Lions, Tigers and.... Ponies?!

“A what?” Luna asked.

“They're called Beasties, and they are very bad news. They kidnap children and feast on their nightmares, and… the kids don't survive the experience….” Carlos growled.

Both Celestia and Luna looked sickened by what Carlos had told them. “That's…. horrible!” Celestia exclaimed.

“And if we're not let out of these chains, the same thing will happen to the kids of your subjects!” Viktor growled.

The Beasties laughed. “Leave them in those chains, it’ll make it easier to take them out!” The leader said.

The Princesses glared at the creatures before Celestia’s horn flared and the chains fell off the four cats. Viktor rubbed his paws where the chains had chafed at his fur before growling, “Alright, let's show these guys why the Night Pride is feared by all Beasties!”

The Beastie leader tossed the guard he was holding into another, knocking both of them unconscious. “Get ‘em!” He yelled. With a roar, both sides charged. While Viktor and the leader clashed, Alexandra, Carlos and Katelyn engaged the five others.

“Hah, missed me!” Carlos said, ducking a clumsy swing from the Beastie he was fighting before landing a powerful blow that gutted the creature. The Beastie screamed before falling to the floor, its insides pouring out.

“Ewww, that's definitely a gut-buster right there!” The white tiger said, before getting sent flying by a blow from another Beastie.

“Ooof! Oh, so that's how you wanna play? Well two can play at that game!” Carlos growled before leaping at the Beastie with a roar.

Meanwhile, Alexandra was landing blow after blow on the Beastie she was fighting. “Not so tough now are you?” She taunted.

“You won't stop us, Valthraax will make sure that you fall!” The Beastie snarled before slapping her aside and charging towards the Princesses only to be hit with a searing beam that disintegrated him instantly.

“Thou shalt not harm us!” Celestia yelled, her horn glowing.

How… how did she do that? It's like she channeled the power of the sun! Alexandra thought in shock.

Seeing two of their fellows brought down, the four remaining Beasties began to back down, seeing this, Viktor, Carlos, Alexandra and Katelyn pressed their advantage, Katelyn bringing down another Beastie. Now outnumbered, the three Beasties broke and ran, the four cats chasing them as far as the door. “Yeah, you better run! And next time, do some squats!” Carlos yelled, “You could use the exercise!”

“We can't thank thee enough for this. Thou hast done us a great service this day.” Celestia said. She then looked outside and bent her head, her horn glowing.

“Um… what's she doing?” Katelyn asked.

“She's lowering the sun so that I may raise the moon.” Luna replied.

The four gave both of the Princesses a disbelieving look. “You guys move the sun and moon?” Viktor asked in shock. Luna nodded before her horn began glowing. “That's not even possible! The planet revolves around the Sun while the moon revolves around the earth!” he said.

“I think we threw Scientific theory out the window the moment we came here…”  Carlos snarked. “First Unicorns, then Pegasi, what's next, Dragons and Manticores?”

“You know about them?!” Shield Breaker asked in shock. Carlos looked at her before facepawing.

“Lady, from where we come from, you’re just a myth, same with Pegasi, Manticores and dragons.” Katelyn said. “So this is kinda of a surprise for us also.”

Shield Breaker chuckled. “The name's Shield Breaker. Captain of the Castle Guard.” She said. The group of guards from earlier walked up behind her, the helmets of the Pegasi held in their wings. Upon closer inspection, Carlos saw that one of the Pegasi looked… different. She had bat like ears, slitted eyes, bat like wings and when she smiled, he saw a pair of fangs.

“I'm Night Slicer, nice to meet you four.” She said, nodding her head in greeting.

The two regular Pegasi were next. “I'm Swooping Star, and this is my brother, Blade Jumper.” The mare said, the stallion cooly giving the four a nod

“Name’s Rock Crasher, nice to meet Y’all.” The Earth Pony stallion said with what sounded like a Texan accent.

“And I'm Moss Flower.” The Earth Pony mare said.

“Nice meeting you guys too, though, what exactly are you? I don't think I've seen a pony like you before…” Carlos asked Night Slicer.

“I'm what's called a Thestral or “Bat Pony”.” She replied, her ears flattening in embarrassment while she looked away. “It's… not something I really like talking about.”

Must make for quite the awkward conversation... Carlos thought before he said, “If you don't want to talk about it, I’ll respect that.”

Night Slicer gave him a small smile before she asked, “So you’re actually from another world? What's it like?”

“Well… Humanity is the dominant species, numbering over 6.5 billion. We use very advanced technology like computers, but… the problem with our kind is that we’re very war like, we have fought more wars than we can count. There are some good people, but… there are more people that do bad than good.” Viktor explained. “So in a way, us getting brought here was a lucky break, we don't have to deal with hearing about the pain and suffering that happens in our world. But we have family back on our world, and they're gonna be frantic as to what happened to us.” The guards had looks of shock and sympathy on their faces at what Viktor had told them.

“I'm truly sorry…” Shield Breaker murmured.

“It's fine. But what I’m worried about is that the Beasties are planning something, and it’ll involve…” Viktor trailed off as he realized something. Oh no…..

“Vik, what's wrong?” Carlos asked.

“I just realized something, the only thing stopping the Beasties from taking all the kids in the comics was the Militia, but they don't exist here!” Viktor said.

Carlos's eyes widened before he swore, “Damn it! And we’re the only ones that can stop them!”

“But how? Four cats just aren't enough to fight them, and they mentioned Valthraax, and that's never a good sign…” Alexandra said.

“Who is this “Valthraax”?” Celestia asked.

“The leader of the Beasties, a scheming spider headed monster that will stop at nothing to capture all of the children.” Katelyn growled.

“Your highnesses, with your permission, the four of us would like to help by stopping the Beasties before they can kidnap any of the children here.” Viktor said, “But if you would rather us not to and leave your guards to deal with the problem, that's your decision. But we know the foe better than you or the guards, and if you don't do something, you’ll lose the hope for the future.” Celestia suddenly started at that, and her eyes became fearful.

What the… wonder why she reacted like tha… Carlos wondered before realizing something, Oh boy… She's pregnant! No wonder she reacted like that, she doesn't want to lose her kid when he or she gets born and grows up!

“Tia, what's wrong?” Luna asked.

“N... nothing. I'm fine, just worried for our subjects.” Celestia said, her eyes warning her sister not to speak of this. “I’ll explain later.” She said quietly to Luna, who narrowed her eyes and frowned.

“In the meantime, you have our permission to stop these creatures any way you can. If what you say is true, there already may be fillies and colts missing.” She continued.

“Thank you your highnesses.” Viktor said, the four of them bowing their heads in respect before Carlos yawned. “If it's okay with you, we’d like to get some rest. Today's been… a bit crazy for us.”

“Of course. Captain, please show them to a spare room.” Celestia said. Shield Breaker nodded and beckoned to the four before they left the throne room. As the door closed, Luna turned to Celestia.

“There's something you’re not telling me. Why did you react like that earlier?” She asked.

Celestia sighed. “I'm… expecting a child.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “You mean… I'm going to be an aunt?” She asked incredulously. Celestia nodded. “So that's why you reacted like that, you’re afraid that the Beasties will get your child when he or she is older… Who’s the father?”

Celestia didn't answer as she looked out the window. “Honestly, I'm afraid for not just my child, but for every filly and colt in Equestria. These creatures… they're almost like the primal version of ourselves…. I just hope the Night Pride can stop them. As for who the father is, it… I honestly don't remember, it was a long time ago...”

Luna nodded in understanding before she put a wing over her older sister's shoulder. “I have a feeling they will. From what I saw during the fight, they were making sure none of the guards got involved.”

As she said this, a voice in her head whispered, Since when did Celestia really care about you? She won't give you what you deserve!

Luna ignored this as the two sisters leaned against each other.

Meanwhile…

“...And this is where you’ll be staying.” Shield Breaker said, opening the door to the massive spare bedroom.

“Dang, you could fit a theater in here!” Carlos said. Shield Breaker gave him a confused look before deciding not to bother with asking questions.

“Thank you Captain. We’ll let you know if we need anything.” Viktor said. Shield Breaker nodded before she left the room. Katelyn had already fallen asleep on a velvet rug, her sides rising and falling as she laid curled up.

Viktor chuckled as he watched his sister sleep. Carlos and Alexandra had curled up together on the bed and were talking quietly with each other.

Hard to believe we're now in a place that looks like it belongs in a kid’s cartoon… but now we have a bigger problem to deal with, the Beasties. Tomorrow we'll need to investigate and try and stop them from taking any of the kids here. The lion thought, his blue eyed gaze looking out the single window. But right now, we allneed some rest. He then laid down under the window, and within seconds, fell asleep.

Meanwhile…

“My lord Valthraax, I bring distressing news!” A Beastie said, standing at the foot of a carved throne, his head bowed.

“Speak….” A ancient voice spoke with a hint of menace.

“The Night Pride, they have appeared in this world!” The messenger said, looking up. “They managed to stop six of us when we attacked the pony Princesses!”

“WHAT?!” The voice shrieked. The owner of it, a spider headed creature in a top hat and wearing late 1800s human clothing and a cloak stood up and grabbed the unfortunate Beastie by the throat. “How are they here?” Not waiting for an answer, he tossed the messenger aside.

This is impossible! Abner and that blasted King Bear can't have found out where I am! No matter, I’ll still get the brats here and Celestia's child too when it grows up a bit more after it’s been born! And then I can take the human world and those two brats!

Valthraax began to cackle evilly, “You’ve stopped nothing Pallo! I’ll still get that brat Joey after I’m done with this world!” He said as his laughter grew, “The age of Beasts will reign!” He then burst into full screeching laughter, and far away, in the Castle of the Two Sisters, Luna woke up with a shudder.

“I pray that the Night Pride is able to help us, if not, Faust have mercy on our souls…” She muttered, a sense of dread settling over her.

In the spare room, the dreams of the four cats were broken by memories that were not theirs, memories of fighting countless waves of Beasties, of joking with other stuffed animals, and of a familiar boy and girl. In the shadows, a scarred face of a small bear watched them.

I don't know how Pallo and the others got here, but from what I saw, the Beasties are up to something… I need to let King Bear know.

He whipped out a scroll and muttered, “Ene Meene Myne Mo!” As he said these words, the figures on the scroll glowed before a portal opened up and he walked through to his universe. The portal closed with a soft pop, waking Katelyn up  and making her look towards where the sound came from for a second before she fell back asleep. For the rest of the night, no one gave any second thoughts to what was going on behind the shadows.