A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court

Chapters

2-Fiction
3-Questions, Answers, and Questions
4-Welcome to Ponyville
5-Sonic Rainboom
7-The Winter Before the Wrap Up
8-Dragonshy
9-Over A Barrel
10-Suited for Success
11-The Best Night Ever
12-The Return to Harmony: Discord
13-The Return to Harmony: Broken
14-Nightmares and Swordfights
15-Pendragon Rising
16-Preparations
18-Rage
19-Equestria Prevails
20-The Sparks of New Beginnings
21-"Ya Ya Huley!"
23-Returned Favors
24-"Pendragon Down!"
25-Fury of the Day
26-Love of the Night
27-A Pact by Blood
28-Dinners, Stones, and Polished Spoons
29-Growing Flames
30-A Canterlot Wedding: Suspicions
31-A Canterlot Wedding: Nightmare
32-Of Plans and Potions
33-The Real Best Night Ever
34-And so the Bells Call
Epilogue
1-A Short Drop and a Sudden Stop
6-Swarm of the Century
17-The Siege
22-Out of the Swamp, into the Fire

2-Fiction

Chapter 2

Lieutenant Silver Pauldrons would have been adamant against any sort of accusation that even hinted at him being scared at the being next to him, but he decided that instead he would only be slightly annoyed if anyone mentioned that he was uneasy about the human.

It was an odd thing, almost twice as tall as himself, with a black mane, almost no fur to speak off, and very small, brown eyes. He had some fur around his chin, and under that thing that stuck out of his face that Silver could only guess was a nose.

“What month is it?” the human asked, emptying his pack of clothes, crushed boxes and what looked like a metal tube from his saddlebag. If you could call it that.

They were outside, on one of the inner walls. Silver was impatient to be done with the assignment, and eager to get Alan to his room. “It is currently early September,” Silver answered, smirking as he watched the human then empty water out of his bag.

“So the Running of the Leaves is coming up?”

“It is.”

Alan looked straight up at the sky, his...claws moving in an odd fashion as they bobbed up and down.

“Was the Grand Galloping Gala a big hit last year?”

Silver cocked his head at that. What kind of being suddenly appears out of a sovereign's ceiling, produces mass chaos for the brief seconds he was there, gains the favor of said sovereign, and then proceeds to busy himself with the political reports of parties? “The Gala was a massive hit with the nobles.”

“Any, what a noble would call, disasters?”

“No.”

“Huh, interesting, so at least I’ll get to experience season 2.” he said before mumbling something about a coma again.

The coma talk was tiring. Silver at first thought it was perhaps a mistake on the part of the human, meaning to say that he had been perhaps mind-controlled or some other sort of nonsense to expunge any responsibility. However, the way he kept going on about it seemed to suggest different. Silver now guessed that the creature was convinced he was in a coma, on the edge of death, and had been stuck here in Equestria as some sort of purgatory.

Honestly, Silver thought, there were worse alternatives.

“Which way is North?” the human asked, mumbling something about forgetting his compass.

“That way,” Silver said, pointing with his hoof.

The Human then took another look at the sky. “So it’s the afternoon?”

“Yes, around three.”

Alan grunted, pleased that he able to guess that before adjusting his watch. He suddenly stopped though, as another question entered his mind. “Is a day here 24 hours?”

Silver blinked. What kind of a question was that? Where is a day not 24 hours? By Luna's Silver Shoes, if Celestia herself had not given the order, he would have left this stupid being right where he stood. “Yes, a day has 24 hours,” he said, doing his best to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“Good, I would have hated for it to change. It would have screwed me over in so many ways.”

Silver Pauldrons rolled his eyes.

“Alright, that seems to be everything. Flashlight works, clothes, toiletries, rope and backpack need to dry, granola needs to be repacked, microwave meals need to cooked and dealt with immediately, they are probably going to be the first things to go until I can find something in the pony diet that will suit me. Is that everything?”

“I don’t know,” Silver answered.

“Hm?” Alan said, turning to the white stallion in the golden armor. “Oh, sorry, I was just talking to myself, I do that. Although, I guess talking to you is talking to myself anyway...”

More crazy talk.

Alan reached for the large bump that had formed at the back of his head. “I should’ve known better,” he mumbled before saying, “Can I get to the room I’ll be staying in? I need to drop these off and let them dry.”

“This way,” Silver answered before heading off.

Alan followed, his pack now in a greater state of disrepair than it had started. Canterlot Castle was much bigger than Alan had thought, and Canterlot town itself was a city bordering on the edge of being a metropolis. The City sprawled across the mountainside, held level by level upon level of balconies, each supporting more than enough houses to shelter all of Ponyville.

Or, he thought so, anyway, he hadn’t really seen Ponyville, so he couldn’t be sure.

The Castle, though, was far more impressive. One look and you could tell that the place had been built for aesthetics, but at the same time, Alan could find chokepoints, killing fields, murder holes, battlements, and anything else you would need to hold a fortress. It was actually quite impressive. Not to mention the architecture itself, which had beautiful arches and pillars, each made from the same pure white marble he had seen in the throne room.

It was a shame it wasn’t real.

This was all in his brain somewhere, and had come through in the medium of places that were also fictional. Everything he would experience here could be something derived from his own experiences, everything would just be presented differently is all. If he were to get crushed, it would feel like someone was sitting on him, if that someone weighed 400,000 pounds.

But, then again, it would be rather insightful to see how his brain had come up with explanations for things.

“Sir,” he said to the pony that was leading him to his room, “can I ask you a question?”

“No one has stopped you so far.”

“Fair enough. My question is, how do ponies grab things?”

Silver shot him a glance. “Excuse me?”

“With your hooves, how do you grab something, I mean, yeah unicorns have magic, but how do pegasi and earth ponies manipulate objects?”

Silver blinked. Suddenly he wanted another how many hours in a day question. “Uh...I...I’m not sure...actually...I’ve never really thought about it. It just sort of happens...”

Alan sighed, he had hoped that his subconscious would have been more creative than that. He wasn’t expecting anything bullet proof, but it would have been nice to have a little explanation.

“Uh...I can answer that,” a familiar voice said behind him.

Alan turned his head to see Twilight Sparkle leading the mane six, following him at a distance.

“Hey girls,” Alan said with a smile. “How are my favorite ponies?”

They did not seem to take that too well, backing up in an awkward attempt to flinch without appearing to be offended. Well, all except Pinkie Pie, who bounced forward. “Are we really your favorite?”

Alan smiled. “Of course you are.”

Pinkie smiled, bouncing high, letting off a high-pitched giggle. “I knew you guys would like me!”

“You guys?” Alan asked.

“Yeah! I knew I’ve seen you guys before, you’re all right there!” she said, pointing straight at the wall that they had been walking next to.

“Uh...”

“Look!” she said, getting real close. “There’s another one, he has blonde hair, ooh, and that one has an awesome mustache, that one has a clock behind him, oh, and that one has a shirt with Rainbow on it...”

Alan approached the wall. “Pinkie...Is this the fourth wall?”

“Yes! No, it was. Now it’s over there,” she said, pointing to a patch of sky. “It’s hard to tell when they change camera angles like that.”

Alan laughed. “Yes, you definitely are Pinkie Pie.”

“Well of course I am, silly willy, who else would I be? Certainly not Bluie Pie, or Greenie Pie, or Purpleie Pie.”

Alan laughed again. “Come here, you random little thing you!” With a big swoop of his arms, he swept up the pink pony into a hug. The rose ball of energy squealed in delight as she burst into laughter. She was far lighter than he had expected, but that really only made it easier to hug the small thing.

It was such a shame this wasn’t real.

That thought must have made it to his face, because Pinkie looked straight at him, a worried look in her eyes. “Are you ok?”

He looked at her, pale blue eyes staring at him in worry. The words he had said so many times now couldn’t come to his throat. He couldn’t tell her she was a figment of his imagination, projected on a backdrop of a TV show his brain had come up with because he was positively bored. He couldn’t tell her that. What if it broke her heart? Her fictitious little heart?

“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking about home,” he said.

Pinkie jumped out of his arms. “Well, no need to go all mopey wopey on us. I can get you a ‘Cheer-you-up-to-forget-homesickness party’ in a snap! Come on!” she said before bounding away to the kitchen.

Alan chuckled, “Pinkie. I’ve got to put my stuff away first.”

Lieutenant Pauldrons sighed, before perking up suddenly. “Uh, sir, I will gladly take your items to your room for you.”

Alan smiled, “Really? Thanks! Could you please make sure to lay everything out though so it dries?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Thank you, sir.” Alan said, laying his pack before the stallion. “Alright! Let’s party!” he yelled before running after the pink mare.

The other five mares hesitated a second before one, Applejack, said, “Well, ah reckon he seems friendly.”

“He did to take to Pinkie’s manner fairly quickly,” Rarity mentioned.

Twilight said nothing, but followed after the two party-goers, driven once more by curiosity for the odd being that seemed to know so much about them. This thing had inadvertently become her next pet project, and she was going to figure this one out or die trying. In the name of science, of course.

So, with Twilight leading, the four other ponies followed, feeling somehow as though they were marching to their doom.

Silver Pauldrons watched them go, and once everypony was out of sight, he sighed. “Sign up for the military they said, it’s a good job they said, it’s easy they said.” Grabbing the bag’s straps in his mouth he heaved it onto his back. “If I ever see my recruiter again, I’m going to kick his flank.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie jumped straight for the bakery of the kitchen, passing three very disgruntled cooks, including one that Alan assumed was the Copper Pots that Celestia had mentioned. “Wonderful!” he yelled, “absolutely wonderful! Never mind me! Never mind the fact that I have to cook for a staff of four hundred, go ahead, make my kitchen a mess! Go on!”

Of course, the second the chestnut stallion saw the 5’11” bipedal creature enter, he silenced himself. Then, moving off to the side and out of the way of the human, began to mumble, “Celestia never said he’d be so tall...”

The kitchen was carved from the same marble that had been everywhere else, giving the entire place a bright, cheery feeling. The walls had been covered with a few tapestries, mostly simple pieces, probably to trap heat in the room. Other than that, it wasn’t much different from a restaurant kitchen. Long, white counters with a mishmash of cutlery and food left here and there, all of it caught somewhere in the middle between ingredient and entree.

If Copper Pots thought this wasn’t a mess, Alan wondered what he thought one looked like.

With the head cook now out of the way, Pinkie began to bake cupcakes at an amazing rate, getting the batter done within seconds. “This will probably take a bitsie-bit long time,” Pinkie said, throwing the suddenly complete batter into the oven. “So we’ve got to party in the meantime!”

Alan smirked. “Alright, party it is then.”

“Uh,” Twilight interjected, just now coming into the room, “actually, Pinkie, why don’t you get the other girls started on a game? I still have to answer his questions.”

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” Pinkie said before pulling out a tarp with a pony pictured on it. “Who’s up for Pin the Tail on the Pony!?”

As Pinkie rounded up Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, Alan took a seat on the bench, and he was quickly joined by Twilight. “Smooth, Twilight, smooth,” Alan mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Alan said, waving it off. “So, how do pegasi and earth ponies manage to manipulate things with their hooves?”

“Oh, well,” Twilight began, “it should first be noted that all ponies can in fact use magic, the degree of manipulation, however, is entirely dependant on the medium of the magic.” Twilight suddenly closed her eyes, apparently reciting this lecture by heart.

“Magic has a total of four mediums, alicorn, feathers, hair, and hoof. Alicorn is the most powerful, alicorn being the substance of which a unicorn’s horn is made. In fact, the name of the species that the princesses are had come about due to a misunderstanding where primitive Equestrian scientists, seeing the power of the princesses, had assumed that their entire skeletal structure was composed of alicorn, thus the species name.”

Twilight was smiling as she spoke, taking pride in remembering so much. Oblivious to the fact that Rainbow Dash had just won the first round of Pin the Tail. Rainbow gave a triumphant yell, before passing the tail to Applejack.

“Second, feathers,” she continued. “Magic is much less powerful in feathers than alicorn, limiting itself only to direct weather manipulation as well as aids for flight, including cloud walking. All studies show that this magic is completely subconscious and pegasi are most of the time unaware of ever using magic at all. Third, hair. Hair magic is far less powerful than feather magic, and can only be used to indirectly manipulate tangible objects by forcing the hair into a something akin to a fifth limb. The longer one’s hair, the better.”

Applejack won this time, getting significantly closer to the rump of the pictured pony than last time.

“Finally, we have hooves. This is easily the weakest form of magic in terms of raw power, but is more powerful that hair magic in that it can be used to directly manipulate an object. While with hair one has to form their tail or mane into a grasping device to manipulate and object, hoof magic creates something very similar to a vacuum in order to manipulate objects directly.” She opened her eyes, smiling, apparently waiting for some sort of sign that she had impressed the newcomer.

He gave the unicorn a smile. “Read that book that many times, have you?” He chuckled. “Thanks for the answer, by the way.”

Twilight did her best to hide the offended look that hit her face with a smile. “So, I answered one of your questions, now you answer one of mine.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Alan said. “It sounded to me like the Princess doesn’t want anybo-I mean, anypony asking me any questions until she asks me first.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, “but, um...She knew what you were, so she obviously has some insight to your culture, so she’s probably not going to ask you anything related to that!”

Clever girl...

Alan was about to retort with a negative when he noticed Fluttershy, slowly approaching him. Her head was hung low, and she refused to make eye-contact, but nonetheless, she approached. This was probably the closest he had ever been to the shy pegasus, and he was sure that it would take a lot of time before he’d ever get this close again. “Uh-um...” she spoke in the tiniest whisper, “Mr. Human...could you please answer some of our questions...that is, um...if you’d want to...”

If you asked, Alan would tell you he used to have willpower, then he met Fluttershy.

Of course, now that both Twilight, and Fluttershy were begging the human for some answers, the rest were soon to follow.

“Yeah!” The rainbow-maned pegasus cried, hovering over his head. “Give us some details, man, you seem to know us, well, we want to know you!”

“Quite, darling,” Rarity piped. “It is rather rude of you not to let us know anything about you when you seem to know so much about us.”

“And while ah don’t normally agree with frou-frou manners an’ the like, I’ve got a couple of questions I’ve been itchin’ ta ask ya,” Applejack added.

“Ooh, are we playing ‘20 Questions About our Lives?’ I love that game!” the pink baker added.

Alan took a look at all of the six ponies that surrounded him. Each one of them begged him without speaking a single word more. Well, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like he was going too tell them anything to important. “It seems I have no choice then. Alright, who wants to go first?”

Five hooves quickly shot into the air while a sixth hesitantly followed. “Uh...alright, Twilight, how about you go first, you probably have the most questions and the most we get out of the way the better.”

The purple unicorn squee-ed. “Oh this is exciting, a whole new culture to experience! Um, ok, ok, question...uh...Ok, Alan, it is Alan right?”

“Are you sure you want that to be your question?” Alan asked, smiling as the unicorn blanched. “I’m kidding, yes that’s right, Alan’s my name.”

“Uh, ok, Alan, What is your system of government?”

“We have a Democratic Republic.”

“What does that mean?” Rainbow asked.

“It means that everybod-pon-...no everybody, gets to vote on certain things, whether it is the law or the ruler, the people get to pick, everyone gets their say.”

“Is it like that everywhere?” Twilight asked.

“No, and before you ask another question, it’s someone else’s turn.”

Twilight harumph-ed before passing the figurative baton. Which was instantly picked up by Pinkie. “Ooh! Ooh! Do you humans party?”

Alan laughed. “Yes, we humans party, sometimes too much.”

“Nonsense, you can never party too much,” Pinkie said. “Rarity, your turn.”

“Thank you, dear. Now, Mr. Alan, why are you wearing those clothes, they don’t look particularly fabulous, what kind of a meeting where you going to that required you to dress so...disappointingly?”

Alan chuckled again. “Well, Miss Rarity, it should first be noted that humans, due to more than a few anatomical differences, wear clothes all the time, for the sake of both modesty as well as protection.” Alan noticed the unicorn’s eyes light up at the thought of a whole race that wore clothes every second of every day. “Secondly, these clothes were picked for a camping trip. I honestly was not expecting to meet royalty today. If I were, I probably would have worn my suit.”

The image of himself walking through the forest in his grey, two-piece suit made Alan chuckle. “Alright, next.”

“Uh...um...do you like animals?” Fluttershy whispered.

Alan smiled. “Of course I do, my favorite animal is a dog. In fact, I would have one for a pet if my apartment didn’t outright forbid them.”

“Oh, that’s so sad that you couldn’t have a pet. I can get one for you if you want,” Fluttershy said, her voice getting a touch easier to hear.

“Well, let me worry about getting back first. If I can, then maybe I’ll stop by Ponyville real quick and pick something up.”

“Oh, ok,” she said, smiling.

I just made Fluttershy smile, this is a good day. Even though this is all a dream, his brain shot back.

“Alright, ah do believe it’s mah turn,” Applejack said. “Now, what in Equestria do ya humans eat?”

We were going to get there eventually... “Well, that one’s a little hard to answer...you see, humans are omnivores, we eat anything. We can eat fruit, vegetables, bugs, breads, but a big part of our diet is in fact meat.”

Total silence.

“Although, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, most of the meat we eat isn’t sapient, it doesn’t really think the way you or I do. Besides, you keep feeding me cupcakes and we’ll be totally fine,” he said, smiling, doing his best to defuse the situation.

More silence.

“Uh, that reminds me, I should probably get those cupcakes,” Pinkie Pie said.

“You, uh, don’t eat ponies by any chance, do ya?” Applejack asked, her ears flat underneath her Stetson.

“No. Never,” Alan said. “The only documented times of humans eating any equine was normally when they were starving to death, and I am a long way from there. Besides, you guys are much too cute to eat.”

The Donner Party suddenly sprung to mind.

“Uh, I think we should best pick a different topic.”

Everyone agreed, just as Pinkie returned with the cupcakes.

“So, Rainbow Dash, what’s your question?”

Rainbow hovered close to his face, looking him straight in the eye. “How cool are you?”

Alan smiled. “Cool enough to do this.” Turning, Alan reached for the three throwing knives at his belt, instantly finding a target in an old wooden beam that was thirty feet away. With a flick of his wrist, a knife went sailing, hitting the beam dead center. It was then followed by its brothers, each hitting the beam in the center, making a vertical line of thrown steel.

Rainbow Dash nodded at the display. “I approve.”

Alan smirked as he retrieved his knives, answering more questions as time went on.

He talked about his life, his job, he briefly touched on his family before redirecting that conversation elsewhere. He talked about Georgia, and he talked about soda, he talked about Walmart and toast, and camping and granola. He spoke briefly of TV and the internet, and even more briefly on fast food restaurants. He told them about computers, and bicycles, of keyboards and cars. Anything they cared to ask, he would tell them.

Alan checked his watch. 11:24 pm. “Well girls, this chat was great, but I should be getting to bed, more will be explained tomorrow.”

“Aw, man, but you were just getting to good stuff about those ninja guys,” Rainbow whined.

“And I wanted to hear more about National Parks.”

“I would love to hear more about Fashion, darling.”

“I want to hear about clubbing!”

“And ah’d like to hear more about this vacuum machine that picks apples.”

“And this George Washington character fascinates me, do you have any books on the subject?”

“Another day guys, another day.”

A collective moan echoed through the mane six.

“Come on, it’s nearly midnight, and we all have to see Celestia tomorrow, go on. Go to your rooms. We’ll talk more later, I promise.”

The mares left in single file, each mumbling to each other about their discoveries of this new world that Alan had come from. Once they had all left, Alan followed after, smiling.

It’s a real shame none of this was real.

Not a second of it.

Alan wandered for a bit, trying to find his room, when he suddenly realized that he had no idea where that was because the Lieutenant was supposed to lead him there.

Alan mentally slapped himself for that one.

“Way to go, genius, you have someone assigned to you, and you let them go before they finish working. Brilliant Alan, brilliant.”

“I’ve seen worse,” a stoic voice said behind him.

Alan turned, and sure enough, the lieutenant was right there, standing stock still with a hint of having a better attitude. “Oh, really?” Alan asked, “Someone worse than me?”

“Yes, a Prince, actually,” The Guard said, leading the way. “The foal wouldn’t shut up. ‘Oh, you must lead me to the so-and-so house before the late tea appointment.’ You’re nothing compared to that guy.”

Alan smiled, “I’m going to take a guess, is his name Blueblood?”

Pauldrons gave him a look. “How’d you know?”

“Let’s just say he’s so bad even humans know it.”

Pauldrons chuckled. “You know, human, you’re not half bad.”

“Thanks,” Alan said, “But please, call me Alan.”

“Then call me Silver, you know, when I’m not in the presence of officers, they don’t take first names that well.”

“Will do.” Alan said.

“Well, here we are,” Silver said, motioning down a corridor, “third door to the left. I’ll come pick you up when the Princess wants you.”

“Alright, thanks again, Silver.”

“‘Night, Alan.”

“Night,” the human replied, heading down to the room. Opening the plain wooden door, Alan walked into the dark room. He spotted an oil lamp in the corner, its flame burning with almost no fuel, just enough to keep it alight. Looking the lamp over, he found the gas valve and gave it a good twist. The room lit up with the flame’s light and Alan took a quick look at the room.

It was roughly 10’ by 10’ and had a bed that was too small for him. On the bed there were his clothes, laid out neatly to dry. They were dry and ready to wear now. Alan quickly folded them up and looked for something to lay them on. He found a counter with a pitcher, bowl and mirror on it. Next to the bowl lay his toiletry bag, and Alan laid the clothes there, next to his bag. Using the water in the pitcher, Alan brushed his teeth, and, stripping to his boxers and undershirt, climbed into bed.

Alan suddenly sighed; he forgot his sleeping bag. Why did he keep remembering things after the fact?

Well, it doesn’t matter; I’m sleeping in this bed.

No you’re not; if you’re lucky you’re sleeping in a hospital cot. This isn't real, remember that, Alan.

No. None of this was real.

Not Pinkie, not Rarity, not Fluttershy, not Rainbow, not Applejack, not Copper Pots, not Silver, not Celestia, and definitely not Twilight.

They weren't real.

None of this was.

Alright, guys, comments, questions, criticism, etc.

“I’ve got one!”

Pinkie, I thought I said not to talk to me during the story.

“Silly billy, this is after the story, see it’s up there.”

...I knew I should have hired a lawyer...

“But my question, what-how-how is-did-did going-Alan-Celestia on-get-know to Equestria?

Did you just fit three questions into one?

“...Maaayyyybe....”

Next Chapter, Pinkie, I promise. See you next time guys!

“And Hey! If you thumbs down, tell him why, you can’t expect him to get better without telling him what’s wrong. He’s not a mind reader, you know.”

Pinkie, stop harassing my readers!

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie! Bye!”

3-Questions, Answers, and Questions

Chapter 3

Canterlot Castle woke to a relatively peaceful sunrise.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!”

Relatively...

Alan roared. He was still here. He was still in Equestria. He was still insane.

He had admittedly hoped that he would have woken up in the ditch. He had hoped this was all some dream that he would and could wake up from. He had hoped that this small dip into Equestria would have been just that, a dip, not a plunge, not total immersion.

He needed to get back. He had problems he had to take care of. He had to pay bills, the rent, not to mention car payments.

What about his job? Would they fire him? Could you fire somebody for being in a coma?

What’s more, what about his body? It hadn’t eaten for a day, at least if this mindscape followed a 1:1 time ratio, and starving to death would be a terrible way to go.

Assuming, of course, that he would sit there undisturbed long enough to starve to death. What if a coyote or something had gotten to him? Or a snake? Or anything, really? He was safe from buzzards for now, but given time it wouldn’t be long before they would pick his bones dry.

Apparently, he had been a little loud, because no less than three soldiers burst into the room. “Anything wrong?” the leader, Silver, asked.

Alan sighed, before reaching for a set of clothes. “No, Lieutenant, I’m fine, just forgot where I was for a second.”

Silver gave Alan a look.

“Have I been summoned by the Princesses?” Alan asked, his voice deadpanning.

“Yes, you have. You’ve been given a few minutes to get ready, but do hurry.”

Alan nodded. “It won’t take me long.”

Silver nodded back, before he and the other guards backed out of the room.

Once they had gone, Alan picked himself up. Way to have mental breakdown. Sighing, he went over to the counter, brushed his teeth, put on the deodorant, slipped into a clean pair of jeans, and donned a new T-shirt. Man, I feel under-dressed.

Next went on the belt. He decided it would be best not to bring the knives today. Bringing weapons to a throne room was not a way to be liked by anybody.

Throwing on a pair of socks, Alan got his boots ready before finally standing. That was everything, wasn’t it? That was everything he owned here. A few changes of clothes, a handful of knives, a dismal supply of food, a canteen, a flashlight, and his iPod.

He could almost count that list on one hand.

Alan smirked. You were the one who wanted to go roughing it. Grabbing one of his many granola bars, each one having been painstakingly laid out by Silver yesterday, Alan made it a quick breakfast and headed straight to the door.

Outside, Silver waited alone, the other guards disappearing to wherever they had to be. “I hope you’re hungry, Princess Celestia has ordered a breakfast feast for you while you answer questions.”

Alan sighed, the half-eaten granola bar between his teeth. Taking one last bite, he handed the rest over to the stallion. “You want the rest of this?”

Silver looked at it for a second. “What is it?”

“Grains mostly, with nuts, raisins, and other chopped fruit, all held together by melted sugar. Very high in protein,” Alan said, “It’s very good, and since breakfast is being provided.”

Silver smirked. “Alright, alright, I’ll take it,” he said before grabbing the offered bar in his teeth. With a quick chomp and a gulp, the rest of the bar went down the pony’s throat. Silver gave a surprised grunt. “Heh, human food ain’t half bad.”

“Don’t say that too loud, there are plenty of disgusting things we eat, like Brussels Sprouts.”

“I’m sure the culinary horrors of humans put ours to shame,” Silver laughed. “But seriously, those things were good, what do you call them?”

“They’re granola bars, just grains and sugar really, plus a flavor or something.”

“Well, I’m going to try to get this passed for military rations; they’d make breakfast so much more bearable.”

“That bad, huh?”

Silver groaned. “Don’t even get me started. Between the soggy hay and the stale oats, it’s a miracle we can move in the mornings.”

“Sounds tough.”

“It’s the army,” Silver retorted.

“Fair enough.”

“Do humans have an army?” Silver asked.

“One for every country.”

“Do you guys see a lot of peace?”

“About as much as you see a human.”

They continued their talk, Silver always guiding the human through the halls of Canterlot, until they eventually came to the gold-gilded doors of the throne room. Silver nodded to Alan. “Alright, be sure to mind your manners. Be polite, and above all, don’t stare at Luna, no matter what she does. From what I understand, she’s still having a few issues from the banishment.”

Alan nodded. No big deal, just eating in the presence of royalty. Royalty that moved the sun and the moon at their mental commands, but royalty nonetheless.

That didn’t help...

The door opened, and Alan was greeted by the sight of a massive, golden table laid the entire length of the throne room. Alan saw that the other ponies, the Mane Six as well as Doctor Hooves and Derpy, were already seated, and were staring at their bowls with interest. Well, except the Doctor, who was happily eating something that looked like oatmeal. At the head of the table, wide enough for four places, sat Celestia, and beside her, Luna.

Luna was different than what Alan remembered. Her mane, mostly, was the major change; it was longer than he remembered when he saw her at the end of the pilot, and a much darker blue. Her tail had followed the same path, growing longer and a deeper blue.

Luna whispered into Celestia’s ear, the elder sister nodded in response. Then they both stood as Alan entered. “Welcome, Sir Alan Williams,” Celestia said, smiling, “would you do us the honor of joining us for breakfast?”

Alan nodded stupidly.

A chair, directly to the right of Celestia pulled away, wreathed in a golden aura of magic. Alan took the seat, as graciously as he could, and found himself sitting directly across from the lavender unicorn, Twilight, who was staring intently at her bowl, trying to figure out what exactly was in it before she lifted her head and gave him a quick smile. Alan nodded, and smiled back. Twilight sat to Luna’s left, and he himself sat to Celestia’s right, with the Mane six and the other two ponies crisscrossing the table. To Twilight’s left sat the Doctor, Applejack, and Fluttershy, while to Alan’s right sat Derpy, followed by Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and the Rainbow Dash.

Derpy gave him a smile, her eyes correctly aligned at the moment. “Sorry about the whole ‘Eat Muffin, Space Monster’ thing.”

Alan smiled. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, before looking at his own bowl.

It looked exactly like oatmeal. And, given that this was in fact a figment of his imagination, it probably was oatmeal. Finding a very old-looking spoon, Alan took a bite of the sludge, and found that it actually was, in fact, a bowl of oatmeal.

But what a bowl.

Alan moaned as the crushed grain met his tongue, traces of sugar and milk and honey each taunting his taste buds as it slid around his mouth. Swallowing, he turned to Celestia. “That was absolutely delicious, Princess.”

She smiled. “I am glad to hear it; it has been a very long time since I’ve needed this recipe, and I was sure I was forgetting something.”

“Well, if you did, it was for the better. This is the best oatmeal I’ve ever had!”

Celestia giggled. “Thank you, and please, call me Celestia, there is no need to be so formal as of now.”

Alan nodded. “Of course, Celestia.”

The alicorn nodded in return, before she took a bite herself. Taking that as some sort of cue, the other ponies began to eat, tentative at first, but after the first bite, he could tell they enjoyed it.

They ate for a bit, silently, before eventually, Celestia spoke up. “Now, Sir Alan, I do believe we have some questions we’d like to ask each other.”

Alan took one last bite of oatmeal before nodding. “Yes, that would be good.”

Celestia nodded. “Well, as our guest, please, go first.”

It took maybe a second before the first question popped to mind. “How am I here?”

The Doctor immediately perked up, before quickly returning to his bowl. Derpy shot him a glare.

Sighing, the Doctor then spoke up. “Alright, alright. That one is my fault.”

Celestia and Luna both turned to earth pony, expecting a very interesting answer.

“Let me start,” he said first, “by introducing myself. My name is the Doctor.”

“Who?” asked Twilight.

“Exactly.” Alan answered, a smile on his lips.

“Yes, well.” the earth pony continued. “Let me start by saying that I was not born a pony in the conventional sense.”

Everyone’s eyes were on him, waiting for an explanation.

“I am actually a near-immortal being known as a Timelord, and by rights, I should be dead.” The Doctor paused for a minute. “You see, Timelords are allowed twelve regenerations when near death, allowing us to take on a new body, so technically, we get thirteen lives. Now somehow, I’m still not entirely sure how, but somehow, I got fourteen, the last of which was this body you see before you.

“Now, with my very close brush with death, I decided that I should probably retire. Take a load off, as it were.” He smirked. “But it seems I can’t leave well enough alone sometimes.

“To make a long story short, my assistant and I were trying to recreate a phenomenon I had heard about happening here. An interdimensional portal. Well, short story shorter, it worked, and here you are.”

Twilight spoke up. “Wait, wait, wait, you expect us to believe you’re some sort of time-traveling super-pony?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Well, between the cutie mark, and the human sitting across from you, I figured that was all I needed.”

“That does not explain why you attacked me,” Alan remarked, smirking.

The Doctor gave a quick smile. “Well, when you open up an interdimensional portal that literally anything could go through, you tend to hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” The Doctor took another bite of oatmeal. “Best case scenario, a colt’s ball would have passed through, worst case, some monster bent on the destruction of all life. And quite frankly, Mr. Williams, you are much too big to be a ball.”

“So can you get me back?” the question popped up, more on its own than anything. If he could get out of here, then maybe he could finally go on about his day.

“Sadly, no.” The Doctor said, burying his face in a cup of apple juice, “Da Tarshish bent don oryda...”

“What?”

Derpy sent the Doctor another glare.

The Doctor pulled his face out of the glass. “The TARDIS went on Holiday.”

“Tar-what now?” Applejack asked, probably confused by the whole conversation in general.

“The TARDIS, part time machine, part dimensional hotel, part living creature,” the Doctor explained as best he could. “When I had told it I was retiring, it went off, disappeared, and essentially said, see you in the next three thousand years.”

“It can do that?” Alan asked.

“Apparently.”

Well, that only proved it, his mind was keeping him here, this was just a projection, he couldn’t really escape it. It was all fictional.

“However, I do believe that a certain Princess may be able to help you,” the Doctor said.

Every head turned straight to the head of the table.

Luna fidgeted.

Celestia then spoke up. “I may be able to help,” she said, “but sadly, it is not as simple as a teleportation spell. Simply throwing you to another dimension would be very dangerous, since it would place you, not only in a random dimension, but at a random place and time in that dimension. As it is, it’s a miracle you didn’t fall to your death once you appeared here.”

“So you can’t help me either?” Alan said, cynicism brewing.

“I never said that,” Celestia said. “I can, but it will take time, and the concentrated effort of both myself and Luna.”

“How much time?”

“That,” Luna said, a little loudly, Alan thought, “is something we cannot know at this time. There are too many variables to look into before we can give thee even an estimate.”

Celestia gave her sister a look, and Luna then said, “Forgive us, if we were a little loud.”

Celestia then took the conversation. “Now, I hope you don’t mind, Alan, but I have a question myself.”

“Go ahead.”

“When you first arrived, you seemed to know where you were, in fact, that seems to be the only question you haven’t asked. You have also been able to call us by name, certainly a feat for someone from another dimension. Would you care to explain yourself?”

There it was, the million dollar question. He had no choice but to follow it with the million dollar answer.

“You’re a cartoon.”

Celestia seemed a little puzzled by the trite answer, which was only mirrored by every other pony present.

Alan sighed. “In my world, we have a box, if you will, called a television; we use it to broadcast one-way images and sounds. Mostly, television is used to broadcast stories, fictional stories, like plays. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is one of those fictional pieces of work that tells the story of one Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open.

“You are all a cartoon,” Alan reasserted. “In fact, I’m fairly certain that at the moment, I’m in a coma, at the bottom of a ravine, dreaming up all of this, while slowly starving to death.”

There was silence in the throne room for a few seconds.

Suddenly, both princesses burst into laughter. This wasn’t a controlled giggle, this was a straight-out guffaw. Celestia fell off her seat, and Luna had tears streaming down her face.

Admittedly, this was not the reaction he was expecting.

It really didn’t help when the Doctor joined Celestia on the floor, roaring his own head off with laughs.

Meanwhile, the other seven ponies and one human just kind of stared at each other, wondering what joke they had missed.

Eventually, the three immortals composed themselves, and they got back onto their respective chairs. “That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard! In a coma!” Luna cried.

“We’re a story!” Celestia snickered, “an honest to goodness foal’s tale!”

The Doctor shook his head, smiling. “So you’re from that universe? I’ve always wanted to meet someone from there.”

“What are you talking about?” Alan asked the Timelord.

The Doctor smiled. “Your universe happens to be one of the few that gets feedback from all of the others.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Celestia interrupted, “Are you saying we are a piece of fiction?”

“No, no. You misunderstand, Princess. We are in fact a story in his universe, and as far as they are concerned, we are fiction, but we are anything but.” The Doctor sipped his juice. “His universe happens to be placed in the ideal position for certain people to receive interdimensional feedback, normally in the medium of thoughts or dreams. Essentially, he is from the universe of uncanny entertainment.”

Alan gave the Doctor an incredulous look. “So wait, every TV show I’ve ever seen is actually a real dimension?”

“Movies and books too,” the Doctor nodded.

It was Alan’s turn to laugh. “That’s just stupid! That, above all, proves I’m stuck in a coma, because there is simply no way of that being plausible.”

The Doctor sighed. “I suppose, since you knew who I was, that arguing with you further would be old hat for you. Enjoy your fantasy, then.”

Celestia and Luna were silent for a bit before Celestia asked, “What does that entail, you being in a coma?”

Alan looked up at the white alicorn. “Well, I’m not entirely sure, but from what I know, it means that anything I do in this fake world would react simply as my subconscious would understand it to react. If I scared a bird, it would not turn to give me a lecture, but it would fly away, like all birds do.”

Celestia nodded, telling him to continue.

“Also, best I can figure, since I can feel pain, my subconscious is inflicting a simulation of pain to keep the facade going, which of course means that it is pulling from my past experiences, you can’t obviously experience anything new in a coma, there is just no wa-”

Alan suddenly felt something weird. He felt as though he had been siphoned through a tube coated in honey while being spun through a cyclone. There was not an iota of pain, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either.

Alan suddenly found himself standing on a beach, Celestia standing next to him, before another flash and another trip through the tube brought him back to his chair in the throne room. “-ay...”

Celestia smiled. “You know, in all of my years, I’ve always thought that teleportation was the most unique experience on earth.”

Alan’s eyes went wide.

He had never felt anything like that before, nothing even came close.

This was real.

This was very real.

He was actually sitting here, in the real Canterlot, with the real Celestia, the real Luna, the real Doctor, the real Derpy, the real Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie.

He had hugged Pinkie Pie. Holy crap.

All of these thoughts and more compressed into his brain in the space of less than a second. But they were followed by exactly two.

I really am in Equestria, and I really am stuck here.

Alan’s eyes leveled directly at the time-turning earth pony. “Thank you. I’m going to kill you.”

The Doctor blinked. “What?”

“Thank you for bringing me here. Now I’m going to kill you for bringing me here.”

“What?” the Doctor repeated.

“I am going to lose my job, my house, my car, everything,” Alan seethed. “I may have just begun living every brony's dream, but you’ve just ruined my life! I am going to kill you!”

Alan stood, slowly making his way around the table. “I am going to kill you, and if you regenerate, I’m going to kill you again! Please regenerate!”

Derpy got to her hooves, ready to pounce on the human, but was cut short by her target suddenly being lifted up into the air, surrounded by a midnight blue glow. “Thou shalt do no such thing,” Luna commanded, her voice still a few decibels under yelling. “It was not his decision to pull thee through, and thou will not hold him accountable for it.” Placing Alan down next to his chair, she then continued, “Besides, we have not yet explained ourselves.”

“Yes, Alan please sit,” Celestia said, “because it is time to answer your other question.”

“Which question?”

“How did I know you were a human.”

That was a good question.

“The answer is very simple, actually.” Celestia said, “You are not the first human visitor.”

“I’m not?”

Celestia shook her head, “1498 years ago, three months from the day, my sister and I were out for a morning flight.” Celestia’s eyes closed, and a smile played on her lips. “We passed over one of the many lakes that dotted Equestria at the time, when Luna spotted a small vessel.”

“It was white.” Luna said. “And small, no larger than 14 hooves long, 7 feet if we remember the correct human term. But inside this small boat lay a figure we did not recognize.”

“It was near death,” Celestia continued, “and sickly pale, but we took it back to our castle, not yet named then, and with all of our science and magic, healed him.” Celestia opened her eyes. “When he first came to, he was sure he had died, and had made his way to heaven. Once we had convinced him otherwise, we got a name. He was king, in his land, a place called Camelot, and his name was Arthur Pendragon.”

Alan stared straight at Celestia. “Arthur?” his voice asked, seemingly on its own, “King Arthur?”

“Yes, do you know of him?”

Alan blinked. “Arthur Pendragon, first king of Britain, Lord of Camelot, Head of the Knights of the Round Table, the Rightful-born King of England?”

“Apparently you do.”

Alan blinked again.

“Well, he was fairly old when he came to us, but he nonetheless was a very strong warrior, and pledged his loyalty to us. He led our armies into battle, defending our homes and risking his life for us, he taught us many useful strategies, and we named Canterlot in his honor while he yet lived.”

“He was an excellent negotiator,” Luna continued. “Many times he fended off the Griffon and Liger armies with words alone. We then named the leader of our armies the Pendragon, but sadly there has not been one since Arthur.”

“But,” Celestia said, “with your permission, we would like to change that, Sir Alan.”

“What?”

With a golden glow of magic, two items slowly floated towards him; they stopped a few inches above the table, where Celestia laid them there. “As the only other human to come to Equestria, you are, by right, Arthur’s heir.”

“What?”

"It is a matter of birthright," Luna clarified. "You are his closest relative Equestria has seen. Whether you are worthy of it remains to be seen, however, it is still your right."

“This was the sword he had us make him,” Celestia said, lifting the first item. The sheath magically removed itself and the steel grey blade of the hand-and-a-half sword shone in the morning light. “On one side it reads ‘Mercy’ so that the blade would never be raised needlessly, and the other reads ‘Justice’ so that the blade would never let wrongs go un-righted.” The sword was sheathed, and the second item floated up. “This is Arthur’s horn, cut from a griffon general’s own hand; this single claw was carefully carved and magically sealed so that anyone with intentions against it would feel fear, while its allies would be inspired towards bravery.”

The Horn and Sword landed gently in Alan’s hands. “They are yours, Alan, by right. Now, we must ask you...”

She paused for only a second, but a second long enough for both sisters to say in unison, “Will you be our Pendragon, Alan of Earth?”

Alan blinked again.

<<<|Ω|>>>

It had taken him a while, but eventually, Alan had managed to stutter that it was just too much to take in.

The sisters had understood, and had given Alan permission to do as he pleased as a citizen of Equestria, as well as given him some bits to start himself off.

Now, he sat in his room, looking at the blade that sat in his lap.

Pendragon Alan Williams of Earth.

That did sound pretty awesome.

You work in retail.

Leader of the Equestrian Armies

You became a brony less than a month ago.

With the Elements of Harmony at his side, nothing could stop him.

You could hardly swing the thing correctly.

A knock sounded at his door. Getting up, he opened it, and was surprised to see the Mane Six waiting for him.

“Hi, Alan.” Twilight said.

“Uh, hi.”

“Everything Ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, just a little shaken up is all,” Alan said.

“Can we come in?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, of course, be my guest.”

The ponies filed into the room, single file, all quiet, except Pinkie Pie, who hummed anxiously.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Alan asked.

“Well,” Twilight said, “we figured since you don’t really have any idea what you’re going to do, not that you don’t know, but well, we figured that—”

Rainbow Dash interrupted. “We want you to come to Ponyville with us.”

Alan blinked.

“We’ve already cleared it with the Princess,” Twilight jumped, “and I have more than enough room in my library for you to stay, and if you ever want to become Pendragon and move, Spike can send Celestia a message, and—”

“Twilight.” Alan stopped her.

“Yes?”

“Why are you inviting me?”

“Because that’s what friends do!” Pinkie said, jumping into his face.

“Besides, we still have questions to ask you,” Twilight answered.

“And you will definitely need more clothes, and I would happily make you some tailored-fit ensembles,” Rairty offered.

“Yeah, and now you’re at least 20% cooler for being the second human in Equestria,” Rainbow cheered.

“That, and it’s always best ta keep your friends close,” Applejack advised, while Fluttershy merely nodded her head in agreement.

Alan smiled. “When do we leave?”

Alright guys, another Chapter down, only 30 or so to go.

“Did you really have to include all of the Doctor Who references?”

Yes. Yes I did.

“I don’t think you did.”

I’ll give you another cupcake if you don’t argue with me.

“That was a good idea, putting all of those Doctor Who references in there.”

That’s what I thought. Alright so please, comment, criticise, etc. Thanks for reading so far, bye!

4-Welcome to Ponyville

Chapter 4

The train ride to Ponyville was longer than Alan had thought.

What he had estimated as maybe an hour ride, was actually closer to five, and the purple unicorn wanted to spend every second of it asking questions.

“So, this King Arthur was something a folk tale, one that many people took as a work of fiction?”

“Yes, Twilight.”

“But he must have existed. Which means, of course, that the knights of the round table you were telling me about also existed, right?”

“Yes, Twilight.”

“And since they existed, then Merlin also existed, but that seems like an inconsistency, because you said that your world doesn’t have magic, right?”

“Yes, Twilight.”

Did I say five? Because it felt like ten.

“Twilight, you’ve done gone talked his ears off, give ‘im a break.”

Thank Heaven for Applejack.

“But AJ, there’s so much to learn!” Twilight whined. “A whole new world to explore and understand! There are even different fundamental rules to his universe! Can you imagine a world without magic? Imagine the implications of that! These Humans have had to build their society from the ground up, having to learn new ways of moving massive stones or tree logs. They had to learn how to start fire on their own, how to construct buildings, and even how to defend against deadly creatures, all without magic! It’s truly remarkable!”

“So you’re saying they’ve learned ta live like earth ponies?” Applejack retorted.

Twilight shot the farmer a glare, while Alan snorted.

“It’s not a simple as that, and you know it.”

Applejack chuckled. “Sugarcube, that don’t change the fact that you’ve done nutin’ but pester ‘im with your questions for the entire ride. Give the poor boy a break, or at the very least offer ‘im a chance to ask a question ‘imself.”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, but it’s just so exciting. I’m sorry Alan.”

Alan smiled. “Don’t worry about it, You’re just coming off of an info high, it’ll wear off.”

“High?”

“A euphoria of sorts,” Alan explained quickly, “normally brought on by an object, in your case, a chance to learn new information.”

Twilight furrowed her brows. “That is an odd use of the word ‘high.’”

“Humans are odd,” Alan countered. “Anyway, I actually did have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you guys wear saddles?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and her ears flattened. “What?”

Every head in the car, turned straight towards the man. “Well, in my world, saddles are used to give a human a better grip on horse, so it is easier to ride.”

Rainbow Dash suddenly burst into laughter.

Alan took a quick look at the other ponies. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity were all blushing deeply, Fluttershy had actually buried her head into the seat she was sitting on, while Pinkie and Rainbow were laughing.

Twilight managed to mumble, “Saddles have t-two purposes.” He could hardly hear her over the laughter. “The first, more conventional purpose is to provide protection from cold.”

“And the second?”

No one answered.

That is, until Rainbow said, “Yeah, it helps us get a good grip when we ride too!” she exploded into laughter again, as the blush on the other three ponies deepened.

“They’re lingerie?” Alan asked. “And they’re also coats?” Alan wondered at that briefly; what would happen if a mare were to walk outside in a saddle? Would she essentially be advertising herself as a prostitute? Even if it was just her coat? Did the “special” saddle look different from the regular one? “That doesn’t seem very, well...useful.”

Rainbow and Pinkie struggled to regain control of their laughter, and the other ponies tried to pass the moment as quick as possible. “No, no, it doesn’t.” Twilight agreed. “Anyway, is there any other question you may have?”

“Uh...” Considering how bad the last one went, maybe it was a better idea to ask some more innocent questions. “How much does a muffin cost?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The pink train hissed as it pulled into Ponyville station. The conductor yelled his usual call: current station, next station, final destination, all aboard.

Alan stepped off the private car that Celestia had provided for them, and was immediately met by the stares of no less than nine horror struck ponies.

Twilight, luckily, was quick to be the mediator. “It’s alright, he’s friendly.”

They still stared at him in awestruck horror, but at least they didn’t scream.

Making sure that the entire gang was with him, Alan allowed them to lead the way. The last thing he needed was another Zecora episode. At the very least, while being surrounded by the Mane Six, he thought he seemed less intimidating, despite the four knives and the sword that hung from his belt.

Ponyville looked exactly like it had from the aerial they provided in the theme tune, spreading out in a circle with the town hall at the “hub” of the wheel. There were six main streets in Ponyville, each named after their final destination. The one that headed off to Sweet Apple Acres was named “Apple Street,” while the one that headed to the Everfree forest was called “Forest Drive.” All of this and more was explained to the human by the ever-knowledgeable Twilight.

They were walking towards the town hall, heading down “Rail Road” when Alan suddenly thought he heard something. He paused, taking a quick look around, but saw nothing but horribly frightened ponies, and the closed shutters of the houses’ windows.

“Something wrong, dear?” Rarity asked.

Alan shook his head. “No I just thought I hear—”

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence, as he was suddenly pinned to the ground, something landing on his back, with a loud, victorious cry of “I knew it!” Four hooves began to crush into his backpack, and then his spine as the thing danced on him. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” she cried in a singsong voice.

Alan pushed himself up, and the pony on his back yelped as she fell off. “Whoa!” Then, Alan turned and finally got a good look at the thing that has jumped him.

It was a pale green unicorn with a lyre cutie mark, her name was Lyra if Alan remembered correctly, but the ear-to-ear smile splitting her face unnerved him.

“I knew it,” she said again.

“K-knew what, Lyra?” Fluttershy asked.

Lyra ignored her, flying to Alan’s hand, and taking it in her hooves. “Just as I suspected, penta-digit manipulators with one shorter, opposable grabbing digit, used probably for stabilizing the item in question.” She then descended into some sort of babble as she continued to look him over.

“Uh...can I help you?” Alan asked.

Lyra’s head snapped up at Alan’s face. “You can talk!”

“I can.”

Lyra pounced him again, shoving him onto his back. Pushing her face into his she demanded “You must tell me everything!”

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” a new voice said, before Lyra was suddenly yanked off of his chest. Alan sat up and saw a cream colored pony, Lyra’s tail in her teeth, holding the unicorn back.

“But Bonbon!” Lyra whined. “It’s a human! An honest to goodness human! I was right! I was right! I was right!”

Bonbon gave another good yank on Lyra’s tail. “That is no excuse to pin somepony to the ground, twice.”

“But I was right!”

Alan sat up, chuckling. “Miss Lyra, Miss Bonbon, wonderful day we’re having.”

Lyra’s eyes went wide, muttering “He knows my name.”

Alan chuckled again, before standing. “My name is Alan Williams, and it is a pleasure to meet both of you.”

That seemed to have broken the ice, and more ponies began to slowly make their way to the odd creature that stood before them. Questions began to fly through the air: Where are you from? What are you doing here? What are you? to name a few.

Suddenly, the mayor, Mayor Mare, made her way to the middle. “Everypony, everypony, please!” The crowd began to quiet down, as she did her best to make them listen. Once she had everyone’s attention, she finished, “I have just received a letter from Princess Celestia, telling of the arrival of a very important, and unique guest.” The mayor now had everyone’s attention, and everypony was silent. "She has assured us that, while he may appear intimidating, he means us no harm. Furthermore, she has said that he is to be accepted as you would anypony, and he is to be treated well.

“Finally, I understand that you have some questions for him, however, it is rude to do this now when he is trying to settle in. As such, I would like to offer him a chance to answer your questions at a town-wide interview at three pm tomorrow; everypony would be welcome to come and ask any questions you may have. But until then, please give him some space.”

The crowd of ponies began to disperse, with the exceptions of a very curious few that wanted a better look at the odd being.

Twilight giggled. “Welcome to Ponyville, Alan, where all of the ponies are crazy.”

Alan smirked. “I guess I asked for that one.”

Alan stopped for a second, and took a quick headcount. “We seem to be missing Pinkie.”

The others took a quick look, and noticed that Alan was in fact right.

Twilight sighed. “If she gets confetti down my sink again...”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Twilight said, before turning down “River Way.”

They walked a short way, still followed by a small crowd of ponies, before coming up to Twilight’s Library.

The tree was much bigger than Alan had originally thought, being humongously thick, with a very decent height to it. It was an oak, Alan could see now, and a very old one at that. The tree, Alan could tell, was also very much alive, despite being hollowed out as it was, probably due to some sort of magic. Also, now, Alan could finally read the sign out front, something that had annoyed him for so many episodes. He was almost disappointed to see that it read the simple, single word "Library."

Opening the door, Twilight led the party of six into the dark main room. With a click the door closed, and with another click, the lights went on.

“Surprise!” Pinkie yelled as confetti flew through the air. Streamers hung from the ceiling, balloons bumped around the room, and there were no less than three banners, each reading “Welcome to Ponyville, Alan.”

Alan blinked. Then shook his head. “How did you plan a party in less than twenty minutes?”

Twilight smirked. “She is Pinkie Pie.”

That was good point.

“Twilight!” a new voice said, whose owner quickly proved to be the purple and green dragon. “Thank Celestia you’re here! Pinkie just came running in here yelling about somepony named Alan an—” He suddenly stopped, catching sight of Alan for the first time.

Twilight jumped between them. “Spike, allow me to introduce Alan; he’s a human from another dimension.”

“A pleasure, Spike,” Alan said, sliding his backpack off.

Spike blinked. “Twilight, you have the weirdest life.”

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight sighed.

“Enough talking, more Party!” Pinkie said, before snapping a party hat to Alan’s head.

Smiling, Alan took off all of his blades, laid them in the corner with his pack, and prepared himself for his Pinkie official “Welcome to Ponyville Party.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie’s party lasted well into evening, hitting nine pm before Applejack left, saying she had to head to the farm, she had an early day tomorrow and needed some sleep. Rainbow Dash left soon after that, followed by Rarity and Fluttershy, and finally Pinkie, who had left him a box of cupcakes that she had somehow baked in the 18 minutes she had been separated from the group, as well as the remainder of the three tier chocolate cake which she had also baked.

Once everything had wound down, two balloons being the only evidence of the party, Twilight led Alan up the stairs to a small room. “It may be a little small for you, but it’s all I have at the moment,” she apologized through a yawn.

The room was indeed small, the bed was a little less than half the size it should be, and it barely had any floor space to speak of; however, it did have a dresser as well as three coat hooks. Hanging his belt, sword, and knives on one hook, Alan put his backpack on the second, leaving the third for some other use for the future. “Don’t worry too much, Twilight, this will do just fine.”

Twilight nodded, a sleepy smile on her face. “Guess you have a pretty busy day tomorrow, huh?”

“How do you figure?”

“You’ve got all of those ponies who are going to be asking you questions for who knows how long.”

“Oh, right, I forgot...” Alan said, before yawning himself. “Well, I'll worry about the bridge when I cross, or however the saying goes. Goodnight, Twilight.”

“Goodnight, Alan.”

“Hey...Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“This is real, isn’t it?”

Twilight looked over her shoulder at the human, who had his hand tracing the handle of the sword. His face looked melancholy, but maybe it was just him being tired. “Of course it’s real, Alan. Celestia proved that to you already.”

“I know, but...” He paused, before finally saying, “Forget about it, see you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning.”

How could Alan explain this? It was every brony’s dream to be in Equestria, just a quick look at any fanficiton site would tell you that, but at the same time, what about his home? What about the things he left behind, his books, his clothes, his apartment, his job, everything? He was here, living in Twilight’s library, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was a guest.

A guest. Temporary. Dust in the wind.

He wasn’t a permanent addition, he was a passing phase, he didn’t belong here.

Undressing to his boxers and undershirt, Alan climbed into bed, curling into a ball to fit the bed.

He didn’t belong here. He belonged in his world.

It was silly. He had what so many others wanted. Alan couldn’t believe it, but here he was, sleeping in Twilight’s library, and all he wanted to do was go home.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan’s breakfast was a simple affair. Another granola bar, supplemented by an apple that Spike had provided for him—not much, but enough to get him through the day. Or at least until lunch.

Oddly, the small purple dragon seemed to have taken a liking to Alan, and likewise the human seemed to get along with the dragon fairly well. Alan wondered if it had something to do with the fact that they both had hands.

“So what brings you to Ponyville, Alan?” Spike asked.

“Oh, not much, just somepony’s time-space-continuum experiment gone horribly wrong, or horribly right if you look at it right.”

“Wow,” Spike commented, “I’m just here because Twilight practically raised me.”

Alan was about to answer with an almost automatic “I know,” but stopped himself. Should he really tell ponies here that they were a part of a cartoon, and that whenever they were just in the vicinity of the mane six, that they could be watched by thousands of viewers at any given time? Maybe if he wanted those six ostracized. Alan caught himself, and said “Really, now? Twilight raised you?”

“From an egg.”

“Huh. You’ll have to tell me that one sometime.”

“Actually, if you’ve got the time, I could tell you now.”

Alan shrugged. “Sure, hit me.”

“Well, the way Twilight tells it—”

A zombie moan erupted from behind. Alan turned to see Twilight, hair disheveled, eyes weary and mouth hanging slack. “Cooffffeeeeeee,” she groaned.

Spike jumped out of the way, diving for the coffee pot on the kitchen counter and quickly preparing a cup for the purple unicorn.

Spike had it poured with cream and sugar just in time for the purple aura of magic to surround it and lift it to Twilight’s still open mouth.

Alan chuckled. “Not a morning pony, are you, Twilight?”

She growled in response before sipping her cup.

Alan smirked, before finishing his own drink...that dragon sure did know how to make a cup o’ Joe. Dropping his cup into the kitchen sink, Alan headed back to his room. He figured that, since he had a sword, he may as well get used to the weight of it.

Taking the belt off the hook, Alan slid it through his jeans’ belt loops before sliding on the sword’s sheath. Once it was secure, Alan went back outside where he had some room before drawing the blade.

With a ring of steel the blade came loose, the light grey metal shining in a wayward beam of sunlight. The word Mercy faced him now, etched in a marvelous script that reminded Alan of the old illuminated manuscripts. The edge of the blade, in contrast to the grey of the steel was a shining white, and looked as sharp as it probably was. The handle of the sword, was also very ornate, with a ruby cut in the shape of a four point star at the cross. At the ends of the cross hilt, the steel had been accented with golden starbursts with three points, one up, one down, and one towards the outside. The black leather grip felt good in his hand, and the weight was not overly heavy. This was truly a kingly weapon.

Arthur must have been there for its design, there would be no way that he would let something this important be made by artisans, no matter how skilled, without overseeing the process at least. Perhaps he has drawn some of its design from Excalibur itself? The words Mercy and Justice were enough to suggest that, after all Excalibur did say “Pick me Up,” and “Toss me Aside” on its blade, perhaps this was a call back to that. The paradox of a good king, to be strict, but merciful.

What had he called it? Surely a blade as unique as this had to have a name. Arthur was creative enough to design this, he surely must have had a name for it. But what? What single word could grasp the importance of this sword? What would have Arthur named it?

As Alan thought about this, the two words in the sword seemed to revolve around his mind. Mercy. Justice. Mercy. Justice.

Suddenly, something came to him. When was Justice seen, where was Mercy given? What connects these two seemingly opposite ideals? “Judgement.” The word played on his lips. “Judgement,” he said again, spinning the blade so that the word Justice now faced him. “You shall be named Judgement,” Alan said to the sword, which again flashed in the sunlight.

He spun the blade again, remembering Celestia’s words. “Mercy,” he said, facing the kinder word, "so that Judgement would never be drawn needlessly.” Another spin. “Justice, so that Judgement would not let a wrong go unpunished.”

Yes, Judgement fit the blade nicely.

Alan spun the sword, this time like a windmill blade, before sheathing it with a smile. Now, with Judgement at his side, he was ready to face this strange new world.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Mayor Mare stood in front of the sizable crowd in front of the Town Hall, and was a little worried at what her guest for this little Q&A would do. Celestia had told her that for all intents and purposes, this human was a foreign dignitary, and the biggest problem with foreign dignitaries was the issue of culture differences.

She still had nightmares of the horrifying event when a griffon ambassador had burped during the raising of the Equestrian flag. Admittedly, in the Empire of Gryphus, it was a sign of respect, but here, it was not only rude, but it had almost caused one of the rookie guards to attack the ambassador on sight.

She could only imagine the issues a human could cause.

She bit her lip and tapped her hoof. Where was he, anyway? She had told him three pm, and it was already 3:20. She hoped that being late was human sign of respect.

“Is that clock right?” a voice asked behind her, making her jump five hooves in the air.

She turned, and there was the human, an odd-shaped band around his arm, staring up at the clock in the town hall.

“Yes, it’s right, and you’re twenty minutes late,” she fumed.

“Sorry,” Alan cringed. “I still haven’t got my watch just right; I’ve been judging by the sun for a while, and it’s not always accurate.” He made a quick adjustment to the clock on his wrist, and apologized one more time.

The mayor sighed, before saying, “Alright, I’ll introduce you, and then you’ll come in and answer any of the questions you deem important. After an hour or so, hand it back to me, I’ll give you your official welcome to Ponyville, and then I’ll send everypony home, alright?”

Alan nodded. “Are you alright?”

The mayor groaned. “Yes, I’m perfectly fine, I’m just introducing a being from a culture I know nothing about, who was late for a town-wide Q&A, and who happens to be one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen.” She groaned again before standing onto the stage.

The second her hooves touched the stage floor, her annoyance disappeared entirely. A smile was plastered on her face, but from where he stood, Alan couldn’t tell if it was fake. “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” she announced, cheer in her voice, “After your patient waiting, the time has come. Allow me to introduce, our latest visitor, Alan Williams of Earth.”

A pony applause broke out as the crowd brought their hooves to the ground. Alan took that as his cue to approach. He walked up to the podium, Judgment jingling at his side, and waved to the crowd as he approached the Mayor.

“Now,” the mayor said, “allow Mr. Williams here to call on you before you ask your question, and please keep any crude questions to yourself. Mr. Williams?” she said, handing him the podium.

Alan gave her a nod before approaching the wooden podium, which barely came to his waist. “Good afternoon, everypony,” he said. “I suppose you really don’t want to wait any longer, and I’m sure you want to get back to your lives as soon as possible, so let’s begin, shall we?”

As soon as he said that, he was swarmed with questions. A cacophony of noise echoed in front of the town hall as everypony wanted to get their question answered first.

Alan quickly scanned the crowd. “You! The blue unicorn with white in her mane!” he said, picking another fan-favorite, one Miss Colgate.

The noise died down, as Colgate was given the spotlight. “What exactly are you?” she asked, which was met with more than a dozen “yeahs” in return.

Alan smiled. “Starting simple, I like that. I am what is called a human, or Homo sapiens if you prefer the scientific term. We are, well, odd creatures to say the least.” A few nods from the crowd met that statement. “Human beings have absolutely no access to magic, but we have survived through the manipulation of science. We have learned to make giant machines to build towers taller than Canterlot Castle, we have learned to mine table salt. We have successfully crossbred cauliflower and broccoli, and yet! We have not been able to figure out how you ponies manage to be so awesome.”

A few laughs broke through the crowd, good, he needed them ready to accept, and laughs were always a good gateway. “Yes, you, there!” Alan said, pointing to one of the ponies who had raised its hoof.

The yellow earth pony, using a few of his friends, propped himself above the crowd. “What are you doing here?”

Alan smiled. “Well, I was moving through the dimensional cross-space, when I heard about Equestria; thought I’d stop by.” He chuckled. “No, honestly, I’m here by accident, no I’m not sure how I got here, and no, I’m not sure if I can get back.”

“Did’ya hear that!” Alan heard a very distinctively cute voice from the crowd, “He can’t get back home.” A young red-maned, yellow filly jumped forward, followed by one white unicorn and one orange pegasus.

In a concentrated ball of pure cute, the three fillies jumped Alan, forcing him to the ground. “Don’t feel bad Mr. Human!” The unicorn said. “We’ll think of something to get you home!”

“Yeah we will, or die trying!” the pegasus cried.

Alan laughed, before grabbing the three fillies in a massive hug. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Hefting the three fillies up as he stood, he placed two on his shoulders, while the third sat around his neck. “Any more questions?” Alan asked.

Anypony that was still wondering if this thing was friendly, was immediately put at ease seeing this creature treat those three fillies with such care. And with that came a rush of questions.

Alan answered the best he could, covering subjects from the shape of his face to what his cutie mark was. “Human actually don’t get cutie marks,” he said, receiving a gasp from the three on his shoulders. He smirked before saying, “Humans just have to take our best guess at our talent, and swing until we hit. Next question?”

As he answered more questions, many of the ponies began to head to the back, their curiosity satisfied, while some others, namely Lyra, pushed their way to the front to ask even more questions.

Finally, the mayor came forward again. “Thank, Mr. Williams, and while I’m sure you would, given the time, answer more questions, we all have to get back to work. So, Mr. Williams, thank you for taking the time to talk to us, and I, as mayor, would like to give you an official welcome to Ponyville. Fillies and Gentlecolts, the human, Alan Williams of Earth.”

The sound of thunder erupted as iron-shod hooves hit the ground. Alan could feel this applause shake the stage. Well, best not disappoint.

Alan drew Judgement, and with a spin across his body, he brought it to his chest, the cross hilt over his heart, and the point pointed towards the ground, and then, still balancing the three fillies, gave a shallow bow. Sheathing the sword, Alan gave them a wave before heading off the stage.

Once he was back on the ground, Alan looked up at the three fillies he was giving a ride. “Alright, you three, all ashore that’s going ashore,” he said, before taking the hooves of the two on his shoulders and lifting them down to the ground. “You too.” he said, grabbing the one behind his head, and lowering her down.

The three fillies looked up at him, “Don’t worry, Mr. Human, we’ll get you home in no time!”

Alan smiled. “Well then, can I know the names of my saviors?”

“Ah’m Applebloom!” the earth pony said.

“I’m Sweetie Belle,” said the unicorn.

The pegasus beamed as she introduced herself.“And I’m The Most Awesome Scootaloo! And we’re...”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they yelled in unison.

If cute was a drug, Alan would have ODed.

“Applebloom!” Another accented voice cut through the air, and the four of them turned to see Applejack and Rarity approach with an angry look on their faces. “What in the hay did’ya think you were doing, jumpin’ on stage like that?”

“Well, it just sounded so sad that Mr. Human can’t get back home, I just wanted to give him a hug.”

“That is no excuse for such behavior,” Rarity scolded, “and that goes for you too, Sweetie Belle.”

“Hey, now,” Alan said, “go easy on them. Besides, they helped out a lot more than you think.”

“What now?” Applejack asked.

“Admit it, I don’t exactly look charming do I?”

“Well, no, not really...” Rarity admitted.

“So, you see an odd-looking beast walk into town, something that doesn't look too friendly, you know next to nothing about it, and you’re afraid of it. Now you see that same thing playing with a bunch of foals, does it look half as scary as it was?”

Neither Applejack nor Rarity answered.

“These Crusaders here,” Alan said, smiling, “did me a huge favor by coming on stage. Go easy on them, alright?”

“Well, alright, but under normal circumstances, that is a very rude thing to do, Sweetie Belle, and I never want to see you do it again.”

“Same for you, Applebloom.”

With that, Rarity and Applejack headed off, and as they did, the two fillies that had just been saved from a very long lecture looked up at Alan with mouths open wide. Alan looked down at them. “Alright you two, do listen to your sisters, they mean well. I’ve got to go now though, got to get some groceries and stuff.”

With that, he headed off towards one of the produce stores, and was quickly followed by cries of “Thank you, Mr. Human!” and “You are so awesome!”

Then they cried one more time, in the odd synchronization brought on by friendship, “Welcome to Ponyville, Mr. Human.”

Welcome to Ponyville indeed.

Alright, guys, you know the drill, thanks for reading this far.

“Didn’t you put this under ‘Adventure?’ This seems more ‘Slice-of-life’ to me.”

Pinkie, one needs the mediocre to build a friendship, and I want Alan to be friends with the Mane Six before we go anywhere in the realm of Adventure. It will come.

“Alright, but hurry. If I get too bored I may read ‘Cupcakes’ again.”

You...you read ‘Cupcakes?’

“It had ‘Cupcakes’ in the title! How was I not going to read it?”

I’m sorry, Pinkie.

“I’m sorry too.”

Anyway, seriously, do comment, I get a high from those, bye!

5-Sonic Rainboom

Chapter 5

“I can’t believe you got me this, Twilight. This is absolutely amazing!”

“Yes, but please be careful with it, it is over a thousand years old.”

It had been a month now with the Running of the Leaves was a few weeks away yet, and despite how often Alan brought out Judgement, he didn’t actually know anything about swordsmanship. Sure, holding the blade frequently and even swinging it from time to time had given him some useful calluses, and helped him get used to the weight of the blade, but he honestly had no idea how to use the thing.

When Twilight had found out, she had made it her duty to help her "pet project" better himself, and had dove into the archives of the Canterlot Library.

It had taken her nearly a week of straight searching, sleeping only a few hours at a time, but she knew that someone as important as the Pendragon would not leave history unrecorded. He had to be somewhere, something that maybe she didn’t see before, something she thought was unimportant.

Then, finally, she found it. Someone, a moron by any standard definition, had recategorized it under ‘fiction.’ It was a very old, dusty tome, written in old Equestrian, but there it was nonetheless, “A Study of the Pendragon; Equestria’s Greatest General.”

She had managed to translate the words into modern Equestrian, which Alan had discovered was essentially English with a handful of different symbols for letters, namely Ω for ‘o’ and Ξ for ‘e’ among a few others. And while her notes were totally complete, she felt that the illustrations were necessary, so she brought back the book, with all of her notes, a triumphant smile on her face.

Alan was staring at this tome, practically drooling at the page that translated to “The Pendragon in Combat.” Twilight had translated word for word the study of every swing, stab and slice that Arthur had used in the demonstration that the artist had captured. They had even interviewed him, and asked about the intricacies of his style.

Gold itself paled when compared to the value of the words on these pages. “Seriously, Twilight, you’ve saved my bacon.”

“Bacon?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Don’t ask,” Alan said, before giving the word “dietary,” as his explanation.

The constant exchange of information had become somewhat of a normality in Twilight’s library. The back and forth of scientific debates as well as the discussions of culture, history, and art had given the human and unicorn a strong foundation for their growing friendship.

“Ok, I still don’t see the how you humans can eat meat like you do. I mean, that ‘steak,’” she felt nauseated just saying the word, “was a living, breathing cow only days before.”

“Ok, 1. You hardly ever get that fresh a steak,” Alan said, looking over the illustrations, “2. Cows are not sentient in the same sense of you or I, at least, in my world. They don’t talk there, they don’t build, they don’t do anything but eat, sleep, drink, and land the occasional cow pie. When you talk about a cow, you think of a being, something that can comprehend, when I talk about a cow from my world, I talking about something that cannot comprehend.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard that, but what if they can comprehend, but no one in your world speaks cow?”

The ethics of eating meat was one of the many debates.

“Well, they haven’t caught on, so I doubt that they have any higher consciousness,” Alan said, before giving an evil smile. “Besides, the meat is a byproduct.”

That one stopped Twi. “What now?” She asked, tilting her head.

“Yeah, the meat is a byproduct, cows are actually killed for their leather.”

Twilight shook her head, “Why?”

“Well, people love leather, have for centuries, the feel, the smell, the flexibility, all of it, and since we don’t have magic to revert leather to a good state, we have to kill the cows while they are young to get anything of quality.”

Twilight looked horribly shocked. “You kill cows for their skins?”

“Yeah, we just eat the meat to justify it,” Alan said, flashing her a really big grin, specifically to show off his canines.

Twilight seemed to stumble over her words before settling on “You’re evil.”

“But in my world, I’m not, I'm just one of the many millions of people who won’t give up leather seats and good burgers for animals that do nothing for society,” Alan said before turning back to the book. “Besides, it’s not like I’d touch a cow here. I’ve actually had a cup of coffee with one.”

Twilight rolled her eyes before dropping the subject, willing to let it sit until she had a better counterpoint.

“Are you two still arguing about this?” Spike said, coming between them with a stack of books in his arms.

“Debating!” They both corrected.

Spike sighed, “Yeah, yeah...”

Alan chuckled, despite himself. Yeah, he and Twi poked at each other, but they were, at least, friends enough to take it, despite him being horribly “evil.”

Alan had, of course, changed in the month of being here. He had actually begun to develop, of all things, an outline. Alan still wasn’t sure how it worked, especially since he was pretty sure he was in three dimensions. Nonetheless, he had, eventually, gotten used to it, even though it had taken four or five days of him screaming every time he looked in a mirror.

He had also gotten a wardrobe upgrade. After taking his measurements one day, Rarity had locked herself in her boutique for a few days, and came out with no less than nine dress-casual outfits. Each one was comprised of a button down shirt, with her logo embroidered on the collar, and slacks, mostly khakis, although she did make one pair black and gave him a “heavy-duty” pair which she guaranteed to take anything he threw at it. As of right now, he was in a dark-blue shirt with a pair of khakis, which only had three belt loops, mostly so that he could attach his sword quickly.

However, this all took a backseat, as Alan read the words on the hallowed pages, quoting Arthur Pendragon himself.

“My sword is what is called a hand-and-a-half sword, not normally seen where I come from, most preferring the two-handed broadsword. However, I once held a mystical blade called Excalibur, and used that for most of my life in Camelot. Excalibur was truly unlike anything else ever forged, however, the longsword is perhaps the closest one can get. In truth, I have always preferred the longsword to the broadsword for its usefulness. One could easily wield such a blade with one hand, while the other could perhaps hold a shield or a parrying blade. Wielding a broadsword with one hand, however, while simple, is not as agile, and therefore, not as advantageous.”

Alan drank in the words, eager to learn more of the hero-made-folktale, the mystery of his predecessor, the—

A knock sounded at the door. “I’ll get it!” Alan yelled, before closing Twilight’s notes in the book. Heading over to the door, Alan opened it to see Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “Well hi, guys, how’re you doing?”

“Doing perfectly peachy, Alan!” Pinkie said before giving her trademarked bounce into the room.

“We came to help Twi with her books,” Applejack drawled, “she said everything need some organization.”

Alan looked back at the library, and was kind of shocked that he didn’t notice the massive towers of literature the two of them have been reading. “Oh, well I guess it could use a bit of touching up.”

Three towers of books suddenly crashed onto the pink mare as she looked at it.

Alan sighed, “Well, grab some books, and relearn the dewey decimal system. Let’s get to work.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

In another part of Ponyville, a field outside of Fluttershy’s cottage, Rainbow Dash was giving the yellow pegasus a lesson. “Now,” the multi-colored maned one asked, “What have we learned?”

“Lots of control,” the shy one responded.

“Good.”

“Screaming and hollering.”

“Yes. And most importantly...”

“Passion.”

“Right! So now that you know the elements of a good cheer, let’s hear one!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“And there we go!” Alan said, placing the last copy of “The Creature Catcher: Tales of a Monster Hunter,” on the top shelf. “I do believe that is the last one.”

Twilight gave a grateful sigh,”Thank you so much for your help, ladies, it was starting to get hard to move around the Library.”

“I didn’t really notice,” Alan said.

“So says the creature where most of its length is vertical,” Twilight said. “You try crawling around towers of books and see how easy it is to move.”

“Touche,” Alan replied, coming down the ladder to the now-clean floor of the Library.

That’s when Rainbow Dash crashed through the window.

The pegasus tumbled through, knocking every conceivable book from its perch, burying all of it occupants under a sea of paper.

Fluttershy soon followed the cyan daredevil, “Rainbow Dash, you rock,” she said, in the quietest yell Alan had ever heard. “Woohoo.” Second quietest. “Oh dear,” she mumbled, “did my cheering do that?”

Alan sat up, and was shocked as he heard a very familiar conversation go on. It was almost word for word, as far as Alan could remember, even up to the point where Pinkie began to explain the Best Young Flyer competition.

Holy crap.

He was actually in an episode.

Well sort of.

This was, without a doubt the episode titled “Sonic Rainboom,” and Alan had a front row seat. Of course, that meant that theoretically, Alan should have seen himself when he watched the episode, unless of course the Derpy was right with her theory of split universes.

Ditzy Derpina Do, Derpy as her friends called her, was in fact a mailmare, and did deliver mail as well as help the Doctor with his post-retirement experiments. “Helping immortal Time Lords doesn't buy muffins!” She had said.

However, that did not stop her from sharing her views on interdimensional time travel. “The best I could figure, according to the Doctor, your presence here has dramatically transformed the timeline.” She then went on to explain how the secondary timeline creates a whole new universe, one where he never came to Equestria, and one where he did. The latter would hold the alternate timeline, and while things may seem the same, things will progressively become more different the longer he would be here.

“Either that,” she said, “Or the former ceases to exist, and everything that was ever done in that timeline would be rewritten causing a paradox of epic proportions that could theoretically rip the very fabric of space-time to pieces. Oh, well.”

Pinkie had moved on to talking about the ‘legendary’ Sonic Rainboom, before Applejack told Twilight everyone that Dash had been the only one to do it.

Alan mouthed Dash's humble (for once) reply, “It was a long time ago, I was just a filly...”

That was actually kind of creepy...

Alan watched the conversation unfold with surreal interest. He had never really thought about what it would be like to be in one of the episodes, even though he knew that there were some that had to come, he never thought it would be like this.

“Wow,” Twilight said, after hearing Dash’s boast about being able to do Sonic Rainbooms in her sleep. “You pull that off, and you’ll win the crown for sure.”

Rainbow nodded, “The Grand Prize is-”

“An entire day with the Wonderbolts.” Alan finished.

Twilight gave him a look, while Dashie nodded again, already daydreaming about her day with her heroes.

She suddenly shook the thoughts away before saying, “Well, I better go rest up, wouldn’t want to overwork myself.” She then turned to Fluttershy. “You on the other hand, better keep practicing. I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance.” With that, Rainbow took her leave, going out the way she came, and as she did, Fluttershy watched her go, biting her lip as she did.

Once the cyan flyer was out of earshot, Fluttershy turned. “She’s practiced that move a hundred times, and hasn’t even come close to doing it, and I don’t know if I can cheer loud enough to help her.” With that as her only explanation, Fluttershy took after Rainbow Dash, leaving only four ponies, and one very curious human left.

“Well,” Twilight sighed, “better get this cleaned up...again...” Twilight began to pick up several books from where they lay, only to be poked by Rarity’s horn.

“Go on, go on,” the well-to-do unicorn urged.

“Go on, what?” Twilight asked, books dropping as her concentration broke.

“Find a spell,” Rarity explained, “to get us wingless ponies into Cloudsdale. Did you see how nervous she was?”

“Nervous?” Applejack scoffed, “What are ya, deaf or somethin’? She was tootin’ her own horn louder than a brass section in a marchin’ band.”

“Oh, please,” Rarity groaned, “I have been to enough fashion shows to recognize stage fright when I see it. We have to find a way to be there for her, now go on!” Rarity yelled, bumping Twilight into what seemed like a not-so-soft pile of books.

Twilight recovered, and groaned as she popped out of the pile. “How am I supposed to find a flight spell in this mess?” she asked, rhetorically, Alan noted, and if you ever want to have a rhetorical question answered, you could always turn to...

“A flight spell?” Pinkie asked, “hang on a second.” She zoomed off, and literally a second later, came back with a book in her mouth, giving it a quick toss to Twilight she said, “Page 27.”

“How did ya do that?” Applejack asked.

“It landed on my face when Rainbow Dash knocked me into the bookcase.” Pinkie explained.

“Here it is!” Twilight exclaimed, “A spell that will allow earth ponies to fly for three days.”

As Twilight went on about the spell, Alan suddenly had a thought pop in his head.

He could change this couldn't he?

He knew what was going to happen long before it did. He knew that Rarity would volunteer to be first to try the flight spell, succeed, and then proceed to unashamedly let it go to her head before all of Cloudsdale. He knew that, the fame would go to her head, and that she would enter the competition, blindsiding Rainbow Dash entirely. He even knew that, once she was actually competing, Rarity would pull an Icarus, and fly much too close to the sun, lose her wings, and proceed to fall to her would be death. This fall, however, would lead to Rainbow Dash’s second successful Rainboom, allowing her to win the competition.

The question was though, was it worth it?

Was having Rarity make a fool of herself worth the Rainboom, the confidence that Rainbow needed, the fame that had seemingly did nothing other than give her a simple head-nod from Soarin’ and Spitfire at the Gala?

Alan blinked.

Holy crap!

The power in this one decision alone made it obvious to him. This wasn’t the TV show anymore.

He could change everything, in fact, it was questionable if everything had not already changed.

But so far, the events that did take place in “Sonic Rainboom” were going just as seen in the show, and if that is the case then...

A smile spread across Alan’s lips.

“I think I can play a bit of ‘Puppet Master’...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight’s hot air balloon touched down on Cloudsdale’s puffy, white fields with a barely audible thump, right behind the two pegasi of the Mane Six. Rarity had just made the critical introduction, and the balloon had just made its entrance.

“I-I can’t believe it!” Dash muttered.

“It’s incredible,” Fluttershy agreed.

“This is so cool! You guys made it!”

“Sure did!” Pinkie said before jumping out of the balloon onto the cloud.

“Wait!” Rainbow cried in horror, expecting the young mare to fall straight through and plummet to her death.

When Pinkie did no such thing, she was then joined by Applejack and Twilight, the latter smiling as if she had just proven a point.

“How did you do that?” Rainbow asked, a little disturbed that her friends were not dying. “Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds.”

Pinkie laughed, cartwheeling across the cloudscape. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Twilight smiled before explaining, “I found a spell that makes temporary wings, but it was too difficult to do more than once, so I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds.”

“I remain unconvinced!” Alan yelled from the balloon basket.

Twilight sighed, “Alan, look, we are walking on the clouds, it works.”

“I know it works for you,” Alan replied, “I don’t think it will work for me.”

“And why not?” Twilight asked.

“Because, and I quote, ‘Ah, here’s the spell I’m looking for.’” Alan said, quoting the lavender student, “‘It allows ponies to walk on clouds for up to two days.’”

“Yeah and?”

“‘It allows ponies to walk on clouds.’ And I’m not sure if you noticed, but I am no pony.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. We did an entire week of study to see how magic effects humans, and every experiment showed that you are affected as easily and as potently as anypony. Trust me, you’ll be fine.”

Alan gave a quick look at the cloud, and also the 8,300 feet between that aether carpet and the ground. He gave a quick look to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “You two, if I fall, you better catch me.” With that, he took the proverbial leap of faith.

The cloud beneath his feet felt like he was in an over inflated bouncy castle. Alan, glad to see that he was not falling, gave the cloud another experimental bounce, before taking a tentative step.

Satisfied that he was not going to die, Alan jumped, belly-flopping into the cloud. He bounced as if he were on a trampoline. The clouds were soft, immaterial soft, hardly existing, and yet just there enough to make this trampoline city a very potentially fun place.

His belly flop flipped him in the air, and he landed on his back after another bounce.

So much potential.

“Alright,” Alan said, standing. “Should we head to the Cloudoseum?”

“Actually,” Rainbow Dash said, “The competition doesn't start for another couple hours, so why don’t Fluttershy and I show you around Cloudsale?” With several approving grunts the five of the six ponies walked off, followed by one bouncing mare, and one bouncing human.

<<<|Ω|>>>

As they made their way through their tour, Alan could practically see Rarity’s head grow. She had ignored the very obviously posted “No-fly zone” sign at the door to the snowflake manufacturing warehouse, and didn’t even recognize the mad scrambling of the workers as their work flurried all over the factory floor.

When they moved to the rainbow part of the factory, doing his best to keep that one fanfic out of his mind, Alan noticed that Rarity had gone off on her own, completely taken by her wings to not even notice her friends that were still behind, and walking.

Alan mused that perhaps she had already forgotten how to move her legs in sync, and that flying was perhaps the only way to travel.

Pinkie had just tasted the rainbow pool, but Alan hardly gave it any notice. He was watching Rarity, as she gracefully, albeit, lazily floated across the air above them. It was there that she caught the eyes of a few certain stallions.

They followed her back like moths drawn to a flame. They gawked, and made total idiots of themselves. Of course, that wasn’t too hard...

“Hey, look, it’s Rainbow Crash.” the dark brown pegasus taunted.

“Yeah, Rainbow, uh...uh...” the lighter one stumbled, “Crash!”

Yep, not that hard at all.

“Rarity! What are you doing talking to these guys?” Dash yelled.

“Oh, they were just admiring my wings, Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, you should forget the Sonic Rainboom, and just get some wing like these.” the darker one said, meanwhile, Alan was trying to decide which would make a better target.

Alan stepped forward, earning another round of laughs.

“Oh, and what’s that thing? It is some kind of monkey? Hey Monkey, did you know you're hanging out with worst flyer in history?”

The three broke into laughter again. Alan, however simply snorted before pulling out his knife. The wide blade shone in the daylight, and their laughter quickly died. "Did you know," Alan said, "that if the Subclavian artery is punctured, the victim only has two seconds before they lose consciousness, and five seconds before death?"

The three pegasi gave him a look before backing away.

“Shall we continue?” Alan asked, smiling as he sheathed his blade.

Twilight shook her head.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The cloudmakers floor was probably the worst. Rarity was now actively seeking attention, drawing so much of it to herself that a literal crowd of ponies followed.

Finally Twilight couldn’t take it anymore. “Rarity,” she hissed in whisper, “we’re supposed to help Rainbow Dash relax remember? Put your wings away and stop showing off.”

Rarity scoffed, “How can you ask me to put away perfection?” she asked, fluttering high into the sky, letting the sun filter through her wings, giving off a very spectacular light show.

Alan’s eyes, however, went straight to the pegasus that was laying on the floor, covering her head, and shaking like a leaf. “You ok, Dashie?”

“Of course!” she answered, her voice wavering ever so slightly. “Why wouldn't I be? Everyone is so in love with Rarity’s wings they won’t even notice when I totally blow in the Best Young Flyers competition!”

“Hey!” a nearby mare exclaimed, “There’s an idea, you should enter the Best Young Flyers competition!” She said pointing her hoof towards the white unicorn.

This idea was only met with praise and adoration as they began to beg Rarity to join. Alan meanwhile, was looking straight at Rainbow Dash, who was getting visibly more nervous by the second.

This would pay off, Alan told himself, she just had to go through a little bit more, but it would pay off.

Celestia forgive him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

They were sitting in the stands and Alan felt a rock in his stomach.

Pony after pony had performed, meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, he knew was backstage, switching competitor numbers and putting herself further down the line.

What was he putting her though?

Why hadn’t he volunteered instead? He could have saved everyone from this terrible situation, and everyone would be ok right now.

But then, Dashie may not have been able to make the Rainboom.

This was imperative, Alan thought, if she could do that, then she gets her prize, she wins her fame and the title “Best Young Flyer.”

But was it worth the suffering the poor pegasus was going through right now?

She would probably say yes if she knew what was to happen, but that did not help Alan’s conscious.

You saw the look on her face, tell me she wasn't in pain.

It’s for the best, Alan argued, This is going to help her.

I’m sure she sees it that way.

“Alan, are you alright?” Twilight asked him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure, just thinking,” Alan mumbled.

The thought of Rainbow Dash eating herself alive popped into his mind for some reason. He couldn’t take it. Here he was with the power to change a situation so easily, but he had to force her through this to give her what she really wanted.

Maybe that’s what God feels like.

Alan stood, “I’m sorry guys, but I’ve got to do something.”

“Where are you going?” Pinkie asked, munching on popcorn.

“To do something very stupid.”

Without another word, Alan headed straight for the backstage.

Very stupid.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rainbow Dash lay at the foot of a pillar, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, holding on to the last strands of sanity for dear life before the storm blew her away.

“Look, it’s Rainbow Crash!” she heard in her head, which was quickly followed by dozens of scenarios where she went out there into the Cloudisium. She trips on her way out, falls into a dive, can’t recover and dies. She forgets to flap her wings, falls and dies. She gets out there, manages to put on a passable show, before ramming into the Cloudisium walls at a breakneck speed and dies. After each death, the Wonderbolts, her heroes, scoff at the pathetic attempt and name Derpy as the best flyer.

Nevermind that said grey mare wasn’t even competing...

Crash and burn.

My name is Rainbow Dash, and I am going to Crash and Burn.

“Dashie?” a name called out to her, it was Pinkie’s nickname for her, but that voice was definitely not Pinkie’s. “Rainbow Dash?” it called again. It was male, she could tell, and somewhere in her brain, something told her vocal chords to answer.

“Here...” she mumbled weakly.

Alan came into her field of view, which had significantly diminished through her squinting. “Hey there, Dashie, how are you doing?” He asked with a soft smile.

“I feel sick,” she admitted.

Alan nodded, “You don’t think you can do it, do you?”

“No.” she replied, “I know I can’t do it.”

Alan shook his head, “Now come on, Dash. You said it yourself, you’re the best flyer to come out of Cloudsdale, you’ll do this.”

“I can’t,” She assured. “I can’t do this, I can't make a Sonic Rainboom. I’m not even sure I did to begin with.”

Alan sighed, this better be worth it. “Dash, Dash look at me.”

She opened her magenta eyes and stared at him.

“I know you can do this. I know you did do this once before, you can do it again, I would bet my life on it.” Alan looked her directly in the eyes, “You will do this, Rainbow Dash, you will make a Sonic Rainboom and you will impress the Wonderbolts.”

Rainbow sniffed, wiping her face to keep herself from crying. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

“Alright, I-I think I’m ready...”

Alan smiled, as he helped the pegasus up, “Then go out there, and knock ’em dead, kid.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rainbow Dash and Rarity, in some cruel twist of fate, exited at the same time.

Twilight groaned at the sight of it. What was Rarity thinking? Competing against Rainbow Dash was bad enough, but to go on stage at the same time was downright malicious. Of course, Twilight was sure that Rarity didn't even realize what she was doing, being so caught up by the ability of flying.

Where was Alan? He should be here cheering now, not off doing whatever he thought was ‘very stupid.’

This one was just painful to watch.

Rarity was going for grace, while Rainbow Dash’s aim had been for speed and agility, but Rarity went and changed the music for it, and now Rainbow Dash didn’t even have a beat to sync to.

She crashed twice now, and had even sent a cloud straight for Celestia’s Private box.

Rarity went into a climb, smiling in that outfit of hers, before getting high enough to have the sunlight filter through her wings. “Look upon me, Equestria, for I am Rarity!” she yelled, not even noticing that Rainbow Dash had climbed even higher to start phase three of her act.

Twilight saw it all, in seconds, Rarity’s wings went up in smoke, and she began to fall, screaming as she went. A collective gasp went through the crowd and the first ones to action were the Wonderbolt judges, flying to save the contestant.

Hardly anyone saw the human jump after them.

Twilight did though.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rainbow Dash saw it all, Rarity’s wings turned to ash in the sun, and now she was falling, the flightless unicorn she always was, the Wonderbolts flew after her, ready to catch her, only for Rarity’s flailing hooves to knock them all unconscious.

Then she saw Alan.

He had swan dived after the four falling ponies, but she could not for the life of her think of why.

Why did he jump? What possessed him, a being who never had wings to throw his life away like that?

Then she heard his voice from a few moments ago. “I know you can do this. I know you did do this once before you can do it again, I would bet my life on it.”

He did bet his life on it.

She could see him, now, gathering the falling bodies to a single point, making a much larger, easier target to catch.

He trusted her with his life.

…

And she was not going to let him down.

She turned, using all of her built up momentum, and went straight into a dive.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“What on earth are you doing, Alan?” Rarity yelled.

“Something very stupid,” he answered. “Don’t worry, Dash will catch us.”

Rarity went back to screaming, but Alan looked straight up, it would happen any second now.

<<<|Ω|>>>

No. No. No. No. No. No! They were going too fast. Much too fast, she would never be able to catch them at this speed.

“I’d bet my life on it.”

She had to do this.

This wasn't a matter of what she could or couldn't do anymore.

She had to do this.

At that thought, the mach cone began to form.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Everypony in the stands, watched, horrified at what they were seeing.

No one had made a move, frozen in shock at what they had seen. The four victims were now just a dot against the ground, unable to be seen, and it was only Rarity’s scream that gave them any indication that they were still alive.

No one had reacted in time.

It was impossible to save them, nopony could ever fly fast enough to stop the fall.

It was over.

Four lives would be claimed in the next few seconds unless a miracle happened.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Push, Rainbow Dash, push! the barrier was giving so much resistance right now. She wasn’t sure she could break it.

“Come on, come on.” she urged, her words lost in the rush of wind in her ears.

Forget pride. Forget the Wonderbolts, forget all of that. This is for the human who had bet his life on whether or not she could do this.

She had to do this.

She could do this.

She pushed against the barrier, one more time. It held against her, but she felt it. It was weakening.

She pushed again, scrambling to exploit that weakness, and when she did, she felt it break.

She never heard it.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Kraka-Thoom!

The jaws of the audience collectively dropped.

That was not just Sonic Boom, that was a Sonic Rainboom. A myth, a story, and old-mare's-tale. Also, apparently a living legend.

One yellow pegasus in particular, totally lost it. “A Sonic Rainboom! Whooo!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan watched the sky as he was falling, four ponies in his arms. He was very much aware as to how close they were getting to the ground, but he didn’t look at it. Rarity was screaming still, and he was sure that he would go deaf in his left ear soon, but he kept his eye on the sky.

Then he saw it, a corona of prismatic colors filled the sky, and before he could hear the boom, Rainbow Dash had reached him.

Alan smiled as she grabbed him, and pulling off a physics-defying turn, she was taking them back up to the arena.

Alan didn’t know if Dash could read lips, but nonetheless, he mouthed the words. “I knew you could do it.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rainbow Dash landed, dropping the human back on the cloud floor. Alan then proceeded to hand off the still unconscious Wonderbolts, before handing off Rarity. Then the cheer started.

The Cloudosium erupted in applause, ponies were throwing their hooves in the air, and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but notice Fluttershy, jumping up and down and screaming at a volume she didn’t think the shy pegasus was capable of.

“I-I did it,” she said. “I actually did it.”

Alan smiled, before placing his hand on the rainbow-colored mane and giving it a good shake. “I told you could.”

Dash laughed, “You are one crazy son of a bovine, you know that?” She teased before hugging him, “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Alan said, before pushing her back far enough to look her in the eye, “Now, hey, you’ve got all these ponies cheering for you, go give them a show.”

Rainbow grinned, “Oh, I’ll give them a show, I am the best flyer to come out of Cloudsdale you know.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rarity had been dropped in the hot air balloon, which had been moved so that she could see the arena stage, her friends were standing in front of it, “I...I would like to apologize,” she began. “I...I just got so carried away by their beauty I just...It must have gone to my head.”

The four ponies all gave her their kind responses of “Don’t worry about it,” and “It’s alright."

“I especially want to apologize to you, Rainbow Dash, it was so thoughtless of me to join the competition at the last minute after you worked so hard to win...can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course.” Rainbow Dash said, and was about to continue when Rarity cut her off.

“I’d also like to thank you, Rainbow, and you too, Alan, because if it weren’t for you to I would have...”

“Anything for a friend, Rarity.” Alan said.

“Yeah,” Dash said. “Besides, everything turned out alright.” She then mumbled under her breath, “I just wish I could have met the Wonderbolts when they were awake...”

“Well don’t look now,” Alan said with a smile.

Dash tilted her head, wondering what that meant, until she felt a hoof tap her shoulder.

Rainbow did a 180 faster than Alan thought was possible.

There they were, the three Wonderbolt judges.

Okay, Rainbow Dash, don’t do anything stupid. a voice said in her mind, You need to make a good impression. Introduce yourself.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.”

Or you could do that...

“So you're the little pony who saved our lives,” the leader said, Spitfire if Alan guessed correctly, “We really wanted to meet you, and say thanks.”

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.”

Words, Rainbow Dash! Words! Use them!

Alan smirked, and turned just in time to see Princess Celestia, accompanied by two pegasi guards, approach the hot air balloon.

“Princess,” Twilight Sparkle gasped, bowing, an example which was then followed by the other ponies in her presence.

Alan took that as a cue to bow himself.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle and hello to your friends, too.” She said, smiling as her wings were spread.

They were very large wings, Alan noted.

“Princess Celestia, I am so sorry for ruining the competition. Rainbow Dash here, really is the best flyer in all of Equestria.”

“I know she is my dear.” Princess Celestia smiled, “That’s why, for her act of bravery, and her spectacular Sonic Rainboom, I award the Grand Prize of Best Young Flyer to this year’s winner, Miss Rainbow Dash!”

Cheering broke out again as every pony in the arena yelled and applauded.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.”

I give up!

The pegasus was picked up by her friends and was then paraded around the Cloudoseum, leaving only Twilight Sparkle and Rarity to talk with the Princess. After making two rounds of the Arena, Rainbow Dash was placed at the basket of the balloon. She seemed to have regained control of her vocabulary, because she yelled, “This really is, the Best Day Ever!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alan said, picking her up, and giving her a playful throw towards her Wonderbolt escort. “Now get out of here, and enjoy yourself!”

Taking flight in the middle of the air, she laughed, “Oh, trust me, I will!”

“And hey!” Alan called after her, “Drop by Sugarcube Corner when you’re done, we'll have a round of Sarsaparilla, on me!”

“I’ll hold you to that!” Rainbow laughed before flying off.

Alan laughed as he watched her go.

Yeah, it was worth it.

Alright guys, don’t for-

“What was that!?”

Dah! Oh, geez, Pinkie, don’t do that.

“What is the meaning of this Chapter?”

What are you talking about?

“This is practically Ctrl+C Ctrl+V’ed from the script! This isn’t Writing.”

I know, I know, but look, hear me out. This is happening for a reason. Alan is trying to make himself a good friend by doing what we were all screaming at our TVs for them to do. For example, in “Ticket Master” I was practically yelling at Twilight to just ask for some more tickets. Yes, she did eventually, but it would have saved her a lot of pain to just ask. Alan, here is just going to be playing Advisor, so that everyone gets that character development, but it’s also so Alan won’t be sitting on the sidelines being useless.

“So you’re going to do more of this?”

Well, yes, but the episodes are going to change more and more as time goes on, I am also going to be making an effort to try to get things from other perspectives, i.e. In “Fall Weather Friends” instead of following Applejack and Rainbow Dash, I’d follow Twilight.

“Alright, but I’m warning you.”

Noted...anyway...comments, questions, and the like, guys. Bye!

7-The Winter Before the Wrap Up

Chapter 7

Alan hated the cold. Always had.

It was a part of the reason why he moved to Georgia. It wasn’t as cold there.

It was perhaps, the greatest irony: he loved snow, hated cold.

So he sat, winter now happily on its way, bitterly cold, and not a flake of snow.

He grumbled, wrapped in his bed’s comforter, while Spike served hot chocolate. “Are you sure we can’t convince Dashie to send some snow over here?”

“For the last time, Alan, no we can’t,” Twilight sighed, looking up from her book. “Cloudsdale is completely cut off at this time of year, there is no way to reach any pegasus that doesn’t already live here.”

Alan grumbled again, taking the hot cup of coca. “Thanks, Spike.”

The dragon nodded, sleepily, before taking the other cup to Twilight. “Thank you, Spike,” she said, wreathing the mug in magic. “You can go back to sleep now.”

Spike simply nodded again before crawling over to his basket, curling up, and continuing his hibernation.

Because dragons hibernate, apparently.

“Should we really be waking him up during his hibernation like this?” Alan asked, sipping his coca.

“Oh he’s fine,” Twi responded, turning another page. “This is really only a pseudo-hibernation really, it’s not cold enough in here to constitute an actual sleep.”

“How do you know that?” Alan asked, trying to eat one of the marshmallows that floated on the top of the sea of chocolate. However, no matter how he turned the mug, the white puffs of sugar floated to the opposite side, mocking him.

“Because most dragon hibernations last something up from 100 years. Princess Celestia told me during my first winter with him,” Twilight smiled. “When he fell asleep, I thought he was dead, it took the Princess three hours to calm me down enough to tell me otherwise. It’s kinda funny now that I look back on it.”

Alan smiled as he tried to goad one of the marshmallows into the wall of the mug. “It sounds like your days with the Princess were very fun.”

Twi looked at him, sipping her own mug for the first time. She was pretty cold too, Alan could tell, mostly because she was wearing a heavy wool saddle indoors. The not-lingerie saddle that is. “Yeah, yeah they were fun days. I remember once when I had built a book fort, it bordered Celestia’s height at the time, and it had three floors and everything. I remember putting my stuffed doll at the front and naming him captain of the guard,” she chuckled. “They were very fun days.”

Alan smirked, “You know all the fans knew you had built at least one book fort in your childhood.”

“Really?” The unicorn said, tilting her head.

Alan nodded, “You’d be surprised how much the fans got right. Doctor Hooves, Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Carrot Top, all of them are never mentioned in the show, but we named them, and hit the nail on the head every time.”

“That is so odd,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of other stuff we fans do that I really hope isn’t true, but that’s a story for another time,” Alan said, hoping Twilight wouldn’t ask anything about the dreaded “Princess Molestia.”

Twilight seemed to let it go, before saying “Fair enough, but I do have a different question for you.”

“About what?”

“Well, I told you about my foalhood, I want to know about yours. Where did you grow up?”

Alan looked from her to down to the mug in his hands. “I grew up in a state called Missouri, a nice enough place to live, if I didn’t live a few miles from the tourist trap called Ozark. Everything was overpriced.” Alan explained. “Mom and Dad would drive down one particular stretch of that road every now and then. A few years back, I was barely 18, and all of a sudden I get this call, Dad died in a car accident,” Alan looked back up at her. “I’ve lived in Georgia ever since.”

Twilight gaped, “I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, I -.”

Alan cut her off with a raised hand, “I know you didn’t know, that’s why I’m not mad. You couldn’t have possibly known. Besides, I’m over it for the most part.”

Twi apologized again, “I am so sorry, Alan.”

Alan gave a soft smile, “I remember the first tree house we built together, he let me hold the drill while he guided my hand and put force behind it. He was a good dad...”

Sniffing, Alan turned his attention back to Twilight, “So, read anything interesting lately?”

Twilight looked both horridly relieved to change the subject, but also incredibly guilty for bringing it up in the first place. “Um, I’ve just been catching up on my study of Starswirl the Bearded.”

Ah, yes, Starswirl, a unicorn that Alan had become fairly familiar with, considering that half of her own personal selection were filled with books on the subject, whether journals or biographies, if one knew Twilight, one knew Starswirl. “Learn anything new?”

“Nothing concrete,” Twilight said, “although I do believe that he had a soft spot for noodles.”

Alan shook his head, “And why did you waste time trying to figure that out?”

“For the sake of knowing,” Twi said, sipping her drink. “Besides, Starswirl constantly said that the small things provide insights of the big.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Alan grumbled. “What about you?”

“Huh?”

“Do you have a soft spot for anything, food, genre, anything?”

“Well, I’ve always liked a good piece of fiction, but mostly I enjoy study books.”

“It didn’t take a genius to figure out that one.” Alan said.

“Oh, really? Well what about you, huh? I bet you don’t even have a single bookshelf.”

“I will have you know.” Alan said, a touch of defensive anger in his voice, “That I have over 43 books, and all of them are well written fiction, the only good use for books.”

“Excuse me?” Twilight asked. “I’m sorry, I must have heard you incorrectly, because you did not just say that fiction is the only good use for books. How do you expect history to passed down, knowledge, or opinions?”

“Who says those history, knowledge, or opinions matter? History is biased, written by the winner, knowledge could be wrong, and opinions of stupid people are still stupid, no matter what they did in life.”

“And fiction is any better?”

“It doesn’t pretend to be real.”

A pillow smashed into his face. “It. Is. On.”

Alan smiled, putting his mug down. “You have no idea...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Applejack liked the cold.

Not during any time other than winter, but during that one season, she loved it. It meant a few good things for her, Hearths Warming Day with the family, time off from farming, some good quality time with Applebloom and her friends, heck, just more time to get things done.

Although, there was one thing that bothered her.

Why did Pinkie think now was a good time to take her on a walk to Twilight’s house? She didn’t mind the company, or the walk, but it was honestly too cold to be outside right now. “Sugarcube, for what reason are we walkin’ to Twi in below freezin’ weather.”

“Well,” the pink partier said, dressed in pink galoshes, and a light blue wool saddle, “I was working in Sugarcube corner, baking some Hearths Warming cookies with the Cakes, when suddenly, my nose itched, my tail twitched and my belly switched,” she explained.

Applejack gave her look, “What now?”

“It means that something super fun is happening at Twilight’s!”

“Uh, huh...”

“So, anyways, Alan wants to be our bestest friend, so I thought I’d get somepony else to come with me for the fun.”

“Ok,” Applejack said, not entirely convinced that Pinkie had made any logical connections at all. Nonetheless, here she was, following Pinkie to Twi’s library.

It did not take long for them to reach the old oak tree, and once they had, Pinkie went ahead and opened the door, Applejack followed, and upon entering, was smacked in the face with a pillow.

“Aha!” Twilight yelled, from behind a wall of books. “Applejack! Alan just hit you, join my side in Fort Mark Rein! From here we will crush the Boxian armies!” Four pillows were hovering magically in the air around her, and she quickly launched one towards the fort made of boxes on the opposite side of the room.

“Pinkie!” Alan yelled. “Quick! It’s up to you to maintain the balance of power, you have to join me at Fort Box! We need to keep the reign of the Markus Empire from our massive stores of gold!”

“Okie Dokie Lokie, Commander!” Pinkie yelled, before diving behind the cardboard, dodging Twi’s pillow by centimeters.

Alan threw a pillow at Twilight, who ducked, as it flew over her head.

“Applejack, come on!” Twi shouted, launching three more pillows, only to be met by the cannon report of Pinkie’s lesser known pillow launcher.

Applejack just stood there for a second before mentally shrugging, Weirder things have happened. With that, she jumped behind the books, grabbed a pillow between her teeth, and tossing it into the air, she bucked it towards the cardboard fortress.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Thanks for stopping by, girls!” Twilight waved goodbye as Applejack and Pinkie Pie took their leave. They had fought furiously, trading ammunition, and even bases a few times, but eventually, they decided that they could negotiate a peace treaty over a round of hot coca.

After a few hours of talking and negotiating, the two other mares had decided to head out, leaving Alan and Twilight to finalize the contract.

The door closed behind the two leaving ponies, and Twilight went back to the kitchen, where Alan was sitting at the table, “Well, that was fun.”

Twilight nodded, “It was.”

Alan looked up at her, “Hey, Twilight,”

“Yeah?”

“Would you call us friends?”

The incredulous look on her face was an answer in and of itself. “You’ve been living in my house for the past four months, you’ve saved ponyville from a parasprite swarm, you helped save Rarity from falling to her death, and you ask if we’re friends?”

Alan smiled weakly.

“Of course, we’re friends, Alan, how could we not be?”

Alan sipped his mug again, “Thanks, Twi. That means a lot to me.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright,” Twi said from her balcony, the main floor had been cleared of anything that could get in the way, leaving only Alan, Judgement unsheathed, and four mana pony enemies. “Are you ready?”

Alan smirked, quoting Arthur, “Strength is the sword of the Brute. Poison is the blade of the Thief. Speed is the King’s weapon.”

“Is that a yes?”

Alan simply slipped into the opening stance, both hands on the sword, standing perpendicular to the pony in front of him.

Twilight figured that was as close to a ‘yes’ as she was going to get, and began the scenario.

Two of the ponies charged him, swinging wildly with their weapons.

Speed was his weapon.

Alan jumped over the head of one of the ponies, rolling down its almost immaterial back, letting the two attackers smash into each other. Alan barely had time to duck under a third pony’s swing, and failed to duck under the fourth.

Whack! the stick cracked as it hit his skull, sending a blinding flash of light across his vision.

Another swing sent him flat on his back, and Twilight instantly dispelled the remaining mana ponies. “Are you alright?”

Alan sat up, rubbing the back of his head, “Other than the splitting headache, yeah...”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I kinda had the wind knocked out of me,” he said, before standing. “Alright, one more time.”

“No, Alan, we’ve done this enough.” Twi said, putting the smooth, wooden practice weapons away, “You keep this up, and by the time winter’s over you’ll be in a cast.”

“Come on, Twi, I’m getting it,” he felt the bump on his head, “slowly, but I’m getting it.”

“No more for today,” she said again, “Go back to reading, it may help you.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Still no snow.

Come on. In the episode, the ground was covered in snow, it had to snow eventually, we couldn’t go all winter without snow.

Alan stalked the hallways angrily, he wanted snow.

He was walking passed the bathroom, which he passed every few minutes or so, when all of a sudden he heard:

“I’m T to the W I

L I G H T.

And ain’t no other pony

trolla down like me!

I’m Twilightlicious!”

Alan blinked, before giving a soft smile as he passed.

So, Twilight sung in the shower huh? Tara would be proud.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Are sure that there isn’t a spell to make it snow?” Alan asked.

“Why would you ask at a time like this?” Twi asked as she watched Alan narrowly avoid another swing.

“I’m getting cabin fever," Alan explained, jumping over another stick swing. “It’s too cold to go out, and quite honestly the whole routine we’ve built here is getting a touch dull.”

“Dull?” Twilight asked. “Well, how’s this for dull?”

Suddenly, four more mana ponies appeared on the battlefield.

“Twilight...” Alan said, backing away from the mana puppets “Don’t do anything you’ll regret...”

“Oh it’s much too late for that, Alan.”

With that, the eight magical opponents dog-piled the single human.

<<<|Ω|>>>

It was another late morning for Alan.

The sun was slowly peaking through his tiny window, and the grey sky was not too encouraging.

Getting out of his much-too-small bed, Alan quickly stretched his back, hearing at least one vertebra pop into place.

Throwing on one of his warmer pairs of pants and a shirt, Alan began his day by heading to the bathroom.

He brushed his teeth, brushed his hair, made a note on how he only had half a stick of deodorant left, took a shower, and headed back down to the kitchen.

A cup of coffee would have been waiting for him, if it weren’t for the fact that Twilight was hovering over it like a dragon over its horde. “Mine.” she said between grumbles.

Alan ignored her, and went to the frying pan that hung over the stove. Turning the stove on, Alan poured a splash of oil into the pan, and let it sit over the fire. With the pan preheating, he went to the magic-powered fridge and pulled out a couple of eggs, donated by Fluttershy’s many chickens.

Alan was getting sick of eggs.

Frying the eggs, Alan couldn’t help but look outside.

White powder covered the ground, at least a foot thick. A few snowflakes fell from the sky, and ponies were outside, playing with their friends and family.

Alan blinked.

And again.

Suddenly, something connected in his brain. “Snow.”

A smile grew on his face. “Snow,” he repeated.

“It’s snowing!” He cried, throwing the eggs onto a plate.

He never ate his eggs so fast, gulping them down in massive bites before running back up to his room and throwing on a coat Rarity had made for him, as well as a pair of gloves. Throwing them on, on the move, Alan headed straight for the front door.

Twi grumpily watched him go, before turning back to her coffee. “Morning ponies...”

Alan found the largest snow bank he could, before diving into it. He dug himself deep into the wet, white, happiness, before bursting out of it like a volcano, laughing all the way.

“Well, looks like someone enjoys my work,” a familiar voice said.

Alan looked up to see Ponyville’s weather manager hovering over him, “It’s about time you got this here, Dash!”

The cyan pegasus laughed, “Good to see you too, Al.”

“Oh! Are we having a snow party?” Alan heard from above him, before suddenly getting a few dozen pounds of snow dumped on him.

Pushing through the small mountain, he saw Pinkie, standing on the now clear roof above him.

Alan smirked, “Pinkie, there’s no such thing as a snow party.” his hand then grabbed a hold of a fistful of snow. “There are, however,” he said, before yelling the last words “snowball fights!”

Whump! Alan’s first ball slammed into Pinkie’s face, sending her down straight into the snow bank.

Grabbing another handful, Alan launched this one in Dash’s face, causing her to spin in the air.

He reached for more snow, but was suddenly stopped when a fourth member joined the fray. “Git your snow off a mah friends!” Another ball of snow smashed into his face as Applejack bucked one at him.

“Thanks, AJ,” Dash said, collecting some snow for herself, before smiling, “but it’s every mare for herself!” Tossing a ball at farmpony.

“Hello, everypony, and how are we doing on this fabulous morning?” Rarity said, walking down the street.

“Rarity!” Pinkie yelled, “Catch!”

Wham! Pinkie’s expertly thrown weapon smashed into the white unicorn’s face.

She froze for a moment, as the snow slid off her face, before narrowing her eyes at the offender, “It. Is. On.” Her horn suddenly burst into a blue aura as snow began to levitate around her. Snowballs the size of Alan’s head began to form, now rotating around her.

“Pinkie,” Alan said, noting the almost feral look in the unicorn’s eye.

“Yeah?”

“What did you just do?”

“Doomed us all?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Rarity’s snow cyclone had reached top speed, a maniacal grin on her face, “Who wants a makeover, Darlings?”

Alan pointed at Pinkie. “She did it!” he yelled, before jumping behind the snow bank.

“Hey!” Pinkie said, giving him an indignant glare.

Which was then promptly interrupted by snow crashing into her, laying her flat against the ground.

Applejack sent a snowball towards Rarity, in a hope to stop her.

The ball broke against her side, and the unicorn turned her attention towards the farmpony. “Hello, Applejack~”

“Oh, Hayseed.”

Dash, seeing her opening, swooped down to the ground, gathering as much snow as she could, before looping around towards the crazed pony. “Bombs away!” She yelled, dropping the snow onto the fashionista, burying her.

Now covered with snow, Rarity couldn’t help but drop her snowballs, which landed on the ground with a squish.

“Thank ya, kindly, Dash!” Applejack said.

“No Problem, A—” suddenly another snowball caught her wing, sending her spiraling down into another snowbank.

“But ya said it yerself, every mare for herself!”

“Oh, yeah?” Dash yelled, zooming across the rooftops gathering snow. “Then bring it AJ!” Moving most of the ammunition to one arm, she tossed a ball at the framer, only to overshoot.

Instead, her snowball hit the overly quiet pegasus behind her.

“Oh my gosh! Fluttershy!”

Snow fell from her face unto the ground, and the yellow pegasus just sat right there, tears in her eyes.

“Oh my gosh, Fluttershy, I am so sorry!” Dash said, swooping down in front of her.

“W-w-why did you hit me?” Fluttershy asked, sobbing.

“It’s a game, Fluttershy, we’re all trying to hit each other.”

“A-a game?”

“Yeah, you see, we all get some snow, we ball it up, and then we try to hit each other, we don’t mean anything by it, we’re just playing a game.”

“Oh...ok.” she said, whispering

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“No...no I’m not.”

Dash let loose a held breath, “Oh, good, I’m sorr-.”

“I’m not mad because of this.” she said.

Dash had just enough time to look confused before two armfuls of snow were dropped on her.

“Vengeance is a dish best served cold, Dashie.” Alan said with a smile.

<<<|Ω|>>>

A veritable battle royal had erupted. It was everyone for him/herself. Well, with the exception of Fluttershy, who had decided to remain neutral, and by neutral I mean, sold to all sides.

“Fluttershy! Stop giving Applejack ammo! She has enough!” Alan yelled.

“Easy for you ta say, Mr. Four-Fingers-and-a-Thumb, you just try to make a decent snowball under pressure without fingers!”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said, poking her head out of cover, “he can make snowballs faster?”

“Almost as fast as I can,” Rarity said.

“Gang up on Alan!” Pinkie yelled, tossing a few snowballs his way.

“What?” he managed to ask, before ducking behind his embankment as a flurry of snow bombarded his fort.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew overhead, dropping another payload, Alan dived to the side, missing the bomb, but suddenly finding himself out of cover.

Suddenly, Rarity’s super accurate snowballs began to pelt him like minigun bullets. “Get him!”

Scrambling, Alan dashed for the closest snowbank. Diving behind that, Alan quickly gave himself more room to maneuver, pushing the wall up higher. Dash came in for another sweep, even more snow in her hooves this time. “Incoming!” She yelled, smiling.

Alan suddenly popped up, hurling a snowball at the pegasus’ wings.

Thwack! The projectile hit true, and for the briefest second, Rainbow Dash’s wings were out of sync.

Now, normally, this would not be an issue. However, the added weight of all the snow she was carrying threw her correction off, and she began to plummet to the ground.

Dash, being pulled to the ground by the weight of her load, dropped it, she knew it wouldn’t hit him, but if she wanted to stay off the ground, it’s what she’d have to do.

Her payload fell to the ground with a thud, conveniently next to the wall Alan had set up. Using the newfound cover, he began to retaliate, throwing as much as he could on the four ponies that were closing in on him.

He threw one, not aiming at anything in particular, and managed to hit Rarity’s horn. The aura on the snow surrounding her fizzled out, and crashed to the ground. Seeing some relief, Alan turned to the other two ground-force ponies. Applejack was hitting him from long-range, using her bucks to send the snowballs farther than any of the others could throw. Pinkie, on the other hand, was coming in close, dashing between cover while throwing snowballs for the brief seconds she was out.

It was not a good situation, anytime he would make a move on the one, the other would cover. Attacking Pinkie Pie while she ducked behind cover would be easy enough, but with the way Applejack bucked, he would get plowed with snow before he got a shot off. Likewise, attacking Applejack would need time to aim properly, time he simply wouldn’t have with Pinkie peppering him.

Simply, he was bucked.

“Need some help?” he heard a voice say beside him. He turned his head and saw Twilight, dressed for snow combat with her winter saddle and stocking cap.

“It would be appreciated,” Alan smirked.

Twilight nodded, as her horn flashed to life.

The wall suddenly grew taller and thicker, as Twi’s magic gathered more snow.

“Alright—” Alan began.

“Just make me some snowballs,” Twilight interrupted, before sending six snow bullets into the air, three towards the farmer, three towards the partier.

Each one hit with would-be deadly accuracy.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Alan said in his best mock military yell.

They began to work like a machine, Alan spotting and manufacturing ammunition, Twilight launching it with pinpoint accuracy.

“Rainbow Dash, 2:30 incoming!” Alan yelled, tossing the unicorn another snowball.

Grabbing it with magic, Twi had to simply look in the direction of the pegasus, before bring her down with a well aimed toss.

“Pinkie’s trying to flank us, 9:45!”

Whap-whump! Two snowballs halted the attacker, sending her crashing into the snow.

“Rarity barrage, 12 noon!” Alan yelled, ducking as snow began to fly at him.

“Get them!” Rainbow Dash yelled, so thoroughly annoyed that she began throwing snow rather than try dropping it on them.

“Charge!” Pinkie yelled, throwing snow as she came.

The other ponies charged, each coming at the magically held fort.

Alan smirked. “That’s it, man, game over man, game over.”

“What?” Twilight asked.

Alan turned to the unicorn, “Ever heard of a self-destruct protocol?”

“Self-destruct?” she asked eyes wide.

The other ponies were close now, very close, each tossing snow as they came.

Suddenly, Alan burst from the fort, holding as many snowballs as his hands could carry, before unleashing a battlecry. “LEEEEROOOYY JEEEEEEEEENKIIIIIINS!”

With that, he emptied his hands, hitting as many opposing ponies as he could before getting pelted himself.

It gave Twilight just enough time.

Suddenly, the fort behind Alan exploded into a massive wave of snow. The frozen Tsunami crashed into the ponies, covering all of them head to toe in snow.

Alan was the first to surface, followed by the rest, leaving Fluttershy to help everyone out of the neck-deep snow. “Alright,” Alan said, “everypony who thinks that’s enough snow-fighting for now, say ‘Aye.’”

“Aye!” the unanimous chorus sounded.

“Sounds good.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The Mane Six sat around the fireplace in Twi house, each wrapped in blankets.

“Ok, that was a pretty awesome fight,” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“It was fun,” Rarity said, “even if it did get my mane wet.”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“I just hope that nopony got hurt...it would just be awful if that happened,” Fluttershy commented.

“Yes, yes it would, Fluttershy,” Alan said, coming from the kitchen with a trayful of hot chocolate, “but now is not the time to talk of such things,” he said, handing out out the coca to the awaiting hooves of the mane six. “Now is a time to relax and warm up in the company of friends.”

“What are you? A poet?” Dash asked.

Alan chuckled, handing her her mug, “No, I just get a little artsy sometimes.”

As soon as everyone was served, Alan grabbed the last mug, and sat himself down in the circle of ponies.

“Thank you, Alan,” Twilight said, sipping her mug.

“Yeah, thanks,” Dashie said,

“Indeed, thank you, dear.”

“Thank you, it was very nice of you.”

“Thank ya, kindly.”

Pinkie stood, lifting her mug, “To Alan, our bestest friend!”

Dash raised her mug, “I’ll drink to that!”

The others followed, raising their mugs.

“To Alan,” Twilight said, “Our friend.”

Alan watched as they lifted their mugs to their mouths to drink, a single tear in his eye.

He was a friend.

Ok! Another Chapter! I decided I’d give you guys something origional this time around, especially considering that there are going to be at least another seven episode chapters...Sorry.

“I don’t think they mind too much.”

Well, we’ll see won’t we, Pinkie?

“Yupers! Also, really quick, who's Mark Rein?”

It was supposed to be a play on Mark Twain...

"Oh, and Fort Box?"

Fort Knox.

"Oh, I get it now! Hehe!"

Sigh...anyway, comments, questions, etc. Thanks for reading this far, Bye!

8-Dragonshy

Chapter 8

“For the last time, Fluttershy, I don’t want a bunny.”

“But look at him, he’s just so cutsie wutsie!”

Alan sighed. Why was he having such a hard time getting this across to her? “Look, Fluttershy. I’m looking for something quick, carnivorous, and deadly. I’m sick of eating nothing but eggs and fish, and having to pick dandelions and grass out of my salads. I want something that can hunt.”

“But...um...it’s a bunny...”

Alan sighed again. “Look, let’s make this a little easier. Do you have any birds?”

“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy nodded happily, “I have a lot of birds, actually, I’ll be right back.” she said, before flying off into the sky.

Alan gave yet another sigh. Finally he was making some progress.

It was springtime now. Winter having been officially wrapped up, on time even. It was now that Alan had made a rather shocking discovery.

He didn’t have anything else to eat.

His small stock of fish had been completely wiped out in those three months where the lakes had been frozen over, and he really wanted some meat.

Of course, the only other option for meat was poultry, but he had no idea where he was going to get chickens. That was when a thought hit him, who said it needed to be chicken? Riding on this new discovery, Alan then turned to the idea of bird hunting, and eventually Falconry.

With that, Alan turned to the one pony he knew had at least one bird. After all, you can’t hunt with a falcon if you don’t have one.

Fluttershy then returned, bringing a flock of birds behind her.

“Now, uh, we have Mrs. Hummingbird, Mr. Toucan, Mr. and Mrs. Finch, they come as a pair, Mrs. Swan, Mr. Mallard, he likes to be called Drake, and then we have Mr. —”

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need something that can hunt. Like a falcon or something.”

“Oh,” She paused, before looking up at him, “well, I’m...um...getting there, can you...um...wait a little bit, if that would be ok with you?”

Alan sighed again, what was that? The fifth now? Was he getting old or something? “Go ahead,” he said to the yellow pegasus, who began to go down a long list of birds, tropical, waterfowl, gamefowl, and the like.

“Now comes the carnivores.” Fluttershy said, “First is Mrs. Osprey. Then, Mr. Peregrine, he is actually very fast, and then is...”

Alan’s eyes, however, were caught by one bird near the end of the line. 30 inches tall, the white-headed, hook-beaked eagle stood with as much pride and majesty as was befitting his species.

“And this is Miss Bald Eagle.”

Correction, her species.

“I’ll take her.” Alan said.

“What?” Fluttershy asked, having moved on to a raven.

“I’ll take Miss Bald Eagle.”

Fluttershy looked between them, Alan holding the glare that the yellow-eyed eagle was giving him. “Um...” Fluttershy said, “Uh...Alan, could I talk to you, over here, if that’s...um...alright with you...”

“Sure.” Alan said, a smile on his lips as he looked the bird over again, before following Fluttershy to out of earshot. “What is it Fluttershy?”

“I...um...don’t think getting Miss Bald Eagle is a good idea...”

“Why not?”

“She...well...she tends to be very independent...”

Alan gave a smirk, “A free spirit?”

Fluttershy nodded, “She’s driven away anypony that’s tried to take her away from here...I...I don’t think it’s a good idea...”

Alan only smiled bigger. “Well, let me talk to her first, and we’ll see where it goes from there, alright?”

Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod. “Alright, but be careful...”

Alan nodded before going back to the bald eagle as it stood there, two and a half feet tall and just as proud. “Hello, there, Miss.”

The eagle gave him a glare.

Pets, Alan wondered at them, here in this universe. They had a higher consciousness than the wild animals, and they were very close to being sapient. They seemed completely unable to perform speech, but seemed able to understand perfectly. They had personalities and attitudes, feelings and even logic, bordering that of the ponies themselves. Yet they couldn’t build, nor speak, an odd thing, honestly.

“Are you happy here?” Alan asked.

The bird nodded, curiosity creeping into her eyes.

“Miss Fluttershy treats you well,” Alan said, “You’re able to come and go as you please, you’re always well fed. It must be nice here, huh?”

The eagle nodded again, cocking its head to the side.

“You hunt, don’t you?”

The eagle shook its head.

“Really? Why not?”

She pointed towards the pegasus with one of her wings.

“Ah, of course, Fluttershy’s strict no-hunting rule, I forgot, sorry.” Alan said, turning back to the bird. “I understand you don’t like it when people try to take you away.”

The bird smirked, an interesting expression on a beak.

“I’m not going to do that to you.” Alan said.

That earned a shocked look.

“My country, you see, when it was founded, was under oppression. They were bleeding us dry of everything we had, and they just kept taking. Food? Gone. Water? Gone. Property? Gone. Whatever they wanted they took, in the name of their king. And then they turned around and had the gall to sell it back to us.

“Well,” Alan said, “we got sick of that real fast. So we told them that we were our own country, with our own government, our own rules, and our own taxes. They weren’t that happy with that, so they sent soldiers to crush our ‘rebellion.’

“We fought for freedom, and we died for it.” Alan said, looking the bird right in her yellow eye. “After many men died, and after many more bled for the ground we stood on, we won. We then said, that every man, woman and child would be equal, and they would all have a choice. Now, I wouldn’t be much of a patriot if I took away that choice for our national bird, would I?”

She looked at him again with a new look on her face, a mix of curiosity, thankfulness, and empathy for the thing that felt her need for freedom.

“So, here’s my offer, you spend a day or so with me, and then you decide what you want to do, whether it’s live with me or Miss Fluttershy, or even in the wild if you want, it would all be up to you.” he said, holding out his hand for her to perch on.

She looked at him, then to his hand, and back and forth a few times.

Finally she brought one of her talons gently on his finger. The other followed and she slowly shuffled to his forearm, being careful not to draw blood.

Alan smiled, “Thank you for giving it consideration.” he said, before running his free hand down her neck.

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide for a second before the biggest smile grew on her face. “Oh, yay!” she ‘yelled,’ “Oh, I’m so happy for you two! This will be so good for both of you!”

Alan chuckled before saying, “Now now, Fluttershy, the little miss here has to make her choice.”

The bird gave a smile, before taking a quick look around.

Alan gave the sky a look, wondering what she saw with those eyes of her.

He was met with a black, billowing cloud of smoke.

Fluttershy followed his gaze. “Oh...my...”

“Well,” Alan whispered to himself, “Let’s go meet a dragon then, shall we.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan just watched as Fluttershy went from pony to pony, hopelessly trying to explain the situation, while receiving a glare from the eagle on his shoulder.

It was odd looking up at a thing that was on his shoulder.

“What?” He asked the bird, “You want me to send them all into a panic? Someone will arrive with an official statement, with instructions on how to proceed, just yelling right now would make the situation worse.”

She lessened her stare, but continued to eye him.

“Wonderful first impression...” Alan grumbled to himself.

Sure enough, though, Twilight Sparkle made her appearance, “Listen up!” she cried, “Smoke is spreading over all of Equestria.”

The gathered ponies, suddenly aware of the danger for the first time, turned their heads to the sky, finally noticing the ominous cloud overhead.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to—” Fluttershy began, most still ignoring the quiet voice.

“But don’t worry.” Twilight continued, unknowingly interrupting the pegasus, “I have received a letter informing me that it is not coming from a fire.”

A collective sigh went through the crowd.

“It’s coming from a dragon.”

Alan watched as the crowd, relaxed a calm a second ago had erupted into chaos.

The Eagle’s glare was practically burning through him.

“Ok, so maybe she needs to take a few speech classes, but at least it’s the official word.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan doubled checked his checklist, a habit he had picked up from his housemate, before using his checklist to check his pack.

Snacks? Check. Rope? Check. He was glad he brought his rope. Coat for the altitude, the same duster-like coat he wore during winter? Check. Knives strapped to his belt? Check. Judgement? Double check. Canteen filled with water? Check. Keychain firestarter? Check. Giant bird on his shoulder? Check.

“Yeah, the library is a nice enough place to live.” Alan said to the bird, “Not too much space inside, but you’ll have all the room you’d ever want outside.”

The bird simply looked around, before flying off. Perching on one of the bookcases, she showed off her almost 6 ft. wingspan. She seemed to test the bookshelf before flying to another across the way, a pleased look on her beak.

“Are you packed yet, Alan?” Twilight impatiently asked from the door.

“Almost, just making one last check!” Going through the bag again, Alan gave a satisfactory nod before putting on one of the gloves Rarity had made him. As tough as leather, the glove was a miracle of fabric, being both as warm as wool, but as cool as cotton. “I’ll be right down!” he yelled, coming down the stairs, holding out his hand.

The eagle swooped down, and perched perfectly on the gloved hand. “Alright, let’s go.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright, ladies, and Alan, listen up.” Twilight said, pacing down her line of troops. “I’m mapping out the fastest route, but we’re going to have to keep a good pace if we expect to get up the mountain by nightfall.”

“M-m-m-mountain?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“The Dragon is sleeping in that cave at the very top.” Twi said, pointing to a tall, lone mountain in the distance.

“Looks pretty cold up there.” Applejack commented, noting the snow through the thick smoke.

“You bet it is!” Rainbow Dash said, “The higher you go, the chillier it gets.”

“Good thing I brought my scarf.” Rarity smiled, pulling out a white and pink striped scarf, which she expertly wrapped around her neck.

An impressive feat, Alan thought, considering she did it with her mouth.

“Ooh, pretty.” Pinkie admired, especially loving the color scheme.

“Oh, yeah,” Dash said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “that will keep you nice and cozy.”

Hardly anyone noticed as Fluttershy gulped.

Alan watched it all go by, Fluttershy trying to get her way out of it with polite excuses, only to have Twilight prepare for them, to the point where she had nothing left to keep her. Then came the rather embarrassing part where she jumped into a bush, hiding from her own shadow.

Alan moved over to the bush, and picked the small pegasus out. She squirmed in his grip, both wanting to continue hiding, but yearning for a friend's comforting embrace. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’m here with you.”

The pegasus looked up at him, whispering, “Could we just stay here? Can’t I just stay here? I’d probably just hold everypony back, anyway.”

Alan gave her a smile, “No, Fluttershy, you can’t stay, we need you. But I’ll be here with you, every step of the way.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The walk up the mountain was long and hard. The steep incline gave barely enough hoof- and footholds, and the increasingly cold weather was not helping.

Nor was the extra 65 pounds Alan was carrying.

Fluttershy was still in his arms. The poor pony had frozen up a few times with the irregular snoring of the dragon. The eagle on his shoulder was watching him intently.

Alan was a strange creature, the eagle thought. It was absolutely unlike anything it had ever seen before. It was confident, and strong, and yet it seemed fairly fragile.

Even now she could feel an artery beneath his shoulder, all she had to do was stick her talon like so, and he would die.

It claimed to be a carnivore, but it held Miss Fluttershy more gently than one of those pathetic plant eaters would. But he did not share their cowardice. He stood tall, he walked proud, he moved with confidence. She was sure that if he had wings, they would be strong, nimble, and quick. Everything a hunter would be.

Another earth-rumbling snore echoed through the world, and Fluttershy gave a small convulsion, as if she had had a stroke.

Alan didn’t even flinch, instead, he brought his face down to the pegasus, “It’s okay, Fluttershy, it’s okay.”

What strange hunters they must make. They have no claws, no talons, no fur to keep them warm in the long hunts, no wings to fly, just stubby fingers and a face that was not even properly shaped for biting. Yet there was something about him, something that told her deep within the darkest, most feral parts of her mind that he was a threat, a terror, a master that would be obeyed or else.

And yet, he was so kind. So caring for this pegasus who, she would admit, needed a backbone transplant.

It was odd on just so many levels.

“I don’t think climbing the mountain in the dark is a good idea.” Alan said, the sun setting behind them.

“Well we would have gotten there faster if somebody would hurry it up a little!” Twilight said, emphasizing the humanized version of the word.

“Well sorry if I can’t climb the mountain with my hands full!”

“Then just put Fluttershy down already! She has wings and legs, she can climb herself.”

Alan looked down at the yellow pegasus, before turning back up to the purple unicorn, “Alright, alright, so it’s my fault, ok? That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a bad idea to climb the mountain after dark.”

Twilight grumbled, “This should have been taken care of by now!” she yelled before magically tossing her saddlebags off onto an outcropping that the mountain unwittingly provided. The other four ponies gave grateful groans as they unloaded their bags off their backs. Dash simply fell to the ground from where she flew, moaning in pleasure as she finally had the chance to stop moving. Pinkie and Applejack, both having either worked harder, or simply just had more energy, simply sat. Rarity, meanwhile, looked for the cleanest rock to fall against.

Alan slowly placed Fluttershy down, while the eagle took to a nearby branch. Sitting down, Alan took out his coat and firestarter. “I’ll be right back guys.” He said, slipping on his coat and drawing his knife.

Twilight grumbled something about lazy partners and due dates, but everyone else one was fairly quiet.

Fluttershy watched as everypony set up a rudimentary campsite, gathering loose bits of grass and pine needles to lay on. Rarity, though, seemed content with her fairly clean rock.

It took a while, but Alan returned, a bundle of sticks in his hands, and setting up a ring of stones, he began to set up a tepee of sticks. Looking around, he then quickly grabbed a chunk of Dash’s makeshift mattress and stuffed it into the tepee.

“Hey! I’m sleeping on that!” she protested, giving him a pathetically feeble glare.

“You’ll thank me later.” Alan said, before taking out a small black stick on a ring.

Bringing his knife to the stick, he slid the two together, sending sparks flying.

“Woah!” Rainbow said, having never seen so many sparks before. Alan ignored her trivial amazement, and began to focus on the small flame that had caught from Dash’s “volunteered” resources.

Softly blowing on the flame, Alan expertly coaxed a good fire, and before long, he had a respectable fire crackling away.

As the ponies tiredly gathered around the fire, eager for warmth in the frigid night air of the mountain, Applejack began handing out apples and apple juice. They all took one of each, passing the saddlebag along.

Alan ate his apple, and drank his juice, but still felt hungry. “Hey,” he said to the bird, “Do you want to get us something while there is still some light out?”

She simply spread her wings and took off in response.

“Thanks!” Alan called after her.

“Ya still hungry Alan?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“I have a bigger stomach than you.” Alan replied.

“Well, Ah would have packed more food had Ah known we were going to be gone this long.”

“Yeah, sorry about that guys.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it dear,” Rarity said, “After all, you were simply looking out for Fluttershy.”

“Yeah,” Alan said, remembering his earlier excuse “It’s just she looked really tired when we started out, I didn’t want her falling behind.”

Fluttershy remained silent.

“Yes.” Twilight said, having composed herself a little, “And even though we are going to more than nine hours behind schedule, it was a nice thing to do.”

“You’re going to hold this over my head for forever, aren’t you?”

“You’re making me tardy.” Twilight replied, “I am never tardy.”

Alan chuckled,until he noticed Twi’s deadpanned face.

Alan simply sipped at his canteen. “So...uh...did anypony bring anything for smores?” he asked.

“Why would we have brought—” Twi began.

“Yup!” Pinkie said, digging into her saddlebag, “I got all we need right here!”

“Why am I not surprised...”

Alan chuckled before quickly sharpening a few of the sticks he had brought to hold marshmallows. Before long, seven marshmallows were browning away near the fire, while the small crowd talked.

The eagle came back, eventually, a small fox in its talons.

While the sight of the dead creature had sent Fluttershy into a swoon, the others simply looked at it sadly. Alan, Twi noticed, shared the look before closing his eyes and muttering, “Thank you for your sacrifice, and may you forever dance in the fields of heaven.”

Alan then took a quick opportunity to move away from the camp before skinning, cleaning, and dividing the meat between him and the bird. The eagle seemed more than happy for the leg it was given, provided of course that it got some of the cooked stuff Alan was preparing while trying his best not to sicken everypony around.

In their defense, they did their best to hide the disgusted looks on their faces.

Alan cooked it as quickly as possible, doing his best to get it off the flames fast enough to keep the ponies from gagging on the fumes, but still get the meat cooked. Once that was done, he stretched the skin out next to the fire, close but not too close.

“What are you doing with that?” Dash asked, a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Drying it.” Alan said, “If Miss Eagle here chooses to stay then I need something to go on my shoulder. Talons don’t feel that nice you know?”

“Ok.” Twilight began, “This is why eating meat is wrong. It’s just disgusting!”

“That’s your best counterpoint?” Alan asked, “That meat is disgusting?”

“Can you even smell it?” Twi asked, “It smells disgusting!”

“It smells delicious! The biggest problem is there isn’t enough meat on it!”

Pinkie watched this go back and forth, munching on her smore.

Dash, Applejack, and Rarity all simply ate their snacks before rolling over and going to sleep.

Twilight and Alan continued their debate, while Luna rose the moon at Canterlot, each poking at the other while Alan ate.

“Well excuse my tragically human stomach for finding grass inedible!”

“You killed a living, breathing, creature for no reason.”

“I killed it because I was hungry.”

“It was a living thing.”

“A living thing that had no soul, and would probably kill bunnies or chickens if it had roamed free.”

“Um...Twilight...” Fluttershy began.

“How do you know it didn’t have a soul?” Twi asked, directed at the human.

“How do you know plants don’t?”

“Twilight...” Fluttershy said, a little louder.

“Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about murder.”

“No. We’re talking about hunting.”

“Twilight.” Fluttershy said, finally catching the unicorn’s attention.

“What, Fluttershy?”

“I think Alan is in the right.”

Both debaters stopped. “What?” they asked in unison.

“He is simply doing what he is meant to do. He is doing what comes naturally. We naturally eat grass, he naturally eats—”

Another dragon snore erupted.

“Eep!” Fluttershy cried, ducking behind Alan.

Alan gave her a gentle pat on the head, “Perhaps we should continue this conversation another time, Twi.”

Twilight nodded.

“Go ahead and get some sleep.” Alan said, “I’ll make sure the fire’s still going.”

Twi went to sleep, casting a worried, curious glance towards the pegasus, before finding a good patch of grass to lay on.

Fluttershy shook like a leaf as the dragon snore echoed along the mountain side. Alan watched her. “Poor girl,” he muttered before wrapping his arm around her, “Try to get some sleep, Fluttershy.”

“I don’t think I can.” she whispered.

“Don’t worry. I’m right here.” Alan reached his hand behind her head, and stroked her ear, “I’m right here.”

Eventually, Fluttershy’s eyes closed and her breathing steadied.

She dreamed she was in a field, surrounded by flowers and butterflies. Every now and then it was ripped apart by an earthquake, only to have it come back together with the words of a voice saying, “Don’t worry. I’m right here...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The next morning came, and as it did, the six ponies and single human climbed up to the lip of the mountain just outside the cave.

Placing Fluttershy down, Alan yawned. He had stayed up the entire night, keeping the fire lit while also reassuring Fluttershy through the night. She had nearly woken up fourteen times, each due to the loud snoring of the dragon.

“Alright.” Alan said, “You guys wake me up when things go horribly wrong, alright?”

“Things will not go horribly wrong!” Twilight said.

“Sure they won’t.” Alan yawned.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Well.

Things went horribly wrong.

Fluttershy’s previously-unmentioned Dracophobia had made things incredibly difficult. Instead of her original plan of two expert negotiators, she had had to go in alone. Of course, without the animal expert’s backup, Twi had found herself inhaling more smoke than she wanted to for a lifetime.

Rarity went in next, and did exceptionally well. Until she mentioned the jewels the creature was hoarding.

Then Pinkie went in with her...whatever plan she had. That worked out about as well as expected.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy hid behind a fairly large rock, and Alan was napping away.

“Keep it down will you?”

Trying to nap.

Of course that would explain all of the snicker-like snores she kept hearing from that direction.

And now, Rainbow Dash was upset, her infinite patience surprisingly at its end.

So, what would she do, but charge directly into the cave?

Horribly, horribly wrong.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The Dragon gave its first honest to goodness roar, an ear-splitting, earth-rumbling bellow that shook the mountain.

Alan stood, sword drawn, and gulped.

Admittedly, he would feel much better if the Dragon hadn’t singled him out with the single name, “Pendragon.”

Apparently, Arthur had a few draconian enemies.

A breath of fire leapt at the human, and Alan jumped out of the way, the tail of his coat smoldering. Rolling, Alan barely missed the giant claw coming down on him, and was very glad he had taken off his pack. “A little help, here, guys!”

Twilight quickly summoned a few mana ponies, each picking up a stick to attack the dragon. A distraction, mostly. Rainbow Dash began dive bombing the dragons head, hoping to get the thing off of Alan. Applejack bucked at its legs, a more futile attempt than Dash's. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon from the hammer space she seemed to have infinite access to, and began launching confetti at the rampaging reptile. Rarity, at first panicking, managed to collect herself, and began sending out every light-based illusion she knew at the creature’s eyes.

Roaring in anger, the Dragon blindly swept its arm around, sending Alan, Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity all against a rock, dispelling the spells, and sending the cannon flying.

Now that it could see again, it quickly grabbed the thing flying around its head and sent the rainbow-colored pony to the pile of living things that would be its next meal.

The one tickling his leg was next.

With the six living things all in one pile, he decided that they needed a taste of their own blinding medicine. With a deep breath, a thick black plume of smoke surrounded the five ponies and human. The wind itself strong enough to split the weak, sedimentary boulder behind them.

That’s when the dragon saw the small, yellow, pink maned pegasus behind it.

She looked up at him, his hunter eyes recognizing the fear and terror in them. Then she looked down on his soon to be prey, and he noticed something.

Her posture changed; her back straightened, her wings spread, and she looked him square in the eyes. “Nobody messes with my friends!” the fear was gone, the timidness was gone, the only things there were her two eyes, and they were as fierce as those of a warrior. As strong as iron.

The dragon cowered.

Oh sweet Faust above, what had he done?

<<<|Ω|>>>

The trip down the mountain took only five hours, compared to the 15 of going up.

Their mission had been a total success. The dragon had been told, in no uncertain terms, that he had to go. He was also told to not attack the nice human, who most certainly was not Arthur. Fluttershy now, well, fluttered down the mountain, hovering next to Alan the entire way.

Alan walked, smiling with the eagle on his shoulder, as Fluttershy showered him with thanks. “Oh, I just know I wouldn’t have been able to climb the mountain if you hadn’t been there for me, Alan.”

“It was nothing, Fluttershy.”

“Oh but it was everything. If you hadn’t gotten me up there, then we wouldn't have been able to move the dragon, and then, everything would be covered by smoke, and all of the little animals in the fields and meadows would be...”

You know, for someone so shy, Fluttershy really gushed when it came to animals.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “Besides, if you hadn’t been there, we would probably be still climbing the mountain.”

Alan didn’t say anything.

Mostly because when it came to running, the ponies far outclassed him.

They probably could have made it fine if he weren't so darn slow.

“There must be something I can do to thank you, Alan.” Fluttershy said.

“No.” Alan replied, simply, “You’re a friend, it was the least I could do, besides, you’ve given me the major supply of my food for the past five months now.”

“Yes, but this was really important. I just have to do something for you.”

Alan rolled his eyes, it seemed there was no dissuading the pegasus.

Geez, there was just too much weight on him. Rolling his shoulder and craning his neck, Alan felt a pop and a release as his vertebrae snapped back into place.

The eagle seemed to take that as a hint, and took to the air above him to give his shoulder a rest.

Alan never noticed the pegasus and eagle talking together above him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Opening the door to Twilight’s library, Alan slumped into the cool tree.

“Are you alright, Alan?” Twi asked.

“No, but it serves me right for saying ‘I’ll catch up.’” he said with a smirk before standing back up.

Twilight took his bag from him, catching it in the lavender aura of her magic.

“Have you seen the bird?” Alan asked, laboriously climbing the stairs.

“Owliscious?”

“The eagle.”

“Oh.” Twilight said, giving him a gentle push as he went upstairs. “She took off with Fluttershy last I saw her.”

“Ponyfeathers.” Alan muttered, “Well, looks like I’m going back tomorrow, probably to get a falcon or something.”

“You’re not going back for her?” Twi asked.

“No, it’s her choice, that was the whole point. You know, freedom and all that jazz.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, “Because Fluttershy left you a note saying that Miss Bald Eagle just wanted one night to say goodbye to everyone.”

Alan looked at her and blinked. “She’s decided to stay?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh...” Alan said, before climbing back up the stairs, “Now to just figure out a good name.”

Two more pony centric chapters, then the gala, and then season two, after that, things go to hell.

“But I don’t like hell, their summers are too intense.”

Well too bad.

“Humph.”

Anyways, guys, thanks for reading so far.

“Yeah, and thank you for all of the favorites and watches and comments, and be sure to leave some more of those.”

See ya next time, Bye!

9-Over A Barrel

Chapter 9

Volo ate some more of the left over songbird she had caught that morning. Alan didn’t eat the songbirds, they were too small for him.

Of course, that meant she caught a lot of songbirds.

She liked the name she had decided on, Volo. It was from a language Alan had called “latin” and it meant Fly, Will, Desire, Choose, and a handful of other words. It seemed to fit her, or at least, the eagle thought so.

“Why did you bring Volo again?” the owl-owner asked.

Silly unicorn. Alan did not bring me. I came on my own.

“She wanted to come,” Alan responded.

Like I said.

Or would, if I could...

“Besides, If we’re lucky, we may see a snake, I’ve always wondered what snake taste like, it's good, lean meat.”

“You eat snakes?” The unicorn asked, looking up from her book.

“Well, it’s not exactly a major food group, but yeah.”

She blinked at that, before going back to her book, “What do you know? A good side to eating meat.”

Alan looked like he was about to say something, and probably would have to if the past month was any indication, however, this time he seemed to let it slide, going back to his own book that he had brought.

Alan had come this time around with far more than he probably needed. He had brought all of his blades, his duster, fixed and modified for multiple temperatures by Rarity, his new shoulder perch for Volo, as well as the glove, which had some of the leftover leather sewn onto it.

He actually seemed fairly menacing, or would if he didn’t have a massively stupid grin on his face.

Giving, a sigh, or the avian equivalent, Volo turned back to her lunch.

They were currently riding on the not-quite-steam powered Appleloosa train. Supposedly, there was engine trouble, so in order to keep on schedule, they were currently being horse drawn across the Mild West; destination the new Apple family orchard in Appleloosa.

Applejack, you see was interested in transplanting the old apple tree she had named Bloomberg to Appleloosa, “give him some room to breath,” she said. And, of course, spring was the best time to move the tree, it was just coming out of its winter hibernation, and was ready to starting putting down some major roots.

Although, Alan still wasn’t sure why everyone had to come.

“Argh!” Rarity yelled, walking into the car. “She was reading it a bedtime story!” she declared, before heading to her second floor bed/seat, mumbling something about a stupid, spoiled rotten tree.

Alan gave her a look before going back to his book, “Aaaannnd cue title sequence.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The train car rocked as the bison slammed into it, sending the collective ponies to the ground.

“What in tarnation do they think they’re doing?” Applejack asked.

Alan stood, the only one not on the floor, having grabbed the side of the train, almost as if he had seen the blow coming. His face was stoic, and his eyes shone with determination. “AJ, I’m about to do something incredibly stupid. Do you trust me?”

“What?” She asked, gathering herself from the floor before falling again, sent to the ground by another crash.

“Do you trust me?”

Applejack wondered at the question, what was he talking about? Was this incredibly stupid thing so massively dangerous that he would do something to put her in danger, or worse, Bloomberg?

No. No, Alan wouldn’t put either of them in harms way. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Then don’t tell anypony what happened.”

“What?”

Her question was suddenly drowned out by the sound of rushing wind as the car door slammed open.

He had just ran into the coach, trailing Volo behind him.

“Now Applejack,” her brain told her, “We just went through this, he’s not going to hurt Bloomberg, he wouldn’t do that.”

That didn’t stop her for a second as she jumped up, eager to, at the very least, watch him as he did this stupid thing.

All she got to see was him flashing a smile as the car was disconnected by the bison, and was left behind in the dust.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alan, what’s going on?” Spike asked as the human shut the coach door.

“Train was robbed by bison, they want Bloomberg. Supposedly, the new Appleloosa orchard is built on an old bison stampeding ground, and they’ve gone hostile. We need to stay here and begin peaceful negotiations. We also need to set up a proof-of-life system so Applejack knows the tree’s okay. You’re going to be alright, but they may try to kill me, but we need to make a stand here for Applejack, alright?”

Spike blinked, “Alan, what’s going on?”

Alan sighed. “Just try and look noble or something, alright?”

Spike would have answered, but the sudden pounding on the coach door interrupted him. Alan quickly drew Judgment, holding it point down, and stuffing his coat behind his sheaths so it flared behind him. Volo was perched on his shoulder, almost touching the ceiling of the train car, and she seemed to catch the idea, and puffed out her chest as much as she could.

Spike, still slow on what exactly was going on, straightened out his tail,and taking a deep breath, sucked in his gut.

The door slid open, and three large bison burst in. They wore several feathers, their horns sharpened and shined, and their coats were ruffled and dust-stained. They stood tall, two of them coiled into a pouncing crouch, while the third had his head lowered, ready to charge anything that stood in their way. Their fierce warpaint and eyes glinted in the light of the early morning sun, they looked exactly like the brave warriors they were meant to be.

Well, with the exception of the look of total and utter shock that was plastered on their faces.

They blinked, and they’re eyes dashed from the three figures in the car. Alan, Volo, Spike, back to Alan, Spike, Volo, Spike, Volo, and then back to Alan.

They backed out of the coach, and gently shut the door behind them.

Alan heard the muffled sounds of a fight breaking out outside the car, followed by someone raising their voice of the scuffle, which in turn was followed only by silence.

Another bison poked his head in, before slowly pulling it back outside, and closing the door again.

There was more silence, followed by some more muffled arguing.

“Well,” Alan finally said, sheathing his sword. “I think we’re safe for now.”

“What was that all about?” Spike asked.

Alan quickly lied, “I’ve heard that many bison tribes honor dragons almost to the point of worship,” He gave the hatchling dragon a smirk. “Don’t be too rough on them now.”

Spike blinked, and sat down where he stood, Alan guessed he was too shocked with everything that had just happened to really care about his new-found power.

Alan himself, turned to the apple tree, “You’re momma loves you, Bloomberg, so you best stay alive for so she can see you again.”

The door opened again, and this time, a large buffalo with a war bonnet, a feather for each kill, entered the room.

His face was stoic, and calm, but Alan could just see the hint of awed panic behind those eyes of his.

“I am Chief Thunderhooves,” he said, “and we need that tree.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Applejack had always liked her cousin. At the very least he acted friendly enough when it came to ponies outside the immediate family. That, and he had the best stories to tell at family reunions. Braeburn Apple was quick, had a sharp wit, and could tell you the difference between good and bad soil with just a glance.

If he had a major negative feature, Applejack would have to look for it.

Although there were times when it became very obvious.

Like now.

He just can’t shut up.

This was the fourth time she was trying to explain the issue to him, but he just kept on giving her half-hearted lectures for her missing manners. Not to mention how he just kept going on and on about the town.

“Brae, listen, somethin’ terrible has happened.”

“Terrible is right, your train is a full seven minutes late, that’s seven minutes less for you to enjoy the wonders of,” he paused for a fraction of a second, gathering his breath before bellowing, “Aaaaaappleloosa~!”

And now they were getting the grand tour.

“Brae!” Applejack cried, only to be ignored as the excitable relative showed them the saloon, the jail, the dance floors—both of them.

“Braeburn Apple!” Applejack yelled, finally catching his attention as they stood in front of the orchard.

“Yes, cuz?”

“Ya have a very nice town and all, but we have a huge problem. Some of our friends are missing.”

Fluttershy flew up, getting close, “There was a stampede of buffalo.”

And that was all Braeburn heard.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Operation: Wild Wings was underway as Rainbow dash sneaked across the plains. She had a score to settle with the little buffalo.

First, nopony-er nobody tricks Rainbow Dash and gets away with it. Second, no...body takes her friends either. Oh, yes this little buffalo had done more than enough to her her chromatic wrath.

She never noticed the fluffy pink mane following her.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Well, best I could figure, we best tell the sheriff about this,” Braeburn said.

Applejack bit her lip, it wasn’t until after she had spoke to her cousin that Alan’s words came back to her mind, “Don’t tell anypony...”

But the sheriff would know what to do.

But Alan has a plan.

But Bloomberg.

Alan’s trying to save Bloomberg.

But what if he doesn’t? What if something happens to Bloomberg? What if something happens to Alan?

Alan should have come first, a part of her mind said, only to be quickly shut out as the moral debate raged.

Alan will be fine, he can handle himself.

Bloomberg can’t protect himself.

Alan will watch over him.

And take care of himself?

They’ll both be fine, we just have to...

Trust him...

Applejack chewed her already bitten lip. This had always been her problem, trusting others.

It wasn’t the trusting. She could easily trust anypony with anything. Her issue was being forced to trust. She had always been independent, always could do things fine by herself, but now...now she had to depend on someone else. She was being forced to watch, unable to do anything as the tree she loved was put in danger.

Spike and Alan too. Her mind said again.

“Do you trust me?”

Applejack swallowed, her mouth dry. “Ah...Ah think we should...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Half-Dragon.

"Human, Friend, Pendragon, and now Half-Dragon," Alan thought as he went through the titles he had been given. Apparently, Thunderhooves great-great-great etc. grandsire was saved by Arthur once, and the Running Thunder Tribe has been in the Half-Dragon’s debt ever since.

Of course, that was not making negotiations any easier.

“They have covered our sacred stampede grounds with their orchard,” Chief Thunderhooves said, disgust in his voice as steam blew from his nostrils. “We cannot carry on the tradition like this. We need the land back.”

“At the cost of every life in Appleloosa,” Alan noted.

“They planted their trees on our land. Vengeance is bound to happen.”

“It’s the only flat land for miles, they need that land as much as you do.”

“They can grow on the mountains.”

Admittedly, Alan didn’t have an argument for that one, so he just made one up along the lines of, “The mountains have bad, rocky soil, the trees need room.” That sounded right, didn’t it?

“Then they must find good soil elsewhere.”

Alan sighed, before biting into the snake, Volo, the “Freebird,” had caught. Lean meat, but not especially flavorful. Currently, he, the bird, and Thunderhooves all sat around a single campfire in the middle of the buffalo camp, the stars were out, and the negotiations were not going well.

“Hey, Alan!” a voice said from behind. It was Spike, he knew, returning with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, since the two of them had decided to get “poor, captured Spike” back. Real shame they didn’t know that he was essentially royalty.

“Hey, Spike, hey Dash, hey Pinkie.” Alan said, not turning to them.

“Please tell me you have a good idea on what’s going on?” the pegasus asked, in an exasperated sigh.

"The Appleloosians planted their orchard on the Running Thunder Tribe’s ceremonial stampeding ground. The bison can’t stampede for the trees, and the Appleloosians need the food to survive. They both need the land, but neither will give up even a part.”

Dash gave a slow nod.

Pinkie, on the other hand, took that as a cue to begin a lecture. “But everypony’s got to share! Sharing is Caring!”

“I know, Pinkie,” Alan said, “but how they are going to share is the trick.”

“We won’t,” Chief Thunderhooves announced.

Alan groaned. He should just call in the order, the one order he had with this tribe, as dictated by law. It would be so much easier if he could just say, you are going to share, and you are going to like it.

“The Half-Dragon speaks truth,” a voice said to their left. Every head turned to see an ancient bison, his fur grey and his horns dulled. A single white feather hung from his left horn while something that looked like a dreamcatcher hung from his right.

Odd. Alan thought.

“Both the Tribe and the Settlers need the land, and while only one holds it, the other will fade,” The aged buffalo said. “The Settlers are the people of the Sun and Moon Queens, they will not take kindly to their deaths.”

Thunderhooves growled. “The Sun and Moon Queens have never cared for us, they have not looked kindly to us, and they will not.”

The aged bison sent the chief a glare, “Do not let your words betray you, Thunderhooves. It was She with the Mane of Crimson that placed the Queens above the sky, and they have been charged with the caring of life: plant, pony, bison, griffin, liger, and many more. Do not forget the tales of your youth, lest they keep you from an early grave.”

Thunderhooves grumbled.

“Half-Dragon,” the older buffalo said, giving a short bow, “do not waste your words on those who will not hear. I know an answer will come to you. You are a warrior of words as well as steel, you will prevail.” He bowed again and limped away.

Thunderhooves watched him go before saying, “Indeed, it seems best not to waste words.” The angry chief stood suddenly and walked away from the campfire, grumbling as he went.

Alan sighed, “Alright, girls, and Spike, we’d best start walking. Appleloosa’s a long walk back.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright, everypony,” Applejack said, addressing her small contingent of friends and single family member who were going to retrieve their friends. They stood on the outskirts of Appleloosa, in a ravine maybe four ponies wide abreast, with tall cliffs, the desert stretching before them, “We got to be ready for a long walk through buffalo territory, it’s gonna be tough, and we may not make it back.”

Fluttershy gulped, the poor mare was not taking the pep talk well.

“But we got to save our friends. We’ve got to be there for ‘em. So, let’s go!” She said, taking a few steps in the desert.

Only to run into Alan.

“Well, Howdy there, AJ. What brings ya to these parts?”

Applejack blinked before hugging him, while simultaneously giving him a good, hard punch. “What in Celestia’s name were ya doing?”

Alan laughed, and hugged her back before the others joined, greeting Alan, Dashie, and Pinkie.

Spike was actually caught up in a massive hug by Twilight, “Oh, I was so worried! don’t you ever leave the train car again, do you hear me? No ice cream for a month! Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe.” The poor dragon was thrashed around as Twilight shook him, both on highs and lows of the maternal rollercoaster.

“And you must be Braeburn Apple!” Alan said, grabbing the horrified ponies forehoof and giving it a good shake. “Pleased to meet you, I’m Alan Williams, but you can just call me Al.”

Braeburn stared up at him, terror evident in his eyes.

Alan ignored the terror, secretly hoping that brushing it off would ease the poor pony.

“Say hello, Brae,” Applejack said.

“H-hello...”

“You will both be happy to know,” Alan continued, “that I have secured Bloomberg’s safety, and he will be returned, once we finalize a peace treaty.”

“A peace treaty?”

Alan nodded, before whistling, and a young, female bison dropped down from the cliffside. “This is Little Strongheart, daughter of Chief Thunderhooves, who has issued a grievance against the people of Appleloosa. She is acting on behalf of the Running Thunder Tribe to hopefully get a peace going before things go to Tartarus.” Alan sat down between the bison and Appleloosian, “Braeburn, I want you to be the representative from Appleloosa, and we are going to try to work something out right here. In the meantime,” He said, pulling a small bag of bits from his belt and tossing it to the farmer, “somepony go get me a hat.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

This was going too fast for Braeburn. First, a bison train robbery, then a secret rescue mission, and now, a 6 foot tall monster was helping him negotiate peace with the chief's daughter.

Said buffalo was sitting across from him, explaining that the orchard had been built on a stampeding ground, which sort of explained everything.

“I understand that the orchard is a non-negotiable,” Little Strongheart said, “but we will need that land two days from now, or we will not be able to complete the ritual stampede. Perhaps if you moved the orchard elsewhere?”

“Well,” Brae said, “we would, but there ain’t much else for it to go. The mountains surrounding the town don’t have much dirt, and the only other place we’ve got is a plain with massive boulders in the way, given the time, we may be able to get some of the rocks out of the way, but we’d have nowhere to put them except the stampede grounds.”

“And then we’d be right back where we started...” Little Strongheart sighed.

Alan sat between them nodding, his newly-bought stenson on his head, it looked good with the duster, Brae would admit, although this “Half-Dragon” was still the creepiest thing he ever did see. “Little Strongheart,” he began, “how much of the plain do you cover when you stampede?”

“Well, when properly directed, we can fit single file, but we prefer spreading out as far as we can.”

“So then, theoretically, y’all can fit through the trees?” Brae asked.

Little Strongheart nodded, “Yes but it would be very dangerous, and several of us could die if one of us were to simply misstep.”

Shoot. Well, there goes my idea.

“Braeburn,” Alan said, turning to him, “in that field you were talking about, how many of those rocks could you move without spilling over into the stampede grounds?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How about this, how much of the ground could you clear, in terms of your orchard?”

“What?”

“Could you clear enough ground to fit 10 trees, a quarter of the orchard, a third?”

“Oh, uh...maybe a quarter.”

“Alright, Little Strongheart, do you think your tribe could move better if a quarter of the orchard was in the other field?”

“We’d be able to do it without too much difficulty,” she said.

“Good, then it seems we have a solution.”

“But not one that we can implement in two days,” Braeburn noted.

“And certainly not one that will stop Thunderhooves war party,” Little Strongheart added.

“War party?” Brae asked.

“Leave those to me, just make sure both Thunderhooves, and Sheriff Silver Star are on the battlefield.”

“War party?”

“If things go as planned, then by noon tomorrow, all of this will be over with.”

“War party?”

Little Strongheart sighed, “Yes, Breaburn, a war party.”

“How did...?”

“Long story.”

Alan nodded. “Well, you get him caught up, I’ve got some business to attend to,” with that he stood, dusted himself off and held his arm straight out. On cue, Volo screeched, perching perfectly on his gloved hand.

Little Strongheart bowed to the Freebird, and Braeburn would almost hate to admit that it was awesome.

With that, Alan left, heading towards Appleloosa.

There was silence between the bison and pony as they watched him go, before Braeburn broke the silence, “So...a War party.”

“Yes,” the Chief’s daughter replied. “Chief Thunderhooves—”

“Your dad.”

“...yes...my dad...and the Half-Dragon were negotiating a possible peace, when the Elder—”

“Who?”

“My...grandpa...”

“Ah, continue.”

“Yes, well, the Elder told the Half-Dragon not to waste words on those who would not listen, and Chief Thunderhooves agreed with that, and so now he is bringing 35 braves to Appleloosa in the morning.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Call them by their title, they are your family aren’t they?”

Little Strongheart’s eyes dropped. “Well, yes...it’s out of respect that I call them by their titles.”

Braeburn didn't believe that for a second, and gave her a look that said as much.

She held her course for a second before sighing. “I’m a runt.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m a runt,” she said again. “This is as big as I am ever going to get. I will not inherit the title of chief, I will not inherit my father’s belongings, I am too weak for the job.”

“That doesn’t...”

“I was given the name Little Strongheart during the naming ceremony because I had managed to live ten years. They were sure I would have died at four. I’m a runt. It’s my lot in life. I call my father Chief because if not for his blood in my veins, I would not be his daughter.”

Braeburn stayed silent for a second, “Sorry I brought that up.”

“Don’t be, it is my fate.”

Brae smiled at that, “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Excuse me?”

“I come from a long line of farmers, on my mothers side. My father on the other hand, had a brown hoof. When I was born, it was winter, the season of death. When I was a colt, I couldn’t grow weeds.” he smirked, remembering a time when he actually did pick a weed, specifically to try and grow the thing, only for it to die of over watering. “My dad, Celestia bless him, tried to get me to take up the rodeo, and get my mind off the whole death-to-every-green-thing-on-the-planet thing.

“I was alright, I’d admit, but I felt that gardening was my calling, so when I wasn’t at the rodeo, I was in the library, reading every book I could about gardening.” Braeburn turned, showing off the single apple on his flank, “I was twelve years old before I got my cutie mark, but I earned it.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Fate may give you a certain lot in life, but it’s up to you to choose it.”

Little Strongheart nodded, “Perhaps...perhaps...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

It was a day of war.

A hot day, Alan thought, leaning against the cliff walls. At least it was a dry heat.

Buffalo lined the one end of the field, the Appleloosians, the other. The bison were preparing their horns, dressed in warpaint, and looked as fierce as ever. The ponies were gathering barricades,

Alan sang to himself,

“To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day,

Hardly spoke to folks around him didn't have too much to say,

No one dared to ask his business no one dared to make a slip,

For the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip,

Big iron on his hip.”

“The sword is steel.” A hooded and cloaked pony that stood beside him noted.

Alan gave her a look before continuing,

“It was early in the morning when he rode into the town,

He came riding from the south side slowly lookin' all around,

He's an outlaw loose and running came the whisper from each lip,

And he's here to do some business with the big iron on his hip,

Big iron on his hip.”

The ponies gathered for war, each doing their best. Off in Appleloosa, Applejack paced.

“And that’s all he said?” she asked Twilight.

“Yeah, just ‘I’ll take care of it.’”

Applejack bit her lip. He was testing her, he wanted to know if she really did trust him.

Dad gum it.

“In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red,

Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead,

He was vicious and a killer though a youth of twenty four,

And the notches on his pistol numbered one and nineteen more,

One and nineteen more.”

Braeburn and Little Strongheart stood atop of a mountain, getting a clear view of the whole of the battlefield. They exchanged a nervous glance between them as they watched the two forces line up for battle.

“I hope this goes well,” Brae said, giving a light-hearted tone to the overly depressing statement.

“I hope so too.”

“Now the stranger started talking made it plain to folks around,

Was an Arizona ranger wouldn't be too long in town,

He came here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead,

And he said it didn't matter he was after Texas Red,

After Texas Red.”

Chief Thunderhooves stared down the small town. They had spat in the face of tradition. They had forced his Tribe to break a ritual as old as the tribe itself. They would pay for this insolence. He would make them pay or his name was not Thunderhooves.

“Wasn't long before the story was relayed to Texas Red,

But the outlaw didn't worry, men that tried before were dead,

Twenty men had tried to take him twenty men had made a slip,

Twenty one would be the ranger with the big iron on his hip,

Big iron on his hip.”

Sheriff Silver Star glared down the field at the bison, “Think ya can take our town do ya? Think ya can starve us out? Think ya got the right ta drive us away do ya? Well, let’s see how you handle these pies,” He said, hefting an apple-and-numbing-agent pie.

“The morning passed so quickly it was time for them to meet,

It was twenty past eleven when they walked out in the street,

Folks were watching from the windows everybody held their breath,

They knew this handsome ranger was about to meet his death,

About to meet his death.”

Elder Peaceseeker sat behind the line of bison, watching as the Chief ordered them into position. His son was an excellent warrior, it has always been his calling; but this was not the time for a warrior. He had hoped that perhaps the Half-Dragon would show him the light, but his son had mistaken folly for wisdom.

He hoped that the Half-Dragon would show him yet.

“There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play,

And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today,

Texas Red had not cleared leather 'fore a bullet fairly ripped,

And the ranger's aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip,

Big iron on his hip.”

“Are you done yet?” The cloaked pony asked.

“One last verse,” Alan said, before finishing.

“It was over in a moment and the folks had gathered round,

There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground,

Oh, he might have went on living but he made one fatal slip,

When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip,

Big iron on his hip.”

With that, Alan drew Judgement. “Alright, I’m ready.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The bison charged, dodging pies as they flew towards them. They were still too far out to be accurate hits, but one lucky shot could bring down one buffalo.

“They’re too far out!” the sheriff yelled, before jumping over the barricade, pie in hoof. “Charge them!”

A handful of ponies followed their fearless leader, jumping over the barricade and galloping as fast as they could towards the oncoming buffalo while wielding a pie.

“Oh?” Thunderhooves thought, seeing these ponies come at him and his war party, “A few brave warriors?” He gave a sinister smile. “Well then, let me take them to their honorable death.”

The Chief began to pull ahead, his hooves thundering as he was named, his eyes glinted with the ferocity of an unleashed fire, flaming as it consumed everything.

The Sheriff saw that look, the look of a warrior, and met it with his own.

The distance between them was closing. 80 hooves.

60.

40.

20.

Suddenly there was a flash of light that blinded both parties, and they came skidding to a stop.

Between the two forces now stood a 6 foot tall, bipedal creature wearing a duster and a stenson, a sword blade came across his shoulder, and an eagle swooped down and perched on the other. The dusty coat flapped in the wind, and the silver band around the black hat glinted.

With him, stood a tall pony figure, almost as tall as the thing with the sword. He was cloaked, and a hood was pulled over his head.

“Gentlecolts,” the thing in the hat said. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Indeed,” a female voice said, coming from the cloaked figure, as the hood slid off her head.

The chief and sheriff’s jaws dropped to the floor.

“Now,” Celestia said. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?” With another flash, a table and four chairs appeared in the middle of the field, and the Princess and Pendragon-in-training both took their seats.

The Sheriff and Chief both tentatively followed their lead.

“Chief Thunderhooves,” Alan said, “allow me to introduce Sun Queen Celestia, ruler of Equestria.”

“A pleasure,” Celestia said, giving the buffalo a nod.

“Aw..wa...da...” he stammered.

“Sheriff Silver Star,” The Princess said, turning towards the wide-eyed pony, “This is Sir Alan Williams of Earth, an acquaintance of mine.”

“Howdy do,” Alan greeted.

“Da...di...da...”

“Now,” Celestia continued. “Sir Alan has brought to my attention that there seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding between you two. Let’s see if we can get this cleared up before noon, shall we?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Being the ruler of the entire land, riser of the sun, and sustainer of all life on the planet certainly does add a bit more bang to your buck.

Within minutes, Celestia had convinced both of the stubborn leaders to Braeburn and Little Strongheart’s treaty, and then gave them a massive boost in completing the project by emptying a massive section of the field of its boulders.

The other ponies began to immediately transfer the trees, making new room for the buffalo stampede.

Alan was standing next to the majority of the Mane Six, overseeing the transfers, when Thunderhooves approached him, a look of shame on his face as he was being goaded by the Elder. "Half-Dragon, I see now that I should have heard your words, and...and perhaps I was being too stubborn otherwise."

Alan nodded, saying nothing one way or the other.

The Elder nudged the chief. "As an apology, I would like to present you with this."

Thunderhooves stepped to the side, and the Elder came forward, a black cloth in his outstretched hoof. "This is the banner of the Half-Dragon, his symbol to us for when he was in need, the signal for our unspoken agreement. Twice this flag has flown, and twice we answered it. Please, take it and use it as you see fit."

Alan took the cloth, and it unfurled as he held it, an ebony black banner with a rampant silver dragon stared back at him.

"Thank you," Alan replied, folding it as nicely as he could. The two buffalo nodded before turning and heading back to the camp. “Hey Spike,” Alan said, taking the opportunity to thank the dragon. “Thanks for sending that letter for me.”

“No problem, Al.” the dragon said, giving the human a high five as he passed.

“Hey, you seen Applejack?”

“Try the Saltcube Saloon, I think she said something about being thirsty.”

Alan nodded before heading to the saloon, his duster still flapping in the wind.

Man, he loved that.

He walked through the swinging doors, ducking only slightly to get through the door, and noticed how it was practically empty.

Applejack was easy enough to find, she was the only customer sitting at the bar, and her hat and orange coat a dead giveaway.

Alan walked over and sat beside the slumped over pony, ordering a glass of sarsaparilla. A glass of the creme-soda-colored liquid came sliding down the bar, and was quickly gulped down by the thirsty human.

There was silence between the two of them.

Alan waited.

Applejack sighed. “Ah’m sorry.”

Alan stayed quiet.

“I told ya Ah trusted ya, but Ah’ve done nothing but second guess ya since this whole thing started. Ah’m sorry.”

Alan nodded before patting her back, “It’s alright AJ, it’s alright.”

“No it ain’t,” she said, downing her creme soda. “Ah lied to ya, Ah lied to me. Ya’ve done nothing but given me reasons to trust ya, and Ah just couldn’t do it.”

Alan gave her a soft smile, before ordering two shots of AppleJack Daniels.

The two shot glasses slid his way, and he took them both up, and handed one to the farmpony.

“To changing our ways and trusting our friends?”

She looked at him, a smirk playing on her lips. “Yeah, Ah’d drink to that.”

I don’t feel that good about this chapter...

“I like it!”

I know but...

“Oh don’t be so Kusy-Fusy.”

Kusy-Fusy?

“They’re words.”

Since when?

“Since five seconds ago.”

Well, anyway, thanks guys for reading so far, thanks for all of the faves and thank you for your comments, it means alot to me.

“So be sure to rate, comment and subscribe!”

That’s YouTube, Pinkie.

“Do all of the FimFiciton equivalents of rate, comment and subscribe.”

Oh, what am I going to do with you, Pinkie?

“Party?”

Meh, sure why not, I’ve got a party to go to, so thanks again guys, and bye!

10-Suited for Success

Chapter 10

“Lyra, please...”

“Just a few more minutes, Alan.”

Alan was currently being hung upside down, and having the blood rush to his head. “This really hurts, you know.”

“Really?” Lyra said, before quickly jotting down some noted along the side of her notebook.

“Lyra!”

“Hm? Oh!” She said, finally realizing his point. “Alright, alright you can come down.”

Alan lifted himself up, pulling at the rail he was hanging off of with everything he had, letting blood rush back down to his body. “Oh, that feels so good...”

This was one of many of Lyra’s human-study sessions. She felt, having claimed that Humans existed since the beginning, that she was to have complete, uninhibited visiting rights to Ponyville’s bipedal resident. Using those rights, something that Alan didn’t voice any displeasure against, Lyra was able to almost perfectly guess human anatomy.

“Biceps femoris are capable of holding one's weight for an extended period of time, however, it seems that the brain...” she mumbled to herself, writing furiously in her notebook.

Alan waited for his head to clear before he instantly began searching for a way out. Don’t get him wrong, Lyra was fun enough to hang out with, and had a most pleasing personality, it’s just that sometimes she got a little carried away with her research.

Like the time she insisted on counting his vertebrae.

Alan shuddered at the thought. He still had a knot in his back from that session.

“By the way, Al,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “I may have messed up on our last session, I’m going to have to count you vertebrae again.”

“ABANDON SHIP!” Alan now frantically began looking for anything that could drag him away. “THERE!” his brain screamed, Caplocks on, “TWILIGHT, HELP ME!” His voice, however, was far more subdued. “Twilight! Where are you going in such a hurry?!”

Twilight, who was calmly walking towards the door, paused turning her head towards her housemate. “I’m just heading to Rarity’s with Applejack to get my Gala dress repaired.”

The words “Gala", "Dress”, and “Rarity” shot up a few flags in his head, or would have if it weren’t so occupied with escaping a very pain filled few minutes. “Rarity’s? that’s a long way!”

“It’s just a few blocks...”

“A few blocks of danger!” He corrected, grabbing his sword belt.

“Danger? I don’t really...”

“I’d better escort you,” he said, slipping the belt on. “I’m so sorry about this, Lyra, but honor’s sake and all that.”

“Uh...” the seafoam unicorn muttered just in time for Alan to shove Twilight out the door.

“See you next week, alright? Bye!” he said, before slamming the door shut behind him. Now outside, Alan let loose a sigh.

“Bad session?” Twilight asked.

“About to become worse.”

Twilight shook her head. “So are you really going to escort me to Rarity’s?”

“It would be worse if I didn’t.”

“Alright, Applejack said she’d meet us there.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Howdy Rarity!” Applejack said, bursting through the door. She did knock, but Alan didn’t feel like Rarity would have been too happy with the sudden intrusion.

Twilight quickly silenced her, motioning over to the dressmaker, “Can’t you see she’s trying to concentrate?”

“What do you think she’s making?” Applejack said, looking over the white unicorn’s shoulder.

“Looks like a dress,” Twilight whispered back.

“Well that makes sense, since this is a dressmaker’s shop and all.”

Rarity turned, a quickly conjured smile on her face, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Alan chuckled.

“Sorry to trouble you, Rarity,” Twilight said, “but I need a favor.” Twilight then pulled out a little red and yellow dress with two buttons, one of which literally hung by a thread. “Could you fix a button for me? It’s my dress for the grand galloping Gala.”

The look of absolute horror on Rarity’s face spoke louder than words.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“I’m not so sure that this will look that good on me,” Alan said.

Rarity, having heard of the plight of her friends not having new attire, had immediately begun on working on five dresses and two suits, one for Spike, another for Alan.

Alan had stayed behind, offering his help to the soon-to-be-stressed pony. Of course, at the time the only thing he could really help with was his own suit.

“Nonsense, Darling,” Rarity said. “Everything looks better with gems.”

“Well, yes, but...this many?” The black suit was being covered in small emeralds, so many that Alan had lost count. Rarity had something about looking like a dragon, and while Alan had liked the idea, there were just a few things...

“Yes, dear, each gem is its own scale, and dragons are covered in them.”

“Yes but if you cover me in scales, then no one will be able to see the suit.” Grabbing an eraser, he quickly rubbed it over the drawing. “How about that?”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh yes! That is a much better idea. Are you sure you’ve never worked in fashion?”

Alan smirked. “I’m sure.”

Rarity, however, was staring back at the drawing. “Hm...I rapidly getting off of the black and emerald color scheme...”

“Oh?” Alan asked. “What did you have in mind?”

She smirked. “I think it shall remain a surprise.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Aren’t they all amazing?!” Rarity exclaimed, beaming as her six friends took in her work.

She was met with silence.

“I like my suit!” Alan said, quickly, breaking the silence, walking over to the three piece Rarity had made for him.

Rubies, rather than the original emeralds accented the hem of the sleeves and pants, with crimson satin lapels and a golden pin with a diamond at its the left lapel's furthest corner. “It looks wonderful Rarity. I would have liked some gold or silver in there, but it looks amazing as is. Besides, you are the authority on fashion, you know best.”

He said the last part a little loudly hoping that the others would catch onto his hint.

More silence.

“W-wow...” Twilight said.

“They um...” Rainbow started.

“They...”

“They sure are...somethin’,” AJ mumbled.

“Yes! Something.”

“I love something!” Pinkie chirped, “Something is my favorite!”

“It’s...” Fluttershy began before her ears flattened. “Nice...”

Alan frowned behind his smile. “Wonderful...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan ducked under a flying pair of scissors as they began to furiously snip at a length of cloth. This was her third pass at Twilight’s dress, and even Alan knew that it was a disaster, fashionably speaking.

He couldn’t figure out why, but this episode was being particularly stubborn. Nothing was changing, nothing at all, and Alan couldn’t stand it. Gentle nudges against the other mares simply flew over their heads. At this rate the episode would turn out exactly like it had, and even though it had a good ending, it wouldn’t be enough. Alan wanted a better ending.

His original plan of dropping hints that making demands was not a good thing, especially after she made the dresses, had failed.

His second plan, to ease Rarity’s stress by helping her, was proving to be similarly bad.

The poor girl was throwing everything into these dresses, and hardly even noticed Alan was there.

Alan sighed, there wasn’t any point in staying. The poor unicorn will run herself ragged with or without him.

“Are you alright here by yourself Rarity?”

“Hm,” was her only reply.

That was the best he was going to get. “Be sure to get some rest tonight.”

“Hm.”

Alan sighed again, and grabbing his stuff he left. Alan had taken to wearing his stetson more often. He wasn’t sure why, and his only real answer was “Because it looks awesome.”

Alan stepped outside of the boutique, pulled his hat down over his eyes and walked towards the library, his thoughts his only company.

Maybe he was going at this the wrong way. Maybe he shouldn’t be changing the circumstances. He should let the girls make their mistake, but how can he get a better ending? What could he do to change the outcome without changing the circumstances?

“Alright, let’s see...” he said to no one in particular. “First, the dresses, then the second and third drafts. We've done those. Completed dresses, fashion show, humiliation, and then Rarity locks herself away for a few days...”

As he gave himself a checklist, he began running through possibilities where he changed certain actions. The issue was he wasn’t sure if those actions would change other circumstances. He needed a A changing to B, but he couldn’t risk a B changing to C. All of this pseudo-math was starting to hurt his head.

“Alright, Alan, breathe.” For a brief second, he stood stock still, his only movement was raising his head to glance at the sun from underneath the brim of his hat. “Now. What can you change?”

Alan began his thoughts again, this time moving through them much slower. Each time carrying a single event to its logical conclusion before moving on to the next one.

Suddenly, he stopped.

That...that could work...

A smile spread across his face.

It looks like he may need a little help though.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Lyra! Get the door!” Bon Bon yelled up the stairs.

“I’m busy! And it’s your shop anyway!”

"Busy my candy-covered flank."

Sighing, Bon Bon carefully laid the tray of chocolate truffles down, dusting sugar off of her apron, and dashed towards the door to the personal section of the house/store. Opening the wooden door, she was surprised to see the human that she had met eight months ago.

“Howdy, Miss,” he said, tipping his hat while grinning with the biggest smile he could muster.

“Alan, what are you doing here?”

Alan kept smiling, “Well, I need the help of two beautiful mares, and well, you and miss Heartstrings were the first to come to mind.”

Bon Bon blushed, “Well I...”

“I'll make sure that you’ll both are paid for your services, and that sounded really dirty when I said that...”

Bon Bon kept blushing, “Just a little.”

“Perhaps I should explain just what exactly am I asking you to do.”

“I think that would help.”

“Is Lyra here?”

“Yes.”

“Then get her down here.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Phase One of his Super Ingenious Plan was a success.

Phase Two was underway.

Unfortunately, he was about to hit a roadblock. For Phase Two, he needed Rarity’s dress completed for the Event. Rarity had not even touched her dress. It was simply sitting there on the model, untouched.

The issue was getting it out of there.

Luna had sent him a New Moon that night, and it was fairly difficult to see.

Dressed in his duster to break up his form, Alan took another look at the boutique, Rarity’s workshop’s light was on, but he couldn’t see any movement.

Taking a deep breath he quickly snuck over to the side of the building, laying himself flat against the white wall.

Of course, he was perfectly visible against that wall, and being the only thing in the town that was twice as tall as a pony...

“Hey Al!” Pinkie said, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

Alan slammed his hand against the Pink pony’s mouth. “Pinkie! What are you doing here?” Alan asked in a strained whispered.

“It’s Thursday,” she answered, as if that explained everything.

“Thursday?”

“Yeah, so when it becomes midnight, then it’s Friday! And Friday is the best day because it comes before Saturday! So I have to spend all morning long planing my Thank Celestia it’s Friday Party!”

Alan blinked.

“So what are you doing here?”

“I...I...” Alan began, searching for an excuse, “I-I’m planning a surprise,” he said through a smile.

“Ooh! A surprise!”

“Yeah! Yeah. A surprise for Rarity.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“Well, Rarity has been working really hard on your dresses. So hard, in fact, that she hasn’t gotten to her own. So, I know a pony who can stitch pretty well, and I was thinking her and I could get Rarity’s dress done so she could be a part of the fashion show.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea!”

“Yeah, so I’m going to try to get her dress, do you want to help?”

“Sure!”

“And you’ll keep this a secret?”

“Of course! It’s a surprise!”

“Good,” Alan said, before turning to face the wall.

One major advantage to fingers, any animal would tell you is the dexterity as opposed to paws. Three fingers could do jobs that would be impossible for most animals. In this case, climbing the “vertical” surface of pony architecture like a monkey.

His fingers grabbing at nooks and crannies in the wall, Alan began his slow ascent, leaving Pinkie on the ground.

However, if he knew Pinkie...

“Here you go!” Pinkie said, hanging out of Rarity’s window the dress in her hoof..

Not even bothering to ask how she got up there, Alan took the dress. “Thank you, Pinkie.” he said before peeking into the room. Rarity was leaning on one of the mannequins, snoring away. Her mane was a mess, her eyes had bags under them and she had fallen asleep mid stitch.

Poor Rarity...

“Get the light, Pinkie, and be sure to grab the design.”

“Alright!” She answered in an excited whisper.

After grabbing the piece of paper and flipping out the light. Pinkie suddenly leapt out of the second story window. She landed with practiced ease.

Rarity’s head jerked up, “What? Hm?”

Alan quickly shut the window as the white unicorn slowly searched her room.

Her sleepy mind was soon satisfied that there was no danger, and she slowly dropped back down to the mannequin, her eyes shut before she touched it.

Phase Two was underway, Phase three was about to begin.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Ok,” Rarity said, hoping that there was some sense of style in any of them to recognize those pieces of fabric as the horrifyingly hideous monstrosities they were, “I did exactly what each of you asked for. Now don’t hold back, let me know what you really think.”

The awe and praise was not what Rarity was hoping for, but at least it meant that she could finally move on to...

“Are you as happy with them as we are?” Pinkie squealed, getting much too close to her face, “Huh? Huh? Huh?”

Forcing a smile, “I’m happy,” the word tasted bitter when it was being used in relation to those, “that all of you are happy. I just relieved to finally be done.”

Suddenly, the door burst open, and the young purple dragon that was Spike took a quick second to catch his breath, “You are never going to believe this!” he gasped, before standing. “Have you heard of Hoity Toity?”

“The big-wig fashion hot-shot of Canterlot?” Twi asked.

“Uh-huh! He heard about your fashion show,” he smirked before mumbling. “Well, maybe I had mentioned it to him, but he is coming here all the way from Canterlot! To see your work Rarity!”

Rarity paled, and if she didn’t have a white coat, it would have been much easier to notice.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rarity paced, or would be pacing. It was more like she was making rounds. Checking the dresses, her friends, the stage, the audience, and finally Alan.

“Please, Dear, won’t you join in?” she asked. “You’re the only one with a decent outfit.”

“No thanks, Rarity, I wasn’t really made for strutting,” Alan said, wearing the ruby-hemmed suit.

“Please?” She begged.

Alan shook his head, “Trust me, it’s best this way.”

Rarity sighed, “Alright, Darling,” she said, hiding the disappointment in her voice. “At least it couldn’t get any worse...”

The lights dimmed, and outside Scratch began to play music.

“This is your last chance, De—” she began only to see that Alan had disappeared.

Rarity sighed again, she hoped this couldn't get any worse.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Since the beginning of time,” Spike began, using his announcing talent. “The elite of Equestria have longed for pony fashions that have truly expressed the essence of their very souls. Patiently waiting decades, no, centuries for the perfect pony gown.” Spotlights danced across the stage, sending beams of light up and down the runway. A sizeable crowd gathered, watching with breathless anticipation for the reveal of Rarity's new masterpieces. “Today, at long last, Equestria, your wait is over. Let’s give it up for the breathtaking designs of Ponyville’s own, Rarity!”

The spotlights, all four of them converged on the five ponies that had been hidden by the curtain.

A gasp echoed through the crowd, and ponies began to mumble back and forth between themselves.

Twilight led, giving her best pouty face, with Applejack following, and then Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and finally Pinkie.

Half of the crowd was shocked into silence, while the other groaned in outrage.

Applejack noticed first. “Why is everypony looking at us like that?”

Twilight took a quick glance at herself, noticing the ensemble. It took maybe a second, before she let out a quiet, “Oh, dear.”

“Ya think we overdid it?” Dash asked.

“Nah,” Applejack answered, before re-noticing her yellow-and-black rubber boots. “Ok, maybe a little.”

The pony that sat directly in front of the runway spoke, his white cuffs and sunglasses denoting him as none other that the Hoity Toity in question. “Those amateurish designs look like a piled on mishmash of everything but the kitchen sink!” He was standing now, outraged. “It’s a travesty is what it is! Those outfits are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen, oh for shame! Who is responsible for subjecting our eyes to these horrors, not to mention wasting my valuable time?”

Rarity heard the dirges playing in her head. This was it, it was over. She’d never work in this town again, much less a city like Canterlot. Oh, who was she kidding, she’d never be able to work again at all! This was just The. Worst. Possible. Thing!

“That would be me,” A voice said, and Rarity’s head snapped up.

Alan stood at the back of the runway, microphone in his hand, light dancing off the rubies at his hem. “I am responsible for these designs, and Rarity, being who she is, just would not say no to having them featured in her show.” He took a few steps forward, giving the disgruntled fashion master a slight bow. “Of course, had I known someone as important as you was going to be here, I would never have come at all. But allow me to make it up to you, if you’ll allow me, sir.”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Hoity Toity asked.

“By showing you some designs that are worth your while.”

Hoity Toity raised an eyebrow, wondering at this odd thing that stood before him. The populace didn’t seem to think him a threat, and it was honestly one of the few things that kept him where he was.

Reading a crowd was his talent, his calling. It was how he won so much fame. A few good words in the right crowd, and presto, instantly ponies love you. This crowd, however, was silent, most seemingly interested in the offer.

"Very well, creature, let’s see what you’ve got." Hoity Toity sat, “Well?”

Alan smiled. “You won’t be disappointed, sir.”

“I doubt that.”

Alan smirked, before stepping out of the way, back towards the stage, “Fillies and Gentlecolts! Presenting Miss Rarity’s Masterpieces!” With that, the music changed, turning into a techno beat, and a cream-coated mare with a fuschia and navy blue mane stepped forward. She wore a sleek, thin, blue dress that matched her mane, with white frills and diamond accents.

Rarity remembered that dress. Bon Bon had just bought it two days ago, or was that yesterday?

As Bon Bon strutted down the Runway, the five other ponies began to head towards the backstage. Once they got there, Twilight was suddenly lifted off of her hooves, her dressed ripped away. “Lyra, work on her mane,” Alan yelled, his suit jacket thrown over a chair, “Applejack, help me get her dress on!”

“What are you doing?” Twi asked.

Alan pushed his face into hers. “We have a matter of seconds to get you presentable. Seconds,” he repeated. “Dash start working on your mane!” he ordered, pulling the star-covered dress over Twi’s head. “Pinkie, you’ll take the less time, help Fluttershy dress Dash!”

Rarity rushed backstage, “Alan, what are you-?”

“No time! Later! Work on your mane!”

“Me? Why, I don’t have a—”

Alan interrupted her, pointing at one of the vanities where her dress lay on the table.

“Is that my—?”

“Yes! Now put it on, you’re the finale!” Alan said, pinning the star brooch behind Twi’s ear before shoving Lyra out. “Go! Twi, help Fluttershy!”

She nodded, before she began to help the shy pegasus.

“Where did you get my dresses?”

“The Boutique, I wasn’t going to let you throw them away. Talk later!” Alan said, spraying Dash’s head with a copious amount of manespray. Dash coughed. “Bon Bon, help Rarity with her mane, it could take a while! Twi, go!”

Dash, the laurel in her hair, turned to help Applejack. “AJ, you’re next.”

Applejack was already mostly done, thank Celestia for simplicity.

Lyra walked back in, “Lyra, finish Fluttershy, and help Pinkie into her dress!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” She responded, saluting.

“AJ, that’s your cue!”

AJ gulped before walking out onto the stage.

“Talk to me, ponies! How’s it coming?”

“I’m ready!” Dash said, dressed and ready.

“Fluttershy is close!” Lyra said.

“I’m getting there!” Pinkie said, squeezing into her dress.

“Rarity’s mane is being stubborn!” Bon Bon yelled.

“Alright, once you come back in, go help Rarity,” Alan said, just as Twilight came in. “Twi, help Rarity. Dash, go!”

With two nods both ponies went to do their respective jobs.

“Fluttershy’s done!” Lyra said.

“Good. I have to cool down. Help Pinkie.”

“Alright.”

“Don’t forget we’re going to do a big finale. Once Pinkie goes out, she won’t come back in. Everyone is going to head out five seconds after Pinkie, alright?”

“Yes, sir!”

Applejack walked in.

“Fluttershy!”

The yellow pegasus “eeped,” before heading to the stage.

“AJ, help Rarity, and you’re going back out when we do the finale. Just follow Twilight.”

“Gotcha’.”

Alan wiped his head of sweat. Couldn’t walk out there with a shiny forehead.

Well, Phase Three was going well.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie made her round showing off her candy-themed dress, a greatly subdued version of the gaudi one she had worn previously. Suddenly, she was joined by six others: Twilight, Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Lyra, and Bon Bon.

Alan stood, dressed in his suit, mic in hand. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, let hear it for our lovely models!”

A thunderous hoof applause shook the ground, and cheers broke out.

“And now, Ponyville, presenting your Queen of Fashion! The Duchess of Dresses! Rarity!”

The Curtain rolled away, and Rarity took a step forward. Her golden tiara and burgundy dress seemed to glow in the light. Her horn glowing faintly as she subtly accented the light.

The crowd went wild, whistling and cheering as hooves pounded the ground.

“Well, Mr. Toity, have we made it up to you?”

The Canterlot pony was silent, before taking off his glasses. “That...That definitely...That was amazing!”

Alan smiled. Super Ingenious Plan, complete.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Another round of sarsaparilla, for all my friends!” Al said, sitting in Sugarcube Corner, surrounded by the eight mares.

Pinkie giggled as bubbles went up her nose, and Twilight thanked him again for the drink.

Rarity shook her head. “Alright, I simply must ask, how did you do it?”

Alan smirked. “Yes, I do owe you an explanation don’t I?” He set down his empty glass, and leaned back in his chair, still dressed in his suit. “Well, around the third time making the dresses I knew they weren’t going to turn out well, and since you had been so busy with their dresses I knew you hadn’t been getting yours done.”

Mrs. Cake came and served the drinks. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Cake,” Alan said, taking the new glass. “So I figured, if you guys were going to do your fashion show, that you should be able to show off both your work, and you should be the finale. I mean that only makes sense, doesn't it?”

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.

“So, I thought, well, I can’t just interrupt a fashion show. I needed a distraction, so I hired these two,” he said, motioning to the pair of mares.

“Speaking of...” Bon Bon said.

“Yes, yes,” Alan said, tossing her a bag of bits. “And you'll get an extra session this week, Lyra."

"Yes!" The mint green unicorn cheered.

"Well, anyway, I also knew you weren’t going to be able to get your dress done, so I took it and brought it to Fluttershy, who I was sure could sew after her oddly specific directions.”

“Well...” Fluttershy said, “you did help.”

Rarity suddenly noticed the bandages around Alan’s fingers.

“I didn’t do much,” Alan said.

Fluttershy shook her head, “You did most of it...”

Alan shrugged. “Anywho, a few minutes before the show started I ran to the boutique and grabbed the other dresses, and from there it was simply a matter of organization and showmanship.”

Dash chuckled, “Leave it to the egghead’s roommate to be organized.”

Alan chuckled back, “Hey, it turned out alright didn’t it?”

Everyone agreed.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright, Al, I’m going to bed. See ya in the morning.”

“Goodnight Twilight,” Alan said, wearing his duster again.

As Twilight began walking up the stairs a knock sounded on the door. The purple unicorn gave a sigh.

“Don’t worry about it, Twi, I got it.”

“Thanks Alan.”

Alan nodded before heading to the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see the white unicorn herself. “Rarity, what are you doing here?”

She simply looked down at her hooves, before mumbling, “Thank you for today.”

Alan smiled. “Oh, don’t worry about, it was nothing.”

She shook her head. “It was everything! You finished my dress! You saved my reputation! You saved my career today!”

Alan smiled.

“I can tell, you bled for that dress, didn’t you?”

Alan looked down at his bandaged fingers. “Well, if Equestria had thimbles I wouldn’t have, but...”

He was interrupted by a quick peck on the cheek. “It was very sweet of you, Alan. Thank you. I will make it up to you one day.”

Alan grinned. “Don’t even think about it. This is my own little act of generosity.”

“DAAAAWWWW!”

Pinkie, calm down.

“But you’re shipping!”

No. I’m not, yet anyways, and not with Rarity.

“But Rarity kissed him.”

Yes...it was more of a friendly kiss.

“A marefriendly kiss?”

Don’t make me hit you.

“Grumpy Shirt.”

Don’t you mean pants?

“Nope! Anyhooves, be sure to give us lots and lots of comments on what you think should happen next!”

What? No! Pinkie! No polls!

“Oh, fine. Then at least tells Miner here what a good job of giving me cupcakes he’s doing!”

*sigh* All you had to do was ask, Pinkie.

“Yay! Another Cupcake!”

So yeah, do comment, let me know how I’m doing, thumbs up if you want, whatever, thanks for reading so far, Bye!

11-The Best Night Ever

Chapter 11

“Hurry up, Twilight~” Alan said in a sing song voice.

“Shut up, Alan~” Twilight responded in the same tune.

The human chuckled, buttoning his suit jacket. This was it, the Best Night Ever, where Twilight would speak with the Princess for hours on end, Applejack would make a fortune selling apple pastries, Pinkie would be a part of the biggest party of the year, Fluttershy would spend the night making friends with the animals, Rainbow Dash would be hanging with the Wonderbolts, and Rarity would meet the love of her life.

Oh, they had no idea.

“Come on, Twi, we’re all waiting on ya,” Applejack complained.

“Just finishing up.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Honestly, I thought Rarity would be the last one out,” She mumbled.

Alan gave a low chuckle.

“Alright!” Twilight said, coming down the stairs dressed in her star-strewn gown.

“What was taking you so long?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nevermind, let’s go,” Twilight said, leading them all to the transfigured apple that had become their carriage. Spike sat on the bench waiting for them with two ponies ready to pull it away, courtesy of a wink from Rarity.

Alan quickly joined the dragon, leaving the mares to get inside the apple. “Alright, Spike. Let’s go and have some fun.”

“Awesome! I have an insider’s tour of Canterlot ready for them.”

Alan gave the dragon a look. “You are going to try to give a tour to six ponies who have been waiting for this event for the past four months?” Alan shook his head, “Spike, they are going to be so busy with the party that they are even going to care. You know that right?”

“Well, Twilight said that we’d all have a chance to spend some time with each other...”

Alan took a quick look around. Seeing that everypony was in the apple he gave the two ponies ahead of them the go ahead. Taking another look around, he whispered to Spike, “Spike, nothing about this night is going to go ‘as according to plan.’ Things are going to flop, massively.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that. Tonight will be awesome, you’ll see.”

Alan sighed.

Well, at least he tried.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The magical, Gala-Night-Only transportation portals got them to the castle within minutes. Pulling up to the Castle Gate, Spike and Alan both hopped down from their bench, and let the Mane Six out of their carriage.

As they stepped out, each dressed in the most marvelous dresses seen by pony kind, Alan took a step back as he usually did, and smiled as they began their song.

Oh they had no idea...

Celestia will be busy, Applejack won’t be able to compete with the free buffet, Pinkie will be too wild for a waltz, the animals would be afraid of Fluttershy, the Wonderbolts will be drawn away, and Blueblood would be the biggest jerk in Equestrian history.

Fireworks crashed in the sky, exploding in brilliant balls of colorful fire, promising the ponies the best night they ever had.

Just not the one they were expecting.

Alan had decided, of all of the episodes that he was going to change, he would leave this one perfectly alone. Well, almost perfectly alone. He would only really affect the end of the episode. Other than that, the girls would have no interruption from him.

As they hit their final note, they entered the castle, their faces filled with awe and excitement. Spike quickly jumped in, “Yeah, this is going to be the best night ever, and do you know why? Because we’re going to spend it—”

The girls instantly split, paying the baby dragon no mind as they rushed off to do what they wanted to do.

“To...geth...er...”

Alan sighed, “Better find something to keep you busy, Spike. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Spike hung his head “What are you going to do?” he asked, wondering if he could at least spend time with his male friend.

“I’m going to try to see the other Princess.”

“Oh,” Spike said. “Ok.”

Alan gave him a soft smile. “Hey, I’ll see ya at Donut Joe’s ok?”

“Sure,” Spike said, before getting up and walking away.

Poor kid.

“Well,” Alan thought cynically, “One disappointed character, six to go.” Alan shook the thought from his head, no need to get that depressing. Standing, Alan then headed after Twilight, who was heading straight for the Princess.

Coming to the foyer, Alan quickly spotted the giant celestial royal, and walking up the steps, greeted her and her student. “Princess Celestia, always a pleasure.”

“Sir Alan, indeed it always is, even when you call me to the frontier for peace talks,” she said with a smile, raising her hoof for a shake.

Alan gave a smirk before one-upping everyone in line by kneeling and kissing the golden shoe.

Celestia giggled, “It has been a long time since anyone has greeted me like that.”

Alan smiled, “All the more reason to do so.” He paused for a second before asking, “Princess Celestia, I cannot help but notice that your sister is not here.”

The Princess’ smile faded. “She refused my invitation,” she said. “It is nothing serious, she just said that she was not looking for sociability.”

Alan frowned at that. “That does not seem fair.”

“No, but it is her wish.”

“Perhaps...” Alan began, only to stop.

“Yes?”

“Oh, nothing, simply a thought.”

“You were thinking that perhaps you would go and convince her otherwise?”

Alan blinked, “Well, yes.”

“You were also thinking that you would simply trick me into letting you disappear and spend the night with my sister?”

“I—”

She raised a hoof to silence him, “I am far older than you know, Sir Alan, and I work in politics besides. It will take more than some well-placed flattery to pull the wool over my eyes.” She grinned. “However you did very well, I must say.” Turning to a nearby guard, she said, “Lieutenant, please escort Sir Alan to Luna’s room, I’m sure she would enjoy his company tonight.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The familiar guard answered.

Alan smiled, “You can’t blame a guy for trying, right? Have a nice night, both of you.”

“Thank you, Sir Alan, and may you have the same.”

As the human and guard walked away, the Lieutenant nudged him, “If it makes you feel better I didn’t see it coming.”

Alan chuckled, “Well, It was a long shot,” he said. “So how are things going, Silver?”

“Alright. I’ve heard that granola bars are going to be passed for morning rations.”

“Nice,” Alan replied. “Anything else exciting happen?”

“Well, the day you called for the Princess, she...well, she didn’t tell us that she was going anywhere.”

“Oh yeah?” Alan snickered.

“Yeah, that morning was hectic. Fun, but hectic.”

As the two walked up into the deeper places of the castle, a pair of ponies watched them.

“Mr. Alan seems to have been busy,” the brown earth pony said, dressed in a tweed jacket and red bow tie.

“Alright,” The wall-eyed grey pegasus next to him wearing a brown dress, that were you to squint, looked exactly like a muffin, turned to him, “explain what exactly he’s doing here.”

“Alan is using his previous knowledge to alter the timeline in a favorable manner.”

“Isn’t that dangerous though?” Derpy asked. “Isn’t that why you’ve told me unsupervised time travel is one of the most dangerous things?”

“Under normal circumstances, yes, it is very dangerous. However, in those cases, it's always when the traveler comes in under his own actions. You see, Miss Do, if a traveler faces an event, the one he wants to change, we’ll call it point A, the traveler then faces the consequences of that action, point B, and then gets a time machine, and goes back in time, point C. At point C, he returns to the past and changes point A. However, point B must happen for point C to happen, and point C must happen for point A to change.”

Derpy lost him for a second, and quickly activated her nod whenever he stops for breath protocol.

“The Past is perfectly hardwired to never change, regardless of how much a traveler wants it to. However, if a traveler has been pulled by an outside force from his timeline to a different time, then he can in fact change it, because point C will happen regardless. Therefore, instead of trapping himself in non-time, Alan can charge whatever he wants with no other consequences than the ones that will fall on him.” The Doctor smiled. “It’s funny, really, those who do not seek to change the past, change it the most.”

“Doctor—”

“Time Turner, Miss Do,” He corrected. “We are in public.”

“Yes, Turner, that’s what I said. I think that I would very much like to enjoy this party before it is all used up in talk of time travel.”

The Doctor smiled, “Well then, allons-y, Mademoiselle Derpy.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Silver gave the two Nightguard a nod, which was returned, before the Lieutenant gave the door a good, solid knock.

“I’m not coming down!” a voice said behind the door. “And nothing you can say will make me come down!”

Alan spoke through the door, “What? Never! I wouldn’t invite you to the disaster that’s going to happen.”

The door opened, and Luna, her mane now seeming like the night sky itself, flowing in an intangible wind, spoke, “Oh, Sir Alan, forgive us, we thought thou was’t our sister.”

“No, just me,” Alan said, leading to a sudden awkward silence.

The silence was almost palpable, and it stretched on for a few uncomfortable seconds before Luna spoke again, “So thou are not here to convince us to join thee in the revelry below?”

“No, not at all. The Gala is going to end in a massive disaster, so big that I’m not even going to try to fix it.”

“Then for what reason are thee here?”

“I would actually like to spend the night with you, if you would wish it, Princess,” Alan said, giving a bow.

She paused for a second before backing out of the door, giving him entrance, “We have been wishing to talk with thee, and this time would be excellent to do so.”

Alan nodded, before giving his escort a thumbs up and a smile.

Pauldrons chuckled before heading back to the solar sister, wishing the human luck.

As Alan closed the door behind him, he turned and asked, “Princess Luna, may I ask you something?”

“Of course, Sir Alan. However, please, call us Luna.”

“Well,” Alan said. “Honestly, I would love to. However, I feel the need to be formal when you call me ‘sir’ or thee.”

Luna blinked, “Have I been calling you ‘thee’?”

Alan nodded, “You’ve been using the royal we, too.”

Luna sighed. “The Royal Canterlot Voice is a tedious habit to break, one that we...I, rather, have been having some trouble with,” she continued, correcting herself as she spoke. “We are sure...I am sure thou, you, noticed when we first met.”

“You were speaking a little loud.”

Luna nodded, closing her eyes “I cannot help it. Whenever I see a pony, or human in your case, I simply slip into the Royal Canterlot Voice. The only times it seems I can speak without it are when I am alone, or when I speak with Tia.”

She opened her eyes again, “So we, I, apologize to you.”

Alan nodded, “Oh don’t worry too much, Luna,” he said, calling her by name, “after all, habits are habits.”

She shook her head, “Thou saith, er, you say that, but I am fairly certain it will be the death of me.”

Alan smiled before taking a look at her room. It was themed with blues, blacks and trimmed with white. Her domed ceiling was decorated with white dots. Each a star in a constellation. Each constellation carefully outlined with a light blue against the midnight background. One in particular stood out to Alan, a mirror of Orion, a human figure, with a drawn sword that looked eerily familiar.

Luna followed his gaze. “Ah, yes, Orion, a favorite of mine. It is an ancient Equestrian word for Half-Dragon, Tia wanted to call it Arthur, but I preferred the ancient tongue...”

Alan blinked, “We have a constellation that looks exactly like that.”

“Really? What a coincidence, what is it named?”

“Orion.”

That one really got her attention. “The same name? It’s not Arthur is it?”

“No, it’s a man, a hunter, by the name of Orion.”

Luna brought a hoof to her chin. “Interesting, a multi-dimensional constellation,” Her eyes flickered over to him. “Any more you recognize?”

Alan nodded, “Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Polaris, even though that’s just a star, Cassiopia, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Canis Major, Canis Minor, and a few more I can’t remember the names of...”

Luna eyed him.

“What?” he asked.

“Did you study before coming here?”

“What?”

“Did you study my sky before coming to meet me? Are you trying to impress me?”

“What? No! Aquarius through Capricorn are the constellations that people believe are entwined with their destiny, the others are just favorites of mine.”

Luna looked at him for a long time. “Thou art serious, aren’t thou?”

Alan decided not to correct her this time around, “Yes, dead serious. Why?”

Luna straightened, looking up at her ceiling, “Most of our subjects do not even know half of the constellations thou have mentioned, and only a few have even grasped their names. How then, does thou know of them?”

“Because they are in our sky, and man has always been caught up with the sky. Astrology has roots far back, at least three thousand years, and Astronomy has even more so.”

Luna blinked, “You...humans...they always loved...” A single tear formed in her eye as a smile grew on her face. “Tell me, Alan, do you know how many planets circle your sun?”

Alan nodded, “Nine, and I mean nine, Pluto’s still a planet as far as I’m concerned.”

Luna’s smile grew bigger. “Follow me, I have something to show you.”

Leading him to a side of the room, Luna took Alan up a spiral staircase, her wings twitching in anticipation. Following the lunar sister high up a tower, Alan suddenly found himself staring at a large door, almost twice as tall as he was. It was a marble and jet door adorned with a crescent moon in silver with tiny silver dots surrounding, marking stars. “This room has not been seen by, well, ‘mortal’ eyes since it was built, and inside lies the secrets to the skies that no pony yet comprehends.” She gave him a hard look. “You must promise to never speak of what you are about to see.”

"Why did you say 'mortal' like that?"

"We will explain later. Promise first."

Alan blinked before swearing, “May my lips never open again if I do.”

“You swear on thine honor?”

“And that of all my descendents.”

Luna eyed him for another second before opening the door.

Utter blackness met them.

Luna stepped straight in, fearing neither the darkness, nor the cold that it seemed to give off.

Alan took a hesitant step forward into the darkness. Once he did the door slammed shut behind him.

For a second, Alan could see nothing. Then all of a sudden, bright yellow balls of fire erupted around the room. Thousands of tiny pinpricks of light began to glow around the walls of the room as a grid of blue lights began to form. Massive spheres, held in place by large rings of light began to spin and rotate. A spiral galaxy formed along one wall. The planets and stars, for surely they couldn’t be anything else, took their places. All directed by Luna’s magic as she stood poised on the center platform, her horn glowing softly. “Care to join me?” she asked, smiling.

Source

Alan couldn't help but feel that she was smiling at the stupid look on his face. Nonetheless, Alan climbed the stairs and stood next to Luna. “What do you wish to see?” she asked.

Alan looked up as dozens of solar systems hovered around the room. “Well...show me Equestria.”

The entire room spun, and suddenly, Alan found himself staring at a system that hovered a foot in front of his face. There were four planets in the system, as well as a bright ball of light. Three of the planets were covered in dull browns and greys while the fourth, a brilliant sea blue, hovered in the center of the system. The ball of light, which Alan guessed to be the sun, hovered just beyond the ring of planets, a fiery ball of anger and fury.

“Do not touch,” Luna warned, watching as Alan lifted a hand towards it. “This room is magically connected to the universe. A move here means a move there. A simple wayward breath could extinguish the life of an entire planet.”

Alan decided not to touch the floating sphere.

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

Luna smiled, “Indeed it is.”

“What about that?” Alan said, pointing to one of the other solar systems. Luna simply gave a thought, and the room spun again, bringing the red-sunned system into view.

“That one actually has eight planets,” Luna said, “two of them, however, are so close together that they form a super planet.”

Another system, another quick lecture. “The second planet, there, is composed entirely of diamond.”

System after system, planet after planet, star after star, Luna led Alan through the galaxy, crossing lightyears in seconds. Finally they returned to Equestria and Celestia’s star, and watched as the sun began to slowly rotate. “This is really amazing, Luna.”

“Yes,” she said. “It is nice to share with someone.”

Alan cocked his head at that.

She sighed before she explained “We...Celestia and I...we decided that we should not give ponies knowledge.”

“Why not?”

“It is a dangerous thing, the mind.” Luna’s tone turned melancholy as the moon passed in front of the earth. “The right knowledge in the wrong hooves can rip the world asunder. The wrong knowledge in the right hooves can lead stallions to their deaths. No knowledge leaves the world dark, but omniscience brings madness. We do not tell them anything for fear of telling them everything,” she sighed. “Not even of the sky...”

Alan didn’t say anything, letting Luna gaze into the darkness.

After a while she sighed again, “Enough talk of sad times and unhappy duties. Tell me, Alan, how have thee, you been here? Have you been enjoying Equestria?”

Alan nodded, “Oh yes, Luna, greatly,” Alan said. “There are no bills to pay, no debt to worry about, no job, no distractions, life is simple enough to function comfortably, and exciting enough to get to learn about things like swordplay and dragon slaying.” The smile faded. “It’s something everyone from my world could want...”

“Yet something troubles you?”

Alan sighed. “I-I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, Equestria is an amazing place, and I know many a human back home that would give up both arms and a leg to be in my shoes...but...”

Luna raised an eyebrow, “But?”

“But there’s a part of me that says I don’t belong,” Alan answered, staring at the miniature moon. “There’s a part that says that I am a human, a creature that has no place being here. I may be surrounded by friends, but whenever I see my face in the mirror I am reminded that I am the only human here. I am surrounded by ponies, and yet...I am utterly alone...”

Luna frowned. “We...I, understand what it is like to be alone. I felt even more so on the moon. I could not even hold a conversation with myself, my voice falling to silence the second it touched the open.”

“It sounds terrible.”

“It was.” Luna replied, before facing the human, “Yet, now I am glad it happened. If only so that I could tell you that regardless of what you feel, I, Tia, and your friends are always there for you.”

Alan smiled, “Thank you, Luna, it is appreciated.” Alan checked his watch. “Well, I’d say now would be a good time to head to Donut Joe’s.”

“What?” Luna asked.

“Celestia will be meeting with my friends there. Care to join us?”

Luna raised a hoof, “Oh, I shouldn’t pry on the affairs of our subjects.”

“It isn’t prying, Luna, it’s just going out to have a little fun. Besides, you owe them a little of your time at least.”

Luna hesitated, “Well...” she paused, weighing her options.

“We would enjoy your company.”

“Oh, very well,” she said. “Lead the way to this ‘Donut Joe’s.’”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Oh Twilight,” Princess Celestia explained to her student, “the Grand Galloping Gala is always awful.”

“It is?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“That is why I was thrilled you were all attending, I was hoping you could liven things up a bit. While the evening may not have turned out as you had planned, I’m sure you could all agree it didn’t turn out so bad for this group of friends.”

Any possible response was interrupted by a flash of light as two figures teleported into the room. “We’re not late are we?” Alan asked, stepping from the light, followed by Luna.

“Sir Alan,” Celestia said. “I trust you enjoyed your night?”

“I did, Luna and I had a few good talks about the stars and nonsense like that, and I’m sure your night was alright. What with the Wonderbolts being busy, the guests too stuffy to dance, almost no apple sales, the skittish animals, the long line of well-wishers for the Princess and then Blueblood confusing the terms chivalry and foalishness.”

Twilight gaped at him. “How did you—”

“How did I know about any of that?” Alan interrupted, finishing her question, “Elementary, My Dear Twilight! It is actually the reason why I joined you six tonight. This is my confession.” Alan sniffed the air, “Which I will give as soon as I get myself one of those cream-filled chocolate beauties right there.”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

Paying for his doughnut, Alan sat down and said, “Well, Fillies and GentleSpike, you may remember I once said that said that this reality is a show in my world.”

“What?” Spike asked. “You never said that.”

Alan looked at him, blinking. “Oh! Right, you weren’t there when I said that. Well essentially Ponyville, Canterlot, and all of Equestria really is the setting of a story with the protagonist as Twilight Sparkle. However, my confession tonight is, I read this chapter.”

“What?” Dash asked.

“I knew that the Gala would be bad, just like I knew that Rarity’s offer to make your dresses would end up in those—”

“Don’t you dare mention those!” Rarity demanded, holding herself over the table as she glared at him.

“Right,” Alan said, his face going grim before continuing. “I knew that Bloomberg would be tree-napped, I knew that Fluttershy would be too afraid to climb the mountain, I knew that the Parasprites would eat Ponyville, and I knew that Rainbow Dash would win the Young Flyers competition. I knew because I saw it all before.”

“Hang on,” Applejack said. “You knew these things would happen, and you let them happen anyway?”

“Well, yes and no,” Alan said. “Some things I couldn’t change. Other things I could but it would have made things worse. Others I could have changed and let the world go on, but I’m not sure what that would have done.” Alan looked up at the farmpony. “For example, I knew that Rarity would fall in love with the wings Twilight conjured for her, and I could have stopped her, and take the wings myself, but I wasn’t sure what would happen after that. If I had taken the wings, then I’m not sure if Rainbow Dash could have done the Sonic Rainboom. I mean, obviously she did it, but I wasn’t sure if she need the push of having someponies life on the line.”

“So you didn’t actually trust me?” Dash asked, quietly.

“No!" Alan said, shaking his head "I knew you could do a Sonic Rainboom, I knew you would do a Sonic Rainboom, what I didn’t know was when,” Alan sighed, explaining. “I didn’t know if you’d pull one in front of the judges, or years down the road, I knew you could do one, but I also wanted you to win.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, before going quiet.

“Applejack, I knew Bloomberg was going to be tree-napped, but I also knew that if he hadn’t been then we would have probably met the buffalo on hostile terms. We probably wouldn’t have been able to work something out like we did, and who knows what kind of problems Appleloosa would have now?”

“So you let Bloomberg get caught?” Applejack asked, the hint of a bite in her tone.

“That’s why I went with him. To make sure, no matter what, that he wouldn’t be hurt.”

Applejack didn’t say anything.

“Rarity, I knew that everypony was going to ask you to make...”

She glared.

“...those...things, and I could have told them not to, and Hoity Toity would have been impressed. You wouldn’t have had any problems, but I know for a fact, from all the time I’ve spent with them, that they wouldn’t have been satisfied. They would look at your work, and think, ‘it’s not exactly what I wanted.’ Now they know that what they wanted would not have looked as good as what they are wearing now, and I’m sure that they love their dresses more because of it.”

Alan looked around the table, a mix of angry and confused looks stared back at him. He sighed, “I have been manipulating all of you,” he said. “I have been manipulating you for the good of yourselves and everypony else. But I want you all to know, it stops here.” Alan said, setting his half-eaten doughnut on the table. “I cannot physically do any more. From here on out every surprise will be a surprise. I have not seen any more episodes, and I haven’t read any spoilers. From now on, I will know nothing.”

“So you’ve been manipulating us?” Twilight asked.

Alan nodded, a frown forming on his face. “Yes, I have. I wish there was a better word for it, but yeah.”

“No you haven’t!” Pinkie practically yelled across the table, catching everyone’s attention. “You haven’t been manipulating us, you’ve been helping us! You knew Dashie could do the Sonic Rainboom, so you let the world give her the little push she needed. You knew Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to climb the mountain, so you carried her. You knew AJ’s tree would get stolen, so you risked yourself to protect him. You knew we’d bug Rarity, so you made sure that the fashion show was a success. That doesn’t sound like manipulating anypony! Manipulating is what meanies do, and you’re no meany!”

“She’s right,” Fluttershy mumbled. “You’ve helped us alot, Alan.”

Rarity nodded, “Yes, dear, so far everything you've said has only made sense, I’m not so sure I would have acted any different if I was in your position.”

Celestia smiled.

Twilight thought for a second, Rarity had made a good point.

“But ya risked Bloomberg’s life.”

“And you lied to me!” Dash growled.

“No he didn’t!” Pinkie said. “He said so himself. He went to make sure Bloomberg would be safe, and safe he was, wasn’t he?”

“Well, yeah but...” Applejack started, growing quieter.

“And Rainbow Dash, he still did jump off of the Cloudoseum. He trusted you with his life.”

Dash didn’t respond to that.

Alan sighed. “Look girls I’m sorry alright? I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark, but I wasn’t so sure that letting you know wouldn’t have made things worse. I...I simply had to watch...”

Rarity hugged him, “It’s quite alright, Darling, you just wanted the best for us.”

Pinkie joined in the hug, “Yeah, you’re still one of my bestest friends, Al.”

“Um, Thank you, Alan, for everything.”

Applejack let out a sigh, “Yeah, you did alright keeping him safe, Al. Thanks.”

“Oh, just join the hug,” Rarity said.

AJ smiled before joining in.

Dash joined in shortly afterward, “I’ll forgive you this time, but next time I'll beat the snot out of you.”

Twilight joined in last, “It was best thing to do, given the situation.”

Alan’s frown faded, being replaced by a smile. Stretching his arms out as wide as he could, he grabbed all of his friends and held them in a tight embrace.

Releasing them, he looked over to Spike, “Hey Spike, didn’t you say you had the Insider's Tour of Canterlot planned?”

“Yeah,” The baby dragon answered. “Yeah, I did.”

“Well the night is still young, and I say it’s time to celebrate the end of Season 1! Let’s go.”

With the girls agreeing, the eight figures left, leaving only the two Princesses.

Luna spoke first, “He is like us in so many ways.”

“And yet different in so many more,” Celestia finished, before smiling. “Arthur would be proud.” Floating Alan’s doughnut up to her face, she bit into it.

“Ew, Tia,” Luna said, shaking her head in disgust. “That was in his mouth.”

Celestia simply bit into it again, “A Human’s mouth is cleaner than a pony’s, Lulu.”

“I don’t know where you heard that, but it’s obviously a lie.”

Celestia chuckled, “Well, regardless, he had good taste. Excuse me, Mr. Joe? Two more of these creme filled ones please.”

“Make it four.” Luna said, yelling.

“Volume Lulu.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

100 faves.

“PARTY!”

100 faves?

“PARTY!”

100 faves!

“Just party already, sheesh!”

Wait...what? 98?

...

Did two people just super rapidly un-fav my story?

"...Miner...are you..."

The Author's eyes shrink to pinpoints as he begins to furiously pet Pinkie's mane.

I'm fine, Pinkie. Thank you for asking...

"Ow! Miner, you're petting a little hard there..."

People like me...they have to like me...It's not my fault...I'm not a bad writer...

"Oh no. Somepony, please! We need two faves stat! It's-I've only seen him like this once before. It's not fun! Save me! Hurry!"

12-The Return to Harmony: Discord

Chapter 12

Celestia’s eye cracked open, scanning her room. The gold-and-white themed room shone with royal opulence. Small comforts that she had collected over millennia that built up to a rather impressive collection. The sun had woken her, letting her know now was the time to raise it.

She blinked slowly, groaned, and rolled over in her bed.

It was going to be one of those days again.

They happened every century or so, and Celestia had been through enough of them to know exactly what she was in for. Depression, regret, jealousy, longing...

Longing for him...the one that so many more have met before she had the chance to embrace him.

Celestia sighed. It started already.

Dragging herself out of bed by her forehooves, she briefly toyed with the idea of letting Luna have her day of night. This would, of course, make it unbearably cold, create winds so strong that they would disintegrate buildings, kill crops, and doom life on earth. Unless somepony had an underground farm they were tending to at the precise moment it all happened.

No, better go raise it.

Reaching out with her magical power, Celestia immediately found the link between herself and her star. With a mighty, magical heave, she gave the sun another push.

She smirked. "Yes, I know you're tired, but it's time to get up," she mentally called to her charge.

Her smirk fell though as the sound of hooves behind her door brought her attention to her daily activities.

She would be dressed in the Royal Regalia, sit in court, nod her way through meetings, bore herself with her counselors, and generally have as much fun as she does whenever she visited the dentist.

“You need to stop eating so much cake, Princess,” she said, deepening her tone to mimic her dentist, “it’ll rot your teeth to the gums!” Of course, his father had said the same thing, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and so on, and so on to the very beginning of time.

Her head dropped as her servants entered the room, each a volunteer, and each eager to help the Princess get ready for her busy morning.

Their smiles died when they saw Celestia’s grim face.

The Princess’s silence didn’t encourage them any.

“Princess?” one of the braver mares asked, a golden yellow pegasus by the name Sunny Rays.

Or was Sunny Rays her great grandmother?

Celestia did her best to quickly run through the names of her current staff, a list she had updated every 20 years or so, before realizing that this mare was actually named Golden Days, a fourth generation servant in the house of the Sun.

“Yes, Miss Days?”

“Are you alright?” the pegasus asked.

“Yes,” Celestia quickly replied, sending her a soft smile. “I am just thinking.”

“May we question as to what?”

About how if I were to blink I could be staring at your great-great-great granddaughter.

Well, not literally...

Celestia still had the same 24 hour day that anypony else had. It’s just that years didn’t seem like they were 365 days, it seemed like years passed in a month on good years...

“The joys of Life, Miss Days,” she answered, millennia of dealing with politicians had given her an almost subconscious way of speaking.

“Joys of life my Royal flank. All I want to do is die, is that too much to ask?” She supposed it would a morbid thought for many. But really, when you had lived as long as she had...when you had seen so many ponies get killed by the hand of time...when you had seen as many wars, as many tragedies, as many broken dreams, failed schemes, as much pain, as much fear, as much hatred as she had, then everypony would probably be forming a line to jump off Canterlot’s tallest tower.

Not Celestia, though. “No, I have to wait.” For all of those who have hailed them as immortals, for all of the wizards and scientists who looked to them for the secret of eternal youth, neither she nor her sister were immortal. They would die.

Eventually.

And Celestia was thankful for it.

Anypony who wanted to live forever was a fool. She, the one who raised the sun each day, could hardly take her incredibly long life, and she had Luna with her, and well...

The ponies had finished dressing her, moving with such skilled hooves that Celestia had hardly noticed the extra weight fall across her shoulders and hooves. She glanced down at her gold-shod hooves, pawing at the ground.

It was funny, really, those who die want eternal life, but those who live want death.

Days coughed.

Celestia looked up at them, and blinked.

Right, these one didn’t leave unless she dismissed them.

“Thank you, ladies, you may go.”

They nodded collectively, sliding out of the room, leaving the Princess to her thoughts.

She sighed, mentally berating herself, “Did you just call them ‘these ones?’”

She didn’t bother defending herself as her conscience ripped at her, “They have names, Celestia, they’re ponies. Your servants. Your subjects. They deserve respect.”

“Yes, my servants, amongst the millions I’ve had. I know each one of them by name, and each passing has ripped my heart to shreds.”

“I’m a masochist,” she mumbled.

The temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees, and she heard a voice behind her. “Now, now Celly, I highly doubt that.”

Her heart jumped to her throat when she heard that voice, her head snapping up, and turning towards the figure that sat in the shadows.

The raven that sat on his black shoulder cawed.

“Dust,” he spoke again, his deep, grave voice echoing in the room that seemed to grow ever smaller as it was filled with his presence, “don’t speak unless spoken to, it’s rude.”

The raven cawed again before jumping off of his shoulder, probably off to find Philomena.

He was here, in her room, alone...

But he’s here...

“Business?” She asked, the cynical tone in her voice just winning over the excitement.

He said nothing, his black coat and wings perfectly preened, his horn glowing with a white shimmer as two glasses of wine hovered next to him.

She sighed, “I love to see you, Death, but you always come on business. Someone always has to die.”

The wine glass floated over to her. “Not today, dear,” he said, his green eyes softening as he stepped out of the shadows. He was only a little taller than her, but he looked thinner, almost hideously gaunt. He stood like a shadow, physical but ethereal and other than the simple wooden boat on his flank, his coat was perfectly ebony. His bone-white hooves glinted in the early morning light. “I’m not here to take anyone today.”

The outstretched glass was sheathed in gold as the solar sister took it. “Then why are you here? You never come to see me, it’s always business with you, work, work, work.”

“Celly...” he said, sitting next to the white Princess. “You know I can’t stay, you know I can’t come as often as I like.”

She sighed, sipping the wine, which tasted like orange juice for her newly-awoken stomach. “I know...it’s just...it’s just I want us to be together, but...but I just can’t die.”

Death frowned, draping his forehoof around her shoulder and giving her a gentle squeeze. “Everyone has their turn to die, Celly. Yours will come.”

She nodded before wiping away a tear, “So...anyway, what brought you here?”

“Two things,” The black alicorn answered. “First, your beauty.”

She giggled, smiling at that.

Death then frowned, “Second, I have some bad news about my brother.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Cotton Candy Clouds? Chocolate Rain? Popped Corn on the Cob? Oversized Apples? Bunny Gazelles? Failing Fail Safes? What in the hay is going on here?” Alan asked, his duster getting soaked by the falling drops of milk. He knew his duster was waterproof, but he wasn’t so sure about milk proof.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Twi asked, watching as the animals nibbled away at the corralled candy.

“I wouldn’t be that fast, Twi. This sounds like a story plot.”

“Oh, Alan,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “So far you’ve said everything is a story plot.”

“Not everything.”

“You were convinced Pinkie’s toothache was the ‘Season Premiere.’”

“Ok, the toothache was a bit of a stretch, but—” he was suddenly interrupted by a jet of green flame as letter from the Princess materialized.

Twilight, ever quick, got the letter before it even touched the ground, magically unrolling it. Her eyes quickly scanned the letter before she gasped. “Girls! We need to get to Canterlot. The Princess wants to see us now.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Alan remarked before escorting the girls to the train.

<<<|Ω|>>>

They had taken an emergency train, one that went much faster than the other steam-powered locomotives that filled the stations, and they had arrived in Canterlot within the space of an hour. They were then escorted up to the castle foyer by three guards, two escorts, and then a courier to get people out of the way.

Opening the doors, the six ponies and human caught the Princess mid-pace. “We came as soon as we could, Princess.”

“Thank you,” she replied simply. “Thank you all.”

“Is this about the weather, and the animals’ weird behavior?” Twilight asked. “What’s going on out there? Why didn’t my fail safe work? Is there -”

She was cut off by a raised hoof. “Follow me,” was all the Princess said.

The small crowd followed their ruler down several long hallways, and around a few corners, before leading them to one of the towers.

The room had several large stained glass windows, Alan had noticed, each starring a creature that was an absolute mish mash of parts from other species. “I have called you here for a matter of great importance,” Celestia said. “It seems an old foe of mine, someone I had defeated long ago had returned. His name is Discord,” she turned and faced them. “Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness.”

Her gaze floated to one of the nearby windows depicting three figures, one for each pony race. Each being tormented by a fourth figure, the creature. “Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. After discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone.”

“Alright, Princess!” Dash cheered.

Celestia ignored it and continued, “I thought that the spell we cast would contain him forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken.”

“No longer connected?” Twilight asked.

“That does not seem to be the major issue, Twi,” Alan said.

“This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements of Harmony have been kept safe since you recovered them. I need you six to wield them once again, and stop Discord, before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos.”

“But why us? Why don’t you—” Twi began, only to be interrupted by Pinkie, who was standing in front of the only window that didn’t feature Discord.

“Hey, look, we’re famous!” Sure enough, there were six, rather familiar ponies, each with a piece of golden jewelry. Each pony seemed to be firing a beam of pure light, striking the navy blue alicorn at the top of the window. Nightmare Moon.

“You six showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the power of your friendship to beat a mighty foe.” She brought her head down to her student, so they saw eye to eye. “Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord.”

It took a second before Twilight answered. “Princess Celestia, you can count on—”

She was interrupted by Pinkie again. “Hold on a second!” she said, raising her hoof like a schoolfilly. “Eternal Chaos comes with chocolate rain you guys! Chocolate Rain!”

Alan smirked, shaking his head. “I think the problem is more like chocolate rain comes with Eternal Chaos, Pinkie.”

“Aww...”

Twilight blinked before continuing. “We’d be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again.”

Celestia nodded, turning to the vault door. Using her horn as if it were a key, she unlocked it.

With a burst of light the door opened, and a wooden case decorated with jewels was revealed.

“Ooooh,” Rarity moaned, “you can keep the Elements, I’ll take that case.”

“Have no fear, My Little Ponies,” Celestia said. “I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord, with these,” she said, opening the case to reveal six...pieces of...

Nothing?

There was a gasp, and then silence as Celestia dropped the case in shock.

“Th-that chamber,” Celestia stammered, “it’s protected by a spell that only I can break. This doesn’t make sense!”

A laugh echoed in the hall, “Make sense?” he chuckled again. “What fun is there in making sense?”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed to slits as she growled the name, “Discord.”

There was the sound of ringing metal as Judgement flew from his sheath. “Show yourself.”

He laughed again, and both the Princess and the human scanned the windows.

“Did you miss me, Celestia?” He asked, one of his figures in the window coming to life, “Because I missed you,” his figure flew to the next stained glass window, skipping the blank one between them. “It’s been what? Four? Five thousand years?”

“Not long enough,” The Princess answered.

Alan smirked, “You’re that old, Discord? No wonder you’re so ugly.”

“Best watch yourself human. Dear Celly here is older than I am.”

Celestia growled, “Don’t call me that.”

“Call you what? Celly? Then how about Tia, or Celest maybe?”

“Enough!” she said, her wings flaring with anger. “What did you do with the Elements of Harmony?”

The Draconequus smirked, playing around in the window world. “Oh I just borrowed them for teensy little while,” he said, snapping his fingers and making a representation of said elements disappear.

“You will never get away with this, Discord,” she said, pawing the ground, her eyes glaring daggers at the smug spirit.

Discord sighed, “Oh, I’ve forgotten how grim you could be Celestia, it’s really quite boring.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Nopony insults the Princess!” Dashie then charged the window, eager to smack the grin off the chaotic creature’s face, only to fly straight into the window.

“Where are they, Discord?” Celestia demanded.

“I’m sorry,” he said, appearing in the window behind her. “What were we talking about again, Celly?”

“Stop calling me that!” She roared, smoke rising from her mane.

“Temper temper, dear. Remember, we have company,” Discord scolded, “and what company at that! Just look at these ponies here!” He flashed, appearing in another window. “Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic, and easily one of the most powerful ponies in this room.” He flashed again, this time to the window that Dash had just crashed into. “Rainbow Dash, bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Next to her, the lovely Miss Rarity, bearer of the Element of Generosity.” He flashed again, causing the yellow pegasus to "eep" as she heard his voice echo behind her. “The sweet and soft spoken Fluttershy, bearer of the Element of Kindness.” He flashed again. “Applejack, bearer of the Elements of Honesty. The Party Pony, Pinkie Pie, bearer of my personal favorite, the Element of Laughter,” another flash, this time his whole, physical form right in front of Alan, “and finally you.”

Now Alan got a really good look at him, he saw the head of a grey pony, with a single fang protruding over his lip, two wild, yellow tinted eyes staring at him. He had two antlers, one of a deer, and the other was a goat’s horn. His long, serpentine body was covered in brown feathers which also covered his left shoulder. The feathers ended at a long, scaled eagle’s claw, and at the shoulder of his right arm, which was a lion’s paw. His right leg was covered in green scales, ending in three white, claw-like toes, while his left leg was a goat’s, ending in a split hoof. His tail, a red-scaled dragon’s tail ended in a white tuft of hair, and against his back were two wings, one black, bat-like wing, the other a dark blue pegasus wing.

“Yes, you,” Discord said, revealing the forked snake tongue between his teeth. “Sir Alan Williams of Earth, and I have to say, I am impressed with your work Al.”

Celestia was visibly shaking with rage as the chaotic chimera walked before her.

“You single handedly turned Celestia’s composed throne room into the biggest mess I’ve seen in years. In mere minutes you turned Canterlot on its head when you called The Princess to Appleloosa. Then of course how could I forget you leading out the Parasprites to the Blues Brothers? I honestly laughed. Or would have if I hadn't been stone at the time. Honestly, you’re a, well, man after my own heart.”

“Stop playing around Discord!” Celestia literally fumed. “Where are the Elements?”

“Playing around?” he said, his head making a 180 degree turn while his body continued to face forward. “That is an excellent idea! Let’s play a game.”

The edges of Celestia’s mane began to smolder, sparks crackling as tiny flames shot in the air.

“I’ve hidden the Elements. If you find them, you win. I’ll walk myself out in front of the firing line, and await my fate,” He gave a dramatic flourish, his hand coming to his forehead in mock despair. “But if you don’t find them then, well...let’s just say I’m going to have a little fun.”

He snapped his fingers, reappearing in the window with a flash of light. “I will leave you with a hint to get you started.

In twists and turns green and odd,

You will be searching for your thieves,

And finally when you’ve seen your logic is flawed,

You’ll return to the home of leaves.”

With those final words, the Draconequus left them in another flash.

“In twists and turns green and odd?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud. “What do you think that means?”

Twilight had already begun her search, and it wasn’t long before her gaze was drawn to the window.

The sprawling view of the Canterlot Gardens met her, and more importantly...

“The Hedge Maze! He must have hidden them there!”

Celestia nodded. It made sense. “Good luck my little ponies, the fate of Equestria is in your hooves.”

Alan smirked, spinning Judgement around. “Alright, let’s go kick some chaotic flank!”

“No, Alan,” Celestia said. “I cannot allow you to go.”

“What?” the small crowd asked.

“Alan does not have a connection to the Elements,” Celestia explained. “He above all of you here would be most susceptible to Discord's magic. You have to stay.”

Alan didn’t respond, simply staring between the Princess and the six ponies he had come with.

Pinkie leapt at him, smiling. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you a play by play when we come back!”

Smiling a little, he sheathed his blade before gathering the six ponies in a hug. “Good luck, guys.”

“Thanks Alan,” Twi said, before leading the six ponies forward to the maze.

As the door closed behind them, Alan turned to the royal, “Will they be alright?” he asked.

“I hope so, Alan. I hope so.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

It felt so wrong.

Twilight and the others were all out there dealing with the god of chaos, and he was here sipping tea with the Princess. He should be there with them, he should be helping them, he should be protecting them.

He set his four-hundred-year-old porcelain tea cup down, probably with more force than was necessary, and squeezed the handle of Judgement.

Celestia sighed, lowering her own cup, “Sir Alan, I realize you are worried for your friends, but had you gone things would probably have gone bad.”

“I-I just don’t feel right doing nothing.”

The Princess nodded. “I understand your feelings, Alan. I do not like risking the well being of my subjects on the performance of others, regardless of how much I trust them. I prefer to deal with threats to the kingdom myself. It is my responsibility, and I should not have to rely on my subjects to aid me in it.”

“Then why are we still sitting here, and not out there?” Alan asked, doing his best to stifle his anger.

Celestia gave him a look. “I have more magical power than you could dream, Alan. Over the years, the brightest minds of Equestria have tried taking guesses, most picking astronomical features that border on ridiculous,” she looked him straight in the eyes. “They’re not even close. If I wished, I could move all of Equestria to a different planet.

“Now, I am telling you this so that you understand what I mean when I say that Discord is stronger than I am.”

Alan didn’t reply.

“If I could do something I would,” she said. “However, Discord’s only true weakness is the Elements. He could crush me if he wanted to, or worse.”

Alan sighed, “That doesn’t really help.”

Celestia set down her own teacup, “I know, Alan. I know.”

“Where did he even come from?” Alan asked, “He just seems so...” He threw his hands in front of him, unable to find the word he was searching for.

Celestia regarded him for a second. “That is a very long story, Sir Alan. One that dates back to the very beginning of this world.”

Alan blinked. “He’s been around since the beginning?”

“Discord? No,” Celestia answered. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

Alan smirked, “I have time.”

Celestia gave him another look and then began to speak, “In the beginning, there was nothing. No order, no chaos, simply nothing. Nothing except for her.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

She looked over the darkness, the empty black space.

It was perfect.

Well, not really.

It was the perfect canvas.

With a faint, red glow, she picked up her quill and carefully dipped it into the inkwell.

Perfectly empty.

Then she began to write about something.

Planets, stars, galaxies, trees, sound, light, air, energy, she wrote all of it. And as she wrote, the blackness was filled with it.

This was good.

Somethings were everywhere, a world had been made. Carved by the nib of her quill, and filled with her ink.

It was ready for a Someone.

She wrote again, describing her first someone, a pony, she decided, a white coat, purple eyes, a Pink mane to start, she may change that though. That was too normal, though. This Someone had to be special. Wings were good, but a horn was good too. Maybe both? Yes, that would be very special. This Someone would be polite, and she quickly picked a voice for her first Someone.

“Um...excuse me...”

She turned to see a small foal, a filly, with wide eyes and a pink mane.

“Where am I?”

She smiled, putting down her quill. “You are in your world.”

The filly looked at it with wide eyes. “It’s big.”

She smiled again, “Did you want a name for yourself?”

The filly shook her head, “I don’t know what to pick.”

“Can I pick for you?”

The filly nodded “Yes, please.”

She smiled, “I’ll name you Celestia, my first Someone for this place.”

“Ooh, that sounds great!” Celestia said.

“I’m glad you think so, Celestia.”

“But, Miss, what’s your name?”

“My little pony, my name is Faust, but you can call me Mom.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“She made four of us,” Celestia said, “myself, Luna, Death, and Harmony. Us, sisters, they brothers. We each had our own charges, I was tasked with the sun and the Kingdom, while Luna had dominion over the night sky and dreams. Likewise, Death was charged with the gates of Tartarus, and shepherding souls while Harmony worked with the flow of nature, and was the Prophet of Faust."

She looked up, at one of the windows of her room, “Death always worked in the night, leading souls away to Faust’s home in the darkness, taking them across the river. Harmony, however, worked in the day, balancing the seasons, giving Faust's guidence, establishing his namesake wherever he went.” She gave a soft smile, “It’s ironic, actually, that Luna fell for him.”

She looked back down at the human, “It was a grand romance the two had. They each stayed up for as long as they could, meeting each other in the twilight hours. They loved each other dearly.

“But Harmony couldn’t take it,” Celestia continued. “Those few hours were not enough for him, so he began to search for a way to ease her burden to take care of her duties. He looked for a way to take care of mine as well, so as to allow me time to be...well, anyway...He shut himself away for three years searching for the answer, and when he finally came out, he was the creature you saw today.

“I...” she hesitated. “I’m still not sure what happened in that room, how his innocent notes and research turned as dark as it did. He was different when he came out, not just in physical appearance.

“At first, we suspected nothing. Harmony’s work seemed to be innocent, and once he took over the sun and moon for us, we were able to spend some more time with each other as well as our subjects.” She paused, closing her eyes, “I dread to think about what would have happened if we had not.”

“What do you mean by that?” Alan asked.

“If we had not been with our subjects, we could have missed it. If we had not been paying attention, then Discord may still have control,” She stood, walking over to one of the windows. “We began to notice that harvests that should have been plentiful were falling short. Rivers were changing course, seasons were coming out of order, clouds turned to stone, stones became intangible, rain fell on cloudless days and snow fell in the middle of summer. Magic would do the opposite of its intent, wings would ground a pegasi, hooves would stand on nothing but wooden walls and ceilings. It was chaos, and getting worse.”

Celestia sighed, “That was when Discord was truly born, from the body and mind of Harmony. He wasn’t himself anymore, Luna saw that first, and it nearly broke her.”

She hung her head, “It was sad to see Harmony go. He was a good friend, strong, courageous, loyal. He single-hoofedly represented every single Element. The Elements, in fact, were his own creation. An attempt in his three year search. I was only able to discover them because Luna was distracting him, keeping his eyes elsewhere while I searched for a way to reverse what had happened.”

She turned back to him. “There was none, and our only option was to stop him.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“And that, My Queen,” The Draconequus said, standing next to Luna, a glass of chocolate milk in his hand, “is why Sum-ter is my favorite season.”

Luna nodded, a poorly hidden frown on her face.

“Is something wrong, my dear?”

She looked at him, her eyes on the verge of tears. She would give him this one chance, this very last chance. “H-Harmony...why...why are you doing these things?”

A look of confusion spread across his face, “I-I’m doing this for you. You-you don’t like this?”

“You’re hurting ponies, Harmony. They can’t take this. Celestia doesn't like what you’re doing, and neither do I. Stop hurting them, Harmony.”

“But...” Harmony said, his face twisting in confusion, “But...we’re together...that’s...” his eyes bulged and shrunk as a twisted grin spread across his face. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

A tear fell to the ground between Luna’s hoof and Harmony’s foot, “Yes, but...but not like this. Not with all of this pain for them.”

“Who cares about them!?” Harmony asked, throwing his hands into the air. “This is about us! You, me, no one else!” The grin on his face turned manic. “We have that now, all the time on our near immortal lives to be together. We don’t have to let anything trouble us anymore. It’s just me and you.”

“No,” Luna said. “It’s not just me and you. It’s everypony. You’re Harmony, you should know that better than anyone.”

Harmony frowned. His eye twitched. “Well...well then, I guess I’m not Harmony any more.”

Suddenly, Celestia,carrying three jewels around her, one blue, one purple and one green, laughter, magic, and kindness, landed behind him. “Enough, Harmony, let our subjects go, or we’ll make you let them go.”

“Oh, didn’t you hear, Tia?” He said, twisting his head. “I’m not Harmony. My name is Discord, and we both know you alone don’t have the power to stop me, not like this.”

“She’s not alone,” Luna said, pulling a second set of jewels from her saddlebag. The gems on this one were magenta, red, and yellow; generosity, loyalty, and honesty.

“You’re going to try and stop me, Lu?” Discord asked, a hint of hurt in his eyes.

“You’ve said it yourself,” She answered, tears streaming down her grim, determined face. “You’re not Harmony anymore.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Luna didn’t take it well,” Celestia said.

“Sounds brutal,” Alan said.

“But Discord’s treachery did not end there. He has a long reach for such a short tongue. At first, I thought perhaps it was the loss of Harmony, but soon it became apparent—”

“He had gotten to me,” a new voice interrupted.

Both turned to see Luna standing there, tears from the fresh memories in her eyes. “Discord had left his impression,” she continued, “and I became restless, and easily irritable. Also, apparently, easily jealous.”

Alan’s eyes widened a touch. “Discord...he was behind...” he trailed off, wondering if mentioning her name was a good thing to do.

“Nightmare Moon, yes,” Luna finished. “It’s how he functions...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Come now, Applejack, lying will save your friends.

But Honesty is a sign of trust between friends.

Lies are so much easier to take, besides...just one won’t hurt.

T-the truth is kinda harsh...

<<<|Ω|>>>

“...He worms his way into the minds of his victims...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Laughter is fun...

Until they laugh at you.

Why would they laugh at me?

Because you’re just too much sometimes Pinkie, you’ve said it yourself.

Well...well...well then they won’t laugh at me anymore.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“...He preys on their fears and insecurities...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

But Generosity is a gift.

To others, sure, but what about you? Don’t you deserve something nice after all the things you’ve done?

Well...yes, but...

Besides, which one of your friends would honestly want a diamond?

Well...

Whose diamond is it, Rarity?

Well...mine...I suppose.

Whose?

Mine.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“...He finds their weak spot and drives at it, forcing them to face his decision...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Kindness warms the hearts of others.

Yes, that’s why Alan took all the blame himself, because your friends definitely wouldn’t have blamed you.

I never said they wouldn’t I just...um...I don’t think they would have -

Would have what, Fluttershy? You saw the way your friends treated Alan, and the only reason he got off so easy is because he was being “Helpful.” They would have ripped you to shreds.

But I...

They need someone stronger, Fluttershy. Not some doormat.

I...I...

Show us some cruelty, dear, show us some strength.

They're...they're...they're all foals...

<<<|Ω|>>>

“...And then he manipulates them over the edge until they aren’t themselves anymore...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

But...but my friends need me.

But Clousdale needs you too, after all, it’s your home...

But...my friends.

You have a duty to Clousdale.

But...but...

Just think of all those ponies who could get hurt if you’re not there...

C-Clousdale...needs me...more...

<<<|Ω|>>>

“...That’s how he fights, and that is how he wins,” Luna finished sobbing, wiping a tear from her eye.

Celestia stood, before giving her sister the best hug she could.

The younger princess cried into the older’s coat, as she was flooded with the images of her greatest mistake.

“Sir Alan,” Celestia said. “Go to Ponyville. I fear your friends may need your help yet.”

Alan nodded, before standing. “As you wish,” he said, before jogging out of the room.

“I fear I may have sent him to his doom.”

Hey guys...

Um...Pinkie couldn’t make it today...

She left a note for you...

“Dear Readers.

Thanks bunches for all of the faves and comments, you’ve really made Miner happy, especially when he found out he was featured. You should have seen his smile! It was even bigger when he saw his faves double in two days! He’s promised to make the next chapters really good, and he hopes you’ll like them. Thanks for reading as always, Bye!”

Yeah, thanks, guys, it means a lot to me. Comment if you want...bye

…

It’s so quiet in here...

13-The Return to Harmony: Broken

Chapter 13

Alan sprinted through Ponyville, all of the clues pointed here. The soap road, the dancing buffalo, the floating buildings, it all pointed back to ponyville.

The world flashed into darkness as another super-short day came to an end.

Alan slid along the soap road, trying to stop when he couldn’t see anymore.

He succeeded in only smashing into the town hall.

Cradling his side which had unfortunately smacked into one of the supports, Alan stood up. He didn’t have time for pain, he needed to find the girls.

The sun was back, and Alan quickly searched for signs of the six ponies, hoping to find them before his light was gone.

He hoped the Princess’ fears were misplaced. He hoped that Discord hadn’t done anything. He hoped that the girls were fine.

But a part of him said not to get his hopes up.

Shut up.

Alan checked the streets quickly, looking down the roads. Trying to find a hint of his friends.

He found them outside the library, staring down Discord.

Well, most of them, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found.

Alan blinked. That couldn’t be right. Rainbow Dash would never leave her friends.

Wait...

Oh no...

He took a few steps forward, and got a better look.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie stood the jeweled necklace of their Elements unnaturally bright against their grey coats.

They were never grey.

He got closer still.

Pinkie, bearer of laughter was frowning. Rarity was holding onto a rock, her eyes dashing wildly as she yelled the word “mine.” Fluttershy sent a kick at Pinkie’s head. Applejack’s eyes shifted underneath her hat, “I knew this would happen,” she said, an obvious lie.

No. No. No. They were pretending, right? They were acting like this to get Discord’s guard down. Right?

Right?

Then he saw Twilight, standing as proud as she could, her tiara around her head, shimmering with the power of magic. Her still lavender coat sent a bolt of hope through Alan’s heart, she was still alright.

But that meant he had to accept the fact that the others weren’t.

Then there was the glow. The white, magical glow of the Elements of Harmony which would split into the prismatic beam of rainbow that had saved the world once before.

Had they done it? Had they overcome Discord? Were they about to turn his mismatched body to stone where he stood?

His answer came when the light sputtered, and Discord’s mocking laugh.

Then the ponies left. Pinkie threw down her necklace and began heading to Sugarcube corner. Applejack seemed to make some remark or another before heading off to the farm. Rarity rolled her small boulder away, straining against it. Then Fluttershy left, but not without first smacking the back of Twilight’s head.

Twilight frowned, and Alan was just close enough to hear, “I can’t believe it. My friends...” her eyes turned fierce and she yelled to the sky, “have all become massive jerks!” But then her defiance faded, and her head dropped.

Alan watched horrified, as her coat, once lavender, turned grey. She turned, and slowly walked back to the library, head hung low.

Discord chuckled, before turning to the human.

Those red eyes held Alan’s for a second, just long enough to hear the word “Check.”

And then with a flash of light, and the echo of a laugh, Discord was gone.

Alan stood frozen for a second before he dashed after Twilight, who was still taking slow steps to the library.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Spike, pack your things. We’re leaving," Twilight said, dumping the useless piece of jewelry into the trash. “Don’t ask where to, because...because I don’t know.” She began to pile her things into a suitcase.

“Twilight...” Spike began, only to be interrupted by the hurt tone in Twilight’s voice.

“Please, Spike. Just go pack.”

The young dragon’s protests died in his mouth, and he went off to grab his own suitcase.

As Twilight began to stuff her case, tears rolling down her face, she couldn’t help but wonder if she should bring anything else.

She didn’t have a checklist for it so...

And then she felt two strong arms encircle her neck. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” It was Alan, his voice sounded sad, “Please don’t go.”

She wanted to thank him. She wanted to stay and cry and tell him how terrible it was.

But she felt like she should be angry.

“Sorry?” She asked, a bitter tone in her voice, “Oh yes, I’m sure you’re sorry.”

That sounded harsh, but she was still angry.

“I’m sure you’re very sorry that you got to spend the day with the Princess sipping tea.” She pushed herself out of the hug. “While we were out there getting hurt, you sat in the throne room enjoying yourself. But that’s always what you’ve been good at, isn’t it, puppet master?”

The look on his face made her want to take it back. But she was too mad right now.

“I-I said I’d never do that again...” he mumbled,

“Yeah, because we can trust you.” The sarcasm in her voice bit.

“Twi, I—"

“You what?” She asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. “You wormed your way into my heart, just like all the others, and look where they left me!”

“Twilight, you know that’s not them. They wouldn’t do this to you.”

“Which is why they left me here, alone.”

“Listen to yourself! Your friends are in trouble, Twi. They need your help now more than ever. They’re caught in dungeons, forced to watch themselves become monsters. Don’t leave them to that fate.”

“Well they left me to this one,” Twi retorted. “If you want to save those jerks, be my guest. They can all go to Tartarus for all I care!”

No, wait, that wasn’t right.

“Twilight, you don’t mean that,” Alan said.

He was right, she didn’t really.

“Of course I mean it!” she yelled. “They left me, so I’m going to leave them. If you want to fight for them, go ahead.”

Alan’s face turned grim. “Yeah, fine, I’ll go fight for the jerks. I’ll finish with you,” and without another word he left.

Twilight didn’t want to see him go.

But she did.

“Don’t go...” she finally said, but Alan had already left.

Twilight bit her lip, and kept packing.

She had just sent her last friend away.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan walked down the road to Sweet Apple Acres, his duster blowing in a downward wind, getting the dirt-turned-pudding road all over his boots.

Nevermind any of that, he had to save Applejack. Once he had her, then the others would follow. It was just a matter of getting one of them.

Standing in the middle of the farm ground, Alan took a quick search around the place hoping to find the farmpony.

“Well look who finally showed up,” he heard the western drawl from beside the barn. “The coward that was too busy playing tea party to help.”

Alan almost physically recoiled at the insult. “What?”

“Ya heard me, ya two-faced snake in the grass. You’re nothing but a liar and manipulator.”

“A-Applejack...” Alan stammered, stunned, “I-You know that’s not true.”

“Ain’t it though?” She said, munching on an apple. “Haven’t ya been pullin’ the strings since ya got here?” She tossed away the core before standing. “Ya know, Ah’ve never really liked you, Ah never really trusted you, and Celestia knows Ah don’t want to be here with ya.”

Alan blinked, she...she never trusted him...she still doesn’t. “You...you don’t mean that, AJ.”

She laughed, “Listen to that! Are you accusing me of lying? Ah don’t know what got into the heads of all the others, but Ah knew you were bad news, Al. You ain’t got a noble bone in your body, and you went off and proved it by tellin’ us that you’ve been playing us for foals.”

“A-A...” the words caught in his throat, an image of the both of them drinking a shot of whiskey back in Appleloosa flashed in his mind. “Applejack, we...this isn’t you...this is Discord, and—”

“What da ya mean this ain’t me? This is the clearest my head’s been in years! Ah’ve haven’t seen things so clear in years! You’re a liar, a coward, a manipulator, and anypony who listens to a word you say is a foal!”

“Applejack, you-you’ve got to come with me,” he pushed. “We’ve got to stop Discord.”

“Stop him? Who in their right mind would go and do that? Just look at mah apple trees! Those apples are so big I could sell them for hundreds.”

Alan looked over to the overgrown fruit, causing many of the trees to bend over under the weight.

“As far as Ah’m concerned, Discord was the best thing to happen to Equestria!” Applejack said. “The real problem is the human in front of me.”

Alan turned back to her, his eyes wet.

“So listen close, human. ‘Cause I’m only gonna say this once,” she looked up at him, straight in the eyes. “Nopony like ya. Nopony wants ya here. So why don’t ya get the buck off of mah farm, and pester somepony else.”

Alan nodded, before pulling his hat down to cover his eyes. “I’ll be back for you, AJ.”

“Don’t bother.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Fluttershy. Fluttershy would help him. He could get her to help.

The walk to her cottage had taken longer than he thought, what with the pink thorns that grew across the road, along with the wide patches of Poison Joke that he managed to avoid. But finally, he was here.

The crunch of the broken glass under his boots brought his attention to the shattered windows.

The cottage was unusually quiet, normally filled with the incessant calls of birds.

But it was silent today.

“Fluttershy?” Alan asked, “Fluttershy are you in there?”

His response was met with a rock flying through the window. Alan dodged, and the rock just barely missed his head by an inch.

“Fluttershy?” he called again.

“What? Did I miss, or are you just dense?” the normally soft voice answered.

“Fluttershy? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, but I think you need your head examined,” she answered, followed by another rock.

“Fluttershy, can’t you come out and talk?”

“Why? So I can get face-to-face with the ugliest thing I ever saw since...well...ever...”

“Fluttershy, you don’t mean that, just come out so we can talk.”

“I’m sick of talking!” A stone came streaking through the window. “I’m sick of being a pushover! I’m sick of being carried!”

The image of a pegasus quivering in his arms came to mind.

“And I’m sick of you!” Another rock, this time, catching him in the side of the face. “Leave and don’t come back!”

So Alan left.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie.

He could always count on Pinkie. The little ball of energy would be ready to go down with the ship if need be. She’d probably do it with a smile, too.

Pinkie would never let him down.

He hoped.

Sugarcube corner had been totally abandoned. There was no one inside, and no one hanging around outside.

The Cakes weren’t even there.

Alan pushed the door open, letting loose a loud squeak from the damaged hinges. Broken dishes and crushed cakes littered the floor. Crumbs and shattered ceramics lay everywhere. Frosting-covered hooves leaving numerous trails along the floor. Display trays lay in glass shards across the counters.

It looked like a tornado had torn through.

Alan stepped in, following the path of destruction.

The crunch of glass and ceramic sounded with his first step inside.

He had never thought Sugarcube Corner would be this...quiet...

The stairs were covered in more crumbs and shards, but also accompanied by ripped streamers and popped balloons.

It was just so quiet.

Alan cautiously pushed open the door to Pinkie’s room. The decorations had been utterly destroyed, ripped apart, shredded, popped. They littered the floor in what could have been mistaken for confetti, if it weren’t for the grey pony ripping the streamers apart in the middle of the room.

“Pinkie?” Alan asked, tentatively.

She stopped her destruction. Turning her head, “Come to laugh?” she asked, tears in her eyes.

“Pinkie...I would never laugh at you.”

“Sure you wouldn’t,” she said. “Of course you wouldn’t laugh at me, because you’re perfect aren’t you?” she stood, her eyes were puffy and red, a frown on her face. “No, nopony laughs at me. Not the town, not my friends, and definitely not you.” She stepped closer. “Nopony laughs at my jokes, nopony laughs when I make a fool of myself, nopony laughs at me,” she stopped for a second. “No wait...that’s not right. They do. They just won’t anymore.”

Pinkie’s face went from forlorn to fierce in the blink of an eye.

“No more laughing behind my back. No more lies. No more two-faced friends. In fact, no more friends at all! Especially not a liar like you.”

Alan nodded, “I’m sorry, Pinkie,” and then he walked away.

As he walked down the stairs, he did his best to swallow a sob.

The image of the pink pony, her mane still straight, barely discernable in the moonlight came, unbidden to his thoughts. “Alan,” she had said that night, “you’re one of my bestest friends.”

But not anymore.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rarity wouldn’t even see him.

“Come on Rarity! Let me in!” Alan yelled, pounding on the door to her boutique.

“NO! You’ll take Tom from me!” she answered, her voice muffled by the door.

“I don’t even know who Tom is!” He answered before knocking again. “Rarity! Rarity, please! Let me in.”

“Why? I’ve seen you, grabbing at everything. Grabbing our food, our homes, the clothes I made for you, even ourselves to be your friends. You’ve done nothing but grab since you got here! You’ll come in and you’ll grab Tom too, I know it!”

“Rarity! Rarity, please?”

But Rarity didn’t respond.

Alan knocked and pleaded, but still there was nothing.

Finally, Alan got up and left wiping his face to discourage any crying.

His cheek burned with the memory of the kiss the unicorn had given him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Dashie, Dashie, please come down.”

“Why?” the aloof question replied.

“You’re the only one left, Dashie. Please,” he pleaded, on his knees, looking up at the small cloud she reclined on.

“And I should care because...?”

“Please, Dashie. Just please.”

“You’re not answering my question.”

“You should care because of Equestria, Dashie!” Alan yelled, a wet trail falling down his face. “You should care because this is your home! You should care because I’m your friend.” That last one was barely a whisper. “And I need your help, Dash.”

A smug “Ha!” struck him across the face like a slap. “As if. They don’t need me, nopony needs me! Even if they do, well tough luck for them.”

“Dashie, please.”

The pegasus didn’t even hear that one. “Equestria can bite my tail for all I care. Clousdale, my home,” she said, patting the small cloud she was on, “is safe and sound. And as for friends, who needs ‘em?”

“Dashie, please,” Alan begged. “Just, please.”

“Am I not being clear here?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning on her cloud. “Here, I’ll put it simply for you,” she looked him straight in the eyes and said one sentence that broke his heart. “You can die alone for all I care.”

“Please,” was all Alan could say in return.

“You are one crazy son of a bovine, you know that?” the phantom hug hurt worse than any blade ever would, “Thank you.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan walked through Ponyville, his fist clenching and unclenching. His eye twitched. His duster blew in the random wind, and his hat was pulled over his eyes.

“So, Discord, you took my friends, huh? That was your master plan, right?” He stepped over a pony that had been shrunk to the size of a penny. “You ruin my new home. You mess with their minds.” His hand went to Judgement, clenching the leather handle. “You came here to be the Devil, huh?” A vicious smile grew across his face, as his red-rimmed eyes burned with anger. “Well then, it looks like I’m gonna dance with the Devil tonight.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

That was it. She was packed. There wasn’t anything left for her to do her.

There was nothing left for her here.

Twilight stood in front of her door, she was ready to leave.

No she wasn’t.

Her friends were gone, all of them. She had nothing left for her here.

Celestia forgive her.

She was hesitating.

She didn’t know why, though, there was just nothing left.

“Twi...” the young dragon behind her spoke, “Twi...what about Alan?”

She didn’t have an answer for that.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Discord sat on his throne and laughed.

Oh, it had been so long since he had a good laugh.

Being made of stone made it hard to laugh.

But this! This was good. A snap of his long-unused fingers and a cloud of dust became a swarm of hornets. Or a hornet of Swarms, whichever was more improbable.

He let loose another laugh.

Oh it had been so long.

“Discord!” a voice called for him.

Ah yes, the human. Right on time.

“Alan!” Discord answered, standing, his throne just off-center of the middle of Ponyville, “It is so good to see my little troublemaker.”

Alan head snapped to the voice, and he saw the draconequus standing in front of a black marble throne.

Alan drew Judgement, “I am going to end you!”

Discord laughed, now that was a good joke.

Alan charged him, holding his sword at the ready.

Discord laughed again, taking a step towards the charging human. This will be so much fun.

Alan roared as he got close, swinging his sword at the creature’s midsection.

Only for the sword to bend at an impossible angle, as though it were made of foam.

Discord chuckled, “That tickled.”

Alan swung Judgement again, and again the sword gave way against the chimera.

Discord sighed, “You’re going to have to do better than that, I’m afraid.”

Alan grit his teeth before tossing the useless sword away, and drawing his knife.

Only for that to fall from his hand. It’s handle had been turned to butter.

Alan drew his throwing knives, throwing two before Discord had a chance to quip, and charging with the third in hand.

The two he had thrown fell to the ground like paper, and the one he stabbed with may as well have been a feather for all the good that it did him.

“Is that all?” Discord asked. “I expected more from the human.”

Alan shook. There was no way he was going to let this monster mock him. No way he was going to let him get away with this.

He was going to make him pay, even if he had to beat him to death with his own two hands.

Alan tossed his knife aside, and threw the hardest punch he could at the draconequus.

It was like punching a stone.

Pain shot through his hand, bloody knuckles throbbing.

He didn’t stop. He couldn’t afford to stop, no matter how much it hurt. He needed to stop Discord.

Suddenly he was lifted into the air, a grating laugh followed. “You are persistent, I will give you that!”

Alan swung at him, trying, daring Discord to let him get close enough.

Another laugh, “Oh, my little troublemaker, you just don’t know when to quit do you?” Alan floated closer, although just out of his arm’s reach. “Let me make it a little clearer for you. The one thing that can beat me is the Elements of Harmony. The Bearers, however, are not in sync with those Elements, making them useless. The one thing that can re-sync your friends is you, and you just did so well.”

A hot stream of tears began to fall from his eye.

“You know, I worried about you,” Discord told him, circling the human as he continued to flail uselessly. “I worried that you would perhaps save your friends. That you would be the chink in my armor. I had my own plan for you, Mr. Carnivore. I even had a whole line of fast food jokes lined up.” He walked over to one side before pointing, “Hey look at that! A Big Mac!” He chuckled at his pun before continuing. “But it seems that this is just so much better. Here you are. The only one that has not yet fallen under my influence. Here you are. The only one who can do anything, but you can’t do it. You were Celestia’s last gambit, and you failed.”

Discord smiled, getting tauntingly close to Alan’s fist.

“So, I’m going to let you stew. You get to watch your friends slowly turn into monsters, and you won’t be able to do a thing about it.”

Alan shed more tears as he tried to reach the draconequus. Just one good solid punch to his face, please.

“You have the great privilege, human, of being the one sane creature left in my realm. The perfect chaos.” Discord smiled. “So let me repeat myself. Check. And. Mate.”

With that, Alan was tossed back into Ponyville, and far away from the throne of Discord.

“And take your toys with you!” The beast called. All five of Alan’s blades followed him, landing next to him in the dust.

Alan lay there. He wasn’t sure how long, but he just felt like dying.

Finally, with nothing better to do, he sat up gathered his blades before looking for some shade to sit in.

It took him a moment or two before he stumbled into the shadow of the town hall.

There he sat, and there he cried.

Sobs racked his body as he finally let it go. His head in his hands, he cried.

His friends were gone. Oh yes, the physical bodies were still dancing, but dancing to the song of that thing. They weren’t here anymore.

The thing that had made Equestria so special was gone.

There was nothing left for him here.

How ironic, a part of his mind thought, now he wanted to go home more than ever, and now he was furthest from that chance. He doubted Discord would ever let him leave, and Celestia herself was at his mercy.

He was stuck here, in the corpse of a paradise.

He was alone.

For the first time since arriving he was totally alone.

He cried, roaring in anger as more tears fell down his face.

This was as bad as when Dad died.

Alan wasn’t sure how long he sat there, how long his head lay in his hands, nor how long his tears stained the ground. Eventually he heard something.

“Oh, Celestia forgive us, what have we done?”

Alan looked up, and there before him were his friends, all six of them.

Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, all of them. They all looked at him with guilty faces that threatened to break into tears.

Suddenly, he was pounced, “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Pinkie said, crying into his chest as she hugged him. “I didn’t mean it!” she yelled, before suddenly slamming her hooves to his face, bringing the corners of his mouth up. “Stop frowning please! We’re better now! It’s ok!” She insisted, her mane beginning to straighten.

He was suddenly hugged by Applejack, “Lies! They were all dirty lies, and I didn’t mean a word! You wouldn’t do any of those things I said.”

Fluttershy was next, “I’m so sorry, Alan, you are the kindest person I’ve ever met. Even if I met a hundred people, you would still be the kindest.”

Rarity hugged him, “How could I not trust you, someone willing to risk their own reputation to save my own? Anything I have is yours, Alan, I am so sorry for this.”

Rainbow Dash grabbed him from above. “I’ll never leave you again! Never, never, never, ever! I will die next to you if I have to.”

Twilight was last, smiling, “Alan, you’re one of my best friends. Anypony with eyes can see that, and you were right. I should have fought harder. Can you forgive me?”

Alan smiled, before reaching around all six ponies and giving them the biggest hug he could muster. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Hugging them as tightly as he could, while still giving them room to breathe, Alan smiled, smiled as big as he could.

Finally he let them go, “But how?” he asked, “How did you break Discord’s spell?”

Twilight hesitated, before saying, “I’ll tell you later, but first, we need to stop Discord.”

Alan nodded before standing, drawing Judgement as he did. “I think I’m ready for round two.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Discord laughed as a flock of geese scurried along the ground while a swarm of mice flew above him. So many jokes to make, whether puns, or play on words, heck even some bad slapstick was hilarious, and why wouldn’t it be? He made it happen.

Oh this power. This was power that overcame his mother’s, Faust herself. This was power that could stop time if he wished it, Rewind it! Change history! Though history played out fairly nicely when you consider the misery that Alan had fallen into.

He had missed the last human to come to Equestria, Alan was an excellent substitute though.

Speaking of...

“Discord!” The angry scream of the human came.

Discord stood, “You know Al I have to say, now you’ve gone from persistent to just plain stupid. I’ve already won. What can you gain by attacking me?”

Alan smirked, raising his blade, “It’ll make me feel better.”

Charging Alan swung with all his might at the draconequus, the sword merely bouncing off the feather covered hide.

Discord sighed, “You’ve tried that already, Al. Come on, now I know you could do better.”

Alan smirked, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He took another swing at his enemy, hitting his reptilian leg, sending sparks flying. Suddenly, at the end of his swing, his other arm came loose from the grip dropping to his knife, and in a move that caught Discord by surprise, he buried it hilt deep into his thigh.

Discord roared, jerking away, as blood began to flow.

Alan smirked, “You have to focus on my attacks to negate them, don’t you? Like unicorns have to focus to cast spells.”

Discord chuckled. “Yes, but only then, my sorry little friend. I change, it is my nature. Right now I am very angry, and that will change to pleased once I crush you.”

Suddenly, Alan went flying. Thrown back against one of the buildings with such a force that the wall cracked and splintered.

Discord slithered in front of him. “Well, I hope drawing blood has made you feel better.” He said, before laughing. “I can’t believe you thought you could beat me.”

Alan smirked. “Who said that? I’m just the distraction.”

Discord blinked. “What?”

“Let me make this clearer for you,” Alan said. “Behind you are the Elements of Harmony, their Bearers together and ready to stop you.”

Discord’s eyes widen and he turned to see the six ponies, their magical regalia ready. Already they were being covered in the prismatic colorings of the Elements beam.

“And in front of you, is one revenge-crazed human,” Alan continued while standing, released from Discord’s spell. “So now all I have to say is this. White knight threatens black King. Check and Mate!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Discord’s eyes widened as he saw the beam of magical rainbow come down on him.

Improbably, and for once, conveniently, time had slowed, and Discord needed that the time to think.

He himself was slowed by time, so he couldn't just dodge the oncoming beam of light.

There were the six Bearers, their faces carved into victorious smirks.

Behind him, there was Alan.

Discord didn’t even have to turn around to know that Alan was grinning ear to ear.

He wanted to wipe all of them away.

Discord’s brain went through thousands of different scenarios, searching for the one action he could do that would cause the most Chaos.

Finally he smirked. Yes, that would be good.

As time began to resume it’s normal pace, Discord snapped his fingers, and he and the human switched places.

The beam was now coming straight down on Alan, the grins on all seven of their faces turning to shock.

Suddenly Alan was engulfed in the chromatic light, erased from view.

Twilight stared with wide eyes, stepping forward, “Alan!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan had always wondered, ever since the pilot episode, what exactly happened in the beam of the Elements.

What power had broken one thousand years of pent up bitterness? What could release one pony and petrify the next?

Well it seemed he had gotten his answer.

Sort of.

He couldn’t remember what exactly happened in that beam of light. He still couldn’t, but it was heavenly, he knew.

The issue was right now.

He...well, he wasn’t sure where he was. There he lay, white below him, white above him, and nothing else for miles.

Well, except for the heavily armored man standing next to him.

“Get up,” he said.

Alan stood.

The armored man had two swords. Tossing one to Alan, the armored one took his stance. “Fight me,” came the order.

Alan picked up the offered sword and gave it a swing.

The fight the sword gave bordered on ridiculous.

“Fight me!” he ordered again.

Alan looked and asked, “Why?”

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t.”

That made things simpler.

Alan took his own stance, and the two began to stare each other down.

Suddenly the armored man jumped at him, swinging the sword for all of its worth.

Clang!

The two swords rang as they met.

Only for the armored man to feint and slice him across the chest.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alan!” Twilight cried, her eyes white with the magical energy that flowed through her. She couldn’t see him, the colors were too thick and too bright to see.

Not now.

Not after just reuniting with him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Clang-clang-fwip!

The blades met before the armored man’s blade bit into Alan’s flesh.

The armored man was tearing through him, and Alan could hardly keep up. His blade was providing so much resistance, and his own shortcomings when it came to the blade became obvious against the master.

Suddenly, a quick kick took Alan’s legs from under him, and he slammed into the floor.

“And you call yourself Arthur's heir,” he mocked.

Alan was covered in cuts, bruises, and scrapes, while the armored figure only had a slight dent in one of his pauldrons.

“You hardly have any skill. You hunger for conflict. Overall, you are simply, tragically human.”

“So?” Alan asked.

“Arthur had skill! Arthur was a negotiator! Arthur was better than you could hope to be! You shame his memory as well as his legacy.”

Alan gritted his teeth, “I am not here to be Arthur.”

The armored man cocked his head to the side, “Oh?”

Alan smiled, as he began to stand “I never claimed to be Arthur, I have not even taken the title of Pendragon. It is not my place to rule the army when none is needed.”

The armored man lowered his sword.

“It is not my place to rule when no one needs to follow. If I must lead, I will, and may that day be long in coming,” Alan said, lowering his own sword. “Today I fight because my friends need me, no other reason than that.”

The armored man nodded, before removing his helmet, revealing his face.

Gemstone eyes and a grey face.

“I am glad to hear it, Alan Williams of Earth. Because now, we can stop fighting.” He dropped his sword unceremoniously to the ground before holding out his hand.

The word “Mercy” was written on his palm.

“And we can finally fight as one.”

Alan took the hand of Judgement and gave it a good shake.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Discord laughed. Oh the looks on their little pony faces. The horror in their eyes once they saw Alan hit by their own attack. It would be even better to see what had happened to him. Banishment to the moon? Petrification? The possibilities were endless.

Then the beam dissipated, and Discord found himself staring at something he was not excepting.

The Elements of Harmony are interesting artifacts. They have an element of chaos about them, a random effect that the wielder cannot control. However, at the same time, it chooses the effect with purpose. It could distinguish which effect would be best for the target.

Whether friend or foe.

Discord blinked.

That...that couldn’t be right...

Twilight’s cry ended, more out of shock than anything else.

There, standing before the small crowd, stood Alan. His hat was gone, replaced by a circlet of gold, with a blue balloon at the forehead. His chest and shoulders were covered by a plate mail shirt, an apple at the center. In his left hand, there was a large, round shield, plated in gold with a red lightning bolt as the device. A belt of gold hung at his waist, with armor plating coming down for the thighs, a purple diamond as the buckle. His feet were covered in golden boots, with butterflies at the top of each.

Finally, Judgement had changed. It’s grey blade was now a perfectly pure white, the hilt was now gold. The gemstones had become a fuchsia color and at the center of the cross hilt, there was now the six-pointed star of Magic.

Alan opened his eyes, and pure-white light erupted from them.

“Discord,” Alan said calmly, his voice echoed with the sound of other voices, each working in Harmony to say the one sentence, “it is time to meet justice.” Judgement spun, and the word Justice came up, shining in the sunlight.

Discord took a step back.

This...this wasn’t right.

They...they weren’t supposed to do this.

They weren’t supposed to win.

Alan lept forward, swinging.

A ball of frozen fire came flying at him in response, only for it to dissipate against the shield.

Another slash from Alan, and Discord backed up. A long vine of jello sprouted from the ground, trying to bind the human.

It dissipated with a hiss the second it touched the armor.

No. No. No. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Discord began throwing everything he could. Flying leaves, electricity made from rocks, cotton candy, anything he could throw. Alan raised the shield, the red lightning bolt glowing. Once attacks struck it they rebounded, flying back at Discord with twice their original speed.

Barely dodging his own attacks, Discord quickly took to the air, outside of the sword’s reach.

If that armor could stand his attacks, then he didn’t want to think about the sword.

Suddenly, the Apple of his breastplate began to glow, and two wings of pure white energy sprouted from his back. With a single flap, Alan was level with the chaotic king, his sword and shield at the ready.

Discord backed up a touch.

The blue balloon began to shine next, and Alan opened his mouth. A supersonic giggle erupted from him. Discord was caught in the blast and grounded.

The glows began to fade, and Alan gracefully landed.

Meanwhile, the mane six simply stared on. Their eyes wide, and their mouths agape.

Discord pushed himself up, still dizzy from the sonic attack, before smirking. People like Alan, they all have one major disadvantage. Namely friends.

Firing off a ball of Chaos energy at the ponies, Discord watched as Alan merely...stood there?

Discord blinked.

He should have reacted. Should have moved towards them. Something! Not just stood there and let them be hit.

Discord then noticed the gem glowing on his belt.

Looking over to the side, he saw all six ponies protected by a gem-shaped wall of magic. His own chaotic blast held still in the wall.

Then the butterflies shone, and Alan leapt forward at an inhuman speed. Another slash, this time close enough to catch the red-feathered hide.

A flash of white and unbearable pain flashed through Discord’s brain. His hands went to the wound, and he became very much aware that his chaotic magic around Ponyville had come undone.

Discord staggered back, his veins burning with the touch of that blade.

He took a second to examine his wound.

Oh no.

There was no blood, no gore, just simply a swath of golden fur where feathers had been.

Discord’s eyes leapt to the blade. “S-stay back!” he cried. “Stay away!”

Alan took a step forward.

Discord let loose a terrified scream, before flying off as far and as fast as he could.

Rainbow Dash took after him.

“Halt, Rainbow Dash!” Alan’s new voice said.

The pegasus halted. “But he’s getting away!”

“Let him,” The Multitude of voices said. “My heart tells me he has a part yet to play in this tale, for good or evil.” Alan watched as Discord flew off into the distance. “Now. If you’d be so kind as to catch me.”

And then, Alan blacked out.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan slowly opened one eye and immediately closed it.

It was too bright.

A groan came from his side, “Al? Are you awake?” It was Twilight

Alan answered, “Yeah, now quiet so I can go back to sleep.”

Twilight giggled. “Hey now. Come on, you’ve got to get up so you can get your medal.”

“What medal?” He asked, lifting his arm.

“Hey! Whoa, be careful there, Alan,” She said, and Alan opened his eyes, confused.

There still in his hand was Judgement, but not the Judgement he knew. It was the new Judgement, the one with the silver-white blade and arcane star.

“We couldn’t get you to let go,” Twilight explained.

Alan blinked, before giving the sword a testing swing.

No resistance, no fighting. Just a clean, smooth stroke.

He turned to the unicorn, “You said something about a medal?”

And that, Bronies and Pegasisters, is the Return to Harmony, my way.

“And I am so glad it’s over!”

Aren’t we all?

“Did you read them my note?”

Yes I did, and a few of them were very worried about you, Pinkie.

“Well, they wouldn’t have to worry too much, right Miner? You’re not going to let anypony get hurt, right?”

…

“Right?”

I can’t promise that, Pinkie, you know that.

“I-I know...it was worth a shot though, right?”

Yeah, yeah it was.

“Well, anyway, thanks for reading so far, be sure to leave us all of your thoughts and questions, and see you next chapter, Bye!”

Actually, real quick, guys. I do want all of you new readers to know that my updates are not normally this fast. I have an obligation to myself to keep writing my actual story, and this is just for fun. The only reason why I was able to get another chapter up was because I didn’t want you guys hanging on, well, a cliffhanger for too long. So it may take a while. But yes, thanks for all of your reading and comments, they make an author happy. Bye!

14-Nightmares and Swordfights

Chapter 14

Alan held his sword close as he and his opponent circled. The mana pony’s stick was held level with its head, its designated point coming straight at him. Judgement gleamed in the evening light, the now white blade reflecting the moon’s rays and diffusing them in a chromating ring around the room.

Alan took the briefest second to ponder why the armor had faded, but Judgement had stayed the same since his run-in with the rainbow beam, before turning his attention back to the fight. It was bad enough that he had to keep focusing on his form.

Suddenly, Alan swung, his blade coming up before smashing down on the wooden blade, swinging like a windshield wiper as the pony’s guard broke.

Alan’s blade came down, and after a hardly noticeable jerk upwards, the tip of the blade rested, pointed down towards the floor.

Alan stood, his upper body completely exposed to the pony’s stick.

The magical opponent swung sideways at him, only for Alan to raise the hilt of the sword, blade still pointed down, catching the attack in a block.

Alan smirked. The attack had come from his left.

A bad mistake.

Alan’s wrist rotated, the blade swinging up in another windshield wiper motion, and he sent the stick flying to the other side of the room.

A downward slash split the mana in two, and the fight was over, just that fast.

“Not bad,” Twilight said from her balcony, picking up the stick with magic.

Alan nodded, before frowning. “My transition from the Krumphau to the Alber guard wasn’t as smooth as I liked.”

Twilight blinked. “You know, I still don’t know what those words mean.”

“They’re probably German,” Alan said, before sheathing Judgement.

“Are you done for the day?” Twilight asked, noticing the motion.

“Yeah, I think I did alright. I’ll have to practice some more though, but it can wait until tomorrow.” He rolled his neck, hearing a few satisfying pops. “Hey,” he said, rolling his shoulders, “you still hungry?”

“A little,” she answered.

“Do you want to go to Sugarcube Corner and grab a cupcake with me?”

“Sure,” she replied, coming down the stairs as she hovered the stick along the wall.

Alan smiled, before grabbing his coat and hat.

“Do you really need the hat?” She asked, “I mean, it’s dark out.”

“No, but it’s my hat,” He said. “Hats are cool.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s pointless.”

“Oh?” Alan asked, adjusting the hat on his head. “You’ve been Rarity’s friend longer than I have; you tell me if she would think Style is pointless.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but didn’t answer.

Alan chuckled, heading for the door. Holding the door open, he gave a mock flourish.

“My Lady,” he said, holding it open.

Twilight gave him a gentle buck to the arm as she passed.

Alan chuckled again as he followed her out.

The dark evening sky met them as they walked outside, but it was still early enough that everyone was still awake in their houses, as evidenced by the long streams of light that fell across the road from the windows. Luna’s moon hung suspended in the sky, surrounded by stars. It was a very nice night.

Alan looked up, before laughing quietly to himself.

“What are you laughing about?” Twilight asked, walking next to him.

Alan shook his head. “Oh, I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” Twilight asked, looking up at him.

Alan smiled. “The time you were trying to figure out Pinkie Sense.”

Twi rolled her eyes, but smiled despite herself. “Can’t imagine why you’d think that was funny. After all, you were the one who volunteered to distract the Hydra.”

“Volunteered?” Alan asked. “I was pushed, thank you very much.”

“By who?” Twilight asked, teasing.

“Oh, come on, it was you, Fluttershy, AJ and Spike. Who else was going to rescue you guys?”

“Ah, yes, and I’m sure the fact that you wanted to yell ‘Leroy Jenkins’ again had nothing to do with your act of selfless bravery.”

“It was more like an homage to the patron saint of suicide missions.”

Twilight shook her head, having a decent understanding of video games and the lore thereof from the geek.

“But what really got me was the fact you exploded into flames,” Alan said. “You looked a lot like another video game character.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, a Pokemon.”

“Weird,” she said.

Alan laughed. “What’s this? Twilight Sparkle is evolving! Twilight Sparkle has evolved into Rapidash!”

Twilight laughed.

“Twilight Sparkle used Magic Blast! It was super effective!”

Twilight shook her head, smiling as the jokes becoming too in depth for her limited knowledge.

Alan finished, chuckling.

“Hey, thanks for that little extra push you gave me then.”

“What?”

“You gave me a push over the ravine when I was trying to escape the Hydra, thanks for that.”

“Oh don’t worry about it.”

“Well, while I’m at it,” Twilight said, “Thanks for trying to help me escape the mob with the Gala ticket fiasco.”

“Pff,” Alan said, waving a dismissive hand. “That was nothing.”

“Nothing?” Twilight said, surprised. “You carried me on your back as you scaled half of Ponyville! How could you say that was nothing? Give yourself some credit here!”

“Well, okay, maybe it was something.”

Twilight shook her head. “Listen to you! The help you’ve given me alone could earn you a medal! And that’s not even mentioning when you helped with Discord.”

Alan nodded, before his brows furrowed. “You know, you never told me how you guys escaped his influence.”

“I was able to use a memory charm on them—it reminded them of the times we had together, and broke his spell.”

Alan nodded. “Alright, but how did you escape?”

Twilight eyes widened slightly, “Uh...” Her eyes wildly jumped around, looking around, looking for something. “Oh look!” she said, dashing forward. “We’re here!”

Before Alan could say anything else, Twi had already disappeared into the door of Sugarcube Corner.

Alan blinked, before shaking his head. “Women...or mares...whatever...” With that thought, he walked inside.

“Heya!” Pinkie said as soon as he walked in. “You two out on a nighttime walk?”

“And we were thinking about a nighttime snack,” Alan said with a smirk.

“Well you guys are in luck!” the Pink pony chirped. “Here’s the last batch for the day!” A plate of one baker’s dozen of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes was pushed in front of them.

“Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight said, raising her coin purse, only for Alan’s bits to beat her to it.

“My idea, I pay,” he said simply.

“Aw, thanks, Alan.” Twi said.

He nodded. “Go ahead and help yourself to one, Pinkie.”

“Yay!” she cheered before gobbling one whole.

Alan shook his head, before diving in.

Twilight smiled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight yawned as she got out of bed, feeling unusually more chipper than normal.

Stretching as she walked over to her mirror, her horn glowed as she levitated her brush to her mane, smoothing it out.

She was very happy this morning.

Maybe she should get cupcakes more often.

Her mane brushed, she gave herself a very quick look-over before heading downstairs for breakfast.

Her hooves clopped cheerfully as she went down the stairs, humming to herself.

“Good morning, Spike. Morning Alan,” she said as she walked into the kitchen.

“Morning!” The young drake replied.

Alan stood, facing the window.

He did not answer.

“Alan?” Twilight asked, worry edging into her voice.

A laugh echoed in the room.

It belonged to him.

Alan, his skin and hair gray, turned.

His eyes were dull scarlet, and a frown turned his normally joyful face stern.

Twilight’s eyes widened as her ears flattened. She took a hesitant step backwards, “N-no.”

He drew his sword, the once white blade now black, and the gold now blood-crimson.

“No.”

He raised the sword, the blade resting against his right shoulder.

She continued to back away.

Alan was gone, and in his place was a monster.

Discord laughed again.

“No. No. No.”

The sword came up.

“No. No!”

And then it came down.

“No!” Twilight yelled as she shot up from her bed, her eyes searching her dark room wildly.

A dream.

Nothing but a dream.

Her breath escaped in ragged gasps as she gulped down air.

“Calm down Twilight,” she told herself, “It was just a nightmare.”

Nightmare. The word in itself could not hold the terror she felt in those sleeping moments. When the one she had counted on as a friend turned into a ravenous, devastating monster.

She had seen glimpses of it. There were times when Alan would almost lose himself in the swordplay. Where she could see the glint in his eye, that predatory instinct of violence and bloodletting.

It scared her.

She often wondered what kind of hidden creature lurked behind the normal mask that she knew as Alan; only for those thought to be slapped away by her conscious mind.

It’s no mask, she’d tell herself, masks took much too much focus; a pony, or person in this case, could only keep up a mask for three months without a break. Alan lived with her, had lived with her for almost a year and a half now, there was no way he could keep up a mask.

Besides, this is Alan we’re talking about. He carried Fluttershy up a mountain.

He eats meat.

He saved Rarity’s reputation.

He wears a fox skin for a shoulder perch.

He saved Appleloosa.

He threatened a pony with a knife.

He saved Ponyville from a Parasprite swarm.

He could kill everyone in the whole town and no one could stop him in time.

He helped Rainbow Dash earn her confidence back.

He manipulated all of you.

He helped...with...that...

Yeah...there was that...

Anyway, that’s not the point. Alan couldn’t have a mask.

The Alan she knew was the Alan that was. That was all that was really important.

“You sound so convincing,” her subconscious jabbed.

Well who asked you?

“I don’t think you trust him.”

Of course I trust him. I trust him with my life.

And then her mind issued its challenge, one that would tear at her for the next three days.

“Prove it.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan, his sword resting against the right shoulder, held his stance. Alan really preferred having the blade against his shoulder rather than over his head. Both were technically correct, but he felt holding the sword overhead made the vom Tag look stupid, and while the style wasn’t necessarily about looks, it never hurt.

Alan took a deep breath, double checking his stance, balance and form quickly before launching into his strike.

A horizontal strike, about neck level flew through the empty air in front of him. The Thwerhau, or, as best Alan could figure, the “Thwart-hew”, was designed to break the vom Tag guard, and would otherwise be useful for attacking taller enemies.

Alan grimaced before returning to the vom Tag. The hew just didn’t feel right. There was something about it that didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t know what, but that would come in time, he was sure.

He tried it again, practicing against the air, trying to hone his form. Twilight was busy today, doing something or other, so he had to fight alone.

Well...the audience didn’t count.

“Do something awesome already!” the young filly pegasus yelled.

“Scootaloo, he’s practacin’! Ya can’t just go and ask him to do stuff.”

“Sure I can! I came here expecting awesomeness! What I got instead was the same move over and over.”

Alan stopped, a frown on his face.

He really shouldn’t do this.

Arthur had said time and time again that flashy moves were neither useful nor advised. They did not help a knight with the sword, they did not help him fight better, they didn’t help at all.

But at the same time...

Alan sighed.

Sometimes you just can’t win.

Alan dropped his stance, his shoulders sagging before throwing Judgement high into the air. Spinning quickly, Alan tossed one of his throwing knives after the sword. The two clashed, the now magical blade causing sparks to fly off the knife.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened at the sight.

Before she could say anything though, Alan moved, tossing his sheath knife in the air. The knives hit each other in the air as Judgement began falling back to earth, rainbows of light reflecting off the blade. Judgement fell first, Alan catching the sword by the handle. The knives were next, Alan catching the throwing knife before tossing it up to catch the other. Juggling the knives in one hand, Alan sheathed Judgement before pulling the other throwing knives and adding them to the juggling act.

The hardest part was the sheath knife. The heavier blade could quite easily throw off his juggling, a talent which he had learned back in high school for a talent show that never happened. So, grabbing the blade in one hand, and juggling the three knives with the other, he began to balance the knife handle on his nose.

Then with three quick throws, he tossed the three throwing knives at Twilight’s house, where they dug into the bark of the tree.

Grabbing the last knife off his nose, Alan took a bow as the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst into applause.

“There!” the pegasus cried. “That’s what I’m talking about! That was Awesome!”

Alan chuckled before standing, noticing a stoic, silent red pony nearby. “Big Mac, it’s been a while,” he said, greeting the large red farmer.

“Eyup,” the draft pony replied.

“Here to pick up Applebloom and the others?”

“Eyup,” he said again.

"Aw,” Scootaloo groaned, “but it was just getting to the cool part!”

Alan rolled his eyes. “Hey, need any more help at the farm?”

“Nope,” the pony answered.

“Alright, well call me if you need some help.”

“Eyup,” he said as the Crusaders followed him back to the farm.

Alan shook his head. As expected, he hadn’t gotten any other words out of Applejack’s brother, but not for lack of trying.

But he could get back to that train of thought later, he had some guard breakers to get back to. Maybe he should practice the Scheitelhau.

What interested Alan the most was how Arthur seemed to ping-pong back and forth between German and Italian (the latter he recognized readily thanks to one too many hours playing Assassin’s Creed).

Dui Tempe, for example, was the name of one of the tempos, the defend and counter attack tempo, or “two time.” It was definitely Italian, no ifs, ands, or buts. However, he then turned around and talked about the guards in what he assumed was German.

Well, whatever, let’s just get on with it.

Holding the sword up, resting on his shoulder, Alan twisted it around in an odd-feeling horizontal strike.

Alan grimaced.

That was bad, really, really bad.

Note to self, never, ever use the Scheitelhau.

Considering that it was supposed to be a downward strike, that was not good.

The issue was, he was supposed to use the “short” blade, the one that faced away from his enemy.

Maybe he should look at some more of the Italian attacks.

“That worked great,” the voice of the lavender unicorn said behind him.

“Yeah...I noticed...” Alan said, turning toward her.

She wore a very smug look on her face as she watched from the balcony.

“So are you done with your errand or what?”

“Yeah, I’m done for today,” she answered. “Why, you want some opponents?”

Alan nodded. “I need some practice with my grappling as well as some tempo practice.”

“Alright,” she said, “they’ll be waiting for you once you get inside.”

Alan nodded before heading inside the house.

Instantly upon entering, Alan was attacked by three of the nearly immaterial equines.

Opting for a low guard, Alan brought his sword up, under the attack of one of the ponies, stopping him dead in his tracks. The other two, however, were quick to move in, throwing him off balance, and off of his tempo.

Right now he was in a bad situation. He was on the defensive, and his opponent was controlling the fight.

Good, he needed it.

Wow, that sounded arrogant.

Stuck in Dui Tempe, Alan was forced to counterattack after the opponent attacked. Dui Tempe was the slowest tempo, also the easiest to use. It was also the easiest to break. The issue was, of course, that since he was facing two opponents, they could stagger their tempo to essentially always be on the offensive.

Which, of course, they did.

Twilight was smart like that. After all, she had read the material.

Sidestepping, Alan isolated one of the enemies, before binding their blades. Forcing the other pony around, Alan had just enough time to reach with his left hand for his enemy’s hilt. With a quick tug, Alan yanked the blade away from the pony’s magical grasp, before turning both blades on the now defenseless enemy.

Now it was just him and his opponent.

Alan and the mana pony circled, Alan always moved the blades as he did, moving from guard to guard; low, middle, high, middle, and low again, but never the same guard twice. Alan went to another low guard, before suddenly making an uppercut move, hitting the ethereal pony’s own guard, and sending the blade up.

Twilight’s puppet parried, pushing back on Alan’s sword as it went passed him.

Alan’s sword, going much farther than he wanted, would simply take too long to get back into position.

With that in mind, and Twilight’s stick sword coming very close to his chest, Alan jumped backward, a very long movement in the tempo, but necessary. Of course, now that there was no consistent tempo, he could start one. Jumping forward, but not closing the distance entirely, he hoped to start Mezzo Tempo, “half time.”

Half time was the tempo of attacking an enemy before he finishes his own attack. It was the fastest of the three tempos, however, also the hardest to use.

Might as well aim high, right?

The pony went in for an attack, and Alan returned with his own slash at the pony’s head, just as the pony had wound up his own swing.

“Not bad, Alan,” Twilight said from the balcony, coming down the stairs. “You managed tempo really well.”

“Thanks,” Alan said, before sliding Judgement home, “but you didn’t do too bad yourself setting up that fight, trying to keep me off balance.”

“Thanks.” she said. “But...” she hesitated, her gaze falling.

“What?” Alan asked.

“Well...I, um...I was actually kind of hoping to spar against you...you know, so I can improve, and ultimately, help you get better.”

Alan cocked his head. “What? Why? Aren’t you getting enough practice already?”

“Well, yes, but...I thought that this would be a good experience for me. Besides, I know you won’t actually hurt me. Because...I trust you...” She mumbled the last sentence, so quiet that Alan didn’t even hear her.

“Well...alright...” Alan said, before picking up one of the sticks that lay on the floor, handing it to the unicorn’s magical grasp. “Well then, where do you want to start?”

“The beginning is as good a place as any.”

Alan nodded. “Alright, well then, I guess the parts of the sword then...”

Drawing his sword, Alan held Judgement carefully in his hands, “To start with the obvious, we have the Hilt, composed of the pommel, handle, and quillons.” His hand went from the grip to the blade, “Moving outward, we have the Forte, the strongest, and slowest part of the blade. The Forte can take more punishment than the rest of the blade, and because of this, you always have to use the Forte to defend.” He moved his hand down to the tip of the blade, “The point, referred to as the Foible, is the weakest part of the blade, however, it is also the fastest, able to make attacks much faster than the Forte. So, always attack with Foible, defend with the Forte. And then finally we have the Mezzo, meaning ‘middle’, which can be used for both offense and defense.”

“Ok,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes, “We can skip ahead a bit.”

“Alright,” Alan said, heading up the stairs, “then we’re going to spar.”

“Then why are you going upstairs?” she asked.

“You’ll see!” he said, before disappearing into his room. He reappeared a second later, holding something in his hand.

“I know you’ve got some skill, Twi,” Alan said, “but now you have to physically move to press your advantage.”

“Why did you bring down your clock?” she asked.

“It’s called an iPod,” he said, flipping through his library. “I’d figure you’d know that, considering how many times I’ve asked you to charge it.”

“And why did you bring it down here?”

“Workout music.”

She blinked.

“Aw, buck it, just go for shuffle,” Alan said, before picking up one of the other discarded sticks, and slipping into a low guard.

A slow metal guitar came from the small thing’s speaker.

“Oh, man,” Alan said, “it’d have to pick their slow song.” He moved to change it, but was quickly interrupted.

“Hang on, I want to hear that.” Twilight said, as the vocals began.

“So why don’t you come with me?

Take a trip to the other side.

Where you, you and I, we can sing, we can fly

We can dance as the stars go by.

And if the heavens should open up

With a vision inside Jah love

The earth and the moon and the sun will align

With the voice from the sky above, one love

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

So come on and shine with me

Shine with me.”

The chorus struck a chord with Twilight, not that she really understood why, but she really liked it.

“Float through the sky and look through my eyes

And then you will see what happens

Nowhere to hide, look deep down inside

In life you must take your chances

And come with me

And you will see

My love is like

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la, la”

Ok...that was pretty pointless.

“And come with me

And you will see

One love

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

Shine with me.”

Again, that chorus.

“Shine on, shine on, shine on, one love

Shine on, shine on, shine on, one love

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

And shine with me

Shine with me, shine with me”

The song ended, and Twilight was silent for a while.

“Well?” Alan asked.

“I liked it.”

“Good. Now let’s get to the fight, shall we?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

A day or so later, Twilight was getting another lesson.

“Alright, Twi, as you know, Arthur frequently mentions ‘The Path’ in his book.”

“Yes,” she replied, sounding bored.

“The Path is how the sword moves best around your body, keeping momentum and allowing smooth movement. It is not to be confused with the resistance that a sword will produce, but rather, it is resistance from one’s own body.”

“Yes, yes.”

“You have a major advantage in this,” he said, tossing one of their sparring sticks at her, which she expertly caught with magic.

“Since you control your sword with magic, you do not have the same limitations of arms and hands; you are able to contort the sword in ways that would break my arms.” Alan circled her, “However, with this advantage, there comes a disadvantage.” As he came across her he snatched the handle of the sword, wresting it from her magical grasp. “You’re more easily disarmed.”

“Yes, yes, let’s get on with it, already,” Twilight groaned.

“As you wish,” was the only reply before cold steel ripped through her.

Pain erupted from her nerves as she stared face to face with the red-eyed man. Discord laughed, and she could only gasp for breath.

Twilight sat up in bed panting.

Another nightmare.

She slammed her pillow with a hoof. “Come on! This is the fourth night in a row! Let me sleep!”

I will...once you prove that you trust him.

“I do trust him!” she said aloud, before a half-asleep groan from Spike’s basket reminded her that he was there. “Fine,” She whispered to herself, getting out of bed. “You want to see me trust him? I show you trust— I will put myself in the most vulnerable position I can think of, then we’ll see who’s trusting here.”

She stopped in front of his bedroom door, before her brain managed to catch up with her.

What are you doing? Did you seriously come down here to ask if you could sleep with him tonight?

“Well...that sounds a lot worse when you put it that way.”

You were about to go in there and ask if you could sleep with him tonight.

“Ok, yeah...that sounds bad...”

Alright, assuming that he doesn’t take this the dirty way, you expect him to give you room in what he has already described as a horribly crowded bed, and snuggle with you as though you were some massive teddy bear?

“Well...”

And if, Celestia forbid, he takes it the wrong way, do you realize how many ethical issues would be brought up?

“Ok, look, it wasn’t my best idea, alright?”

I’ll say.

“But I am still going to do it.”

What?

“I’m going to prove that I trust him,” she told herself before quietly opening his door.

Woah, woah, slow down, Twi, this is not appropriate.

“Don’t care right now,” she thought back, tip-hoofing to the bedside.

Her subconscious was about to reply with yet another excuse, but Twilight cut it off. “Alan?”

The figure under the blanket shifted.

“Alan?”

A moan answered her, as a hand reached for his iPod. The screen flashed to life, and Alan groaned again. “Twilight, it’s three in the morning.”

“I know, I know...it’s just...” she paused, looking down at her hooves, and blushing. “I just...I can’t sleep. I’ve been having nightmares for the past few nights, and I was just wondering if I could...well, sleep with you tonight?”

Alan didn’t reply, but simply moved over and opened the blanket.

“Thank you, I’m sorry about this, I really am, thank you.”

“Just go to sleep,” he answered, trying to sound as gentle as possible while being so tired.

She nodded as she got close to him, one of his arms falling over her.

She didn’t mind that much.

And then, finally, she went to sleep, a deep, dreamless sleep.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Across the sea, in the Empire of Gryphus, General Markus Ironclaw checked over his uniform. Ironclaw’s brother, King Bloodfeather, would only expect the best from his general.

Ironclaw quickly stifled the need to strangle said sibling, before taking a deep breath. Holding it for a second, he exhaled, before nodding to one of the guards.

The Guard opened the door, and Ironclaw entered his older brother's throne room.

King Bloodfeather laughed as his general entered, enjoying some joke that one of his many viziers told him.

Bloodfeather’s viziers had the hardest job, Ironclaw thought, keeping his moron of a relative happy on a 24 hour basis.

“Ah!” the King said, raising his golden goblet, sloshing the wine in it. “My General! Back from the battlefield of politics, I see!”

“It was a crime scene,” Ironclaw deadpanned, “An assassination of one of your highest ranking nobles.”

Bloodfeather waved a dismissive claw. “Politics, like I said.”

Ironclaw’s eye twitched.

“So what have you learned from your dive into...what’s the word?” he asked one of his viziers.

“Forensics, your Highness.”

“Yes!” he cheered, “forensics!”

Ironclaw briefly wondered what power had caused him to be born second of a set of twins, with that moron on the throne by two minutes and twenty three seconds. “Well, your Highness, we have been able to determine who was in fact guilty for the crime.”

“Good! Give him a fortune, and then behead him!”

Ironclaw did his best not to sigh. “Your Highness, there is a slight issue.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

Ironclaw reached into the bag he had carried in with him, and pulled out a plaster mold. “The creature that killed Lord Goldbelly, left this print.”

“Let me see.”

The general approached, handing the mold to the king.

Bloodfeather looked it over, his eyebrow rising. It looked similar to a claw, but its five talons were not deep, but rather much longer, with the exception of the fifth, which seemed stubby by comparison. “And what manner of creature leaves a print like this?”

Ironclaw smirked. “Only one. A Human, and there is but one human in all the world.”

I am so sorry.

This chapter was much too long in coming.

There are a few reasons for this, the first being writer’s block for my first story, then I was waiting for my new research material (a few books on swordsmanship), I lost my internet connection on Saturday, and finally, I recently got myself an editor, and there were a few scheduling issues.

So anyway, say hi to Count Calamari, or Sir Squidfish, or whatever you want to be called.

“Hi Fishie!”

“Uh...thanks...Pinkie.”

You get used to it.

“I noticed you have a lot of italics in this chapter.”

Yeah, I may have gone a little overboard with that.

“Oh, so it’s supposed to be like that? I thought my head was crooked.”

Well anyway, guys, I’m sure after a long wait like that, the last thing you want to hear is that the next chapter will take longer, but...

“There’s just no easy way to break it to you, but smile anyways, because Fishie and DM here are going to be hard at work!”

Yes we will, the Count and I are going to be editing the previous chapters to make your reading experience all the better.

“So, do be patient, we’re going to be busy, but the next chapter will be good.”

“I second that!”

Motion carried, it will be awesome. In the meantime, thanks for reading, and See you guys later!

“Oh! One more thing, the super-awesome song Alan played can be found here!”

“Bye guys, and have fun!"

15-Pendragon Rising

Chapter 15

Celestia took a long and slow sip of tea as she gazed at the “ambassador” across the table through half-lidded eyes.

The griffon, General Markus Ironclaw, was very smartly dressed, his scarlet formal wear adorned with several dozen medals and badges from more than a few campaigns. Around his wrists he wore silver bands, a marking of his rank as well as a sign of his royal blood. His red-tinged plumage was well kept, and Celestia could tell that he, or at the very least, his servants, spent more than a few hours preparing him for this visit.

There was a scar running the length of his face, barely missing his left eye, which squinted a little compared to the right. It was a long, three clawed scratch, left by the four-toed ligers far to the south of the empire. This, of course, meant that the General here fought his own battles, and he earned those medals rather than a select few of his ancestors that simply ordered their griffins around.

Celestia lowered her cup of tea and stared at the griffin in silence.

His wings fluttered, revealing missing primary feathers as well as a few more scars.

He was anxious.

Celestia took another long sip of tea, and the General simply stood, waiting.

He was also patient.

“General Ironclaw,” the princess spoke at last. “What brings you to my kingdom?”

“Tragedy, I’m afraid,” the griffin said. “As of last month, the lord Sir Byron Goldbelly, was murdered in his bedroom.”

Celestia’s remained impassive as she took another sip of her tea. “How dreadful. However, I don’t see how Equestria is involved in this.”

Ironclaw answered by pulling out a plaster cast. “There is no easy way to say this, your majesty, however it seems that the guilty party may be taking refuge in Equestria.”

“Well, I am sure that you should be able to find the griffon responsible; there are only a hoof-ful in Equestria at a time.”

“A griffon did not kill Lord Goldbelly,” the general said, setting the plaster down on the table.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Surely you aren’t suggesting a pony murdered him?”

“No, it was no griffon, no pony, no liger, no minotaur; nothing that we are familiar with.”

“Then what?” the Princess asked, staring intently at the general.

A hardly noticeable smirk flew across the general’s beak. He nodded towards the cast. “He left his print, your majesty.”

From where she sat, Celestia picked it up with her magical might and held the item up so she could see it.

Her face remained impassive as she stared at the handprint, the human’s rather distinct five-fingered palm staring back at her.

“From what I understand, Lord Warbeak briefly saw a human here at the Grand Galloping Gala a few months ago. We believe he is the one responsible.”

Celestia set the plaster down and took yet another sip of tea. “General,” she said, clearing her throat, “while your appetite for justice is commendable, in Equestria, we try the accused in their presence. Likewise, I will not discuss his guilt or innocence until he is with us.”

Ironclaw nodded, a small, well-hidden smile on his face. “Of course, of course, I understand completely.”

Celestia gave him a small, fake smile. “Thank you for understanding. I will summon him, and he should arrive within a week.”

Yes. A week should be enough time to be sure...

“In the meantime,” the Princess continued, “please, enjoy your stay.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan laughed, before cutting himself off.

Twilight hated when he laughed like that.

“Sorry,” he said, parrying her attack.

“Just don’t do that!” she said, spinning her “sword” around at him.

He ducked under it, coming up behind her defense.

She quickly jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the incoming stick.

Alan suddenly ducked as Twi’s own weapon came flying overhead. “You should have gotten your sword back faster.”

“I was busy jumping,” she said, going in for another attack.

Alan parried her charge to the side, and with a powerful swing, tapped at her chest. “Touche,” he said.

Twilight sighed, before dropping her stance.

“You got too close that time,” Alan said, taking her stick as well as his.

Twilight gave a frustrated groan. “Why is this so much harder to do?”

“Harder than what?”

“It’s just much harder to fight down here than up there,” she said, waving in the direction of the balcony where she would control her mana ponies.

“Well, of course it’s harder,” Alan said, setting the sticks up in their designated place. “Up there you’re watching from above, you can think clearly. Down here, it’s like having stage fright, except the audience is trying to kill you.”

Twilight huffed.

“Hey now,” Alan scolded, “no need to get all pouty-wouty.”

Twi glanced at him. “Pouty-wouty?”

“I think Pinkie may be rubbing off on me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled slightly.

A sudden belch from the kitchen got their attention.

“I really hope he didn’t hit the cookbooks,” Alan said as Spike walked into the main room, scroll in hand.

Twilight, doing as she always did, took the scroll and read it. She reread it before giving the gathered audience the shortened version. “Celestia wants to see you in Canterlot. Something about a foreign dignitary wanting to see you.”

“Really? That’s weird,” Alan said.

“She also wants me to gather the others—apparently this is a pretty big deal.”

“But she didn’t say what?”

“No, she’s awfully vague with this letter,” she said, checking the back just in case.

“Alright, well, you go get the girls. I’ll make myself ready to present myself for royalty.”

Twilight nodded before heading out of the library while Alan began to head upstairs. Halfway up, a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Spike.”

“Yeah?” the dragon answered.

“Is it just me or has Twi been acting a little weird?”

“You mean other than climbing into bed with you for every night for the past month and half?”

“That sounds a lot worse than it is, and yes, other than that.”

“No, not really.”

“Well, gee, thanks,” Alan said, continuing to his room.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia watched carefully as the general prodded at the meal that she had provided for him.

Since Equestria was very much lacking in hunters, her staff couldn’t really prepare any meat for him, and while griffons were known to occasionally partake of fruits and vegetables, they were predominantly carnivores.

The lack of flesh was wearing the general thin.

He poked at the dish, made entirely out of apples and grass, picking the fruit carefully out of the blades of inedible vegetation.

“Will he arrive soon?” he asked, looking up from his meal in an attempt to distract himself.

“Indeed,” was the only reply.

The general said nothing.

Finally, the door opened, and Celestia’s herald spoke. “Announcing Sir Alan Williams of Earth, Hero of Equestria, Defeater of Discord, Wielder of Judgement, and Heir of Arthur. Accompanying him, are: Miss Twilight Sparkle, student of the Princess Celestia, and Bearer of the Element of Magic, Defeater of Discord.

“Miss Rainbow Dash, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Defeater of Discord.

“Miss Pinkamena Pie, Bearer of the Element of Laughter, Defeater of Discord.

“Miss Applejack, Bearer of the Element of Honesty, Defeater of Discord.

“Miss Rarity, Bearer of the Element of Generosity, Defeater of Discord, and Miss Fluttershy, Bearer of the Element of Kindness, Defeater of Discord.”

Once properly introduced, the seven guests entered the room. Alan was dressed in his suit, the one with the ruby-lined hems, Judgement hanging from his side. The others were clothed in simple dresses. Except, of course, for Rarity, who wore the most opulent thing Celestia had seen since the very first Gala.

“Welcome my little ponies,” Celestia said with a smile, “and welcome to you as well, Sir Alan.”

“Princess Celestia,” Alan greeted with a bow, “how may we be of service?”

“You can start by explaining why you killed a griffin noble,” the general said, standing.

“Excuse me?” Alan asked.

Celestia sent the general a glare, informing him to shut up.

Ironclaw hesitantly sat.

“Alan,” Celestia said, once she was happy with the griffin, “why don’t you take a seat?”

They sat, wondering at the griffon, as well as Celestia’s vague manner.

While he was sitting, Alan gave the griffon a long, hard look. The scar on his face was not ugly by any means, but it was something of a surprise that anyone, pony or otherwise, in Equestria would have a scar such as that. The general's yellow eyes instantly brought Volo's to mind, but that thought was soon dismissed once the stare turned haughty. A sneer appeared on the General's face, and a hint of malice joined the arrogance in his eyes.

Alan didn't like him.

Once everyone had been seated, the Princess spoke. “It seems a handprint was found at the scene of a crime in the Empire of Gryphus across the sea.”

“What crime?” Twi asked.

“The murder of the noble Sir Byron Goldbelly. It happened one month and one week ago as of Tuesday.”

“That was the day after Discord’s defeat,” Rarity noted.

“Yes,” Ironclaw mumbled. “The defeat that we have heard so much about.”

“Well, then, it couldn’t have been Alan,” Twilight said. “He was unconscious in the hospital that day.”

Alan had said nothing, holding his stare against the General's own, a frown deepening on his lips.

“An interesting alibi,” the general scoffed, holding Alan's glare, “but it ultimately falls short.”

“Yeah,” Alan said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Because I can do so many things while being comatose.”

The griffon frowned, standing, “I will be addressed with respect by the likes of civilians like you.”

Alan leaned over the table. “And I will give respect to those who have earned it, and so far the only thing you’ve earned is—”

“Alan,” Celestia said, cutting him short, “I did not call you here for petty arguing.”

Alan nodded before sitting down, the griffin wearing a smug grin.

“I see the Princess keeps her dear pet in check,” The general smirked, before whispering just loudly enough to hear “just as well in court as the bedroom.”

Alan jumped back up to his feet, Rainbow Dash with him. “Say that again,” he dared.

“Alan,” Celestia warned.

Alan glared at the griffon before he sat again.

“Now, as for you, General.”

“Yes?” he asked.

“It is well documented that Alan was in fact in the hospital on the day of the murder, and since it takes at least two weeks to cross the ocean, he could not have been in the empire at that time.”

“By conventional travel,” Ironclaw said.

“Pardon?”

“It takes two weeks to get there by conventional travel,” the General repeated. “Answer me this, your Highness, how long does teleportation take?”

Celestia didn’t answer.

“It’s instantaneous is it not? Therefore, distance traveled is not an issue. All that’s needed is the help of a very powerful unicorn, and did your herald not say that Miss Sparkle there is the Bearer of the Element of Magic?”

“You leave them out of this,” Alan warned.

“Oh?” The griffon smirked. “Perhaps they are innocent, but that still leaves my question unanswered. After all, who else would have so much power to send someone of your considerable bulk across the sea?” He turned his head, staring Celestia in the eye. “Who indeed?”

Alan’s eye twitched.

“Are you implying something, General?” Celestia asked coolly, sipping on her tea.

“Possibly.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, obviously not amused. “Alan was still unconscious, and as he so wisely pointed out, he couldn’t do anything in that state.”

“The evidence says otherwise,” the griffin said, sliding the plaster cast across the table. “Doesn't it?”

Alan looked down at the cast, a perfect impression of a hand. A hand his size.

Even if it wasn’t a perfect fit, it would be close enough to incriminate him.

Staring at the cast, he spoke, calmly. “How did he die?”

“What?” the General asked.

“How was he killed?”

Ironclaw raised an eyebrow. “Strangulation.”

Alan smirked. “Then it wasn’t me.”

“But the print—”

“Have you ever heard of the Death of a Thousand Cuts?” Alan asked, interrupting. “Invented in China, the process included one thousand, individual cuts on the body. None of the cuts would be deep enough to cause death on their own, but combined, they bring about one of the slowest and most agonizing deaths known to my people.”

The ponies around the room stared at him with wide eyes.

“No cut crosses any major artery or vein. Rather, they are slow, methodical, almost superficial wounds that cover the body from head to toe, letting the blood slowly seep out of the victim almost as slow as his own life.” Alan looked at the griffin right in the eyes. “If I wanted someone dead, general, it would be an ordeal.”

Total silence hovered in the room.

Alan picked up the mold and tossed it behind him, where it shattered upon hitting the floor. “Now, you have been rude, annoying, insulting, and quite frankly, I just don’t like you, so why don’t you apologize, or I’ll start with cut number one.”

Ironclaw stood, his face red, shaking with rage. “Did I not say I will be treated with respect? And now you threaten me?” He thrust the table away from him, moving it barely an inch, as he began to leave. “When I return to the Empire, they will hear about this, and it will be war!”

Alan stood. “Who says you get to go back?”

The griffin paused, hesitating for a second.

“I do,” Celestia said from her throne. “You may go, General.”

The griffon turned, and looking to the Princess he said three words that made almost everyone in the room tremble. “This is war.”

And with that he left, the door shutting behind him.

Silence.

And then the room exploded in noise. The royal guards, normally quiet and collected, began shouting questions at each other and wondering aloud if they would be put on the front line. The Mane Six, not being so disciplined, were almost rioting in panic.

Alan stood stock still, his eyes widening as he suddenly realized what he had done.

“Silence,” Celestia ordered, and the room went quiet.

Alan stood, staring at the door. “Oh what have I done?”

Celestia was quiet for a second.

“Alan,” she said, sternly. “Come here.”

Alan turned to face the impassive face of the equine ruler, her one visible eye scowling at him.

Gulping, Alan approached.

What had he just done? Insulted and threatened an ambassador, a well decorated general, no less, and brought war to the peaceful country of Equestria. He was probably going to die a very painful death for this. Did ponies know about being hung, drawn, and quartered?

The Princess stared at him, her singular gaze ripping through his very soul. “Do you realize what you’ve just done?” she asked simply.

“Brought war upon Equestria?” he said, hoping his honesty would give him some lenience.

“No,” Celestia said, before breaking into a smile. “You made the poor General leave a mess on my floor.”

Alan blinked.

Celestia chuckled to herself, before her face went grim again. “No, I’m afraid that he would have declared war whether or not I handed you over. For the past week the General has been stalking my castle, checking its defense, and it is only because I have lived so long that I have hidden its strengths as weaknesses and its weaknesses, strengths.”

Alan blinked again.

She sighed, before looking him straight in the eye. “We are going to war,” she said. “We need our Pendragon.”

Alan’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed.

He nodded.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The emergency train had the mane six and Alan arrive back in Ponyville in no time, and Alan wasted none of it before getting back to his room.

The train car on the way over was filled with panicked mumblings between the mares. Alan, however, was silently thinking about what this meant for him.

Twilight had been silent too.

Off came the suit, on went the toughest clothes he had, the set that Rarity said could take anything. Then the blades, all of them, the throwing knives, the sheath knife, and Judgement slid back into place after being moved so he could change. Then the duster, Volo’s perch, and his hat.

Twilight just watched.

Turning to his bedside table he opened the drawer. Reaching in, he reverently pulled out two, small items. The first, a purple-tinged, ebony claw, hollowed out as a horn. The other, a black banner with a silver dragon. Taking the Horn of Arthur by the long, leather strap, he tied it to his belt before throwing the banner over his shoulder.

Twilight watched silently.

Without another word, Alan exited his room, passing the mare on his way out.

She looked nervous.

The Princesses would arrive shortly; they had left barely after he and the mares did, but they had a chariot.

He had to make his entrance.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Derpy, mailmare by profession, assistant by choice, suddenly found herself at ends with herself. On the one hoof, she had to deliver a package to one Carrot Top, from the weight and size, she guessed it was perhaps a new watering can. On the other hoof, she had to stop The Doctor from ruining his appetite with...those monstrosities.

“No!” she yelled. “Don’t you even think about eating that!”

“But, but it’s just an english muffin,” he whimpered.

“It doesn’t even look like a muffin!” she cried. “It’s a really small, really thick, poorly baked pancake!”

The Doctor opened his mouth in an attempt to defend this particular regeneration’s favorite breakfast food, when he saw something in the corner of his eye. Blinking, he turned and saw a golden chariot, pulled by two white, gold clad pegasi, followed closely by a dark blue, almost black chariot pulled by black, blue clad pegasi. “Are those what I think they are?” he asked.

The wall-eyed pegasus looked up, or, would have, had her eyes been properly aligned. She shook her head furiously, and, blinking, adjusted her eyes. “Better,” she mumbled, before looking up.

Her jaw dropped.

“That’s what I thought,” the Doctor said.

They weren’t the only ones to see it either, as a crowd began to gather.

The two royal chariots landed, resting in front of the town hall, the Princesses of both day and night seated regally on them. More ponies began to gather as a ripple of murmurs flew through the town, and it was not long before all of Ponyville surrounded the chariots.

The hushed murmurs of ponies was a practical cacophony as they all asked variations of the same question. What happened that forced both Princesses to visit their small town of Ponyville?

Celestia raised a hoof to her mouth, as if to clear her throat, and the ponies silenced themselves.

Celestia let the silence hang for a second, and sighed. “My little ponies, we have come with dreadful news. It seems that after one millennium of peace, we are endangered again by the threat of war.”

A collective gasp rippled outward, and another worried murmur broke out amongst the gathered ponies.

“We ask for thine silence,” Luna said, perhaps a little too loud, but nonetheless, it got their attention. The one perk to the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Celestia continued. “As we speak, the Griffon General is readying to leave our borders. Once he reaches his own shore, he will be raising an army.” Celestia lowered her head, and the ponies watched as their strong ruler transformed into a sorrowful pony. “I hate to ask this of you,” she said, almost whispering, “but at a time like this, Equestria needs soldiers.” She raised her head again. “We need strong, courageous mares and stallions to stand today, to be willing to lay down everything for the protection of Equestria. Which of you will do this?”

There was silence.

And then the crowd erupted into bedlam.

Ponies began yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs, wondering aloud about their soon-to-be-disrupted lives, the deaths of loved ones, or worse, their own. Celestia tried to speak again, but no one paid enough attention to give her the silence.

Luna was about to shout again when suddenly, two, loud, long, crystal clear notes echoed in the air.

The crowd collectively shivered as something that felt like electricity flew down their spines. The crowd searched, trying to find the source of the noise. Once they had, they saw Alan, a horn in his hand, and a bird on his shoulder. “I will,” he said.

The ponies parted like the Red Sea before Moses as Alan approached, watching him in quiet awe. With a few quick steps with his long legs, he was standing before both Princesses. “I volunteer as a soldier. I would prefer to die for something than to live for nothing.”

Celestia nodded, and the sisters asked in unison. “Sir Alan Williams of Earth, will you be our Pendragon?”

In response, Alan drew Judgement, and knelt. Volo took to the sky as Alan held the blade horizontally, presenting to the solar ruler.

Alan then opened his mouth to speak. He felt he needed some oath, some binding words to forever hold him to this station. It had to be something of grave importance, something worthy enough to be written down and remembered through the eons.

So why, why by all things good and holy, was the only thing that was coming to mind the Green Lantern Oath?

“I-in Brightest Day, In Blackest Night.”

Seriously? Couldn’t be original or something?

“Let no evil escape my sight.”

Come on! Put some brain power into this!

“By-by Luna’s Grace, and Celestia’s Light.”

Better...

“May they fear my blade, Pendragon’s Might.” He hesitated a second, feeling that it needed something else. Unfortunately, he had run out of -ight rhymes. “Until my Lieges release me, or Death take me. So be it.”

Celestia gave him a soft smile as she magically lifted the blade from his outstretched hands. Speaking in a much quieter variation of the Canterlot voice, she brought the blade down so it barely touched his shoulder. “We name thee Pendragon Alan Williams of Earth. May thee be blessed with wisdom and victory,” she said as she brought the sword above his head, and down onto his other shoulder.

Judgement gently landed back in his hands, and he stood.

On that fall day, a day that history would remember forever, Equestria received its second, but by no means last, Pendragon.

<<<|Ω|>>>

That day, 72 of Ponyville’s 300 ponies signed themselves over as volunteers. 72 new, brave, courageous, fearless, and utterly green soldiers.

Alan wished he had brought his copy of Sun Tzu.

Throwing most of his possessions, a list of things that was still not too terribly long, into his backpack, he went through his fourth checklist, just to make sure he had everything.

He was vaguely aware that Twilight was staring at him silently.

Finally satisfied, Alan zipped the bag shut. Shouldering it, he stood, and began to head downstairs.

He was stopped by the lavender unicorn standing in his way. They both stared at each other, an angry look in Twilight’s eyes. “So that’s it, huh?” she said, finally. “You’re just going to go out there and murder griffons, huh?”

Alan blinked, “Th-that’s not what I’m doing.”

“Isn’t it?” she asked, “You’re going out there with the express purpose of killing griffins. That sounds like murder to me.”

“That’s not it, Twilight,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m protecting us from them.”

“From a war you started.”

“Princess Celestia said—”

“And how do I know you didn’t manipulate her too?”

Alan’s face went red, and he began to shake. “How dare you,” he said, his voice quivering.

“You are a violent, war-mongering, murderer,” Twilight said, staring Alan in the face, neither noticing the front door opening. “You can hardly control yourself when you fight, and that just makes it all the more obvious.”

Alan quivered.

“You are a bloodthirsty monster,” she said, as Alan pushed her aside. “You fight to kill!” she screamed after him. “You kill because you are a monster!”

Alan descended the stairs, not saying a word as his rage built.

“Nopony can trust you! Nopony is safe around you!”

Alan walked across the library, passing the five silent ponies watching the fight with wide eyes.

“You sadist! You are going to go out there, and you are going to die!”

Alan stepped out into the evening air, and slammed the door shut.

Twilight stood there, before screaming in frustration.

“Uh...Twi...” Applejack started, “you ok?”

The unicorn sighed. “No, I’m not.”

“Well, uh...we figured since your house is closest ta the train station we could spend the night here before we all left for Canterlot in the mornin’.”

“I’m not going,” Twilight said.

“What?”

“I’m not going, Alan can go get himself killed, I’m staying right—”

She was interrupted as a cyan hoof slapped her across the face, sending her sprawling across the floor. “Don’t you dare say that!” a furious Rainbow Dash yelled.

Twilight gawked at pegasus, who had crossed the whole room in a second to slap her. Her fierce eyes looked like they were trying to hold back an angry tear.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack cried, jumping on Rainbow to try to pin her.

“Don’t you even think about saying that!” Dashie yelled, glaring down at the shocked unicorn.

“What the hay is your problem, Dash?” Applejack asked.

The pegasus turned, staring the farmer right in the eye. “Do you know what I told him?”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Do you know what I told him the day Discord attacked? Do you know what I said to him?”

Everypony went silent, as those terrible memories came back, as every discorded word returned to the forefront of their minds.

No one had had the courage to say what they had said, no one had shared her deepest shame.

“I-I told him,” Dash said, “I told him that he could die alone for all I care. I told him that I didn’t care about Equestria, that I didn’t care about my friends.” She looked Twilight right in the eye. “I will not make Discord honest.”

The pegasus headed straight for the door. “If Alan’s going to die, then the least I can do is die with him. I will be there for him, like he’s been there for us.” The pegasus shot the unicorn a glare. “Because he’s always been there for us.”

The door slammed shut again.

There was silence in the treehouse for a second before a quiet, somber voice spoke next. “She’s right you know.”

Every head turned to Pinkie, her mane drooping ever-so-slightly as she spoke, her face impassive.

“We owe him a death among friends. We owe him that much at least.”

The almost morbid phrase stunned the others into silence as they watched Pinkie leave.

Rarity stared down at the floor. “I...I better make sure he has somewhere to sleep tonight,” she said, her voice quiet, and her tone timid. “I don’t think he be too eager to come back here.”

Twilight flinched at the statement.

“I, uh, better go and make sure he has something to eat,” Applejack said before following the white unicorn out.

Then it was just Twilight and Fluttershy left in the room.

“F-Fluttershy?”

She looked up at her. “He’s...um...he’s not,” she said, her voice calm.

“He’s not what?”

“Those things you called him. He isn’t any of those things.”

Twilight knew that...

“That was very mean, Twilight...” she said before following the others out.

Twilight sighed, dropping her head on the railing, letting the pain course through her as some sort of penance.

What was she doing?

A hint of purple in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she looked up to see Spike heading for the door.

“Spike?”

“I’m going Twilight,” he said. “They’re going to need a fast way to communicate. They can use me.”

“Spike, you’re too young, you can’t—”

“I’m eighteen, thank you very much,” the dragon said. “I’m only young physically; I’m old enough to know what I’m doing.”

The door open and shut, leaving Twilight totally alone.

What was she doing?

Well, that annoying voice in her head said, in review, you have insulted one of your best friends, angered another, and drove the remaining three away along with the dragon that is essentially your younger brother.

Shut up.

You furthermore questioned the mental stability of the human who has been exceedingly generous to you, going so far as to share his bed with you for the express purpose of helping you sleep at night. On top of that, you insulted the bravery of the 72 new volunteers for Equestria’s army.

Shut up.

All because you can’t differentiate between a dream and reality.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” she screamed at the mental accuser, holding her hooves to her ears to try and drown it out.

Tears were running down her face as a sob racked her body.

What did she just do?

She lay there on the floor of the library, crying as she tried to figure out why she had done this.

“Twilight?” a soft voice called.

She opened her eyes and instantly recognized the white coat, “Oh, Princess, sorry, I...” she mumbled, getting up and wiping her eyes.

Celestia’s head dropped, nuzzling the poor unicorn.

Twilight broke down again.

Celestia let her cry as Twilight wept into her coat. “Why?” she moaned. “Why am I doing this?”

Celestia draped one of her long forelegs around the crying unicorn, much the same way she had when Twilight had been just a filly, crying at the monsters in the darkness. “What’s wrong, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

Twilight sniffed, “Everything’s wrong. Everything.” She hung her head. “I’ve just driven everyone away again. This is my fault, all of it.”

“Why did you do this?” Celestia asked, softly.

“Because...because...” Twilight struggled, searching for the right word, “because I’m afraid.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I-I don’t want to lose him.”

“Alan?”

“Yes...he...he loses himself sometimes, he fights like a madpony and he laughs like a maniac, and I’m afraid that...if he does that...he may not come back...”

Celestia nodded.

“And now...now he’s going off to war, and he may not come back at all...”

“Twilight,” Celestia began, hugging the unicorn tightly. “Do you know why he’s going out there to fight?”

“To protect us?” Twilight asked.

Celestia smiled. “I have heard many philosophers through the years, dozens of proverbs, but there is one that I have found to be always true. ‘There is no greater love than this, than to give up one’s life for a friend.’”

Twilight looked up at her.

“Alan loves you, Twilight. Whether as friends, siblings, or more than that, it is not my place to say, but he loves you Twilight. He’s willing to die for you.”

Twilight blinked.

“So my question to you, Twilight, is how much do you love your friends?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The armor-plated train sluggishly pulled up to the Ponyville station; the large steel plates made the thing look ugly. Alan grimaced at the sight, wondering where the overly-happy-looking train had disappeared to.

Next to the human stood five ponies. His closest friends, as well as Spike, still snoring as he lay on Rarity’s back in the early morning.

Behind them stood Ponyville’s 72 bravest.

Alan’s eyes made a quick scan over the crowd, naming the few he recognized: Vinyl Scratch, Big Mac, Lyra, Derpy and the Doctor, a handful of mares, but mostly stallions. Shopkeepers and food sellers, waiters and carpenters, repairponies and ice cream vendors.

These were not soldiers.

The train’s steam whistle let loose two sharp, piercing notes that startled the dragon awake. “Wha-what’s going on?” he mumbled.

“Nothing, dear,” Rarity whispered, “go back to sleep, you need your rest.”

Alan said nothing.

Ponies began to load themselves into the train, moving silently as they each wore determined faces.

Twilight wasn’t there.

Before long, all 72 ponies had climbed inside, leaving only the seven figures on the station floor.

“Sir?” the conductor asked, a pony wearing a golden helmet.

“We’re waiting for someone,” Alan replied in a deadpan.

The conductor nodded before ducking back into the train.

Five minutes passed.

“Should we...?” Rainbow Dash began.

“Yeah, go ahead inside,” Alan said. “I’ll wait a little longer. Give her one last chance.”

The others began to file inside, one by one until only Alan was left.

The only sound was the hiss of steam as the train engine warmed up.

An eagle cry pierced the sky, and Alan held out a gloved hand as Volo perched on it. “What about you?” he asked. “You gonna come with me?”

In response, Volo side-stepped to the fox leather shoulder perch.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Alan said, before the eagle nibbled at his ear.

“Hey,” Alan laughed, giving a playful swat to the bird, who ruffled her feathers in response.

Another minute passed...

Finally, Alan sighed. “I guess not...” he mumbled.

Turning to the train, Alan grabbed his backpack that lay at his feet, and climbed aboard.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and in a flurry of mana and paper, a voice cried, “I’m not late, am I?”

Alan blinked as a disheveled looking Twilight appeared, her saddlebags laden with books.

“I’m sorry I’m late!” she cried. “I was up all night making a checklist of things I needed to bring, and then, after triple-checking it, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to fit everything in my saddlebags, so I had to start over! It took me three drafts—”

“Twilight.”

“—but I think I got everything I need. I’ve packed a few books that should help. I’ve got Bastila’s Battle Basics, The Filliesburg Account, The Warrior’s Way of War—”

“Twilight.”

“—General Greenbeak’s Guide to Griffon Geography, Lord Vanguards Facts and Formations, as well as—”

“Twilight!”

The unicorn blinked, before giving a nervous laugh, and patting down her crazed mane. “Yeah...”

Alan chuckled. “Are you coming?”

Twilight gave a sheepish smile, “Yeah, yeah I am. Sorry, by the way, about what I said. I was a little stressed and, well...”

“I get it,” Alan said. “I’m sorry for storming out like that. I just didn’t want to say something I’d regret later.”

Twilight gave a hollow laugh. “Wished I was thinking like that...”

She looked up at him, the human from a different world who loved her so much that he was willing to die for her.

“So you climbing aboard, or what?” he asked impatiently.

“Huh? Oh, right, coming!”

And Voila! A new Chapter, and by the time you see this, we should be totally up-to-date in terms of editing, and everything should make more sense now.

“Hopefully...”

Oh, yeah. Hey Pinkie, say hi to Kilokk.

“Hi Kilo!”

“Uh...Hi...Pinkie...?”

Squiddy’s kinda disappeared on me, and while he did come back—

“Present!”

I’ve decided to get someone else to help me out.

“Whee! Another person to talk to! DM’s nice and all, but he gets boring sometimes, I mean, can you believe he spends most of his time watching videos about minecraft and TF2? It’s like they’re the only things he knows—”

Pinkie.

“Yes?”

Enough.

“Ok~!”

Anyways, thanks also to Petro! who also helped out with the editing. Next Chapter, the Ponies Prepare for War.

“Don’t forget to leave your questions, comments and other super-awesome notes for the DM to see!”

“And I better get to work...”

“Right behind you.”

Bye guys, and see you next time.

16-Preparations

Chapter 16

News of the approaching war had spread like wildfire. All across Equestria, farmers, musicians, librarians, weather ponies, patriots all and foolhardy to the tee, were gathering in Canterlot to sign up to join the Equestrian Military.

And that’s why Octavia was getting the buck out of there.

She mentally chided herself for even thinking of the vulgar explicative; really, it was something that she’d expect out of Vinyl.

Yes, her friend Vinyl Scratch, the Fillystine.

The earth pony carefully laid her cello, the only instrument she could bring due to size restrictions, in the back of the pony-drawn carriage. One of the many considering anyone who wasn’t fighting was looking for refuge.

“We accept all ponies from all walks of life!” a crier on the corner yelled, the boy had been going at it for the past three days, going on and on about the noble Pendragon. It was tiring.

“I’m sorry, miss, but we simply can’t take that. It’s just too big.”

Octavia sent the man a glare. “This cello, sir,” she said, hoping her stare would kill him, “was played by the Denis Trott in the Canterlot gardens nearly 200 years ago. It is currently worth more than your entire cart, as well as all of the other luggage, the cart next to us and its luggage, and your great grandmother’s ashes. Do you understand its importance yet, or must I find a drill so that I can bore it into that rock you call your head?”

The cart-drive'rs face went grim, and Octavia wished she hadn't been born with a sharp tongue. “We can’t take it, miss,” he said, taking the case and lifting it out of the cart.

Octavia didn’t even retort. She knew she messed that one up.

Grumbling nonetheless, she carefully took the precious instrument and began heading to the next cart.

How many had that been now, four? She really just needed to shut up sometimes.

On her way to the next cart she went over her plan again. Find a way out of Canterlot, something that theoretically wasn’t difficult since the new military was practically pushing everyone out. After she got out, she would head to Ponyville, where she knew she could stay, or “crash” as Vinyl called it, for a few days or weeks until she found a better place to live.

She probably would be staying with the DJ. The unicorn had always been eager to take her in, especially if it meant she got to blast that noise into the cellist’s ears. Honestly, Octavia wouldn’t mind that much if Scratch actually played something decent, like MC W!sh.

Er, decent comparatively...of course...

Octavia wasn’t entirely sure why Vinyl didn’t play her own music when she was over. It is much better than some of the other crap out there.

Again, comparatively.

So, she would stay with Vinyl for a few days, and then head out from there, probably to Vanhoover.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a very familiar voice. “Tavi? Is that you?”

Octavia stopped mid-step, before turning her head to the direction of the voice.

Vinyl Scratch was staring right back at her.

“Vinyl? What are you doing here?”

The unicorn blinked under her glasses. “I’m under orders to help civvies evac. What are you doing here?”

The words “orders,” “civvies,” and “evac” told Octavia everything she needed to know. “You joined the military?!”

“You’d better believe it, Tavi. Pendragon Al is a cool guy, and by cool I mean chill, so if he’s ready to smack these griffons around, you know they deserve it.”

Octavia blinked.

“But seriously, what are you up to?”

“Well, I was about to head over to Ponyville to spend a few nights at your house while I try to find a new place to stay. Especially since Canterlot is going to be leveled shortly.”

“Pfft,” Scratch dismissed. “As if. Al’s been locked away in the grand council room for the past three days coming up with a strategy. He’ll get those griffons packing so fast that we can start the victory party before they even get here.”

Octavia gave her friend a look.

“Well,” Vinyl began, eyeing the cello case, “since it looks like you’re getting the buck out of here, might as well help you out.”

“That would be appreciated, Vinyl, however, I doubt you could help. These gentlestallions are less cultured than you.”

Scratch smiled, picking the instrument up in a pale blue magical aura. “Ah, but you can’t give them orders.”

Octavia blinked.

“So, how’s life been since you packed out of Ponyville?” the DJ asked as she scanned for an empty cart.

“It’s been fair enough, I suppose,” she answered. “I was invited to a few social outings where I’ve played a few masterpieces.”

“Hm.”

“I’m sure you’d appreciate such works, Vinyl, after all, you are so well versed in Late Reignassance Music.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes.

“What about you, what have you done recently?”

“Oh, you know the story, a few gigs here and there, crazy parties, late nights at the clubs. Whatever the ponies need, you know?”

Those are lyrics to her song Call of the Beat.

Er, not that I would know...

“So, since you can’t crash with me anymore, what’s your plan?”

Octavia sighed. “Sadly, I’m not sure. Perhaps I could stay with Carrot Top.”

“I wouldn’t. She’s going to be ridiculously busy now that she’s orchard sitting for the Apples.”

“Well, um, there’s always Roseluck.”

“Not anymore. She joined up.”

“Ambrosia?”

“Working as an engineer.”

“Bottlecap?”

“House sitting.”

“What about Daisy? Surely she hasn’t—”

“Joined.”

Octavia shook her head. That was everyone in Ponyville she knew well enough to ask for lodgings. “You can’t be serious.”

“Bucking dead serious.”

“Why? Why would you all throw your lives away?”

The DJ paused and looked at the earth pony over her glasses, her magenta eyes (which seemed blood-red in the proper light) telling her how very unamused she was.

“Er, well, no offense, Vinyl it’s just that—”

“It’s just that the average griffon weighs twice as much as the average pony,” Vinyl finished. “It’s just that griffons have natural weapons, like claws, talons, and razor sharp beaks. It’s just that griffons have a vast amount of experience when it comes to war, and its just that griffons are highly agile hunters in the air. Don’t think for a second, Tavi, that we don’t know what we’re getting into. We know. We’re just doing it anyway.”

“But, why?”

Vinyl lifted the cello into the back of one of the carts, and quickly silenced any complaints from the cab driver with the words “Pendragon’s orders.”

The driver snapped his mouth shut, and continued on his business.

“Why? Why not?” Scratch asked as she carefully strapped the case to the cart. “Al probably said it best. Why live for nothing when you can die for something? Or something like that, anyways...”

“But Vinyl, you live for something already. You live to make music,” she said, before adding, “if you can call that music.”

“Yeah, I do. I make music for other ponies to enjoy. But what if those ponies are dead? Soldiers are not the only ponies that die.”

The comment hit harder than Octavia was expecting.

She had been heading to Ponyville because it was safe. But it wasn’t really, was it? If Canterlot were to fall, what would stop those brutes form heading north? Or south? Or east? Or west? Could anything stop them once the brave volunteers lay dead?

“Face it, Tavi. If we don’t make it, there won’t be much to live for anyway.”

The fact that Vinyl was making that much sense was scary.

“Alright,” the DJ said, “you’re all good to go. Stay safe, avoid any griffons you can, and hope for the best. Hope to see you on the flipside, Tavi.”

Octavia watched her friend trot away, wondering what had happened to the young filly she had known and argued with, and where this mature, brave, and dedicated mare had come from.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright,” Alan began, speaking to the six mares gathered around him. “So in review, the military will be broken down into two branches:The Solar Branch, and the Lunar Branch. The Solar Branch will be composed of the Fire Drake Division, led by General Applejack.”

The farmpony nodded before copying her brother’s line, “Eeyup.”

“Phoenix Division, led by General Dash.”

The rainbow-maned pegasus nodded, bored. “We’ve been over this.”

“And Sun Beam Division led by General Sparkle.”

Twilight nodded, her horn glowing as she took notes while simultaneously re-re-rereading one of her many strategy books.

“The Lunar Branch will be composed of the Nightingale Division, led by General Fluttershy.”

The shy pegasus simply nodded.

“Moonbeam Division, led by General Rarity.”

“Indeed,” Rarity said, looking her mane over again, three days without a decent brushing was turning it a little rough.

“And finally Thunderstorm Division, led by General Pie.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Pinkie said, her mane straight, and her demeanor oddly serious.

The six ponies were sitting, dressed in their golden armor, which they had found deep into the royal armories. After a little personalization, the Mane Six had taken to wearing them as their signs of office.

Of course, Alan had to admit they did look pretty cool.

Source

“You all understand your purposes?” Alan asked, looking up at them as they sat on the comfortable councilpony chairs that surrounded the floor, where he had decided to lie.

A collective nod answered him.

“Good, good,” Alan said. “Twi, how are the communicators coming?”

“Last time I checked, they were just finalizing the design.”

“Good. The communicators are going to be vital,” the human said as he placed his hands behind his head, looking utterly relaxed as he lay there on the floor, “we’ll need them to make split-second changes to our plans, and they’d be massively more effective than flags or drums. Pinkie, how’s rocket manufacturing?”

“We’ll have 425 rockets ready by the end of today.”

“Try to double that.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Alan was about to give another order when suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. The Pendragon—yes, he was the Pendragon now...he’d have to get used to that—stood. “Come in.”

The Princesses entered, and Alan snapped to attention, saluting them. The Mane Six followed suit.

Celestia gave a grim smile. “At ease,” she ordered.

Alan relaxed a touch.

“I hope I am not interrupting anything?”

“No, ma’am,” Alan replied, doing his best to sound as professional as possible. “I was about to tell the generals to start training their divisions.”

“This is excellent news,” Luna yelled, before blushing, realizing she was still be too loud. “Er, pardon me,” she said, at a much more manageable volume, “that is wonderful to hear.”

“Yes, follow us, we have some things we need to show you.”

Alan followed them out, as did the mane six, while the royal sisters began leading them outside.

“A long time ago,” Celestia began, “we had faced the threat of war. Arthur was dead, and we had no Pendragon. Many of the neighboring countries thought that perhaps with his death, we would be weaker. Fearing an attack, we had a few devices commissioned.”

“Devices?” Alan asked with interest.

“Vehicles,” Luna clarified. “Vehicles that are incredibly hardy as well as dangerous to their foes.”

“It tooks us a day to get them out of storage, and two more to fix any of the corroded parts.” Celestia explained as they came out to a balcony.

The sight that met Alan made his jaw drop, before he burst into a face-splitting smile.

Hanging in the air were two massive flying galleons. One, plated in gold with a white envelope, the other, plated in a metal as black as the night sky with a blue envelope.

The gold and white ship was the larger of the two, with bands of polished copper running along its sides. Golden cannons gleamed along the side of the ship, Alan didn’t bother counting them at this distance. Six massive propellers hung out of the ship, each made of lacquered oak, with the engines, again, trimmed in gold. At its head, just under the bow, was a phoenix in polished copper as the figurehead.

The darker of the two was almost identical, however, instead of copper and gold, polished silver and platinum trimmed the ship. The cast-iron cannons shined, rubbed to a reflective surface. At the bow was a silver owl.

But that was just half of it.

Down below, littering the ground, were dozens of conical wooden vehicles. Each one had eight cannons sticking out of its sides like wheel spokes. They were decorated with Celestia’s sun and Luna’s moon, and were trimmed in gold and silver.

Alan’s smile got bigger, somehow. “You have Leonardo Da Vinci’s tank?” he asked.

“Who?” Celestia asked

“Never mind,” Alan said, waving her off, before laughing maniacally. “Oh this brings back memories. Namely memories of me and an Xbox 360, but memories nonetheless.”

The ponies blinked.

“The point is, this may have just saved our ground forces,” Alan explained. “We’d fit three to four ponies in a single tank: One controlling movement, one firing the cannon, one or two reloading, and we’ll have some epic killing machines.”

“Um,” Twilight began.

“Applejack, you’re in charge of them.”

“What?” The farmpony exclaimed. “But Ah ain’t got a clue how to run those fancy machines.”

“You’ll learn.”

“Um,” Celestia interjected, “not to interrupt whatever nostalgia you’re going through, no matter how coincidental it may be, but there is actually one more thing that needs to be done here.”

That got Alan’s attention. “Really? Everything looks shipshape from here.”

“Well,” Luna said, “almost everything.”

“It’s bad luck to sail a ship without a name,” Celestia explained.

Alan blinked. “Are you saying you want me to...?”

“Well, you have done much for us already, I don’t see a reason why not.”

Alan blinked, before looking back up at the floating works of art. He looked up at the carefully carved ships before he began to draw on all of the Latin he knew.

“That one,” he said, pointing to the solar ship, “is the Ira Solaris, the Solar Wrath. The other is the Vindicta Lunaris, the Lunar Revenge.”

Luna nodded. “I like it.”

Celestia nodded. “It does have a nice ring to it.”

“Yes, and we can discuss how pretty things are another day,” Alan said, his face growing serious. “But right now we have less than a month to train a bunch of shop owners into soldiers. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

“Well, not all of them,” Celestia said, “The royal guard is well trained.”

“Yes, and thank heaven for the royal guard. Speaking of, I should probably go check on them.”

“I’ll go with you,” Twilight said.

“Alright, the rest of you, head out and start dividing the troops. You know what you need, look for it.”

They nodded, and the Pendragon turned to the royal sisters. “By your leave.”

“Of course,” Celestia answered. “They are waiting for you in Canterlot tower.”

The Pendragon and ponies left, Twilight following Alan while the others left for the courtyard to begin getting their soldiers together.

The two made their way to Canterlot Tower in silence. Twilight was giving Alan looks every now and then, while Alan simply stared straight ahead.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“Fine, considering I’ve started a war.”

“What?” Twilight blinked.

“If I weren’t here, this wouldn’t have happened,” Alan explained. “They wouldn’t have a scapegoat, and they wouldn’t have been able to go to war. I started this war.”

“I think you’re overthinking this.”

Alan stared at her, eyebrow raised.

“Hey! I don’t overthink things!”

Alan still stared.

“That much.”

“Uh huh.”

“But look, that’s not the point. The point is, you can’t blame yourself for this,” she said before smiling. “Besides, I did that once already.”

Alan looked at her smile, and barely caught the intended joke. “Funny,” he deadpanned.

Twilight sighed. “Look Alan, just forget about it, please.”

Alan nodded. “I’ll try.”

More silence between them as they continued to the tower.

“Look, Alan, I’m sorry—”

“Twi, stop.”

“No, you stop, I’m trying to apologize.”

“And you did, look, just forget about it, ok.”

More silence.

The tension between them was awkward and thick. In the few agonizing minutes it took to walk to the door that led to just outside the tower, Alan was having second thoughts.

“Okay, this is awkward. Twi, I’m sorry, ok?”

“What are you sorry for?”

“For everything. For ruining your lives, for starting this war, just everything.”

Twilight gave him a soft smile. “Alan, you didn’t ruin anything, and I’m sorry for ever doubting you.”

They shared a quick hug, then Alan collected himself before pushing the door open.

Sixty-some-odd ponies suddenly jumped at the abrupt entrance, and one was quick to yell, “Pendragon on deck!”

Those that had not been already were now standing at attention, saluting as they stared forward. Alan looked them over and gave them an approving nod. Twilight, however, was focusing on a single unicorn stallion standing in the middle of the line. “Shining?”

The stallion blinked, before breaking his stance. “Twily?”

“Shining!”

“Twily!” The stallion then broke every single line of protocol and hugged the mare.

Alan noted that all of the guards were a little uncomfortable with that.

“Oh, Shining, it’s been ages! What have you been up to lately?”

“Me? What have you been doing? I mean really? First I get to brag that my sister is the student of the Princess Celestia, and now you're a national hero? You keep this up, and I won’t have a chance to brag, everypony will know about you before I can say a word.”

“Wait, wait, wait, what?”

The white unicorn paled, suddenly realizing what he had done. “Uh, sir. Forgive my break of protocol, sir.”

Alan waved him off. “You have a brother,” he asked Twilight, “and you never brought him up?”

Twilight blinked. “Well, he doesn’t come up in conversation that often.”

“Excuse me,” the purple-armored pony spoke, “you don’t mention me? I bring you up all the time, you couldn’t do the same?”

“Well, I—”

“Maybe you’re just not that impressive,” Alan said with a smirk.

“That’s not—”

“Oh, what, so I have to beat some terrible evil from before written history before you’ll introduce me to your friends, is that it?”

“No, I—”

“Personally, I’d start out smaller,” Alan said. “Maybe a terrible evil from before the steam engine.”

The new pony began to laugh.

Alan joined him, and Twi was simply caught between them, wondering where the sudden agreement to pick on her had come from.

“Nice to meet you,” Alan said, once he stopped laughing, “I’m Pendragon Alan Williams.”

“Yeah, yeah I guessed as much. My name’s Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard.”

“There, see Twilight, there’s something you can brag about,” Alan said before holding out his fist to the stallion.

Shining met it with a hoof.

Twilight sighed. This was going to be so much fun.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan was patrolling the streets of Canterlot’s downtown, where the military had set up the recruiting centers. So far the number of volunteers had been encouraging. 72 from Ponyville, 30 from Clousdale, 183 from Manehatten, 235 from Baltimare, 300 from Las Pegasus, 250 from Canterlot, 12 from Appleloosa, 43 from Fillydelphia, 55 from Dodge City, and a whopping 450 from Vanhoover. 1630 mares and stallions total, and more were coming in every day.

Of course, a measly 1600 soldiers was practically nothing...

Fillydelphia needed to send more volunteers.

However, more were coming, more everyday, and that was the one thing that kept Alan hoping.

Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies all, eager to save their county.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie demands the rank of officer!”

Alan paused, and blinked.

That one was unmistakable. Literally.

Turning, he looked carefully, and sure enough, he saw the blue, purple-caped mare screaming at the top of her lungs at one of the stoic guards who were collecting information from the volunteers.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but rank is given upon review of your skill. I cannot give you a rank at this time.”

“Skill? The Great and Powerful Trixie has more skill than all of these other pests combined!”

Don’t do it, Alan. Don’t do it.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has done much more than you pathetic royal guards could hope to accomplish! She has rerouted rivers, moved mountains, and even defeated an Ursa Major!”

Actually, please do it.

Alan smirked as he approached the table. “Soldier! What is the meaning of this outburst?”

The soldier snapped to attention, saluting. “Sir, this mare wishes to have an officer’s rank upon entry.”

“That’s correct,” Trixie said, throwing her nose in the air. “The Great and Powerful Trixie deserves it!”

Alan nodded to the guard. “Dismissed, soldier, I’ll take care of this one.”

“Yes sir,” the soldier saluted before leaving.

Alan, meanwhile, looked the mare over before picking up the blank form.

“Name,” he read aloud, “‘The Great and Powerful Trixie?’”

Trixie smirked. “That is my name, yes.”

“Special talent: Magic, all types.”

“Indeed.”

“Age: Unknown?”

“It is impolite to ask a lady her age.”

“Major Accomplishments: Defeating an Ursa Major.”

“As if the Great and Powerful Trixie needed to say more.”

Alan nodded, before taking the form in his hands and ripping it in two. “I don’t think so.”

The action left Trixie speechless for a moment.

“Are you mad?” she asked, “The Great and Powerful Trixie is far superior to all of these miscreants by—”

“I know about Ponyville.”

Trixie’s mouth snapped shut.

“I know you’re an arrogant fraud who boasts and brags but can’t deliver when pressed. Now, Miss Trixie, take a good look around at all of the other ponies here.”

She hesitantly obeyed, her eyes doing most of the moving as her head dropped.

“Now, unless you want all of them to know about your little secret shame, I suggest we start again. Sound good?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Alan said. “Name?”

“Bellatrix Lulamoon,” she whispered

“Age?”

“T-twenty four.”

“Special Talent?”

“Magic.”

“Subtype?”

She mumbled something.

“Excuse me?”

She looked up, and Alan barely caught the words “Illusion, sir.”

Alan filled out the form. “Based on this, I should put you in Moonbeam Division. However, I am a little hesitant to do so.”

Trixie blinked. “Why?”

“Because the general in charge of Moonbeam Division still remembers the fact that you turned her mane the color of seaweed.”

The mare lowered her head.

“General Twilight Sparkle on the other hand, could use some defensive magic.”

Trixie’s eyes went wide. “Her!?”

“Yes, her, and quite frankly, she’s been meaning to talk to you.”

Her face was pale, and her legs were shaking. “No, no, no. Please, no! Don’t put me under her! Please I’ll clean toilets if I have to, but don’t put me under her!”

“All other divisions have reached their unicorn quota,” Alan said, “Moon and Sun beams are the only ones left. So, which would you have?”

“Moonbeam! Moonbeam!”

“So, you wish to be under the mare that will make your life a living Tartarus?” Alan asked. “I can have quicker deaths arranged.”

Trixie hung her head. “I’m doomed.”

Alan smiled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rainbow Dash looked up and down the line of pegasi that were now a part of Phoenix Division, the air force of the Equestrian Military. “Alright, you lazy wastes of feathers. It’s time to start training.”

The soldiers simply stared straight ahead.

“I said, It’s time to start training.”

A few caught on. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”

“Do I have to repeat myself?”

They all answered this time. “Ma’am, no ma’am.”

The large number of soldiers were standing in one of Canterlot’s plazas, a large empty space normally used for holding a marketplace, easily 300 hooves across. Her forces currently filled less than half of that.

“Better,” she mumbled before she opened up the projector screen behind her. From behind them, a projector began to roll, and an image of a griffon appeared. “This is your target.”

The soldiers were silent.

“While flying,” she continued, “the Griffin is at his most agile, and therefore, most deadly. Because of that, it’s our job to make sure they stay out of the air.

“Now the good news is,” Rainbow Dash continued, “that we pegasi have a couple of tricks that they can’t do. Namely, weather. And the Pendragon wants us to use it to our advantage.”

“How?” a voice asked from the crowd, and the ponies immediately surrounding the source cleared out to give him room, revealing a grey pegasus stallion. “How is weather going to beat a bunch of born murderers?”

Rainbow Dash approached the pony. “What now?”

“You heard me, Ma’am,” he replied with defiant tone.

“Why I oughta...”

“General Dash,” a voice behind her warned, and everypony snapped to attention.

She turned to see Alan standing there, dressed in everything but his duster and boots. However, what really caught her attention were the fifteen blue-clad, lighting-trimmed pegasi behind him.

“I was coming here to introduce you to your fifteen new troops, but it seems I have to take care of something else.”

The grey pegasus gulped, but he stood his ground.

“Soldier, front and center,” Alan ordered.

The pony came forward.

“Name?” Alan asked.

“Thundersight, sir.”

“Private Thundersight, tell me, how much does the average Griffon weigh?”

“Around a hundred pounds, sir.”

“Alright,” Alan said as he walked across the floor. He walked across the plaza, counting his paces before he suddenly stopped. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a stick of chalk. One he had begun to carry to help ponies visualize his plans. He then drew a line, half a hoof thick. “Tell, me,” Alan said as he drew, “how many pounds can the average pony lift.”

“Seventy-five pounds, sir.” Thundersight answered.

“Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve weighed myself, but let’s call it at around 170.”

Thundersight blinked.

“Private, you are going to carry me from there, to here.”

The pony blinked again, the distance was maybe 15 hooves, not an extremely long distance, but a sizeable one considering his load.

“And you are going to do it blindfolded.”

The pegasus blinked again.

“Does anyone have a blindfold?” Alan asked.

The crowd, probably more curious to find out what was going on than anything, was quickly able to scourge up a black band of cloth.

Taking it gracefully from an offering hoof, Alan quickly wrapped the cloth around Thundersight’s eyes.

His world was engulfed in darkness before a sudden, almost unbearable weight fell on his back.

“Now walk,” the Pendragon’s voice said.

Something in the pegasi stirred, a force, a drive to follow that order. It was only because of this feeling that he managed the first step forward. The Pendragon weighed a friggin’ ton. “With all due respect, sir,” Thundersight said, taking a second step, “You’re heavy.”

“Come on, Private, move.”

Step after step, Thundersight moved, placing one hoof in front of the other.

The soldiers began to cheer.

“Come on, Thundersight, keep going,” Alan said.

The stallion plodded forward, straining and grunting under the weight. “Have-have I made it to the line?”

“Just keep going.”

More agonizing weight, a few more painfully slow steps.

“Keep going,” Alan encouraged.

The cheering began to fade.

“Keep going, Private,” Alan urged.

Thundersight stumbled for a second, tripping on an unseen stone.

“Don’t you give up on me.”

Thundersight moved forward a few more steps.

“Don’t you fail me now.”

The word struck a cord in the pegasus, and he began to push himself a little harder.

“That’s it, come on, just a few more steps.”

Thundersight couldn’t hear it for his own panting, but the plaza was in total silence.

“Five more steps, Private. Four more. Three more, Come on, only two left. One more step just one more!”

Thundersight took the last step and collapsed, and felt a sudden rush of relief as Alan rolled off of him.

“Private, remove the blindfold.”

The pegasus did so, and his mouth dropped as he did.

The line he had to cross, the one Alan had drawn, was far behind him. In fact, those 15 hooves were tiny in comparison to the 200 he had crossed. The line of soldiers were staring at him mouths open wide.

“How much can a pony lift?” Alan asked, smiling.

Thundersight gulped down some air before answering, “More than seventy five pounds, sir.”

Alan picked the pony up, and set him on his hooves. “Now, If I told you you’d be able to carry a hundred and seventy pounds a distance of two hundred hooves, would you have believed me?”

Thundersight couldn’t help but smile. “No, sir.”

“Do you trust me now?”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

Alan stood, turning to the gathered pegasi. “They may be born killers, they may be natural hunters, but you have far more potential than that. Look at me, no claws, no fangs, I’m not as fast as you, no wings to fly, but my race has dominated our world. Lions, tigers, bears, all creatures stronger, faster, and better equipped than primitive man were dominated from the beginning. If we could do it, then I know you can.”

The ponies simply stared.

“General Dash, they’re all yours.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Spike! Spike! Where are you?” Alan cried. This was the fourth place he’d checked. The firing range, where Twilight’s Sunbeam Division, the magical offense, were practicing.

“Coming!” the purple dragon answered before vaulting over one of the many railings in the building that divided the ranges. “What is it?”

Alan smiled. “Well, I was thinking; how can I help my only fingered friend to be a better fighter? So I had an idea, but I want to know if it works.”

“Oh? What did you do?”

“Now, hang on a second, I’ve got to test this first,” the Pendragon said, reaching under his now-armor-plated duster. He pulled out his hand to reveal a golden tube on a piece of wood. It looked like a poorly designed club, actually. “I’ve had a word with the engineers, and they were able to whip this up for me.”

Spike blinked. “What is it?”

“This, my dear dragon, is called a flintlock pistol. It’s a devastating ranged weapon, but it has historically had a long reload time. However, I think we may have a solution in you.”

Spike blinked again as Alan reached back into his coat and pulled out what looked like a tube wrapped in paper.

“This is the correct amount of powder, as well as the bullet and everything else you’d need, so it’d be much faster anyway. However, I kept remembering that your messaging fire doesn’t actually light things on fire. So I thought to myself; what if you could teleport the load directly into the gun? Could you try that for me?”

“Uh, I can try, but what exactly am I doing?”

“You’re putting this,” he said, holding up the paper tube, “in here,” he pointed to the back of the golden tube.

“Alright, here it goes...” Spike said, taking a deep breath. Firing off a jet of emerald flame, the paper disintegrated, disappearing from sight completely.

Alan’s smile got bigger. Standing, he held the pistol out, aiming at a downrange target. He cocked, and fired.

A thunder-like boom echoed in the room, and green smoke erupted from the barrel of the gun.

The target downrange had been obliterated in the blink of an eye, and the gathered unicorns in the room were now staring at Alan in awe.

Alan looked the gun over. “Not bad.” He turned to Spike, handing him the pistol. “Take good care of her. She’s the only one in the world right now.”

“Right now?” Spike asked, echoing Alan’s words.

The human smirked. “Pistols always work better in pairs.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkamena Pie glared at her soldiers.

They could feel it.

“Listen up,” she said, her mane straight and eyes fierce. “Welcome to Thunderstorm Division. You little punks are going to be in charge of the artillery. Each one of you is about to become uncomfortably familiar with every cannon, mortar, and rocket the Equestrian Military has to offer, understand?”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” the soldiers answered.

“You will function like a well-oiled machine,” she said, walking down the line. “You will know your tasks by heart. You will load, clean, light, aim, and fire in quick succession, in that order. Understand?”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!”

She singled out a single soldier, getting ridiculously close as she stared him in the eyes. “Good, because if you don’t you will single-hoofedly be re-defining the term ‘live’ ammunition. Understand?”

The soldiers shook in fear at the mental image, but answered. “Ma’am, yes Ma’am!”

“Good. Now grab a cupcake and a cannon, we have some work to do!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Um, stand at attention, please,” Fluttershy ordered. Well...suggested...

The majority of the soldiers ignored her.

“Um, please.”

Still nothing from the gathered ponies.

Fluttershy sighed, this was the second week, and still had yet to begin their proper training. It was only because of Nurse Redheart that they had managed to get their First Aid training, but even so...

“Excuse me, Miss Fluttershy, but can I be of assistance?”

She turned and saw the Doctor, standing there, fairly relaxed.

“Um, yes, please.”

“Gladly, on one condition.”

“What?”

“I have...somepony I need to protect. However, genetics at the moment make it a little difficult for me to do so. So, what I need you to do, is make sure she’s safe, and in exchange, I’ll help you with your troops. Sound fair?”

Fluttershy nodded.

The Doctor nodded in return, before he let loose a piercing whistle.

The soldiers winced before they all stared at the offender.

“She said, ‘Attention.’”

The ponies slowly began to line up, and gathered themselves in some semblance of order.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Trixie gulped.

She was standing in front of General Sparkle’s door, frozen still.

She had been summoned by the unicorn, and as a certified private of Sunbeam Division, she had no choice but to answer.

It was not helping her nerves though...

Oh, come on! You are the Great and Powerful Trixie! You are the most powerful unicorn Equestria has ever seen!

Except, you know, the mare behind this door lifted a whole Ursa Minor up and away to Celestia-knows where...

She stood in front of the door, staring at it for a few more minutes. Finally, after wishing they had at the very least let her keep her cape, she opened the door. “General...?”

“Private Lulamoon, or should I call you the Great and Powerful Trixie?” a humorous voice asked. “Come on inside.”

Trixie took a few hesitant steps in, letting the door close behind her.

“Do you like tea?” Twilight asked, hovering a teacup in the air.

She looked positively dangerous in her armor which, again, did not help her nerves...

“N-no, thank you.”

Twilight glanced at her, catching the stutter. “Trixie, there’s no need to be afraid of me, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Then why did you call me here?”

Twilight smiled, “You’re the only defensive magician in the division, I wanted to talk strategy over a nice cup of tea.”

Trixie blinked.

“I also wanted to get to know you. After all, if we’re going to be friends, we’ve got to start somewhere.”

Trixie blinked again.

She was either being totally serious, or her plan for vengeance was somewhere on the same level as the Count de Monte Bristro.

Proceed with caution...

<<<|Ω|>>>

“General Dash!” Alan said, his finger to his ear, using the new communicator that the engineering branch had finished.

“Sir, yes, sir!” he heard her reply in his ear.

“I am requesting one of your fastest fliers to act as a courier.”

“I’ll send someone right away.”

Alan nodded as he stroked the soft fabric in his hands.

Before long, a white pegasus with a golden yellow mane appeared. She wore the Wonderbolt blue and a pair of goggles. “Sir!” she saluted, before bursting into a fit of giggles. “Surprise, sir!”

Ah, yes, Pinkie’s cousin Surprise. The crazy pegasus was quite the flyer, and while Pinkie questioned her sanity, they both shared a love for parties and sweets.

Rainbow had exclaimed, “Sweet Celestia! Now there’s two of them!”

“Surprise, I have a job for you.”

“Sir!”

Alan careful unfurled the fabric, revealing the ebony background with the silver dragon. “I need you to fly south, to the town of Appleloosa, and look for the Running Thunder Tribe. Ask for Chief Thunderhooves and give this to him.”

“Sir?”

“Tell him I want him to return it to me personally.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The month passed slowly, four weeks of training, and a total soldier count of 2400 soldiers.

Of course scouts said that the approaching Griffons were 4000 strong.

Alan smirked as he raised the glass to his lips. They’d be in for a surprise, wouldn’t they?

The ponies had been outfitted with whatever weapons could be found or made. The generals had picked captains, two each, which were in charge of twelve lieutenants each who were, in turn, in charge of ten sergeants, each sergeant leading a squad of ponies. Each squad of infantry was armed with at least two swords, two spears, and two clubs, or other such weapons, allowing them to meet different threats. Each pegasus in Phoenix Division was armed with special horseshoes that had two long claws coming of the ends, useful for stabbing and such. Pinkie had her cannons, the Sun and Moonbeam Divisions were well armored, and had all sorts of magic to help them. Nightingale Division didn’t need any weapons, they were couriers and medics.

Chief Thunderhooves had arrived with 40 braves, and they had gone through and taught the ponies more than a few tricks in unarmed combat, something that Alan was very thankful for.

Spike had taken a liking to his pistols, and was now fairly accurate with them.

Applejack had taken to using a bladed chain as her weapon, she said it was just as easy to use as a rope, so it only made sense.

Fluttershy still hadn’t gotten her division to function properly, and it was only thanks to the Doctor that they were even remotely prepared.

Twilight had had a long talk with Trixie, and finally convinced the showpony that she wasn’t out for revenge.

Rainbow Dash had said she was living the dream, flying with the Wonderbolts of all ponies.

Pinkie had the artillery working at an almost professional level, encouraging them with smiles and sweets when they did well, and threatening terrible punishment when they didn’t.

Rarity had all of Canterlot rigged with illusions, and had assured Alan that not an inch was left uncovered.

They were all going to die.

Alan threw back his head, downing the liquid in a single gulp. It wasn’t that he was being pessimistic, it was just the law of averages. Their force was almost outnumbered two-to-one, and were horrendously under-trained. None of them were ready for combat.

His eyes scanned the dark room he was sitting in, the bedroom that he had stayed in upon his first visit to Canterlot.

Celestia had said that the Pendragon’s official room was still under construction.

They were all going to die...

Alan filled his glass and took another drink. They were all going to die and they'd be on his hands...

Thoughts of hundreds of ponies, all dead, all mutilated, every single one of them bloodied and broken. Ponies he had begun to recognize by name. Silver Pauldrons, Shining Armor, Lyra Heartstrings. Dead. Dead. Dead. He felt his throat tighten at the thought of even closer friends lying in the pile of bodies. Rarity, Pinkie, Dashie, AJ, Fluttershy, and...oh heaven forbid, Twilight...

He wasn't ready for this. Sure, he knew about ancient gun mechanics, sure, he knew about the basics of warfare, yes, he got in a few fights, but this was an honest to goodness war. A war that he started. Well, not directly, but it didn't really manner at this point.

His hands shook, anxious for what was about to happen.

He took a second to calm them.

Don't do this, Al. Come on, pull yourself together, man. They're counting on you.

He had heard it for the past month, encouragement about how the great Pendragon was going to lead them to victory. How he was going to stare the enemy in the face and laugh. How, no matter what monsters they had, he would slay anyone who opposed them.

With a reputation like that proceeding him, he couldn't afford to be anxious.

Alan filled the glass again and a quickly downed that before realizing it'd be easier just to drink from the bottle.

The door opened. “Alan, are you in here?”

It was Twilight. “Present,” he mumbled.

Twilight looked with wide eyes at the room, glass bottles lay everywhere along the floor, and the human in question sat slumped in a chair. “A-are you drunk?” she asked.

Alan laughed in response. “No...no. I wish I was drunk, though. Today’s too important for me to get drunk, not with so many lives hanging in the balance.”

Twilight nodded, moving next to the chair, and sitting next to him. “Are you going to be ok?”

Alan sighed, “I hope so.” He paused, looking her over for a second. “Is it time?”

She nodded. “The enemy force is approaching.”

“Is the fog in place?”

“Yes.”

Alan nodded, before standing, letting the bottle he was holding clatter to the floor. “Time to get out there, then,” he said, pulling his hat over his eyes.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia watched as her soldiers took their places, standing along the walls, banners flew in the soft wind as evening approached. Luna stood next to her, and Celestia couldn’t help but shake her head.

“I hoped it would never come to this.”

Luna nodded, but said nothing.

“Faust help us.”

They heard a soft chuckle from behind them. “Dear Tia, I already have.”

Both royals turned to see the white alicorn standing there, her mane as messy as it was red, and the quill on her flank made her unmistakable. She wore nothing, no regalia, no crown, although by rights, she deserved both. Her soft blue eyes smiled in a way that made the two sister forget all of their troubles for a brief moment.

They bowed low, an act that was neither conscious, nor meaningless.

“Stand, my daughters,” Faust said, taking a few steps toward them.

They stood, and as they did, they recognized the other figure in the room.

“Death,” Celestia greeted impassively.

Death said nothing, his eyes falling to the floor.

“I suppose today will be busy for you?” the solar princess asked.

Death continued to stare at the floor. “I’ll make them as painless as possible.”

Celestia opened her mouth, but twin glances from both her sister and mother told her not to speak further.

Faust stepped up to the window they had been staring out of. “I already have helped both of you, my dears. His name is Alan.”

The two blinked, before nodding.

“He is the greatest help I can give you, and do be sure to reward him.”

“With what?” Luna asked.

Faust smile, as she held up her hoof, where a golden ball of magic began to form. Taking it, she gently placed it at the tip of Celestia’s horn, when it melded with the princess.

Celestia’s eye widened at the power that had just gone into her. It was borderline obscene. It was enough to turn weeds into mountains, or dew drops into oceans, o-or to send someone across time and space...

“You’ll know what to do with it when the time comes,” Faust said. “I must go now, my daughters, but I want you to know, I’m proud of both of you.” She then took both of them in a hug, before fading away.

Celestia and Luna held on for as long as they could, but eventually they had to go.

Luna gave a soft smile before her face went grim, reminded of the war that was about to rage below them. “I will go and prepare our armor,” she said before exiting the room, leaving only Death and Celestia.

Celestia bit her lip. She had gone and opened her big mouth again. The look on Death’s face spoke volumes about how much he hated his job. Or more accurately, how much he hated doing a job that she hated. “Death, I—”

“I better get to work,” Death interrupted, turning to leave.

“Death, wait.”

Death didn’t wait, didn’t even slow down as he headed to the door.

She barely heard him say, “I’m sorry, Celly...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Sir,” Alan heard over his communicator, “we have reports that the main force of the griffon army will be within cannon range in 42 minutes.”

“Understood,” Alan answered.

He stood underneath his banner, which flapped in the breeze as night approached. Beside him, stood his six generals, as well as Shining Armor and Silver Pauldrons, his own two captains. Before him, a wall of solid fog, placed their by the working hooves of Phoenix Division. Behind him, 2400 soldiers waiting for what could very well be their doom.

It was much too quiet.

He turned to face them, all of them, and they held his gaze expectantly.

This was it. All of the books and war movies he had ever seen would finally pay off in this moment. All of the speeches he had ever heard would be put to the test here. He opened his mouth, and felt it dry instantly.

He swallowed before looking over to Rarity. “Can I get some help here?”

She nodded, and her horn began to glow. As it did, Alan felt his throat strengthen.

He looked back up into the waiting eyes of thousands of ponies and spoke. “I have nothing to offer you,” his voice sounded loud in his own ears as it was magnified by the unicorn next to him, “but blood, sweat, tears, and toil. I have nothing to offer, no promise of victory, no promise of safety, and no guarantee that you will make it home.

“But, but that’s the thing about war. It’s not about me, it’s not about you, it isn’t about them,” he said, waving towards the fog, “it’s about those we’ve left behind.” He paused for a second. “It’s about the fillies and the colts that wake early every day for school. It’s about the mares and stallions who work hard every day to bring food to the table. It’s about your wives and husbands, your brothers and sisters, your friends who are not here.

“That’s why we are here today. For them, and we should be honored.

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers and sister in arms, we are their protectors, we are their guardians, and in my mind, there is no greater honor.

“We are their last hope.”

Those five words echoed across the walls.

“There may be a day when we turn on our friends, and betray their trust. There may be a day when we abandon our homes to save ourselves. There may be a day when courage fails and fears reigns. There may be a day when these very walls come crashing down and Canterlot is laid to waste.”

Alan smiled. “But it is not this day.”

“So stand with me, my little ponies, wave the battle flag and stand. Stand for Fillydelphia.”

A cheer from the Fillydelphian soldiers rose.

“Stand for Vanhoover.”

Another cheer.

“Stand for Baltimare.”

More cheering.

“Stand for Manehatten.”

The crowd was thundering.

“Stand for all of the cities, from coast to coast.”

The remainder of the soldiers added their voice.

“Stand for Equestria! Victory at all costs! For Equestria!”

The two words, “For Equestria!” echoed back at him.

“The Griffons are coming, but I say let them come!”

“For Equestria!” The battle flags were waving.

Source

“Let them come!”

“For Equestria!”

“Let! Them! Come!”

And scene.

Next chapter, some pretty epic moments from a few of the main cast.

“Does that include me?”

It sure does Pinkie.

“This is going to be so much fun.”

“Buck yeah it is!”

By the way, guys, got a couple of updates for you. First off, if you thought that Alan’s outburst was a little OOC last chapter, a revision has been made to make it a little more believable.

Second, EQD has decided not to post my story.

“What?”

Yeah, they said I was good, but not good enough to warrant an exception to their no-Brony-in-Equestria-stories rule.

“So all of this editing was for nothing?”

“OH COME ON!”

No, I mean, it definitely makes the story that much better, its just that EQD didn’t take this one. They did say they would gladly post other works of mine, so long as they weren't BiEs. So, you know, one day in the future.

“Sad day...but at least you’re taking it well.”

Well, it was a bit of a long shot anyway. So, be sure to fave, comment, whatever, and hope to see you guys soon.

Bye!

18-Rage

Chapter 18

“Medic! Somepony, please! Help!”

No one answered that cry.

No one, because there were hundred of others just like it on the walls. The wall was as wide as Canterlot’s main street, and every inch of it was covered in blood.

Silver Pauldrons’ hammer smashed into the head of one the oncoming griffons, killing it instantly. Unfortunately, the blow left him open. Another griffon was quick to take the opening, however, instead of soft flesh, his claws bit into the hard-mana of one of Shining Armor’s shields. Before the griffon could pull back to recover from his useless attack, Judgement ended him.

The three of them, Silver, Shining, and Alan, stood back-to-back-to-back covering each other as they weaved through the battlefield. Any griffon that came within their reach was soon ended.

“Fluttershy!” Alan yelled into his headpiece, “Where are those medics?”

“I’m trying!” the desperate voice answered.

Alan gave a frustrated sigh before running through another attacker as the griffon tried to take a swipe at Silver. The three of them moved together perfectly, hammer, sword and shield flying through the air in perfect sync with each other.

Alan though, for all of his finesse, felt sick. Ponies everywhere lay dead or dying and Nightingale Division was very slow to answer. They were dying, and somewhere, deep in his mind, he knew it was his fault.

Well, at least I can take my anger out on these morons.

His sword went through another griffon, ending yet another life, when Silver spoke. “By Celestia’s Glittering Mane, they just keep coming.”

“Well,” Shining smirked, “we’re just going to have to keep sending them back.”

Alan nodded. “You know we will.”

“Al!” Twilight’s voice crackled over the communicator. “The griffons are trying to take the first gate.”

Alan smirked. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“What?”

“Somepony said they’ve got it handled.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The sun was setting, and the griffons were pounding away at the first gate, trying desperately to get a way in that didn’t go through the bloodbath that was the wall. Using their makeshift battering ram, a chopped down pine tree, they heaved with all of their might against the iron-banded oak gate.

The sound of splintering wood and groaning metal met them as they brought the pine forward before heaving it back to hit it again.

“Once more!” their captain yelled.

Again the pine flew forward and smashed into the gate. One of the mighty doors unhinged as the combined might of twenty griffons smashed into it.

The griffons cheered as the door blew open, and they dropped their pine to charge forward into the courtyard behind the first gate.

They made it through the gate, but their charge died instantly as they found themselves facing forty large buffalo.

Forty buffalo, each dressed in fierce warpaint, their horns gleaming.

One of them, the largest, dressed in a warbonnet and the fiercest paint of them all, stood forward. “Come, enemies of the Half Dragon. Come, and I will give you an honorable death.”

The wall suddenly didn’t look that bad...

<<<|Ω|>>>

The sun had set and the moon was rising, still the griffons climbed the wall, and still the ponies repelled them.

And while many a pony was down there at the front line, defending the walls until their last breath, there was an entire division on the fourth level that had not taken a single casualty.

This division was Nightingale Division.

Of the 150 field medics assigned to the division, only ten at a time were ever out in the field.

Of the 400 beds, only six were filled.

Of the 150 nurses and doctors, only 12 had patients, and even that was too many.

Fluttershy, the acting general, could only cry as she heard the yells and pleas of her friends, begging her to send out ponies to collect the wounded.

But she couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t send ponies out there. Out there, where they could easily die. Not out there, where their lives hung by a thread, but she didn’t dare keep them here, lest all the others die first.

She sobbed into her foreleg, trying to think about what she needed to do.

Send ponies to their deaths, or seal the fates of others?

Neither seemed like the right thing to do.

A sudden commotion from the entrance of her medical tent caught her attention and she lifted her eyes to see one of her more hesitant field medics carry in a unicorn on a stretcher.

Fluttershy blinked.

That isn’t...

Is it?

The nurses began to move, gathering blood packs, stitching thread, and gauze, swarming around the pony that just came in as the field medic sat down on one of the many unoccupied beds.

It can’t be...

She began to move forward, her eyes widening in fear as she approached the patient.

The doctors swarmed around the mare, jargon flying through the air as they began to talk about arteries and veins.

In the back of her mind, Fluttershy registered the fact that the field medic was now bragging about her daring exploits of saving the unicorn on the table.

More talk about lacerations and bleeding from the doctors, the nurses rushed to and fro, providing the professionals with anything they needed. Fluttershy caught sight of the mare’s flank between two of the doctors.

The lyre cutie mark told her everything she needed to know.

Her eyes widened as she approached the table, the doctors subconsciously making way for her as they began to work.

Lyra Heartstrings laid there on the table, unconscious, claw marks had raked her body.

There...there was blood everywhere.

“Lyra...” her voiced whispered.

Memories of when she first moved to Ponyville hit her.

She had been so young then, and she had begged her parents for years to get permission, but finally, she was able to move to the ground.

She had loved it a first, but eventually it became lonely.

She never spoke to anypony, and only really knew Pinkie, who had, as per tradition, thrown a party for her, but...

She had met Lyra once, her first friend in Ponyville while taking a walk. They had enjoyed each other’s company in silence, the unicorn thinking on whatever crossed her mind while Fluttershy appreciated the wildlife.

But now she was dying.

Lyra lay there, dying.

Her second friend.

“Yeah, I mean, I nearly died bringing this moron up here,” the field medic said. “She was like taking on four of them at a time, idiot.”

Fluttershy’s eye twitched.

“I mean, yeah, I had to wait for those guys to leave before I could get close, those guys would have ripped me up. But man, they whaled on her.”

Fluttershy lowered her head.

“They just kept going and going. Eventually they got bored and I was able to pull her out, but man, I have never been so close to dying.”

Now, across the multiverse there are a few constant fears. Phenomenon that, no matter who or what they come against, are feared. Tornadoes, for example. No matter where you are, or in what universe, tornadoes are respected as great destroyers.

Another such phenomenon is known simply as “FlutterRage.”

Fluttershy’s head snapped towards the field medic, her eyes fierce and her backbone straightening into an iron rod.

“Stand at attention, you pathetic coward!” she screamed. For a second she thought that that was too loud, too mean, but the image of Lyra behind her dismissed those thoughts.

The medic jumped, as did those to whom she was talking, fear in their eyes at the sudden outburst of their general.

Fluttershy gave the medic a long, hard stare.

She began to shake under her officer’s gaze.

Those eyes...Oh Sweet Celestia, those eyes!

“Name,” Fluttershy ordered.

“Q-Quicksilver, ma’am,” she squeaked.

“Quicksilver, why did you bring in this pony like this?”

“I-I...” Quicksilver stared into those eyes, her mind scrambling for some sort of defense, “I-I did my best, ma’am.”

“Your best?” Fluttershy asked, her body shaking with rage. “You did your best!?” Suddenly she grabbed the medic’s head and shoved it towards the stretcher.

In place of the eyes, the medic found her nose buried into one of the many wounds that covered the pony’s body. “Look at her and tell me you did your best!” Fluttershy screamed. “Tell me you did your best!”

Any word Quicksilver would have spoken were caught in her throat before Fluttershy brought the medic up to face her.

“Well!?” she asked. “Where is it? Is this really your best!?”

“I-I-”

“What? Did you think this was going to be easy? Did you think this was the easy job?”

Every eye was now on the raging general as she verbally tore at the pegasus before her.

“Ponies are dying out there, and you think you can just watch them die? Your job is to save them. Did you think that was going to be easy?”

“N-no, ma’am,” Quicksilver answered in a frightened squeak.

“Well then why are you still standing here!?”

Quicksilver never left a building faster in her life.

Fluttershy turned to others, who only stared at her in shock.

“Captain Redheart,” Fluttershy said.

“Y-yes, ma’am?” the earth pony asked cautiously.

“If you see anypony, and they’re not delivering patients, send them to me. I want to talk to them.”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

And then, Fluttershy turned as her communicator crackled to life. “Alan, the medics are coming.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Big Mac was a farm pony.

Well, a draft pony to be specific.

Now, what that meant was that he was born for one of two things. The first was pulling a plow. The second, war.

In short, Big Mac was born for this.

Everything the draft pony had come against had fallen to the side as if it were apple leaves in fall. He had long since abandoned the flail he had started with and had instead begun to focus every ounce of his strength into his kicks.

At first, a part of him questioned the effectiveness of such attacks, however, those fears were quickly put to rest when one buck had sent a griffon airborne.

He was born for this.

Of course, there is a problem with excelling at anything.

It makes you a target.

In Big Mac’s case, he was the target of twelve griffons. They had him surrounded on all sides, their claws ready to dig into pony flesh. He was backed up against the wall, his hoof a few inches from the edge, a sheer drop of fourteen tail lengths.

Big Mac’s head hung low, his eyes barely open.

They pounced, everyone trying to end the draft pony.

A flurry of powerful kicks sent the griffons flying, many nursing broken ribs or fractured beaks. A claw bit into his side, and a beak nipped at his leg. More kicks, and more griffons were sent flying.

They began to dogpile him, claws biting into him as they racked his flesh.

And that’s when the pony began to worry.

He had done too much that day, sent too many to their deaths, and while he may have been born for it, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take without rest.

He pushed up, using every last ounce of his strength to throw of his attackers as they bit and scratched.

With a mighty heave, he launched the griffons off of him, only eight left.

His legs were shaking with fatigue, struggling to just keep him on his hooves.

The griffons noticed, and began to close in around him, smiling evilly.

So this is how it ended, huh? He had always thought that the most exciting death life had to offer him was a tree falling down on him. Nope. Instead, he was going to die at the claws of eight griffons, covered in wounds and soon to be scars.

Whelp, you’ve had a good run, Mac. I guess it’s been fun.

The farm pony-turned-soldier held his head up high, his last act of defiance as he stared down the griffon soldiers.

Suddenly a yellow blur appeared between them. Big Mac blinked as one of Applejack’s friends, Fluttershy, appeared between.

The general of Nightingale Division stared down every single one of the eight griffons in front of her, using every ounce of her hidden power known only as “the Stare.”

The griffons paused, their evil grins fading away.

“No,” the pegasus said.

The griffons blinked.

“Nopony else is going to die today.”

The griffons stared at her before slowly backing up.

Big Mac blinked.

Fluttershy continued to stare.

Before long, the griffons dispersed, and Big Mac found himself ignored amongst the fray that pulsed around him. And then the pegasus turned, gave him a small smile, and began to lead him away.

Big Mac wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but right now, he wasn’t going to argue. Especially considering this young mare had just saved his rump.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“They’re taking the wall!” Alan yelled, “Fall back to the second gate!”

Morning rose over Canterlot Castle as the second day of the siege began. Over the course of the night Nightingale Division had finally began working and the wounded had been collected. Of course, the griffons had also made progress, slowly closing in on the arch over to the second gate.

“Fall back!” Silver repeated, sending his hammer through a griffon’s skull.

The ponies began to funnel backwards across the chokepoint, getting cover from unicorns already on the second wall and pegasi flying low to discourage any griffon’s from attacking from the sides.

“Come on, Darlings, quickly now!” Rarity yelled from the gate as she herded them in. Spike stood next to her, pistols drawn.

The dragon was dressed in minimal armor, goggles, gloves, pauldrons, and boots. He didn’t need too much considering his scales, but it certainly helped him look more intimidating. A dagger hung from a thick leather belt, along with a few holsters on his back. “Hurry up, we need these doors closed!” he yelled.

A griffon suddenly pounced on the retreating ponies, giving off a loud battle cry. He was silenced by the sound of thunder and green smoke filled the air.

Spike quickly threw a small paper cylinder into the air and with a quick jet of green flame, it disappeared. “Hurry!”

Finally the last ponies in the line went through the gate.

“Is that everypony?” Alan asked.

“That’s a negative, Al,” Rainbow’s voice said over the communicator. “There’s a squad of ponies that got separated. I’ve got a visual.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” Alan said before turning to the ponies. “Shining, with me. Silver, head inside and prepare to close the gate. Rarity, Spike, hold for as long as you can.”

“Sir! Yes, Sir!” they responded.

Alan quickly turned and saw the griffons approaching. “Shining, let’s make some room.”

“You got it!” he said, before his horn began to shine. Using every ounce of his magical control, he formed a triangular shield. “Get behind me,” Shining said.

Alan was quick to jump behind the pony, and they both charged. The incoming griffons were split down the middle as the two Equestrian officers ploughed through the ranks of the incoming soldiers.

Rarity silently hoped that the griffons would follow him. When they did not, she prepared her horn to begin launching as many illusion spells as she knew.

Fighting was not her strong suit. In truth, even illusion wasn’t truly her strength. Her true strength was gems. Illusions were a passing hobby she used to help her with her projects, but truly, it was nothing more than that.

She gulped as the griffons approached.

A comforting, and familiar claw lay against her neck. “Just relax, Rarity. I got this.”

“Spike,” Rarity began, “I hardly think—”

That was as far as she got before the young drake dashed forward, pistols firing.

Kra-Kra-Thoom!

The pistols fired, the lead balls trailing green smoke.

Two griffons fell, one for each bullet.

Sticking one under his arm, he quickly pulled out two more pre-loaded packs. He quickly tossed them in the air and engulfed them in his trademark green fire. Cocking the pistol in his hand, he fired again, pulling out a third of his self-dubbed “bullet packs.”

Grabbing the one under his arm, he brought it up, cocking both pistols again. He quickly took aim and unloaded both of them in quick succession.

Kra-Kra-Thoom!

Source

Every single shot stopped a griffon dead in its tracks.

Holstering one of his pistols behind his back, he quickly pulled out another bullet pack and drew his dagger.

Rarity’s jaw fell as Spike set upon the griffons.

This wasn’t the Spike she knew.

He...he was different. His normal waddle was replaced with acrobatic jumps. His clumsy movements had been replaced with grace. His cute face and chubby cheeks were now the countenance of a hardened warrior. A killer. A dragon.

Before her was a true hunter. The top of the food chain, and even as a baby he was ripping through the enemy ranks.

She blinked, her mouth still open.

This...this wasn’t right.

Where was her Spikey-Wikey? The little hatchling she knew and loved? Where was her cute little helper?

Where had this knight in shining armor come from?

Spike deftly spun, his dagger slicing through fur and feathers as he single-handedly held the bridge. Another crack of thunder sounded as green-tinted smoke filled the air, and another griffon fell with a hole through his chest.

A sudden burst of red fire, not his usual green, erupted from his mouth, scorching the griffons in front of him.

Amidst the flames, Spike stood. He almost looked taller than he normally was. His emerald eyes stared defiantly at the ranks of griffons before him, a smirk playing on his lips. “You shall not pass.”

Silence.

And then a griffon leapt forward, and a steel-tipped claw came down on the young dragon.

Rarity watched in horror as the small form crumpled under the blow. Blood, draconic blood, flew through the air and the reptilian soldier flew towards her. He bounced, his head smacking against the marble.

Spike skidded to a stop right in front of her hooves.

He...he wasn’t moving...

Blood slowly seeped out of his chest, onto the marble floor in front of her.

Blood got on her hooves.

For a second, the world seemed to freeze.

Rarity stooped down, and carefully used her blood-stained hooves to reposition the small dragon, to get a good look at his face.

His chubby little cheeks. His cute little muzzle. His shiny scales.

The triple-claw gouge in his chest.

She began to shake.

“Spikey?” she whispered.

This was her Spikey-Wikey wasn’t it? The adorable little dragon who was always eager to help. The cute little guy who had a crush on her. The honest boy who would have gone to the moon and back for her...

“Spikey-Wikey?”

But at the same time...

At the same time this Spike was also a warrior. He wasn’t just a foal, he was—

Oh Celestia.

He was eighteen.

Eighteen.

A mere four years younger than her.

He...he wasn’t a foal. He wasn’t a foal at all.

He...he just looked like one.

How...

How could she treat him like that?

How could she just ignore every single advance like she had?

How...

“Spike?”

“Pipe?” one of the griffons repeated.

“No ya featherbrain, she said ‘Pike.’”

Her shaking intensified as she began to hold the boy closer. Her eyes shut, and tears began to fall down her face.

“Nah, she didn’t say Pike, she said ‘Slike.’”

“What in the seven hells is a Slike?”

“I dunno, probably dragon-ian or somethin’.”

Rarity whispered something.

“Hey, did she just say something?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

An unintelligible mumble followed, her eyes still shut.

“Dude, she totally just said something.”

“What’s she saying?”

As if to answer the griffon’s question, Rarity yelled. “His name. Was. Spike!”

Her eyes flashed open, and a dazzling white light erupted from them. Her horn was glowing blue, and suddenly, something happened.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Far below Canterlot, in a place that pony-kind had long since forgotten, crystals and diamonds had begun to grow in the deep places of the world. Those crystals, having rested in those homes for millennia, were suddenly called upon, and in answer, they rocketed upwards.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twenty-seven diamonds shot into the air around Rarity, her mouth turned into a fierce snarl and her eyes leaking the magical energy that was flowing through her.

“You will not touch him!” she growled

Before a word could be said from the griffon ranks, the diamonds exploded, sending razor-sharp crystal shrapnel flying. The directed shards cut through skin like a hot knife through butter, and the first three rows of griffons died instantly.

The shrapnel suddenly reversed direction, and began to gather before the white unicorn. They quickly organized themselves, and in a matter of one and a half seconds, they had formed a sword.

A claymore. Made entirely of diamond.

“You will never touch him again!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Hurry!” Alan urged the lost squadron of infantry ponies. “We have to get back to the gate!”

Shining Armor, leading the way with his plow-like shield, ran as fast as he could with the ponies directly behind him. Further back, trailed Alan, who was silently cursing his human genetics for not allowing him to go faster.

Griffons were shoved aside by Shining’s shield, and the ponies rushed past before any of the could recover.

Alan had to deal with the faster ones, but luckily, there weren’t many.

He quickly noted that the second wall was now being climbed, but the griffon in front of him quickly took priority.

He sliced the beast down, and continued pumping his legs to try and catch up with the party he went to rescue.

Then his eyes spotted something.

In front of the gate was Rarity.

She was dirty, bloodied, and her eyes were shining white. There was also a large crystal sword flying through the air around her.

None of those was a good sign.

“Shining! Double Time!”

“You can’t keep up with double time!”

“I know, but we need to go faster!”

“Fine! Jump!”

Before Alan could ask what he meant by that, a disk of solidified magic flew next to him.

Alan blinked. “No way,” he said, before breaking into a smile.

He jumped onto the disk and with a powerful telekinetic throw, Shining sent the human flying forward.

Zooming over the heads of the griffons, Alan quickly closed the gap between himself and the white unicorn on the bridge.

“If you come any closer I’ll be sewing your coat into my new dress!” The dressmaker-turned-general shouted at the griffons.

The wise ones had decided to fall back to a better position. The fools rushed forward, but the wise ones kept silent about it. Survival of the fittest, after all.

This only proved more wise once the Pendragon flew overhead, dropping down to the ground in front of the berserk pony.

The crystal claymore came down in Rarity’s blind rage, but with an quick parry from Alan, it went soaring behind him, killing many of the more foolish invaders.

Alan moved quickly, approaching the snarling pony and brought his hand against her face in a hard slap. “Get a hold of yourself!” he yelled as the magic around her faded.

Rarity blinked.

Shining Armor quickly arrived behind the Pendragon, the squadron quickly crossing the bridge while Shining’s shield held the ranks back from the Pendragon, the General, and the small form laying on the blood-coated marble.

“I-” she began. “I-” her voice were quiet and timid. “Y-you’re right. That was terribly unladylike of me.”

Rarity went silent, as her eyes drifted to Spike.

Alan noticed, and quickly put his fingers along the dragon’s neck.

“I’ve got a pulse,” he looked up at her. “He’s alive, Rarity.”

She merely nodded before hanging her head.

“Come on, let’s get you two up to the medical tent. Shining, you’re in charge.”

Shining nodded as he began to back up towards the gate. Alan picked up the unconscious dragon and led them away.

Once Shining Armor crossed the threshold of the gate, the doors swung shut.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The medical tent was alive with the groans of wounded ponies.

Medics came in and out in a steady stream of arrivals, dropping off patients as they came before leaving to get more.

Alan recognized a few faces as he walked in. Off in the corner, Vinyl Scratch stood staring over an unfamiliar unicorn while Octavia sat on a nearby bed. Fluttershy was situated between Lyra and Big Mac, checking both of them over, the latter was covered in so many bandages that Alan could hardly recognize him. A handful of pegasi lay spread out all over the place, and Alan silently hoped they were fine.

A doctor approached him. Bags hung from under his eyes and his movements seemed slow. “Sir?” he asked, carrying a gurney beside him.

Alan carefully lowered Spike onto the bed. “Be careful with this one,” Alan said. “He’s a good friend of mine.”

The doctor nodded.

Rarity bit her lip as she watched them go.

“Go ahead and stay, Rare,” Alan said. “I’m sure he’d like to wake up next to you.”

Rarity hung her head, but trotted after the doctor as he carried the little hero away.

Alan scanned the room again, searching for any more familiar faces.

Then Alan saw him.

Off to one side lay a bruised and beaten pegasus, his hind legs had been removed, the stumps bandaged in bloody gauze, and his left fore-leg had been cut off at the elbow. His wings had also been amputated, leaving bandaged stumps as the only evidence of his race. Across his body ran more bandages, covering deep wounds. His face was mostly unscathed, however, his right ear was now missing. Only his right leg was untouched, but that just made it easier to identify him.

Who else other than Thundersight would wrap a piece of black cloth around his fetlock?

Thundersight saw Alan, and he shakily lifted his leg in salute. “Private Thundersight, reporting for duty, sir.” His sentence ended with a weak cough.

Alan approached, standing next to the bed of the injured pegasus. Thundersight had been broken. He had been maimed beyond hope, but, Alan noted, there was courage still shining in his eyes. The Pendragon knelt down next to the bed he lay on, “At ease, Private,” he said.

Thundersight nodded, lowering his leg. He blinked back a tear. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I failed you, sir.” The broken pegasus took a deep breath before continuing. “I-I can’t help anymore, sir.”

Alan held back his own tears, before shaking his head. “You’ve done enough.”

“No, I haven’t,” came the response. “There still so much that needs to be done. My-my dad always said I’d be a failure.” A tear streaked out of his eye. “He always said I’d never amount to anything.”

Alan lay his hand on the pegasus’ hoof. “Tell me what happened.”

“Sir, I—”

“Just tell me.”

Thundersight sighed, coughing again before he recounted what happened. “I-I was making my last round before checking back in with General Dash, when I saw three ponies outside the wall. One of them was unconscious. They were being chased by a small squad of griffons. They weren’t going to make it in time. So I did something stupid.” The pegasus smirked. “I dived at them, took out one of them before the others could react. I told the ponies I’d hold them off.”

Thundersight never noticed the silence that now permeated the tent as every conscious eye was now on him.

“The next thing I know, I was pounced by the rest of them. They ruined my wings, and I couldn’t fly away. Then one of them, a large brute with an eye-patch over one eye. He was mad at me, said I was going to be his next pet project.” Thundersight’s voiced wavered. “He-he took my wings first. Said he didn’t want me flying away. Then he took my legs. Didn’t want me running either. He...he was slow when he did it, careful to make the pain last...” Thundersight loosed a ragged breath. “He asked me about the flight safe zones. I told him to bite me. He did. I didn’t tell him anything, sir. Nothing, I swear.”

“I believe you,” Alan answered.

Thundersight sighed again. For a few seconds, silence hung in the air. “W-when he was done with me—” A cough interrupted him. “When he was done with me, they took my ear. Said he wanted a trophy.”

More silence.

Thundersight shook his head, “I don’t even know if those ponies made it...”

“We made it, dude,” a voice said nearby. Thundersight and Alan both looked at Vinyl. She stood only a yard away, tears falling from behind her shades. “We all made it. Thank you...”

Alan smiled, “See, you saved them, Private. You didn’t fail.”

“But—” more coughs, “but I can’t fight anymore, sir. I-I didn’t do much before, but now...”

Alan smiled, shaking his head. “If I had a handful of stallions like you, this war would be over now.”

“My-my Dad—”

“Was wrong,” Alan corrected. “You are not a failure, Private. You are a hero, and I am proud of you.”

Thundersight blinked, before a smile spread across his face. “Thank you, sir. I see you took a hit yourself.”

Alan looked down to the wound he received the other day, the bloodied bandage around his side looked worse than it seemed. It was not much more than a scratch.

“It ain’t much,” Alan said.

“No, I figured, but it’s still got to hurt, right?”

Alan smirked. “Like Tartarus.”

Thundersight laughed a bit, before he winced, sucking air through clenched teeth.

“Are you alright?” Alan asked. “Are you in pain?”

“The nurses...they say I’m bleeding internally,” Thundersight said, taking a breath. “But they're afraid to give me more painkillers...they think it’ll kill me.”

Alan nodded, “Is it bad?”

Thundersight ground his teeth together and nodded. “Yeah, it’s bad.”

Alan nodded, “What do you want?”

Thundersight looked up at him, as silence filled the room. He gave a weak cough before saying, “I-I want you to tell my family I love them. I’m going to die anyway”

Alan nodded, “Where are they?”

“Small town, called Trottingham. My wife, Daisy, she’s taken over the weather control for me...and Pip...my son, Pipsqueak, break it to him gently.”

Alan nodded, calling a nurse over. She had a syringe in her mouth.

Alan carefully took the syringe. “What’s Trottingham like?”

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Thundersight said, “Fields as far the eye can see, clear skies, and nothing to do but run. I liked running through those fields, it was fun.”

As he talked, he didn’t notice the syringe pierce his skin, and the painkillers flow through.

“I-I loved running through fields, the wind in my mane, the clean air in my nostrils. It’s too bad I’ll never run again.”

“Just sleep, Private, you earned it.”

“Sleep...” Thundersight repeated. “That sounds nice...that sounds very nice...”

The broken pegasus closed his eyes, and the gentle poison did its work.

Alan stayed until Thundersight had left.

Tears fell from his eyes.

Everypony in the room was silent.

Then Alan stood, and carefully undid the cloth from around the pegasus’s leg. He looked at it, before tying it around his own arm. He sighed, before looking down at the body. “You will be remembered,” he said, his face going grim. “You will be avenged.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight was alone.

She was doing well for being alone, but the fact still remained. The others had been scattered by the incoming griffons, but she would not let the have the wall. She began using every spell she knew, from wind blasts and fireballs to siren songs and telekinetic throws.

It was an incredibly expensive wall. Too expensive to let the griffons have it.

It had cost 23 pony lives.

Three new griffons climbed over the battlements, and Twilight quickly looked them over. Nothing too impressive about them.

She prepared another spell, a blast of wind to knock them over the wall. Back to where they had come from.

Suddenly she felt something smack into her horn and her vision swam as the magic released, a breeze instead of the gale she had been preparing.

Before she could recover, she was thrown to the side. For a second, in her disoriented state, she felt like she was flying. Of course, that made slamming into the marble that much more shocking.

She had been flanked, she realized, the new attacker coming from the side as she was busy with the ones in front of her.

She propped herself up, and got a look at her attacker as the world tipped like a drunk.

He was a large brute of a griffon, one of his eye covered by a patch. Around his neck hung a macabre necklace of flesh; the centerpiece of which was a grey ear.

The brute laughed. “Look at this, seems I get another trophy today!”

Twilight tried to get up, but as she did the world spun again, and she fell back to the ground.

“Oh, don’t worry little pony, I’ll make this quick,” the griffon said, approaching.

She tried to move again, but the hit to her horn had been stronger than she had thought.

The griffon smirked, raising his claw to end the lavender unicorn.

His claw came down.

Suddenly there was a flash of silver and a scream of pain.

Twilight blinked.

As though from nowhere, Alan had appeared, his sword ready.

The griffon’s claw fell to the ground.

Alan stood there, tall and proud. His knuckles shone white as he held the handle tight. He had seen Twilight on his way down, and upon seeing her alone, went to help.

But then he saw the griffon, and saw the necklace of flesh. He saw the missing eye, and he knew beyond a doubt, that this was the one. He ground his teeth together as he said. “Not on your life.”

The griffon grabbed at his new stump, his mind reeling, “Git tom...” he whispered.

The three other griffons looked at him. “What?”

“He’s in shock,” Alan noted. “I think he said ‘kill him.’”

Two of the griffons charged the Pendragon, and as they did, Alan noticed something.

They seemed to move slower.

His brain suddenly kicked into high gear, and he suddenly launched a kick at one of the attackers.

Steel toed boot met beak, and the latter fractured.

Alan suddenly moved again, his sword dodging between the legs of the incoming griffon. With two quick slices, he cut the achilles tendons.

Target still presents threat. Alan thought as he caught sight of the lion paws.

He quickly grabbed at the first griffon’s pinion feathers and yanked them out of the wing, rendering him flightless, and unable to kick with those legs.

Target neutralized.

The second griffon attacked him, moving in slow motion. The claw swipes were easy enough to dodge.

Judgement came up, and with a few quick twists, he sliced through the shoulders.

The griffon slowly fell on his face, his arms now useless. Alan quickly grabbed one of the wings, before he kicked it, breaking bone.

Target neutralized.

Time sped up again, and Alan was subconsciously aware that he had experience stage three for the first time. But that took second place as he stared at the griffon in front of him, and the necklace around his neck.

Alan jumped forward, bring his sword down on the beast’s wings.

He cried in agony as his feathery appendages fell to the ground. “Can’t have you flying away now, can we?” Alan mocked.

The griffon scrambled, trying to get away. Two more slashes, and the griffon was now legless. “Can’t have you running away either,” Alan said, and the griffon became very much aware of the familiarity of those words.

“No, no please,” the griffon began.

“Begging?” Alan asked. “You’re going to beg? A pony took this with defiance, and you are going to beg?” Alan frowned and his eyes narrowed. “Coward.”

The griffon began to crawl away, dragging his body with his only arm, “Please?”

Alan stepped forward. “Coward! You dare dishonor my soldiers!? You mock the ponies, call them weak, when you yourself cannot stand half of your own treatment?”

The griffon began to cry. “Please...”

“There will be no mercy for you.”

“Please.”

Twilight stared on, watching with eyes wide at Alan’s fury. The griffon, the only one who had not charged, did the same.

Alan grabbed the griffon by the neck and lifted him high. He brought his sword up, ready to make a downward strike.

“Alan!” Twilight called, fear gripping her as she watched his anger, her nightmares springing to mind.

Alan glanced at her, before, in a fluid motion, he cut the necklace from off of the griffon’s neck.

“Death is too good for you.”

The griffon started, eye wide.

Alan brought one of Judgement’s quillons down on the the griffon’s temple, knocking him out.

Slinging the limp body over his shoulder, Alan took a quick look at the other griffon. “What do you have to say about this?”

The griffon stared at him for a moment before blurting. “He was a coward and he deserved it.”

Alan nodded. “Spread the word,” he said, before turning to Twilight. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just dizzy,” she said.

“Come on, we’ve got a delivery to make.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Back in the medical tent, Rarity sat next to Spike. It turns out, that the fall had done more damage than the actual cut. His scales had protected him for the most part, but he blacked out once his head hit the marble.

At her insistence, they gave him some painkillers, just enough to dull the pain when he woke up.

She watched him as he slept.

He was tossing and turning in his sleep, muttering as he did. “Don’t...don’t want to...want to stay young...don’t want them to die...”

Rarity had already began to piece things together.

The poor boy.

He suddenly sat up, screaming. His eyes were wide, and he was breathing heavy. Nopony else really noticed.

“It’s okay, Spike, I’m here.”

The small reptilian eyes fell on the white mare, her hooves and chest stained red with blood.

His blood.

He took a deep breath, “Am-am I dead?”

“No, Spike, you’re still here.”

The drugs in his system were messing with his mind. Things didn’t feel right.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Good,” Spike said, as he began to lie down, “I don’t want to die alone. I don’t want to live alone.” His mouth was working on autopilot, the drugs working their magic. “I don’t want to grow up being alone...”

“I know, Spike. I know.”

“Promise me you’ll be there, Rarity.”

“Be where, Spike?”

“When I die. I just don’t want to be alone.”

Alone. Poor Spike, that’s probably all he has to look forward to. Years from now, when she and her friends died of old age, Spike would remain. He would grow too big for Ponyville, and ponies would begin to fear him, and then he’d be all alone...

She wouldn’t want to grow up either with that kind of future ahead of her.

So she said the only thing she could.

“I promise, Spike. I’ll be there.”

“No you won’t,” Spike said, curling into a ball. “You’ll be dead too.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Fluttershy watched as Alan dragged a dismembered griffon into the tent. “Keep him alive,” he said, “I’m not finished with him yet.”

She could only guess that he was the one who had hurt Thundersight.

Celestia be with him.

She checked Lyra again, still alive, still breathing. Then she checked Big Mac. The same.

She sighed. She should have been faster with this. Why did it take one of her friends to almost die before she got it?

Ponies were dead because she had hesitated.

In the end, the greatest kindness she could have given was to be mean.

“Thank ya,” a voice said, and she turned to see the bandaged Big Mac.

“I...um...”

“Ya saved my life, thank ya.”

“I...your welcome...”

There was silence for a moment.

“I guess I owe you one for this,” the draft pony said.

“Oh, you don’t have to...”

“Yeah ah do.”

“No, really, it’s fine—”

“Look, don’t be like Applejack, just take the help and be done wit it. Besides, it’d be mah pleasure.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Are you really sure?”

“Eeyup.”

Next Chapter: the siege ends!

“Yeah and Alan gets—”

Pinkie! What have I told you about spoilers!

“Aw...”

“Just so you know, Miner, I hate you for this chapter.”

“Jerk! You killed Thundersight!”

So sue me.

Be sure to comment, thumbs up and all the rest of that junk. See ya next chapter!

Bye!

19-Equestria Prevails

Chapter 19

“They’re breaching the second wall!” somepony yelled.

Below them the griffons tried climbing the wall, digging their talons into the cracks between the stones. Another battering ram had been set up, smashing into the gate of the second level.

Alan quickly ended a climbing invader, before chancing a look at the buffalo next to him. “Chief Thunderhooves, good to see you made it out.”

The bison laughed. “Made it out? I followed the fight here! It is a good day to die!” A swift kick from the chief sent a griffon sprawling onto the floor, where he was finished with what Alan could only describe as a medieval curb stomp.

“Well, honestly I think it’s a good day for them to die,” Alan noted, as Judgement pierced another griffon hide.

Chief Thunderhooves didn’t hear him, and was already being carried away by the flow of battle.

Above them, pegasi and griffon dog fights broke out in the sky while the Ira and the Vindicta tried to keep them pinned with rockets.

“Our ammo stores are down to 25%, Al,” Pinkie said over the communicator. “We’re going to have to slow our fire rate if we need to last.”

“Understood,” Alan replied. “Dashie, I need you and some other troops to head on up to the ships, keep them company.”

“You got it!” the pegasus answered.

A white and gold armored pony slammed into another griffon, sending him to the ground before raising his hammer up and bringing it down on its head. “By Tartarus’ Crooked Teeth, they’re persistent.”

“How’s it going, Silver?” Alan asked the earth pony as he ducked under an incoming blow.

“Alright, all things considered. I mean,” he interrupted himself, swinging his hammer around to bash into another griffon’s face, “I think one of these guys bent some of my armor, but at least I’ve still got my hide in one piece. For the most part, anyway.”

“I know the feeling,” the Pendragon said, doing his best to continue to ignore his wound as he cut apart yet another griffon. That was 82...

He should probably stop counting...

He switched his grip from a two-handed to a one-handed position, before slicing another griffon. His free hand quickly searched underneath his duster to pull out his sheath knife. He spun again, the knife burying into the temple of another attacker.

84...

Stop counting!

Alan let loose a sigh.

“You alright, sir?”

Alan shook his head. “I’m tired.”

Silver blinked. “Y-You’ve been awake since the start...haven’t you?”

Alan smirked. “Someone’s got to lead the army. Call me a masochist if you want, but someone’s got to do it.”

Silver blinked again. He, Shining, and a fairly good portion of the Fire Drake Division had all gotten a good night’s sleep before the battle on the walls started yesterday...but...

Silver couldn’t imagine staying up for as long as Alan had.

“Sir, respectfully requesting that you go get some rest.”

Alan shook his head. “I’ve got to—”

“Sir,” Silver repeated. “Respectfully ordering you to get some rest.”

Alan blinked. “Excuse me, Captain?”

Silver gulped. “Sir, you need to lead the army. We need you rested and sharp to do that. Please, Al.”

Alan stared at the pony for a long time. The silence between the two slightly unnerved the captain. “Alright,” he said finally. “You make a good point. You, Shining, and the generals are in charge until I get back, you understand?”

Silver nodded. “Sir, yes, sir.”

“I won’t be gone long.”

“Take as long as you need.”

Alan then retreated back to the fourth level, where a bed waited for him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thunderlane just couldn’t believe it.

One day, everything was fine, and then war was declared. One month of training, and suddenly, he had become a soldier. One month ago, he was working on Ponyville’s weather, now he was flying with the Wonderbolts.

The Wonderbolts.

Now, he wasn’t a die-hard fan or anything, but sweet Celestia, the Wonderbolts!

Every pegasus foal dreamed of becoming a Wonderbolt one day, it was the dream job.

Surprisingly, his dream job had a lot more bloodshed than he remembered.

“Alright you slow sacks of feathers, Wonderbolts excluded,” the general’s voice crackled into the earpieces that the pegasi wore, tuned only to hear the general, “We’ve got a job to do. Keep the griffons away from the ships; keep them safe. They’re running low on ammo, and can’t deal much more punishment. Understood?”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” the pegasi answered.

They were above the cloud layer; the fluffy white floors would make an excellent diving board for an ambush, but they simply didn’t have the time to set one up.

“Good,” the multichromatic leader responded. “Eyes sharp, and claws out, everypony.”

Thunderlane flipped his forelegs up and the claws locked in the open position. It was a very nice design, actually, the claws looking like wings coming off the shoe when closed. Right now, though, they were open, and looked every bit deadly.

“Alpha Squad, take the Vindicta,” General Dash ordered. “Bravo, take the Ira, Squads Wonderbolts and Charlie, with me, we’ll be covering both.”

Thunderlane still wasn’t sure where most of those names had come from, but he didn’t really need to know that. All he needed to know was that he was in Squad Charlie.

Banking left, the mohawked pegasus followed his general as the rainbow-colored mare led her troops fearlessly.

Thunderlane knew Rainbow Dash, she was the head weather mare of Ponyville after all, but he never thought of her as the leading an army sort.

Then again...he never really picked himself as the type to be in an army either...

“Alright, pegasi!” Dash said. “Get ready to dive in three. Two. One.”

Suddenly, the two squadrons dove through the clouds, bursting through the white veil, catching the griffons they had been shadowing by surprise.

Thunderlane had already marked his target, an idiot who seemed insistent on wearing a green cape.

Hugging his wings tight against his body, Thunderlane then pulled off what was perhaps the greatest dive of his flying career. It was perfect, spectacular, amazing, and a dozen more adjectives that would have many a librarian drooling.

It ended the second his clawed hooves bit into the caped back of the griffon.

Blood splattered upward temporarily blinding the pegasus, who suddenly pulled up, letting the body fall to the ground.

Rising upward now, trying to see for the blood on his eyes, Thunderlane headed to the nearest cloud.

Ripping a piece of the fluffy substance off the rest of the cloud, he quickly used it as a makeshift towel, wiping his face.

As his sight returned, he quickly climbed up on the top of the cloud to try and get a good vantage point. Below him, under the clouds, the battle was raging. Ponies dived down on the backs of griffons. Griffons, in turn, dived onto the backs of ponies. If you weren’t fast, you didn’t survive. Period.

Flying with the Wonderbolts hadn’t promised to be this grim either, he thought with a laugh.

He briefly thought if a laugh was appropriate at a time like this. After all, ponies were dying just a few hundred hooves below him. Is it appropriate to be this detached?

Thunderlane suddenly became aware of the noise of clanging steel behind him.

He turned and was surprised to see a hoof-to-talon battle emerging on the very cloud he stood on.

Rainbow Dash, her armor shining in the uninterrupted sunlight, was at that very moment, engaged in a deadly battle on the cloud, dodging swipes and landing kicks with her clawed hooves. Steel met steel as the general’s faux claws blocked the incoming strike of the capped talons of one of the four griffons that surrounded her.

She moved gracefully, almost dancing with practiced precision as she bolted around her enemies.

Thunderlane blinked. Is that Karate?

Japonies Karate, for those who don’t know, was far closer to what would be called Chinese Kung Fu than the Karate of Alan’s world. It was an interesting cross-dimensional misnomer that would certainly get the more knowledgeable interested, but I digress.

Thunderlane blinked again. Yes, it was in fact Karate. The Flying Phoenix style if Thunderlane wasn’t mistaken.

Since when did Rainbow Dash of all ponies know Karate?

Actually, now that he thought about it, hadn’t she rented out the dojo that one day to teach that one filly, what was her name? Apple...something...

Oh yeah, she did, Thunderlane remembered now with a scowl. He hadn’t been able to get his practice that day because she had rented out the dojo roughly the same time that he would go through his own routine.

Another flying kick cut through the griffon’s guard, and Dash’s claws raked the beast’s face. “And stay down, you ugly motherbucker,” she said as the griffon clutched at his ruined eye.

Of course, her taunt had left her open.

A griffon attacked, bringing his claw down at Rainbow Dash’s exposed back.

Thunderlane had moved before he had even registered what was happening. He blinked, and found himself between the griffon and his target. The clawed hoof had come up, blocking the griffon’s strike, and a subconscious order had forced his other hoof forward into the unarmored chest of the attacker.

They both stood stock still for a second.

Then the griffon slid off his claws, falling through the clouds as it died.

Thunderlane blinked.

That-that was...

“Nice move there, Thunderlane!” Rainbow Dash interrupted his thoughts, “What was that?”

His mouth moved automatically, “Standing Dragon Style.”

“Yeah? I’ve always preferred the Flying Phoenix style myself; it fits my natural awesomeness.”

Thunderlane simply stared at the hole in the clouds where the body had fallen through. That-it was totally automatic, he hadn’t even really wanted to kill that one. His muscle memory had just taken over, simply going through one of the many kata he had practiced and re-practiced hundreds of times.

It’s just, it was so vicious, so primal...

But the Standing Dragon style had always been vicious. It was always aggressive, that was the point.

Blood dripped from the claw, staining the immaculately white floor. “I-I just—”

“Don’t,” the general said, her voice dropping from her usual tone. “Just don’t think about it. Not now. We don’t have the time.”

Thunderlane nodded.

“Come on, Thunderlane, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Applejack’s chain snaked through the air with expert ease, slicing at legs and wings before returning to its new master.

The Farmpony-turned-general blinked back tears as she fought.

This wasn’t right.

None of this was right.

She was a life bringer, a gardener, a farmer.

Instead, she stood, a life taker, a soldier, a murderer.

This wasn’t right.

Almost every instinct told her to give up and run. Let everypony else fight this battle, and leave her out of it. The only ones that told her to stay had only shown up when that stupid pony had started up the battle cry.

Of course, there was one other part of her that told her to stay.

Alan, whether he knew it or not, had made it impossible to leave. He had told all of them that the ones back home were counting on them.

Her family, Granny Smith, Applebloom, Big Mac, they were all counting on her.

Well, Big Mac’s here, but that ain’t the point.

The point was that everypony was counting on her to be here.

And she never let anypony down.

The chain uncoiled again, slashing at three more griffons before she brought it back.

Only the wings, legs, and chests, never the throats.

Once or twice she had slit an artery, but it hadn’t taken her long to learn where those were, and she avoided those too.

She just couldn’t take that much blood.

Horseapples, why on Celestia’s sweet earth did Ah get mahself a cuttin’ weapon?

The chain had turned out to be far more effective than she had originally thought. What she had thought would simply stop her enemies in their tracks had proven to be a far better killer. It had been proven to her when she had wrapped a whole griffon in the chain, the weapon criss-crossing over itself, and then she had given only the slightest tug.

She...she never thought that he just would fall apart like that.

She had hesitantly taken to wrapping the chain around talons and claws, hoping that having them removed would discourage anygriff from getting closer to her.

It worked for the most part, however, the moans of pain of the dying griffons that surrounded her were setting her on edge.

Blinking back her tears, she quickly removed another limb, shutting her eyes tight so she wouldn’t see the blood.

This wasn’t right.

Suddenly, the battle cleared ahead of her. A massive griffon, twice as tall and as bulky as his comrades stepped forward. Steel armor covered his limbs, wings, and face. His blood-stained features spoke volumes of the beast opposite her, as did the manic grin on his blood covered beak.

“Hello there, my little pony,” the griffon said, his voice hoarse and ragged. “I hope you are as delicious as your comrades.”

Applejack felt the need to puke.

The griffon charged her, and the general quickly launched her chain at him.

Razor sharp blade scratched against steel armor.

The beast kept charging.

Another twist of her head, and the chain flipped up to the unprotected belly. A long red gash grew between the white feathers of his chest.

The beast kept charging.

Another flick, and the blades came up, along the wings of the beast. With a forceful pull, Applejack hoped that her whip would miss the armor. She was rewarded with the feeling of giving flesh under the razor blades, and the chain came away, the wing now hanging by a thread.

The beast kept charging.

Then Applejack saw it.

The griffon’s eyes were now blood-red with fury, his beak twisted into a feral scowl that broke into a wordless battle cry. He was ignoring pain, ignoring blood. What Applejack would never know was that this griffon, this monster charging her, came from a long line of proud warriors, a bloodline both blessed and cursed by the War Wrath.

The War Wrath, a terrible thing, truly. A state where alliance, politics, family, friends, pain, and happiness became meaningless. The only thing that mattered was the death of his enemy.

Applejack, unfortunately, had become such a target.

His tunnel-vision had her locked in the red haze that the world had become. She would fall to him, and she would be a decadent treat.

He never saw the white earth pony falling on him.

Silver Pauldron’s hammer smashed into the beast’s helm, bending it into the charging beast’s head. It was dead on impact.

Silver, unfortunately, misjudged his target’s speed, and he was caught by the creature’s skidding form.

Thrown back, Silver skidded to a stop at the feet of the farmpony general.

She stared down at him.

He looked up her.

They blinked.

“Good morning, Miss,” Silver said.

“Uh...mornin’,” she answered.

“Been doing alright?”

Applejack paused. What was going on? This normal conversation had just popped up in the middle of all this. What kind of a pony just said “Good morning” on a battlefield? It was such a normal thing to say, here, in the most unusual of places. She made to answer, but paused before tears began to roll down her face.

“Ah’m-Ah’m fine,” she quivered.

Silver blinked before standing.

“Ma’am?”

“Ah said Ah’m fine!” she yelled, her tears betraying her.

Silver stood in front of her, “Ma’am?”

“Didn’t ya hear me? Ah’m fine!” Oh Celestia, she was falling to pieces. Now? Did it have to be now? In front of a stallion she didn’t know, of all things!

Silver grasped her in a hug. “I heard you ma’am. But it seems you may have sprained your ankle.”

It took a second for Applejack to realize what he had meant.

The stallion was not hugging her, no, he was simply holding her up so she could get off her “sprained” ankle.

“O-of course, thank you for supporting me.”

“No problem, ma’am, should I escort you to the paramedics so they could get a good look at it?”

“No,” Applejack said through tears, “No, Ah’ll be fine. Ah-just give me a moment.”

Silver nodded, “Of course, Miss.”

Tears continued to streak down her face. She did her best to bite back a sob as she dug her muzzle into his chest. “It-it just ain’t right.”

“No, miss, it isn’t. It never is.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Shining Armor scowled.

At this rate they would lose the second wall.

“Hey, Shining, falling asleep back there?” a voice said behind him.

“No, just thinking, Twily,” he answered, bashing a griffon with another magical shield.

The siblings stood back to back, attacking the assailants with every bit of magic they could spare. Shining had four, small, round shields hovering around him, each one reminiscent of another great hero that walked an alternate earth, but that isn’t important. Twilight stood facing the opposite direction, firing blasts of pure energy at the incoming attackers.

“Think later,” she said. “Shield please.”

One of Shining’s four shields passed behind him, the color of the magick lighting ever so slightly as it changed owners. Twilight took it carefully, holding it in front of her before launching it forward with every ounce of her magical might. The shield turned into a bullet, flying forward as a tail of excess mana lit up the air behind it. The griffons that had been standing in its way were quickly battered either to the side or backwards.

A second later, the shield returned flying backwards and crashing into even more griffons as it came.

It froze right in front of Twilight who said a simple “Thank you,” before returning the shield to her brother.

The mana darkened again to its original color as the elder sibling took back control. “You’re welcome,” he said, before bashing another face in.

They worked quickly and efficiently, blowing the ranks of the incoming invaders apart. Unfortunately, they were only two ponies, and two ponies could only do so much.

Shining could see the others begin to back away as the griffons began to overtake them.

“We’re going to have to pull back.” he said, sending a shield flying like a discus.

Twilight didn’t say anything.

“Did you hear me?”

“I did,” she answered. “I just don’t want to give up this wall after so many died defending it.”

“Orders are orders, Twily, and I heard Alan’s order to you.”

“Stay alive.”

Twilight sighed. “Can’t make this easy on me, can you?”

Shining smiled. “Just following orders.”

Twilight glared at him, but returned the smile eventually.

Shining chuckled before he brought his shields together to re-form the plow. “Besides, I want to keep my L.S.B.F.F. alive too.”

The Little Sister Best Friend Forever chuckled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan was awake again, and this time it was his turn to hold the gate.

Judgement sang as it flew through the air, the blessed steel biting through armor as though it were nothing. Grabbing his last throwing knife, he tossed it sideways, not so much hoping for the blade to bite as much as the piece of metal to stun someone.

“When attacking multiple opponents,” Arthur had said, “Make every strike count. Eyes, throat, lung, heart, liver, hands, whatever it takes to stop one opponent.”

It was a darker thought than most that came from the King’s mouth, but it proved to be invaluable advice.

A griffon screamed as he flew off the bridge, clutching his face where his eyes had been.

A spear, plundered from a dead pony, thrust up towards him.

The sword came up, parrying it to the side, and a griffon quickly got into the opening that had been created, claws ready to rip out his intestines.

A screech sounded, and with a flurry of feathers, Volo scratched at the attackers face.

“So you are here,” Alan smirked, talking to the bird.

Volo answered with a shriek, before flying off to do whatever it was that she had been doing.

Alan shook his head, that bird had come with him and then immediately made herself scarce.

What was with that?

Pulling his knife again, he drove it up through a griffon’s jaw, the blade piercing the brain case.

He went to pull it out, but it was caught on...something.

Alan dropped the knife, preferring to drop that line of thinking as well. He chanced a look at it as it tumbled off the bridge along with the griffon.

He shouldn’t have been watching.

A sudden swipe from an iron capped claw came down on his head.

It was by pure luck that he saw it in time to barely dodge. However, even as he turned his head, he felt the cold metal biting into his cheek, a millimeter from his eye, if that.

He blindly kicked out, and he felt his boot meet resistance before it gave way.

He quickly looked at his opponent, but stopped when he saw something large and black hang in front of his vision.

His hand lifted up to grab the thing in front of his face, and with a gentle pull it fell into his hand.

He looked down and the black piece of hardened fabric, shredded as it was. The only recognizable piece to it was the leather band with silver coin-like beads that surrounded it.

“You ruined my hat,” he said.

He looked up at the griffon, who looked horribly confused with this new series of events.

“I paid good money for this hat. I looked good in this hat!” he yelled. “This hat made me look awesome!”

The griffons looked at each other and blinked.

“You shall pay for this insolence! For this crime against Awesomeness you shall pay! Have at thee, Vile Chicken Spawn!”

And so, with what was possibly the strangest battlecry in the history of Equestria, the great hero of Awesomeness, Alan’s hat, passed away.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The gates slammed shut.

Everypony had been pulled back to the third wall, and they were finally able to close the gate.

Alan slid down the oak door, sitting on the cold marble ground, panting heavily.

“Well, that was tough.”

“You okay?” Shining Armor panted beside him.

“Yeah,” Alan replied. “I just got a cut is all. You?”

Shining smiled, still panting, “Not a scratch, but I’m as tired as Spike on Reshelving Day.”

The two shared a laugh, before Alan got up, grunting as he did. “We can’t stay here. We’ve still got work to do.”

Shining groaned.

Alan put his finger to his ear. “General Fluttershy.”

“Ah, yes?” she asked, her voice sounded a little louder than before.

“We’ve had to retreat to the third level, they’re getting too close, we need to start moving the wounded inside the palace.”

There was silence for a second. “Move them?” the pegasus repeated. “Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We can’t do that, some of these ponies are seriously hurt. It’d take a team of ten ponies to move a few of these patients, and we just don’t have that many ponies to spare.”

“I’ll send some up from here to help out with—”

The oak door shuddered behind him, as a boom sounded.

“Oh, shoot,” Alan whined.

Another boom as a battering ram, probably that same pine, slammed into the gate. “Sorry, Flutters, you’re going to have to do that yourself. We’ve got company at the gate.”

“I don’t have the ponypower to do that, Alan. Some of these ponies could get seriously hurt if we don’t move them just right.”

Alan opened his mouth to say something but was quickly interrupted. “Go, Alan. Help our soldiers.”

Alan turned to see Princess Celestia standing behind him. Around her neck hung a chestplate of red metal. In the center of the armor, carefully molded by pony hooves, was a perfect replica of a Phoenix's head. Around it, radiating from the birds’ head, were hundreds of individually crafted feathers, each painstakingly etched into the red metal.

Her shoes, instead of the golden regalia, were replaced by armored shoes, made of the same red metal. The etched feathers, so solid and defined at the base seemed to turn to flames as they reached up to the top of the shoes. Her crown had also been replaced with a circlet made of the same red metal. It came up, over her brow and bridging the top of her horn. The top ridge of the crown resembled fire, and the center of it held a bright yellow gem.

“I will hold the gate,” she said.

“Uh...Princess,” Alan began.

She ignored him, looking up at the sun. “I can hold it for one hour, no more, no less.”

“Princess, I—”

“This is not my first battle, Pendragon,” she interrupted, “and the Minotaurs have yet to forget it.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the gate. She sighed. “Sir Alan do not question me on this, go, help the wounded. I will deal with these.”

Alan nodded. “Shining, come on, we got some work to do.”

The pony nodded, as Alan left, barking orders to the ponies, telling them to hold the walls while telling others to start moving the wounded.

The oak door shuddered again.

“You don’t need to do this, Celly,” a voice said beside her.

She turned to see Death, a grim, haggard look on his face, staring at her. “You need not taint yourself with war again.”

She sighed. “I will not have it said that I stood by while Canterlot fell to ruins, Death. My ponies are mine to protect.”

Death nodded. “I know.”

She gave him a soft smile. “I will be alright, Death. They cannot touch me.”

“I know,” he repeated, before kissing her cheek. “I just don’t like seeing you reduced to this.”

She returned the kiss. “I’m sorry, Death.”

The black alicorn sighed. “I’m sorry too.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

The battering ram splintered as it rammed into the gate. The iron banded door stood solid.

“Hit it again!” the commander shouted.

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

Suddenly, the doors were caught in a golden aura, and exploded outward. Griffons went flying as the oak doors were ripped from their hinges and went flying off into the distance.

Beyond the gate stood the tall, white, nightmarish form of Celestia. Her mane was an inferno, crackling as the flames leapt into the air. Her eyes were white depths of blinding light, and her armor glinted in the light of the setting sun.

Then she spoke.

It was like the sound of thunder, and it shook the griffons before her to their knees. “I am Princess Celestia the Firstborn, Queen of the Day! I am the Fire of Life, Mistress of a Thousand Flames! I am the Solar Sentinel, High Ruler of Equestria! Tens of thousands of generations have crumbled to dust in my wake, and tens of thousands will follow before I am spent!” The sky suddenly darkened, and the red sun turned grey. A beam, a comet of fire suddenly flashed overhead. Before the eyes of the griffons, it suddenly fell, rocketing to earth.

It slammed through the bridge, breaking the stone apart, and down onto the level below, leaving a smoking crater.

From it rose a massive war hammer. The metal was white, trimmed with brilliant gold and scarlet red. In the center of the hammer was a brilliant gem, but it burned with a light so bright that the griffon’s could not keep their eyes on it.

“Thou hast declared war on Equestria,” the Princess said, still using the Royal Canterlot voice. “To threaten her, is to threaten us.” Her hammer rose beside her, and it smoked form the heat radiating off of it. “Come then, may the brave among thee meet a quick death.”

No one moved.

And then the Princess charged.

No one stood before her, no one dared to raise so much as a talon against her, because as they looked on in terror at her fell countenance, they could only wonder, if she were to die, what would happen to the sun?

<<<|Ω|>>>

“We’ll need more time,” Alan realized.

A sinking feeling hit him in the pit of his stomach.

Princess Celestia had given him one hour, no more, no less, and already, 45 minutes have passed. The issue was not even half of the ponies had been moved, and it would take maybe another hour or so to get the rest.

Looking up at the grey twilight, Alan bit his lip, he needed to get back down to the gate. He needed a strong group of ponies next to him this time.

He wouldn’t be able to hold the gate by himself again.

Cursing under his breath, he spoke into the communicator. “Fluttershy, we’ve run out of time, we’ve got to head back to the gate.”

“But, the ponies—”

“Al, got some bad news for ya,” Applejack’s voice interrupted. “We ain’t going to be able to hold this wall, they’re too many flyers for us to hold ‘em back.”

“Al! Al!” Pinkie’s voice cut in. “Munitions stores are down to fifteen percent! We can’t keep firing like this!”

“Al, hate to interrupt,” Dashie added, “but we can’t keep up with the flyers either. There’re just too many.”

Alan bit his lip.

Buck my life.

“Begin to retreat to the fourth wall, and grab as many of the wounded as you can. Shining, head to the gate.”

“Yes sir!” they answered.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia paused, her hammer laying before her, and checked the sky.

The twilight hour was darker than it should be. It looked maybe two hours darker than it should, honestly.

She sighed. Her hour was up.

Any longer and she would jeopardize the safety of the entire planet. Her hammer was a part of the sun itself. Taking from it made the sun weaker, as well as its gravitational pull. She could wield it safely for an hour every couple of months, but doing more than that could doom all of Equestria to an eternal winter.

And so she looked down the length of the hammer’s slender handle, and stared deep into the eyes of the griffon at its end. “Do not test me again,” she said, her tone quiet and composed.

The griffon nodded, eyes wide in abject terror.

And then, with a thought, she dismissed her weapon. It flew upward into the sky, lighting on fire as it did, and then it streaked back towards the sun. For a moment, there was nothing, and then the world got a bit brighter.

Celestia stood, her eyes darkening, and her mane dieing down to the normal corona of colors.

Then, with a single, gentle flap of her wings, she lifted herself up and walked into the gate.

The griffon that had escaped death by a literal second looked up at the entrance to the next level of the castle, and then turned tail and ran for his life.

It was perhaps, the wisest choice he had ever made.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan, Shining Armor, and Silver Pauldrons all stood in the fourth and last gate of Canterlot Castle. Before them, ranks upon ranks of griffons. Behind them, the last remnants of the wounded ponies. Above them stood most of the soldiers, while a few still trickled through into the gate.

The three would hold it in the meantime.

Sword, shield and hammer held the gate for all it was worth, killing more and more griffons as they pushed towards the gate.

A griffon charged, throwing himself at the human. Alan replied with the business end of his sword.

With the sudden weight now at the end of his sword, Alan felt Judgement fall point-down to the ground. Before he could retrieve the point from the corpse and regain control, another griffon jumped him.

His hand moved up, almost subconsciously, and caught the griffon by the throat. Letting go of his sword for a moment, he, acting quickly, lifted the creature up and brought it down on his knee, snapping the spine like a stick.

He blinked, shocked at his own actions, before noticing the griffons were equally shocked, frozen on the other end of the bridge.

He blinked, before spouting the first thing that came to his mind. “I am Pendragon Alan Williams of Earth!” he yelled. “I am Half-Dragon! Heir of Arthur! Defeater of Discord!” A flashback to the video game Oblivion hit him. “I am the Hero of Kvatch! Arch-mage of Cyrodiil! Listener of the Black Hand! I am Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, Thane of all of the cities from Markarth to Riften! I am the Hero of Time, wielder of the Master Sword! I am the Scourge of Azeroth, Savior of Albion! I am the Mentor of the Assassin’s and keeper of their Creed! I have raised empires, commanded armies, and brought low civilizations with but a push of my finger!” He thumped his chest with a closed fist. “I am Pendragon, and I fear neither death nor pain! Come at me and we shall see if you can say the same! Come at me!”

No one moved.

And then the griffons scattered, giving the three a brief break.

Alan then wrenched the blade from the dead corpse, and wiped the blade clean on the pelt.

“Um, Al...” Shining began.

“Yeah?”

“Was any of that, like the hero of Kvatch and stuff, real?”

“Virtually,” Alan answered. “Ask Twilight about video games sometime. She’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

Before Shining could say anything further, the griffons had regrouped.

“By Alan’s Numerous Titles,” Silver sighed, “here we go again.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The gate was shut and every available pony was on the walls. Griffons and pegasi filled the night air, the full moon providing the only light.

“Fluttershy, status report!” Alan yelled.

“We still need more time!” she pleaded.

“We don’t have the time! The griffons are pushing us back, and we can barely hold them. If they get past us, they can get straight to the tents!”

A loud voice coming from behind him got his attention. “Doth our ears deceive us? Or does our Pendragon require our aid?”

Alan turned to see Princess Luna. The Lunar Mistress stood tall, dressed in silver armor much like her sister. Her chest piece, rather than the phoenix head, was adorned with an owl’s face. The edges of her shoes and circlet, rather than flames, were topped with tall star-like protrusions.

“Princess Luna,” Alan said bowing. “Your help would be appreciated, where shall I put you?”

The princess laughed. “You need not worry about positions and strategies with me, Pendragon. Call back your soldiers, I will hold the wall.”

Alan blinked. “The entire wall?”

She smiled. “Our sister possesses power, however, for it she is slow to move.”

The night suddenly darkened, and Alan looked up to the moon was not as full as it had been. A blinding white comet was now heading straight for the lunar Princess.

“I, however, possess...” she paused for a second, holding out her hoof, when the comet suddenly streaked forward.

In what seemed to be slow motion, for surely he would have never been able to see it otherwise, a six-foot-long glaive, the handle as black as night, the head gleaming white, rammed down to meet its wielder. Alan barely noticed the point of the sword-like blade touch the Princess’s shod hoof. She then brought her hoof up, spinning the polearm in a perfect circle, before it came to rest, hovering inches from her upheld hoof.

“Grace,” she finished, before a single beat of her wings sent her airborne.

Alan watched, eyes wide, as he watched Luna zip through the sky, flying faster than either pegasi or griffon.

He blinked before saying, “Alright, everypony, let’s move these wounded, the Princess has got us covered.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

With the last pony inside the palace, the doors slammed shut.

Luna held them for as long as she could, but eventually had to return her spear to it’s rightful place, lest the tides turn evilly, and sailors met their dooms on the rocks.

Now, the 1032 remaining infantry ponies, were locked in the palace foyer. Outside, Dashie’s 299 pegasi were still combating many of the griffons, while protecting Pinkie’s 393 artillery ponies.

The noise of that same battering ram hitting the door began to sound.

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

The gold door of the palace shook with every hit. They were ornate, decorative things, they weren’t made for war.

It wouldn’t be long.

“General Fluttershy!” Alan yelled over the hubbub of ponies as they began to move the Princess’ priceless furniture to bar the door.

“Yes?” the pegasus said, hovering over the crowd of earth ponies and unicorns.

“Where are the wounded?”

“I’ve moved them to the basements and kitchens.”

“Good, make sure they’re safe!”

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

The ponies that were not scrambling, began to stand there, staring at the door. Some in anxiousness, others in fear.

“Dashie, you’re my eyes and ears out there, what’s going on?”

“I’ve got a visual on the Running Thunders, they’re surrounded. It doesn’t look good.”

“Pinkie?” Alan asked.

“I’ve got three rockets left.”

A pony began to scream, “We’re all going to die!” Most ignored him, and Alan prayed they would continue to do so.

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

Something stirred in Alan, a memory. Men took the place of ponies as they rushed in the stone hall, dragging tables and the like to the door as the drone of the battering ram filled his ears.

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

An old man, with a white beard and grey-blond hair stood, seemingly dazed. His dented black, red and gold armor gleaming in the early morning light. He spoke, his voice calm, and disconnected from the flurry of activity around him. “So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?”

Another man, one who seemed far younger, wearing worn and torn leather armor stood next to him. “Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.”

“Alan?” a voice asked, breaking him from his moment.

He turned to see Twilight, along with Shining and Silver, all staring at him expectantly.

He looked at the three of them, and paused before saying, “Are you with me?”

Silver smirked. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Shining shared the look. “Well, I guess,” he joked.

Twilight looked up at him, and hesitated. His eyes looked...sad. Terribly sad. It seemed wrong that the human that had just saved her life a few hours ago, so filled with rage could seem so sad now.

She couldn’t say no to those eyes.

“I’ve had my doubts once already, I’m not going to leave you again.”

He nodded before he stood and shouted “Somepony get me a chariot!”

The request turned a few heads. What? A Chariot? Why would he need one of those?

“Get me a chariot!” Alan repeated.

Three or so ponies scattered, heading to...wherever the chariots were kept.

They quickly returned, chariot in tow as the rest of the soldiers looked on in curiosity.

Alan stood in the chariot, and turned to face the soldiers. “I need two brave volunteers.”

Silver and Shining stood forward. “Here, sir.”

Alan smiled at them. “Thank you, my brothers.”

Without another word, the two stallions began to hook themselves up to the chariot.

Alan turned back to the soldiers, and said simply, “Charge out with me.”

The only sound that could be heard was the drone of the battering ram.

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

“Here we are,” Alan said, “caught between the hammer and anvil. Behind us, nothing but walls and the injured! Before us, an enemy wishing to exterminate us!”

“Out there is our enemy,” Alan said. “Out there are griffons who came to Canterlot expecting a rag-tag militia that would roll-over at the first sight of blood. Out there is an enemy that came here, expecting this battle to be won in a day.

“Out there is an enemy that we have proven wrong!”

Alan’s eyes swept over the soldiers. “Not four days ago, you stood here as carpenters, sculptors, musicians, potters, librarians and shopkeepers. But now you have been baptized by blood and fire. Now you stand as brave soldiers, soldiers that our enemy was not expecting.

Alan smiled at the ponies. “I am proud of you, every single one of you. You have proven yourselves beyond a shadow of a doubt, and I am proud to call you my brothers and sisters in arms.”

He turned back to the door as it shuddered beneath the blows of the battering ram. “But our enemy is still out there. They are out there, and they want to come in here, and destroy us, to reaffirm their position as the greatest warriors in Equestria. A position that you, my little ponies, have threatened.”

“You brave mares and stallions have fought, bled, and died for those walls, for those stones,” he said, pointing to the door as it shuddered. “You have fought for you friends and families. You bled for your homes and cities. You’ve died for this city, and do you know what that tells me? It tells you aren’t the ponies you once were.”

Trixie, from amongst the crowd, seemed caught by those words.

“It tells me that where there was once nervousness, there is now confidence. It tell me where there was once weakness, there is strength, where there was once lies and deceit, is now honesty.”

Alan pointed at the crowd. “You are not the same ponies that walked into Canterlot. You are not bakers, or cooks, or waiters, or farmers. So I have to ask, what are ye?”

Trixie shouted “Soldiers, sir!”

“What was that?” Alan asked.

“Soldiers, sir!” Trixie yelled again, louder this time.

“What? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of the griffons’ knees knocking!”

“Soldiers, sir!” more of the ponies yelled.

“What are ye?”

“Soldiers, sir!” the crowd chanted back.

“Soldiers!” Alan cried. “And the bravest, strongest soldiers I have ever met at that. You have been defiant in the face of death, courageous in the face of defeat, and steadfast in the face of everything that has been thrown at you.”

“Now tell me,” Alan said. “Tell me what you are.”

“We are soldiers!”

“Soldiers fight for their friends!” Alan yelled.

“Ya Ya Huley!” the ponies answered.

“Soldiers fight for their families!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Soldiers fight for their friends!”

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“Soldiers fight for their homes!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Soldiers fight for their Princesses!”

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“Soldiers fight for their countries!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“So charge out with me, my little ponies! If this is to be our end, we will make it such an end!”

“Ya Ya Huley!”

The door shuddered.

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

“Let us meet them in battle!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Let the horn of Arthur be heard in Canterlot one last time!”

Boomf. Boomf. Boomf.

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“Now for Wrath!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Now for Ruin!”

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“For Celestia! For Luna! For Equestria!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffons slammed into the golden door, their final bash finally breaking the doors.

Only to be stopped as a sound wave of fear met them.

And then, from the gates burst a golden chariot, led by a golden-clad earth pony and a unicorn. The latter’s horn blazing as a mana plow led them. But then they saw the human, gripping the rim of the chariot with one hand while his other held the white blade that seemed to glow in the moonlight.

Behind them came the entire force of the Equestrian army.

Pinkie saw it all from the deck of the Ira, and she instantly knew what she had to do.

She had to break the fourth wall.

No, not that fourth wall, silly.

The fourth wall of the castle.

It was Sylacauga marble, and it had a salt-and-pepper granite rubble core, sturdiest thing she ever saw. However, the mortar was terracotta based, rather than the stronger pozzolan mortar that most of the more modern stone buildings were made from.

What? She grew up on a rock farm.

The point was, one well placed rocket, and things would get messy for the griffons real fast.

Grinning, the pink pony ran to the nearest rocket, one of her remaining three, and taking aim, fired it.

The red ball of fire blasted into the side of the wall, and broke it apart, sending rubble flying through the air, smashing griffons as they stood and ran from the oncoming charge.

And then it happened.

The griffon army broke.

Screams of terror filled the dust-laced air as the avian creatures began to flee.

It was too much.

They had been promised an easy victory against a cowardly and meek opponent. Instead they had been met with war horses and explosions.

Many of them took to the air, others quickly covered their heads in signs of surrender, and others still ran blindly away from the charge.

The siege was over.

Equestria had prevailed.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Equestria had prevailed, but at what cost?

Alan walked the many halls that now housed the wounded, moving from table to table to be there in their last moments.

Moans and groans echoed around the room as nurse moved to and fro, administering painkillers and, in the worst cases, overdoses.

More than one nurse had fled to some corner to cry.

Alan carefully stroked the hoof of a spear pony, as he slowly slipped away to death, tears in his eyes.

This was his fault.

If he hadn’t been here, this wouldn’t have happened.

None of these ponies would have died. Thundersight would still be alive.

This was all his fault.

A split hoof fell on his shoulder. “Half-Dragon, come, please.”

Alan turned to see the scarred face of one of the buffalo braves.

There were only ten left, including the chief.

Why did he feel the number was about to drop to nine?

Alan gave the cold hoof one last stroke, before following the buffalo.

Alan was almost surprised to see the chief lying on what would become his deathbed.

“Half-Dragon,” Thunderhooves greeted. “It is good to see you, one last time.”

"I wish it wasn’t the last,” Alan said, doing his best to give the bison chief a weak smile.

“Stop, you need not cry for me, you led me and my braves to a good death.”

Alan sat next to the dying chief. “Is there anything you want me to do, Chief Thunderhooves?”

The chief's smile faded as he slowly nodded his head. “My father once said, those who die young have many regrets. However, perhaps you could make my soul rest a little easier.” He coughed. “I want you to go to my tribe, and tell Little Strongheart, tell my daughter, she is to be the next chief. My tribe will not question the Half-Dragon’s word, they will not argue. Please, do this for me.”

Alan looked at the chief, and he saw something. He saw years of pain and regret, years of worry and fear hidden behind fake indifference. He saw a father that had been eating himself alive for the past twenty years as he attempted to disown his own daughter. He saw a dad wanting to make things right.

He saw a father’s last wish for his daughter.

“I will do it,” Alan said.

Thunderhooves smiled at him. “You are a strong leader, Half-Dragon, now I must go to my fathers. Stay strong, and may your road stretch ever longer.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia sat in her throne room, surrounded by her brave army.

It was morning, and the griffon prisoners had been rounded up and treated. The soldiers had been given a chance to rest and clean themselves up, and now they had all be gathered here.

On her right side sat Luna on her own throne, and to her left stood her six generals.

All that remained was Alan.

This was to be the moment of his reward, the one that Faust had told her to give him. Of course, her mother had been incredibly vague...but she was sure she’d figure it out.

“Where is he?” she heard Twilight hiss to her side.

“He’s with the wounded,” Fluttershy answered. “He wanted to make sure they were all okay.”

Twilight didn’t respond.

Celestia smiled as she waited.

And then he entered.

Alan’s ripped duster fluttered behind him as he approached. Dirt and blood were caked on his face, and the bloodied bandage on his side looked like it needed replacing. His hair was an unruly mess, and he had dark rings under his eyes.

His pants, however, were in surprisingly good condition.

He slowly walked towards the throne, saying nothing as he approached. His eyes never wandered from the Princess.

“Atten-shun!” someone from the ranks of ponies yelled. The soldiers quickly snapped to their position, backs straights, necks tall. “Sa-lute!” As one, hundreds of hooves rose to foreheads, saluting the Pendragon as he passed.

Alan said nothing.

He stood at the foot of the throne before he knelt, looking up at the Princess.

“Pendragon Alan Williams of Earth,” Celestia said, “Heir of Arthur, Defeater of Discord, Hero of Canterlot, you have done well.”

Alan said nothing.

“You came here as a stranger, you made friends, and you made enemies. You brought peace, and you brought war, but I doubt you will find one among those gathered here that would regret your presence.”

Alan said nothing.

“So now, for outstanding bravery, courage, and defiance in the face of oppression, we would like to honor you, Pendragon, with a reward, whatever you ask of us, we shall grant.”

Alan said nothing.

And then he spoke. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, you honor me too greatly. There are ponies that have died in the past few days that showed greater courage than me. There are ponies still alive that showed greater defiance. However, if you would permit me, there is still one thing I would ask.”

Alan looked up at the two sovereigns before saying “I have lived in Equestria for more than a full year now, and it has been a great year. The best year of my life, and I know many a man back on earth that would give up both arms and legs to be here, but...”

He hesitated, his eyes dropping to the ground. “But I don’t belong here. My presence here has brought ruin on Canterlot and her ponies. There are dead ponies who would yet be alive if not for me. I have been selfish, violent, and most importantly, dangerous.

“Perhaps, with time, I could forgive myself these transgressions. Maybe one day, I will look back and forgive even the griffons for their actions, but even so...Even so, I cannot overcome the truth that I am alone.”

He looked over to the generals.

“Not truly alone, I mean, I have friends here, a place to sleep, a pet even. But there is no one like me. There is no other human that walks this earth, no woman to keep me company, no mother to comfort me, no childhood friends to understand me, no child, no son or daughter, and while I may gain these things here, I fear that my human blood would keep them from me.”

He looked back up to the Princess. “So, Princesses, I ask, with a heavy heart, that you send me back home.”

Twilight looked on with wide eyes and open mouth. Send him home?

Rainbow Dash had tears in her eyes.

Pinkie’s mane deflated, and her coat darkened.

Rarity covered a gasp with her hoof.

Applejack removed her hat as she looked on with a frown, and Fluttershy looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Twilight wanted to say something. She had to say something. She didn’t want him to go, she wanted him to stay...with her...

Celestia looked at him long and hard.

Alan...dear Alan...

So unique, so young.

There were dragons who hated him.

The Bison were honored by him.

The Griffons had isolated him.

The Ponies were led by him.

His friends loved him.

And he hated himself.

He felt his blood and his form was his curse.

He felt a human could never live here, in Equestria.

She knew what she had to do.

“So be it,” she said, her horn glowing with golden light as she tapped into her Mother's magic.

Alan looked up, his eyes wide, “What? No, wai—”

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light, and the human was gone.

And in his place stood a white unicorn.

The pony blinked. “—ait...”

His black mane was a stark contrast to his white coat, and his hooves seemed to be made of gold. His flank was adorned with a simple ebony shield with a silver sword running down its length.

Celestia smiled. “Alan Williams of Earth is no more, he does not belong. Alan Goldenhoof of Equestria, however, belongs. He and his offspring, the line of golden hooves, shall always belong. Welcome home, Alan.”

The pony sat on his haunches, blinking again.

“Uh, Alan?”

The pony looked down at his forehooves, blinking slowly.

They seemed to be made of solid gold.

He looked up at his mane, which hung over his face.

Then he looked at his tail, watching it flicker.

Then back at his hooves.

“I seem to be missing my fingers,” he said finally.

And then he exploded.

Not literally exploded, mind you. It was more along the lines of him turning into the human—er—pony pinball.

Alan bounced around the room, laughing giddily, reaching ridiculous speeds as a new metabolism suddenly took over. He was a white and black blur, bouncing across the room at speeds that would make Pinkie jealous.

Suddenly he stopped, standing in front of said partier, speaking at an incomprehensible speed.

“Pinkie-we-should-totally-party-like-right-now! It-would-be-super-fun-you-bring-the-games-and-the-food! Speaking-of-food-I'm-hungry-are-you-hungry? Because-I'm-totally-hungry! Rainbow-Dash!” he cried, bounding in front of the pegasus. “Dashie-do-you-want-to-race-because-I-totally-want-to-race-right-now! I-have-so-much-energy-right-now-it's-like-a-sugar-high-times-four-hundred! Energy-enegry-energy-energy!”

Rainbow Dash began to back away slowly.

“Oh-I'm-so-giddy-right-now! Giddy-up-in-fact! Haha! Horse-humor! Wheee!” Alan yelled, bouncing around wildly.

“So-much-to-do!” he cried. “So-much-to-see! So-much-to-taste! So-much-to—” he paused for a second, and then fell flat on his face.

Everypony collectively blinked.

Was he dead?

Then they heard Alan snore.

“Well,” Celestia muttered. “Honestly didn’t expect he'd react like that.”

Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I turned him into a pony. No, I did not make him a Gary Stu. No, I'm not doing this on a whim. Yes, this is necessary for the future of the story. I’m trying to break molds, ok? Just work with me here.

“Okie, Dokie, Lokie...”

Well its better than sending him back isn’t it?

“You got a point there.”

“Oh definitely. However, I say you should send him back as he is now and let the lulz ensue. One question though. What happened to the pants that he had on before the change?”

I’ll get to those. Anyways, just trust me, I have a reason for doing this, in fact what’s going to happen is—

“Don’t ruin the surprise! It’s a surprise!”

Ok, I won’t. See you guys next time!

“You know the drill by now, comment and all that good stuff.”

Bye!

20-The Sparks of New Beginnings

Chapter 20

Alan’s face was buried in a plate of what he could only describe as the most delicious salad he had eaten in his life.

“Grass!” he moaned in culinary pleasure. “How did I eat anything before grass?!”

If someone was going to answer, they didn’t have the chance before he buried his head back into his bowl.

The ten ponies and one dragon seated around the table watched as he ate in amused silence. They all sat at the long table in Celestia’s throne room, which now stood empty of the army. Around the human-turned-pony lay his clothes, all of which were now too big and/or couldn’t fit, and leaning on the table was Judgement, still in its scabbard. He’d get the belt fitted later.

Celestia and Luna watched with amused smiles as their Pendragon ate his first meal with his new pony tongue. The Mane Six, Shining, and Silver surrounded him, watching him scarf down food. Spike sat nearby, his chest covered in a fresh bandage.

Alan lifted his head from the bowl to gasp for air before burying it in another bowl of hay fries. “So good.”

Apparently his original outburst of manic speed and giddiness was due to his brain suddenly having to adjust to the pony metabolism. However, he needed some more energy after that, and so the Princess had a small feast brought to him after she dismissed the soldiers.

It was odd, being a pony. While his human form had been strong, his new body was built for speed. He felt the need to find a field and run in it. He felt like finding a bunch of stallions to race against. There was no fence too high he couldn’t jump, and no track long enough to wear him out. While that was good, there were still a few things that felt out of place. For example, his tail. It had muscle groups that he had never encountered before. Never even imagined. Yet, there they were, more obvious to him than anything else. His ears shared the same feeling of oddity, and he almost couldn’t stop them from turning this way or that at the slightest sound.

He reached for his glass and almost tipped it over. Luckily, Twilight was watching closely and caught the liquid in her fuchsia grasp.

Also he was really missing his fingers.

“Thanks,” he muttered to the unicorn before he carefully slid the glass closer. Alan had tried to use magic to grab the glass once already, however, he just wound up staring at the chalice for a few minutes.

Awkwardly taking the cup in both hooves, he tried to bring it up to his snout, which was also weird, having his lips so far from his face.

And yet it felt so natural.

He tried to raise the glass, moving slowly, only for the glass to slip a little. So he added a little more pressure.

And then the crystal shattered into a million pieces.

He sighed.

Before the glass re-materialized by Celestia’s own magical aura.

Alan didn’t even need to look at it to know it was hers.

Like the muscles in his tail and ears, Alan was very much aware of the plane of magic.

It was everywhere.

Literally everywhere.

He could feel the distinct...tastes, for lack of a better word, of everyone in the room. Celestia’s almost overpowering taste, followed by Luna’s barely gentler one, and then the much weaker tastes of the ponies around him. Spike’s was by far the most unique, but not out of place.

Of course, even with all of this sensitivity to the magical plane, he had no idea on how to control it.

Taking the carefully cut chalice a little more cautiously this time, he sipped the sweet cider and set it down before diving back into his food.

Shining stifled a chuckle.

He mumble something into his plate which sounded faintly of “shut up.”

Alan ate as fast as he could, his new body happy for some nourishment. When he was finally finished, he leaned backwards into his chair. The he sat up straight because his back did not feel good in the position.

“You finished?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Alan shifted in his chair a few more times, trying to figure how best to sit before saying, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

Twilight spoke up. “Well then, we have a total of 18 griffons captured, we have 523 stabilized patients, and 245 casualties.”

“Do you know of any good ways to make memorials for the casualties, Pendragon?” Celestia asked.

Alan nodded, as he continued to shift in his seat. “A few come to mind. Those trips to Washington D.C. weren’t to listen to more politics.”

Celestia stifled a chuckle. “I’m sure,” she said. “I’ll want your suggestions on my desk tomorrow.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Alan said, finally getting comfortable, “once I figure out how to write, of course.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, well now that the war is over—”

“Excuse me, what?” Alan said, blinking at her.

She looked up at him. “The war. It’s over...right?”

Alan blinked again. “This was one battle, Twilight. One battle in a war that Celestia could not prevent.” He sighed. “Twilight, as much as I hate to admit it, this war is far from over. If we are going to have peace, we’re going to have to set it on our terms and from a position of power.”

Luna nodded. “A grim, however astute observation, Pendragon. Luckily, we need not fear another attack for a while yet.”

“By the time their messenger returns with news of their loss,” Celestia explained, “the winter storms will have made a crossing impossible for the next three months.”

Alan furrowed his brows. “Wait...if crossing is impossible during winter, then why did send their army so late in fall? Even if they were successful they would probably need supplies, wouldn’t they?”

“Your question is worth merit,” Luna said. “However, its answer eludes us.”

“We may be able to lift the sun and the moon, but we cannot guess a griffon’s motives,” Celestia pointed out.

Alan nodded. “Yet another thing I’ll mention when I speak with the prisoners.”

“So what will you have the army do until then?” Twilight asked.

Alan paused for a second. “Well,” he said finally, “I’m probably going to give them a month off.”

“Yeah?” Shining asked. “You sure?”

“Definitely,” Alan answered. “It’ll give the soldiers some time to relax, say hello to their friends and family again, maybe even get some more recruits. After their time off, we’re going to have to do some more training over winter.”

The others nodded.

“Of course, not everypony will be getting a month off,” he finished.

“And what do you mean by that?” Celestia inquired.

“Well, before you were going to ‘send,’” he said, subconsciously raising his hooves to air quote the word before realizing that it was impossible to do so, “me back home, I was going to tell you that I still have some business here. I need to take a trip to Appleloosa, as well as Trottingham...” he sighed. “Anyway, with the addition of being a pony I’m going to have to learn a few things. Like magic, or just being able to use my hooves for starters. So I’m going to need somepony to go with me to help me learn. Hope you don’t mind, Twi.”

She shook her head.

Celestia nodded. “I’ll have a train prepared for you immediately. However, I—”

She was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like a cross between a buzz and a screech.

Alan recognized it instantly.

He turned to face the wall, and sure enough, a tall blue box began to fade into view.

Everypony else at the table stared at it with wide eyes.

Then the noise stopped, and the box simply sat there off to one side.

The door opened, and a familiar face popped out. The Doctor took a second to check his surroundings before breaking out into a grin. “See, Derpy, you’re a natural!”

“Doctor!” Alan greeted, “When did you get the TARDIS back?”

“Next week,” he replied, walking out of the blue box followed by the grey pegasi mare. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No, no, nothing major. Besides, I’m sure you won’t be staying long.”

“Quite right. I promised Miss Do here a few adventures, and the like.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Twilight interrupted. “Didn’t you say it’d take three thousand years for you to get your Tartis back?”

“TARDIS, Miss Sparkle, with a ‘D,’” the Doctor corrected, “and it has been three thousand years, for the TARDIS.”

Twilight blinked.

“Anywho, I came to say a few things before we disappeared for a while. Firstly, we won’t be coming back for the rest of the war, both Miss Do and I have had enough of killing for a good, long time. However, in exchange for leaving I’m willing to give you a ride back home.”

Alan blinked. “Um...that would have been nice a few hours ago, but the Princess has it handled.”

The Doctor smiled. “You misunderstand. I meant roundtrip. After all, there are probably a few things you forgot, aren’t there?”

Alan blinked, again.

“Besides, as someone who’s made the switch from humanoid to pony, the least I can do is give you a few tricks.”

Alan smiled before standing, first on two legs, before dropping to all fours. “You’ve got a deal.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Applebloom stared at her quiz and twiddled her pencil around.

The classroom was deathly quiet, and Cheerilee sat at her desk, her face sadder than usual. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were equally quiet. Rumble sat nearby, also missing his sibling. Even Diamond Tiara had left the foals alone lately.

Applebloom chanced a look at the window that overlooked Ponyville.

Still no sign of the train she was waiting for.

Sighing she turned her attention back to her test and try to fill out the lyrics to the ancient song sung by warponies during the months before the founding of Equestria, when the new nation was still under the threat of Windigoes.

From the mists of the mountains a deafening call

Bellows down over the plains

On a host of battle-worn ears it does fall

Pushing out through the thunder and rain

These sons of the north, they have suffered too long

The anger it swells in their veins

Of the spirited roars of lost warriors' songs

Distant echoes are all that remain

She was stuck on the chorus. There was one word she just couldn’t figure out.

And my words are my violence

Clear the sky's frozen tears

And no more we'll be silent

With this ________ song in our ears.

And we stand tall

Sons of the snow

We will not fall

Under these blows

For our hearts they are hardy

Our spirits are strong

And our voices are lifted into

This__________song.

It was driving her mad. She could practically hear the song in her head. She should know it. It was in the title of the song for crying out loud! It was The Blankity-blank Song.

Come on, think Applebloom.

It was taunting her. The melody of the song was so easy to remember, and yet, she couldn’t get that one word.

She could almost hear it.

“And my words are my violence

Clear the sky's frozen tears

And no more we'll be silent

With this Paradise song in our ears.”

She blinked. She was hearing it.

“And we stand tall

Sons of the snow

We will not fall

Under these blows

For our hearts they are hardy

Our spirits are strong

And our voices are lifted into

This Paradise song.”

Her head snapped to the window, where the faintest notes could be heard. A trail of smoke, coal smoke, from a train wafted across the sky.

“Conquer the anger and ravenous rage!

Make it a part of your power

Pummeling down let your warcry engage!

Under your force they will cower

Feeling the fury so pure and so bright

Breaking the bonds of surrender

Under the moon for our home we will fight

And we will die to defend her!”

The other foals had noticed, and even Cheerilee was staring at the door.

“And my words are my violence

Clear the sky's frozen tears

And no more we'll be silent

With this Paradise song in our ears.

And we stand tall

Sons of the snow

We will not fall

Under these blows

For our hearts they are hardy

Our spirits are strong

And our voices are lifted into

This Paradise song!”

Cheerilee couldn’t have kept her students in her classroom even if she tried.

The students charged out of the classroom as though Tartarus was behind them. Rumble and Scootaloo had taken the lead, the former in the air, the latter buzzing on her scooter as the promise of returning loved ones spurred the children on.

Applebloom smiled, happy tears in her eyes as she galloped towards the train station. The song was now ringing in her ears as the voices of the returning soldiers echoed against the nearby mountains.

“These perilous peaks

On the rim of the sky

I move in the midst

Of the clouds drifting by

At the top of the world

On a white doomful day

Mares of wisdom will show me the way

And we stand tall

Sons of the snow

We will not fall

Under these blows

For our hearts they are hardy

Our spirits are strong

And our voices are lifted into

This Paradise song!”

The happy stampede of the foals through the center of Ponyville caught the attention of the passing crowds, and they too, took notice of the song.

“They’re back!” someone yelled.

“Ya Ya Huley!

Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

The ponies, all of them, rushed to the train station.

Applebloom arrived at the platform just in time to see the train pull up, the steam brakes hissing as it came to a stop.

And then she saw them.

Applejack, dressed in golden armor, followed by the now lightly bandaged Big Macintosh.

Applebloom had never been so happy in her life.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan stood before seventeen of the captured griffons.

The eighteenth would be dealt with later.

Each and everyone stood, head hung close to the ground, too ashamed to meet the eyes of the pony in front of them.

All except two.

They were both the same height, Alan noted, however, the one on the left looked bulkier than the other. His face was stern and hard, along with steel-grey eyes. The feathers on his head were a darker shade of white than his other defiant friend, and turned a grey at the tips. Despite the amount of decent amount of grey, his fur coat was still golden, all the way up to his wings. He was probably quite young yet.

The other, lankier griffon’s feathers were pure white with just a hint of red at the tips. His immaculately golden coat was covered in dirt, and his blue eyes looked to the horizon. His beak was turned into a slight frown and Alan could almost detect a disappointed look on his face.

An eagle cry sounded, and a bald eagle lighted on Alan’s back. “Careful there, Volo, I don’t have any protection back there yet.”

Alan paced down the line of griffons. “So here they are. Griffons. Half lion, the King of Beasts, and half eagle, King of Birds. Yet for all the royalty in your blood you were bested by a bunch of ponies.”

The larger griffon spoke. “We were bested by a human.”

Alan gave the larger one a look. “I suppose you were.”

“Where is he?” the larger asked again.

“Gone,” Alan replied.

“Gone where?”

Alan stopped and turned to a small end table that had been set up in the courtyard where they stood. Taking the bottle of dandelion wine in one hoof, he poured himself a drink.

Silently, he thanked the Doctor for that lesson on hoof manipulation.

As he poured his drink, he began to form a plan in his mind.

“The Human you knew as the Pendragon is dead,” he said, taking the goblet in one hoof. “However, tradition dictates that a Pendragon cannot die by any means other than by the hands of time.”

The griffons looked at him in confusion.

“I am now the Pendragon. The human chose me to take his name, his titles and his deeds. I am Alan Goldenhoof, and I technically defeated you.”

They all gave him a look.

He shrugged. “Hey, it’s not my rule.”

Silence.

“You are all now my prisoners,” Alan continued, “and I would like to start by getting your names.”

The larger griffon blinked for a second before suddenly spewing. “I am Prince Julius Ironblood.”

The smaller griffon shook his head. “Talius, please.”

“I am the Prince!” he shouted again.

“Talius, I doubt he wishes to execute me, much less the rest of us.”

The larger griffon bit his lower beak as the smaller took a step forward. “Do not mind him, he is Talius Shieldhide, and his family has been in the service of mine for twenty-six generations. I am Crown Prince Julius Ironblood, but please, Pendragon, call me Julius,” he said, extending a claw.

Alan paused as he took a look at the surrounding griffons. Their mouths were hanging open as they stared at their prince, and Alan thought he knew why.

Rainbow Dash, in the month before the attack had mentioned that most griffons referred to each other by their last name, and only close friends called each other by their first names. It had taken her two months to learn Gilda’s first name, she recalled, and they had stuck close in flight school ever since then. She then sighed and spoke no more of the subject.

“Then call me Alan,” the unicorn said, dropping his hoof into the claw.

Julius nodded, “Yes, I was actually hoping I would speak to the human. He did well and was a worthy opponent.”

Alan nodded, “I’m sure he would appreciate it, and would wish you had met under better circumstances.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

Alan gave a soft smile. “I will try to get you all something to eat. In the meantime, I would like to speak with you. Privately.”

“Of course,” the prince replied.

Talius gave a grunt.

“Ah, provided, Talius comes with me. He is under orders from my father, you see.”

Alan nodded. “Very well, I’ll just bring one of my generals.”

“Sounds fair.”

The two griffons and pony began walking away, and as they did, the others were herded to a safe place where they could not escape.

“I do hope the accommodations are comfortable?” Alan said as he led them into the palace.

“Comfortable enough for prisoners of war,” the prince answered. “Which does of course, beg the question, why are you treating us so nicely?”

At that moment, they walked into the last medical tent of the more wounded ponies. The deathly quiet tent was filled with ponies that had broken and missing limbs. The prince noted with horror that there were more than a few bite marks on a few of them.

Alan continued to walk forward. Not saying anything until they passed the through the tent. “Have you ever seen the Pendragon’s sword?” he asked. “It’s a beautiful piece of work. The blade in particular is especially interesting. On one side it reads ‘Justice.’” He paused to look at them in the eyes. “The other side reads mercy.”

Alan took a turn to one of the tower doors and pushed it open. Inside was a simple table with a chess board and four small plates, two with grilled fish, the others, daisy sandwiches with hay fries on the side. Around the table were four chairs, and a purple unicorn mare was already waiting for them.

Alan gestured towards the mare, “Sirs, I would like to introduce you to General Twilight Sparkle. She is in charge of the Sunbeam Division, and is also Princess Celestia’s personal student.”

The prince blinked. “How did she know to meet us here?”

Alan smiled, secretly glad to know that his communicator was well hidden. “Trade secret.” He turned to the other pony, “Twilight, this is Prince Ironblood, and his protector, Lord Shieldhide.”

The larger griffon shifted nervously at the title.

“Greetings to both of you,” Twilight said, making a slight bow for the prince. “I hope everything is well?”

The Prince laughed. “Am I a prisoner or am I back in my own court? I am fine, and I cannot ask for any more mercy or hospitality on your part.”

Alan smiled. “Now I really wished we had met under better circumstances. I like you, unlike the general that came here a couple of months ago.”

“Well, my uncle can be rough at times...”

“Which does beg a question,” Alan commented. “Why wasn’t he leading your army?”

“He wanted to give me a victory to my name,” the Prince explained.

Alan nodded slowly, letting the information turn in his brain. “Do you play chess by any chance?”

“I do, in fact.”

“Care to play me a match?” Alan asked. “I am a little out of practice.”

“I would love to.”

As the two sat down to a match, Alan continued speaking. “I wanted to let you know that I believe there has been enough bloodshed between our armies, and that you and your soldiers will be treated with the utmost respect. Provided, of course, that you keep them restrained.”

The Prince smiled. “You have honored me; I shall honor you,” was his simple reply.

“Excellent! Now defend your king,” he said, moving his knight.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Knock knock-knock-knock knock. Knock knock.

Applejack’s ears turned toward the door. Somepony was knocking on her door? This early?

She checked the clock hanging on her wall. 6:30 AM.

Who in their right mind (farmers excluded) would get up this early? To be perfectly honest, she wouldn’t be up this early if it weren't for the fact that she had to finish harvesting apples.

Trotting to the door, she opened it and was surprised to see a bronze-colored stallion in front of her door. He had a silver mane and sky-blue eyes and a very tired smile on his face. She took a quick look at his cutie mark and saw a gold-colored helmet.

“Mornin’, Miss,” he said in a familiar voice.

She blinked. “Captain?”

Silver Pauldrons smiled, “A little hard to recognize me without the armor, huh? Secret’s in the chest piece. It’s enchanted to color our fur so we all look the same.”

Applejack blinked again. “Uh, if ya don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here before Celestia gets up?”

Silver paused at that. His eyes went straight to the ground and he began to fidget with his hoof. “Well, I, uh...I haven’t really...I’ve never really told anypony this before, but I’ve kinda always wanted to be a gardener.”

Applejack blinked.

“I’ve always thought it’d be a good hobby, you know? I heard from Alan that you run Sweet Apple Acres here, and I got this crazy thought in my head that maybe you’d...teach...me?”

A cricket chirping was the only sound from between them.

Silver was still fiddling with his hooves, and Applejack just kinda stood there blinking.

“Well, I’ll let you get to work then, ma’am,” Silver said finally before he began to trot off.

Applejack blinked. “And just where do you think you’re goin’?”

Silver turned back to her, confused.

The farmpony smiled before pointing with her hoof. “The orchard’s that way.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

It was dark in the room.

Almost perfectly dark.

He was strapped to a table, his one claw chained while leather bindings ran across his chest. His one eye danced around the room wildly, wondering, fearing for the moment when he would return.

The maimed griffon couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t even think properly.

All he could see was that man. And that sword.

“Hello, Coward.”

The griffon inhaled sharply. That was his voice.

“I thought long and hard about what to do with you.”

“It was a tough decision. Of the numerous forms of torture that came to mind, none of them seemed painful enough. Even the idea of breaking every single one of your bones came to mind, but I had to reject that one because it would take too long for you to heal.”

The griffon began to sweat as the Pendragon then spoke of the most terrible forms of torture that the prisoner had ever heard of. He shuddered at the thought of that kind of horror as the leader of the Equestrian armies went into great detail as to all of the gore and pain he would feel.

“But I decided not to do that,” Alan said. “No. As I said, death is too good for you. So listen, Coward. The pony you killed lived in the town of Trottingham. So I’m going to send you there. A sign will be fastened around your neck and it will read ‘My name is Coward,’ as well as list your crimes against that pony’s family. You are going to live as a beggar in the streets of his home town. May those ponies have mercy on you. Because Celestia knows I won’t if you try to leave. Goodbye, Coward. May we never meet again.” The door closed behind him, and again the griffon was met with total darkness.

Outside, Alan was met by Twilight, who only said, “You did the right thing.”

Alan nodded, even though it felt wrong.

He felt like he should run in there and stab that griffon until his blood made the floor slick. He felt that he should burn Thundersight's cutie mark into his face as an eternal reminder. He felt that he should strangle that monster until his lungs burst.

But she was right. It was the right thing to do.

It still felt wrong. “Tell that to Thundersight’s kid.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Spike shifted nervously in front of the Carousel Boutique. He was going to do it. He was going to ask her out.

He had dressed in his Gala suit, dusted it off, and had gone and bought a few flowers for her to enjoy. Now he just needed to knock on her door and ask her.

Yup. That’s all he needed to do.

Any moment, now.

He bit at his lip.

“Oh, come on! You faced down hundreds of griffons, but you can’t ask Rarity out on a date? And you call yourself a dragon.”

Standing straighter after the mental pep-talk he reached out a shaky claw and knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before it opened, and he saw the mare of his desires.

“Oh, hello, Spike,” Rarity greeted with a smile.

“H-hello, Rarity. You...uh...you look lovely today, not that you don’t usually look lovely. It’s just you look lovelier than—”

“Is there something you wanted, Spike?” Rarity interrupted.

“I...I...I...” Spike muttered as his brain went blank. What was he doing here?! What was he saying?! Why was he dressed up like this?! Spike! Spike think of something!

His mind suddenly produced an answer. However, instead of going into the “answer mental questions” file, it somehow got misplaced into the “blurt out now” file.

“I’d like to ask you on a date,” he said before wanting to slap himself. “That’s not how you ask somepony out on a date! Especially not Rarity! What were you thinking! Now she’ll say no, and we would’ve made a total fool of ourselves and—”

“I’d think I’d like that,” Rarity replied.

Spike blinked.

What?

“I would love to go on a date with you, Spike,” Rarity repeated.

Spike couldn’t believe it.

She had said yes.

Oh, this was the best day of his life! This was—

“On one condition,” she added. “If you are to court me, Spike, then I expect you to act your age.”

The drake froze. His grip on the flowers tightened as he felt his jaw go slack. “W-What?” he squeaked, his voice quiet.

“Spike,” Rarity sighed, giving him a soft smile. “When you were injured, and asleep, you said a lot of things.”

The dragon’s eyes widened, and he felt his chest constrict.

“I know what you’re afraid of, Spike. I wish there was a more tactful way to put it, Dear, but I know you don’t want to be alone.” Rarity’s eyes turned gently toward as she knelt down to look him in the eye. “I understand Spike. You’re going to live much longer than us, and we won’t be here for the majority of your life. But acting like a child will not stop time.”

Spike stared at her, his mind spinning crazily. He, he wasn’t? Was he?

Rarity simply stared at him before giving him a tender kiss on his forehead. “Perhaps the most immature thing about you, Spike, is that you think acting like a child will keep time from doing it what it does. You cannot stop it, dear. But I promise you, if you act like who you really are, I will be there for you as long as I can.”

Spike stared deep into those eyes. Those perfect, sapphire eyes. Those eyes that would be gone in just a few decades.

Why couldn’t things just stay here? Why couldn’t everypony just stay alive? Why did everything have to grow up?

“You can’t have it both ways, Spike. You can’t move forward if you want to stay put.”

The young dragon blinked, as his mind spun.

Without a word, he dropped the bouquet, and dashed away.

As he left, tears stained Rarity’s doormat, and her door shut behind her.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“No, no!” Twilight sighed in exasperation as Alan tried yet again to lift the rubber ball in front of him, and failed, yet again. “Try again!”

Alan sighed before his eyes locked onto the rubber ball, his whole being straining as he did so.

Volo watched from a nearby perch, slowly munching away at something.

Alan’s horn began to glow with a silver light, as he pulled on the magical plane. The Doctor, in his attempt to teach Alan how to use his hooves, had unknowingly taught him how to manipulate the magic that seemed to be everywhere around him.

Of course he still didn’t know how to make it do anything.

The energy began to build around his horn, seeking for release. The silver light began to get brighter and brighter.

The ball didn’t move an inch.

Suddenly, there was a loud pop as the magic around his horn released itself, and a small ball of light appeared, only to fizzle out a second later.

Alan sighed. “If I want a light, I’ll bring my flashlight!”

Twilight sighed with him, before turning to look out the train window. As she watched the scenery fly by, she quickly went through a list of spells and training techniques she could use to help the newly-made unicorn.

Alan batted the ball away in frustration, before going to angrily stare out the opposite window.

The mare had a thought and turned to face her student, when she suddenly stopped.

Alan certainly had a...healthy body. She wasn’t sure if he knew that or not, but she could tell that the lean muscle meant he was built for speed and endurance. His ebony tail ended in a jagged edge and his mane looked ruffled and messy. Judgement was slung across his back, held on by a new baldric-like belt.

She blushed as she realized she was staring.

“Come on, Twilight, be professional.”

Another part of her mind was quick to argue. Since when have we ever had a professional relationship with Alan?

“Since now.”

She cleared her throat, “Well, since telekinesis seems to be out of your reach at the moment, let’s try something else that you could use in combat.”

Alan turned his head toward her, “Oh, what do you have in mind?”

“Well you saw how well Shining did.”

“Shields?”

“Exactly,” Twilight answered, “There’ll be two steps to this lesson, first, creating a hard-mana construct, second, fortifying it against attacks.” She began to explain in further detail, slowly slipping into teacher mode. “The creation of a hard-mana construct first requires a shape. For shields, normally a dome or circle is suggested. Once the desired shape is decided, the caster then must focus an amount of energy proportional to the strength and size of the desired construct. Once the proper amount of strength and size is determined, the caster then must channel his energy to the desired position.”

There was a hum of magic behind her, but she continued her lecture, reciting it with closed eyes. As she did, though, an idea popped into Alan’s head.

“Once the position is decided, the construct can move according to mental commands. However, it cannot change form after appearing, and attempting to do so will cause it to—”

“Um...” Alan interrupted, “Is this right?”

She turned, opening her eyes, and her mouth dropped as a perfect hard-mana replica of Judgement hovered in front of her. The silver pseudo-sword spun slowly in the air as Alan slowly tested his creation, “Because that was way too easy to be right.”

Twilight blinked, before her own magic took the sword. The color changed from silver to Twilight’s purple aura as she began to inspect it.

She looked up at him, “How did you do this?”

Alan shrugged.

“Do you know how hard it is to create multiple shapes in a hard-mana construct? I mean, this isn’t that difficult, and this is a little weak, but you can’t do a telekinesis spell! You shouldn’t be able to do this this fast.”

Alan shrugged again.

She gave him the sword back. “Make another.”

Alan’s horn glowed for a second, and then another sword appeared, a perfect twin of the first.

Twilight blinked again before looking down at his cutie mark. “I think you’re special talent may be swords and shields,” she said.

Alan blinked before a smile began to spread across his face. “Do you know what this means?” he asked excitedly. “Infinite number of blades! They’re not on my arm, so infinite range! They aren’t held back by muscle, infinite speed! I’d be invincible!”

Twilight stared at him.

And then broke into uproarious laughter. She laughed so hard she fell to the ground, rolling on the floor as Alan looked down at her.

“I’m guessing not?” he asked, while Twilight continued to laugh.

Finally she pulled herself together enough to answer. “Not even close!” She then took Judgement in her magical grip. “Hold one of your swords out,” she ordered.

Alan complied, holding the blade sidewise.

And then with a quick slash, Twilight brought Judgement down on the mana-sword.

It shattered on contact, and as it did, Alan’s world suddenly spun. He dropped to his knees, and was faintly aware that his other mana sword had disappeared. The train car tipped crazily, and he fell on his side. All the while Twilight watched, just to make sure he was alright.

Finally, everything stopped moving, and he regained enough control to ask, “What in bucking Tartarus was that?”

“That is what’s called Magical backlash,” Twilight lectured, sheathing Judgement along his back as she helped him up. “It’s actually a very common phenomenon in hard-mana magic. If a construct is broken violently, it shatters, and the magic you had been focusing into the blade suddenly can’t go there anymore, so it rushes back to your horn. The next thing you know, you’re on the floor.”

Alan stood, cradling his head in a hoof. “I feel like I just got hit by a truck.”

Twilight smirked, “Which is exactly why I didn’t volunteer a bunch of my own mana-pony constructs to hold any of the gates. As it is, having too many of them active at one time could cause backlash, much less if they are being attacked.”

“Alright, so I shouldn’t use these for battle, then.”

“Oh, I never said that,” Twilight said before explaining, “You just can’t make them too fancy or have too many.”

“Huh?” Alan said, sitting as he held his forehead.

Twilight sat beside him as she explained. “The more polygons used in a construct, the harder it is to keep from shattering. The same goes for the number, size, as well as distance from the caster. If, for example, I made a mana-pony the size of Big Mac and had him run away from me, he’d maybe be able to get all the way across Ponyville before collision with the air molecules could break him apart. If there were two, they’d each get halfway through, etc.”

“Hang on,” Alan said. “Too much info for a magic hangover. Give me a sec.”

Twilight sighed, and waited before explaining it again. Alan did his best to follow through, and for the most part, he caught it. “So you’re saying I can use these for combat?”

“I’m saying you should start smaller and practice more,” Twilight corrected. “Why don’t you try making some knives or daggers? Just the blades.”

Alan nodded before standing.

“Oh, Al? One more thing.”

“What?” Alan asked, as his horn began to glow.

“Four legs,” she said simply.

“Huh? Oh.” He then lowered himself on all fours, realizing he had been on his hind legs. “Right.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thunderlane sighed as he moved through another Kata of the Standing Dragon Style.

Whump-whump-whump.

The punching bag gave under each strike, spinning almost out of control as the hit smashed into it.

Whump-whump-whump.

A quick flurry of punches and kicks slammed into the bag.

The Dojo was empty, except for him. Dash had given him the day off, so he took the opportunity to spend more time on his routine. Nopony else had done so. They were too busy being with each other after the battle. So it was just him. Alone.

Whump-whump-whump.

With each punch, the pegasus released a controlled exhale through the nose. Control. It was about control, strength, and speed.

Whump!

A particularly powerful punch slammed into the punching bag. However, instead of his controlled breath, he had let loose a gasp.

For a second, he could have sworn he saw a face.

The face of the griffon he killed on the cloud.

No. No it was just cloth.

Thunderlane shook as he ran a hoof through his mohawk.

“Yo, Thunderlane, how’s it hanging?” a voice asked behind him.

He turned to see Rainbow Dash, dressed in a sweatband as well as the white robe known as a gi.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, trying his best not to sound annoyed.

“What? Did you think that you were the only one to get the day off? Ponyville is scheduled for clear skies for the next few days, thought I’d let everypony go home to their families, y’know?” She dumped a gym bag on the floor next to her. “So what are you doing here? Wasn’t your brother one of the first ones to the train?”

Thunderlane didn’t answer.

Rainbow Dash gave him a long hard stare. “How ‘bout a spar?” she said finally

The black pegasus gave her a look.

“It’s been awhile since I got a good warm-up that wasn’t life-threatening. C’mon, let’s see what you got!”

Thunderlane simply stared at her before sighing and preparing himself.

Rainbow Dash smiled as they began to slowly trade blows.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Outside the Dojo a small crowd of ponies had gathered, drawn to the rarely-used building by the loud crashing sounds that emanated inside.

A loud, high-pitched yell followed by the sound of splintering wood caused the crowd to collectively tilt their heads.

What was going on in there?

Everypony was curious to see what was happening, but none were particularly brave enough to open the door and see just what was going on inside (lest they prove those of dirtier minds correct).

A more masculine yell, followed by the sound of a crashing gong sounded from behind the rice-paper walls.

This answered no questions.

And then, both the male and female voice rose together in a single crescendo, punctuated, of course, by the sounds of breaking furniture.

And then silence.

This answered less questions.

Suddenly the doors slid open, and two bruised and bloodied pegasi, each supporting the other, stumbled out of the dojo. They both wore exceedingly stupid grins on their face, as they walked out, leaving a dojo filled with broken equipment behind them.

Dash’s gi was torn in a few places, and Thunderlane’s mohawk was ruined, but they were smiling.

“You know what, Thunderlane, you’re pretty cool,” the pegasus mare said as they walked through the crowd that parted for them, staring at them with curious eyes.

“Look who’s talkin’,” the stallion said with a grin as he limped away.

Meanwhile the crowd watched them go.

And they still weren’t sure what had happened inside.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Daisy Chain, a pale yellow unicorn with a white mane carefully moved papers around for her husband. He had to go to war, and so he had left her, the only pony he really trusted, with taking care of weather duty for him. Of course, since she was just a unicorn, she couldn’t really help directly. So instead, she had reorganized his files, gave orders, and overall improved the efficiency of his office by 16%.

He’ll be happy when he gets back.

If he gets back.

“Don’t think like that,” she told herself. “Thundersight will be back.”

“Hey, mom!” her son, Pipsqueak yelled. “Somepony’s at the door, they want to talk to you.”

Panic rose in her chest before she battered it down. It was probably nothing. Just someone asking a question about the weather in town. Nothing big.

Daisy exited the office before she descended the stairs, her eyes on her spotted earth pony son. As she finished coming down the stairs, she then saw two unicorns at her door. One was a lavender mare, with a purple mane and two streaks in her hair, and the other was a white stallion with jet black hair.

But it was the sword on his back that got her attention.

Only someone from the army would carry a sword.

“Miss Daisy Chain?” the stallion asked.

No. No, no, no.

“That’s me,” she answered.

The white unicorn looked down at the young colt, before coming back up to face her. “Can I speak with you alone?”

The look in his eyes told her everything.

He was dead.

Her husband was dead.

Her knees went weak, and she just barely caught herself.

“Mom?” the little colt asked in concern.

She looked down into her son’s eyes, and she couldn’t bring herself to tell him.

“I’m alright, Pip, just go sit in the living room, please.”

The colt slowly walked away, checking on his mom as he walked until he turned a corner.

Daisy went straight to the floor.

Tears fell from her eyes in rivers as she did her best to bite back her sobs and whines.

Alan looked down at her before whispering to Twilight, who nodded, before leading the mare away.

Alan, however, gave a long look at the living room before following the colt in.

He saw the young brown-spotted foal sitting on the couch, looking up at him. “Hey buddy,” Alan said, “what’s your name?”

“Pipsqueak,” he answered.

“Pipsqueak, huh? Well my name’s Alan Wil—I mean Goldenhoof.”

Pipsqueak blinked, “That’s kinda a weird name.”

“Well I’m not from here, originally,” Alan explained before sitting on the couch.

Pipsqueak eyed the sword. “You’re from the army aren’t you?”

“I run the army.”

“Oh,” Pipsqueak said, before looking up at the Pendragon, tears in his eyes. “Dad’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Kids these days, too smart for their own good,” he thought before answering. “Yes. Yes he is. But I’m going to take care of you and your mother from now on, ok?”

Pipsqueak nodded, tears falling.

“Hey, Pip, look me in the eyes.”

The foal looked up, tears falling faster as the floodgate began to burst.

“Your Dad,” Alan said, tears forming in his own eyes, “was the bravest stallion I knew. And he loved you and your mother very much, and he couldn’t bear the thought of you guys getting hurt. That’s why he went to fight, you know. So that you would be safe. Understand?”

Pip nodded, before he began sobbing, and he buried his face into Alan’s coat. “I’m gonna miss him!”

Alan patted the colt’s back as wiped tears from his own eyes. “He misses you too.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she bounced around Sugarcube corner. Today was pie day, and while Applejack had apple pies mastered to the point of monopoly, Pinkie had everything else from rhubarb to cherry locked down tight.

Currently, she was working on three separate pies. One blueberry, one blackberry, and the Cake’s own secret recipe, the Surprise Pie.

She hummed one of the many tunes of the soundtrack as they played through her head, smiling as she carefully, oh-so carefully, laid the filling in for the next batch of Surprise Pies. When suddenly she stopped.

Her hind-left hoof was tingling.

That meant she was going to get a surprise!

“Oh no! Now I’ve ruined the surprise!” she thought to herself.

If the pony that was going to surprise her didn’t get the satisfaction that he/she was going to get from surprising her, then that could make him/her sad.

She would not stand for that, Pinkie Sense be...well that word was kinda strong, how about darned? Would that be alright? Pinkie Sense be darned? Well, it technically worked, so long as nopony thought she was talking about socks.*

But more importantly, she had to keep that pony happy. Thinking quickly, Pinkie took a few seconds to practice her surprised gasp.

“No, no, that’s way too airy.”

Meanwhile, outside the door, two ponies, a stallion and a mare were waiting.

“So why are we here?” the stallion asked.

“We’re surprising her,” the mare answered as she hung next to the door, stretching her muscles.

“Well, obviously,” the stallion said, rolling his eyes, “But why am I here?”

“Because I think you two would look so cute together.”

The stallion sighed. “When will you stop playing Matchmaker? No one on the team appreciates it.”

“Once everyone on the team has a special somepony, obviously. Now hurry up, we jump through in three, two...”

Inside, Pinkie had just approved her gasp when a white pegasus with a yellow mane, done in a very familiar manestyle burst through the door. “Surprise!”

Pinkie let out a gasp.

A real one, actually. Surprise always managed to surprise her, even when she knew it was coming. “Surprise! it’s been so long!”

“I know, right?” the white pegasus said, bounding over to the counter. “I mean, we got to see each other in Canterlot, but you were so busy training ponies to shoot things, and I was busy flying around, and...”

As the two energetic mares spoke, the stallion finally walked in.

Soarin took a quick look around the room, and was not incredibly impressed.

Then the smell hit him.

It was, for lack a better word, heavenly. Soarin’s nose twitched as the faint hint of a delicious scent wafted under his nostrils.

No. “Heavenly” wasn’t accurate either.

No word in his vocabulary could properly describe that smell. It was just so...so...perfect.

“And this is Soarin!” Surprise said, introducing the blue pegasus. “He’s the one who was keeping the big sun ship safe on the first day!”

“Oh yeah,” Pinkie said, “I remember you! That one griffon had you caught pretty bad, and then I shot him.”

Soarin blinked. “Wait, that was you? Surprise’s cousin was leading the artillery?”

How was Canterlot still standing?

“Yuppers! I’ve had lots of practice with my Party Cannon. It was no big deal.”

Soarin was about to comment, when Surprise interrupted. “Yea, so anyways, I just wanted to introduce you two, because—”

“Because you wanted Soarin and I to get together!” Pinkie finished.

Two jaws hit the floor.

“How did you know that?” Surprise asked.

“Because Dashie told me all about Soarin’s love for pies. SoarinXPie would just be too good a pun to pass up.”

Soarin blinked.

“Oh, well, I guess that makes sense,” Surprise said.

“Sense? Sense?! This makes no sense! And here I thought I was the crazy one on the team!” Soarin yelled.

A ding sounded from the back. “Ooh, pies are done!” Pinkie said, before disappearing into the kitchen.

“I don’t know which is worse!” Soarin ranted. “The fact that Surprise of all ponies is playing matchmaker, or the fact that her cousin seems to be in on it! Which wouldn’t be so weird if not for the fact that she figured it out through a pun!”

Pinkie came back, balancing the pies on her head, before setting them on the counter. Soarin continued his rant, all the while, Pinkie began to carefully cut a small slice of pie from the Surprise Pie.

“And another thing! How on earth did Surprise navigate through the town, even though she told me this was her first time to Ponyville!”

Pinkie took then took the small slice of pie, and with a well-timed shove, sent it perfectly into Soarin’s mouth. “Free sample!” she yelled.

And then Soarin shut up.

Everything was...perfect.

The texture! The flavor! The sweetness! Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!

Words...were there even words for this level of culinary perfection?

Meanwhile, outside of his head Soarin simply stared at the wall, his jaw slack, and his eyes wide.

“I think you broke him,” Surprise said.

Suddenly the blue pegasus burst forward, and in one quick, smooth motion, dipped the pink pony back, reminiscent of tango dancers. “Marry me,” he whispered.

Pinkie giggled. “Hey, now, you haven’t taken me to dinner yet. Walk before you fly now.”

Soarin smiled. “Of course, Dinner it is!” he said before spinning the pink Pony to the door. “This way,” he said, before suddenly pausing. He looked over at her. “Any good restaurants in town?”

Pinkie smiled, before leading the way.

Surprise, meanwhile, giggled. They did look cute together.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan gave himself one last look over before heading off into the desert.

He had purchased a new hat, but it felt a little weird having to sit it around his horn. Around his shoulders hung a green and red poncho that he had picked up from one of the shops until Rarity could either fix his old duster or make him a new one.

Over the poncho hung Judgement, glimmering in the morning light. The black baldric was sown together with silver thread, and a gold, sun-shaped buckle was hung over his shoulder.

His new hat was the same black material his first was, however, it lacked the band with the silver ornaments.

“You ready?” Twilight asked from behind him, a hat on her head (purchased with Alan’s bits), and her saddlebags ready.

“Canteens?” Alan asked.

“Check.”

“Map?”

“Check.”

“Compass?”

“Check.”

“Hats for the sun?”

“Double check.”

“Rope, just in case?”

“Check.”

“Firestarter?”

“Check.”

“Books to read when we make camp?”

“Triple check.”

“Ipod, which I can’t use because I lack fingers, but brought anyway?”

“You have a stylus and check.”

“Granola Bars?”

“Check, but we may need to restock soon,” Twilight said before mumbling, “They’re just so good.”

Alan rolled his eyes. “And finally, one ridiculously awesome eagle to help me impress the Running Thunders, and try to convince them that I am actually the human that showed up about six months ago.”

Volo’s cry from above them was his answer.

“Great. Well, let’s go. It’s not like this will fail miserably or anything.”

Twilight gave him a look as he began walking. “I’m not going to comment on that one.”

Alan smirked. “You know, I think you pull off the hat look very well.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you. For what it’s worth, the poncho look suits you.”

“I hope the duster looks just as good.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

This was a huge mistake.

She probably didn’t even want to see him after he ran like that.

She was right, though. Acting like a kid won’t stop time. It was time for him to stand up, and act like an adult.

And the first things adults did, was face the consequences of their actions.

Spike lifted a shaking claw to the door.

Before pulling it back.

He really should have flowers or something, make the apology more sincere.

“You’re stalling.”

Spike silently cursed his conscious, before reaching out his claw again.

Be an adult, face the music.

He knocked twice on the door.

He waited for a few agonizing minutes of deathly silence before the door opened.

Sweetie Belle answered, her voice calm and controlled as she said, “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. Unfortunately we are currently cl—” she stopped suddenly, and her eyes narrowed as her face turned into a scowl.

She was not happy to see him.

Before Spike could say so much as a word, the door slammed shut in his face.

“Ok, I probably deserved that...”

Probably? the other part of his brain asked, a mental smug look on its face.

“Shut up.”

Well, if Sweetie didn’t want to see him, then it was quite possible that Rarity wouldn’t even look at him.

He shouldn’t stay...

“Man! I knew being responsible would end up badly!”

As Spike turned to leave he suddenly heard the doorknob turn. “Spike?”

He turned again, and there stood Rarity. Her face looked somber, devoid of the usual photogenic smile. Her eyes looked a little bloodshot from crying and she sniffled occasionally.

“I...uh...I came to apologize,” Spike blurted, surprised by her less-than-perfect appearance.

“Apologize?” Rarity asked, sniffing.

“Yeah, I...you...you caught me off guard and...I...I needed time to think...”

Rarity nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Spike bit his lip, although he wasn’t sure why, “Yes, actually I would.”

“Come inside please,” the mare asked, making way for him.

Spike walked in as Rarity led him toward her kitchen.

Sweetie Belle watched from the stairs, glaring daggers.

The dragon took a seat at the kitchen table, and the first thing he noticed was the bouquet of daffodils he had dropped at her doorstep sitting in a vase.

Rarity soon sat opposite of him, two plates hovering in her magical aura. One had a simple salad, the other a sapphire.

His favorite.

Rarity motioned to him to begin, and Spike could only speak.

“I...I’m still not sure how you managed to get it so right, but you did. You hit it exactly on the head, and that...that was maybe the worst part. You got it so right I couldn’t call it anything else.”

Spike struggled a bit. None of his words seemed to be coming out right, but he charged through anyway, no matter how awkward they sounded. It was, after all, the truth.

“And you were right. I...I can’t stop...I can’t stop time...I...”

“It’s alright, Spike,” Rarity interrupted. “I think I understand.”

Spike nodded, before picking up the sapphire. “What about you? Are you alright?”

Rarity gave him a slight smile. “Apparently, I’m easily heartbroken. But I’ve had some time to recover, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I am.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

“So what have you been doing lately with the library all to yourself?”

So the dragon and unicorn spoke for a while, each sharing what interested them lately. Spike told Rarity of his growing attraction to chemistry, what with needing a way to get powder for his pistols. Rarity, in turn, told Spike of her newly-kindled interest in magic and its studies.

They talked a few long hours, their food long since gone, before Spike glanced at the clock. “Woah! It’s that late already?”

“Do you have to be somewhere?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got to get the library open tomorrow, and Twilight will want the books reorganized.”

Rarity smiled, “Well, I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow, and I do believe I owe you one date.”

Spike blinked. “Really, are you sure?”

“Oh, positively,” Rarity answered, escorting the dragon to the door. “You’ve done some very mature things today, and I believe you deserve at least a dinner.”

Spike was about to argue, still feeling guilty for his earlier behavior, but was cut off with a quick kiss.

On the lips.

Rarity giggled as the dragon seemed to freeze. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Spike,” she said before heading back inside, leaving the drake on her welcome mat.

Spike sighed contently as he stood there, a goofy smile on his face as he suddenly realized that he had finally gotten what he had wanted since he had first come to Ponyville. He had the attention, and a chance at the affection of Rarity herself. It was—

A pair of emerald eyes stared at him, inches from his face.

“Ahg!” he yelled, nearly falling on his back as he stared up at Sweetie Belle, who wore a frown on her face.

“Alright, lizard-breath,” she said, “I just want to make one thing perfectly clear. I am good friends with Applebloom. Her family owns two hundred acres and a shovel. If you make my sister cry again, they will not find your body. Understand?”

Spike nodded.

Sweetie then gave him an evil sweet smile. “Good, see you tomorrow.”

As the door shut behind the filly, Spike got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“I’m doomed, aren’t I?”

Hey, you started this.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The fire crackled between the two unicorns as they waited in their campsite.

Twilight was happily reading Alan’s recovered selection of fantasy books, Tolkien’s works as well as the Redwall series, while Alan himself had his snout buried in his copy of The Art of War, by Sun Tzu.

Next to him sat saddle bags waiting to be used, Judgement lay next to them. On his other side Volo happily ate a snake she had managed to catch. His poncho was underneath him, making a makeshift blanket.

As Alan read, he came upon a particularly interesting passage concerning the weaknesses of a general.

"There are five qualities which are dangerous in the character of a general.

If reckless, he can be killed;

If cowardly, captured;

If quick tempered, you can make a fool of him;

If he has too delicate a sense of honour you can calumniate him;

If he is of compassionate nature you can harass him.”

However, the note beneath, specifically, was what made him frown. Those who are compassionate, it read, and feared casualties cannot give up temporary advantage for a long term gain, and are unable to make sacrifices to seize them.

The thought did not sit well with Alan.

Before he could muse any farther though, he was interrupted. “How do humans dance?”

Alan looked up at Twilight. “What?”

“How do you guys dance?” Twilight repeated. “I just want to get a better mental image.”

Alan blinked. “Well, what kind of song is it?”

“It’s the tavern song about the cow and the moon,” Twilight said, lifting the all-three-in-one-volume Lord of the Rings book.

“Ah, right, well tavern songs are essentially just one or two people skipping around and generally looking like idiots.”

The look on Twilight’s face told Alan that she sort-of understood. “Alright, but since we’re on the subject, how do humans slow dance?”

Alan opened his mouth, before smiling. “Well, it’d probably be easier to show you.”

Alan stood before holding out a hoof to the mare.

Twilight looked down at the hoof, eyes wide.

“Do you want to know how to dance or not?” he asked, holding out the hoof.

She hesitated for a second, before she gingerly took it in her own hoof.

Alan stood her up on her hind legs, and he began to lead her around the campsite, “Just follow my lead.”

Alan led her, carefully step by step, and she tentatively followed, not used to the posture. But Alan had her, and he was definitely used to that position.

They danced in the moon’s glow, and as they did, Twilight couldn’t help but hear a song in her head.

“So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

Shine with me.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

A heavy hoof knocked on Fluttershy’s door.

The yellow pegasus looked up at the door in surprise. That was odd, she didn’t normally get visitors out here, and she wasn’t expecting anypony.

Who could be at her door?

“Coming!” she practically whispered to the guest, who in all probability didn’t hear her.

She opened the door a crack, and was surprised to see a large red stallion standing at the other side.

Opening the door a little wider to allow her head through, she spoke. “Big Mac?”

“Eeyup,” he answered.

“What are you doing here?”

The large stallion took a second before answering. “Whelp, you saved mah life, so Ah decided Ah’d best come down here and at least help you out ‘round here.”

"Well, um..." Fluttershy mumbled, "I'd hate to interrupt you from your work."

"Applejack won't let me work," the large pony shrugged. "She'll worried I'll open up a wound."

“Oh, but you’re still hurt,” the pegasus said, taking advantage of the bandages that covered his limbs.

“Ah’m fine,” he insisted. “Now, please, is there anything I can do fer ya? I get fidgety if I don't have anything to do.”

Fluttershy shook her head, “No, no I’m fine, I wouldn’t want to trouble you—”

“Don’t do that,” the stallion interrupted. “Applejack does that. Ah want to help ya. So lemme help ya.”

“Oh, ok, I, um, my chicken coop could use some painting, Henrietta has been going on about how dull it is lately.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything further as the pegasus led him to her backyard. It didn’t take much for him to spot the hen house, with its faded red paint. It wasn’t that bad though.

She was quick to bring him paint, a brush, and then moved the chickens out of the house with surprising efficiency. “There,” she said, smiling as she watched the hens go out into the yard, where they immediately began to scratch at the dirt, “everyone’s out.”

The farmpony then began to work slowly, however diligently. It wasn’t nearly as hard as the harvesting, which he was secretly glad he had gotten out of, and it was a nice change of pace.

Hours passed, but the red stallion wasn’t aware. The coop was just large enough that the first side was dried by the time he finished the last, and so he was able to go through in one large uninterrupted session of work.

He didn’t even notice that Fluttershy had gotten him some lunch.

Much less that she was now frantically jumping around the backyard, searching for something.

What she happened to be looking for was a small chick. Elizabeak’s first chick to be exact, the rapidly growing rooster, who happened to be a bit of strong-chicken, that the hens had named Chick Norris.

Big Mac worked happily, and was in the middle of moving when he heard a sudden chirp.

He immediately froze, one hoof hovering a few inches off the ground as his eyes scanned around him.

A small yellow ball of feathers walked from underneath his lifted hoof.

“Careful, there, fella, almost stepped on ya,” he said before carefully lifting the small chick. “Miss? Pardon me, Miss!” he called.

Fluttershy spun her head, and once she saw the small fluffy ball in his hoof, she released a massive sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness!” she cried before fluttering over to him. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, before taking the small fowl in her hooves, cradling it like child.

The draft pony chuckled. “Dear to ya, ain’t he?”

“Oh, absolutely!” the pegasus said, “I’d absolutely die if I couldn’t find him.”

The stallion shook his head. “You are something else, miss,” he said, with a smile on his face.

She smiled back. “Please, call me Fluttershy.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan watched with detached interest as the whole tribe council roared in chaos.

When he had first introduced himself, he had left Volo behind on a nearby rock, telling her to approach only when he gave the signal. He never mentioned the name Half-dragon, and referred to himself only as a messenger coming on behalf of the chief.

The braves that had returned from Canterlot said nothing about his identity.

He was trying to see if he could give them the news easily without having to pull rank. It was just an experiment, really.

He was then led to the council tent, and Elder Peacekeeper was there to hold order.

As you can probably guess, that didn’t really go over well.

As soon as he had mentioned Little Strongheart as the heir to the chiefdom, every single brave in the tent had thrown themselves into an uproar. Each and every one claimed that they had more right to be chief than the runt of the herd.

Suddenly, a very large buffalo stood. “How do we know these are the chief’s words? How do we know that this is truly the messenger?”

Alan watched as one of the nine braves from the battle answered. “We were there. We heard him tell the Half-Dragon these things.”

“So then why has the Half-Dragon come and tell us then?” the larger instigator asked.

“He has. That pony is the Half-Dragon.”

Silence.

“The Sun Queen transformed him before our very eyes,” the brave said. “She turned him into a pony, for only as a pony does he belong.”

Alan said nothing.

The large buffalo laughed. “It sounds like you have spent too many hours in the sun! Or more likely you have decided to sell us lies.”

Elder Peacekeeper stood. “Watch your tongue, Tallone Fleetfoot, or be mastered by it.”

Tallone laughed again. “Elder, do you expect us to believe that this pony is the Half-Dragon? The Half-Dragon was a creature unlike any other and now we must give this title to a puny pony?”

“If you want, I’ll prove it to you,” Alan said, and the whole tent went quiet.

“And how will you do it, pony?” Tallone smirked.

“Simple, a little spar, I win, Little Strongheart is named chief. You win, and you decide.”

The buffalo smiled, before he suppressed it. “I am no fool to attack one of the magic ones. You will win with a simple thought.”

Alan smirked. “No magic, just your hooves and horns against my hooves and sword. Strength against strength.”

Tallone smiled maniacally. “So be it.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Markus Ironclaw was impressed.

The ponies had actually won.

It wasn’t how he had planned for things to go, but it wasn’t a loss. In fact, it may have been better this way.

At least he didn’t have to pay blood money for the assassination of his nephew, now.

It had all been set up perfectly. Once even an inkling of evidence against the human had shown up, Ironclaw immediately knew this was the chance he had been waiting for. He went to Equestria, acted rudely and did his best to provoke anger, just so he could say the words, “This is war.”

Once the war was on, he sent the Prince, the naive little hatchling, off to Canterlot with promises of honor and victory, while he secretly sabotaged the plans and bought the work of an assassin. The Prince would still win, that was the original plan anyway, but in the winter where the crossing was impossible, his little spy would start a riot, and the Prince would be woefully murdered by insurrectionists.

And then, with him out of the way, it was a simple matter of dealing with his idiot of a brother. And then the crown would be his.

This, however, was just as good. With the Prince officially Missing in Action (but most likely dead, considering he never returned while the messengers had), Ironclaw was sure he could push the King into looking for his lost boy himself. Then, all he had to do was set up a terrible pony ambush where everyone died.

Couldn’t leave witnesses, after all.

His musing were suddenly interrupted by his door bursting open.

Calius Bloodfeather stood in the doorway of his general’s office. His eyes were red, his robe was torn, and his crown sat crooked on his head.

So he heard the news.

“Brother,” the general began, “I am so—”

“Silence, traitor,” the King spat.

“Traitor? Does he—? No, no, this is Calius. Calius couldn’t find his way out of his bedsheets without a map. Proceed with caution.”

“Traitor?” he asked, sounding shocked at the word.

“You should have gone with him!” the King yelled. “Instead, you sat here, twiddling your feathers while my son died!”

“Brother, I—”

“Hold your tongue! I want his body retrieved, you hear me? I want him back here as soon as possible! Fight for it, if you need to, but don’t you dare return without him!”

“Brother—”

“You will leave the last week of winter,” the King said, paying no heed to the protests of his younger sibling. “The storms should have died down enough for you to cross by then.” And then without another word, the King left, and Markus was sure he heard sobbing from down the hall.

Well. This complicated things.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan stared down the large buffalo.

Twilight stood nearby, holding his hat as well as the saddlebags. Little Strongheart stood next to her and they quietly whispered to each other.

Alan was still dressed in the poncho, the baldric over his shoulder. Judgement was snug in its sheath. He didn’t care too much about what happened to the poncho, so he didn’t feel like taking it off. However, he’d be thrown to Tartarus if he ever let another hat get ruined.

Tallone Fleetfoot stood opposite of him.

This was going to be his first fight as a pony.

And he was slightly anxious because of it.

Would his new body be ready for this kind of punishment? Was he going to be able to react properly? Would his muscles respond as they should? How fast could he draw his sword, especially now since it was on a very hard-to-reach spot on his back? There were too many variables. Of course, it was better finding the answers to those questions here rather than on a true battlefield.

There was really only one thing left to do.

Try it out.

The buffalo charged, and Alan quickly stood on his hind legs. Once he slipped into the more familiar position, he quickly balanced himself and waited.

Tallone began closing the gap, horns shining in the noon sun.

Alan waited.

“Wait for it...”

“Now.”

Alan parried.

It should be noted here that a parry and a block are not the same thing.

A block is to stop the motion of an enemy's weapon with your own strength, while a parry is simply redirecting the attack away from oneself in such a way as to throw the enemy off guard.

So Alan parried.

Grabbing one of the buffalo’s horns with all of the strength in his hooves, he pushed Tallone’s head to the side, causing the bison to careen wildly.

Taking the opportunity, Alan quickly unloosed the baldric and drew Judgement from its scabbard.

There was a very interesting thing about pony forelegs that Alan had discovered. They had four joints to an arm’s three. Shoulder, elbow, knee, and fetlock. Silently praying that the new joint would work to his advantage, Alan went into a middle guard.

Quickly the buffalo charged again, coming around.

Alan shifted to a high guard.

Tallone charged faster.

Alan waited.

And then he moved again.

Stepping to the side, Alan brought the flat of the blade down on the buffalo’s legs.

The impact nearly broke his fetlocks as he spun away from the strike in an arc, away from the buffalo, pivoting on his legs as they dragged through the caked dirt.

Luckily, the strike had done its job, and Tallone was sent into the ground, gouging the earth behind him.

Moving on his uninjured hind legs, Alan took long strides up toward the buffalo as he lay there, before holding the point of Judgement to his neck. Volo decided that was the moment to make her appearance and she gracefully landed on his shoulder. “Do you yield?” Alan asked.

Tallone looked up along the point of the sword before saying, “I yield.”

Alan nodded, then said, “Then I name Little Strongheart, daughter of Chief Thunderhooves, as the new chief.” With that, he picked up the belt, slid his sword home, and silently thanked the stars he’d had enough strength to hold on to his sword for as long as he did.

Because he wasn’t sure he could’ve done anything else.

Well there you go, my longest chapter to date. Just before the world ends too!

"So...Many...Words..."

“Footnote. Level up. Skills note: Shipping has reached 1200 jigawatts. New perk: Lyra. You are ditzier than you were as a human, also, you possess strangely anthropoid tendencies.”

“It looks nice.”

Thank you, Pinkie. So for those of you that want a breakdown of Alan, here it is. He is faster than he was as a human, and has a higher stamina. His magic is weak, with the exception of hard-mana constructs, his special talent magic, as well as a few tricks that he’ll learn way down the line. He is much weaker as a pony, and he’ll be forever plagued by human mannerisms.

“What, that’s it?”

Yeah, he’s still the same person. Just shorter, and hairier, and fingerless.

So, guys, even with the amazing new A/N box available, and while I'd love to have box seats,

Ba-dum-tiss

I can't format in that, so you're stuck with us here, sorry!

Hope you enjoyed reading, and we all hope to see you soon.

Bye!

*darn

/därn/

v-Mend (knitted material or a hole in this) by weaving yarn across the hole with a needle: "I darn my socks."

n-A place in a garment that has been mended in such a way.

“The Paradise Song is a slightly modified version of the Sovngarde Song by Miracle of Sound, check it out!”

21-"Ya Ya Huley!"

Chapter 21

The sound of rolling waves was soon interrupted by wood grinding against sand. The small oaken row boat’s keel bit into the sand of Equestria’s shore.

General Ironclaw was the first to step onto the Princess’s land, and he immediately began barking orders. “Set up camp! I want our food carts re-packed by midnight! We move at first light for Canterlot!”

As his mouth moved, his mind was elsewhere. This had made things incredibly difficult. How could he have been such a fool as to not come up with a plan for if the ponies won? Why didn’t he think that far?

The answer was, of course, that the ponies shouldn’t have been able to win at all.

But they had.

And now, he was here, just east of the Haysead Swamps. His force of 6000 griffons was a little more than half of what he normally commanded. His soldiers were cold and tired from the crossing, which they had barely managed to get through unscathed. To top it off, they had already started getting into their rations that had been specifically reserved for when they were on the ground.

However, this situation was manageable. His brother could always die of a “heart attack” another day, and a little extra land in the Equestrian hemisphere wouldn’t hurt.

“Armaments on the left side of every tent!” he roared as his griffons began their work.

As the hustle and bustle picked up, no one noticed the solitary pegasus fly from the shade of the thick trees of the swamp to the northwest.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan stared over the battlefield. His enemy was cunning and quick, his forces were surrounded, and if not for his foot soldiers, he would be pressed against the wall.

Shining stood beside him, Silver on his other side, and Twilight beside her brother. The three spectators were biting their lips and scanning the field, while Alan himself merely held a hoof to his chin.

“Take the knight,” Shining said.

Twilight quickly shushed him. “No backseat playing.”

“It’s the obvious thing to do,” Shining answered.

“What? No!” Silver disagreed. “He should take the bishop.”

Alan sighed, before looking over to Prince Julius across the chessboard. The griffon wore a smug, playful grin. Shieldhide stood next to him.

Alan took a quick look at both attacking pieces. If he took one, the other would get him. He couldn’t move his king, the threatened piece to the right, the rook had the column held. His only real option was to move the king left, and straight into a trap from which he could not escape. Especially with the griffon’s next turn.

“The obvious thing to do,” Alan said, “is to practice more often.”

The Prince laughed. “Truer words have never been spoken.”

A knock sounded on the door to the tower where the small crowd had been gathered. “Come in,” Alan answered.

A pegasus entered. “Sir, we have news from the Haysead Swamps, the griffons have landed.”

“Already?” Alan asked. “Very well, General, Captains, get to work, we need to be ready to move out no later than tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alan turned back to the pegasus. “The scout team remembers their orders?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Excellent,” he said before returning to the game as the others left. “I’ll be there shortly.”

Julius watched in amusement as Alan continued to stare at the board. “Looking for a way out?”

Alan shook his head. “Trying to remember your setup.”

Julius blinked at that. “Um...if you don’t mind my prying, what exactly are the orders for your scouts?”

Alan looked up before giving the griffon a smile. “Simple, really. Actually, your uncle landing so close to the swamp works greatly to my advantage. First things first, they’ll attack the food carts in a way that leaves their presence hidden and the element of surprise uncompromised. This will both force the enemy to begin hunting as well as weaken them overall in the upcoming battles.”

Alan continued to smile. “Then, as the hunters spread out in the swamps, my scouts will ambush them, taking no more than two at a time. But, they’ll be the hunters, the fastest, and the best fliers. Before long, we’ll have picked and gotten rid of the best in the army, leaving only the chaff.”

The Prince blinked. “And how do you propose your scouts will simply get rid of their supplies?”

Alan gave the griffon a manic grin. “Trade secret.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

As the sun set, and the griffons began to settle down, four pegasi watched from the shadows of the trees.

“The packages ready?” one asked in a whisper.

“Got them right here,” another answered, holding out four glass canisters.

A third picked one up and looked inside. He frowned as he saw the small ball of fluff inside, with its large eyes and membranous wings. “You sure this is right? It don’t look dangerous.”

“You’ve obviously never lived in Ponyville,” the last one muttered. “A massive swarm of those little devils came in and nearly ate us out of the town.” The pegasus shook his head. “Leave it to a human to weaponize a parasprite.”

“Wait, you believe that?” the third one said. “You actually believe that the current Pendragon was a human?”

“Buddy, I saw him turn into a pony myself. I was there.”

“Shut up, both of you!” the first one whispered. “We’re in the middle of something right now. If you want to discuss rumors, do it when we don’t have a chance of getting caught and horribly killed.”

The argument died and the captured parasprites were handed out. “Alright, you know your targets, let’s wake them up.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Markus Ironclaw was having a nice dream.

He sat on the golden throne of The Onyx Keep, surrounded by tall piles of Golden Guineas and several women of...a baser nature. His twin brother, born a few years later in the world of his dream, had become a living ottoman and the small pack of advisers that surrounded the king at all times were laying at his paws, bowing at his power.

And then he woke up.

“Sir!” a griffon yelled, barging into his tent, “Sir! We have an emergency!”

The general sat up. “What is it?”

And then he noticed the forty-or-so balls of multi-colored fur covering the messenger.

“They’re eating everything, sir!” the messenger cried, before yanking some of the small insectoids off of himself.

As if to illustrate the point, a single parasprite fluttered into the room, and landed on the general’s table. It took one look at the breakfast that had been set out for him, a steak of venison with a biscuit and honey, and then swallowed it whole, plate and all.

The General briefly wondered if he was still dreaming.

The lack of wenches told him he wasn’t.

“Protect the food!” he yelled, jumping out of bed. “We need to save our supplies!”

Of course, it was far too late for that.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Very impressive...” Prince Julius muttered.

He stood chained onto a cart being pulled by two stallions. They were at the back of the army, which now numbered a respectable five thousand-some-odd soldiers, and they looked quite impressive. Inside the cart were the rest of the prisoners, and Julius couldn’t help but approve of the sight of all of the soldiers marching in time as the tanks and airships followed closely behind.

“I’m glad you like it,” Alan said, trotting up beside the cart. He wore a black cowpony hat, tilted back on his head to allow room for his horn. Along his back was draped a black duster, much shorter than his original, with the sword and shield of his cutie mark, inverted colors of course, over the flanks. The back of the duster had a large piece of dyed leather for Volo to perch on, and a hint of metal plating at the shoulders. The sun-buckled baldric ran over his shoulder and over the new gold and silver chestplate the Princesses had fitted for him.

“It’d be a shame for all this work to go to waste,” the Pendragon said with a grin.

The prince shook his head, grinning. “Please, don’t inconvenience yourself on my account.”

Alan chuckled. “When we make camp, you can choose one griffon to hunt for you. Understand that I am putting a lot of trust in you and your men. I would hate to be proven wrong.”

The prince nodded before giving the pony a questioning look. “Men?”

Alan looked up at the Prince. “Soldiers,” he explained. “Something I picked up from the other Alan.”

“Oh...Well, anyway, I understand, I will keep my ‘men’ in line.”

“I appreciate it.”

Further down the line roughly in the middle of the moving mass of ponies. Twilight and Shining walked side by side. “So how’s Alan taking to pony life?” the older brother asked.

“He’s doing alright,” Twilight answered. “Mostly he’s happy to be able to eat, although I have had to lead him through some basic routines. You know, the basics, cleaning out your hooves, brushing your coat, horn care...” Going to the bathroom...

She didn’t say that one out loud. Mostly because they both swore to never ever talk about that horribly embarrassing situation again. She flushed at the memory.

“...stuff like that.”

Shining noticed the blush and, as brothers are wont to do, jumped at the opportunity to tease. “Or really? What kind of other ‘stuff’ have you gotten involved with? Hm?”

Twilight blinked before looking at him. “And just what are you implying with that tone?”

Shining sighed. “Oh, come on, Twily, I just teasing you.”

Twilight frowned.

Shining sighed again. Before suddenly brightening. “Oh! That reminds me! I need to tell you something!”

“What?” she asked, annoyance still hiding in her words.

“Do you remember Cadence?”

“Cadence? As in my old foalsitter?”

Shining smiled. “The same.”

“Yeah, I remember her, how could I forget?”

“Well~ Come this summer we’re getting married.”

Twilight blinked.

Twice.

“You’re getting married to Cadence!” she shrieked. “Oh my gosh! That’s amazing!”

“Yeah,” Shining smirked. “It is. She’s actually going to be in Canterlot in the next few weeks. We were going to get married earlier, but the whole war thing...”

“How in Equestria did you convince Cadence, the best foalsitter in the history of foalsitters, to marry you?”

“And just what are you implying with that tone?” Shining asked.

Twilight smirked. “What do you think?”

Shining made an attempt to answer; however, he was stopped at the sight of Phoenix Division flying past overhead.

“There goes the advance force,” he noted.

Twilight nodded before speaking over her communicator, “Stay safe, Rainbow.”

“Me? Safe?” Dashie’s voice answered. “Please, they couldn’t touch me if they tried.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

General Ironclaw moaned in annoyance.

His army was now slowly on the move, heading through the swamp, hoping that the trees would hide their presence.

He hoped they were because that would mean something is going as planned.

Their food was almost completely gone.

Their best hunters were missing.

They had had little to no sleep, and now they slowly moving through the deepest, darkest, dankest swamp he had ever seen.

In the general’s mind he would at least have had a good breakfast when they got to this point.

Instead, his lovely meal of venison was eaten by a small ball of fluff. Which was hovering around his head. Right now.

He swatted at the devilish bug. For a moment his eyes left the path they had been glued to, and with one wayward step—

P-glorp!

Straight in the mud.

His eye twitched.

Slowly pulling his talon out of the deep pit, he gave it a long hard stare, as though the mud would simply fly off of it at his death-glare.

The mud, however, simply sat there.

He let a quick, strong, annoyed breath out through his nostrils before he removed the caps on his talons. “Tell everyone to take off their weapons, we don’t need them rusting,” he ordered, and after a quick disarm they began to move again.

They continued to walk through the swamp, no flying, as the wagons had to keep up. Along with what little food they had, the carts also held medical supplies and equipment, which were both incredibly necessary for his campaign. Unfortunately, that meant they were going to have to tough this one out. Through the swamp. Though the mud. The noisy, disgusting mud.

He grumbled as he led his forces, his ears picking up the drone of the background, the buzz of insects and the calls of odd birds, as well as the haphazard flapping of disturbed fruit bats.

Then the general stopped.

There was something else.

Suddenly a tree branch snapped, and a large chunk of oak came crashing down on five or six of the griffons. Another yelled as he tripped into a mud pit.Thunder rolled down the line of the army as bolts of lightning struck griffons left and right.

“Ya Ya Huley!” a voice screamed from the trees.

The griffons scrambled, many trying to replace the talon caps they had just removed. Others ran and hid lest another bolt of lightning strike. Small fires caught down the line, dried wood of the carts blazing after the intense heat of the bolts of electricity.

Finally the griffons mobilized in a semblance of order, and they turned to the trees.

Only to be met with silence.

Their attackers were gone.

Completely.

Most of the griffons simply stood and looked at each other, wondering what to do next. The more mentally collected quickly worked on putting out the fires of the carts, trying to save the last of their rationed food.

General Ironclaw gave a low growl. “We keep moving!” he ordered. It was obvious they didn’t have the element of surprise, but they couldn’t get out of the swamp without taking flight and leaving the last remaining food behind. They were committed, now.

They were at the disadvantage, one that could only be recovered from by getting out of the swamp. So they had to move faster. Much faster. “I will personally skin any stragglers! Move or I will send you to the Nine Hells!”

The griffons moved as fast as they could. No one got on the general’s bad side.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The two white unicorns slowly circled each other, manic grins on their faces.

Bits changed hooves and bookies called for last bets.

Judgement gleamed in the moonlight, sending a rainbow of a reflection down its perfect edge.

Magenta shields hovered around Shining Armor, whirling around him slowly.

Alan’s duster, as well as his mane, fluttered in the wind as he stood on his hind legs.

Their smiles only widened as their eyes narrowed.

Frankly, this was gonna be good.

At an unseen signal, the two stallions charged each other. Enhanced steel met magick and sparks flew as they attacked.

Up came a shield in a powerful uppercut, while Shining moved forward to put a hoof into Alan’s face.

Alan’s sword hoof came up between Shining and his face, stopping the punch while he spun, dodging the shield as it tried to get his stomach.

The two of them danced in the ring of ponies that surrounded them, moving back and forth in a waltz of steel and mana. The sword clanged against Shining’s shields, and the shields whirred around Alan as he deftly, and dare I say, acrobatically, dodged out of the way.

His pony body, so lean and lithe, was also much lighter than he was actually used to. This had become obvious about a month back during the Mane Six’s now-annual snowball fight.

Finding the advantage, Alan had seized it, teaching himself as many acrobatic moves as he could.

Tossing Judgement into the air, Alan quickly spun, cartwheeling around three of Shining’s shields as they flew at him. Two missed entirely, while the third grazed the hair of his tail as it passed between his legs.

He landed on his hind hooves, sliding in the dry dust grinning wickedly as Judgement fell back to earth, and into his waiting hoof.

“Nice,” Shining commented.

“Thank you,” Alan replied.

Judgement rang in the night as it clashed against Shining’s shields, shadows being thrown around the onlookers as the two stallion danced their deadly tango. Alan suddenly jumped backwards, making room.

“Bring it, bro,” he said.

Shining smiled. “How hard?”

Before Alan could answer, a fist-sized ball of mana came flying at him, and slammed into his hoof. The connection between the black leather handle and the golden tissue of his hoof was disrupted, sending Judgement flying. The ponies behind him ducked as the sword went sailing over their heads.

Alan’s eyes widened as he suddenly found himself disarmed. “Too hard,” he squeaked.

Shining pushed the advantage, sending shield after shield towards the unarmed pendragon. Alan, thinking quickly, summoned a hard mana blade. It was a simple thing, a plain triangular prism, a single edged blade with no decoration to its name, the only kind he could safely summon.

But even then...

Alan parried the shield, hoping to save the blade from a strong impact, and succeeded, sending it flying to the side. Before he could celebrate, however, another shield smashed into the blade, shattering it.

Alan went down.

The ponies around him swam in his vision as the magical backlash hit him. A hoof went to his temple as the migraine assaulted his brain.

However, due to the simpler nature of his last blade, the backlash wasn’t as strong, and soon enough it passed.

Of course, Shining already had him caught.

By the time the world came back in focus, Alan saw he was stuck in a perfect sphere.

“Do you yield?” Shining asked with a smug smirk.

Alan raised an eyebrow. “Like I have much choice?” The unicorn then broke into a smile, “Yeah, yeah, I yield. Shining wins everyone!”

A groan from those who had bet on the Pendragon grew from the onlookers and bits began to change hooves.

Judgement was returned to Alan by Shining’s magic, and Alan sheathed it. “We should do this again sometime,” Alan said.

“Eager to be beaten again?” Shining taunted.

“Only if I get to return the favor.”

“Like that’s ever going to happen.”

“You wish it won’t.”

“Alright, boys, enough,” Twilight said, walking up to the stallions. “It’s time for you two to be adults again.”

“Awwww,” Shining whined, “but it’s so boring being grown up!”

Twilight looked her brother in the eye, “Well if you act like a kid, then I’m just going to have to call mom, won’t I?”

Shining pouted. “Spoilsport.”

Twilight gave her brother a smug look before looking over at Alan.

“Hey now! Don’t look at me, I’m as grown up as I’ll ever get!”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Um, Alan...” Fluttershy’s voice interrupted over the communicator. “The courier’s here.”

“Thanks, Flutters we’ll meet him in my tent. Shining, you’re dismissed, go eat some dinner. Twilight, I’d like you to come with me.”

“Of course.”

“Shining, tell Copper Pots we’ll take dinner in my tent.”

“Right, right, just be sure to take her on an actual date next time.”

Both of them flushed at the comment.

Alan coughed. “Uh...anyways, we have some business to get to.”

“Right, plans need to be drawn up,” Twilight agreed.

“Resources managed.”

“Communication optimized.”

“Units maneuvered.”

“Concordances received.”

“Yup.”

A very awkward silence filled the air between them.

“Gonna be a long night.”

“Yup.”

More silence.

“We should probably get going.”

“Yup.”

A large red stallion passed by. “That’s mah line.”

Alan broke into a smile and laughed. “Always trust Equestria to give you random comedy!” He laughed again. “Oh boy, come on, Twi, we’ve got some work ahead of us.”

Twi followed the white-and-black unicorn back to his tent. He snickered as he went, and for a moment, an interesting thought entered her head.

What would it be like? What would a date with Alan be like?

She expelled the thought from her mind a moment later. Where did that come from? It was a highly inappropriate thought! She really had no business thinking that! She had no business thinking of candlelit dinners, long walks under the stars, or that handsome jawline and those deep, brown eyes...

Er.

No business at all thinking that!

Besides, he probably wasn’t interested in her.

She was surprised when she found that thought hurt.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Night passed, and as morning came, the Equestrian army was on the move again. Alan smiled as he replayed the courier’s message in his head again.

“The griffons are continuously on edge after the first few attacks, and we have continued to harass them since. They now continuously wear their arms, leading many of them to rust, and their lack of food has hit them hard. Our current number of captured hunters is 53, and many now dread being called to hunt.”

This was, of course, excellent news.

Alan could see the enemy morale drop from where he stood, and all because his enemy had picked the Haysead Swamp as a landing place. Admittedly, Alan had had plans for the harbor cities, but none of them would have been as good as the Swamp plan.

Things were going well.

All he needed to do now, was push the advantage, keep them off balance.

He had shoved them down and now he could not let them back up.

That was why they were already moving at a fairly brisk pace, well, for an army. He was pushing them to get to the Haysead Swamp as fast as possible. The sooner they got there, they sooner they could shove the griffons back off balance.

As the gears of war turned in Alan’s head, Twilight was also thinking.

Her thoughts however, were more troubled by the Pendragon himself.

After that pain in her chest the other night, she had been forced to think, to really think about what she thought about him.

Well, he was kind...when he wasn’t trying to kill you. When he was trying to kill you he was ruthless.

A little violent at times. Of course, that was sort of working to their advantage at the moment.

He was caring, and good with foals. That was obvious enough with his visit to Daisy Chain and Pipsqueak.

He was smart, which was always a good thing in her book.

Stubborn as a mule, but at the same time, willing to admit he was wrong.

He was protective, very much so. And for a second she allowed her brain to imagine being protected by him. Those hooves wrapped around her, those eyes looking down at her, a smile on his lips telling her everything would be alright.

But what if...what if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he had his eye on somepony else? What if he thought she was ugly?

What if—

She sighed. “Alright, Twi. Stop it. Take a deep breath. Think.”

She needed to sort out her feelings. They were a massive jumbled mess at the moment, and she could hardly think straight for them. Unfortunately, feelings were a little more stubborn than books when it came to organizing.

She need to deal with this professionally.

She needed...

She needed to consult an expert.

<<<|Ω|>>>

In the rear of the army, the seventeen griffon prisoners were softly being jostled by the movement of the cart.

They were silent, each staring at the floor with no real motivation to do anything else. Their own thoughts floated through their own heads, some berating their capture, others silently thankful for their generous host.

One of the griffons suddenly spoke up. “What is this guy’s deal?”

The others looked at him.

“I mean, we killed hundreds of his soldiers, and he’s treating us better than some of them! What’s up?”

“You complaining?” another asked. “‘Cause I’m sure he’ll hang you if you want.”

The first griffon blinked. “Well, I’m just wondering why.”

“He wants to be a good leader,” the Prince answered.

Every eye in the cart turned towards the Prince, who stood, leaning out of the back of the cart, watching the skies.

“I asked him the same question during winter. He told me the first Pendragon, Arthur, the one who bested Redbeak the Five Taloned, was a king in his own world. A good king, the legends say. Loved by all of his people and all of his soldiers. His second sword, of which many of the legends speak was named Excalibur, and on its blade were written the words, ‘Pick me up,’ and ‘Cast me aside.’”

The original griffon spoke again. “So? What’s that got to do with anything.”

“Let the Prince finish,” Talius said, staring down the offender.

“The Pendragon explained to me that those words were Arthur’s secret for being a good leader. Knowing when to take up his sword and when to keep it still. He wishes us no harm in the interest of staying his blade. He wishes to gain the love of his soldiers by showing that he is merciful. However, do not doubt me when I say he will kill us without a second thought if we were to threaten his soldiers.”

“If he could catch us,” the griffon laughed, nudging his partners.

The Prince turned before stepping down in the cart, staring his soldier in the eyes.

The laughter died in the griffon’s throat, and he nervously looked at his commander.

“He has honored us with his hospitality. He could show his mercy by keeping us in a dungeon just as easily as he can in the back of this cart. We will honor him in turn. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” the griffon nodded.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Night fell again, and while Shining and Alan had round two, Twilight sat in her tent, carefully writing up her letter to the Princess.

Applejack wasn’t entirely thrilled to see either of those things.

She was bored. That was all.

She wandered for a while, looking for something to. The camp had several fires going to ward off the cold of late winter, and she received a few greetings from her infantry. She returned most of the with either a lackluster “Howdy,” or a tip of her hat, and she continued to wander.

She passed a few interesting sights as she made her way through. The anchored Ira sat next to the Vindicta, both no more than a few cartlengths off the ground, and hanging off the deck rails of the larger of the two, the farmpony could make out Pinkie, staring wistfully up at the stars, mumbling something about her “own Special Sous Chef.”

Applejack briefly wondered at her calm-ish demeanor, before continuing on her way. Not long after that, she saw Spike escorting Rarity to her tent, the former holding her close as she trotted forward, wearing a diamond encrusted coat.

She would’ve been surprised at the rather intimate kiss Rarity gave him if she hadn’t been made aware of the fact that they now had couple status.

She passed her brother, who, despite his suspicions, only received two scars from the siege. Fluttershy sure knew how to dress a wound. “Howdy, Big Mac.”

“Eyup,” he replied. Looking down his side, where a particularly nasty scar ran down its length. Combined with the one that ran down his snout, he looked rather fierce.

Getting nothing else out of her near-silent sibling, she continued to move onward through the camp.

“How are you doing tonight miss?” someone asked.

Applejack turned to see Silver Pauldrons standing nearby, wearing his armor so he appeared white. His mane, rather than silver, appeared blue, but his eyes stayed the same shade of sky blue she had become familiar with.

“You look better with grey hair,” she said.

“It’s silver,” he replied, with a deadpanned expression, “not grey.”

Applejack gave him a joking smile.

“So, if you don’t mind my asking, miss, a bit for your thoughts?”

“First off, stop callin’ me miss. It’s too frou-frou for mah taste. Call me Applejack, or AJ or somethin’.”

Silver gave her a devilish smile. “Alright then, Miss Applejack.”

She gave him a frown, before a light kick was sent his way.

Silver chuckled, “Alright! Alright, AJ it is then.”

The farmpony rolled her eyes.

“The second thing?” Silver pushed.

AJ sighed. “I just ain’t too pleased to be back here is all.”

Silver lifted an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s just...this whole war business don’t sit well with me.”

Silver stayed quiet, listening as Applejack continued. “Ah mean, have you heard some of these soldiers talk? They go on about lunch and dinner, when they know they may not come back. It’s just...” she chanced a glance at the bladed chain at her hip, the weapon that could easily slice a griffon in half, especially in her hooves. “It just ain’t right.”

Silver nodded. “Alright, Mis-er, AJ, during the harvest you gave me plenty of little nuggets of farmer wisdom, well now it’s my turn to give you some soldier wisdom. Let me ask you, is this right?”

She looked at him. “Didn’t ya just hear what Ah said?”

“Yes, I heard you say that this doesn’t feel right, but I’m not asking you how or what you feel. I want to know, is this right? Is this war justified. Are we doing the right thing fighting off the invaders?”

Applejack hesitated, but only for a second. “Well...yeah...Ah mean if we weren’t here they’d be hurting’ our families and friends.”

“So being here, fighting is the right thing to do?”

“Well...yes...but—”

“But it doesn’t feel right,” Silver finished. “Peace feels right. War doesn’t. And that is the truth for every single one of us, AJ. Every soldier worth his bits loves peace. And the thing about soldiers, is they do the right thing and fight for peace. They go out and do the right thing, again and, again, and again, until they physically can’t do it anymore. We’re here, Applejack to do what’s right. Even if it means I don’t come home.”

The farmpony sighed. “That sounds about right, don’t it?”

“Well,” Silver said with a grin, “as your brother would so aptly put it, Eyup.”

At that moment Big Mac walked passed. “Why are ponies taking mah line all of a sudden?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Meanwhile, far to the east, across the sea, sitting in the tallest room of Onyx Keep, a young lady of the griffon courts stroked the King’s talon as he wept.

“My son! My son is dead!” he sobbed.

“You don’t know that,” the young griffoness consoled.

“He is dead and I am to blame!” he wailed, “I should have stopped this! I could have stopped all of this! Why did I not stop him!?”

The maid felt a tear fall from her eye. “He is alive, my King, I know he is. He has to be.”

The king looked over to the young griffoness. Her eyes were a light shade of pink, and her feathers were pure white. “Snowlily,” he said, calling her by her last name, “I am sorry, but now, you can never become my daughter. And now, the crown must pass to my brother.”

“No!” she said, standing suddenly, “No! You can’t believe that! He is alive! I know he is!”

“Lydia.”

“He will return, and we will be wed!”

“Lydia,” the king repeated softly.

“I won’t believe it!” she cried, tears falling from her eyes. “I can’t...”

The King took his would-be daughter-in-law in a soft embrace, and the two cried into the night.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Run for it!” one of Ironclaw’s soldiers yelled.

They were being pummeled, the near-random strikes of lightning bursting through the air and the cries of pegasi kept them disoriented, and their rusted talon caps hardly moved as they rushed forward.

“This way!” Ironclaw yelled. “Towards the light!”

They were almost out of the forest, but they needed to make this last push.

The pegasi had been pestering them for days now, and they were finally going to get out of the swamp, and into some open air. They wouldn’t be able to ambush them from there, and the griffons would finally be able to fight back.

The squeak of rusty metal got louder as the griffons began to hurry for the open.

Markus grinned wickedly, once out, they’d be able to repay these pegasi for everything they did to his soldiers since they landed. They’d be able to exact revenge for the sleepless nights, those hungry mornings, and every other piece of bad luck they had no-doubt been responsible for.

Markus charged forward, flapping his wings as he ran through the thinning trees.

First his revenge, then his conquest, and then his rule!

Everything he touched would become his!

Finally things would go his way.

He would finally get the respect he deserved.

He would never be the King’s brother ever again.

He would be King.

No, Emperor!

He would rule over Gryphus and Equestria with an Ironclaw!

He would—

He skidded to a halt as his eyes fell on the horizon.

Two large ships floated in the air, and beneath them an army of multi-colored ponies waited for him.

Ancient Battle flags waved in the soft breeze, and as the other griffons followed, they too saw it.

Equestria had an army.

And they were ready for anything the griffons had to throw at them.

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Tarvisa Jorda!”

“Ya Ya Hu Langa!”

“Ku Tawey Ne!”

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!"

Next Chapter, Alan’s first battle as a pony, and Ironclaw’s first taste of Human tactics!

Oh, and a quick note to help avoid further confusion. In my mind, the word “Magick” with a K is synonymous with mana. Magic is the arcane art.

“You weaponized Parasprites?”

Oh I’m going to do a lot more than that.

See you guys next time!

Bye!

23-Returned Favors

Chapter 23

Three weeks earlier...

Dawn Flame, a member of the Royal Guard, was utterly bewildered.

It was a good word, bewildered. It sounded far more exciting than confused, and wasn’t as time-sensitive as startled.

As for his reason of being bewildered, the Pendragon, of all ponies, had wanted to speak to him.

As with anypony that had been called in to speak with their boss, the first thing that had gone through his mind was nervousness, quickly followed by questions of doubt. Was he getting fired? Was he going to be put on a dangerous mission?

All of the answers that his mind gave him did little to relax him.

Before long, he was standing in front of the large doors of the Pendragon’s Council room, which had doubled as his office while he was in Canterlot.

Taking a moment to gather his nerves and thoughts alike, he knocked solidly on the door.

“Come in,” he heard a voice say.

Gulping, Dawn did just that. He marched to the center of the room, surrounded by the massive horseshoe shaped table and stood at attention. Saluting, he quickly barked, “Sir, Dawn Flame reporting, sir!”

The Pendragon simply looked up from a few papers that sat in front of him before muttering. “At ease.”

Dawn relaxed. Barely.

Alan rummaged through a few of the dossiers, his hoof sliding paper this way and that, before pushing one towards the pegasus guard. Opening the folder, and awkwardly flipping through a few pages, he finally found a single page, and tapped at a line of ink. “Is this true?” he asked.

Dawn’s eyebrows furrowed as he read the information. “Yes, sir, that is my daughter, but I fail to see the significance of that.”

Alan looked up at him. “Soldier, how long has it been since you’ve been home?”

Two years, eight months, and 29 days, his mind answered for him, his mental calendar had been agonizingly counting the hours from when he had had that stupid argument.

“Three years, sir,” he said, rounding up.

Alan looked at him for a long time.

Finally the white unicorn stood up. “Sergeant Flame, I have a mission of the utmost importance for you.”

Dawn snapped back to attention. “Sir!”

Alan paced around the table as he spoke. “After the siege, I had taken a mare and her son into my care. The colt’s father was incredibly brave and honorable, but sadly, died in battle. While I’m leading the armies to chase down the invaders come spring, I want you to keep them safe. Am I understood?”

“Sir, yes sir!”

“Good. You’ll find Miss Daisy Chain and her son Pipsqueak at the Ponyville Library.”

Dawn blinked. “P-Ponyville?”

Alan smirked. “That won’t be a problem, will it, Sergeant?”

Dawn hesitated for a second. “No, sir.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Present day...

“And that, class,” Cheerilee said with a smile, “is how pegasi invented helium balloons.”

Every foal there looked liked they wanted to vomit.

“Now class, for our next lesson, we actually have a surprise guest coming in,” Cheerilee announced, walking over to the classroom door. “Since a lot of your brothers, sisters, moms, and dads have gone into the army, I’m sure you all have a lot of questions about what’s going on there, so today, we have one of Princess Celestia’s royal guards coming in to answer your questions. So please, everypony, let’s welcome our guest.”

The door opened, and in stepped Dawn Flame. His eyes scanned the classroom quickly before he stood up in front of the class. “Thank you, Miss Cheerilee,” he said, before turning to the foals. “Good Morning, class, my name is Sergeant Dawn Flame, and I will gladly answer any questions you have.”

He noticed one filly in particular gasp.

A colt raised his hoof. “Mr. Sergeant, how hard is it being a soldier?”

“Very hard,” Dawn answered, “A lot of the time you can’t be where you want to be, the training is difficult, and war is a very scary thing. But if it means I can keep you safe, then it’s worth it.” As he spoke he stood right next to Cheerilee’s desk, his eyes looking straight ahead, moving every now and then to look at the foal asking the questions, or to glance at the filly in the corner.

She didn’t look that happy.

Another foal raised her hoof. “What kind of food do you eat in the army?”

Dawn kept answering questions as they came, and only after a few minutes the class seemed to run out of steam. His eyes kept darting to that one filly, who had hidden herself behind a propped up book.

“What’s the scariest thing you’ve done?” another foal asked.

“The scariest?” Dawn asked. “Well...honestly...that would probably be coming home.”

The foals all looked at him with a confused stare.

Dawn Flame sighed. “You see, class, I have a daughter, an adorable little filly that I love with all of my heart. She’s feisty and has a bit of an attitude, and I don’t get to see her that much. You see, I was in the Royal Guard before the war, and back then, being a guard was more like being a baker. It was just a job. A job I was working hard at so that I could provide for my daughter.”

The stallion sighed.

“But she wasn’t happy. I hardly saw her, and she didn’t get to see me...and...” His posture broke, his ramrod-straight back collapsed, and he lowered his head. “...and...well...the last time I saw her, we had a fight.” He began to moved down the row of students, speaking as he went. “She told me to stop being a guard, to get a job closer to home. I told her that the job I had paid well, and it made sure she was taken care of.”

He thought he saw the filly shaking behind her small tome. “She said it didn’t matter if I wasn’t there, and...well, to make a long story short, I left mad. It’s been almost three years since I was home, and every day I’ve been gone I’ve been wondering what she’ll think of me. Especially when she was right all along...” He stood in front of the filly’s desk, watching her as she hid behind her textbook. “So, what do you say, Scoots, can you forgive your dumb ol’ Dad?”

Scootaloo jumped at him from behind her book, tears flying from her eyes as she caught him in a hug. “I’m sorry, Daddy! I’m just so sorry!”

His helmet clanged to the floor, forgotten as he grabbed his daughter. “I’m sorry too, Scoots, I’m sorry too.”

He held her tight for a few moments before turning towards the teacher. “Miss Cheerilee, do you mind...?”

Cheerilee, tears in her eyes, shook her head. “No, it’s perfectly fine.”

Dawn smiled. “Thank you. Come on, Scoots, let’s go get some ice cream.”

As the two pegasi left, the entire class watched them go in silence, except for one grey filly with a spoon on her flank, who was doing her best to keep her sobs quiet.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“I want soldiers on those outcroppings,” Ironclaw said, pointing at the top of the rock walls.

The entrance to the badlands stood before them, a massive gorge between two, massive, sheer walls of red rock. On the outside of those walls were most of the carts as well as a minority of the force.

Bait for the trap.

“Set up boulders along there, there, and there, and I want two Manticore machines set up, one on each wall.”

As the griffons around him began to fill out their orders, the General smiled to himself.

“Catch me off guard, will you? Well, it’s time to return the favor...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan held a telescope in two hard-mana hands. A frown was on his face.

“What’s the matter?” Twilight asked.

Alan handed her the telescope, the spyglass being caught up in Twilight’s telekinetic grasp. “That gorge just screams ‘trap.’”

Twilight looked through the spyglass. “You think they’re setting up an ambush?”

“I would.”

“How do you want to proceed?”

Alan simply let one of the silver magick hands stroke his chin.

“You really like those hands, don’t you?” Twilight asked.

Alan smiled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Sir!” one of griffons called from his lookout. “The ponies are approaching from the Northeast!”

Ironclaw smiled. Perfect, they would fall right into his trap. “Move, quickly!” he yelled. “Soldiers, head toward the gorge!”

A crew of soldiers began shuffling towards the gorge, kicking up as much dust as they could to make it seem as though they had larger numbers. Meanwhile, the carts had been hidden in a nearby cave, and then covered by freshly cut branches to hide them so they could make a quick escape.

Two of the Manticore siege machines had been set up at the cliff peaks, along with a majority of the force.

What’s more, the general had changed orders a bit.

The bomb of lime, he quickly realized, other than blinding his forces, did no real damage. So why blind his forces when the Pendragon could have just as easily made a powdered poison? He doubted it was because they lacked the ability to create one.

What it told him was that his enemy had a heart.

A great, exploitable weakness of a heart.

And now that he knew the Pendragon’s weakness, all he had to do was get some leverage.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“You sure this is a good idea?” Shining asked.

Alan wasn’t. “Of course it is! If this universe follows the rules of comedy, then it follows the rules of action movies, and action movies say that when the protagonists, us, knowingly spring a trap, they do something amazing.”

He hoped Equestria followed the rules of an action movie.

Silence behind him.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Twilight said. “But we do have support.”

“Right...” Shining answered.

“Just focus on the defense, you two,” Alan ordered. “Something tells me we’re going to need it.”

The pony ranks moved forward, getting closer and closer to the gorge, the Ira and the Vindicta floated wordlessly above them in the cloudy sky.

“Everyone ready?” Alan asked.

“Yes, I think so,” Twilight answered.

“Good. Well, then as a wise man once said: Hold on to your butts.” With that final word of wisdom, Alan drew Judgement with an ethereal hand and led the charge.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Wait for it...” Ironclaw ordered, his small force was now being relentlessly chased by the ponies. “Wait for it...”

With a single order, the Pendragon had blinded a good number of his soldiers. Then it is only poetic justice that he should kill more with the same order.

He glanced to his side, where twenty of his soldiers stood next to large boulders.

“Now.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The ponies let loose a wordless battlecry as they chased down their quarry. Their voices echoed off of the red rock walls as they chased down the smaller force of griffons. As they ran they passed many deep pits and crevices in the walls, some going so deep that the back could not be seen, others so shallow that if it were raining it would not provide enough shelter. The soldiers, however, took no notice, and were chasing their enemy with a vigor that many of them did not know they possessed.

However, three unicorns had their eyes elsewhere.

The griffons, sensing the ponies behind them, suddenly took a sharp left, and disappeared into one of the many caves that dotted the cave wall. Before so much as a single pony could follow them, the griffons rolled a stone in front of them, sealing themselves in.

That when the ponies noticed the boulders.

Massive rocks began to tumble down from the ridges, threatening to bury them underneath tons of earth.

And then something happened. A massive ceiling of mana suddenly slammed into the walls, first a light fuchsia color before suddenly shining a darker color. The massive stones smashed against the wall, breaking apart as the slammed into the shield.

The eyes of the ponies were drawn to its center, and then down a massive column of magick that originated from two unicorns.

Twilight and Shining, standing side by side, sweat dripping down their faces, held the shield above them. The mana shimmering between the colors of their magick as they both fought to keep it up.

“This way!” Alan yelled, screaming at the awestruck ponies. “Pull back now!”

Many of them, shaken from the cry, began running back the way they came, pulling the more stunned ones with them.

The shield wall began to lean forward, the boulders shifting to the front end as gravity worked. With a mighty mental heave, the unicorn siblings turned their protective ceiling into a massive ramp, and the large stones rolled forward, blocking off the gorge.

When the last stone hit the floor, the shield shimmered away, and Twilight fell to the ground exhausted.

“You okay?” Shining and Alan asked in unison.

Twilight resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m fine, I just need to rest a bit.”

Alan looked up at Shining. “Get her to the Vindicta, posthaste.”

“Right,” Shining agreed, pulling Twilight onto his back.

Just as he did, three massive arrows dug into the ground that she had been occupying a second ago.

Alan looked up at the ridge, and what he saw did not please him.

“Horseapples.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Ironclaw cursed.

Curse their magic to the ninth layer of Hell where it may burn in the great frozen wastes!

It was a gift exclusive to pony-kind it seemed, and now he had to deal with those who could break the laws of physics.

“Bombard them!” he shouted to the Manticore operators.

Two griffons standing next to a massive crossbow-like machine nodded before they began turning a crank. The massive sinew bowstring was pulled back, a large bolt from a feeder fell into its awaiting slot, and the bow was released.

We may not have magic, little ponies, the general thought to himself, but we do have science!

A familiar whistle broke his thought process, before the Manticore exploded into massive splinters.

Ironclaw turned to the see the larger, gold-banded ship hovering a few hundred yards away, and saw another cannonball rip through the second machine on the opposite ridge.

He began to see red.

“Get up there and kill them!” he yelled pointing at the ships.

Three squads heard the unspoken, “Or I will skin you alive,” and began heading for the ships.

“The rest of you, get down there and kill those horses!”

Not a single griffon was left on the edge.

And that’s when Phoenix division followed them from behind the clouds.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan, seeing the trap, had decided to relocate most of Fire Drake division to the Ira and Vindicta, where Thunderstorm and Nightingale divisions worked, along with Moonbeam Division.

And it was a good thing he had.

Pinkamena stood, one of her hind legs supported on a cannon, the other on the railing. In one hoof she held a cutlass, in the other she held on to a frothing stein of cider. On top of her head, along with her golden headpiece, sat a tricorner hat. Guzzling down the beverage, she tossed the empty metal tankard at a charging griffon before yelling in a cheery voice, “Drink up, me Hearties, Yo Ho!” The cannon beneath her suddenly sounded, throwing a cannonball at ten of them and sending them over into the proverbial drink.

Other similarly armed ponies were likewise dealing devastating damage as Fire Drake division worked closely with Rarity’s Moonbeam soldiers. Griffons would suddenly find themselves in quiet fields before their lives were taken from them. Others were blinded by the tried-and-true method of the Equestrian Flashbang. Others still found themselves fighting invisible enemies and a select few simply stopped what they were doing before curling up into a ball, completely unresponsive to the world.

As the battle on the Ira drew on, Pinkamena was almost dancing in the fight. Her cutlass slicing through griffons with ease as she laughed maniacally.

Now it was not, as many would guess, because the straight-haired mare was in fact a psychopathic killer. No. In fact, the reason for her laughing was in fact for a much less sinister motive.

It scared the living manure out of anyone that got close.

Griffons would pause as they stared at her, blood dripping from her armor and sword, and they delay would be just long enough for her to finish them.

She was giggling at the ghosties, and the ghosties were killed.

There was also another part of her that told her to laugh just because she had an element to stay true to, but mostly it was for psychological warfare.

“Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate’s life for me!” she sang as she slaughtered.

Ooh, nice alliteration there.

Thank you.

She danced across the deck, dealing death to the dastardly defilers.

Man, you’re on a roll today.

I know, right?

“We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot! Drink up, me Hearties, Yo Ho! We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot! Drink up, me Hearties, Yo Ho!”

She bounded to the middle of the deck, where a large round wheel sat. It was as tall as a pony and a half, and three times as wide. The wheel’s main purpose was to lower and raise the anchor, but it would do perfectly for her purposes.

She jumped at the top of the wheel, spinning as she sang. “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate’s life for me!”

A griffon grabbed a spear from the lifeless form of a spearpony and threw it at the pink terror with all of his might.

She simply ducked under the flying projectile, and it soared overhead.

With a graceful leap, she launched herself at the griffon, flying backwards along the path of the spear before burying her blade into his head.

She laughed again.

She yanked on her blade to pull it out of her latest victim’s head, only to find it caught on something.

That’s when three griffons slammed into her side, knocking her blade away from her. Unarmed, she suddenly found herself surrounded.

One of them, the leader in the offensive, stood forward. He flexed his claws. “This is for Howard,” he said.

Suddenly a blue blur smashed into the griffon, a sickening snap signaled that his spine had been severed.

From the mess of fur and feathers, a blue-and-yellow clad pegasus stood. “Keep your filthy claws. Off. My. Pie!”

Before the other two could react, Soarin slammed into them, tossing them back into the fray. He let loose a low growl before returning to the downed General. “You okay?” he asked.

Pinkie’s mane returned to it’s natural fizz, and she gave the Wonderbolt a smile. “I am now that my own Special Sous Chef is here.”

Soarin smiled back. “I’m glad to hear it, my little Sweetie Pie.”

They shared a quick kiss. And then Soarin tossed a charging griffon overboard.

<<<|Ω|>>>

On the deck of the Vindicta, the fighting was just as fierce. Griffons and ponies duked it out, each fighting for Crown and Country.

Fluttershy, however, was not.

No, she had another job to do, and for all intents and purposes, the Vindicta was her ship. She was the only General on board, and as such, it was her duty to give orders.

However, this was also the infirmary ship.

That made these griffons extra dangerous.

And she was not having any of it.

If anyone so much as thought of hurting one of her patients...

...well...she wasn’t exactly sure what she would do, but it wouldn’t be nice!

She flew forward, hugging the deck as she dashed amongst swings and parries. She zoomed along the wooden planks, her ears peeled back, but listening intently for any cries of—

“Medic!”

She made a hard bank left, following the cry, skidding to a halt at the feet of one of the wounded ponies. Her mind constantly checking the mare’s body over. Three major lacerations. Two three-inch puncture wounds. Pulsing...oh Celestia that’s a lot of blood.

She shut her eyes for a second and shook her head.

Focus. Pulsing, rhythmic bleeding. At least one severed artery. She noticed a large, blue bruise on the ponies green coat. She gave it a light touch and the owner of the nasty bruise yelled in pain. Possible broken hock bones.

She quickly pulled a syringe from a pocket in her armor, and drove it into the pony’s neck. As the merciful painkillers began to flood her system, Fluttershy began to bandage the wounds.

She worked quickly, applying pressure with one hoof as she worked with the other. She touched the bruise again. “Did you feel that?” she asked.

The mare did not answer, her eyes clouding with the effects of the drug.

Taking the cue, Fluttershy picked her up before flying back to doors to the lower decks.

A veritable castle waited for her, 37 spear ponies lined shoulder to shoulder protecting the door with their lives. They saw their General approaching and gave a small opening for her. Moving quickly behind the spears, Fluttershy handed the mare over to Nurse Redheart. “Major bleeding from two puncture wounds to the barrel. Severed artery,” she explained to the nurse.

Redheart nodded, applying pressure to the wound as Fluttershy leapt back into the fray.

Again she flew low, sticking close to the deck as she flew forward. Staying this low meant she could avoid most of the conflict, while every now and then tip a fight into a pony’s favor.

She zoomed by a griffon, taking his feet from under him as she flew by. The soldier landed hard before being set upon by three ponies.

So far no one was calling her, and anypony that needed immediate help was being taken care of. She quickly eyed the silver-grey pegasus mare named Quicksilver, and saw she was working diligently.

At least she didn’t need a repeat performance.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a furry body slamming into her. She flew backwards, landing into the anchor winch, before she became aware of her assailant. “Well aren’t you pretty,” a griffon said, his voice dripping with malice.

She looked up, catching the griffon in The Stare. However, that one wasn’t a problem. The problem was the two griffons in her peripheral.

The Stare was an interesting power. Anything caught in her field of view was instantly under its spell, and along with minor paralysis, put the victim under a charm where they had to do as she asked. There were, however, a few limitations on it. The first being that with the more targets under her gaze, the less sway she would hold on each of them. Second was distance. Sure, she could stare a buffalo down at thirty thousand yards, but it loses its effect when the receiver can’t see her eyes anymore.

The last one however, was that the further away from the center of her vision, the more impotent both of those effects became.

With two of these griffons on the very edge of her field of view, and the third in the center, Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could hold them.

If they had been a few hooves closer in, maybe...

Then she felt it.

The one on the left broke her influence.

“Ooh. That’s not a good thing,” he said, eyeing her. “You’re a dangerous little mare, aren’t you?”

Not good.

She could turn her head, and catch him in her stare, but that would leave the one on the right to get her. She had no choice but to keep her head exactly where it was.

“Roger, Roger, buddy, can you move?” The griffon asked as he slowly began to approach the timid pegasus.

“No,” the one in the middle, named Roger apparently, answered.

“That’s what I thought. Well, then, it seems we’re just going to have to deal with you, miss.”

Suddenly, a massive red shape blocked her vision, and she swore she heard a thunderclap as a massive hoof met the griffon’s face.

The other two griffons, now free, watched in horror as the one griffon that had freed himself was sent flying towards the side of the boat. His spine snapped on impact with the oak railings and he tumbled over the edge.

Both newly released griffons turned to the massive red stallion before them.

Big Macintosh looked them in eye and said only one thing.

“Nope.”

With another two ear-shattering blows, the other griffons were sent to join their friend. With a snort, Big Mac turned to the yellow pegasus. “Ya alright?” he asked.

She nodded. “Um...thanks...” she said before turning her gaze elsewhere.

“Don’t mention it.”

There was silence for a second before the draft pony spoke again. “Whelp...Ah suppose that makes us even then...”

Fluttershy nodded, her gaze never meeting his.

And then she saw something.

Acting quickly, she yanked on Big Mac’s fetlocks, pulling him to the ground.

As a startled cry escaped his lips, a sharp thwack sounded from where his head had been a second ago.

Looking up from the floor, Big Mac saw a spear, dug into the anchor winch, protruding roughly where his head had been a moment ago.

He looked down at the pegasus, still gripping his fetlocks, and blinked. She had just saved his life. Again.

She blinked back, before releasing him with a blush.

Standing, the farmer chuckled. “Keep this up, Fluttershy, and ponies may get to thinkin’ ya want me around.”

Fluttershy simply blushed harder.

<<<|Ω|>>>

In the air above the gorge, the dogfight of the ages broke out. Pegasi, with their metal claw shoes, dived onto the backs of griffons. Griffons, in turn, did their best to dodge and attack the pegasi. The ponies would then launch lightning bolts at the griffons as they recovered.

The fighting was fierce and deadly; however, even for all of their aerial finesse, the pegasi still had two advantages over the griffons. The first, was that, being part bird, the griffons had hollow bones, they easily snapped and broke with enough force, which, comparatively, was nowhere near enough to break a pegasus bone. The second, and perhaps more important advantage is as follows:

For the past 1,432 years, the griffons had almost always been at war with their southern neighbors, the ligers. Ligers, being both lion and tiger, are fierce, strong, and live in an almost barbaric society. However, they cannot fly.

Griffons were not trained for dogfights.

They were never trained to look up.

Thunderlane dove, an almost perfectly vertical drop, aiming straight for one griffon who would have done well if he had been trained.

The mohawked pegasus slammed into his back, sending them both down towards the ground. Acting quickly, Thunderlane wrapped him forelegs around the griffons neck and spread his wings. The sudden deceleration sent the griffon’s body down and forward, while his neck stayed in place.

There was a crack, and a snap, and Thunderlane let him drop.

Rainbow Dash pulled up next to him. “Not a bad move there,” she said.

“Saw a hawk do that to a crow who flew a little too close to her nest.”

“That fact only makes it cooler.”

Thunderlane smirked.

Rainbow Dash gasped, the quick intake of air only audible thanks to the pegasi communicators.“Woah! Heads up!”

Thunderlane glanced upwards, and saw a hell-bent griffon gunning down at him. Thunderlane blinked and he felt six talons dig into his wings. He screamed in pain as the griffon held him by the wings, the manic gleam in his eye sparkling as the griffon whispered.

“You killed my brother, and now we both will die.”

Thunderlane was suddenly aware that he had made this particular griffon go insane.

He looked up at Rainbow Dash, but saw to his horror, that she was gone, flying upwards with every bit of strength she had.

Gee thanks! he roared in his mind. Glad to know you cared! Bearer of Loyalty my eye!

He began to struggle against the insane griffon,swinging his forelegs around wildly, and trying to bite at his talons.

The griffon only laughed.

No! No! He couldn’t die! Not like this! He had to get back home! He had to be there for Rumble! He couldn’t just let him go on alone!

As the ground was coming up to meet him, an interesting thought crossed his mind.

This griffon, a brother to another, now dead, griffon, was about to kill him, an older brother himself. It could be seen as some sort of poetic justice, Thunderlane thought, before mentally yelling “What are you thinking!? I am falling to my bucking death! I shouldn’t be thinking about irony!”

He looked up again, wishing to send Rainbow Dash one last hateful glare for abandoning him, when he noticed a color-streaked blur racing towards him.

Before he could blink, there was a sudden explosion through the air as said blur rushed passed him, sending griffon, pony, and anything else in the shock wave through the air. Thunderlane’s ears were ringing and his world was spinning madly as both he and his captor corkscrewed sideways. Then, in another blink, the cyan general was in front of him, her steel claws biting into the griffon’s chest.

Thunderlane blinked, still dazed from the almost point blank Sonic Rainboom, and began to fall, only to be caught in the mare’s forelegs. “Woah, there, you okay Thunderlane?”

The stallion blinked, his mind trying to piece together what happened as well as a proper response, only for those two lines to cross. “You came back for me?”

Dash almost looked offended. “Of course I did!” she said, shaking her head with a smile. “I ain’t gonna leave my best wingpony hangin’.”

As Thunderlane regained awareness, his mind was quick to scold. And you thought she left you. You’re a failure as a stallion.

Thunderlane did his best to shake off the guilt before mumbling the word “Thanks.”

“No problem, now come on, let’s clear these skies.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Back on the Ira, Rarity stood next to a small group of illusionist unicorns, and was doing her best to help the stationed Fire Drakes to clean up.

Next to her, Spike stood. His eyes glinted with a predatory shine as he fired his pistols, his green flame flashing frequently as he reloaded with a speed that would have made a Victorian sailor jealous.

Rarity, as with everything she did, moved with poise and grace as she headed down the deck. She moved without fear of attack because of her little Spike as well as the invisibility and mute spells one of the nearby mares was casting on them. With the enemy unable to see them, Rarity had order that the circle the deck, so as to avoid detection further.

“This way, quickly!” she ordered, leaping over a fight and rushing to the spot she chose.

The other followed, albeit slightly slower than their leader. If Rarity had noticed she would have realized that all of her adventuring with her friends had slimmed her down a bit and certainly helper her cardio, more so than a few of her soldiers. “Come on now, Darlings!” she called back.

She continued to weave through the battlefield, leading her small pack, with Spike closely behind and the illusionist further behind him. Still invisible, she sent out a blast of light, blinding three griffons, before they were killed by two swordponies.

Another leap, and one of the diamonds on her coat, which she wore under her armor, flew at a griffon, slitting his throat clean.

“Keep moving girls!” she cried, before suddenly noticing that the girls weren’t there. “Girls?”

Nothing.

Rarity’s eyes widened as she realized what happened. She had wandered too far away from the invisibility and mute casters, they couldn’t talk to her if they tried, and couldn't be seen either.

This of course meant that she was now neither invisible nor inaudible.

That thought went through her head just as she was pounced by a griffon.

“Well aren’t you a pretty pony?” the griffon asked, his eyes boring into her. Rarity tried to push him away with her hooves, but he held on fast. “A very pretty pony. I just may have to hold on to you...”

Rarity struggled some more, looking into the malicious, and hungry eyes of the griffon the pinned her.

Click.

His eyes turned to the golden tube that had been shoved to his temple, and the dragon on the other end of it.

“Mine.”

Kra-thoom!

Spike stood next to her, his eyes glinting wildly as he removed the griffon’s brain from his skull. The griffon fell over dead, and as it did, every griffon eye turned to the source of the loud noise.

They all saw him, a small, baby dragon with two strange weapons. Next to him lay a white unicorn, and a dead griffon.

They all put two and two together and came to a single realization.

The dragon had to die.

Twenty griffons charged the young drake, and he answered with two salvos of gunfire.

As they closed in on him, Spike dropped his pistols and began to rip at the griffons with with claws. The griffons attacked, and as they flooded the dragon, something happened in little Spike.

How dare they attack Rarity! Rarity is my marefriend! She’s mine! They have no right to hurt her! She’s mine!

“Mine!” he roared as he attacked, digging his claws into the griffon’s side, his dagger forgotten. His pupils narrowed as he began to tear through the incoming ranks with a feral rage. He swung his tail like a mace, and somehow the strength was enough to send griffon’s flying. “Mine!” he yelled again before biting into a griffon’s neck, ripping off a chunk of flesh in his razor sharp teeth.

A sudden pain erupted from his back.

Roaring in fury, he clawed and bit at the griffons, ripping them to pieces.

He gave a wordless roar, shattering eardrums as the sound rippled through the air. He sliced at another griffon before speaking. “I am Spica Draconis!” he bellowed. “Keeper of the Emerald Flame! Born of Fire and Magic! And She is MINE!”

There was a flurry of fur, feathers, and scales. Griffons were sent flying this way and that as the met the purple and green dragon. Their offensive was broken straight down the middle.

They scattered, some with their tails literally between their legs as they ran. Many jumped over the railings, escaping from the draconic rage.

Spike answered with a blast of red flame after them.

His chest heaved as he glared at the leaving griffons.

“Sp-Spike?”

He turned to Rarity, and, seeing her untouched, he relaxed a little. “Are you alright?” he asked, approaching her.

“Spike...you’re...taller...” she stammered.

Spike blinked.

He looked down, and rather than the usual potbelly he had known these past eighteen years, he was a slender stomach with shining lime green scales. He blinked again when he noticed his snout which, rather than being short and almost feminine, was now long and angular. He then truly noticed the distance change between him and the ground and dropped to all fours.

Or rather, he tried to, instead, he glided down. He didn’t even need to check his back for him to realize he had wings.

He looked at Rarity, her sapphire eyes meeting his emerald ones. “...Yes...yes, I am.”

Silence.

Before Pinkie spoke up. “Nothing to see here folks! Move along! All hands on deck! I want those cannons firing A.S.A.P.!” her mane going from poofy to straight as she spoke.

Spike and Rarity simply stared at each other.

Finally she spoke. “Spica Draconis?” she asked.

Spike blinked, before nervously blurting out an answer. “It’s my name in Dragonspeak, it roughly means ‘Dragon of Deep Emeralds’ or something. Princess Celestia told me about it once.”

“Dragonspeak?” she asked.

“I don’t use it that much,” Spike explained. “Growing up speaking Equestrian I actually find it kind of hard to wrap my tongue around some of those hisses.”

“Oh...and the ‘Emerald Flame?’”

“Celestia may have altered my dragon fire with a very ancient powerful artifact that has been forgotten by almost all of pony kind.”

Rarity blinked.

Spike blinked back.

“Well, you certainly look the part of a gentlestallion,” Rarity noted.

“Uh, thanks...”

Silence.

“Dragon of Deep Emeralds?”

“According to the Princess it has something to do with deep mysteries and hidden thoughts.” He smirked. “I guess it’s not out of place, considering.”

Rarity giggled, before finally standing. “I think you’re right on that account, My Little Emerald.”

“Little?” he asked indignantly. “I’m pretty sure I’m half a hoof taller than you on all fours.”

Rarity giggled again, and Spike smiled before escorting her into one of the Ira’s lower decks, one wing draped over her back and shoulders.

She was his.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Down in the gorge, the griffon fighters had met the rest of Applejack’s forces, including two tanks, the rest being stored in the Ira’s bottom most deck. Alan, however, had his eyes on the ridge.

Ironclaw paced the ridge, fuming.

That was about to change.

Alan began to focus his magic, and was about to do something which he would later admit was totally stupid.

At the moment, however, he was bent on killing that griffon, and had a few thousand Dungeon Masters to disprove.

A slight concave disk of silver magick appeared. It was roughly one inch thick, and three feet wide. He had picked the dimensions himself, doing his best to remember the spell description from the Player’s Handbook.

Satisfied, Alan jumped on the disk, and suddenly it shot forward.

Eat it, Trevor! he thought to himself. You can totally use Tenser’s Floating Disk as a flying mount!

Now that his theory was proven correct, Alan dropped the self-imposed rule of simply hovering three feet above the ground, and took off, soaring high above the gorge floor to meet his enemy at the ridge.

No one had even noticed the duster-clad unicorn as he scaled the cliff-side.

And then, with a jump, he was over the edge, sword drawn, and staring down the griffon.

Capped talons met blessed steel, and sparks went flying as Ironclaw pounced on the blade.

Alan, moved around the blade hovering above him, and sent a hoof into the griffon’s face.

Ironclaw answered with his claws coming down, one blocked by Alan’s blade, the other catching his side.

Alan pushed the griffon away, and the two stared at each other.

Ironclaw glanced at Judgement. “That is the human’s blade,” he noted.

"He died,” Alan answered. “He named me the new Pendragon.”

Ironclaw’s eyes narrowed. “Shame. I wanted to deal him a blow myself after the insult he dealt me.”

Alan smirked. “I thought it was well deserved.”

Ironclaw growled.

Alan charged, swinging Judgement, and Ironclaw ran to meet him.

Sparks flew as they met each other, and Ironclaw moved to push the sword out from between them.

Grabbing the blade with his gloved claws, he pushed the sword out of the way and leapt over it to get at the Pendragon.

Alan answered him with a small, two inch mana blade sticking him through the chest.

Jumping back, Alan had Judgement fly around, and meet up with him again. The blade was between him and the griffon, and the griffon growled as the small throwing blade disappeared, leaving the wound open.

“I find your persistence annoying,” Ironclaw hissed.

“I find you stupidity offensive,” Alan answered.

Ironclaw wished he had teeth to grind together as he and Alan circled each other. He stopped suddenly before charging the Pendragon again.

Alan raised Judgement to block, going for the Posta Finestra guard.

The griffon came down on the horizontal blade, but rather than pull it away again, he pushed forward, slamming the blade into Alan’s armored chest.

With a heave, the griffon pushed, and Alan suddenly felt his hooves slip over the edge of the cliff.

His eyes widened as he felt himself begin to fall.

“Goodbye, Pendragon!” Ironclaw smirked before tossing him over.

Alan fell.

Don’t panic! he screamed at himself. Just get the disk to save you!

Alan quickly materialized a disk below him, hoping to catch himself.

The disk shattered on impact.

The magical backlash hit him so hard, he almost blacked out.

He blinked, Judgement was falling next to him, now out of his control now that he no longer had a hand on it.

He blinked again. His eyelids opening slowly as he saw the ridge getting smaller as he fell.

He was going to die.

His eyes closed, but he thought he opened them once more, and he was sure he saw a pair of cyan hooves holding onto him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Ironclaw grimaced.

That pony had given him quite the wound.

It was a shame he didn’t die.

Frowning, he pulled his horn and sounded a retreat.

“Another day, Pendragon. Another day.”

Alright, did a little bit of world building in this chapter, mostly on the Draconic side of things.

“Um...DM...”

For those of you that caught it, Dragonspeak sounds like Latin, however the words have different meanings.

“DM...”

A little more shipping fluff.

“DM...”

A little tear-jerker with Scootaloo.

“DM...”

As well as a—

“DM!”

What Pinkie?

“Why does everyone else get nice, slow relationship build up, and I don’t?”

Because you’re Pinkie Pie.

“...”

If anyone, my dear Pinkie, could make a crazy, rushed, and slightly unrealistic relationship work, it would be you. And you would do it like that, because you are Pinkie Pie. Makes sense?

“Yuppers! Just wanted to check!”

Alright, comment, thumbs up if you hadn’t, and all that other good Jazz. Join us next time for Chapter 24, “Pendragon Down!”

Bye!

"What? I don’t get to say anything today? That makes me a sad panda..."

24-"Pendragon Down!"

Chapter 24

Principessa Mi Amore Cadenza, exiled monarch of the Crystal Empire, stepped inside her new room. A smile played on her face and her horn alight with sky-blue magick as she held a suitcase in her magical grip. The pink minor alicorn hummed to herself as she set her suitcase down on the king-sized bed, and began to unpack.

Well, perhaps “exiled” was a strong word. It would be far more accurate to say that she was a princess without a country. The Crystal Empire had not been seen since her many-times-great grandmother and many of her ancestors had died without ever seeing their realm.

“Do you require anything else, Princess Mi Amore?” the guard behind her asked.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she turned to him and gave him a pleasant smile. “Please, call me Cadence.”

“Do you require anything else,” the guard repeated, “Princess Cadenza?”

Cadence smiled through the question, settling for at least using the right word, if not the right language. “No, thank you, I can handle myself from here.”

The guard nodded and excused himself, leaving Cadence to unpack her things. She continued to hum as she began to levitate her personal belongings across the small room. Well...again “small” was a deceptive word. It would perhaps be small if the same room had been repurposed as a classroom, but seeing as how it was a bedroom...

The pink-and-blue trimmed room seemed to smile as she worked, reminding her of the ultimate purpose for her visit to Canterlot, her wedding. Stepping over to the vanity mirror that sat in the corner, she carefully placed her mane brush as well as a few small containers of makeup, blush mostly. She hovered a small book onto a nearby desk, a gift she wanted to give to her sister-in-law-to-be.

Her spare regalia, decorated with deep violet amethysts, was hovered into a nearby closet, and carefully placed on the velvet-lined shelves. Her surrogate aunt certainly knew how to prepare a room.

A knock sounded on her door. “Come in,” she answered.

“Princess Cadenza,” the same soldier said, addressing her. “You have a letter.”

The princess frowned. A letter? Who would send her a letter? As far as she knew, only the Princesses and her fiancé knew she was in Canterlot, and Shining was never really one for letters.

Her brow furrowed, she took the scroll from the guard. “Thank you,” she muttered as the scroll hovered in front of her.

The guard nodded, saluted and moved off, leaving Cadence to her thoughts. Unrolling the scroll, she took a moment before recognizing the hornwriting.

Dear Cadenc

Dear Miss Ca

Dear Princess Cadence,

It is so I first and foremostly apologize for the sloppiness of this letter; however, apparently, nopony can even a general has to be forced to conserve on paper. Secondly, I want to say that it has been a very long time since I saw you last. You may not even remember me, but you used to be my foalsitter when I was young.

“You may not even remember me?” Cadence whispered aloud. “How could I forget you, Twilight?” She continued to read, her eyes darting across the neat strikeouts of the otherwise impeccable letter.

While I was young, I have very distinct memories of you performing love magic, which I find and as such, I would imagine you to be an expert on the subject.

Cadence smiled as she kept reading, and she almost laughed at how Twilight desperately tried to quantify her feelings. It was, in its own way, incredibly cute watching her ask if she “should” feel this way or that and asking what it means.

She squee-ed at the thought of her little Twilight having a special somepony.

Of course, the fact that the brainy unicorn wrote her a letter only showed how desperately she needed help.

Cadence walked over to desk, moving her present to Twilight to the side, and quickly searched through the drawers. Knowing her Auntie Celestia, there would be some ink and parchment in here somewhere—Ah! There it is. Pulling out the bottle of black ink and a roll of parchment, Cadence smiled before reaching back to her almost-empty cloth suitcase. From inside it, she pulled out a small box. Bringing it to hover next to her head, she then, using her magical grip, pulled out her favorite quill.

It was a cheap thing, maybe five bits at any store, but the lavender feather was a gift that she would always treasure.

Besides, as the Princess of Love, she knew a thing or two about sentimental value.

My Dearest Twilight, she began as the brass tip of the quill scratched into the paper. She wrote quickly, penning the letter at a speed that would make the recipient proud. Then, reading the letter over herself, she double checked her spelling just for her favorite filly. And then she stopped.

This was Twilight she was talking about, and even with all of her advice, she may need a little...push.

She set the scroll down before checking over her shoulders, making sure no was watching. Then, with a small burst of magic, created a small, blue, floating heart. With another burst of focus, the heart suddenly shattered, turning into a fine dust which lazily floated down to the surface of the paper.

Satisfied that her job was done, she rolled it up and sealed it with a golden wax seal, marking it with a heart rather than Celestia’s horseshoe.

Humming to herself, she trotted over to the door, and opening it, found the same guard. “Yes, Princess Cadenza?” the unicorn asked.

Ignoring his butchering of the Bitalian language, she held out the scroll. “I would like you to take this letter to Princess Celestia, please. Tell her it’s for Twilight.”

The guard nodded, taking the scroll. “Right away, Princess.”

She smiled as she left, before turning back inside. There were just a few more things that needed to be unpacked.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan strode forward, his every step echoing with purpose.

Now he was mad.

Judgement hung, slung over his shoulder, his duster flapped in the wind, and his hat was tilted low over his eyes.They were moving southwest along the Macintosh Hills, the small, red rock mountains glowing in the early morning light.

Alan didn’t notice.

His eyes were glued on the dust cloud that was drifting in the desert air in front of him.

Almost three hundred ponies had died at their claws, and twenty-six had been captured.

Alan did not like that.

Neither did the 4500 ponies behind him.

Those griffons were going to eat steel.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Move faster, you lazy dogs!” Ironclaw yelled.

They were close. They were far too close.

If they kept moving like this they might catch up.

“I said faster!”

His forces had been repeatedly devastated. His force of nearly 6000 griffons had diminished to a force of a mere 4800.

And now the ponies were hot on their tail, and vengeance was burning in their eyes. He checked over his shoulder again, and, sure enough, the two massive flying galleons were following close behind. “Faster!” he called again.

The Pendragon was after them now, and following with a vengeance.

He kept pushing his forces, all but dragging the chain-bound prisoners behind them. They were in an open plain now, with short mountains to the south. Ironclaw physically picked up a bound pony and tossed him forward before turning to see the ships. His eagle-like eyes noticing that they were gaining.

He cursed the slow-moving carts, loaded with the Manticore machines and the remainder of their food and medical supplies.

They had been so integral in his original plan, a plan where a short siege would have been his victory, now those carts were nothing more than burdens.

He checked over his shoulder again.

They were closer than ever now.

“Keep the carts moving!” he shouted. “I want griffons in the sky! About face, you cowards! About face!”

All he needed to do was make a little space.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan’s hoof magically gripped the leather-bound handle of Judgement, while a small silver knife blade flew around him, resembling a fairy sprite as it covered his back.

He gave a furious, wordless cry as he brought Judgement down on a ground soldier’s head, splitting it like a ripe melon.

Taking a moment, Alan wiped his brow with one hoof while still standing on his hind legs.

The griffons had turned to face him on a plain, a field where neither truly held the advantage. The griffons also held the prisoners, nullifying the ability for Alan to bombard them, lest some of the ponies get hurt, otherwise they could have just rained fire from above.

Shining had split his hoof in the last fight, and had taken up a commanding position on the Ira. Silver, on the other hand-er, I mean hoof, was spending more time with Applejack, so this time Alan was alone.

His mana-dagger shot backwards, piercing a griffon’s throat as he tried to sneak up on the Pendragon.

“How’s it going up there, Dash?” he asked.

“Hold that thought!” she answered him, before a sudden explosion of sound and prismatic light erupted above him. Griffons began to fall from the late morning sky as a powerful shock wave rippled through the air. “It’s going alright up here, Al. No need to worry.”

“Good to hear. Keep it that way.”

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

“Shining, status report!” Alan order, bringing Judgement around to remove a griffon’s head from his shoulder, the chromatic blade slicing through bone like butter.

“Everything’s good up here, I was just about to send Spike out for another run,” Shining answered.

“Do that, and tell him ‘thanks again for growing wings’ for me.”

Shining chuckled. “Will do. Stay alive out there.”

Alan rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, 'cause I totally planned on dying.”

“Ah, shut up,” the captain answered.

Alan smirked, before picking up his sword again, just in time to see Spike make use of his new wings and dive off the deck of the Ira. The skies around him soon erupted into red flame and green smoke.

“AJ, Silver, what’s it like on your front?” he asked, before cleaving a griffon in two.

“Nothin’ we can’t handle! Ain’t that right Silver?”

“I’ve seen scarier Nightmare Night costumes,” the hammer-wielding earth pony answered.

“Alright, keep me posted,” Alan ordered, before his mana knife dug itself into a griffon’s temple. “Twi, check in.”

“We’ve got a battalion pinned. Between the fireballs, the sonic blasts, and large rocks flying through the air, they’re not going anywhere,” Twilight responded.

“Alright, Dashie, go ahead and get some clouds down there, I want those griffons devastated. Get Spike to help if you can.”

“Roger that!” the pegasus mare answered.

“What are you up to, Alan?” Twilight asked.

The human-turned-unicorn’s eyes fixed on a single figure over the pulsing battlefield.

“Something stupid,” he answered.

Tossing Judgement into the air, Alan dropped to all fours, a silver hand materializing to catch it the falling blade.

“Alan,” he heard Twilight say, a hint of worry in her voice, “the last time you said that you jumped off the Cloudiseum. What are you doing?”

Alan didn’t answer her, and only leveled his sword at his target.

“Alan?”

He charge forward, breaking into a gallop as his golden hooves beat into the ground.

“Alan!?” Twilight cried. “Alan, what are you doing?”

He ignored her, leaping over a griffon as he began rushing his target. His powerful pony legs launched him in the sky, and for a brief moment, he hung there in the sky, his duster fluttering like a cape, his hat pulled low over his face.

He hovered, a black shadow against the sky, an ominous figure of the angel of death incarnate. And then he came down, and Judgement followed fast.

The white steel came down on the griffons below him, sending rays of rainbow-colored light sailing through the air, as he cut through them.

Pushing off again, he jumped forward.

Ironclaw was within his reach.

One last jump, and the griffon suddenly found himself facing his enemy.

Alan switched from the hand to his hooves, standing on his hind legs as he somehow gripped Judgement.

The griffon, despite the new, unfamiliar stance Alan had taken, was quick to adapt to the high strikes.

Talons met blade again as the two leaders faced each other.

“We meet again, Pendragon.”

“What are you? A Bond Villain?”

Ironclaw blinked, looking utterly confused.

Alan took the opportunity to headbutt him.

Ironclaw screamed as Alan’s horn pierced his eye. The blow, coming straight onto his horn, did not break Alan's magic back in on itself, and he stood tall.

Admittedly, Alan had not actually wanted to wound him like that. If he had hit his horn at the wrong angle, he would have gone down, and that would have not been good. Still, the horn did it's job, and advantages were advantages, right? Shoving the griffon forward, Alan reared up, eager to bring judgement with Judgement. Mid-strike, however, he was suddenly blindsided.

The attacker’s claws dug into his back, sending Judgment flying from his grasp. Alan yelped in pain as another griffon pounced on him, and more claws dug into him. One began to rake his back legs against his side, the lion claws repeatedly digging to flesh, tearing his skin to ribbons.

Thinking quickly, he created a hard-mana sword, the silver blade coming up to defend him.

The blade shattered as a griffon talon came down on it.

Another beast joined the fray, digging his claws into Alan, while he suffered backlash. Pushing through the pain he tried to form another blade. Again it was shattered as another griffon joined. Alan tried once more, his vision going black as he fought for consciousness as four griffons ripped at him, and once more, the blade the shattered.

More and more griffons began to pile on him, and as Ironclaw watched, a talon over his bloody eye, Alan disappeared under the feathered bodies.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alan,” Twilight called, “the last time you said that you jumped off the Cloudiseum. What are you doing?”

No answer.

“Alan?”

Still no answer.

“Alan!? Alan, what are you doing?” Twilight cried before cursing under her breath. “Trixie!”

“Ma’am?” the now-caped captain answered.

“Keep these guys pinned, I have to go check on Alan. I think he may have done something incredibly stupid.”

“Don’t worry,” Trixie answered, “The Great and Powerful Captain Trixie will remind these griffon fools of both my Greatness and my Power!”

Twilight would have rolled her eyes, but she was already gone. The way Alan had sounded did not sit well with her at all, and now she was worried. Her eyes quickly scanned the battlefield, searching for him, trying to find him amongst the chaos. Suddenly, she saw him, leaping over the battlefield, sword swinging with every ounce of the battle-sparked fury she knew him to possess.

“Alan!” she cried, leaping onto a large rock that sat in the middle of the field, trying to get his attention.

He didn’t hear her.

“Alan!” she called again, before jumping down to chase him.

What is he doing?

He jumped again, coming down on another griffon, it looked a lot like the enemy general.

“Alan!” she called, again.

Then she saw him go down.

She saw him get dog-piled by four, no, five griffons, and watched in horror as they ripped at him.

In that moment, something happened in Twilight.

As she watched Alan get hurt, she suddenly, truly understood.

War was not about killing. War was about keeping others from being killed.

And in that moment, keeping Alan from dying was what this war became.

A massive, magenta wall slammed into the pile of griffons, tossing them in the air. With a leap, Twilight landed in front of the bruised and bloodied body of Alan and gripped Judgement in her telekinetic grasp. “Girls, Pendragon down! I repeat, Alan is down!”

“What!?” Pinkie’s voice asked in a shrill cry.

Twilight flinched at the sudden yelling in her ear, before stabbing a griffon as he charged.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can!” Fluttershy said.

“Moving to provide some backup!” Applejack cried.

“Where are you?” Dash asked. “You get me a location and I’ll send those motherbuckers packing!”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she stared down the griffons in front of her. “You’ll see me.”

Twilight then began to use a very deep magic. She prepared her ace in the hole, a spell she could only use once lest the fabric of reality tear in two. It was a spell so dangerous, so powerful, that it had to be written in runes to keep stable. It had been taught to her by Celestia, and the Princess had made her promise to only use it in the most dire of situations, only when there was no other option.

Her horn began to glow, and she silently begged her Princess to forgive her, but she had to save Alan.

The air before her began to ripple and shimer as magic began to pour in. Loud popping noises filled the air and Twilight’s hooves dug into the ground as the magical force slammed into her. The nearby unicorns could feel its pull as all eyes turned to the source of these loud popping sounds.

She groaned as ley lines began to form in the air, popping as they began to show. They began to grow brighter, becoming obviously visible against the sky. Those who were familiar with the symbol suddenly became aware that the mana was flowing in the shape of the Arcane Star, and with a blink, they saw that it was indeed the symbol of magic.

For a second, the large magenta star hung perfectly still in the air.

And then there was the sound of thunder.

Purple fire burned seven runes in the air, one at each point, and a larger one at the center. They burned with a violet light, and everyone stood, mesmerized by the sight.

And then the spell began its work.

Flaming spheres of purple fire appeared at random in the ranks before her, wreathing anything and everything, from griffons to stones, in violet flame. Other griffons turned to stone where they stood, and even more suddenly drawn to the sight of prismatic, hypnotic lights before they too, burst into flame. Others still found themselves paralyzed, dropping to the floor where they stood, while a handful of griffons were shrunken down to the size of pebbles. Magenta lightning arced through the battlefield, killing anything it touched. Finally, a massive hole, ripped through the very fabric of reality, appeared in the center of the star, and began to suck anything it could into its massive maw.

Screams of doomed griffons could be heard as a handful of them were sucked into oblivion, never to be heard of again.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, and that was all Twilight could hold it for before she fell to her knees. The star began to fade, and the purple fire and lightning flickered. She tried to push it for a few more seconds, but her spell soon died. The hole closed, and the runes went out, leaving only smoke and the smell of ozone hanging in the air.

Panting, Twilight stood before dropping Judgement to the ground. The battlefield before her was a mess of scorched ground and fried bodies. Half of the force that had been in front of her had been totally wiped out.

“Retreat!” a griffon cried, and began to run.

The others took that as an excellent cue.

Twilight sat right there, breathing heavily, before she became aware of a single griffon. It was the General. He stood there, clutching at a bloody socket that once held his left eye. His remaining right eye glared at her with all the hate it could muster, and Twilight shivered under his gaze.

He eyed her, before looking behind her.

She turned and saw ponies approaching.

Turning back to Ironclaw, she heard him growl. “You will both die for this.” Then he turned, and with a flap of his wings, followed his troops. He left those who were paralyzed, those turned to stone, and the dead.

Twilight then, on her knees, began to crawl towards Alan. “Alan, Alan can you hear me?” she asked, her horn shining again as she prepared her best medical spell. “Alan? Alan, say something.” Her horn crackled as she aimed it at his side, which was all but mincemeat.

“Alan?” she called, and then blacked out.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight sat, her head resting on a pillow.

“Get me another bloodpack,” she heard someone say.

“Injecting anesthetic.”

She tried to open her eyes, but they felt like lead.

A clawed hand gently stroked her hoof. “He’ll be okay, Twi.”

She was so tired...

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight slowly opened her eyes.

“She’s awake,” someone whispered.

The blurry room slowly came into focus, and the incessant “beep” of a heart monitor made itself painfully obvious to her ears. She was in the medical deck of the Vindicta, in a small room near the back of the ship. She had only really seen it once or twice, and the current darkness was not helping her any.

The dimly lit room was filled with a mishmash of medical equipment, a table with notably unused scalpels, large rolls of gauze, syringes of multiple sizes.

On the left wall were a few couches, one of which was occupied by Spike, while the rest of the Mane Six stood nearby.

And next to her...

Alan lay in the cot beside her, his heart rate going at a steady beat. The left side of his face was wrapped in a bandage, his right foreleg was also bandaged, coming up to his elbow. Two IVs, one in each foreleg, slowly dripped both blood and a painkiller into his system. The rest of his body was hidden from view by the thick blue blanket that was carefully laid over him.

“He’ll be fine, Twilight,” Spike informed her. “The doctors said he lost a lot of blood, but it won’t take too long for him to recover, especially with the help you gave on his side. He just needs to rest now.”

She simply stared at the white unicorn. His armor, ruined duster, and sword sat on a nearby chair, and without them, he looked so...normal...

So delicate...

He lay, there, bandaged, bloodied and broken. The slow rising of his chest the only thing that proved he was alive.

He would have died today.

Her heart leapt into her throat at the thought.

Alan, the one who had held her in his arms when she was plagued by nightmares, the one who was always there to help, the one who would gladly get into a grudge-match debate, the one who...

He could be dead.

“He’ll be fine Twi,” Spike said again.

“It looks a lot worse than it is,” Fluttershy said, hovering over to her bedside. “The deepest wound was to his side, but you had already healed the majority of it up when we arrived. There is a strong possibility that he would still have been conscious if it weren’t for the magical backlash.”

He could have died.

“Come along, girls. I think it’s best if we leave Twilight to get some rest,” Rarity said, making her way toward the door.

“Right, Ah’ll let Shining know what’s goin’ on,” Applejack stated.

Rainbow Dash walked over to the door, “He’ll be alright, Twilight,” she said, before whispering under her breath, “he has to be.”

Pinkie Pie said nothing, but simply patted Twilight’s hoof and left in silence.

“Be sure to get some sleep, Twi,” Fluttershy said, hovering towards the door. “The magical exhaustion you went through is going to keep you inside for a few days.”

Spike stroked her hoof one more time before laying a scroll in her lap. “You got a letter,” he said.

Twilight only stared at the sleeping stallion.

“Come along, Spike,” Rarity called.

Spike slowly back-stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Twilight simply stared at Alan.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but before long, her attention turned to the scroll in front of her.

The golden heart seal stared back up at her.

Picking it up in her magical grasp, she popped the seal and began to read.

My Dearest Twilight,

How could I possibly forget my favorite filly? I cannot think of a single time where I cannot help but long for those days where you would come running up to me with your favorite book, eager to tell me all the plot twists from the first to the last.

I also cannot help but remember the day Shining gave you coffee...but that’s a whole different nightmare.

Twilight smiled at the memory, she had bounced off the wall for hours during that little escapade.

I cannot express how happy I am for you Twilight. The letter you sent me detailing your feelings made me smile. I also, knowing you, can imagine how confusing these emotions could be. Do they mean you’re in love? Do they simply mean he’s handsome? Well, my dearest, I will gladly tell you what your emotions mean.

Nothing.

Emotions mean nothing, Twilight. An emotion is simply a small dose of chemicals in your brain. You know this, but because they are in your brain, they feel very real. However, despite all that, they are still chemicals. Can love then, be quantified in hormones?

If it can, I’m sure there would be several poets who would be very angry at that.

Twilight chuckled at the thought.

No, Twilight, love is far more than chemicals and feelings. The feelings are nice, and they certainly help at times, but emotions change on a whim; one minute the world is a wonderful place, the next, you’ve had the worse day on Equestria. Love is stronger than that.

The truth about love is that it is a choice. It may not be a logical choice, it may not be a smart or good choice, but it is a choice. Love is waking up every morning, looking at your husband and, even though he did something incredibly stupid the night before, choosing to love him anyway.

A relationship based on emotions, will only last as long as the “feelings are there.’”

A relationship based on a choice will last as long as you want it to, even to the end of time.

The truth is, Twilight, I cannot make two ponies fall in love. I can make them have feelings for each other. I can make them feel comfortable with each other. I can even make them forget arguments mid-fight, but I cannot make them fall in love.

That is their choice.

I cannot make two ponies who hate each other jump into each others arms, I can just make them feel a little more comfortable with the other.

All I can do, is give them a little push in the right direction.

So, my dear Twilight, I have good news. If your emotions confuse you, forget them. In the grand scheme of things, they mean nothing, and can in fact leave you broken-hearted when “the feelings just aren’t there anymore.”

If you love him with your mind, Twilight, your heart will quickly follow.

Love,

Sunshine, sunshine,

Ladybugs awake.

Cadence.

Twilight sighed.

Would she choose to love him?

Would it matter if he didn’t love her back?

“Twilight?” a voice called next to her.

She lowered the scroll, turning towards Alan as he lay on his cot. His eyes were glazed over, and he spoke with the delirium of the medication through his system. “Twilight, why are you in the hospital?” His tongue lolled about in his mouth as he tossed his head to look at her. “Are you hurt?”

“N-no, Alan. I’m fine.”

Alan slowly blinked, a smile growing on his features. “Good. Because I’d have to hit somepony if they hurt you. I don’t like hitting ponies.”

“I know, Alan.”

“And you were always my favorite pony,” he said before dropping back into unconsciousness.

Twilight stared at him, her jaw hanging open and a blush on her cheeks.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan awoke to the steady beat of his own heart magnified by a machine.

“Ow,” he said, his throat dry, and scratchy. “Why do my legs feel like they’re on fire?”

“Because you did something stupid and the painkillers wore off,” he heard Twilight say.

“I think I remember that,” he moaned. Opening his eyes, Alan blinked, before looking around the room. “What are you doing in a cot?” he asked.

“I did something stupid and tried to save you,” she said with a smirk.

Alan smiled at her. “So we’re a couple of idiots then?”

She laughed, and didn’t notice the scroll falling to the floor, where it opened, and shot up a cloud of blue dust.

The dust went by unnoticed to the two unicorns, even as it slowly made its ways into their nostrils.

Twilight calmed down, and sighed.

“How long was I out?” Alan asked.

“That depends,” she answered, “You woke up once already.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, and you...said some stuff...”

Alan blinked. “I do not like how you said that. What did I say?”

“You said...” she began before mumbling.

“What? What did I say?”

“You said I was your favorite pony...” she said before turning away, hiding the blush on her cheeks.

Silence.

The look on Alan’s face was a mixture of pure, unadulterated horror, and hopeful embarrassment.

“I-I...” Alan stammered.

More silence.

“I’m...sorry?” he said, the apology coming out as a question.

A quiet tension hung in the air for a moment before Twilight answered. “I thought it was kind of cute...”

He looked at her.

She turned and looked at him, a blush obvious on both of their cheeks.

Alan gulped, before speaking, “T-Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“W-” the air around him began to glow a light blue. “W-would you be my special somepony?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thomas Aquilas sat on his cot in silence.

He was still blind.

He had been fed, watered, and his wastes were disposed of regularly, keeping him comfortable, although the barbed tones of the doctors did not help his conscious.

He had yelled at that poor mare for no reason.

Well, okay, he did have a reason, but his actions were horribly uncalled for.

Maybe he deserved this. Maybe he deserved being blind after what he did. They were doing everything they could to make sure he was comfortable, and he just blew up in their face.

He heard his door open.

“Mister Griffon?” a soft voice called.

His ears perked at the sound of the mare’s voice. “Miss Fluttershy?”

“I have some great news,” she continued. “Our doctors have figured out a cure for your blindness.”

“Y-you have?”

“Yes, and I wanted to be sure you were one of the first ones treated.”

Thomas blinked. “R-really? After the things I’ve said, you’re going to treat me first?”

“Oh, yes! You were just so upset when we last spoke, I just had to be sure I could help you before I came back.”

Thomas felt like he had been stabbed in the heart.

After everything, she just wanted to let him see again.

Tears began to form in his sightless eyes. They didn’t deserve this. Nopony ever deserved war on them. I swear to never harm another pony for the rest of my days, he thought to himself. “Thank you, Miss Fluttershy. Thank you.”

There was the sound of a horn flaring with magic, then all of a sudden an explosion of color washed across his vision.

He blinked, and slowly, the colors began to align themselves about the room. His blanket was blue. Fluttershy was yellow with a pink mane, and turquoise eyes, the unicorn standing next to the bed was light pink, with a green mane and baby blue eyes. A blue aura of magic trailed from her horn to his eyes before fading away. In front of him, laying on the blanket, was a pile of white powder.

He could see.

“Did it work?” Fluttershy asked expectantly.

Thomas smiled as tears fell down his face. “Yes, yes it did.”

“Yay!” Fluttershy cried in the quietest cheer he had ever heard. “The Prince will be so happy to hear that!”

Thomas blinked. “The Prince? What Prince?”

“Why, Prince Ironblood of course.”

Thomas’ now seeing eyes went wide. “The Prince...The Prince is alive?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Shining Armor paced the length of the deck of the Vindicta, limping as he moved on his split hoof.

As soon as he had heard that both Alan and his sister had been admitted to the medical bay, he immediately moved to the other ship. He had to get a team of pegasi to fly him over, the normal causeway too dangerous for the slightly-injured pony.

Applejack had told him that they were both going to be fine, but he was a big brother, it was his job to worry.

And now he was just pacing.

That was an hour ago, and he was still pacing.

“Argh!” he cried. “I can’t take it anymore. I need to know what’s going on!” Shouting his ultimatum, he turned towards the doors to below deck.

He went down three flights of stairs, one for each deck. Two of the decks held numerous bunks as well as cannons, while the last was solely the medical bay. Almost stomping through the bay, he passed several griffons and ponies on cots before coming up to the room in the back, reserved for generals and captains.

Behind that door, one of his best friends and his sister were lying in cots, both injured.

He opened the door without second thought, and his jaw hit the floor.

Twilight and Alan, the former sitting on his lap, innocently wrapped in his forelegs, both stared at Shining.

Never once did their lips part.

Finally, Alan broke the kiss and spoke. “Shining! Hi! How are you doing?”

Shining’s eye twitched.

There was something that wasn’t right with this picture. Yes, Twilight liked Alan. He knew that. It was a little obvious to him in fact. Yes, he knew that Alan also liked Twilight...but...but...this...no...

He then noticed the heart seal on the scroll that lay discarded on the floor, and his eye twitched again.

He sniffed the air, and sure enough, he smelled a hint of chocolate and roses.

He sighed, his head dropping. “Cadence, Honey, why?”

And another chapter down.

“You know, I find it funny that people were saying how nice it was that you let Alan lose a fight when you’ve had this chapter essentially dedicated to him getting pwned like a n00b.”

Pinkie! Where’d you learn that kind of language?

“Well maybe if somebody didn’t spend so much time on the internet...”

Oh don’t you even think about blaming this on me.

“Thinking about it.”

I am not amused.

“Could be worse. She could have gotten it from that one episode of South Park.”

“Hey! DM! quick question! What do you think of Alicorn Twilight and will this affect the fic?”

Well, I’d normally address that in blog post, but when I did I don’t think I explained myself too well. Essentially, so far, it doesn’t look so bad, but then again we haven’t seen a lot. But I mean, if I can make a Brony in Equestria story, where the human turns into a pony, work then DHX can write a good Twicorn.

And no, this will affect nothing.

“Well thanks everybrony for reading the latest chapter of A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court. Be sure to watch your favorites bar for the next chapter. It’s going to be a doozy!”

So, fave, leave a comment, or don’t, whatever. Thanks for reading, and see you next time.

Bye!

25-Fury of the Day

Chapter 25

A week and a half had passed, and the griffons had all but run themselves into the ground. Alan, meanwhile, had mostly recovered, while he highly doubted that Ironclaw could say the same.

He stood on the brow of the Ira, angry red closed cuts on his legs peeking through his fur, but otherwise healthy.

Twilight stood next to him.

“Hey there,” she said, in a rather seductive tone.

Alan raised an eyebrow and gave her a look. “Really? Now?”

“What?” she asked.

“We’re about to go into a prisoner exchange.”

“So? Since when did that mean I can’t try and be more attractive?”

Alan smiled as a silver mana-hand pushed her close to him, their sides touching. “Twilight, the world could end, and you’d still be attractive.”

She blushed before elbowing him. “Charmer...” she muttered.

Another hand materialized behind her, and began to scratch the back of her ear.

She tried to stifle a moan of pleasure as her eyes rolled back in her head and she practically melted into Alan’s side.

He chuckled to himself before the hand faded from existence.

“No fair,” she mumbled.

“Life’s not fair,” Alan answered, kissing her forehead. “Example: I definitely don’t deserve you, and yet, here you are.”

She smiled.

The week they had spent recovering they had also spent talking. A lot.

Alan had told her what he expected in a relationship, and Twilight told him that it was acceptable, and then gave her expectations. Alan agreed to these and then they spent the next six days and fourteen hours hugging, kissing and reading aloud to the other.

Alan held her close for a few more minutes before saying, “I need to get ready.”

“I know,” she answered, before kissing Alan’s cheek. “I’ll see you down there.”

Alan let her go, although he was already regretting it, but he nonetheless began to work his way towards the back of the ship.

As he walked down the length of the deck, he went through his plan for the day. He would go down there, under the flag of truce, and would negotiate the release of the Prince and Shieldhide for his ponies.

After he had been admitted into the medical bay, Fluttershy had approached him, after walking in on a kiss session, which, admittedly looked a lot worse than it was...

Anyway, through a blush and a stutter, the Medic General had said that one of the prisoners had informed her of something. Apparently, the second offensive by the griffons was an attempt to retrieve the Prince.

Alan then ordered the ships to follow the griffons, and prepare the prisoners for an exchange. He hoped that upon the Prince’s release, the griffons would agree to leave peacefully, and they could all call it a war and be done with it.

As Alan got closer to the Captain’s Quarters, he suddenly found himself flanked by another white unicorn. “Hey there, Al,” Shining said.

“Uh...Hi, Shining...” Alan answered, not making eye contact.

“I’ve been wanting to talk with you,” he said.

Oh gosh...Alan stopped before turning his head. “Yes?”

Shining gave him a deadpan stare. “Look, I like you. You’ve got a good attitude, you’ve had my back, and you and my sister go well together. I’m fine with you dating her. Perfectly fine. I’d much rather prefer you dating her than anypony else I know, but let’s make one thing perfectly clear. You break her heart, and you’re going to find out how airtight I can make my shields. Got it?”

Alan nodded. “So you really have nothing against me dating Twilight?”

“As long as her heart stays in one piece.”

“Well...I hope that it won’t be a problem...”

“Good,” Shining said curtly.

“Right...”

An awkward silence filled the air.

“So how’s your hoof doing?” Alan asked.

“Doing much better now, actually,” Shining replied, eagerly taking the new subject, “I’ll be back with you on the ground in no time.”

“Still watching my back, I hope,” Alan said.

Shining grinned. “Well...I may aim for you once or twice...but you are my boss...”

“So definitely trying to kill me then?”

The two white unicorns shared a laugh. “Hey, stay safe down there, for real this time.”

“Will do, see ya, Armor,” Alan answered, raising a hoof.

Shining met it with his own.

As the Captain of the Guard headed back to the helm, the Pendragon entered his room.

The dark room welcomed him, eagerly eating his form. His white body barely stood out in the room, and his eyes spotted the light streaming from behind the closed curtains.

On one side of the room lay his unused bed, an actual bed rather than the cots of his soldiers, and thus the answer as to why it was unused. On the other side of the otherwise bare room was a full length mirror.

There, opposite the door, was a desk, filled with several maps, inks, parchments and quills. On the left of the desk, were his armor and sword, hanging on a mannequin. His duster, ruined by the attack he had fallen victim to, had been put in Rarity’s chest until she could fix it. To the right of the desk hung the Pendragon’s Banner, the ebony field and the silver dragon.

White on black. Day and night. Gold and silver. Sun and moon. These were the colors of harmony it seemed. Gold hooves, white coat, black mane, silver mana. He was made a pony of both day and night.

Both Celestia’s and Luna’s.

Twilight’s, he thought with a smile.

He briefly wondered if they had been planning it, as he donned his golden armor. Had they been matchmaking this whole time, or was it all just incredible coincidence?

Fitting the chestpiece on, he slung the baldric over his shoulder, before checking his form in the mirror.

He frowned. Too much sun.

The white and gold stood out far too much.

He needed more night.

He glanced about the room again before his eyes fell on the banner.

Well...

“It’ll have to do,” he mumbled before walking out of the room.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Ironclaw’s army stood in a straight line.

They stood on the northern ridge of Trample Valley, a long, wide depression in the earth that sat somewhere between Appleloosa and Dodge Junction. The valley ran east to west, far north of the Macintosh Hills, but still deep in the arid desert of Equestria. The hot east wind constantly blasted the valley, leaving it barren and empty. A single bush on the south side desperately clung to life, a small brown bramble against the sand.

Of course, if the ponies charged, all of its efforts would be in vain.

The ponies stood on the southern ridge, their eyes and armor gleaming in the bright daylight. The griffons had quickly set up their Manticores, and the airships both had all of their guns pointed at the northern ridge.

The wind rustling through the solitary bramble’s leaves was the only sound in the valley.

The noonday sun shone high overhead as four figures from the southern ridge descended into the valley. Two of the figures were ponies, one a unicorn mare with a bright yellow coat and lime green mane, bearing a flag on her back, the white flag of truce. The other equine was none other than the Pendragon, his golden armor gleaming in the sunlight.

The remaining figures were griffons, their wings obviously bound. The opposing army only knew one, many did not recognize the rest. The one was the Prince.

A rumble of murmurs flowed through the northern ridge. Was that the Prince? He was alive? Could they finally go home?

Ironclaw simply sat there in silence.

He’s not dead!? his mind panicked. These ponies have no qualms about murdering us on the field, but then suddenly grow hearts when they meet a wounded puppy!? They open up portals to Oblivion but won’t kill their prisoners!?

He silently fumed, his talons falling to the ground in a nervous habit. This...this was bad.

Really bad.

Everything else was a walk in the palace gardens compared to this.

He always had the opportunity to kill the king. He was stupid and getting up in years and almost all of the nobles were waiting for the fool to croak, but the Prince...

The Prince was loved. He had inherited none of his fathers brains, but all of his charisma. The charming wit of the prince had almost won over even Ironclaw’s followers.

That’s why the Prince had to die first.

If the Prince was dead, the country would not be suspicious of the death of the mourning king. Some would even expect it. But if the King died and then the Prince, someone would smell a rat.

And there he was. Just standing there.

Alive.

I...I need to do something...I...I...

This needed to be fixed.

And so, with a hesitant step forward, Ironclaw went to meet the Pendragon.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The Generals met on the field, under the white banner held aloft by Kiwi Tart.

“It is good to see you again, Uncle,” the Ironblood said to his uncle.

Ironclaw said nothing.

“Ironclaw,” Alan greeted.

“Pendragon,” Ironclaw grumbled. The Griffon general was now sporting an eyepatch over his left eye.

The two leaders glared at each other.

“I understand you came here to retrieve your nephew,” Alan stated.

“That is correct.”

“I also understand you have some of my ponies as prisoners.”

“That is correct.”

“I would then propose a prisoner exchange,” Alan said.

Ironclaw looked him in the eye. “Very well,” he said before turning and heading back to the northern ridge.

As he approached his ranks, a dozen situations ran through his head. He could not kill his nephew, not with all of these witnesses. He could not risk the Prince surviving today. He had to die, and the ponies had to be the one to kill him.

I have no choice.

As he came up to to his soldiers he quickly found a griffon and gave him an order. “Bring out the prisoners.

“Yes, sir,” the griffon answered, and was about to turn when Ironclaw spoke again.

“On my signal, kill them.”

The griffon blinked. “Y-yes, sir.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Dewey Decimal, Vanhoover librarian, stood tall and proud. His hooves were in chains, his horn was locked in a tight shackle, the pressure strong enough to keep him from casting. His brown fur poked out from the iron chains and golden armor he still wore. A grim smile on his face as his blue eyes glinted in the sunshine.

He was going to die.

He along with the other twenty-five prisoner ponies were going to die.

But Faust curse him if he wasn’t going to die proud.

His friends had always said that he had a flair for the dramatic. They always told him that he spent too much time reading classical literature. Too much time reading about knights and chivalry. But here, finally here, it would mean something.

Here, he would die with pride and defiance. Here he would go down with courage. His Unicornian ancestors would look down from the mountains of Paradise with pride. He would climb the great soul-cliffs and join his father, and his father before him.

He would have honor.

“A-aren’t you...afraid?” he heard someone next to him ask. His eyes fell on the griffon that was to be his executioner.

He was young, with bright green eyes, and blue tipped feathers.

“Why would I be?” Dewey asked.

The griffon blinked, shifting nervously and obviously uncomfortable. “Y-you’re going to die.”

“So?” the unicorn asked. “Death holds no fear over me.”

The griffon blinked.

“I don’t think it even hold fear over you,” he said before looking ahead.

“What do you mean?”

“You do not truly fear death. You fear pain. Death leads to Paradise or Hanorlan or what have you. You fear the moments before it. The agonizing pain and suffering you’ll have to go through before the moment of release from the mortal coil.” Dewey looked the griffon in the eye. “I do not fear death, and I will not be mastered by pain.”

The griffon’s lower beak quivered.

They stood in silence for a moment.

“What’s your name, boy?” Dewey asked.

“Bladechanter. John Bladechanter, sir.”

“Well, Bladechanter, can I make a request?”

“What, sir?”

“Make it quick.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“What are they doing?” The yellow-coated unicorn asked, voicing the question that was going through all of their heads.

Alan said nothing as he watched the twenty-six ponies being lined up in front of the griffon army.

Something was wrong.

He didn’t know what, but he knew something was wrong.

And then, twenty-six griffons stood forward, and with a single move, executed them.

Most of the ponies fell quickly, dying instantly as claws carefully moved to the vital points on the body, others however...

A handful of ponies clung to their throats as blood spilled from their split necks, their eyes looking up at their Pendragon one last time.

Alan met their looks.

He watched as his soldiers died before his waking eyes. The pain and fear in their gaze pierced his soul.

Prince Ironblood paled next to the white unicorn.

One of first lessons he had learned in his studies of combat was prodding the enemy. Manipulating him into an action you wanted.

What his uncle just did only had one outcome.

Retaliation.

Gulping, his eyes drifted to the form of the Pendragon.

The unicorn was shaking.

“Talius...” the Prince whispered.

“Yes, your Highness?” Shieldhide answered.

“If ever I feared for my life under the Pendragon, it would be now.”

“Yes, your Highness.”

Alan shook with fury, his vision going red as he singled out Ironclaw.

Nothing mattered except for that one griffon, nothing mattered but his death. He brought this war to Equestria. He hurt his friends. He killed his prisoners without honor.

For a brief moment, the white of Alan’s eyes turned a neon green while his irises went red.

He left Pipsqueak fatherless.

Fatherless.

That word seemed to echo in his brain as he stood there.

Then Alan moved.

One second, he was standing there, stock still, the next, Judgement had swung through the air, slicing the banner that held the flag in half.

Poor Kiwi Tart hadn’t even noticed until the blow sailed over her head, and she dropped to the floor in fear.

“Justice!” Alan yelled at the top of his lungs, his new battle cry echoing off the valley walls.

Before anyone else could move, Alan had already charged. His golden hooves slammed into the ground, sending up clouds of dust as his eyes locked onto the opposing General.

Ironclaw took one look in those eyes, one look into the Pendragon’s eyes, and then he knew fear. “Manticores! Fire!” he cried.

The two siege crossbows whirred to life as the griffons began turning cranks. Bolts began to fire on the Pendragon as he ran, digging into the ground as he ran past.

“Justice!” Alan cried again, a silver glow surrounding Judgement’s edge. A bolt came sailing at him, and as though it were in slow motion, Alan brought his sword to its head. The silver glow around Judgement’s edge flashed as the iron arrowhead split down the middle, the oak shaft soon followed, cut in two by the nanometer-thick magick edge Alan had placed.

“Fire!” Ironclaw roared again.

Alan danced amongst the arrows, each seemed to lazily fly at him as he charged.

Stage Three was in full effect.

“Fire you miserable—”

He couldn’t even finish his statement as Alan leaped, jumping over the nearest Manitocre, his golden armor shining in the sun.

He seemed to hang there, his eyes burning with fury as the operating griffons looked on in fear.

And then Alan came down. Judgement flashed, and griffons lost heads, wings, and limbs as they met the Pendragon’s anger. In almost no time at all, the operators were either dead or dying, and a silver hand took the crank of the machine.

Alan leaped off the machine, his mind quickly taking in the rotating platform the Manticore was stationed on, and gave it a powerful buck.

The Manticore turned, and as it did, the silver hand began to crank. Suddenly, the griffon ranks were filled with flying bolts of their own design, and many went down.

“Justice!” Alan roared.

“Bring him down!” Ironclaw ordered.

As the griffons began to move, hoping to swarm the lone pony, there was suddenly a much louder cry coming from the south.

“Ya Ya Huley!”

Those who decided to turn their heads toward the sound found themselves facing a charging waves of angry ponies.

Ancestors help them.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rarity and Spike both watched, their mouths hanging open. “Did they just...?” Spike began.

“I think they did...” Rarity said.

Spike’s clawed hands gripped the railings. “It’s wrong,” he said.

Rarity nodded. “It is, dear.”

Spike flared his wings. “I’m going down there,” he said.

“I’m going with you,” Rarity said as the diamonds on her coat detached and began to form two katana-like blades.

“Rarity, I think it’s best if you stay up here,” Spike began.

The unicorn turned to him.

Spike instantly recognized that look.

That was her I’m-going-to-do-this-and-you-aren’t-going-to-stop-me look.

A part of him wanted to argue, to tell her to stay there and wait for him.

As if he was going to win that fight.

“Fine,” he grumbled, picking her up and holding her in one arm. “But you better stay close.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

An hour had passed.

A full hour.

And in that hour, the griffons had seen more horrors than they thought existed on the Equestrian shore.

First, there was the Pendragon. He moved like something they had never encountered before, he was bloodthirsty and ruthless. One griffon even claimed that he had seen the unicorn take a bite out of a griffon’s neck. That sword of his was never still, and when he wasn’t screaming his battlecry, his lips went to that horn.

The call of the horn had flooded their minds with images so frightening, that many griffons froze in place.

Not far behind the Pendragon, was a monster of a pony. He towered over the others, and his strikes would send griffons airborne. His coat was red, many rumored that he colored it with the blood of his enemies.

Third, there was that lavender unicorn, the one that had opened the door to Oblivion. Her magic flew through the air, doing damage that no one else could truly understand.

Fourth came the white unicorn who bore two large sabers made of diamond. The gemstone blades sliced through metal with ease, and the pony herself moved with a terrible grace.

Of course, the fact that she was being guarded by an honest-to-goodness dragon also told them not to mess with her.

Then there was a stallion and mare, who, working in perfect harmony, were able to attack at long range with the mare’s deadly chain, and up close with the stallion’s hammer.

Finally, above them, any griffon that tried to take flight was met with either a blast of their rocket fire or the Equestrian Air Force, and neither was something to be faced.

A full hour of this.

It’s amazing they had lasted this long.

“Run! Run for your lives!”

And they did.

All of them.

It was too much, all of it was just too much.

They ran east, heading back to the coastline.

No one was staying for this.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffons had retreated.

They were running so fast they left their carts.

But Alan was still angry.

“Alan! Alan calm down!” Twilight called.

Immediately after the Pendragon had charged, Julius and Talius had both been moved back to the Vindicta.

And now Alan was on the same boat.

“Alan! Stop! Think!” Twilight begged.

Alan’s eyes locked onto the Prince’s form.

“Pendragon, calm down, please, let’s talk this over a game of chess,” The Prince said, doing his best to sooth the incoming leader.

The fact that he still had Judgement out was not comforting.

“Alan!”

Talius jumped in front of the Prince, eager to protect his master, only for a silver hand to grab him by the throat. “Grhk!” was the only thing he managed to say before he was dragged to the side.

“Pendragon,” Julius began again, only for another hand to catch his throat.

He was roughly pushed backwards into the wall at the back of the ship, and Judgement hovered before his neck. “Promise me,” Alan seethed. “Promise me his head!”

Julius choked.

“Alan, stop it!” Twilight said, shoving into him.

Alan did not stop. “Promise me!”

The Prince struggled, his talons gripping at the magical hand. “W-whatever...whatever you...want...”

“Alan you’ll kill him!” Twilight said again.

Nothing.

A seemingly unending second passed.

And then, the Prince was slowly lowered back on his feet.

Judgement fell to the floor with an empty clang.

Alan stood there for a moment, his lip quivering before he fell. His eyes shut, tears streaming down his face as he wept at the feet of the Prince.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

The mana hands vanished. As they did, Talius was quick to jump up, and barreled for the Pendragon in an attempt to protect his master.

He was stopped by the prince lifting his talon.

Talius slowed to a stop, and Twilight held her breath.

The Prince lay down next to Alan, and held him in a manly hug, “I’m sorry too, my friend. I’m sorry too.”

“They shouldn’t have died!” Alan wailed.

The griffon nodded. “None of them should have.”

Twilight’s face softened, and she gave her coltfriend a nuzzle. “Come on, Alan, you’re tired. Let’s get you to bed.”

Alan stood, still crying over the execution of his soldiers, and was led away.

The Prince then stood, before turning to Shieldhide. “Talius, my friend, I have an order for you.”

“Yes, your Highness.”

“I want you to aid the Pendragon in any way you can. Give him any intelligence on any tactic or situation he finds himself in.”

Talius blinked. Aiding the enemy? “Your Highness?”

“Something tells me that if we are to live, the Pendragon must win. Your orders from my father were to protect me. My order to you is to keep us alive, even if that means aiding our original enemy.” The Prince’s eyes went to the horizon. “I believe it is time to repay the Pendragon’s kindness in full.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan lay on his bed, tears still streaming from his eyes, as Twilight did her best to scratch him behind the ears to calm him down. Even with her own mana hands it was far less effective.

“It’s my fault,” he whimpered. “It’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault Alan,” Twilight consoled.

“It is! If I never came here this would have never happened. You would all have gone along living your lives with all of the stories and episodes, but now I’ve ruined it!”

“Alan...”

“Pipsqueak is going to grow up without a father! No-nopony should have to live with that! And what about those soldiers? Were they fathers? Did they have families? Are there now twenty-six more orphans in the world?”

“Alan...”

“I...I shouldn’t be here...”

“Alan, look at me.”

He gazed up at her.

She kissed him.

“I love you, Alan. I love you so very much, and the thought of not having you here hurts.” She kissed him again. “I don’t want to live in that world. I want to live in this one, with you, and I never, ever, want you to leave.”

Alan gave her a smile, tears still in his eyes. They nuzzled each other, and kissed again.

“But the next time I tell you to calm down, you better calm down, or I’m going to kick you in the family jewels.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffons flew straight for the boats.

Ironclaw let them. He had lost all control over them, there was nothing he could do. They were moving as fast as they could away from the thrice-cursed soil of Equestria, never to return again.

Ironclaw let them go.

All he could hope for was the Pendragon had killed his nephew.

Everything else didn’t matter.

Besides, he didn’t want to stay either.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Dawn rose the next day, and Alan sat behind his desk. “Scouts are reporting that the griffons are booking it for their ships near the swamps. They don’t seem too interested in sticking around,” Dash reported.

Alan nodded. “Flutters.”

“We have a total of 324 injured,” Fluttershy reported. “156 ponies, 168 griffons. Of the ponies, 75 are seriously injured and need to be moved to a more stable area to recover. For the griffons, only 23 are seriously injured.”

Alan nodded again. “Pinkie.”

“Ammo stores are at 94% capacity, sir!”

“Good, good. Anypony else?” Alan asked.

Neither Applejack, Rarity, or Twilight said anything. Silver, Spike, and Shining stood nearby.

“Alright then,” Alan said, standing. “Twilight, what are your thoughts?”

“It’s a good plan...I’d just like to know more about what we’re getting into.”

A knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” Alan answered.

The door opened, and in stepped a pair of ponies. One was one of Shining’s guards, the other was the very familiar silent giant, Big Mac.

Between them, stood Talius Shieldhide.

“Sir!” the guard said, saluting, “This griffon wishes to speak with you.”

“Thank you, soldier,” Alan said before addressing the griffon. “Shieldhide, what can I do for you?”

The griffon stood forward. “Sir Pendragon, my Prince, Julius Ironblood, believes that yesterday was an attempt to have himself killed at pony hooves. He does not believe his uncle wishes for his safe return, and as such, has ordered that I help you in any way I can.”

Alan smiled. “Does that help, Twi?”

The lavender unicorn blinked. “Well that was...convenient...”

“So is the fact that the first five friends you made were the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. This universe works like that.”

Talius blinked. “Um, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but did I miss something?”

Alan spun in his chair, “Our scouts suggest that the remaining griffons are retreating back to the empire. We plan on pursuing them, and negotiating a surrender with the King.”

Talius blinked. “You’re invading the empire?”

“Not so much invading as going on a diplomatic mission with the army.”

Talius blinked.

Alan swiveled forward, looking the griffon in the eyes. “I swear to you, no civilians will be harmed. If they attack us, we will push forward and ignore them. Nothing will happen to your people or your country.”

Talius blinked. “If it were anyone else I would have walked out of the room.” He sighed, before walking forward. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Deep in the Frozen North, beyond the Crystal Mountains, an ancient evil stirred. Two baleful, neon green eyes opened in the darkness of his prison, purple smoke trailing off of red irises. The shadow slithered in the darkness, his form growing as he seemed to engulf the blackness around him.

"Hatred," his voice a deep, monstrous growl, “Fear, my sons.”

The cavern of diamond and ice shook as he laughed.

It was good to be awake.

And a small chapter this time around, but one I’ve been waiting to write, mostly because of the next one. Which will be awesome!

“Awesome as in and ‘holy chicken scratch he just did something awesome’ or ‘that chapter was awesome, despite the fact that nothing really happened?’”

…

Just...awesome, alright? It will be awesome.

“I believe you!”

Thank you, Squiddy. Anyways, people and ponies, I want to take a quick moment to Celebrate 5,000 individual views on my first chapter, Thank you so much for your support so far, it was a pleasure to write for you, see you all next time.

“Remember to comment, fave and like if you haven’t already!”

Bye!

26-Love of the Night

Chapter 26

It was time.

It had taken a whole week. One whole week of moving arms, injured, and every ship in the Armada, but now it was finally time.

Everypony that was ready to fight had been loaded into the many airships that now dotted the Equestrian sky. The tanks were secured and ready for voyage, numerous fruits and vegetables, including sizeable donations from both the Appleloosa and Sweet Apple Acre orchards, had been stored away, and the remaining prisoners had been secured.

Although, with the recent news of Ironclaw’s actions, none of them seemed willing to leave.

The airships, many of which were recently bought air yachts with fish-shaped envelopes, hovered over Baltimare’s Horseshoe Bay, silently floating amongst the clouds, leaving a plethora of colors splashing across the sky. Reds, yellows, blues and purples marked the twenty-four ships that were now ready to leave.

“H.M.S. Celestia’s Harmony, checking in!” a voice said, crackling over the communication network.

“The Lady’s Knight is go, sir!”

“The Thundering Outlaw, checking in!”

“The Sisters’ Jewel is ready, sir!”

Alan listened quietly as everything from The Steel Crossbow, to the H.M.S. Armorer slowly checked in. He stood at the helm of the Ira Solaris, dressed only in his sword belt and his hat, which now sported a large feather in the band.

He was finally going to live all those pirate fantasies.

Next to him stood Twilight, who had taken off her armor as well, mostly just to let her breathe, although she still wore the circlet to keep her in touch with the network. On his other side stood both Prince Ironblood and Shieldhide.

With the last ship checking in, Alan took a deep breath.

It was time.

The Ira shined in her namesake star, the beams of sunlight glinting off her gold, copper, and brass bands, making her glow like a fiery gem. Which only seemed fitting since, by definition, the flagship should be the jewel in the crown that is the Armada.

Ponies scrambled across the deck, making a final check on the riggins while those below deck finished securing the cannons.

It was finally time.

For the first time since Alan’s arrival, he was going to leave it behind.

Admittedly, he was still going to be in the same plane of existence, but still.

He took one more breath before he spoke. “Alright, ponies, let’s move! All ships, set course for 82.3 degrees East. Keep a speed of sixty knots. Keep an eye on your riggings and your envelopes. If everything goes as planned, we’ll get there in about two weeks.”

“Roger that,” came the chorus of answers.

The giant propellers began to hum and spin as the massive galleons began to move forward. Before long, the other ships followed, and Alan could only watch wistfully as the last bit of Equestrian land passed underneath him.

It was time to take this war to their land.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Ironclaw woke the next day. He was hungry, cold, and tired.

But the prince was dead.

He sighed, and forced himself up. The ship rocked beneath him, and he took a moment to settle his stomach. He never really liked ships.

His stomach growled, and he began moving to the galley, hoping that maybe there was just enough food for one more meal.

As he exited the Captain’s Quarters, though, he was met with an unexpected and dangerous sight.

The entire crew was waiting for him.

The seven captains of the massive ships merely stood around him, forming a half circle of what could be his death.

It was a mutiny.

“What is the meaning of this?” Ironclaw asked, knowing full well what it was.

The griffin in the middle spoke up. “We just got word, they’re following us.”

Silence.

The leftmost griffin spoke. “And we’ve come to a decision.”

“Have you?”

“The Pendragon wants you,” another captain said.

“If we hand you over, they may let us go.”

Ironclaw could feel the griffins tense. They were expecting resistance, a fight. But Ironclaw was a general and, more importantly, a politician.

He laughed.

Confusion broke out amongst the griffins as their leader cackled.

“Idiots!” Markus laughed. “Fools! Do you really think they’ll stop chasing you if you give them me? After watching you kill their friends on the battlefield, after watching you execute the prisoners, after watching you stain your talons with blood?” He laughed again. “No, fools. They will not stop. They will hunt you down as much as me. They will not stop until they have us either dead or bound. And after what you just did to our prisoners, I doubt you’ll wish to find yourselves at their mercy.”

“It was your fault; it was under your orders!” someone cried.

“But who did the deed!?” Ironclaw shouted back. “‘I was just following orders’ isn’t a good enough excuse in their eyes. Ponies don’t think like that! They will hold you accountable! You cannot save yourselves by giving them me.” The general smirked, before holding out his talons. “But you are welcome to try.”

Silence.

“No?” Ironclaw asked. “Then get back to work!”

The griffons scattered, and the captains went to move.

“A-ta-ta,” Ironclaw chided. “Not you.”

The seven captains froze.

“Do you know what happens to mutineers?” the general asked.

<<<|Ω|>>>

It had been four days, and the Equestrian Armada was making good time.

Alan stood behind the helm, humming a tune and watching the ponies on deck with interest. “No, it’s not that,” he mumbled before whispering the music lyrics under his breath.

“What’s not it?” a voice asked behind him, and he turned to see Twilight standing behind him.

Alan smiled. “Well, have you ever noticed that whenever you sing a song, other ponies will randomly jump in for seemingly no reason?”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

“You haven’t noticed? It happened at the Gala.”

“What did?”

Alan smiled bigger. “Just watch.” The white unicorn cleared his throat and, holding tight to the mast began to bellow.

“Oh, what do you do with a drunken sailor?

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

What do you do with a drunken sailor,

Ear-ly in the mornin’?

Oh, what do you do with a drunken sailor?

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

What do you do with a drunken sailor,

Ear-ly in the mornin’?”

Twilight merely raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was doing until she suddenly heard the sailors on deck respond.

“Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

Alan spoke up again.

“Put him in a long-boat ‘till he’s sober!

Put him in a long-boat ‘till he’s sober!

Put him in a long-boat ‘till he’s sober,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!

Keep him in the long-boat and make him bale her!

Keep him in the long-boat and make him bale her,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!"

And the sailors answered.

“Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Give 'im a dose of salt and water!

Give 'im a dose of salt and water!

Give 'im a dose of salt and water,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!

Heave him by the leg with a running bowline!

Heave him by the leg with a running bowline,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Shave his belly with a rusty razor!

Shave his belly with a rusty razor!

Shave his belly with a rusty razor,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!

“Soak him in oil till he sprouts a flipper!

Soak him in oil till he sprouts a flipper!

Soak him in oil till he sprouts a flipper,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises!

Way Hey and up she rises,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

Alan smirked before finishing the song.

“That’s what you do with a drunken sailor!

That’s what you do with a drunken sailor!

That’s what you do with a drunken sailor,

Ear-ly in the mornin’!”

And then, as if nothing had happened, the sailors went back to their business.

Twilight blinked. “W-what just happened?”

Alan smirked, “I’m calling it ‘The Gala Effect.’ Apparently, if someone sings a couple of words to any song loud enough, others will subconsciously join in, even if they have no previous knowledge of the song or its lyrics.”

Twilight blinked again. “And...and we..I-I think I need to lie down.”

Alan pushed her close with a mana-hand and gave her a kiss. “You do that, I’ll be here.”

Twilight smiled, nuzzling him. “You’re not helping.”

Alan shrugged. “Nopony’s perfect. Luckily, half of me is not a pony.”

Twilight laughed. “Yeah, and you’re humble too.”

Alan chuckled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffon ships made landfall.

“Move, maggots! Move!” Ironclaw yelled.

He had to move. With the news of the ponies following, he knew he had to begin to get his army back into shape. So, first things first, he needed to get supplies.

His eyes turned back to the sea.

He saw the eyes of the Pendragon glaring at him.

“Move! Hells claim you, move!

<<<|Ω|>>>

A week had passed, and Alan had very quickly learned the ponies really did need room to run.

The cabin fever had hit them hard. Earth ponies and unicorns were quick to perform the same boring tasks repeatedly just to get their mind off things. Tying, untying, and then re-tying the rigging seemed to be a favorite. The only ones that were not drastically affected seemed to be the pegasi, who periodically took flight and moved between ships.

The anxiousness had been rough on the ponies, and Alan didn’t need to read Sun Tzu to know that it was bad for morale.

“Watch it, punk!” a pony growled, as another tried to trip her with his tail.

Maybe ponies were naturally irritable. After all, Alan still couldn’t forget that week where Pinkie went back to her home on the Rock Farm. After the first few days, everypony had gotten on everypony else’s case, almost as if they had a bunch of attitude problems, and nothing better to do than make everyone’s life miserable.

Of course, this line of thought did present an answer. “General Pie!” he called from the helm. “General Pie!”

“Sir!” the armored mare answered, poking her head out from the hatch to below deck, saluting where she stood.

“My office!”

“Yes, sir!” she said, before bounding towards him.

Alan shook his head as he descended the stairs, watching as she did her Pepe le Pu-esque jump into his quarters. Alan quickly followed behind, and shut the door.

“What's the dealy-o, Alan-o?”

“Firstly, don’t call me Alan-o.”

“Aw.”

“Secondly, I have a mission for you.”

“A mission?” Pinkie asked, her head tilting to one side in confusion while her eyes went wide in excitement.

“Yup. A secret mission of the utmost importance.”

“Ooh! That’s my favorite kind of mission!” she cheered, hopping in place.

“Well, Pinkie,” Alan said with a smile, “trust me, it’s only going to get better.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Vinyl Scratch wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.

It reminded her of her second nationwide tour.

There she was, minding her own business, when suddenly she was dragged to the side by Pinkie Pie of all ponies, dressed in a skin tight, black spandex suit while wearing night vision goggles, no less. She had instructed her to collect a hoof-ful of the most “secretive-ly musical-ly” ponies she knew.

Again, Vinyl wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that, but she guessed that it meant those who were musically talented and could keep their mouths shut.

“Where are we going again?” her coltfriend asked.

The only reason Neon was there was because she knew she could buy his silence with a few...favors...if need be.

“We need ponies who can play music,” Vinyl told him.

“I got that,” Neon answered, doing his best not to roll his eyes. “But why are we on this ship? I don’t know anypony who knows a sick beat here; who are we going to see?”

“Pinkie didn’t say ‘techno,’ she didn’t say ‘rock,’ she didn’t say ‘pop,’ and she didn’t say ‘dubstep.’ She said ‘music.’ By ‘music’ she could mean anything. Right now, I’m collecting every favor and contact I know in all the gigs I’ve done, just so we have all our bases covered.”

Neon nodded, before suddenly stopping. “Wait, you know some rock stars?”

“A few,” the DJ replied.

He gave her a look over his sunglasses.

“What?” she asked, returning the look.

“Did you sleep with any of them?” he deadpanned.

She rolled her eyes and kept walking. “Anyway, there’s a pegasus by the name of Snare Drum around here that should be able to provide us with a drummer.”

“Hey, Vinyl, I’m noticing you’re not answering my question.”

She continued down her list. “There’s also a guitarist somewhere on The Silver Phoenix, a pony who calls himself ‘Epic Riffs,’—”

“Vinyl?”

“—his actual name is G String, but he had it changed for obvious reasons.”

“How do you know that?”

“After that, there’s one more pony I want to talk to.”

“Vinyl?” Neon asked again.

She still didn’t answer him. Instead, she led with a smile on her face. She could let him stew a little longer...

<<<|Ω|>>>

Octavia took one last look in the hallway.

No one.

It had taken her days to find this small closet, a janitor’s storeroom that no one visited. She had spent hours on end checking and double checking this spot alone, just to make sure that nopony had any particular interest in it.

Finally, she was sure. Ducking inside the small space, she closed the door behind her, careful not to slam it and gather attention. She couldn’t afford someone looking around for a noise.

She pressed her ear against the door, listening intently for a few minutes before a smile passed across her lips.

Alone at last.

Reaching into her saddlebags, she almost reverently removed two pieces of plastic. She quickly prepared them, setting the two on the floor while the long wire that emerged from it hung in her hoof.

If someone caught her, she’d never live it down.

She quickly fell into the rhythm, her head bobbing up and down in time.

It was just so good.

Suddenly the door slammed open. “Hey Tavi! Ya in here!?”

Octavia jumped, screeching, a blush of shame erupting on her cheeks as she stared at the white unicorn with the electric blue mane that had caught her.

Vinyl Scratch blinked, before she picked up the Walkpony CD player and the empty disc case in her magical grasp.

“Sound Storm by Epicz,” she said, reading the title of the CD.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Octavia cried. “I’m merely...educating myself! Yes! I’m learning about all the different ways I hate dubstep!”

Vinyl began to smile.

“Honest! It’s trash! I regret spending the bits on that stupid piece of garbage! It reeks of tastelessness! The only good side to listening to that refuse is that now I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that his music, if you can call it that, is the absolute lowest common denominator amongst a genre that was already mocking the word ‘art!’”

Vinyl looked over her glasses, smiling. “And the reason why you dropped 80 bits on the autographed, special edition CD with VIP backstage pass for the Epic Tour of Equestria?”

Octavia blinked. “I...I...” she sighed.

She had been caught. Exposed! Revealed! It was only a matter of time before the ridicule began.

“Yeah, Epicz is nice and all, but personally I’ve always prefered Clopin’s Nocturnes.”

Octavia’s eyes jumped open and she looked her friend in her purple-veiled eyes.

Tavi blinked. “You’re kidding. You have to be.”

Vinyl only smiled. “Wish I was, Tavi, wish I was. Because if I was, I’d be able to hold this over your head forever. But...well...let’s just say that my basement is excellent blackmail material.”

Octavia blinked.

And then she smiled.

The mares broke into giggles as their secrets were revealed. Overall, it was much less painful than either of them had thought.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight sighed as she read.

Alan had told her about the cabin fever epidemic, but that did not make it any less effective. She still had an incredible urge to walk off the boat, but that would be a stupid thing to do for obvious reasons.

She sighed again as her head hit the book. Even reading wasn’t helping any.

Her ear twitched.

What was that? she thought.

Her ear twitched again, and she stood up. It sounded like it was coming outside.

She crossed her room and opened the door, listening intently to the hum that now permeated the air around her.

Ponies all along the hallway stood still, each also listening.

Then a beat started. Dum, dum, dum, dum.

The sound made the ship vibrate under their hooves, and the ponies collectively began working their way to the top deck.

The sight that met them left them speechless. On the back end of the ship, just before reaching the poop deck, was a massive table. On each side of the table there were massive speakers and behind it, a mare and a stallion stood. On one side of the table stood a guitarist and a drummer, and on the other stood a cellist mare. Lasers of blue, yellow, and red flashed in the sky, outlining the mint green unicorn mare at the front.

Then she began to sing.

“One for the money,

Two for the show,

Three to get ready,

And four to go!

Five for the fans,

Six for the screams,

Seven for the music,

Eight for the dreams.

Nine for Vinyl Scratch,

Who brings us the wubs,

Ten for Octavia,

With the Classical dub.

Eleven for Epic Riffs,

Bringing the rocker heat,

Twelve for Snare Drum,

With the wicked sick beat!

Thirteen’s Neon Lights,

Who’s gonna give you a show,

And my name’s Lyra Heartstrings,

And we’re ready to go!”

Suddenly, there was an explosion of sound. Guitar riffs and cello strings mixed perfectly while the drummer and Vinyl’s own beat blended to perfection.

By this point, ponies were piling onto the deck, looking for the source of the sound.

The magical lights of MC W!sh glanced across the deck, lighting the deck in greens, blues, and reds.

Other ships began to notice, and pegasi began to gather around the Ira to see what was going on.

Many of the smaller yachts began to pull alongside the ship, while the larger ones sent a few lifeboats out to see what was going on.

The six ponies continued to play, the mix of dubstep and rock ringing in the ears of the audience.

Twilight blinked.

“What do you think!?” someone shouted next to her.

She turned and saw Alan, wearing his hat tilted forward so it almost fell over his eyes, and a dark cloth over his withers. He looked surprisingly dark tonight.

“What’s going on!?” she yelled.

“Raising morale!” Alan answered.

“Where did you get all this stuff!?” she asked.

“Pinkie!”

Well, that certainly explained some things.

“Just wait!” Alan shouted, before heading up to the stage. “Things are going to get better!”

And then he just disappeared from view.

“Alan!” she called.

He didn’t hear her.

The song began to wind down, and as it did, no one notice Neon Lights plug in Alan’s small, flat, music device into the speakers.

The Elements of Harmonics, as the small band called themselves, finished their song, and immediately began to glow in the applause.

And then, another song started.

No one seemed to be playing, but nonetheless, it began. As it did, four ponies made their way in front of the performers.

Spotlights hit them, revealing Pinkie, Surprise, Soarin, and Alan.

“Stamp on the Ground!

Jump, jump, jump, jump!”

The began to dance, jumping around on their hind legs as though they were born on them.

Soon, the ponies in the audience began to join in.

“Stamp on the Ground!

Jump, jump, jump, jump!

Move it all around!

Tap-da-da da!”

Ponies lined up, each supporting his neighbor as they formed a massive can-can line.

Soarin suddenly took center stage, taking Pinkie in his hooves. He spun her with gusto, dancing before the audience in a strange combination of a waltz, the tango, and club jumping.

Soarin suddenly dipped the pink earth pony and went for a rather deep kiss, which only made the audience scream in approval.

Twilight shook her head.

And then, before she knew it, the song was done, and the pegasi and earth ponies had vacated, leaving only Alan on the stage.

His horn began to glow, and, as a new song began to start, an odd looking, horned helmet made of hard-mana formed on his head. “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” he said. “It’s time to party, nerd style!”

And then the next song began.

Twilight only really recognized it because Alan had shown it to her once, it was called the Skyrim Remix or something like that.

The song began to thud in the oak wood of the deck, and ponies began to pair off to dance.

Except Twilight, who was suddenly picked up by the yellow-maned Wonderbolt. “Surprise!” she said with giggle, before suddenly dropping the unicorn on the stage.

Twilight went wide eyed as she suddenly stood before hundreds of ponies.

Now, Twilight was not normally one to get stage fright, but this!? She would never be heard over the thundering music, she could hardly see the audience, and worst of all, she didn’t have any flash cards!

Before she could mentally bemoan the lack of easy-to-reach notes, Alan had swooped her up, and she suddenly found herself dancing across the stage.

Spinning her around, Alan suddenly gripped her forelegs, now facing him, she saw that smile. That smile that said he was going to do something, and he was going to enjoy it, come Tartarus or high water.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, the universe all but placing a rose between his teeth.

Despite herself, she smiled, “Like I can say no on stage.”

Alan smiled back before spinning her again. The two danced on the stage, performing for the entire army as the techno version of the Skyrim theme shuddered through the deck of the great flying galleon.

Twilight was almost dizzy when the song finally ended.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” Alan yelled. “Are you not entertained!?”

The crowd roared in answer.

“Well it gets better!”

Suddenly, Pinkie and Soarin rolled three massive kegs onto the deck.

“Straight from the Sweet Apple Acres Secret Stash, we have the best cider ya ever did taste!”

The crowd erupted.

“Be sure to thank General Applejack, on the way out!”

A massive “Thanks!” suddenly burst from every equine mouth as they rushed the massive barrels.

“And for those that need a beat, this music’s going to be playing all night long!”

Sure enough, another techno beat pounded from the speakers behind him, and then just like that, Alan had Twilight by the fetlocks, and once again they were dancing manically.

“Luna won’t you cry for me,

I’m as lonely as I’ve ever been,

I am force-ed back into the start,

Is there anyway to fix a broken heart?”

Admittedly, if any of the ponies watching were more familiar with human dancing, they would have recognized that the two on stage actually looked kind of stupid, comparatively. Luckily, they were all rather familiar with pony dancing, and a pony dancing on his hind legs for that long was very much equivalent to the Michael Jackson slide combined with the worm.

Suddenly, two mana-hands picked her up by the forelegs, and she was bodily lifted into the air. A few more hands appeared and they began to pass her to each other, weaving her through the air.

She flew forward and backwards, turning in such elegant curves that, had she been on the ground, and not fearing for her life, she would have been rather impressed.

Then, just as the song was ending, Alan brought her down, upside down until they were nose to nose.

He smirked.

And despite the nagging part of her brain that told her she could have died just then, she smiled back.

It was...fun.

And with that thought in mind, she kissed him, while still hanging upside down.

The crowd roared in approval.

And the night was just beginning.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thunderlane sipped at some cool cider.

Man, the Apples had been holding out on them.

Ponies were still swarming the barrels, and the dark pegasus wasn’t sure there would be much left before long.

“Every time!” shouted a cyan mare above him.

He looked up to see a very annoyed Rainbow Dash hovering above him. “Hey, Dash, what’s the problem?” he asked, getting her attention.

She landed with a huff, crossing her forelegs angrily. “Every time there’s cider I get left out! By the time I get up there, it’s gone.”

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t there some now?”

“No, those barrels are empty already, there just having trouble letting everypony know.”

“Wow...that went fast,” Thunderlane said.

“Story of my life,” Rainbow grumbled.

Thunderlane’s eyes wandered down to the mostly-full stein in his hoof.

She did save my life...

Taking one quick, last sip, Thunderlane handed her the mug. “Here, take it.”

Dash’s mouth dropped. “What?”

“Take it,” Thunderlane repeated.

Dashie smiled. “Yes!” she cried, jumping into the air. She landed suddenly, ripping the mug from his hooves and guzzled the liquid faster than you could say hard cider.

Which, in fact, it was.

Coincidentally, Dashie had never been able to hold her liquor.

“Thank you so much!” she said, before kissing his cheek.

“Uh...sure...a-anytime,” he muttered, desperately hiding the blush on his cheeks.

“Hey, do you want to dance?”

“Huh?” Thunderlane asked, but that’s about as far as he got before Dash had dragged him over to the massive dancefloor.

That night, neither of them were entirely sure what happened. But they would both agree, for many years to come, that it was the start of something beautiful.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Another song ended, and still, Twilight and Alan held their audience.

They applauded again, absolutely loving watch their leaders dance.

Alan held her up, giving strength to her weary hind legs, before bringing them both down for a bow.

Then another song started up, opening with a simple guitar.

Alan smiled, “So they got into my Owl City collection, huh?”

“What?” Twilight asked.

He smiled at her again before saying, “Just follow my lead.”

“So there we were, back home from somewhere inside my head

Oh, bravely I fought off the monsters beneath her bed

Pillars of postwar books supported by frame of mind

While she memorized the pages that I tried to not hide behind”

As he sang, he pantomimed the words, Twilight quickly caught on.

“She took my hand in hers and whispered her love for me

The lantern died that night but we didn't need to see

Implying that she's the bee's knees and I am the cat's meow

It's funny how she recalls what I can't remember now

But when her smile came back and I didn't feel half as horrible

She gave me a heart attack just because she looked so adorable

We both put our sunblock on, played on the beach and vowed that we'd live and we'd learn

Yeah, but she got a tan, and I got a sunburn

I got a sunburn

So there we were out there, unaware of where we'd been

We kicked off our flipflops and swung from the rooftops again

It's awkward but I'll confess she's all I can think about

And it's funny how I recall what she can't remember now

But when her smile came back and I didn't feel half as horrible

She gave me a heart attack just because she looked so adorable

We both put our sunblock on, played on the beach and vowed that we'd live and we'd learn

Yeah, but she got a tan, and I got a sunburn”

Alan picked her up again, and they began to slowly circle each other in a ballroom-esque dance.

“Oh, afterglow, look out below

We left a trail of dust behind

As we parted ways, she held my gaze

And left an imprint on my mind

I tried not to cry as we said goodbye

And hung the clouds above my town

But I shed a tear when she disappeared

Cause now I'm a stranger on the ground

Alan let her go as the last chorus finished, just as another song started, and again, Alan acted it out.

“If you're the bird

Whenever we pretend it's summer

Then I'm the worm

I know the part, it's such a bummer

But fair is fair

If my segments get separated

I'll scream

And you'll be there.”

This time, Twilight stood still, unsure of how to act as Alan performed around her.

“Close your eyes

(Close my eyes)

Slide the cotton off of your shoulder

And feel the shine

(Feel the shine)

I'm hooked so toss me over,

And cast a line

(Well I'll try)

Oh throw a party and greet my undersea friends

(It depends)

As they arrive

(If they arrive)

You and I left our troubles far behind

(Troubles far behind)

But I still have just one more question on my mind

For all my pals who live in all the oceans and the seas

With friends like these, well, who needs enemies?”

Alan pranced around her.

“If I'm your boy

Let's take a shortcut we remember

And we'll enjoy

Pickin' apples in late September

Like we've done for years

Then we'll take a long walk through the cornfield

And I'll kiss you between the ears.”

He quickly kissed her forehead.

“If you're my girl

Swirl me around your room with feeling

And as we twirl

The glow in the dark stars on your ceiling

Will shine for us

As love sweeps over the room

Cause we tend to make each other blush

(You make me blush)

You and I left our troubles far behind

(Troubles far behind)

But I still have just one more question on my mind

For all my pals who live in all the oceans and the seas

With fronds like these, well who needs anemones?

You're the bird, I'm the worm,

And it's plain to see

That we were meant to be."

As the song finished, Alan ended with a flourish, and again the crowd shouted their approval.

Then deep snare drum erupted behind them from the speakers, and an unseen voice began to sing.

“Dementia, you're driving me crazy

This is driving me crazy,

Dementia, dementia”

Alan smirked, before singing along.

“Every light in the night flickered in and out

Every bone in my back shivered up and down

Keep the pace just in case all the magic dies

'Cause this is driving me crazy

Every voice in my head shouted 'yes' and 'no'

Every freight train of thought fought to stop and go

Keep the pace just in case all the magic dies

'Cause this is driving me crazy

Big surprise, I'm a ghost keeping out of sight

Rub your eyes, you're a star in a summer night

This is love, this is war, it's insanity

Dementia, you're driving me crazy.”

Alan picked up Twilight, who for a second wasn’t sure whether or not she should be insulted that the song was essentially calling her a mental condition.

“Every tear in my eyes dripped and wouldn't drop

Every disc in my spine shook and couldn't stop

Keep the pace just in case all the magic dies

'Cause this is driving me crazy

Every hand let me go that I tried to hold

Every warm-hearted love left me freezing cold

Keep the pace just in case all the magic dies

'Cause this is driving me crazy

Big surprise, I'm a ghost keeping out of sight

Rub your eyes, you're a star in a summer night

This is love, this is war, it's insanity

Dementia, you're driving me crazy

This is driving me crazy

(You're driving me crazy)

'Cause this is driving me crazy

Big surprise, I'm a ghost keeping out of sight

Rub your eyes, you're a star in a summer night

This is love, this is war, it's insanity

Dementia, dementia”

Alan tossed her in that air, where she was caught by a massive mana hand.

“Through the skies you're en route at the speed of light

So realize there's chaos in the air tonight

This is love, this is war, this is pure insanity

Dementia, you're driving me crazy

This is driving me crazy

Dementia, you're driving me crazy

'Cause this is driving me crazy

Dementia, you're driving me crazy”

The mana-hand set Twilight down, and they both gave a human-like bow, to which the crowd cheered and whistled.

“I think they like us!” Alan shouted.

Suddenly, a familiar heavy bass string started to play.

The two star unicorns looked back towards Vinyl’s turntable before looking back at each other.

“One more?” Alan asked.

“One more,” Twilight answered a smile on her face.

“So why don’t you come with me?

Take a trip to the other side.

Where you, you and I, we can sing, we can fly

We can dance as the stars go by.”

Again, they took up the ballroom dance stance, spinning slowly as if they were in a waltz.

“And if the heavens should open up

With a vision inside Jah love

The earth and the moon and the sun will align

With the voice from the sky above, one love.”

And then they began to slowly rise in the air, a silver platform underneath their hooves.

“So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

So come on and shine with me

Shine with me.

Float through the sky and look through my eyes

And then you will see what happens

Nowhere to hide, look deep down inside

In life you must take your chances

And come with me

And you will see

My love is like

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la, la

And come with me

And you will see

One love”

The began to hover out, off the port side of the ship.

“So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

Shine with me.”

There they hung, on a single silver platform hundreds of feet above the ocean.

"Shine on, shine on, shine on, one love

Shine on, shine on, shine on, one love

Shine on, shine on, shine on, one love”

Alan smiled as he looked his dear Twilight in the eyes. “Shall we shine for them, my dear?”

“So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

And shine with me

Shine with me, shine with me!”

As the last words of the song played, Twilight’s horn began to glow, and there was a sudden, bright flash of light.

When the light faded, all that was there was Alan’s silver platform, which slowly faded from existence.

<<<|Ω|>>>

On top of the massive white balloon, two figures gazed up at the sky. One, a black and white stallion, the other, a lavender mare.

“That one,” Alan said, pointing to a w-shaped constellation, “is Cassiopeia, the woman who was so vain, the gods placed her in the sky upside down. And that one,” he said, tracing out a vaguely y-shaped constellation, “is Perseus. He’s famous for beheading the Gorgon Medusa, a being so terrifyingly hideous that looking at her face would turn a man to stone.”

Twilight shook her head. “Amazing,” she muttered. Alan looked over at her, and she sat up to explain. “I can’t believe, that despite being a totally different dimension, we both lived under the same night sky.”

Alan smirked. “Not quite.”

Twilight looked back at him.

“Equestria has one more star,” Alan explained. “a beauty of a star, really, the most beautiful of the stars, and easily the brightest.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “Sirius?” she asked, “But I thought you said it was a part of Canis Major...”

“No, not Sirius.”

“But that’s the brightest star.”

“No,” Alan said, leaning in closer. “I have it on good authority that it’s not.”

“But it is!”

Alan smiled. “The brightest, most beautiful star in all of Equestria, is called Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight blinked, before realizing that Alan was not actually talking about the literal ‘brightest star,’ but was actually trying to be romantic.

She blushed, half in embarrassment for nearly derailing Alan’s sweet talk, as well as from the complement.

Alan didn’t care that much though. “You are Equestria’s brightest star,” he said, wrapping his forelegs around her barrel, “and you are all mine.”

Above them, the moon shone brightly, the moisture in the air causing an aurora, a ring of light surrounding the lunar sphere. A slight corona caused a barely-visible rainbow in the sky, and in that pale light, Twilight seemed to glow.

She turned to him, and as Alan gazed into her eyes, he saw the reflection of the entire sky staring back at him.

He smirked.

“What?” she asked.

“Just...you are my star, and in your eyes I can see all of the others. Every single one I see jealously glinting in the purple midnight of your eyes.”

Twilight blushed again. “C-charmer...”

Alan kissed her.

Twilight kissed back.

And very slowly, the kiss began to lengthen and deepen.

“Hey! There you guys are!” a voice interrupted.

The two broke the kiss to look at Rainbow Dash hovering nearby.

“Everypony’s been looking for you two,” the pegasus said, a slight slur in her words. “Ponies are saying you fell into the ocean.”

Alan sighed, clearly annoyed, which was lost on the slightly tipsy Dash. “We’re fine, and we’ll be down in a minute.”

“Alright, I’ll let everypony know!”

“Thanks, Dash.” Alan grumbled.

The pegasus was already gone though.

Alan sighed.

Twilight kissed his cheek. “Come on, we better get down there.”

“Yeah, yeah I guess we should.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Morning dawned on the Equestrian fleet, and after a very late morning, the ponies were back up and running at full capacity.

“Mornin’ Shining,” Alan greeted.

“Morning,” Shining answered, a slight bite in his voice.

“What’s with you?” Alan asked.

“Where did you sleep last night?” Shining asked.

Alan gave him a confused look. “My room?”

“Where did Twilight sleep last night?”

“Her room...”

“Keep it that way.”

“Right...” Alan said before speaking into his communicator. “Hey RD.”

“What?” a voice groaned.

“OK, I know for a fact that you had one cup of cider; you are not hungover.”

“No...” came the groggy reply, “just tired.”

Alan rolled his eyes. “Look, I just need to get to the Vindicta, alright? Get a team ready.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Yes, sir...”

Alan shook his head.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffon prisoners stood before the Pendragon and their Prince.

The pony smiled before saying, “In about five days, we shall make landfall. You have that long to write to your loved ones. On the day we arrive, I will be sending one griffon to the Onyx Keep to meet with the King so that your letters will be delivered. Sadly, due to lack of resources, you will only have one page of parchment each.”

The prisoners smiled in return.

“Have an excellent day, Gentlegriffs,” Alan said.

As the griffons began to head below deck, the Prince quickly approached. “Pendragon, a moment, please.”

“Of course,” Alan answered.

“You are sending one of my men to deliver the letters?”

“Of course,” Alan answered. “If we sent a pegasus there’s a high chance that he won’t come back.”

“So who are you sending?” Ironblood asked.

Alan smiled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Ironclaw could swear he had burst a vessel in his forehead.

It had taken them a week, a whole week, to finally arrive at the Onyx Keep.

He had a week head start, and then his soldiers seemed to be doing everything in their power to lose it.

It was a minor annoyance. As soon as the crown rested on his head, it wouldn’t matter anymore.

But finally he was back, the Prince was dead, and all he had to do was murder his idiot of a brother, who of course, wanted a report.

As the massive doors opened, the General slowly made his way up to the King.

Ironclaw made his way up to his brother Bloodfeather, who sat solemnly on his large throne.

There was not a vizier in sight.

“Where is my son?” Bloodfeather asked.

Ironclaw sighed. “Forgive me, my lord, but the ponies repelled us. We did not even come to the walls of Canterlot.”

Bloodfeather’s face was hard. “I remember much about Ironblood,” he said, looking down at his talons, “Strong, courageous, charismatic.”

Ironclaw raised an eyebrow. He was fairly certain his brother didn’t know that word.

“Fun loving, honorable. My son was many things.”

“A paragon of all these things, your majesty,” Ironclaw agreed mechanically.

“But do you know what I’ve just remembered recently?” the King asked, looking up at him.

Ironclaw made to answer when a new voice sounded.

“Hello, Uncle.”

Ironclaw’s blood froze in his veins.

From behind the throne came the Prince, laden with a pony saddle bag filled to the brim with letters. The scowl he wore on his face matched his father’s.

“I’ve been reminded that my son is a very fast flyer.”

Ironclaw did the only thing he could.

He said nothing.

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Ironclaw’s plot revealed!

“You were right, DM, this chapter was Awesome!”

I told you.

“You did indeed.”

“More importantly, it had Owl City. Guys. Owl City.”

Next Chapter, negotiations are made, secrets revealed, and Judgement passed!

“Be sure to leave us the usual!”

And here’s the music!

See you next time.

Bye!

27-A Pact by Blood

Chapter 27

The Onyx Keep was a very unique stronghold.

In many ways it reminded Alan of a dwarven fortress.

Carved into a mountain of black and white rock, it had been designed to be entered only from the front gate. All across the surface of the mountain, deep slits had been bored into the surface, allowing Manticores and smaller machines of similar nature to fire freely, while remaining safe. Every hole would come up to a pony’s knee, and even Alan’s pegasi would have trouble getting inside from one of those.

At the very center of the mountain, a stark contrast against the cold grey sky, stood a tall tower. It had a gothic shape to it, with an incredibly steep roof, shingled in black.

Alan’s eyes came back down to the gate, and he took another once-over with his gaze. The gatehouse, made from the surrounding stone, was carved to make a perfectly vertical surface next to the slopes of the mountain. In the smooth wall was set a massive, oak double door, banded with wrought iron studs and blackened steel. The doors sat inside a gothic-esque arch, the name of which escaped Alan at the moment, and looked extremely durable.

Above the arch and the door stood twenty griffons, their faces just visible from the bunker-like hole that opened between the gate and the rough stone of the mountain. From this opening, on each side of the gate, hung a crimson banner with a golden crown situated in the center, the royal flag.

The Pendragon looked back up at the faces of the griffons, and could see the nervousness they felt as their ragged breaths left wispy vapors of steam floating in the air.

“General Pie!” Alan yelled, and the pink pony that was hanging around the base of the mountain turned to face him. “Report!”

Pinkie saluted before jumping over. Saluting again, she then began, “The mountain is made of 46% Andesite, and 36% Quartz diorite. The remaining 18% is a mixture of Basalt, Latite, and the incredibly rare Carbonite.”

“How would our cannons do?”

“It would take a while, but we could do it.”

Alan nodded. “Well, I’d rather not waste the time. Ready the Poison Joke bomb.”

“You got it!” Pinkie said, before she barked a few orders into her communicator.

“Poison?” Talius asked, suddenly nervous.

“Perfectly harmless,” Alan said. “It would just make things difficult for the defenders if negotiations go south. I’m hoping I won’t need it.”

Talius shifted nervously.

“Maybe next time, you shouldn’t mention it by name,” Twilight said, shivering as she stood by his side.

“Wise words from a wise mare,” Alan answered before turning to the dragon on the other side of her. “Got that letter ready?”

“Right here,” Spike said, holding a scroll between his fingers and thumb.

“On my signal, no sooner.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember, sheesh.”

Alan looked up, and saw his banner fluttering in the wind. The ebony flag was being held aloft by Kiwi Tart, who, this time, was keeping a very close eye on the unicorn, and was ready to duck at any moment.

He had apologized to her, but having a sword swing over your head isn't something one readily forgets.

“Dashie, is the package ready?” Alan asked the pegasus.

“Yeah, Thunderlane’s got the little monsters,” she answered from the other side of Talius.

“Great, and remember, don’t give the signal unless they attack us.”

“Right.”

Alan sighed before going through a mental checklist. Poison Joke and Parasprites? Check. The Princesses on call? Check. Army looking awesome? Check. The Generals and Captains standing next to him? Check. Negotiations began?

He sighed again before stepping forward.

As he walked toward the gate, Silver, Shining, Spike, Big Mac, Kiwi Tart, and the Mane Six followed. Halving the distance between the army and the gate, Alan then spoke in his loudest possible voice.

“King Bloodfeather of the Empire, Conqueror of the Eagle Beak Isles, and Ruler of the Northern Stones, I, Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof, Hero of Equestria, Wielder of Judgement, Arthur’s heir, and Defeater of Discord ask for your presence.”

One of the griffons at the gate disappeared.

They waited in relative silence, one or two of the ponies behind him whispered a complaint about the cold, but other than that, it was quiet.

And then, after what seemed like a long time, the gates opened. Swinging outward, the oaken doors creaked and groaned before revealing five figures.

The first Alan recognized as Prince Ironblood. The second was a griffon who walked with pride and purpose. The tips of his feathers were blood red, as well as his pinions feathers in his wings. Around his talons he wore golden bands, and on his head he wore a rather ornate crown. Around his shoulders hung a scarf of red silk, trimmed with mink fur, and around his neck hung a necklace with a massive red jewel at its center.

Alan guessed, between the crown and the red feathers, that this was probably King Bloodfeather.

However, Alan did not need to guess the third figure.

His talons were in chains and his wings were bound by stocks. Every step he took seemed labored and difficult, and at every opportunity, he shot an evil glare, ping ponging between the King, the Prince, and Alan himself. Next to him stood two guards, both armed with spears and were sending their captive nasty looks.

So the King wasn’t happy with the General either, huh?

The king approached, before bowing to the unicorn. “Greetings, Pendragon Goldenhoof, Leader of the Equestrian Army, Worthy Foe, and Merciful Master. You have called, and I have answered.”

“King Bloodfeather,” Alan began, “we have come to negotiate the total and complete surrender of the Empire of Gryphus to the Kingdom of Equestria.”

Bloodfeather nodded. “I understand.”

Alan nodded at Spike, who, with a quick jet of flame set the scroll away.

“If you will wait but a moment,” Alan said, as the griffons all looked over at the dragon, just as the flame died.

There was silence for a moment.

“Um...” Prince Ironblood began, “what are we waiting for?”

And then, as if to answer his question, there was a massive explosion of light between the two parties. A peal of thunder echoed against the mountainside, and the griffons at the gate ducked behind their defenses, hoping beyond hope to save themselves from whatever magic had torn through.

As the light faded, and the griffons gathered their courage, they looked and saw a sight that only worsened their fear.

Two massive ponies stood before the gate. Both alicorns, wearing their red and silver armor, wore slight scowls on their faces, showing their displeasure.

The larger spoke first. “I am Princess Celestia the Firstborn, Queen of the Day, the Solar Sentinel, High Ruler of Equestria.” Her voice echoed off the mountain and rolled into the plain, and the sun suddenly began to shine through the clouds on the overcast day, throwing a warm golden light against the cold black stone.

Then the second spoke. “I am Princess Luna the Youngest, Lady of the Night, the Silent Dreamwarden, High Queen of the Sky.” Her voice matched her sister’s perfectly in volume and power, and as she spoke, the griffons could swear that the sky above them shook.

Then they spoke in perfect unison. “You have brought war to our country, and have faced but a mere fraction of our wrath. And lest you wish to feel the rest of it, we ask that you would speak now.”

Admittedly, King Bloodfeather recovered fairly quickly. Bowing, even as his son and brother cowered, he then spoke.

“Mighty Ones, I fear that we three have been made fools by my kin.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Explain, your Majesty.”

“Of course, Mighty Ones,” Bloodfeather answered. “But let us not discuss such things in the cold of this dying winter. I would invite you and your army inside, where at the least they can enjoy warmth.”

Celestia looked over at Luna, and Luna nodded.

“Very well, your Majesty,” Celestia said before walking inside.

Luna followed her, and then the Pendragon and his Generals followed by the king, Ironclaw, and the Prince.

As they moved, Luna suddenly shot Alan a curious glance.

Alan didn’t notice.

They stepped inside, and the first thing that caught their eye were the smoothed pillars of quartz that glistened in the torchlight that hung above them. Alan and the gang were rather impressed with the sight, and all but gaped at them as they walked by.

Celestia and Luna did nothing, they simply walked forward, scowls on their faces, almost as if they owned the place.

The King suddenly snapped his fingers and a griffon soared down to his side. “Prepare the entire kitchen staff, get these ponies anything they require,” he ordered. “Understood?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

The ponies slowly made their way inside the massive courtyard, and as they filed in, more griffons began to glide down, and took orders and bags, anything to help service the soldiers that were technically invading.

The king led the others away, up to his throne room at the tallest chamber of the tower.

As they moved, they passed a few large chambers, one of which that was particularly interesting to both Alan and Twilight. Inside the round, domed room, stood a tree that was under guard. It was shaped like an olive tree, however, rather than the gnarled brown bark of that species, the trunk was white and smooth, like a birch.

Before Twilight could wander in for further study, Alan pulled her along. They did have a job to do. “Later,” he whispered.

They began to climb higher and higher into the fortress, passing labyrinth-like passageways and rooms supported by heavy columns of quartz and jet.

Finally, they arrived at the Kings throne room, and with a clap of his talons, a large table was brought out, along with several plush cushions.

“Please, sit,” Bloodfeather offered.

They sat, Celestia and Luna taking a seat on each side of the King’s throne, while Ironblood stood next to his father, and Talius took his place next to Julius.

Alan took a moment to examine the room. It sat in an ellipses, with a large double door at one end, and the king’s throne at the other. The floor was covered by a rich, red satin carpet, and the empty sconces filled the spaces between the windows.

The windows themselves were incredibly tall, almost as tall as the ones back at Canterlot, however, these, instead of the colorful stained glass images, were plain, with only a metal shutter at the top as the distinguishing feature. Alan could imagine the shutters would fall, replacing the windows with impenetrable metal walls. Very useful to defend against attackers should a civil war break.

The throne was actually rather spectacular in and of itself. It seemed to be carved from pure obsidian, the glass-like stone cut so thin that Alan could almost see through it. Circling the stone was a thin, gold line, as though the molten metal had been poured into a thin channel cut in the stone. At the top of the throne was a large ruby, and the armrests were carved to form lion heads.

The King began, sitting on his throne’s red silk cushion. “Let me begin by telling you of the state of my kingdom.” As he spoke his servants began to bring out a variety of fruits and vegetables for the ponies. Ironclaw was forced into one corner, and his guards watched him like hawks.

“Twenty-seven years ago, an attempt was made on my life. It was sloppy, and obviously an amateurish attack. I was able to escape with my life; however, I was also made aware of my enemies. Luckily for myself, I was able to fake a head injury that left me a fool, and I was able to observe my surroundings better.” A servant came to him, and offered him a drink, he waved the griffon off before continuing.

“I was forced to approve idiotic act after idiotic act; however, my ruse had fooled my enemies, and no further attempts were made on my life, as they were content to use me as a puppet. Before long, my court was filled with corrupt, powerful bureaucrats, each pushing to worm their way into my throne. Almost all of my advisors were snakes, and I could not even trust my own family.

“I watched, pretending to be a simpleton, and before long, I found the one who had tried to kill me.” His eyes went straight to the corner of the room, where Ironclaw sat with a hateful scowl on his face. “My own brother.”

The king sighed. “I could do nothing; at the time, I could not yet rise to defend my country until the proper moment. Then one night, he came and told me that one of my nobles had been killed, Lord Byron Goldbelly.” The King sneered, his voice slowly beginning to rise. “A particularly nasty blob of slime whose avarice could only be matched by the size of his gut. The fool had even tried to pass a tax on taxation!”

The king paused, took a deep breath, and then continued. “While I could not care less for the loss of that particular ‘noble,’ I could not deny my general from his crusade of finding justice against the human that lived in your realm. Personally, if I had the choice, I would have presented him with a medal, but Markus called for his death.” Bloodfeather paused for a moment. “Is he still alive?” he asked.

“No,” Alan replied quickly. “He died in the siege of Canterlot that your son led.”

Bloodfeather grimaced. “I am sorry,” he said, his voice laced with sincerity. “I wish it had not come to this.”

There was silence in the throne room for a moment.

Prince Ironblood spoke first. “Father, the war.”

Bloodfeather nodded. “Yes. The war. When my brother returned from your shores he spoke of great hostility, something which I know you would not do, Mighty Ones, and he said we should go to war.”

He paused again, a shameful look coming on his face. “I...I admittedly did not stop him. I was hoping that in his absence, I could regain control over my kingdom. Of course, this then turned on me when he sent my son, his own nephew, alone against you.

“I feared for his life, and I knew my brother’s heart. He sought to destroy my line, and take the throne for his own. However, I could do nothing. I had a chance, one chance to end this all, and I didn’t take it. And then... and then when I heard of my son’s defeat...” his voice began to break.

“It’s alright, Dad,” the prince whispered, and laid a talon on his father’s shoulder.

The king nodded, grasping his son’s hand and taking a calming breath. “When I heard of his defeat, I assumed the worse. And my anger burned against he who called himself my brother. I sent him to your shores to die, a slow, painful death, and my one regret in those days was not being there to deliver the final blow myself.”

“In the first week of his departure, I had his entire organization, every one of those monsters who conspired against me, executed. I whipped the entire bureaucracy into line, and rewrote almost every single law. For the first time since my son was hatched, I was truly the king of my country.”

The king sighed once more. “It was...selfish of me. Sending him to your shores to die. Risking your country for my own...but...but...I was upset...” Bloodfeather looked up at the two alicorns. “Forgive me, Mighty Ones, but it was a foolish thing to do.”

The alicorns shared a look.

Celestia then cleared her throat. “Tell me, your majesty, why did you not give your brother the throne?”

The king blinked. “Pardon?”

“If he wanted the throne, why did you not give it to him?”

The king blinked. “Because neither I nor my father thought he was fit to rule.”

“What!?” Ironclaw yelled from his bonds.

The King’s eyes snapped to his brother by blood, for there was little else to call him. “Father saw in you ambition, and he was pleased with it. But he also saw selfishness and apathy for those beneath you.”

“Lies!” Ironclaw spat.

“He saw a griffon who throw out a child into the darkness so that he may horde food. He saw a liar and a murderer of kin. The night he died, when he called my to his chambers to give me the key to the Words of Power, he told me to be wary of even you. You only proved him right when I find that you were behind the attempt to kill me and my wife!”

“She was weaker than you, you pathetic hatchling! She deserved to die, you—”

“Karsin Tor Halatos!” the king said, his voice deepening as he spoke. The tower shook as it echoed in the room, an ancient magic awakening as those words entered the air.

A ribbon of red mana suddenly wrapped around Ironclaw’s mouth. His beak slammed shut, and the ribbon melded together, silencing him.

“Don’t you dare say that about her!” the king yelled, standing. “Don’t you dare—”

“Your majesty,” Celestia interrupted, “please, sit down.”

Bloodfeather sat, but not before sending his brother one last glare.

“I see then,” the solar princess continued, “that you truly felt you had no choice. For this, then, you can be forgiven.”

Bloodfeather bowed. “Thank you, Mighty Ones.”

“However,” Luna said, “Actions do have consequences, and war demands a reckoning. We demand then that you surrender.”

Bloodfeather nodded, sighing. “Name your terms.”

Alan stood, clearing his throat. “Firstly, the four westernmost islands of the Eagle Beak Isles are to have three acres of land of each handed over to become Equestrian territories.”

The King nodded.

“Secondly, one of each of your machines of war, whether made for offensive or defensive purposes, shall be sent to Canterlot for study.”

Bloodfeather nodded again. “Tactical,” he muttered.

“Thirdly, the equivalent amount of fourteen million bits is to be paid in full to Canterlot for the Princesses to spend as they see fit.”

Calius winced, but nonetheless began to calculate the exchange rate.

“And finally...General Ironclaw...”

“Ah yes...” Bloodfeather began. “I do believe my son promised you his head—”

“No,” Alan interrupted. “Your son, perhaps wisely, promised me whatever I wanted.”

Bloodfeather blinked, before looking over at his son. “Is this true?”

Ironblood nodded. “I...I did...actually...”

Calius palmed his face. “Then I am honor-bound on behalf of my son to agree.” He sighed. “What do you wish, Pendragon?”

Alan smirked. “Why did your brother want your throne?”

Bloodfeather raised an eyebrow. “Power? Fame probably.”

“So then a true punishment would be to deprive him of both.”

Bloodfeather blinked. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that death is too good for him,” Alan said, gritting his teeth.

His voice seemed to echo suddenly in the silence of the throne room.

Alan looked straight into the eyes of the king, and spoke, his voice sounding far darker than the king thought a pony could say. “If he wanted power, make the least of you his master! If he wanted fame, erase him from history! Taunt him with whatever he wanted, show him his goals, and wave them in front of his face. Let him know that he will never have them. Let him know that everything he dreamed for will never be his. If he wanted beauty, maim him! If he wanted riches, leave him desolate! If he wanted to be a hero, mark him a traitor!”

“Pendragon,” Celestia spoke.

“Let him suffer forever! Let him live in shame for the rest of his life!”

“Pendragon,” Celestia called again, louder this time.

“Make him live in such agony that the pits of hell seem welcoming! Make him—”

“Pendragon!” Celestia called, her voice just barely a shout.

Alan stopped, before seating himself.

There was a brief silence in the throne room, before Bloodfeather stood. “Well, on the honor of my son, I am bound to take care of Ironclaw, however, I would like a moment to speak with my son about the treaty. If you want, you could explore the Keep while we discuss this.”

Celestia nodded. “Very well, take as long as you need.”

Alan opened his mouth to protest that, however was silenced when Celestia threw him a knowing nod. Standing, she then began to walk out of the throne room, and Luna and the others followed.

The door closed behind them, and Alan took the opportunity to speak. “Princess, the point in dominating the griffons until they surrendered was so that they would accept the treaty without any ifs, ands, or buts.”

Celestia nodded. “I am aware, Alan. But I don’t think the King wishes to refuse our conditions.”

“But—”

“Just trust me.”

Alan hesitantly shut up.

“Why don’t you take a moment to enjoy the sights. It may be the last time you see the Onyx Keep, and it is not something you want to forget.”

The ponies nodded, and began to head out. Twilight began to walk forward, before turning to face her coltfriend, “Hey, Alan, do you want to go check out that tree?”

“Sure, lead the way,” he said. Twilight smiled before heading down the hallway. Alan made to follow before he was stopped by a large wing draping over his withers.

The large white wing pulled him close to Celestia as she dropped her head down to his. “I’ve heard that you and Twilight are an item now,” she whispered into his ear. “So let me take a moment to make something clear. If you break her heart, Shining won’t have a chance to do whatever he threatened you with. Understand?”

If Alan did not already have a white coat, he would have been pale. “Y-Yes, ma’am.”

“Good, now run along.”

Alan ran.

The white Alicorn smirked as she watched him leave.

“Did you feel it on him, Tia?” Luna asked.

Celestia blinked. “What?”

“Sombra’s touch. He reeks of it. I fear our Pendragon has been corrupted.”

Celestia sighed. “Lu...”

“He is dangerous, Tia.”

“He was always dangerous, Luna,” Celestia said, “and Dark Magic is not Sombra’s tool alone to wield.”

The younger sister looked up at her. “What do you mean by that?”

“Dark Magic is simply an incarnation of hatred and fear. Alan comes from a world filled with both of those; it comes naturally to him,” she explained.

“Tia...?”

The older sighed. “When you...rebelled. I began a search. Something to cure you, or save you. Either, both, it didn’t really matter...I had the Elements, but I was afraid...”

There was silence between them.

“I was afraid that you would turn to stone and that you would never come back...” The white alicorn took a deep breath through the nose. “...so I searched for alternatives.”

“Tia...” Luna spoke, her eyes widening, “did you...?”

“I learned many things about the arcane that day, Luna,” Celestia said, her voice strong and stoic, “including that hatred and fear cannot defeat jealousy.”

“Tia...” Luna said, a tear in her eye. She stepped closer, nuzzling the older sibling. “You idiot.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The lavender mare and the white stallion entered the domed room. The two griffon guards stood next to the tree, dressed in an ornate golden armor with lion head motifs. Their beaks were covered by a face mask of gold, molded to form a lion’s snout, the total opposite of the opened-faced guards at the door of the throne room.

They both flanked the odd-looking tree, and only their eyes moved as they watched the two unicorns enter.

“Hm...let’s see...” Twilight began. “It seems to be a subtype of the Olea Genus, or, at the very least, seems to hold the same physical qualities, bark excluded.” She muttered something about not having some parchment, and went to examine one of the leaves. “Yes, it definitely looks like an olive tree, and given it’s size, I’d estimate it to be around three hundred years old.”

“Oh I assure you,” a voice said behind them, “he is far older than that.”

The ponies turned to see a young griffoness enter the room, holding a silver basin of water in one talon. Her feathers were pure white and her eyes a light shade of pink. Alan briefly wondered if she was an albino, although the way her wings draped across her back brought the image of Galadriel’s flowing white robe to mind.

“I would suggest that you not touch him,” the griffon spoke again. “The guards are honor-bound to kill any of those not of my bloodline who touch the Tree of Gryphus.”

“The Tree of Gryphus?” Alan asked.

The griffoness nodded. “The founder of the Empire, King Brutus Dawnsteel, called together the leaders of the warring tribes of this land and defeated each and everyone of them in talon-to-talon combat under this tree. Once he defeated them all, he then claimed his right to rule over each of the tribes, and founded the Empire. At the time, it was only known as the Kingdom of Gryphus, but that is another story.”

Alan nodded. “Is that why he is a King and not an Emperor? Because his realm was originally a kingdom?”

The griffoness nodded. “And since those days, my ancestors have cared for this tree. Legend says that when it dies, so shall the Empire.”

Alan nodded. “I see.”

“So, as the caretaker of this tree,” Twilight began, “you surely know its species, right?”

The white griffon smiled before approaching the tree. Setting the basin at the base of the trunk, she carefully poured the water out, onto the roots. “This tree, sadly, has no species. It is the last of his kind. Once, they were know as Silverwood trees, named so for their bark. Others called them Gem Blossoms.”

“Why did they call them that?” Alan asked.

The maid smiled, before dipping her claw into the remainder of the water in the basin. It was hardly a quarter full. Taking her wet talon, she looked up and singled out a branch. Her wings spread, and with a gentle flap, she launched herself upward. Her claw, still wet, then gently stroked the long, narrow, pale green leaves, and in response to their touch, something amazing happened.

Alan could hardly believe his eyes as dozens of buds suddenly bloomed. Each bloom looked eerily like a cherry blossom, each with five petals that widened at the ends. Of course, none of this was as important as the fact that each and every one of them looked like individual diamonds.

And then, before his eyes, the blossoms wilted and died.

The griffon landed gracefully, and could only smirk as she saw Alan’s gaping mouth. “Does that answer your question?”

“Um...” Alan began blinking.

“The buds only truly blossom during a rain, but it has been centuries since he has been outside.”

“Incredible,” Twilight muttered. “That...is...its amazing...”

The griffoness smiled. “I’m glad you think so.” She held out her talon, “Lydia Snowlily, Maiden of the Tree, at your service.”

Twilight laid her hoof in the griffon’s claw and gave it a good shake. “My name is Twili-er I suppose General Twilight Sparkle, now.”

The griffon still held her smile. “A pleasure.”

“And this,” Twilight said, motion towards Alan, “is Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof.”

Her smile vanished. “P-Pendragon?”

Alan saw her smile disappeared, and instantly regretted the introduction. This griffon probably had lost someone to the war, and probably held him responsible. “Ma’am, I assure you—”

He didn’t get to finish his apology before he was suddenly tackled. “Thank you!” Lydia cried, weeping into his shoulder. “Thank you for bringing him back to me!”

Alan blinked, looking over at Twilight, who only shrugged as the keeper of the tree cried into his shoulder, muttering her thanks.

<<<|Ω|>>>

King Bloodfeather regarded his son rather carefully. “Are you sure about this?”

The Prince nodded. “I have seen the Pendragon fight, Father, and he is ruthless. If he put his mind to it, there would be nothing he could not take. The walls of the Keep would be nothing more than a prison for us to wither in before he took it. However, he is honorable. He treated my soldiers, and myself, with the utmost respect. He will honor this if he accepts it, and it is in our best interest that we propose it.”

“But will he accept it?” the King asked.

“The Pendragon cares for those under him. If we guarantee the safety of his troops, he will accept it.”

“If we honor our own agreement. Remember we are still his enemy.”

“That is why I am suggesting this. It will seal the deal.”

The King sighed. It was not a...perfect situation, but it would do. “Very well, call them in.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The ponies filled back into the throne room, where the two griffons sat stoically.

As the Princesses took their seats, the King stood. “I wish to thank you, Mighty Ones, for the opportunity you gave to us.”

Celestia nodded. “As long as you realize that I can and will dismiss any conditions you bring that disagree with me.”

“Of course,” the King said. “Firstly, we will be willing to give the entirety of the aforementioned islands, provided of course that the griffons living there are allowed to continue to do so.”

Celestia nodded.

“Secondly, we would also like to offer you some of our best griffon craftmasters to help you as you see fit, as well as some of our architects to aid you in any reconstruction that may be necessary.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips. “Buttering us up?”

The King blinked, unsure of how to proceed with that. It would be considered an insult to have someone tell him his actions were of an ulterior motive, but Celestia was being who was for all intents and purposes immortal, and could probably read even the best poker face.

Besides, he was kind of buttering them up.

“Well...”

“Not so much buttering you up...” the Prince explained, “more we’re switching sides.”

Alan raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“We wish to use this opportunity to become allies,” the King said.

Alan blinked.

“Seeing as how both of us have fallen victim to my brother’s,” he spat the word, “treachery, I think that the best course of action is to guarantee that it never happens again.”

Alan stood. “Not that I don’t trust you, but how do we know this alliance will be honored?”

The Prince smiled. “We have something for that.”

Alan eyed the Prince. The Prince simply smiled back. “Well?” Alan asked.

The Prince then reached behind the throne and pulled out a golden dagger and two lengths of white cloth. “An agreement made by blood is permanent, and any griffon who breaks one is to be exiled from his people.”

“Wow, that’s pretty intense,” Rainbow Dash whispered under her breath.

Alan looked over to Celestia. She looked to the others.

They didn’t seem all too ready to complain.

Celestia turned back to the King, nodding. “These terms are agreeable.”

The King nodded in return, before calling out. “Send for Amadeus Penstroke!”

“Yes, your majesty,” a guard answered before ducking out of the room.

A few minutes later, a scribe with a small pair of round glasses entered, trailing an unrolling scroll as he frantically scurried into the throne room. In a few seconds, despite his unorganized entrance, the scribe was set up, and ready to record.

“I, King Calius Bloodfeather, do hereby declare that the Empire of Gryphus, is from now on, and forever will be, an ally to the Kingdom of Equestria and the ponies therein.”

Celestia stood. “I, Princess Celestia the Firstborn, do hereby declare that the Kingdom of Equestria is from now on, and forever will be, an ally to the Empire of Gryphus and the griffons therein.”

Calius nodded, and the Prince drew the dagger, and with a quick slash, sliced open his talon.

“To seal this agreement between these two countries,” the King continued, “my one, and only son, Prince Julius Ironblood, shall become bloodkin with...” he raised his claw at Celestia, cueing her to choose her deleget.

“Alan?” she called.

“Yes, Princess?” he answered.

“Would you do the honors?”

Alan nodded and stepped forward.

“Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof,” the King finished as the Prince made a quick cut across Alan’s foreleg. “From now until forever, if someone attacks those of his blood, they have attacked my own, and any who attack my own has attacked his. This alliance has been sealed in blood, and stands before The Winged Creator from now until the End of Time.”

“So be it,” said Celestia.

“So be it.”

As the two finished their dialogue, the Prince took Alan’s foreleg in his talon, and Alan’s white fur began to stain red as the two fluids mixed.

For a few long minutes, the two shared blood, before Ironblood released him and bandaged their wounds with the cloth. Smiling, the Prince looked Alan over. “And now, Pendragon, you are a Prince, a son of Bloodfeather. My brother by blood pact.”

Alan, for some reason beyond his understanding, smiled. “So it seems.”

“The alliance has been sealed, and the deal is done,” Celestia said, speaking with finality.

“Indeed it has, Mighty One,” Bloodfeather bowed. “However, I have one final gift to give to my newest son.”

Alan looked over at the King with interest.

Calius smiled as he approached the throne. Standing in front of it, he quickly dismissed Penstroke and his guards, leaving only the Prince and the ponies in the room with him. They watched with mild fascination as the King hunched over his cushioned seat, and with an audible click, it popped open. Reaching in, he carefully pulled out a black, leather bound book.

Julius blinked at the sight. “Is that...?”

The King smiled as he approached the Pendragon. Before holding the book aloft. “This is the Book of Power. In it are written the Words of Power, passed down from the Winged Creator herself, her only gift of magic to griffon kind.”

“The Words of Faust,” Celestia said.

Bloodfeather nodded. “In olden times, each tribe had a spell, passed from chief to chief. When King Dawnsteel founded the Empire, as tribute he demanded every spell be given to his line, and it has passed, father to son since then. Today, I wish to give you one.”

Suddenly, the book launched itself from his claw to in front of Alan’s face. It opened, and the pages flipped as though a wind had blown through the palace.

Before anyone could so much as move, three incorporeal tentacles of golden light rose from the pages. They hovered for a moment, standing from the book, bobbing like cobras, before two of them slammed into Alan’s eyes. He let loose a cry of surprise before the third shoved itself down his throat.

Golden magic flooded his veins, his mind, his being.

“Hello, Alan...” a voice echoed from the corners of his brain. “I have been waiting for this.”

The white figure of a red-maned alicorn flashed across his vision.

“I am very proud of you,” the voice said again before the figure disappeared in another flash.

And then, for a split second, there was nothing but pure agony.

He tried to scream, but the magic in his throat prevented him, so all he could do was writhe as three words were burned into his memory. He would never forget those words, no matter how long he lived, nor how hard he tried to forget.

Fastali. Force. Power. Raw, unadulterated energy.

Vistes. Fire. Flame. The burning fury of the sun itself.

Jotum. Sound. Roar. A cry that would echo off the mountains.

His voice, unbidden, rose to his throat. Tears came to his eyes as an urge to shout came over him. He wanted to do nothing else than to unleash his voice.

The golden tentacle that was down his throat nearly made him choke, and his voice rose higher to meet it.

The magick forced itself back down, and Alan tried not to gag.

But his voice rose once more, and this time, it won. Bursting outward, those three words erupted from his throat. “Fastali Vistes Jotum!”

The tentacles of magick shattered as a concussive blast erupted from Alan’s vocal chords, a stream of fire followed, and the Prince ducked out of the way. And then, as the final word came into play, the wordless roar of a dragon echoed in the palace.

The tower shook. The Keep shook.

The mountain shook.

And then it was over. The book fell to the floor with a loud slap, the pages stilled, and the only sound was that of Alan coughing on the floor.

For a few moments, no one said anything, their ears ringing too loud to properly hear, anyways.

Finally the King spoke. “Never used the Dragon Voice spell before...”

“That...” Alan wheezed in a raspy whisper. “That...”

“I’d try and cut back on speaking for a few days, son,” the King said. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

Alan only coughed in response.

“The first time is always the worst.”

Alan sounded like he was hacking up a lung.

“Try to stick to one word at a time for a while, build up a resistance.”

“Oh gosh, this hurts!” Alan hoarsely answered.

“What did I say about not talking?”

The others recovered soon after that, and their reactions ranged everywhere from the simplest of “Wow”s to “By Luna’s Left Legs!”

This comment did earn Silver a confused glance from said alicorn, but she didn’t really do anything about it.

Dash’s mouth just fell open, before she muttered something along the lines of “Awesome.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, as did her smile. This...this sort of magic was unheard of! This deserved all sorts of study and research! What’s more, she would have plenty of opportunities to study it! After all, Alan was her coltfriend.

Applejack, Shining, Rarity, Spike, Pinkie, and Soarin were all shocked to silence.

Big Mac stared in silence, before noticing a light pink tail poking out from under the table, and a weak “eep” escaping from a certain pegasus’ lips.

Celestia simply smiled.

“Why don’t you go rest a bit. When you leave, we will address our armies, and you may leave with everything you need.”

Alan continued to wheeze, before nodding.

<<<|Ω|>>>

In the darkest dungeon of the Onyx Keep, Ironclaw sat.

He had nothing better to do but to start rotting.

He was chained to the iron wall, of his small, iron cell, with only an iron door as the only indication that there was an outside world at all.

It was cold down here.

And that pony sent him here.

Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof had doomed him to be forgotten. His name was to be stricken from all records, he was to lose all power, and he was not even allowed a guard. No, because he could talk to a guard, and the guard would remember him.

He was not even guaranteed food. The guards would feed him, provided they didn't forget him. But this was an oubliette, a forgetter. He was meant to be forgotten.

By the Hells, the previous occupant was still here, in the cell, and over there, by the wall, and over there, by the other wall, his bone scattered to make room for the once proud general.

Ironclaw briefly wondered who the griffon was. He must’ve done something serious to be thrown down here. A murderer maybe? A cannibal? Or was he thrown down here by a stuck up king for something as trivial as serving the King’s dinner with one too many peas?

The sound of a deadbolt sliding home caught the Ex-General’s attention. What was this? Was he getting fed? Already? He’d only been down here for a few hours. There was no need to feed him.

Then his ears picked up another sound.

Clop. Clop. Clop.

That was the sound of hooves.

Was he...?

The door to his cell opened with another slide of a deadbolt, and in stepped the Pendragon, confirming his suspicions.

“Hello, Pendragon,” the griffon spat. “Come to gloat?”

Alan said nothing.

“No? Come to see me then, ready to rot, with your own eyes?”

Alan did not reply.

“What? You just want to be silent?”

Silence.

“Fine. Be silent. I’m going to have to get used to it anyway.” The griffon smirked. “So there you are, the great Hero. The Paragon of Justice and Truth.”

The griffon smirked.

“You know...I’ve always had a feeling that Calius knew what was going on. Always feared that he had figured it out in his sleep one night.” He laughed. “I shouldn’t have waited. I should have just slit his throat that same night. But no, I had to be careful. I couldn’t risk that. I’d be named a Kin Slayer, and would have been killed on the spot. So I had to wait, cover my tracks, wait and watch for the opportune moment.”

Markus chuckled. “And then it came. In a wonderful little bipedal package.”

If Alan still had fingers, they would have clenched into a tight fist.

“You know, I was beginning to wonder if waiting would ever pay off. I had almost given up, even. And then here he comes, waltzing into the Princess’ good graces as though she had been expecting him. It was all just too perfect.”

The griffon laughed. “If I hadn’t found his print there, I would have framed him myself. If he hadn’t been so rude, I would have forced one of Celestia’s perfect guards to attack me. I would have gone through the Hells themselves just to make sure that war was going to be declared.

“That human was perfect for my plan.” He scowled. “And then he ruined it. He had to go and win. And then you showed up, and decided to keep my dear nephew alive.”

“You ruined everything. I’m sure you’re happy to know.”

Alan said nothing.

“But do you want to know the best part?” Markus asked, his yellow eyes glinting in the darkness. “If it weren’t for the Human, I probably would never have attacked. The same thing that ruined my plan, started it. In a way, it’s all his fau—”

A small, silver blade slashed at the griffon’s neck. Not deep, just enough to draw blood. Markus grunted in pain, and his talon instinctively moved to his throat to hold the wound, only to be stopped by the chains.

“The next time I see you,” Alan wheezed, “I’ll give you the other nine hundred and ninety nine cuts.”

The griffon looked at him, confusion written on his face.

Death of a thousand cuts...

And then his eyes widened in realization.

“You.”

Alan turned and walked out.

“You!”

The door closed and the locked shut.

“I will get you, human! You will pay for this! I will get out! I will get revenge! Do you hear me! You will pay!”

The other door shut, leaving Markus Ironclaw to rail and rage against the chains and iron walls of his cell.

Because that was all that was left to hear him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Fillies and Gentlecolts! Gentlegriffs!” King Bloodfeather called, getting the attention of every eye and ear in the courtyard. “We have great news.”

The Princesses, as well as Alan and the Generals and Captains stood next to each other.

The King stepped forward and motioned to Alan. “I present to you, Prince Alan Goldenhoof, Pendragon of Equestria, and my son by Blood Pact. Any who declares war on him, has declared war on me. Is this understood?”

The griffons of the Keep answered. “Sir, yes sir!”

Bloodfeather smiled, before turning to Alan and the Princesses. “You are free to leave in peace, as our allies.”

Celestia smiled before stepping forward, her armor morphing as she did. The red, fiery metal transformed into the familiar gold regalia. Her crown of flames turning back into the simple gold tiara with the amethyst gem at it’s center. “My little ponies,” she said, addressing her fine, brave soldiers, “this war is over.”

A cry of victory erupted from their throats, all the way out of the courtyard to those who could not fit inside. “Victory!” they cried. “Victory!”

It was over.

After seven months of war, it was finally over.

As the ponies began to file out of the Onyx Keep that day, their army was accompanied by the sound of music.

“From the mists of the mountains a deafening call

Bellows down over the plains

On a host of battle-worn ears it does fall

Pushing out through the thunder and rain

These sons of the north, they have suffered too long

The anger it swells in their veins

Of the spirited roars of lost warriors' songs

Distant echoes are all that remain.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Ponyville, Twenty-four days later...

Pipsqueak, was well...unhappy.

He was bored, tired, anxious, and...

His eyes wandered to Applebloom.

Well...maybe he wasn’t that bad off.

But still, he was bored. His new teacher, Miss Cheerilee, was nice, but the stuff she taught was boring, all they way up until she got to World History, that was fun, but the other stuff...

Scootaloo was a little hard to reach for a few weeks, since she was spending so much time with her dad, but she soon joined back up with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The Crusaders seemed rather eager to have him along, even if he was a “colt” as Sweetie would say.

Applebloom didn’t seem to mind at all though, and neither did Scoots. As a result, he found himself crusading with the rest of them.

As a side effect, he learned that that Diamond Tiara filly was a jerk, and that she was always followed around by that quiet one. Silver Spoon, was it?

“Miss Cheerilee,” Applebloom called, breaking the colt of his mental monologue.

“Yes, Applebloom?”

“Do y’all hear that?”

There was total silence in the classroom, and the faint words of a song floated through the air.

“And we stand tall

Sons of the snow

We will not fall

Under these blows

For our hearts they are hardy

Our spirits are strong

And our voices are lifted into

This Paradise song.”

The foals sat there for one second.

Two seconds.

And then they rushed for the door.

As the school children left, the door hanging open, and the dust settling, Cheerilee smiled.

Although she was finding rather uncanny that they kept showing up during school hours.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The residents of Ponyville were going about their business.

It was, after all, just another Spring day.

A real Spring day, at that. Since they were a little low on ponypower, they were expected to be late with Winter Wrap Up this year, but they had finally caught up.

Carrot Top smiled to herself. It was still too cold to plant her crop, but give it a few weeks, and it’d be ready to go. The Apples didn’t need to worry about their orchard (the big upside to trees), so she could manage to take a short break today.

She sat at the Horseshoe cafe, sipping some coffee in the early morning, enjoying the perfectly normal Ponyville day.

Every foal from school suddenly ran by the cafe, shouting “They’re back! They’re back!” at the top of their lungs as an ancient battle song floated through the air.

A perfectly normal Ponyville day.

<<<|Ω|>>>

As Alan stepped down onto the train platform, he smiled.

Everywhere he looked, foals, mares, and stallions met with their loved ones.

Thunderlane picked up a small grey colt. “Rumble!”

“Bro!”

Applejack and Rarity took their respective sisters in hoof, giving them both a well deserved hug.

Twilight smiled as she rubbed up against him. “We’re back,” she said.

Alan nodded. “We are.”

Alan suddenly felt something warm against his foreleg. Looking down, he saw the young spotted colt at his leg. “Back for good?”

Alan smiled, before a silver mana hand picked Pip up and set him on his back. “Back for good.”

“Whee! Another Chapter!”

Yeah, another chapter, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, even though I felt like I hit a rough spot in the middle there.

“And the war is over now, right?”

Eeyup.

“So does that mean that things are going to get boring now?”

Not on your life.

See you next time guys.

Bye!

Omake (a.k.a. Something I wanted to write, but it would ruin everything so this isn’t canon):

“So what do you wish to do with him?” Bloodfeather asked. “Life imprisonment, beheading, a duel to the death?”

Alan smirked. “No. To the Pain.”

Bloodfeather furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m not familiar with that one...”

“Let me explain,” Alan said. “To the pain means that the first thing he will lose will be his paws below the ankles, then his claws at the wrists, next his nose. The next thing to be lost will be his left eye followed by his right.”

“And then his ears I suppose?”

“Wrong! His ears he’ll keep and I'll tell you why; so that every shriek of every child at seeing his hideousness is his to cherish. Every babe that weeps at his approach, every woman who cries out, 'dear Faust, what is that thing!' will echo in his perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave him in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.”

Silence filled the throne room.

And then Spike the Dragon stood. “Dude. That’s creepy.”

28-Dinners, Stones, and Polished Spoons

Chapter 28

Twilight carefully placed yet another book on the shelf, and sighed as she finished her latest reshelving day.

Despite her long absence from the library, she had been able to get this one done in record time. It certainly helped having another unicorn as organized as herself around.

“Alright, and done,” she said, smiling to herself before turning to the other mare. “Thank you so much, Miss Daisy.”

Daisy Chain smiled back. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. It’s the least I can do.”

“Oh, please, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Who’s a what now?” a groggy voice said from the stairs.

Twilight smiled, before giving a mock yell. “Look out! It’s a zombie!”

“Hilarious,” Alan commented as he descended the stairs. “It’s not my fault my bed is actually comfortable now.”

“Actually, it technically is.”

“Just humor me.”

“Good morning, Mr. Goldenhoof,” Daisy said, as her horn sparked to life. “Breakfast includes an apple and a blueberry muffin.” A couple of envelopes flew towards him as he headed toward the kitchen. Daisy Chain followed. “You have three letters, one from Princess Celestia, one from King Bloodfeather, and one from a Prince Blueblood.”

“Toss Blueblood’s.”

“Tossing,” Daisy answered, crumpling the letter.

Alan picked up the apple and bit into it. “Anything else?” he asked.

“It’s eleven A.M.” Twilight interjected.

“No, everything seems to be in order,” the widow said.

“Awesome,” Alan said, as he began to enjoy his breakfast, “and thank you so much for everything.”

Daisy smiled. “It’s my pleasure.”

“Yes, thank you, Miss Daisy, you’ve been a massive help.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” the pale yellow mare replied. “After all, you have been so gracious housing us since...”

“Yeah,” Alan said before biting into the muffin.

“Miss Daisy,” Twilight said, interrupting. “Could I ask a favor of you?”

“Of course, dear.”

“Well, I’d normally ask Spike, but since he’s off at Rarity’s with her new dress, could you be so kind as to get me another set of quills at Quills and Sofas?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she said.

“Oh thank you so much,” Twilight said, before her coin purse appeared with a poof of teleportation magic. “Here, this should cover the cost,” she stated, dropping a few bits into the other unicorn’s aura.

“Very well, I’ll be back soon,” she said before walking out of the kitchen and out into the spring air of Ponyville, and passing Dawn Flame on the way.

When Twilight heard the front door close, she smiled seductively before turning to the still eating stallion. “And that just leaves us. Alone.”

She had his undivided attention.

“And can you guess how I’d like to spend it?” she asked, sauntering over to him.

“I...uh...”

“I would like...” Twilight said, her voice dropping as she neared his ear, “to study that little shout of yours.”

Alan’s face went from hopeful to disappointed in less than a second. “Of course you do.”

“Please?” she begged, opening her eyes just wide enough to make them look incredibly cute.

Alan sighed. “If I’m going to ruin my voice for the day, I would like to read my mail first.”

Twilight brightened, smiling wider, obviously happy with that answer.

Alan magicked up a letter opener, and with a quick rip, opened the letter from his new father.

It was a simple, short message. A small explanation of what was expected of him now that he had royal blood in his veins. Alan noted, with almost no surprise, that most of his power was symbolic, and when not symbolic, hardly applicable.

He could order any griffon on Equestrian soil to do as he pleased, but considering there were so few of those it didn’t really matter. He could also have infinite unscheduled meetings with the King, but since he wasn’t in Gryphus that was useless. Finally, it seemed that he could technically claim diplomatic immunity, but considering the fact that he was the Equestrian Commander-in-Chief, it seemed unlikely that he’d ever have to use it.

There was also an attached note concerning the proper use of the Word of Power he had received. Only pass it from father to eldest son. Do not teach it to multiple ponies. There was even a little footnote that said that in all technicality, Alan shouldn’t even have his one spell, since they all belonged to the King and King alone.

Nodding, he folded the letter back up and slid it back into its envelope, before a hard-mana hand carried it up to his room.

The second letter was only nine words long.

“Dear Pendragon.

Here is your salary.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.”

His interest piqued, Alan then reached for the enclosed check.

“Sweet Celestia’s Tiara!” he screamed.

“What?” Twilight asked at his sudden outburst.

Alan mouth merely hung open as he stared at his stipend.

“What?” Twilight asked again, taking the check from him. She glanced at it. “Holy Mother of Horseshoes!”

Twelve digits.

The first happened to be a nine.

Twilight dropped the check like it hot metal, and it floated down to the table, face down revealing a smaller note.

"One thousand years of military taxes sure do add up, don't they?"

The two unicorns simply stared at it in silence.

“Is...is she allowed to do that?” Alan asked.

“I...I think?”

Silence.

The two simply stared at the unholy amount of potential cash lying in front of them.

“That’s a lot of money,” Alan said finally.

“Yup.”

“I...I think I’m set for life.”

“Easily.”

More silence.

“You know...I’ve always wanted a personal airship...”

“Alan,” Twilight said disapprovingly.

“Well what else am I supposed to do with all this?”

“I don’t know! Buy a house or something!?”

“Why? Last I checked, living here was kinda awesome!”

“I don’t know!” Twilight said again.

The door opened again, and Daisy Chain peeked in. “Um, Miss Twilight, I just thought of something. Would you like me to pick up some more scrolls as well?”

Twilight and Alan both stared at her before looking at each other.

There was a moment of silence between them.

“Miss Daisy,” Alan said, looking back at the pale yellow mare, “how would you feel about a new house?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Diamond Tiara was not happy.

She wasn’t normally happy, mind you, but her current situation was certainly making it worse.

Her second-in-command, her right-hoof filly, Silver Spoon, was not doing her part.

It was a simple system. She would come up with the brilliant insults, and Silver Spoon would echo them. Oh, sure every now and then Spoon would come up with something, but, well, insults were not her special talent.

Instead, the little filly had grown quiet, and Diamond Tiara’s kingdom of the school yard was suffering for it.

Despite her seemingly secondary role in the Subjugation of the Students, Silver Spoon’s current broodiness allowed for Tiara’s eternal rivals, and biggest threats, to continue their rise.

The “Cutie Mark Crusaders,” oh how she loathed that name, had the potential to be the most popular kids in the school, and Tiara just couldn’t allow that.

She had started with ostracizing them, capitalizing on their lack of cutie marks, and of course, they answered by banding together.

The combined unbridled enthusiasm and tenacity of the three fillies had quickly made them famous, and considering their potential, this made them dangerous to her work. Combine that with their new pseudo-member, Pipsqueak, who was already rising in the ranks of popularity, and you had a bad mix. The only way to neutralize them was to insult them and keep them demoralized, and she couldn’t do that effectively until Spoon started doing her part.

Diamond Tiara was, again, not happy.

“Well?” she asked the grey-maned filly.

“Sorry, Diamond,” Silver Spoon said, desperately trying to hide behind her glasses. “I’m just...not feeling well,” she said before turning away.

The Queen Bee of the School Yard’s face softened, but only slightly. “Okay, fine, I get it. But look, they’re over there so just say what I say, and then we’ll go home, okay?”

“Yeah...sure...”

“Alright, come on,” she said.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pipsqueak and the CMC walked to their favorite spot on the playground, while Scootaloo was going on about another story about her and her dad, who had taken up a semi-permanent residence in Ponyville again.

“And then he taught me how to hover! I mean, sure it’s not really flying, but that’s still a step closer to flying! And then, he promised me when I get strong enough that—”

The day was going well for the four foals. Miss Cheerilee had gone light on the school material to allow the students to have some time to catch up with their families again, and well, their families were back.

“Hey! Blank Flanks!”

And just like that, their day was ruined.

A disgusted look passed between the four, before they exasperatedly turned to face the two oncoming bullies.

“Having fun, losers?” Diamond Tiara asked, before nudging Silver Spoon.

“Uh, yeah, losers,” Spoon added.

“Yes, we are having fun,” Pipsqueak said. “Now leave us to our fun.”

“And why would I do that?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I mean, it’s just so much fun to watch you four try so very hard, and fail every time. Isn’t that right, Spoon?”

Silence.

“Spoon?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Diamond Tiara sent a glare at her companion, but nonetheless continued.

“So no, I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”

Pipsqueak sent a growl her way.

“Pipsqueak,” Applebloom warned, “don’t do it. She’s just being a bully.”

“Again,” Scootaloo hissed.

“My thoughts exactly,” Pipsqueak said. “She’s being a bully like she did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. Now I have to wonder when is she going to stop.”

Tiara smirked. “And are you going to do something about it, mister?”

Pip, who was actually just a smidge taller than her, stared down on her.

“No?” Diamond asked. “No, of course not. Because you’re the son of one of those oh-so-honorable soldiers.”

Pipsqueak’s eyes narrowed, and Scootaloo’s wings flared.

Now that’s a reaction...

Smiling, Tiara continued. “Yes, the army, what a waste of ponies, isn’t? But I suppose it does serve a purpose. It gives all of those parents an excuse to leave their little failures behind, never to be seen again.”

Pip began to shake.

“Just imagine, there they are, looking down at their stupid foals, that still haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet, and they're wondering how on earth they’re going to get away with never having to look at their little failures again.”

Scootaloo glared.

“Of course, you may die, but I guess it’s worth the risk for a bunch of blank flanks like—”

Wham!

Diamond Tiara had never been hit so hard in her life.

And the fact that she had been hit from the side only further confused her.

“Don’t you dare say that about the Royal Guard!” a familiar voice yelled.

“S-Spoon?” Tiara mumbled, her world spinning.

A silver figure swam into her vision before her face erupted into pain.

“Don’t you ever say that about the Royal Guard!”

Everypony on the playground watched in horror as Silver Spoon began to mercilessly punch Diamond Tiara in the face.

Tiara suddenly kicked upward with her hind legs, pushing Silver off of her.

“What is your problem?!” Diamond asked, putting her hoof to her face to check for blood.

Suddenly a woosh sounded over her head, and a dull thunk sounded from a tree behind her. Tiara turned, searching for the source of the sound, and found her namesake crown hanging from a spoon that had been dug into the wood.

She turned back to Spoon, who had yet more pieces of cutlery in her mouth.

“What—”

Thuf, thuf! Two more spoons, pilfered from a nearby lunchbox, dug into ground at Tiara’s hooves, and the filly just barely had enough time to jump out of the way of a third before Silver Spoon charged her, screaming in fury.

The fillies slammed into each other, and rolled around in the dirt as Spoon began to whale on the dominating, yet incredibly confused filly.

And then, in what was perhaps the most shocking part of the entire situation, Silver Spoon bit down on Tiara’s left cutie mark, and lifted it off her flank with a rip.

This was then quickly followed by the other one, and both velcro-backed tiaras lay there in the grass.

“Don’t! You! Ever! Say! That! Again!” Spoon screamed, punctuating each word with a punch into the offending pony’s face.

“What is going on out here!?” Miss Cheerilee said, picking the two up, separating them.

“She’s gone crazy!” Tiara yelled, a small trickle of blood falling from her nose.

Silver Spoon just screamed in futile fury as she flailed at the air in front of her.

“Time out, and then detention for the both of you!” Cheerilee yelled over the two before dragging them into the school house.

Everypony could only really stare as the two most notorious bullies in the school were dragged away, leaving only one question in mind.

What just happened?

<<<|Ω|>>>

“And I really like the idea of a vegetable garden,” Daisy Chain said, pointing at a rough diagram of her dream home, which was now definitely going to become a reality now. “It would be fairly easy to place a double tiered garden here in the kitchen.”

Dawn Flame pointed down on square that represented the kitchen. “I’d imagine that it would probably go better here,” he said, his armor glinting in the sunlight streaming through the windows.

“Well, we could put it there,” the mare said, “but then we could also put it...” the mare’s hoof brushed against Dawn’s and the two shared a brief moment of eye contact, before they quickly took interest in opposite corners of the room.

Alan raised an eyebrow.

That was the third time this had happened in the short time he had been watching Daisy Chain design her new home.

He knew that Dawn was a widower, and he had been hanging around for about six months now, so it wasn’t too far-fetched, but still.

“Come to any decisions?” Alan asked.

The two blinked as they looked at him.

“Um, yes!” Daisy said, “I think I definitely want the garden on the outside window.”

“Good,” Alan said, hiding his smirk as he drank from a glass of water. “Do you have a location picked out?”

“Well, there is a place that Dawn mentioned.”

“Yes, um, a little place off River road, just beyond the bridge, there’s a little hill that I think would be very nice.”

Alan nodded. “Alright, I think I can manage to work something out with the mayor.”

“Didn’t Miss Twilight want to study your new shouting thing again?”

“She’s giving me a couple more hours of being able to talk,” Alan said. “Which is greatly appreciated.”

Suddenly the library door slammed open.

“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Scootaloo cried.

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” Pipsqueak yelled.

“What?” the mare and stallion asked in unison.

“Ya gotta come help us!”

“What?” Daisy Chain asked.

“What happened?” Dawn said.

“Silver Spoon!” they answered together.

“What? Has she been bullying you again?” Dawn asked.

“No!” Pipsqueak answered. “Well, sort of!”

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came up to us after school,” Scootaloo started.

“And then she said something mean about the army,” Pipsqueak continued.

“And then, out of nowhere, Spoon just goes crazy!”

“She bucked Tiara across the playground and started punching her—”

“And then Silver just starts throwing spoons, and it was awesome—”

“And now Miss Cheerilee is holding her in detention until her mom picks her up—”

“But Chowder said Silver Spoon’s mom works in a cafe at Canterlot, and will probably be there all night—”

“So we need you to pick her up!” they finished, speaking together.

Daisy Chain and Dawn Flame blinked.

Alan set down his glass and sighed. “Alright, come along.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan was surprised to see that along with Daisy and Dawn, the Crusaders had also picked up Rarity, Spike, and Big Mac.

“Well, they’re certainly calling in the calvalry, aren’t they?”

“Calvalry?” Dawn asked.

“Nevermind,” he said as he led the way into the schoolhouse.

Opening the door, Alan found himself staring at the three occupants of the classroom. Cheerilee sat at her desk, Diamond Tiara pouting in one corner, and Silver Spoon in the other.

Alan thought he heard sobbing.

Cheerilee looked up at them, and quickly crossed the room. She gently pushed them outside and closed the door behind her. “I’m sorry, but I’m with a couple of students.”

“We’re aware,” Alan noted.

The Crusaders suddenly took center stage and began giving their teacher a very long list of reasons as to why she should let Silver Spoon go.

As they did, the Pendragon briefly wondered how Scootaloo knew that many words for “friend.”

“Girls, girls,” Cheerilee said, “I can’t just let her go. She beat Diamond Tiara, rather mercilessly, I might add. It would be irresponsible for me to let her go unpunished.”

“Miss Cheerilee,” Alan said, “I understand that Silver has to be punished, but I think something very serious is going on. Would you mind if I just talked to her?”

“Mr. Goldenhoof,” Cheerilee said, “I’ve have been teaching for the past ten years. I know when something serious is happening. I know that Diamond Tiara tends to be a little...well, I know she bullies the other foals, but I can’t do anything unless I catch her in the act. That being said, I know that Silver Spoon is going through something, but I can’t do anything if she doesn’t open up to me. She refuses to speak, and merely sits there, crying. I’ve managed to get Diamond to talk, but I can’t help Spoon until she actually talks to me.”

Alan nodded. “I see,” he said, before looking to the other gathered adults. “What do you guys think?”

“Honestly?” Spike asked. “I think Spoon should get a medal or something for smacking that brat up a bit. Did you know she tried bullying me? I’m a freakin’ dragon, and she tried to bulldoze me. That little monster needs to be stopped.”

“Well, Spike,” Rarity said, “from my understanding, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara are friends, or were, at least. Diamond must’ve done something very drastic to get this kind of a reaction out of her.”

“Kinda my point,” Spike said.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “No, Spike. Diamond Tiara probably has no idea what she said to get this kind of a rise out of the girl. This means it is something she doesn’t talk about, which in turn means that this event or action or what-have-you was probably very emotionally draining on the poor dear.”

“How’d you figure that?” the dragon asked.

“It’s all in the details, dear.”

Dawn nodded. “So what did she say then?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “We already told you, Dad! Tiara was saying some mean things about the army!”

“The Army?” Alan asked, putting a hoof to his chin. “Do you think maybe she lost somepony in the war?”

“It’s possible,” Daisy Chain said. “I’d imagine I would probably turn on my friends if they disrespected Thundersight’s choice.”

“Hm...” Alan pondered, before turning to the dark magenta school teacher. “Miss Cheerilee, I understand you tried speaking with her, but could you at least humor me, and let me try?”

Cheerilee hesitated. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

Alan nodded before opening the door to the small schoolhouse.

He entered just in time to see a crumpled ball of paper bounce off Silver Spoon’s head, and Diamond Tiara suddenly spin back to face her corner.

Alan shot her a look before trotting over to the corner of the grey filly.

Surrounding her were several crumpled notes, each seemed to have been tossed from the other side of the room. Curious, Alan opened one and read the hastily scrawled hoof writing.

“I hate you!”

Silver Spoon sobbed.

Alan frowned, before a hand made of magick swept the letters away.

Silver Spoon looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy behind her glasses.

Alan merely sat down next to her.

“What,” Silver sniffed, “what are you doing?”

“Sitting,” Alan answered.

“Why?” she asked.

Alan shrugged. “Because.”

Silver Spoon sniffed again.

“I heard that Diamond Tiara said some pretty mean things about the army,” Alan said.

Spoon began to sob again.

Alan draped his hoof across her , and she clung to it.

“Who was it, Spoon?” Alan asked.

“Daddy,” the filly cried.

Another fatherless foal.

“He-he-he,” she kept sobbing, forcing her to stutter. “He was a Royal Guard.”

“What happened?” Alan asked, as a mana-hand rubbed the poor filly’s back, trying to calm her down.

“He-he-he saw a tour carriage,” she said, “and it started fa-falling off a cliff. He was the first one there, and he got between the carriage and the cl-cliff.”

Alan nodded.

“He-he held it up, and made sure everypony got off safely, when the g-ground be-beneath...beneath him...” Tears began to stream from her eyes. “The-the pegasi couldn’t-couldn’t catch—”

“Shh...” Alan said, “it’s alright.”

“And now my only friend hates me! Everypony hates me! I’m a stupid filly with a stupid special talent.”

“Now, that’s not true,” Alan said.

“It is!” the filly cried. “I’m not smart enough to get As or Bs on my homework, I’m not as good at name calling as Tiara is, my special talent is throwing spoons, and the only one who has ever been my friend was Tiara, who now hates me, and because I was being a bully like her, everypony else hates me too!”

“Ah-Ah don’t hate you...” a voice said behind them.

Silver turned to see the three fillies that were normally her victims standing in the doorway of the classroom.

“Ah think you’ve been a bit of a bully, but Ah don’t hate ya,” Applebloom said.

“I thought you were kind of quiet, and a little bit annoying,” Pipsqueak said, “but I didn’t hate you.”

“I’ve made it a point not to hate anything awesome,” Scootaloo said, “and as much as I’d hate to admit it, that spoon throwing thing you did was kind of awesome.”

Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

The filly sniffed. “Y-you mean it?”

“Well, yeah!” Sweetie Belle said before Scootaloo stepped forward.

“I mean, sure, you were a bully and all,” the pegasus said, before holding out her hoof. “But if your dad was a hero, then you can’t be all bad.”

Silver Spoon sniffed again, and rubbed her eyes under her glasses, she then gave a small smile, before she brought her hoof up in a bump.

Alan smiled before standing up and walking over to the teacher. “Miss Cheerilee, I don’t suppose there is a way for us to postpone Spoon’s punishment, is there?”

Cheerilee looked at him.

“I just think it would be best if each guilty party had their punishment in isolation.”

Cheerilee smiled. “I’ll let you have that one.”

“Thank you,” Alan said, before turning to the foals. “Crusaders! Assemble!”

The three fillies jumped forward, each saluting with practiced perfection. “Sir! Reporting for duty, sir!” they called.

“Honorary members, front and center!”

Pipsqueak jumped forward, saluting as well.

Alan turned to eye Silver Spoon. “Well? You going to get up here?”

“B-but, but I already have my Cutie Mark...”

“I don’t think the girls would mind too much, would they?” he said, looking down at the trio.

They made a quick huddle, and a series of quick whispers passed amongst the fillies.

Suddenly they split and Sweetie Belle spoke. “We could always use somepony in our research division.”

Alan smiled as he looked over at the ex-bully. “Well?”

Silver Spoon could only smile.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Vistes!” Alan shouted as a jet of flame erupted from his open mouth.

The vermillion flames ate the straw dummy before him in a brilliant flash of heat and light. Within a matter of seconds, it had been totally reduced to ash.

And then Alan began to cough.

A tea cup floated over to him and he quickly took it and sipped at the soothing contents. “How’s that?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, before burying herself in notes and readings and statistics. Currently, there were outside in Twilight’s “backyard.” There was a fenced-off area for their testing, and Twilight had moved a few of her machines outside so that they could test Alan’s destructive shouts in relative safety.

“Incredible!” Twilight mumbled. “From these readings here, it seems that while Fastali is a more physical manifestation of magic, Vistes is the exact opposite. It’s actually more magical energy than Fastali, but because Fastali isn’t perfectly physical, Vistes isn’t perfectly energy, creating an equilibrium of magical output that is nearly unobtainable through modern spells!”

Alan rolled his eyes at his marefriend’s excitement over his new spell.

It was kind of cute watching her nerd out like that though.

It had been a week since Silver Spoon had joined up with the crusaders, and Alan was pleased to see that they were actually getting along really well.

In fact, the day after the whole event, the Crusaders had walked into class with a banner over their heads, bearing the “cutie mark” of one Diamond Tiara.

To make matters better, Filthy Rich, Tiara’s dad, who had repeatedly told his daughter to stop pestering the little sister of the manager of Sweet Apple Acres (and thereby the only source of Zap Apple Jam), had refused to buy her another set until she started behaving.

So, while the Crusaders did get a talking to for the banner, Diamond Tiara had been, and would likely remain, quiet for quite some time.

Smirking, Alan walked over, carrying the tea with him, before sitting down next to her and her mountain of paper.

Suddenly her head popped out from the mound of parchment and she planted a kiss on his cheek. “You are the best coltfriend a scientist could ask for.”

Alan tried to chuckle, but wound up coughing instead. He quickly took another sip of tea, and did his best to keep it in the back of his throat for as long as possible before swallowing.

It was getting better, Alan knew, but this shouting was really tough on his throat.

Maybe that’s why the shouts in Skyrim were on a cooldown, Alan thought, it hurts too much to use them in quick succession.

As he was in the middle of this thought process, Daisy Chain came from around the tree. “Mail call,” she said with a smile.

Twilight was too buried in her research to hear, so Alan took the letters and gave Daisy a nod of thanks. She nodded and turned to leave.

He quickly flipped through them, using four mana hands at a time to keep everything afloat.

Two letters in particular caught his attention.

Ooh...

Alan had yet another hand quickly fish into the head-high pile of paper, and tap the studious unicorn on the shoulder.

Her head popped up again, and she looked over at the now-silent stallion.

He nodded towards the house, miming that he was going inside.

“Oh! Sure. Go ahead,” she said.

Alan nodded before heading for the front door, sipping tea as he went.

Once inside he took the two letters and opened them.

He scanned them quickly, reading as fast as he could.

Tuesday, and then...Wednesday? Sweet! Perfect timing.

It was going to be a good Wednesday.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight sat in her basement on Wednesday morning. She was furiously scribbling in her notes, her face the epitome of concentration.

The shouting magic was just too good to resist.

Ancient, traditional magic was very closely related to words. It was a big reason why many unicorns needed to research a spell thoroughly before casting it. A great example was the spell she cast on the parasprites— it made them stop eating food, but that opened doors for them to eat everything else.

But these.

These were words in an arcane language. They had been crafted specifically for the purpose of these spells. A mistranslation was impossible, as they only had this meaning, and nothing else.

They were actually not entirely dissimilar from the original Unicornian language, which was also an arcane language. An ancient Unicornian only needed to think of the word related to the spell, and it would come to be.

In fact, their spells were actually more powerful than modern day spells.

Unfortunately they kept that language a closely guarded secret, and before long it died out.

And ponies wondered why she thought oral history was overrated.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands run down her back. A shiver went up her spine, and she felt her coltfriend’s voice tickle in her ear. “My Star, where have you been?”

“Here,” she answered meekly.

“Why?” Alan asked.

“Be-because this needs...” she trailed off as a third hand suddenly began scratching at that spot behind her ear.

A part of her wished she didn’t have it, mostly because it was far too similar to dogs for her liking.

The other part recognized it as feeling far too good to care.

She practically melted into him, and his forelegs wrapped around her in a warm embrace.

“What does it need?” Alan asked.

“Hm...nothing right now...” Twilight moaned.

“Are you sure?” He asked, lightly kissing her neck.

“Yes...”

“Good,” Alan said, before nibbling her ear. “Are you free tonight?”

Twilight smiled, her work temporarily forgotten. “I may be.”

“Good, because I have a trip planned.”

That got her attention. “A trip? Where?”

Alan merely smiled, before planting a kiss on the end of her nose. “Just meet me outside at four. Bring Daisy, Dawn, Silver Spoon, Scootaloo, and Pip.”

Twilight blinked at the request.

“But, I thought...”

“You’ll see,” Alan reassured, before slipping away from her.

“But—”

“You’ll see!” Alan said, as he disappeared up the stairs, leaving Twilight in her basement, slightly confused.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight and the gathered band of ponies stood outside the library at 3:53 pm.

And the poor unicorn just had absolutely no idea what to do.

From his approach and the mood he set back down in the basement, she felt as if she should be wearing makeup and a dress. Which is odd in and of itself, considering she didn’t even wear makeup to the Grand Galloping Gala, and that was one of the very few events she actually dressed for.

But then he invites Daisy, Dawn, and three foals?

Talk about mixed signals.

And so, Twilight stood there, naked as she usually was, and wondering whether or not she should run inside and at least put some blush on her cheeks.

Of course, then she was reminded that she didn’t actually own any blush, and the largest, most reliable source of it was at least 2.6 minutes away. This meant that it would take at least five minutes and twelve seconds just to get there and come back, not including the time it would take to apply it, as well as explain to Rarity (because who else would have blush just lying around) why she needed it without having the fashionista pull her into a full-blown makeover.

Of course...if she teleported, she would theoretically be able to cut time by five minutes...

Could Rarity give her a makeover in five minutes?

“Where is he?” Scootaloo whined.

Ah. Right. The foals are here, and getting all dolled up in front of them would seem—

“Up here!” a voice called from above them.

The six ponies looked up, and their jaws dropped.

Gently dropping down to them was an air yacht. The long, slender envelop coming to a bronze-tipped spike, and a large fin running down its length. Behind the envelope was a spiraling propellor, spinning in a double helix. Three portholes in the hull, along with a domed-shaped observation deck allowed Twilight to see into the ship. And finally, coming off the hull of the ship were numerous wooden spines that reminded her of a lionfish.

“Behold, my little ponies, the Victory! Or at least, I’m thinking about Victory, I may call her the Firefly, or maybe the Harmony...”

As the Victory dropped lower, Alan began moving to the edge of the ship before throwing down the gangplank.

“Welcome aboard!” Alan said, wearing a tricorn hat with the third incarnation of his duster. This time, rather than the inverted cutie marks over his flanks, his coat had a large silver dragon embroidered on the back. The smile on his face spread from ear to ear, as the foals suddenly rushed up to the ship, gasping in awe at whatever their eyes fell on.

Dawn and Daisy were the next ones up, and their faces conveyed a similar state of awe. Finally, up came Twilight who looked slightly confused. “You bought a boat?”

“Yup,” Alan said proudly.

“Why?” she asked.

Alan smirked. “Well how else are we getting to Canterlot in thirty minutes?”

Twilight blinked.

Alan laughed. “Just trust me, my Little Star. Just trust me,” he said, raising the gangplank. “Alright, attention, passengers!” Alan growled in his best pirate voice. “Arr, welcome aboard. We be arrivin’ at Canterlot Castle within the ‘our. Until then, you’re welcome to the galley, mostly because it’s empty. Head’s at the head of the ship, and stay on the inside. Don’t need Mr. Flame fishin’ you out of the sky.” Alan smiled as he walked over to the helm. “Now, Fillies and Gentlecolts, off we go!”

The Victory began to rise, and as it did, Alan couldn’t help but sing.

“Take my love.

Take my land.

Take me where I cannot stand.

I don't care, I'm still free.

You can't take the sky from me.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The oak hull of the Victory cut through the clouds like waves on the sea.

And Pipsqueak was loving it!

This! Just this! All of this! It was amazing!

Nothing but sky above, and the ground far below, for once in his life, the spotted colt wished he had been born a pegasus. There was just so much to see, so much to discover, and he was still over Equestria!

He scrambled across the deck, excitedly looking over the edge from here to there, to here again.

And then his eyes fell on the helm.

It was majestic.

That single mahogany wheel controlled this vessel. Its every turn and rotation decided where this marvelous ship would go.

It symbolized the ultimate in freedom and power.

“Do you want to try it, Pip?”

The colt shook his head when he heard the voice, before noticing the pilot. Almost like an afterthought. Mr. Goldenhoof asked him something.

“W-what?”

“Do you want to try piloting her?”

The poor boy couldn’t believe his ears. Was...was he actually...

“Do...” he began, “do you mean that?”

Alan smiled before waving the colt over. Pipsqueak approached in a daze.

“Take the helm, Master Pipsqueak,” Alan said, stepping back.

The colt carefully took the hoofholds.

“Now just keep her steady, Pip, we’ve got our destination set, so just keep her on course.”

Pip nodded, his eyes wide as Alan slowly let go, leaving the Victory in the colt’s control.

“Oh my Celesti...gosh...” he thought, remembering not to swear, “I can’t believe I’m actually flying a ship. It’s...amazing...”

As Alan let Pip go, he was quickly approached by Daisy Chain. “Are you sure it’s safe to let him pilot the ship?” she asked, desperately trying to hide the worry in her voice.

Alan smiled before whispering, “Don’t worry, Miss Chain, I had a system installed that deactivates the helm, he’s not controlling anything.”

She blinked. “Why install something like that?” she asked, obviously confused,

“What fun is there in owning an airship if you can’t spin the helm like a madman without killing everypony?”

Daisy blinked, unsure if that answer made sense, but nonetheless, let it slide. Besides, Pip was enjoying himself holding the wheel steady. It was actually the biggest smile she had seen on his face since Thundersight died.

<<<|Ω|>>>

As the Victory touched down at the Canterlot Skydock, Alan piloting for safety's sake, he explained to his passengers why exactly they were here.

“I’ve brought you all here today to show you what griffon craftmasters and a few thousand bits will do after a war.”

“What do you mean by that?” Pip asked.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Alan answered. “It’s kind of a surprise.”

Twilight was very curious.

As the six ponies began to make their way forward, they were suddenly approached by two guards, and a familiar captain. “Shining!” Alan called, “how’s it going?”

The stallions met with a hoof bump. “Going alright. You came to see it?”

“No, I came to see your ugly mug. Of course I did.”

Shining laughed. “Right, right. So then, if you’ll follow me.”

The ponies followed, still curious and growing increasingly annoyed that none of their questions were being answered.

Shining and Alan trotted at the front of the party, sharing as they walked. “The griffons have been behaving themselves, and their stuff’s actually pretty amazing,” Shining said.

“Not that surprised, they do have thumbs.”

They went up a staircase, through an arch, and before long they found themselves in the Canterlot Gardens.

Shining led them around, and then, suddenly, they found themselves before the newest addition to the statuary.

Before them stood a perfectly smooth obelisk of obsidian, the core of which seemed to glow. Along the sides were written hundreds of names, and at the top the words “Hail the Victorious Dead” were written.

“It’s carved just thin enough to let the enchanted stone shine through,” Shining explained. “And we’ve got another enchantment on the obsidian itself to help soldiers and families find their loved ones.”

Alan nodded before waving Pip over.

As the colt approached, Alan thought of the boy’s father, and sure enough, a single name began to glow on the obelisk’s surface.

As Alan and Pip looked at that single name, Alan spoke. “Pipsqueak, I want you to know, that no matter what happens, your father was a good stallion, and he will be remembered.”

Pipsqueak nodded, tears in his eyes.

Alan slowly backed away, leaving the boy and the stone alone, before sighing as he looked down at the black piece of cloth tied around his fetlock. Sighing again, Alan gave the stone a salute, before turning away.

Alan gave Dawn a look, to which the pegasus nodded in return, and then he made his way towards Twilight. “Come on, Twi. You and me and getting dinner.”

“What about everypony else?” she asked.

Alan smiled. “That’s why I brought chaperones.”

“Chaperones?” she asked.

“Well, it simply won’t do letting a bunch of foals running around Canterlot unattended, would it?”

Twi blinked as Alan moved past her.

“But...”

A mana-hand appeared under her chin and pulled her towards him. “I just wanted to make sure Pip saw the memorial before we went on our date.”

That word grabbed Twilight's heart with an icy claw. This was a date. She-she wasn’t prepared for this! She wasn’t dressed for it! She hadn’t read up on dating, she didn’t know proper procedures!

Yet again she was caught without flashcards!

“It’s a little early yet for dinner,” Alan said, noticing the sun, “but I thought we could stop by the Grand Market before we got where we’re going.”

The...the Market?

He’s been doing his research.

Once she had ran out of books to read in the Canterlot Public Library, back when she had lived at the castle, her hungry eyes had turned to Market. It held hundreds of ponies each one selling anything and everything they could get their hooves on. There was bound to be a book or two that she hadn’t read there, and it had become something of a ritual to go down to the Market every Wednesday and see what was around.

It was maybe the only social interaction she had back when she was a full-time student.

“You want to go to the Market?” she asked.

“Yeah, it can’t be that bad, can it?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

It was not what Alan was expecting.

A massive plaza, spanning several blocks, had been dedicated to the Market, and every square inch either had a pony or a merchant’s cart. The air was filled with cries and yells as ponies everywhere bargained and haggled.

Upon entering, Alan was totally lost.

He had lost total sense of the direction in the crowd. He, for the life of him, couldn’t even tell where he had come from. He was being jostled this way and that. For a second, he had a flashback to his first battle in the war, where the first griffon hitting his sword had sent his head spinning until instinct could take over.

A particularly rude pony shoved him in the back, and Alan practically slammed forward into a table.

His eye spun in his head as he tried to get his bearings.

“Well? You gonna buy something?” a voice asked.

Alan’s eyes slowly focused on the merchant pony in front of him, who was wearing a bit of a scowl.

Alan blinked, and found himself staring at some rather nice jewelry.

“Ah! There you are, Alan,” Twilight said, appearing next to him with three, newly bought items in a magical aura above her. “You ran off suddenly, had to track you down.”

At the sight of a mare in the company of a male with cash, the shopkeep brightened. “Doesn’t anything catch your eye, sir? Maybe something for the lady?”

“Uh...” Alan blinked before collecting himself to point out a gold bracelet. “How much?”

“Eighty,” the shopkeep set.

Alan reached for his coinpurse.

“Eighty!” Twilight yelled. “That’s highway robbery at best!”

Alan looked over at her, somewhat confused. “Money’s not an issue...”

“Oh, is it now?” the merchant asked the purple unicorn.

“At. Best,” Twilight repeated. “There’s obvious wear along the edges, and I can tell the stone is not recognized by the royal treasury from here. It’s worth twenty on a good day.”

“Twilight...” Alan protested.

“Twenty!” The shopkeep roared. “Twenty! Are you daft?!”

“The term is reasonable,” Twilight responded. “Luckily for you, we happen to be living comfortably at the moment, so we’ll give you forty. No more.”

The Shopkeep frowned. “Fifty,” he said.

Twilight turned on her hooves and began to walk.

“Fine! Forty!” The shopkeep said.

Twilight was back at the table in less than a second. “Thank you,” she said, slipping her hoof into the bracelet. “Alan, if you’d be so kind.”

Alan blinked as Twilight was off again.

“So she’s back is she?” the merchant said with a frown. “I may have to tell my wife to start dieting again.”

Alan blinked.

And then he spotted something.

Standing, he quickly spoke to the shopkeep. “Sir, perhaps I could make it up to you...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

When the two unicorns finally stepped out of the market, it was around seven in the evening.

Twilight had bought nine different items, all of which she had purchased for a total of less than a hundred bits.

“Oh, it felt good to be back in the Market!” Twilight said, smiling.

“It was fun,” Alan admitted, “but I have to ask, where did you learn to haggle like that?”

“My mom,” Twilight answered. “She was ruthless when it came to spending money. She was so good at haggling, she was actually temporarily banned from the Market once.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Well, I say banned, but it was more like nopony would sell to her.”

“Ah.”

Twilight smiled as she looked over at Alan. “You think maybe we should make dinner quick? I’d hate to leave Daisy, Dawn and the foals for so long.”

“Oh they’re fine,” Alan said, “what’s the worse trouble they could get into?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“How does an Earth pony even get that high up?!” Dawn yelled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan blinked. “Don’t answer that.”

Twilight gave him a look.

“Alright, alright, we’ll make it quick. Know any good places around here?”

“There’s a sandwich stand around the corner that I like.”

“Sounds good, Radish, lettuce, and tomato, right?”

“As always.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright,” Alan said, walking onto the deck of the Victory, “I hope nothing too exciting happened.”

“Everything’s fine,” Dawn responded tensely.

Alan regarded the pegasus for a second.

“Alright then. Why don’t you guys go below deck and catch a rest?”

“Aye, aye, cap'n,” the soldier responded.

“But I don’t wanna go to sleep...” Pipsqueak yawned.

Daisy Chain nudged him. “Yes you do.”

The foals groaned as they were herded below deck, leaving only Twilight and Alan under the white envelope.

The Victory hardly made a sound as she floated through the air, and Twilight smiled as she watched the stars go by. Today she had had her first date, and with a stallion who loved her so very much. She drew closer to him, pressing against his side as he set their course.

Ten minutes passed by in total silence.

“Hey, Twilight,” Alan said, getting her attention.

“Yes?” she answered.

“I...I just...I got you something...” he said, before a small amulet hovered up to her neck. It had a simple pendent of silver, with an outer ring of gold, and a large purple jade at the center. “I...I just want to let you know what you mean to me...and...I...”

Twilight kissed him. “I love you, Alan.”

Alan smiled. “I love you too, my beautiful Star.”

And there we go.

“Bout time we got back to the slice of life goodness.”

“I'll say. While we're on the topic, can we have ‘Soul Man’ again?”

“So cute!”

Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Anyway, there’s going to be another chapter like this before the all important wedding, and then some very interesting things are going to happen.

Until then, stay Brony my friends.

“Remember to comment and thumbs up if you haven’t!”

Bye!

Omake (Becuase the Princess Bride is awesome):

In a universe not unlike Equestria...

Pipsqueak Mountoya stood in the small hut of the odd unicorn before him, on the table lay the body of the Mare in Black, a grey woman of great power, who was currently dead.

The unicorn, a strange old man with a crazed-looking eye, picked up a single hoof of the body and let it drop.

Thud.

“I’ve seen worse,” he said. “How much you got?”

“Sixty-five,” Pipsqueak answered.

“Ooh, never have I worked for so little, and that was a noble cause.”

“This is noble, sir.” Pipsqueak’s thick Spreinish accent filled the room. “Her husband is cripple, her children are starving. She needs help.”

The unicorn looked at him. “Boy, aren’t you a rotten liar? I’m sorry, kid, but I’m not going to mess with the natural order of the world for anything less than a hundred.”

“Sir, please, I beg you.”

“Look, kid, Princess Tiara fired me, does that say nothing to you?”

“It means you should help!”

“How on Equestria did you get that?”

“Tiara marries this mare’s true love tonight! See was in pursuit of him until she was killed. If we—”

“Da! Dadadadadadada! Da!” the unicorn interrupted, waving his hooves in front of the swordspony. “This filly lives, Tiara suffers?”

Pipsqueak smiled. “Humiliations galore.”

“Ha!” the unicorn said, smiling before placing an odd-looking cloth cap on his head. “Now that, is a noble cause! Give me the sixty-five, I’m on the job!”

29-Growing Flames

Chapter 29

Alan hummed to himself as he polished down the wooden railing to the Victory. The ship, fondly dubbed as “his baby,” sat only a few yards in the air, level with Twilight's balcony.

“Why did you have to dock it there?” Twilight whined from the balcony, an open book lying in front of her.

“Where else am I going to put her?” Alan shot back.

“I don’t know! But does it have to be here?” Twilight moaned. “You’re blocking my light, and my telescope.”

“You’re welcome to move them on deck,” Alan said.

“Like I am going to move a three hundred bit telescope onto that rickety thing!”

“It is not rickety!”

“Will you two shut up?!” Spike yelled from inside.

“No!” The unicorns shouted in unison. They looked at each other for a moment, and then laughed.

“Alright, alright,” Alan conceded. “I’ll try backing her up a bit,”

“Thank you,” Twilight said.

Alan walked over to the helm, and with a few quick motions from the silver hands, he set the engines to quarter speed back, and began the dangerous task of backing the ship up.

“That’s good! Right there!” he heard Twilight call once the yacht had backed up about halfway through the balcony.

Alan reversed the engines, flipping the switch the quarter speed ahead and then to off, letting the Victory come to a standstill.

He smiled for a second, before quickly looking left and right for any pegasi in the area.

Finding none, he gripped the helm with both hooves and gave it a spin. “Woosh!” Alan muttered, before suddenly grabbing it, and spinning it the other way. “Woooo!”

His need to be silly satisfied, Alan then dropped to all fours and made his way to the prow, and back into view of the balcony.

Twilight gave him a knowing smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alan replied, making a quick jump to the balcony from the deck.

“Uh-huh,” Twilight muttered, going back to her book.

“Hey, you hungry?” Alan asked.

“A little,” she admitted, not looking up from her book.

“Alright, well I guess I’ll head over to Sugarcube Corner and bring you back a cupcake or something.”

“Well...” Twilight began, “I’m feeling more like an eclair today.”

“Coming up!” Alan said before heading inside.

With a few quick hops, Alan was already down stairs, passing by Dawn Flame, Daisy Chain, and a very bored-looking Spike. Walking straight past the three of them, Alan quickly went out into the street, and headed for the bakery.

He did pause for a second to admire his ship one more time, though.

After a short trot, Alan came up to Sugarcube Corner, and was surprised to see Mr. Cake behind the counter.

“Well, hey there, Alan! What can I get you today?”

“I’ll have chocolate glazed doughnut and one eclair, please,” the Pendragon ordered.

“Coming up!” the earth pony said, ducking behind the glass counter.

“So, if you don’t mind my asking, where’s Pinkie?”

“Oh, I have no idea,” Mr. Cake said, almost nonchalantly.

“No idea?” Alan repeated.

“Not a clue.”

“And you’re not worried?”

Mr. Cake looked up at him. “Alan, look. Pinkie does this. She’s here one day, gone the next, and then back again within a day. She doesn’t tell anypony where she’s going, she doesn’t tell anypony when she’s going. She just goes.”

“And you’re fine with that? Just leaving her work like that?”

“No,” Mr. Cake said, placing both the doughnut and the eclair into a brown paper bag. “But I really don’t have much choice.”

Alan blinked.

“Don’t worry too much. Even though she’s alone, she’s always been able to handle herself.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

But Pinkie wasn’t alone.

The very nervous stallion next to her was practically sweating bullets as they both walked up the narrow dirt road. Soarin, member of the Wonderbolts, was shaking as he was about to do the single most terrifying thing any male has ever done across the dimensions of reality.

Meet his marefriend’s family.

He wore his formal uniform, bristling with as many medals as he had to help impress them, but he still couldn’t keep his wings from twitching.

“Oh, relax, Soary,” Pinkie said, “I’m sure they’ll love you.”

Soarin, however was not so easily convinced. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Because I have some pretty bad experiences with earth ponies. Wing envy and all that...”

“I’m an earth pony,” Pinkie pointed out.

“You’re an exception,” Soarin explained.

“Oh, don’t be silly, Soarin. You’ll be fine.”

Soarin didn’t say anything further, but his wingtips were twitching crazily. If he had been paying more attention, he would have noticed the dry, barren ground around them, and twisted, gnarled brambles that flanked the dusty path.

He did however, notice Pinkie’s rather sudden yell directed at the small wooden shed. “I’m ho-ooooooooooommmmmmeee~!”

Soarin flinched as the high-decibel shockwave of sound blew past him. Sweet apple pies, she has a good set of lungs.

Down the road, the simple door to the cabin opened, and the figure of a stallion stood in it.

Pinkie quickly shot forward, dashing down the road at a speed that usually only pegasi could reach.

But, as Soarin had quickly learned, there was hardly anything that Pinkie couldn’t do.

Smiling, despite the fact that his wings were still twitching, Soarin took flight, closing the distance between him and his marefriend’s childhood home.

“...and so I became a general, and then I was blowing things up, and then I saw a mountain, and it had carbonite in it!” Soarin heard Pinkie explain to the golden brown stallion with the grey mane and a pickaxe cutie mark.

“Sounds like you ‘n your friends get into a lot of trouble,” the stallion said, in a slow, deep voice.

“Oh, nothing big, Daddy,” Pinkie assured.

“I’m sure,” he said, smiling. “Well, Inkie will be home soon; why don’t you come on inside? Blinkie’s making fillet de hay tonight, your favorite.”

“Sure!” Pinkie said, in what Soarin noticed to be an almost comic contrast to her father’s slow, calm voice. “But first, I’d like to introduce you to somepony!” She slid over to where Soarin stood and quickly draped her foreleg around his withers. “This is Soarin, my special somepony.”

The stallion’s expression soured like a ripe lemon.

Soarin gulped.

“He’s a Wonderbolt, and an army captain, and he also saved my life.”

The stallion’s frown lightened slightly. Very slightly.

“Soarin, this is my Daddy, Clyde.”

“A-a pleasure to meet you...Sir...” Soarin said, mentally kicking himself for being so spineless.

“That’s Mister Clyde, sir, to you, Sonny,” the stallion corrected, shooting the Wonderbolt a glare that could drill through diamonds.

“Yes, Mister Clyde, sir.”

“Who’s at the door, Daddy?” A feminine voice shouted from inside.

“Pinkie,” Clyde replied, “and a friend.”

“Friend?” the voice said again, as a greyish-purple mare pushed her way passed the father. Her light-grey mane was done up in a nice, tight bun, and she wore a simple apron, which barely left her cutie mark revealed, a split geode.

“Hi, Blinkie!” Pinkie chirped. “This is Soarin, my special somepony!”

Blinkie blinked, and then gave the stallion a face-splitting smile.

Soaring wondered if it ran in the family.

Pinkie’s sister practically shoved Clyde out of the way as she got almost uncomfortably close to the pegasus stallion. “Why hello, there! My name is Blinkamena Susan Pie, or just Blinkie for short.”

“Blinkie!” Clyde said in a bit of a whine, as he was being shoved into the doorway.

“Don’t let Daddy here put you off, he just means well.”

“Blinkie!”

“He always said that the best part about raising daughters was scaring the manure out of the coltfriends.”

“Blinkie!” The stallion cried, sounding very angry.

“Well, come on in!” the purple mare cried, waving a hoof. “No need to stand out here like a couple of boulders waiting for a landslide, come in! Come in!”

Clyde grumbled as he followed couple inside. Something about ruining the whole experience.

The inside of the cabin was not what Soarin was expecting.

He had imagined a simple, dimly lit wooden room with a potbelly stove and candles. Instead he found himself staring at tightly-packed hardwood floors, immaculate white wallpaper, and a large bookshelf, lined with...the Daring Do books?

“Please, sit down, make yourself comfortable” Blinkie said, motioning to the table, where a few plates of dinner sat, steaming. “It won’t take me long to whip up a couple of more plates for you two,” she explained, before shooting a look at her father. “Be nice, Daddy.”

The stallion grumbled, removing his hat.

Silence permeated the bright room, and Soarin quickly felt uncomfortable.

Clyde glared at him.

“So...” Soarin said suddenly, and instantly regretting it. I need a topic! Quick!His eyes fell on the bookshelves, and the single series it proudly bore. “Who’s into Daring Do?”

“Oh!” Pinkie cired, excited. “Inkie,” she began before suddenly shoving her hoof into her own mouth. “Ohf waith...Ah pwomised noth tho thell!”

Soarin blinked.

Before he could even open his mouth to ask what she meant by that, the door opened and a grey mare entered the room. She had a dark grey mane that hung straight over the left side of her face, and a pair of saddlebags on her back. “Behold!” she said in an overly dramatic voice. “I have returned!”

“Inkie!” Pinkie cried, before crossing the room and hugging her sister in a bone-crushing embrace.

“Gak!” the grey mare exclaimed as she felt air rapidly escape her lungs. “Hi, Pinkie!”

The pink ball of energy dropped her sister, and Soarin noticed with interest that the new mare had a book with a compass on the cover as her cutie mark.

Inkie took three rather deep gulps of air, before her eyes finally settled on the Wonderbolt. “Oh, hello. It’s not often that Pinkie brings company with her.”

“This is Soarin!” Pinkie cheered, a sudden burst of confetti blowing up behind him in a fanfare. “He’s my special somepony.”

Inkie looked at Pinkie, eyes wide. “You found somepony who’ll put up with your craziness?”

Soarin frowned. “She’s not that cra—”

“Yup!” Pinkie interrupted.

“Miracles do happen,” Inkie mumbled, before holding out a hoof to the Wonderbolt. “My name is Inkamena Joanne Pie, pleasure to meet you.”

Soarin took the hoof. “Um, My name is Soarin.”

“The Wonderbolt, right?” Inkie asked.

Soarin smirked. “The one and only.”

“That’s nice,” Inkie said, a smile on her lips, before digging into her saddle bags. “Here’s my next check for the books, Daddy.”

She quickly handed the check to her father, holding in just such a way as to show off the six digit number printed on its face.

Soarin blinked.

“Oh! Did you see that?” Inkie said, giving her best embarrassed tone to her question. “Now you know that I write a very popular book series!”

Soarin rolled his eyes. “Alright, I get it. I’m not the only big wig in the room.”

Inkie chuckled. “Sorry, but I don’t get to play that card too often. So, a Wonderbolt, huh? That has to be fun.”

“Well, I’m sure Surprise has told you all about it.”

“Oh, is that how you met Pinkie?”

“Yeah, actually, she’s been trying to play matchmaker on the team for the past two years.”

As the two talked, Clyde sighed. He was really looking forward to having the stallion at least shake in his horseshoes.

“Soup's on!” Blinke cried from the kitchen.

The three mares and two stallions made their way to the table, as Blinkie quickly placed an extra two plates on the table. Sitting down, Blinkie quickly released her hair from the bun, letting it droop over the right side of her face, and they began to eat.

Conversation was light amongst them, Inkie asking about the finer point of flying for her books, and Blinkie spoke of rock formations and farming techniques.

Soarin learned many things at that table with Pinkie’s family. He learned that Inkie had always been the most creative of the three, while Blinke had always had a knack for finding gems.

“Gems?” Soarin asked.

“Well, duh!” Blinkie answered. “That’s what we do here. Or at least, us working ponies.”

“Shut your mouth or I will shut it for you,” Inkie replied in a deadpan.

“Um, back to the gems? I thought you guys farmed rocks.”

“Gems are rocks,” the whole family answered in unison.

“We ‘weed’ most of the time,” Blinke said, “movin’ stones like granite or shale around, organizin’ them, and then sellin’ them to contractors. The real money in rock farmin’ though, is in gems.”

Talk went on from there to work in general, life at home, Soarin’s own family and friends. Clyde even began to ask the stallion questions, his authoritative and accusatory tone slowly dropping.

As they went on, nopony noticed that Pinkie Pie went quiet.

After the plates had been emptied, and Soarin still spoke with the friendly family he had just met, Pinkie suddenly stood up. “I’m going to go check up on Mom now.”

The entire table went silent.

Clyde nodded. “Alright, Pinkie. We’ll be here.”

Blinkie nodded, “Y-yeah, go ahead, we’ll be waiting...”

“Call if you need us,” Inkie said before Pinkie suddenly left.

Soarin sat there, wondering what was going on. Now that he thought about it, where was Mrs. Pie? “Um, am I missing something?”

Inkie, Blinkie, and Clyde all looked at him.

Soarin suddenly felt the need to sink into the floor.

Inkie sighed. “Well...if she likes you enough to bring you home, you probably need to know...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie climbed the small, barren hill. At the crest of the dusty hill stood a dead oak, and a single, solitary stone.

“Hi, Mom!” Pinkie said to the stone.

Silence.

“I’ve been doing well,” she continued, “and I see that Blinkie finally found your cookbook.”

The stone said nothing.

“I’ve brought home my special somepony home, just like you always said I should.”

The stone did not reply.

Pinkie’s smile faltered.

“I-I miss you, Mommy...and...and...” Pinkie hesitated, and her mane began to deflate. Her vision became blurry as she stared at the lonely stone. “And...and...I’m sorry...I’m so, so sorry.”

The stone remained silent.

“I-I didn’t mean for this to happen...” Pinkie said, sobbing. “If-if only I had listened! If only I had known! You told me to stay away from that ridge!” she screamed, beating the dirt with her hooves. “And I didn’t listen.”

The stone gave no comfort.

“And now you’re dead, all because of me.”

The stone didn’t argue.

“But-but,” Pinkie said, sniffing as tears fell to the dusty ground. “I just have to keep on smiling, because it’s my job to smile. I have to smile, even if I don’t want to. I gotta smile for everypony else, I’ve got to cheer them up, and you can’t cheer up ponies with a sad face.”

The stone made no comment.

Pinkie cried.

She sobbed on the stone, its silence both mocking and comforting. It stabbed at her like a knife, but it was the only thing she had.

A hoof touched her shoulder, and she looked up to see Soarin standing there.

She launched herself into him, crying into his chest as his wings enveloped her in a warm embrace.

The stone watched in silence.

Pinkie was hurt. She was still hurting.

But Pinkie wasn’t alone.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Yeehaw!” Applejack yelled as she jumped a fence, Silver Pauldrons following close behind, lasso in mouth.

Silver Pauldrons spun the lasso as fast as he could, before tossing it at the orange earth pony.

It landed next to her, catching nothing but air. “Ya ain’t gonna catch me with a toss like that,” the farmer laughed.

Silver growled before gathering up the lasso again.

Applejack zig-zagged through the trees, weaving through the orchard that she was so familiar with.

Silver had a hard time keeping up.

“Ya ain’t never gonna be a herder at this rate, Grey Hairs!”

Silver started spinning the lasso again.

“Come on! It ain’t that hard!” she taunted.

Silver threw the lasso again, only for the farmer’s tail to slip through it by an inch.

The soldier growled as he gathered the lasso up again, and continued his chase of the orange pony.

Applejack taunted him again, shooting off the best catcalls she knew as she dodged through the trees. “Granny can move faster than you, come on!”

Silver followed closely behind, doing his best to avoid running straight into the trees that all but surrounded him.

“Why am I doing this again?” he asked himself. To learn how to properly herd and direct a stampede. “I know that, but why?” It seemed like a pointless exercise, chase Applejack until he caught her with a lasso. Once caught, he had to tie her up until she yielded, and then she’d throw him into a tug-o-war with Big Mac. Sure it taught him accuracy and strength with a lasso, but he came here to learn about taking care of plants.

But, back to the exercise. All he really needed was a clear shot, and he’d have her.

A streak of orange flashed across her vision.

“Not yet...”

She flew between two trees, and Silver barely caught sight of the triple apple cutie mark.

“Not yet...”

Her covered head ducked under a nearby branch.

“Now!” His mind screamed. and with every ounce of his strength, he tossed the lasso forward. His neck snapped back, his eyes coming off his target as he pulled, hoping beyond hope that—

The line went taunt.

Silver grinned through gritted teeth.

He turned, throwing his weight against his quarry. All he had to do now was tie her up, and he'd be done with this stupid exercise.

She was putting up an excellent fight, there was barely any give in the rope as he pulled, and the dirt beneath his hooves was starting to give way.

“Silver...”

Silver grunted as he pulled, but was unable to make the pony move.

“Silver...”

By Celestia’s Simmering Summer! Did she eat bricks or something for breakfast?

“Silver, let go of mah tree.”

Silver stopped pulling and turned his head to see Applejack simply standing there. The lasso was caught on the branch next to her.

Desperately trying to hide the blush in his cheeks, Silver dropped the rope. “I...uh...” he briefly considered saying he meant to do that, but that would mean he meant to yank at a tree. “Right...”

Applejack laughed, as she gathered the old rope. “You did alright for today, Silver, why don’t we call it done?”

“Sounds good,” the stallion sighed, before following Applejack towards the barn.

As the two walked to Sweet Apple Acres’ main building, Applejack took a long look at the soldier.

His bronze fur seemed to gleam in the sunlight, and his silver mane, while a golden opportunity to make old jokes, suited him well. As stallions went he was not half bad looking.

He was also a hard worker, something she greatly respected in, well, anypony actually. In the time he had been at the farm, he had managed to pull up a few stumps of some trees that had begun to rot, move a couple dozen barrels of cider to be stored for fermenting, helped Big Mac plow their corn fields for their side business, and even helped rebuild the hayloft.

He also had quite the mind. Thankfully it wasn’t any of that fancy mathematics stuff, just some good, old-fashioned, down-to-earth wisdom. Like that talk that Silver had given her back during the war—it’s war, it’s not supposed to feel right. There’s nothing right about killing somepony or somegriff where they stand, but it was a sad, necessary sacrifice to protect her home.

She suddenly realized she was staring and snapped her head forward.

“Something wrong?” Silver asked, noticing the sudden movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Nope,” AJ replied, staring straight forward to keep him from seeing the blush on her cheeks.

Silver cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t push her. He had learned fairly quickly that whenever Applejack devolved into a one-word vocabulary she was either really mad, or really nervous. And, well, if she was mad, there was no way he was going to push anything.

As the saying went: “Tartarus hath no fury like a mare scorned.”

But...she didn’t look angry, so was she nervous about something? What?

“No!” his mind screamed. “Just assume she’s angry! Don’t get involved in this! Think about something else.”

Right, that was a safe thing to do.

So Silver’s thoughts turned to his stay in Ponyville. It was really possible because of the Pendragon’s initiative to have a minimal force of trained guards in every town as a form of protection should worse come to worse, although he had a sneaking suspicion it was just so that one pegasus could stay with his daughter. Flame, was it?

Well, anyway, now a permanent part of Ponyville, Silver needed to find himself a job. So, who better to turn to than Applejack and her family, especially since they had already met before and...

What could she possibly be nervous about?

“No! Bad stream of consciousness! Bad!”

As he tried to shake the thought from his mind, his eyes wandered across her form. She had a very fit body, brought on by a lifetime of hard work and healthy eating. She moved with a natural sway in her hips, and her mane bounced slightly as she—

“You know she’s your employer right?”

—moved with a professional and purely platonic grace.

Yeah, okay, even he didn’t buy that one.

Was it wrong to appreciate the beauty of a mare?

“She’s still your boss.”

Silver sighed. Yeah...yeah she was, and that made things all kinds of weird. “So...” Silver began, searching for a subject. “Where Big Mac been lately?”

Applejack jumped on the subject. “At Fluttershy’s mostly, he’s been trying to repay his so-called ‘life-debt.’”

“How’s that going for him?”

“Alright, mostly. Although she’s been having a lot of trouble at the cottage recently. A lot of ‘freak accidents,’” she said, giving him a knowing wink.

“Is that so?” Silver asked, smirking.

“Yup, she as smitten as a lovebug in springtime.”

“What about Mac?”

“Well, if I know my brother, he’s rather enjoyin’ himself, if ya get me.”

Silver snickered. “Does Fluttershy know?”

“Nope.”

“Does Big Mac know about Fluttershy?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, this should be fun,” Silver said.

“Yes, it should.”

“Serious question, though.”

“Shoot.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Okay with what?”

“Mac and Flutters gettin’ together?”

Applejack thought about it for a few seconds. “Don’t see why not. In all honesty, I think Fluttershy could use somepony to stand up for her, and Big Mac...well, Big Mac needs to get out more.”

Silver smiled. “So you’re good with it?”

“Don’t see any reason not to be.”

“Alright...alright...” Silver said nodding.

There was silence between them for a moment.

“Bet ya five bits it takes them a year to get together.”

“Pfft. It’s gonna take six at least,” Applejack argued.

"Sounds like a bet to me," Silver said with a grin.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The Ponyville Dojo was normally a quiet, serene place. A place of peace, meditation, and balance. A place where ponies came together to learn from themselves and each other.

“Bring it on, Thunderlame!”

Normally.

Today, however, Rainbow Dash and her new sparring buddy Thunderlane were going at it, complete with insults and everything.

“As if you could handle me, Rainbow Douche!” Thunderlane retorted, striking with a powerful punch.

Rainbow Dash’s speed fit well with the Flying Phoenix Style, and she easily dodged out of the way of hit.

“Ooh, that’s a good one,” the mare remarked, “it’s a shame you can’t put your money where your mouth is.”

Thunderlane answered with a kick that was a hair’s breadth from ripping out her secondary feathers.

“Wow! Felt the wind on that one!” Dash taunted, only to shut her own mouth as a black hoof came within a few fractions of an inch from her face.

Her mane ruffled from the force.

“Bet you felt the wind from that one, too,” Thunderlane said with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash playfully batted away his hoof. “Hilarious,” she said, her face the epitome of unamused. “But seriously, how much do you practice, man? That was a pretty amazing punch there.”

“Probably too much,” Thunderlane answered with a smile. “Do what you love, right?”

“Man, and I had you picked as a total workaholic.”

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow. “How’d you figure that?”

“You’re a weather pony,” Rainbow Dash explained, “and you’ve got a thundercloud as your cutie mark.”

Thunderlane looked at her for a second, before laughing.

“What?” the mare asked, sounding irritated.

“Take a closer look,” he said before standing to one side, showing off his flank.

Rainbow looked at him. “That sounds like a really bad pickup line.”

“I know worse ones. I also know that they don’t work.”

Dash rolled her eyes before looking at Thunderlane’s cutie mark.

It was admittedly on the more complicated side of things. Not some of the common triple figure ones, just a single, and rather detailed thundercloud with a lightning bolt coming off of it.

“Yeah, a thundercloud, like I said,” Dash said.

“Look closer.”

She turned her attention back to the mark, deciding that she better look really hard to find this small detail of his.

The cloud was shaped in a bit of a teardrop, with the largest part heading for his tail and growing smaller as it headed for his head. Small tufts of cloud trailed from the end, giving the impression that it was rapidly in motion.

“I’m not seeing—”

She stopped.

“Is that...?”

She peered closer, wondering if the lights were pulling a trick on her eyes. It looked like there was something in the cloud.

“Is that a leg?”

“Yes it is,” Thunderlane answered.

It was a leg. A leg shrouded by cloud and thunder.

“That...that is actually pretty awesome.”

“Ain’t it though?” Thunderlane asked, turning to face Dash. “I’ve got a knack for hitting things. Hard. And since I wasn’t really one for the Royal Guard, I decided that bucking clouds out of existence would be a good job.”

“So, you’ve been like, secretly a ninja the whole time?!”

“A what?” Thunderlane asked.

“Never mind! Dude, you’re awesome.”

“Well...not that awesome...”

“Whatever, man! You’ve got a hoof of thunder cutie mark! That's only slightly less awesome than mine!”

“Well, it’s not like you can actually see the hoof that easily.”

“It’s still there,” Rainbow pointed out.

Thunderlane rolled his eyes.

“What’s going on?” a new voice said, and the two pegasi turned to see Rumble, Thunderlane’s little brother enter the room. The colt had a light gray coat with a gray, windswept mane, and large purple eyes.

“I’m just telling your brother how awesome he is,” Rainbow Dash said.

“What!?” Another voice cried, before an orange filly fell into the room from behind Rumble.

Scootaloo looked up at her hero, gaping. “You think he’s awesome!?”

“Well, yeah,” Dash answered.

“But...but he’s not a fast flyer!”

Dash smirked. “Being awesome is more than flying fast, Scoots. It's a mix of things. Thunderlane just has a different mix than I do.”

Scootaloo blinked, before sitting there on the spot, as if her entire world had been shifted.

Thunderlane shook his head before turning to his brother. “So, ready for your next lesson, bro?”

Rumble jumped forward, pushing himself forward with a flutter of his wings. “Yeah, I’m ready!”

The older stallion smirked. “Alrighty then, let’s get ready to Rumble!” he said with a laugh.

Rainbow Dash watched with fascination as the colt took a stance, which she thought was called the Standing Timberwolf Style, and began to punch at his brother’s hooves. Starting out slowly, he began to move faster and Thunderlane sped up as well, until the hooves of the two almost danced between them.

Rainbow Dash blinked, and her brain suddenly registered the fact that a colt, no more than twelve, was moving at a speed that she had thought only stallions could reach.

She smirked. “Seems like Awesome runs in the family.”

“Alright!” Thunderlane cried. “Charging Minotaur Style! Go!”

Suddenly the colt switched, crouching low with his hooves sticking close to his head.

As Rainbow watched, she suddenly felt a tap on her leg.

She looked down to see Scootaloo. “C-could you teach me some of that?”

Dash smiled. “I can teach you a little bit, sure. Come on, get you your hindlegs, and start punching when I say go.”

As the two foals learned, the teachers shared a look.

A big smile, and kind eyes.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rarity stared at the mannequin. Her gaze pierced its nonexistent soul, and her eyes gazed into its very being.

Spike swore it shivered.

Luckily for it, her attention was not directly on the pony-shaped dummy, but rather on the cloth that surrounded it.

Spike sighed. Why some hotshot had to come in and get Rarity to make her a dress today of all days he would never know.

“Spike,” Rarity spoke, her voice a sweet melody to his ears, “be a dear and fetch me the Saddle Arabian Silk, please.”

Spike slithered over and grabbed a small bolt of fabric.

“And stop that dreadful slithering! I keep thinking there’s a snake inside.”

Spike slithered over to the mare, bolt in hand. “A snake? With wings like these? They wisssssssssssssssshhh,” he said, hissing the last word and sticking his tongue out a good foot, letting it wiggle in front of Rarity’s nose.

The unamused look on her face spoke volumes.

Spike chuckled before rolling out a length of the silk.

Rarity gave him a disapproving glare, before ducking her head down to cut the silk, as well as to hide her own growing smile.

Stupid, charming dragon.

Focusing back on the dress, she took the short length of silk and carefully stitched it into the hem, and with a smile and a sigh, she stood. “And done. Not my best work, I’ll admit, but it should be absolutely stunning.”

Spike smiled, snaking his neck around Rarity’s back so he could nuzzle her from both sides. “But certainly not as stunning as you.”

“Flattery will only get you so far, Spike.”

Spike smiled. “Well how about this then?”

Before Rarity could even move, she suddenly felt a weight around her neck, and a tail holding a hoof mirror came into view.

Around her neck, surrounded by gold, was the greatest ruby she had ever seen.

“I’ve been growing this baby for months now, and this very moment, it is perfect.”

Rarity simply stared at the massive jewel at her neck.

It was a fire ruby. A gem so rare and, according to Spike, so delicious, that most of dragonkind had eaten them out of existence. The heart-shaped crystalline structure was unmistakable, and she could swear the very center of the gem was glowing.

“S-Spike...I...I...”

“Yes?” he asked.

The gem was surrounded by doubtlessly Twenty-four Karat gold, and hung from a fine chain.

“I don’t know what to say...”

Spike brought her chin to face, and stared into her sapphire eyes. “Then don’t say anything.”

Spike brought her muzzle close to his snout, and they shared a long, deep kiss.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight Sparkle was in heaven.

Absolute paradise.

On all sides she was surrounded by the greatest pleasures she knew.

Books, stacked in massive pillars of knowledge and stories, dotted the room, going up into the obscuring darkness that hid the ceiling. Chocolate, in hundreds of opened boxes and small, paper wrappers, littering the floor as if they were gold in a dragons den. And Alan, who was slowly, oh so slowly, feeding her those same chocolates as he kissed a line down her neck.

She moaned in pleasure as the fireplace crackled behind her, providing the only light, but certainly not the only warmth.

Alan's golden hoof ran along her exposed barrel, as a mana hand fed her yet another piece of chocolate that melted on her tongue.

“Well, my beautiful Star...” Alan said, before kissing her neck yet again, “is there anything else I can do for you?”

It spoke volumes to her that she had to really think about whether or not she needed anything else.

“No,” she said finally.

Alan shifted, and hovered over her, looking down at her and a hoof stroked her cheek. “I am glad to hear it, My Star,” he said, before leaning in for a kiss.

Twilight closed her eyes.

“Twilight Sparkle!” A voice shouted.

Twilight jumped, sitting up. Now on her rump, she quickly turned to see the nocturnal Princess staring down on her.

“Princess Luna! Hi!” she said, suddenly noticing that Alan was not there.

“Awaken, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, a slight frown on her lips, “your beloved needs you now.”

And with that, Twilight opened her eyes, and saw the darkened ceiling of her bedroom.

It was silent, as expected for, she glanced at the clock, 3:30 am. She was in her bed, and sadly not surrounded by chocolate.

It took only a moment to realize that she had, in fact, been dreaming, and therefore, she should probably just go back to sleep.

But the words Luna had spoken...

With a sigh, knowing it would ruin her sleep schedule, she got up and tip-hoofed her way down the stairs to Alan’s room. She paused at the door, and immediately was filled with worry,

It was wide open.

Her eyes scanned the library for a moment, and her eyes settled on the balcony door, which also hung open.

Silently she made her way over, and found Alan standing there in the cold, looking up at the sky.

“Alan...” she spoke. “What’s wrong?”

Alan didn’t respond at first, he merely continued staring at the clouds as they slowly moved across the moonlit sky.

“Six hundred and eighty three...” he said, finally. “Six hundred and eighty three stallions and mares died, Twilight.”

Twilight sighed. “Alan...”

“I...I could see them, Twilight...even if I had never met them, my brain can’t help but give them a face, a voice, a personality...” He sighed, before hanging his head. “And it was all my fault.”

“Alan,” Twilight said, standing next to him, “You know that’s not true.”

Alan nodded. “Yes, you’re right...but at the same time, I am to blame.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nopony died when Nightmare Moon returned. Nopony died when Discord reigned, but I was the scapegoat of this war...They started the war over me, Twi.”

“Ironclaw was going to start the war anyway, Alan. You were as much a victim as everyone else.”

“I know, Twi...I know...It’s just...It’s just, why do I feel like it was my fault?”

Twilight nuzzled him. “You did the right thing, Alan. You did what you had too.”

Alan said nothing.

She kissed him, “I love you, Alan.”

Alan gave her a sad smile. “I love you too, Twilight.”

And that’s a wrap.

“Awww! Romance!”

Yes, tons of it! I ship more than Amazon!

"BOO!"

"Kilokk, dude, some respect please. It's a joke about Amazon. AMAZON."

“The river?”

No...Pinkie...the website...Why do you keep ruining my jokes?

“Because you’re trying too hard to be funny.”

Sigh. Thank you, Pinkie. Anyway, next chapter, A Canterlot Wedding, and the reveal of some rather amazing secrets. Man, it’s going to feel weird going back to the episodes.

See you all next time, bye!

30-A Canterlot Wedding: Suspicions

Chapter 30

Alan read the tome again for the hundredth time.

Ever since he had gotten back, Alan had been looking through the words of the Arthur. Three times now he had accessed the Third Stage, but he could not call upon it at will.

It was closely tied to emotions, Alan had learned, and the control of one was tied to the control of the other. Of course, this made the Pendragon’s words more poignant; “A man who controls his emotions, controls his blade. One who cannot control his emotions, is not a man at all.”

Now, to be perfectly fair, Alan could normally stop himself from becoming angry with little difficulty. His issue was becoming angry at nothing.

It wasn’t just anger, though, it was anger, righteous fury, and cold calculating calmness all mixed together.

And that was just the start.

Alan sighed.

“Something wrong, Alan?” Twilight asked, as she rested her head on his withers.

Alan sighed. “No...not really, I just...I just have a feeling like I should be ready for something.”

Twilight glanced over at him as he looked down at the tome.

“Do you want to spar?” she asked.

Alan blinked before looking at her. “What?”

“We haven’t sparred in a while,” Twilight answered, “we should spar.”

Alan blinked.

“Come on, let’s spar,” she said, before she began to drag him to the middle of the library floor, clearing it of the large table.

Alan blinked again, before Twilight summoned a hard mana short sword.

Alan gave an exasperated sigh before smirking.

It had been a while since they had sparred.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Spike was more than a little miffed.

There he was, at the Carousel Boutique...enjoying...Rarity’s company, and all of a sudden he gets a mouthful of scroll.

And Rarity also got half a mouthful of scroll.

She was also a little miffed at the Princess’ sense of timing, but she had opted to try and get the taste of parchment and ink out of her mouth rather than ranting, leaving Spike to go find the lavender unicorn who raised him.

Who else would be getting a letter via emerald dragon fire?

So Spike walked, on all four legs, towards the library. It had taken him a while to get used to walking on all fours, but it was a necessity if he didn’t want to bump his head on every door frame he went through.

Before long, he came up to the Library door and swung it open.

He blinked.

In the center of the library floor were two unicorns. Above them, two hard mana swords were locked in combat; the unicorns themselves, however, seemed to be fencing with their tongues.

Spike cleared his throat.

The two broke their kiss, and looked over at Spike.

Spike stared back.

“Can I help you?” Alan asked.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Letter for one Twilight Sparkle,” he said, holding the scroll up.

The letter was ripped from Spike’s claw with the sound of magic.

Twilight seemed to disappear entirely from Alan's embrace as she read the letter. “Princess Celestia cordially invites you to...” she mumbled as she skimmed.

She gasped.

“What? What is it?” Alan asked.

“This is Shining and Cadence’s wedding invitation!” she squealed.

Alan’s magic hands took the scroll from her and he read it himself. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? She’s Italian?”

“Bitalian is the word you’re looking for, Alan,” Twilight corrected, before taking back the scroll. “And if that’s the case, then I can understand why she went by Cadence all her life. Mi Amore Cadenza is a mouthful.”

Alan nodded. “Looks like those Italian lessons I took are finally going to pay off.”

“What now?” Twilight said, as she watched Alan head towards the stairs.

“There was a video game,” Alan explained, as he walked into his room “and the setting was like 17th Century Italy. For some odd reason, I decided I would play the whole game in Italian with English subtitles, and as a result, I decided to learn some Italian. Ah! Here it is!” he said before emerging from his room. Spike and Twilight watched in fascination as he descended the stairs, an unfamiliar sword and scabbard in his magical grasp.

“What’s that?” Spike asked.

“Shining’s wedding gift,” Alan said, before drawing the sword.

The pattern-welded metal gleamed in the sunlight that filtered through the library’s windows. The bright silver swirls and whorls in the blade resembled wood grain against the darker metal of the blade. The bright, silver handle burned gold in the morning sun, and the large, perfectly round ruby at the center of the cross hilt flickered as though it were flame.

“A sword?” Spike asked.

“Yes!” Alan said with a pleased smile before sheathing the blade. “There are numerous wedding ceremonies and such on Earth, and one of them is the presentation of the sword. It’s a big ‘protector of the household’ deal, and I think that it would do alright for Shining to have a sword. He does alright with shields and all, but it can’t hurt.”

"When did you get it?" Spike asked as he held out a claw, silently asking to hold it.

"About a month ago," Alan answered as he handed the sword over. "Twi told me about Shining getting hitched, and thought I might as well."

Spike drew the blade slightly, checking the temper of the new sword. "Nice, how'd you get the sword to look like this?"

"Well, I had the armorers back in Canterlot do it for me. It's a lot like Damascus Steel, but that probably means nothing to you. I just kinda explained it to them and they put it together."

Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head at the two of them as they looked the blade over. “Boys and their swords,” she muttered, before suddenly realizing that her sentence had more meanings than she wanted.

Both males looked at her.

“Y-You know what I mean!” she said, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Eleven ponies stepped onto the deck of the Victory. The Princess had requested the presence of Twilight’s friends for their unique services, and they were rather eager to go. The other five ponies were Alan, Thunderlane, Big Mac, Silver Pauldrons, and Soarin.

“Why are we coming again?” Soarin asked.

“Because I don’t care how many times Shining says no; he’s having some groomsmen,” Alan explained.

“He didn’t want groomsmen?” Spike asked as he followed the stallions on board.

“No. He said something about wanting it to be a small wedding,” Alan said, “and then I pointed out he’s getting married in front of all of Canterlot. Then he sort of spaced out for a second,” Alan continued, “but anyway, I told him he was going to have some groomsmen, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

“So why are we coming again?” Soarin asked.

“Because the Pendragon is the Commander in Chief of the Equestrian Armed Forces,” Silver deadpanned, almost reciting the words, “and we all are technically soldiers.”

“Eeyup!” Alan said with a smile. “Besides, you’re the only stallions I really know.”

Thunderlane voice dripped with sarcasm. “I feel so honored.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut it,” Alan answered as he took the helm.

Big Mac watched them silently.

“So, Al,” Spike called, as the engines hummed to life, “how’s that shouting thing of yours coming?”

“Better,” the unicorn answered. “I can actually get a word out without destroying my vocal chords, now. It’s a nice improvement, but I’m not risking two words for a while.”

Conversation was light during the trip. The males kept to themselves, passing a word or two to each other, while the ladies were bustling about attending to this, that, and the other. There was just so much for them to talk about—weddings, dress designs, the songbird choir, the food...so much to cover in so little time.

“So, did the harvest go well?” Soarin asked the draft pony.

“Eeyup.”

“Good. Pinkie’s counting on that shipment of apples to come through.”

And that was about the extent of the stallions’ discussion.

As Alan took his ship up, heading straight for the castle, Silver watched as the ladies began to babble like the stream near the farm.

“Mares,” he mumbled under his breath.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“That’s odd,” Alan said as his stared at Canterlot.

The Horn of Canterlot, considered by many to be the very center of the world, stood tall and proud before them. The snow-capped, jagged peak stabbed at the sky like a giant, serrated knife.

All in all, its bare rock face glared down at the world like an imposing giant.

An imposing giant with a large, purple pimple.

Canterlot Castle was encased in a perfect, violet sphere, the color of which matched Shining’s magick perfectly.

“That’s not a good sign, is what that is,” Twilight noted.

Alan nodded. “Silver,” he called.

“Yes, sir?”

“Get below deck. I have a small weapons stash down there.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” he said before disappearing below deck.

“Thunderlane, Soarin, are you familiar with spears?” Alan asked.

“Familiar enough,” Soarin answered. “What’s happening?”

“Hopefully nothing,” the Pendragon answered. “Spike?”

The dragon answered by hefting himself to his hind legs and brandishing his claws.

“Big Mac?”

“Eeyup,” came the simple reply as the draft pony rolled his neck.

Silver came back up on deck with a handful of weapons on his back. The pegasus stallions quickly grabbed the two spears, while Silver took a mace.

Rarity, taking a cue, took up a saber, followed by Pinkie snagging a sword of her own. Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn’t take anything, but merely tensed, deciding to follow Big Mac’s lead. Twilight, meanwhile, formed a short sword of lavender mana.

As they approached, the shield suddenly rippled, and a hole just large enough for the airship opened.

The Victory passed through without a scratch, and a gold-clad pegasus flew up to the railing. “Sir! Permission to come aboard, sir!” he called.

“Granted,” Alan said. “What’s going on here, solider?”

“Sir!” the pegasus said as he landed on the deck. “Princess Celestia received news of a threat against Canterlot. As of right now, we have no news of who is behind the attack, but she is not taking any chances. Captain Shining Armor is currently holding the shield now.”

“Shining? Why’s he holding the shield? He’s got the wedding to think about.”

“Sir! He says he’s the only one who can hold it, sir!”

Alan groaned, before thumping his head into the helm. “Of course he does.” He sighed before turning to the pegasus. “Lead us to a cleared dock, please.”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” the pegasus answered before taking off.

Alan grumbled as he followed the guard, piloting his flying yacht to the docks, and landing with little difficulty.

“Go ahead and take the weapons, boys. Something tells me we might need them.”

“Yes sir,” Thunderlane replied, before holding the spear up in the typical guard stance.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” said a voice from the starboard side.

Alan peeked over the edge. “Shining! There you are!”

The Captain of the Guard stood on the dock, looking up at the yacht.

As the gangplank was lowered, Alan was the first off the boat, shouting congratulations as he embraced his friend. “There’s the lucky dog!” he cried.

“Hey, Alan. Hey, Twily. Everypony. Hope you didn’t have any problems getting through.”

“The hole was just the right size, Shiny,” Twilight said, coming up to hug her brother.

“Glad to hear, it was a little hard to judge the size from here,” he explained.

“Hey, Shining, you okay? You look a little beat,” Alan noted.

It was true, now that Twilight thought about it. He had bags under his eyes, and his mane was just slightly messier than usual. Actually, even his eyes looked dull, and she could swear he looked thinner.

“Yeah,” her brother answered. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, between the wedding planning and the shield up there, I’m just feeling a little drained.”

Alan nodded before a smile crept on his lips. “Well, I think I may have a solution to that problem. Let me introduce to you, your groomsmen.”

The stallions came forward, holding their weapons behind them so they would be as out of the way as possible.

Shining scowled. “I said no groomsmen,” he seethed.

“And, I’m saying ‘Pendragon’s Orders’ captain,” Alan answered. “Besides, they’ll be a massive relief to you. From now on, they are also going to act as your wedding committee, so you can focus on that,” he said, point to the purple shield.

Shining face turned into a pained smile. “But...but I...” He sighed. “Fine. You win this one, sir,” he said before wincing. “Ow.”

“You okay?” Alan asked.

“Yeah,” Shining said, bringing a hoof to his head, “just headaches. From that, you know?”

Alan shook his head. “That settles it, the guys are taking over your decisions. You are going to relax up until the wedding.”

“But I—”

“No buts,” Twilight agreed, as she began leading Shining away. “You need to get as much off your mind as possible.”

“Girls,” Alan said, as he began to lead the captain away, “lead the guys to the castle, and get to work. We’ll take care of this guy.”

“Very well; come on, Darlings, this way!” Rarity said as she stepped forward.

As the party split, Alan and Twilight led Shining up to a nearby plaza.

“Where is the lucky lady, Shining?”

The groom-to-be brightened a touch at the mention of his beloved. “Oh, she’s around here somewhere. Probably telling somepony about what she wants; you know how mares can be.”

“Ahem,” Twilight cleared her throat.

“He said it, not me,” Alan pointed out quickly.

“Right, well anyway, I’m very glad you guys could make it. I have special plans for you two.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, you better believe it,” Shining said with a smirk. “Ever heard of the Lead Stallion?”

“No, can’t say I have,” Alan admitted.

“Well, I’ll spare you the history lesson; I’m sure Twily will fill you in later. But essentially, as we leave the chapel, you get to bless us on the way out. It’s a little outdated, but I figure you’re the best stallion for the job.”

“So it’s kind of like best man?” Alan asked.

Shining and Twilight blinked, before sharing a look.

“What?” Alan asked.

“The guy gets that part?” Twilight asked.

Alan blinked.

“It’s the best mare in Equestria, Al,” Shining said, trying to hold back a laugh. “And speaking of best mare...” he said before turning to his sister.

Twilight looked at him.

Blinked.

And gave a face-splitting smile that Pinkie would be proud of. “No!” she said, amazement in her voice. “No, you don’t mean me, do you?”

Shining smirked. “Who else?”

Twilight squealed, and began to bounce around, again very Pinkie-esque.

“Oh!” Shining said, his head turned to the side. “There she is now.”

Before them stood, much to Alan’s surprise, an alicorn. The mare had bright pink fur and purple tipped wings, and large, deep amethyst eyes. On top of a purple, pink, and pale yellow mane sat an almost comical tiara, decorated with deep purple gems. Around her neck hung an unadorned, harness-like necklace. Her hooves were clad in golden shoes, which came up her fetlocks in a swooping design. A crystalline heart sat on her flanks, as befitted the Princess of Love.

The scowl on her face, however, did not.

“Cadence!” Twilight cried, shooting forward, before reciting the strangest playground rhyme Alan had ever seen, complete with motions. “Sunshine, Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight sang, sticking her rump into the air as she finished the last line.

Silence.

“What are you doing?” Cadence asked.

Twilight blinked, before righting herself. “Cadence,” she said, sounding a little hurt, “it’s me, Twilight!”

“Uh huh,” she responded, sounding not at all happy.

“Principessa Mi Amore!” Alan said with a bow. “Mio nome è Alan Goldenhoof, Pendragon di Equestria. L’onore è mio.”

Cadence blinked. “Well...thank you...but...please, just use Equestrian. When in Gryphus, do as the griffons do, after all.”

Alan smiled. “Bene. Come si desidera.”

“Right,” she said, smiling an overly-wide smile.

“I, uh, hope you don’t mind, Princess,” Alan said, “however, I’ve had Shining’s groomsmen take over for any of his decisions, for the wedding. I’d figure it’d be best considering he’s keeping us safe right now.”

“Groomsmen?” Cadence asked before her eyes fell on her fiance. “I thought we agreed not to have groomsmen?”

Shining winced as another headache hit him.

“It’s not his choice, anymore, Princess,” Alan said.

Her eyes snapped towards the Pendragon.

“As of right now, we are under a national threat. The groomsmen are going to be doubling as a security detail until further notice. My orders. Speaking of, why didn’t you tell me about this threat, Shining?”

“Didn’t you get the letter?” he asked, rubbing his temples. “I thought I sent that. Didn’t I?”

“It’s on your desk, dear,” Cadence said.

“It is? Sorry. It’s just these headaches...”

Alan sighed. “Alright, just, try to keep it together, Shining.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, saluting.

“Go ahead, and get some rest. Don’t worry about anything else, except keeping the shield up. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said, before the two ponies walked away, leaving Alan and Twilight alone.

“Did...” Twilight began.

“What?”

“Did Cadence seem...off to you?”

“No. Why?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “No reason.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thunderlane spun his spear yet again. He didn't really have much to do, in all honesty. It was either this, or stand around with the others and discuss whether or not Shining would have wanted the blue or the purple tablecloths. None of the others seemed as bored as he had been, and in the biggest eyebrow-raising situation, Big Macintosh had even pointed out that the blue went better for both Shining and Cadence, as it complimented the colors well.

This had brought on stares from the other stallions, before the draft pony shrugged it off.

And so, eager to stay out of another situation like the last, Thunderlane had quickly found Rainbow Dash and was sticking to her like glue.

"Why are you here and not helping the other stallions?" she asked.

"I am helping," Thunderlane answered. "I'm being your bodyguard."

Dash sent him a smirk. "Are you saying I can't handle myself?"

Thunderlane blinked as he looked at her, warning bells going off in his head. "Uh...no?"

"Smooth, Thunderlane. Smooth."

The pegasus mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" she asked.

Deciding that repeating what he actually said would be detrimental to his health, Thunderlane asked "So what was with Twilight earlier? What did she want to talk to you about?"

"Oh, she's just a little tense," Dash replied. "When is the egghead not, right?"

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah. It's cool. She just thinks that the Princess is being rude, and you know, she may be. But it's her wedding. She's probably more tense than Twi is. I mean, she's been practically in charge of the whole wedding until you guys started helping, she's probably feeling it more than anypony."

"So you're sure then?"

"Yeah, Twi's just worrying to much, it happens."

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight wasn’t entirely in the know.

She would gladly admit that. But she was a scientist, and scientists were allowed to make hypotheses. Her current hypothesis was that there was something terribly, terribly wrong with Cadence.

Firstly, in her previous correspondence, she had appeared warm and appealing. She even signed off with their little childhood rhyme. However, upon meeting her, she acted as though they had never even met.

Secondly, she knew for a fact that Shining could keep a shield like that up for days at a time without rest, so unless this shield had been up for weeks, something had been tiring her brother.

Finally, the letter from Cadence made her seem as kind and jovial as she remembered, but the way she acted now seemed to contradict that entirely. First, she tossed Applejack’s fritters, which she had been working on for the past four hours. Then she practically insulted Rarity’s dresses, all four of them. Thirdly, she called Pinkie’s reception a six-year-old’s birthday party.

Of course the board game didn’t really help...

Nonetheless it was just plain rude of her! And the Cadence she knew would never have acted like that.

Her friends called it nerves, but Twilight wasn’t convinced. Something was up.

There had to be.

Alan had been called away by the Princess, and was having the guards go through some basic exercises at the moment, and so Twilight was left to her own devices.

And what devices she had.

Her suspicion was thoroughly aroused, and as a scientist, she would get to the bottom of it, or die trying.

Well...hopefully not die trying...

It had taken a while, but she had found a navy blue hoodie and some navy blue sweatpants—not necessarily the best stealth equipment, but the best she could do as of right now.

Her quarry was down on the street, slowly making her way towards what Twilight could only guess were her apartments.

The unicorn moved with grace, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as she tried to follow the suspicious alicorn.

Now that she thought about it, she really needed a stealth suit. This hoodie provided too much drag, and rustled as she moved.

Cadence disappeared into the building, and Twilight quickly pulled out a set of binoculars. There they were, her brother and that...thing...together in the same room.

He seemed to be adjusting something on his formal attire, his face focused as his horn glowed softly.

Cadence walked in, and began to say something.

Shining argued for a second before he brought a hoof to his head, and fell to the floor.

Cadence smiled.

A flash of green.

Shining went wall-eyed as a beam of acidic green magick encased his head.

Twilight looked up from her binoculars, eyes wide.

She knew it.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“I telling you, Alan, I know what I saw!” Twilight yelled.

“I’m not saying you didn’t, but calm down Twi,” Alan said.

They both stood in his Canterlot office, the one with the large horseshoe-shaped table.

“This proves it!” she all but shouted. “She’s evil! And something needs to be done!”

“Twilight, hang on!”

“You need to arrest her now!”

“I’m not going to!” Alan yelled.

Twilight looked at him. “Excuse me?”

Alan sighed. “You gave me one eye witness report about one situation that might have been taken out of context. In fact, there’s a good chance of that happening, what with the world running on comedy and all...anyway, Twi. I’m not going to do anything because you don’t have any proof right now.”

“So you don’t believe me?” she asked, anger rising in her voice.

“I never said that,” Alan defended. “I just need proof before I potentially ruin my life arresting a Princess!”

“Oh, I see how it is!” Twilight growled. “A war starts and everypony can trust you. I see a crime in progress and I’m a nutjob!”

“What crime!?” Alan said, standing behind his desk. “If living with you has taught me anything, it’s that magic does all kinds of things all kinds of ways! What if it’s nothing more than magical aspirin!? That’ll look good, won’t it! ‘Sorry Princess, but relieving headaches is against the law now!’”

“I can’t believe you’re on her side!”

“I wasn’t aware there were sides!”

“You stubborn little...Argh!” Twilight yelled, before stepping outside and slamming the door shut behind her.

Alan stood, staring at the door, before sighing.

“What a wonderful first argument...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The wedding’s rehearsal was about to begin.

At the center of the stage stood Celestia, ready to perform the ceremony. To her left stood Alan, dressed in a tuxedo with Judgement on his back in a decorative scabbard, waiting to give the blessing.

Shining stood just across from Alan, standing in his red formal uniform, and the two unicorns shared a wink.

To Shining’s right stood the other stallions, dressed as nicely as they could be. Most of their attire had to be double checked and re-designed for fitting. Thanks to Rarity, really.

Speaking of the seamstress, Alan was surprised to see her standing on the bride’s side, along with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, all to Cadence’s left.

“What are the girls doing over there, Shining?”

“Oh, Cadence wanted to keep—” He winced. “She wanted to reward them for their good work.”

Cadence smirked.

Alan nodded.

“Alright, are we ready to begin?” Celestia said.

Shining was halfway through nodding, when Alan said “Where’s Twilight?”

Shining blinked, suddenly noticing the empty spot next to him. “How did I miss that?” he mumbled under his breath, before another migraine hit him.

The doors suddenly slammed open, and all eyes fell on the lavender unicorn as she entered.

“I’m right here!” she yelled triumphantly.

Alan sighed. “Oh, no.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

It was going so well.

She had exposed the thing that called herself Cadence as a fraud. She had showed them all how evil she was. She had recounted the malicious spells she cast on her husband-to-be, and ran her out of the chapel in tears.

Victory of the sweetest kind.

She had done it all, she had stopped the threat, helped her friends and saved her brother.

And then he yelled at her.

He tore into her heroics, revealing all of her ‘evil’ as nothing more than mild healing spell for his headaches.

He angrily denounced her actions of valor. He demeaned her actions to selfish desire.

He told her not to come back.

And then he left.

Her friends quickly followed, not saying a word, followed by the stallions.

And then Celestia.

Celestia, her teacher, always kind, always understanding. A second mother to her. So
gentle, so merciful.

“You have a lot to think about.”

Those words slapped her.

And then...and then Alan came.

She could hear it now.

“I told you Twi. I told you to calm down, but you went and did it anyway.”

Alan looked down at her.

He would be angry with her.

Of course he would be.

He had tried to warn her, and she had thrown it back in his face.

He looked down at her.

And held her.

“I can talk to Shining if you want,” he said.

Twilight sniffed, trying to hold back tears. “You’re not mad?”

Alan gave her a soft smile. “Twilight, that’s what ‘I love you’ means. It means I’m going to stick with you, even when you mess up.”

Tears began to flow from her eyes as she looked up at him. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Alan smiled. “Something really, really awful.”

The joke got a laugh out of the mare, who sat in Alan’s forelegs, sniffing her tears away.

She finally wiped the last tear from her eyes, and Alan helped her up to her hooves. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah...” Twilight said. “I should probably go apologize to Cadence...”

“Well...” a voice said from the podium. “Now’s your chance.”

Both unicorns turned to see the pink Princess standing where Celestia had been only a few minutes ago.

The smirk on her face didn’t sit well with Alan.

“Both of you have been a thorn in my side for too long,” she said, before the ground around them burst into green fire.

The fire formed a ring around them, and they slowly began to sink into the ground.

As they fell, the last thing they heard was “I’ll see you both in Hell.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Darkness.

Inky, pitch black darkness.

“Wish I had brought my flashlight,” Alan said, his voice echoing in the void.

With the twinkle of magic, Twilight’s horn blazed to life, and a ball of light appeared, revealing the large, crystal walls surrounding them.

Massive gems sat, buried in the ground, each one making a many-faceted room, an irregular polygon with hundreds of mirror-like walls.

“Well...” Alan said finally. “The plus side to ‘I love you’ is that there’s always the off chance you’re right.”

Twilight ignored the comment. “Where are we?”

“Deep beneath Canterlot,” a familiar voice said. Both unicorns turned to see the face of Princess Cadence in the facet of one of the crystals. “This was a prison once, reserved for only the worst of your kind. No one remembers it now, not even the Princesses, I’d imagine.” The face of the alicorn gave a twisted, evil smile. “An excellent tomb for you two.”

Twilight growled, before firing a bolt at the crystal.

The beam of magic ricocheted off the mirror wall, and in a second, the room became a death trap. Twilight’s beam flew through the air, bouncing off the walls and coming dangerously close to hitting them.

“Ah!” Alan yelled, as the beam passed him before hitting the ground. His hoof came up to his shoulder.

“Alan!” Twilight cried. “Are you okay?”

Aln hissed out a breath. “Good grief, Twi. That one could’ve killed,” he said as he checked the wound. A small chunk of flesh had been scraped of his shoulder, leaving a cauterized scratch that smoked and smelled of burnt fur.

“Are you—”

“It’s just a scratch, I’ll be fine.”

“Fine for how long?” the alicorn’s face taunted. “A few days, a week maybe? How long before you need to eat, hm?”

“You’ll be eating steel when I get out of here!” Alan yelled.

Cadence chuckled darkly. The laugh echoing against the walls in the shadows beyond Twilight’s light. “If you get out,” she said with a smirk, before her face faded from view, leaving the unicorns alone.

“Great...” Alan mumbled before drawing his sword. “Now all we need to do is get out of here...”

“Easier said than done,” Twilight said. “You noticed how my magic reacted upon contact?”

“Yes,” Alan deadpanned. “I got hit.”

Twilight didn’t notice his statement. “Well, that’s a sign of warding, and considering crystals have a natural mana attunement, storage, and magnification properties, I don’t think it’s even possible to teleport out of here.”

“So, to review. We here, stuck in a labyrinth of crystal, which doubles as a maze of mirrors, to which we aren’t sure there is an actual exit, while the Princess is trying to take over or something similar.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Awesome, let’s start walking,” Alan grumbled before he began to trot to one end of the room, when he suddenly realized they were caught in a dome.

Twilight voiced both of their thoughts. “Walk where?”

Alan merely stared at the wall of gem in front of him.

“Alan?”

“...Buck...”

Alan sheathed his blade. “This has made things difficult...”

Dink, dink, dink.

“Do you hear that?” Alan asked as his ears twitched.

Twilight stopped to listen.

Dink, dink, dink.

“What is that?” Twilight asked.

“Search for the source.”

Dink, dink, dink.

The two quickly began searching the walls, pressing their ears against the crystalline walls for the source.

Dink, dink, dink.

“Here!” Twilight cried.

Alan quickly crossed the room to see Twilight in front of a single gem. Her ear was pressed against it, and Alan thought he could see a faint form on the other side.

Dink, dink, dink.

Alan gave the gem a once over, a smaller piece in the patchwork walls and ceiling. This single stone looked like it was separated from the others. In fact, it could be loose.

To test his theory, he threw his weight into gem.

It shuddered.

“Twi, a little help?” he asked.

WIth both unicorns throwing their weight into the stone, it began to give much faster. In three strong pushes, the stone fell flat.

What awaited them on the other side, however, was not what they were expecting.

There, before them, sat Cadence, but not as they remembered. The dress she wore was dirty and ripped, her crown and shoes looked scuffed and dented. Her mane was messy, and ruffled in ways that a lesser Princess would die from.

But most important were her eyes.

In her amethyst eyes was a light of hope, and relief.

Which was almost instantly squashed as Twilight picked her up in a magical grip.

“What did you do with Shining!?” she asked, before the princess was suddenly pinned to another wall.

“Twilight! It’s me, Cadence!” the Princess cried.

“What did you do to him!?”

“Sunshine, sunshine. Ladybugs awake,” Cadence recited weakly.

Twilight paused.

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake,” the Princess finished.

Twilight hesitated a second longer.

“It’s me, Twilight, it’s really me...”

“Are you implying that the Cadence that sent us down here isn’t really Cadence?” Alan asked, drawing Judgement again.

“She’s a changeling,” Cadence said. “I don’t know what exactly she wants. She just took my form and threw me down here, it’s been days since I last ate, please, Twilight, it’s me.”

Alan looked over at the lavender unicorn. “Do you believe her?”

Twilight hesitated. “I think so...”

Alan’s eyes shifted between the two. “Principessa Mi Amore, uno momento, per favore.”

Cadence blinked. “Parli Bitaliano?”

“Sì. Beh, io conos...co un poco. Che non è importante, tutta...via. Ciò che è importante, è che si parli bitaliano. Non credo che ah...impostor tuo fa.”

“Ah...I see. And it's impostore."

Twilight blinked as she looked between them. “Okay...”

“She’s at least legitimate enough to know more Bitalian than I do,” Alan said.

Twilight blinked, before turning to the alicorn. “What did you call love in that letter you wrote to me?”

Cadence gave a weak smile. “A choice.”

Twilight slowly let the alicorn down.

Once free, the alicorn smiled, before giving Twilight a hug. “It’s good to see you again, Twilight.”

“It’s good to see you too, Cadence.”

As soon as they broke the embrace, Alan stepped forward, and took a golden shod hoof. “Principessa,” Alan said. “Mio nome è Alan Goldenhoof, Pendragon di Equestria. L’onore è mio.”

“Ed è il mio piacere,” she answered.

Cadence smiled, before she stopped. She looked over at Twilight. “Is this the stallion you wrote to me about?”

Twilight’s eyes suddenly took interest in the floor as she twiddled her hoof. “Yes...” she answered.

Cadence smiled. “Well, I can see why you took an interest.”

Twilight blushed.

“As for you,” she said, turning to Alan, “I would say something along the lines of you break her heart, I’ll break your face, but something tells me you wouldn’t dream of it.”

Alan smiled. “I’m glad you think so, otherwise I’d have to say something along the lines of get in line.”

“Oh really?” Cadence said, smiling.

“Yeah, remind me to tell you the story some time, right now though, we have a wedding to crash.”

And Chapter.

Next time, Part 2! Complete with Changeling butt kicking!

“That’s it? You aren’t going to make the D&D joke about changelings?”

What? You mean the one where Alan says he feels like he’s stuck in a D&D campaign?

“Yeah! I liked that joke.”

You liked that one? And boo-ed with the Amazon shipping joke?

“Well somepony has to keep your ego in check.”

That’s why I have the other Main Six around. Say ‘Hi’ everypony!

And that’s enough of that.

“...What did I just see?”

It’s okay, Pinkie, their just mental constructs of my imagination. They don’t have feelings.

Well...unless I give them feelings...

But I think we should go before we get into a very interesting debate.

“Sounds iffy to me, but okay! Bye everypony!”

Bye, and see you next time.

31-A Canterlot Wedding: Nightmare

Chapter 31

Celestia smiled.

Before her was a happy couple. Before her was the beginning of a new life for each of them. Shining Armor, the strong, brave stallion that had become something of a nephew to her, and Cadence, the beautiful, kind mare who was related to her in all but blood.

She couldn’t help but remember Death as she watched them.

The bridesmaids all stood in a line, each one standing as prim and proper as they could be.

The groomsmen stood proud, their weapons out of sight, but not far away.

The crowd stood, bustling with excitement.

The only missing spots were those of the best mare, and the lead stallion.

Celestia had no doubt that Alan was comforting the mare, but she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in her student.

Twilight had jumped to conclusions, and it had cost her a dear friend.

It hurt to see her fail like that.

Was all that time in Ponyville for nothing?

Did she learn anything?

Celestia hid her sigh behind a smile. Now was not the time to think about this. Now was the time to perform the ceremony.

She cleared her throat and the entire room fell silent. “Dear friends and family,” she began, “today we are here to witness and celebrate the union between Captain Shining Armor, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“This is Karma!” Alan moaned.

“It is not,” Twilight deadpanned.

“It is! This is what I get for forcing my players to fight against so many Gelatinous Cubes!”

Before them, a nearly transparent mass of ooze squelched against the floor. It was shaped like a perfect cube, and had the skeletons of a few stray rats floating inside of it.

Next to the first cube lay the numerous split halves of a dozen others.

Twilight sliced another in half with a hard-mana sword. “They’re not that bad, Al.”

“Not yet!” Alan said as his eyes darted across the room. “But then he’ll get the Black Puddings! And then the Black Pudding Swarms! And then they’ll be coming out of the walls! The walls!”

Cadence stood next to Twilight as Alan hyperventilated. “Is he always like this?”

“Only every now and then,” Twilight answered as she watched Alan pet his own tail fervently.

“Match made in Heaven,” Cadence mumbled.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Cadence said before stepping over to Alan and giving him a good smack across the jaw. “Calmati! Si stanno manifestando un pazzo davanti a Twilight!”

Alan shook his head, before blinking at the pink pony princess that had just smacked him down. “Right. Right, you’re right. I mean sure, I got a TPK with twenty-five of them, but we should be alright.”

“TPK?” Cadence asked, only to be answered with a shrug from Twilight.

“We’re fine!” Alan said, comforting himself. “This isn’t a Grimstooth Dungeon. We’ll be fine!”

“Alan...” Twilight began.

“We’re fine!” he shouted.

The mares stared at him in silence.

Alan looked at them, eyes wild.

And then he slapped himself.

He shook his head, the mad gleam in his eye disappearing. “Sorry, D&D flashbacks.”

“D&D?” Cadence asked again.

Twilight sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Right!” Alan said before slowly moving forward. “Moving on! Onward, girls!”

Cadence gave Twilight a look. “You have a very interesting taste in stallions.”

“Says the mare marrying my brother,” Twilight said with a smirk.

Cadence laughed. “Got me there.”

“He’s actually very sweet when you get to know him. Now’s just kind of a bad time.”

Alan led the two mares forward, his eyes going over every wall, ceiling, corner, and natural shelf while the girl caught up behind him. “Do you have a way to protect yourself, Princess?”

The sudden question caught her off guard. “What?”

“If there are changelings out there, then they may have somepony in the guard. If that’s the case, we may need to fight our way to the chapel. Do you have something you can fight with?”

“Um...” she began. “I don’t really see a weapon anywhere...”

Alan’s eyes glanced over at a crystal that jutted outward across their path, and with the grasp of a few magick hands, and a loud snap, broke off a foot-long piece. “Here,” he said, his voice calming down from his previous panic. “This’ll do.”

The Princess took the large chunk of crystal with an apprehensive look on her face.

“Speaking of,” Twilight began, “what are we going to do when we do get out?”

Alan turned his head toward her, looking over his shoulder. “We follow the rules of the universe,” he said, before flashing her a smile. “We do things dramatically.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia smiled as she performed the ceremony.

“If there are any present who have a reason for these two to not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace,” she recited.

A moment of tense silence hung over the crowd.

Ponies looked about, hoping that nopony would speak up.

Celestia waited a second longer, and then smiled.

“By the pow—”

Wham!

The large, jewel-encrusted doors slammed open, and a white stallion with a torn tux stepped forward. “I object!” he yelled.

Cadence blinked.

“That’s not the Princess!” Twilight said, hot on Alan’s heels.

All eyes went to Cadence.

She blinked again before bursting into tears. “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you ruining my wedding day?”

“You mean my wedding day,” a new voice said before the pink Princess appeared behind the two unicorns, carrying a large club of crystal.

The crowd’s eyes collectively widened.

The tears on 'Cadence’s' face dried instantly.

“Next time you throw somepony in a dungeon, be sure to split them up,” Alan said as he leveled Judgement at the imposter.

“That pony is a changeling!” Cadence said, wielding her club.

'Cadence' glared down at them. “Even when I get you out of the way, you continue to thwart me, Pendragon.”

Before another word could be said, the 'Princess' burst into green flames.

Panic erupted amongst the crowd, and ponies scurried for the exit, running for their lives.

Only a few of them saw what happened next.

From the acidic flames a creature formed. Pink fur burned away to reveal black chitin, feathers turned to ash leaving only transparent insect-like wings. The figure grew, now as tall as Celestia herself. A jagged horn, at least a foot and a half long, jutted from her forehead like a gnarled branch from an old tree. Holes appeared in the creature’s long, slender legs, and a mess of a blue mane flowed down around her head. A pair of ivory fangs stuck out from a black snout, and two green eyes looked down at the Pendragon in contempt.

Atop her head sat an almost comical crown, made of black material, and capped with three small emeralds.

She spoke, her voice sounding like a multitude of flies all speaking at once. “As Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects, and what better meal than that of Equestria? With all of its food I can feed my children for a long time.” She frowned. “And yet you always stand in my way.”

Alan looked up at the Queen. “Man, you guys are uglier than the D&D version.”

“You’ll never have the chance to take Equestria!” Cadence yelled, swinging her club. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep the likes of you away.”

The Queen chuckled. “Oh, I very much doubt that. Isn’t that right, Dear?” she said as her horn gave a soft shine.

Shining stood frozen on the spot, his eyes glazed over in an emerald haze. “Yes...” he moaned.

Cadence’s eyes narrowed as she raised her club.

“Oh, you’re going to hurt me, are you?” the changeling laughed. “I’m sure even these nitwits can see that thing shake from where they stand,” she said, motion to the ponies that had been too frozen from fear to move. “I’m sure three days without food leaves you with plenty of strength.”

“She doesn’t need it,” Alan said as he stepped between the two. “I’ve got plenty.”

“And I’m sure you’d love a trip back to the caves, wouldn’t you?”

Alan grit his teeth.

The queen laughed again. “As we speak, your precious Shining Armor grows weaker, and while his will to keep you safe is still strong, his spell will break. Before long, it will be broken, and then my Hive will take over Canterlot, and then all of Equestria!”

“No,” said a voice behind the changeling.

Everyone turned to see Celestia standing there, only a few hooves away.

She looked very unamused.

“You won’t.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia looked down on the little bug that dared come across her kingdom.

This insignificant gnat.

This dust mite of a creature.

She would hardly need a tenth of her power to crush this miserable excuse for royalty.

As her beam of pure magick bore down on the changeling, Celestia was preparing to call the janitors to clean up the mess.

That’s when she noticed something.

The self-named queen hadn’t been splattered across the floor yet.

And then her beam started to come back on her.

Celestia’s eyes widened.

This...this wasn’t just magic.

There was love in there.

Shining’s love for Cadence.

She...she wasn’t prepared for love.

Love was, ultimately the source of all magic, and this love in particular was incredibly strong.

There was nothing to worry about, though. Celestia had plenty of love of her own. Her love for her subjects, and Death as well would be more than enough to—

And that was a far as she got before she was sent down to the floor.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia’s crown clanged against the cold, hard ground, and was quickly followed by the Princess herself.

The Queen blinked, her jaw hanging open in disbelief.

“I...I did it...” she mumbled. “I did it,” she repeated as her mouth slowly twisted into a smile. “I did it! Ha ha! I, Chrysalis, have absorbed so much love that not even Celestia is a match for—”

Crack!

Chrysalis was interrupted as an oaken spear haft slammed into her jaw in a vicious uppercut.

“Girls! We need the E.O.H. here A.S.A.P.!” Alan barked.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Elements of Harmony! Now!” Twilight explained before the bridesmaids made a quick exit.

As Chrysalis picked herself off the floor, rubbing her jaw from the hit, her eyes took in the five stallions and single drake before her.

Thunderlane and Soarin had a spear each, while Silver had picked up an actual war hammer from the armory.

Spike flexed his claws, and bared his teeth.

Big Mac simply removed his yoke and cracked his neck.

Alan stood forward, Judgement gleaming. “Alright Cheeselegs, you’re under arrest for assault of the royal persons. Please don’t come quietly.”

The Queen glared at the Pendragon.

Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass filled the air, and a quick look outside revealed large shards of magic falling to the ground as Shining’s spell faded.

Chrysalis smiled as she stood. “I won’t have to.”

Before another move could be made, a changeling, much smaller than the queen with large, blue, irisless eyes smashed through one of the stained glass windows, landing like a meteorite.

Six more followed.

Ten more.

Twenty more.

Suddenly, a wave of green magic exploded from the Queen, pushing the six fighters away from the insectoid ruler. “Attack them, my children. Attack them and feed!”

The changelings quickly swarmed Alan and company, eager to sink their fangs into a new source of love.

It was a shame for them that they never knew a pony could hit that hard.

Big Mac’s massive hooves slammed against two charging changelings and sent them airborne. Silver was quick to follow up, and smashed his hammer into a third.

Spike was already up, slashing at anything that got close, his claws digging through chitin and carapace as though they were sand. If anyone was looking, they would have noticed something burning in his eyes.

Thunderlane leapt forward, spinning the spear like a quarterstaff. For every changeling he hit with his hooves, he cracked two across the head with the spear.

Soarin was not doing as well as the others; he was not used to this kind of combat. He was used to open dogfights, and now he was on the ground, surrounded. But he was a soldier, and his training forced him to stab outward with his spear.

This was when an interesting discovery was made.

Soarin’s sharpened spear head bounced off the carapace of a changeling as though it were a wall of stone.

“They're armored!” Soarin yelled.

Alan came to the same conclusion as he beat a changeling with his sword, the chitin impossible to cut, even with Judgement’s blessed blade. “Big Mac! Keep crushing them!”

“Eeyup!” the massive pony answered as he gave one changeling a powerful buck, sending him skipping across the floor like a rock on a pond.

“Thunderlane! Forget the spearhead! Just knock some sense into them!”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” Thunderlane answered as he slammed a hoof into another face.

“Spike!” Alan called.

Spike roared in answer, slashing through the metal-like exoskeletons with ease.

“Spike! Roast them on three,” he ordered, running up next to the dragon.

“One! Two!” Alan called out, as both he a Spike took a deep breath.

“Vistes!” Alan called, as both he and the dragon unleashed a jet of flame each. The flames engulfed the changelings, and when the air cleared, revealed the dead carcasses of ten of them.

“Fire is still super effective against bug types,” Alan said with a smile before coughing.

The flames gave the soldiers a brief respite, but it was short lived as the changelings swarmed in a second wave.

Alan welcomed them, sheathing Judgement in favor of a short mana-blade. “Aim for the joints!” he yelled as the blade flew through the air, eagerly seeking the spaces between the plates of natural armor.

They would not last long.

They began to cover Spike, even as he was cutting them down with every swipe and slash. Within seconds Spike was a writhing mass of changelings that broke into vibrant flashes of purple scales and ruby flame.

Alan had practically lost sight of him, and was now focusing on plunging his knife into the chinks of the natural armor.

A Changeling rushed him, and with a quick dive to the side, Alan pushed the attacker’s head to one side, revealing the joint between the back and neck plates. The Pendragon plunged his magical dagger into soft flesh between the chitin, and was rewarded with a shower of clear blood.

Big Mac was next to go down as they slowly engulfed the stallion. His thunderous hooves sending enemies flying even as they swallowed him whole.

Alan had yet again entered the third stage, and while he thanked it for its timing, he really wished he could do it himself. As the battlefield slowed, Alan began to move with better accuracy; he was able to grab more changelings, but they were squirming, and it was much harder to get exposed flesh.

Thunderlane managed to keep the swarm at bay with his spear for a bit, but he too was completely surrounded.

Alan’s blade was now a spinning silver whirlwind as his hooves moved to force open the joints of his attackers. A hoof smashed into his side, and for a second his rhythm was broken. He grabbed the hoof and brought the offender in for another kill. It was only his eighth.

Soarin was quick to go down.

Alan’s mind scrambled to try and find another target, and his hooves quickly found another carapace. The blade hardly even nicked the armor.

Silver managed to crush a changeling head under his hammer before he was swallowed.

Alan’s blade bounced off exoskeletons as he frantically searched for an opening. Hooves began to pound on his back. His mind raced.

Changelings were everywhere.

He couldn’t even see the room for all of the chitin.

Everywhere he looked was either blackness or the pale blue of those eyes.

Alan closed his eyes, even as he was being beat on.

He needed some room.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Chrysalis watched from the raised dais as her swarm overwhelmed the would be heroes. Even the mighty Pendragon fell to her underlings.

Even now, he was probably being glued to the floor under the writhing mass of her children.

“Fastali!”

The changelings exploded outward, flying in every direction imaginable as they were sent airborne by Alan’s shout.

Alan stood, his eyes glaring daggers at the queen.

How amusing.

Alan charged, the dagger flying before him.

“Shining...” the Queen said with a smile.

Alan roared, ready to bring his dagger down on the insectoid invader, only for a purple swath of magic to get in the way.

Alan’s eyes glanced over at Shining Armor, who now stood crouched, his horn crackling with power.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Chrysalis said.

Alan glanced over at the Queen.

“No matter what I do, or what I say, all he sees is his beloved Cadence,” she taunted.

The changelings regrouped, all looking down at Alan with contempt.

Chrysalis waved, and they quickly formed a ring around the two unicorns.

“Let’s see how far he’s willing to go to defend her, shall we?”

Shining moved, throwing a punch at Alan, who blocked with a hoof of his own.

Alan’s mind was still racing, and as he felt the blow, he could tell that Shining didn’t have much strength left.

That’s all he got to tell before a shield slammed into his face.

Another came up into his gut, and then his side, both already tender spots from his previous beating.

He moved to react when yet another hit him.

A glance at the unicorn’s face told Alan all he needed to know.

Shining was furious.

Another shield came down on Alan’s head, and sent him to the floor.

Then everything went black.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Wake up, my little pony, wake up.”

Alan’s vision swam as he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Celestia dangling from the ceiling, encased in what looked like a cocoon with a small window.

Spike, Big Mac, Thunderlane, Soarin, and Silver all lay pinned against the floor by some sort of green goo, Spike even had a glob of in surrounding his mouth to keep his mouth shut and his dangerous breath behind bars. As he watched, he saw changelings slowly move about them, vomiting up more of the goo and slowly shaping it into more cocoons.

Then he noticed that everything looked purple.

Shining Armor stood next to the queen, his horn alive with the magic that was keeping Alan caught in a bubble shield.

“Hello again, Pendragon,” Chrysalis hissed from the other side of the shield.

“Hello, ugly,” Alan answered.

The Queen frowned. “Incredible,” she muttered. “Even now, you find ways to annoy me.”

Alan looked up at her. “What are you talking about? We met only a few days ago.”

“And it seems you have no gift for insight, either,” she sneered.

“Easy for you to say, Snake,” Alan shot back.

“Original,” the Queen snapped.

“It’s a gift.”

“One of your best I’m sure,” she said before lifting her head to regard the Pendragon from a new position. She waited a moment, before giving a shrug. “I am feeling generous today, and since you asked, I may as well tell you.”

“Cliched villains,” Alan muttered.

“What?” Chrysalis asked.

“How nice of you.”

She eyed him.

Alan glared back.

“My kingdom was starving,” she began. “Changelings, unlike your pitiful race, must consume love to properly function, and, well, a simple glance at our true from would keep you monsters from even getting close to us. So we needed a source of food, we needed love to eat and feed from. There was nothing in my own lands, and the few gatherers I had were slow, and brought too little back," she frowned. "If we were going to survive, we needed more love. So I had my scouts search all across the world for an answer.” She faced him again. “And we found the Promised Land.

“Equestria was perfect, overflowing with love, harmony, and peace. It was a low-hanging fruit, ripe for the picking, but I would be a fool to not see the danger of it. Canterlot was like a rose bush, ten thorns for every rose, and ten secrets for every pony.”

Chrysalis turned to face Celestia, who was slowly recovering in her cocoon. “So, I had to think carefully, I had to plan expertly. I needed very powerful soldiers on the inside of your perfect palace. This caused a problem. How was I going to get changelings in so that not only would they be able to feed uninterruptedly but gain a massive amount of power?

"The first thought that came to mind was to have a select few would-be shock troopers create whole new identities for themselves. It would have worked, too, given enough time.

“But that was the issue. Time. Time I did not have, nor my Hive. No, I needed established victims, those who already had families.

"There were issues to this too. A simple replacement was too risky; restraining them would only work for so long before they would be discovered, and we could not move them without drawing attention to ourselves. Killing them also risked discovery, as just the smell of blood could send suspicions through the air.

“It seemed that I had no choice. I had no way of getting rid of the identities, and I was about to abandon the idea altogether...” she paused, lifting a hoof to her face. “Until I made a very interesting discovery...” There was a spark of green flame on her leg, and Alan watched in sick fascination as the fire licked at her chitin, transforming it into bare skin.

It reached her hoof, and the fire spread in the air, and five growths spread from the base.

Alan was staring at a hand.

His hand.

“It was a new idea. Wasteful, yes, but the love it would give in return would make up for it.”

Alan stared at the hand.

“Can you imagine the love that a family would feel for a loved one they thought was lost?”

Alan’s eyes narrowed.

“Can you imagine the number of Changelings I...” her voice trailed off into a meaningless drone as Alan glared.

This was it then.

She did this.

She brought this death.

She killed them.

She killed all of them!

Alan’s eyes flashed neon green.

It’s her fault!

Smoke began to rise off his form.

She killed them!

His irises turned red.

She killed Thundersight!

Alan felt it, a burning in his very soul. Anger. Rage.

Hatred.

And he let it consume him.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Well, well, well...” a voice hissed in the darkness.

Red and green eyes looked off to the south, seeing things nopony else could see.

“Interesting...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“And yet it failed,” Chrysalis continued. “For all my planning, for all of my cunning, I had failed to count on you, Pendragon. You with your lists and your plans. Those that died were too few for me to truly work, and were too well documented, and so I was left with no choice but...to...” her words faltered as she turned to see the bubble of magic that her quarry was caught in.

Something was wrong.

The bubble was completely obscured, as though a thick, black fog had moved in.

It was impossible to see through, and she could no longer see the pony that had been caught.

Shining groaned, lifting a hoof to his head.

Chrysalis noticed.

The unicorn shuddered.

Crack!

The Queen jumped as a fracture suddenly opened in the shield, black smoke leaking from it.

Shining went down to his knees as another crack broke through.

Chrysalis took a step back.

And then Hell broke loose.

The shield shattered, throwing Shining into unconsciousness while the force from the blow actually sent him sprawling to the side. And from the magical rubble a form leapt at the Queen from the darkness.

It was not a pony’s face.

It was the face of a monster.

Two inch fangs protruding from an open, blood red mouth. Neon green eyes, with red irises. A sharp horn that seemed to glow red and black. A mane made from black smoke, and grey fur covering his body.

The only thing that really marked him as Alan were the golden hooves.

The Monster roared, diving at the queen from the broken shield, and the terror on her face spoke volumes.

She missed meeting her end by an inch.

The Monster shot by her, slamming into the stairs of the dais, turning them to rubble. The Monster, upon impact, seemed to collapse on itself, transforming into a trail of dark mist that shot across the floor at an alarming speed.

“Changelings!” Chrysalis barked, more out of habit than anything. “Protect your Queen!”

They quickly grouped together, facing outwards with their horns blazing and teeth bared.

They never stood a chance.

The torpedo of mist flew forward, and, finding a single target, leapt off the floor, transforming mid air into a creature that was half mist, half monster. Fangs bit through the exoskeleton with ease, and with a snap of its jaws, the Monster crushed the changeling’s neck.

The Monster dropped back into the floor, turning to mist as it did.

The mist slid across the ground, finding another target. It sped foward, moving at a speed that the invaders were not prepared for. Within seconds it leapt off the ground again, swinging a blade of red and black magick. There was a slice, a flash of light, and then a poof as the Monster dived back into the floor like a shark.

The changeling stood still for a second, before his front half fell forward, and his rump and tail fell backwards.

The wound hissed like acid, trailing a green smoke in the air.

The Monster launched itself forward at a group of five of them, and with snapping jaws and spinning blades, left them in piles on the floor.

Down he went, and then up again, a disc of a thousand blades hovering inches from his hoof. He gave it a toss, and it flew forward, ripping a swath of destruction and death across the chapel.

Again, the Monster turned to smoke, and again he hugged the ground. A single changeling attacked, firing a bolt of acidic green magic at the trail of shadow. The shadow opened, letting the bolt pass through harmlessly.

The Monster rebutted by stabbing the attacker through the eye.

Another dive, another jump, and five more changelings fell.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Judgement frowned.

There had always been fear and hatred in his bearers, but this...

This was a blind rage of pure malice.

It had even tried to fight his own power.

He had to stop this as soon as possible.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The Monster was fast, and efficient.

Within a minute, there were only two changelings left and a mess of sticky clear blood painting the floor.

One was huddled in the corner, eyes wide with terror. He cradled a broken leg, the exoskeleton shattered, barely hanging onto the flesh underneath.

Before him stood the Monster.

Now still, the creature seemed fully flesh. Grey fur covered his entire body, while his mane and tail appeared to be wisps of smoke. Purple smoke drifted from his red and green eyes, and he was tall, impossibly tall, almost as tall as the Queen. His cutie mark had even changed, now a red blade against a shattered shield.

The changeling shuddered under the Monster’s gaze. “M-mercy...”

The Monster cocked his head to one side.

“Me-mercy, please...” the changeling begged.

The Monster took a step forward.

“Please! Please, This One begs—”

And that was a far as he got before another red blade stabbed him through the throat, leaving the changeling to die a slow, painful death.

The Monster turned to face the other changeling in the room. The Queen.

It spoke, its voice a terrible hiss. “Where is your love now?” it taunted.

Chrysalis blinked, too afraid to move.

She blinked again, and suddenly the Monster was inches from her snout.

Screaming, she tried to step back, and tripped over the stairs of the dias. Fear pushed her back, forcing her to crawl on her back, her eyes unable to leave his form. “Wha-what are you?”

Suddenly, four blades slammed into the ground, straight through the holes in her legs, pinning her where she lay.

“A Nightmare,” was the Monster’s answer.

Judgement was pulled from its sheath, the perfectly white blade now murky, and its point hovered over Chrysalis’ eyes.

“Stop, Alan,” a voice called.

Alan's eyes quickly searched for the source of the voice, and quickly found the face of Judgement staring at him from the inside of the blade.

"Why?" he asked in his mind

“Calm yourself. Control.”

“He needs not control himself,” a new voice said. “This is justice, is it not?”

Yes. Justice. She deserved this.

“Justice is not given by cloudy judgement.”

“Is there a better time? No. Of course not. Now your anger burns bright, now is the perfect time. Now she will feel all the pain and suffering she caused. Give in to your hatred, and show her the meaning of pain.”

She deserved so much pain.

“‘A man who controls his emotions, controls his blade. One who cannot control his emotions, is not a man at all.’ Arthur said these words, and his heir should follow them.”

But she deserves this!

“Maybe, maybe not. But if this was about justice, then would you have executed the last one?”

Alan didn’t reply.

"I don't think Twilight would approve."

The blade hung over the Queen's face for a long moment. The Monster glared at the shaking queen with its red and green eyes, a sneer on its face.

And then, the Monster began to shrink. His mane returned to its normal shape and texture, his eyes changed to their brown color. His coat turned white and his cutie mark reformed. His mana morphed to its natural, silver color, and Judgement returned to it normal luster.

Before her eyes, the Monster disappeared, leaving only the Pendragon in its wake.

“Justice will be served,” Alan said simply.

“Alan,” he heard a familiar voice call from behind him.

The voice stopped him, and he turned to see who spoke.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

There were the girls, all six of them, caught and captured. Changelings surrounded them, and one held a knife blade to Twilight’s throat.

“Hurt the Queen, and your friend dies,” the changeling hissed.

Alan looked down at the changeling.

“If you used my power, you could kill him before he raised a hoof against her.”

“And how would you explain this power to her, hm? ‘This? Oh don’t worry, it’s just the power of my rage and hatred.’”

Alan’s eyes drifted to the corner of the room, where he had executed the one changeling.

Judgement drifted away from Chrysalis’ face, and the blade slid home. “Just not yet,” he whispered to the Queen.

The changeling that held Twilight smirked.

Alan raised an eyebrow. “Well...is that it? Or are you going to make any more demands?”

The changeling blinked. “Uh...”

Alan resisted the urge to facehoof, and instead settled for rolling his eyes. As they rolled, however, his vision caught something.

Cadence, the Princess, sat next to Shining Armor, and was slowly shaking him awake.

Had...had she been in the room the entire time?

Alan turned back to the changeling.

He...he needed to stall.

“Are you new at this?”

The Changeling blinked again. “Well...This One does not give commands very often.”

Alan briefly wondered why it spoke like a Khajiit, but ignored it to press his advantage. “Oh, yes, yes, I understand completely,” he said, “it’s very hard giving orders.”

Twilight cocked her head, confused.

“It is!” the changeling said, grinning, “her Highness makes it seem so simple.”

“Well, I could help you if you want.”

Now she looked even more confused.

“Really?” the changeling asked, before its face screwed into an incredulous scowl. “Why?”

“Well, here, have a first lesson free,” he said, “You are in a room, and I have what you want, and you have what I want. So to truly take control of the situation, you need to be holding all the cards, so, you need to get me to give you what you want.”

Now Twilight’s eyes boggled, as though she were somewhere between too confused to understand what was going on, and absolutely furious.

The changeling cocked its head. “Um...release her Highness.”

“There you go!” Alan said, before the blades that had the queen pinned came loose.

The queen stood, jumping up to her hooves, fear still evident in her eyes, before collecting herself. This was a pony, nothing more, she thought to herself, before shoving Alan to the ground. “You Fool!” she laughed. “What kind of an idiot helps his enemies?”

Alan smirked. “One that has a back up plan.”

And then there was a giant flash of light.

<<<|Ω|>>>

A massive wall of magic and love ripped through Canterlot.

Anything it touched, it set right.

Changelings were sent flying even as they fought with the guard.

Cocoons and bonds of goo were broken and disintegrated.

Within seconds, every trace of the insectoid invaders was wiped out, and not a one remained.

As she was sent flying through the air, the Queen could only scream in mental anguish.

“I will get you for this, Pendragon!

“I will have my revenge!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“By the power enthroned in me, by the power of Faust,” Celestia said, standing now before the real bride and groom, with both Alan and Twilight in their spots, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

The kiss was short and sweet.

Celestia smiled again. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Armor.”

The crowd applauded before Alan stood forward. “Take this, Shining, and protect your household,” he said, handing the unicorn the pattern welded blade.

Shining smirked. “This would have been so useful earlier.”

As the bride and groom left, heading to the reception downstairs, the crowd applauded, waiting the customary ten minutes for the two to get situated.

“Hey, Alan,” Twilight said, as the crowd began to mumble. “Before we head down to the reception, there are a couple of ponies I want you to meet.”

“I figured,” Alan said.

“Don’t stray too far, either Alan,” Celestia said, “my sister and I would like to have a couple of talks with you.”

“Am I in trouble?” Alan asked, lifting an eyebrow in the direction of the solar pony.

Celestia gave him a smile. “There’s been enough trouble for today, don’t worry.”

Ten minutes passed quickly, and then the doors opened. As ponies began to file out, Twilight quickly pulled Alan away, leading him into the mass.

Celestia smiled as she watched.

The crowd passed by in a blur as Twilight led Alan forward, and Alan briefly marveled at her ability to maneuver through large crowds.

“Alan,” Twilight said as she brought him before two unicorns. “I would like to introduce you to my parents, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet.”

The mare, Twilight Velvet, Alan assumed, had a light grey coat, almost white, and a white and purple mane.

The stallion, who, if his guess was right, had to be Night Light, was a cool blue color with slate hair.

“Mom, Dad,” Twilight said, “this is Alan, my special somepony.”

Twilight the elder smiled. “Oh, it is so good to meet you!” she said, before hugging Alan. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that Twilight finally found a stallion!”

“Mom,” Twilight the younger whined.

“I thought for sure that she would die alone.”

“Mom,”

“She was always more into books than stallions when she was younger,”

“Mom!” Sparkle yelled.

“I just don’t know where she gets it! I mean, genetically speaking, she takes after her father most of the time, but he wasn’t incredibly studious in his day. In fact, he needed a lot of help during his college days.”

“Mom! You don’t tell him that stuff!” her daughter rebutted.

“What? About your father?”

“No, about me! It’s embarrassing.”

“But, I’m your mother meeting your coltfriend for the first time, I have to reveal all of the embarrassing stuff that I can. Every romance novel says so.”

As the two quickly got into a debate about proper protocol about first meeting any new relation, Night Light approached.

“Tell me you aren’t as blind as my wife.”

“I see where your daughter gets it,” was Alan’s reply.

“Good to hear I’m not insane,” Night Light said. “And as for my daughter, I do have to inform you that if you break her heart, I will have to kill you.”

Alan sighed. “Right behind Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, your son, and your daughter’s five close friends. With all due respect, sir, the only way I’m living through any sort of breakup is if she calls it.”

Night Light looked at the Pendragon. “It’s nice stallions like you that take the fun out of scaring coltfriends.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Please do.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The dance floor at the reception thundered with music. Ponies danced and celebrated, the sun setting and giving way to the night as lights flashed and basses shook.

Alan watched Twilight as she paraded around the dance floor, shaking her body in a way that definitely could not be described as dancing. The Pendragon himself stood on a balcony overlooking the gardens where the reception was being held. Next to him sat Celestia and Luna, the former face’s slightly grim. “It is a dangerous magic, Alan. One I myself would not dare use.”

Alan nodded.

“You seem to have a great control over it now,” Celestia continued, “so perhaps you can do something with it, but I would not use it unless the need was dire.”

“I understand,” Alan said.

Celestia nodded, before looking down at the reception. “I would also let her know.”

Alan looked up at the Princess.

She smiled. “Take it from an expert on dysfunctional relationships, the last thing you want is a secret that could ruin what you have.”

Alan blinked, before nodding. “Makes sense.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Celestia asked.

Alan nodded. “Yeah, yeah...I mean, I just found out I’m a practitioner of Dark Magic is all...”

Celestia sighed, before giving the Pendragon a reassuring nuzzle. “Such is the curse of those with power, Alan. You’ll be alright.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Celestia gave him a sad smile before leaving, leaving the Pendragon with Luna alone.

The younger Princess approached, before sitting herself next to the unicorn. “I know your sleep is troubled,” she said simply.

Alan did not answer.

“As Dreamwarden, it is my duty to keep the nights of my subjects peaceful. You, however, are a special case.”

Alan looked up at her.

“Though you inhabit a pony’s body, you are not a pony in your mind. My magic is an ancient magic, and as such, it is...legalistic. Therefore, to remedy this situation, I must ask for your permission to take you under my protection.”

Alan looked over at her.

Luna gave him a sad smile. “It’s not your fault, Alan.”

He nodded. “I know. It just feels like it.”

Luna nodded.

“Well, if you think you can help, I’m not going to stop you,” Alan said.

“Consider it done,” Luna said before standing. She looked down over the rails, and onto the reception. “Now I think it best you go, Twilight could certainly use some aid in her dance.”

Alan smirked. “She always does,” he said standing.

Luna smiled. “By the way, if ever the need arises to woo her, I would suggest a box of chocolate or two and a few piles of books.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The dance floor was alive with ponies as they moved to the sound of music.

Twilight was jumping around, and enjoying herself rather immensely when the song ended.

The ponies applauded, as it ended, and a few ponies changed positions, some moving onto the dance floor while others got off.

Twilight was about to leave herself when a very familiar bass guitar started to play.

“So why don’t you come with me?

Take a trip to the other side.

Where you, you and I, we can sing, we can fly

We can dance as the stars go by.”

She turned, and there was Alan, standing opposite an empty space in the floor.

“And if the heavens should open up

With a vision inside Jah love

The earth and the moon and the sun will align

With the voice from the sky above, one love.”

He held out an empty hoof, and there was a smile on his face.

Twilight smiled back.

“So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

So come on and shine with me

Shine with me.”

The two began to dance, standing like humans, as the song played. Spotlights hit them from above, as they slowly twirled and spun.

Shining Armor noticed.

“In his dreams,” he muttered angrily.

“What?” Cadence asked.

“I am not going to get out-romanced on my wedding day! Come on, Cadence, we’re dancing!”

As Shining dragged his wife down to the dance floor, Cadence merely rolled her eyes.

“Boys...”

And there we go, guys. Man, I’ll tell you what, is this a special chapter!

“I know right?”

Firstly, this is the last chapter before the one-year anniversary of A Novice Swordsman!

“Whoo! Story Birthday Party!”

Secondly, this is where I laugh at all those people who blamed Discord for the war. Ha ha! It was Chryssy all along! All those “chaos” comments you guys made only made you look like idiots...well...to me...and only me...because I was the only one who knew any...better...

Yeah, ok, I can see where you got that. But still, it made for a pretty good

Thirdly, and I feel, most importantly, I have also broken the 1k favorites barrier.

This is quite the achievement for me, and I just want to take a moment here and thank you all for it. All 1032 of you. Thank you, ANSitCC would be nothing without you.

Seriously, thanks. I can be proud of a piece of fan fiction, like legitimately proud. I can go and tell my non-brony friends about this.

So thank you, all of you.

Next time, more Slice-o-life, complete with—

“Shipping?”

...Well I wasn’t going to say—

“Aye, aye, Admiral!”

Oh, hush you.

“Be sure to comment, thumbs up, and fave if you haven’t already! And see you next time!”

Bye!

32-Of Plans and Potions

Chapter 32

Alan stared at the stairs before him.

Something about them was just so...fascinating...

He wasn’t sure what it was either. They just sort of went up, and then down. Or did they go down and then up? Maybe it went both directions at the same time, but that seemed something of a paradox...

“Alan, are you staring at the stairs again?” Twilight called.

His ears splayed flat against his head, and he guiltily answered, “No...?”

“Alan!”

“I’m sorry! I can’t help it!” Alan answered. “Stupid Dark Magic side effects...” he muttered.

Twilight sighed, walking out of the kitchen, carrying a bag that held two sack lunches. “Come on, lets get you out of the house.”

Despite Alan’s hesitance to tell Twilight about his experience, she had backed him into a corner with the simple question of “So what did Celestia want?”

Alan had looked at her for a long second before answering as well as he could, skimming over his...transformation, and focusing on the Dark Magic itself.

Twilight took it surprisingly well.

Of course, Alan did get a bit of a scare that night. What with waking up in the basement covered in wires and electrodes, and being strapped down to a table.

She swore she would make it up to him, but Alan remained unconvinced.

The fall sun shone with a lazy brilliance as the orange leaves fell from the bare branches of the trees.

The two took a turn down towards Sweet Apple Acres, walking side by side as they moved through the cool air.

"So what did you pack us?" Alan asked as they headed for their picnic spot.

"Radish, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, of course."

"Of course," Alan deadpanned.

"And just what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, Twi."

"No. What did you mean by that?"

"Look, I know they're your favorite. I'd just like some variety is all."

"Excuse you!"

"Look, are we really going to get in an argument about sandwiches?"

She paused for a second before pulling out a list. "Well, we're due for one..."

Alan blinked. "What?"

"Well, I've found a pattern to our arguments. It's based on the Fibonacci sequence that stared with the first year of you being here as the base number, then we had an argument. Remember when we had the fight about you going to war?"

"Uh...alright?"

"Right! Then we had one a year later during the war where I told you that getting the tanks into the Ira was going to take much too long, and we would be losing time in the long run."

"That was more you advising me."

"And after that, we had a fight half a year later once the war was over. It was when I was telling you to get a cape rather than getting a new duster."

"That wasn't so much of an argument as—"

"Then we had the thing with the changelings that took place four months after the duster one."

"I remember that one."

"So after that we had the one about the superiority of potatoes over tomatoes two point four months after wedding."

"Now it sounds like you're grasping at straws."

"So, it's been two and a quarter months since then, so it's about time we had an argument."

Alan blinked. "You do know that according to that theory, we'll eventually get to the point where we argue all the time?"

Twilight blinked. "You do have a point there."

Alan smiled before kissing the unicorn just at the base of her horn. "You're something, Twilight. Something I just can't live without."

She smiled before nuzzling him.

They continued to walk, their sides pressing against each other as they continued towards their picnic.

Alan suddenly turned to her. "Do you seriously have notes from over three years ago?"

<<<|Ω|>>>

Winter had passed since then, and the two had mostly filled the time with studying Alan's magics as well as a few rather successful dates. However with Springtime rolling in, Rainbow Dash had a weather assignment that she needed help with.

So she called in her favorite egghead for help.

Well...second favorite egghead now, technically. Who knew that the great Rainbow Danger Dash would get into the Daring Do series?

Alan still remembered the day that Thunderlane walked into the library, a smile on his face as he asked for both the first and second book in the series. “She’ll love ‘em, I know she will,” he had said.

Alan still couldn’t believe it, personally. Of course, he also wouldn’t have believed you if you had told him he’d take up a fascination with a particular piece of architecture.

“So where’s she set up?” Alan asked as he followed Twilight out.

“There’s a field not far from the schoolhouse that she’s picked,” Twilight said, picking up her anemometer as she exited the door.

“I think I know the one you are talking about,” Alan said, before eyeing the sack lunches. “Did you pack a snack?”

Twilight sent a glare his way. “You don’t need another donut.”

“Oh, come on. You make it sound like I just ate one.”

“You just had some yesterday!”

“Yeah, yesterday,” Alan answered.

“No,” Twilight said, “you are not going to get another donut.”

“I’ll get you the triple chocolate fudge cube,” Alan said.

Twilight looked at him.

Darn it!

Alan gave her his best smile, “Last one this week, I promise.”

“Fine,” she growled.

Alan smiled wider. “Awesome, meet you there, alright?”

“Yes, yes...” Twilight muttered as Alan slipped away, heading for the now familiar territory of Sugarcube Corner.

In actuality, Alan didn’t really care for another donut. Nor an eclair, not even a cinnamon bun. No, he was going there for something far more important.

As the door open, a bell sounded, and Mr. Cake’s face quickly popped up from behind the counter. “Well hey, there! What can I get for you, Al?”

“Hey, Mr. Cake, a donut and three triple chocolate fudge cubes. An answer to a question would be good too.”

“What question?” Mr. Cake said as he ducked back underneath the counter.

“A marriage question.”

Mr. Cake glanced up for a second. “Sorry, but I’m spoken for.”

“Funny,” Alan smirked. “But seriously here, I’ve been wondering something.”

“What?”

“Well, how do ponies say they’re married?”

Mr. Cake blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, like on Earth, the most common outward sign of marriage was a ring worn on a specific finger, and while I did see Shining and Cadence exchange rings on their wedding day, I haven’t actually seen him wear it since.”

Mr. Cake blinked again. “Oh!” he exclaimed, suddenly getting it. “Right, right. Well, normally most ponies go with initials carved into the sole of the hoof, it’s a little painful, but it lasts. Unicorns normally have a single piece of jewelry between the two of them, but I’ve seen pegasi exchange a pinion feather.”

“Really? Feathers?”

“Well, the way Cuppy’s great aunt's second cousin twice removed describes it, the feather is supposed to an irreplaceable part of who you are. It’s a pretty big deal for pegasi.”

Alan nodded.

“Alright...well...how about proposals?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan slowly approached the track that was acting as the testing grounds for the pegasi work force. Rainbow Dash was standing as proud as ever, wearing a baseball cap and blowing a whistle at anypony who seemed to be sitting still for too long.

Alan quickly scanned the field, and almost immediately spotted the lavender unicorn he cared for sitting in the middle, checking her instruments and notes almost obsessively. He felt a mild shock seeing Spike present, using his wings to perform pushups as three more pegasi sat on his back. However, he was more surprised to see Big Macintosh sitting on the sideline.

Alan quietly walked up beside the large stallion and sat next to him.

Big Mac nodded in greeting.

Alan nodded back, before following the earth pony’s gaze.

It landed on a certain yellow pegasus.

Alan...wasn’t actually all that surprised now that he thought about it.

He was also a little pleased with it.

One does not simply forget their favorite ship, after all.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, shook under every gaze, and yelped at every sound. This, Alan was familiar with, it seemed standard Fluttershy behavior when asked to perform before a crowd. But there was something else. Her eyes frantically darted about herself, as if terrifying phantoms that only she could see leaped at her from every angle.

“She seems nervous,” Alan noted.

“Eeyup,” came the reply.

There was silence for a second as they both retreated into their thoughts.

“I think I may know a way to help her,” Alan commented.

Big Mac looked at him.

Alan smiled. “I’ll need some help though, interested?”

The large stallion nodded.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!”

She could still hear them, she could still feel them staring down at her, their voices and glares all wrapped up into a terrifying nightmare of ridicule.

Fluttershy felt her stomach tie itself into knots as she spun her head this way and that, searching for her unseen accusers.

Oh, no! Now her wings were cramping! She’d never be able to fly with a cramping wing!

And now her hooves were sore.

And there goes her heart rate!

Yup, she was definitely in no condition to fly. She better just go home now and stay there, maybe lock a few doors while she was at it.

Of course, her monologue did nothing to stop the starting line from getting closer as she was pushed forward by her friend.

“Come on, Fluttershy, you’ll be fine!” Rainbow Dash said as she pushed the yellow pegasus forward. “You just need to make a wingpower of seven, Spike said he’ll cover the rest for you!”

Fluttershy was slowly digging a trench in the ground as she was pushed forward.

“Come on!” Rainbow Dash said, giving her the final push until she was at the white mark on the ground that spelled out her doom.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!”

“Now, come on, Flutters, let’s see what you can do!” Rainbow Dash said.

Fluttershy shook, and gulped before hesitantly taking the starting position.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!”

She nervously spread her shaking wings.

“Fluttershy can hardly—”

“Medic!” A voice cried from across the track, cutting off the the taunt.

Her pupils dilated, and she hung at the starting line for an instant.

And then she was off.

The world around her morphed into the war-torn battlements of Canterlot as she flew forward with all of her haste, her fear totally forgotten.

Griffons and ponies raged war around her as she searched for—

There!

She shoved the pony that had called her out of the way, diving on her patient as she began to run through a list of possible injuries.

“No major bleeding from arteries. No exposed organs. No puncture wounds. No blunt...force...” and just like that, she found herself staring straight into the face of a surprised stallion.

Big Mac blinked.

Fluttershy blushed.

The farmer blushed back.

“Uh...” he started.

“Twelve point three wingpower!” Twilight suddenly cried, breaking Fluttershy from her stupor.

She flew off of him faster than she thought her wings were capable of doing, and sat down in the grass, trying to hide her blushing face with her mane.

Big Mac slowly got up himself, before taking quick interest in the clouds.

Alan smiled as he sat next to Twilight.

“What did you just do?” she asked.

“Once you ship FlutterMac, you never go back.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan continued to read, going over the basics of swordsmanship styles, trying to find ways to make them more efficient for his pony body.

So far, he had translated the Ochs and the Pflug guards, but he was having trouble with both the vom Tag, and the Alber guards.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as a very lovely unicorn rested her head on his withers. “Hey,” she whispered into his ear.

“Hey,” Alan said as he twisted to meet her.

She smiled as she looked at the unicorn, and they shared a quick kiss between them.

Alan smiled as they broke. “My favorite superhero.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you liked Mare-do-Well that much.”

Alan smiled. “Why wouldn’t I? A Darkwing Duck reference is a Darkwing Duck reference.” He smiled wider. “Besides, she had the cutest alter ego.”

Twilight grinned, “So that’s how you feel about Pinkie, is it?”

Alan raised an eyebrow, before giving suddenly pouncing on her in a vicious hug. “Well if that’s how I feel about Pinkie, just imagine how I feel about you.”

Alan pulled her to the floor, kissing her neck fervently.

He nuzzled her, held her, kissed her. They laughed as they rolled on the floor.

And then he quickly sat up, his eyes dancing around one corner of the room.

Twilight looked up at him. “What? What is it?”

Alan shook his head. “Nothing, just thought I saw—”

Something fluttered in the corner.

And then Alan did something Twilight never expected.

He screamed.

An honest to goodness scream.

It was the girliest thing she had heard since Fluttershy’s own screams.

This was followed by a hard-mana hammer slamming into the floor repeatedly.

“Alan!” she cried.

Alan looked at her, and then back to the corner, and then back at her.

“Ah...” he said, the hammer dissipating and a blush form on his cheeks.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“Well...I...um...ah...” Alan said, his eyes moving across the ceiling. “Any chance you’d believe nothing at all?”

Twilight gave him a look. “No,” she deadpanned.

Alan gave a nervous laugh. “No, no you wouldn’t,” he admitted, kicking at a non-existent pebble. “Well...it’s..ah...not something I have really told anybody before...”

Twilight waited.

“I uh...suffer from mottephobia...”

Twilight blinked.

“You know, mottephobia, the fear of moths...” he said, barely whispering the last word.

“I know what mottephobia is,” Twilight said, “I just wouldn’t have guessed...”

“Yeah, it’s not something I’m proud of, exactly...” Alan said. “I was six and I had this nightmare where this giant blood red moth was trying to eat me, and I couldn’t move, and ever since then I’ve been scared of them.”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“I mean, it so stupid! It’s a stupid, annoying, and totally harmless bug, but if I see more than one, I freeze up. It’s just so stupid!” he ranted.

Twilight sighed. She really did have an interesting taste in stallions.

“Just give me a second to collect myself,” he said, breathing in. “So how was your day today?”

Twilight sighed, pushing herself up against him as she spoke. “It was alright. I met the Crusaders coming home.”

“Yeah? What did they want?”

“Oh they just wanted a recipe for a love potion.”

“Ah,” Alan said, doing his best to relax. “Wait...you didn’t give them one did you?”

Twilight blinked, looking at him.

Alan blinked, staring back.

“Oh, buck!” the said in unison.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Well...” Pipsqueak said. “We’re in trouble.”

It was a terrifying ultimatum.

Sure, the Crusaders had gotten into trouble before, but this was bad.

They had poisoned their teacher, and Big Mac.

Well, it wasn’t that bad. It only doomed Cheerilee and Big Mac to stare into each other’s eyes until the wasted away.

...Yeah, they were in trouble.

The five crusaders were in their clubhouse, each thinking of the best way to undo their latest blunder.

Silver Spoon had her nose buried in the book, flipping through the pages like a mad mare. She was in charge of Research and Development, and if she had actually taken a moment to read through the whole thing, she would have noticed the side effects. If ponies found out it was her fault...

She shuddered at the thought before re-re-reading the passage.

“Ok, it says here that all we need to do is keep them from looking into each other’s eyes for a full hour, and then we’re good,” Spoon said, reading aloud.

“Is that all?” Applebloom asked, hopefully.

“Well, yeah, but we only have until...” she quickly counted, “noon before the effects become permanent.”

“Alright then!” Pipsqueak said, standing. “Then all we need to do is—”

And that was a far as he got before the clubhouse door slammed open.

“What did you do!?” Alan screamed as he entered.

The book that Silver Spoon was holding began to glow purple as it suddenly shot out of her hooves and right in front of the lavender unicorn behind him.

“Cure, cure, cure...” she mumbled flipping through the pages.

Pipsqueak was admittedly quick to answer. “We wanted Miss Cheerilee to have a special somepony, and Big Mac was the only good one we found.”

“Cure!” Twilight exclaimed. “We have to keep them from looking into each other’s eyes for an hour!”

“Alright,” Alan said, “Hopefully that won’t be so bad. Wait, did you say Cheerilee and Big Mac?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Ooh,” Alan winced, “I hope Fluttershy doesn’t find out, she’d be heartbroken.”

Sweetie Belle looked up at the Pendragon guiltily. “Miss Fluttershy?”

“Alright, Twi, we need to move out. You take care of Cheerilee, I’ll get Macintosh.”

“We’re coming with you!” Applebloom cired.

“Yeah!” Pipsqueak followed. “We started this mess, we should help fix it!”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Alan quickly beat her to the punch. “No time to argue! Let’s go, girls, go with Twi, Pip, with me!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Fluttershy hummed to herself as she walked into Sugarcube corner.

Today was a good day for her. The local field mouse had finally recovered enough from his broken leg to go home to his family, Mr. and Mrs. Weasel hadn’t eaten any of her smaller friends, Barry the Bear had dropped by for tea, and she and Rarity had a little mare time down at the spa.

It had just been such a wonderful day.

The bell sang a cheery note as Fluttershy opened the door, her wings fluttering as she made a graceful leap towards the counter. “Hello, Mrs. Cake,” she said, in her doubtlessly-trademarked whisper-speech.

“Oh! Hello there, dearie! what can I get you today?”

“Oh, well, I was just having such a wonderful day. It’s been so great, and I was just thinking that I could ah...maybe I could just make it the tiniest bit better by having a milkshake.”

Mrs. Cake smiled. “Of course, dearie, no problem at all!” Mrs. Cake said. “I just hope our other customers won’t bother you.”

“Other customers?” Fluttershy asked, before her eyes started scanning the room.

And then she saw them.

There he was, the strong, the silent, the helpful Big Macintosh. He looked as...handsome as ever, with his yoke around his neck.

Before him was a mare.

Fluttershy hardly realized that it was Cheerilee, but it didn’t matter.

“Shmoopy-doopy sweetie-weetie pony pie,” he muttered dreamily, staring into her eyes as though they were the gateways to heaven themselves.

“Cutie-patootie lovie-dovie honey-bunny,” she answered, returning the pleased, thousand-mile stare.

Tears sprung to the pegasus’ eyes.

The both sipped at a shared milkshake, giving it just enough attention to slowly eat it away.

Fluttershy staggered.

“Big Mac?” she whispered.

The stallion paid her no mind, as though she didn’t even exist.

Her tears began to run down her face. “No...” she whispered.

The stallion didn’t hear her. All he did was stare deep into the eyes of the mare across from him.

“M-Macintosh...?” she called.

The stallion didn’t answer.

“Well lookie here!” a voice in her mind taunted. “Somepony decided they were too shy, and the stallion she wants just passes her by.”

Fluttershy could only stare at the scene before her.

“Looks like your little crush isn’t interested in doormats, idiot!”

Fluttershy flinched at the mental jab, tears running down her face.

“Now look at him! Look at him! See how happy he is!? Do you see that? That could have been you! But no! Little Miss Spineless could say anything, could she?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer.

“Well it’s too late now.”

Fluttershy sobbed, her body shaking as she watched Big Macintosh stare into the eyes of another mare.

She just couldn’t take it.

Her vision nearly blinded by the tears, she ran out, pushing her way through the door, and past the seven ponies at the door.

Alan, Twilight, and the crusaders watched her go.

Alan sighed. “Great...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan had four, massive mana-arms grabbed onto the stallion.

Four arms, and not a single one had slowed him down.

Chains of mana, a shape that he had not yet mastered, anchored to stones, did nothing but rearrange the scenery.

Pipsqueak had managed to get a rope around his neck, but that only really succeeded in moving a house.

“Darn it, Big Mac. I order you to stop!” Alan yelled.

Big Mac did not stop. He was too busy thinking about his dear “Shmoopy-doo” to care about orders.

Pipsqueak was trying to hold onto the rope with his teeth, but just wound up dangling between the house and the draft pony.

Alan hoped Twilight was doing better.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight hoped Alan was doing better.

“My Snuggy-wuggy Honey-wunny Wafflebaby needs me!” Cheerilee cried.

Wafflebaby?

Twilight was silently thankful that she and Alan never got that bad.

At least publicly.

Cheerilee was currently being held back by three mana walls, a leash of cloth disguised as a wedding veil, and four fillies.

And still she was moving.

Sweet Celestia, that mare was desperate.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pipsqueak dropped to the floor, avoiding the house that was dragging behind him, by a few hooves closer than he would have liked.

This was not good.

Mr. Alan wasn’t stopping Big Macintosh at all.

Not even a little bit.

The colt’s eyes scanned the area, trying to find somepony that could help.

He did find a couple that could help. Both pegasi, colts from his class, one grey, the other beige with a camera.

“Rumble! Featherweight! Help!”

The two colts seemed shocked that they had been called in to help.

“Hurry! We don’t have much time!”

Rumble suddenly shot forward, as if the words had finally reached his ears. The grey colt was fast, running up to the large earth pony, and getting in between his legs.

Whump-whump, whump-whump.

Rumble made four quick strikes at the larger stallion’s hooves, throwing off his bounce-like gait.

Big Mac stumbled, falling flat on his face.

“Way to go, kid!” Alan yelled, before the mana arms quickly secured the legs, pinning them to the ground.

“Honey-Bunch!” a voice called, and Alan looked up to see a purple mare dragging four fillies and a mare behind her.

“Oh, not good!” Alan yelled.

“Shmoopy-doo!” Big Mac yelled, pushing himself up, forcing himself against the restraints.

“Keep him down!” Alan yelled, as a few more arms appeared, pushing down on the stallion.

Unfortunately it was an arm too many.

The draft pony gave a powerful push upwards, and shattered one of the arms.

The magical backlash was as bad as ever.

Going down, Alan watched in horror as Big Mac leapt up, and began running for Cheerilee.

“Don’t let him look her in the eyes!” Alan yelled.

Rumble moved quickly, slamming into the stallion’s larger legs as he tried to move again.

Pipsqueak ran up, whipping the bandana from around his neck into his teeth, and jumped onto the stallion’s neck. He expertly wrapped the bandana around Big Mac’s eyes, effectively blindfolding him.

Featherweight finally moved.

Big Mac regained his footing, almost casually throwing Pipsqueak and the bandana from his head. And then he began jumping again.

Cheerilee strained against her captors.

Big Mac made yet another leap, still dragging the house.

And then there was a bright flash of light.

“Smile!” Featherweight yelled, as the flash of his camera subsided.

Big Mac blinked widely, trying to see through the spots in his vision.

Rumble moved again, slamming into Big Mac’s hooves, using everything his brother taught him to get them out of sync just so, flying out from underneath the falling stallion every time he was successful.

Pipsqueak ran up to Big Mac again, and threw his bandana around his eyes. “Flash Miss Cheerilee too!” he yelled at the beige colt.

Featherweight nodded, zipping over to the purple earth pony mare. “Time for your wedding pictures!” he yelled, snapping the flash.

Cheerilee screamed. “Muffy-duff!” she cried.

“Wumpykins!” Big Mac yelled.

“Pin her, girls!” Twilight yelled.

“Just one more minute!” Alan called.

Rumble was flying between Big Mac’s legs, sweeping them out from under him as he tried to get them under him.

Pipsqueak held onto the bandana, trying to keep it around the stallion’s eyes as he tried to dislodge the thing around his face.

A filly to a leg, the Crusaders were weighing down their teacher with all the strength they had.

Featherweight was zooming around his teacher’s head, having gone full-paparazzi mode. “Beautiful, Miss Cheerilee! The camera loves you!”

His poor teacher had been utterly blinded. “Kissy-poo!”

Twilight gagged.

Alan recovered just in time to force a set of arms down on Big Mac’s legs. “Almost there!”

Big Mac pushed himself up again.

“Stay down, soldier!” Alan yelled, hoping that some training was still stuck in the farmer’s mind.

The stallion pushed himself up.

And then the clock struck noon.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight sighed. “Okay, that could have been much worse,” she admitted.

“Yup,” Applebloom said, doing her best to inch away.

She was stopped by Big Mac’s glare.

The Crusaders all sat in the middle of a four-way disappointed glare. Big Mac opposite Cheerilee, and Alan opposite Twilight.

“That does not excuse this behavior,” Alan said.

“Nope,” Big Mac agreed.

Rumble and Featherweight stood to one side, watching the grilling, and silently thanking Celestia they hadn’t been involved in the problem.

“I told you that I wasn’t interested in finding a special somepony. Do you know what forcing somepony to do something they don’t want to do is called?”

“Tyranny?” Sweetie Belle said.

“Among other things,” Twilight agreed.

The foals all dropped their heads. “We’re sorry...” they said in unison.

Cheerilee looked up to Alan, Alan looked over at Twilight, and Twilight looked over at Big Mac.

They all nodded.

“Alright then,” Cheerilee said. “If you are so sorry then you won’t mind helping Big Mac out with his chores today.”

There were some stifled groans, followed by “Yes, Miss Cheerilee.”

Cheerilee nodded, as both Big Mac and her lead the Crusaders away.

As they passed by, Sweetie Belle quickly broke away from the group, and headed over to Featherweight. “Thank you for helping us, Featherweight.”

He smiled. “It was no problem, really.”

“Sweetie Belle...” Cheerilee called.

“I have to go, sorry. And thanks again!”

As the foals all went their separate ways, Twilight and Alan were left in the middle of the street.

The lavender unicorn sighed. “I better go talk to Fluttershy. She’s probably taking this real hard.”

Alan nodded. “I’ll go ahead and head home, run the library while you’re away.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Alan.”

Alan smiled, before kissing the tip of her nose. “For you? It’s a labor of love, no thanks necessary.”

She smiled and shook her head. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Did you expect anything else?” Alan asked.

She laughed, before heading to the forest to comfort the heartbroken pegasus.

Alan watched her go, before heading back to the library.

As he approached the old oak, he was surprised to see a very familiar pegasus mare delivering the mail. “Derpy? Is that you?”

The mare looked up at him with golden eyes. “Oh! Hi, there Mr. Alan!”

“When did you get back?” Alan asked.

“Oh, we haven’t!” she answered.

Alan blinked.

“We don’t actually get back for another...” she trailed off as she checked the date, “two years.”

Alan cocked his head. “Then what are you doing here?”

Derpy smiled. “Well it turns out that our daughters have been seen around Ponyville before I and the Doctor got married, so we’re just trying to patch up some timelines.”

Alan blinked. “Well...con...gratulations?”

“Thank you!” she said, before she handed him a letter. “By the way, I’d suggest you read this.”

Alan took the letter.

“Have fun!” Derpy said, before flying off.

Alan watched her go, before looking down at the letter.

From Blueblood.

Alan looked back up to the retreating pegasus.

Should one question the wisdom and knowledge of a time traveler?

Probably not.

Alan opened the letter.

“Dear Pendragon Alan Goldenhooves,

I realize that you are a very busy stallion. It makes perfect sense that you may have forgotten to get back to me this time last year concerning...”

Alan read on.

And then he smiled.

Have fun indeed.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The Mane Six sat in Twilight’s library, each having been called by Alan. They listened intently, sipping drinks as Alan explained his little scheme.

He had the biggest grin on his face.

“Prince Blueblood obviously does not know who I am,” he said.

“What do you mean by that?” Rarity asked.

“Simply, he thinks I’m important. Somepony who needs to be impressed.”

“And?” Twilight asked.

“And he means to impress me at the Grand Galloping Gala this year.”

The mares gave each other a look. “You’re not going are you?” Dash asked.

“I mean, the Gala was so boring...”

“I know,” Alan said. “I plan to change that.”

Now he had their attention.

“Imagine, if you will, this Prince. He feels the need to impress a stallion, and this stallion feels the need to completely quote-unquote ‘wreck’ the Gala. Imagine everything he wishes the Gala was going to be, being torn apart in front of him. Imagine him having to give that stallion the Gala the stallion wants, rather than what the Prince wants.”

Rarity began to smile.

“Imagine the Gala you wanted, Pinkie, imagine the party that you were expecting. Imagine the Prince having to give it to you.”

Rarity smiled wider.

“Imagine all those prim and proper ponies being forced to eat ‘simple’ apple pies. Imagine all those ponies had to loosen up a bit.”

“Well, Darling, you have certainly convinced me,” Rarity said.

“I’m glad,” Alan said. “My little ponies, allow me to teach you the secret human technique of ‘Stop, Drop, and Troll.’”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Yoohoo! Spike!” Rarity called to the dragon as he walked through Ponyville’s main square.

Spike looked over to her, and stopped to let the fashionista catch up to him.

As the mare approached, Spike noted the mischievous gleam in her eyes. This...could be bad for him...

“Hello, Milady,” Spike greeted, giving her a short bow. “What can I do for you?”

“Always such the gentledrake,” Rarity commented, as she walked up next to him. “Well, Spike, Alan received a letter of invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. However, considering the smashing success the last one was, he plans to make a few...changes to the schedule.”

“Sounds fun,” Spike said.

“Which is exactly why I’m going, too,” she said with a smirk. “And I would be honored if you were to escort me.”

Spike blinked. “Really?”

“Of course, dear. First off, it will appear far less suspicious if we all went in pairs, and secondly, I do believe it’s my turn to pick the date.”

Spike smiled. “Hey, now. That’s cheating.”

“Actually, dear, you’ll find it’s not. You failed to mention anything concerning how we pick our sorties.”

Spike gave a playfully indignant snort, sending a few puffs of smoke into the air, before nuzzling the unicorn. “If you say so.”

Rarity smiled. “I do say so. Now I’m probably going to need your help at the boutique, I do believe the other girls are going to require my services in a few days.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Another day at Sugarcube Corner, another day filled with the most amazing baker in his life.

“Got any twos?” Soarin asked, looking down at his cards.

“Go Fish!” Pinkie replied.

Soarin reached into the pile, and picked up a four.

The prize sat between them, a massive jar filled with gumdrops, jawbreakers, lollipops, and even a couple of candied orchids.

Of course, if she was as good at Go Fish as she was Blackjack, Poker, Darts, Tic Tac Toe, and Pin the Tail on the Pony, then he probably wasn’t getting any sweets anyway.

Pinkie smiled. “Have any fours?”

Soarin frowned, before handing over two cards.

Another four of a kind.

Soarin mentally cursed.

“Let’s make this more interesting...” Pinkie said.

“Why would I up the stakes now, I’m—” Soarin began.

“If I win, you can have the candy,” Pinkie said.

Soarin blinked.

“But, you’ll also have to take me to the Grand Galloping Gala,” she finished, smiling.

Soaring blinked again. “Oh, look at how clumsy I am!” he said, dropping the cards face up on the table.

Pinkie laughed.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thunderlane yawned.

Man, there was nothing to do today.

Sunny skies were scheduled for the next week and a half, and Rainbow Dash had fallen out on him for their weekly sparring session.

What had gotten into her all of a sudden? She was never one to just drop things like that. Heck, he had known that before he had gotten to know her personally.

Well...something important must’ve happened...

The mohawked pegasus sighed.

So bored.

A knock sounded on his front door.

Who could that be?

As he got up, he found himself hoping it was the pegasus that had occupied his mind recently. If it was, then maybe they could still get their spar in today.

He opened the door to his cloud home, and his jaw dropped so low it hit the ground far below.

“Let’s just say, I lost a bet.” Rainbow Dash said with a smile as Thunderlane stared at her.

Her...her mane...

It had been...well...styled...

Her multi-colored locks had been straightened, before being pulled into a ponytail. Thunderlane had never seen her mane so nice.

And that was just to start.

Around her neck hung a string of pearls, and she wore a form fitting, black dress with a slit along her leg.

He also swore she was wearing makeup.

“Now, the other part of this, is I’ve got to ask you something.”

Thunderlane nodded.

“I’m going to the Grand Galloping Gala. Want to come?”

Thunderlane nodded again.

“Good. See ya around,” she said before taking off.

Thunderlane stood at his door, staring at where the mare had been standing.

“Hi...” he finally managed to say.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Just ask him. Ask him, don’t make a big deal of it, and get it over with. It's been three days, just ask him.

Say it with me, now. “Do ya want to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me?”

Applejack stared into her mirror, and rehearsed the line again.

She had tried three times to ask him, now, but all that had gotten her was a sputtering phrase of gibberish.

“Do ya want to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me?” she asked the mirror again.

Come on, AJ, tain’t that hard. Heck, Rainbow Dash’s already got her date, and she way more of tomcolt than you.

“Do ya want to go the the Gala with me?”

Why was she even asking?

She didn’t need anypony to take her to the Gala. She’d be just fine on her own. Nopony would care if she came alone. Nopony would even notice.

She sighed.

“Do ya want to go to the Gala with me?”

“What?” a voice asked.

Applejack nearly jumped a foot in the air as Silver spoke to her.

“Wha? Da! Dabada!”

Silver blinked. “What?”

“Ah, uh...Ah...” Applejack muttered, trying to regain control over her tongue.

Silver smirked. “Were you going to ask me something, Applejack?”

“Eeyup,” was her simple reply as she blushed.

“Interesting...” The stallion said. “Would it happen to relate to your friends looking for some dates to a specific event?”

“...Eeyup...”

“I see. Have you found a date yet, AJ?”

“Nope.”

“Are you looking for one?”

She hesitated for a second. “Eeyup,” she answered. Why was he teasing her like this?

Silver smiled. “Well...I’m sure that Pokey Pierce is free that night.”

Applejack frowned before punching him in the shoulder.

Silver laughed. “Sure, I’ll go with you, AJ.”

“Well now Ah ain’t sure I want you to,” Applejack said.

Silver laughed again.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Fluttershy was nearly hyperventilating.

She had spent four days in her cottage, trying to prepare herself for this event.

You have to do this. You have to do this now. You can’t risk some other two-bit floozy—

“It wasn’t her fault,” her conscience quickly cut in.

You can’t risk some other kind, generous mare of good standing getting her hooves on him. You have to do this now.

She walked to her front door.

And then hid behind the couch.

“What if he says no? What if he hates me for asking? What if I mess up?”

No! You have to do this now! If you wait you could lose him forever!

“But, but it’s just so fast...”

If you don’t move fast, the world will.

“Y-you’re right...I have to do this, and it has to be now.”

Fluttershy sat, taking a deep breath.

This was it.

She stood.

This was the time.

She took five determined steps toward her door.

Now or never.

She opened her door.

And instantly froze.

A large red stallion stood at her door, hoof raised to knock.

They blinked.

“Uh...” the stallion spoke first, suddenly realizing his hoof was in the air. He put his hoof down, maybe a little too quickly before speaking again. “Howdy, Miss Fluttershy.”

“Ah...um...hi,” she squeaked.

Big Mac nodded.

Fluttershy tried to disappear into her mane.

You could cut the silence between them with a dull butter knife.

“Well...?”

They broke the silence in unison.

“Big Mac.”

“Miss Fluttershy.”

“You go first,” they said to each other.

“No, you.”

Fluttershy sighed.

“Go ahead, Miss Fluttershy,” Big Mac said, taking advantage of her breath so he wouldn’t have to speak first.

“Be brave Fluttershy...”

“B-Big Mac.”

“Yes?”

“W-would you like to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me?”

Big Macintosh let loose a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Eeyup.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan checked the time.

Three minutes late.

He really hoped Twilight wouldn't notice he was gone.

Or his ship.

The waiter for the Canterlot Cafe came by again. "Are you sure you don't need anything sir?"

"I'm fine," Alan said.

The waiter nodded and left.

Alan checked the time again.

Four minutes.

He bit his lower lip.

Oh, this was nerve-racking.

"Alan?" someone spoke, and the Pendragon looked up to see the two unicorns he was waiting for.

Alan smiled. "Mr. and Mrs. Light, I'm glad you came."

Night Light nodded. "Good to see you again, Alan."

"What did you want to talk about, dear?"

Alan took a deep breath. "Well..."

<<<|Ω|>>>

Three weeks passed and the night of the Gala arrived, and the eleven ponies, and single dragon were gathered on the deck of the Victory.

“Everyone ready for tonight?” Alan asked.

“You know it!” Thunderlane answered.

“Alright then, Fillies and Gentlecolts,” Alan said with a manic grin as the sky yacht began to rise. “Prepare yourselves, for the real Best Night Ever!”

"MUFFY-DUFF!"

...Alright, guys. A bit of an early update as I try to get Kilokk ready to take over for Squiddy as he goes on a trip. And now it’s now time for Alan’s human talents to truly shine.

“But...he’s a pony...”

“Now here is a Riddle to guess if you can

Sing the Bells of Coltre Dame.

Who is the pony and who is the man?

Sing the Bells, Bells, Bells, Bells,

Bells, Bells, Bells, Bells,

Bells of Coltre Dame!”

Thank you, Pinkie. As a reward, you’re going to have a lot of fun

“Finally! The party I’ve always dreamed of!”

And much, much more.

Next time, Chapter 33, The Real Best Night Ever!

“Be sure to leave us the usual, and see you next time.”

Bye!

33-The Real Best Night Ever

Chapter 33

Prince Blueblood XVI smiled.

Yes, tonight would be a good night. The orchestra had been perfectly selected, the
catering had been perfectly supervised, the food had been perfectly prepared, and the guests were perfectly behaved.

It was shaping up to be quite the perfect evening.

Of course it was; he had planned it, after all.

A glass of wine hung perfectly poised in his magical grasp, and he took a moment to adjust his perfectly groomed blond mane.

Had to keep up appearances, what with the Pendragon coming.

Blueblood’s reputation had taken quite the hit last year when he had not shown, what with telling all of his friends that he was coming. At the very least he had saved himself the humiliation of hanging a massive sign.

But no, he was coming this time. He was coming, and what’s more he was bringing some friends of his own. The thought had the Prince smiling when he heard the news, a chance to not only impress the Pendragon, but also his close friends?

Yes, this evening was going to be absolutely perfect.

He gave a fake smile as yet another pony who was not the Pendragon entered. “Hello, and Welcome to the Gala.”

The pony thanked him and continued on.

Ugh, playing doorman was so beneath him.

But it was a necessary sacrifice. It would all pay off the second the Pendragon entered.

It was going to be perfect.

“Well, Your Grace, I’m surprised to see you here, I’d imagine you’d be on a stage somewhere,” a voice said.

Prince Blueblood gave his best smile to the entering entrepreneur. “Hello, Mr. Fancypants.” His smile lacked any sort of warmth, and the Prince’s eyes glared daggers. “Common trash.”

“Your Grace,” The monocle-wearing unicorn answered. The noblepony’s face was much more honest. Rather than a fake smile, his face was caught in a deadpan. “Arrogant imbecile.”

The two glared daggers at each other, and to anypony who watched carefully, those daggers seemed to fence in the middle of the air between them.

“Fancy...please, we’re here to have fun tonight,” the mare at his side pleaded. The slender mare with the pink and white mane stood next to him, trying to pull him away from the Prince.

Fancypants broke contact first. “Yes, you’re right, Fleur, of course. I’m simply wondering why, His Exalted Grace is standing by the door. He is not normally one to play lapdog.”

Blueblood forced his smile more as he tried to kill the pony before him with his eyes. “I am merely waiting for an important and regal stallion. One I’m sure you have never met.”

“If you mean ‘regal’ according to your definition, I’m sure I would hate to meet him. Well, Fleur, let’s be off, I’d hate to waste more of my short life in present company.”

As the two walked away, Blueblood finally shot the stallion a scowl behind his back. He silently hoped that stallion in particular would die of the plague.

He turned back to the door, greeting more unimportant ponies as he waited for his guest. Once the Pendragon got here everything would be fine.

Perfect even.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan watched as Canterlot Castle slowly came into view. He smiled before calling out, “Everypony ready?”

“Sir, yes sir!” came the reply, from both his friends, and a select few chosen for the entourage.

“Miss Tart, you know your lines?” Alan asked as he stepped toward the prow.

“Sir, yes sir!” the lemon yellow mare replied.

“Vinyl, Neon?”

“Ready when you are, sir!” the latter answered.

“Gentlecolts?” he asked the line of armored soldiers.

“Sir, yes sir!” came the answer.

Alan smiled, before leaning over the prow. “Then let’s make an entrance.”

“Jotum!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

A deafening roar sounded in the distance.

Those that were more scientifically minded recognized it as a dragon’s call.

Panic began to ripple through the ponies gathered. What was that? Where did it come from?

“Look!” someone from the crowd shouted, pointing off to the east.

An air yacht, hovering just a few hundred yards above the ground, slowly turned towards the castle, and as it did, lights began to erupt along its surface.

Within seconds, what was once a yacht was now a dragon of light. Its massive, multi-colored wings slowly flapped as a gigantic head nobly swept from side to side.

A deep drum began to sound.

Ba Dum. Ba Dum.

The dragon of light exploded, transforming into faux fireworks as the drums suddenly picked up.

Ba-dum, ba-dum!

The yacht began to pull in, docking next to one of the many balconies of the palace.

Ba-ra-ra-da-dum, ba-ra-ra-da-dum!

The gangplank was lowered, and six armed guards filled out, moving with military precision as the made perfect right-angle turns until they flanked gangway, three on each side.

A golden armored unicorn mare with yellow fur and a lime green mane stepped forward. On her back she wore a special harness to carry a banner, the black and silver banner of the Pendragon himself.

Ba-ra-ra-da-dum, ba-ra-ra-da-dum!

With the ring of magic, and a leaf-green aura, the mare pulled out a scroll. Unrolling it, she cleared her throat before speaking to the shocked-silent audience. “Presenting Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof, Heir of Arthur, Wielder of Judgement, Prince of Gryphus, Defeater of Discord, Hero of Canterlot, and his beloved General Twilight Sparkle, Student of Celestia, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Defeater of Discord, Keeper of the Door to Oblivion, the Lavender Terror.”

Alan and Twilight walked down the gangplank as they were announced. Alan wore a simple black jacket, leaving the white of his coat to contrast with his outfit. His golden hooves glinted in the light, and that sight alone got the nobles whispering to each other.

Twilight was as stunning as ever. She had chosen a much simpler dress, a sleek black wrap with silver stars embroidered into its entirety. Her mane was done in a bun, and she wore a silver headband with silver stars that held her hair in place.

Kiwi Tart spoke again. “Presenting Captain Thunderlane, The Pony with a Thousand Hooves, and his date General Rainbow Dash, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Defeater of Discord, the Prismatic Thunder.”

Thunderlane wore a black suit that seemed to meld in with his coat with a white collared shirt and a bright red tie.

Rainbow Dash wore the black dress she had asked him out on, complete with her mother’s pearls and the small application of makeup.

“Presenting Captain Soarin of the Wonderbolts, the Cloudbreaker, and his beloved, General Pinkamena Pie, Bearer of the Element of Laughter, Defeater of Discord, the Pink Storm, the Crazed Cannoneer.”

Soarin wore his navy blue formal attire, complete with badges and medals, while Pinkie wore a sky blue dress that had balloons and candy embroidered into it.

“Presenting Captain Spica Draconis, Dragon of Deep Emeralds, Keeper of the Emerald Flame, Born of Fire and Magic, and his beloved, General Rarity, Bearer of the Element of Generosity, Defeater of Discord, The Diamond Death, The Crystal Soldier.”

Spike wore a simple suit jacket, hemmed with emeralds much like Alan’s old suit. A few fainted at the sight of him, other’s had their jaw drop. A few simply wondered how he got the mare next to him.

Rarity wore a amethyst and emerald ensemble, complete with lacy frills with green glass beads and a circlet with a emerald at its center. The design was a mix of her original Gala dress, but was lighter, having less layers, and the end of the dress seemed to be made of tulle, allowing her form to be just visible underneath her dress.

“Presenting Captain Big Macintosh, the Pony of Living Thunder, the Apple Mountain, and his date, General Fluttershy, Bearer of the Element of Kindness, Defeater of Discord, the Gentle Hoof.”

Big Mac slowly led Fluttershy off the ship, his yoke gone and replaced with the same tux he wore to the wedding.

Fluttershy, on the other hand wore a very conservative light green dress with pale blue accents and yellow frills, with a green bow holding her mane back. Currently, she was doing her best to try looking like she wasn’t desperate to disappear from sight.

“Presenting Captain Silver Pauldrons, the Hammer of the Pendragon, the Steadfast Stallion, and his date General Applejack, Bearer of the Element of Honesty, Defeater of Discord, Lady of the Deathly Chain.”

Silver wore a leather vest, a black stetson, and cowboy boots. A silver Bolo tie came around his baby blue shirt collar and his eyes glinted mischievously.

Applejack wore the same exact thing she had worn at the last Gala, but it would be a lie to say that she hadn’t spent an actual hour in front of a mirror trying to get her mane and makeup just right.

Silver was surprised she was wearing makeup at all.

As the ponies walked out into the ballroom, the ponies could only watch in stunned silence.

They never noticed the two DJs slipping away.

Blueblood suddenly pushed his way forward. “Ah, yes, Mr. Pendragon!” he called, wine glass following him.

“Ah, yes, thank you my good stallion!” Alan said as he ripped the glass from the Prince. “Be sure to get some for the rest of my friends will you?”

The Prince blinked. “Uh,”

“Very nicely dressed waiters here, wouldn’t you agree, Twi?” Alan said as he continued moving forward.

The Prince gaped in unabashed horror. Waiter? He thinks I’m a waiter?!

He quickly looked down at his attire.

Of course! I am much too simply dressed! I must rectify this immediately!

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Hello, Mr. Fancypants,” Celestia greeted.

“Greetings,” Luna said.

“A pleasure, Princesses,” he said before moving on, allowing the next ponies in line to come up.

“Hello Auntie Celestia, Auntie Luna.”

“Ah!” Celestia said, “Cadence, Shining, how are you two doing?”

The pink princess smiled. “Doing fine, Auntie.”

“Serviceable, your Majesty,” Shining replied, wearing his red formal wear.

“Glad to hear it,” Celestia said, before looking up at the commotion that was forming down the line.

A hooful of familiar ponies began making their way up the stairs, the line practically evaporating in front of them.

Before long, Alan had made his way to the top of the stairs, everypony else having simply got out of the way. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” he greeted them before looking towards the smaller ponies, “Shining, Principessa Cadenza, buonasera.”

She smiled at him. “Buonasera, Pendragon.”

“Alan, I’m actually surprised you came,” Celestia said.

“Yes, politics tends to be quite the effective repellent,” Alan agreed. “But tonight the girls and I have a plan.”

“Do you?” Celestia asked, sounding slightly amused.

“We’re going to turn the Gala into one of Pinkie’s parties, most probably at Prince Blueblood’s expense. Not out of spite, mind you, just some good clean fun.”

Rarity coughed.

“Well, mostly not out of spite,” Alan amended.

Celestia blinked.

She really shouldn’t.

It was wrong to do that to her adopted nephew.

But...it was just too good.

Celestia smiled. “I...have been waiting a long time to hear that, Pendragon.”

“Tia,” Luna huffed indignantly.

“Blueblood, if anypony, needs to loosen up a bit, Lulu. It will be a good learning experience for him.”

Luna gave her sister a look.

“If nothing else, it will make the night more bearable,” Celestia said, countering her sister’s silence.

Luna rolled her eyes, and then expertly hid her smile as she looked off into the distance.

Cadence was smiling like a madpony, “Oh, can I help? I’ve always thought the Gala was a little dull.”

“Naturalmente,” Alan replied, smiling. “Spero che non ti...dispiaccia usando Bitaliana, è solo ho...ah...bisogno di più pratica.”

Cadence smiled. “Niente. E 'bello sentire di nuovo.”

Alan smiled, “Well, you girls know what to do, I’ll get Cadence caught up with the plan, see you in a few, my Little Star.”

“Piccola stella?” Cadence asked.

“Il mio...nome per Twilight,” Alan explained.

Cadence lit up at that, “Aw! Così carino!”

Twilight and Shining watched as the two slowly disappeared, lost in their own language.

“Is it weird that my wife and your coltfriend get along this well?” Shining asked his sister.

“You’re the social one in the family, you tell me.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Now that was a fun day,” Alan said as he finished his story.

The Pendragon and the Princess had wandered for a bit, swapping stories, plans and secrets in Bitalian. Every now and then the Princess would correct him, but Alan was proud to say that those moments were few and far between.

They had moved out to one of the palaces many balconies, and had begun to talk about Shining and Twilight.

As Alan finished his story, however, he noticed Cadence had began to look off into the distance.

“Princess?”

“Hm? What?” she asked, as though she were caught in a class after being asked a question.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing at all,” she answered.

Alan frowned. “I know that look, Princess. Something’s wrong. I just want to help.”

Cadence looked at him for a long moment. She didn’t say anything as she stared, and Alan was about to let the subject drop when she said “Have you ever heard of a flügelhorn?”

Alan blinked. “No...no I haven’t.”

Cadence nodded. “I’m not surprised. They’re something from back home.”

“Bitaly?”

Cadence sighed. “Bitaly is not my home. It’s where I grew up, it’s where I was born, it’s even where I made my first friends, but it is not my home.” Cadence looked northward. “Bitalian was the first language I learned. Bitalian food was the first thing I tasted. I even have a Bitalian name, but Bitaly is not my home.

“My home is far to the north, in a country that has not been seen by mortal eyes for more than a thousand years. My home is the place of flügelhorns, jousting, Crystal berries, and a rare species of sheep. None of which I’ve seen, or even particularly care for. But they are from my home, and so I must care. I prefer the Bitalian mandolin over the flügelhorn, but I must learn how to play the horn first.”

She sighed. “I’m simply homesick, but I have no home to be sick for. Everypony has a home but me.”

Alan gave her a soft smile. “Ever heard of Walmart?”

Cadence looked at him, confused.

“It’s a store,” Alan explained, “a store so large that they have everything from clothes to food. They sell almost everything you’d ever need. The issue is, is that they don’t exist in Equestria. Ever heard of a Dairy Queen Blizzard? It’s ice cream so thick that they can serve it to you upside down. Or, at least they used to.”

Alan looked up at the Princess. “Ponyville is a nice place to live, it has everything I need, and my friends are there. But it is not my home.

“My home is in a place called Georgia, a state with four kinds of music: Country, country, rock, and country. Its a place that’s the perfect mix of backwater paradise and urban living. Its a place that has practically been overrun by a nasty vine that has roots so large they are almost impossible to dig out.”

Alan looked up at her. “Georgia does not exist in this world, Princess. I will never see it again. Ponyville has come close, but simply put, I have no home.”

Cadence smiled, her eyes misty with tears. “Now there’s a stallion I can see Twilight falling in love with.”

Alan smiled. “Thank you, speaking of, I really shouldn’t leave her alone for so long.”

“No, and I shouldn’t leave Shining, he’s bound to get into trouble if I don’t keep an eye on him,” she said as she wiped her eyes.

Alan smiled, “Come on, Princess, we have a Gala to ruin.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Prince Blueblood descended the stairs, wearing his ceremonial crown and regal red robe.

Now this was a look that would catch the Pendragon’s attention.

He descended the stairs with poise and purpose, as befitting a prince.

Ah, here was one of the Pendragon’s friends now. What was her name again? Raincloud Bash? Yes, yes that seemed right.

She was walking along with her date, when suddenly her eyes caught the Prince. She gave him a smile and they began to approach.

Yes, Blueblood, getting mares to smile like that was always your specialty.

“Excuse me,” she said as she approached, “but are you the Prince?”

Blueblood smiled and was about to answer the affirmative when he was suddenly cut off. “Oh, what am I thinking? You are much too handsome to be the Prince.”

Blueblood froze, mouth hanging open, unable to form a proper response to that.

The cyan mare and the black stallion simply walked away after that, leaving Blueblood where he stood.

That...how...what?

He shook his head. “Alright, let’s try a different friend.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan and Cadence quickly met up with their dates, and both stallions kissed their mares in greeting.

“Ready for some fun tonight, Twi?” Alan asked.

“I sure am,” she answered, before pushing herself into his side.

“Then let’s start the night with a drink,” he said before turning to his friends. “If you two would join us.”

“Of course,” Cadence answered with a smile, before following as Alan led them all to the very large buffet.

As they were making their way, Alan was suddenly blindsided, caught in a massive hug that picked him off the ground as a voice practically yelled “Brother!”

Alan turned his head, and was surprised to see a familiar griffon crushing his rib cage. “Julius?”

The griffon prince dropped the unicorn and laughed as Alan tried to stand again. “Ah! Alan, my brother! It has been far too long!”

“Julius,” Alan repeated as he stood. “What are you doing here?”

“What else?” Julius said as he smiled, “Dancing the political dance, as my father has done and his father before him.”

“Julius,” a voice said, and the griffon prince turned to see the albino griffon maiden that guarded the tree, “He may be your brother, but I’m sure he still does not like be treated as prey.”

Julius blushed a touch. “Ah, right, herbivores. Sorry brother.”

“I’ll live,” Alan answered.

“Oh!” Julius said. “Where are my manners? Alan, this is my fiance, Lydia Snowlily.”

“We’ve met,” Alan said with a smile before sending the Maiden of the Tree a quick bow. “I’m sure you both remember General Twilight?” he asked.

“Of course,” Lydia said as she approached.

“We also have in our company today Captain Shining Armor and his wife, Princess Cadence.”

“My humblest greetings, Princess,” Julius said with a bow.

“Cadence,” Alan continued, “this is Prince Julius Ironblood, my brother by blood oath.”

“A pleasure,” Cadence answered, before giving the Prince a bow of her own.

“We were just on our way to get some drinks,” Alan said, “care to join us?”

“I’d be pained not to,” Julius answered.

As the small company made their way to the buffet they instantly got to swapping stories and laughs as they poured themselves drinks.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Blueblood quickly closed the space between himself and the hat-wearing couple.

These two he would surely be able to impress.

Silver turned and saw the Prince approaching. “Well howdy, there, sir. A pleasure to meet you.”

“I can say the same,” Blueblood said with a smile. “My name is Prince Blueblood.”

“Prince, huh? I knew a couple ponies named Prince, nice guys.”

“Oh, no,” the prince said, “My name is Blueblood.”

Silver frowned. “But I thought you said you’re Prince. You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“What? No! My name is Blueblood, Prince Blueblood.”

“So your name is Prince then, is it?”

“No, it’s Blueblood.”

“But you said Prince.”

“I am Prince Blueblood.”

“So you are Prince, then?”

“No!” Blueblood yelled. “I am Prince Blueblood!”

“So it is Prince?”

“No!”

“Well what is it then!?”

“It’s Blueblood! My name is Blueblood! I am a Prince! Prince Blueblood!” He roared, until everypony in the room was staring at him.

Silver nodded. “Well all you had to do was say so.”

Blueblood’s eye twitched.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan was not entirely sure what he was looking at. There was a single mare in the congregation that was wearing something that was...

Well, she was wearing something.

It was a black leather saddle that seemed more than a little tight around the waist. surrounding the leather was a frill of black lace, and towards the tail...well...

Her tail had been wrapped up in a black bow at the base, and it seemed to be a part of the saddle, pulling her tail up at a high angle...

Well, it left very little to the imagination.

“Twilight, Twilight come here,” Alan said.

“What is it?”

“Do you see that mare?”

“Which one?”

“The green mare with the light blue mane, to the left.”

“I don’t...oh...wow.”

“Yeah, that one. Is she wearing what I think she’s wearing?”

Twilight turned, facing away from the floor so that she could whisper to her coltfriend. “She may as well be.”

“So that’s not a kinky saddle?” Alan whispered.

“It’s definitely risque, but its not lingerie,” she said, turning back around.

“How can you tell?” Alan asked.

“You’ll recognize the kinky saddle when you see one.”

Alan smiled. “When I see one, huh? Is that an offer?”

Twilight answered with a punch to his side.

The Pendragon laughed before he spotted something. “Alright Twi, get ready,” he said as he led the unicorn towards the group, “here comes our target.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Octavia finished her solo, ending the song, and a polite applause sounded from the crowd of ponies.

It was nice to be back behind her cello. It had been almost half a year since she had picked it up last, a little personal playing time between the last Gala and now, not including the practice she had to put in for one.

Still it was nice to hear it sing again.

The crowd began to disperse and conversations began to turn into a low rumble around the room. Octavia picked up her bow to begin playing more background music when she was suddenly interrupted from her thoughts by a very familiar voice.

“Yo, Tavi!”

The earth pony fumbled, nearly dropping her bow at the sound of her nickname being called. “Vinyl?” she asked the air around her, turning to see the DJ in question.

“What up?” the white unicorn asked, standing next to her coltfriend.

Octavia blinked. “Vinyl? What are you doing here?”

“Here on orders,” she answered with a mischievous grin.

“Orders?” Octavia asked.

“Yup. And I quote: ‘We’re going to get these Canterlot fuddy-duddies to have fun, or die trying!’”

Octavia blinked.

“Let me put it to you this way, Tavi,” Vinyl said, looking up at the cellist from above her sunglasses. “There are two things you can do right now. One, save your rep and get out of here. Two, stick around, have fun, and blame it on orders.”

Octavia looked down at her friend from the stage.

Oh, she was going to regret this tomorrow.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Prince Blueblood approached the group, slowly trying to get into conversation with the Pendragon without trying to look like he was desperate for an audience.

After circling the room twice, Blueblood finally approached the Pendragon’s little clique.

“Good evening, sirs and madams,” Blueblood said, inserting himself into the conversation.

“And you are?” Alan asked, throwing the Prince a disinterested look.

“Alan, please,” Cadence said. “This is the Prince.”

“Oh! Of course, Prince Blueballs.”

“Blueblood,” the Prince corrected.

“A pleasure to meet you, Blueballs,” Alan said ignoring the correction. “An excellent Gala you’ve planned this year.”

Blueblood gave a tentative smile. “Yes, well, the Blueblood line has been in charge of planning the Gala for the past eleven generations.”

“And an amazing job you've done, Blueballs.”

“Blueblood.”

“But, even so, I can’t help but feel like something’s missing...”

“Weren’t you saying something about the music earlier?” Twilight asked.

“Ah! Yes! Of course, say, Blueballs—”

“Blueblood.”

“—you wouldn’t happen to know where the music is, would you?”

“But of course!” Blueblood said, before leading them away. “The music is being performed in the conservatory.”

The Prince quickly led the royalty and company away, Alan shooting the green mare one last, curious glance.

Who would wear that?

Blueblood lead the ponies and griffons to a pair of massive golden doors, the ones that seemed overly prevalent in Canterlot Castle, and said “You’ll find the music through here quite—”

He opened the door and was cut off as an incredibly loud techno beat filling the air.

Blueblood looked absolutely horrified.

Where was the cellist? Where was the orchestra? Where had those speakers come from? Why am I moving backwards?!

Strobe lights flashed and lasers flew over the crowd of ponies, most of whom, suddenly seeing a source of light, ran for their lives.

My guests! Where are they going!?

“Hello Everypony!” a voice yelled through the speakers. “Tonight we’re going to party like we’ve never partied before!”

Who is that!? Celestia help me, if I get my hooves on her, I’ll—

“Excellent selection, Blueballs!” Alan yelled as the music threatened to drown out his voice.

What...?

“I like ponies who are willing to try something new,” the Pendragon said, before turning to his date. “May I have this dance, my Little Star?”

Twilight smiled and raised her hoof.

Alan smiled back and took it.

The two quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Shining looked at Cadence.

She looked back.

And then they quickly danced their way in.

Julius looked to Lydia.

She shrugged. “When in Gryphus.”

And with that, the two griffon followed their friends inside.

Blueblood blinked, staring into the darkness as it roared with its heavy bass and dancing lasers.

His head turned towards the guests that had ran out running and screaming. He could still get them! He could convince them this was all a big—

“Hi!”

“Dah!” the Prince screamed, jumping a foot in the air.

“My name’s Pinkie Pie!” The Pink pony yelled, her neck stretching to impossible proportions as her body hid amongst the darkness and small crowd of ponies that were actually enjoying themselves.

“Let’s Dance!” she cried, before grabbing the Prince by the hooves and dragging him inside.

And thus it came to pass that Blueblood experienced his first mosh pit.

It was not pleasant.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Whew!” Alan said as he came out of the dark room, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. “That was fun, wasn’t it Blueballs?”

Blueblood hobbled out, his crown and robe missing, his suit had been torn, and his mane was an utter wreck. There were bruises forming under his jaw and along his barrel. He was even sporting a new black eye, complete with a stare that said in no uncertain terms that he hated the world. “Blueblood,” he corrected.

The others exited the room, the Griffon Prince laughing maniacally as he stepped back into the light. “Ha ha! Such fun! We need more of this music in the Empire!”

“Please no,” Lydia said as she followed her fiance.

“You don’t like it?” Julius said, aghast.

“It’s not for everyone,” Twilight said, adjusting her mane as she stepped into the light.

“In all truth, I prefer rock myself,” Alan said.

“Well, I don’t know about you five,” Shining said, “but I’m starving!”

“Oh, yes!” Alan said. “Food sounds awesome. Let’s all head to the buffet.”

The small group quickly took off, heading for the food that called to their empty stomachs.

Blueblood glared at them as they left.

“So are you coming back in?” A voice said, much too close to his head.

He turned and found himself staring into the face of Pinkie.

“Wait for me!” he shouted, before chasing after the Pendragon.

Pinkie shrugged. His loss.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Fluttershy was at it again. Given how her last time at the Gala had ended in disaster, she had promised herself that she wouldn’t be chasing the animals around the garden.

And just like last time, she was now doing just that.

Big Macintosh watched as Fluttershy...fluttered, he supposed...

She always seemed to be fluttering. It was something she did. It was never a powerful flap, nor was it a graceful glide, it was a quick, almost panicked flutter. Whenever she flew, it was almost always frantic.

There were a few times where he had seen her fly with grace, but not often.

No, the only time he had really seen her grace was when she walked.

There was a great irony in that. A pegasus that seemed better fit for the ground. A creature of the air in touch with the earth. She would have made a good Earth pony, he decided. Much like Pinkie, whose head was almost always in the clouds anyway, would have made a better pegasus, he felt that Fluttershy would have made a better Earth pony.

He watched her scurry by, trying to get a couple of toucans to come to her, before abandoning them in favor of some kangaroo mice.

Big Mac watched her flutter to and fro before lifting his left hoof.

As the pegasus zoomed by once more, the Draft pony brought his hoof down, catching the tip of her tail. The pegasus snapped back, slamming into the immovable red mass. She looked up at him, but he remained completely motionless. “Just sit still,” he said.

The pegasus blinked, before sitting next to the large stallion.

She sat, and she waited.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Blueblood finally caught up with the group of ponies that needed to be impressed.

Ever since he had left, he had been bogged down by hundreds of guests, all claiming that a monster had been eating all the food and a few pieces of jewelry of the guests.

That was obviously insane, though.

Nonetheless, he did notice a severe lack of food at the buffet table.

“Ah! There you are, Blueballs!”

He didn’t even bother correcting him this time.

Just as the Prince was going to grab a glass of some heavy alcohol, he was suddenly interrupted as a guard approached. “Sir, there’s someone at the doors. He wishes to speak with you.”

Blueblood blinked at the guard, his eyes going back and forth between the pony and the still empty glass. Finally he sighed. “Fine.”

As the battered prince was led away, Alan smiled. “That’s probably the delivery, I’ll be right back.”

Alan followed the guard and the Prince, smiling to himself.

When Blueblood arrived at the door, he was horrified to see a teenager colt with more than a few pimples on his face, and stacks upon stacks of thin boxes behind him.

“Hey, you in charge?” the teenager asked.

“Y-yes?” Blueblood said, caught off guard by the teen's brash opening.

“Yeah, I got two hundred and thirty-eight orders of pineapple and mushroom pizzas here, I’ll need someone to pay for that.”

“Pizza?” Blueblood repeated.

“What else does this look like, dude?”

“Pizza?” Blueblood shrieked. “This is the Grand Galloping Gala! We do not partake of such common trash as piz—”

“Alright! My pizza’s here!” Alan said.

And the words died in his throat.

Blueblood turned to the Pendragon, “Hope you don’t mind much, Blueballs, but ponies were gettin’ hungry, so I made a call.”

Blueblood’s eye twitched.

“How much, kid?” Alan asked, reaching for his checkbook.

“No, sir,” Blueblood said, his tongue acting before his brain. “This was my...oversight...allow me to take...care...of this...”

Alan turned and blinked at the Prince, “Well that’s thoughtful of you, Blueballs, thanks!”

“Don’t mention it...” the Prince said as Alan walked away.

The colt smirked. “That’ll be one thousand, nine hundred and one bits, and sixty-two cents.”

Blueblood glared.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Fluttershy watched, fascinated, as a yellow breasted tit, one of the smallest birds known to ponykind, slowly climbed it’s way up Macintosh’s mane.

All he did was sit still, and they just came to him.

“Ya may have a connection with animals, Miss Fluttershy,” he said in his slow, deep voice. “But this is how the rest of us get skittish creatures to get close.”

Fluttershy watched in total awe.

The large pony chuckled, sending the small bird away. “Come on, now, we got to corral these critters.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Blueblood sat, very annoyed, as the ponies around him ate pizza.

Fancypants included.

He would be enjoying this.

Of course, it hadn’t been until Auntie Celestia had enjoyed a slice that the catering had become unsalvageable.

There were so many of his guests that were just enjoying themselves on this...this garbage.

He made a note to blacklist them.

Then he remembered he can’t actually do that.

The dragon then thought now was a good time to enter the room, and grace the world with his barbaric presence. He walked forward, the mare in tow, and both were giving him an interesting look.

Blueblood looked back at them, his brain slowly kicking into gear as he thought that the mare looked familiar.

The mare smiled, before she went to grab a plate from the leftovers from the dessert table.

She approached, still smiling as she sauntered over.

As Blueblood's mind tried to come up with an answer as to her identity, he couldn't help but think she was quite beautiful. She would look excellent at his side, and...why did that seem like a bad idea?

"Good evening, Your Highness," she said with a smile and, when she finally got close enough, she said three words that changed everything. “Cake, your Highness?”

Cake.

That mare.

Gala.

Cake.

His eyes widened. “You!?”

Rarity smiled, before slamming the plate of cake into his face.

He sputtered, sending frosting flying this way and that as he tried to recover.

The door to the gardens slammed open, just in time for everything from kangaroos to ostriches began pouring into room.

“Farewell, Blueblood!” Rarity called, before pushing him into the way of the stampede and waving goodbye.

Blueblood himself was caught up and carried away by some sort of bird, he wasn’t sure what, and before long, found himself outside along with several more of his more important guests.

And so it came to pass that Blueblood had the worst night ever.

It was definitely not perfect.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The remainder of the ponies, those with either a good sense of humor, or a love for techno music and pizza were gathered in the throne room. Since the main hall and the once-dining room were still being cleared of small animals, the Princesses had been more than accommodating to the remaining guests, and had a table prepared in the throne room.

It was an odd sight, really, seeing fluted glasses and three hundred-year-old bottles of wine next to pizza boxes and candy wrappers, but those at the table didn’t seem to mind.

Admittedly, there were far less guests than there had been at the beginning, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Alan watched as conversation flourished, laughs were shared, and ponies enjoyed themselves. It was nice to see the upper crust of Canterlot having a good time, because at the end of the day, they were ponies too.

Alan smiled then, before tapping his glass with a spoon.

Silence fell quickly, and all eyes landed on the Pendragon.

He smiled, “Friends, family, Princesses,” he began, before flashing a wide smile, “and the rest of you degenerate scum, thank you all, for making tonight such an amazing night.”

Laughs broke out, followed by a quick applause.

“When I was invited to the Gala almost one month ago, I couldn’t help but think of boring conversation with ponies that made a two-by-four plank of wood look relaxed. I thought of polite conversation that was nothing more than fluff and filler, I thought of endless lines of nobles that wanted to simply give me a polite smile, only to turn around and sneer behind closed doors.

“In fact the only good thing that came to mind was the food.”

More laughs.

“So I thought to myself, ‘Self, the Gala is supposed to be the night where your dreams come true. How on earth is anypony dream going to come true through that mess?’

“So I started planning. I got my closest friends on board, and we set out to make this the best night ever. So imagine my surprise when a few of you, yes, you, the ‘upper crust,’ the ‘better than this,’ the ‘higher calling’ ponies that you are, decided to join in our little game. So before I continue, first I want to propose a toast. To you, the dancers and the pizza lovers, to the party animals and the animal dodgers, to you warm-blooded ponies hiding behind some very convincing masks. To you!”

The ponies around the table drank.

As they finished, Alan sat his glass down. “Now there is still one thing left for me to do before this is my best night ever,” he said.

And then he turned to Twilight.

He looked at her, his gaze drinking in her form.

His hoof shook as he stepped forward, and he quickly took a long, deep breath to steady himself.

“Almost four years ago, Twilight Sparkle, we met for the first time in this very room. Now, I can be a romantic and say that it was seeing such a vision of beauty is what made me think I was dreaming, but we both know that’s not true. I thought I was dreaming regardless. But in this dream, I could be hurt, and feel pain, and so I treated it as though it were real. Celestia even proved that it was real to me once, but I can’t help but doubt it.

“Well, dream or no, I must treat this as real if for nothing else than to save me pain. But if this is a dream, then I don’t want to wake up, for one very important reason.”

Twilight looked up at him.

“You, Twilight, have been kind to me. You opened up your home, you gave me your time and friendship, you helped me when I needed it the most. It took Discord himself to keep you away, and even then, it was only temporary. You’ve walked with me into Mordor, you’ve stayed by my side in Tartarus, and you fought with me in the greatest war of our time.

“And so, Twilight Starshine Sparkle,” Alan said, as a large black box came forward, held by silver mana-hands. “Would you be willing to fight through life at my side as well?”

The box opened, revealing a circlet with a carefully crafted amethyst at the center. The band was silver, and arched at the front, creating a bridge to sit over a horn.

Even Rainbow Dash could recognize it for what it was. A traditional Unicornian proposal circlet.

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and her mouth hung just barely open.

Alan smiled, “I’ve spoke with your parents, the Princesses, and your brother and his wife, and, after a few long conversations, and a few threats on my life,” he smiled as he spoke, “I have received a blessing from all of them. All that’s left, is for you to say yes...” he looked at her, giving her a gentle smile. “Twilight, will you marry me?”

Twilight blinked.

Her brain was running a mile a minute as hundreds of thoughts ran through her head.

“G-give me one second,” she said, before instantly regretting it.

A pained wince flew across Alan’s features, but he gave her a smile and sat.

“I’m sorry, just...just give me a second,” she muttered before quickly scurrying.

She didn’t know what to say, and so, as she always did, she went to consult an expert. She quickly slid a few chairs down to where Cadence sat, and frantically whispered. “Cadence! Cadence, what do I say?!”

Cadence sighed, before giving her a smile. “What do you want to say?”

“Yes!” she said in a harsh whisper. “But-but I don’t think I’m ready for this! I haven’t read up on marriage at all! What is it going to be like? How is this going to change things? What are foals going be like? Sweet Celestia! I’m not ready to be a mother!—”

“Twilight,” Cadence began.

“What about my friends? Am I going to be leaving them by doing this? How do they feel about this? What about my studies? What about Spike?—”

“Twilight.”

“What about my life? What about his life? What about—” she was suddenly cut off by a pink hoof being shoved into her mouth.

Cadence smiled at her. “You won’t know until you get there,” she said simply.

Twilight blinked.

“Here are the important questions. Do you love him?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered, without so much as a blink.

“Will you continue to choose to love him?”

“Yes,” she answered again.

Cadence smiled. “Then are you willing to let this once-in-a-lifetime chance pass you by?”

Twilight blinked.

And then sighed.

She looked up at the Princess, a smile on her face. “Thanks, Cadence.”

Cadence smiled. “Now hurry up and answer him, he’s only going to wait for so long.”

“Right,” Twilight said, before standing.

“Oh, and Twilight?”

“Yes, Cadence?”

“You’d make a great mother.”

The unicorn smiled. “Thanks,” she said, before walking straight towards the Pendragon.

Alan stood, still smiling.

“Alan,” she said, trying desperately to steady her voice in front of all these ponies. “I-I will. I will marry you.”

Alan smiled, as a new set of magick hands carefully lifted the crown out of the box, and gingerly, almost as if it were a royal coronation, set it upon her brow. The hands came down her face, carefully cupping each cheek as Alan took a step closer.

The hands pulled her into a gentle kiss.

And the crowd erupted into applause.

As the kiss broke, Alan smiled, looking into his beloved’s eyes. “Your Dad said that your Mom did the same thing.”

“What?”

“She asked him to wait for a second.”

“She did?” Twilight asked. “She never told me.”

“Would you tell your kid?” Alan asked with a smile.

Alan never got to hear the answer as the two were suddenly dog-piled by Twilight’s five, closest friends.

“Oh my gosh Twilight! This is awesome! This needs a ‘Congratulations on getting together, finally!’ party!”

“It’s about dang time you two got together!”

“That circlet looks absolutely amazing on you Darling. Oh, you simply must allow me to design the gown, please! I must!”

“What do you know? Even an Egghead can get the guy!”

“Oh, this is so nice. I’m just so happy for the two of you. So happy I could scream. Yay~!”

Twilight smiled. At least that was one thing she didn’t have to worry about.

Alan smiled as he looked into her eyes.

She smiled right back.

This really was the Best Night Ever.

And there we go.

“Aw, I’m so happy!”

“Happy? HAPPY! DOESN'T EVEN! F*CKING! DESCRIBE IT!”

Hey, are those bells I hear ringing?

“Le Gasp! Are we getting another wedding?”

We are indeed, Pinkie, we are indeed.

See you next time, folks!

“Leave us the regular.”

Bye!

34-And so the Bells Call

Chapter 34

If there ever was a day to marry, this was that day.

For the past two months, the engaged couple had been going over plans and designs to come up with their own ceremony. Everything from the violet velvet banners that hung from the ceiling to the Unicornian wedding earrings had been carefully chosen and prepared for this moment.

The chapel that, a little over a year ago, held the pink-and-ivory themed wedding of the Princess of Love and the Captain of the Royal Guard had been transformed entirely. Instead, banners of purple and silver hung across the windows, and flags of Alan’s cutie mark superimposed over Twilight’s own flanked the aisle.

The clear summer morning was cool, keeping the blistering heat of summer at bay, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was crystal clear, in fact, carefully monitored by pegasi, leaving Celestia’s sun the only thing above the city’s skyline.

It would be a lie to say that this was a traditional wedding. No, after barely any insisting, Twilight was willing to allow some human elements to get into the ceremony. Of course, it did have to take a lot of convincing to get one of the guys to take over for the best mare. In fact, Julius was the only one to take that up, mostly because they had no such position in Gryphus. Along with the best man, there was also to be a maid of honor, and Twilight’s dad was being called to give her away.

What all these little changes and nuances ultimately did, however, was delay the special day in favor of perfecting the ceremony in practice.

Secretly, Twilight was glad for the delay.

Even now, as she was staring at her self from behind the lace veil of her dress, she could see herself shake.

“You alright, Darling?” Rarity asked as she made some finishing touches on the white dress.

She nodded. “Just...” she gulped down some air, “just nervous.”

Rarity gave Twilight a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine, Dearie. The ceremony won’t last long, they never do,” she said, before readjusting the engagement crown that held the veil in place.

“I-I know,” the bride-to-be mumbled. “I-it’s just...it’s just such a big step, you know?”

Rarity nodded. “I understand, dear. This is one of the biggest decisions you’ve made in your life, and that’s a lot of pressure to put on a lady,” she said, before stepping in front of the lavender unicorn. “But, there is one thing I do know, Twilight.”

“What?”

“Alan will love you through the worst of it. He loves you too much to let you go.”

Twilight sighed, smiling as she looked at her friend. “I know he will. Thanks, Rarity.”

Rarity smiled, adjusting the dress one last time. “There you go, you’re looking just fabulous, dear.”

“You think so?” Twilight asked.

“Darling, I would kill for a guarantee to look this good on my day. You look marvelous.” The white mare quickly checked the time. “Ah! I’ve got to start getting ready, my mane will take at least an hour to set right. Sorry dear, but I have to go.”

Twilight nodded. “Go ahead, I’ll be fine.”

“Thank you, Twilight! I’ll see you in a few!”

Twilight watched the unicorn go, closing the door behind her. This left the bride alone with herself, her reflection, and her thoughts.

There she was, dressed in a frilly, white dress with a two tail-lengths train. The white silk and chiffon dress was carefully beaded with pearls and crystals, each facet of the latter carefully angled to reflect the light as it hit her.

“So...” she said to herself. “You’re getting married.”

The mare in the mirror looked back at her.

Her life was going to change forever.

She was getting married.

Her eyes drifted to the necklace around her neck, the one he had bought her on their first date.

She looked up at the crown, the silver circlet with the amethyst gem.

She was getting married to the best stallion she knew.

She smiled to herself.

She could do this.

Everything was going to be just fine.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan let loose a nervous breath. This was it, the big moment, and he was shaking. He had faced dragons, he had stared down a hydra, he spat in the face of changelings, he faced hundreds of griffons and more, but never before had he been so nervous.

Judgement was next to him, but the sword offered very little comfort.

“You’ll make it, Al,” Shining said from the dias.

Alan checked over next to Shining. He and his wife were standing next to Celestia, both there to give their own pieces of advice before the two launch out of the chapel.

Alan gave the stallion a nod. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“You’ll be just fine, Brother,” Julius said, standing next to the groom.

Right. Right. Nothing big, just getting married to the love of your life. No big deal.

Ok, big deal.

Really, really big deal.

Alan looked out at the crowd of ponies and griffons that had come to see this event. They were watching in silence as the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked up the aisle, the Mane Six and their good stallion friends.

Alan’s eyes shot towards the door.

Any second now...

The doors opened, and Alan had the breath stolen from him.

Twilight was absolutely stunning, tiny pinpricks of rainbow lights glimmering off her from as she walked forward. Twilight, meanwhile, could practically feel Alan’s eyes on her, and couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Her father, taking her by the hoof, walked her forward as the music played.

Alan smiled as she approached, and in what seemed like a matter of moments, they stood together before Celestia, waiting for those precious words. Celestia smiled, stepping forward as the music died, and spoke.

“Dear friends and family. Today we are here to witness and celebrate the union between Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof, and General Twilight Sparkle...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

His mission was of the utmost importance.

Failure was not an option.

He just had to wait for the right moment.

His brown robe shifted as he reached for the knife.

Everything was going according to plan.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan snuck a look over at his bride. She looked perfectly beautiful in her dress. Rarity had certainly outdone herself with that one. Of course, when it came to Twilight, she didn't have to do much. The lavender unicorn could wear anything well.

She looked over at him.

He sent her a smile.

His left ear twitched as he heard a slight commotion behind him. It sounded like someone was pushing their way through the crowd.

“Hey, calm down, buddy,” he heard someone say.

“Watch it!” a harsh whisper called.

Alan took a glance backwards, but saw nothing.

Twilight sent him a look.

Alan gave her a smile before motioning towards Celestia with his eyes.

Twilight gave a slight frown before looking back up to her teacher.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Wait.

Wait for it.

This is a hunt. He is your prey.

Wait to pounce.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight kept glancing at her soon-to-be husband.

The handsome unicorn stood tall and proud. His suit made him look quite dashing, along with the ever-present sword made him appear quite regal.

Oh my gosh, he is a Prince, isn’t he? He is actually a Prince.

She...she was getting married to a bona fide Prince, by the Princesses, in Canterlot castle.

She had read romance novels with a less impressive ending.

Nothing could ruin this moment.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Not yet.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Hey! Cool it, buddy,” A unicorn said, as a griffon pushed his way forward.

He wore a brown robe and a hood that hid his face, his beak just poking out of the shadows.

The griffon spread his wings.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Now.

<<<|Ω|>>>

A griffon launched himself from the crowd, ponies and griffons alike gasped at the sight as steel talon caps and a knife blade flashed in the air.

Gasps of panic erupted from the crowd, followed by screams of terror.

The insurgent came down, silently diving on the groom, claw extended, and knife at the ready.

A silver, magick katana stopped the weapons in their tracks.

“Couldn’t wait until the ceremony was over, could you?” Alan asked in a deadpan.

The killer jumped backwards, making space between the two.

Alan turned to face his attacker, followed by the entire entourage of groomsmen and bridesmaids.

The chapel had almost completely emptied at the sight of a fight, Alan watched many of them funnel out the doors. Noticing the general public was safe, he gave a slight smile. “So Twi, do you want to deal with him, or shall I?”

"Well, I would,” Twilight began, “but Rarity worked so hard on this dress. I'd hate to see it ruined."

Alan nodded. “So it’s up to me I guess.”

“Not alone, it’s not,” Julius said, stepping next to the Pendragon. “He has attacked you, and thus declared war on me.”

"You sure?" Alan asked. "I can handle him myself."

"This is a matter of the Alliance, and my Oath. I must help you destroy him," Julius said, spreading his wings.

Alan grinned. “Fillies, Gentlecolts, Princesses, give us one second. This won’t take long.”

Celestia smirked, and sat. “Let me know when you’re ready to continue.”

Alan nodded, before his horn began to glow brighter. Another katana quickly formed next to the first, and then two slightly shorter blades, wakizashi, and then two knives, tanto.

Rainbow Dash whistled. “That’s a lot of swords.”

Twilight smiled. “He’s been practicing.”

As Alan and Julius descended the stairs, they began to split up, flanking the attacker.

“Need a weapon, Julius?” Alan asked.

“No, his skin will open just as easily under my claws.”

The insurgent said nothing.

<<<|Ω|>>>

This was not good, the False Prince was not supposed to be involved. His master wanted to deal with him personally.

It was too late now, though.

Failure was not an option.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The six blades danced in the air, slicing at the cloaked griffon, missing him by inches every time. Alan stood a few tail-lengths back, controlling the swords as though they were puppets.

Julius was up close and personal. He was no more than three feet away at any given moment. He was snarling as he clawed and scratched, his wings spread wide to give him lift for high pounces and tackles.

The renegade griffon, however, had help.

A flash of green magic erupted from around his neck, and he began to move with amazing speed. For every slice, there was a dodge. For every claw, there was a duck, and for every second that passed by the griffon was in motion.

He was always moving, never stopping once as he moved between the blades. He lunged forward at the Pendragon, only to jump back, barely avoiding the marionettes of death and talons of an angry prince.

Alan grit his teeth as he fought. Splitting his focus between all of these blades was difficult to do, and more than once he caught one of them simply sitting still waiting for orders.

It did not help that his target was moving as fast as he was.

"He's got magic! Need some back up!" he called.

Silver and Thunderlane joined the fray.

<<<|Ω|>>>

All he had to do was get close.

Just close enough for one strike.

Just one strike...

<<<|Ω|>>>

The killer suddenly leapt towards the Pendragon, flapping his wings to close the distance between them.

The blades moved quickly to intercept, the katana going for long range, the wakizashi for medium range, and the tanto for short. The insurrectionist leapt over the slow moving katana, and barely danced through the faster short swords, only to be stopped by the knives. The tanto were silver blurs before the unicorn, a wall of magick steel that was almost impenetrable.

Almost.

The killer's capped talons suddenly began to glow with an acidic green magick and, moving with expert timing, he quickly reached forward and grab both of the knives. The tantos were caught, held fast by the glove.

Alan never saw the knife coming.

The small blade slashed upward, just barely going through his suit and digging into flesh.

The revolutionary smirked.

The other four blades quickly closed in, eager to turn the griffon to mince meat. The guerilla, however, was faster, and quickly used his knife to parry an incoming blade, before another smacked the knife from his grip. The katana then came in to remove his head from his shoulders, but he was already gone.

<<<|Ω|>>>

He ducked, he weaved, he slithered out of the way.

His job was done.

Unfortunately, he had to leave the knife, but whatever information they could glean from that would be too little, too late.

He ducked under the Prince, as he pounced, and quickly clambered up into the open window.

Only one thing to do now.

He opened his mouth.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“For the Iron Crown!” the killer roared, before leaping through the open window, his wings spreading as he took to the air.

Alan was close behind, leaning over the window to yell, “Bring me his head!”

Four pegasus guards took to the air from below.

Alan scowled before stepping back into the chapel.

"Sorry we weren't much help, Al," Thunderlane said, "but he was gone before we could really do anything."

"You came," Alan noted.

“Alan, my brother, I am sorry for this,” Julius said. “Know that he will find no sanctuary in the Empire if he dares shows his face.”

Alan sighed. “I know he won’t,” he said before turning to the Prince.

Julius smiled. “Come on, now, Brother. Your bride is waiting.”

Alan smiled. “Yes, and she has waited long enough.”

The four fighters walked back to the platform, Alan smiling. “Sorry about that, everypony,” the Pendragon said. “Had to take care of the trash.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling.

Alan chuckled as he climbed the stairs.

And then everything began to tip.

Alan staggered, his hooves crossing, as he world spun sideways, and before he knew it, he slammed into the stairs.

“Alan!” Twilight called, laying down next to him.

He shook his head, and got his hooves under him. “I’m fine. I’ fine, just got a little dizzy there.”

Celestia stood, worry on her face.

The groomsmen began to surround him, followed by the bridesmaids.

All except one.

As the stallions and mares began to mumble, Fluttershy flapped down to the aisle.

She had seen many wounds in the war. Everything from claw and bite marks to concussions and broken bones.

But she had never seen a knife wound before.

“I’m alright, I’m alright!” Alan said, as he pushed himself up. “I’m fine now.”

Another bout of dizziness sent him to the floor.

“You’re not fine!” Twilight said, frantic.

Alan suddenly realized his right forehoof felt numb. “Ok, maybe not...”

“Oh no...” a simple, quiet voice said.

All heads turned towards Fluttershy.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Fluttershy said again, the knife in her hooves.

“What is it? Celestia asked.

“Poison,” Fluttershy said. “Doomspinner Venom, actually...”

Twilight paled. “D-Doomspinner?”

Alan groaned. “That doesn't sound good,” he muttered.

“W-what does that mean?” Rarity asked.

“I-it means...” Twilight began, her mind already remembering the exact timeframe and symptoms of the venom. “It means, in a few minutes...” she looked down at Alan. “You’ll-you’ll...” she couldn’t say it.

“He’ll what?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“In half a minute,” Fluttershy said, staring down at the knife, “He’ll become paralyzed, unable to move. In another few minutes...his heart will stop...”

Alan smirked. “It’s going to take more than that to sto—” his world spun again, and his whole leg had fallen asleep.

Panic erupted.

Julius began screaming bloody murder. Rarity outright fainted. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide as she began to hyperventilate. Celestia was frozen on the spot. And everyone’s but Big Mac’s voice was thrown into a cacophony of useless noise.

Twilight simply stared into Alan’s eyes, tears beginning to spill. “You’ll-you’ll be okay...you’ll be okay...”

“Quiet!” A voice yelled.

Everyone immediately silenced themselves, as they all stared, wide-eyed, at Fluttershy.

But it wasn’t the Fluttershy they knew.

This was General Fluttershy. “Rainbow Dash! Front and Center!”

Dash blinked.

“Now!”

She shot forward, halting a foot away, saluting.

“My cottage. Upstairs. Third, top cabinet from the door. Second shelf. Small, glass vial with a red spider on it. Get it here. Now.”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Rainbow Dash yelled before launching herself towards the window, a rainbow streak following, and the sound of a rainboom behind her.

“The rest of you, back up! We need to keep him cool to keep his heart rate down! And you aren’t helping him by crowding him!” Fluttershy yelled. “You, Soarin, get him some water! Our only hope is to delay the poison until Dash gets back with the antidote!”

The ponies immediately scattered. Soarin flew forward, disappearing out of the chapel, heading for the kitchens.

Pinkie pulled a fan from nowhere and began to cool down the Pendragon.

Twilight looked down at groom, tears streaming from her face. “You’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. Dash is going to get the antidote. You’ll be okay.”

Celestia stood, ready to work her own magic, before blinking, and sitting back down.

“Just let it be, Celly,” she heard a voice say, “Just let it be...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“You’ll be okay,” Twilight frantically whispered. “You’ll be okay.” She stroked his face, her eyes wet with tears. “Just...just stay with me.”

Alan’s vision was getting blurry, and he had lost all feeling from the waist down.

“Twilight?” he spoke.

“Just stay with me,” she pleaded.

“Twilight.”

“You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay. They’re getting the antidote...you’ll be okay,” she whimpered, her tears beginning to stain the tuxedo.

“Twi,” Alan said again lifting his left hoof, the only one he could still feel, and bringing it to her face. “I love you, Twi.”

“I love you too, Alan,” she whimpered.

“How much longer do I have?” he asked.

Twilight knew exactly how long he had. “N-not much...” she began, before burying her face into his chest. “Don’t leave me...please, not now.”

Alan began to stroke her mane, wishing he had at least enough strength to hold her one last time.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Rainbow Dash burst through the cottage door, and launched herself up to the second floor.

Now, was it second cabinet, third shelf? Or third cabinet, second shelf?

Darn it, Dash! Remember!

She slammed open the second cabinet door, ignoring the animals that ran from her.

There was no time.

“Spider, spider, spider,” she mumbled, checking the labels.

“Come on, spider.”

Nothing.

She quickly opened the next cabinet down, just to be sure.

“Spider, spider, spider, come on!”

There! There it is!

She quickly shoved her hoof into the cabinet, but fumbled, having the vial fall on it side.

“I don’t have time for this!” she yelled to herself, grabbing the vial again.

The antidote in hoof, she dashed out of the small house, and began flying towards Canterlot with all of her might.

She was racing against the clock.

And she would not lose.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia desperately wanted to go down there.

She wanted to save him.

She wanted to help.

But she couldn't.

"Just let it be..." she heard again.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan couldn’t stroke her anymore.

All four of his limbs were dead.

It was getting hard to breathe.

Julius paced, muttering the unspeakable things he would do that traitor if he got his talons on him.

Pinkie was fighting a losing battle with a frown, her mane flattening as she continued to fan Alan, trying to cool him.

Fluttershy was currently ordering a handful of other guards, as they tried to shovel ice next to the Pendragon.

Applejack merely stood still, tears in her own eyes as she watched. Silver stood next to her, silently offering her support.

Alan, however, only had his eyes on the mare sobbing into his chest.

“Twilight,” Alan called. “Twilight.”

She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy.

“Come here, Twilight,” he said.

She, still sobbing, pulled herself up, until they were nose to nose. “Yes, Alan?”

Alan, using the last of his strength, leaned forward, kissing his bride. “Twilight. If I don’t make it—”

“Don’t say that!” Twilight yelled. “You’ll make it, you have to! Dash will be here soon, I know she will you’ll—”

“If I don’t make it,” Alan said firmly, silencing her, “I just want you to know one thing. If I die, I will only have one regret,”

Twilight nodded, more tears rolling down her face.

“I regret not marrying you sooner,” he said. “Maybe then we would have had a few days to be happy together.”

Twilight’s head fell back into his chest. She gave a muffled wail as she cried into his chest. Alan desperately wanted to hold her, to comfort her once more.

She looked up at him again. “It was you,” she said through sniffs and sobs.

“What?” Alan asked.

“You once asked me how I broke Discord’s spell. The answer was you. It was always you,” she said before sobbing.

She took a deep breath, steadying her voice so she could say this last thing.

“I was there, standing there, ready to leave Ponyville forever. I was going to leave and never look back. But as I stood there, staring at the door, all I could think about,” she sniffed, blinking tears away, “was you.”

Her tears returned, though, coming back twice as strong as small rivulets began to flow from her eyes. “What was going to happen to you? Where would you go? What—” she paused, biting back more tears. “What were you going to do without any of us? I-I couldn’t take it. I couldn't leave you that. It-it-it was you...all along...I loved you all along...” she broke down again, weeping into his chest.

Alan’s own eyes began to water. Just the sight of her in such pain hurt him. He tried to lift his forelegs to hold her, but they remained still. He struggled for a moment, before sighing.

And then he did the only thing he could.

He began to sing.

“So come on and shine with me,

Like the beautiful star you are...”

She looked up at him, and the hustle and bustle of room quieted, leaving only Alan’s voice to slowly sing the chorus.

“And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far

So come on and shine with me

Like the beautiful star you are

And leave it behind with me

'Cause forever is not that far...”

The entire room seemed to freeze at the sound of his soft singing, which was slowly becoming harder and harder to hear.

“So come on and shine with me,

Like the beautiful star you are...”

He began to pause, wheezing as his lungs began to slow.

“And leave it behind...with me

'Cause for...ever is not that far...”

The song was interrupted by a cough.

“So come on and shine with me...

…

Like the beautiful...star you are...

And...just hold on and wait...for...me...

‘Cause forever is not...that fa...ar...”

The song stopped.

Fluttershy hung her head.

Silver stood forward and saluted.

Pinkie Pie’s mane flattened, and she bit back tears, shoving her face into Soarin for comfort.

Julius hung his head. “Farewell, Brother...”

Shining blinked, totally shocked. “Al...?”

A tear ran down Cadence’s face.

Spike hung his head in respect for his friend.

Celestia bowed her head, not daring to imagine the pain her student was suffering.

Twilight looked down at her groom, and picked him up in her hooves. No pulse. No breathing.

She wept.

The only sound in the chapel was the wail of a bride with a broken heart.

“You two can go now,” Fluttershy whispered to the guards.

They nodded, and filed out of the chapel, closing the door behind them.

Twilight wept.

The ponies slowly began to circle the bride and the body of the groom, mourning their friend.

“I’m here! I’m here!” a voice yelled from the windows as Rainbow Dash jumped into the chapel. “I’ve got it! I’ve got the an..ti...dote...” Her eyes went wide at the sight.

Tink, tink, tink...

The useless vial fell to the floor.

“N-no...”

Thunderlane quickly crossed the room, taking the rainbow maned mare in his embrace.

“No...” she said again, tears forming. “I-I...I wasn’t...I wasn’t fast enough...”

Twilight wailed, burying her face once more into Alan’s unmoving chest.

It was too little.

Too late.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The hitman flew with all of his might, having since lost the guards pursuing him. His eyes drifted to the glowing green stone set in his glove.

It was slowly fading.

The griffon smiled. Not long now.

Then, the stone went dark.

The Pendragon was dead.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The hollow sound of hooves against stone tile caught the attention of a few of the mourners, and they looked up to see who was disturbing this moment of silence.

They were not expecting this.

A black alicorn, almost hideously gaunt with bone white hooves was slowly approaching the circle of friends.

They knew who he was just by laying eyes on him.

As he got closer, the ponies slowly began to back away, leaving only Twilight next to the body.

“Death,” Celestia called, tears running down her own face.

He ignored her, and simply kept moving.

He was now only a few steps away from the body and the sobbing mare.

He was stopped by the ring of steel as Judgement was drawn from it sheath. The blade flashed before the alicorn, the handle held in a magical grasp.

“Don’t take him from me!” Twilight roared, her eyes burning with fury and wet with tears. “Don’t you dare take him from me!”

Death raised an eyebrow.

“If you take him, you’re going to have to take me too!” she yelled, thrusting the sword forward.

Death merely stood there, before a swift yank from a white aura tore the sword from her grip.

Twilight’s eyes widened in fear as the blade spun. Death’s own magic moved with a speed and ferocity that not even Alan had held. The blade flashed and whirred, stopping suddenly a hair’s breath from her throat.

There was total silence.

And then, the sword slowly turned, and lay itself at her hooves.

She looked up at Death, confusion replacing anger in her eyes.

His own, ghostly green eyes softened as he lay the blade at her hooves. “I am sorry, Miss Sparkle...” he said in a soft, slow voice. His wings unfurled, and they slowly, carefully, and gently took the unicorn in a soft, and surprisingly warm embrace. “These deaths are always the worst.”

Twilight began to sob once more, the brief respite from crying now over.

“He’ll be taken care of, Miss Sparkle. I promise.”

She nodded, unable to speak for the pain in her heart.

“Now, please...” Death said. “I need to do my job...”

He pulled the unicorn aside, leaving the body alone for the first time since he passed.

Standing, the alicorn took a deep breath, looking down at the body.

“Alan Williams Goldenhoof,” Death said, his voice deepening as he spoke. “It has been decided...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan stood, very much aware of the fact that he was dead.

The world around him was lush, filled to the brim with tall green grass and amazingly brilliant wildflowers. The flowers were unique, each and every one a different species, and each one a different color. There were even colors that Alan was sure didn’t exist. Everything was incredibly clear. Honestly he thought the afterlife would be...cloudier...

“Greetings, Alan Williams Goldenhoof,” a voice said.

Alan turned to see a large, black alicorn, a raven on his withers.

Alan instantly knew who he was. “Hello, Death," he said, not even turning to face him as he looked at a flower that he was sure didn't exist. "You have terrible timing.”

“Not my doing,” Death said simply. “I don’t make the appointments, I just make sure everypony gets where they’re going." He walked forward, carrying a scythe in tow. "Welcome to the Shadows, Pendragon.”

“The Shadows?”

“It’s what we call this part of the afterlife.”

“‘The Shadows’, really?" Alan asked confused. "It seems pretty bright here.”

Death smiled. “Compared to over that hill,” he said, pointing to the horizon, “it’s pretty dreary here.”

Alan followed his hoof, his eyes landing on the crest of a small hill.

As soon as his eyes fell on it, he knew.

He just knew.

He knew that just over that hill was a world unlike anything his dreams could understand. Beyond that simple crest was a land that his imagination could not grasp, not with a thousand years of creativity.

He took a step forward.

And was stopped as the haft of the large scythe got in his way. “Not yet, Pendragon,” Death said. “There is someone who wishes to speak with you first,” he said simply, as the scythe backed away.

“Who?” Alan asked, turning his eyes back towards the alicorn.

“I would,” a new voice said behind him.

Alan turned and saw something he really should have seen coming.

Faust, the red-maned, white alicorn stood behind him.

Alan realized he was bowing only seconds after realizing that he had the oddest compulsion to bow.

“Please stand, Alan. I wish to speak with you,” Faust said.

Alan picked himself up. “That was...weird.”

Faust gave a laugh. “It tends to happen when creation meets creator.”

The word stirred something in Alan’s mind.

Faust sat. “Please, Alan, go on and talk to me. What do you wish to know.”

Alan frowned. Thoughts began churn through his mind as memories and experiences came to mind. “Why?” he asked simply.

“Why what?” Faust asked.

“Why everything!?” Alan his voice rising in anger. “Why the war!? Why Equestria!? Why so much death!? Why me!? Why did you chose me!?”

Faust smile lessened slightly. “Because you belong here.”

“What!?” Alan screamed. “What can you possibly mean by that!?”

“Exactly what I said, Alan. You belong here,” she said. “You were made for this Equestria, you were made to save this one, you were designed and raised to be the Pendragon. I made sure of it.”

“What!?”

Faust simply took a step forward.

“What do you mean!?” Alan roared, anger coursing through him.

And then one of her massive wings came down to lightly touch his head.

<<<|Ω|>>>

He was small.

So tiny.

So insignificant.

And yet, so special.

Faust flew through the void of space, carrying the small spark of life behind her.

This one was so very special.

They were all special, to be fair, but this one...well...

She glided through the emptiness, passing by planets and moons to come upon a small blueberry of a planet. The Earth was beautiful. It always was at this height. Truly a work of art.

Smiling, the white alicorn glided down towards one country, the United States of America.

Her wings beat quietly in the night, not even disturbing the air around her as she flew towards the small house.

It was the house of a husband and wife, those who could not, as of yet, have a child.

This would change tonight.

The Creator of this world had allowed this. They had spoken for a long time in the eternity before time on this, and tonight, he would provide the vessel.

Faust entered the room of the two mortals, both completely unaware of her presence as they slept.

She smiled, before looking at the small spark of life next to her. “Be safe, little one. There are big plans for you.”

The spark would have smiled at her, if it could. This one, with all of his strength, all of his courage, he would do it. This one, this one...he would do so much good for her world. He would be a hero, as he deserved to be.

This one...

The little spark flew straight into the soon-to-be mother’s womb, and instantly took to the body.

Faust smiled, a tear running down her face. “Take care of him, will you?”

“As though he were one of my own,” the Creator answered. “He will learn everything he needs, and his father will teach him courage. He will grow up safe here. He will grow up strong.”

Faust nodded. “Thank you, again.”

“He will be loved, Faust.”

She nodded again, another tear falling from her face. “That’s all I can ask for...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan stared up at her, his mouth hanging open.

Faust smiled at him again, and he could swear there were tears welling up behind those eyes.

“I made you to be the Protector Equestria needed, Alan,” Faust said, “but you would not learn the necessary violence of humans amongst your own kind. That’s why I sent you to Earth, to grow up, and become human. And I have missed you, my child...”

Alan continued to stare.

Faust smiled. “You are a good pony, Alan,” she said. “You have done what I asked, like so many of my creations refuse to do. You embraced your destiny like many others would not. You have done good, rather than force me to make good. You have made me proud, Alan. You were so strong, and so brave. And even though you made mistakes, you never let them overshadow your victories.”

“B-but...” the Pendragon muttered. “But what about...”

“Those who served under you?” Faust asked.

Alan only managed to nod.

“Alan...” she said, shaking her head. “Do you remember the birds? The songbirds in the fields? Are they starving? Are they forgotten? Of course not. I take care of them. I make sure the mothers find food for their chicks and the chicks grow strong. Now, imagine how much more I love my children, my ponies, my griffons...how much more do I love them than the birds?

“I take care of my children, Alan. I watch as their parents raise them, I laugh when they smile, I cry when they hurt, and I make sure that their lives are not wasted. No one dies in vain, Alan.”

“What do you mean?” Alan asked.

Faust smiled faded, and a tear ran down her cheek. “Did you know that Pinkie’s mother is dead?”

Alan blinked. “What?”

“She died twenty four years ago, when Pinkie was only five years old, days after getting her cutie mark. Little Pinkie was playing along a rock ridge, one her mother had told her repeatedly to avoid. The granite had been decomposing, and she knew it was going to crack any second,” Faust sighed. “When she saw her little filly up there, she ran for the ridge as fast as she could. That day, she was crushed in a landslide, saving her little girl in the last seconds of her life.

“For years, Pinkie was unable to look her family in the eye. She always felt that her father and sisters blamed her for their mother’s death. Really, the only one blaming her was herself. It was that guilt, however, that forced her out of her home as soon as she was old enough. Once she could, she moved to Ponyville, a small town just far enough away for her to live with herself, but just close enough that she could stay in touch with her family.”

She sent a sad stare into Alan’s eyes. “Where would Equestria be now if Pinkie was not in Ponyville? If she was not there to meet Twilight Sparkle four years ago for the Summer Sun Celebration?”

Alan’s eyes widened.

She sent him a small smile. “I don’t like that thought either...” she said, as tears began to run down her face. "I felt her anguish, Alan. I felt her guilt. I felt her misery as they buried her. I wept for her, Alan. I cried for little Pinkie. For every family and every foal that cries for their missing parents, for ever girl who'll never see her man...I feel it, Alan...I feel all of it. And I have to sit here, and try to justify this to myself."

Oh, sweet merciful Heaven...what exactly did she feel?

"How can I do this to my little ponies, and say it's for good? How can I do this to them? How can I let my Enemy force them to suffer?" she sighed as yet more tears fell to the ground, and Alan watched the flowers shudder beneath her, as though they were weeping at the sight. "But I see it, Alan. I see their futures, I see them, and I know, this must be done."

Alan blinked. “I...I...”

Faust hushed him, bringing her large wing gently down on his face, letting her feathers tickle his lips. “I know, Little One...I know...” she said, as tears began to fall.

The she hugged him.

Alan cried.

Waves of emotion rammed into him, sorrow for those he left behind, happiness for finally being in the embrace of the one who crafted him, and relief for those who passed, because they did not die in vain.

As she held him, she cried happy tears, finally being reunited with one of her many sons.

And then she whispered into his ear. “I will not promise a story without trouble, but I will promise a happy ending."

Alan looked up at her as she continued to hold him.

"I have given all of my children a choice, Little One, and many times, they choose to do wrong, to follow the ways of my Enemy, and Evil is brought into my world. Now, what kind of a mother would I be if I took away their choice? If I wanted a bunch of robots doing my bidding, I would have made such. But I made ponies, living, breathing creatures who can make their own choices, even the wrong ones. But I will be thrown into the Abyss if I can’t use their evil for good. I have a plan, Little One, and trust me when I say the good that will come from this war will make all the pain and suffering seem like a nightmare, flying away on the wings of the dawn. Just trust me. Please?”

Alan nodded, crying into her shoulder.

She looked over his shoulder, and smiled. “It seems you have some visitors.”

A confused look shot across his face, before Alan turned, and his eyes went wide as he saw something.

Six hundred and eighty three ponies stood proud, and, as one, they saluted.

Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies alike stood proud for their leader. “Sir!” they said in one voice, “We are honored to have served with you, sir!”

Alan looked at the ponies, and his eyes scanned over them. All of them.

Especially the pegasus with the piece of black cloth wrapped around his foreleg.

“They are proud of you, Pendragon,” Faust said, “And so am I.”

Thundersight stepped forward, and approached the stunned unicorn. “Sir,” he said, “thank you, sir. Thank you for taking care of my wife and my boy.”

Alan simply nodded, tears in his eyes.

“Now do us a favor, sir. Stop blaming yourself for us. We lived, we died, and we did our duty. You shouldn’t have spent your life worrying about the dead.”

Alan nodded again.

Thundersight hugged him. “You’ve done a lot for us, sir. Thank you.”

Alan nodded. “Thank you, Thundersight.” Alan wiped a tear from his eyes. “Faust?”

“Yes, Alan?”

“If you don’t let ponies die without fulfilling their purpose, what was mine?”

Faust smiled.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alan Williams Goldenhoof,” Death said, his voice deepening as he spoke. “It has been decided...” He smirked. “It is not yet your time!” he yelled, rearing up to slam his forehooves into the ground.

Eyes went wide across the chapel as two ebony gates formed behind the black alicorn. The black doors slammed open, and the wail of hundreds of souls captured in the spaces between Paradise and Tartarus echoed in the chapel.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw it, recognizing it instantly as something she had only seen once before.

The Gates of the Dead.

“Alan Williams Goldenhoof!” Death called into the gates. “Step forward!”

A green mist slowly crept from the door, visible only because of the gate.

The mist leapt into the air, and dived down on the body of the unicorn, and almost instantly it began to convulse.

The body coughed. Once. Twice. Before it spat out a black liquid.

“Alan?” Twilight called, eyes wide.

The gates began to close.

The body groaned.

Death smiled.

“Alan?” Twilight called again.

“Oh...” the body moaned. “That hurts...”

“Alan!” Twilight cried, rushing him.

The gates faded away.

“Alan! Alan are you alive?!” Twilight asked, shaking him with her hooves.

A white leg came up and rested on her shoulder. “Easy, Twi,” Alan said. “I still have to regain feeling in my body yet.”

“Alan!” she cried, diving on him and covering his face with kisses.

The others quickly rushed him, leaving only the Princesses on the stage as the ponies surrounded their friend.

“Al! Alan buddy, you’re alive!”

“Brother!”

“Ah can’t believe it!”

“Is this even possible?”

“By Death’s Dubious Dental Work! You’re alive!”

Death blinked at the stallion, before running his tongue over his teeth. Shaking his head to rid himself of the odd thought, he smiled as he watched the ponies watch the Pendragon slowly revive before looking up at Celestia.

The look on her face was priceless.

“What?” he asked her. “Mom does miracles occasionally.”

And then she broke into a smile.

Death laughed, before climbing the stairs. “Well, Celly, I know you’re a little busy at the moment, but for once you’re completely happy to see me. And, well I’d be a fool not to take this chance.”

“What are you talking about?” Celestia asked.

Death smiled, before stretching out one of his long, black wings, and plucked a single feather from the tips.

He held the feather in front of her in a magical grip. “When the time comes, Celly, will you be mine?”

Celestia blushed, and Cadence couldn’t help but laugh.

Nonetheless, the aura around the feather did change from white to gold as the Solar sister took it. “Did you even have to ask?” she said, before setting the black plumage into her hair.

“It never hurts,” the black alicorn said, watching as the feather seemed to erupt into flame, turning to a glowing red rather than the coal black it once was.

Death smiled, and turned to leave, descending the stairs. As he came to the crowd, he stopped a moment and looked down.

The ponies all looked up at him, some in disbelief, others still in fear.

Alan gave him a smile.

"I don’t need to tell you that this is a one time thing, right? Miracles aren’t really miracles if they happen every other day.”

Alan nodded. “I figured as much.”

Death smiled. “Good. I hope I won’t see you again for another sixty/seventy years.”

“Same here,” Alan said.

Death nodded and began to head towards the doors, singing as he went.

“Dumb ways to die,

So many dumb ways to die,

Dumb ways to die-hi-hi-hi!

So many dumb,

So many dumb ways to die...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Do you, Alan Goldenhoof,” Celestia said, standing before the congregation, and a flaming feather pinning back her ethereal mane, “take this mare, whose hoof you hold, to be your lawful wedded wife; and do you pledge before all of ponykind to love, honor, and protect her through sunshine and shadow alike; keeping yourself unto her alone until death shall separate you?”

“I do,” Alan said, holding Twilight’s hoof with his own as a mana hand held the earring.

Celestia smiled, before turning to her student. “And do you, Twilight Sparkle, take this stallion, whose hoof you hold, to be your lawful wedded husband; and do you pledge before all of ponykind to be to him a loving and true wife, through sunshine and shadow alike, keeping yourself unto him alone, until death shall separate you?”

“I do,” Twilight said with a firm tone, holding the earring up in a fuchsia aura.

Celestia nodded at the two, and they responded by piercing their partner’s ear and sealing the earring in place.

“Then by the power enthroned in me, by the power of Faust, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

And kiss they did.

It was amazing how much passion could be stirred up between a couple when death was on the line.

If anything else was said to them, they didn’t notice.

What really mattered to the two was that they were together.

As their kiss ended, Alan quickly pulled out his iPod. “Say cheese, Twi!” he said, before snapping a picture. He smiled as he looked at the little memento, he in his suit, and Twi in her wedding gown, together.

Finally together.

And Death himself would be loath to separate them.

<<<|Ω|>>>

As Death returned to the Shadows, he was quick to notice his mother still there.

"So how was your trip?" she asked.

"Well, other than the chance to propose to Celly, I'm still a little confused as to why we went through with this. Why did you let him die just to send him back?"

Faust smiled, sniffing as she wiped away another tear. "I have my reasons."

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan set the quill aside.

He sat at a desk in the Ponyville library, a newly written letter in front of him.

This...this was an important letter, Alan realized. It was perhaps the most important one he had written since arriving here.

Best reread it, just to make sure it sounded right.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

Well...I suppose I should start at the beginning...it has been close to four years since the day where I dropped in on your meeting with your favorite student and her friends. Four years since I entered Equestria with no hope of escape. Not that I particularly wanted too...

It was...almost surreal. Living here and watching things play out in real life like I had seen them before. At first, I saw it as an opportunity, a chance to make myself a good friend to Twilight and the girls at an accelerated pace, but...but it began to catch up with me. I felt almost dirty manipulating them like that, I was able to clear the air, as I’m sure you remember, but that doesn’t change the fact that I felt like scum.

When the war started, this feeling was compounded. I watched, practically helpless as pony after pony died in front of me. All because of a war that was my fault.

But I learned something recently. It only took me dying and literally staring Death in the face, but I did learn it.

I learned that I cannot blame myself for circumstances that are out of my control. I could not change the fact that I was the only human in this plane of existence, nor could I change the fact that I would become a target, and that others would suffer because of me. I can only accept these things, and hope for the best.

Sometimes, Life and Fate will throw things at you, and all you can do is ride it out, doing what you were meant and made to do. It may be a difficult trial, it may be painful, but in the end, it will turn out alright.

Because all things work for good in the end.

Your Faithful Pendragon,

Alan Williams Goldenhoof.”

Alan nodded. Yes. That sounded good.

He rolled up the scroll, sealing it with wax, before setting it aside. He would need to get that sent by tomorrow.

“Alan,” Twilight called.

“Yes, dear, what is...it...” he said, turning to face his wife.

She smiled at him. “Coming to bed?”

Alan nodded, his mouth hanging open too wide to provide a proper response.

Twilight smiled before she sashayed to the bedroom.

So...

That’s what the kinky saddles look like.

End of Book One

And there we go, my dedicated readers, the end of A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court! I hope this chapter isn't too rushed...

“No it’s not!"

What? Rushed?

"No, Silly! It's not over! We still have to do the Epilogue!”

Too true, Pinkie, too true!

Well, why don’t we go ahead and head on over to that, and we’ll meet you guys there?

Epilogue

The cloaked revolutionary marched in the shadows, slowly moving through the caves of the Northern Stones. The howling, icy wind howled in the deep tunnel of the Empire's northern mountains.

No one would find them here.

His job had been successful. There was no way a pony could survive the bite of Doomspinner Venom.

He walked with purpose, his head held high. Even as he moved through the roughly carved caves, his feathers bristled with pride. His eagle eyes quickly settled on the rock doors above him, and he walked up to them with satisfaction.

His approach was suddenly stopped by a hiss as a black creature stood before the doors.

The griffon gave him a look before saying with authority “My mission is a success."

The small creature looked at him with it pale blue eyes before stepping aside, the door opening as an aura of acidic green magick pulled it open by a hastily carved door handle.

The assassin entered the throne room.

A griffon sat on a large throne, hewn from the stone around him, at the back of the room. Around his wrists were silver bands, and he had a scar over his left eye. Around his head was a crown made from black iron, rough hewn and asymmetrical.

“My liege,” the assassin said, bowing. “The deed is done.”

“And the Pendragon?” the griffon asked.

“Dead.”

“Good, good. Then the Empire will soon be mine, as it was meant to be.”

“Yes, my liege,” the renegade responded.

“You may go,” a new voice said as a tall, pony-like figure stepped forward from out of the shadows.

She was tall, with dark green hair, transparent wings, and a jagged horn.

Atop her head was a small, almost comical black crown.

“Thank you, my lieges...” the killer said, backing out of the room.

As the door shut behind him the griffon turned to the Changeling. “Well done, Queen Chrysalis.”

“My pleasure, King Ironclaw,” she answered.

The disgraced General began to laugh. “Soon. Soon I will have my revenge! Soon the Empire will be mine!”

Chrysalis smiled. “Very soon, indeed, Your Highness...”

“Very soon, indeed...”

Dun dun dun!!!!!!

“Yay, Sequel!”

Yes indeed a sequel.

But first, here I’ve got something to say. Thank you guys, all you guys, for taking the time to read this. Thank you for giving a Brony-in-Equestria story where the human turns into a pony a chance to prove itself.

Thank you for everything you have done.

It’s been more than a year since I started this baby, and now it has come out victorious.

That being said, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The sad truth is, A Novice Swordsman is actually the most boring of the stories I want release.

Yes, this is the dullest one.

And I’m only getting started.

So I’ve been DungeonMiner

“I’m Pinkie!”

“The name’s Kilokk”

“And I’m Sir Squidfish.”

Thanks for reading.

And We will see you next time!

The above story is a work of Fanfiction, using the characters and setting of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as created by Lauren Faust and owned by Hasbro. All songs belong to artists such as P.O.D., Owl City, and several others. I do not own the characters or songs of the aforementioned properties, and I am in no way benefiting financially from this work. Please support the official release.

"And hey! No more excuses! If you liked this give it a thumbs up!"

1-A Short Drop and a Sudden Stop

Chapter 1

Alan Williams smashed his alarm clock as it buzzed. He hated that thing. Always had, and as usual, he decided to ignore it. Besides, he had ten minutes left until his phone went off with his “Ok, get up this time" alarm so he could—

Suddenly an overly peppy tone cut through the air.

Alan groaned. Why was his phone going off? He had always programmed it to go off ten minutes after his 7:30 wake-up call.

Alan’s hand went for the phone, and, grabbing it, he checked the time. 7:31.

“Stupid phone,” Alan grumbled from underneath the covers.

Why did he even set his alarms today? It was Saturday.

Saturday.

The Saturday starting a long weekend.

Alan sat up.

A long weekend that he had planned to go camping on.

Right. That’s why his phone was early.

Getting out of bed, Alan walked to his bathroom. There, next to the sink was a bag with all of the essentials—deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, floss, etc.—still open, so that he could get to them that morning. After a quick brush of his hair, teeth, and armpits with their respective tools, he zipped the bag shut and headed back to his room.

Grabbing his backpack that he had sitting at the door, Alan stuffed the toiletries in it with a fair amount of sloppiness. He then turned to his dresser and pulled out five T-shirts, and five pairs of jeans. Rolling four of the sets of clothing into tubes of cloth, Alan stuffed those into the bag, dressing himself in the last pair. He thought it was a good idea to bring a couple of extra sets of clothes in case he fell into a mud pit or something. He was going into a very thick forest, after all—no idea what kind of mud puddles could have been sitting there.

With his clothes packed, Alan reached into his closet and brought out a belt of his. A thick, leather belt that had been tanned for exactly this kind of a trip.

As he began to loop the belt through his jeans, a song popped into his head. “Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-Up, Da-dum-dum-dum-dumdum. ” Alan had never really memorized the rest of the words, so he settled for the odd mix of alliterations and hums that came to his mind.

Yes, Alan was a brony. Admittedly, a relatively new brony, having not even reached season two, but a brony nonetheless.

He really needed to see those. He then berated himself for not having enough free time to dedicate to the show, but this camping trip was going to be awesome.

Slipping two sheaths onto his belt, one for a knife with a seven inch blade, the other for three throwing knives. It had been a while since he had thrown last, and this was an excellent opportunity to get some more practice in.

As he buckled the belt, Alan came down to the bottom of his mental checklist.

Water, food, flashlight, rope. Anything else?

Well, his flashlight was right there, next to his bed, a possibly oversized Maglite that could probably double as a hammer. Throwing that into the bag, he then reached back into the closet and brought out a coil of rope. 25 feet, to be exact. Tossing that in, Alan moved his bag to the kitchen of his four room apartment. Opening one of the cabinets, he proceeded to stuff four whole boxes of granola bars into his bag. That, along with two small bags of trail mix and some microwave meals. Finally, he opened the fridge and grabbed three plastic bottles of water as well as metal canteen.

He was honestly hoping for a spot near a creek, but those were a little hard to find in Georgia, so he had to make sure he had something. Going through the checklist again, he finally convinced himself that he wasn’t forgetting anything, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door. With a twist, the door locked, and it was finally just Alan, his bag and the great outdoors.

Once he got there anyway.

He walked through the apartment complex he lived in, going down the stairs and around the building until he came to the parking lot. There he came up to his car, a 2000 Ford Contour, and unlocked it. Throwing his backpack into the passenger seat, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove off. Pulling onto the main street that ran past his apartment, Alan realized he did forget something.

Breakfast.

With a growl of his stomach, Alan decided that he might as well begin his camping trip with a camping breakfast.

Opening his backpack with one hand while trying to keep his eyes on the road, he searched for one of the previously packed boxes of granola. Finding one without too much difficulty, he was now tasked with opening the box. Man, getting breakfast while driving at 50 mph was such a hassle.

Well, there was a red light up ahead, he could get it there. In the meantime, he needed something to do to keep his mind off of his stomach.

Music, that was always a good answer. Putting in a CD titled “Awesome”, Alan immediately went straight to track 5, and was greeted with a techno beat. Briefly wondering why he bothered putting those other 4 tracks on the CD, he began to tap the wheel as one of his favorite songs’ chorus came up.

“Luna won’t you cry for me?

I’m as lonely as I’ve ever been,

I am force-ed back into the start,

Is there any way to fix a broken heart?”

Arguably his favorite princess.

Speaking of the lunar queen, he did hope she would actually show up in season 2. He had always been a night owl, and liked to look at the stars and such. It was actually one of his many reasons that he decided he should go camping. It was just him and the wilderness, nothing to distract him except his iPod, which he kept with a battery-powered charger for an alarm clock, but that was it, no other technology.

Ah, there was the light.

Green.

Alan scowled, “Of course,” he muttered to himself. The one time you want a red light, and it’s green.

“Ugh. Need more music.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

After driving for two hours Alan pulled up to the woods. It was on a hardly used road, and had just enough space to fit his car so it neither took space in the road nor ran into any trees.

Reaching into his glove compartment, he pulled out a pen and post-it note, flipped the note and wrote under the adhesive, “To whom it may concern. This car is parked on public property and shall remain here between the dates of 05/26-28 of 2012. If this car is still parked in this location beyond those dates, send a rescue party.” Satisfied with his note, he pushed it against the windshield so that it stuck to the glass.

With nothing left to do, he grabbed his bag and headed out into the woods.

It had taken quite a while to find a public wood that he could go camping in, but this weekend would be totally worth it.

Going straight to the woods, the first thing he encountered was kudzu, the infamous “Vine that was Swallowing the South.” If he ever got his hands on the guy who brought this stuff, Alan might have to go to jail. Love and Tolerance could take a backseat to the hours he spent trying to get through no less than three root balls the size of his computer tower.

Luckily, this wasn’t his land, or his mother’s land for that matter, or his uncles, or anything. With that happy thought in mind, Alan reached for the seven inch blade at his side and used it as a makeshift machete, slicing the hated vine into more than five, tiny, sections.

He would have done more, but he needed to get a campsite.

Wiping the blade on his jeans, he cleaned the knife, keeping it out a little while longer before sheathing it, satisfied that he had a clear path.

The forest was a total mess, truly a botanist’s nightmare. Vines as thick as his wrist climbed to the green canopy above where old, broken branches clung to their living stumps, held only by the same vines that had killed them. There were vines that snaked along the ground with thorns just a little shorter than his thumb. There were vines that…well, actually there were just vines.

A terrible thing in Georgia, the vines.

Suddenly, Alan’s eyes spotted the telltale signs of a blackberry bush. Still a little peckish from his lack of a breakfast food, he was quick to take a quick stop by the bush. Admittedly, it was a little early for berry season yet, but Alan was not disappointed to see a small handful of early bloomers.

Picking a few berries, he was impressed with the sweetness in a few of them and surprised by the bitterness of the others, but it was all good food.

Taking quick note of the bush, Alan continued on his way.

Working his way through the trees and underbrush, Alan made his way deeper into the woods, hoping to get a least a mile in before lunch.

It wasn’t long before he came across a ravine. It wasn’t overly deep, nor was it so wide that he couldn’t jump across.

The thought of jumping across occurred in his mind as an epic movie scene, something with gunshots and explosions as he raced through the woods. Or maybe it was like that scene in the Skyrim trailer, where the Dovahkiin is running up to the edge of a cliff and stops inches away from plummeting to his death. Or maybe it’s closer to the trench warfare in the first World War, where the hero would have leaped over a German trench, lobbing a few grenades beneath him into the midst of the Germans and killing them all before they even had a chance to yell “Schnell.”

Of course, by the time those sequences went through his head, he had already dropped down into the ravine and was heading up the other bank.

Maybe he’d come back to this ravine later, but as of right now, he still needed a place to sleep.

He climbed up the red clay, looking for handholds in the bank, he couldn’t help but smile as he said, “I can’t carry it for you, Mr. Frodo, but I can carry you!” He then shook his head. I’m such a geek.

Actually now that he thought about it, red clay didn’t really fit Mordor. Mordor was more arid, rockier, drier, desert-eier.

Now at the top of the opposite bank, Alan paused for a moment to let his brain finish whatever fantasy was currently running through it. The thought took a little longer than he had previously judged, and was beginning to bore himself as he stood there.

Suddenly, the clay beneath his foot crumbled away, and he felt himself begin to fall.

His arms flailed wildly looking for something to steady himself. Grabbing air, his hands flapped madly, reaching for anything to hold on to.

A cry escaped Alan’s lips as he did his best to shift his body back onto stable ground.

No such luck.

Alan yelled as he fell backwards into the ravine, shutting his eyes as he braced for impact.

And he braced.

And braced.

Ok…

I’m no physicist, but I’m pretty sure I should have hit the ground by now.

Alan risked opening a single eye, and was greeted with a kaleidoscopic light show.

Oh, that’s not good.

Now, admittedly, this was not what Alan thought a concussion looked like, but he wasn’t sure what else it could be.

I must have fallen pretty hard for me to have not felt the impact. That probably means that I went straight into unconsciousness.

Wow. That’s a first. I’ve never been unconscious before. I’ve always thought it would be more like sleep, though.

The lights were a breathtaking mix of greens, blues and purples that spiraled around him with red bursts of light exploding at random intervals. A green shaft of light flashed by Alan as he continuously fall through this…whatever it was, hallucination maybe?

Suddenly, something that looked like a Delorean flew by, passing his field of view for the briefest second. The car was then followed by something that looked like a carriage, with a large clock face at its back, which was then followed by a hot tub of all things.

Ok…

Why are there a ton of time machines in my fall-induced hallucination? Well at least the TARDIS hasn’t made an appear-

An old, blue, British police call box spun across his view.

Nevermind…

The fall lasted for another few seconds like this, complete with lightshow and time-traveling movie references, but everything seemed to be slowing down for some reason.

It was so odd.

Suddenly, the lightshow and void disappeared, only to be replaced by a pastel ceiling.

Thud. Alan’s head snapped against the tile of the floor, sending a blinding flash of light and pain across his eyes. The cardboard in his backpack had been crushed underneath his weight, and he was sure at least one water bottle had also burst, leaving everything he had packed wet. He wondered if his flashlight would be ok. Speaking of, that was probably the thing that was pressing really hard against his spine.

Groaning, Alan rolled over, sliding out of his backpack, and getting a very good look at the tile floor. The floor, made of pure-white marble tiles, was exceptionally hard. To his right, now that he was on his stomach, the white gave way to a checkerboard pattern on the side as an accent to the walls, which, if this one he was looking at was any indicator, were both very tall and very ornate. This one wall had six windows which stretched from the floor to ceiling, and a very high ceiling it was.

Actually, that wall looked kinda familiar…

“T-Twi? What in the hay is that?”

Alan froze. He knew that voice. That was Ashleigh Ball’s voice, a voice actress, and this particular characterization was that of a down-to-earth farmpony named Applejack.

Alan slowly turned his head to the source of the voice and blinked. Not one, but nine ponies were standing in the middle of the room; Two guards, standing next to the near-all-powerful Princess Celestia, and the “Mane Six": Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. Each one of them looked at Alan with a mix of shock and confusion on their faces, and even the guards seemed a little intimidated by his sudden appearance.

They all stood, looking straight at him.

Nine fictional characters from a TV show.

Fictional…

He sat up slowly, putting his back to the wall, looking straight into the eyes of the nine equines, each staring at him in bewilderment, a look Alan was sure he was mirroring.

The lavender unicorn that was standing in the front of the group, which Alan instantly recognized as Twilight Sparkle, blinked before replying. “I don’t know…”

Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus that had been at the back of the group, suddenly disappeared behind her friends, attempting to hide, even though her light pink mane and tail gave away her position.

Pinkie Pie, the pink pony that was in the middle of the group, went oddly silent, especially being the partier that Alan knew she was.

Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus with the namesake-colored mane, suddenly threw herself before her friends in a protective gesture. Alan noticed it wasn’t particularly hostile, but very defensive.

Rarity, the white unicorn, was dressed in a long, flowing gown of greens and blues. Alan imagined that she thought it was only fitting for getting an audience for the Princess, even though everyone else had come as they were, dressed only in their thick fur.

Applejack, the only other pony wearing anything, a Stetson cowboy (cowpony?) hat, merely stared at Alan before replying, “Well Ah don’t know either.”

Alan turned his attention to the guards. They both wore the golden armor that was standard for the royal guard, or at least, he assumed was the standard issue. They both had perfectly white coats, and stood at full attention, their faces being the only thing that had broken their discipline.

Finally, there stood the Princess of the Day herself. The immortal half pegasus, half unicorn being that was responsible for raising the sun each day. Her corona of a mane flapped eternally in an unfelt wind, and her single visible eye was wide with shock.

Fictional.

Alan laughed.

The ponies recoiled at the sudden outburst, expecting some evil voice or the like. Only Celestia remained silent, staring at him with her wide eye.

“Well looky here!” Alan shouted sarcastically. “I seemed to have stopped existing!” He laughed more. “Last stop, Insanity Station, all aboard!” Alan continued to laugh.

The ponies all looked at each other, searching for some sort of cue to take for an action.

All but Celestia, who stared at the human.

Alan's laughing died, and he began mumbling to himself. “Alright Alan, what’s happened? You were walking in the woods, you fell, and now you’re in a place that doesn’t exist. Equestria, at that. What, brain? Couldn’t get me to Middle Earth? Yes, I get it now, this is some sort of concussion-induced hallucination. Maybe I’m in a coma, and my brain is so bored it stuck me in Canterlot to see what I would do. Yes, that’s obviously it.” He laughed again. “Welcome to Crazy City, population: me!”

The mane six backed away just a touch, and the guards hesitantly took a step forward.

Celestia did not move.

Alan didn’t notice, continuing to ramble. “Well, well, well, I suppose this is my subconscious’ revenge for getting into the show to begin with,” he chuckled, smiling. “Probably should have played more Skyrim or something." He laughed again, before moaning, “Oh I am going insane!”

Twilight spoke up, probably driven by curiosity to ask. “Um…are you alright?”

Alan snickered. “Oh no, nothing’s wrong, I’m just in a cartoon! My sanity is dropping by the second and I’m actually having a conversation with a pony! Nothing wrong at all!” He whimpered. “I’m in a cartoon! I am in a stinking cartoon! A cartoon titled of all things ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!’” He dropped his head into his hands. “I’m crazy! I am so far gone if I ever recover from this coma I’ll need a straitjacket.”

Alan roared, slamming his head in the wall behind him repeatedly. “Why?! Why?! Why?! I just wanted to go on a camping trip!” Alan roared again, a tear threatening to leak from his eye.

His mother always said he lived in a fantasy world. She would yell at him while he RPG-ed online with his friends, well, he definitely was now. Was this what happened to him? Had he been so enraptured by fiction that his subconscious had no other choice than to place him here? Had the line between fantasy and reality faded so much that his brain had accepted it as such? Was he already crazy before he even fell into this coma? He had always thought he was a little weird, heck, he liked My little Pony, but he never thought he was full on crazy.

The pain in the back of his head got his inner survivalist working. If he could feel pain then that meant he could hurt himself, and that other things could hurt him, subconscious-hallucination-illusion pain or otherwise.

With that in mind, it might be possible for him to die, which of course meant he had to take everything seriously while keeping in mind any and all possible consequences of such an action or inaction. He couldn’t jump out of a window, because he wasn’t sure if the fall would kill him or not, and it was always best to err on the side of safety.

Yes, this really helped define the line between, didn’t it?

The word 'consequences' suddenly came to the forefront of Alan’s mind, waving a red flag. The word seemed to light up wires that had temporarily lost their meaning. He should be afraid of something right now. That is, other than the fact that he just showed up in Celestia’s Throne…

Oh crap.

Celestia, the most powerful being in this entire world, had been in the middle of a meeting, and he had just fallen in on her. True, everything he knew about the Princess screamed merciful and fun-loving, but she still had to be treated with respect.

His eyes snapped open and went straight to the alicorn. “P-Princess, Celestia, I-I am so sorry for this, I-I don’t know how this happened, I-I’m so sorry. This was one big misunderstanding, I’m a nobody and I don’t mean anyone any harm.”

Celestia blinked, probably for the first time since Alan had seemingly fallen through her ceiling. She blinked again before taking a cautious, but confident step forward. “How do you know my name, Human?”

Alan’s brain wasn’t working right. He knew that at that precise moment, because instead of doing the smart thing and answering the stupid question, he was more caught up in the idea that Celestia knew what he was.

Had the Fanfics been right? Had there been a lost civilization of Humans at one time or another? What had been their relationship with Equestria? Oh, I hope it was a good one.

Alan opened his mouth, to say, of all things, “How do you know what I am?” instead of answering the question like he should have, but was interrupted before he could get the first word out.

The two golden, ornate doors of the throne room flew open, and two ponies entered. One, a brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark, the other, a grey pegasus with crossed, yellow eyes. Alan instantly recognized them as the famous Dr. Hooves and Derpy Hooves, and was both overjoyed and shocked to see them.

Overjoyed, because they were both his favorite background ponies and shipping pair. Shocked, because Derpy seemed to be wielding something that looked like a bazooka.

“Eat muffin, Space Monster!” Derpy yelled, firing the weapon she held in her hooves.

Alan only briefly wondered what she meant by that. Of course, he understood rather quickly when a blueberry baked good smashed into his face.

The muffin hit surprising hard, even though it was very squishy and fresh from the oven. So hard, in fact, that he almost missed the Doctor say, “Derpy, stop! That’s not a Dalek!”

It was then that hell broke loose. The Guards, torn between the horror of this new creature and the sudden appearance of the muffin-based weaponry, threw themselves at the human and grey pegasus, one for each, and tackled them to the ground.

The Doctor, seeing the poor crossed-eyed pony pinned, galloped to the guard, throwing his weight against him in an attempt to free her. Twilight, being ever curious, ran to her mentor and began to ask the princess any question she could think of. “What’s a Human? Is that a human? Where did he come from? Is it, in fact, a he?...”

Rainbow Dash, seeing a fight taking place, instantly threw herself into the fray between the Guardpony and the human, smashing into Alan’s back with her hooves. Applejack followed suit, ramming the Doctor as he tried to free the pegasus. Rarity, shocked at the display, took shelter behind the princess, and was almost surprised to see Fluttershy already there.

Pinkie Pie, seeing this new chaos, did the thing that came most naturally to her—she laughed her flank off.

Somehow, in the middle of the fray, both fights met up and formed into its own battle royal. Hooves flew as six ponies and a confused human rolled in a fight to what seemed like death. Alan bumped against mane, wing, armor and fur as he was thrown about the melee, doing his best to keep from drawing his knife for fear of making things infinitely worse for himself. A hoof smacked him across the head, sending another blinding white flash of pain across his vision, before another smashed into his gut, threatening to make him eject his meager breakfast.

“Enough!” a royal voice yelled, and instantly the fight stopped. The cartoon ponies could only stare at their princess as her mane flared into an inferno.

Just as quickly, the flame died, and the calm demeanor returned. She then gave a polite cough, and everypony lined themselves up in some semblance of order, the guards returning to their post, while Rainbow, Applejack, Doctor Hooves and Derpy stood at attention before her, leaving Alan still on the floor, coughing up dust.

“Now, my little ponies,” Celestia began, “I want everyone to calm down and remain silent while I ask my questions. Understood?”

Everypony nodded.

“Good. Now, Human, since you already know who I am, perhaps you will do me the honor of introducing yourself?”

Alan, dazed, let a second of silence pass before answering, “Alan, your Highness, Alan Williams.”

Celestia nodded. “Wonderful. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Williams. It seems to me that you are experiencing an advanced form of culture shock, is that correct?”

“Well, your Highness, it is not incorrect.”

Celestia nodded again. “I see. Then as of right now, I would like to dismiss you until tomorrow, where I will have everypony explain themselves in full. Lieutenant Pauldrons?”

“Yes, your Highness?” one of the Guards asked.

“Please escort Sir Williams to the guest chambers, any one of them that has been reserved for the nobles will do.”

“Yes, your Highness.”

“Answer any questions he may have, no matter how trivial, and see that he has something to eat later today. He has full access to the royal kitchens, and I will not hear any complaints from Copper Pots. Am I understood?”

“Yes, your Highness.”

“Very good. Now, Twilight,” she said, addressing her student.

“Yes, Princess?”

“It seems you and your friends will be staying a while longer. If you wish, you may follow Sir Alan, but please respect his space, and do not ask any questions about how he got here. I wish to hear that first, and I wish for Luna to be with me when I do. Understood?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“I will have rooms made available to you as soon as I can,” Celestia said, before turning to the Doctor and the pegasus. “You two will also be given rooms. You will be giving an explanation of your behavior towards the human tomorrow, but as of right now, I do not want to hear it, nor do I think the human wishes to discuss it.” She then leaned very close to the two intruding ponies. “And I trust you will be on your best behavior.”

The Doctor chuckled nervously. “Yes, yes of course, your Highness, a simple misunderstanding is all. We’ll be on our very best behavior, won’t we, Derpy?”

Derpy rolled her eyes, aligning them, “I told you, you were overreacting. Yes, your Highness, perfect behavior.”

Celestia nodded. “That is good to hear. Now,” she said, standing her full height, and facing the entire audience, “you may leave, and please, enjoy your stay in Canterlot.”

Well, there you guys go, the first Chapter of A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court. This is the part of the story where I ask for criticism, comments and the-

“Psst!”

…uh…criticism, comments and t-

“PSSST!”

Oh no.
You know, Pinkie, It’s normally a policy of mine not to talk to my characters in writing.

“But I’m not one of your characters, I’m Lauren's!”

*sigh* Noted. Is there something you wanted?

“Yuparooni! Two things actually. First, why oh why are you writing a Human in Equestria story? Aren’t they overdone and boring? And B, Why haven’t I said anything yet or thrown a party or given somepony a hug or made Alan smile or eaten a cupcake or—”

Yes, Pinkie, I get it. To answer the first question, I’m writing this because I think that most HiE stories are too quick to fall into the whole “This is so Awesome!” stage without giving it a good job at the “Why did this happen to me? Why can’t I leave?” angle. There are 5 stages to loss, but everyone skips to acceptance anyway. I plan to change that with this story.
Secondly, you haven’t done anything yet, because I don’t want you ruining anything.

“…what?...”

Uh, no! Not like that, Pinkie, it’s just uh…you see, Alan’s read fanfiction and if you break the fourth wall and talk to me or the readers in the story, you’ll make Alan see that he’s a character, and that would…uh…make him feel bad?

“Really?”

Yeah, I just don’t want you hurting his feelings or ruining any surprises is all.

“Oh…ok…”

I just wanted to let you know that first before I unleashed you into the fic, so that everything goes by smoothly, ok?

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!”

Here, have a cupcake to make you feel better.

And then Pinkie saw before her, a cupcake, but a cupcake unlike any before ever seen. It was perfect, with the perfect amount of frosting, the perfect amount of sugar, the perfect amount of chocolate. It was immaculate.

“…For me?”

As long as you don’t talk directly to me in the story, and always refer to the readers as the ‘audience.’ It will make Alan think you’re talking to people watching TV.

Pinkie looked at the cupcake, silent for a very long time, especially for her, before turning her head towards you.

“Tell DungeonMiner he has a deal, Audience, since I can’t tell him myself, now if you’ll excuse me, this cupcake and I have some quality time to catch up on.”

Yeah, so anyways, criticism, comments and the like, I would love your feedback, and please, all questions will be answered in the story (unless they don’t relate or if it’s supposed to be a mystery). Thanks for reading so far, bye!

6-Swarm of the Century

Chapter 6

Alan took a deep breath, held it for a brief second, then exhaled through the nose.

Across from him, was a pony opponent armed with a stick. A stick that had a basic sword-like shape, and was held by a lavender aura.

“There are three stages of Swordsmanship.” Arthur had said, “Stage One: The Sword and Swordsman are in conflict. This is the first stage of any page, and one of any novice. The Sword will not move correctly, it will not flow in the hand of the wielder. It is in conflict with swordsman, and will forever be until the man subdues the sword. A sword will always bow to its maker, sometime to a heir, but never to a stranger. A stranger must subdue the sword before making it his.”

Alan gave Judgement a quick look.

Prepare to be subdued.

The opponent pony jumped for him, swinging his stick in a wide arc.

Judgement slapped the stick, its edge biting into the magically hardened bark, before he twisted the stick away, giving it momentum away from him.

Just as Arthur had instructed.

The stick, now flying wildly off to Alan’s left was now nowhere to protect the equine, and Alan made to strike.

Judgement, however, chose that exact moment to rebel.

What was supposed to be a smooth, swift motion, swung wide instead. Not as wide as the stick, but wide enough to give his opponent time to recover. The blade and bark met again, pieces of the latter flying as the edge bit into it.

Alan growled. No. Judgement is mine. He pushed forward on the stick, feeling the other resist before suddenly disengaging. The stick flew into an uppercut as the resistance it was facing suddenly disappeared. An uppercut that Alan easily sidestepped. Alan brought Judgement up as the pony tried to recover, catching the opponent in the jaw.

The pony dematerialized, and the stick flew over to Twilight’s side. “There, you practiced. Are you happy?” she asked impatiently.

“Not especially,” Alan said, looking down at his blade.

Why do you fight me?

Judgement did not answer.

Alan sighed before sheathing the blade, signaling to the impatient unicorn that practice was over.

“Finally,” she harrumphed. “We have too many preparations to make to just let you goof off all day with that sword.”

“Yeah, yeah, preparations for Celestia’s visit and all that,” Alan said, waving her off. “How is it that a ‘Casual’ visit means break out the banners and streamers?”

“She’s still the Princess,” Twilight argued. “Casual for her means not having every pony dress in their most expensive suit. Only the second most expensive suit.”

Alan rolled his eyes. How was it that Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s own student, never got the fact that when the Princess says “casual” she means casual. It was obvious to him, and he had only seen the first season. She had studied under her for 12+ years now and never caught on...

“Fine, let’s go check up on the decorations you’ve insisted on putting up a day in advance.”

Twilight ignored the jab, and led Alan straight through the town of Ponyville checking and rechecking various decorations.

Alan, meanwhile let it all go past him, thinking about the other two stages of mastery.

“Stage Two: The Sword and Swordsman are One. There is no longer any competition between wielder and blade. They flow as one, move as one, act as one, cut and kill as one. This is the longest of the two stages, and one that most become masters of. However the potential in this stage pales in comparison to that of the next.

“Stage Three: The Sword and Swordsman are None. This last stage is a state of mind, rather than a level of proficiency. A novice could potentially reach this stage if particularly gifted, although it would be considerably more dangerous. In this stage, the Sword and Swordsman not only flow as one, but they flow with the battle. Time itself slows for them and they can feel the swings of swords and the raising of shields. They know when things are going to happen moments before they do, allowing them that much more time to act.

“My style of swordsmanship relies on activating Stage Three at a whim.”

That was a pretty tall order, Alan thought. The ability to go into a state of consciousness where your mind functions at a higher rate. Alan had heard that martial artists and the like would normally go into such a state, and he had even heard of normal people going into it, sometimes for very mundane things.

He still remembered the story of one of his high-school friends, where he watched his glass of milk slowly fall to the ground giving him ample time to move his foot.

“Alright,” Twilight said, pleased. “That just leaves the food.”

Alan gave that just enough attention to hear before returning back to his thoughts. Arthur had given a few examples of exercises for such a thing, but he had never really had a chance to use them. He needed opponents, and since he didn’t want to hurt anypony, he did the one thing he knew was a good idea. He turned to Magic.

Twilight did indeed have a spell that he could use. A simple affair that made a half-physical form of mana, something to make a target, before taking the stick and swinging it from the fake pony’s perspective. It did make a pretty convincing illusion, and while Alan had yet to lose against one of them, he still felt Judgement rebel.

Every now and then it would act out. It would swing wide, move slow, and there were several times when he was sure that the blade had a mind of its own.

It proved to be very annoying.

All of his work so far would be for nothing if he could not harness the blade.

He sighed, before following his hostess into Sugarcube corner.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” He said as he entered.

He was met with a simple “hi” from the scrambling ponies.

“How’s the banquet coming?” Twilight asked.

Mrs. Cake pointed towards the table of half-eaten baked goods. “Uh...it would be going better if...” the last words escaped her, probably in a heartfelt attempt to not be rude. Of course, a certain pink pony made the effort pointless, especially when she ate an entire chocolate cake with three bites.

“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled, “Those sweets are supposed to be for the Princess!”

“I know!” Pinkie said, looking only a tad guilty, “That’s why I’m tasting them, I’m make sure that everything is tasty enough to touch the woyal tongue.” The word “royal” had been horribly massacred as Pinkie stuck out her tongue to prove her point. “And I,” she said, adopting an air of royalty, “Pinkie Pie do hereby announce these sweets to be fit for a king, or queen, or Princess!”

“Except these cupcakes, right?” Alan said, hovering over one plate in particular, “They don’t look too fitting for a royal, we may have to get rid of them.” Alan picked one up, “I take it upon myself to sacrifice my stomach so that the Princess may have a better feast.” With that, he took a bite into it.

“Ooh, that is a good point,” Pinkie said, bounding over. “I will not let you suffer alone, Alan, let me help you with this burden!” She then proceeded to eat half of the plate with a single bite, paper wrapper and all.

Twilight sent both of them a glare.

“Twilight, Pinkie, Alan,” the soft-spoken voice of Fluttershy said, “you won’t believe—” she started, coming through the door before skidding to a stop inside.

The way she did it seemed to fit her somehow.

“Oh. I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”

“No, not at all,” Pinkie said. “Come on in and make yourself at home.” Then taking advantage of Twilight’s attention being somewhere else, ate another five cupcakes leaving only one more left for Alan.

Twilight caught the move and resumed glaring.

“What’s going on, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked, possibly in an attempt to get out from under Twilight’s gaze.

“You won’t believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree forest,” She said, a hint of pride in her eyes. “Come on out, little guy.”

Alan knew what they were before the first one popped out of the pink, heart-shaped mane.

Parasprites.

“The Swarm of the Century”, huh? Honestly, he was expecting his next episode to be “Applebuck Season.”

Alan watched as the scene unfolded before him again. The confusion over the appearance of the two additional insects, the wonder over what these adorable things were, Twilight daw-ing over one, and offering to take it home. Followed by her quick explanation over her slightly embarrassing moment.

“Pinkie, do you want the other one?” Fluttershy offered.

Pinkie stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Blegh, a Parasprite, are you kidding?”

The two other ponies were absolutely confused by her reaction.

“A Para-what?” Twilight asked.

“How could you not li—” Fluttershy began, only to be cut off by Pinkie’s annoyed groan.

“Now I’ve got to go find a trombone.”

The unicorn and pegasus gave each other a look.

“A what?” Twilight asked.

“You know, a trombone!” Pinkie said, imitating said instrument’s slide before bouncing away.

Alan picked up his other cupcake and followed the pink earth pony. “I’m going to make sure she doesn’t come back until you guys are done.”

“That is an excellent idea!” Mrs. Cake said, rolling some more dough.

“Thank you!” Mr. Cake yelled after him.

Alan left, leaving only two confused friends, two busy acquaintances, and three demon spawn.

Just an average, normal day in Ponyville.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Alright!” Pinkie said, going through a checklist that Alan was sure she wasn’t carrying a few minutes ago. “We still haven’t found the trombone, but we’re going to have to live with that it seems. We still need two Percussion instruments, one Brass, one Wind, and ideally two Strings. One is mandatory.”

Alan shook his head. How was it that this pink ball of energy could sometimes be more organized than Twi?

“Alright, so the best place to find a couple of string instruments would probably be Lyra’s, it’s a shame Octavia isn’t in town anymore.”

“Hey, Pinkie,” Alan said. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“Shoot,” she replied happily.

“Where did you first see a Parasprite?”

“What?”

“Well, you seem to know what they are as well as how to get rid of them, and I just want to know how.”

“Oh,” Pinkie said, as a look of understanding flew across her face. “That makes sense I guess. Let’s see now...” she began, putting a hoof to her chin. “The first Parasprite I saw was back on the rock farm where I grew up. They had swooped in and began to eat all of our food, and we don’t get a lot of it, especially since all we grew was rocks. Marble doesn’t taste good you know.

“Then they multiplied and before long they covered the entire farm like one big, nasty, carpet. It was pure luck that my sister, Inkie was in the school band.”

“What did she play?”

“The band.”

“Huh?”

“She was the whole band.”

Alan blinked. Apparently, insanity did run in the family.

“She was quick with that trombone of hers, and by the end of the day, we had them all bouncing out of Equestria into the small country of Cowmandu.”

Alan blinked, again. “Cowmandu?” he asked. “Not the Cowmandu that had 99.9% of its population die of a massive famine?”

“The same!”

Alan blinked again, before shaking his head. “So you grew up on a rock farm?”

Pinkie gave him a look, “Why are you asking me that? You know that already.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you said it yourself, Equestria is just a story in your world, and since we’re the main characters it would only make sense that they would tell the stories of our cutie marks.”

Holy Crap.

Pinkie was using logic.

“Well I...ok I did.”

“Then why did you ask?”

Alan paused at that. “Well...I...it’s hard to explain.”

“I’ve got plenty of time,” Pinkie countered.

“Well,” Alan said, figuring she wouldn’t let him get away with it. “I want to be your friend.”

“But you are my friend, silly billy.”

“Yeah, I know, but you're friends with everypony. The others, though, Fluttershy, Twi, Rarity, AJ, and Dashie you’re friends with them in a way that’s different from everypony else.”

“Well yeah, but that’s because they're my bestest friends.”

Alan smiled. “Well, I just want to be one of your bestest friends, I want to be bestest friends with all six of you, but if I just say all of the things that I know, I may just end up pushing all of you guys away.”

Pinkie gave him a questioning look.

“I mean, I know you guys. I know that you love to party, but hardly anypony takes you seriously because of that. I know that Twi is a very good student, but she has a few perfectionist tendencies as well as a few self esteem issues.” Alan did his best to explain, but the words felt lacking somehow.

Pinkie gave him a long, hard look. “And how would that push you away? I’d think that would make us friends faster wouldn’t? Friends know each other, that’s how you become friends.”

Alan sighed, how was he going to explain the awkwardness that Pinkie obviously never felt. How could he explain the idea that he was essentially a stalker, and he knew much more about these six ponies than he had any business knowing. “Well, yes, but you guys don’t know anything about me. I’m ready to be your friend, but I don’t think you guys are ready to be mine.”

Pinkie thought about this for a second. “So, you act like you don’t know us that well so that it seems fair?”

Alan blinked, she seemed to have caught it, surprisingly. “Yeah, something like that.”

Pinkie giggled. “That’s so silly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Of course you know more about us than we do you. You’ve watched us become who we are, and even things that haven’t happened yet. We weren’t able to watch you, but if we had I’m sure we would know you inside out.”

Alan smiled. “So you don’t mind if I know things you normally wouldn’t tell anypony?”

“If you already know it doesn’t really matter does it?” she asked sagely. “If you know I wouldn’t tell a secret to anypony, would you?”

Alan hesitated for a second, that was a good question, “Well, not if it hurt anypony.”

“And that’s the only reason why I keep secrets,” Pinkie replied. “We don’t have a problem, then. Now come on, we have some instruments to find!” she smiled before bouncing away.

Alan smiled before catching up to the pink pony. “Hey, slow down for me, alright.”

“Well hurry up, slowy-pokie, we have Ponyville to save.” she said in her usual chirp.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Alan cried, catching up to the pink mare. He was sort of happy that Pinkie didn’t seem to mind his vast knowledge of all things pony. He could tell her how he felt watching them go through the things he could easily stop. It meant he wouldn’t have to carry this puppet master thing alone. He could confide in her, and explain himself, it...it was nice.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Alan asked, now that he had more or less synced his pace. “I have another question.”

“Go ahead.”

“When I saw you on the rock farm, your hair was all straight and stuff.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever had that happen again?”

“I thought you knew all about us,” Pinkie teased, before answering. “Yeah, a few times. It mostly happens when I get serious, not pouty-serious, but more, not-really-the-time-to-smile serious. It doesn’t happen too often.”

Alan wondered at that. It was generally accepted that the straight-haired Pinkamena was an alter-ego of the pink mare, possibly something like a split personality, but apparently that wasn’t even close to the truth. It was a simple attitude change, the difference between Pinkie and Pinkamena was simply how often she smiled.

This required further study.

Right after he figured out where he was.

“Hey, Pinkie, where are we going?”

“To get instruments.”

“Well, yeah, but where?”

“Have you ever heard of a pony named Vinyl Scratch?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The wubs of a overly loud bass could be heard outside the door of the relatively secluded house.

Alan wondered if knocking would even be worth it.

Pinkie, however, just rang the doorbell, and all of a sudden the lights, sounds and well, everything that even looked like it ran on electricity stopped. A second later it was back on, but the wubs were significantly quieter.

The door opened, and out stepped a white unicorn with a short, frizzy, electric blue mane, and purple-mirrored sunglasses. “Pinkie! The Party Pony herself! What is up, girl?”

They hoof-bumped. “Hey Vinyl!” Pinkie chirped, “I’ve brought a friend!”

“Sweet! Any friend of Pinkie’s is a friend of mine.”

“Guess you’ve got a lot of friends then,” Alan said, stepping forward.

"Hello!" Vinyl exclaimed. “What have we got here? The Human of Ponyville? Hey man, if we’re partying tonight, it’s gonna get crazy! I’m the mix master DJ PON-3, but you can call me Scratch.”

“Alan Williams, Pendragon in training, but you can call me Alan,” he said, holding out his fist.

“Al, huh? Sweet,” Scratch replied, giving it his waiting fist a bump. “So what brings you two to my humble lair?”

“We have an instrument emer—”

A white hoof suddenly invaded Pinkie’s mouth.

“Not here!” The DJ said, a new sense of urgency in her voice, before a pale blue magic pulled them both inside.

Scratch shut the door behind them, locking it with no less than three deadbolts. She turned to Pinkie. “You said you would never talk about that in the open.”

“Oopsies.”

Scratch’s head snapped to Alan. “Are you cool?”

Alan didn’t really know how to answer that. First of all, the question seemed very...spontaneous. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and without proper context, it could mean any number of things. Do you do drugs? Do you like dubstep? “Cool” could literally mean anything at this point.

“He’s not going to say anything, Scratch.”

“Are you sure?” The DJ asked.

“Abso-positively!”

Scratch hesitated for a second. “Make him Pinkie Pie Promise.”

“Pinkie Pie Promise?” Alan asked.

“Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise,” Scratch replied cryptically.

“Here, it works like this,” Pinkie said, before leading Alan through the motions. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a Cupcake in my eye.”

Alan smiled before repeating the oddly familiar promise, swearing under penalty of...well whatever it was to not speak a word of this thing that Scratch had so well hidden.

Finally satisfied, Scratch took them down the stairs to her basement door, which admittedly looked like a safe. There, she proceeded to unlock more deadbolts and tumblers than Alan wanted to count.

The door opened, and the unicorn pushed them both in before locking the door behind them with two-inch thick steel rods that went straight into the concrete of the floor and ceiling of her basement.

Vinyl turned to Alan. “I want you to understand this perfectly well. None of the things you see belong to me. Alright? If anyone asks, I'm holding them for a friend.”

Alan suddenly hoped that it wasn’t actually drugs.

Scratch then led them down a short spiral staircase, and Alan suddenly understood the secrecy.

Scratch’s basement, you see, held an entire orchestra.

Timpanis, Cellos, Basses, Double Basses, Violins, Violas, Tubas, Trombones, Trumpets, French Horns, Bassoons, Clarinets, Flutes, Piccolos, and a few others that Alan could not identify were spread across the basement, ordered per section, all surrounding a single podium with a white baton.

Alan almost didn’t notice the Grand Piano in the corner.

“It’s just a hobby!” Scratch explained, a blush on her cheeks. "Something I look into every now and then. You know, something I do when I’m looking for inspiration, Timpanis make a great beat, and you can’t really get that with synthetic drums, and remixed violins sound totally awesome when used right, and it is possible to beatbox on a flute, and—”

“Scratch, I get,” Alan said. “No one will know.”

Pinkie began picking through the instruments, worrying the DJ to no end as she bumped into several chairs, nearly sending more than one horn to the floor. “C-careful, Pinkie, please.”

“Sure! No problem, Scratch!”

The DJ, however, was not put at ease as the Party Pony picked her way through her orchestra. “So...uh...Al...”

“Yeah?”

“What are you going to be doing with this stuff?”

“Well, there’s going to be an infestation.”

Scratch raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And apparently, the only way to be rid of them is to lead them out of town Pied Piper style.”

“Pied Piper Style?” Scratch asked, trying the words on her tongue, "That would make a decent song title,” she mumbled before asking. “What on earth is a Pied Piper?”

Alan gave her the abridged version, “The story goes that there was a town that was overrun with rats, and they couldn’t get rid of them. One day, a man showed up, and offered to take care of the problem. He then began to play his pipe, and every single rat followed him out of town, and he led them off a cliff. When he got back to the town, they wouldn’t pay him, so he led all of the children out of town and over the same cliff as revenge. Thus the phrase, ‘Time to pay the Piper.’”

Scratch nodded. “Alright, and while I like the sound of that, I’m...well...” she leaned in close. “Did Pinkie tell you about these things?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” she started, whispering. “It’s not that I don’t trust her, it’s just that well...”

“Scratch, I’ve seen these things,” Alan said. “I know what they can do, and I know that they will be led away just like Pinkie said they would. I’ve seen it before.”

Scratch bit her lip. “Alright, but take care of my babies, and do not. Tell. Anyone. Especially not a grey earth pony with a black mane, bowtie, and light purple treble clef cutie mark. I’d never be able to live it down if she found out...”

“We won’t tell anyone, promise,” Alan said. “You got what we need, Pinkie?”

“Yessirouni!” Pinkie answered, a mishmash of instruments on her back.

“We’ll get these back to you tomorrow,” Alan said. “People won’t figure out these things mean trouble until morning.”

Scratch nodded, “Alright, but again, please be careful, and if anyone asks, they’re not mine!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan thought it would have been a good idea to sleep over at Pinkie’s. Twilight’s house would soon be overrun by a swarm of Parasprites, and he wouldn’t even be able to think about sleeping without one of those adorably cute devils coughing up on his face.

“Slumber PARTY!” Pinkie yelled. “Ooh ooh ooh! We can play pin the tail on pony! or we could play...”

Alan checked his watch. 3 am.

Demon spawn and sleep vs. Pink Pony Party and no sleep.

Maybe he should flip a coin.

She continued her rant, giving no notice to the toothless alligator that was hanging onto her mane.

“Pinkie!” Alan groaned.

“Yeah?”

“It’s three in the morning, go to sleep.”

“But you’re—”

“And we have too much work to do in the morning to party.”

“Aw,” Pinkie groaned, giving a pout. “Oh, well, I guess you’re right,” she said, smiling again, before bouncing into her trampoline-like bed. “Goodnight, Alan!” she said, before clapping her hooves together and turning out the light.

“Goodnight, Pinkie.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan could not go to sleep.

It was like he was cursed or something, because he could not keep his eyes closed. He just couldn’t do it. It was like something was keeping him awake, and he didn’t know why.

Sighing, he sat up. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he could see the room in all of its pink glory. Streamers perpetually hung from the ceiling, and the balloons were everywhere from bumping against the walls to laying half-deflated on the floor.

It was almost silent in the room, with the exception of Pinkie, who was tossing in her sleep.

Alan sighed again, and was about to lay back down when he heard the pink pony mutter.

“No...sorry...didn’t mean it...sorry...no...”

Alan stopped, those were odd words for Pinkie, dream or no.

Her muttering became more frantic, and she began to toss and turn faster in her bed. “No...no...sorry...sorry...I’m sorry...no...please...”

Suddenly, Pinkie shot up onto her haunches, breathing heavy. “Please?” she said, her dream still so vivid in her mind.

Alan watched as her hair straightened as she began to cry.

“Pinkie?” he asked, standing up.

She looked at him in the darkness. “Oh...Alan...” her voice was much more somber and subdued than usual. “I’m sorry did I wake you?”

Alan ignored the question. “Are you alright, Pinkie?”

“Yes,” she said, a defensive tone edging her voice. “It was just a dream.”

Alan moved over and sat on the edge of her bed, “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head, tears in her eyes, before sobbing. “They hate me.”

“Who?”

“Everyone. They all hate me. I’m too crazy for them, I smile too much, I laugh too often, I’m too annoying.” Tears flowed down her cheeks as she repeated “They hate me!”

“Pinkie,” Alan said, putting a hand on the shoulder of the pony. “You know that’s not true.”

“But it is! Earlier today, downstairs in the shop, they just wanted me gone. They wanted me to leave them alone. Nopony wants me around.”

Alan felt a tear well up in his own eye, “Pinkie...”

“I’m just too much, too much all the time. I want to change, but I don’t dare."

She looked up at him, before burying her face in her hooves as tears streamed down her cheeks "If I change, if I tone it down, then I lose myself. I’m the party pony, that’s my talent, that's my Cutie Mark, that’s who I am. But—” she interrupted herself with a gasp for breath as she cried, “It’s too much sometimes...I know it...

"I’m afraid to change, but I’m afraid not to change.”

Alan couldn’t take it anymore, he reached both arms around her, and gave her the biggest hug he could muster. “I don’t want you to change, Pinkie, I like you just the way you are.”

She hugged him back, crying into his chest.

They sat like that into the wee hours of the morning, neither moving, neither speaking.

Someone once said, “It is those who laugh the most that have had the most pain.” Pinkamena Diane Pie was no exception.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight felt something snap in her brain. This was far worse than out-of-control. Celestia was on her way, and in probably her most brilliant move, she had decided that she would make this things not eat food.

Everyone had tried to stop these things. All except Pinkie and Alan, who had decided that they should sleep in.

They had come to Sugarcube Corner, and talked to the half-awake Pinkie. “Don’t worry about the Parasprites, guys, Alan and I will play them away.” That sentence, followed by more talk of instruments, was all the ‘help’ that had been provided.

Anyway, back to that thing that snapped.

“Alright, here’s the plan!” she said, her brain going into a total meltdown. “Rainbow Dash, you distract them.”

Dash suddenly flew by, attempting to escape a small swarm of Parasprites that were adamant about becoming a living bikini.

“Good!” Twilight said, madness evident in her eyes. “Everyone else, we have to build an exact copy of Ponyville over there! We’ve got less than a minute~!”

Everyone promptly ignored her, going on as they were, screaming at this cute terror.

Lucidity returned to the unicorn, and she dropped her head as she sighed. “Zecora was right, we’re doomed.”

A trumpet call sounded.

“Oh, no the Princesses precession is here! It’s all over!”

Then Twilight heard that trumpet again and realized that it sounded nothing like how it should. The precession normally plays slow, high notes, not this fast-paced jazz-like tune.

Then she saw Alan, wearing sunglasses, and carrying both a trumpet and saxophone. Pinkie was behind him, carrying a very nice looking guitar, matching sunglasses and a large drum on her back.

“Comin to ya on a dusty road,” Alan sung

“Good lovin I got a truck load,

And when you get it you got something,

So don’t worry cause I’m coming,

I’m a soul man!” Alan let loose a trumpet blast.

“I’m a soul man!” Pinkie followed with the guitar.

“I’m a soul man!

I’m a soul man!”

What the buck were they doing!? Couldn’t they see that Ponyville was in shambles!? Couldn’t they see that they needed...

Were the Parasprites dancing?

“Got what I got the hard way,

And I’ll make it better each and every day,

So honey don’t you fret,

Cause you ain’t seen nothing yet,

I'm a soul man,

Play it Pie!

I'm a soul man,

I'm a soul man!”

Twilight blinked as the insects began to bounce after the two-man band, despite logic. Twi blinked again. “You know what? I’m not even going to ask.”

And that’s it, another chapter down.

“So You don’t think I’m crazy?”

Not actually mentally ill crazy, no disorders, just different attitudes. You may be a little Mad, but I’ve heard that the best people are.

“You really mean that?”

I do.

“Aw, thanks!”

O.O … Pinkie...How are you hugging me through the screen?

“Just shut up and say bye.”

Questions, comments, exclamations, whatever, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading so far. And just as a warning, I'm going to be slowing down on updates, got to work on my actual story and stuff, hopefully this will whet your appetite. Bye!

17-The Siege

Chapter 17

Prince Julius Ironblood, son of King Calius Bloodfeather, carefully pored over the maps the general had left him. Canterlot had two major walls. The outer wall, which was several scores of paws thick, surrounded all of the city. The second wall, which was even thicker than the first, surrounded the Castle. The first wall was a little more than a joke, a simple thing meant to keep out wild animals and the like.

The second wall, however...

Towers and turrets lined the entire length wall, and it was heavily defended. Behind the wall was a massive number of buildings, each placed so close together that a griffon’s shoulders would touch both walls. All it would take to turn a street to a dead end would be to place a dinner table in the way, and they’d be forced to go a different way. They had a labyrinth at their disposal.

The castle, though, was far worse than that. It had four layers in total, each surrounded by yet another wall with the top of the wall of the last level reaching the base of the next. Each of these four wall was built to be almost unscalable by enemy forces, both from the inside as well as the outside. This was because each wall had a bridge to the next gate, a chokepoint that would expose them to the entirety of the wall. In order to get to the next gate, they had to take the wall.

Luckily, they were griffons, and griffons could fly.

What really worried him though was the thick wall of fog that hung between them and the first wall.

His Uncle Markus, General Ironclaw, would probably be able to tell him everything he would need to know, but the general had insisted that Julius lead this siege alone, his first true victory. “You must learn to fight your own battles, Julius. You must fight, and you must win, and perhaps one day, you’ll be as great as your father.”

But something wasn’t right.

The harbor cities of Baltimare, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia had been evacuated, but there had been no resistance.

In fact, other than the fact that one of their food carts had went missing, there was hardly a sign of anything going wrong.

And that’s what worried him.

His enemy was the fabled human, and the last human in all of Equestria (the planet, not the country) had been a tactical genius. He had Canterlot locked down so tight that a worm could not get in without him knowing.

Ironblood bit down on his lower beak. There should have been something. There should have been some sort of resistance. Why was there nothing?

His eye scanned his uncle’s plans, telling him to make his way over walls and through certain gates, hoping that maybe he’d glean something from them.

Nothing that he didn’t already know.

Sighing, Prince Ironblood closed his eyes and listened to the sound of his soldiers following orders, setting up camps, preparing battle lines, and sharpening their steel talon caps.

The sun would be setting soon, and he wanted his soldiers all rested up for what was sure to be a long day tomorrow. Difficult as it was to set up on a mountainside.

“Captain Bloodletter,” Ironblood began, only to pause.

“Sir?” a nearby griffon, the captain in question asked.

Ironblood strained his ears, leaning his head to one side. “Do...do you hear something?”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Private Gold Veins, an ex-miner from a small town in the Unicorn Range, felt something.

It was odd and unfamiliar in every sense of the word.

But he liked it.

His breath quickened, his pupils dilated, his muscles tensed, his nostrils flared.

His golden armor was polished, his spear gleamed in the setting sunlight, and his helmet sat straight on his head.

He felt an urge.

It was a silly, stupid little urge, for a stupid little action. Any other day he’d wave it off as a passing fancy.

But today was a red-letter day.

He brought up one hoof, and then, with all the force he could muster, brought it down on the white marble.

Clop!

A manic smile began to spread across his face as he stomped again.

Clop!

And again.

Clop!

It needed something else, something to end the rhythm, his brain decided. His body answered by smashing his hoof against his armored chest.

Clang!

He gave a quiet laugh and slammed his hoof back into the ground, not even noticing the mare next to him had joined his battle song.

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!

And then his company joined him.

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!

And then his division.

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!

And then every single pony, all 2400 of them, joined in.

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!

Gold Vein laughed maniacally, and they began to speed up.

Clop, Clop, Clop, Clang! Clop, Clop, Clop, Clang! Clop, Clop, Clop, Clang!

The rhythm got faster and faster, their hooves slamming against the ground with all of their might as they pounded against the marble.

Clop-Clop-Clop-Clang-Clop-Clop-Clop-Clang-Clop-Clop-Clop-Clang!

And then, Gold spoke.

“Ya Ya Huley!”

And hundred voices repeated, speaking words of an ancient battle-cry. Their meaning long forgotten in the annals of time.

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Tarvisa Jorda!”

“Ya Ya Hu Langa!”

“Ku Tawey Ne!”

And then their voices rose together in a single cry, their hooves stomping madly as the clang against armor was forgotten. A single crescendo of steel against stone and the voices of a thousand ponies echoed off the mountain wall, piercing the fog and the awaiting army behind it.

And then,

Silence.

The stomping, the cry, the battle song, it all ended in one second.

Just silence.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Prince Ironblood gulped.

Heck, everyone in the Griffon camp gulped.

The ponies, they may have forgotten over the centuries of peace what those words meant, but the griffons did not.

Those words were a battle curse.

A warning.

“Invader Leave,

Invader Die,

Fight and Die,

Leave and Live,

This is your choice,

This is your choice.”

But then came the horn.

A shockwave of fear flooded the minds of every griffon there, paralyzing them where they stood. Images of their darkest nightmares flood their consciousness.

Ironblood, frozen with fear, was the only griffon in his camp of 4000 to remain standing.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan listened as carefully as he could after his horn blast.

This was one of the most important moments of this battle. His finger went to his ear. “Dashie, I need eyes in the sky, now.”

His only answer was a single figure flying into the darkness.

More silence.

Suddenly, Dash’s voice crackled over the communicator. “They’re all huddled together in small groups, and they’re being really quiet.”

Alan smiled. “Good, pull back, and get the Wonderbolts ready. At random times during the night, throw some cloud bombs down there to shake things up.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

“Twi, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, tell your ponies to get some sleep. Fluttershy, get some couriers to keep watch.”

“Sir, yes sir,” the ponies answered.

Sun Tzu once said, “When the troops continually gather in small groups and whisper together, the general had lost the confidence of the army.”

Step one: “Sabotage the leader through psychological warfare” was going wonderfully.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Celestia shook her head, unsure of what to make out of this development.

“The Battle Blood has awoken,” Luna noted, speaking what they both thought.

“It has.”

“I fear for their lives now.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, Faust be with those poor griffons.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Derpy wandered the quiet courtyard that had become the forward base of operations. City shops lined both sides of the plaza, where a few ponies had gotten together and were quietly eating at their military rations, cracking jokes and being as friendly as possible to each other. It was a beautiful autumn night, with the moon shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky.

Derpy smiled as she looked up, before she shivered.

It was a little cold tonight.

“Blanket, Miss Do?”

Derpy nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the familiar voice, startled by its closeness. She turned to see the Doctor standing there, the offered blanket draped across his back. “Oh, geeze!” she exclaimed. “Don’t scare me like that.”

The Doctor gave an amused smirk. “Do you want the blanket or not?”

Derpy took a few more breaths. “Yes, I’ll take it.”

He smiled, taking the blanket in his teeth and wrapping it around her.

“What are you doing here anyways? Didn’t you say you have a thing against killing?”

“I did, I do,” the Doctor answered. “But this is different.”

“It is?”

He nodded. “Who rules Equestria, Miss Do?”

“Princess Celestia...” Derpy responded, not entirely sure where the conversation was going.

“Yes, now does the Princess seem ambitious?”

“No.”

“No, she doesn’t, and it's a good thing too, because as of right now she could conceivably murder everyone on the planet without so much as lifting a hoof.”

“I’m not getting where you’re going.”

“The Princess could get anything she’d want, all she’d have to do is hold the planet hostage. If Celestia was ambitious, there would be no Empire across the sea.”

“Um...still not...”

The Doctor sighed, “My point is, Derpy, that Celestia is not the kind of person, excuse me, pony, to go to war. She seems the reasonable sort, and considering the fact that she’s probably older than I am, is more than capable of talking herself out of a situation.”

“So you're saying...”

“I’m saying, Miss Do, that if this war could have been avoided, it would have been.”

“And so because it’s unavoidable, that makes it ok?”

“Oh, absolutely not,” the Doctor said, shaking his head. “What it does mean, though, is that those griffons are not going to stop. So they must be stopped. They’re setting out to destroy a society of peace-loving ponies. If that’s their goal in life right now, they need to be taught a lesson.”

“And are you going to teach it to them?”

“Me? Oh, no. I’ve had my fair share of killing in my lifetime. Perhaps more than my fair share...”

Derpy watched as the Doctor's eyes began to stare off into the distance, he seemed, for a second, lost, as the world seemed to pass before his eyes. “Yes, definitely more than my fair share...”

He turned to her, “Well, anyway, I better go check on the sentries. Good luck and watch yourself out there. I don’t need my assistant coming back in more than one piece.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Morning dawned, and the fog, still held in place by pegasus hooves, stood before the griffon army like a solid wall. Prince Ironblood stood before it, looking into the depths of the fog, before turning to his men. “Alright, men. You have heard their cry. You heard it as well as I did last night. The wall of fog there is impressive, but is nothing more than a smoke screen. They’re hiding from us, and they should. Do you know why?”

The silence coming from his army was not encouraging.

“They should be hiding because they are nothing more than a bunch of ponies! They are equines that are too small to be proper horses. They are the girliest creatures to walk this earth and they know it. But we are griffons. We are a proud and noble race of warriors and hunters. They have nothing, we have everything, and you should be ashamed for forgetting all of that the second they give a little cheer.”

A few of his soldiers dropped their heads.

The prince gave them a soft smile. “Come now, stand with me now and prove to me you have nothing to fear.”

They stood, a with a few more words of encouragement, the made their way into the fog.

Hundreds of griffons took flight, flying into the sky and diving into the fog.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Pinkie stood at the bow of the Ira Solaris, listening carefully to all of the chatter of her Division as well as that of the other generals.

Dashie’s voice crackled. “Al, the Griffons have just made their move, we’re ready.”

“Understood,” Alan answered from the wall, “wait for Pinkie’s volley to be done and then move in. Pinkie.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Giggle at the ghosties for us.”

A smile spread across her face as her mane straightened. “Sir.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffons flew as quietly as they could, gliding through the fog.

It was far thicker than they imagined.

Talius Shieldhide could barely see the Griffon in front of him, and the distance between them was maybe a few paws.

This was some smoke screen.

Next to him flew the Prince, and Talius was under strict orders to never let him out of his sight. Talius silently feared for him. The army had not taken last night too well, and many of them had not gotten any sleep. Especially once they started getting pelted by random bits of cloud falling from the sky that would then burst into lightning. There had been more than one soldier talking of deserting...

Suddenly an explosion of red and blue lights ripped Shieldhide from his thoughts. The sound of thunder filled his ears and a shockwave threw him off course.

Suddenly another explosion, this one from behind.

More and more colorful explosions rocked the air, exploding all around the army. Three or four griffons went down, their wings or fur on fire. More thunderous boom and blinding lights filled the fog around them, any screams drowned out by the clamorous thunder surrounding them.

For a full ten seconds, they were pelted around by shockwaves and noise.More griffons fell to their deaths as their wings were damaged. Then, finally, they stopped.

Disoriented, the griffons no longer knew which way was forward, which way was back, and if not for gravity, which way was up or down.

Then came Phoenix Division.

From the fog came hundreds of pegasi, slamming into the griffons from above. More than a few died on impact, the clawed shoes breaking backs and wings. Others were simply buffeted away, losing sight of the others in the fog.

“We’re under attack!” someone yelled, as the griffons tried desperately to get themselves in order.

By the time they were organized, the pegasi were gone.

Another explosion rocked the air around them.

More brightly colored fireworks filled the air around them, and more griffons hit the ground, unaware of what had just happened.

The explosions stopped, and then the pegasi returned, hitting them while they were still dazed. This time from below.

They were getting picked apart in the cloud layer, they needed to get their bearings again. The prince, searching his mind for a solution, suddenly yelled, “Land! Land! Everygriffon land!”

Those that heard the order began to drop, heading for land. They had to get out of this madhouse.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“They’re landing, Al,” Dashie’s voice crackled.

“Good, make sure they stay grounded, and herd them towards the walls.”

“Understood.”

Step two: “Establish Aerial Dominance” complete.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The griffon army, now forced to the ground, began crawling forward, being pestered by pegasi they could not see, and were strongly discouraged from taking off by the explosions that occasionally lit up the fog above them.

Once they had landed, they had just been able to get their bearings, and continued on up towards the wall. As they got closer, the fog got thinner, and they could finally begin to make out shapes.

The sight that met them was none too pleasant.

Four tanks suddenly fired a salvo of cannonfire, ripping the incoming line of griffons to shreds. The cannons rotated and another cannon lined up with the incoming ranks.

Ironblood found himself staring down what promised to be a quick death.

Shieldhide dived at him, and pushed them both out of the way.

The prince could hear the cannonball whistle past his head.

Tactical genius suddenly seemed to be an understatement.

<<<|Ω|>>>

The morning passed slowly, and the tanks eventually ran out of ammo. The fog had dissipated as well, and the griffons began to climb the walls and dogfights broke out between enemy and Phoenix Division. The Ira and the Vindicta were now swarming with ponies, many of whom were firing rockets down into the airborne fray, the others trying to keep griffons off the decks.

“Keep them off the wall!” Alan shouted, bring Judgement down on a head that popped over the wall.

Spearponies were crowded around the battlements, stabbing down to keep the griffons from climbing.

Fireballs and other magical blast from the unicorns were the only ranged attacks, and they were responsible for the low-altitude griffons.

“Keep them pinned!” Twilight yelled, launching several blast from her horn.

“Don’t ya even think about lettin’ one of them critters get up here!” Applejack said, speaking through the handle of her chain.

A fuschia hard-mana shield smashed into the head of another griffon, with Shining Armor adding his own voice to the call. “Watch them close, don’t let them get out of your sights.”

A griffon suddenly pounced over the wall, bringing a taloned claw down on Alan.

The steel-capped talon ripped through flesh, leaving a long gouge down Alan’s side.

Of course, it hardly mattered considering that Judgement removed the beast’s head.

Twilight watched as Alan’s eyes hardened, before he kicked the body over the wall. His teeth ground together and he focused on fighting through the pain.

No maniacal laughter. No crazed look. No hatred.

Just cold determination.

“Do not let them take this wall!” he shouted.

The ponies around him redoubled their efforts, seeing their leader fight through pain meant that they need not fear it.

They would not.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Noon passed and and evening was setting in, but still the griffons had not taken the first wall.

But now ponies were paying for it in blood.

“Medic!” another shout went up.

Nightingale division was sloppy and slow, and the ponies were paying for it now.

“Fluttershy! I needed medics here yesterday!” Alan shouted into his communicator.

“I-I um...I’m—”

“Don’t waste time apologizing! Just get someone here now!” he shouted, before stabbing another griffon through the heart.

“Sir! We’re going to have to pull back!” Shining yelled. “We’ve held the wall for almost a full day, you figured we’d last half that. We’re doing well.”

Alan bit his lip, before bring his sword up in an uppercut. Holding the wall meant that they were farther away from the castle, which meant that their chance for success increased.

But ponies were dying...

Alan ground his teeth before pulling out his horn.

Two clear notes echoed across the battlefield, and the griffons looked up at the human in terror. “Get back, all of you! To the second wall! Shining, Trixie! Cover us!”

Before the griffons could move, their world was encased in darkness. Pitch darkness.

Then lights exploded in a dazzling array across their eyes, blinding them entirely.

A fuchsia wall of magic rammed into them, pushing them over the wall.

Those that were quick to recover, managed to glide down to the ground, while those that did not broke themselves in the fall.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes you a nice Fall!” a voice laughed from the top of the wall.

“Follow them forward!” the prince yelled, “Go, quickly into the city!”

The forces began to pile into the city, and as they did, bright lights flashed across their eyes, blinding them.

A mortar round from the Ira destroyed the first score that came through the gate

“Bring that ship down!” the prince yelled as a few squads took to the air, finally free from the pegasi’s pestering. “Come my talon brothers! We must take the castle!”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Four griffons climbed up the side of the gold-and-copper ship, digging their claws into the varnished oak. They carefully avoided the cannon windows, doing their best to avoid contact with the ponies, and trying to remain as stealthy as possible. Two of the four had begun moving climbing the port, while the others climbed the starboard.

About halfway up, though, the starboard griffons suddenly heard “Surprise!”

A blue-clad, yellow maned pony slammed their heads together in the cliched slapstick favorite. The griffons began to fall, stunned from the blow, and Surprise was quick to follow them. One of the griffons began to recover, spreading his wings.

Surprise dived into one of the feathered limbs, sending the griffon spinning.

The other began to recover, and Surprise slammed into its side.

At every chance of recovery, Surprise was there, forcing them through the fall.

Eventually, they hit the ground. Dead the second they did.

Surprise then began to head back to the ship, pushing as fast as she could to keep her cousin company.

The griffons climbing the port side were making good progress, totally oblivious to the fate of their partners.

Suddenly they heard the sound of hooves on wood.

A blue clad pegasus with a navy blue mane walked up the side of the boat, his wings spread, flapping every now and then, obviously keeping him airborne as he strode sideways.

The griffons looked up at him.

“Can I help you, Gentlecolts? My name is Soarin, and I will be your guide today.”

The griffons blinked.

“To your left, we have clear sky, a normally beautiful horizon that seems to have been ruined this morning by war. To your right, we have more horizon, again, ruined. And in between you, we have your worst nightmare.”

Suddenly, Soarin reared up and brought his hooves down on the talons of the griffons.

They yelped in pain, tearing their claws from the side of the ship.

Soarin bucked them before they had another chance to move.

The kick sent the griffons sprawling, spinning end over end as they fell. The Wonderbolt was quick to follow, diving after them in much the same fashion that Surprise had.

One of the griffons was quick to recover, and flew out of the way of Soarin’s dive.

Before Soarin could attack the other as it was recovering, the first managed to knock him off course with a violent shove.

Steel bit into pony flesh, and Soarin bit back a cry of pain.

“My worst nightmare, huh?” the griffon taunted.

Soarin smirked, “Yeah, you know, those nightmares where everything seems to be going your way and then something terrible happens?”

A talon closed around his throat. “I find it more likely that you are going to be my next meal.”

Pinkamena saw it, and so, she moved. She quickly spotted a cannon on the upper deck, a smaller one, but it would do, and shoved the ponies to the side.

Before they could so much as argue, Pinkie had everything she needed to know.

Distance, 102½ hooves. Angle, 36.4º. Cannon loaded. Fuse length, 12 seconds.

She bit down on the fuse and with an expert twist, cut it down.

Fuse length, 2 seconds.

She quickly lit it and her body automatically filled all of the aiming requirements. “Just don’t move,” she whispered.

The cannon report was the only warning the griffon had before the cannonball tore through him, throwing the body off into the distance.

Soarin gasped for breath and looked over to boat where Pinkie waved at him, her mane briefly jumping back to its original puffiness.

Soarin blinked, but waved back.

Wait...wasn’t there something I was supposed to be doing?

A griffon suddenly shot past him, missing him by a hair’s breadth.

Oh, yeah...the other griffon...

Soarin gave chase, confident that he’d be able to take this one on.

I am so getting a pie after this.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Prince Ironblood groaned.

They were making so little progress. Every few steps it was a blinding flash here, or a siren’s song there. The griffons had taken perhaps an hour and a half of simply trying to cross Canterlot City, and they hadn't even come to the castle wall yet.

“Just a few more pushes,” he called, although his soldiers were still moving slowly.

This was, of course, not good. If his soldiers didn’t trust him, they wouldn’t follow him. If they didn’t follow, then he may just be used as target practice for one of those rockets.

The bombardment had stopped once they had entered the city proper, they seemed to have wanted to save as much of the buildings as possible. So instead of more mortar rounds, the airships seemed content to launch exploding rockets above their heads, discouraging any sort of flight.

It was working wonderfully.

However, between the gaps in the rocket fire, squads of pegasi flew overhead, dropping small pieces of cloud which exploded into lightning.

They had traded one ammunition for another.

The prince’s men ran forward, when a blanket of darkness covered them. Forced to stop, or else risk running into something, the griffons could only wait.

Another frustrated growl from the prince, at this rate, they’d reach the wall the dawn of the next day.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Vinyl Scratch stood next to her long-time rival/musical partner/friend, Neon Lights. While Neon was better known as MC W!sh, he had never really liked his stage name.

Mainly because, the MC and the DJ had a fierce “rivalry” that had been cooked up by the fans of either one or both ponies.

They both thought it was ridiculous, especially once they started dating...but, fans were fans...

“So, how about once this is all over, we say we each saved each others lives and fell madly in love?” the pale blue unicorn with a wild, black mane asked.

“Are you still trying to get us together on one stage without us having to fight to death of one of our speakers?” Vinyl asked, whispering.

“Look, we’d reach our full potential that way, I get the lights, you get the music, and the fans get the best experience of their lives,” he whispered back.

“That and you want an excuse to make out on stage, you sicko.”

“You know you’d love it.”

Vinyl shushed him, urging him to be quiet as the griffons approached.

“Well let’s see what our potential will be like.”

The two unicorns suddenly jumped in front of the approaching griffons, their horns glowing, and then in a sudden burst, they released their magics.

Loud, impossibly loud beats buffeted the griffons while blinding lights shot into their eyes. The resulting flashbang forced the griffon’s to the ground, halting their movement for another few minutes.

“Now let’s go!” Neon said, galloping away.

Vinyl followed.

Neither noticed the griffon in the alley way they just passed.

The monster pounced, pinning the stallion to the ground.

Vinyl watched in silent horror as her coltfriend was suddenly picked up, and thrown into a nearby cafe.

He slammed against the wall, unconscious.

Then the griffon turned to her.

“You’ve caused us all quite the bit of pain, missy.”

Vinyl blinked behind her sunglasses.

“So I think I’m going to return the favor.”

Paralyzed with fear, Vinyl didn’t even back away from the monster that was approaching her.

It was much closer now, about ready to strike, when suddenly, a flash of silver broke between them.

“I’d much rather you didn’t hurt my friend,” a refined voice said as the griffon fell down, clutching at it’s sliced throat.

Vinyl suddenly found her voice. “Tavi?”

The earth pony, armed with a rapier-like sword turned to her, sure enough, it was Octavia. “Hello, Vinyl. I hope you’re doing well.”

“You...You’re here,” the DJ noted.

“I suppose I just want something to die for,” she said with a joking tone.

Vinyl looked down at the body of the griffon that had tried to kill her before looking back up at the earth pony. “And you own.”

Octavia blushed, “Well, there isn’t too great a difference between sliding a sword against flesh and sliding a bow against strings. But we can talk about the mechanics of swordfighting later, right now we need to get you two to safety.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

Private Thundersight was making his last check of the city. He was flying along a designated route to avoid the rocket blasts and trying to make sure that every soldier had managed to withdraw into the castle.

So far, between the fog wall and cloud bombs, as well as the Ira’s own salvos, they were doing far better than Thundersight even hoped. The Pendragon certainly knew what he was doing.

Suddenly, his eye caught movement. Down one of the streets, three ponies, two running, the other being carried, were being chased by a squad of griffons.

They...they’d never make it to the gate in time. The griffons were catching and it wouldn’t be long before they were caught.

He-he had to do something.

At the rate they were going though, he wasn’t sure he’d make it.

At least, he wasn’t sure...

His eyes drifted to the piece of black cloth wrapped around his hoof.

He knew he wouldn’t make it, like he had known he couldn’t carry 170 pounds a distance of 200 hooves.

And then he did.

So it was definitely worth a try.

He began to climb, Pushing the air past him as he did, keeping his eyes on his target. He began to level off, gaining on the griffons, but not by much. His better-than average eyesight giving him a good view of the enemy squad.

Then he began to dive.

Keeping his wings close, he angled himself down on where the griffons were heading, and silently prayed that he could in fact do this.

The wind was ringing in his ears, stinging his eyes, and almost blinded him.

The piece of black cloth whipped around his hoof.

He could do this.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Vinyl, hurry!” Octavia yelled.

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” the Dj answered, carrying Neon on her back.

He really needed to lay off the donuts.

Of course, that really wasn’t on her mind at the moment, because five griffons were chasing them, and gaining.

Octavia chanced a glance behind and saw the griffon approaching, the bloodthirsty look in its eyes further pressing her to speed away. “Vinyl!”

“I’m trying!”

Vinyl could hear the thing’s breathing, barely there over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

She had to go faster.

She looked behind her, and saw with a growing sense of terror as the griffon’s talons were coming down on her flank.

Suddenly, a grey and gold form smashed into the griffon.

An armored pegasus, coming from nowhere, had slammed into the griffon’s back going at high speed.

Jumping forward, he spun in the air, landing to face the other four. “Go! I’ll hold them off!”

Vinyl stared at him.

“Go!” he shouted.

The words seemed to reach her the second time and she took off running.

The remaining griffons growled at him.

“Bring it, Chicken blood,” Thundersight taunted.

He was then set upon by four griffons, four pairs of talons ripped at him, attacking him before he had a chance to react.

He was cut and ripped at before he could even move. He could feel the steel bite his flesh, he could feel his fur being ripped out of his body, and he felt his feathers being pulled from his wings.

He was tossed to one side, his wings ruined and bloodied. The rest of him fared no better.

“So,” one of the griffons said, a brute of a beast that was twice as thick as his friends, an eye patch covering one eye, “you want to be the hero, huh? You want to delay us, is that it? Well, congratulations pony, because you’ve done exactly that. Because for the next few hours, you are going to be my pet project.”

Thundersight coughed, “Well, you better hurry, I’m due tomorrow.”

The griffon growled, before he set to work.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Vinyl, Octavia and Neon all got inside the gate. “Is that everypony?” the guard asked.

“No, there’s a pegasus,” Octavia said.

“They can fly out,” the guard replied before closing the door. “Head to the wall, Pendragon’s orders.”

Octavia nodded, “Vinyl, take your friend to the infirmary, fourth level, alright?”

Scratch nodded, before heading to Nightingale’s base of operations.

Octavia took a second, to catch her breath.

She had just killed someone.

She had just taken the life of a living, breathing being who may have had family back home. He could have been looking forward to going home after this. He had favorite foods and drinks, and all of a sudden, with a flip of her fetlock, she had ended him.

The urge to vomit suddenly hit her. Hard.

She wiped her mouth after she barfed, and held her stomach.

Oh, Celestia. Oh Celestia help her.

She gulped down air, standing next to the gate.

She had to make herself presentable. It was getting dark now, and someone was bound to come by with a torch to get some light in here.

She took a few more seconds, steadying her shaking hooves.

The griffon's face burned in her mind, the look of terror in his eyes as he lay there, gasping at his slit throat.

She shook her head. “I can’t do this.”

Something odd touched her back, smoothing her fur.

She turned to see the Pendragon standing there, petting her. “You’re doing a good job, soldier.”

She snapped to attention, “Sir, I-uh—”

“Don’t worry about it, just calm down.”

Octavia nodded, visibly relaxing as she dropped her posture.

Alan turned to the guard. “Is that everypony?”

The guard nodded. “She was the last one in.”

Alan nodded, before turning to the cellist-turned-soldier. “Are you alright?”

Octavia opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She stumbled over her tongue as she fought for the right words before she finally said, “No, sir. No, I’m not alright.” She hung her head. “I just killed a griffon, a living breathing thing, and...and I don’t know what I should be feeling. He was going to kill my friend if I didn’t stop him, but...but...”

Alan nodded, petting the pony. “I know, I know.” He kept petting her, offering as much comfort as he could. “Why don’t you take a break? Head to the infirmary for a few hours, clear your head.”

She nodded. “Yes, sir, thank you, sir.”

Alan nodded as he watched Octavia go.

Then he headed to the walls, where the fighting would begin in earnest.

And Chapter.

“Hey! You said that there would be some epic moments!”

Well, yeah, but then pacing got in the way. But you got yours so what are you complaining about?

“I wanted to see Alan kick some flank!”

Oh, you will, trust me.

Next chapter, the body count rises, the buffalo come to the battlefield, and the Princess reveal their true power! All this and more in the next chapter of A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court.

Also I beg forgiveness of the many Whovians that I offended,a few chapters back. I hope I have at least partially redeemed myself.

Be sure to comment, like, fave, whatever.

Also be sure to check my new story Good Girl /shamelessplug]

See you next time!

22-Out of the Swamp, into the Fire

Chapter 22

One month earlier...

“No...” Twilight warned.

Alan smiled.

“No, no, no.”

Alan’s smile widened.

“Alan, I swear—”

“What do you think, Pip?” Alan asked.

“Do it!” the colt answered.

“Pip!” Twilight cried, betrayed by her once-ally. “How could you?!”

“He offered me cookies!” the colt shouted, a hint of shame in his voice.

“Same here!” cried Applebloom.

“No fair gettin’ the young’uns on yer side, Al!” Applejack cried from beneath a small avalanche, on the top of which Scootaloo sat proudly.

Sweetie Belle had both her older sister, and Pinkie buried. Rainbow Dash, already on Alan’s team, hovered with a smirk on her face. Fluttershy was, of course, neutral.

Alan had the lavender unicorn pinned against a wall with a snowball in one hoof, and a wicked smile on his face.

“Everyone has a price, my dear Twilight,” Alan said, as the CMC and Pip all took their own snowballs. “You just need to know how to make the offer.”

“You slimy jerk!” Twilight answered, tossing powder into his face.

He just smiled and stepped closer.

“Don’t do it, Alan,” she warned, as the stallion and four foals got closer. “Don’t do it.”

He raised his hoof.

“I will lock you out of the library for a week!” she threatened.

And then suddenly a massive payload of snow dropped on her from above. She quickly dug her way out, sputtering snow as she did.

“And what’s a battle without a little misdirection?” Alan said, tossing his still unused snowball behind him.

Twilight looked up to see Rainbow Dash, hovering over her, grinning.

“Alright, kids,” Alan said, “Let’s go inside and get you some—”

Poomf!

“Sorry Alan, but Pinkie’s paying us double!” Scootaloo cried, before tossing more snowballs.

Alan took the hits, but was unable to keep his balance as four small bodies collided with his chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes, laughing as he held onto the foals in a massive hug.

“The hot chocolate's ready!” Daisy Chain yelled from the library door, their temporary residence until Alan got them a more permanent place to stay. At her call, the three fillies, as well as Pinkie ran to the door, nearly bowling the poor unicorn over.

Alan sat up, Pip in his lap, chuckling. “Go ahead and help Miss Rarity out, Pip, I’ll go get Miss Twilight.” The colt nodded before jumping off to help the trapped fashionista.

Alan stood, before walking over to Twilight, on four legs he would proudly point out. Once he reached the half buried mare, he held out his hoof, which Twilight gladly accepted. With a heave, he pulled her out of the snow, and she shook herself to release the powder the clung to her fur, before pulling Alan down into the snow pile.

“Revenge!” she cried, before stuffing a snowball in his face.

He sputtered, trying to keep the frozen water out of his nose and mouth, before pushing her away. “Alright, alright, you got your revenge, happy?”

“No,” she said, with a smirk, “but it’ll do for now.”

Alan laughed before he picked himself up. “How about we just get ourselves some hot cocoa?”

She nodded, and began to head inside.

“Hey, Pip!” Alan called. The young colt looked over at him, having just finished releasing Rarity. “Come here!”

The spotted earth pony dashed through the snow, popping up next to the unicorn, “Yes, Mr. Alan?”

“Did you have fun today?” Alan asked, draping his foreleg around the colt.

“Yeah, It was amazing!”

“Glad to hear it. Now, have you thought of any other fun things we can do once I get back?”

Pip’s smile faded. There was a short silence between them, before he said, “Do you really have to go?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Pip, I do. But I’ll come back.”

“How do I know you will?”

“Because if I don’t,” Alan deadpanned, “Twilight and your mom will kill me.” He then broke into a smile and ruffled the colt’s hair. “I’ll be back, Pip. I promise.”

“Hey, Pipsqueak!” Applebloom called from the front door. “You coming?”

“Yeah, I’m coming!” he answered before running inside.

Alan smirked. As he came up to the door, Daisy Chain handed him a mug, which he took in one hoof.

“Thank you, so much, Mr. Goldenhooves. For everything. Especially Pip, you’ve helped him so much.”

Alan nodded, before giving her a sad smile. “It’s the least I can do. After all, I know what it’s like to lose a father. I just can’t let him go through that alone...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Form ranks you miserable excuses for soldiers!” the griffon general roared as his forces slowly got out of the treeline. “Form ranks!”

On the other side of the battle field, Alan’s face went cold. He lost his smile, and his eyes narrowed as he beheld the incoming forces.

“So how you going to handle them, huh?” a griffon from the cart cat-called. He was quickly silenced by the others, many of them fearing punishment for the taunt.

Alan said nothing.

Instead, he walked forward, standing right next to the cart. He watched the enemy in silence. They began to materialize in from the swamp, the mass of enemies getting bigger and bigger. Once it had reached a good size, Alan spoke. “Pinkie, get them a drink.”

“One Sprite, hold the lemon, extra lime!” Pinkie said over the communicator.

“Who’s he talkin’ to?” one of the griffons mumbled.

Suddenly, with the report of cannon fire, the army watched as a small, round ball flew through the air. It arched over the enemy ranks before exploding into a cloud of white.

“What’s that?” Another griffon asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Screams of pain could suddenly be heard from across the way.

“That would be lime. As in the stone,” Alan explained. “Remember all of the oysters you’ve been eating? Well we’ve been burning the shells, giving us powdered lime. Interesting thing, lime. In a powder it burns and stings the throat, while drying out the eyes. With enough exposure, maybe ten seconds, it causes blindness. Sometimes it’s temporary.”

Alan turned to face the first griffon. “With a single sentence, I have permanently blinded over a hundred troops. The lucky ones will still have their vision after this, but they will be few. That’s how I will deal with them.”

Turning, he began to head down to the front of the army. “Be glad you are my prisoner, griffon, and not my enemy.”

The griffon stayed silent.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thomas Aquilas coughed as the white powder burned his eyes. He forced them shut, but he could feel the small grains of stone underneath his lids, and it only burned worse. He rubbed his eyes, hoping to dislodge the grains. Instead, he only managed to grind them in further.

He roared in pain, opening his eyes for a brief moment.

A part of him realized that even with his eyes open, he could only see blackness.

He spread his wings, trying to take flight, and launched himself into the air. Almost instantly he slammed into a body of fur and feathers, and slammed back down into the soft earth.

Oh, Sweet Ancestors! He couldn’t see! His sight had been stolen from him! He would never fight again!

As the truth of the matter crushed him, another griffon, probably panicking from the same revelation, ran him over, claws extended, and talons sharp. Thomas felt his skin pierced by the runner, and he felt his blood begin to seep from his wounds.

So this was how he was going to die? Blind, bleeding out from wounds made by one of his Talon brothers?

He would die here, forgotten, amidst the frantic cries of blinded griffons and the calls of their commanders.

“Get out of the smoke! Keep your eyes shut! Get out of there!”

Thomas sighed.

He was going to die here.

He might as well catch up on some sleep.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan stood, now at the front of the army, and he stared down his enemy with every ounce of indifference he could muster.

Cold.

No raging fury, no burning hatred. Just cold indifference and the mental order to destroy those who attack his new home.

He would crush them.

His eyes scanned the battlefield, searching his enemies frenzied ranks as they ran about, trying to recover from the lime bomb.

“Left flank, third down from front,” he said.

“Roger,” Dashie responded via communicator, “I have visual.”

“Right flank, fifth row down, second column,” Pinkie said.

“Roger.”

“How many is that?” Alan asked.

“34.”

“Doesn’t seem to be enough,” Alan muttered. “Tell your troops to keep their eyes open for more.”

“Yes, sir!” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Wait for my signal...”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“They’re just standing there...” Ironclaw mumbled.

He had been on the very edge of the white cloud, and his eyes had been spared. Now, however, the lack of enemy movement scared him.

He would not underestimate his enemy.

His gaze wandered upwards, towards the airships. His eyes widened as a terrible revelation hit him.

They weren’t going to engage them. They were going to bombard them.

“Signal a charge!” he yelled. “Close the gap!”

The flag bearer next to him quickly lifted two red flags. As he did, 48 other griffons, each with a pair of flags stood.

Suddenly, with streak of rainbow, both flags from the first griffon were ripped from their poles.

A cyan pegasus with a multi-colored mane had both of them impaled on a set of fake claws. Turning she flapped them about before blowing a raspberry at the griffon general.

Ironclaw only really noticed her for a second, before his eyes turned to the side. Pegasi erupted from the tree line, snatching the flags from their poles.

Two things went through the General’s head.

First, without flags, he’d be unable to properly communicate with the troops, they would move slower, and be exponentially harder to command, if not impossibly hard to do so.

Second, the pegasi were still behind them.

The pegasi had the ground behind them, and the cloud of blinding smoke had been just enough to make him forget about their presence long enough to deal a major blow to the army’s internal workings.

What’s worse, with this new wrench in the machine of war, the fact that his army was caught between a hammer and anvil was made all the more deadly.

All of this passed through his mind in a second, but before he could say so much as a word, the two ships opened fire.

The whistle of rockets filled the air, screeching across the sky from the two massive flying galleons. Two exploded in the air above them, bursting into a display that would have reminded many a griffon of fireworks, if it weren’t for the fact that each piece of glowing shrapnel was bent on killing them.

Ironclaw took another quick look at the situation. He was on the defensive, and his forces were already being devastated, what with the blinding cloud and the rockets. If he stayed here, all of his efforts wouldn’t mean anything.

He needed to make a retreat.

His pride was quick to speak up. “Retreat? Retreat?! Retreat against ponies?! What are you? A Diamond Dog?!”

He hesitated for a moment. A part of him told him to stand and take it like the griffon he was. The other part told him not to risk it. A four-year plan was on the line here, he couldn’t risk it over a single battle.

Retreat it was then.

Grabbing his now-useless signaler, he brought him down beak-to-beak. “Get the carts out of here!” he yelled, pointing to the south.

The griffon blinked dumbly.

“I said get the carts out of here!”

The signaler nodded crazily, showing he understood before the general got nasty.

However before another move could be made, they both noticed the sound of thunder.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan drew Judgement, before standing on his hind legs. Now towering over all but the largest stallions, he turned to face his force.

“Equestrians!” he shouted. “Before us, is our enemy! Before us are the invaders!” A few of the larger ponies thumped their armored chests at the statement, as if their very existence was a challenge. “They have come here seeking to take our homes from us. They will take our friends and families if we let them. If we do not stop them, then they will not be stopped! They will burn our towns, sack our cities, defile our homes! But we will not let them!”

“Ya Ya Huley!”

“Equestrians! We will stop them!”

“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”

“Equestrians! Charge!”

Alan dropped to his hooves, holding his sword forward in one, and beginning to trot forward with the other three. It was awkward at first, but he quickly fell into a rhythm, and before long, he was charging ahead, leading the offensive with Sunbeam and Fire Drake divisions behind him.

The ground beneath them shook as their hooves thundered forward, unicorns preparing spells and earth ponies brandishing weapons.

The already broken ranks of the griffons could only look up in terror as ponies fell upon them.

For many, it was quick and painless.

Others weren’t so lucky.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Shining!” Alan signaled, ducking under a vicious claw swipe. The captain of the guard answered with a flying shield bash across the attacker’s face.

"Silver!" Shining called, his side now open and currently a target of a lanky enemy soldier. Silver was quick to get between the two, smashing his hammer into the griffon's skull.

“Alan!” Silver warned, motioning towards the battle-cry-screaming griffon coming from behind. With the flutter of black fabric and the flash of rainbow-tinted silver, the griffon was silenced.

The trifecta of terror ripped through the griffon ranks like a wolverine through tissue paper.

Whether that’s the animal or the guy named Logan is a moot point.

They slashed, bashed, and pummeled their way forward, and anyone that even thought about standing before them was cut down.

Suddenly, two voices crackled over the intercom. “Al, hope ya’ don’t mind, but Ah could use some help over here!” Applejack shouted.

“Alan, sorry to interrupt you, but I’m getting surrounded,” Twilight said, rather calmly, now that Alan thought about it.

“I’ve got AJ!” Silver said, before smashing another griffon in an uppercut.

Alan opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped when Shining beat him to the punch. “I’ll get Twily!”

Alan turned to Shining, but the captain was already gone. “But...I wanted to help Twily...” he murmured.

And then he spotted something.

Amongst the panicked running griffons, there stood one. His wings were tattered, his face had an ugly scar, and around his wrist were two silver bands. His two yellow eyes shone with malice and hate. He had just picked up another griffon by the scruff of the neck, and began barking orders, inaudible to Alan, but it only put a single thought in his mind.

Him. Ironclaw. Duel to the death.

He was going to end this.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Twilight quickly transmuted the rock that was thrown at her head into a marshmallow. The puff of sugar bounced off of her armor, and lay forgotten on the battlefield as the war waged. A talon came down on her head, only to be caught by her magical grasp, and have its owner bodily flipped in the air.

Next to her, on her left, stood Trixie, sending blast after blast of blinding lights into the enemy ranks. And on her right was a turquoise mare with a fiery orange mane shooting fireballs and large jets of water.

Her name was Water Fire, and she had distinguished herself greatly in the siege, with 43 kills to her name.

She was also a moonshiner. She specialized in “The best Firewater on this side of the Unicorn Range.”

The flame over water cutie mark only made it slightly funnier.

Water Fire compressed one of her jets of water into a thin stream before aiming it at the incoming griffons, turning it into a firehose-strength blast.

Trixie followed up with an illusionary firework, surprising the griffons with the sudden flash-bang.

Twilight followed up with a blast of wind, shoving the disoriented griffons backwards, and into their own ranks.

Of course, their forward attack wasn’t going to help them much against the six or so griffons that were begging to surround them.

Twilight spoke over the chatter on her communicator. “Alan, sorry to interrupt you, but I’m getting surrounded.” Her voice was calm and collected, the last thing she needed to do was panic.

“I’ll help Twily!” she heard her brother say.

“Alright, girls, we’re getting some reinforcements, we’ve just got to hold for a little bit longer!”

“Roger that!” Water Fire yelled, launching some fireballs to catch the wingtips of a few griffons on their left.

Another flash from Trixie to keep the griffons on the right blinded. “I hope they don’t take too long.”

“Did you just speak in the first person again?” Water asked.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie bids you to shut up!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, before taking a page out of Alan’s newly-discovered book and making a simple blade out of her fuschia magick for herself. She parried a strike from a lunging enemy, before slamming a hoof into its stomach as it flew overhead. Suddenly, another rock went flying, and Twilight only noticed after it smashed into her horn.

“General Twilight!” Water cried, watching her go down, disoriented. Her distraction, however, left her open as another griffon mimicked the attack, sending her down as well as he struck her horn, the fireball spurting out and the water falling to the ground.

“Oh, not good,” Trixie said, as the griffons began to draw in around her.

This was beyond her, there were too many. She wouldn’t be able to hold this many griffons with illusion alone. She’d falter somewhere. Her illusion would break, just like it had almost two years ago.

That failure.

It had nearly ruined her.

There were nights when she could do nothing but cower at the thought of where she would be. If it were not for this war, she could be destitute, living off the streets of Canterlot. No, not even Canterlot, she couldn’t afford to beg there in her darkest thoughts. No, she would be stuck in some one-horse town, working in a bar, performing...favors...for anypony with the bits to spend.

A part of her had told her she would be good at it. She’d always been good at lying.

She lied about a lot of things. Her talent, her background, heck even her name “The Great and Powerful Trixie” was a bit of a fabrication, a stage name that she would begrudgingly admit had gone to her head.

But she also had lied about her exploits.

But no one had caught on.

Until Ponyville.

Those two colts, Snips and Snails, they had unknowingly called her out. They pulled an Ursa Minor from its cave and brought it to her.

She had stared down a creature so massive, so deadly, so filled with magical energy that the stars imprinted themselves on its hide.

And for a moment, she believed her own lies and thought she could do it.

She thought she could put that monster under an illusion.

It failed utterly.

That single lie had nearly broken her, and once news got around, humiliation followed. Everyone who knew the truth had refused to give her a second chance.

Almost everyone.

She looked back down at the lavender unicorn, still trying to recover from the blow to her horn.

Twilight had.

She didn’t buy those lies, but she didn’t let them stop her from trying to give her a second chance.

With all of these thoughts going through her head in about a second, she squared her shoulders and prepared her horn. “I won’t lie anymore,” she whispered under her breath. The griffons began to get closer, tightening the ring around her and the two other disarmed unicorns. “I won’t have to.”

Forcing every ounce of her magical might to one point, she prepared her most powerful spell. She had promised herself never to do it again at Yonderhill.

But just this once.

There was a sudden burst of light, exploding into a column that reached into the heavens. There was the sound of a million thunder claps, and the light itself hummed with power. The griffons that had been circling the three unicorns suddenly backed up in fear.

And then, with a flash, it was gone.

And in its place was a fear they had not yet understood. The unicorn that had been standing before them had completely transformed. She stood, completely white, a ghost before those around her. She was taller, almost twice as tall as the almost pathetic looking pony she had been. Her mane flowed through the air, as ethereal as her body appeared. Her legs, rather than ending in hooves, seemed to end in tattered fabric, with holes and rips appearing in her spectral flesh.

Her eyes opened, and when they did, they burst with a white light. Behind her, two massive wings spread, making her seem even bigger as they unfurled. When she spoke, her voice sounded like an entire choir, speaking together in unison. “You have angered the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she said, her voice echoing over the battlefield. “Tartarus claim you!”

Suddenly, behind her, a portal opened. From it sounded the screams of lost souls, fire leapt from the doorway, and skeletal ponies, ligers, minotaurs, and griffons began to clamber out, walking underneath the ghostly magician.

The griffons ran.

Twilight had finally recovered and pushed herself up next to Trixie, who to her eyes appeared very much alive as well as solid.

The illusionist stood, her horn glowing brightly even in the noonday sun, sweat trickling down her brow.

“Trixie?”

The magician ignored her, focusing on her spell. More sweat began to fall, and her legs were shaking as she focused.

“Trixie?”

The glow around her horn flickered, and she suddenly dropped to her knees.

“Trixie!”

She just had to buy some time. She just had to keep it going. She had to keep pushing. She had to...she had...had to...

Trixie could feel consciousness leave her as the last of her magical stores emptied. The ground met her as she fell onto her side, and her greatest illusion dropped.

And then everything faded to black.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Al, hope ya’ don’t mind, but Ah could use some help over here!” Applejack shouted into her communicator.

A griffon charged her, making an arbitrary guess that she was important, and eager to get some glory from the kill. His charge was halted by a sudden thrust of a spear from a light purple ice cream-mare who had signed herself up.

Applejack’s chain flicked forward, taking out a pair of forelegs, and sending the griffon ploughing into the ground.

She felt sick watching it. All that blood, all that pain he must be feeling.

She pulled her chain back, throwing it around another griffon’s wrist as he tried to slash at another one of her soldiers. The razor sharp blades were quick to remove his claw.

His scream of pain was suddenly cut off by a hammer smashing into his head.

“Good to see you again, AJ!” Silver said, vaulting over the griffon he just crushed.

“And just what are you doing here?” she asked, her chain snaking through the enemy ranks. She was secretly glad to see him, he could keep her mind off all of the death around her.

“Last I checked, you asked for help,” Silver answered, spinning to connect his hammer with another griffon’s jaw. “I’m just answering your call.”

Suddenly, a massive roar caught their attention. They both turned to see a massive griffon, twice as big as the others surrounding.

Silver sighed. “By the Hydra’s Hideous Heads, another one?”

The beast charged, tossing its allies to the side as it rushed them.

As they approached, Applejack stepped forward. “Remember when Ah taught ya how to rope a calf?”

“You gonna give him a hooves-on demonstration?” Silver aked.

“My thoughts exactly.”

The massive griffon thundered forward, his targets picked.

Applejack stared him down, last time she had met such a beast, she had tried to dissuade it with pain. That didn’t work, so this time, she only had one option.

She had to make so he couldn’t come closer.

Her chain flew forward, thrown with expert ease before wrapping themselves around the beast’s forelegs.

Applejack took a second to close her eyes, and then gave a slight tug. Both of his forelegs were ripped off, and the beast fell forward, face first into the dirt. Skidding to a halt, he came to rest inches from the two ponies’ hooves.

Silver dropped his hammer on the brute’s head, knocking him unconscious.

“Well, that was easy,” he said.

Applejack nodded, and turned to the aspiring farmer, and just caught the sight of another griffon pouncing on him.

The two bodies, Silver and the griffon rolled passed her. Silver’s hammer still where it sat, fallen from his hoof onto the monster’s head, and Applejack was knocked off balance.

Silver and the griffon tumbled over and over, until the griffon pinned him against the ground. “You and your buddies were quite the annoyance,” the griffon hissed into Silver’s face. “Killed a couple of friends of mine, too.” The griffon stuck his beak into Silver’s face. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Suddenly the bladed chain wrapped itself around the griffon’s neck, arm, and chest.

Both the griffon and Silver looked down along the length of the chain to see Applejack. “You let him go, right now.”

The griffon smirked. “Make me.”

“Don’t make me do this,” she warned, a tear forming in her eye.

The griffon raised his claw higher, the chain already biting into flesh as he moved.

And then, he literally fell to pieces.

Applejack had literally pulled him apart with a simple tug.

She hated doing that.

That kind of brutality wasn’t in her. It made her sick thinking about being able to do that.

And it was such a gentle tug.

Silver walked back up to her, his coat painted red after the griffon sort of exploded over him. “Come on, AJ. Let’s just keep going.”

And then there was a massive burst of light from the left.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Alan ran through the lines, his odd way of standing throwing off the griffons as they tried to comprehend how he was fighting like that, much less—

That’s about as far as they would get before Judgement sent them to Paradise.

Alan, however, was slowly making his way to the enemy General. His eyes were glued on him, and he was not going to be distracted by the ocean of bodies around him.

He was going to stop the monster that started this. He was going to kill the one responsible. He was going to remove that griffon’s head. For Equestria. For the Princesses. For Pipsqueak.

Pipsqueak, who had lost his dad to that monster.

This was for Pipsqueak.

He hadn’t really noticed, but the world had seemed to slow down as he moved forward. Rusted talons and pony blades glided through the air as Alan moved, his hind legs pumping as he stood upright, his hooves holding onto his blade.

Any griffon that had gotten into his way was ended quickly by Alan’s instinctive motion. The battlefield pulsed around him and subconsciously, he could feel it.

He moved, for any other word would not have done it justice. He ducked under attacks as though dodging a branch on an afternoon walk through the forest. He slipped between strikes as though they the automatic sliding doors of the store he used to work at. He simply was there, but he wasn’t there.

Ironclaw was in his sights. The distance was closing.

With one quick swipe of his sword he would end him.

Judgement would be passed. Justice would be served. Thundersight would be avenged!

He raised his hoof, Judgement gleaming, ready to end the griffon that had brought war to Equestria.

For the briefest moment, the General looked up, and their eyes met. In that moment, Alan saw his fear, the General’s fear of death that was about to meet him.

And then, just as Alan’s hoof came down, a third griffon, pushed backwards by the powerful buck of another stallion, fell into the strike, saving the General’s life, by a mere inches as Judgement clove through the dead soldier.

Ironclaw kicked at the griffon, sending them both onto their back, Judgement slipping from Alan’s fingerless grasp.

His focus broken, his mind exited the Third Stage, and he wildly grabbed for his sword.

He stood, his sword coming up, his eyes searching frantically for his prey.

But he was gone, vanishing into the fray.

Alan cursed under his breath, swinging Judge—

Wait a second.

He took a quick hoof count.

Four hooves. All on the ground.

He looked up.

Judgement hovered in the air, it’s handle gripped by a silver, three-fingered, mana hand.

Alan blinked, before conjuring another three-fingered hand.

He blinked again.

And then, using his newly conjured hand, facepalmed. “Why didn’t I think of that sooner?”

Before he could explore that thought further, a sudden column of light erupted to his right,

Alan froze as he saw the light.

That was where Twilight was.

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Retreat!” Ironclaw yelled over the din, before blowing a horn that he had managed to pull from the carts.

The horns had been reserved for night attacks, when the flags could not be seen as clearly.

However things had changed.

“Retreat!” he cried before blowing on the horn again.

He had already sent the carts ahead, being pulled as fast as they could towards the badlands. Ever since then he was trying to buy time for the slowest moving part of his army, the carts. By sending them ahead, and waiting to sound the retreat, he was hoping to get a head start over the ground-bound ponies.

After that column of light, though, his soldiers had lost enough morale that a few of them were beginning to give up.

He would learn their names and end them later.

But now, they had to retreat.

He blew the signal once again, and was pleased to see at least a few of them following orders.

Good, less griffons he had to punish.

<<<|Ω|>>>

Trixie groaned.

Now she remembered why she swore to never use that spell again.

Migraines hurt.

“Trixie?” a voice called nearby. “Trixie are you awake?”

She took a moment to answer, “The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to sleep.”

The voice beside her sighed, “Oh, thank Celestia, you’re okay.”

Trixie couldn’t help but smile at the thought that someone was worried about her.

“Next time, please, please don’t use such a magic intensive spell.”

“Yes, General Twilight,” she answered before rolling over.

“Report to your station Thursday,” Twilight said. “Until then, take some time off. I’ll see you on the battlefield, Captain.”

Trixie gave a grunt of acknowledgement before turning over in her bed.

Wait. Captain?

<<<|Ω|>>>

Thomas Aquilas woke to the sound of a rather incessant beeping.

Odd, he thought. Paradise was never described as being filled with beeping. Neither were the Nine Hells if he remembered right.

He opened his eyes, but was met only with darkness.

Panic rose in his chest; he still couldn’t see. He tried to move, but suddenly became aware of thick leather bands across his wrists and ankles. He strained against them, but no matter how hard he pulled or pushed, he couldn’t budge.

A voice spoke which caused him to freeze. “General, this one’s awake.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” a softer, female voice answered.

He heard the soft flutter of wings as well as the creaking of giving wood. The muffled howl of wind sounded from around as him as he lay in this borrowed bed.

“Hello there, Mister Griffon. My name is Fluttershy,” the soft voice spoke. “We’ve done our best to keep healthy, but if you could tell us your blood type that would be good, if that’s okay with you, of course.”

Fluttershy, that was a pony name. He was a prisoner. “Where am I?” he asked. He almost winced at the obvious fear in his voice.

“You’re on the H.M.S. Vindicta Lunaris, medical deck. You’re here with a bunch of other patients, both pony and griffon, and we’re going to do our best to make sure that you’ll be perfectly healthy when you leave.”

Perfectly healthy my blind eye.

The sound of wood sliding into hooves and the rustle of paper gave him the image that the pegasus in the room was flipping through a clipboard.

She mumbled to herself, flipping through the pages a few more times before doing something with the clipboard, Thomas wasn’t sure what.

“Well, it seems all of your cuts are going to be healed up in a few days, you had two major punctures that luckily missed any major arteries. Your major injury seems to be—”

“My eyes,” Thomas interrupted.

Silence.

“Um...”

“I’m blind forever, aren’t I?”

There was silence for a moment. “We-we have our best doctors trying to figure out how to get it back...”

“I’m blind!” the soldier shouted.

Silence.

“How am I ever going to function ever again? How am I going to work?!”

More silence.

“What am I going to do with my life after this!? How am I going to provide for my family!? What will my wife think!? Am I going to be forced to starve for the rest of my life?! Or will I be stuck living off of charity!? Huh?! Huh?!”

Silence.

Thomas sat there, pinned to his bed, not entirely sure if he wanted a response or not. The quiet dragged on, and Thomas became aware of a humming sound that filled his whole room.

He wondered if she was still there.

Then there was the soft clop of hooves against wood, and a warm hoof lay across his arm.

He heard her sob.

“I’m sorry. I’m...I’m sorry. I know that won’t make any of this better, but...but I never wanted this war in the first place.”

Thomas became aware of the sounds of pained moans from what he assumed was down the hall.

“My...my friends...” continued the pegasus. “They seem to take it so well, but...but I’m just a vet. I’m not a doctor. A little bit of it translates, but—” She sobbed.

Thomas slowly became aware of the fact that he was a prisoner and his enemies were doing him an amazing kindness simply treating him.

“But-but ponies and griffons are so much bigger, they have so much more blood...” more of her sobs interrupted her as she spoke.

Thomas stayed quiet.

“I-This is all I can do...I’m sorry.”

Thomas opened his mouth to say something, but his voice faltered.

And then the warm hoof left his arm, and a door slammed.

And then there was silence. “Miss?” Thomas called out. “Miss?”

Nothing.

Thomas sighed. “Well crap.”

<<<|Ω|>>>

“Twilight! Twilight!” Alan called as the army was on the move again. “Where is that mare?”

“Alan?” he heard her answer, and it took him a moment to find the armored librarian a few ranks in front of him.

“Ah! there you are! I’ve been looking for you.”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

Alan gave a nervous smile, “Well...uh...I...uh...I think I found a way around telekinesis!”

“Really?” Twilight asked, intrigued.

“Yeah. Yeah, and well, I was wondering if you could stick close to me for a few battles, you know, just in case something goes wrong.”

Twilight gave him a look.

Alan kept up the slightly lopsided smile.

“Sure...” she said, uncertainty obvious in her voice. “How exactly did you find a way around telekinesis?”

“Oh, well you see...”

And that’s another chapter!

“Really? That’s a chapter? The one before last was like 12000 words.”

An anomaly. Anyways, so Alan has finally figured out how to walk on four legs and still use his sword. If you’re worried that makes him OP, look at the chapter where I go into depth about the hard-mana constructs. I got this, alright?

“Hey, DM...quick question, that Lime thing, is that real?”

Yes, yes it is“*”. Alan and I both learned it from the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, namely Sharpe’s Siege. The Sharpe series is a historical fiction series set during the napoleonic wars, and get my recommendation“**” as some good books to read.

“*Warning: Do not attempt to burn oyster shells for lime, doing so is dangerous without proper equipment and can lead to permanent blindness.

**Warning: the Sharpe series contains army living, and therefore scenes that may not be appropriate for anyone under 16.”

Pinkie, did you just say speak the symbol for an asterisk?

“Yuppers!”

That’s not even a sound...I...how?

“Don’t question the pink one bro, it will make you insane. Just hug her instead! Like so!”

“Hehe~Thanks!”

Anyway...Some quick news. With the last chapter, I broke another milestone, and now have over 100 watchers!

“Woot! Party!”

“Hooray for big numbers that are divisible by ten!”

To make matters more awesome, I am as of Jan 22, the posting date of this Chapter, 21! Bring on the cider!

So thanks, guys. I hope you enjoyed this one, and see you next chapter!

“Bye!”