The Changeling War

Chapters

Prologue
New Friends and Old Enemies
Walking Conversations
General Razorfang
Uprising (Redone)
Behind Enemy Lines
Reunions
The Unsettling Truth
Nightmares
The Dead Zone
The Changed
A Way Out
Confessions
Welcome Home
The Owatonna Outpost
A New Beginning
The Brothers From Rikers

Prologue

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”― Arthur C. Clarke

It was the 23rd of May 2018, Morgan, almost 18, was in his History class. He was learning about WWII - it was boring him. History wasn’t that bad, he liked learning about Hitler, and the Nazis. Usually, when he was bored, he would look out the window, just to see what going on outside. But there wasn't anything exciting, just a couple walking their dogs, a robin chirping on a branch and a squirrel scurrying here and there collecting acorns. Just as he was about to turn his head to focus on learning again, he caught something in the corner of his eye.

In the distance, he could see a green disk hovering in the sky. It was too far away to get a good picture. Thinking it was his imagination, he turned his head again – only to see that another disk appeared right next to the first one. Some kids in his class noticed what he was looking at, including his history teacher. Then, he saw that something came out of it, but was hard to see what it was because it was so far away. Then, another came out, then another, and another.

As if on cue, sirens started blaring off in the distance and sound of tires screeching, as a military convoy drove up to the front of the school with at least 25 heavily armed soldiers.

His teacher started lining kids up at the door, saying that they were evacuating, knowing that they were under attack. A lot of kids didn't know what was going on as they made their way out of the school. While passing classrooms, Morgan could see teachers telling their class to stay calm and that everything would be fine, but he knew everything wasn’t going to be fine.

*******

Once they were outside, Morgan could see soldiers trying to calm the teacher and students, saying that whatever was happening they had it under control. He then noticed and soldier talking to a news reporter across the parking lot and a cameraman recording the conversation.

"Sergeant Daniel, do you or any of you men know what is going on.” He heard the reporter say.

"Not at the moment, no.” The soldier replied. “All we know is that it might be the Chinese or the Russians. We have been ordered to evacuate civilians to major cities all across the country, but we don't know-"

That was the last thing he said before the car right behind him exploded, killing him, the reporter and the cameraman.

Everything went into chaos after that, soldiers aiming their guns in all directions, teachers and students panicking over what had just happened. Before the torched vehicle, something emerged that wasn't Chinese or Russian, It wasn't even human to begin with. The creature had a black carapace that covered its body, soulless blue eyes with no pupils, multiple holes in its legs, a horn, and insect-like wings. It looked like a cross between a horse and a fly mixed together. It then cleared it’s throat and spoke perfect English, scaring the living hell out of everyone.

"Citizens of Earth!" It said in a raspy voice. "By order of Queen Chrysalis, your precious country now belongs to the Changelings! Don't believe me? Ask your so-called President.” Its horn started emanating a green glow and then projected what looked like a pre-recorded video of the president making a speech.

“My fellow Americans,” He started, solemnly. “As you know, America has been visited by an unknown species that is not known to man. Some of you may have met them and are wondering if they are peaceful. Well... they are not! These creatures have taken over most of the cities across the country, including the capitol and the White House in Washington D.C.” Teachers, the country’s capital. “I have been forced to step down as they have threatened to hurt my family. I don't want to do this, but they have left me no other choice. Therefore, allow me to introduce the new President of the United States, her highness, Queen Chrysalis.”

The President got up from his seat and walked away. The alien leader emerged. She was taller, had a greenish blue mane and tail, her horn was much longer and crooked, and she had green eyes with pupils. Everyone stared in awe, astonishment, and fear as they saw their new ruler.

"Citizens of America,” Queen Chrysalis started with a noticeable echo in her voice. - “Now that your former President has surrendered and has given his position to me, your country will be recreated the way I see it. You are to be relocated to cities across your country where you will permanently live. Anyone who wishes to stand up against me or interfere with my Changelings will suffer dire consequences. So know that your future is in, as you say “safe hands” and that your species WILL thrive under my guidance. She finished, cackling as the projection then disappeared.

Changelings then started rounding up teachers and students and putting them on buses. Soldiers from the convoy were ordered to surrender their firearms and board buses as well. But none of them knew that someone had snuck back into the school and was hiding in the lower level. That someone was Morgan.

A million thoughts were buzzing in his head at the moment: “What is going to happen to America now? What’s it going to look like now that a creature not known to earth just declared herself President and expects no one to stop her!” He kicked over a chair out of anger. “ Damn it!" He said under his breath as he to hide from them.

The only thing he could do was wait it out so he tried to collect himself so that he wouldn't draw any attention. "Calm down Morgan,” maybe this won't last long. Maybe it'll last a week and everything will go back to the way it was. He thought to himself, sitting down on the floor away from any windows. He then thought about his parents, just to try to calm yourself down.

“Mom and Dad are probably on their way to get me as we speak, just wait, you’ll see them soon. He then felt his eyelids starting to get heavy. “For now, just get some rest.” He said before he then drifted off to sleep, hoping that someone would do something about Chrysalis and her Changelings. But what he didn't know was that no one on the planet was going to fight back against them, they were all too scared out of their minds to do anything.

New Friends and Old Enemies

“Alright, everyone down on the ground now!” Jacob yelled at the creatures, but it looked like they weren't that surprised to see us.

“Oh, these must be the locals. “ Twilight said as she started walking over to us. “Good afternoon, my name is-”

“Take one more step you four-legged, multicolored freak, and I’ll blow your damn leg off!” Jacob said in a threatening way.

I slightly turned my head and looked at him with a face that said “Really?”

“Was that supposed to insult us?” whispered the creature with the rainbow mane.

“Listen, our group is in dire need of food, now you’re going to hand over any food you have or we will be forced to hurt you”. Jacob said, showing off his weapon.

“Uh, you do know that you're holding scrap metal, right?” Twilight said.

There was a long silence that lasted almost ten seconds till Jacob started to chuckle, then he burst into laughter. The creatures laughed as well, but in a nervous way. As for me, I just stood there with an expressionless face, as this was a stupid idea. The laughter lasted for about a minute until Jacob started to catch his breath.

“Yo-You really think that this is just scrap metal?” Jacob asked them, still trying to catch his breath. He then looked at me. “Morgan? Show them”. I rolled my eyes under my aviators, turned around and fired a full magazine into the crates that Jacob and I were hiding behind, showing that we weren't messing around.

“Now listen up! These here are called ‘guns’, they can fire small metal projectiles that are capable of penetrating through iron, so if you don’t want to be our new target dummies, I’d suggest you give us all the food you have, now!” Jacob said, aiming his gun at them.

The tall white creature stepped forward. “You don’t have to do this child. We only come here to look for somepony. “ She said.

“Oh yeah? Well, that’s a little bit impossible with the entire country being destroyed and all!” Jacob said. “Now we’re not going to ask again, hand over the food, or else.”

“I told you we should have stayed in Ponyville, Twilight!” The rainbow creature said. “Equestria is better off without Chrysalis trying to destroy it.”

Jacob and I were both shocked; did these creatures actually know Chrysalis? “You’re friends with the mutant fly?” I asked.

“Friends? With her? Not in a thousand years, that’s fer sure!” The orange creature said.

“You know Chrysalis?” the tall white creature questioned.

“Well yeah, she….” I paused, wondering if this could be a trick to lower our guard. “How do we know that this isn’t a trick? How do we know that you aren't allied with Chrysalis, or better yet, Changelings in disguise?”

“We just told you. We aren't friends with her!” Twilight said.

“The 60s called, sweetheart, and they want their bullcrap back!” I retorted.

“Uh, Morgan?” Jacob asked.

“Not now, Jacob!” I said in a stern voice.

“We’re telling the truth, young one,” The tall white creature said. “Where we come from, Chrysalis is our enemy and has tried to take over our land multiple times.”

“Well if your enemies with her, why didn’t you stop her from coming here in the first place? Our people have been living in a world of torture because of her and you did nothing to stop her?” I yelled back.

“Morgan?” Jacob asked again.

“Not, Now, Jacob!” I replied, a bit annoyed.

“Morgan, is it?” The purple creature with horn and wings spoke up. “We’re not lying. Chrysalis has almost destroyed our country and tried to take my brother away from me. What we’re saying is true. We are not friends with her.”

“Morgan?” Jacob said yet again.

“WHAT THE HELL IS IT JACOB?” I said, now pissed off at him now.

“I think we’ve got bigger problems,” Jacob said, pointing to the hole in the stadium’s ceiling.

Coming through the hole were about thirty Changelings pouring into the stadium, including one who looked to be in charge of the group.

“SEIZE THEM!” the leader said and upon hearing this, the Changelings started flying toward us.

“Aww crap, RUN!” I yelled as Jacob and I made for the nearest exit, we thought we were safe as we got to the stadium tunnel, but when I looked back, I saw that the Changelings weren't interested in us, they had surrounded the creatures, and it looked like they weren't happy to see them.

Jacob turned around and saw that I had stopped running. “Morgan, what are you doing?” Jacob asked.

“What if they’re telling the truth, what if they aren't allied with Chrysalis,” I said to myself, but Jacob knew what I was planning and he did not like it.

“Morgan listen, you're right okay, there’s always another day of finding food, I shouldn't have kept complaining about it and my idea of trying to rob those... ‘things’ of their food, it was a screwed up choice. So how about we go find a grocery store, see if there's food and….” He then realized that I had started running back the crashed Globemaster to help these new creatures.

“MORGAN!” He yelled, but I had ignored him, still running toward the plane. “Ggghhhaaaa! God help us!” Jacob screamed as he started running after me, trying to catch up.

*******

We had made our way back to the Globemaster and hid to the cockpit, some of the glass was still intact, counting some cracks here and there, but we got a good view on the left and from the look of things, it didn’t look like it was going well with the Changelings and these creatures. The thirty Changelings, including the leader, had surrounded them, but neither of them looked surprised to see each other.

“Her Highness has foretold you're coming foolish ponies, but she didn’t know that it would take you this long to get here.” The leader of the squad of Changelings said.

“These creatures that we just tried to hold-up are ponies?” Jacob asked himself.

“Shut up!” I hushed him.

“What do you mean “Took us this long”?” the tall white pony asked.

“Heh! It doesn’t matter now, but what does matter is that our queen doesn’t want anypony or anybody messing with her plans, you see. Queen Chrysalis still holds a grudge against Starlight Glimmer after she turned our own kind against her, and she doesn’t want that to happen again. But seeing how that accursed pony isn't with you, I suppose you will suffice for the Queen’s *ahem* Revenge plot. It took us so long to take control of this pathetic country and its citizens, and we don’t want anyone to screw it up for us, it’s nothing personal, but all good things must come to an end, Queen Chrysalis says hel-”.

He never finished his sentence as a single bullet to his head ended his life. The Changelings were speechless as they watched their leader’s lifeless body fall to the ground. The ponies were just as surprised. They all looked to where the shot came from, but there standing in the doorway of the Globemaster with an AK-47 in one hand and a Desert Eagle in the other, pointing at where the Changeling was standing, was the man who shot him. That man was me.

“You owe me a bullet for that,” I said bluntly to the ponies who were still shocked. But, the Changelings, on the other hand, had changed their expressions to pure anger.

“KILL HIM!” One of the Changelings screamed as two of them started charging toward me baring their fangs.

Jacob came up next to me shot the two of them with his FAL. I then held up my AK and fired on full auto, killing three other Changelings, but the rest had dispersed into the air. I then looked over to the ponies that had no idea what to do.

“Well don’t just stand there, move your asses!” I yelled as Jacob and I started running over to one of the dugouts with the ponies trying to catch us with us.

We were bobbing and weaving as the Changelings fired their magic upon us, I fired back only to kill two more Changelings. We took shelter inside the stadium dugout and to our luck, we made a good choice, the dugout was just a large cage with some sheet metal inside and outside the cage, enough to provide us some cover.

“Thank you!” the tall white pony said.

“You can thank us when we make it out of here alive!” I said as I started firing blindly from cover.

Seven of the Changelings that were in mid-air landed on the ground. They then used their magic to conjure up shields and started moving toward us. Jacob fired a few shots at a Changeling, but once the bullets made contact with the shield they instantly disintegrated.

“Magical shields. Now ain’t that just lovely!” Jacob sarcastically said to himself.

“How much ammo do you have left?” I asked him

“Not enough to penetrate through Changeling shields if that's what you're asking!” Jacob yelled back.

“So what do we do now besides sitting here?” Twilight said.

“That’s what we're trying figure out!” Jacob yelled while reloading.

“Morgan is it? Is anything in yer bag we can use?” The orange pony asked.

I started to rummage through our scavenging bag, “some bottled water, the shotgun shells, THE C-4!” I said pulling out the explosive.

“Oh good idea Morgan, let's kill ourselves with a high explosive. That’ll give us the upper hand on them!” Jacob said sarcastically.

“Jacob, when we were in the Globemaster I saw there were twenty missiles still intact, I’ll lure the Changelings over to the plane, place the C-4 and boom! We all get out of here in one piece.” I said, but Jacob just gave me a blank, unamused stare.

“You do know that’s suicide, right?”

“You got a better plan?” I asked him but he just sighed.

“God damn it! If you die, Morgan, I’m gonna kill you!” He said I put the bomb back in the bag, but Twilight stopped me.

“Morgan? Please, be careful” She said with a look of worry.

“I’ll be ok! I’ve survived worse than this!” I said, reassuring her

“No, you haven't!” Jacob said with an exasperated look.

“Will you let me have my goddamn moment?” I yelled but he just rolled his eyes.

I then dug into my bag and pulled out a radio. “If anything happens to me, I’ll let you know,” I said as I tossed it to him.

“And don’t worry. I’ll be fine” was the last thing I said as I ran out from the dugout, trying the get the Changeling’s attention.

HEY, ASSHOLES! Over here!” I yelled as I started firing potshots which got a few to look at me “Your mama’s so ugly, even the cracks in the universe couldn’t erase her face from someone's mind!”

A lot of the Changelings hissed at me upon hearing this. Changelings never did have a sense of humor when it came to people making fun of their Queen. I turned tail and ran towards the Globemaster with the Changelings right behind me.

“Holy crap it's working!” Jacob said to himself as he saw that the first part of my plan had worked. “Alright, everyone, follow me, now!” Jacob announced as the ponies followed him up through bleachers.

*******

I made it inside the plane and saw that the missiles, just as I’d expected. I placed the C-4 on one of the crates and armed it. Just as I turned around to escape, there were three changelings blocking the exit.

“You’re a fool for trying to help these ponies, human,” One of them said. “And for that, you and your friend are going to die here.”

I knew that I was cornered, but I wasn’t gonna give up just yet. “I don’t know what type of beef you have with these ‘ponies’ but I can officially tell you that whatever you have planned with them, it’s not going to happen,” I said as I drew my machete from its sheath on my back with my right hand. “And if you think you can take them to Chrysalis, just so that they can be tortured and have their bodies dumped in the middle of nowhere, then you gonna have to get through me!”
I finished as I pulled my pocket knife from my pocket in the other hand.

“So be it. Kill him.” He calmly ordered as two of the Changelings lunged at me.
I quickly dodge both their attacks. I stabbed the first Changeling in the back of his head with my knife and cut off the other one’s horn off with my machete, but he kicked me to the ground with his back hoof. He then jumped on top of me and seeing how he couldn’t use his horn, he bared his fangs, trying to rip my face off. I looked to my left and saw my knife, just within arm’s reach. I grabbed it and without hesitation, I thrust it into the Changeling’s upper jaw, killing him instantly.

I moved the Changeling’s body off of me and stood up, just to be met with the tip of my machete to my neck which was held by the last Changeling with his magic. “You just don’t know when to quit, do you, Boy?”

“I’ll quit when I die!” I replied with a look full of hate.

“Let me make you an offer kid, how are the ponies going to repay you after you help them? By making you their ’lifelong friend’? I suggest that should become a Queen’s Guard. From the way you fight, I think you might make a great soldier for Queen Chrysalis. Maybe, if you're lucky enough, she can give you your own city to run and its own people that you can treat however the hell want. So what do you say? Do it for your country?”

For a human, having their own city to run was a very big deal, but I wasn’t sure what to choose. I thought it over for a short time till I moved my hand to lower the machete, smiling. The Changeling kept grinning, thinking that I had made the right choice. “Thank you for the offer,” I said before my smile turned into a scowl. “But my country is dead because of you!” I then lunged at him and slashed at his left eye with my knife.

He cried out in pain as he fell to the floor, holding his hoof across the large gash that used to be his eye. He looked up at me in terror as I gave him a blank stare.

“And I don't what to make it any worse.” I continued as I kicked him in the face, knocking him out cold.

I then started toward the hole in the plane, until I remembered something. There were still more Changelings, and if I walk out, they’ll know that I killed the ones that came in here. I started looking around, trying to find something to help me escape. Then I noticed that behind the crates of missiles was a wheel sticking out from under some camo netting. I walked over and removed the netting to find something that gave me an idea. An idea that would make Jacob question my sanity.

*******

Jacob and the others had taken shelter in one of the gift shops that was far enough away from the field and the Changelings. I was gone for ten minutes now, and Jacob was getting worried about me. “He’s been gone too long, I’m going back for him!” He said as he started making his way to the door, but only to be stopped by the Midnight manned pony.

“He said that he would be fine, did he not?” She reminded him.

“I know, but this isn’t the first time he’s done something this crazy and stupid at the same time. Those Changelings could’ve captured him, or worse!” He said, knowing that I was probably in danger.

“But he said that he would contact you with that device that he gave you,” Twilight said.

“Listen, I know you're all new here, but those Changelings out there, they're not like the ones you faced where you come from. They are cold-hearted killers that will do anything to keep this country under their control, for all I know, they’ve probably turned Morgan against me and everyone he loves by now.”

Just then, a voice came over the radio that Jacob was given “Jacob, you there?”

Jacob then pulled out the two-way radio and started talking to it. “Morgan?”

“I told you I’d be fine.” Everyone in the room was relieved that I was still alive, including Jacob.

“God, Morgan, you had me scared for a second. Where the hell are you anyway?” He asked.

“I’m still at the field, but you need to get your butt over here!”

“Why, what happened?” He asked.

“Just get over here, you’re gonna love this!” Was the only reply he got before the call was disconnected.

“What did he mean by that?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know, but only one way to find out!” He said as he started running back toward the field with the ponies running after him.

*******

The field was still in chaos. Smoking pits from where we were being fired at, and Changelings hovering over the cargo ship, waiting for the ones that went in there to finish me off and to show off my corpse like it was a trophy. Jacob and the others had made it back and were hiding behind some kiosks.

“Ok, Morgan” Jacob said to the walkie. “We’re here, now where are you?”

Just then, a strange noise filled the air. The starting of an engine, and from what Jacob could tell, it sounded like it was coming from the plane. Then, out of the blue, someone riding a KLR650 dirt bike drove out of the hole in the Globemaster. A voice then came over the radio and Jacob knew that it was me, but couldn't make out what I said.

“What?” Jacob said over the radio but got three words as a reply.

“BLOW IT, NOW!”

Jacob then remembered the plan, he pulled out the detonator to the C-4 and as he pulled the trigger, all hell broke loose. The entire field lit up like the fourth of July as the Globemaster exploded, flying debris from the plane hit multiple Changelings in the air, killing them. The ceiling above then started to collapse from the explosion. I didn’t have time to act as I noticed that some shrapnel from the plane had landed on the sideline bench making a perfect ramp out of the field and into the bleachers. Knowing that I had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving this, I made a beeline toward my escape route and ramped off the bench, just in time as part of the ceiling crushed it.

I then started driving up the stairs in the bleachers, avoiding falling debris in the process. Looking up, I saw a large piece of the ceiling falling towards my exit. Without hesitation, I turned the throttle as far as I possibly could and with luck by my side, I made it out the field, just before the ceiling collapsed behind me, destroyed all access to the field and crushing all the Changelings that were still in there.

My heart was still pounding from all the excitement that just happened as I stepped off the bike. I was then immediately surrounded by the ponies whose lives I had just saved. As they thanked me, I was then met with the tall white pony, she gave me a warm smile and held out her hoof to shake my hand, which I accepted. “Morgan, thank you for saving us. Without you, we wouldn't be here right now. We are in your debt.” She said.

"It was nothing really," I replied, still shaking her hoof.

I then noticed that Jacob wasn’t in the crowd, but I saw him next to a kiosk with a look of surprise on his face.

“So, Jacob?” I said walking toward him. “How’d you like that for an entrance?” As I motioned toward the now destroyed stadium. The only answer I got from Jacob was a sucker punch to the face that knocked me to the floor. “What the Hell was that for?” I asked, holding my cheek from where he punched me.

“That’s for scaring the ever living shit out me!” He yelled, but then held out his hand, offering to help me up. “And this is for not dying.” He said, grinning wildly.

I grabbed his hand as he helped me off the floor and I then turned to look and the ponies. “So, now that’s out of the way,” I said looking at the fallen debris. “I think we should introduce ourselves, as you may have heard, I’m Morgan Grey and this here, is Jacob Stross. Who, or what, exactly are you?” I asked as the tall white pony stepped forward.

“I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister Luna. We are ponies that come from a land called Equestria.” Celestia replied.

“Ok, you’re Princesses from another country, but what about them?” Jacob asked, pointing to the other ponies.

“This here is Princess Twilight Sparkle, her friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy,” Celestia replied, introducing the others to us.

“Okay, now that we all know each other, why was it that the Changelings were only after you,” I asked right away.

“Chrysalis has been our enemy, ever since she attacked Canterlot during Cadence’s wedding.” Princess Luna said. “Her species only feeds upon love, and with the love emitting from Cadence and Shining Armor, it would supply them for centuries.”

“And let me guess, You were able to defeat them that time?” Jacob questioned.

“She was defeated”. Twilight replied. “But, she then tried to take over Ponyville, Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. My friend, Starlight Glimmer led a group to stop her but almost failed in the process. The only way she was able to defeat her-”

“Was to show the Changelings the error of their ways and turn them against her,” I said, finishing her sentence. The ponies were confused as to how I knew how she was defeated. “We eavesdropped on the conversation you had with the Changeling’s squad leader. Speaking of which, what did that Changeling mean when he said that ‘Chrysalis foretold your coming’ and how did you all get here anyway?” I asked.

“There were rumors across Equestria of a machine called ‘The Ark’. It was said that it could transport a pony to a land not known to ponykind.” Celestia said. “But Chrysalis and a few Changelings that didn’t turn against her had found it first, as Changelings from her old army informed us about it. We made it to where the Ark was located, only to find she and her Changelings had it working again, and just like that, they were gone. We followed after her through the Ark, but she must've known that we would be coming after her.”

“But it doesn't make sense,” Luna said. “How is it that your country is already in ruins when Chrysalis only left five minutes ago?”

Jacob and I both looked at each other in confusion. “Hold on, did you just say Chrysalis left your country only five minutes ago?” Jacob said.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Twilight asked.

We then looked at each other again and Jacob gave the ‘I’m not going to tell them’ look. I then looked back at them with an uneasy look. “Ok, how do I say this without freaking you all out?" I said, preparing for their reactions. “Chrysalis took over America five ‘years’ ago!”

Everypony was shocked upon hearing this. “But how is that possible?” Celestia asked.

“This has to do something with the Ark,” Twilight said. “Maybe Chrysalis sabotaged it so that we would arrive 5 years late, or maybe-”

”Twilight?” Jacob interrupted “As much as I want to find out what took your sweet time getting here, I think we should talk about it somewhere else that is not a large smoking bonfire.”

They were confused with what he just said, but I knew what he meant by that. “Jacob is right, anyone within the blast radius could’ve heard that explosion, including Changelings. We’ll talk more when we get back to our place.” I said.

“You want us to come with you to your home?” Luna asked.

“Well, seeing how you’re in America, a land that I bet all of you know nothing about, you’re all gonna want a lot of answers and a lot of rest, it’s the least we can do,” I said with a friendly smile. I then looked over at Jacob, knowing that he was probably not so sure about it. “Right, Jacob?” I asked, sternly.

He looked at me and then at the ponies, forming a fake smile. “Sure, that fine with me.” He said with an unnoticeable hint of sarcasm in his voice which I was able to detect.

Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight and the others huddled together and started talking amongst themselves, probably about whether it was safe to come with us or not. I was then pulled aside by Jacob who gave me a pissed off look.

“Are you kidding me, Morgan, We’re running low on food as it is, and now you want to invite these ‘ponies’ who are on Chrysalis’ kill list into our home?” He whispered harshly.

“They are innocent ponies from another world and we almost robbed of their food,” I whispered back. “We need to show them that we’re sorry about what we almost did and give them a place to say where they can lay low without any Changelings knowing that they're here. This is happening, Jacob, whether you like it or-”.

“Ahem”. We turned to see that Celestia and the others had stopped talking and had walked over to us. “Alright Morgan,” Celestia said. “We’ll take you up on your offer.”

“That's great,” I said, slightly glaring at Jacob. “Now I don’t know about you, but I think we should start moving before this place is surrounded by more Changelings,” I said, walking to the exit. “Oh, and before I forget” I started, turning back towards them “Welcome to America!”

“The land where people come to die.” Jacob rudely said, walking past me.

The ponies looked at me with astonishment as to Jacob’s rudeness. “Ignore him, he’s always like this,” I reassured them. “Let’s go.”

We all started making our way to the exit, hoping that our day wouldn’t get any worse, but I didn’t know was that our lives were going to take a turn for the better.

Walking Conversations

While walking to the stadium took me and Jacob two and a half hours to get there, the trip back took twice as long. Every now and again we would have to duck inside a building as a Changeling patrol would fly over us. Me, Jacob and our new Equestrian friends were hiding inside a thrift store as this was the seventh patrol we had come across, and it was starting to get a little annoying.

Jacob and the others were hiding among the clothing racks while I was leaning up against a wall near a window, making sure that this patrol would keep moving and look somewhere else for us. The leader of the patrol started pointing in different directions, ordering the patrol to check different areas. They flew to their assign positions and just like that, they were out of sight.

"Alright, coast is clear!" I called out as everyone got up from their hiding spots.

"Ok, All these Changelings are starting to get really annoying." Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Rainbow Dash is right," Twilight said, looking at me. "How much farther?"

"We're only forty minutes away from home," I said, walking to the door and opening it. "Now let's keep moving before that group comes back."

Everypony nodded and started walking out the door, except for Celestia who walked up to me with a calming smile.

"I want to thank you again for doing this for us Morgan, I fear the thought of what would've happened if you hadn't saved us." She said while looking at the other ponies out the window. She then felt a touch on her shoulder and saw that I had put my hand on it, trying to comfort her and gave me a confused look as to why.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm not the kind of guy who would leave others for dead, including my group, and the heat between you and the Changelings, I knew that I had to do something to help instead of leaving you to their mercy," I said.

She smiled back and continued to walk out the door. I then noticed Jacob walk past me but stopped halfway, he then slightly looked at me with an expressionless look. I smiled, trying to get back on his good side, but it didn't work. He just looked away and shook his head, and kept walking out the door. I just sighed, remembering that this wasn't the first time he acted like this and that he was going to be like this for a while.

*******

"Wait, so let me make sure I'm hearing this right!" I said as I walked with my pony friends down the street. As we continued our trip, we noticed that we hadn't come across any more patrols, but five minutes after we left the store, the ponies started making friendly conversation by telling me all about Equestria's history and the events that had happened, and I was very focused on their stories. "You defeated this 'Nightmare Moon' who was the evil version of Princess Luna, stopped Discord from spreading chaos across Equestria and then later reformed him into a good guy, blasted Chrysalis out of Canterlot during Cadence and Shining Armor's royal wedding, destroyed King Sombra from taking back the Crystal Empire, stopped Tirek from draining Equestria of its magic, stopped this 'Pony of Shadows' from spreading darkness across Equestria and stopped Storm King from using this 'Staff of Sacanas' to control the sun and the moon?" I asked, catching my breath from the mouthful of words.

"Don't forget about the Dazzlings who fed off negative emotions with their singing." Twilight corrected.

"That too!" I said dumbfounded. "Man, I kinda wish I was on your planet, just so I could witness all that action." I then noticed that Twilight had raised an eyebrow at me and was giving me an unamused look. "A-and help you guys of course!" I quickly added.

"Well now, Morgan Grey," Celestia said, walking alongside me. "Now that you know all about us, what can you tell us about yourself?

"Which side of the story do you want to hear," I asked. "Before the Changelings came to earth or after?"

"How about before." Twilight referred. I was kinda glad that they chose before, it has been a long time since I last talked about my past.

"Well I had quite a normal life, went to school, had a part-time job at a furniture store, lived in a nice house with two caring parents, my life was great," I said smiling, then I heaved a sigh. "That was until Chrysalis and her army had to screw it all up," I said as my anger towards Changelings started coming back to me. "During the first week, I had lost everything, the store that I worked at was looted, my house burnt to the ground and my parents were dead because of those freaks. Those Changelings didn't just ruin my life, but the millions of people that live here, and yet here we are, five years later and life in America has only gotten worse."

"We understand your hatred towards Chrysalis and her Changelings; but still, was it necessary for you and your friend to kill them?" Celestia questioned.

"You have to understand your Highness," I replied. "During the five years, they destroyed this nation and tortured these people, just so they could gain control. So for every Changeling that dies, it does a service for this country.

They all gave uncomfortable looks to each other, knowing that this wasn't the best way to deal with Changeling. But they weren't in Equestria anymore and they knew that these 'Humans' had to do what was best in order to survive.

"Let's talk about something else; is it just you and your friend, Jacob?" Twilight asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

"Actually, there are two others in our group, Chris, and Markus, they're the ones that have to stay behind and look after the place while we go out and look for supplies," I explained.

"You think they'll be ok with you bringing us into your home?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

I just chuckled at her question. "You don't have to worry Fluttershy, they aren't the kind of people who would turn away guests, in fact, our group hasn't come across any other survivors for the last four months, they'll be glad to see some new faces for a change," I said, giving her a warm smile, but it disappeared as I glanced at Jacob who was far ahead of us. "But I wished I could say the same for Jacob though." Jacob was probably more than Thirty feet ahead of us and he hadn't turn around to look at us since we left the store, but I'm pretty sure that he listened in on the stories.

"We didn't do anything to offend him, did we?" Luna asked, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Like I said guys, he's always been like this. But I'm guessing you want the full explanation, right?" I asked. they all nodded in agreement as they wanted to know Jacob's story. "Well, three days after Chrysalis took over, I was scouting out the neighborhood for any other survivors and supplies. While walking, I came up upon Jacob's house and seeing that he wasn't at school the day Changelings took over, I decided to take a look inside, seeing if he was still alive. As I walked through the door, I was greeted with piles upon piles of food and water, stacked on the floor, tables and inside boxes. I walked to the back of the house and looked out the sliding door to see him kneeling in the grass in the backyard. As I opened the door and started walking towards him, I saw that he was kneeling down in front of four graves. It was then I realized that those graves contained his family, his mom, his dad, his brother and his little sister." I heard a few ponies gasped at what they just heard.

"He must've known that I was present because as soon as I knelt down next to him, he started crying into my shoulder like a child. When I asked him what happened to his family, he said that Changelings dragged them outside and laid them down on the ground, said that they gave him a chance to save his family, seeing if he could be the 'hero', but he just sat there with his eyes looking at the ground. Seeing that he wasn't brave enough to save his family, they executed them like prisoners of war but left him alive. He pleaded for them to kill him as well, just to be with them again, but they just laughed, said that he didn't deserve to die, that they wanted people to know who was in charge now, but what they did give him, was mental pain, and just like that they flew away, leaving him a sobbing mess on the ground. I told him that I was living in the area and that he was welcome to come and stay with me and that I would help him get over the death of his family. He accepted my offer and we moved the food and water from his house to our place, we've been scavenging for supplies ever since, but he still blames himself for not being able to save them after all those years and tries to act like the alpha in our group."

"My goodness, that must've been horrible for him!" Rarity exclaimed.

"It was, Chris, Markus and I are still trying to comfort him, but every once in awhile he would try to push us away. We're worried that with everything that has happened to him, he might try to kill himself." I said, staring at Jacob with a worried look.

"Well you've kept him alive this long, haven't you?" Luna asked reassuringly.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Then as long as your group cares for your friend, he will not go down the wrong path," Celestia said, trying cheering me up, and as a matter of fact, it did.

"Ok, I guess you have a point, I just hope your right," I said, muttering the last part as we continued our journey home.

*******

During the rest of our trip, I had decided to tell the ponies of Earth's history, everything from World War I to the September eleven attacks. They were both interested in our planet's history but horrified as to how many deaths we had suffered over the years. I then started talking more about our group's existence.

Everyone in our group has to do their part in making the place a lot more safer, like Chris for example. When he joined, he told us that before the war, he was a hacker, trying to make his place in the world. when we found him, he had a large travel bag that contained different types of electronics, from cable cords to security cameras, so with his expertise, he became the group's technician and was made in charge of surveillance.

As for Markus, he his father owned a gun shop in Des Moines, Iowa. He was a scavenger like Jacob and I, but once supplies in the city started to dry up, he found a box truck, loaded it with all the guns and ammunition that wasn't looted from the store and made his way up north. Chris and I were installing the cameras when we saw him driving up the road, we thought he was a threat at first, till he said that he was only looking for a place to stay and said that he had a truck full of weapons, so we welcomed him with open arms and made him in charge of weapons and ammo.

"They sound like very good friends." Pinkie Pie commented. I was about to talk about Jacob's position in the group until I then realized, that after so much walking, we finally made it. Home.

They were confused as they saw that our home, the place that we've been living in, was a two-story school and next too it was a large soccer field with a single crashed Black Hawk and a community playground.

"Cyber Village Academy," Twilight said, reading the name on the front of the school. "This is where you've been living, a school?" She asked.

"It may be just a school, but to us, it's home," I said as I started leading them to the front door. Once inside, Jacob and I led them toward a flight of stair and down a hallway with lockers on each side, at the end of the hallway was an archway with the words 'Nelson family upper school wing'. At the end of the hallway was another flight of stairs leading back downstairs to the first floor.

"Why is it that you took us upstairs, then back down again, you do realize that there a door that leads to the first set of stairs, right?" Rainbow Dash said, her hoof mentioning to a metal door, barricaded with L-shaped desks.

"It's better to take the long way than the short one Rainbow, and besides, we nailed that door shut and blocked it off with a few L-shaped desks, just to make sure no one tries to take a shortcut," I said matter of factly.

We then took one last flight of stairs to a door that led to the basement, just as we were all inside, the lights went off and two red beams were fixated on me and Jacob, I could only presume that they belonged to Chris and Markus.

"What's the Password?" I heard Chris say.

"God-dammit dude, I said that we aren't doing passwords!" I yelled exasperated.

"Well, how are we supposed to know that you weren't replaced by Changeling and are here to kill us? This type of stuff is going to help us even if you think that it's a stupid idea," he explained. Chris was a good member of the team, but sometimes he would get a little paranoid. "Now I'm not going to ask again. What's, The, Password?"

I was about to yell back at him when I saw Jacob step forward. "Listen, Dumbass, if you do not lower that gun in the next three seconds, I will come over there and shove my boot so far up your ass you will be begging for me to stop! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" Jacob was literally screaming in anger, I guess with everything that's happened, from failing at finding enough food to inviting the Equestrians into our home had really driven him over the edge.

There was a silence that lasted five seconds till I heard Markus say "Yeah, that's them alright!" And just like that, the lights turned back on, showing the two standing behind a flipped table with the assault rifles in their hands. Our Equestrian friends got to see more features from Chris and Markus. Chris was a tall Caucasian dude with short brown hair who wore glasses and Markus was an African American man who had dreadlocks.

"So Morgan, You mind wanting to tell us what this is all about?" Chris said, gesturing to the ponies behind us.

"Guys, I’d like you to meet Chris Brown and Markus Richardson. Chris, Markus, meet the Ponies of Equestria, "I said, introducing our new friends. "They're here to stop Chrysalis." Markus raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Is this a joke? Because there is no way that these animals are going to overthrow that bitch" He said, unamused.

"Who in tarnation are you calling animals?" Applejack said raising her voice.

"Yeah, that kinda insulting you know!" Rainbow Dash added.

Both Chris and Markus stared at them with wide-eyes, they had the same expression as Jacob and I did when we first met them.

"Talking... Ponies." Chris said slowly, blinking multiple times trying to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. "Ok, this day just got a whole lot stranger."

"We saved them from a group of Changelings that were waiting for them at the stadium," I explained. "After we took care of those Changeling freaks, I invited them to come with us and get some rest. Though Jacob is not taking too it well." I then glanced at him as he was leaning against the wall, frowning.

Celestia then walked up alongside me with a friendly smile. "Morgan has told us a lot about you two, about how you met him and your positions here.

"Well, he’s kept us alive so far, right?” Chris joked “But speaking of the stadium, Morgan, did you find anything good there?"

"Only a week's worth of food and a crap ton of medicine," I replied as I showed them the continence in the bag, they looked inside but had looks of disappointment on their faces.

"Hey, four weeks of food is better than three weeks," I said, trying to brighten the mood.

"Better than three weeks," Jacob scoffed as he stepped forward. "The food that we have is going to last us a mere week with the animals here!" I noticed a few of the ponies glaring angrily at Jacob, but I raised my hand towards them, letting them know I had this under control. "This is why we should've stopped inviting people into our home, Morgan, they endanger our food supply!" He said, raising his voice but Markus interrupted us.

"Yeah, about that Jacob." He said slowly as we both gave him confused look, but before we were about to question him, some random dude came out from one of the rooms, eating an applet that was in his hand. he was a tall, skinny Caucasian, had short black hair and wore a light grey T-shirt with khaki shorts.

"Guys this is Evan Sheppard," Chris said, introducing the new guy. "He came inside asked to stay here for the day for some rest, and before you ask, we searched him for any weapons or anything that tied to the Changelings.

Evan then held out his hand wanting to shake ours. "It's nice to meet you, Morgan."

"Yeah… It’s nice to meet you too." I replied, still surprised by him.

He turned to Jacob to shake his, but only to get his apple slapped out of his hand by him. That was when Jacob snapped

"Let's just waste all the food we have and invite the entire state over for a goddamn party!" He yelled sarcastically as he then marched towards his room, slamming the door.

"Ooh, having a party sound fun." Pinkie Pie said loudly, only for Applejack to tell her that he was being sarcastic which made her groan in disappointment.

"Sorry, you had to see that Evan, it's been a long day for us," I said trying to reassure him. He nodded and then looked at the Ponies.

"It's fine, but what about them, who are they?" He asked, mentioning to the ponies behind me. I chuckled at his question and put my hand on his shoulder.

"You better make yourself comfortable, because it's a long story."

General Razorfang

Celestia, Luna, Twilight and I ended up telling the whole story to Chris, Markus, and Evan, from the Ponies coming through a portal, to destroying the Stadium with missiles. While we talked, I had taken my jacket, my beanie, and my sheath off to get more comfortable while I sat in the lounge room. We must have been talking for a long time because when I looked up at the clock, it read half past five. I asked everyone and everypony if they were hungry and I got a lot of nods.

"Hey, if you guys don't mind, I can make dinner for tonight," Evan said standing up. Chris told him that he didn't have too but he insisted. He then asked me if I could help with the cooking as he was going to make some spaghetti. I accepted his offer and we started walking towards another room that was used for cooking.

There are six rooms in the basement and they each are used for different things, one is used as our kitchen and pantry, the second room was a planning room for future scavenging missions, the third, which was where we were talking, was used as both an armory, Chris' surveillance area and a lounge, we had a working bathroom, and the other two rooms were used as bedrooms for Jacob, Chris, Markus, and I. But I have a feeling that Evan might be staying with us for a while.

The room that was used as the kitchen was quite large and had enough space for the needed electronics, the room contained two stoves, shelves for canned and boxed foods, three islands placed in a row in the middle of the room, some hanging racks for pots and pans, five fridges and about ten cube freezers. It's insane how Changelings are smart enough to increase the energy given from the power plant but are stupid enough to not know how to cut off the power outside Saint Paul. Once inside, I went to look for the needed ingredients and while searching, I decided to have a friendly conversation with Evan, just to know more about him.

"So Evan, what's your story?" I asked while searching the shelves.

"Well," He said, sighing while grabbing a large cooking pot and two saucepans. "I'm originally from St. Louis, I was a doctor in training but when 'they' came, I was quickly promoted, even though I started the job three months ago. I knew I still had much more to learn so I continued studying medicine as much as I could. Worked there for about three years, until one day a Changeling adviser came up to me and said 'my services were no longer required', must've known that I wasn't an experienced doctor yet. They weren't going to kill me, no, but they did kick me out of the city. I then decided to travel to others cities."

"And what were they like?" I questioned.

Kansas City was a Changeling shit show, Des Moines was empty, Chicago was the first friendly settlement I found myself in so I stayed there for about a year, I continued my traveling until I made my way here and came upon this place, not knowing that it was occupied, I walked inside and met with your friends." He said finishing his story as I brought him four boxes of dried spaghetti and three cans of pasta sauce. Jacob was right, we were wasting food, but I didn't want our guests to starve. He looked over what I had brought very carefully and said that what we had would work. Not too long after, Twilight, Starlight, and Celestia walked in, wanting to see how the food was coming.

"So how's it coming?" Twilight asked, walking up to us.

"Dinner should be ready in about fifteen to twenty minutes," I said as I grabbed a bag of meatballs from the fridge.

"Um, what are those?" Celestia asked curiously, glancing at the bag in my hand.

"Meatballs," Evan replied, pouring sauce into pans.

"Meatballs?" Twilight questioned, tilting her head.

"Yeah, you know, ground beef made from cows," I said plainly, opening the bag. But when I looked back at them, I saw that they were all looking at me in shock.

"You mean you eat animals for food?" Twilight said with surprisement in her voice.

"Well yeah, it-" That's when it hit me, like a ton of bricks. These were ponies, they didn't eat meat and we just told them that we did, plain as day. Upon realizing this, I mentally slapped myself for being a total idiot, not knowing that these were herbivores and I'm pretty sure that Evan thought the same way as well. "Oh Crap," I muttered as I then told them the truth. "Look, guys, yes, we eat meat, and our species has been for thousands of years. But honest to god, you have to understand that we would never see you as-" Celestia held up her hoof, interrupting me.

"It's alright Morgan, we aren't upset, it is shocking to hear, but we understand that you have to do what's necessary to survive, even if that means using animals as a food source, so there's no need to apologize," she said calmly.

"It's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about," Twilight said. "And besides, it's not the first time we met a species like yours, in Equestria, there's a land of griffons and they too are omnivores."

"Wait, you have griffons in Equestria as well?" I asked, flabbergasted. They just looked at me unamused with raised eyebrows.

"Right, I forgot you guys came from a magical land where mythical creatures are real," I said, remembering what they had told me about where they came from. "But still, I don't want you to be disgusted by us for what we eat!" I insisted, not wanting to make a bad impression in front of them.

"It's fine Morgan, we won't be revolted by what you eat. But if you care about us that much, we won't stop you." Celestia said, giving me a reassuring smile.

I nodded as I then turned to Evan and handed him the bag of meatballs. "Put these back in the freezer, ok?" He nodded and took the bag from me.

"So Morgan," Twilight asked. "You think you'd be willing to tell us more about Earth's history?"

"Sure, I don't mind," I replied as we left the Kitchen, leaving Evan as he prepared the meal.

*******

After dinner, everyone and everypony went and did their separate thing. Chris was working at his station, keeping an eye on the TV next to him in case the news talked about what happened today, Markus was showing Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack the weapons that we had and Evan was telling the others about his story and his travels. As for Jacob, well... we called to him, saying the dinner was ready, but he never showed. Chris brought his food to his door, but after we had all eaten, he went back and saw that it was still there, uneaten.

It was ten minutes to seven, I was standing in the planning room, checking off locations Jacob and I investigated while on our way to the stadium on a map on the wall in front of me. It was a regular thing I did after we got back from a supply run, just so we knew that the place we checked was looted by us or other survivors. There were about four maps, a map of Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Minnesota and a world map. I usually referred to the planning room as my own personal man cave because I was always in there after dinner. I then heard a knock on the door and I knew it was one of our Equestrian friends.

"Come in!" I called out, not looking away from my work. I slightly glanced at the door and saw Celestia and Luna walked through. "Your Highnesses." I greeting them, still not looking away.

"Hello Morgan, what are thou doing?" Luna asked, looking at my work.

"It's something I do after every supply run, once a location has had a thorough search, I mark it off, showing that we either found something inside or it was already looted," I replied, marking off another location. I glanced at them again, only to see that they were both staring at the world map. "Something wrong?" I asked concerned

"The portal actually worked," Luna said, still staring at the map.

"Forgive us, Morgan Grey, it's just that… it's still surprising that we are not in Equestria anymore and that we are on a planet that neither of us have heard of." Celestia said, forgiving for their curiosity.

"What's to forgive, you guys are curious about our world and I don't see a problem with that," I said, standing next to them, crossing my arms. We stood there, side by side for a good minute till Luna broke the silence, asking me a most understandable question.

"How?"

"Hmm?" I turned my head towards her.

"How is it that you survived this long? You must've been a kid when your world was taken over and yet, you risked you and your group's life, just to keep us safe. How is it that you've survived this long?"

"Well, before the war, my Dad and my Uncle took me on lots of camping trips. They taught me everything I needed to know about surviving in the wilderness, how to start a fire, how to fish with a spear, heck, my uncle was the one who taught me how to shoot a gun." I saw that they were fixated on what I was saying. "But when Chrysalis came to our planet, I knew I had to put those skills to the test, as I would scout the area for supplies or other people, learn how to use a sword or a knife in case it was the only weapon I had and to become more aware of my surroundings. I've been doing this for the last five years, and not once have I given up, not in humanity, not in life, not even in myself. I keep telling myself that If I am going to survive in a world where humans are going to be treated like crap, I had to make sure those Shape-shifting bastards know that I’m not gonna go down without a fight." I finished, my voice full of confidence.

"You are very brave to be doing something like this for so long Morgan, you should be proud." Celestia put a hoof on my shoulder. I smiled, taking in the complement she just made, but the mood was then interrupted when Twilight burst through the doors.

"Uh, Morgan? Your friend, Chris was working on the thin black box you had in the lounge."

"You mean the TV?" I corrected.

"Yeah, that." she paused. "Well, these people on the 'TV' are talking about what happened at the stadium and… well, you're gonna need to see this."

Celestia, Luna and I looked at each other in confusion until we followed her down the hall. As walked into the room, we saw that everyone was gathered around the TV, showing a news reporter talking about god-knows-what, and among the group, was Jacob.

"Well, I see someone came out from his hole to chat," I smirked. He then looked at me with an angered expression on his face.

"I only come out here because Chris said it was important, not to engage in friendly conversations with these things!" He said in annoyance while walking up to me.

I was getting very annoyed by his constant complaining. "Jacob, will you just admit to the fact that these ponies are our guests and do not pose a threat to us!" I exclaimed.

"I'll admit it, once you open your freaking eyes and see that these ponies are nothing more than just stupid goddamn-"

"WILL YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP!" Chris yelled, interrupting our argument. We both looked at him with stern looks, but he pointed at the TV, where the reporter was finishing up on his story.

"Now for all those who heard the explosion earlier today, we can now tell you the story of what happened outside our walls. We were told that Changeling General Ripwing had gotten Intel about high energy readings, coming from the old U.S. Bank Stadium. He and thirty Changeling guards traveled to the Stadium, where they were met with an ambush of human attackers. One of them, being claimed the leader of the attack, shot and killed General Ripwing at point-blank range, and destroyed the stadium with undetonated, long-range missiles. Only one Changeling survived the explosion, and that survivor claimed that he was face-to-face with the leader but was assaulted by him, slashing his eye with a knife." A lot of thoughts were racing through my mind right now, as I knew who exactly this survivor was.

"The survivor was none other than Ripwing's second in command, Razorfang. After escaping explosion, he made his way back to the city, where he was then taken in for medical care. But now with Saint Paul’s Changeling General dead, Ripwing’s position has now been passed onto Razorfang. We were able to get an interview with him, two hours after he arrived, here’s the footage."

The video then cut to the Changeling, known as Razorfang with a large gash where his left eye used to be in a hospital bed, and my suspicions were correct, as it was the same Changeling that I maimed while trying to escape.

"What can you tell us about what happened?" A reporter asked calmly.

"Well, we were told of energy readings coming from outside the city and were ordered by the general to investigate it. When we got there, we were met with hostile survivors. We returned fire, but in a matter of seconds, soldiers started dropping one-by-one, The general was the first to die as a bullet whizzed past my head and hit him in the head. We were able to scare off some of the survivors, but their leader had lured me to a crashed plane and killed two others that accompanied me. I reasoned with him, saying that with his skills he would be given a special position in the Chrysalis’ army, but the only answer I got was, him lunging at me with a knife, leaving a wound where my eye used to be, the doctors said that they weren't able to save it. He then knocked me out cold, but I woke up to him, driving a, as you say, 'motorcycle' out of the plane. I then saw in the corner of my eye that he had placed a bomb on a shipment of missiles. I was able to escape the plane, only before it exploded, three seconds later, making the ceiling collapse from the shock wave. I escaped without becoming a Changeling pancake and made my way all the way here. But once I get some of my strength back, I'm going to gather any available soldiers, and hunt these terrorists down like the wild animals they are." Razorfang said, with acid in his voice as he said that last sentence.

"And what would you say to these 'terrorists' if they're watching this?" The reported asked as Razorfang then turned his head toward the camera.

"You better hope you are somewhere safe and hidden because when I find you, your heads will be staked outside the city gates." The video ended, leaving us staring at the TV in shock, but Jacob was having a different reaction from it.

"You did it now, Morgan!" Jacob yelled as slamming his fists onto a table.

Jacob, calm down." Markus said, walking up to him.

"NO, I'm not going to 'calm down'."He yelled pushing Markus out of his way. “Did you not just hear what that ass just said? We just went from survivalists to Terrorists because you killed a Changeling General and you think of it as if it weren't a big deal?" He questioned, pointing a finger at me.

"Of course it's a big deal, it changes everything about our lives now," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But as long as we stay down here and out of sight, they will never find us," I said reassuringly. But Chris spoke up with news that really screwed our day.

"They found us!" He said from his desk. Everyone including the ponies turned to him with looks of horror on their faces

"WHAT?" We yelled simultaneously as we all gathered around him and looked at the monitors and sure enough, there were probably more than fifty Changelings landing on the field outside the school, and among the cluster of Changelings, was Razorfang himself.

"How the hell is that even possible, they couldn't have found us that fast!" I exclaimed, still staring at the screen.

"Does that mean we're trapped?" Fluttershy asked with fear in her voice.

"That's not exactly true," Markus said while walking over to a bookshelf. "Morgan, can you give me a hand?" He said trying to move it, I nodded and helped him push it. once help moved it, our pony friends saw what was behind it. It was a large hole, about seven feet high and five feet wide.

"We've been working on this for about a month now, it's supposed to be used as a backdoor in case something like this ever happened," Markus explained. "There's a sewer tunnel, more than twenty feet away from us down here, if we tunneled our way through and blew the entrance behind us, we would have a clean getaway and wouldn't have to worry about them following us.

"So you want us to dig through dirt, into a smelly, disgusting tunnel, in order to escape?" Rarity said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Well if you think surrendering yourself to the Changelings outside is a better idea." I bluntly said to her as I saw her pupils dilate slightly upon hearing this.

"On second thought," she said half nervously. "I think your idea is much better."

"There is one problem to that Morgan, While you and Jacob were out, Chris and I hit a very large piece of bedrock while mining, we won't have enough time to dig around it and breach into the tunnel with them closing in on us!" Markus said, gesturing to the Changelings outside.

"I think we can help," Twilight announced. "A simple drilling spell used by me should be able to pierce through it and into the tunnel, but I would need some time though."

"They just walked through the front door!" Chris called out. I looked at her nervously until she used her wings to fly up to me and put a hoof on my shoulder

"Don't worry Morgan, we'll make sure you and your friends make it out of here safe and sound." She said with a calming smile which actually eased my worrying. She then turned to the tunnel, conjured up the drilling spell and started to work.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" I yelled, making sure I was heard by everyone. "I want everything packed, food, water, medicine, weapons, ammo, everything, not one single thing get left."

"And how do you suppose we do that? We don't have enough bags to carry all this shit!" Jacob said exasperatedly.

"I could probably fix that." Celestia announced “I know of a spell that could create an infinite amount of space. I haven't used it in a long time, but I need a box or a bag for it to work.”

“Here, use this!” Markus said as he tossed Celestia a Large hiking backpack. She caught it with her magic and then commenced the spell. The spell must’ve been hard to cast as she was sweating severely, but after what seemed like a minute, she knelt to the floor from exhaustion with the bag falling right next to her.

“So did it work?” I questioned as Celestia levitated the bag back to Markus. He took it and on instinct, rushed to the weapon table and grabbed the largest gun that we had. An AR-50. He put the front end in first and his eyes bulged out as he watched the entire gun get put into the bag without a problem.

"Ho-ly shit," Jacob said, staring at the bag wide-eyed in disbelief

"Alright, Jacob, Evan and I are going upstairs to try to hold off Razorfang and his squad as long as we can, Chris, I want you near a radio and alert us once the drilling is complete, the rest of you, grab all the supplies we have and stuff them in the bag, that understood?" I questioned as everyone nodded "Then let's get to work!" I ordered as everyone and everypony started packing up our supplies. I then turned Evan while grabbing an M16.

"Well Evan, if you're gonna be part of this group, you've gotta protect it with your life" I said as I handed him the rifle. He took the rifle in one hand and seeing that we were all set, Evan, Jacob, and I made our way out of the room and up the stairs, ready to greet some uninvited guests.

Uprising (Redone)

Author's Note

before you start reading, please go to this link.
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/855244/an-important-notice

Uprising (Redone)

"Keep your guard up, who knows where they could be hiding," Razorfang commanded.

For the past few minutes, he and ten his soldiers have busted down doors and ransacked rooms searching for the person they came here for, but they found nothing. They were about to check the other area of the school until the sound of something crashing from one of the rooms caught their attention. They quickly got into a defensive stance as one of the Changelings opened the door, but behind it, was a broom closet. The sound had come from a box that had fallen tothe floor, around it laid a dozen handbells. Razorfang then noticed a strange mechanism on the shelf where the box of bells fell from. As he took a closer look, he saw that the device was meant to push the box off the shelf.

"What in the-" He was cut off as a spray of bullets was fired at the floor, two feet in front of them. He and his crew quickly got behind cover, as they saw the shots came from two Jacob and Evan who stood under the archway. They fired bolts of energy at them but hit the side of the arch as they quickly got behind it. They kept firing at the arch till Razorfang stopped them.

"Hold your fire!" He yelled as he saw me coming out from behind the arch with both my hands in the air but my pistol still in my right hand, finger off the trigger.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ripwing's murderer. Morgan is it? You know, I still hold a grudge after what you did to us back at the stadium, especially how you severely damaged my eye." He smirked, pointing a hoof to his cut-up face as he glared at me.

"And I still hold a grudge after you tried to kill those innocent ponies." I shot back, a furious look coming over Razorfang.

"Innocent!? They turned our own kind against the Queen, just so that they could save themselves! They should've known better than to come here and defeat us, now they have to die!"

"You're the ones who have to die," I exclaimed, "Because A: you overthrew our government, B: treated us like cattle so you can feed on all love you want from us, C: Brought a deadly virus that killed half the population-"

"ENOUGH!" He screamed as the hallway went silent. Razorfang stared at me with such anger, his nostrils flaring with each deep breath he took before he calmed himself down and sighed.

"Listen, kid, I didn't come all the way here just to argue with you, so let's just get down to business," Razorfang said as he took a step forward. "We are only here for one thing: the ponies that you saved. Hand them over and we will forget that you and your group even existed."

"I hate to say it, Razor, but they're not here anymore," I replied.

"What do you mean 'they're not here anymore'?" His eyes narrowing.

"I mean we sent them on their way, gave them enough food and water to make it to Washington, they left only four hours ago so they're probably out of the state by now," I replied bluntly. Razorfang went silent for about half-a-minute till he gave a soft chuckle.

"You are a very, very bad liar, Morgan. We’re only doing what’s right to ensure that our rule continues on. But If you really wanna prevent us from taking them, then I'm afraid that you're going to have to come with us as well. You've already seen too much anyway and we can't exactly let you or your friends tell anyone about what happened at the stadium, especially about the ponies that are here to overthrow the Queen. Besides, my troops and I want retribution after you killed Ripwing, so punishment is in order." He said as his soldiers came up alongside him. “Now, be a good boy and come quietly.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen,” I replied, shaking my head. “You shapeshifting bastards may control our nation, but us humans, we claimed this planet first. These ponies, they’re under my protection, and I ain’t handing them over to genociders like you. Now, I’d suggest you turn around and leave this place immediately before things get out of hand very fast."

"Ha, And why is that? He exclaimed, staring me straight in the eyes “If I'm correct, there’s only three of you, and FIFTY of us! Give us one reason why we should leave, right now.".

"The locker on your left, number one-zero-five-four, the code is 9-27-6, open it up and you'll get your answer," I replied as Razorfang turned his head to the locker I mentioned and gestured to one of his soldiers to open it. The Changeling messed with the door for over ten seconds till he got it opened, but his eyes widened in horror at what he saw inside.

"Well, what is it?" Razor asked impatiently as he walked over, only to see that inside was a small propane canister with a package of C-4 strapped to it. He then looked at me and saw that in my left hand, was a dead man’s switch.

"You said you wanted a reason, right? Well, I have seventeen of them and they're spread all across this school, and all I gotta do is ease off on the trigger and I blow this place sky high!" I said bluntly.

Morgan, what are you doing?" Jacob whispered, but I just ignored him.

"Now this is how things are gonna go," I announced. "You and crew are to leave the premises immediately or else this building will explode, larger than what happened at the stadium." I figured that this would make them leave us alone, maybe give us a head start for us to escape. But none of them budged, not even Razorfang. That was until he took a step forward, glaring at me with unamused eyes.

“Now you listen here you stupid, insolent little brat. If you think this is supposed to intimidate us and make us leave, then you are very mistaken. I don’t care if you have the entire block rigged to blow, it won’t make us forget that we ever came across you or those ponies. Now, this nonsense ends here, you are going to hand over that detonator and we are going to take you, your friends and the ponies you are harboring back to Saint Paul where I will personally execute every single one of you. Bomb or no bomb, you are all coming with us.”

We were officially out of options now, lying about the ponies not being here didn't work and threatening them with explosives just pissed him off. We had no other choice but to hold them off until the tunnel into the sewers was complete. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, knowing the next words that I chose, would change our group's lives, forever. After about a minute, I opened my eyes and replied.

"You know what, I've wanted to say this to your kind since the day you first stepped foot on our planet. Screw you and your Queen!" With that said, I aimed my gun and fired two shots, killing a Changeling standing next to him. Razor and his crew then retaliated by firing magical bolts us while Jacob and Evan gave me cover fire as I got behind the archway.

"You rigged the entire school to blow! Morgan, are you insane?" Jacob yelled over the gunfire and flying spells.

"Hey, I brought up the idea months back but did you wanna hear it, no! You thought it was idiotic!" I exclaimed, firing my gun at a Changeling and killing it with a shot to the head.

"It was idiotic! W-when did you even find time to put this all together?" He exclaimed.

"Remember when I told you that I caught pneumonia during the winter and that you were to go scavenge without me… yeah, I lied about that. " I answered as he facepalmed me.

"Oh for the love of-Morgan, if we die I am so gonna-"

"Hey, guys? Less talking, more killing Changelings so we can all live!" Evan exclaimed, making Jacob and I put a pause on our argument and continue firing at our Changeling attackers.

"You and your group are going to die here, Morgan Grey!" Razor yelled as he fired a bolt that whizzed past my head by mere inches.

"Over my dead body!" I yelled back, firing my gun at him which missed as he ducked behind some lockers. I continued to fire my gun at them until it made a clicking noise, signaling me that I needed to reload. I got back behind the arch and as I pulled a magazine from my pocket, the sound of glass shattering caught my attention.

"Evan, what the hell was that?” I ask worryingly.

"Uhh, Three Changelings just flew out through the window." He replied as Jacob looked at him with a confused look.

"Why the hell would they-" He was interrupted as the wall behind us imploded, leaving a large hole that gave open access for anyone outside.

"Crap, they're flanking us!" I yelled.

I instantly ran over to the hole and saw the three Changelings darting towards it. I fired my gun at them as two of them were shot in the head while the other was grazed by the bullet. I didn't have enough time to react as I was shoved to the floor by the Changeling. I quickly got up, but only for the Changeling to push me up against the wall, snapping its fangs at me. I grabbed him by his neck, trying to push him off but to no avail. That was until the familiar sound of machine gun fire filled the air as the Changeling was riddled with bullets. He was shot at so much that he was pushed back towards the hole, making him fall off the ledge to the ground below. I looked to where the shots came from, only to see Markus standing in the doorway holding an M249 LMG, aimed at where the changeling was standing.

"Nice shot!" I stated, giving him a thumbs up as I tried to catch my breath as he ran up to help me up.

“Everything is packed, Morgan, but if we're going to make a break for it, we need to do it now!”

"And how is that going to happen with them on our asses?" Jacob yelled, flinching as two bolts hit the floor next to him.

"Here, I grabbed on the way up," Markus said as he handed me a flashbang. “This should stun them long enough for us to get a head start without them chasing after us."

“You sure that’ll work?” Evan asked.

"One way to find out," I replied.

I pulled the pin and without thinking twice, I threw the grenade down the hallway towards the Changelings. We got behind cover just in time as a large bang was heard, followed by groans from multiple Changelings. Seeing them all on the floor stunned, we quickly made our way for the stairs but only for Razorfang’s voice to stop me.

"You can not run forever, Morgan Grey! I will find you and when I do, I will make you suffer the most painful death you could ever imagine!" He yelled with rage.

“Burn in hell!” I shot back as I took my finger off the dead man switch and the bomb in the locker exploded, enveloping Razorfang and the other Changelings in a fiery explosion before we bolted for the basement with our lives.

*******

Once we made it to the basement, I locked the door behind us, in case Razorfang or one of his soldiers got through the barrier. As we rushed into the lounge, I grabbed my stuff from the table and was about to follow the others through the tunnel until I realized that I was missing a very important item.

“My wallet!” I blurted out before I ran out of the room to grab it.

As I left, I could hear Jacob calling after me to get my ass back here, but I was already gone. Once I burst through the door to our bedroom, I darted over to my bed and yanked off the mattress, finding my wallet under the frame. I would be damned if I just left it, it contained the last fewphysical memories to remember me of my old life. I immediately grabbed it and stuffed it in my pocket and without hesitation, I ran back into the lounge, dived into the tunnel and started crawling.

I was almost halfway through when I noticed an increasing amount of loose dirt falling from the ceiling. I instantly realized that because of the explosions, the tunnel was starting to collapse. I started crawling faster than before, but more amounts of dirt fell on me, slowing me down. Seeing that I was about to die by suffocation, I started accepting my death as I was ready to see my parents again. All of a sudden, my body was surrounded by a golden aura before I was then quickly pulled out of the tunnel and was thrown onto the floor, just as the tunnel completely collapsed. Wondering what the hell had just happened, I was then pulled off the ground by Evan and Celestia.

"Morgan, are you ok?" Twilight asked worryingly but I gave her a smile.

"Well... I just survived my second near-death experience today, so... yeah, I'm fine." I answered, getting back onto my feet.

"Morgan, you are a suicidal, badass!" Markus praised, lightly punching me in the shoulder.

“Thanks,” I replied until a thought crossed my mind. “Were you guys able to get everything packed?

“Everything is right here.” He said, showing me the same backpack that was enchanted by Celestia. He then backed up as Celestia then walked up to me.

"Morgan Grey, you didn't just save us once today, but twice. I-I don't know what to say," she said, her eyes slightly teary.

"As I said at the stadium, Celestia, THAT... was nothing," Gesturing to the now collapsed tunnel. Celestia then walked up to me and did something that I was not expecting from a Princess from another world. I was pulled into a hug. I was unsure about it at first until I relaxed and returned the hug.

"I-I thank you, Morgan, my sister thanks you, my subjects thank you." She said, trying to prevent herself from crying in front of everyone.

"Everything's fine Celestia, you’re all safe now" I reassured as I patted the back of her neck. She released me from the hug as I looked at everyone, but only to see someone was missing.

"Where's Jacob?" I questioned as Chris pointed towards him who was kneeling only a few feet away from us. I cautiously walked up to him, knowing that he was not in a good mood.

"Jacob, are you all right?" I asked carefully as he then stood up and slowly turned to me.

"You invited these ponies to come with us, you gave them our food even though we were running low, became enemies with a Changeling who is now a General, destroyed our home and almost died again by staying inside, all because of a stupid wallet." He said emotionlessly. "No Morgan... I am not alright." Next thing I knew, Jacob was repeatedly punching me in the face and it took Markus and Chris just to hold him back.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT MORGAN!" He screamed as he was held against the wall, still lunging at me.

"None of this is my fault, Jacob!" I shot back.

"Do not de-WILL YOU GET OFF ME!" He yelled as he released himself from their grasp before turning his attention back towards me.

"Do not deny it, ever since you found these ponies at the stadium, you've been putting their safety first. We would’ve been better off getting the hell out of that stadium when Ripwing had them surround, but no, you just had to shoot the bastard’s brains out, you just had to become enemies with his close friend, you just had to blow up the only place that we ever called home!"

"Jacob, calm-" I started as I was quickly interrupted by him.

"No, Morgan, I am not going to calm down, now shut up and listen to me for once!" He yelled as he continuing his rant. "When you found me kneeling at my family's grave and wanted me to live with you, I thought we would actually have a chance. But when you invited Chris and Markus into the group, I specifically told you that we'd be better off without them, but you just kept saying that they’d help pitch in and that I shouldn't worry about it. After that, our food supply went from five years to two and a half years, all because you thought a larger group would increase the odds of survival! But now, thanks to you for saving those ponies, you have officially doomed us!"

"Jacob!" I said, raising my voice, warning him but he just kept talking.

"And about this!" He said as he swiftly reached into my pocket and grabbed my wallet. I tried to take it back from him, but he just held it away from me. "You stayed inside the building and risked your life all for your goddamn wallet. I know you keep memories of you and your family inside it, well guess what, I-Don't-Care. Your mom and dad are dead, so what? I've lost my family, Chris and Markus lost their family, millions of people in this country have lost their families. You should be glad that they're dead, not just to suffer through the war, but so that they didn't have to witness your screw ups. Face it, Morgan, you don't know how to lead this group, because you are a stupid, little-" He didn't get to finish as I completely lost it and uppercutted him so hard, he went flying back eight feet. Jacob laid on the floor, hold his jaw from the sudden punch. He then noticed that I had walked up to him, not just to help him up, but to share my opinion with him.

"Will you, SHUT UP!!!" I screamed as my voice bounced off the walls of the sewer. The echoing lasted for five seconds until I shared what I felt about him.

"I'm freaking sick of this, Jacob! For five years I had to put up with your complaining, but you have driven me to my last nerve! I'm sorry that your family is dead, I'm sorry that I invited these ponies into our home after saving them from Changelings, I'm sorry that I had to sacrifice our home in order for all of us to survive! Look around you, this is our life and I was only doing what was necessary to ensure the survival of everyone and everypony here! So please, for the love of God, SHUT THE HELL-"

"ENOUGH!" Celestia yelled, her loud voice echoing through the sewer, making us cover our ears. After the reverb stopped, she then walked up to both of us.

"Morgan, I understand that you are tired of Jacob always judging your ideas and motives, but yelling at him is not going to change anything. He is your friend, you have been looking out for him ever since you found him over the graves of his family, does that mean nothing to you anymore?" Celestia asked, making me look down with guilt.

"You're right, I screwed up,” I spoke softly, feeling sorry for what I did as Celestia looked down at Jacob with a stern look.

"But Morgan is right, Jacob. Just because you do not have a family anymore, doesn't mean you should bottle up all that anger and hatred and use it against others, including us and your friends. We're sorry that we came with you even though you were against the idea of wanting to give us hospitality, but it is all in the past now and you must learn to accept it, understood?” She asked as he looked at the ground, away from her powerful gaze.

"Alright." He muttered with a shrug. The tunnel was quiet for a long minute, not counting the water dripping from the ceiling until Twilight was the first to speak.

"So... What happens now?" She asked.

"Well, the original plan was to use these tunnels to travel to the outskirts of the city and travel south from there. But seeing how we are all labeled as terrorists for killing a general, blowing up a building close to the city and saving you guys, life is going to be a lot harder for us now." Chris sighed.

"Chris is right," Markus spoke up. "With everything that has happened in the last twelve hours, Changeling patrols are going to triple in size. I say we start making our way the border into the next state while it's still night, find a new place to call home and-"

"No," I spoke up as Chris, Markus, and Jacob looked at me with confusion. "I’m done living this life, guys. For five years we've have been scrounging for supplies like ravens and hiding like rats in the shadows. They think they can control us, make us do what they want, rule over us with an iron fist. I say enough is enough. We did something tonight that no one in their right mind would ever do against Changelings. We rebelled! Now's the time that we fight back, Now's the time that we take back our home from Chrysalis and her army and show her that we humans were here first!" Everyone just stared at me until Jacob got back on his feet and stepped forward.

"Morgan, with what you just said, I have a lot of things I want to say to you about how stupid your suicidal idea is… But I'm not going to." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You and Celestia are right, I've been complaining about everything around me, bottling up all my emotions and being a complete ass towards everyone for too long. For the first time in three years, I'm supporting your plan." He finished, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"We're with you all the way too, Morgan, until the day we die," Chris said as Markus and Evan nodded in agreement. Seeing how my friends were willing to support my plan, I looked towards Celestia and the others with a confident smile, hoping they'd help too.

"Well Princess Celestia, seeing how both our groups want Chrysalis and her army taken care of, I suggest that-" I was interrupted as she held up her hoof.

"You don't have to say anything, Morgan Grey. We will help you." She said as we just stared at her wide-eyed.

"Really, just like that?" I questioned.

"Well we are responsible for dragging you into our conflict with Chrysalis and her army, so it's the least we can do," Twilight stated as Everypony else nodded in agreement.

“Then it’s settled, as of today, we are all in this together, no matter what,” I said confidently.

"Aww yeah, fighting Changelings alongside aliens on another planet, this is so awesome!" Rainbow yelled as she shot a hoof in the air, but slowly lowered it. "So...What now?" She asked, unsure about what happens next.

"Well, before we do anything else, I have some family members of mine who could help us," I said.

"And who might they be?" Luna asked.

"My Uncle Kenny and his family, though getting to them is going to prove quite a challenge,” I replied.

"Why is that?" Twilight asked. I reacted with a big sighed.

"Because they are currently living in Saint Paul, more specifically, the city where Razorfang came from," I said plainly as some of the ponies gasped.

"Now hold on one second." Applejack yelled, stepping forward. "Yer saying that before we take back yer home, you want to break inside a city full of Changelings and rescue yer family?"

"Well when you put it like that, yeah," I said plainly as Applejack raised a brow at me. "Listen, guys, I know that you think this plan is insane, but you have to understand. My Uncle and I are very close, he's always been there for me when things got tough and he’s helped me make the right choices to become the man I am today. If we're going to make this happen, we need his help to take back our home." Celestia, Luna, and Twilight huddled together and started talking amongst each other. After about a minute, they broke from the huddle and Celestia and Luna walked up to me.

"Alright Morgan, we'll help you rescue your Uncle," Celestia said calmly.

“Thank you, Celestia,” I replied before then looked around the sewer. "Well I don't know about you, but I think we've spent enough time here.

"You can say that again." Rarity stated with a disgusted look while staring at a pile of sewage on the floor as I turned to Chris.

“Were you able to grab the-"

"You mean this?" He said, interrupting me as he pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, revealing a map of the sewer system. I walked up next to him and stared at the piece of paper that he held as Jacob, Evan, Markus, and the ponies gathered 'round.

"Ok, we're here," I said as I pointed to an area of where we were on the map. I then dragged my finger along the lines, indicating the route we had to take. "If we follow these tunnels, it should lead us to the Church of St. Louis which is only a few blocks away from Kenny's place, hoping he's still there." I then looked back at Celestia with a concerned look. "You guys don't have to help us, you know. You’ve been through enough chaos at it is"

"Nonsense, Morgan, like Twilight said, we're responsible for Chrysalis making her way through the Ark and taking control of your home. If you're going up against a Changeling Queen and her army, you are going to need our help." She said with a confident smile. She was right, the odds of five humans going up against a city full of Changelings wasn't great, but with our pony friends here, those odds could be changed.

"Well then, let's go kick some Changeling ass," I announced. Everyone and everypony cheered as we then started our walk through the sewers till I something then grabbed hold of my shoulder and when I turned to see, I saw that it was Jacob who stopped me, it looked like he had something to say to me as he had a nervous look on him. I looked back at the others to see Chris and Luna staring at us.

"You guys keep going, we'll be right with you," I told them as they continued walking. I turned my attention back to Jacob who then released his hand from my shoulder.

"Morgan... I wanna apologize, about everything I've done to you, Chris, Markus, Evan, and these ponies. I-I-It's just-" I held up my hand interrupting him and sighed.

"You don't have to say anything Jacob. Anger and hatred always make us do the most idiotic things in life, but for you, it's been controlling you ever since the start of this war. I forgive you Jacob, and so do the others, but I don't want to see that rage in you ever again, Ok?” He looked at the ground and slightly nodded in response.

"And Jacob," I continued as he looked up at me. "Don't ever talk about my family like that ever again, you hear me?" I asked, staring at him sternly as he nodded.

"Y-Yeah, of course! Uhh, speaking of your family," He said as held out his hand which had my wallet. "I believe this is yours?" I slowly took it back from him and placed it back into my pocket.

"Thanks. Now let's get going before we lose the others" I chuckled as we started jogging to catch up with the rest of our now larger group, about to go on the journey that would entirely change our lives.

Behind Enemy Lines

“Are you sure that we’re going the right way, Chris? It feels like we’ve been navigating through this place for hours.” Rainbow exasperated.

“For the fifth time Rainbow, we are close,” Chris replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

For almost two hours we’ve been trying to navigate our way through the sewer system, but it was becoming hard as we would have to take a different route as some tunnels were collapsed. Everyone and everypony were starting to get tired of traveling through the sewer, especially Rarity who grimaced at every pile of sewage we would come across. Luna and I were walking side by side each other, only a few feet behind the others.

“So Morgan,” Luna spoke as I turned my head to her. “Did you really stay inside your home, just get a memory of your family?” She questioned, slightly tilting her head.

I gave her a small smile and nodded as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. I opened it in front of her and inside were a few pouches that contained some items that have been useless to me for some time now, my ID, thirty dollars in cash and rewards cards for several movie theaters. But inside a large pouch were items that weren’t useless. More than a dozen photos of me and my parents before the war.

“These are the only things I have left of them,” I said as I pulled out photos one by one and showed them to her. Some of them were taken at national landmarks like the White House and the Gateway Arch in Missouri and others were taken at beaches and lakes or on the family boat. Luna then saw that there was one more photo, and when she pulled it out, it showed a clear picture of both me and my parents sitting on a bench in the park.

“That one was taken a week before the Changeling war started,” I stated as Luna kept looking at my parents in the picture. My mom had a slim figure, long burgundy hair and wore glasses and my dad had a slightly built body, short grey hair and sported a small beard.

“What were your parents like?” She asked, wanting to know more about them.

“Well, my mom was a teacher at Kennedy High School which was south of Minneapolis. She always feared about sending me to school, so she homeschooled me till I was eleven, and you can kinda guess why she became a high school teacher.” I chuckled, earning a smile from Luna. ”As for my dad, he was the city’s chief of police. Every night when he would come home, he would tell me stories of him in his younger days on the police force. He was probably the bravest man I ever knew, as he took down and arrested five armed men, by himself.”

“I can believe it,” Luna said, impressed by my father’s bravery.

“My parents were both kind, caring, serious at times, funny, I actually thought I had the greatest family when I was young.” My smile then turned into a frown. “But when the Changelings came.” I started, a single tear running down my cheek. “My parents once told me that if anything ever happened to me, if I was hurt or in trouble, that they would immediately come get me and that we would face the issue together. When the other students and teachers were being rounded up by Changelings, I stayed behind at the school, just to wait for either one of my parents. I waited an entire month for them, until I accepted the fact that my folks were either relocated or… o-or dead.” I finished, another tear running down my face.

“I understand your sorrow Morgan, I really do,” Luna said, as she understood how hard of a life I had to live through, without my family.

I tried my best to recollect myself, as I was crying in front of her. “I missed them, Princess, I miss them so much a-and I’d give anything, just to see their faces again,” I said, wiping the tear stains from my face.

“Even if they are dead, you should know that they are always watching over you, you and your friends have survived this long without their guidance, haven't you?” She asked as I nodded, looking down at the floor only to have a hoof guide my face towards her’s. “Your parents are always with you in spirit Morgan and they will always love you, no matter what.” She finished, placing a hoof on my chest and staring at me with those beautiful cobalt eyes of hers.

“You have a way with words to cheer a guy up,” I stated as she then wrapped a hoof around me, pulling me into a hug, which I gladly returned. “Thanks, Princess Luna,” I said as she then released me from the hug.

“You don’t have to be so formal anymore, Morgan Grey. We’re friends now. Just ‘Luna’ is fine.” She said, reassuringly.

“Ok then, ‘Just Luna’.” I joked as I was earned with a cute giggle from her. God, I swear the giggle made my heart rate increase. Everything about her was incredible, I mean, before the war, I always dreamed of meeting the perfect girl for me to share my life with. She would have a nice bod, beautiful hair and eyes and a giggle that would make your heart race. Luna met all the requirement even though she was from another planet. She… Oh who am I kidding, there was no way in hell that would ever work out. I was just a twenty-two-year-old guy who’s been surviving in a country taken over by Changelings and she was an immortal Princess that ruled the night who came from another planet. There was no way I would be able to score a lovely creature such as-

“Morgan, up here!” I was snapped out of my thoughts by Chris calling out my name. My guess is that we were probably at our destination.

I looked at Luna and gestured to her with my head to follow. “Come on, I believe we’ve arrived,” I told her as we made our way up to him.

As we made our way past the others, we saw Chris standing there, looking down at the map in his hands. “I take it that we’re here?” I asked. He looked up at me and nodded as he then pointed his finger at a wall.

“If I’m correct, the basement of the church should be twenty feet behind this wall here.” He said.

“Well, I guess that’s my cue,” Twilight stated as she was about to walk past us and start her drilling spell till I held my hand out in front of her.

“It’s not that simple Twilight,” I said, getting in her way. “We’re right under the city of Saint Paul that is currently controlled by Changelings, that, and there’s bound to be people inside the church at this time of day, and If you use your drilling spell, it’s going to get people’s attention and they’re gonna alert any Changeling in the area to our position, thus making us fail at our plan of liberating the state.” What I said was true, one wrong move and our heads would be staked outside the city like Razorfang explained.

“Who said I was gonna use the drilling spell?” She replied. I looked at her in confusion until till her horn glowed and shot a beam of energy at the wall.

“Aaaand what was that supposed to do?” I asked. She then started walking toward the wall and phased right through it, like she was a Ghost.

“OK, she just walked through a brick wall!” Chris obviously pointed out with astonishment.

“It’s a fairly easy spell,” Twilight said as her head poked through the wall. “It allows anything or anyone to simply walk right through dense objects. Like walking through fog.” She stated.

“Wow.” Was all I could say. It wasn’t every day that you get to befriend talking ponies from another planet that could use magic to defy the laws of physics. But I was starting to get used to seeing their magic.

“Come now Morgan, we still have to find your relatives,” Celestia said as she, Luna and the other ponies walked (or flew in Rainbow Dash’s case) through the wall as well. Jacob, Evan, Chris, Markus and I couldn’t help but stare at the wall where the ponies walked through.

“Morgan,” Markus started as he turned his body to look at me. He then grabbed hold of both my arms and looked at me with a grin. “I love these guys!” He said loudly as he ran towards the wall, yelling ‘Yahoo’ as he lept into it.

I just smiled and rolled my eyes as we followed them through the wall. We have just successfully infiltrated the most heavily guarded settlement in the state. Now the next thing we had to do, was to find my uncle.

Once everyone was inside, we slowly made our way down the halls of the basement, looking for the stairs that led to the main floor. It kinda felt nice to be back here after so long.

“So Morgan,” Twilight started as she walked alongside me. “Have you been here before?” She asked.

“Multiple times,” I replied. “When I came over to my Uncle’s house to spend the weekend, Kenny and his family would always bring me to the church service here on Sundays,” I said, remembering my times when them here.

My family weren't the kind of people who would come to church every week on Sunday. We would usually watch the morning news and then go about our business. I would play on my Xbox One and talk with my friends, my mom would check her emails or read a book and my dad would sit in his recliner and watch How It’s Made or that old tv series, Falling Skies. But when I came over to stay at my uncle’s, I didn’t have a problem with going to church with his family, as it was the one place where I could feel safe from the dangers in the world.

“What about you, you got churches that worship religion back in Equestria?” I asked back.

“Not really, the closest we have to a religion is Princess Celestia and Luna cause they, as you already know, are able to raise the sun and the moon. Which begs the question, who or what do you worship here anyway?” Twilight questioned.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Beg your pardon?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

“Jesus Christ. He was a man way before my time who had special gifts that you wouldn’t think was possible.” I explained.

“What type of ‘special gifts’ are you talking about?” She asked.

I was about to tell her when I noticed down the hall on my right was a flight of stairs leading to the main floor of the church. “To be continued,” I said to her, then facing toward the others behind us. “Alright, here's the plan. I’m gonna head upstairs and see if the place is empty while all of you stay down here, out of sight. Once the place is secure, I’ll radio the all clear.” I calmly explained as everyone nodded in response.

“Stay safe, Morgan Grey,” Celestia said to me as I then gave her a smile.

“Don’t forget that I’m a tough man to kill, Celestia,” I told her as I then made my way upstairs.

*******

The main floor of the church was all but quiet, until the sound of a door, slowly creaking open, revealing my hand pushing it open with my pistol. Once the door was halfway open, I walked through and looked down both hallways to see that no one was there.

I made my way down the halls with my gun ready, until I found myself in front of the doors to the sanctuary. I opened both doors to see the entire area completely empty, not a single soul in sight. I walked down the alley, just to make sure, but seeing that there was no one here, I decided to radio the others. I was about to speak into the radio till I felt something touch the back of my head.

“Unless you want to know what it’s like for Changelings to have holes in their bodies, I suggest you put the gun down, now.” A gruff masculine voice said.

I did what he said as I slowly crouched down and gently placed my gun on the floor. I then rose up and placed my hands behind my head.

“Slide it to me.” He ordered as I then put my gun under my foot and slid it behind me where it hit something, probably his foot.

“Now turn around, slowly.” He said as I then turned my body to face him. Once I finished turning, I saw that the man was a priest in church robes. He looked to be in his early fifties, black hair with some tintage of grey in it, round glasses and stood past my height by a few inches. Oh, and he had a freaking double barrel shotgun pointed right at my face which scared me. But the funny part about my predicament was that I knew who exactly the guy was.

“I don’t know what you’re doing bringing a gun in here, son, but you… wait a minute.” The man lowered the gun as he squinted his eye to see if he wasn’t imagining things. “Morgan, Morgan Grey?” He asked as I gave him a small smile.

“Hi, Father David.” I greeted as he lowered his gun and stared at me with wide eyes.

“My God, son, I could’ve shot you!” He exclaimed as he laid the shotgun against a pew, picked my pistol at his feet and handed it back to me. “How did you even get in the city? I doubt they would let in an outsider like you, just like that.” He exclaimed.

“I have some friends that were able to create a backdoor from the sewers into your basement,” I explained, keeping the conversation simple.

“And where are these ‘friends’, might I ask?” He asked as I brought the radio to my face.

“This is Morgan, you guys can come up now, I got someone who would like to meet you,” I said into the radio.

A minutes later footsteps were heard outside as we look to the entrance to see everyone walking into the sanctuary. David was scared to death as he made the sign of the cross, thinking that the ponies were demons, but I was able to convince him that they meant no harm to anyone.

“Father David, I’d like you to meet the pony Princesses of Equestria, Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle. Everyone, meet David Fitzgerald, he’s been a good friend to me since I was young.” I announced as the three Princesses bowed their heads to David.

“Uh, I-it's an honor to meet you your Highnesses,” David said nervously as he did a formal bow to them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Fitzgerald.” Celestia greeted with a friendly smile as David looked back at me.

“So Morgan, I guessing that you didn’t just bring your friends here to learn about the Lord?” He asked.

“Long story short, my group and I are starting a rebellion and want to take back our home from Chrysalis and these ponies are helping us as they have had run-ins with her on their planet and want her stopped as well. And as for why we snuck into the city, we're here to get my uncle and his family out of this forsaken place.” I said seriously. “They’re still here aren't they?”

“Heh, I should've guessed,” He said with a small laugh. “Yes, Kenny and his family are still here, they still come to church even after the war started. But I wouldn’t advise going out there, curfew is in half an hour and if you’re caught… God save your soul.”

“David, listen to me,” I said as I put both my hands on his shoulders. “Kenny is the only family I have left in this world. I need to get him out of this place or else the Changelings will learn that he is my uncle and kill him and his family.”

“I take it that you were responsible for the explosions earlier today that has the city all riled up?” He asked plainly as I averted my eyes away from him, not wanting to give a straight answer. He sighed. “You’re brave, son and being brave is good, but sometimes you have too much of it. This city has changed over the years and you won’t recognize a single thing here. I’ll have my assistant Shift guide you there.”

“What kinda person would call themselves Shift?” Jacob questioned. “Weird name don’t ya think?”

“Well about that,” David said uneasily. “Shift is actually a-” The sound of a door opening caught our attention as a Changeling with Cerulean hair and light blue eyes walked through carrying a plastic bag with food essentials inside.

“I’m back David!” It called out with a feminine voice. “I was even able to stop by at the market and get some Honeycrisp apples at the last-” She then looked up and gasped as she saw us, dropping the bag on the ground.

“Changeling!” I yelled as we aimed our weapons at it, with the ponies getting into their defensive stance, ready to defend themselves. We were about to shoot when David quickly stepped in front of her, holding his arms.

“Don't, she's not going to hurt any of you!” He yelled at us.

“Father David, please step out of the way so we can take care of this thing,” I said sternly, still pointing my gun at the female Changeling.

“Morgan you don’t understand, she’s not like them!” He said, still standing in the way.

“David, I’m not going to ask you again, step out of the-” I paused, wondering if I heard him right. “What do mean ‘she’s not like them’?” I asked concerned, slightly lowering my gun as he explained.

“There are two types of Changelings in the world Morgan, those who want to take away people’s freedom, and those who want to give it back.” We all just looked at him confused as to what he meant, but Chris was able to put two and two together.

“She’s against Chrysalis’ order?” He asked surprised, lowering his gun but David shook his head.

“It’s not just her, there are thousands upon thousands of Changelings that are tired of Chrysalis and want to give America back to us. There’s even a Changeling rebellion out east, right outside of Richmond!” He exclaimed, wanting us to believe him.

“It’s true!” Shift exclaimed, still cowering behind David. “There are hundreds of Changelings in the city that are part of it and actually care for you humans, and David’s not lying about the rebellion either!”

“Just like the Changelings who shared their love back in Equestria!” Twilight stated, catching on what they were saying.

Even though they had no proof of what they said being true, it actually convinced me as I holster my gun. “Stand down guys,” I said, but Markus wasn’t so sure about it.

“You sure Morgan, It’s a Changeling! She could be-”

“I said, stand down,” I repeated as Markus, Evan and Jacob lowered their weapons and the ponies softening up. I then walked my way over to Shift, but David was still standing in the way, worried that I would hurt her. “It’s alright David,” I said calmly as I gestured my hand for him to move. He slowly did, leaving Shift unprotected as she gazed at me, fearfully. Upon seeing her fear in her eyes, I knelt down to her level. “We’re not going to hurt you,” I said reassuringly as I held out my hand and stroked her hair. She stiffened at first but loosened up from getting petted, letting out a quiet hum. I laughed upon hearing it. “I take it that you’re Shift, David mentioned?” I asked as she nodded. “I’m Morgan Grey.” Her eyes went wide when I said my name.

“You’re Kenny’s cousin?” I asked with a look of surprisement as I nodded.

“You know my uncle?” I questioned, raising my eyebrow slightly.

“David introduced me to him and his family and we’ve been good friends ever since.” Shift explained as she remembered when she first met them.

“Shift, I’m here to get him and his family out of the city. David said that you would be willing to help me get there, do you think you can take me to them?” I asked as she looked to David for approval in which he nodded to her.

“Ok, but we’ll have to hurry, on my way here, I saw guards already making sure citizens are making their way back to their homes.” She said.

I nodded to her as I took my gun holster off my waist, my Ak-47 strapped to my shoulder and my sheath off my back as I then looked towards Evan. “Evan, you’re coming with me, and leave your gun here, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves,” I told him as I concealed my knife in my back pocket with my shirt. He nodded as he set his M16 down on a pew.

“Morgan?” Luna spoke as she walked up to me. “I would like to come along as well.” She said.

“No,” I told her. “You and the others are in a city that is choked full of Changelings and if they even see you, they will not hesitate to kill you. You are safer if you stay here.” I insisted as Celestia walked up alongside her.

“He’s right Luna, we can’t risk exposing ourselves,” she said. Luna nodded as she looked to the floor, saddened at her failure to convince me.

“Hey,” I said as I guided her head to look at me. “We’ll be back soon, don’t worry.” She gave me a small smile as Me, Evan and Shift made our way to the front door, out into the night.

******

The streets of Saint Paul were silent as me, Evan and Shift made our way down through alley roads to avoid getting discovered. Kenny only lived about a mile away from the Cathedral, a twenty-minute walk which was lucky for us. Evan and I were incognito as I had put on my beanie and my aviators and Evan had taken a dark blue sweatshirt from a carousel clothes dryer and had thrown the hoodie over his head, enough to conceal both our faces.

“We’re almost there.” Shift stated, “we should be about-”

“Nine minutes away?” I guessed as she looked at me surprised.

“How did you know?” She questioned as I gave a slight chuckle.

“I’ve walked this route enough times to know how long it would take to walk from Kenny’s place to the Cathedral and back,” I explained as Evan looked at me, impressed.

“You’ve got one helluva memory!” He commented as I rolled my eyes, smiling.

“Except when it came to math.” I joked as he turned his attention towards Shift, wanting to start a conversation with her.

“So Shift, how did a Changeling like you end up with Catholic priest like David?” He asked.

“It happened about three years ago. I’d just finished my training and it was my first day in the guard till I was told by General Ripwing that some humans had taken shelter in one of the storage warehouses and that I was to ‘take care’ of the trespassers. I was able to find them, but only to see that they were just kids, probably ages ten to thirteen. I couldn’t kill them, sure they had wandered into the warehouse that they weren't allowed to be in, but I wasn’t about to kill a couple of kids when they were so young. So, I warned them that if they stayed here, other Changelings would find them and kill them for trespassing. They took heed of my warning and ran out to the warehouse through the back door, one of them even thanked me.” She smiled but then looked at the ground in guilt.

“B-but as I was about to leave, the General came out from the shadows and confronted me about letting them live. Said that there was no place for a Changeling who cares about humans, especially if they were kids, so he stripped me of my rank, kicked me out of the guard and told me that I-I had shamed him and the other guards.” She sniffed as a tear trickled down her face. Evan came up alongside her and stroked her neck, comforting her.

“What happened next?” I asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“W-well, I roved aimlessly around the city for two days till I accidentally found myself on the steps of the Cathedral. It was raining and my wings were soaked, so I went inside to dry off. I eventually walked into the main area where I was greeted by Father David. At first, I thought he was gonna throw me out because of who I was, but he welcomed me with open arms, said that I was the first Changeling to ever step inside the cathedral. I ended up telling him my story about how I was relieved of duty which made him pity me. He said that I could stay here as long as I’d like, he even told me that even though I was a Changeling, Jesus would accept me for who I am. So he ended up making me his assistant and taught me everything about Catholicism and… Well... Here I am.” She finished, looking at me and Evan with a smile.

“Father David is a nice man, Shift and I’ve known him for many years. Makes me happy to hear how he took you in.” I commented.

“Thanks, Morgan,” She replied. “Now come on, we should keep moving before-”

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” A voice yelled as we looked to see two Changeling guards land in front of us. One of them wearing high ranking armor while the other wore none.

“Well well, if it isn’t the Catholic, human loving Changeling, Shift.” The Changeling wearing armor announced.

“O-oh, hello Captain Pierce, Vex, w-what are you two doing here?” Shift asked nervously.

“What do you think we’re doing Dumbass, looking for anyone who out after curfew!” Vex snapped.

“And it seems we have two of them right in front of us,” Pierce smirked, glaring at me and Evan as he and vex started walking toward us, but we stood our ground.

“There’s no need for that Captain.” Shift said, quickly getting in there way. “These two boys were helping Father Fitzgerald and I at the Cathedral and had lost track of time. It gets so dark out at this time, so I’m taking these two home.” She finished as Evan and I nodded, playing along.

“Well you are right, it does get dark out. Dark enough to smuggle murdering fugitives!” He hissed, his horn glowing as my glasses and beanie were yanked of me. How did these two know it was me?

“My, My Shift, not only did you disgraced the name of the Queen’s royal guard, but you are helping wanted criminals who killed Ripwing? General Razorfang is gonna love this.” Vex smiled.

“Hate to break it to you guys, but the last time I heard, that bastard was buried underneath the ruins of the school.” I pointed out, but they just laughed at me.

“Are you really gullible kid? General Razorfang dug himself out there and got back an hour and a half ago. Every Changeling in the city wants to see you and your friends hanging from the top of the capitol!” Pierce said, still smiling as Evan and I looked at him with shook.

“Goddamn, how many lives does this guy have?” I thought to myself.

“Now,” Pierce growled. “How about you three be nice and follow us to the capitol where the General will personally slit your throats and-” He abruptly stopped as he and Vex just stared at us blankly, like when someone runs into another guy and swears at them, only to realize that person happens to be famous. Then for some unexplained reason, they fell to the ground, out cold.

We stared in silence at the two unconscious Changelings before us, wondering what the hell just happened till I was the first to speak. “Um, what just-”

“That would be my doing.” Another voice said as we looked up to see it belonged to Princess Luna, landing in front of us and stepping over the two Changelings on the ground.

“Princess Luna?” Evan said, surprised, looking at the two Changelings then back at her “What did-”

“A simple memory wipe spell.” She interrupted as if she knew what he was about to say. “Those two won't remember a thing from everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours.” She said, looking back at the two guards.

“Evan, move these two against the fence, make it look like they were sleeping on the job,” I ordered as he started dragging the two as I then looked at Luna with a pissed off look. “What the hell, Luna?!” I quietly yelled, not wanting to wake up the neighbors.

“Excuse me?” She asked, glaring at me which made me cower… mentally that is.

“I specifically told you that you and the others to stay at the cathedral where it would be safe, and yet here you are, following us in the dark where other Changeling guards could discover you and alert the entire goddamn city!” I said as I then pointed to the two unconscious Changelings. “We had this under control!” I stated, but Luna just raised an eyebrow at me.

“You call ‘getting discovered by two passing guards who could outmatch you ten to one, who were about to bring you to the city’s capital where you would get executed’ under control?” She questioned, eyebrow still raised.

“Touche,” I said plainly as she sighed.

“After you left Morgan, I grew worried that something might happen to you on your way to your uncle’s. So when no one was looking, I slipped outside and went searching for you. I was glad that I had found you, for I feared what those Changelings were going to do to you when they brought you to the General.” She said.

I just looked away from her, shaking my head and biting my lip. There was no way that I was gonna convince her to make her way back to the church and stay there till came back with my uncle and his family. “Well, you’re already here and you did take care of those guards, so… ah what the hell, you can come along with us, but you have to keep a low profile, we’re still in hostile territory.” I told her with a serious tone as she bowed her head, thanking me.

“Hey, guys?” Shift asked. “Can we continue on our way to Kenny’s, I don't want to be around when these two to wake up or more of them come by.” She said, gesturing to the two sleeping Changelings.

“Good idea,” I commented as I then looked toward Evan. “Evan, how’s it going with those two?” I asked as he propped the two against the fence till they leaned into each other.

“It still needs something… There!” He quietly yelled as he walked over and picked up a half-empty bottle of liquor off the ground and walked back over to the two Changelings. He was about to pour some of the contents into their mouths until he stopped and looked at Shift. “You guys able to drink liquor, right?” He asked, showing the bottle to her.

She nodded. “We’ve grown accustomed to the taste, yes.” Getting his answer, he poured a small amount into both Changeling’s mouths and then placed the bottle upright in between the two.

“We’re good.” He said, stepping back and getting a good picture of the two Changelings that looked drunk and were sleeping on the job. “Now let’s get out of here.” He and Shift then started walking briskly down the alley. Luna was just about to walk after them before she felt my hand lightly grab her shoulder. She then looked at me with confusion.

“Luna, I-” I paused, as it was hard to get the right words out. “Thank you.” I finally said as she then gave me a smile.

“Come, Morgan, it’s time you introduced me to your uncle.” She said as we then continued our walk to my uncle’s. I had a lot of explaining to do when we got there, that's for sure.

Reunions

We stood right outside Kenny’s house, right across the street. It was a white, two-story house with a front porch, a garage, capable of storing two cars inside and on the lawn was a flower garden with different types of flowers. I gave a short laugh and I looked at it. “Heh, I always kinda knew he would still be living in this place.” I pointed out.

“Morgan,” Shift spoke up. “If it’s ok, I think I’ll be the one to tell them of your presence here.”

“That won’t be necessary Shift,” I replied as she looked at me in confusion.

“A-are you sure?” She questioned. “What if he-”

“If he thinks that I’m a Changeling in disguise… Well, I have something that will change his mind.” I stated, patting one of my pockets.

She nodded, hoping that nothing bad will come out of it. I don’t blame her for not wanting me the first person Kenny sees at his door. People have changed a lot over the years cause In this world, with shapeshifting Changelings all over the place, you can’t trust anybody anymore, even if they may seem friendly. While on scavenging missions, Jacob and I have met a few people who held up their weapons at us, thinking that we were Changelings. We were able to convince them by answering questions that they would ask. They would be simple questions like ‘who won the world series 2014’ or ‘name one contestant that was on America’s got talent’.

I looked back at Evan and Luna with a concerned look. “I want you two to stay here until I tell you to come out,” I told them as they both nodded. Truth be told, I was unsure how my uncle would react to a talking alicorn from another world, Evan on the other hand, he would be ok with, but I wanted him to stay with Luna as protection. I looked back at Shift, nodding to her that I was ready as we both walked to the front door.

As we made our way to the porch, Shift stood to the side as I walked up to the door. I was about to knock till I hesitated. I was about to see my uncle Kenny who I haven't seen or talked to in five years, this was very big for me. After a few seconds, I was able to get my composure back and I knocked three times, only to get an abrupt answer.

“I already told you bastards that we already paid the rent, now get the hell off our property!” A southern masculine voice yelled from inside which I could only guess was Kenny.

“Guess the Changelings haven’t been treating him and his family that well.” I thought as I knocked again, and a second later, I could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door.

“Are you deaf?” He asked loudly as the door opened, relieving a man with a horseshoe mustache, an olive green T-shirt with words that said ‘cast away your troubles, go fishing’, jeans and a John Deere trucker cap. “I said get the hell… off my…” His voice trailed off as he saw me, standing right in front of him. “Morgan?” He asked, eyes widening.

“Hi, Uncle Kenny.” I greeted, smiling.

His brow furrowed and his eyes glared at me. “Now you listen to me you Changeling shit, I don’t know what kind of trick you’re trying to play on me, but you better give one reason why I shouldn't kill you, right now.” He growled as his arm reaching behind the door, probably going for his hunting rifle he always kept.

“Because I don’t Changelings would be interested in jewelry like this,” I stated, pulling out a metal chain and on it was a gold cross with a single ruby in the center from my pocket. Kenny stared at the necklace with wide eyes, mouth agape in astonishment.

“Carol’s necklace.” He said softly as he then looked to me with shock and pulled me into a hug. “We thought you were dead, kid!” He exclaimed. “The first year I searched the city looking for you or your parents but you weren't anywhere. Where the hell have you been all this time!” He asked as he released me from the hug.

“I've been holed up in the basement at my old school with some others I met over the years. We had a nice, small but secluded home until recently.” I told him.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again after so many years.” He said with a smile. He then noticed Shift next to me. “And I see you’ve already met Shift!” He stated, looking at her with a friendly smile.

“Hello, Kenny.” Shift greeted with a wave of her hoof.

“Yeah, she helped guide me and the others to your place after Father David said that the city had changed over the years, and I can see why,” I said, looking behind me to the streets and sidewalks which were littered with trash and old, rusted cars.

“Entire community has gone to shit, I can tell you that.” He said plainly. “So you said that others from your group came with you?”

“A few, yes. I told them to hold back cause I didn’t know how you’d react when you saw them.” I explained as I then turned towards Shift. “Shift, you wanna go get them, tell them my uncle would like to meet them?” I asked.

“Of course.” She replied as she then walked off, leaving me and Kenny to ourselves.

“So,” Kenny spoke, leaning against the door frame. “I take it that your parents aren’t with you?” He asked, looking at me with pity as I shook my head.

“I waited for them for so long, but after a year went by, I knew that they were gone,” I said, looking away from him, doing my best not to cry again. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I knew it was him.

“You still got family right here Morgan. Don't forget that.” He said reassuringly as I gave a small smile, but I still had that feeling that he was going to freak out at Luna, so I had to tell him what was about to happen.

“Kenny, I need to tell you something, one of the members in our group who came with us here… Well, she’s not exactly who you think she is.” I said but he gave me a confused look.

“The hell do you mean by that?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just… promise you won’t freak out, ok?” I said as his face went from confusion to concern.

“Morgan, of course I promise, but you have to tell me what I shouldn’t… freak out… about.” He trailed, breaking contact with my eyes and looking past me. I looked behind me to see Shift standing next to Evan and the Princess of the night herself on Kenny’s lawn.

“Sweet holy Jesus.” He muttered, astonished at seeing a blue, winged horse outside his house.

I slightly glanced at him and saw in the corner of my eye, Kenny’s arm reaching behind the door for his gun. I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that said 'Don’t'. I looked back at the others and gestured my hand for them to come closer. They started walking up the yard and on the patio, with Kenny still staring at her.

“Kenny, I’d like you to meet Evan Shepard and Princess Luna, one of the four Princesses of Equestria. Guys, Meet my Uncle, Kenny Rogers.” I introduced as Luna stepped towards Kenny.

“Tis an honor to meet you, Mr. Rogers. Morgan has told us a lot about you.” Luna greeted with a smile.

“Uh, just ‘Kenny’ is fine.” He said, then looking at me. “Morgan, you mind telling me what the hell is going on?” He questioned, gesturing a hand at Luna.

“Long story, you mind if we come inside?” I asked as he nodded and moved out of the way, allowing us to come in.

Kenny’s living room was about average size and had furniture you’d usually see. An L-shaped couch, two armchairs, a wooden coffee table, pictures of his family, the usual. But what really stood out was how the room was painted, a nice light brown which I always thought was nice.

“Carol, can you come out here?” Kenny called. “We have company.” A few seconds later, a woman with short brown hair, wearing a light blue shirt with a guitar on it and light grey pants walked from the hall.

“Yes Kenny, what is-” She then gasped as she saw us, but more importantly, me. “Morgan?”

“Hi, Aunt Carol.” I smiled as she ran up to me and pulled me into a hug. She then looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, it’s good to see you again. We missed you so much, and I see you and Shift brought some… friends with you.” She said as she looked at Evan and Luna.

“Miss’d you too Aunt Carol, and don’t worry, they don’t mean any trouble,” I replied. I then looked around the room and saw someone was missing. “Wait a minute, where’s Noah?” Just as I asked, a kid wearing a plaid shirt and jeans stepped around the corner and had an open smile as he saw me.

“Morgan!” He yelled, rushing towards me, ignoring the fact that a stranger and a pony was in the house as I greeted him with open arms.

“Hey, bud!” I said, happy to see my cousin after so long. “God I haven't seen you in so long. How old are you now?” I asked.

“Ten years old.” He replied as I looked at him in shock.

“Ten! God, now I feel bad for not attending your birthdays, five years in a row.” I joked, earning a laugh from him. I then looked at Kenny and Carol who stared at me with concern. “Alright, I think it’s time you know what’s going on,” I said as both nodded in agreement. Getting my answer, I stood up and looked at Evan and Shift. “Hey, guys? You mind hanging out with my cousin in his room while we talk about some things?” I asked.

“Not at all.” Shift replied with a nod as Evan walked up to Noah.

“Come on, kid, I was told by your cousin that you like Star Wars.” He said to him as they walked out of the room. Thank god I had time to tell Evan and Luna stuff about my family before we arrived, like what they liked and disliked.

Once we knew they were out of sight, I turned back to Kenny and Carol with a serious look on my face. “Now I want you to listen very, very carefully from what I’m about to say.”

*******

“And to sum it all up, Me, Jacob, Evan, Chris, Marcus and the Equestrians, including Luna and Celestia plan to take back Saint Paul and overthrow Chrysalis and her forces and we want you to help us.” I finished. Luna and I had just finished explaining everything that happened in the last twelve hours in thirty minutes. Carol had her hand up, covering her mouth in astonishment and for Kenny, it was a lot to take in as he had his head in his hands but he soon raised his head and stared at me.

“Morgan, you are a good kid and if you had a brother or sister, I would actually title you as my favorite nephew… But have you gone completely mental?!” Kenny question, raising his voice but not too loud to gain attention from the neighbors.

“Kenny, please,” Carol reassured, not wanting him to make a scene but he just ignored her.

“Kid, we’re in enough shit with the Changeling guard as it is, and now you want us to go full robin hood and steal the entire city and give it back to the people who were living in it?.” He questioned.

“Kenny, I know it sounds crazy-” I started.

“It is crazy!” He interrupted. “You’re talking about attacking a city with highly trained Changelings guarding it and you’re asking me to help you?” I said nothing as I looked to the floor with Kenny staring daggers at me till he gave a sigh. “We have gone on dozens of hunting trips Morgan, and I loved even single one of them… But I’m not joining you on this one. I'm sorry Morgan, but my answer is No.” He said as he stood up and started to walk away.

“I’m trying to save you!” I blurted out which made him stop in his tracks, giving me a chance to explain. “Kenny, I am labeled as a wanted criminal, just for saving Luna and others like her! It’s only a matter of time until Razorfang or the other Changelings learn that I have relations with you and when they do… I didn’t just come here to invite you into the rebellion we’re making, I came here because I’m scared that they will torture you or worse, just to make me turn myself in and have Luna and the others killed. You, Aunt Carol, Noah… you guys are the only family I have left now and if anything happened to you… I would be lost. Please, I’m begging you, I-I don’t expect you to help us by fighting alongside us against the Changelings, but I don’t want you living here either. I just want you to be safe from them.”

“...”

He never turned around, he didn’t even slightly turn his head to look at me, he just stood there, facing away from me. I had lost this battle to convince him. That was until Luna walked up to him.

“Mr. Ro- I mean, Kenny?” She corrected herself. “Morgan is right, sooner or later Changelings will learn that you are part of his family and use you to get to him. He has spoken very highly of you and thinks that you would be of great help to us. I understand that his plan to take back this city sounds absurd, but if it means liberating your world from Changeling oppression and dethroning Chrysalis from power, then it needs to be done.” I could see Kenny shift his position, thinking about what Luna had said. “I can sense that you care deeply for your family and that you would do anything you could to protect them,” She continued. “But staying her will cost them their lives, including yours. Morgan hasn’t seen his parents in half a decade and he doesn’t even know if they are alive or not. You, your wife and your child are all Morgan has left now. He wants to win a war that has ravaged this nation but he can’t do it unless he knows that you are safe. Please… He needs you now more than ever.” There was a strong silence throughout the room that lasted a few minutes, that was until Kenny finally broke the silence and spoke.

“You’re girlfriend has a way with words.”

“We are not a couple!” I yelled, a hint of blush appearing on my face as well as Luna's.

Kenny laughed until he was out of breath as he then looked to Kris. “Honey, get the bags ready.” He said. Carol nodded, got up from the couch and walked to their room, passing Evan and Shift in the hall as they came to check in on us.

“We could hear Kenny laughing from Noah’s room, I take it that Kenny is now going to help you?” Shift asked.

“Indeed! Well Morgan, now that you and Luna have me convinced in fighting a battle, what happens next?” He asked.

“Honestly, I don't know.” I shrugged. “I think if we gather some people who are handy with weapons, we could mount an assault on the capital and once we make it inside, we march our way up to Razorfang’s office and eliminate him, thus taking back the city and having the entire army surrender,” I explained, but Kenny just shook his head.

“As much as I want to go through with that plan, it won’t work. There are more than a thousand Changelings occupying this city and if we march our way to the capital with guns in our hands… well, we won’t last five minutes.”

“Well, what do you propose we do?” I asked, open to ideas.

“For starters, if we’re going up against an army, we’re going to need an army of our own.” He said.

“And what army would that be, the only one there is are the Changeling Rebels who are outside Richmond like Father David and Shift said, and they’re a thousand miles away!” Evan exclaimed but Kenny just shook his head.

“I’m not talking about them, son, I’m talking about the Remnants of Minnesota,” Kenny said, bluntly. Upon hearing this, I burst out in laughter. I probably laughed my ass off for a good two minutes till I tried to catch my breath.

“Oh God, oh that was a good one Kenny, getting the Remnants to help us. Maybe we should travel to Germany and ask the Nazis for help as well!” I joked.

“Morgan.” Shift spoke, getting my attention as when I looked at her, she was giving me a blank stare. “The Remnants are real.” It took me only half a minute to understand what she meant by that until my eyes went wide as saucers and my mouth agape.

“You’ve got to be kidding, the Remnants are real!” I exclaimed dumbfoundedly as Kenny and shift nodded, smiling.

“Who are the Remnants of Minnesota?” Luna asked, not understanding what we were talking about.

“So it started out like this. Months after Chrysalis took power and mouths after the walls around Saint Paul were built, people all over Minnesota made their way to where a group called ‘the Remnants of Minnesota’ was building a militia. All these people who joined originally had jobs that involved keeping the peace. They were police officers, firefighters, served in the military, you name it. No one knows of their exact location, but some say that one day, they that they would kick down the gates of the city and free it of the Changeling oppression. Everyone, including our group thought they were a myth, stories to give hope to kids and other survivors in the state!” I finished.

“Their real Morgan, real as… well… her!” He said as he pointed at Luna.

“They sound like a brave group if the stories say they would fight against the Changelings,” Luna commented.

“It gets better, we were told that some members of the Changeling Rebellion had recently joined as well.” Shift added.

“How do you know this?” Evan questioned.

“You remember the Carsons on Bellows Street, Right Morgan? Well Mary’s husband, John, happens to be leading the Remnants. He was in Texas visiting a friend when her Highness took over and made his way up here on foot a month later. When he finally made his way up here, he had a bunch of people with him who helped him on way here. As for how we know all this, well Mary got a package one day that contained a radio, and sure enough, John was on the other end and he has been informing her what was happening where he was. Mary told us a year later and we’ve been keeping it a secret ever since.” Kenny explained.

“So if Mary has been keeping in touch with him, then that means we know where to find them?” I asked eagerly but Kenny quickly walked over to me, gesturing with his hand to keep my voice down.

“The Changelings have been searching for them for the last three years and they want to make sure that don’t try and take the city. It’d be better if I told you when we’re out of the city. You never know whether their listening or not.” He said quietly as I nodded in agreement.

“So then this is the plan? We search for these Remnants and ask for their assistance in order to take back the city?” Luna asked, making sure she was right.

“Sounds like it,” I confirmed.

A few seconds later, Carol, carrying two backpacks and Noah, with a black and red Star Wars backpack walked into the room. From the size of the bags that Carol was carrying, I could only presume that they were bug-out bags, kits that were for evacuating after a recent disaster.

“Everything packed, Carol?” Kenny asked as he grabbed his rifle from behind the door. She nodded in response as he then looked at Noah. “You have your things, son?”

“Yes, dad,” Noah replied.

“Good, then let’s get the hell out of this damn city.” He announced as we all stepped out of the door, back into the night.

As we walked away from his house, I felt something that I hadn't felt in some time. Pride. I felt pride, now that I had finally reunited with the only family I have left in this world, and it feels good. But not just that, now we were on our way to find the legendary Remnants to help us in the upcoming battle. This has been one strange, yet exciting day.

The Unsettling Truth

We were halfway from the Church as we were taking the same route we took to Kenny’s home. Evan, Carol, and Noah, were walking a few feet in front of us, talking about the days before the Changelings came while me, Luna, Kenny and Shift just walking in silence, enjoying the peaceful night. Seeing how none of us had said a word yet since we left the house, I decided to start a conversation.

“So Kenny.” I started. “From the look of those bug-out bags, it seems you’ve been planning on leaving for quite some time,” I stated, only to earn a sigh from him.

“We wanted to leave, son, we really did. But I was scared that if we made one wrong move, my family and I would spend the rest of our lives in graves for trying to escape. It was either let me and my family die or live to see Noah’s graduation.” He exclaimed quietly.

“You had a rough life living here, huh?” I commented.

“You have no idea.” He replied, shaking his head. “But even though you get constantly harassed by guards and get treated shit living her, there are some benefits.” I just looked at him, disbelievingly.

“Benefits?” I questioned, plainly.

“Well, a lot of the Changelings here aid the farmers here, and with the help of their magic, it made crop growth exponentially fast. Like where it would take months to grow a field of corn, with Changeling magic, it only takes one to two weeks.” He said.

“You’re kidding,” I said with a hint of amazement in my voice.

“Where do you think those Honeycrisp apples I bought for David came from?” Shift asked.

“That’s not all.” Kenny continued. “During the first year of Chrysalis’ rule, the Changelings conjured a barrier around the city, which actually prevented harsh winds, hail, and snow from getting in. I don’t know if they did that because of us or the crops, but my guess is the crops.”

“Jeez, now I know why Jacob wanted to come here so badly.” I thought. “Well, it's an interesting set-up the city has, what do you think Luna,” I asked but I quickly noticed that Luna was deep in thought and had a concerned look on her face. “You ok, Luna?” I asked as she snapped back into reality.

“I’m fine, it's just… I still don’t understand how there are so many Changelings now. When we met Chrysalis at the Ark’s location, there were maybe more than a hundred drones, but now, there are thousands! It just doesn’t make sense how their numbers increased so fast.” She said. It was strange, and I doubt Chrysalis could give birth to so many Changelings in five years… could she?

“Wait, Shift, you haven't told them yet?” Kenny questioned.

“David and I didn’t think that they would handle hearing the truth! I-If we told them, they would think of me and every other Changeling, including the Rebels differently.” Shift protested, nervously. ‘Think of them differently’, The hell does she mean by that?

“Hold on!” I announced as we stopped walking. “What are you both talking about?” I questioned. They both exchanged nervous looks at each other till Kenny looked at me.

“Morgan, how old do you think Shift is?” Kenny asked.

I thought about saying “Why ask a question like that?”, but I decided to go along with it. “I don’t know. By the sound of her voice, I’d say somewhere in her twenties” I replied.

“Twenty-four to be precise” Shift commented.

“Ok, but that still doesn’t answer my question.” I protested.

“I'm getting to that,” Kenny added. “Now, where do you think she was born?”

“God, I don’t know,” I exclaimed, not understand where this was going. “She was born back on her home planet in Equestria so-”

“That’s just it Morgan, she wasn’t born IN Equestria, she was born here, in America.” Kenny corrected.

“She was born here?” Luna questioned, tilting her head.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” I said aloud. “If she’s twenty-four and she was born here, that would mean she was born in…” That's when it all hit me, like a truck going over eighty on a highway. “Kenny, are you and Shift saying the Chrysalis and every single Changeling int the nation have been here MORE than five years?” I questioned as he sighed and nodded in response. I really regret asking that question now.

“They’ve been here fifty years Morgan.” He said. Yep, I regret asking that question as both Luna and I stared at him in astonishment.

“FIFTY-” I quickly cover my mouth with my hands as I almost screamed the words. I then looked around to see if I hadn’t drawn attention and sure enough, no lights were turned on and no Changelings had flown down to arrest us. “Fifty years!” I said again, whispering this time.

“That would explain why there are so many Changelings now and how your country was quickly taken over. But why not tell us this sooner when we were at the Church.” Luna asked Shift in a calm but surprised tone.

“Like I said, David and I didn’t think you’d like it if we told you the truth about our existence here on your planet. I was scared that if we told you… if we told you…” Even now she was too scared to finish her sentence as to what would happen next if she did. True, I was angry that Chrysalis and the other Changelings have probably been spying on us, five-decades ago, but I was sure that they had their reason, like trying to keep this nation like it is, calm but controlled by Changelings.

To calm her down, I knelt down and put my arm around Shift in a reassuring way. “Shift, listen,” I said and as she looked at me, I could see tears start to well up in her eyes. “Yes, I am upset for hearing the truth about your existence here. But it doesn’t mean we’re gonna hurt you because of it. You’ve been friends with my uncle and his family for years now, and a friend of my family is a friend to me, and I never hurt my friends.” Well, that is kinda a lie since I did lay Jacob flat on his ass when he talked shit about me only a few hours ago, but that doesn’t matter!

“You really mean that?” Shift asked, still teary-eyed.

“If I was lying, I would be smiling right now,” I said with a straight face.

With no hesitation, Shift swiftly put her forelegs around me, pulling me into a hug, which I gladly returned. “T-thank you! Thank you s-so much.” Shift said between sobs, tears streaming down her face.

“Your welcome. But I need to know one more thing.” I asked as Shift looked back at me, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Who else knows about this?”

“Only me, Carol, Father David and every Changeling in the country. And I’m pretty sure that John and the Remnants know about it too.” Kenny answered.

“Are you going to tell the others about this Morgan?” Luna asked. Truth be told, part of me wanted to so that we could expose Chrysalis and the other part didn’t want to as I was worried about the reactions seen towards every Changeling, including Shift.

I sighed as I told them my answer. “If I don’t tell them, they’re bound to figure it out sooner or later.” Shift looked at the ground with a sad look on her face, but I wasn’t finished talking as I then guided her head to look at me. “But hey, Whatever happens, we’ll be by your side to protect you, no matter what,” I said confidently. Earning a smile from Shift.

“Hey, is everything alright back here?” a voice said as we looked to see Evan before us, wondering why we had stopped.

“Yeah, we’re fine Evan. We were just discussing important matters.” I lied as I got back on my feet. I didn’t want him to know the truth about the Changelings… not yet, anyway. “Now let’s continue with our way back to the Church, I’m sure everyone is wondering where we are by now?” I pointed out as we started walking again.

*******

“I still can't believe she went out there, after them!” Celestia exclaimed, pacing back and forth across the nave. Almost an hour ago, Luna snuck out of the building to catch up with me, Evan and Shift, and during that time, Celestia has been worrying constantly about her safety. Everyone just looked at her in concern, they were worried too, but not as worried as her. Whether safe or not, she wanted to know. “If I’d been watching her, she would still be here. But now she’s out there with them with Changelings lurking around every corner of the city. I should have disagreed with the idea about coming here. I should have-”

“Celestia, calm down!” Markus said in a soft voice, walking up to her. “We’ve known Morgan for years now. If your sister caught up with him, then you know that she is in safe hands. Sure, he may be stubborn at times, but he’s kept us alive so far, right?” He said, confidently, but she wasn’t at all convinced.

“Yes, but-” she started before Father David cut in.

“Your Highness, Morgan is a good kid, he volunteered at the church when he was thirteen, he is strong-willed, and I am very sure that your sister is safe with him around.” He said with a smile.

“I guess you're right, but… I had no choice but to banish her to the moon for a thousand years when she was out of control. I would not forgive myself if I lost her again.” She said, a single tear running down her face.

“Celestia, we all know what it’s like to lose family,” Jacob said, standing up from a pew. “I still blame myself for my family’s death, but Morgan has been by my side ever since he found me, even though I pushed him and the others away, which I regret deeply. He is the reason why this group has been together for so long, so as long as he’s alive, Luna is safe, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Everyone here is right Celestia,” Twilight said, walking to her side. “He has saved us twice today, and I know that he’ll help us in the fight against Chrysalis and her army. We’ve endured a lot in the past, but now that we have the aid of the humans, it will make things a lot easier for us.”

Celestia thought for a moment until a smile appeared on her face. “You have learned a lot, my faithful student.” She said with a smile.

“And who knows,” Twilight said, “Morgan and Princess Luna could walk right through those doors any minutes now.” Just as she said those words, the doors to the nave opened, relieving me, Luna, Evan, Shift and my relatives.

“We’re back!” I announced as we stepped into the sanctuary.

“Luna!” Celestia called out as she ran up to her sister and pulled her into a hug. “I was worried that something had happened to you,” She exclaimed.

“I’m fine, sister, and I can assure you that if something did happen, the city would have been alerted to our presence,” Luna explained.

Celestia then looked at me with a soft look. “Thank you for taking care of my sister, Morgan.”

“You’ve got it wrong Celestia. Luna, here took care of us. We ran into a patrol sometime after we left and they instantly knew who I was. If it weren't for Luna, we wouldn’t be here.” I explained.

“Tis true, sister. I had to use a memory wipe spell on the patrol to make sure that they did not know of our presence here.” Luna agreed.

“Well, I am glad that you are all safe,” Celestia said with a smile.

“So this is Princess Celestia, huh?” Kenny said as he walked up to Celestia, gazing at every detail of her. “I can see how you are Luna are related.”

Everyone just stared at the three strangers that were with us before I quickly introduced them. “Guys, this is my Uncle, Kenny Rogers, his wife Carol and their son Noah. Kenny, Aunt Carol, Noah, meet the gang” I announced as Kenny walked up to the others.

“It a pleasure to meet all of you!” He said. “I wasn’t sure at first if my family and I would be able to help Morgan in his time of need. But now that we know who's side were on, we will do everything in our power to help you.” As he finished, the other ponies gathered around him, aunt Carol and Noah and started greeting them, introducing themselves and shaking their hands with them. I then noticed Chris and Markus walk up next to me, watching my family greet everyone.

“So, that’s your you uncle, huh?” Chris asked as I nodded in response.

"You sure he'll help us out? I mean, he has a family, they would be better off staying here." Markus stated

"If you came with us to get him Markus, you would've seen that they aren't exactly living happy lives here. Besides, if Razorfang found out they're part of my family, he would use them as leverage just to force me to turn myself in and give all of you up. Just trust me on this one guys, they'll be much safer if they stick with us."

"If you say so." Markus replied with a shrug. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he wasn't too sure about it, but we didn't have any other choice but to bring Kenny and his family with us. It's better this way besides leaving them in this place.

“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up as she and Twilight walked up to us. “Luna filled us in on the new plan, about these Remnants. If what you're saying is true, this could give up the upper hoof, or hand in this case, to freeing the city.”

“Wait, the Remnants are real?” Chris exclaimed.

“Yes, and they could be our only way of going up against that asshole, Razorfang,” I explained.

“Is there anything else that you found out while you were gone that we don’t know?” Markus questioned, sarcastically.

“Yes, I mean no, I mean-.” I stuttered, not knowing what to say. “It’s hard to explain.” I finally said with an exasperated sigh. I wanted to tell them, but If I told them the truth about the Changelings here on earth, I had a feeling that they would see Shift as the enemy as well. I had to tell them, sooner or later, but now wasn’t the time.

“Um, Morgan?” Twilight chimed in. “While you and Luna were gone, Father David offered to supply us with some food and water from the pantry for our journey.”

“Now that’s the best news I heard, all day!” I said, gleefully.

“Speaking of which, we’d better go make sure that we’re all stocked up. I can already tell that It’s gonna be a long trip.” Chris added with a laugh as he and Markus walked off.

“So, now that we're alone to ourselves, Morgan. We wanted to talk to you about something.” Celestia said with a concerning look.

“Ok, shoot.” I insisted.

“Well, after you left,” Twilight started. “Father David told us something about the Changelings here. Something that concerns us.”

“Let me guess. He told you about their ‘actual’ existence here.” I guessed as both nodded in response. All I could do was sigh. “Yeah, Shift and Kenny told me and Luna the exact same thing on the way back. Your not mad about it, are you?” I asked carefully.

“No, we’re not, and we wouldn’t be mad at her either,” Celestia replied.

“But as Father David said, and I’m sure Shift told you the same thing, This changes our whole view on Changelings,” Twilight added as she looked at me and Luna.

I ran my hand down my face. The stress was getting to me, about Razorfang, about finding a hidden army that I thought was a myth, and now about the truth about Changelings. This was a lot to process for me, and it was going to get a lot more stressful with what to come in the near future. I gave a deep sigh before speaking.

“Do the others know about this?”

“He only told me and Twilight about it, no one else,” Celestia replied as I nodded in understanding.

“Should we tell the others?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug as I put my hands in my pockets. “I know your friends would understand and treat her like the friendly Changeling she is,” I pointed out to Twilight. “But MY friends on the other hand…” All I could do was stand there, not saying another word. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say next, I didn’t know if the guys would be ok with it or would trigger them in some way, especially Jacob. After what seemed like a minute, Celestia spoke up.

“Take your time to think it over Morgan, and until you know what to do, we’ll keep this a secret between us.” she said with a smile.

“You sure? I mean this big, and I mean ‘the only proof of exposing every Changeling on the planet’ BIG! You really think that putting something like this, in my hands is a good idea” I questioned with a worried tone.

“You don’t have to worry Morgan, we’ve all had to keep secrets like this from others, for their safety. Besides, we won’t tell the others about this. Not until you decided how and when to tell them about it.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Was all I could say to them. We then saw Luna, Father David and shift walked toward us, and I could already tell from the look on Shift’s face that she had something to say.

“Um, Morgan? Shift has something she would like to ask of you.” David said. He then looked at shift and nodded at her with a look of approval. Whatever this was about, it must be important. She hesitantly took a few steps toward me until we were three feet from each other.

“Morgan? I talked it over Father David and I was wondering…” She paused as she then took a deep breath. “I was wondering if it would be ok to join your group.” Not gonna lie, that took me by surprise. I mean, having a Changeling joining the group would make it much more livable, but with the secret in my hands… why me, just, why me?

“A-are you sure about this Shift?” I asked, still taken off guard by the request. “I mean, you just told us-”

“I know that what I said could endanger my life.” She interrupted. “But you said it yourself that if your friends learned the truth, you would protect me, no matter what. You’ve been nice to me the minute I met you guys, and I thank you deeply. But I want to help you more besides guiding you to your Uncle. During my stay here with David, he taught me a lot about your modern medicine. So with my skills, I-I could help Evan in case he needs assistance with injuries. P-please, I-I don’t want to be known around others as the Timid Changeling w-who couldn’t fight her own battles.” She insisted, tears streaming down her face. I felt sorry for her, I felt sorry for everything that she had to go through in her past, getting kicked out of the guard for not killing a couple kids, KIDS for god sake. But she was persistent, she wanted to join our cause and she wasn’t going to take no for answer, I liked that.

“Well guess what, Shift,” I said as she looked at me with a bit of fear in her eyes, scared of what the answer was going to be. A smile then appeared on my face as the next words I said changed her life. “Welcome to the team!”

Everything was a blur after that as I was instantly knocked to the ground with Shift on top of me, nuzzling me forcefully. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She cried with tears of joy. All I could do was laugh as I was cuddled by the most friendly Changelings I met, even everyone watching couldn't help but laugh at the sight. After what seemed like minutes, Jacob stepped up to us, smiling as he witnessed me getting cuddled to death.

“The supplies are packed and everypony seems ready to go.” He said as Shift stepped off me so I could get up. She then walked back over to David and hugged him.

“Thank you for everything David. I will not forget what who have done for me.” She thanked.

“And I will not forget your time here, Shift.” He replied, stroking his hand through her silky hair. He then looked at with stern eyes. “You take good care of her, Morgan. She is like the daughter I never had,” He said sternly.

“She is safe with us, David. You have my word.” I said back. I then noticed my items that I had left here, my gun holster along with my Desert Eagle, my AK-47 and my special machete with its sheath being levitated with a blue aura to me. I quickly knew who was doing it as I then looked to Luna, whose horn was glowing with the same aura.

“I believe these are yours, Morgan,” she said with a smile and a wink.

I smiled back as I gladly took my equipment and strapped them to my body. Once I had everything together, I then looked toward everyone who were looking back at me. “Alright guys, let’s go find ourselves an army,” I said confidently, as we all walked out of the nave and into the basement from where we entered the church.

“May God watch over your souls and keep you safe!” David said loudly as we left. I felt proud now, we met ponies from another world, I was able to find my Uncle, we had a Changeling among our group, and now we were on our way to find the legendary Remnants to help us take back out home. Today may have started out crazy, but at least it had its benefits.

Nightmares

It had been almost an hour since we had left the city, undetected. During our time there, my group an I were successful in finding my Uncle and his family, and in the process, got a friendly Changeling named Shift to join our group. Right now, we were on the surface, walking down Ford Parkway and were coming up on the bridge, where we would make our way across the Mississippi River and get ourselves out of Changeling territory from there.

Now some of you may wonder why weren't in the sewers anymore and that we were above ground, out in the open while every Changeling is looking for us. Well, while navigating our way through the sewers, we had come across a portion of the sewer system where the ceiling above had collapsed, bringing the street above down with it. But because of this, it gave us access to the surface and seeing how everyone was tired of traveling via the sewer (mainly Rarity), we made our way up. Been ten minutes since we all chose to travel above ground, and not once have we seen any Changeling patrols.

I hated it, hated being out here at night while all of us were wanted by Razorfang and every Changeling in the state, and I really hope that there were none of them close by, because we were about to cross a bridge into Minneapolis where we would become an eyesore for anyone in the area. I guess Luna, who was walking next to me, noticed that I was deep in thought, as she then nudged my shoulder with her head.

“Are you alright, Morgan?” She asked. “You seem troubled.”

“Hmm? yeah, I-I’m fine.” I lied, but she didn’t buy it.

“I know that you’re worried about everything that has happened to us, and about what Shift told us, but you don’t need to be. Whatever happens, we’ll be there by your side.” She reassured.
“Thanks, Luna,” I replied with a slight blush on my face which she didn’t notice. I swear, ever since the sewers, I felt something between me and Luna, but I was too afraid to say those words ‘I think I love you’. I mean like I said, she’s a thousand years old and I’m only twenty-two. Wanting something else to think about, I quickly looked around for anything to take my mind off, till I saw Shift walking a few feet ahead of us, and I already knew a few questions I could ask her.

“So, Shift.” I started. She turned her head towards me and slowed her pace so that she was walking next to me and Luna. “Kenny said that you were born in the United States, correct? Well, where exactly?” I asked quietly.

Making sure that no-one would hear us, she then started explaining her story. “I was born in the deserts of Utah into a loving Changeling family. Our hive lived in a system of underground caves, deep beneath the earth, which is the reason why your kind hadn’t seen or heard of us back then. When I was young, I had dreamed to be in the royal guard, even though I thought of you humans differently, besides what others thought. My parents approved of what I wanted to be, so I started studying to become a guard. I had just started my training, right before the Queen announced ourselves to the world.” She replied.

“So that’s where Chrysalis and your kind has been living for the last fifty years?” Luna asked, but she just shook her head.

“Not just Utah, back then, we were one of four colonies that were hidden in underground caves in the deserts of different states. Chrysalis knew that if the hive got too large for one state, then we would soon be discovered. So in order to ensure that our kind would stay hidden, she ordered three of her most favored Generals to lead separate groups into the neighboring states, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, where they would build colonies, until the Queen knew that her army was large enough to control your country.” she finished. It took me some time to process everything that she just said.

“So while Chrysalis’ army grew in number, and to make sure that it would not be discovered in the time being, she formed three separate groups of Changelings, led by her closest Generals and ordered them to hide themselves along with other Changelings, deep underground in desert of the neighboring states to avoid detection, until the time was right to strike the United States,” I repeated, wanting to be sure I got everything that Shift said, in which she nodded. “Huh? That’s… kind of a smart plan.” I commented.

“It was, but… There is one more thing that you should know, and you may not like it.” Shift said, uneasily.

“Try me,” I said with a smile of confidence. But she said next, surprised me.

“Ripwing was one of the three Generals,” she said, plainly

My eyes widened slightly and my confident smile turned into a small frown. “Ripwing. You mean the General Ripwing? The General that was recently killed at the stadium, that I recently killed?” I questioned, hoping that she meant another Changeling named Ripwing, but Shift just nodded. “Well, Shit.” Was all I could say after that. Not only did I kill a General, but one of the Queen’s favorite, and
Razorfang was out for blood for his murder. I just hope that The Remnants were willing to help us when we found them.

Speaking of which, while we made our way out of the city through the sewers, Kenny told us that their location was in the abandoned town of Albert Lea, which was almost a two day trip by foot from here. it's funny though, I kinda thought they would be farther south, like hiding somewhere in Iowa, but hey, at least it won’t be that long of a long trip.

“Morgan, darling?” Rarity started with a tired voice. “Don’t you think we should stop for a while, it’s going to be a long trip and some ponies here need their beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, ah think I’d be best if we all hit the hay till morning” Applejack added who was also tired.

“Everypony is right Morgan, we’ve all had a long day and we should all get some sleep.” Twilight agreed.

“I agree with you Twilight, I really do. But we’re still not out of the woods yet. It would be better if we continued for another hour, south and find somewhere to camp out then.” I replied.

“Another hour!” Rainbow whined, hovering right in front of me, making me stop in my tracks. “Morgan, we’ve been on the run from them ever since the stadium!”

“Guys, I know that we’re all tired, but we’re all wanted by the Changeling guard. If we stop for the night, they’re bound to find us!” I protested. I then saw Jacob walk up to me with a stern face.

“Morgan, I am worried for the group just like you are, but we need to stop, just for the night. All we need is just a few hours sleep and then we can get back on the road, straight in the mourning.” He said. All I could do was sigh, It was me against everyone and right now, they were winning. The guys were right, I really am stubborn.

“Ok, fine. We can stop for the night.” I said as I made my way to the front of the group and pointed to a building across the river. “There’s an apartment complex we can stay in for the night, but there has to be rules, and rule number one, is that you have to keep absolutely quiet if you don't want to be found. Is that clear?” I question as everyone nodded unanimously. “Let’s go,” I said plainly as we started walking across the bridge to the apartment. “I really hope this doesn’t come and bite me in the ass later.” I thought angrily.

*******

I stood on the roof of the Parkway West Apartments, the place we were all staying tonight, looking out at the quiet area that used to be Minneapolis. But the only thing I could see, only five blocks away from here, was the wall that cut itself off from the outside world. The only light that could be seen was a large, smoldering hole in the wall.

“Hmm, some of the missiles from the plane must’ve flown out of the stadium and landed there.” I thought to myself.

Everyone else was in the basement and in all honesty, it wasn’t the nicest of places that we could sleep in, but it was the only place where Changelings couldn’t see us. They were either chatting about everything that had happened today or getting shut-eye for what was to come tomorrow. They were right, we all deserve some rest from what we’ve endured, today. The sound of the door to the roof was heard as Celestia, Luna, Twilight stepped through.

“We were wondering where you had gone off to,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Yeah, just enjoying the sights of the city, or what's left of it at least,” I replied as they walked up next to me. “How’s everybody doing so far?” I asked.

“My friends are all asleep, Including your cousin, Noah and Chris and Markus watching over them, Kenny and his wife are getting along with Applejack and Rarity, Evan and Shift are talking about medicine, and your friend Jacob is keeping an eye out for any patrols in the area.” Twilight listed off.

I gave a small laugh. “At least they’re getting their rest,” I said still gazing at the blackened city.

“Morgan?” Celestia started. “We never got the chance to ask you, but what happened to the other humans in this country. I mean, I know that a lot of them are in the city, but did some of them manage to escape?” She asked.

“They escaped alright,” I replied. “Months after the fall of America, thousands of people flocked to the east and west coast where ships were willing to take them overseas, away from here. Last I heard, the largest area that has American refugees was Hawaii, a group of islands far off the west coast. As for the people who weren't able to escape the war… well, you already saw what we have to live with nowadays ” I explained glumly. I then felt a feathered wing, wrap around my body with a comforting grip and I looked to see that it belonged to Twilight.

“We’re sorry if this is how you had to live for so long, especially us not getting here on time to prevent Chrysalis from conquering your home.” Twilight apologized.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” I said back. “None of us knew that this would happen. But with you guys here now, I sure that we could win this.” I said confidently.

“Morgan, what is with the large wall? Is that a settlement as well?” Luna said as she was looking at the wall of the Dead Zone.

“I really wish it was, Luna,” I replied plainly, but she looked at me with confusion.

“What do you mean by that.” She questioned.

“What you see before you is the border to the Dead Zone” I announced as I gestured my hand to the wall before us.

“The Dead Zone?” Celestia reiterated.

“It contains the remains of people who died from a virus that has ravaged the nation,” I explained.

“What type of virus?” Twilight asked.

“No one knows,” I replied. “People say that it was Brought by Chrysalis and her Changelings when they took power, and when the death toll continued to rise, Changelings erected walls across the state and named them Dead Zones. Every person who contracted or died from the virus was taken to a Dead Zone. But that didn't stop other survivors from making their way in there.”

“Why in Equestria would they want to go in there?” Twilight asked.

“Supplies. Untouched by the Changeling War that is still ripe for the picking. That’s the one thing that doesn't stop them from going inside there. Usually, they would use climbing gear to get over the wall and make it inside. But every survivor that goes in there, is never seen nor heard from again.” I replied with a grim tone. The Princesses looked at each other, disturbed by what I had told them.

“Has anyone ever manage to make it out alive?” Luna questioned hopefully.

“N- um… sort of.” I replied uneasily.

“What do you mean ‘sort of’?” Celestia questioned, raising an eyebrow in concern.

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and sighed. I didn’t want to tell them the story, but they had to know. “Two years ago, Jacob and I were about to do our regular scavenge when Chris got visual on one of the security cameras of a Hispanic man stumbling in the school. It looked like he was badly hurt and he was clutching his gut and drops of blood trailing behind him. When Jacob and I got to him, we found him on the floor, blood pooling around him. As we helped him up, The guy says that he came from the Dead Zone so we decided to take him in. Chris had gotten out the medical supplies, but once he looked over his injuries, he knew that he wasn't gonna make it. The guy had wounds all over his face and arms and a large gash across his stomach, he’d lost too much blood and there was no point in saving him and I’m pretty sure the guy knew as well. The only thing we could do was make him feel more comfortable, so I told the others to grab some blankets and as soon as they left, the guy grabs ahold of my shoulder and brings me closer to his face. He then tells me something that freaked me out.”

“What did he say?” Luna asked with worried eyes.

“He told me how he and his friends were inside the Dead Zone, searching for fresh supplies but were attacked by ‘monsters’ as he said. They killed his friends and wounded him, trying to escape, hence his injuries. He then warns me that if my group were ever to go in there, into the Dead zone, the monsters would tear us apart till there is nothing left of our remains.” I replied grimly. They looked at each other in concern, worry, and fear for a moment until Twilight spoke.

“I’m guessing he died as he finished?” Twilight asked carefully.

“Died? Yes. From his injuries? No. Once he finished, he grabs my gun, holds it against his head… and pulls the trigger. Whatever happened to the guy, to make him that scared, it was enough to kill himself” I explained. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight stared at me, horrified upon hearing this. “When the guys came to see what happened, all they saw was a dead body with my gun in his hand and my face covered in blood. After that, I ended up telling them what he said to me.”

“And what did your friends think about it?” Celestia asked.

“Jacob and Chris believe in what the guy said and I’m pretty sure Evan would believe it too. Markus though, he thinks otherwise.” I replied.

“Why would he not believe it?” Twilight questioned with a tilt of her head.

“Because the guy was obviously on drugs!” A voice said loudly and as we looked to where it came from, we saw Markus leaning against the door, staring at me with a stern look. “Morgan, I thought I said that we were done talking about this and yet here you are, telling ghost stories to our friends here.” He said, walking toward us.

“Markus, I saw the fear in his eyes, he was not on drugs and he was certainly not making it up either. Whatever type of monsters he saw in there was enough to scare himself to death!” I replied harshly.

“Oh for the love of-” Markus cursed. “There are no such things as ‘monsters’!” He said, raising his voice, but I just gave him an unamused look.

“Dude, for the umpteenth time, we live in a country that just got taken over by flying, shapeshifting creatures that feed off love and use magic,” I replied bluntly as Twilight then stepped in.

“And we come from the same planet like the Changelings.” She added. “We even have monsters as well. Dragons, Manticores, Hydras-”

“THAT’S DIFFERENT!” Markus snapped, startling Twilight. He then quickly realized the mistake he made. “Sorry, I-” He was interrupted as I put my hand over his shoulder in a calming way.

“Just get some sleep, dude. We’ve all and a long, stressful day.” I reassured. Markus rolled his eyes, muttering a ‘Whatever’ and he walked back to the door downstairs to where everyone else was, Leaving us to ourselves.

“If it makes you feel any better Morgan,” Celestia started as I looked at her. “We believe you.” She said with Twilight and Luna nodding in agreement.

I smiled at them, letting out a small chuckle. “Thank guys,” I replied as I then yawned. “But we should really get some sleep, it’s gonna be a long trip if we’re gonna find the Remnants,” I stated.

“Agreed.” Celestia, Luna, and Twilight said, simultaneously as we followed Markus downstairs for some well-deserved rest.

*******

I awoke to the sound of passing cars and as I opened my eyes, I gazed at the posters of my favorite bands and video games that hung on the ceiling of my old room. I instantly knew that this was a dream, cause the last time I had slept in my room, was before the war.

“Morgan, you up?” My mom’s voice called from downstairs, it’s been so long since I last heard her caring voice.

“Yeah, I’m up. I’ll be down in a minute.” I answered as I quickly got dressed and walked my way downstairs.

Once I entered our kitchen, I saw my mom cooking breakfast for us and the smell of bacon entered my nostrils. God, it’s been too long since I last had the greasy goodness. As I looked toward the table, I saw my dad sitting in his usual spot reading the morning newspaper. I walked over to the table and sat down across from him.

“You alright, son? My dad asked with concern in is his gruff voice as he glanced at me from his paper. “You have that nervous look about you, did you sleep alright?”

“I’m fine dad, it’s nothing.” I replied. He just shrugged and continued reading.

My mom then came up to the table with a plate in her hands with bacon on them and set in front of me and my dad. “Your dad and I will be going to a party with our friends this afternoon,” She started. “Do you think you can survive without us tonight?”

“Please mom, you’ve been leaving me home alone ever since I turned fifteen, I think I’ll survive,” I replied calmly with a smile, right before a knock was then heard from the door.

“You expecting anyone, honey?” My dad asked, looking up from the paper again.

“I was going to ask you the same thing. No matter, I'll go see who it is.” She replied as she made her way to the door.

“So I was thinking about heading to the gun range today,” My dad started, putting down the paper and looking at me. “And was wondering if you’d like to join?” He asked, earning a smile from me.

“Sound good,” I replied.

“Good, once your mother gets back, we’ll ask her if she’d like to come along as well.” He said with a smile, but as soon as he said that, my mom came flying through the front window, landing on the table on her back. We quickly got up from our seats and stared in horror at my mom laying on the table with multiple stab wounds on her body and her eyes gouged out.

“K-Kris?” my dad asked, hoping that she was still alive but she didn’t move a muscle. A hissing was heard as we turned around to see a black creature leading through the window. more specifically, a Changeling.

“What in god’s name?” My dad said aloud. The Changeling hissed again, baring its fangs and charging at my dad. But my dad had lightning reflexes as he grabbed his chair and swung it across its face, knocking it to the floor and breaking his chair in the process. But determined for revenge, he grabbed one of the chair’s legs that had broken off and thrust it into the Changeling’s eye, killing it.

He then swiftly walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulder, looking at me with a stern look. “Morgan, I want you to go to my office and get my guns, then meet me at the car.” He order. I nodded and was about to go to his office before I heard him yell out in pain. I turned around to see a large, crooked horn pierced through his chest. He screamed in agony as the horn lifted him off the ground and swung him off, making him rag doll against the wall and land on the floor, looking at me with the life quickly draining from his eyes. I slowly turned my head to the one who killed my parents and saw a Changeling, taller than the one my dad had killed with long cerulean hair and green, snake-like eyes. There before me stood the Queen of the Changelings. Chrysalis.

“So, you must be Morgan Grey, the one who soullessly killed my General, Ripwing.” She stated, looking at me with calm eyes and an evil smirk. “It’s funny really, I pictured you much, much older, but I never thought that my General would be killed by a child such as yourself.”

I just shook my head, knowing that none of this was real. “No, you’re not real, none of THIS is real, so screw you and screw this dream!” I exclaimed angrily and was about to walked out of the room, only for Chrysalis’ green aura to surround me and yank me back and throw me against the wall, hold me in place.

I tried to free myself, but only to fail miserably, earning a chuckle from Chrysalis. “You’re not getting away that easily, Morgan Grey. Besides, one of my subjects would like to see you.” She said as she looked at the front window. I followed her gaze and saw a familiar Changeling fly in. RazorFang.

Upon seeing me, his eyes glared at me and smiled, showing his pearly white fangs. “Your Highness? Permission to kill the man who murdered Ripwing.” He asked, still staring at me.

“Make, him, suffer.” She replied slowly as Ripwing walked towards me, using his magic to grab a large cleaver from the kitchen.

Seeing him grab it, I tried again to get myself out of the queen's grasp, but would not budge an inch. “You’re not real! None of you are real!” I screamed over and over again, hoping that I would wake up from this nightmare.

As Razorfang finally got close to me, he leaned in towards my ear and whispered. “I am going to enjoy feasting on your flesh once I’m done with you.” He then raised the cleaver above his head, ready to bring it down on me. All I could do was just close my eyes in fear, awaiting the inevitable. I could see a blinding light from behind my eyelids and could feel myself being released from the magic as I fell to the floor. I opened my eyes, only to see that Chrysalis, Razorfang and the bodies of my parents had disappeared.

I got up to look around but found that they weren't here anymore. I just stood there with a confused look on my face. “What the he-”

“Are tho alright, Morgan?” A voice said, startling me. I quickly turned around to see a familiar pony standing right behind me.

“Luna?” I exclaimed. None of this was making any sense to me. “Wait, how… Where-” I stuttered, only for Luna to raise a hoof to interrupt me.

“You forget the I am the princess of the night and that I have to power to see into the dreams of other ponies, or in the case, other humans.” She stated, looking at me with caring eyes.

“Oh, right… I guess that makes sense.” I said, trying to sink this all in.

“Are you sure your ok, Morgan. I’ve been watching your dream for some time now and the reason why I stopped them from killing you was to ensure that it wouldn’t disturb your psyche.” She asked with a concerned voice.

I shook my head and sighed. “Honestly your highness, I don’t know,” I replied glumly.

Luna continued to look at me with her soft, cobalt eyes. “Come, why don’t we have a seat.” She said as we both walked into the living room.

As we entered the room, I walked over to the couch and took a seat on one end and Luna laid her body on the rest of the space. She looked around the room, gazing at the furniture and items that hung on the wall. “So this is where you used to live?” She asked as I nodded in response.

“Yeah, this used to be my old home. But it’s been way too long since I was last here and I betcha that Changelings burned the place to the ground.” I stated glumly. Luna just looked at me sadly, she knew how much I had lost over the years and that there was no way that I could ever get it back.

“You know, maybe on our way to the Remnants, we could stop at your old home.” She considered reassuringly, but I just stared at her surprised and shook my head vigorously.

“Absolutely not!” I blurted out, making her lean back in astonishment. “If I go back there, it would just open old wounds. I-it would break me down and make me unable to lead this group to safety. I… I… I-I’m just not ready to return home, not after everything that I’ve lost.” I finished, tears running down my face. Luna’s eyes softened upon hearing this and she nuzzled my arm.

“Morgan.” She cooed. “Your mind needs closure and your home is the only place where you can achieve it. True, you don’t know where your parents are or what happened to them, but your home is the one place you remember being happy with them. If you go there, it will ease your mind and let you know that they still love you. Please, don’t just do it for me, Celestia or the others, do it for them.” She said, pointing a hoof at a picture of me on my family on the wall.

It felt like minutes had gone by once Luna had finished. But in the end, she got her answer. “Goddamnit Luna, why do you have to be so convincing,” I asked, letting out a small laugh.

“Because I care deeply about my friends, even if they are bipedal creature from another planet.” She explained with that cute giggle of her’s. God, that giggle always get me, she is the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes upon, but like I keep saying, it would never work.

“There is one more thing I’d like to ask you, Morgan. If that’s ok?” Luna added as I looked back at her.

“Ask away.” I insisted, but what she said next, I was not ready for.

“What do you think of me?” She asked.

“Um, e-excuse me?” I replied, confused by what she asked.

“Ever since the sewer tunnels, when you talked to me about your parents, I could see something in your eyes, something that was directed toward me. I could also feel something when I’m around you but I do not know if it’s what I think or not. I guess what I’m trying to say is, do you have feelings for me?” She questioned, tilting her head slightly.

I swear that God has it out for me because I think I can hear him laughing inside my head. Of all things she could’ve asked me, of all things, she had to ask me THAT? Are you freaking kidding me? I mean, part of me wanted to reply to her, saying that I did have feelings toward her, but I didn’t know that if I answered her question, I would either weird her out or make her upset.

“U-u-um, well Luna, the truth is-” I didn’t get to finish as the entire room started to shake like it was just hit by a small earthquake. “The hell was that?” I questioned while holding on to the couch.

“That means that it's morning and that you’re waking up.” She replied.

“Really? Never had a dream where a ‘dreamquake’ told you that it was morning.” I stated.

“It usually happens when I’m in the dreams of others, so you don't need to worry,” Luna explained with a smile.

“Huh, that’s kinda interesting,” I said, amazed at what could happen when in her presence. Luna smiled at my amazement as she got up from her seat and then started walking out of the room before she then looked back at me, a smile still on her face.

“See you in a bit, Morgan.” She said before her form started to disappear as she continued walking away. The environment around me then began to turn black until it was completely gone, and just like that, I awoke from my sleep.

The Dead Zone

I opened my eyes to see I was right where I had gone to sleep in the first place, in the basement of the apartments. The dream I had last night was probably the scariest I had since the war. But I was thankful that Luna was able to help before something went down.

“Good Morning, Morgan.” A familiar voice said. I turn my head to where the voice came from and there lying down next to me was Luna, my savior from last night.

“Good Morning to you too, Luna.” I greeted back with a smile. “Thanks for the talk last night… or was it this morning?” I questioned myself, wondering when exactly this happened.

Luna giggled, making my heart melt yet again. “It was the least I could do, Morgan, and besides, you need all the help you can get, physically and mentally.” She replied with a smile.

“Well, I see you two lovebirds had a good sleep.” My uncle said, walking up to us with bowls that I could presume contained cereal in each hand.

“Kenny, for God’s sake, we aren't a couple,” I said, glaring at him as a hint of blush appeared on my face as well as Luna’s.

“I know, I know, I’m just screwing with you.” He replied, chuckling all the way as he then hands the bowls of cereal to us. “Here, you guys are gonna need some energy.” He stated as he then walked off.

“I’m sorry about my Uncle, Luna. He likes to embarrass me whenever I hang out with a girl and it tends to get annoying after awhile.” I explained as I ate my breakfast.

“It’s fine Morgan. Besides, I think it’s funny that he thinks we’re in love.” She replied with a smile.

“Yeah, funny.” I thought nervously. I swear, if my Uncle finds out that I have a crush on the Princess of the night herself, I am literally going to die of embarrassment.

We continued eating our breakfast in silence until I glanced at Luna, how she levitated her bowl with her magic and held her spoon with it as well. It was very interesting how Equestrian magic works, how you could use it to lift items when you didn’t have hands in general and use it to cast spells that no human thought possible.

“What’s it like?” I asked.

“Hmm?” Luna replied with a mouth full of food as she looked at me.

“What’s it like to use magic, to use it to your advantage?” I asked again. Luna swallowed her food and gave me her answer.

“It’s a very helpful trait. We use it to get around obstacles when we are not able to simply walk around by ourselves. It is also useful when we are met with dark areas or against other ponies or creatures that wish to harm us, as we can use spells to illuminate our surroundings or to defeat our enemies.” She explained.

“Huh, Kinda wish our species was capable of using magic, cause with what I’ve seen you, your sister and Twilight do, I’m starting to like it,” I said with a smile.

Luna smiled at that and we resumed eating our breakfast. While I ate, I looked around the room to see the others talking with each other. It was nice, seeing my friends and family talking with species not of this world, even if one of the members happens to be a Changeling that our group has hated for so long. Who would’ve thought that all of this, happened just yesterday, but I had a feeling that there was more to come in our future.

“See Morgan, we all needed the rest,” Twilight said as she and Chris walked up to us.

“Ok, so you guys were right, but it doesn’t mean we're not out of Changeling territory yet,” I said, a little annoyed that the others were right about stopping for the night.

“Morgan, don't worry, once everyone is ready, we’ll continue our way down south to where the Remnants are,” Chris reassured.

I just scoffed and shook my head as I looked around the room, watching everyone talking and enjoying their company with one another. It was nice, seeing both our species getting along with each other, whether they be human, pony or a changeling. But I had a feeling, deep down inside me, that if we win this war and liberate our nation from Chrysalis and her forces, both our worlds could join together in perfect unity, making everyone feel accepted for who or what they are. I was about to say something till I noticed that Jacob wasn’t among the others, nor was he in the room.

“Hey Chris, Did Jacob ever come down?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, he’s still upstairs, guarding the main floor. Markus went up to check on him but said that he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He thought that he may have stepped outside to take a leak, but I have a feeling that something happened.” He replied with a hint of worry.

Something didn’t feel right, even if he did have to take a wiz, he wouldn’t have done it outside with patrols scouting the area, he’s smarter than that. “I think you may be right about that, Chris,” I said as I stood up. “I think we should go check on him, see if he’s alright.” I suggested as I then looked at Luna. “would you care to join us, Luna?” I asked.

“Of course, and besides, I need to spread my wings a bit,” Luna replied as Chris and I grabbed our gear and headed upstairs. Hopefully, nothing bad happened to him during the night.

*******

There was nothing much left that remained in the lobby, the furniture tossed about, dust and cobwebs in every corner and the only light that illuminated the room was the sunlight that seeped through the boarded up windows. A creaking noise could be heard as the door to the basement was slowly pushed opened by me with Chris, Twilight, and Luna standing right behind me.

“Jacob? You out here?” I called out. We waited a few seconds for an answer, but not one sound was heard.

“Morgan,” Chris started with a bit of fear in his voice. “I’ve gotta ba-”

“Chris, if your next words are ‘I’ve gotta bad feeling about this’ I am literally gonna push you down the stairs.” I interrupted as we started searching for Jacob throughout the lobby.

“You don’t think Jacob abandoned us, do you?” Twilight asked worryingly.

“Doubt it,” I replied as I walked behind the receptionist desk. “It’s not like him to disappear without letting us know where he’s going. if at all, he should’ve… what the?” I exclaimed as I bent down to the floor and picked up something that was all too familiar. Jacob’s cap.

“Doesn’t that belong to Jacob?” Luna questioned with worry in her voice.

“It does,” I replied, still staring at the hat. “Guys, I am really not liking this one bit. Jacob never leaves his cap lying on the floor like this!” I exclaimed with fear.

“Morgan! Get your ass over here!” Chris called out as we quickly rushed over to where he was. When we got to where he was, We saw him standing in front of a broom closet with the door ajar.

“Chris, did you find him?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I found him alright.” He said as he pointed his finger inside the closet. We walked up next to him and saw what he was pointing at. Inside was a changeling cocoon with an unconscious Jacob trapped inside of it.

“Oh my God,” I exclaimed as I pulled out my pocket knife and walked up to the cocoon, frantically trying to cut it open. Making an incision, large enough for Jacob’s body, I reached my arms in and tried to pull him out, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Chris, help me out will ya!” I yelled as he rushed to my side and reached his arms inside the cocoon, grabbing ahold of Jacob. With Chris’ help, we managed to slide Jacob out of his confinement and onto the floor. With him out of his gooey prison, we grabbed him by his arms and dragged him out of the closet and laid him done on a bench.

On instinct, I put my fingers against his neck, hoping he was alive and sure enough, I could feel a pulse. “He’s still alive,” I stated as I started lightly slapping his face for him to wake up. “Jacob! Jacob, wake the hell up!” I called out as I slapped him harder this time. His eyes squinted as he held his hand up to where I slapped him.

“Geez, thanks for the rude awakening.” Jacob groaned sarcastically as he rubbed his cheek from the slap. “That really hurt ya know!”

“Jacob, what happened to you?” Twilight questioned as Jacob sat upright.

“It’s all a blur,” He groaned. “I was keeping watch last night when I heard something fall to the floor. I want to check on it until I was hit on the back on the head, knocking me out. I was able to catch a glimpse who did it before I passed out.”

“And who was it?” Chris asked.

“Get this Morgan, it was your old Changeling friend, Razorfang, along with a few guards.” Jacob sneered.

Upon hearing this, I facepalmed and shook my head. “You have got to be kidding me.” I cursed.

“Something’s not right,” Luna replied with a concerned tone.

“What are you talking about, Luna?” Chris asked. “Jacob’s alive and so are we.”

“That’s just it, We are still alive. Razorfang was here and yet he didn’t kill Jacob, he only knocked him unconscious and cocooned him so that he wouldn’t warn us of their presence. Razorfang also had the chance to attack us while we were all asleep but he didn’t. It doesn’t make any sense.” Luna said, skeptical at what she heard.

“Luna has a point. Why not kill us when we were vulnerable?” I commented, moving my hand away from my face.

“Jacob, did you hear Razorfang say anything about why he left us alone, anything at all?” Twilight questioned.

Jacob thought hard, trying to remember if there was something that he heard until he answered. “I could faintly hear Razorfang speaking to one of his guards. I think he said ‘have the others prepared to move the wall’. That’s all I remember.” We just looked at him in confusion from what he said.

“Move the wall?” Twilight reiterated, raising an eyebrow.

“That… that doesn’t make sense,” I stated. “I mean, what wall? The only ones in the area are the ones that border Saint Paul and…” That’s when it made absolute sense, why Razorfang didn’t kill us and what meant by moving the wall. I slowly turned my head to the front door, fear spreading across my face.

“Don't tell me, Please do not tell me!” Was all I muttered before I bolted for the door. I didn’t even hear the others calling after me, I was too busy hoping that what I thought, wasn’t true. I burst through the doors and stood in the middle of the street, looking down the road where the Dead Zone border was supposed to be, but only to see that the wall, was gone.

I then slowly turned my head to look over my shoulder and saw that the wall was now on the other side, going along the Mississippi. I closed my eyes and hung my head in defeat, our group was now trapped inside the Dead Zone, the same Dead Zone where people have gone and disappeared for the last five years.

I heard the doors of the apartment open as the others walk out, but I didn’t bother to look up. “Morgan,” Jacob yelled. “What the hell’s the matter… with… you.” His voice trailed as I guessed he saw that the wall was moved.

“Um, Morgan. What happened to the wall?” Twilight said, astonished.

“Look behind you,” I mumbled, pointing a finger behind me as I then heard Luna and Twilight gasp in shock.

“Oh, shit,” Chris exclaimed.

Regaining my composure, I look at Chris with a serious look, but he was too focused on the wall. “Chris, I want you to get everyone up here, tell them we now have a problem,” I ordered.

“Y-yeah, sure.” He replied as he started walking to the door, his eyes still glued to the wall as he almost trips while getting inside.

“Morgan?” Luna started. “Does this mean that we’re-”

“Now trapped inside the Dead Zone? Yeah, it does.” I replied with a nod, finishing her sentence as I then looked at Jacob.

“Hey Jacob, remember when I said we should have kept moving last night, to avoid being detected by patrols? Cause right now, I really want to say ‘I told you so’ but it just doesn’t seem strong enough.” I stated which made Jacob roll is eyes in response.

Moments later, Chris came back with the others following right behind him. They all stared in shock at what we had discovered. I could hear Twilight’s friends murmuring amongst each other and Celestia walking up next to me, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape at the sight.

“I know what your thinking, Celestia. This changes a lot of things.” I stated plainly.

“Indeed it does, Morgan.” Celestia agreed.

“I don’t know what you're worrying about, Morgan!” Rainbow Dash announced as she walked up alongside me. “We could easily fly over that wall, here, watch!” She then started galloping down the street, flapping her wings. She then leaped up into the air, but only by five feet as she then crashed into the asphalt, stars ACTUALLY dancing above her head before she shook the dazed feeling.

“The Hay?” She exclaimed as she then tried again, galloping towards us and leaping into the air again, but it was like she wasn’t getting enough momentum in her wings as she still didn’t make it off the ground. “What the heck is wrong with my wings!” She yelled.

“It’s not just your wings that don’t work, Rainbow. I can’t even do a teleportation spell to get us out!” Twilight exclaimed as she strained to use her magic but all that came out of her horn were small sparks.

“That’s because the entire area has been enchanted.” Shift announced. We looked at her in confusion, wondering what she meant by that.

“What do you mean by ‘enchanted’ Shift?” I questioned.

“After the Dead Zones were built, Chrysalis had thoughts that when you ponies arrived, you would end her reign on earth somehow. She originally planned to have you placed in a prison, but thought that it would better if you suffered while inside a Dead Zone. So, she ordered her guards to enchant every Dead Zone in the country with a spell that neutralizes both flight and magic to ponies, but not to Changelings. That way, you wouldn’t have a chance to escape.” She explained.

“Well, that explains a lot.” Applejack said. “But then how do we get out of here if we can’t use magic or flight?”

“There should be a door along the south side of the Dead Zone where we can escape.” Shift stated.

“How come we haven't heard of this door till now?” Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because it’s hidden from the eyes of humans. It’s been camouflaged so that it perfectly blends in with the wall and can only be revealed with Changeling magic. All we have to do is get to the southern wall.” She explained

“So now our main focus is getting to that door, correct?” Luna questioned.

“Sounds like it,” I answered as I turned to the others. “Alright everyone, let’s get moving! Faster we find a way out of here, the faster we make our way to the Remnants.” I announced as we started our journey into the Dead Zone. This is not how I wanted my day to start, but hey, we all can't get what we want nowadays.

*******

For the last thirty minutes, we’ve been walking down the streets of what used to Minneapolis to who knows where and not once have we seen any signs of life. Only things we saw were roads littered with abandoned cars and houses which haven’t been lived in for five years. As I lead the group into the city with Luna and Shift walking next to me, I couldn’t help but feel a little paranoid by all this.

I mean, we are literally waking into uncharted territory with who knows what lurking around and I couldn’t shake off the feeling that we’re not alone out here. I constantly looked back at the others and saw that they were all calm about this, but to me, all of this was like being locked inside a haunted house while having Hauntophobia. Normally I’m never scared like this, honest to God, but ever since we were visited by that Hispanic man who killed himself, I couldn’t help but fear of what goes on in this place.

“I can sense your fear about this place, Morgan, but I’m scared just as scared as you are.” Shift said.

“Shift is right, Morgan, we are all scared of what goes on here, but we mustn’t let fear overtake us. The sooner we find a way out, the better.” Luna commented.

“I know guys, but this place just gives off bad vibes,” I stated as I looked around as if we were being watched from the shadows. As we continued walking, I just couldn't get rid of a mosquito-like question that kept buzzing around my head: Who or what dwells in this forsaken place. That’s when I remembered something, we had Shift in our group, she had to know something about the Dead Zone and what happens inside it.

“Shift, could I ask you something?” I asked.

“Sure, Morgan. What is it?” She replied, giving me her full attention.

I looked behind me, hoping that Markus couldn’t hear us, but I was glad to see him talking with my uncle, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. I looked back at her and sighed. “A few years ago, my friends and I were discovered by an injured man, claimed that he was in the Dead Zone. We tried to give him medical attention, but he was badly injured and was soon gonna die from blood loss. He then brings me close and warns me about the Dead Zone, said that there were ‘monster’ that walked the place, right before he killed himself.” Shift stared at me in astonishment from the story I had told. “What I’m trying to say is… does something live here, is it the reason why countless people have vanished?”

Shift bit down on her lip, her eyes full of worry. She was like that for a few seconds before she spoke “There’s something in here, something that isn’t human or Changeling. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but... it may be the reason why every survivor who comes in here, disappears.” She answered, uneasily. Luna eyed me worryingly upon hearing this, but all I could do was sigh in relief. I finally knew the truth that something lived in the Dead Zone but I would be a bit more happy if we weren't trapped.

“Oh for the love of- did you bribe her just to say that, Morgan?” Markus scolded. I was really hoping that he wouldn’t hear us talk about this.

“And why would I bribe the only friendly Changeling in our group, Markus? You heard her yourself, something lives in the place and it is why countless people have up and vanished when they first stepped into this hell hole! This is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, so how about we just agree to disagree.” I shot back in annoyance.

Having enough of this, Markus swiftly got in front of me, making us stop right next to a CVS pharmacy on the corner. “Agree to disagree? is that what you want to do now?” He questioned in an upset tone. “Morgan, that Spanish guy from two years ago was obviously high on drugs and was referring to the Changelings as ‘monsters’ because they must've killed his family. But ever since he told you about the monsters, you have been non-stop worrying about something you don't even know is real and I am SICK of it! I have told you countless times about this crap and I am going to tell you again. There is no such thing as-”

He was interrupted by the sounds of metal falling to the ground. We looked up the road to see a metal garbage can rolling into the street from an alley. I quickly got in front of Markus, pulling out my pistol with Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Jacob and Kenny coming up along like me, ready to fight off whatever was about to show itself.

It felt like minutes had gone by until the figure revealed himself to be… just some guy. He had ragged modern clothes on, had messing brown hair and it looked like he walked with a limp. He started staggering his way to a car that was vertically parked in the middle of the street and knelt down behind it. I couldn’t understand if he saw us and was trying to hide or if he was scavenging for supplies.

“Honestly Morgan, I just can’t… I cannot deal with your shit anymore.” Markus scoffed as he bumped past me and started walking after the man.

“Markus, get your ass back here!” I quietly called after him, not wanting to gain the attention of the guy behind the truck in case he was hostile. But the only reply I got was him flipping the bird directly at me.

“Kid, maybe he’s right, that this whole thing about monsters in the Dead Zone is just a made up story told by some druggie who was suffering from the effects of whatever he was on,” Kenny said with a concerned voice.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to think about all of this anymore. For all I know, for the past two years, we could’ve been worrying about something that didn’t even exist in the first place. Hell, all those people who disappeared in the Dead zone were probably captured and killed by Changelings and this whole story about ‘something living inside the Dead Zone’ was started just to put fear in our hearts. This entire thing was just one, big, freaking lie and we’ve been spoonfed the whole thing.

“Evan, Shift, you two are with me. I noticed the guy was limping and he could obviously use some medical attention.” I stated, changing the subject as we started walking after Markus. He was only half a block away from us, but we were catching up with him.

“Excuse me, sir?” Markus called out as he got closer to the truck. “Our group and I accidentally got trapped in this place while on the run from Changelings and we were wonder- ” He stopped mid-sentence, his face full of fear and disgust as he walked over to the other side of the truck, looking down at where the guy was.

Seeing his reaction, we increase our speed towards him till we were a few feet from him. “Markus, everything al- what the hell?” I exclaimed as we got up next to him, looking at what he saw.

In front of us was the same guy with the limp, crouching over a corpse with his gut split open with entrails hanging out. But worse of all was that the guy was digging his hands into the corpse and was eating the flesh of the remains that laid before him.

The Changed

I had no words as to what we were witnessing. All we could do was stare in disgust and horror as the guy in front of us dug his hands into the corpse, feasting on its flesh all the while.

Evan shook his head in disbelief, hoping that what we were seeing wasn’t real. Shift buried her face into Evan, wanting to hide herself from the scene. Markus just stared wide-eyed and as for me, part of myself just wanted to vomit, but I held my hand to my mouth, preventing that from happening.

“U-u-umm… Ok, it seems you’re a bit busy with your… b-breakfast.” Markus started, almost vomiting at the word. The guy in front of us stopped as he heard Markus’ voice. “So, w-w-we’re just gonna go and we’ll leave you to… your…“ Markus trailed off as the guy turned his head and showed his face to us.

Something was obviously wrong with the guy and I doubt it was from drugs. He had open wounds all over his face, some actually showed the bone. His eyes were soulless blue which resembled a Changeling’s, but what really stood out was a very dark black pigmentation on some parts of his face. He looked at all of us before he turned his gaze towards Markus. He bared his blood-coated teeth with two noticeable fangs at Markus and made a growl that sent shivers across our bodies.

“Oh hell no!” Was all Markus could say as he was pushed to the ground with the guys on top of him, trying to bite at his face.

“Get this psycho off me!” Markus yelled as he strained to push him off. Evan and I rushed to his aid as we grabbed the guy by his shoulders and pulled him off, but after that, he wouldn’t stop struggling to get out of our grip.

“Buddy, you’re not well!” Evan said, trying to calm him down. “I’m a doctor, let me-” He was interrupted as the guy flailed his arm in Evan’s face, knocking him to the ground.

“Dude! Just calm dow-” I said but was hit in the face with his other arm, knocking me into the side of the truck. The guy darted his gaze back towards Markus who sat on the pavement with Shift trying to help him up as he then started limping back towards Markus, wanting to finish what he started.

Shift noticed him staggering back towards Markus and quickly got in front of him. “Sir, please. We’re not here to hurt you, we just wanna-” She didn’t finish as he pushed right through her, knocking her to the ground as if he didn’t see her in the way.

Markus could only back up until he up touched up against the building behind him. He quickly pulled out his Beretta m9 and aimed it at the man closing in on him. “Dude, Please. Do not make me shoot you.” Markus warned, fear in his voice. But the guy continued staggering towards him as if he didn’t hear him. They were about three feet from each other and Markus was about to pull the trigger till a gunshot rang out and a bullet came out of the guy’s left eye.

The guy then kneeled to the ground and fell face flat on the sidewalk. Markus looked at the guy now dead in front of him, but yet, he never pulled the trigger. He then looked up and saw me leaning against the truck with my desert eagle in my hand, the barrel still smoking.

“You alright, Markus?” I asked as I lowered my gun.

“Yeah, I… I… I… I’m not ok!” He replied as he ran toward the garbage can that was knocked over from the nearby alley. He quickly set it up right and started throwing up this morning’s breakfast into it. The sound of clopping was heard as I turned around and saw Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Kenny, Jacob, Chris and the others running towards us.

“Morgan,” Celestia said with worry. “Is everything- oh my.” She turned her gaze to the man, now dead on the sidewalk.

“Morgan, I thought you were gonna help him?” Twilight yelled, upset that I had just killed someone.

“Trust me Twilight, this guy was way beyond our help,” I stated as I knelt down and rolled the body onto his back so that the other could get a good look at why I killed him. Everyone gasped in shock at the sight of the guy’s ripped up face.

“Sweet Celestia.” Twilight quietly exclaimed as she stared at the body.

“Dear God, the hell was wrong with him?” Kenny questioned, kneeling down to get a good look at his face.

“Well, I have a hunch that this is what the virus did to the people who got infected and why countless people have upped and vanished while in this damned place,” I suggested as I pointed at the corpse.

“As my time as a doctor, never in all my life have I come across something like this,” Evan stated as he kneeled down next to me and started examining the body.

I heard movement behind and looked over my shoulder and saw Markus walking back, wiping some excess vomit from the corner of his mouth. All I could do was smirk at him. Of all the times he told us that monsters in the Dead Zone weren't real, he was dead wrong. “So Markus, you think this guy was on drugs as well.” I joked.

“Screw you, Morgan.” He said emotionlessly as he narrowed his eyes at me.

“Hey, Markus! You still think monsters are not real?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smile.

“Mon-ster. I only see one and only one. So just because there’s this… thing, lying dead in front of us, doesn't mean there’s more of them!” He protested in annoyance.

“Hey everyone, I found more people!” Pinkie Pie announced.

“Really, where?” I asked with an eager tone as I came up next to her.

“They’re coming down the road, there!” she replied with a smile, pointing her hoof towards the road, from where we came from.

I looked at where she was pointing and my face went from excited to utter fear. “Oh, you have gotta be kidding me,” I muttered as I saw the people she was talking about. Coming down the street was a large group of people, staggering or limping their way towards us, and moans could be heard as they got closer. I instantly knew that they were infected with the virus, just like the guy that attacked us.

“Well Pinkie, you did find more people, just not very friendly ones,” I said as I put my hand in front of her and started backing away.

“Morgan, there’s more coming down that other way,” Chris stated with a worried tone. I turned around and he was right, another large group of infected people coming down the other way.

I then looked at Markus and gave him an unamused look. “You just had to say it, didn't’ you?” I said sarcastically. “Everyone, weapons up!” I ordered as Chris, Jacob, Markus, Evan, Kenny and I held up our weapons and aimed at the enclosing groups of infected people. Everypony got behind us for protection as they were defenseless without their magic or wings.

“Morgan, what do we do? We’re being surrounded.” Luna said as she got beside me.

“I-I don’t know, Luna,” I replied, nervously. “We never prepared ourselves for the Dead Zone. Hell, we never even wanted to come here in the first place.”

“Well, you better think of something fast,” Fluttershy asked as she cowered behind Markus.

I started looking at our surrounding, hoping to get an Idea. There were buildings around us with boarded-up doors and window, but even if we got inside, it wouldn’t stop the horde of infected from getting it and fighting them off was way out of the question as I doubt we had enough ammo to kill that many infected people.

“Guys, I got nothing. I don’t wha-” I was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot and Twilight yelping from behind me. I quickly turned around to see an infected woman with a bullet hole in her head, fall to the ground only a few feet from Twilight.

We looked down the road from where the shot came from and saw a man standing in front of the CVS pharmacy with a grey beard, wearing an olive field coat, a white shirt, jeans and a black beret. He was holding a scoped AR-10 which was aimed at where the woman was shot. “Get your asses inside, NOW!” He yelled in a gruff voice as he mentioned to the open door of the pharmacy.

I looked back at everyone who were looking at me, whether to trust the guy or not. “You heard the man, Move!” I exclaimed as we all started running towards the pharmacy with the guy firing at any infected that tried to get close to us.

I was only a few feet from the door when I heard Celestia yell out in pain. I turned around and saw her on the ground, struggled to get back on her hooves with infected closing in on her. “Jacob, Chris, cover me!” I yelled as I ran back to help Celestia with Jacob and Chris giving me and Celestia cover fire. Drawing my machete from its sheath, I started swinging it at any infected that stood in my way.

“Celestia, you ok?” I immediately asked as I knelt down in front of her.

“My leg, I-I think I sprained it.” She replied with a look of pain as she continued to get back up.

On instinct, I put my machete back in its sheath and quickly put my arm around her neck, giving her leverage as I helped her back up. Once she was up, we briskly made our way towards the pharmacy as I fired my pistol at a few infected on the way. Just as made our way through the door, Markus, Applejack, The bearded man and three others in military gear immediately started barricading the doors with shelves, crates, and shopping carts. The sounds of growls were heard outside as the infected peoplepounded on the door in vain, trying to get in but the barricade proved to be strong enough.

I was literally panting like a dog as put my hands on my knees in exhaustion as Evan took Celestia from me. “Tha… Thank you!” I said, gasping, as I tried to catch my breath.

“No problem, son.” He replied, “Now, Y'all wanna tell me exactly who the hell you all are?” He asked as he crossed his arms at me, giving me a stern look.

I held a finger up, showing that I was still trying to catch my breath before I finally eased my breathing. “I… I’m Morgan, and the people and ponies you see before you are my group.” I introduced.

He raised his eyebrow as he looked upon the equestrians. “You say these creatures with you are... ponies?” He asked in a confused manner.

“Long story short, We saved them from Changelings twice yesterday and they’re helping us take back the city because they happen to be Chrysalis’ enemies back where she came from,” I explained. They looked at like I was crazy before Twilight and Luna stepped in.

“He’s telling the truth sir,” Twilight spoke up. “Queen Chrysalis has tried to take over Equestria, our home multiple times but we’ve always beat her. But she vowed revenge after we reformed her old army!”

“Morgan’s been protecting us against Chrysalis’ guard since yesterday and he has earned our respect because of it. Without him, we would have perished from Chrysalis’ forces long ago.” Luna added.

The bearded man looked at us for a few moments before his expression softened. “You’ve all been through a lot of shit, huh?” He asked as we all nodded in response. “Alright, I believe ya.” He said as he turned towards me and held out his hand, wanting me to shake it which I gladly accepted.

“I’m First Sergeant William Henderson or Will for short, And the people behind me are my group. Brandon, Sarah and Kyle, our medic.” Will said, introducing us to his team.

The first man Will introduced, Brandon, was Caucasian, slightly muscular, bald and had a scar across his right eye. Sarah, also Caucasian, had the body of a model and had long brown hair, and last was Kyle, an Asian who had a skinny body, short black hair and a small mustache

“So what brings Y'all to the Dead Zone.” Will asked.

“We could be asking you the same thing,” Jacob replied.

“Five days ago, my team and I were ordered to investigate the Dead Zone, find out why countless people had gone missing over the years, and as you can see, that’s why.” Will said as he gestured his hand to the infected people still pounding on the door.

“And so this is what the virus did, it turned all these people into monsters?” Luna asked.

“Apparently, yeah,” Kyle replied. “We all thought at first that the virus was somewhat like the flu. But upon seeing all those innocent people infected with it, we knew that it was something much more.” He explained, gazing at the door with countless infected on the other side. “We ended up calling them The Changed.”

“The Changed, why call them that?” Kenny questioned with a confused look.

“You all noticed that all those people had black pigmentations on their faces and bodies, right?” Kyle asked as we nodded. “Well, it turns out that it’s Changeling chitin.”

“Changeling chitin? But how’s that possible?” Twilight questioned.

“You got me.” Kyle shrugged. “But whatever kind of virus infected them in the first place, it changed their DNA and it ended up turning them into a Human-Changeling hybrid.” It kinda made sense, the black markings, the fangs, the soulless eyes, all these features resembled that of a Changeling.

“So, now that we’ve told you our story, you mind telling us yours?” Will asked in a polite manner.

“We stopped for the night in an apartment complex not too far from here as we were being hunted by Changelings. Just this morning we found out that they trapped us in here by expanding the area of the Dead Zone.” I explained.

“Where were you traveling?” Sarah asked.

“We’re heading south to find the Remnants of Minnesota. Morgan’s Uncle told us that they were real and we’re hoping they can help us take back the city of Saint Paul.” Luna replied. Will started chuckling, shaking his head as he heard this.

“What so funny?” Twilight questioned

“Nothing kid, nothing at all. It’s just, your looking at a few members of the Remnants, right in front of you.” Will said, smiling as he says this.

“Hold on a second!” Pinkie Pieexclaimed as she grabbed a cup of water from… somewhere, and did a spit take.

“Y-Your members of the Remnants?” Twilight exclaimed, astonished.

“And have been for the last few years,” Sarah replied. “John, the leader of the Remnants has been waiting for the right moment to plan an attack on Saint Paul and retake it.”

“But to hear that you Equestrians are helping Morgan and his crew, wanting to take back the city... John’s gonna need to see all of you ASAP!” Kyle added.

“Except we need to get out of this hell hole if we’re gonna do that,” Brandon said, stepping forward.

“But, if all of you came here to investigate the Dead Zone, how did you get inside in the first place? I mean I doubt Gramps here wouldn’t have enough energy to climb up and down the Dead Zone wall to escape.” Rainbow Dash stated, mentioned towards Will but only to get a glare from him in return. “Eh heh, n-no offense.” She added, nervously.

“Well the Rainbow Pony's right, I’m too old for all that rock climbing crap. That’s why we had a Changeling, part of the rebellion help us get in through the front door.” Will said.

“Ok… so then where’s the Changeling?” Jacob asked, seeing that there was no Changeling with them.

“He tried ditched us when we were being overrun by the Changed. Turns out the bastard was working with the Queen’s Guard but had been with our group for only a few days. Littered him with bullet holes before he could escape.” Brandon replied confidently.

“Yet your action ended up leaving us stranded in here with those freaks roaming around, Brandon!” Kyle added as he glared at Brandon, but he just rolled his eyes.

“So ah’m guessing Y'all came through the door Shift told us about and know where it is?” Applejack asked.

“You’d be right, little lady.” Will complemented. “The door’s on the 35w highway, though it was gonna be problematic for us since we didn’t have a Changeling to open the door, but seeing how you have one with you, it may change that.” Will stated as he walked up to Shift. “I take it that your Shift?” He asked.

“Y-yeah.” Shift answered with a hint of fear in her voice.

“You don’t need to be scared, Shift.” Will said with a caring tone as he knelt down in front of her. “No one here’s gonna hurt you.” Shift made a small smile upon hearing this.

“Alright, so how are we gonna get to the door with all those Changed out there?” Kenny questioned.

“There’s another member in our group, CJ. Ever since we got ourselves trapped in here, he volunteered to scout the city for a working vehicle and has been for the last few days.” Sarah explained.

“Speaking of which, I’m gonna need to radio him in, tell him to find something with more space that’s gonna fit all of us.” Will spoke up as he pulled out a radio and walked off.

“As for all of you,” Kyle announced, gaining our attention towards him. “You better make yourselves comfortable. You’re gonna be here for a while.” With that said, everyone walked off to explore the pharmacy. As for me, Luna and Twilight, we went to check on Evan and Celestia.

*******

As we entered the pharmaceutical area, I noticed that the whole area was still untouched. Cough syrups, allergy pills, prescriptions still in bags from before the war, the area was a medical gold mine. We ended up finding Celestia lying down on a bench with Evan putting a splint on her sprained leg.

“How’s she doing, Doc?” I asked, smiling as I said this.

Evan just scoffed with a smile. “Just a sprained leg, nothing too serious. I just put a splint on it and gave her some medication to ease the pain. All she needs is some rest.” He explained.

“Are tho alright, Sister?” Luna asked as she knelt down next to Celestia.

“I’m fine Luna, you don’t need to worry about me,” Celestia replied as she nuzzled Luna before turning her attention at me. “Evan and I heard everything, Morgan. Is it true? Are these people really with the Remnants?” She asked.

“They are, Celestia, and Will think’s John will be happy to hear that you are willing to help us. I think luck is finally on our side.” I replied.

“Even though it wasn’t with us after learning that you killed a Changeling General and made his friend pissed towards you,” Evan added.

“Or that he followed us to your home,” Twilight added.

“Or that he located us near the Dead Zone and trapped us inside as we slept,” Celestia added.

I facepalmed myself as they finished listing of the negative outcomes that had happened to us. “Don’t remind me,” I muttered as we all starting laughing about it. The laughter went on for a few, till Will and Kyle walked up to us.

“I just got in contact with CJ, he said that he’ll start searching for anything large enough to hold us all.” He said.

“How long do think it’ll take him?” I asked.

“Well, he left thirty minutes before Y'all came and riled up the neighborhood, So I’d say it’ll take a few hours, maybe more.” Will replied.

“But look on the bright side, we’re all safe in here from the Changed,” Kyle stated. He wasn’t lying, the entire pharmacy was probably the safest places to be in. The windows were high enough off the ground so that the Changed couldn’t get in and the barricade at the door was still hold the Changed from getting inside. This place wasn’t almost as safe as the school, and it was nice.

“Now, I don’t think I got your names.” Will said as he turned his attention towards the three Princesses.

“Sergeant William, I’d like you to meet Celestia, Princess of the Sun, Luna, Princess of the Moon and Twilight Sparkle, The Princess of Friendship,” I announced as Will’s eyes went wide upon hearing their titles.

“You’re Princesses!” He exclaimed as the three alicorns nodded in unison. “Damn, if you would’ve told me this sooner, I would’ve rolled out the red carpet! If this place sold one at least.” He said, muttering the last part.

“You don’t need to be formal, Sergeant. We’re only here to help liberate your home from Chrysalis and her forces, not just to be seen a royalty.” Celestia reassured.

“Very well your highne- I-I-I mean, Celestia.” Will replied, quickly catching himself from being formal.

“If you don’t mind, Celestia,” Kyle spoke up. “Would you be willing to tell us about your home, Equestria. As a kid, I always believed in life on other worlds, but to see you guys before our very eyes… It would be an absolute honor to learn some information about your species.”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight looked amongst each other until they both nodded in agreement. “I think we’d being willing to see you about Equestria.” Twilight happily replied as Will and Kyle each pulled up a chair with Evan and I sticking around, listening to the three Princesses as they began to tell their tale of their home.

A Way Out

When William said that it would be a few hours for a reply back from CJ, he was not kidding. For the last seven hours we have been waiting for him to radio in about finding a larger vehicle, but we had not heard one word back from him. The Changed outside had given their interest in us and left, but even though they had wandered off elsewhere, none of us wanted to go outside.

I was wandering around the back room of the pharmacy as the whole area was still stocked with stuff from before the war. Food essentials, soda drinks, and more importantly, candy. Oh my God, I never thought I’d see a Hershey's bar again, it’s been at least three years since I last had one! I had to get a shopping basket and fill it with the sweets that had been hidden away from the world and decided to share them with the others.

Chris and Markus were also in here as they were packing the supplies into the enchanted bag. You should have seen their faces when I told them about what I found, the literally flipped when I said the "C" word. Couldn’t help but laugh as the stopped what they were doing and rushed over to where the sweets were. I had just walked out of the room and was about to turn the corner when I was met with the stiff, Brandon.

“Kid, I wanna talk to you,” he said with a stern voice.

“Uh, maybe later, Brandon,” I replied as I had a feeling that it wasn’t gonna be a friendly conversation. I tried to walk past him but only for him to step right in front of me.

“It wasn’t a question.” He said bluntly, crossing his arms.

Not wanting this to get out of hand, I set the basket on the floor and looked him straight in the eye. “Ok, what is it?” I asked with a sigh. He then moved his face towards mine until we were a foot away from each other.

“Sarah is off limits.” He said in a quiet and serious voice.

As I heard this I couldn’t help but sigh and shook my head. “You’re kidding? you’re kidding, right? Because no offense, but Sarah is not my type, I don’t even have any sexual thoughts about her.” I protested in an exasperated tone.

“Says the kid who's the last name is from a sex book,” Brandon replied with a glare. I really, really hate it when people compare my family name to the stupid novel. “Now I am going to tell you again,” Brandon started. “Sarah is off limits. You try anything and I will hand feed you to the Changed outside, got it?”

I sighed again, exasperated by what he told me. I had to agree to his terms or else I would probably die. “Alright, what you say, goes,” I replied with a sigh.

“Good.” Was all he said before bumping his way past me as I picked up the basket of candy.

“Territorial Jackass,” I muttered as I started walking, but Brandon must’ve heard me as the next thing I know, I’m getting turned around and he grabs a hold of my neck and leans me up against the wall with my feet dangling a foot off the floor, making me drop the basket on the floor. It was getting harder and harder to breathe with him choking me as I tried to pry his hands off my neck but he had a strong grip on me and would not let go.

“You wanna say that to my face this time?” He growled. I could see the anger in his eyes as he awaited my answer, but I was not going to submit.

“Terri… t-torial… jack… a-ass.” I choked, not a hint of fear appeared on my face as I said this. He reeled back his fist, ready to punch a hole straight in my face and I just stared at him, ready for the impending pain.

“Bandon!” A voice yelled. We turned our heads to the left to see Sarah standing a few feet away. “Put, him, down.” She ordered. He released his grip on my neck and I dropped to the floor as I started gasping and coughing while rubbing my neck from the amount of pressure, I didn’t even notice Brandon walk over to Sarah.

“Sarah,” He started. “I’m just-” A loud slapping sound interrupted him as I could only presume that Sarah slapped him across his face.

“Brandon, I know you’re trying to keep me safe, but when will you learn that not every man we meet wants to rape or have sex with me?” She hissed. Brandon said nothing, knowing she was right. “Why don’t you go guard the door, where there are no other men trying to flirt with me.” She said as Brandon walked past her without saying a word. Once he left, Sarah walked up and helped me back on my feet. “You alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” I reassured her with a smile “But you oughta keep your boyfriend on a leash.” I stated.

“He’s actually my Brother.” Sarah corrected with a half smile.

“Well, either way, he seems like a nice guy to hang around with,” I said, sarcastically.

Sarah gave a sigh as I said this. “He wasn’t always like this. He was actually a very nice man before the war.” She replied.

“So what changed him?” I asked, curious about what he was like before.

“A year after the war started, my brother and I were ambushed by a group of bandits, and their leader dragged me inside a house and did… unimaginable things to me while the others started beating Brandon senselessly.” Sarah explained, shuddering at the memories. “I think hearing my screams, it made Brandon snap in some way. All I can tell you is that when he barged into the room we were in, his face and hands were coated in blood and when he saw the guy on top of me, he rushed at him with such speed, slammed him against the wall and started beating his face in with his bare fists till it was barely recognizable.”

“After that, he vowed that he wouldn’t let me become a victim of rape ever again. But for the past years, he’s been taking it too seriously. He doesn’t allow other men anywhere near me as he thinks they all have sexual thoughts about me and it’s been quite annoying.” She finished. Her story left me awestruck. Never in my life had I met someone who had to go through all that.

“I… I’m sorry for what you had to go through,” I said, not knowing that pain she or her brother had endured.

“Don’t be, ever since that day, I’ve gotten stronger and those memories don’t haunt me anymore. But for Brandon… ” She paused for a moment before changing the subject. “Anyway, I can only presume you’re bringing that basket to your pony friends, so I’ll leave you be and I’ll go help your friends stock up on supplies.” She said as she walked past me and into the back room.

I just stood there, still astonished by the story she told me. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for both Sarah and her brother. The amount of pain that was inflicted on them so long ago, I don’t think it could be compared to what I or Jacob had gone through. I snapped myself back into reality, picked up the basket and started making my way to where the others were. I just hope that with what Sarah told me, will never happen to our Equestrian friends, cause I would never forgive myself if it did.

*******

As I made it back to the pharmaceutical area, I saw that everyone was still resting, mainly Celestia in her current state. I noticed Twilight and her friends sitting amongst each other, probably talking about everything that had happened to us within the last 24 hours.

“Hey Twilight,” I called out. She looked up and seeing that I was carrying a shopping basket, she walked her way over to me. “Thought you and your friends could use a little something,” I said as I showed her the basket of candy and I was earned a smile from her.

“That’s very kind of you Morgan, thank you.” She said

“So how are your friends holding up?” I asked as I glanced past her, seeing her friends didn’t realize that she had left.

“They’re scared. Scared of everything they’ve seen so far. You’re kind’s weapons, the fact the Chrysalis' Changelings are everywhere and now this virus along with those who were infected by it. Your world that the Ark sent us to, it’s fascinating but frightening at the same time… And yet… we feel so safe. Safe when we’re around you, your friends, your Uncle, even the Remnant soldiers.” She explained as she then took a deep breath and looked up at me. “Morgan, you have risked your life multiple times, trying to protect us and keep us safe. I know that we have said this to you over and over again, but-” She was interrupted as I knelt down and put a single finger over her lips, making her stop talking.

“Twilight, you don’t have to thank me,” I said reassuringly. “I’m just trying to watch out for my group and make sure that none of them get hurt in any way possible and right now, you, your friends, Celestia and Luna, you are all part of this group now and no matter what, I swear on my life that we will keep you safe.”

As I finished, I removed my finger and pulled Twilight into a hug, making her smile. We continued the hug for about a minute or so until I released her, handed her the basket which she took with her mouth and walked back to her friends. I watch her show her friends the basket of goodies which made them smile.

“You are a kind man, Morgan Grey.” I heard Luna say as I saw her sitting up against the wall on the floor, next to her sister who was sleeping on the bench.

“What can I say, I was born a kind person,” I replied to her with a smile as I sat next to her. “How’s your sister?” I asked.

“She is fine so far, just like Evan said, all she needs is rest,” Luna replied as I nodded in understanding. I was about to turn my head away from her until I noticed a hint of worry in her eyes.

“Luna, is something bothering you?” I asked with a concerned voice but she didn’t answer. Knowing it was probably something serious, I put my hand on her shoulder, hoping she would open up. “Luna, whatever it is, you can tell me,” I said.

“Remember how I told you last night, during your dream that I can see into the dreams of others.” She asked in which I nodded in response. “Well, last night, I could only see the dreams of you, the others and everyone else on the planet.”

“I don’t see a problem with that,” I said as I didn’t know what she meant.

“Morgan, I couldn’t see the dreams of the ponies in Equestria, only the dreams of us and every human on your world,” she said, looking me in the eyes.

“Oh.” Was all that came out of my mouth. I could see why she would be concerned about this.

“I don’t know how but there’s some sort of interference between both our worlds which prevents me from seeing the dreams back in Equestria. I could only presume that it’s because of the Ark because when we stepped through, we were supposed to be teleported to another Ark on your planet, but it didn’t. We have no idea where the Ark is on your world or if there even is an Ark on your world, period…” she paused before looking down in sorrow. “I fear, that we will never return to our home,” she said, a single tear running down her cheek.

“Luna, look at me.” I said as I put my hand under her chin and guided her head to look at me “I don’t care how long it’ll take, but when we take back our home and free it from Chrysalis, I will do everything in my power to help you, your sister and everypony else get back to your home.” I said solemnly as I wiped the tear off her face. “You heard what I said to Twilight: You are all part of this group now, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you all safe.”

“You have cared so much for us ever since we left at the Stadium, thank you so much, Morgan,” Luna said, a small smile appearing on her face.

“You’re very welcome,” I replied with a smile. We sat next to each other in silence and it was very peaceful, besides the hundreds of Changed outside, still pounding on the door. A few moments had passed before Luna spoke up.

“Morgan, it’s been some time since we talked to each other in your dream, and I am still awaiting an answer for my question,” Luna stated as I slightly turned my head towards her with a confused look.

“Question? What-” That when I remembered from what she asked me. That if I had feelings for her. “Oh, I-I remember,” I said plainly, trying my best to hide my nervousness.

“Well, Morgan? Do you have feelings for me?” She asked

All I could do was sigh. This was not going to stop. I had to tell her the truth, the truth that I saw her as something beautiful, more beautiful than any other thing in the world. There was no other choice. “Luna… the truth is-”

“Hey, kid!” Will yelled, getting the attention of all of us as he rushed around the corner. “I just got back from CJ, he says that he found us a school bus at the south high school north of here.”

“That’s great!” I exclaimed as I got on my feet, not noticing the annoyance on Luna’s face from dodging her question. “Did he say that he was on his way?” I asked.

“He didn’t call me about that,” Will replied, solemnly. “He radioed in saying that a large group of Changed is occupying the school’s parking lot where the bus is and that he needs assistance in clearing the area in order to get to it.”

“And you want me to go help him out?” I guessed as I got a nod in response from him. “Well, I don't have a problem with that,” I said as I turned towards Jacob and Kenny.

“Jacob, you’re with me,” I said as he nodded in response. “And Kenny, if you want in on the action feel free to join us,” I added, turning my attention toward my Uncle.

“Eh, I could use some exercise,” Kenny stated.

“Just one thing kid.” Will started. “You are to use your guns, ONLY as a last resort. The Changed are drawn to noise, so if you go shooting your guns off, you’ll be surrounded by dozens of Changed in minutes.”

“I think we have a workaround for that,” I stated as looked towards Jacob. “Jacob, go get a pump action shotgun and a Salvo 12 from the bag,” I said to him as he nodded and walked off.

“Morgan?” I turned around to see Twilight and her friends standing before me. “We want to come with you,” Twilight said, confidently.

“Twilight,” I said, softly. “I respect that you and your friends wanna help out, I really do, but-”

“Morgan, Darling, the only time you let any of us help you was when Luna accompanied you on retrieving your Uncle.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, and she had to sneak out of the church to do so! You may see us as ponies, but we are far from being defenseless!” Rainbow Dash added.

“Morgan, we all want to liberate your home as much as you do, but we can’t help you unless you let us,” Luna added as she walked up alongside me.

They were right, not once had I asked them to tag along as help. Not when Razorfang intruded in our home and not when I went to get my uncle out of Saint Paul. I have to let them pitch in or else we won't get very far.

“Ok, fine, you can come with us,” I said in a defeated tone as Twilight’s friends cheered. “But!” I said in a loud tone as I got their attention again. “I will only allow three of you come with, so you should discuss on who stays and who goes.” Twilight and her friends huddled together and started talking about who came with and who stayed behind.

Morgan,” Luna started as I turned to look at her. “I know that you are against the idea, but-”

“You can come with as well, Luna.” I interrupted before I gave a sigh. “You guys are right, not once have I let you tag along when it came fighting off Changelings or sneaking into a Changeling controlled city, so I'm not gonna stop you,” I explained as I then turned my gave towards Celestial, still sleeping on the bench. “But what about your sister, don't you think you should stay with her?”

“She will understand, Morgan, don't worry,” Luna replied, reassuringly.

A few seconds later, Jacob came back with a Mossberg 500 in his hands with a salvo 12 suppressor attached to it, and an ammo belt with shotgun shells. “Gun’s lock and loaded,” Jacob said.

I turned to see Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked up to us. “So this is who’s coming with?” I asked as the three ponies nodded. “Now that you guys are coming with, I want you all to stay close to us so that none of you get hurt, that clear?” I questioned as Luna, Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack nodded in affirmation.

“There’s a back door that leads into the alley behind the pharmacy. The entries were blocked off so that no Changed could get in through the back door.” Will stated.

“Thanks for the advice, Will,” I replied as I turned to those who were coming with. “Alright, let's move,” I announced. Everyone wished us luck as Luna walked over to Celestia, whispering something in her ear which I could only presume that she said to her that she will be fine and be back soon. I also saw my Uncle hug his family, telling them that he would be back. With the goodbyes out of the way, we made our way to the back door and started our trip to the high school.

*******

It had been minutes since we left, we were all walking close to each other through alleys behind abandoned homes, just to make sure that we were not seen by any Changed. I noticed that the sun was starting to set with night slowly taking over. I told everyone that we had to keep up the pace, cause I’ll be damned if I’m going to be out here in the dark with the countless Changed that lurked in the Dead Zone.

We all had our weapons at the ready in case we were attacked. I had my machete in my hand, Jacob was still carrying the silenced shotgun, and Kenny carried a fire ax that he took from the pharmacy on our way out. As for the ponies with us, Luna, Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash kept close to us as we were their only protection out here.

“So Twilight,” I spoke up, keeping my voice down in case there were Changed close by. “After Chrysalis and her army first attacked Canterlot, during your Brother’s wedding, did you do some research on their species, like did you find anything that could prove helpful to us?” I asked.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Twilight replied with a smile. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, did you come across anything about Changelings being enemies with other nations or a creature that hunted them for food or any of that?” I asked.

Twilight thought for a bit before answering. “Well, I was told by Thorax, the ruler of the now reformed Changelings back in Equestria, that Changelings were prey to a species called Scorpius or in other words; Scorponies.” She answered.

“Let me guess,” Kenny spoke up. “They’re half pony, half scorpion?”

“Yes, Scorponies looked just like average ponies, but they had a scorpion's tail that contained venom that could drain a Changeling’s magic, thus restoring their magic in the process. Also, the only way you could compare a Scorpony’s gender is by their height. Where a male would be the same height of an average pony, a female would be somewhat taller than a filly.” Twilight explained.

“And I’m guessing because of the female’s height, they were more dangerous than males, right?” Jacob asked.

“Indeed, females were smarter, more agile and could launch missiles out of their tail. As for males, they were more durable and had a resistant to magic.” Twilight replied.

“You’re talking about them like they don’t exist anymore. Isn’t their species still around in Equestria? ” I asked.

“Sadly, they are not, Their species went extinct almost 500 years ago and all that we’ve found of them were their fossils in the badlands,” Twilight replied.

“Damn shame,” Kenny stated. It was a shame, really. To hear about a species that was once a great predator to Changelings, but only to learn that they’ve been extinct for centuries where they could’ve been helpful with this war.

“But look on the Bright side! At least we don’t have to worry about them attacking Thorax and the other Changelings back in Equestria.” Rainbow stated.

“And besides,” Applejack joined in. “Even if we were able to bring them along to your planet, not only would they help us with your Changeling problem, they would’ve attacked the Changeling rebels as well.” She stated. She did have a point, the Changeling Rebellion is one of few forces that want to help us take back our planet, and if they were all killed-

“Um, Morgan?” Twilight started, interrupting my train of thought as I looked at her. “Have you come to a decision, whether to tell the others about you-know-what?” She asked quietly, not wanting Jacob or her friends to hear. I had been thinking about it, about Chrysalis and her army being on earth for the last five centuries, and with all thinking, I had come to a decision.

“I have Twilight and…” I paused as I took a deep breath. “I think it would be a good idea that we told them, my friends have the right to know the truth, and I don’t want to hold onto this secret forever. But we can’t tell yet, learning about a virus which turned countless lives into the Changed is enough for today.” I replied with the same tone of voice. I did mean what I said, everyone deserved to know the truth about the Changeling’s existence here on earth, no matter how hard it would impact them.

“I understand,” Twilight said with a nod. “Hopefully when we’re out of this place we can-”

“Shh!” Jacob hushed, abruptly. He then pointed to a nearby dumpster, meaning that he heard something come from within it.

I nodded in response and gestured with my hands for the ponies to stay back and keep quiet and for Kenny to follow my lead. Kenny and I slowly walk up to the dumpster, leaving Jacob with the mares. Once we had gotten to the dumpster, we carefully put our hands on each lid, ready to open it and attack whatever was inside. We immediately open the lids and were about to bring our weapons down on whatever was inside, but stopped as we saw that inside was an African male.

“WOAH, WOAH!” He reiterated, obviously not wanting to be killed as he shielded himself with an aluminum baseball bat. We got a better look at the guy inside and saw that he had short black hair, wore a white t-shirt, military pants with knee pads strapped on and a light tactical vest. We instantly knew that this must’ve been CJ, William told us about.

“I take it you’re CJ?” I asked, holding out my hand to help him out.

“And you must be Morgan.” He replied “No offense, but I pictured you a bit more mus… cu… lar.” CJ trailed as he stared in awe the ponies standing behind Jacob. “Damn, I thought Sarge was kidding when he said you had magical ponies with you.” He exclaimed, calmly as I pointed to each of them, one by one.

“That’s Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight and Luna, and the two others are Jacob and my Uncle Kenny,” I said, stating their names to him.

“So, you mind telling us why you were hiding in a Dumpster?” Kenny questioned.

“Some Changed snuck up behind me while I was scouting out the area. I hid inside here as they walked past and decided to stay in here till you guys arrived. I actually thought you were Changed when I heard you walk up.” CJ explained.

“So William mentioned that you found us our way out of here?” Luna questioned, getting right to the point of why we came here.

“Yeah, I did. Follow me, but stay low.” CJ said as we followed him to our means of transportation. We quietly followed him down the alley until he stopped right next to a garage that was next to the street. He peeked around the corner and then looked back as he gestured with his hand for us to look as well. We all took a look and saw the high school before us with a few cars that were still in the parking lot and some Changed that roamed the area as well, but what caught our eyes was the bus that was parked right at the school’s entrance, our ticket out of the Dead Zone.

“So how many are we dealing with?” Jacob asked, mentioning the number of Changed in the parking lot.

“About 15 of them, the reason why called Sarge for assistance,” CJ replied.

“So what’s the plan, kid?” My Uncle asked.

“Well, even if we did this stealthily, it would take up too much time, so we’re gonna right up attack them while there’s still light in the sky,” I stated, before turning to our pony friends. “As for you girls, one of you will be with each of us and be our second pair of eyes, in case we’re attacked from behind.” The four mares nodded in agreement.

“Alright, clear out the area, then make our way towards the bus. Let’s go!” I exclaimed as we moved up to the school with CJ, Kenny, Rainbow, and Luna taking the east side of the school and Jacob, Twilight, Applejack and I taking the south side. As we moved up on our side of the school, I saw from across the parking lot Kenny and Cj moving in with Luna and Rainbow close behind them. A few Changed noticed them and tried to make their move but were instantly put down by Kenny’s ax and CJ’s bat.

Now was our turn to approach as I walked up to two Changed who were coming at me with Twilight right behind me. With such grace, I sliced the first one’s arm off before stabbing straight through its head and cut the seconded one’s head clean off as it tried to lunge at me. Jacob rushed past me, holding up the shotgun and fired at three Changed that were in his way, with the suppressor silencing the shots.

“Morgan, behind us!” Twilight exclaimed as I turned around to see three Changed staggering up to us from between two parked cars. I quickly got in front of Twilight, not wanting her to be hurt and held up my machete in defense. I was about to charge at them, right before the car on the right was pushed towards the three Changed, pinning them between the two vehicles. Twilight and I look to see who was responsible and saw Applejack, facing away from where the car was. I was amazed at how she saved us by bucking a two-ton car into these freaks.

“Nice one, AJ!” I commented, earning a tip of her hat from her as she galloped off after Jacob. “Man, that pony is strong!” I said aloud.

“Well, she does buck apple trees for a living,” Twilight stated as we made our way towards the bus where the others were waiting.

As we boarded the bus, Kenny sat in the driver seat and started looking for the keys to the bus while the rest of us sat down in the seats behind him. I looked over the seat to make sure everyone was still present and sure enough, they were. I sat back down in my seat with my machete in my lap and sighed, which got the attention of Luna.

“Thou alright, Morgan?” She asked as she sat down next to me.

“I’m fine, Luna, I’m fine,” I replied as I wiped some sweat from my face. “So… someday this turned out to be, eh?” I asked, earning an eye roll from Luna.

“I have to say, Morgan, you can sure handle yourself in a fight!” Twilight stated, sitting in the seat next to us.

“What can I say, when Changelings take over the entire country, you gotta train yourself to be good with a blade if you wanna fight against them!” I replied back with a shrug. It was true by the way, ever since I found my machete at the pawn shop, I started practicing with it, in case I ever ran out of ammo and it was the only weapon I had. But in the end, all that training was worth it!

“Well I don’t know about you guys, but I am ready to get out of this place, period!” Jacob stated as he stood up from the seat behind us.

“Agreed!” We all said in unison. A minute later, the bus’s engine came to life, telling me that Kenny was successful in finding the key.

“Well I’ll be damn, we have more than enough gas to get ourselves to Albert Lea!” Kenny said out loud.

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s get back to the others so we can get out of this place!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Kenny nodded in response and put his foot on that pedal, driving us back to the pharmacy.

“Morgan?” Luna spoke up softly as I gave her my attention. “I still deserve an answer to my question.”

I looked away and gave a quiet sigh, quiet enough so that Luna or the others could hear. I want to tell her, I want to speak my heart out about what I think of her, but I am just too scared. I just fear that she will reject me if I say want I want to say about her. I know that a lot of you have gone through the exact same thing, how you meet the girl of your dreams and want to say hi but you’re too scared to walk up to her. That’s what I’m going through, except Luna isn’t just some girl, she is a pony Princess from another world and the chance of that happening to anyone one else, will never happen.

“Luna it’s just… look, I’ll talk to you about it later.” I said in an exasperated tone, but Luna looks at me with worry.

“Morgan, if something is on your mind-” I interrupted her by quickly glaring at her with the corner of my eye.

“Luna,” I started, raising my voice a little. “I’ll talk to you, about it, later.” I reiterated as I focused my eyes out the front window, ignoring what expression was showing on Luna’s face. I didn’t want to raise my voice, but it was the only way to tell her that I didn’t want to talk.

“Hey Morgan,” CJ said as he knelt down next to me in the walkway. “I just contacted William about the bus, he said that your friends packed everything up that was in the back room and in the pharmaceutical section. He also told me that the area is clear of Changed so that we can pick them up, but suggests that when we get there, we load everyone up quickly so that the engine of the bus doesn’t draw any Changed out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I replied, nodding in agreement.

“Hey, kid! We're coming up on the pharmacy!” My uncle announced, looking in the rearview mirror at me. As we pulled up outside the pharmacy, Jacob and I got off with our weapons drawn as we kept an eye out for any Changed coming our way.

The door of the pharmacy opens as William, Sarah, Brandon, and Kyle came out with their weapons drawn as well as they got into defensive positions. Seconds later, our friends briskly walked out and boarded the bus, as well as Celestia with Evan helping her to the bus. Once everyone was on, Will’s team followed suit, except for himself who simply walked up to me.

“You did good, son.” He said, giving me a smile and patting me on the shoulder as he got on the bus with Jacob following behind him.

I was about to get on before I took one last look around the area. This place, this is what Chrysalis’ has been hiding from us, this hell, right in our own front yard. But now that we know their secret which has killed countless lives, we could use it to our advantage. I got onto the bus and just like that, we drove off to where the exit out of this place was located. I have waited for this moment all day.

Author's Note

The Scorponies species belongs to Viper Pit

Confessions

It was a ten minutes drive from the Pharmacy to where the door was on the highway. The sun had almost set behind the horizon as stars started to appear in the night sky. No one said a single word on the way there, not even Luna. A few times I would glance at her, but only to see her looking out the window. I had a strong feeling that she would give me a talking to for constantly ignoring her question. The bus came to a slow stop and when I looked out the front window, I saw that only 150 feet in front of us was the wall of the Dead Zone, more importantly, where the door was located.

“Were here,” Will announced as he got up from his seat and walked up to the front with Shift right behind him. “Now, all that Shift is gonna do is activate the door so that we can leave this place, for good. So, I want everyone to stay here. Morgan, you wanna come?” Will asked as he looked towards me.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I replied as I stood up from my seat and followed them off the bus. As we walked towards the wall, I glanced at Shift walking beside me. I had a question I wanted to ask her, and it’s been buzzing around in my head ever since we left the church in Saint Paul.

“Shift, I wanna ask you something,” I asked as she looked at me with those light blue eyes of her. “Why did you join us in the first place.”

“W-what do you mean, I joined your group because I wanted to help you on your journey and that I didn’t want to be seen as a scared Changeling anymore.” She replied, but I didn’t buy it because I could hear a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Shift, I know you’re lying, but whatever your reason is, you can tell me,” I said softly in a reassuring voice.

“A-alright.” She replied as she hung her head and sighed. “The truth is, I wanted to come with you because I… I… I have a crush on Evan.” She finally said with a defeated tone. “Ever since I helped guide you to your Uncle’s, I started having feelings for Evan. He’s kind, smart… h-handsome, I see him as the kind of person to spend the rest of my life with.”

“So why not tell him that you’re in love with him?” I asked.

“I want to, Morgan, I really want to. But I have thoughts that if I tell him how I feel, he’d rejected for what I am: A Changeling.” She explained, a tear running down her cheek.

I knew exactly how she felt, having feelings for someone but you're too afraid to tell them. “Shift, I know how you feel.” I started as she looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes. “I… I have a crush on Luna and I to am afraid to tell her my feelings. I fear that she will reject me the same way and right now, she is starting to catch on about how I feel about her.” I explained.

Shift’s wings started to buzz as she took off from the ground and hovered in front of me so that she was at eye level with me. “I guess we have something in common then, huh?” She asked, looking at me with soft eyes.

“Heh, Yeah… I guess we do.” I replied with a sigh. This was the first time I have ever told anyone about my feelings to Luna, but talking with Shift, it felt like a great weight was lifted off me.

“Ahem!” We turned and saw William standing a few feet away from us with his arms crossed. “If you two are done talking about whatever, we still have a job to do.” He said, reminding us of why we were out here.

“Oh, sure,” I replied as we continued walking towards the wall.

Once we had gotten close enough to the wall, Will looked down at Shift with a smile. “Alright, Shift. You’re up.” He stated. She smiled and nodded in response as she took a few steps forward towards the wall until she was at a certain distance from the wall. She then closed her eyes as her horn started to glow and shot a concentrated beam at the wall for a few seconds before she stopped and stepped back towards us.

What I saw next, amazed me. The entire part of the wall started to shift itself and rise up off the highway like a garage door. Once the wall had stopped shifting, I saw that part of the wall had risen itself off the highway by thirty feet. I couldn’t help but stare at the sight with my mouth slightly agape before turning to look at Shift.

“Nice job, Shift,” I said, getting a smile from Shift in return. We then turned and saw the bus drive up alongside us and as the bus doors opened, we saw Kenny looking at us from the driver’s seat with a smile on his face.

“Next stop: anywhere other than here!” He announced as Shift, Will and I got back on as the bus drove out of the Dead Zone with the door closing behind us. We were finally home free.

*******

We had stopped for the night in the parking garage of the old Mall of America with a few camping lanterns illuminating the ground floor from where we were staying. Ever since we had settled into our temporary camp, the others were off doing their own thing. CJ and Sarah were making dinner on a few hot plates that we brought with, Brandon was on the top floor, watching out for any Changelings, Kenny and his family were take a walk around the area with Chris watching over them, Evan and Kyle looking over Celestia’s leg and the rest of us sat around next to the bus, talking about our pasts.

“So you joined the military when you were only eighteen years old?” Rainbow questioned.

“It’s the honest truth kid,” Will replied. He had just finished telling us about his life, how he signed up to fight in Vietnam back in 1972 and how he went on multiple tours in the middle east. But with everything he had witnessed in his life, he thought about retiring, but the day he was going to retire was when the Changeling War started. Since then, he’s been fighting for his life against any Changeling that came across him.

“And once I heard about the Remnants building an army, I packed up my shit and traveled south to find them.” He finished.

“Speaking of the Remnants,” Twilight spoke up. “If they have been building an army for the last few years, How large is their army now?” She had a point. If we were going up against a Changeling controlled city, then we were gonna need an army large enough to outmatch them.

“Ah, I don’t know, add up the number of Humans and Changeling rebels being part of the militia… I’d say almost two thousand.” He replied plainly. This number surprised us.

“two thousand!” I exclaimed

“Now ah see why yer Uncle thought finding these Remnants was a good idea.” Applejack stated.

We continued talking about our pasts and learned more about William’s group. CJ was a barista from Fargo, North Dakota, Kyle was a full-fledged doctor from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Brandon and Sarah both worked in a restaurant in Rapid City, South Dakota. All these people, they used to have normal lives but were quickly ruined because of this war. It was sad that they had lost so much from it. It was then we noticed Celestia, walking up to us with a slight limb with Evan and Kyle walking beside her.

“How’s your leg, Celestia?” I asked.

“It’s still sore, but it’s nothing to worry about.” She replied as she sat down next to me. “So… now that we are out of the Dead Zone, what happens now?” She asked.

“Well, I’m not saying we should,” Will spoke up. “But the Remnants have an ally who turns vehicles we’ve found over the years into war machines. If we stop there on the way to Albert Lea, he’d be willing to make the bus more battle worthy.”

“And who is this ally, exactly?” Twilight questioned.

“His name is Daryl Grossman, he was a mechanic before the war.” He replied. My eyes widening as I heard the name I was all too familiar with.

“You gotta be kidding me. The old man still lives?” I exclaimed in an excited tone.

“You know of this Daryl person?” Celestia asked.

“Know him? He was close friends with my dad since before I was born! They’d go to the gun range together, check out old cars from their childhood, the man's practically part of the family!” I explained before looking back at Will. “He’s still living on that farm of his, right?”

“Indeed he is,” Will replied with a nod. “His farm has been made as a small outpost for the Remnants, so if we get there, we’ll be greeted with a few soldiers.”

I nodded in understanding and turned to Celestia, Twilight, and her friends. “You guys don’t mind if we made a stop on our way south, do you?” I asked.
“It’s fine, Morgan. We don’t mind at all.” Celestia replied.

“And Besides, If this vehicle is going to be our means of transportation during our stay here on your planet, it’s gonna need to be a bit more durable,” Twilight added, gesturing to the bus behind us.

“That's good to hear,” I replied. That’s when it came to me, if we were heading to Daryl’s, we would be passing by the one place that I hadn’t been to since before the war. My old home. “Your mind needs closure and your home is the only place where you can achieve it” I remembered Luna telling me. She wasn’t wrong, if I were to ever get past these emotions, I had to visit the place that I used to live.

“Will, one more thing. If we’re heading to Daryl’s, there's a place I need to visit on the way there.” I stated. He looked at me with a concerned look as I told what was on my mind. Once I finished, he looked at me with soft eyes.

“I understand what you’re going through, son. During my second year as part of the Remnants, I went and visited the remains of my home. Even though there was nothing left of it, it didn’t stop me from honoring my old life. If that’s what you want, kid, then I think my team and I can oblige on your request. That is if your friends are okay with it?” He replied with a sad smile.

“Unless you guys are okay with it, otherwise we don’t have to make the stop at my old home,” I stated. Honestly, we didn’t have to stop by my old home, but if we did, it would relieve a lot of pressure that has been pressed down on me for so long.

“We have nothing against your request, Morgan. If you wish to pay a visit to your old home, then we will accompany you.” Celestia replied with a soft smile.

“You’re a saint, Celestia,” I replied. I would’ve thanked Luna as well for persuading me to visit my home, the only problem was that she wasn’t here at the moment. When we decided to make camp here for the night, Luna had told us that she was going out for a fly, just to clear her mind. I could tell that she was still upset at me for constantly ignoring her question.

Celestia was the only one to notice her behavior and asked me if I something happened on the way back to the Pharmacy. All I did was lie to her, saying that we had a small argument and that it was nothing to worry about. But since then I’ve regretted lying to her, and I couldn’t tell her the truth either about having feelings for her sister as I’m still afraid of what would happen after if I did.

“Hey, Morgan?” Sarah called out as she walked up from behind the bus. “Would you be so kind and let my brother know that dinner’s almost ready?” She asked.

“Sure,” I replied with a smile as I got up. “I’ll be back in a bit,” I announced as I walked off to the top floor where Brandon was.

As I walked up the ramp toward the top floor, I couldn't stop thinking about Daryl. Ever since the war started, I thought that he was dead, along with every other friend, and family member that I knew. But I shouldn't be surprised that he's still alive, before all of this, he was a doomsday prepper.

He had himself a bunker built under his property, always stocked himself up on food, water, and all the weapons and ammo you could possibly think of. As to how he had the money to pay for that stuff, well one: he had a successful auto body shop going on his farm and two: he won a 750 million dollar Powerball back in 1997. For years he's put blood and sweat into building his bunker while people kept telling him that it was a waste of time, money and his life. They thought wrong when Chrysalis and her army announced themselves to the world. Once I had made it to the top, I saw Brandon standing at the edge of the lot, looking out into the darkened horizon.

“Hey Brandon, Dinner’s ready.”

He slightly looked over his shoulder at me, saying nothing before he turned his attention back towards the horizon. “Come over here.” He said calmly. Though I was skeptical at him for wanting me to come closer, I complied and walked up next to him. I stood next to him for about half a minute until he spoke again.

“I gotta hand it to you kid, you did a good job at getting us outta that hell hole, And now, everyone is looking up to you, including William. But just because you saved our asses, doesn’t mean I trust you because of it.”

I scoffed at this. “Funny, I was kinda hoping that it would,” I replied sarcastically.

“Don’t be a wiseass, kid,” Brandon warned as he looked down at me. “The last person who pissed me off had his face beaten to a pulp.”

“So I’ve been told,” I stated plainly, in which earned a sigh from Brandon.

“Sarah told you about that, huh? I shouldn’t be surprised.” He said with a solemn tone

“Brandon, I’m sorry with what you two went through back then, but for the love of God, you have to understand that not every single man in the world wants to hurt or have sex with your sister. I may have the last name from that goddamn sex book, I do not, I repeat, do not have any sexual thoughts about your sister, nor do I want to have sex with her, ever!” I ranted as I looked at him with eyes of concern. “I respect that you have pledged yourself to protect her from the horrors that this world throws at us, but she doesn’t want your protection all the time. She would give anything for you to lower the sword and shield act and allow her to talk to men.”

His eyes softened a little as he allowed my words started to sink into his head. Knowingthat he was thinking about what I said, I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“Sarah told me herself that she’s stronger now and that she is not affected by what she went through in the past. But you, you need to stop acting like her bodyguard and start acting like her loving and caring brother. Can you do that for her?” I questioned.

A few moments had passed before the only reply I got from Brandon was a slow, silent nod. “Alright Morgan… I can do that. But I want you to promise me something.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“You convinced me to stop being overprotective around my sister, but… I-I still want to be sure that nothing will happen to her in the future. Just… just promise me that you’ll watch out for Sarah, Be at her back when you’re cornered by Changelings, Bandits or more goddamn Changed, Let her know that she has you and your pony friends by her side when things get tough. Can you do that for me?” He asked hopefully.

I was slightly taken aback by his request, that he wanted me to look out for Sarah, but I didn’t see a problem with it. Besides, I am the one taking care of our equine friends, so what’s the worst that could happen.

“Sure, Brandon. I promise to watch out for her” I replied, accepting his request” With that said, we started making our way back to the others, with our differences put behind us.

*******

It was peacefully silent that night as Everyone slept soundly, not one thing awakening them from their slumber, though there were a few who were still awake at the time. Brandon and Sarah had volunteered to stand watch for Changelings patrols during the night, Kenny stayed awake to watch over his family as they slept, and then there was me, laying down in my sleeping bag located between two abandoned cars, my eyes staring at the concrete ceiling. I had tried falling asleep a few times, but I just couldn’t get the one thing that kept me awake out of my mind. Luna.

Ever since my dream last night, Luna has repeatedly asked me if I had feelings for her, but I couldn’t tell her as I was still frightened by the outcomes. I could tell that she was still upset with me for ignoring her question as she still hadn’t returned when we arrived at the mall. Celestia was worried about her absence but was able to keep her calm when she remembers how well she handled being in Saint Paul when she followed me to my Uncle’s house.

This was embarrassing to me, I’m supposed to be the brave one in the group, I’m surviving in a war-torn America, in charge a small group of skilled men, killed a Changeling general and maimed his friend, snuck into a Changeling controlled city undetected, and yet I don’t even have the strength to share my feelings with a pony Princess who I only met two days ago.

The sound of wings flapping caught my attention as when I sat up, I saw Luna landing next to the bus. I noticed her head turning towards as she started walking to where I laid. Once she had gotten closer, I could see that her eyes were slightly glaring at me with her brow furrowed. Yeah, she was still upset with me.

“Good evening, Luna.” I greeted with a casual tone as I tried to hide the nervousness in my voice.

“Morgan.” She greeted back, her eyes still glaring at me. “We need to talk.”

“Luna, I understand that you want to know what I’m hiding from you, but can’t we talk abou-”

“No, Morgan Grey, We shall not talk about it later!” She announced, raising her voice but not loud enough to wake up everyone. “Whatever you are hiding from us, it has been eating away at you, and we deserve to know what it is. So if you do not tell us now, we will pry it from your mind ourselves.”

I gave a defeated sigh, I couldn’t continue this any longer. The more I kept this a secret from her, the more I would drive her away, And besides, she was bound to figure it out eventually.

“Fine,” I replied as I patted the ground next to me, gesturing for her to sit. She walked around me and laid her body down next to me, still staring at me with intimidating eyes.

“Well? I’m waiting.” Luna said impatiently.

I took a deep breath before answering. “Luna, the truth is… t-the truth is… I-I’m in love with you.” I replied as I hung my head in embarrassment.

“You… you’re in love with me?” She asked, her eyes softening as he heard this.

I nodded in response. “Before the war, I always wanted to meet the girl of my dreams. Someone who was kind, caring, had beautiful long hair, gorgeous eyes, and you Luna, you meet the requirement, right down to that cute giggle of yours!” I explained as Luna’s cheeks turn slightly red when I commented on her giggle.

“But why not tell me this before, when we were in your dream or when we were hiding in the pharmacy?” She questioned.

“Why? WHY?” I exclaimed, keeping my volume down. “I kept this a secret from you because I was scared, alright. I was scared of the answer that I would receive. I was scared that if I told you how I felt, you would reject me or something. I mean, you are an alicorn Princess from another world for God’s sake, and I’m… I’m just a twenty-two-year-old kid whos been surviving in a hell for the last five years.”

I sighed as I finished telling her everything. I’ve never felt so humiliated in all my life. I just wanted to dig myself a grave and curl up inside it, hoping that all of this would just be forgotten about.

“I understand if you don’t feel the same way, Luna. It was stupid how I thought that a nobody like me could get into a relationship with a Princess like you. It would never work out anyway.” I stated glumly as I sat there, still hanging my head. “You can go now, Luna. I’ve wasted enough of your time as it is.”

I just sat there in silence, my head still hung down in embarrassment. I figured that Luna had gone as she hadn't said one thing after my confession. Why did I even think that I could actually hook up with her in the first place? God, I'm such a stupid-

“Morgan, look at me,” Luna said. Hearing her voice, I looked up to see that she was still laying down next to me with a small smile on her face. “You have saved our lives numerous times, you helped guide us when we didn’t know where to go, and you go through all the trouble just to see us safe from the dangers of your world. You are the bravest being that I have ever met in my existence. In fact, my sister and I consider you are Guardian because of what you have done for us. Morgan, I feel honored that you have feelings for me.”

“You really mean that?” I asked hopefully.

“I do, Morgan Grey. With all my heart.” Upon hearing this, I couldn’t help but pull the Alicorn into a hug, which she happily accepted. “But, Morgan. Do you really mean it when you said I have a cute laugh?” She asked, her cheeks turning red again.

“It’s absolutely adorable,” I replied softly as I felt her bury her muzzle into my neck.

I honestly never thought this would happen, that Luna would accept my love for her. I just wanted to scream to the world that I had finally found the love of my life, but I decided against it as I just wanted to quietly savor this special moment. We continued the hug for another moment or so until I gave a deep yawn.

“Why don’t get some rest, Morgan. We’ve all had a long day.” Luna stated. I nodded in agreement and laid myself back down in my sleeping bag.

I was about to rest my eyes when I felt movement to my right. I opened them slightly to see Luna setting her sleeping bag down next to me and laying atop it. Once she had gotten comfortable, she then extended her wing over me until it covered my torso like a blanket.

“Thank you, Luna. ” I said with a tired voice, followed by another yawn.

“Your welcome, Morgan. Sleep well.” She said as I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take over me. Even though today ended up being a pain in the ass for all of us, getting trapped in the Dead Zone and encountering the monsters that lived within it, I got the one thing that I wanted all my life. A lover, and a close friend.

Welcome Home

Author's Note

I'm a liar, I told you all that I wouldn't spend time away from writing the story and yet it happened anyway. I am sorry this happened. But because it's the new year, my new year's resolution is to spend lots of time on this story and to make sure that it gets finished. I have had so many of you place this story in your favorites and I thank you for it. I hope you continue reading The Changeling War and I wish Happy New Years!

Welcome Home

Grey clouds still blanketed the sky as we drove down the highway, passing by vehicles that were abandoned by people when the war started. We had been on the road for about an hour now, though it felt like more to some of us. It wouldn't normally take this long to get to my hometown, Lakeville, but with the highway backed up with abandoned cars, we’d almost decided to take the backroads which would've taken us longer to get there. But, thanks to our pony friends and their magic, they were able to levitate and move any vehicles out of the way.

I was in a seat closest to the door at the front of the bus, looking out the window with my chin resting in my hand. Luna, who was not sitting with me, sat with Twilight and Celestia. I had looked over my seat a while ago to see them talking with William, probably discussing what power the Remnants had or what our country’s military was like before the war. She insisted that she spend some with her sister since her leg was still healing and I had no problem with it then, but now, not having her next to me, it was kinda lonely. I mean, she understands me and if it weren't for her, I wouldn’t be returning to my home.

Home. It was that one word that would make me feel depressed, remind me of the life I had lost so long ago. I still felt a bit uncomfortable about it, visiting my old home again after five years of surviving from changelings and living in a basement of a school. In truth, I just wanted to change my mind about it. But Luna was right, I need to stop feeling depressed about what I’ve lost and what fate that befell on my parents and revisit the one place where my happy memories were.

“Excuse me, Morgan?” I turned my head to see Twilight standing in the middle of the walkway of the bus.

“Hm? Oh, hey Twi.” I greeted with a smile as she hopped up on my seat and sat next to me. “What brings you up here?”

“Well I noticed that you were all by yourself up here, so I thought you could use some company.” She replied with soft eyes.

“Well, thank you for thinking of me, Twilight. So, did you learn anything new about our world?” I asked.

“William explained some knowledge of your government, the history of your country and the many positive events that happened. Though just before I left to check on you, he had just started talking about some type of organization your country is part of, Something called… Nathan?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as she mispronounced the word. “I think you mean NATO: The

“Fascinating.” She commented. “But then, if that’s what NATO’s for, why haven't they done anything to help you?”

“Well,” I started as I rubbed my forehead. They had to know about this story sooner or later. “This back when we brought Chris into our group, which was like two and a half months after the Changelings invaded. When we met him, we were kinda thrilled that he was a hacker since we had very little knowledge of what was happening outside of Minnesota. So, we helped him hookup his equipment and he started getting to work. He proved himself a week later as he was able to hack into a military satellite which stealthy connected him into the Pentagon.”

“The… Pentagon?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

“It’s

“On the following day, Chrysalis made an announcement to the entire world about the attack in Boston, explaining how NATO made a very poor choice and that it would not be ignored. She threatened the other countries, said and quote. ‘We are not just some alien species, we are superior, magical creatures, capable of devastating cities, capable of draining love from anyone we want, where ever we want, capable of infiltrating and devastating your insolent countries from the inside out until there is nothing but chaos in the streets. So, just remember who controls this pathetic nation that neighbors your very own, for if you cross us again with your foolish attempts at liberating this country, taking away our new home from us, then it will mean war.’ Obviously, they bought her threat as they haven't made another move since.”

“So, it was either abandon America and leave the Changelings alone… or be destroyed.” Twilight said, now fully understanding.

“Them abandoning us was the best and only option for all of us to live. If they continued to fight back, Chrysalis would only retaliate and make things much, much worse for the human race.” I replied solemnly.

“Morgan, I know I already said this before, but I’m sorry we weren't there for you when Chrysalis took over. But we’re here now and we’ll do whatever it takes to help you take back your home.” She said as she placed a hoof in my lap reassuringly

“That means a lot, Twilight. Thank you.” I replied with a smile.

“Attention passengers,” Kenny’s voice announced of the bus’ PA system. “We will be arriving in the town of Lakeville in the next few minutes where we will be stopping for a while. When we get there, please feel free to stretch your legs and check out the area… Oh, and Morgan,” He looked at me with kind eyes through the rearview mirror.

“Welcome home.”

*******

Our bus came to a slow stop on Lakeville’s main street, Holyoke Avenue. The entire town was just like the inside of Minneapolis, boarded up windows on shops, vehicles left abandoned on the street and not one single soul in sight. At least there aren’t any Changed here, I've had enough Changeling Zombies for one day. I was the first one to step off the bus and following me off, escorted by Brandon and Sarah, were our two zip tied hostages, Andre and Xander, who had tried to mugged Kenny and I while we were in the mall.

“Tie them to that light post,” I ordered as they guided our Jamaicans prisoners to a light post only a few feet from where we parked, forcing them to sit down facing away from the post as they bound their hands to the post.

“So this is where you lived?” Fluttershy asked, looking around as she stepped off the bus. “It must have been a very beautiful town.”

“It was, Fluttershy. You should have seen this place back in the day.” I replied with a sigh as looked around at my once beloved hometown. Lakeville wasn’t special, it wasn’t a resort town nor a farming town, but it was home to me. I had a lot of happy memories growing up here, but now, it’s just another deserted town thanks to the Changelings.

“Well kid, what’s the plan?” Will asked as stepped off the bus and walked up next to me.

“Well, from the looks of this place, I don’t think anyone has stepped foot here in a long time, so there still might be some loot for us. Will, you and your team and patrol the area, best to make sure we’re the only ones here. Markus, you take Jacob and Chris and check the nearby gun store, see if you can’t find some more weapons. Evan, Shift, Kenny, stay here and watch our ‘friends’, make sure they don’t try to escape. As for the rest of you, stay close to the bus. It's best we don’t stay here too long.” With that said, everyone walked off to do their tasks.

“Now for why I came here.” I thought as I had started walking off.

“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up as I turned around. “You’re not gonna leave us here while you go visit your old house, are you?”

“With all due respect, Celestia, this is a personal matter. I haven’t been here for half a century and… look, it’s just best that I do this alone, okay?” I replied.

“Morgan, if you honestly think you can leave us here then you are highly mistaken. I speak for everypony when I say that it would be nice for all of us to see where you grew up. Besides, I was the one who convinced you to visit your home all while in your dream.” Luna stated with a smirk. I was about to protest when Twilight and her friends started speaking up.

“Come now, darling. You don’t expect us to stay here do you?” Rarity asked.

“Ah agree with Rarity, ah refuse to stay here while you go visit your home without us!” Applejack exclaimed.

“I, umm, I’d also like to come, if that’s alright?” Fluttershy asked in a timid voice.

“Ooh, ooh, I wanna come too, I wanna come too!” Pinkie Pie begged with a joyful tone, jumping up and down all the while.

Come on Morgan, you can't force us all to stay here, it'll be boring with you gone!” Rainbow Dash whined.

“Morgan, Is it that hard for you to allow us to come with? We’re your friends after all.” Twilight said, stepping forward.

All I could do was sigh as they pleaded to come with me. I loved these ponies, but sometimes they were a little unbearable. Though I knew there was no other option not to bring them. I mean, come on, how could I not say no to them after how much they've helped us, especially since that Luna is now my girlfriend, or marefriend as they call it in Equestria.

“Alright, alright, you can tag along,” I replied, finally giving in to their begging before turning my attention to Evan, Shift, and Kenny.

“Watch these two carefully,” I ordered, mentioning to our captives. As they nodded in response, I turned and mentioned for the ponies to follow. “I know of a pathway that’ll get us into the neighborhood quicker,” I explained as we began our trip with everypony following close behind me.

*******

We’ve been walking for about twenty minutes, but we weren’t too far from my house. I lived here for so long that I knew that it would take about twenty-five minutes to walk from town to my house. As we walked, we passed by multiple houses that had been burnt to the ground long ago, only very few houses were still standing. This worried me, I hadn't returned here in five years, so I had no idea if my home was still there or not. My family and I have lived in Lakeville for as long as I can remember, but I’m afraid that when we get there, nothing would be left but the charred remains of my old home. I didn’t realize that I had a troubled look on my face from thinking about it until Twilight spoke up.

“Morgan, are you alright?” she asked with a concerned tone.

“Hmm? Yeah, yeah I'm fine,” I quickly replied before making something up. “I was just thinking of everything that’s happened to us within the last forty-eight hours. I mean, we've snuck in and out of a changeling controlled city, survived the horrors that were in the Dead Zone and met up with a group of remnants. So far these past few days have been amazing, if not scary.”

“I agree, Morgan.” Celestia agreed. “I doubt that any other human would be willing to do so much like you have given the circumstances. Your friends on the other hand, I have a feeling they would not do as well as you. For you, Morgan Grey, are our a one of a kind guardian”

“Aww, now that warms this young soul’s heart.” I joked, earning a few giggles from everypony. I didn't want to lie to them, but I only did it because I didn't want them to worry about me. The last thing I wanted them to see was a depressed, crying man mourning the lose his entire life. I had to make sure I did not show any weakness. We kept on walking down the street when Rarity spoke up.

“Morgan, darling, may I ask you something?”

“Sure, ask away,” I replied.

“Well, so far we have learned about what everyone's past was. Markus owned a weapon shop with father, Will used to be in your nation's army, Evan was a doctor in training, but we don’t know anything about Chris’ past.”

“That’s true,” Applejack joined in. “Come to think of it, all you told us about him was how you first met him when he came walking up the road carrying his bag of technical whatnots.”

“I really wish I could tell you guys, but I’m afraid I can’t,” I replied

“Why not?” Twilight asked.

“Because he wouldn’t even tell us… all I can tell you is that Chris has a past that he doesn’t like to share with anyone. He’s never brought it up with me, Jacob or Markus and he is not changing his mind about it. I tried asking him about his past, but he looked at me with fury in his eyes as if I just insulted him. He backs me up against the wall and threatens to kill me if I ever asked about it again. Course, he didn’t mean it and later apologized, but it was decided that it be best if it never brought it up again.”

“Do you think something happened to him in his past, when Chrysalis took over?” Luna questioned.

“That’s what we seem to think,” I replied plainly before releasing a sigh. “Look, guys, I know that you’re all very friendly and come from a world where friendship is magic and all that, but it would be best if you don’t ask Chris about his past. Whatever he's hiding must've traumatized him very badly, so it would be better if it were left alone.”

“Do not worry, Morgan, if Chris doesn't want to share his past, then we will not bother him about it. You have our word.” Twilight reassured as everypony nodded in agreement.

“Still, makes you wonder what happened to him.” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Who knows, there are multiple things the could have happened to him. He could’ve lost a loved one, maybe a girlfriend or a family member or he could’ve lost his-” I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes staring ahead at a sight that made my heart skip a beat. There on the corner of the street was my house, burnt to the ground. It was my worst fear come true. I figured that everypony saw what exactly I was looking at as none of them said a word, that is until Twilight spoke

“Morgan... is that-”

“M-my home,” I said softly, finishing her sentence. I started walking at a fast pace towards my house until it turned into a full jog. I could hear behind me the hoofsteps of everypony as they galloped after me. I heard both Twilight, Celestia, and Luna calling after me, wanting me to slow down, but I ignored them as I was focused on reaching my home.

My pace finally slowed down once I stepped onto the property. There were no words to how I felt, seeing the one place where I grew up reduced to ash and charcoal. I stopped walking until I was in the middle of my burned home, more specifically, where my family and I usually had breakfast. I slowly looked around, seeing every inch of my house gone, our living room, gone, our kitchen, gone, my mom’s sewing room, big shocker, also gone!

“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up with concern as I could hear her taking a few steps across the lawn. “Are you alright?”

“I always had a feeling that this is what I would return to, that there would be nothing left for me here,” I explained, no emotion visible in my voice. “I actually thought that coming back here would bring me closure, just like Luna said… but now, seeing all of this, it just opens up old wounds. I had a perfect life before all of this happened, I had the perfect family… but in the blink of an eye, all of it turned to dust right before me. I lost everything to the changeling race, everything that I ever cared about, my home, my parents, my life.” My hand clenched into a fist as rage built up in my system. A single tear ran down my face as I fought hard trying to keep my emotions in check, but in the end, I failed to contain them.

“It’s all their GODDAMN FAULT!” I screamed as I grabbed my machete and started swinging it at pieces of burnt wood standing near me. Tears were now running down my cheeks as I took my anger out on any object that I saw.

“Morgan, stop it!” Twilight yelled. I knew she along with everypony else were worried that I would hurt myself, but I was too enraged to give a damn. I was about to take another swing at the charred wood when something grabbed hold of my blade. I turned my head to see that Luna's magic was all around my blade as she walked up to me with sad eyes.

“Morgan, calm yourself,” she said. “We know that you're deeply upset with all that you've lost, but this isn't the way to express it. Think of your family, do you think they would want to see you like this?”

“They… I-I-I…” I couldn't hold in anymore. My arm dropped down, letting go of my machete as I fell to my knees and started to sob like a lost child. Luna took a few steps closer and sat down in front of me. I looked up to also see that everypony else stood behind her, all showing sadness in their eyes.

“Why us?” I questioned, my eyes wet with tears. “America has made bad choices in the past, but what did we ever do to deserve this type of punishment? To be treated like cattle to the slaughter so they can drain us dry of our love. For them to murder us whenever they want when we've done nothing wrong. Why must we be forced to live like this?”

As I started to cry again, I could feel Luna's feathery wings wrap around me and pull me close her warm body to hug me. Seconds later, Twilight and her friends walked up to us and one by one, they all joined in on the hug, especially Celestia. I'm supposed the brave guardian to these kind ponies, to be there for them when they were in danger, but it felt like they were becoming my guardians in a way. We hugged for a full ten minutes until I had finally calmed down, my sobs reduced to sniffles.

“I-I'm sorry y-you have to see me like this. I-”

“Shhh.” Luna hushed, placing a hoof over my lips as she spoke softly to me. “We understand your pain, Morgan, no one should go through this amount of trauma. We're all sorry that you lost everything that you've loved, but you still have us. You mean everything to us, and we will always be there for you, Morgan, through good or bad.”

“T-thank you,” I replied with a sad smile. “If I'd come here without all of you, I-I'd probably wouldn't be the same.”

“Think nothing of it, Morgan,” Celestia said sweetly before she rose back to her hooves. “Now, I believe we should be returning to the others.”

“Of course.” I agreed as I was helped up off the ground by Applejack. “But before we leave, I would like a moment to myself, if you may.” Celestia and Luna nodded as they along with everypony else walked away to give me space. I turned around to face my house as I closed my eyes and spoke softly to myself

“Mom, Dad, wherever you are, I want to thank you for taking care of me, you've raised me well, and while it's still not the same without you being there for me, I have special friends who will watch over me for you. I miss you very much, and hopefully, when the time comes, we will meet again.”

Once I had finished saying my peace, I turn around and walked back to the others who were standing at the edge of the lawn, waiting for me. These ponies, after the love and kindness they showed towards me, they mean everything to me now. I would have regretted it if I didn't let them be there for me, but from now on, I was going to make sure that I would always be there for them. I was given one more tender hug by Luna before we started walking back to town.

*******

I was starting to feel much better after my outburst as we headed back into town. Everypony walked very close to me, including Luna, as I knew they were doing this in case I ended up crying again. I reassured them that I would be fine and started telling them stories about my family during our walk back, some were funny, memorable, or heartwarming, all of them gave smiles to my pony friend's faces. My parents are dead, there's no changing that, but their memories would live on and again never will I let their deaths affect me.

We rounded the corner of the street we parked on, I could see everyone standing around the bus. Will and his group were gathered around, Jacob, Chris, and Markus were looking over some weapons, possibly from the gun store, and Kenny, Evan, and Shift were talking with each other while Carol played with Noah. I had also noticed that our two prisoners still tied to the light post, guess they knew there was no use escaping from a group like us. We were fifteen feet away when Kenny and Aunt Carol noticed us and walked up.

“Welcome back, kid.” Kenny greeted before a look of concern appeared on his face. “So, I take it your house is…” his voice trailed, unsure to finished his sentence, but I finished it for him

“Yeah, it's gone.”

“Oh, honey.” Carol cooed as she pulled me into a hug which I accepted. “I'm so sorry.”

“It's fine, Carol,” I reassured with a sad smile. “I was a mess when I laid eyes upon it, but luckily I had friends there for me.” I looked back at everypony, smiles on their faces as I mentioned them.

“Hey, Morgan!” Jacob called out as he and Markus walked up to us.

“What did you find at the gun store?” I asked, hoping there was at least some items that hadn’t been taken.

“Not much,” Markus replied. “All we could find was a Remington ADL, a Mossberg
, and some .308 and .22LR rounds.

“We also found this,” Jacob spoke up as he reached into his pocket and handed me a small handgun, a Beretta Pico.

“A Pico? Been a long time since I fired one of these.” I said aloud as Twilight walked to take a closer look.

“It looks so small compared to your pistol.” She pointed out.

“It’s considered a conceal and carry weapon,” Jacob stated. “People would carry these types of guns in their pants and purses as a means for protection.”

“You carried your guns in your purses! Those are supposed to be for fashion, not for storing your weapons!” Rarity exclaimed with an insulted look.

“It’s America, Rarity, and Americans like us can carry our guns however we want,” Markus replied matter of factly as Rarity gave him an eye roll.

“Kid,” Kenny spoke softly as I turned to look at him, a concerned look still on his face. “You sure you’ll be fine, I mean your house-”

“Kenny,” I spoke up, interrupting him as I gave him a reassuring look. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I still have you, Carol and Noah as family, nothing will change that.” He gave me a smile before my attention was diverted when I saw Will and his group walking our way.

“We’re ready to head out whenever you are son.” He said. I gave him an affirming nod as I turned back to everyone behind me.

“Alright everyone, we still have a long road ahead of us!” I announced as I placed the pico in my pocket. “Next stop, Daryl’s!”

With that said, everyone started piling back onto the bus while Brandon and Sarah untied the two Jamaicans and escorted them back onto the bus. Jacob and Markus collected the guns they found and placed them into the infinity bag, as Markus now calls it, before walking to the bus with Jacob carrying the bag. I was about to board as well before I took one last look at my hometown. I could remember every fun thing that I did here, buying ice-cream at the Dairy Delite, listening to musicians at the music bar, this place brought me joy. But with the enemies I have made now, I have no idea if this will be the last time I would see this place.

“Morgan,” I turned my head to see Luna standing next to me, looking at me with her soft eyes and a sad smile. “Everything will be alright, you still have us, and we will not be leaving you anytime soon.”

“I know, Luna, I know,” I replied with a sigh.

“Come, Morgan, as you said yourself, we still have a long road ahead of us.” She said as she stretched out her wing and guided me toward the bus as Kenny started up the engine.

Once we boarded onto the bus, I took my seat by the door and leaned my chin into my hand as I looked out the window, staring at boarded up shops. I had expected Luna to sit with her sister on the way to Daryl's farm, but instead, she took a seat next to me, her feathered wing brushing up against my arm as she smiled at me, making me smile back in return. The bus shifted as we started to slowly drive away from the town of Lakeville, continuing our trip south. I will miss this place, yes, but hopefully, once this war is over, I will return to rebuild it back to the way it was before, the way I remember it.

The Owatonna Outpost

A few minutes after we left Lakeville, I had decided to take a short nap on the way to Daryl's farm. It would be an hour's trip to get there since he lived in the countryside, south of Owatonna. Besides, after seeing what was left of my old home, seeing it reduced to nothing but ash and rubble, I deserved a change on scenery. It still pained me, how I saw that there was nothing left but it’s charred remains, and even though I expected to see it in the condition it was in, it still broke my heart. I would have been an emotional wreck after that if my pony friends hadn’t tagged along.

I’ve only known them for three days and yet they look up to me not just as a friend, but their protector. I could’ve not gone back for them when we first met at the stadium, I could’ve watched Ripwing brutally slaughter them and not do a damn thing to help them, yet I didn’t. When I looked back, I saw the fear in their eyes when they were surrounded by Changelings, and that told me that if I didn’t save them, not only would there never be another chance for our country to return to the way it used to be, but I would be killing many innocent lives, and I would regret the decision for the rest of my life.

“Morgan, time to wake up.”

I started to stir as I heard the soft, gentle voice of Luna call out to me. It still amazed me: I’m in a relationship with a pony who's a princess from another world. If I’d have told anyone about this, they would just think that I was just some lunatic who escaped from the loony bin when the Changelings arrived. As I slowly woke up, I shifted my head on the pillow that my head laid on, only for me to realized something, I don’t have a pillow, especially not one so… furry? I opened my eyes to see that my furry pillow, was Luna. I had fallen asleep on her, literally!

“Enjoy your sleep?” Luna asked with a sly smile. I instantly sat up straight with a shocked but embarrassed expression.

“Oh my god, Luna, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t realize-” I was silenced when she placed a hoof to my lips.

“Don’t apologize, Morgan. You weren't exactly comfortable while you were resting, so I brought you close to me so that you could lean on me. You slept peacefully after that.” She explained with a warm smile.

“Oh, thanks then,” I replied while rubbing my eyes. “So, how long was I out?”

“Almost an hour. Will just informed us that we’re almost to the outpost a while ago.” She replied.

“Well that’s good to hear, It’ll be nice to see Daryl again after all these years,” I stated, a smile appearing on my face.

“It’s nice to see you happy about seeing him again, Morgan. Speaking of which, what else can you tell me about Daryl?” She asked. I sighed happily, this was a question I couldn’t refuse to answer.

“Well, I always saw him as a second father to me, he was supportive, brave, he's a great man to be around. Hell, we even had a lot in common when it came to firearms. When I turned eighteen, we spent the entire day on his farm, shooting off guns on a gun range that he set up on his property as a birthday present. Best day of my life that was.” I explained with a soft laugh.

“Sounds like he was fun to be around with.” She commented which I replied with a nod.

“The man was my idol, he understood me and I understood him. He had even offered me a job at his shop once I was done with school, which I happily accepted. But when the war started, I didn’t even bother traveling all the way to his farm to see if he was alive. I just presumed that he was dead just like everyone else I knew.”

“Well, I am sure that he’ll be very happy to see you again.” She stated as she leaned into me, caringly.

“Indeed he will, Luna, indeed he will,” I replied with a smile before I noticed that the bus had turned onto county road forty-five, the road that Daryl live on.

About ten minutes later, the bus slowed down before turning on a gravel road that led up to Daryl's farm. It was in a wooded area with lots of trees as well as a nearby pond, I swear, he couldn't have picked a more peaceful and secluded location. We came to a slow stop just outside his home, it was a small two-story house and a stone's throw away from that was a large six door garage which happened to be his shop. On the roof of his shop was a sign that read ‘Daryl’s Restoration and Auto Body: we fix cars new and old’. Luna and I were the first ones off the bus as we walked across the gravel road. Something didn't feel right, I would’ve thought we would be met with a few remnants guarding in the area, but we didn't see anyone.

“Will, I thought you said that this was an outpost for the remnants? No one's here.” Luna asked Will as he stepped off the bus along with his team behind him.

“Trust me, Luna, they’re here, all around us in fact.” He replied, mentioning to the area with his hand. I turned around and gave him a confusing look as I was gonna ask him what he meant until a man's voice filled the air.

“You are outnumbered,” A masculine voice shouted. “lay down your weapons, kneel to the ground and put your hands behind your heads, now!”

The sudden shout shocked both Luna and I as we look around to find out where it came from, but there was no one in sight. This worried me, the voice said that we were outnumbered, so that meant there were more people but we didn't see anyone, I didn't even see any movement in the treeline.

“Will, what’s the meaning of this?” I asked cautiously as I placed my hand on my holstered pistol, ready to use it if things got bad.

“Easy, son. This is just a precaution in case one of us is a changeling. Just do what they say.” He replied calmly, as he, along with his team got on their knees and put their hands behind their heads.

“Morgan, what going on?” Twilight questioned as she peeked her head through the door.

“Stay inside the bus, Twilight,” I replied, gesturing for her not to take another step. “Tell everyone to stay in their seats.”

She nodded and stepped back inside the bus. I then slowly and carefully fiddled with the strap of my gun holster until it came loose. I grabbed it with two fingers and held it out to my side and dropped it on the ground. I still had the pico in my pocket, but I dared not to pull it out and place it on the ground, I didn't want these guys to get the wrong idea and pump my body full of lead. I glanced at Luna who had a look of concern in her eyes as she looked for the person who spoke.

“Everything will be fine, Luna,” I spoke, getting her attention. “Just do what I do.” I then got down on my knees and put my hands behind my head as ordered. I glanced back at Luna who laid on the ground next to me, bowing her head and stretching out her wings to show she didn't mean any harm.

A minute later, a man in a military uniform and cap, accompanied by six soldiers brandishing automatic weapons walked out from behind the garage. They walked toward, stopping ten feet away from where we knelt. The man in uniform stared at Luna and I, studying us for a moment before turning to look at Will and his group. I decided that it would be safer if I told him about the pistol in my pocket rather than saying nothing about it. He had taken two steps toward Will before I said something.

“Just so you know, sir,” I spoke up, trying to be formal. He paused as he turned his head, staring at me with intimidating eyes. “I have a Beretta Pico handgun in my front right pocket, so if one of your buddies will kindly come over and remove the gun from my pocket, I would be grateful.”

The man in uniform didn't say anything but turn his head to soldiers on his left, who were both male, and gestured with his head towards me. The two men nodded and walked up to Luna and I, one aiming his gun at us while the other lowered his gun to check my pocket. The soldier felt the gun and swiftly pulled it out, backing away as the other soldier back away with him, his gun still traced on us. Seeing that I didn't make problems with them searching me, the man in charge turned his attention back towards Will and walk up to him until there was a three-foot gap between them.

“Identify yourself.” He ordered.

“First Sergeant William E. Henderson, identification code Kilo, Niner, Seven, Alpha, Delta, Oscar, Five, One, Whiskey, Zulu.” Will immediately replied.

At first, I thought the man in charge wasn’t satisfied with Will’s answer, because the next thing I knew, he pulled out what looked like a gun. But once I got a better look at it, I was relieved that it wasn’t actually a gun, it looked to be some high tech handheld scanner. The scanner itself was white with green streaks going down the handle and had a screen that was about the size of an android phone. The man held the scanner up to Will’s face, tapped a finger on the screen and blue lights emitted from the scanner. It scanned Will’s face for a few seconds before the lights died and something came up on the screen. I couldn’t see what exactly it said, but when the man in uniform read it, his body relaxed a little as looked back at Will, and held out his hand.

“Welcome back, Sergeant.” He greeted, his expression not changing as he helped Will up off the ground.

“Good to see you too, Allen.” Will greeted in return.

The man named Allen turned to the two soldiers standing before Luna and I and made a gesture. The two nodded as one of them collected the scanner he used on Will. The soldier walked up to us and started scanning our faces while the other aimed his gun at us. Once they had scanned both our faces, the soldier looked at Allen and nodded at him, signaling that we weren't changelings. He then returned his gaze back towards Will.

“You’ve been gone for a few days now, I take it the mission in the Dead Zone didn’t go well?” Allen asked.

“There were a few complications,” Will replied. “The Changeling guiding us inside was with the guard. He was trying to bail on us when we were being surrounded by the zone’s inhabitants, but he was quickly taken care off. We met up with Morgan and his friends who helped us escape. If it weren't for them, we’d still be trapped in that hell hole.”

“Well it's nice that you and your team are still in one piece, but I have just one small question for you. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!” Allan shouted at the top of his lungs. Will was taken aback by his outburst and was about to speak, only for Allen to continue.

“It’s bad enough that changeling patrols have doubled, almost compromising some of our operatives, but bringing the kid responsibly for Ripwing’s death, here! I should inform John about the danger you’ve brought upon all of us and have you-!”

“Lay off the old man, Allen!” A voice spoke up, one that I haven’t heard in five years. Everyone looked to the doorway of an opened garage, where a tall man with thinning hair and a chevron mustache was standing. He wore a green flannel shirt, worn jeans, work boots and had a pair of aviator sunglasses on. That man was none other than my dad’s old friend; Daryl Grossman.

“Besides,” He continued as he started walking towards me, grabbing the Pico form the soldier on his way by. “He’s brought you someone who has done what none of you dumbasses could ever accomplish: Kill a damn General.” Once he had walked up to us, he grabbed a hold of my arm and helped me up. He flashed me a smile and handed me the Pico before his expression turned serious again as he turned back towards Allen.

“Now enough with the cloak and dagger crap. Morgan and his friends are here to stay and that's final. Now tell your men to stand down.” Daryl ordered.

Allen stared at him with intimidating eyes while Daryl did the same behind his sunglasses. This lasted for only a moment until Allen gave an exasperated grunt and whistled. In an instant, groups of remnant soldiers appeared out of nowhere with changelings standing next to them. They were all around us, on top of the garage, along the tree line, there was even a group right behind Luna and I. These changelings, they used invisibility spells to conceal both themselves and the remnant soldiers from us so that we couldn’t identify their exact location. I had to admit, I was impressed by them.

Speaking of changelings, these ones were way different from the ones we’ve usually seen. They didn’t have pitch black chitin, sharp fangs, nor were their eyes a soulless blue. they were different colors varying from light blue, green, and other bright colors. It then occurred to me that these Changelings were reformed, just like the ones in Equestria Twilight had told me about. I had to admit, it was amazing to see them in this form, but while they did look at us cautiously, waiting for Allen to give the order to have us chased out of the area, they did look much friendlier than the ones who’ve been trying to kill us these past few days. Once all the soldiers and changelings unveiled themselves to us, Allen looked back at Daryl with hatred in his eyes.

“If the changeling guard shows up for this kid and comes for us all, it’s on your ass.” He threatened before walking away, along with the soldiers and changelings around us who went back to their business, only the ones you accompanied him stood by.

“He must be fun to work with,” I stated sarcastically.

“Tell me about it, guy always has a stick up his ass,” Daryl replied flatly before turned to me and smiling again. “Anywho, I wasn’t expecting to see you ever again.” He held out his hand, offering for a handshake which I gladly accepted.

“Yeah, I would've sent an email or phoned ahead to let you know we were coming, but with the nation the way it is, kinda makes it impossible,” I replied. Daryl gave a chuckle at my excuse.

“Ah, I've missed you kid.” He said before he turned his attention towards Luna.

“So who might this beautiful creature be?” He asked, making Luna blushed at his compliment before replying.

“I am Princess Luna, Princess of the night and co-ruler of Equestria.”

“A Princess, huh?” Daryl questioned as he turned to look at me. “I never took you for the kid to have friends with royal titles.” He jokingly stated, nudging my shoulder as I smiled.

“Yeah, well I guess you don't know enough about me then,” I replied.

“Apparently I don't!” He said, releasing a hearty laugh as his eyes focused on my friends who were looking at us from inside the bus. “So, how about you introduce me to the rest of your friends.” He suggested. I nodded and waved my hand over, gesturing to them that it was safe to come out. One by one they stepped off the bus and cautiously walked over to us, eyeing the soldiers.

“Everyone,” I announced. “I’d like you to meet a very good friend of my family; Daryl Grossman.” Daryl bowed before them upon speaking.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all and let me be the first person to officially welcome you to the Owatonna Outpost.” Daryl greeted as Celestia stepped towards him with a friendly smile.

“I am Princess Celestia and I as well as everyone here, thank you for your hospitality as well as standing up for us. We've endured through too much just to be turned away.”

“It not a problem, your majesty. Besides, a friend of Morgan is a friend of mine.” He replied as he clasped his hands together. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of having the man who killed Ripwing and his group of friends upon my farm?”

“We're helping Morgan take back the city of Saint Paul from Razorfang and his army. We recently found this bus and we were told by Will that you could modify it into something more protective for all of us.” Twilight spoke up, mentioning to the bus.

Upon hearing this, Daryl started walking toward the bus as he started inspecting it. Raising the hood to take a look at the engine, getting down on his knees to look at the tires and the underside, and stepping inside to inspect the interior. He hadn't changed one bit. Daryl always took pride into fixing up cars, whether they be from the early forties or straight from the factory. It was nice to see him doing what he did for a living again. After a few minutes went by, Daryl finished up and walked back, taking off his sunglasses to look at us.

“Well… I think I have a few ideas to improve your ride. I can add some plating along the sides to beef up resistance, replace the wheels with armored ones, and upgrade the engine into something more futuristic. It’ll take a few days to actually complete the project, so I’m gonna have to keep your ride here for the time being.”

“But then how else are we gonna get to Albert Lea and meet up with the Remnants?” Luna questioned.

“Don't you worry 'bout that Luna, I'll radio in a transport to get you there, may take an hour or two for it to arrive here though.”

“I think we can wait for a while,” I replied. He smiled at my response before he turned to the soldiers behind him and made a motion with his hand, ordering the soldiers to come closer to us.

“Now, if you would kindly let these gentlemen here scan you for changeling magic, it will make trusting you a lot easier,” Daryl stated to our group, but got suspicious and worried looks from them, so I stepped in.

“It's fine guys, just let them do their job and we can all relax for a while,” I reassured as they nodded in understanding.

Seeing their response, Daryl made a gesture and the soldier with the scanner walked up to them, accompanied by two others. One by one they scanned for changeling magic, besides Shift who was a changeling herself. I had informed both Daryl and the soldiers about how helpful she's been to the group and that if it weren't for her, we wouldn't have made it this far. She may not be much of a fighter, but she did keep our spirits high. I also informed Daryl of our captives, Andre and Xander, who had ambushed us at the mall. With a quick command, he ordered two of the soldiers and had them take both brothers to the holding cells, where they would wait until our transport arrived. As we waited patiently for the soldiers to finish up, Luna started talking to Daryl about the scanners.

“What exactly are they using?” She asked him, watching the soldiers scan the others.

“They're called Changeling Detectors. It's a special scanner issued by the army back when there was still resistance fighting against them damn bugs. They're used to scan for any changeling magic so that we know who's a changeling and whos not, though not very many were made. Once the Changelings learned where they were being produced, they had the entire plant destroyed, along with all the workers so that they couldn't continue making them or share their knowledge. The Remnants only have about five of them, including this one, but they can't exactly hand them out to anyone who comes by.”

“Well, at least we have one way to identify Changelings,” I stated, earning a nod from him. A few minutes went by and everyone's scan came back negative of any Changeling magic.

“Well now, the transport’s gonna take some time to get here, so how about we get you all some lunch, you must be famished,” Daryl stated. Twilight and her friends agreed happily in response as they followed him to his home. I walked with them until Luna pulled me aside.

“Morgan, I wanted to speak to you, about what we spoke about at the mall.” She started. I knew too well what she meant by that, how she wanted me to teach her to use a gun.

“I understand what you mean, Luna, and while I'm still very cautious about it, I'm still willing to teach you. But, I am kinda worried about how Celestia will take it, about you wanting to use a firearm.” I replied worryingly.

“Don’t worry, Morgan, she trusts you would do anything to keep us safe, so I'm sure she'll allow it. But if it will make you feel better, I’ll be right by your side while you speak with her.” She offered.

“Well, I guess that would be alright,” I replied, still feeling a little nervous. Understanding that I was still tense about the situation, Luna leaned in close to me in a loving manner to soothe my worries.

“But for now, how about we get some lunch? I didn't have that much to eat this morning and I'm rather hungry.” She suggested.

I nodded with a smile as we started walking toward the house. I love Luna, and I would do anything for her just to keep her safe, but teaching her to shoot a gun, a weapon that can kill, it scares me. I don't want her using it on someone, only to regret the choice later on and fret over it. But knowing her, I'm sure she would want to find a diplomatic solution first. I just hope Celestia doesn't take this hard, I'm already in a relationship with her sister without her knowing and the last thing I want is to stress out a sun god.

A New Beginning

“Morgan, you alright?” My friend Jacob asked as I snapped back into reality.

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine” I replied.

“Well come on, we’re not getting any younger just standing here,” Jacob said.

“Alright, I’m coming.”

My name is Morgan. N. Grey. and Today is August 17, 2023. It had been five years since America fell and the Changelings took over. Nothing has been the same since. The Changelings were nothing that America was expecting, they were ‘magical creatures’ that had the power to shapeshift into anyone at will. Chrysalis and her army came from another planet where magic was apparently real. But after they took power, they started taking us for granted. They killed people for no apparent reason and burned down homes leaving millions homeless.

A lot of people referred to it these days as The Changeling War, except no-one in the world had the guts to go against Chrysalis and her Changelings, hell, not even North Korea. I have been holed-up at the school since the day everything went to hell, along with a few friends over the years and we’ve never had a liking toward Chrysalis or her army. Jacob and I were doing our weekly scavenging, looking for any supplies that would help us survive: food, water, medicine, ammo, anything that would help us last a while longer. There were two others in our group, Chris, and Markus. They were the ones who had to stay behind and make sure no one stole our equipment while we were gone.

Jacob and I were both outfitted with clothes we’d found over the years. I was wearing green camo cargo pants, a pair of hiking boots, a Brandit M-65 Field Jacket and under it was a grey T-shirt that had a tattered American flag on it. On my back was a sheath that contained an eighteen inch serrated bush machete with a hand guard that I found in a pawnshop a while back, a dark green beanie and tan aviator sunglasses.

And because Jacob was a military enthusiast, he wore his brother’s camouflaged M-65 military tactical jacket and underneath was a tactical response combat short sleeve shirt, Camouflage military pants with knee pads, combat boots, and a Map Pocket Ranger Cap.

We had been searching for about four hours but hadn’t found anything useful. We stopped at an abandoned 7-eleven store, but the place had been picked clean years ago.

“Another day, another looted store with nothing in it,” Jacob stated as he walked down the aisle of shelves with nothing on them.

“It’s been five years since our world was taken over Changelings and five years since our species started getting treated like shit, Jacob. What did you expect?” I said bluntly while sitting on the counter.

“Well, I was expecting that there would be some food left to last us a more few months,” Jacob replied.

“Dude, we already have enough food.” I reminded him

“Yeah, Enough food to last us three weeks!” He yelled, not loud enough to draw attention.

I was stunned; I had never seen him this stressed.

“Sorry, it’s just that… ” He paused for a moment. “Look, we’re running low on supplies, most importantly food and if that happens, we’re either gonna starve to death or-”

“NO!” I said, cutting him off “I know that we’re desperate, but we are not turning those “shape shifting-freaks” and ask them for food, they're the ones who destroyed this country in the first place!”

I walked up to Jacob and put my hands on his shoulders, making sure that he was paying attention. “We are survivors Jake, we have survived this long, we’re not quitting now, and I’ll be damned if we’re going to walk up to their doorstep ask them for a handout.” I let him process what I had just said.

“Fine” Jacob sighed.

“Come on, There’s bound to be some food where we're going,” I reassured. Jacob nodded and we both walked out of the minimart, hoping we would find something good at our next destination.

*******

We’d been walking for about 30 minutes when we reached our destination. It was a sight that made both our jaws drop. We were looking at the remains of the U.S Bank Stadium, with a C-17 Globemaster’s tail sticking out of the glass ceiling.

“Holy Shit,” Jacob muttered. We’ve never scavenged in the city; we have always stuck to houses, military checkpoints, and grocery stores. But this was the first time in 5 years we have ever stepped foot in Minneapolis.

“Never thought we’d come back here,” I said.

“Same,” Jacob said, still gazing at the sight.

“Let’s hope there's at least some food that we can take home,” I said as we started walking.

As we were approaching the stadium we passed abandoned Medical tents and in each one there were about a dozen gurneys with some useless medical equipment.

“Guess this used to be a checkpoint for those who got infected,” Jacob said.

“Yeah, but the real question is, what happened to all those people who infected?” I replied noticing that there were no human remains in any of the tents.

There were rumors of a disease brought from the Changeling homeworld that infected almost half of America. No one knew how it originated or what had happened to the people who first got infected. All that we know was that the Changelings built walls which are almost half as tall as the Empire State Building around major cities all across the country and started calling them ‘Dead Zones’ and that no-one was to enter no matter the cost. But people started getting cocky, thinking that there were fresh supplies behind the walls and the ones who ventured into a Dead Zone, were never seen again. It funny actually, not about the missing people, but that we happen to be a few blocks away to the walls that border's the Dead Zone. But you don’t have to worry, we won’t be venturing there any time soon… I hope.

“Let's get inside and find what we need,” Jacob said. “This place is creeping me the hell out.”

I nodded, and we started making our way to the entrance of the stadium.

The inside of the stadium’s lobby was even creepier than the outside. Dried blood all over the floor, luggage bags stacked into piles, and decaying bodies scattered about the room. My guess was that they used to be doctors and U.S soldiers.

“And just when you thought the outside was creepy,” I said, seeing what we’d just walked into.

“Let’s check the field; it’s probably where they stashed their medical supplies and food,” Jacob said.

“Ok,” I replied. “But keep your guard up, I have a feeling we’re not alone here.”

We both took out our weapons that we’d brought along in case we were attacked - Jacob pulled out his FN Fal, and I took out an AK 47 with a shoulder strap.

As we made our way down the hall, we peeked into rooms making sure there wasn’t an ambush waiting for us or if there were supplies hiding in the corner. Once we made to the field, we saw that there was nothing left. The tailfin of the Globemaster had broken off and was stuck in the ceiling while the rest of the plane had destroyed the field where the medical tents were.

“Well, it doesn't hurt check right?” I said trying to brighten the mood.

Jacob just rolled his eyes and made his way to the wreckage. Even though this was our only hope of getting food was literally crushed, we still had to make sure there was at least something worth scavenging.

*******

It took us thirty minutes sorting through the remains of what used to be busy makeshift hospital just to find anything to help us survive. We put what we found from the wreckage on a fold-out table that I had found. I started listing out what we had found: “Ok, seven MREs, morphine, three bottles of antibiotics, a pack of C-4 explosives with a detonator, a few shotgun shells, two bottles of painkillers and some bandages.”

What we had found wasn’t enough.

“God Damn It!” Jacob yelled as he kicked over a cart with surgical tools on it.

“Jacob, Calm Down!” I said.

“Calm down? Look at this Morgan, we walked four hours for this shit and all we find is some food that will barely get us a week and medication which we have plenty of. There is nothing left here Morgan, both here and in this God forsaken country. We are screwed in this world you hear me - We Are Screwed!”

“You think I don’t know that?” I retorted. “You think I like living like this? Watching everything and everyone I love die right in front of me? To walk twenty-six miles back home only to learn that neither of my parents were there? I pray to God every night, hoping that everything will go back to the way it was. But guess what, it’s been five years and I haven’t seen any proof that things are getting better, so do me a favor Jacob, do everyone a favor and SHUT THE HELL UP!”

There was a strong silence a few seconds till we got a cold blast of wind.

“What the hell, it’s the middle of May, how did it get this cold!” Jacob said.

Just then we both heard the sound of electricity crackling.

“You heard that too, Right?” I asked making sure I wasn’t going crazy.

”I think it came from the plane.” He said.

We then grabbed our weapons and started running to the remains of the cargo plane.

*******

As we made our way to where the Globemaster crash landed, even though we didn’t see any signs of Changeling activity, Jacob was starting to freak out.

“It has to be the Changelings,” Jacob rambled. “They must have followed us in here or maybe they're using this place as a testing site for new weapons or maybe…”

“Jacob, get a hold of yourself!” I quietly yelled, making sure we didn’t give away our position. “Whoever or whatever the hell it is, I’m pretty sure we can take them.” We then heard it again but sounded close.

“It came from the other side of the plane,” Jacob said.

We passed through a hole in the side of the plane. Then, I caught something in the corner of my eye - 20 crates of missiles were loaded onto the plane, probably enough to destroy half the stadium, I was surprised that they didn’t explode when the plane crashed. As we approached the side door, we got on either side of the frame as cover. I then looked at Jacob with a stern look on confidence on my face.

“Alright, you ready?” I asked Jacob.

He replied with a simple nod. “Ok, One.” We both readied our weapons and made sure we had enough ammo for what was about to happen.

“Two!”

I checked my pocket for my pocket knife in case I needed it as a last resort.

“NOW!”

We busted through the door and aimed our guns at… nothing. There was nobody there, besides the left wing of the cargo plane which had broken off, and a few dozen smashed crates.

“That’s it; I’m done with this crap!” Jacob said, storming off.

“Jacob, where are you going?” I asked.

“To Saint Paul, where do you think?”

“Jacob you are not going there, that place only brings you-”

“I DON’T CARE!” He yelled, which had startled me. “I am done living out here Morgan, we found barely enough food to last us a week and now we’re going crazy!”

“We’re not going crazy, Jacob,” I said trying to reassure him

“Then how do you explain the noise we just heard or that cold blast of wind or the feeling that someone has been watching us the minute we stepped foot in this god-forsaken place! Being out here has either drove us crazy or paranoid and I’m betting on both, now I’m going to Saint Paul where there’s food, water and hopefully a Goddamn therapist and you’re not gonna stop me!” He said as he started walking away from me.

I caught up with him and grabbed his shoulder “Jacob, sto-”

I didn’t get to finish as he slammed me against the Globemaster and pulled out his Glock 17 and aimed it at my head. “Read my lips Morgan, I. Am. Done!”

“You think killing me and getting away with it is going to solve your problems?” I asked, not showing any fear.

“I have put up with the death of my family for too long Morgan, I thought that surviving with you would help me be at peace, but things change Morgan and there is nothing left for us to scavenge, so if killing you would mean I could start a new life without going hungry ever again, then so be it.”

“We have survived out here for five years Jacob and we’ve never had a problem with finding supplies, but if you think killing me is gonna make things better for you, then do it God damn it, pull the damn trigger and take me away from this world because there is nothing left for me, so go ahead, DO IT!”

There was a long silence. I didn’t know if he was going to put away the gun or if he was going to end my life where I stood. But we got our answer as we heard the sound again and as we turned our heads simultaneously to the left we saw that there were electrical sparks coming out of thin air. All of a sudden we felt the cold wind again and as on cue, a blue portal appeared out of nowhere. Something seemed oddly familiar about it, but I couldn’t tell what. I then realized that the portal in front of us was the same portal that had brought the Changelings to Earth five years ago.

Jacob then broke the silence “Morgan? Please tell me that you're seeing what I’m seeing so I know that this isn’t just paranoia.” He asked, not taking his eyes off the portal.

“Jacob, you just took the words right out of my mouth,” I said. The portal then started to pulsate at a fast rate and from what I could tell; I think that something was coming through it. “Jacob?” I asked.

“Yeah?” He replied

“I think we should take cover,” I stated, realizing that whoever or whatever was coming through that portal wasn’t going to be friendly.

“You’re probably right.” He agreed as we got away from the portal as fast as we could and took cover behind some crates that were still intact. Just as we got behind the crates there was a blinding flash that lasted for about five seconds and then everything went silent.

*******

“What the hell was that?” Jacob whispered.

“Jacob, I think I might be seeing things, but I think that’s the same portal that brought Chrysalis and her army here five years ago!” I suggested.

“Are you saying that more Changelings came through that portal?” He asked.

“I have no idea Jacob, but if there’s a portal here, that means something came through.” I quickly replied

“Well, how many are we dealing with?” He asked.

I quietly peeked around the stack of crates, but what I saw was strange for me to describe. There were eight creatures, all of them looked like horses but had weird features. Some of them had horns, bird-like wings or none at all and the other four had both horns and wings, but what really stood out was that their fur was different colors, even their mane was multicolored. They had strange tattoos on their hindquarters, one had three apples, another had party balloons and another had butterflies. It looked like that almost all of the creatures were female. For a second I thought that these creatures were just like the Changelings, ruthless and cold-hearted, till one of them spoke, pure English.

“Well everypony, this is the place.” A purple one who had a horn and a pair of wings said.

“You sure this is the place Sugarcube?” an orange one who wore a cowgirl hat and talked with a southern accent “This place looks like a Hoofball Stadium?”

“AJ’s right,” A light blue one with a rainbow and wings said. “This place looks exactly like the stadium in Manehattan.”

“Did one of those things just call Manhattan, ‘Manehattan’?” Jacob questioned as I noticed that he was peeking over the crates. I shrugged with a look of confusion and continued listening.

“Wherever we are, it looks like she was here first.” A tall white one said, mentioning to the hole in the ceiling and the crashed cargo plane.

The white creature looked like the one in charge because she wore a gold necklace and a tiara and she was taller, probably six or seven feet tall. She also had a tattoo that had the sun on it, a horn and pair of wings just like the purple creature and colorful hair that blew with the breeze, but what was strange was that there was no wind.

“What kind of ghastly machine is this!” said another white creature that had a horn and a purple mane that curled at the end, examining the plane.

A pink one whose pink hair was all over the place spoke up. “Oh-oh, maybe they used this to make cakes and pastries, or maybe it’s a giant boat that's still being built or maybe they…”

“Used this to fly.”

They all turned to a creature whose fur was midnight blue and had a mane that resembled a starry night sky, looking at the disconnected wing from the Globemaster. She too had a horn, wings a tattoo which had the moon on it and her mane flew in the non-existent breeze as well. It looked like she also wore a necklace and tiara, but instead of gold, it was pure black. I don’t know why, but I thought that this creature was beautiful.

“Who would want to fly in that? It looks to be entirely made of steel - how something so heavy could fly?” said the rainbow-maned one.

“It would seem that we're in a world that has machinery beyond what Equestria has.” The midnight blue creature said.

“Equestria? Well, that’s a new one.” I thought.

“You think whoever built that is gone?” A yellow creature with a long pink mane said, cowering behind the orange one with the hat.

“This machine looks like it hasn’t been touched in a long time,” The purple one said. “So I think it’s safe to say that it’s just us here.”

“Ah don’t know Twilight, ah don’t think we should be jumping to conclusions just yet.” the orange pony said.

“Oh come on Applejack,” The so-called ‘Twilight’ said. “What could possibly go wrong?”

*******

“I’ve had enough of this crap,” Jacob said as he grabbed his gun started to get up.

“Jacob, what are you doing?” I whispered.

“I’m just going to say hi and ask them out for tea, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I’M DOING, I’m going to hold them up for any food they have on them!” he quietly yelled.

“Jacob, we are survivalists, not roadside bandits,” I replied harshly, but he just sighed.

“Morgan, I know that it’s against the group’s rules, and I respect that!” Jacob explained. “But times have changed, we aren't going to last much longer with supplies becoming more and more difficult to find each day. This is our chance to get that food we need in order for us to continue living, now we can either rob them of any food they have on them for us to survive a little while longer, or you can be the one tell Chris and Markus how we came back empty handed.”

Jacob had a point, this was the apocalypse after all and there was only one rule in life, kill or be killed.

I shook my head and sighed. “Screw it. Fine, we’ll do this your way, but you're doing that talking.” I said as we both got up and came out from cover, about to break a rule that our group would never do.

The Brothers From Rikers

Author's Note

Hello, yes I am back with another chapter. First off, I just want to say sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. With all the chapters I had written so far, I decided to take a break, but after a month or two, I wanted to continue writing this chapter, but my mind just kept telling me to relax and do it later. it was only two weeks ago that I decided to get back to writing this story, so hopefully, this won't happen again in the next year or so. But anyway, here's the next chapter of The Changeling War. Enjoy!

The Brothers From Rikers

My eyes slowly opened from the daylight that shined down upon me. From where I laid, I had a good view of the grey clouds that blanketed the sky. I’ve always loved cloudy days, they were so peaceful to me. As I sat up, I noticed that Luna’s wing was still draped over me. I looked to my right to see her sleeping soundly next to me with her head resting on her forehooves.

She was so beautiful as she slept, how her slender frame raised and fell with each breath she took, how the daylight shined on her majestic coat and mane, just breathtaking. I reached my hand over and ran it through her eternal flowing mane as a smile formed on her muzzle. This gave me an idea as I began petting her behind her ears in which made her stiffen at first but later made her relax into my touch.

“Mmmm, yes… right there,” She hummed in her sleep.

“Huh, and I thought her laugh was cute.” I thought with a quiet chuckle.

It was only last night when I had finally confessed my love to her, how she was the girl, or in her terms, mare, that I wanted to spend my life with. I was frightened to tell her my feelings though, thinking that she wouldn’t love me back because we were different species from different worlds. But the real reason was that I thought that a Princess like her wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. But now that I shared my feelings with her, I felt a bit of accomplishment in my life.

“Well, I see you two had a nice sleep.” A familiar voice stated. As I looked to where it came from, I saw Kenny leaning up against a car that was parked next to us, with a small smirk on his face.

“What do you want, Kenny?” I questioned, ignoring the fact that he now knew that Luna and I were together.

“I was gonna take a morning walk through the mall and thought if you’d like to join me.” He replied.

I thought about his offer and a walk through the mall didn't sound that bad. Hopefully, some of the shops inside weren't all loot and at least contained some items, mainly clothing cause I could use a change in apparel.

“Alright Kenny, I'll come,” I replied as I slowly and carefully got on my feet, not wanting to wake Luna.

In my defense, I didn't exactly want to go, I just wanted to lay with Luna for a while longer. But he was my uncle, I haven't seen him in five years, so spending some time with him would be nice, that is if he starts embarrassing me now that he knows the truth about me and Luna.

“The entrance down here has been boarded up, but I think we can get in through the third floor.” He stated, pointing to the floor above us.

“Lead the way,” I replied with a motion of my hand as we both walked off into the abandoned mall, leaving Luna alone to her peaceful sleep.

*******

We’d been walking around the mall for a good thirty minutes now and I had to admit, it was very peaceful. Before the changelings arrived, this place would be packed with people ordering food, shopping through stores, and there would be the occasional screams from the amusement park in the middle of the mall. But now, the place was absolutely silent.

During our walk, we stopped by a few stores to look for some clothes. Most of the clothes on display were no good as a lot of them had holes from moths eating at the fabric, but luckily there some shirts and pants in the back rooms that were still intact. Right now I was wearing a pair of blue shorts, a tropical light orange T-shirt from the Tommy Bahama store and a jean jacket, with my old clothes in a shopping bag that I was carrying.

“Not gonna lie kid, I never thought I’d be here right now.” Kenny started as we strolled through the first floor. “Reuniting with you, meeting your new friends, surviving the Dead Zone along with the Changed, and now we’re on our way to the remnants.”

“Still hard to believe, I know,” I replied, followed by a short laugh.

Eventually, we ended up entering the public space, the area where they would hold events like music festivals or contests. In the center was an intact but very dusty Alfa Romeo Stelvio, possibly a prize for a contest that's long since ended.

“I remember them announcing this prize,” I stated, mentioning to the car in front of us. “I'm surprised no one’s salvaged this thing yet.”

“Yeah, kinda reminds me of when your dad bought that 1976 ford pickup from that scrapyard,” Kenny said, running a finger across the dusty car. “The inside of the engine was so dusty, he named the thing: The Dustmobile.”

All I could do was sigh as he brought up old memories. It still broke my heart, not knowing what happened to my folks, wondering if they were in some Changeling controlled city or… or worse. All I know is that they could be dead on the side of a road or have been turned into one of the Changed or-

“Kid, listen.”

I was brought back to reality by the sound of my uncle’s voice, along with a hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned around to face him, only to be met with a concerned look that was on his face.

“I miss them too, and not a day goes by where I wished that you along with your parents would’ve walked right through my door. Your mom was a great woman, and your dad was an utter badass when it came to his job. Whatever happens, I will always be there for you and will always support you.”

“Thanks, but I kinda find that hard to believe after the multiple times you’ve embarrassed me every time I was with a girl,” I replied, my voice raising a little.

“That was just me showing you how happy I was for you!” He replied back, defending himself.

“Oh really? Well, you have a really weird way of expressing your happiness when It comes to me being with a girl!” I exclaimed. “Remember Hailey Dixon, my old girlfriend? After expressing your ‘happiness’ towards us, she ended up telling me that we should stay as friends, thus ending my thing with her! You ruined my relationship with her, you get that! And Hailey’s probably dead or a Changed or God knows what! So tell me, Uncle, are you happy for me now?”

Just like that, I had vented every ounce of anger that was inside me, and if felt good. As for Kenny, he just stood there, sinking in everything that I just said, before he finally spoke.

“Jesus, kid. I… I-I’m sorry. I never knew that you were that pissed at me for what I did.” He said with a sad tone in his voice.

I walked up to him and put both hands on his shoulder, looking him dead in the eyes. “Kenny, I love you to death, and after saying my peace, I’m fine with you knowing that Luna and I are in love. But please, for the love of God please, when you see me and Luna in the same room together, just don’t, say, anything!” He didn’t say anything, but after a while, he nodded.

“Alright, kid.” He replied, as we then pulled each other into a hug. As we broke the hug, Kenny took a glance at his watch. “Well, I think it’s about time we get back, don’t want your friends… to…” his voice trailed as looked towards the floor. I looked down with him, only to see a bunch of sticky notes, making an X on the floor.

“Oh shit.” Was all I could say before an arrow whizzed passed, puncturing the car’s door next to us. We looked to where the shot came from to see an African American with a frohawk hairstyle walking up to us, loading another arrow in the crossbow he carried. He wore a dark grey leather jacket with a hoodie and what looked like a white shirt underneath, dark green cargo pants and dirty white Nike shoes.

“Son of a- ” I started as I went for my pistol, but stopped as I heard a voice.

“Ah ah ah,” The voice tutted as another African American came around from behind the car with a buzzcut and a small beard, holding a Škorpion machine pistol sideways in one hand. He wore a green and white flannel T-shirt, ripped jeans, red sneakers and wore a black and white bandana around his head like a headband. “Unless you know what's good for ya, you’ll drop your gun, now.” He ordered with a noticeable Jamaican accent.

Seeing how there was no other way out of this, I carefully set my gun on the floor and slid it over the bandits. The guy with the buzzcut picked up my gun with his other hand and aimed it at us as Kenny and I both raised our hands.

“Search them.” He told the guy next to him. He nodded and walked up to use, holding his crossbow in one hand as he patted us down, searching for other weapons that were on us.

“They're clean.” The second thug announced, also having a Jamaican accent as he stepped back a few feet and aiming his crossbow at us again. The lead thug holding the Škorpion then looked at us with a serious expression.

“Where's your group at?” He questioned.

“What makes you think that we're in a group?” Kenny replied, protecting our group’s location.

“Don't play stupid with us, Pops!” The guy with the crossbow warned. “We’ve seen a lot of people traveling in groups of three or more, and it seems highly unlikely that it's just you two out here.”

“Says the two amateur highwaymen thinking they can intimidate us by themselves?” I replied in a mocking matter, earning a chuckle from Kenny

“Enough!” The lead thug exclaimed, angrily. “You two are wasting our time, so this is how it's gonna go down. You have until the count of three to tell us where your group is or you will both die, painfully. Starting with the redneck.” The lead thug ordered as he and the other bandit aimed their weapons at my Uncle.

“One.”

Kenny looked at me with a stern look that said ‘you don't tell them shit’. I said nothing but subtly nodded in response. I don’t care if they were armed, they were not getting anything out of us.

“Two.”

We just kept staring at them with hatred. I would rather die than give up the location of the others if it meant them getting hurt or killed, and I'm pretty sure Kenny felt the same way.

“Thr-” before he could finish, his friend’s crossbow was shrouded in a familiar blue aura and smacked him right in the nose, making him fall back on the floor as his crossbow levitated in the air, aiming right at him.

“What the f-” The lead thug was instantly interrupted as both my gun and his were also shrouded in the blue aura, yanked from his hands and were tossed to us. I caught my gun and Kenny caught the bandit’s gun and we aimed at him and his friend who got back on his feet, blood dribbling from his nose, both of them surrendering as them put their hands in the air.

All I could do was smirk, knowing exactly who saved us as the princess herself flew down from the third floor, landing a few feet from the bandits, her horn glowing as she continued levitating the crossbow, aiming it at the guy that was knocked to the floor.

“Will this be a normal thing for us, Morgan? You get into trouble and I come to save you.” Luna asked with a smile on her face.

“Well, when you put it like that, I have no problem with it,” I replied, jokingly as I smiled right back at her before looking back at the two unarmed bandits, narrowing my eyes at them. “So, what do you wanna do with these two dipshits?”

“They don’t deserve to be harmed, Morgan, but they do deserve some form of punishment for almost hurting you and Kenny,” Luna replied with a calm but strict tone. “I say we should take them with us, keep them as our captives and turn them into the Remnants.”

“Take them with- These assholes just tried to kill us and you wanna bring them with us! They could be Changelings sent by Razorfang for God’s sake! We should just kill them and leave” Kenny interjected.

“Hey, we are not one of them freaks!” The lead thug protested, interrupting our conversation. Kenny shot him a glare that said ‘shut up or I will shoot you’ as the bandit rubbed the back of his neck in an uneasy way as he and the second bandit averted their eyes off us.

“They’re not Changelings, Kenny,” Luna argued. “Before I intervened in your predicament, I cast a spell on them that detects any type of illusion spells in use and there was no sign of any on them. They’re as human as they can be, and even though they almost killed you, they do not deserve to be killed in return.” Kenny gave an exasperated sigh and was about to reply until I stepped in.

“Kenny, Luna’s right,” I stated. “killing them is out of the question, but it doesn't mean we can't teach them a lesson for trying to kill us. We can have William and his team watch over both of them as a precaution and when we get Albert Lea, we can hand them over to the Remnants, alright?” He didn't say anything but sigh. Knowing that he wasn’t going to win the argument, he nodded. With the decision final, we turned our attention back towards the two bandits who still stood there.

“We’re not gonna kill you, but we can’t afford you to let you walk out of here either, so you’ll be coming with us as our captives. You will be under constant watch in case you try something that ends up getting us all killed and you will not be allowed near any weapons, including yours.” I explained before raising my gun at them. “That is if you two have a problem with that?”

They both back up, feeling intimidated as their plan on robbing us backfired in their faces. “Easy mon, just take it easy. We’ll come quietly, you’ll have no problems from us.” The lead thug replied as his friend nodded in agreement.

“Good, now get moving,” Kenny ordered as he mentioned with the thug’s pistol for them to walk in front of us. They complied and started walked with Kenny right behind them with the gun aimed at them. I was about to walk with them until Luna stopped me.

“Morgan?” She started as she stepped in front of me. “I was wondering if we could speak for a moment.”

“Um, sure,” I replied with a shrug before turning to Kenny. “You think you can handle these two?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, they won’t try anything.” He replied as he continued walking with the two brothers in front of him.

“So, what is it you want to talk about?” I asked, turning back to Luna as she set the crossbow on the hood of the car.

“Well… Remember how I saved you from those two Changelings back in Saint Paul, you allowed me to accompany you to your Uncle’s home?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I slowly replied, not fully understanding where this conversation was going.

“Well, since I saved both you and your Uncle from those two brutes just now, I was wondering if you could do something for me.” She explained.

“So for doing something for us, you want me to do something for you in exchange... Sounds fair.” I replied with a shrug as I leaned up against the car. “So what is it that you want me to do for you?”

“I want you… to show me how to use your weapon.” She replied, pointing a hoof to the gun in my hand. My eyes went wide as I heard her say those words. Her request really caught me off guard.

“You, want me, to show you how to use a gun… not to be rude, Luna, but can I ask why?” I questioned, already knowing that this would be a very bad idea.

“I understand that you feel a little uneasy about my request, I do. But after the past few days of witnessing the power your weapons, how you use them to protect us… it started to intrigue me, making me wonder how they work and learn how to use one. Tis only a simple request, but I understand if you think it’s a bad idea, I just wondered if you could show me or not.” She explained as she looked at me with those beautiful soft eyes of her’s.

I put my hand to my chin as I started thinking about what she was requesting me to do for her. I mean, I could show her how to use a gun, but if we happened to be in a firefight with Changelings or more people trying to kill us, I didn’t want her to accidentally hurt or kill herself if she actually used one. But, then again, there would be a time where a gun would prove more useful than magical spells. After moments of thinking, I finally gave her my answer.

“Oh, Celestia’s gonna kill me,” I muttered under my breath before turning to Luna and giving her my answer. “Alright, I’ll show you.”

I grabbed the end of the gun with my other hand, emptied the magazine and cocked it as the unused bullet flew out of the chamber which I caught with my other hand. With my gun now empty, I held it out to her as it was shrouded by her magic. She tried to pull it out of my hand but I had a firm grip on it as I looked her in the eyes with a stern look.

“Listen to me closely. A gun is not a toy, it is a deadly weapon. Use it incorrectly and you could end up costing the life of someone innocent, someone you love or yourself.” I said to her with a very solemn voice. She nodded as I let go, my gun now in her possession. She brought the gun to her face as she inspected it, taking in every detail that she saw.

“It’s amazing what your species are capable of inventing. How long has your race used these types of weapons?”

“The first recorded firearm dated back to 1364, that was over six hundred years ago,” I replied. She looked at me with wide eyes as I nodded at her, confirming that what I said was true.

“So how does it work?” she asked.

I walked up to her and pointed a finger at the trigger. “When you pull this trigger, it would fire these,” I replied as I held the bullet up to her. “Inside the casing is a substance called gunpowder and is ignited when this, hits the flat end on the bullet,” I pointed to the hammer on my gun and the primer on the bullet. “Once the gunpowder is ignited, it launches this piece of lead at where ever or whoever it is pointed at.” She then held to my gun and pointed it in a random direction, looking down the sights. I could see her pulling back the trigger with her magic as the gun clicked, signaling that it was empty.

“Very interesting.” Luna mused. It was obvious that Luna was now interested in firearms. I wouldn't blame her, I kinda felt the same way when I held my first gun. "Could you teach me how to use it?" She asked.

"I’d be more than happy to teach you how to properly use a gun, though I'm gonna have to tell Celestia about it. But for now, I think it’s about time get back with the others,” I stated. She nodded and handed me my gun as I put it back in its holster. She handed me the bandit’s crossbow, gave each other a smile and started making our way back to camp.

*******

We had just exited the mall and were walking back to camp. Its official, This was one way to start a morning off: getting into a stick up with two Jamaicans. But now that they were in our custody, we wouldn't have to worry about them robbing other people of their supplies.

“Luna,” I started as she turned her at me. “I wanna thank you for understanding my feelings towards you. I honestly wanted to tell you but I was nervous and scared-.”

“Morgan, it fine. You don’t need to worry about it, I said I felt honored that you were in love with me, didn’t I?” She reassured with a soft smile as she held her hoof in my hand. “I have no problems with you being my special somepony or ‘somehuman’ in this case.”

“Thank you, Luna. You’re probably the only thing on my world that makes me happy right now.” I replied with a smile.

That was when the unexpected happened as Luna mentions for me to kneel down to her level, which I complied, and as I met her eyes, she kissed me. Not a kiss on the cheek, but a kiss on the lips. I was very surprised by the form of her response and had no other choice but to accept it. The kiss went on for about ten seconds until we each pulled away, both of us blushing.

“I love you, Morgan Grey. You are a generous, kind-hearted man, and I thank you for what you are doing for us.” She said in a voice that felt like heaven.

“Y-y-your w-welcome.” I stuttered, still taken back by the kiss. This was my first ever kiss I had with a girl, and even I was never able to kiss my old girlfriend until our relationship with ended. But right now, kissing a princess from another world, I felt proud of what I have done in my life just to get up to this point. Knowing that the others were probably waiting for us, I got up off the floor and we continued our walk back to camp.

As we approached our campsite, we could see everyone packing stuff up onto the bus, getting ready to leave. Twilight, who was helping Chris go over supplies we collected from the Dead Zone, saw us and trotted up to us.

“Good morning, Morgan!” She greeted.

“Morning, Twilight. I take it you saw Kenny escort some new friends we had made?” I asked.

“Indeed. Kenny handed them over to William and his friends and are questioning them as we speak. Celestia is also with them as well as she’s not that happy that they almost killed you.” She explained.

“Well, if it weren't for Luna, we wouldn't be here right now,” I replied as I smiled at my new girlfriend, or marefriend as they say it in Equestria.

Twilight, Luna and I ended up talking about what else had happened when we were gone, but I kept the part about me and Luna being in a relationship to ourselves, especially the part about us kissing. I may have found the courage to confess my love to Luna, I was not ready to have everyone else know about it, not yet anyway. We continued to talk until we saw Celestia and William walk up to us.

“Celestia, Sargent, did we get anything from our two friends?” I asked, wanting to know about our two prisoners.

“Yeah, Names are Andre and Xander Wright, ages 31 and 26. Both of them are brothers from Tremont, New York… Son, your Uncle was right about having a bad feeling about them.” Will replied with a stern tone.

“Why is that?” Luna questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“They were both inmates from Rikers.” He replied. Upon hearing this, I crossed my arms as a distasteful look appeared on my face.

“Crap.” I cursed.

“What's Rikers?” Twilight questioned.

“William informed me about it." Celestia explained with a solemn look. "Rikers Island is, or was, a correctional prison in New York that housed more than ten thousand prisoners. It was considered the largest prison on the planet.”

“Whatever happened to it?” Luna questioned as Will gave a sigh before replying.

“Well, when the Changelings arrived, the entire island went into a full-scale riot. Prisoners escaped their cells, Prison guards were killed, buildings were set ablaze, there was so much chaos on the island that it could be heard all over New York. A little over two thousand inmates were killed trying to escape while the rest successfully made it off the island. The guards that worked there though… well, only a few had survived. The prison’s nothing but ruins, littered with burned down buildings and corpses of both prisoners and prison guards.”

“What were our friends charged with?” I asked, wanting to know how and why Andre and Xander got onto Rikers in the first place.

“They were both part of a street gang called Jamaican Posse, they were involved with trafficking drugs and guns. These two killed three officers during a police raid on their home after learning that they were members of the gang. Police also found a stash of cocaine, heroin and other illegal narcotics inside the house as well. The both of them were sentenced to twenty-five years in Rikers, six years before the war started.” He replied.

“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up with concern in her voice. “Are you sure that you want to bring them with us? What if they try to hurt Twilight and her friends or my sister for that matter. ”

“Celestia, we can’t exactly just let them go knowing that they’re Rikers. We let them go and they’ll just continue to rob or kill other people for their stuff. The plan stays the same: we'll bring them to Albert Lea and hand them off to the Remnants when we get there.” I replied calmly as I turn to William. “I want them zipped tied and separated from each other in case they try anything stupid.”

“You’re the boss, son.” He replied, complying to my orders and walked back to the bus. I turned back to Celestia who still had a look of concern.

“Don’t worry, Celestia,” I reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I will make sure that they won’t hurt anyone, and if they do, they’ll have to answer to me.”

“I trust you, Morgan.” She replied as a small smile formed on her face.

“Come, sister, let’s help pack up,” Luna suggested as she, Twilight and Celestia walked off to the bus, leaving me by myself. I heard a short cough behind me and as I turned around, I saw Kenny looking at me plainly. I had a feeling that he was a bit agitated that we were still bringing Andre and Xander with, even after they tried to kill us.

“Kenny, I know that you're against the idea of bringing them with, but-” I was cut off when Kenny shushed me and walked closer me until we're about a foot apart from each other as Kenny looked me in the eyes and inspected my face. I had no idea why he was doing it until he smirked at me and spoke.

“You and Luna kissed, didn’t you.” How he knew that Luna and I shared a moment, I will never know.

“Keep your mouth shut and get your ass on the bus or you’ll be riding on the roof until we get to Albert Lea.” I threatened as he let out a soft laugh.

“Whatever you say, kid.” He chortled as he walked past me with a large grin on his face, all while humming ‘it’s a beautiful morning’ as he walked away. I gave an exasperated sigh, looked up at the ceiling with a look of annoyance.

“Are you happy now?” I asked quietly, knowing God was laughing at what he put me through. I just shook my head and started to walk toward the bus to help pack up. This was gonna be a long, frigging day.