complicated for mah tastes. If’n you could simplify it somewhat, that’d be great!” she replied, beaming at me till she noticed my eye. “Woah, is that a Dragon Eye?” she asked, getting in close to view the orb in my head.

“Really? I wanna see!” the orange one declared, climbing up the chairs and onto the table before getting right up close to my eye. “Woah! That’s awesome! How’d you get a Dragon’s Eye?” she demanded, backing away again and scattering the papers before me in the process.

“Why’d you put it in your eye?” the unicorn asked in disgusted curiosity. “I still wanna know what you are, by the way. Maybe I can ask Twilight Sparkle?” she said, tilting her head to change her perspective of me.

“I have no doubts that Twilight Sparkle could potentially help you with your inquiries, but as you can see, he’d like to get back to work.” Princess Luna explained, lifting the orange pegasus off the table with her magic.

“Indeed. So then how about a rounded off head and footboard?” I asked, rough sketching out a bed frame on the page before me once I'd reorganized once again. “I’ll add a bit of scroll-work into the top of the headboard, maybe a bit in the footboard?” I suggested, drawing in a bit of artistic swirls and whatnot, typically popular with women or people who prefer the fancier things.

“Ah, ah think the rounded head and hoofboard is fine, but ah’m not so sure about all that fancy squiggling you’ve got goin’ on.” the yellow pony requested with a frown as she looked over my sketch.

“Oh, what if there were the words ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders!’ in the headboard?” the white one suggested eagerly.

“Oh yeah! That’d be great! Can ye do that?” the pony demanded, looking directly at me.

“Cutie Mark what now?” I slowly asked for clarification. “Never mind, something like this then?” I asked, erasing the fancy scroll-work and replacing it with the words requested, slightly arched to match the shape of the headboard.

“Yeah! Like that! And put an apple in the hoofboard!” I shrugged before drawing in a hasty apple logo in the footboard as requested. “Perfect!”

“Alright then, I'll turn this into a proper blueprint before I get to work then.” I announced, rolling up the page to set it aside. “Princess Luna, could you retrieve me a book of wood types in Equestria? I want to let the customer choose what wood they want the products to be formed from.”

“Ma name is Applebloom, just so ya know.” the yellow one declared with a raised eyebrow. “Nice to meet ya!” she declared sticking out a hoof to shake, which I did.

“Likewise, I'm-” the book I'd requested smacked down on the table before me, interrupting my introduction and waking Weiss nearby.

“What! Where are we?” she asked, looking around through cracked eyes.

“Library, meeting with our first customers.” I replied in a louder voice, given that she was now awake. “Who’s next?” I asked, forgetting about the wood selection as Applebloom stepped down from the chair and I brought out a new page of paper.

“Me!” the pegasus shot back up to the table again, eager to get started. Applebloom and the unicorn left to go meet with Weiss and chat. “I’m looking for a trophy cabinet! Something awesome that I can present as a gift to my idol!”

“Okay, and what kind of- I presume this is a pony right?” I asked, changing tracks for clarification.

“Yep! She’s the most awesomest flier in all of Equestria!” the pegasus replied eagerly. “Oh, can you carve her Cutie Mark into it somewhere?”

“If I knew what it looked like, probably.” I remarked, already set to drawing an open faced cabinet with plenty of shelving for trophies and/or ribbons.

“I’ll draw it for you!” the pegasus declared, biting down on a quill and dipping it into ink before drawing out a crude three shaded lightning bolt with tiny words, Red, Yellow, Blue! in them; above that formed a cloud to originate the bolt.

“I’ll provide you with a better depiction of the Cutie Mark when you get home again.” Luna whispered in my ear, successfully turning my face red as I turned to look at Luna and finding her muzzle right up close with a seductive smile.

Both our faces turned crimson as Luna back-pedaled quickly while I remained frozen in place, my left eye twitching from the unexpected.

“I- I'm so sorry! I don’t know what came over me!” Luna insisted, galloping hard from the room.

“Well that was something.” Weiss announced; her own face frozen in shock as I turned and buried my face in my work again, trying my best to focus on sketching the Mark into the top header piece.

“Yeah, I've never seen Princess Luna act like that before!” the squeaky unicorn replied.

“So what are you going to do to make this thing look awesome?” the pegasus demanded, thankfully giving me an escape outlet.

“I’ll-” I had to stop to clear my throat with a cough. “-I’m going to line the backboard with felt or something if I can get some, I'll have to get my assistant to acquire me some hinges so I can add in cabinet doors below for the less savoury awards or trophy polishes she may have.

“If the image that Princess Luna gets me is in colour I should be able to stain the engraving in the specific hues with crushed gemstone paint.”

“Cool, and what are you going to make it all out of?” the pegasus asked pulling the book of wood closer to leaf through the pages.

“Preferably hardwood so that it’s guaranteed to last.” I replied, flipping to the hardwood section of the book. “It’s your gift so you pick the wood you want me to carve from.”

“Uhm, how about this one?” the pegasus pointed at a slab of wood in particular.

“Teak, very nice.” I replied, getting a good look at it. “Kind of reminds me of a much darker pine, personally.”

“What’s pine look like?” the pegasus inquired, leafing through more pages again.

“Pine is a softwood, it’s also -probably- what this table is made of.” I replied, knocking my fist against the tabletop.

“Oh, yeah it’s too bright. Let’s go with Teak. By the way, I'm Scootaloo.” Scootaloo announced, shaking my hand for introduction once I'd written Teak across the top of the page, followed by “-Scootaloo” for reference.

“I’m-” I tried my introduction again, however the final filly nearly kicked Scootaloo off the chair as she appeared and interrupted me yet again.

“Helping me now!” she declared with a grin, already looking through the book of woods. “What do you suggest for a fabric cabinet?”

“Softwood.” I replied with a roll of the eyes, flicking back to the front of the book. “What I'll do for this is I'll put in racks for the rolls of fabric to be easily accessible and will let the seamstress simply pull the cloth off without making too big of a mess.”

“That’ll work. I don’t really have anything specific to add to it, but my sister would love all the scroll-work you had before!” the unicorn announced, resting her head on her hooves perched on the table.

“That’s something specific to add, Sweetie Belle.” Weiss replied from her conversation with the others.

“Oh, I suppose it is. Never mind!” Sweetie Belle chirped as I continued my design in the paper.

“Something like this then?” I turned the page to show the filly.

“Yeah, that looks great! What is this going to cost us, by the way?” the unicorn asked with a frown.

“I couldn’t tell you at the moment. I have to get my assistant to go out and find out the cost of the wood so I can generate a cutting list and give you an appropriate price.” I replied, writing “Coastal Douglas Fir - Sweetie Belle” across the top of the page.

“Wait, what’s that one look like?” Sweetie Belle demanded, pointing at the wood name on the page. I replied by flipping through the softwood pages to the aforementioned tree and it’s lumber. “Ooh, I really like that one!”

“I agree. Once I polish it up it’ll have a much more golden look to it.” I replied, rolling up the page once more. “Applebloom, I'll make your bed frame out of pine; it’ll be a soft wood but it should be sturdy enough to work. It’s also going to be a fairly bright colour, similar to your coat. Is that fine?”

“Sure thing!” Applebloom called back as I unrolled her scroll and made the appropriate markings on the top.

“Alright then. With that taken care of, I'll have Weiss give her brother the wood lists so I can get started.” I announced, putting everything into an organized manner and stood up, giving Weiss the silent notification to end her conversation and climb up onto my back before nuzzling against my neck.

“Weiss, you have a brother?” Scootaloo asked in surprise.

“Yeah, both of us work together; he takes care of the shop and delivering the completed items or retrieving the materials. I stay with this guy right here to do the work; he’s even going to let me help him rough cut everything!” Weiss replied eagerly, hooking her tail around my neck to hold her up as her forearms shot up into the air exuberantly.

“Awesome! So then we’ll get to meet your brother when he comes to deliver our stuff?” Sweetie Belle looked eager to meet another baby dragon.

“You’ll probably meet him when he comes with the price lists, actually.” I replied, leaning against the table as Weiss reset herself to my back again. “Well anyways, I should get going and actually get to work. It was nice meeting you all.” I announced, grabbing my scrolls and turning from the library while Weiss turned around completely to wave good-bye.

“Good-bye strange creature, thing!” all three girls shouted after me as I turned down the hallway towards the Courtyard and my dungeon.

“Well that wasn’t so bad, we even made some new friends!” Weiss announced once we were taking the steps down into the darkness, our eyes adjusting for the light levels until we reached the bottom filled with torchlight.

“You made new friends, I made contacts.” I corrected, reaching back to lift Weiss over my head and set her down. She scampered off somewhere as I entered my work cell, sitting down at a small table to properly convert the images into actual Blueprints with measurements and all that.

Author's Note

You know, the comment boxes in the last few chapter and story main page are rather empty. I would like to hear what you all think about this so far.

Btw, I don't plan to write in any real romance between my character and Luna beyond small quips or suggestive comments based in humor, so don't ask.

You want to connect with my what?

“So now what?” Weiss asked, rocking back and forth on her feet after having delivered my cutting list to her brother. I remained sat in my “desk chair” with my feet up on the table to relax.

“Now, we wait.” I replied, my eyes closed and resting.

“Wait for what?” Weiss asked again this time climbing up into my lap to lounge against my legs, copying my style though facing me.

“We wait for your brother to deliver the blocks of wood so we can get started.” I explained calmly, rather enjoying the small extra body heat.

“Oh, okay.” Weiss replied, shutting her own eyes for literally a minute before popping back up again, holding back a burp.

“If you aim that at me and they’re the blocks of wood, congratulations you’ve killed another caretaker.” I announced, cracking open an eye as Weiss turned her head away from me and let it rip. Thankfully, it wasn’t huge blocks of wood; instead it was a scroll, not marked with either Celestia’s seal, or any seal for that matter.

“Oh good, not the material.” Weiss announced, dropping the scroll into my hand. “Do you think it’s another work order?” she asked as I opened my eyes completely to unravel the paper and give it a read through.

“Aww,” I began with a grin. “Someone’s been sent a love note!” I declared, rolling the page up again and holding it over my head as Weiss gasped and began climbing up my body to get at the paper.

“Lemme have it! Lemme! It’s mine, you said so yourself! Give it!” she shrieked, pushing aside my blocking hand to climb up the rest of my body, stepping on my head in order to climb the rest of my arm, snatching away the paper from my grasp.

Before I could recover, Weiss darted from my body entirely; scurrying around the cell wall into her own room to read the note. A minute later the baby dragon reappeared looking defeated.

“Can’t read it?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest with a bemused smirk. “I’m fairly certain you would be looking like that if you knew what it said; otherwise.”

“No, my last caretaker never taught me. They taught Eben to read and write, but never me.” Weiss replied dejectedly climbing back up into my lap to get comfortable. “Could you please read it to me?” she requested, doing her best to look adorable with the scroll clutched in her tiny hands. Goddammit!

“Fine, let me have it again.” I caved and took the scroll, unrolling it to reread out loud as Weiss got comfortable.

Dear Weiss,

You probably don’t know who I am, but I am a baby dragon just like you and your brother. You most likely do not need to be told just how rare it is for our species to live in Equestria, especially at our ages,

Therefor I, as well as my caretaker Twilight Sparkle, would like to invite you and your family to Ponyville for a proper meet and greet. Twilight is most anxious to talk to another one of Celestia’s students if there are two of you living in Canterlot.

At your earliest convenience,

Spike the Dragon and Twilight Sparkle.

I rolled the scroll up and tossed it into the table rather unceremoniously.

“Well there you have it. To bad we won’t be able to go meet them.” I announced, crossing my arms behind my head again to go back to napping.

“What!” Weiss demanded, popping up into a standing position on my legs and pelvis. “But we have to go! You read what he said, it’s so rare for there to be more than one of us living in Equestria; let alone my brother and I living in Canterlot! It could be the only chance for me to meet another baby dragon!” Weiss complained, looking like a ten year old demanding to go to their friends house to play.

“And what about Eben? He’s currently out working on material procurement so we can get to work. It would be rude to go to another city without him, don’t you think? What kind of paternal figure would I be if I left one of my kids behind?” I asked as sardonically as I could.

“A great one! Eben’s old enough to work on his own, he can handle himself and stay behind!” Weiss shouted back, getting desperate.

“And since you’re twins, does that mean that you're old enough to go visit them all by yourself?” I inquired, raising an eyebrow as fear became the dragon before me.

“Ahhh… yes, of course!” Weiss replied nervously tapping her golden claws together. “Does that mean that you’ll let me go alone?”

“To the train station, then to another town to find the location of this Spike and Twilight Sparkle, then back here again before day’s end?” I noted, remaining calm with my arms across my chest though I was more interested in watching Weiss’s response.

“Eh, heh heh.” Weiss chuckled nervously, still looking worried and clicking her claws together. “Yeah, totally!”

“Then by all means. If you’re such a big girl you can pack yourself up -don’t forget your care tools- and get yourself to the station and buy yourself a ticket.” I announced, settling in once more to try and nap.

“Darn-it!” Weiss finally caved and collapsed on my lap in a huff. “Fine, we’ll let them know we can’t come.” She then hopped down from my lap to retrieve a couple sheets of paper and a quill and inkpot.

“I truly am sorry that we can’t make it Weiss. Besides, with what money are we supposed to take the train in the first place?” I announced, pausing my writing to give Weiss a bit of appreciation on her head.

“I know. Being broke sucks!” Weiss declared, crossing her arms in a huff.

“I can attest to that.” I mumbled as I kept writing. “Alright, now let’s get this sent.” I announced, rolling up the page to let Weiss breath on it.

“Sent where?” Princess Luna asked having silently entered into the caverns I called home. “If it’s to my sister or I, I can take it now.”

“Thanks but no thanks Princess,” Weiss began sorrowfully. She really did want to go meet this other pair. “We were invited to go meet another baby dragon/unicorn pair but we can’t; we’re broke.”

“Oh, you mean Twilight Sparkle and Spike?” Luna asked, taking a seat on my bed. “If you’d like, I may be able to help let you meet them.” she suggested, making my palm meet my face as Weiss jumped up ecstatically.

“Really? You can take us to meet them?” she asked, her voice breaking into squeaks.

“Well, I can’t take you myself; I must remain here for my Royal Duties. I can, however, provide any means of transportation to get you there yourselves.” Lune explained, making Weiss tilt her head in confusion.

“So, you’ll pay for a train ticket?” Weiss tried to make heads or tails of Luna’s offer as she hopped off me when I dropped my feet to begin sketching.

“Me? Pay for a train ticket? Preposterous!” Luna declared, pressing a hoof to her chest. “I would never be seen paying for a train ticket!”

“Then I'm lost.” Weiss decided, turning back to me as I continued drawing. “Are you following her?”

“Actually I am.” I replied, finishing up the drawings on my page. “Luna won’t let us ride her to the town, nor will she pay for a train ticket. That just means that she’ll magically provide me another means of transportation.” I explained, holding up the page to show Weiss and Luna. “Can you make this?”

“I,” Luna got up to peer closer at the drawing. “I believe so. You seem to have adequately explained how it works so I shall give it my best.” Luna replied, stepping back and closing her eyes.

Her horn fired up in a dark blue glow and white swirling lines tracing the twists in her horn. Once the white lines met the tip of the bone -I figure it’s a bone, no idea otherwise- a bright white light began to charge up, an over glow forming over everything.

Outside my cell, in the center of the otherwise empty room, a magical whirlwind began to form; magical energy rising up in waves as though attempting to rip holes in the fabric of space and time. The energy continued to rise until it formed a spiralling blue and white sphere and I estimated that my drawing was coming to life within.

“Almost- Got- It!” Luna shouted and gave one last push. The magical energy died off entirely and left a one hundred percent original automotive monstrosity in the middle of the room.

“Cool, looks just like the one on the page!” Weiss remarked, comparing the image to it's new real world counterpart. “What is it?”

“This,” I threw my leg over the seat of the vehicle to examine the vehicle in closer detail. “Is a motorcycle. I originally designed it after a performance one, but figuring that a lack of roads would lead to some issues I threw on some off-road tires.” I explained, looking back at the studded tires. The body of the beast was a metallic cobalt while the accents remained black titanium; capable of a shine but without the necessary care of chrome.

Finding the key sitting in the ignition waiting for me, I gave the key a turn but heard nothing, not even so much as clicking.

“So close. Just missing-” I had to take a quick look at the vehicle beneath me to deduce the issue. “-an engine.” I chuckled, sitting back upright and removing myself from the vehicle. “Couldn’t figure that part out, Princess?”

“Regretfully no. There wasn’t enough explanation in the drawing to render it with magic. If only you could use magic to create it yourself.” Luna replied, looking disappointed in her failure.

“Actually, I think I have something for that.” Weiss announced suddenly before running off into her and her brother’s room. “While it won’t actually make him able to use magic,” Weiss held up a small purple stone in her claw. “I know a trick that will allow him to provide telepathic input into your mind, Princess, through a medium to command your magic.”

“Which means?” I had no idea what she’d just said.

“Basically, I can let you use Luna’s magic to create whatever’s missing.” Weiss replied, holding the stone in both hands. “It’s relatively painless, depending on what spell is trying to be used.”

“And you couldn’t start your explanation like that the first time?” I asked as Luna smirked at me, then at Weiss. “You up for a bit of probing, Luna?” I turned to the Princess, her smirk forming into a look of shock and potential violation. It quickly dissolved into nervous chuckling.

“Oh you, such a kidder.” Luna waved a hoof in my direction, working to calm herself down again.

“Actually, he’s kind of right. This procedure is kind of invasive to the magic user.” Weiss replied, making Luna let out a short nervous whimper in reply. “Now, if you’re both ready? I’ll need to be sitting on your back, Princess.”

“Ve-” Luna took a second to clear her throat. “-Very well.” Weiss took the chance to climb up and straddle the Alicorn’s back, placing her empty hand on the back of Luna’s head; just inside her mane.

“Please place your hand on the stone.” Weiss directed, looking directly at me and holding the stone up in her open palm. I nodded and placed my hand as instructed above the stone. “All you have to do is imagine what the engine looks like, how it works and how it behaves.” Then turning to Luna, “You simply need to cast the spell again and leave your mind empty.”

“Right then.” I replied, closing my eyes and picturing the engine and it's mechanics.

The sound of magic swirling around my bike had me nearly open my eyes and break concentration but I held fast, doing my best to ignore everything else around me. Aside from a slight pinching in my hand hovering over the stone, I really didn’t feel any different.

“It’s complete, please stop this now!” Luna requested through a broken voice. I obliged and opened my eyes again, removing my hand from the stone and took a step back. Weiss removed herself from Luna’s back, letting Luna shake herself off and sit down, shaking violently.

“Wow, I don’t remember that being part of the operation.” Weiss announced after she’d popped the jewel into her mouth and consumed it. “Are you okay Princess?”

“Ye- Yes, I am fine. I think I need to lie down now.” Luna replied slowly and in a weak voice, aiming for the nearest mattress which, of course, was mine.

“Yeah, no worries about that. You lie down as long as you need too.” Weiss replied before turning back to me. “And what about you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Dunno why but I've got the strangest desire to nibble on my own ear.” I answered, absently rubbing at the side of my head.

“It’s entirely possible that you may have received some residual emotions or desires from Princess Luna. They’ll go away in a bit.” Weiss explained as she climbed up onto the seat of the bike before us.

“Why do you want to nibble on your ear, Princess? I didn’t think that was anatomically possible.” I inquired, looking directly at the downed Princess who cracked open an eye at me, the rest of her face flushed purple.

“It’s not- It’s not my ear I wish to nibble on.” Luna replied quietly into the mattress.

“Well regardless, what say we try this beast out?” I asked, lifting Weiss up to sit down on the bike behind her. Setting her down against my pelvis, I took hold of the key again and after a moment to hold my breath, engaged the ignition.

The roar that it let out was that which could rival a lions as the modified motorcycle charged to life.

“Woohoo! It’s alive! It’s alive!” I cackled maniacally, unintentionally impersonating Dr. Frankenstein in the process. “Oh man does that not sound amazing?” I asked of no one in particular, given that I was sure no one could hear me over the echoing engine.

Taking hold of the handlebars, Weiss quickly got herself attached to my back after squirrelling around me while I revved the engine if not to only enjoy the sounds it made. Turning the key once more, the engine shut itself off and I sat back, resting my hands on my lap.

“Next time, wait till you’re out of the dungeon before you do that.” Luna demanded with a scowl, removing her hooves from her ears.

“Honestly, I'm going to have to start it up in here to get it up the stairs.” I replied as I began to wheel the bike to the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Weiss and I have a meeting to attend. Weiss, the door please?” I requested as I started up the bike again while Weiss attended to the large wooden door before me.

“Can it get up the stairs at all?” Weiss asked as she propped the door open and returned to my back, grabbing onto the leather rings with her claws.

“I suppose we’ll find out. The extra large tires on this thing should get us up them.” I replied, shifting into first to take off rather suddenly, the front tire all but avoiding the first three steps as the back demanded to defy physics and clawed it’s way up. “Let me restart, yes, yes it will!” I announced as we bounced up the stairs.

Author's Note

Okay, so this one took me a little while longer to crank out; between writing some other pet projects o' mine and doing some editing (which by the way, you can PM me about), all while mixing in life, I've been relatively busy. Regardless, here it is.

Enjoy as you may.

Aclamaciones

Why does everyone want to know my name?

Author's Note

Okay so I'm putting this at the top this time for one reason.

I am seriously screwing around with Spike's character here, to the point that I'm not entirely sure if I have to change the rating of this story to Mature. While nothing descriptively happens, it's quite heavily suggested so if a staff member wants me to upgrade the rating, do please let me know.

Why does everyone want to know my name?

“You know, we show up on this thing with the amount of noise it’s making,” Weiss shouted into my ear over the wind as we ripped over the train tracks, having already passed the train leaving Canterlot so figured we’d have no worries for getting our asses run over. “We’re probably going to scare everyone when we get into Ponyville!”

“Probably!” I replied sitting upright with one hand on my hip, the other one keeping us aimed down the center of the rails. “But that’s what makes it so much fun!”

“What if Eben didn’t get our message that we’re out of town and tries to send the materials through while we’re on the road? Or in Ponyville? Or visiting with Twilight Sparkle and Spike?” Weiss asked, getting nervous as she began to dig into my shoulder padding once again.

“He’ll have gotten it; it’s an instant transfer right?” I turned my head towards Weiss while keeping my eyes on the “road.” “He’ll probably have them manually carried to the shop to wait till we get back or something.”

“Yeah, you’re- you’re right! Everything will be fine!” Weiss replied however her tone of voice suggested otherwise and her claws reinforced this as I reached back to loosen her grip on me. “How much longer till we get there?”

“No idea. I was told to just follow the tracks down and we’d get there eventually. Wanna go faster?” I returned to gripping the handlebars with both hands, pulling Weiss and me back down again.

“I don’t- yes- no- yes, yes! No!” Weiss’s indecisiveness had me pull on the brakes, shifting down in the process to pull over to the side of the tracks in the event that a train had been following us.

“Are you-” I began, however Weiss hopped off my back and stood near to the bike.

“No i’m not! I’m so nervous about meeting this Spike!” Weiss whined, curling up into a small ball in the grass. “What if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks i’m weird for still living with my brother? I mean, who even does that anymore!” she threw her arms up into the air before wrapping them back around her knees.

“I notice you didn’t add the part about some strange alien creature being your caretaker.” I removed myself from the bike and sat down next to the tiny dragon.

“Nah, that part I can handle.” Weiss replied, wiping a silent tear from her eye on the back of her hand.

“Well I appreciate that, Weiss.” I replied. “Anything I can do to help calm you down again?”

“Probably not, no.” Weiss announced, staring at her feet. “Not unless you know some kind of trick for forcing somebody to calm down?”

“I dabbled in a bit of self taught hypnotherapy. Wasn’t very good at the suggestions or actually getting anyone into a trance state but I would often be called by my ex girlfriend or other friends at night to calm them down enough to put them to sleep.” I explained, stretching out on the hillside looking out at a very blue lake.

“Do you think it’d work on me?” Weiss looked up at me curiously, her eyes still sporting a few leaks.

“Well, since i’m hoping that you’ve never tried hypnosis before I imagine it may at least help.” I said, lying back on the grass behind me and folding my hands over my stomach. “As long as a train doesn’t come by and disturb us, would you like to give it a try?” I closed my eyes and let the sunlight cascade down on my face, warming me from the outside in.

“Might as well I guess. What do I do?”

“Lie back and get comfortable.” I instructed, remaining still.

Giving Weiss a minute to do so, I began to recall what I remembered from the documents i’d printed out and sort of memorised.

“I want you to remain silent and listen to the sound of my voice.” I began in my lowest, calmest voice I could easily muster up. “Focus on the sound of my voice as you open your mind to the world around you. Hear the sound of the birds as they float lazily on the breeze above you. Let yourself feel each individual blade of grass brushing against you, feel the wind in your spines and the sun on your scales.

“Remember to focus on my voice as you become aware of the natural surroundings you lay in. Now I want you to imagine a small orb of pure energy. It can take the form of a ball of calming light, or you may simply feel it’s presence. Let it’s calming energy wash over you from above.” I have to admit, I was doing the same thing and my mind responded in turn by starting to shut my body down.

“Now this orb begins to descend on you; it means no harm. It wishes only to help you relax. Let it soak into the crown of your head, the muscles on your skull instantly releasing all tension and floating freely. Now this energy continues lower, its energy penetrating into your ears and eyes; the muscles becoming loose and free. It continues into your eyes and sets them at ease; this is a pleasant feeling, yes?” I could feel as though gravity had increased on my head and was trying to drag it deeper into the ground, as though I wanted to merge with the planet.

“Now this energy continues lower still, relaxing the muscles in your face, mouth and jaw; letting the feeling of gravity become you as though you wish to melt into the cool grass beneath your body. Let the wave of calm seep down into your neck and let everything go. Let your powerful neck rest now as it’s been holding up your head all day. Let everything go now.”

My own body was already anticipating the next step so in response, both my arms instantly went numb and collapsed to the ground beneath me. Gravity, I swear, was getting heavier on them, almost unbearably so.

“Now this energy descends into your shoulders, releasing all tension in your extraordinary muscles as it continues into your arms and chest. Let your arms go limp and loose, let them fall where they may as you take a deep breath; in through the nose,” we both breathed in at the same time. “and out through the mouth.” the both of us released slowly, relaxing as our arms disappeared into a mess of dirt and flesh; at least I could swear they did, it certainly felt like it.

“This relaxing feeling continued down into your belly and back, continuing to calm everything as it continues down into your thighs. Let all the worries about keeping you up vanish from you, drain it into the earth below.” I suppose the only reason I was still awake was because I was the one doing the talking.

“Now it reaches the end of its journey as it enters into your tired and aching feet. As this energy passed through your soles and into the earth, it takes with it all the negativity and strain that you’ve been feeling. You are left completely calm and relaxed, listening to the sound of my voice in the calming environment around you.” Ok, I had to sit up now. Ensuring to do so as quietly as I could, I rubbed the fatigue from my eyes and looked down at Weiss, calmly and quietly breathing where she lay; completely at ease with the universe.

“Now I want you to become more aware of your body as I slowly bring you back to wakefulness as I count from ten to one.

“Ten, you begin to regain feeling in your feet as you focus on my voice. Good.

“Nine, you can now feel your shins again, still letting them remain calm and relaxed.” My voice was starting to return to normal as I counted.

“Eight, higher still; your powerful thighs are relaxed and stress free as you give them a twitch.” I instructed, watching her legs kick a bit in response.

“Seven, you’re doing so well. Your belly now as all the weight is lifted from you.

“Six. Your back has become two separate entities from the ground beneath you, but you still feel relaxed and at peace.

“Five, halfway there now. You’re chest let's you take another deep breath, letting you exhale slowly and with each breath, you remain more and more calm, more relaxed.” I resisted the urge of standing up to forcibly wake myself up, so I resorted to massaging feeling into my legs again.

“Four, you can feel your neck return to you again.

“Three, your jaw and mouth wake now, letting you work your jaw to regain some feeling.” I watched as Weiss’s tiny jaw opened and revealed her rather sharp teeth as she worked at regaining feeling in it.

“Two, the top half of your head is awake now, your ears ready to receive.

“One,” My voice was back to normal again, speaking clearly and quickly again. “You are now fully awake and can open your eyes, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.” Her eyes shot open just as her maw opened in a yawn, her tiny arms stretching out at the same time.

“Wow, that actually worked! I feel great!” Weiss announced, sitting up and leaving an imprint of her body in the grass behind her.

“So you’re ready to meet Spike and Twilight Sparkle?” I threw my leg over my bike and turned it on again, taking a look over my shoulder to watch the steadily approaching train in the distance; still nothing more than a heatwave shimmer.

“Totally! Let’s go!” Weiss replied as she clawed her way up my leg and onto my back again, looking eager to get going.

Accelerating quickly, we reached a casual speed of about 180km/hr, give or take, and pulled back onto the tracks; ready to go meet the new contacts.

~~~

“So this is Ponyville?” Weiss wondered out loud as we pulled off the tracks and slowed to roll onto a heavily trodden path nearby. The town before us looked otherwise quiet, quaint and safe to go to. “It seems-”

“Small.” I interrupted, letting us more or less coast into town in first gear; figured that the townsfolk had heard us coming on the way in.

“I was going to say empty.” Weiss replied, leaning in over my shoulder to whisper into my ear and still raising her voice over the engine. “Where is everypony?”

“Probably hiding from us.” I replied as I pulled over at the train station and killed the engine. Taking the keys with me I hopped off the bike before Weiss released her grasp on me and jumped to the ground below. “Think about it like this, we were making enough noise that everypony probably thought some dangerous creature was going to rampage through town.”

“I see your point. Then should we just head straight to wherever Spike and Twilight Sparkle live?” Weiss asked, taking my hand in her own as we sauntered down the street.

“Do you know where that is?” I looked down at the female clinging to me.

“Maybe someone at that really big castle knows?” Weiss suggested, pointing over thatch roofing at the most ostentatious castle-thing i’d ever- never mind, i’ve only ever seen the Canterlot Castle.

Rather than reply audibly. I merely shrugged and began to try and navigate us in the straightest line towards the castle, avoiding lanes of sub traffic like alleyways or smaller streets.

“Wow, it kind of looks like everypony has practice hiding away quickly.” Weiss noted as she looked at a market with still fresh produce, some food stalls with bowls of steaming product.

“Who knows, maybe it's not a strange occurrence for everypony to have to hide from something.” I shrugged in reply, remaining on the original trajectory towards the town castle. “I wanna know one thing though.”

“What’s that?” Weiss looked up up me, still keeping her claw in my hand.

“How does a town like this get it’s own Castle?” if this was similar throughout the rest of Equestria then perhaps the title of Princess wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

“Apparently, and I read all this in the newspapers some time ago, miss Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated some evil creature thing who tried stealing all the magic in Equestria. The castle thing just grew out of the ground at the end of it all.” Weiss replied, looking back into her memories to find the pertinent information.

“Oh good, so we’re going to meet another Princess?” I complained, no longer wanting to continue the trek if to save my own peace of mind. Weiss’s eagerness to meet Spike, however, kept me walking.

“Technically yes, but I hear she’s a much less formal Princess.” I must admit, I sighed relief at this.

“So then what can I expect?” I asked as we finally rounded onto the street of the large towering building. I really didn’t like it’s appearance.

“Best guess, alicorn princess with a baby dragon. I really don’t know much about these two either way.” The dragon let go of my hand and climbed up onto my back, then higher and sat on my head cross legged.

“Comfortable?” I asked, looking up at Weiss with my eyes to keep her from falling off me.

“Not really, you have a really hard head. Was an idea and I don’t like it.” Weiss explained, climbing back down again into my back loops.

Pulling said jacket tighter around my torso, I zipped myself up entirely and stuffed my hands into my pockets in silence. As my eyes wandered around the street, I could barely make out the reflections on the eyes of inquiring ponies before they disappeared into shadows again.

“You’re still sure you want to do this?” I asked, climbing the few steps to the front door, holding short of knocking.

“Yeah, we came all this way already; we might as well accept their offer to meet.” the dragon replied, watching my face from over my shoulder.

I begrudgingly raised a fist and rapped on the door a couple times before stepping back, stuffing my hand into my pocket again.

“Hold on, i’m coming!” a female voice demanded from within. “Who is it?” she asked, her voice directly ahead of us with the slab of whatever this door was made of between us.

“It’s-” I began for introductions, however Weiss interrupted me as usual. This was becoming a regular thing.

“We’re here to accept your invitation for meeting; it’s Weiss and caretaker.” Weiss called back over my shoulder, her spines brushing against my ear and side of face.

“Oh excellent! I was hoping you’d get here before whatever creature invading Ponyville showed up but I suppose I can provide you shelter till they leave!” the female voice announced as I heard the door open slowly. This was going to be good.

“Yeah, about that.” I replied, scratching my arm through my jacket; not easy given the amount and thickness of leather.

“Oh, I see.” a purple mare with a horn and wings replied, staring at me in shock from under her violet mane with a pink streak through it. “You are the terrifying creature.”

“Apparently.” I remarked in all simplicity. “Does your offer still stand or should we go away?”

“No no, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting the caretaker of two baby dragons under the care of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to be- whatever you are. I’d thought you were a unicorn in all honesty; two actually. Please, come in.” the mare I suspected to be Twilight Sparkle requested, pulling the door wide and stepping aside.

“Thank you.” Weiss bid for me as I entered us into the equally ostentatious interior. At least it was warmer in here.

“Spike has been beside himself waiting to meet another baby dragon. I understand it you have a twin brother, where’s he at?” Twilight asked as she lead us through the lobby of the castle and into a throne room with six larger thrones and a seventh, smaller and unmarked throne next to one.

“In Canterlot. He acts as my face for my upcoming furniture business.” I explained, stepping around the nearest throne with three balloons printed on the head. The other thrones all had similar inscriptions on their own heads; the most interesting ones was the one with the tri-coloured lightning bolt and the other a trio of blue rhombus-cut diamonds. “I thought there was only the one Princess living in this town.”

“Hmm? Oh right; I am the resident Princess, yes. These other thrones are for my friends for when we go on missions or hang out here. They’re all currently busy with their other lives at the moment or didn’t care to meet -what we all thought to be- another highly skilled unicorn.” Twilight explained, climbing up into her own throne denoted by her matching cutie mark.

“That’s fine by me.” I replied, collapsing in the tri-balloon throne once Weiss had removed herself from my person. “So, where is this Spike?”

“Of course. Let me just call him.” Twilight replied. “Spike! There’s someone here to meet you!”

“Really? That’s new!” the voice I presumed to be Spike called back before the sound of claws clicking on the floor echoed through the castle. “Who is it?”

“Remember that letter we sent to Weiss, her brother and caretaker? They’ve decided to show up.” Twilight explained as a set of rounded off green spines appeared from the doorway a ways off, all attached to a purple scale body with green accents.

“Weiss is here?” Spike asked eagerly, walking up to Twilight’s side. Weiss however had worked herself behind my back even as I lounged on the throne. “Woah, I had no idea her caretaker would be a human.”

“How do you know what I am?” I asked, sitting up to let Weiss hide comfortably behind me.

“Pshh, we’ve had a couple of encounters with humans already, right Twilight?” Spike explained casually before returning to the task of meeting another baby dragon. “So where’s Weiss?”

“You must understand, she’s very shy when meeting new ponies.” I explained, standing up to receive a squeak of protest from the white dragon behind me before I felt her latch onto my back to remain hidden. “Come on Weiss, you wanted to meet him, now’s your chance!”

“I’m freaking out right now!” Weiss whispered into the back of my head, sounding distressed.

“A moment, please.” I requested, standing up and turning from the thrones to walk a ways away, Weiss scurrying around my body as I turned. “What’s up? I thought we’d already dealt with this?”

“I know, but now it’s all back en force!” Weiss replied, looking like she was about to burst into tears. “I can’t do it! I thought I could, but I can’t!”

“But you can do it, I know you can! You’re a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon!” I informed of the creature now riding in my arms like a child, as if she needed reminding of her species.

“No! I’m a baby dragon who lost her unicorns with her brother in an inferno that I caused!” Weiss shouted back, tears draining from her eyelids. “I killed our unicorns and Eben still hasn’t forgiven me for it!”

“That wasn’t your fault. How could you know what would happen if you breathed pure dragon fire on a fire ruby? You had no idea that it would ignite.” I asked, keeping my voice calm.

“How have we never tried that?” Spike inquired of Twilight behind us. “I had no idea that breathing fire on a fire ruby would ignite it.” I could hear Twilight respond with mumbling and a very likely shrug.

“But I still did it! I still killed them!” Weiss kept weeping, using my sleeve to wipe off her face.

“And if you hadn’t, would you still have a human for a caretaker? Let’s be honest, I may not be a powerful unicorn, but i’m still pretty awesome with my human intellect; if not that, then I have hands.”

“That-” Weiss calmed herself down with a sniffle. “-That’s true. I didn’t really like Eben’s caretaker in the first place. Plus, Titan didn’t have hands.”

“His name was Titan?” I asked with a stifled chuckle. “Sound like a tool.”

“Nah, he was pretty cool; had all sorts of magical abilities that didn’t otherwise make sense.” Weiss replied, cuddling in against my body. “He called it ‘combat magic’ but never actually had to use it given the peaceful state of Equestria.”

“Combat Magic?” I parroted back in disbelief, trying to imagine what the use of that would be. Maybe in some kind of war. Or just putting the fear of humans into ponies. “I suppose that could be useful if he was a soldier or something.”

“He wasn’t.” Weiss twisted her body and hopped down from my grasp and spun me about. “Ok, let’s try this again.”

“Is she alright?” Twilight asked in concern.

“I think she’ll be fine.” I replied as I took a step aside, leaving Weiss revealed. “Spike, this is Weiss. Weiss, this is Spike.” I crouched down next to Weiss as she nearly latched onto my arm again, threatening to skin me alive.

“Uhm, hi, Weiss.” Spike waved nervously, remaining where he stood. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“Hello.” Weiss squeaked back, her frame trying to hide behind my forearm but failed miserably. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“She kind of reminds me of Fluttershy.” Twilight mumbled to herself. “Spike, could you and Weiss go get us some tea? I hope that’s alright with you?” she looked up at me inquiringly.

“If you’ve got a red tea, it works for me.” I replied. “Go on Weiss, you’ll be fine. Shout if anything happens.” I detached myself from Weiss before giving her a pat on the back, edging her forward.

“You make it sound like you're expecting me to assault her.” Spike griped, making Weiss’s eyes go large with nerves. “Not that I would! I promise!” he tried to recover, stepping away from the dragon to let her have space. “Come on, the kitchen is this way.” Spike waved for the girl to follow after her.

Reluctantly, Weiss followed after the male dragon while I took a seat across from Twilight.

“So how’d you get to Equestria without me knowing?” Twilight demanded once the dragon’s were out of earshot.

“Excuse me?” I raised an eyebrow curiously.

“How did you get through the mirror and into Canterlot without me aware of it? What’s your purpose here? Did Sunset Shimmer send you?” Twilight peppered me with questions, none of which I had answers for.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, Twilight Sparkle. I will tell you the same thing I told Princess Luna when she found and imprisoned me…” I barked back, and so began my explanation once more with Twilight listening earnestly.

“So you have no idea how you got here, but it wasn’t through the portal? Never mind the fact that you’re not even from that human world? Just how many human worlds are there in the universe?” Twilight wondered aloud, having pulled out a stationery set from nearby to write notes down. “So you say you have no purpose being here otherwise; save for making money and buying your way out of the dungeon?”

“Precisely that. I have skills that will help me make an income, and after a while I should be able to find myself a proper workshop that I can remain secluded in to work while I raise two baby dragons by myself.” I replied, brushing my hair back with my hand. I still wanted to know why it was silver.

“Well it seems that aside from the shy behaviour, Weiss will be fine. I suspect that Eben will be the same given how he’s apparently been caring for Weiss up till you came along. Still, i’m shocked to hear that Princess Celestia gave you both of them to care for despite you being human and magicless.” Twilight set her quill down to review her notes; my case.

“Save for the Dragon Eye Weiss gave me.” I quipped, pointing out the eye in particular.

“Right. You know, i’ve studied magic all my life and it never once occurred to me to see what Dragon Fire does to gemstones.” Twilight replied, leaning against her forehoof to examine me. “Any other additions to your body?”

I shook my head in response. “I haven’t had a chance to let Weiss experiment on anything to see what stone does what. I’m really not looking forward to being the guinea pig.” I explained, wondering where Weiss and Spike was with the tea.

“Mmm, fair enough. So a question, if I may?” Twilight requested, switching topics. I motioned her the go ahead. “You’ve been in Equestria for what, a month now?” I nodded my head. “How does nopony know your name? You do have a name right?”

“Yes, I have a name. I think it’s something with this world that persistently refuses me to introduce myself as anything but ‘The Human’, or ‘The Caretaker’ or whatever. I’m almost certain that if I tried to give my name, right now, that would be when Weiss and Spike get back.” I explained with a grin, leaning against the armrest which didn’t make much sense to me given that it was regularly ponies who sat here.

“I’m almost tempted to have you test that; they’re really taking forever.” Twilight hopped up onto her own arm rest to look down the hall; presumably towards the kitchen.

“Hi, i’m-” and in true fashion, I was interrupted by the sound of a female scream, followed by a resounding slap. Both Twilight and I bolted upright and raced after the origins.

Skidding into the kitchen, Twilight and I found Spike on the floor giving Weiss the death glare to rival my own as Weiss openly sobbed and ran directly at me. Launching up at my chest, I caught the baby dragon and cradled her in my arms as she wept.

“Don’t-” sob “Let-” sob “him touch me!” Weiss whimpered as she burrowed deeper into my embrace. I could feel the heat rising up inside me in response.

“It wasn’t like that!” Spike responded instantly as he recovered; still giving Weiss a death glare as he tried to turn on the charm. “I was simply trying to help Weiss up onto the counter to get the cups when my grasp slipped and I brushed against her with my head spine!”

“That was not your head spine!” Weiss screamed, pointing an accusing finger at the purple dragon. “Head spines don’t wiggle!” I could already feel my eyes twitching as Twilight simply gaped at Spike, her mouth hanging open.

“Twilight, take Spike and run.” I ordered as calmly as I could. “Because if I get my hands on him i’ll fucking kill him!” My voice escalated as I nearly dropped Weiss to jump at Spike to throttle him. His only saving grace was a purple sheath enveloping his body and moving him out of the way, making me skid to a halt as the both of them ran out the door. “You ever lay so much as a claw on my dragon again, i’ll mount your head on my mantle!” I shouted back at the dragon before turning towards the front door again.

“Don’t let him touch me!” Weiss mumbled as she continued to weep in my arms.

“That dragon is never going to see you again, let alone get a chance to touch you. I promise.” I said quietly, stepping out into the sunlight. “Come on, we’re going home.”

Is there really no chance for us?

“I feel like I need to-” I began, shouting back at Weiss as she clung to my back and resting her snout on my shoulder as we returned home to Canterlot Castle/Dungeon.

“Don’t.” Weiss interrupted before I could adequately apologize. “It wasn’t your fault that he did what he did. It wasn’t even your fault for wanting to go and meet them.” I couldn’t quite see her but I could imagine the leaking water works coming from her eyes trailing behind us.

“I still brought you there; I still let you go with Spike. I should have known or at least suspected something like that would happen.” I replied, the heat from Spike’s violations still burning within me but with the wind ripping at my face I couldn’t help but let it drain from me.

“And just how would you have known? What would have tipped you off? He looked perfectly respectable at first when all four of us were in the throne room.” came the reply, though it took me slowing down to let the engine of the bike grow slightly quieter to hear her.

“Can I ask what happened, or not yet?” I turned my head towards the emotionally scarred baby dragon, unsure how long I should wait to talk about what’d happened to her.

“I-” Weiss sounded like she was just as unsure about it as I was. “Let me process first. It’s nothing against you but I want to talk to my brother first.” I had to shrug to that; given their longer blood relationship I couldn’t hope to be the first she’d come to about it.

Swinging onto the right side of the tracks, we sped along kicking up dirt and gravel as we passed by the incoming train to Canterlot; aiming to get onto the bridge that would lift us into the Canterlot Mountain Range before the train all but consumed every inch of track and we got stuck behind it till we entered the city.

“Are we going to make it?” Weiss asked nervously, noticing how quickly the train was closing the gap between the bridge and us.

“Sure we are. Unlike the train we’ve got another three gears to go faster with!” I grinned at the same time that I hit the throttle, shifting up into fourth and already approaching the train engine rather steadily. Just not fast enough yet. Accelerating further I shifted into fifth and got as close as I dared to the coal car, steadily running out of road.

“We’re not going to make it!” Weiss screamed into my ear as I merely grinned and shifted into sixth, throwing all our combined weight forward to accelerate faster.

With my right leg technically above empty space as the gravel dropped away beneath us and my left leg being threatened to be ripped off by the cow catcher of the engine, I swung us onto the bridge ahead of the train with Weiss threatening to pass out from the excitement.

“I told you we’d make it.” I shouted back as we slowed back down again, staying just ahead of the engine behind us.

“Never do that again!” the prepubescent female demanded, slamming her fist down on my shoulder furiously. “I don’t care if we end up behind a slow moving train, don’t do that again!”

“Oh come on, that was exciting!” I retorted, sitting back up again to relax.

“No, that was terrifying!” was my response as all light faded away temporarily as we passed through the first tunnel; the bikes headlights coming on automatically in response.

“Oh fine, whatever. I don’t expect to be doing much riding this in the future anyways.” I mumbled the latter half given that I didn’t see any reason for me to leave the Castle anymore and i’m sure Weiss was feeling similarly.

~~~

“That was a quick trip.” Princess Luna welcomed us at the door to the Dungeon as we rolled in ahead of her in neutral, letting gravity drag us into the darkness. “I hope it was a pleasant one.”

“Nope, and it will very likely be the last one that we take in a long time.” I replied while fighting to keep the bike from impacting the stone surface of the walls as we descended. “How was your nap?”

“Apparently more pleasant than your trip. What happened?” Luna sat back near the door as I all but killed the engine and walked it into the nearest empty cell.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Weiss crossed her arms over her chest protectively as her head spines shielded her face when her head dropped downwards. I pulled myself off the bike without kicking Weiss in the back of the head as she stood on the tail of the bike, sulking.

“Oh dear, I hope it wasn’t too traumatic.” Luna replied in concern as I gave Luna the look. “Oh, it was.” I entered into my work cell and got to work on hopefully finishing my chair finally.

“Well, on a slightly more cheerful note,” Luna announced after a minute of her watching me working methodically. “My sister and I were wondering if you, as a human, would have any idea of how to permanently get rid of attacking Manticores. There’s a pride of them threatening a town near to the deserts south of here.”

“Luna,” I began, setting my tools down and received a glare from the alicorn with the lack of appropriate title. “Princess. Human’s don’t even know what a Manticore is, let alone how to adequately fight them. Best I can do would be kill a few of them and hopefully the rest of them would get the idea and stay away.”

“Erm, kill? You don’t know any peaceful methods of removal?” Luna inquired hopefully, settling down nearby; just out of range of flying debris.

“I’m not the type. Even if I was I don’t know anything about Manticores; what they like and don’t like. What scares them and what angers them? If I had in-depth knowledge about them, then maybe I could throw something together. Fact is, Princess,” I wasn’t sure why I added so much inflection in her title, maybe just to make sure that I said it. “Is that I know a number of ways to kill a person; both with the target aware that it was doing so, as well as without them aware.”

“Why in Equus would you have such skills?” Luna demanded in concern for me; or for humanity. “That cannot be normal skills for humans to possess, could they?”

“No. Not yet. If the wars on Earth continue then it may end up that way.” I replied, setting my tools down to take a seat on the chair. I just had to take out the large block of wood that made up the legs/stump of the chair, carve out the legs themselves and it’d be more or less ready for finishing.

“Wars? There are more than one? Equestria has not had a war in over a thousand years, let alone more than one!” Luna allowed herself to roll onto her side, her legs stretching out beside her before going limp.

“Yes well, last I was aware there was a war of religion concerning a group of radical extremists from the Middle East. They’re more or less conditioned to kill anyone they call ‘infidel’ which is everyone who isn’t one of them.” I explained, resting my chin in my palm.

“Not only that but they’ve misplaced hundreds of thousands from another country and my country wanted to bring them all in without proper screening. That’s nothing more than just welcoming in the radicals to come and attack us.”

“You’re world is concerning me. Perhaps it would be better if you remained here where it’s peaceful?” Luna suggested, looking at me from the corner of her eye in all casualness.

“Ehh, we’ll see. Honestly I'm more concerned about me being here at all.” I stood up and exited the cell, Luna following after me curiously. Entering into my private room I shoulder rolled onto my mattress which I noticed had been replaced with an actual queen sized bed frame and spring mattress.

“And why would that be?” Luna edged me on as I rolling onto my back on the right side of the bed. Luna, before either of us was aware, rolled onto the bed beside me and got comfortable on her side, watching me curiously.

“Because one, my human nature will pollute your country; exhibit motorbike.” I replied, gesturing to the bike across the hall from me. “Two, this world is already polluting me; exhibit Eye.” I turned my head to look directly at the Princess next to me, the heat from her body radiating outward and warming my left half.

“If you’d like I can fix both those issues with a flash of magic.” Luna suggested calmly and quietly given how close we were; she probably could have licked my face had she the inclination.

“We’ll see. The third thing is how close you seem to be getting to me. You’re already spending most of your days down here with me and now you’re laying with me on my bed. Thanks for replacing the old one by the way.” I added, making Luna’s face flush purple for the third? Fourth time today?

“Oh!” Luna spun and hopped off the bed suddenly before adjusting her collar and crown. “My apologies, I wasn’t- I hadn’t- It wasn’t my intention-”

“Oh relax. I didn’t think anything of it. I just want you to know that for whatever emotional attachment you’ve produced for me, I don’t feel the same.” I announced, rolling onto my back and folding my fingers over my stomach as the sound of glass shattering echoed through the cavern. “Don’t get me wrong, I'm sure you’re a great person/ pony/ alicorn thing and you have a lovely personality. But I’m just not interested in a cross-species relationship.”

“Oh.” Luna’s voice was low and dripping with disappointment. “I see. I apologize for wasting your time then.”

“Now hang on.” I sat up, halting Luna’s rejected walk of shame. “I never said you were wasting my time.”

“Go on.” Luna requested, otherwise remaining quiet as she wiped a hoof across an eye.

“I like having you visit me here. If it was just Weiss and I things would get rather boring rather quickly with just work on my mind. I appreciate you taking the time out of your daily life to come visit a flawed creature such as myself.” I explained, resting an arm on my knee with the other posting behind me. “You want to lounge next to me on my bed, I'm fine with that. You want to stare at me curiously, I’ll get used to it. But I cannot reciprocate whatever interest you have in me.”

“You understand that most of what is required for me to allow myself to lay next to you involves the hope of you feeling the same as I? Without that, I likely won’t be able to bring myself to do it.” Luna replied, sitting back with watery eyes.

“So then don’t lay with me. Sit with me.” I offered, scooting back to rest against the headboard. “In my world it’s not uncommon for animals of any species to be best friends with a human and cuddle with them. It just shows they think of the human as part of their family.” I explained as Luna stepped onto the mattress again and got herself comfortably sat next to me. “I don’t expect you to adopt me as family, yet or even ever, but at least let me be a friend.”

“I… I appreciate that, I do.” Luna replied, letting herself lean backwards and land against the headboard, sitting with her rear hooves out like I was. “I think I understand why Miss Heartstrings sits like this so often; it’s quite comfortable.”

“Who?” I asked in confusion, as three burps followed by deep thuds echoed through the room from the next cell over. “Excuse you!” I shouted to Weiss.

“Your materials are here!” Weiss shouted back, as though she could care less about mannerisms. “Could you get them out of my room please?”

“I’ll need help to do so, maybe from a friend?” I requested, holding a hand up in offering to the Princess next to me.

“I would be glad to.” Luna replied, placing a hoof in my palm momentarily before twisting herself off the bedside and onto her hooves. I did the same and landed on my feet before staggering a bit, pressing a hand to my head.

“Woah, head rush.” I mumbled before recovering. “Alright then.” the two of us exited my cell and entered into Weiss’s room where three huge blocks of wood sat upright, blocking most access into the deeper sections of the cell.

“I don’t know about you, but these are actually very lovely woods.” Luna remarked, picking the second larger of the two blocks of wood with her magic as I grabbed the smaller.

“Agreed. And soon they will be three very lovely pieces of furniture.” I grunted under the weight as I very slowly carried it into my workshop.

Setting the block down, Luna and I returned to the third and final piece, working together to lift it given that both of us was straining to carry it ourselves.

“So how do you plan to turn each piece into furniture?” Princess Luna inquired once we’d set the final block down on it’s side against the wall, then stacked the other two on top of it.

“A lot of cutting. One idea would be for me to take massive saws and cut panels from the blocks and then shape those, where as another idea would be to simply carve the furniture out of it, creating so much more work for myself.” I explained, breathing heavily as the two of us stared at the blocks of wood before us.

“I can’t imagine that the saws we have would be very helpful, or human accessible.” Princess Luna remarked, sitting down as I leaned against her body.

“Probably not. If you’re up for more magical probing, I can help you conjure up some human accessible equipment that would certainly help me immensely.” I suggested, feeling Luna’s heartbeat and lungs in my back. She certainly felt powerful, even through just her muscles.

“Perhaps another time. I’m still weary from the last time. I imagine that the equipment you wish to create won’t be small like that engine so I'd like proper rest before then.” Luna replied, looking back at me over her shoulder.

“Ehh, fair enough. Just don’t keep me waiting, hoping to get some new equipment if you never plan on providing.” I replied, giving a friendly shove against the pony I laid against.

“Not to worry; I am not one to go back on my word. You shall have your equipment.” Luna replied, leaning back in an attempt to shove but the way she sat prevented her from being at to do so very well. “Now, back to the issue with the Manticores. You’re positive that you have no way to have them leave peacefully?”

“Completely. I know nothing about Manticores so I wouldn’t know the first thing about getting them to leave. Do you not have ponies who could help?” I shook my head in reply, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Well, there is one mare in Ponyville who has an affinity for dealing with animals. Regretfully she’s quite busy, so she says.” Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof in thought. “Nope, I can’t think of anypony else.” The mare sighed. “Very well, how would you go about killing them? I request quickly and painlessly.”

“I know just the thing.” I replied, sitting up to move to my desk with some papers strewn about it. With a inked quill I set to drawing out the individual parts and pieces of a rifle, making sure to label what piece was made of metal or whatever.

“What is it?” Luna inquired, watching me draw over my shoulder.

“The pieces of what will kill the Manticores quickly and if I shoot them in the right places, painlessly. I’ll have to put it all together myself but that won’t be a problem.” I explained, sitting back to view the diagrams of the pieces. “They’ll be relatively small so you won’t have to worry about creating something the size of the motorbike.”

“Fine, I will do my best.” Luna nodded affirmatively before closing her eyes and beginning the magic.

A minute of swirling magic later, I had the parts and pieces of a brand new rifle sitting on the table before me.

“My, I never considered how draining it would be to magically create something not from our world.” Luna complained, sitting back and placing a hoof against her head. I held a hand out to my bed, indicating that she could lie down again.

“Well, save the feelings of regret that you created this for me until after I’ve taken care of the Manticores. How far from Canterlot are they?” I asked as I began the process of building the large calibre gun.

“At least a few days trot from here.” Luna replied, flopping down on my bed once her mane had solidified. I was hoping that it’d be within a couple kilometers so I could just snipe from a castle tower, but if the desert was a couple days run from here; I’ll have to pack for a trip then.

“Well damn. I don’t want to bring the bike in order to properly get in position without alerting my position; even if I did I would still need you to follow along with me to bring me to the location.” I replied as the bolt carrier clicked into place and I began to work on fixing the scope to the rifle.

“What were you hoping for then? I’m not building you a new machination to use.” Luna inquired with a slight scowl.

“No need. I figure I'd just get a lift from you. You know where you’re going and it’d be the most silent form of travel.” I explained, opening the bipod to set the heavy weapon down on the desk before me.

Picking up the empty magazine I began stuffing the nearby .50 calibre rounds into the box until I couldn’t fit anymore into it.

Calmly inserting the magazine into the rifle and giving it a smack to ensure it locked in place, I pulled back the bolt and chambered a round ensuring that nothing went wrong in the gun’s creation before dropping the magazine again and ejecting the second round that had been chambered.

“You- you mean to ride me?” Luna demanded in shock, nervously squirming around on my mattress. “You could at least take me to dinner before we do that.”

“Hah, funny, Princess. It’s actually quite common for humans to ride on horses’ backs in my world. I don’t have any practice or experience doing so myself, but I'm sure between two sentient creatures such as ourselves we can work it out.” I replied, leaving the reloaded magazine on the table next to the black Barrett.

“S-still. I’m not all that used to being ridden; save for by small creatures like Weiss and Eben.” Luna replied, covering her face with both hooves. “I’m not sure if I’m emotionally ready for such a commitment!”

“Woah hang on a second; I think you’re taking this entirely out of context here! Or you’re messing with me right now.” I put both hands up in self defense, trying to remain calm as Luna removed both hooves from her face and sat up, grinning wildly at me.

“That’s what you get for breaking my heart.” Luna replied dropping the smile and looking away from me, offended.

“Well at least you’re not curling up into a ball and crying yourself to sleep; I think I can deal with this kind of behavior from you in retaliation.” I mumbled, turning back to the rifle before me. “Hello old friend.” I whispered, running my hand over the gun’s body. “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Afghanistan I believe. You ready to go hunting again?”

“Why are you talking to it like that?” Weiss stared at me in concern as she entered into the room and hopped up onto the bed next to Luna. “That’s just weird.”

“Oh but you must understand that Barrett and I have been through hell and back when I was in my world. The things we’ve seen we can’t unsee. The things we’ve done we can’t undo. The lives I've taken...” my voice dropped away as my mind reeled backwards in time.

“Suddenly, I feel a whole lot better about having you on our side.” Weiss announced, receiving an agreeing nod from Luna. “I’m also a bit nervous that you’d actually kill that pervert Spike.”

“Oh believe me, if we ever run into him again I'll punt him straight to the next town over.” I announced as I returned from my own personal hell, my face stricken with grief and consolidation of purpose.

“I see… Do you wish to deal with these Manticores now while you’re brooding so heavily?” Luna wondered as she worked at quickly preening her wings magically.

“Yeah, might as well.” I replied standing up and picking up my weapon by the handle to insert the magazine, leaving it unchambered for safety. “Weiss, you stay here. See if you can’t start cutting away the excess material according to the blueprints in the workshop while I'm gone.” I demanded, carrying the rifle out of the cell as Luna jumped up and followed me out. “I’m going hunting.”

Author's Note

Ok, so I don't know just how much human influence I'm going to drag into this story, but I'm already going to be editing the tags of this story again.

And no, there really will be no chance between Luna and main character.

How far do you expect me to go?

“I hope you realize that this will not become a regular occurrence, correct?” Luna shouted back to me, tilting her head to glance at me on her back just ahead of her wings as we silently glided on the winds of Equestria.

“Of course. Only whenever you want me to go somewhere to kill something.” I replied with a grin, having to rely on keeping myself upright on Luna’s back with my feet as my hands were rather full with a significantly large weapon.

Below, we’d already passed over Canterlot and I’d been required to press myself against Luna as best I could in order to prevent ponies below from noticing me. Heading south, Luna had been giving me a bit of a tour of her country which included giving me names of the towns and locations; the only town of significance that we’d passed through so far was Ponyville, home of the baby pervert.

“Not even. I don’t imagine we’ll be needing your specific skills very often if this upcoming event is any indication.” Luna huffed and lowered her head back down to make herself more aerodynamic. I’d have been doing the same if it wasn’t for the need to maintain my balance with the large calibre rifle in my possession. “By the way, I wish to go over a request concerning the dead Manticores.”

“Request being?” I replied, leaning as far forward as I dared in order to be heard.

“You must deal with the body. I don’t care how you do it but it cannot be left to rot where it falls.” Luna shouted back as her wings remained wide open upon entering an updraft.

“Well, I'm not much of a hunter so I wouldn’t be able to adequately skin and use the body parts: meat, furs, tails as you describe them. I can still do so and try to get creative but, it’ll be messy and stink up the place.” I explained as I mentally tried to remember the brief lessons in skinning animals that I'd received from my late grandfather some years back before my deployments.

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you if any of those parts have any uses to begin with. Maybe if the meat was properly cooked, you and Weiss might enjoy it.” Luna turned her head upwards and began to ascend back into the skies again. I’d have been terrified being up this high without any form of restraint had I not spent months learning how to drop out of a plane. Of course, I had a parachute then.

“As you’ve described them, Manticores are basically giant cats with scorpion tails and bat wings, right? Lion meat is too gamey, doesn’t go down very well.” I shouted back, sitting up to relax on our way up before we’d start the glide back down.

“How do you even know that?” Luna demanded in confusion, looking back at me with sparkling eyes.

“I spent a short time in Africa to take down a warlord dictator. The locals decided to feed me and my spotter in thanks and offered me grilled lion with some local herbs and whatnot.” I explained, making Luna shake her head and turn back skyward. “My question, completely off topic as it may be, is how do you seem to know where all these updrafts are at and which way they’re going?”

“It’s quite simple, I've placed a spell in my eyes that let’s me see important details for flying: such as wind speeds, wind directions, how fast we’re flying and what direction we’re going!” Luna looked back at me again, letting me get a better look at her eyes.

“Well that explains the sparkling eyes then. Can you put that spell in my eyes as well? It sounds useful for shooting.” I requested with a hopeful grin. Luna merely shrugged an eyebrow before turning back.

“We’ll see!” she called back as we exited the updraft and began our glide down.

~~~

“Well, that is certainly a desert.” I whispered as we glided down towards a very defined border between sand and stone.

Before us was an expanse not unlike the African landscapes with only a couple unidentifiable trees dotting the horizon.

“It certainly is. The town we’re looking to save is Appleloosa, about four hours trot north from here.” Luna replied in an equal whisper. “They’ve been getting terrorized by a herd of Manticores taking refuge in the desert and so haven’t been able to properly defend themselves.”

“Do you know where they are? The Pride I mean.” I requested, gripping onto the gun’s handle as tight as I could while I leaned down onto Luna’s neck to speak into her ear.

“Yes, they are an hours gallop ahead of us.” Luna replied as her horn began to glow. I could instantly begin to feel an electrical energy spark into my eye before I began to see small numbers appear with arrows and other helpful information.

Raising my weapon and peering through the scope, the readout in my eye automatically compensated for the magnification, telling me the windage and elevation settings as well as the current magnification and range.

“Handy, thank you.” I announced as I searched the landscape for the pride.

Below and ahead of us was a nearly perfectly camouflaged herd of lion things in yellow milling about, tearing into some dead animal that they’d hunted.

They were also much too close for my liking.

“Luna, turn back around and head away from them; they’re too close for my tastes.” I requested. Luna nodded and turned us around, continuing our slow descent as I twisted my torso to keep the herd in my scope, watching the range increase to a more comfortable distance. “This is good. Anywhere down here please.”

“Are you certain? This is still over three hours gallop away!” Luna remarked in shock.

“That’s apparently equal to about a kilometer and a half for human distances. I’ve made longer shots.” I shrugged, lowering my weapon again as we came in for a gentle landing.

“I do hope you know what you’re doing.” Luna mumbled as I hopped off her back and began my setup.

“Oh, I do.” I replied as I got down on my stomach, the bipod holding the barrel up and aiming in the general direction of the herd. “Now, is there some way to identify the alpha easily?”

“Not usually. They don’t really change appearances.” Luna replied as I placed the rifle against my shoulder and looked down the sight at the herd.

“I meant, do they ever get some kind of marking or something like that?” I mumbled back, not entirely talking to anyone in particular. My mind was currently invested in sighting in my target as I searched for the target that would most likely lead to the most chaos in the Manticore’s ranks.

There he was.

The alpha sat in the middle of the largest of the pride surrounded by what I figured were females. He almost seemed to have a grin on his face as the females all tried to gain his favour as the other males watched and ate.

“Never mind, I've found the alpha.” I announced, sighting in on the Manticore’s chest. Even at a kilometer and a half, even if it’d hide could act as an armour, a .50 calibre round was sure to kill the target no matter what.

“Was it hard to find?” Luna inquired, crawling next to me on her stomach and keeping her head down.

“Nope, just look for the self-important lion in the middle of the pack surrounded by his harem.” I explained as I adjusted the magnification on the scope.

Zeroing in on the chest of the Alpha, I took a chance and aimed a bit higher; just in the jaw. With Luna’s spell lightly highlighting the winds as they changed, I was almost guaranteed a perfect shot, as long as the winds held up and I could guess the rotation of this planet.

“So what’re you doing?” Luna asked cheerfully, getting as close to me as she dared while her body heat raised my body temperature higher than the edge of the desert already was. I looked away from the scope at Luna as she laid nervously next to me, looking straight ahead as though her eyes could spot my target.

“I’m about to take the shot. I recommend covering your ears.” I replied as I turned back to my rifle.

Luna responded by dropping her head and doing as I suggested, flattening her ears against her head before resting her hooves over top.

I turned my focus to working on slowing down my breathing, steadying my aim for the shot.

“Shot.” I announced calmly before squeezing the trigger. The gun reacted by igniting the powder in the shell to create the miniature explosion necessary to propel the bullet forwards through the barrel.

Luna yelped as the fire exploded from the compensator while I watched the bullet cross the kilometer and a half in a couple seconds.

The Manticore Alpha was dead before he hit the ground.

“What in the world!” Luna exclaimed, standing up and side stepped away from me in shock.

I grinned as I zoomed out a click to watch the remaining Manticores look up from their meals and the females curiously approach their dead lover. Zooming back in again, I aimed at a mass of Manticores at random and prepared to squeeze the trigger.

“Shot!” I exclaimed, making the Princess fall to the ground, covering her ears as tightly as she possibly could.

I squeezed the trigger again and watched as a splotch of red appeared on the yellow fur of another Manticore at random as the gun reacted to the firing pin performing admirably. Two more targets went down as my shot had apparently pierced the first target and struck another one.

By now the Manticores were starting to react favourably: fearfully as they began letting our roars and scurrying about, looking for their attacker.

“Shot!” I exclaimed again before pulling the trigger on another target, ensuring that all my targets were male.

It’s not only good practice, but in some places the law to only shoot male animals. My grandfather reminded me in my mind.

“Shot!” I exclaimed again and pulled the trigger, my feet digging into the dirt behind me to act as a brace from the shock and recoil.

This shot I didn’t even watch for as I dropped the magazine and cleared the rifle of it’s reloaded round, pocketing the remaining bullets as rolled over onto my back to sit up next to my gun. Luna did the same with fear written across her face next to the word “nervousness”.

“Gun clear!” I announced as the bolt remained pulled back to accept another round as I checked that the safety was on.

“That-” Luna began shakily as she looked me over with my gun. “That was… remarkable!” Luna’s fear morphed into a grin with wings flared wide. “The power that was in that rifle! The noise!”

“Yeah, it sticks with you for the rest of your life.” I replied sombrely, all my previous shots in war echoing through my head at once.

“The other Manticores must be scared out of their minds of that sound by now!” Luna chuckled as she sat up and tapped her hooves on the ground beneath her eagerly.

“Not likely. The speed of the bullet exceeds the speed of sound -providing that physics here works relatively the same as my world- so after 600 meters or so the sound of the gunshot just dissipates. The Manticores wouldn’t have heard a thing.” I explained as I stood and picked up my rifle.

“Come on, we should go deal with the bodies.” I ordered as I shouldered the rifle again, checking to see if the animals beyond the scope had run off to let me dispose of the bodies.

“Really? So you could’ve just fired at them till you ran out of bullets and they’d never know where the shots came from? That’s amazing!” Luna remarked , the sparkles in her eyes shimmering just as much as before.

“Do you still have that spell in your eyes right now?” I wondered aloud in curiosity as I continued to walk towards the bodies.

“No, it automatically dispels once I've landed, why?” Luna replied with a mischievous grin.

“No particular reason.” I muttered as I clutched my rifle to my chest, the bullets in my back pocket clinking together with each step.

Luna hurried and stepped ahead of me, cutting me off before pulling me onto her back with a wing before she spread her wings wide and took off again.

“What happened to your anxiety over me riding on your back?” I asked, adjusting myself to sit properly on her back.

“Never mind that. You would have taken forever to walk all the way there at the pace you were going.” Luna replied, shaking her head lightly as we soared.

“You know there’s nothing wrong with walking right?” I asked as I aimed back towards the ex-pride grounds to ensure nothing had returned.

“I hope you don’t plan on firing that with the barrel so close to my head.” Luna remarked as she looked directly at the compensator just next to her head.

“Absolutely not. You’d suffer head trauma from the explosion.” I replied as I swept the area for targets. “I’m just making sure that nothing’s come back.”

“I don’t think anything will be coming back to that area for a while.” Luna sighed in relief as her wings beat the air behind me. “What do you plan to do with the bodies?”

“Can you help me chop down some wood for a couple of pyres? We’ll burn the bodies so that the other Manticores don’t decide to return anytime soon.” I requested as we began our descent back to terra firma.

Ahead of us the four bodies of the Manticores remained where they fell, blood pooling under their bodies. A fifth, female and most certainly alive, remained near to the alpha male’s body almost protectively.

“Oh great, I'm going to have to shoot the alpha female.” I mumbled as as we set down and I was able to load a round into the rifle before chambering it. “Unless you can get it to leave so we can work, I'm going to kill her.”

“Let me see what I can do.” Luna calmly told me as I set myself up on a nearby boulder, resting the bipod on the stone surface.

Luna calmly approached the female Manticore in all regality. The female seemed to detect or recognize the royalty approaching her and let go of the body before lowering into a bow. Zooming way out as far as the scope would go, I took a line of fire at the female’s neck and watched through the scope as tears fell to the ground beneath the Manticore.

“Rest easy, noble Manticore. This is unfortunately the payment that must be made for ravaging a pony settlement. We will treat their bodies will all care and respect that befits the Alpha.” Luna calmly announced with dry eyes. The female Manticore however, continued to shed her tears as she slowly nodded and backtracked into the forest.

“And you couldn’t do that before I shot everything?” I demanded as I stood up with my rifle again, leaving the round in but keeping the safety on.

“No, the Alpha male would have challenged us and we would have ended up in the same position; if not with damages to our body.” Luna remarked morosely as she returned to my position.

Without another word, Luna began to magically chop down nearby trees for use in the Manticore pyres as I set to respectfully prepping the dead for burning.

~~~

Soon enough we had two pyres set up, one for the Alpha with a hole in it’s face and the second one as a group pyre for the other dead.

“Right, let’s get this over with.” I muttered, holding the torch in my left as the day began to turn to night around us. “I don’t suppose you’ll want to say any last words for the departed?”

“No, but I think we have company.” Luna whispered, leaning into me from my right as she watched the remaining Pride slowly approach from the trees.

I nearly dropped the torch to retrieve my rifle right then and there, prepared to defend my life to the bitter end however Luna held me short as she placed a hoof on my rifle and held me short.

“They don’t mean any harm, they wish to take part in the funeral.” Luna whispered as the Manticores all sat down around the fire, watching Luna and I patiently.

“Do they realize that I'm the one who killed them?” I whispered back as quietly as I could as I warily surveyed the massing Pride around us.

“I think they know. They can’t explain the deaths and they know that I'm not capable of such fatalities so they think it was you and your magic stick.” Luna explained in equal tone of voice as she watched the other half of the Pride. “Best light the pyres now before they start getting restless.”

“Yeah,” I breathed and stepped forward to the piles of wood, plunging the torch into the depths of the Alpha’s pile before dropping the torch into the second pile altogether.

Stepping back in line with Luna and hanging onto my rifle by it’s barrel to keep it upright, everything gathered nearby watched in awe as the fires burst skyward and the flames licked at burned away at the corpses.

~~~

“That was so weird.” I sighed as we entered into my dungeon again. I set my cleared rifle down on a nearby rack, out of reach of any baby dragons and dropped the ammunition I had left on my desk in my room before dropping down onto my bed.

“In what way?” Luna asked as she sat down next to my bed for a while.

“In the way that I built a funeral pyre for an animal. Next time you have me ‘remove’ an animal, I'm leaving it for the birds.” I explained into my pillow, resorting to turning my head to address the Princess to reiterate what I'd just said.

“I’ll be sure to remember that for ‘next time.’” Luna rolled her eyes at me. “So what’s left for today?”

“If I had the equipment for it, I'd clean my rifle and put it in a protective case. Seeing as I have neither, It will have to sit and wait on the shelf I left it on.” I replied, leaving my eyes closed though I remained facing the alicorn princess.

“For now though, I sleep. Long day and I don’t expect to get much rest.” I added as an afterthought, breathing in deeply of the scents of the dungeon I was in. Earthy.

“Very well. I shall leave you to your slumber. Good night.” Luna wished me well as she turned and left the room. The sound of the dungeon door swinging shut and latching let me finally breath easy and allowed myself to drift away.

Author's Note

So here's another chapter for you all who've actually taken the time out of your lives to read and favourite this, I appreciate the support.

Now, I have absolutely no real military, hunting, or horse riding experience and I was too lazy to do the research so if anyone who does want's to provide factual corrections, I'd be more than happy to chat about it and make the appropriate edits.

ура

Do I take the shot?

Author's Note

Quick note, same as on the main page of the story.

I'm rating this Chapter Mature for violence, coarse language and death.

I really hope I don't have to reclassify the entire story for this one. As always, if you've got experiences that can contribute to this chapter, feel free to let me know.

Do I take the shot?

“Hey Captain, who’ve you got waiting for you at home?” a corporal behind me asked once the rest of the humvee had quit laughing.

“No one.” I replied calmly and to the point. Everyone was completely silent with that.

“Oh come on, you’ve gotta have-” the corporal started to say, however he was cut off when a sergeant held up a hand.

“My parents died a month ago, I have no siblings and I never liked my external family. Grandparents are all dead and my girlfriend left me when my parents didn’t will me anything out of spite of me joining the military.” I explained as my eyes roamed the Afghanistan horizon. Why wasn’t anyone else doing the same, save for my driver?

“Shit, I'm sorry Cap; I didn’t know.” the Corporal replied soberly, nervously shifting around in his seat with his rifle between his legs, sitting on it’s butt.

“No, I don’t suppose you would have.” I mumbled under my breath. “How far to insertion?”

“Another kilometer sir. Almost there sir, hold tight.” my driver replied without a care in the world. “Are you sure about this? We can always turn back now.”

“If you ask me to turn around one more time Sergeant, I’m throwing you out of the truck myself.” I barked back scowling. The driver remained silent and put his foot to the floor instead.

“Sir, why are you bringing the greenhorn? I can’t imagine stealth would be all that good with three of us running around the back country.” the sergeant behind me inquired, looking up at me over my shoulder.

“Because I want this greenhorn to take the marksman’s exams in three months. The more he learns now, the better he’ll do later on.” I shouted back, turning my head enough to direct my voice backwards without taking my eyes off the approaching buildings. “I want him to act as my spotter on this one, you provide security.” I ordered, receiving confirmation from both soldiers behind me.

“Sir, we’re here.” the driver announced, hitting the brakes and sliding our vehicle to a halt.

“Good, we’re hoofing it from here on out!” I ordered as I exited from the vehicle while the back ramp popped open. Avoiding the opening rear doors of the exiting soldiers with their own weapons, I lifted the back ramp enough to fish out my own rifle bag before slamming the door shut and shouldering the drag bag.

“Sir, ready to go!” the corporal announced, keeping his rifle aimed at the ground and close to his chest.

Giving the vehicle a couple of love taps, the vehicle spun wheel and turned around, aiming back for base to wait for my call to return.

“Come on, let’s get a move on. Enemy convoy arrives in six hours.” I ordered and took off for my pre-planned sniping nest. The Sergeant took point with his desert M4 with the Corporal following behind me, keeping an eye on our rear.

Drawing my side arm the three of us entered into the shadows of our target building, clearing out each room as we ascended the collapsed spiralling staircase with a bit of difficulty.

I’d chosen this location because it would be difficult for enemies to climb up to our location, but would be easily defendable in the event that they managed to get in behind us regardless. Additionally, the entire top floor was open save for a medium height wall that I could fire through and the Corporal could spot for me, provided he kept his head down.

“Sergeant, take position here and hold. The corporal and I are going on.” I ordered, indicating to an out of the way room near to the top of the stairs that would give him adequate cover and provided ample ambush capabilities. The Sergeant replied silently and set himself up in the aforementioned room while I lead on-wards with my sidearm.

“Captain, can I ask you something?” the corporal requested as be began setting up once we’d reached the roof. I was working on carving out adequately sized holes in the wall to peek through as the Corporal asked me this.

“Is it another stupid question like that last one?” I looked back at the Corporal in all sincerity.

“No sir. Why are we holing up here when the enemy won’t even be coming down this road? Being here, they’re going to roll right past us along the highway ahead.” the Corporal replied as he worked on his own little hole.

“Simple. The highway runs through the flattest of terrain with absolutely no cover whatsoever. You know the rule, do not crest a hill?” I asked as I turned back to my hole with my knife.

“Sure, makes it so you can’t be seen as a target where the terrain doesn’t make sense.”

“Same idea. You try to hide on a flat plain with no cover, you’re going to stand out pretty quickly; even with a ghillie suit. This building is the closest thing we’ve got that we can properly fire from repeatedly if need be. I don’t plan for us to be here long after the target is killed, but safe than sorry.” I explained, setting my knife back into its sheath before crawling back to set my .50 calibre rifle up to the hole I'd just made.

“So then that’s why you’re using the BMG?”

“Correct. I’m going to ensure that I kill something in a vehicle. I’m not risking the chance that their vehicle is more armoured than intel suggests when I can’t support more than two rounds.” I set the rifle against my shoulder and peered down the scope at the perpendicular highway over a kilometer away.

“So how do we know when the target’s passing by?” Corporal inquired, setting up his own rifle to watch the same highway I was, just with less magnification.

“This highway has been closed down for this guy for the last three days. The target will be the only traffic at all. Won’t be hard to tell.” I clarified as I settled in for the short wait. “Now shut up and get comfortable.” I ordered.

~~~

Six hours later, the sun had already set and the Corporal and I had attached our night vision onto our rifles in response. The Sergeant downstairs was now more or less free to move around in the darkness; I'd chosen him for this mission because of his ability to blend in and remain hidden.

“Sir, I think I can see headlights approaching!” the Corporal whispered as she shook me awake from my nap.

“Then get ready.” I replied, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I rolled onto my stomach and readied my rifle.

Peering down the scope I watched the procession of vehicles appear on the horizon down the highway and began my ritual of slowing down my breathing.

“Give me some information, Corporal.” I ordered.

“Sir, intel says that the target will be in the middle vehicle, but he’ll be boxed in from all sides. You’ll have to make your shot pass through the car on the right in order to hit the target.” the Corporal announced from memory. He then began listing off details of the atmosphere and weather conditions while I worked at making the adjustments to my gun.

Then the convoy turned off the highway.

“Corporal, why’re they turning off the highway?” I demanded, now able to place my crosshairs on the target vehicle itself.

“I don’t know sir, they’re not supposed to.” Corporal replied, watching through his own scope. “Should we continue?”

“Absolutely. We came out to shoot us a warlord, we’re going to kill us a warlord.” I retorted and began readjusting my scope for the approaching target. “When was the Sergeant’s last update?”

“Half an hour ago. He’s already late.”

“By five minutes. He’ll wake up and report in.” I replied nonchalantly.

“How do you know he’s asleep?” The Corporal pulled away from his scope to look curiously at me.

“Because if he isn’t then he’s dead and we’re fucked.” I explained in all casualness. Looking back down my scope again I lined up the shot and slowed my breathing.

“Sir!” the Sergeant’s voice came in over static. “Enemies… incom.... where you… G.T.F.O!”

“Fuck.” I let loose in a breath. “We’ve been compromised. Get yourself hidden and wait to ambush. I’m taking the shot.” I ordered. The soldier beside me complied and immediately shot up, taking his rifle with him as I remained prone.

“Ready sir!” the Corporal whispered from behind a set of boxes, his sidearm out and ready to defend.

Slowing down my breathing yet again, I watched the target approach and ignored the muffled gunfire coming from below, mixed in with the shorter bursts of unsilenced gunfire, the Sergeant returning fire.

I pulled the trigger just as the gunfire below ceased and the target car exploded in a fiery display of armour piercing explosive splendor. Rolling onto my back and taking the rifle with me, I rested the bipod on my legs just as I watched three Taliban gunmen appear at the stairs.

Pulling the trigger again, the first enemy soldier had his back explode from within and added the effect of staggering his friends; though not for long. His buddies opened up silenced fire at me, making me roll away for cover as the Corporal rounded the corner with his gun drawn and managed to put a round in the first enemies head.

However, the guy behind him reached out and took the Corporal’s arm and pulled, bringing the boy out and down to his knees as the soldier pressed a silenced pistol to his head, looked at me with a grin and pulled the trigger.

As the soldier fell with a new hole in his head, I took the chance to line up a shot of my own and squeezed; just as the soldier raised his weapon to make me the third casualty. He fell as his head snapped backwards, bringing the soldier boy with him.

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” I cussed under my breath as I rolled away from the door to rise into a crouch. Taking cover by the door, I waited and listened for signs of any more approaching enemies for a couple minutes.

No one came.

“Tombstone actual, this is tombstone one, come in!” I hissed as I crept towards my gear to extract my night/thermal monocular and fastened it to my helmet.

“Tombstone one, this is Tombstone actual, go ahead.” the female voice replied in all normalcy.

“Tombstone one has been ambushed by enemy combatants, one confirmed KIA, one MIA. Need immediate extraction, over!” I hissed back as I surveyed the stairwell in the darkness. I fucking hoped they didn’t have night vision as well.

“Copy that. Extraction en route, ETA five mikes. What about the target?” came the response.

“Cannot confirm. Shot a car, it exploded but I haven’t been able to identify yet.” I replied, packing my weapon into its case before slinging it over my shoulder to pick up one of the dropped weapons.

“Copy that. Hang tight Tombstone, we’re coming.” Tombstone Actual announced in an attempt to calm me. The sound of a hiss dropped that calm into my pants.

“RPG!” was the last thing I shouted before the building blew up beneath me, the floor having given out and dropped me four stories.

What is wrong with me?

“Hey!” a female voice pierced the darkness of the collapsed building around me. “Hey!” it called again.

“Serial number 34-216-964-45, Captain-” I muttered under my breath before something slapped me across the face.

“Hey!” Weiss’s voice shocked my eyes open, my Dragon Eye illuminating her white body in the waning night light coming from the moon beyond my poor excuse for a window. “What was all that?” she demanded, looking at me in all concern.

“What- where am I? What’s going on?” I demanded, looking around my surroundings feverishly wiping my sweaty brow on the back of my hand.

“You’re in the Canterlot Dungeons, same place that you’ve been in for the last month or so!” Weiss whispered back before hopping down to light a torch sconce with her breath.

With the torchlight illuminating the room more, I was able to ground myself once again and calm myself; still panting heavily.

“What were you dreaming?” Weiss climbed up onto the bed with me and cuddled into my embrace, acting like a service dog or stuffed toy in place of.

“My previous life.” I replied after I'd gotten to the point where I could speak clearly and calmly. “Specifically the first time I technically died.” I added, lifting up a corner of blanket to wipe my face off better.

“Was that from that Afghan place you were talking about yesterday?” Weiss looked up at me from below, pulling my blankets up over the two of us for comfort.

“Yeah. My squad was ambushed and killed, I was the only survivor and only barely at that. The building I was holed up in was destroyed by an explosive while I was on top of it and emergency evac only barely found me some eight hours of being buried under rubble later with a chunk of metal sticking out of my side.” I explained, going over the results of the memory and dream.

“Wow, and I thought I was having a bad day after that thing with Spike.” Weiss remarked in shock and concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I think I'll be fine.” I mumbled, not entirely convinced of this.

Suddenly a sudden burst of sound had me up and at arms with a chisel in my hand, ready to defend myself.

“Who’s there! What’s going on!” I called out, getting into a low crouch to approach the cell door. “Identify yourself!” I demanded, rounding the corner in a defensive stance.

Movement behind me!

I twirled on my heel and brought my empty palm out and around the neck of whatever was behind me. Continuing the spin I dragged the rather heavy body over my hip and planted it firmly into the ground while the chisel blade leapt forward and pressed against a furry throat.

Male? Must be a beard. Taliban? Gotta be. I raised the chisel up to strike as the body beneath me squirmed.

“Wait!” a female voice demanded as a flicker of light appeared at the tip of a blue horn. I halted the plunge of the blade as the light became brighter to reveal a terror stricken Luna beneath me, eyes wide in horror of the weapon in my hand.

“Princess?” I asked more of myself as I cautiously removed my hand from her neck to wipe at my eyes and clear the falling sweat and, i’ll be honest here, tears. Sure enough, Princess Luna was sprawled out under me with a knife about to plunge into her throat held by me.

Not Taliban. Not male. Not even human.

I reeled backwards and dropped the chisel, out of reach from where I could reach it again. Weiss appeared and retrieved the potential weapon before scurrying out of reach again, clutching the shining metal blade in her claws.

“I- I wanted to make sure you were alright!” Luna explained, turning her head to look at me from where she laid on her back. “I saw what was happening in your dream and I came down to check on you!”

“I- I nearly-” I stuttered, crawling backwards on my hands and feet into the wall. “I thought you were-” I all but broke down right there as I hugged my knees to my chest. “Then what was that sound?” I demanded, looking up from my position at the two females in the room.

“It was the thunder outside!” Weiss replied, tending to Princess Luna to ensure her good health.

“Wasn’t there just a storm?” I shouted back through tears, thrusting a hand towards the outside world as another clap of thunder echoed through the caverns followed shortly after by a flash of lighting.

“It wasn’t long enough so they had to do another one.” Luna explained, sitting up where she was. Neither female approached me. “What’s going on with you?”

“I- All those people I killed… All those kids!” I mumbled as fresh tears streamed; or were those the old tears? I wasn’t sure. “That kid I got killed…” My mind went back to the Sergeant and the Corporal who had been on my squad at the time. I curled back up again and wept into my clothes, thoroughly soaking them through.

“I don’t know what to do!” Weiss whispered to Luna in concern. Luna looked back at Weiss in a similar fashion as both females watched me.

“Excuse me?” Weiss asked after a minute. “Can I help?” I looked up at the small girl through watery eyes for a bit.

“I don’t know.” I mumbled back before resting my chin in my arms wrapped around my knees.

“Can,” Weiss took a breath, making me do the same. “Can I touch you?”

I thought for a moment, staring at the shadows at me feet cast by the light on Luna’s horn. Slowly I nodded in reply. Weiss gave a small smile as she gingerly placed a hand on my arm, ensuring not to rake her claws over my skin in the process.

“Can I sit next to you?” she asked warmly. I nodded again, keeping silent. The baby dragon removed her hand and sat down against the wall with me before gently placing her hand on my side, making me tense up as the flames of the metal rod protruding from my side ignited once again. “Oh, I'm sorry!” Weiss exclaimed, pulling her hand back again.

“Is-” My tiny voice almost couldn’t break the silence of the cavern.

“Yes?” Princess Luna remarked, crawling forward to me on her stomach. “Is there something you need?”

“Is there some way to play a song from my memory?” I requested, looking up at the alicorn before me. “I can’t play it myself because it needs instrumental accompaniment but it helps.” I wiped my eyes off on my sleeve to clear away the water buggering up my vision.

“I don’t believe so, no.” Luna replied, dropping my face into my knees again. “But if you can provide what the instrument notes sound like, I might be able to synthesize something for you.”

“I-” I choked down a fresh wave of tears. “I’ll try.”

~~~

Over the course of the next hour, Luna and I had managed to orchestrate one of the few songs I could remember that would help; strangely enough it was a song from a video game I'd played so long ago, but whatever helps right?

“Do you want me to play it now?” Luna asked through weary eyes as the sun began to peek through the cell windows.

“Yes please.” I requested, having advanced to a semi-recovered state.

“Oh! Wait just a second!” Weiss popped up and ran off into her room. The sound of items falling and clattering together had me tilting my head before Weiss reappeared with a Jade in claw. “If I remember correctly, I can enchant this Jade to replay anything it hears!”

“That’s handy.” I noted as Luna looked at the dragon and her stone in confusion.

“I do not recall any such spell to do that with.” the Princess announced with furrowed brows.

“That’s because it’s not a spell, it’s dragon fire!” Weiss explained with a roll of the eyes. “If you want, we can record this song for the future!”

“I would appreciate that.” I replied with a small smile and a yawn. Weiss nodded in reply and turned back to Luna.

“When I breath on this, play the song.” she instructed before taking an impossibly large breath. Letting out a slow burn lick at the stone, Luna fired up her horn and began combining all the layers of the song we’d just orchestrated.

~~~

“That…” Luna’s voice trickled away slowly after the song had been played and burned into the jade stone. “That was beautiful.”

“Yep.” I replied simply as I remained seated against the wall behind me. I yawned, which lead the other two females to do the same.

“My, I had no idea so much time had passed already.” Luna remarked, looking up at the window to get an estimate of the time. “I think I'm ready for a nap.”

“Yep.” I added as I stood up and returned to my room. Dropping onto my bed again, I buried myself as deep under the covers as I could possibly go as Luna and Weiss approached the cell door.

“Do you want us to leave?” Weiss asked in concern, tapping her claws together anxious for me.

“N- No.” I let out in a tiny voice. Luna and Weiss shared a caring glance before entering into my room and crawled up onto my bed.

The girls both dug themselves into my covers, with Luna curling up next to me while I pulled Weiss into my body entirely.

“Try to sleep well alright? I’ll keep watch over your dreams if you’d like; hopefully prevent a repeat?” Luna offered gently, nuzzling the square of my back. I nodded in reply and clamped my eyes shut.

Author's Note

Okay so trying to write a PTSD induced panic attack was a tad difficult for me, however writing an anxiety attack is easier, so I used that. A bit of research later and I find out they're more or less the same and I'd managed to overthink the PTSD a bit to much and I confused myself.

If anyone who takes offense to me writing about PTSD or mental health and thinks I'm belittling it, I'll have you know I'm speaking from experience; Anxiety so you can all bite my shiny metal ass.

For everyone else,
في صحتك

Why does the world hate me?

UGH, why does the world hate me?

I had to let my body violently spasm as I laid of the stone floor of my bathroom; the near freezing temperature of the rocks beneath me working to sooth my migraine as well as soothe my upset stomach.

I repeat, why does the world hate me? First the attack yesterday, now I’m throwing up.

I had to rather carefully yet quickly extradite myself from Luna’s cuddling embrace and Weiss’s steady heaving body in order to sprint down the dungeon corridor to the bathroom in order to vomit.

Speaking of which, I pulled myself upright from the floor and pushed my face over the toilet bowl just as the dry heaving turned into not so dry heaving. Of course, the added pressure that my stomach was forcing onto me was reciprocated in my head, making me imagine a volcano ready to blow its lid.

Once I'd calmed down once again and landed in a heap on the floor, I let out the most pathetic of whimpers as I clutched at my stomach in agonizing pain.

Then the pain began to recede from my body; as though a gentle rain was washing away the dirt from my body, the pressure and storm in my stomach began to clear away while a warmth began to fill me from within.

“What?” I mumbled almost incoherently as I cracked open an eye to watch Luna’s glowing horn wave slowly over my body.

“Is this helping?” Princess Luna quietly asked of me.

“Princess, you have no idea how much it helps.” I mumbled, closing my eyes again to let the magic warm me and calm the raging tides within me.

Temporarily anyways.

I pulled myself back up to the toilet and gave another couple rounds of dry heaves before collapsing back down again, hitting the flush in the process.

“Are you going to be alright? I can use a restorative spell but it’ll take some time to prepare.” Luna offered, the glow on her horn subsiding and with it, the warmth and comfort.

“N-no thank you. I just need to get to a point of stability that I can just sleep it off.” I replied through shutters before making the attempt to sit up.

“There must be something I can do to help.” Luna replied in concern, sitting back with a huff.

“Ginger.” I replied, lifting myself to sit up against the nearest wall. So far, so good. “Ginger is great for settling upset stomachs.”

“I think we’ve got some ginger root somewhere in the castle, how would you like it?” The Princess looked eager to assist me, even if it meant serving me up tea.

“Tea works with a single spoonful of some kind of sweetener, honey is best but a teaspoon of sugar should be fine.” I requested, rubbing my hand over my sweaty forehead; despite how I felt like I was in the arctic without a blanket.

“Of course, I shall have it prepared immediately! It will take a couple minutes though.” Luna replied, standing up to turn from the room. She held up however and turned back to me. “Would you like assistance getting back into bed?”

“I think I'll manage.” I groaned as I stood up, using the stones of the wall behind me for support. Nearly dropping again had Luna rush to my side and support me with a wing. “Or not.”

“Rest easy. I shall support you no matter what ails you.” Luna announced, helping me from the room and into bed again before taking Weiss back to her own room lest I contaminate the small dragon. “I shall be back shortly with the ginger tea.”

And with that, Princess Luna excused herself from the room while I buried myself under my covers, my head the only evidence of a human being under the bed.

***

“You really care for him, don’t you?” Celestia asked of her sister, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.

“I do sister. I don’t know why it is the case since he’s already established where he stands with me in regards to attachment but I just can’t help it!” Luna replied with a sigh, magically tying up a couple silver dollar sized slices worth of ginger from a root plant before setting it into the tea cup.

“I mostly find it interesting how you seem to have fallen for such an odd creature.” Celestia announced, stepping into the kitchen entirely to partake of a cake at random set out for her alone. “I could understand it if he were a pony or even an alicorn like ourselves, but he’s not even Equine! I do not understand your fascination with him.”

“I’m aware that he is not equine, nor is he dragon or griffon. Need I remind you that it is not uncommon for inter-species relationships in Equestria?” Luna looked back at her sister with a raised eyebrow.

“As I understand it, it isn’t common for inter-species relationships for humans. I believe he described such affairs as immoral and illegal in his cultures.” The older Alicorn explained, sitting down on a kitchen chair to eat as she watched her younger steep the tea.

“I’m aware, he made it perfectly clear some days back. He is quite content at leaving our friendship as just that, a friendship.” Luna retorted with a grin.

“And yet you smile still?”

“Indeed. Apparently and according to him it is not uncommon for animals in the human world, horses and ponies included, to ‘adopt’ a human into their family. This usually means that the idea of cuddling or other shows of affection common between partners is not uncalled for. It merely shows that said animal thinks of the human as part of their group.” Luna explained as she sat down at Celestia’s table with the teacup in her blue glow.

“You plan to use this to your benefit and hopefully persuade him into a relationship then? I don’t think that is wise, dear sister.” Celestia remarked before stuffing half of her slice into her mouth.

“Which is why I will play the patient party. I hope to have him establish the relationship when he’s ready.” Luna replied, spinning around in her seat to lean back against the table, her forehooves resting on the table surface as her head dropped backwards to look up at her sister upside down.

“And if that never happens?” Celestia asked with a mouthful before swallowing and giving her sister a lick across the muzzle.

“Tia!” Luna shrieked, sitting up to wipe off her face. “That smells like icing!” she added as her sister chuckled with a piece of cake hovering nearby. “Regardless, even if that never happens, I will ever remain his best friend for as long as I am able.”

“And what of Weiss and Eben?”

“I get the feeling that Weiss is more of a daughter to him than anything else. Eben and he are more along the lines of co-workers however.” Luna explained casually while stirring the tea.

“And you haven’t considered using magical interference to alter his perceptions of you?” Celestia’s comment had Luna raising an eyebrow as she continued to watch the tea stirring. “Have you?”

“Tia, you wound me with your lack of confidence in me!” Luna mocked, placing a hoof against her breast as the spoon was released from her magical grip and spun with the liquids.

“That is because I know you well enough, dear sister. I do not put it past you to use underhoofed tactics such as magical intervention or dream therapy in order to achieve your desired plans.” Celestia’s voice dropped all familiarity and was left with all business, the voice she regularly used for official princess matters.

“Ugh, don’t worry, Tia, I’m not going to do anything underhoofed to him. I doubt that such tricks would work on him anyways, what with him not being a creature of magic.” Luna replied with disgust. The blue alicorn stood up from her seat and took telekinetic hold of the teacup before strutting from the room, irritant.

I suppose it is true, I couldn’t use my magic to influence his perceptions of me even if I wanted to. All my tricks rely on aligning magical signatures which he does not have. Luna let her mind wander through her magical repertoire to see if she had some kind of magical spell she could use on the man under Canterlot, however true enough, they all relied on aligning their magical signatures to the same polarity and letting that slowly draw him to her.

Letting out a small tch from frustration, Luna pulled the dungeon door open and began the descent down, her shoes providing adequate protection from the stone surfaces.

As Luna neared the bottom of the staircase, she began to hear the distinct sound of harmonized singing between a male that sounded like her man and a female sounding like her man’s white dragonling.

The songhowever, was one that spoke of loneliness and sorrow making the Princess wonder if perhaps she was closer to her end goals than she’d originally thought. Maybe she could wiggle herself into his life sooner than she thought if this was the kind of music he sung with such fervour.

***

“Did I get the chorus right? I keep messing up a couple lines.” Weiss asked of me, looking over her notes of the song I'd just taught her.

“Nah, I think you did flawlessly.” I replied in a coarse tone of voice. “If anything it was I who fucked it up with my voice as it is.” I took a second to allow a yawn escape, threatening to pop my jaw out of place in the process.

“I think it was beautiful.” Luna remarked, entering into my room with a teacup hovering next to her. “You’re voices compliment each other quite well even if you’re suffering so.”

“Thank you Princess.” Weiss gave a dip of the head for both of us.

“Awesome, tea’s here.” I noted as I sat up as best I could to receive the cup of tea from the Alicorn as she stepped up onto the foot of my bed and got comfortable.

Taking a light sip, I could already feel the relief of ginger and honey soothe the sandpaper in my throat. Taking another sip I could swear I almost immediately felt better. Or tired. It could be feeling tired.

With a yawn, I decided that it was feeling tired and set the tea aside for later.

“Thanks for the tea Luna, I appreciate it.” I mumbled as I burrowed deeper into my covers. “I’m gonna get some sleep though, so please see yourself out.”

“Of course, I will see you when you awake.” Luna nodded as she stood and hopped off my bed, taking Weiss with her. “Sleep well.” she bade me as the two exited the dungeon entirely, the heavy wooden door clicking shut behind them.

Author's Note

I have nothing intelligent to say here, save that I wrote this in a couple hours simply to fill space before I start work on the next chapter which will be rife with Season 5 finale spoilers. I've been putting it off for a couple days now to let people actually watch the episode(s) first.

But now, I am le tired and I require sleep. More sleep. I seem to be sleeping a lot... Maybe I should go see someone about this?

乾杯

What is wrong with the world now?

Author's Note

Ugh, my body hates me right now. On top of a lack of inspiration to do anything constructive, I haven't properly slept in over 72 hours.

Anyways, I know I spoke about this in the last chapter, but I put off this chapter for a couple days to let the fandom actually watch the Season 5 finale but regardless, SPOILER ALERT!

私は今、私の腕を憎みます

What is wrong with the world now?

OK, since when did I have an entire armoury in my bedroom?

Feeling healthy again as per my usual after sleeping through the sickness, I looked around my room from under my covers at the wall racks loaded with everything from guns to explosives and military equipment; night vision goggles, monoculars, scopes. It was a soldier’s wet dream in here.

Next question, why was I wrapped affectionately around Luna?

Extracting myself from embracing her in order to sit up, I let the Dragon Eye illuminate the dimly lit room to properly view my surroundings.

Next to me laid Luna, her mane solid and silky as I momentarily watched her breathing in her sleep. Above my head rested my Barret rifle already loaded and chambered for emergency sniping with a AA-12 shotgun resting on its rack just below that.

Swinging my feet from the bed, I took a moment to rub the sleep from my eyes before noticing a fully equipped set of combat gear with parts and pieces hanging nearby for customization; all gently illuminated from below. From the looks of it, I was prepared for an assault mission with all the AR mag pockets attached to the plate carrier.

Looking to the right of the case, near to the back wall of my room sat a reloading bench with numerous specialty ammunition already packed up for use. To the left sat a gun cabinet with the most beautiful M134 minigun resting on the cabinet surface, its black sheen gleaming in the dull moonlight.

On the back wall of the display cabinet with the minigun sat a highly optimised M4 platform kitted out for DMR use with a shotgun underslug attached to the underbarrel. Judging the scratches and wear on the gun, I figured that it had already seen plenty of use already which only raised more questions.

“Captain? You’re awake?” Luna murmured from behind me, looking up at me from under the covers. “Come back to bed, the war can wait a while longer.”

“What? Captain? War? I don’t understand what’s going on.” I replied in a low, raspy morning voice. “Where did all these weapons come from? Why are we sleeping together and why do you have combat armour?” I demanded, taking note of the pony armour in Luna’s colours across the bed from me. Luna sat up with concern, looking at me warily.

“What are you talking about? We’ve been at war with the Crystal Empire for almost three years now, you’ve been integral in taking down high value targets with your human combat experience in the last month you’ve been in Equestria.” Luna explained, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hoof.

“When I went to sleep there was no war. We only just went and hunted down a pack of Manticores with the sniper rifle there.” I retorted, still utterly confused. Standing up I found myself in nothing but a pair of shorts with Luna’s butt print on my thigh. “Ok what the hell is this?” I demanded in all seriousness, however Luna merely broke into laughter.

“That was a gift from me a week back after we shared our first night together.” Luna replied with a grin. “I had to find an extra powerful elastic to keep everything contained.” That made me shudder at the idea of fucking a horse.

“We did what now? Luna, do you not remember the conversation we had where I told you I had no interest in a cross-species relationship?” I remarked, my face meeting my hands to wake myself up. “You know what, let me wash up and we’ll properly talk about all this.” I requested, gesturing to all the firearms on the walls.

Luna shot out her bottom lip in a pout as I exited the room and entered the bathroom to complete my morning ritual.

Stepping back out again, I passed by Weiss and Eben’s room however the lack of either dragon had me for pause. Instead what sat in their place was what looked like some kind of bat-pod from the DC universe; fully armoured with rather massive looking cannons protruding from the nose of the vehicle.

“Should I even ask about what happened to Weiss?” I asked, poking my head back around the cell wall to watch Luna dress herself in light combat fatigues.

“Who?” Luna replied, looking up at me while the buckles to her armour tightened against her body.

“White baby dragon, about yeah-high,” I held a hand up to indicate height against my body. “has a twin brother named Eben who doesn’t like me?”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about.” Luna replied, her helmet hovering next to her head.

“Of course not.” I groaned while entering the room again to dress in my own combat armour. “Now, explain some stuff to me. This war, what the hell?”

Luna rolled her eyes at me sarcastically before she took a breath and began her explanation. “Three years ago the Crystal Empire reappeared after a thousand years. The evil King Sombra came with it and immediately enslaved his people and forced them all to fight for him. Over the last three years the Crystal Empire has slowly invaded the rest of Equestria and we’ve already suffered the loss of six major cities in response.” I dropped my plate carrier over my torso and buckled it together as I listened. Luna sat on the bed once more, watching me.

“Three months ago, we lost our most capable combat team comprising of Sergeant Rainbow Dash and Corporals Maud Pie and her sister Pinkamena Pie. Even with my sister leading the fight from ground zero, we’d been gradually losing territory. At least, we were until you showed up a month ago.” Luna rolled onto her back, looking at me upside down on the bed.

“You chose to fight for Equestria because of your hatred for King Sombra’s forced slavery policies and in result, you and I began to summon, conjure and create all new weapons that we would use against the Crystal Legion. We’ve quickly become the most feared and highest value target for Sombra’s forces due to your capability to kill enemy soldiers from over two kilometers away before completely disappearing.” Luna’s eyes traveled up the back wall towards the sniper rifle, as did my own.

“That explains the war and the guns, but what the hell is this about us spending nights together after i’m sure I’d established that I don’t want an interspecies relationship?” I asked, leaning against the armour cabinet with my arms folded over my rig.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about in regards to that. Perhaps that was a dream that i’m not all that fond of?” Luna suggested, frowning at me. “When you and I became combat partners and you began teaching me the ways of human combat, we spent our first night three days after you arrived in the forests of the Everfree together, waiting to kill an enemy officer convoy. One thing lead to another and...”

“Right, right I get it. Then I’m going to tell you this right now, this is not my world.” I began, trying to comprehend what had happened.

“I’m aware, you wish to return to your human world once the war here has come to an end.” Luna interrupted me, turning a head away from me to sulk.

“No, I mean this isn’t the Equestria i’ve been living in for the last month. Where I come from there is no war.” I explained, holding a finger up to realign my point.

“So what, you somehow crossed a plane of reality into this world?” Luna looked back at me momentarily before looking off into space. “I suppose it is possible given you have no magic of your own, some kind of reality altering magic wouldn’t affect you like it would the rest of the world.”

“I’ll take your word for it. My new question is how do I get back to my own world?” I demanded, pulling the DMR M4 off its rack to check the ammo load. “Or more importantly, Can I get back to my world?”

“I couldn’t tell you. I’d say you’d have to wait till whatever magic created this world sort of… uncreates it.” Luna shrugged, rubbing the back of her armoured neck with an equally armoured hoof.

“And since I have no idea how long that will take…” I let my voice trail off. “Great. Well then I suppose while we wait we can go and fight this war I apparently have a part of.” I decided, slinging the gun over my shoulder before selecting a sidearm; a silver and black .357 with a 4 inch barrel and slotted it into my thigh holster.

Luna’s horn began to glow and to my surprise, she picked up the M134 minigun with ease and let it hover over her back, acting as a sort of magical sentry.

“And how exactly do you remain stealthy with a massive gun like that hovering behind you?” I wondered out loud. My answer came in the form of a blue shimmer enveloping the massive gun, making it fade away from view. “Oh. Okay, next question; what’s our target and will I need a rifle?”

“Glad you asked. We’re going after King Sombra himself today.” Luna replied with a grin, magically floating down my rifle from the wall. “This rifle has been pre-loaded with Armour Piercing Incendiary rounds by this world’s version of you with the intent that it would only be used to kill the King.”

I strung my M4 over my back and took the large rifle, pulling the bolt back to view the chambered round with the silver tip before letting the bolt push the round back into place.

“Only one round?” I asked, looking up from the gun to Luna.

“Of course. You were rather adamant that you would only require one.” the Princess explained casually as a few extra boxes of 7.62mm rounds vanished to wherever her minigun was kept.

“And I suppose that alternate me has the King’s projected route in it’s entirety already set out that I can simply follow along till we get to the firing position and take him down?” I suggested hopefully, making Luna nod in reply. “Good, good.”

“Then shall we get going? Today is going to be quite the celebration for Equestrian forces you know. Can’t start the party without a bang!” Luna cantered to the door of the bedroom ahead of me. I shrugged and followed after her but was mildly surprised when Luna lowered a wing and allowed me to hop up onto her back.

“Perk of being in an intimate relationship then?” I cocked an eyebrow as Luna took off underneath me, bringing me up and out of my dungeon.

“Nope, perk of having me as a combat partner.” Luna replied, galloping hard up the stairs until we broke the dungeon/courtyard barrier. Spreading her wings wide she continued our ascent even without the stairs as we soared into the red skies above us.

Banking right we soared upwards higher than the tallest Tower, of which I was expecting to find a trapped princess but was sorrowfully disappointed, and aimed northwards where I could already see faint signs of fighting on the horizon.

“So where’s the King?” I asked, looking through the scope of my rifle to view the onslaught of pony on pony murder not unlike a strange combination of future technology having gone into the combat gear and artificial limbs, but with a distinct lack of decent weaponry. It looked like a deadly slap fight to be honest.

“Far side of the battlefield. Chances are he’ll be somewhere high up out of the way of attacking ponies.” Luna explained as her horn cast her magic on me to give me the critical information i’d need for shooting.

With no pegasi controlling the winds, I watched as varying colours of wind intensities blew across the Equestrian landscape in every which way; one wind even aiming straight down at the ground with hurricane level power.

Peering through the scope and letting the magic compensate, I watched the rangefinder tick down from 5000m in the top right corner of the scopes view as I kept my sights on the closest of the fighting.

Looking away from the fighting, I began to survey the landscape for the potential sniper’s nest presumably ahead of us.

“We’re nearly there.” Luna announced as we continued to soar, making no indication of descending to a firing position whatsoever.

“I’ll just take your word for it.” I mumbled as Luna all of a sudden rolled onto her side and dived straight downwards. “I seriously hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Oh I do.” Luna replied with a grin as she pulled up sharply, rolling onto her back in the process. This, of course, had the effect of dropping me from her back at what I estimated to be a kilometer above ground.

“What the hell Luna!” I shouted up at the hovering alicorn as she watched me plummet to my death with a smirk before her eyes began to change to those similar of a dragons.

From the south, in the direction of Ponyville, came a blinding blast of pure white light not unlike a nuclear explosion. I instinctively clamped my eyes shut but the power of a nuclear explosion was so great that the light filled my head with light regardless, making me scream in reply as my body lit on fire before quickly burning up and flaked away.

But yet I lived.

I cracked open my eye again, only to find myself on my back looking up at my dungeon room ceiling above me.

“Okay, let’s call that death number 3.” I whined as I pulled myself upright to come face to muzzle with a bedraggled Celestia in chains with her sister in a similar fashion, both princesses hanging from the ceiling by their hooves. “And today just get’s weirder.”

“What? How- how did you free yourself from your chains?” Celestia asked wearily, looking at me in confusion. “Where did that bed come from?” she added before she caught sight of me. “And what are you wearing?”

“Ahh, let’s just simplify this by saying i’m not from this version of Equestria. Whatever is going on that has you captive isn’t what happens in my world.” I replied after a moment, scratching the back of my head in confusion.

“Well that certainly makes sense.” Celestia remarked as I watched Luna’s slow, shallow breathing. “She yet remains alive but I fear not for long.”

“What can I do to help?” I stood straight up from my bed to address the alicorn before me.

“If you can get us down from here, I should be able to use what remains of my magic to heal her but she’ll need proper rest.” Celestia explained, her solid pink mane hanging over her face in tangled strands. I nodded and set my rifle down to arm myself with my M4, taking aim at the chains that bound them.

“This is going to be loud.” I announced before disengaging the safety and pulled the trigger. A single round was pushed through the tiny chain links, successfully severing a link to allow Celestia’s hoof to be freed. Repeating the trick, I let Celestia drop to her hooves before she collapsed to her knees in agony, letting out a cry of pain in the process.

“What was that? I thought I heard explosions in the dungeons!” a strange male voice shouted from outside the dungeon doors. Shit, here comes the guards. I quickly put two rounds into Luna’s chains, letting the alicorn slump forward onto Celestia’s back before I put another round into the cell door lock.

I pulled the steel door open just in time for a trio of… “what the hell are those?”, appeared from the doorway. I reacted first and squeezed a burst into the first one, making the remaining two throw up green bubble shields, before they began the slow advance towards me with grins on their bug-like faces.

I took a chance and squeezed off another burst, surprising all three of us combatants when the second creatures shield was torn through and their body fell limp. With a grin I turned to the third and final target and fired as their horn began to glow with some kind of offensive spell.

“Effective.” I noted while turning back to the cell, Celestia laying her sister down on my bed before joining her herself. “How is she?”

“She will survive. What spell was that that allowed you to kill those changelings through their anti-magic shields?” Celestia inquired, turning back to me inquisitively.

“This is not a spell, it’s pure human ingenuity to kill.” I replied, shouldering the M4 casually.

“Then do you believe that such a weapon could kill the Changeling Queen?” Celestia looked at me hopefully. I shrugged in reply.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Then please, dispose of Chrysalis and help me return to my throne!” Celestia begged, looking distraught.

“Yeah, why not.” I replied just as the sound of an intense explosion detonated from outside. “Well shit, here we go again. Tell alternate me that the rifle in that cell has a single API round loaded into it!” I announced as the white light poured into the dungeon, stripping away everything around me and shredded my body yet again.

“Mmm, I don’t think i’m going to count these flashes as deaths.” I mumbled once my world came too. “I’ll be racking up the death counter much too quickly if I did.”

“You!” A familiar female voice exclaimed before my vision could return to me. “I thought I recognized you!”

“Oh shit.” Another, male voice mumbled, instantly sparking the fury within me.

Blinking a few times, the world faded into view around me and I immediately found myself in an entirely unknown setting; the walls around me dark and foreboding with flags of Luna’s butt mark meticulously hung from the walls and columns of the… throne room…

“Relax Spike, this isn’t our world’s version of him. He shouldn’t know about any of it.” Twilight Sparkle turned back to the baby dragon. Her suggestion was entirely destroyed with the sound of pulling the bolt of my M4 back simply for show of aggression before taking aim at the tiny violator’s head.

“You know these two, Captain?” A voice not entirely unlike Princess Luna’s inquired from behind me.

“Yep, that little fucker down there tried to get handsy with my baby dragon in our world.” I explained through gritted teeth. “Unless we all want dragon steaks for dinner tonight, I suggest he leaves. Immediately.” I threatened, making the guards in rather strange bat-like armour share nervous glances with each other.

“Please, Captain. It would be much to stressful to get the blood stains out of the carpets. Again.” A voice rife with propriety remarked, turning my head slightly to address the interloper.

The mare was an all white unicorn with a purple mane up in a bob, all cloaked in a pressed suit jacket with Luna’s mark on the lapel.

“I don’t even care at this point. This isn’t my world so I don’t give two shits about your carpets. That little bastard violated my Weiss.” I hissed back, turning on the laser pointer and aimed it directly between the dragon’s eyes; just below his head spikes.

“Exactly! This isn’t our world! This is a world created by using a time spell to change the past! None of this should have happened!” Twilight exclaimed, pulling Spike behind her rump protectively.

“Time spell?” Not-quite-Luna asked in interest. “Nopony in my kingdom but me should possess magic powerful enough to change time. Captain, you will stand down!”

After a minute of fighting an itchy trigger finger, I hit the safety once again and lowered my weapon.

“You’re kingdom?” Spike interjected, poking out from behind Twilight.

“Who else?” Luna demanded, stepping past me and into my view to reveal some twisted version of the Princess I called friend. Wearing some kind of armour over her body and with eyes not unlike the traitorous Luna from the first fucked up world, the guards around us returned to proper status and watched Twilight warily.

“Uhm, Celestia, of course!” Spike replied bravely, making everypony around him share nervous glances again. Soon however, Luna broke out into laughter.

“My sister has been imprisoned in the moon for years! But it is no less a fate than she sentenced me to.” Not-Luna remarked with a frown. “Now,” Luna stomped a hoof down adamantly. “Reveal to us the source of this time magic!”

“Alright.” Twilight decided after seemingly suffering from an idea.

“Twilight, no!” Spike defied, stepping out to protest under my glare.

“We have no choice Spike.” Twilight replied before stepping up to the Princess. “I can take you to it, but you’ll have to get past the timberwolves.” she warned.

Luna grinned in reply, “I am the ruler of all of Equestria. Do you think I can’t deal with timberwolves?”

“No, I know you can.” Twilight replied with a frown. Luna seemed to accept this and lifted Spike in her magic before binding him in magical chains. I can’t help but admit that I let myself smirk at this.

“And if you are thinking of trying to escape, it would be very unfortunate for your friend. Captain, stay here and keep watch.” Luna demanded as she lead Twilight and a few guards out of the castle.

“Little fucker got off easy.” I mumbled, bending over to pick up the ejected round from when I was threatening Spike.

“Honestly, I simply do not understand why you feel you must kill every single creature that looks at you funny. Now you’re just making up reasons to kill something; Weiss? Your baby dragon? Ugh.” the white mare trotted off with her nose turned upwards as the sound of a not so distant explosion broke the otherwise peaceful silence of the castle.

“Yeah, well fuck you too, bitch.” I shouted after her before my body was dissolved and she could retort.

The next two worlds passed just as quickly as they came, the first one with some giant Minotaur-thing destroying everything and the second with some I don’t know what having turned the world into some kind of fun house.

Then I came to the final world.

“Well this is depressing.” I announced as I looked around myself at the barren, dead landscape. Pulling my scarf wrapped around my neck over the lower half of my face to defend against the wind, I reached into a pouch on my back and extracted a thermal monocular with a clip to attach to my helmet.

Attaching the device so that it sat just over my left eye, I turned it on and immediately began scanning the landscape around me for any sources of heat.

“Let me amend that, this is depressing as fuck.” I mumbled as I completed my circle to find absolutely nothing alive around me. With a shrug I all but dropped to my seat and got comfortable in the dirt, waiting for the inevitable flash that would take me to the next world.

“Man, this place is kind of reminiscent of some kind of nuclear wasteland or something… Kinda wonder if there’s anyone actually alive in this world… Could go for a game of Blackjack or something…” I let my mind wander as I waited.

And waited.

“Okay seriously, what the hell is-” my complaint was silenced by a completely silent explosion of light from ahead of me.

The rupture consumed everything in it’s path, obliterating the very earth on which I laid until it rushed over me and consumed me just as quickly.

“Taking so long?” I finished, looking up at the ceiling to my room again from the flat of my back.

“What? Oh! You’re awake! How do you feel?” Weiss asked as she sat up in bed. Luna had disappeared and after a quick examination of my surroundings, I evaluated that I was back home again.

“Exhausted, to be honest.” I replied, dropping my helmeted head back onto the pillow with a sigh.

“What- what are you wearing?” Weiss demanded, lifting my left arm to get a better look at my combat gear.

“Honestly, long story. I wanna sleep now.” I replied, closing my eyes in response.

She can do that?

“Does he always sleep this long?”

“Usually? Yeah, I suppose so.”

“And this is normal for him? Talk about a lazy species.”

“Hey, as we get older we’ll be no better, if not worse than him.”

“Yeah but that’s later. Right now we’re not lazy, he is.”

“Are you going to wake him up?”

“Duh, there are ponies waiting for their orders and he’s on his ass asleep.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s going to like you waking him up.”

I cracked an eye open to look about the room, finding Weiss arguing with her brother next to my bed.

“Yeah well he can bite my ass if he doesn’t like it.” Eben remarked with a huff, his little arms crossed over his chest defiantly.

“But he’s had a rough couple of days. First with some kind of mental breakdown, then he shows up in… that.” Weiss replied, shooting an arm out to gesture to my still existing combat gear. Somewhere through the night my M4 had been removed from my person and stood against the wall on my right while the Magnum in my thigh holster pressed into my right leg rather uncomfortably.

“Not my problem.” Eben remarked, turning away from his sister momentarily. “He’s got other priorities to his customers. Do you even know what stage his first projects are in? What do I tell the three girls when they ask for an update?”

“You tell them that it’s in progress.” I replied in a low, rumbling morning voice. Both baby dragons turned to face me, only one with a look of surprise on her face.

“Oh good, the guy’s awake. Now he can get to work.” Eben turned from the room while Weiss climbed up onto my bed next to me. Rolling onto my back I worked to massage some feeling in my leg where my sidearm had sat and irritated me over the night.

“What’s his problem?” I asked while Weiss sat down on her backside next to my head, watching me intently.

“Oh you know, it’s apparently been slow going for him while we’ve been doing things and so he doesn’t like you.” Weiss explained with a shrug as she played with her tail.

“I think you mean, ‘And he doesn’t like you.’” I replied to receive a chuckle from the girl beside me. “Ugh, what time is it anyways?”

“Sometime still early morning. Princess Luna came down about an hour ago to let us know that we would be served breakfast upstairs in the kitchen once again.” Weiss let herself fall backwards with her arms spread wide on the mattress.

“Right. So hoping that nothing too adventurous happens today, we’ll eat breakfast and then get back to work on those three new projects. Have you managed to do the rough cutting like I asked of you?” I turned my helmeted head to more or less look at Weiss’s feet; apparently like the rest of the creatures living in Equestria, anything resembling reproduction organs were safely tucked away.

Turning my head back upwards towards the ceiling, I let out a sigh and closed my eyes once again.

“Yeah I managed to cut out the large excess material to shape; under the bed frame, inside the cabinet cavities and what not.”

“Good, good. And you didn’t cut all the way down to the exact measurements right? You left me room to properly shape and take off the remaining excess with more precision?” I inquired, folding my hands over my armoured stomach.

I kind of wish I'd put on some kind of ghillie suit during my adventures yesterday instead of all this body armour with the extra equipment jabbing me in every conceivable place. Oh shit.

Bolting upright I reached back and pawed at the thermal monocular pouch before realizing that it was still attached to my helmet, just flipped up and out of the way.

“Actually. I wanted to try my claws at precision myself, so I did a lot of the shaping myself.” Weiss replied once she’d up-righted herself when I'd done so.

“You what?” I not so much as demanded as I tilted an eyebrow in her general direction. “You know what, I'm too hungry for this conversation right now. Let’s go grab some breakfast before I blow up at you so early in the morning.” I announced, scooting onto the side of the bed to stand up properly.

Taking the time to remove next to all my combat gear save the thigh holster, I dropped everything next to my desk with the thermals safely stored in it’s pouch again. Now i’ll need a cabinet to properly store all that… This left me in a pair of camouflaged pants with the army green shirt clinging to my body, not leaving very much to the imagination for women.

Aside that I had to keep my combat boots on, given that I wasn’t sure whether or not my existing clothing had made it back here safely or if they were still in the alternate Canterlot with a traitorous Luna. Not that It was all that much of a loss, these boots were so fucking comfortable considering I'd gone the entire day with them on and had even slept comfortably with them. My feet weren’t getting too hot nor did they feel restrained like they’d normally feel in my shoes.

“So, I know about that rifle a couple rooms over, is that what these things are?” Weiss inquired, poking at my M4 curiously before looking back at the shiny metal on my leg.

“Not quite. That one there is more for automatic fire at significantly shorter ranges and this bad boy,” I paused to extract my sidearm to show it off. “Is for even shorter ranges than that.” I ran the cylinder over my forearm to check the load of the bullets within and ready to go before holstering once more.

“But they all do the same thing?” Weiss left my M4 alone and climbed up onto my back before I pulled her off again to pull my plate carrier -now stripped down to bare necessities- back over my head so that my back would have some armour against her claws.

“Yep, they’re all highly lethal weaponry.” I remarked as Weiss re-scaled my back and settled in for the trip upstairs.

Exiting the room, Weiss and I left the dungeon altogether and stepped into the morning sunlight; making me flinch back in response.

“Ow…” I grumbled as we aimed towards the castle, noting the curious glances in our direction from the groundskeepers and guards. “Sunlight hurtses usss!” I hissed in my best Golum voice before taking to the shade on the interior.

“You really need to get out more.” Weiss noted calmly as we entered into the breakfast buffet that was the kitchen. Hopping down again she hurried off to grab a plate and worm her way through the tables to the meats.

“Yeah, or I could just go out only at night.” I replied, acquiring a plate for myself as I viewed my options. “How’re the steaks done?” I asked as I acquired a second plate of fresh fruits and berries.

“Cooked.” Weiss’s voice replied from behind a collection of flowers between us.

“Well I certainly hope so. Can you tell how well done they are?” I sighed back, popping a strawberry into my mouth while I continued to examine the remaining options.

“Ahh, pink on the inside but doesn’t look like it’ll take my teeth to cut through it.” Weiss explained after a moment. I shrugged and aimed for the meat table regardless to view for myself how the steaks had been done up. Mostly medium rare, perfect.

“Awesome, just how I like it.” I muttered as I forked a steak onto my empty plate. Moving down the line I flipped a couple of poached eggs onto the surface of the steak before taking to an empty table to eat.

“So is that all we’re doing today? Working on the projects?” Weiss inquired as she took up a seat next to me. I nodded as I chewed on some steak and egg.

“Honestly Weiss, I've had more than enough adventuring for this week.” I replied with a sigh after I'd cleared my mouth out. “I really just want to stay home and make some money.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” Princess Luna’s calm, soothing voice remarked. Before I knew what I'd done, I'd dropped my utensils and drew my sidearm on the alicorn, aiming for a shot to the head.

Recovering with a groan, I lowered my weapon and holstered it once more as Luna stood back in shock; an eye twitching at my display.

“Sorry Princess. Yesterday was a tad hectic for me.” I explained, looking down at my plate sorrowfully.

“I accept your apology. May I ask what lead you to draw a weapon on me?” Luna requested as she sat down next to me at the table.

“Has Twilight Sparkle contacted you or your sister about playing around with time?” I countered, dropping my head into my hands after having pushed away my plate for the time being.

“She has, yes. It turns out another unicorn from her past sought revenge and in doing so, changed events in the past which lead to some unfavourable presents and futures.” Luna replied, leaning against the table to look me over. “I assume that because you aren’t a creature of magic, you were brought along with them?”

“Good guess. First world had an on-going war with the Crystal Empire where you and I were the top ranked sniping team in Equestria, never mind we were the only sniping team in Equestria. We were just going out to finally end King Sombra when you turned traitor and dropped me from your back at over a kilometer above ground.” I explained, massaging my eye sockets with the palms of my hands. “Apparently in that world we were an item, complete with matching undergarments.”

“I- sorry what?” Weiss asked, trying to stifle laughter. “You, and Luna? Together?” I nodded though Luna seemed to take offense to this.

“Why is that so funny to you, little one?” Luna demanded in curious contempt.

“It’s- it’s just the idea of him and you, you and him… I can’t wrap my head around it!” Weiss explained before completely bursting into laughter. “But what do you mean, matching undergarments?”

“Apparently that worlds Princess Luna bought me a set of underwear with her butt print on it.” I explained in shameful defeat before sitting up to try and check if I was still wearing them. I was.

Now it was Luna’s turn to burst into laughter with the dragonling next to me, both girls now rolling on the floor peeling with laughter.

“Wait, you were given a set of underwear with my Cutie Mark on it?” Luna asked for clarification once she’d collected herself on the floor. I nodded in reply, my head back in my hands. “Do-” Luna began and I could already tell what her next question was.

“Don’t ask.” I held a hand up to interrupt her train of thought.

“You don’t know what she was going to ask.” Weiss replied as she returned to her seat.

“Do was going to ask if I still have them or not. Weren’t you?” I looked up from my hands at Luna over my shoulder.

“He’s good.” Luna remarked as she too sat down. “You’re hesitancy to answer my question makes me think you do.”

Rather than give a confirmatory answer, I merely groaned and returned to my breakfast. Today was going to be a long day if this was any indication. This had the effect of making Luna burst into more laughter, falling back off the seat once again to roll around on the floor, hugging herself.

“Wait, wait wait wait. Are you still wearing them?” she demanded through teary eyes and broken laughter.

“Of course not.” I directly lied, remaining calm as I continued to eat. “I took them off and changed as soon as I woke up.”

“Well now I know that’s a lie.” Weiss remarked from next to me. “You didn’t change, you just took off the armour.”

“So you are still wearing undergarments with my cutie mark on them!” Luna exclaimed through a huge grin. “Oh that is too good!” she flopped back onto the floor in laughter.

“If you’d like I can take them off and burn them.” I suggested in all casualness, finally fed up with eating so I pushed the plate back again and leaned back in my seat.

“Aww, that’s mean!” Luna pouted once she’d recovered and rested against the table, floating a glass of cold water over to drink. “You said they were a gift from me in this other world? I want to know why I’d gift you such a personal item in the first place.”

“Apparently they were for the first night we’d spent together.” I explained, spinning my chair around to lounge against the table. This comment froze both Luna and Weiss.

“As in…” Weiss approached the subject carefully.

“As in we slept together. Got busy, did the dirty deed, we did the dance with no pants. We fucked each other. ” I replied, dropping the jaws of everyone who wasn’t me in the room. “Of course I was quite objective towards this news when I too found out.”

Luna mumbled something incoherently under her breath, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof and looking away nervously from me.

“Regardless, near to the end of that world she turned traitor on me and dropped me to my death before the world itself ended and switched to a new one.” I replied, standing up with my plate to dispose of the dishes and grab a drink for myself.

“I find it hard to believe that I would do that, given that you and I had apparently slept together.” Luna said, watching me as I navigated the kitchen to the garbage and sinks.

“I think it came as heartbreak revenge or something. Or it was well in the plans.” I shrugged as the three of us left the kitchen and aimed for my hole in the ground.

“Why do you say that?” Weiss asked as she rode on Luna’s back.

“Well, when she explained our relationship, I had a similar reaction to when I explained to Luna my intentions to keep our relationship strictly platonic. That Luna probably didn’t take too kindly to things and used it as an excuse to kill me and secure King Sombra’s reign.” I explained as we strolled through the gardens with my hands in my pockets. Judging by the condition of the flowers and the look of the weather, I could guess that Equestria was coming due for winter; my favourite season to be honest.

Granted I had yet to find out how well my dungeon would remain insulated in the winter months.

“That would actually explain quite a lot, to be honest.” Luna replied in calm honesty. “If I had the reaction to mess with you while retaining some sort of connection to you in hopes of saving face, then it’s entirely likely that alternate me would have the reaction to try and end you if that was my original plan in the first place.”

“Right. Last I saw before the world ended was your eyes turning reptile. Later on I found out that such eyes were from-” I explained but was cut off from a distraught Princess.

“Nightmare Moon, yes. Tell me about that one.” Luna requested with interest.

“Basically Nightmare Moon took over Equestria and banished Celestia to the moon. Ruling with an iron hoof from some castle I’m not aware of you had some guards that Twilight apparently knew and what looked like a bat-pony thing.” I explained, reminiscing as we sauntered through the gardens. I found it slightly strange how the Dungeon entrance was just off the main courtyard but ehh, wasn’t my decision.

“And what about you? What position did you take?” the Princess asked curiously, lifting an en eyebrow as we sat down on a bench overlooking the central fountain.

“Captain of the shadow guard, I think.” I replied after determining what to call Nightmare Moon’s castle guard.

“Oh, so no more relationships between us?” Luna playfully knocked a hoof against my shoulder. I nodded in reply, leaning back against the bench with my arms across the backrest.

“Nope, I think Nightmare Moon was too self-important to indulge in such frivolous activities. Still, ran into Spike and Twilight there who more or less explained everything.” I looked up at the sky above me, letting the sun beat down on my face and try to warm me through the gently blowing winds.

“Spike was there? Did you injure him?” Weiss asked hopefully from my lap.

“Nah. I wanted to, I nearly shot him too but Nightmare Moon stopped me.”

“Dangit. Couldn’t have at least kicked him?”

“Nope, I was too far away and they left before I could do so.” I explained, gently stroking Weiss’s back. “Trust me, had I been able to do anything- I would have.”

“Well I appreciate the sentiment. Shame you couldn’t do anything to him though.” Weiss replied, seemingly disappointed in my lack of ability to provide physical harm to her violator.

After a couple minutes in silence, merely watching the nearby castle staff coming or going, I picked Weiss up and stood aiming for my dungeon home.

“So, back to work then?” Luna inquired, joining us on our trip downwards. I nodded in silent reply as my boots did wonders to absorb the shock of footfalls onto solid stone stairs.

“Yep, spent long enough away from my tools as it is; Eben was right this morning, I’ve got customers waiting for me.” I explained as we entered into the large main room of stone. Weiss hopped down from my back and scurried into the workshop to jump up onto the slab of wood that she’d worked surprisingly meticulously to carve away the excess material.

“Tada!” she announced, throwing her arms wide as I examined the bed frame on which she stood.

“Wow, I must say Weiss, I’m pleasantly surprised in what you’ve accomplished.” I announced, examining the bed frame in greater detail while Luna excused herself. “You’ve left just enough material for me that I can properly apply a finish to the surface of the wood without thinning the material out too much. Good job.”

“Thank you! You should see the cabinets!” she beamed a giant smile at me before crawling off the soon to be completed furniture to show me the cabinets next to the frame.

I’ve got to say, if Weiss was this good with her claws, we’d be able to crank out the remainder of these orders by the end of the week.

Strapping myself into my tool belt, I set to work on the headboard to draw the Cutie Mark Crusader logo as best I could; adding in bolding with tiny Xs to indicate where to cut with the chisels.

Moving down to the footboard I had to sit back and go through at least four renditions of an apple seeing as I couldn’t quite get an agreeable look to it.

“What’s up?” Weiss asked as I sat back with my pencil spinning between my fingers, my current iteration of the apple logo in thin graphite before I crept back to erase everything yet again.

“I can’t seem to get a good apple logo going. Either it’s lopsided, too flat or doesn’t look like an apple.” I mumbled back, tilting my head as though that would help create the final product.

“Can I try?” she requested, holding out a hand for my writing utensil. I shrugged and tossed her the stick in my hand, sitting back against the wall as Weiss approached the footboard with the pencil in her claws.

“Ok, you’re officially going to be my rough cutter and apple artist.” I exclaimed as once Weiss stepped back from a perfectly drawn apple. Now all I’d have to do is trace it with a chisel, maybe add in a bit of wood burning for a natural colour finish and it’d be good. Soon as I finish cut the remainder of the body of course.

“You just keep giving me new jobs…” Weiss sighed with a smirk, sitting back in my lap momentarily before I stood up and began the task of cutting.

“That would be because you keep surprising me with your skills.” I informed of the tiny dragon while pulling out a parting chisel to begin the first few cuts along the drawn lines. “So give me your opinion, should I go with a sharper looking cut with this parting chisel or should I give it a rounded out cut?”

“I’d say…” Weiss’s voice dropped away in thought momentarily. “Rounded cut. You’re already going with the rounded head and hoof-boards with the scroll-work matching the curvature, no point in adding in a new cut. Right?”

I shrugged in reply, considering her suggestion which made sense in all honesty.

“Rounded cutting it is then. Now if you please, I’d like you to start crushing up some rubies, apatite and titanite for a sort of paint.” I requested as I continued the outlining cuts of the apple. Weiss gave a squeak, salute and then ran off next door to start up her next task.

Setting aside my chiselling for the time being, I utilized my hand planer to start shaping the remainder of the body to remove the claw marks remaining from Weiss’s assistance and to take down the unnecessary material left over, ensuring to avoid chipping my blade and ruining the finished look.

A half hour later Weiss reappeared with three bowls of gem dust in her hands and on her head, setting them gently down on the tool cabinet behind me before licking off her fingers.

“All good?” I asked while shaping the headboard, the last bit of the bed frame to be shaped before finishing.

“Yep, I’ve made sure that it’s been ground down into a fine powder ready for mixing with whatever you’re going to use to turn it into paint.” Weiss reported dutifully before dipping a claw into the bowl of apatite to sneak a taste.

“And how much of the powder have you eaten already? Do I have any left over?” I inquired with a smirk, watching Weiss out of the corner of my eye. Weiss grinned in reply, sucking off her fingers before climbing up onto the bed frame’s cross board nearest to where I was stood working.

“Yeah, you’ve got gems left over. Not as many I’ll admit but you’ve got some.” The dragonling replied honestly. I halted my work to give Weiss a quick hug once I’d brushed off the wood chips clinging to my clothes. “How’s things going here?”

“Save for the finishing, nearly done this one. Do you want to try the shaping of the fabric cabinet while I work on mixing the paint for the trophy one?” I offered, holding up the hand planer in offering.

“Can I really? You’ll have done nothing on it at this rate!” Weiss looked at me apprehensively, trying to decide whether or not she should take the tool in my hand.

“Go for it. We’ll let Sweetie Belle know that it was a Weiss Original when Eben goes and delivers it.” I shrugged back carelessly. “If you need help or a second opinion you can always ask me for help.” I added as I stood and approached the bowls of gem dust. I’d need an oil or something in order to have the gemstone dust keep from wearing off quickly.

Then an idea hit me, arcing an eyebrow in the process.

“Weiss, I require the use of a scale.” I announced, turning back to the dragonling working behind me.

“Why?” she inquired as she turned to face me.

“So I can rough up the wood in the engraving of the mark on the trophy cabinet. It’ll let me bleed the gem paint into it so it’ll last.” I explained, making Weiss’s eyebrow shoot in for a moment before she began feeling around her body looking for a loose scale.

“I can’t find a loose one, sorry.” Weiss replied with a shrug before turning back to her project.

“No worries, I still have to figure out how to get the gemstone dust to adhere to the wood in the first place.” I turned back to the bowls before me to think. Maybe just a bit of water, let the dust soak and hopefully dissolve- oh, some kind of acid or base that would properly dissolve the dust into some kind of paste?

“What does Equestria have for acids or bases?” I requested as I turned to lean against the wall nearest to me.

Weiss set my planer down and stared up at me inquisitively.

“Why do you need something like that?” she demanded.

“So I can dissolve the gem dust and turn it into a paste.” I explained casually, as though it was the most obvious answer.

“Uhm, I have no idea. You’d have to talk to Princess Luna about that or someone else who could answer.” Weiss shook her head and turned back to the task at hand before her.

Regardless, I still can’t really do anything until I get the adhesive. Don’t want to use glue since that will just look shoddy but I’m not sure if existing lacquers would work for me. I took a seat against the wall again in thought, trying to come up with something that could help me.

~~~

“So how was your day?” Princess Celestia inquired from the table nearby where she and her sister sat. I was at a stove currently in the process of cooking up a pot of chili for myself.

“Simple.” I replied shortly after shaking in a bit of spices with no real form of measurement how much I was putting into it. “Was quite relaxing just being able to work on a project without having to worry about killing something, triggering an anxiety attack or traversing through alternate time lines.”

“I see. So then were you able to remain productive?” the white alicorn looked up at me from her salad.

“Ehh, relatively. I need something that would help me turn some gemstone dust into a lacquer without making everything look like a child had finger painted it on. I figured that some kind of acid to break it down into a sort of paste might work, or if I was to acquire a pre-existing clear coat I could mix it all together.” I shrugged back whilst stirring the spices into the hand-ground browning beef before adding in tomato paste, kidney beans among other ingredients.

“Which would you prefer?” Princess Luna spoke up after finally emptying her mouth out of greens.

“Honestly I haven’t the foggiest idea. I’d probably start with the clear coat and try that out before I risk dissolving the gemstone dust down to nothing with an acid.” I explained, setting the wooden spoon down and dropped the lid over the pot to let it cook.

Taking a seat between Weiss and Luna, I got comfortable in the conversation around me.

“There are a number of hardware stores in Canterlot that should be able to help you. Would you like one of us to acquire you find this material?” Luna looked up at me from her plate. I really couldn’t identify what all was on that plate but it certainly wasn’t human digestible.

“Nah, I’ll finish up the two other projects and have Eben deliver them while collecting payments. I’ll use the profits to have Eben get the lacquer himself on his way back.” I shrugged back, resting against the table with my arm posted under my head. Weiss behind me slurped on an emerald, watching the conversation unfolding ahead of her.

“You’re already finished with two of the projects?” Celestia tilted her head in shock and I could faintly see bits of her plasmid tail slowly swinging behind her.

“Not exactly. While I’ve been working on the bed frame and the trophy cabinet as I can do so, Weiss has been working on the fabric cabinet all by herself. She’s quite the carpenter.” I rubbed Weiss’s head once I’d turned to include her with a compliment, receiving a large smile from around the melted emerald in reply.

“My, a dragonling of many talents.” Celestia gave a warm smile before forking another bit of salad into her muzzle.

“Quite.” Luna added equally as warm. “So then what’s in the plans for the rest of the day? Or do you plan on returning to work after you’ve eaten?”

“Nah, we’ve been working all day; might as well rest for the evening. I’ve got nothing to do later, personally.” I replied, spinning around so my back was to the table and the elder Princess across from me.

“Well then if you don’t mind spending time with us, we would be happy to have you join our company and explore the castle. I don’t believe you’ve had a proper tour yet, correct?” Celestia offered with a mouth partially full.

“Sister, finish what’s in your mouth before you speak. It’s quite unsightly.” Luna requested, slightly disturbed with her elder’s lack of mannerisms.

“Well if you’re offering, I might as well. It’s still going to be another fifteen minutes for my chili to finish up though. I’d say feel free to hang out here in the kitchen with me but given that it’s your kitchen…” I stood up from the table to return to the pot to give it a stir and ensure that it didn’t start to burn and stick to the bottom of the pot.

~~~

Over three hours later, night had fallen on us as we toured the castle and everyone had decided to turn in for the night; save for Princess Luna who didn't seem to sleep what so ever.

"I've been thinking..." Weiss spoke up from around the wall separating our rooms. "I think I should talk to Spike and Twilight Sparkle about why Spike acted like he did."

"Why?" I spoke up with eyes closed, completely buried under blankets as per my norm.

"I feel like I should give one of them a chance to explain his actions. Maybe it had something to do with him being a dragon?" Weiss suggested surprisingly calmly. If this is what she'd decided to do while I'd been brooding over it for the last few days, I might as well support her.

"Very well. We'll send them a letter tomorrow requesting an explanation or something." I finally announced, turning over onto my other shoulder to get comfortable. "Now go to sleep."

"Good night- I still want to know what I should call you..." Weiss complained, sounding like she had sat up in bed.

"Just call me Captain or Carpenter or something. This universe doesn't seem to mind me identifying myself with a title rather than a name." I would've waved off the comment if my hands weren't currently pressed against my body, as though I was hugging someone to my body.

"'Kay, good night Captain." Weiss replied, hopefully settling in for the night.

Author's Note

So this one took me so much longer to write than normal that I've reached a point where I just didn't want to write the chapter anymore. Stretching it out into bursts over the weekend while trying to remain sociable during my grandparents 50th anniversary celebration, sickness and my dad's 48th birthday all in the span of three days; I just want this to be over!

I'd gotten a comment about the lack of a character name for the main character so I've decided to use a title instead for now... Personally I think it's doing the same thing that I wanted to try avoid; have a sort of quip to the story alongside his silver hair...

I've also decided through the same commenter to try and restore Spike's relationship with Weiss and Captain, but that'll come up in the next chapter.

Saúde!

Do I have to?

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon

I write this letter to you on behalf of my charge, Weiss the Dragon albeit begrudgingly. I trust that if she has decided to contact you both under better circumstances, then I shall try to behave myself.

I have decided and sincerely hope that in the last couple days, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike have had a chance to discuss the events that transpired upon our visitation two or three days ago. I wish to offer the both of you a chance to explain Spike’s questionable actions at your earliest convenience in order to try and expunge my caretaker’s view on your baby dragon in the name of friendship. Therefore, Princess Luna would like to offer an open invitation to come to Canterlot Castle for a visit on neutral ground.

We eagerly await your response.

By Celestia and Luna’s names,

Weiss the Dragon and Captain

“You really want this to be your invitation?” I looked up from the page I’d been writing on with Weiss sat on my desk next to me and Luna looking over my shoulder.

“Yes, I truly believe there had to be some kind of unknown factor that had Spike behaving like he did.” Weiss crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “By Princess Luna’s account, he shouldn’t be anywhere near the age for such desires yet.”

“That, and Twilight Sparkle had repeatedly written to my sister and I about a crush that Spike has on one of their friends. I wish to find out the circumstances concerning what’s become of that.” Luna added, stepping back to sit back on her rump.

“So basically you’re telling me that Spike’s actions that nearly lead to his death were uncharacteristic for him?” I sat back in my newly finished deck chair with my arms crossed behind my head; the varnish having dried three days back and was polished up to the finished product yesterday.

“Yep. I do have a general theory about what was happening though, though I'm not to fond of it if it’s what will happen again as I mature.” Weiss looked down at her claws with concern.

“Care to share with the class?” I raised an eyebrow interestedly at Weiss.

“Let’s let Princess Twilight bring it up. If my idea is in fact the cause of things, I want her to explain it.” Weiss stood up with assistance from her tail before jumping down from the desk to the floor. “So what’re we doing today? More work?”

“Probably,” I rolled the scroll up and fitted a relatively sturdy enough piece of curled wood scrap around the roll to hold it closed before holding it out to Weiss to deliver. “Unless, of course, Princess Twilight insists on visiting us today.” I added as I spun myself off my chair and approached the new can of lacquer on the work cabinet next to whatever was left of the gemstone dust.

“How long do you suppose that will take?” Weiss inquired as she hopped up into my arms to lend me a claw to pry open the can before squirreling around onto my back.

“I have no idea. Depends on whether or not they’ve already talked about it and if they have to take a train or will fly…” I shrugged back as I began to pour the nearly clear syrup into the bowls with Luna steadily mixing everything together with a piece of scrap wood that acted as a stirring stick.

“A question,” Luna began as she slowly stirred the mixture in her magic.

“An answer.” I replied quickly, still pouring with the intent of keeping the rest for the clear coats of the projects themselves.

“Why not just acquire a paint or stain that’s already pre-mixed? Surely there are existing materials that would offer a similar, if not better finish?” Luna looked up at me as the magic kept the finish moving in slow circles.

“Probably, but the more I can say is my own creation the better. This way I can say that all my products are made with at least 95% self-processed materials. The rest is the lumber and clear coat lacquer.” I explained with a smirk, setting the pot down to set the lid back in place and hammer it down with a mallet for the time being.

Taking the bowl with Luna’s stirring stick in hand, I began to mix everything together much more thoroughly as I turned to the trophy cabinet behind me.

“So it’s a matter of pride?”

“Correct. It may not mean much to the customer but I take pride in my work. The more involved I am in it’s creation, the better I'll feel about passing it along to a paying client.” I explained as I pulled a tiny half inch paint brush from my nearby tool belt and began applying the first coat of sparkling blue finish to the lightning bolt.

“I suppose I can get behind that, personally.” Luna shrugged casually as she took a place on my bed, settling in comfortably.

“What’s left to do on the fabric cabinet? Have you shaped it properly to a point where I can put the finish on it and call it done?” I asked, keeping my eyes focussed on the task before me but directed the question at Weiss.

“Not likely. It’s only been, what, a day since I started on the thing? I’m going to need more time than just a couple of hours of work to get something three times as large as me done.” Weiss reported as she approached her project and began running the hand planer over the remainder of the rough surface again.

The baby dragon was interrupted by a sudden belch, a scroll materializing in the air ahead of her before landing on the cabinet surface before her. Giving it a toss in my direction without a care in the world, I set my own tools down to read the message.

Dear Princess Luna, was all I read before rolling it back up to toss over my shoulder at the Princess. Judging from the lack of sound that would indicate the scroll hitting the floor or anything else, I figured that Luna had caught it and was reading it’s contents.

“They’ve accepted your invitation and shall be flying over within the hour.” Luna announced just as I'd picked up the bowl of lacquer and paint brush once more. “They’ve requested that I set us up somewhere in the castle for the visit as you’d suggested.”

“Well that’s great…” I replied though my voice indicated that the news was anything but. “Was kind of hoping it’d take them longer…”

“Then shall we abscond to the lounge?” Luna suggested, standing up before stepping down from my bed.

“Fine, fine. Let me just find something to lid this with…” I sighed as I scanned the room for something to cap the bowl with. All of a sudden a magical field wrapped itself around the bowl in my hand and the bowls on the counter behind me for a few moments while a thin plastic layer gradually appeared over it. “That’ll work.”

“Then let us be off!” Weiss declared in her best Princess voice, a tiny claw thrust into the air declaringly.

~~~

“Princess Twilight, a pleasure to see you again.” Luna warmly welcomed the newcomer and her charge who was hiding behind her back rather defensively from me.

“Princess Luna, a pleasure to see you not as Nightmare Moon again.” Twilight gave a bow in response to Luna’s, though I remained seated in a deep cushioned recliner with Weiss resting on her back in my lap.

“Indeed, I'd heard about what had happened from my sister and from our friend here…” Luna replied, inviting the younger looking princess and dragon into the room.

The three creatures joined me in the center of the lounge and took seats opposite myself, with Luna on my right to act as judiciary.

“We were glad to hear that you’d decided to let Spike explain himself for his atrocious behavior before.” Twilight began in a soft voice, Spike remaining hidden behind her back.

“Yes, well it’s all Weiss’s idea. I’m just being the supporting parent.” I replied sternly, resting my head on the back of the seat.

“Regardless, we appreciate the chance to rectify the situation.” Twilight shifted around in her seat anxiously, trying to get comfortable. “Spike, you have something you’d like to say?” she began, magically lifting the purple dragonling out from behind her to set him down on the floor before us.

“Ahem. I wish to formally apologize for my behavior the first time we met.” Spike began. I could tell from the closed eyes and the way he spoke that he had rehearsed this. “I regret to inform you both that such behavior is to be expected in male dragons, albeit in later stages of life.” I held a hand up to break in.

“Explain that.” I demanded, making Spike ease backwards a bit.

“It turns out that when a male dragon comes of age, he starts trying to gather up a harem of females. Such is a display of power over the other males; the more females in his harem, the closer to alpha dragon he is.” Twilight explained matter-of-factually. I raised an eyebrow however a glance down at Weiss suggested that she’d already figured this out.

“Continue.” I ordered with a wave of my hand before resting my chin in my palm.

“Given my age, it was inappropriate of me to try and begin the collection of females like I had. I make no excuses for my behavior.” Spike opened his eyes to look up at Weiss and I as apologetically as he could. “Will you both forgive me?”

“That is for Weiss to decide.” I replied, looking down at the baby dragon hiding behind her head spines.

“I had hoped that your explanation wasn’t the truth.” Weiss clicked her claws together as her voice remained soft. “It means that later on it’ll likely happen again…”

“But there’s no indication that he’ll try the same thing on you.” Luna offered for consolidation, finally speaking up.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Since I'm the only female dragon in Equestria that we know of, it’s more than likely that he’ll try something again when he does come of age.” Weiss retorted, looking up at Luna past her bangs.

“But,” Spike held a claw up, trying to be helpful. “That’s not likely to happen for another fifteen, twenty lunar cycles! By then I'm sure you’ll be at the same age to be looking for a partner, right?”

“Please don’t presume that female dragon’s work the same way as male’s emotionally.” Luna requested, making Spike’s nervous smile turn into a look of fear. “At least don’t assume that Weiss works that way.”

“Sorry!” Spike wailed as he scurried back to Twilight to hide under one of her wings.

“Still, the question remains. Will you forgive him his transgressions?” Luna looked back at Weiss and me curiously.

“I… I- I- I will…” Weiss stammered out unconvinced.

“And will you agree to live with Weiss’s decision and cease all hostilities towards Spike the Dragon?” Luna looked up at me expectantly.

“I’ll agree to support Weiss’s decision to forgive the little bast-” I paused to catch myself upon Luna’s killing glare. “The accused, however as a father figure to Weiss I will not agree to cease all hostilities towards the offender. I’ll try to cease most of them, as a show of good faith.” I announced, my chin still resting in my hand.

“I suppose that’ll be as good as we’ll get from him.” Twilight sighed in content. “I do have one request though.”

“What’s that?” Weiss asked, brushing her head spines away from her face properly.

“It’s for the human, actually.” Twilight looked directly at me. This had the effect of raising an eyebrow on everyone in the room.

“What Weiss said.” I lifted my head from my hand and sat back against the back of the chair once again.

“I’ve received a letter from a friend of mine who isn’t local.” Luna’s head went up as she immediately understood the reference. “I would request that you go meet with her and her friends and help them through whatever problems they’re having.” Twilight requested of me as Weiss looked up at me from my lap.

“Man, could you be any more vague?” I demanded with a sigh, making Twilight roll her eyes in reply.

“Look, I can’t give you many more details about it unless you agree to help me.” Twilight replied with no humor what so ever.

“Fine, fine. Where am I going and how am I getting there?” I replied, holding my hands up in defeat. “How long am I going to be gone?”

“We’ll be going back to Ponyville, then from there you’ll have to go on alone or Weiss can go with you if she wants. As I have it figured, you’ll probably be gone a couple hours only.” Twilight explained, standing up to shake her coat out. Weiss and I stood up from my seat and stretched, as did Spike and Luna.

“And what can I expect from your friend?” I requested as all five of us exited the large room.

“Well, they’re all human.” Twilight announced, stopping me in my tracks.

“You have other human friends? I thought I was the only human in Equestria.” I was rather confused at the moment and after a nudge from Luna’s wing, resumed the walk.

“You are, as far as I’m concerned anyways.” Luna assured me as Weiss strolled alongside me with her claw in my hand.

“OK now I'm even more confused.” I admitted, scratching my head. “Oh!” suddenly an idea clicked into my mind. “Is this about that mirror thing and a Sunset Shimmer you were talking about some days back during our initial visit?”

“So you do remember.” Twilight looked back over her shoulder at me. “Yes. My friend is Sunset Shimmer and she’ll be meeting you in her world.”

“Ahh, OK. I think I’m caught up now.” I lounged backwards with my hands behind my head as we walked.

~~~

“So what should I expect?” I asked as I found myself at nose level to Twilight while ensuring my combat boots were properly tied up.

“Well, aside from the cold weather that Sunset tells me they’re having, I haven’t the foggiest idea.” Twilight replied from her seated position next to the fancy looking mirror.

“And go over with me again why you’re not going?” I remained in a single kneel though I shifted my weight backwards onto my second leg.

“I’m just too busy here in Equestria right now.” Twilight shrugged in all casualness.

“And I'm not? You realize I've got three or more projects that I have to get finished and sold? At this rate of disruptions I'm never going to get out of the Dungeons.” I groaned as I stood and adjusted the winter camouflage coat with my old rank patch sewn onto it. Luna had provided it upon my request, along with winter combat gloves and a toque. I’d also taken the liberty of hiding my revolver under the coat in a shoulder mounted holster also provided by Luna.

“True, but I've got royal duties to attend to; you don’t.” Twilight quipped sarcastically.

“Doesn’t mean my work is any less important.” I mumbled, stepping up to the mirror. “Come on Weiss, let’s get this over with.”

“Oh by the way, no one knows you’re coming!” Twilight shouted as she hoisted me into the air and threw me head first into the portal.

Author's Note

I'll be honest, I'm just going to see what comes of this upcoming visit to the Humanestrian world...

gëzuar!

Really? Again?

“So what all does everyone have to do for the rest of the day?” Sunset asked of her friends, her guitar case on her back under her backpack.

“I’ve got bakery duty today!” Pinkie exclaimed jubilantly, her own book bag hanging off a strap from her shoulder. “I’m gonna make a huge batch of my holiday ginger snaps!”

“Ah’ve gotta head home and help mah siblings finish up with their chores…” Applejack replied with a shrug, her hands buried in her winter coat jacket as everyone walked. “What about you Dash, what’ve you got goin’ on?”

“More guitar practice, obviously. Can’t be getting rusty in the off season right?” the prismatic head replied with a casualness that indicated not a care in the world. Sunset and friends halted their walk from the doors to their high school and took up their places at the statue’s pedestal/portal to Equestria.

“I was wondering something, Twilight.” Rarity spoke up from her seated position in the snow, her self designed winter outfit working wonders to keep the designer warm even sat on the snow. “I was hoping you could come to the shop and help me organize my inventory. I’ve already got to start getting the spring lines up for the coming season.”

“Already? Rarity, it literally just became winter!” the purple haired girl with rather large glasses complained with rosy cheeks.

“I’m sure you’ve already seen other stores with their Valentine’s Day inventory up, yes? I’m already behind as it is with mid-terms coming up so soon.” Rarity protested defiantly, her purple gloved hands on her her hips.

“Ugh, fine. I should still be able to get all my homework done while I'm there.” Twilight sighed in reply, making Sunset smirk in reply. She was so much Like Equestrian Twilight, and yet so different.

“What about you? What’re you doing the rest of the day Fluttershy?” Sunset turned towards the only other girl who’d as of yet remained silent in her rather over-stuffed coat.

“Oh, uhm, I've got some things to do at the shelter, but after that I'm mostly free.” The young woman’s tiny voice barely escaped the confines of the coat itself and the gently blowing wind certainly didn’t help.

“Cool, then would you like to go see a movie with me or something? I’ve got absolutely nothing to do all day so I'd likely end up lounging around at home by myself.” Sunset explained as she stretched out against the portal surface. Somehow something Twilight did to the portal on her side made it so that the portal wasn’t normally accessible from this side; at least not without some work.

“I’ll have to see how long I'm held up helping the animals, but I'll let you know when I'm done and we can go from there.” Fluttershy replied with a small smile, barely noticeable. From the corner of her eye, Sunset noticed Pinkie shift herself a couple inches to the side from across the circle the girls were in.

“What’s up Pinkie?” Twilight inquired, adjusting her glasses as they slowly slid down the bridge of her nose.

Rather than audibly reply Pinkie shuffled closer to Rainbow Dash, making the girl look back at the partier uncomfortably.

All of a sudden, a rippling in Sunset’s back was the only warning before a figure suddenly flew out of the portal, shoulder rolling past where Pinkie was seated only moments earlier before coming to a skidding halt on it’s back.

***

Yeah, that wasn’t fun. I decided as I slowly sat up and dusted myself off of snow, subtly ensuring that my firearm hadn’t come loose in the fall. When id been shot out the exit to the portal, I had narrowly escaped landing headfirst on a girl in all pink. The weird thing was how as I flew past her, and I can’t be certain but, I thought I saw her wink at me.

“OK, now who is that?” a female voice inquired of her friends, her voice giving me the nagging feeling that she was a rather athletic type of girl.

“I have no idea.” Another female replied; calm, mature and her voice indicated she’d seen some things in her life. “Twilight didn’t give me any notification that anyone else would be coming through.”

“Weiss? Where’re you at?” I looked around my surroundings as I ignored the conversation behind me.

“Woah!” Weiss voice exclaimed from behind me as she appeared through the portal behind me, landing firmly on her face in the snow. “Ow, why’d she have to throw us through like that?”

Picking myself off the snow, I approached the circle of girls in their winter gear, all watching me in shocked curiosity. Picking Weiss up from the snow, I was rather surprised that Weiss had become a dog.

“Yeah I'm wondering that as well.” I replied, brushing her fur off before hugging her to my chest. “Excuse us ladies.” I bid the girls around me as we exited their group and wandered off a ways. “Right, so now we’ve gotta find this Sunset Shimmer and find out what they need.”

“Any idea where to start looking?” Weiss inquired, looking around our surroundings.

“Maybe the high school?” I suggested, looking up at the massive building nearby.

“Or you could just ask me.” the calm and mature voice spoke up, her voice close to my back. “Why are you looking for Sunset Shimmer?”

“I’ve been sent over to help her out with something.” I replied, turning back to greet the voice’s owner. “Can you point me in the right direction?” I requested immediately taking in the girl’s red and yellow hair, her smooth skin slowly paling in the coming winter and her deep red, not quite crimson, winter coat. She was quite attractive, to be frank.

“I- uhm, I’m her.” the girl replied, pushing a strand of red and yellow hair out of her face to let her hat keep it in place for a minute before falling back out of place.

“Miss Shimmer then, pleasure to meet you.” I shot out a hand in greeting which the girl took and shook tentatively.

“Likewise, Mr…” Sunset replied, dropping her hand from my own into her coat pocket. I took the chance to quickly unzip my jacket just enough to place Weiss within and zipped up once again, letting Weiss’s head poke out under my own.

“Just call me Captain. Equestria doesn’t seem let let me use my name.” I shrugged as it took me a moment to get used to the lack of dragon like features jabbing into my chest.

“Alright, Captain, it’s nice to meet you. I suppose Twilight Sparkle sent you over?” Sunset asked, turning back towards her compatriots. “Would you like to meet our friends?”

“Might as well but if you don’t mind, I'd like to head inside. It’s still fall in Equestria so I've not yet acclimated to the winter weather.” I requested as Sunset lead me back to her friends.

“Sure, we can head out into town somewhere.” Sunset quietly told me before stepping ahead of me to address her now stood friends. “Girls, this is Captain. Apparently Equestria doesn’t let him use his name.”

“Well now that’s just weird.” an orange cloaked country girl remarked, tipping her hat at me. “Nice te meet’cha. Ah’m Applejack.”

“I know. Nice to meet you Applejack.” I replied, shooting out a hand once again for a second shake.

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” the pink girl from earlier proclaimed, wrapping me up in a bear hug while being careful for Weiss. I managed to return the bear hug with just as much pressure as she did, making her eyes bug out in the process before letting her go.

“Friendly.” I muttered as Pinkie was replaced by a very proper girl with purple hair flowing from under her cap.

“Rarity, a pleasure darling.” Rarity introduced herself, offering a hand in propriety. I returned the pleasure in equal fashion, giving a gentle bow with her hand in my own.

“A pleasure, Rarity.”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash.” the prismatic head of which the athletic voice originated from exclaimed as she all but muscled into introductions. Dropping a hand into my own, she all but challenged me to a test of grips with a smirk as we shook hands.

Her smirk all but disappeared as I clamped down on her hand with years of military experience before letting her go to massage feeling into her hand again.

“Dude, you’ve got a killer hand-shake!” Dash announced, shaking her hand out.

“Comes with the territory.” I replied, pointing out my rank patch.

“Honestly, I thought that was just for show. Didn’t think you were actually military.” Dash explained with a smirk.

“I didn’t think the Equestrian Guard had army jackets like that…” Sunset remarked, looking over my attire.

“I’m not with the Equestrian Guard. I’m from my own human world with my own years of military experience.” I explained while a girl in soft flowing pink hair watched me silently. “And you are?”

“I- I- I’m Fluttershy.” the girl replied in a tiny, soft voice. I nearly missed it.

“Nice to meet you.” I finally completed our introductions, which let many of the girls all announce their intentions to leave before heading off to trudge through the snow.

“Right, I didn’t think I was that repulsive that everyone felt they needed to run off after just meeting me.” I remarked as I watched five of the girls walk off in different directions, leaving me with Sunset Shimmer.

“No, it’s not that. They all had things they needed to do today and your arrival was rather unexpected.” Sunset replied, turning to face me directly. “I’m sure you’re a perfectly respectable person.”

“Well then you don’t know him yet.” Weiss quipped, making Sunset stifle a giggle and a raised eyebrow/smirk combination from me.

“Hush you.” I demanded in humor. “I can probably still toss you back into Equestria.”

“Yeah yeah, I know.” Weiss waved off my comment with a paw. “My question is why I'm a dog in this world.”

“Twilight and Spike had similar questions when they first came over to our world.” Sunset remarked. “Care to join me in doing something? Perhaps find someplace warm to hang out and get to know each other?”

“Might as well. Lead on madam.” I pushed a hand forward to indicate her to lead on.

“Right, so then how about the bakery where Pinkie works? I can get us a slight discount on some of their stuff; if Pinkie doesn’t use us as taste testers anyways.”

“Works for me.” I followed after Sunset in the same direction that Pinkie had run off.

~~~

“Wow, you’ve certainly been around, haven’t you?” Sunset’s head was sat in her palm, resting on the table with our drinks provided by Sunset between us. Her eyes were wide and sparkling in wonder at my tale of how I'd come upon Equestria.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” I sighed, my arms crossed over my chest with my mug of coffee in my hand, Weiss hiding in my jacket by request of the store owners. “Still can’t discount your own experiences in the last few months.”

“No, I suppose not.” Sunset chuckled, sitting up to take a drink of her hot chocolate. “So Twilight didn’t say why she was sending you over here huh?”

“Honestly, I don’t even know her well enough to think she may have had malicious intent or something. For all I know she could have sent me over here to get rid of the only invading human in Equestria.” I replied, setting my mug back down on the table and crossed arms again with Weiss napping peacefully on my chest.

“I don’t think Twilight would do anything that nefarious. I’m sure Princess Luna wouldn’t allow that, don’t you think?” Sunset suggested sitting back in her chair with her arm over the back, her leg crossed over the other.

“I‘ll give you that. I’m sure Princess Luna would be quite put off if Twilight tried to remove her interest from the Castle.” I nodded her a point, looking around the room at the other patrons quietly conversing.

“But to answer your earlier question, I have absolutely no idea why Twilight sent me here.” I finally returned to her original question as I retrieved my coffee for another mouthful.

“OK, well we don’t have any sort of crisis going on at the moment. Wanna go see a movie or something?” Sunset offered, absently tracing the rim of her mug with her finger. “I’m still buying.”

“Wow, you keep offering to pay for me for things like this people might start talking.” I remarked with a smirk as Sunset’s face flushed red with a blush. “But if you’re still offering, then I shall accept. I don’t think the theater will allow animals though. Would I be able to leave her at your place?”

“Well, you’re ex-military right? What if you just told the staff that Weiss is your support dog for PTSD?” Sunset suggested, raising an eyebrow and her mug.

“Technically wouldn’t be far from the truth I suppose.” I shrugged in reply. “I still need to drop something off somewhere safe though…” I replied, my arm brushing against my holster under my zipped up coat.

“Well, I suppose we could make a stop at my place. I still have to drop off my guitar and backpack anyways and I wanna get changed into better clothing.” Sunset stood up from her chair and zipped her coat up, covering the red and yellow sun printed on her light blue shirt.

“Then I shall follow after you.” I remarked, leaving my mostly finished coffee on the table with Sunset’s empty mug.

Giving Weiss a gentle shake, the small dog poked her head and front paws out of the neck hole freeing up my arms to stuff my hands into my gloves again, then into my pockets finally.

~~~

“So this is me.” Sunset announced, opening the door into an apartment on the third floor. The primary of the room was a bachelorette pad I suppose, a kitchen/living room/bedroom all in the same semi-large room with a bathroom to the right and laundry services to the left. “You’ll have to forgive the mess, I don’t normally have visitors over; certainly not of the… male persuasion.”

“Think nothing of it.” I waved her off as I entered after her and shut the door behind me. “Try living in a barracks with both genders occupying space. The only reason why it was always so clean was because I ordered them too.” I added, opening my jacket to let Weiss out and explore. Pulling my jacket open entirely while Sunset pulled her boots off, I hung my jacket on the doorknob and turned back to Sunset, now with my revolver holstered in the open.

“Woah! What’re you doing packing something like that around?” Sunset demanded in a whisper. “You were walking around the school and cafe with that thing under your coat?”

“Indeed I was, yes.” I replied as I began the task of removing the holster from my shoulders altogether. “Is there somewhere I can put this? Preferably out of sight?”

“Ahh, yeah. Top of the closet I guess.” Sunset replied, pulling open a coat closet before taking my weapon from me to place it on the top shelf and closing the door behind her. “Just, uhm, wait here while I change.”

“Absolutely.” I replied, leaning against the nearest wall with my arms and legs crossed. “Weiss, hang back here while she changes please.” I requested of the small white dog. Sunset and Weiss traded places, however while Weiss came and dutifully sat down at my feet, Sunset turned a corner towards the bedroom portion of her room to change.

“So why did you bring the gun anyways?” Weiss whispered up at me in curiosity.

“I honestly have no idea. It was an idea from Princess Luna.” I replied, sliding down the wall to sit in a crouch next to Weiss. “I’ve gotta say, you’re so adorable like this.”

“Oh psh, I'm always adorable.” Weiss waved a paw sarcastically, though her wagging tail told me she was feeling great for the compliment.

“And modest too.” I added in jest, making Weiss and I share a chuckle. A buzzing from the table interrupted our entertainment and had both of us looking up at it.

“Oh dangit, that’s my phone. Could you step into the bathroom so I can grab it please? I’m not exactly decent.” Sunset requested from around the corner.

“Yep, gimme a second.” I replied, scooping up Weiss to carry her into the bathroom, turning on the light in the process. “‘Kay, you’re good!”

“Thanks!” Sunset called out before the buzzing ceased. “Hello? Oh hey Fluttershy, what’s up?” I mostly tried to tune out her conversation, but with a lack of anything to do at the moment, the silence didn’t make it easy for me. “Oh you are, huh? No that’s okay, I’ve got an alternative. No, I don’t mind Fluttershy, I promise. Alright, talk to you later.” a clap of the phone indicated the end of the call even if Sunset’s words hadn’t.

“Can I come out now?” I called out close to the doorway.

“Just a second!” came the answer. “Okay, I'm good!” I picked myself off the wall and exited the washroom, killing the lights in the process with Weiss trailing behind me.

Sunset Shimmer had changed herself into some kind of magenta halter with her sun printed on the chest over a orange skirt with a magenta and bright yellow streak going down the length of it with a pair of boots with, you guessed it, more magenta.

“You going to be warm enough in that?” I asked, tossing Sunset her coat before retrieving my own to pull over my shoulders. Weiss lifted herself up onto my leg to be picked up and once I'd zipped up most of the way I did as she requested and stuffed her into the warmth.

“Sure, it wasn’t that cold outside.” Sunset glanced at me over her shoulder as she pulled her coat back on. “Besides, I've got some shorts on just in case.”

“Fair enough. Question, will we be walking?” I inquired, pausing at the door while Sunset pulled her phone from her pocket again to look at something.

“Nope, I've got transportation. Do you drive?” she asked, picking her keys from a bowl while her eyes were glued to her phone.

“I can drive, but my question is does this world need documentation to say I can drive?” I retorted as Sunset pulled the door to her apartment open and stepped out, aiming a different direction than we’d first gone to get here. I stepped out after her and pulled her door shut behind me before resorting to a short jog to get back up to Sunset as she texted away.

“Nope, if you can drive that’s good enough.” Sunset remarked once I'd gotten back to her and she’d put her phone away. “I’m just expecting to be on and off the phone quite a bit here and I don’t like driving distracted. I’ll try and navigate you so don’t worry.” Sunset explained as we approached to an elevator and hit the call button.

“Fair enough. Is your vehicle going to be able to survive the snow?” my question seemed to have had the effect of humoring miss Shimmer as she noticeably smirked in response, stepping into the elevator car and selecting the P2 button.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” I stepped in next to the girl for the ride down, leaning against the steel railings.

“It’ll be fine.” Sunset Shimmer replied assuredly. The doors slid open and we stepped out into the underground parkade, a number of vehicles reminiscent of many of my worlds vehicles scattered around. One of considerable note to me was the yellow truck a ways away that looked like the Ford/Hennessy VelociRaptor 600 with a full off-road kit.

“Ohhh niiiice.” I whispered to myself as we crossed a couple lanes. “Love the VelociRaptor.”

“Oh? Is that what it’s called in your world?” Sunset looked back at me, spinning on her heels to walk backwards ahead of me.

“Yeah, they’re the newer model of the Raptor. Rivals the other off-road capable vehicles in it’s factory settings. You start modifying that bastard out with it’s off-road kit and then beyond…” I was beginning to daydream of a VelociRaptor in a dark blue with the LED light bar across the top and on it’s grill, some larger studded tires with highly upgraded suspension…

“In this world they’re called XLR8s. I know, so creative.” Sunset grinned as she tossed me her keys.

“Are they still made to order? I think they had to be ordered in my world and you could only find the base models at a dealership.” I noticed that we turned down into the same lane that the VelociRaptor/XLR8 sat in which had the effect of my eyes never tearing from it’s body.

“I have no idea. I bought mine second hand.” Sunset replied with a huge grin. My eyes went wide and my mouth dropped into half disbelief/half anticipation.

“That’s your truck?” I asked anxiously with a huge grin on my face. “You own a Ford/Hennessy VelociRaptor 600 with off-road kit that you want me to drive?”

“Yeah, that’s my truck. Yes I want you to drive. Is that going to be a problem?” Sunset’s reply came in the form of me zipping off ahead of her, narrowly skidding to a halt with my arms resting on the nose of the vehicle in a wide hug; squishing Weiss in the process.

“Ohhhh it’s been much too long.” I whispered lovingly before Weiss pushed me off the nose of the truck.

“Well? Are you just going to ogle it or are you going to get inside and start it up?” Weiss insisted as she continued to try and pull herself out of the narrow gap between me and the truck. I pulled myself off and almost skipped to the door, hitting the unlock to hop inside as Sunset did the same once she’d cleared off the passenger seat.

“Wow, I would hate to have been your girlfriend if you ever bought yourself this truck. I’d not get laid for months!” Sunset noted as she got buckled in and rested against the door while I took a moment to myself to examine the apparently just cleaned custom wood panelling and the chrome interior instruments.

“Nah, you probably wouldn’t be getting laid very often in the first place. I’m asexual so I don’t normally feel the need for such activities.” I replied in all seriousness, making both females in the truck with me raise an eyebrow. I returned to gently caressing the wheel, the dash, the middle console and even the seat itself.

“Wow, more information than I ever thought I'd get from a guy so soon after meeting him. Are you going to turn the truck on? It only gets better from here you know.” Sunset’s grin matched my own as I inserted the key to listen to the dinging for but a moment before I engaged the ignition.

I can’t lie, I was quite aroused as the engine roared to life.

“Oh, fuck yes!” I whispered as Sunset and Weiss shifted away from me slightly.

“Are you going to need a moment? Do I have to clean up the seat now?” she asked in genuine entertained concern.

“Probably not the seat but I’ll clean up the floor mat when we’re done here.” I replied in all humor, pulling out of the stall and aimed for the exit denoted by signs.

“You’re kidding right?” Sunset’s face dropped all entertainment with this. I glanced at the girl momentarily with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

“Yes I'm kidding.” I said, turning onto a ramp upwards towards the surface. “I don’t normally like Fords, but the VelociRaptor and it’s little brother Raptor are easily my two favourite trucks in the world.” I explained as we pulled out into blinding light and directly over a rather large snow pile lining the streets.

“Why’s that?” Weiss inquired from my coat with her little adorable head poking out through the zipper.

“Because they are performance trucks. They have all the power and capabilities of a truck, but this beast can go from 0-100km in 5.9 seconds flat. Off-road. That just doesn’t happen and I love it!” I exclaimed, swinging the back end out as we turned onto the street with a rooster tail being thrown up behind me.

“The same is said here.” Sunset announced, grinning once again before turning back to her phone. “Not many trucks are performance. They’re all for power and torque, how much they can pull and how far. You can’t do much to them to make them go faster without starting to turn them into rally vehicles unfit for the road.”

“No, no you cannot. Which is where this baby shines.” I agreed, lovingly stroking the dash. “So which way are we going?” I turned back to face Sunset, having pulled up at an intersection without knowing where to go.

“Left then left again down the main drag. Keep going for a kilometer then turn left again and stay on that road for about 7 kilometers. The theater will appear soon enough, you can’t miss it.” Sunset replied without looking up from her phone. I nodded acceptance and did as asked, turning left onto another street then left again at a set of lights onto the main drag.

I love this truck.

~~~

“So what do you wanna see?” Sunset asked, looking up at the listing with me at her side, clutching my arm for warmth.

“I have no idea what any of these movies are about so you pick.” I replied, still trying to make heads or tails of the titles and the descriptions. “Just one request though, nothing related to the holidays.”

“Aww, why not?” Sunset pouted momentarily before chuckling and pulling on my arm to lead me inside.

“The holidays don’t exactly hold a lot of cheer and good will for me.” I explained calmly as I pulled open the door for Sunset to walk through, Weiss’s head still poking out of my coat.

“Sir, I'm sorry but there are no animals allowed in the building.” An attendant notified me as we stepped up to him.

“Weiss is a PTSD service dog for my friend who’s ex-military. She’s been trained to remain completely silent if he tells her too.” Sunset explained for me as I opened my mouth to do the same.

“Oh, of course. Sorry sir, my mistake. Go ahead and I’ll let management know ahead of time so you don’t have any more problems.” the male teen replied, letting us through before getting on the radio to notify the rest of staff.

“OK, so no Christmas movies for Captain. What about that one?” Sunset suggested, pointing up at a huge screen playing some ad for a film playing at this theater.

“Looks interesting enough, any idea what it’s about?” I looked down at the girl still clinging to my arm despite being indoors.

“Not a clue!” Sunset reported and shrugged before pulling me to one of six electronic ticket kiosks set up in a circle to facilitate faster ticket retrievals. “That one it is then!” she decided as she yet again pulled her phone from her pocket before actually purchasing our tickets.

“You know, I'm starting to feel a tad guilty for having you buy everything for me.” I mumbled just under my breath so that Sunset could hear me. “I realize that with this not being a date I don’t have to feel any obligations, I still am feeling the sense that I should try to pay for something.”

“I get that; but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you’re broke, right?” the girl handed me my ticket and took my arm again, leading me towards concessions.

“Yes, which makes me feel even worse in all honesty.” I admitted morosely.

“Well don’t worry. I’m sure next time you come visit -that is of course if I haven’t scared you off and you do decide to come back- you’ll have more funds to your name and can treat me.” Sunset gave my arm a gentle squeeze as we took a place in line for snacks.

“Right. As soon as I get home, actually finish my projects and make some sales, then eventually come back here and get the bits converted to whatever currency you use here, I'll get right on that.” I kept looking straight ahead at the front of the line, perusing the posted menus.

“Well take your time, don’t rush and make sure the finished product is something you can be proud of.” Sunset replied, giving a slight bump against me. I responded in kind by giving her an equal bump, though with a small smile in the corner of my mouth while deciding to leave out the fact that she was starting to sound like my parents.

“You wanna split a thing of popcorn or just get two?” I asked in a rather low tone of voice, tilting my head toward Sunset.

“I don’t mind sharing. You don’t eat popcorn a handful at a time do you?” she almost glared at me with this new question.

“Oh god no. Most of the time it's one to three pieces at a time.” I chuckled a tad with my answer. “It always bugs me when I share popcorn with someone who’ll fist the bag and take like, half of the total contents all in one go.”

“Heh, you and me both. Remind me to never share popcorn with Pinkie or Rainbow Dash again.” miss Shimmer remarked with a smirk as she recalled a couple of incidents in the past with the aforementioned girls.

“OK, don’t share popcorn with Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash.” I replied making Sunset burst into laughter, hiding it behind a hand before she settled down and gave me a light smack on the arm.

“Smart-ass.” she grinned, however my next slipped comment had both our eyes bug out.

“Maybe, but you still love me for it.” I didn’t even realize what I was saying until it had already escaped my lips, it was just a habitual thing for me to say. At this point Sunset realized that she was still clinging to my arm so quickly let it go and almost attempted to curl up as tightly as she could. “I am so sorry. I did not mean to say that. It’s just a habitual thing for me to say and I didn’t even realize I'd said it. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.”

“N- no it’s alright. I believe you.” Sunset murmured in a quiet voice. “We all have things we say automatically without realizing it.”

“Still didn’t think that would be one of them, huh?” I mumbled back in response, making Sunset nod slowly; her face red. “I’ll, uh, get my own popcorn then; if it’s not to much trouble.”

“No, that’s fine. Like I said, I don’t mind sharing; I probably won’t end up eating the whole thing anyways.” Sunset replied, releasing her self-cuddle to stand up straight again. “Can we, maybe talk about this later?”

“Absolutely.” I replied as the two of us stepped up to the counter.

~~~

“Do you drink?” Sunset nearly jumped on me with the question. The movie had been two and a half hours of uncomfortable silence and the movie itself did nothing to alleviate the tension. So when Sunset asked me if I drink, I nearly exploded with relief for an outlet.

“Oh fuck yes.” I replied, the two of us aiming for her truck again. “Is there someplace you like to go for drinks or are you set up at your place?”

“There’s a bar nearby to my apartment we can go to. Obviously I'll put you on my tab for the time being.” Sunset explained as we stepping into an elevator to get to the parking lot where I'd parked.

“Judging by your enthusiasm for a stiff drink, I'm estimating that you’re legal to drink?” I whispered back as we now had additional passengers in the elevator car.

“Yeah, we graduate in a couple months; I've been legal since before the start of the year.” Sunset chuckled and the elevator slid to a halt. As soon as the doors opened and the cold air rushed in, Sunset had reattached herself to my arm however kept her eyes forward the entire walk back to her truck.

“Good. Good. Can’t have a minor drinking alcohol on my watch.” I mumbled back. Reaching into my pocket I hit the remote and started up the truck as we approached before unlocking the doors altogether and hopped inside.

~~~

“Sir, there are no pets allowed in the establishment.” a bartender announced as soon as she noticed Weiss’s head poking from my coat.

“It’s okay Berry, Weiss is a service dog.” Sunset explained as we took a table near towards the back of the room. Passing by a table I could hear a couple of men snicker into their beers as they watched me pass by.

“Heh, service dog for the service man. All them Military types need some kinda help sooner or later.” one man announced, not entirely trying to remain quiet about his comment.

“Bah, all them military guys are weak minded anyways. Breaks them down physically too, ya know?” the other replied, openly watching me from his seat.

“Just ignore them.” Weiss whispered as quietly as she could to prevent being heard by anyone else. “They’re probably drunk.”

“Oh I know they’re drunk. I could smell it on their breaths from a few tables over.” I whispered back with a smirk.

“Unfortunately,” Sunset began, looking at me with a hunched over back from our table, “Those two are notorious for instigating trouble in this bar. Once they’ve picked you out it’s only a matter of time till they try something.”

“Do you want to leave then? I’m sure we can find another bar somewhere else.” I suggested, hesitant to get comfortable if we’d be moving again.

“Nah, we’re fine here. As long as we remain friendly security won’t have a problem with us.” Sunset shrugged, pulling off her jacket and hung it on the back of the seat behind her. I shrugged an eyebrow and unzipped my own before setting Weiss down on a third seat next to me to pull off my own coat.

“So when do you want to talk about what happened at the theater?” I asked, looking directly at Sunset from across the table. Weiss remained silent however she stared directly at me or Sunset as we spoke.

“As soon as I get a drink in me.” Sunset sighed as a bartender appeared. “Rum-n-coke please?”

“Sure hon, and for you?” the woman turned to me with a notepad and pen.

“Rye’n’coke. You guys got a good kitchen?” I inquired as the woman took down my drink order. She nodded in reply, prompting me to continue. “Got a good steak sandwich?”

“Depends on who you ask I suppose. Can I get one for you?” she replied, pausing her writing to look directly at me. “Servicemen get a discount here, just so you know.”

“Yes, thanks. Make it medium rare por favor? Fries and gravy on the side?” I requested. The bartender nodded and wrote everything down before hurrying off. “Seems like a friendly enough bar.”

“Yeah, they’re usually really good with military. Ex-military or currently active doesn’t matter for them.” Sunset replied, resting her chin in her hand. We both remained silent until the drinks appeared, simply because we both knew what we wanted to talk about and neither of us wanted to say anything until we’d been alcohol’d.

As soon as both our glasses hit the table, we grabbed a hold of them and downed about half all at once before Sunset let out a sigh.

“OK, I wanna apologize for what I'd said earlier.” I began, rotating the glass in my hand on the table. “Like we’d established, it was just a habitual thing for me to say.”

“I know. It just surprised me is all.” Sunset replied, still hunched over as she swirled the fluids around in her own glass, staring intently through the glass.

“OK, then I've said everything I need to say.” I announced calmly, taking a smaller sip this time.

“Then let me.” Sunset looked up from her glass to me. “Guys don’t normally say things like that, even habitually, without there being something to it. So what is it?”

“What is what?” I sat back in my seat, resting my arm over the back of the chair.

“What is it that made you say something like that? Do you… do you feel anything?” the girl with the red and yellow hair looked back down at her glass again, rather than at me.

“Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We only just met, remember?” I reminded the girl, holding a finger up to interject before taking another drink.

“I’m aware, but that hasn’t stopped other people before.” Sunset rested her entire head on her arm, relaxing on the table surface for a while in silence.

“So what, you think I've fallen in love at first sight or something?”

“Well, did you?” Sunset raised her head back up to look at me inquisitively.

“Would it matter?” I retorted, completely aware that I was avoiding the question.

“I- I don’t know. You’re lack of answer does act as an answer, you know?” Sunset gave a tiny smirk as she rested her head back on the table again, slowly turning the glass on the tabletop.

“I’m aware. So let me answer your question with an ‘I don’t know’. I think the reason why I’d said that is maybe because of how you had been hanging off my arm the entire day. Perhaps I was just getting wrong signals.” I explained as I finished off my glass as the bartender came around with another round of drinks, swapping out glasses in my hand.

“I was cold.” Sunset mumbled defensively, sitting up to take another drink.

“I know, that’s what you’d said the first time you latched onto me. I had just gotten the wrong idea after I'd asked you if you’d be warm enough in that skirt of yours earlier. Some part of my mind must’ve been thinking, ‘Oh, she did that on purpose so that she’d come to you for additional warmth. Maybe she likes you!’ or something.” I replied, taking another drink.

Watching Sunset’s face as I did take my drink, I nearly choked on a mouthful as I could just barely see the signs of a raised eyebrow quickly lower again. Much like a regular “you’re not wrong” reaction.

“Wait, did you? Do you?” I hissed at her, lowering myself to the table to keep my voice down and directed at the girl.

“I- don’t know.” Sunset admitted, still turning her glass but looked conflicted. As though she wasn’t even sure about her answer.

“Well, that certainly changes things.” I sat back against the seat again, now tracing the rim of my glass with my finger.

“What does it change? So far we’ve established that neither of us knows whether or not we like each other. As far as I'm concerned it changes nothing.” Sunset decreed, looking up at me adamantly.

“No, it does change things. It establishes that both of us are trying to decide whether or not we like each other. It establishes that maybe there’s a potential for something more, something unexpected.” I explained in all seriousness.

“Do you want something more?” Sunset looked up at me with shining eyes. Something tells me she’d already established what she felt and was just staying reserved, just in case.

“Perhaps.” I admitted, making the lights in her eyes light up even more. “But, I can’t willingly go into a new relationship so quickly. Call me old fashioned, but I need to get to know a girl first.”

“I can understand that. So then let’s start there, if you’d like.” Sunset offered, earning herself a point in the pronoun game.

“Start where?” I was forced to ask for clarification and judging by Weiss’s expression, she was thinking the same thing.

“Well, you said that Equestria doesn’t let you introduce yourself with your name right? This isn’t Equestria. We can start with formal introductions. Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer.” she insisted, sticking out a hand over the table with a grin.

With a chuckle I took her hand in a handshake. “Hello, I’m Captain-” Goddammit!

“And here’s your order.” the bartender/waitress announced, interrupting me yet again as she placed down a plate with a pretty decent looking steak on a bun with some fries and a small pot of gravy on the side. Following the plate came a bottle of steak sauce of some kind and a glass bottle of vinegar. “Anything else I can get you two?”

“Another plate of fries for me, please?” Sunset piped up through snickering at my misfortunes. Chuckling to myself as well, I dipped a fry into the gravy to have a taste but judged it insufficiently thick to satisfy me so resorted to salting and dousing them in a bit of vinegar.

“That is a prime example of what happens if I try to give my name.” I explained with a mostly empty mouth. “I can give the title but as soon as I even think about giving a name, something happens to interrupt me.”

“What if you were to try and introduce yourself directly after the interruption?” Sunset suggested, stealing a fry from my plate.

“There are still those two guys from before. Knowing my luck the universe would use them next time.” I replied, looking back at the two guys glaring at me from a number of tables over.

“And what if you were completely alone? Have you ever tried just saying your name as just a word instead of an introduction?” Sunset sat back in her seat, nibbling on the fry until the waitress returned with another plate.

“So what, like ‘Dave’ or ‘Grace’?” I tossed a few more fries into my mouth.

“Yeah, what if you were to just say your name? Don’t try and introduce yourself this time.” Sunset’s suggestion had me at a pause. I’d never actually thought of that before.

“OK,” I took a breath to try out the idea, however as soon as I began to let out the air, the waitress reappeared again.

“And how is everything so far?” she asked with hands folded before her chest.

“Good. Not fond of the gravy though, I’ll probably try it on the steak instead.” I replied as Sunset’s hand met her face with a smirk on her lips. The waitress nodded and left again to tend to other customers as we both burst into stifled laughter.

“Wow, the universe really doesn’t like you!” Sunset remarked with calming breaths, her head resting on her hand.

“No kidding. I’m almost tempted to think that it’s just my name, too.” I replied, taking a quick drink before finally starting on the steak, dipping a bit of it into the gravy.

“So I suppose I’ll just have to call you Captain.” Sunset decided, turning back to her fries. Deciding that I just didn’t like the gravy at all, Sunset swiped it from my plate and drizzled her fries in it once I'd given her the go-ahead.

“Oh well. Whatever works I suppose.”

“How’s the steak?” Sunset inquired once I'd gotten through about half of the slab of meat.

“You know, it’s odd. It’s got the texture of being medium rare, but it’s completely browned through. Still juicy though.” I replied, a bit of steak juices squirting out between my teeth as I bit into a new piece.

“So I see.” Sunset chortled over the squishing juices as I ate. “Hey, so what’re you going to be doing for the night? Just going to head back home?”

“Probably, provided of course that I'm capable of doing so.” I replied with a swallow. “Twilight had me convinced that there was something I needed to do here to help this world. Since there’s no crisis that you know of, there’s no need for me to stay. Not unless someone gives me a reason to.” I explained, looking directly at Sunset as I added the last lines.

“Hey, no arguments from me. If you figure there’s nothing here for you then it’d probably be best for you to just go.” Sunset replied, looking slightly rejected. Now I had my final answer.

“Are you offering to put me up for the night if I do decide to stay?” I teasingly asked, washing down the steak with a mouthful of rye’n’coke.

“I… wouldn’t be opposed to such ideas.” Sunset replied equally as teasingly, still avoiding eye contact. “I mean, I obviously couldn’t let you sleep in my bed with me; I'd probably have to set you up on my couch.”

“I don’t remember seeing a couch in your tiny apartment, Sunset.” I reminded, even though I hadn’t seen most of her apartment in the first place from the front door.

“You can’t see it from the door. You’d have to had actually come into the apartment to see it.” Sunset Shimmer explained, now looking up at me. She was rather cute for a girl of her age.

Wait a second, what was our age difference?

“A thought just occurred to me. How old are you, anyways?” I almost demanded, slightly concerned.

“Twenty-two. Twenty three just after graduation in a couple months. I was already fairly older than the rest of the high school when I came over from Equestria, the portal just changed my appearance to look younger. When Twilight first came over with her magic, it kind of had the effect of undoing the change and I gradually caught up to my age. Why?” Sunset explained, looking warily at me. “How old are you?”

“I’m nearly twenty-nine. Enlisted in the Army at eighteen and impressed enough people to get myself up into an officer rank for twenty-seven. Shit, I hadn’t even thought of the age difference between us until now…” I pressed a hand to my head, staring at the table.

“What, you thought you were interested in a girl ten years your younger?” Sunset smirked with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not interested in such things, are you?”

“Hell no! That’s why I was getting so nervous!” I spat back, still staring at the table and at my mostly completed plate of meaty goodness. “But since you’re not ten years younger than me, it should be fine, right?” I looked up at the girl, her own pretty face lightening up my mood somewhat.

“Sure, if we decide to do anything or actually get together.” Sunset sat back with her arms crossed over her chest, shrugging.

“Right. Another thing, how are you with long distance relationships?” I asked, thinking back to how Weiss and I would be living in another world from Sunset.

“Why? Are you going somewhere?” Sunset sat up again, resting her forearms on the table around her plate of diminishing fries.

“I live in another world, remember? I probably wouldn’t be able to actually be here with you very often or for long durations of time. My own work would likely keep me highly occupied and I'm sure Princess Luna would have more ‘mercenary’ work for me sooner or later.” I explained, polishing off my glass in the process.

“You’re talking like you’re already together.” Weiss whispered from my coat, having pulled it off the back of my chair to turn it into a makeshift bed upon which she layed. “What about when Princess Luna finds out about this?”

“I have no interest in Princess Luna, remember? She is going to have to live with the fact that I've apparently found interest in someone of my own choosing.” I explained with a smile, gazing directly at Sunset’s lovely eyes.

“And she’s going to have to live with the fact that I feel the same way for him.” Sunset added with an equal smile on her face, gazing directly at me.

“So it looks to me like you’ve already made up your minds about where you stand with each other. Is it fair to guess-” Weiss suddenly shut up, making both of us humans turn to address her curiously before turning to address the lurking alcohol breath of the two drunks from before.

“Oi, we’ve decided that we don’t -hick- like you very much.” one man announced, placing his hand on my shoulder forcefully.

“Yeah, we dun like -hick- you verrr much.” the second one parroted.

“So I see. Now would you release my shoulder and go back to your drinks?” I requested, looking up at the drunk with his hand on my shoulder, slowly trying to apply pressure.

“Nope.” Shoulder squeezer replied with a toothy grin. “We’s gon take -hick- you out back an’ show you just how much -hick- we’s dun like you.”

“Yeah, and prove that the -hick- army faggots aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.” the second one replied, making my eye twitch at the disrespect for my brothers and sisters-in-arms.

“And when we do, -hick- we’s gon have some fun with your little -hick- bitch here.” the first one added, still grinning like an idiot soon to be with no teeth.

“Did you just call Sunset a bitch?” I demanded in a low voice, making Weiss’s eyes go wide as I'm sure she could begin to recognize the look on my face. “Did you just call my Sunset Shimmer, a bitch?”

“What’s happening?” Sunset leaned over to Weiss, concerned.

“We need to make sure Captain gets outside before security shows up.” Weiss whispered back as quietly and subtly as she could. “Otherwise it won’t be just these two getting a beat-down.”

“No one calls anyone I like a bitch.” I explained, still low and terrifyingly calm. “Not my mother, not Sunset Shimmer, not even my ex. Definitely no one disrespected the military by calling them faggots.” I stood from my seat, pushing it back with my legs as I stood to my full height; taking the man’s wrist on my shoulder in my own hand and began to apply pressure of my own.

“OK, we really need to get him outside.” Weiss announced, now not caring to remain quiet. “Sunset, you have to get him out of here!”

“How?” the girl demanded, watching me warily.

“Try asking him to! He likes you, you should be able to get through to him!” Weiss replied, hoping from her seat into Sunset’s arms as the girl made to stand up.

“Hey, Captain. Why don’t you take this outside where there’s space?” Sunset asked gingerly, carefully approaching me and the other two guys from my side of the table. She wasn’t going to risk getting anywhere near those two drunks.

“An excellent idea.” I smirked, tightening my grip on the man’s wrist with my fingertips right in the tendons that controlled his fingers; threatening to injure him if he didn’t cooperate.

Leaving my white camouflage coat behind, I led the man out painfully by his wrist; almost dragging them into the parking lot before throwing him ahead of me to let him stumble around before collecting himself.

Ignoring the biting night winter winds, I cleared my throat and took a fighting stance; cracking my knuckles single-handedly in the process.

“Are you going to be okay?” Sunset demanded from behind me, carrying my coat in her arms as she fought to put her own on with a dog in one hand helping her as best as Weiss could with paws.

“I’ll be fine. Call them an ambulance though.” I replied with a non-subsiding grin.

At that moment my challenger attacked, charging me head on with a tight fist and a loose form. I responded in turn with a sidestep and brought my own fist up into his cheek, instantly fracturing his jaw though I’m sure his level of inebriation numbed the new pain.

He howled and charged at me again, this time actually remembering to throw a punch at me. I instead caught his arm and spun while reaching behind him to grab hold of the back of his belt and crouched over, hoisting him up onto my back with my legs as my shoulder continued to turn, bringing the attacker over my shoulder and to the ground.

Keeping a hold of his arm, I dropped down after him and without so much thought, pulled back hard and popped his elbow out of place; the intended effect of dislocating his elbow had the challenger howling out in new pain as I rolled backwards onto my feet to address the second man now giving me a drunken death glare.

And his firearm gleaming in the moonlight.

Unfortunately for me he was faster than I'd thought, or he wasn’t as drunk as I'd hoped and I was getting slow, and pulled the trigger. The burst of audio signals made quite a few people around us and inside the establishment shriek as I felt the relatively familiar burst of intense heat suddenly strike me in the leg as I lunged forwards.

Bringing my forearm into the man’s wielding arm, I brought my free hand up and grasped the barrel of the pistol from underneath and continued to lift it up so that the muzzle pointed upwards as the man’s index finger audibly snapped from refusing to let go.

Before I could bring the butt of the gun down on his head, a blue fist struck the back of his cranium and sent him crumpling to the ground to reveal a head of prismatic hair poking out from under a toque.

Hitting the safety I pulled the magazine out and unchambered the weapon before pulling the pin on the gun to pull the barrel off entirely, dropping all parts to the snow beneath me; save for the magazine and bullet.

“Oh my gosh are you alright?” Sunset demanded, running up to attend to me and drape my coat over my shoulders.

“What the heck happened Sunset?” Rainbow Dash demanded, looking down at me as I collapsed onto my backside, already trying to put pressure to my leg over the bullet wound.

“I was shot.” I explained in a hoarse voice before the lack of blood caught up to me.

Author's Note

Hurray for long ass chapters!

I'll be honest, I was aiming for a 20/30 page thing in GDoc for both this and the next chapter together... Already reached 26 pages with just this first part and I haven't even touched the second one yet. Was kind of aiming for an episodic movie type deal here and I think I'm doing pretty good so far.

As always, comments and support is welcomed, editorial suggestions are also welcome, criticism is welcome.

في صحتك

Am I ever going to say it?

Two Weeks Later

Dearest Captain

How was your day today? I hope it went well. Any process made by Luna in discovering the transformation magic to make me human again once I return to Equestria? I suppose you can tell me about it on our date tonight, provided you haven’t forgotten about it that is.

Don’t forget that you can’t bring your sidearm with you again this time, the bar owner is getting ornery about that and is threatening to check you everytime you swing by for a visit.

Sunny

“Weiss, where’s my pen?” I demanded, looking up from my book and Sunset’s words to search my cluttered desk for something to write back with. I know I could’ve just done like she’d suggested and just reply to her once I got back to the place i’ve taken to calling Anestria -the shortened version of Humanestria- but I wanted to at least say hi, let her know I was still coming.

“Where’d you leave-” Weiss called back from the next room over, the metal bars having been pulled out a week back and replaced with actual wooden panelling. If I didn’t know better i’d have thought I was working in some luxurious lounge with all the fancy wood work on the walls.

“If you finish that question how I think you’re going to finish that, then don’t bother!” I shouted back, still leafing through rolls of blueprints and large pages of projects to be.

Standing with a groan, I was forced to take a second to let the ghost pain in my leg subside before hobbling out of my personal room and into the workshop where Weiss was busy shaving away at her own project; a kitchen table for some rather wealthy customers.

After having completed and delivered the woodworks to the CMC’s, someone had found out their origins and had enough influence that the two of us had been quite busy with work ever since; a new project coming in almost once every two days on request from myself.

The weekends were dedicated to my visits to Sunset, unless something extreme happened to come up -a basilisk had made it’s way into Equestria from the direction of the Griffon provinces and had racked up quite a list of casualties before i’d managed to take it out without actually looking at it.

I now had it’s head -sans eyes- mounted above the doorway to the deeper bowls of the dungeons where actual prisoners would be taken.

“Why, did your girlfriend write you back finally?” Weiss looked up at me momentarily before returning to her work, wiping off her brow of wood shavings and sawdust.

“You bet your ass she did.” I replied, resorting to using a pencil to write back a brief letter regarding my intent to keep our date.

“So when are you heading out?” Weiss set her tools down in her own tiny tool belt, custom made for her by Luna and I, before taking to a rag to completely wipe herself off.

“Shortly most likely. What time is it?” I looked up at a clock that had been hand carved by myself, the motion and golden clock face having been procured elsewhere as a gift from the Princesses for some minor invading creature I really couldn’t be bothered to remember.

“Clock right there dummy, you forget to learn how to read them?” Weiss dropped the rag and placed her tiny claws on her hips sarcastically before turning away from the room to procure I don’t know what. Probably food judging by the time.

“I’m aware of where the clock is, smart-ass. I was hoping you may have had snuck a look at the clock before I had and was able to answer me yourself.” I explained, returning to my room to change into something more presentable than work slacks and a glued t-shirt.

Stepping out again in a black t-shirt, blue jeans, combat boots and a thick jean jacket all under my winter camo coat with a black black baseball cap on my head I crossed the foyer to the makeshift garage and disappeared into the shadows.

A minute later and the faint tinkling of metal keys being inserted into the ignition, the familiar roar of my “off-road” performance bike echoed through the caverns; funneled down into the depths via some very specific magical barriers erected by Princess Celestia herself.

Turning on the headlights, I could only imagine what looked like a pair of incredibly furious eyes opening to glare at the very soul of anypony unfortunate enough to get in our way.

Walking the vehicle out of it’s garage, Weiss had done me the convenience of opening the door out to the surface for me as she worked on a chunk of bloodstone nearby, watching me leave.

“Say hi for me!” Weiss requested over the din of the engine as I bumped the front wheel against the bottom stair.

“Absolutely!” I shouted back and threw my weight over the rear tire to lift the front end up once I hit the throttle and accelerated outwards.

Tearing up the stairs had the effect of warning everyone at the top that I was approaching and to get the hell out of the way as the evening light temporarily blinded me once I shot out of the mouth of the mountain side.

You know, I don’t think i’ve ever actually managed to bring the bike over with me. It’d be kinda cool to do so… I thought to myself as the guards opened the gate into Canterlot and beyond. Could I even do so I wonder?

~~~

“You want to bring that into my castle and try to get it through the portal with you?” Twilight demanded incredulously, standing on the top of the steps to her abode.

“The tires are more or less clean so I wouldn’t be tracking anything. I think.” I replied, still seated facing perpendicular to the doors Twilight defended.

“That’s not the problem here, the problem is the weight of it cracking my tiles! I just had them replaced from my last big fight!” Twilight complained, stomping her hoof defiantly.

“Well, what if you were to put down a shield on the floors to protect them? I’ll just drive on that.” I suggested, making Twilight pause a moment to consider this new idea.

“Ugh, fine! We’ll try your stupid idea!” Twilight grumbled, lowering the shield from the exterior doors to allow me entrance.

I accelerated forwards and came around in a small circle, now aiming for the wide open doors into the Friendship Castle now with a shimmering purple floor.

Launching up the few steps I landed on the back wheel on the tile floor just outside the castle with the front tire landing on the shield, making the magic ripple in response.

Slowly inching myself onto the magical shield, Twilight’s concentration proved ineffective to maintain such a large shield to lift such a heavy vehicle and just before the magic broke, the shield shrunk itself down to miniscule disks just under the tires, barely keeping up with my slow roll.

“Holy mother of Celestia that thing is heavy!” Twilight argued through groans. I rolled my eyes and hopped off, walking the bike the rest of the way and lightening the load for Twilight.

“Yes yes, I know i’m a heavy human. Let’s get a move on shall we?” I requested as Twilight gave a huff of effort in holding the shield under the bike as I rolled it over it’s surface.

Soon we came to the library where the Portal sat waiting for me and Twilight all but let the bike drop from exhaustion.

“So, I hate to break this to you Twilight…” I began, looking down at the tiles that contacted the bike’s rubber tires.

“What?” Twilight demanded, glaring at me.

“You’re efforts were in vain.” I pointed out, noticing a distinct lack of cracked tiles under the bike.

“You so suck right now.” Twilight muttered under her breath, turning out of the library and disappeared into the hallway. With a light grin I turned back to the mirror and rolled my bike into a position that i’d theoretically be able to just drive right through it. “Give my greetings to Sunset Shimmer for me!” the youngest alicorn requested as I revved the engine, hoping that no one was on the other side of the portal to get run over.

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t come flying out…” I mumbled to myself as I slowly advanced up the two steps to the mirror before accelerating into the mirror with just enough weight to push through.

~~~

“So when is he due to come over?” Rarity looked up from her books at Sunset, checking her phone to find the time.

“I’m not sure. He did write me to make sure I knew he was coming but he didn’t say when.” Sunset shrugged in reply, tapping the back end of her pen on the open book before her.

The girls had all gathered at Sunset’s small place of dwelling to study for their next exam and await Captain’s arrival.

“Are you going to have to go pick up him?” Rainbow asked from nearby, deciding to have opted out of the whole studying thing altogether.

“Probably yeah, unless he decided to walk here from the school.” Sunset watched the book with her di-chromatic sun printed on the front cover anxiously, hopefully waiting for some word that her boyfriend had arrived.

“Oh, while we’re waiting, why don’t we bake him a cake!” Pinkie suggested suddenly, popping up from the makeshift table which was mostly just a couple planks of wood fashioned into a tabletop surface that could sit on her bed.

“He’s more of a pie person.” Sunset replied with a smirk, thinking back to a couple visits ago when they’d gone to Sugarcube Corner for an afternoon out. The bakery had brought out it’s yearly holiday pastries, their cakes one of the most anticipated confections in town, and even after a taste had opted for a slice of cherry pie.

“Then we’ll bake him a pie!” Pinkie was unhindered in her enthusiasm to bake as she shot to the kitchenette to begin.

“But that could take forever and he may not even show up until tonight…” Applejack leaned against the headboard next to Rarity as the two worked together through some language classes they were talking together.

“That’s why I’ll just leave it in the oven to keep warm until he does get here! Duh!” Pinkie was completely adamant in her resolve, her backside poking out of the fridge for the wet ingredients. “Uhm, Sunset, what do you have for fillings?”

“I don’t think I have any to be honest. I don’t do a lot of baking myself so i’ve never had the need for it.” the red and yellow girl replied casually, leaning back to rest on the mattress with her shirt riding up over her belly.

“If you’d like, I can go make a run to the grocer and get some.” Fluttershy quietly offered, though the noise level of the room made it sound like Fluttershy was actually speaking at regular decibels for once.

“No need, i’ve got some right here in case of emergencies!” Pinkie exclaimed, reaching up into her hair to pull out a pair of cans with blueberry pie filling in them.

“Why would you need pie filling for emergency cases?” Rainbow demanded in all curiosity.

“Pshh, for when I have to bake but don’t have filling, silly!” Pinkie explained, already in the process of peeling open the top of the can with a can opener on Sunset’s kitchen counter.

“Of course, why’d I even ask?” Rainbow replied with a roll of the eyes, turning back to her phone with a single earbud in, her head bopping to the beat of her music.

A sudden knock at the door had the girls sharing curious glances given the security door at the entrance to the building required a guest to announce themselves.

“Who is it?” Sunset called, remaining seated. A lack of answer brought another shared glance between the girls as Sunset set aside her books and crawled off the bed to answer the door.

Peering into the peephole, the recognizable blackness indicating someone blocking the glass had Sunset completely curious now.

Pulling the door open wide, Sunset came face to face with a single man with a bundle of flowers in her colours in hand.

***

“Hey gorgeous.” I grinned at the girl before me. “How’ve you been?”

“Hey! How’d you get here! I thought you were going to message me and i’d come pick you up!” Sunset threw her arms over my shoulders and planted a kiss in me before stepping back to take the flowers. “They’re beautiful! I love them!”

“Hey Cap!” Rainbow’s voice shouted out from within. The Pinkie at the kitchen had me thinking that she had more guests over than i’d expected.

“Hey Dash!” I called back as Sunset invited me inside. “To answer your question, I found some transportation of my own.” I explained to Sunset, pulling off my snow coat to hang it in the closet for the time being. It was still hours away until we’d be going for our date so I figured i’d settle in.

“Aww, I was hoping i’d be able to have this made by the time you got here…” Pinkie whinned, pouring what I assumed to be blueberry pie filling into a shell.

“Ooh, blueberries and pie! What’s the occasion?” I asked eagerly, looking around at the accumulated female bodies on the bed.

“Do you need an occasion to have pie?” Pinkie asked with a bemused grin.

“No, but it’s also not a bad idea to have an occasion for pie.” I pointed out, spinning a dining chair around to sit down leaning forward against the backrest.

“Here, let us make some room.” Applejack announced as Rarity and the country girl scooted over to let me on the bed just short of collapse.

“Thank ya kindly.” I replied, standing up again to return the chair and roll onto the bed next to AJ.

Sunset took the opportunity to crawl up into my lap, resting just on me with her head on my chest; my arms wrapped around her stomach with her hands on mine having deposited the flowers into a vase.

“So how did you get here anyways?” Rarity inquired, looking around AJ at me inquisitively.

“Like I said, I found an alternate means of transportation. You might be able to see it from the window.” I announced to have Dash, Rarity and Pinkie jump over to the large bay window to look out at the street below.

“Which one is it?” Dash asked, looking back at me over her shoulder.

“It’s blue.” I replied as Dash’s face plastered against the glass again.

“Oh! I see it! It’s that motorbike there!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly, pointing out the only bike on the road that I remember seeing in this weather.

“You brought a motorbike from Equestria to a world in mid-winter?” Sunset looked up at me in confusion.

“It’s got studded tires, it works just fine.” I replied back adamantly.

“So it’s a dirt bike?” Sunset sat up to approach the window as Rarity returned to Aj’s side to continue studying.

“That is definitely not a dirt bike.” Dash grinned back, also returning to her seat. “That is a beautiful piece of motorized technology.”

“Woah, no kidding! Our world’s version of that goes for just over 16 thousand! It looks just like the ZX-10R!” Sunset’s mouth hung open as she stared down at my bike. “How’d you get studded tires on it?”

“That’s the wonders of magical interference.” I explained with a grin, my hands folded over my stomach comfortably. “With Princess Luna’s help, we managed to create that monstrosity some time back. I’ve been using it to get from Canterlot to Ponyville to get here but it’d never occurred to me to try and get it through the mirror till now.” Sunset strode the few steps back to me and rolled into my lap, getting comfortable where she’d just been a minute or so ago.

“Wow, wish I could use our magic to do that.” Rainbow Dash complained, lounging at the foot of the bed with her hands behind her head and a leg crossed over the other while the other girls continued to work.

“It’s incredibly taxing to Luna whenever she does use it. When she made the motorbike itself and forgot the engine, we had to work together to correct everything. After that, Luna slept for hours.” I said, making Dash shrug in place.

“Still, it’d be awesome to be able to do that.” she replied, eyes closed and foot bobbing to a beat of some kind.

“Yeah, I suppose it would.” I muttered under my breath. “Hey Fluttershy, how’s your recent chapter going?”

“Oh, uhm, fine. I’m still working through a romance scene but i’m having difficulty going back to it.” The girl calmly replied, looking up from her books appreciatively.

“Writer’s block?” I tilted an eyebrow at her.

“Not exactly. I know where I want to go and I know how i’m going to get there, it’s just…” Fluttershy drifted away, trying to think of the words.

“Finding how to word it?” I tried to finish, making the girl smile back.

“Yes! I can’t find the right words to use to show what’s going on. It also doesn’t help having to stop every so many pages to go back and edit everything myself.” Fluttershy glanced back down at the books before her bereft of any more cheer.

“Have you had any of your friends take a look at it?” I asked, making the silence in the room deafening as the girls all froze, glancing at me warily.

“Have you had a chance to read her work?” Applejack leaned over to whisper at me.

“No… why?” I could imagine the worried look on my face must’ve looked like their own.

“It’s uhh…” Applejack drifted away, unable to find the words.

“That’s because…” Now Rarity drifted away.

Looking directly at a highly embarrassed Fluttershy, her face beet red, I had to ask, “You’re making sure it’s safe, sane and consensual right?”

“Yes, it’s all legal.” Fluttershy replied, still avoiding eye contact. That wasn’t what I asked and she knew it.

“It’s safe, sane and consensual right?” I asked again, a stern raised eyebrow marking my features.

“It’s safe, it's sane and the characters consent.” Fluttershy replied, looking up at me with wet eyes.

“But the people who the characters originate from, don’t.” Rainbow Dash announced from near to Fluttershy, making my second eyebrow go out in shock.

“You’re writing Erotica of your friends?” my head dipped forwards towards Sunset’s in disbelief.

Fluttershy’s head slowly nodded in shame as my head went back against the headboard to process. “Do I want to ask if i’ve been in any of them?” I whispered down to Sunset, making the girl shake her head in reply. “Have you read them?” her head shakes yes. “Many of them?” shakes no. I see…

“Please don’t hate me!” Fluttershy demanded, openly crying now with Pinkie wrapping her arms around the fellow pink haired girl comfortingly despite her own face being beet red.

“I don’t hate you for writing erotica starring me or the other girls. We may not like it but we don’t hate you for it.” I announced after i’d calmed myself down. “If you’d like I’ll take a look at whatever your working on now to suggest some edits. I’ve got a fairly decent command of the English language.”

“That- that’s fine. I’ll manage on my own.” Fluttershy replied, returning the hug back to Pinkie before Pinkie pulled away and returned to baking.

“Alright, just let me know if you’d like help.” I shrugged off the conversation, as i’m sure the other girls were eager to do the same.

~~~

“You wanna take the truck or my bike?” I offered, stepping out into the hallway to get on our way for our date. Sunset had let the rest of the girls stay while we were out and they were more than happy to remain here and hang out for the night.

The remainder of the afternoon had gone by casually, chatting, laughing, telling stories until i’d caught sight of the time and figured it’d be a good time to get going.

“I personally wanna see the bike.” Sunset replied, pulling the door closed behind her before taking my arm. “You’ve got helmet’s right?”

“Heated, yes.” I replied with a grin, lightly trodding the carpeted floors to the elevators. “They’re on the bike.”

“Good. I was not looking forward to freezing my face off with winter winds tearing at me.” Sunset replied as a thought occurred to me.

“Aren’t we planning to just go to the bar down the street? We shouldn’t need to take a vehicle; we can just walk.” my question had both of us pausing in the hallway a moment.

“You make an excellent point.” Sunset announced pointedly. “I still want to ride that bike of yours sooner than later though.”

Narrowing my eyes, “Was that an unintentional innuendo? Or am I just going crazy?” Sunset grinned as she got in closer to me.

“Sounds like we may have need for my apartment later tonight if that’s how you’re thinking.” she whispered as seductively as she could before biting her lip and walking ahead of me. Oi.

Stepping out of the building, Sunset nearly bull-rushed to my bike to look it over and sit on it.

“You know, they use these models in the official GP Racing circuits! What I wouldn’t give for a dry track to take this on!” Sunset announced as she reluctantly removed herself from my bike to join me at my side. “Lead on Captain!” she announced dramatically thrusting a finger forwards.

“Yes ma’am.” I saluted with a chuckle before bending down to lift Sunset up off the ground and carry her on my back. “Forwards unto battle!” I announced just as dramatically as Sunset laughed, already squirreling around my back to climb up onto my shoulders.

“You good down there?” Sunset looked down at me from above.

“Certainly. Good thing these sidewalks have been de-iced or we’d be tempting fate to dump us on our asses.” I replied, looking up at Sunset who’s legs were wrapped under my arms.

“Oh, right. Yeah keep an eye out please…” Sunset requested, patting my head gently.

Taking a corner had us enter into a direct head wind, blowing the revealed silver hair around my face rather annoyingly.

“Hey good lookin’? Could you sweep my hair out of my face? I don’t wanna risk dropping you by releasing your leg to get it myself.” I requested, looking up at Sunset momentarily and smiling at her reddening face. Still looked lovely and she’s all mine.

Sunset pulled my hat off and pulled all my hair straight back, sweeping her hands over my scalp a couple times before pulling my hat back over my head and subsequently my face.

“Well done, now you’re steering.” I chuckled as my girlfriend placed both hands on my head and directed me by facing me a different direction, my body following after as best as I could.

“We’re here.” Sunset announced and I pulled up before carefully kneeling down on the packed snow and ice to let Sunset down. No sooner than I had stood up that I heard a faint voice calling in the back of my mind.

“Captain?” the voice called from a ways away. Male, faintly reminiscent of my past. Why does it sound so familiar? “Captain! Holy shit, Captain!” the voice called again, their voice getting closer.

“I think someone’s calling for you.” Sunset whispered into my ear, facing towards the door and a man stepping just out through the large wooden slabs thereof.

“Captain Mercer!” Now he had my attention. My head shot up at my last name actually being said out loud to see the one person I knew would be the most impossible to see.

“Did he…” Sunset’s eyes were as narrow as mine were as she must’ve put together the connection. “Did he just call your name?” I slowly nodded in equal shock.

“Last name actually…” I mumbled, working to take steps forward with Sunset’s hand in my own. “But that shouldn’t be possible!” I whispered, my feet defying me my intent to move towards the impossible man.

“Why not? What’s-” Sunset looked from the man to me in concern however I interrupted her.

“You should be dead!” I exploded, pointing directly at the Sergeant that i’d posted in the shadows of the sniping nest when i’d lost the Corporal so many years ago. Staggering backwards, Sunset had to catch me when I tripped over a chunk of ice that had dropped from the mudflap of some unknown vehicle.

“He what?” Sunset demanded, looking from me to the Sergeant looking to be in good health. “But he’s right there!”

“I see that!” I hissed back, still shocked and unintentionally becoming hostile. “He should have been dead when the enemy spec-ops infiltrate my sniping nest and killed my Corporal! Unless…” My mind raced, then stuck to an idea. “You mother fucker!” I launched myself upwards and scrambled towards the now equally shocked Sergeant. “You sold us out!”

“I did no such thing sir, I was ambushed just as you were!” the Sergeant replied, shoulder rolling out of the doorway and through my grasp. “I thought I was killed but then I was dropped on my ass somewhere in this world and was rescued and interrogated by this country's military! I was set free some months ago and i’ve been planning to enlist here!”

This had me for a pause.

“You were shot and then dropped on your ass in this world?” I asked, my temper slowly cooling as I grabbed a handful of snow to rub over my face and through my silvery hair.

“What does this all mean exactly?” Sunset inquired, helping the Sergeant up before stepping back through the piled snow to me. “Actually, let's all just go inside, have a drink and everything can be explained. Alright?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Sergeant replied, brushing himself off as he re-entered the pub. Following in after the Sergeant with Sunset in hand, we were lead to his table where a couple other guys were already seated; presumably friends he’d made already.

“Guys, this is my old Captain from my last posting, Captain Mercer.” Sergeant announced, taking a seat as I pulled one out for sunset and took my own.

“Nice to meet you, Captain. You still in the military?” one large infantry-looking man shot out a hand in friendly gesture; of which I took and shook back before doing the same to the second, an armoured or artillery crewman-type.

“Nope. Been out for a while now. Just trying to get back to a mostly normal life, you know?” I replied slow and calm, my heart rate still above average with the Sergeant nearby. “You two are?”

“Oh, right. This is Corporal Greene and Bombardier Stakes.” Sergeant announced, motioning to the two men respectively. My nose for identifying their jobs was spot on. “So Captain, you been here long?”

“Nah, i’ve been…” I dragged off as a waitress approached for drinks. “Oldest scotch you’ve got.” I requested, raising everyone’s eyebrows.

“We’ve got a Dalmore 50 year old Decanter for eleven-thousand that we’ve been saving for either a special occasion or for someone to take it off our hands.” the waitress announced, making everyone’s jaws drop.

“Would you take a check?” I asked, back hunched over the table though I turned my head towards the waitresses body. If everyone’s jaws weren’t unhinged just yet, they surely are on the floor now as I pulled my checkbook from my pocket and a pen provided by the completely stunned woman behind me.

“Seriously?” Sunset was the first to ask. “Seriously?” she asked again in disbelief.

“Seriously.” I replied, already writing out the check. “Who do I make it out to?”

“Uhhh, let me get my manager and he can get you the details.” The waitress replied nervously, backing away into a table behind her.

“Captain, what the hell! That scotch is over eleven thousand! How are you able to waste money on something like that?” Sergeant demanded, hunched over the table just as I was.

“It helps that I live with royalty and run a custom carpentry business on the side for some rather rich clients.” I explained casually as quietly as I could given the nature of the talk. “Besides,” I turned to Sunset with this one. “We’re technically on a date and it would behoove me to treat my girlfriend to a good drink.”

“Sir?” a woman’s voice requested behind me, forcing me to sit up and turn in my seat to find a rather dapper-looking woman with the bottle of 50 year old scotch firmly clutched in her hands. “Did you request to purchase this?”

“Why yes, yes I did.” I replied, pulling my checkbook back out again. “To whom does this go to? Actually, just fill it out yourself.” I ripped the check from the rest of the book and handed it and the pen to the shocked woman.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding. I’d honestly thought my waitress was joking or that you were joking but you’re serious!” she noted, placing the crystal down before me before scribbling something onto the thin paper in her hand. “If you don’t mind, i’d like to make sure that this won’t bounce after you leave.”

“Of course. If I might make a call to my bank to let them know you’re calling?” I requested, Sunset already holding her phone out to me. The manager gave me leave to do so and a half hour later, I had a bottle of Dalmore 50 Year Old sitting in the center of the table, the waning sunlight gleaming spectacularly off it’s surface.

“So, who wants to taste eleven thousand dollars?” I asked, setting out a quintuplet of tulip-shaped glasses before the five of us at the table before pouring a bit into each and corking the bottle again. “By the way,” I say a bit louder, just so that anyone near enough to think about doing such, “If anyone touches this bottle besides Sunset, i’ll rip their throats out and feed it to them.”

“Damn…” Corporal Greene announced, gratefully sliding his glass before himself. “So how do I drink this? Quickly? Slowly? Ice, no ice?”

“If you’d like, put a little bit of water in it to get the full taste. If I see you drop ice in there i’ll revoke your scotch.” I explained, picking the glass up by the bottom and cupped it in my hand to gently swirl the liquid around. Lifting the glass up I took a sniff and wallowed in the aromas before lifting it to my lips to take the first taste of my most recent and by far most expensive scotch.

Everyone else glanced at their own glasses before doing the same, Sunset and Bombardier Stakes letting a bit of water drip in from a glass before doing the same. Sitting back with my glass in hand, watching the refractions of light dance on my shirt, I had to smirk a bit as I lost myself in the pleasant flavours and the coughing from everyone else at the table.

“The last time I drank a scotch was when I got home from yours and the Corporal’s funeral.” I announced, looking up at the Sergeant with a dead-set glare. “Now, I don’t know why I drink this.”

“Wow, that’s smooth.” Sunset announced in a roughened voice as she set her glass down back on the table, the other men doing the same with similar reactions. “So then what if we drank to the loss of your other friends in the military? To those still serving and giving their lives at this moment?”

“That works.” I mumbled back, still watching the slowly turning liquid in my glass. Shifting my hand a bit to let the glass catch the light, I mistakenly directed a beam directly into my eye, temporarily blinding myself.

The whoosh of the rocket, the flash of light as the building beneath me exploded. The burst eardrums from the shockwave and the feeling of freefalling.

Then the burning pain of the rebar sticking out of my side. The darkness for eight hours and the immobility of being under collapsed concrete and debris.

The only company I had with me: three dead faces, one of which was my friend and apprentice. The other two who executed him before I brought them down.

Returning to reality with a start, I all but dropped the glass in my hand as my heart rate caught up with me and my breathing grew laboured.

“Captain Mercer?” Sergeant's voice echoed through the back of my mind. “Captain Mercer!” he shouted again, getting further away.

“Hey Cap?” Sunset’s sweet, calming voice sat directly before me and I could smell her nearby. “Hey, Soren?” she asked again, using my first name now. How’d she know that? “Soren, honey, are you okay?” she asked again, her hand on my back soothingly.

All of a sudden a sharp whistle pierced the environment and the room grew silent.

“Come on Soren, let’s get some air.” Sunset suggested helpfully. I launched up from the seat and grabbed the bottle of scotch, clutching it tightly in my hand as I nearly ran from the room, only barely noticing every other patron dead silent and heads facing the center of their tables.

Stepping out into the cold air clutching my bottle of Dalmore I nearly skidded over the snow as I nearly ran to the side of the building and sat down against the wall.

“Hey, hey love, you’re okay now.” Sunset cooed as she knelt down next to me, using my jacket temporarily as a mat. Pulling me into her body, I more or less silently dry-cried -basically crying without the tears- into her body as she wrapped her warm arms around me. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

“I- I don’t know…” I drug up from the depths of myself, unsure what I was trying to enunciate. “I don’t know what happened… How is he alive? I buried him!” I exclaimed, pulling back from her hug to sit against the wall and let the snowflakes rest on my heated face.

“I know, it’s possible that what happened to bring you to Equestria happened to him to bring him here.” Sunset offered, now spinning on her knees to sit with me comfortingly; pulling my arm over her shoulder to cuddle up to me in the cold.

“Per- perhaps.” I said under my breath, still clutching the scotch to my chest. “What the hell was I thinking buying this scotch?”

“I don’t really know.” Sunset chuckled in reply, placing tiny kisses along my trapped arm. “That was quite the expensive purchase for so little gain.”

“I wouldn’t say that, good scotch is hard to come by. Come on, you have to admit it was pretty good.” I replied, tilting back away from Sunset to get a better look at her face.

“I suppose, but I wouldn’t think of paying eleven thousand for a single bottle of it.” the girl under my arm replied, curling up tighter into my body.

“No, I suppose to people who don’t regularly experience scotch would think so. A regular bottle normally goes for forty for a single malt, aged maybe eight to ten years or so. As the age rises, so does the price since so does the quality of the scotch.” I explained, resting my head against the wall behind me.

“So this scotch…” Sunset started, taking the bottle from my hand to look it over, “Is worth eleven thousand dollars because it’s aged fifty years? How does it's quality enhance over the years?”

“Basically when it’s put into the barrels to mature, it takes on the flavour and colour of the wood that it’s contained in. Often times it’ll be put into a cask that previously matured a different alcohol; bourbon, beer or even wine and so over the years it’ll start to take on the flavour of whatever was in before it while maintaining it’s own smokey flavours during the malting process.” I explained, slowly turning the decanter in my girl’s hands.

“I’ll just pretend like I understood half that.” Sunset chuckled, giving me back the bottle and kissing my cheek.

“Fair enough. By the way, how’d you find out my name was-”

“Is he good?” Sergeant asked, appearing around the corner. “Oh, sorry.”

“Seriously? I still can’t say my own name now?” I replied, throwing my hands up in defeat.

“Sorry…” Sergeant disappeared back around the corner again, most likely returning to his friends.

“He told me.” Sunset replied with a chuckle. “So, Captain Soren Mercer. Nice to finally make your acquaintance after all this time together.” Sunset shot out a hand, which I took and kissed the back of.

“Likewise, miss Sunset Shimmer. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I announced gentlemanly.

“A question,” Sunset began, taking back her hand and standing up and dragged me up out of the snow with her.

“An answer.” I replied with a smirk, brushing myself off of snow before helping sunset do the same. Within respectable reason of course.

“What do I call you now? I’ve got your entire name and title now but I’d like to know what you’d prefer to be called.” Sunset inquired, pulling my arm over her shoulder to keep moderately warm under my jacket now hanging off my shoulders.

“Well, for sake of familiarity let’s just stick with Captain in public or with others. I’ve gotten used to people calling me that now so there’s no point in changing it up. Besides, my name just seems rather weird in a world like ours.” I requested, entering into the bar again and noticed all the other patrons back to their usual antics.

“Of course. If you don’t mind though, i’m more likely to use your real name now that I know it.” Sunset replied, giving my trapped arm a gentle squeeze as she came in for a kiss which I returned.

“In private, please. Try your best to keep it from the girls on either side of the portal, just keep things simple.” I replied, retrieving my arm to pull out Sunset’s seat and take my own and placed the Decanter back in the center, the destroyed glass having been cleaned up and a new one on the table for me. I wouldn’t be needing it.

“Sorry to hear about what’s happened to you. Do you wanna talk about it?” Sergeant asked cautiously, the air suggesting unease.

“Nah, I’m good.” I replied as the waitress from before came around to offer me a consolatory drink. “What’s up with the weird treatment here? I hear a whistle and the entire bar is silent and now consolatory drinks? Rye and coke, by the way.” I added the last bit for the benefit of the waitress before she took off again, taking our empty scotch glasses with her.

“With this being a heavily appreciative pub for the military, there’s an unspoken rule that if someone starting having some kind of break down, PTSD or the like, that everyone in the bar shuts up and gives the sufferer space to get out and relieve themselves.” Sergeant explained as my drink appeared a minute later. “The drink is usually just a way of the bar saying, ‘Thank you for your sacrifices and your suffering.’”

“Ahh, that’s pretty cool, I suppose…” I replied, taking a mouthful of the concoction before me and swallowed. “Hey Sunny,” I looked towards the girl in question and she looked back at me with caring eyes. “Thanks for the rescue. Sorry that this couldn’t be the quiet night out with a couple drinks that i’d hoped for.”

“Not to worry about either of those things. I know what it’s like to have gone through some stuff that we’d rather forget.” Sunset smiled and placed a hand on my own. “Plus, we’re at a bar. Not exactly a place to go for quiet and a few drinks.”

“Fair enough. Next time, steak house.” I grinned back making Sunset chuckle to herself, shaking her head lightly. “I’m kidding, hopefully next time we’ll have what you need to get to my place and i’ll grill you and probably Weiss up something nice. You know she’ll want to join.”

“Sounds great. Wanna get out of here?” Sunset offered, looking like she was already eager to go.

“Feels like we just got here ya know, but sure.” I replied, standing up to pull my coat over my heavy leather jacket again and down the remainder of the drink before me.

Pulling a ten from my pocket, I left the note under the glass and bid the other’s good-bye before leading Sunset out with arms linked and Decanter safely in pocket.

“You know, you say it feels like we just got here, but to me it feels like it’s been days since we got here.” Sunset noted, her breath pulsing out in short bursts before her; as was mine.

“Can’t say I share the experience but i’ll take your word for it.” I replied, briefly watching my feet for any patches of ice to trip us up.

“Ehh, regardless. So I have to ask, now that I know your name, why do you think you can’t say it?” Sunset looked at me then back down at our feet to watch our footing.

“I have no idea. If this were some kind of book or fanfic i’m sure it’d be something like I couldn’t think up a good name for me until now.” I replied with a chuckle. Imagine that, our lives being recorded in some book or other online publishing.

“But why now? Why not a couple weeks back or days from now?” Sunset’s questions, I felt, were beginning to reach the borderline philosophical.

“Maybe whatever deities out there messing with me has some plans for me in coming months and figured that letting you find out about my name is just a way of saying, ‘i’m moving on to bigger and better things!’ Honestly, it’s all to spiritual for me.”

“Not a church goer huh?” Sunset smirked as we turned onto her street.

“Nah. Was a Christian way back before I showed up in Equestria but gave it up because I couldn’t see the logic in Religion. What’s the point in pulling all your faith in some invisible hand of God that may or may not exist in the first place?” I explained, holding a hand up to shield my eyes from the evening sun.

“Maybe so that you know there’s something more out there, something bigger than us?” Sunset suggested solemnly.

“I’m not entirely sure I like the idea of some godly figure playing around with my life. I’m not much for submission to someone or something else. Took me forever to get over it in Boot-camp.” I let that sit in the air for a moment in silence before a thought occurred to me. “Are you religious?”

“I wouldn’t say actively, but yeah, I’d say I believe in a higher power.” Sunset replied honestly, looking up and head of us. “This won’t be a problem for us, will it?”

“Nah. I’m no Atheist to actively deny the existence of a higher power. I’m more Agnostic I think, I don’t care if there is. You’re free to believe whatever you want to believe and it’s not for me to say otherwise.” I shrugged back casually. “If anything, i’d be more inclined to put my faith in Princesses Celestia and Luna and their magic.”

“Why?”

“Simple, I don’t have to wonder if they’re real since I can actively chat with them, Luna often hangs out with me in my workshop and I don’t have to worry about them manipulating me.” I explained, coming up to the exterior doors of Sunset’s building. Entering into the warmth had my body react negatively and I all but shucked my coat off in response, almost desperate to be rid of the sudden heat.

“Yeah, the building manager really likes to keep this lobby like a sauna in the winter.” Sunset noted, pulling her own coat off as we approached the lobby elevator. “Frankly, I don’t know how you manage even in that heavy leather jacket of yours.”

“Ehh, it’s really not all that insulating.” I replied in all casualness, hitting the third floor button.

“So when are you heading back to Equestria?” Sunset curled up in herself before cuddling up into me as I rested against the back wall of the elevator car.

“Not yet. Haven’t spent enough time with my wonderful girlfriend yet.” I replied, kissing Sunset’s forehead. “Might see if I can stay the night and head back home tomorrow.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay with me.” Sunset replied with a grin, which quickly turned mischievous. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“If you think it means that we’re getting laid, i’m sorry but not yet.” I replied honestly, making Sunset let out a small groan of frustration. “I’m sorry that you’ve been waiting so long as it is and i’m sorry to make you wait longer, but we’ve both agreed to only go at it when we’re both out for it, right?”

“Right, I know…” Sunset sighed and stepped out of the elevator under my arm, clinging to my chest. “I know how you work and I was expecting a wait after we’d gotten together, but I honestly didn’t think it’d be this long.”

“Neither did I in all honesty. I’d have figured we’d have rutted at least once by now. I suppose I still just need a bit of time to let myself look forward to such things again.” I explained, pulling up at the door with the squeals of female voices behind the door, wrapped up in raucous laughter.

“Oh, before we go in,” Sunset whispered, standing just aside of the door to prevent a shadow. “Let me just say your name one more time, please?”

“I would, but I can hear Pinkie in there. Knowing her and her Pinkie Sense, she’d pick up on it and ruin the whole thing.” I replied with a smirk, making Sunset consider this for a moment.

“Fine, come on in then.” She replied, pushing the door open to receive a faceful of pillow.

“Pillow fight!” the girls inside called as an assault of fluffy white marshmallows flew directly at us.

Throwing a right punch, I knocked the first one out of the air to act as a small shield from the rest before sharing a glance with Sunset.

Stepping inside and setting out coats aside and the decanter gently on the closet shelf for the time being. Sunset had already armed herself with a handful of her pillows and tossed a couple to me to load up on my fist, taking a handful of the material within to act as a sort of boxing glove that I could easily throw.

“Oh, we’re in for it now!” Rarity exclaimed as Sunset and I grinned at our targets. Loading the first punch, I took aim at the two girls I knew could take the hits: Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both girls grinning as madly as I was.

“Fire!” Sunset shouted and I launched the first two rounds, both pillows landing squarely on target to send both girls tumbling backwards off the bed. Sunset’s lighter thrown ammunition sailed across the room and struck Rarity in the stomach as PInkie caught the second in her hands above her head.

“Back up!” I ordered, loading a pillow on my foot. Sunset complied and stepped back out of the reach of my feet as I grinned at Pinkie whose eyes were quickly becoming wide. “Catch this!” I challenged as I kicked the pillow up into the air to give it a swift spinning heel-kick across the room.

The pillow was all but snatched out of the air with a loud smack as Rainbow Dash recovered for her friend and stuck a hand in the way, still picking herself off the ground.

“Dang, that one had some power!” Dash exclaimed, dropping the pillow to cradle her stinging hand. “Revenge!” she shouted as I briefly sensed motion behind me, the origin being a very confident looking Fluttershy swinging a pillow towards my back. I took the hit like a man, grin and all as I was sent forward, landing in a shoulder roll and landed on my back.

“I got him! I did it!” Fluttershy exclaimed as the remaining girls all piled on top of me with Sunset leading the charge. “If that okay with you I mean.” Fluttershy added as she stood at my head.

“It’s fine. A solid hit, well done madam.” I replied as I tried to wiggle out from under the bodies to no avail. Fluttershy grinned as she gingerly laid down on whoever was on top as sunset wiggled around on top of me to get onto my side next to me and curl up as best she could.

“Well this is cozy.” Pinkie announced, looking down at me from behind Applejack and Rarity who were now directly on top of me.

“Ah’ve gotta say, and ah’m sorry Sunset, but even with all us girls on top of him, ah can’t detect any sort of reaction for you.” Applejack announced, her knee moving around trying to find something that wasn’t there.

“Thanks for that AJ, but you and Rarity both are currently preventing that by crushing my balls!” I protested with an increasing groan. “Please move your knee!”

“Oops, my apologies about that darling. Was not my intention to cause you distress.” Rarity replied, trying to move her leg out from my crotch as Applejack fought to do the same.

“Well, at least I can be comforted by the fact that you wouldn’t become aroused being in or under a pile of beautiful young women.” Sunset whispered into my ear. “At the same time, it makes me wonder what it does take.”

“Hey, you can find that out on your own time.” Dash announced from behind Pinkie rather put off by the idea.

“I don’t mind!” Pinkie exclaimed as she fought to get up from under the prismatic head.

“I’ll just leave it between you two.” Fluttershy added, getting back up to sit on the bed as Dash joined her; followed by Pinkie then rarity and finally Applejack, my testicles now given peace.

“We’ll find out eventually I suspect.” I replied, forcing myself to sit up with a groan and assistance from Sunset. “Can we start over? Hi girls, good to see you all again!” I exclaimed, resisting the urge to try and massage feeling into my crotch.

“Hi Captain!” the girls all shouted back in unison, plus a bit of sing-song addition from Rarity. “Sorry about the, uhm… Crushing!”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” I gasped out, rolling onto my side. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Not to much actually, we’d called for pizza a while back so it should arrive any time now.” Rainbow shrugged, sitting back on the bed with her blue belly revealed when her shirt pulled up just a tad. “Have you eaten or are you all good?”

“Nope, not eaten much and only drank a bit.” Sunset replied, sitting up next to me with both arms resting on her knees.

“What is this?” Pinkie asked, pulling down the decanter from the closet. “I saw you hide this away before your assault on us.”

“That is a Dalmore 50 Year Old Decanter, worth eleven thousand. Please be careful and don’t spill any.” I replied, making the girls’ mouths all hang open as Pinkie very carefully set the bottle down on the counter, against the back wall where it would be safest.

“Wow, I never thought i’d see such a bottle of fine scotch so close!” Rainbow announced, getting up to inspect the container. “Nevermind be able to actually touch it!”

“You know your scotches?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Certainly. My parents are government contractors so they get paid some good money. We’ve had some pretty good stuff in the house but never this old or this valuable!” she exclaimed, turning the bottle in her hands before pulling the topper on it to take a sniff. “Ohh wow!”

“Wanna try some?” I offered, standing up to pull a pair of short glasses from Sunset’s cabinet and pour a small bit for myself and Rainbow Dash.

“Seriously? Holy crap you’re awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, taking the glass from me before clinking them together in a silent toast to nothing in particular.

Taking a sip had Rainbow nearly fumble the glass in reaction before she took another and another till there was nothing left.

“Damn that’s good!” she proclaimed, setting the glass down as I rested against the counter enjoying the flavours again.

“Anyone else?” I asked, hesitating to pour another if no one was going to drink it.

“Would you take responsibility for underaged drinking?” Rarity inquired interestedly, tilting her hip slightly with a hand resting on it.

“We’re not in public and you’ve got Sunset and I of legal age, I have no problem with it.” I replied, pouring another fifth for the girl as I took a sip of my own again.

“Ahh shoot, ah’ll have a go if you’re offerin’. Might as well find out what eleven thousand dollar tastes like.” Applejack replied, stepping up to the group as Rarity had her first taste of 50 year old scotch.

“Ooh, me too!” Pinkie exclaimed as I finished my glass and poured one for her.

“If you don’t mind?” Fluttershy anxiously put up a finger and received a confirmatory nod as Rarity’s eyes expanded with her mind. Pinkie must not have tasted it as it all went down in one so I could pour yet another for A.J while Rarity passed the drink to Fluttershy.

“It’ll burn like nothing before the first time around so be aware.” I warned as Fluttershy graciously took a sip and nearly choked alongside Applejack, both girls denying further tastes.

“Wow, that is strong!” Applejack pressed a hand to her chest in protest, trying to rub a bit of relief into her body.

“Yeah, it really is.” I replied, stopping the bottle to set it aside and finish the drinks myself. “I typically would only drink scotch after a friend had fallen in battle.” I explained, denying myself the reminiscing which would undoubtedly lead to another episode today.

“So who are we drinking to this time?” Rainbow asked from her seated position on the bed next to Fluttershy and Rarity.

“No one. You all wanted to try it so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.” I replied with a shrug. My bottle had become increasingly light but I suppose that’s what happens when you drink so much of it in one day.

“Well, I still think it’s very respectable that you drink something like that with a purpose.” Dash nodded her approval, as everyone else gave various other forms of theirs.

“Who wants to watch a movie?” suggested Pinkie, already picking through a bunch of titles.

“Way to kill the mood, Pinkie Pie.” Sunset smirked bemusedly as she joined everyone in looking for a title.

Author's Note

Woo! We're back in action!

I have nothing much else to say but to explain the short hiatus if no one was aware and cares. Long story short, I had a number of side projects I had to get done as I was writing this Chapter. Then I was down fighting the flu which sucked since it interrupted my side projects... But now I'm back up and healthy, everything's caught up and I have finished this chapter.

Those who are wondering, the name thing will likely continue in Equestria while only Sunny knows his true name. I'm going to try and aim for another little gimmick for this Slice/Arc and I have no idea what it'll be at the moment.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this, and as always, if anyone has any editorial suggestions i may have missed, feel free to let me know about them.

alqış!

So, how was your day?

“So? How was the date?” Luna asked with wide eyes and an even wider smile, perched on my bed as I found a place to store my scotch. Last night’s events were rather uneventful; a couple movies, pizza and eventually everyone fell asleep. Woke up the next day and half the girls had already left before I headed out myself.

“It was…” I gave the bottle a turn so the decal faced outwards. “Eventful.”

“Eventful how?” Weiss looked up from playing with Luna’s mane next to the princess.

“Turns out that someone who I thought was dead wasn’t which triggered an attack.” I explained, spinning on my heels to lean against the dresser and address my inhuman best friends. “Also turns out that the bar we went to has a policy of allowing a soldier suffering from PTSD to escape the building in silence and all attention off them.”

“Sounds like quite a night.” Weiss went back to raking her claws through the mane in her hands, swirling the galaxy-like highlights around into new formations.

“Did you kiss her?” Luna inquired with a starry look in her eyes.

“Uh, yeah? I always do?” I replied with a curious look. What was she getting at?

“Tell us about it?” Luna requested, rolling onto her side in a daze.

“Why?” I took a seat on my bed near to her, crossing my legs on the corner as I tempted fate to toss me off the edge.

“It’s a girl thing, we like to know these things.” Weiss explained as she rested against Luna’s belly.

“Right. I kissed her.” I announced, making Luna glare at me.

“Details! What was it like? Was it romantic? Was it a gentle peck or a full-on passionate burn? Was there gazing into the eyes or was it a quick, sudden and random event? Was there tongue?” Luna demanded, her head rising back up to request such details.

“Hey, you girls can talk about stuff like that all you want. Us guys don’t really converse about things like that. We don’t care.” I crossed my arms defiantly over my chest, turning away to add to my point.

“Must’ve been a quick peck or something.” Weiss mumbled to the Princess, both girls giggling at the thought. I shrugged and stood from the bedside to head into the workshop.

“Oh come on, we meant nothing by it!” Luna insisted, crawling off the bed to catch up to me with a grin. “We’re just curious about what happened!”

“Well, if you absolutely must know, the guy who was supposed to be dead but wasn’t knows my name.” I announced, earning the interest of both dragonling and Princess. “He was the first one to successfully call me by my name.” both jaws dropped to the floor at this news and it took them a second to pick them up once more.

“What is it?” Luna almost demanded of me, getting right up and close to me.

“Still can’t say it myself apparently…” I informed the mare, hesitating to put on my toolbelt given I had a history of immediately finding something else to do.

“Does anyone else know it or does just the guy?” Weiss asked, clamoring up onto Luna’s back via right wing.

“Sunset knows my full name but i’ve requested that she be sworn to secrecy for it.” I shrugged back with a bemused grin, turning to a kitchen table project with some tools in hand.

“I must find out!” Luna exclaimed, tearing out of the room to grab my book and try to write a letter to Sunny. “Dang-it, Tia! Why’d you have to enchant this to only be writable by him?” she cursed, the sound of my book hitting the desktop again.

“Generally speaking of Sunset, have you or your sister managed to find out the spell the mirror uses to turn humans into ponies when coming back here?” I asked, trying my best to get off the current subject of my name. Still, why can I not say the name Soren Mercer? It doesn’t make sense to me that I can’t…

“Actually…” Luna replied with a mischievous grin. “We have. We deciphered the spell late last night while you were over.” This had me raise an eyebrow and nearly, nearly chip a blade on my hand planer.

“So Sunset can come over and someone can turn her back to human?” I asked hopefully, setting down my tools to face Luna.

“Actually, it would affect the mirror itself. Anything going through wouldn’t be changed at all, coming or going.” Luna replied, sitting back against the wall. “It would also be a permanent change.”

“So? Let’s do it!” I exclaimed eagerly, standing to get myself ready to head back over with the good news.

“Let me discuss this with Twilight Sparkle first, since she’d be unable to turn human if she were ever to try and go back over. This would mostly prevent her from being able to go back ever again if she doesn't want to run around Anestria with wings and a horn.” Luna explained with a slightly somber tone. So at it’s base it would be a choice between Sunset being able to come over here or for Twilight never able to see her friend again. Dammit.

“Sounds fair to me, but I’m still curious about why the spell couldn’t just be used on Sunset when she comes over instead of casting it on the mirror itself.” I asked, stopping to lean against the stone surface of a wall in the main foyer.

“Well, this is just what my sister tells me. Since we haven’t used the spell yet, we have no idea what’s possible and what isn’t but Tia is quite certain that it can only be used on the portal itself.” Luna explained, joining me as we exited the dungeons and ascended towards the surface.

“So if we had Sunset come back over as a unicorn and we tried the spell on her?” Weiss suggested as she finally caught up and latched onto the back of my coat.

“I suppose we could try that. Would you like to discuss this with Sunset before we get much further?” Luna stopped on a stair and turned back to me.

“She’ll be in class at the moment for another couple hours. We have time for other things. For now anyways.” I shrugged as I took an approximation of the time; middle of the morning, a couple hours before lunch.

Stepping out past the door, I was greeted face to frozen face with winter covering the gardens and castle beyond. Winter had arrived while I slept.

“Wow, that was quick.” I announced, already turning back inside to grab my coat and probably write Sunset a quick update while I was down there.

“Oh, right. Should have mentioned the pegasi were busy last night after you got home.” Weiss replied not-so-helpfully from my back.

“Yeah, thanks for the warning smart-ass.” I smirked and stepped into my bedroom to pull my coat on over me once Weiss had removed herself.

“You’re welcome!” Weiss grinned before climbing up into my hood to lounge. “I like this seating arrangement!” she announced, getting comfortable.

“So then what happens when I pull my hood up?” I asked, turning back towards the stairs out.

“Then I suppose you’ll have an adorable baby dragon sitting on your head.” Weiss shrugged back, I think. It’s kind of hard to tell since she’s directly behind me.

Now, what was it I was aiming to do outside?

With a shrug to myself I reascended the stairs up and out with Weiss riding in my hood and rejoined the princess. To our distant left marched a progression of griffons surrounded by their guards and other waiting staff.

“What’s goin’ on with that?” I asked as the two of us larger creatures entered into the castle, though I was aiming for the kitchen for some breakfast.

“Peace talks with the Griffon nations. You may not be aware but we’ve had some problem with them in the past and we’re aiming to resolve them before something bad happens.” Luna explained, watching the progression with me as we entered into a section of the castle not cordoned off by security.

“Ahh. Well then good luck to Celestia then.” I announced as we entered into the kitchen we’d often use for food acquisition. As soon as we crossed the hallway/kitchen threshold Weiss launched herself out of my hood and took to the fridge to find something to eat; staff had already cleaned up from when the Princesses had eaten. Since I myself wasn’t royalty, they felt that it wasn’t necessary to provide food for me and Weiss if we hadn’t joined Luna for the morning buffet.

“So, out of morbid curiosity, what would happen if talks between Celestia and the Griffon delegation were to break down? Just what kind of bad are we talking about?” I inquired as I pulled a couple eggs out to turn them into some kind of breakfast burger with a prime rib steak as a patty. The rest of the fixings i’d deal with when the egg and meat was nearly done.

“Worst case, war.” Luna replied simply, taking a seat at the table to lounge against it as Weiss resorted to a raw mutton steak.

“Ooh, yeah that’s pretty bad.” I replied, my mind traveling back to the alternate world i’d seen and died in. “Do they know about me and my military abilities?”

“No, Celestia has explicitly kept you a secret from the Griffons; just in case something does happen.” Luna shook her head as I dropped the steak in a hot pan to get cooking as I turned to dealing with the eggs. “We both would very much appreciate it if you would come to our aid, in the event of war breaking out.”

“Of course. I’ve already got some ideas for what you and I can do to fortify the Guard and i’ve got a few more plans for the three of us if we were to fight together.” I nodded back, looking over my shoulder at the princess of the night and my baby dragon.

“You wish to for to fight alongside you?” Luna looked at me in astonishment, followed by a look of great appreciation. “I would be honoured!”

“What exactly would you do with having me fight with you?” Weiss asked once she’d cleared her mouth of raw meat and blood.

“I’ve got some ideas, don’t worry.” I replied with a smirk.

“Better not turn me into some kind of pack mule to carry everything.” Weiss grumbled before ripping off another mouthful.

“Nah, we’ll all be carrying all our own equipment. No one’s pack muling anything.” I replied assuringly as I flipped the steak over and peppered the first side in spices. “Besides; Luna would refuse to, Weiss wouldn’t be strong enough to carry everything and I’d-”

“Shh!” Luna suddenly cut me off, her ears flicking in different directions. “I hear something!” She quickly moved from her seat and grabbed Weiss and I in her magic, dragging us away from the doorway and towards a walk-in fridge.

Standing just inside the ajar door, I watched the kitchen for anything out of the ordinary, listening intently to focus out the humming of the magical cooling stones behind us.

“I don’t-” Weiss began in a whisper, however both Luna and I shushed her with a finger to my lips and a hoof over her face altogether.

The faint sound of clicking claws on the stone surface suggested something with claws approaching quickly. Considering that Weiss was the only thing to be running around with claws, this was abnormal.

Pulling a stone from my pouch, I handed it to Weiss who looked at it a moment before her eyes went wide in understanding. She quickly climbed up Luna’s wing and onto her back, placing her hand against the back of Luna’s head as I took her claw with the stone in it.

Luna shut her eyes as her horn began to glow faintly, making me need to close the door as much as I could without locking us in as I too closed my eyes and began to imagine a Benelli M4 shotgun in black with a shotgun shell pouch strapped to my arm and the butt of the gun with the extra red shells loaded into the gun tube and both pouches.

“I don’t really like the look of this one!” Luna whispered over the effort of turning it into a tangible item.

“Sorry, but it may be necessary.” I replied in an equal whisper as I felt magic swirling around above my open, outstretched hand. A minute later of magic and the new shotgun dropped into my hand, the feel of the foregrip preventing it from sliding out of my hand again as I released Weiss’s hand and pulled an extra shell from my arm pouch and loaded it into the gun’s firing chamber.

“In here!” a harsh male voice ordered as a trio of rather large, armoured griffons entered into the kitchen with melee weapons drawn. “Look, there’s gotta be someone in here, someone who eats meat!” on invader noted as he caught a whiff of my steak.

“This can’t be good for peace talks, can it?” I not to much as whispered as I did simply mouth it to Luna who shook her head once she’d understood me.

“Find her and bring her to me alive! We need Princess Luna alive if we’re to have any hopes of gaining the upper hand!” the leader ordered, making everyone in the fridge raise an eyebrow. Luna stepped back a bit and let me take up a defending position before her with Weiss right behind me.

“Sir, looks like their refrigerator is open, maybe she’s in there!” one of the griffons announced, having taken notice of the cool steam wafting out through the tiny crack in the door.

Well, this’ll be fun! I thought as I stepped back and took aim at the door.

“Anyone who’s in there, step out now with your weapons on the floor behind you!” the leader griffon ordered, pulling a rather large blade reminiscent of a scimitar from it’s scabbard and aimed it at the door; at me. “Open it!” he ordered the nearest bird-thing.

As soon as the creature was within range, I gave a heavy thrust-kick at the door and sent it flying outwards and into the beak of the griffon unfortunate enough to be caught by surprise.

Taking immediate aim at the second griffon, not the leader but the one who was foolish enough to rush me with his blade, I pulled the trigger and sent about nine pellets of buckshot into the chest of the beast, easily piercing his armour to cause his chest to nearly explode from the surprise impact.

Griffons, apparently, are very hefty beasts.

Firing three more rounds into the beast finally fell the attacker as the one with the crushed beak backtracked away from me with a squawk before it figured I could hit it. Frankly, I was still in range.

“Retreat! It’s using some sort of offensive magic!” the leader ordered as I took aim at him and fired into his front leg, crippling him with the second round. “Gah! Get away from here! Do not be taken down! Report back to the Lieutenant!” he ordered as I fired my final round into the back leg of the fleeing griffon before being forced to reload.

“Now,” I began, racking up a round and loaded in the seventh and final. “Shall we have a chat?”

“Screw you, ape!” he hissed back before spitting on my torso. I shrugged an eyebrow and fired three rounds into his other front leg, putting him on the floor in a pool of his own slowly leaking blood. “Fuck!” he cursed as Luna took off with Weiss after the injured griffon trying to make it’s escape with a handful of guards who’d come to our aid upon hearing the first gunshot.

“Not what I asked.” I replied, crouching down to look the griffon in the eye. “Shall we have a chat? Why’re you here and what do you want with Luna?”

“I’ll never talk!” his hissed back, glaring at me with his best “mean look.”

“Uh huh. We’ll see.” I replied with a sadistic grin. “By the way, i’m not an ape.” I added before cracking the butt of the gun over his head, knocking him unconscious. Turning to a quad of guards who’d stayed behind, “Take this piece of shit down to the sub-dungeons and string him up by his injured claws. Don’t let his feet touch the ground.” I instructed, racking in another round just in case.

“Yes sir!” the guards replied sternly before working together to lift the large griffon from the ground and carry him down past my home.

“If he wakes up, do whatever you have to to knock him back out again. Keep him alive!” I instructed, tearing out of the kitchen after the trail of blood.

~*~*~*~

“Ambassador, I’m sorry but I fail to see how we’ve neglected the treaties!” Celestia sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hoof. These talks were going nowhere. “We’ve done everything outlined, by you, without question!”

“Bah! I know you’ve been holding out on us! We’ve gotten reports that you’ve been harbouring advanced technology from us!” the griffon ambassador replied adamantly, slamming his fisted claw on the table.

A swirl of mist floated in from outside the doors to the throne room and approached Celestia before anti-burning a scroll.

“Please excuse me, this may be important.” Celestia requested, taking hold of the scroll in her bright yellow magical aura and unrolled it. Her eyes traced over the words in silence, her face firm and unwavering. “I see.”

“What?” the ambassador sat back and crossed his claws over his chest in disinterest.

“Guards, please detain every griffon in this room and make sure to grab the one coming through the door in a minute!” Celestia announced, the guard following their orders quickly and fluidly; the unicorns applied motion restrictive spells on the bird long enough for the pegasi and earth ponies to shackle them all in wrought iron chains.

“What is the meaning of this! Release me at once!” the ambassador demanded as the Guards fought to detain his significantly larger build than the other staff members behind him.

“My sister tells me that she had just been assaulted by three of your staff in our kitchen. She has defended herself and is now in chase with a survivor. They should be reaching the throne room-” Celestia’s calm voice was interrupted by the doors being flung open by a griffon favouring one of it’s back legs. “Now.”

“Sir, mission failed! They’ve got some kind of ape thing with an unknown weapon! Diven is dead and I don’t know what’s happened to Jafar!” he spilled as Luna skidding into the room with a flaring horn and wings spread wide in fury. “Help me!” he squawked as the Guards suddenly appeared on him, pressing him to the ground with their bodies to restrain him before shackles appeared on his claws and paws.

“So, I see you’ve had an eventful morning sister.” Celestia completely ignored the griffon prisoners as she stood from her seat and approached her younger. “Are you injured?”

“No sister, I was saved by a mutual friend.” Luna replied, calming down and returning to propriety. “Weiss and I heard them coming down the hallway and hid in the kitchen walk-in. We caught them surprised and defended ourself. Regrettably this one is the only survivor.” Luna announced, glaring at the injured creature next to her. “How was your chat?”

“You know, I had a feeling that they were stalling. They kept beating around the brush and wouldn’t stay on topic; unless it was about Equestria not keeping our end of the treaties.” Celestia replied with a smirk, looking back over her shoulder at the enraged ambassador.

“What will you do with them now? We cannot hold them lest we anger the Griffon King.” Luna inquired, sitting back on her haunches; as did her older sister.

“We will release them back to the Griffon nation of course. We cannot hold a group of emissaries if they themselves have done nothing wrong. The injured one, we will keep here and tend to his leg before we speak to the Griffon King about his trial.” Celestia decided sternly, her gaze shifting to each party as she spoke.

“This is an outrage! How dare she even suggest that we’d attack her! She has no proof! How do we know she didn’t just injure one of my guards on her own?” the ambassador shouted as he fought with his chains.

“I was there, I saw it all!” Weiss exclaimed, hopping down from her mostly hidden position on Luna’s back. “Everything the Princess said is true!”

“Preposterous! That dragonling has been coerced to make such claims! I will have her head for such blasphemy! The King will hear about this!” he threatened, looking back at Celestia now.

“Oh most certainly he will.” Celestia replied in a casual calm while a steward pony brought forth a rolling desk made by Captain as a thank-you with proper stationary utop it’s Northern Equestrian red-wood. “I intend to send a letter explaining the situation immediately.” she added, dipping a dry quill into an inkpot before scratching out a letter.

“Wha- There is no way the King would take your word, the word of a Pony Princess over the word of his most trusted ambassador!” the griffon announced with a cheeky grin, adding extra spite to the title.

“Probably, which is why this letter is going to the Equestrian Emissaries in your own kingdom.” Celestia looked up from rolling the parchment and applied her royal seal in wax to seal it shut before letting it burn and float off out a nearby window. “Now, I’d like for the guard to take the injured to the infirmary and get them patched up while the rest escorts the healthy from the country to be released.” Celestia ordered, earning salutes from everypony in armour.

“Shall I have our mutual friend join us once everyone is gone?” Luna asked of her sister, to which Celestia nodded.

“This isn’t the end of this!” The ambassador shouted as he was escorted from the room in chains.

“No, I suspect it won’t be.” Celestia agreed solemnly.

***

“Well, that was interesting.” I noted as I stepped up to the sisters from behind my hiding place at the doors to the throne room, shotgun resting against my chest with the safety on.

“I wish for the body to be disposed of quickly. The prisoner i’ll leave up to you.” Celestia requested, turning to greet me. Her letter had been given a bit of extra information opposed to Luna’s explanation when i’d finally caught up to them and suggested we write Celestia a letter before the events that had transpired was misconstrued by the fleeing bird.

“Excellent, thank you. I’ll get everything I can out of him.” I nodded back with a grin, already mentally going through everything I would try on the Griffon, see what would make him break.

“I would appreciate a quick delivery of the information, but please, leave out the details how you got them.” Celestia looked at me bemusedly before walking off alone.

“So, what are you going to do to him?” Luna asked in whispers.

“It would be best if you didn’t know.” I replied calmly. “Let’s just say i’m going to get to know Griffon biology quite well while he’s alive.”

“Right.” Luna shot up and all but avoided the conversation. “I’m going to go deal with your burning breakfast!”

“Oh shit that’s right!” I groaned, only now remembering the steak and eggs that would almost certainly have been set on fire by now. “Dammit I was so busy with all of this that I forgot all about breakfast!”

“Well, then why don’t you go start over?” Weiss suggested, climbing up onto my back and into my hood, the front of the coat having been left open.

“I’m going to have too. Don’t really wanna get exploratory with a griffon on an empty stomach.” I replied, scratching my grumbling belly.

“If you don’t mind, i’ve got to assist my sister with recovering from this attack.” Luna requested before turning and walking off after her sister.

~~~

“So, Jafar,” I began, sitting down on a stool in the depths of the prison where actual prisoners were kept. I had a doctor pony bring me a set of medical tools, everything from scalpels to bone saws and cleavers. Next to those sat a variety of liquids and other various objects I could use. “Would you like to save yourself some invasive probing?”

“Fuck you!” Jaraf hissed as he hung from the wall by his crippled forelegs, his wings restrained and physically bolted to the wall between the bone and tendon. “You’ve got nothing you can do to me that’ll make me talk!”

“Alright, then it’s time to get experimental!” I exclaimed with a grin, taking hold of a cork screw. “I wanna know, is a griffon’s claws tougher than a dragon’s?”

“I guess you’ll never find out!” the griffon retorted before I stood and approached his left claw, the plumage and skin having been peeled back while he hung.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I replied, jabbing the screw into the palm of his talons and dig it in, making the beast hiss out in response. Fortunately for me a wooden beam sat directly behind both hands, which meant that the corkscrew was able to dig all the way through and into the wood to hold the claw still before I reached for my next tool, a cigar cutter. “Still got nothing to say?” I asked, pushing the blades back and slipped it over the first talon, just too where it met with flesh.

“Nope! Fucking do it!” he dared with a sure grin. I shrugged and expanded my fingers, the blades slicing through the meat easily to let the claw drop into my waiting hand. Of course, the Griffon howled out in pain.

“One down, nine more to go?” I asked, looking back at the griffon for any sign of change.

“Best- “he paused to suck in a laboured breath. “Get to it then!”

“By all means, that was the idea!” I grinned back and proceeded to chop off the next two talons with meat still barely attached. “Let me ask something benign, does your country have oranges, lemons or anything like that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” my prisoner remarked, still breathing heavily.

“I would, yes. If you have, have you ever cut yourself before handling such a fruit? Ever felt that burn of the acids on open flesh?” I stepped back to my tray of equipment and selected a large bowie knife-like instrument.

“Sure, what about it?” the griffon eyed me over cautiously as I doused the blade in a clear liquid over the stone. As the drips hit the stone surface, an intense smoke began to rise from the splashes as the surface began to hiss.

“This’ll be so much more worse than that.” I explained as I ran the sharp edge over the forearm of the bird, making it hiss and sizzle like the stone as the Griffon cried out. “See, this is something called hydrochloric acid. It’s essentially stomach acid that your body uses to breakdown food and anything else you may ingest. Means it works wonders on meat if the piece is small enough.” I explained as the wound immediately began to cauterize from the acid before I wiped it off with a cloth doused in a base.

“So? Just means you can’t do anything severe to me with it!” he groaned from the burn.

“No, it means that I can douse your injured fingers in it, just enough that it only affects the damage.” I replied with a grin, holding a smaller bottle of the acid upside down to let a single drop his the bare flesh i’d cut only moments later.

More smoke and hissing had the Griffon screaming out in pain before I stepped back and set everything down.

“So tell me Jafar, what did you want with Princess Luna?” I asked as I sat back down on the stool and crossed my leg.

“None of your fucking business! The Griffon King will have your head when he hears about this!” he cursed spitefully.

“That’ll be impressive, since all of your griffon friends think you’re dead. The King thinks you’re dead, the Ambassador thinks you're dead. You’ve got nothing to rely on now, you're nothing but a sack of meat for me and Weiss to chew on for breakfast!” I grinned sadistically, making the bottom lip of the bird quiver for a second. Finally, progress!

“Impossible! They’ll know i’m alive! I am their best combatant and they know it! They’ll mount a rescue for me!” Jafar insisted as I selected a simple tiny scalpel.

“If anything, they’ll mount a rescue for your body. Like I said, they were told you had been killed when Luna fought back against all three of you.” I explained again as I approached the bird’s face with the sharp blade. “Now hold still, I wanna see what the difference is between the skin under your feathers and the skin under your fur.”

Author's Note

Hehehe, this may turn dark for many viewers, just sayin'.

If enough people, or the right people, start telling me I need to upgrade the rating to mature for a certain scene, then fine.

চিয়ার্স

There's nothing like a calming afternoon, is there?

“So how was the interrogation?” Weiss asked, sat next to me at the table with a mouthful of steak.

“Informative. They were going to use Luna as a bargaining chip to have Equestria turn me over to the griffons to be experimented on, provide advanced technology and what not.” I replied, my mind wandering back to the scene of a skinned griffon spilling his guts out. Both verbally and literally. Taking a bit of the steak on my fork, I noted that this particular meat needed a bit more seasoning.

“Really? They wanted to use Princess Luna to get you? Why not just abduct you in the beginning?” Weiss bit down on her fork again, quite content with her meal.

“Apparently they figured they’d have a better chance doing it this way. They knew nothing about me, my combat capabilities or the like. They still knew Luna as being the smaller, defenseless alicorn sister from a few years back when she first appeared after her banishment so they figured she’d be easy to subjugate and pony-nap.” I explained as I cut into the steak before me and matched it to some mashed potatoes.

The afternoon had come and gone while I was busy… interrogating the prisoner. I’d completely missed the lunch rush and as such had worked up quite the appetite working with all that bird/lion thing. After i’d cleaned up and properly prepared the prisoner for the next few weeks, I’d come up for air and some food and found Weiss already in the process of cooking something simple.

“So, then what exactly are we eating?” Weiss looked down at her plate. “It’s really good! Tastes so fresh!”

“It should, I got it today.” I replied with a cheeky grin, taking another bite as Weiss processed this information.

“But, you’ve been working with the griffon… all… day…” Weiss slowly boarded the train before she looked down at the steak before her. “Is this…”

“Weiss, meet Jafar. Jafar, meet Weiss’s stomach.” I introduced the dragonling to her dinner, and her dinner to Weiss as I took another bite. “Personally, I think it could use some hickory barbeque sauce.

“So what’d you do with the rest of the body?” Weiss looked up at me slightly green in the face.

“I’ll not answer that until after you’ve finished eating or vomited.” I replied calmly, washing down the steak with a mouthful of tea.

“Right, yeah you do that.” Weiss replied, taking a mouthful of my tea as well. The lack of colour returned to her face and quickly she chomped down on the remainder of the steak altogether.

As soon as Weiss had finished her steak and had cleared out her mouth and was working on picking out her teeth, “So I’m gonna let Jafar sit in the prison overnight, let the cold get at him and see what else I can get out of him sometime tomorrow or the day after.”

“Hold on…” Weiss raised a fingered claw in concern. “Is he still alive down there?” she demanded just as I finished up my own plate and dropped both of ours into a nearby sink.

“I’m gonna go give Sunset the great news that we should be able to get her over here and keep her human.” I announced with a cheeky grin, picking at my teeth with a toothpick and all but completely ignoring the question in the air. “Please tell Celestia or Luna that i’m going to bring Sunset back to Equestria.”

“Uhh, yeah… right.” Weiss mumbled in concern as I returned to the dungeon to get ready for the trip. “Sure, just completely ignore my question.” I heard her mumble as she walked off down the hallway, her tiny claws clicking on the tile.

Speaking of claws, I’m kind of curious if Dragon’s Breath would do anything to those griffon claws I’ve got now. Wonder if it’d be possible to somehow enhance myself with them. I wondered to myself as I descended the stairs into my home and place of work, fingering the claws in my pocket i’d cleaned up after acquisition.

Zipping my coat up proper, I swung a leg over the bike and let the sound of the engine drown out the weak crying from the butchered griffon.

“Yeah yeah, keep crying! I thought you were supposed to be a bigshot! Not so tough when you’re missing all your meat, now are you?” I called out down the darkening hallway.

“M- mon- monster!” came the reply. I had to give him that: it was rather monstrous of me to carve him up while he was still alive, even after cutting off his claws, plucked his top half and skinned him alive for his lion half, drizzled acids over his bare body and broke his beak off. Honestly, had I not stopped for sustenance i’d have taken his wings off entirely instead of just pluck off each feather.

“That should also serve as a warning to any other prisoner down there who hasn’t already vomited or figured out that fucking with me or the Princesses is a bad idea!” I shouted back before gliding out of the garage and up the stairs into the winter wonderland of Canterlot Gardens.

“Captain, wait!” Luna called from above me, her voice booming out over the sound of the engine. I slowed to a crawl to let the Princess land next to me and trot alongside as we continued our ride to Ponyville. “I shall accompany you to Ponyville and will administer the spell.”

“Thank you, Princess. I appreciate that. Care to ride with me?” I asked, scooting forward enough that Luna could theoretically fit behind me. It’d be close but I had no doubts that we could both fit on the seat.

“Would it work? I’m probably as heavy as your vehicle you know?” Luna looked at my bike with unease.

“Suspension should be able to deal with it.” I shrugged back and made as much room as I could. “Just sit on your backside like I do, try to keep your legs down behind mine and wrap your forehooves over my shoulder to hang on.” I instructed. All of a sudden a pair of dark blue hooves appeared around my neck and a horse’s body pressed itself into my back. “Comfort-” I began, slowly accelerating.

“Shh, just let me enjoy this.” Luna whispered into my ear as she hugged herself to me tighter.

“Please don’t make this weird, especially when Sunset’s here.” I requested as we pulled away, the studded tires throwing up snow and traces of dirt.

“Of course not, which is why I ask that you let me enjoy this now while I can.” Luna giggled as we pulled out of Canterlot altogether and aimed down the tracks.

The drive to Ponyville was spent in silence, however the nearly constant nuzzling from Luna was putting me in a rather uncomfortable position. At this rate biology would catch up- and there it goes. Dammit.

~~~

Pulling up to the castle and parking near to the main doors, I all but nearly kicked Luna as I sprung from the seat from her grasp to adjust myself as privately as I could given the environment.

Turning back to Luna as she hopped down from the bike with a grin, I rolled my eyes and killed the engine and pulled the key, dropping them into my pocket before the two of us turned back towards the castle entrance. Walking the bike up the stairs, Luna pulled the doors open with Twilight to greet us upon our noisey arrival.

“Back so soon?” Twilight smirked as I walked past her with my bike next to me.

“Yep.” I replied simply. “Had an interesting day though, what about you?”

“Oh i’ve actually been chatting with Sunset recently. She filled me in on your visit since no one would do that for me.” Twilight glared at the Princess and I. “You do realise that if this works out that you have to use the spell on the mirror instead of on Sunset herself, i’ll never be able to go back over to see them?”

“Them being the human versions of your friends here? Sunset will be able to come and go as she pleases so she can come visit you here for a change.” I replied with a roll of the eyes as we walked. “Heck, we may even be able to swing it so that as long as they remain here in your castle, something i’m sure Rarity would adore, they may all be able to come over!” I suggested with a smirk. Twilight paused for a moment, actually considering it for a while before shaking her head clear and rejoining our progression into the library.

“No, while I’m sure Rarity would have a great time roaming my castle, I cannot let them accidentally affect our world any more than you already have!” Twilight shouted back accusingly. I pressed a hand to my chest for a moment in mock insult.

“Madam, you insult me! I have never-” I began to say in my defense. Twilight held a wing tip up to my face, shushing me rather effectively.

“I’m already aware of how the griffon emissary has been dealt with. Princess Celestia told me in a letter.” Twilight glared at me. “She also went on to tell me, from Luna mind you, how you had to resort to human weaponry in order to defeat the attackers.”

“Then you’re also aware that they were attacking us to get Luna so they would trade her for me, aiming to enslave me and force me to create even more weapons that would be used against Equestria in a war that would annihilate all pony-kind? Not to mention what they would do if they found this mirror?” I retorted as we entered into the library and approached the portal with the bike at my side.

“He does have a point…” Luna added pointedly, lifting a hoof to add to the stalemate.

“I- I know!” Twilight tch’d to herself as I remounted my bike. “Fine! Let’s just start with getting Sunset back on this side to try the spell. On her first!” Twilight ordered as I fired up the engine and ripped through the portal.

~~~

Yeah, thank you studded tires! I thought as I rolled over a patch of solid ice. The studs did as designed and dug directly into the ice, as well as Rarity’s backpack.

“Nice.” Rainbow announced with a glare as all seven girls, this world’s Twilight included, stood up from their group I had invaded.

“Sorry Rare.” I smirked sheepishly and walked the vehicle out of the group. “Hey sugarbear!” I grinned as Sunset appeared behind me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “I’m actually here for a very specific reason.”

“And that reason being?” Sunset raised an eyebrow at me interestedly.

“Ooh, ooh ooh ooh! Are you two finally gonna do it?” Pinkie asked enthusiastically. Both Sunset and I raised our eyebrows, though while she raised hers in jest at the joke, I raised mine in disinterest at the joke.

“Actually, it turns out that the Princesses on my side have figured out the spell that turns ponies into humans and vice versa.” I announced, drawing a gasp from everyone though Sunset circled around to face me head on.

“Wait, you don’t mean…” she grinned at the idea.

“She can go back?” Fluttershy asked timidly, almost fearfully.

“And she’ll remain human.” I announced, earning a squee from my girlfriend and concerned looks from the others. “However.” I held a finger up, pausing all emotions. “It may turn out that Luna would have to use the spell on the mirror and not just on Sunset.”

“So? Just means it’ll be easier for Sunset to get through and remain human, right?” Applejack asked in confusion at the issue.

“Yes, but it would mean that Princess Twilight could never come back here without remaining a pony-princess.” I added, making the girls all pause and consider this. “We haven’t tested the spell, so we have no idea if it’d even have to be used on the mirror or if it can just be used on Sunset when she comes through.” I explained, trying to shed a ray of silver lining on the situation.

“So? What’re you waiting for, darling? Get on through to the other side and find out!” Rarity insisted, already handing Sunset her backpack as Rainbow Dash and Applejack lifted Sunset onto the bike behind me.

“Alright, alright girls. Let’s go!” Sunset chuckled as she wrapped her arms around my torso and hugged me tightly. I could tell she’d had some experience with this.

Pulling away from the mirror, I spun us around and threw up snow to take aim at the portal surface.

“So, back to Equestria after what, four years?” I asked as I gunned the accelerator, launching us forward in a blinding white burst of snow.

“Something like that!” Sunset shouted back over the engine as we penetrated through the reflective barrier between our worlds.

~~~

“Well, I definitely don’t remember it being that disorienting.” Sunset announced, pulling her hoof away to press it to her forehead. “Oh right, hooves.” she noted, sliding down off my bike once she’d disentangled herself from me and the bike. Landing on all four, Sunset had to take a second of concentration to retrieve her backpack/saddlebags via her magically glowing horn.

“And a horn. Apparently.” I noted, temporarily killing the engine for the silence.

“And wings.” Both Twilight and Luna announced in shock.

“Wait, hold on what?” Sunset asked in shock, her now apparent wings flaring outwards in distress. “Holy crap! I’m an alicorn!” she grinned, looking at me with shimmering eyes before turning to the other two Princesses in the room.

“I’m apparently dating a princess…” I muttered, gaining a death glare from Luna. “What?”

“You wouldn’t date me because i’m an alicorn Princess. So why is she any different?” Luna demanded in remarkable spite.

“Woah, don’t bite her head off just when she arrives!” Twilight announced, stepping between one of her mentors and her best friend. “Sunset,” Twilight turned to greet the orange mare. “It’s great to see you again. I’d shake your hand or give you a hug but…” Twilight gestured to herself and the lack of hands or forearms capable of doing such things.

“No worries Twilight. I don’t mind.” Sunset smirked in reply before turning back to me. “So, you’re dating an alicorn now…”

“Apparently so. Luna or Twilight, could we get a move on the spell please? I’m already starting to feel guilty about this, even if Sunset is so fucking adorable as she is right now.” I requested as I sat down and let Sunset roll onto her back in my lap.

“Absolutely not-” Luna began defiantly, turning her head away in protest. Twilight sighed as her horn flared and soon a beam of pure purple energy enveloped Sunset’s body.

“Here, let me.” Twilight requested as the light washed over Sunset’s little, adorable pony body.

“So adorable…” I cooed under my breath as Sunset’s body began to grow and change, the sound of bones shifting and grinding into place echoing in the large cavernous room.

Soon I had a fully grown, human Sunset Shimmer sitting in my lap. And she was almost completely naked save for a bit of black underwear covering her up.

“Well then.” Twilight and Sunset both announced as Sunset remained where she was, attempting to cover herself up more than already accomplished by the material.

“Let me…” Luna rolled her eyes and flared her magic. A dark blue, silky dress shimmered over Sunset’s body, hugging tightly to her figure with a single slit running down the left leg with a single red rose at the end of said slit. The neck was for the most part a halter, however a single circle had been left in just the right place to show cleavage and i’m sure it would have worked wonders on any-

It works wonders on every male, i’m sure.

“Holy…” I breathed as Sunset and I both stood to examine her new attire.

“Look at this! Princess Luna, thank you!” Sunset clicked over to the alicorn in heels before wrapping her arms around the blue furry neck. “I look absolutely-”

“Beautiful.” I finished, earning a gasp from Sunset and Luna. “So much so that you actually make me use that word.”

“He never uses that word.” Luna exclaimed in a tiny voice, her ears folded back on her head.

“You never use that word!” Sunset declared and threw herself at me, landing in my arms and in a kiss which included her pulling me further into her. “Oh, thank you so much, S-” I interrupted her with another kiss, though an eye was on Twilight and Luna who both looked like i’d offended their ancestors by cutting off my name.

“Okay, his name starts with an S.” Luna announced as Twilight wrote everything down in her notes. They were taking notes?!

“Easy there, you almost let slip the dogs of war.” I announced, finally pulling away from a dazed and confused Sunset Shimmer. “Still, you look absolutely amazing.” I grinned as I set the girl back down again. “And, we didn’t have to use the spell on the mirror!”

“Yes! I can still go back and see them!” Twilight pumped her forehoof in victory, or whatever looked like that was what it was supposed to be anyways.

“So, now what do you plan to do for the rest of the day?” Luna returned to the topic, though the looks she was giving Sunset and I together were still rather mean.

“Provided Sunset’s not otherwise busy, I figured we’d head back to Canterlot. Who knows what may develop as the night goes on?” I shrugged back with a slightly cheeky grin aimed at Sunset who was working at recovering from the adoration.

“Wait,” Sunset clued in to the suggestion and shook her head clear of the cobwebs. “Are you serious?”

“We’ll find out later, I suppose.” I replied, planting a kiss on Sunset’s forehead. “Shall we head out?”

“Absolutely! I want to see how Equestria has changed in my absence.” Sunset replied, smoothing her dress off as we both returned to my bike. Once I threw my leg over, Sunset hopped up onto the bike in side-saddle for lack of options as I turned on the engine and revved up a bit before letting it idle again.

“May I just…” Luna began tentatively taking a single step forward. “If she’s going to be walking around Canterlot in a beautiful dress, I figure that you, Captain, should also be dressed similarly.”

“Then by all means, feel free.” I replied gratuitously, turning my body to face the Princess as best I could.

Luna’s horn fired up in a single layer of blue magic, the same light washing over my clothes to put them into a metamorphosis. With the magic as blinding as it was, I couldn't see the changes but once the light died off again, I found myself in a mostly black and blue suit, with the shirt being the same blue as Sunset’s dress with a lapel pin with my apparent butt brand stamp in garnet and sapphire with a tiny in-set sun-cut amber resting at the very center.

“Ooh, very nice work, Princess Luna! I like it!” Sunset announced, running her hands over my body from behind. “It’s very well done!”

“Thank you, I take pride in my work!” Luna nodded gratefully and properly, a thin smile on her face at the recognition of her skills.

“Shall we be off?” I asked, turning back to Sunset behind me. She nodded with a grin and the two of us took off with a squeal of the tires.

~~~

“So, I know that you probably don’t want to show me, but I want to see where you live.” Sunset demanded as we rolled into the Canterlot Gardens towards the door down into the dungeon and my home.

“Yeah… You’re right. While we’re wearing these I really don’t want to take you down there. There’s a reason I regularly wear shoes down there; I still haven’t managed to clean off all the stones of their various grimes.” I announced, pulling up parallel to the door and I killed the engine to let it rest against the wall for a while.

“So then what did you have in mind for later tonight?” Sunset inquired teasingly, her hand reaching down towards the pelvis as she closed in the distance between us.

“Like I said, we’ll see. I honestly can’t even make a promise that anything will happen.” I replied truthfully, earning a pout from Sunset before it turned into an adorable smile with full teeth. “I’ll see what comes up at the afternoon goes on.” I conceded, pleasing her highness, Sunset Shimmer as she took my hand and led me into the castle itself.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Celestia’s slightly breaking voice echoed from behind us, making us turn to greet the great alicorn. “Is it really you?”

“Hi, Princess Celestia.” Sunset put a hand to the back of her head anxiously, though refused to let go of mine for support. “How've you been?”

“Oh, my dear. I’ve been doing fairly well I suppose. I’ve missed our talks all those years ago. What’re you doing back here, I thought you didn’t plan to return?” Celestia asked, slowly approaching the pair of us with watering eyes. Looking at Sunset, she too had tears in her eyes for as soon as the two of them were close enough, Sunset threw herself into an embrace with Celestia, the both of them hugging it out with fresh tears.

“I’m only visiting Equestria with Captain at the moment. I don’t know if you’ve heard but once I graduate I may end up moving here to Equestria full time as the second only human in the world.” Sunset explained once the women had calmed down for a coherent thought.

“I see, well I'll be glad to have you back. I can’t help but be honest when I say that i’m slightly put off that you’d shirk your Equestrian roots when you do plan to return to us full time.” Celestia admitted with a smile. “But, I’m glad that you’re doing what makes you happy with who makes you happy.”

“Thank you.” Both Sunset and I responded, though mine felt more like an interjection than anything else.

“Sorry that i’ve just noticed, but you both look extraordinary in your outfits.” Celestia noted as she fixed herself to return to a look of normalcy.

“Thank you again, they were gifts from your sister.” the two of us replied again, smoothing out the material of our clothes.

“They’re quite impressive. Say, would you both care to join me for some tea? Perhaps catch on on news between worlds?” Celestia offered, turning towards the kitchen or perhaps some kind of parlour.

“Absolutely.” Sunset replied, pulling me with her as we walked after Celestia.

Author's Note

Heh, I'm already thinking about the end of this slice, and i'm quite eager to get to it. Still so much to do before then, though.

Živjeli

Who's there?

“Hey, Hey Captain!” A faint male voice whispered in my mind. Spinning my head, I found myself in my dungeons, though the location was that of the Dungeon when I first showed up. “Hey Captain Mercer!” the voice called out again, teasingly.

I poked my head out the door to my cell, finding myself dressed in the white slacks i’d showed up in and the ragged stained white t-shirt hanging off my frail body.

“Who’s there!” I demanded, looking down the dimly lit hallway, first towards the solid oak door, then down into the depths and beyond.

“You know what they say, Captain Soren Mercer? Stare into the depths of the abyss…”

“And the Abyss stares back.” I replied, now exiting my cell completely to slowly trudge through the mud of the floor.

“Good, I thought you’d forgotten.” the voice replied dripping with malice. “You want to know what’s funny?”

“I presume you’ll just tell me instead of have me guess for a millennia?” I replied, coming up to the first cell next to mine, completely devoid of light but it sounded like the voice was also originating from here.

“Everyone you love will die!” the voice announced, a spotlight shining on a mutilated Princess Luna hanging from the walls like Jafar was; her internal organs hanging free of her body with her fur in a bloody pile nearby and her meat in slabs on the cart next to her.

“Very funny.” I mumbled, turning away from the image as the light dulled into a low glow behind me and I stepped up to the next cell. Looking back the way I came, it appeared like I’d crossed almost four hundred meters in only three steps.

“Oh, then you’ll love this next one…” the voice chirped back sadistically. The light opened up in the cell before me, showing Eben’s head on a pike and the rest of his body roasting over a vat of magma.

“Uh huh. That’s a new one, I’ll have to remember that for the next round of torture.” I muttered, turning away and to the next cell.

“Alright, how about this one?” the voice asked, now slowly becoming agitated at my lack or regular responses. The cell lit up to have Weiss hanging from the rafters by her arms, her throat slit and blood actively dripping down her belly.

“H… Help… Me…” Weiss requested, stretching her left foot out in gesture. A quick look in the rest of the cell had Weiss’s tail and back spines sitting in a bloody bowl, detached from her body while she was alive. This time I had to turn away and hold a hand to my mouth to calm my stomach.

“Oh good, progress! I was getting worried that my next one wouldn’t faze a heartless bastard like you.” the voice grinned in my mind as I approached the final set of bars. “Welcome to the end of the world Mercer!” the voice’s body announced, making my eyes go wide in shock and fear as the Corporal from Afghanistan stood behind Sunset Shimmer with a .357 magnum pressed to her head.

“You! Let her go!” I demanded, gripping the bars in fury.

“Nah, this is more fun.” the Corporal replied with a toothy grin. Sunset looked up at me with tears flowing down her face before she faced me completely and opened her mouth.

“Soren, I lov-” her voice was cut off prematurely by a gunshot and the front of her face exploding outwards as her body slumped forwards.

“No!” I screamed, gripping the bars with just too little force to crush the metal into paste and end the man myself.

“Aww, and here she was about to tell you she’s-”

~~~

“Captain!”

“Fucking wake up!” Weiss little voice demanded as a claw was raked across my face following the bitch-slap that she was getting quite good at.

Bolting upright screaming and eyes wide, the gunshot still ringing in my ears I pressed my hands to the side of my head and squeezed.

“Captain, calm down. You’re safe now!” Sunset requested from my left, her voice muffled by my meaty palms.

“Sun- Sunset?” I asked weakly, looking up at the firmly attached face of Sunset Shimmer.

“I’m here, don’t worry love, I’m here!” Sunset announced, throwing herself at me in explosive crying. “I’m here…” she dribbled out through sobs.

“Thank my stars you’re alright!” Luna’s voice beckoned my attention to the right where I found her and Weiss sitting in a large hospital looking chair.

“What… What happened?” I asked with a dry throat, forcing me to cough and try to salivate. “Why’s my throat so dry?”

“You were poisoned!” Sunset explained face down in my lap. “Over four days ago!”

“What?” I demanded, my voice denying a shout. “By who?”

“After testing the meat you took and ate from Jafar, it turns out that his body had been laced with poison that if ingested would activate with the stomach acid and would slowly kill you from the inside out.” Celestia explained from the door of the room. Next to her was a doctor pony in a white lab-coat and a clipboard hanging off his neck. “Had the poison more time to work without anypony around, you would be dead right now.”

“So how’d I get saved?” I asked, slowly calming both myself and Sunset Shimmer in my lap.

“Ginger tea.” Luna smirked at the incredibility of the phrase. “The ginger settled the stomach acid and prevented the poison from being able to work properly. Don’t get us wrong, you still have suffered quite a bit of damage but not as much as what could have happened.”

“Ginger tea as a defense against poison.” I mumbled back, trying to wrap my head around it. “I hope Jafar is still alive?”

“He is. We’d decided that upon your recovery you’d want words with him, perhaps some revenge. Had you…” Weiss drifted off, looking at Sunset. “Had you not survived, we would’ve used Jafar as the anchor point to officially declare war on the Griffons.” Sunset sucked in a sob at Weiss’s suggestion that I may not have survived before climbing up into bed with me and curled up into my body.

“Don’t get us wrong, we still plan to declare war on them. They’d injured a few guards in their original mission to kidnap me for you, and now that they’ve poisoned and nearly killed a best friend to the Royalty…” Luna glared at empty space for a couple seconds.

“But as of yet nothing is official? There’s no active war between Equestria and Griphonia?” I raised an eyebrow as I wrapped my weakened arms around Sunset’s steadily heaving body.

“No. We wanted to wait for news of your recovery before then.” Celestia shook her head as she sat down at the foot of my bed while the doctor pony silently took my vitals.

“So if i’d died i’d have been made a martyr?” I asked sternly.

“Absolutely not! You would have been given a royal burial and the first enemy officer killed would’ve been under your name!” Luna announced defensively.

“So I would’ve been used to advance the war effort? A martyr?” I concluded sullenly. Luna sat back, slightly put off but remained silent for lack of further defense.

Scratching at my chest, I found that I was now raking my skin with talons protruding from some sort of retractable gauntleted weapon. With a thought, the three talons flipped back against my wrist, out of the way of potential harm.

“What’re these?” I asked, holding up both arms to view the weapons.

“Griffon gauntlets.” Weiss shrugged back casually. “I found the talons in your pocket when you were changed and got inventive. It has a tiny magically enchanted crystal that monitors your mental activity to let you activate them with a thought.” Weiss explained, hopping up onto the bed to examine the metal framework and surprisingly ingenious engineering.

“Damn, i’ve not only got a carpenter, but an engineer for a daughter.” I smirked as Weiss dropped the gauntlet back onto my lap and stared at me in shock.

“A what?” she squeaked; her mouth forming a tiny, quivering smile.

“I hope it’s not too presumptuous to call you a daughter?” I asked, wondering if i’d insulted the dragonling or something.

“Daddy!” Weiss shrieked, throwing herself to my chest in a wide armed hug as the women and doctor in the room all laughed in response.

“That answers that, I suppose.” I chuckled.

“I’m not calling you dad.” Eben’s voice announced from next to Celestia, having entered in silence. “We’re still not familiar enough for such things.”

“I’m fine with that.” I replied calmly as Weiss cuddled into my chest further as Sunset seemed to have fallen asleep from the crying.

“Still, good to hear that we haven’t lost another caretaker.” Eben offered, sweeping his claws over his head spines with a sigh. “Can’t take another two years of Weiss’s crying over the loss.”

“Thank you, Eben. I appreciate the vague sentiment.” I grinned, as did the Princesses in the room. The doctor whispered something to Celestia before taking his leave.

“Yeah, well without you’d i’d be out of a job.” Eben replied, crossing his arms defiantly.

“Not necessarily. Since I don’t personally meet clients, Weiss can just do it all and send them to you herself. She’s got the skill and engineering abilities i’m sure nopony would know the difference if I disappeared.” I shrugged back, making everyone in the room gasp and argue my point explicitly. Even Sunset woke and began arguing the point.

“Okay, okay, easy!” I held my hands up in defense. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I meant!”

“Don’t even joke about that you asshole!” Sunset demanded, smacking me on the arm furiously. “I almost lost you once, I’m not doing it again!” she added as in my mind I saw the Corporal hold the gun to the back of Sunset’s head with the sadist’s grin.

“I love you, Sunset.” I announced sternly, stunning everyone into silence. “I love you and you’re the most beautiful, most gorgeous woman i’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with.” I added, staring into space past my hands in my lap.

“What… Where is this coming from? You sound like you’re leaving!” Sunset demanded anxiously.

“Nope, we’re going to war.” I announced, looking directly up at Celestia who nodded. “And i’d like to do the announcement.”

“Absolutely. As soon as you’ve rested up.” Luna ordered, pushing me back down with a wing before picking Weiss off my body and Celestia lead Sunset off me and out of the room.

“I love you too!” Sunset’s head reappeared through the doorway before disappearing again.

“She seems nice.”

Author's Note

Heh, so things are going to start heating up now... What do you think?

As ever, I appreciate the support you all have shown me and continue to show me. Mebbe one day we can make it into the featured Lists? *hint hint, nudge nudge*

Наздраве

So, this is how it all begins huh?

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, I stand before you with grave news.” Celestia announced, stood before the assembly of media and other Equestrian delegates.

“Five days ago I was attacked along with a great friend of mine, and a great friend to Equestria.” Luna announced, drawing gasps from the audience followed by a number of inquires. “Fortunately the only lives lost were on the attackers forces. A few guards have been injured but not severely. They’re all here with us now.”

“We managed to take the leader prisoner and after a bout of persuasion, we’ve extracted information that it was the griffon’s intentions to kidnap Princess Luna in order to trade for our friend.” Celestia announced, making faces turn to each other.

“A quick question, Princesses. You keep addressing this pony as ‘A friend’ or some such similar term. Why do you not introduce them properly?” a newspony asked, his notebook hovering next to a quill.

“That would be because I am not a pony.” I announced, stepping up onto stage from behind a curtain hiding my presence. Upon my arrival an uprising of questions and accusations of ridiculous nature spewed forth, though Celestia held up a hoof to silence the masses. “Nor can they introduce me, since I am incapable of giving my own name.”

“Yeah, that’s with that?”

“For sake of introductions, call me Captain.” I announced, ignoring the tiny voice in my head that reminded me of the dead Corporal.

“Uhm, what is he?” a newsmare asked from near the middle of the herd. “It looks Simian!”

“Close, but no. I am actually human, spelled H U M A N for those who don’t know the word.”

“So, is this all there is for grave news? I thought that the announcement would be more important than a few griffons failing to attack the castle. I would think that such things would be kept internal, so what gives?” another pony asked from the back.

“That is where I come in.” I step up to the podium from which Celestia stepped back. “I was the one who interviewed the prisoner and found out that the nation of Griffonia is planning to attack Equestria.” My announcement was met with gasps and furious scribbling. “This attack was to be their first surprise attack. As such, and I have the full support of the Princesses behind me when I say this, but Equestria is going to war.”

“But, but the Griffons have much higher grades of technology than we do! We’ll be slaughtered! How do the Princesses plan to defend us?” a pony demanded, glaring at the Princesses.

“Quite simply, I have knowledge of extremely advanced technology that I’ll use, with discretion, to bolster Equestria’s defenses that the Griffon’s won’t be expecting.” I replied with a smirk. To be honest, I already had the entire first strike planned out against the Griffons. “I already am aiming to make this quick and relatively painless on both sides.”

“You already have a battle plan, Captain?” Luna looked at me, stealing the words from the muzzles of the crowd.

“Indeed I do. Provided I can get some solid intelligence about the enemies, I should be able to remove most of their hierarchy and officers in a relatively simple operation I’m calling, Operation Adam.” I explained, leaning against the podium to address Luna without a care in the world, however I ensured that my voice could be heard by all before me.

“Why are you calling it Operation Adam?” A newspony asked from the front of the herd.

“Simple, the Operation should very quickly put the enemy in their place and should bring this war to an end that much sooner. I plan to use as much firepower as I can get my hands on in as small of a space as I can.” I explained with a grin, turning back to the assembly.

“That doesn’t really explain why you’re calling it Operation Adam.” the newspony looked at me confused, as though I were avoiding the topic.

“Okay, in human culture, it’s said that Adam was the first human. As well, I remember reading something a number of years ago before I showed up in Equestria about some guy named Adam who had immense combat capabilities and nearly razed the entire enemy fortress all in one go.” I sighed and turned my attention to the scribbling ponies. “While I don’t expect to have such a similar effect, I am hoping to achieve something similar.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“Ah ah, can’t tell you that. Just look forward to the next announcement that it either worked, or it didn't.” I shook my head with a grin, already imagining a very specific explosive that I figured would work wonders. “Thank you all for coming and I apologize that we’re now at war.”

Stepping back from the stage and into the back areas, I let the Princesses handle the rest as I began to try and remember if Equestria had Chrome for chromium thermite.

“Well, that was simple.” Sunset announced as she took my hand in hers and joined me in our walk out of the castle for the first time in nearly a week. After yesterday when I’d awoken from my four day nap, and after I'd rested again, we had more or less just immediately gone to the ballroom for the announcement and now I was hungry.

“Yeah, I don’t see what the purpose of dressing it up any other way would serve. ‘We’re at war, I'm going to fuck them up.’ Easy peasy.” I shrugged, already aiming for the kitchen for some solid food. “So tell me, have you remained in Equestria these last five days since I brought you over?”

“Not exactly.” Sunset admitted, almost shamefully. “I’ve still had classes to get too so I'd head back at the end of the night for classes in the morning and afternoon, then I'd come back here to watch over you.”

“Well I appreciate that, Sunset.” I smirked, planting a kiss on Sunset’s cheek as we walked.

“A thought just occurred to me.” Sunset announced after a second of silence.

“Ques que sup?” I asked in reply, looking at Sunset to become aware of the intense look of concentration on her face and in her eyes.

“With this whole war thing now, you’ll probably have to carry some kind of weapon right? Ensure your own survival if you’re going to be leading this whole thing.”

“I see your point.” I admitted, my mind going back to the shotgun I now had in my possession. Maybe I’d get a sheath for it and keep that on me at all times? “What do you suggest?”

“Well, since the announcement hasn’t gone out yet, maybe just your revolver would do fine.” Sunset suggested, looking back at me in concern.

“Ehh, maybe. I’d have to find out if a .357 magnum round has enough stopping power on a griffon to be effective or not. My new shotgun I know would work, as long as I have the shells for it.” I replied in suggestion. Truth was, I still only had maybe four or five rounds left for the shotgun and even less for the revolver. I’d have to get Luna to help me rearm soon.

“How would you carry a shotgun around with you in the first place?” Sunset asked curiously and confused.

“Shotgun sling. Carry it on my back where it’s easy to get at but stays out of the way.” I shrugged back, entering into the kitchen to start up on some kind of food. “Can I make you anything?”

“What’re my options?” Sunset inquired, taking a lean at a table as I perused the fridges.

“Meat, no meat, vegan.” I announced, pulling out a couple of sirloin patties to try my hand at another “breakfast” burger.

“OK, more specific than that?” Sunset asked with a chuckle as I worked to get the sirloins going on a pan.

“Ahh, due to the eating habits of Weiss and I, pork, beef and bird.” I replied, having already forgotten what specifically was in the fridge next to me.

“What’re you putting together?” Sunset stepped up next to me to watch as I ducked back into the fridge for a couple eggs.

“Burger-type thing with an egg on it.” I shrugged back, dropping the patties onto the skillet to let them get cooking.

“Then… another one for me please. Just one is fine.” Sunset spun on her heel and sat back against the counter, relatively out of my way.

“Then please take out a bell pepper and slice them into rings for me.” I requested before sneaking a quick kiss onto Sunset’s nose. She obliged and soon had a number of vegetables out and in the process of chopping.

~~~

“So tell me, what exactly is Operation Adam?” Luna asked as Sunset and I stuffed our mouths with burger between slices of bread.

“Basically, I’m going to hopefully make some Chromium Thermite and destroy the enemy's fortress. Or at least some points of interest.” I explained casually, Sunset’s jaw dropping open momentarily before she swallowed her mouthful.

“That’ll do it.” she mumbled as Luna looked between the two of us confused.

“What is Chromium Thermite?” she asked, scratching her head with a wing.

“Thermite is a chemical compound that when burns, burns at approximately 2200 degrees Celsius. That’s almost twice as hot as magma.” I replied with a cheeky grin. “It’ll hopefully melt through anything the griffons have put up.”

“What… How… That’s impossible!” Luna stumbled backwards for words a moment before returning to her seated position. “How do you plan to use such a weapon against the Griffons in the first place?”

“Well, I pack it into an explosive vessel, then get that bomb into the structure and detonate it once I'm clear. Alternatively, if I can turn it into a paste I could burn through the supporting structures of their buildings and have it come down that way.”

“How exactly do you plan to get the thermite into the Griffon nation in the first place? They’d have all their most valuable assets protected with their military.” Sunset looked at me like she knew I had a bad idea. And she was right.

“I go in under cover of darkness, alone, plant the explosives and high tail it out before it goes off.” I explain casually. Almost too casually as the looks of incredulity from Luna and Sunset had me analyzing my plan already. “Look, one of the great things about being an ex-military sniper, is I’ve learned how to not be seen.” I added in attempts to reassure the women. “If I dress in all black, avoid patrols and can silently kill enemies who threaten me, I'll be fine.” I added, if at least to calm the rising storms in the women.

“And you’ll be okay doing this, right?” Sunset asked, completely concerned for me as she placed a hand on my arm. I took her shoulders in my own hands and reassured her.

“Absolutely. I’ll go in with Luna high above them and use the scope to recon their assets before I go in and actually do anything. Regardless, I still need to fully prepare before anything is done.”

“I have a question I think is most pressing...” Luna looked at me with concern upon hearing my plan. “You intend for me to fly you over the griffon nation to acquire information about their militaristic assets. What if they surprise you and have some sort of firearm themselves? I could be gravely injured.”

“I have ideas for ballistic armour you could wear, thought you’d have to help me manufacture them.” I replied as my mind began drawing up some kind of horse battle armour for Luna, maybe razors along the top of her wings for swooping attacks.

“Would such an item be capable of fitting anypony? Guards included?” Sunset suggested thoughtfully, already mentally working to mass-produce my hypothetical battle armour.

“If we could mass produce them probably. Get a seamstress to design the plate carrier for each subspecies, then have the plates themselves standardized in sizes. Luna’s, Celestia’s and Cadance’s would have be custom fit to them given their larger bodies.” I rubbed my chin as I tried to think out each and every step that would be required to design something like this.

“What about this world’s Rarity?” Sunset offered helpfully.

“Never met her actually. If she’s anything like her human counterpart I'd be more worried that she’d be too busy bedazzling it and could risk its ability to function properly.”

“I think she’d be your best bet. I can fit my sister and Cadance myself and keep it functional rather than fashionable.” Luna announced, her horn glowing in the process as her collar was removed and shimmered away. Almost immediately her entire blue body was covered in a black skin-tight bodysuit, save for her wings and tail. On her chest was a crescent moon seemingly enchanted to glow with legitimate moonlight where her collar usually sat.

“That works. You’ll need rather large pockets almost everywhere, especially on your belly if you plan to fly anywhere.” I examined the suit, looking it over to ensure that it would be at least durable.

“How big of pockets would you need, and where?” Luna inquired, looking back over her shoulder as I continued my examination.

“Well, ideally you’d want plates along your sides, modular so you can continue to move freely. Back is also good to armour but you’ll need linked plates for your neck so you don’t lack range of motion.” I replied as Luna rolled her eyes and fired up her horn again. Before my eyes the material began to rearrange it’s atomic structure to that of steel. Soon her entire body was clad in a black and dark blue armour, similar to those of medieval era horse armour.

“So something like this?” Luna smirked as I restarted my evaluation.

“Can you fly?” I smirked back as Luna’s reply came in the form of a sheepish grin. “You cannot. Too heavy right?”

“Yes. The articulation isn’t very good either, sort of turns my walking into prancing which I'm not very fond off.” Luna replied, trotting around Sunset and I to show what she meant. It certainly was more of a royal high step than anything.

“Yeah, I’m sure I could help alleviate that during the designs.” I replied with a grin, my mind already stripping away the heavier bits and pieces and replacing the steel with class III armour plating. Removing the headdress and instead replacing it with a full face clear shield similar to the ballistic glass used in riot shield windows, I turned my attention to Luna’s chest and belly, already mentally securing plating to her underside and chest.

“Uhm, what’re you looking at me like that for?” Luna asked, side stepping away from me as her armour shimmered away and was once again replaced with the black body suit.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just mentally dressing you in ballistic rated armour.” I replied, earning a raise of the eyebrows from both ladies.

“Huh, usually the guy is mentally un-dressing a female.” Sunset mumbled with a chuckle. “This is the first time I've heard about a guy mentally dressing her.”

“She’s still a horse.” I reminded my girlfriend.

“And I'm still right here.” Luna insisted dejectedly. “You speak of me as just as animal. Personally, I am insulted.” Luna turned her nose upwards and began to walk off, however both Sunset and I reacted quicker and leapt up onto Luna’s back, with me in the front. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around Luna’s neck apologetically.

“Get off of me this instant! I shant be ridden like an animal!” Luna insisted as Sunset and I clung on.

“We formally apologize, Princess. We did not mean to make you think we just considered you as an animal. You’re one of our best friends and we did not mean to insult you.” I announced, trying to sound as apologetic as I could.

“And yet you still insist to ride on my back like an animal.” Luna pouted, still refusing to look back at the two of us.

“That’s because you’re gracious enough to do so and we love you for it.” Sunset added, her chin resting on my back as she too tried to help console the Alicorn.

“Keep this up and you may find me not so gracious anymore.” Luna glared at me, making Sunset and I slide off her back and take up positions on either side of her before capturing her neck in a hug entirely. “As such, you may gather your intelligence on your own. If you’re so capable at not being seen, then use that to your advantage.”

“Very well. As soon as I’m packed for the trip I'll head out.” I retorted simply, letting go of Luna to just hug Sunset and plant a kiss on her forehead. “Gonna need a bit of magical assistance with that though, I'm missing a lot of equipment.”

“Ugh, very well. As long as the items are no larger than my body. Those are my terms whether or not you like them.” Luna replied, rolling her eyes at me before spreading wings and taking to the sky.

“What if you were to get another pony to help you?” this thought was actually fairly decent, however I didn’t know anypony who could help me and it wasn’t like the best candidate was just going to drop out of the-

“Princess Luna!” a female voice announced from high above us. All three of us turned our heads skywards just as a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail landed, breathing heavily.

“Rainbow Dash?” Sunset asked, letting go of me to approach the pony. “Wow, you look so adorable in pony form.”

“Uhhh, thanks. I think. Remind me who you- Oh! Sunset Shimmer!”” Dash suddenly stood up straight as the name came to mind. “Twilight said that you had come over again. Personally I thought you’d still be a unicorn.”

“Thanks to a spell from Princess Luna, I’m now capable of coming over to visit my boyfriend and remain human.” Sunset grinned, taking her place at my side again, her hand resting on my chest as she more or less hugged the left half of me.

“Ahh. Oh, you’re probably who I want to talk to, actually.” Rainbow approached me, looking almost straight up from my belt line at me. “Wow, you’re tall. I’m Rainbow Dash, best young flier in Equestria!”

“Captain. Only resident human in Equestria and instigator of Equestria’s first war in over a thousand years.” I replied, dropping down to a crouch to shake Dash’s provided hoof. “So what can I do for you?”

“About this war thing…” Rainbow started nervously, already avoiding eye contact. “Twilight tells me that since you’re leading the charge and you’re going to provide advanced human technology, I was wondering if I could help you out any way?”

“Rainbow Dash! War is not something to casually joke about joining! If at all possible this won’t be a war as it would be a quick battle; Captain will remove the enemies offices of power and it’ll be over!” Luna proclaimed insistently as she landed once more, shocked at the mere idea that Rainbow Dash would become a military combatant.

“I know that but it feels like something I've just gotta do, you know?” Dash replied equally as adamant.

“Let me ask you some questions first, Dash. See if you would qualify for the military in the first place.” I held a hand up to offer my suggestion to both parties. Sunset, meanwhile, took a seat on a nearby bench to watch in silence.

“Sure, let’s have ‘em!” Dash grinned, rising into a proud, solid stance.

“First, what skills do you have that would benefit the military?” I asked, dropping onto my backside as Dash did the same before me.

“Well, I can fly fast enough to create a Sonic Rainboom.” Dash boasted as my head turned to Sunset for clarification.

“A Sonic Rainboom is basically when a pegasus breaks the sound barrier.” Sunset explained simply as she relaxed comfortably.

“Good to know. Can you do so at will or must certain conditions be met?” I turned back to Dash as Luna laid on the grass nearby.

“Uhm, I'm not sure. I’m fairly certain I could do it at will.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, looking away and to the right.

“Okay, what other skills?”

“I’m super athletic!” Dash announced, springing up onto all four into an attack stance, her muscles flexing under her fur but I could still see the tones of her muscles.

“So I see; that’ll be very helpful when in the field. What about stealth, how are you at not being seen?” I shot my legs forward and leaned back, resting against my arms posted on the ground.

“I have no idea. I can fly pretty high, does that count?” Luna shook her head incredulously to herself at Rainbow’s response, I remained stoic however.

“Okay. While you’re in the military, you will often be required to fight for your life and kill another living creature. As well, you’ll be forced to be put through traumatizing events that may break you and will give you nightmares for the rest of your life. Nightmares that not even Luna can get you out of.” my mind began jumping through my own military experiences as I made this explanation. Eventually I returned to reality again. “Can you take a life? Are you prepared to never sleep peacefully again? Are you ready to risk your very mind, body and soul to help defend Equestria?”

“Yes!” Rainbow replied simply, sternly and with purpose.

“And should I decide to accept you, you realize that you may act, as Luna puts it, just as an animal? I’ll require you to help carry extremely heavy loads over long distances with next to no sleep. I may also require you, should I be in danger, you rescue me or get reinforcements to secure my position?” I demanded, sitting straight up again as my attitude began to slip back into that of an army Captain.

“Whatever I can do to help win.” Rainbow replied calmly. I shrugged an eyebrow and stood up. “So? Do I pass?”

“We’ll see. I need to show you something, something you may come across in battle.” I explained, aiming for the dungeons as Luna and Sunset shared a concerned glance and followed after me. Dash took to wing and hovered next to my head, looking at me suspiciously.

“What exactly do you plan to show her?” Sunset whispered into my ear as her hand found mine.

Pulling the dungeon door open, I began the descent down with my Dragon Eye illuminating my path while Luna’s horn lit up the others.

“I’m taking her to meet Jafar.” I whispered back, making Sunset gasp but keep pace. “You’re welcome to remain in the upper dungeon where I live to wait.”

“Yeah, I think I'll do that.” the girl replied uneasily as we entered into my home.

“Dad? You’re back!” Weiss announced, poking her head out of the workshop; wood shavings hanging from scales. “And Rainbow Dash is here.” she noted, cleaning herself off and stepping out to greet the befuddled pegasus.

“How do you know who I am?” Dash asked in confusion.

“Human world. You and Rainbow Dash over there have the same style of mane.” Weiss shrugged, shaking claw and hoof with Dash who nodded once in comprehension. “So why’re you bringing everyone down here?”

“Dash is looking to join my future military. I’m going to introduce her to the horrors she can expect to see in the deep Dungeons.” I explained, getting a look from Dash that said, “Deep dungeon? There’s more than one?”

“Ohh, you’re taking her to meet him.” Weiss nodded in understanding before turning back into the workshop to resume work. “Well, pass on my best to him while you're down there!”

“Will do!” I shouted back as only Dash and I continued down into the depths, Luna and Sunset opting to remain behind and visit with Weiss. “Actually…” I held up short, making Dash run into the back of my legs.

“What?” Dash looked up at me, rubbing her nose as I turned to face her.

“You’ll go down alone.” I replied with a smirk. Dash’s eyes went narrow for a moment before springing back to normal.

“No problem! I’m not afraid of the dark!” she scoffed nonchalantly, bravely.

“I don’t doubt. But I want you to meet someone specifically down there, let him tell you some stuff.” I explained.

“Fine, who am I looking for?” Rainbow demanded eagerly.

“A griffon by the name of Jafar. You may have to ask around for him because I'm sure Jafar has deteriorated over the last few days.” I replied, the darkness in the hall swallowing the sounds of our voices to leave nothing behind. If it weren’t for a lack of extreme gravity pulling us in, one could swear that we were standing next to a black hole.

“Deteriorated? What do you mean by that?” Dash looked down the hallway, into the abyss beyond.

“You’ll see.” I smirked and gave Dash a push forwards.

~~~

The sound of hoof-steps on the cobbled floors announced Dash’s return to the upper dungeon; my home.

“Well, how was your first taste of the horrors of war?” I asked from my seated position just outside the workshop as I whittled away on a small piece of wood I was shaping into my butt print.

“I… That... “ Dash’s wavering voice had everyone look up at Dash, with the girls poking their heads out of various rooms; Luna and Weiss in the workshop and Sunset had been lazing about on my bed. Dash had, for lack of a better description, been drained of all colour. Her fur was as white as a ghost and her mane laid flat and bland against her head and neck. Even her tail was tucked away between her legs, or at least as close to that as possible for horses.

“Wow, remind me never to go down there.” Sunset mumbled, returning to my room as Luna stepped over to comfort the pony.

“The- the things he said you did to him!” Dash squeaked, shivering uncontrollably in Luna’s winged embrace. “You plucked his wings?” she demanded, almost accusingly. I nodded calmly, still working on the detailing of my project.

“I would’ve cut them off altogether if I hadn’t stopped for lunch.” I remarked, looking up at Dash without concern.

“Which consisted of his tainted meat?!” Dash exploded, her colours back to original hues and her mane and tail back into position. I nodded again, this time with a grim look of determination.

“In war, we’re sometimes required to do unspeakable things like that. Other times, we’ll be required to wade through corpses in worse shape than that or have to fish out floating body parts from rivers and streams so that they don’t poison the water supply of some village downstream.

“You may develop friendships with other soldiers, only to watch them be burned alive, tortured or destroyed in an explosion. You may become responsible for your friends deaths because you and your squad had been captured and were ordered to fight each other to the death, the winner would get the first scraps of food in a week.

“You yourself may end up like Jafar, spiked to the wall with your own wings plucked, your fur shaved from your body and your organs hanging from your stomach. At that point you’ll be required to remain absolutely silent and never give up our secrets before either you die slowly and painfully, or you get rescued by friends who’d thought you were dead. This is all, of course, if you fail to escape and evade capture.” I explained, sending shivers down everyone's spines save my own. I’d already gone through all that and as such, I was that much colder that I no longer felt the fear.

“You’re still sure you want to enlist in his army?” Luna asked quietly, still hugging the pegasus in both hooves and wings.

“I- I have to, I can’t leave Equestria hanging. I’m the bucking Element of Loyalty for Celestia’s sake!” Dash announced, still looking unsure of herself.

“And what about your friends in Ponyville? What if you were to die or be taken captive. You’d leave your friends hanging? Where’s the loyalty in that?” I raised an eyebrow curiously. I’ll be honest, I didn’t want Rainbow to enlist. I both regret and loved every minute of my own enlistment and I didn’t want such a small creature to suffer as I do.

“Where’s the loyalty in letting my friends be killed because I couldn't protect them?” Dash shot back, suddenly looking just as adamant as before. I could see it in her eyes, she had the dedication that I did so many years ago when I’d applied.

“You make a good point.” I conceded, setting my tools aside and stood up to approach the pegasus. “Very well. Rainbow Dash, I offer you the opportunity to fight for your country, fight for your friends and loved ones under my command and the command of the Princesses Celestia and Luna. If you should accept, the mandatory amount of time that you’ll be required to serve will be three years under me, or until the end of the war; whichever comes first. At the end of those three years, you will be offered another tour of duty with a pay raise and likely promotion, or you may leave my army.” I announced as Dash stepped out from Luna’s embrace to stand attentively before me.

“You know we’ve got our own military right?” Luna rolled her eyes at me to which I shot her a death glare, making her yelp and silence herself.

“What is your decision?” I demanded, standing in my old authoritative stance. It was like I breaking in the Corporal all over again.

“Yeah, those were the days…”

“I accept.” Dash announced, giving her best salute.

“Very well. Despite my attempts to dissuade you from this course, I acknowledge your decision and agree to take you on under my tutelage for the next three years. Your training will begin exactly two days from now. You are required to take up residence here in Canterlot and you are to report directly to me in the Canterlot Gardens at exactly one hour before sun up two days from now.

“Use the time you have to square up any other business you have with friends, family, loved ones and work.” I announced, drawing another salute from Dash.

“Sir, when do I get the first rank?” Dash asked with dead-set eyes and a grin.

“You’re official induction will be in the afternoon of your first training day, at which I will give you your first rank.” I barked back. “Dismissed!”

Rainbow Dash saluted me a third time and marched off out of the room to do as I’d suggested and square off her affairs.

“Well, I have to say, that whole Military personality was really was a turn-on.” Sunset announced, drawing a nod of agreement from Luna and a confused look from Weiss.

“What’s a turn-on?” she asked, drawing the other women to burst into fits of laughter as I knelt down to begin the talk.

Author's Note

I have nothing to say here but I feel inclined to add an Author's Notes simply for the sake of doing so...

Aclamacions

Would this be the calm before the storm?

“Do you solemnly swear all fealty to Equestria, the defense of Equestria, the defense of the Princesses and the New Luna Armed Forces?” I demanded over a voice amplification spell provided by Luna. The name was Luna’s idea and for lack of another option, I went with it.

“I do!” Rainbow Dash announced, standing tall in her new royal colours. Atop her head sat a blank CF green beret that looked eager to receive its first badge.

“Do you swear to uphold the interests of Equestria, the Princesses and the laws of the New Luna Armed Forces?” I barked again, my back turned from the crowd behind me as I stood directly before Rainbow Dash opposingly.

“I do!” Dash replied with a slowly forming grin.

“You understand that by accepting these terms and conditions, you agree to give your life to my command and the command of the Princesses?”

“I do!” Dash held her steeled gaze out past me and at the crowd behind her.

“Finally, are you prepared to die for your Commanding Officer, your Country and your Government?” I asked, my voice dropping an octave but the volume remained the same.

“I am!” Dash announced again, this time with flash bulbs exploding behind me.

“Then I am proud to hereby bestow your first rank of Private, effective immediately!” I announced, pinning the single chevron badges on Private Rainbow Dash’s lapel and Beret before stepping away to let the masses get a complete look at the new recruit.

“Salute to the Princesses!” I barked, snapping a salute to the Princesses sat at the back of the courtyard, looming over everypony else. Dash did the same and we held the salute while the crowd broke out into applause.

“About, face!” I ordered, turning to the left in time with Rainbow Dash; the morning was spent going over the forms and proper ways of doing things. “March!” I ordered and began the strides as Dash high-stepped off stage. It took a bit of work but I eventually had Dash agreeing to high-step.

“All that high-stepping was so embarrassing!” Dash complained once we were off stage and no longer under the effects of the voice enhancement spells. “So uncool!” she added as I grinned back at her.

“Yes well, as of a minute ago, you now belong to me. There’ll be much worse things in your future.” I grinned back malevolently. Dash merely rolled her eyes but as my face remained unwavering, she shuttered at the ideas that may have come to mind.

“Okay, so explain something to me.” Dash requested, pulling her jacket off to put it away in the suit bag that Equestrian Rarity had provided for us yesterday. “What’s with the suits and rank names and colours?”

“Tokens from my past. If i’m leading this Army, then i’m going to at least have something I’m familiar with. The CF green was the dress colour of the Royal Canadian Army, so was the beret if you weren’t part of the armoured divisions. Blue was for the Navy and black was for the Air force.” I explained, pulling my own suit jacket off to hang it in it’s awaiting suit bag.

“But what’s wrong with the Wonderbolt’s uniform?” Dash complained again, draping her suit bag across her shoulders to walk with me out of the make-shift auditorium.

“It’s blue and yellow. You’re not Navy nor are you a Wonderbolt any longer.” I put in as we were joined by the Princesses and Spike, Sunset Shimmer and Weiss and her brother. “If you’re going to represent the New Luna Armed Forces, you’re going to dress the part and you’ll like it.” I added before giving a kiss to Sunset.

“Is that an order, Captain?” Dash smirked, however it disappeared when I shot her a glare. “Alright, sheesh! I’ll let it go!”

“All that pomp and circumstance for a single soldier. I don’t see the point.” Eben complained, his arms crossed over his chest.

“The point was to establish the public eye of the new Military forces. Now we’ve got something to live up to and raise the bar on. From now on anypony who wishes to join will be subjected to the same public display.” Twilight explained as Spike merely watched from her back. “That is, of course, if the New Luna Armed Forces will continue to recruit?”

“But of course. Wouldn’t be much of an Army if there were only two of us going into war over a long duration of time. I intend to draft some of the better warriors from both the Crystal and Royal Guards and retrain them into proper killing machines.” I replied with a grin, making a number of bodies roll their eyes, Sunset, Weiss and Dash excluded.

“And what if by drafting such fighters to the NLAF, you leave the rest of us at a loss?” Cadence asked curiously.

“I’m not going to draft every one of them. I’ll have to leave a number of them behind so they can continue to train the replacements.” I retorted. “At the moment however, because my first Operation is hopefully going to end things before they begin, I’m having to draft the betters in order to provide a fighting chance for Equestria. I’ve already got Prince Shining Armour to dredge up a list of the Crystal empire Guards who’ll be joining me.”

“Oh, so that’s what he was doing all of yesterday.” Cadence’s head went up and back down in understanding, apparently having been left out on a secret. “And here I thought he was avoiding me.”

“Nah, i’m sure Shiny wouldn’t ever do something like that.” Twilight offered in support for the pregnant step-sister.

“So, when do you plan to enact your plan? When do you ship out?” Sunset inquired, turning the conversation back towards Dash’s and my first deployment.

“Two days from now. I still have to finish the rest of Dash’s physical evaluation, create the explosives and then pack for the trip.” I shrugged back, shifting my weight from foot to foot as standing around was getting tiresome.

“Seriously? I get to fight already?” Dash beamed eagerly before biting my pant leg and dragged me off. “Come on, let’s get going already!” she demanded through clenched teeth.

“And I suppose that’s my cue to leave!” I called back to the remaining party who were in some form of laughter, save for Eben who merely smirked. “alright, let me go and we’ll get going!” I requested of Dash who finally released me and ran ahead of me to get back to training.

~~~

“How-” Up. “Many-” Down. “More?” Up and I crouched down nose to nose with Dash who was in the middle of her 437th wing-up. Some couple hundred wing-ups ago even she had started losing her breath and now I could see the fatigue in her face.

“You’ll keep going until I get tired!” I shouted back into her face as she went back down again before rising up, her wings shaking violently.

“Damn, if I knew what human training regimens were like…” Dash muttered, dropping back down and earning her another hundred wing-ups.

“Well it’s too late to quit now! You belong to me, welp!” I grinned back, my voice still fluttering the fur on her face.

“Never said I would have quit, sir! I was going to say I’d have joined up earlier!” Dash grinned as the sweat cascaded down her face.

“I like it! One hundred, sixty-three more then we move on to push-ups!” I ordered as Dash lowered her entire body again and pushed back up again, looking like she was fueled by new vigor.

“That’ll make six hundred wing-ups for her! This is crazy!” Sunset announced as I went and sat down under some shade and with a cool drink next to her. This was more for the psychological effects it would have on Dash as she worked out under the hot sun with tepid water occasionally being sprayed on her body to keep her from heat-stroke.

“Yeah, and after a short break to cool her back down again we’ll both be doing just as many weighted pushups.” I grinned and took a mouthful of cold grape juice. Next to me sat a couple bags of 150lb sandbags that would be placed on our backs to really make it hurt.

“You’re really working her, aren’t you?” Sunset shook her head in mild disbelief at my training regimen as Dash finally collapsed on the ground, somewhere between 470 to 480.

“Hey! Did I say you could rest? You’ve still got another 120 more to go!” I barked, making Dash groan and push herself back up onto her wings to continue. “But yes, yes I am.” I added, this time aiming the comment at my girlfriend.

“Was this normal in your past?” Sunset asked again, no longer watching Dash but instead focusing her attention squarely on me.

“Pretty much, yeah. After dinner we’re going to be going for a march from here to Ponyville and back.” I replied as the sun gradually fell lower in the sky.

“What about weapon or combat training? How is that going to work between now and when you deploy?” Sunset looked genuinely confused with this concept of how much time was left.

“Sunset, you seem to think that we’ll be sleeping tonight.” I grinned back, dropping Sunset’s jaw momentarily. “Frankly, I already have so much to cover with Dash before we go that I know i’m not going to be able to get everything covered in the next two days. I’m not even going to touch weapons training for lack of time and resources.”

“So then just combat? How’s that going to work?”

“Turns out that there’s a Zebra near Ponyville who knows some kind of advanced hoof-to-hoof combat techniques who’s volunteered to be Dash’s teacher for the night.” I shrugged back as Dash mentally reached the 530 mark.

“Do you think they’ll be able to cover even the basic in a couple hours?” was the next question. I shrugged again silently and took another drink.

“Frankly, I’m not so much concerned with that as I am with the Stealth aspect of Dash.” I sighed, staring at Dash’s brightly coloured mane and tail. I already knew that i’d be covering her pastel fur in a black battle outfit but the mane and tail… that would be difficult.

“It’s the mane, isn’t it?” Sunset smirked as she looked over my own silver hair, equally as revealing if it wouldn’t be for the fact that I’d be wearing a hat of some kind to cover it up.

“Yep. I can wear a hat to cover mine up but Dash… I’m certain she could find something to tuck her mane into but the tail; I can’t even think of anything that would work save for wrapping it up in some kind of black fabric.” I replied as Dash reached 560.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” Sunset offered in support as I set aside my glass and stood to rejoin Dash.

“How’s it going?” I asked mildly. Dash was at the point of panting heavily and sweating heavier than that but she grinned none the less.

“I think i’ve still got some left in me, sir!” Dash shouted back between breaths.

“Good, because you’ve still got 20 more wing-ups to go, then we’ll have a short break to let you cool down before the both of us go for 600 weighted pushups.” I smirked, making Dash falter and crash to the ground before recovering and finishing up.

“Seriously? Dude you’re killing me!” she complained as I merely stepped beside her and gently placed a boot on her back to add more weight.

“15 more with my foot on your back, soldier! Now!” I barked, slowly adding more and more weight till she completely collapsed and refused to move on the 599th down.

“I’m done, i’m out. I can’t move my wings anymore!” she gasped, breathing slightly erratically. I removed my foot and picked her up off the ground, sitting her back on her rump. “And we still have more to do after this? I cannot wait till bed!”

“Heh, yeah you’ll be waiting a lot longer for bed than you think.” I grinned, making Rainbow whine slightly as I handed her a bottle of ice water. Taking a spritzing bottle I began dusting Dash’s fur in cool water as she guzzled back the liquids in the bottle held between her hooves.

“Right, feeling better now?” I asked cordially, getting onto my knees a ways away as Sunset dragged the sand bags over to us one at a time.

“More or less. You’re going to be joining me this time?” Dash replied, still breathing heavily as the bottle was lowered from her lips.

“Yep, six hundred from both of us.” I replied as Dash stretched her back hooves out as I did the same with my own legs. “No winged assistance or it’s two hundred more for just you.” I ordered as her wings snapped to her side with a crack of the air.

“No worries there. I don’t think i’ll be doing anything with them for a while.” Dash replied with a smirk as we both took up positions with my arms tight against my side. Sunset heaved the bags onto our backs and nearly crushed Dash under the weight before she recovered and rose back up to meet me nose to nose.

“One.” I began counting, lowering my self down to the point that the grass was tickling my shirt. Dash followed me down and upon quick inspection I ensured she wasn’t touching the ground with her belly either. Both of us rose back up again and Dash counted the next.

“Two.” down we both went again, rising back up once the grass blades touched our undersides.

“Three.” I counted, down and up.

This went on for about an hour of back and forth counting, feeding off each other’s energy to reach the 590 mark.

“Five-ninety-one.” I counted, the both of us sweating heavily but we both refused to be outdone by the other.

“Five-ninety-two.” Dash retorted, her voice straining over her protesting forelegs.

“Five-ninety-three.” I grinned, though in my own mind I was feeling how out of shape i’d gotten.

“Five-ninety-four.” Dash grinned back, steeled resolve in her eyes to make it through to the end.

“Fine-ninety-five and power through the rest!” I ordered as we both finished the last five push-ups in less than a minute before we both collapsed to the ground.

“Hah, not so tough yourself afterall, are you?” Dash grinned as she rolled onto her back to look at me upside down, panting heavily.

“I’m just out of shape is all.” I replied, panting just as heavily. Sunset appeared in the evening light with two large bottles of water, one of each of us. “Can’t wait for the march to Ponyville and back carrying 20 pounds of gear!”

“Should be cake compared to those one-fifty pound bags we just had.” Dash chuckled as accepted the bottle with her mouth, the container being flipping upside down to free float in the air as it quickly drained down her throat. I sat up to drink instead and watch as Dash recovered.

“Maybe but this is for endurance training, not strength. We won’t be making stops on the road what so ever.” I explained as hauled myself to my feet. “But for now, i’m hungry.” I announced as Dash plucked the half empty bottle from her lips and rolled back over with a groan to stand on shaking legs and join me and Sunset in our quest to retrieve sustenance.

“What’s for dinner then?” Sunset asked as we entered into the hallway leading to the kitchen/dining room.

“Well if my internal clock is on point,” the three of us turned into the kitchen and it’s buffet. “Then anything that’s been prepared by the cooks.”

“Awesome!” Dash exclaimed, bolting into the room as Sunset and I casually acquired our plates and aimed for the table of meats where Weiss and her brother currently napped. “I could get used to this!” she exclaimed, her head poking over a table of fruits and vegetables.

“Well don’t. Consider this to be your introductory dinner. Everything you eat after tonight will be held to a strict military diet.” I replied with a grin, dragging a slab of steak meat onto my plate followed by a egg over medium on top of that, with hash-browns both over and under everything. Stepping over to the vegetable table as well, I scooped a bit of steamed broccoli onto my plate before taking a seat at the table next to my girlfriend and across from the Private Dash.

“So you’re an omnivore, huh?” Dash noted as she lifted a forkful of bell pepper into her mouth, watching Sunset and I consume our meats. Sunset had opted for a couple of chicken thighs that i’d gone out and hunted and butchered myself since none of the Castle staff were very likely to do so. Technically the same could be said for all the meats provided but ehh, semantics.

“Humans are omnivores, yes.” Sunset replied as I had a mouthful. “Is that going to a problem for you?”

“Nope, you’re like bears then.” Dash replied, biting into another grilled pepper.

“An avid comparison.” I muttered through a mouthful, trying to remain semi-polite and not talk with my mouth completely open. “Where’s Princess Luna? We’re going to need her magic to get the gear we’ll be carrying to Ponyville and back.” I asked once my mouth was completely empty.

“Do you never speak of me when you don’t need me?” Luna asked, rounding the corner into the kitchen.

“Sure we do.” I replied, stuffing my mouth to avoid trying to think of an example. I had none.

“So what items are you going to be requiring? I suspect tents and proper camping gear?” Luna asked, taking a seat at the table across from Sunset and beside Dash still stuffing her face.

“Not exactly.” I swallowed again and prepared for another bite but held short. “They’re more designed for military use so i’ll have to have Weiss assist us in creating things. As per your condition, nothing will be larger than your body.” I explained before taking the bite from the fork.

~~~

“I should have said nothing larger than Rainbow Dash’s body.” Luna whined as Dash and I stuffed our backpacks as large as my torso with everything I’d conjured with Luna’s magic and Weiss's assistance. “Even your camping materials are no larger than your head!” she lifted the compressed package of a two fully grown human tent up to examine the tiny package. True enough, it was about as thick around as my thigh.

“Yeah well, these backpacks would’ve been a hinderance if I could summon them.” I replied as Dash wiggled into her black body armoured suit, her tail already wrapped up in black self adhesive tape.

It was still the same night, we’d just absconded to my foyer in the dungeons to acquire all our gear and go over everything. At the moment we were simply packing everything into our backpacks and saddle bags for the march to and from Ponyville where we’d pick up the zebra instructor.

“And you absolutely need all of this?” Sunset looked at a bunch of items around her with a look of absolute confusion. “I don’t even know what half of it is.”

“Well, that shiny package in your left hand is an emergency blanket that’s good for use in the arctic weather and desert wastes. The item in your right hand is an omni-tool. Has everything from a fork/knife/spoon to a can opener and hand saw. Also included are a set of allen wrenches and various screwdrivers all sized for weapon maintenance.” I grinned as Sunset tossed both items to me and I caught them in the backpack, though the Omni-tool was fished out and dropped into an exterior pocket.

“I’m almost afraid to ask what this is…” Luna picked up a cylindrical object with a button on the handle and a large glass face on one end.

“That is a flashlight. Hit the switch.” I smirked as Luna aimed the glass at the ceiling and magically hit the switch. The ceiling was illuminated in over 300 lumens of light, shocking both Luna and Dash who’d never seen a flashlight before.

“What in the night sky!” Luna exclaimed, dropping the large flashlight to the ground and let it roll around and highlight Dash’s remaining visible colours. “That isn’t possible!”

“Sure it is. Evidence as such.” I replied, retrieving the device and clicking the switch again. “This is actually a much more simple technology compared to the rest of humanity.”

“To easily create light without a flame or star… Humanity continues to astound me.” Dash whistled as I set the light in the pack and proceeded to strap a bedroll to the bottom of everything. “Is this suit supposed to be so tight?” she asked, straining to get into the full body suit.

“Are you having issue getting into it or just zipping it up? If you can zip it, it fits.” I asked as Dash continued to wiggle into the suit, her rear end already mostly in the suit but she was having issues getting her forelegs into the holes.

“That depends on if I can get into the thing or not.” Dash grumbled as she sort of skipped over to me for assistance. “Help me into this thing would you?”

Leaning over, I held the suit still so the pegasus could push her tired wings through the holes and get her forelegs into the sleeves. Her head disappeared between her forelegs and grabbed ahold of the zipper with her teeth before pulling back up and zipped up snugly.

“There. Not so bad now is it?” I asked as Dash checked herself out in the light of the torches around us.

“Quite slimming, no? And you’re sure this is enough protection right?” Luna announced with concern, looking over the thin ballistic plates protecting Dash’s larger sections of body; chest, back, neck and flanks. Her head still had yet to be adorned with the helmet that would not only hide her mane but also provide full protection to her eyes and face.

“This armour will stop most small arms fire up to 5.56mm rounds and many explosive shrapnel. If Dash is taking fire from a large caliber weapon like a 7.62mm, then she’s in more trouble than she deserves.” I explained, knocking my fist against the plate covering her chest.

“So even if the Griffons have some sort of advanced ballistic technology, Dash’s going to be fine, right?” Sunset asked, leaning back against a stone post.

“It’ll stop the bullet but it’ll still hurt like hell. No avoiding that.” I shrugged back before pulling my shirt off to pull my own stealth suit top on. I’d already changed into the pants but because of how heavy the armour was, I’d opted to wait till the end for the shirt.

“So, is that everything we need?” Dash looked around at the items still strewn about the room. “What about the rest of this?”

“That’ll all get packed in when we actually leave. Most of that is ammunition for my shotgun, magnum and rifle so we don’t need to bring all that dangerous stuff with us on our march.” I replied, loading up my shotgun with more shells before stuffing the pouches with more and dropping the rest into the pouch on the sling.

“So why’re you bringing your shotgun?” Dash smirked as I dropped the weapon into the sling on my back barrel first before pulling the backpack over my shoulders.

“Security. As I said, we’re at war and you have no idea who’ll try to attack us on our walk.” I shrugged as I pulled a black toque over my head and stuffed the rest of my silver hair into it before dropping a combat helmet over top that.

“So why don’t I get a weapon?” Dash looked at me like i’d insulted her or something.

“Because we have neither the firearm compatible to be shot by a pony, nor do you have the proper training to even use one.” I explained as everything else scattered about began arranging themselves by size against a blank wall, all glowing blue. “Now let’s go.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Dash saluted and marched out of the door ahead of me as I waved good-bye to Sunset and Luna.

Author's Note

So I wrote all this while listening to Tom Thum on Youtube. You've never heard of 'im you say? Well you're missing out.

Regardless I am so distracted right now but I got this out. As such I'm expecting a bunch of editorial advice as I haven't the attention to do it myself right now.

Malawi

Getting anxious yet?

Distance to target, one hundred feet. I rounded the next corner and silently ascended the stairs, ensuring to only step on the outsides of the stairs to keep from potentially hitting a squeaker.

The darkness of the early morning did wonders for hiding my presence as my body was clad in the skintight black body armour from two days prior. Hitting the landing of the stairs, I took the next turn and crept towards the target’s door with a karambit firmly in my grasp.

Distance to target, thirty feet. I gently pushed on the door, trying my best to ensure that the hinges didn’t announce my presence. This target will not take kindly upon waking up.

Approaching the bed, I took a final look at the peacefully sleeping form and thought about how this was probably the only sleep she’d have gotten in awhile. With a shrug I stood up as quietly as I could and slid the karambit back into its sheath before producing a crystal enchanted with a very specific sound.

With a grin I pressed my thumb into the magical, squishy center and activated the spell. Instantly the sound of an explosive going off had just about the entire neighborhood awake, including a terrified Private Dash as she bolted upright and frantically began checking herself for injuries and the source of the explosion.

“You asshole!” Dash screamed as my grinning face became illuminated by moonlight. “What the hay was that for?” she demanded. My glare had her silence and change her mood almost instantly. “Sir.” she added through grit teeth.

“Your first lesson in stealth before we leave for Griffonia.” I remarked, pulling the covers from Dash’s body and tossing her her stealth suit. “Escape and evasion. You are responsible for an explosion having occurred in the area and must now flee the scene before the guards show up to arrest you for treason.” I explained as Dash’s mouth dropped and instantly began wriggling into the suit.

“What? But I never-” Dash began to protest but I held her short.

“Doesn’t matter. The guards have already been notified that an explosive was going to go off. They didn’t know where, when or who’d set it off. They’ve been ordered to detain the traitor and bring them to me for ‘Interrogation.’” I explained with a grin as Dash’s eyes went narrow and the zipper came up.

“What the hell am I supposed to do now?” she demanded as I began tying a black strip of fabric around her body to keep her wings restrained.

“Your orders are to escape capture and meet me at a predetermined location, marked on this map.” I explained, tossing a scrap of paper with a crappy drawing of Canterlot with and X marked just outside the city. “At which point we will officially begin our mission and go deal with the griffons.” I turned from the room and closed the door before taking off at a sprint towards the nearest window and vaulted through.

Landing in a roll I began traversing the rooftops as best I could while sticking to the shadows, already noticing the guards having been mobilized in this area as other civilians stood out in the streets wondering what was going on.

Exactly fifteen and a half minutes later I stood on the edge of town next to my bike and packed bags for the trip. I’d been forced to add side-saddles to the bike to carry Dash’s portions and as such she’d have to ride in front of me if I was to wear my backpack.

Luna had gifted me an ornate flask for good luck in our first official operation in the war, and so i’d filled it with the Dalmont and was now slowly sipping away at it as I waited. The guards had been told that i’d cover this particular exit from the city and not to disturb me until daylight where they’d find a letter explaining the current situation. As it was, Dash still only had at most an hour and a half until sunrise and she was nowhere in sight.

Another fifteen minutes later and Dash appeared on the horizon, the sun just threatening to finally poke out from beyond the landscape.

“Finally. Didn’t think you’d make it.” I announced, capping the flask and dropped it into a secured pouch on my person.

“Yeah,” Dash panted as she came to a halt. “Well you didn't-” another heaving breath. “Leave me much in the way of advice-” another breath. “Or my wings.”

“But yet you seem to have outsmarted the Guards and escaped your explosive entry.” I grinned as I pulled a letter from my back pocket and set it on a large rock with a smaller one on top to hold it down.

“What’s that?” Dash asked as she slurped on her canteen procured from the saddlebags on the bike.

“A letter pardoning your traitorous behavior and explaining what just happened.” I replied as I pulled the massive backpack onto my shoulders and swung my leg over the vehicle. “Now, let’s get a move on.” I ordered as Dash capped her canteen, dropped it in the bag then pretty much just sat down on the ground looking at me in confusion.

“So am I going to fly, run or…” Dash asked in confusion. I sighed and shook my head in reply.

“Ok, come here. I’m picking you up by the way.” I announced as Dash complied and approached the bike. Picking the mare up and sitting her down on the seat ahead of me, I had to make sure she understood to have her legs on either side of the bike rather than sit completely on the bike itself and potentially fall off.

“This is so weird.” Dash complained once she’d gotten accustomed to the seated position.

“Maybe but because of the backpack I can’t have you sit behind me and ride properly.” I replied as I started up the engine and began the slow roll forwards through the snow.

~~~

“Question: because of your rude awakening, when if at all, are we going to do breakfast?” Dash asked, looking up at me through her face shield that we’d stopped to acquire when the snow had started to really get blinding to her.

“I want to get around to Manehattan before we stop again if at all possible.” I replied, lowering my head towards Dash’s ear to be heard. this had the effect of her ear flicking my chin suddenly, making me jerk back upwards out of the way before another one could hit me.

“And how much farther to Manehattan?” Dash looked back up at me again.

“Probably another two hours at most.” I guessed as much anyways. With no official maps or distances we could still be half a day's drive away or another half hour.

“Aww, but that’s so much longer!” Dash complained, kicking her hooves ahead of me. If it wasn’t for the backwards knees, i’d be getting kicked in the shin about now.

“Well suck it up, soldier!” I ordered and accelerated. The rooster tail behind us grew slightly as I worked at keeping us going in a straight line though i’d admit it was getting harder to do so.

“Couldn’t you have designed any kind of transportation that didn’t freeze us to the core from the winter winds?” Dash complained again with a huff as the fog of her breath blew past her.

“Could have, yes but then I couldn’t fit it in it’s hidey-hole for storage.” I replied as my mind went back to my favorite truck from my past. “Maybe if the mountain had a proper sized garage built into it…” I added. Technically, if there wasn’t anything else in that cliff face I could probably try and mine it out myself and build the garage.

“Well, maybe think about fixing that so we don’t have to freeze our plots off out here!” Dash grumbled as I shook my head and slowed to a crawl. “What’re you doing? I thought you didn’t want to stop until Manehattan?”

“Yeah but i’m not in the proper state of mind to put up with your incessant complaining.” I replied, stopping altogether and letting the bike rest against the kickstand once it’d dug through the snow. “Besides, i’m also freezing my ass off.” I admitted, pulling off the backpack to go rooting around for a fire log and a fire starter set.

“So what kind of advanced human technology you got in there for warming us up? Gonna bring down a tiny collapsing star or something?” Dash smirked as I pulled out the wrapped up log and the flint stick.

“No, i’m going to set fire to this log and let it burn.” I replied slowly, cautiously to see what she was getting at. Unwrapping the log of it’s metallic plastic sheath, I more or less just had to give it a single sparkle from hitting the striker with my karambit to light the thing in a single movement.

“Wow, that was easy.” Dash noted as she dug herself down through the snow to curl up and get comfortable. I merely resorted to sitting on the backpack against the still warm bike, letting both the bike and the fire warm me in this winter wasteland. “So, Captain. Permission to speak freely?”

“Granted.” I nodded once, my arms folded over my chest and my eyes shut at I slowly warmed.

“How’re things between you and Sunset? I don’t know very much about you or her so i’d like to change that a bit, seeing as we’ll be putting our lives at risk for her.” Dash requested, the sound of her shifting around where she lay the only other thing besides her voice and the crackle of the fire.

“Thing’s are good. Been together for a couple weeks now and we’re really enjoying it. The dates had for the most part been on her side of the mirror up until recently.” I sighed and calmly explained.

“And how the sex?” Dash’s voice suggested she was grinning but my face remained still and cold.

“That is not an acceptable question, Private.” I informed the mare, remaining still and focusing on warming myself up.

“That just says that it’s either non-existent or not very good.” I cracked open an eye to meet Dash nose to nose. “So which is it?” I sighed in response.

“There isn’t any for a specific reason.” I admitted, making Dash giggle but remain in place. “I’m Gray-Asexual.”

“I have no idea what that means.” Dash’s grin turned into a blank look.

“Means that I don’t show sexual interest in anyone as often as other males. On average, and i’m just spit-ballin’ here, the human male will achieve an erection let's say approximately seven times a day. Of those seven times, he’ll actually be thinking about sex maybe four or five times.” I explained, one eye remaining shut while the other looked over Dash’s facial features.

“And what about you?” Dash’s blank look returned to a mischievous grin.

“For me it’s more like i’ll achieve a natural erection maybe three times a day. I’ll only ever actually be thinking of sex maybe once, if at all.” I explained and glared at Dash as her forehoof was where it shouldn’t be. “Last night was the first time in quite a few months that I was able to be intimate with anyone.”

“Uh huh, so you and Sunset did the deed then? You did the dirty dance, you broke the bed frame?” Dash smirked and refused to remove her hoof so I manually removed it myself.

“Yes, she and I had sex for the first time in our relationship. No, I won’t go any further in this conversation and if you attempt to assault me like that again, you’re walking home with your wings plucked.” I threatened and stood to kick snow onto the log, putting it out entirely. Dash’s flared wings snapped shut and lowered her head apologetically as I wrapped the remainder of the log in it’s plastic again and put everything way.

“Captain,” Dash began, still staring at the snow. “I wanna apologize.”

“Save it for when i’m not pissed off.” I ordered and slung my pack over my shoulders and boarded the vehicle. “Get on.”

“Yes, Captain.” Dash mumbled and allowed herself to be lifted onto the bike silently before we took off with snow flying around us.

~~~

“It’s coming! The Captain of the New Luna Armed Forces is coming, make a path!” a number of Guards demanded as Dash and I slowly rolled into Manehattan. The remainder of the drive from our conversation to here took about three and a half hours and it had quickly become apparent that neither Dash or I had eaten anything all morning.

“'Scuse me.” I requested, pulling up to a local. “Could you point us in the direction of a cafe or something?”

“Uh, that depends on what your looking to eat.” the mare replied, eyeing me over suspiciously. “I’m not sure if we have what you need.”

“Don’t worry about me, i’m just looking to feed Private Dash.” I replied, indicating to the mare still moping in front of me.

“I’m not hungry anymore.” Dash grumbled and I rolled my eyes. The mare seemed to shake her head in disbelief but pointed a hoof towards some produce stalls. With a nod of the head we accelerated forwards again, slowly enough so as not to run anypony over but quickly enough to avoid toppling over.

We came to a quick stop at a large produce stand and I pulled enough bits that the clerk was happy to toss a couple apples, some carrots and a head of lettuce into a saddle bag before we took off again.

~~~

“You know, I applaud your dedication to the Military life where you don’t eat anything for hours on end; but you’ll quickly learn to eat when you can otherwise you’ll have no strength when it counts.” I mumbled as we rode over the frozen lake between Manehattan and Trottingham. I was already working on an MRE that i’d pulled from a saddlebag and was currently mid-way through it.

“So now you’re talking to me?” Dash’s head shot up from resting on the gas tank of the bike to look back at me. “Can I apologize for my actions now?”

“Go for it. But while you’re doing that, you should eat.” I replied through a mouthful and regained some acceleration with a hand. The rest of the time it was in neutral and was merely gliding over the snow and ice, kept up with my balance which was in of itself a challenge.

“Is that an order, Captain?” Dash glanced back at me before turning her attention back to the lack of road ahead of us.

“Yes it is. Eat.” I ordered, pulling a carrot at random from the bag that they sat in and passed it up to Dash.

“Fine.” Dash grumbled as she began chewing on the vegetable for a moment before speaking up again. “I want to apologize for my inappropriate behavior towards you for back then. It was uncalled for and probably against a lot of Army rules that i’m not yet aware of. Not to mention that it was borderline traitorous to your relationship with Sunset Shimmer.”

“I accept your apology and I expect it to never happen again, is that clear?” I demanded with a smirk. Dash’s head rose back up and looked at me upside down for a moment of chewing on the remainder of the carrot before nodding and visibly cheering up.

“Sir, yes sir!” Dash saluted with a wing and sat up, leaned forwards and more or less took over the driving for me. “If you don’t mind?”

“Nope, i’m busy eating.” I shrugged back and took another bite of what was supposed to be some kind of chili. Honestly it wasn’t horrible.

“Yeah what’s in that anyways?” Dash asked as she fought to hold the accelerator in place with her hooves.

“I have no idea.” I replied with a chuckle and poking at the meal but took another spoonful regardless. “It’s got some sort of meat in it though so I don’t think you’d want it.”

“No arguments here.” Dash chuckled and accelerated further. I was forced to reach around her and shift up, surprising her a bit when my hand appeared next to her hoof. “Easy there, sir. We don’t want another incident do we?”

“Considering I was just shifting into a higher gear I don’t see the alarm.” I replied, sitting back to continue eating. “Just keep us going straight and at this speed. If you get to low in RPM: let go of the accelerator, hold this lever and I’ll shift down.” I explained, pointing out the RPM gauge and clutch.

“Why can’t I shift it?” Dash asked hopefully.

“Your legs can’t reach the plate where my foot is.” I explained as Dash’s head went down to look at my left foot and noticed the shifter plate on which it sat.

“Oh, yeah that would make it difficult.” Dash sighed in defeat as she turned back to the task of driving, her mane flipping around in the air ahead of me. “How’re you doing with all the snow back there?”

“I’m fine.” I replied truthfully. Frankly speaking, Dash was the only one who was actually getting snow in her shielded face; I was sat up straight and was just out of the snow being kicked up by the vehicle.

“Must be nice being so tall.” Dash gave a bemused grin as I finished my meal and crumpled the remains up to stuff into another bag for later disposal.

“Probably. Frankly I can’t make any comparisons since i’m so used to being human.” I shrugged and leaned forwards to take the handlebars control from Dash as she sat back, nestled in my body. Accelerating further, I shifted up into fifth and let the wind rip at my face as Trottingham harbours appeared on the horizon.

~~~

We completely avoided Trottingham and continued across the frozen lake, reaching the far shores at dusk. Under the advancing cover of darkness we walked the bike into the forest in silence, ears out for any sign of life besides us.

“Why am I out in front?” Dash whispered back as she trudged through the snow ahead of me.

“Because whether or not you’re aware of it, you’re always hearing stuff around you. You’re in front so I can watch your ears. If they turn a specific direction, then I know there’s potentially something that way to avoid.” I explained as we came up to a mountain side. Pulling up next to the cliff face the two of us stopped so I could pull a map that Luna had given me.

“What’re you looking for that my ears can’t find?” Dash asked, appearing over my shoulder to look at the drawings alongside me.

“A cave or something to hide the bike in.” I replied, trying to find any sort of cavernous indicator on the map.

“There’s one.”

“There’s one.” Dash pointed out to a small shadowed C along the edge of the mountain line. It looked like it was still another hour’s walk from here, but hopefully it would be deep enough and relatively uninhabited to suffice.

“Good eye.” I mumbled, rolling the map back up and stuffing it into the backpack before shouldering everything to resume pushing the bike. “So, why is Equestria snowed over but as soon as you hit the forest it’s suddenly spring?” I asked as I noted the lack of snow or leaves.

“No idea. Pegasi regulate weather in Equestria but I have no idea what happens out here where there are no pegasi. Especially now with the war.” Dash shrugged as she trotted alongside me with absolutely no stealth whatsoever. “Could be that weather out here is like weather in Everfree Forest. Just has a mind of it’s own.”

“So instead of being regulated by magic, it’s regulated by science and physics?” I concluded, earning another shrug from Dash as her ears twitched right. “Hold!” I whispered and dropped down into a crouch, Dash dropping to her belly as the bike came down with me.

Reaching over my shoulder, I extracted the shotgun from its sling and ensured it was loaded. Slowly sweeping over the area down the iron sights, I let the bike lay where it may as I slowly advanced forwards with Dash watching my back.

“Heh, did you hear? Those Equestrian wimps declared war on us! It’ll be easy pickings and hearty meals as soon as any of those mini-horses show up!” A female voice in the distance sneered as she and whoever she was talking with grew nearer. With a single hand motion Dash and I flattened ourselves to the ground as close to a group of bushes as we could get.

With the dying light enveloping the forest and mountain sides, my Dragon’s Eye proved invaluable as my right eyes began to highlight the area in blue, as well as a couple gemstones hiding just under the rock surfaces nearby. While I could see the approaching Griffons, I could only hope for two things: that my Dragon’s Eye wasn’t physically glowing and threatening to give me away and that griffon’s eyes weren’t capable of night vision.

“But what about that other thing they had? The one that got Jafar’s group?” a male asked, sounding concerned.

“Psh, that Simian? They taste like chicken!” the female grinned like she’d been served a five star dish or something. “Only difference is that ape will be easier to cook if he’s already shaved.”

“But I heard that it had knowledge of highly advanced technology! Technology that would put ours to shame!” the male quipped, still anxious.

“Bah! No creature on Equus has technology more advanced than us! The Zebra’s are too busy making rhymes and potions, the Minotaurs are too secluded and the dragon’s are too concerned with hoarding their treasures. Those Equestrian punks don’t even have fingers, let alone opposable thumbs! What could they possibly come up with that would rival our new firearms?”

“Firearms? This sounds interesting.”

“Yeah, I suppose. Still, where did those plans for the new guns come from anyways?” the male sighed in steadily increasing content. Frankly, I wanted to know this as well.

“Who knows. Apparently one of the feather-brains part of the away team had a run in with that Simian and got a good look at his weaponry. Too bad he didn’t know we’re so great at reverse engineering things with just a look.” The female shrugged as the two passed us by. “They’ll never see us coming!” she added with a malicious cackling.

As soon as the group was out of Dash’s earshot and the coast was deemed clear, Dash and I reconvened to sort out or next plan of action.

“They have guns!” Dash whispered as soon as we were back together again. “How did they get guns?” she demanded as we continued to push the bike towards safety, though with a faster pace this time.

“Apparently the one we released got enough of a look at my shotgun that he figured out a way to recreate it. No idea if black powder or gunpowder was already a thing for these big bastards though.” I whispered back “But now we have another target to hit. If we can cripple their offensive capabilities along with their chain of command, it’ll definitely throw a wrench into things.”

“What if they’ve already mass-produced enough for their army?” Dash was becoming increasingly worried by the minute. “What if they already have enough weapons to invade Equestria and slaughter us all?”

“Then i’m going to have to get creative with my own technologies.” I replied with a grim but firm look as we finally turned into the cave. “We leave everything non-essential here and we continue to Griffonstone on foot.” I ordered as I rested the bike against the wall.

Reaching into the backpack, I extracted the remainder of my and Dash’s stealth suits and we suited up, disappearing into the darkness even more than we already had. Loading up my pouches with the chromium thermite explosives, the Thermal imaging equipment which had a bit of a range finder installed, as well as a pair of extra magazines for my new silenced twin P226s -courtesy of Princess Luna of course- which sat on my hips.

“What if we’re already too late and they’re mounting an offensive?” Dash asked from the darkness as we exited the cave and began the trek upwards towards the mountains that loomed over the Capital.

“Then we’ll have to hope that the Guards can defend Equestria long enough for us to cut off the supply lines and get back to mount a proper defensive. Now stop talking.” I ordered as we bolted across the road, keeping to shadows.

Ducking into the vegetation again we arced our travel through lighter brush away from the paths towards the city but remained going in relatively the same direction thanks to my Dragon’s Eye. We not-so-soon came to the mountain that we’d scale and use for observations breathing heavily.

“We have to scale that?” Dash complained between heavy breaths as she looked up the mountain face.

“Correct. And I have to do it freestyle.” I replied already working on ascending the rocky facets. “You can fly.”

“Oh, right.” Dash chuckled nervously and spread her wings open wide. As I thought, since her wings weren’t covered the bright pastel blue of her fur almost acted as a reflective mirror in the darkness as the moon poked out from the clouds.

“Just make sure that you’re not seen.” I grunted as I reached for the next semi-stable stone jutting from the climbing surface.

“I think we’re good.” Dash announced, examining the locale around her for any sign of patrols or other flying creatures. “I can’t hear or see anything.”

“Good.” I replied as I crawled up onto a small ledge a couple hundred feet off the ground. Only another thousand feet to go.

I rescued who?

“That…” Dash began with a breath, peering through the thermal imagers. “Is a lot of armed griffons.”

“Yep.” I whispered back, taking the monocular back to look through with my left to survey the massing forces below.

“And you’re going to go down there? Alone?” Dash looked at me incredulously as she shifted around in place where she lay next to me.

“Yep.” I whispered again, feeling my bags to ensure nothing had dropped or gotten lost on the way up here.

“With nothing but what’s on you right now?” Dash’s incessant questioning was beginning to get irritating, to be honest.

“Yep.” I replied as I mentally went through my inventory: Karambit, twin silenced P226s with a single spare mag for each, shotgun strapped to my bag in it’s holster with a single full reload to spare, the Chromium Thermite charges and my skills at being unseen. I was going to be leaving the thermal imaging monocular with Dash simply to prevent the potential loss of such expensive equipment.

“Do you have a death wish or something?” Dash’s voice began to rise in volume with her questions, so I placed a hand on her back to keep her down on the ground.

“No but you don’t have the stealth capabilities nor know-how on how to arm and detonate the thermite.” I looked towards the Private. “What kind of Captain would I be to send a greenback into battle without so much official training?”

“I see your point. But how are you going to get down there and into the city from here? You just spent an hour climbing up here!” Dash demanded insistently.

“I’m going to climb back down.” I replied, already thinking about the relatively easier return trip to the ground to my left. “I’ll sneak in under cover of darkness, plant the explosives and get out before they detonate.”

“Then what am I going to be doing?” Dash continued to whisper though she turned her eyes back towards the military stronghold.

“You’re going to ensure that if I'm discovered and taken captive or killed, you’ll get the information we’ve discovered thus far back to Celestia -as well as bury the remainder of our equipment- and potentially mount a rescue for me or my body.” I explained slowly, calmly. Dash’s eyes went wide at the suggestion of my death. Apparently that didn’t sit well with her.

“If you die?!” she demanded in a furious whisper. “No way in Tartarus are you going to die! You’re not allowed to die!”

“I appreciate the support, but in our line of work everything can change in an instant and may very well cost lives.” I muttered, as I began to look more closely at the potential targets.

“Alright, remember this. Their main stronghold where their military bases from looks to be at the very center of the complex. To the right of the road leading out looks to be a set of barracks and training grounds, with an armoury to the left across from the living.” I announced, hoping Dash could either remember everything or was writing it all down.

“She’s not writing and she’ll forget everything.”

“I’ve got it. What else?” Dash asked as she scooted up closer to me to get a better look at where I was looking specifically.

“Behind the barracks and immediately left of the HQ looks to be weapons manufacturing. I can’t see anything specific but that’s one of the target’s i’ll be hitting.”

“What about the Armoury? Are you going to blow that up too?” Dash grinned eagerly.

“No. I’ve got enough explosive for two targets, or one massive one. As it is, the enemy HQ is large enough to warrant all the explosive I have but if I can work strategically and bring down the key supports, then I should be able to bring down a load bearing pillar in the weapons productions facility.” I explained, still searching for more HVTs. “It appears that the rest of the buildings in the compound are all civilian domiciles.”

“Oh, I feel I should mention something.” Dash spoke up suddenly, turning my attention to the pegasus. “There might be a griffon down there by the name of Gilda. She’s not bad and I'm sure she’d be against this war in the first place. If you can, could you make sure she’s safe?” Rainbow Dash requested willfully as I handed her the monocular to begin my descent.

“We’ll see.” I replied and lowered myself over the edge.

~~~

This. Place. Is. Massive!

From a kilometer or more away where Dash and I had done our reconnaissance, Griffonstone hadn’t seemed like a very large place. Maybe a small town or something. Standing with my back to the wall avoiding patrols along the ramparts had be re-evaluating my earlier prognosis.

One I'd gotten onto the ground, I was able to time the patrols along the tops of the walls to get up to where I now waited but there was another ground patrol due to arrive any minute now.

Keeping my back to the wall and my body hidden in the last hour of the day, I drew a single P226 and took vague aim at where the birds were due to appear from. I wasn’t kept waiting long as soon a trio of griffons, armed with what looked like some kind of clockwork pistols and scimitars rounded the corner and casually sauntered past my position.

Rather than make the mistake of stepping out of the shadows I merely pressed my entire body into the wall to stabilize and took aim at the back of the neck of the griffon nearest me; the back of the pack/flock/pride -what the hell do I call a group of these bastards?

Squeezing the trigger, the back of the neck exploded outwards and splattered the griffons ahead of him before I turned my aim to the next, popped him a single round and then finished off the third and final one. Holstering the weapon I moved to the bodies and began the arduous task of pulling the dead creatures into my hiding spot, as well as to search them for anything of interest.

Of the three of them, the leader looking one seemed to have swapped out a number of his actual feathers for throwing blades that looked like feathers. I’d have nearly missed them if it wasn’t for the glinting metal painted to match the colour of the surrounding feather groups. Gathering up as many as I could and dropped them into an empty bag that I'd eventually use for empty pistol magazines or shell casings, I continued to approach towards a water inlet that had bars across the opening.

Unfortunately for Griffonstone, the smallest animal they appeared to be trying to keep out looked to be a pony. I was thinner than most ponies and so it was no trouble for me to squeeze myself between the bars and let my Dragon’s Eye illuminate the dank, murky water pipe of concrete build.

Following the water’s direction of travel, I eventually found myself in a large underground reservoir with other tunnels leading water away and likely into the other portions of the city. Chances are that this cavern was directly under the HQ itself, or at least it was close enough by my estimations.

Following the cobbled pathways around the lake, I began to pick up the faint sound of heavy snoring coming from down a rather wide tunnel with no water running down into it. Curiously, I poked my head around the corner before entering in entirely.

“Well fuck you sideways.”

“Well shit…” I muttered under my breath as I took in the enormity and majesty of what appeared to be a fully matured white and black Dragoness. Unfortunately my comment did not go unnoticed as the Dragoness snorted and cracked open an eye.

“Oh, what’s this? Have my captors sent me something new to snack on?” she asked, getting in low to look me over. “No. I think not. You have the eye of a Drake in you. What are you?”

“Augmented human, ma’am.” I replied calmly though in all honesty my heart was racing and threatening to give me tachycardia where I stood. If that happened I truly would become her next snack.

“Hmm, never heard of your kind before. Are you related to the Simians?” she asked disinterestedly, rolling onto her side to scratch at her black underbelly. I also noticed the chains around her wrists and feet, keeping her relatively in place.

“Sort of. Human’s are thought to have evolved from a variation of them. We’re both homo-sapiens. Ma’am.” I replied faux-calmly.

“Ugh, enough with the ma’am. As you can see, I'm not a ma’am as I am a prisoner.”

“Yes, I've noticed. Are you a prisoner of the Griffons?” I inquired hopefully as my heart rate returned to normal.

“What gave it away? You’re sure you’re not a Simian, they’re not very bright you know?” The Dragoness mocked and rolled back onto her belly though her eyes refused to let go of my image.

“I’m sure. Then if you’re a prisoner of Griffonstone, would you be willing to help me destroy them if I were to free you? I’m sure they wouldn’t be expecting an attack from below.” I offered with a smirk. If I could turn her to Equestria’s cause then I’d almost be willing to part with some thermite to melt through her shackles if she’d return the favour and do the destroying herself.

“And what makes you so sure that I'd be willing to help you in the first place? Maybe I like it down here?” she retorted cautiously eying me over.

“Nah, I don’t think you do. There’s a distinct lack of gemstones, jewels or even any decent meat to eat. Except for the ones above your head. Griffon tastes amazing for dragons if you weren’t already aware.” I replied with an unsubsiding grin.

“And how do you know all this about us?” she demanded lackadaisically.

“I’ve got a white and gold baby dragon under my care, as well as her black and blue brother who doesn't like me that much.” I explained calmly, taking a seat on a nearby rock.

“Say that again?” the Dragoness almost demanded, getting as close to me as her bindings would allow.

“I have two baby dragon’s under my care. One is white and gold, her brother is black and blue. Their names are Weiss and Eben, appropriately.” I reiterated, slowly and unsure if I'd hit a nerve or something.

“Huh. So they’ve found themselves in the care of a new species. Well then, human caretaker… What do they call you?” she grinned benevolently.

“Captain. May I ask what relationship you have with my kids?” I nearly demanded but did what I could to remain cordial.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Your kids?” the Dragoness grinned again bemusedly. “Those two drakes are likely my kids.”

“Oh? And why would you say that?” I offered interestedly. This was surely becoming something of an incredible meeting.

“Because I was drunk when I popped them out and named them Weiss and Ebenholz. I distinctly remember Princess Celestia making a remark about the names. She said they sounded funny.” I had to give her that. Weiss and Eben’s names were a little on the nose. “Tell me, funny creature; how are my…” The Dragoness caught herself and smiled kindly. “Our kids doing?”

“Please feel free to continue calling them your kids. It’s a bit strange hearing the word ‘Our’ used when we have no real relationship beyond I just found you here. Beyond that, you’re welcome to come see them if you agree to help me destroy Griffonstone when I get you free.” I offered, standing and patting the pocket in which the thermite resided.

“Hmm. You make an interesting offer, Captain.” she replied thoughtfully as she sat back to contemplate my offer. “Very well. I shall assist you in your mass slaughter of the Griffons above us, I shall feast on their corpses in the process and you shall let me see my kids for the first time. Oh, and you may call me Lady Schatten”

“Agreed. Now, shall we get you freed?” I grinned and pulled out the packaged Thermite.

“Feel free. I’m not quite sure how you plan to remove these irons though. They appear to have been enchanted to withstand dragon breath.” Lady Schatten smirked as she shook the chains that bound her.

“Maybe they have. But do you think they’d have been enchanted to withstand twice the temperature of boiling magma?” I grinned and cut open the package with the karambit before spooning out a line of thermite over the nearest chain link.

“Where are you going to find boiling magma here? Even if you did find some in the nearby mountain, how would you get it in here without injuring yourself?” Lady Schatten inquired as she watched me move on to the next chain binding her feet. “What is that strange dust?”

“This is Chromium Thermite. When I ignite it, it will burn at over 2200 degrees Celsius. Almost twice as hot as molten magma.” I explained and continued spooning lines onto the chains. “Truth be told, these packages were going to be used to destroy the military base above us by burning through their structures’ support pillars.”

“I see. And how are you going to survive such temperatures here in an enclosed space?” Lady Schatten inquired as I wrapped up the remaining package and stuffed it away.

“I… Hadn’t thought of that actually.” I admitted after a moment of nothing coming to mind. It was true, if I was to light the thermite and run before I myself got injured, I'd have to run at Mach chicken.

“I have an idea. Since I'm sure it was little Weiss who gave you that eye through magical means, and since it hasn’t rejected you, that means you’ve got some magic in you. Which means I can offer you a gift for taking care of my children in my absence.” Lady Schatten announced, tilting my head and turning my attention up to her face.

“Oh really? And what, pray-tell would that be?” I asked interestedly.

“How about dragon-scale armour? You’re body obviously isn’t foreign to magical augmentations so this should be simple.” Lady Schatten explained as she reached back behind her body and extracted a single white scale as large as my entire fucking body.

“And how would this work?” I asked, examining the shiny side of the scale; admiring my distorted features and silver hair.

“You must not be clothed, for one thing. Then I merely breath my own Breath on the scale, melting it down to the point of pliability. After that it should begin to fuse to your skin and provide the armour.” Lady Schatten explained before her face become one of worry. “I do have to tell you something though.”

“What’s that?” Frankly I didn’t care. This was going to be cool.

“There’s risk of damaging your body while doing this. If I don’t get the temperature of my Breath exact, or your own magic rejects mine and/or the scale, you may suffer permanent and severe bodily harm.” she frowned at my lack of caring. This was too cool and I was eager to get started. Besides, if Weiss had such great control over her Breath at such a young age, then a dragon matron ought to have perfect control.

“I’m not worried. Weiss’s Breath doesn’t seem to hate me, so why would yours?”

“Very well. Please disrobe.” Lady Schatten requested as she held the silvery scale before me to offer privacy. It didn’t take me very long to shuck everything and stand in my skivvies.

“Ready.” I eagerly announced.

Lady Schatten lowered her head to my level and with a concentration let out a single, long breath of pure white fire over the scale and my body. It was unbelievably soothing to the touch, actually. I was expecting an instant sunburn with how the fire was completely white, but I was quite content standing in just about nothing as the scale began to disintegrate and coat my exodermis.

A minute and a half later and the scale was gone, having been transposed onto my now silvery- white skin to match my equally silver hair.

“That is actually pretty cool.” I announced, looking myself over before drawing my karambit to test drawing it over my forearm. The blade merely glanced over what looked like tiny scales of my own, leaving me without injury. “Thank you very much for the gift you have imparted to me.”

“You’re very welcome. I’m pleased that the transposition went as smoothly as it did. Now, about my rescue?” she requested eagerly, ensuring not to shake off the thermite.

“Absolutely.” I grinned as I redressed. As soon as I was covered up again my skin seemed to return to it’s normal tanned white tones, piquing my interest. Putting it to the back of my mind I hoped to Celestia that it was merely a camouflage thing like with chameleons and that putting on clothes hadn’t undone or deactivated my new protection service.

Pulling my shotgun I took aim and blasted a shell at the thermite, effectively lighting it and letting the intense heat almost instantly melt through the chain link with pure iron flying about in sparks. I remained quite cool internally.

“Quite the display you’ve made there.” Lady Schatten noted with a smirk as I fired the next round at the next link, then the next and the next. “I’m sort of glad that I hadn’t eaten you right off the bat if you have something like that on you. I’m sure I'd likely have been killed from the inside out after my stomach lit up that powder.”

“Probably, yeah.” I smirked as Lady Schatten pulled against her chains and snapped the links before stretching out in all her magnificent, intimidating splendor. “Now for your side of the deal concerning the killing of griffons?”

“Of course. Please, climb on.” the Dragoness requested as she offered me a large claw to climb up onto and ride. I soon found myself on the Lady’s head as she began to very quickly claw her way through the ceiling. “Hold on to something, Captain.”

“Already on it!” I shouted back up, clutching onto one of her spines. Seems Weiss got her good looks from her mother.

A single minute and a raked claw later, we broke through ground and appeared in what I assume to actually have been the Griffonstone Military Headquarters judging by all the startled, but armed griffons around us.

“Hello, dinner.” Lady Schatten grinned and I had to admit, I smirked just a little. As the griffons began to evacuate, Lady Schatten began snatching them up to drop them into her mouth and not even chew as she stuffed clawfuls of bird/lion things into her gullet.

“Oh, I should tell you now that I'm not alone here. I’ve got a blue pegasus waiting for me to return on the mountain overlooking this encampment and some equipment stored in a cave down the road that I need to retrieve.” I announced as the Lady rampaged through the city, destroying everything in her path with her claws, breath and wing sweeps.

“Absolutely, we’ll pick them up on our way into Equestria.” the Lady nodded in kind as she all but belly flopped onto the weapons manufacturing plant at my request.

“You! What is the meaning of this!” A single, terrified/furious female voice demanded of me from behind the Dragoness and I. Lady Schatten spun around and took hold of the female griffon just as a blue pegasus appeared wings spread.

“Wait, please! She’s my friend!” Dash demanded, beating her tiny hooves against the pointer finger of Lady’s claw.

“Is this the pegasus you spoke of?” Lady Schatten asked of me.

“Yes. Lady Schatten, meet Private Rainbow Dash of the New Luna Armed Forces. And apparently this griffon is Gilda, friend of Dash’s.” I explained as Gilda looked at the Dragoness with silent tears streaming. “Please spare her.”

“Very well.” Lady Schatten opened her hand and let Gilda recover joyfully with Dash that she’d lived and not been eaten.

“What is going on? What happened to the thermite explosives?” Dash demanded as she and Gilda hovered next to me.

“Used them to free Weiss and Eben’s mother.” I shrugged back as the moon poked it’s light through cracks in the cloud cover above us. “Turns out that a fully grown Dragoness has a higher kill rate and is more thorough at destroying things than a pound of thermite.” I grinned as the Lady smirked.

“Private Rainbow Dash and friend Gilda. A pleasure to meet you both. I apologize to Gilda if I've consumed any of her friends or family.” Lady Schatten gave a short bow for introduction.

“N-no you’re good. All my family and friends moved out before conscription started.” Gilda meekly replied, shaking the single claw of my new friend. “I’m just glad that Rainbow Dash appeared when she did to save my life!”

“Nah, it’s nothing! I’m sure you’d have done the same for me in better circumstances.” Dash grinned and rubbed the back of her neck as the two creatures landed next to me. “So what now?”

“Well, we’ve accomplished our mission through Lady Schatten. Now we exfiltrate and return to Princess Celestia with the news. Gilda…” I looked at the bird in question hesitantly. “I don’t know. We could say that you’re a prisoner or that you’ve defected from the Griffons and want to join the NLAF as a new recruit.”

“Hey, I didn’t even like those feather brains. They conscripted every able body over the age of legal consent to fight in this stupid war. If you can get me in a position that the Equestrian’s won’t reject or hate me, then I'm all for it.” Gilda offered in surrender.

“Well there we have it.” I announced with a content grin. “Shall we recollect our equipment and head home?”

“Yes please. I kind of have to talk to my friends about this whole thing. They don’t actually know what I've been doing for the last three days.” Dash admitted sheepishly. “They all think I'm in Canterlot for a Wonderbolts thing.”

“Question, where am I gonna live?” Gilda held up a claw with her valid question. “If I'm going to be scrutinized during this war for being a griffon, I don’t want to live on my own.”

“Easy, you’ll come live with me! I’ve got a spare room at my place in Canterlot!” Dash grinned adamantly.

“That’ll help if and when you join the new army.” I shrugged as Lady Schatten took off for the nearby mountain with our stuff still waiting for us before diverting to the cave in which my bike and bags waited for me.

~~~

“Tell me again what this thing is and how it works?” Gilda requested as she looked over the bike as we rode the silvery back of Lady Schatten into Equestria.

“It’s a motorcycle adapted for high speed and off-road travel. It uses a combustion engine to power the drivetrain which turns the wheels. I hope to create a full sized truck when we get back to Canterlot and have some time while Luna’s in a good mood to allow me to borrow her magic.” I explained as I relaxed against a spine.

“I didn’t understand half of that.” Dash admitted as she sat on the bike herself, with Gilda keeping it upright. “All I know is that it works and it’s awesome!”

“So how much longer till we get to Equestria?” Gilda inquired, looking past Lady Schatten’s head to try and see the approaching border.

“Not to much longer I suspect.” I replied, letting myself fall into a sort of lucid sleep state in the remainder of the night.

“It’s funny. I don’t feel any of the usual magic in the air when I'm not in Equestria.” Dash noted thoughtfully, gazing up at the stars for a while. “I wonder why it just seems to stop at the border.”

“No idea.” I muttered as I slowly fell asleep.

“Hey Soren. What’cha doin’?”

My eyes shot open and I stared into space at the sound of my name being called.

Can I actually think my name? Could I do that before? I wondered to myself. Could I say the name Soren Mercer in my head?

“Hey, Captain.” Gilda caught my attention and I looked up at her bewildered. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Not exactly.” I muttered in return. I was too busy trying to remember if I could even think my name without having the powers that be preventing me from doing so. “Are we still out of Equestrian control?”

“For now, but the border is rapidly approaching. Why?” Lady Schatten requested from ahead of us all on her back.

“I wanna try something. My name is Captain Sor-” I announced, just as we crossed over the border and both Dash and Gilda rushed to the edge as far as they dared.

“Look at that! A straight edge between Griffonia and Equestria with snow!” Dash exclaimed excitedly. “We’re finally back home!” I sighed.

“Not like you did much in the first place.” I smirked, having been able to get out the first three letters of my name before Equestria said otherwise.

“True. I’m sorry for interrupting. You were giving your name?” Dash requested as both females returned to the little group.

“Nah, it’s too late now. Seems it’s only Equestria that doesn’t let me say my name.” I shrugged off the idea and tried to go back to sleep.

~~~

“Well, this is certainly unprecedented.” Princess Luna announced as she flew up to meet us upon our arrival in Canterlot airspace. “Good morning to you all.” she greeted us warmly. “How was the mission?”

“Mission complete, though through alternative means.” I grinned in reply, patting Lady Schatten’s back appreciatively. “Turns out that Weiss and Eben’s mother was captive to the Griffons and offered to help us in return for meeting her children.”

“Well, I think we can accommodate her wish. I feel I must ask, however, what the casualties were.” Luna requested as she sat down next to me as we came in for a landing in the Canterlot Gardens, the only viable landing zone for a fully grown Dragoness.

“They were great. Of all the griffons residing there, I think a small handful got away and Gilda was spared. The rest of the city fortress was levelled and consumed by me. I hadn’t actually eaten anything substantial for at least a decade, you see.” Lady Schatten announced as she touched down and we all removed our possessions from her back.

“Of course. Does it make a difference to ask what they had for military assets?” Luna inquired as I let the bike rest against the mountain wall near to the door to the Dungeons.

“Yes it does. The Headquarters were heavily fortified and they had a weapons manufacturing plant close by. They’ve also discovered firearm technology.” I announced, making Luna’s face go pale and her eyes wide in shock. “I shall of course share my own advanced weapons technology with Equestria to combat these new weapons.”

“We appreciate that.” Luna nodded solemnly. “I have to ask though, what has happened to your skin?” This question had both Dash and Gilda approach me quickly and examine my dermal layers.

“Woah, yeah! It’s so shiny! Almost like Lady Schatten’s scales!” Dash exclaimed as she looked me over.

“Actually, that would be because they are, or were Lady Schatten’s scales.” I explained as the Dragoness chuckled behind us. “I have been magically augmented further in order to prevent physical harm from coming to me during rescuing the Lady.”

“Astounding, you’re slowly becoming a dragon yourself!” Luna chuckled before a thought suddenly hit her. “Lady Schatten? As in, the Lady Schatten?”

“I see you’ve heard of me. A pleasure to formally make your acquaintance.” the Dragoness smiled kindly as the rest of us merely looked at the two beings dumbfounded.

“Captain, do you not know who it is you’ve rescued from captivity?” Luna turned to me with a grin and a look of absolute pride. “You’ve rescued the Dragon Queen herself!” Everyone’s jaws or beak dropped open.

“I’m sorry, what?” I stumbled back a step, as though that would help me. “Dragon Queen?”

“Indeed, my small rescuer.” Lady Schatten remarked with a smirk. “Honestly I had no idea you didn’t know who it was you were rescuing.”

“Well shit… Slayer of hostile mythical beasts and rescuer of Queens.” I muttered incredulously. “Quite the title, huh?”

“I think there’s one that fits you even more perfectly.” Queen Schatten proclaimed, raising herself up onto her hind legs. “For all eternity, you shall be known to the Dragon race as Drachenreiter. It is a title befitting of a Queen’s personal friend and confidant.”

“Drachenreiter.” I mumbled under my breath, still in disbelief.

“You should know there are only two others on Equus with the title Drachenreiter, and one of them stands before you.” Queen Schatten grinned bemusedly as my eyes went to Luna who smirked sheepishly.

“Do you get the feeling that we’re in way over our heads?” Dash whispered to Gilda who merely nodded in silence.

“I graciously accept the title you have bestowed upon me, Queen Schatten.” I gave a small bow as Luna did the same. “I shall also retrieve Weiss now.”

“Go ahead. I’m eager to finally meet my children.” the Dragoness said eagerly as she got back down to our level. With a nod of the head I made my exit into the dungeon with my bike to unpack and bring Weiss to her mother.

Holy shit, Weiss is a princess herself…

I'm sorry, my mother is who?

“Dad, your back! We weren’t expecting you back until later this evening if not tomorrow!” Weiss squealed as she launched herself up into my waiting arms as soon as i’d released the bike and had dropped my pack.

“Yeah I know. Took us all day just to the to Griffonstone so I was expecting there to be an overnight.” I replied with a grin, brushing my hand over her spines. “There’s actually a reason that i’m back so early.”

“Oh? Whussat?” Weiss asked eagerly. I grinned and began the ascent up the stairs with Weiss snuggled up in my embrace.

“I got a lift from a very special dragon who was taken captive.” I explained generically. “I rescued her from her imprisonment and in turn she’s annihilated all of Griffonstone. Not only that, but if you look at my skin…” I edged her on. Weiss turned her head and looked at my arm as it glinted in the light.

“Woah, are those scales?” she exclaimed with incredibility. “How’d you get scales?”

“Same way I got the Eye. The dragon augmented my skin with one of her own scales so that I could survive the heat of the thermite when it burned through the chains.” I continued to explain. “I didn’t know until after i’d gotten back with Lady Schatten, Dash and Dash’s friend Gilda that Lady Schatten that the dragon you’re about to meet is actually the Dragon Queen.”

“Woah, you saved the Dragon Queen? Amazing!” Weiss exclaimed as I set her down on the last step and the two of us stepped out hand in claw to let Weiss take in the Matron Dragon’s form.

“Yes. Weiss, I would like you to meet your mother, Queen Schatten.” I announced. Weiss remained stock still but her hands remained clenched around my own, gradually tightening.

“Wh- what?” she lost all enthusiasm for fear and a timid look as she looked like she was about to cry or something. “My m-mother? As in the one who laid me?”

“As in the one who laid you, yes dear.” Queen Schatten smiled warmly and got down as close as she could without scaring the poor girl. “Hello, little Weiss. I see you’ve grown so big and strong already. Captain tells me you’ve got quite a powerful breath.”

“Ye-yes I have.” Weiss replied, no longer looking on the verge of tears but still terrified all the same. “Are you really my mother?”

“I am. You and your brother Ebenholz were laid at the same time and were reluctantly given to Princess Celestia for her magic school in the hopes of ensuring peace between our races.” Queen Schatten explained as I was joined by Luna, Dash and Gilda who quietly watched the exchange.

“So you gave us our names?” Weiss asked, becoming more and more brave as her grip eased up on my sore hand.

“Yes I did. I will admit that I was a tad inebriated when I gave you those names, which is why they’re no more than describing your scale colour. Celestia chose not to change them because she felt that the names were perfect enough as it was, and I agreed.”

“Okay, so then where have you been for the last thirty years?” Weiss demanded now as she climbed up onto my back and got comfortable.

“Imprisoned. After I gave birth I was due to fly back to the brood and rejoin the pack, however because of my drunken state, I was deterred and taken captive by the Griffons to be kept as a trophy under their capital city. I haven’t been back to the homeland since.” Queen Schatten explained, earning a tear from Luna as Dash and Gilda discussed things to themselves.

“Okay hold on,” Weiss held her claws up as she sat on my shoulders. “If you’re the Queen,”

“Then that makes you a princess. Correct.” Luna finished with a smile. “A pleasure to meet you officially, Princess Weiss Schatten.” she bowed, as did Dash and Gilda once they’d gotten the cue.

“And Eben is a prince?” Weiss smiled to herself, imagining what her brother would say or do when he found out the news. “Another question. Is he older?”

“I’d say you two came out at the same time. I wasn’t really in a position or state of mind to be able who hit the ground first.” Queen Schatten replied truthfully, as though she regretting saying it.

“Right, you were drunk when you had us.” Weiss replied in a low tone of voice.

“No, I was drunk when you were born. I was of sound mind and body when you were conceived.” Queen Schatten informed of us firmly. “But besides that, I see you’ve found yourself in good care.” she smiled, looking the two of us over.

“Yeah, dad’s pretty great. For a dragon-human hybrid anyways.” Weiss announced, patting my head affectionately.

“‘ll have you know I think I do a great job at being your human dad.” I quipped with a smirk, making everyone burst into a short fit of laughter. “For a first time dad ever, I think i’m doing pretty good.”

“I’m not complaining.” Weiss remarked defensively. “But I suppose now you really are more like my dad now that you’re wearing one of my mom’s scales.”

“How so?” I raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Well when a King or Queen Dragon has selected their partner, they exchange one of their primary scales and wear it over their heart. It’s quite painful to both parties but only lasts until the other’s scale is put in place. It shows that through any kind of hurt, the partner will always be there to help protect the one they love. Since I have no idea what happened to my husband over the last few years…” Queen Schatten smirked at me flirtatiously before giving me a wink, making everyone’s jaws drop a foot.

“Hang on, this wasn’t a primary scale was it? I’ve already got a partner of my own, I apologize if i’ve lead you on or anything but I have no interest in a relationship with anything but another human!” I backpedaled as Queen Schatten burst into a fit of laughter, a snort of silver flame leaking from a nostril.

“Oh, I am so sorry! I was just playing a game with you, poking fun I believe it’s called. No, that wasn’t a Primary. It was a tertiary from my left side.” she grinned as my face went red as Rainbow’s eyes. “Besides, i’ve still yet to lose my husband.” she sat up and placed a hand over a lone red scale on her chest protectively.

“Okay, good. Glad we cleared that up.” I replied, breathing heavily and running a hand through my hair which now matched my skin. “So what now?”

“Now? Well I suppose i’ll head home and see what the state of my kingdom had fallen into in my absence.” Queen Schatten remarked with a large shrug. “It has been thirty years.”

“Question!” Dash exclaimed, sticking her hoof into the air. “Gilda and I want to know how old Weiss actually is! If she’s thirty and still so small, how long do dragons live for?”

“My great, great great great great grandfather is still going strong and he’s almost one thousand four hundred thirty seven. His grandfather was the first dragon to appear in Equestria during the last rule of the Two sisters. I wasn’t even a hatchling when Nightmare Moon was banished.” Queen Schatten smirked as Luna rolled her eyes.

“Excellent, another creature unaware of my past and what i’d done. I like you more and more, Queen Schatten.” Luna exclaimed with a grin, bumping royal appendages with the Dragoness.

“And I you. Shame I could not meet your sister though, but i’m sure she’d be sound asleep as it is. Perhaps another time.” Queen Schatten announced as she limbered up her wings and prepared for a flight home. “Until then, I say good-bye to all. Oh, you’ve also got the support of the Dragon clan behind you in this coming war, Drachenreiter.”

“Bye Mom! Say hi to the King for me please!” Weiss called as a couple enormous strokes of the Dragonesses wings lifted her into the air before taking off with a mighty roar. “So,” Weiss looked down at me from my head. “I’m a princess!” she giggled, her feet kicking around made it difficult to keep her on my shoulders but I held fast.

Author's Note

A shorter one, yes. I kinda felt that it needed to be separated from the last chapter as it was getting long enough as it was on it's own. I figured that this chapter would act as a decent way to move into bigger, better things.

I've also got some big plans for the Drachenreiter and his girlfriend, just you wait.

Živjeli

What Is That?

“Fillies and Gentlecolts! Today, today, you witness magic beyond your comprehension!” A light blue mare with an even lighter blue mane and tail exclaimed, all while hiding under a purple cape and witches hat. “For I, the great and powerful Trixie, have finally perfected a shield spell that even stops the magic of the human captain!” this announcement had the crowd in gasps and awe as the unicorn waved her hooves around towards a vase.

Her horn began to glow and soon encased the vase in a light blue bubble shield before bringing a sword down on it. The blade merely bounced off with a single spark from the shield.

“I dare anypony brave enough to wield this blade and test their strength against my magical might!” Trixie announced welcomingly and a bunch of hooves went up. “you sir, please step forwards!” she selected a stallion seemingly at random and lifted him up onto the stage.

The stallion was of the pegasus persuasion indicated by his surprisingly large wings as he bit down on the hilt of the sword and lifted it above his head. Bringing it down with all his might the blade danced off the shield with a couple more sparks, but the shield held firm.

“You see! This shield can withstand even the mightiest of blows! Even the mighty human Captain cannot pierce this shield with his weapons!” Trixie announced again, earning hoof stamps and other applause from the crowd. Except for three.

“Miss Lulamoon.” Luna stood from her seated position in the crowd, Weiss on her back with arms crossed over her chest and a frown on both their faces.

“Oh dangit.” Trixie’s eyes went narrow as she began to back off stage at the Princess’s arrival.

“Forgive me if i’m wrong, but I don’t recall you ever stopping by the castle to test your shield as you’ve claimed!” Luna announced, earning gasps and scorn from the crowd anew.

“No, that is correct! I met the human in Ponyville on one of his excursions and tested it there!” Trixie announced in her best attempt to recover.

“Where was I for that?” I asked as I stood from my own seated position. “As I recall, I am the only human in Equestria, yes? I am the human Captain of the NLAF who has the weapons you claim your shield can stop, right?” I asked with a light smirk. The remains of the crowd was silent as they watched me unravel the show.

“Yes, I do believe you are, Captain.” Luna remarked as Trixie slowly backed off stage as I stepped onto it.

“Would you mind if I test your shield for myself?” I asked cordially. I’d actually replaced the bullets in the P226 with blanks for this. Luna had told me already about Trixie Lulamoon and her past. Apparently she was trying to recover her reputation as a magician and after hearing about her latest gimmick, I thought i’d help her out.

“N-no, not at all! Let all who gathers know just how powerful the Great and Powerful Trixie really is!” Trixie announced and recast her shield spell around the vase.

With a shrug I pulled the P226 from my shoulder holster and took aim.

“This’ll be loud, just so you all know.” I warned. Hooves and wings covered ears and I pulled the trigger as soon as everypony was ready. Heads went down at the noise and only came back up when i’d lowered my gun with the safety back on.

“Did he miss? There weren’t any sparkles this time, I think he missed!” a crowd pony exclaimed but I shook my head in reply.

“I never miss. I think what happened is that Miss Lulamoon added a disintegration field to the shield. The bullet literally just vanished!” I exclaimed, making Trixie look at me stunned. She and I both knew that her shield would have been shattered had I used actual rounds, but she recovered quickly and retook the stage.

“That- that’s right! In order to prevent collateral damage, I made the bullet vanish as soon as it hit the shield! All to protect you all great patrons!” she announced as I chuckled and stepped off the stage, swapping out the blanks for real bullets to holster the weapon again.

“That was something. Those other bullets really sounded like the real things!” Luna exclaimed with a grin as we went back to sauntering through the city of Canterlot.

“Yep. They’re good for when recording films or working on plays and you need the authenticity.” I agreed as we turned the corner onto the street that Eben had set up shop on so long ago.

“Let’s go say hi to Eben, tell him he’s a prince!” Weiss requested eagerly as the three of us diverted course.

The door opened, the bell rang and Eben’s head poked out from the back.

“Welcome to Eben’s Cabinetry. We’ll make anything special order and personally deliver-” Eben finally caught sight of us as he stepped around a desk. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Oh, don’t sound so disheartened. Especially when we bring some interesting news.” I smirked as Luna took to examining the furniture and Weiss shifted from Luna’s back to my own.

“I can’t think of anything important enough for you to come personally visit me.” Eben disagreed and turned to return to work.

“Captain met our mother, saved her from captivity and brought her back to meet us.” Weiss announced, making Eben stop mid-stride and turn back to face us with a look of fury.

“How dare you mock me about such things!” he exploded, snorting flames from his nostrils which threatened to burn the shop down. “That is so far beyond possible that it’s an insult! Mom is dead!”

“No, she isn't.” Princess Luna announced calmly as she sat down in a living room chair. “Oh, this is nice.”

“Yes she is! Our last unicorns told me so! She laid us as eggs then when she returned home she was slain by the Griffons we now are at war with!” Eben yelled, still getting more and more heated.

“She was captured, not killed.” I crouched down but remained where I was to keep from enraging the little guy anymore than he was.

“Sure, the little guy doesn't like you already, let’s just make him hate you more!”

“No! Mom died and she is never coming back!” Eben protested with tears in his eyes as Weiss stepped down off my back and hugged her brother.

“What do you know of mom?” Weiss asked calmly, quietly.

“Not-” sniffle. “Not alot. I was told she had silver scales, that’s it.” Eben admitted as he wiped off his face on the back of his hand.

“Like the scales that now cover Captain?” Weiss asked, turning her brother’s attention to my skin. I knelt down and let Eben approach me and take my hands to examine the backs and my arms.

“But- but how’s that possible? Silver scales…” he murmured as he examined my body further, even lifting my shirt to look at my armoured chest. “But that can’t be possible! There has only been one count of silver scales and that was our mother! He can’t even have run into her corpse since the scales would have lost their brilliance...”

“Nor would I have been able to transfer the scales onto him. You should know that a Dragon’s scales are unique to the Dragon and requires that Dragon’s Breath to graft them onto another Drake.” Weiss explained as she sat down in my lap. “Dad met our biological mother and saved her. In return she gave him one of her scales for armour. There’s also one other thing.”

“What? You drop something like this on me and there’s more?” Eben asked incredulously.

“Our biological mother and father are the Dragon King and Queen.” Weiss announced, dropping Eben’s mouth wide open. “We, you and I, are royal Dragons.”

“Holy shit.” Eben mumbled as he stared off into space. “I’m a Dragon prince?”

“And I’m a Dragon Princess. No idea how far down the line we are to the throne though. Mom never said anything about it.” Weiss shrugged.

“So that’s all you’re here for? To tell me we’re royalty working for a human?” Eben had calmed himself down entirely now as Luna continued to explore the store, mentally shopping for new furniture.

“And stop by to see how my adoptive child is doing. Come on, I do sometimes think about you, you know?” I replied with a smile.

“[i]Rest of the time you’re thinking about Sunset Shimmer. I wonder if she’s okay? I wonder who she’s with? Maybe it’s another guy...”

“Uh huh. But mostly you just wanted to tell me i’m a royal dragonling.” Eben crossed his arms and returned to his less-than cheerful demeanor. “Well, not that we all have work to get to, but i’m actually kind of busy.” Eben announced as he turned tail and walked into the back room.

“Nice to see you too Eben.” I muttered as the three of us turned and exited the storeroom, Luna peeling herself off of a rocking chair to join us.

“So, what’s next-” Weiss began to say however a number of newsponies having appeared before us cut her off.

“Excuse me, you must be the human Captain of the NLAF, correct? We’d seen you assist a miss Trixie Lulamoon with her show fifteen minutes ago. Would you care to comment on the fact that a unicorn like her has developed a shield that can withstand one of your firearms?” one almost demanded as they all looked up at me from my waist line. Luna began to step around to answer the question but I held her short.

“On the record, no comment. Off the record?” I looked out at the crowd and hoped that this next statement would at least remain anonymous. “Off the record I used blank rounds against the shield, which is why there were no sparks nor any ricochete. Blank rounds are merely rounds that do not fire bullets but instead are made to merely give the report of the gunshot.” I explained with a smirk.

“So Trixie’s shield is not bullet proof as she claims?” another stallion demanded from near the back. I shrugged in reply.

“I have no idea. Because we were not in a controlled environment and we had the public gathered around us, I did not want to risk either shooting through the shield and injuring somepony behind the vase nor risk the shield holding and making the bullet strike a bystander. If Trixie would like to come to the Castle to actually test her magic against my science, she’s more than welcome.” I remarked and resumed the walk back towards the castle with the newsponies still surrounding us but following our direction of travel.

“What of Operation Adam? What has developed in the war against the griffons?” this had me hold up short as I forgot about making a public announcement as promised.

“Right, I promised you all a statement after the Operation… Okay, I’ll tell you all what. Come to the castle just at the evening sun for an official statement. It’ll let me form an actual statement to make, as well I have some things to do before then.” I requested and exited the newscasts around us. Luna hurried to my side and lowered a wing, letting Weiss and I climb up onto her back before taking off to return to the courtyard of Canterlot Castle.

~~~

“So what’s this thing you’ve gotta do before you can tell what happened in Griphonia?” Weiss inquired as I stood facing the mountain side, staring at it with blueprints running through my head.

“Private Dash gave me an interesting idea when we were driving over the lake. Speaking of which,” I turned to the training Rainbow Dash nearby. “Twenty laps around the courtyard soldiers! Move it!” I shouted to the small group of about eleven creatures, one of which being Gilda and the rest all newly enlisted ponies. “No wings!” I added as Dash did her best to fly as low to the ground as she could.

“What idea was that?” Luna asked from her shaded seat nearby, a drink in magical hand.

“Since it’s still very much winter here in Equestria, it’s still cold when we’re driving incredibly fast. Now that we’ve also got an expanding military we’ll also be needing troop transport. My bike is barely enough to carry Dash and my pack so we’ll be needing something… bigger.” I grinned and turned back to sit with the dark Princess under her parasol.

“And I'll assume you’ll want my help in fabricating this new creation?” Luna lifted her sunglasses to look me over daringly.

“But of course. As soon as Weiss or I can find a new set of stones for the connection I’d like to get started.” I replied, sitting back as I lifted a cold glass of iced tea to my lips.

“Actually,” Weiss’s high voice broke the air from the opposite side of Luna as she sat forward to address me. “Now that you’ve got more Dragon in you, even if it’s just scales, I want to see if you can make the connection yourself, without me and the stone.”

“Do you think I can do that? Your mother did say I must have a pool of my own magic as yet untouched.” I replied back in wonder. Would it be possible for me to find some way of casting magic of my own?

“What makes her say that?” Luna remained reclined on her back, enjoying the winter air with her tea. I was the only one actually drinking a cold drink, but I suppose I was strange like that.

“Apparently the Dragon Eye wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t. The Dragon magic requires magic to graft itself onto. Apparently.” I explained and continued to watch the troops galloping hard around a quickly emerging track in the snow.

“That makes sense, actually. So theoretically you may not be able to cast spells, but if somepony were to create some kind of weapon that could use your magic to activate directed spells…” Weiss suggested, getting eager to test her new theory. “Oh! I wonder if Princess Twilight could help! She’s really inventive, I bet she could come up with something!”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” I smirked as Luna procured a quill, inkpot and parchment for me to write on.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Princess Luna, Princess Weiss Schatten -long story, I'll explain next time we meet face to face- and I have come up with the hypothesis that I may have a stored pool of magic within me.

We have already theorized that I myself cannot cast magic, but if somepony with the intelligence to do so were to devise some method of weapon that would be capable of using my magic to activate a stored spell… Well I imagine this would be quite something spectacular, no?

I have an idea on how the mechanism may work, through firearm technology and enchanted crystals or gems, and I’d be quite interested in discussing this idea with you at your earliest convenience.

Formally in service,

Captain, Captain of NLAF

“And, send!” Weiss announced as she blew golden fire over the newly rolled up document. “So now what?”

“Now I continued to try and imagine what kind of storage I'd have to come up with to store the troop transport vehicle.” I sighed a heavy breath as a number of quicker NLAF soldiers finished their run and went back to exercising in the inner ring of the track. “500 push-ups when you're done, no wings!” I shouted, making many of the creatures groan in protest.

“So this vehicle you wish to create, how big of a monstrosity are we thinking?” Luna looked at me apprehensively and I could do nothing my grin back in reply. “Great, it’s going to be massive.”

“I hope you’re well rested, Princess.” I grinned and sat back again, getting comfortable.

“Fine, fine. Let’s get this over with.” Luna demanded as she rolled over onto her side to get up.

“Alright, you asked for it.” I grinned and slid off the chair myself, taking a quick drink of nearly frozen iced tea. The pegasi had allowed for a slightly warmer winter day, so the temperature was just above freezing. Made for a perfect iced tea without actually turning it into ice.

I took a seat on Luna’s back and placed my hand on the back of her neck, just as Weiss had always done and we both closed our eyes.

I began to imagine the chassis first, made of solid titanium. Luna’s horn fired up and began to whip the wind around us as a rather large circle of pure white light erupted from the ground. The chassis began to materialize and I added the large studded tires and suspension to keep it all off the ground.

“Four wheels? And they’re as big as I am!” Weiss exclaimed from behind the pair of us. “Looks like the connection is working though, don’t need the stone or me as a conduit any longer.” she added with a sigh.

“You’re still my adopted daughter, Weiss.” I replied as I began adding the transmission and engine when a thought occurred to me. There were no sources of fuel for either this thing nor the bike.

“Why have you stopped? I don’t think it looks very completed.” Luna asked as I removed my hand from her neck and examined the engine as it sat.

“It’s not. A thought had just occurred to me that there are no fuel sources in Equestria. I’m wondering if it’s possible for magic to act as a fuel source.” I replied, sitting on the frame behind the engine, where the firewall would technically sit.

“It’s quite massive though, I must admit. I appreciate that you seem to be going through the build process in stages, making the magical toll on me less significant.” Luna noted as she examined the existing pieces of my soon to be truck. “Does this contraption have a name?”

“It’s a truck. I’ll give you it’s commercial name after it’s finished.” I replied as Weiss tossed a fire ruby at Luna. The Alicorn Princess caught it in her magic just as it was about to strike the side of her head and looked at the thrown object curiously.

“What is this for?” she asked as I caught the idea.

“Oh, that’s genius! Thanks Weiss!” I exclaimed as I took the stone in my hand and looked it over. Setting it on top of the engine I climbed back out of the frame and back onto Luna’s back to resume the casting.

“Care to share the genius idea?” Luna requested as her horn fired up again. Keeping her eyes open she watched at the fire ruby was integrated into the combustion chamber of the engine block, to be lit and used as a fuel source.

“Fire Ruby’s explode when subjected to heat. If we were to give it a slow burn, I’m hoping that it’ll work as the fuel source.” I explained as the rest of the drive train shimmered into existence. Leaving the fuel tank out for lack of fuel sources, I moved directly into the exhaust system and then threw in the radiator and cooling systems.

Moving back to the engine block I threw in the supercharger that would eventually give me another 23 horsepower.

Now begins the rest of the body.

Creating the firewall was the last bit before adding in the user controls: pedals, steering column and the rest of the electrical systems. Adding in the floor, the heated leather seats came in with the logo imprinted into the headrest for a total of three rows of seating.

The armoured woodland camouflage skin of the truck began to ride up, as though it was being poured into an invisible shell of the truck’s body with the VelociRaptor logo being the last to slide into place before the rest of the electrical systems and glass appeared.

Adding in the off-road upgrades to an already armoured truck, the LED light-bar across the top sort of rolled up from the roof and settled into place as a custom LED light-bar along the grille and along the sides of the roof joined it’s new friend. Just behind the light-bar sat a radar antenna, small enough to fit and not look entirely ridiculous but large enough to cover a large enough area.

At the centre of the roof sat a luggage rack with plenty of pre-existing straps to hold equipment down through all terrain.

Finally the light died off and left my favourite truck from my past and I'll admit, probably the only decent Ford I remember they’d made. By default the VelociRaptor commands a 600hp engine but with the off-road kit and the supercharger, like I said, an additional 23 horse power is added to the stock performance truck.

I regularly didn’t like Ford, I was raised to be a GMC or Chevy guy, but I always loved this particular model and it’s older brother the Raptor.

“What in Tartarus is that?” Gilda demanded as she and the rest of the troops approached to examine the vehicle. “It looks ridiculous.”

“Many humans would agree with you. I personally love this truck and I’d never gotten a chance to own or drive one back when I was on Earth. Now that I remember, Sunset has one like this, only in bright yellow.” I replied with a smirk and hopped off Luna’s back to pull open the back doors into the enclosed truck bed. “This version of the truck came with titanium armour panelling for no apparent reason, but I'm glad Hennessey made it like that now that it’s being used for military purposes.” I announced as I hopped up into and sat on the tailgate as Dash climbed in to explore the remainder of the interior before trying to climb over the seats.

“Oh holy shit.” Dash sighed in utter bliss as she sunk into the leather seats. “Oh, that’s amazing.”

“Isn’t it though?” I grinned and hopped down to pull open the remaining doors for other ponies, Luna included who hopped into the front passenger seat.

“Oh yes, this is simply marvellous!” Luna exclaimed as she too sunk into the seat under her backside. Gilda looked at the truck skeptically before climbing in with a bit of work to sit as Dash and Princess Luna were.

“Hmph, I suppose it’s okay.” she grumbled, her claws crossed over her chest defiantly.

“Let me up! Give me a hand!” Weiss requested as I lifted Weiss into the back with Dash and Gilda. “Woah, this feels like leather!”

“How’d you know what leather feels like? Let alone was it is?” I raised my eyebrows curiously as I rounded the vehicle to the driver's side and slid into it.

“Dad, remember my belly? It has a very similar feeling to it when my scales are just washed.” Weiss reminded me as she found the seatbelt and gave it a pull to examine the latch. “What’s this for?”

“Seat belt. Keeps you safe if we were to get into an accident and hit something. There’ll be a small latch down in the seat with a red button.” I explained and pulled my own seatbelt on as Luna magically latched hers and Gilda helped Dash with her own.

“So this works like the motorbike, right? Just it’s closed in and warmer?” Dash inquired as I started up the engine and let myself have a moment to myself.

“Yep.” I replied once I came out of my stupor. “It’ll also let us carry everything we need comfortably and over long trips.” I added as I shifted into gear and let us roll forwards and rolled down the window to yell at the remaining troops.

“Forty laps around the Castle itself or until I get back, whichever comes first!” I ordered, gaining salutes from everypony in their training outfits.

Rolling through the gate, barely, I ensured that I’d keep to the main roads which should be large enough to allow for a vehicle of this size to pass by unscathed.

“Where are we going?” Gilda asked from behind me, still seemingly uncomfortable however her slowly swinging tail had me thinking otherwise.

“Around Ponyville.” I replied as we hit the main road out of the city and with the road clear from the engine scaring travellers out of the way, accelerated to Canadian highway speeds with ease.

“I never thought something as big as this would move so quickly! Aren’t you worried about traction?” Luna, despite her worries, was having a great time as she watched the terrain fly by. I chuckled and shook my head in reply.

“Nope. The tires are studded so they’ll grip into ice with ease. We have next to no chance of spinning out or losing grip unless I want us too.” I replied and peeled off the road and simply jumped off the remainder of the hill into a snow pile.

“Great. We’re stuck. Well done.” Gilda rolled her eyes at me, looking ever so unimpressed. I grinned back in reply and merely threw the truck into first before accelerating gently. This had the intended effect of easily digging ourselves out to continue our now off-road trip through the Equestrian winter wonderland.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of this amazing truck.” I chuckled, as did the remaining females in the passenger seats save the griffon.

“Yeah yeah, alright. I suppose it’s pretty cool.” she lightened up a bit as we passed into the shadow cast by Canterlot Mountain. “So what about now? Let’s say it’s dark as a cave outside. I saw those weird bar things on top, what do they do?”

“The light bars? Let me show you. Ladies, you thought that flashlight was bright?” I chuckled eagerly and hit the Aux switches and activated the miniature collapsed suns on the roof and grille. The entire area around us immediately lit up as though it was the middle of a summer afternoon, if not brighter with the reflective snow surfacing.

“Holy… you’re sure you’re not harnessing a miniature star or something?” Dash exclaimed as she pressed her nose to the glass, fogging it up with her breath.

“Pretty sure, yeah.” I grinned and killed all but the grille lights as we began dipping into and out of snowbanks and potholes with near reckless abandon.

“Woohoo! Faster! Faster!” Weiss exclaimed eagerly as we weaved around trees and through brush covered in snow. The brush plate worked marvellously and kept us from getting stuck even as we merely dug ourselves into and out of more snow piles and huge snow drifts.

“Hey look, Sweet Apple Acres!” Dash exclaimed as we passed by what I guessed to be the backside of the estate. “Let’s go say hi to Applejack!”

“Oh I'm sure she’ll meet us in town.” I replied and revved the engine a bit to really get the Apples’ attention before launching up and onto a snowed over gravel road into town. “I’m sure the entire town will meet us…” I added as we pulled up towards the centre of town before trying to skirt around everypony to reach the Friendship Castle.

“Why’re we here?” Gilda asked as she looked up at the obscene eyesore of a royal abode.

“Primarily, Twilight has the most space for me to safely park somewhere. Other than that I'm sure the others will be most likely to gather here before investigating our disturbances.” I explained as I backed in next to the tree thing to park and turn off the engine. “Good to see that our modified engine works perfectly.”

“Indeed, I wasn’t entirely sure how you planned to do so, but as long as we didn’t get deserted somewhere cold.” Luna agreed as she hopped out with everybody else.

“Captain?” Twilight’s voice was looking for us before she followed the strange tracks and rounded the corner to meet us. “Captain, what is that thing?” she demanded as she flew up to look over the truck.

“A truck. It’s like the motorbike but better.” I replied with a grin and a shrug. “Did you get my letter?”

“I did. I’m intrigued by your hypothesis, but I'm wondering where you got the idea that you have a stored pool of untouched magic.” Twilight replied as she stood on the hood before I shoo’d her off it and checked for damage. It may have been armoured but still, didn’t want to risk it.

“Well, long story short, I met the Dragon Queen when she gave me dragon scale armour. She told me that if I didn’t have a stored pool of magic that my previous magical modification wouldn’t have stuck around very long.” I explained as we all followed Twilight and I into her castle for warmth. Gilda remained silent alongside Dash behind the rest of us. As I understood it, Gilda had had some bad experiences in the past here in Ponyville.

“Your Dragon’s Eye, correct? I suppose it’s possible that it only stuck around because of an innate magical quality about you. Alternatively it’s possible that the Eye is responsible for this newfound magical energy. Have you tried casting any magic?” Twilight spun on her hooves and walked backwards ahead of me as she interviewed me.

“I don’t know how magic works nor do I know any spells or time to learn either.” I replied as Luna escorted the others towards the library to relax while Twilight and I continued into her laboratory.

“Which is why you wish to create some sort of weapon that uses your magic to activate pre-determined spells.” Twilight nodded and magically pushed open the large double doors into the room with every machine I'd never even heard of occupying the room’s walls. “I admit, the theory is sound but the practice… That’ll be a bit harder.”

“Well, Weiss is able to enchant gemstones to carry sound files so why can’t they be enchanted to carry inert spells?” I shrugged and took a seat at Twilight’s desk. The Princess immediately set forth to plugging me into her machines, sticking little EKG stickers all over my body before clipping wires to them. I was getting very confused about the technology actually available in Equestria.

“Maybe it has to do with the different kind of magic stored within Dragon’s Breath. First, I want to see if you do in fact have a stored magical energy pool. If you do then we’ll see about finding a way to draw it out.” Twilight insisted as she began magically tapping away on a keyboard meant for fingers.

A bunch of beeping, whirring and clicks, a length of paper flowed from a machine with a bunch of lines on it, none of which meant anything to me what-so-ever.

“But- but how is this possible?” Twilight stared at the paper in shock, her eyes wide as she looked everything over. “That can’t be possible! There must be some mistake!”

“Here comes the fun part.”

“What? What’s wrong?” I asked, getting slightly concerned though I remained in my seat.

“This says…” Twilight looked up at me as she stammered. “Thi- this says not only do you have no magical power, but you’re also absorbing it from your surroundings at an alarming rate!”

“Which means?” I looked at the nervous Princess with utter confusion.

“Which means that you are a spell sponge! You absorb the magic within a spell, or even the magic in the air and filter out the effects to keep that while dispelling the remainder like waste!” Twilight rolled her eyes at me though my confusion remained. “Ugh, it means that you can absorb all kinds of magic, light or dark doesn’t matter, and purify it into pure magical energy! You’re like a plant recycling carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen!”

“Oh, you could’ve started with that you know. So then how have the Dragon Eye and Scale armour remained? Wouldn’t I have just purified that magic as well?” I asked, examining the tiny, faint scales on my arms.

“It seems that while you filter the magic, some aspects get left behind like a filter. The garbage of the magic sticks to you and leeches off on some of the recycled magic. I wouldn’t say it’s parasitic, it’s more…” Twilight trailed off, looking for a proper word.

“Symbiotic? As long as the effects remain positive I gain a symbiotic relationship to this ‘magical waste’?” I inquired, trying to both assist the Princess in her train of thought as well as to help explain my situation in a way I could understand.

“Yes! That’s precisely it! I wonder what would happen if we tried to filter dark or black magic through you?” Twilight’s gaze drifted off into space as she began to ponder the implications of this new discovery about myself.

“Personally, I’m not sure I want to find out.” I muttered, breaking Twilight out of her revele. “So if the dragon magic within me is acting symbiotic, does that mean we could potentially fashion a device that would act the same way under specific conditions to charge a spellstone?”

“Maybe, but I'm almost willing to bet my wings that you don’t have any sort of magical conduit about you, right?” Twilight looked me over as I remained seated while she removed the stickers from my skin.

“As in a horn or other paraphernalia?” I offered for clarification. Twilight nodded as she returned to her station to put the wires away.

“Right. Unicorns can use their magic through the horn because the horn has special channels through which the magic is able to flow through. We think of the spell we want to use and then channel it through the horn as data to be converted into its arcane forms.

Pegasi are able to use their magic for flight and weather manipulation through their hooves and wings. The bones in their wings act like the horn in that they channel the raw magic through them and into the feathers to achieve lift. The hooves do more or less the same thing.” Twilight explained when an idea struck the both of us.

“So if I had a bone structure capable of conducting magic…” I suggested with a smirk.

“Then you may be able to cast spells!” Twilight agreed when another thought occurred to me.

“What about Dragon Scales? Are they conducive to magic?” I arched an eyebrow suspiciously. “When I created the truck, I was able to do with without Weiss’s help. She always said that she acted as a magical conduit for when Luna and I were casting. After Queen Schatten gave me these scales, I was able to directly interface with Luna’s magic to cast the magic for the truck outside.”

“That makes sense, dragons are highly conducive to magic. It’s why they’re capable of spells that unicorns and Alicorns are not. Oh! I get it! Now that you’ve got Dragon Armour you think that your new skin will act as the magical conduit?” Twilight grinned at this new idea of a potentially new method of magical use in me.

“Probably. It works on Luna, why can’t it work on something else?” I shrugged.

“I wanna try something. I wanna see how this whole ‘assisted casting’ thing works for you and Luna. I want you to try and cast something through me while I measure the reactions within us.” Twilight announced as she once more began sticking the both of us with stickers before hooking us back up to her machines. “Just do whatever it is you usually do with Princess Luna.”

“Alright, all you need to do is concentrate on casting. I’ll do the rest.” I replied, standing to place my hand on the back of Twilight’s neck as her horn fired up purple. Closing my eyes I began to focus on the image and workings of a SCAR-H kitted out as a DMR platform in a reactive flecktarn camouflage.

The weapon began to appear before us and as it assembled, Twilight’s machines beeped and whirred as readouts began to pour out until the weapon was done and I had something to add to my slowly expanding arsenal.

“Woah, that’s disorienting.” Twilight shuddered as she shook herself off and returned to her results. “Oh, that would be why.”

“Why what?” I asked, examining the new rifle now in my possession.

“Because you were forcing pure white magic through me. My own magic has it’s specific signature in the form of a colour. Pure magic is completely white, blank. When you were casting through me the two magics were fighting each other to convert the other into the same format. Has Luna ever complained about fatigue or a headache after you used ‘assisted casting’?” Twilight explained as she looked over the streams of white printer paper.

“Used too. When we created the bike she was down for a good couple hours before she was able to get outta bed again. Now she seems to hardly even notice it anymore.” I replied as I shouldered the cleared weapon and sat back with my feet up in the air, as though they were resting on a foot rest.

“Maybe through continued practice the magic has learned to cooperate better and convert into her signature magic?” Twilight mumbled as she looked over the paper again. “Theoretically, if by forcing pure magic into a magical conduit could convert that pure magic into a specific colour through continued use and practice; then it’s possible you could use some kind of Casting Assistance Device with inert spellstones as you call them.”

“Cool, i’ve already got a couple ideas about the designs of said CADs; if you don’t mind trying ‘assisted casting’ again?” I suggested eagerly, sitting up on the edge of the chair.

“Not at all. I want to see what kind of changes occur in the readouts after a bit of practice and continued casting.” Twilight replied with a smile. Standing and leaving the SCAR-H on the seat behind me, I placed my hand on the back of Twilight’s neck again and we both closed our eyes. “Go ahead.”

The first thing I imagined in my mind was a sort of bracer/gauntlet type thing that I could potentially use for spellstones containing spells that would have effects like shields, health bubbles or other passive/defensive spells like that. The tiny trinket dropped to the floor with a clink and I began the offensive device.

With metal pads in the hand grip, similar to those on treadmills that would read the user's biological statistics, and a firing chamber that could take a shaped spell stone before ejecting it with ease; the last part I thought to add in was a small tank-like bit that I figured could potentially store extra magical power. Not that I knew how it’d work anyways; I'd leave it up to Twilight to figure that part out.

The new weapon dropped to the floor on top of the gauntlet and I took my hand off Twilight’s neck, leaving her slightly less disoriented but still enough that she was forced to her knees to recover.

“Wow, that one was really something.” Twilight commented as the machines ceased their functions, having completed their tasks. “Wanna explain these things to me? Their intended purposes?” she asked as she struggled to lift the devices to me. “Wow, near magical burn out from the incompatibilities. No wonder Princess Luna was down for so long.”

“Sorry about that. Regarding these devices, the gauntlet would be for spellstones that would offer passive or defensive spells. The other one would be for spells either fired from the horn or for offensive spells like fireballs or whatever.” I explained, inserting my hand into the gauntlet and strapped it on. Inside the glove were similar tiny metal plates, hopefully conducive to magical energy or this whole thing wouldn’t work immediately.

“Okay, so the gauntlet is kind of simple to figure out how it’d work, what about that weapon looking thing?” Twilight looked over the weapon as she remained resting where she was.

“Basically I designed this to work like a rifle. You load it with a cartridge containing the projectile, in this case the spellstone with the inactive spell encoded within it, ensuring that your magic can flow through these metal plates here to charge the weapon. Pull the trigger and the magic is pushed through the firing mechanism, activating the spell and expels the effects out of the barrel.” I replied, showing off each step with the description.

“Huh. If a unicorn got a hold of that they’d have a fairly powerful weapon since they wouldn’t have to know the spells that they’re putting through it. Do you think that if there was a blank spellstone in the firing chamber that they could use their own spells?” Twilight theorized as she looked it over.

“Maybe, but we’d have to see how many times a spellstone can be used before becoming useless; if at all.” I shrugged as I pulled out the spellstone with my PTSD recovery song encoded in it. With a small twinge of guilt I inserted the stone into the weapon’s chamber and loaded it up.

A couple of clicks had me pull the stone back out unharmed to examine it and the weapon.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked with a tilted head.

“Doesn’t fire. Kind of like it’s jammed or unloaded or something.” I replied and stuck the spellstone into the empty slot in the gauntlet. The stone almost immediately activated with tiny white lines arcing through the stone before meeting up in the centre where the spell was located. Soon the room was filled with the song of my past, calming the both of us as it played.

“That sounds wonderful! Kind of emotionally invoking too...” Twilight noted with a hint of a smile once the song had ended. “But it’s interesting that the spellstone worked in the Gauntlet but not the weapon. Maybe the devices can discern the spellstone’s use and hints at which device it would be best suited for?”

“Perhaps. Can you enchant a stone with an offensive spell? I still want to test out the gun.” I requested and fished into my pocket for a random gemstone.

“Maybe. I’ll probably need Spike or Weiss to help with the transcription though…” Twilight replied as she rolled onto her back to scratch herself on the floor. “Dangit, this is probably so much easier with hands.”

“Usually, yeah.” I replied with a chuckle as I dropped the Recovery song back into my pocket. “Want a hand?”

“Yes please!” Twilight requested, rolling back onto her stomach as I got down to scratch her back. “Oh, Celestia! That’s good!” she announced with a giggle.

“Glad I could be of assistance.” I chuckled back and returned to my seat to the tune of Twilight complaining that I wasn’t finished yet with accompanying pout.

“Right, stone enchanting. Spike!” Twilight called out suddenly.

“I’m here! What can I do?” Spike appeared in the doorway eagerly before sprinting to his alicorn’s side.

“Do you think you could enchant this stone with a simple offensive spell?” Twilight requested, lifting the small amber stone with her flickering magic.

“I have no idea, but I’ll try!” Spike announced, taking the stone in his claws and sucked in a breath.

Letting the green fire out had the stone start to shimmer, however it remained otherwise unchanged once the breath faded away.

“What’s going on?” Weiss asked as she and the remaining ponies and griffon entered after Spike. “Why’re you sending an average amber to Celestia?” she inquired as Spike held onto the stone in his claws.

“Oh, I wasn’t! I was trying to enchant it with a spell at Twilight’s request!” Spike replied sheepishly, having failed in his task. “I don’t think it worked though, sorry.” the dragonling directed his apology to Twilight who merely smiled in reply.

“No wonder, you didn’t have a spell being carried in your breath. What spell were you trying to imbue into it?” Weiss asked as she took the stone in her hand to examine it.

“Something offensive, like a fireball or something.” I replied and Weiss nodded before taking in a breath of her own. Letting out golden flicks of flame, the gem began to glow slightly as the spell was properly encoded into the crystalline structure of the stone.

“There. You just need to know what spell you’re using and then transfer it into your breath.” Weiss explained, tossing the stone to me.

Inserting the new spellstone into the weapon and reattempting to load it, I aimed at a relatively blank wall that Luna had protected with a shield spell of her own. Pulling the trigger I could feel my hands begin to tingle against the metal before a fireball actually spewed forth and struck the shield, dispelling against its protective surface.

The firing mechanism pulled back and ejected the spent stone, the amber having lost it’s lustre and appeared to be smoking a bit.

“Cool, it works as I figured it would.” I muttered with a grin as I picked up the spent spell casing to examine the effects. “Ladies and gentledragon, we have the first magical firearm in Equestria.”

Author's Note

Thanks to kitsunekit for the title suggestion, big help bud!

ypa

Is it worth it?

“Fillies and gentlecolts.” I began, my voice echoing out into the ballroom in which the conference had been staged. “As promised, I have prepared a statement about the events that have transpired during Operation Adam; the operation I had hoped would have ended this war before it even began.

“I have good news and I have bad news. Good news first: Griffonstone has been leveled and most of the griffon military was killed in action. It did not go off as I had expected; I was planning to subtly destroy the military assets of Griffonstone with an explosive device. I instead found a dragon imprisoned under the enemy HQ and opted to use the explosive to free the dragon with the condition that she join our cause and destroy the base from below.

“This leads me to bad news number one. It is very likely that other dragons have been taken capture or are fighting on the side of the Griffon nation. The dragon I rescued who turned out to be Queen Schatten herself, has assured me that when she returns home that she’ll speak to the clans to try and relieve us of our future problems with enemy dragons. That being said, I cannot make any promises about whether or not that worked.” I took a second to get a drink of water to sooth my already aching throat as I gazed out at the congregation before the Princesses and myself.

“Next bad news. A handful of griffons have escaped the destruction of Griffonstone and are likely to mount a counter-offensive against Equestria.” A number of shocked faces lit up and gasps echoed in the room. “But, among one of those survivors was a griffon who has defected from Griffonia and has enlisted in the New Luna Armed Forces. I will be speaking with them later tonight about potential intelligence she may have obtained and can provide to aid in our defense.”

“This defector, if I may ask, who is it?” A newspony demanded from the front lines of the congregation.

“She will remain anonymous in order to protect her in these times of war. I also extend an invitation to other griffons already living in Equestria to enlist in the NLAF and aid in our defense. By no means is the NLAF a pony-only army.”

“So you’ll take any creature indiscriminately? Wouldn’t that potentially cause problems for the troops if they knew they were fighting alongside the enemy?” another pony asked. I shook my head casually.

“I don’t see why there would be. All creatures living in Equestria with Equestrian citizenship are welcome in the NLAF. Griffons enlisted are not the enemy.” I replied before continuing. “Regardless, I’d like to continue my report; if I may.” The crowd nodded my go ahead.

“Upon arrival to Griffonstone I had learned that the Griffons have developed a primitive form of firearm themselves; based loosely off my own weaponry. Therefor I have begun developing, alongside Princess Twilight Sparkle, a form of magical firearm that would only work for creatures of magic, ie Equestrians. I have tested the weapon with our griffon recruit and we are assured that they are unable to utilize the new technology while all three sub-species of pony will have no problems.” I announced with a quick grin before it vanished.

“It’s interesting how viral humanity actually is. You appear in a peaceful country like Equestria and two months later, you’re leading a war against another race while providing technology to kill and maim. Well done, Soren. Well done.”

“I have to apologize.” I announced after a moment of uneasy silence. “I appeared in Equestria approximately two months ago under suspicious circumstances, none of which I can explain or understand. I had the intention of quietly living out my life as a Carpenter in the Canterlot Dungeons so that I would not infect this world with human mistakes.

“It seems that human history has caught up with me regardless in that i’m now equipping Equestria, a country of peace and friendship and a comfortable but confusing level of technology, with technology to kill and slaughter; teaching ponies how to kill and slaughter their enemies indiscriminately.” I stepped back from the podium for a minute to catch my breath and take another drink.

“Do you ever consider leaving Equestria? Leave us to our peaceful ways of life and prevent further human pollution?” a male pegasus inquired from under a trilbee.

“No. The transition from ‘Live in peaceful silence and ignore the outside world’ quickly turned into ‘I must protect my friends and family.’ I went from having no reason to leave to having a reason to stay. I fear what would happen to Equestria now if I were to up and disappear from Equestria.” I replied solemnly as Luna gave me an appreciative smile from nearby.

“This was was caused from the Griffons trying to claim you for themselves, right? What if you were to peacefully surrender to them? Would that not accomplish the same goal of ending the war?”

“Absolutely not!” Luna jumped forth, surprising the masses with her outburst. “Captain is much too important to Equestria to let him surrender to the cruel practices of Griffonia!”

“Too important to Equestria? Or too important to you? Is it not true that you have developed a close relationship to the human? Are you only protecting him because you refuse to let him go, even if it would offer to end the war without further bloodshed?” a mare accused of the Princess, now shocking Luna back into submission.

“Princess Luna is correct. The Captain is too important to Equestria. Should the Griffons get a claw on him, he’ll be tortured into giving up his advanced technology to the Griffons.” Gilda announced as she took to the stage to the uproar of the crowd. “Technology that would be used to invade and slaughter the Equestrian government!”

This certainly silenced the crowd.

“I was told by the Griffon military heads that there had been plans to invade Equestria for much longer than the Captain had even been here. When they heard about his advanced knowledge, the Griffon heads decided to use him as an excuse to declare their intention for war so that they could forcibly extract weaponry from him to turn against all of you feather-brains!” Gilda shouted angrily as the news crews furiously wrote their notes.

“Tell me to my face now that the Captain being with us in indeed worse than having him against us!” Luna joined in on the argument, addressing the crowds with her royal voice alongside me. “It does not have anything to do with my relationship with him, it has everything to do with keeping an important ally to Equestria in Equestria’s control!”

“So you would actively support this war? Then what would you suggest be done to end this war without further bloodshed?”

“We must go back to the original plan and cut off the head of the Griffon military. Put them in a position that they understand they have no hope of defeating us and leave us alone! We remove their armouries, we tear down their weapons manufacturing and we eliminate their high ranking officials!” Luna retorted, at least now with a slightly quieter tone of voice. “We must not only remove their ability to fight, but also their resolve to do so!”

The sudden eruptions of black powder from just outside the ballroom doors silenced the room for but a moment before they burst open and a squad of Griffon's sprinted inside.

“Good luck with that!” A male voice announced from the back of the flock. Everyone turned to take notice of what appeared to be a Griffon hit-squad quickly encircling the room with flintlock pistols drawn. “Nobody move! Nobody move and no magic!” they demanded as my mind went to my mental inventory of weaponry.

All I had on me was my new Gauntlet with a single shield spellstone installed and my P226s which would be mostly ineffective at these ranges. Oh, and my karambit hidden away on my belt.

“I’d demand that you explain yourself for this intrusion, but since these are times of war; I doubt we need further explanation.” Celestia stood from her seated position to address the leader of the pack. “What do you want?”

“What do you think we want? The traitor and the human! Turn them over to us and we will leave with minimal casualties.” The griffon sneered as he eyed Gilda and I over with a fire in his eyes.

“Forget it! We will never turn either of them over, they are Equestrian citizens and we Princesses are sworn to protect them!” Twilight now stood and joined her ex-mentor as she subtly swapped out my shield spellstone for a new spellstone that we’d developed with the help of the Dragons: Dragon Claw.

This spellstone also had a side-effect of binding the gauntlet to my hand for as long as the stone remained within its slot in order to ensure the best possible connection for my anti-magic.

“You honestly think we won’t open fire? How many of these civilians are you willing to sacrifice for a single human and a griffon traitor? What’s it going to be, Princesses? The good of the few or the good of the many?” The leader grinned as the other creatures in the room pulled the hammers of their weapons back, making a number of ponies shriek and/or faint.

The sound of my shoulder harness hitting the floor silenced the room and had all eyes on me as I removed all possibility for the Griffon’s getting a hold of even my P226s. Gilda looked at me with fury as she put her hands up in surrender as I did the same.

“Good, now come over here like an obedient dog.” the griffon smirked at his success while Luna and Celestia both watched Gilda and I step down off the stage in surrender. As soon as I was in range, the griffon leaned in next to my ear and whispered, “We found Jafar in the dungeons, by the way. He told us what you did to him even if his condition didn’t.”

“Oh good, something for you to look forwards to when I beat your feather asses.” I growled back as a griffon smashed the back of my head with the butt of his gun.

Did you bring enough?

“I must admit…” my interrogator looked me over with his own set of blades and various instruments. “My techniques probably won’t be quite as drastic as what you’d accomplished, simply because I don’t know what half of what you did was. That doesn’t necessarily mean that i’ll go easy on you, rest assured.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I’d be disappointed if you did.” I smirked, refusing to even fight against my chain bindings. I’d been collared, manacled and left to hang from the ceiling with various chains protruding from my neck, wrists, back and feet. Fortunately the Griffon captors hadn’t given much effort into removing my gauntlet or the stone before resolving to eventually cut my hand off altogether and extract the hand from the device that way.

“Is that your way of telling me you won’t be giving me any advanced technology know-how just yet?” the griffon grinned at me as he spun the tip of a large knife against his claw. The griffon himself had the looks of quite a few years of battle experience, what with the scars and damaged left eye that stared into me.

“You seem to know me better than I thought.” I glared at the griffon with a deadpan expression, completely ignoring everything in the room but him. “Do your worst.”

“As you wish, your asshole-ness.” the griffon smirked and approached me. Pressing the tip to my skin, I smirked as my scales held off the blade, even as he began to try and work it around. “What… What’s going on? What’re you doing?”

“Nothing. Were you ever in Griffonstone before it was destroyed?” I inquired smugly.

“What difference does it make?” The griffon tossed aside his knife before getting in up close to me. His breath smelled like fish…

“Did you know that they were keeping the Dragon Queen Schatten under the city? Turns out if you rescue a Dragon Queen, she’ll return the favour with a gift. In my case, the gift of Royal Dragon Armour.” I grinned as the eyes before me narrowed. “That’s right, so good luck actually putting the knife to me.”

“Mmm, there’s more than one way to skin a fish…” The bird thing replied, stepping away to pack up his tools.

“Huh, human culture has a similar saying. Coincidence?”

“I think not.” the creature glared dully at me, unintentionally completing another well known idiom.

“So is that it? You’re just going to give up already? Aww, i’m insulted feather-brain!” I called after the put off griffon as he walked out with tools under his wing in a huff.

“So now what? Just going to claw your way out of these chains, wreck up the place before returning home to Sunset Shimmer?”

“Probably, yeah.” I mumbled to myself, actually addressing the eerie voice in my head for once.

“Well, wouldn’t that be something spectacular? What are you waiting for? Activate that Dragon Claw stone and show me what you’ve got!”

With a shake of the head I set about to trying to activate the device on my hand, but after nothing happened, I could feel the voice in my head grinning like an idiot with a secret.

“What’s the matter? Can’t get it up? Got some kind of arcanile dysfunction?”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded of no one in particular.

“Remember how you can say your own name here in Griffonia, but as soon as you cross the border into Equestria; you can’t?”

“Is there a point to all this rambling?”

“Oh, poor Soren. Doesn’t even understand that Griffonia has no latent magical energies in the air to draw from!”

Shit.

“Now he’s got it! Vana, show our contestant what he’s won!Well Tom, we’ve got a lovely package of ABC gum, Already Been Chewed!”

“Okay smart-ass, then what do you suggest? I’ve got no magic to draw off of and the Gauntlet can’t store magic in of itself. What about my augments? Obviously my scale armour is still around but what about the Dragon Eye?”

“I suppose we’ll just have to sit and find out, won’t we? Until then, you wanna play a game? It’s called, guess who Sunset Shimmer is banging right now!”

“Hilarious.” I grumbled, incapable of shutting up the voice. This was going to be a long night…

“There’s that Flash Sentry kid, That white hulking behemoth with the red eyes, he’d probably tear dear Sunny in half. Those two military guys from that bar that one time... Oh, oh oh oh! What if she didn’t even stick to just other guys? That opens up a whole other list! There’s Rainbow Dash; I'm sure she could invent some new tricks to put on Sunset. There’s Rarity, you gotta admit that’d be something amazing to watch… Pinkie....”

Tried as I might, I couldn’t help but at least try and tone out the incessant babbling of the voice by shutting my eyes and concentrating on working an escape plan.

If I couldn’t cut my way out, I'd have to hope that Gilda may find a way to get free and come and get me. Or hope that the minuscule amount of training that I'd already provided Dash and the other soldiers would be enough to mount a rescue mission.

“Fluttershy I think would try to do as much kinky stuff as she could in order to write it all down for that nasty little habit of hers…”

“Are you still there?” I demanded, pausing the voice’s train of thought.

“Well duh! I’m having a wonderful time right now, in case you were unaware.” an entirely new voice echoed from the shadows, male and aged enough that the owner had been around for quite some time.

“Wait, what? What happened to you being in my head?” I asked as I tried to find the source of the voice.

“You’re head? Dear boy,” A set of red and yellow eyes opened from the darkness ahead of me, a Cheshire grin forming beneath with a single snaggletooth hanging from it’s upper lip. “I don’t know what you’re hearing in that simple mind of yours, but I assure you it isn’t me.”

Thinking about it a second, I suppose this ghostly face was right. He didn’t have the same… tone about him.

What creature in Equestria looks like that?

“You know, a thought just occurred to me…” I sighed in resignation to my fate. “I’m currently held captive right? The enemy are trying to extract information from me and they can’t do it through physical means of torture. The next logical step…”

“What? You think I'm some kind of hallucination?” the face grinned again, looking at me in depravity. “While I appreciate the grim look on your situation and my arrival, no. I am not a hallucination.” The grin began to flesh itself out into a full grey furry dragon face with a single deer antler next to some kind of... stalagmite?

The rest of his body faded into view, the grey neck attached to a serpentine brown body with mismatched forelegs; a lion paw on one hand and a griffon claw on the other. Plastered to his sides were two little wings, one leathery and the other feathery.

Continuing down his tail turned into a scarlet colour of scales with similar spines though his lower legs were of a deer hoof and a bright green dragon leg.

“What are you supposed to be? You’re body makes as much sense as…” I looked him over appraisingly. I wasn’t impressed with my mind’s inability to focus enough to even give me a proper creature to talk to.

“Cotton candy storm clouds that rains chocolate milk?” The creature smirked as he began to step around me, evaluating my condition.

“Oddly specific, but sure. Still, what are you supposed to be? You’re as though my mind couldn’t decide what form to give you in my drugged state… You make no sense.” I demanded as my head slowly turned to follow the unorganized creature.

“My dear boy? What fun is there in making sense? Tell me, you’ve been living with the Princesses for a couple months now right?” I nodded to his/my question. “How have you never heard of me before?”

“Can’t introduce a fictional character of a drug induced state of mind, can you?” I shrugged back, my chains rattling with the motion.

“Ugh, still with the idea that you're crazy. Well, if that’s how you want to look at your situation and my arrival… that’s fine I suppose. We’re all crazy to some degree.”

“I suppose we are.” I muttered back as the sound of voices coming down the dungeon hall alerted both hallucination and myself to someone’s arrival.

“Whoops, that’s my cue to exit stage right!” The creature announced before sliding vertically left into oblivion. Or the back of my subconscious again.

“So,” The Griffon’s stepped up to my cell and dragged a metal bucket across the bars. “We know that you have the Dragon Armour, which means you’re impervious to small blades as well as intense heat.”

“What, running out of ideas now?” I grinned back, staring at my captors.

“Not at all. Because they’re so resistant to heat, it leaves them severely vulnerable to the cold.” The griffon replied with an equal grin as he pulled open my cell and stepped in with the metal bucket filled with… Ice water.

“Ah, can I get a drink of that before you douse me in it or whatever? I’m parched.” I requested bemusedly.

“Oh, of course.” The griffon lifted the bucket to my lips and I had just a second to open my mouth before the entire ice bucket was dumped over my face, really waking me up in the process. Sucking down the ice water was as refreshing as getting the ice bath before the bucket was pulled away and replaced with a full one.

“Mm, thanks for that. So you wanna know how the small firearms work? Let’s see, they work by...” I trailed off suddenly, teasing the griffons. “Damn, I just had it. I suppose that ice must’ve frozen a few important brain cells. Sorry guys, I just had it on the tip of my tongue.”

“Not to worry, we’ll loosen that tongue of yours for you soon enough.” the griffon replied as he stuck two buckets of ice water under my feet. “Lower him.”

“Oh, clever. Stick my feet into ice water so that they get frostbite. The electric pain I'd feel could certainly act as a persuasive method more making me talk in order to get some warmth.” I noted as my feet were dropped into the ice. “Ohh, chilly!” I grinned.

“Yeah, we’ll see how long that grin of yours lasts with your feet in perpetually cold water.” the griffon sneered before turning to a younger looking bird. “Make sure there is always ice in that bucket.”

“Yes sir!” the guard saluted and stuck around as the remainder of his group turned tail and walked off.

~~~

Four weeks later.

“So, Captain. What’s on today’s menu?” I smirked from my hanging position. So far I’d been frozen, beat, cut once larger knives were used, fingernails removed from my free hand and most horrifically of all, forced to feast on the flesh of another living creature! I had them cook the meat to a medium rare, throw some pepper on it, all in the presumption that this would burn my stomach from the inside out.

“Today, you get your first taste at freedom.” The griffon replied, shocking me with this announcement.

“What?” I asked for clarification. “I’m sorry, I don’t think i heard you right. Did you say you were letting me go?”

“You didn’t hear me right. I said we’re letting you taste freedom, not actually let you go.” The griffon Guard Captain replied with his usual smirk. “Get him down but keep him chained!” he ordered.

I was soon dropped to the ground rather suddenly and collapsed. Over the course of these last few weeks, I'm fairly certain my muscles had begun to atrophy and was now quite certain of it.

“Walk!” The guard ordered of me, pulling on one of my many chains to lift me up and get me moving.

“You know, -from one Captain to another- if you wanted to go on a date with me, all you had to do was ask. I’d still have turned you down since I'm not interested in cross-species relationships, but I’d have appreciated the sentiment.” I announced, making a number of the guards snicker before the Captain shot them a death glare to shut up.

“You talk too much, even when there’s no one with you.” The Captain replied as a large metal bulkhead door was opened and I was washed in the surprisingly warm light of the sun. I was pushed in and unchained, save for my hands which were now bound together, and left alone in the sunlight as soon as the great metal door was shut and the sound of metal scraping against metal indicated a locked door. But I didn’t care, this sunlight was glorious!

“It seems we’ve been allowed for some freedom.” The mismatched creature announced as he stepping in from one of the solid walls.

“Nah, I know this trick as well. I’ll be left in here where there’s no cover from the elements for months on end, food occasionally being dropped in from above and left to hope for water coming in from rain.” I mumbled as I let myself fall backwards into the dirt, the sun washing over my face. “My beard will grow as fast as the plants in here with me.” I added as I stroked said beard. It was coming in quite nicely, save for one small spot at the sides of my chin that remained bare of silver hairs.

“And how is this supposed to be torturous?” The creature asked as he lounged back in the leaf of a rather large plant.

“It’s psychological in nature. I’m forced to keep myself alive in ever changing, ever worsening conditions while thinking about how none of my friends are ever coming to get me…” I explained, though my tone of voice got lower and more sombre towards the end when I began considering how long it has already taken for me to be rescued. "The Griffons are expecting to leave me in here for a couple years..."

“I bet Sunset Shimmer has already moved on from you. Not like you could ever really please her sexually anyways. A girl has needs you know?”

“Oh, psh. Please, I’m sure our friends are mobilizing a task force to come get us as we speak.” The Dragon-thing replied supportively. “Now then, since you’re finally capable of moving your hands independently, let’s get you out of those bindings shall we?”

“You know you could have just started with this when you first showed up?” I smirked as I watched the creature get down close to my hands to look at the chains that bind me.

“Maybe, but then your fall wouldn’t have been quite so entertaining.” the creature smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Abracadabra!” he chanted and waved his fingers at the chains. Which remained.

“Very funny, now let’s get a move on.” I rolled my eyes disinterestedly at his antics.

“That’s strange, why didn’t that work?” the creature mumbled, rubbing his chin apprehensively.

“What, you mean to tell me you were serious with all that hand waving?” I asked, slightly annoyed but slightly concerned at the same time.

“Indeed I was. It felt like the magic was just… Sucked up through a straw.” The creature looked up at me with an iced tea in his hand for a moment before it almost seemed to atomize and dissolve. “Well now…”

“What?” We both looked at his now empty claw curiously. “What does that mean?”

“It means that in this country of no magic, there seems to be a vacuum within a vacuum here. All the magic I try to use is being… scrubbed away.” The creature explained, opening and closing his hand to try and summon something new but it just instantly dissolved like the object before it.

“Like a black hole in space?” I asked, looking up from the hand to the face for confirmation. “I… think I might know what’s doing this.”

“Oh? Do you now?” the creature stepped back from me to see if there was a range thing. Turns out, there was. “Oh, ohh…” he caught on, looking at me. “Well that’s very interesting. It seems you and I have been made natural enemies, Soren Mercer.”

“In what way? I still don’t even know your name.” I replied, sitting up to rest. That sun was still great on the bare skin/scales.

“Oh, of course! How rude of me!” The creature slapped his forehead with his paw. “My name, is Discord. The spirit of chaos and disharmony, at your service!” he bowed low and properly with his introduction.

“Discord huh? That explains your appearance now… So Discord, why are we natural enemies?” I requested, watching as the creature of Chaos began to spool up some kind of crazy looking magic in his hands. If I had to describe it as a colour, I'd say plaid.

“Well, I am a creature of Chaos. I like to play pranks on unsuspecting creatures, flood entire acres of land to turn it into a skating rink, turn roads into soap…” Discord replied, as though he were a child in school asked to list some of his favourite activities. He was even rocking back and forth on his backside with his knees pulled up to his body. “But all that is done through my Chaos magic. It has the nature of being extremely difficult to get rid of if you’re not me.”

“Where do I come in?” I asked, scooting back to sit against the wall in the sunlight. I wondered if there was still the chance for me to get a tan with scales on.

“Well, you seem to have the incredible ability of having anti-magic. I believe you and Princess Twilight had already discussed this before your capture, yes? You are the only creature capable of cleansing any and all forms of magic, mine included, but at the drawback of being incapable of casting magic yourself.” Discord explained as he summoned up another glass of Iced Tea and drank down the glass.

“Which is why you can’t use magic around me? Which is why you can’t get me out of these chains?”

“And why I seem unable to transport myself any longer. I seem to have been feeding you my magic in that cell all these weeks and now I’m unable to teleport.” Discord glared at me this time as the colour in his eyes seemed to slowly drain out of him, leaving them dull and almost grey.

“What if you were to stay on that side and try to restore your magic?” I suggested, earning a “No duh” face from Discord.

“Well, given that it seems to be our only course of action, I would ask that you remain on this side of the line.” Discord announced, drawing a line in the dirt with his claw before returning to a seated position opposite of me. “This is going to be a long day.”

~*~*~

“Princess Luna! Princess Celestia!” A yellow pegasus mare with long pink hair burst into the castle throne room, interrupting what looked to be some kind of important meeting of Military officials. “Something is wrong with Discord!”

“Let me handle this, sister.” Luna requested, looking at her older, armoured sister through an eye that had been once repaired from battle, though the scar running down her face remained; a reminder of her first failure to rescue her human best friend.

Celestia nodded and Luna winged it over the large table to land next to Fluttershy and place a wing over her body comfortingly.

“Tell me what’s wrong, my friend. What has happened to Discord?” Luna requested cordially, walking Fluttershy out of the meeting room.

“I- I don’t know! He’s missed two of our regularly scheduled weekly tea meetings and nopony else I've spoken to has seen him! It’s like he’s just disappeared off the face of the planet!” Fluttershy squeaked, afraid for her friend’s safety. “What if the Griffons got to him, too!”

“I highly doubt that is the case, Fluttershy. Discord would be able to simply teleport himself away, wouldn’t he? I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner than later.” Luna replied, having stopped her walking due to the simple fact that her armour was beginning to chafe.

“Then what about the human? Why haven’t we managed to rescue him? He must be so afraid right now, thinking we’re never going to save him! Why can’t he have broken himself out if he’s as powerful a you claim he is?” Fluttershy demanded through slowly forming tears. The young mare never got to even meet this human, but her desire to care for all creatures, big and small, hostile or otherwise overrode that fact.

“I think it’s because Captain doesn’t have any magic of his own. He is only capable of purifying existing magic in the air and directing it a specific way. If he’s truly in Griffonia where there is no magic…” Luna replied forlorn.

“Then he really is trapped until we can find him and save him ourselves!” Fluttershy concluded. Then an idea struck her. “What if Discord went to save Captain but became trapped because his own magic was being purified?”

“That…” Luna trailed off, considering this idea. “Is actually the best idea we’ve heard yet!” she turned and galloped back towards the throne room, leaving Fluttershy confused yet hopeful.

“Sister!” Luna burst into the room, wings flared and a grin on her face.

“Luna? What’s the matter? Why are you smiling like that?” Celestia asked as she scratched at her golden coloured armour with a wing. Neither princess really liked wearing their formal armour unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Fluttershy just gave me an idea! Discord is missing and it’s possible that he may have gone to rescue Captain. However, because Captain is a magic sponge as Twilight explained, Discord would have been drained of his magic and unable to use the purified energy, right? What if he’s still being drained, right now and that magic was being released into the air? Couldn’t we trace that sudden appearance of magic?” Luna suggested eagerly as she rejoined her sister.

“But looking for a purified magical source would be like finding a needle in a needlestack!” a Royal Guard Lieutenant scoffed, however a purple hoof was raised in objection, a smile on the owner's face.

“Not if they’re in a country of no magic! Then it’d be like finding a castle on the side of a mountain!” Twilight exclaimed eagerly. “I’ll get to work building a device that can trace magical sources!” she hopped down from her seat and began to make off, however Celestia held her short.

“There will be no need for that, Twilight. My sister and I will be enough to track the magic ourselves. We are attuned to pure magical energy so it should be no problem.” Celestia grinned.

“But your highnesses! We cannot simply allow the figureheads of the government and militaries to go in looking for the human alone! If you get taken down then who’d be left to rule Equestria?” a NLAF soldier demanded, wearing the new dark blue and silver uniform.

“Who said we were going alone?” Luna smirked and addressed her stand-in Army Captain. “Organize the entire Armed Forces. Have the Air Force follow my sister and I while the ground forces follow in from below. Make sure everypony is armed with enough Magic charge packs that they don’t run the risk of drying up in Griffonia. We’re not going to have unlimited magical supply over there and the Griffons are expecting that.”

“Yes Ma’am!” The Captain saluted before exiting his chair to follow through.

“Twilight,” Celestia turned to the Princess in question. “Please remain here in Canterlot Castle as our temporary stand-in while we’re gone. Also have medical ready to receive potential wounded.”

“Of course, Princess.” Twilight nodded and left to do her own thing.

“Captain,” Celestia turned to the Royal Guard Captain-on-duty. “Please notify Princess Weiss Schatten of this development and let her mother know as well.”

“Right away!” The Captain replied before delegating his duties to his underlings.

“Is there any indication that Captain may have given them some form of advanced technology that we should be aware of?” Luna demanded of the rest of the gathering.

“No Princess. We believe that Captain has remained silent about his advanced intelligence, otherwise offensive measures on the side of the Griffons would have already escalated.” An intelligence officer replied, flipping papers with his magic.

“Good. Someone tell Sunset Shimmer what we’re doing and that we’ll need her help to drive the Truck. I want our best turret gunner in that thing following directly underneath me at all times!” Luna demanded before taking off for preparations.

“Dismissed!” Celestia announced as she joined her sister to get properly equipped in their actual field armour.

~~~

“You what?” Sunset demanded in joyful shock. “You think you have a way to track Captain down and retrieve him?”

“That is what the Princesses believe, yes.” The anonymous guard replied, standing at attention next to Sunset’s desk in the Dungeons she had taken temporary residence in. Spring break had already come and gone in her world, as had her exams, so she felt absolutely no regret in staying in Equestria longer than expected.

Sunset alone was also responsible for fitting her boyfriend's new truck with a proper turret once the Luggage rack had been removed, courtesy of the two military guys back on her side that Captain had met seemingly so long ago.

When she had gotten back over to Equestria intending for a surprise visit ahead of time and found out from Weiss that Captain had been taken captive, she’d set out herself to go and retrieve him. She’d almost have done it too, if it weren’t for Celestia who removed the fire ruby from the combustion chamber of the truck and prevented the bike from turning over in order to convince her to let them handle the rescue efforts. Now, after four long weeks of sitting on her ass helping Princess Twilight modify and perfect the new magic weapons, she had her chance to save the one man who truly loved her.

“Obviously you’re telling me all this because Luna needs me to drive the truck, right?” Sunset leapt up from Captain’s stool and began to change into her own NLAF battle armour, designed from what she believed to be Captain Soren’s old world schematics; if the Sergeant was reliable enough.

“Yes ma’am. She says she’ll be heading out with Princess Celestia as soon as the entirety of the NLAF is organized and assembled.” the guard replied, shielding his eyes to give the woman privacy.

“Perfect. Then I’d best get her warmed up.” Sunset grinned as she shouldered the SCAR-H and exited the bedroom, aimed for the stairs up and out.

“Ma’am, if I may speak freely?” the guard requested, keeping pace behind her.

“Depends on what you want to say.” Sunset replied, pushing the door open with her shoulder as she fished for the keys to the VelociRaptor.

“Ma’am, I believe it would best best if… If you were to remain out of combat. You are too invested into this operation, not to mention what would happen to Captain or the NLAF if you were to be taken out or taken captive as well.” the guard replied as Sunset whirled around at him, fury on her face.

“I am not staying in the truck during this! I have put in too much time and effort trying to find my boyfriend to sit on the sidelines while everypony else is risking their lives for him!” Sunset exclaimed as she hauled herself up and into the driver's seat to start the vehicle warming. It was still winter; though according to the Pegasi, Winter Wrap-up was due to come in the next few days.

“I understand that, ma’am.” The soldier pulled himself up into the vehicle with a bit of difficulty to get himself set up in the turret. “But what if you were removed from the operation by enemy forces while the rest of us rescued the Captain? Who’d be the one to tell him that his marefriend died trying to save him? What would he do?”

“I like to imagine that he’d go on a rage induced rampage with his existing augments and mercilessly slaughter my killers.” Sunset replied grimly, staring out the front window as the remaining soldiers in her squad slowly made their way to the truck and got themselves prepared, politely ignoring the conversation going on around them.

“What if… What if he’s been psychologically tortured and was lead to believe that you’re already dead or that you’d left him behind?”

“I’m fairly certain that if that ever happened, we would have already found and rescued him after said rampage.” Sunset turned in her seat to address her gunner. The gunner remained in silence but raised his hoof to his head in salute as Luna glided down to stand next to the truck and address Sunset in her battle armour.

“Sunset Shimmer. I’ll assume you’ve been briefed already on what is going on?” Luna demanded, looking over the rest of the truck’s occupants.

“Yes, Princess. I’m to drive under you, keeping track of where you’re going to provide support for when you find Captain.” Sunset nodded, both hands on the wheel itching to get a move on.

“Good. The rest of the Army and Air Force are already prepared to go and are waiting for us. Let’s move out!” Luna shouted the last line, notifying everypony close enough to hear her order. Sunset grinned and rolled up the window before flinging snow behind her and took off out of the Castle, following Celestia and Luna’s movements.

Behind her galloped the rest of the Armed Forces, with the Air Force, comprised mostly of pegasi wearing the blue and silver of the NLAF, above her and behind the Princesses.

It was time to go rescue her boyfriend.

What took so long?

“How ya feeling?” I asked casually. The silence was deafening and neither Discord nor I could really do anything to relieve the pressures.

“Oh, simply exhausted.” Discord replied dramatically draping himself over a leaf. Kind of reminded me of human Rarity in a way. “I feel like I could sleep for a couple ages and still not be at top shape.”

“Sorry…” I muttered into my knees. The sun had long since set and the air was cooling so I had resigned to bringing my body into as tight a ball as I could manage in order to keep warm. “Am I still purifying you?”

“About as fast as I can restore my magic, yes. This small space is severely limiting my ability to get far enough away in order to recover.” Discord sighed and curled up into a ball of his own, shutting his eyes to try and get some sleep.

“Sorry…” I mumbled again, also closing my eyes to try and get some sleep.

“Ca… ...you… ...me… ...Res… ...mag… ...bursts!...” A faint voice, filled and broken with static reached my ears and I could swear I almost missed it. It wasn’t the same usual voice in my head, this one felt… blue.

“Who’s there?” I asked aloud, looking around the area for signs of the voice’s origins.

“No one, mister Mercer. It’s still just lonely ol’ me.” Discord mumbled back, still trying to fall asleep.

“No, not you. I could hear someone else.” I whispered back before trying to hear for anything else. “I think they said something about magic bursts.”

Discord’s head shot up at this.

“Oh, that’s clever! We’re in Griffonia, where there is normally no pure magic. I’m only able to barely restore my own because I don’t need that pure, white stuff. Who ever you’re listening to is probably tracking the one and only source of white magic in the country!” Discord grinned and began to physically exert himself to recover his magic as fast as he could before approaching me, draining himself again.

Back he went again and re-exerted himself before stepping close enough for me to purify his magic again, rinse and repeat.

“What are you doing?” I demanded, watching the crazy show.

“I’m simply giving you more magic to purify! You’re the one who’s leading our rescuers to us!” Discord grinned eagerly as my eyes shot wide open with understanding.

“So whoever is leading the charge is following my anti-magic that is only possible through you providing me magic to purify?” I asked incredulously.

“Capt… Can… Me?.. Please… More… Magic…”

“You’re right! Whoever it is I'm hearing is following the magic! Keep doing that, Discord! We’re getting outta here!” I cheered as silently as I could to prevent our guards from finding out about our escape plan.

“I still would like to know,” Discord began, running out of breath with his little exercise. “Who it is you’re talking to!”

“Probably Luna, she’s the only one I know who can speak telepathically.” I shrugged and remained seated.

“That… Makes sense!” Discord panted before having to stop and rest against the wall. “Only Sun-butt and Moon-butt could follow the trail!” he announced weakly.

“Discord, can you provide me with enough magic for me to activate my gauntlet?” I requested, standing to lean against the wall and let the creature rest and recover.

“Maybe, I don’t know!” Discord complained, collapsing to his knees. “But If I do I won’t be able to maintain what little magic I have left to let them follow us!”

“If you give me a lot of magic all in one go, I should make a large enough burst that Luna should be able to locate our general direction. Besides, I plan to make enough carnage that it’ll be easy for the rescue party to find us.” I grinned as Discord looked me over warily.

“Very well, but if they can’t find us…” he replied as he began to pull in as much magic as he possibly could.

“I know, we’ll be fucked.” I mumbled as Discord launched a rather large sphere of pure chaos at me. Holding my hand up to defend myself, the sphere hit my gauntlet and began to get sucked in; causing quite a windstorm to form around me.

Closing my hand around the last of the magic, the amber on the back of my hand pulsed to life for a second before activating the spell.

A single long blade of silver shot forwards about half a foot from the stone, over and past my hand. It looked like a single dragon claw, or like a shark dorsal fin if you looked at it right.

“Looks like it worked.” Discord coughed weakly before collapsing, unconscious.

“Yeah, yeah it did.” I grinned back in response and turned towards the large metal door. Behind it I could hear the sound of weapons being loaded so moved quickly and placed Discord just to the side, out of the direct line of fire behind the door hinge. I managed to press my back to the wall opposite the door of the strange creature just as the door swung open and at least seven flintlock rifle barrels appeared in the gap.

Bringing my arm up, the Dragon Claw cut clean through the rifle barrels before they could get a shot off. Rounding the corner I leapt up onto the first startled griffon and plunged the silver blade into his chest, parallel to his neck and into his heart.

Steering the body around, I pushed off his chest with my feet and arced backwards, swinging the blade through the air to decapitate another griffon before I landed, bringing my arm over my head and plunged blindly into the chest cavity of a third.

“Kill him! Don’t let the Equestrians find him!” A fourth ordered from a little ways away, having backed off to draw his flintlock pistol and take aim.

Diving to the side I narrowly avoided a potential aeration of my form, landing in a low crouch and took aim at my next target. I didn’t even stop moving as I lunged forwards and first grabbed onto the muscular arm of the griffon and used him as a fulcrum to swing around his body, cutting off the top half of the sixth before landing on his back to push the blade through his spine and out his mouth, instantly severing his brainstem.

Rolling myself and the body to the side, I avoided another volley of ballistic balls and rolled onto my back to get back onto my feet. With a shout I vaulted off the body at the seventh and final enemy, the tip of the blade finding the right eye socket of the griffon and scrambled his brain matter.

Landing heavily on the body, I looked quickly down both directions of the hallway for more enemies but with no enemies in sight I took off in the direction of a draft.

“I heard gunshots! This way!” A griffon sergeant announced from ahead of me from around a corner, giving me warning enough to expect further combat.

Come on Dragon Claw, don’t give up on me now! I thought as I dug my gauntlet into the wall to swing around the corner and take the enemies by surprise. A couple flickering reflections warned me that a couple of the guards had throwing knives tucked away into their wings, which was quite lucky since the silvery blade on my wrist began to flicker with the increasing lack of available magic.

Prioritizing the enemies with my future weaponry I leapt at the nearest griffon with the gleaming feathers and dragged my flickering blade through his body, starting at the bottom of his chest and upwards into his head; spraying myself in hot blood.

At that moment the Dragon Claw blade flickered away and the stone popped out of it’s housing, having been thoroughly spent and burned from within.

The griffons all seemed to have taken this as my surrender as they aimed both firearm and poleaxes at me. Their grins lasted as long as it took for me to embed throwing knives in the shape of feathers as long as my hand into their throats.

Spreading the wings of the dead griffon before me, I plucked his wings of the remaining weaponry and tucked them into my waistband before moving on to the others; foregoing the poleaxes for a lack of proper training. I did instead stop to acquire two of the loaded flintlock pistols and stuff them into the back of my pants for later use before arming myself with a rifle and a small tin of caps.

Turning back the way I came, I retrieved Discord’s form and dragged him the length of the hallway that I had already cleared before moving on without him to repeat my process.

~*~*~

“Did you feel that?” Luna asked of her sister, both horns glowing to follow the lone source of pure magic before it suddenly exploded and died.

“I did. I think Discord has temporarily given Captain enough of a charge to use his Gauntlet for a while.” Celestia replied, beating wings through the air with the pegasi Air Force behind them.

“That would explain why I cannot feel their presence any longer. Did you feel which direction the burst came from?” Luna inquired of her sister, her eyes searching the Griffonia forests below them.

“I believe it was directly ahead of us, slightly to the right.” Celestia replied, her own eyes scanning the horizon. “Let’s send out the Air Force and have them search from above; cover more sky.”

“Agreed.” Luna replied, turning in place to hover before her troops. “Listen up! We believe that the location of the Captain is directly ahead of us! We can no longer feel the magical presence so you’ll have to spread out and expand our ability to search! Make sure to fly in formation so that you don’t waste all your magic early!” Luna’s voice boomed through the air, potentially threatening to give away their positions.

“Sister, I shall join the ground team and search from below. It will allow us to conserve our magic for an emergency.” Luna announced, turning back to her sister before floating to the ground below.

“Be safe, dear sister!” Celestia replied with a caring smile before turning back to the Air Force and zipped off with them spread out in wide Vs.

“Ground forces, spread out into the trees and look for anything out of the ordinary!” Luna ordered as she landed next to the VelociRaptor with a very anxious, very furious Sunset behind the wheel. “We’re getting close, please relax some.”

“I know, Princess. I know.” Sunset sighed and released her death grip on the steering wheel, colour returning to her whitened knuckles. “It’s just…”

“I know, I miss him greatly as well.” Luna replied with a gentle smile as the troops in the truck disembarked save for the gunner who continued to sweep the area with his keen eyes. “We’ll find him, believe me.”

“Princess! Air Force says that there was some kind of explosion in the distance! Princess Celestia has dispatched Corporal Rainbow Dash’s squad to investigate!” A pegasus reported as he landed on the hood of the truck.

“Which way?” Luna demanded as she took off on her wings after the pegasus with Sunset hot on their heels.

~*~*~

Heh, this’ll work wonders! I thought as I entered into a black powder storage room. There were just kegs on kegs of powder in here, all buried under at least six feet of dirt. Not even any metal plating on the walls like in the hallways.

After stacking as many barrels in the middle of the room as I could, ensuring Discord was well out of the blast range and using a barrel to create a black fuze out of the room and down the hall for as long as the keg lasted, I stood at the end of the line with the flintlock pistol in hand, the muzzle at the very end of the line ready to give the spark I needed to make quite the signal to the rescue force.

“You ready for the explosion of a lifetime, Discord?” I grinned, looking at the significantly weakened multi-creature before pulling the trigger and lit the fuze. “I hope you’re ready because there it goes!” I exclaimed, watching the line of black powder spark and trail down the hallway.

Ducking into a storage room with Discord, I shut the door and covered my ears, waiting for the boom.

A minute and nothing.

“Please don’t tell me someone broke the line, please tell me no one broke the line… Please don’t tell-” I was cut off by the explosion to match an RPG hitting a building I was camping on and had lost at least one soldier in the line of duty. “Hahah! It worked!” I grinned like a madman and pulled the door open, looking down both ways and watched the tail end of a fireball roll down the hallway. “Cool.”

“Go on without me.” Discord wheezed pathetically, dramatically holding a claw up towards me. “No seriously, stop dragging me around and preventing me from recovering my magic, you ass.”

“And I thought you’d appreciate being saved.” I smirked before ducking into the hallway without the creature of chaos. “Good luck, Discord!” I shouted back as I sprinted back down the hallway that I'd gone down earlier to have a look at the damage.

“Help!” A female groaned, catching my attention as I passed by a previously unexplored hallway.

“Gilda?” I asked curiously, sprinting back down again to skid to a halt at a cage with a single female griffon hanging by her claws from the ceiling. She was looking quite worse for wear with multiple knife wounds and claws having been removed from her hand, much like my own semi-healed fingers.

“Cap…tain!” Gilda looked wearily up at me. “What… Was that explosion?”

“That was me signalling our rescue our location.” I grinned as I set to work picking the lock on the gate. Soon the iron bars slid open and allowed me entrance once I'd stuck a feather knife into the track to prevent it from closing behind me. “You look like hell.” I noted, setting to work on Gilda’s shackles.

“You look like a bush.” Gilda smirked with a cracked beak at me. “Why are you saving me? I’m still a Griffon.”

“You’re also an Equestrian resident and a soldier in my Army. We never leave a soldier behind.” I deadpanned as I worked the end of a feather around the inside of the lock, looking for the sweet spot that would unlock Gilda’s freedom. Soon we both heard a solid click and Gilda’s one hand dropped free of its binding, her wrist red and raw.

“I’ll have to remember that for later when I next get in trouble.” Gilda mumbled as I worked on the other shackle, now vaguely aware of the correct place to get to to unlock the latch.

Soon the griffon dropped to her knees with a gasp and with a helpful hand under her shoulder, lifted herself up to standing with her wings resting against her body; unable to provide much help for having broken bones.

“Where are we going?” Gilda looked down the hallway in the direction of our travel.

“I was unable to find a proper exit in this maze so I cheated and blew up the black powder storage and made my own.” I grinned as we hobbled down the burning hallway, tiny fires littering the hallway as we proceeded to enter into the crater that was the keg storage.

“By the egg, this is what happens with human explosives?” Gilda looked around at the still raining flaming debris that had been above the explosion.

“Nah, this is what happens when you detonate barrels upon barrels of historic weaponry. Modern human explosives could make a similar hole with an explosive the side of my hand.” I replied and took a seat near to the epicenter of the crater and got comfortable once Gilda was comfortable.

“And what kind of damage would have happened back during the Griffonstone raid?” Gilda wondered incredulously.

“Had I been smart about it, I could have burned down the entire main building. If I had C4 or Semtex explosive, I could have brought down the entire mountain onto Griffonstone or brought down Griffonstone itself with a measly couple pounds of it.” I shrugged casually and laid back.

The night was still reaching the point of overlapping the horizon but I could hazard a guess that Celestia and Luna were holding off on making the switch in order to assist with the search.

“Human intelligence scares me.” Gilda announced with a headshake and sighed.

“It scares us as well, but we’re glad it’s on our side.” Luna remarked from above as a lone human slid down the dirt embankments towards me, her dark blue and silver combat armour trying to hide her appearance but the red and yellow hair was all I needed to recognize the girl.

“Glad you could join us.” I grinned as Sunset dropped to her knees and slid the last couple feet to my side before completely enveloping me with her body.

“Thank Celestia you’re alright!” Sunset cried, tears streaming down her face.

“Actually, thank Discord for that.” I replied and wrapped my arms around her body, hugging her back and planted a kiss on her lips. “Be aware, I haven’t bathed since I was last subjected to an ice bath about two weeks back.” I warned with a chuckle.

“I couldn’t give a shit right now.” Sunset chuckled back and refused to let me go as she helped me sit up before curling up in my lap. “I’m just glad you’re safe!”

“What of Discord? Where is he?” Luna requested as wings of pegasi flew overhead with Celestia’s larger figure leading the fleet.

“Somewhere back in the tunnels. Told me to leave him be so he could recover his magic.” I shrugged and kept Sunset hugged into my body.

“Couldn’t do that while you were too close and dragging him around, right?” Luna smirked and I nodded while Army ponies tended to helping Gilda.

“Precisely. But hey, what took you so long?” I grinned and got myself up, carrying Sunset in my arms as Luna magically helped me out of the crater.

What are you doing?

“What are you wearing?” I grinned, peeking at Sunset past the filled seat from the back of the truck where a medic was currently tending to me.

“What? You don’t like it?” Sunset smirked, feigning insult. “You don’t like a woman in uniform?”

“Nah, I love it. I’m just wondering where the blue and silver came from. What was wrong with the Army green that I had?” I replied, lying back again to let the medic pony prod me with needles.

“Oh that? Rarity and her team of seamstresses couldn’t match the same colour scheme so they started over and designed these.” Sunset replied, her eyes on the lack of road ahead of her as we slowly crawled back to Equestria. Occasionally the turret above, which I had taken offense too having been installed, would open fire for a burst to either scare off or eliminate hostile entities.

“So then where did the blue and silver colours come from?”

“That was Princess Luna’s fault actually. Because you and her are the highest ranking officials in the NLAF, she figured that it’d be best for the troops to wear your combined colours.” Sunset explained, looking back at me in the rear view mirror. “It’s taken quite well with the soldiers wearing the uniforms, as well citizens seem to like it more than the camo green.”

“Probably, but that’s because these ones don’t look like they’re trying to hide in a forest. They look authoritative as Police, not as a proper military.” I replied as my body began to be washed in warmth provided by a tranquilizer. “Oh, remind me to shpeaq whish Twilighth.” I requested before I was rendered unconscious.

***

“How’s he doing?” Dash asked as she flew alongside the vehicle, next to Sunset.

“I think he’s doing fine. Started off by criticizing the uniforms though…” Sunset sighed, resting her head in her hand and her arm on the window sill.

“Probably because they weren’t his original ones.” Dash chuckled and rolled her eyes at the same time. “You know better than any of us how stubborn he can get.”

“I don’t know, I've always thought of Captain as being quite laid back and forgiving of changes.” Sunset replied, looking back at her rescued boyfriend again. “I will say though, and don’t tell him I said this, but even in the last hour or so he seems… Different somehow...”

“In what way? He still looks the same to me; save for those scales of course.” Dash drifted back to press her muzzle against the back glass for a minute to watch the human sleeping before rejoining Sunset at the window.

“It’s just… I dunno. Maybe something happened during his imprisonment that may have altered his mind or something… It’s just something I can’t put my finger on.” Sunset complained before hitting the Aux switch for the grille and forward light bars. “Have you talked to the Princesses yet?”

“About what?” Dash inquired casually floating on her back, her wings swinging beneath her to keep her aloft.

“Your promotion. You were promoted from Private to Corporal because there was nopony else who had proper military training that Captain would have approved at the time. Are you going to get to keep the rank now that your superior is back in action?” Sunset looked directly at Dash and her ranking printed on the pegasus’s jacket.

“I don’t see why not. I think I've earned the promotion, don’t you?” Dash grinned proudly as she dusted off the patch.

“Sure, I do. But it still remains to be seen if Captain agrees with the promotion or not. He is the one who makes those decisions you know?”

“You don’t think he’d demote me, do you?” Dash demanded anxiously, now considering this to be a possibility.

“Couldn’t tell you Dash. I’ll tell you what, I’ll try and talk to him and see if he’ll let you keep your rank. You talk to Princess Luna about it as well and see if she’ll endorse your rank.” Sunset suggested and Dash all but immediately zipped up into the sky again to do just that.

Looking back at the man behind her, the man who’d give his life to protect her and the man whom she fell in love with, Sunset couldn’t help but feel the nagging sense that something was wrong in him. She just couldn’t tell what it was.

~*~*~

“Captain! Thank Celestia’s sun you're alright!” Twilight announced as I was extracted from the back of the truck via telekinesis. The littlest Alicorn trotted alongside me as I was taken into the Castle for more in-depth medical care that I'd already received.

“Hey… Twilight!” I grinned childishly, my hand lolling around on the stretcher until it eventually landed on Twi’s head. “Have I ever told you that your great? Cuz you’re… so… great!” I chuckled and let my hand go limp again before being tucked back under the blanket I was under by the purple princess.

“You just remember that for when you’re not jumped up on Morphine.” Twilight smirked, though a white pony with a red medical plus sign on her flanks whispered something into her ear. “Oh, sorry; not jumped up on tranquilizers.”

“Tranquilizer is a funny word.” I announced as we passed through a set of large doors into the Castle hospital. “Ow! Ow Ow Ow! The light hurts me! Why am I living in a world where the light hurts me!” I flailed to try and shield my eyes but was quickly restrained and calmed only after a cool cloth was draped over my eyes. “Oh, thank you Ice Queen.”

“Hey! You’ve been gone almost a month and the first thing you call your daughter is Ice Queen? Rude.” Weiss scoffed dejectedly. As soon as I hear her voice I shot upwards, breaking through the thin leather straps to scoop up the white dragonling and cradle her in my arms.

“Oh, you! I’m so sorry that I left! I shouldn’t have left anyone alone! I’m a failure as a soldier!” I announced, suddenly and openly weeping. I felt like I was a mind trapped in an idiot’s body. “Even after I rescued your mother and had a silver scale grafted onto my body, I was powerless to stop the attack!” I shouted in grief before flopping back onto the cushioned table. “I’m a bad boyfriend, I’m a bad father, I’m a bad Captain and I still can’t say the name Captain Soren Mercer!” I announced before collapsing unconscious.

“No, you’re not a bad boyfriend!” Sunset argued, apparently my name not having registered that I'd said it given that she already knew it. “You’re a wonderful boyfriend and I’d never trade you for anyone else!”

“Did he just…” Weiss whispered in shock to Luna whose jaw hung slack. Sunset turned and glared at the two, demanding that they help console the human and ignore the distinctly human name. “I mean, no! You’re not a bad father! You’re the greatest father I could have ever gotten!”

“And you’re my best friend!” Luna added consolatory as they stood next to my unconscious body. “Not many ponies were as kind to me as you were when we first met! Even if they were under confusing and suspicious circumstances.” Luna admitted with a sheepish grin. “I still haven’t apologized for keeping you locked up past your imprisonment.”

“You see, Captain? You are a good father, a good boyfriend and a great captain! You’re the best of all three!” Sunset took my hand in hers and held it close to her chest. “There’s no need to worry about that!” she said forcefully, though I remained asleep it the cloth on my face.

“Can we talk about what he said now?” Weiss requested quietly, looking up at Sunset from the top of Luna’s head. “Did he just say his name?”

“No, he said a name.” Sunset replied firmly, turning back to the ladies in the room as she wiped off a tear from her eye. “He wasn’t introducing himself.”

“But, how was he able to even say that name? I’m almost willing to bet that that name is distinctly human in nature!” Luna replied in concern. “There should have been no way for him to be able to say that name, right?”

“Normally, yes.” Twilight announced, stepping around the table with a couple of pages leading her walk. “But after taking some measurements with some of my portable equipment, I’ve determined that the Captain is suffering from an acute magical burn-out.”

“How is that even remotely possible if he doesn’t have magic in the first place?” Sunset almost demanded, leading everyone out of the medical room and to the waiting lobby to let the staff do their jobs. Finally.

“While it’s true that he doesn’t have conventional magic, it’s not true to say that he has no magic.” Twilight explained, spinning around one of her sheets of paper. “it would be more correct to say that he has anti-magic.”

“What’s anti-magic?” Weiss looked over the page in front of her cluelessly.

“It’s a sort of magic that purifies all other forms of magic. He doesn’t seem to be able to use magic like a unicorn, to cast spells of any kind, but it seems he can direct his strange magic as he needs.” Twilight replied as her face suggested she was slowly approaching the confusing part.

“So then he was using his anti-magic past his limitations while in Griffonia? Shouldn't he have been unable to do so?” Luna was just as confused as the others were now.

“Normally, yes. And for the primary of his captivity he was unable to do so.” Twilight replied firmly, still looking over her pages. “Until something changed.”

“What change?” Weiss handed off the page before her to Sunset before looking up at Twilight.

“More like, who changed.” A ragged male voice replied, coming in from the walls. A certain multi-creature fizzled into view wearing a housecoat, mismatched slippers and a hot water bottle on his head between his horn(s) with a steaming cup of what looked like tea in his claw.

“Discord, you’re looking rather worse for wear. What happened to do?” Luna demanded, offering a seat next to her as Twilight smiled appreciatively to the Draconequus.

“What do you think? I gave myself a severe burn out trying to help your monkey friend escape captivity. I still haven’t been able to fully restore my magic yet; which is odd since I'm usually so spry and full of energy in Equestria.” Discord replied curiously, trying to think up some reason that this was the case. “It’s as though I'm unable to fully refill the tank, as it were.”

“Why?” Sunset asked.

“My theory is that Discord had too much of his magic stripped away too quickly, and so his body needed to desperately refuel thereby attempted to restore some of his magic with the purified energy. His body may think he’s fine now, but that pure magical energy is playing havoc with Discord’s ability to cast magic of any kind.” Twilight explained, magically drawing out little cartoon diagrams in the air for visual aid.

“What would happen if Captain were to do that on a regular pony? Purify their natural magic whether they’re an earth-pony, pegasus or unicorn? Would they lose the ability to restore their magic?” Luna looked concerned first at Twilight, then to Sunset hoping for an answer.

“Probably. But in order to do that, Captain would have to either have some kind of vessel to put the purified magic into or suffer through this anti-burn out again.” Twilight replied, putting her notes away as she’d reached the end of her presentation.

“What about that clever gauntlet of his?” Discord suggested through a sneezing fit. “Ugh, I could really use some anti-histamines right now.” he complained before sucking back on his tea. “If he were to have some kind of empty spellstone, I believe you’re calling them, would the purified magic be stored in that?”

“Probably not. We’d have to find some way of letting him store the magic via other means, but that gauntlet of his does seem to be the best- Wait!” Twilight suddenly shook her head clear of the theories and hypothesis running around in her head. “Why’re we discussing how we could use Captain to remove a pony’s magic? What possible service would that achieve?”

“Criminals?” Weiss suggested, lifting a claw to bring her idea to the forefront of the conversation. “If he can remove their ability to use magic, whether they’re unicorn pegasi or EP, then Equestrian criminals would become significantly less dangerous, right?”

“I suppose…” Twilight admitted. “Personally, I’m having an issue with the mere fact that we’re forced to create magical weapons for a war that we really have next to nothing to do with.”

“Princess Twilight, don’t tell me that you're on the side opposing the war altogether with the idea that if the Captain left Equestria, the war would go with him!” Discord feigned shock and/or ignorance with a paw over his heart.

“Except for that last part,” Twilight paused to consider her position. “Yes, I am. I am wholeheartedly against this war and what it’s doing to us as a species!” she proclaimed adamantly, even going so far as to stomp her hoof down. “We’re supposed to be peaceful! What happened to friendship and getting along?” she demanded, looking at the faces of the women and noted their shame. Discord looked too sick to care.

“Then what would you suggest?” Luna inquired softly, looking up at Twilight from under her drooping mane.

“What if we were to try and figure out what the Griffons wanted with Captain and see if there was a way to peacefully resolve all this?” Twilight suggested with a modest smile.

“All the Griffons want is to kill Celestia and Luna and claim Equestrian territories for themselves before either enslaving the Equestrian races or butchering them up into their next meal.” I announced, having appeared in the doorway and leaning against Nurse Redheart (she’d introduced herself once I was of sound mind and body).

“What?” Sunset demanded, wheeling around fearfully. “What’re you even doing up? You should be resting!”

“I can’t rest knowing that one of our own Princesses would willingly hand our leadership over to the Griffons on a platter to be summarily executed.” I grimaced as Redheart helped me to a seat near to Weiss and Luna. Weiss swapped out for Sunset who sat down next to me and began checking my vitals.

“How do you know that?” Twilight asked, looking sick to her stomach. I was too when I heard the news.

~~~

"You know, since you’re never leaving here…” my griffon torture artist grinned at me as he plunged a butcher’s knife into my shoulder blade. “I feel I should tell you what I plan to do with this knife after we take Equestria.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” I asked, grimacing from the hot blade just inside my shoulder socket.

“Well, that blue Princess you just so happen to be such great friends with? I plan to carve her and her sister up and serve them on a platter for our King when he conquers Canterlot and hosts his victory banquet in the Canterlot throne room, with that purple princess as part of his harem. The banquet will be served by pony slaves who will be forced to either serve or be served.” The griffon cackled and pushed the blade in further, ignoring the hissing coming from my mouth.

~~~

“I was told that.” I replied, returning to reality to view the sickened looks of everyone around me. “That’s what they told me as they tortured me, drove large knives into my skin and between joints.”

“Then it’s entirely possible that they were making it-” Weiss suggested helpfully, but I held a hand up to silence her.

“No. With the amount of passion in his eyes and voice as he told me everything, I believe he thinks it's going to happen.” I replied sternly, mostly staring at the floor to avoid looking at the ponies around me who’d… if I failed…

“It’s not going to happen.” Sunset announced, placing her hand on my back lovingly. I sat back up and took a breath.

“So I hear that you’ve modified the magic guns?” I asked trying to change the topic. “How’d you manage that?”

“You’re first design was still rather crude; basic. We refined it as best we could after Sunset studied the rifle you left behind.” Twilight replied, magically producing a weapon with an actual skin on it instead of just tubing and structural supports holding everything together.

“The SCAR? Yeah, I can see the similarities between this and the DMR.” I replied, taking the weapon and noticed the plates that would conduct the magic had been replaced with a more bone-like substance.

“What with these plates? What’re they made of?” I asked, trying to get a closer look. They almost felt like…

“That, would be horn.” Twilight replied with a calming breath. I raised an eyebrow and pulled the gun away a bit but refused to give it up. Inspecting the underside, I found what looked like a magazine well that lead into the firing chamber. “And that would be where the spellstone magazine gets inserted, but I'm sure you already figured that out.”

“Magazines? When’d you start making magazines? And how are you producing all this?” I asked with a smirk. Man, I’d really missed a lot in a month.

“We’ve gotten help from Sunset Shimmer to start mass-producing everything for the war effort.” Luna explained. “I’ll admit, despite things being as terrible as it is right now, this war is really kickstarting our technological abilities.”

“Yeah, humanity went through the same thing in World War One and Two. A lot of medical practices advanced through the German’s torturing their captives.” I replied, still examining the weapon in my hands. Looking through the sights with the bolt locked open for a second, I looked around the beige room a bit before tossing the weapon back to Twilight who stowed it away in some magical field.

Standing up with a bit of startled help from Sunset, I stretched myself out and nearly blacked out from the exertion before stabilizing again.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sunset demanded as I began to trudge down the hallway, still in the ratty clothing I was captured in a month back.

“Home to get changed and make some modifications to the cells.” I replied firmly, collapsing against a wall before Sunset slung my arm over her shoulder to properly help me walk.

“What exactly are you planning on changing?” Weiss asked as she gingerly climbed up onto Sunset’s back to ride along.

“Not much, don’t worry.” I replied simply; eyes set forward purposefully as we exited the Castle altogether and entered into the Courtyard where, surprisingly enough, the mass majority of the NLAF had camped out and upon noticing my arrival, all stood at attention and saluted.

“Sir! Welcome home, Captain!” they all shouted in unison. My night vision enhanced eye picked out the recognizable mane of Rainbow Dash near to a fire with a number of other pegasi, but the cap on her head was not of a Private. Rather, it was that of a regular soldier with the rank of Corporal printed on the front of it.

“Uh-huh. Rainbow Dash, on me!” I ordered and continued my barefooted walk through the snow until we reached the large wooden door down into my abode.

“Sir, are you alright? Are you sure you should be moving?” Dash asked friendly enough, keeping pace behind us once she'd caught up.

“Do not argue my condition, soldier!” I barked back, surprising all women with me. “Who authorized your promotion to Corporal?” I demanded as we finally hit the landing and I was helped to my room.

“Uhm,” Dash stuttered a moment, fighting for words until I shot a glare at her. “Sir! Princess Luna promoted me for exceptional behavior in the line of duty, sir!” Dash perked up into a semi-frightened stance at attention, remaining just outside my cell room to allow me to change; as had Weiss. “I’m told that Princess Luna will back my promotion if you decide to dispute it, sir!”

“Yeah I'm sure she will.” I grumbled as I sat on the side of my bed and worked my shirt up over my head. Soon I had it off and began working on the shredded cargo pants as Sunset silently went through my wardrobes to find me new clothing. Pulling out a blank t-shirt and some slacks, I held up my hand and pointed out to my carpentry work clothes.

“You’re not planning on working on one of your projects right now, are you?” Sunset looked at me in stunned silence as I shot her a glare. Why was it so hard to believe that I'd want to wear work clothing to overhaul my workspaces? “Y-yes sir.” she stammered and put my clothes away before collecting my work clothes to help me into them.

As soon as I was dressed and mostly stable I exited the room to Rainbow Dash’s salute and anxiety as I entered into the wood workshop.

“Everything must go.” I announced low and slowly and returned gasps filled the air as I entered and began tossing out tools, my tool belt and some of the lighter projects. “Weiss, send a message to Eben to cancel all outstanding work orders and give the clients refunds.” I demanded as I began hauling out an incomplete kitchen table piece with some of my finest scroll work in the banding.

“B- but… all of them, dad?” Weiss questioned weakly. I completed my list of people to glare at when Weiss gave a small yelp and ran off to complete my order while I tossed out another partially completed rocking chair.

“I’ll need to keep the tool cabinets, I’ll have to build gun racks and armour stands…” I muttered to myself as I broke down a number of nearly finished pieces to use for scrap. “I’ll need proper work benches, gun oils and weapon maintenance tools; Luna will help me get those.” I continued muttering as I approached a finished rocking chair that was due to be shipped, but to whom I couldn’t remember.

“Stop this!” Sunset appeared before me with tears in her eyes. “This is madness! Why are you destroying all your hard work and the hard work of Weiss?” she demanded through large teal eyes.

“Move it or lose it.” I growled. My hand met the handle of what felt like a paring chisel and spun it so the blade would be ready to strike if need be. I had shit to do and this human was getting in my way.

“Wha-” Sunset began to say and was knocked out of the way by a flying blue body as the chisel tip came up and narrowly clipped her shoulder. The chisel itself found itself buried into the stone wall a foot away, my hand still up post-throw as the human and the blue pony evacuated from the room terrified.

“Come on, move it!” The blue pony demanded, shielding the human with her wings from another potential attack. I paid them no mind as I turned back to the large chair ahead of me and brought my foot up, then back down and through the seat. My scales provided plenty of armour from wooden splinters as I brought my foot back up again and down into the legs before ripping off the backrest and tossed it aside.

“Good, now all you need is that blue Princess to build you your new equipment.”

And if she won’t provide?

“Then you’ll make her provide. You can force her to use her magic, remember?”

Right. Where’s she at anyways?

“Captain? What are you doing?” Oh, speak of the devil. I whirled around to find a distraught blue alicorn princess standing in the doorway, looking at me confused. Afraid.

“Perfect timing. I need your magic to refit the workshop.” I announced, slowly advancing on the Princess who took a couple steps backwards, remaining out of my reach.

“Captain, I’ll ask you again: what’re you doing?” The creature demanded again, casting off her fear for determination for answers.

“I’m preparing for work.” I replied with a slight smirk. She’s going to help me whether she likes it or not. This creature has the magic I need. “Come here, now.” I ordered, pointing to my feet as though I were scolding a child. Or as though I were ordering of my soldiers back home.

“Ahh, those were the days…”

“I will not move until you tell me what is going on!” the beast replied. I lunged and took hold of it’s horn in my hand, keeping a firm grip on it as I swung up onto it’s back and held on.

Placing my hand on the back of it’s neck, I focused on a number of images in my mind and began pushing them into the mind of the beast beneath me. The horn began to glow a pale blue and the creature cried out for mercy but I had none to give as a white swirling light began to spiral around in the workshop, using the scrap materials as an offering, a base.

A minute later and I had a number of metal and wooden benches, some with vices others with racks for future guns and others with peg boards to hold every tool I was now focussing on conjuring up.

The creature bucked beneath me a couple times before collapsing to it’s knees, sobbing openly and gritting its teeth as I continued to push more and more information into into it’s head.

Soon the horn glow turned completely white, almost silvery, as I completed my shopping list and let go. I dismounted and gave the beast a kick in the side to get it moving.

“You’re dismissed.” I ordered, entering into the workshop to get to work. I completely ignored the protests and cries of pain from the creatures behind me. The weeping of the human never even registered with me as I shut the door on all of them.

Then came the blackness.

Author's Note

Heh, so I like to think that shit is starting to heat up now. Had the Crysis 2 soundtrack playing in the background for the last quarter and was helping to get me into a proper state of mind for finishing the chapter.

I don't really like the first half of this chapter though, it felt forced to me.

Kein Frieden

Darkness Consumes

“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”

What am I doing? I looked at my hands and at my surroundings.

Do I recognize this place? There was a gun table, a reloading bench and a parts table. I ran my hands over the tools hanging on the wall before me. Cold to the touch, lifeless.

Are these mine? What’s going on? Why am I in a cell? I approached the door and peered through the tiny barred window in the otherwise solid wooden door. Nobody around, not even a guard.

“H- Hello?” I called out meekly before coughing. My throat was incredibly dry; how long was I in here? “Hello? Is anybody there?” I called out again, my voice stronger this time and echoed through the room. No reply.

I turned back into the small room with only a tiny, stained mattress, a bucket and a plate of what looked like… bread? Giving it a poke I determined that it was actually a bunched up, very crusty rag saturated in gun oil. What was a gun rag doing on a plate?

Turning back to the weapon benches, I looked over the gun racks at all the different weapons that hung there: automatic assault rifles, Designated Marksman Rifles, maybe four different sub-machine guns, with no less than twenty different handguns, some with a similar pair that had been modified to a different task.

Picking up what looked like a freshly oiled Glock 18, I gave it a once over and determined that it had been freshly maintained and was just missing it’s slide which sat a little ways away from it’s main body. Sliding the firing mechanism onto the pistol base and inserting the locking pins, I tested the mechanism for motion before setting it down on a couple of pegs outlined in a bit of dust.

How long have I been down here? I wondered again as I ran my finger over a gun at random, wiping off a thin layer of dust. Am I prisoner?

Returning to the door again, I peered through once more for any signs of life but found none.

“Hello! Anybody down here? Can anybody hear me?” I demanded, gripping onto the bars of the window and gave a firm tug to test the solidity of the door. The door seemed to rattle a little bit so I stood back and took hold of the door handle.

Was this always there? I wondered, tracing the knob with a finger. Brass? Artistically designed. Who’d put such an ornate doorknob inside a prison cell?

“H- help me!” A faint woman’s voice echoed from beyond the door. Releasing the handle I gripped onto the bars again and pressed my face into them to try and look as far down the hallway as I could.

“Hello! Who’s there? What’s going on, please explain!” I shouted, growing almost desperate.

“Help… Me…” the voice carried down the hallway again. I backed up and tried the doorknob, giving it a twist then a pull.

Surprisingly the door silently swung open almost of it’s own accord.

“Save… Me…” the voice replied to my departure of my cell and I turned into the darkness where the requests had originated from.

“Stare into the abyss…” “The abyss stares back.” I whispered in reply to the vaguely familiar voice all around me as I took hold of the single burning torch in the cavern and began to explore for the voice’s origin.

Stopping at a similar door, I peeked into the window but saw nothing in the blackness that consumed the room. The same was said for the next three rooms when at the fourth a gust of wind suddenly swept through and extinguished my only, solitary source of light; my safety.

“Please… Save me!” The female voice demanded pitifully again. Had I made a mistake in not bringing one of my weapons with me? Did they have any ammunition? I’d seen a reloading bench but hadn’t seen any trace of completed rounds or full magazines.

“I’m- I’m coming!” I called back, trying to see in the oblivion that surrounded me. My feet slapped on what felt like watery stones as I slowly continued down the hallway. “Don’t worry, I'm coming!”

“He’s- He’s getting closer! Don’t let him hurt me!” the female voice cried out, sounding more and more estranged.

“I’m coming! Just hold on!” I called back and picked up my pace.

“He’s almost here! Hurry!” The voice pleaded through sobs now. Ahead of a single ray of light illuminated a lone doorway set in stone, with the darkness continuing on ahead of me. “Help!” The voice screamed.

“I’m here!” I said. Wait, that wasn’t me, my mouth wasn’t moving. I slid to a halt at the doorway and peered inside. Inside was a matured woman holding an infant in her arms, the red and yellow hair cascading down around her shoulders hiding her face as tears dropped onto the baby’s body; it’s own infantile hair a blend of silver and red.

“What’s wrong?” I demanded, pulling at the door. The woman looked up at me through teary, teal eyes and screamed. “I’m here to help!” I called back but the woman scurried backwards into the wall, protecting her baby.

“He’s here! He’s here!” She screamed, hugging her child to her body. “Help me!”

“Sunset, I’m right here!” I called, shoving my arm through the window to try and reach out to her.

“No, I'm right here!” My voice called out from my right. My head turned to greet the face of me with silver hair and ominously glowing red dragon eyes set into a shimmering silver face.

All I could do was scream.

“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”

“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”

Author's Note

“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”
“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”
“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”
“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”
“Stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.”

Was I late?

“Lookie lookie. He’s wide awake! Let’s give him some time to review his mistake!” the voice of a griffon torture artist chuckled before pulling away from me.

Shaking my head clear of the fog I evaluated my surroundings to find myself back in my cell, strung up by chains fused to my arms via thermic welding. The grey stone walls of the cell looked damp, moist from whatever condensation had managed to gather in this hell.

“What… Where am I? How’d I get back here?” I demanded groggily, my head still not fully clear and my mind still misfiring.

“Get back?” The griffon looked at me in mock shock. “You never left! Where would you have gone?”

“No, I was rescued. Discord gave me the ability to free us and I killed all of you before lighting your black powder reserves to escape.” I replied, slipping over my moderately numb tongue. “I got back to Equestria and was… was…” I stopped, trying to remember what it was I was doing before I got here. “What was I doing?”

“I believe what you may be forgetting is building us advanced weapon benches and showing us how firearms work.” The griffon replied, pulling a silver .44 magnum from a holster to look it over. “You’ve really been a big help these last six months.”

“What? No, no it can’t have been that long. I’ve only been here for a month! Why would I have helped you bastards?” I demanded furiously, tugging against my chains which now pulled at my very flesh and blood with an intense burn.

“You know, I ask myself that every day. You just up and offered to help, or don’t you remember?” the griffon grinned in reply, holstering his weapon as he looked me over in the backlight.

“No, I’d never… I’d never volunteer to help.” I resisted, shaking my head to try and clear out this nightmare. This had to be some sort of hallucinogen to make me think that i’d already been helping them and would give them the actual technologies.

“Oh but you did. You started off with the P226s. You figured that giving us a small caliber weapon with next to no stopping power would have bought you some freedoms, but all it did was buy you your next meal. Then you gave us a ten millimeter pistol, then you worked yourself up into a fit before surrendering the plans for a .357.” The griffon paced before me, reviewing my impossible history.

“Then why do I have chains melded with me?” I demanded furiously; ignoring the searing pain in my arms, legs and neck. “If I gave you all these weapons, why permanently bind me with these chains?”

“Because you thought that would be it! You said you’d give us the powder that freed the Dragon Queen! You even went so far as to mix it all together before trying to use it against us!” The interrogator shouted, slapping me across the face and raked his claws over my broken skin. “We subdued you and took the powder and used it to remind you to never fuck with our great power!”

“And how did that work out for you?” I spat at the creature. I had to have resolved not to give them anymore more after that, right?

“Quite well in fact. You then went on to give us the shotgun. You first started with a simple double barrel for proof of concept before you caved and gave us what you called the 870.” The griffon replied, a soldier from outside my cage passing the aforementioned shotgun through the bars to show it off proudly.

“No…” I whimpered in defeat, resigning to merely hang from my bindings. Had I given them ranged weaponry? Automatics?

“Yes…” The griffon hissed back with a smirk, loading a single shell into the gun before placing the barrel of the gun against my right forearm. “The weapons that you thought would save you is destroying Equestria!” he announced, pulling the trigger single-handedly.

I screamed out at the slug tore through my arm; bringing with it a decent trail of blood, flesh and scale. The shotgun was removed from the room and a tourniquet was applied to my wounded arm.

“Now now, we can’t have you dying on us just yet! You already promised to give us the assault rifle!” the griffon grinned sadistically before patting me on the side of my battered face before turning away. “Clean him up and prepare him for transport.” the griffon ordered carelessly as he made off down the hall with his weapons.

This had to be a lie. There was no way that it had been six months and nopony had come to rescue me. There was no way I'd have given up all those firearms in order to allow myself a shred more life. I’d have sooner died before I gave up.

Right?

“What do you think?”

“Who the fuck do you think you are? Why are you talking to me?” I muttered under my breath, my head hanging low and my dirty silver hair having not only lost it’s luster but had also grown long and now hung past my face. “Why don’t you come out and face me!”

“Mmm, not yet. I’m almost ready for the big reveal.”

“Not going to be much of a reveal if I'm hanging from the ceiling by chains welded into my body.” I replied, calming back down again but remained somber.

“Which is why I've sent you a familiar face. Actually, this creature has been around for a number of months now. I think they like seeing you in as much pain as I do.”

“Oh really? Then who is it? Gilda? Some obscure griffon I thought I'd killed back in Griffonstone?” I demanded of the air and walls around me.

“Gilda? Please, she died long ago. I believe you even said she tasted like heaven.”

“Well that’s unfortunate. So? Who’s the little bastard that’s been watching me be tortured and betray my country?” I demanded, staring at the walls ahead of me. My response came in the form of claws clicking on a stone surface before the cell door slid open and a pair of glowing blue eyes peered at me from the shadows; the rest of their body hidden away.

“Afternoon.” Eben bid me as he stepped into the room casually carrying a small tray of what looked like welding tools and little red stones.

“You? You’ve been working for the Griffons and watched me betray Equestria? Betray your sister, mother and my girlfriend? You’ve sat by as I was being tortured and beaten?” I demanded furiously as Eben merely ignored me and set to lighting the welding torch.

“Yes.” Eben replied simply, looking back up at me with a white flame before very painfully climbing my chains to get to the ones that protruded from my body. “And now I'm going to rescue you and give you a chance at redemption.”

“If everything I was told is true, then there is no redemption for me.” I sighed defeated, completely ignoring the claws as they dug into me and began to cut through the chain links. “Besides, they’ve already proved that their weaponry is enough to subdue me. What possible chance would I have as a demi-dragon to escape?”

“None.” Eben replied firmly as my right arm dropped down with a length of chain hanging past my hand. Fresh blood dripped past the tourniquet before Eben pulled it off and put the flame to it, cauterizing the wound with howls of pain from me. “Mom’s scales have almost been entirely removed from your body, you know? There’s next to no chance that you’ll survive if you were to escape as you are now. You’re barely even a demi-dragon now.”

“So then what do you suggest? I’m in absolutely no state to escape, let alone move on my own.” I demanded as Eben moved to my neck and cut through those chains. I landed mostly on my feet though my left arm, now dislocated, held me up.

“You want to know what I've been doing for the last five months?” Eben stopped his cutting to look directly into my eyes. “I’ve been watching a man be tortured to an inch of his life before regularly suffering mental breaks and betray his country. I’ve been waiting to see if he’d deal with his split personality to finally get a hold of himself. I’ve been sneaking out at night to go rock farming. Do you understand how difficult it is to find Red Diamonds?” Eben demanded, hanging off my left arm to cut it free.

“Why would you need one of the rarest minerals on the planet?” I raised a weary eyebrow at the slightly older dragonling before the chain was cut through completely and I was dropped to the floor.

“Weiss told me of a way to give you a fighting chance. It required six, six, Red Diamonds and an incredible amount of Dragon Breath.” Eben explained, moving to my feet to cut them loose. A minute of relative silence save for the hissing of the flame and the hissing of my skin as it bubbled and popped under the heat and Eben set down the welding torch.

“And where is she?” I asked calmly, ignoring the burning in my limbs as I flopped backwards.

“She’s with mom fighting with the other Dragon Fleets against the Griffons, last I heard anyways.” Eben replied as he began setting the purplish red stones around me at the ends of my limbs, with the sixth being placed on my chest. “No matter what, don’t move.” Eben demanded as he pulled the cell door shut again for a bit of privacy and extra time should anyone discover Eben’s task.

“What’s going to happen to me?” I asked curiously as I remained as still as I could. Wasn’t difficult since I had absolutely no energy to even lift a finger at the moment.

“This is a binding ritual.” Eben explained, taking a short breath before lighting the diamonds on blue fire.

“A what?” I demanded, trying to lift my head by the fatigue, exhaustion and months of torture kept me in place.

“A binding ritual. This is called ‘Dragon’s Heart.’ It’s going to bind the two of us together and give you the full power of a dragon.” Eben replied, climbing up onto my chest to glare at me menacingly. “Don’t think for one second that I'm doing this because I think of you as my father. We’re not that close.” he growled before taking a huge breath in and let rip onto the stone on my chest.

All five burning diamonds around me erupted into a blinding light which arced up and over me, merging together into a single point of white light above my chest; above Eben and the stone.

The black dragonling got on his hands and knees, facing me with his stomach over the stone.

“Tell Weiss and my mom… I love ‘em both.” Eben requested, actually genuinely smiling for one in his life as a beam of white shot downwards into our bodies.

The both of us screamed out in pain as the light filled the room, filled our very bodies inside and out. Soon though, the scream turned into a mighty roar as our voices merged into one with our bodies.

~*~*~

Eben was no more. Captain was probably long gone. Two of the most important males in her life had disappeared from her life much too quickly.

There was one thing that gave Colonel Sunset Shimmer a ray of hope, however. Exactly 57 days ago, the Griffon legions started showing up with shotguns; an indication that Captain was alive if at least for now.

“Colonel, what’re the reports?” the familiar voice belonging to a blue General demanded from across the table.

“General Luna, the forty-eighth Pegasi division was met by Griffon troops in south Appaloosa. We only have the west remaining of our territory before Equestria falls to the Griffons. The siege outside Canterlot remains, ma’am.” Sunset replied, manipulating a magical hologram depicting the troop movements on a map of the country.

Save for a thin strip leading from Canterlot to the North Luna Ocean, the rest of the map was marked in red indicating enemy forces and their approximate strength in real time.

“Chief Engineer Sparkle, what of armament development? Anything to help us?” Luna looked at the ex-princess firmly, ignoring the eye patch and lack of horn.

The two alicorns had suffered imprisonment in a Griffon camp for a few weeks and had both lost their horns, however Luna’s was saved when an Equestrian spec-ops team retrieved them and brought them home for treatment. Twilight had undergone extensive therapies to get used to the fact that she was now powerless.

“Not yet. All our research facilities keep getting hit whenever we reach beta testing for a weapon.” Twilight sighed as she looked over the map before her. “All we have left are the labs here in the Castle Dungeons now.” she added, pointing to one of the two markers before it blipped away.

“Admiral Schatten, what of the dragons? How do they fair?” Luna turned to the white dragonling who’d been cast into her position rather suddenly when her mother returned with a full legion of Dragons. They were now down to four since Queen Schatten and her King had been killed four months back.

“This sucks.” Weiss replied, her arms crossed over her chest much like her brother used to do. “Without a reigning King or Queen, the last four want to go back home to wait out their destruction.”

“So we’re boned.” Captain Dash muttered, still examining the map herself. She hadn’t gone unscathed in these last six months as she was now sporting an artificial wing to draw attention away from her scarred face.

“Hey, what’s that?” Sunset demanded, picking up on a single symbol quickly moving in past the Griffonian mountains. It wasn’t registered with the others so it merely remained a black dot, though streak would have been more accurate going off the speed that it was moving.

“I have no idea. Don’t tell me the griffons have found a way to move that quickly!” Dash complained, burying her face under her hooves. “Just what we need, supersonic griffons!”

Suddenly the doors blew open with a random NLAF soldier panting heavily.

“Excuse the intrusion, but something is coming towards the castle at an alarming rate!” the soldier announced. Sunset stood and ran off after the soldier to investigate; the doors slamming shut just as an explosion occurred overhead.

With debris raining down on everypony’s heads, Luna threw up a shield and redirected the brunt of it as a single black figure with huge black leathery wings descended in.

“Open fire!” A guard announced and drew his magic rifle, loading in a magazine of laser rounds while the other guards all took aim and fired.

The humanoid creature with shining black scales opened it’s glowing red eyes and surveyed the attackers before sweeping its wings around, creating a gust of wind that knocked most of the guards down.

Touching down, the humanoid creature folded wings and approached the table as it’s eyes turned blue upon seeing the dragonling with bright white and gold scales.

“E- Eben?” Weiss demanded through a tiny voice, holding a claw up towards the creature. “Eben!” she exclaimed as she leapt up onto and latched onto the creature, weeping profusely.

“Eben, is that really you?” General Luna examined the creature. It surely had the scales and eyes of the dragonling but aside from the fact that this creature was much too large to be the baby dragon prince, it felt much too powerful. Too… Pure.

“Dude, you look great for five months older! What’s your secret?” Dash grinned and knocked her hoof against the creature’s leg. Dash hadn’t had to crane her neck upwards like this since she’d last looked up at… “Holy shit.” Dash’s eyes went narrow as she backed away into the table. “You’re not Eben.”

The creature shook his head, the twin horns protruding from it’s scalp almost managing to create a ringing sound as they swished through the air as the blue eyes turned silver.

“No… fucking… way…” Twilight gasped as she realized who it was before everypony else.

“Cap… Captain? Is that you?” Luna asked through broken sobs and tearing eyes.

“My name…” the creature announced with a combination of the human and the black dragonling. “Is Dragon King Soren Mercer.”

~*~*~

“How the hell are you still alive!” Twilight demanded as my black diamond scales almost seem to flip around to their silver side before settling back into place. My wings had also seemed to have disintegrated for the time being but I knew how to get them back should I need them. Along my arms, legs and spine ran a line of silver spines to the backs of my knees, my wrists and from my spine to my tail which now gently waved behind me.

Weiss remained curled up to me, weeping after I’d told her of her brother’s fate and of how I'd come to be the new Dragon King. Of the silver scales that now covered my body, only a single black one remained over my heart; the only remains of the black dragonling named Eben while I was transformed like this.

“I’m alive because of Eben.” I replied, taking a seat at the table before me. “He used something called Dragon Heart which turned me into this.”

“Dragon Heart…” Weiss muttered, her little claw poking at the black scale on my chest. “Is he in there somewhere?”

“Sorry, Weiss. When he melded with me his consciousness ceased to exist. He wanted to give me a message to you and your mother, though.” I replied somberly, working to soothe my dragon daughter.

“Mom’s dead.” Weiss reported with a sniff before looking up at me. “Whatever message to have to give, you can give it to me.”

“I’m sorry about your loss.” I replied. “But Eben says, ‘I love you.’”

“Thanks… Speaking of ‘I love you’s, where’s Colonel Shimmer?” Weiss demanded, sitting up in my arms to look at the others for an answer. I still couldn’t get over the fact that Twilight had no horn and Dash was not only a Captain, but looked like that alternate version I'd seen half a year ago. “I’m sure she’d want to see you again.”

“And she does! Don’t you, miss Shimmer?” the voice that I thought was in my head echoed in the room as the holographic map between everyone shimmered and transformed into an image of Sunset chained up in what looked like Celestia’s or Luna’s bedroom. Speaking of which, where was Celestia?

“Help!” Sunset cried out through tears, kneeling on the floor with a pony in NLAF armour pacing behind her.

“Sunset!” I shouted, standing and dropping Weiss suddenly as my hands impacted the table surface. My scales shifted back to black, starting at my hands and working themselves up over the rest of me until I was fully clad in hardened jet black scales as my eyes first turned blue, then red.

“Soren? Is that you?” Sunset asked hesitantly as she apparently could see me across the distance. “What happened to you?”

“That’s not important right now. What is important is that I'm finally coming back to save you!” I replied reassuringly, raising my clawed hand up as though I could simply reach through the magic to retrieve her.

“Aww, isn’t that adorable?” the pony smirked for a second before continuing. “But I'm afraid to say that the Captain won’t be joining us.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded furiously. “If you think anything is going to top me from saving my girlfriend, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Oh but I'm very quite certain that what I've got will hinder you, if not for a minute or so. Because a minute is all you get!” the pony exclaimed lifting the blanket off the bed to reveal that it wasn’t a bed, but instead at least thirty bricks of chromium thermite explosive all wired to a timed detonator with sixty seconds paused on the clock.

“Sunset!” I exclaimed as the others around me all gasped when they figured out what was going on.

“Here’s the premise to this game. There are three rooms set up in this castle designed to look exactly like this one. All three of them have explosives primed to detonate connected to a motion sensor that’s monitoring every conceivable entrance into the room. If they trip, all the timers changes to ten seconds and then activates the clock. You know what that means, right?” the pony grinned maliciously at me, seemingly ignoring everyone else in the room.

“Means I only have time to pick one room to try and rescue her.” I growled as my horns began to vibrate with pure magical energy. “But you forget that there are four creatures in this room who can fly.” I smirked, though my glare remained.

“True, which is why if anyone but you enters the room all three explosives will detonate at the same time. Now, I'm not an unfair game host so I'll give you a hint as to where in Canterlot we are.”The image was replaced by three different pictures of three different towers in Canterlot, all modelled to look the same as the Royal bedrooms.

“Why are you doing this?” I demanded, as I began trying to discern which room was the right room. I just needed time.

The images flashed back to the one of Sunset and the pony, though this time the pony looked furious.

“Why? Let me tell you why! I looked up to you! You took me under your wing and taught me everything about sniping! Then you go and get me killed and I later find out that you survived! You took everything from me! My memories, my skills, my ambitions! Now I’ll take everything from you! Your girlfriend and your unborn child!” my face, and the faces of everypony in the room all dropped at this announcement.

“Sunset… you’re- you’re pregnant?” I asked weakly. Sunset nodded through tears but with a smile on her face.

“Yes. Turns out you’ve got quite the little swimmers!” Sunset chuckled before the pony brought a hoof down against the back of her neck, earning a yelp from the woman.

“But… I never did any of those things to you. I don’t even know who you are!” I shouted, turning back to the pony behind her as he continued to pace.

“Oh don’t you?” the pony replied but stopped and took a look at himself. “I suppose my disguise has been rather effective, hasn’t it? And after all this time together!” The pony replied as he began to melt and change into a different body.

“No.” I stumbled backwards, staring into the face of the past. “No! That’s not possible! You’re dead! I saw you executed!”

“Now he remembers!” the now human announced jovially, his own red eyes glaring back at my own. The Corporal stood over Sunset Shimmer with his hands on her shoulders, making her flinch. “You better hurry, Captain Mercer. You’re on the clock!” then the image fizzled out.

“I got him! I traced the magical signal!” Luna announced as her horn was enveloped in a dual over glow and concentration written on her face. “Go! Go!” Luna demanded, the location of the room appearing on the map alongside the timer now at forty-six seconds and counting down.

I spread my wings wide and launched from my position, exiting through the hole I’d made earlier and arced onto my back towards the proper tower before rolling over.

“Sunset!” I screamed, streaking through the dusk light and exploded through the wall of the tower. There she was, sitting in the middle of the room chained to the floor. The Corporal was nowhere in sight. I slid across the floor with the ten seconds counting down in my mind and swiped my claws through the chains, freeing her before turning back to the hole I'd come in through.

Three seconds.

No time. I threw my body over Sunset Shimmer, covering her entirely with my body as the world around me exploded in molten heat.

Neither of us screamed as I burned.

Author's Note

So, how's that for an ending? I was quite eager to write this and now it's here and it's over...

Or is it?

No but seriously, tell me what you thought! I wanna hear what you think!

Neue Welt. Neuer Frieden.

Alternate Ending: Part 1

Author's Note

Okay, so right off the bat: I wasn't happy with how I ended it the first go 'round. Dropping myself down to a dream ending left a foul taste in my mouth. Therefore, this bonus chapter is going to be a rewrite of the last four chapters.

By the way, Soren will still die. Not going to put this in a spoiler since this chapter will come after the "ending".

Alternate Ending: Part 1

“How ya feeling?” I asked casually. The silence was deafening and neither Discord nor I could really do anything to relieve the pressures.

“Sorry…” I mumbled again, also closing my eyes to try and get some rest of my own. A knocking on the large steel door alerted the two of us occupants and since it wasn't so heavy as the usual pounding by my Griffon captors, Discord and I shared a look of curiosity.

"Who is it?" I called out in confusion as Discord and I navigated ourselves around the pit so I could stand at the door without draining Discord of his magic anymore.

"Someone who's going to get you out of there." The unmistakable sound of Eben peaked my eyebrows in surprise as I took a few steps back from the door. As soon as I did, the door unlatched and swung open just enough that the small dragon was able to pop through with a potato sack on his back. "You look like shit."

"That's what happens when you've been hostage to the Griffons for as long as I have. Tell me, how goes everything? How's Luna and Weiss? How's the New Luna Armed Forces doing without me? How's Sunset?" I peppered the boy with incessant questioning before he climbed up my body to silence me by pressing his claws over my lips.

"Tell you later, right now we need to get you prepared." Eben ordered as he hopped back down to lead me to the center of the pit, making Discord look more and more pained as I drew closer. "Lay down."

"Why?" I asked, though I obeyed regardless and sat myself down before laying myself out flat with my hands clasped over my stomach. "What're you doing?"

"A magic trick." Eben rolled his eyes as he began to pull red stones from his bag and placed them out in a five point star, each stone at the end of my limb once he'd stretched me out. "This is going to be the most powerful Dragon Breath modification I'll ever do, and probably the last I ever do."

"Why, what is this going to do to you?" I demanded, sitting up with worry before being pushed back down by Eben's claw. "You don't have to do this if it'll destroy your ability to use dragon breath magic."

"My dear Soren," Discord looked up at me from a coiled pile in the imaginary corner, looking weary but smiled nonetheless. "This isn't going to just remove his ability to use dragon breath magic."

"You know what I'm doing?" Eben raised an eyebrow as he set the sixth and final stone on my chest once he climbed up and stood over me. "Then don't interfere."

"Not to worry, tiny dragonling. I have neither the care, nor strength to do anything to stop you. If you want to put yourself through this to free him, I say go for it." Discord waved Eben off before collapsing in on himself once again. Their words was having the effect on me of increasing my concern for whatever was going to happen next, and I was going to make this concern known.

"Okay hang on just a minute! What is going on? You make it sound like this is going to kill you or something!" Since both parties remained silent as Eben lit the stones on fire, sparking them in an intense blue flame, my eyes went wide. "No! If this is going to kill you, then I'm not doing it!"

"Equestria is falling. The Griffons are pounding at Canterlot's doors and are going to break through any time now. If giving my life to save you secures the future of my sister and my mother, then I say fuck it." Eben glared at me as he climbed back up onto my chest and stood before me with the last stone between us. "These stones are Red Diamonds, the most valuable stone on the planet. With these stones, I am capable of giving you one last modification," Eben began to explain. Discord poked his head into the conversation.

"Dragon's Heart, the complete combination of the Dragon's body to the recipients. By using the Red Diamonds as a focus, the Dragon is fused together with the second entity -you- and you gain the abilities of the dragon itself, but at the loss of the dragon's life." Discord continued for the Dragonling as he lit the sixth and final stone on fire before getting down on his hands and feet, his chest over the burning stone as he stared at me with utmost determination.

"But, why are you doing it? I would've expected it to have been Weiss or some other dragon. I thought you didn't like me." I mumbled nearly incoherently as Eben and I felt the combined racing pulses of our heartbeats.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't like you. You're a freak of nature, even for Equestrian standards, and you seem to have destruction follow you everywhere you go. I'm only doing this to save my sister and my mother." Eben stated as he stared me down. "Weiss couldn't do it because she's too busy with her own duties in the Army and my mother has to help lead the Dragon Fleets." Before I could even open my mouth to say anything, Eben detected my intent to speak and held me silent. "Before you say anything else, let me just leave you with a message for my mother and sister."

I silently nodded complacency as Eben sucked in a deep breath. "Tell them that I regret nothing and I love them both." Eben demanded before sucking in a second huge breath and this time, let it all out in a roar of black flames to roll over our chests. With Eben actually genuinely smiling for one in his life, a beam of white shot outwards into our bodies.

The both of us screamed out in pain as the light filled the room, filled our very bodies inside and out. Soon though, the scream turned into a mighty roar as our voices merged into one.

~*~*~

Eben was missing. Captain was probably long gone. Two of the most important males in her life had disappeared from her life much too quickly.

There was one thing that gave Colonel Sunset Shimmer a ray of hope, however. Exactly 3 days ago, the aerial legions reported a streak of pure white light, like a star, rising up into the morning sky from Griffon territory; perhaps an indication the Soren was still alive.

“Colonel, what’re the reports?” the familiar voice belonging to a blue General demanded from across the table.

Save for a thin strip leading from Canterlot to the North Luna Ocean, the rest of the map was marked in red indicating enemy forces and their approximate strength in real time.

“Chief Engineer Sparkle, what of armament development? Anything to help us?” Luna looked at the ex-princess firmly, ignoring the eye patch and lack of horn.

“Vice-Admiral Schatten, what of the dragons? How do they fair?” Luna turned to the white dragonling who’d been cast into her position rather suddenly when her mother returned with a full legion of Dragons. They were now down to four since the death of Queen Schatten and her king as the Griffons had developed some kind of crude anti-air capabilities on their own.

“So we’re boned.” Captain Dash muttered, still examining the map herself. She hadn’t gone unscathed in these last six weeks as she was now sporting an artificial wing to draw attention away from her scarred face.

“I have no idea. Don’t tell me the griffons have found a way to move that quickly!” Dash complained, burying her face under her hooves. “Just what we need, supersonic griffons!”

The answer was swift as the ceiling above everypony exploded into debris and shrapnel from the outside forcing Luna to throw up a shield and redirect the brunt of it as a single black figure with huge black leathery wings descended in.

“Open fire!” A guard announced and drew his magic rifle, loading in a magazine of laser rounds while the other guards all took aim and fired.

Touching down, the humanoid creature folded wings and approached the table as it’s eyes turned blue upon seeing the dragonling with bright white and gold scales.

“E- Eben?” Weiss demanded through a tiny voice, holding a claw up towards the creature. “Eben!” she exclaimed as she leapt up onto and latched onto the creature, weeping profusely.

“Dude, you look great for a few weeks older! What’s your secret?” Dash grinned and knocked her hoof against the creature’s leg. Dash hadn’t had to crane her neck upwards like this since she’d last looked up at… “Holy shit.” Dash’s eyes went narrow as she backed away into the table. “You’re not Eben.”

The creature shook his head, the twin horns protruding from it’s scalp almost managing to create a ringing sound as they swished through the air as the blue eyes turned silver.

“No… fucking… way…” Twilight gasped as she realized who it was before everypony else.

“Cap… Captain? Is that you?” Sunset asked through broken sobs and tearing eyes.

“My name…” the creature announced with a combination of the human and the black dragonling. “Is Dragon King Soren Mercer.”

Alternate Ending: Part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Where am I?

It's a little known fact that inter-universal travel is a pain in the backside. Granted I suppose landing on your backside doesn't help much for the tailbone either, now does it?

So here I was minding my own business on some random city sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon, when this guy in a dark hoodie runs past me at mach chicken and nearly bowls me over. Guy doesn't even so much as look back or apologize; instead, he throws some light refracting orb at me before beating tracks around the nearest corner. That's not even the best part.

Best part comes in when I find out that this crystal thing is actually stolen from some scientific laboratory or whatever; of course I find this out when every cop and their dog appears out of nowhere and tackles me to the ground. They're arresting me, they're shouting at me, they've got rather beautiful guns pointed at me -call me a gun nut, I don't care- and this crystal thing is still in my hand, despite being handcuffed.

All of a sudden, a gunshot goes off. That's it, I'm dead. I have to be.

Of course, I'm not dead.

No, i’m instead lying on my back and looking up at a foreign sky whose clouds don’t seem to be moving whatsoever, despite the wind I can feel brushing my brown- why is my hair silver?

“Oww.” I hissed to myself, shutting my eyes against the burning sunlight and the fire in my backside. “Sun-uv-a-bia-”

“You would do well to avoid such language before me.” a female voice demanded in such propriety I wondered if I was in Buckingham Palace. The -i’m totally guessing here- owner of the voice appeared from above my field of vision, looking down at me with disturbingly bright blue eyes set into an even more disturbingly dark blue muzzle, attached to a similar blue neck.

“What the fu-” a hoof came down over my face, threatening to cave my skull in with any more pressure should I decide to continue my sentence. “Okay, okay! Ow! Enough with the stepping on me!” I shouted, flailing about to try and remove the hoof from my face.

“Thou art now a prisoner unto the kingdom of Equestria!” she declared, glaring at me from above.

“Woah, wait what?” I demanded, trying to sit up. At least I would have if there weren’t two sets of gold plated hooves pushing me back down again.

“Thou shalt be detained and removed from my presence, to be unceremoniously thrown into the Palace Dungeon!” the creature declared as I was lifted entirely off the ground, still on my back, and dropped onto a wooden cart before being tied down and covered with tarps or rags.

“On what charge!” I demanded, lifting my covered head to try and shake it off.

“The charge of infiltration of this palace, strange creature!” the female bellowed as her voice drew further away, the bumps coming from the cart indicating I was being removed from the present location against my will. Great start for a new world.

~~~

“Day 24, no change. Still trapped. Still don't know why.” I groaned as I marked the date on the wall near to the other marks that I had made in the last 24 days. The first week consisted of an entirely Equine diet of flowers and grains and oats but after persistent nagging, I had finally convinced my unicorn guards to at least remove the flowers and turn the grains into a proper bread.

I had been visited by the Princess Luna over the last 24 days, however that was only once and I believe approximately 7 days ago according to my estimations. If I am correct I should be getting another audience with the princess sometime today, hopefully- and there she is.

“So, art thou ready to speak to me, and explain how thyself has infiltrated our world?” Luna almost demanded as the guards magically pushed open the wooden door to the dungeon.

“Are you going to tell me how long you plan to keep me in here?” I rebutted as I lay upon my self made mattress of straw and a white sheet. Slowly but surely I was achieving a level of humane living, even if I was still a prisoner against my will.

“Tell me what I wish to know, and thou shalt find thyself provided with another tool.” Luna replied half-heartedly, telekinetically producing a small rounded chisel from wherever she had it hidden.

“I’m just going to tell you the exact same thing, Princess.” I huffed, trying to ignore the floating tool. “All I know is what I've told you already. I was attacked, I had some kind of crystal ball thrown at me, I was arrested, then I was shot. I arrived here dazed and just as confused as you are.” I explained for the umpteenth time.

“If you were -as you call it- shot, then how are you still alive? Are you an immortal being? Eternal perhaps?” Luna inquired, raking the chisel head against the bars to my cell. I grit my teeth at the thought of her ruining a chisel head before I could get my hands on it.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m dead and this is hell.” I finally turned my head from my lying position towards the Princess. “Some deity wants to fuck with my mind by making me live the rest of my unnatural days in the dungeon of some creepy-ass pony world? I can deal with that.”

“Then what is it you can not ‘deal with’?” The Princess stopped destroying my precious chisel to mock my tone of voice eerily well.

“The fact that you repeatedly come down here to demand information from me that I do not have. Obviously you have no plans to kill me or you’d have done so by now.” I explained, sitting up on my meager bed to face the princess head on as she sat back on her haunches.

“What makes thou so sure of thine self?” Luna demanded defiantly, turning to head to look at me from the corner of her eye and over her upturned muzzle.

“You keep teasing me with new tools and equipment,” I remarked, pointing out the chisel hanging from Luna’s dark blue magic. “Why do that if you’re just going to have me killed?”

“Perhaps we wish to tease you with life, only to strip it away from you in the end when you’ve regained some shred of hope for normalcy?” Luna replied, looking straight at me with a creepy grin.

“Well then we’re never going to reach that end given that I have no hope for anything. I just live day to day.” I replied in a long slow breath, leaning back onto my mattress again with my arms folded behind my head and my leg crossed over the other.

“Then perhaps it would be better to end your pitiful life now!” Luna declared, her voice raising into what’s been established by the guards who occasionally visit call, “The Royal Voice.”

"Whatever, just do it quickly.” I replied, all but ignoring the attempts to frighten me with death. This all but completely deflated the princess and I could almost, almost, hear the air being released as she did so while she looked on at me in sorrowful shock.

“Have you truly no value for your life?” Luna asked in a surprisingly soft voice. Where did hell did that come from? I looked over at Luna again and immediately noted the concern for me in her blue eyes.

“No, I can’t say I do. I started off in this world as a captive, was force fed an equine diet of flowers, oats and grains -none of which is a compatible human diet- and I’m kept in a cage underground with only the faintest of daylight coming in from a window that doesn’t show me the outside world.” I explained sternly.

“Before that, I was in the human world. My parents died, my girlfriend left me when my parents didn’t will me anything of their fortune, I had no real friends to begin with,” I had been recounting my fateful experiences on my fingers, simply to make a point.

“And then I get tackled by the police, arrested and finally shot! So no, I do not hold much value on my life!” I finished my explanation sitting up and breathing heavily from my one sided shouting match with Luna.

After a minute of silence broken every few seconds by the sound of moisture dripping from a relatively nearby stalactite, “Why do you keep living then? Why don’t you just end your life on your own?”

I appeared at the bars before Luna could react, gripping them with enough force that I felt like I could break them through sheer fury alone.

“Did you just ask me why I haven’t committed suicide yet?” I demanded through grit teeth. “You think my life is unfit for living so I should just give up and kill myself; is that what you think?” I was nearly to the point of seeing red. Luna backed away shaking as she held the chisel pointed at me between us.

“I- I did not mean to-” Luna stuttered before dropping the chisel altogether and breaking down into tears. Why was she crying? I thought as I began to cool down. Getting down on my hands and knees, I reached out and took hold of the small metal carving tool before bringing it back into my cell.

“If there’s nothing else, Princess?” I demanded, turning back into my cell and taking a seat on my straw bed. Luna took the cue and galloped out, her wings held aloft in an attempt to remain formally royal however the streams of waterworks did little to maintain her appearance. “Have the guards bring me large blocks of wood,” I shouted after her before thinking quickly and adding, “Please?”

Author's Note

So here I go again; just posted the first chapter of something no one's read yet, and already starting on something else!

Truth be told I have no idea where this is going, just like Lonesome Road I suppose, so for now i'll call it a compilation of short stories? Actually this one I might continue sooner; gears are already grinding away, heheh.

If another author wants to provide some ideas I say go for it!

You want to breath what into my eye?

“Wire brush,” I set aside the tool to my left, sliding it back into a leather roll up case that I'd been given for Weiss’s care. “Claw pick,” Interesting little thing actually, it looked just like a nail. “Scale pick.” How was this a specialized tool? It was just a flat, circular piece of metal with a hook on either side of it.

“Don’t forget about the toothbrush.” Weiss replied from her seated position opposite me, bending down to pick up another wire brush and set it in my hand lovingly.

“Of course not. Gotta get the gemstone dust out of your teeth somehow.” I remarked in all boredom. This was the eleventh time that Weiss had asked me to reorganize my care tools so that she was confident that I knew what each piece was for. “Dragons really eat gemstones?” I asked, still in disbelief about this piece of information.

“Yes, yes we do.” Eben replied from the next cell over, having established that it was his and his sisters place of residence. “Occasionally, if we ever get the chance, we’ll eat meat as well.”

“Oh good, something in common then.” I replied, packing up the tools and rolling the kit up to set it on an old dusty cabinet.

“Humans eat meat? But your teeth don’t look anywhere near capable of ripping flesh!” Weiss explained, jumping up to climb my body to examine my dental work via hooking her tail around the back of my neck.

“No, no they don’t. We don’t eat raw meat, we have to cook it first. The canine teeth-” I paused to press my finger to the teeth in particular to show Weiss. “-are what do the ripping. The front are for biting and the molars in the back are for grinding.”

“So much more complicated than our teeth.” Eben announced from the next room over.

“Yes I know, but your teeth are built for breaking the crystalline structure of gems so it’s no wonder that you can easily rend flesh from bone.” I replied, unhooking the white dragon from my body to set her down.

Turning back to my partially completed chair project, the new tools I'd received were more than helpful at completing the project so far, I strapped my leather tool belt back around my waist again; chisels of all shapes and sizes beating against a tape measure, speed square, a proper wooden mallet and likewise various equipment.

Sitting on the cabinet next to the care tools sat all my sandpaper in various grits and forms: paperback, sponge, block, etc. 80 Grit, 120 grit, 220 grit, 500 grit for lack of a wood finish.

“So is this going to be sold?” Weiss inquired, climbing up onto the chair with a bit of difficulty.

“Probably not. This chair is specifically made for human asses so I'll probably keep it down here with me.” I replied, taking out an parting chisel to work on some scroll-work in the backrest. It just wasn’t agreeing with me. Then an idea struck.

“Weiss or Eben, whoever can answer me, I know that Dragon Breath will teleport things to another dragon or Celestia so I’m sure that you can blow just straight up pure fire, correct?” I asked, crouching down to examine my work.

“Well duh,” Eben replied in all boredom. I didn’t even know what he was doing over there and frankly, I didn’t care. “Wouldn’t be much of a dragon if we couldn’t burn things down, now would we? Why does that matter?”

“Because” -I turned to Weiss before me.- “I need a dragon to heat this chisel up so I can safely burn the wood without setting it on fire.” I explained, holding up the single pointed chisel in my hand.

“I’ll do it!” Weiss declared dutifully. Pulling in a breath, Weiss let out a lick of flame over the metal of my chisel; letting it heat up before it reached a glowing point.

“That should work.” I announced, pressing the hot chisel to the scroll-work and dragging it along, darkening the wood to a pleasant deep brown. “That works quite well actually, thank you Weiss.” I replied, shifting the chisel to my off hand so I could brush Weiss’s head scales, receiving a giggle from the small dragon.

“Gah! I’m so bored down here! When are we going to go top-side and pick out a storefront?” Eben demanded, appearing from around the corner.

“Actually that’s a good idea. I wanna go out and stretch my legs for the first time in weeks.” I replied, setting my hot chisel down on a scrap piece of wood to cool. Pulling the rest of my tools off once more -even though I'd just put them back on again- I set them down in a pile next to the work cabinet and stood up, bringing Weiss with me when she very childishly requested “Up!”

Squirrelling her way around my body, Weiss tethered herself onto my back with her foot claws digging into the back of my shirt. I’d have to get a leather jacket built so that her claws wouldn’t tear my measly clothing to ribbons yet.

Eben had none of it as he lead me from the dungeon, pulling open the large wooden door and stepping through before I could pull the door shut again. Following him up the stairs, and there were a lot of them, we exited the dungeon for the first time since my arrival in incarceration and entered into the Castle courtyard; the gardens of which were meticulously groomed and the grass manicured. It was also quite dark out.

“Well, I suppose there’ll be no need for worry of scaring the residents of the city with my presence and two dragons.” I noted under my breath as I felt Weiss’s tail snake around my torso to keep her from falling over as she left go to look around. “Honestly, it’s probably for the better.” I added as Eben continued to lead me towards the Castle gates and into town itself.

“No kidding; anypony sees you walking around, they’d scream and run for the guard.” the black dragon replied with a scowl as his claws tapped on the street cobblestone underfoot. Weiss sucked in air before letting out a belch away from my head, a scroll materializing in the smoke and flame before landing in my open hand.

“A letter from the Princesses,” Weiss explained as I broke the Royal Seal and unrolled the sheet of paper.

“Indeed. A list of storefront property that we should consider looking at.” I replied, reading over the contents.

“I suggest looking for the smallest square feet.” Eben remarked, climbing up my left side to look at the paper. “If we’re going to be selling custom-order furniture then there’s no real need for room to display pieces.”

“Just what I was thinking.” I announced, taking a note of the address for the smallest looking listing and ignoring Eben's claws sinking into my flesh. “Can you navigate to this one?” I asked, pointing out the particular text.

“Mmmm, yeah I think so. This way.” Eben remarked, unlatching from my flesh to run off down the street on two legs. Following after the dragon, I tilted my head towards the white one.

“Why do you and your brother run on two feet? Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to run on all four?”

“Sometimes we do,” Weiss replied, watching her brother go. “But when we do we run significantly faster; you probably couldn’t keep up with us.” I nodded understanding as Eben rounded a corner a ways off.

Taking the same corner, I searched the lamp lit streets for the little black reptile enveloped in shadows. This was going to be racist, but I couldn’t see him.

“Oi, over here!” Eben called, his blue eyes glowing in the darkness. A quick jaunt over and I stood side by side to Eben, peering at the smallest little storefront I'd seen. It was more or less just a cigar tube stuck between two larger buildings, all boarded up with a “Foreclosure” sign hanging on the door.

“Shall we take a look-see?” I asked, stepping up and taking a firm hold of the first board. Pulling hard, the nails let go and the board came flying off as Eben set to work with Weiss who’d climbed off me beneath me.

Setting the lumber aside, we soon had access to the glass doors and gave them a push; a small silver bell tinkling upon our arrival. Stepping inside and closing the door with another alert from the bell, Eben held up a piece of scrap wood from outside and breathed a bit of blue fire on it, lighting it to function as a torch.

“Huh, what did they sell here?” Weiss asked as she viewed the old wares not yet cleared out.

“Sofas apparently.” Eben replied, hopping up onto one such seat and bouncing on the cushion a couple times.

“And quills.” I added, looking into a display case of various quills on the walls. “Strange combination; no wonder they were foreclosed.”

“I’m thinking cabinets over here,” Eben was currently sizing up the room for potential products already as I continued to survey the rest of the store, working my way back. “Desks over there, tables and kitchen chairs over here.” Eben decided, already pleased with the location. “I like it!” he shouted up at me as I broke through the curtains to the back. Tiny little space; no more than a corridor with a desk and some empty shelves with interspersed filing cabinets. Good enough for a baby dragon shopkeeper.

“I agree, I like it.” I replied, stepping back through the curtains into the lobby. Weiss ran up to me and latched onto my torso, glowing in the torch and faint moonlights as she scurried onto my back for the ride home. “I’ll just let Princess Celestia know to acquire this location for us.” I added, pulling out the scroll again and with use from one of the quills nearby, left a circle in thin blood -what else was I going to use for ink? This was a Sofa and Quill shop, not a Sofa and Quill and Ink shop- around this address.

“Weiss, if you please?” I requested, rolling up the document and holding up to the dragon now on my back. Weiss took a breath and gave a breath of green; effectively hitting send on an otherwise static message. “Thank you.”

“So now what?” Eben asked, leaning against a green sofa with both his arms and legs crossed.

“Oh! Can we go get some gems to eat? I’m starving!” Weiss requested, lolling backwards though her tail under my arm kept her feet planted in my shoulder blades.

“And where exactly are we going to go at this time of night with no money?” I demanded, already aiming for the door with Eben on my heels.

“So we go out of town to a gem mine, I've done it plenty of times!” Eben shrugged back rather casually. “There’s one that was closed down in the early years of Canterlot’s founding when the Princesses moved here from Everfree. I don’t think anypony even knows about it anymore.”

“Then lead on.” I motioned, turning the bell upright so the clacker remained still against the bell wall as we exited.

~~~

“It’s just this way.” Eben whispered, leading me by the hand down an alleyway towards the mountain face. Soon we came to another boarded up entrance, save for a tiny hole near the bottom that I estimated fit a black-scaled baby dragon-sized creature. Kneeling down on the dirt, Weiss and Eben disappeared into the hole as I worked to pull the remainder of the broken board off to crawl in on my stomach.

Once inside, my vision was assaulted with pure darkness, however the blue and golden eyes of Weiss and Eben were rather alarming as they were the only pairs of eyes that glowed.

“I don’t suppose you’d build me a torch again, would you?” I requested as I remained in place. I wasn’t going to risk falling down some mining shaft to my second death.

“What? Afraid of the dark? Don’t have natural night vision?” Eben asked skeptically. Weiss seemed to scowl at her brother as she fought to look around in the darkness for something.

“No, I'm not afraid of the dark. I lived in the Castle Dungeon for a month remember? My night vision just isn’t very good in places with absolutely no light, like in here.” I explained, remaining still and seated.

“Here,” Weiss’s soft whisper alerted me to her presence right next to my ear. “Try this.” She took my hand and placed something into it before closing my fingers around it. “Place it over your eye but don’t cover the stone with your hand. I’m going to breath on it.” She instructed.

“This isn’t going to scar me for life is it?” I asked in half sarcasm, half humor.

“Ahh,” Weiss replied, worrying me. “Nah, it’ll be fine.” I could hear Eben snicker from somewhere in the darkness.

With a deep breath I did as instructed and held the whatever-it-was stone up to my right eye in two fingers.

“Keep your eye open or this won’t work.” Weiss instructed from before me. I obeyed and shut my left but opened my right; my eyelash flicking against the stone.

The intake of air told me that the breath was coming soon before a narrow burst of golden fire leapt from her muzzle, illuminating her concentrating face in blue given that I was apparently holding a sapphire or something similar up to my eye.

The flames washed over my head and fingers but turned the gem into dust in the process; the magically infused particulate entering into my eye and almost immediately washing my vision blue. Resisting the urge to blink until the very end, I rubbed at my eye socket before opening both eyes and noticing I could clearly see everything around me in the right, even if it was all blue.

“Oh, magical night vision. Cool.” I noted, looking around at the cave walls. Nearby Eben stood, scratching at the dirt to extract a purple looking stone before tossing it into a nearby pile.

“I have given you a Dragon’s eye. It will illuminate even the darkest of environments and show you where a gem lies under the surface.” Weiss explained, hopping down from my lap to scurry off and begin digging as well.

Dragon’s eye? Does that mean that my right eye is glowing like theirs? I wondered as I stood up and began wandering the tunnel, keeping to the middle of the minecart tracks.

“Question, does Dragon Breath have different magical properties depending on what it’s used on?” I asked as I looked around at all the gemstones in the wall. “Ooh, diamond. Nice!” I whispered as I picked up a pony sized pick axe and began mining myself.

“Why do you ask?” Eben’s voice echoed back, continuing down the darkness.

“I’m just curious if it’s possible to augment myself with other gems.” I replied, reaching into the hole to pick out the surprisingly perfect cut diamond. Royal cut, interesting.

“I dunno, we’ve never tried it before!” Weiss replied, her voice closer to me than her brothers. Looking over my shoulder I found Weiss chomping down on a fire ruby, licking the dust off her lips.

“So you’ve done this ‘Dragon’s Eye’ thing before?” I asked, moving on with my new diamond in my pocket.

“Yeah, our previous caretakers wanted to study the effects of Dragon’s Breath on different gemstones.” Eben replied, hauling a bag of gems back to his stash. Weiss seemed plenty content at digging through rock and stone as I continued deeper into the mine with the pickax on my shoulder.

“And what happened to them? I heard that you lost them somehow.” I inquired in a normal tone of voice, letting the echoes carry my words to their ears.

“We, uhm, burned them to death. Turns out if you use Dragon’s Breath on a Fire Ruby, you get a rather spectacular inferno.” Weiss sorrowfully looked on at me as though she were to cry.

“Well damn, I’m sorry for your loss.” I wished as sombrely as I could. “I’ve lost many too.” I added in an attempt to sound empathetic.

“Ehh, it’s not like they were our real parents. Ponies don’t lay dragon eggs you know?” Eben shrugged, moving on down the hall.

“But still, a loss like that can mess up anyone’s mind.” I replied, mentally turning back the clock to when the police officer told me about my own misfortunes.

“Is that why you don’t hold value in life anymore? You’ve got nobody to live for?” Weiss asked in all concern for me, climbing up my chest to give me a hug. “You can live for us now!” she suggested in an attempt to console me.

“I appreciate that, Weiss, I really do.” I replied, returning the hug to the reptilian with one hand. “Come on, you think you’re brother’s had enough to eat yet?” I kept my voice just loud enough to echo in the darkness.

“Not likely!” Eben’s voice echoed back from much deeper into the mine.

“I know I haven’t.” Weiss replied with a smirk as she climbed down, her head spike brushing against my body in the process. The two of us continued down the corridor occasionally stopping to dig out some treat or another for Weiss, or a particularly interesting stone for myself.

~~~

“So what’re you going to do with your stash? I thought humans can’t eat gemstones?” Weiss asked as she helped me pop the aged sack out from under the boards; my Dragon Eye having detected sufficient light sources and “deactivated.”

“No, but I can use these to upgrade my tools. The diamonds I can use to tip the chisels better, hone down their edges into a finer point; should give me a better finished product. The rest I can crush into powder and turn into a stain for a nicer finish.” I replied, standing up with my brown sack of gems over my shoulder. Eben let out a burp as he picked at his teeth, having ate his fill; as did Weiss.

“Will that work?” Weiss asked as she climbed up onto my back again, helping me to carry the bag and reduce the weight.

“I honestly have no idea. If anything I’ll use them for treats for you two if you’re good.” I shrugged, receiving happy gasps from both dragons.

The return trip to the Castle was uneventful and soon we were back in our dungeon, organizing the loot bag.

“Diamonds Rubies Jades and Jet! Nothing tastes better than gems I bet!” Weiss sang from her seated position on the work cabinet as she helped me organize and recut the diamonds with her thumb claw. Beside me sat Eben, keeping the chisel’s metal warm and pliable as I worked to set the newly cut diamond blades in their new homes before sealing everything up with a removed white scale; courteous of our friendly neighborhood Weiss.

Setting the new tools aside to cool, the three of us worked through the chisels until finally I could work at honing the diamond edges into proper chisel blades with help from Eben’s belly; provided of course I fed him an emerald every time I picked up a new tool.

“So that’s it then?” Weiss asked, sucking the diamond dust off her thumb claw as she watched me scrape away the extra metal with her scale.

“Yep, just gotta hone them and that should be it.” I replied as I began dragging the diamond edge over Eben’s belly scales.

“So what exactly is that going to do for your projects?” Weiss asked as she picked up one of the skew chisels to run the edge of her claw over the finished edge.

“A sharper tool is a safer tool.” I replied, picking up a parting chisel and giving it a fling at the wall. “Since they’re diamond bladed they’ll never run dull and I won’t have to worry about sharpening them.” I explained as the chisel stuck out of the stone surface. Weiss whistled as she ran over to pull the tool from the wall, leaving a gap in the stone almost an inch deep.

“I have a question.” Eben finally spoke up over sucking on his next emerald. “If our claws are tough enough to shape diamond, wouldn’t it be better to use one of our claws as a chisel?”

“Yes, but since I'm not about to go pulling a claw off for my benefit, I fail to see the relevance of your question.” I replied, taking the parting chisel from Weiss to set it back down on the cabinet to continue honing my current blade.

“Not what I meant.” Eben announced, sitting up as I was about to draw the blade over his stomach again. “I mean, if I’m going to be on the surface and Weiss is going to be down here, why not get her helping to finish products faster using her claws?”

“Oh! Yeah! I wanna help!” Weiss shrieked, jumping up and down on the cabinet. Good thing it looked solidly built or she’d have broke a joint and crashed down.

“I tell you what. When I start a new project and have to do all the rough cutting, I'll be more than happy to have you help me out until I'm confident you can do precision work.” I replied, placing the final blade with its compatriots. Pulling out another leather roll, I began packing each chisel away before tying them up and dropping them into my tool pouch.

“What’s next? What’s next!” Weiss demanded, still hopping around.

“Next is bedtime.” I decided with a yawn and a stretch. Eben kept the yawn going as he too stretched out where he sat before picking himself up, already aimed for bed.

“Aww, but I'm not even tired yet!” Weiss whined, looking adorably disappointed. “I can go all-” And down she goes. Flopping off the cabinet and into my arms, I carried the white baby dragon into her shared room with her brother, setting her down in a bed specially for baby dragons -apparently.-

Exiting the room and blowing out the torch keeping everything lit, my Dragon Eye illuminated the space around me in a lighter blue with assistance from the moonlight coming in from above.

Author's Note

Okay, so I've got the creative juices flowing right now. This is what, two chapters in a semi-completed state in one day? With the first chapter hopefully edited to a point that would allow me to submit this story anyways.

So that's my first Slice, huh?

Ugh, gotta love that early morning grogginess after getting shot and drugged up so the doctors could perform surgery on you.

Cracking open my eyes in a dim light I could feel the beginnings of a new panic attack coming on, likely induced from being in another hospital room after suffering a wound of some kind. The only reason why I didn’t end up breaking down again was the head of red and yellow hair sleeping on my bedside, face down.

Both hands reached down, on gently resting on my injured leg and the other rested on the girl’s head to softly smooth out the cowlicks in her hair. Doing so had the intended effect of stirring the girl from sleep and as my hand dropped from the top of her head to her cheek, I could tell she’d been quite distressed about my condition.

“You- you’re awake!” Sunset exclaimed in whispers given the approximate time of night, judging by the lack of lights on to allow patients to sleep. “Oh thank god you’re okay!” she added, throwing herself onto my chest entirely to cuddle up as close as she could to me.

“Please, a nine millimeter isn’t going to kill me. Barely enough to stop me.” I replied comfortingly, doing my best to wrap my arms around the girl’s body with the restrictions bequeathed to me by my IV and ECG lines. “I’ve been hit with worse over the course of my service.”

“Probably but I’ve never seen anyone shot before!” Sunset whispered back, looking up at me through fresh streaming tears and large wet eyes. “I was so worried! All of us were!”

“All of us? Who’s us?” I inquired curiously. “And where’s Weiss?”

“Weiss is back in Equestria because she couldn’t come with you to the hospital without risking revealing her ability to speak. When I say ‘Us’ I mean Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Twilight. They all showed up to the bar we were at just as you collapsed from blood loss.” Sunset explained while calming down, rubbing her eyes clear with the heel of her hand. “They’re mostly all back at their homes but I'm sure they’d love to hear you’re alright.” she added, already fighting with her clothes to find her phone.

Placing a hand on hers, I held her up with a statement, “Let them sleep. I have no idea what time it is but it’d be best to let them have their rest.”

“Okay, you’re right. We should let them sleep.” Sunset mumbled as she tossed her phone to the nearby chair she’d up till recently been sitting and sleeping on. “So, how do you feel?” she did her best to put on a smile, hopping down from my bed to retake her seat on the chair in the process.

“Fine. Like I said, not the first time I've been shot.” I shrugged back. “Still can’t feel anything in my leg though.” I added, rubbing at my leg just above where I figured a number of stitches were sewn in.

“Probably still anesthetized from the surgery. Police are going to want a statement of what happened when they hear you’ve regained consciousness. Also, and I can’t believe I didn’t notice or ask about it before, the doctors wanted to know about your eye.” Sunset informed me, reminding me that all yesterday no one had said a word about my Dragon’s Eye. I’d personally figured that it had been temporarily removed when I crossed over through the portal.

“Ah, yeah. The one that looks like a reptile's eye right?” I asked for clarification, making Sunset nod in reply. “It’s a Dragon’s Eye, a bit of magic i’d received from Weiss back in Equestria. It let’s me see in the dark and apparently highlights gems just under the surface of the earth.”

“How’d you get it?” the girl requested curiously.

“Apparently Dragon Breath has different effects on gemstones when you breath on them. You take a Sapphire and breath it into the right eye and you get this.” I explained, motioning to my eye. “I’m noticing that it isn’t actually working right now, everything is as dark in the Dragon’s Eye as it is in my human eye.”

“Maybe it’s a lack of magic in this world that prevents it from working?” Sunset Shimmer suggested casually, sitting back in her chair and crossed her legs as she gazed at me.

“Maybe…” I sighed, sitting back against my bed again when I realized I had sat up sometime ago.

“So, to dredge up old conversations and slightly change them; what is going to happen for us?” Sunset approached the topic warily, looking slightly concerned.

“Us? What do you mean?” I turned my head to look back at the cuteness beside me.

“I mean, ‘Us’ us. What’s going to happen between us? I’m fairly certain we’ve established that we feel something for each other so the next logical step would be to establish a formal relationship, right?” miss Shimmer explained, nervously playing with her fingers in her lap.

“Well, I'd personally love for there to be an ‘Us.’ However, and I've talked about this before, the distance between us would be a bit difficult for me personally. Since I don’t have any way to keep contact with you between worlds and I can’t just uproot from Canterlot and move here because of my work and the fact that I have two dragons to deal with, not to mention a Princess who’s in love with me and has me keep track of the mythical creature population…” I found myself having to stop and pull in a large breath after my long winded explanation that I'm sure had thoroughly destroyed Sunset’s heart and my own soon to come.

“Right, so then we can’t be together?” Sunset’s eyes became downcast along with my own.

“I never said that. It’s just going to be difficult if we do decide to date.” I replied, trying to cheer both of us up. “It would be best if one of us could move to the other’s world and go about things that way but I don’t think either of us could do such a thing so soon.”

This perked Sunset’s head back up as an idea hit her. “What if I was to go back to Equestria? I am originally Equestrian after all so it wouldn’t be so difficult adjusting back to that life.”

“You’d be an equine again, though, remember?” I replied pointedly, making Sunset deflate back into her chair again. “Nothing against you being a pony again because I'm sure you’d be equally as adorable as you are now, but I've already established with Luna that I have no desire to engage in a relationship with a pony.” I explained calmly.

“So what if we had Princess Celestia or Princess Luna turn me back to a human when I get there? That’d work right?” Sunset offered supportively with a helpful smile.

“While that may potentially work, I'd have to see if either princess could do that in the first place. Additionally you’d be uprooting yourself entirely, leaving all your friends here behind for a guy you met yesterday.” I replied firmly, adding extra emphasis to the last bit.

“You’re making it sound like you don’t want to be with me.” Sunset retorted dejectedly, looking down at her lap.

“Now now, I never said that and I apologize for making you think such things. I’m just bringing up some points that I want to make sure you understand now before we do anything hasty.” I interjected, trying to keep spirits up and from fucking up my own chance at an actual relationship.

“So then what’re you thinking?” Sunset looked up from her lap at me again.

“You’ll stay here in this world until you’ve graduated. During this time I'll do my very best to try and get away from work as much as possible to come over and we can hang out and properly date. In the mean time I'll ask the Princesses if they have the spell we’ll need to keep you human when you come back over to my side and if they do, then you can start coming over to Equestria to hang out and go on dates.” I explained, organizing my thoughts as I spoke. I know what people say, don’t speak before you think but I’ve gotta say, I've been getting slightly better at it.

“And in that time, I'll let the girls know about our plans, explain what’s going on,” Sunset stood and crawled up onto my bed with me, cuddling into my body. “And after graduation we’ll see what happens and maybe I'll move over to Equestria full time.”

“Precisely.” I replied, wrapping my arms around her as best I could once more.

~~~

“So you fell in love with the first guy who came from the portal?” Rainbow Dash sarcastically, her hands on her tilted hips standing behind Rarity sat at my bedside currently trying to design some kind of fashionable hospital garb.

“No, I wouldn’t say-” Sunset replied defensively, laying on her back in my embrace.

“But that is kind of exactly what happened. I can’t imagine anything would have happened last night being so influential to you that you fell in love with him at the movies or at the bar.” Fluttershy meekly interrupted from next to Rarity in a second seat.

Once morning had come and the two of us newly coupled people had had a nap and answered the police’s questions, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy had come to visit the two of us and immediately deduced from our cuddling that we’d gotten together.

“Yes, considering how Captain only appeared late yesterday there really much room to say that you didn't fall in love at first sight.” Rarity added, looking up at us warily from her designs. “But don’t get us wrong, we still very much support this newfound relationship in it’s entirety.”

“Thank you girls, we appreciate the support.” Sunset smiled back, turning her head to plant a kiss on my cheek before I turned to face her and returned the favour to her lips.

“So how is the whole ‘dating between worlds’ thing going to work in the first place?” Rainbow inquired after a minute of silence and a nurse coming by to check on my leg.

“It’ll mostly take the form of me visiting a lot more often. We’re going to try and see if there’s any way for one of the Princesses on my side to find some sort of communication between us while we’re apart.” I explained calmly, whatever drugs in me working wonders to dull the pain of my leg. “At the same time I'm going to ask Celestia or Luna to see if they have a spell that will allow Sunset to remain human if she ever pokes over to Equestria.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier if you moved here?” Dash placed both her hands on her hips, tilting them to the other side. Sunset and I shared a glance, having a quick mental conversation between us for a moment.

“Because of my work in Equestria, I can’t. Chances are your police authorities won’t take too kindly to someone owning a .50 calibre BMG rifle and a .357 revolver in their city. Unless I'm mistaken and you all have some sort of gun laws that allows such things?” I replied in questioning, looking to the girls for an answer. Everyone shook their heads in response.

“Right. And I'm not the type of guy who carelessly leaves a weapon like those lying around, even in storage, where somepony could get their hooves on them and use them for nefarious purposes.” I added with a yawn.

“So then what? You’re just going to do a sort of long distance relationship until something happens that you can come back over and stay here?” Dash suggested, slightly confused. Fluttershy seemed to be thinking for a bit then sudden came across an answer.

“Sunset’s the one who’s leaving!” she gasped, eyes wide. Rarity dropped her sketch and Rainbow Dash dropped her jaw.

“Now just hold on, I'm not leaving right away!” Sunset defended herself, holding her hands up to cut in. “We’ve still got a couple months till graduation. During that time we’ve decided to see how things fare between us and then when graduation comes around and we’re done high school, then we’ll start talking about me moving back to Equestria permanently.”

“But, what about us dear? You’d just leave all your friends behind?” Rarity asked solemnly, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy huddling in next to her to look persuasive enough for Sunset to decide against everything we’d spent hours on.

“Are all six of you going to remain here in this exact city long after graduation? Do none of you have hopes to go somewhere to make a life yourself or go to college or university?” I inquired, effectively bringing up a good point to crack their defenses.

“I am thinking about going to university for a sports major…” Rainbow Dash admitted, rubbing her arm shyly.

“And I was going to try and expand my business into the city itself, rather than just stay with the boutique I have now.” Rarity added just as shy, avoiding eye contact.

“I’m perfectly fine remaining here on the outskirts of town to stay with the animals.” Fluttershy timidly announced, hiding in her crossed arms.

“And I'm certain that the rest of your friends aren’t all going to be staying either. I’ll bet Twilight is going to go back to school after grad. Pinkie and Applejack will probably stay though…” Sunset added. “Look girls, the two of us have already established that no one is moving until after graduation simply to avoid things like this and to let each other prepare for such a move in the first place. It’s just going to be the next step in our lives that we’ll have to deal with.”

“I know, but you must think about how sudden such a move would be!” Rarity protested, standing from her seat to take Sunset’s hand.

“Let me reiterate, which is why it’s not for another couple months. These next few months will let us truly get to know each other and see what happens between now and then. Worst case scenario something happens and our relationship falls apart; Sunset stays here and I stay in Equestria.” I explained, settling Rarity back into her chair again.

A couple minutes of silence followed by a nurse coming in to check on me again, Rainbow spoke up.

“So, is he any good?” she asked sheepishly, making everyone’s face flush red.

“If you mean what I think you mean, then you should know that that hasn’t happened yet.” I replied pointedly, making Sunset bury her face into my chest in embarrassment. “Literally haven’t had the time or need to.”

“Riiight, with the bar then the shooting then here. Just figured something may have happened before we got here is all.” Rainbow shrugged in all casualness.

“Hospital room sex… Kinky.” Fluttershy of all people whispered, making everyone’s eyes and jaws drop in absolute shock. “What?”

“Well, I never!” Rarity proclaimed as Rainbow burst into a fit of laughter, collapsing to the ground clutching at her stomach. Sunset however, was chanting oh my god, oh my god, oh my god into my shoulder and I could almost feel the heat radiating from her red face.

“What?” Fluttershy asked again, slightly louder and only now turning red. “Oh, did I say that out loud?”

“Yeah, you certainly did.” I replied, stifling a laugh of my own at Fluttershy’s expense as the girl in question turned as red as Sunset’s hair was. “I promise not to say anything about it if you don’t want me to.”

“I would appreciate that, from everyone if you don’t mind.” Fluttershy replied timidly, looking to the rest of her friends as Rainbow slowly recovered on the floor.

“Are you kidding? I’m telling Pinkie and Applejack as soon as I see them!” Rainbow Dash replied, still wiping tears from her eyes as she called down.

“No!” Fluttershy shouted, nearly attacking Rainbow as she held the girl down with her tiny frame. I’m sure that if she’d wanted to Rainbow could have bench pressed Fluttershy, but the move froze both girls for a second before Fluttershy stood up again. “Please, we all have our secrets; I’d prefer it if this remained one of mine.”

“Hey, relax Fluttershy, I was just kidding. I won’t tell anyone, I promise!” Dash replied in all seriousness, her hands up in surrender.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy replied, fixing her hair before turning back to the rest of us.

“Well, I have got to say, I’m starting to see you in an entirely different light.” Sunset announced, still partially buried in my body.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s a disgusting habit/interest but I just can’t help myself!” Fluttershy replied, cowering into herself again, hiding behind her pink hair.

“OK, before we continue this conversation any further and risk confusing what we’re talking about, what exactly is it that you do?” Rarity demanded, offering a chance for the reclusive girl to explain herself.

“I write. I’ve never made anything of mine public nor have I ever wanted to draw attention to it, simply because of the… questionable material within.” Fluttershy explained, her hands in her lap nervously.

“You write Erotica?” my head would’ve slid backwards on my neck a bit had it not been for my bed but I was still just as surprised; even if the girls were more surprised than I.

Fluttershy silently nodded her head, looking ashamed for her interests.

“Fluttershy, let me tell you there is nothing wrong with your interests and hobbies. I can’t say I’ve ever been in similar situations as you, but you have to know that nothing you say or do will change my opinion of you. As far as I’m concerned you're a good natured, quiet girl who loves her friends.” my words seemed to lift the pink haired girl’s spirits enough that she was able to raise her head to look up at me with wet eyes. “You have to ask yourself, are your friends good or great friends if they criticize you because you write erotic material in your free time?”

“N- No, they would be supportive.” Fluttershy replied, looking at her friends again who seemed to have gotten my point. “If I don’t want to talk about it with my friends, then they should realize that there is most likely a reason for it and leave it be.”

“They’re both right, you know?” Sunset said, turning back to me. “You seem to have such a way with words.” she decided before giving me another kiss.

“Only most of the time.” I replied before returning the kiss once again. “I should tell you something right now while this relationship is fresh.” I added as an afterthought.

“You’re asexual so I'll probably not get any very often, I know; it’s fine.” Sunset filled in for me, though that wasn’t what I had in mind.

“Not what I was going to say, but glad to know you understand that fact.” I said, tilting my head to the side to get a better look at my new girlfriend. Wow, I've got a girlfriend after all this time again… Awesome.

“OK, then what did you want to tell me?” Sunset sat up and posted on her arm, looking worriedly at me.

“Just that because in my experience, the words I love you are very over played. Therefor, that is a phrase I will avoid as much as I can simply so that when I do say it, it’ll mean that much more. The same is said for a couple other words but you’ll figure them out eventually.” I explained, the tiny mental picture of digging myself a shallow hole popping into mind.

“I don’t mind, I'm not the type of girl who always pines for such reminders of affection. A simple kiss will be enough for me.” Sunset replied, a tiny version of her walking into view to refill my tiny hole after me. “But the other words you don’t say often, I’m curious about those.”

“Well like I said, you’ll just have to wait and see. I hope you’ll be able to identify them and understand the gravity of the word when I do use it.” I replied, giving a gentle squeeze of her arm from around her body, more or less single-handedly hugging her at the same time.

“Hey if there’s nothing else, I’m gonna go see about finding me some food.” Rainbow Dash announced, collecting her coat and aiming for the door. “Anyone else?”

“If you two don’t mind,” Rarity began, speaking to Sunset and I. “I think I shall join her.” I held a hand up in dismissal, letting Rarity collect her own fashionable coat, gloves, cap and scarf. I looked over at Fluttershy who looked conflicted.

“Feel free Fluttershy, if you’ve got other things need doing don’t let me hold you up. I appreciate that you all came out to visit.” I announced, all three girls waving good bye. Sunset took a deep breath and let it out slowly, getting comfortable.

“So, you keep saying, ‘very often’ whenever we’re talking about having sex. Explain to me how the asexuality works and how it’ll play into our relationship.” Sunset requested, tracing her finger over my chest.

“Basically it means that while I still feel arousal as is decreed by biology, I feel no sexual attraction or desire to engage in sexual activities. Since I understand that you may not be asexual as I am, you’ll still have such needs and desires so when I say very often I mean I'll try to help take care of your needs while not needing to take care of any for myself.” I explained as best I could, but then a nagging thought occurred to me.

“I suppose the term asexuality would be a sort of umbrella term. To be more specific I'd be what’s called ‘Gray-asexual’ as opposed to ‘Demisexual’.”

“What’s the difference?” Sunset sat up entirely, sitting cross-legged next to me.

“It mostly comes down to Gray-asexual people feel sexual attraction, but very rarely or to the minimalistic extent. Demisexual people are people who only feel sexual attraction to people who they’ve formed a close emotional bond.” I explained as best I could, trying to remember the little bit of information I'd remembered researching some years back when I'd finally put a name to my orientation.

“And you’re gray-asexual? Meaning that you do feel sexual attraction just not as often as normal guys? How often does it occur for you?” Sunset inquired, her hand resting lightly on my leg. I wasn’t entirely sure if she was trying to test me or not…

“Ahh… It’s been years since I'd felt sexual attraction to my ex when I was dating her, but that was my ex. I think it’d be best to say that it’ll be different for you, I just don’t know how different.” I replied, trying to avoid digging that hole again.

“Years? Wow. But you have had sex, right?” Sunset looked at me curiously.

“Yes, yes I have.” I chuckled, easing the tension in the air. “Though I'll be honest, with as little practice as I've had it’d be hard to tell.” I admitted, unable to recall the last time my ex and I had actually been sexually intimate.

“Okay, fair enough.” Sunset replied, looking down and playing with her fingers at the same time. Something was on her mind.

“Something on your mind love?” I asked, placing a hand on her knee appreciatively.

“I, uhm, I think it’d be fair to say that you’ve more experience than I.” Sunset admitted shyly, still avoiding eye contact though her hand rested atop my own.

“Meaning…” I had an inkling of an idea about what she was hinting at. “Sunset, if you're still a virgin, even at your age there’s nothing wrong with it.” I not so much as tested the water as I did just kind of skydived into the pool.

“I- I know. But think about it, I'm twenty-two and still haven’t given it up. Almost all the rest of the girls have already and are quite active, even my friends have been at some point or another.” Sunset replied, looking fairly ashamed at her innocence.

“Hey, hey. I only lost mine because it was a sort of ‘going off to the military so don’t forget me’ thing for my ex. I was quite content to have never given it up if I knew that she and I wouldn’t have lasted.” I said for reassurance to the girl. “There’s nothing wrong with not having had sex before.”

“I know… Just so you know, none of the other girls know about this fact. I’ve kind of been keeping to a lie that I’d been with a male in Equestria before I showed up here.” Sunset announced, twisting herself before falling back into my embrace again, wrapping her arms over her chest with my left trapped behind her.

“Fairly decent lie I suppose, no one can ask your fake partner if it was true since no one had a way to find out. I tell you what, next time biology catches up with me I'll try and make sure you’re around.” I offered, making Sunset chuckle in response.

“Thanks, but I think if and when we do go at it, I want it so that both of us want to; not just because biology says so.” Sunset replied, now calm and happy again.

“Excuse me?” A male nurse interrupted as he poked into the room. “Sorry to interrupt but I'm here to see if you’d like anything for lunch. I’ve been told that due to an incredible recovery rate you’ll be able to be released quite soon, so between you and me,” The male nurse dropped a laminated menu on my lap. “I’ll say go get some lunch from the cafeteria and I'll just mark down that you’d opted out or something.”

“That’s very nice of you to do that, thank you.” I replied, already looking over the menu before us. “Oh, before you go, did the doctor say when I'd be released?”

“Sorry man, no idea.” the nurse replied with a shrug, exiting the room again.

“Cool. Well I'm still going to be favouring this leg for a while as the stitches remain so it makes no real difference to me when I leave. I just wanna get back to Equestria and finish up my current projects; make some actual money for a change.” I remarked, gently rubbing at my leg above and around the stitches; being extra careful not to pull on them.

“And I should probably get back to my apartment and actually begin studying for finals. We’re already in the middle of mid-terms as it is but it’s better to be prepared.” Sunset added, sitting up to hop off my bed. “And you, sir, still have something waiting for you at my place that you need to get back into your world.” she decreed, pointing a finger at me accusingly.

“Yeah I know, I know. I’m probably going to need a lift from the hospital to your place, then back to the portal though.” I replied, watching Sunset look over the menu items again.

“Oh I never said I'd be leaving now, I’m just going for some lunch. What would you like?” Sunset explained, looking over the backside of the menu at the drinks offered.

“Right. Ahh, double cheese burger with a fried egg in it, over medium il vous plaît?” I requested with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

Sunset looked up at me and I began wiggling my eyebrows entirely, giving Sunset a rather entertained/disbelief face before she cracked up and turned away from the room. “Oh, and a Pepsi if they got it; Coke if not!” I called ahead as Sunset gave a parting wave from around the corner, still chuckling to herself.

~~~

Quite a few hours later, I’d been issued a single disposable crutch to use as I limped out of the hospital; the cold air refreshing my vigor in the process with Sunset under my other arm helpfully.

“How’re you doing?” she asked, watching my leg as I watched where we were going.

“Leg still hurts but I suppose that’s the great thing about being shot again.” I remarked casually, aiming for the yellow off-roading truck a ways away. You really could not miss that thing.

“Right, I suppose so. You’ll be okay when you get to Equestria?” miss Shimmer looked up at me worriedly.

“Oh yeah. Just gotta get through the portal then I'm sure somepony over there will have some kind of spell that’ll fix me right up, if at least temporarily.” I replied with a flick of the hand, waving off the nervousness in the air radiating from my girlfriend. “Who knows, maybe by the time I can come back to visit and go on our first date I'll be fit as the day I was killed.”

“And by that you mean…” Sunset dragged out in curious concern.

“When I showed up in Equestria.” I replied simply, filling in the gap for Sunset. “I was shot by the police for some stupid reason and appeared here.”

“Right, of course.” Sunset replied, looking back down at the ground. At this point we reached the truck in silence, with Sunset Shimmer unlocking the door to assist me in before taking her own place in the driver's seat. “So any idea how we’ll be able to stay in touch when you’re gone?”

“I figured there was something that let Twilight talk to you between worlds so I’d ask about that, see if the same could be done for us.” I sat back and got comfortable for the ride home, simply taking the opportunity to enjoy the truck again and ignore the blinding pain in my leg.

“Oh, the journal/diary thing that Twilight and I have? Yeah I suppose that would work.” Sunset replied, pulling onto a main street aiming for her place then eventually back to the gateway to Equestria. “You’ll have to talk to Princess Celestia about that, though.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” I mumbled, staring out the window half-heartedly; the vibrations, however insignificant they were, still caused rippling pain to shoot up and down my leg with each pothole we went over or each irregularity in the road existed.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you're in a lot of pain.” Sunset looked over at me in concern. I replied by taking her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze, using the contact to alleviate the hurt in me.

“I’ll be fine. Stitches are getting irritated. I can hold out until we get to your place.” I groaned through clenched teeth. Why did this hurt so damn much more than before?

~~~

We pulled into the underground parking lot a handful of minutes later and no sooner than we’d parked I bolted from the truck, glad to be rid of the constant pain. Now it was just a gradually fading pain as I rested my body against the VelociRaptor look-alike, just trying to endure till Sunset ran up next to me and took me onto her shoulder then lifted me up and off my throbbing leg.

“Thanks baby, I appreciate it.” I whispered through clenched teeth. “Holy shit I’m gonna have to stay at your place for a while longer to let my leg settle down again.”

“No worries. You take as long as you need then we’ll get you back to Equestria.” Sunset replied, aiming us for the elevator lobby.

Once we’d successfully gotten up to the third floor and into Sunset’s apartment I all but collapsed onto her bed, completely ignoring her clothes from the day before strewn about the immediate area.

“It’s really that bad huh? Would an ice pack or something help?” Sunset offered, already aiming for the little kitchenette and the freezer more or less across from me.

“Ice. Please.” I groaned out, only managing single words in my condition. I always hated the part where the numbing agent and drugs wore off entirely. I wanted epinephrine! Or Morphine! Something to get over this!

Or ice. Ice works too…

My world of raging fires burned down to embers as soon as the bag of ice hit my pant leg and I immediately relaxed, dropping down out flat on the mattress with what I figured felt like a bra under my head.

Reaching back to toss the whatever it was to the floor, I rested my head back again and folded my hands over my stomach in painless bliss.

“Oh thank you Sunset, you are a blessing sent from the heavens in a man’s time of need.” I calmly announced. My response came as Sunset crawled up next to me and once I had my arms out, she rolled right into my embrace and snuggled up close to me.

“Be sure to remember that next time we have to drive.” Sunset replied, resuming her finger tracing of my pectorals.

“Oh, fuck me that’s right.” I groaned, conflicted between the bliss that came with the ice and the subtle fear of the lack of ice again.

“When do you plan on doing that, by the way?” Sunset asked, looking up at me adorably innocent with her big shining eyes, her cute as fuck smile…

“Which, the fucking or the trucking?” I inquired, making Sunset chuckle.

“Pick one, both. Either?” Sunset looked back down at my chest again.

“Well, the fucking is more likely to occur once I'm healed and no longer in any pain. The trucking will be as soon as I find a way to find some morphine and numb my leg entirely. Where the hell did the bullet hit me again?”

“Rectus Femoris I believe they said. The bullet stopped just short of the bone itself which is why you’re not in a cast.” Sunset explained, still tracing my chest. “It’s such a shame that you’re injured. I could think of a couple things to do while I've got you like this.”

“And I'm sure that if I was in the mood for it, I could think up a couple dozen more on top of that.” I retorted, staring up at the ceiling in the early evening light.

“Of course you could.” Sunset grumbled, obviously put off by my lack of interest to do anything fun. “You know what, I think we need some kind of codeword to tell me when you're in the mood. I’m already getting the feeling that I'll be the one waiting for it and since you’ll be in Equestria so often I'll have to find something else to occupy my time with. Still, when we get whatever form of communication down we could use some kind of codeword that you’d say before you come over for a visit.” Sunset announced, halting her tracing to just let her hand rest over my heart.

“Perhaps, perhaps.” I mumbled back, my eyes closed and with the pain in my leg numbed I found myself gradually falling asleep under my girlfriend.

“Of course, we can talk about that when you come back to me.” Sunset’s head disappeared from my chest moments before I felt her crawl up further to kiss me. I beat her to it and planted a kiss on her forehead instead, making her grin gratuitously and go back to resting on me.

“Maybe you can check out one of Fluttershy’s works? Might help alleviate my lack of being here when you want me.” I suggested with a sigh, shifting around to get comfortable again.

“You want me to read some of Fluttershy’s erotic stories? Really?” Sunset’s voice was rife with disbelief.

“Sure. Depending on how good a writer and how creative she gets you might learn something extra; prepare yourself for the actual event. Surprise me when I get back?” I replied, wondering if I'd dug myself a grave with my words. “Anyways, I really hate to do so but I should get going now. My leg is thoroughly frozen through once again so it’d be best to get a move on before it thaws out.”

“Aww, and here I was hoping you could stay longer.” Sunset sat up with my, pouting.

“I want to, I really do Sunset. But like I've established, I've got responsibilities in Equestria that I have to get back to once my leg heals.” I explained, sitting up on the side of the bed with the ice pack resting on the covers for a minute before Sunset tossed it onto the kitchen counters.

“I know. Then get yourself ready to go while I go get the truck warming again.” Sunset instructed and reached around behind me to hug me over my shoulders before crawling off the bed to redress herself.

As Sunset spun out into the hallway I reached up into her closet to pull down my weapon and strap myself back in, the familiar weight hanging just under my arm where I could get at it before wrapping myself up in my coat again.

Stepping into the hallway I resigned to just closing the door, given that I had nothing to lock it with and I really wasn’t sure if Sunset was the type to lock her doors anyways.

A short limp to the elevator later and I could already begin to feel the effects of the ice wearing off as I rode downwards towards the truck that I absolutely loved and equally hated at the moment.

“That was quick.” Sunset noted as I hauled myself up into the truck and buckled myself in.

“Would’ve been quicker without the limping.” I remarked, rolling my head towards Sunset sarcastically.

“Well that’s what you get for trying to be the hero and getting shot.” Sunset fussed, pulling out of the stall and aimed for the exit.

“I wouldn’t say I was trying to play the hero. It was more like they called you a bitch and insulted the military, then the guy pulled a firearm and instantly became a higher tier threat.” I explained, sitting back against the seat to try and ignore the pain in my leg slowly returning.

“So then it was your military training that reacted and got you shot?” Sunset offered with a smirk.

“More like it’s my military training that prevented me from being killed.” I quipped, trying to massage relief into my leg.

Soon enough we pulled up in front of the school and sat in silence.

“Would you like some help?” Sunset offered, looking at me with hold hands on the wheel.

“Sure. That’d be much appreciated.” I replied, unbuckling myself to get out. Sunset accelerated her own disembark and rushed over to assist me walking to the portal.

“So this is it huh? You’re sure you can’t stay?” she asked me for the umpteenth time today. I pulled her into me, planting a frozen kiss on her freezing lips with a warm hug that lasted not long enough.

“I’m sure. First thing I'll do is talk to Celestia when I get back to Canterlot and see about that book.” I replied, stepping away and towards the portal trailing my hand from the side of her head. “Till next time, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I miss you already!” Sunset shouted as I forced myself into the portal.

Just before my head was swallowed I think I managed to shout out, “I love you too!”

~~~

“Can I just say a couple things now that your back?” Princess Luna politely requested as I dropped out the other end of the portal. Standing next to Princess Twilight with Spike on Twilight’s back and Weiss on Luna’s, I felt a little out of place without Eben riding on my own.

“Hi ladies and Spike, nice to see you all in good health.” I remarked sarcastically, leaning against the portal frame to favour my bum leg.

“Precisely. First day to another world and you get shot!” Luna exclaimed indignantly, stomping her hoof on the tiled floor beneath her in displeasure. “And then I hear that you’ve started up a relationship with someone on the other side! Also in the first day!”

“Really? Wow.” Twilight murmured to herself in disbelief. “Who is it?”

“I noticed you didn’t say ‘who is she?’” I pointed out as Luna looked at my leg in concern and began a spell to heal my leg.

“Well, you didn’t seem to be interested in anypony here so I briefly entertained the idea that maybe you were into males.” Twilight replied oh so casually. While she was wrong, I couldn’t help but credit her for her thinking.

“Nope, not gay. Also not into bestiality.” I added after a moment of thought and incredible relief in my leg as the meat in my leg sewed itself back up again with magical assistance.

“Best- oh, that’s why you don’t show that kind of interest to anypony. Got’cha.” Twilight looked like she had to take a second to process my words to understand the term. “Great thing about being an equine in Equestria is we don’t have to worry about such things.”

“No I suppose not.” I remarked, collapsing onto my backside as Luna worked on restoring my leg. Already I could feel the stitches being magically pulled out as the flesh felt like it was zipping up along the break.

“You still didn’t tell me who it was that you fell in love with. Assuming you did in fact fall in love with her and aren’t in some kind of strange human ‘I’ll see how I feel about you after dating you for a while’ thing.” Twilight laid herself down on the ground, Spike going down with her as Weiss crawled off Luna’s back to curl up in my lap.

“Please be a weird human thing, please be a weird human thing, please be a weird human thing.” Luna chanted to herself in a whisper barely audible to human ears, despite how close she currently was to me.

“Sorry Luna, but I totally love her.” I announced, placing a hand comfortingly on the side of Luna’s face. “And Sunset loves me back.”

“Woah, hold on!” Spike, Twilight and Weiss all jumped up in surprise as Luna more or less just flopped over onto her side, covering her face with her wings as she silently wept. “You’re dating Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight approached me rather suddenly.

“Did not see that coming.” Spike sat back in disbelief, having been thrown off Twilight’s back when she rushed me.

“I did.” Weiss announced, still laying in my lap belly up. I’d have tickled her stomach but having tried that already and failed, I resorted to simply sweeping her bangs from her eyes.

“I’ve gotta get back to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia about getting one of those book things that you and Sunset use to communicate.” I sighed, standing up with Weiss in my arms. “But first,” I approached and knelt down next to Luna’s head as she continued to weep her grievances.

“What do you want? Haven’t you done enough to me already?” Luna demanded, looking up through water stained feathers with equally soaked eyes.

“I wish to apologize to you. I know how you felt about me and I'm more than certain that you had held hopes that maybe I'd change my mind. I’m sorry I cannot give you what you wanted even after we’d already talked about where you stood with me. I hope that we can still be best friends during this new relationship of mine.” I calmly began stroking the side of her head and once she’d lowered her wings, I stroked her nose while ignoring the tears crossing over the bridge of said nose.

“I- I know. I thank you for your candidacy and your friendship. It’s just- this news hurts me more than you can imagine.” Luna whimpered, still shaking with tears under my hand.

“And I apologize for that.” I continued to try and soothe the distressed Princess as Weiss held up a claw, her cheeks puffing out.

“Incoming!” Spike announced, drawing everyone’s attention first to the purple and green dragon then to the white and gold one.

At that moment Weiss let out a belch, a swirl of purple smoke forming from her breath before anti-burning a book with a blank cover on it and a note pinned to the spine.

“Is that a book?” Twilight eagerly commanded, probably eager to check out the contents within.

“No it’s a bear.” I replied sarcastically, carrying the book under my arm to read the note.

Dear Captain.

Don’t bother asking me how I know, Luna will know, but I've sent you a book that you can use to contact Sunset Shimmer; much like Princess Twilight has. Simply write your messages to Sunset Shimmer like a letter and she’ll receive them. It would also be beneficial for you to explain to her that if she merely starts with “Dear Captain” that her message will go to you instead of to Twilight.

One other thing, by writing your name on the back of the cover you’ll permanently bind this book to you and prevent anybody else from being able to use it what-so-ever.

Pass on my condolences to my sister for me regarding her recent loss.

Princess Celestia

“Well that’s bloody convenient.” I remarked under my breath, cracking open the book to flip through the empty pages. “Anypony got a pen on them?” I requested, leafing back to the cover to write my name as Celestia had suggested.

“Wait, is that the book to talk to Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight tilted her head in curiosity. My shrug had her head back upright in amazement. “Wow, how’d she know you’d be coming for it?”

“She probably received a vision of the future.” Luna sombrely explained, rolling onto her stomach then sat up altogether, wiping her eyes off on the back of her hoof. “Which probably means she saw something powerful enough to affect the future.”

“She also said to pass on her condolences for your recent loss.” I offered, still looking for a pen or something. “Seriously though, pen anyone?”

“I'm just curious about why your book doesn’t have some kind of marking on it like mine and Sunset’s do. Our’s have our Cutie Marks on it yet yours remains blank.” Twilight announced as she levitated a quill and inkpot from a nearby table.

“Probably because I'm not a pony with a butt mark.” I replied just as sarcastically as I'd been maintaining since my return to Equestria. Taking the quill and dipping it into the ink, I lightly scrolled my actual name into the book earning a grin from me before slapping the book shut before anyone could see it.

All of a sudden, everybody's eyes went wide as they noticed a change in my hands.

“What?” I asked, setting the quill back into the ink pot held by Twilight’s purple magic.

“So, remember how you said you weren’t a pony with a Cutie Mark?” Weiss asked, getting close to reach up and take my book from my hands.

Spinning it around I came face to cover with what looked like a simple little kite shield divided into two colours and a boss: a red that strangely enough reminded me of Celestia, a midnight blue that looked like I had skinned the fur from the Princess’s body with Sunset Shimmer’s sun resting emblazoned into the boss.

“Well, I certainly have never seen that before…” I remarked, returning the book to my hands to gaze at the symbol. Opening up to the back of the cover out of morbid curiosity, I ran my finger over where my name had been, finding it blank again. “And my name’s gone.”

“You actually managed to write down your name?” Luna looked at me in surprise, her jaw hanging open rather unbecomingly.

“Yeah but it’s gone now.” I shrugged back, snapping the book shut with a hearty thud.

“Could you write it again?” Luna inquired hopefully, completely having forgotten about my new relationship with Sunset.

“Probably not. Now that everyone here is aware of this fact the universe will likely prevent me from doing so. Or as I’m writing the ink will turn invisible or something.” I replied casually, opening the book one more to the first page and retrieved the quill before writing,

Dear Sunset Shimmer

Hey good-lookin’, turns out Celestia had a vision or something of me coming to get a book thing to chat with you and sent it through Weiss ahead of schedule. Apparently all you have to do to write me back is start your message with “Dear Captain” and it’ll come directly to me. I figure the same would work if I was to write Twilight but ehh… That’s your thing.

Found out two things that are rather interesting: I was able to write out my full name on my book for a while before the book took it and monogrammed itself with the second interesting this, a butt print of my own. I’ll have to show it to you some time when I get back.

Miss you already,

Captain

Snapping the book shut again I dropped the quill into the still floating pot and sat against a nearby table for a minute.

“Hey so, not that this visitation isn’t fun or anything, but I'd like to get back to Canterlot if you all don’t mind.” I requested, making Spike and Weiss yawn agreements. “I’m sure we’ve all had long days.”

“Of course. I’ll see you three out then.” Twilight replied, standing up to move Spike onto her back with a wing. I picked up Weiss and carried her in my arms as she already threatened to fall asleep walking alongside Luna towards the exit of the castle.

“It’s been great talking with you and Weiss, Princess Luna. Shame you can’t visit more often.” Twilight bid the Princess now beneath me as Weiss and I rode on her back once we'd finally stepped outside. I’d opted to not take the motorcycle on the way here, simply because of the availability that Luna gave me to fly with her at the time. Now, the offer still stood but I suspected it wasn’t as much fun for Luna with me unavailable.

“Thank you for having us over. We shall do so again sometime, or we’ll host you in Canterlot for a social sometime soon.” Luna replied, already limbering up her wings for the flight.

“Absolutely. Oh, Captain.” Twilight gained my attention and I swept my silver hair back out of my eyes. “Speaking of your hair, I'll try and look into your appearance into Equestria and the resulting changes in your hair if you’d like.”

“If your offering, go for it. Don’t worry about obsessing over it since it doesn’t really bother me that much. If you find something, cool. If not, oh well.” I shrugged back, making sure that Weiss sitting ahead of me was still awake and that the book tucked away into my jacket was still secure next to my gun.

“Absolutely. I’ll send you a letter if I find anything.” Twilight announced as Luna beat her wings and we slowly ascended into the evening sky. “Good-bye, all of you!”

“Bye!” Weiss waved back, Luna waved a hoof and I gave a half-assed salute before Luna shot forwards and gained altitude, aiming for home.

End Of Slice One

Author's Note

Oh, the lack of inspiration to write the second half of this long assed chapter. Chances are the next few will go back to being a couple thousand words again, rather than the 8-9K words that these last two have been. So much easier to stay on topic.

Also, I'd like to get some opinions on something that would likely only actually show up much later on in the story, but I'm unsure as to whether or not it'd be well received by you all. Poll can be found here.

As always, Կենացը