Prototype 2: Equestria Zero

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 8

Chapter 1

A/N: Ever since beating Prototype 2 I’ve been wanting to do a crossover of it with something. Strangely enough, the first thing that came to my mind was My Little Pony (well that and Infamous 2). This is my my first fanfic so constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Chapter 1

Standing atop the towering building, he had a clear view of the entire city. He could see everything: from the normally blue sky that was now as red as blood to the many other buildings that also surrounded the city. Well, the ones that weren't on fire or covered with red, pulsating biomass that is. But the real action was what was happening below. The streets of the city were littered with corpses, blood, and the flaming wrecks of what used to be cars. Anything that was alive down there was fighting to survive: soldiers outfitted in black battle uniforms were fighting a desperate battle against what looked to be mutated walking corpses. The soldiers were putting up a good fight, that is until even larger mutants showed up. These new abominations could only be described as giant mutated dogs, their muscle fiber visible through their torn skin. Their weapons inefective against these new creatures, the soldiers were quickly slaughtered, their bodies being added to the carnage.

Anyone else would have been horrified at what was happening to this once great city, but for James Heller it was just another day at the office.

He looked around at what was once New York City, taking note of the crumbling buildings, the wrecked streets, and the smell of death in the air. Due to his years in the Marines, he had become used to sights like this and as such this really didn't faze him that much. Still, he could feel a rising anger within him; not because of what was happening to the city, but because of the man who had caused it all:

Alex Mercer

Gritting his teeth, he thought of the man responsible for turning him into this freak. The man responsible for taking everything away from him. Realizing he needed to let off some steam before he ended up killing someone, Heller did what he always did when thinking about Mercer eventually led to him getting pissed off: he leapt into the air and began to run havoc around the city

This was the one good thing about having these powers; the feeling of the air in his face as he jumped, glided, and dashed from building to building always calmed him down. Besides, since Dana had nothing for him to kill and consume and Galloway was nowhere to be found he needed to pass the time somehow. That last thought made him nervous however. He didn't trust Galloway in the slightest so the fact that he had no idea where she was understandably filled him with dread.

'If that bitch is planning something I swear to God...' he thought darkly not at all surprised that Sabrina might be planning to betray him. Hell, he was expecting it.

As he was preparing to jump from one skyscraper to another, he noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye standing on top of a building. Normally this wouldn't have caught his attention, but upon closer inspection he instantly recognized the individual and the familiar anger returned to him.

'Mercer!' he thought with rage as he glared at the man who ruined his life.

It was definitely him. He could recognize that cocky bastards smirk even from this distance. Shouting with rage, he leapt from the building he was currently on to the one occupied by Mercer, the ceiling shattering due to the impact.

If looks could kill, Alex would have been reduced to smoldering ash with the death glare Heller was sending his way. "Hello Heller" Alex said calmly, that same smirk never leaving his face. "How have you been?"

"Don't play games with me you son of a bitch!" he shouted at him, barely restraining himself from leaping at the bastard and ripping him to shreds. "You're either really fucking brave or really fucking stupid for even thinking of showing your face around me again! Not that it matters, because you're about to die here either way!"

"Scary." Alex sarcastically replied, loving the look of rage on Heller's face, "Now what would Father Guerra think if he saw you using such language?"

That was it. With barely restrained fury he took a step towards Mercer, fully prepared to wipe the smirk off his mouth but was stopped with a raise of a Mercers hand "Before you start shouting all kinds of colorful language at me while simultaneously trying to rip me a new asshole hear me out first."

Despite the unbelievable rage he was feeling at the moment, for whatever godforsaken reason, he decided to let the bastard speak before royally kicking his ass. Seeing that Heller wasn't going to attack, Alex actually took on a serious expression for once and folded his arms. "I've said this once and I'll say it again: I should kill you right now. Not only have you been killing my Evolved you've also been stopping the contaminated Whitelight from spreading into the city. If you were anyone else you wouldn't be standing here right now." He stopped and looked at Heller trying to gauge his reaction. "But" he continued " I've been watching you Heller and I must say I'm impressed. Being able to kill my Goliath singlehandedly was one thing, but the fact that none of my other Evolved have been able to stop you shows you have potential and that potential is the only reason I've decided to give you one last chance"

Reaching out with his hand he asked "Join me Heller. Join me so that we can finally rid the Earth of the plague that is humanity." Motioning to the city he continued "Look around you Heller! Humanity has become stagnant. They are unable to evolve pass their primitive, violent ways. I use to be like you once. I once saw the goodness in humanity and hoped to be like them. But after seeing what humans are capable of firsthand I finally saw them for what they were: Savage animals who only know how to kill and backstab each other! From what I recall you served in Iraq so I'm sure you can attest to that" As he said so Heller closed his eyes, and Alex knew he had hit a sore spot.

"Once the rest of humanity has been turned into Evolved we can finally put an end to all that. No more killing, no more betrayal, no more poverty, no more disease. It will be a perfect world." Alex stopped to see that Heller was actually thinking hard about what he just said. 'Perfect' he thought 'all he needs is one more push'.

"And if you help me... I'll help you find your daughter." He finished as Heller looked up surprised. Believing he had convinced Heller to join his cause Alex once again reached out with his hand. "So what do you say?"

Heller looked at the outstretched hand and simply stared at it for a few moments before also reaching out with his hand as if to shake it. Alex smiled on the inside, believing he had secured himself a powerful ally. Their hands were inches away from shaking,,,

...when Heller's hand morphed into the whipfist and struck Alex directly in the chest sending him flying back.

Alex skidded along the ceiling and looked up shocked as Heller retracted the whipfist and began to speak. "I've said it once and I'll say it again: you must either be really fucking brave or really fucking stupid! Join you?! After you killed Colette?! After you killed Father Guerra?! Fuck you!! I don't need your fucking help finding Maya and I really don't give a fuck what you believe is the right course for the Earth. Right now I don't give a fuck what you have to say. I just want you to fucking die!"

Alex stood up and began dusting himself off. He looked calm but anyone looking close enough could see the barely restrained rage in his eyes. "I gave you a chance Heller. A chance to finally do something with your worthless life. A chance to change the world for the better. But now you've wasted it and this time... this time I'll be sure to finish you off."

Heller got into a fighting stance and prepared his whipfist for another attack. "Bring it on" he whispered, finally ready to end this. His opponent glared at him before that same smug smile returned to his face. "I think you misunderstand Heller, I'm not the one who's going to finish you off."

There was a moment of confusion before realization finally struck him and he jumped just in time to avoid something that smashed into the spot he was currently standing with tremendous force shattering the concrete and sending dust into the air. Heller landed a few feet away from the newly formed crater and waited for the dust to clear so he could get a look at his new opponent, although he had a pretty good idea of who it was. "Galloway! I knew I couldn't trust you!"

When the dust cleared however, he was surprised to see that it wasn't Galloway like he predicted, but some kid. He couldn't have been more than 16 years old. He was of average build with slicked back black hair, but he held the same cold look in his eyes that all that all the other Evolved had. Instead of hands, he had two blades similar to the ones Heller himself had.

"Recruiting kid's now Mercer?" he questioned with disgust. To his irritation, Mercer only laughed and said "I wouldn't underestimate this one Heller. Similar to how Galloway is the only one of my Evolved with the ability to sense the others, this one also has an ability only he can use. And this ability makes him the perfect match for you."

The Ex-Marine simply scoffed and charged at the two. "Whatever Mercer. I'll take you and your little bitch down!" Shifting his arm into the blade he swung it at the kid who parried it with his own blade. Seeing his chance, the kid attempted to run Heller through with the blade on his other arm. Heller however, jumped back barely avoiding it. Formulating a plan in his mind, Heller shifted both of his arms into the hammerfists and slammed them both down on the ground, sending a flurry of spikes towards his opponent.

The kid jumped into the air to avoid the spikes, but this was exactly what Heller wanted. With amazing speed. he shifted his arm into the whipfist and sent it right towards the kid. Before the kid could even react, the whipfist wrapped around his waist and he was pulled straight down into Heller's awaiting fist. A loud crack resounded across the rooftop as Heller's fist made impact with the kids jaw and sent him flying across the rooftop into an unmoving slump on the floor.

Not taking any chances, Heller leaped into the air and landed knee first on the kid's stomach effectively knocking the air out of his lungs. Shifting his arms into the hammerfists once again he began to mercilessly beat the kid. The sounds of bones breaking and blood splattering on the floor were all that could be heard for the next few seconds. When Heller was done, what was left was a barely recognizable body. Heller looked at the corpse and couldn't help but feel a small tinge of sadness for the kid. He had never wanted to kill someone so young. But that sadness quickly turned to anger once he remembered who it was that turned the kid against him.

Consuming the body he turned to face the man who had made his and everyone in New York City's life a living hell. He hadn't moved a muscle, still standing there with his arms folded and a shit eating grin on his face. "Keep smiling asshole" he seethed "cause what I did to that kid is going to look merciful compared to what I do to you."

Now Heller expected a lot of reactions when Mercer saw him kill another one of his Evolved. He expected him to be pissed. He expected him to star cursing at him with every swear that he knew for killing another one of his soldiers. What he was not expecting was for Mercer to start laughing.

And this wasn't just "somebody told a funny joke" laughing. This was "somebody turn the gas off" laughing. Heller was actually starting to get freaked out. After a whole minute of him laughing and Heller standing there looking uncomfortable, it finally seemed to die down. Although a part of him really didn't want to know, Heller finally asked "What's so fucking funny?"
Alex, still chuckling, took a moment to answer. "Oh nothing, it's just that your stupidity absolutely astounds me"

"What!" Heller yelled, more than a little ticked.

Ignoring him, Alex continued. "You're so stupid you don't even realize you've lost."

"I've lost! Motherfucker are you blind. I just took down another one of your Evolved. That's it. You're done. There's nothing stopping me now from ripping your godamn head off." Heller proclaimed, believing his "maker" had officially lost it.

For some reason, Mercer found that funny and began laughing again, but managed to calm himself down and replied "Oh but there is something stopping you from killing me Jimmy and it's right there in your chest."

Confused, Heller looked down at his chest trying to spot what Mercer was talking about. At fist there seemed to be nothing there, but upon looking closer he noticed it: a small hole where the kid had managed to pierce him when he was beating him to death.

Heller simply looked at Mercer like he was crazy. "What this? This'll heal in no time." Alex laughed again, but this time it was different. It was a cruel laugh. The laugh of a man who knew a horrible secret and wasn't going to share it. "Sorry James" he spoke in a cold tone that sent a shiver down his spine "but this is one thing you won't be healing from."

Before he could even question what the other man was talking about, he felt a searing pain in his chest. It was so intense he dropped to his knees and had to hold back a shout of pain. He looked at his chest and gasped in horror.

The hole was getting bigger.

And it wasn't just getting bigger, it was swirling.

"Wha-"

"Remember how I said he had a gift only he could use" Mercers voice interrupting him. He looked up to see the man smiling at him with a sadistic grin. Taking a moment to revel in the pain Heller was obviously in he continued. "You see he has an ability very similar to one that you possess. You know that bio-bomb ability you have? He does something very similar, only instead of turning people into living bombs he does something else. Something far worse. Do you want to know what it is?"

Heller was in far too much pain to answer and Alex knew that. He was just having too much fun teasing him. "What he does is he implants what can best be described as miniature black holes inside his opponent's body. I actually don't know what they are but seeing as how they keep growing until that persons body is completely absorbed, I think black hole is the best name for them don't you think?"

Heller was in so much pain he barely heard what Mercer had just said. But what he did get out of that was "black hole" and "completely absorbed". It didn't take much to put two and two together.

"No,,," he moaned out in pain as he desperately reached out to grab the man who had done this to him, to at least take hm with him.

He barely got a few inches off the ground before he fell flat on his face, the black hole now nearly covering his entire body.

"Goodbye James Heller" Mercer told him as his body was almost completely consumed. "I'll be sure to tell Maya you said hi."

The last thing James Heller saw was the smiling face of the monster who destroyed his family and then, he saw only darkness.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Luna’s moon illuminated over the peaceful land of Equestria. It was well past midnight and except for the lunar princess herself, everypony was fast asleep. Even in the normally dangerous Everfree Forest, the animals had long since turned in for the night, with the only creatures being awake being the more nocturnal predators. Yet even they were not present for the event that was transpiring deep within the forest, or rather above it.

High above the Everfree Forest, a small, swirling black speck had appeared. Had anyone been around, they would have noticed that the black speck was slowly growing in size. As the speck reached its presumed maximum size, it became a miniature swirling black hole about the same size as the average stallion. Slowly emerging out of the black hole was a human like form that limply fell out and impacted into the unforgiving ground of the forest with a resounding crash startling and awakening any nearby animals.

Its cargo apparently deposited, the black hole slowly dissipated until it had completely vanished, almost as if it had never been there at all.

Silence returned to the forest once again.

Chapter 2

A/N: I just want to say thanks to all the people who read, reviewed, and favourited this fic. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be this popular. You guys are the best.

Chapter 2

In the chamber room of the second royal sister, Princess Celestia sat up straight in her bed. Her eyes wide with worry she frantically searched around in the darkness of her room as if expecting something there.

Something was very wrong.

Hopping out of her bed, she briskly trotted over to the balcony that overlooked Canterlot and looked at the sky.

The moon was still there.

Turning away from the sky she quickly inspected her kingdom and noted that it was still intact. So what was this foreboding feeling that still plagued her?

Deciding to be more thorough with her search, her horn glowed as she cast a favored spell of hers. It was a powerful spell, one that allowed her to “see” what was happening in any location in Equestria no matter the distance. While many would view this as a form of omnipotence, Celestia refused to see it that that way. For one, she could only see one location at a time, not every location at every time so it wasn’t true omnipotence. Secondly, the spell took a massive amount of magic to use so she couldn’t use it more than a few times. But for tonight she would have to use it multiple times. Although she knew doing so would weaken her severely for some time, she was willing to endure it if it meant protecting the well being of her subjects.

She must have been standing there for at least an hour as she expected every single populated area of her kingdom, from the bustling city of Manehattan to the quaint little town of Ponyville and what she found both relieved and disturbed her.

Everything was fine. The cities and towns were intact and her little ponies were sound asleep in their beds. But with every area she inspected that feeling of dread continued to grow.

As she finished inspecting the very last town in Equestria and cancelled the spell, she began panting profusely and her knees wobbled as she struggled to stand, the side effects of constantly using the spell already taking effect. Shaking her head to cure the dizziness that she felt, she slowly trotted to her bed and laid down. As she wrapped the covers around herself and sleep quickly began to take her, she tried to convince herself that nothing was wrong, that she was simply imagining things.

So why couldn’t she shake the feeling that something horrible was about to befall her land?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

As the sun began to rise over Ponyville, its light began to waken the sleeping residents of the little town. Although many rejected its shining radiance by covering their head with their pillows, others happily greeted it, ready to start a brand new day.

One of those happy individuals was one Twilight Sparkle.

“Wake up my number one assistant, we have a lot of work to do today!”

Spike on the other hoof, fit into the former category and simply groaned in response as he wrapped the covers in his tiny basket closer around him. Twilight simply rolled her eyes at this behavior as it had become routine for them ever since they had moved to the town.

Her horn glowing, she magically lifted Spike out of his bed and placed him on the floor standing up.

”That’s enough sleep Spike. Now I want you to go in the bathroom and wash up, you have a lot of chores to do today.”

Groaning in annoyance, Spike slowly walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Sighing contently, Twilight walked downstairs to begin breakfast.

____________________________________________________________________________________

“-Then I need you to go pick up ‘The Equestrian Guide to Better Wine Making’ from Berry Punch- it’s two days overdue. Then I need you to go and get more quills from Quills and Sofas and afterwards-“

Twilight and Spike were both sitting in the kitchen where yet another daily routine was taking place: while Spike ate, Twilight listed off all the things that he had to do today. Usually following this, she would send Spike off to complete his chores while she studied and did research, sometimes without even touching her own breakfast.

“Uh, Twilight-“

“What is it Spike?” she sharply replied, annoyed that he had interrupted her.

Twiddling his claws, Spike nervously answered “W-well, I kinda won’t be able to do those things for you today Twilight, you see-“

Twilight sighed in annoyance. She already knew what he was going to say. “You’re going to be helping Rarity at her boutique again aren’t you?”

“She really needs my help Twilight! And if I keep helping her out she might finally agree to go on a date with me!”

“Spike, this has been going on for the last two weeks! You’ve been shirking your responsibilities and dumping them on me. I thought you were supposed to be my number one assistant?” Twilight replied frustrated. She would never admit it, but she felt lost without Spike. He did most of the chores and doing them herself seriously cut into her studying.

However, upon looking at his sad and ashamed expression at her accusation, she calmed herself down and smiled lightly at him. “But I guess I can’t get in the way of true love. Go get her Casanova, I’ll take care of the chores for today.” Upon hearing Twilights answer, Spike beamed at her and ran over to hug her. “Thanks Twilight, you’re the best.” Twilight hugged back and replied “Don’t mention it Spike, but I expect you to pull double duty tomorrow, understand?”

Spike saluted her and replied “Aye aye Captain” and ran towards the door. Twilight giggled at his antics as she watched him leave. “Have a nice day Spike.” Spike turned to her and replied “You too Twilight.”

As he prepared to step out the door, he turned once more to Twilight and said “Oh and by the way Twilight, maybe you should try and go outside today.” Upon noticing her shocked look at the statement, Spike quickly continued “It’s just that, well, ever since Shining Armor and Princess Cadance got married you’ve been cooping yourself up inside the library all day. That can’t be healthy for you. I just thought you might want to, you know, hang out with your friends. That’s all I’m sayin.” Finished delivering his advice, Spike quickly walked out before she could start yelling.

As she watched the door close behind the quickly retreating dragon, Twilight couldn’t help but fume at his words. ‘Cooped up? Unhealthy? What’s that little dragon talking about, I’ve been out.’ She angrily thought. ‘Like yesterday when I, uh… or Tuesday when I, I…or last week when I went to, to…’

When she realized that she couldn’t think of anything she sighed deeply. ‘Spikes right, I have been cooped up in here lately. But can you really blame me? Ever since the whole Changeling Invasion at the wedding, things have been pretty quiet around Ponyville. No dragons attacking the town, no Parasprites eating everything in their path and no Lords of Chaos making it rain chocolate milk. What else am I suppose to do except study?’

As she thought this, she also realized that she hadn’t seen any of her friends since the wedding. This was understandable really; they all had their own lives. Rainbow Dash was training to get into the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy had her animals to take care of, and Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had their businesses to run.

Getting out of the chair, Twilight decided to follow Spikes advice. Seeing her friends would do her some good. ‘Maybe we could have a picnic. Yeah, a picnic would be a great way us to reconnect.’ Now that only left the question of who to ask first. Applejack was probably working on her farm so that left her out. She was usually the first one of them to wake up and she usually didn’t finish working till around noon. Rarity was working with Spike and Pinkie Pie was probably just about to start work. That left just Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

She looked at the clock. 10:15. That meant Rainbow Dash was still sleeping and probably wouldn’t awaken for another two hours. That left Fluttershy. Satisfied, she walked towards the door to visit her shy friend.

‘Still’ she thought. ‘It would be nice if something exciting happened around here.’

Little did Twilight know, she would soon get her wish, only she wouldn’t get the kind of excitement that she wanted.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Deep within the Everfree Forest, a certain figure was slowly stirring awake.

‘Ugh, I though I closed the damn blinds.’ The figure though annoyed as the sunlight hit his face.

It was only when the figure realized that he was lying on grass instead of his bed did his eyes suddenly shoot open. He immediately sat upright, and then grabbed his chest at the pain of doing so.

Looking around, he noticed he was in some kind of forest, only it looked… different somehow; more colorful. As James Heller inspected the new area around him, only one thought plagued his mind:

‘What the fuck.’

A/N: Well, that’s another chapter done. Quick question: what happens when a pissed off one man army killing machine enters a town populated by magical talking ponies? Read the next chapter to find out.

Chapter 3

‘What the fuck.’

Those were the words James Heller repeated in his head as he slowly surveyed his new surroundings. He was definitely in a forest; he could hear birds chirping and could actually see several fly by overhead.

He tried to stand, but was immediately hit by an intense pain in his chest that knocked him back down again. Eventually, he settled for crawling near a tree and sitting against it while he waited for his body to heal. As he did so, he tried to recall what had happened to him.

‘Okay Heller, think. What is the last thing you remember?’

He searched his brain hard for that lost memory. He remembered lying on the floor in immense pain. He remembered a feeling of helplessness as he felt something slowly smothering him. He remembered the smiling face of…

His eyes widened in realization.

Alex Mercer!

It all came back to him now: Facing Mercer, fighting that kid Evolved, being injected with that black hole, being forced to listen to Mercers cocky voice as he was slowly consumed, and worst of all, the feeling that he would never see his daughter again.

As Heller finished processing his thoughts one thing kept bugging him. ‘How the hell did I end up here?’

Deciding to think about that later, he tried to stand up once again. He did much better this time, the pain having lessened greatly. As he stood to his full height, his military training began to kick in. First rule of finding yourself in unknown territory: get a feel for your surroundings.

Bending down, he used the full strength of his powerful leg muscles to propel himself into the air, beyond even the tallest of trees in the forest. Once he had reached the highest altitude he could attain he quickly looked around to see if he could spot anything familiar in the area.

What he found shocked him, and that shock stayed with him as he began to quickly descend back to the ground. As he hit the ground, the typical crater that he had become accustomed to formed beneath his feet. He ignored that however, in order to think about the things he had seen in his jump, or rather what he hadn’t seen.

He didn’t recognize anything. Not a single land or mountain formation was familiar to him. He could already guess that he wasn’t in New York anymore, but he had hoped that by seeing the area from the air that he would be able to spot something familiar and make some kind of guess. Now he couldn’t even do that.

Putting a hand to his forehead, he could feel a headache coming on. ‘Calm down Heller, don’t lose your cool, just think.’ While he didn’t see anything familiar he did spot two thing’s that were promising: One was what looked to be a huge castle that seemed to rest on a mountain. The other was looked like a small town if the houses he saw were any indication.

Sighing, he tried to look on the bright side: at least he had something to go by. ‘Man, Dana would really be useful right no- Dana!’ As he thought of the techno- wizard who had been helping him, he mentally slapped himself. Why didn’t he just call Dana and see if she could track his phone using GPS? That way she could tell him where he was and navigate him back to New York.

However, that hope was dashed when he pulled out his phone and saw that he had no bars. ‘Great’ he thought as he put his phone back in his pocket. ‘There goes that plan.’ That left two options then: he could either go to the castle or go to the town and see if he could get some help.

The choice took about 5 second. ‘No way I’m climbing a goddamn mountain.’ With his choice made he started to walk in the direction of the town.

____________________________________________________________________________________

‘Trees, trees, and, what a surprise, more fucking trees.’ James Heller thought, nearly bored out of his mind. Now he knew why he never went camping: there was nothing to do but walk and stare at trees. Even the fact that the trees were more colorful didn’t change anything; they were still fucking trees.

He sighed for what must have been the 15th time since he began his trek. He had been walking for an hour and still didn’t feel any closer to the town. It was times like this that he missed New York. Yeah, it was living hell-hole where literally everything was trying to kill him, but at least it had skyscrapers that he could use for faster travel. He had tried to use the trees the same way he used the buildings, but the first tree he tried it on broke in half from the force and so he was forced subjected himself to this slow torture.

Fucking perfect.

‘Maybe I should have tried the castle. At least climbing the mountain would have given me something to do.’

Before he could continue his bitter thoughts he saw something ahead that lifted his spirits: an opening that led out of the forest. ‘Finally’, he thought, as he ran towards the exit ‘I’ve looked at enough trees to last me a lifetime.’

As he emerged from the forest, grateful to see something besides trees, he quickly inspected the area.
There was definitely a town. He could see several of the houses in the distance. ‘Looks kind of… medieval.’ He couldn’t help but point out. Even from this distance he could see that the houses were all made of hay and wood.

Before he could dwell on that any further, he noticed something to his side: a small cottage that was surrounded by bird houses. ‘Must be an animal lover’ he noted. ‘Whatever, as long as they have a working phone they can love whatever they want.’ With that thought he began to walk towards the cottage.

Inside the cottage, a certain shy Pegasus was having her own bad day. It had begun so well. She woke up, washed, ate breakfast, and began her daily routine of taking care of the animals. They had all behaved well enough. Only one animal was giving her problems…

“Angel, you need to eat your food.” She said kindly, hoping to convince him to eat without putting up a fuss.

No such luck. The rabbit threw the carrot at her face, stuck his nose up, and folded his arms.

“Now Angel, please don’t be difficult.” The rabbit continued to ignore her.

Sighing, she gave up and asked “Fine, what would you like to eat?”

The rabbit responded by picking up a book, flipping through the pages, and shoving the selected page in her face. On the page was a picture of a complicated carrot dish that looked like it contained all kinds of ingredients- and a whole lot of money to buy those ingredients.

“Angel, I’m afraid I don’t have enough money to pay for that. Why don’t you eat the carrot and I’ll make that for you another time?” She said this as sweetly as she could. The rabbit responded by throwing the book at her face, sticking his nose up, and folding his arms.

“Angel, please.” He ignored her. “Angel, I’m not going to ask again.” Nothing.

The kind look on Fluttershy’s disappeared and was replaced by a stern one. “Angel, you are going to eat this carrot and you are going to like it.” She said in as assertive a voice as she could muster. While she wasn’t as over the top assertive as she was after Iron Will’s training, she still wouldn’t stand for being pushed around.

Angel however, wouldn’t budge and glared at her right back. They continued this glaring contest for a few moments before a knock at the door interrupted them. “Hello? Is anyone in there?” An unmistakingly male voice asked from the other side.

Fluttershy looked away from Angel and answered “I’ll be there in a minute!” Before turning back towards him. “We’ll finish this conversation later.” Angel simply responded to her glare with a glare of his own, as if saying “Anytime, anywhere.”

Fluttershy trotted over to the door and opened it for her guest. “Hello, how can I help yo-“ She stopped midsentence as she stared up at what was waiting for her on the other side of the door. When she opened the door, she had been expecting a stallion to be on the other side, not a 6ft tall monster. Heller, likewise, was expecting a women (and a cute one judging from her voice) to open the door. Not a small, yellow, winged horse. At that moment, Heller could only think of one thing to describe this situation.

‘What the fuck.’

Fluttershy meanwhile, did the only thing that came naturally to her.

She screamed and with speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud, zipped past Heller and flew straight towards Ponyville

Heller stood there shocked for a few moments as he watched her fly away before turning around to look inside the house. Inside was a small rabbit looking at him with the same shocked look that Fluttershy just held.

“Uh… hi.”

The rabbit promptly fainted.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Leaving the cottage and the unconscious rabbit behind, Heller tried desperately to process whatever the hell he just saw as he walked towards the town.

‘Okay, let’s review this. You knocked on the door, and instead of a woman answering it, it was a small yellow horse. Wouldn’t that make it a Pegasus?’ He pondered this before shaking his head ‘No, no. Mutated zombies, fine. Mutated dog zombies, fine. Mutated 30ft tall zombies with an arm the size of a building, fine. But talking Pegasus is where I draw the fucking line.”

Deciding to go with the more plausible answer that he was simply insane, Heller continued on his journey hoping that his brief insanity spell vanished by the time he reached the town.

However, when he reached the small bridge that led to the town, he found it blocked by two carriages that were filled with garbage. He couldn’t see who was pulling the carriages, but he could hear two female voices on the other side.

“So Bon-Bon, what happened next?”

“Well Lyra, after I winked at him, he came up to me and-“

They were interrupted by a loud coughing behind them and a male voice. “Excuse me, I need to get past.”

“Yeah, yeah in a minute. So anyway, he came up, sat next to me and-“

They were interrupted again by an even louder cough and the same male voice. “I really need to get past, so if you could just move up a bit-“

“In a minute, geeze! So anyway, he sat down next to me, looked me in the eyes and said-“

“Will you please move your asses out the way?!” The frustrated voice yelled.

Bon-Bon and Lyra, both red with anger, turned their heads to see who had so rudely interrupted them.

“Hey buddy! Who the hay do you think you’re talking to-“ Bon-Bon’s angry rant cut off as soon as she saw exactly who was behind her.

Both parties simply stared at each other for a few moments before Heller broke the silence. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“MONSTER!!!” Both ponies yelled as they high tailed it towards Ponyville.

As Heller watched them leave, he put his head in his hands and groaned.

“I miss the trees.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

As Twilight trotted along the path that led to Fluttershy’s cottage, she saw a sight that she had become accustomed to since living here: ponies politely saying hi to her as they crossed her path, store managers greeting old customers and constantly trying to bring in new ones, and young foals happily playing games in the middle of the road.

Twilight sighed contently as she thought of how peaceful and happy the little town was. Ponyville might not have been the most exciting place at times, but it was definitely the most tranquil.

‘And here I am wishing for something to disturb this tranquility.’ She thought, berating herself for her earlier comments. ‘Today is such a beautiful, peaceful day that should be appreciated and-‘

Her thoughts of peace were interrupted by a high pitched voice screaming “MONSTER!!” Twilight barely had time to react before something crashed into her at high speeds, the impact sending both her and whatever hit her tumbling along the ground.

When they finally stopped and when Twilight had finally made everything stop spinning, she looked up only to stare into the wide-eyed, scared face of Fluttershy. “Twilight, help! Angel! Carrot! Book! Door! MONSTER!!” Fluttershy was speaking at such a rapid pace that Twilight could barely understand her. Used to dealing with this kind of incoherent rambling from Pinkie, Twilight did something that always worked whenever she needed her to shut up: she shoved her hoof into Fluttershy’s mouth.

“Fluttershy, BREATHE!” she told the hysterical pony. Fluttershy continued to panic at first, but after a few moments, followed Twilights advice and took several deep breaths (which was difficult considering the unicorn was covering her mouth)

Seeing that Fluttershy was beginning to calm down, Twilight continued “Now I’m going to let go of your mouth and when I do, I want you to tell me, calmly, what you need to say.” After Fluttershy slowly nodded her head Twilight removed her hoof.

Immediately after doing so, Fluttershy began crying and grabbed Twilight in a fierce hug. “Oh Twilight, it was h-horrible. I was trying to f-feed Angel h-his breakfast when I heard a knock on the d-door and when I went to answer it, there was…there was….”

“A monster.” She finished for her.

Fluttershy simply squeaked in response and continued to sob.

Twilight sighed in response at hearing Fluttershy’s story. It wasn’t the first time she had come crying to one of them, screaming about some kind of monster. When that happened, one of them would usually go back with her towards her cottage and after searching around for a bit, would find that the “monster” was never there and was just a figment of her imagination.

“Alright Fluttershy” Twilight said as she broke free from the hug and grabbed her by the hoof “Let’s go back and take care of this monster.”

“NO!” Fluttershy yelled surprisingly loud as she wrestled her hoof free from Twilight’s grip and began to backpedal away from her.

“Fluttershy, you’re being difficult right now.”

“I don’t care! I’m not going back to that monster!”

“Fluttershy, there is no monster.”

“Yes there is, I saw it!”

“What you saw was a figment of your imagination. I’m telling you Fluttershy, there is no-“

“MONSTER!!” Two voices screamed out in fear, interrupting her. Looking behind her she saw Lyra and Bon-Bon running towards the town, trash falling out of their carriages as they ran. “Run! The monsters going to eat us!”

At that point the crowd, which was already stressed out due to Fluttershy’s earlier declaration, reached full blown panic mode as ponies began to freak out. Earth ponies high tailed it out of there, Pegasus ponies flew around the skies in a frenzy, and any Unicorn that could, teleported out of the area. Parents grabbed their foals and store owners closed down their shops.

“Everypony please calm down! There is no monster!” Twilight desperately called out to the crowd, hoping to calm them down, but it was useless; they were simply too worked up. This was another thing she had become accustomed to while living in Ponyville: its mob mentality. The ponies here were very sweet, but all it took was a little spark to send them into a frenzy.

As Twilight sighed in resignation, she couldn’t help but turn and give an annoyed glare at Fluttershy. “Nice going Fluttershy, look what your monster talk has-“ She stopped when she realized Fluttershy wasn’t even paying attention. She was looking ahead at something- something that caused her jaw to hang wide open and her body to shake in sheer terror.

Following her gaze, she tried to pinpoint what was scaring her so badly- and she immediately copied her friend’s expression when she saw what it was.

Standing there, in the middle of town, in all of its terrifying glory, was the monster.

And it did not look happy.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

James Heller was not happy.

Of course this was no surprise to anyone who knew him. Those who did, knew his emotions fell between two categories: brooding and pissed the hell off. But right now he felt neither of those emotions. Right now he felt annoyed and quite frankly, a little worried for his mental health.

After the two ponies had run off, he had spent several minutes with his head in his hands, desperately trying to convince himself that he was NOT crazy, that he did NOT just see two more talking horses, and that when he got back to New York, he was definitely going to check himself into a psychiatric hospital.

After his brief mental breakdown he took a deep breath and continued his walk into the town, not knowing what he’d find.

Needless to say, this was not what he was expecting.

His eye twitching, he surveyed the chaos around him. There were more talking horses around. Only this time instead of yellow, they came in all sorts of different colors. Pink, blue, green, orange, every single color of the rainbow was here.

But it wasn’t bad enough that they came in different colors, oh no. Now they came with horns. Standing in front of him, what could only be described as a purple unicorn was gaping at him along with the yellow pegasus that he had seen before.

For the fourth time that day, he repeated the three words that could best describe this situation.

‘What. The. Fuck.’

It was around that time that the other horses actually began to notice him, and if possible screamed louder and ran faster. One pink horse with a blond mane actually screamed “The horror, the horror!” when she laid eyes upon him.

As his mind tried to process the madness that was happening around him, James Heller did the only thing he could do in a situation like this.

He turned around and walked back the way he came.

He would rather walk through those woods, and look at trees for all eternity than deal with this. He would rather fight Alex Mercer, ten Goliaths, and about a hundred Brawlers at the same time, rather than deal with the insanity behind him.

He would take his chances with the mountain. But while climbing it, he would pray to whatever God was out there, that he did not find more talking horses at the top. Cause if he did…well, let’s hope those horses knew how to run fast because he was gonna need something living to take his anger out on.

Before he could finish his homicidal thoughts, he felt something hit him in the chest with tremendous force. Well, he assumed it was tremendous force since the impact had only knocked him back a few inches.

Looking up, the sight of what had attacked him left his eye twitching again.

It wasn’t the fact that it was another pegasus. It wasn’t the fact that it was a cyan blue pegasus. No, the thing that made him want to stop and just go to the nearest bar was its rainbow mane.

‘A talking, flying horse, with rainbow hair. Please God, just kill me.’

While Heller was contemplating his suicidal thoughts, the cyan, rainbow haired pegasus in question was frantically shaking her hooves to dull the pain.

‘Dang that hurt! What’s that thing made out of?’ Rainbow Dash thought as she glared at the strange creature.

She could honestly say that she was not expecting this when she came into town. She was simply flying by, trying to get some practice in when she spotted everypony running away in fear… and a strange monster standing in the middle of the town.

Thinking quickly, she rushed forward, hoping to take down the monster before it hurt anypony, and now her hooves were paying the price.

‘That things tough, that’s for sure.’ She thought, as the pain in her hooves slowly began to lessen. ‘But it still won’t beat me. It might be tough, but I doubt it can keep up with the fastest flier in Equestria.’

As she finished that thought, she noticed that the creature had also finished whatever it was thinking and was walking towards her. Gritting her teeth, Dash prepared herself for the fight of a lifetime…only to blink in confusion when it walked right past her, almost as if it hadn’t noticed her.

Staring at its retreating back, Dash called out “Hey, where are you going?!”

Either it didn’t hear her or it was ignoring her because the creature didn’t even spare her a second glance as it kept walking.

Bristling with rage, she quickly flew right in front of it, blocking its path.

“Hey, I didn’t say you could leave yet! If you think you can just walk into my town, scare my friends, and just walk back out, you’ve got another thing com-“

Faster than she could react, the creatures hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat. Almost instantly, she could feel her lungs begin to burn from the lack of oxygen, and she uselessly tried to pry the creature’s fingers from around her neck. Looking at its face, she cowered when she saw the look in its eyes. Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Queen Chrysalis combined didn’t scare her as much as the glare the creature was giving her.

It was like she was looking into the face of death itself.

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Heller angrily whispered to her, his patience wearing thin.

Upon noticing that the pegasus was too frightened to even move, Heller unceremoniously dropped her on the ground and walked off without looking back.

Seeing her normally confident friend being defeated so easily snapped Twilight Sparkle out of her stupor and she ran up to the pegasus. “Dash, are you alright?!” Rainbow, still trying to get some air in her lungs, simply coughed in response.

Twilight rubbed her back, and as she watched the strange creature walk off into the distance, a million questions began to form in her head, none of them she had answers for.

As Rainbow Dash slowly began to recover, she asked the question that was on everyponies mind:

“What the heck was that thing?”

Chapter 4

A/N: Because you guys have shown so much love for this fic, I’ve decided to give you a reward: Heller killing things. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

‘What the heck was that thing?’

Rainbow Dash’s question resonated in Twilight Sparkles mind as she used her magic to flip through the book that was currently levitating in front of her. It was titled ‘Fauna of Equestria’, and even after she triple-checked every page, she could find nothing even remotely describing the creature that she just saw. Frustrated, she tossed the book into a disorganized pile of books with similar titles.

That was it. That was the last book she had that held any information on the creatures living in Equestria. She had looked up every type of animal, from ones that had long since gone extinct to creatures that most ponies believed were only myths. Yet, no matter where she looked there was no information on the one that was just in Ponyville.

Feeling a headache come on she turned around to look at the assembled ponies that had gathered at her home. Applejack was bringing Rainbow Dash a glass of water to cool her burning throat, and couldn’t help but wince as she saw the bruises on her neck where the creature had grabbed her. Rarity and Spike were trying to comfort a weeping Fluttershy who hadn’t stopped crying since they had broken her out of her near catatonic state. And Pinkie Pie was bouncing around as usual, shouting something about a “Welcoming Party” and “New Friend.”

Surprisingly, it was Applejack who spoke first. “So let me get this straight Twilight.” She said in her usual Southern accent. “Fluttershy came runnin’ up to ya, screamin ‘bout some kind of monster.” Upon seeing Twilight nod, she continued. “And afterwards an actual monster did show up and beat up Rainbow Dash?”

“Hey, it didn’t beat me up!” Rainbow Dash yelled defensively. “It just got the drop on me, that’s all.”

“Sure it did.” Applejack said, sarcasm evident in her voice. Before Dash could get into a shouting match with her, she turned back to Twilight and asked “So what are we gonna do now Twilight?”

Twilight looked at her assembled friends for a few moments before coughing into her hoof and speaking “Well Applejack, I think it’s obvious what we have to do. We have to go into the forest, find the creature, and-“

“Throw it a welcoming party!” Pinkie Pie happily shouted, throwing confetti around the room while doing so.

‘Where did she even get-‘ Shaking her head and writing it off as Pinkie being Pinkie, Twilight continued. “No Pinkie, we have to find it, subdue it, and turn it over to Princess Celestia.”

Rarity, upon hearing Twilight’s plan, huffed and asked “Oh do we really have to go into that dreadful forest. I just went to the spa yesterday.”

“D-do we really have to go after it?” Fluttershy meekly asked, her crying having slowed down somewhat.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy with pity in her eyes before responding “I’m afraid so Fluttershy. You saw how easily it took down Rainbow Dash-“

“Hey!”

“-if it could do something like that to her, think about what it could do to any other pony. Or any other animal.”

Upon hearing that, Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her look of fear was replaced by a look of resolve. She was determined to not let any animal get hurt if she could help it.

When she spoke this time, there was confidence in her voice “You’re right Twilight, we have to stop that creature before it hurts somepony. Or some animal.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile at her bravery before turning to the rest of her friends. “Well, Fluttershy’s on board, what about the rest of you? I can’t force you guys to go and I’m not gonna lie, it’s going to be dangerous. That creature is strong, Rainbow Dash can attest to that. Are you sure you guys want to go?”

“Of course I’m going! I owe that thing payback any way.” Rainbow Dash proclaimed, her usual confidence restored.

“Shoot, you know I can’t let you girls run into a dangerous situation all by yerselves. Sides, that thing hurt mah friend and I won’t stand for that.” Applejack proclaimed next, anger in her voice as she thought of what it had done to Dash.

“Count me in! Someone needs to throw that scary monster a party!” Pinkie Pie shouted next.

“Oh fine. If it’s for you girls I suppose I can stand getting my hooves a little dirty.” Rarity said, the generosity that she had become known for coming forward.

As each of her friends spoke up, the smile on Twilights face grew bigger and bigger. Even after having not seen each other for two weeks, their friendship and loyalty to each other was as strong as ever. It might not have been how she wanted to reconnect with them, but it would do.

“Alright then it’s settled! Spike, take a letter…”

______________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, the six friends were standing in front of the entrance that led into the Everfree Forest. After Spike had sent off a hastily written letter quickly explaining the events that had transpired, the Princess’ letter had come back almost instantly. In the response letter, she wrote that while personally, she did not want them going anywhere near the creature, she knew that nothing she could say would dissuade them. Instead, she wished them luck and warned them to not do anything foolish. If they felt that it was too much for them, they were to return to Ponyville and she would send a squad of Royal Guards to subdue the creature instead.

After delivering the Princess’ message, they had each gone home to prepare for the journey. Really, this just meant grabbing a few snacks and some flashlights. Applejack was the only who brought an actual tool: her trusty lasso.

Before entering the forest, Twilight turned to look at her friends. “Remember what the Princess said girls. Don’t do anything foolish. Stick together and if you see the creature, don’t go charging off.” She looked at Rainbow Dash as she said that last line.

“What!” The rainbow maned pegasus yelled, noticing the look.

“Anyway” she continued “If any of you at any time feel that you can’t handle this, say the word and we’ll turn right around. Don’t try to be brave, understand?” When each of them nodded their head in understanding she turned towards the forest and began to walk in, her five friends following behind her.

“Lets go monster-hunting!” yelled Pinkie Pie as she hopped into the forest.

________________________________________________________________________________

Near a river, the “monster” was getting himself some much needed rest.

After walking out of what would most likely be his nightmares for the next few months, James Heller quickly realized that he was not prepared for the tedious activity of walking and looking at more trees. Realizing that he needed to find somewhere to stop and collect his thoughts, he jumped into the air again to see if he could find someplace where he could rest. It was by luck that he spotted the river as he began to descend.

After a bit more walking he came upon the river and, happy to not be looking at trees anymore, leaned against a boulder and began to think about the events of today.

‘Alright, I think it’s safe to assume that I am not on Earth right now.’ He noted to himself. ‘I don’t know if it’s a different planet or a different dimension altogether but this is definitely not Earth.’

Deciding to figure out where he was later, he instead decided to figure out how he got here. ‘I should have been killed, not sent here to fucked up ponyland. How the hell did that black hole-‘

Wait.

Black hole.

Could it be…?

While he didn’t look like it, he was a huge fan of sci-fi movies. He used to watch them all the time growing up and even as an adult, he still loved watching them from time to time. But aside from brain-eating aliens, there was one more theme that seemed to be in every sci-fi movie: the use of black holes as portals.

He had seen far too many movies where the characters would use a black hole as some kind of worm hole and would use it to travel to different locations, sometimes even different dimensions. He had always written that stuff off as fantasy though, something too ridiculous to exist.

Of course he had also written off a zombie virus as fantasy, and look what was happening to New York.

‘Okay’ he thought ‘Lets say I really do believe this crap and that the black hole sent me off to a dimension populated by magical talking ponies; How the hell am I gonna get home’ That was something that had been bugging him ever since he got here: How was he gonna get home? It’s not like he could create his own bla-

His eyes widened as something came to him. ‘The kid- I consumed him! I consumed his power! I could recreate the black hole, I could go-‘ Immediately he stopped as he began to think the plan through. ‘No, no I can’t risk it. Not only do I not want to go through that pain again but I don’t even know if it will send me back to my world or to an even worse dimension than this. Hell, it might actually kill me this time.’

His hopes dashed once again, he sunk himself further into the boulder, just about ready to resign himself to his fate. ‘Well I could always try the castle. There’s probably more talking horses up there but it’s better than not-‘

He felt something wet splash against his forehead. ‘Rain, just what I fucking needed.’ Reaching up with his hand to wipe it off, he noticed that it didn’t feel like rain. It felt… slimier. Looking up to see where it had come from, he barely had time to roll out of the way as something pounced at the spot where he was just at.

Looking up, his jaw dropped as he got a good look at what had just tried to attack him.

It was a wolf. Made completely out of wood. Yet was somehow drooling.

What the fuck was wrong with this world?!

Before he could go into another mental breakdown he heard growling behind him. Turning around, he saw more wolves slowly emerging from the forest. A lot more. When they had all emerged, about 20 timber wolves surrounded the marine.

The timber wolf from before, believing its prey was distracted, pounced at him from behind…

…Only to have its head caught in a massive clawed hand.

Without hesitation, Heller crushed the poor beast’s head in his claws.

Taking a moment to look as the headless body of the timber wolf fell to the ground, Heller slowly turned to look at the remaining 19, a predatory look on his face that matched their own.

“You know” he said coldly as he slowly walked towards them. “I’m actually glad you guys showed up. Cause after the day I’ve had…” He bared his claws.

“…I need something to tear into.”

____________________________________________________________________________________

Not far from Heller, the Main 6 were dealing with their own monstrous beast…

“But Applejack…!”

“No Rarity! Ah ain’t gon carry ya through the forest!”

“But I don’t want to get my hooves dirty on this filthy mud! Your hooves are dirty any way so it shouldn’t even bother you!”

Applejack took a deep breath, counted to ten, and resisted the urge to violently murder the glamorous unicorn trotting next to her.

“Ya knew what you was gittin into when ya agreed to this little trip, so shut up and deal with it!” She said with finality.

Rarity stuck her tongue out at the Earth pony but continued to walk.

Twilight, meanwhile, was dealing with her own problems. Specifically, a pink, hyperactive, cotton candy maned problem.

“So Twilight, what do monsters eat? Do you think they like cupcakes? That’s a silly question, who doesn’t like cupcakes? What else do you think monsters eat? Oh I bet they love hot sauce! I love hot sauce! Hey Twilight do you have any hot sauce right now? Oh, silly Pinkie, you brought your own hot sauce! I put it right here- OHMIGOSH I FORGOT THE HOTSAUCE…!“

Twilight, following Applejacks advice, took a deep breath and counted to ten. Turning towards the pink maelstrom bouncing next to her she spoke in as calm a voice as she could manage “Pinkie, maybe you should keep quiet till we find the creature. If it finds out we’re here, you won’t be able to throw him a surprise party.”

Gasping overdramatically, Pinkie began to nod her head at Twilights words “You’re right Twilight! Ok starting now, no more talking! Oops! I just talked didn’t I? Ok, now no more talking! Shoot! I just talked again! Ok, for really real, no more talking starting right now! Shoot…!”

As she was just about ready to bang her head against the nearest tree, she heard a strange noise in the distance. “Girls, stop talking! “ Immediately, all her friends stopped to look at her.

Of course, Pinkie Pie spoke up first. “What’s wrong Twi-“

“Shhhh! Listen.”

Obeying her, they all strained their ears to try to hear whatever it was Twilight was hearing. After a few seconds of hearing nothing, Rainbow Dash asked “What are we suppose to be list-“

“Quiet!” She whispered angrily. Dash glared at her and was about to yell when she heard it too: a loud high pitched yelp.

A few seconds later, they began to hear several more of them in rapid succession.

“What is that?” Rarity whispered.

“I’m not sure.” Twilight whispered back. “It almost sounds like-“

“Animals in pain.” Fluttershy answered, a worried tone in her voice.

Immediately, she ran past them towards where the pained yelps seemed to be coming from.

“Fluttershy, wait!” Twilight desperately called after her, but she was too far gone to hear.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

The timber wolf slowly circled around its prey, looking for an opening to exploit. It wouldn’t charge in headfirst. The bodies around it were proof of the consequences of such a foolish action.

Where before there were 20 timber wolves only 5 remained, the shredded bodies of its brethren littered the area. And the creature who did it stood right there in the middle of it all.

His claws were gone. He had gotten rid of them a while ago; made things too easy. Right now he was patiently waiting for one of them to attack. He had to hand it to these things, even after he had slaughtered 15 of them, the remaining 5 refused to run, determined to fight till the bitter end.

The one circling him, obviously an elder, was watching him, waiting for him to slip up so it could come in for the kill. The other 4 were watching from the side, waiting for their leader to attack first so they could gang rush him.

He watched each of them closely, trying to pick out the weak link. He spotted one that was much smaller than the rest. Probably a youngling judging from the way it kept impatiently pacing back and forth. He smirked, as his mind already began formulating a plan.

He stared at the smaller one for a few more moments before he turned around facing away from it. The youngling nervously watched him for a few minutes, waiting for him to turn back around. When he continued to look in the opposite direction it bared its teeth, growled, and got into a pouncing stance.

Its prey was distracted. Now was its chance.

With a might howl it leapt at him, fully prepared to rip him to shreds.

It never stood a chance.

With blinding speed, he dodged to the left, causing the timber wolf to miss him completely…and leaving itself vulnerably.

Lifting his elbow, he slammed it onto the neck of the wolf mid-pounce, causing it to slam into the ground with bone shattering force. Lifting his foot, he brought it down on the head of the beast, ending its young life with a resounding crack.

The other three wolves reacted exactly how he expected them to: they leapt at him, determined to avenge their fallen comrade. Grabbing the body of the young wolf by the tail, he swung it in an arc, hitting all three of them in midair, with the force of the blow shattering both them and the body he was holding to pieces.

Dropping what remained of the young timber wolfs body, he turned to face the elder. It had stopped circling him and simply stood there looking at him with eyes of…resignation. It knew it couldn’t win, but it refused to back down due to pride.

As he stared into the eyes of the wolf, he couldn’t help but see himself.

Grinning, he spoke “I guess that’s something you and me have in common: We’re both too stupid to know when to quit.”

The timber wolf said nothing; it simply got into a pouncing stance and waited.

Both predators stared at each other for what seemed like hours.

Then they charged.

Chapter 5

Fluttershy rushed through the forest, her fears of what lied within temporarily forgotten as she tried desperately to find the animals that were in pain. She ran for what felt like hours until she heard it: the sound of rushing water.

Following the sound, she eventually saw a clearing up ahead. As she ran into the clearing she saw what had been making the yelps- and nearly vomited as a result.

Everywhere she looked, she saw the broken bodies of what must have been countless timber wolves.

And right there in the middle was the creature, standing over the body of a dead timber wolf.

Strangely, this body was intact compared to the other ones. And as she looked at the face of the creature, it seemed almost…sad as it looked down at the corpse.

The creature didn’t seem to notice her yet, but before she could try to sneak away, she heard the sound of somepony running coming up from behind her and Twilights voice called out “Fluttershy, why’d you ru-“ Her question was cut short by a sharp gasp and a look of horror was on her face as she surveyed the carnage around her.

The others followed behind her, and they soon held the same look of horror as Twilight when they saw the corpses around them. But that look of horror was soon replaced by fear when they saw that the creature was staring straight at them.

James Heller was not angry when he saw the same purple unicorn and yellow pegasus from the town standing a few feet away from him. He was not annoyed when he saw several more horses run out of the forest and stop right next to the purple unicorn and yellow pegasus. He did not bother questioning why the white unicorn looked like she used 12 different kinds of hair products in her mane, or why the orange horse was wearing a cowboy hat, or why the pink horses hair deflated like a balloon and went from puffy to straight the minute she saw the bodies around him.

He just felt tired. So very tired.

The events of the last few hours had drained him, both mentally and physically. He had hoped that killing the wolves would make him feel a little bit better, but instead, it seemed to drain him even more.

He just didn’t care anymore.

He and the ponies just stood there staring at each other for several moments; them in fear, him in indifference.

After a while even that began to drain him.

Sighing, he turned around and began to walk further into the forest. He didn’t know where he was gonna go. Right now the castle didn’t seem so appealing. ‘I guess I’ll just keep walking until something happens.’ He thought bitterly.

Or at least that would have been the plan had he not suddenly found himself lassoed.

Turning around, he saw the orange horse holding the end of the lasso with her mouth. Although a small part of him wondered how the hell a horse managed to throw a lasso, a much larger part of him wondered how the hell they expected to stop him. ‘I can tear apart tanks with my bare hands, do they really think a piece of rope is going to be able to hold me?’

Before he could break the rope and end this foolishness, he heard the orange one yell “Now Twilight!” The purple one, whose name was Twilight apparently, shot some kind of purple light out of her horn that struck him in the chest.

To his shock, the blast actually caused him to drop to his knees. He felt… tired! ‘What the hell?! What kind of attack was that?!’ He thought as he struggled to stay awake.

This time he heard the blue pegasus speak. “Twilight, I thought that paralysis spell was supposed to knock him out!”

“It was! I don’t know how he’s still standing!” He heard Twilight yell back.

“Well hit him again!” He heard the blue pegasus yell with urgency in her voice.

He looked up just in time to get hit by another purple light. He felt himself nearly black out, but he forced himself to stay awake.

Looking up, he almost laughed at the look on Twilights face. It‘s obvious she wasn’t expecting him to stay standing after two hits. She began charging up another blast, but by that time he had regained his strength.

Breaking the rope, he jumped into the air to avoid the third blast and landed back on the ground…right in front of the frightened unicorn who had just blasted him. Cocking his right fist back, he prepared to send the unicorn flying, but found that he couldn’t move his right arm forward. Looking at it, he saw that his arm was covered in some kind of white glow- the same glow that the white unicorn’s horn was now producing.

‘They have telekinesis now too, the fuck?!’ He thought as he struggled to get his arm free. The unicorn was visibly struggling to hold him back, but was still hanging on. He was just about to change his right arm into the hammerfist, doubting she could hold that much weight back, when he felt something strike him from behind.

Looking behind him, he saw the orange horses back hooves were pressed against his back ”Did you just try to buck me?” He questioned to her shocked face.

Applejack was less shocked by the fact that the creature could talk and was more shocked by the fact that he was still standing. She had kicked him using her full strength. A kick that could topple trees barely made this thing flinch!

Rarity herself was shocked as well and Heller took advantage of that by finally forcing his arm free from her magical grip. Her yelp of surprise as her telekinesis was broken turned into a scream of pain when Heller kicked her. The force of the kick sent her flying and she nearly fell into the river until she was caught by Twilight. Turning around to face Applejack, he grabbed her back hooves just as she prepared to buck him again and lifted her into the air, causing her to uselessly flail around.

She stopped flailing and began to scream in pain when Heller began squeezing her legs, fully intending on breaking them. “Hey! Put her down!” He stopped squeezing as he tried to locate who had just yelled at him, his eyes landing on the cyan pegasus from before trying to put on a brave face.

Dropping Applejack on the ground, he slowly stalked over to her. “You say something to me bitch?” He questioned as he got closer. Rainbow looked him in the eyes and any bravery she felt at that moment promptly vanished when she did. She felt the familiar cold fear wash over her as his glare hit her full force.

‘What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I move?!’ She thought as he slowly got closer. ‘Come on darn it! Move! Move!’ She tried willing herself to move, to fly, to do anything! But nothing was happening. All she could do was shiver in terror as he finally stopped just a few inches away from her.

“What’s wrong? You were talking all that hot shit before, now what?” He looked down at her, his glare piercing her very soul. The only sound she made was a pitiful whimper as he looked at her in disgust.

“Don’t wanna talk huh? Then how about I make you talk.” He threatened darkly as he slowly raised his fist, preparing to finish what he started back in the town, when someone’s screaming voice interrupted him.

“YOU LEAVE HER ALONE YOU BIG BULLY!”

Turning around, he prepared to face whoever challenged him…

… Only to find himself frozen in fear.

Flying in front of him was the same yellow pegasus from before. Only she was looking at him with a glare that made his blood freeze.

'Wh-what’s happening to me?' He thought, as he desperately tried to escape her spell.

Noticing his attempts to escape, she started yelling. “How dare you! I don’t care how scared you are, you do NOT attack my friends DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME! Now you are going to apologize and stop this right now!”

To his shock, he actually started to say an apology. “Sssssoo…” He stopped himself and gripped his head. ‘What the fuck are you doing?! You are not going to apologize to a fucking horse!’ He tried to convince himself and fought harder to break her spell.

Fluttershy did well at hiding her shock at his resistance, and increased the power of “The Stare” “What are you waiting for, I SAID APOLGIZE!”

Heller, still gripping his head, looked her in the eyes and grinned.

“Fuck…you.”

He couldn’t help it. He actually chuckled at the look on her face.

Quickly getting over her shock, Fluttershy flew closer, hoping the closer proximity would increase the effectiveness of “The Stare.”

“HOW DARE-“

She never got to finish.

Doing exactly what Heller wanted by flying in close, he used the last of his remaining free will to launch his fist at her. It was a weak punch, admittedly, but it was still strong enough that it sent her flying back into a tree, the impact knocking her out.

Heller fell to his knees the moment the spell wore off, his body drained from the effort of resisting it. Looking around, he checked to see how his other opponents were faring.

The blue pegasus was cowering in fear a few feet away, his defeat of her friend only increasing that fear of him. The orange one was desperately trying to stand on her sore back legs, but fell back down every time. The white one was unconscious and the pink one had been blankly staring at him during the whole thing.

That left…

He looked directly at his last opponent, the only one whose name he actually knew.

Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight, like Rainbow Dash, tried to put on a brave face, but inside she was terrified. This creature had managed to defeat every single one of her friends. He took a direct buck from Applejack and even resisted “The Stare.” How was she supposed to fight against something like that?!

Her train of thought was interrupted when she noticed that the creature stood up and was slowly walking away. A part of her wanted to let it go, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stop it.

But another part of her wanted to stop it now. Stop it before it hurt anypony else.

In the end, that part won out.

Standing on all four hooves, she poured every drop of magic she had left into her horn and trapped the creature in a magical grip.

Heller thought the fight was over. He could see the fear in her eyes even as she tried to hide it and believed she would have been too frightened to try and stop him. As he slowly got up and made his retreat, a part of him wondered why he didn’t just consume the horses to regain his strength.

‘Because’ He tried to convince himself. ‘I already have monsters, Marines, Blackwatch soldiers, and Gentek scientists floating around in my head. I don’t need to add talking horses to that list as well.’

Heller suddenly found himself paralyzed on the spot, unable to move at all. ‘What the fu-‘ He couldn’t finish that thought as he found himself being pulled back.

‘Is she doing this?’ He wondered, shocked that the little unicorn had this much power. The white unicorns telekinesis and even the yellow pegasus spell wasn’t as powerful as this.

But he wasn’t going to give up.

Gritting his teeth, he used all his power to fight against the force that was pulling him back.

Twilight began to worry as she found it harder and harder to pull him back. This was her maximum power. She had once lifted an Ursa Minor using this power, yet this creature was somehow fighting back.

What was this thing?

It was a battle of wills as both Twilight Sparkle and James Heller struggled against the other; Twilight struggled to hold him back and Heller struggled to escape.

In the end, only the stronger will would win.

He couldn’t keep this up for much longer. His strength was quickly leaving him and he could feel himself being pulled back inch by inch.

As his resolve began to waiver, Heller was sorely tempted to just let her take him so he could take a long deserved rest.

But then he thought about the consequences of what would happen if he did.

If he was captured by these things, they’d either lock him up forever, or put him on a chopping table for dissection. If either happened he’d never get home. And if he never got home… he’d never see Maya again.

‘No.’ He thought, as he felt a familiar rage rising within him. ‘I will not lose her again. I will NEVER lose her again.’

He balled his fist as he thought of all he had been through; all he had suffered. ‘Blackwatch didn’t stop me. Gentek didn’t stop me. Mercer didn’t stop me. SO THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY A BUNCH OF TALKING HORSES ARE GOING TO STOP ME!’

Driven forward by pure rage, Heller fought back against Twilights magic with everything he had.

Twilights eyes widened. While before she was able to slowly pull him back, now she couldn’t pull him back at all. He was actually moving forward!

‘I-I can’t hold him!’ She thought with disbelief.

With a shout of fury, Heller threw himself forward effectively breaking free of Twilights magic.

Her hold on him gone, Twilight collapsed to the ground, her magic completely drained. Heller fell on his knees shortly afterwards, his own body pushed to the limit.

Both of them panting profusely, they couldn’t help but take one last look at one another. Twilight shivered when she looked in his eyes. Now she knew why Rainbow was so terrified: the amount of rage in those eyes would freeze anyone to the spot.

Heller on the other hand, was not surprised to see the fear in her eyes. Everyone was afraid of him, so why should now be any different. When her mouth began to open, he assumed she was going to beg for her life, but was not prepared for what she actually had to say “Pl-please, don’t hurt them” She begged as his eyes widened. “Please don’t hurt my friends.”

Heller just sat there stunned. She wasn’t begging for her life…she was begging for her friends! She cared more about her friend’s well being than her own. As he stared at the weakened unicorn he couldn’t help but feel… respect for her. It took balls to put others well being before your own.

Maybe there was hope for this world.

Eventually, Heller began to move. Standing up, he slowly began to walk out of the clearing leaving his fallen opponents behind. Twilight could already feel herself slowly losing consciousness.

Before blacking out, she heard the mysterious creature say one last thing:

“Don’t follow me.”

Then she saw only darkness.

A/N: Man I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It was an interesting process trying to make the conflict between James Heller and the Main 6 look even. I didn’t want Heller to completely slaughter the ponies and I didn’t want the ponies to easily capture Heller. There’s probably a few mistakes, but I think I did a descent job. Also, for any Rainbow Dash fans out there, don’t worry she won’t be a cowering wreck the entire story. She’ll have her badass moments soon enough.

Chapter 6

“-ilight! Twilight, can you hear me!”

“Ugh, five more minutes.”

“Twilight, wake up!”

Twilight’s eyes shot open at the sound of Pinkies voice and she quickly jumped to her hooves. Looking around, she could see that she was still in the forest. To her right, she saw Rainbow Dash sitting on her haunches staring ahead with an empty look on her face. To her left she saw the rest of her friends: Pinkie Pie, her hair still straight, was looking at her with concern. Applejack was lightly shaking Rarity, who woke up a few seconds later. As Rarity began to come to, Applejack slowly limped over to the unconscious Fluttershy, wincing with each step.

As the memories of the last few minutes began to come back to her, Twilight rubbed her forehead as she asked “Are you girls okay?”

“I’m fine.” Pinkie Pie answered softly, her usual smile replaced with a frown. Twilight worriedly looked at the normally happy party pony. She had never seen her so depressed.

“Mah legs are a lil sore, but I’ll live.” Applejack answered next as she helped the newly awakened Fluttershy to her hooves.

“Aside from a few bruises, I am unharmed.” A disheveled Rarity said.

Fluttershy, rubbing her head, took a bit longer to answer “I-I think I’ll be okay. Ow.” Fluttershy winced as her hooves brushed against a sore spot on her head.

Looking over at Rainbow Dash, she saw that the cyan pegasus still hadn’t moved from her spot. “Is Rainbow Dash okay?”

“I don’t know, she’s been liked that ever since the monster left.” Pinkie answered for her.

“And how long ago was that?” Twilight asked, silently praying that they hadn’t been in the forest for too long. “About five minutes.” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief at hearing that.

Remembering Dash, she cast a worried look at her friend. Although she wanted to question the normally brave pegasus on why she did nothing to help, she knew getting her to safety was the bigger priority. As she began to walk over to her, Rarity’s voice stopped her. “Well, what are we going to do now?”

Applejack looked over at her at her like she was crazy. “What kinda question is that? We’re gonna go after that varmint and-“

“No Applejack.”

Applejack looked over at the purple unicorn in shock. Twilight continued. “We’re going to go back to Ponyville and alert the Princess to what happened. We’ll let the Royal Guards worry about the creature.”

“But Twilight-“

“Look around you Applejack!” Twilight shouted. “We lost! All of us! That creature managed to beat all of us together! Not even Discord managed that! He had to corrupt each of us one at a time. Whatever this creature is, its way more than we can handle. I know you’re mad, but are you really willing to lose your life over your wounded pride?”

As Twilight finished, Applejack looked like she wanted to say more, but instead she sighed and looked down.” Yer right Twilight, I’m sorry. I’m just so darn mad that that varmint made a fool out of us. An’ I don’t feel safe knowing its still out there.”

“Me either Applejack, but like I said, this creature is way too much for us. Maybe if we had the Elements of Harmony we could win, but without them we don’t stand a chance.” Twilight replied. Applejack nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“Cheer up darling. Once the Royal Guard’s find that creature, it will regret ever harming us.” Rarity tried to assure her. “I hope yer right Rarity, I hope yer right.” Applejack responded, not sounding entirely convinced.

“Um, not to interrupt or anything, but maybe we should think about leaving the forest now before something else show up. I-if that’s okay with you guys.” Fluttershy’s nervous voice reminded them.

Nodding her head, Twilight quickly instructed the group. “Pinkie Pie, I want you to help carry Applejack; her legs are bruised and I don’t want her to injure them further by walking. Rarity, I want you to…”

Twilights instructions were lost on Rainbow Dash, who continued to stare blankly ahead. Inside her mind, she replayed the events of the last few minutes again and again, trying to understand what happened. ‘I froze up. That thing was hurting my friends and I froze up like an idiot.' Her mind raced, trying to think of an explanation for her behavior. She could only think of one, and what it was hurt her more than any physical injury ever could.

‘I…I was afraid.’ She thought, wincing as she said those words.’ Me, the great Rainbow Dash, the toughest, fastest flier in Equestria, was actually afraid of something.’ As she tried to comprehend such a fact, she thought back to the look of disgust that the creature had given her.

‘It was disgusted with me. I’m disgusted with me. How can I call myself the toughest, fastest flier in Equestria if simply looking at a monster makes me nearly wet myself? How can I call myself the Element of Loyalty if…if…’ She closed her eyes as she felt hot tears roll down her cheeks ‘…If I can’t even help my friends?! That thing was hurting them and I just stood there and let it happen! Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, even Fluttershy had acted braver than me! I don’t deserve such good friends. I don’t deserve to be called the Element of Loyalty. I…I don’t….’

Her eyes shot open, the sorrowful look on her face replaced with rage. ‘No! I…I won’t let it get away with this. I refuse to let it get away with this. Even if it kills me…even if I get ripped apart…it will pay for what it did.’ Her resolve restored, she called out “Twilight!”

The purple unicorn in question swung her head in Dash’s direction, shocked at actually hearing her speak. “Y-yes Rainbow Dash?”

“Which way did the monster go?” She questioned.

Pointing her hoof in the direction she had seen the creature walking before she blacked out, she replied “Th-that way, but why-“ She stopped when she saw the look Dash had in her eyes, a look she had seen so many times before.

It was a look she had whenever she was about to-

“No” She whispered. “No, Rainbow Dash don’t-“

Too late. Before Twilight could even try to stop her, she zipped into the sky, leaving behind a rainbow-colored trail as she flew in the direction pointed out by Twilight.

Driven forward by rage and regret, she didn’t even hear her friend’s pleas and cries for her to stop.

_______________________________________________________________________________

‘I can slaughter an army of soldiers. I can take down a nest of monsters. I can rip the heads off creatures taller than buildings. Yet it was a bunch of colorful, talking, horses who nearly ended up capturing me.’ It was only when Heller finished that thought did he realize the embarrassment of it all.

He had been walking nonstop since he had left the clearing, wanting to get as much distance between himself and the horses as possible. Not out of fear mind you, but so he could find a new location where he could relax and regain his strength. His battle with the horses had seriously drained him, and he needed to find a new area where he could rest and heal.

And hopefully find some biomass to consume.

He mentally cursed himself for not consuming the timber wolves when he had the chance, but he had been so caught up in the fight, that it had completely slipped his mind. He had seen a few birds and squirrels during his travel, but he decided that chasing after them for what little biomass they had was not worth the effort. Instead he brought his thoughts back to the fight.

‘Of course you can’t really blame me for almost losing to them. Had no idea they could use magic.’ He winced as he said that word. Even in his head it sounded wrong, but what else could he call it? They had even referred them as spells. Besides, they weren’t carrying any weapons with them, and he could think of no other way they could have been able to use telekinesis, paralysis, and…whatever the hell the yellow one had done to him.

‘But still, magic? This place gets more and more insane by the minute. Should’ve just killed them and saved me the headache.’

He stopped walking as he considered that last thought. Why hadn’t he killed them? They had openly attacked him and he still let them live. Had anyone else tried that he would have killed them without mercy, so what made these horses so different?

A memory came to him, a conversation he once had with his daughter. Before he had left to serve in Iraq, Maya had begged him not to go, wondering why they couldn’t just bomb everything in the country and kill everyone including the bad guys. He still remembered the answer he gave as he looked down at her tear stained face:

‘Just because you can kill something doesn’t mean you should.’

The beings on this world were insane, annoying, and downright hostile.

But they were also innocent.

They had nothing to do with his revenge and consuming them would bring him no closer to finding Maya. He didn’t like them, but he wouldn’t kill them unless they gave him a reason to. The ones from before only seemed to be interested in capturing him.

‘Jesus, would you listen to me. I must be getting soft. Next thing you know I’ll be holding hands with them while singing Kumbaya.’ He actually laughed at the thought of something so ridiculous happening.

Feeling a little bit better now, he actually began to look forward to another walk through the forest. The sound of something landing behind him ruined his good mood however.

Turning around, he nearly facepalmed when he saw who it was. “Oh God, not you again.” He groaned as he glared at the cyan Pegasus from before. “Jesus, don’t you ever giv-“ His ranting was interrupted when the pegasus gave a shout of fury and charged at him.

Rainbow Dash was blinded by rage as she charged at the being she had been hunting for. She would end this now! She would finish this thing once and for-

Rainbow felt the familiar sensation of soaring through the air before she impacted harshly against a tree. She landed on her stomach and had to suppress a scream upon doing so. Blinking back tears of pain, she looked up at her attacker, his foot still in the air from the kick he had given her.

Merely shaking his head at her antics, he looked at her with pity before turning around and walking off.

Dash coughed into the ground and her knees wobbled as she struggled to stand. She had not come this far to be beaten so easily.

Upon regaining her bearings, she looked up to see that the monster had put a great deal distance between them. Chasing after him she yelled “Get back here!”

Heller shook his head as he heard her quickly approaching hoofsteps pick up speed. ‘Can’t she take a fucking hint? Even I’m not this stubborn.’ He couldn’t help but feel a bit of déjà vu when he actually began to think about the situation. Here he was, a man with god-like powers, being chased by a mortal with a huge chip on her shoulder, screaming for him to stop and face her.

‘Was this how you felt when we first met Mercer?’ He thought amusingly.

Rainbow Dash’s thoughts on the other hoof were filled with anything but amusement. “I said get back here and fight me!”She repeated, but he once again ignored her and continued walking. It didn’t matter though because she was slowly catching up to him. She was seconds away from pouncing on him when he did something she was not expecting:

He stopped and bent down.

Her look of confusion at such an action turned into one of shock when he suddenly launched himself at least 20ft in the air before slowly descending on the other side of the forest and out of her view. Rainbow just stood there wide eyed at what she had just seen before it suddenly hit her that she had just lost him again.

“Darn it!” She cursed under her breath before flying into the air to see if she could locate where he landed. Despite her brash and seemingly unintelligent behavior, there was one area that many would be surprised to know she excelled at while at flight school: physics and applied aerodynamics. It made sense really. She wouldn’t have been able to perform all of her amazing tricks and maneuvers if she didn’t have at least a little bit of knowledge of those subjects and right now, she was using all of her knowledge to find the creature.

‘Okay, he jumped at least 20ft in the air and from where he was standing that would have landed him right…there!’ Praying that her calculations were correct, she flew down to where she hoped the creature had landed.

She seemed to be right; there was a huge crater on the ground where the creature had obviously landed but as she looked around she couldn’t find a trace of the creature itself.

“Where are you?!” She yelled out, not even remotely concerned that another predator might hear her. “You think you can hurt my friends?! You think you can humiliate me and get away with it?! I won’t let you! Come out and let’s finish this!” Silence was her only answer.

Giving a scream of frustration, Rainbow Dash began stomping her hooves on the ground continually shouting as she did so “Why are you hiding?! Why are you so afraid?! You were acting all brave before, but now you’re acting like a COWARD!” As she said those words, she couldn’t help but feel that she was directing them to herself as well as the creature.

Fighting back angry tears, she looked around the area once more, hoping to see the creature standing there so she could finally have her revenge and heal her wounded pride.

Nothing. Nothing was there. She was still alone. The creature had gotten away. She would never have her revenge now. She would have to live the rest of her life with the knowledge that something had hurt her friends and that she had done nothing to stop it.

She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. Her earlier assessment of herself was right: She didn’t deserve to be called the Element of Loyalty.

“DAMN IT!!!” She rarely cursed, but she felt this situation called for it. Bucking a small rock that was behind her, she began to walk off in shame, unable to stand being in this forest anymore.

The sound of the rock colliding with something stopped her in her tracks though. That sound….It wasn’t the sound of a rock hitting a tree or hitting the grass. It sounded like it had collided with something with a rocky surface. There were no boulders in this area so what did it hit?

Her curiosity piqued, she began walking in the direction that she heard the sound come from. What she found filled her with both hope and dread.

It was a cave. A large cave that had formed on the bottom of a mountain. She could see the rock she had bucked near the entrance. Obviously it had collided with the outer walls of the cave. She squinted her eyes to see inside but it was useless; it was simply too dark.

Already she could hear the warning bells going off in her head. The rational part of her mind was telling her to listen to them. To turn around and go home. That this was not worth losing her life over.

But the more irrational part of her mind was telling her to go in, find that creature, and kick its butt from here to Cloudsdale and back.

As usual the irrational part won.

Taking a deep breath she slowly began to walk towards the cave entrance. The warning bells were getting louder and louder the closer she got but she ignored them, determined to face the creature and regain her lost pride. She stood just outside the entrance when she began to hear it. Breathing. Deep breathing.

All rational thought gone now, Rainbow stomped her hoof on the ground and shouted into the darkness of the cave “I knew it! You are afraid! Get out of that cave and come fight me you c-“

A monstrous roar emanating from the darkness immediately stopped whatever she was about to say and froze her to the spot. She began to see movement inside the darkness as well as two glowing red lights apparently floating above the ground.

It took her only a few seconds to realize she was staring into two glowing red eyes.

“Oh buck me.” She flew upwards into the air… and narrowly avoided the torrent of flames that erupted from the cave.

Rainbow Dash floated in the air, watching below as the flames reduced several of the trees that rested in front of the cave entrance to ashes. A creature soon emerged from the cave soon afterwards…only it wasn’t the creature she was expecting.

‘Oh buck, what have I gotten myself into?’

Below her, the dragon roared in response.

A/N: Can't say I'm happy with the way this chapter turned out. I don't know, it just seems off to me. Tell me what you guys think.

Chapter 7

A/N: I just want to give a big thank to SupremeSoviet for helping me with my little problem. You rock man. Also as you’re about to find out…I’m not so good at writing friendship speeches. Just a bit of fair warning.

Chapter 7

As far as dragons went, this one looked very similar to the one that had been smogging up Ponyville not too long ago. The only noticeable difference being that this dragon lacked wings and that its scale were a much darker shade of red, almost black. Its eyes held much more ferocity than the one from Ponyville and Rainbow Dash doubted that yelling at it and threatening to tell its mother would frighten it away.

She gulped when she saw its eyes held something else as well: hunger. Hunger for a certain rainbow maned pegasus that had just woken it up from its nap.‘Geeze, I’d rather deal with that other monster than this guy. He at least only looked annoyed with me. This thing looks like he wants to-WHOA!’ ’ Zipping to the side, she barely avoided the dragons snapping jaws.

‘That things fast!’ She thought with worry, thanking Celestia that it couldn’t fly. Floating just a little bit higher this time, she looked at the still fuming dragon, and for once actually began to listen to her rational side. ‘This is way too much for me. That other monster was one thing, but taking on a dragon is another thing entirely.’ Deciding that living to fight another day was the best option, she turned and prepared to zip away when a dark chuckling stop her.

Turning back to the dragon, she saw that it was looking at her with a grin on its face. “What’s wrong little pony, afraid?” The dragon taunted in a deep voice. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and tried to ignore him. ‘Don’t listen to him Rainbow, he’s just trying to egg you on. He wants you to lose your cool. Don’t give him the satisfaction.’

What the dragon said next though, made her immediately forget those words. “I guess it’s true what they say about pegasus: they really are all just a bunch of cowards who are all bark no bite.”

Rainbow Dash saw red. Calling her a coward was one thing, but calling ALL pegasus cowards…

She glared down at the still smirking dragon.

He was going down. Hard.

Snarling in anger, she rushed forward at breakneck speed and bashed the dragon hard in the nose with her hooves before leaping off and flying away. Rubbing his nose , the annoyed dragon swung at the pegasus only for her to dodge the attempted blow and bash him on the nose again. And again. And again.

This was the pattern that followed for the next several minutes: Rainbow Dash would whack the dragon in the snout while avoiding every grab, punch, and bite that the he would send her way. It was a close call several times: Her fur was slightly singed from when the dragon had nearly hit her with his flames, but for the most part he hadn’t been able to land a single hit on her yet. And she could tell he was getting pissed off about it.

“What’s wrong little dragon, afraid?” She mocked as she hit him on the nose for what must have been the 27th time. He growled and tried to bite her…only to miss and get hit on the nose for the 28th time.

Flying at a height that the dragon couldn’t reach her, she began holding her stomach and gasping for air as she laughed at the look on his face. “I guess this pegasus wasn’t the coward you were expecting huh?”

He growled but didn’t do anything. He couldn’t reach her at that height and he knew she would dodge his flames, so the only thing he could do was wait. Outside, he looked infuriated but on the inside he was grinning from ear to ear. His plan was working perfectly. You see, there was one more thing he had heard about pegasus: that they were extremely prideful and arrogant of their flying abilities. That usually led to overconfidence and overconfidence usually led to defeat. She would slip up soon enough and when she did…

Licking his lips, he struggled to keep a dark chuckle from escaping his throat.

Rainbow Dash, paying no heed to the sinister look that was on her opponents face, could only think of the huge surge her fanbase was going to experience once word spread that she had taken on a dragon.

Deciding that she had played with the poor sap for long enough, she planned on whacking the dragon on the nose one last time for good measure before going back home.

Charging at him, the same pattern followed: she dodged his attempted hit and bashed him on the nose. But this is where things went differently. The dragon was right: Rainbow Dash had become overconfident. Instead of flying off after immediately hitting him like usual, she decided to be a bit more fancy: hopping off his nose she landed on his head and then jumped, planning on launching off his head and into the sky.

She hadn’t expected to be hit with the dragon’s tail as it swung by overhead.

Yelping in pain as the massive tail struck her, she was sent flying backwards and collided harshly with the mountain that the dragon had made his home in.

Her body bouncing off the solid rock, she plummeted downward before impacting harshly against the ground.

Groaning in pain, she lifted her head and saw that the dragon was slowly stalking towards her, a sadistic grin on his face. Dash flapped her wings and screamed in agony the second she did. Looking at her left wing, she gasped in horror at the irregular angle it was bent. She wasn’t going to be flying anytime soon. She wasn’t going to be running either. Her left leg was bleeding heavily and she fell back down the minute she tried to stand on it.

Looking back towards the dragon she shrunk when she saw it was standing just a few feet away from her, its gargantuan form blocking out the sun creating shadows that washed over her body. She shivered when he opened his mouth; row upon row of deadly fangs became visible, all of them just waiting to rip her to shreds.

She wouldn’t be getting out of this one. This was the end. She felt tears come to her eyes again but she fought them back; she would die with dignity. But that didn’t stop the feelings of regret.

‘This wasn’t how I wanted to go. I always thought I’d die doing something awesome, like saving Ponyville or rescuing the Princess; not being eaten alive by some dragon in the Everfree Forest. There were so many things I wanted to do; I never did join the Wonderbolts.’ She almost let the tears fall when she thought about the dream she would never accomplish.

But the worst thing was…she would never see her friends again. ‘Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy; I’m so sorry you guys. I-I just wanted prove that I was worthy to hold title of the Element of Loyalty. That I was worthy to be your friend. I never… I never wanted this to happen. You girls are the best friends I’ve ever had. And that’s why…that’s why…’ She was sobbing now, the dam having long since broken.

'…And that’s why it hurt so much that I couldn’t do anything to help! I’m sorry girls! I’m so sorry!’ As she begged her friends to forgive her the dragon launched its head forward, mouth open to devour her. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.

And waited.

After a whole minute of waiting, she slowly opened her eyes to see what was happening.

She was not prepared for what she saw.

Separating the dragon from her was a purple dome of magic energy.

And running out of the forest she saw five familiar ponies charging towards the dragon.

“Stay away from our friend you brute!” Rarity’s familiar high class voice yelled out as she blasted the dragon with several magic bolts, the force of which was pushing him back. Next to her Twilight had her eyes closed in concentration as she struggled to hold the shield together. “Fluttershy, I’m going to release the shield. When I do you go in and grab Rainbow Dash. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, work with Rarity to keep the dragon distracted!”

“You got it sugarcube!” Yelled Applejack as she and Pinkie charged the dragon. Both earth ponies stopped in front of the rampaging beast who looked at them curiously. “And just what do you two plan to do?”

Applejack, not taking her eyes off the dragon, spoke up first. “Well Pinkie, how bout we show this varmint what we plan tah do. Did yah bring it?”

Pinkie Pie’s hair was still straight, but that didn’t stop the massive grin from appearing on her face. “Of course I did silly! I never leave home without it.” Reaching behind her back, the dragon finally got a good look at what “it” was: Out of nowhere, the pink pony had managed to pull out a small blue cannon.

The dragon looked down confused, but not because of the weapon itself. “Wait a minute where did that just come from?” He questioned, trying to figure out how she had managed to materialize the weapon apparently out of nowhere. He was always under the impression that only unicorns could perform magic.

Pinkie met the dragon’s confused look with one of her own. “From my house of course, didn’t I just say that?”

The dragon just stared at the pink pony, stammering as he tried to figure out how to respond to that.

“Its Pinkie Pie, we stopped tryin tah explain it a long time ago.” Applejack quickly explained, wanting to save him the headache.

The dragon simply shook his head at that answer before focusing on the task at hand. “Well, it’s not like it matters: dragons are fireproof. That little weapon of yours won’t hurt me anyway.”

The dragon couldn’t help but feel a little worried when Pinkies grin grew wider as a response to that. “The party cannon doesn’t shoot cannonballs you silly dragon, I use it to throw parties! But you’re mean, so no party for you! Instead, I’m going to give you something else. Applejack you ready!” Looking back towards the cannon he saw that the farm pony had managed to climb inside the barrel…the barrel that was now pointed directly at his face.

“Yes ma’am, let’er rip!” she replied.

“TASTE THE AWESOME POWER OF THE APPLEJACK CANNON!” The hyperactive pony screamed as the cannon fired its cargo at the dragons face. Still reeling at the insanity of these ponies, the dragon was slow to react as the hooves of the orange pony soon collided with his nose. The speed at which she was moving, along with the fact that Applejacks legs were far more powerful than Rainbow Dash’s, led to a much more severe injury than what the pegasus was able to produce.

The dragon suppressed a scream as he covered his now broken snout with his hands, trying to stop the blood from flowing out. Applejack meanwhile landed back on the ground, wincing slightly as she landed on her back legs which were still sore.

She looked up to see the dragon had taken his hand off his snout, allowing the blood to gush out all over his face. She would have been disgusted if not for the look of murder he was currently giving her. “You little bitch! I’m going to make you suffer for-“ He stopped when he noticed a certain pink pony was no longer there.

Before he could even try to fathom where she disappeared to a loud booming voice screamed next to his right ear “HEEEELLOOOOOO!!!!” Yelling in pain, he sent a clawed hand to his ear to grab whatever was assaulting it. Grabbing nothing but air, he had barely enough time to rub his ear before that same booming voice assaulted his left ear “HEY APPLEJACK, YOU'VE GOT TO GET UP HERE THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!” Pinkie Pie called out into the microphone she had somehow attained, simultaneously causing pain for the dragon whose ear she was next to.

Applejack chuckled as she watched her friend hop around the dragons hand as it tried to swat her. Despite the severity of the situation, she couldn’t help but smile at seeing the party pony act like her old self again. Her hair was noticeably more poofy and she was grinning from ear to ear.

As Applejack and Pinkie Pie dealt with the dragon, Twilight focused on Fluttershy. “Fluttershy are you ready?” She asked the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy, her fear replaced with determination, answered with a firm “Yes.”

“Okay. Go…NOW!”

The moment the shield disappeared Fluttershy shot off like a rocket and was at Rainbow Dash’s side in an instant. Wincing as she inspected her injuries, she gingerly lifted Dash onto her back and began to fly back. “Y-you guys came looking for me.” A tired Rainbow Dash whispered. Fluttershy, turning her head to look at her, simply smiled and said “Of course we came looking for you. We’re friends; you would have done the same for us.” When the word ‘friends’ escaped from Fluttershy’s lips, she had to suppress another sob.

They were her friends weren’t they? The greatest friends she could ever ask for.

As the two of them flew close, Twilight called out “Applejack, Pinkie Pie! We’ve got Rainbow Dash, get out of there!” Applejack nodded and began to run back, as did Pinkie Pie after hopping off the dragons shoulders. “Rarity, I hope you’re ready with that spell.” She asked the other unicorn as she turned to her. Rarity simply nodded her head as her horn began to glow brightly.

The dragon, realizing that his ears were no longer being attacked, turned his sights towards the escaping ponies. Roaring in fury, he charged at them. “Rarity, the spell?!” Twilight asked again once everypony was together. “Ladies, I’d close my eyes if I were you.” She told them calmly as she released the spell. Obeying her command, the ponies were unharmed by its effects.

The dragon unfortunately was not.

Screaming in pain as he suddenly found himself blinded by a bright light, he began rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the blindness.

“Wow Rarity that was some spell.” Twilight said sounding impressed.

“Oh it’s just something I picked up; you’re not the only one skilled at magic darling.” Rarity answered, soaking up the praise.

“Well that’s mighty fine an all Rarity, but ah think we should RUN!” Applejack reminded them as she and the others began to run, confident that they had escaped.

Unfortunately, they had overlooked one important detail about dragons: their powerful sense of smell.

That fact quickly came back to bite them when they suddenly found themselves trapped by a wall of flames that the still blind dragon managed to breathe in their path.

Their only way of escaped blocked, the ponies had no choice but to turn around and face the no doubt angry dragon as he quickly locked onto them with his sense of smell and began to slowly walk their way.

“Uh, Twilight ah don’t suppose you’ll be able to teleport us outta here.” A nervous Applejack asked. The look in Twilights eyes answered that question. “Sorry Applejack, I don’t even have enough magic left to teleport myself, let alone five other ponies.” Applejack nodded in defeat not even bothering to ask if Fluttershy could fly them out of here. She was barely holding Rainbow Dash up as it was.

Then, if possible, their situation got worse.

The dragon slowly began to open his eyes, rapidly blinking them to clear away the remaining stars. It was obvious that the spell had worn off and now they had a very hungry, very angry dragon that was able to see them.

It didn’t charge them or roar at them. It simply glared at them with burning red eyes before opening its mouth and expelling a huge blast of flame at them. Twilight barely had time to conjure up a dome before the flames came into contact with them.

The shield held up, but she knew it wouldn’t hold for long. Her magic was still drained from the battle with the creature and holding the dome was draining what little she had left. This was especially true after the dragon suddenly charged the dome and began beating on it with his fists, determined to get to the ponies that lied within.

It took only three hits before the shield began to crack and crumble.

‘I can’t hold it!’ She thought before she let out a scream as the shield finally shattered.

______________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere, a certain monster was watching everything.

While James Heller could easily say that this entire day had been insane, the last ten minutes were definitely the most insane- as well as the most interesting.

Immediately after landing from his jump to escape the blue menace, he had done something he hadn’t done since getting his powers: hide.

Taking cover behind a tree, he prayed that his stalker wouldn’t follow him; that she would get tired and just go home. He didn’t want to kill her but if she kept attacking him, he would have no choice. After a few seconds of hiding, he had seen her land near the crater he made and everything after that was a blur.

He remembered feeling pity as he watched her beg and cry for him to come out and fight her. He remembered feeling relief followed by confusion as he watched her walk off, only to stop and walk in the opposite direction towards a cave which she then began yelling into. He remembered feeling shock as he watched a dragon, a fucking dragon, emerge out of the cave and actually began to talk. He remembered feeling impressed as he watched the pegasus expertly run circles around the dragon only to wince when he saw her get smacked against the mountain. He was even more impressed when he saw the other horses charge out of the forest to rescue their friend while also holding back the dragon using strategy and teamwork comparable to a special ops team. He also remembered feeling annoyed when he suddenly found himself blinded by a white light that had emanated from the white unicorn.

And now that he had his vision back and could see the dragon attempting break down the shield that had suddenly appeared around the now helpless horses, he didn’t know what to feel.

On one hand, the horses had definitely gained his respect. The bravery, skill, and teamwork they showed was admirable and he couldn’t help but feel that they would have made excellent soldiers back home.

On the other hand…they had attacked him. Paralyzed him. Used some kind of mind trick on him. Attempted to capture him and do God knows what to him.

Closing his eyes he put his head up against the tree. ‘Why am I even conflicted about this? These horses aren’t my responsibility and they aren’t my problem. And besides…’ He thought back to something he had once said not too long ago.

‘…I’m not a fucking hero.’

That’s when he heard the scream.

____________________________________________________________________________________

He could feel his mouth watering as he stared down at the tasty morsels beneath him. Now that their little shield was gone, he could finally chow down.

Opening his mouth wide, he prepared to devour them in one bite…

…Only to feel something collide with his cheek. Hard.

The force of the blow knocked him off his feet and sent him skidding along the ground on his back. Once he had stopped, he groaned in pain as he lifted his head up, trying to spot what had struck him.

His eyes fell on a tiny, two legged creature who couldn’t have been more than a few feet taller than the ponies.

But what caught his attention was the massive blade that the creature had in place of his right arm.

“Alright you ugly motherfucker.” James Heller snarled at the massive beast, his blade at the ready. “Let’s see you chomp down on this!”

A/N: Next chapter is the one you’ve all been waiting for: The gory violence that makes Prototype such a great game. It’s time for the Main 6 to see the true power of James Heller. Once again I want to apologize for anyone who thought that Rainbow Dash’s speech about her friends was…lacking. Gore and action scenes I can do. Scenes that are supposed to make you cry…not so much. Once again, sorry.

Chapter 9

A/N: For anyone who hasn’t been to my user page, the reason this story hasn’t been updated lately is because I’ve been out of town. But now I’m back and ready to continue this epic story. Hope you like the new chapter

Chapter 9

They thought they were doomed. When the shield broke they had honestly believed that was the end for them. They couldn’t fight a full grown dragon, especially not with an injured Rainbow Dash onboard. They had closed their eyes and prepared to accept their fate.

Then “it” had come.

Out of nowhere, the creature had appeared and actually kicked the dragon in the face, knocking it away from them. That alone made them question if they were seeing things, but what followed afterwards was simply too insane to believe.

They had stood there with jaws dropped and eyes wide as they watched the creature not only fight the dragon, but win. They had seen it shape-shift parts of its body into blades, whips, tentacles, and freaking hammer arms and dish out horrific damage to the beast. Some couldn’t handle the unrelenting violence that took place; Fluttershy (after laying Rainbow Dash on the ground) had fainted after she saw the dragon get its hand sliced off. Rarity followed soon after when its talons had been ripped off. Applejack nearly lost her lunch when she saw the injuries done to the creature’s body after it had been caught in the dragons flame. Pinkie Pie’s hair deflated once again when she saw the tendrils burst out of the dragon’s body. Twilight hadn’t stopped shaking since seeing the dragon’s body get consumed. And Rainbow Dash…

Rainbow Dash’s face was pale. It had started when she saw the creature lift the dragon by the tail and it had only gotten worse with every impossible act she had seen the creature perform afterwards. She wasn’t a mind reader, but she didn’t need to be. After watching the horrific (and somewhat amazing she had to admit) event that just took place in front of them, she already knew what her (conscious) friends were thinking. It was the same thing she was thinking right now:

What is this thing?

There’s no way this thing came from the Everfree. Even the dragon had said he had never seen it before, so where did it come from?

'Is it some kind of demon? Or maybe it’s an alien that’s come to invade Equestria. But if that’s the case then why did it just save us? Why did it keep running away? More importantly, if it was this powerful….why didn’t it kill us?’ Dash began rubbing her head when she realized that she had no answers to those questions. ‘Ugh, my head hurts. Why am I even thinking so hard about this? Isn’t that Twilights job?’

Looking back towards the creature, she saw something she was not expecting.

The creature had grabbed its head and was shaking it back and forth as if it were in pain. Its eyes were clenched shut and its breathing was heavy. The ponies just stood there scared and confused, not knowing what was happening. After a few seconds, whatever was hurting it seemed to stop. Its hands fell away from its head and its eyes opened. It turned its head to look at them and they were surprised to see a look of…realization in its eyes.

Then it started walking towards them.

________________________________________________________________________________

That was the one thing he hated about his consuming abilities. Sure, the ability to gain another persons memories was awesome, but the uncomfortable feeling of the memories suddenly entering his mind he could do without. It wasn’t painful, it was just disorienting and made his head hurt afterwards.

‘Still, for this memory, it was totally worth it.’ He thought cheerfully as he turned his head to look at the horses. ‘Ponies’ He reminded himself. ‘They’re ponies.’

The dragon wasn’t kidding when it said it had lived a long time. Contrary to popular belief, dragons weren’t just mindless beasts who liked to cause destruction for the hell of it. They were as intelligent as any pony and due to their long life span, were an unbelievable fountain of knowledge to any pony willing to listen, a fact James Heller was finding out for himself.

‘The name of this place is Equestria.’ He thought with relief, happy to finally have a name he could call this crazy place. ‘Not the most original of names, but still better than “fucked up ponyland” I guess.’ Going back to the dragons memories, he tried to recall everything he had learned. ‘I’m in the Everfree Forest, which is right next to Ponyville, the town I just came from. Again, not the most original of names but whatever. The town and pretty much the entire country is ruled by three classes of ponies, all of whom can use magic in some kind of way: unicorns who can channel magic through their horns, pegasus who can control the weather, and earth ponies who have some kind of magical connection with nature.’

While he was still skeptical over the whole “magic” thing, he wasn’t going to deny that it possibly existed in this world. Considering their technology was apparently low tech compared to his own world, “magic” was probably how they performed most of the everyday things humans used technology for.

‘When you have things like telekinesis and teleportation, I guess you don’t really need-wait a minute…teleportation!’ Hearing a light bulb go off in his head, he began to analyze everything he knew about the unicorn’s teleportation and how it worked. When he finished, he couldn’t stop a massive grin from appearing on his face. This might work. He could possibly go home! But in order for his plan to succeed, he needed the cooperation of one pony:

Princess Celestia.

And as luck would have it, she lived in the very castle he was headed to anyway: Canterlot.

Already feeling impatient, he prepared to leap into the forest once more, only to be stopped by the sound of whimpering. Turning his gaze to the ponies he had previously ignored, his eyes softened when he took in the pathetic sight before him.

Two of the ponies had fainted and the ones that were awake were shaking uncontrollably, staring at him with terrified eyes. He had to admit, even for a ruthless killing machine such as him, it was pretty sad. He didn’t know why but he actually began to walk towards them, his quest momentarily forgotten.

He had only taken a few steps forward when the orange earth pony suddenly jumped up and blocked his path, glaring at him with a false determination that hid her fear. “Now you stay back, ya hear!” She yelled, trying hard not to stutter. “You take another step, and ah’ll buck yah into next Tuesday!” To her surprise, the creature actually did stop. It simply stood there and stared at her for a bit and she swore that it almost looked…hurt by her threat.

He tried not to let it get to him, he really did, but there was so much of this bullshit he could take before he finally snapped. He wanted to scream. He wanted to yell. He wanted to unleash his rage on the stupid bitch, reminding her that he had saved their ungrateful asses and this was how they thanked him? He took a fireball to the face for them and this was how they showed their appreciation?

But he didn’t do any of that. He simply gave her a look of disgust before walking away. ‘Fuck this world, I can’t leave quick enough.’

“Stop right there!”

‘Oh what the fuck now!’

Looking up, he groaned when he saw where the voice had come from.

Flying towards him at high speed were about twenty white pegasus wearing golden armor. Instead of tackling him like he had thought, they landed right in front of him, their armor gleaming in the sun. Interestingly enough, he also noticed they carried swords at their sides. He didn’t have much time to dwell on that however, because he soon heard the sound of running coming from the forest. Charging out, were about twenty earth ponies, all of them with the same color coat, armor, and swords as the pegasus. Finally, he found himself temporarily blinded by multiple bright flashes that started to appear all around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that twenty unicorns had teleported in to join the earth ponies and pegasus.

When it was all done, he found himself surrounded by at least sixty members of the Royal Guard.

‘The Royal Guard.’ He groaned. ‘Great.’

He knew about Celestia’s Royal Guards. The dragon had encountered them a few times during his life. They were apparently very tasty, but their armor tended to get stuck in his teeth.

While anyone else would have been intimidated by the large force that now surrounded him, James Heller simply yawned in boredom at the surrounding soldiers. He wasn’t afraid of them. They could have sent a thousand Royal Guards after him and it still wouldn’t have made a difference. Aside from magic, Equestria’s military strength was pitiful compared to his world. They mostly fought with spears and swords and their armor was unbelievably weak by his world’s standards even if it was enchanted. He regularly took tank shells to the face and could rip through Kevlar armor with ease. Nothing the Royal Guard had on hand was even going to make him flinch.

One of them, a unicorn, started to approach him. This one wore a much more different armor than the others. Instead of the usual gold, this one was dark purple in color and was much more decorated. ‘Probably a commander.’ He thought. Behind him, one of the ponies gasped when she saw the unicorn walk forward, recognizing him immediately, ‘That’s…That’s….’

“I am Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard. By order of Princess Celestia I am placing you under arrest. Come quietly and no harm will befall you.” He announced calmly. Heller didn’t say anything. He just stood there glaring with his arms crossed.

“Um, can you even talk?” Shining Armor asked after some time had passed.

“What do you think asshole?” Heller shot back, the glare never leaving his face.

“Oh…that’s good. Makes things much easier. So, what do you say, will you come quietly?” Shining Armor asked again, a little put off by the creatures tone.

“I say you, your guards, your princess, and anyone else I missed can kiss my black ass.” Heller responded to his shocked face. In retrospect, insulting the one pony who could get him back home wasn’t one of his brightest ideas, but it just pissed him off when some asshole (that wasn’t his commander) tried to give him orders.

“H-How dare you insult our princess!” Shining Armor yelled back, his face red with anger. The other guards looked just as furious, and all of them looked just about ready to charge him. His horn glowing with power, Shining Armor yelled “We tried to be nice to you creature. We tried to avoid a conflict. But now you’ve forced our hooves. Prepare to feel the full wrath of the-“

Completely ignoring Shining Armors little speech, Heller focused his attention on a trick he had been wanting to try out. Picturing the dragon in his head, he tried to morph his body to fit the image he saw. Looking down, he was disappointed to see hands instead of claws. ‘Had a feeling that wouldn’t work.’ He thought disappointed. ‘Tried the same thing after I consumed that Goliath. Didn’t work then either. Guess I can only transform into other humans.’

“Hey, are you even listening to me?!” An exasperated Shining Armor yelled, finally noticing that Heller wasn’t even looking at him.

“Not really no. Now if you’re done talking about how big your dick is I might just be willing to give half a fuck about what you’re saying-though I wouldn’t hold my breath.” He answered flatly.

“THAT’S IT!” Shining Armor roared. Literally shaking with anger, he launched a powerful paralysis spell towards Heller, who lazily dodged to the side. Even more enraged, he launched another and another. Heller danced in between each one, not even breaking a sweat as he dodged the spells from the now furious captain. Eventually, Shining Armor stopped firing spells and settled for glaring at his opponent. Knowing that getting angry would only make the situation worse, Shining Armor took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Heller just stood back and watched, not even bothering to attack. They weren’t going to win anyway so why bother? Still, he felt the need to get into a defensive stance when he saw that the rage on Shining Armor’s face had been replaced with a calm one. Instead of glaring at Heller, he observed him with a calculating stare.

‘Yep, this kids definitely a commander.’ He thought with some excitement. ‘This might actually be fun.’

Shining Armor acted first. Launching several more paralysis spells at him, he carefully watched Heller’s movements trying to spot some kind of pattern he could exploit. Heller ducked under and jumped over every single spell Shining Armor launched his way but he had to admit, it wasn’t easy. He was actually being forced to use effort to dodge the spells.

After dodging what must have been the 15th spell, Shining Armor stopped and simply observed Heller, going over what he had learned. ‘This thing is fast. Too fast for my spells to ever have a chance of hitting him. I need to slow him down somehow.’ Turning around to face the assembled guards he called out “All unicorns, front and center!” In almost no time at all, all nineteen unicorn had assembled in front of him, while the rest moved back. Turning around to face Heller once again he quickly gave out his orders. “Telekinesis, now!” Immediately, the unicorn’s horns began to glow with magic and Heller felt the familiar paralyzing sensation spread over his whole body.

“Good job men. Now hold him steady.” He ordered as he charged up another paralysis spell. Launching the spell, he felt his body relax, absolutely certain that it would hit. There was no way he was escaping that hold.

Or at least that’s what he was thinking until he saw Heller casually move to the side, completely avoiding the spell.

All at once, sixty jaws nearly hit the floor.

“T-That’s impossible…” Shining Armor stammered out.

“What is?” Heller casually asked as he began to stretch his arms and legs, apparently oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t even supposed to be able to move finger.

“Guards, I told you to hold him!” Shining Armor's accusing voice yelled out.

“We are sir, we don’t know how he’s doing this!” One of the unicorns yelled back.

As the normally experienced Royal Guards began to argue amongst themselves Heller couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for them. Had they tried this same trick 20 minutes ago it might have actually worked on him. But after consuming that dragon, he not only gained its memories, but its strength as well. And considering he was already powerful enough to overpower a dragon…well you get the idea.

Deciding that their bickering had gone on for long enough, he finally spoke up. “Gotta admit boys, when you showed up I was actually excited at the idea of fighting Princess Celestia’s Royal Guards. Now after five minutes of fucking around with you…I can’t say I’m impressed.” Ignoring the angry glares he was getting, he continued “Hell, those six behind me.” He gestured to the six mares that he was sure the guards had totally forgotten were there. Shining Armor's eyes in particular widened when he took note of a particular unicorn among the group “Put up a better fight than all sixty of you. Let me repeat that for the slow motherfuckers: six girls with no military training at all, put up a better fight than sixty military trained soldiers. If your princess is choosing you bitches to defend her, I’m surprised she hasn’t run the entire country into the ground with bad decisions.”

Now he knew they were pissed. All thoughts of capturing him alive were forgotten and replaced with thoughts on how to kill him as slowly as possible. When Shining Armor gave his next orders, his words were filled with cold fury. “Men, Thunder Hoof Formation.”

The guards acted without question. The pegasus flew into the air, while the earth ponies pulled out their swords and charged towards him. The unicorns, realizing that their telekinesis was useless, released their hold on him and made room for the charging earth ponies. Three earth ponies reached him first and raised their blades high into the air before bringing them down on their target.

Instead of hearing the sound of metal slicing flesh like they expected, they heard the sound of metal striking metal.

Looking at his body, they could see why.

He hadn’t pulled out a hidden blade and countered their attack like they had thought. They’re swords had struck him; it’s just that they weren’t able to pierce his new skin.

During the earth ponies charge towards him, Heller had decided to try out what other abilities he had gotten from the dragon. By the time the earth ponies had gotten to him, his new power had already been activated and the results spoke for themselves.

His skin had changed completely; instead of the slightly more durable flesh he had become accustomed to, his skin had separated into small, rigid, steel-like plates that now covered his entire body. Basically, he now had the scales of a dragon.

Heller looked at his new body with interest, completely disregarding the twenty Royal Guards that were now uselessly trying to cut through his armored skin. ‘Nearly indestructible skin? Badass. Wonder if I also got-okay seriously, they’re still going at it?’ Glancing at the guards that were still trying to cut him, he merely shook his head. ‘If they keep this up the only thing that’s going to happen is-‘

Snap!

‘…that.’ He thought dryly as one of the guards gaped at his now broken sword.

Despite being down one sword, the guards continued their attack on him. Soon, another guard found his sword in the same state, followed by another, and another. One had even tried to buck him after losing his sword. Needless to say, the other guards quickly realized that was a bad idea when that same guard had to be magically lifted away due to his now broken legs.

And yet the guards still continued to uselessly attack him, losing even more swords as a result. ‘Okay either these guards are really, really retarded or are stalling. Or both.’ The sound of crashing thunder followed by the guards stopping their assault, looking into the sky, and jumping away from him told him that it was the latter.

It didn’t take long for him to locate what the earth ponies had been looking at. The massive black thundercloud above his head was pretty hard to miss. ‘Clever son of a-‘

That was the last thing James Heller thought before he was suddenly blinded by a bright light.

____________________________________________________________________________

Shining Armor shielded his eyes from the bright light. Right now, he wished he had an extra set of front hooves to cover his ears, the sound of crashing thunder nearly making him go deaf. Fortunately, as quickly as it appeared it ended, allowing him to open his eyes and view the destruction.

The lightning had done its job. Nothing remained except a smoking crater where the creature had once stood. The other guards looked at the crater in stunned silence before somepony in the group yelled out “It’s dead!” Almost immediately they all began whooping in excitement and hoof bumping over their victory. While he normally would have chastised them for breaking character, Shining Armor decided to give them a pass for once. It wasn’t like they didn’t deserve it.

Taking off his helmet to wipe the sweat off his brow, he released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. The Thunder Hoof Formation was a risky move to pull off. It took a long time to actually implement and it required perfect coordination between the guards but its effectiveness was unquestionable. They had once defeated a wild Cerberus using this formation so there was no way the creature had survived.

Which is why he was not looking forward to reporting what had happened back to the princess. Their mission was to capture the creature not incinerate it. He hoped that after explaining the situation to her she would understand why he had resorted to such extreme measures and wouldn’t be too upset. Still, he knew he was going to receive some kind of lecture from the sun goddess.

Deciding to worry about that later he focused his attention back on the still smoking crater. For some reason he couldn’t take his eyes off it, staring at it as if he expected something to jump out of the smoke. Something was very wrong about this whole thing but he just couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

‘It was too easy.’ He realized. ‘With the creatures speed I was expecting it to dodge the initial strike. That was why the thundercloud had been made so huge; that way we could have a larger blast radius and have multiple chances at striking it. But it saw the lightning coming and just stood there. It didn’t even try to dodge. Almost as if it wanted to get hit.’ He mused on that for a few seconds before shaking his head. Now he was just being paranoid. He had simply overestimated the creatures speed. He had been caught off guard by the lightning and couldn’t move fast enough to dodge it, that’s all.

Satisfied with his conclusion, he turned his eyes away from the crater and turned them towards the six shell-shocked mares that were watching nearby. His gaze fell on Twilight and he almost broke character when he saw the look of fear and exhaustion on her face. It took all his will power not to run up to her, envelop her in a hug, and never let go. But he knew he had much more pressing matters to attend to: two of the mares were obviously unconscious and one them looked to be seriously injured if the dried blood on her leg was any indication. Their wellbeing outweighed his over protectiveness of Twilight.

Turning back to the still celebrating guards, a single, loud cough into his hoof halted all their conversations and instantly all eyes were on him. Opening his mouth, he prepared to give them their new orders when he was interrupted by the sound of…clapping?

Normally this wouldn’t have disturbed him. He was used to being applauded by his men for a job well done but this was different. Not only did it completely interrupt him while he was speaking (which the guards knew he hated) but it wasn’t a congratulatory clap. This clapping was slow, steady, almost mocking. It couldn’t have been coming from the guards; he was looking dead at them and they hadn’t lifted their hooves off the ground. It wasn’t coming from Twilight or her friends either; they all looked as confused as he was. So where…

Shining Armor felt his blood run cold. ‘No, there’s no way it’s still alive.’ Slowly, he turned his head to look at the crater, the slow clapping only adding to the rising fear that he felt.

The smoke around the crater had dissipated greatly and he could see into it with greater clarity. But he didn’t need to. It took only one look to confirm what he had dreaded.

The clapping was coming from the crater; more specifically from the creature that stood in the middle of the crater, completely unharmed.

Shining Armor heard several loud gasps from behind him, no doubt coming from his fellow guards. He didn’t have to look at them. He already knew they had the same shocked look as him. He just didn’t know which they were more shocked by: the fact that the creature was still alive or the fact that it wasn’t even hurt. Its scales (where had those even come from?) and clothing didn’t have a single speck of dirt or a scratch on them. It was like he had never gotten hit at all.

The creature clapped for several more seconds before eventually stopping and folding his arms across his chest. All the while he had been looking at them with an expression of boredom mixed with disappointment.

“Well, that was a disappointment.” He spoke calmly. “But I guess I’ll give you an “A” for effort. That actually was a pretty clever strategy. Sending in those earth ponies to distract me while the pegasus ponies created thunderclouds above my head. The earth ponies fucked up though. You guys jumped back way too early and I was able to figure out your strategy the moment I looked at the sky. I could have dodged it but I wanted to see how strong these scales really were.” He held that same bored expression throughout the entire explanation before a grin broke out on his face. “Well that and I really wanted to fuck with you.”

Shining Armor was barely listening. His mind was working overtime, going through every strategy he knew of, trying to select one that could best neutralize the creature.

He couldn’t think of a single one.

This thing had survived the Thunder Hoof Formation. That was one of their best and most damaging formations and the creature had completely brushed it off.

What were they dealing with here?

He along with several other guards jumped back in fright when they heard a popping noise coming from the creature. That fright quickly turned to embarrassment when they saw that the creature was only cracking its neck. ‘What is wrong with me? I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard! I’ve faced down dragons, manticores, and even the queen of the Changelings herself and survived. I wasn’t afraid of them, so there’s no reason I should be afraid of this thing!’ Squashing any fears that he had, he glared at the creature with as much determination as he could muster.

Heller raised an eyebrow when Shining Armor began glaring at him and groaned inwardly when he saw him open his mouth, already knowing what he was going to say. “Stop.” He said quickly and thankfully Shining Armor did stop and looked at him with confusion. “Look, I already know what you’re gonna say: you’re gonna give some gay ass little speech about how you’re the “Captain of the Royal Guard” and how you and your soldiers “won’t ever give up” and how you’ll “stop my evil ways” and some other clichéd bullshit that I don’t give a fuck about.” Shining Armors face turned red, not only with anger but also with embarrassment. That was exactly what he was going to say.

“I can tell by the look on your face that I was spot on, so let me just warn you now: you aren’t going to win. At all. You can scream all you want on how “you refuse to lose”. You’re still going to lose. Hard. Actually you’re going to do more than just lose; you’re going to learn what its like to have another mans foot shoved up your ass. Every single one of you. Call in reinforcements; I’ll shove my foot up their asses too. Send in the entire Equestrian military force if you want to. I’ll line them up in front of the castle and shove my foot up each and every one of their asses while the princess watches. That’s how outmatched you are.”

Shining Armor was stunned into silence. He couldn’t think of anything to say. What could he say to something like that? This thing had not only insulted him, but his men, his country, and the princess herself with his remarks. And the brazen and fearless way he had said it made him wonder if this thing was brave or just plain insane.

“But” He continued “It doesn’t have to be that way. I wanna make a deal.” Shining Armor was taken aback. A deal? “Now this is something I don’t usually do for people, so think long and hard before you answer cause I don’t give second chances.” Seeing that he had Shining Armors attention, he continued “Here’s the deal: Take me to meet your princess and your ass will avoid the unfortunate fate of meeting my foot. So, what do you say?”

Shining Armor was silent once again, but not out of shock. He was angry. Very angry. So angry that he couldn’t make a coherent sentence until he calmed down. It took several deep breaths for him to achieve that effect and when he did his answer came out in a low whisper.

“Are you kidding me?” The creature raised an eyebrow in response. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” He roared. “You think we’re going to make any kind of deal with you?! After you insulted not only us, but our princess as well! Buck you! I’ll die before I let you anywhere near the princess! So will my men!” The guards behind him nodded their heads in agreement, all of them willing to die to protect Celestia. “There’s our answer! I believe I speak for all my men when I say you can take that deal of yours and shove it! Give me one good reason why I should even consider what you have to say!”

Heller didn’t answer immediately. He just stared intensely at Shining Armor and his guards for several moments. He was analyzing them, taking note of everything he could: their stance, their behavioral pattern, their physical traits. It took only a few seconds for him to reach a conclusion: They were terrified of him.

He could tell by the way they nervously looked away whenever his gaze fell on them. The way they would twitch and jump at his slightest movements. They may have tried to act like emotionless soldiers but he could see the fear in their eyes; a fear he had seen on the faces of countless Blackwatch soldiers who were unfortunate enough to face him. They were all afraid. All of them except one.

Shining Armors eyes held many things: anger, determination, hope, but not fear. He knew what he was fighting against. He knew and he was still willing to fight him. This guy was the real deal; a true soldier.

Once again, James Heller couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect for his new opponent.

He still had the advantage though. Shining Armor might have been brave, but his soldiers sure weren’t. All he needed to do was break them. Once they were scared into submission, Shining Armor would have no choice but to agree to his proposal. And he already had a perfect way to do it.

Unfolding his arms, he put on a serious look to hide the amusement he was feeling. This was gonna be fun. “You want a reason?” He asked Shining Armor. “How’s this for a reason.” Opening his mouth, he inhaled a large amount of air.

And out of his mouth came a massive stream of flames.

Shining Armors reaction was immediate. He ducked low to the ground and his guards followed afterwards, the enormous flames passing over their heads. Sweat began to pour down their faces, the sweltering heat affecting them even from their position on the ground.

Heller continued to expel the massive stream from his mouth for a few more seconds before stopping, believing the poor guards had had enough. When the flames stopped the guards didn’t get up immediately. They laid there gawking at him, as if expecting him to unleash another wave of flames the minute they tried to stand. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to attack them they slowly began to stand never once taking their eyes off him.

If they were nervous before they were straight up scared shitless now. Several of them were trembling and the ones that weren’t were slowly backing away, fully intending to abandon their duties and run if the situation called for it. Even Shining Armor was looking at him warily though his reaction wasn’t nearly as bad as the others.

The reactions became even worse when some of the guards looked behind them to see the damage that had been done. Where before there was a forest now laid nothing but devastation. Whatever trees hadn’t been incinerated immediately were now burning slowly due to the quickly spreading flames.

‘Aw hell yeah, I’m gonna do some damage with this.’ He thought as he observed the scorched earth. He knew the dragon’s flames were powerful but damn. And all that power was under his control.

He would have given himself a high five were he not so focused on the situation at hand.

Deciding to test out just how effective his scare tactic had been, he took a single step towards the guards. They reacted even better than he had predicted; all of them jumped back in fear and began to clumsily reach for their weapons. The ones who still had swords wielded them in their trembling hooves while other fumbled with their swords before dropping them to the ground. The only one who hadn’t jumped back was Shining Armor who continued to stare at him with a blank look on his face.

His plan had worked. He had reduced the Royal Guard to a bunch of trembling wrecks who were too frightened to even look at him let alone fight him. Shining Armor would have to take him to Princess Celestia now unless he wanted to see his fellow guards slaughtered before his eyes. Folding his arms confidently across his chest he spoke. “Well, is that reason enough for you?” He mockingly asked to Shining Armors still unreadable face. “So I’ll ask you again: take me to Princess Celestia and we can stop this before it gets ugly. What do you say?” He asked once more, seriously hoping Shining Armor would swallow his pride and just accept the deal.

Shining Armor said nothing. He just continued to look at him with the same blank expression as before. Heller tried hard to figure out what the young commander was thinking but he couldn’t come up with anything. He was completely stone-faced. He didn’t move, he didn’t blink, hell he couldn’t even tell if he was even breathing. Just as Heller was about to approach him, Shining Armor did move though it was a move that made Heller’s heart sink.

He reached for his blade and slowly began to unsheathe it.

“Man trust me, you do not want to do that.”

Shining Armor said nothing as he pointed the now unsheathed blade at his opponent.

“Seriously man, I do not want to fight you. Just take me to your princess and we can avoid all this.”

Silence was his only answer.

Sighing in annoyance, he asked “Nothin I can say is gonna change your mind huh?”

Shining Armor got into a fighting stance.

Sighing again, this time in resignation, he spoke with a hint of anger in his voice “Fine. You wanna do this the hard way, your fucking funeral. You know, I really wanted to avoid killing anybody while I was here, but because you had to be such a stubborn jackass, I’m not only gonna have to kill you but anyone else who gets in my way when I go for the princess. So thanks pal, because of you a whole lot more ponies are gonna die. Hope you’re fucking happy.” With that said, he shifted his right arm into the blade ignoring the multiple gasps that came from the guards. He also made sure to turn his scales back to normal skin. Wanted to give him a fighting chance at least.

Shining Armors expression hadn’t changed, even when his arm had turned into the blade. He just gripped his sword even tighter and narrowed his eyes.

Narrowing his eyes as well, Heller got into his own fighting stance. He wasn’t worried about the other guards jumping in. Not only were they too scared to even think about facing him, but their interference would only hinder Shining Armor and they knew it. Wasn’t like he was gonna win either way but still…

Looking into Shining Armors eyes he felt a sense of déjà vu. It was just like his battle with the elder timber wolf: Those eyes held a stubbornness that James Heller knew all too well.

The forest was silent as both soldiers stared each other down. Heller had to admit, even though he knew he was gonna win this…something was telling him it wasn’t going to be easy. Not by a long shot

The two soldiers looked at each other one last time.

Then they charged.

“Stop!”

Only to pause when a small figure suddenly jumped in the middle of them. Both of them looked down wide-eyed at the familiar purple unicorn that now blocked their path. “Twilight?” Shining Armor gasped.

Twilight was panting heavily. She still hadn’t recovered from her battle with the dragon and running all the way over here from where her friends were hadn’t helped any. But right now, her own health was the last thing on her mind.

She had watched everything. The moment the Royal Guard had showed up, she remembered feeling a small bit of hope. With the Royal Guard here, maybe they would make it out alive.

Any hope she felt quickly began to diminish the moment the creature and the guards began to “fight.”

From the moment the creature inexplicably managed to grow dragon scales to when it managed to survive a lightning bolt, she felt her hope continue to grow smaller and smaller. It completely died out when she saw the creature breathe fire and incinerate the forest behind the guards. All the guards were obviously terrified after such an amazing display of power from the creature. All of them except one.

Twilight knew her brother. She knew how stubborn he was and how he would never run from a fight, no matter how terrifying the opponent was. In her youth that was something she admired about her brother. But when she saw him unsheathe his sword, she knew that same trait was going to end up getting him killed.

That’s how she found herself here, trying to stop a battle between her brother and a monster that could shape shift, lift dragons as if they were toys, and incinerate forests with its breath. ‘How do I get myself into these messes?’ She groaned inwardly.

“Twilight what are you doing?” She heard her brother’s voice question her.

Twilight looked into her brothers concerned eyes and answered back fiercely “I’m stopping you from throwing your life away that’s what.”

Shining Armor looked momentarily shocked at her answer before he narrowed his eyes “Twilight, get out of the way.”

“No, I’m not going to let you kill yourself.” She replied stubbornly.

“Twilight move.”

“No!”

The two siblings glared at each other, both of them too stubborn to let the other win. James Heller and the other guards looked on confused, neither of them knowing what to do.

Shining Armor took a deep breath and spoke to his sister in a low voice “Twilight, this is my job. I was hoofpicked by Princess Celestia herself to protect not only her but all of Equestria. If I have to die to do that, then so be it. I will gladly sacrifice myself if it means my loved ones continue to live.”

“Even if that sacrifice is completely pointless?!” Twilight angrily shot back. “You know you can’t win Shining Armor. You’ll end up dying for nothing! You say you’re doing this to protect your loved ones but you haven’t even taken into account how we’ll feel about this! How do you think mom and dad are going to react when they find out you died fighting against a creature you knew you couldn’t win against?! How do you think Cadance is going to react when she finds out you cared more about protecting your honor than her?!”

“I’m doing this for Cadance!” He angrily shouted.

“No, you’re doing this for yourself! You’re doing this because you don’t want report back to Princess Celestia that you failed! That the creature was too much for you!” Twilight yelled back with just as much anger.

“It isn’t too much for me. I’ve faced creatures far worse than this.” He stated sharply.

“No you haven’t Shining Armor and you know it!” Twilight shot back, frustrated with his stubbornness. This wasn’t working. He was simply too stubborn to listen to reason. She needed something, something that would convince Shining Armor that he was simply too outmatched. But what? Dragon scales didn’t work, a massive blade didn’t work, and nearly being incinerated didn’t work so what would?

She thought back to the dragon and mentally cursed when she remembered that it had been...absorbed she wanted to say. Whatever had happened to it, it was gone, robbing her of the evidence she needed to convince Shining Armor. And with no evidence she doubted she could-

Her eyes widened as she remembered something. The dragons body…it may have been gone but from what she remembered…

She turned her head and began to look for something. When she found it she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was still there. If this couldn’t convince Shining Armor then nothing would.

Turning back to her still fuming brother she smirked confidently before speaking “Alright Shining Armor, still think you can take this creature on? Then do me a favor and look at that mountain over there and tell me what you see. Then tell me you can take it on.” She pointed her hoof at said mountain as she spoke.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at such a strange request before complying. He looked at the mountain in question and squinted his eyes trying to see what Twilight was talking about.

He couldn’t see anything that was particularly unique. Just a bunch of smashed rocks and-

‘Wait.’ He thought as he narrowed his eyes at something. ‘What is that?’

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head and he took several steps back when he identified what it was. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it but there it was staring him in the face.

The other guards, noticing the distressed look on their captain’s face, turned their heads towards the mountain, trying to spot what had spooked him so badly. At first they couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary either. Then they saw it and soon they all held the exact same expression as Shining Armor.

It couldn’t be real. There was no way it was real.

But as they stared at the scaled skin, the sharp talons, and the blood dripping out of the end, they knew they were only lying to themselves.

What they were looking at was the actual severed hand of a dragon.

It was still pinned to the mountain side, the black and red tentacles still as strong as ever. Twilight thanked Celestia that the creature hadn’t decided to absorb that too otherwise she never would have gotten through to Shining Armor.

Speaking of Shining Armor, she saw that her brother still hadn’t take his eyes off the severed hand, most likely trying to confirm that what he was seeing was real.

After nearly a minute of silence, Shining Armor finally spoke, disbelief in his voice “I-is that…”

“A dragons hand, yes.” Twilight finished for him.

“B-but how?” He questioned further.

“We were attacked. We tried to fight it but it was too strong. I put up a shield to defend us but it broke through and nearly devoured us. Then it saved us.” She answered, pointing towards the creature.

Shining Armor swerved his head to look at his sister, a look of doubt on his face “It saved you.”

Twilight nodded her head “I couldn’t believe it either but its true. The creature not only saved us but it killed the dragon. The proofs right there if you don’t believe me.”

Shining Armor didn’t doubt Twilights story, especially after seeing the hand, but he still wanted to hear the truth from the creature itself. Turning his head to look at it, he saw that the creature hadn’t moved from his spot and was simply watching their conversation.

“Is it true?” He asked.

While a part of him wanted to say that he had only saved the ponies for the dragon’s biomass, the more intelligent part of James Heller knew it was better to just lie. Hell, this actually worked out better for him. Shining Armor was apparently well favored by the princess and if he could get him to vouch for him when they met her…he might actually get to go home a lot quicker than expected. He might not even have to kill anyone.

“Yeah, I guess.” He mumbled.

This seemed to be good enough for Shining Armor who simply nodded his head before asking another question “And what did you do with the dragon’s body?”

“I ate it.” He answered simply.

“You what?!” Shining Armor asked in disbelief.

“I. Ate. It.” He repeated much more slowly.

Shining Armor looked at Twilight who merely shrugged in response. "He did something to it. I don't know what it was though." Shining Armor was silent, trying to process everything he had just learned. Nothing was adding up. This ferocious, fire breathing monster had apparently saved his sister and her friends, killed a dragon, and ate it according to him. But it didn’t make any sense! Why would this creature save his sister and then violently attack him and his men?

‘That’s because it didn’t attack us.’ A voice reminded him. Shining Armor tried to ignore it, but it was true. They had attacked it. They were the ones who tried to hit it with paralysis spells. They were the ones who tried to stab it repeatedly with swords. They were the ones who dropped a lightning bolt on it. Aside from a few insults, the creature had been completely non-violent. Even the flames from earlier were obviously meant to scare them and not harm them. It had only begun to act violent when he had refused to listen to its pleas to stop. Everything that happened here was his fault.

It was just like on his wedding day. He ignored Twilights pleas to listen then and he had ignored the creature’s pleas to listen now. The guilt he was feeling right now was the same as back then too.

Heller did well at hiding his shock when Shining Armor looked at him with regret on his face. He had seen soldiers look at him with all kinds of emotions: anger, nervousness, fear, but never regret. He honestly didn’t know how to respond.

Thankfully he didn’t need to. Turning back to the guards that were still gawking at the severed hand, Shining Armor coughed loudly into his hoof. As always, the guards brought their attention away from what they were looking at and focused it all on their commander. Some of them trembled when they saw who was standing just few feet away from him, but he managed to calm them down with his next words “Don’t worry men, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. I’ve talked with the creature and discovered that it is not violent. It was simply defending itself from us. The creature, in fact, saved the Elements of Harmony from a ferocious dragon. The proof is right there on that mountain, but if you still don’t believe me, Twilight here can vouch for me.” He gestured to Twilight, who nodded her head in confirmation. “As of now nopony is to attack the creature. Anyone who does so will have to deal with me. Understand!” The guards nodded their heads in confirmation. They were still wary of the creature, but if their captain and the Element of Magic herself said it was okay, who were they to argue.

“Good, now listen up for your new orders: We have five mares behind us, one of whom is injured. I want all unicorns to supply healing magic to her and anypony else who needs it. Earth ponies, I want you to set up a perimeter around the area and keep guard. I don’t need anymore surprises sneaking up on us. I want eighteen pegasus to put up rain clouds in the sky to get rid of that fire before it spreads. I need two pegasus to head back to Canterlot and send for a carriage transport. A big one. We’re going to see the princess.” The guards saluted, before rushing off to complete their given tasks.

Heller felt relief as he watched two pegasus break off from the group and head towards Canterlot. Any anger he felt at the guards for attacking him earlier was instantly forgotten and was replaced by gratitude. He was finally going home.

Shining Armor trotted over to him and coughed into his hoof to get his attention. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked down nervously before speaking “Listen, I uh, I wanna apologize for attacking you earlier. I was way out of line and as Captain of the Royal Guard I should have known better.” When Heller didn’t say anything he continued “And I also want to…thank you for saving my sister and her friends. I owe you one.”

Heller’s face remained blank throughout Shining Armors whole apology. But when he was done, he smirked at the young captain “Don’t mention it. As for you attacking me, well that was my fault too. I did insult your princess after all and I guess anyone would be angry after that. Hell, I’m surprised your entire squad didn’t gang rush me after I said the thing about your dick.”

Shining Armor chuckled at that last part and grinned at the taller soldier “Yeah, but it was still a stupid thing to do on my part. So what do you say, can we start over?” He stuck his hoof out in friendship.

Heller looked at the extended hoof for a few seconds before gripping it in his hands and shaking it.

“Yeah, let’s start over. The names James Heller by the way.”

“Shining Armor, nice to meet you. So what you said earlier, about eating the dragon…

A/N: Man, my fingers hurt. Over 8,000 words. Longest. Chapter. Ever. Still, I’m happy with how it turned out. I should probably point out something though. Yes, I know a lot of you were hoping Heller would gain the ability to change into a dragon, but seriously if I did that then he would be way OP (well, more OP than he already is). The fights in this story would get pretty boring pretty quickly if every one of them ended with Heller turning into a dragon and just stomping on his opponent. Besides, I think one of my reviewers said it best: “As far as I can tell Heller can only become something that is human in shape and size. He is never seen disguised as any of the infected monsters.” That’s the explanation that makes the most sense and that’s the one I’m sticking with. Besides, I think armored skin and firebreathing are a good enough trade off.

Chapter 10

A/N: Sooooooo sorry this chapter is so late. It took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. But it’s here now and that’s all that matters. Don’t lynch me!

Chapter 10

The group was silent as they walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle, the only sound being the occasional gasp that came from any servant that happened to spot them. Said servants immediately gave them a wide girth and stared at the strange group in awe as they walked by. After all, it wasn’t everyday that you saw the Elements of Harmony, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and…whatever that thing was that was walking with them.

The group noticed the looks they were receiving but weren’t too bothered by them; their minds were preoccupied with more important matters. They were going to meet the Princess after all and they knew she was expecting a detailed report of everything that had happened in the forest. Shining Armor in particular was the most nervous of them all; his mission had been to capture and subdue the creature before it hurt anypony and now he was going to have to explain why he was instead escorting it through her castle without even bothering to chain it up. He had politely asked Heller if he could at least handcuff him to create the illusion that he had been captured. Heller responded with a not so polite “Fuck you.” Which is why he was now going over in his head what he was going to say when they finally met the Princess.

Speaking of Heller, he was the only one out of the entire group that didn’t look worried or afraid. In fact he had a calm, almost bored look on his face. Considering the circumstances, he knew he should have been the most nervous out of all of them but he just couldn’t conjure up the effort to feel even remotely excited right now. Considering how uneventful the last 20 minutes had been, this was understandable.

After the two Pegasus had left towards Canterlot to deliver Shining Armor’s message, the other Royal Guards proceeded to accomplish their task’s in record time. The Earth ponies had managed to set up a small perimeter around the area while the Pegasus were able to extinguish the forest fire before it was able to spread too far. All of this was accomplished in less than two minutes and even Heller had to admit he was impressed with the speed at which they worked.

Still, none of that had managed to stem the boredom he was feeling at that moment. He had been leaning against a tree, impatiently waiting for the Pegasus to return with the promised carriage, with the most exciting thing being when the Unicorn’s woke up Fluttershy and Rarity. Fluttershy, as expected, screamed and fainted yet again the moment she saw him, with Rarity nearly joining her had she not been caught by a nearby guard.

After waking up Fluttershy again, Twilight quickly grabbed her before she fainted and began to rub her back slowly while whispering calming words into her ear. Whatever Twilight was saying seemed to be working as Fluttershy slowly stopped trembling and she was released when it appeared she wasn’t going to faint again. Instead, she settled for looking at him nervously out of the corner of her eye while getting as much distance between them as possible. Of course, this was the reaction of all the ponies after they had been properly healed.

Even Rainbow Dash kept her distance, instead choosing to scowl at him angrily while she sat with her friends. This was due more to the fact that she didn’t want to upset her wing than her actual fear of him; the guards had informed her that they weren’t able to completely heal her wing and that she would have to get it set in a cast when she got to Canterlot. Even with her injured wing Heller suspected that she still would have tried to fight him if the situation called for it.

Thankfully, Twilight was there to make sure nobody did anything foolish. Once everybody had been healed she quickly recounted the events of the last few minutes to them, specifically to Fluttershy and Rarity. Their shock at hearing that even 60 members of the Royal Guard were unable to capture him was apparent on their faces and that shock only increased when she informed them that they were taking him back to Canterlot to meet the Princess.

All at once, five voices yelled out in anger at such a plan with Rainbow Dash even asking her if she had finally lost it. Twilight calmly informed them that if they had any issues with the decision they should take it up with Shining Armor since it was his call. They immediately began to search for the captain, intending to do just that. They eventually spotted him and whatever words they were going to yell at him died in their throats when they saw where he was.

He was standing next to a tree, one of the few trees that hadn’t been caught on fire…the very same tree that Heller was leaning against.

He was standing there calmly, almost as if he was oblivious to the fact that the creature he and his men had just been fighting was standing right next to him. The five mares stared at the strange sight for just a few more seconds before looking away and nervously informing Twilight that they trusted Shining Armor’s decision and wouldn’t argue.

Everything after that was nothing but pure hell for James Heller. The guards were avoiding him like the plague and the six mares were doing whatever they could to pass the time. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were talking amongst themselves, occasionally giving him nervous glances out of the corner of their eyes when they thought he wasn’t looking. Rainbow Dash was lying down, glaring at him while rubbing her still injured wing. The only ones who weren’t paying him any attention were Rarity and Twilight; Rarity was desperately trying to brush off the dirt that had gotten in her coat and mane when she fainted and Twilight was too engaged in a conversation with her brother to pay any attention to him.

After almost ten minutes of this he swore he was going to snap. He turned towards Shining Armor and was about to angrily demand where the hell their transport was when Pinkie Pie’s voice yelled out “There they are!” Looking up, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw two carriages flying towards them, both of them being pulled by two pair of Pegasus. He knew one of those carriages was meant for him; even though the carriages were big enough that they could fit both him and the ponies in one, he knew no one was going to want to ride with him. That was fine with him; he needed some peace and quiet for once.

As soon as the carriages landed he was the first one there, completely ignoring the nervous looks the Pegasus were giving him as he walked towards them. Swinging the door open, he stepped inside the decorated carriage and sat down, impatiently waiting for the others to do the same. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the other ponies finally entered their carriage and sat down - all of them except two.

Now he wasn’t surprised when Shining Armor entered his carriage. Out of all the ponies there he was the only one he felt comfortable around. Despite the obvious differences between them, the two were somehow able to connect with each other. The fact that they were both soldiers probably attributed to that.

Of course, none of that explained why Twilight of all ponies hopped in the carriage with them, much to the confusion of her friends. They immediately questioned her over this, asking why she was riding with that “thing” instead of with them. She calmly reminded them that she hadn’t seen her brother since his wedding, and that maybe she was choosing to ride with him and catch up. Closing the door on their embarrassed faces, she said something that shocked not only them, but him as well.

“By the way, he isn’t a “thing.” He has a name and it’s James Heller.”

With that said she slammed the door shut and sat down across from him, a satisfied smirk on her face.

It was at that moment that James Heller knew Twilight Sparkle was fucking awesome.

Unfortunately, not even Twilight’s awesomeness could stop the 10 minutes of unmerciful boredom that followed.

Fun fact: Riding in a flying chariot pulled by Pegasus isn’t as “majestic” or “amazing” as you’d like to believe. It’s slow; very slow. Old lady in a wheelchair slow. Hell, he could run faster than these things were flying which is why the whole experience was pretty underwhelming to him.

He spent the entire ride staring blankly out the window, wishing that the damn Pegasus could somehow grow rockets out of their asses and speed the trip up. Shining Armor had tried to start a conversation, mostly by asking questions about how his powers worked, but his prolonged silence told him that he wasn’t in the mood to talk. Twilight Sparkle on the other hand (hoof?) was not so quick to surrender.

She talked nonstop throughout the entire ride, asking him all kinds of questions: What was he, where did he come from, were there others like him, what was the exact nature of his abilities, and so on. The more she talked the more his belief that “Twilight Sparkle was fucking awesome” changed to “Twilight Sparkle was fucking annoying as all hell and was soon going to find herself without a head.”

Thankfully she stopped with the questions when she realized that he wasn’t going to start talking about himself… so she started talking about her life instead. Fortunately, he had learned how to drown out her voice by this point, which was good because he was five seconds away from playing a game of ‘See How Far You Can Throw the Living Object Before it Goes Splat.’

The only part he paid any attention too was when she revealed the names of her friends: The annoying blue one was called Rainbow Dash, the orange one who tried to buck him was Applejack, the prissy white one was Rarity, the weird pink one was Pinkie Pie, and the yellow one who tried to mindrape him was named Fluttershy.

“What the fuck” didn’t even begin to describe how he felt about those names.

While Twilight continued to ramble on about her life, he focused his mind on more important things, one of them being why any parent would ever name their child after a book about gay vampires. Hell, did Equestria even have a gay community. If not, then how the hell do you explain Rainbow Dash?

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that Shining Armor had to shake him back to reality and inform him that they had arrived at the castle. Stepping out of the carriage, he saw several castle guards had come out to greet them and wasn’t surprised when they all gasped in shock upon seeing him. He was so accustomed to that reaction that he completely ignored them and focused his attention on the massive structure before him.

The castle was tall, its size easily rivaling the tallest skyscrapers in New York. It was composed of beautiful ivory stone with solid gold spires that gleamed in the sunlight. This place was definitely built to house royalty that much he could tell.

But to tell the truth, despite how amazing the place looked he still found the whole thing to be…underwhelming to say the least.

Yeah it was nice and all and he was more than a little impressed that a race without opposable thumbs had been able to build something so magnificent, but compared to what humans had been able to build, it was nothing special. The Louvre, the Vatican, the Empire State Building, Buckingham Palace - all of them represented the pinnacle of human achievement and all of them easily matched Canterlot Castle in terms of beauty and splendor. He and his family had visited all those places and seen their beauty for themselves, which is probably why the castle wasn’t doing anything for him.

That or his impatience to get home was preventing him from seeing the true beauty of the castle. Either way, he wasn’t impressed.

Even as he stepped into the castle and saw that it was just as beautifully decorated on the inside as it was on the outside, he still didn't feel impressed. After a while he stopped with his examination of the castle and focused his attention on looking ahead, ignoring everything around him.

That was how he found himself here, silently walking down the castle halls and completely oblivious to the nervousness of the ponies walking with him. He was more preoccupied with his own thoughts, all of them about Celestia.

What did she look like? How powerful was she? Was she even real? These questions and more plagued his mind and to his annoyance, he had answers to none of them. Even the dragon didn’t have any useful information on her. He had only heard of Celestia through tall tales that were passed from dragon clan to dragon clan. The stories differed from clan to clan, with some believing that Celestia wasn’t a single pony, but was actually a name given to a group of Unicorn mages who dictated all life in Equestria. Others thought that Celestia was actually just a normal Unicorn that had tricked the Equestrians into worshipping her as a god, and many believed that Celestia wasn’t real in the physical sense and was actually an omnipotent force that controlled the land.

However much they differed, one thing remained constant through each story: That she held immense magical power, power that allowed her to control the sun as if it were a toy.

While he scoffed at the whole controlling the sun thing, the immense magical power part caught his attention. If that part of the story was true, then he might have found a way to get home. That’s assuming she was even real of course.

‘Guess I’m about to find out.’ He thought, noticing that they were getting closer and closer to the end of the hall. Just ahead of them was a large set of double re-enforced doors, both of them furnished with solid gold. If that didn’t tip him off that this was Celestia’s throne room, the two Unicorn guards standing on either side of the doors wielding spears certainly did. Unlike the others, these guards didn’t gasp in shock when they saw him approaching. Instead, they pointed both spears directly at him and glared, daring him to step closer.

“Stand down men, this one’s with me.” Shining Armor ordered as he stepped forward. The guards looked at each other unsure for a moment, before reluctantly lowering their spears and backing away. Walking past the guards, Shining Armor approached the large door before stopping and turning to face Heller.

Looking him directly in the eyes, he spoke “Look Heller, I may have only know you for half an hour, but I think I have a pretty good idea about what kind of guy you are. You’re the type of guy who doesn’t show respect to anypony. The type of guy who thinks he’s too cool to listen to anypony’s orders but your own. But I’m begging you; when you meet the Princess please show her the respect she deserves. Trust me, it’ll save you a lot of trouble.”

“Let’s see what this princess of yours is made of first. Then we’ll see if she even deserves my respect.” He fired back, narrowing his eyes at the captain.

Sighing, Shining Armor shook his head at his stubbornness before turning around to face the door. His horn glowing, he used magic to slowly push the doors open. Heller just watched him with his arms folded, preparing himself for whatever was on the other side.

He didn’t know what to expect.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Celestia didn’t know what to expect.

Currently she was sitting on her throne, her usual pair of Unicorn guards standing diligently to her side. At first glance she seemed as calm and as regal as ever, her face betraying no emotions. But anyone that knew her well enough could see the barely visible worry lines that marked her face.

She put a hoof to her head to try to soothe the raging headache that had been plaguing her all day. In all her thousands of years of living, today was easily the worst, most stressful day she’d ever had. The moment she woke up with not only the aforementioned headache, but also with a feeling of exhaustion that made it painful to even get out of the bed, she knew it was going to be a bad day.

She knew that the side effects of using the viewing spell all night would be brutal, but she still wasn’t prepared for the unbearable fatigue she felt. It made raising the sun, normally an effortless task for her, almost impossible to accomplish. Although she managed to succeed in doing so, she immediately collapsed to the floor afterwards and it took all her willpower not to black out then and there. Despite how much she just wanted to lie there and sleep, she reluctantly got to her hooves knowing her day was just beginning.

For the rest of the morning she attended to her royal duties: Attending meetings, giving speeches, signing paperwork, the usual. On any other day these tasks would have simply been tedious, but with how tired she was now, they were an absolute torture that she had to fight to stay awake through. She had tried drinking coffee (seven cups to be exact) but even that was barely keeping her eyes open. She didn’t want to fall asleep, especially not in front of her advisors, but she feared that’s what would happen unless something happened that could snap her awake.

She was in her chamber room signing the last bit of paperwork when that “something” appeared in front of her in a flash of green flames. The color of the flames alone were enough to tell her who had sent the letter and although she was happy to have something other than royal documents to read, she was also worried. It was still morning and Twilight didn’t usually send her friendship reports till around evening. That meant one of two things: Either Twilight had learned a new lesson about friendship overnight or something had happened in Ponyville.

She only had to read the first few lines of the letter to know that it wasn’t the former.

Cursing her bad luck (seriously, why did stuff like this always happen during her shift) she sat there going over the contents of Twilights letter and thinking up a solution. With an unknown creature running around she was almost tempted to send the Royal Guards but she decided against it. According to Twilights letter, aside from incapacitating Rainbow Dash, the creature hadn’t attacked anypony and in fact, seemed to have been in a hurry to leave the town. She didn’t want to send the guards to harm a creature that was more than likely just terrified, so she decided to go with Twilights suggestion to send them.

Levitating a new scroll in front of her, she quickly wrote down a response and with a small spark from her horn, the letter was sent. While she wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of sending her student and her friends to capture an unknown creature, she knew she didn’t have a choice. From what she knew of Rainbow Dash, the cyan Pegasus would never take her defeat lying down. She would follow the creature into the forest regardless of what she said and the other Element Bearers would undoubtedly follow her. Might as well give them her blessings to go rather than have them disobey her orders not to. Still, that didn’t stop her from worrying.

She tried to reassure herself that she was worrying over nothing. They could handle themselves; they were the Elements of Harmony after all. Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even an army of Changelings hadn’t been able to stop them, so surely they could handle some terrified animal.

Walking out of her chamber room, she tried to ignore the worry that plagued her mind. She had another meeting to attend to and she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Unfortunately for her, that soon proved to be easier said than done.

As much as she tried to pay attention to what was being said, she found her thoughts always traveling back to Twilight and her friends. Something was wrong about this whole situation. First she’s woken up in the middle of the night by an ominous feeling and then that very morning this strange, never-before-seen creature shows up? There was no way it was a coincidence.

If her hunch was right and the creature was the cause of that ominous feeling… then Twilight and the others may be in more danger than she thought.

She was the first one out the door when the meeting finally adjourned.

She didn’t care if the creature was just scared - she was sending the guards. Half an hour later, she had sixty of the best trained guards assembled before her - the Captain himself among them.

Normally she tried to avoid sending members of the guards on missions involving family – made things too emotional. But she knew Shining Armor. The minute he found out this mission involved Twilight, he would barge into her throne room and literally beg her to include him on this mission. The increasingly frantic look on his face as she explained the mission was enough to tell her that he was going to go regardless of what she said, so she might as well allow him to go to avoid punishing him when he went anyway.

Wishing them luck, she reminded them that their primary mission was to locate Twilight and the others. Once they were safe and secured, they were to locate the creature, capture it, and escort it back to the castle for study.

Bowing their heads, the assembled guards charged out of the throne room, Shining Armor leading them. That was 45 minutes ago. It was 20 minutes ago when two Pegasus guards barged into the castle demanding a large carriage transport. When questioned on why they would need such a thing, all they could tell her was that Shining Armor was returning with the Element Bearers… and the creature was coming with them. When asked if they had captured it, all they could do was look at each other uneasily before nervously replying that that wasn’t exactly the case.

She would have questioned them further but she took note of their disheveled appearance. It was obvious by the sweat on their face and their heavy panting that they had pushed themselves to their limits in order to get here. Deciding that they had done enough, she ordered them to go home and rest.

As the two Pegasus bowed and walked off she ordered the guard nearest her to relay their message and to inform her when the carriages returned. It was 3 minutes ago when said guard returned and informed her that Shining Armor, the Elements, and the creature had arrived and that they were heading towards her throne room. She had tried to coax a description of the creature out of the guard, but he simply informed her that it would be much easier if she just saw the creature for herself.

So here she was, impatiently for Shining Armor to arrive and explain himself. She had many questions to ask him, the main one being why he was bringing a potentially dangerous creature to her throne room instead of to the dungeon. Either he had completely lost his mind or he had managed to reason with the creature and reach some kind of understanding.

Either way, her headache was going to get exponentially worse by the time this was over.

The sound of two male voices conversing just outside her door broke her from her thoughts. She strained her ears to hear what they were saying but she couldn’t make anything out. One of the voices definitely belonged to Shining Armor; the other one sounded much deeper and was one she couldn’t recognize.

Straightening herself up, she tried to put on as neutral a face as she could.

This was it.

The doors were slowly pushed open.

________________________________________________________________________

The first thing he noticed was the hair.

Yeah, he probably should have been paying more attention to the fact that she was easily the largest pony he had seen so far, her size nearly matching his, or the fact that she had both wings and a horn, or the fact that she was literally radiating with power that he could feel even from this distance, but he couldn’t. The only thing he could pay attention to was the hair.

Seriously, what the fuck?

There wasn’t a single open window in the room so it couldn’t have been a breeze so how the hell was it moving like that? Was it Celestia? Was she using her magic to make it flow like that? While he didn’t doubt that such a thing was within her power, he just couldn’t understand what the point of it was. All that power and she uses it to make her fucking hair flow?

Show-offy bitch.

“Psssst!”

Taking his eyes away from her gravity-defying hair, he noticed for the first time that the other ponies in the room weren’t standing. They were on the ground, their heads bowed in respect. He focused on the one who had been trying to get his attention, a certain purple pain in his ass who was currently glaring at him from her position on the ground.

“What?” He asked harshly.

“You’re supposed to bow.” She hissed at him.

“Why?”

“Because you’re in the presence of the Princess!” She said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Your Princess not mine. I’m not a citizen of your country and I hold no allegiance to her, meaning I’m not bowing to any damn body.” He angrily told her. He may have wanted to go home, but he had to draw a line somewhere and bowing to some bitch he just met was that line.

Twilight looked like she had just been slapped. Never before had somepony spoken so... rudely of the Princess.

She wasn’t the only one who was shocked. Heller made no attempt to even lower his voice so everypony in the room had heard his bold declaration and they were all staring at him stunned. Shining Armor facehoofed before giving a loud groan. This was not going to end well.

The guards next to Celestia growled in anger as the grip on their spears tightened. It was taking all their willpower not to charge the creature and run him through for his disrespect but they would wait for the Princesses’ orders.

Contrary to what everypony else in the room was feeling, Celestia did not look angry or even shocked at Heller’s words. In fact, she almost looked amused at his lack of respect. This creature was certainly interesting she’d give him that. As strange as it sounded, she was actually relieved to have finally met somepony who wasn’t constantly kissing up to her. Flattery was nice and all, but some of the ponies who she met went to insane levels just to please her. The disrespect she was receiving right now was a bit refreshing to tell the truth. Still, as interesting as this all was she knew she needed to ease the tension before it escalated into an all-out brawl.

“He’s right.” Upon hearing those words come from the Princess, the Elements and Shining Armor took the stunned look they were giving Heller and focused them on her, the guards joining them.

“W-what?” A stunned Twilight Sparkle stuttered out, not sure if she heard correctly.

“I said he’s right. He isn’t a citizen of my country. He has no obligation to bow to me and I have no right to force him to bow.” She explained to her student’s still stunned expression.

“Told you.” A smirking Heller said to a now glaring Twilight.

“In any case, that’s not what we’re here to discuss, right Shining Armor?” She said as she turned her gaze to the now pale Captain. Coughing into his hoof, Shining Armor tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke “Um, Princess, maybe Twilight should speak first. She was the one who first encountered him and could probably tell you more than I could. My men and I didn’t show up till later on I’m afraid.” He could practically feel Twilight’s glare boring into the back of his head as he spoke.

“You didn’t bother to question Twilight on the events yourself? It’s not like you to make such a rookie mistake Shining Armor.” She said with mock disappointment, silently enjoying the look of embarrassment that crossed his face.

“But I suppose it can’t be helped. Twilight, please step forward.” Twilight paled when her name was called and slowly trotted towards the Princess, stopping just a few feet away from her throne. She gulped when she realized that all eyes were now on her.

Giving a motherly smile, Celestia calmly asked “Now I want you to describe everything that happened after you received my letter. Take your time and be as detailed as possible. You’re not on trial Twilight, so you can stop trembling.”

Her motherly tone having relaxed her somewhat, Twilight took a deep breath before calmly describing the events of the last hour. She went over everything; how they had found Heller surrounded by the shattered corpses of countless timber wolves, how they had tried to capture him only for him to defeat all of them and escape, and how Rainbow Dash had chased after him on her own.

Stopping Twilight at that point, she sent a disapproving gaze towards Rainbow Dash who looked down in shame. “Twilight, why don’t you take a breather. Rainbow Dash. I would like you to describe what happened next." She said, her voice a bit more firm than before.

If possible, Rainbow Dash looked even more nervous than Twilight as she slowly approached the Princess, Twilight even giving her a look of sympathy as she passed her. Taking a deep breath, she continued where Twilight had left off. She had done surprisingly well at first, calmly describing how she had followed Heller and the events leading up to her finding the cave. It was only when she began to talk about her fight with the dragon that she began to stumble, the Princesses’ hardened gaze making her trip over her words. It had only gotten worse when she got to the part where her friends had to save her and nearly died as a result.

Thankfully, the Princesses’ angry glare turned to one of surprise when she described how Heller had saved them from the dragon and killed it. Celestia stopped her at that point and called Shining Armor forward instead. Any anger she held at Rainbow Dash was momentarily forgotten, her mind more preoccupied with what the Pegasus had just told her.

As Rainbow Dash walked back to join her friends she flinched when she saw the looks they were giving her, specifically the angry glares of Rarity and Applejack. They had assumed she had gotten injured trying to run away from the dragon; instead, she had gotten her injuries from foolishly trying to fight it and they weren’t too happy to learn that they had nearly died because of Rainbow Dash’s brashness. Dash wisely chose to stand a far distance away from them.

As for Shining Armor, his description of events had gone off without a hitch. He had gotten a few disapproving glares (mostly around the “Thunder Hoof Formation” part) and Celestia’s eyes had widened momentarily when he described how Heller breathed fire, but other than that, it had gone smoothly.

Celestia was silent as Shining Armor finished up his story, looking deep in thought. Her gaze passed over each of the ponies in front of her, lingering over Rainbow Dash the longest, before settling on the strange creature that was tapping its foot impatiently as it waited for them to finish.

“Well it seems you’ve all been through a lot this past hour.” She said after a long silence. “You’re all no doubt very tired and I will allow you to stay for the night in one of our guest rooms. But before I do that, Rainbow Dash will you please step forward?”

Trotting towards the Princess, she once again found herself facing Celestia's harsh glare. She didn’t even try to hide the nervousness in her voice as she spoke. “Y-yes Princess?”

“Tell me Rainbow Dash, what Element do you represent?” She asked calmly.

“Um, l-loyalty Princess.” She shakily answered.

“Loyalty.” Celestia repeated. “Tell me then: Do you believe that any of the actions you performed were at all loyal?”

Rainbow Dash said nothing, too scared to respond.

“Understand Rainbow Dash, I’m not angry at you for freezing up during the fight. Considering your earlier encounter with the creature, it’s understandable that you would be frightened the second time you faced him.” She reassured her.

While Celestia may have meant well with her words, they only served to make the guilt Rainbow Dash was feeling for that particular incident even worse.

“What I am angry about are your actions following that. You abandoned your friends Rainbow Dash; you left them, knowing they were injured and exhausted, just so you could chase after the creature on your own. You do realize that in the state they were in, that they were easy pickings for any predator looking for a meal?” Rainbow Dash had to fight back tears as Celestia’s harsh tone reprimanded her. The worst thing about it was that she was right; she had abandoned her friends in the most dangerous forest in Equestria. They could have been killed and all she could think about was getting revenge. She felt terrible, and what Celestia said next made her feel even worse.

“As foolish as that was, it’s nothing compared to what you did next. Fighting a dragon Rainbow Dash? As confident as you are even you had to know that you couldn’t possibly win. I don’t know if it was pride or just plain arrogance that clouded your judgment but either way, you not only endangered your life, but the life of your friends as well. If it weren’t for the creature, the very same creature you were hunting so viciously, none of you would be here right now.” Rainbow Dash was sobbing at this point, Celestia’s harsh words cutting her like a knife. Only now did she realize how foolish she had been. Her friends had nearly died because of her, because of her pride, because she was too stupid to know when to quit.

Celestia’s heart clenched at the sight of the sobbing Pegasus. She didn’t want to be so harsh to the girl but she knew that was the only way she would learn. Swallowing the sorrow she felt, she looked directly at Rainbow Dash as she asked one last question.

“Now I’ll ask you again Rainbow Dash: Do believe that any of those actions were at all loyal?”

“N-no.” The sobbing Pegasus managed to choke out.

Nodding her head in satisfaction, Celestia trotted towards the Pegasus before lowering her head and softly nuzzling her.

“I’m not angry at you Rainbow Dash, just disappointed. I know you care deeply about your friends and would never let any harm come to them. It’s that loyalty that probably caused you to act that way in the first place. But remember, there’s a difference between fighting for loyalty and fighting for pride, I hope you realize that now.” Rainbow Dash nodded, the tears having stopped somewhat. Despite how terrible she was feeling before, the Princesses’ kind words had managed to calm her just as quickly.

“I’m sorry Princess” She said softly.

“It’s alright Rainbow Dash, though I don’t believe I’m the one you should be apologizing to.” She said as she gestured to the ponies behind her.

Turning to face her friends, she saw that the anger in Rarity and Applejack’s eyes had softened somewhat upon seeing her guilt ridden face. Seeing that she had their attention, Rainbow Dash choked back another sob as she spoke.

“I-I’m sorry guys. You all mean the world to me and look how I show it; by abandoning you and nearly getting you all killed because of my screw up. I understand if you guys never want to talk to me again after this, but I just want you to know that… that I really am sorry for what I did and I hope you can forgive me.”

The room was silent as Rainbow Dash finished her apology. Rainbow Dash herself was facing the ground, too scared to see her friend’s reactions. The sound of somepony trotting towards her forced her to look up however. Pinkie Pie, who had remained surprisingly silent up until now, was trotting towards her, an unreadable expression on her face. Rainbow Dash gulped nervously as Pinkie stopped directly in front of her, the silence coming from the normally talkative party pony almost as nerve-wracking as the blank stare she was giving her. She held her breath in anticipation, anxious to see what her friend would do. Then, without warning, the pink pony leapt at Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus closing her eyes in fear at the anticipated hit.

Only the hit never came.

Instead, she felt Pinkie’s hooves wrap around her neck and pull her in close, nearly crushing her in a massive hug. Rainbow Dash’s confusion at such an act lasted only a moment, quickly turning to shock at what Pinkie began to whisper into her ear.

“Oh Dashie, of course we forgive you. What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t?” Rainbow Dash said nothing, too shocked by Pinkie Pie’s words.

‘Pinkie Pie.’

The shock only increased when she saw who the next pony that began to step forward was.

‘Fluttershy.’

The shy Pegasus smiled softly as she trotted towards her two friends. “Don’t you remember what I said before Rainbow Dash? We’re friends; we’ll always be there to help you when you’re in trouble because we know you’d do the same for us.” With that said, she joined Pinkie Pie in her hug.

Twilight was next “Fluttershy’s right Rainbow Dash. If it had been any of us in your situation you would have saved us without a second thought and would have forgiven us just as quickly. What kind of friends would we be if we couldn’t do the same for you?” Joining Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, she enveloped Rainbow Dash in her own hug.

‘Twilight.’

Rarity fidgeted uncontrollably as she watched the scene unfold before her. She was visibly struggling not to say anything, an almost impossible feat considering it was Rarity and all. Whatever defenses she was using to keep quiet instantly crumbled the moment she looked into Rainbow Dash’s pleading eyes.

“Oooooh fine! I suppose I can forgive you as well. It’s just so hard to stay mad at you Rainbow Dash, even if you act like a pigheaded brute at times.” Running up to her, she joined their little group hug.

‘Rarity.’

That left only one pony…

‘Applejack.’

The farmpony glared at her from across the room, seemingly unfazed by her pleading eyes. The fact that the others had forgiven Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to matter to her. Her apology had done nothing to stem her anger. She just couldn’t get over how mind numbingly stupid and selfish Dash had been. Abandoning them, endangering her life, and nearly getting them killed… she was sorely tempted to take up Rainbow Dash’s offer of never talking to her again.

But she knew she couldn’t do it.

As mad as she was, she could never break her friendship with Dash. They had been through too much together for that to ever happen. As stupid and as arrogant and as brash as Rainbow Dash could be at times… she was her friend and that was something that could never change.

Sighing deeply, she trotted over to the group.

“Ah’m probably gonna regret this later on but… ah forgive ya Rainbow Dash. You’re mah friend and… ah guess you wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash if you didn’t do somethin’ stupid every now and then.” Wrapping her hooves around her, she could feel Rainbow Dash trembling.

“You guys,” She choked out, holding back another set of tears. “You’re… you’re the best friends I could ever ask for. Thank you.”

Celestia and Shining Armor smiled at the touching scene. The bond these six shared truly went beyond just being Element Bearers. These girls shared something special, something that could never be broken.

While Celestia and Shining Armor were touched by this display, their “guest” was currently trying not to vomit. Seriously, how did he go from fighting a fucking dragon to listening to this Care Bear bullshit? Honestly, he couldn’t figure it out.

“Well now that that’s settled, I believe it’s time to focus on the more serous matters at hoof.” Celestia said. Much to Heller’s eternal gratitude, the six ponies ended their group hug and focused their attention on the Princess.

“First things first: Rainbow Dash, I believe you said something about your wing being injured.”

“My wing? Oh yeah, my wing!” Turning her head to look at the appendage in question, she wondered how it had completely slipped her mind that she had been hurt. “Yeah, one of the guards said that he wasn’t able to heal my wing all the way and that I should probably get it put in a cast. But I don’t think I need it now. It doesn’t even hurt anymore, look.” Attempting to flap her wing, she winced in pain the moment she lifted it in the air.

“Well, better safe than sorry I always say.” Celestia replied, chuckling at Dash’s failed attempt.

Turning towards Shining Armor, she asked “Shining Armor, if you would be so kind as to escort Rainbow Dash and the others to the infirmary, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Shining Armor looked slightly worried upon hearing the Princess’ request. Casting a nervous glance at Heller, he warily replied “But Princess, if I do that would mean leaving you alone with-“

“-Our guest, I know.” She finished for him.”Judging by the fact that he’s been patiently waiting while we’ve had our conversion, I think it’s safe to assume that he isn’t here to start a fight. You even said that he personally requested to see me and considering that he hasn’t said a word to me since entering, it’s obvious that whatever he wants to talk to me about is meant for my ears and mine alone. While you escort the others to the infirmary, I’ll see what I can do for him.” She explained.

Seeing that Shining Armor still looked unsure, she decided to play her trump card.

“Unless of course, you’re implying that I am unable to take care of myself Captain Shining Armor.” She said with a sly grin.

Shining Armor blanched and shook his head feverishly at the accusation “N-no, of course not Princess. Come girls, let me escort you to the infirmary while the Princess and Heller speak.” Turning around, he began to swiftly trot towards the door.

The girls, also looking unsure about leaving the Princess alone, reluctantly followed him. As they passed Heller, they each glanced at him nervously, save Rainbow Dash and Applejack who instead sent him a look of pure venom. A look that he promptly ignored much to their irritation.

As Shining Armor opened the door and began to walk out, Celestia’s voice called out “By the way Shining Armor, I’d like to see you before this day is over. We need to have a discussion about your use of excessive force during missions.”

His eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, Shining Armor trotted out of the throne room at a much quicker pace than before, loudly slamming the door shut once the others had walked through.

Celestia had a good laugh at Shining Armor’s reaction before suddenly becoming serious again. Now that they were alone, it was time to get down to business. Turning to face her silent guest, she was surprised to see that he wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, he was entirely focused on the two guards that remained in the room.

Sensing what the problem was, she quickly reassured him “Do not worry about my personal guards. I promise, whatever you have to say will remain between the four us, only to be revealed at your discretion.” The guards nodded their heads in affirmation at the Princess’ words.

He still looked unsure, but he took his eyes off the guards regardless and focused them on her.

Celestia sighed in relief. Now they could finally get down to business.

Deciding to break the ice a little, she asked him “Forgive me if this question seems a little a little foolish, but what is your name exactly? Twilight called you James, while Shining Armor called you Heller, so I’m unsure which is which.”

“It’s James Heller.” He answered.

‘Well that probably should have been obvious.’ She thought.

“Well James Heller, seeing as how I never got a chance to properly introduce myself, allow me to do so. My name is-“

“Your name is Princess Celestia, you rule over this kingdom, and you welcome me to your castle. Let’s cut the bullshit shall we.” He quickly interrupted her.

‘Well, so much for breaking the ice.' She thought, taking note that her guards were bristling with anger at his interruption. ‘Seems he’s the type that like’s to get straight to the point.’

“Very well James Heller. What is it that you wish to ask me?”

This was it. Whether or not he went home depended entirely on her cooperation. If she said yes, he could finally leave fucked up ponyland, find Mercer, and bash his fucking head in for sending him here. If she refused to help him…

Well, he’d rather not think about it.

Swallowing his pride, he knew he was going to have to handle this as delicately as possible. He was going to try to be polite, but the last thing he was going to do was beg.

“I…I need your help.” He said.

“Oh really?” She responded with a raised eyebrow. “With what, I may ask.”

“Well, you can probably tell but I’m not really from around here.”

“Obviously. I may not look it James Heller, but I’ve been alive for a very long time, and in all my years I’ve never seen a being like you in my land before.” She said while eyeing him carefully.

“Well that’s because I’m not from your land or any other land in this world.” He admitted.

“This world? What do you mean by that?” She asked puzzled.

Taking a deep breath, he knew what he was about to say was going to sound absolutely insane to her. Hell, it sounded insane to him and he was a living virus.

“I’m… not from this world. I come from a different world, a different dimension to be exact.” He confessed with a straight face.

The reactions were pretty much what he expected: The guards obviously didn’t believe him if the incredulous look on their face was any indication. They edged even closer to the Princess, aiming to defend her in case this obviously insane creature made some kind of mad dash towards her. He wasn’t focused on them however. His eyes were on Celestia, carefully watching her reaction.

Unlike the guards, she did not immediately dismiss his claims. She seemed to be considering his words and was observing him carefully, monitoring for any signs that he was lying or that this was some kind of trick. Heller remained glued to the spot, trying not to make any outward signs of aggression or nervousness. He didn’t have anything to hide and he needed to look like it.

After nearly a minute of standing still, he briefly wondered how long she was going to keep observing him, when she suddenly closed her eyes and began to think deeply about something. He stood there wordlessly as she pondered over something in her mind. After another minute of nothing but silence, Celestia opened her eyes, having apparently reached a decision.

“That’s… interesting.”

Seriously? He stood here for two minutes and all she could say was “that’s interesting”? No “that’s amazing”, or “that’s unbelievable” or hell, he even would have took a “you’re fucking insane, get the hell out of my castle before I call the cops on your ass.” But no, all he got was “that’s interesting.”

Jesus.

“So… you believe me?” He asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

“I’m… not sure.” She admitted. “True, it’s not the most insane story I’ve ever heard, but it’s still pretty hard to swallow.”

“I swear it’s the truth.” He said, hoping to convince her.

“I can see no reason why you would ever lie about something like this, but still…” She looked unsure. “Tell me, if you’re from a different dimension, how did you get here?"

He really wished she hadn’t asked him that. Not that he didn’t want to explain how he got here, it was just that the explanation was going to sound so insane, she was probably going join with the guards in thinking he was a lunatic. But if he didn’t give her some kind of explanation, she was going to think that anyway. So basically, he was fucked no matter what he chose to do.

Fucking perfect.

Deciding to go with the lesser of two evils, he looked Celestia directly in the eyes as he spoke, praying that she believed him one more time.

“It’s a long story, so I’ll give you the quick version. I was sent here by a man named Alex Mercer. All you need to know about him is this: He’s a monster, plain and simple. That man,” He spat the word out in disgust “is responsible for the deaths of millions of people and is currently trying kill billions more.”

Celestia and her guards looked horrified as he continued to rant about Alex Mercer. They almost didn’t want to believe him; there was no way one being was able to cause so much death. But the rage and disgust that was prevalent in his voice was all they needed to know that he was telling the truth. You couldn’t fake that kind of anger.

“I was fighting him.” He continued. “Trying to kill him. Trying to put an end to that madman once and for all. But he did something to me. He injected me with something he called a “miniature black hole.” According to him it would keep growing and growing until it eventually consumed me, which it did. I though it had killed me but instead, it dropped me off in the middle of the Everfree Forest and well, you know the rest.”

The room was silent as Heller finished, the three ponies in front of him simply too shocked to respond. He had a feeling they were more shocked by the "millions dead" part rather than the "black hole" part. He could understand why; this world rarely saw death, let alone large-scale deaths like the one he described, so the idea of millions of lives being extinguished must be absolutely mind reeling to them. As much as he wanted to feel for them, he simply didn’t have the time. He needed to get home now; they could grieve once he was gone.

“Celestia.” He called out.

Jumping slightly at hearing her name being called (and without the usual “Princess” attached to it), Celestia turned towards Heller with a detached look on her face, her mind still reeling from what Heller had told her.

“Look, I know that this is a lot to take in one day but I need you to focus understand.” He ordered firmly.

Now that was a first. She was the one who gave orders to ponies, not the other way around. But he wasn’t a pony now was he. He was… a creature from another world that was sent here by a black hole that was injected into him by a homicidal mass killer. It sounded like the plot of a bad story, but something in her gut was telling her to believe it. As crazy and as illogical as it sounded, a part of her knew it had to be true. The things he had told her… nopony could have made it up.

“I-I’m sorry James Heller. It’s just… that’s quite the story is all. But you’re right; I need to focus on the task at hoof. What is it that you need me to do?” She asked, silently hoping that he wasn’t going to ask her what she thought he was going to ask her.

“I’ve only been in this world a day Celestia, but even I know you’re the strongest pony that Equestria has. You said yourself that you’ve been alive for a long time, so you must have learned some pretty powerful spells over the years. So I’m asking you: Can you send me back home?” He had something else he wanted to say, but he just couldn’t spit it out. It was a word; a word he hadn’t used in a long time, but it needed to be said. Swallowing his pride, the next word that came out his mouth was in a barely audible whisper, but Celestia heard it as clear as day.

“Please.”

That was what she feared. Celestia’s heart shattered upon seeing the look of hope that was in his eyes as he made his request. He travelled all this way, fought timber wolves, dragons, and her own subjects just to make it here, putting all his faith, all his hope, into her, praying that she would be able to get him home. It was no wonder he was acting so polite right now; she was his last hope.

Which is why he was going to be devastated by what she was going to tell him.

Forcing herself to look him in the eyes, she felt her resolve waiver at the pleading look he was giving her. It wasn’t so different from the one Rainbow Dash was giving her friends really. As much as she didn’t want to do this, it needed to be said.

“I believe your story James and I want to help you.”

She saw the hope rise in his eyes.

“But I’m afraid I can’t.”

Said hope was replaced by rage.

“WHAT!” He roared.

The guards immediately jumped in front of the Princess, their spears pointed directly at him.

“You fucking BITCH!” He yelled stomping towards her. “I spared your fucking subjects. I savedyour fucking subjects. I held backwhen your goddamn guards attacked me. I try not to kill anyone in this fucked up world, and you repay me by refusing to send me home!? I’m sick of this bullshit!!”

He was nearly on the guards when Celestia, her voice full of sorrow, yelled out “it’s not that I won’t send you back James, it’s that I can't!”

He stopped, inches away from the guards, his mouth open with shock. He looked at Celestia and felt a pit form in his stomach when he saw her regret filled face.

“W-what?”

Celestia swallowed the lump in her throat when she heard his broken voice. She almost didn’t want to tell him, fearful of what he would do, but knew she had no choice. She already started it, now she needed to finish it.

“What you’re asking of me James… it’s impossible.”

“I-impossible?” He repeated breathlessly. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to help him. She was supposed to send him home!

“But… you have teleportation! You guy’s can teleport anywhere in the world! Can’t you use the same concept to teleport me back home?!” He yelled, desperation clear in his voice as his entire plan fell apart.

“It doesn’t work that way James.” She said shaking her head. “While it’s true that those with exceptional magical prowess can teleport anywhere they want, what you’re asking of me is an entirely different matter. Even I cannot simply tear apart dimensional barriers whenever I choose and teleport something there. Sure, there have been theories on transdimensional teleportation but nothing concrete. What you’re asking me to do James… I don’t think any pony can do.”

He was silent, her words repeatedly echoing in his head. He wanted to scream, to yell, to curse, but he just couldn’t summon up the strength do so. The anger he felt was overshadowed by more powerful emotions; despair, sorrow, hopelessness. As the gravity of his situation began to sink in, only one thought was prevalent in his mind.

Mercer had won.

He was stuck here. He would never get home. Nothing could stop Mercer now. Humanity was doomed.

And Maya…

He didn’t know what was keeping him standing. As much as he wanted to sink to his knees and break down into a sobbing wreck, he found that he just couldn’t do it.

All he could do was turn around and walk towards the door, his destination unknown…

“James, where are you going?” He heard Celestia call out.

He didn’t even bother to face her as he answered “If you’re worried about me hurting one of your little ponies, don’t worry I’m not gonna touch’em. As for where I’m going… I don’t even know anymore.” The lack of emotion in that last sentence had made even the guard’s feel depressed.

Celestia couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t stand to see somepony else in so much pain and misery. They may not have been the same species, but he was still a living being. A living being that was breaking down right in front of her.

She had to do something.

“James wait!” She called out.

He should have kept going. He had no reason to stop. But something about the urgency in her voice caught his attention. Just as he put his hand on the massive doors, he paused. He still hadn’t turned to look at her, but she knew she had his attention.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she knew that the next part was going to be the trickiest. She had to approach this delicately; one misstep and she would lose him.

“James… there may be a way to help you.”

He was still facing away from her, and she feared that he either hadn’t heard her or didn’t believe her. But then, slowly, he removed his hand from the door. It wasn’t much, but it was still a clear sign that he was at least willing to listen.

‘Alright, so far, so good.’

“I have a plan. It’s a long shot, but it just might work. Remember when I said there were theories on transdimensional teleportation? Some of those theories might have been written down and placed in the Royal Archives. If I search through them, I might be able to find something we can use. Something that could possibly send you back home."

Heller didn’t react at first. He just stood there motionlessly, his back still facing her. Celestia fidgeted nervously, waiting for him to say or do anything that indicated that he had heard her. Slowly, he turned his head to look at her and out of the corner of his eye she could see the smallest glimmer of hope.

“Do you… do you really think you can find something?” He asked, his tone hopeful.

“Like I said, it’s a long shot. There’s only half a chance that I’ll be able to find anything… but if there’s something there, I swear to you I’ll find it.”

He turned to face her, a skeptic look on his face. Why was she doing this? He had just tried to attack her not one minute ago and here she was promising to send him home. As much as he wanted to trust her, his experience with traitors had taught him that there was always an angle to everything, even kindness.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked. “Why would you go so far for me? What do you get out of this?”

She looked surprised at hearing his accusing tone, as if she was shocked that he would accuse her of having ulterior motives. For a moment, he believe that his guess was right and that she was only using him, but what she said next banished all traces of doubt from his mind.

“Do I need a reason for wanting to help another living being James? As Princess, it’s my royal duty to look out for the wellbeing of all those that reside within my kingdom. That includes you. But I don’t do it simply out of royal duty. I do it because I truly do care about my kingdom and everypony in it. When they are sad, I am sad. When they are upset, I am upset. And when they are happy… it feels wonderful to be happy with them. That’s why I’m going so far for you; seeing you so broken and miserable… it made me feel broken and miserable. I want you to be happy so that we can both be happy. That’s what I get out of this James, nothing more nothing less.”

Now it was Heller’s turn to look surprised. The sincerity in her voice… there was no way that was fake. She was truly helping him out of the kindness of her own heart.

This girl was a fucking saint.

“I…” He couldn’t think of anything to say, unused to receiving such kindness.

No. There was one thing he could say.

Giving her a grateful smile, he said two words that he never thought would leave his mouth.

“Thank you.”

Matching his smile with one of her own, she responded “Don’t mention it James. Now then, I believe there’s one last thing we must attend to.” Clapping her hooves loudly, she sat on her throne waiting for something to happen.

Just as he was about to ask what she was waiting for, he heard the sound of two massive doors slowly opening. Looking behind him, he saw that the doors were covered with a faint glow, the same glow that was coming from the horns of two Unicorn guards that were standing in the doorway. They were the same guards that were guarding the door before, only this time their attention wasn’t focused on him.

Bowing down, they asked simultaneously “What can we do for you Princess?”

“Guards, I would like you to escort James here to one of our guest rooms. Do you have any preferences James?”

“Uh…” He muttered, a little taken off guard by such a question. “One with a view I guess.”

“One with a view, please.” She repeated to the guards who nodded their heads before turning around and motioning for him to follow them.

“Sure you want me to go? I could probably help you find what you’re looking for.” He offered.

“Thank you for the kind offer James, but I believe it’ll be much easier if I did it myself. The Royal Archives are massive and I’ll probably be sorting through them all night just to find the information we need. Rest James, let me worry about finding you a way home.”

He still looked unsure, but decided to respect her decision. Following the guards, he was nearly out the doorway when he heard Celestia call out his name.

“James?”

Turning around, he saw Celestia had gotten up from her throne and was trotting towards him. He stood there, a curious look on his face as he watched her get closer and closer. She stopped just a few inches away from him and before he could ask what she wanted, she did something that made his breath hitch and his eyes widen.

She lowered her head and nuzzled him.

His brain momentarily shut down, he almost missed what Celestia began to whisper to him “I want to thank you for saving my student James. Even though she attacked you, even though you had no reason to do so, you still risked your life to save her. That’s another reason I want to help you.”

Lifting her head, she chuckled at the look of discomfort on his face. She could almost swear he was blushing.

Coughing nervously into his fist, he averted his eyes as he responded “Uh, don’t mention it Celestia. You take care alright.”

Following the guards, he almost resembled Shining Armor as he nearly ran out of the room.

“You take care as well James.” He heard her say, the doors slamming shut behind his retreating back.

A/N: Once again, I want to apologize for not releasing the chapter when I said I would. It was mostly the Rainbow Dash apology speech part that took so long. Like I said back in Chapter 7, I’m not so good at writing touching scenes. I had to re-write that whole part like 5 times because nothing sounded right. I still don’t think it was pretty good, but it was the best I could come up with. Unfortunately, later chapters won’t come out nearly as frequently as before. The chapters are gonna get pretty long from here on out, so it’s gonna take me a while to write and edit them. Promise to have the next chapter up ASAP.

Chapter 11

He was blind. That or somebody had blindfolded him because he couldn’t see a damn thing.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true; he could still see, it was just that everything was pitch black. He was literally surrounded by darkness. What, did he get sucked into another black hole?

He strained his eyes looking into the darkness, trying to spot anything that could clarify where he was. But no matter how hard he looked, all he could see was the same black void that seemed to stretch on forever.

“Hello!” He called out, his voice echoing in the darkness.

No repsonse.

“Is there anybody there?!” He yelled much louder this time, hoping to hear an answer.

Silence.

Perfect. Just fucking perfect. He didn't think it was possible, but somehow, this world was more fucked up than the one he was in before! How could this day get any more fucked?!

“Well, well, aren’t you in quite the dilemma Jimmy.”

Son of a bitch.

He recognized that voice. Only one person’s voice dripped with such smug arrogance.

“Mercer.” He growled.

“So you remember me. I’m touched.” Mercer’s voice taunted from the darkness.

“Mercer! Stop hiding you motherfucker!” He yelled, swerving his head to locate where the voice was coming from.

“Still as loud and as crude as ever I see. Aren’t you supposed to be a church man?”

“I SAID STOP HIDING MOTHERFUCKER!” He yelled again, his rage reaching its peak.

“Fine, fine. Jesus, you’re so bossy.”

Heller was on high alert as he watched a figure slowly emerge from the darkness. The more of the figure that became visible, the more he felt his anger increase. By the time the familiar form of Alex Mercer fully emerged, Heller was literally growling with anger, teeth clenched to the point that he was surprised they hadn’t shattered. He briefly took note that Mercer’s left hand was behind his back, almost as if he was trying to hide something, but he brushed it aside. Right now, all he could focus on was the many way's he was going to kill this sick bastard.

“Hello James, have you enjoyed your little vacation so far?” He sarcastically asked, grinning in satisfaction when Heller growled in response. “I’ll take that as a yes. I honestly didn’t think you’d enjoy it here. Didn’t figure you for a country man, but I suppose the residents made the transition easy. Gotta admit though, even I couldn’t have imagined that you’d end up in a place like this. I fully expected you to die, though I'm sure you would have preferred death over this. After all you-"

“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!!” He roared, absolutely fed up with hearing this bastard’s voice.

“Here’s how it’s gonna go down asshole! First, you’re gonna take me outta this fucked-up ass world and send me home! Then, after I’m done ripping your balls off and feeding them to you, you’re gonna tell me where Maya is, and-“

“Oh Maya? I’ve already met her. Sweet kid by the way.” He said calmly, shocking Heller into silence.

That shock only lasted a second before the horrifying implications of what Mercer just said began to set in.

He found Maya. He met Maya. He was alone with Maya.

“What did you do?” He asked, the smallest hint of fear in his voice. When he saw Mercer grin sadistically at him, he felt that fear increase tenfold. “WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MAYA?!”

“Would you like to see her?” He asked in a low voice, that sadistic grin never leaving his face. Slowly, he brought his left hand from behind his back, allowing Heller to see what he had been hiding.

‘No.’

That one word was all that repeated in his mind as he gazed in horror at what Mercer was holding in his hand. He fell to his knees, tears flowing freely down his face, his mind unable to accept what he was seeing, even as it stared him right in the face. A part of him prayed that this was just one of Mercer’s cruel tricks, a half-baked attempt to break him. But another part of him knew it was real. Knew that what he was staring at was the cold hard truth, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

The eyes were what gave it away. He could never forget those eyes no matter how much he tried.

They may have been dull and lifeless, they may have belonged to a severed head, but he could never forget the eyes of his daughter.

Splotches of blood marked her face, a face that was permanently frozen into a look of abject horror and fear. She hadn’t died easily, that much was obvious.

What could he do? Scream? Get angry? Kill Mercer? Make him suffer every bit as much as he made Maya suffer? Why? What was the point? It wouldn’t bring her back. It wouldn’t bring Colette back. It wouldn’t stop the emptiness, the pain.

Everything, including his revenge, just seemed so meaningless.

“What’s wrong Heller, aren’t you glad to see her?” Mercer mockingly asked, a massive grin on his face as he stared the broken man in the eyes. “If it makes you feel any better, her last words were about you. Would you like to know what they were?”

Heller didn’t bother saying no. Mercer was going to tell him anyway, so what was the point. Still, even he wasn’t prepared for what he heard next.

“Daddy, where are you?”

His eyes widening in horror, he suppressed the urge to scream at the terrifying sight before him. It wasn’t the words that were said that had frightened him, but the one who had spoken those words. Mercer was but a distant thought as he found himself the target of his daughters cold glare, her bloodstained mouth twisted into an angry frown.

“Why daddy, why didn’t you save me?” She asked in a tone so cold it sent a chill down his spine. “You said you were coming home. You said we would be safe. Why did you lie daddy, why?”

He couldn’t respond. As much as he wanted to deny her accusations, he knew she was right. He had promised to come home. He had promised to protect her. And he failed.

Taking his eyes off his daughter for just a moment to wipe away the tears, his heart nearly burst out of his chest when he looked back and saw that Maya was no longer there. In her place was another female, one that looked like an older version of Maya, one that he knew all too well.

‘Oh God, Colette.’

His wife’s eyes were glaring at him with as much intensity as Maya’s and when she spoke, it was with the same cold tone as well. “Stay put Colette. Don’t go causing any panic Colette. Listen to Blackwatch, they’ve got the situation contained Colette. Look where your advice got me Jimmy. You blame Mercer for killing me but it was you who left me in that situation. If you had just listened to me, just taken me out of the city before this all started, I’d still be alive right now.”

He had closed his eyes at this point, unable to look at his wife as she assaulted him with her scalding words. As much as it pained him to admit it, he was just as much at fault for Colette’s death as Mercer was. She had warned him beforehand that the virus was possibly spreading again. He should have heeded her warning the first time, but he had brushed it off, thinking she was just blowing the situation out of proportion. If he had just listened…

“James.”

‘Oh God, not him.’

The accent alone was enough to tip him off to whose head Mercer was holding now. He covered his ears in an attempt to drown him out, but Father Guerra’s voice still reached him nonetheless.

“I trusted you James, believed in you, though I suppose that’s my fault as much as yours. I was foolish to believe that we could take down Mercer. Look where it got me. Me, a man of God get’s ripped apart, while you, a murderer, a liar, a man who couldn’t even save his family, continues to live. God certainly does work in mysterious ways doesn’t he mijo?”

Father Guerra’s harsh words cut into him like a knife. Hearing this man, a man he had always seen as a father figure, speak to him with such hatred in his voice… it felt like a stake had just been driven straight through his heart.

Going against his better judgment, he opened his eyes to look at Father Guerra, hoping to see any semblance of the kind, old priest he once knew.

All he could see was cold hatred.

Even when Mercer’s grip on the head tightened, even when the head slowly changed into a mass of writhing tentacles, even when those tentacles began to disappear into Mercer’s hand, he could still feel those eyes, that hatred, piercing into his soul.

When the head had been completely consumed, he and Mercer looked at each other and much to his surprise, Mercer wasn’t smirking. Disturbingly enough, he held an expression similar to the one the others held: An angry frown complemented by a cold glare.

Even more disturbing was when he spoke. For he spoke not in his own voice, but in all three of their voices..

“You’ve failed Heller. Despite all your suffering, all your efforts, what do you have to show for it? A dead wife, a dead daughter, and a dead friend. That’s not even going into the number of innocent lives that have been lost because of you. How many people have you killed just trying to get to me? How many fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters have you slaughtered simply because they got in your way? You call me a monster because of the number of people I’ve killed, yet you’re willing to kill just as many to satisfy your revenge. Deny it all you want Heller, but you know the truth: You and I are exactly alike and I don’t just mean our powers.”

Heller could do nothing as Mercer taunted him. His voice was gone, his spirit broken. He wouldn’t deny Mercer’s accusations. How could he? They were the truth’s he had tried so hard to ignore. He had claimed he wasn’t a hero, but he had tried so hard to convince himself that he wasn’t a monster either. He couldn’t be angry at Mercer. All he was doing was speaking the truth.

He was broken. Mercer could see that, which is why he allowed himself a small triumphant grin before he spoke his final words, words that would haunt Heller to his last breath.

“I win.”

A loud gasp escaped Heller’s lips as he sat up startled, panting heavily as cold sweat poured down his face. He gripped his chest in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart, while his eyes darted left and right, surveying his surroundings. Jumping slightly when he saw nothing but darkness, he relaxed when he realized that he was not trapped in an endless black void like before, but was simply in a poorly lit room.

‘Where the fuck am-oh, right. Fucked up ponyland.’ Sighing in disappointment, he fell back and laid spread out on a king sized bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Damn, this bed felt nice. The whole room was nice to be honest. When Celestia said he’d be staying in the guest room he wasn’t expecting a fucking hotel suite. Hell, even calling it that wouldn’t do it justice. This place made even the best hotels from his world look like shit in comparison. The room was huge, big enough to hold not only a king sized bed, but several other pieces of furniture. It also had what was possibly the cleanest bathroom he had ever seen in his life. Seriously, he could see his reflection in the floor for god’s sake.

But what really sold him was the balcony next to the bed. Not only did it allow a cool breeze to wander into the room every now and then, but it also gave him a clear view of the entire city. It was really a sight to behold, and he remembered being so entranced by it that by the time he came back to reality, he found himself alone in the room, the guards who escorted him here having left long beforehand.

After doing a quick inspection of the room, he remembered sitting down on the bed and that was when he had fallen asleep. He actually hadn’t planned on it, but the bed had been so soft and inviting that the next thing he knew he was out like a light. He had only meant to sleep for about an hour or two, but judging from the night sky, he was clearly out a lot longer than that.

Kicking his legs over the side of the bed, he stood up and began to stretch his limbs, surprised at how relaxed his muscles felt. Damn, he was gonna have to take this bed back home with him. All his old bed ever gave him was back pains and muscle cramps.

Well, now that he was awake, what was he gonna do? He wasn’t going back to sleep that’s for sure. He briefly considered tracking down Celestia to see if he could help her with her research, but he brushed that idea aside. This palace was huge and he doubted he’d be able to find the Royal Archives without asking somebody for help. The only ones walking around at this hour was the night shift, and considering how they reacted to him earlier, he wasn’t too confident that they’d be giving him directions anytime soon.

Besides, he doubted there was much he could do to help. He never was much of a reader and even if he was, he probably wouldn’t have been able to understand even half of what he was reading. Magic followed completely different rules and logic from what he was used to, and even with the dragons knowledge, he still didn’t understand much of it. He’d be more of a detriment to Celestia’s research than anything else.

‘So I can’t go back to sleep and unless I want to give some random pony a heart attack, I can’t leave the room either. I’m basically stuck here until morning and who knows how long that is. My luck just keeps getting better and better.’

Needing some fresh air, he stepped out onto the balcony and leaned on the railing, silently admiring the view. He hadn’t had time to notice it before, him being so impatient to get home and all, but this city really was beautiful. It reminded him of New York before the outbreak, only much more quiet and serene. In New York, silent moments such as this were a rarity, but here it just seemed like the norm. He closed his eyes as he felt a cool breeze wash onto his face. Jesus, Colette would have loved it-

He paused, a frown on his face as he found his thoughts drifting back to his wife. She really would have loved it here. She loved calm, tranquil places like this. If only she could be here to enjoy it. If only he had-

‘Stop. You are not to blame for what happened. Colette’s death was not your fault and there was nothing you could have done to prevent it.’ He told himself for what must have been the 100th time since her death, and each time, it sounded more and more like an excuse.

Could he have prevented it? Colette had warned him days beforehand that Blackwatch soldiers had been seen around the area and that should have been his first clue that something was wrong. He had heard about Blackwatch, everyone in his squad had, and what they heard wasn’t pretty.

These guys were animals, beyond brutal. They were willing to do anything to accomplish their goals, including killing innocent civilians. There were even rumors that they were the ones who tried to detonate that nuke over New York during the first outbreak. Whether or not that was true wasn’t important; even if they hadn’t dropped the bomb, it was clear that these guys didn’t give a damn about civilian life and would have gladly put a bullet in the head of every family in New York if they thought it would make their job easier.

He should have hopped on the first plane ride back to New York the minute Colette told him she saw one of those bastards walking down the street, but he hesitated. He had his own duties to perform overseas and he didn’t want to abandon his post just to travel all the way back to New York and find that nothing was wrong. It was only after Colette’s death did he realize how foolish it was to ignore her warnings, and deep down, he knew that he was partly responsible for her death, but he refused to let the guilt eat him up.

It was the same with Father Guerra; deep down he knew he shouldn’t gotten the old priest involved in his war. Maybe he’d still be alive if he hadn’t, but he had no choice. Guerra had connections, and without him, he would never have been able to damage Blackwatch’s operations as badly as he had. Not only that, it was because of Guerra that he’d been able to save so many people from Gentek’s sick experiments , so at least he hadn’t died in vain.

Guerra knew the risks; knew that he would be killed for even affiliating himself with him, yet he still helped. He didn’t care for his own life just lives of others, strangers he didn’t even know. The man gave his life so that they would live and it would be an insult to his memory if he let guilt stop him getting revenge on his murderer. He would never forgive Mercer. He would never forget what that monster-

"You call me a monster because of the number of people I’ve killed, yet you’re willing to kill just as many to satisfy your revenge."

‘No! It’s not true, I’m not-

"Deny it all you want Heller, but you know the truth: You and I are exactly alike and I don’t just mean our powers."

‘I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU!’ He raged, pausing once he realized that he was yelling at himself.

It wasn’t true. Mercer was a killer, a sociopath, and a manipulating bastard who was willing to use anybody to accomplish his sick goals. He wanted to wipe out humanity and replace it with his own twisted idea of “perfection.” He lacked any qualities that would even identify him as human: No conscience, no regret, no guilt. Mercer was a monster, plain and simple.

But then what was he?

While he tended to avoid causing unnecessary casualties, and really, he had killed far more Blackwatch solder’s and Gentek scientist’s than innocent civilians, the fact of the matter was he had killed them. To be fair, most of them were accidents; when you’ve got Brawlers in front of you, tanks behind you, and an assload of Blackwatch soldiers shooting at you from every direction, it’s hard to pay attention to who your Claws hit. But a lot of them were on purpose; innocent people who’d either been consumed without a second thought or turned into Biobomb’s and thrown away like yesterday's trash..

But the worst part was that he didn’t even care. Whether it was on purpose or on accident he didn’t bat an eyelash as he took their lives. ‘Collateral damage’ he’d always say, and it wasn’t until now that he realized how sick those words sounded. Those were people! People with family, friends, hopes, and dreams and he had slaughtered them like animals!

Was Mercer right? Would he have killed millions of people just to satisfy his revenge? Did he ever have the moral high ground or was he just trying to convince himself that he was the "good guy" in this whole thing.

‘Jesus, I might as well go back to sleep at this rate. I’d rather deal with another round of nightmares than have to think about this crap any more.’

Deciding to deal with his guilty conscience another time, he went back to admiring the city, hoping its innate beauty would take his mind off the dream. Unfortunately for him, his mood had officially gone back to ‘angry’ and any beauty he once saw before was lost on him.

Great. Once again his good mood had been ruined because of one Alex Mercer and unlike last time, there were no Evolved around to take his anger out on. It wasn’t even morning yet and already his day was going to shit. Well, at least he could enjoy the peace and quiet without any annoying-ass ponies around to –

“It’s a beautiful night wouldn’t you agree?” A female voice said from behind him, breaking him from his thoughts.

Startled that someone was able to sneak up on him without him noticing, he turned around to face (and curse out) the owner of the mysterious voice but paused when he got a good look of who it was.

The pony before him was a mirror image of Celestia except for a few minor details. This pony’s body was a dark shade of blue, a stark contrast from Celestia’s pure white body, and her mane and tail, instead of the mash of pink, blue, and green that was Celestia’s, instead looked like the night sky, with star-like twinkles constantly sparkling in her hair. Other than those small differences though, they were pretty much exactly alike. Like Celestia, she was much taller than the average pony, though still smaller than Celestia herself, her height only reaching up to his chest. She also had wings and a horn and, for some godforsaken reason, her hair also moved like it was caught in some never ending breeze. Seriously, what was up with that?

“Forgive me if I frightened you, it was just that you seemed to be so deep in thought that I tried to make as little noise as possible as I approached you. I can leave if you’d like.” She offered.

“You’re Princess Luna aren’t you?” He asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

“What gave it away?” She answered, taking his ignoring of her apology as a sign that she could stay, at least for now.

'The magical fucking hair thing that only you and your sister seem to bother doing, seriously what is the point of that shit?' is what he wanted to say.

Instead, what came out of his mouth was, “Oh I don’t know, maybe because only one other pony in this whole castle has wings and a horn, and the chances of you having them too and not being related to her in some way are pretty slim.”

Apparently she found his sarcasm funny because she gave a soft chuckle before responding, “Yes, well I suppose that is one way you could identify us. What about you? Aren’t you James Heller?”

“Now what gave that away?”

“You mean other than the fact that only a strange creature like yourself could have such a strange name? Tia told me.”

Tia? A deity who has the power to (supposedly) manipulate the sun and who basically controls whether anything on this planet lives or dies, is nicknamed Tia. Had Luna not been standing there watching him he would have laughed his ass off.

Instead he asked, “So I’m guessing “Tia” told you everything about me then, huh?”

“Actually all she told me was your name and that you were staying in one of our guest rooms. When I asked her any other questions about you, all she said was that it wasn’t her place to tell.”

Silently thanking Celestia for actually keeping her promise, his voice suddenly took on an accusing tone. “Let me guess, the reason you’re even here is because you want to ask me those questions now, right?"

The lunar princess, realizing that she had been found out, looked slightly embarrassed as she responded, “W-well if that’s okay with you I mean. If you’re not comfortable with me being here I can just leave, but…

“But what?”

“…I really want to get to know you.”

He should have told her to leave. He should have told her that he wasn’t in the mood for questions. He should have told her that he wasn’t looking to make any friends. But he hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of kicking her out.

Pro: He’d avoid having to answer a whole bunch of annoying questions, wouldn’t have to talk about his life (especially the parts he'd rather much forget), and he’d be able to avoid the mandatory nuzzling that he was undoubtedly going to get from her when he got to the really crappy parts of his life (he shivered as he recalled the one he received from Celestia. Still couldn’t believe she did that)

Con: He’d be stuck here alone for the next few hours with nothing to do but count the tiling’s on the ceiling.

Tough choice.

In the end it was Luna who made the decision for him. As calm and professional as she tried to make herself appear, he could see the eagerness and child-like excitement in her eyes.

‘Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…’ Is what he knew she was thinking.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to let her ask a few questions. Hell, it was better than sitting in this room all day with nothing to do. Besides, might be nice to have somebody other than Shining Armor to talk to for a change.

The eagerness in Luna’s eyes turned to disappointment when, instead of answering, Heller turned away from her and leaned on the railing of the balcony. Taking his silence as a sign of rejection, Luna lowered her head dejectedly as she turned towards the exit.

“What are you waiting for?” She stopped and turned her head to look at him, clearly confused.

“It’s nicer out here. Way better place to have a conversation.” He said, his back still facing her.

Her confusion lasted only a second more before realization struck her. Suppressing the urge to squeal like a little filly and skip over to him, she put on as serious a look as she could muster and joined him on the balcony.

“Thank you James, I promise you won’t regret this.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He muttered.

Occupying the spot next to him, Luna soon realized that he was not exaggerating. The tranquil atmosphere, the comfortable breeze, the jaw-dropping view – no wonder he wanted to have the conversation out here, it was perfect. She lived here and she rarely got to see moments like this. When she wasn’t attending late-night meetings or signing paperwork, she was asleep in her room. Both hers and Celestia’s schedules basically boiled down to work and sleep, work and sleep. It could be draining at times, both physically and mentally.

She wished she could just stand here and enjoy the view, the silence, the serenity that she rarely got to experience, but she knew her time was limited. Her next meeting began in 20 minutes and it would take at least 20 hours to get through all her questions, so she needed to be swift.

But where should she start? Everything about James was an enigma: What is he? Where did he come from? Do all his people wear clothing or is it just him? Why does he have so little fur? There was so much she wanted to know and she had no idea where to begin.

'I guess I’ll ask him where he came from and then wing it from there.’ Satisfied with her plan, she turned to Heller and just as she opened her mouth, Heller’s hand shot out and covered it, muffling her voice.

Both shocked and enraged at such a bold move, Luna thrashed her head back and forth, fighting hard to free herself from Heller’s grip. Heller didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest, patiently waiting for Luna to realize the futility of her situation and give up. His face was blank during the whole ordeal, the only emotion being a raised eyebrow when Luna attempted to yell something at him as she fought. Her voice may have been muffled, but he was able to pick out a few words – words that he was pretty sure a Princess wasn’t supposed to use in polite conversation.

Just as he was about to make a sarcastic remark about how Princess’ shouldn’t use such language, Luna suddenly stopped struggling. It seemed she finally realized that she wasn’t getting free no matter how hard she fought, so instead, she settled for glaring angrily at him, eyes demanding an explanation.

“Let’s set a few ground rules here.” He began. “First rule: No asking me about where I’m from or how I got here. I already explained that shit to Celestia and I don’t feel like repeating it. Ask her if you wanna know so badly. Tell her I gave you my permission. Second rule: No questions about my people or my culture. There’s way too much to cover and I don’t feel like giving a lecture. Third rule: If I’m gonna answer your questions, you’re gonna answer my questions, and I’ve got a lot to ask. Those are my rules. If you can’t follow them the doors over there. Nod your head your if you understand.”

‘You had to cover my mouth to tell me that!’ She thought indignantly, wanting nothing more than to scream that into his ear using the Royal Canterlot Voice until he went deaf.

Unlike Celestia, she did not appreciate being treated in such a disrespectful manner and being talked down to like she was a filly. And who was he to impose such restrictions on what kind of questions she could ask! If she were to follow his rules, her choice of questions would be severely limited, and she’d barely have time to ask them since she was going to be simultaneously answering his questions as well.

But what choice did she have? She could either choose to not follow his rules and leave without having any of her questions answered… or she could play his game and squeeze as many answers out of him as possible. Her curiosity winning out, Luna slowly nodded her head in defeat. Seeing Luna’s response, Heller removed his hand from her mouth.

The moment Heller’s hand was gone, Luna’s hooves shot up to massage her mouth, specifically the sore spots where Heller’s fingers had been.

“You do realize I could have you thrown in the dungeon for what you just did?” She warned, clearly irritated

“You wanna have a bitch fight or you wanna ask me those questions?” He shot back impatiently.

Luna narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing. Suddenly, she was having second thoughts about coming here.

“Fine! I suppose my first question is this: What are you? The name of your species I mean.”

“Just so you know, that question goes into the whole ‘my people and culture’ category, but I’ll let it slide this time.” Luna huffed, wanting him to get to the point. “As for the name of my species, it’s Homo sapien, or human for short.”

“Human,” She repeated, letting the word roll off her tongue. “A strange name to call a species, but then again, who am I to judge. Alright then, my next question is-“

“You mean my question.” He interrupted. “That’s how it’s gonna go – I’ll answer your question, then you’ll answer mine. That way everyone gets a turn. It’s only fair after all.”

She wanted to hit him. She really did. First he touches her without her permission and now he interrupts her! Are all humans this rude or was it just him? Narrowing her eyes, she responded in a low growl, “Fine, what is your question?”

“My question is why are you here?” Noticing her confused expression, he clarified. “I thought you were supposed to be banished to the moon or something. What are you doing here?” This had been bugging him ever since he first laid eyes on her. From what he (or rather the dragon) remembered, Luna had been banished to the moon by Celestia nearly a thousand years ago, which is why it was quite the surprise to see her standing there in his room. Of course, the dragon didn’t really keep up with current events, so maybe something happened recently that he didn’t know about.

Raising an eyebrow, Luna replied, “I’m surprised you even know of that. You’ve only been here a few hours and already you know of my banishment?”

“Yeah well, the guards are pretty chatty when they want to be.” Well that was a boldfaced lie if he ever heard one. The guards were never chatty. He had only been here a few hours and even he knew that. Judging from the skeptic look on Luna’s face, she knew that too.

“Are they now? Tell me, what details of my banishment did they disclose to you?”

“First, that’s two questions in a row you just asked me.” Luna rolled her eyes. “Second, just the basics of how you went batshit insane and tried to kill everybody.”

“I was not trying to kill everypony.” She interjected.

“No, you just wanted to block out the sun. Don’t know how things work here, but where I’m from, doing that pretty much fucks everybody over.”

Luna gave an annoyed huff before answering. “Despite what you say, I was not trying to kill anypony. I just wanted them to-“ She stopped abruptly and frowned, a sad look in her eyes.

“You wanted them to what?” He asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

“… Nothing , forget it.” She said after some time. That same look was still in her eyes, and though a part of him wanted to use his next question to ask her what was wrong, he could tell that she didn’t want to talk about it. He had his own secrets to hide and he’d be one hell of a hypocrite if he forced her to reveal hers. He’d give her some time and if she chose to, she’d tell him on her own.

“So, uh… you still haven’t explained how you’re here.” He asked again.

“How I’m here?” She asked confused, before lightly smacking herself on the head. “Oh right, your question! Sorry about that James, I get lost in my own thoughts at times.” He nodded his head in understanding. At least she wasn’t sad anymore.

“As for the answer to your question, it’s a long story, so I’ll try to summarize it as best I can.” Taking a moment to clear her throat, she spoke, “The spell that kept me confined to the moon for a thousand years was weakening. Whether or not Celestia knew of this I’m not sure, though knowing her she probably did. About a year ago, the spell weakened to the point where I was able to break through it and escape my prison. Once I was free, I immediately made my way to Equestria to continue my plan: Plunging the world into eternal darkness and ruling over it. And I would have succeeded; Celestia was unable to perform the spell again and with her out of the way, nopony would have been able to stop me. I would have succeeded – if I hadn’t been stopped by six very special little ponies.”

Luna allowed a small smirk to grace her lips when she saw Heller’s eyes widen in shock; it didn’t take long for him to figure out who she was talking about. Before he could say anything, Luna continued. “Using the Elements of Harmony, those six ponies were able to stop me. They purged whatever had corrupted me out of my body, and I was turned back into the form that you see before you. That’s how I’m here.”

His mind was reeling. He had asked a question, gotten an answer, and the answer only led to even more questions. Those six stopped her? He knew they were tough, but he didn't think they'd be able to take down someone that was of equal power to Celestia. And how the hell were they able to use the Elements of Harmony? From what little the dragon knew of them, they were supposed to be these extremely powerful weapons that only Celestia and Luna could use, so how were those six able to use them?

He thought back to Celestia’s speech to Rainbow Dash and how she had referred to her as the ‘Element of Loyalty.’ He hadn’t thought much of it then, but maybe it tied into how they were able to use the Elements. Maybe-

“Now it’s my turn to ask you a question.” Luna’s ecstatic voice broke him from his thoughts.

Fuck

“Fine, ask your damn question.” He sighed

“Word around here is that you killed a dragon and ‘ate’ it’s body. I want to know how you did it.” She asked.

“You heard about that, huh.”

“Everypony has heard about it James. The castle may be large, but it took only a few hours for your deeds to spread. You’ve become quite the celebrity actually. Everypony wants to meet the being who saved the Elements of Harmony for themselves.”

He clearly hadn’t been expecting that answer if the surprise on his face was any indication. He kills a dragon, beats up their military, and insults their princess, and instead of coming after him with pitchforks and torches, the ponies in this place want to meet him and shake his hand? What a strange little world…

“Oh, and one more thing.” She added. He looked at her intently, thinking she had more surprising news for him. “That was two questions in a row you just asked me.” She finished with a playful grin.

“Smart ass.”

“Now you what it’s like dealing with you. Now answer my question.”

“Fine.” He sighed. He was really hoping to avoid this conversation. His powers weren’t pretty to look at and were even less pretty to explain. Hell, the main reason he avoided talking about them with Twilight and Shining Armor was because he feared they’d be less likely to take him to meet Celestia if they found out what he could do. Would you take a creature that could consume someone, take their form, and gain their memories to meet your leader?

He briefly considered telling her ‘it’s magic, I don’t have to explain’, but he knew that wouldn’t be fair to her. She had answered his question and he’d be a total dick if he couldn’t do the same.

‘Besides,’ He thought. ‘I’m already here. What are they gonna do, kick me out?’ He laughed at the thought.

“Before I explain my powers, let me just warn you now - my powers are meant to kill. Not to throw tea parties. Not to bake cakes. To kill. I use them for completely different purposes than what you use magic for. I’m telling you this because I don’t want to hear any bitching on how horrible or terrifying my powers are. Understand?” Luna looked slightly disturbed as he finished his explanation, but nodded anyway.

“Alright.” He looked her dead in the eye. “Whatever I kill, I can consume. I’m not sure how it works myself, but from what I understand, I transform organic matter into a type of biomass that I can consume. Whoever or whatever I consume, I gain that beings knowledge, skills, abilities, and if they’re the same species as me, their form.”

To demonstrate, he closed his eyes and imagined one of his many victims. A loud gasp escaped Luna’s mouth when she saw black and red tendrils surround Heller’s body, and when they dissipated, what stood in his place was a lighter skinned brunette woman. Heller let her soak in his new form for a few more seconds before changing back.

“I basically become them. A perfect copy.” He further explained. “That’s how I was able to breathe fire and grow armor. That’s how I know so much about you Luna. The dragon told me everything.”

Luna’s eyes were wide as saucers as he wrapped up his explanation, and several tense seconds passed as he waited for her to respond. Would she scream and run out of the room? Would she use magic to throw him off the balcony? Or would she just faint on the spot? He really hoped it was the third option. It was least painful one after all. For him at least. He visibly tensed when Luna took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and…

"Wow.”

“…’Wow’. That’s all you can say? I just described what was possibly the most amazing thing you’ve ever heard in your life, and all you can say is ‘wow’. What’s with you and your and sister giving half-assed reactions to everything?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just… I have no idea what to say. Your abilities are… nothing like I’ve ever seen before. They're amazing... godlike even.”

“Well I wouldn’t say godlike…”

“James, do you not even realize the potential of your abilities. You could have the magical prowess of a Unicorn. The flight speed of a Pegasus. The strength of an Earth pony. Your power could surpass both mine and Celestia’s and that’s just as you are now! If you were to consume one of us or even both us…” She gulped at the thought.

“Well, luckily for you, I need you both alive. Well, I need Celestia alive at least, but you’re alright, so I’ll let you live too.”

“I’m going to pretend that was a joke.”

“It wasn’t.”

He didn’t know if it was his dead serious expression as he said it or if she really thought he was joking, but Luna apparently found something funny because she was suddenly laughing her ass off, and the strangest part was, so was he (though not nearly as hard).

There must have been some kind of gas in the room, because that was the only explanation for how they were acting right now. They had been at each other’s throats not five minutes ago, yet here they were laughing like they were old pals. This place was getting to him, though he couldn’t decide yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Alright, alright, if we’re done acting like a bunch of assholes now, I’d like to ask my question.” He said, getting his laughter under control.

Luna managed to do the same, though it took her a bit longer. “Alright James, what’s your question.” She asked, fighting back a few giggles.

“You said those six used the Elements of Harmony to stop you. How? I thought only you and Celestia could use them.”

“Well… that’s kind of my fault.” She answered sheepishly.

“Which is codeword for, ‘it was totally my fault’.”

“Quiet James, I’m talking. You see, with my banishment, control over the Elements was left to solely Celestia. Now, Celestia is powerful, possibly the most powerful pony in all of Equestria, but the Elements of Harmony are on a whole other level. The magic contained within them is far beyond what one pony could ever hope to control, which is why both of us were needed to harness their power. Without me there to help her, Celestia slowly lost her connection to the Elements.”

“But what do those six have to with this?” He wondered.

“I was getting to that!” She snapped at him. “Although our connection to the Elements was lost, the Elements themselves still remained, waiting for a catalyst to channel their powers through.”

“And the six of them were chosen to be that catalyst.” He reasoned.

She nodded her head. “Exactly.”

“But why them?” He asked. “Why were they chosen? What makes them so special?”

Luna smiled softly in response. “Because those six represent the values that are held by all in Equestria. Values that every pony lives by, but are especially prevalent in those six. The bond between them is more powerful than any spell. The Elements could sense that, and the magic of their friendship was enough to awaken them once more.”

“Applejack, who reassured those that were in doubt, was chosen as the Element of Honesty.”

“Fluttershy, whose compassion allows her to tame even the mightiest of beasts, was chosen as the Element of Kindness.”

“Pinkie Pie, who giggled in the face of fear, was chosen as the Element of Laughter.”

“Rarity, who always put the well being of others before her own, was chosen as the Element of Generosity.”

“Rainbow Dash, who refused to abandon her friends, even in the greatest of danger, was chosen as the Element of Loyalty.”

“And Twilight Sparkle, the one who brought them all together, and the one whose gives them hope even when hope seems meaningless, was chosen as the Element of Magic.”

“You ask me what makes those ponies so special. Nothing. They’re just six ponies who have been able to overcome a number of obstacles through nothing but their friendship with each other.”

Heller was… speechless. He didn’t know if it was because of the revelation that the six ponies that he had once viewed as nothing more than mere annoyances could control a power even greater than Celestia or the fact that Luna spoke about them with such respect.

But really? Honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty, and magic? Those six? He thought back to his encounter with them in the forest. How they had they had attacked him. How they had treated him like he was little less than an animal. For a brief moment he doubted her claims.

Then he remembered Twilight. Hadn’t she shown generosity when she begged him to spare the lives of her friends, without even thinking about her own. Hadn’t she shown kindness when she defended him and treated him like a human being for the first time since he had gotten here? Hadn’t they all shown loyalty when they risked their lives to save Rainbow Dash from that dragon? Even Rainbow Dash showed honesty when she admitted her mistake to the Princess and her friends and begged for their forgiveness. And despite how sappy he felt the whole group hug thing was, he couldn’t deny that their friendship was strong.

“Those six…” He asked slowly, his voice low. “There’s more to them than meets the eye, isn’t there?”

“That’s something you’ll have to find out for yourself James.” She responded.

He said nothing, but nodded his head slowly, still looking deep in thought.

“Well, I believe that’s enough questions for tonight, don’t you think.” Luna said, much to his surprise.

“You don’t have anymore questions?” He asked.

“Well… yes. A lot more actually, but you’re obviously distracted and I don’t wish to bother you anymore with my questions.”

“Oh,” He shifted awkwardly. “Well, uh, what do you wanna do now?”

“How about we enjoy the view and just… talk.”

He smirked. “Now that sounds like an idea.”

Matching his smirk with one of her own, Luna turned towards to look at the night sky, with Heller joining her soon afterwards. Nothing was said between the two. Nothing needed to be said. Both of them were just happy to finally have some peace and quiet in their normally hectic lives. They were kindred spirits in that sense, though whether or not they were actually friends was up for debate. For right now though, they were happy to be in each other’s company.

“Luna?”

“Yes, James?”

“Can I ask you something personal? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Of course James, I don’t mind.” She turned her head to look at him, and saw that he was staring upward.

“What was it like? Up there I mean.” He gestured toward something in the sky.

Following his line of eyesight, Luna spotted what he was staring at, and instantly knew what he was asking about. Giving a sad sigh, she sent a sullen look towards her former prison.

“It was…lonely.” She answered sadly. “When ponies think of the moon, they usually think of some grand adventure; jumping in zero gravity, leaving hoofprints on the surface of the moon, discovering some unknown alien race. But it was none of that. It was just cold and dark.”

“You were conscious the entire time?” Luna swore he sounded horrified.

“Not really. I was asleep most of the time, but when I was awake… it really got to you, you know?”

“Yeah…” Honestly he didn’t know. Trapped on the moon for a thousand years, aware of everything that was happening around you, even if it was just for a few minutes? He couldn’t imagine what kind of hell that was like, and he wondered how Luna managed to keep her sanity throughout it all.

“Well, you’re home now, that’s a good thing at least.” He said, hoping his words would cheer her up.

Unfortunately, they only seemed to make things worse. “Yes, you’d think so wouldn’t you?” She answered, her face downcast.

He looked at her concerned. “What do you mean?”

She sighed sadly. “When I came back… I was treated to a less than warm welcome.” She explained. “Celestia was happy to have me back of course, and so were some others, but not everpony was so forgiving.” She sniffled. “Everypony avoided me like the plague. Children would run away from me crying ‘The Mare in the Moon is going to eat me!’ Even now I get a few stares and whispers whenever I walk down the street. I’ve tried to be a good ruler. I’ve tried to show them that I’ve changed, but…” She choked back a sob. “…they still don’t trust me. Nopony trust’s me.”

Heller was not an emotional man, anyone could tell you that. But even he felt pity as he watched Luna nearly break down into sobs before him. He wanted to help her, but he had no idea what to do in a situation like this. He hadn’t been nearly emasculated enough to hug her, so what else was there?

“I trust you.” The words came out of his mouth before he even thought of them.

Luna turned to face him, tears at the corner of her eyes as her mouth hung open in shock. “W-what?”

“I trust you.” He repeated. “Celestia trust’s you. And I’m pretty sure Twilight and the others trust you too. Who cares if a couple of assholes don’t trust you. If they can’t get over something that happened nearly a thousand years ago, then fuck’em.” He punched her lightly on the arm. “Listen, you can’t please everyone. If I got depressed over every guy that didn’t like me, I’d have committed suicide over 100 times by now. They don’t define you Luna, you do. If they call you a monster, be a saint. If they say you’re evil, do nothing but good. And if they call you a horrible ruler, well then, be the best damn ruler you can be and prove them wrong. That’s how I got through life. Who knows, maybe it’ll work for you too.”

“James…” Luna whispered.

“Yeah, I don’t know where that came from either.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his head. “Honestly, it sound’s like the kind of speech you’d hear out of a bad movie from the 90s. But I think it-“

He never got to finish that sentence. Luna had done something. Something very similar to what Celestia had done not too long ago. Oh, she hadn’t nuzzled him. She had done something much, much worse.

She hugged him.

SHE. HUGGED. HIM.

“James… thank you.” She whispered into his ear. “Thank you.”

“Don’t. Mention. It” He said through gritted teeth.

Is it invade Heller’s personal space day or something? Was it? Cause that was the only explanation for why this shit kept happening to him!

Thankfully, she let him go… and grinned mischievously when she saw his face. “Aw, James are you blushing?” She teased.

He turned away from her to hide his reddened cheeks. “Shut up.”

“Don’t be shy James, I don’t bite… much.”

“You want me to change my mind about not killing you don’t you?”

“Love you too.”

“Fuck you.”

"Maybe. If you buy me dinner first."

"It's gonna be a long night isn't it?"

"Don't worry, you have me to keep you company."

"...Fuck."

Chapter 12

‘Why am I here?’

This wasn’t the first time he had asked himself this question. The moment he found out that magical, talking ponies were the dominant species on this world, that one question had been repeating in his mind ever since.

Seriously, why?

If that black hole really was some kind of dimensional gateway that could send him to different universes, why then, in Gods-fucking-name did it send him here? Why couldn’t it have sent him to a world of horny, big-breasted women? Or how about a world where you could drink all the beer that you wanted till you threw up? Hell, he would have taken a post-apocalyptic world where the entire population was made up of brain-eating zombies. At least that environment would have been familiar to him and he could have had some fun. But no, he was instead sent to the world of magical fucking ponies.

Magical. Fucking. Ponies.

Why does God hate him?!

But he was getting off track.

For you see, the reason he had asked his earlier question of ‘Why am I here?’ was not to question why he was he now trapped in a world of magical fucking ponies. He had (kind of) come to peace with that. No, the reason he had asked that question was because of the situation he had currently found himself in.

He was sitting at a table, one of those long-ass ones that he'd always see rich people eating off of. At one end of the table sat Luna, and on the other end was an empty seat that he assumed was for Celestia. He was next to Luna, sitting in one of the side chairs to the right of her.

Unfortunately, he was not alone.

Occupying the other side chairs, were the so-called Elements of Harmony, and aside from Twilight, none of them looked particularly comfortable with being in the same room as him.

Twilight occupied the seat next to him, and was thankfully not badgering him with a million questions at once, instead opting to glance at him out of the corner of her eye when she thought he wasn’t looking. Next to her was Rarity, who was doing her best to look calm, but visibly tensed up whenever he coughed, shuffled in his seat, or did much of anything really. Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be in a much lighter mood since he had last seen her, sat next to Rarity, staring at him curiously. As uncomfortable as they (or at least Rarity) looked, it still wasn’t as bad of a reaction as he expected them to have.

On the other side of the table, however, the reactions were not so nice.

Sitting directly across from him was Applejack, who still didn’t trust him if the glowering look she kept sending him was any indication. Next to Applejack, sat Rainbow Dash, her wings bandaged, and her eyes narrowed in anger at the one she blamed for her injury. Finally, there was Fluttershy, who unsurprisingly, was sitting the farthest away from him and who was absolutely refusing to even look in his direction, instead choosing to examine the table cloth.

To say the situation was awkward would have been the understatement of the century.

Folding his arms behind his head, he leaned back in the chair, a bored sigh escaping his lips as he stared up at the ceiling.

‘Shoulda stayed in my damn room.’ Glancing over at Luna, he saw that she looked equally as bored as him and was probably thinking the same thing as well.

Other than Luna’s constant attempts at ‘flirting’ with him, the rest of the night had gone by without incident. They spent the rest of the night on that balcony trading stories, with Luna recounting the events that had transpired since her return, such as the return of Discord, as well as the Changeling invasion. He, in turn, entertained her with tales of his own exploits, deliberately leaving out the gory details of course. He simply told her how he had face monsters of all shapes and sizes, including some that rivaled dragons in terms of size and strength, much to her disbelief.

They had been so engrossed in each other’s stories that they had completely missed the sunrise and hadn’t even realized it was morning till a guard came up and told them. The same guard had escorted them down to the dining hall where breakfast would be served, only to find that they were the first ones there and that the breakfast hadn’t even been started yet. The guard left soon afterwards, but not before informing them that the food would be ready momentarily.

That was ten minutes ago, and so far there had been no sign of the food and more importantly, no sign of Celestia.

‘Where is she? I thought Princesses were supposed to be punctual and all that shit.’ He thought impatiently.

He couldn’t deal with all this waiting. Celestia had promised to find him a way home and if he didn’t get some kind of news in the next few minutes he was going to snap, and God help any pony that was around him when he did.

He sent another towards Luna, who noticed it this time and responded by smiling brightly at him and waving. Almost instantly, he felt his anger ebb away and he sent her a small smile in return.

‘How does she manage to do that?’

He and Luna had done more than just tell stories; they cracked jokes, had a few laughs, and – he couldn’t believe he was saying this – but he actually had fun. No one, not even Shining Armor, had managed to get that kind of reaction out him, yet with Luna… he didn’t know what it was, but for some reason he felt like he could relax around her, let down his defenses and actually have a good time.

Only one other person had been able to affect him like that, had been able to make his problems and his anger just seem so insignificant.

‘Good God, would you listen to me? Next thing you know I’m gonna be in bed with her.’ He paused for a moment, a very disturbing mental image of him and Luna in bed together doing… things briefly crossing his mind before being promptly shot to pieces. ‘Okay, never, ever, think about that again. Ever.’

“James, are you alright? You’re looking really green.” He heard Twilight ask. Both her and Luna were looking at him with matching worried expressions.

“Ugh, yeah I’m fine.” He tried to reassure them, though neither of them looked convinced.

“Are you sure? We can get the doctor if you-“

She was cut off midsentence by the sound of the dining hall doors opening. He swerved his head in the direction of the entrance, fully expecting to see Celestia standing there in the doorway, hopefully with some good news to tell him. Much to his disappointment, it was not the elegant and powerful form of the sun deity like he had hoped. Instead, there were two pnies standing there, one of whom he recognized as Shining Armor, and the other one was a female that he had never seen before.

If he had to make a list of the girliest looking ponies from the few that he’d seen since being here… Celestia would definitely be at the top, though this new girl would be a close second. Her coat was a light shade of pink and her mane and tail were made up of streaks of different colors, specifically purple and gold. Spotting the horn on top of her head, as well as the tiara behind it, he looked over at her side and just as he predicted, she had a pair of wings as well.

‘Three Princesses? What else didn’t that damn dragon know?’ He wondered.

Next to him, Twilights reaction to seeing this new pony was much more enthusiastic. “Cadance!” She shouted in joy, jumping out of her seat and running towards the pony now identified as Cadance.

“Twilight!” She shouted just as happily, holding out her arms to envelop the unicorn in a massive hug. “It’s good to see you again. How have you been?” She asked, releasing her as she did so.

“I’ve been great, thanks for asking.” She responded, her face beaming with joy. “And what about you? How have you been holding up?”

“Oh, I’ve been doing well. The honeymoon was fantastic. Hoofululu really is beautiful this time of year. The sun, the beach, the food, it was paradise. Really, the only bad thing was your brother’s snoring. I’m surprised he didn’t wake up everypony in Equestria with how loud he was.”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes at the remark, while Twilight giggled. “That sounds like my brother alright. When we were kids, my parents and I would have to barricade our door’s shut just so we could sleep at night – and half the time we could still hear him.”

The glare Shining Armor was sending her could have melted steel, but all Twilight did was grin at him smugly. ‘Consider that payback for that little stunt you pulled yesterday in the throne room.’

Cadance was completely oblivious to the internal argument between the two siblings, still trying to reign in her laughter after hearing Twilight’s story. Eventually she spoke, a few giggles still escaping her lips “Oh, that story was hilarious Twilight, but I bet it’s not as funny as this one. See, Shining Armor and I decided to take a swim in the hotel pool one day-“

“Cadance, please!” Shining Armor interjected, a mortified look on his face.

“Quiet dear, I’m talking. Anyway, we were at the pool and Shining Armor, wanting to impress me I suppose, climbed on top of the diving board and attempted to do one of those stunts that you’d see professional divers perform. Emphasis on ‘attempted’, because it was anything but professional. Sure he started out good, did a few impressive spins and flips, but when it came to the landing, well…”

“He belly-flopped?” Twilight finished, barely holding back her laughter.

“Hard.”

Whatever willpower Twilight was using to keep herself under control shattered at that one word, collapsing to the ground and clutching her rib’s as boisterous laughter escaped her lungs. Cadance joined her soon after, both of them rolling on the ground in uncontrollable laughter.

As Shining Armor glared at his traitorous little sister and wife, he failed to notice another one of his ‘friends’ sneaking up on him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, it took only a second for him to figure out who was standing right next to him.

“Women.” Heller commented, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically.

“Heller.” He responded tersely, roughly knocking the hand away.

“What crawled up your ass and died?” He asked, taking note of Shining Armor’s sour mood.

“Oh, nothing crawled up my flank. It’s just the Princess chewed it out last night because of you.” He heatedly replied.

“Tch, let me guess, it was because of your use of ‘excessive force’ right? That’s your fault, man. You’re the one who dropped a damn lightning bolt on me.”

“Only because you stubbornly refused to come in quietly.” Shining Armor shot back.

“Only because you acted like a douchebag and tried to boss me around.” Heller countered.

“Only because you- wait, a what-bag?”

“…Forget it.” He sighed. “Anyway, aren’t you gonna introduce me to your-“ He stopped suddenly , a look of utter bewilderment on his face as he stared at something behind Shining Armor. “The fuck are they doing?”

Looking behind him, Shining Armor facehooved when he saw what had Heller so baffled. "Oh, no."

Twilight and Cadance paid the two of them no heed as they skipped in place, chanting as they did so:

Sunshine, sunshine
Ladybugs awake
Clap your hooves
And do a little shake

At that last line, they waved their flanks at each other and once again, collapsed to the ground with laughter. While Shining Armor rolled his eyes at their childish behavior, Heller’s eye was twitching repeatedly as he tried to put into proper words what the fuck he just witnessed.

Giving up after five seconds, he asked out loud, “Someone want to fill me in on what the fuck I just witnessed?”

“That’s their uh… secret dance.” Shining Armor answered sheepishly.

“My God…”

“Well, like you said: women.”

“Even our women aren’t this damn crazy.” He whispered under his breath. “But whatever, your fucked up ass family, your problem.”

Shining Armor glared at him. “I’ll let that insult to my wife and sister slide this time, but don’t push your luck.” He warned.

“I’m terrified. Now you gonna introduce me to your wife or not?”

Shining Armor mumbled something about 'kicking his sarcastic flank later' but turned towards Cadance anyway. “Cadance, can you come here for a moment?” He called out to his wife.

Cadance stood up from where she was lying with Twilight and trotted over to where her husband and Heller were waiting, Twilight trailing close behind her. “Yes dear?” She asked once she was next to him.

“Heller, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Cadance. Cadance, this is the pain in the flank I was telling you about last night, James Heller.”

Cadance smiled kindly at him and stuck her hoof out in greeting. “A pleasure to meet you James Heller, Shining Armor has told me much about you.”

Heller shook her outstretched hoof. “Oh really? Did he tell you how I made him and his men take it up the ass yesterday?”

“Heller!” Shining Armor shouted at him, striking him in the arm (and instantly regretting it) as Cadance and Twilight blushed a bright shade of red.

Before more could be said (and before a shouting match began between Heller and Shining Armor), the dining room doors were pushed open once again. Instead of Celestia (much to Heller’s disappointment…again), multiple unicorns wearing chef uniforms came rushing through the doorway, all of them pushing carts that held trays of what he presumed was food, the lids on top preventing him from seeing what was underneath. They stopped in their tracks however, when they spotted Heller standing there. They stared at him for a long while and something that Heller immediately picked up on was that they weren’t staring at him with fear in their eyes, but with curiosity. Some were even looking at him in amazement, whispering excitedly between themselves as they pointed at him.

He recalled something Luna had said about how the castle workers wanted to meet ‘the creature who saved the Elements of Harmony.’ He almost hadn’t believed her then, but now…

“Alright, what’s the hold up!?” A loud, female voice broke through the whispers. A unicorn wearing a chef’s hat stepped forward, frowning angrily at her staff. “You guys are supposed to be passing the food out, not- OH MY GOSH, IT’S REAL!” She screamed frantically, pointing a trembling hoof at Heller.

He frowned at the unicorn for referring to him as an ‘it’, but before he could call her out on it, someone else did it for him.

“Yes, he is real and he is a guest in my castle and you will treat him as such,understand.” Luna, who had remained completly silent up until this point, told her harshly.

The chef gulped at the death glare Luna was sending her way and nodded her head slowly. “O-of course Princess. I apologize for my rudeness, sir.” She bowed apologetically at Heller, who nodded his head.

“Don’t mention it. Now can you hurry up and pass the food out, I’m fucking starving.”

“As you wish, sir.” Signaling towards her staff, the assembled unicorns got to work on fulfilling her orders. Their horns glowing with magic, they levitated each tray of food off the cart and placed them in front of every pony sitting at the table.

As they completed their task, Heller turned to Shining Armor and his family. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fucking starving. Let’s eat.” All three of them nodded their heads, and as they began to follow Heller back to the table, he called out, “Oh, and Cadance?” He looked back at the Princess. “I’ll be sure to describe to you, in detail, how I made your husband my bitch.”

“Heller, I’m gonna kick your-“

“Shining Armor!” Cadance chided, despite the newfound blush that washed over her cheeks.

“I know, I know, language.” He grumbled, sending Heller a death glare even as he and Cadance took their seats at the end of the table next to Fluttershy.

As the last tray of food was placed on the table, the unicorn chef and her staff bowed their heads respectfully at Luna. “Will you and your guests’ be needing anything else Princess?”

“No, that will be all, thank you.” Luna politely declined.

Nodding their heads’ one last time, they ushered themselves out of the dining hall, silently closing the door shut behind them.

The Princesses didn't mess around when it came to food, that much was obvious. He had never seen such an impressive spread of food in his entire life: Freshly baked muffins and bread, an assortment of fresh fruit, two tall pitchers of orange juice and milk, and a variety of condiments such as butter, syrup, and jelly were scattered across the table. But he cared nothing for the appetizers, hungrily eyeing the main course in front of him. He couldn't tell what it was due to the lid obscuring his view, but whatever it was smelled delicious.

“Well, I see no point in waiting any longer. Dig in everypony!” Luna declared, lifting the lid off her own plate.

“Amen to that!” He responded excitedly, grabbing hold of the lid and lifting it open, fully expecting to see a delicious meal.

“The fuck is this?!”

Everyone at the table nearly leapt out of their seats when Heller’s agitated voice assaulted their ears. They all turned to look at him, some clearly irritated, wondering what the problem was now.

“Is there something wrong James?” Luna asked worriedly.

“Yeah, what is this?” He repeated, referring to the ‘food’ that was currently lying on his plate. At first glance they looked like a regular stack of pancakes. Smelled like them too. There was just one itsy-bitsy problem…

“Why the fuck are there flowers sticking out of these pancakes?”

“…Because they’re daisy pancakes?” Luna said slowly, clearly not seeing what the problem was.

“Daisy…pancakes.” He repeated the words slowly, almost as if he couldn’t believe them.

“Yes, don’t you like-“ She stopped midsentence, her eyes slowly widening in comprehension.

“You don’t eat our food do you?” The words came out in a low whisper.

At the shake of his head, she silently chastised herself for her stupidity. Of course he doesn’t eat the same food as us; he’s a completely different species! What in the world made her think that they could possibly consume the same things?

“I-I’m so sorry James, I should have asked you what kind of food your people ate. Don’t worry, I’m sure the cooks can-“

“You know what, its fine.” He pushed the plate away. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Are you sure James? The cooks won’t mind making you something else.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Anyone who wants this come and get-“

A pink blur shot across the table and a second later, his plate had been completely picked clean. Coincidently, a certain sugar-crazed pony was happily chewing on something in her mouth, moans of pleasure escaping her lips with each bite. Swallowing audibly, she gave a satisfied sigh as she patted her belly, only to notice that everyone's eyes were now trained on her.

“What?”

“…it.” He finished blankly. Giving a long, drawn out sigh, he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. ‘Breakfast just started and I already feel like bashing my fucking head against a wall. Celestia still isn’t here, I’m starving, and I can’t even eat the goddamn food! Can this morning get any worse?!”

“So James…” Began the unmistakable voice of Twilight Sparkle.

‘Oh fuck you universe, fuck you!’

“Yes Twilight?” He answered through gritted teeth, hoping she’d catch the annoyed undertone in his voice that clearly stated 'leave me the fuck alone.'

No such luck. “How did you sleep last night?” She asked, giving him the cheesiest looking grin he’d ever seen in his life.

“Pretty good.” He grumbled.

“That’s good.” She then proceeded to scoot her chair uncomfortably close to him and asked, “Soooo… now that you’ve had a good night’s sleep, do you think you’re in a better mood to talk now?”

“First off: Personal. Fucking. Space. Do you understand it?” The tone of his voice told her all she needed to know and she wisely scooted back to her original spot, grinning innocently at him as she did so. “Second, ask Luna if you’ve got any questions. I told her pretty much everything about me last night.”

Twilight blinked. “Last night? You and… Princess Luna?” Twilight wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Everyone was now looking at him with similar looks of disbelief.

“Oh we had quite the ‘conversation’ alright, didn’t we James.” Luna’s voice took on almost sultry tone as she spoke, looking at him with suggestive eyes. “Yes, it was such a long and deep conversation wasn’t it?”

“Oh my.” Rarity gasped, her face, as well as the faces of Fluttershy and Cadance, were as red of tomatoes. Shining Armor, who had been taking a sip of orange juice at the moment, promptly spat it out all over the table, while Applejack’s, Rainbow Dash’s, and Pinkie Pie’s jaws nearly dropped to the floor. Twilight’s reaction was probably the worse out of all of them: Her eyes looked like they were close to bursting out of her skull with how wide they were, that is if she didn’t break her neck first from how fast she kept looking back and forth between the two of them. Her mouth tried to form sentences, but all that came out were jumbled words.

“I…You…Him…How…HUH?!”

Contrary to everyone else's reaction, Heller didn’t look even remotely shocked or embarrassed at Luna’s words; he held the expression of a man who had just heard a bad joke. ”Luna, I think that’s enough.” He warned.

“Don’t be so embarrassed James, what we shared last night was special. It was the first time for both of us after all.”

“Luna, I swear to God…”

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON HERE?!?!” Twilight screamed hysterically, looking close to ripping her own hair out.

Apparently, Luna found the mental breakdown of the Element of Magic funny as hell, because one second later, she was rolling on the ground laughing her ass off. Shaking his head in honest to God embarrassment, Heller turned to face her still stunned subjects. “Since the ruler of your entire damn country is too busy acting like a drunk jackass…” He spoke that last part out loud for Luna to hear from her position on the ground, though the only affect it seemed to have was making her laugh harder. “…let me just clarify right now: We. Talked. That’s all. Nothing sexual happened. I may have done some questionable things in my life, but bestiality is a line I will never cross. Ever.”

He prayed they believed him. He prayed that the seriousness of his voice, as well as Luna’s reaction to the whole thing, was enough to convince them that he was telling the truth. Cause he seriously doubted that Celestia would react kindly to hearing that the poor, helpless, creature that she had so selflessly agreed to help get home, had banged her little sister.

God seemed to be in a good mood today though, because they all breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his words, Shining Armor even muttering a prayer to Celestia.

Luna on the hand, seemed to have run out of laughs and was currently pulling herself off the ground to sit unsteadily in her chair, breathing heavily and holding her sore ribs as she did so. “Th-that was hilarious.” She gasped out, unleashing another set of giggles when Heller turned to glare at her. “My word, I haven’t I haven’t laughed that hard in ages.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Sticks and stones, James, sticks and stones.”

“Hey wait a minute!” Twilight bellowed. “You talked with Princess Luna but not with me?! Even though I’ve known you longer than her?! How does that make sense?!”

“How does attacking me in a forest count as knowing me?” He questioned with a raised eyebrow. When Twilight was unable to respond, he continued, “Besides, when you were asking me questions, I wasn’t in the mood to talk. When Luna asked me questions, I was in the mood to talk. It’s as simple as that.”

“Well how about now? Are you in the mood to talk to me now?” She pouted.

Heller pinched the bridge of his nose. God, this girl was annoying. He looked her clear in the eyes and just as he opened his mouth to tell her to fuck off, Luna’s voice cut him off, “James, you should at least let her ask one question of you, don’t you think?” She asked, her tone serious for once. “I mean, you did say that she defended you when Shining Armor attempted to capture you did you not?” He mentally smacked himself for revealing that little tidbit of information last night. “And when you think about, doesn’t that make her the sole reason you were even able to meet Celestia in the first place?”

“Okay, now you’re exaggerating things…”

“Oh really? Then tell me, what exactly would have happened had Twilight not jumped in to defend you?”

He opened his mouth to offer some kind of rebuttal, but none could be found. He knew damn well what would have happened. He would have killed Shining Armor, his men too if they got in his way, and used their knowledge to break into the Celestia’s castle. From there, anything could have happened, but the most likely scenario was that Celestia refused to help him and he kiled her to gain her knowledge. The idea of killing such a kindhearted ruler, the same kindhearted ruler who had so generously offered her help to him, was enough to make him feel physically ill, made even worse by the knowledge that he would have gladly done it. But another horrifying thought overtook even that: If he had run into Luna or if she had tried to stop him, he would have killed her without mercy or regret. If the thought of killing Celestia made him feel physically ill, then the thought of killing someone who was quite possibly his closest friend made him feel as if he had just been stabbed in the heart. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he had to face the truth: If it weren’t for Twilight, he’d probably be standing here in the smoldering remains of Canterlot, the power of two gods at his fingertips, but with no way to get home.

He owed everything to Twilight.

Goddamnit.

“I fucking hate it when you do that Luna.” He sighed.

“What, always being right? In that case, you’re going to learn to hate me a lot.” She said, flashing him a cocky grin.

Flipping her off (and smirking at her puzzled look at the action) he turned towards Twilight, who was shifting restlessly in her seat waiting for his answer. ‘This is supposed to be the Element of Magic?' He found himself thinking as he watched her act more like an impatient child than the extraordinarily talented unicorn Luna had described her as. She was probably trying to decide which question (out of millions no doubt) she should ask first.

“One.”

Twilight stopped shifting long enough to look at him puzzled. "Huh?"

“You get one question. You can ask me anything that comes to mind, but I get to decide if I want to answer it, understand?”

Twilight’s face fell. “One question? But I have so many!” She argued.

“Too bad. You get one and one only, take it or leave it.” He said with finality.

“But James…”

“Take it or leave it.” He repeated, his tone indicating that this was her last chance.

“…Fine.” She sighed after a few moments had passed. She wasn’t happy with the arrangement, but what choice did she have?

“Good.” He leaned back in his chair. “Now what’s your question?”

Twilight took a deep breath. This was it. Her only chance to get any kind of answers out of him, and she had to choose carefully. He’s already talked with both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, and chances are he wasn’t going to answer any questions that they’d already asked him. That likely meant he wasn’t going to answer any questions about his abilities, his species, or where he was from, since those were questions that the Princesses probably asked him already. But what else was there to ask him then?

All night long she had been kept wake due to the never-ending questions running through her mind. She wanted to know everything about this new, never-before-seen creature. Who was James Heller? Where was he from? What were his people like? Did they have a society similar to theirs? How is it that they’ve never been seen before now? The scholarly part of her wanted to know so much, yet he was only allowing her to ask so little.

She cursed his stubbornness. How was she supposed to get close to him if he kept pushing her away?

‘Maybe because you haven’t given him a reason to let you get close to him.’ Her conscience scolded.

‘That’s not true! I’ve…I’ve…' She trailed off, unable to come up with an example. True, she had defended him once or twice, but had she actually tried to get to know him? When they were in the carriage, all her questions to him revolved around his abilities and his culture. She had not attempted even once to ask about him as a person. Even now all she cared about was where he was from and how his abilities worked.

‘No wonder he doesn’t want to talk to me. I’ve been treating him more like a science experiment than an actual living being.’ She thought regrettably. ‘He was right. I don’t know him, not at all.’

She felt resolve rise inside her.

‘But I can start.’

“I know what question I want to ask.” She told him, her voice firm.

He raised an eyebrow. There was something about her tone that he just couldn’t put his finger on...

“Go on.” He said cautiously, not sure what she was up to.

Twilight didn’t lose the confident look in her eyes. Swallowing her nervousness, she spoke loud for all to hear...

“What kind of books do you like to read?”

He blinked.

“Say what?”

“What kind of books do you like to read?” She repeated, her tone devoid of humor.

“Books.” He said, looking at her in disbelief. “That’s your question? No ‘how do my abilities work’, no ‘where am I from’, no ‘what is my culture like’? You’re seriously asking me about books?”

“That’s right.” She said calmly.

“I…“ He began but then stopped, still unable to wrap his mind around this. This really wasn’t her question was it? She was just fucking around with him right? There is no way Twilight Sparkle, the same Twilight Sparkle who before had nearly made his head explode with her endless barrage of questions, was actually asking him what he liked to read. Somebody pinch him, cause he must be dreaming.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not much of a reader,” He began, but upon seeing the disappointment in her eyes, he felt compelled to add, “but I’ll read science fiction every once in a while. Nonfiction too if I find it interesting.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Really?! I run a library back in Ponyville, and I have a lot of science fiction books that you can borrow if you want.”

“Um…thank you?”

“Don’t mention James, anything for a friend.” She said, giving him a smile.

Friend? Him and Twilight? Did she really think-

“Ooh, ooh! I wanna play, I wanna play!” Pinkie Pie yelled excitedly, wildly waving a hoof in the air. “I wanna ask him a question too!”

“What the- it wasn’t a game! That opportunity was for Twilight and Twilight only!"

“Hold up now, how is that fair?” Applejack spoke up. “Shouldn’t we all be allowed ta ask yah a question?”

“Did you help me out when the Royal Guards were trying to kick my head in?” He asked the farmpony, his dark eyes glaring into her green ones. “No, you didn’t. You sat there on your ass and did jack shit, therefore, you get to ask me jack shit.”

“Hey! You can’t talk to Applejack like that!” Rainbow Dash shot up in her seat, ignoring the pain that shot through her wings at such an action.

Heller turned his glare towards her. “You did less than her, so you definitely don’t get to ask me shit!”

“Honestly, must you use such foul language in the presence of ladies? You wouldn’t talk to your mother that way would you?” Rarity’s refined voice chastised.

“No, but my mom was an actual woman, unlike Rainbow Dyke over here.”

‘Rainbow Dyke’ must have been the secret word of the day, because everybody all at once preceded to flip their shit: Rainbow Dash attempted to leap across the table at him, only to be caught mid-jump by Applejack who was visibly struggling to hold back the enraged pegasus. Twilight and Rarity began shouting at something at him that he could barely hear, mostly because it was drowned out by whatever random shit Pinkie Pie was yelling at him!

The only ones at the table who weren’t going ape-shit were Luna (who apparently found this shit funny cause she was laughing her ass off again), Cadance (who was too busy trying to hide her blush from the ‘Rainbow Dyke’ comment), Shining Armor (who was watching the whole thing with a shit-eating grin on his face) and Fluttershy (who was doing her best to look invisible)

Oh, how he wished he had that power.

“Now sugarcube, calm down!”

“Let me at’em! I’m gonna shove my hoof up his-“

“James that joke went too far!”

“The nerve!”

“Random yelling!”

“EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP, JESUS CHRIST!” He roared, his sanity reaching its breaking point. Everyone paused in what they were doing; even Rainbow Dash stopped struggling in Applejacks’ hooves.

“If I answer your goddamn questions, will you please leave me the shit alone?!” He begged (yes, begged) them.

Silence, glorious silence,, permeated the room for exactly one second, before Pinkie Pie replied in the most nonchalant voice he had ever heard, “Okey-dokey.”

Then they sat in their seats, acting as if nothing had even happened.

He put his face in his hands and gave a tired, drawn-out sigh.

It was still morning.

It was still fucking morning and already they had driven him to this point.

God help him.

Staying in that position for a few more moments and then taking a deep breath to recompose himself, he decided to follow their example and act like whatever the fuck that was never happened.

“So,” He began. “Who wants to go first?”

Applejack timidly raised her hoof.

“Go then.”

“So, uh,” She started somewhat nervously. “Back in the forest, ah uh… bucked yah an’ yah didn’t even move a lick. Now ah don’t mean ta brag, but ah got the meanest buck this side of Equestria and ah gotta know: How’d yah do it?”

He gave what sounded like the mix between a laugh and a scoff. “Kid, I’ve been hit by objects moving so fast they can punch through steel. I’ve been hit by explosions that pack such a punch they can level buildings. I’ve been bitten and clawed at by creatures as big and as fierce as manticores and they hardly leave a scratch on my body. Compared to all that, your little buck felt like a good back massage.”

Normally, Applejack would have been furious at hearing her bucking skills dismissed in such a way, but she, as well as everyone else, were too busy reeling in horror as he casually described the type of punishment he had endured in his life. Even Luna looked disturbed, silently wondering what kind of hell on earth his world must have been that he would have to go through all that. He noticed the stunned looks they were giving him, but he brushed them aside and asked, “Anybody else got something they wanna ask me?”

Rarity hesitantly raised her hoof next. Signaling for her to go, he found himself gritting his teeth in irritation when she instead cleared her throat for several seconds before finally deciding to speak. “Forgive me if this question comes off as a bit crude, but it simply must be asked. It’s been on my mind for a while now, but I could never figure out how to properly-“

“You got a point to all this?” He interjected, impatience clear in his voice.

Rarity gave an offended ‘hmph’ at the interruption but continued regardless. “Fine then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed in disgust, though not at him. “I must know: Just where did you get those absolutely dreadful 'clothes?'" She made air-quotes with her hooves at the word clothes.

“My clothes?” He looked down at his outfit, the memories of forming them out his own biomass coming back to him. “I bought them.” He simply responded.

“You bought them? Are you blind?!” She blabbed without thinking, instantly shrinking back at the heated glare he began to send her. “I-I mean, why would you ever buy such mangled looking things? You look like you’ve been living on the streets.”

‘That was kind of the point.’ He thought. After Mercer had dumped him off in that alleyway, he had attempted to stay as incognito as possible as he made his way to Father Guerra’s church. The outfit he was wearing is what he’d seen homeless folk around the neighborhood wearing and he’d hoped that any Blackwatch soldier that spotted him would just pass him off as another homeless bum.

Of course he couldn’t tell her that so instead he just shrugged apathetically.

“Well, I can’t in good faith allow you to walk around wearing such rags. If you ever find yourself in Ponyville, be sure to stop by my boutique and I’ll be sure to make you more proper dress wear.”

“Uh, yeah I’ll be sure to do that.” ‘No the fuck I ain’t.’

“Ok, who wants to go-“

“I’ve got a question!” Pinkie Pie yelled… directly in front of him.

“Jesus Christ!” He shot back in the chair with such force that he nearly knocked it over, which would have happened had he and the chair not been enveloped in a cobalt blue glow and sat upright again. Sending an appreciative glance towards Luna and an irritated one towards the insane pink nightmare that was currently sitting on the table, his voice was a mixture of anger and curiosity as he asked, “How the fuck did you just do that?! You were just three chairs away from me!”

“Cheater! I’m supposed to be the one asking questions not you!” She pouted angrily at him.

“Fuck your question, how the hell did you-“

“James.” He looked at Twilight, who was giving him a tired look. “Don’t question it. Just… don’t. I learned the hard way that trying to make sense of anything Pinkie Pie does can be bad for your health. I know it’s going to be hard, but let it go. Just… let it go.”

Normally, he wouldn’t have just let it go, but something in his gut was telling him to listen to Twilight. That even if he did get her to explain how the hell she managed to teleport right in front him… the explanation would only raise more questions than it would answers.

“Fine.” He grumbled, making a silent promise to himself to get to the bottom of this later. Turning to an innocently smiling Pinkie Pie, he couldn’t help but cringe as he asked, “What’s your question?”

Her eyes, which before were abuzz with energy, suddenly turned sympathetic. “How do you feel that they're not making a third one?"

He blinked.

Then blinked again.

Then blinked a third time.

"A third what?"

"I know, I know, it's terrible," Pinkie continued, apparently ignoring his question. "I mean the first one wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty good, you know. And the second one was a huge improvement over the first one, but I guess it just wasn't good enough." While Pinkie Pie sadly shook her head, Heller shook his out of sheer confusion.

"The fuck is this crazy bit-"

She placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder, cutting him off midsentence. "Don't blame yourself Jamesy," She patted his shoulder comfortingly. "These things happen."

Heller didn't respond, too busy looking between the hoof on his shoulder and the crazy-ass pink bitch who it belonged to with murder in his eyes.

"Do you need a hug?"

“...Get this bitch away from me. Now.”

"It's okay Jamesy," She whispered solemnly. "It's okay."

Patting his shoulder once more, she skipped on the table back to her seat.

Heller put his face back in his hands and gave yet another drawn-out sigh.

It was still fucking morning.

“Sorry you had to sit through that James. Pinkie Pie is… special.” Twilight explained to the marine, who took another deep breath to re-recompose himself after dealing with maelstrom of insanity known as Pinkie Pie.

“Understatement of the goddamn century. Next thing you know she’s gonna be screaming at me about chimichangas and yellow boxes.” He said offhandedly.

“Yellow what?”

“Nothin.” He waved his hand dismissively. Twilight gave him a strange look, but didn’t dig in any further.

‘Okay, the crazy one makes four, so that leaves only two left.’ He concluded, eyeing the remaining Elements. His eyes fell on a certain cyan pegasus … and then immediately shifted over to the terrified yellow one next to her.

“You,” He pointed at her.” You’re next.” The yellow pegasus gave a frightened ‘eep’ before burying herself in her mane.

“Come on, I don’t have all day.” He said in a more forceful tone, which only succeeded in making her sink even further into mane.

‘Come on, ask me something!’ He silently begged. ‘It’s either you or the rainbow bitch and I ain’t talking to her!’

“James, that’s not going to work.” Twilight warned in a hushed tone.

“What do you mean?” He whispered back.

“I mean, you’re never going to get Fluttershy to open up to you if you keep speaking to her like that. Fluttershy is really sensitive, and the way you talk makes it sound like you plan on eating her.”

“Talking this way always worked for me before.” He muttered.

“Well it’s not going to work here! If you ever want to get Fluttershy to talk to you, you’re going to have to change your tone and be nice.” She said with emphasis on the last two words.

"Be nice? In case you haven't noticed, I'm a six foot tall monster who is literally five seconds away from having a goddamn mental breakdown! How the fuck am I supposed to be nice?"

"I don't know... talk to her like you would a child, I guess. You've been around children before haven't you?"

It happened so fast that she almost didn't notice it, but for the briefest fraction of a second his eyes held an almost... pained look to them, as if her question had hurt him somehow.

"Yeah," He whispered, his voice distant. "I guess I have."

Twilight's eyes softened, but before she could say or do anything, he turned his attention back to the now trembling Fluttershy.

Why did he even care? This was the same girl who had tried to mind rape him with her eyes yesterday, so why the hell did he even give a fuck whether or not she 'opened up to him'? It didn't make any sense.

'Cause you either talk to her or you talk to the rainbow bitch, your choice.' Is what he tried to tell himself.

But he knew the truth.

Out of all of them - the crazy one, the cowgirl, the fashionista, the rainbow bitch, and Twilight - she was the one who pissed him off the least. She may have tried to mind rape him, but at least she knew when to shut the fuck up. In his book, that made her the best pony out of all of them.

Not only that but...

A small whimper escaped Fluttershy's trembling form.

...this shit was fucking sad, man.

Swallowing his pride (and his masculinity), he began to repeat Twilight's advice in his head.

Change your tone

He took a deep, calming breath.

Be nice

He swallowed the lump growing in his throat.

Talk to her like you would a child

'What are these ponies doing to me?'

Talk to her like you would your child

“Fluttershy.” The word came out soft, almost like a whisper, and held a paternal edge to it that stunned everyone who heard it.

But it had worked. Fluttershy's trembling had stopped and she was now looking at him with one eye visible through her bangs.

“I know you’re scared, hell I’m a scary guy, but I just want you to know that I’m not going to hurt you.” He resisted the urge to add, ‘unless you piss me off.’ “I know that’s hard to believe considering I hurt you once before and if you still don’t trust me afterwards I swear to never bother you again, but can you just give me the chance to show you that I’m not such a bad guy?”

Everyone was paying attention now, still unable to believe this was the same James Heller who not five minutes ago, was threatening Pinkie Pie with murder. But neither he or Fluttershy were paying much attention to them. Their eyes were only on each other, Heller doing his best to look sincere, while Fluttershy searched hard for any sign of deceit.

She could find none.

After a long, tense moment of silence, Fluttershy slowly nodded her head, though her eyes still held a hint of apprehension in them.

Heller let loose the biggest breath he had ever held in his life. “Thank you Fluttershy. You have a question you wanted to ask me?”

She nodded her head.

“Mind telling me what it is?”

She looked away, and mumbled something that he couldn’t quite hear.

“Didn’t catch that, what was it?”

She mumbled again, and again he couldn’t hear her.

“One more time.”

“Hold on James, maybe I can be of help.” Cadance offered. Leaning down so that she was at Fluttershy’s level, she began to whisper something to the timid pegasus. Fluttershy in turn whispered something back, Cadance nodding her head in understanding as she rose back to her full height. “She wants to know if you’re a carnivore or a herbivore.”

“Omnivore. But don’t worry, I don’t plan on eating anybody while I’m here. Hell, if breakfast is anything to go by I’m not gonna be eating anything for a while.” He explained, frowning in disgust as he recalled the daisy pancakes. Fluttershy frowned as well, though not for the same reasons as him. “Something else bothering you?”

Fluttershy motioned for Cadance to bend down again, whispering something in her ear once she did so. Nodding once again, Cadance rose to face him. “What about animals? Do you plan on eating them?”

‘That’s right, she’s an animal love.’ He recalled the countless birdhouses and animal pens he had passed by as he trekked towards her cottage.

“You can relax Fluttershy, your animals are safe around me.” He smiled reassuringly at her. “I prefer my food cooked.”

That seemed to do the trick – her frowning stopped and she sighed in relief, muttering something that sounded like ‘thank goodness.’

“Happy now?” He asked, allowing himself a small chuckle when she nodded her head enthusiastically.

Setting himself into a comfortable position in his chair, he allowed himself a small pat on the back. He did pretty well he had to admit. He got through all their questions, even got a few of them to trust him, and he did it all while making only one death threat. Yep, things were looking up. Only thing left to do now was wait for Celestia and considering the good mood he was in, even that didn’t seem so bad.

Closing his eyes in content, he relished in this rare moment of peace and quiet...

“Ahem!”

…which lasted approximately three seconds.

Cracking open one eye, he glared dangerously at whoever dared to ruin his good mood…

…which was instantly vaporized when he saw who it was.

‘Fuck. Me.’

Putting a hand on his forehead in a futile attempt to stem the oncoming headache, he reluctantly got into a proper sitting position. “Let’s not drag this bullshit on any longer than it has to be. What the fuck do you want to know?”

Magenta eyes glared into him for the dismissive way in which he referred to her, though she refrained herself from yelling. Instead, Rainbow Dash stood in the chair on her rear hooves in an attempt to tower over and intimidate him, an attempt that fell flat when he gave her an apathetic once over and proceeded to trace circles on the table with his finger.

“I just have one question for you, jerk.” She snarled.

He rolled his eyes and continued tracing circles, barely paying attention to what she was saying, though what came out of her mouth next made her the focus of all his attention.

“When are you going to apologize?”

He froze.

"What."

The word was spoken in such a low whisper that not everyone heard it, but what they did hear was the absolutely enraged undertone it held.

“You heard me, when are you going to apologize?!” She repeated, not even noticing that Applejack and Fluttershy were scooting far away from her, both of them sensing the storm that was about to take place.

“Apologize for what?” He knew full well what. He just wanted her to say it out loud before he ripped her a new asshole.

“You know darn well what!” She slammed her hooves on the table. “For scaring everypony back in Ponyville, for almost strangling me to death, for almost killing my friends back in the Everfree Forest. If you think you saving us erases the fact that you nearly killed us in the first place, then you've got another thing coming pal!"

‘Oh this stupid bitch!’

“I nearly killed you!" He roared, leaping out of his seat so that he towered over her. “In case you’re too fucking stupid to remember, you attacked me! I was leaving when you found me. I didn’t want to fight any of you, but she,” He pointed at Applejack. “fucking tied me up, then she,” He pointed at Twilight. “tried to knock me out, and when all that failed, she,” He pointed at Fluttershy, who squeaked. “tried to mind rape me! And after all that, you’re surprised that I fought back? You’re surprised that I didn’t just sit there and take it up the ass? If you expect me to apologize for defending myself then there’s really only two things I can say to sum up my feelings on that subject:

“Fuck. You. From the bottom of my heart.”

“I…you…” She attempted to respond, though no words came out. Mostly it was because of fear; she knew he’d be angry, but even she wasn’t prepared to face the full brunt of his fury like that and she silently prayed that Princess Luna would stop (or at least attempt to stop) him if he tried to attack. But there was another reason she couldn’t come up with a rebuttal.

Deep, deep down, in the darkest recesses of her mind, she knew he was right.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash was not known for admitting when she was wrong, except in the most extreme of cases, so it was of no surprise to anyone what came out of her mouth next.

“Yeah, well… if you hadn’t nearly killed me back in Ponyville maybe we wouldn’t have attacked you like that! We thought you were dangerous!” She attempted to justify.

“The reason I nearly ‘killed you’ was because you attacked me, threatened me, and wouldn’t get out of my way when I was trying to leave that crazy-ass town!” He countered, truly getting sick and tired of her attempts to make him look like the bad guy.

“I attacked you because you were scaring everypony back in Ponyville!”

“I wasn’t doing anything!”

“THAT IS ENOUGH!!” A third voice boomed throughout the room with such volume that everyone was forced to cover their ears in pain.

Luna was glaring at the both of them, waiting a few moments for the ringing in their ears to cease before ordering sternly, “Sit.”

Rainbow instantly obeyed without question, while Heller patted his ear a few more times, his ears still ringing due to his closer proximity to Luna when she used the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Damn Luna.” He muttered, both out of irritation and shock.

Ignoring him, she turned towards the cyan pegasus to her left. “Rainbow Dash!”

“Uh, yes.” She shifted uncomfortably under Luna’s stern glare, which reminded her so very much of Celestia’s.

“What exactly was James doing when you attacked him?”

The question brought a cocky smile to Dash’s face. “I’ll tell you what he was doing, he was scaring everypony!” She pointed an accusing hoof at him.

“And how exactly was he scaring everypony?”

“He was-“ She stopped, eyes daring back and forth as she tried to recall what exactly he was doing. “He was…uh…” Once again coming up with nothing, she looked towards Twilight. “Twilight, what was he doing?”

Before the purple unicorn could even get a word out, Luna cut her off. “Let me get this straight: You attacked James for ‘scaring everypony’, yet you don’t even know what he was doing to scare them?” Luna’s eyes bored deeper and deeper into the rainbow-maned pegasus with each word that was spoken.

“W-well he must have been doing something or why else would everypony be freaking out.” A bead of sweat rolled down Dash's face as she attempted to defend her actions.

“A-actually Rainbow Dash, he wasn’t.” Twilight finally spoke up, an embarrassed blush marking her face.

Dash’s face fell. “W-what?”

“He wasn’t doing anything.” She clarified. “He was just standing there and everypony just kind of freaked out when they saw him. He was actually leaving when you…attacked him.”

‘Oh this is just too much fun.’ Heller was grinning ear to ear as he watched everything unfold before him, especially when Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her rising anger.

“So you attacked him without provocation, threatened him, and when he attempted to leave, you blocked his path? Stop me if I’m going too fast.” Rainbow Dash was unable to respond under Luna’s accusing glare and tone.

She continued “And when you encountered him again in the Everfree forest, your first course of action was to tie him up?” She directed that last sentence at Applejack.

The orange farmpony gulped nervously and pointed at Twilight. “Well, ah was jus’ followin’ Twilight’s orders. She said if we saw'em, to hold’em down so she could put’em to sleep.”

‘Thanks Applejack, you’re a real friend.’ Twilight thought sarcastically, balking in fear when Luna turned her stern glare towards her.

“Well, I-I saw what he did to Rainbow Dash and just assumed that-“

“That because he defended himself from somepony who he thought was a threat, that he was just a wild animal that none of you even attempted to reason with.” She reprimanded harshly, giving of each them a disapproving glare.

None of them were able to look at her, eyes downcast in shame as memories of their actions that day came back to haunt them.

Heller, meanwhile, was watching all of this with mixed feelings. On one hand, Rainbow Dash was getting her ass chewed out again and that was always fun to watch. On the other hand… so were the others. He might not have been too happy with how they had reacted to him, but he could somewhat understand their reasons for doing so. Like he said to Fluttershy, he was a scary guy and he supposed anyone would have reacted violently if they found themselves alone with him.

“Come on Luna, give’em a break. When they found me I had just killed about twenty timber wolves. Anybody would have freaked out in that situation.” He spoke up, causing six pairs of eyes to look at him in astonishment.

Luna was just as surprised that he would try to defend them, though it didn’t change her thoughts on the subject in the slightest. “Nevertheless, they should have realized that you weren’t hostile the moment they saw you attempt to retreat. Even if the timber wolves were proof enough for them to see you as a threat, they should have retreated instead of trying to engage you. If a pack of timber wolves couldn’t bring you down, what them think they could? No matter how you put it, what they did was foolish, dangerous, and could have easily gotten them all killed.”

Luna’s words once again made them lower their heads in shame, each of them feeling their own bit of guilt for the part they played. Twilight lifted her head to say something, but Luna, already predicting what she was going to say, immediately cut her off. “Do not apologize to me, Twilight Sparkle. Your actions hurt one person in this room and he is the one you should be apologizing to.”

All six of them turned to look at him guilt-ridden eyes, an action that made him feel more uncomfortable than anything else. “Look, you don’t have to-“

“I’m sorry.”

He turned his head in the direction of the soft voice, more than a little surprised to see it was Fluttershy of all ponies who had spoken first.

“Seriously, you guys don’t need to-“

“Yes we do James.” Said Twilight, her voice firm. “The way we treated you was disgraceful and the fact that we waited until now to apologize is even more disgraceful. I think I speak for all of us when I say, I’m sorry too.”

“As am I.” Rarity bowed apologetically at him.

“Me too.” Pinkie said somberly.

Applejack took her hat off before speaking. “James, I jus wanna extend mah sincerest apologies to yah, not only for attackin’ yah, but for how I acted afta yah saved us from that dragon.” Her eyes filled with guilt at the memories of her threatening him.”That was no way ta treat yah, ‘specially since yah almost died savin’ us. I jus hope yah can find it in yer heart ta forgive me.”

He nodded dumbly, still unable to believe this was all really happening. Only one pony hadn’t apologized yet, and as he slowly turned his head in her direction, his stomach doing backflips as his mind tried to anticipate what her reaction would be.

Nothing.

Rainbow Dash was just staring at him blankly. Not frowning, not glaring, just staring, no change in her facial expressions at all. He stared back as well, completely ignorant to everything around him. The only thing he briefly took note of was the nervous energy rolling off of everyone’s bodies as they watched the two of them have their staring contest. They were probably praying that Dash be the bigger mare and just apologize so as not to anger him further.

Though honestly, he doubted he’d be all that angry if she chose not to apologize. He’d probably congratulate her for showing some balls for once.

They continued to stare at each other for what felt like ages and just when it seemed like it would never end, Rainbow Dash finally made a move:

She huffed, folded her arms, turned her head away from him, and mumbled something under her breath that he couldn’t quite hear, but he definitely caught the ‘-ry’ at the end.

It was possibly the most half-assed apology he’d ever heard.

But it was still an apology nonetheless.

“You girls,” He began. “Are the most hostile, unappreciative, irrational, moronic, annoying, batshit crazy group of bitches that I have ever had the misfortune of knowing in my entire goddamn life…” Their faces fell and some of them, like Fluttershy, were visibly struggling to hold back tears. Even Rainbow Dash looked disheartened.

He let them wallow in misery for just a few more moments, only allowing himself a small grin when he could no longer hold it back. “…But apology accepted.”

In three seconds flat, their expressions changed from sad, to shocked, to ecstatic once they realized that he was serious.

“Whoo-hoo!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing around the room while simultaneously throwing confettit into the air.

He caught one of the stray pieces of colorful paper, rubbing it carefully in-between his fingers to make sure it was real and wearing a look of pure bewilderment as he did so.

“Where the hell did she get-“

“James.” Twilight was giving him a look.

“…Don’t question it?”

“Exactly.” Then she smiled. “And thank you James. You don’t know how happy you’ve made me- made us.”

“Don’t ment- the hell are you doing?” He blurted out when Twilight suddenly held out her arms and made a move for him.

She blinked in confusion. “Giving you a hug?”

“…No. No, we ain’t there yet.”

“Oh.”

"..........."

“…You do realize you just made this incredibly awkward?”

“…Sorry.”

Thankfully, this incredibly awkward moment was cut short by the familiar sound of the dining hall doors opening for a third time. Considering the disappointment that same sound had brought the last two times he heard it, he understandably did not get his hopes up. But he looked anyway, wanting nothing more than to get away from this awkward situation that he and Twilight had inadvertently found themselves in.

‘Maybe I’ll get lucky this time. Third times a charm they always say.’

Truer words had never been spoken.

“Good morning everypony.” The smiling face of Princess Celestia greeted from the doorway.

“Good morning Princess.” Twilight responded with her own happy smile as she bowed her head. Everyone else followed suit, giving their own form of greeting to the Princess as she trotted in.

Unsurprisingly, Heller was the only one who neither bowed nor greeted her as she made her way in. What was surprising (especially considering how pissed off he was) was that he had not immediately leapt out his seat and hurled every expletive in the english language at her for making him wait so long, which is what he had planned on doing. But the moment she walked in, he immediately realized that would not be a good idea.

At first glance she looked the same as always: Same white coat, same wavy hair, and the same radiating power that seemed to make her literally shine. He doubted it'd be wrong to assume she used magic the same way women back in his world used makeup. But just like makeup, anyone with an observant eye like his could see through all that bullshit and gaze at what truly lied within. And he did not like what he saw. Judging from the worried glances Shining Armor was sending her, he saw it too.

Celestia looked like shit.

She wasn't walking with her usual elegant grace- she was slow, sloppy, almost tired in how she walked. It looked like it was taking all her energy just to lift one hoof off the ground. That wasn't the only change. Her coat, while still white, lacked the brilliant sheen that it had yesterday and while her hair still waved, it wasn't continuous. At times it laid flat against the side of her neck for just a few seconds, only to float back up again. Just under her eyes were barely visible dark spots that she did a decent job at concealing, though even she couldn't hide the exhausted look in her eyes. But the most noticeable difference was the change in her power. Sure, it was still more powerful than what anyone else in the room was able to generate, but it was a mere shadow of what he saw yesterday, a dim bulb compared to the blazing sun from before.

Shining Armor passed it off as the result of a bad night's sleep, and he was half right. But Heller knew the whole truth. He knew that she hadn't gotten any sleep at all, that she had been up all night working tirelessly for his sake.

She had pushed herself to the limit for him and the last thing she needed was his bullshit. He could wait.

“Good morning, sister.” Luna greeted as Celestia took a seat opposite her.

“Good morning Luna, how are you feeling this fine morning?” She asked, forcing a smile despite her fatigue.

“Oh, I’m fine thank you. A bit tired however; I had so many meetings to attend and so many documents to sign that I barely got a wink of sleep last night.” She put on a tired look, forcing a yawn to make it look more convincing.

“Oh really?” She wondered out loud, an edge of suspicion in her voice.

A bead of sweat rolled down Luna's face at the look of scrutiny her sister was giving her, but she smiled innocently. “Yes, really.”

“That’s interesting, because from I’ve heard, you only attended two of your meetings last night, when in fact, you had five scheduled for you. Would you mind explaining why that is?” She asked, her expression firm as the smile quickly vanished from Luna’s face.

“Uh, well, th-that’s quite simple actually. You see I was… um… I-I was-”

“Luna,” The seriousness of her sister's voice immediately paused her rambling. “I know you were with James last night. One of the night guards informed me that he saw you sneaking into his room."

Luna cursed under her breath, making a silent vow to hunt down and punish the guard who ratted her out. "Sister, it wasn't James fault. I was the one who-"

"I know." Celestia cut her off again. "James would never have permitted you to stay in his room if he could help it, which must mean you pestered him repeatedly until he relented, am I right?"

"I didn't pester him." She pouted.

"Luna," Celestia was giving her a look, a look that made Luna groan in dismay. She knew that look. She feared that look. It was a look that she had dubbed 'The Lecture Look.'

"I'm not upset because you visited James. It's the fact that you shirked your responsiblities again that has me so frustrated. I know you’ve been gone for a long time and I know it hasn’t been easy for you to fully integrate into this new society, but you can’t just go around skipping your meetings.”

“But Tiaaaaaa….” She whined. “Those meetings are so boring and it’s not like I’m missing much. We go through the exact same things in every single meeting. Can you really blame me for wanting to skip one every once in a while?”

“That’s not the point and you know it.” She scolded. “Honestly Luna, how do you expect everypony to trust you as their ruler if you keep acting so childish?”

“They don't trust me anyway, so what does it matter?” She muttered bitterly.

Celestia’s eyes softened. “Luna…”

“Celestia.” A third voice entered their conversation, a voice that forced a sigh from Celestia’s lips.

Without uttering a word, she turned her head to stare into Heller’s waiting eyes.

He had tried to be patient, he really had. He had wanted to let her rest a few minutes before badgering her with questions, but in the end his impatience had won out. He needed an answer now.

“Did you find anything?” Was all he said.

She turned away from him, an act that did little to bolster his confidence. “James,” She began, her voice somber. “I searched all night. I triple-checked every single catalogued spell we had on record in the archives. I searched through every time period, from the most recent, to ones that dated back to the days of Star Swirl the Bearded and…”

“And what?” He asked, his heart pounding.

“I… I think I may have found something.”

“W-what?” He gasped, praying that this wasn’t her idea of a cruel joke. “You’re serious. Please tell me you’re serious.”

At the slow nod of her head, he nearly collapsed to the floor in shock. It was over. It was finally over. He could go home. He could see Maya again. If it weren’t for the threat to his masculinity it would bring, he would have cried tears of joy right then and there, surrounded by bright and colorful ponies.

Thoughts of the ponies brought forth a depressing sensation that he was surprised to even be feeling. He wasn’t… sad about leaving was he? That couldn’t be it. Sure, he’d miss Luna and maybe Shining Armor but he’d forget about them eventually and so would they.

Right?

Burying those disturbing thoughts, he focused his attention back on Celestia. “Celestia… thank you.” He said, rare gratitude showing on his face. “So when do we get started on this? How does this spell work?”

“James,” She bit her lip nervously. “It’s not quite as easy as that.” She said, the pain in her heart growing exponentially worse when she saw the panic rise in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” He kept the uneasy edge out his voice.

She sighed; he was not going to like this. “James, the spell I found… is very old. Before my time old. The days of the three tribes old. It’s written in an ancient language that even I’m having difficulty reading and although I’ve been able to decipher most of it, I’m afraid I’m nowhere near close enough to figuring out how to use the actual spell. It’s going to take me at least a couple of days to read through the whole thing as well as figure out how to perform the spell itself.”

“...How long?” He asked slowly.

“James, you must understand-“

“How long?”

She sighed nervously, already charging up her horn with magic in anticipation at the expected eruption. “Six days, a week at most.”

“A WEEK!”

Everyone bolted out of their seats in fear at the booming cry. They may have been completely lost on what the two of them were even talking about, but they recognized an enraged Heller when they saw one and none of them wanted to be in his way when he snapped.

“Now James, just relax.” Celestia put up her hooves defensively, hoping to reason with the infuriated marine.

Unfortunately for her, Heller was far past the reasoning stage. “I don’t have a week Celestia! I need to get home now! What the fucks the hold up?!”

“Well on top of deciphering the spell, I have my own responsibilities to attend to-“

“Fuck your responsibilities, you promised to get me home!" He slammed a fist on the table, the wood splintering where it had impacted. "There’s someone back in my world waiting for me Celestia and she doesn’t have a fucking week! She needs me now!”

“And there are ponies here who need me now!” Celestia cried back in a mixture of sadness and anger. “I feel for you James, I really do, and as much as I want to help you, I will not put your needs above the needs of my subjects. I swear to you, that I will do my best to decipher this spell, but they will always come first James, not you.They need me just as much as whoever is waiting back in your world needs you!"

Heller’s face was red as Celestia finished her tirade. Images of him leaping across the table and bashing her head against the ground until it was nothing but a bloody pulp ran through his mind, and how he resisted from doing such an act perplexed even him. Maybe it was because the rational side of his brain was sending him reminders that he still needed her alive. Or maybe it was because that same rational side, as much as he tried to deny it, knew that she was right. Either way, he was pissed and for the first time in his life, he couldn't kill the object of his rage.

But he was gonna kill something.

A near animalistic roar echoed throughout the room as Heller grabbed hold of the massive table and without any effort whatsoever, threw it at the nearest wall, demolishing it on impact. As the now shattered table (as well as the food and drinks) fell to the ground, everyone watched the panting marine in a mixture of fear, confusion, and pity, all of them wanting to say something, but none of them hazarding even a guess on what say. Luna attempted to place a comforting hoof on his shoulder, an action that he angrily rejected by slapping the offending limb away,

Not even acknowledging the hurt look on Luna’s face, he sourly asked “So I guess I’m stuck in this castle for the next week then, huh?”

Celestia averted her eyes.

“Right, Celestia?”

She coughed nervously into her hoof.

“Celestia!”

She cringed. There was something else she had to tell him and it was either going to annoy him… or enrage him past the point of no return. “Well James,” She said carefully. “I was thinking…”

“Which is warning enough that whatever you're about to say is a bad idea." He muttered cynically.

Ignoring him, she continued “…and I believe it would be best if you…" She paused to take a deep, calming breath, before dropping the mother of all bombs on them.

"I believe it would be best if you stayed in Ponyville during the duration of your wait here.”

For the briefest of moments there was silence, then...

“WHAT!!” Yelled not one, but ten voices, all of them in equal disbelief.

“You want this mental-case to stay in Ponyville! Sorry for saying this Princess, but have you gone off your rocker?!” Rainbow Dash shrieked.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m with Rainbow Dyke over here, have you lost your goddamn mind?!” Heller screamed at an equal volume.

"Sister, are you feeling well? Should I get the palace doctor to come look at you?" Luna asked, truly worried for her sister's mental health.

“If you would just let me explain-“

“No, fuck that! I barely escaped from that crazy-ass town with my sanity intact the first time I was there and you expect me to go back?! Fuck that shit, I’m not going!”

“That’s fine.” She said evenly.

“No that’s not fine, it’s- wait, what?”

“I said its fine.” She repeated, staring at him coolly.

“You…really?”

“Of course. I said it would be best for you, not that you had to go. You can reside here in the castle for the remainder of your stay if you choose to.” She explained in a voice that was way too calm for his liking.

“But…” He asked, already knowing there was some kind of catch.

“But I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave the castle grounds for the entire duration of your stay.” She finished.

He hated being right sometimes.

Fighting back the boiling anger that rose up inside him, he asked, in as composed a voice as he could muster, “And why is that?”

“Simple: Everypony would be afraid of you.” She told him, silently breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn’t snapped again.

His brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought everybody wanted to meet me.”

“They do. Well, the ones who work in the castle want to meet you is what I should say. Outside of the castle however, I’m afraid the reactions will not be quite as… welcoming. Canterlot is home to more of the ‘high-class’ members of Equestria and although some of them are pleasant enough ponies to be around, a majority of them are…” She struggled to come up with a word.

“Pompous?” Rarity threw out, having dealt with some of these ‘high-class’ ponies (and having temporarily become one herself).

“Arrogant?” Heller offered, already having a good idea of what kind of ponies Celestia was talking about.

“Stuck up, condescending, self-absorbed, 'I’m-so-high-and-mightier-than-you’, douchebags?” Luna chimed, which earned her quite a few odd looks. “What? James taught me the word.”

“…How about all of the above, though the word I was looking for was xenophobic.” She said, shaking her head in disappointment as she thought of the disgraceful behavior she had seen from far too many Canterlot citizens, behavior that was the complete opposite of what she encouraged in her subjects.

She and Luna had worked tirelessly to instill the ideas of harmony and equality in all of their subjects and they had been successful to a degree; racism and discrimination were but a foreign thought in the minds of many Equestrians and most would probably need to look the words up to know what they mean. Unfortunately, the ponies of Canterlot were seemingly bottle-fed those words at birth judging from how they acted around other species.

“I don’t know how they’d react to you James. It won’t matter to them that you saved the Elements, at the end of the day all they’ll see is a monster that has no place in their city. At best, they’d treat you like they treat every other species: Like a second class citizen that’s barely worth their notice.” She couldn’t hide the disgust in her voice as she said the words.” At worst… they could possibly be violent.”

“I can take care of myself.” He argued.

“It’s not you I’m worried about James. I know you can defend yourself, but that’s exactly the problem. I trust you James, I really do, but I can’t guarantee that you won’t kill somepony if they attempt to attack you. If that happens the backlash will be unlike anything you’ve ever witnessed, especially if it was somepony of influence. There would be lynch mobs rioting at the castle walls demanding your head within the hour, and as Princess I would be forced to take action, whether that means banishing you or imprisoning you in the dungeon until the spell has been deciphered.” She paused, not only to catch her breath but to also gauge his reaction so far. Surprisingly, he didn’t look angry or upset in the slightest, or at least as he should have been considering the choices she was giving him. He actually seemed to be contemplating her words, albeit with a small frown.

“James,” Her voice was pleading now. “Neither of us want that to happen. That’s why I’m giving you this chance. I know your past experience with Ponyville wasn’t the most pleasant and I understand your hesitation to return, but I promise you, if you just go back to them, talk to them, get to know them, and show them the real you, you’ll find that the citizens of Ponyville are the kindest, most generous souls you’ll ever have the pleasure of meeting, a far cry from those living in Canterlot.” When Twilight and the others nodded their head in reassurance, she had hoped that would be enough to convince him.

Said hope promptly withered when instead his frown grew more pronounced, as did the unsure look in his eyes.

Inside, she sighed regrettably. She didn’t want to have to do this, but he had left her no choice.

“But if you choose to stay here, that will be acceptable as well.” She said, before her eyes turned deathly serious. “But as I said before you will not be allowed to leave the castle walls during the duration of your stay here. During the day, you will be allowed only in areas of the castle that I approve of, and you will be accompanied by a squad of Royal Guards wherever you travel. Yes, that includes the bathroom. By night, you will be confined to your room, only to be let out first thing in the morning. I’m afraid you’ll have little in the way of accompaniment; the Elements have their own lives and jobs to get back to in Ponyville and will be leaving soon after breakfast. Luna and I have our own duties - duties that she will perform - as do Shining Armor and Cadance, so it looks like it will just be you for the whole week. If you attempt to leave the castle, abandon your guards, or wander into any of the areas I forbid you from entering, there will be severe consequences, the least of which being imprisonment in the castle dungeon. Those are my conditions James and they are non-negotiable.” She said in such a harsh voice that no one, not even Luna, had heard her use before. Even she was shocked (and slightly ashamed) at how uncharacteristically cold she sounded, but she buried her guilt, knowing it was for the greater good. She just prayed that he wasn't too livid by the conditions she had set.

Had she been able to read minds, she would have been more than a little surprised to find that he wasn't angry in the slightest. He wasn’t even angry at her accusation that he lacked the self-control to not kill anybody if they tried to attack him. Mostly because he knew she was right.

If those six from Ponyville (the supposedly ‘nice’ place) were willing to attack him so violently, then he could only imagine how the assholes that resided in this place were going to react to him. If one of them did try to attack him he’d try to restrain himself, but if that bullshit kept happening every time he walked out the door, it’d only be a matter of time before somebody ending up getting killed, whether on purpose or on accident. And if that happened, all hell would break loose and Celestia would be forced to deal with him or risk losing the trust of her subjects. As much as he hated to admit it, she was doing this for both their sakes.

Which unfortunately, did nothing to make his choice any easier.

He could either go to Ponyville, a town of insanely violent, insanely hostile, insanely loud, and just all around batshit insane ponies.

Or he could stay here in Canterlot, confined to the castle with nothing to do, no one to talk to, and where he’d have eyes watching him every time he took a shit.

It was times like these where he seriously missed walking through the forest looking at trees.

Seriously.

“When do we leave?” He groaned unhappily.

Celestia kept her face even, despite how much she was cheering on the inside.” It shouldn’t take too long to get the carriage prepped for transport so about a half an hour at least." He nodded, looking none too happy with the arrangements.

"But until then, you’re free to do whatever you please." She quickly added, hoping a half an hour of freedom would be enough time for him to cool down.

Without saying a word he made his way towards the exit, not making eye contact with anyone. Just as he placed both hands on the door handles, a single voice called out to him. “James?”

His hands still placed firmly on the door handles, his voice held the tiniest bit of irritation as he asked, “What do you want, Twilight?”

“James, I know what you’re going through." He could practically feel Twilight's eyes boring into him with sympathy. "When I first moved to Ponyville I was upset too, though for completely different reasons. They didn’t make the best first impression on me either, and even though I thought I’d regret it, I gave them a chance.” A wistful smile came to her face. “And look where it got me: Five of the greatest friends a pony like me could ever ask for and I never would have met them if I had given up. I guess what I’m trying to say is, just give it a chance - I promise you won’t regret it.”

He didn’t respond. He simply flung the doors open and stepped out, loudly slamming them shut as he did so.

Silence permeated the air. Everyone looked awkwardly between one another, none of them having the slightest idea of what to do or say. The only one who wasn't looking around was Luna, her eyes remaining glued to where Heller had loudly walked out.

"James." She murmured sadly.

“I’ll go talk to him.” It was Shining Armor's voice who broke the silence after a few moments had passed.

Cadance placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Shining…”

Staring into his wife’s worried eyes, he held her hoof in his own as he nuzzled her lovingly. “I’ll be fine Cadance. Someponys got to calm that stubborn mule down, and it is might as well be me.” Despite the sad look in her eyes, Cadance nodded in agreement.

“I’ll be back.” He told her confidently, giving her a tender kiss on the forehead.

“Be careful Shining Armor and try not to enrage him too much.” Celestia cautioned.

Nodding his head in her direction, he flashed one last cocky grin at his wife before racing towards the doorway, telekinetically opening them and closing them behind him as he ran through.

Silence returned to the room once more.

“Maybe I should go with him.” This time it was Twilight who broke the silence, her expression matching Cadance’s as her eyes drifted towards the door.

“No Twilight, I think it would be best if we left this to Shining Armor. Right now, I think he’s the only one James is willing to listen to.” Celestia advised her.

Twilight reluctantly nodded her head, her eyes glancing worriedly at the door nonetheless.

“Besides… there’s something we need to discuss.” Now all eyes were on her.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” Twilight asked, taking note of her mentor’s suddenly serious tone.

“Girls… there’s a reason I wanted James to go to Ponyville, and it’s not because I thought it would be safer for him.” She admitted, her eyes falling on each of them.

“There’s something I need you girls to do for me…”

A/N: Yes, I know. I’m doing the whole ‘the human/living virus goes to Ponyville and gets into all kinds of wacky adventures with the Main 6’ route that every other Human in Equestria fic does. Trust me, if there was any other way to this I would, but Heller needs to be in Ponyville for the plot to move forward. Don’t worry, Heller will not become some flower smelling pansy that sings friendship songs with Pinkie by the end of the story. I’ll be sure to add in plenty of gore and violence in-between the wacky adventures. Until next time (which will hopefully be soon).

Chapter 13

He was mad. No, scratch that, he was pissed beyond all reason.

Just from glancing at his face, anybody would have been able to come to that conclusion. The growling, the narrowed eyes, the flared nostrils - he was a ticking time bomb and all it would take was one little spark to set him off.

Which is exactly why Celestia’s servants were literally throwing themselves to the side as he stomped through, watching with fearful eyes as he passed, and breathing a sigh of relief when he vanished from sight without even give them without a second glance. Even the guards wisely chose not to confront him, lest he chose to unleash his wrath on them.

Considering he was liable to rip the head off the first dumb fuck stupid enough to mess with him, this was a wise choice. After the news Celestia had just given him, even that would have seemed tame compared to what he could have done.

But surprisingly, it wasn't the fact that he was going back to Ponyville that had him so enraged. Sure, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, but considering the ‘impression’ he made on the townsfolk the last time he was there, they were probably going to be too preoccupied shitting themselves to even think about trying to mess him, so he wasn’t worried about that. No, the main source of his current disposition could be easily narrowed down to two reasons.

One was the fact that he was going to be stuck in that mental asylum of a town for a week.

A fucking week.

The thought of what Mercer alone could do in that amount of time was enough to terrify him. The thought of what Blackwatch could do in that time only doubled that fear. Add to that whatever plans Galloway was cooking up in that fucked up little head of hers, and it was easily tripled. It was going to be an all-out war between those three, and both New York and Maya were going to be caught in the middle. He only prayed that when he returned, it wasn’t to the sight of a smoking crater that was once New York City.

If he returned that is. Considering who his ‘guides’ were for the week he was there, he didn’t see his chances of survival being very high. That, of course, led to the second source of his anger.

Those six... he didn’t know how to describe them. The Six Apocalypse Ponies of Hell came to mind, though even that seemed too generous. Though to be fair, he only regarded half of them in that manner. Fluttershy he didn’t mind. Twilight he could tolerate. Applejack was... okay, he guessed. Those three he had no problem with. As for the other three...

Rarity wanted to put him in ‘proper dress wear’, whatever the hell that meant. He didn’t know what passed for fashion in this world, and he honestly didn’t want to know. Chances are he’d be walking out of her boutique looking like a damn tranny. Pinkie Pie...existed. And considering the bullshit excuse of an apology he had gotten from Rainbow Dash, he didn’t know what to think of her.

He was going to be stuck with them for a week. He was going to be living with one of them for a week. He just prayed that it was with one of the three that he liked. Cause if it was with any those other three, especially Pinkie Pie...

He shuddered.

He might as well just slit his throat then and there because he was not going to survive.

‘God, can this day get any-‘

“Heller, wait up!”

‘...Really universe? You couldn’t have even waited until I said it to fuck me over? Asshole.’

“What do you want Shining Armor?” his voice practically oozed irritation as the young captain began to trot at a steady pace next to him.

“Where are you going?” The unicorn asked

“To get some air,”

“The Princess said you couldn’t go outside,” he reminded him.

“No, she said I couldn’t let anyone see me. I saw a giant wall surrounding this place when we landed. As long as I stay within that, I technically won't be breaking any of her rules."

Rolling his eyes at Heller's pitiful attempt to manipulate a loophole, Shining Armor let him know exactly what he thought of that 'plan'. “First off, technically, yes you will be. I was there Heller and I distinctly remember the Princess saying not to go outside,” he ignored Heller’s indifferent scoff and continued. “And secondly-“

Rolling his eyes and quickening his pace, Heller was fully prepared to leave the nagging stallion in his dust were it not for what the unicorn said next.

“-do you even know where you’re going?”

He stopped dead in his tracks.

Goddamnit.

He couldn’t see him, but Heller knew Shining Armor was wearing a grin that could match Mercer’s in terms of smugness.

Seeing that his words had the desired effect of stopping Heller in his tracks, Shining Armor leisurely trotted over to the marine, fighting hard to put on a serious facade through his massive grin.

Walking around the stationary marine and stopping directly in front of him, he craned his neck up so that his eyes met Heller’s. Several tense seconds passed as the two soldiers stared each other down, neither one willing to back out. That same stubborn refusal to give in was in both their eyes. It was a trait that they had come to expect from one another-a trait that was the main source of conflict between the two of them. It was a trait that they both hated the other for having.

And even though they would never admit it, it was the same trait that made them respect each other above all others.

As Shining Armor and Heller’s battle of wills continued, a small audience slowly began to form around them. Janitors, chefs, handmaidens, and even a few guards had paused in their daily routine to watch the tense struggle between the two. Neither Shining Armor nor Heller seemed to notice or even care about the small group of spectators that had come to watch them, their eyes never once wavering from each other. Not a word was muttered from the audience, none of them dared ruin the tense atmosphere that had been formed from this silent battle. A battle that seemed never-ending.

Everyone jumped in surprise when Shining Armor’s voice suddenly shattered the silence. “Would you like me to show you where the exit is?” he asked, his face showing no emotion.

Heller, his face similarly expressionless, responded, “Would be nice.”

“Follow me then.” Turning around, he began to walk in the opposite direction, Heller following close behind him.

As the two soldiers walked off, their still speechless audience watched, stupefied. A few seconds passed in silence before one brave soul yelled out what they had all been thinking,

“That’s it?!”

The next several minutes passed in silence as the two soldiers walked through corridor after endless corridor. To Heller, it seemed like they were walking through a damn maze, and even though his every being was screaming at him to ask the unicorn if he even knew where the hell he was going, he held his tongue. Shining Armor was his only way out of here, and if he pissed him off, he could say bye-bye to any of hopes of ever leaving this damn castle. So despite the difficulty, he kept quiet.

Thankfully, he didn’t have long to wait. After turning three more corridors, he spotted a set of double re-enforced doors at the end of the hall, similar to the ones in front of Celestia’s throne room. The only difference was that these doors were embedded with an emblem of two spears crossing each other onto them. As he and Shining Armor approached the massive doors, his ears picked something up; though it was too muffled to hear clearly, he swore he could hear yelling on the other side, as well several other strange sounds. As they got closer, the sounds became more pronounced. He was definitely hearing yelling - a lot of yelling for that matter - as well as what sounded like running. Just what the hell was happening over there?

Whatever it was Shining Armor sure wasn’t worried, his stoic mask never once wavering even as the sounds grew in intensity. “We’re here,” he announced, coming to a stop directly in front of the doors.

‘No shit Sherlock,’ he though sardonically, though he wisely kept his mouth shut.

He watched as Shining Armor’s horn became enveloped in a magenta glow, followed by the doors being slowly pushed open, sunlight leaking into the corridors. Heller had to cover his eyes as the bright light washed over his face, temporarily blinding him. As his eyes slowly became accustomed to the brightness, his ears were suddenly assaulted full force by the noises that were once before inaudible.

“Unbend your knees and twist forward with your hips when you throw!”

“Relax your hooves men, you’re never gonna hit anything if you keep shaking!”

“Pick up the pace you useless foals, my grandmother could move faster than you and she’s six feet under!”

‘The hell is goin on out-‘ His jaw dropped before he could even finish.

Directly in front of him, hidden from outside view by a towering wall on all sides, was what could best be described as a training field. A huge training field, easily matching a football field in terms of sheer size, possibly even surpassing it. And the royal guards that now occupied it were sure as hell taking advantage of its size.

He could see exercise equipment at the wall on the other side of the field, and a few guardsmen already putting them to use, either lifting weights or doing pull-ups. Those that weren’t using the equipment were doing the typical exercise routines like jumping jacks, crunches, and running laps. Weapon racks lined the walls, holding not only swords, but also spears, maces, axes, bows and arrows, and a few other miscellaneous weaponry. Those that had a weapon, occupied an area of the field as they practiced: those with spears occupied one side of the field, throwing their weapons at cardboard cutouts of creatures like dragons and manticores, and hitting them with impressive accuracy. It was the same for those with bows and arrows, who occupied another side of the field. Those with close-ranged weapons like swords and axes sectioned off little of areas for themselves as they sparred with each other, their heavy plated armor blocking potentially fatal strikes.

"You said you were going to take me to the exit.” Heller said sharply, angry eyes aimed at the unicorn.

“No, I said I was going to take you outside. Technically, I kept my promise.” There were no words to describe how good it felt using Heller’s own words against him, even if it did earn him the full force of the Marines glare.

“Technically my ass motherfucker, you said the fucking exit!” he snapped, his voice rising a few octaves in anger.

He was given an infuriatingly calm smirk in response. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Point is, you’re here now, so I guess you’re just going to have to deal with it.” Smiling, he casually trotted into the field, Heller glaring daggers into his back as he did so.

He was going to punch him. Hard.

Begrudgingly he stepped out into the field, making a mental note to give the unicorn a good ass kicking later, preferably in front of his wife.

Looking over his shoulder, a wide grin broke out on the stallions face when he saw that the human had bought his bait. ‘Phase one complete.’

Trotting at a leisurely pace, Shining Armor’s head darted left and right as he observed his troops go about their daily routine, nodding approvingly as he noted their individual progress. Trailing behind him, Heller examined their training as well, a feeling of nostalgia settling in as he did so. This wasn’t all too different from the training he went through in his days as a private, though the weaponry he worked with was a bit more high tech than swords and spears. Still, he was impressed. These ponies were as dedicated and disciplined as any human soldier back home. So dedicated in fact that they had yet to notice either of them as they slowly strolled across the field. Even the three guards who they were currently approaching in the middle of the field had yet to see them, one of whom was facing away from them as he carefully observed the other two as they sparred.

“Sabre Bolt, you’re never going to win if you stay on the defensive! I’ve seen at least three openings that you didn’t take advantage of. You need to get in there!” An earth pony advised a struggling unicorn as he blocked another sword strike. Said unicorn nodded his head and struck back with a powerful swing, knocking his opponent back. The instructor nodded in approval, watching them closely to spot any more errors.

As they approached the three unsuspecting guards, Heller noticed something odd.

“Why are they fighting like that?”

“You mean on two hooves instead of four?” Shining easily guessed. It was after all, an odd posture for a pony to be in. “All royal guard members are required to learn a bipedal fighting stance when they enlist. As you’ve seen before we usually wield our weapons in our mouths, but as you can imagine that isn’t the most practical way of fighting. Fighting in a bipedal position allows us to add a bit more versatility to our fighting style, even if we can’t move nearly as fast we could if we were on all fours.”

“That can’t be easy to learn.” Heller observed, equating it to a human being taught to fight on his hands and knees.

“It’s uncomfortable at times and takes some getting used to, but there’s no denying its effectiveness.” he replied, now only feet away from the three oblivious guards.

Smiling mischievously, Shining Armor silently approached the instructor from behind, “How goes the training, men?” he asked coolly, a mental countdown already underway. ‘Ten, nine, eight...’

“Pretty good Captain.” he responded absentmindedly, his mind clearly still focused on the fight.

‘Three, two, one...’

“Captain!” The earth pony exclaimed, attempting a clumsy salute as he swerved around. “Sorry captain, I didn’t hear yo-“ Predictably he trailed off, his eyes growing wide as saucers the moment he spotted the Heller standing right behind his commander.

“Holy...”

It didn’t take long for the two sparring unicorns to notice him as well, their weapons almost clattering to the ground due to a combination of shock and fear.

Shining Armor glanced back at Heller to see how he was taking this, sighing in relief when the humans’ only reaction was an irritated eye-roll. At this point he expected such reactions and at worst they made him feel mildly annoyed.

‘That’ll make things a little easier at least.’ he thought, clearing his throat for phase two of his plan

“ATTEN-TION!”

For the second time that morning, Heller found himself holding his ears in pain. He glared irritably at the unicorn and just as he opened his mouth to hurl a string of curses at him, his eyes happened to glance over at the three guards from before. Almost immediately his anger turned to shock.

For where there were once three guards, now there was nearly a hundred, all of them lined up in perfect formation. Their weapons and equipment lay abandoned on the ground, and despite the fact that they had all been training vigorously beforehand, none of them seemed short of breath. Add to that the fact that they had been able to reach the spot where he and Shining Armor were standing in mere seconds and line up in that formation without him even noticing, and to say that he was impressed would have been an understatement.

“Damn.” Was all he could think to say.

Shining Armor’s lips curled into a smile - a smile that was soon replaced by an uncharacteristically stern frown as he turned to look at the assembled soldiers. For several moments, he said nothing, his eyes training over each of them, deliberately trying to get a reaction out of them with his piercing stare. For the moment, Heller was but a distant thought in his mind as he inspected his men, his keen eyes watching for any break in their composure. The guards meanwhile, stood tall under Shining Armors scrutinizing gaze. This was obviously nothing new for them, as they held the same stone-faced expression throughout the entire inspection.

After nearly a minute of silence Shining Armor, his assessment finished apparently, allowed a more relaxed smile to cross his face. “Good job, men. As a reward, no laps for today...” Keeping their composure, the guards nodded their heads.

Heller caught sight of an impish grin on the captain’s face “...which is what I would have said had Sabre Bolt not twitched.”

Almost instantly, the once stoic Royal Guards groaned and pouted like teenagers.

“Nice going, Bolt.”

“You’re always screwing things up for us dude!”

“Once again, the rookie ruins it for everypony. Freaking perfect.”

These insults and more were heaped upon the poor unicorn known as Sabre Bolt, who winced as several of his fellow guards went as far as to slug him roughly in the arm. Heller pitied the guard; if it was anything like back at home, what he was going through now was going to seem like a day at the beach compared to what they were going to do when Shining Armor wasn’t looking.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough fooling around. I have important news for you guys, and the quicker I tell you, the quicker you can get started on those laps.” With those words alone the insults ceased, their faces reverting to an intimidating mask of indifference. With bodies as still as stone, they eagerly awaited their orders.

Raising his voice to its maximum volume, Shining Armor spoke, “Men, I would like to introduce you to James Heller,” he pointed to the marine in question, “Some of you know him, some of you don’t. Some of you may have only heard of him. But what you all need to know and understand is this: this man singlehandedly rescued the Elements of Harmony and were it not for him, they might not be here right now. That includes my little sister. For that, I owe him a debt of gratitude I doubt I’ll ever be able to repay.” That statement earned Heller quite a few looks from the assembled guards, all of whom were unused to hearing their captain hand out such praise.

“I know some of you here have met Heller before under less than pleasant circumstances,” he eyed a few of the guards as he said this, identifying them as the ones who had been on the squadron with him when they first encountered the human. “But that’s all in the past now. I’m not going to lie; Heller’s...difficult to work with...really difficult. In fact, at times you want to punch him in the face just to get him to shut up." Heller let out a low growl, as if telling him to get on with it. "But his hearts in the right place. Therefore, I expect all of you to show him the same respect you would show each other. Understood!”

“YES SIR!”

“Good.” He turned towards Heller. “Heller, is there anything you’d like to add?”

The Marine shrugged halfheartedly “I’m good.”

‘Alright then, phase two is done. Here’s hoping phase three goes down just as well.’

With that thought in mind, he directed his attention back to his fellow guards. “Men...” The guards tensed, readily awaiting their captain’s next order. “...why don’t you guys take a little break, you look tired.”

He knew the words were completely alien coming from him, even before the wide-eyed look crossed everyone's face. “A-are you serious captain?” One pegasus guard questioned.

“Dead serious.” The guards’ eyes grew even wider at the response, all of them silently wondering if the Shining Armor standing in front of them wasn’t some kind of changeling spy in disguise.

Already predicting this kind of response, Shining Armor quickly added, “Don’t think I’m going soft men. You’re all going to be running triple laps by the time your little ‘break’ is over.” That statement elicited a groan from several of the guards, as well as erased any doubt that this was the real Shining Armor. “But for the moment I need you all off the field. There’s something I need to...discuss with Heller.” Heller looked at him, confusion clearly written across his face.

The guards exchanged worried glances, but slowly vacated the field regardless. As they trotted towards the exit, a few directed their worried glances towards Heller, though he doubted it was him they were worried about.

Just as the last guard prepared to leave the field, Shining Armor’s voice rang out, “Sabre Bolt!”

The unicorn jumped at the call of his name, giving a nervous salute as he spun around. “Yes, Captain!”

“You stay here. There’s something I need you to do for me.” Gulping nervously, the unicorn quickly made his way back.

“So what was it you wanted to ‘discuss’?” he asked inquisitively. Sabre Bolt stopped a few feet away from them, the look on his face indicating he was wondering the same thing as well.

Instead of answering, Shining Armor instead reached for the sword that lay holstered at his side and slowly unsheathed it. “What do think of this blade, Heller?” he asked, displaying the gleaming sword in front of him.

Heller wanted to question what the hell that had to do with anything, but decided it was best to just go along and replied, “It’s alright. Looks the same as any other sword.”

“Oh, but it isn’t.” He chuckled. “See, this blade has one characteristic that sets it apart from any other: it’s completely unbreakable.”

“Oh, really.” He scoffed skeptically.

“It’s true; this blade was magically forged using the strongest materials found in Equestria: the toughest steel, the hardest diamonds, and the even the indestructible scale of a dragon was added to the mix. All three were merged together to create this one, indestructible blade.” His voice took on a bit of pride. “Only the Captain of the Royal Guard is allowed to hold this sword and through the generations of Captains it’s been passed down through, it has yet to find a target it can’t cut.” He gave Heller a look. “I’d even go as far as to say it could even cut through you.”

Heller scoffed once again, waving his hand dismissively. “Well, you’re entitled to your own dumbass opinion, so I won’t argue. Now if the only reason we’re even here is so you can give me a fucking history lesson, I think I’m jus-“

He felt the sensation of cold steel pressing against his neck. Before he could even try to process what was happening, Shining Armor, his eyes narrowed in a challenging manner, coldly spoke, “En garde.”

“What hell are you-“

“Come on Heller,” he goaded, lightly pushing the point of the blade even further into his neck. “Let’s find out right now whether my ‘dumbass opinion’ holds any water, shall we?”

“You’re serious?” he asked in a surprisingly relaxed manner considering the sword at his neck.

“Dead serious. Besides, we never did finish our little fight from last time thanks to Twilight. But Twilight isn’t here right now is she? Neither are the Princesses. It’s just you and me.” His eyes blazed in excitement. “So what do you say Heller? Still think you’ll be able to shove your foot up my ass? Or are you afraid the reverse will happen?”

Sabre Bolt couldn’t believe what he was hearing. When he had been called, he feared the worst, fully expecting to be on the receiving end of one of the captain’s infamous lectures for the way he screwed up during inspection. Needless to say, he did not see this coming. While he was relieved that he wouldn’t be getting reprimanded, he was also frightened, though not for himself. The captain was going to fight this thing? The thing that (if the rumors were true) killed a dragon and effortlessly humiliated an army royal guards? Was he insane?!

“Bolt, what’s going on over there?!”

Sabre Bolt turned towards the voice, surprised to see that the other guards hadn’t left. They were standing in the doorway watching the entire exchange between Heller and Shining Armor, but unable to hear what was happening. As such, they were completely baffled as to why the captain had his blade pointed at Heller’s neck.

“It’s the captain! He’s challenging the monst- I mean, Heller to a duel!” he yelled back. Instantly, a wave of confusion washed over the crowd as they muttered between themselves, more baffled than ever.

“The captain wants to fight him?”

“Right out of nowhere? That doesn’t sound like him.”

“Yeah, and didn’t he say he was indebted to Heller? Where is this coming from?”

Sabre Bolt heard their confused chatter and he had to admit, they had a point. It didn’t make any sense. Why would the Captain challenge Heller to a duel immediately after saying he was grateful to him? And why was he being so pushy on the subject? All of a sudden, the theory that he might be some kind of changeling in disguise began to have some merit again.

Looking back, he saw that neither Heller nor Shining Armor had moved a muscle. Heller, despite the blade at his neck, didn’t look to be worried in the slightest, staring at it impassively as if it was a simple fly that had landed on his arm. Sweat collected on Sabre Bolts brow as he watched, not having the slightest clue of what was going to happen. He just prayed that whatever it was, he was fast enough to get out of the crossfire. There was silence in the field, as all earlier conversations between the guards had ceased, each of them watching with equal anticipation of who would make the first move.

Everyone’s hearts began to race as Heller’s arm slowly began to rise. Lightly gripping the tip of the sword in his fingers, he gradually removed it away from his neck. Releasing the blade once it was a fair distance away, he stared into Shining Armor’s eyes one last time, before saying two words that nearly had him drop the blade in shock.

“Not interested.”

With that said, he turned on his heels and made his way back to the castle.

“What the- Heller!”

Heller, still walking away, casually responded, “Yeah?”

“So that’s it? You’re running away scared?” he mocked.

Instead of getting riled up like he expected, the Marine just kept walking. “It ain’t that I’m scared, it’s that I don’t wanna deal with the headache.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, which elicited a sigh from the man as he came to a complete hault.

He looked at Shining Armor over his shoulder, and as if talking to a child, responded slowly, “Let’s say we do fight; if you end up getting killed or seriously maimed, who do you think is gonna get blamed?” He pointed a finger at himself. “Me. And who do you think is gonna be bitched at by about four different females for letting you get hurt?” Once again, he pointed at himself. “That’s right, me. Your sister’s voice is annoying enough without her yelling at me, and I don’t need to add your wife’s voice to the mix either. That’s not even getting into the fucking lecture I’m gonna get from Celestia and Luna.” He shook his head at the image. “So yeah, as much I would like have a dick-waving contest with you, I prefer having my ears not bleeding like a fucking waterfall. So if you don’t mind-“ Convinced he had gotten his point across, he continued on his original path.

He had taken all of five steps before he was, unsurprisingly, called again. “Heller!”

With a trace of irritation in his voice, he replied, “Look Shining Armor, I’m not about to take part in your stupid little-“

“I’m trying to help you, you idiot!”

He stopped again, and this time, he turned around fully. “What are you talking about?”

“Heller,” he sighed, stabbing his blade into the ground. “Let me ask you something: when you get to Ponyville, and you take that first step out of the carriage, what is the first thing the townsfolk are going to see?”

“A six foot tall monster?”

“Well, there’s that. But what they’re also going to see is an enraged six foot tall monster. And do you know what they’re going to do once they see you show up looking like you plan on slaughtering everypony in town?”

“Piss themselves?”

“Yes, and that’s exactly what we don’t want happening.”

“We don’t?”

“No Heller, we want them to trust you.”

“We do?”

Shining Armor resisted the very tempting urge to slam his hoof into his face. “Heller let me put it this way: do you want to spend the entire week there with only Pinkie Pie to keep you company?”

Heller’s eyes widened in what he would surely deny was fear, and rapidly shook his head. “In that case, you’re going to have to make sure your second impression in Ponyville goes much better than your first. Twilight and the Princess were right about one thing Heller: If you’re going to be staying there, you’re going to have to learn to trust the townfolk and they’re going to have to do the same for you. Otherwise... you’re going to be miserable,” he said with as much sympathy as he could.

“I’m already going to be miserable,” he muttered bitterly.

“Not if you get them to trust you. Ponyville is a very close-knit community and if you can get them to accept you, you’ll be surprised at how quickly they’ll start treating you like family.” The bitter look on Heller’s face softened somewhat at the word ‘family.’ “Come on Heller, do you really want a frightened scream to be the only reaction you get out of ponies every time they see you? Wouldn’t it be nicer to receive a kind smile and maybe a ‘hello’ instead?

“And how is us beating the shit out of each other supposed to help me be ‘friendly'?” he asked, completely missing the logic (if there was any) behind Shining Armor’s plan.

“It’s not, well, not completely anyway. You’re going to have to do that yourself. But this-” Grabbing hold of the blade, he pulled it out of the ground and pointed it in Heller’s direction. “-will help you. It has to do with that whole second impression thing I was talking about. When you get to Ponyville we want everypony to trust you, and to get started on that, we’re going to need to get rid of that scowl that seems to be permanently stuck to your face half the time. That’s why we’re going to have our little spar. In my line of work, I’ve found that there’s no greater cure for stress than a good fight. It works wonders for my men and hopefully it will be effective in getting rid of that pent-up rage inside of you.”

“... I guess that makes sense,” he muttered to himself, though he still looked unsure.

“Trust me Heller, it works. So, you up for it?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed, scratching the back of his head. “You sure you’re up for this? You’re fighting me after all and if you end up getting hurt-“

“It’s starting to sound like you’re underestimating me, Heller,” he interrupted, his voice low. “I’m not some inexperienced rookie, I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard. Do you know that means? That means that out of the literally thousands of potential candidates, Princess Celestia chose me as the strongest, the fastest, the wisest, and the most capable of them all. I’ve faced the deadliest creatures Equestrias had to offer and I’ve always come out on top. True, I’ve never singlehandedly slain dragons like you have, but I have faced them before- multiple times in fact. The fact that I survived an encounter with just once should tell you all you need to know about my skills. But if you still doubt my abilities-“

His grip on the sword tightened as he shifted into a fighting stance.

“-I’ll gladly demonstrate them to you first hand.”

Despite the boldness of his words, he could still see the traces of uncertainty in Heller’s eyes. Sighing, he lowered his blade again. “Heller, would you relax? You’re not going to hurt me. We have some of the most skilled doctors employed in the castle, all of them experts in the use of healing spells. If by some chance I do get injured, they’ll be able to fix me up no problem, so long as you don’t take my head off or something. There, you happy now?”

“What are you gonna tell your family when they ask how you got hurt?” he asked, still hesitant.

“Oh, so this is more about you not wanting to get in trouble than about me getting injured, is that it?” he replied in mock anger.

The Marine smirked. “Like I said, your sister’s voice is annoying.”

Despite the insult to his younger sibling, Shining Armor found himself smirking as well. “I’ll tell them I fell down a flight of stairs and that you carried me to safety in your big, strong arms. They’ll all be so busy laughing at the image that they won’t even bother to doubt it.” The two soldiers shared a good laugh themselves.

‘These two are absolutely insane,’ thought the long since forgotten Sabre Bolt.

“So Heller, what do you say?” Shining Armor asked again, grinning excitedly. “You up for it?”

Slamming a fist into his palm, Heller looked down at the unicorn looking equally as excited. “Tch, what the hell? I’ve got about 15 minutes left till I’ve gotta leave, so this should at least kill some time.” His grin grew slightly cocky. “Course, that begs the question of what I’m gonna do for the remaining 14 minutes.”

“Don’t worry, times going to fly right by while you’re in the infirmary.” He shifted back into his earlier fighting stance, that same grin never once leaving his face. “Sabre Bolt!”

“Yes Captain!”

“I’m going to need you to start us off. You might want to get some distance, though,” he warned, never once taking his eyes off his opponent.

“R-right!” He wasted no time in breaking off into a sprint, wanting to get as much distance between these two maniacs as possible.

Stopping at what he believed to be a reasonable enough distance, he turned back to see that the two combatants hadn’t moved from their spots. “Are you both ready?!” he yelled.

“Not yet!” Shining Armor shouted back before fixing Heller a look. “Let’s set some ground rules Heller. In the spirit of fairness, I think we should set some restrictions on what we can and can't use. Seeing as how I'm using a sword, it's only fair that you get to use your blade and only your blade. That means no dragon armor, no fire breathing, no tentacles, no giant fist... thingies, and no anything else that Twilight told me about last night. Blades. Only. Understand?”

A dismissive scoff was his response. “You think I’m gonna waste my heavy-duty shit on you? Don’t kid yourself junior, all I need is the blade to take you down. Probably not even that. But if I can’t go all out, you can’t either. That means no telekinesis or paralysis. Deal?”

Shining Armors smirk answered that question. “Deal. But don’t think that’s going to give you any kind of real advantage, you’re still going to lose.”

“Whatever you say kid,” His right arm went through the familiar morphing process, and seconds later, the massive blade stood proudly in its place. “Whatever you say.”

“Pl-Please tell me I’m not the only one who saw that?” asked one horrified guard.

“I thought that was just a rumor…” said another, his eyes glued on the impossibly huge blade.

“Does the captain have some kind of death wish?” a third guard questioned, his confidence in Shining Armor's chances of victory taking a serious nosedive.

If Shining Armor heard these concerns he didn’t show it. “Sabre Bolt, ready when you are.”

Sabre Bolt, whose face had paled considerably the moment he laid eyes on the butcher knife of a blade attached to Heller’s arm, gaped. “C-captain, are you sure? I mean this guy could-“

Shining Armor turned his gaze towards the young soldier and in an instant he felt his voice leave him. Sabre Bolt wasn’t the most astute pony in the world, not by a long shot, but he had served under Shining Armor long enough to recognize that look in his eyes. Several rookie soldiers, including him, had been on the receiving end of it more than once whether it was to voice objections to a questionable strategy or simply to complain about training. No matter the circumstances, all the captain had to do was point “that” look in their direction and immediately all complaints ceased. No words needed to be said, the message was quite clear:

This is non-negotiable. Either follow my orders or get out.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he sent a desperate look towards the rest of the gathered guards, silently begging them to say something, anything to stop this.

All he received in response were somber stares and head shakes. The captain wouldn’t stop no matter how many of them objected.

Desperate, he gave Heller the same pleading look, praying that the Marine would find it in himself not to go through with this fight - a fight that Shining Armor had absolutely no chance of winning.

Instead, the human seemed to be doing everything in his power to ignore everything around him, his steely gaze aimed entirely on the captain.

Sighing in defeat, the young stallion dejectedly shook his head, ‘No other choice then.’

Raising his head to meet his commanders’ eyes, Shining Armor said nothing, but a slow nod of his head told him all he needed to know. ‘Captain, I hope you know what you’re doing.’

Slowly, he raised one hoof into the air, his voice booming to address all those present “Are both combatants ready?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Ready!”

Heller said nothing, but a slow nod of his head was all the reassurance that was needed.

“All right. Heller, since this is your first duel let me do a quick review of the rules. The duel ends when either you or your opponent is either disarmed or rendered unable to battle through injury. Once that call is made, the duel is over. Attempting to attack your opponent after said call or killing your opponent is absolutely forbidden, and will result in disciplinary action such as suspension, expulsion from the guards, or even arrest.” In the back of his mind, voices were screaming at him that none of those punishments would affect Heller in any way, and thus, he had no reason to hold back, but said voices were squashed as quickly as they came. “Do you understand these rules Heller?”

Again, a silent nod.

“Alright then.” He paused a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow. “No going back now.”

‘Look at me; freaking out like this and I’m not even the one fighting,’ he chuckled to himself, though the humor was short-lived.

The other guards weren’t looking any better. At first glance one would never guess that these were the fearless, stone-faced defenders of Equestria what with their clenched teeth and darting eyes. A few of the more veteran guards managed to keep their cool, calmly observing the two combatants without breaking character, save for a few worried glances in Shining Armors direction when they felt he wasn’t looking.

The two soldiers in the middle of the field didn’t concern themselves with the others. They weren’t even a blip on each other’s radar. Just like before, their eyes were focused only on each other, a tension in the air that was nearly tangible and that made all other battles on this field look like playground scuffles in comparison. Nothing was said between the two of them. Nothing needed to be said. Their blades would soon speak for them. As Heller’s eyes met Shining Armors, a silent agreement was made between them. No matter who won...

“If both combatants are ready-”

...or who lost...

“-then let this duel-“

...they were gonna get wasted as fuck when it was over.

“-begin!”

And that was it.

All anypony saw was a black blur followed by the sound of steel meeting steel.

Heller’s attack had been fast - so fast that had it been any other pony it would have been nearly impossible to block.

Luckily, Shining Armor was not just any other pony.

With blinding speed the young captain had managed to raise his blade above his head, countering Heller’s downward strike, the two blades meeting in a thundering clash. He was standing on his hind legs now, front hooves gripping the hilt like iron as he mustered all the strength he could to keep the massive blade from coming down on him.

As the two warriors struggled for dominance, Heller carefully observed the area of Shining Armor’s sword where his blade had struck. He noted with some surprise the lack of a single scratch or crack anywhere on the surface of the blade.

‘Huh, he wasn’t lying, this sword is tough.’ Meeting his opponents’ eyes, he allowed a small grin to play across his face. ‘Guess it’s time to stop holding back then.’

The smile that crossed Heller’s face caused every warning bell in Shining Armors head to go off at max volume. ‘Run,’ they screeched at him, ‘Run and get as far away from him as possible.’

Not one to ignore his senses, Shining used all his strength to push Heller away, leaping backwards to put some distance between the two of them. Something about that smile was-

Something smashed into his stomach with tremendous force, the impact knocking the air out of his lungs and launching him off his hooves. Landing on his back, he rolled on impact, stopping just a few feet away from where Heller stood with his fist outstretched.

‘By Luna’s Moon he’s fast!’ His breathing was coming out in ragged gasps, the effects of Heller devastating blow evident. He had barely begun to get his footing again before Heller was on him, blade at a horizontal swing aimed directly at the unicorn’s stomach. Once again it was met by Shining Armor’s blade, only this time the force of the blow sent him sliding backwards several feet, his hooves leaving grooves in the earth as he slid. Coming to a stop, he wasn’t even given a chance to collect himself before being forced to parry another crushing blow, followed by another and another, each strike slowly pushing the stallion back.

‘This guy is a monster!’ He intercepted another strike that was aimed for his head, grunting as the impact sent him sliding back another several feet.

This was bad. Heller was relentless, giving him very little room to breathe and absolutely no chance to think up a strategy or counterattack. It was taking all his focus and reflexes just to react to the barrage of attacks in time and all his strength went into making sure his blade wasn’t ripped from his hooves with each monstrous blow.

He was losing. Despite his superior skill and training he was losing.

A fist slammed into his cheek, sending him crashing to the ground once again. Taking advantage of his opponents’ vulnerable state, Heller raised his blade into the air before quickly bringing it down on the defenseless unicorn. Not wasting a second, Shining rolled to the side, the attack leaving a deep gash in the earth where he once laid. He was on his hooves in an instant, just in time to duck under the next slash aimed at his head and leaping back to avoid another one that nearly cleaved him in two.

He couldn’t afford to block any longer, not unless he wanted his forelegs to still stay attached to his body. His usual fighting style definitely wouldn’t work, not against someone like Heller. Against him, fighting at anything less than full strength would have been suicidal. He was completely on the defensive and if things didn’t turn around soon, defeat would be inevitable.

‘So that’s how you want to play, huh Heller?’ Darting to the side, he avoided Heller’s attempt to run him through, the blade slicing harmlessly through the air. Leaping backwards, he managed to put some distance between the two of them, though he knew in the end it was ultimately meaningless. Already, Heller was rushing at him, his deadly blade glinting in the sunlight.

‘No other choice then.’ He steeled himself, eyes narrowed in concentration. He positioned the blade directly in front of him, hilt held like a lifeline. ‘I can’t outsmart you, so I’ll just have to match your brute strength with my own!’

Then, much to the shock and horror of all present, he met Heller’s charge with his own.

‘Has he lost his mind?!’ Nearly a hundred voices screamed in their heads.

‘How has he not figured out that fighting me head on won’t work?!’ Heller shook his head, unable to grasp what in the hell the other soldier was possibly thinking. He knew Shining Armor was smarter than this, so what would possess him to just charge right in? Was it some kind of trap?

The distance between the two of them was getting shorter and shorter, with Shining showing no sign of slowing down. ‘Fuck it, I don’t have a choice. Just gotta keep my guard up, and watch out for whatever he’s planning.’

Just as the two seemed ready to crash into one another, Heller suddenly threw his arm forward, the tip of the blade making a beeline towards Shining Armor, who in turn countered with a very simple, albeit powerful, swing.

‘Should of thought this through better, kid.’ He thought, disappointed at his opponents less than stellar “plan”.

Had he shifted his eyes just a few inches upward, he would have a seen a glow emanating from Shining’s horn.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day their blades met...

BOOM!

...And a massive magenta explosion devastated the field.

The other guards, mouths agape, could do nothing but watch as Heller was sent flying, his body helplessly tumbling though the air. Soon he began to descend and with nothing to slow his fall, he crashed into the ground full force, kicking up dirt and grass as the ground shattered from the impact. Where before he and Shining had been fighting nearly at the other end of the field, the explosion had knocked him several yards back, landing mere feet away from where the guards stood near the doorway.

From his position on the ground, Heller blinked several times in order to clear the stars from his eyes. ‘What. The hell. Was that?’

Pain assaulting his body from every direction, he slowly pulled himself out of his makeshift crater, silently cursing with each sore muscle that was forced to move. Training his sight on the unicorn that now stood so far away, his eyes trailed downwards and came to a stop at the blade resting in Shining Armors hoof.

A blade that was now sheathed in a familiar magenta glow.

Whether from pain, anger, or some combination of the two, Heller’s next words came out in a low growl. “What. The. Fuck, man?! I though we agreed no magic!”

Shining Armor regarded him calmly, which if anything enraged him even more. “Actually, I believe your exact word were ‘no telekinesis or paralysis.’ This is neither of those things. It’s an offensive spell designed to add a bit more 'oomph' to an attack. Works wonders doesn’t?”

“Fuck. You.” Even from this distance, Shining could see the flames licking the inside of his mouth. He was literally trembling with rage, his face a mask of such righteous fury that Shining Armor half expected him to forget their deal and burn him to a crisp in a single burst of dragon fire. “Fuck you and your smug bullshit. We agreed no magic!”

Shining Armor countered Heller’s glare with one of his own. “That may sound like a fair fight to you Heller, but what you seem to have overlooked is that without my magic, all I have to fall back on are my sword and training. You on the other hoof are strong enough to lay a beat down on a dragon, fast enough to catch Rainbow Dash off guard, and durable enough to survive a direct hit from a lightning bolt. Heck, outside of the princesses, I don’t think there’s anypony in Equestria who can even hope to fight on par with you.”

The unicorns’ words seemed to be getting through to him; his shaking had ceased and little by little the rage left his face, replaced by a grim frown. He said nothing, but Shining Armor could at least tell he saw the truth in his words. “The point of this duel isn’t to see who would win or who would lose. I know that-“ He grimaced, almost as if the next words were painful to say. “-I know that in an all-out brawl...you’d win easily. What I’m trying to do here is help you release some of your pent-up anger, otherwise you’re going to explode the moment you get to Ponyville. I need to push you to your limit and I can’t do that without magic. I know-“

“I get it". He finally spoke, an irritated edge to his voice. With an ever-present scowl on his face he responded, “As much as I don’t want admit it, you’re right. Without magic, this fight won’t last long.” Shining could have sworn he heard the tiniest bit of bragging in his voice. “Fine!” He threw his hands up dramatically. “Use your little power up, but that is it! No other spells are allowed, got it?!"

He nodded. “Got it. Now then...” He pointed the glowing blade in Heller’s direction, the corners of his mouth twisting upwards. “...where were we?”

In a flash he was gone, rock and grass crushed in his mad charge. “You were currently in the delicate process of becoming my bitch!”

In mere seconds he had crossed the entire length of the field, only inches away from a patiently awaiting Shining Armor, his expression firm. With a roar, Heller practically threw himself at the stallion, blade poised for a powerful strike.

At the last second, Shining shot into the air, Heller’s blade missing him completely. Instead, the weapons rack directly behind being him was reduced to splinters in his stead, much to the chagrin of the observing guards. Disregarding their protests of expensive equipment needing to be replaced, Heller trained his sight on the airborne stallion. A split-second later his eyes widened and he jumped back, narrowly avoiding the glowing tip of Shining Armor’s blade as it collided with the ground.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the explosion that followed soon after.

The shockwave knocked him backwards, his body bouncing off the ground like a pebble on water before coming to a painful stop almost exactly where he was before.

‘Okay.’ he groaned, once again peeling himself off the ground.‘Stay the fuck away from the glowing sword.’

As if reading his mind (and taking monumental pleasure in proving him wrong), Shining Armor held the blade horizontal to his body, the tip pointed directly at Heller. “Might want to get a move on Heller, it’s not just close-range where I have the advantage.” With that, he thrust the blade forward...

...And a magenta bolt the size of a minivan shot out like a bullet.

Tired, injured, and far too slow to dodge in time, Heller could only mutter three words as the bolt neared him:

“Oh, fuck me.”

Slamming into him with the force of a freight train, Heller’s world knew nothing but pain.

The blast carried his body away, rocketing in the direction of the assembled guards who only now realized that maybe they should get out of the way. Scattering like ants, the blast passed harmlessly through their ranks, zooming past the still open doors, and disappearing into the pitch-black darkness of the castle walls.

A few seconds later a muffled ‘boom’ was heard, followed by silence.

For several tense seconds, no words were exchanged between the guards, all of them unsure of what to expect next. A few tentatively peeked into the castle, eyes straining to find any hint of the human among the darkness.

Sabre Bolt joined them, his eyes combing the darkness for any sign of movement. “Uh, Heller?” he nervously shouted out.

Receiving nothing but silence he tried again. “You in there?”

Again, silence.

“Hello?”

The darkness remained undisturbed.

Slightly panicking, Sabre Bolt whipped his head around to stare at Shining Armor with wide eyes. “C-Captain, maybe you went a bit too far. I think he’s dea-“

“Sabre Bolt.” Shining’s voice was eerily calm. “Move.”

Before Sabre could even question what he meant, a guard quickly grabbed him and pulled him away from the entrance. A split-second later, Heller practically flew out of the castle charging at Shining Armor like a bull on a rampage.

“You cheating motherfucker!”

“I didn’t cheat,” he stated matter-of-factly, seemingly unconcerned of the raging beast currently closing in on him. “I just extended the spell casing my sword outward as a kinetic blast. It’s the same spell, just a different variation. There’s no rule against that.” Not waiting for him to respond, he thrust his sword forward, launching another blast in Heller’s direction.

Eye widening, he dashed to the side, the attack passing right by him and once again making the guards scatter to avoid it. Not missing a beat, Shining Armor released two more bolts in rapid succession, both of which Heller avoided by rolling to the side. Next he fired three bolts, then four, then five. Eventually, Heller just stopped counting and focused his attention on the more important task of trying not to get flattened.

“This. Is. Such. Bullshit!” he shouted, punctuating each word with a leap, a roll, or flip. Shining Armor paid no mind to Heller’s displeasure, his sword and foreleg nearly a blur as he launched bolt after bolt at the fleeing human.

Now finding himself in a position not unlike the one Shining Armor was in a few minutes ago, Heller considered his options. ‘Think Heller, think! There’s got to be some way to turn this around, to get close enough to finish this in one good, solid blow- WHOA!.’ He slammed his foot into the ground, the heels of his shoes destroying dirt and grass. He came to a screeching halt just in time to avoid the magical blast that whizzed by right in front of him. It smashed into the wall instead, leaving a sizeable crater in its wake. ‘Damn!’ He promptly picked up speed, narrowly avoiding the next blast. ‘He’s getting better at reading my movements. If I hadn’t stopped when I did...’ He shook his head. ‘There has got to be a way to be a way to get that sword away from him. Maybe I can- OH SHIT!’ One bolt passed dangerously close to his head, literally inches away. He was so caught off guard that he briefly lost his footing and Shining Armor wasted no time in taking advantage of his slip up.

“Oh fuc-!”

In that next second, Heller recalled three things happening.

A blinding magenta light.

An explosion of pain.

A scream.

It wasn’t until he felt the crushing pain of his body smashing into solid concrete that he realized that last one had come from him.

For a brief moment, he didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He didn’t even blink. He just laid there in stunned silence, mouth open, his arms spread out like wings, and his body completely embedded into the wall. His blade had disappeared, having reformed back into his human hand though he hardly seemed to have noticed.

He had no idea how long he had been lying there; it could have been five minutes or even five seconds. He didn’t know. His body was in such a state of unbelievable pain that he could hardly even think about it. What he did know was that he was in the middle of a fight – a fight he was going to lose if he didn’t get out of this damn wall.

He tried to think, to ignore the pain that now overrode his senses, but such a task was proving more and more difficult by the moment. The darkness slowly creeping into his vision, darkness that he frantically fought against in order to stay conscious, wasn’t helping matters. His body, no matter how much he forced it, refused to obey his commandments to move. He couldn’t even get a finger to twitch. The only part of his body he could move were his eyes which, considering he couldn’t move his head, meant all he could do was stare ahead.

Unfortunately, that left him no choice but to make eye contact with the very last per- pony he wanted to see in this position.

Not able to look away, but refusing to give Shining Armor the pleasure of seeing him helpless, he glared at the unicorn with as much hatred and defiance as he could muster, daring him to laugh.

After about half a minute passed without even a smirk from the unicorn, his glare disappeared and was replaced with a confused frown. He had been positive Shining would take this chance to mock him, probably making some crack about how he had Heller his bitch. But nothing, nada, zip.

No jokes, no laugh, no chortle, not even an amused smile.

He just stared blankly at him, the magenta sheathed blade still pointed in his direction. Besides the rising and lowering of his chest, he didn’t move a muscle.

‘Why isn’t he attacking? His sword still has that spell on it, so he can’t be out of magic. Is he waiting to see my next move? No, that doesn’t make any sense, I’m pinned to a fucking wall! My next move is obviously going to be to get out and kick his ass so why doesn’t he- Oh fuck it, why am I even thinking about this?'

Throwing the thought aside, Heller chose to take advantage of Shining Armor’s momentary inactivity and tried once again to free himself.

He was much more successful this time around; the pain had dulled somewhat thanks to his healing and he was actually able to get a few fingers moving. With a bit more effort he was able to regain movement in his left hand, followed by the entire arm. He did the same with the rest of his limbs, slowly gaining more control of them as the pain throughout his body lessened. Through all of this, Shining Armor had lowered his blade, holding it at his side, but still made no move to attack, only puzzling the Marine even further.

This continued for another minute, which by then he had managed to regain mobility in all his limbs. ‘Alright, the hard parts over at least. Now to get myself out of this damn wall.’ Gritting his teeth, he put all his effort into freeing himself from the wall. First an arm was jerked free, followed by a leg. Then, with an audible grunt, he wrenched himself free from his makeshift prison. His joy lasted only a moment, for as soon as he planted his feet on the ground, a feeling of fatigue washed over his body like wildfire and despite his best effort, he collapsed to his knees in a huff.

Cursing under his breath as he fell, Heller only now realized that that blast taken a lot more out of him than he had previously assumed. While his healing may have been powerful enough to heal any physical wounds he sustained, it was apparently useless in rejuvenating lost stamina. He was experiencing an extremely rare bout of exhaustion and it was taking everything he had to not just close his eyes and let blissful unconsciousness take him away. Honestly, the only thing keeping him standing was the thought of Shining Armor’s mocking face as he bragged to all that could hear him how he had singlehandedly defeated the Killer of Dragons, James Heller.

As exceedingly horrifying as that thought was, it was becoming quite clear that there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. It was a difficult task just getting his body to move, let alone fight, while his opponent seemed to no worse for wear aside from a few dark bruises marring his white fur. Not to mention...

His eyes fell on the magenta coated blade.

...He couldn’t take another one of those blasts. One more hit like that and it was over.

Which made it all the more surprising that Shining Armor wasn’t currently unleashing a hailstorm of magical energy on him at the moment. He was defenseless, literally on his knees, and with no way dodge any attack the unicorn chose to send his way. But Shining Armor just stared at him, body rigid like a statue and his expression completely unreadable.

Honestly? It was starting to get a little creepy, especially since he couldn’t tell what the hell he was thinking. He was pretty good at reading a person’s body language and making accurate guesses on what was going on in their heads. It was one of his many traits that both fascinated and at times, annoyed Colette due to him somehow always knowing what she was thinking before she did.

But now, looking at Shining Armor, he was getting nothing. It was like trying to read the expression of a wall.

“Well?” He growled, breaking the silence that had permeated the air. “You gonna sit there checking me out all day...” With a pained grunt he forced one knee up. Leaning on it for support, he forced his other leg up. Slowly, he stood to his full height, his imposing figure towering over Shining Armor "...Or are we gonna finish this shit?”

It was a bluff and he knew it. Anyone with eyes could see that he was in no condition to fight; hell it was taking all his energy just to stay standing. As much as he hated to admit, he was going to lose this one... but he wasn’t going to make it easy. If Shining Armor wanted victory, he was going to have to work his ass off to get it.

He was a Marine and if he went down, he was going to go down showing this asshole what the fuck that meant.

“Come on!” He spread his arms out, practically handing Shining Armor an invitation to strike. “Hit me with your best shot motherfucker!”

Narrowing his eyes into slits and apparently accepting Heller’s challenge, Shining Armor pointed his weapon in Heller’s direction.

Instinctively tensing up, he steeled his body for the incoming magical blast. Glaring defiantly at the unicorn, he sent him a silent message of his refusal to be intimidated, even in his battered state. ‘Bring it on you motherfucker.’

Shining Armor drew his arm back...and placed the sword back in its sheath.

“It’s over.”

.......

“WHAT!?”

“It’s over,” he repeated in the same tone of voice as before. Without even waiting for Heller to form a response, he turned on his hooves and made his way back to the castle.

‘Five, four, three, two…’

“SHINING ARMOR!”

‘Right on time.’

The intensity of Heller’s cry made every guard jump back in shock, but Shining Armor’s only response was to lazily turn his head in Heller’s direction, raising one eyebrow but saying nothing.

Taking his silence as a cue to speak, Heller kept his voice as cool and collected as humanely possible as he asked, “Where the hell are you going?”

“Didn’t you just hear me? I said it’s over,” he answered, as if it explained everything.

Gritting his teeth at the lack of an explanation, Heller fought hard not to yell his next question. “What do you mean it’s over?”

“I mean it’s over. Done with. Finished. In other words, I won.”

“Bullshit!” he screamed, all restraint gone now. “I’m still standing!”

“Yeah, barely. I can see through your tough guy act Heller. You’re five second away from blacking out on the spot and you know it. Heck, after getting hit with two kinetic blasts it’s a miracle you’re not comatose right now and I don’t want to even think about what a third one could do to you. I’m ending this before you end up suffering permanent damage or worse.”

“You don’t get to decide that!”

“I just did.” Heller’s body bristled at the decisive tone in his voice, as if his word was law and that Heller was expected to follow it mindlessly and without debate.

But the next words were what really set him off.

“And make sure to get yourself checked into the infirmary. The carriage should be ready to go in less than ten minutes and I expect you to be there. Understood?”

That was it. ‘You...arrogant, ass-kissing, cocksucking, piss-drinking, smart-assed, bitch-whipped, fucktarded, motherfucking, DICKHEAD!

Shining Armor had only taken a few steps forward before he was once again stopped, this time by an all too familiar noise. ‘And here he goes.’

Slowly, he turned to face his presumably defeated opponent, his mouth twisting into a scowl when he spotted a curved blade where an arm should be. “Please don’t.”

Heller said nothing, his only response being to glare at the stallion before shifting into a fighting stance.

“You’re really going to do this aren’t you?”

Heller didn’t answer, he didn’t need to. Shining knew the answer to that question before he even asked it.

Sighing, and knowing that trying to talk to the human would be essentially pointless, Shining Armor unsheathed his blade once again. “Fine. If knocking you out is the only way to end this, then so be it. Just remember that you brought this on yourself.”

He didn’t even bother getting into his own fighting stance. What was the point? He’d finish him off with a single kinetic blast and be done with it.

Drawing his arm back, Shining Armor felt the need to give Heller one final comment before his inevitable defeat. “When you wake up in the infirmary, think hard about how you’re going to explain this to the princesses cause I’m sure not.” With nothing more to say he thrust his arm forward, his final kinetic blast launching forth from the blade.

Shining Armor stared on impassively as the magenta bullet rocketed towards Heller at blinding speed. He hadn’t wanted it to end like this, but of course Heller had to be a stubborn mule and force his hoof. He just hoped his impressive durability held up for a third time and he was only knocked out by the blast.

The bolt was only seconds away from making contact, and just as he was about to call out to Sabre Bolt to declare him the winner, Heller did the unexpected.

Now Shining Armor had expected either one of two things to happen once the bolt got within striking distance of Heller; the first, which was very unlikely, was that he would dodge the initial blast, in which case he left himself open for a barrage of following blasts that he would have no chance to avoid. Again, considering he was barely standing, that was unlikely to happen. The second possibility, and the one that was very likely considering his stubbornness, was that he would try to tank the blast with his body like the headstrong idiot he was. In either scenario, Heller ended up unconscious and he came out the victor.

What Shining Armor did not expect was that Heller would choose a third option i.e. striking the bolt with the edge of his blade.

And the fact that it worked he expected even less.

Well, kind of worked. While he had indeed stopped the blast dead in its tracks, he was visibly struggling to hold it back, its power forcing him backwards inch by inch. Still, the fact that he wasn’t immediately sent flying was cause for concern.

The fact that he and the bolt were actually slowing down? Also cause for concern.

Had Shining Armor been less composed, his jaw would have dropped to the floor. Instead, he chose to mentally ask the question that was on the mind of every single guard who just witnessed this impossible feat:

‘How in Tartarus is he doing that?!’

‘How the hell am I doing this?!’

Heller had no idea what possessed him to strike the bolt with his blade. He was honestly just winging it and half expected to be blown away the moment his blade and the bolt collided. Instead, he found himself being pushed back by what felt like a tank and was fighting desperately to make sure he didn’t end up being splattered on the wall again.

‘Come on.’ The massive bolt was mere inches from touching his face, the only thing keeping it from colliding with him being his colossal blade serving as a makeshift barrier. ‘Come on!’

The soles of his feet left twin trails of ruined earth in his wake as the bolt pushed him back further and further without any signs of stopping. He brought up his free hand and pressed it against the edge of the blade for support, hissing in pain as the sharp edge cut into his gloved palm, streams of crimson blood rushing down his hand. It hurt, but compared to what he had endured before and what he would endure again if he didn’t stop this thing, it felt like little more than a bee sting.

He couldn’t let up, not now, not when he was so close! Not after he had just been talked down to as if he was some goddamn rookie! If there was one thing he hated more than being ordered around by some asshole, it was being ordered around by some asshole who showed him no respect. Whether or not Shining Armor meant for it to sound that way it didn’t matter: he had committed the ultimate sin in his book and now, he was going to pay. He was going to stop this thing. He was going to rip that fucking sword right out his hooves. Then he was going to shove the damn thing far up his ass.

Once again, he felt rage flow through his very being, and once again he used that rage to push back harder than he had ever pushed before.

Slowly, painfully slowly, the momentum of the bolt began to decrease, eventually slowing down to a crawl.

Ten seconds later, he came to a complete stop, his back only five inches away from coming into contact with the wall.

This time, Shining Armor’s mouth did drop. ‘That’s...not possible!’

What followed next was doubly so.

With one powerful swing and an accompanying shout, the bolt was completely annihilated, exploding into a brilliant display of magenta sparks that hung in the air for a few seconds before dissipating.

By this point Shining’s jaw might as well have been touching the floor.

On the other side of the field, Heller was smiling from ear to ear. Sure, his hand was bleeding like a hydrant and his legs felt like jelly that was just about to melt, but he was still conscious and that was good enough for him.

That, and Shining Armor’s slack jawed reaction more than made up for the pain.

Readying his blade in front of him, Heller’s next words sent chills down the spines of all who heard them, not helped by the predatory grin that threatened to split his face apart. “My turn, asshole!”

He was gone before any of them knew what happened, crossing several yards of field in mere seconds.

Quickly regaining his composure, Shining Armor launched another bolt at the rampaging human. Heller waited till the last second before striking the incoming projectile with his blade, becoming locked in yet another power struggle. Only this time, it took Heller all of five seconds to completely overpower the missile and reduce it to nothingness just like before.

Shining fired another, this one only slowing him down for three seconds.

The following blast - one second.

The next one didn’t slow him down at all. He just sliced clean through it and kept going.

Heller was rapidly closing the distance the two of them and Shining was rapidly running out of ideas. No matter how many he sent, no matter how fast he sent them, no matter how much magic he poured into them, Heller cut them down, each time quicker than the last. Once again he found himself on the defensive, only this time he doubted he’d be able to loophole his way of this one.

Baring his teeth, he concentrated a vast amount of magic into his weapon before launching what was easily his largest bolt yet. Dwarfing even the castle walls in size, it sped towards Heller no less faster than the others, its massive size guaranteeing that the Marine would have no chance to avoid it.

Unfortunately for Shining Armor, he didn’t intend to.

Smiling confidently, Heller picked up speed seemingly planning to charge head-first into the colossal mass of energy. Just as it seemed the two were about to collide, Heller threw his blade arm forward, the tip smashing dead center.

What happened next was almost too surreal for Shining Armor to handle. Right before his eyes his blast, his most powerful blast, came to a complete and utter stop, almost as if it had slammed into some kind of invisible barrier. Then as if somepony had stuck a needle into a balloon, the blast “popped” into a dazzling shower of shimmering lights.

A beautiful sight really, though overall harmless.

‘You’ve got to be bucking kidding me!’ He mentally cried, trying and failing to maintain a clear head. No matter what he did, no matter what he threw at him, Heller just kept coming! Trying to stop him was like trying to stop Pinkie Pie from twisting the laws of physics and turning it into a bucking toy! He was running low on ideas and worst of all, low on magic. He had enough for maybe a few more bolts, all of which were pretty much useless at this point. There was nothing he could do!

No. There is one thing.’ He gazed at the blade in his hoof, a plan starting to formulate in his head. ‘It’s a long shot and using it will drain what little magic I have let. If it fails, its game over.’ Heller was practically on him now. In less than 30 seconds he’d be within striking distance and then-

‘-its game over anyway.’ He let out an uneasy sigh. ‘So really, what do I have to lose?’

His mind made up, Shining closed his eyes and concentrated. A magenta aura began to emanate from his horn, quickly growing in intensity as he summoned more and more magic from his body and concentrated it into his horn. Soon, the glow grew to near blinding levels of intensity, and even Heller was forced to stop dead in his tracks in order to shield his eyes. At the same time, the magical sheathe that enveloped Shining’s sword began to glow at a similar level. It grew to such an extent that the blade was no longer visible and any outside observer wouldn’t have been faulted for assuming he was wielding a sword made of pure light.

Cerulean eyes slowly opened, power flowing behind them. Men of lesser nerve might have been intimidated but his steely gaze. Heller didn’t even break a sweat matching his glare with one of his own.

No words were exchanged between them. None were needed. They both knew how this was going to end. Despite this, their eyes held no resentment or hate. On the contrary their respect for each other had only increased tenfold (even if they’d never admit it). Through this battle they learned more about each other through their swords than could ever be learned through words. They had many differences obviously - different personalities, fighting styles, beliefs, loyalties. But through all the differences, all the conflicting personalities, they discovered one - and only one - thing they had in common.

They both hated to lose.

Silently, they gave one last nod of respect to each other.

Then they charged.

Holding the radiating blade at his side, Shining Armor moved faster than he ever thought he could on two legs. ‘I won’t lose. Not to him!’

His body practically a blur, Heller tore across the field at maximum speed. He already had the perfect move in mind to counter that blade. Now all he needed was speed. ‘Pulling out the big guns, huh? Then let me show you mine.’

Mid-run, he stomped down on the ground hard and began to spin rapidly on one heel, simultaneously swinging his blade around him in a wide arc.

The result? The combination of speed and rotation transformed him into a whirling cyclone of death that began to swiftly close in on Shining Armor.

Or as he liked to call it, the Blade Tornado.

Face showing no fear at this new development, Shining leapt at the cyclone with his blade raised to strike. Timing it perfectly, Heller used the momentum from the spin to bring his blade around in a violent swing just as Shining Armor brought his weapon down.

Their blades met once again in a clash that shattered the air like thunder

For a moment there was silence, and then...

BOOM!!!

The area around the two practically exploded, both Heller and Shining Armor becoming lost in a blaze of magenta light. The very earth shook from the impact, toppling equipment and knocking over guards. A cloud of dust was launched outward from the point of impact, spreading out across the entire field. Everything from weapons to training equipment was coated in a fine layer dirt and grass. Thanks to the actions of several quick-thinking unicorns, the audience of royal guards remained untouched behind a dome of magic.

Several guards squinted their eyes in vain trying to peer beyond the dome, the thickness of the dust making visibility all but impossible. They searched regardless, straining their eyes in an attempt to find any trace of the captain or Heller.

“Hey! I see something!” One guard yelled, the others swerving their heads in his direction. Seeing nothing but drifting smoke at first, all their hearts stopped when they spotted a familiar shape sticking out of the ground only a few meters ahead of them.

“I-Is that...?”

“No...no it can’t be.”

“I don’t believe it.”

As the fog slowly dissipated and the shape became clearer, their suspicions were confirmed with a sharp intake of breath.

“By Tartarus...” The words came out of Sabre Bolt’s mouth in a silent whisper.

Staring them right in the face, the smoldering blade embedded in the earth, was Shining Armor’s sword.

‘Wait,’ His eyes darted around the still smoke covered field. ‘If his swords there, then where is-‘

“I found them!” He pointed at a spot just beyond where blade lay. There, in the middle of the field, two silhouettes were visible behind the thick smoke, one pony shaped and the other easily identifiable as Heller.

The shield was dropped as the smoke around the area began to dissolve. The guards waited with bated breathes as the smoke around Heller and Shining Armor began to clear, a dozen different questions rushed through their heads, the forefront one being the most obvious one: Who had won?

To Sabre Bolt, it didn’t matter. All he cared about was whether the captain was still alive, the sight of his abandoned blade just sitting there filling him with almost unbearable dread.

‘I knew it, I knew this match was a mistake. The Captains probably hurt or dead or worse. Oh, this is all my fault. How am I supposed to look Princess Cadance in the eye and inform her I let her husband get killed! Oh Celestia, what am I going to tell his sister?!’ He shuddered at the image of an angry, no, an enraged Twilight Sparkle using her unrivalled magical prowess to telekinetically break every single bone in his body.

‘Maybe the Princess will banish me to the moon before Twilight can get her hooves on me. Though I doubt I’ll be that lucky,’ he thought dejectedly.

The smoke had almost completely cleared by now, with everyponies hearts just about ready to explode from excitement. Unable to witness the bloody results himself, Sabre Bolt covered his eyes and began counting down the seconds until the foreseeable screams of horror began.

Almost immediately he heard a collective gasp among the guards. Scrunching his eyes tight, he could only imagine how badly mutilated the Captains body was. Had he been decapitated? Bifurcated? Reduced to smoldering ash? He couldn’t even hazard a guess due to nopony saying anything and it was driving him insane! Was his body still intact? Were they going to have to piece it back together one organ at a time? Spread the ashes out to sea? What had happened?! Somepony say something! Please!

“Whoa.”

...Whoa? That was...an odd reaction to seeing the mutilated corpse of your commander.

Somepony was frantically tapping him on his shoulder. “Sabre Bolt,” He recognized the voice as belonging to a pegasus guard by the name of Silverwing. “You have got to see this.”

“How bad is it?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“Just look.”

“It’s bad isn’t it? “

“Bolt, just-“

“This is all my fault! I knew I should have tried harder to talk him out of-“

“Sabre Bolt, just look!”

Wincing, he reluctantly cracked one eye open...and his jaw dropped.

As expected, the area where Heller and the Captain had collided been demolished, grass and other plant life being completely wiped out, leaving nothing but cracked and barren earth behind. While the destruction was indeed impressive, it wasn’t what had left him speechless. Right there, inside a small crater that had been formed from the point of impact, was Shining Armor...and he was fine. Covered in dirt, yes, but other than that he had no visible wounds on him other than the ones Heller had given him earlier. He was no longer standing in a bipedal stance, all four legs planted safely on the ground.

Heller stood just a few feet away from, similarly looking no worse for wear. Like Shining Armor he was covered in a bit of dirt, but other than that he could see nothing wrong with...with...

Uh...

Whoa.

He hadn’t noticed it at first, the shock of finding out Shining Armor was still alive and that he wouldn’t be tortured to death by Twilight overwhelming him a little. But now that he had gotten a good luck at Heller, it didn’t take him long to spot the source of that earlier ‘whoa’.

Heller’s blade...was gone. Not ‘wiped from existence’ gone, but...gone. The top half of it was nowhere to be seen. Only the bottom half remained, the top apparently being obliterated by the force of Shining Armor's attack.

Heller didn’t seem to take much notice of his damaged blade, seemingly much more preoccupied with glaring at the unicorn in front of him, who returned in kind. Both of them were breathing heavily, drenched in sweat and underneath them, their knees wobbled like jelly. Both looked like they were seconds away from dropping into a coma, but either through determination or just sheer stubbornness, they forced themselves to stay standing.

Neither of them wanted to be the one to fall first. That would mean letting the other claim victory and they’d both choose to lose their legs to atrophy before they let that happen.

“Looks like you’ve been disarmed,” Heller said after a long period of silence.

Shining glanced at Heller’s half of a blade before responding, “I could say the same to you.”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure I could still beat you to death with this thing.”

“Now that wouldn’t be very sportspony like now would it?”

“Naw, I guess not.”

Another round of silence. The pain in their legs was getting unbearable. One of them was going to break.

“So...wanna call it a draw?”

“...Sure.”

Shining turned his head in the direction of the guards and waved. “Hey Sabre Bolt! It’s a draw, call it!”

“Huh? Call it? What are you- Oh, right!” In his excitement he had forgotten his job as proctor. “Ok, well, um, I declare this match a, uh, draw...I guess.”

“Oh thank Jesus.”

“Sweet Celestia, my legs.”

Almost simultaneously, they dropped to the ground, Shining Armor falling on his haunches while Heller simply leaned back and let gravity do the work for him, landing on his rear. Panting heavily and grinning from ear to ear, they weren’t even bothered by the fact that they were currently sitting in a mud filled crater. Sure, Rarity would give them hell for it later when they walked back into the dining hall covered in mud and sweat, but they’d burn that bridge when they got to it. Right now they were just happy to be off their feet/hooves.

“Good...fight...Shining Armor,” Heller said in between breaths. “Good fight.”

“Thanks...you too,” The unicorn responded, smiling wearily.

“You know,” He winced, the simple effort of crossing his legs triggering throngs of pain. “Seeing the way you fight, I can’t help but think you’d make one hell of a soldier where I’m from.”

“I was going to say the same to you. The royal guard could use a soldier like you. You know, after we improve your sword skills a bit.” It wasn’t until he saw the irritated frown on Heller’s face that he realized that he maybe should have worded that better.

“And what’s wrong with my sword skills?” Heller asked, his voice dangerously low.

Realizing that there was no going back now, Shining Armor considered how best way to go about this. “Well, you know, they...need work is all,” he explained as gently as he could.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t gentle enough. “What exactly are you trying to say Shining Armor?”

“You...really want me to say it don’t you?”

“Say what?”

“...Alright, you asked for it.” Taking a moment to compose himself, Shining opened his mouth and it took all of five second for Heller to wish he hadn’t. “You fight like a brain damaged diamond dog that’s been rendered both blind and deaf. Your form is practically nonexistent and your basic strategy can be summed up as ‘swing sword really, really hard.’ You’re the absolute worst example of a swordsman I’ve ever seen, relying more on brute strength than any kind of actual skill. I’m sure, no, positive, that if I were to hand somepony like Fluttershy a sword and told her to come at me with everything she had, she’d show more skill and competence than you have during the entirety of our match.”

“...Oh, is that all.”

“Hey, you wanted me to be honest.”

“Yeah, well how’s this for honesty: you’re a condescending prick.”

“Wow, took you all night to figure that one out didn’t it Heller. Clearly, I am no match for your astounding insult skills.”

“Your wife definitely wasn’t a match for this dick last night.”

“What did you just say about my wife you motherbucker?!”

“Fucker. The word is motherfucker, just say that. It sounds fucking retarded the way you all say it.”

“...But since you brought it up, your mama screamed my name too.”

“Fuck you!”

Outside of the crater, the now-forgotten royal guard could do nothing but stare as the two soldier’s - both disciplined and well-trained soldiers with years of experience behind their belts - trade back and forth “yo mama” jibes at each other.

The scene was both laughable, yet at the same time, too mind-bogglingly surreal to believe.

“Sabre Bolt,” Silverwing addressed the unicorn next to him calmly, both of their eyes still focused on the ridiculous scene before him. “These two were trying to kill each other not five minutes ago, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“And now they’re arguing like a bunch of pre-school foals?”

“Yeah.”

“...Is this, without a doubt, the weirdest day you’ve ever had in your life?”

“Buck yeah.”

Before Silverwing could once again comment on the sight before them, his ears picked up a strange sound reverberating over the field. “What the-“

Silverwing wasn’t alone - all at once the other guards paused in their viewing and turned to look at each other quizzically, the sound reaching their ears as well.

Sabre Bolt’s ears perked up, immediately recognizing the fast paced noise. ‘Is that...?’

Shining Armors ears perked up as well, interrupting whatever insult he was going to hurl in Heller’s direction.

“- had to grease a door frame and hold a Twinkie on the other side to get her through. Hey, are you even listening?”

“Shhhhh! Do you hear that?”

“Hear wha-“

“Shhhhhh! Just be quiet and listen!”

Growling, he was about to respond with a few choice words when he suddenly paused, the strange sound hitting his ears as well. “The hell is that noise?” he asked, searching along with Shining Armor to locate the source.

“Maybe I took a few too many hits to the head, but it almost sounds like…clapping?”

“Clapping? Who the hell would be-“

“Whoo-hoo! That was amazing! No, wait, it was awesome! No, spectacular! No, no, it was...AWESOMAZINGACTULAR!” Squealed a familiar bubbly voice. “I mean, it wasn't worth waiting a year for, but it was still good."

Everyone spun on their hooves, the bouncing form of Pinkie Pie smiling to greet them near the doorway. For those who had come into contact with the sugar crazed pony during her many visits to the castle, it was not at all surprising that she had managed to sneak up on such a large gathering of guards without any of them noticing. That was par for the course.

The ponies standing directly behind her however, were not.

Eyes widening for only a moment, the guards immediately bowed their heads to ground and in unison greeted the group, “Good morning Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and the Elements of Harmony!”

“Good morning to you too, my Royal Guard,” Celestia greeted them with a warm smile. “Your early morning training is going well I presume?”

“Excellent as always Princess, we appreciate your asking!” They responded as one.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that.” She said, nodding her head in approval. “And what of you Shining Armor? I pray your spar with James went just as well.” She laughed softly when a nervous and high-pitched “eep” emanated from behind the crowd of guards.

She trotted forward, the crowd instantly splitting apart to make a path for her and inadvertently revealing a nervous and sweating Shining Armor.

His hiding spot exposed, he immediately bowed his head as she approached. He hadn’t forgotten their last little ‘chat’ together yesterday and he was going to make absolutely sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Or at the very least, he was going to make sure he took Heller down with him.

“Good morning, Princess.” He greeted her with a calmness that belied his true nervousness.

“Good morning, Captain Shining Armor.” She responded, stopping just short of entering the crater where he and Heller lay. Luna, Cadance, and the Elements were right behind her and as expected, Rarity looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack the moment her eyes spotted their sweaty, dirt covered bodies. Cadance and Luna stood beside her, also observing the two individuals that lay inside the crater, though for less petty reasons. They looked more concerned than shocked, eyes scanning over Heller and Shining’s bodies for any sign of serious injury. The other Elements meanwhile examined what was left of the training field, mouths agape as they took in the devastation around them. Twilight in particular mumbled something along the lines of “how do two individuals cause this much destruction?”

Taking note of the concerned stares of his wife and sibling, Shining Armor flashed them one of his trademark reassuring grins. As always, they visibly relaxed upon seeing it, even smiling back at him in return. Satisfied that he had eased their worries, he turned to the princess with a curious expression, “If I may ask Princess, what are you all doing here? Not that I’m not glad you’re here, it’s just that this part of the castle is primarily dedicated for training purposes and you so rarely ever come by here during your daily schedule.”

“Well, I didn’t really have much of a choice considering all the commotion going on outside,” she answered, “It was getting to be quite the distraction after all.”

“C-commotion?”

She nodded with a smile, thoroughly enjoying his reaction, “Yes. One minute the Elements and I were discussing something of importance, and the next, what sounded like explosions started emanating from somewhere outside the castle. Fluttershy for a brief moment thought we were under attack,” she chuckled at the memory of the pegasus attempting to hide herself underneath her seat, “But I explained to her that that was ridiculous as the barrier would have notified us if somepony had snuck into the city.”

‘Barrier? What barrier?’ Heller thought back to when they entered the city, unable to recall any instance of a barrier. ‘I don’t remember seeing anything when we came in.’

Oblivious of Heller’s confusion, she continued, “That’s when I remembered that you and your troops usually train around this time of day and so I just explained to everypony that it was probably just some new training exercise. However they, and I as well I admit, grew a bit concerned when the explosions began to increase in intensity and, curious to what kind of training you could all possibly be going through, set out to find you.” Her eyes inspected the carnage around her. “Needless to say we weren’t expecting to find...this.”

Smiling sheepishly, he responded, “My apologies Princess, we got a bit carried away is all.” Next to him, Heller let out an audible snort.

“Yeah, well some of us did more damage than others. I’m not naming names, but it was the one with the dick on his forehead.” He felt the corner of lips tug upwards when he heard Luna snicker, which nearly evolved into a full-blown grin when he caught site of the murderous look Shining Armor was sending him.

Fighting to keep a straight face, he turned to address Celestia, “So what did you think of the fight? Bit more exciting than the usual scrapes around here I’m bettin.”

”Oh it was quite impressive. I –“

“Impressive?! That fight was AWESOMAZINGACTU-“ Appplejack, bless her soul, shoved an orange hoof into the pink earth ponies mouth before she could get started again.

Motioning for the princess to continue, Celestia nodded gratefully at the farmpony before coughing lightly into her hoof. “As I was saying James, it was quite the impressive match, your performance especially James. From the few occasions I’ve seen him fight, Shining Armor has proven himself to be nearly unbeatable when it comes to armed combat. The idea of anypony outmatching him in that area is almost unfathomable, so the fact that you were able to fight on par with him is no small feat.”

“I could have kicked his ass if I wanted to,” he said casually, “But I felt bad for the little bitch, so I let him get a couple good hits in. You know, help his confidence.” Another snicker from Luna, followed by the sound of Shining Armor’s teeth grinding together in anger.

Celestia smiled softly, but her expression soon grew serious. There was another reason she had come here. “James-“

“It’s time to go isn’t it?” It was a statement, not a question, one said with no anger. This surprised the alicorn; she was sure he’d sound a bit more reluctant to leave, perhaps even changing his mind and choosing to stay here. The last time she had seen him, he had looked close to killing her and she hadn’t expected much to change in 30 minutes. But looking at him now, he looked like a completely different person. The anger was gone and was replace by a look of almost calm acceptance, as if he knew where he was going and was perfectly fine with it.

Did one duel really cause this much of a transformation?

Wordlessly, Heller uncrossed his legs and hopped to his feet, taking a moment to brush a bit of dust off himself. Approaching the solar deity at a leisurely pace, he stopped at the edge of the crater, directly in front of Celestia herself. “I’m ready.”

“Alright then. Follow me, everypony.” Turning on her hooves, she began to trot back to the doorway, Luna and the Elements following close behind her. Twilight took a moment to hug her brother and sister-in-law goodbye, promising to visit them again soon before sprinting to catch up with the others. Heller prepared to follow them as well, when he was stopped by the call of his name, “Heller.”

Turning around, he saw an exhausted Shining Armor being helped to his hooves by his wife. Nuzzling her in return, he slowly trotted up to the awaiting human and stopped just directly in front of him, craning his head upwards so that their eyes locked.

Wordlessly, he raised his hoof.

Heller looked down at the raised hoof, an unreadable expression on his face.

Then, slowly, he gripped the hoof in his hand, before giving it a firm shake.

The trek through halls had been thankfully silent and uneventful and in what felt like no time at all, they stood before the carriage that would transport them back to Ponyville. The Elements said their goodbyes to the princesses and piled one by one into the open carriage, leaving him alone with the two royal sisters.

“Well,” he started, unsure of what to say. “I guess I’ll see you in a week.”

Celestia placed a golden shod hoof on his shoulder. ”I promise you James, I won’t rest until I have the spell completely deciphered and ready to cast. In one weeks’ time, you will be going home.” She gave his shoulder a soft squeeze. “I promise you.”

Lowering her hoof, she stepped aside, allowing Luna to approach the human, her face downcast.

“Hey,” he said sadly.

“I don’t want you to go.” The sadness and pleading in her voice tore at his defenses, but he stayed strong.

“I have to.”

“No you don’t," she said stubbornly, puffing her cheeks out.

‘Oh, god she’s pouting. Don’t let her break you Heller, stay strong.’

“Yeah, I do. You have meetings at night and sleep during the day. I don’t want you getting in trouble with your sister because you decided to skip your meetings or endangering your health over me by forcing yourself to stay awake just so we can hang out. We both know that if I stay here you’ll do both of those things even if I tell you not to. This is the best for both of us.”

“But...but...” Her cerulean eyes began to fill with tears and she let out a choked sob..

Oh, god, she’s whimpering. She’s going to start crying! Do something dammit!’

“Luna wait.” He reached out with his arms and gripped her shoulders, lowering himself so that they were eye level. “I promise you that when I come back in a week I’ll...I’ll...”

‘Think, think, think! What can you say that will make her feel better and stop crying?’

“I’ll spend the entire day with you!”

‘You fucking idiot, why did you say that!’

Instantly Luna’s face cleared up, a Pinkie Pie-like grin growing in her face. “Really James? You’d sacrifice another day here just to spend time with me.?”

“Yep.” He said, forcing a smile.

“All day?”

“Yep.”

“Doing anything I want to do?”

“Yep.”

“With no complaining or sarcastic remarks?”

“Yep.”

“Including sex?”

“...That whole crying bit was an act just to get me to say I’ll spend the day with you wasn’t it?”

“Yep.”

“You fucking bitch,” he grumbled, chastising himself for falling for such an obvious ploy. Just before as he was about to release her and make his way over to the carriage, he felt Luna’s arms wrap around him and pull him in close.

“I’ll miss you James,” She whispered into his ear, smiling as she felt his body tense up at the hug. “But I think I’ll miss this most of all.” Then, without any warning, she leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Inside the carriage, Rainbow Dash lazily drew circles in the air with her hoof letting out a bored sigh as she did so. “Ugh, I am so boooored.How long does it take to say goodbye?”

“Oh really Rainbow Dash, must you be so boorish,” Rarity reprimanded from the seat next to the cyan pegasus. “I imagine this must be hard enough for him as it is.”

“Ah reckon it is.” Applejack intoned from the seat across from the both of them. “After what happened the last time he was there, ah wouldn’t be too excited on going back either.”

“I know what will put him in a good mood!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her usual manner.

“A party?” Everyone (even Fluttershy) deadpanned at once.

“Wrong! I was actually going to say- no wait, you’re right, a party. How’d ya know?”

“Lucky guess.” Twilight answered with a roll of her eyes. “But Rarity and Applejack are right Rainbow Dash. This is a very difficult process for James and we have to be supportive.” She peered out the windows to the sight of Heller and Luna enveloped in a hug. “I can only imagine what those two are going through right now. Princess Luna is closer to him than anypony else I know aside from my brother. This must be heartbreaking for them.”

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!!”

The inhabitants of the carriage nearly jumped out of their skins at the sound of the rage-filled cry. Everypony looked out the still open door to see a furious Heller stomping towards the carriage.

“James, what’s wrong? What was that shout about and... why is Princess Luna rolling on the ground laughing?”

“MOVE!” He ordered, and Twilight immediately obeyed his command, scooting over and giving him plenty of space.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he banged on the roof of the carriage to get the attention of the two chauffeur's, “Get your slow asses in gear, I wanna be there by yesterday!”

The pegasi obeyed, albeit reluctantly and with a scowl, and immediately took flight. Behind them, the majestic and pristine image of Canterlot grew smaller and smaller before disappearing behind the clouds.

There was silence in the carriage as it was carried through the air, with none of the pony occupants understanding what was going on, and being far too afraid to ask. Twilight, choosing to be the brave one in this situation, finally asked, “James, why is your face red?”

“You curious whether you can survive a 50ft drop, Sparky?”

“Um, no?”

“THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Down below, Luna had finally recomposed herself and lifted off the ground. She stared at the carriage as it quickly became a tiny dot in the distance, a sad smile on her face. “Goodbye James Heller. I really will miss you.”

Celestia approached her younger sibling from behind, eyeing her suspiciously. “Luna...what exactly happened between you and James?”

“Oh Tia,” Luna chuckled, turning to face her sister. “It’s something you wouldn’t understand in your old day and age. I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Patting her lightly on the head, Luna strolled past her sister and back towards the castle, leaving behind a baffled Celestia.

“So Twilight, what’s the plan?” Applejack whispered, leaning her head in close with the rest of the Elements so that a certain Marine wouldn’t hear them.

Not that it was really needed. Next to Twilight, Heller was leaning against the window, snoring lightly. Not long after the carriage had taken off, Heller had made himself comfortable and shut his eyes, simply telling them to wake him up when they got there. 5 minutes later he was out like a light. One would speculate he was only going to sleep so he wouldn’t have to answer any questions on whatever happened between him and Princess Luna, but then again, no one brave enough was going to question him on it anytime soon so they left it alone.

“Well, he’s going to be with us for a week Applejack,” Twilight whispered back, “That gives each of us one day with him to...you know...”

“I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” Rainbow Dash shook her head, “I mean, him? You’d have better luck teaching it to Discord or getting Twilight to go on a date.

Though she could have worded it better (and she could get a date anytime she wanted thank you very much!), Twilight found herself agreeing with Rainbow Dash. It was quite the odd request. In fact, had it been given by anypony other than the princess, she would have laughed straight in their faces. But, seeing as how that was not the case, they had no choice in the matter.

Looking out the window to gaze at the blazing sun of the princess, she contemplated the next seven days.

The Princess had given them an order and they would dutifully obey it to the best of their abilities. It was going to be difficult, possibly their most difficult challenge yet, but they wouldn’t fail.

They were going to teach James Heller about the magic of friendship.

Chapter 8

‘I’m only doing this for the biomass this thing can give me, that’s all.’ This is what James Heller told himself when he charged in and kicked the dragon in the face. This is what he continued to tell himself as he watched the dragon slowly stand up and turn its hungry gaze towards him.

The forest was silent as both predators stared at each other for what felt like hours. Both were sizing each other up, the dragon looking nervously at the deadly blade on his right arm, while Heller reviewed its battles with the horses in an attempt to better understand its abilities.

“Well” The dragon finally spoke “That was some kick. For a creature so small, you sure know how to hit.” He rubbed his cheek as he said that, wincing slightly at the pain.” Speaking of which, what kind of creature are you anyway? I’ve lived in this forest for a long time and I’ve never seen anything quite like you before.”

“I’m the thing that’s going to rip your face off and wear it like a mask, nice to meet you.” Heller sarcastically shot back.

Chuckling slightly at the response, his eyes suddenly turned serious as he bared his fangs. “That was a pretty funny joke. Let’s see if you find this as hilarious.” Breathing in deeply, the dragon expelled a huge amount of flames at the marine.

Jumping into the air to avoid the vicious flames, Heller flipped in midair and used the momentum to send his blade crashing down on the dragons head, aiming to cleave the creature in two. Unfortunately he, like Rainbow Dash, had severely underestimated the dragons speed.

Swiftly spinning around, the dragon swung its tail at the airborne marine. The massive appendage smashed into him with tremendous force, interrupting his attack and sending him crashing into the dragon’s mountain home with tremendous force, the stone shattering from the impact. Now embedded into the mountain, Heller could only groan in pain as he tried to free himself. His efforts were interrupted when the dragons open palm suddenly smashed into him, forcing him even deeper into the mountain.

Grasping the marine in his talons, he pulled his arm out of the mountain and took a good look at the being that was now trapped in his clawed hands. “So much for ripping my face off” He said, mocking the seemingly helpless soldier. “You’re just like that pegasus: All bark no bi- AAH!” Dropping his prisoner to the ground, he gripped his hand in pain. Looking at it, he could see that his palms were bleeding heavily from several puncture wounds. Looking down at his opponent he could see why.

The creature’s arms had changed once again; in their place stood two large shields with spikes protruding out the front, the obvious cause of his injury. Not wanting to give his opponent a chance to recover, Heller shifted both arms from the shields to the hammerfists, leapt at the dragons face, and delivered a ferocious uppercut to its chin, the force of the blow nearly snapping its neck. Continuing the assault, he then delivered an equally as vicious right hook to its face.

The dragon stumbled backwards from the blow, only stopping to spit out several of its shattered fangs. He looked up just in time to see the creature launch itself at him and could feel the air leaving his lungs as both of the creatures massive fists slammed into his gut. Once again he found himself knocked on his back, gasping for air.

Unfortunately for him, Heller was nowhere near done. Shifting to the whipfist, he sent the elongated appendage towards the wounded beast and had it wrap around its tail. Grunting in effort, he used his monstrous strength to lift the enormous creature into the air. Swinging it over his head, he then slammed the beast into its own home, grinning in satisfaction as the stone shattered from the blow. The dragon, now in immense pain, slowly slid off his destroyed home before collapsing face first on the ground.

Heller carefully watched the prone body of the dragon, not letting his guard down for an instant. There was one thing he had learned during his days as a soldier and later during his days as a living virus: Nothing ever died easy.

His words soon proved to be correct; the dragon’s body stirred slightly before rising. It was a slow process; the dragon moaned in pain and cursed under its breath with every move it made and actually fell back down several times. Heller knew he should have attacked by now, but the situation was so amusing to watch, he couldn’t help but sit back and laugh at the dragon’s agony. “Need help?” He asked with a grin.

The dragon glared at him with pure hatred in its eyes before attempting to stand once again. Putting his left hand on the mountain as support, he slowly began to rise. ‘Now we can’t have that.’ Heller thought as his hands morphed from the whipfist to the arms of the tendrils. ‘Time to feel the pain asshole.’

The dragon, nearly standing up, cried out in pure agony as he felt something pierce his left hand multiple times. Looking at it, he saw that his hand had been impaled by several black and red tentacles, blood gushing out of the wounds like a river. Trying to pull his hand free only resulted in another cry, quickly realizing that the tentacles had gone right through his hand and into the mountain.

He was stuck.

He had one second to process that thought before he heard a dark chuckle come from the creature. Turning his head to look at it, he felt something that he’d never think a dragon such as himself would ever feel: fear.

The creatures arm had turned back into the blade, still looking as deadly as ever. But this time that wasn’t what was frightening him.

It was the look of manic glee that was on the creatures face as he observed his helpless victim. “No bite huh? Let me show you what kind of bite I have.” He coldly spoke, before jumping into the air towards the helpless dragon, his blade aimed at its immobile limb.

The sound of steel slicing flesh was only drowned out by the sound of screaming.

Any pain that the dragon felt before was immediately forgotten. This new pain, a pain so intense that he couldn’t even believe it was real, overloaded his brain and almost made him lose consciousness.

As he stared at the bloody stump that was his left hand, he almost wished he had.

His severed left hand was still impaled to the mountain and below it, covered in his blood, was the creature, that same manic look on his face. “Aw, don’t scream just yet.” He spoke with glee. “Cause you’ve got a lot more limbs to lose and a lot more pain to feel!”

“You bastard!” It roared, the pain having been replaced by rage. He sent a punch towards the creature with his remaining hand in an attempt to crush him.

Changing his hands back to the hammerfist, Heller easily caught the fist and refused to let go when the dragon tried to pull it back. With the hammerfist greatly increasing his strength, he was able to lift the dragon over his head with much greater ease than before and slammed it back down on its back with devastating force, the impact stunning it.

Taking advantage of its stunned state he ran towards the dragon’s hand, took a hold of its index and middle talons, and began to pull. The sound of muscles tearing and bones popping drowned out everything, even the sounds of the dragons screaming. Giving an animalistic roar, Heller tore the talons off the dragons hand with a sickening crunch.

Lifting his right hand, the dragon stared in horror at the missing appendages before screaming in pain yet again.

Throwing the bloodied talons to the side, Heller jumped into the air and lifted both hammerfists above his head as he began to descend over the dragons head, aiming to slam them both down and crush the creature’s skull.

Only when the dragon opened its mouth and he felt the heat coming from it did he realize that maybe that wasn’t the best choice.

He didn’t even get a chance to scream before the flames washed over his body.

The stream of fire continued to blast into the air for a few more seconds before slowing down and eventually stopping. The dragon, still on its back, was breathing heavily, both out of fatigue and fear.

‘That was close. If he hadn’t jumped into the air when he did…’ He shivered at the thought. Rolling over on his stomach, he carefully began to stand up using only his legs, his left hand gone and his right hand too injured to use.

After some difficulty, he finally managed the task and looked around the now devastated area to see if he could locate the creature’s remains.

He found them. Just a few feet away from him lay the unmoving form of the creature, the flames still burning its body.

The dragon looked at the burning corpse with his mouth wide open. He almost couldn’t believe it. The creature was dead. The thing that had nearly killed him, a dragon, now lay burning just a few feet away from him.

He continued to stare for just a few more seconds before he started to chuckle. That chuckle soon turned into full blown laughter as the reality of what just happened finally caught up to him.

The creature was dead! He had won! He may have lost a hand and a few fingers in the process but victory was his! He would have done a victory dance were it not for the pain he was feeling. Instead, he settled for lifting his head and laughing to the heavens over his victory.

“What’s so fucking funny?”

He froze.

‘No.’

He lowered his head.

‘No.’

He located where the voice came from.

‘No.’

His eyes fell on the creature.

‘nonononononononono….’

The creature was standing. Its shirt and jacket had been incinerated and it stood only in its pants.

And it was still burning.

The flames continued to attack its body, pieces of its skin slowly melting away. Its rib cage was visible, as were the bones of its right hand. Where bones were not visible, the pink flesh of its muscle tendons were. Its face was the hardest hit though: almost all the skin and hair had burned away and the dragon found himself staring into the burning eyes of a near skeleton.

But the creature didn’t look like it noticed that its body on fire. It didn’t even look like it was in pain.

It just looked pissed.

And the dragon knew all that rage was focused on him.

The dragon was shaking now, its eyes wide with terror. Its breathing had halted and its mouth felt dry.

When it did speak, it spoke in a whisper “What are you?”

The creature said nothing, it just continued to glare.

The dragon, utterly terrified now, finally shouted “WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU!”

The creature finally opened its mouth and when it did, it spoke with a fury that made the dragon take a step back.

“I’m something you can’t kill.”

Then it leapt at him.

He couldn’t help it. He actually screamed in terror when that demon from hell came soaring towards him.

It was only when it leapt in his open mouth and he swallowed on reflex did he quickly regret that action.

At first nothing happened. Nothing hurt and he couldn’t feel the creature moving.

That’s when the pain started.

All the pain he felt before, from being slammed into the mountain to having his hand sliced off, nothing could prepare him for what he was feeling at this very moment.

He screamed in pure agony as he felt something tearing him apart from the inside. He used the remaining talons on his right hand to claw at his stomach, leaving deep gashes in his skin as he desperately tried to get to what was causing him such torment.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Countless tendrils burst out of the dragon’s body bathing the area and the dragon with blood. The tendrils writhed in the air, oblivious to the creature they had just mortally wounded.

Despite the grievous wounds, the dragon was still standing, wobbling on its feet. It opened its mouth as if to say something, but the only thing that came out was blood.

It stood standing for a few more seconds before tilting forward and violently crashing into the ground.
The dragon’s eyes were open, but they lacked any light to them, having died long before he hit the ground.

The dragon’s body remained unmoving as silence returned to the forest once more.

That is until a strange sound was heard.

The sound was coming from the dragon’s body which was slowly beginning to change. Its body started to break down, its scales disappearing. In their place were a writhing mass of black and red tendrils. Slowly, the writhing tendrils began to get smaller and looked as if they were being absorbed by something that lied in the middle. Eventually, a human like shape began to become visible as the tendrils continued to be absorbed by it. When all the tendrils were absorbed, the only thing that remained was the human like shape, its body completely covered in the writhing tendrils. Slowly, the tendrils began to disappear and clothing and skin started to become visible.

When the tendrils completely vanished, what stood there was a healed, rejuvenated, and satisfied James Heller.

“Damn that felt good.”

A/N: Well that’s the chapter. Hope it lived up to all your expectations. I actually had to put Prototype 2 back in so I could see how the consuming process looked. Don’t know if I got all the details right, but I think I did a good job.