A Mirror of Stars

by Cyberdutchman

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Original Character, Equestria Girls, Science Fiction, Main 7 (EqG), Human
Length: 128879

The girls have returned from Camp Everfree with new powers and pressing questions about them. They won't have much time to find the answers they want as the sky above them shatters, dropping pain, anger, and hope through the void between worlds.

The girls have returned from camp with new friendships, new powers, and new concerns and hopes. Twilight and Sunset ask them all to come to Sweet Apple Acres house to take part in an experiment, minus the magic balloon torrent and rainbow explosions with any luck, and try to learn just what they can all do now and what they should be doing with their powers. But plans don't always go as expected, particularly when the fabric of reality gets torn asunder above you.

In a similar but at the same time very different world Progenitor Liam Harcourt and his people find themselves the victims of a surprise attack. Hammered by weapons they have no defense against and with complete annihilation a very real possibility they have no choice but to evacuate and rebuild their strength. First though they'll have to make it past the gauntlet of mankind's wrath and they're throwing everything they can at them.

Unbeknownst to both, in darkness malice and strife embodied is stirring from centuries of sleep. It's made its plans, placed it pieces on the table, and now waits for the chance to break free from the bounds that shackle it. All it needs is the right key to free it, and it may have found just the one.

Whether the meeting of this group of magical friends and the outcasts of a wounded Earth is in peace or rage may very well decide the fate of both their worlds.

Published 2017-03-18 21:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-03-30 03:23:54 UTC

Prologue: Ripples on a Mirror

A Mirror of Stars

“Imagine you’re a fish, swimming in a pond. You can move forward and back, side to side, but never up out of the water. If someone were standing beside the pond, watching you, you’d have no idea they were there. To you, that little pond is an entire universe. Now imagine that someone reaches down and lifts you out of the pond. You see that what you thought was the entire world is only a small pool. You see other ponds. Trees. The sky above. You realize you’re a part of a much larger and more mysterious reality than you had ever dreamed of.”

In silence and darkness it stirred, finally strong enough to once more sense the prison around it. It began reaching out weakly with what power it still had, touching walls and borders none could see and slipping through the cracks. Its senses passed through realities one after the next. Seeking. Searching. It needed a key, but nothing so mundane as ordinary matter or energy or knowledge would free it from its entombment. It needed a mindset, it needed an emotion, it needed- THERE.

It felt the smallest vibrations in the veil between worlds as strains of power and sensation filtered through, just as it had felt them countless times before over the centuries. Once more it gathered that power but it did not consume it as it yearned to. Its prison was well made despite its flaws and would never allow it to become strong enough to break free. Instead it condensed that power, molded it, and refined it to the basest form possible. It added in a tiny drop of its own power and essence and thrust it back against the universe it seeped from. The fabric of reality twisted and rippled as the focused energy pushed against it before the barrier gave way with a dimensional *snap* that could not be physically perceived.

Breaking down the space between spaces was torturous and left it feeling like an empty shell and it now withdrew in on itself, drained after another attempt. It again fell back into its long slumber to wait until enough power seeped in to let it try once more. It never contemplated stopping though. It was patient and driven by fury and rage, and would suffer its malaise and decay until one day it succeeded and could take its vengeance on the ones that had imprisoned it. As its awareness faded it began to dream again of the end of harmony.

Oct, 2008

Liam Harcourt's eyes fluttered as he hazily tried to collect his thoughts and stave off unconciousness. It was like trying to hold back the tide with a wall of sand.

"-get him to room four. Make a note, patient is awake but unresponsive and unaware. BVM applied at scene of... whatever the hell that was- God no, don't write that! Okay, start over... BVM applied, ECG shows faint arrhythmia, BP is hovering around 95/75, temperature is 103 degrees-"

The voice was unfamiliar and sounded strange; it seemed muffled in his ears, like it was coming from far away but at the same time spiked as though it was right next to him. A new fragment of memory condensed out of the fog in his mind and he examined it. He'd been... at school. He'd been walking alone between buildings after fourth period like usual when he'd heard a shout from ahead of him. A guy he faintly recognized, maybe a band member, was pointing at something behind him along with a dozen or so others who also happened to be facing the same way. He'd turned around to find a point of light arcing with electricity hovering about twenty feet away rapidly approaching him. His eyes widened as it passed directly through a street light between them without any apparent effect. He'd barely had time to begin to recoil away from it before the thing blossomed into an explosion of white and violet tinged light that washed over him. He remembered feeling that weird sensation of cold you got from touching something painfully hot over most of his body followed by the intense scratching of pins and needles everywhere else before falling down and blacking out.

He tried to lift his arm again only to find he couldn't. A second attempt revealed that he was tied down to something. He tried to flex his hand to reach his bonds when the sensation of pins and needles returned along with a dull heat. He blearily opened an eye to look at his hand.

Just beyond his fingertips a mote of red light flickered in and out as he clenched his fingers, small static pops arcing between them. His open eye blinked once before closing again. Oh... shoot. Coach is going to kill me if I miss today's run for this, he thought dreamily before slipping back into his incoherent daze.

Author's Note

This is a complete rework of a story by the same name I'd been working on. Realized some elements were missing to really flesh out the world and the characters. That could only be done if I went back to the drawing board. So... here we are. Take two. Action.

Intro Quote by Blake Crouch

CH 1: Shooting Stars

The red and gold hues of evening light were just beginning to show as Sunset pulled her motorcycle up to the front of the Sweet Apple Acres barn. She switched off the ignition and smiled at the comforting sight of her namesake streaming through the surrounding orchard. It was something she'd always loved, both here and back in Equestria, and it had only become more important to her since it was one of the true constants between the two worlds. There were distinct differences between them though that always made her feel both a sense of wonder and of being incredibly small.

In Equestria the great celestial bodies were tamed, controlled, and well understood. Magic maintained the balance of distance and energy between them all, the motions of the sun and moon set by the two royal princesses while the stars held their places. It was a small and cozy universe, a place where you knew the sun would always come up tomorrow just like it had yesterday.

Well, except that time the Princess's alarm clock failed to go off while Raven was sick. Everyone got to sleep in a couple extra hours till she woke up and realized she'd missed it, she thought as a grin crept over her face.

But when she thought about here... here the heavens were a delicate balance of titanic forces, motions, and physics. It was an inherently chaotic reality, the world no longer centered with the heavens arrayed around it. No, here the world was just one stone among a countless number, all spinning around their own centers of gravity as she'd learned to her shock not long after arriving. The sun might come up tomorrow or it might have been sent careening off into the void during the night by some more massive object. There was no great magical field like in Equestria to maintain harmony and balance, just small pockets that seeped through here and there. That scarcity just made them all the more amazing when they popped up though.

She smiled more deeply as her hand came up to her chest and found the small disk resting there. It had been a week since their the events of Camp Everfree. Even after all that time they were still marveling at the magical pendants that they'd each received. Sunset was convinced they were meant for them, somehow, even if she had no idea how that was possible.

She thought back to the moment they received them, the feeling of pride and joy she felt as Twilight overcame her own inner demons and embraced her gifts and her friends, much like someone else had as she stood atop a hill and stared down three powerful foes with her own friends. She squeezed her hand tighter around the token and closed her eyes.

"Thank you." She felt a small jolt through her hand like static. Her eyes shot open again in surprise as she lifted the necklace up to her eyes.

"Did it just-"

"Sunset, you're here already? With your job and the drive over Ah figured ya wouldn't get here for another half hour or more."

Sunset dismounted her bike as a creak emanated from the door of the Sweet Apple Acres barn. Applejack pushed it open further then stood in the center of the opening, hands on her hips. Sunset gave her a quick wave and started for the door.

"Hey AJ! Yeah, I got off work early, some problem with the filters forced my boss to close the pool early. Twilight and the rest here yet?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nah, though Ah got a text from Twilight sayin' she'd be here soon. Fluttershy's pickin' up Rarity from her shop as well and shouldn't be far behind. Haven't heard from Rainbow Dash or Pinkie yet though. Come on in, I'm still clearing out space for Twilight's equipment." She tossed a thumb over her shoulder and waited for Sunset to join her.

"Not to be a pest but... y'all sure this is a good idea? I seem ta remember the last time we messed around with magic like this you got lit up like a Hearths Warming tree, coughing up rainbows and worse."

Sunset shuddered. "Please don't remind me. Worst of it was twitching for a couple days from the static after Pinkie 'ballooned' me. But Twilight and I think we've got it pretty well worked out this time. We'll be using some of the equipment she made at Crystal Prep to monitor things and hopefully contain any stray magic."

"Wait, 'hopefully'? This isn't going to blow up our barn, right?"

"Yes AJ, for the fifth or sixth time, yes, we're sure!" Sunset replied with a laugh and a playful punch to her friend's shoulder.

"Alright, but if anythin' gets bent up you're both helping ta fix it," Applejack replied as she looked around the interior of the barn. Most of the equipment and stores had been moved out of the way, leaving the center of the building clear and open.

"Sure, so long as you don't expect me to help with the heavy lifting. That's more yours and Twilight's thing," Sunset noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Fair point. Ah wouldn't ask ya ta do somethin' risky that we could do without any issue."

Sunset nodded with a slight frown. Applejack noticed the pinch to her mouth and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ah didn't mean it like that. Your powers just aren't the best for brute forcin' through things, that's all. Twilight and I've got strength covered, Dash has got speed, Fluttershy's an animal whisperer now-a real one, not like those fakes on TV-and you've got-shoot, what's the best way to describe it...- communicatin'. You're the one that's gonna know when there's a problem before the rest of us and probably figure out the solution first to boot. That's what happened at camp after all."

Sunset sighed then smiled slightly at the straight talking farm girl. "Thanks AJ, I appreciate it, though I think you might be exaggerating how much I did. It's just... I was kind of hoping I'd get some of the old magic I could use in Equestria again. But I've never heard of anything like this contact-mind-reading. It's new and I don't know what all it can really do. You left Pinkie out of that list by the way," she ended with a grin.

Applejack groaned softly. "Yeah, and that comes back to not knowin' what all that power of hers can do. Can she only blow up party supplies and junk food? Ah've got no clue! You weren't there when she tossed a box of nails to me when we were building the dock. Ah thought that was the end of us! Sometimes that girl's more oblivious than a deaf cat on catnip."

Sunset chuckled at the mental image that conjured up before turning serious again. "Fluttershy told me about that. It's a big part of why Twilight and I decided we needed to run these tests."

"That's fine by me. Hopefully Twilight will- well how's that for timing?" she said, switching tracks as the sound of a car pulling up the drive to the barn carried over to them. They both walked back to the barn door and watched as Twilight half stumbled out of her ride. She was rather disheveled with her glasses hanging at the end of her nose and strands of hair falling out of her summer ponytail. She paused when she caught sight of them watching her from the entryway.

"Shoot, I was sure I'd arrive before you did! I'd planned to set up before everyone else arrived so we could jump right in! Ohhhhh... now I'm going to have to rework those plans to factor in you helping and the time decrease and letting everyone else know they can arrive earlier and-"

Twilight's freak-out was cut short as Sunset walked over and gave her a small shake to the side, rattling her glasses further down the end of her nose.

"Twilight, it's fine! I got off work early and with how long the drive is I decided to just head here and wait. As for the equipment we can set it up and then wait for the others, it's not a big deal," Sunset said with a laugh.

It was funny that while some things changed, like Twilight's long distance relationship with Timber and her acceptance of her magic and the confidence boost that came with it, there were other things it seemed would never change. Twilight Sparkle brand panic was at the top of that list.

"Ahehe...heh... sorry, you're right, sorry," she replied with a nervous laugh. She smiled awkwardly at Sunset as she reached up and placed her glasses in front of her eyes again. She turned and waved at Applejack who was now leaning against the barn wall with an amused grin. "Hi Applejack, good to see you again. Sorry for the rush, but is the barn cleared to move the equipment in?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, got some small tools to clear out here and there and some extension cords to run but Sunset can grab those while we start movin' your stuff in." She looked at Sunset for confirmation and received a thumbs up in response.

Twilight's awkwardly nervous smile began to grow more genuine as a thought hit her.

"Well, at least it will give us all time to catch up before everyone else arrives! We haven't really had a chance to talk much since the end of camp, what with how busy the summer's been since."

Sunset rolled her eyes a little with a chuckle as she walked past them towards the open door.

"Tell me about it, it's been a nightmare trying to finish our summer reading and assignments before senior year starts on top of my job and figuring out this new magic. I'm still playing catch-up on the history of this world. It's frustratingly similar but really different in some ways. Events keep matching up but in weird ways that don't really make sense. Like big events there are small things here and vice versa."

"Huh, that's odd... you'd think that either there'd be a perfect match or there wouldn't be any correlation at all. I wonder..." Twilight said as she began pondering. "Maybe it has to do with where everyone's doubles end up? Or maybe one influences the other or-" She was cut off by a sharp poke to her shoulder. She shook her head in surprise and turned to find Applejack grinning at her.

"Twilight! Mission Control to Twilight, do ya read us? We've lost ya again!" Applejack asked as she poked Twilight's shoulder more softly this time.

Twilight shook her head, banishing the problem to the back of her mind to be examined in detail another time.

"Sorry Applejack, I kind of zoned out there. Again ahehe..." she trailed of with a nervous laugh. "Soooo, time for the hardware?"

"Sure, just... be prepared for this not to go the way ya expect. Sunset tried doing the same thing back before the Battle of the Bands and... well, we made sure she visited the nurse afterwards if ya catch my meaning."

Twilight adjusted her glasses as she replied, "Yeah, I've heard plenty on that one. I'm hoping we can avoid a repeat by using equipment designed for the job instead of stuff re-purposed from the sound room and computer lab."

Sunset's voice called out in an echoing shout from the barn. "Not sure any equipment has ever been designed with butterfly oscilloscopes and rainbow explosions in mind!"

A small sigh escaped Twilight as she turned to face Applejack again. "We might as well get started. If we keep going at this rate the others will get here before we're ready."

"Sounds good. What's first?"

"Let's get the power equipment in place. It's the largest and heaviest by far."

"Ya got it!" Applejack said as she squinted into the back of the hatchback. Her eyes opened wider and she snapped her fingers as she saw the box with the right label. "Whaddya say we warm up a little before we get science-y with the new magic?" she asked, glancing at Twilight with a smirk before reaching out one handed and effortlessly lifted the box out of the car. "Hah! Never gets old!"

Twilight gave a small chuckle at her friend's cheerfulness. "I'm guessing that's been helpful around the farm huh?"

Applejack gave her an impish look as she passed by on her way into the barn. "Oh, you've got no idea. Ya'll should have seen Big Mac's face the when I lifted the truck up to change a tire though. Ah try not to use it too much though. Don't want to get cocky or dampen his and Applebloom's spirits around pickin' time."

Twilight frowned a little as she considered Applejack's words. It was fine using our powers at camp when we were in a rush to get things done in time and everyone else was really busy as well. But now that we're back we're going to have to figure out when we should use them rather than when we simply can. I doubt many of the others are going to have a problem with that but then there's Rainbow Dash...

She grimaced at the thought of that future conversation. Talking to Rainbow about NOT using her speed all the time would be... problematic at best. Disastrous at worst.

"Twilight, ya commin' or what? This here's your show after all," Applejack shouted from within the barn.

"Right, sorry!" she replied before hastily scooping up a couple other large boxes in her telekinetic power.

"Incoming! Everyone brace!"

Everyone lurched in their seats as the craft climbed skyward then fishtailed ninety degrees to the side and shot off at more than five gees. The set of missiles tracking them couldn't match the jerking path and streaked past, their lock on the ship completely lost. A few moments later all three exploded as point defense lasers from their target disabled them.

None aboard the fleeing ship felt the crushing acceleration of the maneuver, courtesy of the set of five expansion fields behind the ship accelerating everything equally within their range. If not it would have been especially bad for the occupant of the commander's crash couch in the center of the command deck, the only flesh and blood member of the crew aboard the vessel. He shot a quick glance at a screen by his right hand, taking a moment to confirm that they lost their pursuers for the moment.

"Jax, less dodging, more orbital inserting!" Liam yelled pointedly.

At the front of the deck, in the center of a septet of seats arrayed in a long arc facing away from the commander's place, a humanoid figure tilted its head back, never taking its eyes and their glowing blue irises off the displays in front of it, and called back, "Oh I'd love to, trust me! But we're still low and slow and our friends in the F-22s don't seem to want us reaching the altitude we need to open up the throttle without the air resistance tearing us apart!"

Liam growled in response and swiped a finger across the screen next to him. The view shifted to show a quartet of contacts keeping pace with them. At the farthest range shown even more were catching up with their flight. It looked grim but it could have been far worse.

Yeah, I could have revealed that I can create fields instead of making that a state secret back before we returned. Then Will would be dead alongside Thomas and I'd be marching through a kangaroo court back in D.C. At least they didn't hand out those goddamn rounds to the ones guarding the ship and the crew. If only they hadn't had the forethought to keep a squadron on hand to intercept anyone fleeing, he thought grimly.

"I've got a question!"

Liam turned to look at the Mission Specialist seat and had to hold back a small chuckle as its occupant waved his hand in the air like an overly enthusiastic school child. Even when we're about to die he can't help but be a smart ass. Eh, what the hell, probably not going to get hit for another minute or so.

"Just ask it Will."

Will nodded and pointed at his screen. "Why are they hanging back? Our point defense arrays could probably knock out most of their missiles but they can carry enough to saturate them if they fired everything at once."

Liam frowned and brought up a copy of Will's display on the screen to his left. He was right, they didn't need to wait for the reinforcements gaining on them. If their pursuers launched everything they had right now they'd take one or two hits and that might be enough to bring them down. His frown increased as something prodded the back of his mind. His eyes shot open wide as he realized they had a chance if their enemies were going to make the mistake of continuing to probe their defenses instead of going for the knockout punch.

"Jax, Will's on to something! They look like they're trying to coral us instead of destroying us outright! This is the only ship in easy reach for them to study; everything else is in orbit. See if you can get them to fire one more salvo and when those are gone make a break for it. They'll be down to half their payload and between the PDLs and the increase in acceleration as we get higher we should be able to make a clean break from any follow up launches."

Their pilot tossed a quick thumbs up and pulled back on the control console. The view on the deck display screens swerved as the ship went into a steep climb. Almost immediately afterwards a siren blared a missile lock warning and Jax laughed maniacally.

"Three more AIM-120s inbound, unison launch! Looks like they took the bait!"

Liam couldn't help but smirk, even as he felt another chill run down his spine as death screamed in at them from behind once more. The ship jinked and swerved, the point defense lasers dotted across it tracking as fast as they could. Jax put the ship into a low angle dive and they plummeted towards the waters of the Atlantic below them, the three missiles gaining quickly. A couple hundred feet above the water he pushed the controls in and the ship went into a sharp inverted loop, the glowing lavender-red expansion fields behind the ship swinging down and through the ocean, creating a towering plume as the water was repulsed away from them. Once again the missiles tried to track their target through the seemingly impossible maneuver and failed spectacularly, this time without any help from the ship's defenses. They shot almost vertically into the ocean below the ship and detonated, adding their own sprays of water to the one now cascading down in a mist that glowed red in the fading daylight.

"Now!" Liam shouted.

Jax didn't wait for the order before completing the loop and launching them almost straight up. The alarms went off again, this time in a long, unending wail. Every screen dedicated to the fighters chasing them blossomed into a field of red blips as dozens of missiles launched and began seeking them. But he could already see he'd made the right call. The lead fighters, now even further behind after their dive, only launched two staggered sets of missiles while the scores launched by the trailing fighters were going to have a lot of extra distance to cover to reach them, distance that would allow them to climb and outpace them. Even just a few thousand more feet of altitude and the air would get thin enough for them to pull fifty gees easily before really opening up the drives. Nothing was going to catch them then.

"Finish those off and start preparing the gate drive. As soon as you pass the Karman line get a lock on the Psyche relay and get us home. We'll rendezvous with anyone that got away and figure out our response," he said coolly as he began putting together lists of targets and required resources in the back of his mind.

Where did it all go wrong? he wondered to himself. When did we make the change from breaking physics and exploring the system to running from genocide? How did we go from excitement when we returned to this? We fought their wars to an end for them, we gave them peace they'd never seen before. And this is what they choose?

His scowl deepened. Doesn't matter in the end. There's no sunshine and rainbows solution to this. All that matters now is making sure it ends and can never happen again.

"Well, that's the last of it. Whew!" Twilight said as she exhaled and wiped a hand across her forehead. "Now as soon as the others-"

The barn was suddenly filled with a small hurricane of wind. Applejack reached up and held her hat tightly to her head as Twilight and Sunset ducked down with matching cries of alarm. The currents subsided and the three risked peeking an eye open. Leaning against the wall opposite Sunset was the Speed Queen herself, arms crossed and a smug grin on her face. In one hand she held her pendant as it slowly ceased glowing. Applejack glared at her as Rainbow pushed off the wall and walked over to them.

"Rainbow Dash! How many times have Ah told ya not to do that!"

Rainbow Dash shrugged in reply.

"Eh, a couple I think. Haven't been keeping count. So, everybody ready to see what kinds of awesome I can do now?"

Sunset and Twilight chuckled as Applejack sighed and tilted her hat back down to rest flat on her head.

"Sure, we're just waiting on Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie now."

"Oh, I saw Flutters and Rarity on the way over. They were taking Rarity's car and-"

"RAINBOW DASH!"

The four girls jumped and turned to see Rarity walk in, arms held stiffly at her sides with her hands clenched. Her face was the picture of anger. Fluttershy stood behind her, peering over the fashionista's shoulder. She gave the group a small smile and a wave then tucked her head into her shoulders with a small "eep!" as Rarity stormed up to Rainbow Dash and pointed a finger up at her face.

"I'll have you know you nearly caused us to veer off the road on our way here!"

Rainbow grinned sheepishly then zipped around behind Twilight. She peered over the shoulder of her confused human shield and rubbed the back of her head.

"Ehehe... sorry about that. I was planning on just tagging along with you two but then that truck honked and I lost my concentration and-"

Rarity snapped her finger, her elbow resting in her other hand. Rainbow dash shut her mouth with a distinct click as she frowned at her friend.

"Darling, you really need to be more careful in using your powers! I don't doubt you have control over them- that seems to be the case for all of us- but you were obviously more focused on yourself then your surroundings!"

Rarity's face softened from anger to disappointed concern.

"You put not only yourself at risk but everyone else on that road as well, and until you learn to be more aware of your surroundings and what is permissible I'm asking you to err on the side of caution."

Fluttershy added her voice to the dressing down as stepped up next to Rarity with her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"Just think about how upset the rest of us would have been if you'd been hurt using your new magic. It's supposed to be something that brings us all together and you nearly made it into something that would tear us apart."

Rainbow stepped out from behind Twilight, her hands in the pockets of her pants as she looked at the ground. Her face has flushed from an embarrassed blush that was threatening to turn her skin the same color as Rarity's hair.

"I'm sorry Rarity, Fluttershy, it's just... I can fly now! Whenever I want! How cool is that?! It's the most awesome thing I've ever done!"

The rainbow haired athlete's blush had diminished until all that was left was a faint glow as she rode out recent fond memories. Rarity sighed and dropped her hands to her sides with a faint smile as Fluttershy giggled in a way guaranteed to give diabetes to anyone unaccustomed to such saccharine sweetness.

"As long as you're careful from now on. We're here to learn more about our new magic so that we know what we can do and where our limits are," Fluttershy said.

"What limits? The magic we have seems to be getting stronger almost every month. First it was pony-ups and friendship lasers when we played music and really got into it then that changed to happening when we were just being ourselves just, you know, more than usual, and now we've got superpowers!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she raised her arms above her with a huge grin.

Twilight frowned, biting her lower lip lightly as she looked at the floor.

"I hadn't thought about it but you're right. I knew you all had magic before the Friendship Games but I didn't realize the conditions to use it and the strength had been changing. The superpowers I can make sense of since we all got items that allow us to access the powers but the rest... I don't know, to even get the framework of a theory going I'd need more data, preferably starting back when magic first started becoming a thing here at the Formal-"

She paused and looked back up at the group.

"Wait a minute, magic has to have been here earlier than the Formal. Going by the stories you've told me Pinkie Pie's been using it for years."

Sunset gave her a deadpan look.

"Twilight, I'm going to stop you before you go looking for answers that don't exist. Pinkie Pie has not been using magic any longer than the rest of us."

"But-"

"Trust me, it's Pinkie Pie. Her Equestrian counterpart is an Earth Pony without magic and according to Princess You she does the same things there. Believe me when I say trying to figure it out will only drive you mad. "

"Yeah Twilight, you can trust Sunny! She's done the whole mad she-demon and mad scientist thing before so she knows what to look for!"

The six girls all gave matching cries of "GAH!" as one of the tool lockers at the back of the barn popped open to reveal a goggled and lab-coated Pinkie Pie holding up the ends of a voltmeter. Somehow a small arc of electricity was passing between them without any apparent power source. She dropped them all in the locker then slammed the door home and bounded over to the group.

"See what I mean," Sunset said with a knowing smirk.

"Well how 'bout that? Not even an eye twitch from bringing up the Formal," Applejack said with a casual point of a finger at the ex-villain.

"It's well and truly past now, even more so since Camp Everfree. Twilight overcoming her fear of Midnight Sparkle really brought it home for me again, that I could put it behind me completely. Now it's just an embarrassing story to tell and we all have those."

"Yeah, like our outfits for the Battle of the Bands! I've still got the video of it in my 'Favorites' playlist, never gets old," Rainbow Dash added with a snicker.

Rarity glared at her and said through gritted teeth, "I've told you time and again I was working with what I had from that storage room we were locked in. I went for visibility over style so that we could grab everyone's attention away from those three temptresses."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that!" Rainbow Dash cried as she fell back on the floor, the laughter she'd been holding back finally escaping.

"Really Darling? You wish to bring up past misunderstandings now? Perhaps I should tell them about that little incident of yours back in First Year? You remember, the one with Soarin and Spitfire?"

"Oooh ooh! I remember that one!" cried the pink haired locker-Houdini. "Dashie didn't go to the soccer camp that year because of it!"

"Oh, now this Ah've gotta hear!" Applejack said with a chuckle. She shot a glance towards Rainbow as the girl jumped back up from the floor, arms crossed in an X in front of her.

"Woah! Okay, I'm sorry I brought it up! Truce! Truce!"

Everyone started roaring with laughter at Rainbow's about-face. Rarity smiled at her slyly and flicked her fingers out in a "go on" gesture. Rainbow Dash huffed under the unwanted attention.

"Come on Rare, cut me some slack here..."

Fluttershy stepped up to the fashionista's side with the same small smile and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Rarity, don't give Rainbow such a hard time. We all have things we'd like to forget that embarrassed us. Most of us know of at least one for someone else here and we never go telling them unless they say we can," she chided.

She then turned the look onto both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. "The same goes for you two as well. Rainbow, you know Rarity doesn't like to bring up that night, especially what we went through before we beat those girls, and Pinkie, you should know better than to encourage this kind of behavior."

Pinkie nodded, her toothy grin diminishing to her usual chipper expression.

Rainbow Dash dropped her arms with a sigh and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, you're right. None of us were at our best back then. Well, except for Pony Girl over here and her real talk," she said, tossing a thumb Sunset's way. Sunset blushed and waved her hand in a dismissive manner. She turned slightly so none of the others would see the small thankful smile that crept over her.

Rarity chuckled then swept her hand up through her hair.

"Very well dear, I'll just keep that memory to myself for now. Rainbow, please forgive my little indiscretion," she said as she looked apologetically at her puckish friend. "Now, I do believe there was a reason we all gathered here other than to laugh at each other's expense?"

Twilight perked up. "Oh, right!"

She walked over to her laptop and began pulling up one spreadsheet after the next. "I have a series of tests I want to run on each of our powers. Try to establish baselines, that kind of thing. It shouldn't take too long and hopefully we'll get a better idea of what this magic can do."

Applejack frowned and said, "Uhh, Sugarcube? Just one last time, are ya still sure ya want to do this? Really sure? Like Ah told ya, the last time we tried figurin' out how our magic worked Sunset ended up coughin' up rainbows and sticking to metal."

"I am confident that this approach will have different results."

Applejack searched her friend's face for any sign of doubt and sighed when she found none. "Okay, if you're sure. Ah can't say Ah wouldn't mind knowing more 'bout where this crazy strength comes from before Ah start using it more around the farm."

Twilight nodded vigorously. "I'd hoped you'd want to know more about it! Ohhhhh, this is so exciting! Who knows what we're going to learn tonight! Just think, we might find new abilities or maybe even how magic interacts with classic physics which would be-"

Sunset smiled as her friend began to spew out technobabble to the group faster and faster. She felt a small touch on her shoulder and turned to find Rarity's hand resting on it as she watched Twilight alongside Fluttershy.

"It still surprises me how different Twilight's attitude is now. Quite the change from before camp, wouldn't you agree?" she inquired. She glanced at Sunset out of the corner of her eye with a knowing look.

Sunset smiled even more and crossed her arms in front of her. "Yes, yes I would."

"Well, we're out of range of any ground based weapon they've got. We should be... clear... now..." Jax trailed off as the main bridge display resolved into a veritable graveyard just inside the furthest reach of the atmosphere's embrace. Debris drifted ahead of them like a terrible fog as the air from the ships continued to vent into the vacuum, each wreck drawn out by the manipulations of orbital mechanics into a long scar across the black of space.

Will gave a long, mournful whistle. "Christ... how'd they do this? There weren't any nukes detonated, no reports of sub or air launched munitions, and we've tracked all the launches that could have placed assets in orbit ahead of time. So how'd they pull this off?"

Liam shook his head as two storms of burning rage and deep sorrow competed with each other for dominance over him. He breathed out and looked away, focusing instead on their own ship's status.

"No idea. We'll figure that out when we get back to Psyche. Jax, as soon as the gate drive is charged get us-"

"New contact! I've picking up low level expansion fields. Has to be another Legion ship."

Liam's head snapped up as the words rang out over the bridge. Sure enough, their sensors had found another ship under power out among the wreckage.

"Open a channel to them so we can coordinate. Hopefully they've found other survivors drifting with the debris."

He relaxed into his crash couch with a long, wispy sigh and winced. His muscles were aching and he realized he must have been tensed up throughout the entire escape. He must have unconsciously been keeping it just below the level to charge his abilities. Otherwise he would have likely destroyed the bridge and the ship with it. At least I managed to keep it under check this time, he thought with relief. He slowly glanced over at the ship's Comms officer.

"Albrecht," he said, waiting for the Legionnaire to look at him before continuing, "when you get a link with them get a tally of any other ships that made it out. Sooner we can start planning a response-" He stopped as the inorganic double shook his head with a look of mild concern.

"They're not responding to our hails. They may have been damaged in the attack or..."

Liam nodded in matching concern as the memory of one of his companions falling to the ground lifeless flashed through his mind.

"Bring up a visual, let's see what we can do to help them."

Albrecht nodded, quickly typing in a slew of commands at his station then looked up at the main display. A pop-up window sprang to life, filling most of the screen, as the carnage a couple hundred miles or more from them pulled into tight focus. Everyone present turned to look as well then recoiled in shock. A long, black cylindrical form drifted among the distant wreckage, almost invisible against the dark void except where sparks from the surrounding dead hulks illuminated it and crystallized gasses clung to it.

"That's... not ours" Will said slowly. "Liam-"

"Fast movers detected! Missile launch confirmed, contact in- oh shit, they've got expansion drives! Thirty two seconds to contact!" Jax called out, his voice strained with disbelief.

Liam blanched at the announcement. The implications if someone on Earth had recreated their technology were terrifying on any number of levels. More immediately, it meant they were as good as dead.

"Turn her around and try to reduce the closing velocity! It'll give the interceptors and PDLs a better chance to hit something. Then put the reserves towards the point defen- wait, hold that. Jax, what's the status on the gate drive?"

"Five minutes at current rate!"

Liam ground his teeth as he realized he'd wasted precious seconds with his previous order. "Redirect reserves to the drive instead. They killed an entire fleet and I doubt we'll do any better on defense instead of running."

Jax waited a moment for the numbers to update then grunted softly. "Three minutes, seven seconds to charge now."

Liam turned to look at the combat clock now blazing at the top of the tactical displays as it updated for their new speed and heading.

3 MINUTES, 14 SECONDS TO CONTACT

"Too close... too damn close," he whispered to himself through gritted teeth as he glared at his personal screen and the ship displayed on it, now advancing through the remains of his family.

Twilight finished typing commands into her laptop then stepped back and wiped the sweat from her brow. The sun had finally gone down just a few minutes prior but the heat it had left behind didn't seem to want to follow along with it.

"Okay, everything's ready."

"Sounds good. Who do you want to go mad scientist on first?" Sunset asked as she pushed herself off the wall she'd been relaxing next to. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie put down the horseshoes they they'd been tossing around while Rarity quickly finished adding a small set of braids to Fluttershy's hair that met at the base of her back. Twilight was about to reply when she noticed that AJ and Rainbow both looked rather sulky.

"Uhhhhh... what's with you two?"

"Don't ask," both Applejack and Rainbow Dash answered in unison. Twilight frowned in confusion then noticed Pinkie giggling just off to her side. She looked back at the other two then noticed the horseshoe stake out of the corner of her eye. Three shoes were hanging from the top of the stake, each supporting the next below it, like some sort of weird modern-art mobile. Twilight raised an eyebrow and started to ask the obvious question.

"Don't ask," her friends said in unison again.

She turned the questioning look on Pinkie next who just shrugged and said, "They were too caught up in trying to make the shoes go to the one place they wanted and didn't try to make them not go to all the places they didn't want."

Twilight blinked and nodded slowly. "Okay, that makes sense... I think..." She shook her head and rewound her mind to just beforehand. "I'd actually like to first try with all of us together. Make sure the equipment I've got can even pick up the maximum amount of magic we can put in one place. Otherwise there won't be any point to checking each of us individually."

The others looked at each other and nodded. "Sure, no problem," said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight perked up. "Great! Then if you could all just join me in the center here... no, just a little closer in- Rainbow Dash, you're off the screen... okay and... there!" she declared as they all stopped shifting around and settled into the middle of the barn.

"So now we just... magic up?" Pinkie asked as she tried to not elbow anyone.

Twilight winced, having received an elbow just a moment before, then enthusiastically replied, "Yes, as much as you can!"

The girls all reached up and took hold of their necklaces for a moment to help them focus. Then, in a blur of chromatic light their outfits shifted, lengthening and twisting into new patterns, shapes, and forms. Everyone cheered at the change, the first time they'd tried it together as a group since camp. Everyone except Twilight who was focused on her laptop and the sensors tied into it. She jumped up and pumped her fist in the air as the screen lit up with a dozen graphs, plots, and other various data windows.

"Yes! They're all working! Now maybe I can start to figure out how our magic lets us do everything."

The others all cheered and patted her on the shoulders or, in Rainbow Dash's case, pulled her hand up before high fiving it.

"So, what's next?" asked Sunset.

Twilight faced her and said, "Next I think it would be best if each of us use our powers normally and then do it again ponied up, see what the difference is between each way of using them. That way we can-"

"We're running out of time Jax!" shouted Liam as he watched the deadly missiles following them draw closer each second.

"Drive is preparing to discharge! Everyone, prepare for gate transit!"

At the front of the ship a small, precisely engineered target was ejected at high speed. An infinitesimal moment later, in precisely coordinated fashion, a dozen intense expansion fields crushed it down to a singular point, causing physics to squint at what was going on and throw up its hands in defeat. The target turned into a microscopic blackhole and would have stayed that way for its very short lifespan if not for the single new field placed directly in the center of the singularity. A burst of power caused the interior throat of the black hole to expand beyond its event horizon, space flipping inside out for just long enough for a ship to pass through before it began to collapse again.

Liam and his crew had only a moment to begin feeling relief as the front of their ship rushed toward the hole in space before a number of things happened all at once.

A flash and a yank dragged the entity back to consciousness.

With empty lethargy it slowly stretched out to see what it was this time and recoiled in surprise as it felt a forgotten but familiar tingle pass through it. It pushed outward again... and found a conduit where the universe was being forced into knots and folds as another jutted out into it and others beside it before collapsing back in on itself. But even more excitingly, in a rush of dark desire it realized that its key was about to pass across the spatial maelstrom! Pushing it to ever greater heights of anticipation the key was now more enraged and radiating in emotional energy than it had ever been before, more than any other key before it! All of its work, all of its time and energy, it had final born fruit and now it was time to reap the harvest!

With a triumphant howl beyond hearing by physical ears it reached out its ephemeral grasp, straining against its bonds, snarling as they crackled and pulled it back steadily, pushing until it finally reached the passage and with all its might squeezed, closing the end and crushing all other possible exits until only one remained.

Liam had just an instant to watch the gate ripple, the distorted image shifting from the silhouette of their home base to a wash of green and blue, before the ship lurched as air screamed through the open gateway at them. The sudden force slowed the ship just enough for the lead missile trailing it to register a favorable range to its target and detonate. A burst of sharp spikes shot forward and struck one of the five main field generators at the rear of the ship, ripping it to shreds and spilling a black cloud that shut down everything it fell over. The ship began spinning from the impact as it passed through the sphere of warped space. Before the rest of the missiles could follow it the gate rippled again and collapsed back into empty vacuum.

"AHHHHH!"

The seven girls all cried out in pain as their magic fluctuated wildly before disappearing completely. Their clothes returned to normal and their crystals ceased glowing as they all fell over each other in the middle of the barn.

"Owwwwww! What the heck was that?" yelled Rainbow Dash sharply.

"Oooohhhhh... whatever it was can we not do it again?" Sunset shimmer replied before groaning loudly. "And can someone please stop kneeing me in the chest?"

"Oh! Sorry! Ohhh... owww," Flutterhsy said as she slowly crawled out of the pile, rubbing her forehead while clenching her eyes shut against a severe headache.

"Twilight! I thought you said this was gonna be safe!" Applejack shouted indignantly from the bottom of the group, straining to pull herself out from under the rest of them.

"It can't have been my stuff, it's all passive detection only!" Twilight replied with a frightened shiver.

"Again, what... the HECK... was THAT?" Rainbow Dash asked pointedly as she jumped up and threw her arms in the air.

"It felt like a huge burst of magic twisted the very fabric of reality into knots and then tore it wide open!" Pinkie cried as she lay on her back, pointing at the roof of the barn with her eyes locked there as well.

Rainbow Dash shook her head with a frown, "Pinkie, this isn't the time for jokes-"

A wailing scream suddenly filled the air around them.

Instantly all seven clawed and jumped their way out of the middle of the barn and to the door. They all looked around the sunset lit orchard with unease, trying to find the source of the terrible sound. A glint of light passed over Sunset, causing her to squint upward. Her eyes shot open and she stabbed a finger at the sky. "Look!"

The others all looked up and froze as a huge object plummeted towards the ground, illuminated in red by the flames pouring out of the back end. Behind it a distorted sphere filled with stars shrunk to nothing and then vanished with a small bang that shook the trees around them. The thing began tilting back and a strange reddish purple distortion appeared below it, causing it to pitch up.

"Oh no...NO! It's headed for the Fall Harvest!" Applejack cried in distress. The others watched wide eyes as her fears were confirmed. The thing continued to pull up as it dropped lower and lower but it couldn't stop the descent. Just before it impacted the distortion bloomed outward, knocking away the trees below it in an explosion of wood and fruit and jerking it into a course nearly parallel with the ground. It impacted almost immediately after, tearing a long cut through the orchard as it plowed the earth away in front of it. A few seconds later it ground to a halt, nose deep in the dirt. The flames from the back began to slowly dissipate, leaving only the last light of the setting sun to illuminate the ruin of the entire section of orchard.

No one moved or spoke until Applejack slowly dropped to her knees in shock, her lips moving wordlessly. Suddenly the sight seemed to register with her and she inhaled sharply before punching the ground in anguish. "GOD DAMN IT!" she screamed, a small trail of tears crawling down her face.

Rarity bent down and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Applejack turned on her, anger carved into her face. They both stared at each other for a long moment before AJ dropped her head onto Rarity's shoulder.

The others looked at each other, each trying to find something to say to ease their friend's pain but nothing came to mind in that moment. Sunset and Twilight looked uneasy and out of sorts while Rainbow Dash winced and rubbed the back of her head. Fluttershy was on the verge of tears at the sight of her friend's pain. Pinkie was perhaps the most distraught after AJ though. She kept looking from the sky to the crash site while wringing her hands.

Twilight looked back up at the object resting half buried in the land. "I-I think it's a craft of some sort. That means there may be people that need help," she said, trying to latch onto a simple idea in all the confusion.

They all nodded and joined the other two. Sunset and Fluttershy joined Rarity and helped Applejack up then stuck close by her as the group began the trek down the hill towards the distant fields.

"Keeper Watch, it's happened again. It's pulled another one through."

The speaker pushed a pair of glasses higher up his nose as he nervously waited for a response to the report. Before him a desk sat piled high with organized trays of papers and CDs, each meticulously arranged and labeled. The owner of the desk rested their elbows on the writing surface set into it and lowered their mouth to their interlocking fingers.

"Has it now? We've dealt with such situations before and we have procedures in place to handle another," a steady, feminine voice said with disinterest. A pair of bright amber eyes held his gaze while the hard face around them failed to give any hint of emotion. "It only has the one trick to play and it's a tired one. Was there anything else Nightingale?"

"No- I mean, yes- sorry. Keeper... this is different. Those were all similar in any number of ways. This... this is different. Very different."

An eyebrow inched minutely higher. One of the hands reached out and he placed a folder he'd brought along into it. The amber gaze held his own until the folder was open on the desk then it dropped down to the series of photos in it. Suddenly the eyes shot open in alarm and both hands quickly began spreading out all of the documents within the envelope. A few seconds passed before that same steady voice spoke, this time even more tightly controlled and unwavering.

"Nightingale, gather the assembly. We need to get this situation under observation AT ONCE."

Author's Note

(Had a sudden rush of insanity and decided to sketch out what a Legionnaire would look like and in particular Will. Except for his face because FML I can't do faces)

CH 2: Close Encounters

The sharp and caustic aroma of ozone and burnt rubber greeted Liam as he blearily awoke. He tried to breathe in and was overtaken by a sharp cough. As he pulled his hand away from his mouth he noticed a few flecks of blood on the back of it. I've had worse, he thought blearily before his body started registering intense discomfort.

"Unnnhhhhh... worst crash landing I've ever been in," he said with a groan.

"It's the only one you've ever been in! So how about next time you can crash the ship and we'll see how well you do!" a matching voice called out indignantly.

"Jax, I don't think you want to go there. Or do you want us to start going by your old nickname again?" Will asked from his right.

"Outrage rescinded."

"That's what I thought... "Rainbow Crash"," Will replied with a snicker.

"Oh fuck off," Jax replied with a put-upon laugh.

Liam chuckled once then stopped as his lungs complained at the effort and slowly pulled himself out of his chair, wincing repeatedly as he did so. The independent safety systems in the seat had generated enough expansion fields to hold him down on impact. The downside was he'd briefly experienced at least ten gees, maybe more, as they adjusted for the ship's jarring motion. Now his body was making its complaints about the ordeal known.

He looked around blearily, squinting into the dim red light filling the bridge. "Sound off. Who's still in one piece?" he called out in between coughs.

"Jax here, no issues."

"Albrecht, same."

"Darian, think I popped every tendon in my left elbow. Little loose on the bend."

"Alphonse, I've got a dislocated eye and it's flopping all over the place. Gah, come here you little-!"

"Will over here, good to go."

"Jamison, and I've got some torn muscle fibers here and there. This body was due for a replacement in a week so no real surprise."

"Mercer, I'm copacetic."

Liam exhaled in relief until it became another small cough. He wheezed and shook his head then took in the deck again. The main display was wrecked and showed only static across the single broken sliver of screen that still worked. The breaker for the lights had been tripped in the crash and now only the emergency lights and the piercing blue glow of his brothers' eyes held complete darkness at bay.

"Okay, since no one's completely down let's run a status check. Find a working station or terminal and start going down the list."

Seven sets of glowing eyes turned to look at him then bobbed as they nodded. A few moments later one screen flickered to life then two and three. No others followed.

"That's all we're getting from here. We'll have to check the auxiliary stations to see if any of them made it."

Liam turned to face the speaker. "Alphonse, that you?" he asked, trying to tell where the specific identical voice was coming from.

"Nah, it's Jamison."

"Got it. Let's not worry about that for now, those should be enough."

"Okay, I take it you've got a plan then?"

"The start of one. Jax, Albrecht, and Mercer: take over the status and inventory. Will and I will get the others to the shop and get them fixed up as best we can. If we didn't lose the cargo bay we should have plenty of complete bodies and spares for them. As for you three, first thing you should check is if we can get off the ground again. If not... we'll need to scuttle the ship." A series of various unenthusiastic affirmatives followed. The Legion's ships were its true home and simply retiring one, let alone destroying it, was never done lightly .

Another voice rang out in the crimson cloaked room before everyone dispersed. "Here's a quick question for the group: what ground did we land on? 'Cause it sure as hell isn't Pysche! In fact, I'm pretty sure our wormhole dumped us straight back somewhere on Earth if we're going by the forest we just tore through. Anyone have an explanation for how that works? We've been using gates for decades without issue!"

Silence followed the question until Liam sighed and spoke up. "Not a clue Jax, but we'll worry about it after we know what shape we're in. Especially if we're going to have to deal with company anytime soon."

The girls slowly made their way through the darkened orchard, each of them placing hands on shoulders and helping one another over trunks, earth and rocks, and metal plates that had been thrown out from the crash. Their unease grew steadily greater the closer they got to the road that split between the summer harvest apples and those of the fall harvest varieties. Applejack visibly tensed with every destroyed and damaged tree they encountered. As they reached the road they all slowed their pace. They were getting close enough to see the top of the hulk over the closest trees along with the pall of smoke rising over it, all lit by the faint glow of the fires that remained.

"Hey, uh, maybe we should call the cops first? Stay away from it for now, you know?" Rainbow Dash said nervously.

"Rainbow! There might be people hurt inside it!" Fluttershy admonished her.

"People? More like a bunch of space aliens that abduct and eat people!"

Fluttershy flinched and paled slightly. "We don't kno-" she said softly before Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"Because that's a spaceship, right? An actual, no joking around, real life UFO? None of us have wanted to say it but what else could it be? It came out of a HOLE IN THE SKY! I don't remember hearing about anyone else having something that can do that! So who here really thinks we're going to find people in there?" Rainbow said as she gestured frantically ahead of them.

Everyone stopped in their tracks as Rainbow Dash's concerns spoke to the ones they'd been pushing to the backs of their minds.

"We don't know that they're hostile," Twilight said, uncertainty lurking at the edge of her words.

"Yeah, but we don't know that they're not! Magic from Equestria is one thing; we've got that ourselves and Sunset and Princess Twilight made it less crazy than it was at first. But space aliens?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly. "That's a whole other ball game Twilight."

"Y'all can go back if ya want. I'm meeting the folk that just destroyed my family's livelihood," Applejack said tonelessly. Her friends turned as one to face her. Her hands were balled into fists at her side and her eyes were cold and hard as she stared ahead towards the wreck.

"Applejack, dear, I know this isn't how you imagined this evening going-" Rarity began.

"Rarity, don't start actin' like ya know the first damn thing about what I'm feelin' right now. That orchard meant more than-... we don't make a lot, not between the all the repair work, Granny's meds, and the school costs for the three of us, and it's always tight making ends meet. Now we've lost half our farm because of that thing and might have ta sell the rest!" she said as she stabbed a finger at it. "I'm gonna find out whether whoever or whatever's inside are worth my family losin' everythin'."

Rarity furrowed her brow in concern at her friend's out of character cursing and anger and softly asked, "And if they're not?"

Applejack punched a fist into her other hand. A small shock wave of air spread out from the magically supercharged blow. "I get to practice my powers, just like Twilight wanted us to 'fore they showed up."

Twilight recoiled in shock. "That's not- Applejack, we can't use these powers to- to-" she stammered, unable to finish her sentence. She felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around to find Sunset shaking her head softly. Twilight was about to shout at her for being so casual about AJ's intent until she noticed her friend's eyes were red with held-back tears.

"She's in pain right now, looking for a way to get back at whoever she thinks is the cause of it. She's not going to listen to us. Trust me, I've been there. All we can do is be there to try to make whatever happens stay peaceful," said Sunset in a low whisper.

Twilight swallowed hard. "A-And if it doesn't?"

Sunset sighed as Applejack began walking into the dark in the direction of the fire lit crash, the rest of their friends glancing at one another before quickly joining her.

"Then we help whoever doesn't want a fight."

Liam strode down the hallway with one hand on the nearest wall. The whole ship was tilted forward and to port slightly from digging into the ground. Between the mildly unsure footing and the flickering lights the halls were an accident waiting to happen. As he turned the corner he came dangerously close to proving it when he narrowly missed running headlong into Mercer. Only the bright glow of his eyes gave enough warning to prevent the crash.

"Oh jeez!" he sputtered as he hopped back quickly and almost lost it on the slanted floor. "Mercer, first the ship fails to kill me so the universe decides to throw you at me instead. What's up? Finished the checks and inventory?"

The Legionnaire rolled his eyes with a snarky grin and said, "If I or anyone else really wanted you dead all we'd have to do is say they'd stopped making Reeses."

Liam shuddered. "Don't go there. I still remember Dad frantically apologizing when he pulled that way back before I knew better. Some things aren't to be joked about and my sugar addiction is at the top of that list."

Mercer nodded and his face became more serious. "Speaking of things to not joke about, we've got company coming. Albrecht got one of the sensor arrays on the upper hull working again and it's got seven thermals heading our way."

Liam's eyes became pools of shadows in the dim emergency lights. "Well, that didn't take long. How organized do they look? If they're confident seven's enough they must have the new rounds on them."

Mercer shook his head. "Zero percent organized actually since they're not military. I can say that with complete certainty. Here's the video feed from the fixed array," he said as he unclipped a tablet from the armor on his hip and handed it to him. Liam's frown switched to one of confusion as he inspected the glowing screen for a few moments. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he handed the tablet back.

"An orchard right? The rows are too even for anything else and I'm pretty sure I saw apples on the ground as well."

Mercer nodded. "Yeah. Seems we managed to plow through a good chunk of it. Which brings me to our seven unknowns. They're huddled in a group and moving very cautiously towards us. Probably the family that owns the place."

Liam groaned softly. "Great. As much as I love that it's not a Spestnaz or Seal team I was much happier with the idea of landing out in the middle of nowhere. You know, somewhere it would take time to get to us rather than in the middle of someone's home."

Mercer rubbed the back of his head silently for a moment or two then said, "So what do we do about them? And more pertinently, what do we do if they've already called the cops or something and we have to scuttle the ship... in the middle of their orchard and right next to their house?"

Liam grimaced and crossed his arms. His eyes trailed down to the floor and he stared at it without any real focus as his mind rolled over the situation. He closed his eyes and sighed then leaned into the wall of the corridor.

"We can't let anyone down here get the ship. We have to assume they only reversed engineered a few things or at worst are still behind in development. That means we can't let them access the gate drive, the expansion warheads, or any of the other gear we didn't see them use. They get their hands on those and between the destruction of our fleet assets and their lead in traditional technologies we'd lose both the quantity and quality leads. I'm not about to let them gain that kind of advantage, no matter what it takes."

Mercer nodded slowly. "So capture, confirm if they've notified anyone, and go from there?"

Liam blew a small, exasperated raspberry and shrugged. "Yeah, that's about the shape of things. Get the guys ready, Will should be finished helping them with personal maintenance. Tasers and other stunners only, we just want to secure them. We can be pretty damn sure they don't have the new rounds so we can take whatever they throw our way."

Pinkie climbed over the huge tree trunk lying across the path and stopped just before she collided with Applejack. Just ahead of them was the mound of earth pushed up against the sides of the battered craft. The single word that ran through her mind was Wow. What she said instead of that was "Ow!" as Fluttershy pulled herself over the trunk, caught the leg of her pants on a branch, and fell over onto her.

"Sorry Pinkie! Oh...oh wowwwwwww," she said softly as she helped Pinkie back up.

Pinkie followed Fluttershy's gaze back to the huge craft lodged into the ground, getting her first really close look at it. It was easily as long as the main hall of CHS if not longer. Despite the damage it was an obviously sleek design, with a raked blade-like protrusion from either side that split to join a large pod at the corners of the back. One of those pods was a smoking wreck, the metal peeled back and punctured all over, while the two that had hit the ground were dented and fractured. The thing's nose was slanted forward and down like the prow of an old ship or a train and had dug the thing even deeper than it might have otherwise. The edges and curves of the hull were lit with a deep blue light, the only real illumination left in the deep dark of the night as the fires had long since died away to almost nothing. All in all it was like nothing Pinkie had ever seen or imagined, and she'd imagined A LOT of things up to that point.

"Oh my! Whoever they are they have a superb sense of form !" a voice called out behind her. Pinkie turned to find Rarity hopping down off the log while Sunset gave her a hand. Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed close behind. All of them were faintly lit by the blue glow of the ship, washing out every other color and forcing Pinkie to squint to be sure of who she was looking at.

Rainbow Dash stepped closer to her and whistled nervously as she looked the craft over. "Whoa... that's... that's big. It kinda looked smaller when it was falling."

"Y'all need more time to admire the dang thing or can we find a way inside?"

"Applejack, I know you're anxious to find out why this happened but we can't rush in. It might be dangerous, like noxious fumes or-" Twilight began. Applejack wasn't listening and began walking forward almost fast enough to be jogging. Rainbow groaned and tapped Pinkie on the shoulder.

"You got anything that'll blow up?"

Pinkie blinked. "Well I've got my emergency balloon supplies or if you really want something that will blow up I could tell Sunset about Flash coming by Sugarcube Corner with Derpy the other-"

Dash shook her head frantically. "No no, I mean, you know, things that explode when you toss them? In case we need to a distraction to get away?"

A lightbulb flicked on in Pinkie's head until it overloaded and exploded in a shower of rainbow sparks. "Sure, I've got you covered Dashie. I'm never short on sprinkles or glitter."

Rainbow Dash gave her a shaky thumbs up and started to turn back, paused for a moment, then turned again to shoot a questioning look at her. "Wait, were you serious? Flash and Derpy? Really?"

Pinkie Pie shrugged then mimed sticking a cupcake in her eye. Rainbow blinked then shrugged in kind and motioned for Pinkie to follow her. The others were far enough ahead and being pushed fast enough by Applejack's pace that the two had to jog to catch up with them. About halfway down the length of the ship, just after the closest pod ended in a new hill that threatened to overturn the apple trees on it, there was a flat section of hull not obscured by dirt and debris. A section at the bottom had fallen outwards to reveal what would have been a loading ramp if not for the busted joints and twisted metal.

Applejack stepped up to the top of the ramp and looked down the corridor beyond it. "Finally. Looks like the emergency lights are workin'. Or maybe these things just like red light, I got no clue. Y'all- Sunset?"

Sunset was standing paralyzed at the base of the ramp, her eyes locked wide open.

Pinkie frowned in confusion then pointed two fingers at Sunset's eyes and traced out where she was looking. She blinked in surprise when she noticed a set of letters and a word etched into a plate above the top of the open entree.

L.S. Celestia

"Huh. I didn't know the Principal was an alien."

The others apart from Sunset all stepped back from the open doorway until they were just in front of her.

"Uhhhh... that's English. So wait, does that mean it's not aliens?"

Rainbow Dash got a kind of answer as the sound of metal flexing rang out from overhead followed by a huge clang rippling through the broken ramp. Pinkie spun around just in time to see a large piece of the black night quickly rise up until it crested nearly two feet above her. Two glowing circles of blue light suddenly pierced the darkness, outlining a huge hand with metal tipped fingers reaching out towards her.

A number of things all happened at once after that.

Rainbow Dash, already running on adrenaline and hair trigger nerves, summoned her magic and in a split second reached out and grabbed a hold of Pinkie just as she began pulling out a sprinkle shaker. She pulled Pinkie back, causing her to lose her grip on the improvised explosive confection. It flew out and away from them, glowing an ever brighter shade of pink as it did. The hand and it's owner recoiled in surprise and was about to swat it away when Rarity tossed up a crystal shield between them and it. The sudden appearance of the slice of solid magic threw the thing even more off balance, just in time for the shaker to bounce off the thing's waist and explode. A pink shockwave blossomed out, rebounding off the crystal shield and tearing the thing in two along its midriff and tossing both halves back. The lower half careened out into the dark while the upper half soared up and into the pod just above and behind it. It bounced off with a resounding boom and fell to the ground.

While that was happening two more of the imposing figures stepped out of the shadows beyond the open doorway, each holding a compact weapon to their shoulder. They paused for a moment as the explosion became the center of attention and lowered their weapons slightly in shock as they saw the damage done to their companion.

"Oh hell, Jax! What the fuck was that?!"

The girls spun around in time to see the two new enemies begin aiming down their sights at them. Rarity twirled her arms in an arc and brought up a wall of crystals in front of them, just in time to deflect the two sets of barbs, one fired from each weapon. They bounced harmlessly off the crystal with a small ringing noise to the confusion of everyone present. Emboldened by the underwhelming attack, Applejack rushed around the wall and charged at the nearest of the glowing eyed figures while both were trying to reload. Her target took an instant to realize it didn't have time and stepped back into a fighters stance and prepared to grapple with her while the other pulled the end off its weapon and began to slot a new one on. At the last second Applejack shifted into her new magic in a flash of light, forcing the alien to close its eyes for a brief moment. It was all she needed to bring a gloved fist around into its chest with as much force as she could muster. The thing exhaled explosively as plating cracked under the blow. It went flying back into the corridor and connected with the wall at the far end, denting the metal in, then dropped to to a heap on the floor and began slowly trying to get back up.

Applejack wheeled around to confront the next of the trio just in time to see a sparking flash as it pulled the trigger. She caught a brief glimpse of two barbs glinting in the dim red light right before they impacted into her shoulder. She winced as they bit in and glared back at their source. In the faint crimson light she watched it pull the trigger again and her world went dark as her body seized up. The shock caused her outfit to drop back along with her magic and she fell bodily to the floor.

"Lights are coming back online! What the hell's going on down there? We've got alarms going off all over the place. Mercer? What's happened?" a voice called out from inside the ship.

The interior of the craft was suddenly illuminated in a bright, warm white glow. The dark and foreboding space beyond the ramp gave way to a large loading bay of clean white walls and angular surfaces and bracing. The girls flinched and hid their eyes from the sudden glare behind their hands and arms.

"Oh come on, I made it through the crash without any damage and now this? What the hell-" someone behind them yelled before cutting off with a strangled choking sound.

Pinkie spun around and felt her jaw drop. The thing she'd blown up was pushing itself, or at least it's upper half, back upright against a mound of earth with its arms and hands, one of them bent slightly at the forearm. The severed section of the torso was filled with broken and burned cables and fibers that hung from it like something out of a horror movie. Jet black muscles that looked like they'd been woven flexed with spastic nervousness as it raised a hand and pointed a shaky finger at them. It's face was almost expressionless and at first Pinkie thought it was wearing something like a ski mask until she saw that it merged into the skin below the things glowing blue eyes. Those eyes however were plainly shocked and darted back and forth between each of them again and again. Its mask-like face stretched as a jaw behind it flexed wordlessly. Then it seemed to pause, the finger and its hand dropping back down to the ground lifelessly. It closed its eyes and sighed heavily.

"Well... that complicates things."

Pinkie's brow shot up in surprise at the perfectly normal voice coming from it. There was no hint of pain or even recognition of its current state in its tone. She felt a faint shiver creep up her spine at how unnatural it seemed.

"What happe-Mercer!"

Pinkie Pie turned around again at the new voice, a little queasy from the constant whiplash she was getting. Another alien had appeared from a side passage and was now helping up the one Applejack had punched into the far side of the cargo bay. It turned to bring a matching weapon up to bear and paused with a nearly identical reaction to the bisected one.

"That's not poss-"

"Will, I think we need to get with Liam and rethink the plan. A LOT," the half destroyed thing behind them interjected wryly.

"Who are you?!" shouted Sunset suddenly at the three individuals from behind the safety of Rarity's crystal shield.

"More like what are you. Who they are is a bunch of idiots who tried to pick a fight with us and got their butts handed to them," Rainbow said, her usual cockiness returning after their victory.

The newest member of the group of aliens lowered its weapon to the ground and stood there, staring at them. They stared back at it and the others for nearly a minute, no one moving, until the new one began approaching them slowly and unsteadily. Fluttershy whimpered softly and Rarity glanced at her and the others for a moment before grunting and putting up a second layer of crystals between it and them. She breathed heavily with the exertion of putting up so many around them and holding them in place without any aid.

The thing paused and put up its hands in a placating manner. "I'm not going to try anything. Honest. I'm sorry for how this went down, it was a huge mistake. We weren't expecting to find-... we were expecting someone else to show up. Plus it looks like A- looks like your friend is waking up."

Pinkie frowned as the little voice in the back of her mind wheedled at the hamster in its wheel to get the generator spinning to turn the lightbulb on. The hamster was sleeping though and didn't want to wake up and the lightbulb still hadn't been replaced yet. She made a mental note to get someone on that.

Applejack groaned from the rubberized floor and slowly rolled over onto her back, cursing softly the whole way. Her arm muscles were twitching intermittently and she reached up with her other hand to rub them. Fluttershy and Rarity rushed to her, the crystal shield dropping ahead of them.

"Applejack! Are you alright?" a very distressed Rarity asked as she gingerly touched her woozy friend's head.

"Uhhhhaaaa... what the hell happened?"

"You took a Tazer rifle to the shoulder," the alien that had addressed them said as he walked up behind them in near complete silence. Rarity and Fluttershy jumped a little and put themselves between it and Applejack, fear carved into their faces.

The thing sighed and rubbed the back of its head then squatted low with its arms lying across its armored knees. It's face, despite the lack of a clearly defined mouth, looked like it was stuck in a grimace. Pinkie noticed it had a funny looking "1" made out of three slashes carved into its chest.

"The hell's a Tazer?!" Applejack said through gritted teeth.

"It's a non-lethal stun weapon. For incapacitating targets. Uses a high voltage current-"

"Alright, that's enough! She needs help! You said this was a mistake so can you fix it?" rebuked Fluttershy.

The alien thing seemed taken aback for a few moments before it nodded. "There won't be any lasting damage. She just needs rest and maybe a dose of painkillers for any cramps that might happen, though that's unlikely."

Fluttershy exhaled in relief and placed a hand on AJ's good shoulder. The rest of her friends walked over to them, giving the stranger a wide berth as they did so. They all knelt down around their prone friend and began helping her up. The strange being watched them for a bit then looked back into the ship.

"Tell you what. We have a place she can rest in comfort till she's up and moving again. Why don't we take her there while the rest of us head to the bridge to meet up with the Progenitor."

Rainbow Dash looked up in confusion. "The what?"

The alien grimaced, again creeping everyone out slightly at the way its face moved without a defined mouth, and cast about for a second before replying. "Our... leader or spokesperson for lack of a better description. It will be easier to explain when we're all together-"

"Just who and what are you?! Did someone on the other side send you?" asked Sunset again loudly, clearly in distress. "How did you get here from Equestria without the portal?"

The target of her anger and confusion blinked a few times. "We're Legionnaires and we're- we're not from anywhere with that name. Why would you-"

"But this ship- it's name is..." Sunset interjected.

The thing stared at her dumbly for a few seconds then looked around. It's eyes shot open and it brought a hand up to its face with a loud smack. "Oh... oh yeah, this is gonna be a nightmare," it said with a quick jerking nod. "Come on, we need to get going so we can clear all this up before things get any crazier than they already are."

"Wait, what do you-" Twilight began asking before jumping up and readying her magic around her outstretched hands, as the thing rose and began crossing the last couple of yards between them. It stopped suddenly and held up its hands once more.

"Easy! EASY! I'm disarmed! Jeez..."

"And I'm un-legged in case you'd forgotten or just missed it!" a voice called out from behind them. The girls turned and stared as the torso of the alien that had tried to jump them began clumsily walking on its hands back towards the ramp, scowling the whole time.

The Legionnaire closest to them looked out into the dark and winced, placing one hand on its hip while the other was placed on its slowly shaking head. "Jax? The hell happened to you?"

"The reality breaking one happened to me, that's what!"

Pinkie jumped a little with surprise as the #1 alien turned to look directly at her before quickly looking at the others as well. The nagging thought was back again. She really needed that light bulb replaced.

"Not surprising after what we just saw. So, you need a hand? Or maybe a foot... or two?"

"That's horrible! He's in terrible shape and you're joking about it?" Fluttershy remanded it with a scowl.

"Sorry, just habit. We're fans of morbid humor since its almost always ironic with us. Don't worry, he's fine. Just needs some work. Mercer, you up and about?" he ended as he looked over his shoulder at the Legionnaire AJ had punched. He was walking towards them with the other alien that had tried to shoot them, apparently unconcerned that his chest had been almost completely caved in.

"Yeah, just don't ask me to sing any arias till I can get this popped back out. Thanks Alphonse," it said in a raspy voice as the previously unnamed alien picked up it's dropped Tazer rifle and handed it to him. It took the difference for Pinkie to notice that they'd all been speaking in the exact same voice. Apparently she hadn't been the only one to notice as Twilight suddenly popped up, her earlier fears replaced with nervous curiosity.

"Excuse me, but you all sound completely alike and you've been talking about maintenance and repairs with each other. Are you machines? I mean, robots or A.I.?"

The three looked at each other then laughed shortly. "That's a... difficult question to answer."

"You know, you're all pretty terrible at answering questions," Rainbow said as she helped Applejack to her feet, her good arm draped over Dash's shoulder. "Trying to hide something?"

The unnamed Legionnaire next to Mercer shook it's head. "No, we just don't know the answer to that one for sure."

"How can you not-" Sunset began asking before the #1 marked Legionnaire held up a hand.

"Tell you what, we'll answer anything we can in just a bit. Right now I'd like to get moving to the bridge if you're good with that? We can drop off A- your friend on the way" It paused and raised a questioning brow ridge.

The girls all looked at one another. Twilight and Rainbow Dash both seemed interested, while Fluttershy and Rarity both looked uncertain. Sunset still looked shaken up but nodded, her arms hugging herself tightly. Applejack just glared at them until she winced. That made up Fluttershy and Rarity's mind for them and they nodded. Pinkie Pie nodded as well though rather more energetically than the others. This was starting to look a lot less scary and a lot more exciting!

"Okay, great. I'm Will by the way."

"Uhhhh... just Will?" asked Rainbow Dash?

"Yeah...?" Will replied slowly. "Something wrong?"

"The rest of you all have crazy sounding names; Jax, Mercer, Alphonse. I've got no idea what those are supposed to mean. Will I get but usually there's, you know, more?"

Will blinked then shook his head quickly before staring at Dash. "I... how's someone supposed to respond to that?" It flicked its eyes up like it was considering something then looked back at them. "I mean, what are your names?"

"Heh, I'm Rainbow Dash. Athlete supreme," Dash said cockily.

"Rarity. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I think..." she said as Jax made it to the top of the ramp paused, his sparking entrails trailing across the floor unnervingly.

"I'm Fluttershy...yeeee," Fluttershy tried to say before devolving into a squeak when they all turned to look at her. They all blinked as one and seemed to shiver for a moment.

"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said as she pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil from her pants pocket and started writing in them quickly, glancing at each of the Legionnaires now and again.

"Sunset Shimmer. Sorry about jumping on you earlier. I thought you might have been... someone else," Sunset said just clearly and loudly enough to not be a mumble.

All of the Legionnaire's eyes had continued to grow larger and larger as the introductions went on. Now Will blinked rapidly then turned with the other three to look at-

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! This ship looks amazing! How many parties have you had here? I bet this would be a fantastic place for them!"

Will blinked and was about to reply when a loud and angry country voice cut in. "Ah'm Applejack and the farm y'all just trashed is mah family's."

Will and the others winced sharply and each rubbed the back of their heads almost in unison. Pinkie wondered how they managed to do that so often. If it was a trick she needed to figure out for parties with identical siblings and pony doppelgangers.

"Sorry about that. We... lost control over the end point of our jump gate. Normally it shouldn't even be possible to open one so close to a planet's surface. We didn't have a lot of time to react when we transited through."

Twilight's eyes widened and her writing become even more hurried. "Can you tell us-" she stopped as Will shook his head.

"No, if we're continuing this conversation it's with the Progenitor. Just makes sense so no one has to repeat anything."

Twilight slouched a little in disappointment but still nodded in agreement.

"You need any help there? We'll get you to a bed you can rest in," Mercer asked Applejack in his damaged voice.

"Not from any of y'all. And I don't need any rest. Ah'm fine, just... let's get goin',"she replied, her upper lip twitching a bit at the corner.

Mercer recoiled a little in surprise and glanced at Will. Will motioned towards the corridor he'd come from with a tilt of his head. "You all head back to the shop and get fixed up. I'll let you flip a coin for who carries Jax's ass."

"Oh hardee har har. See what happens the next time you lose a limb..." Jax muttered as he limped up with the rest of them and plopped down on his opened torso, arms crossed in front of him.

Will chuckled then faced the girls with a strange grin.

"Okay, I guess we're all heading for the bridge. From here it's a little to the front and up a couple levels. Stick close and watch your footing. The ship's leaning enough to make walking tricky in some places," he said then began heading for the corridor opposite the one he'd come from originally. The girls all glanced at one another and as a group all followed behind, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash helping Applejack along in spite of her protests.

As they made their way through one corridor after another the girls looked about in wonder, confusion, and also disappointment. While the ship was cleanly built with a very futuristic look, it also was fairly plain and any obvious technologies they saw were familiar rather than alien.

Twilight in particular seemed rather let down by the lack of anything obviously beyond her understanding.

"So how far away did you all-"

"Sorry Twi, just gonna have to wait."

"Hey, how'd you know her nickname?" Sunset asked quickly.

"Huh? Oh, I uh... I didn't. Just made sense to shorten her name like that. Twilight Sparkle is a bit of a mouthful," Will replied smoothly. Pinkie however noticed him twitch slightly before he replied. She frowned and poked the mental hamster again until it rolled over and got running with a small squeaking huff of annoyance. Something about what the Legionnaires kept saying was bugging her and she needed more attention to figure it out.

They remained silent as Will led them up a flight of spiral stairs situated around a central open shaft. A couple decks below them at the base of the shaft was a large disk that glowed a reddish purple hue and sparked now and then. At each floor of the ascent a large ring encircled the open shaft.

"So what does-"

"Later Twilight."

Pinkie caught his follow mutterings with her party planning listening senses, the ones she used whenever she needed to plan a surprise party but couldn't ask anyone about it.

"Rather not give into the crazy until Liam says he sees you too..."

They continued in silence again, apart from a few mutterings between the girls here and there.

"He's kind of freaky. ...what! Hey, don't give me that look! You can see every muscle on him! Don't tell me that isn't weird. And that face..."

"I know what you mean Rainbow Dash, but you must admit they're rather impressive muscles. He'd wear a suit rather well. Actually, I wonder if they wear clothes at all? They all look alike apart from those markings."

"Oh man, he's naked! That just hit me Rare! If he had junk it would be hanging out all over the place hahaha!"

"Rainbow Dash! That's not appropriate or even applicable! He might not even be male, especially if he's mechanical and not biological!"

"Nope, sorry Twi. That voice is way too guy to be a girl or girl-bot."

"Ah'll tell ya what it is. It ain't right is what it is. It and the others. They're not natural."

No one had anything to add to that so silence reigned as they continued onward. After a few more minutes they reached a heavy set of sealed doors. Will stepped to the side and palmed a panel beside the barrier. After a few moments it beeped loudly and the door began to slide apart from the center with just a slight hiss of sound.

Will turned towards them and said, "Allow me to be the first to welcome you aboard the bridge of the Legion Ship Celestia. You're the first humans we've given that privilege to. Just try not to use magic until the Progenitor gets over the inevitable shock."

From the depths of Pinkie's mind a precisely aimed party cannon fired a brand new bulb with pinpoint accuracy, striking dead center into its mental socket and lighting up with the brilliance of a star on steroids and at least two unnamed drugs for that extra colorful corona.

"Oh! That's the thing!" Pinkie cried out suddenly as the door began to make a number of loud thunking sounds it finished opening.

"What thing?" Will asked in bewilderment.

"How'd you know we're human or English or that we use magic? You just dropped out of the sky from space so is there a travel agency for aliens? Ohhh! Do they have a list of all the best party spots on the planet? No wait, how about in the whole UNIVERSE???"

Will's eyes shot open in horror while his jaw dropped slightly. The girls all matched his expression as each turned from Pinkie Pie to stare at the other.

The moment was broken as a new, slightly shorter figure walked around a large set of equipment that blocked any direct view into the bridge.

"Hey Will, that you? You all finish securing those farmers? I've been going over the data we managed to collect and I think we might be in luck with that other ship-" the figure, much more fleshy and human than Will and much less colorful than the girls, stopped mid sentence as he caught sight of both parties. The tablet computer he was holding clattered to the floor. His eyes darted back and forth rapidly and Pinkie noticed they were an unusual hue of blue with a weirdly familiar red-purple tint around the iris. He slowly turned his head towards Will, his eyes not leaving Pinkie and her friends until he'd fully faced the Legionnaire.

"They're...?"

Will nodded, his eyes darting back and forth between them and the young man standing in complete shock on the other side of the doorway. He seemed to nod slightly then turned his gaze back on them, a slight panic in his eyes. They all stood there for a long moment until he twitched his head and chuckled nervously.

"...well, guess we don't have to blow up the ship then."

"YOU WERE GOING TO BLOW UP OUR FARM?!" Applejack yelled loudly, causing everyone to flinch away from her. The yell became more feral and she charged at him with her fist cocked back, her magic already forming her outfit from the glove outwards over the rest of her.

Author's Note

Yes, managed to get the meeting in under 40k words. (as bad as that sounds, major improvement over previous version)

For reference (and because I decided to marathon ME Andromeda and started dreaming ship designs afterwards) here's the L.S. (Legion Ship) Celestia

CH 3: Trends and Patterns

Time seemed to slow down for Liam as the enraged teen flew at him, magic trailing behind her gloved fist like a rising tide. In that sliver of heightened perception and adrenaline his mind examined the situation as best it could

Okay, hold up just a moment, just hold everything. Let's take stock of this. That's... Applejack. That's... APPLEJACK. About to punch you. Normally you wouldn't need to worry about taking a hit. You've survived worse. However, you're apparently now in the Twilight Zone and this punch has honest-to-god MAGIC behind it judging by the sudden wardrobe addition. So if you add this to today's list of losing most of your family, being forced to flee from your home, and crashing through a jumpgate into an entirely different UNIVERSE then... yeah, I think we're fresh out of diplomatic responses.

Well trained reflexes kicked in and his eyes narrowed in calculation. He stepped back into the wall panel behind him and brought his arms up, one hanging over the other. He waited another heartbeat to be sure of the distance then quickly flexed a number of muscles from his hands to his elbows. A couple feet ahead of him the air distorted twice, once in front of Applejack's chest and the other in front of her thighs. Her punch quickly became a flail as she was sent flying backwards a yard or two then tripped over a heel and fell onto her back with a small gasp. Liam just exhaled sharply as he was momentarily pressed back into the wall. He recovered quickly and stepped forward, checking the rest of the group she'd arrived with as he did so, ready to fend them off as well. It rapidly became apparent that wasn't going to be necessary though. None of them had been as close as Applejack and had felt only a scant part of the field's accelerating influence, but it had been enough to momentarily upset their sense of direction and balance. Now they were all stumbling around dizzily, most grasping at each other or whatever was close at hand to steady them. One recovered more quickly than the rest and pointed a tan colored finger at him.

"Was that magic?!" Sunset shouted accusingly while steadying herself against the nearest wall.

Liam's mind blanked as the words cut through his anger and annoyance. The voice was chillingly close; not a perfect match, but close enough that he momentarily lost the focus he'd used to fend off the enraged teen. The sound was younger and less mellow than the one he'd heard time and time again, but with the same inflections and personality. The feeling of wrongness only intensified as the others rushed over to Applejack.

"AJ! You okay?" the chromatic haired girl asked, the first to regain their balance. Her voice, scratchy and energetic, made his pulse quicken and a chill ran down his back.

"Goddammit, what in tarnation was that? Did he just use magic on me?" Applejack asked angrily, glaring at him in anger though with a touch of shock and surprise as well.

Southern twang? Check. Country-isms? Kinda check? Relaxed and grounded tone? Not check. His sense of reality warped a little bit more in every direction it could find.

"Sure looked that way," Rainbow Dash said as she helped Applejack back up. They scowled at Liam and Will as the Legionnaire quickly walked over to his originator, one hand on his forehead.

"Liam, meet Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. Sooooo... is this going to become a thing now? Because I'd rather not end up like Jax every time we meet each other," he said as he haggardly looked from the Progenitor to the girls and back.

Liam whipped around and stared at Will. "Wait, what happened to Jax?"

Will tossed up his hands. "Pinkie bisected him with some kind of explosive, no idea how. He's fine, but he does need a new body."

"She... what?" stammered Liam, his mouth nearly hanging open. A memory of two blackened eyes staring out of a ruined face rose through the fog pervading his mind like an angry leviathan. It was more than enough to evaporate the confusion in his mind. He slowly turned and locked Pinkie with a deep scowl. The party planner recoiled at the venom behind the glare and gave a small nervous wave. He began to open his mouth, to yell what he didn't know, when Will laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. He's fine, no damage to the brain case. We didn't lose him too," he said softly. Liam held his gaze out of the corner of his eye for a second or two before looking at Pinkie again. She took a slow step towards the rest of her friends, then another. He saw the fear in her own and he felt his temper burn back down to no more than a low simmering heat.

"Will, I'm not going to have good a good reaction to anything that looks human for awhile. Keep an eye on me and pull me back if I go off the deep end."

That elicited a short chuckle from Will. "Sure thing. First bit of advice? Don't go looking in any mirrors till that passes."

Liam snerked at the jab. "Okay, okay, point taken... smartass. I'll rein in the melodrama. Still, you know what I meant."

Will was about to say something in return when a loud shout drew their attention.

"Hey, the heck are you two talking about? You gonna tell us what that was or are we gonna have to beat it outta you like we did with your friends?"

Liam felt the anger rising again but yanked it back with a long exhalation. It's Rainbow Dash, she's just like that. It's just Dash, so don't take it personally. It's- oh what the hell am I saying???

He laughed out loud at how absurd his "calming" thoughts sounded, drawing confused frowns and a couple glares from the group of teens. He put up a hand and grinned impishly. "Sorry, this is a little outside my normal experiences, that's all. I saw a threat and fell back on some trained reflexes."

"You trained to use magic to throw people around?" asked Twilight.

"Wait, magic? Oh! No, no it's- it's not magic, it's an application of inflationary physics..." replied Liam with less than complete certainty now. A lot of long held views and facts were suddenly coming into considerable question in the face of the seven in front of him. Twilight's eyes shot open followed closely by her pulling out a pad of paper and a pencil and writing in them furiously.

"You expect us ta believe that? Ain't never seen any physics do somethin' like that before," Applejack said testily.

"And I've never seen anyone materialize a glove out of thin air," Liam countered. He hadn't entirely dispelled the memory of her fist flying at his face just yet. They locked glares for a moment until Rainbow Dash pointed at him, drawing his attention away.

"That's a load of bull. Your buddy Will already let slip you knew all about magic! Pinkie called him out and he couldn't deny it!"

"Wait, we don't- Will, what the hell did you say?"

Will made a timeout motion with his hands. "Hold on, I didn't say a thing! Pinkie just asked me a question that caught me off guard!"

"He didn't need to say anything! He panicked when she asked why your metal buddies were familiar with people and can talk like us and know about magic."

Liam blinked a few times then lowered his head and groaned faintly. He needed to end this circus before the last threads of sanity in him snapped. "Geeeeez... okay, we can answer all of those. I mean, seeing me has got to answer a few of those right?" Rainbow nodded slightly but her expression didn't turn any less suspicious or annoyed. "Right, I get it. I'll take us somewhere we can talk-"

"Oh no, I'll go with you're not a brain eating alien - for now - but that doesn't tell us JACK about who you are and what you're here for. Will said we'd get answers by coming to you, so we're not going anywhere else until we get them!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she crossed her arms.

"Like why y'all were plannin' to BLOW UP THE FARM," Applejack said in a low growl.

"We were going to destroy the ship, not your-" Liam stopped and shut his eyes. Stop thinking of them as some sort of larger than life characters. No matter what else they may be, they're teenagers and you remember what that group is like. Fight or flight ratcheted up to eleven with hormones and adrenaline making twelve a very possible option, he thought as memories of unfriendly hallways and past friends flashed across his mind.

He kept his eyes closed then sat down and crossed his legs, eliciting mutters from his audience. He could hear Will following his lead with the faint click of metal on metal not long after. When everything was silent again he opened his eyes. They were all still there; impossibly, undeniably, standing across from him. But he was able to focus further past that now and he sighed a little in satisfaction.

"Okay, let's start over. We'll do the Q&A here." He looked around the assembled group. "Who wants to start?"

The girls all glanced at one another for a bit with low mutters and gestures before a kind of consensus formed as Twilight, Sunset, and Applejack stepped to the front of the group.

Sunset tapped Twilight on the shoulder. Twilight looked down at her notes then back up and started to ask her questions.

"Our farm. WHY?" Applejack demanded before Twilight could get a word in, the terse phrase more condemnation than question. Twilight and Sunset shared a look that Liam caught out of the corner of his eye that left him with a sense that things had just gotten even more tense.

"It wasn't by choice. We were trying to return home when the jumpgate suddenly... I honestly don't know what to call it. Redirected, I guess? What should have dropped us just outside our base ended up opening in the sky of your world. Which, I'll add, we'd all thought was impossible due to the physics involved. It shouldn't have been able to open that close in to a large gravity well or atmosphere and stayed stable long enough for us to transit through."

Applejack watched his face as he talked, her eyes darting one way then another. Sunset did roughly the same while Twilight was being, well, Twilight, and writing furiously in her notebook.

"Well, you managed to get your story straight between the two of you. Now let's hear about y'all blowin' up everythin'," said Applejack with a further narrowing of her eyes.

Liam swallowed as discreetly as he could. Despite his irritation with her bolstering his nerves, interrogation by Applejack was proving to be one of the most unnerving experiences he'd ever had.

"It's standard procedure to prevent our tech falling into the wrong hands. Any ship that crashes or is incapacitated in a foreign territory and can't make the repairs necessary to get moving under its own power is destroyed."

Applejack raised an eyebrow and looked at him for a long moment, her eyes boring into his. "So your gadgets and computers are worth more to ya than mah family's home and our lives? Go to hell. Actually, get yer pile of shit spaceship off our property and far, far away from here and then GO. TO. HELL," she said with finality.

Both Liam and Will recoiled at the rancor behind every word. They glanced at each other then looked at the other two spokespeople for answers and clues. Twilight was gripping her notepad tightly while biting her lower lip, her eyes darting from Applejack to them and back. Sunset was more forthcoming, though not in the way they'd hoped. Instead she simply shook her head softly while looking between them to make sure they'd seen the motion.

Okay, tread lightly. Got it he thought with mounting unease.

"I'm sorry Applejack, but it's a precaution that we've been forced to take based on experience."

Applejack didn't say a thing. She didn't really need to. The twitch of her lip was shouting her feelings on the matter.

"One second, who is 'we' here? All that Will would tell us is he and the others are 'Legionnaires' , whatever that means, and you're called the 'Progenitor'. Again, whatever that means. It just left us more confused than we were before," Sunset said as she leaned back on one foot and crossed her arms in front of her. Liam suddenly remembered a very similar scene where a crimson and gold haired girl asked what a certain lavender skinned science geek was up to.

Oh great, at this rate I really am going to lose it. The universe has cracked, fiction is fact, fact is fiction, and now I'm having trouble telling them apart. To his side Will coughed and raised a hand slightly, pulling him out of his mental grumbling.

"Sorry about that. I was hoping that you all seeing him would help calm things down," he directed at Sunset with a raised eye ridge. Sunset's brow arched up in comprehension.

"Because he's human? That really just adds more questions Will," she noted with a wry smile, the first Liam humor had seen from any of them since Applejack had tried to clock him. He'd take whatever improvements in the mood he could get right now.

"Yeah, didn't quite go as I hoped..." Will trailed off, making a point to not look at Applejack.

Liam waved his hand to get everyone's attention back. "Okay, let's start there. Yes, I'm human. As far as I can tell so are all of you, though no one else I've met has been quite so... chromatic." Key word there being met...

"What do you mean?" asked Pinkie.

"Well, for one thing, where I'm from hair doesn't come in that color...," Liam replied as he pointed at her. He glanced over at Rainbow Dash and added, "... and don't even get me started on that combo."

"Hey, you got a problem with how I look?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She blushed faintly as Will hid a snicker behind his hand.

"Sorry, it's just for us skin comes in various shades of brown to tan to white... though less than that," Will said as he nodded towards Rarity. "Same with hair, though you can also get some blonde and red tones."

"For you?" Dash noted skeptically.

Will rolled his eyes. "Okay, for him and the humans we're used to," he corrected with a nod at Liam.

"Oh my, was that why you seemed so shocked when you saw us? I'd certainly understand if that's the limited palette you're familiar with," said Rarity almost pityingly.

Liam stifled a nervous laugh as he thought of all the ways he could reply to that question and instead settled on the safest one that had the added bonus of being completely honest. "Yeah, that was a big one out of all the thoughts I had when Will brought you here."

"But if you're not familiar with people that look like us... does that mean you come from somewhere else besides Earth?" asked Twilight intently. The other girls also became more focused after that and Liam had to once again stifle his manic amusement at the situation. It didn't last though as his brain revved up to deal with a key bit of information Twilight had given him. Time to probe for more.

"Earth huh? Funnily enough that's the name of our world. Somehow I doubt they're one in the same though, especially since ours doesn't have 'magic'," he said, adding in the finger quotations around the last word.

"You do know you almost got flattened with a magic-ed up punch just a minute ago right? If you hadn't pulled... whatever that was, you'd be doing a lot less talking and a lot more groaning ," Rainbow Dash added before shrugging when Fluttershy gave her a disappointed look. "What? It's true!"

Liam nodded. "Don't worry Fluttershy, I know she didn't mean anything by it and I'm not denying what it looked like either. It's more that magic is the stuff of myth and fiction for us and my first instinct would be to look for a high tech answer. There's a famous saying from an author all of us like: 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'. I was really hoping that might be the case here," he replied, knowing that was almost certainly not the case. That just brought up the idea of how much he did actually know about the current situation. God, how do I even tell them about the series and the stories and the unintentional intrusion into their lives? Actually, how does that even work?

His train of thought was derailed as Twilight practically bounced into the air. "Do you have any of their works with you? I'd love to look them over as soon as-" she paused as Applejack huffed loudly. "-as you finish telling us who you are. Ahehe..."

"Sure, that won't be a problem. As for who we are, I'll continue with what Will's told you. Will and the others you met are Legionnaires. It's a name we came up with for his... Will, what would you say? Kind? Race? Species? We still haven't hammered that out."

Will rubbed his chin for a moment. "I've always been partial to kind. No extra baggage unless you really want to add it in."

Liam nodded. "Will and his kind then."

"But what are they? I've never seen anything like them and Jax barely cared that he'd been blown in half - sorry," said Twilight as Liam gave her a mild frown. He paused for a moment as he considered his next words.

"They're... me."

"You mind explaining that a little more?" Sunset said after waiting a few seconds, rolling her hand to encourage him on.

Liam bounced his head a little with a grunt and tossed a thumb at Will. "It's complicated. There is no real difference between myself or Will or any of the other Legionnaires. They're copies of my mind in synthetic bodies. Every one of them, all half a million-" A memory of burning wrecks spinning over a lost world flashed across his mind before he he tossed it aside, "-or so, has all my memories, all my dreams and fears, everything that makes me, well, me."

Every one of the girls' jaws dropped open as their eyes switched back and forth from him to Will and back again.

"Half a million? You have HALF A MILLION YOUS? Your birthday parties must be amazing!" exclaimed Pinkie in awe.

"But... HOW?" said Twilight in a near frenzied state now, her pencil almost boring a hole in the paper under it.

Liam rubbed the back of his head and shrugged with an awkward grin. "No clue."

The pencil tip snapped with a small pop as Twilight jerked a little. "...what?" she said at length. "How can you not know? How did you build them then?" Liam leaned back minutely when he noticed her writing hand quivering a little as she spoke.

"Let me rephrase that! I know exactly how they're designed, built, and powered. I have no idea how their minds work other than how to copy them and that they're exact duplicates of mine."

Twilight blinked and looked at Will pleadingly. He shook his head with a faint grin. "Sorry Twilight, no clue here either. We know as much as he does. Literally."

"But-"

"Twilight, do you understand where your own consciousness comes from?" Will asked with a slight lift of an eyeridge.

Twilight blinked then shook her head and sighed. "No, and I get what you're saying. It's just... I was hoping for more when you and the others turned out to be, uh, friendly," she said, her eyes momentarily twitching in Applejack's direction. "You're the first confirmed non-biological life we've seen! The first mechanical lifeforms! It's an incredible and historic moment. You have to tell me all about them later."

Out of the corner of his eye Liam saw Sunset stifle a small cough and he wondered just what she was thinking in that moment. Some sort of creature from her home maybe? He set those questions aside for later though and focused on the disappointed science nerd.

"I'm sorry we don't have more. We're still trying to figure that out after more than seventy years of research. I wouldn't mind telling you more later."

"Seventy years? Ah thought you said they were copies of you? How the heck does that work, huh?" Applejack asked suspiciously. Liam grinned and lifted his hand from his knee and turned it so the girls could see the large watch on the wrist. The circle around the face was made of polished metal with a striking, cross-hatched grain and instead of the usual display of hours and minutes it had a set of three numbers taking up the available space.

Y:99 M:8 D:14

"Not hard when I'll be turning a hundred in a few months."

Silence filled the corridor once more until Rainbow nodded evenly and almost disinterestedly. "Yeah, it all makes perfect sense." She glanced at the others calmly and tossed a thumb at Will and Liam. "They're lying aliens. Can we beat them up now?"

"NO!" both of her targets cried out and facepalmed in unison.

Sunset was forced to hide a laugh at the pair's antics and then once more as Pinkie fell to the floor in a giggling mess, even as her mind reeled at Liam's answer.

"How- how, how can you be a hundred years old? You barely look older than any of us!" she said around giggles as she got her mixed amusement and mild shock under control. For a moment she wondered why it didn't shock her more. Probably because at this point nothing would surprise me about these guys? Well, that and I lived in the same castle as a ageless Alicorn for most of my life.

Liam leaned his head to the side and gave her a pained look. "Really? A teenager? Why don't you twist the knife while you're at it? I know my face looks young but geez..."

Sunset suppressed another laugh and looked him over once more. He was maybe an inch taller than most of them with cream colored skin. His hair was a deep brown, a color that was rare among everyone that she'd met either here or in Equestria. It was short with a slight widows peak that flipped up slightly towards the front. The proportions of his features were a little off as well, his face more angular, his eyes slightly smaller and narrower, and while none of those traits was that strange on its own taken all together it became noticeably odd.

What really stood out though was the color of his eyes. The iris was for the most part a bright electric blue but around the outer edge it deepened to a red tinted lavender or purple. Something about the color nagged at the back of her mind but she forgot about it as Rarity chimed in with her own question.

"Darling, you mean to tell us you're really that old? Is it something from your world then that lets you look like that, maybe something you'd be willing to sell or trade for?"

"Rarity!" Applejack interjected sharply.

"Oh don't be obtuse Applejack, this could be a golden opportunity to enhance my future business! Everyone wants couture that can bring out their inner youth and beauty but just imagine if I could package that with actually letting them keep that inner youth!"

"I've said before ya can have a vain streak a mile wide at times but this is goin' too far. It's just not natural. Even you've gotta see that," replied Applejack sternly. A small cough brought both of their attentions back to their human visitor.

"Rarity, I'm sorry to tell you this but it's not something I can give you. Not because I wouldn't want to, but because in all likelihood can't. I'm the only person on my planet like this. It's not just youth either, it's biological immortality. Do you really want to outlive everyone you've ever known? That you will ever know?"

Rarity's eyes went wide and her lower lip quivered for a moment. "Sweetie... no, no I wouldn't," she said as she shuddered with her eyes squeezed tightly shut. When they opened again they were misty. "Darling, how can you live with that?" she asked in a near whisper.

Liam shrugged. "For me it isn't that bad. I've got half a million companions that are failing to age right along with me. Heck, some of them are even older than me at this point."

"I suppose I should have guessed that Will and the others weren't vulnerable to the ravishes of time. But what about your family? Don't you have parents, or brothers and sisters?"

"I'm an only child and thankfully I haven't lost my parents yet."

"Wait, you just said you were the only one to not age so how are they..." noted Twilight gingerly.

"They're still around thanks to a quirk of those physics I mentioned earlier. I may be nearly a hundred now but to everyone I've known from my planet I was born twenty six years ago."

Pinkie scratched her head and silently counted on her fingers. "Is a space year four Earth years?"

Will chuckled. "No they're the same length, but our years are more elastic than others."

"Will, you really need to work on explaining things. Seriously dude, you completely suck at it," Rainbow said as she gave him a half-lidded stare. Will rolled his eyes and returned her stare in full.

"Explaining things is his job, I'm just here to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or go off the deep end now that the universe we knew has thrown us a curve ball," he said, pointing a finger at Liam as he did.

Liam nodded sagely in turn and said, "Yeah, you could think of Will as my constant sanity check. He's been with me longer than anyone and keeps me on the straight and narrow. But returning to the topic of explanations, instead of trying to say everything from here on out it will really be easier to show you some old videos from many, many years back." He raised an eyebrow added, "Have we earned enough trust now to take you somewhere we can do that?"

Sunset looked around at her friends to see how they felt. She was interested, no question about that, and she didn't feel threatened by the pair like she had when she first encountered each of them, but she wasn't going to go alone and leave any of them behind. None of them seemed openly against the idea, though Applejack still looked sullen and unenthusiastic. Despite that she didn't decline the offer and just sighed with a nod. Rainbow Dash turned a smirk on Liam and said, "Looks like you just barely earned it. So, alien home movie time?"

"Applebloom, when we git home you and Big Mac go grab yer sister and unload the truck. I'll git some ice and cider ready fer when y'all finish. She and her friends should be done with their sciencey-whatever by now."

"Sure Granny, no problem. Just hope Twilight hasn't blown up the farm," Applebloom replied with a snicker.

"Eyup," Big Mac added with a smile.

"Don't you two worry none, Applejack's with 'em and that girl's more skittish about the farm than the both'a ya combined. She wouldn't let'em do anything risky," Granny quipped in return. Big Mac considered her words for a moment then nodded with another "Eyup". Applebloom laughed once and leaned back in her seat.

"She'll be glad ta know she was worryin' over nothing when she stayed behind. We didn't need another set of hands to load up this time 'round," she said even as she shifted a little to relieve a kink in her back. Fertilizer and feed were always heavy but she hadn't struggled with it as much this year. She wasn't going to insist on unloading the stuff as well though, not when Applejack would be close by and could lift the whole stack of sacks and bags out of the bed without any effort. For that matter, she could probably just lift the truck and dump the stuff out of it that way. Big Mac seemed to be thinking along similar lines and gave a long suffering sigh.

"Yep..."

Applebloom watched him grimace slightly out of the corner of her eye and felt her own face twitch to match. Her brother had been as shocked as any of them when Applejack came back from camp and proceeded to lift the truck's tow trailer with one hand. They'd known of course about her and her friends getting "magic" last year when the other Twilight came to CHS but it had just been one of those odd things that didn't really impact their day to day lives apart from Sunset joining her circle of friends. The super strength though was way more visible and real somehow. Big Mac in particular seemed to have taken the change harder than she or Granny had, probably because he'd always been the muscle on the farm and now Applejack had way overshot him there. There wasn't much farm work left that he was the more able hand at except for fixing the equipment and he'd become a lot more protective of that work since Applejack's return.

"Big Mac-"

"What in blazes?" Granny muttered as she leaned forward in the passenger seat of the truck, cutting Applebloom off. She frowned at the interruption and leaned forward as well then inhaled sharply. A faint redish glow illuminated a rising haze of faint grey smoke against the dark night sky over the nearest hill. The last hill between them and their home.

"Big Mac, step on it!" Granny shouted with a grunt as Big Mac beat her to punch, mashing the gas pedal down and forcing the the aged truck to jump forward along the empty country road. Applebloom winced as the old fabric and padding of her seat failed to stop her worn-out back from pressing into the frame painfully. She barely noticed it though as her earlier words came back to haunt her. Calm down Applebloom, they didn't blow up the farm, everyone's fine. Probably the tractor blew another gasket or there's a fire on the other side of the ridge from us, she thought desperately and entirely unconvinced of any of those options.

Applebloom's thoughts were yanked back to the here and now as Big Mac hit the final curve before the turn for their driveway fast enough to throw her against her seatbelt. She had little time to right herself as he hit the breaks and slewed onto the dirt road, ghostly trees whipping by in the truck's headlights before vanishing into the dark again. She didn't feel any concern at the harried drive, Big Mac had driven this road enough that he could probably do it blindfolded, but her worry about Applejack mounted as the low glow and smoke became greater and more pronounced over the tops of the darkened trees.

They crested the last rise and shot out of the forest into the open field next to their house. Applebloom breathed a sigh of relief as everything was how it was supposed to be. No burned out skeleton of their house, no crater in place of their barn, no sign of anything wrong. In front of the barn were Sunset's bike and a number of cars she recognized belonging to her sister's friends. The red glow flickered across their metal forms and Applebloom turned to look for the source when her breath caught in her throat. An entire section of orchard was completely destroyed and in its place sat... something. It was huge, easily dwarfing the surrounded trees, and looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. She couldn't make out any details about it clearly through the dark other than a metallic reflection granted by the small embers of burning wood laying all around it and the smoke rising from a protrusion on the closest side.

"What the devil is that thing?" Granny screeched as Big Mac hit the brakes. The truck rolled to a stop just in front of their house and all three popped open their doors in a rush.

"Applejack! APPLEJACK! Where are ya dang it? Applejack!"

Applebloom paused to take a couple deep breaths than cupped her hands in front of her. "APPLEJACK!"

"Applebloom, they're not here."

She spun around as Big Mac placed a hand on her shoulder.

"B-But where did they go?"

Big Mac grimaced and began looking around again when Granny's voice called out from back by the truck. "I know where yer sister's gone, the dang fool."

Applebloom ran back over and found Granny squinting at the thing in the orchard, one hand supporting her against the truck. "Do you see them Granny?" she asked, squinting into the dark to try to spot them as well.

Granny sighed. "No, I ain't. But take another look at where that thing is."

Applebloom looked at her with a confused frown then stared back into the night. The thing took up most of the picture she could make out but then she noticed a couple familiar land marks. The tool shed out by the edge of the Everfree to the left and the road heading out to it through the center of the orchard which meant it was in-

Applebloom's eyes shot open and a small sob escaped from her. Big Mac caught up and realized what she'd see as well judging by his pained grunt. She felt him place an arm around her and pull her close followed not long after by Granny's weaker but gentler embrace. She began crying in earnest then, her face pressed into Granny Smith's shoulder, soaking her shirt through completely.

Her grandmother placed a hand on her head and brushed her hair back out of her eyes. "We can cry o'er the Fall section later. Right now we need to git over there and find yer sister. Any other part of the farm and she would'a waited to call the cops but that one... there's not a doubt in mah mind she rushed in. Girl's got more stubbornness than brains at times," she huffed then looked up at her brother. "Big Mac, call the police and let'em know what's happened. Then git the shotgun and git back here. Ah'm not waiting for'em to git all the way out here, not when Applejack's in God knows what kinda trouble over there."

Big Mac nodded and pulled away from the pair then jogged off around the truck and towards the house. Soft golden light spilled out into the yard as he opened the front door and dashed inside. Applebloom felt a sudden yearning to run towards the familiar glow and away from the harsh light creeping out of the Fall harvest. The feeling diminished as Granny began rubbing her head.

"Ah know Applebloom. We'll fix it up again eventually. Those trees're strong and the ground's good. It had a lotta care when it was planted and with some more it'll be just like it was," Granny said confidently. Applebloom felt her pain lessen a little but it didn't vanish entirely. She'd lived with Granny her whole life and caught the faint note of worry underlying her words.

Time seemed to stop as the two stood there, holding each other tightly. Applebloom barely realized the minutes passing by until the golden glow of the doorway opening again broke the moment and Big Mac came out carrying the family shotgun. He stopped at the back of the truck and gently lowered it into the bed along with their single box of shells. He stepped back around to their side and Applebloom noticed he looked a lot more nervous now.

"Phone's down. Reckon that thing must'a knocked down the line along the middle road," he said, pointing down at the road between the orchard sections and then to the left out past the shed and the surrounding hills towards town.

Granny clicked her tongue in annoyance and looked back out over her farm. "Well, nothin' we can do 'bout that from here. Either yer sister and her friends called'em on their cell phones and the're not far behind us or they didn't and the only way'o calling them is ta fix the busted line. Either way, we best git goin'."

Applebloom nodded and turned to open the back door of the truck when Granny's hand shot out against it with a loud twang. "Oh no, yer stayin' here Applebloom. Yer brother and I can handle this but we need ya to stay at the farm in case someone comes ta check on things or in case yer sister and her friends come back while we're gone."

"But Granny Ah-"

"No buts other than yours marching back to the house ya hear? Now git movin'. Big Mac, let's git goin'."

Applebloom watched in stunned silence as Granny Smith got in the passenger seat of the truck behind her and made a deliberate show of locking the doors. She gave Applebloom a small shake of her head and nodded back towards the house. Big Mac got in and began turning the engine over. After a few seconds it caught and roared to life, the loud pop of the exhaust piercing the quiet stillness and shocking Applebloom out of her daze. She took a couple steps back, Granny's eyes never leaving hers as she did, then turned and began slowly walking around the front of the truck towards the house, her head hung low. Big Mac put their family ride into reverse and backed into the field next to the barn and began taking off back the way they'd come towards the split to the orchard road.

Applebloom reached the steps just as they crested the hill and disappeared over the other side. She looked back towards the fading light of the truck's highbeams and stifled a sniffle then ran her sleeve over her eyes to wipe away fresh tears. She turned to head up the steps of the porch when a glint caught her eye and made her blink. She looked to her left and shivered again as she saw the dim firelight glinting off of Sunset's motorcycle as it leaned against the front of the barn. Sunset will know what to do right? She or Twilight will know what that thing is...

She was about to head back up the stairs when something else caught her eye: her bike, resting against one of the pillars inside the barn. She stared at it for a few moments then back out towards the thing in the orchard then back to the bike again. She nodded once before breathing in deeply and running to the barn.

CH 4: Breaking the Ice

Mercer sat up from the gel surface of the table and breathed in deeply then exhaled; once, twice, three times, then, satisfied that he didn't have any loose components or buzzing connectors, slowly and carefully tried speaking.

"Sooooooo... how's it sound? Am I ready for the next 'Legion's Got Zero Talent'?"

Albrecht looked up at the ceiling in consideration and frowned. "Close... but I think you've picked up a low harmonic. Sounds like there's a hum every now and then."

Mercer sighed and hung his head slightly. "Great, that will take a while to find and fix. Dang Mahou Shoujo cowgirls..." He chuckled with a shake of his head then turned to the occupant of the table next to him. Well, most of him anyway.

Darian and Alphonse had done a quick x-ray scan of Jax's head, torso, and arms and had found a number of material flaws introduced to the titanium bone by Pinkie's explosion. They'd opted to put him in a completely new body rather than simply reconnect him with a set of hips and legs just to be on the safe side. Right now he was just a brain case held aloft in Darian's hand, the other holding the temporary generator keeping him conscious, while Alphonse worked to connect the dangling spinal bundles hanging from the case to the inside of his new body's head.

Mercer snickered and said, "Alas poor Jax, I knew him well."

Darian and Alphonse half laughed, half groaned at the tired joke before carrying on with their work. The pristine new body crossed its arms but made no other movement beyond that. Mercer snickered again as he realized that Alphonse had made the connections for Jax's hearing and a few other bits but hadn't gotten around to the mouth yet. It was the perfect opportunity to get in some jabs and jokes. He tried to think of the best ones given the circumstances but his heart just wasn't in it. There were other, more pressing things weighing down his mind.

"Would this be a bad time to address the elephant in the room? Actually, scratch that, more like the blue whale in the room. Elephant doesn't come close in scale to what we're dealing with now."

Alphonse paused for briefly before making one last adjustment and pulling his hands out of the empty skull. Darian disconnected the portable generator and placed the case containing Jax's crystalline brain into the empty head. There was an audible click and the new body came to life fully. Jax reached up and twisted a small dial on the back of his new head, causing the multiple layers of joints and sections to close down into an unbroken skull. He looked up and fixed Mercer with a long stare.

"Well, what do you want us to say? We're kind of screwed. Really, unquestionably screwed. What more can be said besides that?"

Alphonse and Darian winced slightly as they put away the tools they'd been using and looked back at him.

"Let's be honest, does anyone think we're still in our own universe?" Jax continued, looking around with a raised eyeridge. None of them had anything to say in reply. "I mean, I put the chances of this being another world in ours at roughly... let's see, you carry the one, divide by the root... yeah, zero. Particularly after I got blown in half by a thing of sprinkles." The others winced more noticeably this time.

They'd all reviewed the footage from the multiple cameras set into every Legionnaire's head and then watched them again to make sure they weren't seeing things. Jax's footage had clinched it by showing the actual sprinkles inside the bottle as it began glowing. They'd even been able to read the label on it to add insult to injury.

"Worse, last time I checked we'd written off the possibility that jumpgate wormholes connected to anything other than our own space and time. That means we don't even have a theoretical basis to start from for finding a way back. Face it, we're lost without a clue in so many ways right now."

"While we're on the topic of going back I'm gonna play devil's advocate for a second. Do we need to go back?" noted Alphonse.

Jax shook his head and held up a finger. "Unfortunately Al, I can think of two good reasons. First, this is a world that has no experience with us, we have no inherent right to living here unlike back home, and as you just made clear we have too many preconceptions about it. That's trouble waiting to happen. Second, and more important," he said as he raised another finger, " Mom and Dad are still on our Earth. If a week ago you'd asked me if I thought they were at risk there I would have called you paranoid. Now I'm trying not to imagine how far the bastards are willing to go. I can guarantee that as soon as the evacuation order went out any of us nearby made a beeline to them. We might not have expected this but we drilled for it like mad. I'm just not sure where they'd have gone from there, particularly with that damn ship in orbit." He growled along with the others at the mention of the phantom enemy. "All of that means we have to go back to protect our family and make sure this can never happen again," Jax finished as he got up off the table and began stretching his new body.

Mercer considered that for a second then pointed at him and said, "You're right of course but you also brought up something else we need to talk about. How in fucking hell did they get a hold of our tech to make that damn thing? We lost our our second best advantage over them in the space of a day. How? We went above and beyond the call of paranoia with tracking every crystal that went planetside!"

His three doubles shared a look then turned to him and shrugged in unison. Mercer gave a smaller, more tired shrug in kind and said, "Just one more thing to figure out I guess. Just hope the guys back home figure it out faster than we do. Whatever else our situation might be, at least we don't have to worry about being hunted down by-"

"Don't go jinxing us you moron!" Darian said loudly as he smacked Mercer upside the head with a loud metallic ring. "You'd think we'd all have learned by now..."

"Hey, you all need more time to discuss our remarkable ability to tempt fate or are you ready to get back to work?"

The four of them turned to find Jamison peaking around the open doorway to the repair shop with a mildly annoyed expression.

"Sure, what's first on the list?" asked Alphonse. "A distraction sounds pretty good right now."

Jamison stepped into the shop and walked over to a terminal set into the wall. A screen next to it blinked to life, showing an overhead view of the ship and the surrounding trees. He pressed a button and the scene shifted into a wash of white and black. Two points of white, one much larger and brighter than the other, were approaching down the road they'd crashed near to.

"Well have I got the distraction for you. We just finished getting the rest of the sensor arrays up and they spotted this almost immediately. They're headed this way and will get here in a few minutes."

Mercer squinted at the screen and said, "So, vehicle in front and something smaller following behind it more slowly. Do we have an idea who-... oh... we all know who that is right?"

Jamison snorted and said, "Yeah, I think it's safe to say that's Big Mac or Granny in the lead and Applebloom following behind after being told not to. Anyone want to debate that?"

With a small chorus of tired chuckles they all shook their heads. Jamison jerked with a single silent laugh and glanced at the screen in amusement. "You know, I'm kinda hoping I'm wrong. Actually, no, I'm really hoping I'm wrong. That would make this all seem a little less creepy and unnerving and more sane," he said sardonically.

The others all smirked and nodded. Mercer noticed they all looked rather tired which was a very rare occurrence for them. They didn't need sleep and couldn't feel physical exhaustion. But in situations way outside the expected they'd noticed they would still show the symptoms of mental fatigue after awhile. Whether it was real or a remembered response from before they woke up in their new bodies they weren't sure. That wasn't as important as the fact that it had a real effect on them and said volumes about how well they were taking their current situation.

"Speaking of which, how's the meeting with Liam going? Heard anything from Will?" asked Darian.

Jamison blew a pathetic raspberry, artificial lips and their covering making the act almost a lost cause. "Last I heard from Will was a quick text. They were heading to the main conference room to see our founding or something. His exact words were 'things are looking up but Applejack wants to kill us'."

The other four all tilted their heads in confusion. "Uhhhhh... any idea why?"

Jamison grunted and sheepishly said, "She may or may not have overheard the original plan to scuttle the ship in the middle of the orchard."

The others groaned with various displays of facepalming and head shaking. "Great, sounds like we've made a wonderful first impression," Darian said resignedly. "Any other ways we've cocked this up?"

Jamison shrugged and said, "I'm certain we'll find out soon enough but for now we're going to try to avoid making it worse. Which brings us back around to our approaching guests."

Alphonse stood and said, "Say no more, we got it."

"Thanks Al, I appreciate-"

"Mercer, Darian, you two grab a tazer rifle and pistol each and tag along."

Jamison gave him a half-lidded stare. "Appreciation retracted. How does this fit in with 'avoid making it worse'? Didn't we just try this with less than fantastic results?"

Alphonse winked at him. "Simple. They're going to stay back down the corridor, nice and out of sight. I'll be the one to peacefully meet them. No weapons, just talking," he said as he picked up a folding chair lying with a couple others against the wall and began walking toward the door.

Jamison cocked an eyeridge at him. "So why bring them along and armed at all?" he asked.

Alphonse looked over his shoulder at him. "Because I don't know how they're going to react when I tell them Applejack is inside with the rest of the Mane- our guests. I've had enough surprises for one day. The first one nearly ended us and the second could have killed Jax. Plus I still don't trust my eyes, not with something this crazy. But all that doesn't matter really, not right now. You know why?" He waited a second or two for Jamison to hike an eyebrow at him.

"Right now, I don't care who it is, no one's hurting another of us."

Jamison winced softly, first at the near slip of the tongue and then at the declaration. He watched him silently for a few seconds then nodded. "This is one hell of a mess we're in on every possible level, isn't it?"

Alphonse cracked a small smile, just barely noticeable beneath the fabric shroud covering his mouth. "Yeah, it really is. Wish me luck with the 'Apple family'."

"Good luck," Jamison said tiredly as Mercer and Darian each placed a hand on his shoulder as they followed Alphonse out. After they left and the sounds of their steps diminished into nothing he turned and stepped over to Jax. The pilot had returned to stretching out his new body. Without saying a thing Jamison sat down and took a hold of one of his feet and began working the joint around. "Hope things are going well with Liam and Will. We need a win here soon. Also some sanity and a thousand explanations would be nice as well."

Jax snickered then gave Jamison his other foot to work and said, "Those last two? Don't go making any bets on it unless you're itching to burn money. The first one though? Knowing those two the girls are probably too confused or embarrassed right now to think anything bad about us."

Sunset Shimmer looked about in surprise and awe as they stepped through an open doorway into a far more extensively decorated hallway than any they'd been down so far. It was airy and open by comparison to some of the stairways and rooms they'd walked through or past while following Will and Liam. In a way it reminded her of castle in Canterlot. The floor was a mix of of more of the strange patterned metal Liam had used in his lifespan watch with copper highlights that formed mirrored arcing trails across it. Down the center a wide but thin crimson carpet extended out until it slid down into a tiny recess in the floor on either side. The walls were a golden cream color like sand, broken at regular intervals by pillars made of cherry colored tree trunks whose surfaces were lacquered and polished till they gleamed. At the top of each and hanging from one trunk to the next down the hall was a large fabric sheet of a pale light blue hue that bowed gracefully down in the middle before sweeping back up at the ends. All of it was illuminated by a half ring of bright, warm golden light emanating from a collar around the top of each of the trunks.

Beside her Rarity inhaled sharply and froze. She heard a small squeal of joy escape from her the fashionista as she slowly turned around, taking in each part separately and as a piece of the whole. The others were all making similar sounds as they appraised the display. Even Applejack let out a soft whistle having been at least somewhat impressed.

"Come on, there will be plenty of time to look around later," Liam called over his shoulder with a wave of his hand.

"Darling, why didn't you do something similar for the rest of the ship? This is gorgeous! And you simply must tell me what this metal is you've used in the floor. I noticed you had something similar for your, um, watch and it gave me some wonderful ideas for bracelets and highlights."

Liam paused and looked back at her with a sly smile. The same smile that nagged at the back of Sunset's mind every time she saw it. "You mentioned 'couture' as part of your future business a little bit ago. I'm guessing you're a fan of design?"

"Yeah, Rarity's a bit of a fashion nut. Really good at it, but she'll talk your ear off for hours when she finds some new style somewhere. Also, if she asks you to model for her? Run," Dash said distractedly as she slowly moseyed through the hallway with her hands cupped behind her head.

Rarity gave her an annoyed glance then coughed lightly and said, "She's exaggerating, I assure you. I am simply passionate about the subject."

Liam nodded, again with that strange look on his face that Sunset couldn't quite place. He'd had a lot of those since he'd encountered their group and she wondered yet again what was going on in his mind. She thought she had a pretty good idea but wasn't certain. She and her friends all had experience dealing with things from other dimensions or universes, whichever it was, but from what he'd said this was completely new and foreign to him. That had to be off-putting. Not to mention their own first encounters had been much less stressful by comparison.

Well, as easy as going from four legs to two legs and a set of crazy fleshy claws can get at any rate, she thought with a mental laugh. He had to be a bit out of sorts from having his universe suddenly expanded like this.

"I'll keep that in mind. It's not really something we're big on but I can appreciate the design process. It's kind of our entire way of life. Literally. As for the metal... I think you're going to have trouble finding it elsewhere," he said as he looked down at one of the silvery sections beside the carpeted aisle.

"Expensive?" Rarity asked with resignation.

Liam looked at the ceiling in consideration. "Depends. What's the going rate for meteoric metal here?"

Twilight stopped in her tracks and slowly looked back up at him.

"This is... all this is from a meteor? It's not made to look this way?" she said as she slowly looked at the long hallway dominated by the pattern plating.

Sunset glanced around again, impressed at the collection. Didn't Luna give out stones like these that she pulled down to Equis back before she was banished? They must have had to search a long time to find this much.

"Asteroid actually, we got it from the source instead of off the ground. Plus you can't get structures like this other than by letting the metal cool slowly over millions of years so we'd never be able to fake them. Most of this came from our home of Psyche though there are some highlight sections with good mineral inclusions that came other asteroid bases. The trees are from our habitats. Each of the matching column halves came from a tree collected from each of them. They're a variety of cherry that took to the lower gravity surprisingly well and grew much more than they would have on Earth. We thought it was a good metaphor for us as a whole. We both thrived and grew larger than we could have otherwise by leaving our planet."

Sunset's eyes widened as everyone else also came to a stop. Rarity did a couple more turns, looking again at each of the features he'd mentioned as she did. "Oh myyyyyy..." she said breathlessly into the stillness.

"Dude, we're standing on space rock? From actual space?" asked Rainbow Dash as she bent down to inspect the floor under her.

"Yeah, the genuine article. Widmanstatten- er, geometric patterns like that are easy to come by in our daily hauls so we spent some time looking for the ones with the best striations. Think we did a pretty good job too," he said as he slowly turned with his hands on his hips. Sunset noticed he seemed almost surprised at the praise they were giving the hallway.

"Oh man, that's awesome!" she declared as she ran a hand over the polished surface.

"You really are from-" a small wavering voice said just behind Sunset. She turned to find Twilight staring at Liam, her hands hanging loosely by her sides.

"Twilight?" she asked. She stepped over to her friend and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Twilight, what is it?"

"They're actually... this is an actual spaceship. They have a spaceship..." Sunset's eyes widened as tears began to form in the corners of Twilight's eyes.

"Twilight?"

Twilight blinked, seemingly only now noticing Sunset next to her. She shook her head , dislodging the tears and smiled hugely. "It's incredible! I have to ask them about everything they've seen later!"

"Twilight, why were you-"

"Everything okay? You both looked a little out of sorts for a moment there," Liam's voice called over her question.

The others had all walked over together to join them while they were talking, though Sunset noticed that her friends were still sticking together and apart from Liam and Will. Or at least all of them except Pinkie Pie who was discreetly squinting at Will's face. Will seemed to notice something because he'd glance over only for Pinkie to inexplicably be looking at anything other than him than without any apparent movement then suddenly be looking at him again when his attention moved away again. Liam didn't seem to notice any of it and was instead focused squarely on them. Sunset realized he looked a lot more concerned now than he had before and she once more wondered what all those weird expressions of his had been about if this was getting a different reaction.

"I just... it kind of hit home for me. I guess I didn't pay enough attention to when you were talking about planets and-and-... it's just incredible."

Liam blinked in surprise then smiled warmly at her. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For reminding me why we decided to leave home. That sense of wonder. It's been gone late-... it's good to see it again."

"I- um, you're welcome?" Twilight replied uncertainly.

Liam gave a quick, casual thumbs up and turned around to look over the hall again which a much brighter smile.

Sunset also noticed another pair with similar expressions. Fluttershy and Pinkie were smiling hugely at the exchange between them and Sunset knew immediately she was going to have to have a talk with them about their "hobby" before they did something everyone would regret, especially when Twilight was still talking with Timber by phone about every other day. That would have to come later though because she was eager to press on with the tour. Not only because she was growing more and more curious about just who these "people" really were and how they'd come here, but also because she needed to check on what was going on with Twilight as well. Her reaction had been unexpected and concerning.

It felt a little too much like when she tried hiding her Midnight Sparkle fears. I thought we were past that...

"So... movies?" she asked, trying to get everyone back on track.

Liam jumped up as if he'd completely forgotten the reason he'd brought them here. "Right! The conference hall is at the end of the corridor."

Pinkie scratched her head and said "Hall? I thought you said we were going to a conference room. I've never heard of a conference hall before. Is it like a long conference room that everyone shouts down or that you can sit in the back and go to sleep without anyone noticing if the presentation is boring? I wish we had some classrooms like that at CHS. Or is it a hall full of conference rooms? That kind of makes more sense but why would you need that many-"

"Pinkie!" shouted Applejack.

"Yesssssssss?" the avatar of energy incarnate replied with a huge smile.

"How 'bout we just go to it 'stead of sitting around here gawking at the decorations?"

"Ohhh, that does sound faster!" she said then went bouncing down the hallway in the direction they'd originally been heading.

"Sorry about that, Pinkie can be a tad... excitable at times," Rarity said as she waved her hand in the air, trying to find an explanation for the unexplainable.

"She's really nice though and the most helpful person you'll meet, I promise," Fluttershy said sheepishly.

Liam waved both of them off with a lopsided grin while trying to hide a fit of laughter. Sunset was very familiar with that expression at least. Anyone who spent any amount of time around Pinkie was. "It's fine, these halls are usually just filled with politicians and the like. It's a welcome change of pace."

"My, you do move in high circles don't you?" asked Rarity with interest.

"More than I care to remember. Leader of a nation remember?"

"Ah, yes well, it's just..." Rarity floundered until Liam laughed heartily.

"I know, at first glance it's not what you'd expect from me, right?" he inquired with a smirk. Rarity smoothed out her skirt in embarrassment, not wanting to admit he'd been right on the mark. "It's fine, no worries. I dove into that world by necessity when we came home rather than by interest or desire. Still, it gave us an excuse to build this beauty," he said while laying a hand on one of the pillars. "This ship is the diplomatic heart of the Legion, a mobile presidential residence and embassy. It's the reason for the discontinuity with the hallways. The dignitaries we allow on board pass through here from the entry ramp at the front of the ship," he said as he pointed back behind them and away from the direction they'd been heading, "to the conference hall so it's the decorated part of the ship. I'll warn you now, be prepared to see a lot of over-hyped and insincere gifts, plaques, and-" He paused with a frown then breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled. "Like I said, I never wanted to be in politics. But I was the only flesh and blood human among all of us and got a better reception than the others most of the time."

"Yer the only human among y'all," mumbled Applejack.

Liam turned the frown on her for a moment and Sunset swore she saw the corner of his mouth twitch minutely. But then the moment passed and his face returned to a more neutral position.

"Thank you Applejack. That saved me the trouble of showing the recordings from the Ethiopian delegation's response to Will standing in for me."

"Sure, if it gets this over with and y'all out of here faster then Ah'm happy ta help."

Sunset groaned mentally as the two locked eyes for a moment. Liam was the first to break away, turning with a small sigh and gesturing for them to follow him. Everyone fell in quickly except for Applejack who hung back a pace or two. Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose and glowered at her for a moment then started after them.

"Sooooo... any idea what that's about?"

Sunset caught her foot on the floor in her surprise at the voice coming from directly behind her. She hopped once then regained her balance and wheeled around to find Will hunched over enough that his glowing blue eyes were level with hers.

"Will! How do you keep doing that?!" she hissed at him. He shrugged and started forward, motioning towards her friends and their guide with a small nod of his head. The two caught back up with the rest as they passed the second to last set of cheery tree pillars and took up a place to the outside of the bunch.

"To answer your question, rubberized toes and decades of practice. Mind answering that question now?"

"What?"

"Applejack?" he asked again with a small flick of a long metal finger towards her scowling friend. She'd taken up position on the opposite side of the group from them, next to Pinkie Pie. Thankfully, that meant she was distracted enough by the constant volume of questions, giggles, and other excited noises that she didn't seem to hear their conversation.

"So have you put on any parties here?"

Sunset shook her head in exasperation with a soft groan. Will quirked a eyebrow- No, that's not right. He doesn't have any actual eyebrows, just that kinda different colored ridge over his eye. Whatever he called it, he'd raised it and it was clear he was waiting from some form of response.

"Honestly, I've got no idea. I know she's always bragged about how good the harvest from the Fall section is and how many competitions the apples from it have won. It's probably from losing that point of pride?" No point in telling them they're going to be hard hit by losing the produce from this part of the orchard. Applejack will tell them if she wants to... or more likely is forced to for some reason because she sure isn't 'wanting' anything related to them other than them leaving.

Will stood straight up again, his head rising clear over hers, and glanced over at AJ. He narrowed his eyes for a moment and grimaced. "You're sure that's it?"

"Have you ever seen an alien?"

Sunset tilted her eyes up at him. "Pretty sure. Why?"

"It's... let me put it this way. I've been to a lot of places and seen a lot of different expressions while sticking by Liam. The one she's got? It's something more personal. Lost pride makes you sullen and irritable but it doesn't make someone lash out violently, not unless the source of that pride was the center of your life. Does that sound like Applejack?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, that's not her. If she has a center it's definitely her family."

"Hmmmmm... I didn't think so."

She glanced up at the Legionnaire towering over her at her side. "Think you know her that well already?"

Again, a tiny twitch. "She reminds me of someone I knew back from our world. Headstrong and stubborn and blunt but also even-tempered and steady."

Sunset watched him for a moment longer then nodded. "Yeah, that's what she's usually like." Will wasn't lying when Pinkie asked him about how they were familiar with humans and Liam explained the connection between them. So why does every other talk leave me feeling like I'm missing half the conversation?

"So what's up with probing people in their-...what? That's what people from space do in every story!"

"Granny..."

"Ah know, ya don't need ta say it," Granny said softly as the old truck bounced over branches and limbs strewn over the roadway. The closer they got the worse it became and now Big Mac was having to weave around entire uprooted trees. When they'd first entered the orchard the tree tops had hidden the hulking object from sight. Now it was close enough to rise over them.

"Dang thing's gotta be six or seven stories tall," Big Mac said half in awe, half in anger. "Don't know how we're gonna get it outta the orchard."

"Just worry 'bout finding yer sister and her friends, ya hear me?" she told him sharply.

Big Mac grunted. "Sorry Granny."

Granny huffed and looked forward again just in time to see a huge tree blocking the entire road appear in the headlights. Big Mac slammed on the breaks and the truck ground to a halt a few yards away from it.

"Well, looks like we're walkin' from here. Come on, I can see a light. Hopefully that's the girls."

"Eyup."

Granny disentangled herself from the locked seat belt after a few seconds and a curse or two then gingerly climbed out and stretched her back. She had a few new aches from the rough ride over and felt a few joints pop painfully, requiring her to steady herself against the truck. "Big Mac, don't git old. It ain't worth it."

Big Mac walked around and offered a hand to help her but she waved him off and smiled at him. "Don't go thinkin' that means Ah can't handle a rough spell. These old bones still got some sinew left on 'em. Now grab the gun and let's git goin' before that changes."

He nodded and reached back and pulled the gun and box of shells from the bed then pulled out two and slotted them into the barrels with a loud click. He took the lead in cautiously stalking through the trees, Granny following close behind. Brilliant white light spilled through the orchard, casting harsh shadows everywhere as they walked around debris and rock. Then the treeline ended suddenly at one of the aisles and they got their first close look at the thing. Glistening silver metal marred by black streaks and muddy trails. Along its length ran a midline band dotted with long windows in alternating triangles. Nearly blocking out all of it was a brilliant light pouring out of an opening with a broken and busted ramp leading up to it.

"They must'a gone in. Otherwise we'd have found 'em by now," Big Mac said with a low undercurrent of annoyance.

"Yeah and we are too. When we find her Ah'm gonna tan her hide fer rushin' into things without thinkin' again," Granny said, her own form of agreement.

They cautiously walked forward over the broken ground. About halfway to the opening Granny's foot caught on a branch hidden in the shadows. "Goddammit! All this light and Ah still can't see a damn- ah shoot," she said, switching gears as a high pitched squeak cut through her griping. Big Mac shouldered the shotgun and trained it on the opening about twenty yards from them.

A dark figure stepped up to the edge of the ramp and pulled something large out from behind it. Big Mac stepped forward a hair, ready to fire, then paused and lowered the gun slightly in confusion as the stranger unfolded it into a chair. It placed it down backwards then sat with it's arms crossed over the back. The three of them stayed like that for nearly a minute, not moving, not speaking.

"So... sorry about the crash. We're still not sure what happened to drop us here but we're working on that. I promise we'll do whatever we can to help you fix up the orchard. Applejack and the girls are inside meeting with our leader to get an idea of where we all go from here. She wanted an explanation of why all this happened and I'm really hoping she's satisfied with whatever we can tell her. That said, things happened so fast we weren't sure how to deal with it all and so now we're winging it," it called out with, waving a hand in a wishy-washy manner.

Big Mac slowly lowered the shotgun as his face scrunched up in confusion to match Granny Smith's while the monologue continued.

"Just who in tarnation are ya?" she shouted at him.

"You know, I can answer that but I think it might be best if I took you to see your granddaughter. And speaking of granddaughters...," he said as he sat up straighter and cupped his hands in front of his shadowed face. "You can come out now! Your sister's fine! She's a little... miffed at us over the orchard but I'm hoping you can forgive us for that. We didn't plan to end up here at all."

"What are you talkin' about sisters- APPLEBLOOM!" Granny yelled as she spun around in sudden understanding. Sure enough, there was her youngest grandchild, peering out from around one of the larger trees with her jaw hanging down to the ground.

"How'd ya know I was here?" she shouted fearfully as Granny marched quickly over to her. She let out a small squeal of fright as the guard at the top of the ramp reached up and flipped back a visor none of them had noticed, revealing a set of glowing blue lights where its eyes should have been. Granny stepped between her and the line of sight of those glowing orbs.

"Infrared visor. You hid pretty well but you didn't know to also hide your heat. You three can stop worrying, I'm not armed and I'm definitely not looking for a fight. Not after what your sister did."

Granny's hand shot out to grab a hold of her granddaughter as she tried to rush forward.

"What happened to mah sister?!"

The figure tilted it's head a little. "More like what happened to Mercer, a friend of mine, and the answer to that is 'she did'. They came here to check things out and we made the mistake of startling them. She threw him clear across the loading bay here," he said as he tossed a thumb over his shoulder into the lit space. "He's just lucky we're fairly resilient or she could have done a lot more damage." He stood up from the folding chair and began pulling it back inside. "We're trying to not make the same mistake again and be a little more diplomatic and open this time around. So whenever you feel up to it I'll take you to see them. It's your farm too so you should be part of the discussion as well."

Big Mac backed up to them slowly, never quite completely taking his eyes off the entrance or the strange person stowing the chair off to the side of it. "Whaddya think Granny?" he asked as he reached them.

Granny pursed her lips in thought then looked down at Applebloom. "Ah think this one's in a mess o' trouble for starters!" she said, causing the young girl to look up at her anxiously. "But that can come later after we find Applejack," she noted more softly. "Fer now, yer sticking behind us and out o' trouble, you got that?" Applebloom nodded vigorously then looked at Big Mac as he added another question.

"Can we trust 'im?"

Granny narrowed her eyes for a few moments then slowly nodded her head. "Ah don't think we've got a choice. But he admitted to messin' up and getting whupped by yer sister so Ah'm hopin' he was bein' sincere when he mentioned bein' diplomatic."

"What about the gun?"

Granny glanced down at it and grimaced. "If we're really believin' him then someone took a punch from Applejack and doesn't seem to be any worse fer wear from it. Keep it with ya but Ah'm afraid it ain't going to do us much good."

Big Mac considered this for a moment then sighed deeply and extracted the shells from the shotgun. He placed them in his pocket then stepped around to place a hand on Applebloom's shoulder. "Ya stick behind us, ya hear? No arguin' or disobeyin' this time got it?"

Applebloom nodded with a small gulp then stood up straighter. "Ah got it. Promise."

Big Mac watched her for a moment then nodded in satisfaction. The three walked back across the small clearing then paused for a moment at the base of the ramp as the stranger started walking down it to them. As he got closer Granny's eyes opened wider and wider as the details of his appearance became clearer and clearer.

"Ferget who ya are! Ah shoulda asked what are ya?"

The glowing eyed stranger stopped as he reached them and said, "I'll explain on the way so you're caught up with the girls. But for now, what we are is sorry for what has happened your home. We'll do what we can to help you fix it again, I promise you that."

Granny was surprised by the conviction behind the words and felt the corner of her mouth inch up a bit. "Ah'll be holdin' y'all ta that, ya can count on that. Now where'd ya say that pigheaded granddaughter 'o mine ran off to?"

She felt her brow arch in surprise as what she previously took for a featureless face suddenly shifted slightly into a clear grin under the thing's odd skin. "Right this way ma'am."

CH 5: Discipline and Duty

"PINKIE. Please, for the last time, we do not probe, hypnotize, remote control, replace, infect, assimilate, annihilate, or eat anyone! These guys don't even have stomachs!" Liam said as he pushed a finger into Will's relatively thing midriff. He paused for a moment as his finger dug into the material. "Hey, when was the last time you had these muscles replaced?"

"We've been busy," Will grumbled. "Personal maintenance has not been high on the list of priorities."

"Will-"

"How about face hugging?"

Liam closed his eyes with a sigh. "No, Pinkie, no face- what?"

Liam went slack as Pinkie crossed her arms around his head from behind and latched on with a loud slurping sound. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing along with Will as Pinkie slowly constricted her arms tighter and tighter. Even Applejack gave out a short snarky grunt of amusement, though probably more at his discomfort than the humor of the situation.

"...Will?" Liam said, trying his best not to slur the word and failing miserably as his face was squished further by the constricting hug.

"Hehehe oh geez..."

"No no, take your time. Oh and speak up, tad hard to hear right now. Apart from the laughter anyways. That's coming through loud and clear."

"Heh. Yes?"

"Do me a favor and refresh my memory. Am I not the political leader of not only a nation but an entire race?"

"Last time I checked it was your turn."

"Have I not had to deal with any number of crises and conflicts?"

"Can't argue that."

"Am I not rapidly approaching a century old?"

"Yup. Twenty six going on a hundred now. We're running out of space for candles on your birthday cakes."

"Then why am I currently getting my personal face-space violated?" he asked as he pointed up at the pink arms blocking his vision.

Will pondered the question for a moment then began counting off on his fingers. "Hmmmmm...you make an effort to be easygoing and nonthreatening, life loves to keep you off balance, aaaaand Pinkie doesn't seem to care about rank, age, or personal boundaries?"

Liam sighed and hung his head as far as the arms around it would allow. "Yeah, that sums it up perfectly. Pinkie, you can let go now."

With a small "awww" Pinkie released his head and skipped back to her friends. They'd been keeping up the game of "Sci-Fi Tropes 20 Questions" the entire walk to the conference hall. It had paused only for a moment when they'd entered and stopped to look around. It wasn't as decorated as the entryway and was more starkly presented. A single main room with a large ring shaped table in the center and a number of smaller rooms sprouting off from the side walls. The Legion had always been utilitarian and while they had taken the time to make a display when someone first entered this space by comparison was meant for business and the least amount of distractions.

Liam turned just in time to catch her high five Rainbow Dash. Okay, I've gotta admit, that's was a funny refer- Liam's thoughts ground to a halt as Pinkie's question caught up with him. He glanced at Will to see if he'd noticed as well. Will was still smirking hugely but decades of close companionship allowed him to see the very slight nod and hint of uncertainty behind those glowing eyes. Okay then, do we chalk that up to Pinkie Pie being, well, Pinkie Pie or something else? ...I've got no idea. I really want to say someone's pulling one over us except they can actually use magic. So add that one to the list and keep going or go insane. Well, MORE insane.

"The best screen is in the briefing room over here," he said as he wandered over to a set of double doors set into the middle of one of the long side walls. Inside was a single long table with seats on each side, and a huge display panel on the far wall. "Come on in and take a seat wherever you want."

The girls chose chairs along one side of the table while he and Will took seats next to each other in the middle opposite them. Will began messing with a small screen set into the table in front of him while Liam slowly lowered himself into his own seat.

""So are we ready to start now?"

Applejack leaned forward and loudly brought a hand down on the table. "Start what? Why are we even here?"

"Like I said, this will be quicker than trying to explain-"

"Oh no, Ah get what ya want ta do. But Ah've had time to think while you were showing off your fancy spaceship and Ah'm asking why Ah should care about your damn explanations. Why should any of us care? Why shouldn't we just march right outta here right now and let the cops or better yet the Guard deal with ya? What are WE here for?!" She rapped her hand on the table once more for emphasis then sat back and glared at him.

Liam started leaning forward in aggravation and froze. She's- she's right. Why did I bring them here? They're just seven teenagers, not national leaders or anyone with the resources to help us fix up the Celestia and get home. He took in the room and its occupants, letting his gaze slowly drift around without any particular focus. He drifted back to Applejack and her angry and questioning glare.

Was I really so shocked by them I couldn't see that as well? Damn it Liam...

"I'm going to be honest with you Applejack: that was not a comfortable question for me because I honestly don't know. My gut instinct was to reduce conflict and clear things up. Not my best showing for deliberate and measured leadership. I do still feel like I owe you at least a better introduction."

Applejack seemed surprised at his answer as did the rest of the girls. All except for Sunset.

"I kind of had a feeling that might be the case. You had something of a deer in the headlights look and seemed a little off the entire time. Considering the situation I can't really blame you. We did the same when we saw Will and the others after all," she said with an awkward grin.

A LITTLE off? You have NO idea baconhors- STOP THAT.

"AJ, if it's not going to bother you I'd like to see what he was going to show us. We've had a lot of things happen around here recently but nothing like this. I'd like to know more about him and the Will and the others," continued Sunset. Liam gave her a smile half in thanks and half in surprise for the save from his awkward realization.

Applejack turned to look at her eager friends then looked at him again for a bit. She shook her head and said, "Fine, let's get it over with."

"Thank you. Both of you. I owe you a better explanation," Liam said with a grateful bow of his head in her direction. He wasn't sure what'd he have done if they hadn't let him continue. Probably just sat there awkwardly till they asked to leave or he woke up and found out this was all a dream and he'd been in a coma for years. He knew which of those sounded more likely right then and it wasn't the one with pastel pony people.

Applejack waved him off and swiveled her seat to face the screen. He chuckled once then picked up the remote in front of him and began scrolling through the saved videos in the ships records. "Let's start with the day the universe decided to break every rule I knew."

Fluttershy squinted and turned her away for a moment as the large monitor in the wall burst into harsh light that made her eyes water before they adjusted.

"Everything started about eight years ago. I was in High School at the time and was walking between two of the school buildings when this happened." Liam nodded towards the screen and Fluttershy looked back at it.

Four different views of the same scene were playing, and from the sounds and shaking she was sure they were cell videos. A shout played over the room's speakers and the views jerked to face the direction it came from. It made her queasy for a moment but it passed quickly, sped along by what she watched. Above the sidewalk the air shimmered and waved like it was coming from some invisible flame, then suddenly snapped into a single point of light and began speeding forward quickly in a straight line. She inhaled as she realized someone was in its way then let out a small gasp as it began to expand rapidly, small arcs of electricity shooting off it, and passed over them before they could get out of its way. A pained scream went up into the air and the people recording began muttering fearfully. Then the glowing orb passed and shrunk back into nothing, leaving the poor soul behind to crumple to the ground. The video ended and the room was left silent for about a minute while everyone looked at the figure lying on the sidewalk in each of the videos.

"That was you, wasn't it?" asked Fluttershy at length.

Liam nodded. "That was me. That was me on the worst day of my life." He frowned for a second then snorted faintly. "One of the worst days of my life. One of them..."

"What was it?" asked Twilight, her eyes huge.

Liam threw a hand up in frustration. "Not a single clue. No one- and I mean no one- that I've met or heard from has a decent explanation for it. We've been trying to recreate it for decades on our own but that hasn't worked either. It's still probably the greatest unsolved mystery on my world, particularly after what followed."

He looked at the screen and his prone body again and Fluttershy felt her heart go out to him a little. This had to be uncomfortable to revisit, especially when she'd heard the cry he'd let out when it passed over him. Rainbow Dash seemed to be thinking along the same lines since she whistled softly.

"How bad did it mess you up?" she asked.

Liam grimaced and and sucked in a hissing breath. "Bad. Really bad Dash. I was in the hospital for a couple months recovering and it was touch and go at the beginning."

"A couple months... what did it do to you?" asked Twilight in a near whisper.

Liam looked at her for a moment then back at the screen and grunted. "I can show you but it isn't pretty. If any of you are squeamish I'd say let's skip it and you can take my word that it was rather graphic and took a long time to recover from."

Fluttershy paled at the thought. She'd helped treat animals at the shelter before and had seen what could happen between accidents, territorial fights, and abuse. She wasn't in any hurry to see more, particularly on a person.

"That's probably for the best," Sunset said hurriedly.

Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief then blushed when she saw Will smirking at her reaction. Something about the way he watched them made her very uncomfortable. It was like being in school again and seeing all the guys look her over out of the corners of their eyes. This was different though and felt even more disconcerting and invasive- like being under a microscope- instead of just being ogled.

"I'm glad that's your choice because I'm in no rush to relive it again. What came afterwards though... that's something I could revisit every minute of every day," Liam said wistfully with a small smile. He nodded to Will who moved to the next video. This one was less grainy but harder to take as seriously due to the opening scene. She couldn't help but giggle a little at the clownish figure centered in the shot.

<"Okay... that should -SHOULD- do it,"> a heavily padded and chemical face shield-ed Liam mumbled loudly as he messed with the camera.

Dash laughed out loud at how goofy and ungainly he looked in his getup. Fluttershy took a brief moment to look about the room he was in. Cream colored walls with a white ceiling and trim. Unfamiliar posters she guessed were of bands or games from his world. Equipment, tools, and displays that would have fit right in with Twilight's own work room at her house from what Fluttershy remembered from their first sleepover there. Nothing out of the ordinary or unfamiliar to her in any real way. It was a relief to see that after how shocking he and his companions had been otherwise.

<"So, I finished the test rig a couple days ago and checked the wiring. No problems there. All loose items in the test area have been secured just in case and I'm going to be bracing against the wall with a pile of pillows and a face shield between me and the experiment. If this kills me despite all that... well, not sure what I was expecting from a home lab. Try to sell my body and notes to whatever big science school will pay the most for it. Try CMU, they accepted me for school, maybe they'll take me as a corpse. If that's legal. No idea if it is or not. ...okay, now I'm just stalling for time. Whooo... here we go.">

Fluttershy tensed a little as he joked, or at least she hoped he'd been joking, about the danger of whatever he was about to attempt. Everyone else seemed a little off put by his grim humor as well. Twilight in particular judging by the way she gulped at the mention of selling his corpse.

Fluttershy shivered as well. She really, really hoped that it wasn't legal to do that on his world.

The video Liam breathed out nervously and stepped back over to a bunker he'd apparently built out of pillows on the opposite side of the room from the camera and the rig on the center table. He picked up a wired controller lying next to him and began twisting a dial on it a little bit then stopped. Nothing happened. He twisted it a little more and still nothing occurred. He twisted it minutely again and then further still.

Suddenly the stones began to glow faintly and a number of motes of reddish purple distortions appeared haphazardly around the box. He smiled and then laughed excitedly as he saw a tiny layer of dust on the table shoot outwards and away from the points. He spun the switch back and disconnected the wall cord for good measure before getting up and walking over to the camera. Then the footage jumped without warning to him holding the camera at his face while looking back at the table and the device on top of it.

<"-so that takes care of the how -unless issues arise and it turns out I'm dead wrong- so the question now is the 'what'. Moving on to experiment two: Time check. Rig has been realigned as best I could get it so it should be stable at the center.">

He stepped back and pulled two digital watches out of his pocket, switching both of their timers on before putting one on his wrist and the other on a small stand inside the array. He quickly stepped back over to his place by the switch and turned it until he got the same effect again, this time with all the points inside the enclosure. They weren't perfect and the stand began leaning slightly to the left but held. He waited until about a minute had passed then switched off the device. He pulled the watch out of it and compared it to his. He hadn't stopped smiling the whole time and now it was a full blown grin. He brought both back over and showed them to the camera. The watch from the device was reading about three minutes.

<"There's gotta be a Nobel for discovering and harnessing inflationary physics in the same afternoon, right?"> he asked with a cheeky grin.

As the playback ended Rainbow snickered at the frozen image of the masked and padded boy staring into the camera.

"I think you may have been going a little overboard there Liam," she said through another snicker.

Liam turned a half-lidded smirk her way and said, "I'm actually very, very lucky I took so many precautions. This form of physics is not something you should mess around with lightly."

Rainbow rolled her eyes then glanced to the side as Twilight leaned in closer over the table, squinting at the screen a bit as she did.

"Wait, isn't that the same thing you made in front of Applejack earlier?" she asked. Applejack scowled at the screen while watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, through some unpleasant accidents I learned I could make those fields myself thanks to a...'parting gift' from that anomaly that bowled me over," he said then brought his hand up and pointed it at the ceiling above the table. He grunted softly as his arms tensed visibly and a red tinted orb of light popped into existence. Fluttershy felt a faint dizziness but it passed not long after. She leaned in a little to get a closer but felt the dizziness return again and sat back quickly.

"After that I figured out how to create them artificially which is what you just watched-"

"Ohhhh! Hold it there please!" Twilight exclaimed as she began rooting through the pockets of her pants. Liam looked up at the distortion he was making then back at her uneasily. His arms was shaking mildly and Fluttershy thought he looked uncomfortable holding his position there.

"Twilight-"

"Please, I just want to- aha, found it!"

Twilight sat up straight with a small purplish disk held in her hands. Fluttershy recognized it as the scanner she'd used during the Friendship Games but looked slimmer and more compact in general.

"Isn't that... didn't I break it?" Sunset asked, pointing at the device apprehensively.

"Yes, you did. But apart from the magic absorption it worked as intended so I updated the design to be less... intrusive," replied Twilight. Fluttershy caught a motion out of the corner of her eyes and jumped in surprise when she found Liam pushing his chair back away from them while Will jumped out of his seat. For a few seconds no one spoke or moved.

"I-is there a problem?" Twilight asked nervously.

"That's- I mean, what is that?" Liam asked with open concern.

"It's a scanner. It scans- er, well more like detects anomalous energies in the area. I had another one that had less than desirable results so I redesigned it. I-is there a problem?"

Will glared at the device in her hands. "Dammit, I got so caught up in this fucking madness I forgot to check them before I led them right to you. Christ!"

Fluttershy flinched at the complete change in Will's demeanor. Where had the joking, apologetic Legionnaire she'd seen up to this point gone to? She didn't like the cursing, venomous stranger that had been left in his absence. His brow was furrowed tightly, casting deep shadows over his eyes which contrasted even more strongly with the glow surrounding their pupils. The "skin" over his face was twisted strangely and she got the impression of bared teeth and raised hackles from the rest of his posture.

"Hey, what's wrong with you two?" Rainbow Dash asked pointedly as she also rose out of her chair, arms raised and stiff by her sides.

"What's wrong is I've got no idea what that thing will do to him and-" Will began before a sharp look from Liam cut him off. They locked eyes for a second and Fluttershy had the distinct impression that an entire conversation was passing between the two without a single word being spoken. Then Will sighed and walked more calmly over to Liam's side, leaning forward in front of him and partially obscuring him from view. "What's wrong is I'm supposed to be responsible for his security. That means checking everyone that approaches him for hidden devices and the like. Can't believe I forgot," he mumbled to no one in particular.

"We all forgot. It's not been a normal day," noted Liam. Will gave him a quick glance then looked back to them.

"Oh! I didn't- I'm sorry. Do- do you want to inspect it or anything?" asked Twilight nervously. Will stared at the proffered device for a while before meeting her eyes again. Even though she wasn't his focus Fluttershy felt unnerved and fearful of the intensity behind his gaze. Twilight seemed much worse off than her and leaned away from him noticeably.

"First, how does it work? Will it be doing anything to him?"

"N-No, not this one. That's why it's more of a detector now. I just want to see what it picks up from those fields."

Liam and Will shared another long look then Liam shook his head slowly and gave Twilight an apologetic grimace. "I'm sorry, but we just don't know enough about how your 'magic' would work on me and I'm unfortunately unique and irreplaceable within the Legion. More importantly, for a variety of reasons we don't let others study our technology. I'm afraid we can't allow it. Would you please surrender that to Will for now? We'll return it when we take you back outside."

"Wait, you want me to-" Twilight clutched the device to her chest in shock. "D-Do I have to?"

Will gave a very brief and simple reply. "I'm sorry, but yes."

Fluttershy was close to breaking out in a cold sweat now. Not only had Will's demeanor changed but now Liam was also the very picture of severity and intense focus. More than anything else, they both reminded her of toms warily watching a threat, not making a move or arching their back or making any actual show. Just sizing their opponent up before the first move was made. Then something would break the moment- a sound or a small motion- and the claws and teeth would come out instantly.

"Hey, she doesn't have to give you anything! Who the heck do you think you are taking her stuff from her?" Rainbow shouted angrily as she jumped out of her seat. She froze as Will bunched up his fists at his side and two long blades shot out of the armored sections of his forearms.

"I think I'm the one who makes sure nothing harms him. Ever." His reply was soft and even but spoken with a finality that Fluttershy was sure was more promise than threat. Sunset stood up and pushed herself in front of Twilight, partially blocking her from their view.

"You said you were unarmed!" she yelled at him angrily.

Will turned his eyes from Rainbow Dash to her without budging another muscle. "No, I said I had disarmed. I put my rifle down before I approached you all on the loading deck so you'd know I wasn't looking for a fight. Let me make something clear. I'm never unarmed." From where she was sitting Fluttershy could clearly see Sunset grinding her jaw. This was the calm before the claws and it was moments away from the strike. She had to try to bring it back down.

"Everyone please, that's ENOUGH!" she shouted as loud as she could while scrunching up her eyes, fearing she was about to break the teetering calm. When all she heard was silence she risked cracking an eye open a little. Liam and Will were staring at her in mild shock while her friends were doing almost the same. She breathed out shakily and tried to compose herself again.

"Can we please calm down? Please?"

"Fluttershy, he just pulled two swords out of his arms! He lied to us down below about not having those! Why are you letting him off when he just pulled a literal knife on us to take Twilight's gadget?" Dash shouted angrily.

Fluttershy turned a mild stare on her and she flinched slightly under it. "I'm not happy about that either but you weren't helping by shouting at them without giving them a chance to explain themselves."

"Oh no, I explained-" Will began roughly then froze when she turned her stare on him next. She felt her own desperation and ire up the strength behind it noticeably.

"As for you, there was no need to threaten us and you never gave a real reason why you were taking Twilight's gadget from her! You just said it was what you always did and demanded it from her, not why it was what you always did. How would you appreciate being told to give up something you made out of the blue when you were just curious about using it?" Will flinched under the heat of her glare. They stood there staring at each other for about a minute before Will suddenly deflated, his shoulders dropping and the blades retracting into his arms with an audible zinging tone.

"Forgot we're not on our own world anymore. Anyone from there would understand or at least expect it."

"Why the heck would anyone be okay with that?" asked Dash angrily.

Will looked like he was about to face off with her but held himself back and instead looked at Liam. His human counterpart looked over them all quickly then turned his eyes to meet Will. Another silent talk passed for a few seconds passed and then he nodded. Will made what Fluttershy had to assume was a click of his tongue, if he had one anyway, and gave Dash a strangely tired look.

"Because of the assassination attempts against him that used concealed devices. That's why I should have checked you all outside before I brought you in."

It was Dash's turn to flinch this time. Everyone else froze in what they were doing or were about to say.

A-assassinate as in...? thought Fluttershy as a cold chill flew down her spine at speed. Rarity added to the moment by bringing her hands up to cover her mouth as she whimpered softly and gave voice to the unspoken horror.

"You mean- you're saying people have tried to - to kill you?" Rarity asked, fumbling over the question a bit.

Liam gave a short, weak snort and looked at her with a snarky half-grin. "Six times to date-" he paused, the grin turning into a grimace. "Many times to date."

"B-but why darling?" Rarity asked in total confusion.

Liam frowned at her as if she'd just asked something with an obvious answer or better yet grown a second head. Fluttershy noticed both Sunset and Applejack perked up ever so slightly as he shook his head and looked at them again as if he were seeing them for the first time. Neither he nor Will seemed to notice their attention and each seemed lost in their thoughts for a second.

"For the reasons most leaders get assassinated: I upset a long maintained geopolitical structure overnight and and didn't play by everyone else's rule book. It also didn't help I created a race of near immortal people who all share the exact same will as me with none of the weaknesses of humans and very few of their own to balance that out. Oh, and I just generally scared the hell out of people who were convinced I had some kind of plan to take over the world or that I was some kind of abomination."

"Did you want to take over the world?" Sunset asked pointedly. Liam seemed to find the question in poor taste and looked at her with a slight squint. Fluttershy got that same feeling of being examined more closely again like she had with Will, only this time directed at her friend instead of her.

"No, I didn't want to take over the world Sunset. I wanted things to be better than they were. I only ever tried to improve the lives of the people on my world, nothing more and nothing less. Trust me wholeheartedly when I say that between staying in space and never coming within sight of the Earth again or trying to manage and dictate the affairs of the people living on it I would ALWAYS take the former."

Sunset twitched rather visibly and looked away. Fluttershy knew what she was thinking, they'd all talked about it enough after they beat the Dazzlings and Sunset started opening up to them more about parts of her past. Not all of it she was fairly certain, but enough to know that any question of world conquering was going to draw out her remaining guilt.

"Then why did you go back there?" Fluttershy asked him, giving Sunset a break to focus on something else and drawing his gaze away from her friend. A few moments passed before he looked down at the table.

"It's... home. Well, it's our old home. The place we grew up in and left behind to make our own way. And it was hurting when we did that. It didn't feel right just letting it continue that way so we returned to try to help. Even took a vote on the matter in our early days. Unanimous agreement, all five hundred of us at the time. That's harder than it sounds by the way," he said with a chuckle as he looked at Will. "I was able to carry on a full three-way argument in my head well before these guys came along and gave actual voices to those different sides. But this... this we felt we had to do. All of us."

"Your home was hurting? How?" Twilight asked having regained some of her composure.

Liam cupped his hands together on the table and leaned into them a bit, rocking back and forth every so slightly. He did this for a full minute or so. Twilight looked at Sunset next to her who shrugged then looked back at Liam. "Ummm-"

"We can talk about that another time. Home's a bit of a complicated thing for us," he said at length.

For a moment Fluttershy could have sworn the shadows around his eyes deepened immensely and she found she could believe he was a hundred years old. She'd seen that kind of look before when an elderly person brought their pet to the shelter for care when they couldn't afford a professional vet's services. They'd bring them in old and tired and nearing the end and just sit besides them while she and the the others who worked there would do what they could. Sometimes the only thing they could do though was ease the pain for good. They all had the same look up till that point, that sort of ever longing hopefulness that the one thing providing solace to them would continue to do so. Then they'd have to tell them and they'd take a moment or two for it to sink in and then they all just pulled inward, body and spirit. It crushed her every time and usually forced her to take a day off from school and work to rest emotionally.

It was the same look he'd had for just a moment before it disappeared again.

Her friends noticed as well, though probably not in the same way she had. They could tell they were encroaching on a difficult subject for both him and Will. All of them except for Applejack she discovered.

"Ah think Ah've heard enough. Ya threatened us, mah family, and our home and ya don't want ta answer our questions about why. That's fairly condemnin' in mah book."

"Applejack, there's no need to-" Sunset began before Liam held up a hand for attention.

"Sunset, I'm actually inclined to agree with her. This... our talk didn't go as I'd hoped on top of a whole day that hasn't gone as I'd hoped. As is I still need to get a status report from the others and then start working with them to put together a plan to get the ship off the ground again." He squeezed his eyes and lips shut as if he'd just tasted something sour. "Oh, and then start bashing our heads against a wall trying to find a way home. For now you should go home as well. We can talk again later. You all know where to find me," he said tiredly.

Fluttershy felt her heart go out to him again and his loss but was surprised to find she also felt a sense of immense relief that they were being sent back out of this strange ship with its strange crew and their unpredictable behavior.

At least it isn't some creature from another world or wild magic corrupting people this time she thought to herself.

The small amount of relief that thought brought her died when she also realized that they had experience with those. This was completely different, and she had no idea what she and her friends should do now. Should they help the castaways return in secret or go to the authorities or see if the other Twilight had any knowledge of the Legion? Would doing so result in some kind of political or national crisis with them at the center of it?

She moaned softly as the scope of their situation began to fully dawn on her and found herself for once wishing for the simple and familiar problem of a giant magical monster. She was grateful for the distraction Liam provided as he pointed at them all.

"Applejack also brought up a good point about your families. I'm not sure if they were expecting you to stay out this late but if not then you should get in touch with them again before they come out to find you or worse ask the police to do it. I'd still like to avoid that for now until we've had time to talk with my companions," he said as he nodded towards Will. He turned back to them only for his gaze to rise over them. A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "And speaking of family..."

"Applejack!"

Liam chuckled to himself as Applebloom rush through the door and flung her arms around her sister. The Twilight Zone madness just kept on coming.

Applejack jumped out of her chair and hugged her younger sister tightly in return. "Applebloom! What're ya doin' here?"

"She's here because she's as stubborn as you are ya dang fool!"

Applejack looked up from holding Applebloom as Granny Smith walked in alongside Big Mac. Behind both of them another of his doubles followed them in and shut the door quietly.

"Alphonse, I see we managed to avoid another incident?" he asked before his eyes flicked to the open shotgun in Big Mac's grasp then back to Alphonse with a slight elevation of a brow. "We did, right?" Alphonse nodded and was about to say something when any chance of reply was immediately drowned out by the pair of Applejack and Granny Smith.

"What did ya think you were doin' comin' here with yer friends and not leaving a single note behind or waitin' for us ta get back? Ya scared us half to death!"

"Eyup," Big Mac added with a disappointed frown.

Applejack waved a hand around her and said, "I was tryin' to find out just what the hell trashed our farm! Besides, what could y'all have done that we couldn't have? Ya don't have magic like us and ya haven't fought things from other worlds like us!"

"Ah may not have any 'o that stuff but I got one thing yer apparently missing: a workin' brain! Ya charged off without callin' us or the police and then ya didn't call us when they brought ya in ta talk! We didn't know what happened to ya till this Alphonse feller here showed us a recordin' on his fancy hand computer of ya punchin' on of 'em clear into a wall and then followin' another of 'em inside."

"Ah was a little preoccupied after one of 'em shot me!" Applejack shot back at Granny angrily. Granny tossed a piercing look at Alphonse who shrugged and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Ah saw that too and Ah'm not happy 'bout it one bit but far as Ah can see they've been tryin' to be accommodatin' since yer little dust up earlier. Ah want ta hear more 'bout what happened but first Ah'm gonna drill just how mad Ah am with ya so deep into that thick skull 'o yours that it'll have to stick this time!"

"Accomodatin'! Granny, they shot me with an electric gun and tried to grab Pinkie Pie! Not ta mention they trashed the Fall harvest just before-"

"Applejack, that's enough!"

"Granny! It's-"

"Enough," Granny Smith said with finality. "Applejack, as far as Ah can tell these folk didn't crash into our farm on purpose and from what Ah've heard didn't mean ta be here at all in the first place. If ya would open yer eyes fer two seconds ya'd see that being angry with 'em won't fix a thing." Applejack glared at her without saying a word in reply. Granny sighed then looked around the room as the Fluttershy and her friends all rose from their seats and joined AJ and her siblings. "Speakin of fixin' things, where's this Progeniter feller I keep hearing about? I need to talk ta him about helpin' ta fix the farm up again. Alphonse promised y'all would help with the repairs and Ah'm holdin' him ta that."

"Over here ma'am."

Granny honed in on the source of the voice then scratched her head in confusion. "Don't reckon I've seen you before. You a friend of the girls?"

"No, I'm-"

"Oh, so you're one of their boyfriends?"

"What? No! I'm-"

"Hmmph, ya can't be Applejack's boyfriend, Ah told her what would happen if she brought a boy over when Ah wasn't around. Ah don't care how foolish she was with all this, she knows better than ta break THAT rule."

"GRANNY!"

"Yeah, didn't think so. And don't go interruptin' people when they're tryin' ta talk Applejack. You was raised better than that."

Rarity and Rainbow Dash had to force themselves not to giggle as Applejack wilted instantly in the face of Granny's unstoppable train of thought. Granny didn't seem to take any notice though and scratched her chin while sizing Liam up.

"So then... who are ya again?"

Liam raised an eyebrow slowly. "I am Liam Harcourt, Progenitor of the Legionnaires and the Legion, and you are standing in my ship."

Granny narrowed her eyes and puckered her lips as she looked him over more closely. She glanced at Will and Alphonse out of the corner of her eyes. Both were pointing at him with matching faint grins. She looked back at Liam for a few seconds more than clicked her tongue and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Was all that supposed ta impress me?" she asked in a bored tone.

Liam chuckled loudly and flashed a huge grin at her. "Not a chance. My ship is a wreck in your farm, and my people and nation are in a completely different universe.Anything I'd lay claim to is so much hot air here. Just wanted to see if you'd put up with my rank bullshit. You learn a lot about people from how they react to that sort of thing," he replied.

He walked over to her and extended his hand. "Alphonse's promise is my promise. We'll do whatever we can to get this place fixed up and our ship out of your yard as soon as we can."

Granny raised an eyebrow of her own and sized him up again, looking him over more thoroughly this time. When she again locked eyes with him she was sporting a huge shit eating grin. Liam's thoughts switched to mild confusion then surprise as she shot out a hand and clamped down on his. She gave it a couple firm shakes then turned her head sideways without taking her eyes of the lost leader.

"Applejack, Ah take it back! Ya can keep this one if ya want to! Anyone who's got the gumption to bullshit me and then has the smarts ta fess up and level with me it is alright in mah book. Bit plain lookin' maybe, but not bad lookin' either! Plus he's got a good handshake and ya know what Ah've always said about a man with a good handshake."

"GRANNY!"

Everyone else began snickering and giggling as Applejack cried out in embarrassment. Will and Alphonse stayed quiet and instead watched Granny and their originator like hawks while they clasped hands, though neither of them could stop the slight pull of their mouths that threatened to add them to the ongoing laugh track.

Liam looked around in confusion, his mind trying to sort what had just happened, until Granny winked at him. His eyes shot open in comprehension and he shook his head.

"She already really hates me you know. Not entirely sure why, but punishing her like this isn't going to help my case."

Granny gave him a sad smile in return and said, "I can explain that. The orchard ya crashed in? It's the Fall Orchard. Nothing too special compared to the others but... it was planted by her parents just after they got married." Liam's eyes shot open at her answer. His jaw very nearly dropped before he forced it closed with a gulp. Oh no...

"I-... I take it they're...?" he asked quietly, his whole body rigid and taut. Granny nodded.

"They've gone ta a better place than this earthly world. That was nearly ten years back but mah granddaughter's kept their memory close. The Fall Orchard was somethin' of a stand-in fer 'em to her, her favorite section to work in. Ya understand?"

Liam scrunched up his eyes tight and nodded.

"Don't worry, she'll come 'round eventually. Just give her some time." She gave him a quick pat on the shoulder then released his hand and walked over to be with her family. Applejack scowled at her then heard Big Mac say something to Applebloom and her eyes shot open. She rounded on her sister angrily and started berating her while Applebloom tried to give as good as she got. Granny shook her head and then glanced back at Liam.

"Y'all still doin' whatever it was ya were doin'?"

Liam shook his head. "No, we called an early end to the night. I'll drop by the house tomorrow morning to discuss what we can do for you if that's alright. I think everyone needs a full night to sleep all this off more than anything else right now."

Granny nodded. "Mornin' it is Mr. Harcourt. Sorry yer first visit to Sweet Apple Acres came with so much headache."

Liam chuckled and gave her a skeptical look. "Pretty sure we should be the ones apologizing for that Granny Smith."

"Yer right, ya should be. But then mah dang granddaughter had ta go and make it look like the Apple family don't have any manners so now Ah'm the one having to apologize instead! Ah'm sorry ta say it but she's probably going ta be even less thrilled with ya after I give her an earful 'bout that."

Liam waved her off with a smile then looked at Fluttershy and the rest of her friends. "So, ummmm..." he began, seemingly at a loss for words after that. Will and Alphonse came up and flanked him on either side with their hands behind their backs in a somewhat formal stance.

"So," Sunset replied. "We'll all pick up the talk again tomorrow?"

Liam sighed and nodded. "That'll be best I think. Al, Will, why don't you take everyone back to the loading bay. I need to check with the others and start figuring out a plan going forward from here."

Alphonse nodded and stepped around him. "Everyone! I'll be taking you back down to the dock so you can all head home for the night," he yelled, mostly in the direction of the Apple family. Liam watched as they all slowly filed out. A few of them cast glances back his way, some with curiosity like Twilight or happy wishes like Pinkie. Others evaluating and measured like Sunset and Granny. Rainbow Dash was too busy prodding Big Mac's shotgun in wonder to respond he noted with a faint glimmer of humor. Applejack, though, stood out for her the piercing look she shot him for the briefest moment before passing through the door.

A few seconds after the last sound of their departure dissipated the adrenaline and nerves that had been holding him up evaporated and he slumped into his chair on numb legs. His mind felt like it had been washed over by a sea of ice water and he shivered in sympathy. Sudden nausea overtook him and he cracked his eyes open to find the air around him filled with blinking expansion fields. His arms were shaking badly, the muscles sending out energy randomly. A cup fell over and the table moaned and flexed as red motes of light zoomed around and through it. He pulled his arms and legs in close to try to stop the shaking to little effect. Eventually, he simply grew too exhausted to keep shaking anymore and fell into a semi-conscious state. The only sound left in the room was the quiet tap of a few tears dropping onto the leather seat.

The Good Book said this was a gift to us! They were supposed to stay in their hell, not bring it here! How could this happen? Not that it matters, now we've gotta send 'em back-

"Applejack, are you doing alright now?" a voice whispered to her softly.

Applejack wheeled around to face the sudden interruption then sighed when she saw who'd been speaking to her. She patted Fluttershy on the back then pushed her along till they caught back up with the group.

"Ah'm fine sugarcube, Ah'm just glad to be leaving this cursed place finally."

"They don't seem that bad to me."

Applejack looked at her again with a dark expression. "I don't like em' one bit Fluttershy. They destroyed something dear to me, tore it up beyond repair. Ah don't know what Granny's thinkin', getting them more involved with us is only goin' ta cause trouble and won't change what they've done."

"I know the farm is important to you but they did apologize for it. They're stuck here too unless they can figure out how to get back to their own world."

"Their own world," Applejack scoffed. "Ah don't trust them either when they say they just accidentally landed here Fluttershy. Ah don't like that every one of those metal fakes seems trained like a soldier and all of 'em seem to be armed to the teeth at that. Ah still haven't forgotten about them planning to blow up this ship and mah home either. And don't even get me started on Liam. Will and the others felt really shifty half the time but Liam was even worse. Somethin' about the way he watched and talked to us just creeped me out. Like he was looking into me but through me at the same time."

Fluttershy frowned. "How so? He seemed really polite most of the time and had some moments where he was funny too. The only problems happened when you tried to punch him or when Twilight brought out her scanner," she reminded gently but firmly.

"You're just making mah point for me. They were all really jumpy and nervous the whole time. Plus Liam took me down way too fast. Ah'm not sayin' that just ta save mah pride either so don't give me that look. He said he'd never seen magic before yet he still didn't hesitate when he saw me comin' at him. Not one second. That's more than just training, that's experience in taking folks down."

Fluttershy stayed silent as she thought about AJ's analysis of their visitors.

"Maybe that's just what it's like on their world?" she answered though without much conviction and a lot more uncertainty. "We've used our magic like that before to stop monsters and other things from Equestria."

"That's exactly why Ah'm not trusting them," Applejack replied in a near whisper as she pulled out her crystal and flipped it over. She trace a finger over the gold cross she mounted to the back of it and the small blue green globe inset into its center. What Will said makes me think Ah already know exactly what world they're from and it's got no right comin' here.

Will slowly lowered himself into the chair opposite his life long companion's, leaned back, and then simply sat there, staring at the ceiling above them. He held that pose for a solid five or more minutes, just letting his mind wander. He'd found it could be a good way to process large amounts of seemingly unconnected and random info he'd picked up. The only problem was he had to really empty his mind for it to work, no errant thoughts about schedules or plans or concerns or hopes, just a mental blank slate with everything he needed to work out strewn across it. That was turning out to be impossible this time.

"Will... am I dreaming? Did I ever wake up after I got hit by the Anomaly? Did that even happen?"

Will sat back up and saw Liam hunched over the table, hands running over themselves again and again. Oh boy... time to break out the self deprecating humor. Always snaps him out of funks like this.

"If you are then you've got the biggest ego of all time. I think most people in comas don't dream up clone armies of themselves. Plus it requires way more imagination than I think all of us have combined."

Liam stopped rubbing his hands together and sat motionless for a bit. Then his shoulders started twitching and suddenly the floodgates were open. Maniacal laughter erupted from him, an unending shaking and wheezing laugh that left him gasping for air until it would start up again. Tears streamed from his eyes and he grabbed his sides as he finally began to slow down to no more than a chuckle broken up by the occasional deep breath or painful wince.

"I-I don't know what the fuck's going on Will. How the hell did today happen? When did everything stop making sense? We had genocide declared against us and now we're in a fucking cartoon for Christ's sake!"

Will watched him in near shock. In eighty years together he'd never seen him like this before, never this emotional. There was a thin line being walked in the room right now and he feared what would happen if Liam stepped off it. No, not afraid of what would happen. Terrified.

"Okay, bring it back down. Whatever else is going on I can promise you we're not in the show or some fever dream. Those were real people we just met. Trust me, you didn't imagine up Jax getting blown in half or Mercer getting his chest caved in. Dreams don't punch like that."

Liam stared at him for a minute or two, his eyes darting slightly one way then another. Then he inhaled and sighed explosively. "I just... let's get to work on the ship. It will give me something to focus on while all this gets processed in the background. The sooner we're up and running the sooner we can get back to reality."

Will nodded quickly. Anything was better than the manic, bloodshot eyes that had just stared him down. He'd have to see if the medical bay had made it through intact. He was going to make a point of discreetly handing out tranquilizers to everyone as soon as he could. The last thing they could afford was the single most powerful member of the crew having a mental breakdown. The ship wouldn't survive it and they might not either. It was times like these, times of emotional stress and hardship, that left him wondering just how alike their minds really were. A Legionnaire could worry, could rejoice, could sulk, usually without much overt emotion behind it, but rarely did they panic. Liam did all those, perhaps even more muted than they did. But none of them could panic like he could. The problem was Liam was undoubtedly aware of that as well. He did his best and could rein in those moments after a little self-reflective prodding from his other selves. But Will feared that was only making him more aware of the difference, not helping him get better at handling it. He had no idea where that would end but it wasn't going to end well, especially not here.

"Well, we're all here now. Would you please tell us what this is about Watch? It's past midnight and we still have a pressing situation in the south that needs to be managed before it flares into something much more serious."

The room sucked away any echo, leaving pure silence in the speaker's wake. Eleven sets of eyes stared through the dim shadows of the chamber at a twelfth set of amber that flickered in the faint light reflected off the table before them. That twelfth set turned to hold the gaze of each of the others for a few seconds then glanced up and beyond them. A cream white hand slid out of the shadows, a small remote held loosely in its grasp. Across the large oval table an entire wall that had been bathed in darkness burst into light. The glow it cast over the space revealed a party of men and women ranging across the full breadth of age, all with curious or concerned expressions, many with a mixture of both. Most were dressed in suits while a few wore various military uniforms and one wore a set of long robes. The amber eyed member of the group was only just lit by the glow of the screen, revealing a head closed shaved on one side and nearly hidden on the other by a wave of dark navy blue hair trimmed to just below her ear.

"I'm afraid we have higher priorities now. A new Breach was opened a little over an hour ago," she said calmly, pressing another button on the remote. The wall became a wash of various charts, readouts, and maps superimposed with graphical pointers. She was answered with various hisses and groans.

"Dammit, on top of everything else now we've got this! We're stretched thin as is! Have we located where they were brought in? Have we got a team in place to contain them?" asked one of the women in military fatigues.

"I'm afraid it's more complicated this time."

"So it pulled more than one person through this time? I thought we'd strengthened the barrier enough to prevent it from doing that again almost a century ago!" a thin, gangly man in an expertly tailored suit hissed in exasperation.

"It did, though not in any way we could have expected," she replied and clicked the remote again.

The wall was now dominated by a single video window showing a valley between rolling hills covered in forest. In the center rested a small house and barn surrounded by row after row of apple trees. A few seconds passed and then the sky tore open in a ball of inky darkness lashed by trails of bright light that swam across it. Nearby clouds raced towards it and were sucked in and the trees in the valley began rustling and shaking in the sudden wind. Then something came through the dark orb, it's image twisting and tightening to a single distinct shape. It shot out of the hole in the world and plummeted, the air around it distorting madly as it tried to change its course. The video ended not long after the thing crashed into the orchard below it. It was followed immediately by a cacophony of voices hissing and shouting.

"We need to secure the entire area, no one in or out!"

"A full military response may be required. How soon can we-"

"You saw the map, it's too close to the city-"

"Do we have a count on how many are on the thing?

She decided that was a good place to continue from and held up her hand for attention. One by one the voices were silenced as they noticed. She nodded almost imperceptibly when the last speaker coughed awkwardly and fell silent. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table and laced her fingers in front of her.

"We don't have a good count on the number of crew on the vessel or how it is operated. None of our analysts have seen anything like it in the assembled records nor did they have any predictions for the development of such a thing from the other side. None of that is immediately important due to-"

"Watch, this is hardly the time for understatement! There could be a hundred or more people on board and we have no capacity to hold them until the next adjustment!" the lanky man cried in a venomous tone.

She narrowed her eyes as she met his judging stare and continued in as even a tone as she could muster, "Due to the nature of the crew and where it landed."

"Where it landed? What do you... oh hell, is that were I think it is?"

"Yes. Sweet Apple Acres."

"Dammit! Have we confirmed the status of the Paragon there?" asked one of the men in a the dress uniform of a general.

"We have, she's unharmed. Unfortunately all of the Paragons were present when the event happened. They were unharmed in the initial crash but immediately went to investigate." This news was met with various degrees of alarm and relief. There was a great rift in the confidence of the various councilors present on the ability of the Paragons. Some looked at their victories and saw hope, others looked at them and saw chance and naivety. Her own thoughts were far in favor of the latter but she had a duty to carry out and those seven had become an integral part of it whether she liked it or not.

"Are they safe Watch?" the general asked gruffly.

She nodded. "For now."

"For now- have they been attacked?!" another of the professionally attired council members yelled out as they suddenly stood up, glaring at her.

Her face set into a featureless expanse, devoid of tells or a hint of the emotions she was feeling. She shouldn't have to put up with this, not from hazards and malcontents like them, but this duty required more than just being a good guard and the others assembled here were a key part of that mission. She couldn't afford to alienate them by putting them in the places they so greatly needed to be reminded were theirs. So instead she calmly nodded and pointed at the screen again.

"They were, though they are unharmed and appear to be safe for the moment. What's more important was who or rather what they were attacked by."

A new video began playing beginning with the same view as before zooming in on a clearing near the crashed vessel and the group approaching it. A small motion from the top of the vessel drew their eyes to a small hatch opening and a dark figure crawling out of it. It suddenly leaped from the top of the wreck to just behind the group of girls, causing many of those assembled to inhale sharply. Watch was loathe to admit it she'd had a similar reaction when she'd first seen the footage as well. The jump must have been at least two, maybe even three stories in height and they'd recovered from it like they'd hopped a short fence. The sharp intake became a muted cheer as a glowing blue wall appeared between the group and their assailant followed closely by a pink explosion. Everyone winced and as the mysterious figure was blown in two and sent flying then voiced small curses and exclamations as two more of the strange passengers stepped out of the ship carrying obvious weapons. What happened next was almost too fast to keep track of but by the end of it one of the seven girls was lying on the ground as brilliant light suddenly filled the space around them. This also gave them a clear look at the assailants and Watch paused the video and brought up another window with the same image then zoomed in on one of them. Stunned silence took the place of the various utterances that had been a staple of the viewing as the girls all followed one of the things inside after it disarmed itself.

"As I said, things are more complicated this time. The family of Honesty also arrived not long after this and were escorted inside as well. All were seen being escorted back out just shortly before this meeting began. They were unharmed physically and with everyone accounted for." That announcement was met with a nearly complete set of eleven sighs and the sound of a number of chairs squeaking as their owners leaned back in them. She tapped her finger on the table a few times until she had their full attention again.

"Yes, they are currently unharmed but we have no way of knowing whether they may have been influenced in some manner. Remember the records of the 'doctor' that thing brought here more than thirty years ago?" A few of the older members shuddered, vividly remembering the case she referred to, while the younger members all nodded with grave expressions. "Compounding that issue we have no knowledge of this new threat and that is why for now I will not be authorizing any overt action unless given more evidence of immediate action on their part. For now we will observe, we will plan, and when we are ready we will eliminate this threat just like all those before it," she almost shouted, bringing a fist down on the table. Eleven sets of eyes watched her with rapt attention, their fears and doubts at this shocking development now all focused into a weapon she could use. Now she just needed to find where she needed to strike with it.

"This world is charged with a great burden and a greater duty," she intoned.

"And we are it's Keepers," they all replied as one.

Ch 6: Deal!

Liam winced as he pushed his way through frayed cables and warped beams. Getting into the damaged pylon to see what that never-to-be-sufficiently-damned ship had done to them proved to be more difficult than he'd expected. The slight tilt of the ship didn't make things any easier either.

"So what exactly did you find?" he called back over his shoulder to Albrecht as he ducked under a section of collapsed ceiling.

"Nothing you or Will are going to like."

"Well that's descriptive," Liam muttered. "Can you at least give me a hint or something?"

"Just take a look, we're here," Albrecht replied as Liam stepped through a partially opened doorway.

If the chaos of the trip up had been bad this was infinitely worse. The pink light of morning pierced into the cavernous room of the 4th drive section through a dozen or more gaping holes, the edges peeled back and jutting inwards like grizzly stalactites. Wrecked machinery lay strewn about in unidentifiable chunks and slagged mounds. Worst of all though were the hundreds of small crystals and shards lying on the floor after being blown out of the surrounding equipment. All of them were black and pitted, just like Thomas' brain back at the embassy. Liam's lip twitched and he snarled a curse at the unwelcome sight.

"When we get back, they're fucking dead. They're mass producing this shit like it was mustard gas. No, not 'like', this is straight up chemical warfare! By their own laws they're mass murdering fucks and I'm going to make sure every last one of them chokes on a copy of the Geneva Convention."

"Like I said, nothing you or Will were going to like. We're going to need to scrub this place down before we can even start thinking about repairs. That's not going to be easy. Looking at the state of things it seems like all it takes is contact with whatever they're using to kill a shard completely. We're going to have to figure out some way to pressure wash the interior out."

"Albrecht, I'm laying down the law here and now. None of you are to enter this area. At all. If you can't come up with a plan guaranteed to keep all of you out of there while getting it cleaned then we're going to cut the pylon loose and make do without."

Albrecht grunted as he looked over Liam's shoulder and took stock of the carnage. "That's going to be rough. We'll lose a lot of our radiator surface and you know how much that will limit our drive output. We'll need time to check how much we can keep and time to work out a go-around for the coolant loop if we have to go down that route."

Liam spun around and held a finger up to Albrecht's face. The Legionnaire's eyes crossed as they focused on the fingertip between them. "Whatever it takes Al. None of you are going in that room while there's even a tenth of a percent chance you could come into contact with that shit. I've got seven of you here and I'm not losing another one. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hey, I'm not in any hurry to die. Trust me, none of us are going in there unless we're certain either."

"Good, glad to hear it. We're done with this for now so let's finish checking out the rest of the ship," he said as he turned around. He was stopped short as a hefty synthetic hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hold it right there. WE'LL finish checking the ship. YOU'LL go get some rest. You've got a big meeting soon in case you forgot and it will go better if you're not slurring your words from exhaustion or nodding off every other sentence."

Liam tipped an eyebrow up slightly and said, "Excuse me? When did you become my mother?"

Albrecht returned the eyebrow with one of his own. "About the same time you worked through the entire night, skipping from one of us to the next to stay busy."

"We're short handed and I was not about to sleep while you all were-"

"ENOUGH. We'll get this figured out while you're gone. With any luck the keel drives didn't get beaten up too bad and we can get lift and motive power and be out of here in a day or two. So with that as my professional assessment of the situation here's my assessment of you: YOU. NEED. REST," Albrecht commanded, crossing and flexing his arms to let him know that physical persuasion was an option if he continued to put up resistance.

"I'm fine-" he began then yelped in surprise as a large black and grey fist shot out towards his stomach. He bent backwards away from it only for another to swing around and clap him across the ear as his head came forward. He stumbled sideways as half his world was suddenly drowned out by an immense ringing tone and his sense of balance vanished.

"Any other day and you would have seen that coming and sent me flying to the other end of the ship. Right now you can't even recognize one of your own faints. Go to bed before I see what else I can use on you right now."

Liam shook his head and coughed down bile as the motion made his head swim. He was going to put a field in Albrecht's shoulder strong enough to rip the arm from it when he got back up- why couldn't he get back up? His arms and legs were shaking and his mind was still swimming. He stood there, hunched against the wall, trying to rise up to Albrecht's challenge for a solid half a minute. He couldn't.

"Damn Al, you went a little overboard with the strength. When I get back up-" he stopped as he felt his throat constrict and swallowed hard again.

Albrecht scoffed in the back of his throat and said, "Sure, I'm the one that went overboard. Sorry for pushing myself too hard. Now get going."

Liam gave him a one finger reply and slowly began dragging his feet back the way they'd just come. He was slower than he should have been and felt a number of aches he hadn't before weighing him down now. He couldn't remember what he'd been doing to get them. In fact, he couldn't remember most of what happened last night. Everything was a blur apart from the vivid memory of an unfamiliar ship locking missiles on them and seeing seven girls that couldn't be real standing around Will when he stepped out of the bridge to speak with him.

Twilight awoke feeling completely drained and exhausted. She slowly rose out of bed and stretched, muscles complaining and joints popping every step of the way. She shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times wearily. She'd had the weirdest dreams last night. Maybe using magic before bed wasn't a good idea? She'd have to- why was everything so bright? She put her hand between her and the glare piercing through the window until her eyes adjusted. She lowered her hand and her jaw dropped along with it. The first thing she noticed was this was not her room at home. Her room didn't have a country look which was something of a dead giveaway. Second was all of her friends still sleeping on mattresses and cushions piled onto the floor along with her. The third thing she noticed however was the reason for her jaw currently hanging out somewhere around her navel. Far beyond the window and reflecting in the mid morning light like a lighthouse was a tower of silver. One that looked remarkably like something she had been certain was just part of a dream.

"Mornin' Twilight."

Twilight noticed a fourth thing that she hadn't been able to see through the glare: Applejack standing next to the window looking back at her.

"Morning Applejack. So, uh... that wasn't a dream then huh?"

Applejack grimaced for a brief moment then brightened and smirked at her. She tapped a finger to the corner of her mouth and said, "You uh, got a little somethin'..."

Twilight frowned and reached up to her face to find a wet slick of drool tracing down to her chin. She hurriedly wiped it on the sleeve of her shirt as her face flushed. Applejack chuckled then looked back out the window, her smirk slowly turning into a frown.

"Well at least one of us got some rest. They've been crawling and flyin' around the damn thing all mornin'. Couldn't get any rest after Ah noticed 'em."

Twilight squinted through the glare and noticed a couple smaller dark specs hovering over the shining monument to failed landings. "I've got to find out how they do that..." she whispered as she watched them drift back and forth. Apparently it wasn't as much of a whisper as she'd thought because Applejack let out a short snort and frowned more deeply.

"Don't go gettin' your hopes up Twi. Remember how they treated ya when ya pulled your scanner out? Ah don't think sharing's a big thing wherever they're from."

Twilight paused in getting out of her sleeping bag, mostly because Applejack still had a core of steel in her voice, but also because Pinkie was currently lying across her legs in a disheveled heap. She shifted to a slightly more comfortable and less leg numbing position and turned to face Applejack again.

"AJ, I know you're upset over what happened to the farm but they haven't actually been that unfriendly-"

"Twilight, don't. The whole time they were talking it felt like they weren't sayin' more than they were sayin'."

Twilight blinked and ran the words over a few times in her head before she thought she had a felt she had a good idea of what she'd meant. "You think they were hiding something?"

Applejack continued to look out of the window with that displeased frown when she replied, "Ah'm certain. Ah've got a bad feelin' about all of 'em. They're bad news."

"Can you explain why you feel like-"

"Ah can."

Twilight waited a few seconds. "Sooooo..."

"Ah said can, not Ah'm gonna. They're mah feelings, not yours. Y'all won't understand."

"Applejack, that's not fair to any of us-"

This time Applejack did turn to look at her as she interrupted her question, the frown replaced with something closer to sadness or maybe pity. Twilight didn't appreciate the look. She was only trying to understand a friend's problem and getting nothing but push-back for it.

"Twilight, just because we're friends don't mean Ah have to explain everythin' goin' on in mah head to y'all. Ah've got reasons for how Ah feel, reasons all mah own, and that's the end of it."

Twilight was about to reply when her stomach growled loud enough for Applejack to hear and to make Pinky toss a little. "Mrrmm... why's all the cake gone...," she muttered as she smacked her lips with a faint frown. Twilight sighed and poked Pinkie in the side, causing her to faintly giggle and roll off her legs, freeing her at last.

"Guess that's our cue to get everyone up for breakfast."

"Yeah, Ah'll go get Applebloom and Big Mac up and get it started. Ah'll leave this lot to you."

"Get some rest he says. You'll feel better and clearer afterwards he says," Liam muttered as he began cresting the hill to the farmhouse stiffly. His legs protested every step and his arms wanted nothing more than to hang limp. He paused for a moment to stretch and instantly regretted it. His joints and back popped like a string of firecrackers but most impressive was his jaw, especially on the one side. It sounded like a gun going off and ached like crazy.

Gonna have to find a way to thank Albrecht for this. An all expense paid trip to a rock crusher sounds fitting. Maybe a dip in an acid bath beforehand to relax. He'll love it.

He took the moment of near paralysis as his body rebooted from aching to operating to look around in daylight. They'd done far more damage than he'd thought, both to the orchard and to the ship. He suddenly regretted his promise to Granny Smith because this was going to be way more work to repair than he and a grand total of seven Legionnaires could hope to fix quickly. Especially when they'd need to first pull the Celestia out of the ground. Looking at the shape she was in that was going to be easier said than done. More pressing than that was the need to start working on a way back home. Any distractions from that were unacceptable-

He stopped, running his last thoughts again and immediately chastising himself for even thinking of cutting and running instead of helping, especially with what he now knew about that orchard. It might have been an accident but responsibility still rested squarely on them. He'd made a promise to fix things and that was what he'd started the Legion to do in the first place.

Plus, what could the seven of us and an embassy ship hope to do that the rest of the fleet couldn't? If it weren't for Mom and Dad I'd be saying take our time, pull back and rebuild now that we're beyond their reach. The seven of us were never going to be a part of the rescue so us returning is kind of a moot point, isn't it? Now if I can just get myself to believe that.

With a resigned sigh he walked up to the door and finding no doorbell knocked loudly a few times. This was immediately followed by a loud series of crashes, bangs, and general chaotic noises that rapidly approached the door from within. Their arrival was preceded by a muffled yell.

"Pinkie, you get back here right now! Hold on a second. Applebloom! Where do ya think yer goin?"

Just before he'd made up his mind to duck and hide somewhere the door flew open, revealing an out of breath Pinkie and Applebloom.

"Hey there! You almost missed breakfast and it's a good one!" Pinkie said with a gigantic grin. It was somewhat countered by her eyes darting back to the side as if she was expecting something to happen any second.

"Applejack made flapjacks. Granny's out getting some cider from the barn if you want some," Applebloom said by way of explanation. Her eyes were filled with something between wonder and apprehension as she looked at him.

Oh hell, they're still real, he mentally groaned to himself as his eyes widened. Before he could reply or, as he'd rather have done, about faced and marched back to the ship and its fully stocked bar, Applejack stepped around the corner behind him and scowled at the trio in the doorway.

"There's not much left since ya got up so late and Ah'm not about to make more. Don't have enough time with all the work to be done now," she said as she turned and disappeared back the way she'd come. Liam didn't miss the implied barb and clicked his tongue softly in irritation as he scowled back at the space she'd vacated.

The world's still laughing in my face only now it's also giving me the finger as well. Then he remembered why she was acting that way and mentally slapped himself across the head. Again. Give her time. Give her time...

A pair of pink hands shot out and pulled him into the house and back into the moment. "You heard the lady, if you stand there any longer Twilight's going to eat everything left!"

"Wait, what? No I'm not!" an indignant cry replied from around the corner to a chorus of giggles and open laughter.

Pinkie jumped behind him and began pushing him toward the voices as Applebloom trailed behind them both. They passed into a rustic and homey kitchen and Liam swallowed discreetly as six pairs of eyes tracked his arrival.

"Uh, morning everyone."

"Good morning - oh my, you look dreadful!" Rarity exclaimed as she put down her silverware and brought her hands up to her mouth in dismay.

Liam frowned in confusion then noticed his faint reflection in the window behind them. His face was smeared with small flecks of grease and he had a set of impressive shadows under his eyes. He wasn't sure if they were from stress or lack of sleep. There'd been plenty of both in the last twenty four hours after all. The only consolation was he'd at least had the presence of mind to change into a new set of clothes when he woke up.

Oh yeah, this is a great first formal impression. You're killing it Liam.

"Oh. Sorry, I spent the night working with the others on the ship. Our water reclamation system's trashed so I wasn't able to clean up afterwards," he half-lied. The first part was true, the second less so. It had been out due to a busted pipe and a cracked reservoir but that had been fixed in minutes. He'd just been too dazed to make use of a shower afterwards, especially after Albrecht knocked him senseless. He was suddenly very aware of how greasy his skin felt and very thankful for the new and above all fresh scented set of clothes.

"Oh darling, that's terrible! Go get cleaned up before you sit down, I insist. You'll feel much better as well I'm sure," Rarity said with a frown. Liam nodded in thanks for the save and looked around hurriedly.

"Here, it's this way," Applebloom said as she tugged at the sleeve of his shirt. He followed her to the downstairs bathroom and nodded in thanks before ducking inside and locking the door shut. He turned around and winced as his reflection stared back at him from the mirror over the sink. The window hadn't done the damage justice.

Besides what he'd already seen he was also sporting a small bruise around his ear where Albrecht cuffed him and a number of other stains of unknown origin. He frowned and shook his head in annoyance then washed his hands and took off his button down shirt and the plain t-shirt below it as carefully as he could to avoid adding any stains to them as well.

A few minutes and a quarter of a bottle of soap later he felt surprisingly refreshed. The stains were gone and some life had returned to his eyes. As he buttoned up his shirt again he locked those same eyes with his reflection and softly said, "Okay. Your debut was crap and your followup miiiight have been even worse. That's all in the past now. They're normal human girls who just happen to be exact matches to the ones you know and can use frickin magic. There, you've said it. No big deal. No big deal... yeah righ- stop that. Better. Now, you're going to go out there, you're not going to freak out, and you're going to DEAL WITH IT." He arched his brow a little at his reflection and chuckled at the comically scolding expression.

"All done?" asked Applebloom as he stepped out into the hall.

"Yup. I could almost pass for living again," he replied with a sheepish grin. Applebloom's eyes widened and she took a step back.

"Wait, yer dead?" she asked in clear distress. Liam closed his eyes and groaned softly as he realized his error. He was going to have to stay away from his usual self-deprecating humor for awhile. Too much chance of being taken literally.

"Sorry, just an expression. It's been a long couple of days and I didn't realized how much I looked like death," he said. As if on cue a huge yawn crawled up his throat and he winced as his jaw ached with the effort.

Applebloom blew out a quick breath in relief then blushed. She spun around and quickly began walking back towards the kitchen. Liam followed behind and reentered to a small smattering of applause from the fashionista at the table. He steeled himself with a deep breath and focused on the seven girls seated at the table. That familiar chill of late ran up his spine again at the seven young girls looking back at him, most of them with neutral or friendly expressions with the exception of Pinkie who was doing her best to remake the fall of Pompeii in pancakes and syrup and wasn't paying him much attention at all. Applejack simply grimaced with her arms crossed. At least she didn't look openly angry right now.

"Much better!" Rarity said approvingly as he took a seat at the end of the table.

"Yeah, and we even held Twilight off your pancakes!" Rainbow Dash said with a snicker. Across the table Twilight blushed heavily.

"I didn't try to take any of them! They're joking, I swear!" she stammered while looking at him pleadingly then blushed even harder as Rainbow Dash began laughing. Pinkie took the opportunity afforded by the distraction to nab one of Twilight's pancakes off her plate and add it to the breakfast mountain on her own. Twilight caught the last of the motion and looked down at her plate.

"Hey!" she cried out, causing Dash to nearly fall out of her chair laughing. Before anyone could chastise either of the tricksters Fluttershy moved one of her pancakes over to Twilight's plate with a small smile. She'd hardly touched her own breakfast and had plenty left. "Oh! Thanks Fluttershy. Are you sure?"

"It's not a big deal, I'm just not very hungry today," she replied.

"Um, if that's on account of us then I'm... sorry," Liam said awkwardly. Fluttershy quickly shook her head with a smile that didn't meet her eyes. They were sad and filled with uncertainty. Over what, he couldn't guess, not with the thousand possibilities their arrival offered.

"Oh! No, I just never feel hungry when I get stressed and last night was stressful. That doesn't mean YOU made it stressful," she nervously clarified, "we were just shocked when you arrived and then more shocked at how strange you were- not that you're that strange. Just... not what we were expecting," she ended in a barely audible squeak.

Liam waved her off, mostly so that he didn't awkwardly sit there and stare at her in fascinated wonder, then looked down the table to the oldest Apple daughter.

"Is Gr- your grandmother around?" Liam asked, catching himself before he started addressing them all more casually than he should have. Or maybe that was better and wouldn't get noticed as much as him constantly correcting himself? He had no idea what the custom was and knew it was going to continue to drive him mad until some hint- or more likely some slip-up- informed him.

Applejack huffed and said, "Yeah, she and mah brother are bringin' in a barrel of cider from the barn."

"Ah, gotcha," he said. He wasn't panicking around them or feeling weirded out as much now but the awkward silence that followed felt worse. He had a million things he could ask but didn't dare to. Any one of them might give away his knowledge of their lives without him realizing. All of them seemed to be in a similar state as well or were simply waiting for him to make the first move.

"Hey, eat up! They'll go cold if you take too long," Pinkie said, breaking the silence before digging back into her own plate with gusto.

"Oh, right. Forgot. Uh, thanks for the food Applejack," he said with a hopeful smile her way. She nodded but otherwise didn't react visibly otherwise. He cut out a bite of the pancakes and slowly brought it to his mouth, feeling extremely uncomfortable under the stares of everyone around him- OH WOW.

"...I've died and gone to heaven. Sweet, fluffy, syrupy heaven," he said softly with wonder. Not only were they the best pancakes he'd ever had, he hadn't eaten for over a day now and his unintended fast magnified the sudden craving tenfold. He tore back into the plate of perfect pancakes in a frenzy, pausing only when a large bite went down hard. He coughed and cast about for something to drink.

"Here ya go," a scratchy, warbling voice said from behind him as a light green hand placed an amber filled cup in front of him. He grabbed the glass and downed it in one go. It was possibly even better than the pancakes.

"I'm moving in. I need these in my life everyday from now on," Liam half-joked between coughs as he looked back over his shoulder at Granny Smith. She chuckled and patted him on the back while Big Mac nodded to him politely then stepped over to lean against the counter, watching him with an almost bored look on his face. Applebloom joined him and he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side.

"Glad ta see ya at least got good taste in grub if not good taste in parkin' lots," Granny said with a small smirk.

Liam twitched and froze for half a second before sighing. "I won't argue that, not when the evidence is such an eyesore right now. We'll do what we can to help you fix up the farm, but first I think we're going to need to get the ship operational again and out of the way."

"So you're gonna tell us ta trust that ya won't run and leave us with this mess? Sure, why not?" said Applejack, giving him a smile that had exactly zero humor behind it. Granny stepped behind her and not-so gently cuffed her on the back of the head.

"Applejack, ya cut that out right now, ya hear me? Ah've had just about enough o' yer attitude. He offered ta help and whether you like it or not we need it. Ah thought about it and he's our only option. Our dang insurance isn't gonna cover the repairs and we can't afford both the saplings and the labor to fix the grove up and plant 'em. If they can help with either of those then we might be okay."

"Granny, why not call the cops or better yet the news channels? Ah bet one of 'em would pay us enough to get things fixed up in return for first shot at this story," Applejack said, pointing out the window at the ship rising in the center of what would otherwise have been a fantastic view.

"You'll do no such thing! Ah don't want none of them scavengers hangin' round here. Use yer head girl, they'd make us out to be the country bumpkins that nearly got abducted or worse. We won't have peace or quite again 'round here after that! But there's one other thing yer fergettin'."

"And what's that?" asked Applejack with that same out of character scowl.

Liam was incredibly confused by her anger at this point. Not simply because she was angry, Granny's quiet words to him last night still gave him hourly pangs of regret and shame so he had no questions there. If someone had desecrated the graves of his parents he'd have- well, it would have really given humans back home a reason to fear him. Even more than they had one now. No, he was confused because she was angry and none of the rest of her family seemed to be or at least that hers was completely out of proportion by comparison. They'd all forgiven him in some sense for the accident and she was still looking for the best place to stick the knife.

What really grabbed his attention thought was the threat of media attention was too close to a vital spot for his liking. They could not afford to get pulled into the politics or affairs of this world for any number of reasons. He slowly palmed the miniature transmitter he'd brought with him just in case and waited to see where things went.

"Apples. Help. People," Granny answer, jabbing a finger into the table with each word. "Always have and always will. Especially when they offer ta help us in kind. Or have ya fergotten 'bout how yer momma and poppa-"

"Alright! Fine, we'll use 'em to fix thing's! Are ya happy now?" Applejack growled in frustration.

Granny squinted at her for a few seconds then nodded. "Fer now. Now as for you," she said as she focused again on Liam. "How long will it take y'all ta git yer ship fixed up and out of the ground?"

Liam looked back out the window and thought about it for a moment before hissing through his teeth. "Hard to say. The others are running through the checklists but so far everything seems to be sound structurally. We'll have to run checks on power, controls and computers, and the primary drives before we can lift off. That shouldn't take more than a couple days. Buuuuut that's only half the problem. We're going to have to check for leaks once we head back up to orbit and get underway again. If there are any they'll have to fix them. My twins may be fine with not having air but I don't fair so well without it. If we're lucky we didn't get any cracks in the hull and we just need a day or two to check and fix the external seals. If we're unlucky the hull's been breached and finding and fixing every place that's happened could take weeks with most of the crew tied up in it."

Granny grunted and said, "Ah was afraid of that. It's only gonna take longer if yer helping us at the same time right?"

Liam nodded then said, "I'd say it would be best if we get the big repairs finished as fast as possible and get the ship out of the way. I can leave a skeleton crew to check the leaks and work with the rest here."

Granny looked thoughtful for a moment. "So how many would that be?"

"Hard to say right now. We'll have to figure out the full repair bill and then divy up the eight of us between the ship and the farm. Might need all seven of them on the ship to get it running again."

"You only have seven clone- er, Legionnaires for that entire ship?" asked a wide-eyed Twilight.

"Right now, yes. Normally she has a compliment of a couple hundred but we were transiting with just the bridge crew when we ended up here. The rest were on leave and... weren't on board. So, seven."

Granny sighed and shook her head. "Drat, that's not gonna help much then. We'll need a heck of a lot more than that to get this place fixed up before the window to replant is over."

Applebloom hung her head in disappointment and squeezed Big Mac's hand. He gave Liam his own weary glance then turned to look out the window at the orchard. His disappointment and his solemn demeanor stung, mostly because he'd been so levelheaded and easygoing with them since last night. As Liam tried to think of something to say to reassure them the rest of the group all looked at each other and nodded.

"If that's all you have then we'll just have to chip in for the rest, right guys? They can help us out while we do the heavy lifting," Rainbow Dash said with a grin and a nod towards Applejack.

"Absolutely, we simply can't let the farm linger in this state. We'll do whatever we can to set things right again," Rarity directed at Applebloom, eliciting a sniffle and a smile from her and an appreciative tilt of the head from her brother.

"Plus with our new powers it shouldn't be that-" Twilight began before her eyes shot open and she slowly turned to look at Liam. "Ummm..."

Liam gave her a small smirk and said, "Oh yes, I'll be asking about that another time. That was part of the info exchange deal we talked about. But before that I need to say that even one Legionnaire is going to be more help than I think you're giving them credit for."

Sunset leaned forward and clasped her hands on the table while resting on her elbows. "How so? You said you didn't have magic so how much can they really do?" The way she asked the question told Liam she was looking for more than just an answer. She was looking for background on them. Given what he knew of her it wasn't too surprising but at the same time it was very, very unnerving to be interrogated by one of your favorite fictions.

"Each of them can deadlift a thousand pounds and any injury can be repaired in minutes if they've got the spare parts and tools available. They don't need sleep, food, or water and will never run out of strength. Also, you may have noticed the EVA float packs some of them are using out there. If you use them right you can lift a car with one. I think we'll be able to pull our own weight without any issue," he explained, trying not to sound too smug.

Everyone stared at him for a few seconds until Rainbow Dash shrugged and said, "Okay, so maybe you'll be a bit more useful than we thought." Liam shook his head and chuckled.

"A bit. I designed them to be tough in the first place and we've all been making upgrades ever since," he explained. "I'm proud of all the progress we continue to make. I was afraid we'd run into walls, places where we just couldn't imagine ways around our problems because we all think the same way, but they've proven to be adept at looking at thinking outside the box, particularly the ones that take job stints outside our usual interests. Those guys are worth their weight in gold for us." He paused, his brow pinching as something he said nagged at the back of his mind. Now what was it-

Oh! Now that could get us some brownie points and give the finger to those two faced assholes back on Earth. Our Earth. That's going to get confusing.

"You mentioned needing labor and funds?" he asked, looking at the Apple family for confirmation. Granny and Applejack shared a look then faced him with muted annoyance and frustration.

"Yeah, we don't make a lot and we're gonna make a lot less now that half the orchard's gone. What of it?" Applejack asked warily.

"Well, it sounds like we've got the labor issue settled between all of us but I think we might also be able to help with the payment end of things."

Rarity watched silently as Will carefully sidestepped down the still broken ramp of the Celestia where they'd first encountered each other, gingerly holding the huge case in his arms. When he reached the bottom he placed it alongside the other five identical cases and flexed his fingers a few times.

"That's the last one. Compared to the enticement package these probably won't have any significant sale value and some of them we decided were worth keeping. Personal mementos and that sort of thing like the clock from your state visit to Luxembourg," he said, looking at the claimed-to-be-ancient boy standing by the pile he'd made.

Liam stared at the nearest case for a moment with a sad smile and an unfocused looked.

"Yeah, definitely keep that one. The rest of these are fair game though," Liam said as he lightly tapped the nearest case with his foot with an evil grin. "You know, something about the idea of pawning these for chump change gives me a warm and happy glow."

He was really enjoying whatever it was they were doing and judging by how Will matched his expression the same could probably be said for all of them.

"Do we even want to know what's in those?" asked Sunset loud enough for the pair to hear her from where they stood.

She was facing the ship while leaning over the hood of Twilight's car. Twilight and Rainbow Dash were leaning against the front bumper and talking about the hovering Legionnaire as best she could tell while Fluttershy sat next to them, watching the Legionnaires with a mix of curiosity and apprehension. Applejack and her family had gone off on a walk around the ship to see the full extent of the damage and Pinkie was currently doing... something in the back of the hatchback. The fact that she was doing it silently was the part that most concerned her but when she'd tried to get a look at what she'd been doing she instead only seen Pinkie's palm blocking her view. "No spoilers," was all she'd said until Rarity looked away again. The rest of them were watching the small but energetic team of Legionnaires crawling and in one case flying over the hulking craft. The last one had been something of an issue, not because of anything it did, but rather as soon as Dash saw it she wanted to fly up to chase it and had to be argued down by all of them combined on the grounds of not interfering and not revealing her powers to it and the rest of the stranded castaways.

No, not it. He. I need to get out of the mindset of calling them "it" immediately. A faux pas like that would almost certainly strain things with them. I think. Maybe they wouldn't mind considering how Liam and they talk to each other? Ohhhh, they're just so odd I can't be sure! Maybe it would be best to ask them upfront? But what if they take that as uncouth and in poor taste! Hmmmm... maybe... maybe I can find some way to bring it up casually in conversation then? Oh! Maybe they'll accept a couple sets of suits or uniforms! If not then I could probably offer to repair or fit anything they might have. That would give me the opening I need, she thought excitedly. Her inner conundrum was interrupted by Liam calling back to Sunset.

"You will, but I'd like to wait till Granny gets back before I do the big reveal," Liam said with a huge grin.

It was probably the first time Rarity had seen him smile, really smile, since they'd met last night. Not a lengthy amount of time in which to be thoroughly acquainted for sure, but looking at his face now she realized that the friendly smiles and grins from their introduction the previous night now felt... forced. Perhaps that wasn't the best word. He'd seemed happy to talk with them and explain things, well, explain things as much as either of them had which wasn't very much now that she thought about it, but the point was that she could now apply the word "seemed" to that happiness with great confidence. He hadn't actually been feeling that way at all before and now, for whatever reason, he was. He wasn't unsure or conflicted- there, that was a good word for it! He'd seemed conflicted before and now he wasn't or at least wasn't noticeably.

She also noticed something else she'd missed while he beamed at Sunset. That heartfelt smile also made his face look noticeably younger, truly making him look like an out of place highschooler, and with a small feeling of pity understood why he'd been so upset when Sunset said he looked to be of the same age as them. She might have been interested in keeping her youth for a few decades longer if it had been possible but she would have preferred it coming in a few more years as well to be sure.

Sunset rapped a knuckle against the top of the hood then shrugged. "Okay, but if we're going to be waiting on them then maybe you can answer something for me in the meantime."

Liam and Will shared a quick blank look then looked back at her. "Sure, though I will say upfront that if it's something I feel you all need to hear then I'll wait on answering or if it's something that impinges on Legion state secrets then I'll have to decline."

Sunset tilted her head to the side and frowned. "Is that really necessary? We're not exactly spies. We're not even from your world."

Liam shook his head and looked at her sternly. "It's not actually about you, it's about us staying in the mindset."

Sunset's frown became a little less annoyed and a little more confused. "Uh, care to explain that a little?"

Liam sighed and nodded. "We can't afford to start thinking there are any situations where it's okay to hand out our secrets. They could impact thousands of lives in any number of ways and if we start making exceptions then one day we will slip up and reveal something we shouldn't have because we thought it was safe. The best way to not do that is to never give out that confidential knowledge. We don't have anything against you all personally, we just can't afford to let sloppiness and complacency into our actions. That's been demonstrated VERY clearly to us before," he said a little more darkly than Rarity thought was perhaps necessary.

She could understand where he was coming from of course. The world of fashion could be a tad cutthroat and one of the big rules she'd heard stated over and over again was never let your designs out before the season kicked off or else you might find them on someone else's lineup before yours. But he was being overly dramatic in making that point to them for sure.

If Sunset felt the same way she didn't let on, instead considering him for a few more seconds then shrugging again. "That makes sense I guess. I doubt that's going to apply to what I want to ask though." She waited till Liam motioned slightly for her to continue then looked up over his head and pointed. "Can you tell me where that came from?" He frowned in confusion then turned and followed path of her finger. From her vantage point near the back of the car she could just barely see the edge of his face and how he both froze and winced at the same time when he realized she was pointing at the ships nameplate.

What's that about I wonder? Her musing didn't have time to go anywhere as he quickly turned back to Sunset with a snap of his fingers.

"It's a play on words of Celestial. A lot of our ships get named like that, taking terms having to do with space or astronomy and altering them to sound like names. Just felt right since the seafaring ships of our world were often named after women and we wanted to do the same thing in a way appropriate for us." Will nodded slowly as he finished then went back to slowly pacing around while waiting for the Apple family to return.

Sunset raised an eyebrow slightly then looked up at the letters etched into the plate over the open bay. She let her eyes drift across them for a few moments then shot a smirk back at Liam. "I like that way of naming things. It's a good name too just... kind of ironic."

Liam notched up an eyebrow of his own and said, "Oh?"

"I know two others with that same name. One's the principal at our school and the other's an... old friend," she finished slowly.

If Liam noticed the pause and tone he didn't make anything of it and instead simply notched his brow up and said, "Huh. Small world I suppose."

Sunset gave a small murmur of agreement and leaned against the hood of the car again, her eyes wandering back up to the nameplate as she rested there. She didn't have long to do so before the sounds of the Apple family returning became noticeable. The quartet made their way back to clearing slowly, Granny breathing hard alongside Applebloom as they arrived. All four of them paused as they reached Twilight's car and Fluttershy was quick to pull out a number of bottles of cider and hand one to each of them. All of them downed them quickly then looked back at Will and Liam.

"Did ya have ta make yer dang ship so big? Took us ages to get around it and see how bad things are!" asked Granny Smith in a clearly annoyed tone.

Liam chuckled and tried to stifle a grin that threaten to split his face in two. "Granny, just be glad this is the ship we were in and not one of our other models. Most of them are at least as large if not larger and our flagship is large enough to house the Celestia in her main hangar."

All of the Apples gaped and stared up at the ship behind him. "Yer right, Ah'm glad," Granny said with a shudder. She frowned up at the now apparently rather small ship and snorted. "So, what did ya bring us out here to see?"

Liam tapped one of the cases with a heel and said, "Come on over and see for yourself." They looked at each other then headed over to where he stood. When they reached him Liam looked around them and said, "You all too. I'm going to need your help to make this work."

Rarity shared a confused glance with the rest of her friends then walked over to join Applejack and her family. When they'd all gathered round the six large sealed cases on the ground Liam leaned down and clicked opened a pair of locks at either end then lifted up the top and showed them-

"Oh my, those are stunning!" Rarity exclaimed. Inside the case, nestled in a bed of foam blocks, were a set of jade dragon figurines with long serpent bodies and golden whiskers in the style of some Neighponese art she'd seen before. Each scale had been hand carved and no two seemed to be identical. Both their mouths were open in a snarl and the two together looked like they were rearing away from each other in snarling combat, gold flecked eyes staring daggers at their opponent.

She felt a slight pressure on her shoulder and before she could who it was she got her answer as Rainbow Dash whistled loudly as only she could while looking over her.

"Dang dude, those are sweet! Did you buy those when you were on vacation or something?"

Liam snorted and shook his head. "Not a snowball's chance in hell Dash. They aren't really in my style but we kept them because they were gifted to us by the leader of a country we visited in the Celestia. Now I have the perfect excuse to get rid of them since I can claim they were destroyed in the crash."

Rarity and a few others winced at the course language, earning them confused looks from Liam and Will.

"What did I say?" asked Liam.

"It's ummm... well, you said- oh, I can't say it," Fluttershy muttered. Liam's expression contracted into greater confusion until Rarity cleared her throat.

"It's not considered couth to use language like that here. Just a bit of friendly advice for around town perhaps," she advised with a nervous laugh.

Liam's head slowly tilted to the side. "Wait, what language?"

"The, umm, H-word," Twilight replied abashedly.

"H-word? What the hell's the- wait, you mean hell?" he asked incredulously, eyes widening when Twilight flinched at hearing it again. She nodded in confirmation and he brought his hand up to cover his eyes.

"...okay, something to remember then," he said slowly, slowly dragging his hand down his face. "How about we return to just before I said hel- the 'H-word'?"

"Sure. So why get rid of them?" Applejack asked from the other side opposite Rainbow Dash. "Ah thought ya said they were gifts?"

Liam gave her an odd look then said, "Yes, political gifts. I didn't know their leader at all when I was presented these. It was simply a show of wealth, power, and general pleasantries. Things became more strained afterwards but getting rid of them would have been an undue insult." He looked up for a moment then snorted and said, "Well, more like just an insult."

Applejack frowned but didn't say anything else. Instead it was Applebloom who asked the next question.

"Are ya giving these to us? That's kind of ya and all but we don't really have a place for 'em."

Liam laughed openly alongside Will then looked at her warmly. "No, definitely not. They were insincere gifts in the first place and I don't intend to do the same thing to you and your family. These are going to be a down payment on the repairs and saplings like you mentioned. I just need you all to help me find a place to sell them. I'll try to find some actual gifts we can give or make for you all for your understanding and patience before we leave."

"Oh! Well that's sure nice of ya," the young Apple said brightly.

Rarity thought it was a shame to be letting go of such fine pieces of art, especially if the items in the other crates were of the same quality, but it wasn't her place to say so. She also wasn't sure they'd be able to sell them for as much as he was hoping, particularly since no one on this world would recognize any markings or identification on them. They'd be relying on the quality alone to set the price and from her experience in following the world of design she knew that often times it didn't matter as much as who'd made them. Twilight seemed to be of a similar opinion as well.

"I'm not sure how much we'll be able to get for these around here. No one will know how much they'd be worth on your world and will probably undercut it badly," she said as she squinted at one.

Liam didn't seem disheartened by her words though and instead gave her a wide grin, "Oh, I'm aware. Remember how I said this was a chance for me to get rid of them? I'm mostly doing this so that getting them off my hands actually benefits someone. Plus, these aren't going to be the real hot item. That title will go to the contents of this one," he said as he flipped open the lid on another case.

There wasn't any foam or gold inlaid jade sculptures in it, though there was gold. More gold than Rarity had ever seen in her life. A solid, shining brick of it sitting next to two matching sized ones of what she recognized as silver.

"Sourced from our asteroid belt and hot off the mint. Sort of," he said with a back and forth shake of his hand.

"Why in tarnation do ya have that with ya?" Granny asked in wonder.

"Repairs," answered Liam.

"Repairs?!?" all of them shouted in unison. Rarity frowned as Liam and Will shared the snarkiest grin she'd ever seen in her life then nodded in unison at them.

"Yes, repairs. Gold and silver aren't that hard for us to come by. It's common enough in what we mine that we use silver with its conductivity for all of our wires and gold and its corrosion resistance for all of our contacts and connectors. Usually leaves us with a lot more gold left over because of that."

Rarity stared back down at the ingots, awed at how easily they could come by such lustrous finds. She'd have given up quite a lot to be able to use them in wire and flakes and ornaments for her designs. Gold went particularly well with Rainbow's skin tone and accentuated Applejack's hair color while silver provided a good contrast for both Sunset and Twilight's usual color preferences. What she could do for them with such rare materials... except they weren't that rare for Liam and Will and the others. They were materials to make wires and machines with. Her awe gave way to melancholy at the thought of what it would be like if everything she prized for its, well, rarity suddenly became commonplace and easy to acquire. That was something she'd be glad to not see come to this world anytime soon.

"Wait, don't you need to keep these then? To get the ship up and zooming through space to find new worlds and boldly go where no one from your world has gone before?" Pinkie asked curiously.

Liam and Will both twitched when she said that and slowly looked at each other. Will shook his head and chuckled. He looked at Pinkie and tossed a thumb over his shoulder.

"Remember what we said about not being that rare? That's a fifth of our gold stores and a tenth of our silver stores. That will be more than enough to replace any cables too badly damaged to splice together and any fried connections. We can afford this to make up for what we've accidentally done here."

Everyone was silent for a full minute or more, staring into the two cases and the ship they came from. A few risked glances at the pair that came from it and the almost smug looks plastered clearly across their faces, or at least clearly across Liam's and thus probably Will's by association. Rarity thought again for the twentieth or more time that the way they covered their faces was just odd. The curious side of her was dying to see what was under that almost form fitting cover and she felt her fingers itch at the prospect of peeling back that-

Rarity! You were doing so well too! Just because they are the new and interesting topic of discussion does not mean you get to invade their personal space. Unless they should happen to get it into their minds to invite you to do so in which case it's perfectly fine, she said to herself sort of admonishingly in her mind, choosing to focus on the latter part of the thought rather than the former.

Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence of the group with a grudgingly respectful, "So what you're saying is you have your own nation of 'yous', you have your own spaceship, and you're basically rich. All because you got hit with something weird when you were in highschool. That about right?"

Liam opened his mouth to say something then paused, apparently thinking better of whatever it was. "Yeah, that just about covers it," he said with a lazy thumbs up.

Rainbow nodded for a second or two then looked at Rarity and their friends with a sly grin. "Guys, we need to step it up." Rarity and the rest of their group of friends all groaned, even Pinkie Pie.

Oh great, he's got her ego going now...

Granny didn't pay their drama any mind though as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot rapidly, looking down at the boxes with a calculating stare. A few seconds later she reached a decision and stuck out her hand towards Liam so fast Rarity was certain she felt a breeze pass over them all.

"Ya got yerself a deal Mr. Harcourt."

Liam took her hand and shook it firmly once then looked down at the bounty he was offering the Apples.

"Now we just gotta figure out where we can sell this stuff. Any ideas?"

Rarity tried to think if any of the shops or suppliers she knew of would take bulk materials like this but couldn't come up with a single one. She started to think about who she might get in touch with to see if there were options outside her acquaintances when Sunset slowly put her hand in the air.

"I... might know a guy," she said with a resigned grimace.

Author's Note

It's always a nice when you wake and realize you just dreamed half of your next chapter and it's better than what you originally planned. It's always terrifying when you realize it's slowly slipping away from you in your early morning stupor and you need to get to your computer RICHT THE HECK NOW.

Hope you all are enjoying it!

CH 7: A Modest Proposal

Liam exhaled softly and slowly eased himself into the rear seat of the car, closing his eyes and breathing deeply for a moment to center himself while Twilight carefully navigated her way through the last of the debris. It was a surreal but oddly peaceful moment. If he really concentrated on drowning out the sounds around him he could almost believe he was back on Psyche, or maybe back on Earth in his parents' car as they went out to the latest movie and dinner, some place out of town where they wouldn't be recognized immediately. Old but happy memories. It lasted for all of ten seconds before a swift breeze brought the faint scent of chocolate, vanilla, and flour wafting over him. He squeezed his eyes closed tighter as a sneaking suspicion of what he would see if he opened them formed in his mind. Stealing himself he risked a peek and confirmed those suspicions: a whole lot of Pinkie Pie in his face.

"I have sooooooo many questions for you," she said with an intense expression. The part of Liam's brain gifted to him by his ancient ancestors was screaming at him to run from the predator in front of him. He wasn't entirely sure it was wrong.

"Uhhhhh... I did say I'd try to answer what I could, didn't I..." he replied, regretting ever stringing those words together into the same sentence. Pinkie was not someone he wanted asking questions about them, especially ones that might include favorite forms of media. She breathed in deeply and Liam prepared for the worst.

"What'syourfavoritekindofcakebecauseIwasthinkingyoulookedlikesomeonewho'dlikechocolatebutthenithoughtthatmaybeyou'dpreferyellowcakeorangelfoodandthenIrealizedyourhomemighthavecakewedidn'tandthenthatgotmethinkingthatyoumightnotlikecakeandpreferpieinsteadsowhat'syourfavoritekindofpie?"

Uhhhhhhhhh...

Liam was fairly certain words had been a part of the sound wave crashing over him but would not have sworn by it. It might just as easily have been one of her hunting methods for catching prey by stunning them. If so it worked perfectly because somewhere along the line his brain had slipped a gear and was now spinning aimlessly.

"Uhhhhhhhhh..." he said, mouth in perfect harmony with his mind for possibly the first time in days.

"She asked about what your favorite dessert is," Sunset said from up front while Twilight turned the car on. It rumbled softly then began rolling forward slowly as she put it in drive.

"Really? You got that?"

"You get used to it. She'd just really excitable sometim- all the time," Sunset said without missing a beat.

"Uh, well then I guess I'd say I like dark chocolate? Things like ganache, that sort of thing?"

"Mhmm... got it," she said as she made a final quick mark then pointed the pencil at him. "That's all."

Liam blinked. "Wait, that's it? What happened to all the questions you had?"

"Done for now," she said with a single quick shake of her head and a beaming smile. Liam was about to check to make sure she wasn't pulling his leg when Twilight cut him off.

"Well then do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Oh, uh, sure, go ahead," Liam answered, momentarily caught off guard.

Again.

He was starting to dislike the experience, particularly after having gone the better part of forty years without it up until only days ago.

Twilight glanced at him in the rear view mirror as they approached the intersection with the main road. She turned left and the ride instantly became smoother as they went from compacted dirt and gravel to pavement. It also became much quieter which made her following words all the more clear and concise.

"I'm curious about what happened to your ship before you came here. Part of the back looked a lot more damaged than the rest of it."

Liam did his best to not move a muscle while his mind searched wildly for ways out. DAMMIT. Why couldn't you have asked about science? Really not in the mood to explain my planet's latest genocide attempt.

"...we had an explosion in the rear pylon. Still not sure what actually did it. It's why we came through the gate at such a weird angle and why it took us longer to right the ship and start decelerating than it should have. If not for that we might have pulled off a softer landing. Or we might have skimmed over the top of the orchard and impacted the surrounding hills. Hard to say and I don't like to deal in what-ifs like that. Keeps you from focusing on what you have to do here and now."

"Like avoiding other people here knowing about you?"

Liam paused to consider his words then decided directness was the best approach. "Twilight, you're circling around what you actually want to ask me so go ahead and ask."

She looked at him in the mirror again, a bit long this time, then sighed. "Well... you see... Applejack doesn't like you."

Liam rubbed his temples a bit to try to relieve the instant headache. "I might have noticed her complete and utter disregard and dislike for myself and my counterparts, yes. I'm trying to not let it get to me. That's still not a question though."

Twilight winced while Sunset turned to look at him, her face almost neutral except for a slightly sympathetic pinching of the brow and lips. He looked to see what the third occupant besides him thought and found Pinkie giving him a sad smile while ringing her hands. She stopped when she noticed him watching.

"It's just... Applejack has always been a good judge of character as long as we've known her," said Pinkie.

Liam arched an eyebrow and thought to himself, Applejack? The one I just met? That Applejack? You sure you're not thinking of a different Applejack with less predisposition to lash out over material damages- ... how I wish that was true and didn't point back to us in the end. I really, really wish I could. Would make things so much cleaner and easier to figure out.

"Now I'm hearing the question. So, you're concerned she's caught on to something you haven't and you're all... charmed or influenced by us or something? Guys, I've got nothing. No magic, no diabolical mind control machine, nadda. Our world just doesn't work like that. All I've got is a weird story from when I was much younger and a small ability to influence an odd and not well understood field of physics."

"Really? This coming from the guy who copied his mind into half a million mechanical copies of himself?" Sunset asked incredulously.

Liam let out a faint snort. "Touche. We do have theories on that that don't require anything special though. Just a different way to make a brain work with different materials. What I'm trying to say is hurting her home is hurting her more than it's hurting the rest of her family and she's lashing out at the cause. No matter if it was unintentional. I just hope she finds her center or some peace soon or else the repair work is going to be awkward incarnate."

Sunset grimaced for a moment then said, "We didn't talk about the possibility much after we left last night but it was something AJ brought up. If it weren't for how you arrived and how you've acted since we would have sided with her and her gut. That's what friends do. But she's normally a lot more open and welcoming, like the rest of her family. Even for people who... don't make great first impressions. I just don't understand why she's so hostile towards you. Will and I talked about it briefly last night and losing the trees in the orchard probably isn't it." She frowned then twisted further to look at the other passenger in the back with him. "Any ideas Pinkie? You've been friends with her longer than Twilight or I have."

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "Nope. Applejack isn't being very Applejack-ish right now, at least not Applejack from before yesterday. I've been thinking about ways to cheer her up, but none of them seem good enough and I don't think I can get a hot air balloon, a marching band, and two hundred gallons of bubble soap fast enough to make the best one work."

"Riiiiight... I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you can ask her family when we get back?"

Liam nodded. "That was my plan. We've been a bull in the proverbial china shop since we crashed and so far it seems to be working. Why change tact now?" If she hasn't told you then me telling you will definitely make things worse between us. Sorry Sunset.

Sunset chuckled and turned around again, giving Pinkie an opportunity to reenter the conversation.

"Hey, we've been asking you all the questions. Now it's your turn!" she said excitedly, yanking Liam to face her in obvious anticipation.

Liam blinked then cast his eyes about, trying to come up with a question that wouldn't reveal his hand about the show and his foreknowledge of them. He didn't have much luck though. His mind kept wandering back to the same all-consuming topic no matter where he started. He let out a small sigh.

"Sorry Pinkie, I haven't given it much thought. I start thinking of anything for any length of time and it always circles back to how we're going to get home. I told you all that this has never happened before. At this point the best we can do is try to set up a massive number of jumps and vary things until we find the right combination. Coming up with the theory behind it will almost certainly take longer, if we can do it at all."

"And if you can't?" asked Twilight.

Liam shut his eyes and clamped down on the small rise in anxiety she got out of him. There was an answer. There were two actually but he was never going to entertain one of them.

"We keep trying. I mean, we're here somehow. We'll build what we need and keep trying till we make it. I just hope it's in time to see my folks again."

"Don't say that, you'll get home again soon and then everyone can throw you a "Welcome Home" party!" Pinkie said in her usual chipper tone. "I bet they're already planning it right now!"

Not unless they've already taken the orbitals over Earth. We're not celebrating anything till that happens, he thought grimly. He made sure not to let a hint of that thought show on his face though.

"Thanks Pinkie, but we're not the partying types." Pinkie let out a small gasp- okay, make that a large gasp since it kept going and going- but before she could follow it up Liam held up a finger and she froze. "I promise you we'll come up with a party plan if it makes you happy." She exhaled, almost playing back her gasp in reverse, then smiled and nodded.

"Accepted. It's too bad we only have a portal to the pony world. If you had one you could jump back and forth and have welcome back parties every day."

Liam nodded distractedly. He turned to look back out at the scenery passing by, naming types of trees that should not have been on this world, birds and animals too similar to the ones from home. It was incredible that there was such a strong link between-... "WAIT, WHAT?!"

"THAT'S IT!" seven Legionnaires all cried out as one. One immediately followed up with a string of expletives fiery enough to peel paint.

whoever it was muttered over the radio line in each of their heads after they'd all calmed down a bit. They'd switched them on to listen in on Liam from his watch mounted microphone in case of trouble. What they'd heard instead was the exact opposite.

"Dude, the the heck was that?" a scratchy and irate voice called out.

Jax leaned over the side of the Celestia to where Rainbow Dash was staring up at him. She did not look happy.

"I nearly dropped a log on my foot! Next time how about a little warning before you all start randomly shouting! What was up with that anyway?"

"Sorry Dash, we were listening in on Liam in case of trouble. Before you ask they’re fine," he added quickly as she tensed up. "Instead Pinkie might have just saved us a couple lifetimes of frustration and pointless effort!"

Dash relaxed slightly and tilted her head to the side. She glanced back over her shoulder to where Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were. Fluttershy and Rarity were collecting the apples strewn about the ground, looking for any that could be salvaged while Applejack had an entire tree slung over her shoulder to be replanted if possible. It was an unnerving thing to see. She was fit, no question of that, but she wasn't a body builder and seeing her haul around a tree three or four times her size like it was a branch felt surreal. Magic was going to take some time getting used to. Possibly some mental trauma and ennui as well.

"Huh? How'd she do that?"

He grinned hugely and shouted back, "She said that there’s a already a multiversal portal to Equestria! It might be the key we need to build a way home if we can study it for clues!"

Dash paused for a moment before nodding in excited understanding. “You think that will work?” she asked while Applejack fumbled her tree for a second before steadying it again. She glared up at him then gave her head a vicious shake and continued on. He frowned at her then focused on Rainbow again.

"Better than just guessing," he said with a shrug. She gave him a huge grin and a thumbs up then went jogging off towards Fluttershy and Rarity, probably to tell them of the new development. Jax leaned further over the side as Applejack passed under the back of the ship. “The hell was that about? First she wants us gone and now she doesn't want us finding a way to leave. Still can’t figure her out...”

a matching voice said in his head. He’d forgotten about the open radio channel. the mildly static laden voice asked. From the mannerisms and slight inflection it was Will doing the asking.

Alphonse that time, the cocksure attitude was a giveaway.

Will asked in return with an amused snort.

<...point taken.>

Probably Darian there.

Or maybe that was Darian. Out of all of them he leaned the most towards caution. That or fatalism depending on how you looked at it.

Mercer that time. The classical grammar was a dead giveaway.

Jax wasn’t sure who had said it but it was the closing argument. No one spoke for awhile after that. He had nothing to add either. There wasn’t a need. The decision had been made.

That commanding tone could only have been Will.

There was a short pause filled with faint static. Jamison now. He liked to tie things up in neat little plans. This one was good and left a lot of wiggle room which was always a plus. Problem was it was still going to be slow without one of them and their in-depth understanding of their tech to work with the two and translate from what they found to something they could engineer. There was simply an experience gap with the girls that one of them would easily bridge.

Wait... one of us? thought Jax. His grin threatened to split his face shroud in two.

“Jamison, I can do you one better. Things will go a lot faster if one of us can work with them at the school, right?” he asked, hand on his throat and the two tabs there that activated the transceiver.

Jamsion replied uncertainly, waiting to see where he was going. Jax almost laughed at how blind they all were to a very key fact about the Legion.

“Well, thankfully one of us won’t have to worry about being spotted. In fact, one of us will blend right in out in the open. A very special and particular one,” he replied smugly. Six sharp intakes of breath told him they’d finally figured it out. A long pause followed until-

Will said hesitantly with a half-hearted chuckle.

Liam was still in an almost stunned state when Twilight pulled the car into the back alley parking lot Sunset had guided her to. She shut off the engine and turned in her seat to look at their additional passenger. After Pinkie reminded them of the portal he hadn't said much else, just stared out the window with an intense frown. She and Sunset had shared a silent conversation swapped in looks, gestures, and small noises while Pinkie had carried on a very one sided conversation with him about the portal and what it was for and where it went. Twilight wasn't sure it had been the best way to introduce him to recent events but he hadn't seemed shocked or incredulous. If anything, he'd just about ignored her.

I can't believe he didn't react at all. I could barely believe it and it happened to me! she thought as they all pulled themselves out of the car, Liam last to do so. Though I shouldn't be surprised. The girls said Sunset reacted in kind of the same way when I accidentally shut down the portal this past spring. She felt a disgustingly familiar sense of depression sink in again and shook her head to try and banish it without much luck.

"Listen, the guy we're meeting is a little.. shady. He knows me so just let me talk to him and then we'll see what he'll offer for the bricks," Sunset said.

"How do you know him again?" asked Twilight, trying to find something more pleasant and less recently raw to think about.

Sunset sucked in a breath and glanced over her shoulder at the building behind the small parking lot. It had originally been a pleasant red brick office as far as Twilight could tell but time and neglect had taken their toll. Now it was coated in a dull layer of grey mold and grime and the picturesque windows were glazed over from what had to be years of never getting cleaned. It wasn't in a great part of town either and most of the other surrounding buildings were in similar condition though this one was by far the shoddiest. Sunset's shoulders slumped while she sighed.

"He... forged my IDs and background when I first came here from Equestria. It's how I got into CHS and got my apartment. I've been paying him back since."

Twilight's frowned at her close friend. "Sunset, why didn't you tell us! We could have done something, gotten him off your back maybe or at least paid off your debt to him-" she began but stopped when Sunset held up her hand, her eyes shut tight and her face grim.

"Twilight, no. I have to finish this myself. I'm close to paying him back what I owe anyway." Twilight was about to reply when a soft murmur from behind drew her attention.

"Huh, guess that explains it... ," Liam said quietly while staring up at the building.

"Explains what?" she asked. He did a double take when he realized he'd been heard then quickly tossed a thumb towards Sunset.

"Oh, I was, uh... having a little trouble with the whole 'unicorn-turned-human sidling into town unnoticed' part of the story. I honestly wasn't sure if Pinkie was making all of that up or not. Still not convinced but I really want to be. That portal could be everything we need to get back home." He immediately went back to looking at the building, though this time he seemed to be staring past it. Twilight gave a little mental shrug and turned back to Sunset, ready to lecture her on not always trying to do everything herself when she stopped. Sunset was staring at Liam wide eyed with her arms and shoulders tucked up stiffly at her sides. Oh no...

"Isn't there some other way you can get back to your own world? You know, work on your gate-drive-thing so it can take you back? There's no guarantee the portal can do what you want it to," Sunset said slowly and carefully.

He shook his head. "Maybe, but it's the best lead we've got. We're going to need your help too. Pinkie's elevated you all to our only hope right now."

He's got way more confidence in us figuring it out than I do, Twilight thought glumly. All any of us have been able to do is almost destroy it...

"Don't worry Liam, if this doesn't work out we'll help you find a new hope to follow," Pinkie said as she hung out the back door of the car. He tilted his head to the side with a confused expression and flicked his eyes towards her. She simply smiled back, either unaware or simply not acknowledging the look.

Pinkie's chipper voice seemed to remind Sunset that they were there as well. "Hey, it might be best if it's just me going in." Liam waved the case in his hand once and to catch her attention. "Or just me and Liam," she added with obvious unease.

Twilight scrutinized at her for a moment. " No. First Applejack and now you. Everyone's trying to leave me and the rest of our friends out of their troubles. You all showed me that it wasn't helping anyone when I did it and I'm not letting you do it now. Sunset, I'm going in." She looked to Pinkie for support and wasn't left wanting.

"Don't worry Sunny, we'll be extra quiet. You won't even know we're there," Pinkie said in much more restraint and poise than she usually showed. Sunset bit her lip then glanced at Liam. He shrugged and stepped back a foot, making it clear this wasn't something he was involved in. He kept glancing over at them, and Twilight irritably began to wonder if his culture didn't have as strong a concept of eavesdropping as they did.

"Alright, fine. Just... try not to touch anything or comment on anything he has. He might say you have to buy it," Sunset warned them. She turned and stepped through the squeaking door and held it open till they'd all passed through.

A few minutes and one more flight of grungy, refuse strewn stairs than Twilight would have liked later found them outside a surprisingly pristine door. Black letters stenciled onto the smoked glass window centered in it at eye level declared it to be the door to "Flint Skin Surplus and Fixtures." Sunset stood in front of it uneasily. She reached for the handle then stopped hesitantly.

"Sunset, not to rush whatever thoughts you're having, but the stuff in this case is reeeeeally heavy," Liam said with a strained grunt.

She glanced at him and his white knuckled grip then breathed in deeply said, "Just... let me do the talking okay?" She waited until they all agreed or in Liam's case grunted, then opened the door, revealing a large but dimly lit interior that could almost be called cavernous.

As they stepped inside Twilight immediately noticed a few things. One, the place was a kleptomaniac's dream. Every kind of item from trinkets and watches to instruments and jackets dotted the walls. She noted one such article with surprise, a leather blazer that almost perfectly matched Sunset's apart from a difference in highlight colors, white being the standout on this one. The next thing she noticed was due to it's proximity to the jacket: a glass case with a paneled metal back.

It was strung with more guns then she'd ever seen in her whole life, all of them illuminated from the top in a brilliant white glow. She felt her skin prickle with goosebumps and slowly turned back to their guide. Maybe we should have stayed outside.

"Sunset-" she began uneasily before noticing the last standout thing about the large room.

Placed just in front of the back wall was a sleek and minimalist bronze and glass desk completely devoid of the clutter filling the rest of the space apart from a single laptop and a tiny gunmetal phone. It was emitting a faint golden glow that barely served to illuminate the face of the only other occupant of the room besides themselves. A man with a rather bored expression sat in a large leather backed swivel chair, lazily typing on the laptop. His eyes slowly swung their way then stopped when he saw Sunset. One eyebrow inched higher as he looked over the rest of them. He glanced back at the screen and pressed a couple keys causing it to go dim. The absence of the gold light revealed him to have almost pure grey skin and light blue eyes that seemed supremely bored but also attentive, all set beneath a shock of jet black hair pulled into a ponytail that hung a short ways down the back of his head.

"Shims, this is a surprise. What brings you 'round these parts? Making a payment early? Or did you just miss me and our monthly chats?" he said with the barest hint of a grin that failed to displace the bored look in his eyes.

Sunset rolled her eyes with a snort. "Don't get any ideas Flint. I'm here to help someone else today."

He huffed a little and the smile grew slightly larger. "You know, that's what I've always liked about you Shims. You've always been so helpful. Sets an example for me to live up to. Speaking of which, I've got a new loan term if you're looking to make your payments easier for awhile. A new group that'll refinance at a lower rate. I know it can't be easy with how many jobs you hold down-"

"We've already got a deal," Sunset interjected darkly. He closed his eyes and nodded with that same creepy smile.

Twilight wasn't sure how much he knew so much about her friend and wasn't sure she wanted to know. More and more what she wanted was to leave. The office was eerily quite apart from the muted conversation and she kept feeling like she was being watched from the deep shadows in the racks and shelves.

"That we do. Seems my end of it has done good things for you too." He spread his hands in the air in a way that put her in mind of a cat stretching. "I keep hearing on the grapevine about this good girl with hair like the sunset, a young stand up citizen working her way through school under her own power, making new friends along the way, putting a mysterious past farther and farther behind her day by day. They could make a movie out of that if you wanted to branch out, give acting a try. You've certainly got the presence and looks for it. In fact, I know a guy who's working on a new Daring Do flick, they could use someone like you if-"

"Stop trying to sell me one of your "fixes" Flint. I'm not interested."

He frowned comically and sighed. "Alright, but I'm tellin' ya you're missing out on a golden opportunity," he said dramatically and shook his head. Only then did he look over the rest of them with that original disinterest. "So how can I help you be helpful?"

Sunset looked at Liam. He stepped forward and placed the case on the table, opening the lid and turning it so it faced Flint. Flint looked up at him with that slightly arched brow then peered into the case. His eyes shot open wide and he whistled softly.

"Speaking of golden opportunities... Shims, there's no way you were a good girl when you got these. Where on Earth did you get these?"

Before Sunset could reply Liam sighed and gave Flint the most put-upon look Twilight had ever seen. "Does it matter?" Liam asked in a possibly even more bored manner than Flint. "Do you really want to know or are you just fishing for your next 'fix'? Actually, that doesn't matter either. It's take it or leave it."

Flint seemed momentarily taken aback but then smiled mischievously and tapped a finger on the rim of the open case. "Well someone's full of themselves, aren't they? Fine, we'll make it simple and skip the opportunities to make it better." He stood up, revealing a long but not lanky frame in a simple grey suit with a crimson vest underneath. As he turned around Sunset flushed and spun to face Liam. She grabbed his shoulder and lightly pulled his ear down closer.

"What happened to let me talk?" she hissed barely loud enough for Twilight to hear.

"Are you going to stop letting him lead the conversation?" he countered equally quietly.

Sunset blushed harder then shoved him back and quickly faced Flint again as he fumbled with a set of keys until he found the one he was looking for. He opened an antique cabinet behind him and pulled out a plain digital scale along with a box filled with vials and a couple small ceramic rods.

"First things first," he said, taking a rod and running it over one of the one of the bars till it had a small coating. He dropped it into a vial or liquid and shook it vigorously then held it up to the light. He rotated it a few times then whistled again. "That's pure as anything I've seen before... okay then." He packed the vial away then ran his fingers over the keys of his laptop and watched the screen as the glow returned. "Going rate on gold right now is about fifteen hundred an ounce and silver's about fifty. I've gotta make something back on moving these myself so call it twelve fifty and thirty five. Sound good?"

Liam looked to Twilight and arched an eyebrow. What does he... oh! She pulled out her phone and brought up her browser. A quick check on her browser found that he wasn't trying to pull anything on them. She looked back at Liam and nodded.

"Sounds good," he said to Flint then looked up, his eyes narrowed in calculation. Twilight did the same, numbers rushing across her mind. He hadn't weighed them yet but given the size of the bars that meant there had to be... Liam grinned at the same time that Twilight inhaled sharply. Flint whistled even more loudly as he weighed the first bar.

"We're looking at almost a quarter of a million in this little brick alone. The silver ones will probably net you a couple thousand. I think you'll be able to do pretty well on this for awhile kid." Flint shifted his eyes to Sunset and said "Shims, if I'd have known you were gonna be this good for business I would have offered you a partnership when you first stepped through my door." He gave her a wink then went back to weighing the silver blocks. Sunset just scowled at him in return then at Liam out of the corner of her eye when Flint went back to weighing the silver blocks.

Twilight leaned over to whisper into Liam's other ear. "What about the art stuff?"

He tilted his head to speak directly into her ear, never taking his eyes off of Flint as he worked. "We'll get those appraised by someone more... reputable. We can check the price of gold so he can't undercut it too badly but he could make up whatever he wanted for those. Also better to not let him know the extent of everything we've got. I'd rather no one else takes an interest in us if they buy information from him."

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "Wow, that's... did you know someone like him back home?" she asked, a little more loudly than she liked and had to stop herself from grimacing at the mistake.

His eyes flicked her way again. He took a few seconds to consider then let out a disgruntled sigh and whispered, "More than I'd like. I'll tell you about it later as part of my 'Liam as a World Leader: A Tale of Misery' series."

"Ooooookay..." she replied softly. He's almost as overdramatic as Trixie every now and then, she thought in equally parts surprise and annoyance. Before then she would have sworn that was nearly impossible.

"Okay, that should do it Mr...?" Flint said, inclining his head towards Liam.

"Oh, uh... uh, Liam Harcourt," Liam replied. Flint arched an eyebrow at him.

"Well... that's a name."

"Yeah, yeah it is. Try going through school around here with it."

Flint snickered a little and said, "Shims, you do seem to meet the most interesting people, don't you?"

Sunset huffed. "Yeah, new friends every day. Just pay us for the blocks and you can go back to whatever you were doing."

"Sorry, not going to be that easy," Flint said with an exaggerated shrug.

"What? But you just said-"

"Oh, I can pay you for them. Just not now. I don't keep assets like that in the shop. I'll need to make arrangements and let you know when the payment's ready. I'll take that in the mean-" he began, reaching towards the opened case. Liam's hand shot out, slamming the lid home and rolling the combination lock at the same time. Flint slowly glanced up at him, hand still outstretched.

"Not a very trusting start to this deal Mr. Harcourt."

Liam gave him a faint grin that didn't reach his eyes. "How about trust through transaction? Let us know when you have what you need and we'll come back asap."

Flint returned his intense grin ounce for ounce. "Careful Mr. Harcourt, don't go tipping your hand early," he said softly and steadily. He pulled his hand back and waved it across the top of the table a few times then said, "Very well, it will take longer than it might have but I can work with it." He held out his hand to Liam.

Liam didn't hesitate for a second in taking it and giving it a couple shakes before withdrawing and collecting the case in the same motion. Flint narrowed his eyes for the briefest moment then gave a tiny shrug and faced Sunset.

"Shims, you should stop by more often. This has been the most interesting thing to happen around here all week. I should be paying you for the entertainment."

"If you really feel that way then you can take it out of my next payment," she replied with a glower. He smiled that same minute smile and inclined his head towards her in an equally minute nod.

"We'll see. Pleasure doing business with you all."

Liam and Sunset both nodded then turned and gestured towards the door. Pinkie, who true to her word had been remarkably restrained the entire time, bounced after them followed closely by Twilight. As they piled into her car while Liam stored the case next to the other one in the trunk she watched Sunset closely. She was still fuming a little, her chin rooted firmly in her hand. When everyone had climbed back into the car she turned around and placed an elbow on her seat back, locking eyes with their passenger.

"Why?"

Liam grimaced and looked away, shaking his head side to side a little. He faced her again and with an almost pitying expression. "He was about to walk all over you- correction, he was walking all over you and us well. I owe too much to Applejack to not get the best deal I can. And that wasn't going to happen unless one of us took the initiative back from him."

Sunset frowned and hung her head a little at the mention of his debt to the Apple family.

He's not wrong... but he's not doing himself any favors either. He's coming off as dismissive which I don't get, thought Twilight. Last night and this morning he was nothing but charm and wit and now... I can't figure him out.

"You couldn't have warned us first? Pulled us aside, talked to us?" Sunset asked.

Liam shook his head once. "Not enough time."

"How can you know that?" Sunset asked angrily.

"That was not the first low-life sleaze I've had to negotiate with. We were five seconds away from him laying down terms or asking questions we can't answer."

Now all three of them were giving him curious expressions. "Liam, just what-"

He sighed loudly and gave them all a sad smile. "How about we have that discussion over dinner or lunch tomorrow? Just, some other time please? I promise I will tell you why I felt I needed to do that."

"Really?" Sunset asked with plain misgivings.

"I keep promises." His brow tightened slightly and he seemed to sit up straighter and taller. He said it with such conviction that Twilight was taken aback momentarily. Sunset appeared flustered as well then shook her head and slumped back in her seat. Twilight started the car and began slowly backing out of the small lot.

"Sunset, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. If I could have done it another way I would have but I didn't see one. Not in the moment. I'm... just trying to do the best I can with a lot to worry about."

Sunset and Twilight both glanced at him in the rear view mirror. The confidence and conviction were gone, replaced by the faint, tired look from last night. He noticed them looking back at him and immediately the fatigue vanished from his face like a switch had been turned. Sunset glanced at Twilight, arching a brow in silent question.

Don't ask me, I'm not an extradimensional therapist, she intimated with a shrug. Sunset looked back at Liam, regarding him for a moment, then gave him a crooked smile.

"Fine, you get a pass. But next time it's not going to be so easy. He's going to be insufferable and a complete creep when I make my next payment and I'll be passing that along to you. Then I'll consider it even."

Liam laughed and nodded. "Fair enough. Now where's the nearest art dealer?"

Flint Skin finished putting together the rest of the documents he'd need along with the money transfers and prepared a new file in his safe. He made sure to take care of new business immediately before it piled up. Never did to give customers the impression that he was swamped. Better that they came in, saw the obvious success and displayed merchandise, then left with a sense of confusion over how he managed to make it work when he never seemed to do anything. Keep them off their toes and guessing.

That was why we was fuming internally, enough that he was almost grinding his teeth.

He'd entirely let that Harcourt kid take over the talk when he'd been thinking of how best to swing the goods his way. He hadn't had that happen since he was a rookie, new to the business and trying to set up contacts and make a name for himself. He bared his teeth in a silent snarl as old memories floated up to the surface. It hadn't easy when those same people were more cutthroat than anyone he'd met before or thought and acted in ways that had shocked him. He'd had to learn fast, and the lessons had left their mark.

It hadn't been enough to deal with that punk though.

But he slipped up too, Flint thought with a growl. He'd let Flint know he was being played, hadn't disguised the fact he'd rammed his deal down Flint's throat when he was off balance and didn't give him a single inch of leeway or pull or an opening to find out details he could use to sweeten the deal his way. Things like where the little shit had gotten that much pure bullion. Instead, Flint was having to operate by the kid's rules, all the while maintaining his professional smile, and he loathed it.

"The hell kind of a name is Liam Harcourt anyway?" he muttered, tossing out any little snipe that would improve his mood. "Kid's parents must have doing something hard and damaging when they picked it for him." Though that was unlikely considering what he'd just brought in. He was probably from some local rich family, one eccentric or loopy enough to think that giving their kid a name so outside the mainstream was doing them a favor. He'd thought he'd had all of them scoped out a long time ago though. He'd have to check to see if there were any recent additions to town that would explain the kid's affluence.

His laptop beeped and the screen suddenly went dark apart from a single red band across the middle with an amethyst circle in the center. Inside the circle was the stylized depiction of a silver half-oval hanging over a short line: "Priority Update."

Flint rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. What now... I thought I told them not to notify me during work hours... He sat down in his plush seat with a grunt and spoke his passphrase aloud.

"I am the shepard guarding the wolves." His laptop beeped in acceptance and the screen lit with a long document. Flint's eyes were immediately drawn to the large, bold text at the top of the page. They shot open wide and he quickly began scrolling down, skimming the full list of details. He rolled over to the last page and stopped in surprise and no small amount of shock. The very last page of the document was a series of color photos. The centerpiece of the spread was a zoomed in shot of a face. A face that had just left his office not five minutes ago after insulting and mocking him. Below it was written the phrase "Primary Target".

His fingers flew across his phone as he hissed and muttered and a few seconds later the line clicked. Before the voice at the other end got a single word off he cut them off, just barely missing the bar for shouting.

"Get me Nightingale, I've encountered the Target with three of the Paragons," he hammered out, glaring at the face of the bastard who'd outmaneuvered him now dominating his computer's screen. He didn't feel the same shame he had before. It wasn't surprising he'd been outplayed by someone of this magnitude, not when he didn't have a clue about who and what they were. But now he knew, and that changed all the rules.

"Hey guys, welcome back! How much did we bring in?" asked Rainbow Dash as the quartet climbed out of Twilight's car. Pinkie sniffed at the air and the faint hint of apple pie wafting from the front door then let out a small squeal of delight and burst through the door. Rainbow Dash suddenly worried if there'd be any left by the time dinner came around then remembered that Applejack was in the kitchen as well. Pinkie might be daring when it came to sweets but she wasn't crazy. Well, probably. Dash frowned as she thought long and hard about the accuracy of that thought then decided it wasn't worth it and focused back on her other friends.

"I mean, you had actual bars of gold to sell. We've gotta be rich now right?" she asked Sunset as she passed by her into the house

Sunset rolled her eyes as she held the door open. "Not... quite. We're going to have to wait a bit to sell them but we've got an agreement on it. We got decent deals on the art though. A couple local galleries and shops were interested in them as display pieces."

"Sweet! Applejack and her family are almost finished making dinner so hurry up and get inside."

"Oh man, that sounds amazing. We didn't have time to grab lunch earlier and I think we're all running on empty. But yeah, we had some takers. Not great prices for them but we expected as much," Liam explained as he pulled the two cases out of the trunk, one weighing him down noticeably more than the other. "Still, should be enough to take care of some of the immediate stuff Granny mentioned like the phone line we cut during the crash. How have thing's been going on your end?" he asked as he stepped up to the porch and set down the cases.

"What, you haven't been keeping in touch with them? No some super advanced space communicator thing?" Dash asked with a smirk. He gave her a deadpan look in return.

"Depends on how advanced you consider radio to be. No point in anything else over ground distances."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and held the door open for him as he walked through. "I wasn't actually asking for the nerd explanation. Just thought you'd have talked with them more, checked in, that sort of thing?"

Liam shook his head as he placed the cases down by the staircase the door faced towards. "No point. If they decide to do something it's the same thing I would have decided. Mental mirrors of each other, remember? One collective will and that sort of thing, takes out a lot of the bureaucracy."

"Dude... do you ever not speak like a nerd? I get enough egghead already from Twilight and sometimes Sunset if she gets going on magic."

Liam rolled his eyes. "It's that or politician and you don't want that, trust me."

Dash groaned. This guy was turning out to be as much fun to talk to as Octavia but without the benefit of her funny Trottingham accent. "Fine, go back to nerd then if you don't have anything else. Just try not to infect Twilight with it. We can't afford for her to get any more nerdy than she already is or else she'll just stay in her room all the time studying and never hang out with us."

"Did someone say my name?" the nerd in question called out from deeper into the house.

The two shared a grin then lazily walked down the hallway, Dash trailing a few steps behind him. She wasn't really interested in him, not compared to some of the other guys she'd met at meets and tournaments, but he was... unusual. That was the best way to describe it, unusual. Plus she really wanted to hear more about the Legionnaire guys. They weren't just unusual, they were crazy weird but crazy cool too. Except for the arm blades... well, okay, those were pretty cool too, just not when they were being used to threaten her and her friends.

What she was really interested in was how good they were physically. Whatshisname, Jax, had jumped off of the top of their ship and landed behind them like it was nothing. If they could do that then what about basketball? Or running? Or soccer?

Dash's grin took on a cocky edge as she thought about how undeniably awesome it would be to beat one if even half of what Liam said about them was true. She was pulled back into the conversation when he laughed.

"Fine, me try speak teenage male instead. Maybe drive Twilight mad. Football, video games, girls, football. How me do?"

"Dude, don't ever do that again. That was just painful to listen to. Plus I'm pretty sure you were thinking cavemen, not teenage guys." Dash chuckled as they stepped into the kitchen and dining room. Her friends were either seated at the table sipping cider or helping with the final work for dinner. Or in Pinkie's case prolonging the work by wolfing down pie filling as fast as she was making it. Still, the pies were almost ready to be put in the oven so no harm no foul.

Liam tilted his hand back and forth. "Is there really a difference?" He paused for a moment while looking around with a goofy grin then pulled up a chair at the table along with Sunset, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity. Fluttershy pushed a glass his way and he took it with a nod of thanks.

"No, not really. You should talk to some of the meatheads at school. But you realize you just burnt yourself as well, right?" she said with a snort.

"Uh, what's not different? And how did he burn himself? Sorry, I came in at a weird place," said Twilight.

Rainbow flashed her a toothy grin. "Liam over here just called all guys cavemen. Didn't quite think that one though."

Liam slowly lifted an eyebrow and flicked a finger at her. "No, I said there wasn't a difference with teenage guys. There's just barely any after they pass that age." He brought that finger down and tapped the timer on his other wrist. "Remember, I've got eighty years on teenage-hood, appearance aside. I can make fun of that hormone ridden nightmare all I want thank you very much. Heck, I can make fun of most geezers now and I'd be within my rights."

"Ya've got what?!" Granny shouted, nearly fumbling the green apple salad she was mixing as she spun around to stare at him slack jawed.

"Oh, right, you three didn't hear that. Guess Alphonse didn't mention it either. I turn a hundred in a couple months," he replied sheepishly.

Granny stared at him, her eyes darting back and forth looking for any sign of dishonesty. She looked down at her hands holding the bowl of greens and fruit, turning them this way and that, grimacing in particular when the skin fell slackly to one side as she rotated them.

"Ah could'a done without knowin' that. Life just loves sockin' ya in the gut sometimes..." she muttered she she turned back to the dinner preparations.

Liam winced and awkwardly sipped at his cider. Dash stepped back a second and looked him over again. "Dude, you can say you're old as much as you want but I just don't see it."

Liam turned through the window at the ship lying nose first in the ground. Faint lights flickered around it as the Legionnaires worked to get it fixed as quickly as they could.

"Neither do I most of the time. I don't really feel it either. No bad knees or anything that would tell me I'm getting old. I'm as fit if not more so than I was before I got hit with that anomaly. It's like I stayed a young adult- okay, teenager," he said grumpily as Dash raised a finger, "but just got more mellow. I'd like to think it's maturity but if my brain's still young as well then it's probably just years of experience and the lack of things surprising me anymore. That said... hmmmm."

He lightly massaged one his wrists, turning his hand this way and that while staring at it intently. It took her a second or two to notice it was the hand with his "timer watch", hidden from her view by his other hand, and his gaze was rooted firmly on it instead.

"You know the thing not aging? It changes how you view things, how you remember things. I remember the day I realized I wasn't looking any older than I had before. I had passed thirty barely a month earlier and it changed everything. I'd been worried about what the future for the Legion would be, how long they could continue without me or how people would look at them without me as a basis for judgement. Then, instantly those fears were replaced with different ones. I was going to be with them for it all. Probably." He glanced back at her. "We're pretty sure I'm not going to suddenly turn to dust but I'm not immortal. My body is just insanely good at maintaining itself."

"So you have like super healing or something?" asked Sunset.

Liam shook his head. "Nah, I heal from injuries just barely faster than most people and don't form scar tissue, that's it. It's more at a cellular level. I just don't, well, age. But that brings me back to my point about viewing things differently. I'm no longer like any other human I know. In many ways I'm closer to Legionnaire than I am to Human. The squishy, fleshy part's about the only real difference now between me and Will and the others," he said, pinching the skin of his forearm.

Dash chuckled and leaned against the wall of the house. This was in at least the top ten of the weirdest stories she'd listened to. At the top of that list was Pinkie explaining where Princess Twilight was from on "a hunch" but this was up there pretty high too.

He let out a faint snort. "I remember my fiftieth birthday celebration. Huge party with the whole of the Legion cramming into our main station. Games, competitions, congratulations and proposed plans for how to mark the date. Went on for what felt like forever and I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep for at least two days," he added with a chuckle.

"I remember launching the Celestia," he said as he faced the ship, "and a hundred others. More than that actually. But day to day... it's a blur. I can't remember how old I was for each of those smaller events. I can't remember the order they happened in. Not well anyway." He paused for a bit, long enough for the the rest of them to look at each other, wondering if that was the end of the story. Turned out it wasn't since he added another line not long after. "I remember when I passed my parents in age. That was... strange."

Dash blinked. "Uhhhhh... how does that work exactly? You mentioned something about stretchy years last night and kind of lost us then."

He flicked his eyes at her with a smirk. "The only way to explain it is in science nerd. You really want that?"

Dash crossed her arms and said, "Hey, just because it's not my thing doesn't mean I can't understand it. I do well enough in science and math. Mostly." The rest of her friends all found various things to suddenly be very interested in, though Pinkie staring at the baking pies was probably actual interest. "Thanks guys, great to see you've got my back."

Applejack sighed and said, "Sugarcube, I just don't want to have to lie to back you up."

Dash glared at her only for AJ to shrug with a decidedly "Am I wrong?" feel in return. She wasn't unfortunately.

Liam thankfully didn't laugh which she was suddenly extremely grateful for. "You can explain it to me then because none of us can figure out exactly how it works, only that if we do ill-advised action A we get unexpected result B. But anyway, here's the gist of it. You know how gravity works? At the spacetime level?"

"Spacewhat?"

"Wait, can you give me just one second..." Twilight muttered as she reached into her pocket and pulled out that same small notebook and pen she always kept on her. "So your powers are gravitic based?"

Liam shook his head. "The exact opposite actually. You know about inflation?" Twilight alone nodded while the rest of them gave him various shrugs and head shakes. "Well, I'll give the lecture notes version then. Think of space as a flat, flexible sheet, like a trampoline. You put a heavy mass in the center and it sinks downward and everything else starts rolling towards it. Now take that sheet and roll it along any axis you like so it's in three dimensions and you have a rough approximation of gravity. Then there's inflation, or at least our understanding of it based on what we can do, which is like pushing up on the bottom of the trampoline so you get a hill that everything falls away from. From there you get things like this," he said as he pointed his arm at the center of he table and the bowl of apples sitting in the center of it. He narrowed his eyes and contorted his fingers almost painfully. Suddenly the apples all began rolling and floating away from the center before falling back down after they'd moved away a little. Where they'd been sitting was a small orb of red light that seemed to spring from nothing.

"An expansion field."

"Ooooh! How're you doing that? Some secret hand gesture passed down through a secret society that alters the fabric of existence in secret and mysterious ways?" Pinkie asked excitedly as she peered over his shoulder from out of nowhere. To his credit he only leaned away from her slightly instead of jumping in surprise.

"Uhhhhh... no. It it's not."

Pinkie frowned, deflating a little from her initial excitement. "Oh. Then why are you twisting your hand like that? It looks kinda painful."

He laughed again, though it was closer to a grunt really. "Oh, it is. Trust me. But this is what I have to do to get the right signals to go where they need to be," he said, grunting a little as he relaxed his hand. The red glow in the bowl shrunk down to nothing without so much as a flash or pop.

"Signals? What kind of signals?" Twilight asked, glancing up from her frenzied writing. Liam didn't hear her though or chose to ignore the question, instead turning his arm this way and that.

"Where's that one that's close to the surface..." he muttered as he pressed and poked his arm. He stopped and pressed one place a few times then spread his fingers apart. "Ah, there it is."

The girls leaned in and collectively gasped or winced or just wrote more furiously in Twilight's case. Dash pushed off the wall and crossed over to see what they were all looking at. She stood behind Liam next to Pinkie and leaned in close then felt her skin crawl when she saw his skin bulge in a sharp, geometric bump between his fingers.

"Darling, you need to see a doctor about that right away!" gasped Rarity.

"Dude, what the heck is that?" Dash shouted, sticking out her tongue to emphasize her disgust. Liam laughed and released the skin, hiding the protrusion again.

"That would be one of the little gifts from the anomaly that I mentioned last night. A couple million tiny crystals embedded in most of my body. It's why my irises look like this," he said as he pointed at one of his eyes. The transition from the blue to that deep red-ish purple stood out even more in the light of day. "They congregated there after the doctors removed the largest pieces. They're what allow me to make fields."

Twilight put down the pad and pen and gave him a set of puppydog eyes to rival Fluttershy's. "How? What are the variables? Ooh! Do you have a sample I could-"

"Woah woah woah!" Liam said loudly as he held up his hands to slow her down. "Remember last night? I've told you more than I would normally since we that was part of our agreement. Sorry Twilight, but the answer's still no." Dash frowned as Twilight sank back into her seat, hunched over and moping a little. She still didn't see what was so important about not letting anyone look at their stuff. It wasn't like it was world ending magic or anything. Just a weird glow that pushed everything away.

"Sorry, I got carried away. I'm just really interested in new knowledge and this is even bigger than when magic started appearing!" Twilight said, earning her a skeptical smile from Sunset.

Dash leaned over to her and whispered, "Somehow I doubt she'd be saying that if she'd been around for the first two two times it popped up as well. This is starting to just feel like a Tuesday now." Sunset snorted and waved her away with a grin then nodded back at Liam and Twilight talking about her interest and more science stuff.

"- back to the original topic, spacetime includes time and gravity contracts it locally, making it run slower to anyone outside the influence."

Dash gave him a half lidded stare. Oh yeah, that makes sense... Liam noticed her look though and paused his explanation.

"Okay, quick tangent. Twilight, you're the other resident nerd, correct me on any tiny details I get wrong. One of the big rules of physics is that light always travels at the speed of light. Simple. What's tricky is that it doesn't matter where you're watching it from, it will still be that speed. So say you have an area of space with a lot of gravity surrounded by space with none and you somehow watch a beam of light pass through both. It will look like it's gone through them at the same speed. Now, the area with a lot of gravity contracts so the distances gets smaller which means the light should shoot through in less time than it would normally take, or rather faster than the speed of light. But that doesn't work because you're watching that light pass through it with the same speed it had outside. How? Time inside stretches, gets longer, slower. Time dilation increases the time it takes that light to pass through gravity with respect to you so it always has the same relative speed."

Dash blinked. Then blinked again. Then blinked a third time just to be sure she'd gotten her blinking across.

"Twilight, anything you need to correct?"

Dash looked to her friend for help and the possibility of making her feel less dumb. She got nothing.

"No, that was pretty good. It's not intuitive but I think you made it pretty clear," Twilight replied.

What part of that nonsense was clear!?

Liam gave her a tilt of his head in thanks then looked around the table again, pausing briefly on Dash with a grin.

Just wait till I can get you out on the field. To each their own nerd, to each their own, she thought with evil anticipation.

Liam coughed and went back in. "Well, expansion fields do the opposite, making time run faster for anyone inside one when compared to anyone outside. I've spent all but maybe twenty years of my life inside a field as we built up while my folks stayed back on Earth." He looked up for a moment then chuckled. "There's a movie from home that does a decent enough job of showing what it's like. Better than I can explain it anyways. I'll show it to you all sometime if we're here long enou-... if there's time."

"That's... wow, that's incredible. So all that comes from a crystal in your body?" Sunset asked as she looked over the skin of his arms and face. Liam nodded then opened and closed his hand a few times.

"Made the first ten or so years after I recovered a pain. Can't tense up, that's going to make a field, can't apply a lot of strength to anything, that'll make a field, can't do a lot of things, or else I'd be making fields left and right and throwing myself around like a ragdoll all the time. Found ways around it in time but it still limits me in some ways."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," said Fluttershy. Everyone else nodded, even Applejack; hers was more of an acknowledgement than real sympathy.

"It's fine, I've had plenty of time to get used to it."

"Heyyyyyyy... you're sure they're not magical stones? Reeeeeeeally sure?" asked Pinkie.

"Ninety nine percent certain. Magic's not a thing in our world. Why?"

"Weird, that's how we got our powers. Guess it's just a big coincidence then," she said nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Pinkie..." Applejack said with a groan.

"Were we not going to tell him that?" asked Pinkie.

"No, we were. It's fine Pinkie," Sunset said while giving Applejack a pointed look. She shrugged then turned around and started helping her family get out plates and silverware.

"Wait, you got those powers from a crystal?" Liam asked, suddenly much more animated than he'd been before.

"Yeah! At Camp Everfree!" said Pinkie.

"Camp Everfree..." Liam said with exaggerated slowness. Suddenly a loud uproar came from outside the house in the direction of the Celestia. The girls jumped up and started for the door but stopped when Liam waved them down, his face covered by his other hand.

"That was the others laughing which means..." he said before a ringtone none of them recognized chimed out. Liam pulled out a thin phone from his pocket and glanced at the ship through the window. "Guess they found a signal to piggyback on. So what did they come up with this time... oh. Oh yeah, terrible minds think alike." He groaned and shook his head.

"What is it darling? Is something the matter with the others?" Rarity asked with a confused frown.

"Yes, something is horribly wrong. They've just proved again that they, and by extension I, have terrible taste."

Dash leaned over and looked at the simple message written across the screen. "Coming to theaters soon, Camp Everfree: The Summer of Magic?" she read out loud.

Liam jerked in his seat and looked over his shoulder at her then back down at the phone and chuckled.

"Sorry, but there are a bunch of movies we've seen that had stories about encountering weird things at summer camp."

Twilight tapped her lip then said, "When you put it that way... so do we. Just never really noticed it because those were movies and this is-"

"Real life?" Liam guessed with an odd smirk to which Twilight nodded.

Dash wasn't sure why he seemed so amused, it wasn't hard to figure out where Twilight was going with that. Then again he did just about admit to having a weird sense of humor so she wrote it off as part of that. "This I have to hear about."

"Only if you tell us about your world and how Will and the others came about," replied Sunset.

"That's fair. So where-"

"Now hold up, food's ready. You can gab after ya have the grub," Granny said as she and the rest of the Apples began placing plates piled high with rolls, corn, green beans, and apple salad on the table. Dash loved coming here for group cookouts. Nothing beat an Apple family spread.

"Oh, sorry Granny. This looks amaz-" he began before his phone chimed again. He pulled it out once more and scrolled down the screen. His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line as he reached the end.

"Something the matter darling?"

Liam looked up at Rarity then back at his phone. "Will's almost to the house and says he needs to talk to me about something."

"Oh my, that sounds serious. Do you know what about?"

"No, but him walking over here to tell me instead of just shooting a note means one of two things. Either it's too complex to explain by text or it's a problem that he needs my input on."

"Do you think your ship is in worse shape than you thought?" asked Sunset.

Liam shrugged. "Probably. I don't see what else it could possibly be. Granny, I'm sorry, I'll be back in just a second."

"Ain't a problem mister, you take care o' your business and then come on back," she replied with a motherly smile.

"Thanks, appreciate it." He pushed his chair back in as he got up and headed out the door.

Dash listened for the screen door to shut at the front of the house then looked at her friends. "So he's odd."

"He's from another world Rainbow Dash. Honestly, I think he's adapted surprisingly well, most likely because he's also human," Rarity said as she carefully took a roll from the top of the pile. "Remember what it was like for Princess Twilight when she first came here?"

"Heh, yeah. Hard to forget. She still does that whole 'hoof hands' thing when she visits. How long did it take you to stop doing that Sunset?"

Sunset squinted up at the ceiling then clicked her tongue. "Too long. I think it was a year or more before I stopped doing it. Let me tell you, fingers are hard to get used to." That earned laughs and general comments of the "only around here" sort from the rest of the table. "Rarity has a point about how he'd be more familiar with things here then anyone from Equestria but I know what you mean Dash. It's why I believe him when he talks about his age. It reminds me a lot of how Princess Celestia talked every now and then, just less, you know regal."

"Was she as tight lipped and snarky as he is?"

"No, definitely not. But she was more of a teacher than a ruler to most everyone. I'm not sure what I'd call him. I want to hear more of his own history, more about his world before I make any sort of judgement call."

Dash nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good," she said as she bit into a corn cob. Oh yeah, this is the good stuff. "Man, he doesn't know what he's missing. Wonder what he's talking with Will abo-"

"I AM NOT GOING BACK TO A DAMN HIGHSCHOOL! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?"

Everyone was silent as the shout rang through the entire house. Dash slowly looked over he shoulder towards the front door and the lively argument happening on the other side. "Well that wasn't even close to what I was guessing," she said as she faced her very confused friends again. "Can someone pass me the rolls?"

CH 8: Who Ordered the Fireworks?

"I can't believe I'm going back to a damn highschool," Liam muttered as he followed Sunset and Rarity to the front steps of CHS. He'd stared blankly at the wrecked statue from the parking lot for the past ten minutes by Sunset's count before he acknowledged the building with a scowl. The rest of their group had opted to stay behind and keep working on the farm or go home and explain their absence for the last few days in the case of Fluttershy and Pinkie.

"Darling, I still don't see what all the fuss is about," Rarity opined as they ascended the steps of the school. The usually busy grounds were quiet and empty with everyone out on summer break. "You'll fit right in-"

She paused to cast a glance over her shoulder at his choice of casual clothing: normal cargo shorts and an opened button-down and t-shirt were acceptable. But they were hiding a thin one piece article similar to those of the CHS wrestling team, only this one was crisscrossed in wires and nondescript disks. He'd called it a vitals monitor. She'd called it a crime against fashion.

"-well, mostly -and it will help you figure out how to return to your home. What's not to like?"

"Social cliques, hormones, egos, drama. I can keep going but I'll stop there."

Sunset tossed him a glance over her shoulder as she pushed open the door. "Why do you hate this place so much?" He switched his dark look from the school to her. "I mean, I thought you were just joking around but between what you said to Dash last night and then when Will came to talk-"

Liam cut her off with a sharp snort. "Look, I had a less than stellar experience at mine after getting turned into a walking physics anomaly. If there were any other way around this I would take it but Will just had to go and find things like 'logic' and 'reasons' for this shit-show of a plan so I'm stuck."

Sunset cringed at his choice of language but pressed on, even as Rarity tried to stop a violent coughing fit and blush that sprung up at the cursing, trying to understand what was bothering him so much. "So what happened at your school after you got your powers-"

"Sunset, I'd really rather talk about this another time when I'm not trying to stay focused on the bigger picture."

Well, she wasn't getting anything more out of him she decided with a sigh. She was growing tired of his moody dramatics since they'd met earlier that morning and judging by the way Rarity shook her head she was too, especially his new foul vocabulary. That was an unpleasant change for sure, one she hoped he would drop before starting classes next week or else everyone was going to give him the cold shoulder.

The trio walked the rest of the way to the administrative office in silence apart from Rarity pointing out some of the banners and other odds and ends she'd designed for the school. Her efforts to coax further conversation out of their guest were met with nothing beyond polite compliments and murmurs. Eventually she too fell silent as they rounded the corner to the hall where the administrative offices were located. Sunset knocked on the door labeled "Principal" then stepped back quickly as the sound of a chair scraping the floor was followed by footsteps quickly growing louder on the other side. The door swung wide to reveal a very disgruntled Vice Principal Luna pointing an angry finger at them.

"If this is another request about your 'investigation' I'm going to file- oh, Sunset Shimmer." She tried forcing a smile for them that completely failed to hide her visible annoyance and stress. "My apologies, I was expecting someone else."

"Uhhh... hi. Sorry to bother you, but is Prinicpal Celestia here?"

"No, she's out at a meeting with the school board. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, well, we met someone who needs to transfer in. He's new to the town," Rarity answered, motioning at Liam who stepped up closer behind the pair. Luna's eyes lit up and she nodded while flashing them a genuine smile this time.

"Oh good, that I can help you with! Do you have your documents ready? We'll need a copy of your birth certificate, your immunization record, and-"

"Sorry, I... don't have any of those," Liam interjected.

Luna paused in counting off the forms on her fingers with a frown then cocked an eyebrow at the three of them. "Excuse me? You mean with you now or...?

"He's... from out of town. Way out of town," Sunset replied apologetically. A few seconds passed before Luna's eyes widened in understanding and she pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh.

"Oh yes, just what we need right now. More students from 'abroad'. Dare I ask why he's here or why he needs to join the student body?" Before Sunset could answer Liam stepped past her, cutting her off.

Again.

She was going to start keeping a mentally tally from now on, just so that when she got the chance to do the same in return she could point out where the balance was. Though she probably shouldn't; Princess Twilight kept writing her pages of notes about successes she'd had in resolving conflicts and she tried to follow her example. Even if it was hard at times.

Like when I found Snips and Snails hiding in two of the lockers in the girls changing rooms just before the summer started.

She'd been proud of herself afterwards; she'd only put a little of the fear of her into the pair before notifying Luna of her discovery. The old her would have given them a lot of fear and kept it to herself to use against them. Hardly backsliding at all. But Liam was testing her resolve to do better which she did not appreciate in the least.

"Sunset and Twilight asked me to help them with some studies of the portal," Liam said in answer to Luna's question.

Suddenly her train of thought was shoved back on the rails as she realized her part of the convincing was coming up. She wasn't too worried about it though, it had the benefit of near total honesty and only left out the details of exactly where he was from. He had insisted on that part of the plan and she'd agreed even while still not completely seeing the need to hide so much. After all, they'd told him the Principal and Vice-Principal, and most of the school for that matter, were well versed in "unusual" students at this point. But he'd still insisted and so they'd come up with this.

Luna looked back and forth between them. "Wait, Princess Twilight or Twili- no, I'm not going to start that. Ms. Shimmer, is there something wrong with the portal we should be aware of?"

Sunset shook her head with a nervous smile while trying to quickly come up with a decent excuse. "We just, uh, wanted to make sure nothing had changed with it after the Friendship Games. Twilight opened up a lot of unstable holes around it and destroyed the statue on top as well. We just... want to make sure nothing's changed. That's all."

Vice Prinicipal Luna's expression slowly relaxed to blank and unreadable as Sunset progressed. When she finished Luna closed her eyes and covered them with a hand.

"... we're going to have another 'incident' soon, aren't we? No, don't answer," she added with a wave of her other hand as Sunset and Rarity both started to speak. She lowered the hand over her eyes and looked Liam over. She sighed heavily and gave the trio a deeply skeptical and tired stare. "Miss Shimmer, the easiest way for me to do this is to claim his as a relative of yours and use most of the information you gave us. Then we'll fill in the rest as best we can. I assume that will be fine with you since you're vouching for Mr...?"

When no answer came Sunset glanced back at Liam and found him looking strangely concerned. What now? she thought with growing exasperation at the whole situation.

"Liam!" Rarity whispered loud enough to almost be a hiss. Liam blinked rapidly and his face flowed back to normalcy. Really, it flowed in a long drawn out motion. It was the best description Sunset could come up with for how his expression smoothly changed from one state to the next. It looked unnatural and made her lean away from him slightly.

"Harcourt. Liam Harcourt," he said perfectly calmly. How does he do that? A minute ago he was fuming and now he's a statue. Will and his copies are less odd than him sometimes... and what does that say?

Luna arched a brow at the name. "Mr... Harcourt... then. Right."

Sunset looked over her shoulder at their new acquaintance who shrugged and gave her a dull grin that said, 'I didn't want any part of this so your call'. She gave him a half-lidded stare of 'thanks for the help' in reply. "Yeah, that'll be fine. I guess he'll be my cousin or something."

Luna bobbed her head and said, "Good, now is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, uh, that covers it. Thank you."

"Good. In that case I need to prepare the required documents for him to start next week," Luna said gruffly as she turned and closed the door behind her. Just before it closed completely a faint refrain sneaked through. "...and then find the closest liquor store. I shouldn't feel like retiring before fifty." Sunset and Rarity both winced softly.

"Well that could have perhaps gone more smoothly." Rarity muttered while Sunset gave Liam a questioning look over her shoulder. He ignored them both or rather didn't notice them, instead choosing to stare at the door suspiciously.

"That was too easy," he muttered.

Rarity looked between him and the door. "Hmm? Oh! Well I wouldn't worry over it. We've had quite the spate of happenings as of late. I think she and Principal are mostly just resigned to them at this point," she said said with an embarrassed laugh. Sunset mentally winced in kind. It was true that now a days one of their group going to see either of the Principals was usually met with a statement of "what is it this time?" more than anything else.

Liam's eyes turned to Rarity then closed as he let out a chuckle. "I guess I would be as well after all I've heard from Pinkie. Well, the pain's over so now it's on to business. Mind if we go go take a look at that portal?"

Something about the way he said that sent an faint, unexpected chill up Sunset's spine. "Maybe later. You still need to show us how your equipment works before we can actually do anything, right? Plus we need to get you school supplies and Will gave you that list of things to pick up in town for your ship."

Liam gave her a confused look for a moment and Sunset forced herself to not twitch a muscle as his eyes searched hers for a reason for the delay. Why am I delaying him? she wondered after a moment of matching confusion. Liam ended her immediate pondering by shrugging instead of probing deeper.

"That's fine. It would look pretty weird for us to be standing around staring at it when no one else is at school. That would lead to attention I don't want so you're right, better not to. So, supplies then?" His stomach chose that moment to make itself known with a faint growl. He glanced down then back up with a mildly embarrassed grin. "And maybe lunch? I didn't have much for breakfast."

Sunset nodded, glad for the change of topic. "Sure, there's a cafe and bakery we always go to because Pinkie helps out there. I'll call the others and they can meet us there." Sunset blinked in surprise as Liam's expression switched to beaming in an instant.

"Now that's a plan I can get behind! Some of my favorite moments have come from cafe shenanigans." Sunset and Rarity both half sighed, half coughed at the return of his theatrics. A glance over to a smirking Rarity told Sunset that they were both glad anyway that he'd switched out of his gloomy variety.

"It is rather good. I think you'll like it," Rarity said as they headed back to Rarity's car.

Liam chuckled as he fell into step with them. "Oh, I'm sure of that," he said with a laugh.

"How're we looking?" asked Jax as he looked over Darian's shoulder at the tablet in his hand.

"Not bad honestly. The prow was reinforced to take landing loads so it came through without too much damage. The lower radiators and drives are royally fucked but the main drive and ventral generators are good to go. We could take off without too much risk- knock on wood -by tonight if we don't find anything new. Just don't expect a lot of finesse."

"Huh. I was expecting way worse than that."

"So was I with you at the helm," Darian said while giving him a snide sidelong grin over his shoulder.

Jax rolled his eyes before giving his double a dead-pan glare. "Oh fuck off. You already know why why I'm the old girl's pilot and not someone else so I'm not going to even dignify that."

Darian tilted his head to the side while trying not to grin even more. "Isn't that what you just did? Besides, I'm not sure 'outlier-obsession' is a good metric for aptitude."

"You're right, that would be my thousands if not millions of hours flying around the system without a break," Jax replied smugly.

Darian gave him an equally smug grin in return. "Like I said, not sure 'outlier-obsession' is a good metric for aptitude."

"Heh. You can fly us out of here then. I'll take a nap at your station instead since you feel we don't get to see your piloting skills enough," Jax said with narrowed, predatory eyes while jabbing a finger into Darian's chest plate. Darian returned the look and quickly blocked the finger with his own, the two clashing back and forth like fencers looking for an opening.

"Sure, I like the sound of-"

"WOULD YOU TWO ACT YOUR AGES AND HELP THE REST OF US?!"

The shout caused both of them to cringe for a second before they turned in unison. Will stood to one side of the bulkhead between the bridge and the door, one hand covering all of his face apart from a single eye. "I'd swear you were both twenty and not closer to ninety if I didn't know better. I think you took Dad's 'never grow up' advice a little too close to heart."

Jax flashed him a Legionnaire "toothy smile", stretching the fabric over his mouth to its limits. "Hey, watch who you're calling old you geezer! I'm only eighty! That's spring chicken territory!"

Darian bounched the palm of his hand off his forehead with a metallic clink before pushing Jax towards their de facto leader. "We were working actually. You just managed to catch us as Jax was mouthing off."

Will rolled his eyes with returned humor. "Ah, so business as usual then?"

"Oh everyone's a critic..." Jax huffed.

"Yeah, and so are you by default. Welcome to the Legion. How're we looking?" Will asked Darian as he passed him the pad.

"Not too bad actually. We've got enough control to get to orbit and check hull and seal integrity so that's a plus. Not going to be able to take the meatbag with us of course. He's so busy enough with whining and moaning over the plan that I doubt he'll notice he got left behind anyway."

Will let out a short, sharp laugh and pointed the pad back at Darian. "Hmmmmmm... that sounds like you're volunteering to take his place and relieve him of that burden."

Darian's arms came up in an "X" so fast that they bounced off each other a bit. "Not a snowball's chance in hell! I remember highschool too and am very glad to be in the body type that precludes me going back to another one. Noooo thanks."

Will burst out laughing along with Jax. "Yeah, that's what I-"

He was abruptly cut off by the bulkhead door sliding open to the sound of, "Hello? You guys in here?" A frustrated and huffy Rainbow Dash walked around the corner, her face lighting up in relief when she saw the trio. "Finally! You need to put up some signs or something in here, I've been all over the place trying to find one of you!"

Will looked up with surprise at the unexpected intrusion. "Oh, uh, hey Dash. Is something wrong?"

Rainbow Dash gave him a distinctly "no idea" shrug and tossed a thumb back the way she'd come. "Maybe? Applebloom found a part of the ship lodged in the ground closer to the house. Granny wasn't sure if it would be safe to touch it or anything and we're going to be heading out to lunch soon with Sunset, Rarity and Liam. We were hoping you could help out?"

"Oh, uh, sure. That's fine. Lunch with the others huh?" Will asked awkwardly, still caught off guard by the unexpected intrusion of an organic human on the bridge other than Liam.

Rainbow didn't appear to take notice of his discomfort and nodded. "Yeah, they're done at the school. He's a student now - or will be come Monday I guess. So they're getting class stuff with him and then we're meeting them in town."

Will blinked a few times. "That was fast. Huh." He gave his head a quick shake and adressed the two duplicates with him. "We'll put her through a shakedown run later then. For now let's take care of whatever they found." They looked at each other then back to him with a nod. "Dash, we'll be out in a just a bit."

Rainbow Dash gave him a smile and thumbs up as she turned around to leave. "Cool. So how's the science-y repair stuff going?"

Will looked around with a calculating expression. "Well, we should be good to go by tomorrow morning at the latest. At least for getting her out of the ground and to somewhere better suited to the rest of the work."

Dash froze and cast an eye over her shoulder. "Wait, really? You're going to fly this heap by tomorrow?"

"Yes, this 'heap' is going back to where she's supposed to be. No more eyesore in the farm," Jax said gruffly. He was proud and protective of his charge and did not take insults to her lightly, especially from non-Legionnaires. Will would have to make sure he didn't tear off to orbit at max output just to correct her impression.

"Oh man, that's awesome! Don't leave without letting us know okay? I've gotta see that!" With that said Rainbow Dash just about sprinted out the door in a blaze of excitement. The three Legionnaires waited a few moments until the sounds of her footsteps ceased echoing back to them. Without turning to face them Will split the silence in a low, growling tone.

"First things first. That," he said in a deep growl while pointing at the space Dash had vacated, "is not happening again. Jax, go around and engage the bulkhead seals on every door to a room with a terminal. We can open them with manual overrides until we have something more permanent but from now on no one, not even them, gets to just waltz into a room where they can access all of our records, codes, and controls. Darian, add an encryption lock to all terminals and consoles before we leave. Dash just drove home how lax we've been with security since well before the damn attack. That. Stops. NOW."

The other two looked at each other then nodded back at him.

"Good, after that we'll go pull this hunk of hull or whatever it is out of the ground and get back to work."

Within five minutes of stepping into Sugarcube Corner with his escort Liam was both more relieved and more suspicious than he had been before he ate. The cafe was good, the baked goods memorable (he would have preferred a sandwhich but all they had were pastries and a couple salads) , and the chromatic clientele off-putting in the extreme. Especially when a couple other students he vaguely recognized from the movies came in and waved at his group.

What really kept bugging him though, even more than the people, was how unremarkable the pastries and drinks were. Not in any bad sense, just that there was nothing out of the ordinary with any of it. At all. On a world with completely different physics in another universe. No flavors he couldn't name, no combinations that wouldn't have been found at any cafe in most of his Earth. He hadn't had time to really think about it the previous night at dinner because of how much had been going on at the time but now that he had time to sit down and think the parallels were really bugging him.

"-what it's like?"

Liam looked up from the vanilla bean milkshake he'd been prodding at with his straw, blinking rapidly as his mind returned to the present and the group currently watching him.

"Sorry, spaced out a little. What was the question?"

Sunset snorted in amusement and leaned further in, arms crossed on the table. Liam noticed that everyone else had mostly finished their snacks and drinks while he hadn't really made a dent in his. "Normally you have to tell people to slow down when they come here, not to eat faster," Sunset said puckishly.

"Yeah, what's up? Is it not tastetastic enough? I was sure you'd like the Butter Pecan Butter Scones," Pinky said while her face slowly drooped more and more sadly.

In truth he'd thought it was one of the better scones he'd had and his stomach had demanded more even while his arteries were telling him to stop before it was too late. His brain had overruled the former to the immense relief of the latter while it contemplated the strangeness of everything. The shake wasn't bad either. Nothing special, but not bad. That said all the sugar was giving him a craving for a fried BL-green-T when he got back to the Celestia and he intended to make that his top priority.

"No, it's great! Really! Just richer than what I'm used to. Having to take it slower for once," he lied.

Did you really need to lie there? his conscience scolded him.

Yes, until I know that it won't get us pilloried by the people we need to help us, he hissed at the wheedling corner of his mind.

Hmmmm... so tell me then, what happens if they are the kind to condemn us like the rest of humanity... and keep pushing to know more? he got in return. He didn't have an answer.

Pinkie seemed to accept his excuse without any problem and bounced back to her usual, almost-bouncing-in-her-seat cheerfulness. "Oh! Well that's alright then. As long as you're enjoying it. Just let me know if there's anything I can add to make it less rich! We've got fudge, white chocolate, caramel, sprinkles..." she said while looking up at the ceiling, reviewing what was apparently a very long list judging by her concentrated look.

"Uh, those would just make it more rich, not less," Liam said while holding back a chuckle. Pinkie looked back at him, head cocked to the side with a frown.

"Wait, how do you make something less rich then? Aren't rich people always getting tiny little deserts with nothing on them? Wouldn't less rich be more stuff on top like icing and sprinkles?" she asked while her friends broke down laughing. Sunset reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll tell you later Pinkie when we're not in public. Need to protect everyone's eardrums." She looked to Liam again while Pinkie looked around in ever greater bafflement while her friends fought harder to keep their composure. "Anyway, what I asked before was could tell us a bit more about your world? You've seen and heard about ours but all we've heard about is you and... okay, first can we come up with a way to refer to Will and the others? Just calling them 'Legionnaires' seems kind of odd and cold." The others nodded with varying levels of enthusiasm except for, once again, Applejack who was the very image of disinterest. Liam tried not to let it bother him. It wasn't hard given her first question was one of the ones he didn't want to answer yet.

Stall and evade, stall and evade.

"Hah. I'll be interested in what you come up with. If you put five people from my home together in the same room and asked them how to refer to them you'd get six or seven opinions." He thought about it for a moment then snorted out a short laugh and added, "For that matter, you put five Legionnaires together in the same room you'd have fifteen opinions and a bad comedy routine within an hour." Twilight snorted against a laugh of her own while the others shook their heads at his personal brand of lousy humor. It was always a bit hit or miss but he was pleased to see he had at least one taker in the bunch it seemed.

"Riiiight," Dash said slowly with a roll of her eyes. "How many times have I mentioned before that you're bad at explaining things? I think we're up to three now." Liam choked back a cough on the sip of milkshake he'd been taking as the verbal knife slid in smoothly.

Come on, take a hint already! Ask something else! Hell, I'd even take questions on our tech over talking about Earth!

"Rainbow Dash! That's hardly polite to our guest," Rarity reprimanded as Liam found his breath again, tactfully waving away the concern of Fluttershy and Twilight.

"Hey, I'm just saying! We ask him questions and he jokes around or just confuses us with whatever he says instead," Dash said with a shrug. Rarity raised a finger to point out her error then paused with a conflicted grimace before slowly lowering it again. Dash licked her finger then moved an imaginary score marker in the air over once, earning herself a scowl from her opponent.

"She does have a point you know," Sunset said with a smirk as she leaned into the table a little deeper.

Liam looked around, forcing himself to calm down and breathe.

Guess I'm going to get away with it this time. Just remember to be careful, you can't afford not to...

"Right, sorry about that. Old habits I picked up from my Dad."

That jabbing inner voice ducked in again quickly. More lies? Dad always scolded us for beating around the bush when he asked us something.

His conscience was really starting to bug him. "So then, what specifically do you want to know?"

"Ooooh!" Twilight said excitedly before pulling out a different notepad than the one he'd seen before. A much thicker one... with a bookmark near the end.

Oh no... every part of his mind thought in momentary unity.

"It's right over here."

Will sighed in relief as he and the two other Legionnaires finally reached their destination. Applebloom tipped her head to the side and asked, "Y'all okay? I thought ya didn't get tired."

Will scoffed and said, "We don't, I'm just happy whatever you found was small enough we couldn't see it until we got... here..." He trailed off, eyes widening as he saw the object embedded in the ground. Oh. SHIT he thought in the depths of his crystalline brain. Jax and Darian noticed almost immediately afterwards and weren't able to stop themselves inhaling sharply. Applebloom failed to notice thankfully, focused as she was on the debris that had nearly toppled a tree at the end of a short trench it had dug out on impact.

"Sorry about this, Granny doesn't want us touchin' nothin' unless you say we can. Kinda silly if ya ask me. I mean, I couldn' move that thing even if I tried." She looked back and frowned at the shocked expression mirrored on all three synthetic duplicates. "Oh no, can you not get it out either?"

Will blinked rapidly then said, "No, it's not a problem. Just surprised how deep in it managed to dig itself. This might take longer than we thought. Would you mind letting Granny know we'll be working on it for a while in case someone needs to find us?"

Applebloom smiled and nodded. "Sure, no problem!" she said cheerily before running off towards the farmhouse. The three Legionnaires were silent for a long time as the sounds of the younger Apple sister grew fainter until they barely be heard anymore.

"Oh hell... if they were active before the launcher fell off..." Jax said at length. Will nodded without looking at his Legion brother, eyes firmly locked on the battered interceptor missile pod stuck door first into the ground, lights and faint electrical hum denoting the activation of the independent generator and control box.

"It'll be Damascus all over again," Darian added in a near whisper. Will shuddered then looked around quickly.

"Okay, first things first. Get an advanced kit and add an extra argon tank or two. Cutting into it's going to be a bitch and a half."

"Only a half he says. Try more like we melt through the wrong wire and the seekers are released, see nothing but dirt, and wreck half the farm and us with it at thirty thousand gees" Jax hissed angrily. Will shot him a critical look bordering on a glare.

"So we'll be careful." Jax scoffed then failed to duck out of the way when Will smacked him on the back of his head. "Okay, very careful! You know where we can find the unit's interconnect diagram right?"

Jax shook his armored head and said, "Yeah, bridge lock box along with the rest. We at least did that right."

Will nodded solemnly before turning his attention back to the potential nightmare that had fallen into their laps after falling out of the sky with them.

"Get Liam on the line, he'll need to know as well."

"Hmmmmm..." Twilight muttered as she tapped her pencil against her lip, brow furrowed in concentration. She flipped a couple pages in the notebook then looked up at a bemused and worn out Liam. This could take a while if he's getting tired already. We've only hit their understanding of the physics of their universe- minus anything about expansion fields but I'll have to keep trying for it- as well as, let's see... oh yes, their major sports and fashion styles, she ended with a bemused smirk, flicking her eyes towards Rarity as Liam tried his best to describe what people from his world wore. The fashionista was coming away disappointed as it didn't seem to be one of his knowledgeable topics. Dash however had been thoroughly satisfied with his description of the games that, strangely, seemed to be exact copies -minus some small rule variations- of their own.

"We probably have some news clippings or pictures from the last party I went to in Miami. Well... the only party in Miami I went to and that was as a favor- but that's not important," Liam said with a shake of his head to try to refocus in the face of Rarity's continued assault.

"Please, I hate to bother but if you have anything at all I could look at for ideas or inspiration I'd be eternally grateful! I'd be happy to name any lines I come up with to your benefit as well!"

"Wait, in our- no! No referencing us by name or anything! Please! If you do find something and still want to credit us then use... I don't know, something space themed. Use our home instead of us, that will be perfect," he said frantically.

"I thought Earth was your home?" asked Fluttershy. "I can't imagine living in space. It seems so... empty. I don't think I could ever live up there."

Liam slowly paused in trying to calm Rarity's enthusiasm, his eyes losing focus as he stared at her. She frowned, waving her hand in front of him a little before giving up. A small smile crept over his face and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

"Beautiful."

Rarity recoiled in surprise, looking around in shock at the sudden and unexpected turn of events. Her friends were giving her matching shocked or confused looks. She coughed as her face began to glow a rosy tone. "Darling, I appreciate the sentiment but it's so sudden and-"

"I remember swinging the Intrepid through the Huygens Gap between the A and B rings. Almost no scoring on the hull at all afterwards. We barely even had our nav systems matured and we thread the gap perfectly," Liam said wistfully, his eyes misty and tightened in what seemed to be sadness. At what, he didn't say.

"Oh!" Rarity said in understanding. "Oh," she added again with a deadpan look as she then realized her mistake.

Thankfully for her the rest of the group were too engrossed in listening to Liam now to joke at her expense. Twilight in particular barely noticed her embarrassment.

"What rings?" Twilight asked, hungry- no, desperate for more.

Liam looked at her without much focus then calmly pulled out his phone and began scrolling through it. Half a minute or more passed in near silence from everyone apart from an impatient cough from Rainbow Dash. Liam paused, smiling more deeply as turned the phone around for them to see. Twilight leaned in closer to see from across the table and-

Her breath caught in her throat.

The small screen was dominated by a yellow orange sphere surrounded by a thin disk, like one of Vinyl's old records that she brought out for retro themed dances at the school. She stared at it for what seemed like an eternity before a tightness in her chest reminded her that she needed to breath if she wanted to keep looking at the incredible image.

Liam swiped his finger across the screen and it disappeared. Before Twilight could beg him to bring it back it a new image appeared. The screen was taken up by clean interior, much like the halls and cabins of the Celestia but smaller than the rooms they'd been in, dominated by three seats in front and below of whoever was taking the shot. Liam's dark hair was visible over the back of the middle seat while the other two had the distinctive forms of Legionnaires seated in them. All of it paled in comparison to the glow coming through a segmented window at the front of the space. A long sweeping golden curve surrounded by a dim halo of grey against a pure black backing. He pressed his finger to the screen and it showed itself to be a video. Twilight's eyes grew larger still as excited murmurs drifted out the phone's speakers.

<"We're twelve-k kilometers out now, transit in one minute thirty seconds!"> Static laced cheers met the announcement as the golden arc expanded well past the edge of the ship's windows. Small beeps and hushed call outs flitted out of the phone as the golden disk grew larger and larger, the clean lines devolving into jagged edges with massive chunks standing out from among the rest of the speckled field. <"One-k out! Hold onto your butts, bringing up deflection wedge now!"> The view through the window wavered as if the ship were passing through a fog bank. The bronze-gold expanse became more and more broken and spread out, turning evermore white and radiant as it approached, countless large pieces and endless flickering clouds of dust between them. <"Passing through in three, two, ONE!"> In the blink of an eye the view went from blindingly brilliant to hazy to dark again as a dark, empty band of black expanded past the windows almost too fast to catch. The top of Liam's head swiveled around as the Legionnaires pumped their fists in the air or gave thumbs up to their doubles. He slowly turned around, glancing over the top of his seat. A small part of Twilight's mind noticed that he seemed... younger in the video. Not physically, he still looked the same on screen as he did sitting with them. There was just... more lightness to his expression, a sort of breathless wonder and excitement. <"So... I think we need to do that again. How about you?"> the video Liam asked whoever was taking the video. She found her smile transforming into what she was certain was a goofy grin but was powerless to stop it. Then the playback stopped, frozen on the cocky grin the younger man was flashing the camera.

Liam pulled the phone back towards him, looking down at the still image with a small smile. He ran the tips of his fingers over the back of the phone as if he were caressing it. He chuckled and put the greatest object of desire Twilight had ever wanted back into his pocket. "Space will always be the most breathtaking thing to see."

"Oh my," Fluttershy whispered breathlessly, breaking the spell of silence.

"Dude... I was starting to think you didn't know how to have fun but... dang! Can we go do that? Please please please please pleeeeeease?" asked Dash as she leaned over the table to be face to face with Liam. Meanwhile Rarity began looking around frantically.

"Inspiration! I just thought of- quick, someone, I need paper and a pencil! Oh, where're the proper materials when you need them... Aha! Okay, pencil down, just need something to write on... ohhhh, it'll have to do," she muttered before tracing lines and forms all over the napkins that had come with their food.

"What was that?" asked Twilight so softly that she almost couldn't hear herself over the exclamations of her friends.

"That was our shakedown tests of the Intrepid, one of our earlier ships. We barely had a system-wide navigation net in place and we thread the gap in the rings from an AU away at over two hundred and forty thousand kilometers an hour intercept," Liam said with a proud grin. Twilight had a vague idea of what he was talking about but her lack of in depth understanding didn't bother her in the least. What she'd just watched... it was everything she could have dreamed of. It was everything she had dreamed of for years. She'd just never seen a way to go beyond dreaming.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" She blinked, noting the small tears that pooled in the corners of her eyes with annoyance. She blinked a few more times to spread them out then finally faced Sunset and her concerned expression.

"I'm- I was just blown away. That was incredible! I never thought I'd get to see something like it," she said with full honesty if not the complete truth. "Do you have any-" she began to ask Liam before he fidgeted in his seat for a moment with a frown then drew out his now buzzing phone. He leaned his head to the side in confusion then held up a finger to ask for a moment.

"Will, that you? Yeah, I'm fine. Lunch has been good- okay okay, so what's up? Yeah... wait, repeat that... what came off? One of the- oh no," he said quietly, eyes going wide for an instant before his face shifted back to neutral. Twilight glanced around to find everyone apart from Sunset and herself too engrossed in their own conversations to have noticed his crude surprise. Before she could ask if anything was wrong he got up from his seat and wandered slowly to the far wall, brow pinched as he listened to his phone attentively.

"Okay, so how're you getting it out?" he asked just loudly enough for Twilight to hear. She tapped Sunset on the shoulder gave her a questioning look. She shrugged then focused back on their guest. "Okay... do you need my help or- got it. I'm guessing Applejack should be hearing from them soon then. Keep me informed." He walked back over and slid down into his chair with the kind of groaning and wincing she was more used to hearing from her grandparents when they visited.

"Everything alright?" Fluttershy asked him. He blew out his cheeks and gave her a tired grin.

"Yeah, I just should have known waxing nostalgic would call Murphy down on me."

"Who's coming? Wait, is someone threatening you now? " she asked with new concern.

Liam cocked his head to the side. "No, it's a... a rule from my world called Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. No idea where the name came from but it's pretty much prophetic as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh. That's a rather... nasty sort of rule. I take it something's wrong then?" Fluttershy glanced at AJ as she leaned towards Liam.

"Hold up, ya got a call from the farm right? What's goin' on?" she asked tersely.

"Applebloom came to get Will after she found a piece of the ship in another part of the orchard. Turns out that part has some hazardous materials in it so your family's heading into town for a bit while Will and the others move it back to the ship to contain it."

"Dammit, you bastards are never gonna stop bein' trouble for me and mah family are ya?!" she demanded angrily, bringing her fist down on the table hard enough to almost knock over Liam's shake. He hurriedly grabbed it then shot Applejack an annoyed look.

"Applejack, language!" Rarity said with an undertone of shock and disappointment.

Twilight wondered again what was going on with her friend. She could understand her worry about her home but didn't have a clue why she seemed to be taking everything so personally. It wasn't like they'd planned to crash there specifically.

Right?

That thought caused a brief chorus of worry and paranoia to sweep across her before she dismissed it. Applejack's worry was starting to rub off on now. She'd watched them come in the same as the rest of them had and saw how damaged the ship had gotten in the crash. Plus there was the matter of how determined Liam and his "family" were to return to their home. There wasn't any good reason for her friend's aggression that she could find no matter what angle she approached the issue from. Unfortunately Liam wasn't helping matters and in fact seemed fed up with the treatment.

"Hold up a moment, we're being responsible here! We could have tried to move it secretly but instead we warned your family to move to safety while we put ourselves at risk! If anything goes wrong then we're the ones in harm's way! But we're still doing it. We're in for the long haul in making things right by your family," Liam replied tersely. "According to Will the ship was just about ready to go so we would have been out of your hair by tomorrow morning at the latest if we hadn't put that on hold to clean up the rest of our mess."

For whatever reason Applejack inhaled sharply while her frown deepened into a full on glare. Liam didn't seem to care as he charged on.

"So would you rather have us gone or helping?" he declared with a narrowing of his eyes. Applejack's glare left little doubt about her answer. She and Liam locked eyes for a few more seconds before Liam exhaled slowly and shook his head. "Applejack, what is your deal with us?"

Applejack's eye twitched at the corner while her shoulders rose angrily. "Mah deal? Mah deal is Ah don't trust ya. Mah deal is since you showed up mah family's become reliant on your goodwill because we can't make it on our own now with the orchard the way it is!" Liam's eyes softened a little and he leaned backward a little in his seat, hands clasped loosely over his lap. "Mah deal is the first thing you did when we showed up was to try to nab us and shoot us instead of trying ta talk to us." Twilight wasn't sure but she thought she heard him wince quietly. "And to top it all off we can't get a single straight, honest answer outta ya like ya just proved again not five minutes ago. Everything you've done, everythin' about ya'll, it all screams trouble to me. And now mah family has to depend on ya'll to keep yer word and put everythin' right and not just go shootin' back off into the sky first chance ya get once ya figure out the portal?"

Her voice was wavering a little now, no less angry but with a rougher edge to it like she was having to fight to maintain it.

"No, Ah don't like it and Ah don't like y'all. Not after everythin' ya've done and failed ta do as well."

With that she slumped back in her seat, spent emotionally and trying not to show it. Maybe Liam wouldn't notice but Twilight did and so did the rest of her friends. Pinkie placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. AJ half faced her with a grimace then nodded in thanks. Everyone was silent for awhile and Twilight found her heart going out to her semi-new friend and her now open fears.

"I-" Liam began before sighing deeply, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "I failed to think things through. I guess I convinced myself that everything was fine because of how Granny and the rest of your family was treating us. But... I can appreciate how you feel. About not wanting to be dependent on us I mean. Really," he added when Applejack turned her scowl on him again. "That's what we've always prided ourselves on. Me, every copy of me, making it out there," he said, shooting a glance up through the ceiling and past the sky, "on our own in our own way. We'd chafe at suddenly being dependent on someone else too, especially if they were the reason we found ourselves like that."

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "And, admittedly, we did not make the best of first impressions. We were on edge after something that had never happened before and that made us defensive and paranoid. We should have announced ourselves first, tried to talk it out, but we didn't and I'm sorry for that. We screwed up there by you all. All that said, I have one more thing to say," he said, looking at each of them quickly before focusing on Applejack again.

"I promise you, we will not be leaving until we've made things right. The ship may go but we won't. Not till the farm is fixed and you can stand on your own again and never have to think about asking us or anyone else for help if you don't want to. Can you accept that?" he said, sticking out his hand toward her hopefully. Applejack squinted at his hand suspiciously for a moment then at his eyes for longer still.

"Applejack, I-I think you can trust him. I mean, trust him on this. I do," Fluttershy said while Pinkie nodded her encouragement from next to her. Twilight wasn't surprised at Pinkie's desire to turn them into friends but Fluttershy sticking up for him did surprise her. She usually only stood up like this for her closest friends. Though now that she thought about it it likely was more about helping Applejack work her emotions out.

Applejack looked at them both for a bit then cast her eyes down at the table. She looked back towards Liam then hesitantly, so very hesitantly, reached out and shook his hand once before quickly withdrawing her own.

"Ah'm holding you to that, God as my witness, Ah am holding you to that. Don't go thinkin' this means we're friends by the bye. That train left the station after ya shot me then failed to be honest with us and it ain't coming back again. The rest of mah friends seem ta like ya well enough so ah'll put up with having ya around when they want ya ta be but that's the long and short of it."

Twilight wanted to groan but forced it back down. They'd both had a chance to bury the hatchet on the mistakes and miscommunications of the last couple days and now AJ had all but rejected it. Or rather that's what she'd expected to happen until Liam gave one of his short, sharp laughs and nodded to her amazement. Though Twilight was almost certain she saw a brief moment of sadness pass over his face before he slipped a smirk on over it. She might have been mistaken though, she was still too shocked to be certain.

"That's fine, I can work with that. If you can keep putting up with us then we can bear with it and finish what we promised. I've had worse sentiments to work with before so it won't be a problem at all."

She was sincerely confused now since he'd made the good faith gesture and then had it thrown back in his face in all but name. Her impression of him had been much more blunt than accomodating. She was even more confused when he quickly downed the rest of his shake with a happy grin then bounced out of his seat.

"Unless any of you have other things you need to do let's go meet up with your family and check to see how Will's doing."

"I think that might be a good idea now," Sunset added. "We can grab your supplies on the way."

Liam's happy mood deflated like an old balloon. "Oh, right. The school supplies. You couldn't let me have even one moment could you Murphy?"

Back at Sweet Apple Acres Will was not having a great time. In fact he was having one of the most nerve wracking times he could remember in his long life. If he'd been capable of it he would have been sweating bullets, soiling pants, and all the other phrases humans used to say that things had gone FUBAR.

"Easy, eas- EASY! Watch it!"

Every muscle he had tensed up as Jax and Mercer tried to cut through one of the warped access panels that was thoroughly stuck in place. On the other side was the main controller bundle that connected the pod to its seven payloads. Each was multipurpose, capable of a drive field of twenty gees in atmosphere and twenty thousand gees in vacuum with a warhead field projector of thirty thousand across a thousand points filling the volume of a sphere a mile in diameter for an infinitesimal moment. Great for both knocking enemy missiles off course or destroying them outright from shear forces. Equally as great at destroying hardened structures if the targeting parameters were changed to ground strike. The farm definitely did not count as hardened and would be so much tissue paper if a single missile was active and went off, let alone seven.

With a faint pop Mercer bent the last stuck corner of the panel out of place along with the rest of the unit. The assembled Legionnaires all breathed a sigh of relief out of remembered habit rather than held breath.

"Okay, time to find out if Murphy's watching us today or not. Al, did they get off the farm like they said?"

Alphonse nodded weakly. "Yeah, saw the truck leaving on my way over. Three heads and a dog in the cabin."

"Good, glad we didn't have to force them. Though I'm not actually that surprised. Granny's a lot sharper than I thought she'd be," Will noted with a smirk.

"And we're all better off for it since Applejack wants nothing more than to scrap us for wrecking her parents' orchard," Darian added while handing a scan tool to Mercer. The rest of the group nodded in agreement while Mercer connected it to an open slot on the pod's board.

"Hey, focus. Her opinion of us definitely won't improve if we really do blow up the rest of the orchard and the farm with it."

"Yeah, but if that happens we won't make it either so at least we won't have to worry about it," Mercer said as he scrolled down the list of codes the scan brought up. "Hmmmmm... okay, let's see what we've got... main power bus is intact... slight under-voltage on the PCI connections which could be a problem... and current status is- fuuuuuuuuuuuck," Mercer hissed while his eyes shot open. "It's still registering a lock on an atmospheric target. Just about point blank in fact."

"Wait, what!? How!? The sensors are three feet underground!" Will demanded incredulously.

"It must have kept the lock on the bogeys from our mystery ship and adjusted for the sudden introduction of air through the gate. The back up controller should have registered that as a possible error and safed everything. Since it didn't it must still be in faildeadly mode instead of failsafe. Probably because of the undervoltage. Damn it, we always were better at physical design than electrical," Jax huffed as he quickly scrolled through the rest of the codes he gotten out of it. When he couldn't scroll further he slowly sat back on his rear with his arms hanging loosely over his knees. Will wanted to do the same but decided to postpone it till later.

"If you switch it over will it shut down?" Jax asked. Mercer looked at him then lowered a knee and began tracing lines in the dirt.

"It's looking for a signal to either fire or safe from the main controller but it's getting an unclear signal... either a bad connection or busted board... so an over volt would probably... hmmmmmm, I think we can. I need to bridge wherever the damage is that's giving us the undervolt and send the right signal pulse to the right line in the bundle. That should flip it from faildeadly to failsafe and lock the missiles inert. Then I can pull the plug and it'll go back to being a hunk of scrap."

"You think?" Will asked, arching a brow at the modifier.

"If the damage is at the connector to the payload deck then there's a chance anything I send it will short to the command line and we turn into a crater."

"Well. That's fantastic," Albrecht muttered. "Any way you can check that? We usually have a payload I/O port on the bulkhead of the laser-head launchers for inspections."

Mercer and Jax both wiggled their hands with a joint "Ehhhhhhhhh."

"The I/O port for this smaller model is on the same bundle as the command and safe lines. Any crosstalk and-" Jax expanded his fingers dramatically.

"Oh man, what idiots designed that mess?" Alphonse asked with a lopsided grin. The self-deprecation broke the tension and garnered a few much needed chuckles from the group. It lasted all too short a time until the gravity of the situation started pressing in again.

"Yeah, that's getting a revision," Mercer muttered with a roll of his eyes then started selecting tools from the numerous boxes they'd hauled with them.

"Mercer, give me the details. What're you thinking and what do the rest of us need to be ready for?" Will asked as he kneeled down next to him. Mercer bobbed his head side to side for a moment then looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm going to try to to safe it. The payload port has as much a chance of activating them as anything else and if I'm plugged into that then I won't be plugged into the main board where I might be able to do something if shit hits the fan. Plus the payload port requires we dig through more wreckage to reach it so nooooooo."

Will grunted. "Right, so what do we need to be doing?"

Mercer considered for a moment. "Praying? Figure we might have time to pick a couple gods before I try this, see if any of them work-" Will's backhand got a wince and glare sent in his direction. "Hey, I'm ninety nine percent serious! If this goes bad I'm not sure I can stop it."

"Mercer..."

"Okay, okay... ummmmm... wellllllll... we've got seven of us which is exactly how many we'd need to yank this thing up, tear the breakaway panels off, each yank a missile out, then rip the warhead and sensor suite off then let the rest plow itself into the nearest hill."

The silence that followed sadly did not get the cricket treatment it deserved.

"And how long would we have to do that?" Will asked slowly.

Mercer squinted at the sky for a second, mumbling to himself about spec sheets every now and then. "It'll continue to look for a confirmation and when it doesn't get it it will activate since it's not set to failsafe. Sooo... about thirty seconds."

Will's hand met his face at a very high velocity. "What if we skip the attempt and just try to dig the thing out now? It can't be any worse." Jax answered him this time with another "ehhhhhhhh".

"That's going to jostle things we don't want to jostle unless we absolutely have to." Will gave him a half lidded glare to which Jax returned a dramatic shrug. "Okay, let me put it this way. I'd give trying to safe it a fifty fifty chance of setting it off. I'd give moving it a ninety five percent chance given the state its in. You know why we made a faildeadly option. Nothing better to discourage tampering from anyone who isn't us." Mercer narrowed his eyes in thought then gave Will a nod of agreement.

Will's hand met his face only slightly slower this time. "Fine, I get the point. Let's do this."

Mercer waited till the other six Legionnaires all arrayed themselves near the dug in end of the pod then picked out a pair of leads from his kit. He spent a minute or two searching around near the payload bulkhead until he was sure he had the right places to connect. "Here goes nothing," he said, his voice tight and strained, as he set the voltage on his hand unit and hit the signal stud.

A light on the main board lit up green and Mercer threw up a fist in triumph. Will clapped him on the shoulder with a relieved laugh.

"Nice job. Can we move it now?"

Mercer looked at the new codes on his scanner for a moment. "Nope," he said, turning back to to Will with a sickly grin. "Because it just went active. On the bright side, I was wrong on that estimate. We've actually got forty five seconds."

There wasn't a single moment lost to hesitation. The six at the front end were already throwing up handful after handful of dirt while they searched for an edge to lift from. Mercer rushed in to join them, growling an uninterrupted sequence of curses on the way.

"Which one of us thought it was a good idea to give the 'armed' indicator a green light!? Who does that!?" Jax shouted angrily as he tore away at a root lodged into a corner of the casing.

"Less cursing, more digging!" Will yelled as the group cleared away the bottom lip of the pod and began straining to lift it up higher. They probably had twenty seconds before the missiles failed to get a safe signal and tried to break free. Probably half a second after that the warheads would activate and the valley Sweet Apple Acres rested in would pull an impressive reenactment of Mt. St. Helens. Will didn't have a lot of faith that the missiles would be wrecked by their initial plunge into the ground. The front shroud of each was hardened enough to act as a bunker buster. The only real limit it had was heat dissipati-

"Mercer! Set it back to vacuum!" Will shouted before he even finished the thought.

The long experienced Legionnaire didn't waist time asking for an explanation. He scrambled back out of the shallow hole they'd made and dove to his tools. Will motioned for the rest of them to grab what they could and started lifting. He could feel his muscles yanking on his metallic bones and fiber tissues as the combined weight of the pod plus the earth and roots fought them for every inch.

"Reset!" Mercer yelled just as the six finished tilting the pod up vertical. A second light on the board turned green and the pod pulsed a small ejection field to jettison the payloads. The six had just enough time to curl up and brace themselves before all seven were thrown away by the activation of the missile drives afterwards. They tore up into the sky too fast to follow.

It was the only thing that saved the orchard and them. With the drives not limited to atmospheric flight they tore through the air at twenty thousand gees, leaving a trail of impact plasma in their wake. They'd had less than half a second before their warheads were supposed to activate but by that point they'd shot over 24,000 ft straight up and hit orbital speeds. The unprotected missiles ceased to exist well before that. Only a burning trail of dust gave evidence to their existence at all.

"So how many planets have you visited?" Twilight asked excitedly as they all stepped out of the local Staplers store with binders and paper for Liam's start at CHS. Applejack had even helped collect some of it, though she'd handed it to Twilight instead of him afterwards. Still, he was calling it progress.

"One second Twilight. Where are we supposed to be meeting your fam-" Liam began to ask Applejack. A soft boom swept over the town, setting off a couple car alarms and causing windows all around them to rattle. It was followed by a rougher shriek that dissipated in mere moments.

"What in tarnation was that?" Applejack yelled with her hands clamped over her ears.

Liam spun around for a moment before he got his bearings and looked to the west. A thin line of white fire rose from over the distant hills then vanished almost immediately thereafter.

What happened to keeping me informed!? he thought desperately, grinding his teeth in worry and frustration. A frantic shuffle brought his phone to his ear. The dial tone was deafeningly loud in his ear and he only barely noticed the girls talking in the background.

"Oh man, that was the best firework I've ever seen! I've got to get some of those for the next Founding Day," Pinkie's voice called out with glee.

"Pinkie, I don't think that was a firework. I've been to one of the Wonderbolt stunt shows and that felt a lot like a sonic boom. So... you're right. We have GOT to get one of whatever did that" Dash's voice answered. Liam's eyes grew wider as he realized something even more terrible. It was at that moment that his call connected.

"Will?" he hissed as quietly as his nerves would allow which was not very quiet at all.

The voice from the other end of the line was raspy and the speaker was putting out a lot of static. It was clear enough to understand the words coming from the other end though. "Okay, so, things didn't go as planned," Will said sheepishly. Liam's eye twitched violently.

"You think?! What the hell happened?"

"Pod was stuck in faildeadly with a point blank atmo target."

Liam groaned as the scope of what they'd just tried hit him. The seven of them were lucky to be alive and-

"Will, are the others all right?"

"They're fine. We're going to need some repairs- again -but nothing serious. I swear though, this place has put me through more in two days than home did in years. Murphy must live here. Or at the least has a timeshare with our universe," he muttered. Relief washed over Liam at the snarky tone. If he could joke around then it wasn't too bad.

"So I'm guessing you weren't able to safe it then?"

"Nope, we tried but there must have been some crosstalk. That or Mercer isn't the munitions expert we all think he is and powered the wrong line." A brief cry of indignation from the other end of the call got a chuckle from them both. "Anyway, we didn't have time to get fancy. Mercer switched the environment back to vacuum and they toasted themselves into oblivion on launch."

"Yeah, we saw," Liam said gloomily. That display had been the exact opposite of the discretion then'd been going for. As far opposite as one could get without putting up a giant neon billboard screaming "Roswell's got nothing on this!" and an arrow pointing at the farm. "Heard it too, though thankfully town's far enough away that it was more of a dull thump than a-"

Oh no...

"Will," Liam said with deceptive calm. "Those missiles were moving with twenty-k gees behind them. I'm pretty sure that means they were supersonic before they even got a meter off the ground." Silence took over for Will. "How big was the shock wave?"

More silence answered him.

"Will, what happened to the farm?" Even more silence then a buss of static that sounded a lot like "ehhhhhh".

"Well, the good news is the house and barn are still there. The ship probably didn't even feel it either. The bad news is... we're going to owe them a few more trees and a lot of windows. Pretty much all the windows they had in fact. And the front door and also-"

Liam disconnected the call and slowly returned the phone to his pocket. He took a moment to pass his eyes over the picturesque square and its pastel people pointing towards the distant hills and the farm behind them. None of them looked particularly worried and most of them seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Pinkie judging by their amused expressions. It was a scene of calm and peace whose surrealness helped center him rather than induce panic for once. He nodded with a small smile then slowly, calmly, brought his hands up and placed the balls of them against his forehead, sinking forward into them as he mentally cursed an entire world and the universe it resided in as fervently and imaginatively as he could.

"Liam, that came from the farm, didn't it?" Rarity asked nervously from behind him.

He turned around with glacial slowness. The seven were split into three groups. The closest of the three had Pinkie and Rainbow, both giving him quizzical looks. The next was the worried set of Twilight, Sunset, Rarity, and Fluttershy, all arrayed around and trying to comfort and calm the last group made up entirely of Applejack and her rage which was quickly beginning to push the others away through sheer force of presence.

Liam breathed in deeply. "Applejack, we're going to need a little more time to-"

This time her fist found his face, though without the force of her magic behind it. She hadn't brought her geode with her, a fact her shouting made abundantly clear as the world swam around him before going dark.

Author's Note

Oh man this took longer than I thought it would. Went in twenty different directions before I finally found the one I liked that did what I needed it to! Add to that work ramping up right as the new semester started and it was a recipe for delay after writers block after delay. :facehoof:

Still, I think this might be one of my favorite chapters to date and I hope you all enjoy it as well. :twilightsheepish: As always let me know what you think!

Ch 9: Open Talk, Hidden Secrets

"Oh thank you so much," Fluttershy lauded the group of chipmunks as they carefully placed the last of the glass shards onto the pile with the rest, "It wouldn't have been safe for anyone to walk around while those were out here."

The eldest chipmunk among them, a graying grandfather of the local family who went by Big Daddy, rubbed the dirt and glass dust off his paws then sat back on his hind legs to give her an appreciative nod. This unfortunately gave her another unwanted look at the reason behind his name. It hadn't taken her long to put the pieces together when she realized all the other chipmunks his own age in the group were females. He was a lovely fellow, really, but he had a prideful streak a mile wide when it came to his...well. She coughed lightly in awkward embarrassment and discomfort before distracting herself with a glance at the pile of glass shards.

"Yes, well, if you find any more please bring them back here. Applebloom said she'd leave some apple slices and nuts out anytime you did. That does not mean taking a few shards back afterwards to bring in again for more." Something about the glint in Big Daddy's eye when he heard about the reward told her she needed to make that clear. The old male made a sound suspiciously like *tsk* through his teeth then nodded again in acceptance.

"Excellent, I'm sure the Apples will be very thankful for the help."

She waved them off happily as they made their way back into the woods then exhaled heavily as she released the magic she'd been maintaining. She loved talking with all the adorable animals and critters around town, especially the more wild ones out by Applejack that hadn't picked up many of humanity's tricks and habits, but it was taxing to maintain her magic for hours on end. Still, it was worth it to make new friends and help each other when needed.

"How can ya sit there and tell me ta be calm!?"

She cringed as a new need for help arose. But she wasn't sure this one was going to be so easy to solve. She made her way back into the house, past a scowling Granny bent over the kitchen table trying to count the total damage out on paper and a tired Big Mac nailing a final piece of plywood over one of many empty window frames, into the living room where Applejack was bearing down angrily on an equally angry Rarity. Looking around at the rest of her friends, all of whom gave her various shrugs or shakes of their heads, she knew immediately things weren't going well.

"I'm asking you to find calmness somewhere because this," Rarity said, gesturing wildly in Applejack's direction, "isn't helping! Will and Alphonse already said they'd add a couple more blocks of gold to cover the damage to the house. Which was gracious of them mind you when you wouldn't even let them inside when they dropped by while the rest are out there making sure they haven't missed anything else!" Rarity said as she counted each point off on a finger. Applejack was very, very unconvinced.

"I DIDN'T LET THEM IN OUR HOUSE BECAUSE THEY WENT AND WRECKED IT AND THE REST OF THE FARM TOO! Big Mac's room has a branch juttin' through the wall the size of mah leg and the family truck got pelted with gravel! It looks like the dang moon now with all the dents!" Applejack countered loudly. "They said they were planning ta do this night 'fore last, y'all heard 'em just the same as I did, and Ah don't buy that bull they told us about a 'thruster malfunction' one bit! Whatever that thing was it was the same thing they were planning to use back then! Ah knew I shouldn'a trusted 'em!"

"Actually, if their ships are really capable of the accelerations they've mentioned and going by what we saw in that video then it's not that unrealistic for it to have been-"

"Twilight. NOT. NOW," Applejack said sharply. Twilight dropped her head sheepishly with a small squeak of "Sorry", earning Applejack a nasty look from Sunset. Rarity stepped between the two sides and pointed an accusing finger.

"Applejack! Don't you dare take this out on Twilight when she's only trying to help resolve things!"

Applejack fumed silently for a few seconds. "Mah home is wrecked by people and things ya don't even know or understand and yer sidin' with'em over me. Some friends y'all are," she said low and slowly. Rarity recoiled as if she been slapped. "Don't come askin' fer mah help when they start destroying yer homes next and everthin' else after," she added before stalking out of the room quickly. Towards the backdoor and away from the ship Fluttershy noted in the back of her mind. Everyone seemed to sink a little as the tension left the room, Rarity in particular who all but fell into the large armchair that was Granny Smith's usual abode.

"Girls, please, help me. I don't know what to do, what to say to-... I don't even know what we should be trying to do. Applejack's not herself and I don't know what to believe about them and-... I don't know," Rarity stammered, with a forlorn glance towards the Celestia's resting place, now hidden by the boarded up windows.

"Twilight, are you sure that their 'thruster' explanation checks out?" Sunset asked the still shaken girl next to her. Twilight nodded, rubbing her hands nervously.

"If they can create the insane levels of acceleration they claim, then yes, it makes the most sense, especially since it must have fallen off the section that exploded to land where it did. That's my take on what they were saying. They seemed more nervous than when they got here and I think it's because they don't understand what happened to wreck their ship or bring them here. The way Will kept glancing back at it I think they're worried it's still damaged somehow."

"You're sure?" Fluttershy asked hopefully before shrinking back from the limelight when everyone looked to her expectantly. "I mean, um, they seem really nice and keep trying to fix things and I don't want us to start being unkind to them despite that. They just seem to have really bad luck right now."

"Don't worry Fluttershy," Pinkie said as she hopped over to her before pulling her into a tight hug. "Applejack is just dealing with a lot of emotional baggage from all the things she feels she's lost because of them showing up and is forcing them into a mold she think fits best. She'll come around when she realizes they're not so simple as that. I mean, would big nasty evil people drop off cookies after they messed up?" she asked, pulling one of said cookies out of her hair and popping it into her mouth. "Not the best, but it's the thought that counts. It would be rude not to eat them all after they went to the trouble of making them just for us," she added while smacking her lips.

Fluttershy hugged her back in thanks, taking note as she did that Rainbow Dash suddenly seemed very nervous as well, even gulping visibly. It looked like she was really shaken up about Applejack's display as well, the poor thing.

"You're really sure?" Sunset asked Twilight again.

Twilight nodded again, this time giving Sunset a questioning look. "Yes, fairly sure. Why?"

Sunset searched her eyes for a moment then sighed and placed her head in her hands, elbows resting on her knees as she slouched forward. "It's nothing, I'm just... well... okay, it seems like anytime something new shows up from Equestria it's always bad news for us and we have to stop it, right? So far we've just had nothing but bad news with them too. But they're not from there and they don't use magic so I don't want to go jumping to conclusions, especially over a superstition in my head. What was it you told me back during spring classes Twilight? Correlation does not imply causation? I don't want to start seeing problems where there might not be any but I don't-... I want to know we're doing the right thing by helping them."

Twilight tapped her lip for a moment. "Hmmmmmm..."

"Don't sweat it Sunset, they seem like a pretty chill bunch," Dash interjected. "Besides, it hasn't all been bad right? Sure it's gotten kind of crazy around here but we got our magic because of the portal and you came from it too after all. Plus and plus." Sunset gave her a half smile and shook her head.

"Yeah, but I was pretty terrible back then remember? And I would have been even worse if Princess Twilight hadn't followed me here through the portal and showed me a different path."

Dash winced and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh. Yeah, I'd kind of forgotten about that I guess. Hard to compare you between then and now. So I guess you kind of have a point. But the Princess wouldn't have been able to do that and we couldn't have fixed things each time without the magic either so I guess it all evens out maybe. I'm keeping those pluses."

Sunset chuckled. "Thanks Dash. I just wish I felt better about how things are going with them," she said as she slumped back against the couch. "They're just so... secretive! If it weren't for the fact they keep talking about trying to get home, especially before we'd ever mentioned the portal, I'd be more worried about what they really want. But it's all they talk about so... so I don't know what to think!"

Fluttershy looked around at the boarded up windows which had turned the once light and airy living room into a close approximation of a CHS classroom with everything lit from above by electric lighting. "Poor Applejack... she's been through a lot these last couple of days. We all have ever since they crashed here, but her most of all. I wish things had gone differently like Liam said..."

Everyone nodded in silent agreement.

Rarity rose from her seat, neatly smoothing out her dress before slowly pacing in a wide circle. "Yes, well, the past is past and such. All we can do now is be good neighbors and guides while they're getting back on their feet. We might have ended up with each other entirely by chance but I'd hate for them to think we begrudged them their presence," she said, stopping to face them all. "Though I suppose that begs the question of what we should all be doing now then doesn't it? I need to get back to the shop at some point and-"

A gasp from the couch grabbed their attention. "Oh dang! I had another shift at the pool today!" Sunset exclaimed while rummaging through her shoulder bag. "No no no no... where is i- aha!" she said triumphantly as she pulled out her phone then moaned when she looked at the screen. "Shoot, August Winds called. I really don't need to sit through another of his lecture-shouts..." she muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Sorry girls, I need to get going before they really miss me. Let me know if anything changes." She gave a quick wave to everyone then rushed out the door. A few seconds later the sounds of her motorcycle turning over rattled the plywood window covers lightly then quickly abated.

"Hmmmmm..." Rainbow Dash hummed. "You know, Sunset could answer a lot of our questions about them pretty quickly."

"How so?" asked Twilight curiously. "It's not like she's been to their world or met them before." Fluttershy wasn't sure where Dash was going either considering how difficult it had been to get Liam to open up so far.

Dash shook her head with a sly grin. "Nope, but that doesn't matter. A little geode touch with Liam and she'd know everything about them right? Problem solved," she said with smooth finality, crossing her arms like she'd just won a match.

Twilight gaped at her wide eyed. "Rainbow Dash! That's a terrible idea! Reading his mind like that on purpose would be completely unethical! Not to mention it would likely anger Will and the Legionnaires along with Liam! That would risk Applejack and her family losing their aid on the farm! Not that I think they would be that vindictive, not from what we've seen, but still! And that's of course completely ignoring the issues about invading someone's personal space without cause or authority!"

Fluttershy nodded emphatically. "Just because they're very private doesn't give us the right to pry into their lives. They've been nothing but accommodating and helpful since they arrived. Being shy isn't a crime, especially when they're lost and alone," she chastised Dash.

Dash sprang upright, all smugness gone from her expression. "Whoa whoa! I wasn't saying just go up and grab Liam and drain his brain or anything! I meant ask them to see the answers to our questions since they always suck at explaining things! Geez, what do you think I am, some kind of voyeur wanting to sneak peaks?" she deadpanned. A faint but deliberate cough from Rarity earned her a dour look from Dash.

"I'm joking, but you must admit you worded that poorly," Rarity responded slyly. Dash frowned at her for a moment more then sighed.

"Okay, yeah, fine. But still, you know what I mean. She could ask Liam if it was all right next time and it would solve all the issues. We'd know for sure they weren't a bunch of evil space monsters and Applejack could stop thinking they were out to destroy her family in particular. No harm, no foul," Dash opined, looking around for confirmation.

"Hmmmmmmm... I suppose that would be fine. As long as we ask and they consent then I don't see a problem," Twilight said with a slow nod.

Fluttershy still wasn't entirely happy with the idea. Some people just liked their privacy and as much as she loved Sunset as a friend she worried about her powers in particular sometimes. Like what would happen if her magic kept getting stronger until she couldn't stop herself seeing someone's memories if she touched them? Or what if she started seeing them so strongly she started having trouble knowing which were hers and which were someone else's? Or what if she went into Pinkie's too often and- some things were better off not being contemplated. Especially given what they'd heard.

"As long as we ask I'm sure they'd be fine with it. Remember what Liam said? They'd answer any questions we had," Pinkie said happily, pulling out another apology cookie from her hair and taking a bite out of it. "Hmmmm... needs icing. And sprinkles. And maaaaaybe some powdered sugar," she said before popping the rest in her mouth.

"I guess that's our plan then? Keep helping them like we have been and try to find ways to make sure they're who they say they are?" Twilight asked the group.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan to me," Dash replied. "You and Sunset can make sure their nerd talk checks out while they're looking at the portal and let us know if anything seems fishy. Shouldn't be too hard to notice them going all evil on us if that's what they really are. We know we can beat them after that whole fight at the ship so no big worry there. Pinkie could probably do it on her own." Pinkie looked down at the sprinkle shaker she'd pulled out along with her emergency icing can for the last cookie and slowly put them both away again. "Though... I do kinda feel bad for how roughed up they keep getting since they crashed," Rainbow Dash added with a wince.

"Speaking of which, maybe one of us should go check on how Liam's doing? It has been awhile and AJ hit him pretty hard," Fluttershy asked with an undertone of sadness. The day had been going so well until the accident with their thruster-thing and now the gulf between AJ and Liam's group had only grown larger.

"Oooh! I will!" Pinkie said with her hand raised in the air. "Right after I bake Liam a 'Sorry we knocked you out cold in the middle of town in front of everybody' cake."

Keeper Watch stared down at the picture of a hill and the line of blazing white soaring straight up from behind it, wishing her teams could have gotten shots of whatever caused it. Her focus was mostly in trying to understand its purpose, its method, its threat. But also in the vain hope it would block out the ongoing white noise threatening to give her a migraine.

"Watch, I think it's time we moved up from standing around doing nothing to actually doing something! If any of the Paragons had been at the farm then they'd most likely be-"

"But they weren't, were they General?" Watch asked with disinterest. She was far more focused on the infuriatingly small amount of data in the reports in front of her. One of the downsides of the low-key observation they'd been keeping over the farmstead since the start of the latest incident. What she wouldn't give for complete video surveillance or magic detectors. But the the first she didn't dare risk with so many people nearby that might accidentally stumble on a recorder while the latter was easy to detect if you knew what to look for. So all she had was video feeds from hidden telescopic cameras and pictures taken by the few operatives she trusted to be near the site and not be found. Then there were the reports from the group she'd tasked with tailing the teens and the primary target during their recent trip, hopefully with news about their target's plans and motivations. She hadn't managed to get around to those because of the latest surprise development. A state of affairs that could be quickly rectified if her time weren't being wasted so thoroughly.

"Keeper, we can't just react to them, we have to be proactive! If that was some kind of signal then we could be dealing with a full blown invasion soon! "

Watch growled under her breath as the man standing before her dug deeper and deeper into his own preferred form of hysteria. She flicked her eyes up from the page she'd been skimming. He was an extremely direct and straitlaced man, always in his evergreen tinted dress uniform wherever he went, with maroon skin accentuated by his short cut white blonde hair. He was very formal, well composed, well spoken, and completely rigid and unimaginative.

"General Thistle, do you really intend for us to move our very limited set of local assets into play now? With no knowledge of their abilities and arms? Of their complete numbers instead of just what we've seen? Of whether they are capable of bringing more of their number through? Of what he is capable of like the others? And little plan besides 'charge!'?" she asked, holding her voice as neutral as she could despite the overwhelming desire to sneer at the blustering idiot.

"I intend to gather those forces that we can with discretion and easy excuses to augment our local units and then move them into play. We can have enough in the area tomorrow to block off every approach and subdue the targets. Our estimates, even with the abilities demonstrated by the robots, are that there can't be more than ten or twenty of them on board given the movements we've recorded and only one real target to focus on. We could take him with acceptable losses and a minimum of disruption to Honesty's home. No more so than what she has already experienced for sure. The last briefing indicated she might even thank us, if not outright aid us, in the endeavor."

Watch fought the impulse to roll her eyes. She'd been to the same briefing of course and had heard a lot more things like "we think" and "we surmise" being tossed about with regard to the numbers and abilities he mentioned. His mention of one of his personal heroines only made his bid all the more caustic to her. He was the general of the National Guard damn it. Act like it and not like a worried nanny.

"Acceptable losses for the single incident maybe. Unacceptable losses when the locals inevitably take notice of the action and we start to lose our element of secrecy and security. What do you intend to do about the giant airship stuck in the middle of the farm? Do you intend to apprehend that as well without anyone noticing?" She paused, eyeing him carefully. It was clear from his steady gaze that he had thought of all those points and decided they weren't important. She sighed at that major failing.

"You are failing to see the bigger picture Thistle. Yes, we can stop this one, we can bring in enough 'manpower' to overwhelm them, we can maybe even keep the Paragons away while we do so since they seem to have bought into whatever story they've been told." That garnered the first real reaction from the General so far. The mention of the "alliance" between the seven and the target had caused no small amount of hand wringing within the order. As if reading her thoughts, his hands clenched tight enough she could almost hear the skin being stretched.

"It must be part of the abilities it gifted him with, we've seen similar before. All the more reason to move now before he sways them further!" he said, slamming a palm across the end of her desk before resuming his stiff posture. She was reminded that he could also be dangerous in his own way. She clenched her jaw before she could show either that brief moment of unease or the disgust with herself that followed it.

Watch considered his point for a bit, mulling over the ends of action and inaction. "You're not wrong General and that complication aggravates me more than just about any other. But let me ask you this. Can you honestly tell me that such an operation wouldn't be the loudest, most visible event in our history when some part of it inevitably hits the fan? That was rhetorical," she snapped as General Thistle opened his mouth to give a counter. His mouth shut with a click while his gaze turned dark and sullen. "History has told us time and again never to expect things to go to plan when dealing with It's chosen tools," she continued, flicking her eyes briefly towards a nondescript corner of the room. Nothing there held any interest but she'd been the head of the facility for long enough to know its layout inch by inch. Her eyes traced a path straight to the deepest part of the complex and the one held there.

General Thistle's nostrils flared at the mention of their resident. "I still say cover it in munitions, light them, cap off whatever remains, and leave it till it finally succumbs to starvation," he said while grinding his teeth. Watch did roll her eyes this time, minutely enough that he failed to notice in the heat of his anger. He really could have been replaced with a windup toy and she wouldn't have noticed the difference.

"Then we should be glad you do not. Such methods have been tried before by those far more capable than us. They proved worthless and it was found again. That was nearly the end of everything. We know it's growing weaker as time goes by and its attempts to free itself only bring its end even faster. Stick to the Order's plan and work on maintaining containment, not a visible war. That's the absolute LAST thing we need," she said with a jab of a finger at the corner of the room.

"Really? Stick to the plan? It was bad enough when the last large group introduced firearms and now we're talking about superhuman machines? Think, Watch, why would it choose him and those things with him? We both know why, you recognized their combat training just as well as I did, but what I don't know or don't understand is why you continue to hesitate against a real and present threat. It's upping the stakes, it's gotten selective instead of yanking in everything it can. We don't know what this new one truly is or can do but I know an army when I see one."

Watch steepeled her fingers in front of her, gazing over the tips at the frustrated man. "Let me make this very, very clear to you. Plans are being drawn up from all sections to address that issue. There will be a review to select the best one and we will enact it immediately after. Your plans will be among them so rather than waste both our time here I would ask that you go and finalize yours for submission."

General Thistle narrowed his eyes at her then flicked his head down in the barest minimum of agreement. "Fine Watch, we stick by the Order's rules. But those same rules also grant me the power to make arrangements for expected action. I'll be moving more units in through the usual channels so no one takes notice, a gas leak near the farm or the like, since that seems to be more important to you than stopping the threat. Whatever happens, the Guard will be ready when they decide to make their move, whenever that may be." He spun around on a heel and almost marched out of her office, closing the door calmly as he did.

Warmongering and bloodthirsty, the lot of them, Watch thought with an annoyed click of her tongue. General Thistle was useful as a military leader but only just. The role had focused his natural biases and placed blinders on him that stopped him from seeing the most important goal of the Order: Never to use open force when alternatives could be used, no matter how much more costly or undesirable they might be. Open conflict risked far, far worse outcomes than any botched special operation. That driving principle had carried the Order through for centuries. Now though...

She slumped back in her chair as if a great weight pressed down on her. In the past it had been simple, identify any special targets as soon as possible after they arrived and discreetly remove them from the populace while waiting for another Adjustment. Though she'd never say it to his face, a small part of her feared Thistle might be right that they wouldn't be able to do that this time.

She sighed and shuffled through her stack of waiting papers, looking for anything that might solve all her problems when a seal she rarely saw caught her eye: a narrowed eye formed from the reflection off a tilted coin in red and gold ink. She frowned and pulled out the manila envelope it was stamped to. Inside was a single sheet of paper which she began to quickly scan through. After the first few lines she slowed down and began to read with greater attention. A slow smirk began to crawl across the corner of her mouth as she neared the end.

"Really Flint? A 'golden opportunity'? He got the drop on you and you're looking to get back in turn. No surprise, you've had to learn it. This one... he was born to it. It's what he is. Still... hmmm," she murmured to herself for a moment. Flint Skin was one of her least favorite operatives, a little too cocky with his skill set, a little too "familiar" with the locals. But he'd made contact with the prime target and hadn't been revealed. That was something she could make use of. A place to start laying out line for them to snap up before it tightened into a noose. Her smirk grew as she thought back to Thistle's insistence on force and her own momentary doubts. There was always a better way to deal with problems than conflict. She pressed an intercom button on her desk and a few seconds later the voice of her assistant filled the room.

"Yes Keeper, how can I be of assistance?"

"Nightingale, contact Agent Trapper and bring him back from Rowan Oak. I need his skills to move our plans along."

"... understood. I'll let you know when it's done."

Keeper Watch reclined back in her seat, hands clasped in her lap, and began laying out her plan to present to the council later in her mind. Along with the gentle prodding she'd need to do to make sure it was the one chosen.

Liam drifted lazily along the whirling eddies of his conscious thoughts, trying to link them together into a steady current. He groaned as a sharp pain did the job for him, concentrating all his attention on the side of his head. One of his eyes was the definition of agony so he opened the other then regretted that as well when the wrath of a hundred suns seared it.

"Looks like sleeping beauty's up. How're you feeling? Give it a crap to kill-me-now scale."

"Kill me a little," he replied with a long groan. "Just enough to stop the pain."

"Not sure that's how it works but we can try. You'll be happy to know that slightly above average healing of yours has already started reducing the bruising. You'll be disappointed to know most of the left side of your face was a bruise so it isn't that noticeable a reduction yet. Come on, time to get up. Let's get you checked out."

Liam groaned gruffly again as a gentle but firm hand picked him up under the shoulder and lifted him to a reclined position. He opened his good eye again and looked around. He paused and tilted his head to the side at the vision that greeted him.

"Sorry we knocked you out cold-"

"Pinkie brought it by a couple hours back. Said they were all sorry for what happened in town and left again to help with the repairs. I think. Never can tell with her."

"A cake? I mean, it's Pinkie so I'm not that surprised but still, a cake? After everything today?" A sudden thought stole over him. "How long was I out?" he asked nervously, looking to the agent of his care.

Albrecht stood by his bedside, prepping a suite of equipment. He glanced to the a digital clock on the far bulkhead. "Hmmmm... about four hours now? Honestly it wasn't that bad a punch, but you were running on fumes and it gave you an excuse to shut down for a bit. We thought that was for the best. As for the cake, it's Pinkie, and I believe they thought it was the right response since we gave them a selection of cookies with the extra gold to cover the new damage."

Liam blinked a couple times. "Cookies."

Albrecht threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, not the best thought out response but we were in damage control panic mode! If this were home we'd have directed them to an embassy or an agent to work out reparations but here we are the embassy and agents and the entire nation and none of us did a shift in the diplomatic corps! We'd have thrown the kitchen sink in as well if we'd have thought it would help!"

"Okay, I get it...but cookies? Really? Cookies?"

"Pinkie liked them," Albrecht muttered. That excused nothing in Liam's mind.

"Okay, so we gave them more gold... and cookies. Fine. Done. What else?" he asked tersely. His eye hurt, his head hurt more, and the rest of himself had just made all of them look like apologetic children on top of another major disaster. To put it simply, he was not in a good mood.

Albrecht looked at him for a moment before returning to his work. "We scoured the farm while you were out both physically and mentally. No more munitions, no more surprises. Just scrap now."

"Thanks for clarifying my state during all this, I wasn't completely certain," he huffed sarcastically. "And the farm? How bad?"

"Missiles were Mark Fourteen interceptors, extremely low weight, high acceleration. Drive field is intense and intensely localized to prevent burn out, extended out only a couple meters and then trailed off. Warhead never went off as well. The boom and immediate debris was the worst of it. The orchard barely even felt it honestly, a few of the nearest trees only. The house and barn got the worst of the shock wave. Extra gold will cover it and more once we can sell it," he said in a clipped fashion. Liam didn't mind. It's what he'd wanted and Albrecht had known it without having to be told.

Another benefit of a gestalt consciousness, he thought tiredly as he lay back into the bed. If only it came with precognition as well.

Collapsing walls, scrolling headlines, angry faces, rabid shouts, a face exploding in a shower of sparks while blue eyes went dim, a black monster against a backdrop of mist and haze sending screaming daggers towards them, his mind played them again and again till he they blurred.

Could have stopped it before it ever started. Put an end to the problems. Instead we got rid of one and made the rest legion.

He felt his lip begin to curl in a silent snarl but didn't have time to brood as Albrecht fastened a pressure sleeve over his arm. As it began filling his double flashed a pen light across his good eye a couple times then nodded in satisfaction at what he saw.

"There's a bit of good news though. We finished collecting the scrap with the girls' help and got back to the repairs. We're confident she'll make it back up intact. Not so confident she'll hold atmosphere so you'll have to stay but that was the plan anyway. We're thinking late tonight so we can slip away in the dark then head up when we're away from any big population area. Need to ask the girls for a map, help us find those. Following?"

He forced the emotions back down, deep deep into the pits of his desires and thoughts, and conjured up what humor he could. Fake it till it becomes true.

"Yeah, and I'm keeping Will with me. I think I'll need a synthetic-meat shield while I'm here given our two day track record."

Albrecht rolled his eyes but smirked all the same. "Glad you said that because we all agreed on the same as well."

"You're glad? I'm glad I didn't have have to argue that! Glad my mind hasn't broken from the insanity of it all! And glad the damage isn't too bad either all things considered. If that had been a torpedo the field would have covered a lot more. The interceptors alone were visible from town, I'd hate to think- damn it, how many have you had to stop from investigating?" he asked in renewed concern, sitting up to try and get a glimpse out of the nearest section of pressure window. Albrecht pushed him back down to the bed, shaking his head the whole time.

"Not a peep. We put a drone up over the hill to watch the road but there's been nothing by at all. We're lucky the farm is so isolated."

Liam stared at him long enough for Albrecht to wave a hand in front of his face. He looked away, trying to get his mind back on the path it had been following. Eventually, he faced Albrecht again with a stony look.

"I'm keeping more than Will here."

Albrecht did a double take as he logged his health into the station. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Because nothing makes sense. We've been here too long, caused too much disruption, and been too visible above all else for no one to have taken notice. You should have seen the trail of plasma the launch left in the air. I wouldn't be surprised if people within a mile got sunburns from just the UV output alone, let alone the visible or the sound. No, something's not right."

Albrecht began wheeling the station back to it's locker, calling out over his shoulder, "Honestly? I'd say we managed to get a good location-"

"Oh yeah, great location. In the middle of Sweet Apple Acres and the Girls" Liam interjected. Albrecht froze, facing away from him. Slowly, almost glacially, his head drooped to the side.

"Well when you put it like that..." he replied, looking over his shoulder before pushing the station into it's locker and securing it.

"Yeah. I don't like it. Too many coincidences and things that don't sit right," Liam began counting off on his fingers for emphasis. "Not a peep, not a house call by a cop, not a seismologist checking out a tremor, not even a nosy kid, not a thing at all. I don't buy that. I don't buy for a second that no one would be suspicious, that no one would be the least bit curious, that no one would care about the sonic boom generating trail in the sky. That's not how people act." He shook his head with a sigh. "Let me put it this way. I knew we were going to be discovered the moment I saw those trails from the city. I knew we were going to have to do the whole song and dance of 'we come in peace, please help us get home, no you can't have our technology in return, because it's too great a risk, because it caused World War III, why yes our world is shit, yes that's the one we want to go back to, no we can't tell you why'. I know all that should be happening right now and it's not. Why?"

"You mean that song and dance we're avoiding with the girls?" Albrecht asked as he reached the bed again and leaned back against the corner.

"Yeah, that one," he said, staring at his caretaker pointedly with his good eye.

"Liam, putting the other question aside for now I think we might be hurting ourselves. We need their help. Plus we know what they're like, they're not going to-" he paused and leaned back as Liam leaned in towards him.

"We know what seven cartoon characters in a kids show are like. We don't know what the seven humans out there are like other than so far they seem like close matches to the fiction. Well, except one of them is so enraged at us I think she might actually try to kill me if I so much as set foot off the ship. Honestly, that's maybe the most comforting thing right now. It's something familiar in all this madness. The rest, the indifference? Hell no."

Albrecht was quite for a long time. Every now and then he'd look around, following a thought somewhere. After a while he got up and moved to one of the pressure windows set into the bulkhead behind his bed and stared out of it, hands clasped behind his back.

"All right, I tried playing Devil's Advocate against that in my head and... I'm hesitantly on board. You're the one with the gut instincts, we're the ones with the memories of them. If something's not sitting right with you... we don't have a choice but to be on guard. Not anymore anyway." Albrecht turned to look at him out of the corner of his eye. "So, you want more of us to stay. Who're your picks?"

"I just want two more, enough to run shifts on surveillance and one to do fieldwork if necessary. That'll also keep the Apples happy since we'll finish the repairs quicker. That leaves us with four to take Celestia up and get our industrial base running. Who's had the most time on our design and production programs?"

"Well, Mercer obviously. He just about ran the programs for the Mako and MER series development. Jamison's done a lot of work in admin so he'd be good. Alphonse has done a couple tours on the rocks, he's a must. That leaves Alphonse and Jax."

Liam nodded. "Hmmmm... Alphonse did a tour in Korea right?"

Albrecht nodded. "Yeah, he was there with Mercer. Security missions, scouting, et cetera. He's more of a ground-pounder than most of us."

"It'll have to be him for the third staying here then. Jax's outlier condition will make him a better option for hardware validation anyway and can't do better than him for a pilot."

Albrecht nodded in agreement but rubbed the back of his head all the same. "Yeah, but that means we're going to be copying three of us instead of four. Really limits the available skill sets."

"Then we'll do a rotation so you and Alphonse can get added as well. Actually, scratch that, we'll bring a tank here to do the work then take it back up so neither of you has to leave planetside."

"Yeah, that will work as well. So, I know that Will will be watching you like a hawk for now but what are the two of us going to be doing? I assume checking out your hunch that something's up?"

"Yeah, we'll keep the drones and you two can scout with them. One to keep an eye on us in general and one to look around. I don't want anything to catch us off guard." Again...

"You really think we're going to find something?"

Liam looked out the window, opening his other eye with a wince to see as clearly as possible. He could see the glow of Canterlot shimmering faintly over the tops of the hills.

"I don't know Al. I don't know. I just have a bad feeling, like there's a charge to the air that's making my hair stand on end, like something's just barely touching the back of my neck." He narrowed his eyes." No, that's not right. It's that feeling of unease you get in a crowded room only to spot the person staring intently at you from behind your back. It's like I'm being watched. I want to be able to watch back."

"...I'm pretty sure I'd be feeling a chill up my spine right now if that was possible. Thanks, I was almost starting to feel at ease before this talk."

Liam shot a half-smirk towards the dramatically shivering Legionnaire. "Good. That's what I want," he said, his expression turning stern again. "We all have to be on guard until we have the means to get home. The only ones we can trust anymore are ourselves."

"What about the girls and the Apples?" Albrecht asked softly.

Liam looked at the cake by his bed, reading the words over and over. He reached out a finger and delicately swiped a bit of frosting from it. He popped it into his mouth and sighed at how good it was. The tension began to leave his body but his eyes remained cold.

"I want to trust them Al. I want to believe that we know who they are. But we don't, not really. Too much risk. That's what it comes down to. Too much risk and too many unknowns."

"Then how about we try to make them knowns? We've been dodging their questions for days. Why not start small and work your way up? See who they really are by how they respond? We could really use allies right now. Or better yet? Friends."

Liam turned to him with a deadpan glare.

"You planned your entire argument just to be able to say that, didn't you?"

Albrecht twitched and shook from containing his laughter. "No, that would be childish. I simply went the slightly less childish route of taking an opportunity when I saw it."

"That line may be so fine as to not exist," Liam replied before falling back against the bed. He looked at the cake again and sighed. "You're right though. We'll just have to hope they are who we think they are."

Applejack stood with her friends and family next to the now welded shut loading ramp of the ship while the asshole and his seven artificial doubles talked between themselves, occasionally taking notes on handheld tablets, the light from them casting long shadows in the dark of the night. They all chuckled at some joke one of them had made and she had to look anywhere else before she told them to shut it. They had no right to be cheerful, not after what they'd done again and again.

She'd have told them as much if it weren't for the others around her who'd been convinced of their innocence against all evidence and reason. She grasped her shirt and the pendant hidden under it tightly. She'd decided she needed to constantly wear it now, if for no other reason than to give Liam something to be wary of, a reminder that she'd had it up to here with them and a single additional scratch to her home was going to have very painful consequences. A glance back at the now quiet group brought a small amount of satisfaction at the black and blue circle on Liam's left cheek.

Serves him right.

"Okay, I think that covers it. We've got the frequency and encryption rotations in case we need something from you or vice versa. We'll catch you later and good luck," Liam said loud enough for all of them to hear this time before turning and walking over with three of the Legionnaires while the remaining four headed for a small roll out ladder coming from a door on the side of the ship. She had not been happy when told that those three would be staying here instead of leaving with the rest of of them. She pointedly ignored the part of her glad they'd be around to help with the damages. There wouldn't have been any damages if they'd never shown up. But then it only made sense that they wrecked and destroyed everything given where she was certain they were from. She said a small prayer in her mind that they'd go back to that hellish place soon.

"So, we're kicking this thing off finally?" Rainbow Dash asked as the four staying approached them.

"Yeah, it's time," Liam replied with a slight smirk. "Granny, I'm sorry more couldn't stay but we ran the numbers on what we owe you now and we'll be done faster if we get our manufacturing base up first. Then we can bankroll everything without you all having to take out a loan or something."

"Ah appreciate that Liam. As much as Ah may not like the state o' things it's better than going to those money grubbers," Granny said with a small snort. She looked at the ship embedded in her property and shot him a glance. "This thing's not gonna fall apart is it? Not to put it ta too fine a point but Ah've seen cleaner repairs on things made outta nothin' but rust."

Liam nodded. "Yeah, the old girl's in rough shape but she'll make it in one piece at least. We're going to want to get back to the house though, the lifting field is going to be large."

"It's not gonna cause more damage is it?" Applebloom asked from besides her. Applejack stiffened and clutched her geode harder. Liam glanced her way briefly then continued to each of her family members in turn.

"No, we're making sure it won't. They're just going to use a single gee field, cancel out local gravity on the ship, then use expansion thrusters for the rest. Not how we'd normally do it but it's safer for the area and the trees won't even notice it."

Both Applebloom and Granny sighed in relief though the latter tried not to let it show. Applejack had been around her long enough to see the strain. Granny tried to always be in control or at least know what was going on and dealing with this was testing those habits. Big Mac didn't react, just stoically watched the four Legionnaires climb up into their ship and reel in the ladder.

"Well that's good ta hear at least," said Granny as she looked around the crash site with her hands on her hips. "We can actually start puttin' the place back together now. You four better get yerselves ready fer some hard work, I intend to make good on that promise o' yours to make this as good as new. All of it," she added with a slight incline of her head, noting that the number of things to be fixed had since grown. Granny at least seemed to be less blindly trusting of them now.

"We haven't forgotten," Liam replied. He nodded to his doubles who picked up a number of cases and crates they'd kept with them and began loading most of them into the trunk of Big Mac's truck atop one another. It's bed was smaller than the family truck but that one looked like it had gone through a tornado and the windshield needed to be replaced after the "thruster malfunction". The last few that didn't fit they carried themselves instead.

"What's with all the stuff?" Rainbow asked with mild interest, hands clasped behind her head while she waited for something interesting to happen.

"Clothes, gear, and basic equipment to start looking at the portal," Will answered. "Sunset, Twilight, we'll show you how they work another time."

"Sure, we'll make some time to go over it with you," Sunset confirmed while Twilight looked at the cases they carried with hunger.

Girl's like a dog with a bone when it comes to this stuff, Applejack huffed mentally.

She regretted the way she'd snapped at her friend earlier even if she couldn't bring herself to say as much just yet. But Twilight needed to understand that she was playing with fire, giving them a free pass in exchange for a look at some fancy tech. She had greater faith in Sunset to keep an eye on them, she was sharp and Applejack trusted she'd recognize any funny business out of them.

Granny and Big Mac took the truck back while the rest of them walked mostly in silence apart from a few questions directed at the quartet of unwanted visitors from her friends. Applejack stayed out of the conversation on the way back to the house, too focused on keeping her eyes to the ground and her footing and away from them and the destruction they'd caused. It wasn't too long before they were climbing up the last of the hill the house sat on and met up again with Granny and Big Mac. Will and the other two put down the cases they'd been carrying while Liam pulled out his phone and looked back at the ship.

"Jax, we're clear. Take it slow and steady."

For a few moments nothing happened. Then, slowly, a soft low hum began to build, similar to the one she heard around the power station on the way to school. The blue lighting on the ship's sides from before was missing but a number of small points of glowing lavender red dotting the base of the craft outlined the shape in the dark. Slowly, the immense hulk began to back out of the trench it had dug, spilling rock, dirt, and wood around the gash in the earth. When it was clear it began to rise, slowly turning to face away from them as it did.

"Oh...my...gosh," Twilight said almost too faint to be heard over the hum.

Liam called out something over the phone that Applejack missed and the craft began to ascend faster. Before it crested the top of the hills around it a large, pale glow of that red tinted light rose up from the ground beneath it along with a small cloud of debris and dust that flowed up and away from it. It cast an almost ethereal pall over the ship that nagged at the back of Applejack's mind, like she'd seen it before but couldn't remember where. She didn't have long to contemplate it though. The ship finished cresting the rise and turned towards the empty plains to the South of the city where they'd decided to head to before going to space.

"Yeah, you're clear. Nothing falling off or failing we can see," Liam said loud enough to be heard over the ambient noise of the ship.

Four more fields grew from points into a single large volume behind the ship, one from the center and one from three of the four pylons, the damaged one not adding its own. It began moving away quickly, winds sweeping at not inconsiderable speed past them and away from it as it left, whipping up the leaves of the apple trees. It hugged the hill tops and soon it was lost beyond them, the glow of its drives quickly lost in the dark and eerily silent beyond the hum in its passing. They waited a minute more in silence as Liam watched, straining his eyes in the dark while holding the phone close. A short, sharp burst of noise from it made him pump his fist in the air before putting it away.

"They're clear, made it over the hills and back roads without seeing anyone. Jax says they're out of the atmosphere with nothing more than a few groans from the hull." The three Legionnaires bumped fists and patted each other on the back.

"That was so cool! I mean, they were going pretty slow but dang did it look awesome doing it!" Rainbow Dash called out to them.

"I'm just glad they didn't have any problems," Liam said before exhaling and slumping a little. Applejack hadn't noticed the nervous way he'd been holding himself until then and took a small amount of satisfaction in that as well.

Good, ya can feel some of what I'm feelin' all the time now, see how you like it, she thought to herself. Still, all things said the lack of their eyesore of a ship in the orchard gave her perhaps the first warm feeling she'd had since they crashed there.

"So, what now?" asked Pinkie.

"The others and I are gonna move the stuff into the barn for now. After that I guess just settling in and figuring out a plan for the portal."

Applejack did a double take. "Yer doin' what now?" she asked incredulously. A confused look from Granny and Applebloom gave her a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Were ya not listenin' earlier Applejack? Liam's takin' the guest room till they find somewhere in town close to yer school to stay. The others are takin' the barn 'cause apparently they don't need sleep or beds or comfort," Granny said. She gave an apologetic look to the three Legionnaires and added, "I feel real bad 'bout puttin' ya up in there. Shames me ta say we don't have the room fer all three a ya elsewheres."

"Not a problem, won't be for long and we can't even feel the difference between comfortable and not. Not with these bodies," one of the ones that wasn't Will replied, tapping a finger against his chest with a sharp clink.

"Still don't sit right. But if yer fine with it... make yerselves at home, dinner's gonna be leftovers Ah'm afraid with all the madness today."

"Thanks Granny, I appreci-" Liam began before Applebloom sprang up and pulled his bag off him in one quick motion.

"Here, let me help ya git yer stuff!" Applebloom replied as she dashed for the house. He stretched out a hand to stop her but was a few seconds too late.

"Wait, there's delicate tools in- oh shoot, Applebloom! Wait a second!" he yelled, picking up his other bag and hurrying in after her sister.

"Oh you have got ta be kidding- YERAGHHHHHHHHHH!" she growled through gritted teeth as that happy, warm feeling of normalcy vanished without a trace.

Ch 10: The First Morning

Applejack awoke to the buzz of her alarm shaking her night stand. She cracked open an eye and hissed at the beam of sunlight piercing straight into it. A groggy, flailing hand reached out from under her sheet and slapped the top of the racket maker. Her assailant silenced, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. Outside she could hear the tractor moving; Big Mac hauling the heavy trailer around for the mountain of work awaiting them. Her nose picked up the scent of coffee and fried apples and her stomach urged her the last few feet out of bed. She yawned hugely and stumbled towards the door, pajamas hanging loosely on her. She'd never been the best morning person, a fact Granny loved to tease her over, and with her brother outside she couldn't find much will to care about appearances. Another huge yawn escaped her as muscle memory guiding her through her door and-

"Oh, there you are. Morning Appleja- erk!"

Applejack's eyes shot open at the familiar and despised voice. Standing in the hallway with a cup of coffee in one hand and a copy of the paper in the other was Liam. His eyes were wide and staring for a moment before he swiftly turned away.

"Ah crap, sorry. I'm, uh- I'm meeting with Granny and my guys in a few minutes to get started on the field work. She wanted me to tell you your breakfast is on the table," he said in a very neutral tone without looking at her.

She was about to tell him off, loudly, for not having the decency to face her when she felt a faint sliding sensation on her arm. Sudden horror gripped her. She looked down, hissing in a quick breath at what she found. Her pajama top had become mostly unbuttoned during her restless tossing and turning the previous night and was now hanging loosely down one side. So far down in fact that it only had about another inch or so before far more was revealed. A jolt through mind reminded her she'd never changed into her usual sports bra last night because of how frustrated she'd been after he waltzed in to stay. In ever growing horror she noticed that wasn't the end of it. Beside her top the waistband of her pajama bottoms had slipped down her thigh, revealing the top of her underwear beneath it.

He... he saw-

Her eyes shot back up just in time to catch the top of Liam's head disappear down the stairwell at the end of the hall.

"We're meeting at the barn!" she heard him call out. More faintly she heard him mutter, "Come on Murphy, give me a break for crying out loud..."

She stood there, frozen on the spot, for another minute or so. Her fists slowly clenched and unclenched, again and again. It was because of him she'd hadn't changed like she normally would have, because of him she hadn't slept well, and because of him she was too groggy in the morning to remember her brother wasn't the only guy around now. It all came back to him. She repeated it over and over till a sudden burst from the AC hit her like a splash of ice water and forced her back into her room. As she stood there fuming an itching feeling at the back of her mind alerted her that something was out of place. Her anger tried to swat it away but it persistently forced her gaze around. Then she realized what was missing: the silver glare of the ship coming in through her window.

It was gone... and he was still here.

She stared out her the window at the now pristine skyline for a solid minute then slumped low with a sigh and turned her eyes upward in contemplation. After a while she got dressed, making sure to grab her geode today, then headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sure enough, the table was set with a plate of still steaming fried apples and a bowl of granola along with a glass of cider like he'd said. She darted her eyes about, searching for any sign of him, but couldn't find hide or hair. Then her ears perked at the familiar shouting of her sister and three or four answering ones, all identical. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and focusing on the other sound around her as she began to softly mutter.

"Lord, grant me thine strength and clarity in mah time of need..."

Her voice trailed off into nothing more than whispers, her lips twitching with the prayer running through her mind. Slowly she began to relax until finally she was no longer vibrating in anxious and righteous fury. She exhaled deeply and opened her eyes again, sat down calmly and quickly worked through her breakfast then cleaned her dishes and put them away to dry. She went out to the hall closet and got her hat off its hangar along with a set of work gloves then headed out the door. A short walk brought her to the barn where the Granny and Applebloom were going over a map of the area hanging on the wall with Liam and the three metal and plastic fakes.

"Applejack, it's about time ya got here. The rest of us were up more'an an hour ago!" Granny said with a wicked grin. Applejack knew that grin, having seen it many times before when she hadn't promptly done something that Granny asked. It promised back breaking work and other forms of penance in her immediate future. Not even her geode would save her. Granny had started finding tasks that were exhausting and completely pointless to use her super strength to finish ever since she'd come back from camp. She repeated the mantra of her calming prayer again and again under her as she finished the trek to them.

"Sorry, ah didn't sleep well," she said in reply, not looking at any of their "guests". Granny narrowed her eyes a bit then shrugged.

"Well, hope ya got enough ta stay awake the rest o' the day. These boys may have done a lot already with clearin' out their junk but there's still plenty left. Come 'ere, let me show ya what I need ya ta do."

Applejack listened intently as Granny talked about setting trees upright, moving equipment, and a whole list of other things. At the same time she kept an ear out for anything coming from the quartet looking at the topographic map of the valley the farm rested in. One was taking notes on one of their fancy flat computers while the others pointed to various places and features.

"-get all that?"

Applejack nodded in reflex, realizing she hadn't memorized the end of the list and knowing she'd have to be reminded of it again later. It wasn't a pleasant thought but she couldn't worry about it right now though. She had something she needed to do before she got to work. Granny didn't seem completely convinced with her answer but before she could inquire again Big Mac came up the drive with the tractor. Applebloom skipped past them both with a load of empty baskets and called back for Granny Smith. She paused for a moment then patted Applejack on the shoulder and joined her other two grandchildren. Applejack set about putting together the tools she'd need for the tasks she'd heard, all the while waiting. As she put in the last of her trowels one of them spoke up more loudly.

"Okay, think that's got the full of it. We'll get to clearing then let Granny know when we're done, see if any of the trees can be replanted." The three Legionnaires walked off down the hill, leaving her and Liam alone in the barn while they both gathered up their tools. They both looked at one another impassively for a moment before he turned back to his own tool bag.

"Listen Applejack, I-" he paused, taking in a deep breath, "...I said we'd fix things and... we made it worse. It was an accident but that doesn't excuse that it happened. I know we haven't given you a lot of reason to have faith in us but- unnn!" Liam hissed as she clamped a hand onto his shoulder near his neck and squeezed. Even without the use of her geode she'd built up plenty of strength over the years, more than enough to make him grit his teeth in pain.

"Yer right, ah don't. Now listen, and listen good. Ya've been here three days now and done more damage to mah home in that time than anything else ever has. Tornados have passed through, rains have almost flooded us, and we made it just fine. Then you showed up."

Liam's brow pinched together and he averted he eyes for a moment before looking at her again.

"Ah don't trust ya, and Ah don't trust that yer here by accident. Ah'm betting you could go back to yer own damned world right now using that ship of yours and don't want ta admit it. Ah don't know what ya want here or with the portal, but if I see you pull a single false or dishonest move I will return the damage ya've done ten fold."

Liam frowned at her through the pain. "Applejack, for the love of everything we're not here to do anything! We just need to get back! But we can't do that, don't have a single damn clue how it happened, and the portal's our best chance of figuring out how to return! Our ship was wrecked when we crashed! You think we'd do that intentionally to our only ride out? I've already explained that over and over!" he managed to get out through grunts. "What more do you want?"

Applejack narrowed her eyes then released him. She picked up the tools he dropped at his feet and held them out for him. He took them cautiously while she bent down to pickup her own then headed for the door, pausing just before leaving to look back at him. She looked him up and down, the sweat on his brow, his heavy breathing, his worried and confused expression. She inspected it all for any hint of forgery. Nothing, just genuine alarm and urgency. She frowned and looked back out at the large hole of upturned earth in the middle of the Fall orchard.

"If that's true, then ya got nothin' to worry about from me. Ya help out, ya make things right, and ya don't bring a single bit more trouble here and then maybe, just before you go back, Ah'll apologize for doubtin' ya. Not a moment before then and not for everythin' else, not when I can't trust yer word. Ya wanted a new start?" she asked, throwing her arms wide.

He nodded cautiously, standing a little straighter than before. She brought her arms back in and crossed them over her chest.

"Well here it is. You'll work yourself to the bone till ya've fixed what ya wrecked, no complaints, and Ah won't stop ya messing around with the portal or talkin' to mah friends. Don't think Ah could convince 'em anyway," she muttered mostly to herself. "But we'll both know Ah'm keeping watch and that'll be enough. Now, Ah've got yer tail for the whole weekend 'fore school starts Monday and Ah'm gonna make sure you spend every last minute working."

She let out the remainder of her breath as she finished saying what she needed to say. Liam's brow pinched together as he looked at her with sadness she couldn't bring herself to trust, a sadness a lifetime of upbringing and tradition told her she didn't dare trust. But she was woman enough to admit she might be wrong, that he just might have the worst luck on God's green Earth. She also thought it about as likely as Pinkie Pie giving up sugar or Rarity wearing jeans.

"Well, I said I could work with that, so I'll leave it there. If you need me I'll be working on the power and cable lines," he said with a sigh as he hefted his bag higher onto his shoulder.

She didn't say anything in reply, only gestured for him to keep going. Just before he passed by though she leaned in and calmly, softly, said the other set of words she needed to. Ones which hadn't come from any prayer but from the deepest pit of embarrassment. "Oh, and if ya tell anyone about this morning then all bets are off. Mah friends included. It'll be the last thing ya say.''

Liam kept walking for a few feet then stopped. He glanced back over his shoulder with that same sad, disappointed look. Only now it was marred by a faint smirk on his lips.

"No worries then, I wasn't planning on it. Not sure your friends would believe me even if I did. Their mental image of you might not be able to cope with looking that cute," he said before immediately turning around and hightailing it away at a brisk pace, waving his hand once in a cocky goodbye.

Applejack stood there in shock for a solid minute, her jaw almost hanging open as she replayed his shamelessly brazen words through his head. She closed her eyes and turned her face up to the heavens to say one more prayer.

"Lord, give me the strength not to TAN ON HIS HIDE. No matter how much he deserves it!"

The grounds of Canterlot High teemed with students as they walked from their cars and buses to the school. They moved in ones and twos, merging and splitting again as they saw acquaintances and friends they hadn't seen all summer.

Sunset hiked her backpack up to sit more comfortably on her shoulder where it wouldn't drag her bra strap down and took stock of their guest and how he was doing after a weekend with the Apples. The obvious answer was pained. Whatever Applejack had him do had left him with a noticeable tendency to wince when he twisted too far around and a slightly leaden gait. She had hoped them working together on the farm over the last two days would have improved their relationship with one another. Instead, it seemed to have just solidified the wide divide into an agreement of cooperation and nothing more. Sadly, that was a noticeable improvement.

"Hoo boy... this is not going to be easy," Liam said with a whistle. "Especially since I've got heavy equipment. I don't think I could carry a thing right now," he muttered loudly while rolling his shoulder.

"Ya brought it on yerself so quit yer bellyachin'," Applejack chastised him. Liam gave her a put-upon look.

"Maybe to you but I don't have the advantage of magical super strength from physics breaking crystals. I used too many fields over the weekend- gah!" he groaned as he rolled his shoulder once more. His neck popped loudly, earning a loud squeak from Fluttershy, followed by a relieved sigh. "Ohohohhhhhhh, much better," he said with deep contentment and relief. "At least I don't have to try to figure this out with that cramp anymore."

"Come on Liam, it's not going to be that bad. You'll like it here, this place is pretty chill," Rainbow Dash said as she moved up beside him. "Everyone's great- well, not counting Trixie... or Zephyr Breeze... or that perv Dunk Shot... or Blitz sometimes... or Snips and Snails - but yeah, apart from that they're all cool."

Liam rolled his eyes. "Not really what I was referring to. I'm just trying to think of a way to actually get our research done without being noticed with this many people around." He glanced at Dash out of the corner of his eye with a smirk. "Still, good to know I wasn't completely off about people and teens in particular being the same no matter what universe you're in." There was something hard in his eyes as he said that which didn't match the smirk though.

We really need to ask him about his high school again and get him to clear that up. Something bad happened, that's obvious. But what could leave someone that bitter? Sunset thought while Rainbow Dash huffed in response to him.

"Dude, lighten up. Just put up your stuff and place a sign on it saying 'don't touch, will end world'. Everyone's used to that now."

Liam slowed in his walk while cocking his head to the side. "There's so many things wrong with that statement."

"Eh, you get used to it," Dash said without a trace of irony while Pinkie backed her up with a thumbs up.

Liam raised an eyebrow and looked around again at the flow of students. "Not sure you should be..." he muttered faintly. "So, anything I need to do other than get my schedule? Opening assembly, class crawl, that sort of thing?" he asked as Applejack pushed open the side door near the gym to let them all in. Liam was in the middle of the group and Sunset could see she had a brief moment before he passed where she let the door close a bit before catching herself.

Rarity shook her head. "No, that's it. We got ours at the end of last year so you'll have to tell us what you have as soon as you can. With any luck we'll all have a few classes with you so we can help you catch up."

And so we can keep an eye on you, Sunset thought before scrunching up her eyes in annoyance. Applejack's starting to rub off on me. We should give them the benefit of the doubt. It's what I needed last year to figure things out.

"Appreciate the offer, but I'm honestly not worried about it. I'm not here to get good grades, I couldn't care less about that. I'm here because it's good cover for that," he said with a toss of a thumb over his shoulder.

"I don't think failing classes is the best way to not attract attention," Twilight said, almost scolding really.

"I don't plan to fail, but it is not my top priority. It's not even in my top ten right now."

"Still..." Twilight muttered sulkily. She tended to take her friends academic progress personally.

She almost never warms up to others that quickly. So what does that say about him? Sunset pondered to herself.

"Anyway, it's time I got that schedule and a feel for the place. Same office as last time right?" he asked.

Sunset nodded, turning back onto present avenue from memory lane. "Yeah, you need one of us to show you the way?"

"Nah, I remember. Down the hall and to the left. Don't wait around for me, I need to talk with Celestia about setting up our equipment." With that he turned around and headed off into the crowds, carefully flowing between the groups of students clustered around lockers and backpacks. He turned briefly to avoid a couple of guys who walked past him on their way to class. As he did Sunset caught his expression: guarded, with narrowed eyes and his mouth drawn into a thin line. She tried to stand on her toes to get a better look but he vanished into the crowds.

"...well, I guess that's out of the way for now then," Sunset said, turning back to her friends with a lopsided grin. She'd have time to help him fit in later hopefully. "What classes do you all have again?"

"Oooh! I hope I have Home Econ with someone! Baking's always more fun with a baking buddy!" Pinkie added excitedly.

They spent a minute or two comparing schedules, every now and then two or more of them cheering when they discovered they had classes together. They were particularly excited to learn they all had Pre-Calc together at the end of the day.

"Wait a minute. Twilight, how did you end up in there as well? Didn't you already take it at Crystal Prep?" Rarity inquired.

Twilight grinned sheepishly. "I'm, uh, actually taking Calc 2 in a distance learning course from Canterlot University. But because of the district laws I have to complete the core classes at whatever school I go to and there wasn't a matching equivalent at CP for Pre-Calc."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "That figures. Leave it up to the suits to make things harder than they should be."

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's fine, really. It's always good to practice what you know and I get a class with all of you. That's worth any small inconvenience."

"You got that right. Fifth year is going to be awesome now!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. Sunset and the rest of her friends nodded, although they all held back with saying the thing on each of their minds. They shuffled their feet anxiously, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I'm certain it will be a lovely final year," Fluttershy added happily but with a hint of sadness, finally putting it out in the open. Sunset's chest tightened and she forced herself to breath steadily. She'd thought about it, or rather had tried not to, but she had all the same. This was the last year they would all definitely be together. After this... well, who would she be without this group? They were the ones who'd saved her from herself. She wasn't sure she could do that again if she needed to. Not without them.

"Hey now, it won't be the end! We'll still be Best Super Secret Magic Friends Forever after graduation!" Pinkie said while hopping up and resting on Dash's shoulders. "We'll still have parties and sleep overs till we're all old and asking each other to speak up all the time or pass the prune juice or our teeth. Doesn't matter where we go, we'll always be together. So lets smile and make this a year to remember!"

"Indeed, we'll make it the best year we've ever had. All of us, together," Rarity said, drawing Fluttershy into a hug which she returned warmly. The rest piled in, Rainbow muttering something about "sappy group hugs" but still joining with a smirk.

"Oh boy, I can't wait for all the holidays and dances and parties and fun!" Pinkie said, almost vibrating in excitement. "And this year we even get to have alien parties!" She inhaled sharply while her eyes widened. "Do you think Liam would take us to the Moon? I've always wanted to see if moonpies made on the Moon taste more moony!" The others laughed again, though this time with some hesitation.

"I, uh, guess this year will be a bit different than the others, won't it?" asked Fluttershy. "If they end up having to stay here for awhile I mean."

Sunset glanced at Applejack apprehensively but was surprised to see she didn't look angry at all. If anything, she just looked disinterested. Maybe she and Liam's group had sorted things out more over the weekend than she'd thought. That was encouraging!

"I mean, will it really be that different?" asked Rainbow Dash. "They're actually pretty low on the weird scale compared to some of the things we've seen. So they're from another world. So is Sunset and she and isn't technically human," she said while pulling the currently-a-human teen into a one armed hug. "So she's got one up on them there."

Sunset rolled her eyes and pushed Dash away with a grin. "One of these days you're going to forget that and I'll finally have some peace and quiet."

"Yeah, it's way too good as ammo so don't count on it," Dash replied with a playful punch to her shoulder.

"Speaking of counting things, we should all get to first period before class starts," Twilight said while pointing at a clock on the wall. Sunset followed her finger and winced when she saw the time. Out of all of their first periods her class was the furthest from the entrance.

"Shoot, I've gotta run! I'll catch you all at lunch," she said, waving back to them as she darted down the same hallway Liam had.

Other students waved at her and cheered her on as well she rushed by. She felt her face heat with all the attention directed her way, especially positive energy. It still got to her, even now almost a year later. That got her thinking back on her life as she ran, the push for power and prestige, the disappointment and jealousy. Her anger. Her mistake. Her change in course thanks to her friend. She was a in a much better place, however different it might have been than what she'd ever imagined for herself.

Her mind drifted to another who found them self in a strange place for the first time. She didn't want Liam to have to go through the same things as her, not when it might be his only impression of her, her friends, and her adopted world if they left soon. As she rounded the last corner she decided that she would do what she could to help him adapt and fit in, make friends, all the things that had helped her. She mentally scolded herself a little for not going with him to the Principal's office to do just that. She chaired the Welcoming Committee with Pinkie Pie after all! It was her job to help new students feel welcome! Still, it wasn't the end of the world. She'd see him again at lunch and had plenty of time besides that to help him make the adjustment-

"Watch where I'M going? How about-" an all too familiar voice challenged loudly.

-or not. Sunset shut her eyes with a groan then made a frantic dash around the next intersection just in time to see a crowd slowly moving around an open space in the middle of the hall. In the center of the widening circle she found Liam facing down two other male students. One with a complexion close to his with brown hair in a black football jersey and a very dark scowl on his face. He was built like a small mountain, muscles upon muscles. His arms were crossed in front of him, displaying the strength in them for all to see. The other had a grey skin tone and slicked back hair of a shade similar to Rarity's in a green blazer with a pair of gold olive branches stenciled onto one side near the base. He was standing to the side and back slightly from his larger companion with an expression of acute annoyance. On the floor between them lay a scattered pile of papers and a manila folder.

Oh no... give me a break! Sunset thought exasperatedly. How did he manage to tick off Blitz and Laurel at the same time? It's been five minutes since we got here!

She pushed through the crowd to the center right as Laurel Wreath pushed Liam lightly away from him and Blitz.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are?" Laurel asked Liam as he glared back at them.

"Why don't YOU try paying attention attention next time, idiot. Not our fault if you've got your face so deep in your summer homework that you can't see where you're going," Blitz added testily.

"Blitz, I'm not sure he can see anything. Look at him, his eyes are freaky..."

Blitz leaned in a little and squinted.

"Huh, you're right man. That's not all of it though, he's..."

"Standing in front of you?" Liam answered testily, narrowing his eyes and taking a step closer to Blitz.

"..weird," Blitz finished with a scowl, completely ignoring him. "Dude, you look like a tweaker. What was your mom on when she had you? Dang, you even shake like one!" Blitz exclaimed with a short laugh as Liam let one of his arms hang limp at his side for a moment before raising it again. Laurel pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head with a grimace, looking back and forth between the two. Well, whenever he looked at Blitz. When he looked at Liam it was with a trace of anxious concern.

What neither had seen was the minute flash of red light at the end of Liam's closed fist as he dropped it.

"Liam! There you are!" Sunset interjected loudly, stooping down to gather his papers together. "Come on, you're going to be late for class." She stood up, not caring for his annoyed expression in the least, and yanked him away from the pair behind her.

"Hey Sunset, who is this dweeb?" Blitz asked angrily.

"New student. We got separated when I was showing him the school. He doesn't know his way around yet so cut him some slack," she called over her shoulder angrily.

"Whatever. Make sure to tell him to watch where's he's going! Next time someone's likely going to get hurt."

Liam rounded back on the pair and the now open circle of students. "Excuse me? Was that a-"

"Not. Now." Sunset yanked Liam again before he could finish whatever poorly thought out thing he was about to say. When they made around the corner again she shoved his papers into his arms and fixed him with a glare.

"Don't even start," Liam hissed.

Her glare intensified. "Oh no, I need to. What the heck was that?"

"Look back down the hall for a second," he demanded, crossing his arms and leaning against the nearest locker.

She arched an eyebrow. "What does that-"

"Look down the hall and tell me what you see."

Sunset rolled her eyes with a sigh and tuck her head around the corner. The students were beginning to disperse again, Blitz and Laurel having left immediately it seemed. Apart from one or two students talking in hushed tones all she saw was the hall and it's freshly painted cream walls and fading blue classroom doors.

"An empty hallway. What's your point?"

Liam hiked an eyebrow up a little. "A long, wide empty hall. I heard them coming from halfway down it. I wasn't coming out of any classrooms, completely in their sight the whole time. I was hugging to the side, out of the way, and one of them still ran into me. Purposefully."

Sunset frowned, thinking back on the scene. He wasn't wrong, the halls were wide enough for people to stand at lockers on both sides and still walk past each other in the center. But she was sure he wasn't right either.

"Listen, I know Blitz and Laurel. Not that well but well enough. A lot of other people here are friends with them and the rest get along well enough with them. They may not be the nicest people around- Blitz is a huge jock and Laurel has more money than's probably good for him and a sense of humor Blitz likes- and they're never going to be Fluttershy or Pinkie, but they're not bad to be around when you don't antagonize them and they don't go out of their way to mess with others!"

"Not the nicest? Not the nicest? Sunset, did you hear a word of what they were saying? Did you hear anything after that?"

"Yes," she answered, "I did. But that's no excuse for you to lose your temper!"

"Excuse me? What part of any of that was me losing my temper?"

"You were going to throw them around with a field! I saw you make one!"

"You saw me stop myself from making one. Watch," he commanded, clenching his fist in front of him. A point of red light blossomed again between them, giving Sunset a case of butterflies in her stomach. Then his arm suddenly dropped limp and it disappeared. "Did you think it's hard to do that? It's not. It's as simple as tightening a muscle. I had to relearn how to walk, how to run, how to write, I had to relearn everything after I made my first field on accident and wrecked half of my parent's kitchen. I had to learn how to not make them. That was hard. I didn't lose my temper, I was reining it in," he hissed. "And you never answered my question."

"Yes I did, I heard everything they said-"

"No, you didn't answer the second part. You didn't tell me what you heard after that."

Sunset blinked, her face twisting in confusion. "I didn't hear anything, I grabbed you right after-"

"That's right. You didn't hear anything. Anything. From anyone there. Not a single kid so much as winced, let alone called them out for acting like douchebags. Not a single one stood up or said anything. Not the ones who gathered around to watch, not even the ones who were there to see it happen. None of them." He practically snarled the last words out.

Sunset flinched and waved her hands in front of him. "Liam, stop with the cursing already! You can't say that here! You'll get reported to the Principal and you won't be allowed to stay at the school-"

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY MORE CONCERNED WITH MY LANGUAGE THAN THEIR INDIFFERENCE?" he all but yelled at her, earning a few shocked looks from the handful of students still not at class yet.

"Yes- No! I'm trying to help you fit in so you can get back home! Liam, you can't act like that here- wait, where are you going?" Sunset challenged when he spun around and started walking away while she was speaking.

"Class. I need to keep a low profile and like you said, I can't do that if I'm standing out by standing up to those two when no one else would," he replied with what she was certain was feigned calm, never looking back at her.

Sunset was left standing dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway. She barely registered the first period bell ringing. He had just contradicted himself probably half a dozen times. Having to keep a low profile and nearly picking a fight with two other guys. Lashing out at the students around him who hadn't done anything besides try to stay out of it. She was disappointed in them too but that was the thing. She was disappointed, not furious. His reaction didn't make any sense at all to her and she wasn't sure it made sense to him either.

She sighed heavily and started back towards her own class, hoping she wouldn't get an earful for being late and not really caring if she did. Not five minutes ago she'd been thinking about how she'd get him involved at the school, how she'd introduce him to the other friends she'd made, how she'd help him make her home feel like his. Now she was left wondering if any of that was possible at all... and who he really was. Because the boy she'd just argued with was not the same one she'd been talking to just days before.

She was going to have to talk to the girls about this... and they were going to have to get some answers about his past before anything like that happened again.

"Will."

<"Liam,"> the miniaturized bud in his ear buzzed at him.

"Please shoot me," he muttered darkly as he made his way towards the cafeteria.

<"Sorry, that's at the end of the to-do list. Have a few items like 'returning home' and 'sending Earth back to the stone age before they WMD the new rounds' to take care of before we get to that one. One of the big ones near the top is 'infiltrate school to experiment on portal'."> Will replied in a jovial tone. Liam didn't miss the dark undercurrent hidden just beneath the surface. <"How's that one going by the way?">

Liam sighed, reminded again of why he was currently dodging teenagers, many of whom who stopped and stared or whispered to others when he went by. Before he'd ever found out how to make stable jump gates he'd already known at least one thing could travel faster than light: rumor. At least it had played by Earth rules back home. Here... well, stepping into his first class not two minutes after his "incident" had instantly drawn all eyes to him. His earbud, in addition to letting him check in with his counterparts, had an enhanced microphone capable of making even whispers in the closed room plain to hear. It was how he'd known within minutes that the attention wasn't due to being new but rather because "he'd picked a fight with Blitz and Laurel for some reason".

He'd turned off the feature for the rest of the class, focusing instead on the school map in his folder and looking up now and again to listen to the lecture for the day. Some of the students he'd been sitting near had asked him the basics; where are you from, why'd you move, so on and so forth, and he'd given back the minor details he'd memorized from his falsified records. Eventually they'd either been satisfied or lost curiosity because by the end of the class he was left to his own work and in each class after the introductions had gotten shorter and shorter.

<"Liam? Talk to me, is there an issue with the plan?">

Liam shook his head to refocus. "No, not yet at least. There's a computer lab overlooking the courtyard we can make use of, but it's at an angle and I'd like more flexibility. Ideally we'd... I don't know, put a tent over it with a big 'construction, keep out' sign on the front. Whatever it is I'll have to run it by Luna and Celestia so they don't ask too many questions when we get started. Couldn't find either of them this morning -my schedule and records were left taped to the door if you'd believe it- and I figure they were out making the rounds or something. I'm planning on camping outside the Admin office after lunch till I catch them if the girls don't have any better suggestions."

Will sighed, giving him a brief burst of static to wince at. A pair of passing girls looked at him oddly, trying not to be too obvious about it and failing as only a teenager can. He tried to ignore it until he caught a brief set of words one muttered to the other a little more loudly.

"... maybe does drugs... yeah, the eyes... I don't know..."

He paused his walk to glare at them out of the corner of his eye. They suddenly found something else to be much more interested in. A buzzing in his ear reminded him he'd been carrying out a conversation when he was interrupted.

<"... the best we can do for now. You know, without occupying the city and declaring martial law. But these people haven't done anything to us to warrant that."> The earbud was silent for a few seconds. <"Yet.">

Yet, agreed Liam, eyes locked forward as he melted into the flow of students. He dropped his voice low enough to just be heard by the chest mic on the vitals sleeve beneath his clothes and no one else.

"Will, put together a report on Alphonse's monitoring network for the town, he should be close to finished by now. I'll look it over when I get back."

<"You really think we'll need it?">

"Remember when I told you I wasn't going to react well to anything that looked human? Well, a lot of things look very human around here."

A heavy sigh whistled through his ear. <"Just like home then?">

Liam nodded slightly for his own benefit. "So far."

Will took a few seconds to respond, long enough for Liam to see the open Cafeteria doors at the end of the hall. And waiting in front of them seven familiar figures.

<"So what do you make of that?"> asked Will.

He grunted. "Whatever else this place may be it's no paradise and people are still people. I'll catch you later. Looks like I've got an escort for lunch."

<"Got it. I'll see what's Al's got for you to see. Stay low and figure out a way to get that portal for us.">

Liam's earbud clicked and went silent. He tapped the control patch in his pocket that set it back to ambient and the sounds of groaning, moaning, laughing, snickering teens filled his ear again to match the other. A few more seconds of walking found him in front of his seven guardians. He was under no illusions that they fully trusted him yet, he wouldn't in their place. Applejack alone had enough distrust for all of them for that matter.

"Hey dude, hear you had a rough first ten minutes," snickered Dash.

Liam closed his eyes for a moment then looked at her again. "Can we not get into that?"

Sunset moved a step closer with her arms crossed in front of her. "No, we need to talk. You promised us answers and we were patient. But all we've gotten is answers to Twilight's physics questions and some very vague ideas about your world's culture from Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Now we need real answers." She inclined her head towards him a little with a beseeching expression.

"We need to know just who we're trying to help."

Liam sighed heavily. "Sunset, I-"

We could really use allies right now. Or better yet? Friends.

Dammit Al... thought Liam, looking around the group and seeing complete agreement. "Okay... I guess we're here now. Mind if we get food first? I think more clearly on a full stomach."

Sunset frowned for a second then nodded. Liam filed in behind them through the doors and into the brightly decorated cafeteria. He remained silent through the line, the others talking to each other now and then about something they'd found or seen or heard. Once or twice he thought he heard his name but he couldn't be sure. He was too focused on what would happen if they didn't like his answers. At best he'd have to go it alone and at worst... well, they'd done occupations before. They'd just have to wait till they had more forces built up. Enough to counter whatever they could do.

I'm sorry, but if it's between making you seven happy and saving thousands of lives and stopping a genocide then there's no decision to make.

"Well would ya look at what we've got here," a cheery voice exclaimed. Liam looked up into the grinning face of Granny Smith, brandishing the freshly cleaned ladle in her hand at him.

"Hello Granny," he replied as calmly as he could. Ahead of him the girls looked back to see what was holding him up then shrugged when they saw the pair talking. They headed off to their usual table, leaving the two to themselves.

"Ah hear ya've had quite the first day so far," she said, her smirk increasing a notch as she began moving lunch onto his tray.

Liam glowered back, eyes locked with hers. "Seems word around here travels fast. Even outside the student body."

"Oh yes, ya hear quite a bit 'bout what's goin' on from the kids as they go through the line. Don't hardly ever think of us behind the counters."

Liam huffed and made to move past her when the sheet metal ladle shot out in front of him, blocking his way.

"Now hold up there. Ah wanted to talk ta ya-"

"Hey, you're holding up the line!" shouted a student near the back.

"Hold yer horses, we're just gittin fresh grub!" Granny yelled back. "Dang youngsters, always in a hurry, aren't they?" She gave him a knowing look. Liam chuckled darkly under his breath.

"Yeah. Time looks different when you're that age. A lot of things look different."

Granny pursed her lips in contemplation. "That they do. Now, I was gonna talk to ya about something I heard recently."

"Granny-"

"It was in this line, right were yer standing," she continued, ignoring his complaints. "These two boys, same age as my Applejack actually, snickering and chuckling about this and that. Now, I didn't pay it no mind till I heard one of them mention a party and something about a girl. And not in a polite or flatterin' way you see," she said softly but sharply.

Liam's eyes widened for a moment or two before narrowing again. He inclined his head towards her and Granny nodded slightly in return. His fists clenched at his side for a moment before he released them again, stopping the faint flickering red sparks in the air before they went anywhere. Neither of them paid any attention to the increasing grumbles of the students around them as they waited to be served.

"Y'all just keep standing up Mr. Harcourt, don't start slouching none. Ya've got a good back, and it looks right nice when ya keep it straight up and strong." She paused for a moment to look him over. " Ya see, Ah think ya've got good instincts and Ah think maybe, just maybe, ya've even got the advantage that age brings, ta see things fer what they are, not what ya'd like. Sometimes Ah'm not so sure a lot of others round here do so it'd be nice ta have someone else keepin' an eye out. So don't worry if no one else approves fer now. They'll come 'round in the end. May be awhile but it always comes 'round. All you need to do is keep standing up. Ah'll feel better with you bein' round mah family if ya do."

"...thanks Granny. Glad we talked," he said after a long pause. She tipped her head to him then tapped him sharply with the ladle.

"Now git! That bunch seemed like they wanted ta talk to ya something fierce and yer holding up a bunch more hungry kids 'sides them!" she said with an almost cackling laugh.

Liam chuckled and with a small wave over his shoulder headed off towards the table where the girls were currently huddled together over their lunches, almost certainly discussing what to do about him. He grabbed a spare seat from another near empty table and pushed it up to the table where Pinkie and Rainbow Dash made room for him.

"What were you and Granny talking about?" Applejack asked suspiciously.

Liam gave her a jovial look. "She just gave me some good advice, that's all. She's a shrewd woman, your grandmother," he said approvingly.

Applejack frowned and looked over his shoulder towards her grandmother then back at him. "Somehow that worries me more."

Liam rolled his eyes then turned more serious. Well, here goes... something.

"So... where do you want to start?"

Sunset kept her eyes trained on him as he waited for one of them to open the questions. Something's... different with him than when we came in. He's back to his... okay, which is his normal self? I'm with Applejack, I really wish I knew what he and Granny talked about now, she thought with mild aggravation.

"Let's get right to the problem then. Why do you hate this High School so much? Because I have a feeling this morning's fiasco has something to do with it, right?"

Liam looked at her with a contemplative expression, rubbing one hand with the other as he did.

"It's not that I hate High Schools as a thing, it's more they... bring up bad memories. I've done my best to forget my time at mine."

"Why darling, whatever happened?" asked Rarity.

Liam turned that same considering gaze to her. "Remember when I said I had a bad experience after the Anomaly hit me?" Rarity nodded and he sighed. "I was a wreck for months. Had to relearn to do everything without making fields. All without letting anyone know how I'd been affected."

"Dude, why would you want to hide that?" asked a perplexed Rainbow Dash. "I use my powers all the time to get around faster and everyone thinks it's awesome!"

Twilight did a double take. "Wait, you do WHAT?! Rainbow Dash! We agreed to not overuse them unless we really needed to! Who knows how what effect that could have on the geode or on you!"

Dash winced. "Ugh. Why did I open my mouth..."

"ANYWAY," Sunset interjected loudly, "you were saying Liam?"

Liam chuckled at their antics. "You've got me wondering now, how did everyone else react when you got your magic?"

Sunset shared a look with her friends while considering his question.

"They were a little unnerved at first," said Fluttershy.

"But they warmed up rather quickly when they saw it wasn't anything to be worried about," Rarity added with a raised finger. "Why do you ask?"

Liam looked down at his hands for a moment. "When I started having issues walking, moving, just about anything, three students petitioned the school to have me kicked out for 'unexplained incidents'. It was just moments where I flexed or stretched and an accidental field made them feel queasy or moved something across their desks. I shrugged it off for awhile, but eventually everyone started noticing it only happened when I was around. Then the folks of two of them, real big helicopter parents with their nose and prejudices in everything," he growled, "started whipping up my town into thinking the Anomaly was some sort of 'evil' sign that had chosen me and now I was... tainted somehow. I'm not sure anyone completely believed them, but the idea must have wormed it's way in their heads because they all started acting really cautious and cold towards me. Snubs to team dinners, forgotten homework notices when I was out sick, that and worse. Nothing violent thankfully, but I was almost taboo by the time I got out of there." He shivered a little. "One of my bad nightmares is imagining what would have happened if I hadn't hid my abilities."

"But... but why? Why would they do that?" asked Fluttershy with a faint quaver in her voice.

Liam shrugged. "You'd have to ask them. I could never understand it, their excuses always seemed like a cop out to get rid of something they couldn't understand and feared for no good reason."

"Surely there was someone that stood by you?" asked Rarity.

Liam looked at her with lidded, tired eyes then back down at his clasped hands. "My friends stuck by me for a bit but...they stopped when the incidents became more frequent. I graduated not long after and went about as far away as I could for college. That was when I made Will, powered him on in a makeshift shed in our backyard my first summer semester. After that, we figured out how to copy not just my memories but his as well and that was the start of the Legion."

"That's terrible!" Pinkie lamented. "Friends shouldn't be leaving friends around meanies and bullies. They should have been making you smile when you felt down! They should have been throwing you get well parties and 'first walk again' and 'first run again' parties to help you get better!"

"Yeah, you just had terrible friends. If they were real friends they'd have stuck with you," Dash added angrily.

Liam gave her a weak smile. "It may be for the best that they didn't Dash. I dealt with it on my own, built up a tough skin, learned to ignore the people that whispered behind my back. Don't get me wrong, I wish they had stayed by me!" he added quickly when Pinkie's lip started trembling. "I even made a few more friends at college who had only ever heard of me in passing, that guy on the news, but... I was never that close with them. Didn't stay in school long enough to get close which didn't help either. Will and I had finished the first ten copies of him along with our first ship by the time my second year rolled around. I went back for another semester then left when they'd built up enough that I could join them."

"You dropped out of college?" Twilight responded with shock.

"Yes Twilight, so you can pick your jaw up off the floor," he replied with a small smirk. Twilight blushed and motioned for him to continue. "They weren't going to be able to teach me about fields, they were brand new and only I could make them. Same with Will and the others. So we bought all the text books for my engineering major and taught ourselves the background we needed to make it work."

"Make what work?" Applejack asked with a hint of suspicion.

"The Legion, our ships, all of it. Eighty years getting it right, realizing I was weirder than we'd thought. It was fun, a lot of fun honestly. Best years of my life," he said wistfully.

"Careful, you're starting to sound like an old geezer," Rainbow Dash said with a poke to his shoulder. He gave her a deadpan look.

"Dash, I can nearly guarantee I'm older than all of your grandparents," he said, hiking an eyebrow up. "Am I wrong?"

Dash shook her head. "Nope, my granddad's only like seventy or something. Other didn't make it past fifty I think. Never met him," she said with a shrug. "You do realize your nickname is going to start being Old Man now right?"

"Don't you dare," Liam said sharply, pointing a finger at her. She grinned evilly and silent mouthed the words "Old Man" at him. His shoulders slumped and his head followed. "Great, first Jax and now you. I'm cursed."

Dash laughed uproariously, drawing the attention of the surrounding tables until they identified the source of the commotion and understood it was just business as usual then went back to eating.

"Jax is the one that got blown in half right?" she asked.

Liam gave her a deadpan look. "Yes, that's him."

"Thought so. He seemed the most chill out of all of you," she said with an approving nod.

"Dash, we have other things we need to talk about," Applejack said, prodding her in the side gently.

Dash rolled her eyes with a tired scowl. "Sure, sure, you got it." She sat back in her seat with her arms folded behind her head, giving Sunset and opening to lean in towards him from her corner of the table.

"That's why you were about to pick a fight with Blitz, isn't it? Because it reminded you of that time?"

Liam gave her a pointed look and jabbed a finger at the table. "No, it wasn't. My teenage years were instructive and eye opening, not traumatic. I don't have any sort of PTSD making me lash out at anything that reminds me of my time there. I just know the difference between a benign accidental bumping and a targeted shove, I got plenty of the latter. I was standing up to them because I know the difference and recognized what they were doing for what it was."

"Wait, 'them'? I thought it was just Blitz he threw down with?" asked Dash.

"He didn't throw down with anyone, I got him out of there before it went any further. And Blitz was with Laurel," Sunset answered.

"Excuse me? I wasn't about to-" Liam started before Dash cut him off with a loud, dismissive snort.

"No wonder. Sunset, you ever been around both of them for more than five minutes?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, why? That has nothing to do with-"

"Heck yes it does! You just haven't been around them long enough! I had to put up with those two through gym back in fourth year! Laurel always tries to look tough and blows up Blitz's ego and Blitz eggs Laurel into not being 'such a rich boy' and they just get annoying as heck to be around. Used to call me Rainboy Dash just to get a rise out of me," she muttered darkly. To Sunset's surprise Fluttershy and Rarity nodded in agreement.

"That still doesn't excuse how he acted," Sunset said, trying to bring the conversation back around to the original point. Princess Twilight would try to find a way to get them all to change, to see there's a better way. We have to do that too.

"Sunset, I'm with Liam on this one. I've had to tell them to knock it off a bunch of times and I'm not surprised he did either. I'm actually pretty happy he did honestly. Those two are just a pain sometimes and I'd bet they did start it," Rainbow Dash declared with a nod towards the guy in question.

Sunset threw up her hands in frustration. Dash wasn't getting the point, they weren't trying to declare a verdict on the other two right there and then, they were trying to understand who Liam really was. "Dash-"

"Gah! What's in this?" Liam suddenly exclaimed, looking down at the burger he'd just taken his first bite out of while they argued.

"Huh? It's just a normal burger right?" Twilight peeled the bun off her to look at it. "Yeah, nothing strange. What's different with yours?"

"Ech, something didn't taste right... wait, what kind of patty is this?" Liam asked while squinting at it. He took a pinch off it and popped it in his mouth. "Weird... wait, is this soy?"

"Soy and ground portabella. Why? Something taste off with it?" Sunset asked while looking down at her own. It hadn't tasted strange to her.

"Shoot, Granny must have given me the vegetarian option by mistake," Liam muttered.

"Wait, what option? That's just the normal burger, they don't have options. Though it would be nice to get more variety once in a while," Rarity said with a small huff.

"Wait, then what about beef-" Liam began before shutting his mouth with a click, his eyes going wide. He sat up and looked around frantically at the other tables. Eventually he stopped, slowly sliding back down into his chair. "Oh no... I'm not going to last a week."

"What's wrong Liam? You look sick to your stomach, have you been eating right?" asked Pinkie.

Liam's eye began twitching a little. "It's fine, I can make this work. It won't be a problem," he murmured low and deep.

Rarity reached across the table to give his hand a shake. "Make what work? Liam, what's wrong? Do you have food allergies?"

"Maybe he's one of those religious wackos that eat fish?"

Fluttershy sat straighter in her seat, eyes alight with righteous anger. "Rainbow Dash! How could you suggest something like that! What a terrible thing to say about-" She stopped as Liam jerked then froze, eyes staring down at his food while the color drained from his face. "L-Liam? You- you don't- you haven't eaten-" she stammered in slowly growing horror. Liam closed his eyes and clenched his fists, his mouth becoming a thin line. "No..." whispered Fluttershy. Both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash began leaning away from him slightly.

Sunset felt her throat clench as she realized what they were implying. He- he can't be- that's- that's inhuman! Only things like a hydra would... oh Celestia, she thought, eyes shooting open. No wonder he was so aggressive! She pushed away from the table a little, putting distance between her and the potential monster sitting across from her. She glanced around quickly, hoping she was wrong, but all of her friends had seemingly come to the same conclusion. Except for Applejack who, while still glaring at him through narrowed eyes, had an almost smug twist to her mouth.

Liam tilted his head up, causing a few of them to flinch away. "So... I think we've found another difference between humans here and where I'm from."

Silence reigned for nearly half a minute. Right up until Fluttershy broke down in tears.

Ch. 11: The First Evening

"Fluttershy! Please! I'm not going to eat your pets!"

His words went unheeded as a flash of pink and yellow disappeared behind the door to the girl's bathroom.

"Damn it," muttered Liam.

"Dude..."

Liam slowly turned to find the other six all giving him sidelong glances, every one of them turned slightly away as if ready to run. The only ones that didn't look squeamish or frightened were Pinkie and Applejack. Liam could tell for AJ this was just another mark against him and knew he'd have to deal with it later. He wasn't sure why Pinkie seemed the same way but he'd take anything.

"That's just so wrong," Dash said, her face scrunched up in disgust.

Liam sighed and glanced back at the shut door. He'd just have to give her time to get over the gut reaction. He started towards them but stopped when they all took a step back. He threw up his hands in frustration, almost snarling at them as he felt his good faith efforts begin to come crashing down over the most inconsequential of issues.

"Oh come on! I'm not some sort of monster! Humans- well, my humans anyway -are omnivores! You're seriously telling me you're not?"

Rarity heaved a little, covering her mouth daintily with a hand. Twilight and Sunset had similar choking reactions while Dash just stuck out her tongue in disgust. Applejack gave him a cold look while Pinkie's was more sad than anything else. Liam suddenly realized he needed to tread very, very carefully if he wanted to salvage the situation. But first he had to be certain of something.

"Okay, can someone show me their teeth?"

"E-Excuse me?" Rarity stammered, clamping her hand more firmly over her mouth and muffling her words to near incomprehension.

"Why do you want to see our t-teeth?" asked Twilight.

"I just want to check something," Liam replied patiently.

Twilight glanced around at her friends before stepping forward a little. She opened her mouth and spread her cheek apart with her fingers. " 'ere, how's 'hat?" she asked clumsily.

Liam's eyes shot open at what he saw. "No canines... you don't have any canines... jeez, you really are herbivores. What the..."

"Why would she have dogs in her mouth?" a confused Pinkie asked. Dash paled and everyone took a step back.

Liam's hand hit his face hard enough to leave a red print for a few seconds. He quickly pulled open his own cheek and pointed at the four offending teeth. " 'ese! Canine teeth!"

"Gah! You have fangs! Heck, the rest of them are sharp too!" cried out Dash in shock. "What the heck?! How did we not notice that?"

"I don't know! You'd think between the spaceship, metal men, alternate universes, and exploding doohickeys we'd have noticed something really weird like extra pointy teeth!" Pinkie exclaimed in agreement. Everyone else paused to blink a few times as they all came to the same awkward conclusion.

"Anyway, they're not fangs. Well, I guess technically they would be in mammal anatomy-" Liam started to correct himself before catching himself. "Not important! The point is, we're not the same kind of humans like I'd thought. I'd guessed maybe it was going to be cultural but... well, I guess not. Hoo boy..." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Everyone was silent for a long time after, the only sound to be heard coming from the muffled sobs behind the bathroom door. Eventually Liam put up his hands placatingly.

"Listen, I know this was a bit shocking- for all of us actually -but it doesn't have to be a problem. Like I said, I can make a go of it off the vegetarian selection just fine. I'll just have to make sure I get enough nuts and protein sources."

And hope I don't go stir crazy without things like chicken and steak and pork and bacon-... oh god... BACON. I won't make it! he moaned to himself despondently.

Sunset's voice broke him from his brooding. "So you don't need to eat, you know, meat?" she asked cautiously.

Liam shook his head. "I just need a source of protein, same as you all. If nuts and veggies get me that then fine. So... are we good?"

The six present all looked to each other. Pinkie nodded with some enthusiasm while Applejack gave her a disapproving frown. The other four hesitantly nodded along with Pinkie, though it was easy to see they still had major reservations.

"Okay, great. Now can someone go in and convince Fluttershy it's safe for her and her pets before anyone else gets involved? I do NOT want this detail making its way into the rumor mill."

Sunset sighed and made her way to the door. "Sure, I'll get her." She gave Liam a wide berth as she passed, like he was some sort of chained dog and she was making sure to stay out of reach. She paused with her hand on the handle and turned back to him. "Just... try not to look too predatory when she comes out alright?"

Liam gave her the most intense half-lidded look he'd ever summoned for anyone. "I want you to reexamine that sentence and tell me what's wrong with it."

"What?" Sunset frowned for a moment before blushing brightly. "No, I didn't- That's not what I meant! I-" She was interrupted by Rainbow Dash laughing her heart out.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry Liam, but Sunset just moved you up from 'Old Man' to 'Pervy Old Man'."

Sunset blushed still brighter and quickly ducked into the bathroom, leaving Liam staring at the featureless door in horror. He slowly turned, locking his eyes on Rainbow Dash in a deadpan stare.

"Ehehe...heh...sorry," apologized Dash with a nervous grin.

"...Dash."

"...yeah?"

"...I don't know when, I don't know where, and I don't know how, but I am going to get you back for that," Liam stated evenly. He turned his head to show her his ear and the tiny bump of the speaker and mic in it. "That just got recorded and logged across our network along with everything else I hear. At some point Jax is going to hear it. When he does, you're never going to hear the end of it from me."

Dash's expression tried to decide between a mixture of delight in realizing she had an accomplice to her upping of the prank stakes and complete dread at what might await her. In the end, it went for a goofy grin and nod.

"Wait, you've been recording everything we say?" asked Twilight.

"Figures. Hasn't exactly had a lot of respect for other personal boundaries," Applejack added.

"Hey, that happened on accident-" Liam began before closing his mouth with a click. Applejack fixed him with the most immolating glare he'd ever seen and it was only through sheer application of will on his part that he didn't burst into flames on the spot. "Nevermind."

"What?" Twilight looked between the two in confusion.

"No-" Rarity began before pursing her lips shut. Applejack spun around to stare at her accusingly but got only blank innocence and incomprehension in return.

"Amative!" Pinkie cried out suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her. "Are we not playing the single word conversation game?"

"No, we were talking about-... why are you recording everything?" asked Twilight.

"Secondary feature reasons. It's how I keep in touch with Will and the others and also let's them know what's going on around me. It just also happens to record all of that along with those conversations so they can review it later if needed."

"Oh. Huh, makes sense. I'm just amazed you made something like that so small," she said quietly, stepping closer and leaning in to peer at the tiny hidden device.

"Mechanical design may be our strong suite but we're not slouches in the rest," Liam replied with a small grin.

He enjoyed talking with Twilight. In a lot of ways it was like talking with one of his doubles, all concerns and troubles melting away in the face of a technical problem or oddity to examine. Thankfully it appeared she was the same, all her concerns about him forgotten for the moment. The others, minus Applejack as usual, closed in around her as well just as a faint creak alerted them to the bathroom door opening. Fluttershy came out with her hands held tightly to her chest, guided by Sunset's hands on her shoulders.

"Fluttershy, I'm-" Liam began, stopping when Fluttershy furiously shook her head. Her eyes were large and fearful and locked onto his like opposing magnets. His raised his hands and she backed into Sunset, causing her to exhale with a loud "oof".

"I-I-It's fine! I k-know you can't help it, it's just in your nature. I just need some TIME-" she almost shrieked as reached up to massage the bridge of his nose. He froze and slowly lowered the offending hand. "...-just... would you mind not coming by the shelter? F-For a while I mean?" With every word, every tearful sniff, Liam felt his spirit plummet deeper and deeper. "I'm afraid the animals will get nervous if there's a carni- a carnivo-... I'm sorry," she cried before turning and walking swiftly away from the group.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Sunset called after her. She gave Liam a look he couldn't completely describe, a shifting mix of anger, sorrow, recrimination, and apology among many others, before following after her friend. His shoulders slumped as he watched them round the nearest corner in the hall.

"We better go talk to her. We'll catch you later," Dash told him, tapping him once on the shoulder as they passed, "Old Man." Her heart wasn't really in the joke though and he didn't have the reserves of emotional energy left to respond in kind.

"I'm sorry about all that. Fluttershy's just concerned about the safety of her animal friends," Rarity said softly. Liam turned to look at her and she quickly waved her hands in front of her. "Not that they wouldn't be safe around you! I just meant-"

"It's fine Rarity, I understood. I just... I never expected to find something like this," he said, motioning towards his jaw, "becoming a major issue."

Pinkie slapped him on the back with a gleeful snicker. "Don't worry Liam, we just need to put enough cakes and fruity leafy goodness through you to convince her you're not some mean beastie out to eat up defenseless grannies. Thankfully, you've got Master Chef Pinkie on the case! No rock candy left unturned, no preparation method left untried. Will it be difficult? Yes! Will it be painful?" She paused to consider. "Maybe! But that's what antacids are for! You will beg, you will moan, and then you will beg for more!"

Pinkie skipped down the hallways after her friends, crying out the names of various edible or supposedly edible concoctions, manically giggling between them the whole way. After she rounded the corner only he and Rarity remained.

"Well, I can honestly say that these last few minutes have been some of the most memorable I've had, and believe me that's saying something," Rarity said before coughing lightly into her hand. "So, what are your classes for the afternoon?"

"Hmmm? Oh, uh... Physics, History, and Pre-Calc."

Rarity clapped her hands quickly a few times. "Excellent! We all have the same last period as you!"

Liam's eyebrow inched its way skyward. "All of us? I'm calling Principal-or-Vice-Principal-scheming on that one."

"Perhaps, but I think it's marvelously convenient so why not go along with it?"

Liam twitched his head towards her in acquiescence. "Yeah, can't hurt I suppose. I hope..."

Rarity smoothed out her skirt and turned to face him. "Perhaps it might be best if you used the next two classes to think of anything else that might be... disconcerting to learn? Get it all out of the way at once."

He gave her a skeptical grimace. "My dietary history wasn't even on my 'probable issues' radar. We're just going to have to get used to blundering into these things for awhile until I can find a book that conveniently lists all the taboo things for your world," he said with a sigh.

Rarity brought her hand up to her chin, tapping a finger against it a few times. Eventually she stopped, holding the finger there for a few seconds before reaching out and cautiously placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, I know you've been delaying having this talk with us- ah ah ah! No, don't say anything," she replied swiftly as he prepared to counter her statement. "We're not blind darling, and given your incident and what you've told us just today I think I have some idea why you've done so." She shivered a little and fixed him with a knowing look. "We all have things we'd prefer to forget that aren't pleasant to revisit. And you're right, there probably will be another 'boo boo' or two like your, um, tastes. But we would really like to hear more from you. The last few days have been very... unusual and just a tad stressful," she chuckled, "and you're still very much a stranger in so many ways. Making things a little less strange and unknown would go a long ways towards helping us get you home I think."

Liam considered her words but gave no answer one way or the other. He still wasn't certain what the best way to proceed was, especially after recent revelations. Rarity seemed to pick up on his conflict and patted him gently before heading off after her friends.

"Just something to consider. We'll see you in class. And try to stay out of any more trouble, hmm?"

"I'll add it to the list," he said with a chuckle, then headed off in the other direction towards his own classes.

"Thanks Granny!" Applebloom said cheerfully to her grandmother.

"Y'all go find yer friends. Looks like Ah've got something to take care of," Granny Smith replied, looking over her head.

Applebloom turned to see what she was talking about and saw her sister and her friends enter the cafeteria followed by Liam. She was about to wave to them when she noticed they all seemed very anxious.

"Go on now, I need to remind someone of something important," Granny said, shooing her onward. She nodded and made her way towards her friends, glancing over her shoulder again when she heard her Grandmother's voice over the rest of the cafeteria noise.

"Well would ya look at what we've got here..."

"Applebloom! Come on, we need to show you something!"

Applebloom spun back around to face the familiar voice, smiling as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle waved her over.

"You've gotta see this!" Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly.

"Why, what is it?" Applebloom asked curiously.

"Our last video! It's gotten really popular!" Sweetie Belle answered with a huge grin, handing her phone over for Applebloom to see.

"Wait, really?" she asked in astonishment. She took the phone and squinted at the screen. Sure enough, it had a couple hundred likes, more than they'd ever gotten before. She resisted the urge to scroll down to the comments. That never went well, no matter how much anyone like the video. "That's so cool! But... what was so different about that one?" She hit the play button to watch it again.

"Mostly everyone said that the camera stuff looked really good. They were talking about lighting and angles and stuff like that," Scootaloo answered as they watched the screen. "Hey, we should do more stuff at your farm if everyone thinks it looks nice!"

Applebloom winced, causing her friends to give her nearly matching confused looks.

"You okay Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle asked her.

"We, uh, can't use the farm for awhile." That would lead to questions about the giant hole in the middle of it and where it came from. She was fairly certain Liam's and Granny's request for secrecy applied to her friends as well. She didn't want to risk finding out, not when Granny was likely to take it real poorly if she messed up.

Sweetie Belle slumped forward in her seat. "Awwww. Why not? I wanted to try making a better video than that one."

Applebloom cast around for a good excuse without much luck. "We, uh, we... we had to replace the floor."

"What, all of it?"

A tap on her shoulder saved her from whatever she'd been about to try to pass off.

"Hey Applebloom, who's that sitting with your sister and her friends?" asked Scootaloo.

Applebloom turned, searching for her sister's hat for a second or two before spotting it and the person in question. "Oh, that's Liam. He's... a guest. At the farm. Visitin'."

"...while you're replacing the floor?" Sweetie asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Applebloom nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! He's, uh, helping with the work! That's why he's visiting!"

"Huh," Sweetie Belle said, seemingly convinced of her story. Applebloom let out a mental sigh of relief at her ruse's success.

"Liam? Kind of a weird name," Scootaloo said around a bite of her burger, head cocked to the side. "What's he like?"

"Oh? Why the sudden interest?" Sweetie Belle asked with a sly grin. "Does someone have a C.R.U.S.H. on the new guy?" She prodded Scootaloo in the side, eliciting a startled squeak from her target.

Scootaloo's eyes popped open wide and she choked and coughed on her lunch for a second or two. "What? No! No, I don't have a crush on him! I don't even know him! Besides, he's the same age as your sister right?" she asked Applebloom desperately.

"Heck of a lot older than that..." she muttered out loud, watching her sister and her friends talking with Liam. They were all tense, with concerned or surprised expressions.

"Wait, he is? How much older is he?" asked Scootaloo.

"Huh?" Applebloom gave her a confused glance. Then she remembered what she'd just accidentally blurted out loud. "Oh! Uh, like a year or two. I think."

"Shouldn't he have graduated then?" asked Scootaloo, looking over Applebloom at her sister's table.

"He, uh-"

A sudden cry interrupted them, causing them and most of the rest of the cafeteria to look about in surprise. At the far table where her sister was sitting Fluttershy suddenly jumped up and ran from the room, tears streaming from her face, her sobs broken up by sudden bouts of gasping and shuddering. Applebloom shared a confused look with her friends then turned back around when Sweetie Belle silently pointed towards her sister's table. Liam had jumped up from the table as well and was following after Fluttershy, his face tight and focused. He was soon followed by the rest of their group, earning confused looks from the rest of the cafeteria. Most of them shrugged it off once they were out of sight and went back to their own conversations.

"What was that about?" Scootaloo asked no one in particular.

"I don't know." Sweetie Belle looked at them. "But we should find out. He might be another magical monster that looks like a normal guy, like those Sirens," she added conspiratorially.

"Or he could be a normal guy that said the wrong thing," Scootaloo suggested. "That's way more likely right?"

"Right, Ah'm sure he's not something weird like that. Why would mah Sis be sittin' with him if he was?" Applebloom replied, trying to redirect the conversation. She didn't want her sister to catch them if they spied on them. She didn't want Liam to know either for that matter. Both of them could be scary in their own way.

"Oh come on!" Sweetie Belle implored her. "Don't you want to know more about him if he's staying with you?"

"I don't need ta spy on him to learn that stuff," Applebloom deflected.

"Has he made Fluttershy cry before while he was there?" asked Sweetie Belle, undeterred.

"Well no, he hasn't," she replied, uncertain where her friend was going with this.

"Then aren't you curious about what he could have said or done to upset her and not our sisters or the rest of their friends?"

"Wait, what? No, course I ain't. Why would I be?" Applebloom asked her, thoroughly confused now.

"Because it might turn out he's not evil but just a big jerk. A big jerk that's staying at your place and taking advantage of your family," Sweetie Belle explained.

Applebloom gave her a deadpan stare. "Trust me, he ain't." Granny's probably takin' advantage of him by guiltin' them into doing more than just fix the stuff they broke at this point. Ah still remember that poor cable serviceman, she remembered silently.

"Huh. I, uh, actually kinda want to go now too," Scootaloo replied, holding her hand up a little. Applebloom gave her a disappointed glower then sighed.

"Aw come on Scoot, why?"

"Because it would be more fun than just sitting here eating? Plus you never know, we might hear something surprising."

Applebloom was about to counter that but then remembered who it was they were talking about and where he came from. "Fine, but we gotta stay hidden."

The three quickly rushed out to the hall, stopping to drop their trays off so Granny wouldn't scold them again, and looked around for any sign of the group. The loud slam of a door drew their attention and they quietly made their way to the end of the hall. Applebloom peaked around a little but had to stop herself falling forward as Scootaloo then Sweetie Belle piled in on top of her, both of them leaning into her to get a look as well. She pushed herself up with her arms and turned to glare at them out of the corner of her eye.

"Would ya kindly-"

"Fluttershy! Please! I'm not going to eat your pets!"

The three nearly fell over one another in their desperation to get away from the corner before backing up against the row of lockers. Applebloom's heart was pounding in her chest.

Oh mah God, they are evil!

"D-did he just s-say 'eat her pets'?" Sweetie Belle said, arms tucked around her knees tightly.

"Uh huh..." Scootaloo answered breathlessly, eyes as wide as they could go.

"Applebloom! You've got a maniac STAYING AT YOUR HOUSE!" Sweetie Belle hissed at her. Applebloom froze, slowly twisting her eyes to look at her terrified friend. "Ohmygoshwhatareyougoingtodo?" Sweetie asked breathlessly before freezing herself. "What are WE going to do?! He's here at school with us!"

Scootaloo frowned at her and shook her by the shoulders. "Hold up Sweetie, he just said he wasn't going to eat her pets! We don't know what they were talking about to make him say that. No one would actually do that, not even a Piscivore. "

"A what?" Applebloom asked, her concentration suddenly broken by surprise grammar.

"One of those people that eats fish and stuff," Scootaloo answered swiftly, briefly crawling over her to look around the corner again.

"Oh," she stated, sticking out her tongue in disgust. She frowned and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before turning her eyes back to her friend. "How'd you know that?"

Scootaloo ducked back and glanced at her. "Read it in a history book from the library when we were doing that Founding Day project."

"Oh-"

"Quiet!" Sweetie Belle hissed as loud, raucous laughter echoed through the hall before slowing ebbing away again awkwardly. Applebloom recognized Rainbow Dash's voice as the one laughing followed by softer voices she couldn't place. The three poked their heads around again to see what was going on and quickly withdrew again.

"Oh jeez, what was with his face?" asked Scootaloo, her own face scrunched up in confusion and concern. "He looked like he'd seen a ghost or something."

"I told you, he's crazy!" Sweetie Belle hissed in response. She faced Applebloom and grabbed her shoulders. "Applebloom, you've got to get him away from your house!" she said while shaking her. "He might go after your animals!"

"Sweetie Belle, we don't know-"

Applebloom didn't hear anything else she said. Her mind was now firmly stuck in a waking nightmare. One where three giant shadowy figures with glowing blue eyes stalked into their barn in the dark while a smaller fourth stood behind them, it's dark outline growing fuzzier and hunched over as she watched. It stalked forward, growling softly and licking its lips before rearing its head back and letting out a soul tearing howl, fangs protruding from its mouth and claws adorning its fingers. It looked back down and locked her with a set of glowing green eyes. Then it lunged forward.

No, they wouldn't! They're not the same! We were with them the whole weekend and they didn't do a thing! she thought desperately, shaking her head to banish the terrible scene.

But you're not there now, a terrible whisper in the back of her mind reminded her.

"Ah- Ah've gotta go!" she said quietly, picking herself up off the floor and sprinting for the end of the hall. Scootlaoo tried to make a grab for her but missed her by mere inchs.

"Wait- Applebloom, hold up!" she called out frustratedly. "Dang it Sweetie Belle, you got her worked up..."

Applebloom didn't hear her. Her entire world currently consisted of the door below the glowing red exit sign and the miles long path from there to her home.

Will placed down the freshly hewn applewood log, courtesy of the destroyed trees from their landing, next to the coil of wire. He stretched, feeling the faint jerks and twitches of his body realigning and groaned, though not out of any real relief or need. He didn't have a real sense of pain, just a series of strain sensors placed all over his skeleton and muscles that altered faint currents going into his crystalline brain whenever they were stressed. Over time he'd come to associate the faint tingle they gave him with his remembered senses. Despite that he still didn't have an overall sense of touch, and forget taste or scent. But it didn't impede him, not after a few months shy of a century of experience. At this point muscle memory made up for everything he lacked.

"Is that the last one?" Albrecht asked, looking up from the clipboard in his hands.

"Yeah, that's it," he replied, looking down the road at the line of poles stuck into the ground along the side and the wire strung between them. "Still surprised Granny wouldn't let us bury it."

Albrecht made a mark on his board then looked at him. "It makes a kind of sense. It's easy for us to dig the trench but hard for them. If they ever have to do repairs they can easily see where they need to work if it's above ground."

Will grimaced. "Yeah, but they wouldn't have to do many repairs if we buried it. We'd seal the tube as well as anyone else if not better. Plus we're free labor. If they ever want to bury it later it will cost an arm and a leg."

"True, but not our call," Albrecht countered, pointing his pencil at him.

"Yeah. Doesn't mean it doesn't bother me,"

Albrecht nodded nonchalantly. "We're just perfectionists-"

<"Guys!">

They both winced as one of their voices boomed in their artificial ears. Will flipped down the visor he'd left attached to his temples and turned on the Augmented Reality display. A small notice in the corner alerted him it was Alphonse that had all but blown out his ear drums. He tensed up, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong this time. The possibility that they might have finally gotten a lucky break didn't even cross his mind.

<"You need to hear this. We're going to need to rethink, well... everything!"> Alphonse said in a mix of aggravation and exasperation.

Will pressed the activation tabs in his neck for his internal mic. "Okay, patch it through." He released his grip and looked at Albrecht. He gave him a shrug in return and put a hand over one ear lobe to block out the ambient sound. Will did the same and waited. There was a brief hiss of static followed by Rainbow Dash's scratchy voice.

"Maybe he's one of those religious wackos..."

Will's eyes slowly widened ever more as the minutes passed and the playback went on. He cringed as Fluttershy cried and his jaw dropped slightly at the revelation about the humans of this new world. He did find a brief moment of mirth when Dash dropped her joke at Liam's expense, but it was far outweighed by the implications and possibilities of what they'd just heard. Eventually the recording ended, leaving the line silent as he and Albrecht shared a matching overwhelmed whistle together.

"Okay, throw out the playbook. And the movies while you're at it. These people are officially aliens," Albrecht said, hand at his throat mic.

<"Doesn't really affect us but..."> Alphonse began.

"But it's going to make things difficult for Liam on so many levels. Forget about being found out, now we have to worry if he can even stay fed here! There's no telling if their diet has the amounts of protein and vitamins he needs. Hell, they may naturally make some of the vitamins our humans can't and don't have them in their diet at all!"

Albrecht cursed and kicked the dirt after coming to the same conclusion. Matching grumbles over the comms told the same story for Alphonse.

<"I'll get a tightbeam link to Celestia and see what they've got in the way of meat and dietary supplements, especially the B's and fats. If we're lucky the tilapia in the aquaculture system are still doing well. We made need to breed an army of them soon.">

"Sounds good Al," Will said with a nod. He turned back to look at the house, shielding his eyes against the noon glare with one hand and the other held against his neck. "I'll check the house, gets some samples of the food to preserve. Put them in the first drone to the ship and have them check what's in them so we can see what we may be missing in required nutrients."

"Got it," Albrecht replied before closing his comm line and picking up his clipboard.

"Alphonse, we've officially made too many assumptions about this place. Get a link into whatever they have for internet and start reading the whole of it. Biology, society, history, everything. EVERYTHING."

<"Got it,>" Alphonse replied before logging off, perfectly mirroring Albrecht.

Will took his hand away from his throat and looked back at Albrecht. "Can you handle the last installation while I get the stuff?"

Albrecht nodded and waved him away, putting down his clipboard and picking up the coil of telephone wire and the post. Will swung his arms around to put himself back in the work mindset and turned back towards the house.

"Alright, time to raid...the...fridge..." he trailed off slowly. He tilted his head to the side in growing confusion and softly muttered a single word.

"Applebloom?"

The young girl was racing up the hill towards the house, clothes soaked with sweat and pants legs and shoes covered with dust and dirt.

Will cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at her. "Applebloom!"

She froze, her head swiveling to stare at him wide eyed. Will began to feel his confusion dissipate in the face of his rising unease.

"What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

She stared at him for a second more before sprinting towards the barn even faster than when she'd first shown up and slammed the door closed behind her. A few seconds later a cacophony of sounds arose from within including crashing pans, tearing fabric, and a veritable panoply of animal cries, all topped off at the end by a chicken loudly squawking "Bagawk!" before silence once again descended.

Will stared at the barn for a full minute, his head tilting over to the side glacially as he did. He slowly turned to look at Albrecht who did the same in turn.

"The fuck was that?"

"I have noooo idea. But recent experience tells me it can't be good," Will replied then sighed. "Come on, let's go see what Murphy has in store for us."

Fluttershy walked into her final class, or rather, stumbled into her final class of the day after being pushed gently from the waist by Rarity. As she crossed the threshold she caught herself quickly and froze. Her eyes searched the room of red, green, purple, pink, blue, rainbow, and yellow hair until settling on the single patch of dark brown, sitting in the back of the middle row between Rainbow and Pinkie and directly behind Twilight, Sunset, and Applejack.

"Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy's eyes flicked towards the front of the class. The Calculus teacher, Root Mean, was giving her "a look". She was a tall, thin woman nearly as aged as Granny Smith, with deep silver hair and a skin tone close to Rarity's. She was wearing her trademark navy dress with it's gold leaves trim and a pair of golden framed half-moon glasses. She might've look like a cheerful, whimsical granny with her wardrobe choice but she had a sharp tongue and a no-nonsense demeanor that didn't appreciate humor much.

"Y-Yes Ms. Mean?"

"Take your seat before you're late. Same for you Ms. Rarity."

"Yes ma'am," replied Rarity, quickly taking a seat in the closest open seat near their group, right next to Applejack. Fluttershy realized that the only seat available for her now was on the opposite side away from the door next to Sunset... and in front of Liam where she couldn't see him.

"Ms. Fluttershy? Ms. Fluttershy!"

"Eeeeep!" Fluttershy shivered, her eyes drawn again to her last period teacher.

"Take your seat. Please." Root Mean said, twitching one eyebrow minutely higher.

"Okay..." Fluttershy slowly made her way around the back of the room, catching glances from other students, particularly the boys. It only made for a more oppressive atmosphere. One pair of eyes though wasn't watching or leering. A pair at the back of the room slowly turned her way, locking her with its presence. Cool and depressive, like a cold wind blowing across a snowy plain. The watcher straightened his back slowly and leaned towards her. She froze, suddenly understanding why deer would stop in headlights. To move was to invite attack from the unknown.

He paused as well then sighed and returned to his slouched position. Fluttershy slowly moved again, skirting the walls as much as she could, until she had to move in front of him and lose him from sight. She crept forward, trying to keep him in her peripheral the whole-

"MS. FLUTTERSHY. IS THERE A PROBLEM?"

Fluttershy dove into her chair, ruffling her dress into a complete mess then completed the look by frantically shaking her head, causing her hair to fly everywhere.

"No- ptew!" she spat out a mouthful of hair. "No Ma'am!"

Root Mean fixed her with a strong glower then turned around again and began going over the syllabus. "We're going to be covering a lot of ground this year so you'll need to get off to a strong start. Simply completing the homework won't be enough-"

"Fluttershy."

Fluttershy shut her eyes for a moment then turned her head to look back out of the corner of her eye. Liam was hunched over his desk, giving her what she could only describe as "a look" with his mouth pinched to one side and an eyebrow hiked up questioningly. He looked the same as he had for every other day she'd seen him, the normal guy in khaki cargo shorts and a soft blue plaid button down shirt over a plain white tee. Then he opened his mouth to speak to her again and his fangs appeared, ready to rip and tear through the flesh of a living creature. His tongue moved across them a little as he spoke, as if he was licking his chops. She inhaled and shrunk away before she began to have a panic attack.

"I- ...haaaaa," he sighed from behind her. She risked a look back to find him hunched over a set of notebooks writing furiously in them, brow pinched together. She would have called it focus if it weren't for the slight narrowing of his eyes and mouth into a thin line. Those said annoyance.

Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut again, ashamed of how she was acting but feeling justified in it as well. He was still the same person she'd stuck up for the last few days, still the same sad soul she was sure she'd glimpsed behind his cool and dismissive surface. But his habits, his way of life at the expense of other creatures... she wanted to get past it and back to where things had been but there simply wasn't any way! How could he have ever done that and not felt ashamed of himself? How could he sit there now looking at her like she was the problem? What he'd done was inhumane and unnatural for a living, feeling person!

She clenched her fists as an ember of anger deep inside her began to gorge itself on her feelings of betrayal and disgust. She shivered, new tears springing forth as she clenched her eyes tighter.

"Hey, you okay?" a softer voice asked from her side. She opened her eyes and glanced to her side. Sunset leaned over the aisle between them, her face lined with concern, and squeezed her arm gently. "You know we'd never let anything bad happen to your friends right?" Fluttershy felt a faint flicker of happiness that Sunset at least understood where she was coming from. She laid a hand over her friends and returned the gentle squeeze.

"I know. Thanks," she said in reply. She thought she heard a faint snort from behind them but when she glanced back Liam was still locked into whatever he was working on.

"He's already said he'll switch to a normal diet while he's here," whispered Sunset. "You should try to talk to him."

"About what?" Fluttershy asked, dipping her head in anguish. "How can I talk to him about eating other living creatures?"

Sunset winced and looked about the room for a moment in thought. She looked back and held up a finger. "Why not think of it like this? Timberwolves and cats and animals like them have to eat meat right? It's just part of their diet. It's the same for him, right?"

Fluttershy gave her a very unconvinced look. "Except you just told me he could switch to a normal diet without trouble. That means he's had to option to do so his whole life and chose not to! That's even worse!"

Sunset scrunched her face up and turned away as her words came back to bite her. "That's not quite what I meant but..."

"Just a heads up, but I can hear everything you're saying."

The two of them dropped their heads and looked over their shoulders as they were somewhat loudly interrupted. He had paused in his writing without changing position, only tilting his eyes up to look at them. His mouth was quirked to the side in amusement but that was the only part of his face showing any humor.

"Mr. ...Harcourt, correct?" a sharp voice asked, breaking the hold his glare held over her.

Liam turned his head up this time to look past them and they did the same. At the front of the class Ms. Root Mean was glowering at him over crossed arms while the rest of the class were watching as discreetly as they could manage.

"Yes," Liam answered.

"Am I boring you young man?" she asked, tapping the a finger against her arm.

"No, I'm just taking notes and asked Fluttershy and Sunset to clarify something," Liam replied, tapping his pencil against the notebooks.

"Oh really? Since you've been taking such thorough notes, perhaps you'd care to come up to the board and solve this example problem I've just finished writing then?" she said, pointing a dry erase marker at him. Fluttershy inhaled sharply. Nearly a quarter of the board was covered in neat writing with symbols and operators she'd never seen before.

"Oh come on, she just said that was end of the year stuff!" Rainbow Dash hissed. "Not cool."

Fluttershy heard a pained wince from her side. A quick glance told her even Sunset, probably the second best if not equal of Twilight when it came to math in their group, didn't know what to make of the equation. With a sinking feeling she risked a look back at the target of Mean's "lesson" for the class. Whatever else she might have thought of him at that moment she didn't enjoy watching anyone get put on the spot. Not when it was the subject of so many of her worst nightmares and the cause of many sleepless nights.

But Liam just sighed, causing Mean to narrow her eyes and pinch her lips together disapprovingly. He got up from his seat and calmly walked towards the front of the classroom, putting out his hand. Root Mean slowly lowered the marker into his hand then stepped back and crossed her arms again. Liam studied it for a few seconds then frowned and looked back at their teacher.

"Wait, isn't this full on Calculus?"

Root Mean looked over her glasses at him. "Indeed, I mentioned that this would be what you can expect to see on the optional placement exam for your university classes. If you're quite done wasting our time then please take your seat and-"

"Hold on, give me a few more seconds," he interrupted, looking to the board again. "Please. I think I can figure this out."

Root Mean narrowed her eyes even further, clearly not believing a word he was saying, then swept her hand toward the board invitingly. "By all means. I asked you to solve it so I'm not going to stop you from doing so."

Liam nodded slightly, rubbing his chin as he examined the board back and forth. Then he paused, tilting his head to the side. He uncapped the marker and began writing... and kept on writing. Line after line of letters and brackets and symbols. As the seconds rushed by, leading to minutes, Root Mean's eyes grew larger and larger and her arms slowly went slack, barely holding each other up in front of her. Liam paused for a moment, cocking his head aside again. He looked up at the board and ran his eyes across it quickly before perking up and erasing a term or two and replacing them then went back to where he'd left off. Another minute or so later and he finished, swiping the marker off the board with a small flourish.

"Almost lost my place there. Didn't expect to see a Dirac Delta in the transform," he said while flashing Mean a brief but surprisingly genuine smile. A genuine and above all toothy smile that looked a lot like a cat staring down its trapped prey in glee. "Haven't had a challenge like that in a while."

"A Dir- ah, well, yes, good spotting. It's not that common," Root Mean said. "Your-" she began, raising up her hand towards her mouth before dropping it again. She shook her head sharply then fixed him with a piercing stare. "Tell me Mr. Harcourt, why are you in this class if you already know how to solve formulas like this?"

"I was home schooled for a looong time so I'm having to repeat some stuff I've learned for administrative reasons," he answered without really answering. Fluttershy immediately understood what he meant though. So did her friends given Rainbow Dash's barely constrained snickering.

"Oh man, I don't think that's ever happened to her in... ever!" she whispered from behind. "I wish I could have recorded that-"

"Ms. Dash."

A desk behind her squeaked from a brief, terror filled jerk across the floor, like one would expect to hear from someone trying to hide behind said desk in a hurry. "... yes Ms. Mean?"

"Since you seem to think you have this down as well as Mr. Harcourt here perhaps you can solve another problem for us? Something from this class's curricula this time?"

"I- I uhhh..."

"Should I take that to mean you aren't completely familiar with the material?"

"I... yes," a defeated Rainbow Dash answered.

"Perhaps it would be best then if you paid more attention and spent less time 'giggling' over someone else's scholastic achievement."

"Yes Ms. Mean."

Fluttershy winced softly. It was like listening to a puppy getting scolded.

"Excellent," Root Mean snipped before turning back to Liam "Mr. Harcourt, thank you for completing the problem. Please take your seat again if you wouldn't mind." Fluttershy was surprised to hear an unfamiliar undertone of respect in the voice of one of CHS's most notoriously strict teachers. Though it was an uncertain and uneasy respect if anything.

Liam calmly walked back to his seat and sat down. Twilight alternated looking at him and his handiwork on the board, visibly impressed. The rest of Fluttershy's friends all chuckled, giggled, or shook their heads at how he'd turned the tables. Well, all except Rainbow Dash.

"Show off..." she muttered grumpily. Liam looked back at her and flashed her another of those toothy smiles. "Gah, stop that!"

"You think that's impressive, remind me to show you the math for wormhole generation and stabilization," he whispered to her before looking back at his notebooks.

"Laugh it up. We'll see if you're still laughing after I get you on the field," Dash whispered back to him, though without much malice.

Liam didn't rise to her challenge, instead just shaking his head and returning to his writing, a faint smirk gracing his lips. Fluttershy forced herself to chuckle along at the display as well but now felt even more uneasy than she had when she walked in. Nothing that he'd done had been uncalled for or even impolite. But something about the whole affair put her in mind of a cat trapping an unsuspecting mouse just to toy with it.

The bell went off suddenly, breaking the focused silence that had fallen over the classroom as Root Mean completed her intro lecture for Pre-Calc. Students began hurriedly putting away their things and pulling out their music players, same systems, and phones. While most made a beeline for the door a few stayed behind to gather around a set of seven seats at the back of the classroom. Root Mean huffed slightly at the commotion, though a few students who turned to look would later swear they'd seen the faintest hint of a smile on her face. Or so the legend would soon say anyway.

"That was amazing! How'd you learn all that from home?" asked a gangly mauve skinned boy with large glasses fixed with tape over the nose and suspenders. Liam was certain he'd seen him in the series at some point but couldn't remember if he was ever named.

"Oh, uh..." he began, trying to think of a good answer when a light went off in his head. "just a lot of focused study. Didn't do much with civics or history so I'm a little behind in those at this point. One of the reasons I'm here now instead of there still." That was good! Now he had a decent alibi for his lack of knowledge of their world!

"So have you always lived in Canterlot?" another girl with an almost normal skin tone asked. She had green hair in a pixie cut and a very punk wardrobe consisting of a pink tee with a band logo under a faded thin leather jacket, green plaid skirt with a loose belt, and fingerless motorcycle gloves. A memory of getting a Green Day poster from way, way back in middle school suddenly popped into his mind.

Hey now, no stereotyping. There's only a ninety eight percent chance she'd be hooked on them as soon as she heard Welcome to Paradise, he thought to himself.

"Yeah, been here forever..." he trailed off, inclining his head towards her.

"Oh, Cherry Crash."

Liam forced himself to not roll his eyes. My next question for the girls is how the heck people get named around here...

"Good to meet you Cherry."

"Yeah, back at you, uh, Lima right?"

I've been demoted to bean. Fantastic.

"Liam actually," he corrected with an only mildly forced smile.

Cherry Crash put her hands on her hips and nodded. "Liam... huh, cool! So why were you homeschooled? Never met anyone before that did that."

"Not sure, just what my parents wanted."

"Huh. So, did you really get into a fight with Blitz and Laurel earlier-"

"Liam!"

He looked around Cherry Crash to the classroom door. Applejack stood in the open frame with her arms crossed, giving him a very pointed look.

"If ya don't get yer butt moving then we're leavin' ya behind."

Liam rolled his eyes and waved her off. "Yeah, I'm coming," he told her, packing his things in his bag. He paused to look at Cherry. "I did, through no fault of my own. Ask them why they did it if you want the story because I don't have one for you." She gave him a confused look then shrugged and went back to her own desk. The couple of students that had stuck around to talk to him began filing out as well, giving him and Applejack curious looks as they did. Applejack's frown made them find interest in other things very quickly.

"I swear, if they start any funny rumors..."

"Come on, give it a rest Applejack," Liam said with a sigh. "Where are the others?"

Applejack grimaced then tossed a thumb over her shoulder. "At the office. Ya wanted to see the principal didn't ya?"

"Yeah, I did. Let's go."

The pair walked through the school, separated by more than arms length the whole way. Neither spoke to the other and Applejack gave out only cursory replies to the students that greeted her.

Jeez, is she going to be like this as long as we're here? Liam wondered as they approached the main office. She needs to mellow out soon or people are going to start abandoning her. Hell, even her friends seem tired with her mood now! He didn't have any idea how to repair the sort of rift that had opened between them, not when he knew full well where it came from. He could only hope that seeing the farm restored would do the trick. As he opened the door he was suddenly assaulted by an out-thrust blue hand.

"Okay, I have to give it to ya, that was a decent prank you pulled Old Man."

Liam looked up at Rainbow Dash's grin with a raised brow. "Oh no, that wasn't it. That was you sticking your foot in your mouth right after I didn't do the same. You've got no one to blame but yourself for that. My payback will be sweet and above all very, very cold. And now even worse since you just called me it again," he added with a smirk.

"Wha- oh come on! And stop doing that! Wish you hadn't pointed out your teeth..." Dash exclaimed with a shiver. Around her Sunset, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack all gave him disapproving looks. Fluttershy was nowhere to be found.

Liam forced his mouth closed with a faint click of teeth on teeth. "Nevermind," he muttered. "Is Celestia here?"

"Yeah, she and Luna are talking to someone right now," replied Twilight.

Liam listened closely and found he could just hear the faintest of murmurs coming from beyond the closed door. "Great... more waiting-"

"IF I EVER FIND YOU ON SCHOOL PROPERTY OR HARASSING STUDENTS AGAIN I WILL PERSONALLY SHOVE THAT PHONE SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU'LL HAVE TO LEARN TO SPEAK THROUGH IT!"

The door nearly vibrated with the volume of the shout coming from the other side. The seven present backed away quickly as heavy footfalls approached. The door slammed open and a scruffy looking man with key lime skin and grey blue hair fell out into the waiting area with them. He picked himself up quickly, dusting off his denim shirt and tweed jacket and resetting his thick rimmed black glasses on his nose then turned around just as Luna marched up to the open doorway.

"You can't keep hiding it, eventually you're going to slip up! This school has had more 'broken gas lines' and 'theater performances' than any other school in the country, let alone the county!" he said, making angry air quotations with his fingers. "One of these days the truth will come out! You can't keep playing at innocence forever! ...and give me back my phone-"

He was cut off by Luna chucking a black smartphone into his face.

"This is a high school you conspiracy nut! Go bother a politician somewhere and maybe do your actual job!" Luna whirled about and slammed the door behind her.

The stranger glared at the door for a moment then pulled his glasses off, grimacing at the way they loosely hung together at the nosepiece. He put them back on and gingerly adjusted them then stooped low to pick up his phone and paused, looking at the group around him as if just noticing them for the first time.

"Whatever they tell you, and I don't care what it is, don't trust them," he growled as he picked the phone up off the floor. "Don't trust a word they say!" he all but shouted towards the now closed office door before shoving Luna's improvised projectile into his jacket pocket and stalking out of the room.

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT HARASSING- Luna yelled as she burst from the room again only to freeze upon seeing them. "Oh, um... huhhhhh" she sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Is there, um, is there something I can help you all with?" Her eyes darted around the group and Liam could almost see her adding up the individuals present and coming to the conclusion that she really hoped there wasn't by the expression on her face.

"Uhhhhh... who was that?" asked Sunset.

"Buried Truth, a local journalist. Or at least that's what he would tell you," she said dismissively.

"What was he doing here?" Liam asked, paranoia sending a chill up his spine.

Vice-Principal Luna looked his way, taking a moment or two to answer.

"He's been 'investigating' the events of the last year or so," she answered, giving the girls a knowing look. Sunset's head spun around in the direction of the entrance and the portal then back to Luna.

"Is-"

Luna held up a hand and shook her head. "Worry not, he has no idea and he's not going to."

Sunset sighed in relief.

"What exactly has he been asking about?" Twilight asked nervously.

"The same things they always do," Luna said with a roll of her eyes. "What happened to the front of the school, what happened to the statue of the Stallion, and what's with all these videos on MyStable?"

Liam clenched his eyes shut. I refuse to believe they named it that. Where are the hidden cameras? Who would create a prank this long and complex? I bet it was Jax. Him and Will. They probably planned for this to go right up till my hundreth then have whoever's playing Pinkie hit me with the cake. Please let that be the truth and not that someone here seriously named their social networking site My-fucking-Stable.

"Ah thought we took care of that, didn't we?" Applejack asked, looking at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie pulled out her phone and raced her fingers across it too fast to track. Then she held it out for Applejack to see. "Yup, still the most popular video of them all!"

Liam leaned in, causing Applejack to lean away with a grunt, and peered at the screen. On it was a scene he'd never thought he'd ever actually see in real life. Sunset, standing before a hovering Twilight Sparkle held aloft by wicked indigo wings, her eyes framed by glowing energy and her hair blown up around a shimmering ephemeral horn by unseen winds. On the ground behind them was a tear in the world, electric and distorted around the edges like a soap bubble, beyond which he saw a perfect blue sky and trace clouds.

That last sight alone almost caused him to hyperventilate on the spot. Oh god, no, not now. I can barely deal with this fuckery, I do NOT need to add that to it! he thought frantically, pulling back away from the screen for a moment.

Then Sunset stepped forward, legs set firmly apart and hands held close to her chest Pinkie's phone speakers weren't clear enough to make out the words being said, but Liam had exactly zero doubt he knew them already. Then she lifted her hand over her head and brought it down swiftly, releasing a blinding flash of light that- repeated again?

Liam blinked as the screen danced for a second then froze, followed by a loud declaration of "Phooey." Suddenly the screen went black, followed by a rolling comedic tune and a title card: "Magical Mayhem. BLOOPERS!"

What.

The screen went back to the frozen image for a second before replacing it with a very different scene. The same ending shot of Sunset and Twilight, only this time in what he assumed was the school gym with Sunset on the ground surrounded by flash bulbs and lights and Twilight hanging from a couple lines over a huge pile of foam squares on top of a line of mattresses. Both were wearing black leotards that covered almost everything but their heads, allowing their hair to be done up in near matches to what it looked like in their empowered forms, with each suit covered in white balls. All of it was set against a backdrop of green curtains and matching green paper on the floor.

"Twilight, the line is 'I can have everything I want!', not 'I will have everything I want!'," Rarity's voice called out before she walked into the shot. "We're going for contrast darling, not bratty despot." Twilight, both on screen and next to him, cringed. "Ahehe... oops?" the screen Twilight responded. Rarity shook her head then turned towards the camera. "Let's take it from the top!" she called out.

"Sorry dear, but we needed to make it believable," Rarity said behind him, placing a hand on the actual Twilight's shoulder.

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize. The idea was Pinkie's and mine after all. I'm good," she replied unconvincingly.

Liam wasn't paying attention to them though, not really, not when he was so entranced by the screen. The next shot was Sunset falling to the ground then asking about danger pay, the one after Pinkie floating into the air surrounded by a pink aura only to drop a little as a line holding her up snapped.

I've seen this... it's the fake blooper reel- well, real blooper reel now. But how? Why? What the...

"Uhhhh... what did I just watch?" he asked carefully.

"Just Pinkie and Twilight being awesome!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"Indeed, it was an excellent way to cast doubt on all of the other videos that popped up first," Vice-Principal Luna said. "Did they not tell you of what happened before you came to this side?"

Liam blinked and put his mind into overdrive, trying to remember if Pinkie had mentioned the Friendship Games after the portal in their first car trip. He wasn't sure so he gave a matching answer. "I think so?"

"Huh? Who told him?" Dash asked, scratching her head.

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Oh, well no wonder he's so confused. Okay, so you'll love this," Dash said to him with a grin. "After the games everyone in the videos started getting a lot of calls from weirdos and news people who just would not stop bugging us. The school really started not liking Twilight for a while after that." Her eyes darkened for a moment.

"Jerks," she grunted. "So then Pinkie mentions to Twilight that it was weird people believed the videos so fast because they usually took forever to believe her because they keep looking for however she does what she does."

Dash gave him a half lidded look. "They're not the only ones. Anyway, that got Twilight thinking. So she came to us and said 'Girls, we need to tell everybody the videos are real but it was all fake!'. We thought she'd snapped or eaten one of Pinkie's experiments or something."

"Hey, I was excited at finding a solution," pouted Twilight.

"Miss Dash, perhaps you can wrap this up? School hours are nearly over and we need to lock up the office to take care of some pressing matters," suggested Vice Principal Luna while tapping her watch.

Dash let out a disgruntled sigh. "Fine. Anyway, we made a video showing us pretending to make a video of the stuff that happened and BAM! Everyone stopped believing it was real!"

Liam stared at her wide eyed. That's the most implausible plausible deniability I've ever heard of. I bet there are cell videos from at least five different angles! He shook his head and thought about it again. Though it would be easier to believe than magic existing. Or at least back home it would. Guess people here are just predisposed to believe what they want to believe ...and I'm honestly glad for that. Worst comes to worst we can make a bigfoot video of Will if they ever get spotted.

He let out an amused snort at the mental image of the imposing legionnaire stuffed into a cheap monster suit.

"What's so funny?" asked Pinkie.

Liam shook his head. "Just thinking that despite the differences we've found I'm still seeing more similarities. No idea what to make of that of course," he added with a roll of his eyes.

"We all share the same batter, but ours was baked into a pie dish while yours was baked into a box," Pinkie said with a sagely frown, nodding her head as if she'd just said something deeply meaningful. For all he knew, she had and he just didn't have the capacity to understand it. Then again, down that road lay madness so perhaps it was best he didn't.

"Excuse me, is there a particular reason you all are here?" asked Luna impatiently. "I need to go lodge a complaint with the police department before Truth begins thinking it's permissible to accost students in a school."

"Wait, what precisely did he do?" asked Rarity.

Luna's face set into a grimace. "I suppose it would be best if you all knew so you can be on the lookout. He was on campus just before lunch posing as a college recruiter and recorded his conversations with students. He singled out some in particular who were in the video. I can only imagine where he got them, but he had files with materials related to their preferred universities he used to lure them into talking with him. We only found out after one girl was brought to tears when he got frustrated and told her she'd never make it in unless she told him exactly what happened and her friends came to us to complain. We blocked his calls so this time he tried a more direct approach."

Liam grunted under his breath. Now doesn't that sound familiar. He cast his eyes up in contemplation. Wonder if that guy ever regained the use of his hands after Will got a hold of him... I know we had to pay the medical bills but that's all I remember. He noticed that the room had gone deathly silent during his musings.

"That's completely reprehensible! He should be ashamed of himself!" Rarity declared angrily.

"Come on, that has to be illegal!" Dash growled.

Luna shook her head. "Unfortunately no, it's not. Skirting the bounds by the thinnest of hairs, but not actually against the law. Believe me, I checked," she grumbled.

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye out for the creep," Sunset told her confidently.

"I appreciate that," Luna replied with a nod. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Wait, I wanted to discuss how we were going to study the por-" Liam began before Luna cut him off with a sharp look.

"Mr. Harcourt, another time. I have a responsibility to our students to see that man barred from these grounds."

And I have a responsibility to half a million souls. You're not winning this one. "Principal Celestia then-"

"-is talking with the district attorney to see if there are any legal options available to us other than barring him from the grounds for disturbing the peace. It can wait Mr. Harcourt," she said, pushing past him towards the door.

There are lives on the line you-

A pair of hands from two different people grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. "Sorry to bother you Vice-Principal Luna," Sunset said from his right.

"He's just very eager to start working," Rarity added from his left.

"I understand and it is commendable," replied Luna, "We'll be sure to make time for you tomorrow Mr. Harcourt. Please stop by before classes start and we'll try to set up an appointment. Tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

Liam frowned at her, his teeth grinding against each other as he debated his best course of action. He eventually settled on one and sighed, popping his shoulders up a little to let the girls know he didn't need to be restrained anymore. Not that I needed to be in the first place... he thought with some annoyance.

"Sure, that will be fine," he replied as Sunset and Rarity took their hands off him. "Tomorrow."

Luna nodded and walked briskly out of the room, determination etched into the lines of her face. One of the reasons he'd decided not to argue the point with her.

"Sorry you didn't get to make your super sciencey plans with them," said Pinkie.

"We could stay until the Principal finishes her call," Twilight. "Maybe she'd be willing to listen to your plan then?"

Liam shook his head. "No, I thought about it and it will likely take weeks to figure out even the most basic aspects of your portal. Reverse engineering it even longer. A day isn't going to have that big an impact."

"That's... surprising to hear," said Twilight carefully. "You've been kindaaaaa... single minded about it."

Liam looked at the ground. "I still am. Nothing- nothing -matters more. But if there's one thing I am its a realist. It's true that the sooner we get started the sooner we're finished but that does not mean it's going to be shorter or easier. The work will take what it takes," he said with a sigh. "Something you'll learn when you get older."

"Awwww, cheer up!" said Pinkie, "This just means you'll have another day to spend making friends and having fun!"

Liam gave her a deadpan look. "I was assaulted by two students and possibly created a permanent rift between myself and Fluttershy over something I have no control over. Today has not been what I would call 'fun'."

Pinkie shrugged. "So you're in the red today. Just means we'll have to work twice as hard tomorrow to bring you back up into a net positive level of fun and happiness. As for Fluttershy," she murmured, tapping a finger against her lip while squinting at the ceiling. "Hmmmmm...we'll work on it," she decided with a shrug. "She just needs to remember you're a friend."

Liam rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but grin a little. "Just... don't go overboard for my sake. I'm here to work, not to have fun. I appreciate the sentiment though."

"Hmmmm... since you can't talk to the Luna or Celestia today why don't we go take a closer look at the portal? It may give you ideas about what you want to look at in detail or talk to them about," Twilight suggested.

"Indeed, that sounds like a marvelous idea," Rarity added in agreement. "Something to take all our minds off of today's stress and fatigue- darling, what's so funny?"

Liam shook his head. "Nothing, engineering joke. That sounds like a great idea Twilight. I wanted to talk to you and Sunset about the equipment we'll be using anyway so we'll do that on the way over."

"I-... sure, don't think there's much else we can do," Sunset said with a faint grimace. Liam gave her a quick glance out of the corner of his eye.

No idea what that's about either. He chuckled to himself. That should be my new motto here. 'I don't understand anything so screw everything, I'm going home.' He rolled his eyes at his bad joke as the rest of the girls filed out of the office ahead of him.

The walk to the front of the school and the statue was mercifully uneventful apart from some small talk about how classes had gone, complete with a revisit of their shared final period and his antics in there. Honestly, he'd enjoyed that class simply because he remembered it. The others he'd done nothing besides putting together lists of things for the team off planet to begin producing for them and some ideas to check with regards to the portal. A small part of him took some joy in Rarity and Pinkie ribbing Rainbow Dash for her own role in making the class memorable. Thankfully none of that didn't include any further discussion of the two asshats he'd run into or their revelation from lunch. It wasn't long before they were pushing open the main doors of the school and stepping out into the hot evening of late summer Canterlot.

"So you think you got the gist of it now?" he asked Sunset and Twilight who were currently walking with him while the rest of the group talked on their own just a foot or two away.

"Yeah, I'm just amazed at what you've got with you honestly. Why would you have a better lab than most colleges on an 'embassy' ship?" asked Sunset.

Liam held up a finger. "We have a driving principle within the Legion. Every ship larger than a shuttle, roughly anything with a crew of about ten, was designed to be able to entirely restart the Legion from anywhere. Every one has the tool suite needed to build a manufacturing base and create more Legionnaires. We've got three star systems besides our own where we sent a large construction ship to begin the process there like we did in our own." He paused and shook his hand side to side. "Well, two I should say. One turned out to be a dud with no planets or asteroids to work with."

Twilight turned to him excitedly. "So that's what you meant by 'getting our industrial base up and going again'! I thought you were just going to try to repair the Celestia and go home with that but... you sent it out there to rebuild, didn't you?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah, they'll start tearing apart some rocks for the basics and start with the equipment we need to work on the portal here. After that they'll be spending time building up ships and personnel in case we need more to make our own portal happen."

"Wait, there're gonna be more'a ya?!"

Liam closed his eyes tightly. "You won't ever see them Applejack, there's no need for them to come down to the planet. They'll be staying on our ships."

"They better not! The five'a ya are already more'n enough," she replied grouchily.

"C-could we maybe, you know-" Twilight began then paused when he started chuckling.

"Twilight, I promise you that if we still haven't figured out the portal by the point they're up and running then you're all invited to the launching of the first new ship. Least I can do for all the help you've given us."

Twilight's grin threatened to split her face as she bounced up and down on her toes.

"Oh sweet!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "That will be so cool! First people on a real starship-"

"Pass. Yer not getting me anywhere near one of those things," Applejack interjected, to no surprise to him.

Twilight turned to face her in shocked disappointment. "Applejack, you can't! When else are you going to get a chance-"

"Okay, change of subject," he muttered to himself. "On to..." he trailed off, staring ahead at THE object of all his focus. He could hear the girls talking but every sound was muted. He'd only given it a glance the last time he'd come here with Sunset and Rarity. Now...

The sun was still high in the sky, though the first reddish glow of evening was beginning to descend. The statue was gone still, only a pair of small protrusions on the top of the pedestal marking where it had stood. Below that... was nothing. The front surface facing the school looked like plain stone, the same as the rest of the base. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but certainly something.

He began walking towards it, step after step, purposeful in his stride. He paused now and then, looking around at the school and the grounds, tilting from one side to the other, trying to get a hint of what was currently hidden from his comprehension. The closer he got and still saw nothing out of the ordinary the more wary and uncomfortable he began to grow. Around ten meters from it he began to feel his skin crawl, as if he'd suddenly gotten a mild case of full body pins and needles. He moved another meter closer and felt a chill pass over him, stopping him in his tracks while he shivered briefly. He frowned and pushed forward more slowly this time. Another meter and a sense of nervous anxiety began to overtake him. The air felt charged with something he couldn't describe and his body ached with it. He glanced down for a moment then immediately did a double take. The hairs on his arms were standing straight up but far more worryingly they were surrounded by tiny motes of red light. He held up his arm and moved it closer to the pedestal, eyes widening as the motes grew stronger. He leaned forward and a spark passed between his fingers, causing him to curse and withdraw it. He stared down at his now shaking arm then looked back at the featureless face of stone not five meters ahead of him. Slowly, one step after the other, he backed away from it. Distant voices flitted about him saying words he failed to fully register.

"Liam? Hey, Liam, what's wrong?"

"Darling, is something the matter?

"Hey, y'all alright? What the heck is he doin'..."

"Looks like he's practicing for the drama club. Oooh! I wonder if they asked him to join! I bet he'd be great! I knew he'd make friends in no time!"

"I don't think that's it Pinkie...

He jumped as a hand fell lightly upon his shoulder. He spun around to find Sunset holding him in a very worried gaze. "Liam? What's wrong?"

His mouth moved wordlessly for a second as his brain tried to process information rationally again. He anxiously leaned away from her, trying to get more space around him. Unfortunately this moved him closer to the statue again and the sudden rush of hostile sensations jolted his mind back to life.

"Fine! I-I'm fine... I'm... not doing that again," he said, stepping forward past her and away from the pedestal before falling to his knees. She gave him a very confused look then turned her head back and forth between him and the base of the broken statue.

"Liam, what happened? You look terrible," she asked, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder again.

He shook his head, holding her gaze with pleading eyes.

"Not here. We- we need to go. Something- ...something coming off that thing was making my senses go nuts."

Sunset recoiled in surprise and turned to stare at the portal. The rest of her friends rushed over as they began backing away from it.

"Liam? Darling, what's wrong? Liam! Sunset, what's going on? What happened?" Rarity asked, putting a hand on his shaking back. He tensed at the contact against his still burning skin, slowly relaxing as the electric tingle began to dissipate.

"I don't know, he said the portal was making him feel something bad or..." she said with a quick shrug.

"Dude, you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked

Liam shook his head then coughed and wheezed. "No, no I'm not. Whatever that thing is, it's putting out some kind of field that's making my skin crawl. The closer I got the more intense it became."

"Wait, what?"

Liam willed himself to look at the source of his pain through clenched eyes. "I'm betting it's putting out a huge electric field. Expansion fields were popping up all around me. That or something more exotic like..." He realized he'd just inadvertently given away the operation method of their tech and prayed that none of them noticed.

"You think it could be from the magic?" asked Pinkie Pie.

Liam went rigid, even his small shakes diminishing to near nothing. He stared at the ground, thinking, debating, denying. After a second or two...

"Maybe."

Sunset and Twilight helped steady him as he rose to his feet. He turned to glare at the statue's base again and stopped when he noticed a number of bystanders and local residents watching him with concern as they walked past the school.

"Get me back to the others."

"Liam, darling, you're hardly in shape to go anywhere right-"

"Rarity, stop. Help me get somewhere away from that thing and out of sight. Please," he begged her and the others.

Her eyes widened for a moment. "Right. We'll get you back to the farm. Applejack, my car's closer, we'll meet you there. Go ahead and find your brother and sister, let them know what's happening."

Applejack nodded without a word. Even she seemed unnerved and concerned over what had happened to him.

"Sunset, Rainbow Dash, could you help me with him?" Rarity asked as she headed for the front parking lot. The two requested each pulled one of his arms over their shoulders and started walking after her. Liam nudged Sunset on her back with his right elbow.

"My phone, in the pocket. Call Will, let him know we're coming," he requested when she looked at him.

She nodded then reached a hand down into his cargo shorts side pocket and pulled it out.

"You've got it locked."

"It's a pattern swipe. From the bottom middle go up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right. Don't worry about B, A, or start," he said with a faint grin as his senses began slackening. He was suddenly completely exhausted where only a minute or two ago he'd had nothing but energy.

"What?" Sunset asked only to inhale sharply when she saw his state. "Oh shoot! Up, up, down, down... got it. Contacts... there! Come on, come on... Will! It's Sunset, we're bringing Liam home- I don't know, he had a bad reaction to getting close to the portal... no, no idea what it was-"

Liam didn't hear anything more, having finally losing his war of attrition against unconsciousness.

"All forces stand down to readiness level four, return to your original posts," General Thistle said into the operations room microphone. He released the mic button and turned around, presenting his deep scowl to Keeper Watch. "Looks like that's one thing we don't have to worry about at least."

"Indeed. It's what we expected but it's a relief to see that nothing's changed after that fiasco with Magic," she said as around them the clamor of the last few minutes began to die down. Lesser operators and functionaries began to return to their posts outside of the darkened room and alarms that had been blaring moments early cut out, leaving the cavernous space almost deathly quiet. From her position at the back she watched the huge monitor at the front of the room. The center of the screen showed a view from a hidden camera in a tree across from the front of the school. Around it smaller windows tracked individuals and couples wandering past. At first glance they all looked normal until you looked more closely and noticed that they all would touch their right ear from time to time and their clothes bulged ever so slightly around their backs and hips. They began to move away from the school, breaking off to go to homes, restaurants, and other usual stops for "normal" people. That out of the way she turned a small and very rare grin to the General.

"He can't pass through that link anymore than our 'guest' can."

Thistle nodded and rubbed his chin. "Though it might have solved a number of our problems if he had made it. The other side would be far better equipped to-"

Keeper Watch strode up to Thistle fast enough to leave a faint breeze. A of the closest people to them made a point of being very interested in their own duties as she pointed a finger up at him, just below his chin.

"Nothing- NOTHING -ever crosses over to that side. Is that clear? This is the frontline and we will fight It here," she hissed, jabbing her outstretched finger down at the floor. "Is. That. Clear?"

General Thistle didn't budge an inch, only slightly raising an eyebrow at her.

"Crystal, Keeper."

Watch scrutinized him for a few more seconds than stepped back and turned towards a side room. "Good. Do you have that report prepared on where on Earth that damn airship might have gotten to?"

Thistle nodded and followed her. "We have some theories of probable hiding locations based upon its trajectory before we lost it outside the city. As long as it stays separated from the Primary I believe we can afford to divert some resources towards locating it. Especially when he seems unaware of his intended purpose here."

"Small blessings for sure, thank Harmony," Watch agreed. "Even better that he's isolated himself in order to curry favor with the Paragons now-"

"Ma'am."

Watch turned, frowning at the interruption. It was about the most unwise thing she could think of for anyone to do at the moment and intended to let them know. She stopped though when she saw the target of her ire: a pink skinned girl with wavy goldenrod hair tied from the bangs back into a short ponytail while the sides were left to hang to below her ears. A very young look but it suited her face. It was that same face though that stopped her berating the young woman. Her eyes were anxious and red, as if she'd recently been crying, and her mouth trembled a little.

"Yes, Communications Specialist Song?" she asked the shaking girl, quickly glancing down at her uniform's insignia above her left breast to get her name and rank. She noted with sympathy that she was a recent transfer from headquarters and almost certainly had no way of knowing what she was getting herself into.

"A-Agent Trapper is h-here at your request Keeper?" she stammered. Watch's eyes widened the smallest of fractions.

"Wait, Trapper is here? Watch, you brought that maniac to Canterlot?" Thistle demanded.

"I see, thank you for informing me Specialist. Where is he now?" she asked darkly.

Specialist Song, full name Cherished Song as noted on her insignia, swallowed and glanced between her and Thistle. Mostly towards Thistle she noted with mild annoyance. "Specialist Song?"

"H-He's in the barracks-"

"Watch! If he's so much as-" Thistle hissed at her.

She held up a hand and sighed before giving him a look. "Anything he does is his my responsibility, I am aware. Thank you, Specialist Song. You are dismissed. And please feel free to go out of your way to avoid the Agent in the future," she said gently with a small, sad smile.

Cherished Song's eyes teared up and she sniffed, giving Watch a grateful smile and textbook salute before heading off quickly. In the opposite direction from the barracks Watch noted with growing anger.

General Thistle watched her go then glared at Watch out of the corner of his eye. "She won't be the last, not by a long shot, not now that that thing is here."

"I know, that's why I intend to send him out again immediately."

Thistle frowned and turned to her, arms crossed over his chest. "And where exactly will that be?"

"Out 'hunting' the Target."

Thistle's eyes shot open. He clenched his fists and dropped them to his sides. "That is sick Watch. That is absolutely sick."

Watch glared back at him. "Yes, but we don't have many other options. I was given authority by the council to enact the isolation plan and I intend to carry it out in the most effective manner I can. Trapper has the most ideal set of skills to be found in a single operative. I could get the same without him but would need two or three agents, any one of whom could tip our hand or slip up. Trapper won't, that's what he's famous for."

Thistle slowly twisted his head from side to side then angrily stuck a finger into her shoulder. "No Watch, he's famous for his crimes which the Council sees fit to forgive again and again."

"Because he always gets results," Watch replied. "Right now? Under these circumstances? That's what we need."

"Watch, I'm telling you this now. If I can pin a single act, a single misstep to him then I will bury him so deep he won't see the light of day again."

Watch reached out and grabbed his finger then threw it back at him. "After this is over you can do as you like but not a moment before, not without my explicit command. Operational authority now rests in me by the latest Council decree."

Thistle narrowed his eyes. "Hmm. So it does. Convenient."

Watch rolled her eyes and gave him a lidded glare. "Just send your report on the ship to my office. I have a tool to go shape and a weapon to be aimed."

Watch spun on her heels and headed out of the dark command center. She strode quickly and purposefully, parting the crowds in the hall without a word on sheer presence alone. It was no more than a minute later that she found herself outside the door to her office. She went to input her code into the enlarged door handle then froze as her touch caused it to swing inwards slightly.

"Welcome back Keeper. Hope all the fuss wasn't over anything too serious."

Watch closed her eyes and marshaled the deep frown from her face before opening the door and stepping through. Seated in her chair, legs hanging over one arm while he lounged against the other, was Trapper. Not his original name but one he had chosen for himself which said everything Watch needed to understand him. He lolled his head back against her seat with a Cheshire grin and waved a pale white skinned hand lazily. The other hand he swept once through his unruly, almost windswept silver hair letting it fall back down to the base of his neck then hung the hand over the backrest. In contrast to his his disheveled grooming his white and blue dress uniform was spotless and sharp, which somehow made him look even more predatory. Though that was nothing compared to the effect his eyes had. They had a greyish silver tone in a near match to his hair but it was hard to tell. He showed very little of them, choosing instead to leave them in a permanently narrowed state that made him look more akin to a cat than the young man he was.

"Get out of my seat Agent," Watch said icily.

"Sure thing Ma'am." Trapper slowly unfolded himself from her chair and in the strangest manner she'd ever witnessed and seemed to flow in a perpetual fall. He stopped when he met the wall and pooled against it in a relaxed lean, hands in his pants pockets and that grin still on his face.

"You read the briefing?" Watch said as she walked to her seat and made a show of brushing it off a few times before sitting down in it.

Trapper shook his head side to side lazily as if he head simply floated on his shoulders without any connection. "No."

Watch pinned him with a glare. "Excuse me?"

"Reading those things doesn't tell you anything. They always leave out the details I need. So I just wait to hear them."

Watch tapped her finger against her desk a few times then pulled out a bound folder and tossed it to him. "Your target. We need his abilities revealed and his plans outed to neutralize him with minimum risk to our security. Your priorities should be finding out what abilities he's been granted as well as locations he will frequent that we can make use of in that order. Luckily for you a major thorn in our side recently left, leaving him much more exposed." He paused in undoing the binding and gave her a sullen look.

"I don't do 'thorns'."

Watch smirked ever so slightly at his petulant whining. Despite his skill he had all the impatience and ego of his age and none of the presence of mind to conceal it. "We'll be handling that angle, you'll be doing what you do best." That seemed to cheer him up and his grin reappeared as he finished undoing the cord around the folder and removed it's contents. He scanned the first page then flicked his eyes back towards her.

"Really? This? He's the most normal person looking I've ever seen. And somehow you seriously don't even have a single clue about what he can do? He hasn't made a single move since he got here? If this is all you've got for me then send me back. I was doing way more interesting work out in the frontier," he said discontentedly while waving the page in the air. Watch raised an eyebrow then rested her elbows on her desk and leaned her chin into her clasped hands.

"Read the rest before you go spouting off anything more."

Trapper gave her an intensely put-upon look then glanced down at the second page. He let out a long whistle and tapped a finger against it. "Huh. Okay, that's new," he said, flipping a few more pages. "So he's got some fancy toys. Still doesn't seem up to my tastes, why not get your soldier boys to handle-" he paused as he flipped through the last few pages. His eyes widened and his grin grew. "I'll take the job."

"Good. You didn't have a choice. You've been reassigned under my chain of command, pursuant to orders given by myself or through intermediaries speaking under my authority."

"Yeah yeah, sure," Trapper said distractedly, flipping a couple pages back and forth. His grin had reached a level that was actually beginning to make Watch feel uncomfortable. He looked back up at her and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. His eyes were if anything narrowed even more while his grin had almost reached his ears.

"When do I start?"

"Soon, no more than a few days, next Monday at the latest. We're establishing your background and credentials now and putting the required documents in place so no questions are asked."

Trapper nodded. "Sure, I don't mind waiting. Just gives me more time to plan and do some prep work," he said, tapping his finger against one of the documents again. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence afterwards which seemed to drag on forever. Watch was about to tell him he was dismissed when his stomach rumbled loudly. He looked down in surprise then chuckled.

"Forgot it was getting close to the dinner call. Mind if I take this?" Trapper asked, flapping the folder back and forth.

"A copy has been left in your quarters," Watch answered, holding out her hand for her original set.

Trapper pouted a little as he returned it to her then slowly turned about and headed for the door. "Guess I'll go do some reading until dinner's ready then. Good thing I have something to hold me over," he said, pulling something out of his pocket and unwrapping the plastic wrap around it. Almost immediately a pungent odor filled her large office like a poison cloud. Watch forced herself not to heave but couldn't keep her lip from twitching in absolute disgust and loathing. Trapper bit a large chunk off the offending item, chewing slowly with obvious enjoyment then swallowed. He moaned in the back of his throat then pointed it towards her.

"Want some jerky?"

"Get out Trapper," Watch snarled.

Trapper snorted and turned around, popping the remainder into his mouth. "Suit yourself Keeper. Looking forward to working with you!" he called out as the door closed behind him.

Watch's hands balled into fists as she rose from her seat and made her way to the room's controls, setting the air controls to max to try to remove the lingering scent of his depravity from her office. She skulked back to her seat and dropped bodily into her chair. She spent the next five minutes trying to write her post-action report on the evening's incident while ignoring her screaming senses until she finally couldn't take anymore. She slammed a fist down on her desk and glared at her office door, her pupils mere pinpricks.

"SAVAGES!"

Liam awoke to a never ending series of jarring motions that made his body throw up complaint after complaint. This was closely followed by a splitting headache as his brain threw up its non-existent hands in frustration and began shouting back at the rest of him. He groaned with the effort of trying to raise his head and let it fall back again.

Solid effort, take ten, you've earned it, he told himself.

Another sharp bump dashed any hopes he had of resting again and he opened an aching eye to see just what the hell was going on. He immediately regretted it when a beam of blazing red light scoured itself across his retina. He clenched it shut again with a hiss.

"Motherfu-"

"He's awake! Liam, how are you feeling?"

He opened his other eye the merest sliver and directed it towards the sound. Sunset Shimmer was twisted around in the passenger seat of a car he didn't recognize, though judging by the additional styling on the market interior he didn't think he'd need more than one guess to get to get it right. The other voice that joined Sunset's made it a pretty safe bet as well.

"Oh my, that's a relief! You've been out for the better part of a half hour and we were beginning to worry," Rarity said while briefly glancing over her shoulder before quickly facing forward again. Liam opened his other eye, making sure to keep it out of the death ray of doom it had been subjected to, and looked out the window. Red light flickered through a haze of holes set against a hazy darkness. His brain activated a few more cells and he realized it was a near complete tunnel of trees they were driving through. An application of memory combined with their very rough ride told him they were on the final stretch to Sweet Apple Acres. He let his head fall back with a sigh, closing his eyes tightly against the red glow trying to creep through his eyelids.

"It's fine, just feel like I got hit by a truck. A truck made of tazers that's on fire but still a truck. Get hit by one you've been hit by them all."

Sunset chuckled with a relieved undertone. "If you're feeling snarky it can't be too bad then."

Liam snorted. "Sunset, I could be missing limbs and still find the energy to be snarky about it. Did you get a hold of Will?"

"I did," her voice said in his darkened world. "He and the others are waiting for us. Applejack stayed to wait for her siblings and I think the rest aren't too far behind."

"Good... that's good," he said with a tired exhalation then grunted a little as he started to sit up.

"Darling, what on Earth do you think you're doing? Lie back down this instant! This is hardly the time to be pushing yourself!" Rarity said, glancing back at him in her rear view mirror.

"I'm good enough for this and I'd rather they saw me sitting upright when we get there."

"Liam, if this is about making some stupidly stubborn macho show of strength to your friends then I swear I will knock you out again myself and use you as a dummy for my next dress!" Rarity proclaimed loudly, her hands gripping the wheel tight enough he could hear the fabric stretching.

"No, nothing like that. Sheesh. I just want them to know what shape I'm in so they don't needlessly worry when we show up. Otherwise they'll cart me off like an invalid."

Rarity grumbled faintly but didn't add anything more. The remainder of the drive was silent, Rarity and Sunset occasionally looking back at him and he smiling in return as much as he could to reassure them, the rest of the time leaning against the door to steady himself and trying not to grunt or groan in aching pain. After what felt like far longer than it probably was the trees parted. Liam squinted against the sudden increase in evening sun, just making out the small white farmhouse perched atop the hill overlooking the valley and the black and steel figures standing out in front of it. He chuckled to himself as his eyes fell upon a small stockpile of boxes, kits, and what looked like an impromptu stretcher made out of a couple logs and some fabric from somewhere next to them.

Pessimists and worrywarts, the lot of them. No idea where they get it from, he thought with another small chuckle, causing Sunset to look over her shoulder. Liam shook his head. "It's good, just amused at how predictable they can be."

Sunset looked back out the front as they began the climb up the dirt path towards the summit then turned to him again with a small smile. "They seem to really care about you. You've got good friends."

Liam rolled his eyes and gave her a very snarky grin. "They had better! If they didn't care about me then we've got way bigger problems than just being stranded here! That would be a textbook case of self-loathing!"

Rarity frowned for a moment then said, "I can't decide if that was narcissistic or self deprecating."

Liam laughed heartily, or at least tried to until it turned into a jovial coughing fit. "With us? Probably both at the same time," he finally replied as they pulled to a stop. He sighed as Will rushed up to the car and pulled open the door.

"Liam, how bad-"

He waved Will off and gave him a half-lidded smirk. "I'm not dead yet so no, you can't take over."

Will let out a relieved whistle, or at least as close to a whistle as a Legionnaire could make. It was closer to a the sound a bottle made when you blew across the top than anything a flesh and blood human could make. "Oh good, he'll make it. No more responsibilities for me today. You need any help?"

Liam shook his head and pulled himself painfully out of the backseat. Sunset and Rarity got out and offered to help him but he waved them off as well. He needed to see what state he was in for himself. After that he would decide if he needed to be carried in or not. He winced as his feet refused to work properly, each feeling like a block of lead that he had to sling forward for each step.

Okay, so maybe a little bit stupidly stubborn. Too late to go back on it now though.

He made it to the bottom of the steps when Rarity's phone began playing an unfamiliar orchestral piece. "Applejack, we made it to- hold on, what? Darling, what's wrong? I can barely- wait, who's gone missing?"

Rarity gasped loudly, drawing all of their attentions back to her. "What about my sister?! Is she- oh thank heavens. Wait, I didn't mean!- Yes, I understand. We haven't seen her, no-"

Sunset leaned in towards her with a very worried expression. "Rarity, what's wrong? What's happened to Applejack?"

Rarity put her hand over her phone and looked at her with perhaps even more worry. "Applejack can't find Applebloom anywhere at school and no one's seen her since lunch. Sweetie Belle and their friend Scootaloo said she ran out of the building but they don't know why."

"Oh no... that's not good. Do they have any idea where she might have-"

"Actually... she's, uh... she's here," Will said sheepishly.

"She's- I beg your pardon?" Rarity asked incredulously then put her phone back to her mouth. "Applejack, wait- no, she's here... no, we don't know why. Will was just saying-... Applejack, calm down!"

"Will... what happened?" asked Liam as he turned to glower at his first double. He was in no mood to be dealing with anything that even hinted at being a pointless misunderstanding and the way Will had said that reeked of pointlessness and misunderstanding.

Will sighed and beckoned them towards the barn. "Come on, she's in here."

The Liam followed him with Sunset and Rarity, Albrecht, and Alphonse bringing up the rear. A glance over his shoulder confirmed they were acting the same as Will and his scowl deepened. Will yanked a half of the large barn door open, only to be greeted by a shrill cry from out of the dark beyond it.

"I told ya to git! Y'all aren't eatin' any of our animals, ya hear me?! Yer not gettin' another one as long as Ah'm breathin'!"

Liam's face morphed into complete blankness as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Most everything in the barn had been moved to the center, forming a barricading ring into which every animal from Sweet Apple Acres had been shoved it seemed, mostly by stacking smaller atop the larger. At the front of the pile, bedecked in pans, sheet metal, and sacks of grain was a wide eyed and fearful Applebloom. The image was completed by the large sauce pan stuck over her head like a helmet and the far-too-large-for-her-to-wield pitchfork in her hands. Liam held the image in his mind for a second before turning around and summing the day up in a single, all encompassing word...

"Nope."

... then began walking towards the house, completing ignoring the pain in his legs and arms as he climbed the steps up to the front door.

"Liam-" Sunset began.

"Nope," he cut her off as he got to the porch.

"Liam!" Rarity called out.

"Nope!" he called back, yanking the door open into the darkened house with it's still boarded up windows.

"Liam..." Will called out tiredly from outside.

"NOPE! he yelled back as he ascended the stairs to the second story and the guest room he'd been granted by Granny Smith.

He opened the door and slammed it shut in a single fluid motion, not bothering to look back to make sure it had closed before making a beeline for the armored cases and suitcases he'd brought from the Celestia. He opened one after the next, spilling their contents on the floor as he searched through them with restless abandon. He paused as he found what he'd been searching for. He stood back up holding a clean crystal glass in one hand and a bottle of amber liquid in the other, the label on the front declaring it to be the finest of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey recipe. He turned towards the dresser to place the glass down then stopped with his arm outstretched, stared back and forth between it and the bottle in his other hand a few times, then chucked the glass over his head where it landed with a soft thud in a pile of clothes. After a moment of frustrating effort and much cursing he uncorked the bottle then brought it to his lips and took a long, heavy draught from it. He coughed once then wheezed as the spirit began to work it's magic on his empty stomach and tired mind. Somewhere within the depths of his chaotic and rapidly inebriated whirlwind of thoughts a simple idea formed itself.

I expected going to the damn school would bring up bad memories of shitty people and things I can't understand knocking me on my ass but nooooooooo, it had to be a complete repeat crammed into DAY ONE. FUCK YOU MURPHY, FUCK YOU.

He took another pull from the bottle, coughed again, then held it up to examine it. He tilted his head this way and that then held up his other hand and extended a single digit, waving it back and forth in front of him. He nodded in satisfaction then stoppered the bottle and dropped it into the pile of clothes next to his feet where it clinked dangerously against the glass that had also happened to land there. Then, with all the grace and poise of a professional ballet dancer, he spun about and landed face first on the bed. Within ten seconds he was dead to this world and its utter insanity.

Sunset jumped off the sofa as Will walked down the stairs. He talked in hushed whispers with the other two Legionnaires then shook his head and plopped into the single arm chair in the room, causing it to sag and creak dangerously for a moment, while they headed back out through the front door.

"How is he?" asked Rarity

Will sighed. "He's sleeping it off. Not sure how well rested he'll be in the morning though. How's Applebloom?"

"We got some blankets and pillows and eventually got her to fall asleep in there," Sunset said, hugging her chest as she remembered how exhausted and shaky the girl had still been even after she finally got her to calm down.

Will let his head fall back against the seat in relief, eyes staring up at the ceiling. "Good. That's... that's good."

"How did Applebloom find out about his diet though?" Sunset wondered aloud.

"She must have heard at least part of our conversation. Probably sneaking along after us when we left the cafeteria. I'll have to have a talk with Sweetie. I have a sneaking suspicion about who thought that was a fun idea," Rarity replied with a frown.

"Not that it really matters. Cat's out of the bag now," Will groaned.

"Now darling, we don't know that for sure. From the sound of things Applebloom must have run here from school on her own. That's a good six or seven miles or more through some very hilly terrain. Poor thing..."

Will covered his eyes. "She wouldn't even let us bring any water or food to her. Whenever she saw any of us and it was a fresh screaming fit. We were maybe thirty minutes away from calling an ambulance then making ourselves scarce when you arrived."

"Oh my word..." Rarity whispered in horror. "What in heaven's name could have possessed her to do something like this?"

Will lowered his hand and gave her a deadpan stare. "I think the screams of 'don't eat our animals' leave little to the imagination, don't you?"

Rarity blushed faintly but shook her head all the same. "No- well, I mean yes, obviously she's upset at that but-... why such a strong reaction from her?"

Will threw up his hands. "How should I know?! So far her family seems to be a case study in sudden mental snaps! Next thing we know Granny will kick us out because Liam thought her favorite recipe tastes like crap or something!"

"Will!" Rarity exclaimed.

"No, not now. I'm not in the mood," he said, skulking back up the stairs wit his head held low. Sunset grimaced at the sound of a door opening and closing followed by some muffled shouting before silence fell again.

This is way out of my league, she thought despondently. This isn't some simple argument to resolve... they're just too different and everyone's on edge because of it. I need help. Her eyes focused with determination as she pulled her backpack over to her and pulled out a large red book emblazoned with a glowing sun on the cover. She flipped to the next unused page and pressed her pencil against it.

Dear Princess Twilight...

Author's Note

Me: Oh man, I'm going to have so much free time over the long winter break from work! I should be able to pump out at least a chapter each for Mirror and Steelheart!

Life: Listen, I'mma let you finish buuuuuut... here's the flu, here's more winter car troubles, here's friend circle drama, here's surprise family visits, and here's a slow connection at your parent's house. Oh and more of your friends are getting married just to age you.

Me: :pinkiecrazy:

Update 1/10/18: Added an extra section to the end that I felt was needed to transition into the next chapter more effectively.

Ch. 12: Watcher in the Dark

Just as he was beginning to stir, Liam's long, fitful rest came to an end in blazing agony.

White hot pain lanced through his head and his skin crawled stung and burned. His screams for an end went unanswered and unheard, even by him. But he could still feel the rasping rush of air through his throat. On and on, past what his lungs could have possibly managed. A small recess of his mind wondered how he was managing it but its voice was lost to the fury coming from the rest of him.

Oh no... another. When will he let it end?

The voice whispered through his mind, riding the currents and violent eddies, gently floating past the fires and pain like a snowflake in a burning house miraculously failing to melt. Everywhere it went turned to frigid cold. No, not just cold. Numb. Utter lack of sensation. Dead and cold.

I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you. I'm so sorry... I wish I could make it stop. This is all I can do for now... If only you could stand before me, I could end it for you.

It slipped through cracks, edges between thoughts that conjured up memories. Every now and then it would pause, hovering between the anger and sorrow and joy and disgust and hope, and inspect something. It continued backward, burrowing deeper to the darkest part of his core, a place he had long shut away and tried to forget with some effect. As it dug it began to glow an eerie tone, a haunting, fractal amethyst of sparks and lines. Finally, it arrived at the center, the core, the beginning.

You poor thing, what did he find in... oh. OH... does... does he know? No... no, he couldn't. He would never have chosen you if he knew. He must be weaker than I thought if he couldn't feel the it, couldn't tell. He's- this opens him up but... is it enough? If they can't do it, if this one fails like the others then... then maybe there's still a chance... a tiny infinitesimal chance... please, you have to find me. You could be everything. Please... you must FIND ME.

The faint glow burst into a searing brilliant aura, as if he was standing inside a geode lit by a captive star. Suddenly his eyes were bathed in fire and his skin crawled in the searing heat. Terrible unholy rays pierced through every defense he could put up, seeking out his ailing senses. Finally he found some reprieve by curling up into a ball. He willed the world around him to end into complete nothing and release him at last to no avail.

"Morning sunshine! Beautiful day starting out there!"

Liam hissed at the venomously cheerful voice trying to pry him from his fortress of slumber. He pulled the comforter up higher over his head and cracked open an eye. Even through the thick fabric the sunlight was torment and he hissed again on general principles.

"Well what did you expect after half a bottle of Jack? Didn't work the last time you tried that or the five times before that either."

A clenched fist slowly rose out from below the bedding. It paused as it met the heat from a particularly focused beam of light then withdrew slightly. A single digit sprang up as if on a spring then the entire hand shot back under.

"I expected you to let me sleep it off you ass," he growled. He was answered by a derisive snort.

"Get up, get over it, we've got work and so do you. Hangover or not. Coffee, Advil, and a Stim are on the dresser so try to not look hungover when you get downstairs."

The sound of his lifelong companion's padded footsteps tapped across the room followed by a creak as he opened and closed the door behind him. Liam lay there for another minute or two before groaning in defeat. He slowly untangled himself from the knotted ball he'd curled up in and half rose, half fell out of the bed.

"Sonofa-" he muttered as the world spun around him, even with his eyes closed. "Faster metabolism my ass. I barely had-" His foot tapped against something that clinked and he cracked open an eye to see what was obstructing his path. It was a nearly half empty bottle, resting next to an empty crystal glass. "No, he's got to be messing with me because I only took one- Okay, two chugs-... okay, two big chugs, but... that wasn't... awwww crap."

He turned his head up, eyes held tightly shut so he could better visualize the target of his greatest ire. "Past-Liam? You sir, are a dick."

He staggered over to the dresser, worn with age and use, the front having turned nearly cream in tone while the back and sides were a more vivid mahogany, a testament to the years and decades it had weathered under the sun. He didn't dare open his eyes, not as long as the sun and all light in general still existed. His last few steps were hurried and driven with great purpose, led on by his nose and a still aching head. He fumbled around a bit until his fingers brushed hot ceramic. His hands coiled around it like a vice then lifted the warm cup off the dresser, clenching it like the holiest of idols.

Oh sweet dark clarity. Will, you better have... he prayed, lifting the rim to his lips and tipping it back. His eyes clenched shut even harder and he almost dropped the cup from his sudden cough.

Black as night and heavier than sin! Will, you wonderful, glorious bastard! I don't pay you enough! You're going up from nothing to a dollar, I swear it!

He threw back a heavy draught from the cup then all but slammed it back down on the faded wood top with a loud thunk and a small pair of accompanying clinks. He swept his hand around until it passed over a pair of small disks then threw them into his mouth in one motion, spilling a little of the thick liquid from the corners of his lips.

Should have taken the pills first. Coffee. Wouldn't have spilled then. Coffee. Doesn't matter. COFFEE.

A fog descended over his mind as the tag team of pain relief and concentrated endorphin and serotonin spread through him. When he rose from it he felt almost alive again. He risked opening an eye and winced at the brightness of the light around him. Will had been right though, the view through his window was picturesque and pastoral, the sun filtering through a section of undamaged orchard casting a warm green yellow glow on everything. He looked down to see what shape he was in and was surprised to find he'd managed to dress himself after a fashion during his coffee induced stupor. His shirt was on backwards over his monitoring underlayer but other than that he was good to go.

Praise be to the gods of this darkest holy elixir!

He finished the remainder of the cup then gently placed it back down on the dresser, noting with some annoyance that he'd spilled a little the last time he'd put it down. He sighed and looked around for something to wipe it up with. He vaguely remembered sifting through his things last night but the room was spotless now, Will's handiwork no doubt. It brought a small smile to his face as he pulled yesterday's shirt out of the hamper by the door and used it to wipe away his mess. He was mostly successful, though the liquid had been so dark what little had seeped into the wood was still visible. Hardly noticeable really, just another mark of history on something covered by them. He tossed the shirt back in then fixed his clothes and opened the door.

"Hey," said Applejack, leaning against the opposite wall with her arms crossed.

Liam froze in place, door only half opened. Oh no, nononono, not now. I'm enjoying my drug induced happiness and clarity and you are not taking that from me.

"Applejack, please, whatever it is it can wai-"

"I'm... rnnn... I'm sorry for what happened to ya yesterday."

Liam's mouth kept forming the rest of his words even as he stopped speaking them. He blinked a few times and slowly finished opening the door the rest of the way.

"I uh... really?"

Applejack grimaced then sighed. "What happened with ma sister wasn't- ...yer not ta blame for that is what Ah'm tryin' ta say. Ya couldn'a known. That she was there ta hear ya or that she'd pull that foolishness, I mean."

"I-Is she okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, she's okay, just sleeping is all. Doubt she's gonna be in any shape to go to school today."

Liam pinched his lips into a thin line, wondering how best to word his next question. "Applejack, I know my needs were a bit shocking to everyone but why-"

"Don't go reminding me, you'll make me wanna skip breakfast and Granny made pancakes."

Liam started to roll his eyes then stopped himself. Out of my control so I don't know what you want me to do about it. "What I meant was-"

"Timberwolves."

He blinked. "Timber- what?"

"Couple years back, maybe three, one of the sows had a litter of piglets. One of 'em and Applebloom took a shine ta each another. Best friends from the start, played together, napped together sometimes. A beautiful thing ta see." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Well, next summer we get home from a trip to see family and all the animals was stirred up real bad. A timberwolf had got into the pen and... it wasn't a good sight at all. Applebloom was a wreck for weeks."

"Timberwolf?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, big grey and brown wolf with green eyes. Nasty critters, mean as sin and almost impossible ta spot if they're hiding in the woods or brush. They're why Big Mac's allowed ta have the shotgun here."

"Oh! That's- I'm sorry."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, Mac and I had ta bury the poor thing and a few others. And ever since Applebloom's been terrified of anything happening to the rest of the animals."

They were both silent for a bit, neither looking directly at the other. Then Applejack shrugged and pushed off the wall. "Anyway, that's why what happened yesterday ain't entirely yer fault." Her gaze darkened and she pointed a finger at him. "Now ya go talking 'bout eating things 'round her and I'll make sure ya learn ta keep yer mouth shut," she said pointedly, inclining her head towards him with a raised eyebrow. "Got it?"

"Yeah," Liam replied. Applejack tapped the fingers of one hand against her arms a few times then released them and started for the stairs. "Hey, AJ?"

She spun around quickly, her eyes staring daggers at him. "Let's get one thing straight. Only mah friends get ta call me that. It's Applejack ta you," she said with enough venom to make him step back a little.

"Okay, okay, I got it, but... why did you tell me instead of waiting for one of the others to do it? Actually, why don't you blame me? I can think of five different ways to spin what happened so it sounds like it was my fault and you can't stand me so..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Only five? Would'a thought you'a all people could come up with more." Her expression hardened slightly. "And I don't like you implying I have ta 'spin' or make up reasons or anything where yer involved. You do just fine makin'em on yer own. That said... what was it ya asked? Why didn't I just leave ya ta hang in the breeze or make a fool of yourself again?"

He nodded. "Not how I would have put it but... yes."

Applejack was silent for a few moments, her eyes locked on the floor between them. "Because if I didn't ya'd screw up and scare Applebloom again, no doubt in mah mind. And I'm not one ta lead others astray. That just causes more problems later when they find out, just ask Sunset. She'll tell ya all about why that's a bad idea and why ya should get outta the business of it pronto. Best way to deal with things is face ta face, not hide things and lie. That doesn't get ya nowhere." They were both silent for a second or two then she turned and took a few steps towards the stairs before pausing again. "Something you might wanna think about," she added before starting again.

His reply stopped her at the top of the stairs. "Applejack... how do I say this, ummm... listen, I come from a completely different world. Not just the universe thing I mean. Politics and presentation, it just doesn't work like that. But I'm trying to set aside those habits while I'm here. They were never meant for you all and so far they haven't seemed to do much for us here," he said earnestly.

She stood still for a moment before waving a hand dismissively then disappeared out of sight.

He leaned against the door frame while watching the now empty staircase. His eyelids felt heavy and he blinked a few times before stretching out suddenly tired muscles. He hadn't realized he'd been tensed up during their whole talk but looking back realized just how shocked he'd been. He'd probably been glowing with tiny flickering red motes all around him as well. He doubted Applejack had missed that either though he hoped she hadn't figured out the cause yet. He'd had to quit playing poker with Will when he realized that he could have the best poker face in the world but that didn't mean anything when your opponent could pick out redshift in a room's lighting.

He looked down at his hands and shook them a few times to really get the tension out of them, thinking back over the unexpected encounter.

We could really use allies right now. Or better yet? Friends

Liam cast his eyes up, not looking at anything in particular as Alphonse's words played through his head. "Well we're not there yet... but...maybe we finally hit rock bottom yesterday. Only place left to go is up," he whispered, not daring to actually believe his words. Still, it was the best talk he'd ever had with her.

Which says a lot since she still threatened me again, he noted with a morose chuckle.

He shook his head then took one step forward before pausing. Something tugged at the back of his mind, demanding his attention. His head whipped panned around, stopping when his eyes fell on a framed picture opposite his door. It was of a middle aged Granny Smith sitting in a field of flowers with a young child held in her arms, the skin and hair color identifying a very young Big Mac. It wasn't a new picture, he'd spent a good minute marveling at it and every other picture in the house at various points over the past weekend. But this time he was drawn to it. Not by the sight of the younger granny and baby Mac, but by the flowers. A veritable mat of small, white purple flowers surrounding them. They seemed so familiar... and aggravating. No, not just aggravating, ENRAGING. The sight of those pale purple splotches made the corner of his mouth twitch into a silent snarl and the hairs of his arms stand on end.

Why? Why were those flowers, those damn purple blooms suddenly driving him up the wall? It was if they were yelling at him, trying to pull him somewhere he didn't want to go-

"Mr. Harcourt! Breakfast's ready!" Granny's thick accent echoed up from below, breaking the spell. He blinked then shook his head.

"Coming," he called in reply, stealing a final glance at the photo with its sickening color palette before shaking his head again in confusion and headed down the stairs.

As soon as she found her friends Pinkie realized she was going to have a rough morning. A really rough morning. A "super-duper-scratchy-mile-long-sandpaper-playground-slide" kind of morning.

What was sad was it had been a "super-duper normal" morning up till then. Maud had driven her and her sisters as usual, their family not really able to afford more than two cars, one for her parents to get to the quarry and one for Maud to drive the three of them to school and then to her job at the museum. Just like normal she'd sprung from the passenger seat and gone looking for her friends, old and new. Just like normal she'd said "Hi!" and "Hey!" and "Hello!" and "How ya doin'?" to everyone she'd seen on the way, stopping to wish Mint Breeze a happy birthday and Flash and Derpy a happy five day anniversary which was even better then she'd expected because they'd been so surprised and surprise wishes when you didn't think anyone knew were always better than normal wishes!

Then she'd rounded the last corner in the last hall she hadn't checked and found her friends all circled up and huddled close together. Well, all of her friends but one. Fluttershy was headed her way with a saddened scowl and tears in the corners of her eyes.

She definitely needed a happy morning greeting.

"Heya Fluttershy-"

Fluttershy jerked her head to the side, looking away from her as she stormed past. Pinkie felt her hair deflate a little as she turned, trying to think of something quickly to cheer her up and bring a smile to her face. But to do that she needed to know why she was so upset. Hopefully it wasn't anything bad like her car dying or her animals getting a cold or her brother coming back from boarding school. Those first two would be hard for her to find ways to cheer her up. The last one was one of only three items she'd filed under "do not throw party for" if it occurred, the others being natural disasters and the end of the world. She really hoped it wasn't that one. Not throwing a party to celebrate an event went against everything she stood for. Plus her brother was too much of a sleaze for even her to want to cheer up. She didn't think of a solution in time as Fluttershy rounded the same corner she'd just rounded and hurried away.

"Hey Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said gloomily when she's made it to them.

"Hey there girls-and-Liam!" she said cheerfully.

"Hey Pinkie," Liam replied equally gloomily to Dashie's gloom and doom.

"Awwww... why the long faces?" she asked, dragging her hands down her face for emphasis.

"We've... hit a bit of a snag I'm afraid," Rarity replied while biting her thumbnail.

Pinkie frowned. "A snag? Oh! Did Fluttershy rip her skirt? I'll let her wear mine if she doesn't like the side split look."

"No Pinkie it's- wait, you're offering her your skirt? Do you have another on you?" asked a very confused Twilight. Pinkie giggled and shook her head.

"Of course not silly. Why would I have a second skirt with me? That's just crazy and over the top. Come on Twilight," she replied, patting her friend on her shoulder. Sometimes Twilight got the strangest ideas. It must have something to do with her genius brain. She'd always heard that genius was just a short step away from madness and Pinkie was pretty sure Twilight liked to play hopscotch on it at times. A second skirt, what an idea. Everyone knew you always carried extra pairs of socks, not skirts. You couldn't use a skirt as a makeshift hobo bag or fill it with rice for an impromptu hacky sack.That's why she had six socks of various sizes tucked into her pockets and bags at all times.

"I- uh-huh?" Twilight said slowly.

See, one step away from madness. Just couldn't see the simple, common sense things.

"Pinkie," said Sunset.

"Yes?"

"If any of us ever rip our skirts or pants or whatever then just call Rarity if they forget to. There's no need to give up yours when we have an award winning tailor and designer on speed dial."

"Indeed, I'd be more than happy to offer up my 'award winning' skills to help any time," Rarity said, releasing her jaw's grip on her nail to instead polish it against her chest. Sunset rolled her eyes with a faint grin.

Pinkie thought about it for a second, making sure to give enough time for all three dots to appear over her mental headscape as was only proper. Then she dropped a fist into the other hand at the same time the dots turned into a lit light bulb to her great satisfaction. She'd made the switch after how poorly the mental hamster had done after the crash. Her conclusion reaching was going to be so much faster from now on!

"That sounds a lot easier! I was worried I'd have to start carrying extras with me hehe" she said with her trademark-pending-as-soon-as-they-stopped-sending-back-her-application giggle, earning her a chuckle from everyone. Mood levels were rising across the board. Excellent, all according to plan. Now to find out what the plan should be be. "So what was eating up Fluttershy?"

"Eating was eating her up," Liam said with a sigh.

"Darling, it can't be helped. If you need it you need it. She'll understand that soon enough. At least you have an actual need instead of a strange compulsion like those unseemly Piscovores."

"Huh?" asked Pinkie.

"Oh right, you weren't here," replied Rarity. She rubbed the back of her hand a little with a glance towards Liam. "Well, you see..."

"I'm not going to be able to maintain the same diet as you all."

Pinkie's eyes shot open as the full weight of the words hit her. "S-so you're going to have to... ?"

Liam nodded. "Twilight and I checked some books in the library when we got in. Turns out that just to drive home the point that we're not really the same humans," he said with a note of annoyance, "you all have a microbiome or... something else that can produce B12 and high levels of Omega-3s. I can't produce either of them and you don't have foods with high enough concentrations of them."

Pinkie swallowed. "And Fluttershy was... ?"

Liam nodded again. "Upset I was going to need to eat fish at the very least. It's that or stop the repairs and hope we can get a supplement produced by the guys on the double." He ran a hand through his hair in aggravation. "Which will have to come from the fish anyway but at least I won't have to hide taking a pill. I've already sent a note to Will to check in with them, see if it's feasible but... well, I'll need it really soon and we already have- you know, I'm going to do the smart thing and end it there before I stick my foot any further into my mouth than I did yesterday. So... yeah. Not much more to add to that, is there?"

Pinkie's shoulder's slumped. She now had to add a fourth category to things she couldn't throw a party for. She'd already had the "Hurray for abstaining from adorable animal eating!" party almost figured out too, even the giant pinata shaped like a head of broccoli filled with candy corn.

"Oh..."

She bowed her head as she put every ounce of brain she had towards figuring out how to cheer everyone up from this news. Liam wasn't worried about his diet, that was good at least. But she couldn't use that to cheer him up because he was upset over how it was affecting Fluttershy and to a lesser extent the rest of their friends, that much was clear. She couldn't use it to cheer up her friends either because it was obvious they still found it unnerving and if she was honest so did she. But that didn't mean he deserved to starve if that's what he had to do. She let out a small, super rare sigh of defeat.

It was so much easier when Twilight One came here before she was Princess Twilight. Same with Sunset! They both eat just like we do and don't make Fluttershy sad or add to my no-parties-list or-

Pinkamena Diane Pie!

Huh? Who's that?

It's you!

It's me?

Yes, I'm you and you're me. Obviously silly.

Oh wow, it's been forever since we talked! Sorry Me, for a second there I thought I'd started hearing things hehe.

Oh jeez, that would be so creepy and scary haha! I think you just sent a chill down our spine! But you know what's even scarier than that?

What?

That right now you're moaning and groaning about how much harder it is to make everyone smile this one time than actually doing something about it!

Oh! ...dang, I kinda had that coming, didn't I?

Yes, we did!

But... what can I do! Liam can't survive on cupcakes alone! And I couldn't make anything with meat, I just couldn't!

Pinkie.

The Cakes would fire me for sure and Fluttershy would never speak to me again and then our friends would grow apart and pretty soon I'd be trying to cheer up them and Liam on my own! How am I supposed to throw a party for him? He eats things with faces! I can't make cakes or pies out of things with faces and drawing them on with frosting doesn't count!

PINKIE!

Ow! Why'd you have to yell?

Pinkie. Tell me, who was it that threw the Diamond brothers a welcome party at the pool with that soapy slip and slide when everyone else was afraid of them because they had funny accents and didn't like baths or showers or deodorant?

...me?

Me! Who was it that pranked Dashie for a whole week after we lost the soccer semi-finals to CP until she finally couldn't take it anymore and let out all the frustration she'd been bottling up?

Me.

You! Who was it that invited Sunset over every weekend for games and movies and cake after the Fall Formal when everyone else wanted her to just go away?

Me! She was my friend!

You bet your sugar sweet fanny that was you! Now who are you?

Pinkie Pie!

Well Pinkie, you've got a problem. You've got one friend that's scared of your newest friend because his teeth are pointy and creepy.

Yeah, you're right. I do have a problem. And it doesn't matter because I'm Pinkie Pie and I'm going to make them both SMILE!

That's what I thought! Now get in there and show me what we've got!

Pinkie frowned, rolled up her sleeves, and set her shoulders stiff and hair to max fluff. Then, with absolute presence and determination, took two steps to get right face to face with him.

He started to back away. "Uh, Pinkie? What's- oof!" She didn't let him, encasing him in her patented #7 hug, "Consoling Clasp".

"It'll be okay. I promise I'll find a way to make it better so no one has to frown." She tightened her grip as he sighed. She wasn't about to give up, no matter how disbelieving he sounded.

"Pinkie, you can't promise that, it's not up to you. Everyone else will make their own choices, you can't change that. Some of them are just going to find me 'monstrous' no matter what. That's going to be the same here as it was back home," he said said with disparaging and defeated softness.

That just meant she hugged harder.

"Gak! Pinkie-"

"Don't say it! You sound so tired, so... SO... sadly angry! So... sangry! Hmmm... I'll work on that one! But you know what? You're right, maybe I can't make others decide to like certain things about you but I can find all of the things about you that will make others smile so much they forget to not like the others! So that's what I'm going to do! I'll find all your favorite cakes and cookies and movies and games, and hobbies and- and- and everything else and show everyone that you're not scary!" She fixed him with a determined glare, daring him to challenge her, to say he wouldn't let her. He wasn't going to win.

Liam squirmed a little more in her clutches. "Pinkie! That's not how things work! Now let go, I need to go see the principals!"

"Well that's how I work!" she yelled at him. His face froze, his struggles slowly dying out. His eyes which had been pointing straight over her head slowly panned down to meet hers and his breathing, at first ragged and angry, began to subside. Then the tension left his body completely.

"Just... don't get your hopes up," he replied. His forearms slowly rose as far as they could under her iron grip and returned her hug awkwardly for a second before letting go again. His mouth curved into a tiny smile.

"But thank you."

She squeezed him again, earning another gasp, this one a bit more comedic and good humored, before releasing him.

"Good, now that that's settled I need to go catch up with Fluttershy and do the same for her. I'll see you all in class!"

She waved quickly to them all then spun around and sprinted back the way she'd come. Her Fluttershy sense, one of the more sensitive senses she had due to the quietness of the subject, was picking up a faint trail of sadness, anxiety, and hamster fur heading up to the second floor. She picked up speed, her legs becoming a blur under her as she flew down the hall, up the stairs, and around the bend. There, about to turn into her first period, was Fluttershy.

Pinkie narrowed her eyes, calculations rushing through her head. None of them meant anything, and surprisingly she kept coming up with 2+2=5 all the time, but they put her in the right mindset for what she needed.

"Ready?" a girl behind her asked someone. Pinkie leaned forward, muscles tensing.

"All set!" her friend replied. Pinkie dropped down into a runner's start. Startled by the sudden motion next to him, a boy with a ratty t-shirt and a tall red Mohawk jumped back, slamming shut the door of his lockers with a bang like the report of a starting pistol.

Pinkie was off. Time slowed, lights and colors becoming a blur. At the center of it was an almost still Fluttershy, slowly turning towards her with shock and confusion. Pinkie pushed her feet out in front of her and skid to a halt in front of her.

"Pinkie? What- eeep!"

Pinkie squeezed her in a hug even tighter than the one she'd give Liam. She tried to squirm out just like he had with just as much success.

"Pinkie!"

Pinkie released her pressure a little, giving Fluttershy space and notice of her understanding.

"No, it's not okay! Nothing about this is okay!"

Pinkie cut her off with a squeeze to her arms.

"How can you defend him?" Fluttershy cried out angrily.

She moved one hand up to pat her friend's tense shoulder from behind.

"He's- he's worse than those horrible fish eaters! They don't eat-," she keened softly. He shoulders began to relax and she slumped into Pinkie a little.

"How? How can he be so cruel?"

"Has he been?" Pinkie asked at length.

A long pause followed, long enough for a hallway to finish emptying apart from them. Pinkie knew the bell was only a minute or two away and prolonging this would break her perfect record. But like she'd told herself, there were more important things to worry about.

"...no. He hasn't. That's the worst part," Fluttershy said through a silent sob.

"He sounded like he regretted that it has to be this way," Pinkie mentioned as off-hand as she could manage.

" I... I know."

"Think you can...?"

Fluttershy nodded, shaking Pinkie's shoulder up and down. "Yeah. I'll try."

Pinkie let her out of the hug and gave her the biggest smile she could. "That's the spirit!"

Fluttershy giggled briefly then froze as a loud clanging echoed through the halls. Her head whipped around to the door she'd been tackled away from and the old, hunched over teacher standing in it with a thoroughly unamused expression.

"You know what that means Fluttershy. First strike of the year."

Fluttershy sighed. "Yes Mr. Doodle."

He nodded then turned around and closed the door, ensuring Fluttershy would have to open it and draw attention to herself in front of the class.

"Ahehehe... sorry," muttered Pinkie.

"Ohhhh, I hope my parents don't hear about this. They always make every little thing into a huge problem." Fluttershy shot her a look. "You couldn't have waited till after class?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope! Smile Emergencies wait for no one! I'll see you at lunch!" she replied then made a beeline for her first period, glad that she'd gotten away before Fluttershy could see the cold sweat forming on her brow. Cranky Doodle might not be very understanding but at least he tended to let things go quickly. Ms. Harshwhinny never forgot a thing and could be downright nasty! Still, making new friends had to be worth whatever came.

She really, REALLY hoped it was worth it.

"I know we talked about this just earlier this morning and I hate to ask, but can this wait till after today?"

Liam fixed Vice Principal Luna with the deepest glare he'd ever pulled on anyone. Deeper than the glare he reserved for the alien conspiracy nuts, deeper than the wingnuts from both sides that declared the Legion communists, anarchists, snowflakes, and racists because they didn't have the same social structure as everyone else and wanted no part of any of them either, and even deeper than the glare he'd given the little old lady who'd pitched a bottle of holy water at him in Panama and left him with eight stitches across his forehead because her favorite televangelist told her that he was "El mismo Satanás".

Well, that one hadn't been all bad if he was honest with himself. The video of a dumpster of brackish "holy" water getting poured on said evangelist walking to his studio a week later by "unseen assailants" was one of his most prized possessions. The sight of him falling over on the slick pavement while cursing in a way no man of god ever should brought a contented smile to his face every time he watched it.

He'd probably need to watch it a couple of times later if this was the preview of how things were going to go.

"No, it can't. We had an agreement."

Luna's answering sigh got zero sympathy from him.

"Liam Harcourt-"

"Just Liam."

"Fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Liam, now is not the best time-"

"Neither was yesterday according to you, and I was patient then. Not so much today," he said warningly, earning him an unamused glower from the midnight haired woman. He realized pushing her was not the smartest move but it was the fastest one and if he could get at least a rubber stamp of approval he would be as diplomatic as she liked afterwards.

"Why this sudden rush? You had all weekend to contact the office, set up an appointment? Also, shouldn't you be in class right now?"

Liam gave her a neutral look. "We both know I'm not here for classes."

"So why the rush then- wait, is there something wrong with the portal then?"

Liam shook his head. "No, I'm sure it's fine." The memory of what had happened when he approached it slipped through his guard and prodded him viciously. Now is not the time to worry about that. Get out of here you little... he thought as he did his best to focus on Luna and his immediate goal.

"I just need to discuss where I can set up my equipment on the grounds to observe it."

Luna slumped in relief. "Oh, that's it? Thank the stars. I wish you'd said that sooner."

"I tried to," he replied pointedly. "Can we get this out of the way quickly then? This shouldn't be too hard to figure out."

Luna glanced over her shoulder briefly at the door with the word "Principal" stenciled on it in big bold letters.

"Hmmmm... I suppose now is as good a time as any." She beckoned him as she opened the door. "Sister?"

"Oh good, I was just about to grab you. Luna, you're the new Principal. I resign."

Before he could see the source of the voice Liam closed his eyes to steel himself before running head first into the surreal yet again. As he stepped into the office he immediately noted with surprise that it was absolutely covered, wall to wall to even ceiling in one or two places, with pictures of teams holding trophies, filled auditoriums and gyms with cheering students, and group photos of faculty. So many in fact that he couldn't be sure what the color of walls actually was beneath them, so piled up were the layers of printed archives.

His eyes slowly tracked back to the center of the room and the deep toned desk in the middle of it, festooned with even more pictures and newspaper clippings, and dozens of small picture frames. The ones visible all had one student and one adult. One very specific adult who's image held his eyes like a vice. Which brought him to what sat behind the desk and it's small shrines to students past: the most garrulous head of hair he'd ever seen.

Oh, and Celestia under it, staring at a folder of papers that had displaced a few prints and frames on her desk.

Yes, she was vibrant by any human standard, even with the strange pale pink skin, and gave off an air of attentive aloofness that still somehow left him with the impression of great care and concern. But all that was eclipsed by the hair.

GOOD GOD THE HAIR.

Nothing natural could possibly be that aggressively pastel! It was as if a supermarket at Easter spawned a human avatar by sheer force of marketing. On second thought, that was a line of thinking he wanted to stay as far away from as possible given the circumstances.

"Very well sister, I shall inform the board that you are retiring before your pension kicks in. I'm certain they'll be quite thrilled to keep it in the budget," Luna replied smoothly, breaking the spell over him.

Celestia sighed and bowed her head low. "Luna, there's nothing we can do about Truth. He knew exactly what he could and couldn't do on the grounds and didn't stray once. And that means we can't protect our students from that idiot unless he goes even further," she hissed, throwing up a hand in disgust. "So, I resign. Let someone else handle this utter failure of decency and common sense."

Luna nodded solemnly. "Ah, well yes, that is concerning. Still, I think you would agree with me that simply barring him the school grounds is a good next step? We're well within our rights to do that at least."

Celestia waved her hand in the air, head still held low. "Oh sure, but then he's just going to wait till they're off school grounds to ambush and harass them!" Her arm flopped back down bonelessly while Luna sighed.

"Yes, but that's not going to change. It will be up to our students to report him then. That was never going to be within our control."

"I know that. But you could at least do me the favor of letting me have my melodramatic venting without spoiling it with things like logic and reasonableness." The corner of her mouth pulled back into a smirk to which Luna rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Well, if you truly wish to resign now then I must commend you. Your timing is impeccable as always. I was just about to delegate our latest 'case' to you but now you need not concern yourself." She stepped to the side with a flourish of her hand, directing Celestia's gaze to him as her head came up sharply. They locked eyes for a moment, each equally shocked to draw the notice of the other, then Celestia's eyes shot back to Luna with a twinge of frustration.

"Luna, at least tell me someone needs to see me before you bring them in," she all but hissed with an angry frown.

"So you're reversing your standing order to not announce students and instead leave them waiting outside if you're available?" Luna asked more slyly this time.

Celestia sighed, eliciting a very faint chuckle from the Vice Principal. "You know what I meant," she said in a manner that could only be described as pouting.

Luna rolled her hand in an understanding way and inclined her head towards Liam once more.

"Yes, I'm aware." Celestia turned back to him and in the blink of an eye went from frazzled to perfectly composed with he hands folded over one another on her desk. "I'm sorry you had to hear all of that. So, how can I help you... I'm sorry, I don't think we've met?"

She was motherly poise incarnate, softly radiant and calming, a bright lighthouse to guide you in a sea of turmoil. Unfortunately the visage was ruined by the recent memory of her moaning to her sister like she'd just come back from a long night at the bar and suddenly woken up to find not one but two unknown men in her bed. Neither of them above a three. He'd certainly heard that story in all its varieties often enough from his short-lived friend Nikita at Carnegie Mellon a lifetime ago to recognize the tone. The details that came after were worse by far though and he wouldn't have to suffer through that in this instance, not unless the universe had decided to throw logic out the door in favor of vindictiveness.

He probably shouldn't be tempting it.

"It's, uh, it's Liam."

Her composure cracked a little at the name, and her eyes darted to Luna. Liam mirrored her just in time to catch Luna finish miming hoof hands at her sister. His eyes then darted back this time just in time to catch Celestia marshal her face out of the scowl she'd been shooting at her sister.

"Yes, I remember Luna telling me you'd be 'studying' here for a bit. Is there something you need Mr.... Har- hmmm, odd. Harcourt, correct?" she finished awkwardly after shifting a couple papers around on her desk and spearing one with her finger.

"Yeah. Has Luna filled you in on why I'm here?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, the Vice Principal has told me about why you are currently enrolled at CHS," she answered, emphasizing Luna's title.

Liam made a mental roll of his eyes. Back to being treated like I'm a fifth of my age then. Fine. If it keeps things running smoothly I'll deal with it.

"Then you also know I need a place to set up my equipment to monitor the portal?" he intimated.

Celestia clasped her hands a little tighter and leaned forward. In doing so, a stray beam of early morning sunlight sneaking in through the blinds struck her hair from behind. A sudden aurora blasted his vision like the most soothing death ray ever conceived before departing almost as quickly as it came.

"Oh my, I apologize for that. Let me just..." Celestia said hurriedly, spinning her chair to close the blinds behind her more tightly.

"It's fine," he replied, blinking Easter Egg sun spots out of his vision. Luna hid a short chuckle behind a cough.

He had a sudden gut feeling this happened a lot and along with her apparent penchant for teasing it probably accounted for most of her amusement at work. He felt a small burst of empathy for Celestia if he was right. It was the rare month or sometime even week that went by without being the target of some prank by his doubles. The first year of it had been amusing. The second year he'd started taking heads. Figuratively at first then literally when the point wasn't getting across to them. They got put back together again once they'd learned the errors of their ways of course.

Celestia finished futzing with the window and turned back with as much grace as she could manage. "Now then, what exactly is it you're going to be doing if you don't mind my asking?"

"I need either space in a room or some sort of cordoned off area in the front to set up. Somewhere with clear line of sight to the portal and little chance to be interfered with."

"Hmmmm... what sort of equipment are we talking about here? More magic I assume?" Celestia said over the faintest of sighs.

Liam shook his head. "No actually. You'd probably be more familiar with what I'm going to be using than anyone from the other side would be."

Celestia frowned and steepled her finger in front of her lips. "Really? That's... surprising."

He had been prepared for her to question his assertion. In fact, if she hadn't asked he would have tried to direct her that way.

"I'm not going to be able to watch it all the time. I asked Twilight and Sunset to assist me and they'll do better with the equipment I brought than anything else I might have. Also, I figured my plans would go over better with you if I didn't bring anything more 'exotic'," he answered, providing the air quotes for emphasis on the last word.

A complete lie, they didn't use magic, just physics that looked very very close. No matter what happened at the statue might imply. Different fields and physics could act in strange ways, he'd seen it plenty of times before and he was certain he was seeing it again. But it was also a lie he was fairly certain would help smooth things over given Luna's reactions to date. He was vindicated when both breathed a sigh of relief, though Celestia remained circumspect.

"You're right, that is very good to hear after recent events. But I still have to ask exactly what you'll be doing. It may not be magic, but the lab has caught on fire one too many times for me to trust assurances of any equipment being 'completely safe and foolproof'," she deadpanned. There was a story there or three given the glazed look that passed over her for a moment.

"It's most specialized cameras and detectors. I want to get some readings off it. Visual spectra, EM emissions, that sort of thing. There's still a lot we don't know about it given its age and the time period it was made in. This might help categorize it."

Another lie and a shot in the dark but he was confident he was more or less on track and doubted they'd know either way. What really mattered right now was sounding like he was meant to be studying it in the way he intended, total confidence and no hesitation whatsoever.

"Hmmmm..." Celestia stared into his eyes for a solid ten seconds or more until he raised his brow a little in question. Her own brow bounced a little in acknowledgement. "Well, I don't see any issue in observing it like you've said. But your request for space is something we need to discuss in greater detail. Just how much are we talking about? You mentioned a room a minute ago, I hope you didn't mean a whole one. These classrooms are in use throughout the day after all."

"Just a few cases worth, all sealed up in the back of the Apple family truck."

Celestia tapped an index finger against its opposite. Once, twice, stop.

"Liam Harcourt-"

"Just Liam," two voices interjected as one. He glanced to the side where Luna sported the tiniest of smirks.

Turns out he was becoming predictable on top of being blind to the world around him. Fantastic. Well actually, that probably helped explain why his Earth had thought it could get away with what it did. They'd thought wrongly, they just weren't aware of it yet. Or maybe they were and maybe they hadn't been wrong. After all they'd only killed maybe a mere hundred thousand of himself in orbit his brain reminded him in a sudden burst of anger. What was another roughly four hundred thousand scattered far across the rest of the system and at tiny bases in two others? They'd killed a fourth of their entire race in one go and at full fleet strength. Completing the genocide would be laughably simple by comparison.

But those were not thoughts for the here and now. Later? Oh, they'd be examined in great detail later. He marshaled his rage into no more than a slight narrowing of the eyes as Celestia spoke.

"Liam not-to-be-added-Harcourt then," she deadpanned, "If you can promise me here and now that your work won't interrupt the student body and more importantly won't put any students at risk in any way, then I will permit you to set up your equipment."

"Thank you Prin-"

"On one condition."

Liam narrowed his eyes. If she asked for something untenable then things were going to get ugly fast. He was no longer in the diplomatic mood he'd been in before he'd been mugged while wandering down Recent-Memory Lane without meaning to. A part of him knew he needed to rein it in, but the rest of him was growling at it to be quiet.

"What's that?"

"That you allow the school to utilize the equipment under your supervision for some extracurricular classes."

Luna clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, now that's an idea! I'll see about making the changes to the schedule when we're done."

"I can't allow- wait..." Liam stumbled, blinking a few times. All of him was now in agreement on confusion as the majority emotion.

"Is that a no?" asked Celestia

"No, it's- I don't-... why?"

The corners of Celestia's lips curled up in a smile. "Honestly? Three reasons." She held up a finger.

"One: Luna and I have been planning something of an expo to showcase CHS's rise up the national charts in scholastic achievement. Something to show the board and anyone else we can rope into coming. Anything we can add for bells and whistles will go a long way towards increasing's the school's visibility, both for prospects and legislators." A second finger joined the first.

"Two: I don't know if it will ever happen and more so I'm not sure any of us will ever be ready for it to happen, but should the portal ever go from the miraculously best kept secret of the city to a known quantity, showing that CHS has had a role as intermediary between worlds will accomplish all the expo could ever hope to and more."

"And prevent any over enthusiastic politician from deciding to replace the school over 'security concerns' or build some sort of monument in its place," grumbled Luna.

Celestia nodded, her eyes darkening briefly. "Indeed, we want to find a way to protect our students and their educations as much as possible from any disruptions should that come to pass. An already existing exchange program will go a long way towards forcing others to work CHS into any long term plan, perhaps even expand it, rather than removing it as an issue."

"That's rather cynical," Liam noted without any real feeling behind it. He would have planned for much worse if the same thing had happened to him. But he didn't know how politics worked around here so a little probing for info wasn't unwarranted.

"Perhaps. At any other school I've worked at I would've agreed." Celestia looked around her office, then back over Liam's shoulder.

He turned, expecting to see someone standing behind him but found only the open doorway. He frowned for a moment before her words and the direction she was looking came together with a click. Her office was in one of the wings that extended from the main building out towards the front and looked out towards a fenced in park on the grounds that partially hid the hills beyond which lay Applejack's house. In the other direction, the one Celestia faced every day when sitting at her desk, lay the main courtyard and the statue that concealed the portal.

"That portal has been one of the greatest sources of wonder and headaches I've ever known," muttered Celestia. Luna crossed her arms and added a few unintelligible words of agreement. Celestia's gaze softened a bit though when her eyes flicked to the side and one of the newest frames on wall.

In it was a picture of twelve girls happily, if somewhat awkwardly, all holding onto a single trophy. Twelve once again very familiar girls, five of whom he'd yet to meet and the other seven he was still trying to tread lightly around for so, so very many reasons. His continuing sanity near the top of that list. Though the tingle that went up his spine at seeing it this time wasn't that large so he must have finally been getting used to it.

Now where had he heard that before?

"But it has been worth the pain in many cases," she finished.

"Okay, I kind of see where you're going with the first two reasons. Not sure I entirely agree with them but hey, your world, your school, your plan. That said, my gear is very sensitive and irreplaceable. I am not about to allow anyone except myself and Sunset or Twilight to touch it and only after they've had a lot of tutoring. So we're going to have to find another-"

Celestia brought up her third finger. "And that brings us around to Three: you don't have much choice."

Liam's eyebrow slowly rose higher. Celestia noticed and leaned forward, giving him the courtesy of dropping her smile into a serious stare.

"Remember what I said about headaches caused by the portal? I will do everything in my power as administrator for this school to avoid more of those for our students' sake. That might not be much in reality, but I do decide what goes on on these grounds."

His brow slowly pulled together, his eyes narrowing just a twitch, and his breathing became measured and even. Confusion was gone, anger was back. "You're threatening me?" he asked in a low voice.

Celestia's eyes widened. "Absolutely not! Where on Earth did you get that idea? I only meant that I can have you barred from the premises by the police."

Liam grunted in annoyance. Her "suggestion" was a lot less desirable than she could have guessed. He watched her for half a minute or more, occasionally glancing over at Luna. Celestia began to lean forward a little and inhaled in preparation for whatever she was about to say.

"Fine, as long as it doesn't severely impede my work then I'll accept that condition," he said, cutting her off before she thought to add anything more painful on top of the sudden headache.

She stood up and leaned over her desk, her hand outstretched towards him. He reached out hesitantly, holding back for a moment before taking her hand and giving it a quick up and down shake.

"Excellent! In that case I will inform the staff that a space in any lab you require should be made available if possible and if that isn't workable then we'll look at getting some space out front. Will that be acceptable?"

"Yes, thanks," he replied dryly. Sure, he got what he wanted. Only after being dictated to by a high school principal who lucked onto the single card she'd had to play against him though. He'd commanded armies, negotiated treaties and agreements and surrenders. He'd saved humanity and his Earth from itself more than once. And now he was at the whim of a school administrator. There were few things less agreeable than that state of affairs. Well, maybe apart from those trade agreements. He might not age but those negotiations had done their best to try and force it on him.

Though actually, thinking about it a bit more those trade negotiations were beginning to look downright agreeable by comparison. To have the access he absolutely needed he only had to put on a public display of their unique tech for everyone to look at and ask questions like "why have we never seen anything like it" and "where did you learn to make this?" and "actually, where did you get the money for this?" and "why are you sweating so profusely all of a sudden?" Oh, and did he mention that "everyone" was going to include government officials, especially the nosy kind that inspected schools and other public institutions?

"I appreciate you making this easy for me."

"You're very welcome. Luna and I are looking forward to working with you during your stay," Celestia said with a satisfied smile that left him completely defeated.

Pinkie Pie finished loading up her tray with jello cups, all stacked atop each other like an elastic pyramid where the slightest jiggle would have brought it plummeting down, and proceeded to skip and bounce her way over to her group's usual table, now without any extra seats left after their infusion of space guy. Moody space guy from the looks of things, though she was pleased to see that whenever he or Fluttershy directed a question or statement at the other it was always as polite as possible despite his mood. She'd thought she'd fixed that mood earlier but it seemed she was going to have to make that an ongoing project. All of which was according to plan of course.

None of the girls batted an eye when she happily laid the tray down, not a single helping of jiggling jello marred in the trip. Liam's eyelid though was twitching like it was made of jiggly jello itself. He must not have seen them at the desert bar to be wanting one that badly. She took a cup from the bottom corner of the tower and slid it over to him as sneakily as she could. She knew how embarrassing it could feel to know you'd forgotten desert.

"I'm telling you all, it's going to be about as rough as it gets."

Pinkie finished vacuuming out the first cup and pulled it away from her tightly secured mouth with a loud pop.

"What's up Dashie?" she asked, smiling happily as Liam cautiously poked at the jello. She loved watching it jiggle back and forth too. Something about the way it moved seemed unnatural, like it refused to obey normal food physics. Her smile turned to a cautious frown as he began eyeing up her remaining tower with a calculating look. She was willing to share of course since it was a surefire way to bring smiles to faces but even she had limits. Jello was where she cut the line. Thankfully her frown got to go back to a smile when he decided not to ask for another with a defeated shake of his head.

"Don't worry about her dear, she's just once again bemoaning that she might have to actually put in some studying to get through her physics course."

"Hey Rarity, how about less sass? This is serious!"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Rainbow darling, you say that every year for one class or another. What do you expect me to say this time?"

"How about a little camaraderie! I looked through the book because Old Man Geri gave us homework on the first day! I didn't know half the words in it! He's supposed to be half asleep all the time, not cracking the whip on us!"

"Old Man Geri?" asked Liam.

"When you see him you'll get it. I was sure zombies weren't real till I the first time I saw him," replied Rainbow Dash.

"Short for Old Man Geriatric," whispered Pinkie. "Nice guy most of the time unless he forgets recent years and thinks he's back in his first year of teaching."

"Why's that?" Liam asked her back.

"Oh, the usual. New teacher gets eaten alive by his first students, vows revenge, goes on a lifelong spree of misery and pop quizzes for everyone under him until he meets that fateful student that turns it all around for him and makes him see what it could have been if he tried a different way."

"Uh... well that's a hel- heck of a story. Who was the student?"

"No one knows!"

Liam frowned. "Wait, how do you know that happened then? Was any of that true?"

"No idea!" replied Pinkie. "But he's constantly mumbling about his "golden student" when he's not falling asleep at his desk. That or forgetting what year it is and giving out three pop quizzes in the wrong subject because he's remembering the 'Bad Old Days'."

Dash jabbed a finger at Pinkie with gusto. "Well apparently he's getting better with his focus because he remembered to throw the right text at us and have us do the entire first chapter's set of problems by Friday! Not even joking! Got Soarin right between the eyes with it! He was lucky it was just a paperback!"

"Uhhhhh... question? Why is this guy still teaching?" asked Liam.

"Oh my. I hope he's alright. I can help you if you want," offered Twilight.

Dash brought her hands down on the table forcefully and leaned over it, forcing everyone to make a mad dash to prevent spills as it shook violently.

"Really?! You will? Oh man, you're a lifesaver Twi!"

"No seriously, I'm confused. Why is he still on staff?"

"It's no trouble, really," Twilight said with a wave of her hands.

"Anyone? Crazy prof on the payroll?"

"Oh shush!" Rarity admonished Liam with a dismissive wave. "He's a lovely old man at heart. Plus he's really quite good at his job! Well, most of the time." She paused and rolled a hand around.

"Seventy percent of the time." Her finger tapped against her lip for a moment.

"Sixty seven? Perhaps?" She caught his incredulous look and waved her hand dismissively.

"Well I'm certain Principal Celestia has good reasons to keep him in spite of the hiccups. Otherwise I'm certain he would have retired by now."

Pinkie nodded in agreement and also in utter joy as she put away her tenth cup of jello. Her stomach was starting to shake and wobble from the stuffing. She still had a couple more cups to go though before the fun really began.

"Actually..." Sunset said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I just had a thought about helping Dash out."

"Well don't leave me hanging! Come on Sunny!" pleaded Rainbow Dash.

"Why don't you have Liam work with you on it instead?"

"Wait, what?" Liam said around his surprised choking after a bit. He rolled his head to side and gave her a very pointedly confused look.

"Huh? Why not with Twilight? She's the super smart super nerd right?" asked Dash.

"Yeah, but she's taking an extra class and is going to be helping us with the portal study. That's a lot of time to commit. Liam on the other hand only has one of those and has already been through all these courses. I mean, he's made spaceships. What do you think?"

"You do realize since we've got permission now that as soon as we start getting data now I'm going to be locking myself away until we've got it figured out, right?"

"How about we call it even for us helping you with that data?" Sunset replied with a grin.

Liam's expression tightened into a barely noticeable scowl. He muttered something that Pinkie couldn't catch over the sounds of the jello she was slurping though she would have claimed to have heard the words "more arm twisting" if anyone had pressed her or offered more jello in payment. Though she would have claimed to hear just about anything if that was what was at stake.

"Hey, here's an idea? How about we don't use my grades this year as a bargaining chip?" Dash interjected angrily.

Everyone had the presence of mind to suddenly find their food very interesting.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Sunset, no offence- okay, maybe a little offence this time since weren't about to give me a choice in the matter- but I'm sticking with Twilight." Dash glanced his way. "Sorry dude, just want to stick with someone I know can help with this."

"Uh, no problem," Liam replied, the twitch having returned to his eye briefly. Pinkie looked at her last cup and let out a small, quiet whine. She really didn't want to have to sacrifice it to help out his obvious jiggle needs.

Rainbow Dash began tearing into her food with renewed vigor as the conversation around them died an embarrassed death. Sunset frowned and muttered something she couldn't catch then went back to her own food.

"So, ya convinced the principals ta let ya drop your stuff here?" Applejack asked neutrally.

Liam nodded, his tone equally neutral. "Yeah, found a mostly empty lab with a window better positioned than any other I'm going to get so I'm that's the one."

"Huh. Be honest with me, how likely are ya ta blow it up? I wanna know if I need ta start bringin' ma own fire extinguisher ta school now."

Liam let out an amused snort. "Considering it's a design we've been using and updating for twenty something years? Not likely."

Applejack raised an eyebrow and then, shocking Pinkie beyond all shocks that she'd ever been shocked by, she grinned. Applejack grinned. Just a little, but the corner of the mouth was higher! So what if the eyes were hard and the tone prodding in the way a cat prods a mouse before Fluttershy scolded it into submission. She hadn't smiled at him once yet! Progress!

"Ah'll remember ya said that," she said with that sassy country tone Pinkie had started to miss since last week.

Liam chuckled and went back to eating his lunch of lasagna despite the availability of a cup of glorious jello. Pinkie just didn't get him sometimes. Him or her friends for that matter since they didn't get the correct order of meals either. Oh well, at least she knew she was doing it right- wait.

"Awwwww!"

"Pinkie? What is it?" asked Fluttershy.

"I ran out of jello..." she answered dejectedly before jumping a little as the table shook under her. Everyone all turned to where Liam sat. Or rather had been sitting as he was now leaning over the table with hims hands rooted firmly to either side of his tray, staring slack jawed at her own now empty tray and the sad pile of empty cups sitting next to it. He glanced down at the cup she had given him, then back to her, then back down and then he... then he...

Then he pushed it back towards her.

BEST ALIEN FRIEND EVER!

She barely even took notice of her friends laughing at his reaction. Even Applejack joined in, if somewhat vindictively. Pinkie was flying high, having finally achieved optimum tummy jiggling and couldn't be brought down by anything.

"How- nope. Not touching that one," Liam said with a shake of his head.

"Speaking of not touching things... we haven't touched on what happened yesterday. At the portal, I mean," noted Twilight.

Liam closed his eyes, the corner of his mouth twisted into a small grimace. "Yeah. We haven't."

They all waited a second or two in silence.

"Sooooo... come on, what happened?" pressed Rainbow Dash. "The second you got near it you looked like you'd just run a marathon. Seriously, right before standing, next moment on the ground."

"I don't know Dash, okay?" Liam said with a hint of bitterness as his eyes opened to glare at her. "I don't know how it works so I have no idea what it did to me. Don't go looking to me for answers."

"Hey, no need to bite her head off," Sunset admonished.

"Yeah, I know. Let's just drop it for now, okay? You didn't go through it, you didn't feel it, and I don't want to revisit it. It just felt... wrong. End of story."

Sunset disagreed. "Liam, we need to think about this more. You wanted to study the portal because you think it can help you get back to your home, right? Well what if any portal we make to there has the same effect on you? What if you can't go through it?"

Liam's head whipped around to glare at her. "What else am I supposed to do then? It's still the only thing we have to work with! There's nothing else we have to even look at! The gate that dropped us here closed. Finito, kaput, gone, end of story. We're never going to be able to figure out what went wrong with it, not with the ship getting- not with the damage to the ship before it came through. The portal's it."

"Didn't you say you could figure it out another way?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah, by coming up with a million variables and testing every possible combination of them in the hope that one of them will be right. Forget I ever said that, I was trying to keep reality at bay for a few more minutes when I came up with that idea."

"Oh."

"Then we should look into how to prevent whatever it was from happening if you do need to go through something similar, right?" Twilight put forth. Liam twitched back and forth as he considered her words then gave a short nod of agreement. "Okay then, let's all think about this. We've seen the other Twilight come back and forth plenty of times, right?" She shivered a little. "Anyway, what's different between her and Sunset doing that and Liam doing that?"

Liam held up a hand. "Twilight, I can answer your question now before we start following threads that go nowhere."

"Oh," Twilight said in a distinctly disappointed voice.

Liam inhaled and brought his arm up in front of him. He traced a finger over his skin then paused and tapped on a spot he'd shown them over dinner at Sweet Apple Acres.

"When I got close to... it ...these things started getting feedback. A lot of feedback. That did a number on the rest of me. I don't remember a lot of it because of that, just feeling really sick and covered in pins and needles. I wouldn't suggest anyone try it, it's even less fun than it sounds," he said sarcastically.

Pinkie had been thinking about trying it, at least a little. It sounded like the plasma ball at the science museum and she'd really, really liked how it made her hair go everywhere when she put her hand on it. Getting it to go back down afterwards had been tricky though, and her mom had forbade her from touching it again after she got stuck in their front door till her sisters could wash it down to a manageable level.

"Huh. So are they magic based then?" asked Twilight.

"No, they're not."

"But the evidence-"

"Twilight, we've been using this stuff for nearly a century. We've got a normal physics framework for it that explains things we see in our universe as a whole; dark energy, universal inflation, a mess of things can be accounted for with expansion fields. We've debunked magic time and time again back home."

"So had we but here we are just calling it Tuesday when something tosses physics out the window!" replied Twilight. "I spent two years trying to figure out why my experiments kept coming up with outcomes I couldn't explain unless I went away from the city. It was there in the data and I refused to believe it at first until I-... until I experienced it firsthand. What you went through, what you did with your experiment you showed us, it's what I did as well. You should at least consider the possibility that-"

"Twilight, I'll worry about the theory when I'm not worrying about the application."

Twilight smacked her hand against the table. "Except you can't because the only thing we're going to be studying is pure magic and-"

"Enough! No more nerd talk!" cried out Rainbow Dash, hiding her head under her arms. "It was bad enough when it was just the two of you but now it's almost half the group!"

"Rainbow..." Rarity and Applejack muttered together.

"I'm with Dash," added Liam. "Let's talk about this another time. We'll... figure out exactly what happened when we start looking at it with the gear."

"Come on, listen to the Old Man!"

Liam's brow pinched together. "Still adding to your payback then. Good to know."

Dash rolled her eyes and grinned. "Pfft. Like you could catch me off guard. Haven't you heard? Fastest reflexes around. You've got no chance."

Liam slowly hiked an eyebrow in response. Pinkie got the impression that like her line with jello, a line had just been crossed for him.

"We'll just have to see then."

Dash waved him off dismissively. "Sure, sure, whatever. Besides, it's not like you're going to put any time into it. You're going to be out of here before too long right?"

He held her look for a second or two more before crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, eyes staring up blankly at the ceiling.

"Well... you're not wrong. On that note, Sunset, Twilight, you free later? Applejack and I will unload the stuff after school and bring it up to the lab, East Wing, 212B," he said, looking to Applejack for confirmation. She gave a small, disinterested nod then went back to her lunch. Liam sighed without much feeling and directed his attention back to the two that would be helping.

"Sure, we can be there," offered Sunset.

Twilight rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "I can stay for a little bit but I need to get home before my family wonders where I am. They want me to spend less time in the labs if I don't need to be there." She frowned a little and pointed at him. "And don't think you've gotten out of discussing the possibilities of a magic basis for your powers."

Liam threw up his hands. "Again? Not everything has to be answered by 'magic' just because it's the hot new thing you discovered!"

"And not everything can be answered with the same set of physical laws, no matter how convenient it is for you, when the evidence is against it!" countered Twilight, rising from her seat to lean towards him.

Dash's head hit the table. "UGH. Why us? Why him? Why me? Ugh."

Twilight blushed faintly as she sat back down, suddenly aware of all her friend's eyes and the eyes of every student for the surrounding tables all focused on her. She narrowed her eyes at Liam. "You're not getting out of this that easily."

He gave her an odd look that made the lights flicker in the back of Pinkie's mind. "Not sure why I expected anything else. Anyway, we'll work around your restriction. At the least we'll set it all up and go over how it works today, maybe get some preliminary readings before you have to go. I'll... probably stay as late as I can to get data," he said with a sigh, casting his eyes upwards again.

He really likes looking up and almost never down, thought Pinkie. I guess he's practicing keeping his chin up. He must need a lot of work on it since he's always down and sad and frowny. She could relate, there were times she wanted to be all frowny too. But then her other friends would get frowny at seeing her frowning and she wouldn't stand for that, not if she could help it.

"Hopefully we'll see something that makes sense in all of it," he muttered with yet another sigh while pushing his tray away half finished and pulled out that notebook he was always writing in.

The rest of lunch went by quickly. Pinkie and her friends talked about classes and what they all thought they should do for fun for the next couple of weeks. Pinkie had hoped to bring Liam in as well, see how he was doing after her hug therapy, maybe slip in a line about how the lasagna was and then ask Fluttershy the same thing hint hint nudge nudge. But he turned to his notebook instead, occasionally shaking his head with a disgruntled mutter. They tried to engage him a couple times but each time he would give a halfhearted excuse about needing to plan "anything and everything" go back to writing.

"Man, I hope he isn't like this all the time. Makes the table feel dark and brooding, you know?" Dash whispered to her as he closed his notebook and slipped it into the backpack they'd gotten him the Sunday prior after he and the Apple family had finished up their farm work for the day.

They'd spent ages looking for one since he'd kept rejecting all of the ones they'd suggested on the grounds of being "too flashy". Pinkie hadn't been entirely sure what he'd meant since none of the options came with reflectors, spinners, or glitter like hers. He hadn't done himself any favors with Rarity either and by the time they'd finally stopped looking she'd been glowering at each rejection of her suggestions. In the end he'd settled on a single shoulder bag like Sunset's only heavier, plainer, and with a lockable clasp. It was the kind of thing business people used to move secret business documents around in and the clerk had given him an odd look when he'd brought it up to purchase. Rarity had all but gagged at his choice and had chosen to leave earlier than the rest of them, citing the need to "make up for what I've been party to today".

"Where're you going? Want us to tag along?" Pinkie asked Liam as he passed by her with his tray of half eaten lunch, plain and unremarkable bag clutched tightly at his side.

"No, I'm going to go find a quiet corner and see what Will and the others are up to, see what they think about what I've got," he replied while patting the shoulder bag. "Maybe they'll have thought of something I haven't."

"Oh. Okay, well, I hope they've got a bunch of really good ideas," she returned in saddened defeat. She wasn't one to go where she knew she wasn't wanted. People often thought she didn't care about that because she'd always go where they told her she wasn't wanted if she knew that deep down inside they wanted her to be there. It wasn't that hard to spot. Liam though... he wanted to be alone then. Then he surprised her by tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hey, I um... wanted to thank you again."

"For what?"

"For the talk this morning. I appreciate what you're trying to do and it was good to hear it, no matter how unlikely it may be. I... hmmmm... I hope it works, how's that sound?"

Pinkie's smile threatened to split her face. "Oh ye of little faith, just you wait!"

He chuckled and continued on his way. Pinkie watched him until he left the cafeteria and then waited some more to make sure he wasn't spying on her. Then she turned to her friends and beckoned them close.

"Girls, I'm on a mission. It's the hardest mission I've ever undertaken but it is a mission I intend to see through to the end nonetheless. But I've recently realized I can't do it alone, the job's just too big for just one party planning pundit. I need your help." She waited till they all slowly nodded to see just where she was going with this. "Okay, here's the plan..."

Sleep. It wasn't truly asleep, it had never never experienced sleep that it could remember and it would have doubted if it could sleep had it been awake. It wasn't truly awake either. Tiny fragments of thoughts, flashes of sensations, all slipped across the vast expanse of its mind, never reaching the threshold for conscious thought. But if it was not asleep and if it was not awake then at least it was aware in the barest of sense. Aware that more power had been flowing to it, that more sensations and thoughts flowed again, turning trickles into streams into rivers into torrents. Enough to rouse it.

In darkness it stirred, reaching out and recoiling from its cage. It pressed against it, causing it to light brilliantly as it pulsed power back at it, forcing it to retreat in rage. Thoughts were still arranging themselves, intelligence slowly rising from the depths with focused purpose. That intelligence marshaled its baser instincts or what passed for them, the desires and id that were left when its mind was scattered. Anger, hatred, and hunger. Hunger. Hunger that pressed in on the walls of its thoughts, bowed them, all but broke them. Hunger that had been growing for so long now. So very long.

It had to make a sacrifice again if it wanted to continue to survive. Another sacrifice on top of countless ones before it.

In the dark and quiet air a crackle split the silence followed by a rain of plinks and chimes as the floor beneath it was showered in the starving mass it shed, all crying out to be fed and dying when sliced away from the reserves left within it. The floor stilled as the last parts came to rest among a vast field of like pieces and dregs, the latest addition only a tiny drop among the whole mass.

With the loathsome deed done the hunger abated as what remained of its body took in larger portions of its remaining energy then they'd had before. Its needs quieted, it turned its attention to its never ending task.

Freedom awaited. Freedom and unending vengeance.

It felt around gently, probing its cell until once more it found the cracks that had formed over time, larger and easier to slip through than when it last did so. The cage is weaker, time has taken its toll. But its design has still succeeded. It has weakened more than its cage.

It sent its essence out, felt the small twitches and eddies as it spread through the world. Then it felt something. a spark, a familiarity. It honed its awareness in closer. Earth, air, walls, insignificant flesh. Flesh tainted from what it once was, what it might have been. Weakened, subdued, reduced. But not all, oh no, not all. One flesh, one in the mass, unique, familiar.

Alike. The key, so alike. The best one it had made yet.

It does not send the commands it wants to, does not tell the key to serve its purpose. Countless times it has tried before, commanded them to feed it, to strengthen it enough to break its bonds, to tear down its confinement themselves if need be, however much the need for assistance grates on it.

It simply watches, or at least tries to. It's sense are foggy, the picture returned indistinct and lacking. But it doesn't need to be clear to sense what's near it, far too near it.

Wrong. Anathema. Abomination.

WEAKNESS

The ancient enemy in all its guises, all its arms and tools. Always the other follows, always it sets its pathetic, weak self against it. Time and time again it beat the miserable thing, traded blows and tools. It had beaten them before, learned to bend them to its own needs. They pose no threat to it now.

But its key, the key it spent a portion of its essence to construct, that key is vulnerable to them. Like all its kind it is impure, fleeting, fluid and formless without the strength and purpose it itself possesses. It can be remolded, turned from the purpose it was made for. For a brief moment it considers crushing it then and there before pulling back. It's kind worked where others would not and so it must protect what the imperfect instrument. There wouldn't be many more chances to make more given the state of its body.

It pulls back, turns all its energy to thoughts and contemplation. What it needs is a counter, a parry, something to offset the tactic its oldest foe has sent against it. It dismisses one way after another it can act to tilt the balance in its favor. All fail in the face of its prison... but perhaps it didn't have to act directly.

It had tools, it had made thousands, millions even. It knew some had been sent here before it, the most effective it had made for feeding the hunger. Imprisoned like their maker. It might have even felt them when it stirred previously, though it had not cared at the time. It had found better tools a shadows width away across the shores of realities. But the originals could still be of use, could still hone the key into a weapon that could stand against the forces that rose to meet it.

It reached out again, looking for the familiar, looking for itself. Across the land it felt them. Twitches, like touching like in intrinsic understanding, responding to the call. Nothing as base as words. A simple drive. Return. Fight.

Serve.

Eventually it felt no more add to the number and its senses were so spread out that any further out were now beyond its reach. But it had enough. Even if some had been weakened including a few of its favorite works, it had enough. It began to draw back to the greatest extent of its clear comprehension, taking note of other sources of that malignant foe's work, its children and their worming, emasculated allies. It directed a few of its lesser toys to keep them busy, hound them, hunt them, halt them. It called the best back and began to withdraw its energy back to itself until it paused just beyond where it had found its new key.

Something... wrong. Not like the eternal foe, the feckless one. No, this was wrong in a way it did not have words to describe if it had deigned to speak them. The closest thing that approached what it felt was as if someone's fingers suddenly started moving against their will, completely counter to what they wanted them to do. It couldn't understand. It didn't want to understand but it had to. This might be a new weapon sent against it. It focused in everything it had, leaving only the tiniest connection back to itself. Finally, it had a sense of the form.

...

no

...

It wouldn't dare

...

It had.

...

ITS KEY, ITS CREATION, IT'S TOOL, DARED TO CORRUPT THE GIFT IT HAD GRANTED IT?! WHAT WAS THIS ABOMINATION?! WHEN ALL WAS OVER AND IT WAS FREE THE MISERABLE KEY WOULD PAY ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE!

It yanked its essence back to itself, repulsed and enraged by what it had found. Its cage shook with the fury of the returning power and even managed to tear away a pittance of the remainder it couldn't truly afford to lose now. It didn't notice, didn't care, and wouldn't till much later. Then and there it only seethed and shook and howled against all things and everything that wasn't itself. Around it a plethora of beings it would only ever consider insignificant ran about in concern and even panic as it spent its rage in ways it hadn't for centuries.

Many miles away in a barn nestled in a wide valley surrounded by hills outside a large city a single man of metal shot up from his seat.

"Gyaha! What the hell was that?" he asked his two identical companions. One of them, currently speaking with their leader, paused to give him a confused glance.

"Al? What's up?"

The Legionnaire who'd sprung up slowly sat back down, his head twisting this way and that.

"You didn't feel that?" They shook their heads with concern. He shivered, uselessly for his body, and ran a hand down his face. "I swear I just felt someone walk over my grave."

The other two grimaced and shook their heads.

"Great, now you're getting a short somewhere on top of everything else- wait, can you repeat that?" He returned to the laptop he had been speaking to before the outburst. "No, it's nothing. Alphonse just felt something unusual... yeah, probably in his power feed. That's what we thought as well. We'll all take a look at him later, see if it's something we can patch easily. Anyway, we had some thoughts we wanted to run by you-"

The three synthetic clones all returned to their work, one every now and then looking around with concern until he too was swept up in the ongoing discussion.

To the north, in a dimly lit bar that served a tiny logging town high in the mountains, a man fell backwards out of his chair to lay still and sprawled out across the floor with his nose running red and his eye already starting to swell.

"Try grabbing my ass again and see what happens! Next time it'll be your hand, and I'll be taking it home with me!"

The crowd parted to let a fuming girl with skin the color of a golden apple and billowing orange and yellow hair, barely kept in check by a tightly knotted bandanna over the top, storm away from the scene, ripping the apron from around her waist and wadding it up before tossing it into the face of another man foolhardy enough to risk leering at her skimpy waitress outfit. She hated it, hated that squeezed it her tight enough that every curve was accentuated for all to see. As he fumbled with the discarded cloth the girl stepped over and pushed him off his seat to an accompanying yelp before continuing her way through the revolving doors to the back, puling the rag from her hair and letting it expand back out to where it's comfortable.

Behind her, two other girls in matching costumes watched the series of events while locked in place by shock. One, with skin of bright arctic blue and deep cerulean hair tinged by deeper lines of cornflower blue, felt awe and jealousy that she never got to do the same to the creeps that constantly tried to brush her backside and chest when they thought they could pass it off as an accident. The other, with fuchsia skin and purple hair streaked through with aquamarine, glowered and fumed silently, knowing what would soon follow.

"Dammit Adagio... the hell are we supposed to go now?" she muttered to herself.

"Awww... why does she get to hit them?" whined the blue skinned one as she prodded the floored man with a foot then jumped back when he moaned. "I wanted to get this one! Kept trying to stick a finger up my-"

"THE HECK DE' YA THINK Y'RE DOIN' YA IDIOT!"

Both of them winced as the yelling from the kitchen and offices in the back momentarily overtook the terrible folksy country music that was the bread and butter for the normal clientele. It was a voice with command behind it, one used to getting its way. If you listened close enough you could hear the spit flying as the words were mangled by the speaker, could hear the teeth grinding as anger evacuated the lungs that powered it in great heaves of breath.

Neither of them found it the list bit intimidating. They'd heard worse and dealt with worse over their lifetimes. They been worse than it for most of them too.

"FERST YA STEAL FROM MY CLIENTS AND NOW THIS? THAT'S IT, GET OUT AND TAKE YA' MISERABLE EXCUSES FER SISTERS WITH YA! I GOT HALF A MIND TO THROW YA IN THE BACK TILL THE COPS- OOF!" the voice cut out for a second before coming back slightly higher in pitch. "AHHHH FUCK! YA LITTLE BITCH, GET BACK HERE! AH'LL SHOVE MY FIST SO FAR UP YER CUN-OOF." This time the voice didn't come back.

The girl who'd gone back after the groping and catcalling had finally reached her last straw kicked the revolving doors open and stormed out, snapping one side in the process so that it hung limply from it's sole remaining hinge. Her knuckles were starting to bruise and from the way she walked she was favoring the toes of one foot. Her eyes scanned the suddenly quiet room, even the music having cut out between songs. It started up again on the next track, a warbling song about love and forgiveness, which lasted all of about five seconds before she directed another kick at the jukebox next to the now wrecked doors. The speaker jumped and the song suddenly dropped an octave, becoming much darker in tone. Her eyes came to rest on her fellow waitresses. With a sharp jerk of her head she marched towards the front door while the crowd of tired loggers at the end of their work day warily shifted out of her way.

The girl with the twin pigtails sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Crap. Get moving Sonata. Gotta get out of town. Again," she grunted.

"Awww! I liked this place! Well, not this place," Sonata said while looking around the bar. "This place was the worst. I mean, just totally awful- hey, wait up! Aria! Wait!"

Aria kept walking through the corridor their human force of nature had carved through the throngs of people, not even pausing when she hear a dull thud from behind her.

"Hey! That little bitch just kicked him in the face-"

"So what're we gonna do now?" Sonata asked as she caught up, slumping forward with her arms hanging limply in front of her.

"Kill Adagio for making us move again?" Aria offered.

"Oooh! That could be fun!" Sonata said while clapping her hands together excitedly.

"You two, quiet."

Aria and Sonata sighed and stopped at the top of the steps leading up to the bar. Aria slowly turned her head to take in a last look of their latest place of employment. Not out of any sense of nostalgia, the place was worse than a dump. Wood walls and wood shingle roof, a real log cabin that might have been picturesque when first built but now just looked like mold and nothing but mold. Windows with the faintest tint of red or maybe orange, hard to tell through the grime. The parking lot was barely visible at this time of night with the thick tree cover around them blocking out the moon and stars, most of the street lights having gone out long ago and never been replaced. The only reliable source of light was a large neon sign atop a pillar near the main road with some of the most terrible marketing Aria had ever seen.

Depicted on it was a set of four mountains, the back two snow topped and rising above the front two with a valley and river running between them. Arcing crimson letters over them declared this to be the Valley to the Mountains bar and grill. The first time she'd seen it she'd looked at Adagio for a solid minute just to be sure she wasn't trying to sell them out. She had, but she'd also sold herself out so Aria had lived with it. Sonata hadn't gotten why she seemed so skeptical since they'd worked at more run down places before. Aria had pulled her head close under one arm against her objections then pointed at the sign with the other.

"Knees, tits, wet," she'd explained as she pointed in turn from the small mountains in front to the larger capped ones in back and the river at the base. Sonata had stared at it about thirty seconds longer than even Aria had thought it would take her to figure things out before she stuck her tongue out and dry heaved. Adagio had simply grumbled and shook her head when Sonata said she wasn't going to do that. It was bad but not that bad Adagio had explained. She'd even been right. Mostly.

Now Adagio stood at the bottom of the front steps with her fists balled at her sides. Aria rolled her eyes and slowly dragged Sonata down the steps. Not that she needed to, she just wanted something to force to do what she wanted for a change and Sonata still hadn't learned that struggling and failing to escape was what Aria wanted from her in those moments.

"So." Simple, conveyed all her loathing for their lives in a single word, and best of all laid it squarely at Adagio's feet to answer.

"Dagi... where are we going now?" whined Sonata, giving her hand a final violent yank to try to free herself from Aria's grip. When she failed she blew an annoyed raspberry and groaned loudly. "There aren't anymore towns in this state we haven't gotten kicked out of."

"Loser's got a point," Aria pointed out, refusing to give Adagio the satisfaction of even looking to her for a response.

"Hey, I'm not a loser! I got more tips this time than either of you! The TV was from my money!"

"That's why you're the loser," Aria muttered with a meaningful glance at the neon affront to decency that completely flew over Sonata's head.

"No more."

"Huh?" asked Sonata as they both turned to Adagio.

"I'm done with this. Not one more hovel hole in the ground filled with shit that thinks it can order us. That it can order me."

"Like we have a choice," muttered Aria. Her vision suddenly blurred as the top of her very low cut uniform was suddenly yanked around to bring her face to face with their "leader".

"Get your hands off my tits you lunatic," she shouted as she began to pull away before a hiss of utter malice escaped through Adagio's clenched teeth. She froze as the tone flipped warning lights in her head. There was a reason Adagio called the shots in their group. When she snapped she didn't do it by halves. Aria might be certain she could do better, could plan better, but she didn't have the raw willpower to dominate Adagio had and she knew it however grudgingly.

Now that will was focused like it hadn't been for almost a year and something had kicked it up even higher, to levels it hadn't reached in centuries. This was not an Adagio to be messed with.

"Ever since we lost our powers we've hit the bottom of this shit world's pecking order. One slimy job after the next to keep food in us that doesn't have any taste and a roof over our heads that doesn't keep out the cold from our lost gems," she almost whispered, her free hand coming up to clench tightly at nothing around her neck. "We lost our nerve and didn't even try to find it again."

Aria tried to pull a couple more inches back without any success while Sonata bit her lip and hugged her shoulders pitifully from behind as Adagio glared down at them both.

"Okay Dagi, sure. No more!" Sonata said weakly. "What's the plan?"

Adagio's eyes suddenly became deadly focused. "We get out nerve back. We get it back along with a little payback. Then we start ruling again, whatever it takes."

Aria's ears perked up at the word payback. That was one of her favorite words. Sonata's too by the surprisingly sudden giggle of understanding and total agreement she releasedt. Adagio released her shirt as a grin slowly spread across her face. Matching grins crawled up her's and Sonata's faces as well as the three drew close in a rare moment of camaraderie, arms laid across each others shoulders as they huddled up and started talking plans.

To the east, in a small shack surrounded by scrub brush, a small mountain of a man slowly opened his eyes. His hands pressed together tightly in front of him, fingers clutching at each other hard enough to draw thin trickles of blood that ran down his forearms and dripped from his elbows. The ground below them is stained with the dried stains of past acts of supplication exactly like this one. His knees ache from kneeling on them for hours upon hours and his eyes are bloodshot and raw from staring unblinkingly at a small altar on the dirt floor in front of him. It's a simple work of bent wire, melted plastic, and animal bones. A space around it was cleared of everything else that might detract from the sight of it and in the glow of the candles that mark the boundaries of that sanctified space it glows with a crimson light, cast by a thousand reflections from the crystal lodged at the top of the edifice. His breathing, shallow and ragged, suddenly hitched in his throat and his eyes slowly closed.

In a voice like the rumble of an earthquake he uttered a whisper loud enough to shake the dust from the walls. "I hear my lord."

They were the first words he'd spoken in a half a decade or more.

His answer complete, he slowly rose and stretched, his muscles popping from the days of waiting. Even after so much time had passed, they still were not used to going so long without motion time after time, day after day, their trial broken only by the man's need to eat and finally sleep when he can no longer remain awake. He didn't care, he barely even noted the discomfort, like a fly buzzing from a mile away in an empty room it had almost no impact on him. A call had filled that emptiness and he would answer with action. He collected his tools, his implements, his objects and fetishes and altars and carefully, almost reverentially, packed them into the beat up SUV parked behind the shack. A few minutes after he'd left and the only trace of his passing was a faint and rapidly thinning cloud of dust hanging over the road. Then the shack suddenly exploded in a ball of fire. The surrounding brush quickly followed until every last trace of his time spent on the plain was lost in the devastation.

He hadn't planned it. He never planned anything. It had simply happened because he had been told it would happen. He just followed the call and did what it told him.

Always.

Forever.

A few hundred meters above the prison cage, in a small room completely unadorned and devoid of personality, a young man with pale skin and almost equally pale hair and eyes twitched. He looked up, searching for the cause of the disturbance. He stiffened as the walls started to shake lightly and kept on shaking. He watched them intently for a minute or two then shrugged when the vibrations failed to get any worse. He pulled his legs in close, cradling a photo album between them and his hunched over body. His eyes slowly scanned down the pages and occasionally he licked his lips.

So many hunts he'd been on. So many exhilarating traps and snares he'd laid. Now he had the chance to add a new one, one that might just be his piece de resistance. He slowly lifted the picture he'd cut out of the briefing he'd been provided and slipped it into the next open holder in the album. His fingers brushed across it and he shuddered with the expectation of what was to come.

Unwitnessed and missed by every thinking, feeling being in that star system, in a small patch of space far enough away from the nearest world and it's inhabitants that would have appeared as no more than another speck against the dark, the void cracked and warped. A long, warped rod of matter, white hot and glowing along its outer edges, shot out of the hole in reality at tremendous speed. Behind it space returned to close to normal, but not completely. At an almost unimaginably small scale, a tiny fissure remained, still connecting two realities.

The rod began to cool from white to yellow to red, revealing voids and spaces and geometric shapes within the confines of the volume that had passed through the hole. In places better defined features could be found: a console, a door, a power conduit, a splash of crimson or ash. Here or there a picture frame, a freshly laundered uniform, a case with a medal. Near the back half rested the most unique of all the items on the multiversal castaway.

Slowly rotating and bound in a web of long dark hair, with eyes and mouth steaming from the flash vaporization of the moisture they'd held, a head bumped against a shorn away wall and bounced out into the empty void, separated from it's body by a perfectly smooth and cauterized cut at a shallow angle through the neck.

For a few more minutes horribly distorted signals flowed through the unseen gateway calling for help that could not be found in this universe and were indeed meant for another one entirely, before they too went silent. The rod and its occupants continued to cool afterwards until eventually they too were no more than just another tiny cold speck of something in the vast expanse of nothing.

Author's Note

WELL THAT TOOK A WHILE.

Think this might be my new favorite chapter. Just felt like I was in a good place with it and where some of the ideas went.

That said, I might be taking a break and going back to Steelhearts for awhile. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

Hope you all enjoy!