Lions, Tigers and Bears and.... Ponies?!by Titan Commander SebasteChaptersChapter 1: BreakoutChapter 2: Cat's outta the bagChapter 3: Hopes and NightmaresChapter 1: BreakoutThe Canterlot Gardens “Oy… remind me again why Sunbutt turned us to stone?” A male voice mentally said from a cat statue to three others. “Because we were quote “A threat to Equestria because we were traitors” unquote.” A female voice replied in a tired voice. A second female voice then butted in. “If you ask me, she just wanted an excuse to make sure we didn't turn on her like Luna.” She said in a bitter tone. “And we never got to see her kid...” “From what I heard from some of the guards passing by, the kid didn’t make it through the night, it was too sickly. ” “That's enough.” A fourth voice entered the conversation, this one was male but it had the tone of a leader. “Whatever the reason, she did what she did. We just have to bear it like our Draconequus friend over there.” “You do realize I can hear you four over there? All this complaining about being turned to statues just because Celly went mad with grief is starting to grate on my ears…” A new voice interrupted the conversation. It came from an odd looking statue a few feet from the four. “Oh sorry Dissy, like you have it any easier?” The first voice snarked. “At least you're noticeable, we mostly get passed over!” “I’ll be out soon, don't you worry…” Discord chuckled. “And as for you four, I’ll let you out and let you have a nice heart to heart chat with Celly. See if she still remembers you after all of those years though…. She may have already forgotten you. As for the child, she’s not dead, but she will be in danger. You’ll recognize her when you see her... “I doubt it…” the second female voice said with a hint of a feline snarl. “And how do you know it’s a filly?” “Oopsie, spoiler alert! I’ve said too much!” Discord said. Just then a school group came by, and the four stone cats heard the teacher ask her students who Discord represented, just as soon as she asked the question, a brawl broke out between three of the fillies, a pegasus, earth pony and unicorn, only for the three to be berated by their teacher. “Geez, ask a question about Discord and the claws come out!” The first voice said. The other three murmured agreement. After the fight subsided, the group moved on, the four then heard the Teacher say to them, “And these four cats were known as the Night Pride, the lion is Pallo, the leader of the four and a inspiring commander, his second in command is Ares, Warrior of the Night, a white tiger with an attitude much like a certain pegasus we know back in Ponyville and a fierce fighter .” The first voice snorted, “I may be cocky, but I'm not as brash as that lollipop!” The teacher continued, “Next we have Venus, another tiger and Guardian of the Pride, she was the more gentle member of the four, but if someone threatened her friends, she would fight to defend them. And last is Minerva, a Black Panther and Huntress of the shadows. She was the tracker and stealth fighter of the Pride, and while she had a sarcastic attitude, she would not let any harm come to anyone in the shadows unless they were her enemies. These four served both Celestia and Luna until Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and the four then turned on Celestia and she was forced to turn them into stone.” “Now wait just a minute, that is not true!” The first voice said indignantly. “We helped fight Nightmare Moon but then Sunbutt then turned on us! That is a total lie right there!” “Just leave it Ares…” The first female voice said. One of the Fillies that was in the brawl, a orange Pegasus named Scootaloo, spoke up. “ Ms. Cheerilee, why were they called the Night Pride?” “They helped defend Equestria from monsters that attacked in the night and tried to ponynap fillies like you called Beasties.” Cheerilee replied. “I remember seeing them back when I was a filly.” She then looked up at the sky to see what the position of the sun was “Alright kids, time to head back to the train.” she said before giving a sad look to the four and whispered “I truly wish this hadn't happened to you four…” she then led the group to the train that would take them back to Ponyville. As the group left, no one noticed the cracks that had suddenly appeared on the five statues Soon after, shards of stone broke off from the five statues, freeing them from a millennium of being imprisoned in stone. The four cats stretched before standing up while Discord vanished in a flash of light. “Oh man, so glad I’m outta that stone case!” Ares, or in his old life Carlos, said, the white Bengal tiger scratching his ear while talking. “At least we don't have to hear you complain over and over again…” the speaker, a black Panther with green eyes muttered. This was Minerva, or in her old life, Katelyn. Ares rolled his blue eyes at her. “Sorry Minerva, just got bored with being encased in stone. You would too if you were me, oh wait, you also got stoned!” The other two chuckled. “Okay Ares, we get it.” Another Bengal tiger, this one orange with blue eyes said with a smirk. Her name was Venus, or in her old life,Alexandra. She then looked over to the last member of the group, a blue eyed lion. “Pallo, what should we do now?” Pallo, or in his old life, Viktor frowned. “We should probably pay Celestia a visit, and confront her on why she turned us to stone after we helped her fight Nightmare Moon… and maybe we'll be able see Luna also.” The other three nodded before the four headed to the castle entrance. As they approached, two guards stationed at the doors spotted them and immediately alerted the others nearby. “The Night Pride have been freed! Alert the Princesses! “Great… Just like when we first arrived… I hate being used as target practice…” Minerva growled. “Ya think?” Ares asked her dryly. “Let's not worry about our old lives, right now we need to worry about these guards!” Pallo yelled before dodging a magic blast from a Solar Guard unicorn. Ares yelped as the blast exploded near him. “Hey, watch where you shoot! That's my tail you know!” He yelled before sending a nearby Solar Guard Pegasus into a Solar Guard Earth Pony. Two more Pegasi dived down towards them, wing blades primed. “Venus, those two are gonna try and give you a buzz cut!” The white Tiger yelled. Venus looked up and growled menacingly, remembering the last time that happened. “Not this time!” She then leapt and swatted the two out of the air. They crashed into the ground with a sound not unlike a pantry full of dishes smashing into the floor. Minerva meanwhile had managed to ambush the two unicorns that were taking potshots at the rest of the Pride. “That should take care of you…” she muttered to the two unconscious ponies before stalking into the shadows. Pallo smashed aside an Earth Pony before roaring loudly. The remaining conscious guards then wisely fled but not before two more unicorns fired arrows at them, the projectiles streaking towards them and striking Venus in the back leg. “AAAGH!” She cried out in pain, stumbling. “Venus!” Ares ran over to her, looking at the arrows imbedded in her hind leg, blood trickling down it. “I’m okay, AH!” Venus said, groaning in pain. “These arrows aren't going to stop me from going to seeing Celestia or Luna.” She then grabbed the shafts and snapped them before she tried to stand up, only to fall as her wounded leg gave out on her. “Minerva, give me a paw!” Ares yelled to the Black Pantheress. She nodded before the two of them went to either side of Venus and supported her up, letting her lean on them as they headed towards the throne room, the Bengal limping slightly as she refused to put weight on her injured leg. Inside the castle... Luna, princess of the night, was not happy. She had just fallen asleep, only for a loud roar and shouts from the guards outside to wake her up. Annoyed, she looked outside before teleporting to the throne room intending to get to the bottom of this, only to find the door locked and guarded by five Solar Guards, Shining Armour among them. Not wanting to argue with the guards, she then teleported into the room and walked up to Celestia.“Sister, what's going on?” she asked in an irritated voice. “I get woken up by your guards yelling and a roar from some creature, and I then find out that the castle is on lockdown! You have better have a reason for this, or I will find out what's going on myself!” Before Celestia could answer, the door was cracked opened and Shining Armour poked his head through. “Y...you have some visitors that need to speak to you…” he stammered, his face looking even paler than his white coat. The two Alicorns gave the Captain a confused look before he disappeared behind the door. The door then swung open and four figures Luna thought she would never see again approached the two. The Night Pride! They're still alive! But… what happened to Venus? Why is she limping? “Hello Luna, Celestia. Been awhile since we last saw each other.” Pallo said, his voice steely when he said Celestia's name. Celestia nervously looked at the Night Pride, who glared at her. “It… has been awhile.” She said, trying not to meet their gazes. “How did you even get free?” “You can thank Discord for that. Now why did you stone us and make it sound like we were the bad guys? We helped you fight Nightmare Moon and her beastie allies, and you go and turn on us!” Ares growled. Luna turned to Celestia. “You turned the Pride into stone? Why?!” She asked in disbelief. The sun princess looked down in shame. “I… I was maddened by grief, and blamed them for you getting banished. I was too full of myself to see that they were trying to warn me of you turning into Nightmare Moon and when I defeated you, I… I turned on them and… turned them to stone...” “Well we’re here to tell you that we quit serving you.” Minerva spoke up. “We will keep fighting off Beasties, but not on your orders Celestia.” Venus looked up at the Princesses, her eyes hard. “We trusted you Celestia, and you broke that trust when you disregarded our warnings about Luna and turned on us after Nightmare Moon was banished.” Luna winced at the memory. “We’ll keep helping your subjects, but you will need to re-earn our trust if you want us to serve under you again.” She growled, wincing at the pain in her hind leg. “From now on, we take our our orders from Luna.” “Before we leave, we need a medic for Venus. Two of your guards managed to hit her with arrows on our way here.” Pallo said. Celestia nodded hesitantly before sending for one of her doctors. Luna stood nearby, glaring at her sister. Serves you right Tia, you never did listen back then… she thought. But… I wish I had been there for my niece when she was born, even if she was alive for a day... As they waited, Ares thought, It's hard to believe we used to be human… but now we don't even use our real names… he then reflected on their life before and after they had arrived in Equestria…. The Everfree Forest Loneliness…. Confusion… Fear... These were the first things the figure felt as it woke up in the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Two teal reptilian eyes looked around as it stood up on four shaky hooves. A starry violet-blue mane waved in a nonexistent breeze. “Wh… where am I? How...how did I get here?” it asked, the voice revealing it to be female, nervously looking around. Then memories of how she came to be surfaced and her eyes filled with tears. “What… what have I done…?” she sobbed, her head lowered. While she had her own memories, some of Luna’s managed to stay with her. After a few minutes, she looked up at the sky. “I should be angry that those six foiled me, yet… I can't help but be grateful for them separating me from Luna… if they hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to think back on my mistakes...” she murmured. A sinister chuckle was then heard from behind her, causing her to spin around, her wings raised and her horn charged up. Her eyes widened in fear as she locked onto a pair of glowing red eyes that belonged to a bipedal armored rat like creature, with plates on its shoulders and back but nothing on its head, chest, legs or arms and armed with a pair of massive paws tipped with sharp talons. “Beastie! You dare show your face here?” The midnight colored Alicorn bellowed. The creature’s eyes narrowed. “I would have thought you'd remember my name. I was one of your allies when you fought Celestia.” It said. Memories of the fight resurfaced, but this only made the Alicorn even more upset. “I… I was a fool for trying to defeat Celestia…” And for allying with these monsters... The creature then laughed, a harsh sound. “Unlike you, I plan on making sure she and that blasted Night Pride pay. Our master Valthraax is back, and unlike you, he has his sights on taking the throne and he has something special planned… Too bad you, the Princesses or the Night Pride won't live to see it.” It snarled before charging, only to have his target dodge and fire a blast of lightning, scoring his armoured back. “GAHHH! You’ll pay for that, you weakling!” The creature growled, smashing the Alicorn aside with a single blow and sending her through a wall. She landed outside, the wind knocked out of her and three large claw marks on her side. She winced in pain before standing back up and spreading her wings. The creature advanced only for its size to hamper it. The Alicorn heard it swear as it tried to find a way to her. I...need to… warn Celestia and Luna…. I may get imprisoned, and in all honesty, I deserve it... She thought laboriously before flying out above the forest, each wing stroke sending a wave of pain through her, and upon spotting a town nearby, flew over and landed at the edge of it before collapsing on the ground. As she sank into unconsciousness, she saw a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane staring at her in shock and fear. “Please….help…..” she croaked before her vision blacked out, but as she faded she heard a voice calling for help before she finally succumbed to darkness. Back in the ruins, the creature roared in frustration and smashed a pillar. “We’ll meet again Nightmare Moon… and next time you won't be so lucky….” It growled clenching its fist, before looking over at two other Beasties behind him. Like him, they were bipedal but both had yellow eyes. “Grok, what do we do now?” One of the Beasties, a purple furred rounded creature with stubby arms and legs with dark spots on its back, asked. “The Princesses will know that we're back and the Night Pride will hunt us down!” Grok glared at it before replying, “Shut up you buffoon! We’ll report this to Valthraax. In the meantime Grumble, you and Mumbler keep grabbing the fillies and colts. Soon we’ll be able to take the Stuffed Animal Kingdom back in our universe once we're done here.” “ Why don't we ever get to see some action….?” The second Beastie, a tall orange furred ape like creature with an oversized group of upper dentures grumbled, the words hard to make out because of the large upper teeth. “We mostly get stuck snatching kids…” Grok looked at Mumbler before facepalming. Why do I even keep these idiots around…. “GET MOVING!” He roared. The two tumbled over each other in their haste to get away. The Beastie Lord then looked out over the ruins. “Soon…. The Age of Beasts will begin… And this time Abner, you and your Stuffed Animal Militia won't be able stop us...” He began to chuckle madly and soon, the forest was ringing with the sound of his laughter. Author's Note And so our story begins... Chapter 2: Cat's outta the bagMohegan Sun Casino, Norwich, CT The day had started out so simply. Carlos, 18, had driven his car to pick up his girlfriend Alexa,17, who he had been dating for five years now, along with Viktor,19, and his sister Katelyn,15, to go to the Comic-con at the Mohegan Sun in Norwich. The four were dressed up as the Night Pride, a group of four consisting of a Lion, two Tigers, one orange and one white, and a Black Panther named after both the Greek and Roman gods. Carlos had gone with Ares, the white Siberian tiger while Alexandra had gone with Venus, the orange Bengal tiger. Viktor had gone with Pallo, the lion and the leader of the group and Katelyn chose Minerva, the Black Panther (not to be confused with the marvel character.). The four had everything ready…. Except for their masks. “Damn it Carlos, you forgot our masks?!” Viktor yelled outside the door of the casino. “Hey, I'm sorry! I was kinda in a hurry to get you guys and it slipped my mind!” Carlos retorted, his arms crossed. “Guys, break it up! So Carlos forgot our masks, we can get new ones here!” Katelyn said, standing in between her brother and his friend before it dissolved into a full blown argument between the two. “Kate’s right. Who knows, maybe we'll see Jack Lawrence or Mike Bullock here.” Alexa said, referring to the creator and the artist of the Lions, Tigers and Bears comic from where the Night Pride came from. The two male teens playfully glared at each other before laughing and the four entered the casino. Instantly they were surrounded by many people in costumes, some were familiar, some were not so familiar. Carlos spotted two people dressed up like an Orbital Spartan from Halo and a Space Marine from Warhammer 40,000 looking around. Too bad I never really got into that game… the minis look sick! He thought. Alexandra chuckled as she leaned her head against her boyfriend's shoulder. “Let's go look for those masks.” She said. Carlos nodded and the four moved on. While looking at the stalls, Carlos noticed a single stall that looked… different. It was a single tent with a torch and manning it was a man dressed as the Merchant from the Resident Evil series. And the things he was selling… Carlos could not believe what he saw. There was an Omnitrix from Ben 10, a Halo Reach style Assault Rifle and much more. But what got his attention were the four sculpted masks of the Night Pride. “Guys, I think I just hit the jackpot…” he said to the others, pointing at the stall. Viktor looked at the stall with suspicion written on his face. “I don't know, that stall is giving me a bad vibe…” he said. “Vik, they have the masks we need!” Carlos said. Viktor sighed before saying, “Alright, let's go.” Both the girls and Carlos cheered before they headed over to the vendor. “Welcome, welcome! And how may I help you four?” The vendor asked in a gravely voice. Whoa, even sounds like the Merchant! Carlos thought. “We’d like to get the Night Pride masks.” He said “$30 each, so that comes to $120 altogether.” The vendor said. The four nodded and each handed him $30. But as they put the masks on, a burning sensation swept through them, causing them to cry out in pain before they blacked out. The vendor chuckled as the four vanished. “Pleasure doing business with you four.” Equestria, 673 AD, (After Discord), 1671 BNM (Before Nightmare Moon) Castle of the Two Sisters Alexa was the first one to wake up and look at their surroundings in confusion. The four of them were in what appeared to be an open courtyard to a castle. Wha…. What happened? And where are we? Last thing I remember was putting that mask on…. Groaning, she started to stand up only to notice that her hands were now paws. “AAAAAAH!” She screamed. She tried to stand on her hind legs only to fall flat on her side. Her scream woke the others up and they looked around wildly before staring at her in shock. She then felt her ears flatten in embarrassment and when she looked behind her, she saw what was now her tail flick nervously. “Alex… when did you turn into an actual tiger?” Carlos asked in confusion. Alexandra looked at her boyfriend and asked, “Have you guys taken a look at yourselves?” as she shakily got back up on four paws. “What are you…..” Viktor began to asked before catching sight of himself in a puddle. “HOLY SHIT!” He yelped. The other two were also shocked at the change they had gone through. “So… we’re now the actual Night Pride?! How… how is that even possible!?” Carlos asked, his voice conveying his shock and disbelief. “I don't know… but right now we need to figure out where the heck we are…” Viktor said, looking around. Katelyn narrowed her green eyes. “You guys hear something?” She asked, flicking her ears behind her. What sounded like...hooves clopping on cobblestone could clearly be heard from behind them then the sound stopped and a startled exclamation was heard. The four spun around to see a unicorn in armor staring at them in shock. It was light brown with a dark orange mane and tail and on its flank was a picture of a mace and shield. “Um… please tell me I’m dreaming…” Carlos said. “Then I’d have to lie.” Katelyn retorted. “How did you four beasts get in here?!” The Unicorn said, its voice female. “Did… did the unicorn just talk?!” Alexa asked in shock. “Whatever you are, you’re trespassing on royal grounds!” The unicorn snapped, her horn charging up. She was then joined by two regular ponies, one was dark blue with a tan mane and tail and had picture of a hammer breaking a rock, the other a forest green with a white mane and tail and had a picture of a flower surrounded by moss and three Pegasi, one was dark grey with a black mane and tail and had a picture of the moon with a sword over it while the other two were light red, one with a blue mane and tail the other with a blonde mane and tail, with a star streaking down and a pair of blades crossed respectively. First Unicorns, now Pegasi… this is getting crazy! Katelyn thought, her eyes widening at the sight. “Wait, this isn't what you think it is!” Viktor said, “We just woke up here!” The unicorn mare snorted, “A likely story. For one thing, we don't have your type around here in the Everfree and second, you’re not supposed to even be able to talk!” “Our type? Lady, that's a rude thing to say!” Carlos said in an offended tone. “As for what you're talking about, Everfree? The heck is that? A tree of some kind?!” “Since when were Lions, Tigers or Panthers even able to even talk? Someone must have cast a spell on you and is talking through you!” The unicorn retorted. “And the Everfree is that big forest outside!” “Spell? What, like a magic spell? Please, that's ridiculous!” Katelyn said, sniggering. The mare’s eyes narrowed before a bolt of explosive energy shot from her horn straight towards the four. “Scatter!” Viktor shouted. The four great cats leapt out of the path of the projectile before it hit the ground with the force of a grenade going off. “Night Slicer, Swooping Star, bring the orange tiger down, Blade Jumper, you help Rock Crasher with the white tiger. I’ll deal with the Panther, Moss Flower, you take care of the lion.” The unicorn ordered, “we’ll bring them to the Princesses for questioning.” The guards nodded before moving to pursue their targets. The two Pegasi mares, Night Slicer and Swooping Star sped after Alexandra, their wing blades ready. The tiger turned to engage, but upon seeing the blades mounted on their wings, ducked down with a yelp. The two flew over her, missing her by inches, and crashing into a wall with a clatter. She then felt a chill breeze on her back, and when she looked, she saw that some of her fur had been shorn off by the blades. “Did..you two give me a buzz cut?!” She asked in disbelief and anger. She then heard Carlos stifling a chuckle. “Really Carlos? At a time like this?” She growled before getting jumped on by the two Pegasi. “Surrender or die.” Swooping Star said, her voice hard, one wing blade aimed at Alexandra's throat. “Alex!” Carlos yelled before getting blindsided by Blade Jumper, the stallion’s blow sending the tiger rolling. “Oof!” he grunted, before getting pinned down by two incredibly strong hooves. Stunned, Carlos could only watch as the rest of his friends were captured. Katelyn was stunned by a single blast from the unicorn’s horn while a single buck from the earth pony floored Viktor. The three were then hauled over to where Carlos was being held. “Chain them up and let's take them to the throne room.” The unicorn ordered. “Yes Captain Shield Breaker.” Moss Flower, the Earth Pony mare said. Within seconds, the four were in chains and were soon being taken over to the throne room under heavy guard. “Hey, keep that spear to yourself! I don't do that on the first date!” Carlos snapped after getting prodded by a spear. “Silence!” The guard holding it snapped back. Carlos rolled his eyes before looking straight ahead. Geez, how big is this castle? It feels like we’ve been walking for hours… Shield Breaker halted in front of a pair of ornate doors and turned to the four cats. “Whatever you do, don't speak unless you're spoken to.” She warned before opening the doors and entering the room. The four then followed, pushed forward by the other guards. As they entered, Carlos, Viktor, Alexandra and Katelyn saw two of what appeared to be a cross between a Pegasus and a unicorn arguing with each other. One was white and had a pink mane and a picture of the sun on its flank while the other was dark blue with a lighter blue mane and a picture of the moon on its flank and was smaller than the white one. Both were wearing crowns and had regalia on. Both also were a few inches taller than the four, who were the same size as the ponies surrounding them.. As soon as the door had opened, the two had stopped their argument and looked in shock at the four cats in chains in front of them. “Why didst thou bring these four creatures to us? Canst thou see we're busy?” The white pony asked in a medieval dialect. This proved to be too much for Carlos, who busted out laughing. “Carlos!” Viktor whispered sharply. “I'm sorry, it’s just that…” Carlos tried to stifle his laughter but failed miserably. The guards looked mortified while the two ponies at the thrones glared angrily at the human turned tiger. “Thou thinkest our speech funny?!” The blue pony shouted, the room literally shaking from the force of the yell. The four winced, flattening their ears. Then Viktor spoke up. “No, we don't.” He said, giving an annoyed look at Carlos. “I'm sorry about my friend laughing, he was out of line.” The two ponies relaxed and the white pony said, “Who art thou? We’ve never seen you four before…” “We’re called the Night Pride. I'm Pallo, the leader of the group, the white tiger is Ares my second in command, the tigress is Venus and the Panther is Minerva.” Viktor said. “If I may ask, what are you? We’ve never seen you before…” “We are Alicorns, a mix of Pegasi, Earth Pony and Unicorn.” She said. “I am Princess Celestia, and this is my younger sister, Luna.” Luna nodded her head in greeting, her eyes curious. “Why exactly art thou here? We’ve heard of your kind, but we’ve never heard of any of them talking.” Celestia asked. “That's the question we’re trying to figure out.” Alexandra sighed. “One minute, we’re back on Earth at a convention, and the next thing we know, we end up in your courtyard and get set upon by the guards!” She said with a glare at the guards behind them who glared back. “Earth? You mean you're not from Equestria?” Luna asked in shock. “Gee, if a lion, two Tigers and a panther show up suddenly in a courtyard, what do you think?” Katelyn asked, her tone sarcastic. Celestia's eye twitched. Carlos facepawed. “To answer your question, yes, we aren't exactly from here. And we weren't cats either. We were humans, which look like a hairless ape except for the top of our heads. Our actual names are, well were, Viktor, Carlos, Alexandra and Katelyn. Celestia's horn lit up for a few seconds before she said, “There is some strange magical residue surrounding the four of you, and unfortunately, I can not send you back to your world. Whatever this magic is, it prevents me from being able to. ” The group upon hearing this were stunned. We… we can't go back to Earth? Ever? Katelyn thought in shock. “You mean we're stuck here?” Carlos asked. Celestia nodded. Alexa bent her head down in shock. Seeing this, Carlos walked up to her and nuzzled her. “Hey, we’ll make it through this.” He said gently. Alexa blinked and returned the nuzzle. Both Luna and Celestia saw this and had confused looks on their faces. “Art thou mates?” Celestia asked. The two Tigers chuckled. “Not exactly, we’re still dating.” Alexandra said. She then asked “Can we get out of these chains? They're starting to chaff a bit…” The guards tensed while the Princesses stared at them in shock. “What makest thou think we’d let you out of those chains? For all we know you’ll attack us like you did the guards!” Celestia said. “Okay, for one, they attacked us, not the other way round! And for two, we don't fight unless we're forced to!” Carlos snapped. “Then… you aren't a threat?” Luna asked. Viktor opened his mouth to answer only to hear a bestial snarl and a scream from a guard. The four turned to see a furred bipedal monster with five other creatures with different features and different sizes. A guard was held in the first monster’s grasp. “So the Night Pride has come out of hiding… Valthraax will be pleased if he hears we took you blasted cats out!” It snarled in a pleased tone. “What in Faust’s name is that?!” Celestia gasped. Viktor’s answer was grim. “A Beastie.” “A what?” Luna asked. “They're called Beasties, and they are very bad news. They kidnap children and feast on their nightmares, and… the kids don't survive the experience….” Carlos growled. Both Celestia and Luna looked sickened by what Carlos had told them. “That's…. horrible!” Celestia exclaimed. “And if we're not let out of these chains, the same thing will happen to the kids of your subjects!” Viktor growled. The Beasties laughed. “Leave them in those chains, it’ll make it easier to take them out!” The leader said. The Princesses glared at the creatures before Celestia’s horn flared and the chains fell off the four cats. Viktor rubbed his paws where the chains had chafed at his fur before growling, “Alright, let's show these guys why the Night Pride is feared by all Beasties!” The Beastie leader tossed the guard he was holding into another, knocking both of them unconscious. “Get ‘em!” He yelled. With a roar, both sides charged. While Viktor and the leader clashed, Alexandra, Carlos and Katelyn engaged the five others. “Hah, missed me!” Carlos said, ducking a clumsy swing from the Beastie he was fighting before landing a powerful blow that gutted the creature. The Beastie screamed before falling to the floor, its insides pouring out. “Ewww, that's definitely a gut-buster right there!” The white tiger said, before getting sent flying by a blow from another Beastie. “Ooof! Oh, so that's how you wanna play? Well two can play at that game!” Carlos growled before leaping at the Beastie with a roar. Meanwhile, Alexandra was landing blow after blow on the Beastie she was fighting. “Not so tough now are you?” She taunted. “You won't stop us, Valthraax will make sure that you fall!” The Beastie snarled before slapping her aside and charging towards the Princesses only to be hit with a searing beam that disintegrated him instantly. “Thou shalt not harm us!” Celestia yelled, her horn glowing. How… how did she do that? It's like she channeled the power of the sun! Alexandra thought in shock. Seeing two of their fellows brought down, the four remaining Beasties began to back down, seeing this, Viktor, Carlos, Alexandra and Katelyn pressed their advantage, Katelyn bringing down another Beastie. Now outnumbered, the three Beasties broke and ran, the four cats chasing them as far as the door. “Yeah, you better run! And next time, do some squats!” Carlos yelled, “You could use the exercise!” “We can't thank thee enough for this. Thou hast done us a great service this day.” Celestia said. She then looked outside and bent her head, her horn glowing. “Um… what's she doing?” Katelyn asked. “She's lowering the sun so that I may raise the moon.” Luna replied. The four gave both of the Princesses a disbelieving look. “You guys move the sun and moon?” Viktor asked in shock. Luna nodded before her horn began glowing. “That's not even possible!The planet revolves around the Sun while the moon revolves around the earth!” he said. “I think we threw Scientific theory out the window the moment we came here…” Carlos snarked. “First Unicorns, then Pegasi, what's next, Dragons and Manticores?” “You know about them?!” Shield Breaker asked in shock. Carlos looked at her before facepawing. “Lady, from where we come from, you’re just a myth, same with Pegasi, Manticores and dragons.” Katelyn said. “So this is kinda of a surprise for us also.” Shield Breaker chuckled. “The name's Shield Breaker. Captain of the Castle Guard.” She said. The group of guards from earlier walked up behind her, the helmets of the Pegasi held in their wings. Upon closer inspection, Carlos saw that one of the Pegasi looked… different. She had bat like ears, slitted eyes, bat like wings and when she smiled, he saw a pair of fangs. “I'm Night Slicer, nice to meet you four.” She said, nodding her head in greeting. The two regular Pegasi were next. “I'm Swooping Star, and this is my brother, Blade Jumper.” The mare said, the stallion cooly giving the four a nod “Name’s Rock Crasher, nice to meet Y’all.” The Earth Pony stallion said with what sounded like a Texan accent. “And I'm Moss Flower.” The Earth Pony mare said. “Nice meeting you guys too, though, what exactly are you? I don't think I've seen a pony like you before…” Carlos asked Night Slicer. “I'm what's called a Thestral or “Bat Pony”.” She replied, her ears flattening in embarrassment while she looked away. “It's… not something I really like talking about.” Must make for quite the awkward conversation... Carlos thought before he said, “If you don't want to talk about it, I’ll respect that.” Night Slicer gave him a small smile before she asked, “So you’re actually from another world? What's it like?” “Well… Humanity is the dominant species, numbering over 6.5 billion. We use very advanced technology like computers, but… the problem with our kind is that we’re very war like, we have fought more wars than we can count. There are some good people, but… there are more people that do bad than good.” Viktor explained. “So in a way, us getting brought here was a lucky break, we don't have to deal with hearing about the pain and suffering that happens in our world. But we have family back on our world, and they're gonna be frantic as to what happened to us.” The guards had looks of shock and sympathy on their faces at what Viktor had told them. “I'm truly sorry…” Shield Breaker murmured. “It's fine. But what I’m worried about is that the Beasties are planning something, and it’ll involve…” Viktor trailed off as he realized something. Oh no….. “Vik, what's wrong?” Carlos asked. “I just realized something, the only thing stopping the Beasties from taking all the kids in the comics was the Militia, but they don't exist here!” Viktor said. Carlos's eyes widened before he swore, “Damn it! And we’re the only ones that can stop them!” “But how? Four cats just aren't enough to fight them, and they mentioned Valthraax, and that's never a good sign…” Alexandra said. “Who is this “Valthraax”?” Celestia asked. “The leader of the Beasties, a scheming spider headed monster that will stop at nothing to capture all of the children.” Katelyn growled. “Your highnesses, with your permission, the four of us would like to help by stopping the Beasties before they can kidnap any of the children here.” Viktor said, “But if you would rather us not to and leave your guards to deal with the problem, that's your decision. But we know the foe better than you or the guards, and if you don't do something, you’ll lose the hope for the future.” Celestia suddenly started at that, and her eyes became fearful. What the… wonder why she reacted like tha… Carlos wondered before realizing something, Oh boy… She's pregnant! No wonder she reacted like that, she doesn't want to lose her kid when he or she gets born and grows up! “Tia, what's wrong?” Luna asked. “N... nothing. I'm fine, just worried for our subjects.” Celestia said, her eyes warning her sister not to speak of this. “I’ll explain later.” She said quietly to Luna, who narrowed her eyes and frowned. “In the meantime, you have our permission to stop these creatures any way you can. If what you say is true, there already may be fillies and colts missing.” She continued. “Thank you your highnesses.” Viktor said, the four of them bowing their heads in respect before Carlos yawned. “If it's okay with you, we’d like to get some rest. Today's been… a bit crazy for us.” “Of course. Captain, please show them to a spare room.” Celestia said. Shield Breaker nodded and beckoned to the four before they left the throne room. As the door closed, Luna turned to Celestia. “There's something you’re not telling me. Why did you react like that earlier?” She asked. Celestia sighed. “I'm… expecting a child.” Luna’s eyes widened. “You mean… I'm going to be an aunt?” She asked incredulously. Celestia nodded. “So that's why you reacted like that, you’re afraid that the Beasties will get your child when he or she is older… Who’s the father?” Celestia didn't answer as she looked out the window. “Honestly, I'm afraid for not just my child, but for every filly and colt in Equestria. These creatures… they're almost like the primal version of ourselves…. I just hope the Night Pride can stop them. As for who the father is, it… I honestly don't remember, it was a long time ago...” Luna nodded in understanding before she put a wing over her older sister's shoulder. “I have a feeling they will. From what I saw during the fight, they were making sure none of the guards got involved.” As she said this, a voice in her head whispered, Since when did Celestia really care about you? She won't give you what you deserve! Luna ignored this as the two sisters leaned against each other. Meanwhile… “...And this is where you’ll be staying.” Shield Breaker said, opening the door to the massive spare bedroom. “Dang, you could fit a theater in here!” Carlos said. Shield Breaker gave him a confused look before deciding not to bother with asking questions. “Thank you Captain. We’ll let you know if we need anything.” Viktor said. Shield Breaker nodded before she left the room. Katelyn had already fallen asleep on a velvet rug, her sides rising and falling as she laid curled up. Viktor chuckled as he watched his sister sleep. Carlos and Alexa had curled up together on the bed and were talking quietly with each other. Hard to believe we're now in a place that looks like it belongs in a kid’s cartoon… but now we have a bigger problem to deal with, the Beasties. Tomorrow we'll need to investigate and try and stop them from taking any of the kids here. The lion thought, his blue eyed gaze looking out the single window. But right now, we all need some rest. He then laid down under the window, and within seconds, fell asleep. Meanwhile… “My lord Valthraax, I bring distressing news!” A Beastie said, standing at the foot of a carved throne, his head bowed. “Speak….” A ancient voice spoke with a hint of menace. “The Night Pride, they have appeared in this world!” The messenger said, looking up. “They managed to stop six of us when we attacked the pony Princesses!” “WHAT?!” The voice shrieked. The owner of it, a spider headed creature in a top hat and wearing late 1800s human clothing and a cloak stood up and grabbed the unfortunate Beastie by the throat. “How are they here?” Not waiting for an answer, he tossed the messenger aside. This is impossible! Abner and that blasted King Bear can't have found out where I am! No matter, I’ll still get the brats here and Celestia's child too when it grows up a bit more after it’s been born! And then I can take the human world and those two brats! Valthraax began to cackle evilly, “You’ve stopped nothing Pallo! I’ll still get that brat Joey after I’m done with this world!” He said as his laughter grew, “The age of Beasts will reign!” He then burst into full screeching laughter, and far away, in the Castle of the Two Sisters, Luna woke up with a shudder. “I pray that the Night Pride is able to help us, if not, Faust have mercy on our souls…” She muttered, a sense of dread settling over her. In the spare room, the dreams of the four cats were broken by memories that were not theirs, memories of fighting countless waves of Beasties, of joking with other stuffed animals, and of a familiar boy and girl. In the shadows, a scarred face of a small bear watched them. I don't know how Pallo and the others got here, but from what I saw, the Beasties are up to something… I need to let King Bear know. He whipped out a scroll and muttered, “Ene Meene Myne Mo!” As he said these words, the figures on the scroll glowed before a portal opened up and he walked through to his universe. The portal closed with a soft pop, waking Katelyn up and making her look towards where the sound came from for a second before she fell back asleep. For the rest of the night, no one gave any second thoughts to what was going on behind the shadows. Author's Note Since there are literally thousands of beasties of different sizes and shapes, I can't exactly describe them all, except for the prominent ones like Valathraxx or Grokk. The others I leave to your imagination. Chapter 3: Hopes and NightmaresViktor woke up to the sun shining through the window the next morning. He yawned and then proceeded stretch his arms before the memories of what had happened yesterday slammed into him with the force of a freight train. So we truly are in a world where sentient horses, or in this case “ponies” are the dominant species here. Add to that Carlos, Alexa, Kate and I are now actual big cats, this is definitely one of the weirdest experiences I've had in my life… he thought wryly as he stood up. He then heard Carlos groan, “Five more minutes….” from where he was curled up on the bed with Alexandra. He chuckled before letting out a low growl. Carlos leapt about a foot in the air, banging his head on the overhang above the bed before crashing back down and ejecting Alexa, who yelped in surprise. Both Tigers glared at Viktor, who was managing to keep a straight face. “Very funny…” Carlos growled with a deadpan look just as Katelyn sat up yawning. “Uuugh, that was the worst sleep I’ve had for a while…. Those dreams didn't make any sense….” she muttered, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. “Getting woken up by a “pop” sound in the middle of the night didn't help…” Viktor glanced sharply at his sister. “You had weird dreams also?” He asked, Carlos and Alexandra also giving Katelyn a surprised look. The Panther nodded. “Yeah, us in the Stuffed Animal Kingdom, fighting Beasties, chatting with the other animals, but the weird thing was that both Joey and Courtney were in there also...” Viktor frowned. What she had described was exactly what he had seen in his dreams also. “Is it possible that they were memories?” He asked. Carlos snorted. “Memories? Please, they were just weird dreams, probably brought on by what happened last night.” He said, flicking his ear. “Probably…” the lion said. “But somehow, I'm not convinced.” “How about we worry about it later, right now, we need to go and make sure those Beasties don't get their claws, paws, or whatever they use for hands on the kids here.” Katelyn said. As the four cats headed for the door, they heard the voices of Luna and Celestia yelling from the window. “You always get the praise, all I seem to be is a joke to everyone else!” The Princess of the night’s voice was close to tears, “I just want to be as important as you!” The rest was indistinguishable as Shield Breaker opened the door. “You’re needed at the throne room.” She said, her voice shaking. “Everything okay? Sounded like a ruckus was going on…” Carlos asked. “It's none of your concern.” The mare answered sharply. Carlos raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Okay, sheesh…” the tiger muttered. Besides the guards the four had met, Alexa noticed that there were a lot more guards escorting them with weapons at the ready. Okay, something is up…. There weren't as many guards escorting us last time, so what's going on? As they reached the throne room doors, they burst open and Luna walked out, a look of anger on her face as she stormed past the group. “Geez, someone's not a morning person…” Carlos muttered before getting whacked on the back of the head by Alexandra. “Ow!” Hmm… wonder if it has something to do with all that yelling earlier… Viktor thought as he and the others were escorted inside. Celestia was at her throne, rubbing her temples as if she was getting a headache. “Your highness.” Viktor said, nodding his head in greeting. “You wanted us?” Celestia looked up to see the four standing in front of the throne and nodded. “Yes, I had recently gotten a report that three fillies, two unicorns and one Pegasus and a earth pony colt had been taken last night. We don't know where they've been taken, but we hope that thou will be able to find them and bring them back safely.” Unseen by the four, Shield Breaker choked back a sob. “If they haven't been eaten already….” Katelyn muttered. Viktor gave her a warning glance before saying, “We’ll see what we can do. Incidentally, what was with the shouting earlier? We could hear it from our room.” An embarrassed blush tinted Celestia's cheeks. “It was nothing, just Luna complaining about something.” All four cats raised their eyebrows in unison. “If that was complaining, I'm a sheep.” Carlos said, “It sounded like she wanted some recognition from your subjects and she's not getting it.” Celestia's eyes narrowed. “What happens between my sister and I is of no concern to thee. You need not worry about our problems when we have a bigger problem on our hooves.” She said stiffly. “Very well. But a word of warning Princess, it may not be our problem but I’ve seen enough fighting in families to know that if you don't give at least some recognition to Luna, it will come back to haunt you in the worst way possible…” Viktor said. “Noted. Captain Shield Breaker will lead you to where you need to go, but after that, you’re on your own.” Celestia said, an annoyed look on her face. Viktor nodded before he and the others left the throne room. I don't need some cat to tell me what to do! I'm not one of my subjects! She thought in anger, unaware that in Luna's room, her sister was sobbing on her bed. It's not fair! Why does Celestia get all the praise while I sit in the sidelines unnoticed?! I'm tired of being in her shadow! The midnight blue Alicorn thought angrily. “Then why not remove her from her throne and take over?” A voice said next to her. She looked up in shock to see a midnight black Alicorn in battle armor next to her, with teal draconic eyes and pointed teeth. “Wh...who are you?” Luna asked in shock, earning a demented chuckle from it. “Isn’t it obvious? I am… you…” it said, “Together, we can make Celestia pay for how she's treated you and bring an eternal night! You’ll be worshipped even more than Celestia!” Luna looked away for a few seconds before saying, “I may be angry at my sister, but I will not take her life or her child’s!” The Alicorn snarled, “You will! I don't care about the brat or Celestia, they are only obstacles to you ruling Equestria!” She then leapt at Luna, who charged up her horn in response, before vanishing completely. Luna looked around in confusion before a massive spike of pain forced her to her knees. YOU WILL SUBMIT! Her double yelled inside her head. “No! I will not harm my sister or my future niece or nephew!” Luna yelled. But years of anger and sadness had taken its toll on her, and she could feel herself weakening. But the thought of her sister gave her strength, and she managed to fight off the attack. But the effort had left her very weak, and she collapsed on her bed, her vision darkening as sleep overtook her. She never heard her double whisper, 'You will be mine…’ before cackling insanely. Meanwhile, in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville… “Geez, finding those kids is proving to be harder than I thought!” Carlos panted as the four ran through the forest. The four had left Shield Breaker after they had arrived at their destination, Katelyn having managed to catch the scent before they had even reached the site. But after following it for 100 yards, the scent was lost and the four were now scouring the forest for any sign of the four kids. “Gee, and I thought this was gonna be easy!” the Panther snarked. They stopped at a small grove of trees, panting for breath. “Okay… so what do we do now?” Alexa asked. Viktor opened his mouth to answer when he heard something nearby. He looked around to see what it was and froze when he saw a cage holding the four kids in question. The three fillies, two of which looked like they were in their teens were huddled together while the colt watched the four with a scared look in his eyes. The lion then gave out orders to the others, using their character names. “Minerva, Ares, keep an eye out for any Beasties. Venus, you’re with me.” “You’ve got it.” Carlos said before he and Katelyn took up sentry positions. Both Viktor and Alexandra walked over to the cage, and while the tigress watched for any signs of Beasties or Everfree creatures, Viktor smashed the lock off with a single blow. “Don't worry little ones, we’re here to make sure you get back to your parents safely.” He said gently to the four captives. As he looked closely at them, he saw that the two unicorn fillies looked almost exactly like Shield Breaker, but the pegasus and earth pony were strangers to him. The fillies squeaked in fear, while the colt gave the lion a suspicious look before saying, “Who are you? You don't look like those monsters…” “I'm Pallo of the Night Pride, my team and I were sent by the Princesses to rescue you three.” Viktor said. The three fillies looked up when he mentioned the Princesses, the two unicorns fillies stood up but the pegasus filly struggled to get up before she fell back down onto the floor of the cage. Viktor could see several bruises on her and one of her wings along with her left back leg were held out awkwardly, as if they were broken, and a flash of anger went through him at the sight of it. “Can you two help her ?” He asked the two unicorns. They nodded before one of them levitated the pegasus onto the other's back. Just as the four kids were about to walk out of the cage, Carlos yelled, “LOOK OUT!” Viktor quickly spun around to see a Beastie charge at him and Alexa, six others following it. All of them were howling for the Night Pride’s heads. “Kids, get out of the cage and get behind that tree! We’ll take care of these guys!” Viktor yelled before charging towards the Beasties with a roar. “C’mon!” The colt said, leading the three fillies to a nearby tree. The four then hunkered down and watched the ensuing battle unfold. “You’re not getting those kids, Beastie!” Katelyn snarled, landing a powerful overhead blow to the one she was fighting.The creature staggered, allowing her to deliver a finishing blow that put it out of action for good, only for a second Beastie to slap her out of the way. “Ooof!” She grunted as she slammed into the ground, winded. The Beastie then started to approach the tree where the four kids were hiding, only for Carlos to slam into it. “Where do you think you’re going, Beastie?” He growled, before delivering a multitude of powerful paw strikes to the creature, his claws dealing massive amounts of damage. “ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!” The Beastie roared in pain and anger before he backed off and ran. “You haven't stopped anything! We’ll get those kids yet!” It yelled as it retreated. Carlos then turned to see two more Beasties run off, two others having fallen in battle. “Tell your master Equestria is under our protection!” He heard Viktor roar to them. “If he wants the children of this world, he’ll have to go through us!” The tiger then turned to where the kids were hiding. “You guys can come out now, it’s safe.” The colt and the three fillies, the pegasus laying on the colt's back, cautiously walked out from where they had hid during the fight. “Let's take you back home. Your parents must be worried sick by now.” Alexandra said with a gentle smile. The kids nodded earnestly before the Pride arranged themselves so that the children were in the middle and they were on the outside, that way, they could defend the kids if anything tried to attack. Within a few hours, they had returned to the castle. Shield Breaker, who was on duty that moment, gave a cry of relief and ran to the two unicorn fillies, who with a squeal of “Mom!”, met her half way. The fillies held their mother, who was sobbing with happiness and relief, tightly. Shield Breaker then looked up with tears in her eyes at the four cats and said, “Thank you so much for saving my girls… I… I don't know what I would have done if I had lost them to those creatures….” Viktor scuffed the ground with his paws, embarrassed. “It was nothing… but we need to get the other two inside, one of them is badly injured.” Shield Breaker nodded before the group went inside. Later in the throne room…. “We cannot thank thee enough for saving these four.” Celestia said, “Thou hast proven that you truly are protectors.” After the four had returned with the kids, the pegasus filly was taken to the local doctor, and was afterwards was taken home with both her leg and wing in a cast. The earth pony colt had also been taken home to his parents. The four cats bowed their heads in respect. “It is what we were made to be.” Carlos said, before he realized what he had said. The others looked at him in either surprise (in the case of the rest of the Night Pride) or shock (in Celestia's case). “Err…. Excuse us for a moment?” He asked. Celestia nodded and the four left the throne room. “Guys…” Viktor said, his tone showing how shaken he was, “I think… I think we're slowly turning into the actual characters…” “Weren't we already turned into them?” Carlos asked in surprise. “In body, but not in mind.” Viktor pointed out. “But our minds are now changing to the characters we became, Carlos just proved it when he spoke to Celestia.” “How…. How long until we fully become the actual Night Pride?” Katelyn asked, her voice shaking. “Hopefully not for at least five or ten years. But that's just a guess…” Viktor said, shrugging his shoulders. “I hope so…” Carlos muttered, his tail twitching nervously. The other two murmured agreement before the four then returned to the throne room. “Is everything okay?” Celestia asked, concern in her voice. “Yes, your highness. It wasn't anything too important.” Viktor said, giving the others a warning look. Other than a puzzled look, Celestia gave the matter no further thought. The four then headed to their room, but when they opened the door, they got a surprise in the form of a small bear in a red vest, with a single scar on one eye and a bandage over his right paw, and wielding a double-edged sword. Four voices spoke together in shock. “Orson!?” The four cats stared at the small bear in front of them, looks of utter surprise on their faces. “Okay… anyone else find it weird that Orson, Courtney's bear is here in the flesh?!” Carlos asked. Orson gave the tiger a confused look. “Ares, what are you talking about? You do realize Joey is worried sick about the four of you?” “Wait, Joey? As in Joey Price?” Alexandra asked, her blood running cold. Orson’s confused look deepened. “Yes, that Joey. Did you guys hit your heads or something when you vanished?” “When we van-” Katelyn suddenly winced as a voice suddenly rang in her head. Orson? How… how are you here?The Panther’s eyes widened as she heard Minerva's voice. Judging from the reactions of the others, they were also hearing the voices of the actual Night Pride. Well, at least we know that we aren't turning into the characters in our minds, they’re somehow part of us! She thought. The four then shimmered before spectral versions of themselves seperated from their bodies and stood next to them. “Orson, it’s good to see you again.” Ares said with a grin. Orson's eyes widened in shock. “Ares? If that's you, then who are these four?” He asked, pointing his sword at the human turned cats. “We… used to be humans, but after buying masks of these guys at a convention,” Viktor nodded to the spectral forms of the Night Pride, “We found ourselves here in Equestria.” “What's a convention?” Ares asked with a confused look on his face. “And what's Equestria?” Minerva asked. Carlos facepawed. “You four should know about Equestria by now, you’re part of us!” He said, giving the four a deadpan look. Just as Ares was about to retort, Shield Breaker entered the room only to stop and look in shock at the group gathered in the room. Oh… crap…. Alexandra thought. “W….who are you?” The mare asked, her voice shaking. “Orson… Pallo, Ares, Minerva and Venus… this is Captain Shield Breaker, Shield Breaker, this is Orson and the original Night Pride.” Orson gave Shield Breaker a guarded look. “Huh, and I thought I only saw unicorns in the Stuffed Animal Kingdom…” he muttered. “It’s not just unicorns here. There's also Pegasi and Earth Ponies and two Alicorns.” Carlos said, earning a confused look from Orson. “What's an Alicorn?” he asked. “They’re the rulers here.” Pallo said. “While we couldn't interact, we could still watch through the eyes of these four.” Orson cocked an eyebrow before saying, “If that's all, the reason I'm here is because the Beasties had vanished from our universe completely. We didn't know where they were until I found this world by accident. And I heard the fight between these four and those monsters, so we now know that they're here, by why is the question…” Carlos growled, “Same thing as always, to kidnap the kids here. We just rescued four earlier today.” Orson's eyes narrowed. “And you four stopped the Beasties from taking them from Valthraax? I'm impressed, for four humans, you did exactly what the Pride would have done.” “Well, we pretty much are the Pride.” Viktor chuckled. “That begs the question though, how did you turn into us?” Venus asked. “The last thing I remember was talking to Joey then… nothing.” Katelyn sighed, “Honestly, I have no idea. Whatever that Merchant did, he made it so that we were turned into who we were dressed up as.” She said before turning to Shield Breaker and asking, “Was there something you needed to ask us?” Shield Breaker shook herself out of her shock and replied, “ Princess Luna would like to speak with you four. I'm to escort you to her room.” Viktor nodded, “We’ll be with you in a minute.” He turned to the five stuffed animals. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re needed for something.” Orson smirked, “I’ll keep in touch.” He said before he pulled out a scroll and chanted “Eene Meene Myne Mo!” A portal then opened up and just as he started to walk through to his universe, he turned and said, “I’ll let King Bear know about what's going on here.” With that, he vanished through the portal, which closed with a pop. The Night Pride then walked towards their doubles before shimmering and vanishing as they got close to the four. Let's get this over with… Katelyn heard Minerva mutter. Somehow, this is something I'm never gonna get used to…. Katelyn thought as the four followed Shield Breaker out of their room to a torch lit corridor. After a few minutes of walking, they stopped at a set of dark blue doors overlaid with silver with the symbol of a moon etched on the front. For a princess, she goes all out with the interior design!Ares remarked. Carlos rolled his eyes. Of course she does, she’s royalty! I didn't see you commenting that to Joey when you were showing him the castle! Carlos retorted. How… how did you know about that?!Ares asked in surprise Memories, duh… Ares chuckled as Shield Breaker knocked on the door. “Enter…” Luna's voice rang out from her room, but it sounded tired. The four entered the room to see Luna lying on her bed, her usually flowing blue mane now hanging down limp by her side of her neck. Geez, what happened to her? Carlos thought in shock. “Your highness, you wanted to speak with us?” Viktor asked, concern in his eyes. Luna nodded tiredly. “Indeed, I heard that your mission earlier was a success.” The four nodded before Carlos asked, “What.. what made you so exhausted, if I may ask?” Luna sighed. “I… I was fighting my own personal demons… and nearly succumbed to them...” The four gave the Alicorn sympathetic looks. “We all know what it's like to fight our personal demons…” Viktor said. “And the best way we do that is to either comfort each other or find some way to cheer us up.” Carlos then remembered a song from a band back on Earth called Black Veil Brides, and as the song played in his head, he began to sing the lyrics, the other three joining in as they heard the song. (Bold - All four \ Italics - Carlos) Huh, In the end as you fade into the night…(Whoa…) Who will tell the story of your life? In the end, as my soul's laid to rest, what is left of my body? Or am I just a shell?.... And I have fought, and with flesh and blood I commanded an army! Through it all, I have given my heart for a moment of glory! (I gave it all…) In the end as you fade into the night…(Whoa!) Who will tell the story of your life? (Whoa!) And who will remember your last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! Born a saint, but with every sin I still want to be holy…. I will live again… Who we are, isn't how we live, we are more than our bodies! If I fall, I will rise back up and relive my glory! Luna sat on her bed, her eyes wide as she heard the four sing. In the end as you fade into the night (Whoa!) Who will tell the story of your life? (Whoa!) And who will remember your last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! In the end as you fade into the night (Whoa!) Who will tell the story of your life? (Whoa!) And who will remember your last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! Who will remember this last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! Not afraid, I'm not afraid to die! As they finished the song, Luna shakily got off her bed and trotted over to the four, looking at them in amazement all the while. “In all my years ruling Equestria, I have never heard a song like the one you hath sung…” she said. “And I have sung only once or twice!” Carlos flattened his ears in embarrassment. “It's just a song from back on Earth… there was another song that would have been more appropriate, but this song ended up popping in my head.” he said. “Nonetheless, it… very well describes my struggles.” Luna said. “Was there another reason you wanted us?” Viktor asked. “Yes. I need you four to stop these creatures from taking the foals of Equestria, both filly and colt. From what you have told us, they strike at night. Therefore, we need to make sure that they are stopped before they take anypony.” “The problem is that we can't guard the entirety of Equestria's children.” Alexandra said, frowning. “We would be too spread out.” Luna gently smiled. “You wouldn't be working alone, I have a private unit of Thestrals that can help you, they're led by Lieutenant Night Slicer.” What is it with the names here? Ares asked, Seriously, Shield Breaker? Night Slicer? They sound like names from one of those cartoons Joey watches! Not the time to talk it about right now…. Carlos said. Luna noticed the annoyed look on the tiger’s face before she suddenly sensed four other presences inside the Night Pride. Her horn glowed as she glared at the four. “You may have tried to take me over once, but I will not fall to you again!” She growled angrily. The four cats tensed as Luna went into attack mode. “Luna, what are you talking about?! We never even attacked you once!” Carlos said. Oh no… she must have sensed me and the others!Ares said, Whatever happened to her, something must've tried to possess her! She thinks we're back to finish the job! Carlos's eyes widened as Ares said this. “Luna, wait!” He shouted, but was too late as the Alicorn unleashed a powerful blast that sent the four flying out of the room. “Oy…. Anyone get the license plate of that truck?” Katelyn groaned, putting a paw over her head. She then yelped as another bolt of magic flew past her and impacted the wall behind her. Shield Breaker was hunkered nearby under a suit of armor, watching with wide eyes at what was happening. Okay, enough is enough! I'm not letting you be used as target practice!Ares growled. The four then shimmered before the spectral versions of themselves seperated and walked over to Luna, who looked on in shock. “What in Faust's name…?!” She whispered. Carlos then spoke up, “Luna, meet the original Night Pride: Pallo, Ares, Minerva and Venus.” The four cats bowed their heads in respect. “It's… an honor meeting you, your highness.” Pallo said. “I'm sorry if we caused you some distress.” “It's… not your fault.” Luna sighed. “I thought you were the manifestation of my anger and hatred trying to take me over again… please forgive me for making such a error…” The four cats chuckled. “No hard feelings held.” Ares said. Luna then looked at Minerva, a curious look on her face. “How… how are you part of these four?” She asked. Minerva rolled her eyes. “I don't really know, I’m just a passenger.” she said. Katelyn facepawed at that. Venus chuckled, “Don't mind Minerva, she thinks sarcasm is a sporting event.” Whoa, deja vu… Carlos thought. Luna blinked then gave a small smile. “So I see.” She said. “As for your offer, we’ll think it over but rest assured we will do our best to try and protect the children here.” Viktor said. “You also have our support. We’ll try and show these young ones how it's done.” Pallo said with a smirk. “Oh can it grandpa!” Carlos joked, making the others laugh. “We’ll let you know tomorrow morning what our answer is.” Viktor continued. Luna nodded. “Very well, I bid thee goodnight…” For a brief second, pain and anger flashed through her eyes. Both prides nodded before the original pride vanished back into the four human turned cats. As Luna walked back to her room, she felt her face start to get wet. Blinking, she rushed back into her room and slammed the doors shut. Damn… she must be really upset about being in her sister's shadow… Carlos thought as the four headed to their room. I just really hope things don't come to a head…. 'I wouldn't worry about it right now…'Ares said, but his tone sounded worried. 'It's probably nothing…' I hope so… Carlos replied. Unbeknownst to him, he and the other three were about to be involved in one of the most deadliest fights Equestria had ever seen, and things… would never be the same for them...
Chapter 1: BreakoutThe Canterlot Gardens “Oy… remind me again why Sunbutt turned us to stone?” A male voice mentally said from a cat statue to three others. “Because we were quote “A threat to Equestria because we were traitors” unquote.” A female voice replied in a tired voice. A second female voice then butted in. “If you ask me, she just wanted an excuse to make sure we didn't turn on her like Luna.” She said in a bitter tone. “And we never got to see her kid...” “From what I heard from some of the guards passing by, the kid didn’t make it through the night, it was too sickly. ” “That's enough.” A fourth voice entered the conversation, this one was male but it had the tone of a leader. “Whatever the reason, she did what she did. We just have to bear it like our Draconequus friend over there.” “You do realize I can hear you four over there? All this complaining about being turned to statues just because Celly went mad with grief is starting to grate on my ears…” A new voice interrupted the conversation. It came from an odd looking statue a few feet from the four. “Oh sorry Dissy, like you have it any easier?” The first voice snarked. “At least you're noticeable, we mostly get passed over!” “I’ll be out soon, don't you worry…” Discord chuckled. “And as for you four, I’ll let you out and let you have a nice heart to heart chat with Celly. See if she still remembers you after all of those years though…. She may have already forgotten you. As for the child, she’s not dead, but she will be in danger. You’ll recognize her when you see her... “I doubt it…” the second female voice said with a hint of a feline snarl. “And how do you know it’s a filly?” “Oopsie, spoiler alert! I’ve said too much!” Discord said. Just then a school group came by, and the four stone cats heard the teacher ask her students who Discord represented, just as soon as she asked the question, a brawl broke out between three of the fillies, a pegasus, earth pony and unicorn, only for the three to be berated by their teacher. “Geez, ask a question about Discord and the claws come out!” The first voice said. The other three murmured agreement. After the fight subsided, the group moved on, the four then heard the Teacher say to them, “And these four cats were known as the Night Pride, the lion is Pallo, the leader of the four and a inspiring commander, his second in command is Ares, Warrior of the Night, a white tiger with an attitude much like a certain pegasus we know back in Ponyville and a fierce fighter .” The first voice snorted, “I may be cocky, but I'm not as brash as that lollipop!” The teacher continued, “Next we have Venus, another tiger and Guardian of the Pride, she was the more gentle member of the four, but if someone threatened her friends, she would fight to defend them. And last is Minerva, a Black Panther and Huntress of the shadows. She was the tracker and stealth fighter of the Pride, and while she had a sarcastic attitude, she would not let any harm come to anyone in the shadows unless they were her enemies. These four served both Celestia and Luna until Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and the four then turned on Celestia and she was forced to turn them into stone.” “Now wait just a minute, that is not true!” The first voice said indignantly. “We helped fight Nightmare Moon but then Sunbutt then turned on us! That is a total lie right there!” “Just leave it Ares…” The first female voice said. One of the Fillies that was in the brawl, a orange Pegasus named Scootaloo, spoke up. “ Ms. Cheerilee, why were they called the Night Pride?” “They helped defend Equestria from monsters that attacked in the night and tried to ponynap fillies like you called Beasties.” Cheerilee replied. “I remember seeing them back when I was a filly.” She then looked up at the sky to see what the position of the sun was “Alright kids, time to head back to the train.” she said before giving a sad look to the four and whispered “I truly wish this hadn't happened to you four…” she then led the group to the train that would take them back to Ponyville. As the group left, no one noticed the cracks that had suddenly appeared on the five statues Soon after, shards of stone broke off from the five statues, freeing them from a millennium of being imprisoned in stone. The four cats stretched before standing up while Discord vanished in a flash of light. “Oh man, so glad I’m outta that stone case!” Ares, or in his old life Carlos, said, the white Bengal tiger scratching his ear while talking. “At least we don't have to hear you complain over and over again…” the speaker, a black Panther with green eyes muttered. This was Minerva, or in her old life, Katelyn. Ares rolled his blue eyes at her. “Sorry Minerva, just got bored with being encased in stone. You would too if you were me, oh wait, you also got stoned!” The other two chuckled. “Okay Ares, we get it.” Another Bengal tiger, this one orange with blue eyes said with a smirk. Her name was Venus, or in her old life,Alexandra. She then looked over to the last member of the group, a blue eyed lion. “Pallo, what should we do now?” Pallo, or in his old life, Viktor frowned. “We should probably pay Celestia a visit, and confront her on why she turned us to stone after we helped her fight Nightmare Moon… and maybe we'll be able see Luna also.” The other three nodded before the four headed to the castle entrance. As they approached, two guards stationed at the doors spotted them and immediately alerted the others nearby. “The Night Pride have been freed! Alert the Princesses! “Great… Just like when we first arrived… I hate being used as target practice…” Minerva growled. “Ya think?” Ares asked her dryly. “Let's not worry about our old lives, right now we need to worry about these guards!” Pallo yelled before dodging a magic blast from a Solar Guard unicorn. Ares yelped as the blast exploded near him. “Hey, watch where you shoot! That's my tail you know!” He yelled before sending a nearby Solar Guard Pegasus into a Solar Guard Earth Pony. Two more Pegasi dived down towards them, wing blades primed. “Venus, those two are gonna try and give you a buzz cut!” The white Tiger yelled. Venus looked up and growled menacingly, remembering the last time that happened. “Not this time!” She then leapt and swatted the two out of the air. They crashed into the ground with a sound not unlike a pantry full of dishes smashing into the floor. Minerva meanwhile had managed to ambush the two unicorns that were taking potshots at the rest of the Pride. “That should take care of you…” she muttered to the two unconscious ponies before stalking into the shadows. Pallo smashed aside an Earth Pony before roaring loudly. The remaining conscious guards then wisely fled but not before two more unicorns fired arrows at them, the projectiles streaking towards them and striking Venus in the back leg. “AAAGH!” She cried out in pain, stumbling. “Venus!” Ares ran over to her, looking at the arrows imbedded in her hind leg, blood trickling down it. “I’m okay, AH!” Venus said, groaning in pain. “These arrows aren't going to stop me from going to seeing Celestia or Luna.” She then grabbed the shafts and snapped them before she tried to stand up, only to fall as her wounded leg gave out on her. “Minerva, give me a paw!” Ares yelled to the Black Pantheress. She nodded before the two of them went to either side of Venus and supported her up, letting her lean on them as they headed towards the throne room, the Bengal limping slightly as she refused to put weight on her injured leg. Inside the castle... Luna, princess of the night, was not happy. She had just fallen asleep, only for a loud roar and shouts from the guards outside to wake her up. Annoyed, she looked outside before teleporting to the throne room intending to get to the bottom of this, only to find the door locked and guarded by five Solar Guards, Shining Armour among them. Not wanting to argue with the guards, she then teleported into the room and walked up to Celestia.“Sister, what's going on?” she asked in an irritated voice. “I get woken up by your guards yelling and a roar from some creature, and I then find out that the castle is on lockdown! You have better have a reason for this, or I will find out what's going on myself!” Before Celestia could answer, the door was cracked opened and Shining Armour poked his head through. “Y...you have some visitors that need to speak to you…” he stammered, his face looking even paler than his white coat. The two Alicorns gave the Captain a confused look before he disappeared behind the door. The door then swung open and four figures Luna thought she would never see again approached the two. The Night Pride! They're still alive! But… what happened to Venus? Why is she limping? “Hello Luna, Celestia. Been awhile since we last saw each other.” Pallo said, his voice steely when he said Celestia's name. Celestia nervously looked at the Night Pride, who glared at her. “It… has been awhile.” She said, trying not to meet their gazes. “How did you even get free?” “You can thank Discord for that. Now why did you stone us and make it sound like we were the bad guys? We helped you fight Nightmare Moon and her beastie allies, and you go and turn on us!” Ares growled. Luna turned to Celestia. “You turned the Pride into stone? Why?!” She asked in disbelief. The sun princess looked down in shame. “I… I was maddened by grief, and blamed them for you getting banished. I was too full of myself to see that they were trying to warn me of you turning into Nightmare Moon and when I defeated you, I… I turned on them and… turned them to stone...” “Well we’re here to tell you that we quit serving you.” Minerva spoke up. “We will keep fighting off Beasties, but not on your orders Celestia.” Venus looked up at the Princesses, her eyes hard. “We trusted you Celestia, and you broke that trust when you disregarded our warnings about Luna and turned on us after Nightmare Moon was banished.” Luna winced at the memory. “We’ll keep helping your subjects, but you will need to re-earn our trust if you want us to serve under you again.” She growled, wincing at the pain in her hind leg. “From now on, we take our our orders from Luna.” “Before we leave, we need a medic for Venus. Two of your guards managed to hit her with arrows on our way here.” Pallo said. Celestia nodded hesitantly before sending for one of her doctors. Luna stood nearby, glaring at her sister. Serves you right Tia, you never did listen back then… she thought. But… I wish I had been there for my niece when she was born, even if she was alive for a day... As they waited, Ares thought, It's hard to believe we used to be human… but now we don't even use our real names… he then reflected on their life before and after they had arrived in Equestria…. The Everfree Forest Loneliness…. Confusion… Fear... These were the first things the figure felt as it woke up in the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Two teal reptilian eyes looked around as it stood up on four shaky hooves. A starry violet-blue mane waved in a nonexistent breeze. “Wh… where am I? How...how did I get here?” it asked, the voice revealing it to be female, nervously looking around. Then memories of how she came to be surfaced and her eyes filled with tears. “What… what have I done…?” she sobbed, her head lowered. While she had her own memories, some of Luna’s managed to stay with her. After a few minutes, she looked up at the sky. “I should be angry that those six foiled me, yet… I can't help but be grateful for them separating me from Luna… if they hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to think back on my mistakes...” she murmured. A sinister chuckle was then heard from behind her, causing her to spin around, her wings raised and her horn charged up. Her eyes widened in fear as she locked onto a pair of glowing red eyes that belonged to a bipedal armored rat like creature, with plates on its shoulders and back but nothing on its head, chest, legs or arms and armed with a pair of massive paws tipped with sharp talons. “Beastie! You dare show your face here?” The midnight colored Alicorn bellowed. The creature’s eyes narrowed. “I would have thought you'd remember my name. I was one of your allies when you fought Celestia.” It said. Memories of the fight resurfaced, but this only made the Alicorn even more upset. “I… I was a fool for trying to defeat Celestia…” And for allying with these monsters... The creature then laughed, a harsh sound. “Unlike you, I plan on making sure she and that blasted Night Pride pay. Our master Valthraax is back, and unlike you, he has his sights on taking the throne and he has something special planned… Too bad you, the Princesses or the Night Pride won't live to see it.” It snarled before charging, only to have his target dodge and fire a blast of lightning, scoring his armoured back. “GAHHH! You’ll pay for that, you weakling!” The creature growled, smashing the Alicorn aside with a single blow and sending her through a wall. She landed outside, the wind knocked out of her and three large claw marks on her side. She winced in pain before standing back up and spreading her wings. The creature advanced only for its size to hamper it. The Alicorn heard it swear as it tried to find a way to her. I...need to… warn Celestia and Luna…. I may get imprisoned, and in all honesty, I deserve it... She thought laboriously before flying out above the forest, each wing stroke sending a wave of pain through her, and upon spotting a town nearby, flew over and landed at the edge of it before collapsing on the ground. As she sank into unconsciousness, she saw a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane staring at her in shock and fear. “Please….help…..” she croaked before her vision blacked out, but as she faded she heard a voice calling for help before she finally succumbed to darkness. Back in the ruins, the creature roared in frustration and smashed a pillar. “We’ll meet again Nightmare Moon… and next time you won't be so lucky….” It growled clenching its fist, before looking over at two other Beasties behind him. Like him, they were bipedal but both had yellow eyes. “Grok, what do we do now?” One of the Beasties, a purple furred rounded creature with stubby arms and legs with dark spots on its back, asked. “The Princesses will know that we're back and the Night Pride will hunt us down!” Grok glared at it before replying, “Shut up you buffoon! We’ll report this to Valthraax. In the meantime Grumble, you and Mumbler keep grabbing the fillies and colts. Soon we’ll be able to take the Stuffed Animal Kingdom back in our universe once we're done here.” “ Why don't we ever get to see some action….?” The second Beastie, a tall orange furred ape like creature with an oversized group of upper dentures grumbled, the words hard to make out because of the large upper teeth. “We mostly get stuck snatching kids…” Grok looked at Mumbler before facepalming. Why do I even keep these idiots around…. “GET MOVING!” He roared. The two tumbled over each other in their haste to get away. The Beastie Lord then looked out over the ruins. “Soon…. The Age of Beasts will begin… And this time Abner, you and your Stuffed Animal Militia won't be able stop us...” He began to chuckle madly and soon, the forest was ringing with the sound of his laughter. Author's Note And so our story begins...
Chapter 2: Cat's outta the bagMohegan Sun Casino, Norwich, CT The day had started out so simply. Carlos, 18, had driven his car to pick up his girlfriend Alexa,17, who he had been dating for five years now, along with Viktor,19, and his sister Katelyn,15, to go to the Comic-con at the Mohegan Sun in Norwich. The four were dressed up as the Night Pride, a group of four consisting of a Lion, two Tigers, one orange and one white, and a Black Panther named after both the Greek and Roman gods. Carlos had gone with Ares, the white Siberian tiger while Alexandra had gone with Venus, the orange Bengal tiger. Viktor had gone with Pallo, the lion and the leader of the group and Katelyn chose Minerva, the Black Panther (not to be confused with the marvel character.). The four had everything ready…. Except for their masks. “Damn it Carlos, you forgot our masks?!” Viktor yelled outside the door of the casino. “Hey, I'm sorry! I was kinda in a hurry to get you guys and it slipped my mind!” Carlos retorted, his arms crossed. “Guys, break it up! So Carlos forgot our masks, we can get new ones here!” Katelyn said, standing in between her brother and his friend before it dissolved into a full blown argument between the two. “Kate’s right. Who knows, maybe we'll see Jack Lawrence or Mike Bullock here.” Alexa said, referring to the creator and the artist of the Lions, Tigers and Bears comic from where the Night Pride came from. The two male teens playfully glared at each other before laughing and the four entered the casino. Instantly they were surrounded by many people in costumes, some were familiar, some were not so familiar. Carlos spotted two people dressed up like an Orbital Spartan from Halo and a Space Marine from Warhammer 40,000 looking around. Too bad I never really got into that game… the minis look sick! He thought. Alexandra chuckled as she leaned her head against her boyfriend's shoulder. “Let's go look for those masks.” She said. Carlos nodded and the four moved on. While looking at the stalls, Carlos noticed a single stall that looked… different. It was a single tent with a torch and manning it was a man dressed as the Merchant from the Resident Evil series. And the things he was selling… Carlos could not believe what he saw. There was an Omnitrix from Ben 10, a Halo Reach style Assault Rifle and much more. But what got his attention were the four sculpted masks of the Night Pride. “Guys, I think I just hit the jackpot…” he said to the others, pointing at the stall. Viktor looked at the stall with suspicion written on his face. “I don't know, that stall is giving me a bad vibe…” he said. “Vik, they have the masks we need!” Carlos said. Viktor sighed before saying, “Alright, let's go.” Both the girls and Carlos cheered before they headed over to the vendor. “Welcome, welcome! And how may I help you four?” The vendor asked in a gravely voice. Whoa, even sounds like the Merchant! Carlos thought. “We’d like to get the Night Pride masks.” He said “$30 each, so that comes to $120 altogether.” The vendor said. The four nodded and each handed him $30. But as they put the masks on, a burning sensation swept through them, causing them to cry out in pain before they blacked out. The vendor chuckled as the four vanished. “Pleasure doing business with you four.” Equestria, 673 AD, (After Discord), 1671 BNM (Before Nightmare Moon) Castle of the Two Sisters Alexa was the first one to wake up and look at their surroundings in confusion. The four of them were in what appeared to be an open courtyard to a castle. Wha…. What happened? And where are we? Last thing I remember was putting that mask on…. Groaning, she started to stand up only to notice that her hands were now paws. “AAAAAAH!” She screamed. She tried to stand on her hind legs only to fall flat on her side. Her scream woke the others up and they looked around wildly before staring at her in shock. She then felt her ears flatten in embarrassment and when she looked behind her, she saw what was now her tail flick nervously. “Alex… when did you turn into an actual tiger?” Carlos asked in confusion. Alexandra looked at her boyfriend and asked, “Have you guys taken a look at yourselves?” as she shakily got back up on four paws. “What are you…..” Viktor began to asked before catching sight of himself in a puddle. “HOLY SHIT!” He yelped. The other two were also shocked at the change they had gone through. “So… we’re now the actual Night Pride?! How… how is that even possible!?” Carlos asked, his voice conveying his shock and disbelief. “I don't know… but right now we need to figure out where the heck we are…” Viktor said, looking around. Katelyn narrowed her green eyes. “You guys hear something?” She asked, flicking her ears behind her. What sounded like...hooves clopping on cobblestone could clearly be heard from behind them then the sound stopped and a startled exclamation was heard. The four spun around to see a unicorn in armor staring at them in shock. It was light brown with a dark orange mane and tail and on its flank was a picture of a mace and shield. “Um… please tell me I’m dreaming…” Carlos said. “Then I’d have to lie.” Katelyn retorted. “How did you four beasts get in here?!” The Unicorn said, its voice female. “Did… did the unicorn just talk?!” Alexa asked in shock. “Whatever you are, you’re trespassing on royal grounds!” The unicorn snapped, her horn charging up. She was then joined by two regular ponies, one was dark blue with a tan mane and tail and had picture of a hammer breaking a rock, the other a forest green with a white mane and tail and had a picture of a flower surrounded by moss and three Pegasi, one was dark grey with a black mane and tail and had a picture of the moon with a sword over it while the other two were light red, one with a blue mane and tail the other with a blonde mane and tail, with a star streaking down and a pair of blades crossed respectively. First Unicorns, now Pegasi… this is getting crazy! Katelyn thought, her eyes widening at the sight. “Wait, this isn't what you think it is!” Viktor said, “We just woke up here!” The unicorn mare snorted, “A likely story. For one thing, we don't have your type around here in the Everfree and second, you’re not supposed to even be able to talk!” “Our type? Lady, that's a rude thing to say!” Carlos said in an offended tone. “As for what you're talking about, Everfree? The heck is that? A tree of some kind?!” “Since when were Lions, Tigers or Panthers even able to even talk? Someone must have cast a spell on you and is talking through you!” The unicorn retorted. “And the Everfree is that big forest outside!” “Spell? What, like a magic spell? Please, that's ridiculous!” Katelyn said, sniggering. The mare’s eyes narrowed before a bolt of explosive energy shot from her horn straight towards the four. “Scatter!” Viktor shouted. The four great cats leapt out of the path of the projectile before it hit the ground with the force of a grenade going off. “Night Slicer, Swooping Star, bring the orange tiger down, Blade Jumper, you help Rock Crasher with the white tiger. I’ll deal with the Panther, Moss Flower, you take care of the lion.” The unicorn ordered, “we’ll bring them to the Princesses for questioning.” The guards nodded before moving to pursue their targets. The two Pegasi mares, Night Slicer and Swooping Star sped after Alexandra, their wing blades ready. The tiger turned to engage, but upon seeing the blades mounted on their wings, ducked down with a yelp. The two flew over her, missing her by inches, and crashing into a wall with a clatter. She then felt a chill breeze on her back, and when she looked, she saw that some of her fur had been shorn off by the blades. “Did..you two give me a buzz cut?!” She asked in disbelief and anger. She then heard Carlos stifling a chuckle. “Really Carlos? At a time like this?” She growled before getting jumped on by the two Pegasi. “Surrender or die.” Swooping Star said, her voice hard, one wing blade aimed at Alexandra's throat. “Alex!” Carlos yelled before getting blindsided by Blade Jumper, the stallion’s blow sending the tiger rolling. “Oof!” he grunted, before getting pinned down by two incredibly strong hooves. Stunned, Carlos could only watch as the rest of his friends were captured. Katelyn was stunned by a single blast from the unicorn’s horn while a single buck from the earth pony floored Viktor. The three were then hauled over to where Carlos was being held. “Chain them up and let's take them to the throne room.” The unicorn ordered. “Yes Captain Shield Breaker.” Moss Flower, the Earth Pony mare said. Within seconds, the four were in chains and were soon being taken over to the throne room under heavy guard. “Hey, keep that spear to yourself! I don't do that on the first date!” Carlos snapped after getting prodded by a spear. “Silence!” The guard holding it snapped back. Carlos rolled his eyes before looking straight ahead. Geez, how big is this castle? It feels like we’ve been walking for hours… Shield Breaker halted in front of a pair of ornate doors and turned to the four cats. “Whatever you do, don't speak unless you're spoken to.” She warned before opening the doors and entering the room. The four then followed, pushed forward by the other guards. As they entered, Carlos, Viktor, Alexandra and Katelyn saw two of what appeared to be a cross between a Pegasus and a unicorn arguing with each other. One was white and had a pink mane and a picture of the sun on its flank while the other was dark blue with a lighter blue mane and a picture of the moon on its flank and was smaller than the white one. Both were wearing crowns and had regalia on. Both also were a few inches taller than the four, who were the same size as the ponies surrounding them.. As soon as the door had opened, the two had stopped their argument and looked in shock at the four cats in chains in front of them. “Why didst thou bring these four creatures to us? Canst thou see we're busy?” The white pony asked in a medieval dialect. This proved to be too much for Carlos, who busted out laughing. “Carlos!” Viktor whispered sharply. “I'm sorry, it’s just that…” Carlos tried to stifle his laughter but failed miserably. The guards looked mortified while the two ponies at the thrones glared angrily at the human turned tiger. “Thou thinkest our speech funny?!” The blue pony shouted, the room literally shaking from the force of the yell. The four winced, flattening their ears. Then Viktor spoke up. “No, we don't.” He said, giving an annoyed look at Carlos. “I'm sorry about my friend laughing, he was out of line.” The two ponies relaxed and the white pony said, “Who art thou? We’ve never seen you four before…” “We’re called the Night Pride. I'm Pallo, the leader of the group, the white tiger is Ares my second in command, the tigress is Venus and the Panther is Minerva.” Viktor said. “If I may ask, what are you? We’ve never seen you before…” “We are Alicorns, a mix of Pegasi, Earth Pony and Unicorn.” She said. “I am Princess Celestia, and this is my younger sister, Luna.” Luna nodded her head in greeting, her eyes curious. “Why exactly art thou here? We’ve heard of your kind, but we’ve never heard of any of them talking.” Celestia asked. “That's the question we’re trying to figure out.” Alexandra sighed. “One minute, we’re back on Earth at a convention, and the next thing we know, we end up in your courtyard and get set upon by the guards!” She said with a glare at the guards behind them who glared back. “Earth? You mean you're not from Equestria?” Luna asked in shock. “Gee, if a lion, two Tigers and a panther show up suddenly in a courtyard, what do you think?” Katelyn asked, her tone sarcastic. Celestia's eye twitched. Carlos facepawed. “To answer your question, yes, we aren't exactly from here. And we weren't cats either. We were humans, which look like a hairless ape except for the top of our heads. Our actual names are, well were, Viktor, Carlos, Alexandra and Katelyn. Celestia's horn lit up for a few seconds before she said, “There is some strange magical residue surrounding the four of you, and unfortunately, I can not send you back to your world. Whatever this magic is, it prevents me from being able to. ” The group upon hearing this were stunned. We… we can't go back to Earth? Ever? Katelyn thought in shock. “You mean we're stuck here?” Carlos asked. Celestia nodded. Alexa bent her head down in shock. Seeing this, Carlos walked up to her and nuzzled her. “Hey, we’ll make it through this.” He said gently. Alexa blinked and returned the nuzzle. Both Luna and Celestia saw this and had confused looks on their faces. “Art thou mates?” Celestia asked. The two Tigers chuckled. “Not exactly, we’re still dating.” Alexandra said. She then asked “Can we get out of these chains? They're starting to chaff a bit…” The guards tensed while the Princesses stared at them in shock. “What makest thou think we’d let you out of those chains? For all we know you’ll attack us like you did the guards!” Celestia said. “Okay, for one, they attacked us, not the other way round! And for two, we don't fight unless we're forced to!” Carlos snapped. “Then… you aren't a threat?” Luna asked. Viktor opened his mouth to answer only to hear a bestial snarl and a scream from a guard. The four turned to see a furred bipedal monster with five other creatures with different features and different sizes. A guard was held in the first monster’s grasp. “So the Night Pride has come out of hiding… Valthraax will be pleased if he hears we took you blasted cats out!” It snarled in a pleased tone. “What in Faust’s name is that?!” Celestia gasped. Viktor’s answer was grim. “A Beastie.” “A what?” Luna asked. “They're called Beasties, and they are very bad news. They kidnap children and feast on their nightmares, and… the kids don't survive the experience….” Carlos growled. Both Celestia and Luna looked sickened by what Carlos had told them. “That's…. horrible!” Celestia exclaimed. “And if we're not let out of these chains, the same thing will happen to the kids of your subjects!” Viktor growled. The Beasties laughed. “Leave them in those chains, it’ll make it easier to take them out!” The leader said. The Princesses glared at the creatures before Celestia’s horn flared and the chains fell off the four cats. Viktor rubbed his paws where the chains had chafed at his fur before growling, “Alright, let's show these guys why the Night Pride is feared by all Beasties!” The Beastie leader tossed the guard he was holding into another, knocking both of them unconscious. “Get ‘em!” He yelled. With a roar, both sides charged. While Viktor and the leader clashed, Alexandra, Carlos and Katelyn engaged the five others. “Hah, missed me!” Carlos said, ducking a clumsy swing from the Beastie he was fighting before landing a powerful blow that gutted the creature. The Beastie screamed before falling to the floor, its insides pouring out. “Ewww, that's definitely a gut-buster right there!” The white tiger said, before getting sent flying by a blow from another Beastie. “Ooof! Oh, so that's how you wanna play? Well two can play at that game!” Carlos growled before leaping at the Beastie with a roar. Meanwhile, Alexandra was landing blow after blow on the Beastie she was fighting. “Not so tough now are you?” She taunted. “You won't stop us, Valthraax will make sure that you fall!” The Beastie snarled before slapping her aside and charging towards the Princesses only to be hit with a searing beam that disintegrated him instantly. “Thou shalt not harm us!” Celestia yelled, her horn glowing. How… how did she do that? It's like she channeled the power of the sun! Alexandra thought in shock. Seeing two of their fellows brought down, the four remaining Beasties began to back down, seeing this, Viktor, Carlos, Alexandra and Katelyn pressed their advantage, Katelyn bringing down another Beastie. Now outnumbered, the three Beasties broke and ran, the four cats chasing them as far as the door. “Yeah, you better run! And next time, do some squats!” Carlos yelled, “You could use the exercise!” “We can't thank thee enough for this. Thou hast done us a great service this day.” Celestia said. She then looked outside and bent her head, her horn glowing. “Um… what's she doing?” Katelyn asked. “She's lowering the sun so that I may raise the moon.” Luna replied. The four gave both of the Princesses a disbelieving look. “You guys move the sun and moon?” Viktor asked in shock. Luna nodded before her horn began glowing. “That's not even possible!The planet revolves around the Sun while the moon revolves around the earth!” he said. “I think we threw Scientific theory out the window the moment we came here…” Carlos snarked. “First Unicorns, then Pegasi, what's next, Dragons and Manticores?” “You know about them?!” Shield Breaker asked in shock. Carlos looked at her before facepawing. “Lady, from where we come from, you’re just a myth, same with Pegasi, Manticores and dragons.” Katelyn said. “So this is kinda of a surprise for us also.” Shield Breaker chuckled. “The name's Shield Breaker. Captain of the Castle Guard.” She said. The group of guards from earlier walked up behind her, the helmets of the Pegasi held in their wings. Upon closer inspection, Carlos saw that one of the Pegasi looked… different. She had bat like ears, slitted eyes, bat like wings and when she smiled, he saw a pair of fangs. “I'm Night Slicer, nice to meet you four.” She said, nodding her head in greeting. The two regular Pegasi were next. “I'm Swooping Star, and this is my brother, Blade Jumper.” The mare said, the stallion cooly giving the four a nod “Name’s Rock Crasher, nice to meet Y’all.” The Earth Pony stallion said with what sounded like a Texan accent. “And I'm Moss Flower.” The Earth Pony mare said. “Nice meeting you guys too, though, what exactly are you? I don't think I've seen a pony like you before…” Carlos asked Night Slicer. “I'm what's called a Thestral or “Bat Pony”.” She replied, her ears flattening in embarrassment while she looked away. “It's… not something I really like talking about.” Must make for quite the awkward conversation... Carlos thought before he said, “If you don't want to talk about it, I’ll respect that.” Night Slicer gave him a small smile before she asked, “So you’re actually from another world? What's it like?” “Well… Humanity is the dominant species, numbering over 6.5 billion. We use very advanced technology like computers, but… the problem with our kind is that we’re very war like, we have fought more wars than we can count. There are some good people, but… there are more people that do bad than good.” Viktor explained. “So in a way, us getting brought here was a lucky break, we don't have to deal with hearing about the pain and suffering that happens in our world. But we have family back on our world, and they're gonna be frantic as to what happened to us.” The guards had looks of shock and sympathy on their faces at what Viktor had told them. “I'm truly sorry…” Shield Breaker murmured. “It's fine. But what I’m worried about is that the Beasties are planning something, and it’ll involve…” Viktor trailed off as he realized something. Oh no….. “Vik, what's wrong?” Carlos asked. “I just realized something, the only thing stopping the Beasties from taking all the kids in the comics was the Militia, but they don't exist here!” Viktor said. Carlos's eyes widened before he swore, “Damn it! And we’re the only ones that can stop them!” “But how? Four cats just aren't enough to fight them, and they mentioned Valthraax, and that's never a good sign…” Alexandra said. “Who is this “Valthraax”?” Celestia asked. “The leader of the Beasties, a scheming spider headed monster that will stop at nothing to capture all of the children.” Katelyn growled. “Your highnesses, with your permission, the four of us would like to help by stopping the Beasties before they can kidnap any of the children here.” Viktor said, “But if you would rather us not to and leave your guards to deal with the problem, that's your decision. But we know the foe better than you or the guards, and if you don't do something, you’ll lose the hope for the future.” Celestia suddenly started at that, and her eyes became fearful. What the… wonder why she reacted like tha… Carlos wondered before realizing something, Oh boy… She's pregnant! No wonder she reacted like that, she doesn't want to lose her kid when he or she gets born and grows up! “Tia, what's wrong?” Luna asked. “N... nothing. I'm fine, just worried for our subjects.” Celestia said, her eyes warning her sister not to speak of this. “I’ll explain later.” She said quietly to Luna, who narrowed her eyes and frowned. “In the meantime, you have our permission to stop these creatures any way you can. If what you say is true, there already may be fillies and colts missing.” She continued. “Thank you your highnesses.” Viktor said, the four of them bowing their heads in respect before Carlos yawned. “If it's okay with you, we’d like to get some rest. Today's been… a bit crazy for us.” “Of course. Captain, please show them to a spare room.” Celestia said. Shield Breaker nodded and beckoned to the four before they left the throne room. As the door closed, Luna turned to Celestia. “There's something you’re not telling me. Why did you react like that earlier?” She asked. Celestia sighed. “I'm… expecting a child.” Luna’s eyes widened. “You mean… I'm going to be an aunt?” She asked incredulously. Celestia nodded. “So that's why you reacted like that, you’re afraid that the Beasties will get your child when he or she is older… Who’s the father?” Celestia didn't answer as she looked out the window. “Honestly, I'm afraid for not just my child, but for every filly and colt in Equestria. These creatures… they're almost like the primal version of ourselves…. I just hope the Night Pride can stop them. As for who the father is, it… I honestly don't remember, it was a long time ago...” Luna nodded in understanding before she put a wing over her older sister's shoulder. “I have a feeling they will. From what I saw during the fight, they were making sure none of the guards got involved.” As she said this, a voice in her head whispered, Since when did Celestia really care about you? She won't give you what you deserve! Luna ignored this as the two sisters leaned against each other. Meanwhile… “...And this is where you’ll be staying.” Shield Breaker said, opening the door to the massive spare bedroom. “Dang, you could fit a theater in here!” Carlos said. Shield Breaker gave him a confused look before deciding not to bother with asking questions. “Thank you Captain. We’ll let you know if we need anything.” Viktor said. Shield Breaker nodded before she left the room. Katelyn had already fallen asleep on a velvet rug, her sides rising and falling as she laid curled up. Viktor chuckled as he watched his sister sleep. Carlos and Alexa had curled up together on the bed and were talking quietly with each other. Hard to believe we're now in a place that looks like it belongs in a kid’s cartoon… but now we have a bigger problem to deal with, the Beasties. Tomorrow we'll need to investigate and try and stop them from taking any of the kids here. The lion thought, his blue eyed gaze looking out the single window. But right now, we all need some rest. He then laid down under the window, and within seconds, fell asleep. Meanwhile… “My lord Valthraax, I bring distressing news!” A Beastie said, standing at the foot of a carved throne, his head bowed. “Speak….” A ancient voice spoke with a hint of menace. “The Night Pride, they have appeared in this world!” The messenger said, looking up. “They managed to stop six of us when we attacked the pony Princesses!” “WHAT?!” The voice shrieked. The owner of it, a spider headed creature in a top hat and wearing late 1800s human clothing and a cloak stood up and grabbed the unfortunate Beastie by the throat. “How are they here?” Not waiting for an answer, he tossed the messenger aside. This is impossible! Abner and that blasted King Bear can't have found out where I am! No matter, I’ll still get the brats here and Celestia's child too when it grows up a bit more after it’s been born! And then I can take the human world and those two brats! Valthraax began to cackle evilly, “You’ve stopped nothing Pallo! I’ll still get that brat Joey after I’m done with this world!” He said as his laughter grew, “The age of Beasts will reign!” He then burst into full screeching laughter, and far away, in the Castle of the Two Sisters, Luna woke up with a shudder. “I pray that the Night Pride is able to help us, if not, Faust have mercy on our souls…” She muttered, a sense of dread settling over her. In the spare room, the dreams of the four cats were broken by memories that were not theirs, memories of fighting countless waves of Beasties, of joking with other stuffed animals, and of a familiar boy and girl. In the shadows, a scarred face of a small bear watched them. I don't know how Pallo and the others got here, but from what I saw, the Beasties are up to something… I need to let King Bear know. He whipped out a scroll and muttered, “Ene Meene Myne Mo!” As he said these words, the figures on the scroll glowed before a portal opened up and he walked through to his universe. The portal closed with a soft pop, waking Katelyn up and making her look towards where the sound came from for a second before she fell back asleep. For the rest of the night, no one gave any second thoughts to what was going on behind the shadows. Author's Note Since there are literally thousands of beasties of different sizes and shapes, I can't exactly describe them all, except for the prominent ones like Valathraxx or Grokk. The others I leave to your imagination.
Chapter 3: Hopes and NightmaresViktor woke up to the sun shining through the window the next morning. He yawned and then proceeded stretch his arms before the memories of what had happened yesterday slammed into him with the force of a freight train. So we truly are in a world where sentient horses, or in this case “ponies” are the dominant species here. Add to that Carlos, Alexa, Kate and I are now actual big cats, this is definitely one of the weirdest experiences I've had in my life… he thought wryly as he stood up. He then heard Carlos groan, “Five more minutes….” from where he was curled up on the bed with Alexandra. He chuckled before letting out a low growl. Carlos leapt about a foot in the air, banging his head on the overhang above the bed before crashing back down and ejecting Alexa, who yelped in surprise. Both Tigers glared at Viktor, who was managing to keep a straight face. “Very funny…” Carlos growled with a deadpan look just as Katelyn sat up yawning. “Uuugh, that was the worst sleep I’ve had for a while…. Those dreams didn't make any sense….” she muttered, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. “Getting woken up by a “pop” sound in the middle of the night didn't help…” Viktor glanced sharply at his sister. “You had weird dreams also?” He asked, Carlos and Alexandra also giving Katelyn a surprised look. The Panther nodded. “Yeah, us in the Stuffed Animal Kingdom, fighting Beasties, chatting with the other animals, but the weird thing was that both Joey and Courtney were in there also...” Viktor frowned. What she had described was exactly what he had seen in his dreams also. “Is it possible that they were memories?” He asked. Carlos snorted. “Memories? Please, they were just weird dreams, probably brought on by what happened last night.” He said, flicking his ear. “Probably…” the lion said. “But somehow, I'm not convinced.” “How about we worry about it later, right now, we need to go and make sure those Beasties don't get their claws, paws, or whatever they use for hands on the kids here.” Katelyn said. As the four cats headed for the door, they heard the voices of Luna and Celestia yelling from the window. “You always get the praise, all I seem to be is a joke to everyone else!” The Princess of the night’s voice was close to tears, “I just want to be as important as you!” The rest was indistinguishable as Shield Breaker opened the door. “You’re needed at the throne room.” She said, her voice shaking. “Everything okay? Sounded like a ruckus was going on…” Carlos asked. “It's none of your concern.” The mare answered sharply. Carlos raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Okay, sheesh…” the tiger muttered. Besides the guards the four had met, Alexa noticed that there were a lot more guards escorting them with weapons at the ready. Okay, something is up…. There weren't as many guards escorting us last time, so what's going on? As they reached the throne room doors, they burst open and Luna walked out, a look of anger on her face as she stormed past the group. “Geez, someone's not a morning person…” Carlos muttered before getting whacked on the back of the head by Alexandra. “Ow!” Hmm… wonder if it has something to do with all that yelling earlier… Viktor thought as he and the others were escorted inside. Celestia was at her throne, rubbing her temples as if she was getting a headache. “Your highness.” Viktor said, nodding his head in greeting. “You wanted us?” Celestia looked up to see the four standing in front of the throne and nodded. “Yes, I had recently gotten a report that three fillies, two unicorns and one Pegasus and a earth pony colt had been taken last night. We don't know where they've been taken, but we hope that thou will be able to find them and bring them back safely.” Unseen by the four, Shield Breaker choked back a sob. “If they haven't been eaten already….” Katelyn muttered. Viktor gave her a warning glance before saying, “We’ll see what we can do. Incidentally, what was with the shouting earlier? We could hear it from our room.” An embarrassed blush tinted Celestia's cheeks. “It was nothing, just Luna complaining about something.” All four cats raised their eyebrows in unison. “If that was complaining, I'm a sheep.” Carlos said, “It sounded like she wanted some recognition from your subjects and she's not getting it.” Celestia's eyes narrowed. “What happens between my sister and I is of no concern to thee. You need not worry about our problems when we have a bigger problem on our hooves.” She said stiffly. “Very well. But a word of warning Princess, it may not be our problem but I’ve seen enough fighting in families to know that if you don't give at least some recognition to Luna, it will come back to haunt you in the worst way possible…” Viktor said. “Noted. Captain Shield Breaker will lead you to where you need to go, but after that, you’re on your own.” Celestia said, an annoyed look on her face. Viktor nodded before he and the others left the throne room. I don't need some cat to tell me what to do! I'm not one of my subjects! She thought in anger, unaware that in Luna's room, her sister was sobbing on her bed. It's not fair! Why does Celestia get all the praise while I sit in the sidelines unnoticed?! I'm tired of being in her shadow! The midnight blue Alicorn thought angrily. “Then why not remove her from her throne and take over?” A voice said next to her. She looked up in shock to see a midnight black Alicorn in battle armor next to her, with teal draconic eyes and pointed teeth. “Wh...who are you?” Luna asked in shock, earning a demented chuckle from it. “Isn’t it obvious? I am… you…” it said, “Together, we can make Celestia pay for how she's treated you and bring an eternal night! You’ll be worshipped even more than Celestia!” Luna looked away for a few seconds before saying, “I may be angry at my sister, but I will not take her life or her child’s!” The Alicorn snarled, “You will! I don't care about the brat or Celestia, they are only obstacles to you ruling Equestria!” She then leapt at Luna, who charged up her horn in response, before vanishing completely. Luna looked around in confusion before a massive spike of pain forced her to her knees. YOU WILL SUBMIT! Her double yelled inside her head. “No! I will not harm my sister or my future niece or nephew!” Luna yelled. But years of anger and sadness had taken its toll on her, and she could feel herself weakening. But the thought of her sister gave her strength, and she managed to fight off the attack. But the effort had left her very weak, and she collapsed on her bed, her vision darkening as sleep overtook her. She never heard her double whisper, 'You will be mine…’ before cackling insanely. Meanwhile, in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville… “Geez, finding those kids is proving to be harder than I thought!” Carlos panted as the four ran through the forest. The four had left Shield Breaker after they had arrived at their destination, Katelyn having managed to catch the scent before they had even reached the site. But after following it for 100 yards, the scent was lost and the four were now scouring the forest for any sign of the four kids. “Gee, and I thought this was gonna be easy!” the Panther snarked. They stopped at a small grove of trees, panting for breath. “Okay… so what do we do now?” Alexa asked. Viktor opened his mouth to answer when he heard something nearby. He looked around to see what it was and froze when he saw a cage holding the four kids in question. The three fillies, two of which looked like they were in their teens were huddled together while the colt watched the four with a scared look in his eyes. The lion then gave out orders to the others, using their character names. “Minerva, Ares, keep an eye out for any Beasties. Venus, you’re with me.” “You’ve got it.” Carlos said before he and Katelyn took up sentry positions. Both Viktor and Alexandra walked over to the cage, and while the tigress watched for any signs of Beasties or Everfree creatures, Viktor smashed the lock off with a single blow. “Don't worry little ones, we’re here to make sure you get back to your parents safely.” He said gently to the four captives. As he looked closely at them, he saw that the two unicorn fillies looked almost exactly like Shield Breaker, but the pegasus and earth pony were strangers to him. The fillies squeaked in fear, while the colt gave the lion a suspicious look before saying, “Who are you? You don't look like those monsters…” “I'm Pallo of the Night Pride, my team and I were sent by the Princesses to rescue you three.” Viktor said. The three fillies looked up when he mentioned the Princesses, the two unicorns fillies stood up but the pegasus filly struggled to get up before she fell back down onto the floor of the cage. Viktor could see several bruises on her and one of her wings along with her left back leg were held out awkwardly, as if they were broken, and a flash of anger went through him at the sight of it. “Can you two help her ?” He asked the two unicorns. They nodded before one of them levitated the pegasus onto the other's back. Just as the four kids were about to walk out of the cage, Carlos yelled, “LOOK OUT!” Viktor quickly spun around to see a Beastie charge at him and Alexa, six others following it. All of them were howling for the Night Pride’s heads. “Kids, get out of the cage and get behind that tree! We’ll take care of these guys!” Viktor yelled before charging towards the Beasties with a roar. “C’mon!” The colt said, leading the three fillies to a nearby tree. The four then hunkered down and watched the ensuing battle unfold. “You’re not getting those kids, Beastie!” Katelyn snarled, landing a powerful overhead blow to the one she was fighting.The creature staggered, allowing her to deliver a finishing blow that put it out of action for good, only for a second Beastie to slap her out of the way. “Ooof!” She grunted as she slammed into the ground, winded. The Beastie then started to approach the tree where the four kids were hiding, only for Carlos to slam into it. “Where do you think you’re going, Beastie?” He growled, before delivering a multitude of powerful paw strikes to the creature, his claws dealing massive amounts of damage. “ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!” The Beastie roared in pain and anger before he backed off and ran. “You haven't stopped anything! We’ll get those kids yet!” It yelled as it retreated. Carlos then turned to see two more Beasties run off, two others having fallen in battle. “Tell your master Equestria is under our protection!” He heard Viktor roar to them. “If he wants the children of this world, he’ll have to go through us!” The tiger then turned to where the kids were hiding. “You guys can come out now, it’s safe.” The colt and the three fillies, the pegasus laying on the colt's back, cautiously walked out from where they had hid during the fight. “Let's take you back home. Your parents must be worried sick by now.” Alexandra said with a gentle smile. The kids nodded earnestly before the Pride arranged themselves so that the children were in the middle and they were on the outside, that way, they could defend the kids if anything tried to attack. Within a few hours, they had returned to the castle. Shield Breaker, who was on duty that moment, gave a cry of relief and ran to the two unicorn fillies, who with a squeal of “Mom!”, met her half way. The fillies held their mother, who was sobbing with happiness and relief, tightly. Shield Breaker then looked up with tears in her eyes at the four cats and said, “Thank you so much for saving my girls… I… I don't know what I would have done if I had lost them to those creatures….” Viktor scuffed the ground with his paws, embarrassed. “It was nothing… but we need to get the other two inside, one of them is badly injured.” Shield Breaker nodded before the group went inside. Later in the throne room…. “We cannot thank thee enough for saving these four.” Celestia said, “Thou hast proven that you truly are protectors.” After the four had returned with the kids, the pegasus filly was taken to the local doctor, and was afterwards was taken home with both her leg and wing in a cast. The earth pony colt had also been taken home to his parents. The four cats bowed their heads in respect. “It is what we were made to be.” Carlos said, before he realized what he had said. The others looked at him in either surprise (in the case of the rest of the Night Pride) or shock (in Celestia's case). “Err…. Excuse us for a moment?” He asked. Celestia nodded and the four left the throne room. “Guys…” Viktor said, his tone showing how shaken he was, “I think… I think we're slowly turning into the actual characters…” “Weren't we already turned into them?” Carlos asked in surprise. “In body, but not in mind.” Viktor pointed out. “But our minds are now changing to the characters we became, Carlos just proved it when he spoke to Celestia.” “How…. How long until we fully become the actual Night Pride?” Katelyn asked, her voice shaking. “Hopefully not for at least five or ten years. But that's just a guess…” Viktor said, shrugging his shoulders. “I hope so…” Carlos muttered, his tail twitching nervously. The other two murmured agreement before the four then returned to the throne room. “Is everything okay?” Celestia asked, concern in her voice. “Yes, your highness. It wasn't anything too important.” Viktor said, giving the others a warning look. Other than a puzzled look, Celestia gave the matter no further thought. The four then headed to their room, but when they opened the door, they got a surprise in the form of a small bear in a red vest, with a single scar on one eye and a bandage over his right paw, and wielding a double-edged sword. Four voices spoke together in shock. “Orson!?” The four cats stared at the small bear in front of them, looks of utter surprise on their faces. “Okay… anyone else find it weird that Orson, Courtney's bear is here in the flesh?!” Carlos asked. Orson gave the tiger a confused look. “Ares, what are you talking about? You do realize Joey is worried sick about the four of you?” “Wait, Joey? As in Joey Price?” Alexandra asked, her blood running cold. Orson’s confused look deepened. “Yes, that Joey. Did you guys hit your heads or something when you vanished?” “When we van-” Katelyn suddenly winced as a voice suddenly rang in her head. Orson? How… how are you here?The Panther’s eyes widened as she heard Minerva's voice. Judging from the reactions of the others, they were also hearing the voices of the actual Night Pride. Well, at least we know that we aren't turning into the characters in our minds, they’re somehow part of us! She thought. The four then shimmered before spectral versions of themselves seperated from their bodies and stood next to them. “Orson, it’s good to see you again.” Ares said with a grin. Orson's eyes widened in shock. “Ares? If that's you, then who are these four?” He asked, pointing his sword at the human turned cats. “We… used to be humans, but after buying masks of these guys at a convention,” Viktor nodded to the spectral forms of the Night Pride, “We found ourselves here in Equestria.” “What's a convention?” Ares asked with a confused look on his face. “And what's Equestria?” Minerva asked. Carlos facepawed. “You four should know about Equestria by now, you’re part of us!” He said, giving the four a deadpan look. Just as Ares was about to retort, Shield Breaker entered the room only to stop and look in shock at the group gathered in the room. Oh… crap…. Alexandra thought. “W….who are you?” The mare asked, her voice shaking. “Orson… Pallo, Ares, Minerva and Venus… this is Captain Shield Breaker, Shield Breaker, this is Orson and the original Night Pride.” Orson gave Shield Breaker a guarded look. “Huh, and I thought I only saw unicorns in the Stuffed Animal Kingdom…” he muttered. “It’s not just unicorns here. There's also Pegasi and Earth Ponies and two Alicorns.” Carlos said, earning a confused look from Orson. “What's an Alicorn?” he asked. “They’re the rulers here.” Pallo said. “While we couldn't interact, we could still watch through the eyes of these four.” Orson cocked an eyebrow before saying, “If that's all, the reason I'm here is because the Beasties had vanished from our universe completely. We didn't know where they were until I found this world by accident. And I heard the fight between these four and those monsters, so we now know that they're here, by why is the question…” Carlos growled, “Same thing as always, to kidnap the kids here. We just rescued four earlier today.” Orson's eyes narrowed. “And you four stopped the Beasties from taking them from Valthraax? I'm impressed, for four humans, you did exactly what the Pride would have done.” “Well, we pretty much are the Pride.” Viktor chuckled. “That begs the question though, how did you turn into us?” Venus asked. “The last thing I remember was talking to Joey then… nothing.” Katelyn sighed, “Honestly, I have no idea. Whatever that Merchant did, he made it so that we were turned into who we were dressed up as.” She said before turning to Shield Breaker and asking, “Was there something you needed to ask us?” Shield Breaker shook herself out of her shock and replied, “ Princess Luna would like to speak with you four. I'm to escort you to her room.” Viktor nodded, “We’ll be with you in a minute.” He turned to the five stuffed animals. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re needed for something.” Orson smirked, “I’ll keep in touch.” He said before he pulled out a scroll and chanted “Eene Meene Myne Mo!” A portal then opened up and just as he started to walk through to his universe, he turned and said, “I’ll let King Bear know about what's going on here.” With that, he vanished through the portal, which closed with a pop. The Night Pride then walked towards their doubles before shimmering and vanishing as they got close to the four. Let's get this over with… Katelyn heard Minerva mutter. Somehow, this is something I'm never gonna get used to…. Katelyn thought as the four followed Shield Breaker out of their room to a torch lit corridor. After a few minutes of walking, they stopped at a set of dark blue doors overlaid with silver with the symbol of a moon etched on the front. For a princess, she goes all out with the interior design!Ares remarked. Carlos rolled his eyes. Of course she does, she’s royalty! I didn't see you commenting that to Joey when you were showing him the castle! Carlos retorted. How… how did you know about that?!Ares asked in surprise Memories, duh… Ares chuckled as Shield Breaker knocked on the door. “Enter…” Luna's voice rang out from her room, but it sounded tired. The four entered the room to see Luna lying on her bed, her usually flowing blue mane now hanging down limp by her side of her neck. Geez, what happened to her? Carlos thought in shock. “Your highness, you wanted to speak with us?” Viktor asked, concern in his eyes. Luna nodded tiredly. “Indeed, I heard that your mission earlier was a success.” The four nodded before Carlos asked, “What.. what made you so exhausted, if I may ask?” Luna sighed. “I… I was fighting my own personal demons… and nearly succumbed to them...” The four gave the Alicorn sympathetic looks. “We all know what it's like to fight our personal demons…” Viktor said. “And the best way we do that is to either comfort each other or find some way to cheer us up.” Carlos then remembered a song from a band back on Earth called Black Veil Brides, and as the song played in his head, he began to sing the lyrics, the other three joining in as they heard the song. (Bold - All four \ Italics - Carlos) Huh, In the end as you fade into the night…(Whoa…) Who will tell the story of your life? In the end, as my soul's laid to rest, what is left of my body? Or am I just a shell?.... And I have fought, and with flesh and blood I commanded an army! Through it all, I have given my heart for a moment of glory! (I gave it all…) In the end as you fade into the night…(Whoa!) Who will tell the story of your life? (Whoa!) And who will remember your last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! Born a saint, but with every sin I still want to be holy…. I will live again… Who we are, isn't how we live, we are more than our bodies! If I fall, I will rise back up and relive my glory! Luna sat on her bed, her eyes wide as she heard the four sing. In the end as you fade into the night (Whoa!) Who will tell the story of your life? (Whoa!) And who will remember your last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! In the end as you fade into the night (Whoa!) Who will tell the story of your life? (Whoa!) And who will remember your last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! Who will remember this last goodbye? (Whoa!) 'Cause it’s the end and I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! I'm not afraid, not afraid to die! Not afraid, I'm not afraid to die! As they finished the song, Luna shakily got off her bed and trotted over to the four, looking at them in amazement all the while. “In all my years ruling Equestria, I have never heard a song like the one you hath sung…” she said. “And I have sung only once or twice!” Carlos flattened his ears in embarrassment. “It's just a song from back on Earth… there was another song that would have been more appropriate, but this song ended up popping in my head.” he said. “Nonetheless, it… very well describes my struggles.” Luna said. “Was there another reason you wanted us?” Viktor asked. “Yes. I need you four to stop these creatures from taking the foals of Equestria, both filly and colt. From what you have told us, they strike at night. Therefore, we need to make sure that they are stopped before they take anypony.” “The problem is that we can't guard the entirety of Equestria's children.” Alexandra said, frowning. “We would be too spread out.” Luna gently smiled. “You wouldn't be working alone, I have a private unit of Thestrals that can help you, they're led by Lieutenant Night Slicer.” What is it with the names here? Ares asked, Seriously, Shield Breaker? Night Slicer? They sound like names from one of those cartoons Joey watches! Not the time to talk it about right now…. Carlos said. Luna noticed the annoyed look on the tiger’s face before she suddenly sensed four other presences inside the Night Pride. Her horn glowed as she glared at the four. “You may have tried to take me over once, but I will not fall to you again!” She growled angrily. The four cats tensed as Luna went into attack mode. “Luna, what are you talking about?! We never even attacked you once!” Carlos said. Oh no… she must have sensed me and the others!Ares said, Whatever happened to her, something must've tried to possess her! She thinks we're back to finish the job! Carlos's eyes widened as Ares said this. “Luna, wait!” He shouted, but was too late as the Alicorn unleashed a powerful blast that sent the four flying out of the room. “Oy…. Anyone get the license plate of that truck?” Katelyn groaned, putting a paw over her head. She then yelped as another bolt of magic flew past her and impacted the wall behind her. Shield Breaker was hunkered nearby under a suit of armor, watching with wide eyes at what was happening. Okay, enough is enough! I'm not letting you be used as target practice!Ares growled. The four then shimmered before the spectral versions of themselves seperated and walked over to Luna, who looked on in shock. “What in Faust's name…?!” She whispered. Carlos then spoke up, “Luna, meet the original Night Pride: Pallo, Ares, Minerva and Venus.” The four cats bowed their heads in respect. “It's… an honor meeting you, your highness.” Pallo said. “I'm sorry if we caused you some distress.” “It's… not your fault.” Luna sighed. “I thought you were the manifestation of my anger and hatred trying to take me over again… please forgive me for making such a error…” The four cats chuckled. “No hard feelings held.” Ares said. Luna then looked at Minerva, a curious look on her face. “How… how are you part of these four?” She asked. Minerva rolled her eyes. “I don't really know, I’m just a passenger.” she said. Katelyn facepawed at that. Venus chuckled, “Don't mind Minerva, she thinks sarcasm is a sporting event.” Whoa, deja vu… Carlos thought. Luna blinked then gave a small smile. “So I see.” She said. “As for your offer, we’ll think it over but rest assured we will do our best to try and protect the children here.” Viktor said. “You also have our support. We’ll try and show these young ones how it's done.” Pallo said with a smirk. “Oh can it grandpa!” Carlos joked, making the others laugh. “We’ll let you know tomorrow morning what our answer is.” Viktor continued. Luna nodded. “Very well, I bid thee goodnight…” For a brief second, pain and anger flashed through her eyes. Both prides nodded before the original pride vanished back into the four human turned cats. As Luna walked back to her room, she felt her face start to get wet. Blinking, she rushed back into her room and slammed the doors shut. Damn… she must be really upset about being in her sister's shadow… Carlos thought as the four headed to their room. I just really hope things don't come to a head…. 'I wouldn't worry about it right now…'Ares said, but his tone sounded worried. 'It's probably nothing…' I hope so… Carlos replied. Unbeknownst to him, he and the other three were about to be involved in one of the most deadliest fights Equestria had ever seen, and things… would never be the same for them...
