Harmonic Fellowship

by Sun Sage

Rating: teen
Tags: Violence, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rarity, Adventure, Science Fiction
Length: 112227

Rarity's made it home, thanks to all the friends she made on Earth. But they weren't the only ones to find Equestria...

Rarity has 'landed' safely in Equestria and she can finally see all her friends and family again. Aiden can finally meet all these good people he's heard so much about, and maybe try his hand at a bit of amateur diplomacy.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones to find a way to travel to Equus...

Events fifteen hundred years in the making will come to fruition as old enemies and allies vie to decide the fate of two worlds.

This story takes place before the events of Season 8.
Extra tags (since five character tags are the limit): Tempest Shadow, Changelings

Published 2018-07-06 21:30:07 UTC
Last updated 2020-07-08 16:29:54 UTC

3. Diplomacy

Aiden stared at the grinning alicorn for a moment, then shut his eyes and sighed. I lost this round, be a man and accept it. “Yes, Princess, it’s certainly you. You are a pretty, pink, pony, princess, and there can be no doubt.” His cheeks were burning with embarrassment, but he’d gotten through it without stuttering.

Her grin widened. “Rarity, I like your human.”

Rarity had shown incredible self control to not burst out laughing until that point, but that was the last straw. Aiden could now feel his ears burning as a particularly loud ‘wahahahahah!’ filled the room. He took a breath, and exhaled slowly, attempting to alleviate some of the humiliation of this particular first contact. I mean… first time speaking to an alien princess, and I coo at her because I’m overwhelmed by her presence. There’s rolling a 1 on a diplomacy check… and there’s whatever the Hell that is…

Cadenza was giggling as well. “You know, I’ve read a few science fiction romances and first contact between ponies and aliens never happens like this. I should write some of the authors and let them know they have it all wrong.”

“You do that, err… your highness…”

“Oh please, call me Cadance. It’s the least I can do after such a nice compliment. You must be a master diplomat to be so adept at easing the tension that could have marred this meeting.”

...Not sure if trolling…

Her smile became less 'amused at his expense' and more genuine. She really was quite lovely. “But don’t look so embarrassed. It’s just us, and I won’t tell a soul.”

“I will!” Rarity added brightly.

“Rarity will.” Cadance said, nodding gravely.

Aiden rolled his eyes and gave Rarity a brief glare. “My amateur, but groundbreaking-”

Cadance giggled.

“-diplomacy aside…. How are you doing this? Speaking English, I mean.”

Cadance shook her head. “I’m not. I’m speaking Equish. However…” she looked up to her glowing horn, drawing Aiden’s attention to it. “I am using a translation spell. It’s more like a ‘universal understanding’ spell. You’ll hear me speaking your language; I hear you speaking mine. I had it ready when the messenger who informed us told me Rarity was here with a human.” She chuckled. “He didn’t even know what a human was, but I have a few advantages in education. Anyway, the spell… I’d explain the mechanics of it, but suffice to say it’s difficult to learn and to cast. But communication is an important part of love, so it falls well within my purview, and my particular talent.”

“Huh…” Aiden muttered.

“What I’m far more interested in,” she continued, regaining a grin that Aiden had already come to recognize as trouble, “is knowing how it is you two were communicating without such a spell. I don’t believe Rarity knows it.”

“Afraid not, darling.”

“And yet…”

Aiden cocked an eyebrow at Rarity. “You want to explain it, or shall I?”

“You’re doing a magnificent job communicating so far,” she replied, smiling innocently. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

Oh, you think you have the upper… hoof… eh? “Well… it all started when she stabbed me…”

“Rarity!” Cadance scolded, “...third date.”

“What?!” Rarity exclaimed.

Aiden nodded solemnly. “It’s true. She’d had it with my nonsense and wanted to teach me a lesson. I’m better now.”

“I know where you sleep!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Your bed?” Cadance asked, all innocence.

Aiden burst out laughing while Rarity’s eyes went wide, and her cheeks red.

It was at this moment that another pony appeared at the door. Over all the noise they were making Aiden hadn’t heard hoofsteps approaching, but then again the hallways were plushly carpeted. The owner of said steps was a buff looking unicorn stallion with a white coat, two-toned blue mane, and a tightly controlled aura. Everything about him made Aiden think ‘soldier’, even the calm smile as he trotted through the door. He knew, before arriving, that the situation was under control. Sort of.

“Flurry’s in bed; Sunburst is reading her a story. ...I see you’ve gotten introductions out of the way without me,” he said, nodding to Aiden, who returned said nod while fighting the grin at Cadance’s quip.

“Actually no, we skipped straight to celebrating Rarity being back… and me teasing them both, of course.”

“Sure did…” Aiden added. “Hey whoever you are, can you do something about her?” he asked, gesturing vaguely at Cadance.

The unicorn pony tilted his head as though considering the question. “I married her. Does that help?”

“Clearly not.”

“Huh…” he shrugged. “Helped me.”

“Aww, Shiny…” Cadance cooed, smiling warmly at him. “But yes… we probably should at least nod at diplomatic introductions, or Celestia will give me that look.” She rolled her eyes, though the smile on her face took the derision out of the gesture. She turned to Aiden, sitting more formally on the rather crowded sofa. He was fairly certain ‘diplomatic introductions’ didn’t take place on a sofa sitting less than two feet from one another. “So! I am Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of the Crystal Empire, Alicorn of Love, Guardian of the Crystal Heart… and a few other titles nopony really worries about. This is my husband, Prince Shining Armor of same, Commander of the Northern Marches, Seneschal of the Crystal Palace, former Captain of Equestria’s Royal Guard. We welcome you to the Crystal Empire!”

Aiden blinked, and then sat straighter. “Knight Lieutenant Aiden Alexander Windborne, of the Esper Corps, North American Division, Second Company. Honored to be here.”

“Knight Rarity, of same,” Rarity added with a small smile.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at Rarity. “You joined a military force?”

“And how,” Aiden muttered, sharing a knowing look with Rarity. “I suppose I should tell you the real story of how we can speak to one another without a spell or device to help out. But first…” he looked at Cadance. “Just how widespread is knowledge of humans here? You seem completely unfazed.”

“Not very. Celestia and Luna know, of course, and they informed me as part of my extended education upon becoming an alicorn. Twily should know as well, especially after the incident involving the mirror.”

“Yes, I really need to talk to her about that,” Rarity muttered.

Cadance chuckled. “That’s not Earth, at least not their Earth,” she said, nodding towards Aiden. “But it seems you know that better than we would.”

“I should say so.”

“Beyond us though… well the knowledge isn’t secret; you can find books on the war and their involvement in the Royal Library here, as well as Canterlot. I’d assume Twily has at least a couple, too. But most ponies don’t exactly study ancient history. You’re bound to meet a few who know of your people, but most will be clueless.”

“I get that; history wasn’t my favorite subject either.”

“So okay, somepony needs to ask. Rarity, what in Tartarus happened?” Shining asked, genuinely concerned. “I’m really happy you’re back, and I’m sure Twilight will be dancing in the streets when she finds out, but… what?!”

Rarity giggled. “I suppose I should get used to telling this story…”

“Hold on a moment,” Cadance said, holding up a hoof. “Somepony promised me ice cream when we got home, and I think it’s only fair we share with our guests. Shall we adjourn to the dining room?”

“I may be overdoing it on sweets today,” Aiden said, pondering briefly before shrugging. “Eh, in the interest of diplomacy…”

Cadance’s idea of ‘ice cream’ turned out to be rather extravagant. The four of them sat at what was clearly a table fit for royalty… and Aiden mentally facepalmed at that thought… still though. The dining hall was, naturally, decorated with a crystalline chandelier to match candelabras on the table. The corners each had a pillar that held a bust of what Aiden assumed to be this or that famous ruler or hero. Despite not knowing the historical significance, he could certainly admire the artistry on display.

The chairs were comfortable, even for Aiden, although he did note that for once he was happy to be shorter than an average person. They made requests of the castle’s kitchen staff, who assured Aiden they could produce essentially anything. As such, and with Cadance’s urging that he feel free to test them, he’d ended up asking for an Irish coffee milkshake. Without missing a beat, the staffer had asked how much whisky he wanted in it.

It was rapidly becoming a very nice evening. Rarity was handling the retelling of their adventures on Earth, and Aiden was a bit surprised at how well she was portraying him. Not that he’d have expected her to be teasing or dismissive, but…

I… didn’t really do much, did I? They’d gone through a fair bit in a very short amount of time but… he didn’t feel much strain from it. Now, was that because he’d been helping her, or simply because he’d been through worse? No, dismiss that second one. ‘Worse’ was subjective, and certainly the raid on Veritech was in his top five ‘closest to dying’ moments, and facing Garken one on one for even a few minutes also made that list, so…

“Darling? Did we lose you again?”

Crap. “Geh. ...Sorry. I blame the aether here. Still getting used to it.”

Cadance looked concerned. “It’s not causing problems, is it? I didn’t want to pry…”

Shining coughed, and she glared at him briefly.

“About that!” she insisted. “But… what I remember of humans in terms of magic was that you didn’t have any use of it.”

Aiden nodded. “It’s a recent development, coinciding with the Oni invading our world fifteen years ago. But to answer your first question… no problems or discomfort. It’s just a little distracting. What did I miss?”

“Nothing really, darling; I had asked if you wanted to add anything to my telling of our time together on Earth.”

He grimaced. “Sorry, don’t guess I’d know what you might have missed. Though from what I heard, not much.”

“It’s fine, Aiden. Judging by the scent from your cup, you had a little extra help getting distracted anyway.”

“It’s quite delicious… but yes they didn’t hold back on the alcohol.”

Rarity giggled. “Am I carrying you to bed, then?”

“Well, it is your turn…”

Cadance was grinning beautifically. Rarity noticed, and her eyes widened. “Ahh! That’s right! We were going to ask you, which of us-”

“Nope!”

Rarity blinked. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

Cadance gave her a level look, and Rarity looked away, flushing slightly.

“Of course I know, and you knew I did. You of all ponies don’t need my help, Rarity.”

“Hmph, could’ve fooled me,” Rarity muttered.

“I’m not going to say anything that will lead either of you to any sort of premature conclusions about each other. You’re both taking your time with whatever may be between you, and that’s a good thing. With the emotional roller coaster you’ve both been on, rushing into anything, be it acceptance or denial, would be a poor choice.”

Aiden nodded. “We discussed something similar at one point. ...It might be fun teasing fodder… for one of us, but yeah, I guess we don’t need to know.”

Rarity was smiling, and nodded agreement. “I’ll have you know I would have been magnanimous in victory, darling.”

He grinned. “Same. Consolation massage and everything.”

She blinked, and gave him the doe eyes. “Is it too late to concede?”

“It isn’t.”

She smiled warmly. Cadance chuckled, giving a knowing look to Shining Armor, who returned it.

It was sometime later. The fire in their hearth had dimmed, as had the candlelight. Rarity sighed softly as strong hands kneaded massage oil into the fur of her withers. “I definitely lose, darling… I love you more.”

He chuckled. “I dunno, these little reactions are adorable on a level that’s clearly some form of pony cheating. You may pull ahead in 'more beloved' before I’m done.”

"We don’t need to find that out. You could just… never stop.”

“Heh… pretty sure we can’t board the train like this tomorrow.”

“Oh nonsense, darling. Carry me in your magic while your hands keep up this other magic. You’re dressed well enough, other than needing a coat. I’m sure somepony can help with that.”

“Somepony can put on my coat while I’m giving you a rubdown?”

She snorted, and then giggled. “You make it sound so tawdry, darling! This is entirely friendly and in no way some prelude to bawdy behavior.”

“Easy for you to say. Where I come from massaging naked girls when you don’t work at a spa or something has certain connotations.”

She hummed quietly, and turned to look at him through one lidded eye. “Oh? ...What sort of connotations?” she asked huskily. She held a 'come hither' look briefly, before her lips twitched.

He snorted, and began laughing along with her as she quickly lost control of the act. “Dammit, Rarity,” he said after several good moments of mirth. “Yeah I really don’t know. You may have won the bet.”

“Maybe…” she said, settling back down and motioning vaguely for him to continue. He worked down along her spine, running his fingers along the taut muscles looking for knots to work out. “But to both go the spoils.”

“So that means it’s my turn next?”

“Of course it does, but you’re far from done. Don’t be shy about the flanks.”

“...Again, connotations.”

“If it genuinely bothers you, don’t. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

He shook his head, smiling. “Nah, I’m just making a fuss for no reason. I’m going to avoid your tail though…”

She giggled, and said tail swished, running lightly along his forearm. “That tail?”

He flushed. “Yes Rarity, that tail… the one you’re raising...”

“Now now, I’m still holding the coat enchantment, thank you. Nothing exposed.”

“Fair enough… just keep in mind you’re teasing someone with a cultural nudity taboo. ...And your tail is unfairly soft.”

She grinned. “Noted, darling. Given that, I do trust you to say so if I do anything that bothers you.” She took in a long, contented breath and sighed slowly as his fingers began working into the muscles in her flanks.

“Will do. Now, harder or softer? You seemed to like it a bit firm on your shoulders, but…”

“Harder is fine. I don’t mind deep tissue work at the spa back home. I am taking you in when we get there, by the way.”

He chuckled. “I’m okay with that. And I think I’ll leave 'deep tissue' to professionals. I can work a bit harder though.”

“You’re doing wonderfully, darling,” she said, closing her eyes with a serene smile on her lips.

“Glad you’re enjoying. Mind a question or two about earlier?”

“Not at all.”

“What did Cadance mean by a Friendship quest?”

“Ahh," she replied with a small nod. "Twilight’s Castle contains a magical map of Equestria. It occasionally calls us to go handle social matters that tend to impact whole communities." She tilted her head slightly. "...It’s not exactly fighting evil aliens, but-”

“No, I think that’s great. Building positive connections, making the world better. That’s really admirable. ...Feh, I’ve been hiding in my room for half a decade.”

“None of that now. We’ve talked about it.”

He sighed. “...Right. So it calls you guys all over Equestria… I guess we get to surprise Twilight after all?” He worked his way down one hind leg, causing a giggle and twitch when his thumb ran behind her gaskin. At least he thought that was the name for it. Ticklish, eh? He logged that away for later.

“Rarely all of us at once. But I didn’t want Cadance to send them a letter since Spike would naturally find a way to inform Twilight immediately... even if he had to run to where she was. Celestia and Luna know, but that’s all for now. I don’t want to interrupt whatever their friendship mission could be. Whoever they’re out there helping is just as important as I am.”

Aiden smiled, finishing her other leg. He leaned down and kissed her head, behind her horn. “Depends who you ask, I guess.”

“Mmm. Maybe. Which is why, right now, I’m not asking them. We’ll get to Ponyville at the same time either way, after a stop in Canterlot. The Princesses want to meet you, of course, and welcome me back."

"Oh good, another chance to practice my diplomatic skills."

She giggled. "Nowhere to go but up, darling! We can’t pass through Canterlot without seeing them. But it won’t be long, and from there a connecting train to Ponyville. ...I’ll be home in two days!”

“Looking forward to it, too.” He stretched, popping knuckles as well as his back and shoulders as he moved around.

“Hmm, sounds like it’s definitely your turn.” She moved over, stretching luxuriously as she stood on the bed. “Down you go, but lose the shirt first.”

Aiden snorted in amusement, removing his shirt before laying on his stomach. He sighed contentedly as she began gently working across his shoulders. Her hooves were softer and warmer than he’d expected, even when knowing what to expect (it wasn’t like he hadn’t touched them before). There was also a hint of magic, light touches of telekinesis working into the tired muscles. “Heh… more pony cheating…”

“Get used to it, darling.”

Garken snarled in anger as he hit the back of the cell. He tried to stay quiet but it was simply no good. His stupid body didn’t even know how to feel pain properly.

Grand Marshal Maegren, hero of the Spire Assault on Earth, looked down at him in disgust. Garken understood. Despite the vaunted Oni-koru war leader beating him for the last several hours, he felt nothing. He was a failure through and through. The interrogation chamber was a mess from his punishment, and he couldn’t even recall all the things his majesty had felt the need to do. He’d never even been asked any questions...

But once his king had finished with him and the Grand Marshal had taken over his chastisement things had gotten… better, somehow. The pain and misery were replaced by anger, resentment, and derision. He wasn’t allowed to feel those things, but he was already being punished so what did it matter?

Oh, his body bled. His limbs were broken, his teeth smashed. Oddly though, his eyes were safe behind the glasses that stayed upon his head despite everything. They were the mark of his shame, after all. They would forever hide the color of his eyes, the favored mark of the old kings. Only the elites of his people had such eyes… elites and this pitiful slave. Fate mocked him, but his king, in his infinite wisdom, hid them by properly displaying his Earth obsession instead. It was fitting. The war he’d been unworthy to join in, even as a warslave.

He sighed deeply, and worked himself into a sitting position against the wall. The cell was large, and dark. He’d once had a room, even he. After all, a warslave only served as the lowest of the low; he still served and was allowed to live, and die. But now, he was just a prisoner. He would not die for this final failure; his king would not permit him to seek rebirth in the beyond. He would stay here as his body rotted away and he was kept alive and useless. He shuddered in disgust at the thought.

“Heh. You look worse than I feel.”

Garken turned slowly. He couldn’t do otherwise with so much broken. Nonetheless he was quite surprised to find himself sharing the cell. Bright green eyes looked at him, slightly tilted. A mare? Yes. An Equestrian, their ancient foes. Their king’s ancient foes… not Garken’s.

“I am a warslave; how I look and feel do not matter. You are a prisoner, and so the same is true of you.”

The pony chuckled. It was difficult to tell much about her in the darkness, beyond her eyes which seemed almost to glow. On her head… a horn? No… that was... Had his king destroyed her means of defense? Unfortunate, to take power and leave her alive. His king was cruel… No! He could not think such-

“So what’s a ‘warslave’? How’s that different from… just slave?”

“The Oni-koru abhor slavery.”

“Clearly.”

“Better to kill those who cannot or will not obtain strength, that they may be reborn. Enslavement is to prevent a being from growth, so as to merely serve like a tool. It is abominable.”

“Well, aren’t you just pillars of goodness?”

“But in times of war… deserters and traitors are made an example of… in such a manner. A warslave is one who must be enslaved to be of use in the war effort. It is a shame beyond any we would wish upon our most hated foes. I am a warslave, in that my failure was such and my punishment is such.”

“So you deserted?”

“I did not.”

“...You betrayed?”

“I did not.”

“...”

“...”

“...” the pony facehoofed, and then growled. She was actually a bit intimidating. “Of course I get the cellmate who’s taken too many headshots. What. Did. You. Do?”

Garken pondered this a moment. “I… had a deep fascination with our previous enemies, the humans.”

“Humans?” She spoke the word oddly, sounding perplexed. “Haven’t heard of them, and I’ve traveled a lot.”

“Their world is far from here. When we fought them, I was not permitted to participate in any way. It led to my obsession. I was too weak, and foolish, and-”

She held up a hoof, actually placing it firmly over his mouth to silence him. “Wait… You just said ‘warslave’ meant ‘slave only during time of war’ but if you didn’t participate… then you were just a slave. No point in some other term, and no truth to your people’s ‘abhorrence’.”

Garken stopped, and not just for the hoof over his mouth. She… was right. When had he been branded warslave? During what war had he deserted, or betrayed? The humans… but he hadn’t fought them, had he? So how could he…?

“Ugh… snap out of it!” She punched him in the side of the head, knocking away his glasses. Maegren, in all his fury, hadn’t removed them, and yet…

...Wait…

Garken sighed deeply as his mind returned to him. “Thank you, little pony… can I have another?”

She snorted derisively. “Sure.” Another competent left cross connected, and he chuckled.

“I’ll need to put those back on, or we’ll both be dead before the day ends. But before that… we can begin planning our escape.”

The pony smiled darkly. “I’m listening.” She put a hoof to her chest. “Tempest Shadow. ...What’s your name?”

4. Son of Man

Rarity couldn’t get distance. Energy shields weren’t effective for long. Her opponent knew every direction she would move. A glowing baston smashed a shield, the other Joyeuse only narrowly parried. A foot missed her head by less than an inch as she rolled to the side. She riposted, knowing which way he’d react. She threw a straight punch at that very spot, connecting with his midsection and earning a grunt as he backstepped. But her follow up was blocked. ...Blocked and caught, followed by a spin that sent her careening into the air. She snorted derisively and tried to open a portal. The attempt was stymied as the field condensed around her effort.

So, he can block me from using his ability… should have expected that…

She caught the ground with her magic and pulled herself to a controlled landing, skidding on her hooves as Joyeuse blocked his follow up. The first one at least, the second strike swept her forehooves. A weak blast of magic sent her away from the fall, preventing him from finishing her with a swing that instead lightly impacted the grass. She felt the air current change and dodged to the left as he stepped through, connecting with her side as she failed to completely avoid the kick. She gasped for air as it fled her lungs, and as she did so she felt the tip of one weapon pressed to the base of her horn.

Damn. “Best... out of seven?” she panted lightly, grinning wryly.

Aiden was smiling. “That was really good. I didn’t expect you to pick this up this quickly.”

“Well, I do have a bit of self defense training… not to mention everything that happened on Earth. It doesn’t hurt that we’ve melded memories a bit, even if it’s mostly faded. With that and all I’d seen there...”

“Fair point… I’m reasonably sure I couldn’t sew before I met you.”

“Oh? We’ll have to put that to the test too then, at some point.”

“Heh… don’t expect too much; I get the feeling you learn quicker than I do.”

“You’re too modest, darling.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but that was extremely impressive, both of you. Either of you looking for work as combat instructors, I’d find a place for you here,” Gale Force said with a smile, trotting up to them.

They both laughed, greeting him with waves. Rarity noticed they had a bit of an audience. At least two of the guardsponies looked… a bit smitten, if she was reading things properly. She grinned to herself, wondering idly whether it was her or Aiden that had caught their eyes. Or both...

It was early morning. Rarity had slept wonderfully (on the larger bed, though only after losing a coin toss) but had awoken after less than five hours to the sight of Aiden meditating. She’d asked him about some light morning exercise and he’d agreed, assuming she meant a run or the like, only to be both impressed and concerned at her suggestion of sparring. She didn’t blame him. While she’d already had plenty of situations in her life where such skills would have been valuable, they’d never felt like a priority before. But she had not joined the Esper Corps frivolously, and did not consider the oath she’d taken to be merely ceremonial. She would take this new challenge seriously. Beauty, the fashion world, design, art… they would always be her first love, her calling in life. But there was a beauty in this as well, and it was certainly an art. She knew she could keep improving. And so could he… once she was good enough to push him further. She could think of a few ponies who could probably do that already, but that didn’t feel right somehow. Jealous? Moi? Perish the thought, darling…

“I think we have other commitments at this time,” Aiden was saying as she pondered the matter. The translators, which they’d left nearby with their water bottles and towels, transmitted both Gale’s and Aiden’s voices a bit awkwardly, but intelligibly. Noticing such, he floating them over to put them in the pocket of the loose pants he wore.

“So I understand, yes. Speaking of, Princess Cadance sent me to ask the two of you to join her family for an early breakfast, before catching the train.” He cocked an eyebrow, sniffing the air lightly. “You both may want to clean up, first.”

Rarity blushed. “That might be for the best, yes.”

Aiden chuckled.

For once, Aiden was happy to be shorter than average. At roughly five foot three, the passenger cabin seating (obviously designed for ponies) was comfortable. Had he been taller, or bulkier, he imagined there might be an issue. Then again, given that they had a cabin to themselves, he could stretch out across an entire bench had he needed. Instead though, he naturally sat with Rarity next to him, as they opened Cadance’s gift.

It had been a nice breakfast. Aiden had particularly enjoyed meeting Sunburst, as even more than Shining Armor, the orange stallion was a complete dork. That was the sort of thing Aiden could appreciate. He was a very well read dork, apparently, since he knew all about humans (at least as much as Equus could know, fifteen hundred years ago), and the two of them swapped a number of short stories in a relatively brief timeframe.

Flurry Heart had been… interesting. The fluctuations in her aura, which were apparently partially suppressed magic surges, went from almost nothing to stronger than anyone else at the table. These, Cadance explained, weren’t fully indicative of a pony’s eventual magical strength, but they were a guideline. Clearly Flurry’s parents would have some challenges ahead of them. Aiden felt confident they’d handle it, especially with Sunburst’s help since the alicorn foal seemed to adore him.

Meanwhile… they had one last piece of business to take care of during the relatively long trip (several hours anyway) to Canterlot. Per Cadance’s request (and because they’d lingered too long at breakfast and the train had been waiting), they were opening her gift to them now. It was a small box, complete with a note:

To Rarity and Aiden:

Rarity, it was wonderful to have you back, and just as wonderful to find that you’d made such a close friend on another world. While I can’t be completely surprised, it’s comforting to know that, whatever else may be out there amongst the stars, there are friends waiting for us, too. I hope Aiden can make many more friends here, as the start of an alliance between our two worlds. I hope my gift can help with that.

Aiden, I can’t express my gratitude at meeting you. To know that Rarity, who means so much to us all, had you to help her and look after her during what could have been such a terrifying time. There’s simply no way we could ever repay such a debt. And yet I know, meeting you even as briefly as I did, that you would never call it a debt. Even so, I hope my gift can help you in a small way as you walk forward in Equestria.

Your Dear Friend,

Cadance

P.S. Cherish whatever may grow between the two of you, as there are many forms of love. Know that the support you have for one another will be a more valuable gift than any other you receive in this life.

C

P.P.S.

Captain Gale Force has revised training regimens and combat techniques based on watching you two spar. I’m sorry I missed it. The next time you’re both visiting, I’d love to get an exhibition, and maybe go a round or two myself.

Shining Armor

They both shared smiles as Rarity read the letter aloud, and then Aiden opened the box. Within, lay a necklace, teeming with magic that felt warm. Aiden got a feeling of understanding just looking at it. Even with the box open, he felt like he could almost read the letter that still floated in Rarity’s magic.

The necklace was simple: a silken cord, reinforced with aether, melded into a cunning little clasp at the back and a gem setting at the front. It was choker length, with the gem hanging just below his collarbone as he put it on. The gem itself was smooth, and had an uncut look. A tapering cylinder down to a dull point like a pyramid, it was a bit smaller than Aiden’s thumb. It was dark blue… a rather familiar dark blue, he thought in amusement. The exact color of Rarity’s eyes, huh? Subtle, oh Princess of Love, very subtle… Once he’d clicked the clasp shut, he looked at the letter. Unsurprisingly, the words made sense now.

He chuckled. “Well, I’m not saying it’s a competition, but I think magic narrowly wins the translation battle.” His voice didn’t sound any different to him.

“I feel like the melding of ‘magic’ and ‘technology’ is going to be what truly brings our two peoples together moving forward. We both have experience with both, but each has a leg up in their particular field,” Rarity noted. Her voice and words sounded no different as well. Aiden assumed it was because they already understood one another. “So I take it I assumed correctly; the gemstone is enchanted with a translation spell?”

“Seems so. I can read the letter now. You don’t sound any different, but I’m betting other ponies will. How long’s something like this last?”

“Given the quality of the gem… and Cadance and I will be having words about that… several years. Not that that will be necessary, of course.”

“Well I mean… unless you’re kicking me out I suspect I’ll be around that long. Maybe not here the whole time, once we get the Falcon’s batteries recharged, but-”

“No no, darling, I want you around for a good long time, thank you. I mean you’ll learn the language by then. I may not know much about translation spells, but one big advantage to them is that they greatly increase natural absorption of a foreign language, provided the one using the spell is sufficiently attuned to it. You didn’t cast it, but you’re attuned to me, a native speaker, and I strongly suspect that will work even better. ...Particularly since Cadance will have custom crafted the enchantment.”

“Of course she did…” Aiden muttered. He suddenly had a mental image of the ruler of the Crystal Empire pressing a human and pony doll together to kiss… while laughing maniacally. Wait, why’s my doll wearing my dress uniform? She’s never even seen it… Although speaking of which, he figured he’d want to put it on before they arrived in Canterlot. He could at least attempt a more dignified impression this time. “So, what were you saying about the gemstone?”

“Hmm? Oh… well, unless I’m mistaken it’s a rare form of infused corundum called Uchawijiwe. It’s named for the region it’s mined in, which is only within a few miles of Mount Uchawi in Zebrica. An uchawijiwe gem this size is worth more than this train. You could sell it and buy a nice house in Canterlot. ...Frankly, that might have been her plan. Once you’ve absorbed Equish well enough to no longer need it...”

“Pfft. I couldn’t sell a gift like this.”

Rarity smiled and nuzzled his cheek. “Oh fine. I guess I’ll have to put you up until you get on your feet then.”

“Sorry for freeloading; please take good care of me,” he replied with a grin, hugging her with one arm.

“Hah, freeloading nothing. You can be my personal trainer. ...Also house boy.”

Aiden snorted, and started laughing, drawing Rarity into it as well as her ‘I’m serious’ face quickly crumbled away.

Well god damn… that is NOT just a model.

They were approaching the bend that would start them up and around Mount Canterhorn, but before that point… they had a stunning view. The castle, and surrounding city, had been built onto cliffs on the side of the mountain. It was as if pony architects had all decided ‘gravity is dumb anyway so just ignore it, this is gonna be awesome’.

And they were right. The castle in particular was spectacularly visible off the side of the mountain, complete with waterfalls to draw further attention to the splendor and beauty of Equestria’s capital city. Whereas the Crystal Capital had been teeming with the fanciful wonder one could only get when building almost an entire city out of crystal, Canterlot bespoke an austere elegance as it sat proudly above the surrounding countryside, beaming its benevolence and inspiration to any who looked upon it. Aiden was very glad he’d opted for a better view.

“But darling,” Rarity said, not quite shouted over the wind, “we really are still just on the train!”

He didn’t respond. Instead he stood silently, on the roof of their passenger car with an aetheric shield splitting the wind in front of them, with his arms crossed and his eyes to the amazing city ahead of them.

“No, really, there’s an observation car just three cars back from us. Comfortable seating, and they serve drinks!”

His lips twitched into a grin. “Rarity… darling…” He could practically feel her blink in surprise as he borrowed her word. “You aren’t the only one who occasionally likes to make an entrance.”

Rarity snorted in amusement. “Oh I see… would you like a cape then? It might add to the effect, especially if you weakened the shield so it could whip dramatically behind you.”

“No capes!”

She giggled. “At least now I know why you put your uniform on so soon. I will admit… it is a unique spot to see the city from. Canterlot is truly a sight to behold.”

“No argument there.”

Dramatic entrance aside, the view going up the mountain was also well worth having a good seat for. He saw what he was sure was Ponyville along the way, and looked forward to going there tomorrow, even if Canterlot was clearly the more impressive sight. He’d never really considered himself a city type. He enjoyed visiting them, but he’d never much lived in one, as he didn’t count the Seattle suburbs as ‘big city’. No, this would be a nice visit, and then it would be on to Ponyville, which would serve as ‘home’ for the time being while Rarity got settled back into her life and they arranged to build ways to recharge and repair the Falcon. Of course, in there somewhere Aiden was going to need to work through a bit more diplomacy, but luckily he could manage that from Twilight Sparkle’s castle in Ponyville. Indeed, the Princess of Friendship seemed an ideal candidate for the princess to liaison with in terms of establishing the groundwork of diplomatic relations.

That said… as they pulled into the station to a rather large -and stunned, thank you grand entrance- crowd, he also knew just how much he was looking forward to today. He was about to meet two beings who defied anything resembling even the rewritten logic that accepted magic, which had defined most of his life. He wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it, so… one thing at a time. The two of them hopped down from their car into the roped off area that was being controlled by several guards, to keep the crowd back. Their apparent escorts to the castle had stepped back to give them more room, save for one who came forward with a tempered smile.

“Rarity! And… Mister… Ai-den? Am I pronouncing that correctly? Welcome to Canterlot!” This from a white unicorn with a dark brown mane and thick rimmed, black glasses. Her mane and tail were both tied up in conservative buns, but they really increased how cute she looked to Aiden. Ponies are such cheaters... He returned the smile, noting in passing that the necklace was working as well as he’d expected it to.

“You are, Miss. And thank you for this warm welcome. I’m Aiden Windborne, Knight Lieutenant of the Esper Corps of Earth. And I do believe you already know my companion here?” he said, gesturing to Rarity.

Rarity, who trotted forward and caught the other unicorn in a warm but proper hug. “Raven, darling! So good to see you!”

The formality of Raven’s smile melted into something more genuine as she returned the hug. “You too, Rarity. Celestia has been at her wit’s end since you vanished, and it’s been worse for poor Twilight. They never stopped trying to find ways to look for you and bring you back.”

“Oh I’ve no doubt of that. All the more reason to keep going towards home… we didn’t exactly plan to crash so far north. Shall we go to the castle?”

“Ah… a brief detour might be good… if you want to stop by Canterlot Carousel to check in with your associate.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow as the two separated. “Detour?” She chuckled. “Don’t tell me Princess Celestia needs to put on her face or the like.”

One of the guards snorted, unable to quite manage hearing that while keeping discipline. His neighbor elbowed him.

“Between you and me, she’d probably prefer that. There were a few meetings that, on such short notice, simply couldn’t be canceled. Your arrival is truly wonderful news… but you know how it is. If the world isn’t ending, politics marches on.”

“I suppose so… now if only they marched forward rather than in circles.”

Raven chuckled. “Better deadlock than tyranny.”

“No argument there. Now, perhaps you’d care to introduce yourself, and our escort, to Aiden here?”

“Oh yes of course,” Raven said, blushing lightly as she nodded to Aiden. My apologies, sir.”

“Nah, it’s fine. ...So, Raven, I take it?”

“I am, yes. Raven Inkwell, personal aide to Princess Celestia. She sends her regrets at not being able to be here in person. With me are Captain Sunshower of the Day Guard, Captain Evening Calm of the Night Guard, and their lieutenants: Blade Dance and Falling Leaf.

Rarity gave each a nod. As did Aiden, while noting that Blade Dance had been the one to snort in amusement, and Falling Leaf had been the one to elbow him. It may have been a coincidence that the Day Guards were stallions and the Night Guards were mares, but he had no way of knowing.

As they set off through the streets, their honor guard swept out around them, keeping the crowds at bay. They couldn’t stop the stares, which seemed a bit more prevalent, and less friendly, than in the Crystal Empire. Rarity had warned him about that though. Canterlot was a bit more conservative and old-fashioned, an unintended side-effect of being under the protective wing of Princess Celestia for so long. They’d had their share of hardships, most notably the still rather recent Changeling invasion, but compared to most cities they had things pretty good. Only Cloudsdale could really claim greater isolation, at least among large cities.

And it was fine. While a few of the stares were almost hostile, Aiden had been ready for that. Would a city of humans look any differently at an alien walking down their streets? ...Well, maybe if it was Rarity… but we don’t all get to look like that. Nonetheless, he took pains to keep a tranquil smile on his face, and not look like some foreign soldier threatening their soil. It was pretty easy, since the city itself was a sightseer's dream and most of the looks he was getting were curious rather than suspicious. More than one pony also clearly recognized Rarity and was quick to wave and call out happily.

Evening Calm trotted a bit closer to him as they approached what was clearly Canterlot Carousel, Rarity’s local branch. She was a dark grey pegasus, with a light blue mane that was mostly covered by a silvery helmet. Golden eyes looked up at him and her lips curved in a gentle smile. Her name seemed quite fitting. “Princess Luna also sends her apologies for not meeting you at the station. You didn’t hear it from me, but one soldier to another, I do believe my princess is indeed ‘putting on her face’, so to speak. To be fair, she’s only been asleep a few hours.”

Aiden chuckled. “It’s fine. I suppose I’m technically a foreign dignitary at this point, though stars know I’m not qualified for it. But with that in mind, meeting in their palace seems appropriate.”

Evening Calm nodded agreement and thanks. “I didn’t know of your race before her highness briefed us last night. If I may be so bold… you make a good first impression.”

He grinned. “Tell that to Princess Cadance the next time you see her, she can give you the other version. Though I guess-”

He was interrupted by squealing as a tall, lanky unicorn emerged from the shop before Rarity could reach the door. She swept up Rarity in a spinning, laughing hug that quickly had Rarity going as well. The two clung tightly as the taller unicorn danced them in happy circles. Aiden chuckled. “They say judge someone by how they treat their subordinates. If her associate is any indication… then everything I already knew about Rarity is true.”

Evening Calm laughed softly. “I’d imagine so. The Element Bearers are truly special ponies. I’ve seldom had the privilege to speak with any of them, but I’ve witnessed much from my fortunate position as Princess Luna’s guard captain. Equestria would be much poorer without them.”

“Well, glad I could -oof!” He grunted as the tall unicorn slammed into him, sweeping him into a hug as well.

“And you! Hero among heroes! Brave, crusading rescuer! Heavens and hemlines, how I’ve hoped for this day to come! Oh, aren’t you just a darling?!”

“Uh… sure?” Aiden remarked vaguely as the unicorn spun him in the air as well. Isn’t she a bit too strong? What’s happening right now?

She set him back down, took a step back, and settled herself, as though realizing she was drawing surprised stares. “Beads and boutonnieres… got a bit carried away, didn’t I? I’m Sassy Saddles-”

“Ain’t you just?” Aiden muttered.

She blinked, clearly hearing him, but settled into a smile at hearing the playful tone. “And I welcome you to Canterlot Carousel… I’d offer anything we have, on the house, as a thank you for bringing Rarity back, but I don’t think we have your size in stock…”

“S’okay, Rarity already made me a nice suit. It’s in our supply trunk.”

Sassy tilted her head slightly. “I… don’t see any supply trunk.”

“Hammerspace packing, all the rage where I come from.”

“I… can see where it would be.”

Rarity was giggling. “Sassy, how’s the store doing?”

“Oh quite well, you know. I hate to say it… but after you’d been gone a couple months we had a considerable run on… well everything. Because… well… that is to say…” She rubbed one foreleg over another, looking away.

“Because everypony thought I was dead, Sassy,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes. “It’s alright to say it; it’s not an unreasonable assumption to draw.”

“But clearly it was! And I went along with it, letting them buy up every little thing that had ever touched your hooves without correcting any of them. Oh, I let you down by not believing in you!” She threw a foreleg over her eyes and sniffed as though about to cry.

Aiden smiled and shook his head. This display was too adorable to interrupt, so while Rarity reassured her he let his mind wander while he looked around to the nearby buildings. While doing so he noticed an incoming pegasus guard. Judging by the armor, she was of the Day Guard. She landed near Raven, giving Aiden an increased appreciation for pegasus flight capabilities, and whispered briefly in her ear. Said ear flicked twice as Raven nodded along.

“Thank you, Sergeant,” she said simply. The Sergeant saluted, nodded to both captains, and turned to Aiden. Her eyes widened slightly, but she maintained discipline, saluting him before taking off again, back towards the castle. He’d had just enough time to return the salute before she was in the air.

“What was that about?”

Raven chuckled. “She was sent to inform me that I can bring you both to the castle whenever you’re ready. Apparently, Celestia… erm, Princess Celestia, has managed to finish out her last meeting of the day a good hour earlier than I’d anticipated.”

“Nice. Not that I haven’t enjoyed meeting the lovely Sassy here, but...”

“Oh cravats and caveats, good sir! I cannot compare to the splendor of the princesses. I insist you both be off. I shall return to my beloved calling with renewed vigor, knowing that my dear friend is alive and well!”

Rarity giggled lightly. “Sassy dear, do send me along a letter when you can. I can’t stay to chat today, but I want to know everything I’ve missed.”

“I certainly shall!”

As they approached the castle… he began to notice. He wasn’t alone; Rarity’s ears were straight up, tending forward as her eyes widened. A duet played ahead… a melody of ineffable complexity, encompassing joy, a bit of sorrow, exhilaration, serenity, and love. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. “Holy…”

“I… feel it too, darling.”

“Shouldn’t you be used to it?”

“My experiences on Earth have altered my senses, particularly where magic is concerned. This feeling… is quite new.”

“Are you two alright?” Raven asked, clearly concerned as they’d both slowed their pace.

“Yeah, we’re okay. It’s not overpowering, just… remarkable. Like you crossed a bridge over a bay right at the perfect moment to catch the sunset over the water… and you just have to stop and take it in a few minutes, you know?”

Raven smiled warmly. “I do indeed. And your timing couldn’t be better. In just a couple hours, I’m sure you could persuade Cel- Princess Celestia, to arrange something similar.”

Aiden blinked. “I don’t know how I feel about asking someone to craft me a pretty sunset…”

Rarity giggled, and bumped her shoulder to his hip. “I’ll ask her then… I’ve missed the sunsets here, and the moonrises.”

The castle itself was a bit closer to what Aiden would’ve expected from a castle, as opposed to the crystalline architecture of Cadance and Shining Armor’s home. The duet of aetheric resonance in the air had increased, though as Aiden had said it wasn’t overpowering. Just… very present. It felt almost like walking into a symphony hall, mid-performance, when the two captains opened the doors to the throne room.

Aiden stumbled a bit. Between the ‘music’ getting louder without the doors and the sheer grandeur of the room, he felt that was forgivable. Because it certainly was grand… The two rulers sat upon twin thrones atop a two-tiered raised section, with carpeted ramps sloping up to them. Water flowed from descending fountains into channels along each side of the room’s main walkway. Beyond those channels were pillars of marble, ostensibly holding up the place but more likely simply adding to the ambiance. And then there were the stained glass windows. Between the starry motifs and the several that clearly displayed historic moments (at least two of which included Rarity, he noted), they alone could have held his attention awhile.

Had it not been for the two goddesses on their thrones, waiting patiently for the group to approach.

He’d known them to be the source of the ‘music’ in the air, of course. That wasn’t even a question. But to actually see them…

Luna looked down at them through calm, teal eyes that seemed to hold endless depths. The dark, starry mane that framed her face floated gently, reminding Aiden of looking out at Saturn during the Falcon’s maiden voyage, and feeling the quiet, all-encompassing majesty of the heavens. The sacred night gazed back at him, and it was warm. This was the serenity he’d felt, most of all, but he could feel in her aspects of every other part of the song she shared with her sister. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and bowed deeply. He was scarcely conscious of doing so. A smile curved her lips as her regal facade broke slightly, and she returned a deep, respectful nod. He was awed.

The exhilaration he’d felt, as well as certainly the joy, rang most loudly in the older sister. Celestia’s soft rainbow mane seemed to dance slowly on a wind only it felt. Her eyes, sparkling with that same joy he could feel in the air, held a similar depth to her sisters’. This was racing through the air, standing among the tallest redwoods atop the mountains, and seeing the sun shining down upon it all. His breath caught in his throat. Aiden hadn’t been able to understand what living for centuries could possibly be like; he couldn't grasp it beyond a hypothetical concept. Five years ago the war had ended, and that seemed like a long time. Fifteen years ago, his life changed forever and for him, it was over half a lifetime ago.
Multiplied by one hundred… it matched what these two might have felt in their youth. And looking into those kind, lightly glowing eyes… he could feel just a touch of that. Once again, he bowed after barely thinking about it. Again, a gracious nod was returned. His heart swelled.

Then the two rose. It had already been apparent that they were taller than him, but as they stepped down from their thrones and met the party halfway through the room, it became more clear. Luna had him by a few inches, and Celestia was at least six feet (both not counting the horns). Celestia spread her wings wide, making herself look even larger, though it looked more like she wanted to hug him than intimidate him. There was no intimidation in those eyes. He felt tears in his own as the stoic expression he’d planned fell apart, reforming itself into a childlike grin.

She spoke, as her younger sister looked on with that same calm smile she’d had since he’d met her gaze. “Welcome to Equestria, Son of Man. It is my great honor, and sincerest pleasure, to see one of your people again upon the lands which they helped us to protect, so long ago. Know that you are welcome among us so long as you choose to stay… and that, even were there no past between our peoples, we would bear you nothing but gratitude and warmth for bringing our dear friend home to us.” She smiled at Rarity, and Aiden might have caught a wink if he hadn’t been distracted by the speech.

He shook himself slightly, and chuckled quietly. “I don’t think I’m ever going to manage a proper first impression. Knight Lieutenant Aiden Alexander Windborne, Earth’s Esper Corps. I’m honored to be here, as well. I… clearly lack the language to state how I feel at meeting the two of you, but…” he reached into a portal, and grabbed an item he’d set aside for this occasion. “On behalf of General Albert Grumman, and all the descendants of the volunteers who were brought here to help fight for this world, I bring a gift… or more like return it, in the same spirit of Friendship in which it was once given to us.”

He held out Grumman’s tome, his hands shaking just slightly, to the wide eyed princesses. He couldn’t quite tell in that moment which one reverently took the book in her magic, but it was Luna who spoke first. “Thank you. It has… been far too long since we looked upon this, and we feared never to see it, or your kind, again.” Her lips trembled as her eyes welled up a bit. “And you’re wrong. Bringing Rarity back home, and this gift, this reminder of all our peoples have been fortunate enough to share… you’ve made the perfect impression. Welcome, young human. ...Welcome.”

“How do you even have this much blood?” Tempest muttered as her magic continued digging. She didn’t have much control with something like this, so she could only go slow and hope an uncontrolled burst didn’t kill her new ‘friend’.

Garken snorted, which was rather disturbing with his head half carved open. “My body continues to repair itself as you damage it, including my brain. That means creating more blood. To kill me requires depleting my magic, and destroying my body to a sufficient degree. You’re only halfway there. Luckily, you’re far closer to our intended target.”

“I’m close to being sick,” she said flatly, as if discussing the weather.

“Try to aim away from my skull then, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Hah, don’t worry. Your ‘noble, honorable’ people haven’t fed me in three days, so I’ll probably just dry heave.”

“Your resilience is impressive, then.”

“I’ve had worse. I may not channel magic like a proper unicorn, but I’ve learned other tricks with it. Never mind my resilience; how are you even talking? I’m no surgeon but this all looks fairly important.” Another light slash of magic cut into him, and Tempest grimaced as she tried to stay focused. She was a warrior and proud of that fact, but this was a little outside her preferred sort of violence.

“My consciousness exists within my aether, when necessary. It’s the same with your kind, and any with powerful magic. It’s the reason your bodies are so quick to heal, and difficult to damage. I’m just… moreso.”

“Hmph, I’m not sure I envy you that, if it means this can be… ahh, I see it. Ech… it’s… got it.” A brief burst of telekinesis pulled the shard of blackened gemstone from within the lower part of Garken’s brain. It shot across the room, bouncing off the ceiling and far wall before skidding out between the bars of their cell.

“Ahhh… well done, little pony.”

“Did you forget my name already?”

“Bear with me… my mind is all over the place right now.”

There was a beat, then a distinct ‘thock’ sound as hoof met face. “You did not just say that.”

Garken chuckled. “You’ll forgive me feeling a bit buoyant, Tempest. With the shard of corrupted aetheryte gone, the enchantment on the glasses will be insufficient to warp my mind. I can wear them and wait for an opportunity to overcome our next visitor.”

“What makes you sure we’ll have one? They’ve gotten everything they needed from me…” her ears wilted as she looked at the floor. “Everything…”

He snorted. “I understand your shame, though I also know you cannot blame yourself. My king is a monster akin to a god. He is not invincible, or all powerful, but near enough. I’ve been under his thrall almost my whole life, as have my people. He has twisted us to be what he wished of us… and those who tried to disobey…”

“Got mind controlling crystals shoved in their brains… yeah, I get it. Still not happy about caving during an interrogation. I barely remember it but I know once I started talking I didn’t want to stop.” She looked herself over. She had a few new scars, and would have more when these new wounds healed. Still, there was no permanent harm done.

“You’ll have the chance to avenge that shame. Because yes, we will not be left alone. I told you, without the glasses,” and with this he reached for them, and placed them back upon his face. His skull had already healed, with the skin growing back and his hair already growing back out to its previous length. “We would be dead before the day was out. That is because… we both have enemies here. I don’t just mean in that we are imprisoned. I remember hearing of when you were taken.”

“Heh… yeah… walkabout. Another fantastic idea brought to you by Fizzlepop…”

He raised an eyebrow. “I thought your name was Tempest Shadow?”

“It is… also shut up.”

He chuckled. “Your kind confuse me. It any case, you crippled two of the four elites that took you, and we don’t have that many left, which is why my king had me and others out looking for allies.”

“Doubt he’ll find many.”

“Likely not, this world is not so foolish. I only fear what further desperation that will lead him to. But speaking of fools, those who wish to gloat at us will come here, and seeing me wearing these,” he tapped the glasses, “and you quiet and ashamed of your weakness-”

“Bite me.”

“-They will gloat all the more carelessly. That will be our opportunity. And just in case I’m wrong… Drag the crystal back in here… I have another idea.”

She nodded, directing the crystal back their way with bursts of telekinetic energy. It would be so much easier if she could channel steadily, but eventually she knocked it close enough to the bars that Garken could grab it. He looked at it, his lips twisting into a snarl of disgust.

“The glasses don’t affect you at all, now?”

“Oh, they still speak to me, of my worthlessness and weakness. But without their resonance with the crystal, they lack the strength to make me believe such words. He sighed. “I know full well of my weakness… it is not the same as what this paltry magic would have me believe.”

“So what weakness is that, then?”

“Failing a friend. Taking a path of pride over one of compassion. I always claimed mercy for the strong... but I was too slow to recognize and respect forms of strength other than my own. I have much to atone for.”

She smiled wanly. “Heh, makes two of us. Hope we get our chance.”

“If what I know of this world from the archives is true… I fully believe we-” his eyes widened as he heard footsteps and dark laughter approaching. He grinned, as did Tempest. “-will…”

5. All the Lights in the Sky

Author's Note

Love o' Luna that took forever. Just too tired and working too much since coming back from vacation (switching my days and nights back to work mode didn't help) to write properly. Next chapter should be Friday, and I don't foresee any more two week gaps on the horizon.

5. All the Lights in the Sky

Tempest was filled with regret. ...It would have been difficult to tell from the look of restrained glee on her face.

“All these years…” Her hoof smashed into the face of the elite again, cause him to stagger across the cell.

...Into Garken’s waiting fists. “‘All these years’?” he asked, pummeling their hapless, would-have-been tormentor. A particularly brutal right hook unhinged a jaw, knocked out several teeth, and sent the poor soul reeling. He bounced off the wall before Tempest swept his legs and followed up with a vicious strike to his gut, knocking the wind and whatever he’d eaten for his last meal out of him.

She dodged the vomit while nodding. “I thought I had real strength because I was on my own, forged my own path. I never knew the joy of beating the tar out of someone who really deserved it, alongside a friend.” She grinned up evilly at him.

He chuckled. “Yes, the simplest pleasures are even better when shared. I too took a long time in learning that truth.”

She sighed, rolling her eyes with a grimace as Garken finally put an end to their victim, crushing his skull under a bare foot. “I already knew I’d underestimated Twilight Sparkle… but I owe her another apology. Also… given what we’re looking for here, wasn’t that risky?”

“Hmph… you mean the risk of lodging corrupted aetheryte in my foot?”

Tempest raised an eyebrow. “I can’t decide if I’m impressed or not, knowing that you knew that and did it anyway.”

“If that horn of yours wasn’t broken, you’d have sensed that he didn’t have one, since we have the emanations from mine to compare to." As if to illustrate, he held up the dark shard of crystal she'd dug from his skull. She could feel a sort of resonance from it, almost a buzzing, but it was very faint to her senses. "...It concerns me," he continued, "I would have thought an elite would be intelligent enough to see through our king’s manipulations. But this one was loyal to him without any obvious magical coercion.”

Tempest shook her head. “Which leaves any number of possibilities,” she glanced up at the broken horn ruefully. “Any number of promises he could have made, that they’d believe because they want to, not because they’re really believable.”

“Speaking from experience?”

She snorted. “Obviously. So now what? As cathartic as that was, where does it leave us?”

Garken hummed thoughtfully. “It leaves me not knowing who I can trust.”

Tempest tilted her head, raising the same eyebrow again.

He chuckled. “Other than you, though we can both admit that’s as much necessity as anything.”

She shook her head. “You really do have a ways to go, don’t you? How do we get out of here?”

“We sneak out through the cargo bay. There’s a teleporter there I can access to take us to the planet’s surface. But we’ll want a diversion first. Any ideas?”

Tempest blinked. “Wait, we’re not on Equus?”

“No, we’re hidden behind your world’s moon. As I recall, my king did not know what to expect, and still doesn’t, of your alicorn princesses.”

Tempest grimaced. She hated to admit it under the circumstances, but… “They have a lot of magic, but they’re hardly warriors. I’ve always believed they were squandering their power.”

“In that case, all the more reason to get to the surface quickly. We’ll need to mount a defense against whatever he’s planning.” He flexed his scarred arm, smiling wanly as the blue energy glowed around the poorly healed wound. “I owe your people a debt, and I intend to repay it in full. So, diversions?”

“Why not just take him down ourselves? We’d have the element of surprise…”

Garken shook his head. “I don’t know that we would, and I don’t entirely know what he is. And we now know he has willing allies among my people. ...I suspect that’s how he beat me the first time. Something blindsided me while I was distracted by… whatever he is. ...He used a term for it… ‘Last of the draconequii…’ Does that mean anything to you?”

Tempest’s eyes had gone wide. “It means we need to get out of here. You wanted diversions… anything around that would respond poorly to electrical surges or massive pyrotechnics?”

Garken’s head tilted slightly as a grin formed.

The cargo bay was huge, and largely empty. Several vessels in various states of disrepair were strewn about, alongside four large towers that Tempest wasn’t sure about. “What are those for?” She winced, and then grinned, as a massive explosion rocked the entire Oni-koru mothership. Garken had certainly had some lovely suggestions for where to shoot giant fireworks. If she hadn’t been beaten and tortured she’d be a bit worried about destroying the place.

Garken was more subdued, looking to the large structures with disgust. “Spires, my king’s favorite trump cards. They can vary in function, but their ultimate purpose is to draw our enemies into combat in a manner of our choosing. I don’t doubt he’ll use them against your world at some point.”

“So should we destroy them now?”

“That would be quite the noble sacrifice, little pony!” A new voice spoke up.

Stepping around a pillar near their destination was another Oni. She was as tall as Garken, slender, and holding a massive axe someone of her build had no business carrying as negligently as she did. The grin on her face exposed elongated canines, and they and her golden eyes reminded Tempest of a batpony. Dark hair, tied up in a tight bun, sat between two short, crystalline horns.

Garken returned her grin, crossing his arms over his chest. “Hello, General Ferrana. Have you come to join us, or stop us?”

She chuckled. “I wonder…” She charged forward, moving like a blur… and hitting a sweeping hind leg as Tempest spun low, through and away from her. She stumbled, clearly surprised, and Garken stepped into her intended strike, catching the axe before she’d built proper momentum.

And yet…

Ferrana laughed, grabbing his wrist with her free hand and pulling it away. She twisted, and a distinct crack of snapping bone could be heard. Garken jabbed at her throat with his other hand, staggering her and breaking her hold. She swiped at him with the axe but he’d already backstepped. She stiffened as a massive jolt of aetheric lightning coursed through her. Then went down hard as Garken’s foot smashed into her face.

Despite that, his eyes were wide. “She was… stronger than me…”

Tempest snorted. “Do you need a moment to cry in the corner?”

“We don’t have one… but you don’t understand,” Garken replied, shaking his head. “I’ll explain it later.”

“It doesn’t have to do with the crystals stuck in her head, does it? The horns there? I never thought of trying that, but it looks painful.”

He froze. “What?” He turned to look at their unconscious opponent. “Those are… how can I not see them?!”

Tempest shrugged. “Maybe I’ve got a good eye for broken horns.”

“Those are corrupted aetheryte. We could-”

A massive explosion rocked the vessel. Tempest blinked. “I think my distraction is getting out of control.”

“Agreed. The power grid could crash any moment; we need to go now.”

Tempest pointed a hoof at the woman, who was already stirring. “And her?”

“We know how to beat her next time, if needed. I don’t want to kill her now and there’s no time to extract those things. An Oni General isn’t so fragile as our friend back in the cell.” As he said this he stepped past her, his fingers flying over the terminal that apparently controlled the teleporter. It powered up with a glowing hum.

“Where to?”

“Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. I have no time to properly encrypt our location without randomizing it. The computer won’t erase our passage if I log a specific destination. Randomized, it will log like a power surge, and be untraceable. I can put us on Equus’ surface, and not over water, but that’s all.”

“Hmph. Back to my walkabout then. Fine, let’s go.”

“Ladies first,” Garken said, gesturing to the teleporter pad.

Tempest snorted in amusement, and stepped up. In an instant, the cargo bay vanished in a flash of white.

*

...A blast of power from her horn crushed the last of their opponents. She breathed a sigh of relief, directing it up to blow the smoke from the tip of said horn.

“General! We’ve won!” West Wind, her lieutenant, cried triumphantly. That cry that was echoed through the ranks of the troops all over the field.

Celestia smiled. It was finally over. “Synnove! Send word to our people in the south! Reinforcements will be on their way soon!”

Her human friend and fellow General just smiled as she held one hand to the device attached to her ear. “On the contrary, Celestia… Meghan and your sister contacted me moments ago. They too are victorious. The Oni-koru have been vanquished. The Demondim wraiths have fled above the air, the Angels have called upon us to finish this war once and for all. We’ll be taking to the sky, to destroy the last of their fleet.”

Celestia grinned. “I’d love to come with you… I may not know the technology, but I can stand on the ship’s hull and fire at them. May as well get use out this new magic they’ve given me.”

Synnove chuckled. “That you’ve earned, my friend. And I would dearly love to see that, but I believe Solise and Sidera have other plans. Meghan says they’ve called for Luna to come to the Canterhorn, and you as well, once this battle was complete.”

“A shame. I’ll see if I can’t catch up later.” Celestia looked to the horizon. Even at this distance, Canterhorn was clearly visible. She could gallop there in less than a day, a couple hours if she used the land shrinking steps. Despite the long battle she felt energized… a run would be nice.

“Ah, and Meghan wanted me to remind you to use your wings.”

Celestia nearly faceplanted. One day I’ll be used to these silly things... she thought ruefully as she took to the sky with only moderate clumsiness.

*

Aiden smiled at the conclusion of the story. They’d swapped several now, since retiring to Celestia’s study after brief pleasantries in the throne room. It was a bit odd sitting on a cushion on the floor, but surprisingly comfortable. Further, the coffee and tea Raven had brought in (before sitting at Celestia’s side per her request) was some of the best he’d ever had.

The five of them had now wiled away a few hours, and he couldn’t help but feel completely at ease. The princesses, after their almost (unintentionally) overpowering introduction, were quite personable. Celestia reminded him more of a warm, devoted teacher than a centuries old monarch. Luna was very much an actress, delivering her own tales with touches of high drama that added wonderful depth to the experience. He couldn’t help feeling a bit blessed and humbled to be in their presence.

Rarity, too, seemed to shine a bit more brightly before them. As he was thinking so, she took up her turn in their stories, retelling their raid on Veritech labs in a first attempt to obtain a ship to reach Equus. At the point of explaining how she’d purged the corrupted aether from Aiden’s wound, she blinked as though remembering something.

“I should have mentioned this sooner…” Aiden felt the slightest tug on his inner verse as Rarity took Joyeuse from their spot in the park. “This is what I used to purge the dark magic. It’s called Joyeuse, and…”

Luna had leaned forward, examining the crystal embedded rapier with a fond, reminiscent look. “Yes… it has grown well. Pure aetheryte reflects the souls of its bearers over time. It would seem its owners have been good ones, which does not surprise me.”

Rarity nodded in agreement. “I cannot speak for all of them. But Albert Grumman, who passed it on to me, is a fine man. Without him…”

Aiden chuckled. “Without him, Earth would have been in no shape for visitors, never mind where that Command Crystal would have been when you activated it.”

“I… haven’t even thought that far back, but yes. In any case, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna-”

“-Rarity,” Celestia interjected. “This is my private study. Please, no titles here.” Luna nodded her agreement.

Rarity blushed. Aiden didn’t blame her. To call these two by just their names felt… almost wrongly familiar, even after speaking with them casually as they had. And yet… “Ah… yes, ...Celestia,” Rarity said.

“Good… now get Twilight to do it.”

Luna snickered. Rarity giggled before clapping a hoof over her own muzzle. Aiden missed the joke.

“Oh my… I’m not sure she’d manage it, the poor dear! Oh, but you keep distracting me, and I-”

“Want to return the sword to us,” Luna supplied, interrupting again. “And we refuse.” Celestia nodded this time. “It is yours now, though we accept the spirit with which you intended to return it to us.” The night princess smiled. “We would not deny a knight her weapon.”

Aiden smiled, patting Rarity’s shoulders as she bit her lip, clearly unsure how to respond. Those big, beautiful blue eyes seemed brighter, shining with gratitude at the princesses’ gesture.

“Thank you,” she replied simply. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was Grumman’s intent all along… but I,” she smiled, and Aiden felt a tug in his chest. In that moment Joyeuse returned to Aiden’s verse with a tiny twist of magic. “Somehow I didn’t expect it to come to mean so much to me. It’s saved us both more than once, and it almost feels alive to me. But I told him I would return it to you, and I found myself not truly wanting to… so thank you… Celestia, Luna.”

“Think nothing of it,” Luna continued. “Although I must ask… the connection forged between the two of you thanks to its magic… it did allow you to share dreams, did it not?”

Aiden nodded. “The effect was temporary, but yes?”

Rarity chuckled. “You may recall that dreams are Luna’s domain. It’s only natural she’d be interested in that. We shared a dream here once as well,” she cocked an eyebrow at Luna with a smug little smirk. “Helping our beloved night princess let go of her guilt.”

There is something remarkable and utterly unforgettable about watching a demigoddess blush. Aiden would forever treasure the experience.

“Ahem,” Luna cleared her throat in a ladylike fashion. “My point is that sharing a dream in the manner that you did allowed me to reach beyond Sidera’s veil. The magic shared between the two of you, with Joyeuse as intermediary, was such that it acted as a beacon. I could not make myself heard, even with the Royal Canterlot Voice, but I saw the two of you seated before a campfire. You seemed content, and I was most pleased to see it so. Thanks to that, I was able to at least reduce the desperate worry of your loved ones.”

The two smiled. “Glad we could help there,” Aiden said. “And I remember that dream, and the ones before it. Definite bonding experience, though really we got along from the beginning.” He frowned slightly, thoughtful. “Actually I wanted to ask about that. Even my coworker, who has no magic, felt inclined towards helping Rarity as opposed to harming her. Given humanity’s recent experience with aliens, that was surprising. I mean, setting aside her adorability-”

“We needn’t set that aside, darling,” Rarity chimed in, fluffing her mane and grinning innocently at him.

“Heh… I wouldn’t normally… Err… right, what I’m saying is,” Rarity giggled at him as he floundered a bit, “why is that? Is it some pony thing… like your people just engender trust in some instinctual level? Or…”

Rarity, despite still wearing that charmingly (and falsely) innocent grin, stayed quiet. Aiden suspected she wanted a real answer, too.

“It is, in a sense, a ‘pony thing’ as you say,” Celestia answered with a calm smile. “But it is also a human thing.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. “Not to disagree, but I’m hardly the sort to engender any sort of-”

“Oh please, darling, you have a fan club back on Earth.”

He blinked. “...Wat?”

“Sorry, your… err… Celestia,” Rarity said, looking sheepish. “Briefly though… I found it online. While it was bigger during the war on Earth, most First Generation Espers still have fans to this day. You were heroes who gave everything and walked forward through it all without complaint. Aiden, you donated your inheritance to orphanages! Of course plenty of people love you; why would they not?”

Aiden was smirking, and looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “As I was saying… I am hardly the sort to engender trust and affection at first sight… minor celebrity notwithstanding. But… do go on,” he continued, waving his hand in a ‘keep it coming’ gesture. “Please, my dear and beloved friend, tell him how great I am.”

It was Rarity’s turn to blush, but she stuck her tongue out at him almost on instinct. ...And then reddened further realizing the sort of behavior she was engaging in in front of the princesses.

Celestia, for her part, wore the sort of shit-eating grin Aiden had only seen on Cooper after a particularly good prank. On a being that could control the sun, had more magic than two Oni Generals combined, and was ancient enough to know every trick in the book… it was downright terrifying. I'm starting to suspect that each princess is scary, in her way.

In a deceptively casual voice, she asked, “...If I may continue?”

Rarity made a strange squeaking noise that diffused what little tension there was, and Aiden chuckled and put an arm around her. She hid her face against his shoulder. It felt far warmer than usual. “Please do,” he said.

The solar diarch nodded. “It was no coincidence that the Angels… specifically Solise and Sidera, as you now know, chose humanity to help us, even crossing the vast void between galaxies to reach your people. Even educating the volunteers beyond the primitive ways of your world at the time… not that ours was any further along, of course. No, the reason they chose your people is because we do share a bond. Ponykind and humankind have uncanny similarities in our physiology, mentality, and even spirituality, that made you the perfect choice of allies for us, and vice versa. Solise had gone among your people many times over the centuries before her calling of you, and knew this to be true to a remarkable degree. It was all the more so given how relatively few civilized races there were, and still are, in existence through the vast cosmos. I don’t doubt there are many parallels still between us, and I’ve already seen many in you. They did not influence either of our races towards cooperation; they didn’t need to. What we see in each other comes from our very souls, bringing us together in friendship. One that I believe we can build on from this day forward.”

Aiden smiled, raising his coffee cup as Rarity (having recovered her bout of embarrassment) did the same with her tea. “I’ll drink to that.”

Aiden looked up at the familiar (bizarrely so) night sky from the balcony of their guest room. The train to Ponyville would leave in the morning, but he was grateful for this day and privileged to have experienced it. It was quite the view of the city below, but that wasn’t what drew his eye. “Ya know… looking up at familiar constellations is not helping the surreal nature of the last couple days, but… given how it happened, I hope Grumman sees it too, one day soon.”

Rarity leaned up on her forehooves next to him, and nodded. “Agreed, darling.” They looked up together in quiet comfort, enjoying the perfect night.

It had been the last story they’d heard that evening…

*

“Luna… this is amazing!” Meghan cried ecstatically as she looked up at the stars. “How did you do it?!”

The young alicorn chuckled softly. “Twould ne’er have been possible without thee, my dear friend. In thy dreams I saw the beauteous night of thy world, all the lights in the sky. Sidera’s Veil must forever hide us from the stars as they were… but I can remember them. And now… they need not be the stars that brought us such horrors as the Demondim Windigos with their deadly winter, nor their foul minions and their bloodlust. No, those days are over… but the time when we can remember the friends we made during those dark trials... That time is now, and shall continue forward, as shall we all.”

“It definitely will,” Meghan said, smiling up at Luna’s beautiful night.

Luna did the same, though the stars were blurring to her sight. “When… when must thou leave?”

“A few more days… I’m sorry, Luna. Part of me, of many of us, wants to stay, but…”

Luna shook her head. “Nay. Thine own world needs thee as well. And I know, only too well, that our work is far from over. One day, our worlds will meet again. We must both do our part to make sure they’re ready. Would that that time was now.”

Meghan chuckled wryly. “Yeah, if only… not looking forward to going back, in some ways.”

“It astounds me that thy worth would be deemed less because of thy gender. Tis preposterous.”

“I won’t argue… but on the upside, I do look forward to being a mother. It may be awhile before we can come back… but I fully intend to do my part to make sure my descendants play a role in it. The book you two provided will make it back through them.” She smiled, and turned to hug Luna. “Think of me, when you see it again.”

Luna returned the hug, wrapping both wings tightly around her dear friend. “I will. I promise you that.”

*

In the throne room, holding a pleasantly quiet night court, Luna sighed softly. The small smile on her face belied the tears running down her cheeks. The tome of Equus' history was beside her, open to a small margin note left from fifteen hundred years ago. 'Until we meet again!~Meghan'

Falling Leaf’s muzzle was trembling; she couldn’t bear seeing her princess in any distress. “...Y-your highness? Is everything alright?”

Luna’s smile widened a bit as she regarded her lieutenant. “Everything is fine, my friend.” She rose from her throne, and walked down to embrace her guard, who squeaked in surprise before melding into and returning the embrace. “Everything is fine.”

6. Welcome to Ponyville!

“They’ll all be waiting for you both,” Celestia said simply as she, Luna, and their honor guard escorted Rarity and Aiden to the train station.

“You were able to contact them?” Rarity asked.

The solar diarch nodded, smiling softly. “Twilight and Rainbow Dash returned from their Friendship Mission late last night, and I responded to her letter to inform them that the two of you would be on the morning train. She was… quite enthusiastic. Expect hugs… quite a lot of them, I believe.”

Aiden chuckled. “So much good teasing fodder… this is going to be fun.”

“Oh, my dear human,” Celestia intoned as her smile became a more teasing grin. “I didn’t just mean Rarity...”

He blinked, and raised an eyebrow as if trying to come up with a suitable response when his shoulders slumped. “I guess I already blew the chance to be the cool, aloof alien, didn’t I?”

“Afraid so,” Rarity confirmed. “Your first words to Princess Cadance will be forever engraved in my memory. For that matter, you handled that little filly in the park rather adorably as well,” she shrugged, grinning up at him. “Face facts, darling: you’re simply not dark and edgy.”

“Stupid years of effective therapy…” Aiden mock grumbled as they approached the train station.

Luna laughed quietly. “Even were you to manage dark and aloof, Ponyville would likely be accepting. They’ve weathered much in the last several years, since the Element Bearers embraced their destinies as Equestria’s heroes… starting with saving me,” she grinned sheepishly, “from my own bout of dark aloofness.”

Rarity smiled at Luna. “That was a truly good day, Princess.”

Luna nodded. “For all of us, Fair Rarity.”

A notable advantage of being escorted by royalty is skipping the lines. In short order they were ready to board, with a private car waiting at Celestia’s insistence. “Luna and I will visit Twilight’s Castle soon, to discuss what we might about forging ties between our two peoples. Further, I believe we can help with repairs, at least in terms of enchantments and magical energy, to your ship.”

Aiden nodded. “The sooner the Falcon can fly again, the sooner we can move forward with bringing more of us together. We have some design specs that’ll help things along and, well... Frankly, it could be awhile for anyone else from Earth to get here. Batteries that hold enough aether for the trip are rare, and impossible for us to produce there, at least so far. Charging them is no picnic either. If we can solve those problems on this end, it’ll be a big help.”

“Then that is what we will work towards. But for now… Rarity’s family and friends have waited a long time to see her again, and from everything you’ve told us you’ve earned the rest as well. Within a week or two, we’ll begin following through on those plans, but for now enjoy getting to know Equestria.”

“That’s the idea,” he replied, and then hesitated. “I’m not sure what the protocol is for saying goodbye.” He glanced sidelong at Rarity. “You really got a pretty lousy diplomat out of your Earth adventure.”

“Eh, I’m rather happy with him,” she replied with casual aplomb. She gave a quick, dignified bow to each princess in turn. “Your highnesses, we thank you for your lovely hospitality and look forward to seeing you again soon. Princess Celestia… your secret is safe with us!”

Celestia blinked, and looked to the side as though embarrassed. “I… don’t know what you mean…” Aiden was surprised to see her cheeks reddening. He wondered how they did that right through the fur… probably magic-related... but he couldn’t argue it was appealing.

Raven coughed delicately. “We… appreciate your discretion, Miss Rarity.”

Rarity giggled. “I’m sure you do, Miss Inkwell,” she said with a wink. “Come along, Aiden, we have a lot to discuss before we get to Ponyville.”

“Huh,” Aiden muttered. “Right. Princesses,” he said, giving each a slight bow and a respectful nod before boarding the train. Each had returned the gesture, smiling indulgently (though Celestia still looked distracted). “Miss Inkwell, Captains…” Again, each exchanged nods.

It felt inadequate for the princesses; they were still both stunning, radiant in their magic in a way he couldn’t fully wrap his head around. And yet, he also felt that any further genuflection would be unnecessary or even insulting. They preferred friendship to rule. He couldn’t disagree with that.

The cabin was plush, even nicer than the car they’d shared from the Crystal Empire. Aiden took a seat next to Rarity as they looked out the window together, though the train had yet to start moving. “So what did I just miss?” he asked.

She giggled. “Princess Celestia and Raven are seeing one another.”

“...How’d you figure that out?” He had trouble picturing it. During their time in the presence of the princesses he’d quickly come to understand that they were people, as it were. He’d been happy to learn that, but this was a whole other step.

“Oh, several little clues, all confirmed by their reactions when I confronted them just now,” she replied. He couldn’t disagree with that last part, although Raven had been rather stoic. “The kicker was when Celestia ran her primaries along Raven’s Cutie Mark. It wasn’t even conscious on her part, I think, though of course Raven certainly noticed, and approved.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Aiden said, feeling a bit dense.

Rarity noticed. “Darling, there’s no reason to be angry at yourself for missing it. There’s no reason you’d recognize pony body language, particularly pertaining to wing movements.”

“Fair point… I’ll formally request a primer on such matters be included in the first edition of A Human’s Guide to Equus. ...We might actually have a market back on Earth for that before much longer.”

She giggled. “I imagine Twilight would write it for you with minimal prompting.”

“From what you’ve told me, I believe it, though I’d rather learn from you,” he said, meeting her gaze.

“Oh? Well then…” She hugged him tightly. “A human should be aware that a pony doing this is saying ‘I like you’. ...Or possibly just ‘hello!’ if it’s Pinkie Pie. Though with her the two are basically one in the same.”

Aiden smiled, feeling warmth through his body as he ran a hand gently along her back. “I think I can remember that.”

“Good, darling, you’re off to a strong start, now,” she nuzzled his cheek, rubbing across his jawline to touch her nose against his neck, just below his ear. She whispered into it, practically brushing her lips against him as she did so. “This would mean ‘I really like you. Although, if a stranger does it, it might just mean they’re drunk.”

Aiden chuckled, ignoring the warmth that had now concentrated in his cheeks. “...Noted. You do recall my neck just there is a rather sensitive spot?”

“I do.”

“And doing that goes a bit beyond casual flirting by human standards?”

“I know.” She pulled away, looking at him with luminous eyes. “Aiden… you really did it. In less than an hour, I’ll be home. We’ve joked about it, said it casually, flirted, laughed it off, but… Aiden. Everything you’ve risked, everything you’ve given, and you’ve never asked one thing in return. You nearly died! More than once! And I know I can’t ever thank you-”

“You don’t-”

She placed a hoof gently over his lips, smiling as her ears dipped. Aiden felt a lump in his throat. “I can’t. Ever. Thank you. Not enough. But I’ve come to know you. In such a short time with everything we’ve been through I’ve come to know you as well as the dearest friends I’ve ever had. And even if I can never thank you, I hope you’ll give me the time to try anyway.” She moved her hoof, leaned in, and kissed him. It was soft, and lingering as his hands ran across her cheeks, holding her gently. His fingers ran against her ears as they folded down over him, as though holding those hands where they were. After several long, wonderful seconds she slowly pulled away.

Her smile was the most gorgeous sight he’d ever beheld. And he’d been wrong. He hadn’t been hearing her song, not properly. He did now, and it would have rent his soul with its effusive beauty had he not just shared that perfect moment.

And apparently he wasn’t hiding his wonder over witnessing it, because she giggled, and his heart finished melting. “And that,” she said quietly, “Is a pony saying ‘I love you.’”

He chuckled softly, and leaned in, pulling her forward slowly. Her ears dipped again, those lovely eyes closing as he kissed her back. He’d have sworn he heard a happy little croon in the back of her throat as she leaned fully into it, pressing herself against him. They lingered together longer that time, but eventually broke away. “It’s an amazing coincidence, Rarity.”

“Oh? What would that be?”

“That’s how humans say it, too.”

As the train pulled into Ponyville station, the pair were hiding under the window. Rarity had spent a fair bit of time prepping (and fixing her very slightly mussed mane), and didn’t want to be seen before actually exiting the train. ‘Them catching a first glance through the window before we can greet one another would just be anticlimactic, darling.’ He couldn’t disagree, and anyway he was distracted by other matters. The kisses, of which there had been a few more during the trip, had been wonderful. And yet… he didn’t really feel like much had changed. It was more like… they’d fully acknowledged what had been there for awhile now. Looking back… the massages at the Crystal Palace had been rather intimate, and they’d both known it. Their talk at Aunt Lynn's the dancing at the going away party, the room after...

He hadn’t felt any pent up pressure here on the train, or much surprise. It had been an affirmation, one he’d been expecting of her, and himself, for some time now. He smiled. And she blew those expectations out of the water anyway. Still, he remembered the almost frantic excitement of early relationships in the past, and this felt different. There was a tranquility to it, a serene acceptance that yes, he loved her, she loved him, and they would walk forward together. He chuckled as the train finally came to a complete stop. I already knew that. He had a few reservations about the idea, but they could discuss those later. They were things to work on together. For now… she was home, and that was what mattered.

As they stepped off the train, her in front, and he saw several ponies he couldn’t help recognizing. But before he could sort them out, the blitz began. With an almost casual air, he sidestepped as Rarity was mobbed. It was a testament to how loved she was that no one noticed the (comparatively) tall alien sneaking away to give her her moment. He was quite happy for her.

Yet, as he stepped into a nearby alley, he felt a twitch in the aether, as though someone had-

“And where do you think you’re going, mister?”

He blinked, looking down at a pony standing in front of him. How did… oh shit, I know this mare…

She was pink. Pink on pink, with a poofy mane and tail that seemed to exude magic like heat from a brick oven. There was a warm happiness about her aura, and a depth to her place in the aether field that Aiden couldn’t define. She was everywhere and nowhere, depending on what she wanted. What made me think that? And yet it was her eyes that captured his full attention. ...Moira… They were the exact color of his sister’s.

He was a trained soldier, and accustomed to acting decisively while surprised. As such, he recovered quickly. Regarding her with a calm smile, he replied, “Not far. Just wanted to step aside so she could get her proper 'welcome back'. It’s not about me, so I got out of the way.”

The pink pony blew a raspberry. “That’s silly! Of course it’s about you, too! You brought her home… and you’re new here! So we have to throw a party. Oooh, also, hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

He couldn’t help but laugh as he dropped into a crouch to gently bump a hoof with his fist. “Aiden. Nice to meet you.”

“You too! Twilight told me no welcome cart, so this’ll have to do!” With that, she threw her forehooves around him, hugging tightly.

Strong… Oh right, earth pony. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” he said, returning the hug. “So which number hug is this?”

“Four!” Pinkie giggled, nuzzling his cheek. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean death here.”

What?

“Oh fine,” heh, or does it…? “I turn my back for a moment, and I find you hugging other mares in alleyways. How scandalous.” He didn’t need to turn to recognize that voice, or the teasing tone that would match a raised eyebrow and barely stifled grin below an elegant toss of her mane.

He regretted nothing. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”

“Oh I’ve no doubt. Pinkie, dear, would you be interested in joining a herd with my new stallion here? I know it’s not common these days, but I think we can make it work.”

“Oooh…” Pinkie said, pulling away from the hug to give Aiden an evaluating look.

Aiden stumbled, falling back onto his ass on the cobblestones. “What?!” It didn’t help that, now that he was surrounded by them, the strength of each was singing in his senses.

It also didn’t help that one was now snickering as Rarity, grinning, muttered “Got ‘im,” in English.

The snickering one hovered forward on soft, powerful wing strokes. Bright magenta eyes looked down at him from under a windblown mop of rainbow mane. Hello, Rainbow Dash. Aiden couldn’t help admiring the almost off-handed (hoofed?) mastery of magic on display. She was hovering at maybe two wingbeats a second, at most. The strength and majesty of the sky was in every one of them, and he felt a potent sense of freedom. ...And maybe just slightly more awesome than he had been a moment ago. Her muzzle split in a delighted grin. “So you’re Rarity’s knight, eh? Good to meetcha, I’m Rainbow Dash.” She held out a hoof, which he bumped as he stood up.

“Same here. Aiden,” it didn’t seem like there was any reason to give a full name here. This wasn’t formal introduction time. ...Though again, it seemed he’d managed to look foolish during a first impression. Ah well.

Pinkie was giggling, “Looks like he can take a joke, Dashie… you know what this means.”

Rainbow’s grin turned dangerous. “Sure do.”

“Rainbow, he’s a diplomat for his entire world, you should probably keep the pranking to a minimum.” He turned slightly, and his eyes widened at the alicorn of the group. Oh right, one of them’s a princess. He straightened slightly, and gave a half bow. “A pleasure to meet you as well, your highness.”

Twilight Sparkle waved him off with a casual wing flick. “Please just call me Twilight. I don’t mind the formality if it makes ponies happy but, you brought Rarity home to us. I’d rather we were friends, or more like we already are.” She smiled up at him, offering a hoof. Okay, so she’s adorable… and frankly they all are. Seriously, how the Hell did even the Onis attack this world?

As he shook her hoof, he felt it more closely. Her aura seemed to diffuse around her friends, as though they were a fundamental part of who she was. As Princess of Friendship, that did make sense, but there was a multi-faceted aspect to her magic that he’d never seen before. As he looked at her, felt her song, it was like gazing upon a magnificent work of art, an ivory tower built to share the glories of the sky and the stars, flawlessly proportioned. At the same time, he was seeing numbers. Perfect, elegant equations producing results both simple and complex, and united in their harmonious symmetry. He smiled as he released her hoof. “Don’t guess I can argue with that. Remind me to introduce myself formally at some point though, since you are a princess and all.”

“I’ll make a note of it,” she said with a grin. The numbers in her song seemed to spin, and a scroll and quill appeared by her head. The quill jotted down something too fast for him to follow, and then both disappeared. She didn’t bring those from elsewhere; they were constructed on the spot. I… don’t even know what to do with that. The world is really wide, isn’t it?

A throaty chuckle preceded the approach of an orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat. “Hope this ain’t too overwhelmin’ for ya, pardner. I’m Applejack, mighty pleased ta meetcha.”

“Same here, Miss,” he replied, sharing a hearty hoof/handshake.

She snorted and shook her head. “Applejack… or AJ if yer in a rush.” Aiden had been all over Earth during the war, and a bit afterwards as well. He would have expected Applejack’s aura to be reminiscent of the Midwest U.S.: farmlands and thriving life. There was truth in that, but there was a deeper aspect to it. Mountains, towering trees, and a sense of the strength of the deepest places of the earth. ...And he really wanted an apple.

Rainbow chuckled. “What, this would overwhelm him? What happens at the next Apple family reunion?”

“Pie happens, Dash, and that’s different. If we don’t overwhelm him there, ah didn’t do mah job.”

“Also cider,” the pegasus noted eagerly.

Applejack chuckled. “Play yer cards right…”

The camaraderie was familiar. Amazing how much I didn’t realize I’d been missing this over the years. I hope everyone at Fort Friendship is doing well.

As Applejack stood aside, he noticed the last of the group of six. He knew her by sight, as he did them all, as well as knowing a little of who she was. As such, he didn’t approach. He felt as though he’d stumbled upon a beautiful glade, where deer and songbirds shared a limpid pool below a tranquil waterfall. He couldn’t approach lest he frighten them away.

He kneeled down as the others backed up, giving the two of them space. “And you’re Fluttershy, right? It’s really nice to meet you, as well, Rarity’s told me a lot abo-”

He stopped, in shock, and several jaws dropped, as the pink-maned pegasus closed the distance between them and hugged him. “Thank you! Thank you so much for bringing her home!”

Gingerly, as though worried he’d break her, he returned the hug.

Behind him, he could hear the grin in Pinkie’s voice. “Welcome to Ponyville,” she whispered.

He laughed softly, releasing Fluttershy as he felt her pull away slightly. Her face was bright red, he assumed from stepping outside her comfort zone. The reputed shyest pony on the planet hugs the strange alien. She’s braver than I expected.

As he stood back up, Rarity chimed in. “So… where’s Spike, and Sweetie Belle… ah, I suppose she’s in school? She could have taken the day off for this.”

“Actually she did, but she said she wanted to greet you at home, herself, as did your parents. They figured the crowd at the train station would be big enough already,” Twilight said. She chuckled wryly. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with Sweetie having made a mess of the Boutique the last couple weeks and wanting time to get it cleaned up. We didn’t exactly get a lot of notice that you were back.”

“Yup, Twi and I might not have been back in time if we weren’t so awesome. We needed to help one of my fans in Cloudsdale with some odd magic that was affecting her family and her classmates. But we whipped that friendship problem’s butt and and sped home as soon as we got Celestia’s letter. Good thing I’ve been keeping this one improving,” Rainbow said, giving Twilight an affectionate swat with her wing.

Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled. That smile faded a bit as she continued. “As to Spike… well he also wanted to welcome you back in private, but more to the point, he’s at the hospital.”

“What?! Why?” Rarity exclaimed in sudden concern.

Twilight grimaced slightly as Rarity grabbed her, demanding answers. “It’s Starlight. When we were trying to find you, reaching beyond Sidera’s Veil the way Luna described, we weren’t having any luck. We came up with an amplification enchantment to strengthen the searching spell, but it was… very taxing.” She snorted as her expression turned sour. “And it didn’t work. It’s like something was actively working against us. We couldn’t get through. The strain was immense, and I almost passed out. ...And I’m an alicorn. Starlight might be the most magically gifted unicorn in Equestria, but she’s not limitless. ...Her horn cracked… a spiral fracture.”

“Oh no…” Rarity said. Aiden could only hear the words star’s light cannot pierce sideras veil as his eyes went wide.

“She’ll be alright, it’s taken a few weeks but she’s almost fully healed. There won’t be any permanent damage.”

“I’m glad, but that’s… a horribly painful experience from what I’ve heard. I want to see her, and… Aiden! Star’s light…”

“Yeah, I was thinking that, too…”

To his shock, Rainbow spoke up, “...can’t pierce Sidera’s Veil?”

All eyes turned to her, and Twilight was nodding in wide eyed agreement. “Riot’s blade divides the wind…”

Aiden turned to stare at her. “What the Hell…?”

“Rainbow… I think Joy needs to come visit sooner than we thought,” Twilight said.

“Yeah… think you’re right. I’ll head back to Cloudsdale right after the party.”

“I’m lost,” Aiden muttered.

“You’re not alone, darling.”

Twilight chuckled sheepishly. “The Friendship mission we were talking about, the filly we helped? She was having prophetic dreams, or at least we think they were prophetic. She’s had them for awhile now, and her family was hiding it and trying to help her cope. Some of them were pretty scary, and Luna couldn’t see them at first. It took awhile to discover why.”

“But Twilight was able to figure out how the magic was twisting up inside her head, and how the Veil was muffling her… right?” Twilight nodded confirmation, smiling at her friend. “And we totally helped her deal with it! And I autographed a poster for her and some more for her friends at school. They know she’s awesome again, and they’re all getting along great now.”

“Awesome indeed,” Rarity said. “Safe to say we both want to meet this filly.”

“Definitely… we heard her warnings through another dreamer on Earth,” Aiden added, nodded agreement. “We owe her a big thanks, at the least.”

“That’s amazing!” Twilight said, while Rainbow exclaimed, “Awesome!”

“Alright then!” Rarity said, stomping a hoof in determination. “First, the hospital, to see Starlight, Trixie, and Spike.”

“How’d you know Trixie was there?” Twilight asked.

Rarity gave her a level look. “Darling, please. And then home to see my family… and help Sweetie finish cleaning up the mess she’s probably made while cleaning up. And then, tonight…” She turned expectantly towards Pinkie Pie.

...Who grinned, and leapt into the air, spreading confetti from… somewhere? Aiden felt a familiar sensation, like tiny portals opening as the colorful paper flew into the air. “...PARTY!”

“Ahahahaha, you will not beat me at my own party! You will not…” With that, the griffin downed another shot of what Garken considered a rather decent whisky. “Beat… me…” He wobbled in his chair before toppling to the side. He hadn’t managed to set his glass down properly. Garken had won.

Not that it was a fair contest. Alcohol had next to no effect on him. The twenty shots he’d consumed left him with only a pleasant warmth. Tempest took another shot as well, though she wasn’t competing and it was only perhaps her third in the two hours they’d been there. ‘I prefer my wits about me; I’ve nothing to prove here,’ she had said.

Neither did Garken. After already spawning a massive barroom brawl just by appearing in a salty, rundown seaside tavern at exactly the wrong time, the two of them had already proven themselves against at least two dozen (admittedly drunk) griffon sailors and dockhands. They'd proven themselves all over town in the ensuing, extended melee. Now they were drinking with the tavern’s owner, who also happened to be the mayor of the small town, and several of the participants from the brawl.

It had been the first fight in a long time where Garken hadn’t killed anyone. It felt… surprisingly good. He was still concerned about how much weaker he felt, despite assuming that the corrupted aetheryte had been holding him back. That was proving to not be the case, and that was worrisome. He would need to be stronger if he intended to oppose his king, and his king’s loyalists. And he did intend just that. He owed a debt to Rarity, and to Johnathan… but also to his king in a very different way.

I owe them repayment… I owe him vengeance. Serendipitous that I can pursue both at once.

“As much fun as this is… Mayor Grinnek, we need a ship to take us to Baltimare or Fillydelphia,” Tempest spoke up, “We can pay for passage when we arrive.”

Grinnek, speaking from the floor, laughed loudly. “Little lady, don’t be silly! My brother is the finest captain on the seas! And you two… are the most fun my little town has seen in ages. He’ll be in with the morning tide, and we’ll get you on your way, no charge! I’m sure I can find something to send to… to…” He snorted, and began to snore like a chainsaw.

“How does he do that with a beak?” Garken pondered aloud.

“A better question is, will he remember that promise in the morning?”

Garken chuckled. “Does it matter? We’re crossing the sea, and they’re taking us. From there, on to Canterlot, to rally whatever we can to face my king. Though for that matter… should we also get help from these griffons?”

“Yes, yes you should,” a new voice added.

An unfamiliar griffon stepped into the room. He was younger and thinner than Grinnek, and most of the griffons Garken had faced in the tavern. Grey fur and lighter grey feathers covered his sleek form as he stepped fully into the light. Bright teal eyes swept the room, taking in every detail. He was also lightly armored, with a sword belted at his side. Tempest raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a little young to be a constable?”

“I’m a Knight of Griffonstone, Tempest Shadow, and I’m not the only one. I may not have your reputation, but my order takes pride in its prowess… as well as its information. I’m glad to see you’ve regained your freedom.”

“Hmph, you knew I was taken?”

“Yes, your fight against… his kind…” he gestured to Garken, “was witnessed. Unfortunately, the witnesses could do nothing but bring us the account of what happened. I assume this one is trustworthy?”

Tempest nodded, as Garken chuckled at being spoken of as though he weren’t there. He mentally shrugged and poured himself another shot.

“Excellent. From what I’ve seen and heard since you appeared, you intend to face the same threat that took you. From what we’ve gathered in the quiet places of the world, that threat is massing for a major offensive, centered in Equestria. We wish to help.”

Tempest nodded again, and the griffon smiled fiercely. “Very well then, the Knights of Griffonstone are at your side, and we will accompany you to Canterlot to inform the Princesses of this rising threat.”

Tempest tilted her head, smirking. “Oh? And what makes you think I want the help of a people who can scarcely see past their own beaks… and coin purses?”

The griffon winced almost imperceptibly. “A sadly fair question. Our king… is a foolish, greedy old bird. But that doesn’t mean we’re all following in his wake! A chance to strengthen ties with Equestria, especially after a visit from two of their heroes did so much for Griffonstone, is one I don’t intend to pass up. Whether with you or parallel to you, we will pledge our aid in whatever is to come!”

Tempest laughed, though it wasn’t mocking laughter. “Well now… don’t you know just what to say? What’s your name, kid?”

He bowed deeply, fanning his wings in an impressive display. “I am Sir Gareth of Griffonstone, younger brother of the Arch Knight Gawain, and my fellow knights and I are at your service!”

7. Party Crashing

Aiden had to admit, the Ponyville Hospital was impressive. He’d been taken with the architecture of every city in its own way, but this was more about the technology. Granted, magic stood in for a lot of the computerized stuff he’d see back home, but even so this was more advanced than he’d anticipated.

It was also more… homey, somehow. The colorful halls and rooms had a less sterile feel than the hospitals he’d been in. It didn’t help that he’d rarely been in one for a good reason, but this wasn’t exactly an exception. They were here because Twilight Sparkle’s student, Starlight Glimmer, had seriously hurt herself trying to help get Rarity home. Aiden could relate to that, but he was much more comfortable with being the one who was hurt. He could take it, hardly the first time, etc. and so forth. A pony getting seriously hurt just struck him as wrong somehow. And yet… here was this hospital, all homey and welcoming, so clearly…

He shook off his woolgathering as the nurse trotted them up to the room they’d come for. Rarity and Twilight were with them, while the rest had gone to Rarity’s home so as not to overcrowd the room (and to give Sweetie Belle some help, apparently). Plus, Twilight had mentioned Spike wanted a private reunion with Rarity. Aiden figured he understood that. From what he knew of Spike, the young dragon had once (and perhaps still) carried quite a torch for Rarity, and that was something Aiden also understood. If he was liable to break down upon seeing her again, he wouldn’t want a large audience (particularly of older girls) bearing witness.

With that in mind… “Should we wait out here a few minutes?”

Rarity considered for a moment, and nodded. “That might be-”

The door flew open; one clawed, purple hand holding it in a grip that proceeded to mar the wood. Spike breathed a long, slow sigh through his nose before a smile lit his face. He stepped silently through the door and put his arms around Rarity, holding her tightly.

Aiden watched with a smile of his own as her eyes welled up, and she returned the hug. They held one another for several seconds before he whispered, “Welcome home,” and pulled away.

She smiled down at him and nuzzled his cheek, “Thank you, Spike.”

He stepped to the side of her, and looked up at Aiden. It didn’t occur, until that moment, just how small the dragon was. Shorter than Rarity, he nearly had to crane his neck to make eye contact with (shorter than average) human. “And you brought her home, right?”

“Group effort,” came the reply. He dropped to a crouch, holding out a hand. “I’m Aiden.” Spike took it in a firm grip and shook his hand. Aiden smiled, “Rarity’s told me a lot about you.”

“Heh, so much for a first impression,” Spike replied, grinning.

Aiden laughed. “I doubt she’d ever hear a word against you, let alone speak one. Really, I’m glad to meet you.”

“Likewise. Any friend of Rarity’s is a friend of mine. But come on in, Starlight and Trixie will want to see you both, too.”

“Trixie’s not fussed about it, really.” This from a blue, silver-maned unicorn sitting next to the hospital bed. In contrast to the other magical auras he’d taken note of, this one was… less. It felt like a fireworks festival. Flash over substance, but not in a bad way. The look of clearly faux haughtiness she was directing at them seemed designed to be much the same, as if to say ‘I’m going to pretend I don’t care about this, but I’m going to do it poorly so I don’t fool you.’ “But it’s nice you’re back. Hopefully Starlight can focus on getting better now and not how to hurt herself trying again…”

Aiden hid a grin behind a hand; he could almost feel the vehement snark emanating from Trixie. Bit more substance than first glance, clearly… And speaking of Starlight…

The unicorn in the hospital bed had rolled her eyes at Trixie’s less than subtle cajoling, but there was a calm smile on her face. Purple eyes matched her mane, which was set off nicely by a teal streak alongside lighter purple shades. He wasn’t quite sure about her coat… lilac? Though it was her completely bandaged horn, and odd aura, that regrettably drew the most attention. As Twilight Sparkle had alluded to, she had a potent presence in the aether. But, at least for the moment, it was like looking at a cracked crystal. He could feel pain… and guilt... radiating through it like the embers of a banked fire. Before he could consider it further, Rarity approached the bedside.

“Oh… Starlight, darling, I’m so sorry you-”

“No. Rarity, I’m really glad you’re back. Don’t worry about this,” she said, glancing up to her horn. Her voice was soft, but strong, and she didn’t seem to be in any pain. “Another week and it’ll be completely healed. I can already use my magic fully again-”

“But you’re not going to,” Trixie interjected firmly.

“But I’m not going to,” Starlight mimed, rolling her eyes despite the smile on her lips. She looked at Aiden. “Huh… you really do look a bit like the humans on the other side of the mirror… but then again you don’t. You also have magic… most of them didn’t, beyond tiny traces. Err… well, then again, I wasn’t over there long.”

Rarity blinked, as though remembering. “Twiiiiilight, daaarling. We simply must have a chat comparing our experiences in the ‘human’ worlds.”

If Twilight Sparkle noticed her tone, she made no indication, “Ooh, that sounds amazing! We can compare notes, and make checklists of all the similarities and differences, and oh! What was your first day like? Weren’t the first few minutes just so fascinating? I mean, sure, I was completely freaking out about having hands, but-”

“I got shot, Twilight. A security guard shot me, they threw me in a cell, and then they shot me some more.”

“Oh… heh… err… the humans I met… didn’t do that.”

Rarity held her abashed gaze a moment before giggling and hugging her tightly. “I’m teasing you, dear.”

“Oh! Oh, good. So you… didn’t get shot a bunch of times?”

“Oh no, I absolutely did. He got stabbed though, it was much worse,” Rarity replied, nodding towards Aiden.

“Eh, I dunno,” Aiden shrugged. “I sorta shared those gunshots in that dream, they were pretty damn painful.”

Twilight looked between them, clearly uncomfortable. Aiden frowned inwardly. The Princess of Friendship… she was just so… unassuming, in a good way… I just started thinking of her as Twilight rather than her full name. I’ve known her for minutes… “It’s seriously fine though. We had some trials back on Earth, getting her home, but it was all worth it. ...And frankly a lot of what happened was only a matter of time, whether she’d been there or not,” the last part was still talking to Twilight, but he glanced over at Rarity while saying it, reminding her not to feel guilty over the losses they’d taken while defeating Veritech, and later Garken.

She nodded quietly, though she’d bitten down on her lip.

There was a brief silence as everyone in the room took in what was said, and the implications, before Spike clapped his hands together sharply. “So! We should head over to Rarity’s, right? I’m sure you’ve kept Sweetie Belle waiting long enough. And you probably want to see the Boutique again, right?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Spike, and Aiden resisted doing the same. They could both recognize the attempt at persuasion, but… “We?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, uh… yeah. I promised Sweetie Belle I’d be there for… uh… emotional support. You know, if she got… well, too emotional at seeing you, and… uh… heh.”

“Spike, precious scales… you do know fibbing isn’t your forte, right?”

“No!” Spike replied sharply, a blush running over his cheeks. How does a dragon blush? Hmm… how wouldn’t they… eh… “No, no,” he continued, stumbling over the words as he built up steam. “That’s all true, but… err… there’ssomethingelse… anddon’taskmebecauseI’mnotallowedtotellyousolet’sjustgookay?!”

Rarity blinked in surprise, tilting her head back slightly as her ears flicked, trying to parse what he’d said. Then she smiled, and shrugged. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Rarity.”

She nodded, still smiling for him, but addressed Starlight. “So what about you two?”

“Strictly monitored bedrest,” Starlight grumbled in a false whine, waving a hoof in a sing song gesture.

“Trixie will stay with her best friend,” Trixie said simply. “She won’t allow Starlight to be alone just because everypony else wants to be everywhere else.”

“Trixie, that’s-” Twilight began.

“Not the case, Trix, and you know it. I’m supposed to be resting, not getting besieged by visitors. I don’t want to risk my horn not healing properly. Besides… you’re all the company I need.” Starlight said, smiling up at her friend.

Trixie flushed and glanced to the side. “Th-... then it’s all settled, isn’t it? I’ll… TRIXIE… Trixie stays here, and you all go away. Now. To a different place. Leaving us alone here. Starlight and Trixie. Alone here. We’ll be fine.”

I bet you will… Aiden twitched at that thought and resisted the urge to facepalm. Goddammit, Cadance. He could swear he heard her laughing, in the distance.

Carousel Boutique was an odd building. Setting aside the way it stood out from the surrounding architecture, the fact that it included carousel ponies in its decoration struck Aiden funny. I mean… I guess it’s no odder than mannequins, kind of? ...No, the way they’re on poles is weird and I stand by that.

That aside though, the building was lovely: eye-catching and ornate in its decoration. He realized suddenly that it was just as well he liked it since he’d probably be living there. As Rarity trotted forward and opened the door (with just a second of hesitation and a deep breath), all the lights inside came on.

“SURPRISE!!!!”

Aiden grinned. Why am I not surprised?

There were banners and all the trimmings of a ‘Welcome Back!/Welcome to Ponyville!’ party set up in the barely recognizable front room of the boutique. To be fair, Aiden only recognized it from the shared dream in the first place, and that memory had been at night. This time around…

Aside from the streamers and table laden with snacks there was… a filly in flight. Aiden stepped away from Rarity as a smaller pony tackled her in a fierce hug. “Welcome back! I knew you’d be okay!”

Rarity gasped and burst into happy tears as she hugged her little sister for all she was worth. The rest of the room had gone quiet, taking in the happy moment. The two sisters were understandably oblivious to the audience.

Sweetie Belle… from what Aiden could see, was almost heartstoppingly adorable. Granted, he couldn’t really see her face, what with her nuzzling into Rarity’s neck, but the poofy, pink and purple mane and tail, the off white coat, and ...huh, a shield… coat of arms? Neat… Cutie Mark… the young filly was unfairly cute.

Her friends weren’t too much less so… how does a ribbon that big work... They were both clearly happy for Sweetie, but their attention was on Aiden for the moment. “So, they’re gonna need a minute. Hey, I’m Scootaloo,” said the orange, purple maned pegasus as she held out a hoof.

“Apple Bloom,” the ribbon wearing, yellow earth pony added, doing the same.

Aiden crouched down, drawing an eyebrow perk from the pegasus as she watched him move. He bumped each small hoof, smiling. “Aiden. Nice to meet you both. Gotta say, the whole ‘alien in town’ thing has gone over more smoothly than I’d have expected.”

“Ehh,” Scootaloo replied, grinning up at him. “I mean, sure you’re pretty weird, but weird is what Ponyville does. Gonna try and eat anypony?”

“Really not planning on it, no.”

“We’re good then.”

There were a large number of ponies in the place, which seemed bigger on the inside somehow, though Aiden was sure he was imagining things. As expected, the string of introductions became a theme for awhile...

“Hah! Fifty bits, Bonnie! Told you there were real!”

“...Dammit. Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you.”

“Absolutely fascinating, sir! While I’ve tinkered with time and space travel, the notion of leaving this galaxy is difficult to truly fathom! ...I don’t suppose I could examine your... ‘spaceship’?”

“I’m so happy for Rarity that she made it home, and made such nice friends while she was gone. Did you meet Doc yet? He’s really excited about space travel. It seems really neat!”

“It’s truly remarkable to meet a being from another world that’s so like ours. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Are you enjoying the music? After Vinyl does a couple sets I’ll be joining her to slow things down a bit.”

“...Eeyup.”

...And so forth. Once those and many other introductions were out of the way, the party got into full swing. Aiden had to admit, it was a pretty fun time even if it was fairly tame compared to many parties he’d attended back home. Then again, a lot of those had been along the lines of ‘WE DIDN’T DIE, PARTY LIKE WE’RE ABOUT TO!’ since… that had often felt accurate, during the war. This party was light on booze and rowdiness, but heavy on smiles, laughter, and dance music. ...Which he fully enjoyed. And he wasn’t exactly surprised to discover that Pinkie Pie was a helluva dancer.

Rarity smiled, watching Aiden and Pinkie dance alongside several other ponies. Twilight sat next to her, sipping one of the punches that hadn’t been ‘enhanced’. “So… you and Aiden, eh?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but refused to be thrown off by a surprisingly direct question. She hadn’t quite admitted they had decided to start seeing each other, but she hadn’t hidden anything. Still, for Twilight to bring it up. Then again, for all she knew Cadance had cheated and given her sister in law a heads up. Besides… the deflection was obvious. “I seem to recall a few stories about somepony else falling for a human as well… a high school student, at that.”

“Hey, I was a high school student, too, at the time… also human, so you know… different hormone panel and nervous system and it was more gratitude and just being-”

“I’m teasing, Twilight,” she grinned, looking at her easily flustered friend. It was remarkable really, how different Twilight seemed to her, now. Getting off the train, she hadn’t even noticed Aiden slipping away, what with Twilight’s aura drowning out everything for that first moment. It had been beautiful… a symphony playing in a starry night. But… “But while we’re addressing oddities… what are you hiding?”

She realized, as Twilight fidgeted, that they both knew what she was referring to. “Hiding? Who’s hiding? What? What’s hiding who? Or… what?”

“Twilight, are you sure you have the non-alcoholic punch?”

“...Probably?”

Rarity giggled. “Darling, please. You noticed me noticing, at the train. Please, just talk to me. What’s happening?”

Twilight breathed a sigh that slowly became a groan. “It’s… you’ve changed, Rarity. Your magic, and your senses, they’re much stronger than when you left.”

“A lot happened on Earth, darling. But even just being there, feeling the differences in the aether field… really absorbing it…” Rarity sighed, shutting her eyes to relive the memories, even the bad ones. “Especially while fearing for my life... feeling the depths of despair and nearly giving up. Twilight, I thought I was going to die and then…” She smiled, opening her eyes to gaze tranquilly at her friend. “Well as I said, a lot happened.”

“I want to hear all about it, when you’re ready,” Twilight replied, placing a supportive hoof on Rarity’s shoulder… and getting a raised eyebrow in exchange. “...And you probably want me to answer your question now, right?” She grinned nervously.

“That would be good, yes. As near as I can tell, you’re suppressing your magic, at least half of it, maybe more.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “You really did improve. It’s hard to measure exactly through senses, but yes you could say half of me is missing.”

“That’s… unfortunate wording, darling. What do you mean?”

Just what I said… it’s something Starlight and I were working on while you were gone, expanding on one of her spells, and I had a breakthrough. It’s not bad, and I can get it back if I need to.”

“But… where is it?”

“I’m… not ready to talk about that yet, not until we know more. It might be nothing. Besides! You just got back, relax and don’t worry about adventures for awhile.”

Rarity stared askance at Twilight for a moment, before sighing. “If you insist, darling. But whatever it is you’re up to, I want to know soon. As you said, my time away has been… eye-opening. I have no intention of giving up my old life, but I have… additional priorities to think about now. Consider it fair trade for Earth stories.” Rarity grinned, evilly. “If you behave… I’ll show you my starship.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and glazed over slightly. “...Oh?”

“Mm-hmm, darling… once we get the batteries properly recharged, we can leave the atmosphere with it.”

“Ooh…”

Rarity leaned in to Twilight’s ear. “Land on the moon, perhaps…”

“Oh my…”

She was practically breathing into Twilight’s ear as she whispered, “Even study the stars beyond Sidera’s Veil.”

“Nngh…!” Twilight shuddered, and jerked away, falling out of her chair. Rarity’s magic caught her cup before it could hit the table. “I’m okay!”

Giggling, Rarity picked Twilight up in her telekinesis and set her back on her chair. Twilight, for her part, simply looked wide-eyed as she was gently rearranged. “Really… improved. ...Starship?” She asked, looking at Rarity with huge, adorable eyes.

“Ask Aiden, darling, he has it in his pocket.”

“He… what? Oh, like Pinkie does… that’s what I was feeling from him, okay. I have to say, a human with magic is pretty strange.”

“No darling… strange would be what they call the ‘Internet’.”

“Oh, yeah no argument there, what did you-”

“Um… sorry to interrupt, Twilight,” Spike said, walking up with a wine bottle in one claw, two glasses in the other.

Rarity felt a chill, but Twilight just smiled, unconcerned with the interruption. “What is it, Spike?”

“I uh… I’d like to talk to Rarity. Alone, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh. No, I don’t mind. Rarity, we’ll continue this later?”

Despite her inward concern, she smiled and nodded. “Certainly, darling. Why not go dance with Aiden? He’s ended up drawing quite the crowd on the dance floor.”

“He’s good, isn’t he? ...I’d probably throw him off.”

“Nonsense! Go have fun.” Rarity felt grateful to Aiden. While a big part of her wanted to be closer to him now, especially after what they’d shared on the train… she smiled at that thought… she wasn’t ready to make a big deal of it with everypony in town. This party was about being home again. Even her parents had managed to be here, though she’d lost track of them to a poker game in the kitchen that involved Big Mac, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Silver Spanner. And Aiden seemed to understand that as well as she did. While they’d shared a few dances earlier, they were simple ones before the two had split off to dance with other ponies.

Meanwhile, Twilight looked a little uncertain but headed to the dance floor anyway. And by that I mean my salesroom floor. I hope Pinkie intends to clean the place, because I didn’t intend to spend my first night back cleaning up after a party. ...In retrospect, I probably should have. “Spike, have a seat. What’s on your mind, darling?”

Spike smiled at her, and opened the bottle of wine with his teeth, spitting the cork into an open claw before pocketing it.

“...Charming, but I hope you don’t intend to drink that with me…” It did smell lovely; a fine bouquet even over the various smells from the party… which had included indoor pyrotechnics much to her dismay.

“Ah,” Spike said, holding up a claw as he proceeded to pour into both glasses, a perfect amount in each. “I’m of age… for dragons.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow as she took a glass in her magic. “Really?”

“Yep. ...There’s no minimum age for dragons in Equestrian law. I’ve checked.”

“Spike, that’s-”

“Sensible,” Spike interjected. “Since alcohol doesn’t affect us. Tasty though, and if I drink enough I can breathe blue fire. I bet I could match your mane color…” He chuckled. “I once did purple fire, for Twilight’s birthday. That took a lot of potassium chloride.”

“I… see.”

“So!” he said, raising a glass. Rarity smiled and did the same. “To reunions, and friendships. ...And love.”

Rarity lightly clinked her glass to his. “Cheers, darling.” She took a sip, and it was a lovely flavor to match the enticing scent. “You have good taste, Spike.”

“Yeah. That explains why I fell in love with you.”

Rarity felt that chill again. So, it was finally this conversation. “Ah… thank you for waiting for me to swallow first.”

“Well, it was that or wear the wine. Seemed like a waste.”

“Indeed. ...Spike…”

He held up a claw in a ‘hold on’ gesture. “Let me talk a minute, okay? Don’t answer yet.” She nodded. “I fell in love with you… or so I thought… when we met. But that’s silly. Love isn’t that simple that you can get it with a look. That was a crush… and it never completely went away. But I went at it wrong. I kept trying to win you over… like you were I prize I could earn. ...A piece I could add to my hoard if I were good enough.” Rarity really wanted to interrupt that, but Spike pressed on and she honored his ‘let me talk’ request. “But what do you expect? I was a kid. Still am, some days more than others. I tell myself I’m an adult… what with being Twilight’s assistant for years and all, but I know I’m not there yet.” He smiled. “Did you know, I talked her into that?”

Rarity tilted her head, smiling at visualizing that. “I didn’t! Do tell.”

“Heh… not much to it, really. It wasn’t too long after hatching that I could walk and talk, and I picked up the basics of reading and numbers fast, too. Dragon thing… even if a lot of us stop growing up shortly after that. Buncha jerks… But not too long after that that I was noticing the pony I thought of as my big sister running herself ragged studying for Princess Celestia. I wanted to help… so I did. It started with just bringing her snacks and organizing books and the like. But I wanted more. So I told her: ‘Twilight, I’m your assistant now! I’ll work for you and you’ll be the best princess student ever!’” Rarity giggled at the silly voice he used for that speech. “Of course, she protested that I was too young. But I’d done my homework. There was no minimum age for dragon labor… since they was no precedent for it. So I made my argument. Logical, to the point, persuasive.”

“Is that when you found out about the alcohol age also?”

“Nah, I looked that up later, after Twilight caught me… doesn’t matter. Point is, the reason I never did that with you, ya know, made an argument for us… is I knew you’d turn me down.”

Rarity smiled gently. “Spike…”

“Not done yet,” he said, but returned her smile. “Seriously, why wouldn’t you? I’m not knocking me… I’m pretty great.” Rarity giggled, and didn’t disagree. “But I was too young for you. Like, seriously, ten years from now it’s not such a gap, but now? Seven years ago? Big. Too big. Plus, I was a friend’s little brother. So that’s awkward. And by the time I had really accepted that… I understood why you shushed my confession when we were falling. Seriously… that was just…” He rolled his eyes at himself. “Big brave dragon, only confesses when you won’t even have time to answer him. By the time you were pining over Trenderhoof,” Rarity winced, “I was pretty over you. Over the crush anyway. Because I still love you… and I’m pretty sure I always will. But it’s not that kind of love. So, I’m happy you met someone when you were away. Because so did I.”

Rarity blinked, and her eyes went wide before her pupils dilated to match a wide smile. “Spike, that’s wonderful news! Tell me all about her! Or him! Whomever!”

He grinned sheepishly. “Well, it’s a her… and you know her already. ...Pretty well, actually. So uhh… remember how I said dating a friend’s sister is awkward, right? ...Might have been a poor choice of words.”

Rarity tilted her head a moment as her eyes narrowed… then she burst out laughing. “Wahahahaha! Oh my goodness! Spike! I thought I saw something in your eyes when you mentioned Sweetie earlier. I told myself I was reading into things. You’re serious?!”

“I am. We… well we were spending a lot of time together while you were missing. Comforting each other, you know? But… We’ve always kind of looked after each other, and it all fell into place when I was here cooking. She started singing, and I joined in, and… well…” He blushed, looking away.

Rarity gave him a level look. “I’ll just assume the two of you behaved yourselves in my home in my absence.”

“That’s good of you to assume, Rarity,” Spike replied with mock piety, “Trust is important.”

“Spike…”

“I’m teasing, Rarity; you know me better than that. And you should because… thanks… for everything. We weren’t meant to be, but I’m a better dragon for having you as the first mare to catch my eye.”

“Thank you, Spike… you may be the sweetest person I’ve ever known, and never doubt for an instant: I love you, too.”

He got up, crossed around the table as she hopped down from her seat, and they hugged. “Heh, sweeter than this new guy, eh?”

Rarity laughed. “He’s a wonderful person as well, but you set the bar quite high.”

“He’ll clear it, with your help. I know, because that’s how I did it.”

Rarity felt tears in her eyes. I… have the best friends anyone could ever dream of. She hugged him tighter.

The last song of the night was a cello solo by Octavia, perfect for a slow dance. Rarity had tossed the pretense of hiding what she and Aiden had decided, and happily accepted that dance. She was almost as happy to see Spike dancing with Sweetie Belle, as well as Lyra and Bon Bon, alongside a few other couples. Was that… Doctor Whooves dancing with Twilight? Hmm, was there something there? Was he seeing Ditzy? Hmm… She couldn’t be sure, but Twilight’s slow dancing was a marked improvement over her club ‘dancing’. ...Which wasn’t saying too much.

Aiden smiled at her as they swayed to the soft melody. “Good party?”

“Wonderful party, darling. And for you?”

“Had a great time. And I see what Rainbow meant about the cider. Looking forward to alone time with you, though.” He blinked, and blushed lightly, looking adorable. “...Which is kind of rude to say since we’ve spent a lot of time alone lately but-”

“Shh, I understand, darling,” she giggled, tapping a hoof to his lips. “It’s different now, and I’m looking forward as well. But… to be clear, you’re still in the guest bedroom,” she grinned at him. “...For now.”

“Heh, of course. No one’s rushing here.”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. “Why rush such a pleasant ride?”

“But how can you bluff like that?! You’re supposed to be Honesty!”

“Ah'm the Bearer, but Ah ain’t mah Element, ya sore-losin’ go-fisher!”

“...Fisher?”

“Pretty sure you didn’t know which card game we were playin’...”

“Oh, hahah… seriously, AJ, how can you bluff like that?”

“It’s easy, Dash… cause it ain’t dishonest.”

“What?! You’re lying about your cards!”

“Ah’m not either… Ah never said ‘Ah have a straight!’. Ah just bet like ah did, or what have ya. It’s part of the game. It ain’t cheatin’, heck it’s encouraged...”

“I still think…”

The conversation trailed off as the two got further from the boutique. Aiden was sitting on the balcony of the second floor, watching the stars settle into place (a rather odd but entertaining experience for him, as one might expect).

“Dem Apples are quite the cardsharps.”

Aiden looked over his shoulder to notice Hondo Flanks, Rarity’s father, had come out onto the balcony as well. “Mind if I join ya?”

“No, sir, not at all.”

“Aww, I ain’t a ‘sir’. Only proper type in the family’s Rarity. Call me Hondo.” As he said this he pulled up a chair next to Aiden. “Least I could say, given what you’ve done for us. Is it true you can’t get home now?”

“Not right away, no. But it’s different than what Rarity had to go through… not least of which for me meeting good folks here right away… and having a guide to begin with. But also, while the ship is damaged, it’s mostly just the power cells that need work. And here on Equus that should be much easier than it was on Earth. We plan to start looking into it soon, and with Rarity’s resources it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Yeah, my little girl’s done pretty damn well for herself. We’re all proud of her,” he smiled, a parent’s smile, Aiden realized. It was one he hadn’t seen directed at himself since… he chuckled inwardly. Actually… I got that smile from Grumman a lot over the years. “And she seems pretty taken with you, even if she’s not making a big deal about it. A father can tell these things…”

“Heh… it’s mutual.”

“Kinda odd, you not bein’ a pony and all… not that I’m prejudiced or nothin’, just a surprise.”

“Does it bother you?”

He chuckled. “Not if it doesn’t bother her. She always wanted the grandiose, ya know? A prince... princess... some great artist... heh, or a hero from another world I guess works, too. ...And now Sweetie is lookin’ awfully close with Spike…”

Aiden couldn’t help laughing. “Your daughters have eclectic tastes in partners, it’d seem.”

“Dunno where they got that from… Celestia knows their mother settled for a plain ole’ schlub.”

Aiden shook his head. “She chose a stallion who helped her raise two amazing daughters.”

Hondo snorted in surprise, and smiled. “Yeah… you’re alright. You take care of Rarity though. She takes care of herself damn fine, but she puts her heart into things fully. ...So take care of it. Hear me?”

Aiden nodded respectfully. “Yes, sir. I definitely hear you, and I fully intend to.”

Hondo chuckled. “Told ya not ta call me… the hay is that? Luna bring a star out late?”

“Eh? Huh…. oh…” Aiden looked up at the bright, quickly moving light in the sky… and felt a chill. “That’s no star… and it’s not one of ours…”

There was a flash from above, and Aiden swore, throwing up a shield as he teleport hopped up, above the balcony and into the sky. He made it in time as the blast of energy smashed into his shield, pulverizing it and flinging him away. Several portal jumps slowed his fall, but distortion around the projectile had been such that he couldn’t portal it directly, and the shield had blown apart absorbing the blast, deflecting it up and away from Ponyville below. Aiden was in a controlled fall, but it had been very close. That would have hit Twilight’s Castle… Another flash, but this time the trajectory…

Aiden watched in horror as a blast wave engulfed Canterlot in the distance.

Tempest gazed ahead as shore drew closer. They’d sailed the entire day and into the night but, as Captain Greldik had promised, they would make land soon. She could already faintly see the lights of Baltimare. She told herself she could’ve heard the sounds of the city if not for Garken’s snoring belowdecks, but they really weren’t that close yet.

She didn’t move from her spot at the prow as Sir Gareth joined her.

“Are you still vexed with me, milady?”

She snorted. “I will be, if you call me ‘milady’ again. Other than that… no. I can’t say I’m too thrilled that your ‘Order of Knights’ includes all of twenty griffons, only six of whom are with us.”

“Griffonstone needs protecting as well, mi-…ss Tempest,” Gareth countered reasonably. My brother coordinates our chapterhouse with several others, as well as remote, wandering knights throughout the world.”

“So you already have some presence in Equestria?”

“Of course! Princess Celestia is most welcoming of us and supportive of our cause. But this will be the first time we’ve truly been in a position to lend our aide to a possible global conflict.”

“I take it you were busy when my army invaded Canterlot?”

“In point of fact, we were. Are you familiar with the Arimaspi?”

“Southern giants? Nobility only have one eye?”

“That’s them… your conquest of the various nations surrounding Equestria didn’t include theirs, but the unrest stirred them up considerably, and they attacked their neighbors, including us, seeking to take advantage of the upheaval.”

“I see. ...I’m sorry about that.”

“Do not be! It was a glorious battle against our ancient and hated foes! And besides, had it not been for them, I may have joined in the coalition against the Storm King, and faced you as an enemy… which would leave us in a rather awkward position now.”

“Hmph, maybe. The enemies I should have made for life in Equestria all seemed to forgive me pretty easily.”

“Ahh, but that’s what makes ponies admirable… if occasionally naive seeming to my own people. One of many reasons I’m eager to pledge my aide.”

“That’s good to hear,” she muttered, tensing up as she looked straight ahead, drawing his eyes into line with the sight ahead. He gasped in surprise. “Because Baltimare is burning.”

8. Opening Gambits

“Go, go, go!” Spitfire yelled, directing the evacuation. “Windy Whistles is directing traffic to the south, two blocks! Get to her or any Wonderbolt for help! Nopony panic!” She tilted her wings, and with a single stroke shot into the air again, a sonic boom blasting out from her before she smashed into another of the monsters, crushing its armor and its torso while knocking it away from the family it had been threatening. She spun, bucking another in the face, to far less effect as it swung a sword at her wings at almost the same time.

She was fast, and managed to mostly avoid the strike as a thin line of blood ran down the blade. Too shallow to slow me down, rookie… She changed her duck into a roll, kicking at the monster’s legs as she shot down beneath the cloud cover. It didn’t follow. She blinked, it couldn’t follow… She took a deep breath, drawing on the lung capacity, and yelling strength, of a Wonderbolt Captain. “Wonderbolts! Cloudsdale Sky Guard! They’re using some cloudwalking magic, but it’s NOT from them! Talisman, amulet, whatever! Rip it off ‘em! Drop these losers into the mountains below! Get them the BUCK outa my skies!”

She twisted in the air, and made a beeline for where she’d seen one of them go into an ordinary looking house. Fighting close quarters could’ve been trouble. But she could ignore clouds as needed, so she’d have an advantage, she hoped.

As she reached the open door she felt sick and realized she wouldn’t be needing that advantage.

There was blood. Blood everywhere. The walls, the floors, the ceiling… dripping down. Spitfire swallowed heavily. She had enough experience with injuries, minor and otherwise… to know the blood wasn’t pony… though it was still very disturbing.

Almost as disturbing as the little filly with the kitchen knife in her teeth, covered in blood, but not nearly as disturbing as when said filly grinned up at Spitfire, without dropping the knife. “Captain Spitfire!” Her red eyes lit up with delight.

Red like all the… oh Celestia… this is the filly that Crash was helping… “I… What…?”

Now she spit the knife out, straight into the air. She caught it with a wing and tucked it against her barrel, obscuring it completely. “I’m Joyous Riot. My parents are in the other room; can you get them to safety?”

“I… yeah?”

“Eeee!” the little filly squeed. “So awesome… you kicked so much flank out there, and you aren’t even a warrior like them! You’re so cool! I’m gonna go kill more Oni, okay?”

“You… wait, what… how?”

The filly turned, knocking at the door. As she did Spitfire saw, on a filly too young to have one, her Cutie Mark: a field of greatswords impaled in the dirt. “Mom, dad! It’s okay, the bad people went away and Captain Spitfire is here! Uhh… we need a new bread knife… I... lost ours?”

The door shot open, and the filly’s mother, indifferent to the blood, scooped her up in a hug. “‘Went away’… as if we couldn’t hear in there! Young lady, we’ve talked about this! You were supposed to be in the treasure room! And you give back that knife this instant!”

“But they had to die!” she whined.

“You’re grounded!”

“Aww…”

Spitfire’s jaw hung open a moment. “...Wat?” She shook her head. The other mare was a pale yellow, with an off white mane that was cut short, and rather messy. Her daughter had her eyes. “Wait, I recognize you…”

A stallion walked out of the other room and looked around at the blood, grimacing. His coat was a light copper hue, and his steely mane was a bigger mess than his wife’s. “This is worse than the manticores last year…” He looked to Spitfire with an apologetic grimace. “I’m sorry you had to see this, Captain. She’s… a very special little filly.”

“Yeah… I’m getting that. ...And I know you, too. I didn’t realize you were her parents. I hate to say it explains things, but...”

The stallion shrugged it off. “Is the damage outside serious?”

“No. They set off some troop teleport spell before an explosive blast hit the Cloudeseum, but nopony was there at this hour. ...I hope, nopony should’ve been anyway. The monster troops are scary, but slow and awkward on the clouds. We’re getting everypony out just in case they fire again, but whatever they came for, they won’t win.”

“Yeah!” Joy yelled. “I want to help! Killing monsters is my special talent!”

“Young lady, your special talent is not killing!”

Joy pouted. “Is too…”

Spitfire looked to the door. “I’m just gonna… get back out there… let you two do the parenting thing. Seems harder than Wonderbolting…”

Joy’s mother snorted, but smiled at Spitfire. “No no, we’ll come along. She’s done going all Pale Horse for the night.” She turned to Joy. “Understood? And fly through a raincloud before we get there, you look like tomato puree.”

“Okay, momma.”

Edelweiss and Sword Breaker, THEY are her parents?! No wonder Crash was having trouble figuring her out. Wonder if she knows… On a sudden impulse, she looked past Edelweiss as the mare was coming back out of the room they’d been closed in. She winced. If anything, it looked worse than the parlor.

“I’m pretty sure that was their commander in there,” Edelweiss muttered, noticing Spitfire’s gaze. “He was strong. Break won’t say it, but his wing is cracked in two places. Be careful with these monsters…” With that, she scooped up Joy and flew slowly out the door.

“Master Sergeant-” Spitfire began.

“Retired,” she promptly replied.

“My mistake,” Spitfire snorted, looking at the bloody mess surrounding them. “Canterlot was hit as well. There’s a shield around the city, but we don’t know how bad it is inside. If they used one of the same teleport devices they used here, there’ll be open fighting in the streets, and the palace.”

Edelweiss nodded. “I know, and the shield will keep everypony inside. But if they drop it, and that ship fires again… it’s not just clouds they’re hitting.” She shook her head, dismissing her worries for the moment. “Nothing we can do about that. My sister will see to the princesses; that’s her job, and she’s better at it than she lets on.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Canterlot Castle was quiet, and dark. Beneath the opaque shield of aether that had protected the city from the attack, the tension should have been thick. And yet, in the nearly pitch black throne room...

“Sister?” Celestia asked casually.

“Yes, sister?” Luna replied in the same tone.

“I have a question involving spaceships.”

“If it concerns crushing a particular one with the moon, I’m already considering it.”

“I can appreciate that, but no. I was more curious about why, exactly, Sidera hasn’t warned us about at least two vessels now encroaching on Equus’ space? I accept that Solise has no physical awareness, but Sidera… that was sort of the point.”

Celestia could hear the guilt in Luna’s voice as she replied, “Well… it’s possible… she… may… still be a bit upset about the whole… Nightmare Moon thing. Maybe.”

“You’re joking.”

“No, sister, she was most displeased about that situation. I’ve tried to explain that it was just a phase, but-”

“Luna, it was over a thousand years ago!”

“Well… technically not. I was still Nightmare Moon when I came back. And during that thousand year exile… it’s possible I ranted at her. ...A lot…”

“So she’s sulking about that and nearly gets us all killed?!”

Luna winced. “Not exactly. More like… she metaphorically put her fingers in her ears long ago and has been screaming ‘LALALALALALALALALALALALA!’ ever since.”

“...Shit.”

“Indeed.”

“So is no one going to thank me for this timely warning?” a third voice asked.

Two horns lit, casting shadows through the throneroom. “I’m sorry, Discord, I hadn’t realized you were here. Thank you.”

“Tis your own fault for hiding your aura.”

“A fair point, dear Luna… but I have no choice, for the same reason I knew what was going to happen. But I’m glad I could lighten the mood.”

“Canterlot is evacuated?” Celestia asked.

“It is! I coordinated with Twilight’s little friend in town. A massive teleport three pointer at the buzzer!” Discord’s torso was suddenly covered in a white jersey, including the name ‘Bucks’ and the number 33. “A few guards stayed behind in the castle, as well as us, of course, since I couldn’t move the two of you in a group spell.” He grinned at Celestia. “Must be all the cake.”

She snorted. “For a proponent of Chaos, you certainly revisit the same old jokes.”

Discord chuckled, but then froze in place as a light rose behind him, illuminating the room more brightly than either princesses’ horn. It was a perfect sphere, giving off a light so pure as to be unnatural. Just as suddenly, an Oni-koru appeared below the light, striding forward into the throneroom as though he’d walked through the door.

He was massive, standing eight feet tall before including the six elaborate horns that decorated his head. Red pupils within yellow sclera looked down at the four inhabitants of the room. Thickly muscled arms ended in large, blunt hands with six fingers on each, curled into hammer-like fists. His mottled, orange and red hide seemed to glow from within, and the air around him thickened with the density of his aetheric might. “I am Briareus, the Hundred Fist… king of the Oni-koru. How well I know all of you… the sister Generals, Celestia and Luna… favored by the Seraphim children that sought to save this pathetic world. You only delayed the inevitable… And you! Traitor to the first Demondim allies! Your name isn’t worth speaking! And... you…? Hmm.. I don’t know you.”

The unicorn pony at Celestia’s side raised an eyebrow. “Raven Inkwell. Castellan of Canterlot Castle. Charmed, assuredly.”

Briareus chuckled deeply. “Likewise, little one. I think I’ll keep you.”

“How did you get in here through the shield?” Celestia demanded, stepping in front of Raven. “I’ve sensed no interruption in its strength.”

“There hasn’t been… and you did indeed block the second shot, a mass of destructive aether designed to decimate this city. Well done. The first shot however… was a gravity drive. You remember those, do you not? The second shot was really just for fun… and to say hello to the rest of Equestria. After all, it may be some time before they learn their princesses are dead.”

A shadow fell from the ceiling, and there was a sound of a blade sinking into flesh as Briareus snarled. He threw a punch at the shadow, missing before throwing another… and then another dozen in the fraction of a second before she could adjust. Evening Calm cried out in pain as she took the last three hits, each crushing bone before she was thrown towards the far wall. She caught herself, snarling, before two more blades hit the floor where she’d flung them near his feet. In a blur, she was at a third point, and stuck a third dagger into the marble around him. Briareus’ eyes widened as he tried to move, and found himself pinned to his own shadow, stitched in place by the perfect triangle of the daggers.

“What is this?!”

“Leaf, now!” she shouted, and one of the windows shattered. Another shadow flew through, smashing into the glowing light above Briareus. A blast of smoke hit the floating orb, and it, and the shadow, vanished. Briareus roared as he tried to reach up to grab the strange artifact, but couldn’t escape the trap. He swung a murderous fist at Eve, who had been concentrating her pegasus gravity magic through the lodestone daggers, and couldn’t dodge. Blood flew from her muzzle as she was flung towards one of the room’s pillars.

A blue aura caught her before the impact could break her neck, pulling her protectively toward Luna. “Eve…” she said breathlessly, checking her Captain over for life threatening wounds.

“Sorry… Princess, I couldn’t…” her eyes fluttered shut as she lost consciousness.

Briareus pulled a long bladed dagger from between his neck and collarbone and let it clatter to the marble floor. “Fool! This means nothing!” He snorted dismissively, trying to regain his temper. “...But it was more than I expected. When I kill you… it will be quick. ...And soon. As to the two of-”

The room went dark save for Luna’s aura wrapped protectively around Evening Calm. There was an even darker laughter filling the place. And it wasn’t Briareus.

“My my my… what an interesting little chunk of ‘Order’ you had brought with you,” Discord said, freed from the Orb’s light. “What a pity, you picked the only day the Royal Guard wasn’t completely asleep on the job.”

“Impossible…”

“You’re off your game, ‘Briareus’... Or did you think this would just be a slaughter you could laugh your way through?”

“It matters not. No more reinforcements will be coming. I was not alone in the gravity drive. The rest of the Royal Guard will not be joining us.” He grinned in the dim light, his fangs flashing like steel. “They’re running in terror.”

“Terror?!” Discord laughed again. “Well, I’m sure some are. Three, maybe four of them, out of the ten or so I left in the castle. Dull as dirt Tia here has run things too well for too long. The last few years have been a shake up… but you know how long it takes for ‘old money’ to notice change. Shame too… they’re going to miss all the fun.”

“...What?”

“Didn’t even notice? Oh, you silly ‘ogre’... you really have embraced the stereotype, haven’t you? Why not a club? Or a speech about onions?”

Briareus stepped forward, one fist blurring as he attacked Discord. For his part, the draconequus didn’t move… he simply rippled as each strike landed. Discord chuckled, his horns flashing into a short, messy black mane. “You must be shapeless, formless, like water…”

“Hmph, in that case… I regret to inform you the Giottus Sphere was not my only countermeasure… the masters dealt extensively with your race.” He held up his other hand, opening it to reveal a silver cube, which began to glow.

Celestia fired a blast from her horn, knocking the cube away and sending pulsing energies skittering across it’s unmarred surface, but it was too late to stop it. It began to spin, emitting a strange, clear tone as it shattered. “No!” Briareus yelled, reaching to the fragments as they ground themselves to dust in the air, but the damage was done.

Discord snorted in disgust, and a noise like cracking stone could be heard from his feet as they petrified to the marble floor. “You know… at least when it’s the Elements there’s a part of me that feels like I had it coming… Sorry ladies… time to go. I know what he has in mind for you two… you don’t want to be here for it.”

He snapped his fingers, which crumbled as he did so. But Celestia and Luna vanished in flashes of light, along with Evening Calm, still held in Luna’s magic. He snapped again, breaking more fingers. Raven flickered, but didn't vanish.

Briareus snorted. "I told you... I was keeping that one. She'll pay for your defiance..."

Discord grimaced, looking mournful. “I'm... sorry, Ra..v...en…” His head became stone.

"Thank you... Discord," Raven replied, a tear running down her cheek. "For saving them... her."

“Marvelous magitechnology, wouldn’t you say, little pony?” Briareus said, closing in on Raven, who held her ground, staring up defiantly. “The draconequii had the misfortune of directly defying the Demondim… even before they were known as Windigos. My masters put a great deal of effort, sacrificed whole civilizations!" he gestured wildly, "to make sure they could not do so again.”

“Hmph. Hope you won’t be needing it a second time. All your little toys have been broken. And you managed to capture the housekeeper. Well-played.”

Briareus stared at her, veins sticking out in his forehead, before he began laughing. “Trying to goad me into killing you, so I can’t use you against Celestia? A nice try…” He ran a hand over Discord’s petrified muzzle. With a sharp jerk, he tore the statue’s head off, snarling in rage as he regarded the Discord statue head. “You think you’ve stopped me?! You think your magic can take them beyond my reach?! I’ll bring you back just to gloat as I sacrifice them in front of you!”

Raven was looking with wide eyes at the Discord statue head. Briareus chuckled at her, seeming to regain his temper in an instant. “Worried about him? Did he not betray your kind to Tirek? Had he not been an enemy for centuries prior?”

Raven stared up at him, eyes narrowing, saying nothing.

“Heh… worry not. Destroying his form will cause no lasting damage. ...Yours, on the other hand…” he grinned evilly, reaching to her horn.

She didn’t break eye contact. She didn’t scream.

Before he’d even hit the ground he’d been able to see the fires of the explosion around Canterlot were just that: around Canterlot, held back by a shield. He smiled grimly. Nice work, your highnesses. He hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to really worry. Magically reinforced physique held up well enough that his train of thought wasn’t interrupted.

He should have known. With the way Garken had disappeared, with everything the bastard had learned while hiding as Cade… This had always been a possibility. What could I have done differently… He shook his head, sitting up from the small divot his landing had worn into the grass. Dwelling on what you could have done better could wait for when you had nothing better to do now. And that wasn’t the case just then. He could feel a twinge in the aether… one he was all too familiar with. As the portal opened to eject at least three dozen Oni, Aiden immediately snapped it shut with a surge of his own power. “No solicitors…” he muttered, getting up.

The portal opened again as the device re-activated. Aiden shut it again, walking towards the refrigerator sized metal orb. A cold rage was building inside him. He remembered this feeling and he didn’t like it. It had been years… nothing at Veritech had felt like this. Fighting Garken hadn’t. This… felt wrong. He clenched a fist, trying to keep himself under control. “You know… I don’t think I could have managed this before Baltimore, holding that thing shut. Certainly not from that far away. But you guys want out? I’m ready.” He held out a hand, and Keia Luxuria’s greatsword dropped into it from a portal of his making. He released his hold on the device, which had begun to smoke as its energy was feeding back into its power source. The portal opened and forty Oni-koru appeared around him. At the last moment, he swung the flat of the blade at the nearest. He wasn’t sure why, but this felt wrong…

Mister, are you a minotaur?

You must be a master diplomat…

This reminder, of all that our peoples have been fortunate enough to share.

And that… is a pony saying ‘I love you’.

Aiden sighed deeply, feeling the anger draining out of him. Yeah, I get it. Keia’s blade disappeared after only knocking down a single opponent. The rest were thrown backwards in a blast of telekinesis, and held in place when they hit the ground. It felt natural… this simple matter of changing gravity. That doesn’t even make sense.

He heard a voice in his head, and this time not a memory: but there’s no fun in that, my little human…

“You… human… the gravity drive user… the thousand blade butcher?! You’re… you’re here?!”

Aiden sighed, and rolled his eyes. “One time I did that… one! I haven’t opened that many portals at once since then, or killed so many at once.” He grimaced at that thought. He could feel others coming… she was coming, and she’d already snagged Joyeuse from his ‘verse. She wasn’t going to need it today. “But the simple fact is… you’re not welcome here. I have no interest in fighting you… spilling blood here today. So… you need to leave.”

Another change… here the Field tends more towards… inspiration, at least for me… and the Oni flew into the air… and then kept going as Aiden held the reversal of gravity on each of them. Only one had resisted the effect, an elite.

Aiden turned to her as Rarity appeared, stepping through one of his portals. Twilight appeared next to her in a flash of light, and Rainbow was only seconds behind, with Applejack just behind her.

“We should have known they’d follow us…” Rarity said, eyes narrowed at the still trapped elite, who was looking at Aiden with a mixture of hatred and fear. She knew she was outmatched.

“This is an Oni-koru? I expected them to be… more evil looking or something,” Rainbow added, floating around but out of grabbing range.

“Yeah… don’t look so tough ta me…” Applejack agreed.

The Oni snorted, but couldn’t break the magical grip holding her in place.

“She isn’t,” Aiden said simply. “She’s an elite, which means she’s stronger than those foot soldiers but she’s basically just second on the ladder.”

“The ones you just threw into orbit?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at Aiden, who nodded.

“If I aimed it right, they’ll hit their ship and can just get back in it. If they live… I’m honestly not too fussed about that though. I uh… didn’t know I could do that. I just sort of… occurred to me.”

“Why’s that a good thing?”

“Because, darling… the moon is moving.” Rarity said, wide eyed, as she looked up at the night sky.

“It’s what?!” Twilight looked up, and twitched as the moon seemed to almost hop forward in the sky, followed by a small flash of light against its surface, a large (relatively speaking) explosion.

Aiden burst out laughing at the sheer absurdity. “Uh… no! I was not expecting that, thank you! What the fu-”

“Language, darling.”

“Sorry. But really... uh... I uhh… I made a good impression on Luna, right?”

“She adored you.”

“That’s good.”

“Not that she could do that in atmosphere anyway; it’d be a catastrophe! I can’t believe she’d be so reckless…” Twilight said, looking dazed.

The Oni-koru was looking up as well, craning her neck as she tried to see it properly. “I surrender.”

“Smart move.” Aiden muttered vaguely, still watching the sky as though waiting for the next explosion.

What the Hell am I missing?

Tempest bucked another soldier through a wall, spun, swept a pair of legs, and flung a bolt of lightning-like aether at a third before following up with a double hoof strike to the downed Oni, cracking his ribs and breaking a shoulder. Meanwhile, Garken had taken to using one of the smaller Oni as a club to bludgeon others. It seemed quite effective. Sir Gareth and his knights were also doing well: though two had been hurt, neither were serious.

And Baltimare was burning, but casualties seemed to be at a minimum. The city guard had quickly taken to putting out the fires, which had spread from an explosive weapon that had struck the city’s tallest tower, and rained down flames in every direction. The tower itself was likely a loss, but several unicorns had banded together to bring it down without too much collateral damage. The one leading them had apparently been particularly powerful, engulfing most of the building in a gigantic, raspberry aura and lowering it with gently and easily to the streets below. Tempest hadn't been able to see who it was, but she owed somepony a thank you. It had allowed her group to focus on the battle.

Although... the soldiers on the ground were a bit disappointing. Tempest had hoped for enemies with more strength or speed. The General they’d faced on the ship had been stronger than all of these combined. In fact, the fight was all but over as Garken approached their last opponent. Based on the decorations on his armor, this was the leader. Garken tossed aside his ‘club’ with distaste… and force. Tempest winced as the poor bastard crunched when hitting a brick wall nearby. He slid to the ground and didn’t move.

“So!” Garken said, reaching out and grabbing the Oni by the collar, lifting him easily. “What are you worthless grunts doing here?!”

“...W-warslave… Garken?!”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes… it is I. The weak warslave… who is about to pull out your ribs and gouge your eyes with them if you don’t ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!”

“We were sent to sow chaos and dismay!”

“And… your wise and glorious king thought fifty of you could do that? ...Congratulations on making it messy, but I think that’s all you accomplished. I guess we have been a bit shorthanded since Earth, haven't we?" He looked to the side, grimacing slightly. "Or you were... I was helping run a successful R and D company. ...Even had we not been here, I can feel strong auras in this city. Stronger than you… what did you think would happen?”

“The… the broken horned pony told us! Equestria is a weak land of cowards and children who squander their power… we could have our first great victory here, and pave the way for our king’s subjugation of this world!”

Garken raised an eyebrow before turning to Tempest. “Sounds like your interrogation yielded some unexpected dividends. So did you intentionally mislead my former king, or was this genuine low opinion?”

Tempest waggled a hoof. “Fifty-fifty.”

“Heh. Alright then… so where are the real soldiers, you brat? Even for ‘elite’ standards, you’re callow. What’s that bastard hiding?”

“The great Briareus has tasked our Generals and their best Warbraves with… other important work. I will not betray anything more… no matter what you do to me!”

Garken’s eyes narrowed as he stared down the ‘elite’. He sighed. “He doesn’t know.”

“Figures. Sir Gareth! Any of them left?”

The griffon banked sharply and swooped in to hover near Tempest. He banged a fist against his battered breastplate. “No, ma’am! We’re helping the locals with those stranded by flames or rubble. Casualties are at a minimum, no fatalities so far. Attacking at night was fortuitous for us: most of the buildings were all but empty.”

Garken snorted, and grabbed the elite by the head. He spun, smashing the smaller Oni into the wall hard enough to knock him out. “Briareus…” he blinked. Why did that name seem wrong? “...wouldn’t attack during the day. He would fear having his ship close to the sun when it went on the offensive. This world's insane astronomical anomalies work in your favor by design. He knows of Celestia, and her connection to it, at least as well as I.”

“For all the good that did him. Luna seems just as dangerous.”

“I saw. But something about it doesn’t seem right. For one thing, the Spires should have exploded in an impact like that, and that explosion would have been much larger. Something’s missing.” He blinked, and looked up as a flash of light heralded a teleportation spell.

Tempest started in surprise, nearly tripping over her forehooves despite standing still. “Twilight Sparkle?!”

“Quite the eye-opening experience,” she muttered, looking down at the carnage from where she hovered. She smiled at Tempest. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ve been looking for you for a week now, and one of the griffon knights we've been coordinating with told me you'd be coming here tonight.” That was right, Sir Gareth had told her there were some of his knights already working in Equestria. Before Tempest could ask about that, Twilight looked over at Garken, and her eyes widened. “That’s an Oni-koru, isn’t it?”

“He’s a friend, Twilight," Tempest quickly vouched for him. "He helped me escape from their king, while getting away himself. He’s on our side. ...And since when can you teleport?”

Twilight blinked owlishly at her. “What?”

Pinkie Pie had, at Rarity’s request, stayed with Fluttershy at the boutique. They’d been cleaning up when they’d heard the explosion outside and Rarity had burst into action almost before it’d happened. Pinkie hated to admit it, but Pinkie Sense didn’t quite work as well as it should when she’d had a few ciders. Twitchy tail? Had she even noticed? She felt pretty bad now. But not as bad as the meanies who’d crashed the party were gonna feel!

“Pinkie, I’m okay here, you can go check on the others, if you want to,” Fluttershy said, cuddled up with Angel and another bunny Pinkie didn’t know.

That was weird, since she knew most of their names. In fact… “Fluttershy… which bunny is that?”

“Oh? Oh! This is Lancy… he’s new, Angel met him at the party and he needs a place to stay for a little while. Isn’t that nice?”

“Ooh, okie dokie, lokie! But how come he feels a little like Discord?”

The rabbit spun his head (but not the rest of him) to stare at Pinkie. His eyes went from normal bunny to Discord's signature red and yellow. “Snitch!”

“Woah!” Pinkie exclaimed, pulling her hoof back from the angry, light brown hare.

“Wha… Discord!" Fluttershy said scoldingly. "We’ve talked about this! Pretending to be one of my animal friends is not okay! If you want hugs, just ask!”

Author's Note

A couple of you called some of the events revealed in this chapter; you know who you are :twilightsmile: Outrunning the moon? Heh... we've all seen the show... that thing moves fast when somepony (or Discord) wants it to. :rainbowlaugh:

Special shout out to ssokolow, who called me on my pacing. A sincere thank you for taking a strong enough interest to discuss the matter with me thoroughly. I dunno if this whirlwind of events will be an improvement... but I had a helluva time writing it.

9. Round Table

Overlord Kirin sat brooding atop his throne… such as it was. Little more than a cobbled together amalgamation of the debri in the throneroom of Canterlot Castle, it was ill-suited to his size and form. Still, he’d at least made the point of smashing all the windows and destroying the thrones of Celestia and Luna. He’d also taken great pleasure in using pieces of those thrones to keep his new pet in place. It was one of the few pleasures he’d had that night.

He had expected setbacks. In truth, the overt attacks on Equestrian cities had not been intended to cause significant damage before his troops were to withdraw. The statement to be made was simple: we can and will attack you in your homes, and kill you at will. Be afraid.

One or two cities would have resisted, certainly. In truth, the total losses in Cloudsdale had been anticipated, but he’d also anticipated some results. He’d taken Canterlot, but with almost no ponies left in the city, and most particularly both princesses escaping, it was a hollow victory.

As such he had no real results. He looked sternly down at his Grand Marshal, who had kneeled at the bottom of the steps leading to his throne. Grand Marshal Maegren was nearly seven feet tall, and thin. Light blue skin contrasted ebon claws on his four fingered hands, along with three horns of the same hue. His ears were little more than holes in the sides of his head, under the curling horns that rose from his temples. The third resembled a unicorn horn, not unlike what Kirin’s pet had once had. Aetheryte had been embedded into all three horns, as well as in his body. It had taken three times what Kirin had used to bring out Garken’s full strength, but the result was worth it. Maegren was more loyal to him than Garken had ever been, and now he was even stronger than that traitor.

“Report.” Kirin demanded… though to Maegren it was King Briareus making the demand. The disguise would continue to be necessary for some time. It mattered not.

“The last holdouts in the castle have been routed, my king,” Maegren said, keeping his eyes downcast.

“The pegasus thief?”

“...We were unable to capture her, Your Majesty. Several of the guards escaped, and her with them. Three of them paid for that escape with their lives. We lost a Warbrave Elite in the process.”

Kirin ground his teeth. He didn’t have that many strong warriors to spare, and almost no remaining aetheryte to enhance them. Even worse… “So… no captives?”

Maegren tensed. “No, my king.”

He looked over at the Discord statue, which was still lacking its head. Kirin held that head in his left hand. It was the only way to be sure… With the Giottus Sphere gone, plans would need to accelerate. “I see. What of the expedition beneath the city and into the mountain?”

“We have unearthed a great deal of aetheryte, but it is of low grade, unsuitable for storing large quantities of magical energy.”

“For the short term, it will suffice. We can refine it enough to use for at least the lesser alicorns, or some of the other potent souls of this world,” Kirin said, glancing a moment at his pet.

She snorted dismissively, looking brazenly back at him.

“Luring them apart will be the key now. Do we have any further information about the attack on Ponyville?”

Maegren shook his head, still looking at the floor. “No, Your Majesty. No survivors got out, the opening attack was destroyed in mid-air, and most of our soldiers were hurled into space via an anti-gravity enchantment. Records were scavenged from the wreckage of Clades, on the Moon. ...The destruction was nearly total.”

Kirin grimaced, careful to keep the half of his face on his pet’s side neutral. He had anticipated Celestia using the sun against him. The Eastern General had been an absolute menace during the previous war here, and she hadn’t even been an alicorn for a good part of that. Now she was linked to Equus’ false star? He had no intention of letting her use it against him.

But he’d underestimated Luna. The younger sister was an artist... a painter! She was a quiet, shy thing drawn into that war only reluctantly, when her sister and their allies had required the help of another alicorn. The power, and the isolation of that power, had slowly driven her to madness. And yet...

...And yet a painter had smashed his ship, his home for 1500 years, with an oversized, glorified rock. He would take her home from her in exchange. In truth he already had, but he’d only just begun.

Besides… the Clades had been his home in exile. Equus was his home again. And he intended to redecorate. “It matters not. The Spires have successfully landed. Have there been any responses?”

“No, my king. We’ve kept careful watch around them, and each General reports no activity nearby. The stealth fields are intact, and the turmoil of our attacks on their cities has diverted attention perfectly. Just as you predicted, my king, we can detonate all eight at any time.”

“Excellent. Send General Ferrana to Hollow Shades, to begin mining operations. You are dismissed.”

“Yes, my king,” Maegren stood, bowed, and spun sharply on his heel.

Raven snorted derisively as the double doors shut behind him. “Spineless sycophant… your people could be on the verge of ruin and you’d never hear it from him.”

Kirin’s eyes met hers, though he didn’t turn his head. Her horn was gone, and one eye was swollen shut. Her fur was mottled with dried blood and two of her limbs were broken. You’d never have known it from the calm strength in her voice. Kirin couldn’t decide what he wanted to do about that. For now, it amused him to let her keep her defiance.

Yes… do keep telling yourself that…

His eye twitched… That damn voice in his head… He looked down at the petrified visage in his hand. Discord seemed to grin back at him. He shook away the thought. “He knows his place, and has faith in his king.” He replied to her.

“He fears you. That’s not the same as faith.”

“Hmph. ...I could break you, you know. What you’ve suffered so far is nothing… though it proves your pain tolerance is more impressive than expected. It’s nothing compared to what I could do, or have done, should I wish it. Perhaps I’ll give you to that ‘spineless sycophant’, and see what he thinks of your opinion.”

“I’ll turn him against you in a day, and watch you kill him for his betrayal.”

Kirin snarled, and the wall next to her head exploded, showering her with white hot shards of marble. She shut her good eye briefly as her coat charred in several places. She looked at the hole his power had made. “Little to the left,” she coaxed, smiling placidly.

He stared at her, briefly enraged, before laughing again. “You should join me, little pony. If my Grand Marshal is so spineless, perhaps you can show him how it’s done.”

She tilted her head, frowning as though confused. “I doubt you could match my current job’s perks. It’s pertinent to our situation as well: I even cuddle with the embodiment of the Sun in my off hours. One must develop a thick carapace. These thuggish beatings don’t really register.”

He chuckled. “I’ve just been passing the time. It amuses me to hear your take on things, for now. But consider the offer… What I want from Celestia need not end her life. Sacrificing her as an alicorn… I could spare her as a pony. She would be… broken, but alive. A gift, for my newest General. You could nurse her back to health. I’m sure she would be most grateful...”

Raven laughed. “I do believe I lack the raw combat prowess of most of your military. Not to mention my magic is working rather poorly just now." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ugh, pouring the tea is going to be a nightmare, for awhile…”

Kirin shot up, smashing one of the arms of his improvised throne in the process. “You mock me?! How are you so calm?!” He stomped over to her, cracking the marble floor, to tower over her. She looked up at him, unmoved. “It’s impossible! You’ve scarcely reacted to anything! Drugs?! Some spell?! TELL ME!!”

Raven stared up at him a moment, and then looked around as though checking the room. She gestured him forward, as though to whisper a secret. His eyes narrowed, and he refused to play along. She shrugged, and went back to staring placidly. He sighed angrily and leaned down. She leaned towards his ear, and whispered:

“Love sustains me.”

He shouted in rage and smashed his fist into the side of her face, knocking out more of her teeth. She grinned up at him, showing off the bloody mouth with aplomb. “You asked,” she said simply, with a slight lisp now.

“You…!” He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her until the shackles holding her to the wall clanked. “...I will find your secrets, in time…” He dropped her roughly to the floor. “Until then… stop trying to get me to kill you. At the rate you’re going, by the time I do you won’t even notice, no matter what it is you’re doing to avoid the pain.”

“I wasn’t lying, though,” she said simply, picking herself slowly up from the floor.

“Hmph. We’ll see, in time. If hurting you doesn’t matter… we’ll see what hurting others means to you. Remember, I gave you the chance to save her.”

“She’ll save herself… and me.”

He kicked her one last time, getting no response, before storming from the throneroom.

Had he walked back in, he’d have seen her break down into rough, racking sobs.

Ponyville had taken the attack more or less in stride, at least from a local standpoint. Then again, it had been the second least affected target. As Aiden looked up at the shimmering shield surrounding Canterlot, he suspected he knew the most affected...

A twitch in the aether heralded her arrival. She’d become quite adept at using his power, almost as much as he was, in such a short time. Then again, if that gravity magic was any indication, he had more he could learn as well… “Hello, Rarity.”

“Hello, darling. Come up here to brood?”

He chuckled. “Whatever do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes, looking down from the highest flat roof of Twilight’s Castle, where they now both sat. “Setting aside that any pegasus could get up here easily, I assume you came up to be alone. But if you really wanted that, you could have shut me out of your ability.”

“I could have…”

She tapped her horn lightly to his elbow, getting him to raise his arm. When he did, she sidled up next to him underneath it, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for not doing so. Now, what’s troubling you?”

He put his arm back down, hugging her lightly and tracing a hand down her foreleg. With a quiet sigh, he replied, “I reached for Keia’s sword when I saw those bastards. Not my bastons, and frankly I didn’t even need those. They were all weak, just the lowest level grunts." He exhaled loudly. "...At first I thought it was a flashback… like I was remembering the first attack I experienced.” He shook his head. “But that’s not it. I was angry at myself. I should’ve seen this coming, should have prepared for it, should have… done something. We knew, when Garken vanished, with all the knowledge he’d gained, that this was possible. But even saying that…”

She nuzzled him. “What could we have done? Handed out doomsday warnings to everypony we passed? For something that might not happen? Something that Sidera’s Veil was supposed to prevent? This isn’t all on us. We can help fix it, but we don’t need to do it alone.” She smiled. “I didn’t get home on my own… and we’re not on our own here, either.”

“Yeah… I just hope they’re all okay. I can’t imagine nopony was hurt, but I can hope for it...”

“Ponies are resilient… everything Equestria has been through in the last few years speaks to that.” She smiled at him. “Another thing we have in common with humans, I think.”

“I’d make a list… but we’d never get anything else done.”

“Don’t worry, darling, I’m sure Twilight will get around to making one. But speaking of Twilight, I told her I’d bring you. She wants to put together a plan of action before anyone sleeps tonight.”

Aiden cocked an eyebrow. “Surprised she’s willing to sleep at all, under the circumstances. It’s a prudent choice, though. Running off in the middle of the night to try to help could play right into the Oni’s hands.”

“Princess Celestia said the same. She sent Twilight a letter, from where she and Luna are, along with most of Canterlot. With what she’s said and Twilight's gathered, the other cities attacked have fared well, too.”

“Wait, back up… they aren't in Canterlot?”

“Discord teleported the citizens all out before the shield went up, and the princesses shortly after.”

“...Huh…" He let out a sigh of relief. "Well that’s impressive. So why’s the shield still up?”

“I…” Rarity frowned. “I honestly don’t know.”

Aiden nodded, considering. “It means at some point they replaced the princesses’ shield with one of their own and we missed it. Then again it wouldn’t have taken long and we were pretty busy here. Either they want to fortify, or it’s a lure. ...Or both. Either way, let’s get going.” He stood up, stretching lightly as he did so, but also running his fingers along the edge of her ear.

She made a contented little noise as he did so, rubbing said ear along his fingertips. “Shame we didn’t get a full day together here before something went wrong. Not even one spa trip!” Her magic pulled him back down, and she leaned up, kissing him on the lips. “I’m not sure how I feel about stealing small moments in between saving the world.”

“Haven’t you sort of been living your life that way for years? I mean… to hear you tell it…”

“Oh, it hasn’t been that bad, darling, I mean, it’s not every week or… anything…” her eyes narrowed. “I need a vacation.”

He chuckled. “Darling, I’m with you. So let’s walk the road together. We’ll find a nice place to stop and have a picnic… somewhere down the line.” He held out his hand, giving a half-bow as he did so.

She smiled up at him, and placed a hoof in that hand. “Oh fine… but can that ‘nice place’ be a hot spring? With masseuses?”

“I’ll keep my eyes open.” With that, they vanished from the rooftop.

With Rarity gently directing their exit portal, they set down in the map room. Twilight and the other Bearers were already there, along with a few other ponies Aiden didn’t know, and a couple of griffons in light armor. While he’d seen a few of their race in Canterlot, he hadn’t viewed one up close. They were slightly larger than ponies, though they (or at least the ones he’d taken note of so far, including these two) seemed to possess slightly lower magical reserves. He suspected the two aspects balanced out, giving what he’d heard of their generally cordial (if limited) interactions with Equestria. And these two, at the least, were well-armed, competent seeming, and here to help. Good enough for Aiden.

Twilight nodded to them, and her horn lit, drawing everyone’s attention. “Thank you all for being here. First I’d like to introduce Knight Lieutenant Aiden Windborne, of the planet Earth, for those that hadn’t met him yet. He’s a hero of his world, and has faced the threat we now see before us for much of his life. I’m sure his advice and help will be invaluable if we’re to repel this invasion.”

“I’ll do everything I can,” he said, saluting her and giving a nod of respect to those in attendance he didn’t recognize.

“To clarify, he brought Rarity home to us, after she was magically taken to his world via an artifact left on our own, from these very same invaders. The war we face played out once before here, fifteen hundred years prior.”

“Nice to get a break from the old ‘one thousand years ago’ cycle,” Spike muttered.

“Spike, this is serious.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean we stop laughing. If we do they’ve already won.”

“Preach it, my dragon brother!” Pinkie shouted, raising a hoof, which he bumped with a grin.

Twilight smiled proudly at him. “You’re right… my mistake, Spike.”

“Nah, you were right, too. It is serious. Keep going.”

She nodded. “Aiden, allow me to introduce Sir Gram and Dame Gwendolyn of the Knights of the White Wing. They’re a band of Knights-errant that roam Equestria, with Celestia’s approval, and lend help where needed.”

Gram bowed to Aiden. “We’re a small group, but we’re well-connected throughout the land, Equestria and Griffonia… though back home we mostly answer to the Knights of Griffonstone as a branch of their chapterhouse. Though that’s mattered less since Sir Gawain took charge, thankfully.” Gwendolyn elbowed him, and made a circling ‘get on with it’ motion with one claw. “Ahh, yes… so. Here, we have more autonomy. And recently, twelve days ago to be exact, we witnessed an attack on a small village, where a particular pony had been staying. That in itself would be odd enough, though the occasional chimera or even dragon attack around the wilder borders isn’t unheard of…”

“But the attackers were Oni…” Aiden surmised. So they had gotten here first... damn it.

“Got it in one, my boy, yes!” Gram replied with a wide grin. Aiden blinked, realizing Gram was a bit older than he’d first realized. It wasn’t easy to tell. Then again, how does he know I’m not old? Eh, whatever. Gram continued. “Also of interest was the pony they attacked, for she was no resident of that village. Tempest Shadow was taken, but not without quite a fight. Unfortunately, the neophyte who witnessed the conflict couldn’t bring himself to intervene. Bout of nerves when he saw what he’d have been up against…”

“No, I don’t blame him. The Oni can be damn scary, the stronger ones anyway… I remember you telling me about a Tempest Shadow, Rarity. The pony with the broken horn that tried to take over Canterlot, wasn’t she?”

“...She got better.”

“Right, I just mean she’s a solid fighter, which is why I assume they went for her… Oni prefer a good fight. The whole point of their shock and awe approach to warfare is to draw out challengers brave enough to take them on.”

“Well! They’ll find plenty here!” Gram stated boldly.

Aiden grinned and nodded to him. “Damn right. But what would they want with this Tempest? You said they took her?”

“Cost them a couple of their number, but yes. They all teleported away somehow after she’d been subdued.”

“She’s already free,” Twilight put in, and all eyes turned back to her. “She’s in Baltimare, helping with the recovery there.”

“And how do you know that, darling?”

Twilight smiled. “Because I’m there, too.” There were several startled noises.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “...Darling. Am I speaking to a changeling right now?”

“What? No, no, nothing like that. Starlight and I perfected her combination spell of Accelero and Similo Duplexis. We call it Duplex Crepusculum. It uses a lot of magic… but it lets you be in two places at once, even for long periods over long distances! Best of all, you can share the experiences of both places and have your full repertoire of spells available for both halves of yourself… so long as you’re okay being at half power.”

“So… since before we’d arrived… that's why you’ve been at half your magic,” Rarity said.

Twilight nodded. “My other self has been searching for Tempest, along with the White Wing Knights.” She grimaced. “It hadn’t occurred to me she’d been taken to a ship that was hiding behind the moon…”

“Understandable,” Aiden said. “...I hate to ask this… but what happens if one of you gets hurt… or worse?”

“Oh, well… I assume you mean ‘if one of me dies’?”

He grimaced, but nodded. It was war, after all…

“Whatever magic, and well… me that survives transfers to the other me completely, via a subspace teleportation contingency variation of Starswirl’s Third Aetheric Conduit Transfer, supplemented by Minute Hand’s Counter-clock Tick and Clover’s Mortal Coil Recoil.”

Aiden blinked. “Well okay then.”

Spike chuckled. “Welcome to my world.”

Twilight continued as though nothing had happened. “If a 'me' is somehow completely destroyed, it'll just take longer for the other to recover... sort of like using half your magic in an instant. So... a couple minutes at most."

Aiden blinked. A couple minutes, she says, from one of her dying? ...I may have underestimated this mare... and I like it.

"The point, for now, is that when they took Tempest they interrogated her for information about Equestria. We’re lucky they did; she’s tough enough to make it through that experience and even gave them false information, maybe, while she was at it. Their attack was a result of that."

She highlighted several points on the map, which Aiden had already realized was emanating crazy amounts of magic. The aetheric concentration was higher than a Creation Engine, and yet there was something calming about it. Looking at the map, he suddenly wished they could just make friends with the Oni, solve this peaceably and just go back to partying. I'd rather be dancing with Rarity... but I mean duh...

"The Crystal Capital was unaffected," Twilight went on, pointing to the representation on the map. "Shining Armor and Cadance shielded the city so perfectly that even the gravity drive opened out into the snow. ...And then there was a dragon.” A tiny, pink shield covered the Crystal Capital's map image, and a little dragon swooped in to freeze even smaller Oni images into comical blocks of ice.

Rarity snickered, Aiden laughed aloud.

"The worst hit was Manehattan, simply because nopony was able to stop the tower that took the first shot from falling. There were many injuries, but the City Guard finally repelled the invaders." Aiden grimaced at the more familiar scene that played out. A burst of fire smashed through the tallest building, and there was open fighting amongst the tiny images in the streets. "They’ll have a lot of work ahead rebuilding. Ponyville will be sending a construction team to help with repairs and building design. Coco Pommel has already volunteered time and bits to the endeavor."

Rarity smiled. "Of course she has."

Applejack nodded. “This town’s gotten pretty good at rebuildin’, too. We won't leave her wantin' for help.”

“Hoofington was also hit, though damage was minimal. Apparently, a crazy pony with some sort of gambler Cutie Mark took down most of the invading force, while drunk, with the help of a few of her friends." Aiden blinked as several images representing a motley crew of ponies engaged a group of Oni images, only for the whole thing to vanish covered by the word 'censored' in red. "The first shot fired there hit a well-shielded tower that absolutely doesn’t house a branch of a secret agency that operates in a clandestine fashion throughout Equestria…” she trailed off into nearly a growl, staring daggers at the mare Aiden remembered as Bon Bon, who looked away while whistling in complete nonchalance.

Twilight rolled her eyes before continuing. “Unfortunately, while we know the citizens of Canterlot are safe, along with Celestia and Luna, we know little that's happening in the city proper. We'll be addressing that in the morning with a scouting party. But before that, last but not least of those represented here is Cloudsdale. I present Captain Spitfire, commander of the Wonderbolts.”

A fiery maned pegasus stepped forward from the small group of ponies that had been seated together in the corner of the room, listening quietly. Alongside her came a copper coated filly with a white mane and red eyes. Aiden looked at her, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. Huh… weird.

“Nice to meet you,” Spitfire said, holding up a hoof, which he absently bumped. “Cloudsdale made it through fine, not even any serious injuries... or anyway nothing that won't be healed up in a few weeks tops. They really weren’t too good fighting in the air, and shooting an empty stadium constructed of cloud bricks isn’t too big a deal. Frankly, this whole thing feels like a smokescreen. They hit us with a bunch of rookies. If it weren’t for the question mark surrounding Canterlot I’d think this whole thing was some big prank.” The little filly poked Spitfire’s foreleg, getting the Wonderbolt’s attention. “Oh yeah… and this is Joyous Riot, who wanted to meet you. She, well…”

Rarity stepped forward, smiling at the filly. “She’s the pony who was having dreams about us, and what we needed to know, while I was back on Earth. You gave me just the bit of inspiration I needed when I needed it. Thank you!”

The filly smiled back. “You’re welcome! I’m really happy I got to help a friend of Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow chuckled from her seat at the map table, buffing a forehoof against her chest airily, but Aiden barely noticed…

Joyous… Riot? ...Riot’s blade divides the wind.

But that had been…

‘I don’t suppose I could get my sword back?’

‘Sanity, however you pretend to define it, does not entice us.’

‘...Be well, little hero.’

Aiden exhaled sharply, astonished. It couldn’t be…

...Keia?

10. Reunion

“So I have to assume this is some sort of joke, even in this situation.” Luna muttered dryly, looking around Tartarus. Unlike the smaller cells in the mountains, the plateau they found themselves on was unguarded and had no unusual magic. Celestia could sense Cerberus in the distance, but what was nearby held most of her attention. She’d sent a letter to Twilight, but she couldn’t leave to discover more on her own yet.

Not under the circumstances. Not with the citizens of Canterlot all around her in the form of petrified wood statues, with only Captain Evening Calm, Luna, and herself as exceptions.

I don’t turn ponies into stone. She grimaced, before nodding. “And, as usual, his sense of humor is questionable.”

“One would think he’d be a bit more delicate, since the Tirek betrayal… though I confess listening to the panic of the nobility wouldn’t be productive at the moment.”

“Honestly, he has been more delicate; I’m a bit surprised he’d do this. How’s Eve?”

Luna smiled wanly, and looked down at her unconscious captain. “Several broken bones, probably a concussion. I’ve already mitigated that a bit. She’s in a healing trance. She’ll be fine in a few days.”

“Your guards are well-trained.”

“One of us should have a few, at least.”

“...I believe Shining Armor was my captain, thank you.”

“And if he hadn’t been surrounded by Canterlot’s privileged second sons, he might not have almost ended up changeling food.”

“Says the mare who slept through the whole thing!”

“Ahem.”

Celestia’s ear twitched as she heard the sound of wood straining, and then cracking, almost directly behind her. She spun, concerned for one of the ponies being injured somehow…

And came almost nose to nose with Moondancer. The sweater wearing, bespectacled pony spoke up immediately, “Sorry… it was all my idea… uh… not the changeling siege… but this. I didn’t think the ponies of Canterlot would respond well to another invasion. There’s no time to deal with that.” As if suddenly remembering whom she was speaking to, she sketched a quick bow, “Your highness...es.”

Celestia smiled down at her. “Rise, please. And thank you, for helping get them out of danger. How were you able to act so quickly?”

“I’ve known about the weird ship in the sky for a week now. It’s usually behind the moon, but I’d seen it a couple times before tonight while stargazing. I couldn’t tell much about it though; my telescope isn’t good enough.”

“Moondancer, wasn’t it?” Luna asked, giving her an appraising look.

The unicorn blinked blearily. “I forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?”

Celestia smiled warmly at her as Luna replied, “We know of you, dear Moondancer, as a friend to Twilight Sparkle. ...And now to us as well. I shall see to it you are given the finest telescope Equestria can craft, that you may more fully enjoy the night! ...Once we’ve repelled the alien invaders, that is.”

“Makes sense,” She tried sounding casual, but couldn’t hide her blush as she looked away. “Also… thank you, you really don’t have to do that... But you asked how we got it done. Twilight has been coordinating against something big, based on hints and such coming in from friends she’s made around the world-”

Celestia’s smile became downright beatific, like a mother watching her daughter graduate top of her class. ...Which Twilight had done, for that matter.

“-and tasked me with keeping an eye on things in Canterlot, as best I could. Based on that, I figured another changeling invasion or something, so I worked out some spells for protecting everypony, except… I’m not that powerful. But… well, Discord showed up on my doorstep just minutes before that thing became visible to even the naked eye. He helped me rework the teleportation runes, added a transfiguration array, and provided some power for it. ...Only some… it also took myself, Lemon, Minny, and Twinkle to anchor it. They're here somewhere, and should break out soon. The spell's hold on them is weaker, like it was for me.”

“A Cardinal Array,” Celestia confirmed. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one used. It takes four powerful unicorns, in sync with one another, to activate one. To use one to not only move an entire city’s population, but to move them so far… is quite impressive.”

“Yeah well… this isn’t where I would have aimed.”

“Nonsense!” Luna said with a fierce grin. “I’ve been saying for years that the nobility could go to Tartarus!”

“Luna…” Celestia chided gently. “In any case, I assume you have a way to restore them? I can dispel the effect, but it’s always better to revert such a spell through built in means, if possible.”

“Discord didn’t give me that information. He just said he’d keep them from forming a mob, since they ‘wouldn’t see the forest for the trees’,” Moondancer said, her tone going flat as she quoted the draconequus.

“...I see. Well then… we should probably free them…”

“Or we could… not do that,” Luna muttered.

“Luna!”

“What? Do you think they’ll be of assistance?”

“Doesn’t this group include all your guard ninjas?”

“I’m not sure that’s how you pluralize that.”

“...The point is… actually no, the point is that they don’t deserve to be statues in Tartarus.” She glanced amongst them, taking note of Prince Blueblood. “...No matter how convenient it is for us.”

“Oh very well… but I’ll take care of it. You’re too distracted right now.”

“I… I’m fine, Luna.”

“...Tia.”

Celestia sighed, and shook her head. Of course Luna could tell. “She’ll… be fine. She’s strong, Luna. Stronger than I’d ever realized until recently.”

“Agreed. Raven Inkwell most certainly has my respect. Were she my lover-”

“Luna!” Celestia snapped sharply as her muzzle pinkened slightly. “That’s private!”

“-I would be distracted too. And be at ease, you can surely trust the discretion of such an impressive pony as we have here. All the more so one named for my lovely moon.” She smiled at Moondancer, who blushed and floundered in response.

“Uh… yeah! Won’t say a word… princesses.”

“There, you see?” Luna put a comradely wing around Moondancer. “Now, we can focus. Specifically, I will focus on restoring our lovely citizens to their full, loud-mouthed glory. And you will focus on how we can retake our capital so you may be reunited with your newfound flame.”

Raven had cried herself out. To be fair, she’d always kept a bit of her perception trained on the door while indulging in the emotional outburst. It wouldn’t do to be seen falling to pieces in such a manner. She was Celestia’s personal aide and Castellan of Canterlot Castle, not to mention now its sole native inhabitant… probably. The way Discord had spoken to this ‘Briareus’ struck Raven as odd. Pity he’d been turned to stone before he could elaborate. If she could find a way to reverse it...

She sighed and shook her head, wincing slightly as various parts of her body protested the motion. She could block out most of the pain, but not all of it. And with her horn broken… well even if it hadn’t been, undoing magic like that had never been her forte.

She’d meant what she’d said earlier, in that she fully expected Celestia to come back and save her, retaking Canterlot. Better than most, she knew the resilience of ponies. Oh, they seemed weak and prone to panic and such… but how impossibly quickly did they bounce back from practically anything? It was staggering. And their sun princess was no exception. The sight of her, thrown across the throne room with her horn scorched, was burned into Raven’s mind. And yet she’d been fine in minutes, even with all the power that had been levied against her. And how had Chrysalis lost that day? The two ponies she’d nearly completely ruined had recovered, in seconds, from everything she’d done and found the strength of magic to banish everyling from Canterlot. Just like that. Raven sighed, but a small smile curved her muzzle. Beaten, by the very power they used for food. Food beat them. ...Maybe some of them had a point (but Thorax didn’t and buck Thorax right in his stupid mandibles and his dumb deer antlers and his ugly...!) ...Ahem. She had a lot to learn…

The sound of shattering glass drew her attention as a pony fell roughly into the throne room from the already broken window, the same one Falling Leaf had crashed through before stealing that strange, glowing orb. Raven’s eyes went wide as she recognized a badly injured Lieutenant Blade Dance. His left hind leg was crushed and useless, his muzzle was bleeding, and one of his wings… she winced sympathetically. She wasn’t the only one who’d been through the ringer. But…

“Lieutenant!” she whispered like a hiss. “What are you doing here?!”

“Lady Inkwell,” he responded quietly, hobbling over to her. “Captain Sunshower and I stayed behind to distract the monsters while Falling Leaf and the rest escaped with the alien artifact. We don’t know what it does, but getting it away from them is all for the best. If the princesses can undo the magic within it maybe they can free Discord. He paused, then snorted in amusement. “Never thought I’d be hoping for that outcome.”

“That doesn’t answer my question… if you’re still alive, why haven’t you escaped?! What are you doing back here?!”

He raised an eyebrow. “And leave you here with these monsters? Not happening.” He looked away. “I made a fool of myself during the last invasion of Canterlot. I was already drunk, so were a lot of the guards. And when the changelings invaded… it was worse. ...The mare I thought I knew… cared about… turned out to be…” he grimaced and shook his head. “I was so shocked that I was completely useless during the entire conflict. Not again. Not running this time.”

Raven grimaced. “Well, not that the changeling occupation lasted that long. And you… look, the Guard was beaten that day. Defeats happen… believe me I know. Besides… changelings are born and bred to trick you in that fashion. There’s no shame in falling for it. You recovered, and helped rebuild. That’s what matters.”

“Yeah… and that’s exactly what we’re going to do again. And Princess Celestia will need her aide to help do it. So again… not leaving you here. Come on, help me pull if you can.” With that, he bit down on the makeshift chain that held Raven, trying to pull it loose. Unfortunately, Briareus had melded it to the wall somehow. Raven strained against it as well, but the two of them were already physically beaten and exhausted.

Raven’s ears perked up suddenly. “Someone’s coming! Run, hide, now!”

Before he could turn, the doors flew open, and a giant spear flew through them. Blade Dance cried out in pain as it pierced through his shoulder, pinning him to the wall. Raven gasped, realizing immediately the wound was fatal.

“Damn… it…” Blade said, struggling weakly against the weapon. Raven risked a glance at the door to see Maegren stride casually through, a vile grin on his face.

“You left a trail to follow, little pony... And now I have a matching set. I already killed your captain. Thought you were dead, too… until I went back and found your body missing. Did you think you could save this worthless thing?”

Raven grit her teeth, and reached out to Blade, speaking quietly and quickly. “Listen to me… focus! I know the changeling that used you. She was one of several who learned something that day. The true kindness you showed… it left a mark on her, and on many of them! The Guard didn’t fall that day, didn’t fail! You… all of you… began the end of the enemy of Equestria that was the changelings.”

He stared at her, eyes darkening. “How… can you…?”

“Shh! Because I can. I will… I will see this made right. You didn’t fail today either. You will not die in vain; I swear it!”

He smiled, and chuckled lightly as blood spilled down his lips. “And you asked… why I came back…” He breathed a last, shuddering breath, getting a few drops of blood on her muzzle as he did so. Slumping forward against the spear that had killed him, his awareness faded from her senses. Raven grit her teeth against a scream of rage and pain.

“Such a pity… this is what the heroism of the weak is worth,” Maegren laughed darkly.

Raven scoffed, regaining a bit of her old haughtiness. It was the only weapon she had, for the moment. “One day soon… you’ll see what it was worth. I know… better than anypony, what heroism is worth. Weak? Strong? Those can change at any moment. Only fools and children think themselves immune to such vagaries.”

“Oh?” He crossed the room in an instant, roughly gripping her muzzle to force her to look up at him? “And which of those am I, then?”

She grinned up at him. “Isn’t it obvious, little boy? You’re both.” The hand tightened painfully around her jaw, but she continued. “New to this authority you wield like a brat trying to pick up his father’s sword. It’s painfully obvious. You’re just going to hurt yourself, unless one of us does it for you.”

He growled, and shoved her head forcefully against the wall, dazing her. “If you weren’t my King’s new pet, I would teach you respect.” He turned away, striding back toward the door. “But because you are, there is no need. Enjoy your new company while you still have the awareness to do so. As his body decays, I’m sure you’ll have a whole new appreciation for what a fine hero he was.”

Raven winced at the new aspect of the pain in her head, then grit her teeth and sighed in dismay as she looked at Blade Dance, lifting his head to see him one last time. She hadn’t known him well, though the words she’d spoken earlier had been true. I’m so sorry… why didn’t you run?! If you knew the truth, you would… She shook her head, very lightly. No. He wouldn’t have. She knew that much, despite the way that old part of her burned at the admission. He would have come back anyway, and not just because Raven Inkwell was important to Celestia. She exhaled a shuddering breath, tears running down her cheek impossibly. Could I always cry? I don’t remember now. She leaned forward and lightly kissed his forehead before carefully shutting his eyes. As she did, she heard a clink of steel hitting marble. She looked down at the hidden dagger that had fallen from his good wing.

Aiden looked down at Joy.

Joy looked up at Aiden. She spoke first.

“Mister… you’re really tall.”

He blinked, and his shock broke as his face molded into a grin. “You’re alright, kid.”

“You’re alright, too; I saw you in a dream with Miss Rarity! She’s really pretty!” Rarity returned the filly’s bright smile. “And you kill monsters, don’t you?”

Aiden blinked. “Uh… well, I prefer not to. Usually you can find a better way to deal with them…”

“Like beating them up until they can’t walk or fly and they’re afraid to go anywhere near you or your friends again?”

...Yep, Keia’s reincarnation alright. “Well… honestly that does send a message. Killing someone’s a poor way of changing their mind.” Sure, sometimes it’s the only option you have in the moment… but I really don’t like telling a kid that… even if it is her. ...Especially if it’s her. Clean slate and all.

Spitfire snorted quietly, looking at the filly and shaking her head. “Joy, go back with your parents for now, okay? We have to talk about the invasion, strategy and such. It’ll be pretty boring.”

“Hmm… I like strategy… but I’m bad at it, so okay! ...Do you think Princess Twilight has a butter knife she’d let me borrow?”

“...Definitely not.”

“Aww.” Joy pouted before walking back to the other pegasi, dragging her hooves dramatically.

“Between a statement like that and that Cutie Mark of hers, I find myself a bit concerned,” Rarity noted.

“It’d be odder if you weren’t, because that’s one odd little filly,” Spitfire said. “Although, if she were a bit older this would be a good time for that sort of odd. Her parents are bound to be a big help, they-”

“Princess Twilight!” The shout rang through the map room as the door banged open. Through it came an odd looking… bug pony? Aiden wasn’t quite sure.

Twilight turned away from her conversation with Rainbow and Pinkie to address the strange being. “Silent Cricket! It’s good to see you. What’s the trouble? ...Other than all the obvious?”

The black carapaced pony smiled wanly, struggling to catch his breath as he saluted. “New development in the south, ma’am,” he replied with a winded, scratchy catch in his voice. “Not sure what it was, but something came down from the sky while that ship was firing at cities. It landed between Appleloosa and the Pie family rock farm, just south of Ghastly Gorge.”

“Wwwwhat?!!” Pinkie shouted.

“What sort of something?” Twilight asked sharply, overriding Pinkie.

“We don’t know; we can’t see it. But it was close enough to our hive that we felt it. There are beings inside… and they aren’t very nice. Lot of ‘murder death kill’ kind of emotions, you know? We watched for awhile and nothing’s coming out from behind the shield… it’s similar to the magic we’ve used to hide hives in the past. But they’re definitely bad guys in there… worse than… eh… we were?” He grinned nervously, showing off cute little fangs. “Heh… Err… thought you’d want to know.”

Twilight smiled fiercely, nodding. “I certainly did, thank you Silent Cricket. Are you alright? You look a bit the worse for wear…”

“Wait a minute!” Rainbow shouted suddenly, hovering over her chair and pointing a hoof. “He’s not like the ones that joined Thorax… what gives?”

“He’s part of a group of changelings that took a middle road, Rainbow… the ones Pinkie and Fluttershy helped a couple months ago?”

“Oh yeah… wait didn’t they say they were good now? Why’s he still look like the old changelings?”

Silent Cricket shook his head. “I don’t, though, see?” He held up a hoof, though Aiden wasn’t sure why. “No holes. Also, note the mane!” With that, he smoothed back the blue, slightly diaphanous hair on his head, just behind a small, jagged horn. He gave her a smile, and the hovering pegasus snorted in amusement and rolled her eyes.

Twilight giggled. “Yes, very dashing, Silent. You’re a real mare-killer.”

“I would never-! ...Oh, figurative. Heh, right.”

She shook her head, smiling. “Are you okay to make it home quickly?”

He shrugged off the concern, poorly. “I should be. Flew pretty hard getting here, and kept changing forms in case I was being followed. I don’t know what’s in the invisible thing, but I don’t like it; I want to get back soon, too. ...I’ll be fine in a bit.”

“I need you back at your hive, preparing to counter whatever that is, asap. The Pie farm needs warned as well. I’m calling in the debt your people pledged to us.”

He rolled his eyes… or Aiden thought he did. It was hard to tell with the lack of pupils. “No, you’re not, and stop trying to erase that. We meant it when we said we owed you, and this is not part of that. Of course we’ll help… I’ll head back right away.” He turned, stumbling slightly as his wings buzzed.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, staring wide-eyed at the tone of authority as her ears shot straight up. Pinkie saluted. “Yes, Twilight!?”

Twilight pointed a hoof at Silent Cricket. “I need him in top condition for the flight home, to warn the other Pies and, if necessary, help them defend their home. He needs a hug, and put your hearts into it!” ...What?

“Aye-aye!”

“Oh, okay, that’s fine then.”

Silent Cricket’s blue, glowing eyes went wide. “Oh, no I couldn’t, that’s not really… oooh…” he trailed off as the two mares surrounded him, each hugging tightly. Aiden watched in astonishment as his aura strengthened, rapidly. “...Hmm…. well that’s…. *hic!* ...okay! Okay… wow, you two are… gosh…” a bright blush colored his muzzle as he pulled, reluctantly, away from them. A silly grin completed the look, and anything resembling fearsomeness in those fangs and his insect-like appearance was quite banished.

Pinkie was grinning. “You’re cute! Thanks for all the hard work! I’ll meet you there after I get Maud!”

Fluttershy smiled at him as well. “Thank you so much for helping everyone! It’s really brave of you!”

Cricket rubbed the back of his head with one shiny hoof. “Aw… well it’s nothin’, err… ladies… thanks for the uhh…” he hiccupped again, and looked to Twilight as his blush brightened. She was grinning. “NodebtneededI’llbeoffnow! Nothing will happen to the Pie farm! I promise!” With that, he turned and sped out the door, practically glowing with energy and leaving a smoke trail in the air.

Twilight turned her smile to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. “You both did great. Pinkie, if you’ll wait a few more minutes, I’ll join you to head south. Whatever this is, I think it’s what we weren’t supposed to notice while cities were being bombed. Rainbow, I’d like you to come along as well, with the Wonderbolts’ permission,” she nodded to Spitfire, who was listening in from a few feet off the map table. The Wonderbolt Captain nodded in return. “Applejack, keep an eye on things here, along with Fluttershy and Lancy. Starlight and Trixie will be here, too. Starlight is going to be… speaking to our alien guest. Err… the other one, the Oni one.” She grinned sheepishly at Aiden, who waved off the confusion. “Fluttershy… speaking of Lancy… do you think he’ll be any help?”

Fluttershy grimaced, and shook her head. “He's asleep, but... He’s just a little piece of Discord, all that he could set aside before going to Canterlot. He knew something bad was coming. When the Cube petrified him, he couldn't get much here other than random memories. He couldn’t even remember their leader’s name. He said it was ‘big brother Karen’… but I don’t think that’s right.”

“Figures,” Applejack muttered. “But at least he’s okay, or will be once we free Canterlot again.”

“Right,” Twilight agreed. “Which is why I want Rarity and Aiden to go there, with Sir Gram and Dame Gwendolyn. You should all leave in the morning, at first light. We need intel before sending a larger force, and the two of you are best suited to getting it where the Oni are concerned. Don’t do anything crazy, but if you can get Raven, Discord, and any other survivors out without too much risk, please do so.”

Aiden nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Rarity as well. “We’ll do it, darling. You needn’t worry.”

“Happy to help!” Gram added, with Gwendolyn nodding stoically.

“I’ll be sending reinforcements to meet you… and we need to talk about that before you go, in private.” Aiden raised an eyebrow as she said this. Ominous...

“Spike? You’re in charge here in the Castle. Coordinate everyone and send along any messages to myself or Celestia as needed. I’m afraid we can’t work the dragonfire enchantment for any non-alicorn with the time we have, but it’s something at least.”

“You got it, Twilight!”

“Lastly, Captain Spitfire?”

Spitfire saluted with a wing. “Ma’am?”

“I want you and the other Wonderbolts to join the Ponyville group heading for Manehattan. It was the hardest hit and they may still have some holdouts among the enemy there. If the best fliers in Equestria can’t root them out, you can at least keep them pinned until reinforcements can join you. I know I’m splitting us up and I’d wanted to give everyone a good night’s sleep first, but Silent Cricket’s warning changes things. We need to suppress whatever’s left of that first attack so we can figure out the real threat and focus on it.”

“Not a problem, ma’am. Wonderbolts don’t need sleep unless I tell them they need sleep! Crash!”

Rainbow saluted sharply. “Ma’am?”

“Be careful out there. If my best rookie does something dumb and I’m not around to see it, you’ll be flying laps until your grandfoals are in rocking chairs!”

Rainbow grinned. “Got it, Captain.”

Twilight smirked at that, and then spoke up loudly, “Everyone! We all know what we’re doing, so let’s get to it. She hovered out of her seat, and over to Aiden and Rarity. “Come with me,” she muttered to them before turning back to the table. “Spike, field any remaining questions here, please. Pinkie won’t wait on me much longer.”

“Will do, Twi. Go; I got this,” the little dragon replied, studying the map intently.

Twilight led Rarity and Aiden down a random seeming corridor, deeper into the enormous building. Aiden couldn’t help speaking up, “I swear this castle is bigger on the inside.”

“You should have seen my old place…” Twilight muttered, ears perked towards him. “That aside… this is probably going to be difficult, but… there’s someone you need to see.”

Aiden could already feel what was ahead. “The elite we captured? I doubt she’s going to cooperate. Starlight seemed quite strong, but I can’t blame you if you don’t like the idea of interrogation. Frankly I don’t care for it either.”

“It isn’t that, although… the one you’re meeting down here has already been working on that particular guest. It’ll be easier to see for yourselves. ...Try to be civil.”

“Darling… such a lack of faith! Aiden and I are the very souls of civility, as you should well know!”

“I also know a bit of what you went through on Earth,” Twilight replied, and stopped in front of a thick door to hug Rarity. “I’m really proud to be your friend, Rarity.”

“Hmm, and they call me dramatic,” Rarity muttered, though her voice held affection, and she returned the hug. “Whatever this is, we’ll be fine.”

“Agreed,” Aiden said, opening the door is his curiosity compelled him forward. “It’s not-”

He stopped suddenly, his foot cracking the crystalline floor as his magic surged alongside both anger and defensive instinct. Twilight winced.

...And Garken chuckled. “Good thing I’m not really there.”

“You!!!” Rarity shrieked through clenched teeth. Joyeuse appeared next to her, floating and glowing brightly, poised to attack.

But Garken really wasn’t there. They could both tell it was a projection, both by the wavering light and the lack of any of his familiar, dark presence. Slowly, Aiden regained control of his temper. He turned, scowling, to Twilight. “Explain.”

She weathered his stare without quailing; she’d clearly expected it. “He has turned against the Oni-koru, siding with us to protect Equus after helping Tempest escape from them. He helped save Baltimare, and Tempest and the Knights of Griffonstone both vouch for his good conduct. I understand if you don’t want to trust him, but-”

“Oh good, glad we’re on the same page. He did lead a war of extermination against my world, and all.”

“That was years ago, Windborne; it’s not healthy to hold grudges.” Garken said.

Aiden’s eye twitched; he could practically feel the smug grin on the bastard’s face. “No one’s talking to you right now.”

“Well you should be. ...Twilight Sparkle has done a magnificent job coordinating Equus’ defense against my former king, but she’ll never get you to trust me. You and I know that. But you also know me. You know I spent years building up Adstrum to make amends-”

“Before killing Johnathan while trying to kill me!” Rarity chimed in. “And that wasn’t years ago,” she finished scathingly.

Garken nodded acknowledgment. “I regret his death, believe it or not. He was a friend, and I was a fool to believe I was serving some higher principle in trying to kill you. I was… influenced. And that isn’t an excuse, because I knew about it, to some extent, and disregarded it as weaker than my own will. I was deceiving myself. But… thanks to you, I found my way free enough to see my chains. With Tempest’s help, I broke them for good. Which means I owe this world, and its people, a big debt. I will repay it.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed as he tried to find something wrong with that. He heard a crack from the floor beneath him, but ignored it. “What do you think, Rare?”

She exhaled slowly. “It’s… easier to give others a chance to be better when they haven’t killed a friend right in front of you… but…” She snarled into a whine, sending Joyeuse back to Aiden’s verse. She stomped a hoof, and there was another cracking noise. “It’s still right.”

Aiden sighed, and nodded, letting go of as much of his anger as he could. In a weird way, as much because of Keia… Joyous Riot, now… he did feel they could trust Garken… provisionally. And if that turned out wrong… they’d beaten him once; they’d do it again.

“See you in Canterlot then, Garken Caedum. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Indeed so, Aiden Windborne, Rarity Liberalitas,” Garken replied, waving as the image vanished. The captive Oni, in a makeshift cell, breathed a sigh of relief.

Rarity tilted her head. “What did he call me?”

“It’s an old word, but it roughly means ‘generosity’ and ‘civility’. ...A complement?” Twilight offered.

“Perhaps… he’ll need to do much more than flatter me to make up for what he’s done.”

“His madness has affected you all," the captive Oni offered grimly. "A warslave who’s been infected by this world’s magic.”

“Quiet, you,” Twilight muttered as she led them away, wincing again at the two rather large dents in her floor.

Aiden noticed as well, frowning slightly as Twilight closed the door behind them. “Sorry about the floor in there… I actually don’t know how we did that.”

“Gravity magic at high density pressed down around where you were standing, cratering the crystal a bit. It’s okay, I’ll fix it later.”

Since when could I do that, though? Aiden wondered. Rarity too, for that matter… hmm…

“Twilight… I get why you had to show us that in private. No sense staining the others’ perceptions with our preconceptions. But why in there with the captive?”

“Two reasons. One: exposing the captured elite to another Oni, one who’s helping us, might give her some ideas about a better way than serving her mad king. Two, and more importantly: Using her aura as a focal point, based on their similar magical resonance, helped bring Mister Caedum into focus.”

“Please don’t call him that,” Aiden said, sounding pained.

Twilight snorted, but then grimaced. “I know this is really tough for you both, but I genuinely think we can trust him… and that we need to. That first attack was far too easy to repel. Some of that was us being more ready than they expected, but some of it was simply that its success wasn’t their main goal. Garken Caedum can give us insight even you can’t match. It’s worth the risk to hear him out. Plus… you know better than anyone how strong he is. If he wants to help, we want his help.”

Aiden nodded as they began walking back towards the map room. “I get that. Just don’t expect us to like it.”

Rarity nodded her agreement, before speaking up. “Darling… where did you learn that long distance communication spell? If we have something like that, why is Spike sending letters?”

“Starlight and I have been working on it based on what she saw of a similar spell Chrysalis used to talk to her changelings over long distances. Unfortunately part of the reason it could work was using changeling magic, which neither of us can properly imitate. However, the Storm King also had such a spell. Tempest can’t mimic it, but we’ve been able to put together a partially working version based on pieces of both spells. I say partially, and again that’s why I needed to focus on the captive’s aura. ...Her name is Teluma, by the way. And she’s stubborn… but doesn’t seem so bad. ...Other than wanting to kill us all.”

“You know, that little hurdle," Aiden said dryly. "Still… you’re not wrong. We noticed the same thing about the Oni back on Earth. Pulling them away from the atrocities they seem so eager to commit was possible on several occasions. ...I’m looking forward to meeting this king of theirs, and asking him why that is.”

Twilight stopped a few doors from the map room, and opened a side door into what looked to be a large guest bedroom. “I’d like you two to sleep here tonight, if you don’t mind. I want you both near Spike in case something happens before you leave in the morning. Please don’t leave tonight. Get some rest first, because Canterlot is going to be very dangerous.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “And where you’re going won’t be?”

“I don’t know for sure, though I bet it will. Still, with it that close to Pinkie’s family, she won’t wait through the night. Besides, unlike Canterlot whatever’s there is hidden. Canterlot is expecting us to come; it’s a trap and we’re going to spring it. This hidden… whatever… is something we’re going to try to sneak up on. Better to use the cover of darkness, right?”

Rarity smiled. “My friend the General. One day, I look forward to introducing you to Albert Grumman.”

Twilight returned the smile. “I want to meet him, too, so let’s get this taken care of, and then fix your ship, and get on with what’s important. More friendships.” She hugged Rarity tightly, and Aiden could tell just how much concern she was hiding by the little tremble that ran through both her body and her aura. Her song, diffuse and orderly, quavered for just an instant.

She turned to Aiden, and practically threw herself into his arms. “Please,” she whispered. “Keep her as safe as you can.”

Aiden nodded, returned the hug of the Princess of Friendship. He smiled softly as she clung to him, letting her worry slowly recede. “Cross my heart, hope to fly…”

11. Spire Spotting

The room only had one bed, and they were both in it. The concerns about awkwardness or misunderstanding or what have you had gone out the window when the attacks had started. Not to mention... no one was sleeping on that floor or its thin carpet.

Aiden breathed in the scent of Rarity’s mane as they snuggled peacefully together, enjoying the moment. They both knew it would likely be the last bit of peace they’d get for awhile. “We should have done this weeks ago.”

“I did offer.”

He chuckled quietly, kissing the back of her head. “That you did. I had to push through various cultural preconceptions, or something. Besides, I was never quite sure whether you were joking.”

“Mmm,” she intoned quietly, “I wasn’t either. I didn’t expect you to accept so I didn’t think about what I’d do if you did. It probably would have been this, though. ...Is it alright that we’re not talking about everything that’s just happened?”

“Did you want to?”

“Mmph. A little. Aiden… I know how awful it was on Earth when they first came. And I’m worried this is too different. Like… something horrible is about to happen and we’re not ready for it.”

“Well… I can’t disprove that, but… Earth was different for a lot of reasons. We had no magic, no way to interact with it, when they came. Their manipulations of the Field, in potent enough or direct enough manners, caused fatalities… or awakenings in Espers… all on its own. From what we were able to compile later, that caused more deaths than their military tactics, which were always fairly rudimentary. It’s not an absolute, but they wanted to fight more than they wanted to win.”

“And that’s why they didn’t just shoot Earth from space the way they did here.”

“Right. And frankly that does bother me, now that I think about it. We believed they eschewed that sort of tech altogether, for cultural reasons. Even for combat tech, they kept it… I dunno, fair? Short range weapons for the most part, mechs that resembled themselves rather than say… microdrones with high explosives or something. But here… they opened up with orbital bombardment. If Luna hadn’t destroyed their mothership…”

“So… by that reasoning we’ve already struck a major blow. So why am I so uneasy? Because it was too easy?”

“Probably. I mean… pattern recognition is what it is, and lately we’ve been getting curve balls. Veritech… their revenge strike while we were away… Baltimore… every time it seemed things should have been easy... But again, this isn’t like Earth. For one thing… Earth definitely smashed their forces. By the time they finally retreated and left our Solar System, we were almost caught up enough in tech to follow them out. I’m glad we didn’t… I don’t like the idea of ending a war with genocide. But the point is, they don’t have what they had when they came at us. Whatever tactics they use here… it’s more like a wounded animal than something that strolled in thinking itself king of the jungle.” Aiden blinked. “Okay, I just made myself more worried.”

Rarity laughed softly, turning over to be face to face with him. “Really? I feel the opposite. Not about them, necessarily; we will have to proceed very carefully. But… we have those who understand them helping us.”

Aiden snorted. “Yeah, I hate to say it but Garken will be a big help if he’s sincere.”

She kissed him on the nose. “I did say ‘those’ darling. I mean you, too. And what really makes me feel better is knowing you. A veteran who fought them since he lost his family to them as a child, and still didn’t want to wipe them all out when it was over. That’s Kindness, darling, not an easy thing to learn at the best of times.”

Aiden flushed, looking away… though there wasn’t really anywhere to look with her right there, and it got even harder when the side of a forehoof ran softly across his cheek.

“I’ve seen you fight them, the best they had to offer, and come away intact body and soul. We’ll win.”

He chuckled, shaking his head lightly as he caught her hoof and kissed the side of it. “So how’d you end up cheering me up about this?”

“We’re a team. That’s how it works.”

Maud was already awake and looking over several crystal samples when the group approached. Pinkie simply hugged her sister while Rainbow spoke up. “Geez, do you ever sleep?”

Maud’s eyes focused on Rainbow while she calmly returned Pinkie’s hug. “Yes.”

Rainbow blinked, then snickered. “Right, right. Never change, Maud.”

“Everything changes, even zircon.” Maud blinked. “Slowly.”

Still grinning, Rainbow hovered down to Maud. They hoofbumped.

“Maud,” Twilight spoke up, “Equestria is under attack, maybe all of Equus. We believe the attackers have left something invisible, and big, near your family’s farm. We’re going to investigate. Will you come with us?”

“Yes.”

Twilight nodded. “Good to hear. I want a small group, so it’ll just be the four of us. Our source tells us there were many of the invaders inside. They’re big, and bipedal like minotaurs. Most of them aren’t as strong as they look, but their leaders are pretty scary. So this isn’t a sortie in force.”

“That would be an attack from a defensive position.”

“Right,” Twilight agreed. “And we won’t be attacking them, just yet. We will make sure your family is safe, and see what we can learn. This is a stealth mission.”

“No.”

“...No?”

“Once Limestone finds out about them, it won’t be. If they’re too close to the farm.”

Twilight grimaced. “Then we’ll settle this without your family finding out… or we’ll use it when they do. Either way, let’s get moving.” Without further delay, her horn lit, and the four of them vanished.

It was a relatively short gallop/flight after they reappeared before Twilight pulled them to a stop. “Uh, Twilight? Just how far can you teleport these days?” Rainbow muttered as they settled down behind some brush at the top of a rise, overlooking the outskirts of the (admittedly broad ranging) rock farm.

“Depends how many ponies I’m bringing along. With four of us… maybe twice that far if I wanted to wear myself out.”

“Why the hay do we even take the train?”

“...I like the train.”

“...Huh. Wait aren’t you at half power, with the other you in Baltimare?”

“She’s not anymore; they’re on their way to Canterlot. Tempest insisted, even though I tried to get them to rest first. That mare has a chip on her shoulder…”

“Gosh, hadn’t noticed. ...Also not my point.”

Twilight smiled at her. “Rainbow, I love you-”

“Whoa, uh… not what I-”

“-But the detailed answer of how that works wouldn’t mean anything to you, and we don’t have time for me to explain it. Can you feel that down there?”

“Whaddaya… oh…” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as she looked down into the seemingly empty valley between them and the rock fields. “The wind… it’s splitting around…” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, there’s a big, shielded something or other there, isn’t there?”

Twilight sniffed, nodding agreement. “I’m already doing what I can to diffuse our magic, in case they’re keeping watch for energy fluctuations. But they aren’t hiding their own very well; that’s how I knew about where to go. But… now what? Opinions?”

“Teleport in? Take ‘em by surprise?” Rainbow muttered.

“Rainbow, we have no idea how many are in there or what they’re planning. Luna destroyed their ship by hitting it with the moon. ...They might want to surrender.”

“Then why are they hiding?” Maud asked.

“...Fair point… that was a bit optimistic. Alright… stealth time. Rainbow and I will head in to get a closer look. I’ll be masking our presence as best I can. You two, take a look around the farm and make sure nothing’s out of place, after checking on your family of course.”

Maud nodded once and headed off to take the long way around, out of direct sight of the cliff. Pinkie looked after her a moment, then turned to Twilight and Rainbow. “Be careful.”

“We will. See you soon, Pinks,” Rainbow said, tossing Pinkie a mix between a wave and a salute. Pinkie spun and blurred, heading in the other direction. Rainbow chuckled. “Sometimes I think she should’ve been born a pegasus.”

“Are you kidding? She’s impossible enough already,” Twilight said, grinning despite focusing her gaze on the blank spot below, as though through sheer force of will she could make whatever was there appear.

“Maybe. But… you love her, too, right?”

Twilight giggled. “Rainbow, did it bother you, me saying that? Also, yes, completely.”

“No, just… caught me off guard. You know, like, telling ponies you love them before going off and doing something dumb. ...You wouldn’t be about to go off and do something, dumb, would ya, Twi?”

“Oh please, Rainbow, you know me better than that.”

“Yeah… which is why something feels off here.”

“You’re imagining things. Come on, let’s go take a look at whatever’s down there. I’ve figured out how to slip through the shielding without causing any aether ripples. We might make it through completely unnoticed.”

“Oh yeah, I was gonna mention that. There’s a spot where the wind is uneven. I think their cloaking shield has a flaw or two.”

Twilight’s horn lit dimly before that minor glow, and both ponies, disappeared from sight. “Good, lead us to it; that’ll be the best spot to try what I’m thinking.”

Landing silently just in front of the distortion Rainbow’s senses were pointing out, the two stopped a moment to listen. No sound escaped, but around the distortion they could see within. “Some kind of… tower?” Rainbow whispered.

“Looks like… let me just…” Twilight’s horn lit again, and the cloaking shield seemed to peel outward.

Rainbow could feel the wind flowing the same as it had. The aether flowing through her feathers and mane felt the same as well. “Nice. Bet they didn’t even notice.”

“No way to tell, just keep a weather eye out.”

“You got it.”

Squeezing through the widened gap, the two approached what was clearly a squat tower, perhaps four stories high. It was made of metal and what looked to be glass, but Rainbow doubted it. With the way the ground had cratered under the impact of this thing, that much glass would have shattered.

“Hmph… well, we can either go through the door at the bottom there, or teleport into one of the spaces I can see through the windows.”

“The door is probably a great way to let them know we’re here, but… you don’t think it’s shielded against somepony just teleporting in?”

“One way to find out.”

Rainbow grinned. “Let’s do it then.”

“One sec.” Twilight cast another spell, muttering under her breath as an aura suffused Rainbow before seeming to sink into her fur. “Alright, now we’re good.”

“What was that?”

“A contingency spell, for a worst-case scenario.”

“Just on me?”

Twilight smiled. “I already had it, as part of the enchantments built in to Duplex Crepusculum.”

“Is it me, or are you like… super prepared lately?”

“Between the mass abduction Chrysalis pulled off and the Storm King’s takeover of Canterlot, I’ve been rethinking a lot of things lately. We can talk about it another time.”

East of the Canterhorn by a day’s gallop, a flash of light heralded the arrival of two ponies, an oni, and three griffons. The other three had remained behind in Baltimare to help with mopping up the last of the invading force, along with rescue operations for the injured. Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly, recovering magic from carrying them all over the long distance. Garken, in particular, felt much heavier than he looked. It was an effect of his unusual magic, which felt a bit reminiscent of Sombra’s… but there was something else there. Familiar, but Twilight couldn’t quite pin it down.

“I’m a bit angry you can teleport, Twilight Sparkle,” Tempest said suddenly. “Every time we met, you were holding back instead of facing me properly.”

“Well, I did sort of blast one of your soldiers… who conveniently had a beam deflecting shield. The deflection dropped us out of Canterlot… and you know the rest. Besides, I wasn’t aware you were looking for some kind of duel. As I recall, you wanted to petrify all four princesses and let the Storm King use our magic so he’d restore your horn… while turning Equestria into his personal slave pen.”

Tempest winced. “I didn’t petrify you.”

“True… you needed somepony around and conscious to gloat at.”

Garken chuckled. “That brings back some good memories…”

Twilight grimaced, but continued. “Sorry… I have forgiven you, but that’s not the same as forgetting. I don’t really forget… Even if I want to. You petrified my sister-in-law, my teacher, and my dear friend. You were trying to help a monster take over the world for entirely selfish reasons. ...And you gloated about it. You wanted my eyes open? Well, now they are. I’m seeing you, too. Anything else you’d like to ask about before we get to Canterlot?”

“I… yes! Because none of that answers my-”

“Do you really care about my excuses? Do yours really excuse all the pain and suffering you helped cause? No. What really matters is that you make things better now. Which you are. Thank you for that,” she said with complete sincerity.

“I do care,” Tempest persisted, quietly but firmly. “I want to know why you seemed so different then. You were desperate and afraid the whole time. And yet now… look, I’m glad to see another side to you, but this is-”

Twilight sighed, and her cheeks darkened into an embarrassed flush. “Fine. ...I was in estrus.”

Tempest blinked. “You… what?”

“You heard me.” She looked at Garken and the griffons. “Erm… can you give us... some space for a minute? I’d rather not have an audience for this conversation.”

Garken was laughing quietly at their discomfort, but nodded once before about facing. The two lower ranking griffons hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation, but responded to the request. Gareth nodded almost too quickly, a bright blush covering his cheeks as he turned and flew off muttering something about ‘scouting the perimeter’.

With a sigh, Twilight continued. “The change to my physiology when I became an alicorn was a lot more than the wings. The effects of ‘that time of the year’ were amplified, or more like they were just minor for me before. I never really cared about that sort of thing; I could usually ignore it completely. But then when I got these,” she fluffed her wings for emphasis, “suddenly the cycle was much harder to work around, emotionally. At one point I even developed a crush on a high school student, and that didn’t make sense on several levels. I wasn’t even in my own body, sort of, and the weird effects lingered! Another time I was bored in a library! A library!! Cadance told me it happened to her too, and she got used to it after a few years.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and muttered dryly, “I’ll bet she did… But I tried writing a spell to reduce the effect on me. It sort of worked… but unbalanced me in… other ways. I couldn’t really focus and I was highly emotional and irrational. Erratic. I won’t be doing it again.”

Tempest snorted, and then began laughing. She did have a rather cute laugh, surprisingly enough. “So you’re saying you couldn’t really oppose me or the Storm King properly because you were... let’s say… feverish that week?”

“Essentially, yes. Like I said, excuses don’t really matter. It worked out that time, and I’m grateful it did, but I almost ruined everything. This time I don’t intend to have any excuses to look back on.”

Tempest snorted, grinning mischievously. “If you just needed a good roll in the hay you could have said-” she stopped talking suddenly as a bubble of silence surrounded her muzzle.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Twilight said, a small smile tugging at her lips underneath her glowing horn. “Anyway I’ve got my breath back.” She raised her voice to shout, “Everyone, fall in!” drawing them back into a smaller area. Garken laughed loudly at the bubble of magic over Tempest’s face as Twilight continued. “One last jump should put us in striking distance of Canterlot. From there, we’ll do some reconnaissance and then settle in to wait for our reinforcements.”

“That ‘human’ and… the tailor?” Tempest asked as the bubble finally dissipated.

“That’s right, along with two more Griffonstone knights. They’ll be along in a few hours. Between then and now, we can get some food and maybe a nap in for some of us, in shifts. I’d suggest resting here, but I want to be close enough to Canterlot to see anything happening within, if possible.”

“Agreed,” Garken said. “And as to our reinforcements… Tempest, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. When she faced me, Rarity was more than a tailor. I look forward to seeing them both again.”

“...Fair enough, I'll withhold judgment. I'm getting the feeling several of my opponents were having 'bad weeks'...”

Twilight’s horn lit as she laughed lightly, and the group vanished.

Rainbow spun, landing a hindhoof in the face of the charging Oni as she flung a table at the other, dazing him before Twilight hit him with a blast of magic that trapped him in crystal. The one Rainbow’d kicked had been flung back and down, cracking her skull against the metal floor hard enough to draw a wince from both ponies. She didn’t move after the impact.

“So, Twi? The room was inhabited.”

“Thank you, Rainbow. Well spotted.”

“Yep. Quick eyes and wings. I’m the total package. What now?”

Twilight turned and blasted the downed Oni, encasing her in crystal as well.

“Is that necessary?”

“It puts them in a kind of stasis. They’re still aware of their surroundings but their bodies are preserved. Her injury won’t get worse. More importantly, they can’t move for a couple hours unless they break the spell. Neither of them are strong enough to do that without help.”

“Twi… we might not be able to go so soft on them all.”

“I know. Come on, let’s get to the top of this thing. If we can figure out what they’re doing here, maybe we can stop it… or better yet turn it against them somehow.”

As they quietly made their way through the halls (stealthily, via Twilight’s invisibility and their wings), Rainbow couldn’t help muttering in her friend’s ear. “Twi… this place looks… pretty advanced. You sure you’ll be able to figure out anything we can do about it when we reach the top?”

“No,” Twilight whispered back. “But I don’t necessarily have to. Other Me can share what I’m seeing with Garken Caedum. He should know what we’re looking at.”

“Ooh, good point. Hey, stairs...”

The stairs went the full height of the tower, and they avoided any further encounters. As near as Twilight could tell, there were only four strong aetheric sources at the top, and one clearly above the others. It was a major advantage that their magic felt so different from Equus’ Field. She could see what Rarity meant about another world’s Field leaving a lasting effect on one’s senses, if even just aliens felt this strange. Interestingly, Aiden hadn’t. He was different, but in a comfortable way. The Oni felt… wrong and, more importantly, distinct.

The door at the top was sealed by aetheric shielding, but it wasn’t beyond Twilight’s power. “What do you think? Through the door, through the wall next to the door, or just teleport in with Sky Render’s Expanding Effervescent Energetic Escutcheon?” Twilight asked, her voice picking up enthusiasm as she laid out the third option.

“Say that five times fast,” Rainbow muttered. “Why the heck is it ‘effervescent’?”

“He used it with knockout gas to subdue enemy strongholds. The interaction with the mixing atmosphere, poison, and shield caused a sort of bubbly effect. Besides, everypony knows alliteration and or rhymes make stronger incantations.”

“Yeah… everypony knows that… alright I’m sold; let’s do that one. Ready when you are!”

“Okay, so, as soon as we-”

The door opened.

“Buck!” Rainbow yelled, turning to try to catch the attack.

“Oh come on!” Twilight muttered angrily as a sword swung down at them. It hit the floor as Twilight teleported them into the room, albeit sans the overwrought shield spell.

Two more Oni turned to attack. One fired a hand weapon of some kind, missing a shot before hitting Rainbow twice as she raised a wing to guard Twilight's face. The impact drew a pained hiss from the pegasus as she took off in spite of the pain and, according to Twilight’s nose, burning feathers and fur. A fourth shot hit her shoulder, but alicorn physiology was in her favor, and the burning projectile had little effect. Before he could fire again, Rainbow had smashed into him, hard. Rainbow-hued contrail hard: he’d been crushed into the wall. Twilight winced. That one wouldn’t need a crystal to pen him in...

The second had grabbed a sword and rushed at her. She caught the blade in a telekinetic grip and tore it away from him. Magic sufficient to lift over one hundred tons easily overpowered the surprised soldier. A shield deflected the doorman’s strike as he joined the fray, but they were outmatched.

Then the fourth stepped forward from the shadows. While the three so far had been taller than Aiden, this one stood nearly two full meters. Numerous horns curled around his head like a helmet of branches, and his grey skin had a pallid, almost dead look to it. But it was his effect on the aether that most chilled Twilight.

He was nothing like the ones she’d seen so far. The sword she’d been holding dropped to the floor, forgotten, as she refocused, staring up at him.

“Welcome, little ponies,” he said in what was a surprisingly high pitch for his size. “I am General Cursus. How surprising, and pleasing, to find you here.” He raised an eight fingered fist, each digit resembling more a spider’s leg than anything on any hand Twilight had seen. He closed the fist, and her shield came under attack by draining force.

She stabilized it, teleporting Rainbow inside at the same time to remove her from the effect, which was coating the room. His own soldiers… “Stop it! They’ll die!”

“They were dead the moment they failed to stop you. We are not all so forgiving. But you… you are a remarkable stroke of luck. An alicorn… one of our primary objectives. And here you are, ready for sacrifice. Seven to go, and this world will-”

Twilight snarled, and teleported the rapidly flagging Oni out of the room. They didn’t need to die here. “Seven?! There are four alicorns… who are your other targets?!”

“You needn’t know. But you saved those lowly failures? Your mercy will cost you… you’re burning magic too rapidly.”

“Hmph. It won’t cost me more than your lack of mercy has already cost you. You’re a monster serving a bigger monster. What happiness does your life give?”

“My enervation will break you… and I’ll leave you conscious to watch your friend die…”

“Yeah that’s what I thought. Any ideas, Rainbow?”

“Uh… teleport him straight down about three feet? I’ve always wondered why unicorns didn’t just do that to their enemies.”

Twilight snorted, pouring more energy into the shield to keep the necrotic effects of the enervation off of them both. “His resistance is too high; the spell won’t grab him. ...And most unicorns can’t teleport much of anything.”

With a nervous chuckle, Rainbow replied, “I sometimes get spoiled by how good you are. And then Starlight comes along and she’s really strong, too. But uh… what do we do right now? Can you get us out?”

Twilight smiled. “Just you.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Wait, don’t you dare!”

The shield shrunk, and a crack appeared along its curved surface.

“It’s a spell I already cast, remember? Just in case. Well, the worst case hasn’t been met, but I can complete it anyway. Rainbow Dash, T.A.C.T., conduso Pinkie Pie, confio.”

“Wha-” Rainbow vanished.

“Impossible. You cannot break through my power.”

“You say that, but she’s gone. Leyline trace to our safe spot where I cast the contingency, and a strong bond of Friendship between her and the target of the Aetheric Conduit I used. This is Equestria… don’t pretend you know how magic works just because you can kill things with it.”

“I can kill you!” Cursus said, showing real anger for the first time.

“Probably, if I sat here at half strength letting you wear me down.”

“You cannot escape! The moment you attempt to teleport my enervating field will collapse your shield and eat away at your essence. Your attempt will fail, and you will be mine!”

“Yeah… about that. Couple other spells you should know about. ...Actually, nah, just one.” She rolled her jaw as her horn briefly lit with a secondary overglow. She chomped down, making a muffled crunching noise. “But uh… thanks for all the information about this place!”

“Anything you learned through your primitive eyes would be useless even if you escaped! And you won’t!” He stepped forward, closing the distance to tighten his focus on her. She dropped to her knees as the shield shrunk to nearly form-fitting.

She looked around, calmly. “I’m in a Spire… one modified to channel the power of a sacrificial victim to a center point, probably in Canterlot. Unlike the usual offensive Spires, this one isn’t set to explode if tampered with. Probably because it’s too important to blow up, since you can’t replace them anymore. That’s kind of sad. Also, and this you’ve told me directly, there are probably eight of them.”

“...How?”

Twilight smiled sweetly up at him. “These ‘primitive eyes’ show all they see to another set of primitive eyes, just like them. And those eyes? Well, they’re sharing with your former Grand Marshal. He’s simply talking Other Me’s ear off right about now. Honestly, you’re lucky I’m such a good multi-tasker or we wouldn’t have even had this conversation.”

“No… no that… you…” in his shock his attack faltered, though it didn’t fully dissipate.

“I know that feeling,” she said sympathetically. “When I realized Starlight Glimmer had reworked Starswirl’s scroll to do something I thought was impossible. ...The smarter you are, the harder it is to accept getting outsmarted, am I right?”

Cursus shrieked in rage, and smashed his fist against her shield, redoubling his enervation and focusing it down to a single point. The shield cracked and shattered.

He grabbed at her horn, lifting her into the air. “Now! You die!”

“Yeah, pretty much. I think I bought enough time for your troops to escape. The Pies and the changeling hive will capture them. They were weak compared to you.”

He spun and flung her into a wall, denting the surface. He followed up with a kick to her ribs.

She looked up at him, grinning. “Applejack kicks so much harder than that. Especially when she’s drunk and not holding back. But unfortunately, you’ll never know the excitement of a rave in Ponyville...”

He snarled, grabbing her horn again, and smashed her head into the floor. “Die!”

“In a minute. I have to metabolize the poison first.”

He froze. Her horn, seemingly stronger than any crystal, had resisted his efforts at snapping it off. Her face scarcely showed any bruising from the numerous impacts. “...You…”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “I don’t really like fighting. Honestly my mind just goes to another place and I don’t want to hurt anyone, really. I mean it happens, but… I blasted the changelings in Canterlot with non-lethal stun beams. I closed my eyes while fighting Starlight. Silly, I know, but it’s hard to be rational in the thick of it. I just keep thinking ‘what if I lose it and become the next Nightmare?’ Killing just… seems so easy. Too easy. Like doing basic arithmetic when the world clearly needs calculus. Oh, except Tirek. Buck that guy in particular.”

“I… you… poisoned yourself? When… you…” Cursus shook her vaguely, looking flabbergasted.

“Uh huh! It’s actually quite tasty; I made it blueberry flavored. I call it Killing Joke. It takes a couple minutes, but… ooooh… there we go…" she purred as her eyelids half shut and a smile graced her muzzle. "Zecora helped me make the pill… in case my false self I needed to kill...” She giggled as blood began running from her nostrils. “There’s no pain at all, nothing to see. Because, well you know… I’m not actually me.” Her eyes went black, and her giggle became higher pitched.

“What is… no… this isn’t possible!” He turned, trying to carry her to the execution chair, to harvest her magic for-

“Wanna see… Clover’s Mortal Coil Recoil? It’s… a blast...” The black eyes shut, and the room went white.

Rainbow had appeared at Pinkie’s hooves as she and Maud were headed back from checking on the other Pies, who were safely asleep.

-t do you think you’re gonna…?!” Rainbow blurted as she got to her hooves in an instant, wings snapping open, one of which flung several drops of blood across Pinkie’s barrel. “Dammit!”

“Uh… Dashie? What happened? You’re hurt. Where’s Twilight?”

“I’m fine, Pinkie, just a couple scratches. But Twilight is back there alone with a really scary bad guy! We need to head back and help her!”

“Right!” She replied as she and Maud started to run.

Rainbow took slowly to the air despite burnt feathers and torn flesh. She clenched her teeth as the pain slowed her. Maybe a little more than a scratch… she thought quietly as they made their way back.

It wasn't long before Pinkie spoke again. “...Dashie, why did she teleport you out?”

Rainbow grimaced. Her wing was screaming at her. “Ugh… because the bad guy… uh… 'Curses', or something, was using some kind of weird power that was messing up magic in the room. I’d already been hurt so she didn’t want to risk me I guess… but it’s not that bad! I could’ve stayed and-”

A white light engulfed them, centered on where the tower had been. As it did, Rainbow felt a warmth, like she was being hugged by her friend. “Sorry Rainbow… please don’t be too mad at me. I had a strategy but I couldn’t risk him hurting you before I could finish it up. Next time, we’ll plan better.”

“T-twi… what is…” She gasped as a soft hiss came from her damaged wing. The warm light gently cleansed away the broken flesh and feathers, healing and regrowing in seconds what would have taken days. “Oh… oh Twi, no… you didn’t…”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic. Real me is near Canterlot, 100% now.”

“They’re BOTH REAL YOU! YOU MADE THAT CLEAR TO US, TWILIGHT!”

“...I know. But if you lose a feather, did you die? Everything that’s me is there now… except this little talk, I guess. That’s the fading part that got left behind. Just a feather on the wind. ...Tell me about it sometime, okay?”

“I… Twilight…”

But the presence, and the light, had faded. Rainbow landed stiffly, mouth open in shock. Pinkie sobbed as Maud held her tightly.

12. At the Gates

Author's Note

Chapters have been taking a little longer lately, sorry about that. Combination of being a little longer than they were in Part 1, the story being more complex, and me being a little under the weather. Next chapter won't be two weeks though, and I don't foresee any of them taking any longer than that.

12. At the Gates

Twilight hissed out a breath between clenched teeth, after puffing like a bellows for several minutes as her magical reserves shot upward from what was suddenly only half strength. “Well, that worked. I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

“Impressive magic, little pony,” Garken remarked with a raised eyebrow as they all watched the flash of light in the far distance that marked the Spire’s end. That they could see it, even from the Canterhorn, bespoke its destructive power. “Are there truly no downsides?”

“Other than burning half my magic and, for a blast of that size and specificity, completely necessitating the destruction of the life energy that made up that half of my biological construction? ...Yes, there is a downside.”

“And that would- ...be?” His eyes widened as he looked into the distance.

Another explosion had interrupted him, this one a rainbow halo rushing out in all directions, shining gradually across all Equestria.

“The truly epic flank kicking I’m probably about to receive,” Twilight replied with a small smile as the Rainboom reflected in her eyes. “Completely deserved… even if she’s probably got the wrong idea. All of you, go on ahead. See if you can find weaknesses in the shield, but be cautious. You’ll have reinforcements in a few hours, so there’s no point in rushing in yet.”

Tempest stared at Twilight a moment, but the alicorn was simply gazing at the center of the expanding rainbow, watching the single point of prismatic light on its way from that center. She sighed. “I don’t think I would have fared well against this Twilight Sparkle…”

Twilight’s smile widened as one ear flicked toward Tempest. “Impossible to know… You helped create this Twilight Sparkle. You, and Queen Chrysalis. ...And Starlight, of course… mostly in a different way.” She shook her head. “No more winning by blind luck. Not if I can help it. Following Celestia’s hoofsteps has to stop. Equestria is too… no, our entire world is too important. ...She’ll be here soon, and this will be a private conversation. We’ll catch up to you.”

Gareth saluted Twilight as the others began heading toward Canterlot. “We’ll see you soon, your highness!”

She nodded, smiling softly. “Thank you, Sir Gareth. Thank you for being here. For being our friend. We won’t ever forget it.”

He returned her smile. “Nor I, Twilight Sparkle, nor I.”

As he took to the air, Twilight turned her full attention to the approaching pegasus. She didn’t have long to wait. She didn’t even have time to calculate Rainbow’s velocity (past the fourteenth decimal) before the embodiment of Loyalty hovered before her.

She’d cut her momentum at the last moment (a fact Twilight was grateful for), and it was truly a perfect moment. Twilight looked at her friend as she hung there in the air, the very epitome of grace and power. Her wings spread wide as her forehoof drew back for a right hook that was about to really hurt. There were tears in her eyes and her teeth were clenched in an angry snarl, righteous indignation in the form of a pony.

To Twilight, she had never looked more beautiful.

Crack!

Twilight spun with the strike, compartmentalizing the pain in a single facet of her mind, to fully experience in a moment. Four broken teeth, crushed cheek, cracked jaw… prognosis: no solid foods for a couple days.

She released the facet to experience the full pain of the hit and hissed as she staggered. She spit blood, and tooth fragments, while turning to look back at Rainbow. “Nice punch.”

Rainbow snorted, still hovering though she hadn’t drawn her hoof back again. “Way to grit your teeth… WHAT THE BUCK, TWI?!”

“I’m sorry I sent you away, but it was the only way to-”

“Not that! I get that! If it was me that had to get you out, I’da done it, no hesitation.” She crossed her forelegs and looked away, cheeks still burning with anger. “...I wasn’t jumping for joy, but I get it.” She turned back, ears flattening. “But what in Tartarus was that spell?! We don’t use spells that blow ourselves up! That’s just… and you made Pinkie cry!”

Twilight winced, her ears tucking back as she fought the urge to look away. She wouldn’t; Rainbow deserved better. “I didn’t want to do it that way. Clover’s spell uses life energy… what the zebra call ‘Ki’. The original spell draws on it to push away your foes and heal your friends. But… if you channel enough, you can shorten your life. Hence the name.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “And you never explained that because you knew we’d say ‘don’t use something like that’.”

Twilight grimaced. The truth was, she’d have been happy to explain it if Rainbow’s eyes hadn’t glazed over whenever she’d been around when Twilight and Starlight had talked about it with anypony. This wasn’t the time to mention that; on the contrary Twilight wasn’t done confessing. No excuses, no hiding. “It’s worse than you think. To use that much power, enough to destroy Cursus and the Spire, I had to kill that body. I used a potent poison to do it. In my last moments, I could-”

“You poisoned yourself?!”

“Yes! And no! It was no different than cutting off a limb to escape a rockslide, Rainbow! Grisly, but if you have no other option…”

Rainbow winced, and Twilight could practically see her remembering facing that decision at least once in the past. “Twi… what about… I dunno,” Rainbow looked down, tears still running down her cheeks, but no longer from anger. “Your mind? Your… soul?”

“T.A.C.T. ...Or maybe S.T.A.C.T. would be better, since it’s Starswirl’s spell and all.”

Rainbow snorted. “Like I know what that means.”

Twilight smiled, and then winced as her face reminded her that that was a stupid thing to do just then. “I did explain that one to you, you just weren’t paying attention.”

“Yeah, well… it’s egghead stuff…” Rainbow muttered, trailing off.

“I know. ...But it means my soul was absolutely not at any risk. They’d have to collapse Equus into a singularity to threaten an Aetheric Conduit of that strength. And if they can do that, we’re bucked anyway.”

“...Fine. But you’ll apologize to Pinkie Pie!”

“I will.”

“And no more Mortal Coil whatever! You need something blown up, I’ll hit it really hard.”

“I can vouch for that,” Twilight said dryly, trying not to smirk as she ran her primaries gingerly across her rapidly swelling cheek.

Rainbow grimaced and looked away. “...Sorry.”

“No, don’t be. I love you, too, Rainbow. Now and always.”

Rainbow’s lips trembled, and she flung herself at Twilight, hugging her tightly. “You really scared me. Don’t do it again. If you do… promise I go with you.”

“Rainbow-”

“Promise! I’ll believe you, and I’ll be there, no matter what! I know why you… just… please…”

Twilight breathed a long, shuddering sigh as tears streaked her own cheeks, adding more sting to the battered one. Deserved. “I can’t promise not to use life energy. It’s very similar to earth pony magic, and it’s too valuable for healing. You saw that yourself. But… what happened in the Spire… okay. Never again. I promise, Rainbow. ...If you hadn’t gotten hurt protecting me, we couldn’t have stopped him at all.”

“Good… and yeah… that was pretty awesome…”

Twilight giggled, nuzzling her friend. “Very awesome, Rainbow. ...Um. What happened to the other oni in the Spire? I didn’t really consider them foes so much as obstacles, so...”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, you got them, too. The top of the Spire was just gone, but they weren’t. They were mostly unconscious from what I saw when I flew over, or so loopy they might as well have been. Silent Cricket was already there with some of his hive’s warriors. ...Preeeetty sure all those oni are now in changeling cocoons.”

“Huh… well, I guess that works, too.”

Rarity hopped to the left as a car flew past her head, missing by inches. A shield, held in place for a fraction of a second, deflected a baston as Joyeuse lunged independent of her stance. Aiden caught the blade with an open hand, blood splattered across it and the broken, rocky ground beneath them from the blade carving into his palm and fingers. Rarity winced but kept up the attack, firing a blast from her horn that overwhelmed the defensive baston and hit his shoulder, burning flesh and sending him spinning to the ground. Before he could hit he vanished, appearing beside her while reoriented in mid-air, with a kick aimed at the center of her back.

Another shield stopped it, but the force cratered the soft rock below her hooves, marring her balance enough that she couldn’t follow up as he regained his footing. His next strike cracked a bone in one of her hind legs, but overextending put him in range of the other. She heard, and felt, two of his ribs crack under the force of the kick. He wheezed, backpedaling as she brought Joyeuse up to touch the tip to his throat. The floating baston caught it, but was carved in half by the superior weapon, and the blade reached him. A thin line of blood ran down it as Rarity’s eyes widened.

I… I got him!

Aiden grinned. “Goddamn, darlin’... you got me.”

Their injuries vanished as the dreamscape reset, becoming the nostalgic campfire with its surprisingly comfortable log. Aiden gave Rarity a quick, martial bow, which she returned before giggling ecstatically. “That makes one to… well a lot, but still!”

Aiden nodded, sitting down to take a break. Even if the injuries didn’t last, they still felt the exertion of the used magic. “Damn right. It’s amazing how far you’ve come in such a short time. Pretty sure I’ve said that before, but it bears repeating.”

“I’ve had a great teacher,” she replied, hopping up onto the log next to him and nuzzling his cheek before planting a quick kiss by his ear. She sighed happily as a hand ran down her side, a caress and a hug. “Still,” she continued, raising an eyebrow at him, “How much are you holding back? And don’t lie to me.”

“Hmm,” he hummed, pondering briefly. “In terms of technique, I’m not, too much. Other than like, dropping more cars on you or something, but that’s not really good for training, other than training you to ‘doooodge!’.” She snickered her agreement. “Speed and power… maybe a little. I can’t like… give you a percentage, but less and less as time’s gone by, and not just in here. Speaking of ‘in here…’ though… Princess Luna? Can you hear us?”

“I am here, Aiden, Rarity,” Princess Luna replied, appearing suddenly from within the moon before descending gracefully to stand by the fire. Rarity grinned happily as she took in the spectacle of the Princess of the Night. Luna returned the look with a smile of her own, and a nod of acknowledgment to each of them. “I have observed your training with great interest. It’s been some time since I’ve seen humans and ponies training together. It’s most nostalgic.”

“Thanks for the chance to get some last minute practice in,” Aiden said. Rarity nodded her agreement. “Any word from Canterlot?”

“Some, yes. My Lieutenant has successfully escaped the city, bypassing the shield via the waterfalls below the foundations. I believe it can serve as your ingress as well.”

“That’s great news… assuming Garken doesn’t just want to punch the shield to death. Your lieutenant though… Falling Leaf, wasn’t it? Is she alright?”

Luna sighed. “She is physically well, though regrettably she witnessed several comrades falling in battle while she was forced to flee. She has a powerful weapon of the enemy in her possession and could not risk them regaining it. It was the correct decision, but she blames herself for Captain Sunshower’s death nonetheless.”

Aiden winced. He knew that feeling only too well. Rarity pressed against him comfortingly. She, too, was no stranger to that guilt. “What about Raven, and Discord?” Rarity asked.

“While a fragment of Discord’s consciousness did manage to escape, the lion’s share of his power and knowledge are trapped within the stone. Raven too, is still trapped in the castle. But to our knowledge, they are the only captives.”

“That’s something then,” Aiden said. “Getting them out will be our priority.”

“Agreed, darling.”

“My sister will be most grateful. In the past half year or so, she and Raven have grown quite close. And, in an odd sort of way, Discord is her oldest… mmm... acquaintance.”

Rarity giggled.

“Well then, one marefriend and one acquaintance to be fetched from the captive castle. Quest accepted, your highness,” Aiden said. Rarity nodded her agreement, tossing Luna a quick salute.

The Night Princess smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, because it’s nearly time for you both to wake up.”

Preparation in the very early morning had been quick, simple, and nearly silent. Rarity was wearing the same armored cloth barding she’d received from Grumman, and Aiden was in his combat uniform. Even bathing and mane care had been quick and to the point: Rarity’s mane and tail were both in tight buns. Aiden’s hair, short enough that its messy nature didn’t hinder anything anyway, looked to have seen a comb at least. Rarity’s eyebrow twitched a bit looking at it, but that was a discussion for another time. A short breakfast and they were off, shifting through Aiden’s verse in a portal hop spam trip to Canterlot. Gram and Gwendolyn didn’t keep them waiting, but did remain utterly silent during the trip. Rarity couldn’t blame them; without being accustomed to it (or having Joyeuse to lean on), Aiden’s travel method definitely took some getting used to.

“What do you think we’re in for?” She asked from her seat in the flower garden. While she hadn’t truly explored Aiden’s verse (and at over 300 meters in diameter there was a fair bit to it), she already suspected this would be her favorite spot, and it was always where they returned to.

“Wish I could say. By what little we know from the princesses and Buncord-”

Rarity snickered.

“Briareus is strong and well-prepared, at least personally, for what he expected to find here. He had to assume you and I would make it here, so that included us even before the attack on Ponyville failed. Whether or not he’ll have specific tricks or weapons in mind to use against us I can’t say. But he had two for Discord, and his armies fought humans for ten years, so I’m not ruling it out. It’s not the Oni-koru approach, but to hear several of their officers tell it, their king has a different traditional tact than their soldiers.”

“That never made sense to me.”

“Eh… I kind of get it. A soldier follows orders from the country he serves, but he can’t be expected to keep the big picture of the entire war in mind when the bullets are flying. Conversely, the leader isn’t expected to make decisions based on those bullets. He has to treat his army as a resource… both renewable and, in some cases, expendable.”

Rarity grimaced. “I see why you stepped down from a higher officer position.”

Aiden nodded. “My hat’s off to those who can make the cold-blooded decisions necessary to win sometimes… but I suck at Chess. Those pawns have families…” He smiled over at her. “I prefer to just be a knight, protecting my Queen. Or Princess, if she prefers that title.”

She snorted derisively, though couldn’t quite keep the blush from her cheeks. “That was a terrible line! Besides, you’re a Knight Lieutenant, and here you are defending all of Equestria, so it doesn’t even apply!”

He chuckled. “Well sure, gotta keep my Queen’s castle safe and all.”

“All of Equestria is my castle, you say?”

“Maybe not all of it… but I feel like most of your stuff is here, so, close enough.”

“True… oh, we seem to be closing in.” It was a simple matter to watch the world, even with the strobing effect of Aiden’s portal hopping, thanks to Joyeuse’s calming song and her connection to Aiden’s talent. Filtering out his verse to see just the outside world left her with a view of them hopping their way up the Canterhorn, which she had to admit was an odd sight.

“Yeah… you realize I’ve gotten faster? I mean I think we knew that but it’s really messing with my math.”

“I’m sure you’ll adjust in time, dear.”

“Speaking of adjusting…” With that, the angle of the portals changed as he altered their course. Rarity knew why; she could sense the familiar darkness of the one they were meeting, the one they’d be storming a hostile Canterlot with. ...This was going to be an odd day.

Garken examined the shield carefully, while the griffons flew in a scouting perimeter and Tempest stood nearby, looking bored but disciplined. He nodded decisively. “I can break this without too much trouble. With help, I can generalize the force of the destruction to make our actual point of attack unclear. I can’t tell for certain how many soldiers he has with him inside, but at least three generals. The shield obscures lesser auras. Any opinions on the matter?”

Tempest shook her head. “Analysis of a magical effect in progress isn’t really my forte. Focusing on that sort of thing requires a properly working horn.”

“Fair enough. What about strategies for storming a city of an unknown number of combatants with a numerically inferior force?”

“Conventional wisdom would say ‘don’t’, but our force is unconventional. I’d recommend stealth, at least until the castle, and then a distraction to pull enemy forces away from an extraction team for the captives.”

He grinned, and nodded. “Agreed.” He looked over at where Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were talking quietly. The latter had an impressively bruised cheek over what were almost certainly broken bones, but Garken paid that little mind. Her power capacity jump from when her clone had died was far more interesting, and that capacity had already nearly topped off. They were strong, both of them. Far stronger than they let on, or maybe even realized. It would be interesting to see how they fought, particularly her at full strength, if she even could. He could see it in her… fear of being feared. Fear of becoming the monsters you fought, of losing yourself. It was something he’d seen many times… something some could argue he’d lived. He had lost a great deal… and what, really, had he ever gained?

His arm itched, and the blue glow radiated gently around the scar. Hmph. I suppose I still have time to answer that.

They were approaching; he could feel it. At the same time he looked up, he noticed Twilight Sparkle’s ears twitch in the direction of their approach. He felt a twinge, and smiled, remembering her ears doing the same sort of thing.

And then, out of seemingly nowhere, there they were. The griffons he dismissed; they were disoriented and would need a moment to recover from the strange aether flow that accompanied Aiden’s portals. But Aiden, and Rarity…

They both looked to have grown a bit, if not physically. Their victory against him in Baltimore had done them a considerable favor, and coming to this world had built on that foundation of strength. Rarity might not have matched either of the other two ‘Element Bearers’ in pure power, but the feel about her gave him confidence that she’d be reliable in the coming conflict. And perhaps she had more she could learn.

Aiden stepped forward, and Garken fought a smirk as he locked stares with the esper. But the human’s gaze didn’t waver as he looked up at the much taller warrior. Garken felt his magic gathering, but there was no hostile intent in it. There was anger, tightly controlled, and wariness (he’d be a fool otherwise), and… something else. Something that made the scar in his arm, and his chest, burn oddly. The young Esper held out a hand, and Garken could feel the portal that instantly, smoothly divided reality.

He wasn’t prepared for the next feeling as Keia’s sword appeared in Aiden’s hand. The human held it out, pommel first, to Garken. “She was your student, right? I took this from her in our final battle, but not as a trophy. Under the circumstances, I’d like to return it.”

Garken grit his teeth, clamping down on any emotional display. “In our last battle, you used it against me.” He wasn’t angry about that, quite the contrary in fact, and yet...

“Technically that was me,” Rarity said from Aiden’s side. When had she stepped forward? How long had he been staring at the blade?

*

Six Years ago…

“You have failed me! You most of all! My newest General! I gave you the enemy you wanted, with your assurances of victory! You didn’t merely lose, you saved the humans’ lives afterward! What have you to say? How will you beg for my mercy?!” Briareus screamed at an indifferent Keia Luxuria. No, more than indifferent, she was grinning. Small, gleaming fangs struck a stark contrast to darkened lips as her ears seemed to almost dance in their twitching amusement.

To Garken, who knew her better than anyone ever would, she might as well have been rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. Instead, she stood insouciantly, her remaining hand resting on her hip. “I won’t,” she replied casually. “I fought, and lost. After that, I decided to help my enemies survive, since no objectives were left to contest. A show of respect, strength to strength. Windborne could have executed me on the spot had he wished.”

Briareus stepped forward, towering over the newest oni general. “It is not for you to decide what objectives we have,” he whispered, clamping down on his fury for a moment. “You are MY general. ...Were. Now you are a traitor. Grand Marshal Caedum… execute this trash immediately.”

Garken’s eyebrow went up, his hesitation clear. “You want me to kill her… my king?”

“FOLLOW MY ORDERS, GRAND MARSHAL. DO NOT TAKE THIS WRETCH’S EXAMPLE!”

Keia burst out laughing as she glanced sidelong at Garken. “Oh my… it’s been awhile since you’ve acknowledged me beyond being your student, old man! How delightful on my deathbed!”

“SILENCE!” Briareus screamed, backhanding her hard enough to stagger her. She regained her stance almost immediately, blood running down her lip. Her grin was no longer subtle.

“Can I have another, oh mighty king?” she taunted in a husky purr.

He snarled in rage, and thrust an open hand into her face. A blast of energy larger than her body exploded from that open palm, engulfing her completely. Garken started in shock… it was no magic he’d ever felt. And Briareus’ hand… were those... talons? What was….

Keia, inside the cascade of magic, was laughing again. “It’s so warm! Is this death?! It’s wonderful!” She cackled as her voice took a sarcastic edge. “Thank you, oh mighty king! Any lingering guilt I felt…” She coughed, and Garken could see her outline fading inside the blinding light. “Farewell… fa...” Her voice trailed off as her body, her very essence, were rent apart.

“Hmph. It seems you’ll be spared having to prove your loyalty. I’ve taken the pleasure of executing the traitor myself. Return to the surface and coordinate with the remnants of Maegren’s group. Our next attack will be soon; I will not allow the humans a moment to celebrate their victory.

Fingers bit into flesh as Garken clenched both hands. “Yes, my king.” On that day, he left the service of King Briareus.

*

With a neutral expression, despite the warmth emanating from his scars, Garken reached out and took the offered blade. He was surprised when he had no impulse to turn and swing it at the human’s head. Not that he would have done so even had said impulse surfaced, but the feeling of calm that ran through him instead was completely unexpected. He sighed softly, shutting his eyes a moment. “Thank you, for returning this,” he said simply.

Aiden, for his part, seemed caught just as off guard. Seemed he’d expected an attack as well. “Uh… you’re welcome. Seemed the thing to do.”

“Generous of you.”

Rarity smiled softly as she regarded the human. Ah, those two have bonded more strongly. I wonder how they overcame the differences in species. Not that it mattered. And her eyes hardened to sapphire-like glint as she looked up at him. “Johnathan would have wanted us to give you a chance, despite everything. So we will. Please, don’t make us regret it.”

Between the warmth in his arm, and the sword, and the sincerity in her eyes, eyes I respect beyond any expectation, he surprised himself by bowing deeply to her. “Upon the life of my child, I swear my fealty to your cause. So long as Briareus threatens Equus, I will serve in its defense.”

Rarity reared back on one forehoof, surprised by the gesture. “I… accept your pledge. Thank you, Garken Caedum, for helping us. ...I didn’t know you had a child.”

Garken smiled, and locked eyes with Aiden. “You just gave me back her sword.”

13. Forging Ahead

Aiden stared, wide-eyed, at Garken. “Keia… was your daughter? I never knew.”

“Why would you have?” Garken replied absently, looking at the blade as runes upon its surface glowed faintly. “It wasn’t your concern.”

Aiden sighed, then snorted a faint chuckle. “I guess not. Still… there’s somepony I think I’ll introduce you to at some point.”

“I don’t think I’m quite ready to go native just yet, Windborne,” Garken muttered, banishing the blade with a flick of his wrist.

“Oh, and here I thought we were bonding,” Tempest chimed in dryly.

“I’ll buy you a drink after we knock over the pretty castle there,” he replied, flicking a thumb towards the energy shield covered Canterlot, and its castle in the distance.

“I’d rather we didn’t… but do what you have to to get in and out.” Twilight spoke up, stepping toward the group.

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “What happened to your face.”

“We’re at war, Rarity, I took a shot to the face. It happens.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Don’t lie for me. I hit her, because I was freaking out. It was stupid and it won’t-”

“Hold it a moment, everyone,” Aiden said firmly. “...Does anyone have a grievance that absolutely must be aired before we head into the city to save hostages?”

Silence.

“Good. Then here’s the plan. Garken and… Tempest, was it?” She nodded. “Will cause chaos in the city and draw out any enemies they can from the castle. Sir Gram and Dame Gwendolyn will join them, along with… err…”

“Sir Gareth,” Gareth supplied. “And these are Sir Gaheris and Dame Galina.”

Aiden blinked. “Gareth… and Gaheris…? Uh… any relation?”

Gareth tilted his head. “Third cousins in fact; how did you know?”

“...Lucky guess. You wouldn’t know anyone named Gawain, would you?”

Gareth’s eyes went wide. “You know my elder brother as well?!”

Aiden facepalmed. “The universe has a sense of humor. I don’t know whether that’s reassuring right now… ANYway… you all join Garken and Tempest. Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, and I will infiltrate the castle and get the hostages out, one way or another. If Rarity and I can’t use my Inner Verse, Twilight can teleport them, or Rainbow can fly them out.”

“Hmph,” Tempest said, “and we’ll just… rage around?”

“I support this plan,” Garken said solemnly.

“But why does the universe have a sense of humor?” Gareth muttered absently.

“We have intel that we can get in and out via the waterfalls beneath the city. However, breaking the shield gives us a quick way out in any direction, and an initial distraction, so I feel that’s the better option. Anyone have a good method in mind? ...And Sir Gareth, I’ll tell you later, but it’s a coincidence between your world and mine. ...Hardly the first I’ve heard of.”

“Fair enough, I shall look forward to hearing all of your tales after this engagement. ...I shall take it as a personal insult if you fail to survive.”

Aiden chuckled. “Noted. Anyone have any questions?” No one did. “Right, Our group will give yours five minutes to assault the castle before we head in. We’ll be using my method of travel, since they’re more likely to be on guard for Equestrian tricks. Again, any ideas on the shield?”

Garken was grinning as he stepped towards it. He clasped his large, sinewy hands together and flexed, cracking knuckles. He did the same with his neck before rolling his shoulders. “I have a plan.”

“...You’re going to punch it, aren’t you?”

“Possibly multiple times. Briareus may be the Hundred Fist, but I know how to set up destructive resonance well enough. This shield won’t last long.”

Twilight tilted her head. “You’re going to dispel it by… punching it a lot?”

“Precision punching, your highness. Rapid, and perfectly timed to take advantage of the previous punch’s effect on the shield’s output.

“Causing a resonance… yes I see,” she said, eyes going distant as she worked through the math. “That’s really clever… though I could probably just pull the spell apart. It’s not the cleanest construction, aetherically speaking. Shiny makes much better shields.”

“Defense has never really been our area of focus,” Garken admitted. “Most of our ‘fortifications’ are designed to lure in enemies to fight rather than guard much of anything. The Spires launched on Earth were more elaborate than usual, complete with death traps and labyrinthine interiors… because we were losing and Briareus ordered it. As you noticed, the Spire you found here was unimpressive.”

“Other than linking its General to the other Spires and a continuous supply of magical energy,” Twilight muttered with a grimace.

“Other than that,” Garken agreed as he trailed his fingers along the shield, causing small ripples on its surface. “But in any case, no. We are the distraction; you are the rescue team. Do not tip your hand; let him see that I am the one coming for him.”

“If you’re sure…” she acceded. “Ready to go, Aiden?”

“Yeah, let’s-”

“Wait!” Rainbow said suddenly. “I want to see this!”

“We could be in before it’s down, following the waterfall entrance,” Aiden pointed out.

“Do you really need to watch a shield get broken, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, Rarity… I think I do. It takes power, speed, and precision, right? Twilight’s been working overtime to get ready for this, and you’ve been training like crazy. You!”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m the one slacking too much.” Rainbow replied, looking down at her forehooves. “If I really want Twilight not to have to blow herself up again-”

“Wait, she did what?”

“-Then I have to step up, too. And I think… I know what’s he doing. I need to see it though.”

Garken raised an eyebrow at the pegasus, gauging her commitment. She looked up, meeting that gaze, and he nodded. “Very well, little pony. Watch carefully. As I said, we don’t specialize in shielding, so make of this technique what you may.”

“What did she mean you blew yourself up?”

“I’m fine, Rarity.”

“I can see that, but-”

A thrumming impact, like a massive drum, interrupted the conversation as Garken hit the shield with a straight punch that sent a shockwave reverberating through the domed energy and the air itself. With a brief nod as if confirming, he hit it again in a different spot, then again more quickly.

Then his fists became a blur. Rainbow’s eyes were wide, pupils flicking slightly as she took in what was happening. Garken spoke calmly as the ripples began cascading and undulating on the surface. “Aiden, vanish your group as soon as it comes down, take the long way around while we go straight in.”

Cracks were forming as Garken’s energy was shooting upward. It was the strongest he’d felt since Baltimore, and Aiden nodded. They were ready. He felt the shield shatter as Garken struck it a final time, adding in a headbutt that may or may not have been necessary. Rainbow laughed as she, Rarity, Twilight, and Aiden vanished into the flower garden.

Tempest snorted as the shield came down. The crackling aether in the air made her broken horn buzz worse than usual, but it also meant she could channel a bit more. Unstable aether was easier to grab, if not control. If these conditions prevailed inside the city she’d have an advantage. They rushed down the street, the griffons taking to the air in cover formation, with the two from Ponyville (Gram and… Gwen… something) flying higher to scout over the buildings. Tempest had to give them credit; they took to working together with no talk needed. They just fell into line together with the discipline of trained troops. It was nice to be working with that. ...The Storm King’s Storm Guard were… competent... if one wanted simple, brute force. But these were trained knights. She was confident she’d appreciate the difference.

“Suggestions, Commander Shadow?” Garken asked, amusement clear in his voice as they ran down the main thoroughfare towards the castle. They were moving quickly and Canterlot wasn’t really all that large. They’d be there in minutes.

“Perhaps you should punch the door, Grand Marshal. Should get their attention.”

“I can do that, but I thought you might have something more interesting. You have sieged this city before.”

“It was a joke. I don’t know what Princess Celestia uses for a training regimen for her guards, but they were not ready for an attack on a festival day. ...To be fair, we did cloak the airships until we got close.”

“I wondered why Cloudsdale or the like didn’t spot you on approach…” Gareth muttered from a few feet above Tempest’s head.

“The Storm King had a few tricks up his sleeve or he wouldn’t have had the success he did. It’s not as though he was a brilliant tactician.”

“Heh… prepare for deja vu. My king never struck me as much of one either. Then again, we do tend to disdain tactics. If you plan out your enemies’ defeat, the fighting is less fun.” As if to emphasize his point, he flung a blast of energy through a nearby window, destroying a three story building with a massive detonation.

Gareth winced. “These are citizens’ homes. ...Also, I disagree that tactics aren’t fun. The look on an enemy’s face when they realize they’ve been outmaneuvered is priceless.”

“Eh, they can rebuild. And as to-”

Garken stopped as they all felt two of the three large aether concentrations in the castle disappear… and one reappear in front of them. The second was behind them, and the two were already channeling massive amounts of magical energy. Tempest didn’t recognize either of them, but fired a lightning blast at the one behind them. She was vaguely aware of Sir Gram and Dame Gwen diving at her target as well. No hesitation, no surprised moment of inaction. ...For that matter, no bumbling around waiting for orders the way the Storm Guard often did. I could get used to griffons.

Her attack hit to little effect. The Oni, a general certainly, if comparing her to Ferrana was any indication, seemed to largely shrug off the electricity skittering across her form. Her charging energy exploded outward in a wide shockwave, throwing Gram backward and staggering Tempest (who’d been the primary target) while Gwen pushed through the wave. At the last moment she struck with a short sword Tempest scarcely saw her draw.

The Oni blocked the swipe with a bone plated forearm and countered, knocking Gwen forcefully into the wall of a nearby building. The griffon bounded off and took to the sky, clearly dazed but not out.

Tempest charged forward, seeing her opponent’s bright red eyes narrow as their stares met. She’s strong… and she wants to kill me. ...Try it! A smaller energy burst hit the cobblestones where Tempest had been running, sending the unicorn dodging to the left. The Oni had already moved, sending the blade of a halberd from nowhere directly into Tempest’s new path. She spun, knocking it aside and landing a rear hoof on her target’s temple at nearly the same time. The Oni seemed to scarcely notice, and a hand grabbed her hoof and flung her into the air, using her momentum against her.

Shit. She struck with her magic again, deflecting the halberd that’d been thrown after her, stopping it from piercing her barrel by mere inches. Another blast of power hit the Oni, but again had little effect.

She’s like a block of steel… Which was the least of Tempest’s problems in that moment, or so she thought, since she was about to have a rather painful landing after being thrown half a block. She was bracing herself to roll with the impact when-

“Gotcha!” Gareth said with a grunt as he plucked her from the air, bleeding off their momentum as he skirted the street below.

“Nice catch. ...Thank you.” Tempest said simply.

“Not a problem… though these two are. If we can’t handle them we’ll never draw out Briareus. Not to mention… there could be reinforcements coming.” They landed, a brief respite as Gram and Gwen held the Oni’s attention, though they weren’t faring well. Tempest risked a look past them to see Garken fighting the other opponent, who was, if anything, stronger than theirs. His first attack spell had badly burned Garken’s right shoulder, and he was already bleeding from several wounds. Their strength is amplified by the corrupted crystals, but how does that help us… “Do you know anything about corrupted aetheryte?”

Gareth’s head tilted before his eyes went wide. “That’s their secret? I do know a bit. An ancient griffon king had a crown imbedded with the stuff. It made his already potent magic strong enough to go from flight and cloudwalking to complete weather control over much of Griffonstone’s surrounding countryside. ...But his mind crumbled as it eroded his very being. In the end, his assassination was a mercy killing, by his personal champion.”

“How was he killed?”

“His will had faded to the point that his champion could overpower his control of the gemmed crown. They both died in a massive stroke of lightning he called down.”

Tempest grinned. “Contest of wills, huh? I can do those.” She took off at a gallop as the Oni struck down Gram, stomping down on his already torn wing while Gwen struggled to rise.

A sneak attack consisting of hooves on cobblestone is not a thing unless one’s opponent is deaf. The Oni wasn’t, and Tempest was counting on it. Channeling lightning through herself, she thrust forward in an attack the Oni was too confused by to properly stop: she stabbed into her torso with her broken horn.

With the magic channeling like a blade of lightning from her horn, it broke through the Oni’s thin armor and pierced her flesh. That same magic, now channeling through both of them, did more harm to Tempest than the Oni, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it bridged the gap between her and the imbedded crystal.

Tempest screamed as the foul aether within the gems reached into her mind. Like tendrils of acidic horror, she felt it eating its way into her very soul. This… how could anyone… no, this isn’t… It wasn’t seductive or appealing. It didn’t call out to her, she couldn’t reach it to take it, not without wading through a pit of vitriol that would peel away her mind and soul, leaving her a burnt husk. This isn’t just the stone. She isn’t old and weakened. Her will is here. This is an Oni General. Her name... is Senias… and she is… I must stop her! I can’t let this thing hurt my… friends… Tempest pushed forward, feeling herself being eaten away.

Garken grappled with Maegren while attempting to keep the now much stronger Oni-koru from killing him outright. It was utterly repulsive to be surpassed so cheaply; he could feel the corrupt strength of his opponent calling out to him. Because you were never stronger… only easier to fool. You are nothing on your own merits.

He caught a sword thrust, blood bursting from his hand as he directed it away from his eye. You have killed billions… whole civilizations have fallen to what you were. And now… you are nothing.

No! I was nothing then! I had earned nothing! His own blade, the one that killed Johnathan, appeared in his hand as he parried another attack. The two griffons that stayed with him had dived to help, but Sir Gaheris had suffered a debilitating wound almost immediately as Maegren materialized his blade, a black amalgamation of titanium alloy and corrupt aetheryte crystal. The griffon’s sword and armor had done nothing to stop it from driving through his chest. Had he not turned at the last moment he’d already be dead. As it was… Dame Galina had caught him and pulled him aside from a finishing strike, taking a shallow cut along her hind leg as payment for saving her comrade.

“Your helpers are out of their league, but then so are you.” Maegren said simply, ignoring a deep gash Garken scored upon his sword arm. Reasonably, since it healed almost instantly. “Our king grants us our power. I am not merely stronger than you now… I am superior in all ways. You cannot win.”

The whispers, and Garken now knew them to be from Maegren’s own enhancements, continued. You… were nothing, even then. You thought you earned your own strength, but how long ago did HE give you the aetheryte that made it possible?

I resisted its calling! I disobeyed him, forged my own way! I-

-Crippled your nemesis because you could not stand that his strength was pure… Watched your child die... Killed the one being that acknowledged you... Your first battle against the humans was like this. Brave, and strong, yet they fell to you like hewn wheat. Completely unable to face such a monster… Because bravery, determination… they mean nothing. You think yourself stronger with them, and not this power you threw away? Fool!

No… That was a lie. The humans had lost that day… but unable? No. He hadn’t killed them all. He hadn’t broken them. Enough escaped, got stronger, kept fighting. Their will… He’d known then… He grinned as he felt Maegren’s sword pierce his chest. He dropped his own blade, grabbing his enemy’s wrist with both hands.

They didn’t need to win that day; they just had to not lose it all. He laughed. Maegren twisted the blade, but it didn’t matter. He could feel what was happening behind him. And as Maegren looked past him, he knew that the Oni-koru Grand Marshal was seeing what he’d seen that day, over a decade ago. I don’t need to win… because I’m not alone. “It’s something, isn’t it?” he said casually, still grinning as blood ran down his lips. “Watching heroes rise up amongst your enemies. Pity you didn’t kill them first. You won’t get the chance now. But even if some fall… the rest are forged in their flames as they do. You couldn’t crush them, just as I couldn’t. ...But...”

Maegren’s eyes focused back to Garken, wide in shock. He tried to free his sword, but then froze as a much larger blade impaled him from behind. Keia’s sword, responding to the lightest request of Garken’s power, had struck his enemy and imbedded itself in the road below. Before he could remove it, a spinning blade impaled his head from the side. Garken looked over to see Dame Galina’s arm cocked from the throw. Snarling, Maegren faded and vanished, Galina’s sword fell towards the street before Garken caught it. Limping over, he handed it back to her.

“Is he dead?” she asked simply while reclaiming her weapon.

“No, an escape teleport. It takes a lot of magic for us, and between that and his injuries he’ll be unable to threaten our rescue team. Teleporting to pincer us was a gambit to begin with. Mission accomplished… assuming they can handle Briareus.” Garken gestured to Gaheris, whom she was half-cradling. “Is he dead? Or rather, will he die?”

“No. I was able to use a healing powder to mend his wound and a potion to replenish lost blood. He will recover consciousness soon, but cannot fight for many days. I will take him from here and find a safe place.” She looked over at the others, and her voice took on a note of awe. “...But… can… can you explain what Sir Gareth and Commander Shadow did?”

Looking over, Garken saw that Gwendolyn was tending to Gram’s maimed wing, and they would both likely be alright. The other three bodies… Two were unconscious, and one all but ash. He chuckled. “I prefer to preserve the mystery.”

Galina snorted derisively. “...You don’t know, do you?”

“Not really, no.”

*Moments Prior*

Tempest screamed silently in the darkest recesses of their shared minds. I don’t care! You won’t win! I overcame losing myself once, I’ll do it again! You won’t win!!!

Foolish child. You think you can take this from me? I know you as well, now. Poor little Fizzlepop… you think me a monster?! How many families suffered for your silly little horn? Who will you sacrifice here?! Who will you betray?! What price will you demand others pay for you?! You think you know sacrifice?! You think you’re ready-

I am! I am a monster who gave up everything… to serve her own greed. The life I could have built. The friends I could have asked for help. The ones I could have forgiven. The harder path I could have taken. She saw, in her mind’s eye, Twilight smiling at her, saving her. She pressed forward, feeling her flesh tear away. She didn’t care. They forgave me. They accepted me. You cannot take that. She knew that there would be no Staff to restore her this time; she would crumble away just as he had. But just like then, she’d take her enemy with her...

A brush, like a feather across her muzzle. What? Who had asked? Senias? Herself? No… Another presence joined hers, calming the storm within. I see her too… Tempest… Fizzlepop? Is that… your name…?

Gareth?!

I couldn’t let you do this alone, milady.

...Help me reach the center of this miasma! Can you see it?

Yes! Let me part the currents for you, ...Commander! Together, we will reach the eye of this foul storm! She will not hold against us!

Sir Gareth of Griffonstone. In that moment, Tempest knew him. If we’d fought at Canterlot… you might have won.

Nay, milady… my Commander. We’d have both lost.

You SHALL both lose!

Two wills, forged together in that moment of understanding, turned to the shrieking presence before them. A griffon’s sharp eyes and the strong magic of a gifted unicorn saw through it all. The Oni’s resolve, potent and vile, held them from their goal no longer. They surged forward, contesting her for control of the foul puissance that engulfed them all.

And won.

14. Chaos Beckons

Tempest’s eyes opened reluctantly. She felt as though she’d walked through a fire… backwards, slowly, while dragons fueled it from the sides. “First time… my horn hasn’t hurt… in years…”

Gareth chuckled from next to her, though she couldn’t turn to look at him. “I believe it’s just your ‘everything else’ hurting more. I’m reminded of my first joust.”

“...Did you win?”

“I think I still have splinters from that day.”

“I’m not hearing a ‘no’...”

She felt a familiar presence approach, and she could feel his good humor. “Tempest, I regret to inform you that your victory over an empowered Oni-koru General has not resulted in some sort of transcendent state. Frankly, you smell like singed horsehair and it’s terrible.”

“Bite my singed, stinking flank, Garken Caedum.”

He grinned down at her, showing off impressive fangs. “Tempt not a hungry carnivore, little pony.”

She snorted. “The last wolf who tried eating me got his teeth knocked out. ...Then I got mean.” She struggled slowly to her hooves, waving off his offer of help though giving him a little smile of thanks for it. “So we won?”

“You killed General Senias, Grand Marshal Maegren Fallo has quit the field. Killing Senias is a fine accomplishment though; she was a sociopath.”

“And you aren’t?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Jury’s still out, Ms. Kettle.”

Tempest grinned at him. “So now what?”

Gareth stood up heavily next to her. “Bluntly, Commander, we should withdraw. Dame Gwendolyn is relatively unharmed, but the rest of us are in no condition to continue. Losses would be inevitable for very little gain.”

Tempest glanced sidelong at him, but then nodded. “Agreed. We’ll have to hope it was enough heat off of them.”

Garken nodded, but turned toward the castle. “Go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“You’re not charging in alone; you’re injured too,” Gareth protested.

Garken turned back to him, lifting the remains of the already tattered shirt he’d been wearing. The flesh beneath showed the thin red line of a large, new scar, but no wound to speak of. “I heal faster than you. I can continue to be a thorn in Briareus’ side, and I intend just that. I’ll catch a ride out with Windborne and company. Go on.”

Tempest’s eyes narrowed. “If you die doing something stupid, I’ll erect you a grave just so I can spit on it and then write ‘Here lies a moron. He died the way he lived, like a moron.”

He laughed loudly. “I’d have it no other way, Tempest Shadow.” Before she could stop him, he reached out and tousled her mane. “Now get your troops out of here. They deserve some R&R after a successful op.” He turned again to the castle and vanished in a blur.

“Dammit. ...Let’s get out of here.” Moving faster than was comfortable, but damned if she’d mention it, she led her battered group out of Canterlot.

“This is really remarkable, Aiden. This entire place is folded into your natural aether field… I can scarcely calculate the amount of energy it would’ve taken to pull that off!”

“Scarcely?” Rarity asked, sounding amused.

“Well, I might be off past four decimal places, measuring in thaums,” Twilight replied distractedly, more focused on looking around. “Your field permeates everything here. ...You’re stronger than it seems from the outside, you know? I see how you cracked my floor now.”

Aiden laughed sheepishly. “Yeah… sorry about that. A lot of it is a recent development though… thanks in no small part to Rarity.”

“Least I could do, darling.”

“You sure I can’t fly around a bit?” Rainbow asked, looking around with equal curiosity.

“Sorry, not this time. I’m portal hopping us while Rarity narrows your senses to only see my verse here. Within twenty feet or so is fine, but any more than that and I have to snag you individually every time, which slows us down a lot. Like this, I can go about as easy as walking. Let’s not waste any energy before we get in there.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Rainbow admitted. “Some other time though. The winds in here are pretty interesting.”

“Properly directed, you can use the aether currents in here to increase the winds, create a sort of jet stream. I played around with it as a method to increase my offensive abilities, but couldn’t do much with it. It… used to be uncomfortable for me to stay in here too long, and I didn’t know the real reason…” His eyes narrowed. “Rarity, is this..?”

“Yes, darling, if you angle up we can get a look through the broken windows before we go in.”

“We want to give them a few minutes. I’m stopping inside here.” The portal spam ended, and they sat in the garden with only the lightest thrum of aetheric noise around them. Aiden sighed in contentment, appreciating the moment. Compared to the resonance of what had turned out to be the slumbering souls of the victims of the Seattle attack, the current humming was a touch of serenity.

“...Jet stream, huh? Bet I could set new speed records in here if that’s the case.”

“Wouldn’t that be cheating, Rainbow?”

“Personal records, Rarity, nothing I’d brag about.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“No, really! See how fast I can get in optimal conditions, take note of everything, and then reach for that in normal conditions, like the next Equestria Games or something, you know?”

“You should be focused on what’s directly in front of you, Rainbow Dash.”

She nodded. “I know. I’m distracting myself. There’s three really strong monsters in there, but that’s not even the problem. It’s like a chill wind blowing from the wrong direction, you know?”

“I… can’t say I do, no.”

Rainbow grimaced, trying to find the words. “Something’s out of place. We’re going in to bust up a storm, and I feel like there’s a tornado waiting to hit us the moment we do. But I can’t see where it’s hiding.”

Twilight’s head shot up. “Not three monsters anymore. Can you feel that?!”

Aiden’s eyes were wide. “The two smaller of the three just left. Hah, Garken’s team did it… mostly.”

“Shall we give them more time?” Rarity asked.

“No. Can’t risk the two seeing it’s a ruse, and frankly I don’t want them to have to face all three. We’re going in now.”

Twilight nodded, her horn lit as Rainbow took to the air, hovering just above them. Joyeuse floated at high guard next to Rarity, and Aiden reached out a hand to catch a baston, while the other sat in the air near his shoulder. A portal opened to just above the broken window, and he looked down at the being most directly responsible for five hundred million deaths on Earth. King Briareus of the Oni-koru looked right back at him in that eye blink of time, unnaturally fast. Aiden flung a baston surrounded by telekinetic force, opening five portals at once as, in that single moment, he stared down the tyrant nemesis of two worlds.

The first portal swallowed the baston before it reached him, a feint that had his hands moving up to block and his attention tunneled. The second opened near the unicorn chained to the wall. The third opened near the Discord statue, but (unsurprisingly) failed to move the aetherically massive object. Aiden, it turned out, could no more push even a statue of Discord than he could raise the sun, but it had been worth a try and had even shuddered a bit… he thought. The fourth portal put them on the floor of the throne room. The fifth opened beside Briareus’ head, causing him to jerk away and adjust his block…

Meaninglessly, as the baston flew out through portal two, smashing into and through the chain holding Raven. Another portal opened to get her away, but a pulse of aether through the room smashed it as Briareus roared furiously.

“YOU DARE!”

“Sure do,” Aiden muttered, blinking away as a blast of aether flew past where he’d stood. He reappeared at the monster’s left, a swing already in progress…

...When a fist smashed into him, throwing him backward. Briareus followed, towering over the human as he threw another massive, nearly instantaneous strike. Aiden blocked, the aether infused baston bending under the force of the attack. And then another, and another, and then ten more as the Hundred Fist lived up to his name. Aiden had regained his footing and redoubled his defensive strength, even correcting the damage to his weapon, but in only a handful of seconds any advantage was gone. His arm cracked but aether reinforced it. Fingers broke and began mending. Twenty punches landed into faltering blocks and dodges...

And then Rainbow plowed into Briareus.

Taken off guard in his tunnel vision on a hated Esper, he staggered under the force of the pegasus at nearly the speed of sound. Aiden backstepped as Rainbow pressed the attack, and he risked a glance at Twilight. His eyes went wide as he saw her hovering, the light of her horn suffused by a massive overglow.

He couldn’t feel anything. She could have been lighting a candle. She opened her eyes, and they were glowing white. “Now, Rainbow,” she said simply. Without waiting for a reply, she fired.

It would have lit one hell of a candle. Rainbow shifted right as what looked to Aiden like the Death Star Superlaser shot past them both. Briareus saw it incoming, and threw both fists at it, inches apart one atop the other.

He might have destroyed the blast; the strength in those fists laughably surpassed ordinary physical force. But Joyeuse threaded through his defense like a needle, piercing his right hand and marring his counterattack. The energy hit his fists and exploded just as Joyeuse vanished, its damage done. Briareus was flung backward, smashing into the far wall and sliding limply down it with his fists charred nearly beyond recognition.

His magic was already recovering as he stopped himself from hitting the floor. “How… dare… you,” he said simply, standing up. His throne exploded, caught in his magic and flung about the room in a storm of stone debri. Joyeuse danced, deflecting the results of the improvised attack away from Rarity and Raven. Twilight shielded herself with no effort, Rainbow at her side, and Aiden still couldn’t feel any power from her. It was almost distracting enough that he was hit by the shards of marble himself. Almost. The floating baston lacked Joyeuse’s flourishes, but it took care of defense in its utilitarian way. But that wasn’t the reason they hadn’t pressed the attack.

The aetheric force in the room had become stifling.

Briareus was King of the Oni-koru, and clearly not for nothing a race that so valued strength would follow him. The depths of his reserves seemed bottomless. His initial surprise was gone, and now there was only anger… anger at the little birds who dared flap around in front of a dragon.

“Why are you doing this?” Twilight asked.

“Hmph… you even bother asking that, little princess?” he answered disdainfully, stepping towards her.

“I don’t mean attacking Equestria, or even Equus. I never get a good answer to that one anway. I sometimes think villains don’t even know what they’re really doing… But no, I mean… why are you hiding what you really are?”

There was quiet laughter in the room… from the (headless) Discord statue.

“SILENCE!” Briareus screamed at it, before turning to Twilight as the anger fell from his face. “And frankly, little princess, you’re one to talk. Hiding your magic itself… is there some purpose to that at this juncture? Why not fight me at my full strength?”

“Oh, that?” She smiled beautifically at him. “I needed a few seconds to find something without you noticing. You see… I know how to reverse Discord’s magic. I’ve known for awhile now, since we first faced him. I don’t mean freeing my friends from his mind warping, or Spike and Celestia freeing me from it. I mean, full-stop, returning Harmony to Chaos.” Her smile became a grin as an ear twitched, and her pupils shrank. “I also learned… how to go the other way…”

Her teeth ground together as her magic exploded outward, washing through the oppressive Oni’s dominating power. But it didn’t dispel it or even fight it. Instead…

Crack…

The Discord statue shuddered, riddled with cracks, and fell over…

And shattered.

“Wha-!” Twilight started, before more laughter interrupted her.

“Oh my dear, dear Twilight… I really have been underestimating you!” Discord’s voice filled the throne room. “I’d have never thought you’d come so far… but I suppose I can’t be too surprised. Such a lovely little bundle of neuroses… of course you understand Chaos better than you’d ever care to admit! Delightful! ...Any plans Saturday night?”

“Discord… where are you?!” Twilight asked, sounding worried.

“Oh, Twilight Sparkle… not all countermeasures are so kind as the Elements of Harmony. But… I’m free now, and I can recover, instead of being stuck in two places at once. ...Can you imagine being limited to only two places?! Preposterous!”

“No…” Briareus said, quiet but forceful. “You will not escape my grasp… you will-”

Briareus reared back as an oddly shaped stone flew through the air, hitting him in the forehead. It floated there in front of him…

...Discord’s stone head.

“Discord used Head Butt!” the head statue said. “...It’s not very effective. ...Discord used Self Destruct!” The head exploded in a flash and a bang, knocking Briareus off-kilter but doing little damage. Still, his control was shattered.

Before he could recover his stance, Aiden swept his legs. As the Oni fell he stepped away, opening four portals.

The first carried his backstep to across the room, near Rarity and Raven. Without even a word between them, he formed a shield interweaving with Rarity’s. The second portal placed itself in front of Twilight and Rainbow as a shield of sorts.

The third dropped a tanker truck into the throne room, directly atop Briareus. The fourth opened a hole in the side, and poured in a concentration of oxygen and a tiny, shielded match.

A touch of telekinesis struck the match, and the throne room exploded into flame. Briareus’ shriek of rage was drowned out by the wave of destruction washing over them all. And yet somehow, Aiden heard Rarity mutter “Weren’t we just here to rescue captives?”

“Meh,” Aiden replied, grinning. The portal in front of Twilight dropped away as Aiden opened another. The Falcon landed in the throne room.

“Aiden, what are you doing?!”

“Kicking ass…” Three portals opened as Briareus struggled to rise, dazed and still on fire. The first opened under him, forcing him to direct his magic downward or be pulled in (or worse halfway in). The second opened behind the Falcon’s main sublight thruster, and the third right behind Briareus.

“Twi, hold the ship in place!”

“Are you crazy!?”

“YES!”

A raspberry aura caught the Falcon as an orange flick of telekinesis activated the engine. Plasma shot through the portals, immolating Briareus.

He staggered forward, trying to marshal a defense as his flesh melted away. With a pained shriek, he blurred forward and away from the portal.

It closed, and another opened in front of him. He fell away from it reflexively, rolling away as portals spewing plasma followed him. At last he grabbed a massive column in his magic and yanked it down, flinging it at the Falcon, which vanished as Aiden sent it back through to his verse. The column hit the doors behind where the ship had been, smashing them open with surprising force. Clearly, Briareus had power to spare.

“I thought the batteries were dead on your ship!” Twilight said.

“They are, but the auxiliaries recharge themselves. They just aren’t worth much… can’t do that one again for awhile.” Aiden replied, thinking of the next move.

“Then couldn’t we have not crashed?” Rarity demanded.

“Not at the speed we had. Like I said, they’re not worth much. Oni-koru ‘engineering’.”

“Who cares?! That was awesome!” Rainbow said, taking to the air again. “But what do we do to keep this guy down?!”

It was a fair question. Briareus was slowly getting back up. His strength was wavering, but still almost impossible to gauge. What would it take? Aiden began recharging his magic. He could sympathize with the Falcon… he was running low...

“My king!” Maegren shouted as he appeared, shielding Briareus as he got to his feet.

Aiden cursed as he realized he’d lost track of the fight outside. Still, Maegren looked much the worse for wear.

And that was before Briareus slapped him with enough force to send a shockwave through the room.

“FOOL! You lost to that miserable traitor and a unicorn we’d already captured once?!”

“I prevented them from approaching, Your Majesty!” Maegren protested as he formed a shield around his king against any more attacks.

“...Yes, so you did.” Briareus muttered, reaching into what little remained of his robes. His hand came out with a large chunk of matte black crystal. “And now you will continue to serve in my defense.”

“I… of course! My king!” Maegren puffed out his chest despite the look of trepidation clear on his face.

Briareus shoved the crystal towards Maegren’s chest… and it vanished in a flash of light just before making contact.

“What?!”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, “But there really is a good reason shields should always defend against teleportation magic.”

Maegren’s shield shattered as Briareus fired a massive blast of aether through it, engulfing Twilight’s shield. The princess’ eyes went wide as her power buckled under the onslaught. Aiden felt it at last as she could no longer hide her power, pouring everything into defense. She was… amazing. There was a strength there to match Will’s in his prime. She had only begun to tap into what she could do… He could feel it now. Her power wasn’t diffuse between her friends. Her power was her friends. He could see it; her Element connected them all, drew upon the bonds forged between their very souls. She’d have died for them in an instant, killed for them without a thought. The darkness she feared in herself… they were the lights that kept it away. They were her everything. And she… she was their best hope.

And she was being pushed back… He charged, stepping through a portal only to have it shoved sideways, taking his exit portal five feet further from Briareus than intended. His strength was enough to push it back. Maegren attacked Aiden, but his movements were sluggish and weak compared to his King. He was clearly depleted from the battle outside. Aiden caught his wrist, breaking it easily as he twisted the larger fighter into his own momentum. He completed his spin, smashing Maegren brutally into the floor, crushing him into the marble as Aiden manipulated gravity around them during the swinging takedown.

Rarity had already charged past him, Joyeuse dancing around her like a hummingbird. It lit with the full force of her magic, shining brightly as she brought it down at Briareus. He caught it with one hand, still directing his dark aether at Twilight, but his attack faltered as his attention split and blood spurted from his already damaged hand. Twilight regained her balance, the cracks in her shielding mended.

Briareus’ fingers wrapped around Joyeuse and he wrenched it away from Rarity’s magic. Quicker than she could react, he leveled a brutal kick at her head.

Rainbow blocked it, appearing seemingly from nowhere in a prism flash as she caught his leg, slowing it enough for Rarity to duck. She reclaimed Joyeuse, pulling it straight back from his grasp. The pure aetheryte weapon sliced easily into his already charred, slashed fingers, carving them away. Rarity’s eyes went wide as Rainbow tackled her away from Briareus’ flailing attempt to crush them both.

“Aiden!” she cried out. “He isn’t healing!”

“What?! ….The hell…”

It was true. The Oni-koru healed from battle injuries quickly when their magic wasn’t exhausted. Granted, Briareus was focusing on mostly offense, but even so… healing was what the Oni did.

Briareus directed a second blast of energy, this one at Rarity, but Rainbow shoved her aside, yelling more in annoyance than pain as the blast singed her tail. The blast hit the wall near Raven, who’d crouched and stayed quiet the entire time. But in that moment… as Briareus was looking in her direction, but not right at her… her hoof flicked, and there was the tiniest glint in the air, the shine of metal reflecting light.

Briareus reeled back, a dagger buried in his left eye. His attack on Twilight flickered out entirely as he stumbled. Inspired, Rarity directed Joyeuse at the other eye, blinding him and more as the enhanced weapon impaled his head completely. Rarity winced, clearly taken aback by her own action in the heat of the moment, but she didn’t look away.

Aiden held out a hand, gathering strength. He grit his teeth as he poured everything he could into piercing Briareus’ scattered but still thick defenses.

Thirty portals opened. Each tore into the flesh and bone of the Oni-koru King. He fell to his knees, and then forward onto his face. His aura vanished from the room.

15. Fighting Fate

Author's Note

I blame Ciderfest... but hey now it counts for Nanowrimo...

15. Fighting Fate

The throne room was silent for a moment as the five of them stared down Briareus’ unmoving form. His magic had seemed to completely vanish, and yet no one dared even breath. The words ‘did we win?’ were on all their lips, but not one dared speak them for fear of jinxing it.

Of course, such is simply confirmation bias, and whether they’d spoken the words or not, the next five seconds would have been the same. Briareus’ body became incandescent as a new aura filled the room. Each of them had time to gasp a breath before the feeling became stifling, and in an instant before that aura struck, solidifying the very aether within each of them, Rarity vanished through a portal.

The four remaining in the room; Twilight, Rainbow, Raven, and Aiden; turned to stone as Kirin rose from his own ashes, fuming. But Rarity scarcely saw the beginnings of that as the portal closed with her on the other side, in the flower garden.

“Aiden!!! Let me out this instant!” She tried to channel magic to open a portal back out (despite how clearly ill advised that might have been), but to no avail. If she could grab them and pull them in, and all escape… but there was nothing to get hold of. The aether, usually so pliable, was like a wall of cement all around Aiden’s verse.

“Hmm… this is probably bad.”

“Aiden!” she cried, spinning around to the source of the voice… and stopping, eyes wide. Aiden was sufficed by a glowing aura, reminding Rarity a bit too strongly of Obi-wan from Empire… as in ‘dead and in spirit form’ Obi-wan. “...What happened? You’re… you’re not…” her lips trembled slightly as she looked at him.

Meanwhile, he was looking at his hands, and waving them at each other. “They can touch everything except themselves…” With that, he moved his hands through each other. It looked a bit creepy. “Huh, damn, they really can’t…” He blinked, caught her gaze, and tried to smile reassuringly. “Oh, err… no, not dead. ...Probably.”

“Well then let me out! I can grab all of you and phase us out of the castle and then the city. I may not have your speed with it but-”

“Won’t work, or at least not yet. I can’t open any portals since my brain is petrified.”

“Then what do we do?”

“I think I can break the spell on me by focusing aether from in here, but it’s going to take a minute, and I need to concentrate. ...Hopefully he doesn’t just smash me before I can succeed.”

“Agreed.” Rarity grimaced. “Err… darling… tell me something?”

Aiden sat in the grass, folding his legs under himself and shutting his eyes. “Something like what? I love you, by the way. Not the most romantic way to say it, or the best time or place, but-”

“No, not that… although you’re right and I love you, too, but… what happens to this place if you die?”

Aiden chuckled. “Oh, that. Well, assuming my soul isn’t destroyed, nothing. Just a little piece of disconnected space. The universe won’t even notice it’s still here. So… you’d have to dig your way out, figuratively, but I’m sure you’d manage just fine.”

“To be honest, I was less worried about me and more about what would happen to the others if this place suddenly manifested itself into our reality.”

“Ahh… yeah no, that wouldn’t happen; it’s not like it’s just my will holding it shut away or something. It’s stored within the magic of my soul, or some such, like a closet in the universe. Just because the guy with the key kicks the bucket doesn’t mean the door will fly open. At worst it becomes uncoupled and adrift.” He chuckled, and the glow around him increased as his will began drawing in the aether around him. “If I were some kind of bomb we could have just thrown me at the Oni mothership years ago and blown it all straight to Hell.”

“Morbid, darling.”

“Eh, I’m a soldier. Gallows humor comes standard.” His head tilted slightly, and he hissed between his teeth. “...Okay, this is really difficult, shutting up now.”

“Understood. I believe in you, Aiden.”

Kirin took several ragged breaths as he surveyed the room. As infuriating as it was to have his other form completely destroyed, it was also liberating to look around without the haze of an Oni-koru disguise marring his senses. The clarity made savoring victory all the sweeter.

...It hadn’t been total victory though. Not only had they beaten ‘Briareus’, which should not have happened without at least the diarchs assisting, but one of the unicorns had somehow escaped. Luckily it hadn’t been his new pet, nonetheless it was irksome. He strode casually over to the human statue. It looked calmly forward, no surprise in its visage despite being turned suddenly to stone mere moments prior. Kirin growled deep in his throat and picked up the little statue by its neck.

“You think yourself clever?! Powerful?! I am Kirin of the draconequii! I am Absolute power! You are nothing!” He reached out his other hand to grasp the statue’s head, intending to tear it off.

“Hello again, my former king.”

Kirin snorted, unsurprised by Garken’s presence, and proceeded to tear the head from the statue with casual ease. He flung the head at his former Grand Marshal, who caught it without breaking stride. “One down, little traitor. Or did you think you’d interrupt and stop me from killing him. Care to be next?”

Garken chuckled lightly, examining the head. “Alas, poor Aiden… I knew him, Horatio… hmph, not that he’s dead though.” He set the statue head down on the (now torn and burned) carpet before continuing to close the distance between the two of them. “You really don’t know much about magic if you think otherwise. That boy has at least two extra anchors to this mortal coil, even if he doesn’t realize it. But tell me, Kirin of the draconequii, where do you go from here? If you already are ‘absolute power’, then what’s the point of gathering aetheryte and sacrifices here?”

Kirin chuckled darkly as broken pieces of the wall and pillars formed a throne for him under the direction of his telekinesis. He sat, leaning his long, vaguely equine head on one taloned hand. “Deciding whether to rejoin me now that you remember what you’re up against?”

“Hardly. In fact I even remember how you ‘beat’ me the day you warped me into your puppet.” As he walked past the still unconscious Maegren, he sharply kicked the wounded Oni in the ribs, breaking several of them. “This trash attacked me from behind before we could properly finish our fight.”

“The result would have been the same.”

“I disagree… had you beaten me properly, perhaps you could have earned back my loyalty. But enough about the past… you’re avoiding the question. You have a sacrifice right here,” with that, he gestured to the statue of Twilight Sparkle. “What will you do with it?”

Kirin laughed darkly. “You’re making two mistakes, Warslave Caedum.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. One… you were my puppet from the day you were born. Two…” In an instant he was gone from the throne, and holding Garken in the air by the throat. “I have two sacrifices here…” He spun and slammed Garken into the marble while drawing back his free hand, claws poised to strike.

Crack!

A blast of incandescent energy struck him from behind, staggering him. In the moment of distraction, his hold on Garken loosened and the Oni blurred and was across the room in an instant, a sword in each hand as he stood with a no longer petrified Twilight Sparkle.

Kirin straightened up to his full five meter height and grinned down at them, showing off shark-like obsidian teeth. “Impressive work, child of the Seraphim. I would not have expected you to reverse the petrification on yourself.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “Cockatrice, years ago. I learn from just about everything. ...You look like Discord’s older, less-pleasant brother.”

“I might be, for all we knew. Our kind didn’t define family as yours does. All that matters to the draconequii is our virtue. Absolute power needs no family.”

Twilight snorted. “I can understand that, I guess. Mine is friendship.”

“Truly?” Kirin said, feigning amusement. “And I thought magic was your passion, little alicorn.”

She smiled sweetly up at him. “Didn’t you know? They’re the same thing.” Without further talk, she fired a blast from her horn while teleporting. Kirin deflected it, but the second shot from her new location hit, knocking him sideways a few steps. As this happened, Garken closed the distance, striking while Kirin was unbalanced. Both blades bounced off the thick scales of his draconic torso, sending up sparks but keeping him off balance. Twilight teleported again as a chunk of debri flew through the area she’d inhabited. Kirin blurred, bringing a fist down onto a shield that formed in an instant to meet it. It cracked and shattered, but not before she was gone again.

Garken followed him, and this time brought his swords to play against Kirin’s leg. The draconequii howled as both blades carved deep through thick muscle and sinew. He stumbled before his eyes widened and he clawed at the thickening air around his head. Twilight, horn lit, looked on as her transmutation slowly wore away at Kirin’s defenses. He looked at her in complete astonishment as he dropped to his knees and one taloned hand. Garken raised both blades for a decapitating strike as Kirin sent out a pulse of energy like a shockwave, trying to dislodge Twilight’s spell and throw Garken back. As Garken staggered and checked his swing, Maegren rose from the energy of the shockwave. Even in his wounded state he assessed the situation and immediately charged Twilight, who was pouring everything into maintaining her spell around Kirin. Garken flung a sword at him, but Maegren redirected it to Twilight with one hand.

She caught it in a telekinetic grip, but it was enough as Kirin’s defenses finally tore apart her attack. He gasped for breath, snarling with each heaving exhale. “Poison?! You… you dare… impossible… how…”

Twilight had no time to answer as she used Garken’s blade to inexpertly fend off Maegren. Kirin rose shakily to his feet and then spun and caught Garken’s other sword in one hand. “Not that easy… traitor.”

A blast behind them marked the end of Maegren’s offense as Twilight encased him in crystal. Kirin sighed angrily. “So hard to find good help…”

Garken struggled to free his weapon briefly before releasing it and throwing a punch at Kirin’s torso. As the Oni king moved to block it, he threw another, and another, each strike resonating with the aether flow in the room. Kirin stepped into the barrage, attempted to disrupt the harmonics, only to find his feet clinging to a thick paste that had once been the marble floor. He snarled and flung Garken’s sword at the persistent alicorn, only to hit nothing as she ported away. And then he could only weather the storm as Garken’s assault began shattering his magic defenses. At this rate, the control he’d asserted with the shockwave would fall, and then the blasted alicorn could resummon her poison…

Instead of attempting to defend, he struck back. Returning blow for blow, he countered Garken’s resonance with his own, shaking the building to its foundation as each strike mirrored another. A flex of his will directed some of the overflowing destructive force and shattered the crystal trapping Maegren. Regrettably it also shattered the already weakened Grand Marshal, grinding many of his bones to powder. Kirin didn’t care about that though. He reached out with his will and pulled, forcibly removing a dozen of the corrupted aether shards from the Oni’s battered body. In the chaos of striking blows, tremoring castle, and screaming aether, they were a surprise attack Garken didn’t have enough focus left to see coming. Twilight also shouldn’t have seen them coming, even from her distance away from the two. And yet she dropped her control over the floor to catch every shard that attempted to bury itself in Garken’s back.

She missed only the one headed for her own skull. It was the smallest, and nearly clear while the others had a definite onyx hue, and struck true between her horn and left eye. She screamed in pain as it drove into her head, and a final magic surge destroyed the other shards completely, crushing them in the same grip that had caught them. Kirin roared at the loss of power, but it was a brief disappointment as Garken’s attack ceased. He looked down at the stunned traitor.

His former Grand Marshal looked haunted as he gazed at his stricken rescuer. “No… not for me… why would you…?”

Kirin struck, backhanding the smaller warrior fiercely and sending him flying into the wall. “Marvelous… the both of you. I’d have never imagined it. That this world could overcome Discord was already astonishing. We were the pinnacle of magic here… the first to oppose the Demondim when they arrived… and the first to turn, or fall. That the Seraphim’s answer to us could come so far as this…” He strode to where Twilight had fallen, twitching as her will attempted to destroy the shard of crystal inside her brain. In time she would succeed, which was also astonishing. But he would not give her that time. “I see… you have known dark magic, then. Your teacher… prepared you well for such things. But not well enough. When I harvest your essence, it will only mean an even greater weapon than I once envisioned. I owe Celestia a debt, it would seem. ...Perhaps I’ll let her live long enough to mourn you. A day… perhaps two.”

He reached for her, but was stopped when a hand grabbed his wrist. He looked over at Garken, who was unsteady on his feet but had still recovered and crossed the distance in an instant. “Ah yes… my own answer to alicorns. I have only myself to blame for your resilience, I suppose. You and the other Generals receive training and magic to toughen you enough to fight the very strongest a given world has to offer. ...But never enough to fight me.” His free hand plunged forward, claws together, to stab into Garken’s chest before lifting him to stare eye to eye, inches apart. “You are nothing but a tool that dares to spite its creator. But it is of no moment. I realized earlier that you could be sacrificed as well. The other Oni are unsuitable, but you… you have this world’s magic permeating you. The wounds you received on Earth have stayed with you like an infection. You will make a fine-”

In a flash of light, Joyeuse carved through Kirin’s arm. Rarity appeared at his feet as the blade came around in a follow up that nearly blinded him; he dodged by less than an inch. He kicked at the unicorn, sight spotty from the glowing blade that had nearly taken his eyes, and missed as she sidestepped. An even brighter light shined behind them all as Aiden’s statue pieces flew together and reformed into the Esper’s unpetrified body, though his face was extremely pale.

“That was really unpleasant,” he muttered while portals began opening around the room.

“NO!” Kirin shouted pointlessly as all his targets vanished. Even his pet was gone. Only the human remained, grinning at him.

“Rough day, buddy?”

Kirin lunged, and had the satisfaction of feeling the human fail to dodge completely as his right arm was crushed under the force of a punch that broke the sound barrier. Kirin spun and swung again, hampered by missing an arm he had no time to reconstruct. This time the human blocked; a pair of bastons crossed in the air in front of him gave him time to get distance before Kirin obliterated them with a flex of power. For all the damage he’d taken, all the frustration he’d suffered, he wasn’t significantly injured. The human was buying time for the others to escape. He’d sent them all a short distance away, but Kirin could find them again. They couldn’t run. As Kirin struck again and again, keeping the human reeling on the brink of death, he could feel victory in his grasp. They-

A portal opened at the top of the throne room, and Kirin looked up, ready to block or destroy whatever came out of it. A blast of force answered him, pressing him down into the floor. Another portal opened, pressing from another direction as the human backpedaled, channeling. He was nearing the end of his stamina, in fact he should have been long exhausted. How he could push so far past his normal limits was a question for another time. Kirin roared, sending out a shockwave that disrupted the aether, unraveling both portals and stopping a third as it formed on the Esper himself. The human flickered, but the portal vanished and still he stood. An escape attempt that came too late.

“Interesting…” he said as he closed the distance his enemy had opened between them. The Esper was nearly the equal to his former Grand Marshal, which meant he was no still match for Kirin. There was no rush. “None of my army’s reports about you mentioned you channeling gravity in such a manner. ...Have you discovered the true function of a gravity drive, then?” He loomed over the human, taking his time while knowing his opponent was outmatched. His last shockwave had reclaimed the room’s aether: there would be no more portals without first getting further away, and Kirin had no intention of allowing that.

The boy was breathing heavily, and clearly in a great deal of pain. Nonetheless he grinned up at Kirin defiantly, eyes flashing green. “Sorry, no idea what you’re talking about.”

Kirin chuckled, and reconstructed his lost arm using pieces from the severed limb. “You’ll answer in time, meddler. The sooner you do the sooner I will end your suffering, as a thank you for making my arrival possible. I promise not to drag it out for more than the next three moons...” He reached out, intending to pluck off a limb to make his point.

His hand closed on chitin as green fire suffused the ‘human’.

“What?!”

*Moments Prior*

Rarity’s focus was on Twilight, so she was rather surprised when the statue of Raven suddenly became flesh in a flash of light outside of her peripheral vision. “Switch me places with Aiden, now!”

Rarity spun, eyes widening as she recognized that voice. “No… impossible… you…”

“There’s no time! Do you want that boy, and all his love, to die here and now?!” They both jerked their heads up as a portal, and another, opened. Rarity felt lightheaded as the very aether field itself seemed to funnel into those portals.

“Do it! Grab him and switch with me! For love’s sake, DO IT!” she screamed as green fire suffused her form, changing it to match Aiden’s.

*Now*

Kirin shouted in inchoate rage as a beam of green energy sliced through the hand that had gone to grab what was now clearly an impostor. The bug-like pony before him grinned… and he somehow knew that grin. “No… no no no, I will not allow-”

He staggered back as she fired another laser-like beam of force, carving through his defenses and leaving a seared line along his torso.

“Hmm… that should have bisected you,” the bug-thing noted conversationally. “I guess peripheral love from two fledglings and a battle maniac just won’t cut it. ...And by ‘it’, I mean you, you miserable trash.”

Despite the change in accent, certain cadences in her voice made her identity clear. “You will not stop me, little pet. And this time, I will show no mercy. I will tear your limbs from your-”

A blast of fire interrupted him and sent him tumbling backward into the wall. “Shh… shh. Now now, just between us villains, monologuing is bad. Also… you let your guard down.”

A portal opened, and she vanished. Kirin screamed in fury, shattering the castle walls around him, but his targets were long gone.

17. Regroup

Celestia was taking a walk while trying to clear her head. It hadn’t taken long, after stretching out her senses, to discover that Tirek was no longer among the living. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that; she’d long ago come to the decision that killing an enemy was sometimes necessary, but to find him beaten to death when he’d already been stripped of power and imprisoned here...

...Perhaps it was for the best. Do not think such things.

She sighed, collecting her thoughts. Pragmatism had once been a much easier ideal to stick to. Get results. Save ponies. Defeat enemies… let the rulers sort things out. Nopony would ever hear it from her, but there were days she missed her younger years. Unfortunately, nearly unprecedented strength came with certain responsibilities.

It was not merely your strength… do not belittle yourself. You were the torch of victory for them all. The light of hope, where no shadows could fall.

Yes well… that was then. That was General Celestia… not Princess. Not the politician, the peacemaking diplomat… the overconfident, past-her-prime fool lying in her own failure on the floor of her throne room or in a changeling cocoon because-

Stop that.

...Stop what? Being honest with herself? She’d left her talent behind a long time ago. This… modern era with its complexities and trivialities? Twilight could have it. ...Another ten years, at most, and she’d be ready. She was already forging stronger alliances and friendships across the world… across worlds… than Celestia had managed in the past ten centuries. She looked forward to passing the mantle to the leader Equestria deserved.

Over a thousand years of peace and prosperity, achieved almost bloodlessly, and still you fault yourself? You have more in common with your perfectionist student than you are willing to admit.

Celestia snorted derisively. She’d had-

A green flame appeared near her head, expanding suddenly as it dropped something much larger than a letter at her hooves. “Oh my…” she muttered, looking down at an Oni-koru of likely high rank. She smiled. “Spike my dear old friend… and I didn’t get you anything.”

The Oni looked up at her, eyes widening. Thick fingers curled into large fists as he raised one to touch to his chest in a gesture of respect. “The Solar diarch… what remarkable magic from one so young, that he could send me to you.” He spun away from her, scrabbling to his feet and taking a defensive stance. Celestia watched him calmly. Red and yellow eyes were framed by a face that seemed too prone to smiling for an enemy influenced, and even named, for demons. Even now he was smiling, showing off bright, pony-like teeth. Well muscled limbs moved sinuously in a stance that reminded Celestia of a storybook she’d read long ago. “I am General Inpes Ustrina of the Oni-koru. ...I am unworthy to face such an opponent as you, but I will not fall easily!”

Celestia tilted her head, staring him down. “You shouldn’t belittle yourself like that.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “But more importantly… why exactly were you in a position to be sent to me in this manner?”

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with embarrassment. “A little purple dragon got the drop on me. I didn’t bother to defend against his flame… fire is my element of choice as well. ...I was not expecting a translocation spell built into his breath. Draconic magic is a wondrous thing, indeed.”

“It is at that. ...So then, Spike is no longer in danger?”

“That is unlikely.” With a casual seeming air, Inpes blurred forward, blades of flame forming around his leg as he struck with a straight kick. The flames splashed ineffectively over Celestia’s coat, and the physical strike was equally useless. “The other General with me was weaker than I, but all the more eager to prove himself for it,” he continued as he ramped up his assault. Celestia’s horn glowed softly as a dampening field absorbed most of the force and bled it off harmlessly. “This ‘Spike’ may well still be threatened, if anything more so without my presence to restrain the situation.”

“I see… in that case, I will have to make this quick. Unfortunately for you, fire magic is a bad match for me. I don’t suppose you’d simply be willing to surrender?”

“I’m afraid I cannot.” He leapt and spun, landing a sharp kick to the base of her horn.

His leg broke under the recoiling force and he grunted with the unsteady landing before a gold shod hoof smashed into his torso, crushing ribs. He rolled, and tried to get back to his feet before another hoof came down on his back. He hissed in pain as it ground in, tearing at muscle and tendon. “That was a good idea,” she said, “it is certainly a weak spot for any unicorn who hasn’t trained to overcome their horn’s sensitivity while casting. I remember once reading a story about warrior monkeys from an eastern kingdom who had a similar problem with their tails being grabbed.” The hoof twisted, and with a crunch Inpes’ spine broke. “You reminded me of it. And well… you don’t have a tail, but if you did it would connect to this, would it not? Tell me, Inpes Ustrina, can you overcome this?”

“In… time… perhaps.”

“I see. Then I’m afraid I cannot give you that time.”

“I suspected not. A good fight, Princess Celestia. I am proud to have fought the General who once led our enemies to victory against us.”

“A good fight, Inpes Ustrina. ...Sleep now.” Her horn lit brightly, gently forcing him into unconsciousness.

Starlight looked up at her friend, held in the oversized, clawed hand of a coward threatening his life. Spike’s eyes spoke clearly, saying Run… save yourself.

She snorted, feeling as though steam were pouring off her coat. As if that’d happen. She locked gazes with the Oni-koru, gritting her teeth to control her temper. ...For the moment. “Let him go, and I’ll surrender. Whatever you’re here for, there’s no need to kill anyone else.”

“I am here to collect a sacrifice for-”

“What cowardly act is this, General?” A voice behind Starlight asked.

The Oni looked past Starlight to Teluma. “You dare speak to me from your place of failure, Elite Warbrave? Using the enemy’s sentimentality-”

“Hiding behind an adolescent to threaten an injured target, General Hraebto,” Teluma interrupted contemptuously. “What fine songs will be sung of your victory today,” she continued, dripping sarcasm.

“Be silent, or be silenced. Honor comes from victory.” His head shot up, ears twitching just as Starlight’s did as the feel of the room changed. “As to you, pony, let go of your magic. No tricks.”

Starlight was smirking. “Sorry… that’s not me.”

The door flew open in a telekinetic grip, and a small object flew through. The smoke bomb exploded after bouncing off the top of his head, and the moment it did Starlight’s horn lit. Telekinetic force pried Hraebto’s fingers apart, breaking three of them. Spike dropped into the spreading smoke with a whoop of triumph.

“Trixie is a lover, not a fighter!” a familiar voice rang out as Starlight heard her and Spike rushing toward the door.

“Kick his flank, Starlight!” Spike added from already at the hallway. Hraebto snarled and flung a blast of energy in the voice’s direction.

It smashed harmlessly into a shield that now surrounded the two of them. As she heard the door slam, she blew apart the shield and the smoke with a massive shockwave. Teluma grunted in pain behind her but the cell’s field had blocked most of it. Hraebto had been thrown into the wall. Smoke sizzled from Starlight’s horn, and she could feel the fur and flesh around it searing. She didn’t care.

“You hurt Spike. ...You tried to hurt Trixie. You’re here for me, is that it?”

Hraebto regained his feet and charged. A silvery greataxe appeared in his hands when he was halfway there, and Starlight sidestepped to avoid it, shoving herself with her magic to get out of the way. His wing flicked out, clipping her and sending her across the room with surprising force, but it didn’t break the bubble of magic around her. He charged again, this time swinging horizontally in a broad arc too low to duck under.

Starlight jumped over it, floating near the high ceiling, and bombarded him with a beam of energy as she did so, pushing him back.

“You fly without wings, little pony?”

“I don’t really like talking about my special talent…” Another beam fired from her horn, now glowing red, but he deflected it with his axe.

“In your current state, you are no match for me. This is simply your fate. Honor is nothing more than luck, and rewriting what happened by the victors.”

“Hmph. Believe me, I know all about trying to rewrite history. It doesn’t work as well as you think.” She was going to try another energy blast, because the strain on her horn was already too much for anything complex. Her anger was boiling over but if she gave in to it now she would shatter, in more ways than one. If only this had happened a week from now…

Her eyes widened as suddenly the axe was inches from her face. In a reflex, she teleported up to the map room, screaming as her horn ignited and cracked. She collapsed to the floor, blinded by the pain of it. The door to the hallway leading to where they’d been flew open, and Hraebto strode through. She rolled, using a burst of magic to throw herself away from the spinning axe that narrowly missed taking her forelegs off. She grit her teeth as her body screamed in protest. She couldn’t channel through her horn anymore. Fine. A pony’s magic wasn’t limited to just that. He charged forward again, his axe flying towards his outstretched hand as Starlight leapt away, channeling through her hooves like an earth pony, enhancing her strength. He swung, off target in his surprise at her sudden burst of speed, and she knocked the blade away with one hoof.

The impact jarred her, and she felt bones crack. I’m not an alicorn. Different aether flows won’t be enough. And I can’t fly like this. Channel through my mane or tail? ...Ugh, and do what? I don’t know rope tricks! She dodged another strike, and a third before a kick caught the side of her head, flinging her across the room and filling her vision with white light and stars. He cackled triumphantly as she bounded roughly off the wall and toppled to the floor.

Starlight was barely aware of him. I’m sorry, everyone… Trixie… Spike… I hope you got far away. She was going to die. She winced as she imagined his taloned foot upon her neck. He strode toward her, taking his time.

Too much time… he never got there. Instead, a ball of fire the size of his body smashed into him and exploded, throwing him backward into the wall.

“Get the HELL away from my friend!”

Starlight raised her head shakily, opening swollen eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. “H-how?”

The answer came immediately. “Pinkie gave me the details, or most of them, but I didn’t expect to trot into a warzone right away. She mentioned about spires and cities being attacked, didn’t add that they’d be here. I mean… I guess the ones in here weren’t worth mentioning. I’ve seen scarier timberwolf puppies. There’s a couple roaming the castle still; AJ can handle them easily. But you’re different, aren’t you?” The unicorn strode forward, casually placing herself between Starlight and the recovering Hraebto. Red magic blazed from her horn, casting the room in fiery shades. “You’ve got more magic, sure, but that’s not all, is it? There’s a chip on your shoulder, from not being quite good enough, am I right?” She chuckled softly. “Got an… axe to grind there, big guy?”

Sunset Shimmer grinned as she stared down her opponent. “I know exactly where you’re coming from.” Her horn blazed, and flames like a phoenix's wings engulfed him.

Joy yelped as a sword chipped the floor beneath her hooves. She spun in the air, kicking at the attacker, but he blocked her easily. Why is this so much harder than… in the clouds… where they couldn’t move right. Crud. She used the force of the block to catapult herself into the air, keeping their attention while trying to figure out a plan. The other ponies in the room weren’t meant for this kind of thing. They were nice! They’d been super nice to her, and Apple Bloom had given her a piece of the best pie she’d ever tasted. Joy wouldn’t let them get hurt! She-

Only had the attention of one of them. The other was swinging his glaive at the unicorn… Sweetie Belle. She’d raised a shield but she wasn’t very good at it, and it was getting cracked. Her friends were huddled behind her. ...No. They were getting ready to pounce on the attacker the moment the shield fell. ...They’d probably die trying that! It was brave, but… She gasped, dodging a flying sword by less than an inch because… she could hear hooves coming their way down the hall. Just a little more time, come on, think! You were first in your class to get your Cutie Mark! You’re the best flyer in your year! What can you do to save them?! Joy bounded off one wall and then another, before knocking her opponent towards theirs. The Oni weren’t stupid, but in avoiding each other they had to ease their attack for a moment. She hit the floor between them, spinning as she vaulted up, grabbing what little wind she could in a dust devil of papers, crystal shards, ...and the knife she’d ‘found’ in the kitchen while Spike was distracted by Sweetie Belle. The Oni covered themselves as Sweetie and the others backed away, buying precious seconds before one of them landed a backhanded swipe that flung Joy away, breaking the swirling currents. But it was enough, as the door burst open and Apple Bloom’s big sister rushed in. She spun on her front hooves and planted a buck that, to his credit, the second Oni blocked.

It just didn’t matter that he blocked. He was still lifted from his feet like a ragdoll and smashed violently into and through the far wall. The first, Joy’s target, was so thrown off guard by it that he didn’t look up in time to avoid taking a flight assisted kick to the temple. He staggered sideways into a straight hoof to the face from big sister. With a rather disturbing sounding crack, he dropped.

“You girls alright?” The big sister pony asked.

“We’re okay, Applejack,” Apple Bloom replied. Right, Applejack was her name. Why was the room still spinning? Joy’s head hurt…. “Where’d they come from?!”

“Don’t know. Seems like they snuck in after the others left. Might a been tryin’ to free their friend down in the basement, but ah I don’t reckon so. Think they just wanted to rage around to make us scared.”

“Hah! Like that’d work! We aren’t scared of a bunch of big demon things with giant swords and scary magic that want to kill us…”

“Well, Ah’m a little concerned,” Apple Bloom muttered dryly.

“Ah think we got em all, now, but… some ponies got hurt,” Applejack continued. “Nopony’s died, least not here. We’re takin’ the hurt ones to the hospital, so y’all are comin’ along. Not gettin’ out of my sight until we’re sure there’s no more o’ those big varmints roamin’ around.”

“Where’s Spike and the others?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Spike got a little roughed up but he’s okay. He’s with the group forming up to head to the-”

An explosion shook the castle, and Applejack chuckled. “Guess that’s done then.”

“What the hay was that?!” Sweetie exclaimed.

“That’d be Twilight’s friend who lives across the mirror, in the human world. She came to help just as they showed up.”

“Ooh, the world Rarity’s coltfriend came from~” Scootaloo crooned tauntingly to Sweetie, who rolled her eyes.

“No, I don’t think they’re quite the same places, to hear her tell it. Now come on, time we gathered everypony together.”

Joy stumbled, and nearly fell, but Apple Bloom was suddenly beside her, steadying her. She smiled at Joy. “You okay there? You took a pretty good hit at the end. Just lean on me, we’ll getcha to a doctor.”

“Yeah… thanks, Apple Bloom.”

“That was pretty awesome, Joy! Wait’ll I tell Rainbow Dash about it!” Scootaloo chimed in as they followed Applejack.

“Heh, well, I didn’t do much. I’m sure her fights are way cooler.” Joy replied, blushing a bit. Nopony was looking at her funny. They weren’t talking behind her back, whispering about how weird she was. Joy smiled brightly. Her head hurt, but everything else was great!

It really was difficult. Aiden made it look effortless, just a casual trot over miles on end. Of course, it didn’t hurt that this verse was a part of him. Even with the connection Joyeuse had forged between them, this was a part of his soul, not Rarity’s. Even with Joyeuse helping filter the odd sense of nausea that came with the rapid teleports, it was still almost like picking everyone up and throwing them, again and again. But she refused to falter. And so, the quick hops that brought them ever closer to Ponyville and a chance to recover and tend wounds were far less quick than they could have been, had he been… well, driving, as it were. But they did not stop.

Of course, Twilight could probably just teleport them all back home at this point; they were bound to be close enough even with this many. But she was busy helping Aiden recover his magic and Rarity had no intention of interrupting that. So she soldiered on, trying as she did so to tighten up the technique, looking for spare aether to channel in any current she could find. Any little eddy of extra-

“So… you and Windborne, eh?”

Rarity jumped and shrieked (elegantly, mind you), at the sudden voice and dark presence behind her. She somehow managed to keep the teleports rolling, though they did falter a touch. “Don’t do that!”

Garken chuckled, sitting down next to her. “But if I don’t use the aether masking abilities I honed while working with Johnathan, I do him a disservice.”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared him down. “...Setting aside that you already did.”

“Yes, setting that aside,” he replied blandly. “It’s a regret I live with-”

“Just one?” She asked leadingly, tilting her head in mock confusion. “Is it lying to him for years about who and what you were, or killing him while trying to kill me?”

“Mostly the second one.”

“...Ah.” Being glib about it wasn’t terribly helpful. She still felt terrible, but also knew she wasn’t to blame. No one could have foreseen-

“But you’re trying to change the subject.”

Rarity snorted, pulled away from her reverie. “There was no subject. You asked a simplistic, rather leading question that didn’t merit a response.”

“I’m just impressed, is all. Clearly your people take no issue with such things.”

“I’m not even sure what you’re referring to.”

“Pursuing a romantic interest outside your own species.”

“Ahhh. I’m sorry; I don’t see the problem.”

“...Fair enough. I suppose I should be having this conversation with Windborne. That he could overcome his hatred of aliens enough to even take an interest…”

Rarity chuckled. “Not that I mind, honestly. But, I think you’re simply looking to be annoying since you’re not trying to kill us anymore. It’s in your nature to be combative.”

“That’s part of it,” he admitted. “But I’m also curious. You wouldn’t know, but the Oni respect many forms of strength. We did, after all, have pilots and builders as well as soldiers.”

“And… that applies to this… how?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“In that I respect the strength of will you’ve both shown… that you forged together. Neither of you were a match for me on Earth. Even merely fighting together, the two of you alone were insufficient-”

“Stop, I’m blushing…” she interjected, deadpan.

“-And yet, your bond allowed you to exceed the limits of your personal strength and experience, and create the miracle of your victory. It’s worth building on… but I’m impressed you could… given your differences, and his past.”

“What can I say? We’ve never focused on them.” Rarity quipped with a smile. She tossed her mane and fluttered her lashes at him. “And as for the ‘alien’ thing, as though that were important… Well, I won’t speak for him, but for myself… I suppose I’m simply far more charming than your people.”

“Hmph, maybe that’s it,” he agreed with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “I suppose my people don’t have glowing asses.”

“..What? Oh… oh my.” Rarity looked back to see that her Cutie Mark was indeed flashing, a summons from the map.

And not just her.

“Weird time for a friendship mission, isn’t it?” Rainbow asked, looking to her own glowing Mark.

“Hard to say,” Twilight added, doing the same. “Maybe it wants to send us to the best place to put an end to all this.”

“How would that work?” Rainbow asked.

“Not sure, but… huh… well those are new.” Twilight said distractedly.

“What are? …Woah.”

“...What.”

Rarity looked over at them, specifically at the last speaker. Aiden was looking at the backs of his hands. Each one sported a small but distinct Mark: a framed door, slightly opened with light pouring through. Each was glowing as per a summons. “Oh…”

“Uhh… yeah… all I’ve got is ‘what?’.” Aiden muttered, looking at the Marks while moving his hands around as though seeing if they were really there.

Pinkie smiled brightly. “Oooooh. Somepony’s getting a cute-ceañera!”

“...What?!”

18. Friendship Quest... Accept?

Distractions notwithstanding, the successful rescue team arrived in the Map Room shortly after the summons had several of them glowing at the hip… or hands. Rarity, naturally, hadn’t let that slide, even as they were appearing before the Map itself.

“So nice of Harmony to respect your desire to cover up,” she said leadingly, grinning. “But such a shame to cover such well toned flanks! Maybe if you wore less the Marks would go where they’re supposed to, highlighting them even more…”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “No fur; I’d get cold.”

“I could keep you-”

“Not to interrupt but… look at this…” Twilight cut into the conversation, looking with wide eyes to the Map… and the bevy of Cutie Marks floating above various locations.

There were three separate clusters of Marks across Equestria, all floating above seemingly empty locations.

“Hmm… These usually point us to cities or the like,” Rarity mused as they all looked it over.

Aiden knew a bit about it from what he’d been told, but in this case he had a guess. “Just based on timing… you think this might be Spire locations?”

Twilight looked over at him, tearing her eyes away from the Map with clear reluctance. “The Map leads us to Friendship problems. I… don’t want to think it’s turned into a tool of warfare just because we’ve been attacked…”

Garken chuckled, running a hand along the side of the Map table and shaking his head slowly. “No, it’s likely the truth. Making friends with my people generally involves fighting.”

“Everything with your people involves fighting,” Aiden snorted. “You probably take salad shooters literally.”

“And yet our pancakes are mind blowing. My point is, if your Map understands that about us, it could be leading us right to the Generals we want to take on first, the ones we might persuade to turn against Kirin. Look at these locations: if you add a few more points, including and most importantly the one Spire we knew of-”

Twilight nodded grimly. “They form a wide circle around Canterlot. ...Or technically octagon, but that’s not important right now.”

“And yet she mentions it,” Rainbow muttered with a small grin.

“Quiet, you,” Twilight snarked back. “Alright, so it looks like we have our next plan of action.”

“After the current one, which would be figure out what happened here,” Aiden muttered, looking around at the obvious signs of damage to the walls and chairs surrounding the Map (which was itself unharmed for whatever reason, he noted).

“I can explain that,” a new voice spoke up as its owner let herself into the room.

“Sunset!” Twilight called out, running over to embrace the newcomer. Aiden noted that her flank, containing a sort of yin yang patterned sun, was among the glowing Marks above the Map.

She returned the hug. “Good to see you found your way out of that nightmare.”

“Just needed a friend to guide me. So… what did happen here?”

“Heh… well…”

“Before that… Twilight Sparkle, I must know… why is my… Cutie Mark among the ones pictured?”

Twilight blinked, separated herself from Sunset, and looked over at Raven. She had, for simplicity’s sake, retaken her pony form. Many of her injuries hadn’t healed from the shapeshifting, though she had managed to regrow her broken horn. Aiden figured it made sense. What he knew about Chrysalis didn’t paint her in the best light, but it did at least make it clear that she was powerful and resilient. Accepting her was easier than accepting Garken, for him. But it was a fair question.

“Err…” Twilight began with the clear oratory skills of a princess. “Because… you’ll be going with us all, or at least in that group?”

“But I don’t even have…” she cut herself off with a grimace. “Ugh… oh very well. I’m not opposed to a bit of payback, I suppose.”

“Hadn’t noticed,” Twilight muttered.

Sunset looked back and forth between them, before looking over to Aiden. “Huh… so you’re a human from Earth?”

“And you’re Sunset Shimmer, unicorn sojourning on a world similar to mine?” Aiden replied, kneeling down to fistbump. In what he was coming to think of as his mage sight (and he couldn’t recall where he’d first heard that term), he could almost see fiery wings extending out from the mare’s sides. Her aura was like a hearth burning brightly: welcoming but also dangerous if one were careless. Within the deepest flames there was… an ambition? A drive to light the world around her… he wasn’t quite sure.

And then his fist touched her hoof. The two gasped as a surge of magic went between them. Aiden watched several images, memories flash through his mind like a projector cycling too quickly to make sense of.

Sunset winced. “Sorry, not used to controlling that in pony form. Huh… you and Rarity went through a lot together in a short time.” She smiled. “Fire-forged friendships… I can definitely relate to those.”

Aiden chuckled. “I think most of mine have been that. ...So does human you turn into a demon, or a phoenix?”

“...You saw that? Wait, those aren’t just tattoos on your hands, are they?”

“Apparently not,” Aiden replied, examining his left while her magic gently grabbed the right. “It’s a recent development… as in a few minutes ago.”

“We’re not quite sure what they mean… though frankly that’s for him to decide,” Twilight said. “But Sunset, really… what happened here? I’m assuming no one was seriously hurt or you’ve had led with that, but…”

Sunset winced. “Well, where to begin…”

The hospital was abuzz with activity, though under the circumstances things could have been far worse. With zero fatalities and only a few serious injuries, most ponies had been tended to within an hour of the attack. From there, the largest share of attention was on Starlight Glimmer.

The magitech devices in the operating room might have seemed anachronistic to an outside observer, but they did their parts monitoring her condition and keeping her from falling into a coma. Magic exhaustion and severe aether burn topped the list of maladies that had to be left to the side while internal bleeding and bruised organs were tended to by two ponies working in tandem.

One, an earth pony, carefully directed her magic to both strengthen the patient’s physical stamina and stimulate her natural healing while staving off infections and draining swelling. The other, a unicorn, used needle fine telekinesis in meticulous, reparative surgeries. He was capable of several at once thanks to following the careful lead of his partner’s magic, drawing him to the areas of priority and guiding his magic’s touch with her own. It had taken a relatively short time to upgrade her from critical condition. But… Though Starlight would live, the news would likely be bleak when she awoke. There was simply nothing that could be done for her horn, and her connection to magic through it.

Stable Pulse sighed, taking a break to recheck her chart. ‘Exceptionally high aetheric reserves and control.’ Unfortunate, as she’d notice this lack far more than an average magic user might. ‘Special talent: alteration of existing magical effects and spellforms according to her manifested Ego.’ He shook his head, unable to keep a frown from his face. Luckily his patient wasn’t awake to see it. I can only hope this means she can find some other way to use her magic.

The (relatively) rare sound of a pony teleporting broke him from his grim reverie and he snorted in irritation. “Miss Lulamoon, I’ve already told you, we will come get you when-”

“I’m not Trixie, doctor.”

“Ah,” he replied turning around and giving a short, perfunctory bow. “Princess Sparkle. With all due respect-”

“Just one moment and I’ll be out of your mane, Doctor Stable.” With that, the Princess quickly scanned his patient with a light from her horn, nodded briefly to herself, and turned to him. “Please keep us apprised of her condition, and do everything you can.”

“Of course, Princess. Let me know if you have any suggestions about her horn.” He smiled wanly. “It’s no secret you’ve been looking into such things, for that Tempest Shadow pony, wasn’t it?”

Princess Sparkle grimaced, looking away. “I had, but I hit a wall with it. We have some new eyes on the problem now though, so maybe…”

“We’ll both hope for the best then. In the meantime, we’ll see to what we can. She’ll be awake in a few hours. I suggest you be here with as many of her friends as possible. She’ll need them.”

She nodded. “Wouldn’t miss it for all Equestria. Thank you both for your hard work, Doctor Stable, Nurse Redheart.”

With that, she disappeared in a flash of light.

“Ahahahaha… trees! Can’t see the forest for the… ahahaha!”

Luna blinked. “This is… one of our enemies? I do not recall the Oni-koru being quite so… jovial.”

Inpes Ustrina had indeed recovered consciousness shortly after being subdued, as Celestia had intended. His magic was suppressed and his physical strength hampered by injuries, but he seemed unperturbed by it. Just as well, Celestia much preferred to talk this out if at all possible. As such, little advantage in keeping him asleep. She was not quite prepared for his easy acceptance of his circumstances, but could only hope it was a blessing in these otherwise precarious circumstances.

“Oh, forsooth, Princess of the Moon,” Inpes replied, still chuckling at the forest of petrified ponies (wood, not stone, Discord would insist be stated for the record). “I should be screaming furious threats and attempting, futilely, to escape the bonds placed on me. Alas and alack, I am instead calmed by the same aura of happy drowsiness you’ve used to quiet this rabble. It reminds me of being drunk. ...Which I love! Ahahahaahahhahahah!”

There was some truth to that, Luna had to admit. Approximately half the Canterlotians were returned to normal at this point, though they were surprisingly subdued in voicing their protests and confusion. ...Surprisingly, if one was unaware of the subtle magical field calming them.

Celestia smirked, quirking an eyebrow at her younger sister, obviously quite aware of it. “That’s cheating, Lulu.”

“Nonsense. I am Princess of the Night. So if I say it’s ‘quiet hours’, then it’s ‘quiet hours’. Besides, I wanted to keep them as trees for the moment.”

“That’s not very nice, Princess,” a familiar, middle aged unicorn spoke up. He had nearly thrown off the effects of her spell, as had his wife. Luna didn’t mind that though; she felt confident Twilight Sparkle’s parents were two she wouldn’t mind hearing from.

Or debating with. “Untrue, noble Night Light. You could have slept gently until such time as Canterlot was reclaimed, and your homes returned to you.”

He shook his head. “I can’t speak for everypony here, but I’d rather help out if I can. I appreciate the offer to keep us safe and all, but…” he blinked, tilting his head to look to her side. “Err… Princess? I believe your flank is glowing.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she blushed. “It hasn’t done that in-! ...Oh.” Looking for herself, she noticed that her Cutie Mark was flashing. “Ah… a summons from the Cutie Mark Map, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I was just noticing that, too,” Celestia added, gesturing to her own Mark. “I would not have expected Harmony to look to us again.”

“Oh come now, sister; I’m supposed to be the brooding, guilty one. Yet if young Twilight’s Map has a quest for us, I look forward to the chance to help.”

“Agreed. We’ll go to the Castle of Friendship immediately. Moondancer, Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Twinkleshine... I assume you’ve been paying attention to my sister well enough to continue the process of freeing Canterlot’s citizens from Discord’s… assistance?”

Moondancer nodded. “We can take it from here. But what do we do after they’re all freed?”

“Make your way out of Tartarus and towards Ponyville. I suspect Canterlot is not safe for the time being. The citizens of Ponyville are quite adept at adapting to calamities, and I’ve no doubt they’ll manage something for all of you, even if it’s just tents and the like for now. Once everypony has at least shelter, coordinate with whoever’s in charge at the castle for anything else you want to do to help. That will be up to you; you’ve already done more than I could have hoped to help my little ponies through this crisis.”

Moondancer blushed at the praise. Minuette grinned widely. “You got it, Princess!” she exclaimed, saluting.

“Excellent, thank you all for your hard work. Sister, shall we?”

“Certainly, Tia… but what of him?” Luna replied, nodding toward Inpes.

“He’s coming along, of course. Barring catastrophe, the Castle of Friendship will likely be our base of operations for this conflict. Before we decide where to leave him, he’s going there to answer some questions.”

“Heh… and just what makes you think I have anything to say?” Inpes asked, though he looked less belligerent and more genuinely curious.

“Diplomatic instinct? Or perhaps I had the sense while fighting you that I wasn’t really fighting an enemy.”

Inpes seemed to consider that, still grinning lightly as he rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Very well then… not that I have a choice in the matter. My own desire to fight this world was considerably reduced after we took one of your kind hostage for interrogation. It was… cowardly, even if we sought one of the strongest we could find.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I’d like to hear more about that. But for now, we have places to be.” She lit her horn as Luna stepped closer and the three vanished.

He felt them an eyeblink before they appeared, and felt himself grinning involuntarily. So these are the infamous children of the Angels… their masterworks, eh? Garken looked over to where they’d appeared, alongside the face of an old ally. He noted that he wasn’t the only one to react before their teleport had resolved: Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Aiden, and this Sunset pony had also begun turning to the swirling of aether that presaged their arrival. Raven, he saw, had stepped back behind the Map.

“Princess Celestia, Luna!” Twilight called as she stepped forward to hug the larger, white alicorn, and then the smaller, dark blue.

“It’s good to see you, Twilight, and all of you as well,” Celestia replied, looking around the room with a calm smile.

As her eyes settled on him, Garken nodded acknowledgment. “Garken Caedum, your highness. Former Grand Marshal of the Oni-koru, now an ally of this world.”

“A pleasure then, Garken Caedum.”

The third of the arriving group snorted. “I knew you weren’t dead, you stubborn bastard.”

“Looks like you got caught, Commander Ustrina,” Garken replied with a fang-filled grin. “Bit off more than you could chew again? I seem to recall Paladin Williams beating you nearly to death at least twice. Read your opponents better.”

Inpes rolled his eyes. “Paladin Williams beat hundreds of us to death; I find no shame in those losses. And I’m a General now… and you a traitor.”

“It’s our king that’s the traitor, Ustrina, to all our kind.”

“Hmm… so you say, of course. I’ll look forward to hearing your reasoning,” he frowned, tilting his head slightly as though listening for something. “Is it me, or is Teluma here as well?”

“I didn’t really know her… one of your students?”

“Aye. Interesting coincidence.”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, get used to those here. Harmony has a funny sense of humor.”

“Just wait till your first heartsong!” a new voice rang out above Garken.

He blinked, and looked up. “There’s a pink pony standing on my head. ...How long has that been there?”

“The entire time… what you just noticed?” Aiden lied casually, pretending to examine his fingernails. Inpes failed to stifle his laughter… almost entirely from not trying.

Twilight Sparkle looked bemused. “...Right. So we’re waiting for a few more who, hopefully, know to come here for a Map summons, but we can still get started. Firstly… Princess, what do you want done with him?” She pointed a hoof at Inpes Ustrina.

“If I may,” Inpes spoke up, “Lock me in with Teluma for now. The princess’ aether suppression and my injuries will keep me from escaping for at least three days… though I say that for your sake. The truth is I have no intention of escaping. This development is too fascinating to walk away from. Besides, as it stands I’m of no use to my king. I refuse crystalline augmentation and am outclassed by most if not all of this room. ...Even the pony hiding behind the table there.”

Celestia smiled softly, looking over to it. “And while I’m sure she has her reasons… Raven… I’d very much like to see you.”

“No, you wouldn’t… not right now.”

“Raven…”

“I’m all battered and cut up! I look awful. Celestia… please wait and I will speak with you privately soon. I have… things to tell you, but not here in front of everyone.”

Celestia looked pained for a moment, but then her eyes widened as if realizing something. “Very well then, Raven. ...But I’m very glad you’re safe.”

“Yes… yes I can tell. I feel the same.” Raven practically bolted from the room.

“Huh, what’s with her?” Rainbow asked.

“She’ll be alright,” Celestia reassured her. “I believe I understand the issue. For now, let us discuss what the map has to tell us.”

Aiden went over to Inpes. “Come on, let’s get you settled in. Be right back, all.”

“Here,” Twilight said, as her magic floated the cell key over.

“Wait!” Inpes said, looking carefully at the map for the first time. “This device… remarkable. You do know those are Spire locations those symbols are floating above?”

“We suspected,” Twilight replied.

“Hmm, then I’m sure it won’t surprise you too much to know there are five more?”

“Four. General Cursus and his Spire have fallen.” Garken raised an eyebrow. “Forgive me, Ustrina… for a General you seem very out of the loop.”

“I was,” he replied with a shrug. “I was given my orders alongside Hraebto, but before that I had been training and trying to clear my mind of personal conflicts about this place.” He shook his head. “I don’t suspect it helped that, like many, I refused our king’s offer to enhance us. Those who accepted aetheryte augments quickly became his most trusted officers. Why do you think I wasn’t guarding a Spire?”

“Because you fall asleep in a drunken stupor whenever you’re assigned to guard anything?”

“I’m sure that’s a distant second.”

“I don’t even know where you get the alcohol.”

“Which is why I’m still able to.”

Pinkie Pie giggled, suddenly standing next to Ustrina. She held up a large mug, balanced easily on one hoof.

He raised an eyebrow at her as Garken tried to recall when she’d moved there. Shrugging, Ustrina accepted the mug and took a drink. His eyes widened slightly, and he smiled. “I officially switch sides.”

Rainbow laughed, Pinkie grinned wide and hugged the former General. Garken snorted in amusement. “Just like that, eh?”

“This is excellent cider, Caedum, best light booze I’ve had in at least thirty years. Besides… you sided against our king. Give me a war leader over a politician any day. I knew that warslave nonsense didn’t sound right, and as soon as I saw you, I remembered the war on Earth properly. I’m fairly certain I fought that one, once.” He gestured at Aiden before taking another long swig.

“Wasn’t much of a fight; we had you really outnumbered that day.”

“Eh, vagaries of war, boy, lamenting the circumstances is pointless. Not to mention… my previous assignment was babysitting Hraebto so he actually remembered to take live prisoners. Obviously a bit insulting to me, and not the first barb thrown my way.” Inpes belched loudly. “Where is Hraebto, anyway?”

“Oh, that big guy with the gargoyle wings and a huge axe?” Sunset asked.

“That’s the one.”

“Ah… he… exploded. Several times. And then he fell down some stairs. And then back up them. He’s in a makeshift cell in the basement.”

Inpes blinked. “Is… he’s alive?”

Sunset tilted her head back and forth in an ‘ehh’ sort of gesture. “For a given value?”

Inpes chuckled.

Twilight seemed a bit off-kilter by this point. “...Right. Okay, so… if you’re really switching sides here… what’s your king’s endgame? And what do the Spires have to do with it?”

“Wish I could tell you, young lady, but as Caedum noted I am not in the know. I can fight again in a few days, and give insights before that, but actual plan? I don’t know.”

“Insight then.”

Inpes nodded. “Briareus-”

“Kirin,” Garken corrected. “He’s a draconequus; a native of this world with extremely high aetheric manipulation abilities. Briareus… and every other king we’ve had since the first war here, has been a mask for his true self.”

Inpes looked stunned, and reasonably so. “That’s… difficult to believe.”

“For whatever it’s worth, we can vouch for the truth of it,” Rarity spoke up.

“Yeah… guy was playing all of you for centuries! He never deserved your Loyalty,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Huh… I…” Inpes shook his head, and slapped himself in the cheeks to clear his mind. “Right! Very well… it’s not the first absurdity war has faced me with. ...But that means any speculation I have is useless. ...I never knew my king at all.” He looked lost.

“If anything, this should strengthen your resolve. This isn’t merely one bad king who lost his way. This is a monster this world, and our own people, must be saved from.”

“Agreed,” Celestia added, stepping toward the Map. “And now that I know he is a draconequus… we have much to discuss. For now I will merely say that he isn’t unbeatable, and we will find a way. First… Twilight, I believe the Map has waited long enough to give us this mission.”

Twilight nodded, looking over a list she’d been making, before looking around at everyone assembled. “Each group should proceed to the location you’re shown. Use your best judgment about whether to infiltrate and destroy the Spire you find, or just disrupt it somehow. ...But I don’t believe the Map would lead us to places to simply destroy. Keep your eyes open for chances to turn enemies into friends. I’d rather have a huge party when this is over, not a mass grave for both sides.”

Pinkie nodded... gravely.

“Starting from the north: Aiden, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow. East: Princess Celestia, Sunset, Raven Inkwell, and… I don’t know that last one.”

The Mark in question was a broad bladed, single edged sword at a forty-five degree angle. The blade was shattered, and the pieces held loosely together by strands of aetheric lightning. Garken recognized it. “That would be Tempest Shadow’s Mark. She tends to keep it covered under armor, which the Griffins were kind enough to provide before we sailed to Baltimare. However, I saw it when we were both imprisoned aboard the Clades.”

“Huh… alright then,” Twilight replied. “West… Princess Luna, myself, Trixie, and… Starlight. Well that’s not going to work too well; she’s in no condition to travel, let alone help with a Spire. And actually… what’s with these other motes floating by each group? I’ve never seen those before.”

“Ooh, those are extra random party members!”

“Pinkie… what?”

Aiden chuckled. “I think she’s right, actually. Each group should be taking a few more along, especially since not everyone in our little alliance has a Cutie Mark to begin with. You caught Cursus and company by surprise; we don’t want to keep charging in under...manned? Ponied? ...Whatever.”

Garken nodded. “Safe to assume the griffins will want in, and you’ll be better for their aid. I’m certain Tempest is on her way here with them as we speak. To say nothing of the fact that I’d prefer to come along as well.”

“I’m with you, too,” Inpes said, “If I’m permitted. In fact, give me ten minutes with Teluma and you’ve have another joiner.”

“That’s all really great,” Twilight said, and meant it. “Though… I still don’t think we can take Starlight… unless… Princess Celestia-”

“Twilight, please. ‘Celestia’... or even ‘Tia’. Please.”

Twilight blinked, and blushed. “Sorry. Still getting used to… err, nevermind. Celestia,” she continued, drawing out the name just a touch, “I need to talk to Raven. Actually both of you, it’s important. After that, we can all rest before making preparations to head out.”

“Very well, Twilight. I’m interested to see what you have to say to my aide.”

“And I’m interested in what you know about draconequii,” Twilight replied with an eager smile.

Author's Note

Finally! Couldn't even finish this on the 5th like I mentioned; I caught a cold and it sorta slowed down my writing motivation when I suddenly just want to sniffle and watch Netflix under covers. Anywho, enjoy! ...And sorry about the super dialogue heavy nature of this chapter. We're still kind of setting up plot moving forward. But I'm back into writing rhythm now with the holidays well done with, so updates every week or two (at most) will make their return.

19. Revelations in C Major

“Celestia…”

Celestia turned, pausing in the hallway to smile at her former student. “Better, Twilight. Another ten, maybe fifteen years and you might say my name without it sounding forced.”

The younger princess barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and Celestia chuckled inwardly. The day she can finally roll her eyes at me for a comment like that, we really will be friends at last. “So was it practice, or…?”

“I get that you want to talk to Raven alone first, but before you do… there’s something you should know about her,” Twilight replied, looking down and away, clearly nervous.

“Should I need to know that she’s a Changeling?”

“...Yes, well… but you clearly already do?”

“I do, Twilight, yes. Diaphonie was quite open with me.”

Twilight nodded. “And you say ‘was, so…”

“So I know she left my service six months ago to help the Changelings who didn’t follow Thorax but that also didn’t want to return to Chrysalis. She informed me at that time that she had a replacement in mind.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “And she… didn’t give you the replacement’s name?”

Celestia smiled serenely. “Twilight... of course she did.”

“Oh that’s a relief! Or… is it? I mean, after everything she’s done, and you still… with her…? N-Not that I’m judging or anything! I’m not, and-”

Celestia leaned down, nuzzling Twilight before hugging her gently. “It’s alright to worry about me, Twilight. Heavens know I’m not perfect, and maybe what I’m involved in right now is a mistake that will get me hurt.”

“But-”

“But I’ve recently been reminded by a very good pony, a much better pony than me, just how important it is to forgive those who’ve wronged us, and give them a chance to do better.”

“...But I learned that from you! And it’s not the same! I’m not… involved with Starlight… or Discord, or Trixie, or Sunset, or any other reformed anyone!”

“Really? Unfortunate; I’d heard differently about Starlight.”

Twilight snorted. “Please. False rumors. And I’d have to pull Trixie off her first.” Her eyes widened and she flushed as she seemed to remember who she was talking to. “Umm… err… I mean…”

Celestia laughed a deep musical laugh. “Oh, my dear, dear Twilight. I do so cherish these rare moments of candor from you! I confess I look forward to the years ahead far more than I have in centuries, because I have you and the others in my life now.” She nodded decisively. “But, whether it lasts or not, Raven is also a big part of that. And I need to speak with her alone for a bit. I’ve kept her waiting long enough.”

“Alright, ...Celestia. Just, be careful, okay?”

“I promise, Twilight. I’ll signal you when you can join us.”

Celestia coolly, calmly, and collectedly entered the room where her marefriend waited patiently.

Raven looked at her from her place on a large couch across from a coffee table, appearing somewhere between hopeful and apprehensive. Like somepony expecting an explosion… one that might be streamers and confetti… or just fire, everywhere.

Celestia was over fifteen hundred years old. She had seen things most ponies wouldn’t believe. She had literal centuries of political experience and had at least dabbled in practically everything else since her humble beginnings leading ponies even before the first Oni war. Even in the direst of straits, she was unlikely to be fazed.

And so… “YOU’RE CHRYSALIS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!?!!?!?”

Raven blinked, mane blown back as the Royal Canterlot Voice nearly overturned the couch. She chuckled nervously. “Heh. Um… surprise? Tia. Heheh... hmm.. Heheh… heh… hahahahaha! Oh sweet Mother Above, the look on your face!” Raven pointed a hoof, covering her giggling mouth with the other. “Oh, I wanted to tell you myself but this? Worth it! And now I have something to get revenge on that little purple meddler for.” She blinked. “The… other purple meddler. Mulberry, not… lilac? Whatever pony color.”

Celestia stared wide-eyed at her revealed (albeit not literally) ‘lover’. “I… actually she didn’t. I told her I knew, that Diaphonie told me. But it was obvious if Twilight was worried… well there’s only one Changeling she’d worry about, and so…”

“Yes, yes, obvious deduction at that point.”

“Of course. ...Why didn’t Diaphonie tell me?!”

“Would you have given me a chance if she had?” Raven replied with a raised eyebrow.

“A chance… you mean you had planned all along to…” Celestia blinked, looking away before rallying and recapturing Raven’s gaze. “Is… is anything we’ve shared… real?”

Raven’s eyes softened, and she smiled. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant ‘at all’. By all rights I was a wanted criminal; I could no longer even hide behind ruling a foreign power. They’d all abandoned me… rightfully, as I was unfit to rule. I see that now.” She shook her head. “You wouldn’t have… or maybe, knowing what I know now, you would have at that. I’d never have believed it then.”

Celestia chuckled. “You’re familiar with Starlight Glimmer.”

Raven’s eyes narrowed and her ears shot back. Celestia could swear she heard a growl.

“Well, she’s guilty of crimes at least as bad as yours, to be generous about it. And she’s an Equestrian citizen to begin with. And it’s just as well we didn’t throw her in Tartarus, all things considered.”

“Respectfully disagree.”

“Naturally. ...Can I join you?”

Raven tilted her head. “You mean that?”

“I think you know I do. Or have my feelings for you fluctuated without my knowing?”

Raven shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. She laughed a stress releasing little laugh. “You ponies really are unbelievable. Please…”

Smiling, Celestia joined Raven on the couch, wrapping a wing around her as the smaller mare leaned in, cuddling against her with a shuddering sigh. “So… hungry…”

“I don’t doubt, given what you’ve been through. I’m sorry we couldn’t get you out of there sooner.”

“No… that any of you came for me at all was more than enough. Not that I blame them, but none of my former hive came to look for me after I ran off. You’d think they’d at least worry a little but… apparently I didn’t inspire that sort of loyalty.”

“Shh… no need to dwell on that. You aren’t alone anymore.” She nuzzled the top of Raven’s head, just behind her horn, and planted a gentle kiss.

“I know…” She snorted. “You’re still thinking of me as ‘Raven’ in your head, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Celestia replied plainly, “Though it’s more to prevent a slip of the tongue in mixed company than any other reason.”

“Hmm.. your tongue is fairly slippery…”

“Behave, this is Twilight’s guest room.”

“She has plenty of them,” Raven replied, nibbling on Celestia’s neck. “Messing up one won’t matter.”

“Raven,” Celestia said, firmly but not unkindly. “Not now.”

The Changeling/unicorn sighed dramatically. “Fine. But you’re denying me a more filling meal here. I’m so hungry…” She looked up at Celestia with wide, teary eyes.

It didn’t quite have the desired effect as Celestia burst out laughing. “Oh come now! You can’t expect me to adjust that quickly! I’ve known you now-”

“You certainly have-”

“Hush. For six months… and I’m willing to… mostly… keep my thoughts to that. But that doesn’t mean I can just… I need a little time for that.”

Raven nodded. “I get it. Really, I do. I’m not blind to those sorts of things… not for nothing I picked a wedding for my first attempt at a takeover.”

Celestia winced. “Must you?”

“Well, I was planning to distract myself with delicious fun, but look at me respecting your boundaries! Such lovely… shapely boundaries…”

“Raven!”

“Whaaaat?!” Raven grinned up at Celestia, showing teeth that were just a bit too pointy to belong in a pony mouth. “Oh! Actually I have a real question about that time.”

“...If you must.”

“How did I beat you?”

Celestia blinked. “You… gorged yourself on so much of Shining Armor’s love that your power exceeded even my expectations… and limitations.”

“Yes, yes, and frankly I was surprised too, but… come on. You move the sun… and I’m coming back to that in a minute, but… how could you not just… fry me?”

“Setting aside that even at that moment I didn’t particularly want to kill you, and possibly everypony in the room?”

“Oh please, like convection’s a real thing.”

“I don’t think that’s the term you wanted there.”

“Answer the question!”

Celestia looked down at her, before sighing softly and smiling. “Ponies just… assume I control the sun.”

“Uh… because you do?”

She shook her head. “I’m just a mare pulling a cart. I can pull it fast or slow, in either direction-”

“Good imagery.”

“...Right. Point is… yes I’m strong, to be able to pull that cart… but it doesn’t mean I can hit you with it if you annoy me. And it’s a bit more complicated than even ‘pulling it’. I’m not just grabbing it with telekinesis. Granted it’s quite small compared to a typical main sequence yellow dwarf, it would still be laughably impossible to move that way for a single pony. At least… as easily as I do it. I can’t rule out the possibility that Twilight might be that strong one day.”

“Scary. ...So you’re saying you can’t channel the sun to smite your enemies?”

“Afraid not. ...Is this the point where you turn on me?”

Raven grinned evilly… for a second, before kissing Celestia on the lips, gently. “I’m not feeling up to it right now. I need more love to be strong again first.”

“I wonder where you’ll get that,” Celestia muttered, returning the kiss.

“Who knows? A Changeling’s life is hard.”

“Clearly.” She leaned in for another… and then pulled back, grinning. “Oh dear, but I just remembered I promised Twilight I’d let her know when she could speak with both of us! We’ve kept her waiting too long and she’s probably fretting that you’ve knocked me out or something.”

“‘Or something’ was the plan,” Raven muttered. “...This is because I never told you who I am, isn’t it?”

“Maybe a little,” Celestia admitted, lighting her horn to signal-

-Twilight, who appeared in a flash of light almost immediately.

Raven blinked away the mild flash burn to her retinas. “Swear she must’ve had that half-primed.”

“Are you okay!? She didn’t… oh… heh… don’t you two look cozy?” Twilight spun around, a splash of embarrassment coloring her muzzle.

“I imagine we do,” Raven replied, smirking.

“If it bothers you, Twilight, we can-”

“No, no, I’m fine. It’s good, actually!” Her eye twitched as she turned back to face them. “I mean… after hearing you yell her identity, in clear shock, loud enough to shake the castle… but I see that’s all resolved now.” Twilight grinned, slightly manic. “And it should be! Because you knew who she was, you said. So why you’d yell using the Royal Canterlot Voice sounding shocked… I can’t even imagine!” Her head was tilting slightly as she continued to rant…

Celestia grinned sheepishly. “Luna got Honesty, so…”

“Oh, I’m sure she did, but I think we should talk about-”

“The sun!” Raven cut in, breaking Twilight’s rhythm.

“What?” Celestia and Twilight asked at once.

“Twilight Sparkle mentioned something a bit odd to me earlier. ...She asked if I knew why you ‘needed’ to control the sun. ...And I realized I never really thought about it, but...”

“Uh… if you didn’t know about that then you didn’t know how she did it either… how did you plan to do it while she was in a pod?”

“I… well… shut up!”

Twilight snickered, sitting on the rug and lighting her horn. A tea set appeared, complete with a pot which began magically heating. “We don’t need to tell Spike I can do that, by the way. So then.. Celestia. Perhaps you can tell… Raven, here-”

“Yes, Sparkle, trip over my name every time, that won’t be awkward at all.”

Twilight gave her a withering look. “-About our artificial star.”

The former queen did a double take from Twilight back to Celestia. “Artificial? But… what happened to… it can’t have always…”

Celestia smiled that old, old smile of a teacher with a story to tell. “No… it wasn’t always so. We had a normal star once…”

*

“It’s over,” Admiral Jun said quietly. “...And now I know why Sidera ordered us off her ship. She’s crashed it into the dark of the moon. The damage was too extensive.”

“Is… is she alive?” General Celestia asked.

“She is,” her sister confirmed, walking onto the battlements from the war room. Her gaze was skyward. “I can still hear her, through our connection. ...She’s cursing in many, many different languages at once. Unfortunately, we have a larger problem.”

Admiral Jun nodded gravely, his fingers to the earpiece updating him from the second of their dual flagships, and its commander who’d stayed with Solise. “The sun has been destroyed. Or rather been induced to go nova.”

“What?!”

Jun nodded again… he was a stoic man. “The initial wave of the explosive expansion will reach Equus in minutes.”

“Minutes?! We… but… how can they?” General Celestia sputtered, trying to wrap her head around something so ridiculously terrifying.

The war was all but over; they had won. The Oni had fled the planet, the Demondim had vanished, and the remaining threats were mostly quiet. ...There was a bit of concern about the draconequus that had betrayed both sides twice within minutes of each other and walked away mid-fight… backwards, in the air, wearing wagon wheels like snowshoes for some reason. It would probably work itself out...

“They detonated the main drives of their flagship… after flying into the star at an appreciable percentage of lightspeed. On the upside, the only Demondim ship left is the Clades, and we destroyed most of its systems before it fled. They won’t be able to find their way back. ...Frankly, I doubt they’ll survive the trip. Faster than light travel with destroyed navigation is far from safe.”

“So is sitting on a planet whose star was just destroyed!”

“True.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Celestia demanded quietly. “This… it can’t end this way…”

It will not, my daughter.

“Solise?” The others turned to her, no more hearing the voice that spoke in her mind than she’d heard Luna’s.

My sister’s ire comes from the sudden necessity of her sacrifice. She will protect your world, as we have pledged. Even now she strengthens her Veil, using the energies of her life force and the remains of her great vessel’s power. Equus will survive. In truth, there is an advantage, in that the Veil is much smaller now. She can move your world, hide it more effectively…

“...For now, but how long will that veil hold in heat? Without a sun, we-” her eyes widened in fear. “The winter will return, won’t it? Their final vengeance…”

Solise laughed softly in Celestia’s mind. My child… I would never ask a sacrifice of my sister… were I not similarly willing. The humans aboard my vessel will not be asked for such. They have already been transported to their return ship, though there will be time for farewells. First though...

Celestia’s eyes went wide. She could feel power flowing into her, and feel similar strength nearby as she could vaguely hear Luna arguing with Sidera over the roaring in her ears.

Forgive us… it’s clear the Demondim believed that, even in failing to harvest the essence of this world’s life for their fell purposes, it would still be worth destroying out of spite even at the cost of their own lives. We never believed they would, or could, go so far. This… is all we can do. Forgive me… the shackles I must place upon you.

“I don’t understand…”

You will. In combining the best of your three tribes in you, and your sister, we have granted you great power, in Harmony with the magic of your world. Your trials will require all of it and more… and I can no longer help you. Sidera’s mind will remain strong, and she may aid Luna in ruling the night. But I… to light your world, I must burn… I… do not know how much of me will remain. It must then be your light which leads them, and me, hereafter… You will come to understand… the truth of the destiny we foresaw for you. Celestia… You will lead them to a new age of peace. Look to Harmony, and its gifts. Not for nothing your world has been worth so much to both ourselves and the Demondim. Grow, prosper, and lead, that you may one day take your place among the stars. That you may meet your allies again, as their world will surely grow in parallel with your own.

“No… I’m not… I was never worthy of this! You can’t… there has to be a better choice! Star Swirl! Or… or… no… just don’t leave us alone…”

Dear child… you will not be alone. She felt the smallest smile on Solise’s lips, so far away. Look to the skies… and remember the friends you will one day meet again. Look to myself, and my sister, who will stand watch until that day. To your own sister, to raise one another to new heights. We see no limits for your world, anymore than we did for Earth. I know you will make us proud.

Celestia gasped as the voice in her mind was consumed… by the fiery birth of a new star.

*

Her audience was quiet, so Celestia continued a bit. “It was funny I’d mentioned Star Swirl… with everything thrown off by our previous sun exploding-”

“As would happen, sure…” Raven muttered vaguely, sounding stunned. It wasn’t every day you learned that your sun was the remains of a powerful alien being and her ship, burning in their own inconceivable power, unceasingly.

“Luna and I had to learn how to use our magic in whole other ways… specifically moving the moon and sun so as not to cook or freeze half the world. The Veil mitigates those effects somewhat, but a lot is on our withers. Controlling the weather became more important than ever at that time… it wasn’t until much later we learned that it only became necessary to begin with thanks to the draconequii and Demondim’s early efforts. Star Swirl helped a great deal, as at that point he knew more about magic than anypony, even if Harmony was never his strong suit,” She chuckled fondly, remembering those days. “He wasn’t too impressed with me at first-”

“Can relate,” Twilight added darkly, taking a sip of tea.

“-Called me ‘an earth pony foal with a fake horn glued to my head’.”

“You’re kidding,” Raven responded, chuckling.

“Not at all… and given what we had to learn he might as well have been right. For a time, it took a whole team of unicorns working in unison to move the sun and moon properly. Luna and I helped, but it was months before we could do it on our own, even with the advantages Solise and Sidera had left for us.”

“So… when we first saw Flurry Heart… That’s what you meant about never hearing of alicorns being born?” Twilight asked.

Celestia nodded. “While the draconequii ascended past the mortal limits of magic use with urgings from the Demondim, regrettably down dark and unstable paths, the Seraphim led us to a more harmonious response. On our own, neither Luna or I is a match for Discord… or Kirin, for that matter. But together, and with the magic of the planet itself supporting us…”

“To be fair, Celly, I think you’ve gotten a bit stronger than you realize. You just aren’t using it in any fun ways.”

Twilight didn’t even blink, but Raven started violently at the new voice coming from the corner. Celestia smirked, resettling her wing around Raven and gently holding her from bolting. “Hello, Discord.”

The draconequus was a fair bit smaller than usual, and for some reason had rabbit ears jutting from his head alongside his horns. Other than that, he seemed no worse for wear as he drank from an upside down teacup. “Hello everypony… or ‘ling.”

“Feeling better?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, mostly. And since ole Sunbutt was lecturing on how her star works, I thought I’d mention how draconequii don’t.”

“Um… alright?”

“We just do whatever we want!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, lit her horn, and took another drink.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, sniffing lightly in the direction of Twilight’s cup. “Is that… whisky I smell?”

“...Might be.”

“Twilight.”

“What?”

Discord chuckled. “Now now, she’s an adult, Celly, have to let her make her own choices. Much as we all did! I chose Chaos! My absolute virtue! The definition of my magic and my very being. And as long as I stay true to it… well I don’t fade away to nothing, basically.”

“Thought so,” Twilight muttered. “Fluttershy mentioned that incident. ...And before you get upset, it was to make sure we didn’t try to push you into behaving too much. You nearly died trying to impress her.”

“Err… yes well… just sort of slipped my mind, is all.” Discord rubbed the back of his head with his lion paw. “Hah, just a prank, really.”

Twilight grinned at him. “Pranking Fluttershy? Right… congratulations on fooling no one.”

“So what does this mean for Kirin?” Raven interjected.

...Causing Discord to grimace, and look unusually serious. “Unfortunately nothing. He chose power… specifically martial might, as his virtue.” He shrugged. “Maybe if you can get him to choose, of his own free will, to become a pacifist, he’ll fade away. ...Good luck with that.”

“Just beating him isn’t enough?”

“Well, to death, sure. We aren’t invincible. But he won’t just fade away from losing a fight or it would have happened already. It’s the same for me… boring as that is. The Elements stopped me from pursuing Chaos for over a thousand years, but when I escaped I was none the worse for wear. That’s because I didn’t choose to stop; my virtue, my magic, and my life all stayed strong.” Discord flexed comically.

And then sighed. “Twilight… when I betrayed you to Tirek… I was worried I’d gone too soft; that I was weakening.” He smiled, almost the same smile he’d had when Twilight had saved him from the power mad centaur. “I was wrong of course… he only led me to be evil. Chaos… well I never had to look further than Ponyville. All you ponies in this town are crazy!”

“Oh sure, lump me in with the Lyras and the Screwballs… and wasn’t she your fault?” Twilight blinked, tilting her head in thought. “But wait, if it has to be him giving up, and that won’t happen… what you’re saying… this doesn’t help us at all!” Twilight exclaimed.

“...Nope!” With that Discord disappeared in a flash of light as the three facehooved.

“Ugh… what was the point of that? ...Oh forget it. Chrysalis… Raven, whatever.”

“Raven. It might make it easier to get along… not to mention what Tia pointed out earlier: we don’t want to say the wrong name at the wrong time and get ponies worried.”

“Fair enough. ...I need your help.”

“I know. It may seem like you have everything in hoof but the truth is Kirin’s loyalists are likely amassing large quantities of corrupted aetheryte from Hollow Shades, and probably a few other spots as well.”

“What?! When were you planning to mention that?”

“Now-ish?” Raven managed to look sheepish.

“Uuuugh. Great, well, I guess we’ll keep that in mind. But I more meant about your horn…”

Raven’s head tilted in confusion. “...My horn?”

“Back at Canterlot, it was broken off.”

Celestia winced, and tightened her hug around Raven, whose expression slackened into a dreamy smile.

“Focus! My point is… it was broken, and now it isn’t. How?”

Raven shook off the happy haze and raised an eyebrow. She pointed a hoof at herself. “Changeling.”

“...That’s not an answer. I know you can’t just instantly heal your wounds when you shapeshift.”

“That actually depends how much energy we have to work with. Being injured makes shifting more difficult in general, pain being a distraction among other reasons. Healthy cells reconfiguring isn’t the same as repairing damage, but with more energy applied, which is necessary for larger shifts anyway, it can be done.”

“Do you think you could rework that ability?”

Raven’s eyes narrowed. “Into what, exactly?”

“Starlight and I have mostly reverse engineered your communication spell. I already have an idea about remaking this power, and I think with your input it would go much faster. After all, I have shapeshifting spells of my own.”

“In that case, why do you need me?”

“Because a horn, like a mane, or pegasus feathers, is more highly saturated with magic than the rest of the pony. Normally this would mean, especially in the case of a horn, that damaging it is difficult. Unfortunately it means the same for repairing. But you did it effortlessly.”

“Because I’m a Changeling!”

“Which isn’t that different from a pony!”

“Bite your tongue, Twilight Sparkle!”

“Bite my flank, Raven Inkwell! I need your help to heal the horns of Tempest Shadow… and Starlight Glimmer.”

Raven jumped up and away from Celestia, enraged. “You! You actually think I would help… her?!”

“...Yes… yes I do.”

“You’re insane,” Raven snorted derisively.

“Maybe…” Twilight trailed off, smiling at Raven. “But today I saw my beloved mentor sitting on a couch, cuddled up with a former enemy I thought would never find peace. I saw a pony and a changeling… with every reason to hold a grudge… instead holding each other, finding happiness together.”

Raven looked away, face red. Celestia smiled brilliantly at her former student.

“I’ve witnessed more miraculous turnarounds than any pony has a right to see… and maybe I’m as crazy as you and Discord, another former enemy, say I am. ...But I think I’m right this time,” then she grinned, as she noted Raven looking back at her from the corner of her eye. “Besides… Starlight’s a magical prodigy. Imagine the look on her face when you, her greatest enemy since reforming, heals her using magic she couldn’t even conceive of…”

“Twilight, that’s not a good way to-” Celestia began.

“Weeeeell now…. when you put it that way…” Raven cut in, already gloating.

Author's Note

Another really talky chapter... but I had fun with this one, and we'll be getting back to some more active scenes next time.

20. On Three Fronts, Part 2

Author's Note

Sorry this took longer than intended, but I wanted part 3 of this 'chapter' mostly done before posting this one. That chapter will go up Friday. The April Fools chapter I had originally planned had to get put on the backburner when I had real life stuff going on that weekend. It may come back as a clearly marked omake later on.

20. On Three Fronts, Part 2

“It was a simple decision, and it’s just as simple to revisit it later,” Tempest said with a bit of a huff.

“And I get that… or I think I do. It’s just, with everything you went through to get it back-”

“Everything I tried to give away that wasn’t mine to give… like Equestria for example.”

“Oh come on, who hasn’t tried to take over Equestria at least once? We could start a club,” Sunset Shimmer grinned cheekily at Tempest.

“I don’t even have to speak up, do I?” Raven asked with a smirk.

“I haven’t,” Celestia muttered.

“Actually, ma’am, that’s not true,” Sunset corrected, still grinning. “Bloodless though it was, you technically took over in a military coup with the backing of Clover, Pansy, and Smart Cookie. Granted the three tribe leaders didn’t protest or resist, but you weren’t elected or part of any of the noble families of the time.”

Celestia blinked, then smiled. “Well then! I didn’t ‘try’, now did I?”

Sunset chuckled.

“I too have not tried conquering this realm, though I once envisioned the possibility,” Garken spoke up. “I’ve determined I lack the strength. Which brings us back to…” He looked expectantly at Tempest, who sighed and rolled her eyes.

They were making their way east, toward the location indicated by the Map. A few hours of sleep for some of them had been all the more time they’d dared delay, and as such only Gareth had accompanied them from among the griffons. The others needed more recovery time to be combat ready. Garken and Aiden had both made clear the potential dangers the Spires represented. Twilight’s experience with one, and its guardian, had only added weight to the warning.

During that time, Tempest had elected not to have her horn restored. “Because it wouldn’t necessarily help right now. I’ve learned, throughout most of my life, to live without it. I still have magic, and I’ve learned to channel it through my body as well as this stupid stump. I can fight as well as anypony, thanks to that constant training under this condition. I mess with that now… and I have to learn all over again. Maybe it’ll come easy, maybe not. This isn’t the time to find out.”

Celestia nodded her approval. Sunset looked thoughtful, but eventually nodded. Raven just shrugged, not really caring one way or the other. Garken seemed thoughtful. “A correct decision in the short term… but if it affords you greater strength in the long run delaying this relearning may hurt us. Still, the choice is yours to make.”

Tempest nodded, not trusting herself to speak again. She’d caught the tiny hitch in his tone. He knew. Everything she’d said was true… but it wasn’t the whole truth. After everything she’d done… she wanted to make amends as she was, as best she could. Then, and only then, would she consider any attempt to be made whole again.

Garken snorted, speaking up as they crested a rise over a valley that housed at least their target area, per the Map. “It would seem they’ve no interest in hiding, this time.”

Tempest quickly saw what he meant. The Spire was massive: a white tower reaching hundreds of feet into the sky, made of what appeared to be granite or basalt. “Huh, I’d have expected metal.”

“The technology for creating the Spires is far older than our ownership of it… as is true for most of what we had. What you see as stone is a lifeform, of sorts, entirely controlled by the design of the structure, and altered to fit the unique needs of a particular Spire. The interior is similarly adaptable. As are…” Garken’s eyes narrowed, then widened as he moved in a blur to the front of the group. A flash from the Spire’s tip heralded a wash of energy across a hastily raised shield of magic. His hands and horns sizzled from the backlash as the shield buckled and shattered under the deflected force.

Tempest felt a tingle through her coat on her left side, and then… less. She looked over before crying out in shock. Gareth was down, quickly smothering the fire that had taken hold in one wing from where he’d tried to provide cover.

But Celestia and Raven were gone.

Evening Calm walked ahead of the others. Her injuries had healed well and she was quite happy basking in her princess’ approval and trust. Luna and her three companions, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, and of course Princess Twilight Sparkle, followed the Guard Captain’s lead in a hushed conversation.

“I’m telling you, she did something to me!” Starlight whispered harshly. “I can feel Trixie standing there, and I don’t just mean in the aether field. Her emotional state…” she blushed lightly. “How she feels about me…”

“Right, because that was a big secret,” Twilight muttered.

“Stop dismissing this! How can you trust her?!”

“I don’t… which is why I’m dismissing this. Starlight, every spell I know that could analyze what she did was running, including the ones we’ve come up with concerning changelings. Yes, there are traces of changeling magic in your horn. Yes, your aetheric aspect has shifted, slightly, in a way that has not affected your casting ability-”

“Like fun it hasn’t! The shield I used in the hospital was basically powered by Trixie kissing me!”

The unicorn in question also blushed, looking away. “I don’t have enough smoke bombs to escape this conversation…”

“You’re exaggerating,” Twilight replied to Starlight, ignoring Trixie’s snark. “It was twenty-one and a half percent at most.”

“I… that’s…” Starlight shook her head, glaring at Twilight. “It’s usually me going after the crazy magic… what’s with you lately?”

Twilight smiled at her serenely. “It’s complicated, I guess. When I started hearing from friends around the world that the Oni-koru were here and causing trouble, even before I knew who and what they were, solutions started presenting themselves. I may not trust Chrysalis, but in an odd way I trust that, as long as I don’t trust her, I can trust her to help us even when she pretends she isn’t. ...This is something that’s been coming together for us ever since the Castle grew there. We’ve been making friends everywhere, sometimes from our enemies,” she placed a hoof gently on Starlight’s shoulder, drawing another blush from the other mare before she looked away. “Equus is moving towards something greater than it's ever seen before, and if the Oni-koru are our next big test, then I’m ready! No, we all are even if we don’t know it!”

“...That doesn’t make sense.”

Twilight lowered the hoof she’d raised to the sky, blushing in embarrassment. “Hehe… I may not be explaining it very well. My thesis on the subject needs a rewrite, but I was a bit rushed with everything going on.” Her eyes went wide and sparkled a bit. “Ooh, you want to proofread it for me?! It’s only thirty-nine pages!”

Starlight rolled her eyes, smiling in spite of herself. “Your love of being a nerd tastes nice, by the way.”

“You’re not a changeling, Starlight.”

“Yet. ...And I better not turn into one, or I’m putting that witch in a cocoon!”

“Girls, we’re approaching our destination, so perhaps a bit of quiet would be in order?”

“Sorry, Luna.”

It was true enough. Atop a mountain ahead sat a massive Spire of obsidian or some similar dark stone. Sleek and tall, it would have been all but invisible at night without the moon as a backdrop. Even in early morning the structure seemed to push away light.

“Tis well, Twilight,” Luna replied, dismissing the unneeded apology. “But focus up: the sense of foreboding about that structure demands our full attention. The aether seems to be shifting-”

A shadow blacker than night surrounded them all and they vanished.

*The Last Dream*

Aiden was helpless. He’d been staked to a massive tree by four spears that looked, and felt, exactly like what he’d endured during the raid on Veritech. He did not appreciate his subconscious so painstakingly reproducing that feeling four times over.

But compared to the sight before him, it was a nearly heavenly distraction.

Pinkie Pie was crying. All around her kitchen knives covered in blood and blue feathers littered the ground. Rainbow… what was left of her, lay nearby unmoving, barely breathing.

General Maegren was chuckling quietly as he patted Pinkie on the head, feigning comfort. “It’s alright, little Laughter… they can’t hurt you anymore. Soon now… soon I’ll end all your pain.”

Pinkie sobbed. “Please… I’m so sorry… please…”

“Be patient now.” He stepped around her, walking to Aiden with a smile. “You brought them here to face me, boy. Just as your General Grumman sent children to face me at the Southern Spire. It seems you truly do both walk the path to Hell. And no matter how many… corpses,” he chuckled, stepping casually over Rarity’s body. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t breathing. It was perhaps as well… she would never see what the knives had done to her face. “...you have to step across, you’re content to keep walking. Sacrifices for the greater good, of course.”

“...”

“...Nothing to say?”

“To my own messed up nightmares? Not really. I saw this and worse during the war, thanks to monsters like you. Not the Oni soldiers, following orders and fighting our militaries… both sides had their monsters. If this is some unworked trauma I’ll deal with it… if it’s a warning consider me warned. But you? Just a figment… and this?” He nodded his head towards the horrors before him. “Isn’t going to happen.”

“It can though… we’ve seen it.”

He turned his head to the new voice as the scene before him thankfully vanished. The spears were gone, and he floated gently to his feet, standing on grey clouds beneath a starry night. The moon, far larger than he’d ever seen awake, shone brightly.

“Show yourse- oh right… hi…” Aiden looked at the sudden newcomer.

A pegasus filly with an oversized shadow and softly glowing eyes smiled up at him.

“Hello, little hero.”

He snorted. “Look who’s talking, short stuff.”

Joyous Riot… Keia, laughed an entirely un-filly-like laugh. “Touché. It’s amusing to see you again. I believe you’ve grown.”

“I’ve figured out a lot about my magic lately.”

She shook her head. “I meant physically. Broader shoulders perhaps. It suits you.” She looked away, ear flicking as though she were listening to someone. “Oh very well, to work then.”

“Wait… so it was you who warned us, back on Earth? I mean it’s just… Joy doesn’t seem to recognize who I am, and…” He shrugged.

“Yes and no… I’m no prophet, Windborne, lest I’d have fared better against you at the Spire. I came to be of use to a certain being who sees the Universe’s patterns far better than you or I. Through little choice of my own, I came to be of service to her. As to my waking mind…” she smiled, again a calm smile that looked odd on the filly’s face. “These dreams are just that… dreams. While I may one day regain these memories as a part of who I am to become, I cannot say. I remembered some small bit of my martial prowess, though I owe as much of that to my parents. They are rather impressive, even by my standards. I suppose I did something right in my last life.”

“Right at the end, maybe.”

She snickered before sobering. “Windborne… it’s as you said. Maegren is a monster, he defended the Southern Spire by dementing your people into slaughtering one another.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“The corrupted aetheryte has only increased his cruelty, and his strength. At Canterlot he fought poorly… he’s a coward at heart, and an ingrained fear of my previous father was deeper in him than he’d ever admit. ...Reasonable. Garken hated him.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

“But further he was new to the power he’d received from Kirin. He is no longer so hampered. And you’re bringing him the perfect victims. ...I do not look down upon the peoples of this world, Windborne, far from it! But… but you cannot bring these paragons of virtue into that demon’s midst! Pure of heart they are, but they are not ready for him! He’ll have them tear each other apart… and make you watch them do it. We did not frivolously show you this.”

Aiden sighed, nodding his understanding. The nightmare had been her then, revealing their worst fears of what could happen. It explained why he’d felt so detached from it. No trauma needed… the warning was loud and clear. “So he’s guarding that Spire.”

“He is… and Kirin has given him more aetheryte, both as punishment for his failures and to increase his chances of success now.”

“How is it punishment?”

Keia looked away. “Windborne… you see the results of ‘death’. The universe wastes nothing; that is what we believe. Even awareness, the memories a soul can take with it, need not be lost. Whether it is so for humans, and ponies, I cannot say. I hope so, for your sake.”

Aiden smiled. “I saw my sister, before she moved on. Wherever she went, I doubt she’ll stay long before finding a new life to live somewhere.”

Keia nodded. “But no design is perfect. The aetheryte, corrupted and malicious, draws out strength by stealing it from the very foundation of one’s soul. Brief exposure, or small amounts of the crystal, are of no moment. I cannot say whether Garken will face a lasting effect…”

“He already is. He’s weaker than he was on Earth. I think he realizes it but doesn’t want to admit it.”

“It may pass in time, or not; I do not know. For Maegren though… he is beyond saving now. Vile magicks flow in his blood, cracking and corroding his soul. When he dies… and it will be a score of years or less, what little remains of it will scarcely be dust in the aether. He will not be born again.”

“...Making me feel bad for the guy… if he weren’t a complete psycho.”

“He wished for this… I cannot fully understand why.”

“Can’t even blame Kirin then? ...Wait… how do you know about all that? If you’re not really conscious…”

Keia chuckled. “That is the right question to ask. But I’m not the right person to answer. ...I’ll step aside now.” She turned her head, addressing someone Aiden couldn’t sense. “Thank you for allowing me to speak with him. He’s as I remembered. You can trust him completely.” She turned back, smiling with tears in her eyes. “Tell my father… Garken…” she shook her head. “...Nothing. I’ll find him… or rather Joy will. One day, perhaps, I will as well. But he’ll know,” she nodded with certainty. “He’ll know…”

The shadow enveloped her, growing larger before shifting, glowing in a reflection of the moon. It took on a new shape: a tall human woman with alabaster skin, jet black hair, and the same glowing eyes. She smiled warmly, and Aiden felt his breath catch in his throat. Her aether was a summer breeze at night, dew on primroses, and the soft light of the moon and stars shining down. He knew to whom he now spoke.

“It’s nice to meet you… Sidera.”

The Seraphim’s smile became a happy grin. “Progeny of Synnove Ó Catháin… somewhat removed. Pleased and honored am I beyond words to behold you upon Equus. Too long have I waited to once again give greetings.” The grin faded somewhat. “Would that tidings were better.”

Setting aside the casual mention of his apparent ancestor… “Yeah… erm, not to criticize too much, but…”

She shook her head, sighing. “I am entirely aware of my unforgivable failure concerning our ancient foes. In truth, twas my failure to protect fair Luna’s mind that led me to excessive self reflection, questioning. After so long with nothing intruding upon my Veil, I failed to notice either vessel until after the fact.” She winced, looking all the more human for it. “I apologize in particular for the damage to your vessel. I am responsible and yet am at odds as to recompense.”

Aiden grimaced. “Immortal or not, hard to stay vigilant for fifteen hundred years. ...I assume. I think I’d hate even fifteen hours on guard duty.” He shook his head. “...But nevermind that. Sidera, knowing what you know of Maegren… what do we do? As much as I’ve learned in these dreams, I don’t think it’s enough. If he’s stronger than Canterlot… even there we made sure to distract him so he was off balance, drawn out. This time he’s waiting for us and that’s exactly how he wants it, just like the Southern Spire back home. If I have to face him alone I will, of course, but…”

“...What I have seen of him, the reason I have known to come before you, is the depth of magic now at his disposal. It is blinding: a blight upon the world almost moreso than Kirin himself. I… I do not see a way to defeat him at this time, and yet…” Sidera looked away, her face falling into sadness.

“...Can’t wait him out, I’m guessing?”

She sighed. “The Spires will weaken Harmony and strengthen the corrupted aetheryte, in preparation for sacrificing the strongest of this world to create even greater weapons. The three you have been summoned to must be stopped… at any cost, lest you risk the destruction of all Equus… and other worlds besides…”

Aiden chuckled, shaking his head. “Guess Maegren made the best play, then.”

“His soul will burn away to ash in time… but not before this world, if left unchecked.” She visibly steeled herself before meeting Aiden’s eyes. “There… may be a way. I do not wish to ask it of you. The Elements of Harmony may not stop Kirin, but on Maegren they may be effective.”

“Well… that’s great news, except that we’re kind of sending the Bearers all over the place just now.”

“It is worse than you think… the magic coursing through him now, if countered by Harmony, would explode more violently than any Spire you remember. Worst of all, it could easily corrupt the Bearers.”

Aiden was pacing now. “Joyeuse contains pure aetheryte. Could it purify that… or even be used to focus the initial attack?”

Sidera’s eyes widened. “It… it’s possible…” she sighed and shook her head. “It is too much. The Bearer of Joyeuse and Generosity, though dear to you and impressive in her strides forward, is young and inexperienced in controlling so much power. The depth of his malice would be like to overcome her, and through her the blade and mayhap even the Elements themselves. Twould not be lasting, as such ill cannot overcome Them long, but…”

“Long enough for the fallout to be catastrophic.”

“Yes. And the damage to young Rarity’s soul may well be permanent.”

“Her soul…” Aiden said vaguely… catching at the wisps of an idea… one that pissed him off. “If you knew about this… why the Hell are you only warning us now?!”

“I had no choice but to cut myself off from Luna during her own corruption! I am no longer truly alive and lack the defenses I once had! Had I fallen to her Nightmare Equus would be a playground for the darkest horrors of the psyche. This conversation would be unnecessary, for the world would already be long doomed. It was only when I felt the presence of a foreign soul, one not of Equus and yet welcomed to begin life here, that I…”

“Keia… so that’s why Joyous Riot…”

“Yes. ...I did not realize, even then, that Luna had been completely freed of the Nightmare’s influence.” Sidera gave another shuddering sigh. “A demon of her own creation, slain by her bravery and her friends’ love, as I languished uselessly! ...I failed.” Tears clouding her eyes she turned back to Aiden, grasping his arms in desperation. “Please! I can see it within you! You’ve seen a way to protect them, to stave him off long enough that they can defeat him! Ask anything of me, anything at all, be it in my power! You must protect this world, as I have failed to! PLEASE!” She screamed, clinging to him as her legs seemed to fail.

He caught her. “Man…” He laughed quietly, gently so it was clear he wasn’t mocking her. “You’d swear I wasn’t a soldier or something.”

She looked up. “...What?”

“Rarity’s soul… if it were a bit stronger… a bit more experienced maybe. That’d turn the tide?”

“It… but there’s no time for-”

“So all we need to do, is find a guy who happens to have his own soul connected to hers… who’s also willing to go down swinging if it means this monstrosity we face will be a little weaker when her turn comes up. She can already access my power… a power that will stick around after I die, if we’re right, and Equus’ field is telling me I am.”

“...You…” her eyes went wide, realizing what he was saying.

“Heh,” Aiden grinned at her. “Told you… I’m a soldier. I may not always act the part, us Espers were kind of spoiled because we were young, and a lot was needed of us whether we wanted it or not, so we got some leeway. Funny thing was… almost all of us did want. Rarity said something about Earth’s aether field. The determination of it, the stubborn will to fight on no matter what, coursing through us. It’s different here… I feel inspired towards a plan I know is gonna work. And I’ve still got enough Earth in me that goddammit, I’ll make sure it does.” He shook his head, tears in his own eyes. “Maegren thinks he’s made the strongest play. Hell with that. All we have to do is lose one knight and we’re out of check and back to the advantage.”

“But…”

“Aw, but nothing. I jump on the grenade; that’s what we do. I won’t ask an artist to do it, or a farmer, or a scholar, or party planner. Not even a daredevil, and I know she would. Every damn one of them is brave enough to do it! All the strengths of this world, both our worlds! They’re about more than fighting. Garken, Keia, Inpes… they’ve all learned that, and who knows how many more will? I just have to clear the path for them to walk forward. That’s my job.” He faltered a moment, smiling wanly. “Besides… it’s… it’s not forever, right?” He looked at her, a touch of fear in his eyes as he contemplated what was to come and the path he would take.

“No… no!” She replied, certain. “That much I can promise! I didn’t dare even conceive of such… your people have given so much to us, to this world, and I… I will see that you find a place again! I swear it to you, this much I can do.”

“Ah, Hell… piece of mind like that, how can a guy not charge in headlong? There’s a real freedom to it, ya know?”

“She… she may not understand.”

He chuckled weakly. “Shit no she won’t. Not for awhile. Sweetest girl I ever met, dammit. She’d risk herself instead in half a heartbeat… and we’re not going to let her do it. This world needs her, and with what she can carry forward from me, she’ll be more than enough.”

Looking up at the stars, he went quiet for a time. “They really are something… being up here, seeing them this close. ...You know my dad was a pilot…”

“Perhaps a pegasus… in your… your next life?” She asked, lips trembling as she tried not to dwell on the full meaning of what she asked.

“Hmm… flying would be neat. But Rarity said I seemed more a unicorn. ...Then again, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at growing a garden. ...Guess it’d be hoof, huh? Building something up instead of knocking things over…” He laughed, shrugging aside the brief bout of pensivity. “Ahh-ahh, I can’t decide!” He chuckled, hearing voices in the distance, in the waking world. “Surprise me.”

They’d covered the distance to their Spire quickly, and using Aiden’s method had allowed them to start a bit later than the other two. It had given him time to write a letter.

“We’ll be there in just a few minutes, hope you’re all ready for a fight because I feel that bastard already.”

“I as well, darling. Why do you suppose he’d come out of the Spire to face us?”

“The Spires are more than just a lure this time around. Further, with their ship destroyed they can’t replace them. He’s too strong to risk fighting us inside and damaging the thing.”

“That does make sense, I guess. ...Pinkie dear, are you alright?”

“...No,” the pink pony replied vaguely, somberly. “I don’t think I like this. ...Maybe it’s just something I ate…”

“It’s probably his aether. It’s practically poisonous at this point, so we’ll have to play it very carefully.”

“Yes,” Rarity said, staring at him. “Yes we will.”

Aiden frowned, feeling a twitch of concern. “That’s what I said.”

“Not what you meant though,” Rainbow said, landing next to them… with a note clenched in her teeth. “Dear Rarity… if you’re reading this…” she quoted, staring daggers up at him.

“Honestly, love, did you think you could run off alone with that look on your face, hide that letter, and I wouldn’t notice? This is almost as much my pocket world as yours, at this point. ...For that matter, why off on the edge near the water?”

Look… if you read it, you know why I’m-”

“Shut up!” Rarity shouted. “Of course I know why! I may not have seen Keia, or thankfully most of the rest of what happened leading up to it, but I heard EVERY. LAST. WORD!”

“...Shit.”

“Shit is right! You think this is the best plan?! You think that-”

“If you experienced that horror you know goddamn well what’s at stake! ...It’s not forever… it’s not so bad.” He chuckled. “I mean, I guess you’ll be a little old for me, but…”

“You do not get to joke about this!”

“Yeah, I do. Same as back home. You think Aaron got through it all moping around? You know better. We laugh at it.” He nodded to Pinkie. “That’s how you handle fear.”

She smiled at him, perking up. “Giggle at the ghostie… and the meanie. That’s…” Her eyes widened. “That’s why we’re here.”

“Damn right!” Rarity said. “You will NOT face him alone. You are not dying today so I can get some sort of stupid… power boost! I make dresses! I intend to go back to doing that! What am I going to do with some alicorn level power?”

“...Make dresses out of clouds and stuff?” Rainbow asked. “Or maybe Elemental Aetheric Water?”

Rarity blinked, and her eyes narrowed as she tapped a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. Then she shook her head to clear it. “Forget it! I’ll figure that out on my own, as I am, and with you as you are. So help me, if you die trying to keep us off your ‘road to Hell’ I will march right into Tartarus and pull you back out WITH MY TEETH!”

Rainbow stared at Rarity, and then to Aiden. She grinned. “Sorry, big guy… looks like you made friends a bit too Loyal to let you walk that road alone. ...I’d rather fly it anyway. ...Speaking of flight, I think I have an idea for this, too.”

Minutes later the group appeared in a clearing in the trees. Said clearing allowed them to see the Spire rising up from the forest, dozens of stories into the sky. The grey stone seemed to deflect the clouds, pushing them into lazy circles around its uppermost heights.

Aiden grimaced inwardly at the familiarity of the clearing. ...There was the tree the nightmare had seen him staked to. And there, across from them, standing tall and oozing corrupt magic, was Grand Marshal Maegren.

He was seven feet tall, blue skinned, and thin. Shiny black claws adorned his four fingered hands and three black horns topped his head, two curling around the sides from his temples, one rising from his forehead like a mockery of a unicorn’s horn. Cruel red in yellow eyes looked back into Aiden’s greys, and he could almost hear the mocking laughter in the air.

“You… you feel that?” Rainbow muttered, shaking her mane as though to push away that very air.

“I taste that,” Pinkie said, sounding disgusted.

Rarity didn’t speak, she simply drew Joyeuse from thin air, igniting the blade and bringing it to a telekinetic en garde.

“Welcome, my much awaited guests. ...I must ask; where is Twilight Sparkle? I expected her as well.”

“...Not sure what you mean. I think she was chasing down a colt with an overdue library book. Little guy had a set of legs on him, but she’ll get him. He’s in for it.” Aiden smirked as he rambled on, trying to keep his lunch down. This whole situation was…

“Droll… but even so…” Maegren muttered something about ‘one to each’ before seeming to dismiss it. “No matter. You’ve brought the mare I most wanted to meet.” He stepped forward, a slasher smile on his face as his head tilted slightly to the side. “Pinkamena. Diane. Pie. How nice to finally make your acquaintance… Little Laughter. We’re going to have such fun. ...You like fun, don’t you?”

Pinkie swallowed heavily, taking a small step back as he slowly approached. “Stay… stay away from me.” Her voice was steady, though her mane seemed to waver. Her aether, all but bottomless to Aiden, seemed to fluctuate. She’d known… what Rarity had explained of Pinkie Sense… of course she’d known. Of course they’d found the letter. Aiden shook his head. He’d made wonderful friends here. Amazing people, each of them. And it was time to make sure they kept being so. Now or never.

The magic around them coalesced, barriers of hardened aether, condensed by gravity to complete opacity, crashed down around the clearing and above, enclosing them. Aiden smiled grimly. “Plan B, girls.”

“Wha-” All three mares vanished through portals and the aether condensed where they’d been, sealing them out of the arena Aiden had crafted.

Sealing himself inside with a laughing Maegren.

20. On Three Fronts, Part 3

To Set the Sun

Raven groaned as she got to her hooves. Everything hurt, like she’d been hit by a teleportation beam that hadn’t bothered putting her back together quite right. ...Which was more or less accurate.

“Ahh… welcome back to the waking world, Raven Inkwell. You’re just in time to say goodbye to your beloved, here.”

Raven rolled her eyes. Did I ever sound that ridiculous? “How fortunate for me then…” she trailed off, a bit of snark dying on her tongue as she looked around. In the sense that the place was dimly lit and filled with pods, it wasn’t unlike her old hive. ...It was even moreso in the sense that those pods were occupied.

Changelings being stuck in the pods though… that was new.

“What… am I seeing?”

As she looked to the source of the voice and the brightest spot in the room, her eyes narrowed. Celestia was bolted down in a half open pod, sideways. It resembled nothing so much as a combination of an examination table and a restraint. Again… exactly what it was. She could turn her head but not lift it allowing her to look at Raven. Her eyes were wide, surprise and a bit of fright. Raven couldn’t really blame her.

The Oni-koru leaning over her had looked up with a flat-toothed grin. The extra eye in his forehead continued examining Celestia as the two more normally placed caught and held Raven’s gaze. Seven fingered hands, three each facing the opposite direction to the other four, braided oddly in front of his wide chest. “Our first successful sacrifice… as soon as we can tunnel through the protections the Seraphim have placed upon her, of course. It will be easier with the younger alicorns, untouched by our old enemies. But my manners! We haven’t met. I did lobby to receive you in the castle at Canterlot, as I have received our other captives. I am General Hashmalum, the Warden. I was most pleased to receive these new test subjects… perhaps you’d care to tell me how best to proceed with them? ...I am in favor of pulling the wings off first.”

“You have an alicorn on your operating table there, and you’re asking about these others?”

He tilted his head to the side, and his third eye focused on her, sending a chill down her spine. “Well, I have little say over how to proceed with her, you see. We will tear apart her soul, and the aether she has connecting it to her body. All three are important, of course… and there won’t be much left of any of them after the process is done. That’s rather why I need your help, you see.”

Raven shook off her fear, replacing it with anger. The changelings in the cocoons were a mockery, even if they were no longer her hive… “...Your master offered her to me after you’d taken what you needed. Did he lie to me?”

Hashmalum laughed quietly. “I do believe that offer expired when you threw a knife at his face.”

“Oh please, he’s a draconequus; a knife in the face is a minor inconvenience. Will. She. Survive?”

The Oni raised a metallic looking eyebrow as the third eye looked back down at Celestia, who still stared silently at Raven, as though pleading. “Unlikely. With the base of her power removed, she will no longer be able to contain the power of the sun. She will burn, from the inside out. A pity, really. The first artificially created being this world knew under the Seraphim’s ministrations. I would enjoy comparing their work to the Demondim’s. Sadly, I’ll have to settle for her sister, assuming all goes well.”

Raven snorted. “And assuming you can get Discord back. Good luck with that.”

Hashmalum smiled coldly. “That is progressing as we speak. The master goes for him, just as the Map brought you to us. ...Although not perfectly, it seems. Caedum and the others should not have been here. I cannot account for their presence.”

“How terrible for you. It’s only a matter of time before they breach your defenses, and you’re just chatting away with me, surrounded by these former subjects of mine. Tell me, is Thorax among them?”

“Well, my dear, I have to wait for the probe feeding liquefied aetheryte into her spine to do its work. It’s a delicate process, very painful I’m told. But if I go too fast it will simply kill her body and her soul will escape. Too slow and she will adapt and expel the corruption before it properly takes root. This is an alicorn, and one who is actively opposing my actions. A pity I couldn’t get the younger sister. So much more frail, I think.”

Celestia shook, trying to free herself, to no avail. Raven ground her teeth. She was tired of feeling weak. She’d taken so little from Celestia all this time, and she was regretting it now. Only a matter of time before this maniac put her in a pod or worse.

“Careful now, you’ll damage the needle. Ah! But you asked about Thorax. You know, the changeling we sent to report in for their hive when Twilight Sparkle asked everyone their status was quite protective of him. It was a simple matter to get him to lie for us, so long as we spared this specimen.”

The pods moved under an unseen force; Raven couldn’t even sense any magic being manipulated. A larger pod came to the fore, containing the hated traitor. She looked at him a moment, at the fearful expression on his face as he recognized who stood before him. She grinned, allowing her fangs to replace her pony teeth. She’d made her decision. “I see. Very well then. I will take your master up on his offer.”

He shook his head; his third eye focused on her the entire time. “I told you, it has been rescinded.”

“Ridiculous. I couldn’t accept back then; I had nothing to bargain with. But I do now.”

“You are no stronger than an average unicorn, little one. As a changeling queen you have increased capacity, but much like the king floating before you you have squandered it.”

“I was biding my time, you fool. You think ponies wouldn’t notice if I simply drained Celestia? With Shining Armor there were reasons for him to be out of it, and no reason to suspect changelings. Things are different now-”

“Because you failed.”

“Yes, I did. And I finally got her to reveal why.”

Celestia, who had been watching her intently, goggled at that statement. “Raven-” she said weakly.

“Chrysalis!” Raven corrected, projecting hate. “You refuse to speak it, just as you did when you found out! I begged you to use my true name, but you wanted Raven… you wanted a pony! You refused me. Just as you did when you told me about the power of the sun within you! How it weakened me in our duel, even when you refused to use your full strength for fear of harming your precious little ponies!” She shouted angrily. “They’re all that matter to you!”

“How interesting…” Hashmalum said, looking between the two with delight. “I would hear more of this…”

“Oh I’ll tell you everything, of course,” Raven continued, grinning evilly. “I’ve waited for the perfect time to turn on her, after all. And seeing Thorax here before me… oh this is TOO perfect!”

“I have not granted him to you; he is a valuable test subject.”

“All the better. By all means tear him apart while I watch. But first… allow me to remove her defenses for you.”

All three of his eyes went wide. “A changeling queen’s power…” He muttered quietly, considering. “Yes. Yes, brilliant! The Seraphim’s gifts are based in their love of… hah! It’s perfect! And she’ll be all the more broken and bitter when it’s done! A perfect sacrifice! My dear, the master will welcome you!”

“And with that… she’ll be spared? I want what’s left. The price for my help, lest I turn the sun itself against you.”

“Of course, of course. I would be suspicious if you asked nothing else of me. A changeling’s nature is greed, after all.”

She chuckled. Our nature is deceit… fool. “Indeed so. I have ever wanted it all…” She sauntered up to Celestia, savoring the moment.

“Chrysalis… please… don’t do this…” Celestia pleaded, a catch in her voice Raven had never heard before. A worry.

“Hush now, lover… you should be thanking me. I’ve just secured your survival.” Her horn lit, a dark, poisonous looking green. “If you behave yourself I won’t even have to alter your mind afterwards… much. You might learn to enjoy it.”

“No… this isn’t… AHHH!” Celestia broke off in a scream as Raven’s magic enveloped her.

Hashmalum looked on, all three eyes focused. “No tricks…” He grinned as he watched the process. “No, none at all, hahah! Taking the very essence of her connection to the sun, to Solise of the Seraphim. I didn’t think you could do it.”

“I’ll show you ‘average unicorn’, you arrogant… geh…” she stumbled back, feeling a roar of power and fury coursing through her. Oh horseapples...

USURPER… YOUR SOUL WILL BURN…

Hmph… hello, Solise. Nice to meet you… enjoy your new home.

UNWORTHY FOOL, YOU WILL DIE FOR YOUR BETRAYAL…

We’ll see… but you’ll doom this world to get me, so maybe take it slow.

YOU DARE MOCK ME?

Obviously.

IT IS NOT MY ANGER WHICH WILL KILL YOU! YOU ARE UNSUITED TO THIS BURDEN! YOU WILL DIE!

Eh, always wanted to go out on top. I mean I’d have preferred on top of her, but...

“Channel… channel cold aspected… aether…. Chryssie…. Hurry…” Celestia whispered, black blood leaking from her eyes… the aetheryte being expelled?

“What would that accomplish?” Hashmalum asked, confused, stepping over to examine Raven while his third eye stayed on Celestia. “And are you trying to help her somehow? Has the aetheryte already addled your…” he blinked as he felt a shift in the mana of the room.

A massive shift.

Raven’s magic broke off, the entirety of the power of the sun’s connection contained within her. Before it could begin slowly incinerating her, an explosion of icy magic erupted around the table that held Celestia, throwing Raven and Hashmalum across the massive lab.

“What is this?!”

Raven gasped for air. Fire. Everything was fire. A star burned in her eyes, in her chest, in her mind. She couldn’t… Channel cold aspected… She gathered her will, desperately grasping mana to cast a blizzard through herself. She’d have summoned a glacier if she could. But she could barely move. A hand alighted on her head, and the worst of the heat was gone. Hashmalum looked down at her angrily.

“What have you done?!”

“...What I said I’d-”

Across the room, Celestia sighed loudly. The table was crushed… and her head was down. Her breath froze the ground, billowing out in a coating of gelid air that cracked the metal floor. A single hoofstep cratered it below her. “I’d channeled that for so long I’d forgotten how much it took.”

“...You.” Hashmalum uttered breathlessly. Raven more or less agreed. There was magic… and then there was this.

Celestia shook out her mane, the bubblegum pink strands floated around her head briefly before settling softly on the sides of her face.

Neither of them saw her move before she was standing in front of Raven, ignoring Hashmalum completely. “Keep channeling. It gets easier.” She smiled mischievously. “Use this.” With that she lifted Raven’s chin with a hoof, leaned down, and kissed her fiercely.

It was the first time such a kiss had ever cooled Raven off… and the feeling was indescribable.

Celestia flared her wings and lit her horn. Both froze and shattered, becoming flurries of blessed cold that surrounded the changeling. Raven started at the unexpected event until even more magic infused her as the snowy wind seemed to infuse her form. In an instant, green fire overtook her, reverting her… mostly.

The holes in her legs were gone. Her wings, mane, and tail were pristine and flowing with aether. Celestia smiled warmly. “As you should be, then.”

“I was thinking the same…” she shook her head, unable to contain her awe and not really caring. “How strong are you, to have carried this for so long? You fought almost evenly with me at my highest point, while holding this?!”

“That’s not important,” she replied, shaking her head but still smiling. It morphed into a teasing smirk. “...Do you really still want revenge on Thorax?”

Chrysalis blinked, then laughed. “You keep surprising me. ...I think scaring him half to death was good enough. ...For now.”

“Hmph. We’ll talk about you surprising me a bit later. This was very risky.”

“More than you know!” Hashmalum broke out of his stupor and threw a punch at Celestia. His fist struck clean to the side of her face. And broke.

She looked askance at him, not bothering to turn her head. “This is a nice change of pace,” she said absently, addressing Chrysalis. “I was, after all, born an earth pony.”

“You…” Hashmalum said again, healing his shattered hand to try something else.

“Mm, yes. Focusing on just my vitality, just my strength, without needing to pull the cart, so to speak… ahh, it’s practically sensual!”

“I noticed that,” Chrysalis muttered.

Celestia giggled, a surprisingly cute sound. She at last turned to Hashmalum. “Well then… I do believe you wanted to sacrifice me to make some silly weapon. But I broke your little murder machine, so what happens now?” With a casual looking slap, she knocked him across the room. “And by the way… hands off my marefriend, thank you.”

Hashmalum struggled to his feet as the tower shook again from an attack outside. “You risk the lives of all these captives and more! I can kill-”

He stopped as Celestia stood before him again. Again, no one in the room had seen her move. “Shh… now now… no need for foalish threats. You wanted to see the Seraphim’s first creation, didn’t you? But you don’t seem to realize… I was born, not created. Solise didn’t so much give me power as give me ways to express that power. You see… I’m the strongest earth pony ever born.” She punched through him… slowly. “And I was once a General myself, facing off against the Demondim’s greatest servants. You aren’t fit to clean their boots. And did you know? I won. My Cutie Mark isn’t for my connection to the sun; I had it before that. It’s the light of victory, for all my people to follow.”

Raven snickered. “I’d follow that flank.”

“...Quiet, you.”

Hashmalum gurgled, trying to speak a final threat as Celestia slowly ground her hoof through his chest. “I told you to ‘shush’. Listen now… I had to give this sort of thing up. Solise doesn’t like my violent tendencies. And she wasn’t exactly wrong. I could go over to being a tyrant rather easily… and the scary thing is it would be awhile before anypony really noticed. They do love me so… But… do you think the griffons, and the dragons, left my peaceful land alone all these centuries… just because?”

He choked, coughing blood.

“No… of course you didn’t think that. I’m glad. I’d hate to have to demonstrate further.” With a blur and a sharp crack her other hoof broke the sound barrier before crushing his skull to powder. She sighed as his corpse collapsed to the floor, twitching once. “Some monsters really just can’t be redeemed.”

Raven shuddered. “I am… very turned on right now.”

“You’ll have to wait, we have more to-”

A third shudder, combined with a loud metal tearing sound, erupted in the distance.

“Ah, and we needn’t do it alone, how lovely!” Celestia said with a grin. “Oh but… I’ll need my things back.”

“No no, you’re better this way.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Believe me, I’m not resetting myself completely. I’ve had her blinders on long enough. She and I will be having a very long talk in the near future. But you’re about to burn to death from the inside out. It once took a team of skilled unicorns to move the sun even a bit while I was training up to get used to what you’re carrying. Many of them burned out even working as a group. Right now, you have minutes before you do so literally… as in your organs turning to ash.”

“Oh, well… yes, do take it back then, by all means.”

“Wise decision.”

New Moon Rising

“Eve?! Twilight?! Starlight?! ...Trixie?” Luna called out from the oddly domed shaped room she’d found herself in.

It was dark, but that didn’t bother her. That they’d been brought here and apparently separated so easily did. It implied they’d been ready for their approach… and while she reflected they’d done little to hide said approach, there was more to it than that. To have such magic ready to strike at them so quickly and precisely as to defeat their defenses… it was worrying.

“You seem concerned, Luna.”

Her eyes went wide, drawing upon magesight to look through the pitch blackness of the room. That voice… it couldn’t be. “Impossible.”

“Impossible that you’re concerned?” The dark voice chuckled. “Well, maybe if you went back to what you were when you were strong. All I see now is the little painter clinging to Celestia’s tail.”

“This is a lie… you cannot be alive.” She looked at the shadow cast in the darkness, a density of magic that gave away his presence.

“Oh? And why not? Because your magicks locked my very essence into the crystals from which I gained my own power?”

“YOUR magic did that, your dependency on them to maintain your hold when you overreached your talents.”

“And like you, I paid for my loss with one thousand years of exile. ...Unlike you, I wasn’t welcomed back with hugs and understanding.”

“What I sought was foolishness, but even I did not seek the enslavement, the complete destruction of free will that you craved… Sombra. Harmony cleansed my hatred and rage, reminded me who I am! For you, a similar power could only destroy you. There is nothing there to save.”

He chuckled, seeming to take shape from being named as he stepped forward. “And yet here I stand. And look where it got you. Your strength destroyed along with your anger… leaving behind a shivering little nothing. And once again… all alone in the night. As you were ever to be. Does it sting, little painter? Knowing that your ‘friends’ have abandoned you? They’ve already escaped. These Oni-koru couldn’t even stop me from taking over this place. They were using my crystals, after all. The very bones of my corpse… or what my corpse had become, thanks to-”

“YOU.” Luna interjected angrily.

“Hmph. Once again you refuse to take responsibility. Small wonder they left you here.”

“Tis a lie.”

“Then where are they?”

She rolled her eyes. “Enough of this. I know not what you wish of me, but I’ll not grant it.” Her horn lit and she teleported before returning to the same spot as the magic was blocked.

He laughed. “Did you honestly think that would work?”

“No, but it showed me where to aim.” Luna fired a blast of energy at a particular spot on the ceiling, damaging the inhibitor behind it.

As she did, Sombra fired a blast of his own, and Luna screamed as her mind was invaded.

“Did you forget my talent, after all these centuries?! Surely not… you were gone for as long as I was… you had plenty of time to dwell on all the friends I took from you! Or wait… you never had any!” He laughed cruelly, the echo of it multiplying through her mind.

He stepped forward as she collapsed, continuing to channel the mental attack. “I wonder what it will be like to have an alicorn pet. Mayhap I can use you against… wait… what are you…?”

Ceasing his advance, he looked on in surprise as dark magic surrounded her. Armor formed on her withers, a black helm atop her head. She looked up, a flash of bright green as a feline pupil narrowed at him even in the near total darkness. “...No…”

A sinister laugh came from the Nightmare. “Muhahahahah… NO? No, did you say, little pony? But this is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“You… you will serve me! I control-”

The room seemed to shatter around him. Everything was replaced with eyes, looking at him. Nightmare laughed quietly, chillingly. “Alone… in the night, you said? You should be so lucky.” Sombra rounded, trying to find the source of the whispering voices. The eyes all stared back, stared through him. “The stars answer to me… but even that shouldn’t frighten you… compared to what I’ve seen between those stars.

“Know you the deepest, coldest reaches between them? Know you the beings that lurk within those reaches?” She walked slowly over, leaning down to whisper huskily in his ear. “...They know you. They whisper to me of you. They know every weakness… every crack in the sad, rotting hovel that is your mind. The crystals will allow them in. And they reach for you now… do you see them?” Sombra screamed. “If you’d left me be, they could not have found you. Alone in the night? They aid me! Every light in the sky is my ally… every light… will burn away your very existence. You. Will. Die.”

He gurgled, frothing at the mouth as he fainted. The image shattered and the eyes vanished, replaced by a familiar starscape Luna preferred to the bland, black ceiling. ‘Nightmare’s’ armor also shattered, and she looked down at Sombra before snorting derisively. “Who forgot who’s talent, again? ...Also, good to have you back, Sidera. But might that have been a bit much?”

Luna blinked, one ear twitching as her old friend talked her ear off too quickly for mortal speech. “I see. Then we must make haste. Can you see where they’re holding the others? ...Unfortunate. Then we shall do this the hard way.”

Twilight Sparkle was deeply confused. The cell they’d been teleported into was… laughably inadequate. She and Starlight had had no trouble destroying the shielding blocking the door, and Trixie had picked the lock before they’d even gotten their wind back. “...And should I ask where you learned to pick locks like that?”

“Trixie resents your accusing tone,” the showmare replied, lifting her muzzle imperiously. “...Dextrous telekinesis is essential to a good performance, thank you very much.”

“To my knowledge, other than the incident in Ponyville, Ms. Lulamoon has no record of criminal activity,” Evening Calm noted.

“Trixie’s Ponyville actions were expunged from her record!”

“...Yes, at Twilight Sparkle’s request.”

Trixie blinked. “Oh.”

“In any case, we need to find Princess Luna. I know she’s nearby!”

Starlight frowned. “How do you know that?”

“I… call it guard sense; I’ve always been able to tell.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Eve turned to her. “Meaning no disrespect, ma’am, but a friend of the Bearer of Laughter-”

“Oh no, you’re not playing the Pinkie card to get out of this.”

“Changeling,” Trixie said simply.

“I am not!” Eve shot back hotly.

“Hey, Trixie’s not saying there’s anything wrong with it. Love and tolerance, and so forth,” she said, waving one hoof in a circle as she rolled her eyes. “But-”

“Hey, you there!”

“Oh right, we were escaping from the Oni-koru,” Eve muttered, turning and drawing a pair of wingblades from sheaths on her hind legs.

Twilight and Starlight facehoofed.

“Help us!”

“...Wat?”

Luna barreled through another wall, and past several Oni-koru (who, to be fair, weren’t attempting to impede her). At least one of them had been clapping, she was sure of it. Before long she reached the hallway of cells she’d been looking for. It helped that a couple technicians or the like had given her directions.

Inside an open cell, with half a dozen Oni-koru hiding behind them, she found her friends. Evening Calm stepped forward first, bearing her weapons and with a determined look on her face. “Princess! Is it true you have reverted to your Nightmare self?!”

“Is it true Evening Calm is a changeling?” Trixie called from the back of the room (hiding just a bit behind Starlight, Luna noted).

The expression on Twilight’s face was one worth remembering. A deadpan rendition of the phrase ‘...bucking really?’, if Luna wasn’t mistaken.

“Neither of those are true… unless you’ve been replaced at some point since Canterlot’s attack. Twilight, do you not have a spell for such things?”

“Yep. Cast it, too, but Trixie doesn’t believe me. She has some unusual magic in her wings, and I’m betting I know why, but she’s… and Starlight, say it with me now…”

Starlight rolled her eyes and sighed, but recited along with Twilight, “not a changeling.”

Luna blinked, tilting her head in confusion. “I am missing something.”

“So many eyes…. So many…” one of the Oni-koru muttered from behind Twilight. The young alicorn gently patted the dazed Oni with a wing.

“...Ah,” Luna said, grimacing. “My apologies. I destroyed the inhibitor for my cell before calling upon the fullness of the Nightmare to deal with Sombra. The area of effect was perhaps larger than I intended.”

“Good thing the detention block here has its own shielding,” Twilight noted blandly. She turned to the Oni behind her, particularly the young looking one who seemed most shaken. The girl couldn’t have been past twenty summers yet. “But see? She’s not going to summon evil space demons to eat you. It was just a nightmare to deal with-” her eyes went wide. “WHAT?! SOMBRA?! HE’S BACK?! How? Why? When? What?!”

“Calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle. After subduing him I eradicated his form with some help from Sidera’s knowledge of destroying the crystal formations. While I cannot promise he is gone for good, he should not be able to take another form without Oni-koru assistance. At this point, I doubt he’ll get it. The former commander of this Spire had already gone missing, and those left were at odds over what to do when he began taking over.”

“That doesn’t answer… wait, the corrupted aetheryte… some of it is… ew.” Twilight grimaced, looking nauseated.

“Oh that’s disturbing,” Starlight muttered.

“...What is?” Trixie asked.

Luna facehoofed.

Mastering Chess

Maegren laughed himself out quickly enough. “You surprise me, boy! You travel here with them only to send them away at the last moment?”

Aiden shrugged, carefully manipulating the aether within the arena he’d created. Maegren was absurdly strong, and despite his seeming ease, well-guarded. It was a testament to his own training and growth that Aiden could even use magic properly this close to the monster. “What was I gonna do, leave without em? They’d have just followed me… and joined this fight at the worst time.” He smiled fondly. “Even wrote Rarity an ‘I’m going off to die’ kind of letter for them to find. Lull them into a false sense of talking me out of it.” He shook his head. “They’ve got better things to do than sully themselves facing you.”

“As though they’ll escape it.” With a casual air, Maegren lunged, a broadsword appearing in his hand halfway through. Aiden deflected it with an open palm as he spun away from the attack, and a kick knocked away Maegren’s follow up. The Oni raised an eyebrow. “As I recall, you weren’t that fast… and you didn’t fight unarmed.”

“Ah, well… Kirin destroyed my bastons, and I don’t have the tech to fix them here. ...Now that I think about it, Twilight or Celestia probably could have done it. Eh, hindsight, am I right? Oh hey, let me ask you a question though.”

“I have time. Those barriers of yours must be taxing. Soon enough they’ll drop and I can reach into your little pocket world and retrieve our guests of honor. Then the real fun begins.”

“Right, yeah… fun is good. But do you know the total force transmitted from a freeway overpass falling at terminal velocity?”

Maegren’s eyes went wide just before said object landed on him from ten feet in the air, travelling at…

“Well, maybe a little above usual terminal,” Aiden admitted from behind an energy shield he’d put up. "I’m working with gravity magic and really enjoying it. Not to mention I think these Cutie Marks have made portals easier.”

With a snarl and a blast of energy the displaced bridge was destroyed and Maegren floated up from the crater he’d been driven into from the impact. Aiden grinned. That cost you two percent. ...And me five. Let’s see who can recover more quick-

His train of thought derailed in favor of jumping the tracks to get out of the way. Maegren’s haymaker passed through empty air as Aiden stepped away, bending space to speed his apparent passage through it.

“Oh? Not quite a portal… but something even faster?”

“Short range though… definitely a work in progress.”

“And that’s how you’ve condensed the magic in those barriers as well. I see. But when you die, they fall.”

“Eh, you think that, but… I’m not here to buy time. No way in Hell the girls would just step outside the barriers and go on to the Spire… even if that would be a good play.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Ah… that’d be telling. But… let’s just say… if you strike me down, she’ll become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” he said with a lopsided grin. “...And at this point you’d better, because I imagine she heard me borrowing that line I’m going to be in real trouble for it.”

“You really are a fool!”

“What? I just have faith in my friends. I mean, if that’s my weakness I’ll take it-”

He dodged again as Maegren appeared behind him, thrusting for his kidneys. Aiden stepped past the blade towards his opponent, grabbing at the sword arm near the wrist. As Maegren wrenched it away with superior strength, a mass shadow enhanced punch struck him in the side of the face, cracking his jaw and rocking him sideways. Aiden spun low, sweeping his legs before a second spin brought a foot into the back of his head, just at the base of his skull. Aiden put everything into that strike, and sent Maegren flying into one of the barriers. He bounced off heavily, hitting the ground and rolling to his feet clumsily.

Before being hit by a car.

The vehicle, a 1986 Honda Civic, had seen better days. But it went out in a blaze of glory as Aiden smashed it into Maegren at close to sixty meters per second. Regrettably, it didn’t explode. “Stupid reliably engineered vehicles…” Aiden muttered. Then he ducked as Maegren appeared behind him again with a decapitating strike. Aiden spun vertically on one foot, planting the other on Maegren’s chin and sending him flying up and backward. He stopped in midair, a few feet below the upper barriers that kept him from escaping. He blurred, and Aiden caught his plunging blade inches from piercing his eye. Maegren pushed forward, slowly overpowering Aiden…

Before a parking meter nearly took his head off. Aiden caught it out of the air in a telekinetic grip, swinging in a wide arc that Maegren easily avoided, before stepping in a puddle of heavy gravity aether. He tripped sideways and the second swing of the parking meter smashed into the side of his head, driving him into the dirt. Gravity increased, cratering the ground as he was pushed down. He yelled, sending a burst of aether out and blasting Aiden away. The Esper rolled to his feet with little difficulty, shaking off the discombobulation in time to perform another barehanded parry and counter, smashing a jab into Maegren’s throat.

The Oni staggered back, coughing and snarling as a whirlwind of defensive magic surrounded him. His coughing became laughter.

“I don’t seem to be able to outfight you, boy. Why is that?”

“I dunno. Get good? Seriously you were always kind of garbage in a close up fight. Hence the barriers giving us a small area to work with. I could have made it a lot bigger, but this range suits me more than you.”

The Oni chuckled. “The truth is, I had wanted to beat you at your own game. I did the same with Garken in Canterlot… and was winning at first. He’s become weak while you’ve gotten much stronger. ...No surprise really, given the sheer number you’ve killed.”

Aiden grimaced, rolling his eyes. And now for the psychological portion of our fight. “Yeah no, let me stop you there.”

“Even more than Paladin Williams… you slaughtered hundreds of us.”

“Yeah… again, soldier… enemy soldiers… sorry you invaded us and killed my family and stuff. We good?”

“You shouldn’t have even existed.”

“...Is this like a youtube argument?”

“Do you know why our kind stopped using heavy technology in the war? ...Caedum believed it was to stop pointless deaths among your civilians. But my king did not agree for that reason. ...He had no desire to awaken more Espers.”

“Given the ass kickings we handed his warriors I can see why.”

“Fool! Those victories are Caedum’s fault! He was Grand Marshal! He fought in ways that gave you chances to win.”

“He fought in ways the Articles of War wouldn’t call to execute him for. Genocide isn’t usually a goal you want to go for if you call yourself civilized.”

“You hold us to your lowly standards?”

“And yet he passes… you don’t. ‘Lowly’, he says…”

“You are nothing more than an accident! A stroke of luck that awakened a spark of power within you! And you think to-”

“That spark started here, dumbass! It was the return on the bravery and sacrifice of the volunteers who came here to help the friends they would have to leave behind. ...The same people I can help now, thanks to that legacy. An accident? Not even close.” Aiden rolled his eyes. “I think you were expecting someone younger if these are the arguments you had prepared; I should have brought coffee with me.”

“No… you shouldn’t have dropped your guard!”

Aiden winced as voices screamed in his mind. He staggered back, shaking off the effect of the mental attack he’d been expecting since the fight began. He gasped for air, trying to shore up his defenses and kick out the invasion.

No avail. Maegren was simply stronger, and this was a brute force contest with no finesse or skill advantage to capitalize on. If he hadn’t been lulled, perhaps...

Pain. Aiden screamed as, once again, Pravus’ spear pierced his guts. Another through each leg, one through his lung and then his shoulder. He was coughing blood; he couldn’t breath. He screamed again. NOT REAL… PUSH IT ALL AWAY… YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED-

Really, darling… what do you think you’re doing?

Aiden gasped for breath. He was staked to the tree, just like the nightmare… exactly like it… the colors of the world around them... this was inside his head. Maegren was there… larger than life, longer claws, bigger fangs, ...but instead of looking more powerful he looked frustrated, a devil that could not torment its victim.

No real surprise. Aiden couldn’t move, but his mind was already clear.

Did you honestly think I would let you treat him so? Rarity’s head tilted as she stepped forward. Joyeuse swept across the glowing spears, shattering each to nothingness and freeing Aiden. As he fell onto his hands and knees, he found Joyeuse’s hilt under his right hand.

Impossible… Maegren said… or thought. You’re just a figment of his mind… his memory of you. ...His sad love for a creature even less than himself. Sickening…

Rarity burst out laughing. Oh my, cut to the quick! Your disapproval fills me with determination. And you see you’ve erred… I’m not a figment… I’m the part of Rarity that connects us, just as part of him lives within me.

Lies…

Not at all, bastard. She grinned at replacing her usual form of address for something more appropriate. After all… he’s never seen this form…

With that light surrounded her before exploding outward, leaving… what Aiden imagined Rarity might look like if she was about half alicorn, half 80’s hair band lead. Might be a bit much…

Oh hush, darling, Harmony goes big or not at all.

Aiden chuckled as Rarity fired a blast of energy at Maegren too massive to dodge. He put up a shield… but that same energy was harmless to Aiden.

And that shield was spread too thin to stop Joyeuse. Maegren snarled as Aiden drove the blade home, twisting as the damage caused Maegren’s shield to collapse. His form dissipated.

Thanks for the assist.

Of course, darling. ...This doesn’t mean you’re forgiven for this mess.

Heh. Well, you’re the part that can explain to the rest what happened, so… ehh, I don’t expect forgiveness anyway. We never did, that wasn’t what mattered. You took the same oath, don’t forget.

I won’t. She smiled. Time waits not for man or pony. Go.

Ma’am, yes, ma’am.

Aiden opened his eyes to behold a staggered and heavily breathing Maegren. He was a bit worse for wear himself and tried quickly to pull himself together, but… “...Shit!” He spun, realizing a fraction of a second too late to dodge that the Maegren he saw was an illusion.

The sword pierced his chest, missing his heart by the fraction of an inch he’d managed to deflect it with his late reaction. A trail of aether bled off his hand through the blade, just in time to prevent a fatal strike. Made it. Aiden thought, smiling inwardly. Thanks, love. I owe ya.

Maegren grinned evilly down at him. He was only slightly less winded than the illusion had been, but there’d been enough for this final attack.

“Again… to a damn tree,” Aiden muttered, noting himself stuck.

Maegren laughed. “Like the bug that you are. Still, a fine effort, boy. You’re nearly worth remembering. Certainly worth finishing quickly. I’m so eager to see whether your precious Rarity lives up to your promising words.”

“You’re not man enough for her… I wish I could watch her prove it.”

“Heh… pity you’ll be busy being dead. One final request though, if I may. One final curiosity to satisfy.”

“I think that works the other way, doesn’t it?”

“What was Plan A?”

“Eh?”

“A. You said ‘Plan B, girls’ before sending them off to wait for you to die. The plan seemed to be ‘fight until I killed you’ and hope that you weakened me enough that whatever nonsensical power boost your little mare gets will be enough to finish me.”

“Ahh. Yep, that was Plan A, alright.”

Maegren blinked, then raised an eyebrow. Then both eyes narrowed and he twisted the blade. Aiden didn’t seem to react. “No, you fool! Plan A! The first plan you wanted to use, was-”

“Exactly what you described,” Aiden interrupted, grinning. He held his hand out behind him, palm up.

A white hoof came out of the air to slap into it.

“What?!” Maegren cried as Aiden vanished. He had just enough time to notice that his sword’s blade had been crushed down to almost a needle’s width by intense gravity magic. ...A needle’s stab which, to a First Generation Esper, would be barely an inconvenience.

Before he had time to ponder the implications, the enclosure was filled with every color of the rainbow. And well before the sound of the shockwave could reach him, a pair of cyan hooves smashed into the back of his skull, the same spot Aiden had weakened earlier.

Had it been possible to hear from his position within a crater nearly the size and depth of the arena’s height, he might had heard Rainbow Dash from where she hovered above him, forehooves crossed over her chest.

“B! FOR ‘BACK OF THE HEAD’!”

21. All Too Easy

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

22. Friends Close...

Kirin fell, unable to maintain his stance or his portal, nearly losing a leg as it snapped suddenly shut. With unseemly haste, he tore at the shard of the Giottus Sphere, trying desperately to remove it before it further sapped his strength. His desperation was only compounded by the dark, quiet laughter he heard not far away. He knew that laugh…

Kirin snarled as he pulled the shard away along with a brief stream of blood. He looked up to the wall where the being in question resided, still chained, bolted, and in some places melded into the metal itself.

Scarcely enough precautions to take against the former owner of the Clades. Glowing blue-white eyes looked down at him from the vaguely equine face, ethereal even in its trapped form, grinning like the rotting skeleton that she was. The air distorted around her, and the room felt colder when he looked upon her. His old master and, to his knowledge, last of the Demondim. Her head tilted, creaking as both bones and chains protested the motion. But she did not speak.

Was he sure he’d heard that laugh? It had been so very-

“It’s been… such a very long time… little thief… traitor… fool.”

What was left of her lips had not moved, no indication came that she’d spoken those words. He shook his head, gathering himself. There was nothing to be gained from talking to a corpse. Further, he needed time to recover. The Giottus Sphere’s destruction was both a blessing and a curse: Discord would be fully recovered soon, but without his shroud Kirin was just as vulnerable to the weapon once it had been taken. A pity to not recover it intact, but-

“Does the self-proclaimed master of war doubt himself… his tactics…? Draconequii… you ever had more pride than talent…”

With a snarl, he spun back to the where the dead godling hung in her sad casket, “And yet I live, and fight on, while you are little more than power to continue being used!”

“The children you took from me rebel… they see your weakness… your arrogance… they see the destiny you denied them… and I thought you said you were done with fits of anger?”

“Stay out of my mind!”

“Then return to me my ears-”

“And they see that I no longer have need of them… except as fodder. Like you. The few who are loyal to my true self will be rewarded as I see fit…”

“The chosen of the Seraphim fared better. But things will improve soon. I will have the death I earned, and my children will burn away the last of this crude flesh in their righteous anger. How galling… to know my enemies treated their pawns better than I… To be stripped of my right to reward my worshipers by a lowly pretender-”

“I AM A GOD!”

“You are a spoiled child. ...There is a correlation there, I admit. But no, the draconequii believed themselves gods… only to prove that mortals can, and will, kill gods as it suits them. Equusian, Earthling, or Oni-koru… you will soon know. Discord knew… master of disharmony… chaos? Ridiculous. In the face of true Chaos… Madness of the Eldest Beings… he is a clown fit for children. But he chose wisely, his Aspect. He could ignore our commands, our compulsions. His madness protected him from our Order. And even Harmony did little more than scold him for his actions. Far better than you will fare...”

Kirin took a deep (unnecessary) breath, to calm himself. “Enough of your games, Tiamat. I am not here for you. The children who failed to protect you will precede you into the hereafter, when I let them. I am done with them as they are… thanks to the last piece of knowledge I needed to reforge them. As to you… you may continue to enjoy your place as the Clades’ main power source. When I have… one of my new slave races rebuild the ship, I’ll be sure to keep you as an integral, everliving piece.” He picked up the Giottus shard and strode into the bowels of the broken vessel, still held together by the staggering energies of the dying Demondim. He walked the empty halls to the Archives, with her whisper chasing quietly after him.

“When they kill you, be patient in Hell. I will find you… and there will be a reckoning.”

Garken looked with wide eyes at the massive room before him. All along the walls were fluid filled tubes, containing the bodies of various races. In the center, a giant pillar of a computer screen and console.

The nameless Oni grinned beside him, throwing his hands wide to gesture to the room. “Hashmalum’s work at its finest, but only the beginning of what you must see.”

“These are…” Gareth began, looking around to the walls with a touch of disgust that was mirrored on Sunset’s face.

“Okay, this particular science fiction trope could have stayed science fiction, thanks.”

“There are races from all corners of Equestria here… and that’s only half. I don’t even recognize the rest.”

“That one looks human,” Sunset muttered, pointing a hoof to a particular tube, otherwise indistinguishable from the rest.

Garken shook his head, making for the computer. “Don’t touch anything yet. Hashmalum was more unscrupulous than genuinely clever. Whatever he’s done here will likely be unstable, and these… subjects at risk from any outside force on them.”

“Oh, but it’s not Hashmalum’s work you’re seeing here, Garken Caedum,” Nameless said leadingly.

Garken tapped a few keys on the console, but then hissed in surprise and disgust as the screen lit… and showed a screen full of data that seemed designed to be too dense to parse. He focused, trying to make heads or tails of-

Say your lover’s name, Grand Marshal. In your voice, it will respond with what you are to know.”

Garken stiffened, turning back from the screen. “...Should I ask why such a thing would matter?”

“Why ask when you can simply find out? I did not lead you here for a trap, even your allies agreed to that much.”

Grinding his teeth slowly for a moment, he at last said distinctly, “Karasa Luxuria.”

The jumbled screen changed, becoming an Oni woman’s face. Coppery red eyes, nearly glowing, looked down from the screen, accented by dark red lips that split in a grin across gleaming fangs. “Hello, Garken. Administrative access granted. Files are ready for your perusal, per His Majesty’s orders.”

Garken snorted. “Hello, mockery of Karasa. I don’t take orders from ‘His Majesty’ any longer.”

“Yes, your status as a traitor is noted. As is Keia’s prior to her death. You failed our daughter rather miserably, didn’t you?”

Garken’s hands balled into fists as the air in the room became notably heavier. Nameless took a step back from the fuming warrior. “...I did. She was the best of us. She died upholding our honor, and our strength. She died laughing at the unworthy fool who managed to kill her.”

“She died because her father stood by and did nothing.”

Surprisingly, Garken didn’t lash out. If anything, the dense feeling in the room seemed to deflate, as he staggered slightly. “I know…”

‘Karasa’s’ grin became a more genuine, almost sympathetic smile. “Would you like another chance?”

“Oh here we go,” Tempest muttered as Gareth tensed, ready to pounce Nameless or anything else trying to surprise them. Surreptitiously, he loosened his short sword in its sheath.

“What?” Garken replied, no real life in his voice.

Karasa’s smile brightened further. “Illuminating pod twenty-one.”

Said pod brightened, clearly showing off its unconscious inhabitant, an Oni-koru only one in the room truly recognized. And he refused to go anywhere near it, instead turning back to the monitor. “You think I would accept a clone?! They have never been a viable idea even for extra soldiers, much less bringing back the dead!”

“Ahh… but that is simply poor aetheric growth… and of course the difference in the soul lost versus the soul created in the clone.”

“Even if her soul could be somehow taken from wherever it ended up, without matching the previous aetheric balance the body will die. And that matching is-”

“Possible now.”

Garken stopped, his jaw snapping shut as though he’d taken an uppercut mid-speech.

“Tell me, my lover… in your time on Earth… what did you learn of a group calling themselves Veritech?”

Garken staggered again, backing away from the console at last. “No… no that… they didn’t…”

“Of course, no point in being coy. While leading a competing corporation of course you knew. In fact… it was your stored knowledge of them that allowed Kirin to direct Hashmalum in his new line of research. You led us here to Equus, and I’m sure you thought that was betrayal enough. But no… you had so much more to offer.”

Karasa laughed. It was a chilling laugh. Suddenly though, Sunset wasn’t afraid anymore. The deck felt warm beneath her hooves as her anger, and her magic, rose.

“With your research and Veritech’s… we will soon have the perfect soldiers. Resurrected from His Majesty’s most hated among us, bonded with their old souls, and forced by manipulations of aether YOU helped bring before our eyes… to do his bidding.”

Garken shook his head, an icy calm suddenly coming over his expression. “...Absurd.”

Karasa looked surprised. “Oh? He has long planned his revenge against the humans as well as here. The whispers of the Old Masters counseled him to patience. He even withdrew from the frontlines to focus on this, even more than you know, more than I need say. The pieces all fall into place. The perfect army for the perfect god of war. You cannot stop him… but you can still have a place at his side.” She chuckled. “Whether you want it or not. But first… Keia, as you see. Embrace your fate, Garken. The two of you will be together again. His slaves, forever.”

“A pity he lacks of her the same he lacks of you,” Garken replied, fully in control again. “Without her soul, he can only make a puppet to look like her. He can give it memories, create a poor victim to torment that will think and feel as she did. And for that alone I could kill him a thousand times… every day. But-”

“-But her soul is here, and so he will obtain it. He went to do so as we speak. It is only a matter of time.”

And like that, control was stripped from him. “...Here?!” he whispered harshly. “She is… my daughter is…” He shook his head, eyes wide and manic. “Of course… of course and why wouldn’t she… heh.. Hahahaha oh Gods!” His fist hit the screen, but he clearly held himself back as it only cracked. “Of course… it was his power that killed her… he, a demigod of Equus… of course a conduit, a possibility for this… It never occurred to me…”

Karasa smiled through the crack in the screen. “Your legacy of ending worlds will exceed three, after all, my love. Be proud of-”

The screen shattered and exploded as a blast of phoenix fire erupted through it. Sunset’s horn, glowing white-hot, directed the lava-like jet of flames as she continued burning down every inch of the computer pillar. Meanwhile, Tempest leapt, throwing a spinning kick at Nameless’ head, intercepting his charge towards Garken in an attempt to take advantage of his distraction.

“Does that still count as a trap? It feels like it should,” Tempest muttered.

“I never said I was perfect,” Sunset replied as smoke rose from her horn. “Sorry, I’d heard all I could take from that smug bit-”

“No apologies needed, my new friend. Far be it from me to tell anyone else they’re being excessive.” Garken said, smiling despite reeling inside. “That was not Karasa. It wasn’t even the sort of macabre facsimile Kirin seems intent on creating. My lover died twenty five years ago, along with her father, Zeran. I find myself now wondering at the truth of their deaths. One more question for Kirin… before I kill him. This cheap attempt to manipulate me changes nothing. It simply seems he intends to kill far more than just the inhabitants of Equus during this war. Our goals... have not changed.”

He stepped over to the downed Oni who’d led them there. He placed a foot on the Oni’s head. “I never did learn your name…” With a casual effort, he stomped down, crushing the lesser soldier’s skull into the deck. “And I never will.”

Sunset grimaced and looked away. “Now what?”

Garken was looking grimly at the Oni-koru he’d killed. A misguided fool, but at least he’d died almost cleanly… and if lucky wouldn’t come back to be a prisoner in false flesh. Veritech… and Keia is somehow here, at risk of... Garken shuddered in revulsion. “Now? I destroy these sins against magic, nature, respect, dignity, and whatever else I feel like considering them sins against. They aren’t alive, not yet, and they aren’t going to be. All of you need to leave. I don’t intend to hold back. I will bring this whole Spire down if needed, so meet up with your Princess Celestia and evacuate everyone. When I sense you are far enough away… look back to watch the spectacle.”

Sunset smiled wanly. “Cool ponies enjoy explosions.”

“So what’s with the whole ‘My Princess’ thing back there?” Trixie asked Evening Calm as Starlight set up an array to help direct the dissipating magic from the corrupted aether they’d be destroying.

“I did not say ‘My Princess’,” Eve huffed in response, focused more on channeling power into her blades.

“I dunno, you might as well have. I mean, Sparkle’s a complete dork, obviously, but I bet even she picked up on it. You’ve got a cru-ush!”

Eve snorted, blushing slightly but rolling her eyes. “It isn’t that, sorry to tell you. She is lovely and quite endearing, but even if you’re right I’m undeserving of such a pony.”

“Whaat? Undeserving of Sparkle?! Please, she’s so-”

“-Trix, not now, okay?” Starlight muttered just loud enough to interrupt, her horn gently glowing blue-green as she inscribed runes into the array.

The room where they’d gathered the aetheryte together was literally just that: an empty room with nothing whatsoever interesting about it. There’d been several crates of the gem flecks and pieces already here, and they’d brought the rest they’d found in. If anything, Starlight was now convinced that, at least with this Spire, it was smaller on the inside. Then again, maybe Twilight’s castle had given her unreasonable expectations on such matters.

More surprising was the lack of Oni presence. Finding and moving the aetheryte hadn’t turned up a single one, and Starlight wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a trap waiting to spring. The place’s aetheric shielding was a joke in this area though, so at worst she could teleport them all in a hurry.

As if in answer to her question a voice came from speakers she couldn’t see. “Attention, this is General Ferrana Frangesse. ...Former General. Any Oni-koru wishing to maintain loyalty to Kirin and his lies should evacuate immediately. I will not punish you for maintaining your oaths to the Crown… even if I believe an imposter to be wearing it. Make your own decision. Know that if you stay to oppose my own in this, MY installation, I will consider you an enemy and treat you as such. If you wish to join me and our new allies in supporting Equus, as a path to finding a new way for our people, report to the Command Center. If not… don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”

Starlight chuckled, putting the finishing touches on the array. “Guess Luna made a strong case.”

“Naturally,” Eve said with a serene smile. “The Princess of the Night is most eloquent… when she’s not adorably confused and flustered by some modern convenience, of course.” Eve blinked, and blushed a darker shade than before. “You will, err… not mention I said that, please.”

“Aha!" Trixie exclaimed, pointing a hoof in triumph. "It’s not Sparkle after all! YOU’VE got a Princess fetish!”

Eve sputtered. “F!.. F… FETISH?!”

Trixie grinned, confident of her victory over… whatever that was.

Starlight sighed. “Thank Faust you’re cute, Lulamoon…” she muttered quietly. “Right! Ready to go here when you are, Captain!”

“Ah! Yes, very good, thank you, erm… Starlight.” The flushed pegasus replied, turning her gaze from Trixie to the array at almost blurring speed. After looking briefly, she picked up the two daggers she’d imbued, focusing her gravity manipulation through the special metal of each one. She stabbed them into the appropriate points in the array, which lit with the power on display. Said light was a greener glow than they’d expected.

“Huh… not sure I care for that…” Starlight said distractedly, examining the odd resonance she was feeling.

“It’s fine,” Trixie said, levitating the crates over. “Let’s get this done and go home!” With that, and over Starlight’s protest, she dropped the crates into the center of the array.

The resulting quake was felt several miles away as the Spire began to shake itself apart.

The giant door, reinforced physically and aetherically to withstand everything Maegren might have to do in his fight outside, bounced loudly along the metal hallway after being crushed inward. The unmistakable dent to the material seemed to indicate a single blow had accomplished the deed, but General Vos knew it to be a lie. Sundering Resonance had been employed to great effect, considering the one who’d done so was not an Oni, or even the Esper. Though the dent was his work, the final blow struck in perfect concert.

Vos prepared himself. Maegren had fallen, but the enemies that now approached were tired, weakened, and vulnerable. The Grand Marshal’s defeat had shown the cracks in their mental defenses that even he could now-

A portal opened behind him, whisper quiet before a heavy aetheric presence was… simply there. ...And it was furious, as was the quiet, seemingly calm voice suddenly coming from behind him.

“Hello. I’m Aiden Windborne, and I’m having a bad day. I’m one of the last of the First Generation Espers, and these days I’m probably the strongest. I never cared to be either of those things. In my youth… I was called the Thousand Blade Butcher. ...I kind of did want to be that, at one point. Bad times, those. Do you know how I got that name?”

Vos swallowed with difficulty, holding perfectly still as he could feel a blade of pure magic pressing against his torso.

“I was the Esper Corps’ trashman. I wasn’t able to fully control my power back then; strong fighters could hold control over the aether around us to the point where my portals wouldn’t even work. Pretty embarrassing… but it just meant I had to focus on taking out lots of weak targets instead, and leave the big boys for people like Paladin Williams. Optimally, anyway... though it did force me to learn to fight better than most Espers ever bothered to, which has served me well since.
But you know… now that I’m stronger… more focused… it seems like damn near everyone’s a weak target. Do you know what that means?”

“Don’t think you can intimidate-”

“It means I didn’t walk in here as a soldier. I walked in as a butcher. ...Are you sure you aren’t intimidated?” The portal, eating into the muscles of his back, widened, tearing through his armor and magic defense like they weren’t there.

He grit his teeth. “We won’t surrender, no matter what you-”

The speech, whatever it was going to be, ended abruptly as another portal opened near his head, ejecting a lamppost which smashed into his temple, taking him to the floor.

“Promised the girls no more blood today. Lucky you.” Aiden blinked, looking at the trickle running across the floor from the lamp’s impact. “...Well dammit. Seriously, today is awful.” He sighed dramatically. “Right! So, who’s next?”

The rest of the group that had been gathered to oppose the siege (such as it was) had just looked on in shock. None of them were high ranking, or particularly strong. Certainly not enough to face even a ‘tired’ Aiden without their General.

Still Oni-koru could show astounding bravery at times. As one did, stepping forward. “And you think we’re afraid? Why not fight? You just admitted you won’t kill us, but we might get lucky.”

“Yeah… you might. On the other hand… probably not. If you make me fight you, I will knock you all right the buck out. And that’s not the worst part. No, when you wake up in a dungeon… you’ll have company. This… is my dear friend Pinkamena.”

A portal opened, but instead of simply stepping out of it, Pinkie seemed to form into place like metal pouring into a mold. If said metal were pink. Her mane was still straight, and the bloodstained tracks in her fur from her eyes and ears reminded Aiden that, if his math was right (and it usually was) Halloween was approaching back home.

Pinkie grinned at the Oni-koru contingent, her head slowly tilting to the side. Aiden chuckled quietly.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I’ll be there with you in the cell. We can sing… and dance… for days and days and days… we can make Cupcakes… it’ll be such fun. Fun… fun… fun…” Her grin widened with each 'Fun', her teeth taking on an unnatural edge as it did so.

The Oni in front stared at her a moment longer than Aiden would have considered necessary as a test of courage. “Alright… nope. We give up.”

Pinkie’s head snapped back to normal and, despite the mess of her mane and her face, she smiled a more genuine, sweet smile. “Thank you.” In a blur, she was next to the Oni who’d surrendered on behalf of his (slightly more spooked) comrades. She held up a chocolate frosted cupcake to him. “No hard feelings?”

The Oni looked down at her, wide-eyed and clearly dazed, before sniffing as the scent of the cake reached his nostrils. It was as warm as just out of the oven. He reached out and took it. “...Haven’t had chocolate in almost six years...”

Pinkie gasped. “Aiden, we have to end this war, and soon!”

Author's Note

WoW Classic, you monster! How dare you keep me from writing! This is about three hours work so it might be a little rough in terms of editing. I knew where I was going with it but hadn't sat down to write it until suddenly today... hey when the desire to write calls... answer it, you know?

23. Enemies...

Author's Note

And I'm back! As I mentioned in a comment recently... the holidays just aren't a lot of fun for me, so I didn't get any writing done during them this (now last) year. But that's over with and now back to the story. Next chapter will be much quicker, aiming for mid-February and we'll see how long I keep to a 'every 2/3 weeks' schedule. This story has several chapters to go but we will be seeing completion probably by late spring or so. Barring more bouts of massive laziness on my part, anyway.

23. Enemies...

Garken sighed as the rubble fell around him. The destruction of the Spire had been disappointing, though not terribly surprising.

“You really are just a shell of your former self, aren’t you?”

“I believe the human expression is ‘pot calling the kettle black’,” he replied, turning to face the glowing, insubstantial form of Karasa. “I’m surprised you’re still here.”

“I have always been here. ...At least since I died,” she snarked back, grinning up at him. “On the upside, I’m myself again. Thank you for that.”

“I barely noticed a difference.”

She burst into laughter at that, covering her mouth partly with the back of her hand. “You always know how to make a girl feel special, my love! Come now, let’s not bicker… without the program clouding my senses I can say a proper goodbye… because without the crystals sustaining me I need to move on.”

He shook his head, though a smile teased the edges of his lips. “I said my goodbyes decades ago. Such sentiment-”

“-Was never necessary for us, which is why I don’t offer it.” Still grinning, so like the daughter he’d neglected...

It was Keia that was like her of course… and I couldn’t bear it… sentiment indeed…

Karasa produced, from inside her glowing form-

“It’s disturbing watching you reach inside your own chest like that.”

“You want to do it? One last groping for old time’s sake?”

Garken rolled his eyes, but then looked back as her hand came out holding a record disc. The crystalline disc was smaller than a tea saucer, but could’ve held-

“The Archives. I believe you wanted to scour the Clades for these records? This disc holds them all, and I marked a particular file of interest for you. Of course you’ll need the computer from another Spire to peruse it. Hmm… I do hope Twilight Sparkle had better luck than you did here. Though I imagine she did. Quite capable, that one.”

Garken goggled at the precious item. “How…?”

She smiled softly, a smile he only remembered from their wedding day… and the day Keia was born. “I told you… I have always been here.”

He managed to catch the disc before she faded from his sight.

Nearby, Sunset and the others watched from their safe distance as the Spire came down. The layers of magical shielding they’d conjured had proven unnecessary as the tower had more crumpled on itself and collapsed than actually exploded.

Sunset smirked. “Three out of ten. Burning Bay would be so disappointed.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

“Movie director back ho-... heh, back home,” Sunset replied.

“Ahh,” Celestia replied, smiling. Without changing expression, she wrapped a wing around Sunset.

Who blushed at the sudden contact. “Uh, hi?”

“Nothing particular, dear. It’s just… very good to see you, and doing so well at that. We must catch up sometime soon.”

“Uh… yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. ...You’re sure you’re okay though? You feel a bit… different. Not bad different, but…”

Celestia shrugged lightly. “I believe you, better than most, could understand this. Put simply… I recently discovered that a burden I’d carried most of my life didn’t have to weigh me down quite the way it seemed. It’s still my burden, but if I can rely on others, just a little… it’s not nearly so heavy. I can be… more me... than I once thought possible.”

Sunset smiled. “You’re right… I do know exactly what that’s like. After Twilight helped me see what a… monster I’d become, even before the whole she-demon thing,” Sunset made air quotes around she-demon, though with hooves the effect wasn’t quite the same as she’d gotten used to. “...Well, I thought I had to keep my temper and aggression completely clamped down, you know? Or else I might go back down that road. But… that’s not it at all. I can still be me, a better me… the real me, not the twisted up, bitter me I’d become. Because I’m not alone… and there’s no way they’d let me go down that road again.”

Celestia tightened her hug around her former student. “I couldn’t have said it better, my friend.”

“We won’t go back with you!” Celestia and Sunset turned to the new voice, yelling not far off.

It belonged to a young changeling, who was facing off, despite clear fright, with Raven. All around them were the other changelings who’d been freed, alongside Thorax who’d been checking on the ones who’d not handled the captivity as well. Raven, who’d retaken her pony form shortly after the mass teleport removed them all from the Spire, stared down the younger being with narrowed eyes.

“Little nymph, I have no interest-”

“You said you wanted Mr. Thorax to get tortured! You want to hurt us, to make us all mean again like before! Well we won’t go back with-” She stopped as Raven’s aura clamped her mouth shut.

“...If I wanted to be your queen again, why would I resume this form?! Now SHUT UP AND LISTEN!” she shouted in an impressive rendition of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

The nymph quailed, but didn’t look away.

Raven noticed, and smiled… though it wasn’t the nicest smile. “Stronger than you look then. Good. Maybe that hoofpaint fever dream isn’t a complete waste of love after all. What’s your name, little one?” As she asked the aura disappeared from the nymph’s muzzle.

“...Ocellus.”

“A good name. And I am Raven Inkwell. I am not Queen Chrysalis. Queen Chrysalis was abandoned by her hive because she failed to lead them to the glory she promised. Queen Chrysalis may well bear a grudge against King Thorax, for reasons which should be obvious even to a nymph. But that does not mean she, or Raven, who is me, bear the rest of you ill-will.” She broke off with a grimace, muttering, “Or anyway not much…”

“With all due respect, ma’am, young Ocellus is right to be worried. I take full responsibility for failing to stop the ambush that got us here, but-”

“And you are?” Raven asked with a raised eyebrow at the newcomer. Though he was colored like his brethren (like ponies if ponies were also dragonflies or something...), his palette was darker, more subdued than most. Raven admitted, internally, that it didn't look awful.

“Pharynx, ma’am. And may I say, I really didn’t mind the old ways all that much. But… that was before you took it too far. Hiding in the shadows, stalking ponies, replacing them! Tricking them! Sometimes getting caught, running for your life! Ahh, that was living!”

Raven was smirking.

“But… even before you took it too far and tried to take over everything… it wasn’t for everyling. Some had it really tough, and I used to think that was okay. But we could do better… Thorax showed us that. Now I stalk bigger monsters, and bad guys, heck sometimes for ponies even! So much more variety. And others, like Ocellus here, have a chance to do whatever they want. They don’t have to risk their lives, or pretend to be somepony just to get a meal.” He shook his head. “And even if we’d taken over… it wouldn’t have lasted. Ponies ruled by us… well even if they stayed subjugated… they’d love less, and resent more. That’s just less food in the long run, ma’am. Best case, we’d be no better off than we were before. Worst case, we’d be worse for being exposed.”

Raven’s smirk had fallen off. “Are you done?”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!”

She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Right. Now’s the part where I remind you that, despite knowing about all of you, thanks to being Celestia’s aide, I’ve done nothing to pursue any sort of vengeance or re-acquisition.”

“You could be biding your time-”

“But I’m not. What, exactly, would I do with all of you now?” She smiled, a genuine smile. “You’ve all grown up… surpassed me in finding a way to adapt to the world you inherited by your own hooves. Any grudge I may feel is nothing compared to that. My place is in Canterlot now… specifically rebuilding it… and finding my stash of Zebrican tea which better still be intact or I’m bucking Kirin in the crotch. As to all of you.. I forgive you, and I want nothing but the best future for all of you.”

She stopped then, and stared down Thorax. “...Except you.”

...Who chuckled nervously. “Eh, I think we’ll take it.”

Twilight and Telena, surrounded by the oni-koru of the Spire who hadn’t already run, stared daggers at Trixie Lulamoon. Said showmare’s innocent grin would not have fooled a foal, and she was further condemned by the similar looks she was getting from Evening Calm and Starlight Glimmer, the latter of whom held her in a telekinetic grip that persisted through the teleport that had gotten the three of them away from the chain reaction that had destroyed the Spire.

“On the upside, Trixie succeeded in destroying the corrupted aetheryte!”

“On the downside, you also destroyed everything else!”

“Not everything! Look, Sparkle saved one of the big computer things. Plus all the oni-koru who were trying to take over Equestria are still here. Yay, us.”

Twilight sighed, though it sounded closer to her trademark groan of frustration. “They’ve switched sides, Trixie… sometimes I wonder whether you have.”

“Please, Trixie is always on her own side. It aligns with yours… mostly.”

“...Right. Telena, did I get enough of this to work with?”

The petite oni engineer nodded speculatively, looking over the large terminal Twilight had brought with them in their hasty escape. “Think so… but we’ll need a power source now. This terminal can still access records for the Clades and the other Spires, as well as most of our technical manuals and blueprints, but not if we can’t turn it back on.”

“We’ll worry about that later. Luna, are we ready to head… oh my gosh, is that lady alright?!”

“I am fine, Princess Twilight…” Ferrana replied, standing slowly while leaning on Luna, both of whom had appeared not far away during the evacuation.

Luna nodded, smiling reassuringly. “She will require medical attention when we are back in Ponyville, but she is in no immediate danger.”

“If you say so. Speaking of, we should head back. Are all the onis here okay with congregating there?”

Telena raised an eyebrow. “I don’t mind, and I want to find a way to get this terminal up and running again, along with any other salvage we can get. This Spire may be a lost cause,” with this her eye twitched and she glared sidelong at Trixie while Ferrana did the same. “But building something new from what we can find sounds even more exciting! ...You really trust all of us in your home?”

After seeming to consider it a moment, Twilight shrugged. “‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’, that’s what Clover the Clever once said. Better to have you all where the ones who want to build something can keep an eye on the ones still harboring grudges.”

“And the ones genuinely still loyal to Kirin, grudges aside?” The eldest looking amongst the oni asked, the one who’d once argued with Telena about changing sides.

Twilight snorted. “They definitely need the sharpest eye kept on them… they’re clearly crazy.”

He considered that for a brief moment, before chuckling and nodding. “To Ponyville, then.”

Aiden led the group of oni-koru alongside Vos, as they headed towards the control room. “You’re kidding…” the former muttered to the latter.

“I am not. The primary function of this Spire is to build mechs. I’m sure you remember them from the war on Earth.

Aiden did. They were fairly rare, since most oni preferred more direct forms of warfare. That said, mechs and their pilots had been a definite threat, often a larger one in terms of area of effect and how many Espers and ‘normal’ soldiers were required to take one down. “I’m just surprised… given how little Kirin values your lives I didn’t think he’d let you waste dwindling resources on mechs to keep you safer in combat.”

“...Assuming I agreed with your assessment, I would suggest that our King values the effectiveness they offer, particularly in ablative shielding against magical effects from all but the strongest of sources.”

“Fair enough…” As the massive doors into the Spire’s control room opened, Aiden felt a twitch in the aether, and put up a hand to catch the fist that’d been headed for his face. “Hi…”

Rarity was at his side in an instant, breaking away from where she’d been quietly talking with Pinkie. Joyeuse hovered inches from the attacker’s face, humming quietly.

Said attacker, a young oni-koru in a dirty jumpsuit, stared menacingly at Aiden, who still held the offending fist almost negligently. “My father died in Seattle…”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. “Same.”

“And you killed him.”

“Probably?”

The oni snorted, withdrawing his fist, which Aiden released. “I told myself if I ever met you, I would punch you in the face. I didn’t expect it to go well.”

Aiden shrugged. “It wasn’t a good day in general. For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry about your father. Not sorry for defending my world… but sorry any of us met that way.”

The oni smirked. He was a head taller than Aiden, though not especially tall by oni standards. He had messy, red and white hair that nearly obscured two small horns that stuck up from his forehead, and pointed ears that were similarly obscured. His eyes, the common red and yellow of his people, flicked around as he took in the crowd behind Aiden, as well as the glowing, floating rapier still inches from his face. He grinned sheepishly, showing off small fangs. “I won’t attack again, Miss Unicorn.”

“Rarity…”

“Rarity, then. I said I’d punch him, told myself, promised… but that’s as much as I could do… after digging in and finding out certain troubling facts. I’m Kelvien Lureia, head of the Mech Corps and technical lead of this Spire, though Vos and Maegren outrank me… just Vos now I guess. Tragic loss to the art work, let me tell ya.”

Vos snorted. “Some respect for the fallen, Commander Lureia.”

“Yes, sir.” He replied with no conviction before looking back to Aiden. “Come take a look; I have some things you’ll want to see. And since Maegren’s no longer breathing over my shoulder… I can show everyone.”

“Show us what?” Aiden asked, falling into step behind him as they approached the computer terminal he’d apparently been working at.

“...Well, like you said, your father died in Seattle,” Kelvien sat down, bringing up a minimized file as he did so. “Ever wonder why?”

“...What do you mean?” Aiden looked up at the screen, his eyes attempting to decipher any of what they saw. Unfortunately the translation spell was apparently not up to it.

“When your people came here to help against our first invasion, 1500 years ago… did they die en masse from our tech’s aether emanations?” Kelvien asked, before clacking a few more keys and causing the file to restructure itself. Rarity gasped.

Aiden looked at the now legible file. It was clearly a table of contents of some sort, detailing file headings on… “No, they..." he started, before focusing on what he was reading, "'Advancements to oni technology since the defeat at Equus'…”

“Aye. Been putting it together myself for years. Some things from the archives, some pieced together from records our various kings… I guess just Kirin… didn’t quite erase as thoroughly as they thought, journals and reports, technical readouts, so on...”

“I thought oni-koru tech hadn’t advanced since then.”

“Correct. It hasn’t advanced as in ‘gotten better’, not really. But… each of our conquests of some other world… they were directed. See, our kings sold it as ‘finding challenges’, continuing to serve the old masters by destroying unworthy civilizations, so on and so forth," he continued, waving a hand about dismissively. "But… each one had something our kings would keep. Trophies are nothing mysterious, but Kirin… well he had more in mind than we knew. Easy to trick people when all you have to do is wait a couple generations while subtly manipulating how they think. Every time he almost got caught he could back off and play the long game, so no king was ever ousted for going against the will of the people, or however you want to put it. I say we’re doing pretty well not to be complete monsters by now, since it’s what he wanted. ...Guess it depends who you ask though.”

“I’m guessing… he changed your tech over the years… to make it dangerous to humans? But that’s-”

“He wanted to be sure it’d be a slaughter when we finally found Earth. We’ve destroyed plenty of worlds over the centuries, but none with that many people or that much diversity. To be honest, any guilt over being manipulated aside, I could even agree with a lot of the ones we took down. Not all, but... well they were worse than we are. ...I guess I can’t be sure about that, but if various journals and the like can be trusted. But Earth? He wanted more death and despair than we’d normally go in for. We like a good fight, but billions of people, mostly civilians with no magic to really fight back? Bo-ring… and pathetic on our part. Garken Caedum argued vehemently against it, but eventually I think it was the danger of stronger Espers that made Briareus... Kirin... agree to fight it Garken's way, even if it meant losing. At least at first.”

“Oni don’t believe in weapons of mass destruction… that’s why the Spires were a last resort,” Rarity muttered.

Kelvien nodded. “And one we really didn’t want to use. As you can see here, the Spires aren’t really designed for that at all, or rather they have a variable design and that’s just about the worst one. But there were plenty of us who were, how do humans put it… ‘drinking the koolaid’ and went ahead and agreed with him. Especially since he sold the whole ‘our tech kills them’ as proof humans were some kind of abomination that needed to be culled. Never mind he'd set that up in advance right under our noses”

Aiden snorted. “Except it didn't kill Espers.”

“Yep, magic users we could fight would survive… and that also had appeal. He sold us that too, when it suited him to get us to use the Spires. He played us.”

“Except you, it seems. You didn’t put this together just now, I assume?” Rarity asked.

“I started after Seattle, actually, but I was never the only one who opposed his line of thinking, like I said. Hell, it was practically tradition that our king held one line of thinking while our army held another, and that they were to balance each other for the sake of the betterment of oni-kind."

Rarity nodded. "Remember Aiden, we talked about that, based on what humans knew of them, back on Earth." She frowned slightly. "I wonder how Vera and the others are doing..."

Kelvien had nodded approval, then shrugged. "We might be able to help you find out when this is all over, but as I was saying... Most of the king’s biggest detractors tended to die in battle, usually suspiciously, and moreso in the last couple centuries. Or at least it was suspicious to me once I'd put it all together.” He shook his head. “I don’t know that I uncovered more than any of those others though, and even I didn’t uncover that all our kings were just one immortal in disguise… I guess I got lucky to even still be here.”

“Best not to waste it then,” Aiden said with a nod. He held out his hand. “More eyes on this information will probably help, so I’d like to take it with us. I’d like you, and the others here as well, if they’ve heard enough to make up their minds. Because it sounds to me like Kirin killed both our fathers… and I think we both owe him a punch in the face for it.”

Kelvien grinned, and took the Esper’s hand. The opening door Mark began to glow as they shook. “At the very least.”

1. Role Reversal

“Keep the shield up full; if we hit winds at this altitude and speed it’s going to be trouble!”

Rarity nodded, focusing on what was still a rather new spell for her. They were falling… in multiple directions. Every portal opened with them near the ground in Aiden’s verse, but at a trajectory that let them bleed off momentum (basically flying straight up) before popping back to reality to continue falling. He couldn’t change the fact that they had all that speed, at least not quickly. She had a new appreciation for what he’d put Vera through when he’d trapped her in here and thrown her around.

Eventually, they were falling slowly enough that, between the two of them, they could manage a sort of telekinetic parachute. On that note… how the devil did Starlight fly with just telekinesis? Rarity still had a ways to go… wait, when had she cared about that? As they floated the last few hundred feet into range, Aiden portaled them down to land gently in the rolling, snowy hills. Rarity took in a deep breath, letting the feel of the very world sink in. Home... I'm home. She let out a long, contented sigh. The aether field around her felt warm and welcoming, despite the bitter cold of the air. It wasn't stronger... but it was more comfortable. She remembered Rainbow talking about 'home field advantage' and suddenly had a feeling about what that meant. Maybe I do care about developing this... I can't wait to talk to Twilight about it...

“How long can you keep the shield up?” Aiden asked, interrupting her reverie. Not that she blamed him, they couldn't just stand around out here. She looked north, where smoke was already rising from the wreckage of the Falcon, while considering the minimal drain on her reserves.

“Maybe half an hour? That’s assuming I’m just blocking the wind… but I don’t think I can hold in heat, not really.”

“We can always rest and warm up in my verse if that gets to be too much. But the wind will be a killer with no shield, even just minutes at a time. I’ve been in a few situations like this.”

“Regrettably so have I. But speaking of situations like this… that isn’t the first time you used that ‘falling up’ trick, is it?”

He grinned. “Worried I bailed us out of the ship with no plan?”

She returned the grin. “Moi? Certainly not, darling. I’m simply wondering when you-”

She broke off when a roar interrupted her. “Ah, of course…”

Aiden sighed, though his grin hadn’t quite faded. “I don’t recall packing Murphy, do you?”

“I’m rather certain I didn’t.”

“Well someone brought the bastard along…”

“Darling… welcome to Equestria. I think you’ll find he’s just at home here as on Earth.”

“Fantastic.” he muttered. “So…. what actually was… oh… wow…” he stopped as the answer came to sudden stop above them.

It wasn’t the largest dragon Rarity had ever seen. In fact, what with her relatively high experience with dragons (by pony standards), it didn’t even rate in the top ten. As such, it would probably take three whole bites to eat her if it wished. How reassuring!

“Aiden dear, didn’t you say there were no lifeforms in the crash zone?”

“So the sensors told me. ...I mean, okay, kinda geeking out here, but is that a buckmothering dragon!?”

Rarity blinked in confusion, “...Yes?”

“That’s… so... cool…”

“Err… yes, darling… try to contain yourself.”

“No promises.”

“HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY LAIR!!!”

“Well shit…” Rarity muttered as the dragon landed in front of them, looking infuriated. Despite that, she couldn’t find it in herself to be afraid. He’s weaker than Garken was, more like Pravus. Strong but, but… fluffy? Is that the word I want? Probably not.. Hmm… it's... He's strong, but not hateful... violent. And it’s a natural strength… just angry, not evil. Maybe...

“ARE YOU IGNORING ME?!”

“Rarity, what’s he saying?”

“What?”

“The dragon… I can’t understand him,” he said, sounding a touch petulant.

“You… oh! Oh my…” she giggled. “Ahh, how the tables have turned! Now you’ll be the one who has to rely on the translator-”

“Yeah, uh... did we even pack it?”

“Of course we did; it’s in my bag with my tablet.”

“Oh good. We should-” he stopped suddenly and both their eyes went wide as the dragon’s aether shifted. It was slow, comparatively speaking, as he took a deep, dramatic breath…

And huffed an impressive line of aether charged ice and freezing sleet at them… and into a portal Aiden opened in front of them.

“So… awesome…” Aiden said, wide eyed and with an incredibly boyish grin gracing his face.

“Are… are you crying, darling?” Rarity felt her cheeks heating a bit. He just looked… so adorable. This is Twilight getting a new book… Spike savoring a particularly sweet ruby…

“Rari~ty… it’s a dragon…!” as though that somehow explained everything.

“Yes, darling, I can see it.” Her eyes narrowed as a thought occurred. The dragon’s breath had already ceased, and he looked somewhere between puzzled and annoyed. She clamped down on a sly smile. “A rather impressive dragon, in fact. Very handsome and powerful looking. And those scales! Magnifique! I confess I’d never seen a Northern dragon before, truly stunning!”

“WHAT… WHAT IS THE APE SAYING? AND HOW DOES IT USE SUCH MAGIC?” the dragon asked… looking somewhat mollified by the flattery, and the fact that these two small beings seemed completely unintimidated.

“He was also commenting on your stupendous nature, oh noble dragon. I apologize; while he and I can understand each other through a happenstance of magic, he does not truly speak our language. You wouldn’t happen to know a spell to help him?” She fluttered her eyelashes.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed… and then… “Hmph… hah… ahahAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! SUCH A CHEEKY LITTLE PONY YOU ARE! ATTACK MY LAIR AND ASK BOONS OF ME!?”

“Merely a simple favor, from one clearly so wise and learned, oh noble dragon,” Rarity replied with a smile. “And no attack was intended, I assure you. Our flying ship was damaged and crashed; we had to abandon it to survive ourselves. However… the ship itself contains many rare and valuable items, not of this world…”

The dragon’s head tilted in confusion. Aiden snerked at seeing it, but wisely kept quiet. He didn’t respond to what Rarity was doing, so she assumed it was fine to proceed. “Investigating for yourself will prove my words trustworthy.”

“...Are you offering me this vessel, in restitution for destroying my lair?”

“I am offering you your pick of any item from it, while we remove the rest. I’m afraid I can’t give it all away, my friend here will need it later.”

“Hmph, he won’t need anything if I decide I don’t like your bargain.”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve already attacked us once, to no effect. My friend here is quite taken with the notion of a dragon, but he’s been a professional demon slayer for more than half his life. You must have noticed we aren’t afraid of you. It would be simply awful to harm those glorious scales of yours though. Please don’t force us?” She actually pouted at him. She pouted at a dragon while trying to convince him not to fight them…

He stared down at her… gauging both her mettle and her honesty… and finding both to be genuine. He sighed through his nostrils, creating a cloud of frozen fog. “Very well,” he said, speaking more quietly at last. “Follow me. How long will it take you to remove your vessel from my lair?” He turned, not seeming to care if they got properly out of the way as he did so. Not that it was an issue for them.

“Not long at all, mere seconds in fact. My friend here is quite gifted.”

The dragon snorted again, in amusement this time. “A magic monkey… the world is wide, isn’t it?”

Rarity giggled. “His people are called ‘humans’, my lord dragon.”

He stiffened slightly in surprise, and his massive muzzle twisted into a slight smile. “Humans, are they? I had not thought to ever see one.”

“You’ve… heard of them?”

“Hmph… your princesses of the sun and moon are not the only keepers of ancient records, pony.”

“Rarity.”

The dragon chuckled. “You certainly are. ...You meant what you said about my scales?”

“Oh entirely, good sir! They’re quite stunning! I’ve seen many dragons, but never one of such a breathtaking, alabaster hue.”

“Southerners then. They tend towards earthier tones. And reds, of course.”

“Just as you say, my lord dragon.”

“Heh. You don’t have to keep doing that. My name is Nall. And... I apologize for attacking you.”

“Oh pish posh,” Rarity replied, acting more familiar with the giving of his name. “You were justifiably upset. Besides, it clearly was nothing more than a warning. You gave us plenty of time to react to it with all that time you took building up to it.”

Nall looked briefly confused. “Ah… yes. All as intended. I’m glad you understand. A show of strength is necessary in these mountains. The wyverns and rocs respect little else.”

“Of course, Lord Nall, I understand entirely. We both do, don’t we, Aiden?”

Aiden nodded, trying very hard to keep a grin off his face. Even from the half of the conversation he was following, he was clearly having a blast.

“Aiden, is it? A good name… ‘fire’ in the old tongue. Regrettably, I know of no spell to grant him our speech. There are legends of dragons who were natural polyglots, and recorded their talents into enchanted gems, but I’ve not seen such an artifact in all my days.”

“A pity. Still, we have a device that will allow him to join our conversation, if you don’t mind.”

“Certainly not. Speaking to a human, and for that matter witnessing such a device at work, would be quite worthwhile.”

She nodded her thanks. Aiden vanished in an instant, hopping into his verse to dig through her suitcase for the translator. She stifled a giggle at his enthusiasm.

“Where did he go?”

“It’s a part of his talent that I mentioned to you earlier. It’s also how we can quickly remove our ship from your… mountainside, oh dear…”

As she was saying this, she was looking up at where the ship had smashed into said mountain. Into, and at least partially through.

“How simply dreadful! No wonder you were upset with us. Dear sir, please believe me when I say this was entirely accidental!”

“I believe you… given your friend’s talent, why would you lie? You could simply vanish and leave me with the mess.”

“True…" she replied. There was no need to admit that Aiden could only take them fairly short distances per jump. "And I suppose if we’d done it purposefully, we would do exactly that. Well, that isn't the case. We’ll take this opportunity to make amends, and perhaps a new friendship?” she smiled winsomely up at him.

Nall looked away, seeming a bit embarrassed. “I don’t seek out pony friends, little one.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t have any…”

“...I suppose that is true. Though I don’t suspect you’ll be staying long in these mountains. Despite your impressive magic, you aren’t suited to-”

Aiden reappeared, with translators fully ready to go. “Can you both understand me?” He spoke quietly, and the Equestrian translation came through almost instantly.

“How remarkable,” Nall muttered. “Yes, I can understand you.”

“I could before, darling.”

Aiden stuck his tongue out at her. She grinned in reply.

“Tell me, human, do your people remember my own?”

Aiden’s face lit up. “Oh, you have no idea. While much of what we knew of Equus faded into, or mixed with, our old myths and legends, there’s always been a certain august majesty when it comes to dragons.”

“Hmm, ‘august majesty’... I like the sound of that,” Nall rumbled deeply, rubbing his chin with one claw as they walked. “But it’s no surprise your kind don’t remember Equus well. If I recall correctly, it’s been fifteen hundred years since your people were brought here to aid in the war against the star demons.” He tilted his head in confusion. “She called you a demon slayer. Have… have your people fought them on your world, all this time?”

“No. They found Earth… by coincidence, after intercepting one of our outgoing signals, fairly recently. They first attacked us fifteen years… hey, fifteen versus fifteen hundred. Interesting coincidence.”

“If coincidence at all, human.”

“Aiden," he supplied.

Nall nodded. “So she told me… but I prefer not to use a name unless given it directly, Aiden. I am Nall, ruler of this range.”

“A pleasure, Nall.”

“Likewise… surprisingly, given what’s become of my lair. Fortunate that I was not inside. I would have been… less reasonable.”

Aiden chuckled. “Understandable.”

They had reached the bottom of the mountain, which jutted up beyond the rocky, snow dusted foothills like a massive tooth.

“Can you hold on if I carry you up there?”

“I should think so,” Rarity said.

“We’re gonna ride a dragon…” Aiden whispered in excitement.

Rarity giggled.

They both climbed on his back, holding on with telekinetic grips as well as more mundane ones. Rarity’s shield continued to minimize the effects of the wind and cold, though the latter was becoming an issue as neither were dressed for it. The trip up didn’t help much, and by the time they reached the lair’s entrance Rarity’s teeth were chattering as she leaned again Aiden for warmth.

“You okay?” He asked her, sounding concerned as they hopped down from Nall’s back.

“Cold…”

“We can rest in the flower garden in a bit. We’ll just get the ship first. Can you make it that far?”

“Yes. Really wishing I’d brought boots now, though. My hooves are simply not made for this sort of cold.”

“Not to interrupt… but it’s warmer within. One of my treasures is a Phoenix stone, and its aura warms most of my lair. Fortunately, your ship hit the outer chambers, rather than my hoard room.”

“Lucky break…" Aiden agreed as they continued further in. "And I see what you mean; it’s definitely a bit warmer here.”
Rarity nodded in agreement.

The cave itself was breathtaking. The walls were riddled with crystal formations and magnificent flowstones, resembling coral decorating the way forward. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, though not low enough to obstruct even their host, of course.

“You have a lovely home, Nall.” Rarity said appreciatively.

“Truth,” Aiden muttered, distracted by taking it all in.

“I seldom have guests… perhaps I should revisit that.”

“I wouldn’t presume to tell you how to live, but I’m certain the ponies of the Crystal Empire would appreciate a friendly dragon neighbor. Though their capital is a bit far from here, I’m sure you would be welcomed for the occasional visit, should you choose. They have lovely crystal formations there, and I know they’d be happy to share gemstones and the like.”

“Hmm… I’ll consider it,” he said, sounding genuinely thoughtful. “Digging through ice and snow for gems doesn’t bother me, but a large city would have more exotic options, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, it isn’t the Crystal Empire for nothing, darling.”

He smiled. “You make a good point. ...Now, just around this next turn…”

As they turned into another chamber, the wind picked up. Hardly surprising given that said chamber was open to the elements and they were at a fairly high elevation. Rarity reactivated her shield with a shudder as they approached the wreckage of the Falcon.

“Huh… you know it’s much better than I expected. Garken really had a hell of a ship,” Aiden said.

Rarity blinked. “It was… his personal vessel?”

“Yeah… wait you didn’t know? I thought I mentioned that. We found out while setting up the batteries.”

“Hmm… no I don’t recall you saying so. I suppose it makes sense how Adstrum had it in such good shape then... But no matter. It’s ours now… and as you say, little the worse for wear!”

It was true, at least to the naked eye. The hull armor had held up well, despite crashing through the outer layer of the mountain cave, and at least two other chambers therein, from what Rarity could see. Even the bridge view ports seemed intact.

Aiden shrugged lightly. “The demon race built ‘em to last, I suppose.”

“What you’re saying… this vessel is not of human make?”

Aiden winced slightly. “Err… not as such. We have modified it a fair bit, but overall it’s probably two thousand years old. We don’t even fully understand the hull composition. It seems to adapt to thermodynamics in ways that shouldn’t be even magically possible.”

“Impressive,” Nall said, and then chuckled. “And after you’ve told me I cannot have it, despite it being in my home.”

“Well, I may sorta need it to get to my home at some point. I do believe other humans will be along eventually, but either way… there are dangerous things on this ship that I don’t want to let out of my control. You understand, I hope.”

“I do. There is much in my hoard that I would not part with, and not simply because it is mine. In the interest of friendship, and the debt our world owes yours, I accept your offer of a single item to add to my own collection. What shall it be, then?”

Rarity smiled up at him. “Will you trust us to choose for you?”

“You would know better than I, at first glance, what would be of interest. I will trust your eye, which noted the beauty of my scales. Though... I may ask you to choose more than once, if your first offer is poor to my eyes," he replied, grinning down at her.

There are likely many ponies who would find such a grin, with so many very large teeth, intimidating. Reasonably so. Rarity, however, simply found herself missing Spike. With a sharp little gasp, she realized how soon she could see not just him, but all of them. Still, first things first.

Her horn lit up as she stepped aboard, Aiden close behind. “What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“One of the batteries, I think. It’s a massive gemstone, capable of storing aether. I think Nall will love it.”

Aiden nodded. “Makes sense, with what I know of dragons here…” she could practically feel him grinning again, “and technically we can spare one.”

“My thought as well. Most of the ship I wouldn’t want to take any parts out of. But assuming we can fully charge both the remaining batteries it’s enough for a one way trip. ...Not that I’d hope you’d take one any time soon.”

“Actually I sort of assumed I was stuck here for awhile, and I was surprised with how okay I was with that. Getting away from my shut in years and rebuilding a life back on Earth does sound interesting, in theory… but this is where I want to be. With you.”

She blinked, stumbling just slightly as her cheeks heated. “Well… I’m... glad to hear that! I feel the same way.” Clearing her throat, she added, “If you would, help me detach the connectors to the main drive, and I’ll carry it out to him.”

“Will do,” his hands glowed with their burnt orange aura, undoing couplings with his magic as she did the same for the frame housing. In short order, she had the pumpkin sized gem floating beside her. Admiring the perfect sphere for a moment, she felt a strong sense of rightness about giving it away, despite it being of incalculable worth. A gem that size that could store magic, even if it was particularly difficult to charge, was nothing to understate. Still… yes. She was certain this was the right decision to make. And anyway, two batteries would be fine once they were charged. And she’d see to it they were. No matter how much she wanted him here, it wouldn’t do to have him trapped here. If he were… her eyes widened as she remembered their conversation back at Lynn’s home. Was that what he meant about emotional strains?

She was also reminded of her offer to take him to the spa. The notion of Aloe and Lotus fussing over him struck her as oddly appealing. Watching him fluster, and eventually melt under the effects of a good massage… yes, one more reason to get to Ponyville as soon as possible.

As they exited the ship, she watched Nall’s face light up and felt the final bit of confirmation. Their host was practically cooing over the massive gem, which still held just enough aetheric charge to give it an exotic sheen. While he was busy with admiring their peace offering, Rarity felt a now entirely familiar pull of magic as Aiden opened a large portal, pulling the Falcon in.

“A remarkable gift you have,” Nall commented, tearing his eyes away from the gem with clear reluctance. “When humans came here, there is no record of them having such abilities.”

“They’re a recent development… though frankly that’s surprising now that I think about it. It was exposure to Oni tech, which is originally demon race tech, that caused us to development magical abilities. The same tech was here when humans were, so… huh…”

“Perhaps your people were not ready?”

“Yeah maybe… eh, questions for another time. You’ll forgive us for rushing along, but Rarity’s been away from home for some time and is eager to see her family again. Uhh… unless you want us to help you repair the damage here. I guess that’d be a fair offer to make, right?”

Nall chuckled. “Perhaps it would, but I’ll release you from it. In light of this truly remarkable gift, given freely when you could have picked any mere trinket, I am content to repair the walls myself. I have a few tricks for doing so, the same I used to alter this place to my needs. In fact, it is a chance to redesign the artistry of these walls. I believe I shall do something to commemorate the occasion.”

“We’ll have to come back and see it sometime, then.” Aiden said, while gathering aether for the first portal jump.

“You will be welcome… but for now, your desire to be on your way is clear.”

“Yeah… walk forward. Even covered in snow…”

Rarity snerked. “I think I’ll sit in the flower garden, thank you.”

“Damn right. Nall, it’s been an honor and a pleasure.”

“Indeed it has, darling! Do consider visiting the Crystal Empire. I think everyone involved would benefit.”

“I shall. Farewell, travelers. Until we meet again.”

They both waved before vanishing, the first jump of many as Aiden made their way carefully down the mountain, hop by hop, heading for the Crystal Empire.

In a very different locale, under very different auspices…

He was tall, over two meters, and human looking if one was just a bit nearsighted. Closer inspection revealed a pair of alabaster horns that rose from his forehead to curve along his scalp, almost as though brushed back. Long blond hair also decorated that scalp, tied at the back in a single tail down to his shoulder blades. Dark sunglasses covered red eyes within yellow sclera, and a fanged grin completed the devil may care look.

When one is casually strolling into Tartarus, and one is a devil… why should one care?

Warslave Garken Caedum was the lowest of the low, and no one knew it better than he. Weak, foolish, and utterly useless in real combat, he could only fetch things for his noble god king. That’s why we got jobs like this one. It wasn’t why he enjoyed them so much. He really wasn’t too sure about that. It didn’t make sense. But making sense wasn’t any fun. Perhaps it was the being away from home. He did enjoy traveling… His forearm itched again, and he stopped briefly to scratch at it. As usual, he drew blood from around the old scar. He couldn’t remember where he’d gotten it. It never hurt… it just itched, like it wanted him to pay attention to it. Dumb scar! Unlike the scar on his head, which he'd earned for his many failures, this one felt... out of place. At the least, he could not place it...

A massive, angry snort, in triplicate, drew his attention upward. Three identical heads looked down at him, each wary as a growl emerged from three giant throats. His grin returned.

“Cerberus, oh puissant gatekeeper! I am but a humble and miserable slave of my mighty king. I beseech you for passage into your realm, that I may converse with a certain prisoner. I bear an offering that you may allow my unworthiness to go beneath your notice!” Part of him felt like laughing. He couldn’t help that his mind had such a ridiculous script, but he could enjoy playing the role. ...Couldn’t he? What role? It didn’t matter. He reached behind his back, to where a weapon might be sheathed if he were worthy of carrying such a thing, and took the offering from where it’d been strapped across his shoulders. It had to be turned sideways; it was too tall to carry like a sword. Of course, Garken Caedum had never touched a sword. Unworthy.

“This femur was taken from the vanquished form of a mighty overlord of dragons, upon a distant world! It is the last remaining relic of that world’s living inhabitants, as they were utterly destroyed for refusing to acknowledge the greatness of my king!” ...Had that been what happened? Surely…

Garken tossed the giant bone up to the waiting, slightly salivating jaws of the massive canine guardian. It weighed two tons and a slave like him couldn’t even lift it. ...Something about that didn’t seem right. But he’d achieved his desired effect: Cerberus was no longer interested in him as three heads gnawed contentedly. Garken felt a little touch of pride at that.

But that wasn’t important. No in fact, that was very dangerous. Pride for one so low could only lead to downfall, and punishment. He would not make such a foolish mistake, though fool he was. He walked past Cerberus, towards his destination not far beyond.

There wasn’t much to see in Tartarus, but there was a certain austere beauty to it… if one could appreciate craggy mountains and impossibly distant vistas. Garken could. Open spaces were a form of freedom quite unlike his tiny cell back home. When this was over he would go back there. He would have to draw it out as much as possible.

Within the cell ahead, a high pitched, almost nasally voice called out to him. “I didn’t expect to see one of your kind again… little ogre…”

Garken immediately disliked the voice, but that didn’t matter. He bowed deeply and said, “I bring tidings from my god king, Lord Tirek. He sends me with an offer for you…”

Author's Note

And, welcome back! As before I'll be posting roughly weekly, hope to see you there.

2. Crystal Clear

Author's Note

Quick note: Season 8 has not happened in this fic's continuity... simply because I haven't seen it yet (I tend to wait for Netflix to post them, and then binge).

2. Crystal Clear

Tirek laughed. It was an unpleasant, almost wheezing sound. Given his frail form it was no surprise. Not that Garken would make mention of it, of course. He could not insult his king’s potential ally.

“‘An offer’, is it? The king of the ogres has an offer for the last of the centaur? And does he expect me to take it seriously, when it is delivered by a weaponless slave?”

Garken didn’t react. His clothing, and the scar on his head, marked him clearly enough. “I dare not presume to speak of his expectations, mighty Tirek. I only bring the offer. You may take it, and go from this place. Or you may leave it, and be left here.”

“Hmph. Very well, speak quickly. Your ‘gift’ won’t distract that foul mutt for long.”

Far be it from Garken to disagree, but the bone would take some time to gnaw through, even for Cerberus. Still, he had no desire to delay this part of his task. Something about Tirek made him… angry. He wasn’t allowed to be angry, so he needed to finish this. “My king, the ineffable Briareus,” he stumbled a bit on the name and cursed himself doing so, “extends you an offer to serve under him, in the coming war. Equus will be razed, and the strongest of its denizens will be sacrificed to empower the aetheryte of this world. My king shall create new weapons and vessels with these magnificent power sources, enough to conquer more worlds by the thousands!”

“Ambitious. But unlike you, I am no servant. What does your master think he can offer me to earn my assistance in this grand design?”

“Your freedom, Lord Tirek, and a shard of the empowered aetheryte with which to subjugate this world. It will be yours.”

“Hah! I’m not so foolish as that. My freedom I can obtain on my own. I’ve done it before, and I am patient. I nearly took this world for myself, with only the help of a fool who believed similar lies. Had I been less merciful, you would be greeting me upon my throne, atop the skulls of this world’s former-”

“That is a lie.” Garken’s eyes went wide at his own interruption. No no no! He could not say such things!

“What?!”

“N-nothing, Lord Tirek! I was mistaken, or misheard, or-”

“Release me from this cage and I will show you the depths of your ‘mistake’, slave!”

“I cannot, unless you accept my king’s offer!”

Tirek snarled. “Hah! You think…” his eyes narrowed. “...Very well then. I will accept your king’s offer, his impressive generosity.” His lips curled into a grimace as he mockingly spat the words. “Come closer, ogre… open this cage. Cerberus may be a dumb beast but when he’s this close his aura makes the bars unbreakable, but from the outside they may be…” he trailed off.

Garken scarcely noticed. ‘Impressive generosity.’ ….Generosity… His forearm was itching. He scratched, tore at it. Blood flowed… he could see a blue light, like glittering magic within that blood… “Generosity… you said?” Garken muttered distractedly, still tearing at the scar. What was this warmth?

‘Cleansing me? It will take more than a flesh wound to dig deep enough…’

He coughed… his chest was hurting. Another scar… through his torso… where had it..?

‘You learned… nothing… fighting us. Garken. Every life… is worth mine.’

“...Johnathan…?”

“What? What’s wrong with you?! Open this cage, slave; I accept your offer!” Tirek said, as Garken stumbled and convulsed. The sunglasses hit the rocky floor, and the Oni kicked them away.

Garken took a long, shuddering breath. “I said… you weren’t merciful.” He looked Tirek in the eye, a grin showing off fangs.

“What’s… what’s happened to you? What are you talking about?”

“Mercy is for the strong… you are weak. Afraid. Let your enemies live so they may attack you again. Risk being defeated, laugh at that risk. That is strength. You lack that. You lack even a fool’s false mercy. Your actions were simply… necessitated. You couldn’t kill them without giving away what you’d borrowed. You needed their magic, their living capacity for it. Without that, you are the husk I see before me. You are feeble-”

“And you are feeble-minded! Your king sent a madman to offer me-”

“Do you accept?”

Tirek exhaled slowly, controlling his frustration. “Very well, ogre. Open this cage, and release me. We can escape before Cerberus can catch us, if you’re not too busy foaming at the mouth.”

Garken chuckled, and put his glasses back on. He didn’t notice as the enchanted lenses began repairing the broken chains in his mind. He sighed deeply. He’d succeeded. His king would be pleased. He opened the cage, and felt a surge of aether.

Tirek inhaled deeply, drawing at Garken’s own well of aether. Foolish. I am but a slave with no strength to steal.

He didn’t register it when a fist, empty of all thought, emotion, and reason, struck Lord Tirek’s face, shattering bones and sending the centaur staggering. Warriors can strike their foes in such a manner. I envy them.

Tirek snarled, reaching towards Garken again. Hands intercepted his thin arms, breaking them without effort. He is too weak for the opponent he faces. I understand. I too am weak. ...And mercy is for the strong…

Hours later, the dejected warslave left Tartarus alone. He was covered in blood and failure; and his king’s would-be ally was gone forever. He would be punished most severely for this. And yet… he couldn’t help but dwell on the last look on the face of Lord Tirek. It was a smile of relief… he was free of his prison at long last.

Equus’ aether field had been a subject of some concern. Aiden had wondered if perhaps it wouldn’t be compatible with an Esper’s magic; that might have explained why no humans had awoken during their time here. Fifteen hundreds years was a long time by some standards, but evolution was not one of them. He found it difficult to believe that so many could awaken in this day and age, but none back then.

Then again, maybe they needed the aether field of their homeworld to awaken. That was another hypothesis… because Equus’ aether field was presenting no problems whatsoever. In fact, taking in the slightly odd but pleasant magic around him was all but effortless. It was almost the same as back home, with the notable difference of a part of him wanting to sing for some reason. He clamped down on that part. He could dance, sure. Sing? Not so much.

“Bit for your thoughts, darling?”

He chuckled, looking over at Rarity. They were both standing, after they’d taken a short coffee break in the flower garden, as Rarity had taken to calling it. Sitting was fine for portal hopping since Aiden didn’t really touch the terrain as he went. Each portal hugged the ground but didn’t quite deposit them there for the fraction of a second before coming back to his verse through the next. As such, no snow on their backsides. Still, they were both a bit cramped from the ship… and whatever the Hell they’d gone through that had had them both clinging to each other, every muscle tensed, in the void between galaxies.

It wasn’t just emptiness… was it?

“...Two bits?”

He blinked, realizing he still spacing out. ...He was still… “Gah! Sorry, Rarity. Okay, we’re stopping a minute.”

Now she looked concerned. “Are you alright?”

No ‘darling’... yeah, she’s worried. He nodded. “I’m okay. The aether field here is distracting. It’s… at first I thought it was fine, but now I’m not so sure.”

She blinked in confusion, and then smiled. “More calming than you’re used to?”

“Huh… yeah, actually. Back home it’s… it’s more…” he made circles with his hands, trying to find a word for it.

“Determined… perhaps heroic?” she supplied.

He chuckled. “Pretty sure you’re both those things, too, and not because of Earth’s magic.”

“Yes, but Earth’s field tends in that direction, I think. It’s the best of its people. Here it’s the same… or so I believe. I do feel the need to remind you I rarely thought about such things before coming to Earth. Twilight could explain this better.”

“Maybe, but I’m more interested in hearing your take on it.” He covered the short distance between them and sat down. “Sorry, I know you want to keep going, but just a couple minutes? Might help sort my thoughts a bit. I was getting fuzzy headed.”

She sat down next to him, nuzzled him, and smiled. He’d really grown attached to that particular show of affection. “It’s fine, darling. From what I can tell, you were still moving us faster than back on Earth.”

“Blame Baltimore. With all the trapped souls freed from here, my strength flows more easily. Perception increased, too. I’m probably twenty percent faster over long distances-”

Rarity chuckled.

“...What? Anyway, you were saying?”

“Mmm, yes. It’s just… here the field tends more towards… inspiration, at least to me. It’s harmony and warmth.” She considered the matter a moment, dwelling on what she knew of Harmony. “Put another way.... on Earth... it’s horns and drums… a call to battle and adventure. On Equus it’s strings, leading one to artistry… and love. Both worlds certainly have all of those things, and thank goodness for that, but… the tendencies of their fields are, to me, a bit different and that’s how I would describe them.”

“So what you’re saying is… on Earth… we were more likely to be comrades in arms, adventuring and fighting great battles together. And here… we’re… more likely to fall in love?” He couldn’t quite keep the joking tone out of his voice, as if trying to play it off.

He hadn’t fooled her in the slightest, as her grin attested. “Not quite the love I was referring to, more a general sense but… you say that as though you haven’t already?”

“Hah!” he replied, returning her grin. “I’ll show you love!”

“Good!”

They both blinked, and then laughed. “...Seriously though,” he said.

She was still giggling. “That really is how I see it. The field anyway… also that you’re in love with me. Not that I blame you, of course.”

“Pfft.”

“And it’s to your credit that you can fall in love with an alien, given your past.”

“Hah, show’s what you know. We’re on Equus; I’m the alien now.”

“So that would mean it’s my turn to fall in love with you? Since you did with me, on your world.” The grin she wore was heart-stoppingly beautiful… and completely false in its innocence.

“As if you haven’t already,” he replied, lightly booping her nose with two fingers before standing back up and gathering power again. He felt a lot better, for obvious reasons, and his heart was pounding in a good way. If this was what this world’s aether field could do, he’d be fine with it. Inspiration, huh? I could get used to this...

“Hah!” she said, mimicking his reaction. “We’ll just see who’s in love with whom! Onward to the Crystal Capital, to find what Mi Amore Cadenza has to say on the subject!”

“Oh. It. Is. ON!” he replied, opening a portal, and then another as they sprang forward across the icy mountains. Neither of them felt even a hint of the cold.

It wasn’t long before they reached the outskirts of the city. By unspoken agreement, they would be walking from there, and Rarity would be wearing a cloak and a minor glamour to hide her identity. She couldn’t even be sure how long she’d been missing, but wanted to get to the palace before giving away her return. It gave them a chance to get their bearings in the city before risking getting mobbed. And Aiden had to admit it was really something to see up close. From a distance, he’d had to restrain himself from making an ‘it’s only a model’ reference as he’d caught glances between portal hops. It just looked too fanciful to be real. Now though…

“Those are just… floating up there, aren’t they?” he asked, referring to the three crystals above the road leading into the city proper. Said road was bordered by two short, crystal spires that would have been impressive in their own right.

“They are…” Rarity said, a bit breathlessly, stopping to collect herself.

Aiden understood why, of course. This wasn’t home for her, but it was a huge step. He knew enough about Princess Cadance and Shining Armor to know they were close to Rarity, and so this was a much bigger deal than just landing and meeting a dragon. He smiled at her. “Shall we go?”

“Yes… yes, let’s, darling. I was just… savoring the moment.”

The walk through town towards the… simply unbelievable palace in the center… was difficult for Aiden to make sense of. There were ponies everywhere, and they weren’t shy about staring. That was fully to be expected, but what he didn’t expect was the lack of any other real reaction. No one was screaming, or even seeming worried. He supposed in a world of dragons, chimeras, and manticores (to name a few) a human wasn’t too scary. He was glad of that. Feeling like an outsider was going to be inevitable, and indeed had already started, but at least…

“Mister, are you a minotaur?”

Aiden blinked, and looked down. His heart seized up a bit as his gaze fell on what could he could only describe as ‘cute incarnate’. A little filly, perhaps only a foot tall at the withers, was staring up at him with a questioning expression. Glittering golden hair framed a light purple furred face, and huge, purple eyes with hints of facets like gemstones. The translator had repeated her question in his earbud, matching her pitch and tone perfectly.

Do… not… hug… strange… filly… Mustn’t scare locals…

“Well? Answer her, darling.” Rarity said, the very picture of suppressed mirth. He couldn’t help but notice several nearby ponies watching this display. He’d barely recognized that they’d passed close to a park where several other youngsters were playing; the palace had been taking most of his attention. They’d all stopped to watch this brave filly talk to the odd newcomer.

“Ah, oh! Err… no, little one; I’m not a minotaur. I’m a human. I’m from far away.”

“Hu-man?” she asked, tilting her head slightly with the odd pronunciation. She said it quite well though.

Hnngh… “Yes, that’s right. My name’s Aiden.” He crouched down a little closer to her level, stepping back before doing so. “What’s yours?”

“Sapphire Song.”

He held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Sapphire Song.”

She looked at the hand a moment, and slowly placed a tiny hoof on it. He grasped gently, and shook it. She giggled.

“Song, let the nice people be on their way.”

“Okay, momma,” the filly replied to a mare that was sitting on a bench nearby, watching her daughter with a calm smile. Aiden gave the mother a polite nod, which was returned, and they continued on their way. He could hear the children… foals?... laughing and playing behind them.

He couldn’t stop smiling, and yet… “Not that I mind, but wasn’t that mother a bit too trusting?”

“Well, it’s a crowded street in the middle of the day, with the city guard roaming around and flying overhead. Besides, you give off a clear aura of wonder and curiosity, not danger.”

He snorted. “I don’t know that they can read me like you can… wait, what about guards?” He looked up, and sure enough… several pegasi flew by overhead, seemingly on patrol routes. There were distant enough that he didn’t feel personally scrutinized by them, but they were certainly close enough to swoop in if needed. “Huh, guess I’ll have to bear in mind the whole ‘flying pony’ thing.”

Rarity giggled. “Surely you’ve faced flying opponents back on Earth?”

“Sure, but not a third of the population. Besides, I don’t think thinking of them as opponents is the best idea.”

“True… although you might consider it with Rainbow Dash, lest you leave yourself open to various pranks.”

“Noted.”

She turned away from him as they continued their trek, to accost a random pony reading a newspaper. It was odd to Aiden how easily the pony held the pages with hooves, despite seeing Rarity do the same. It wasn’t a bad odd, and he remembered her explanation well enough, but odd just the same.

“Excuse me, sir, might I see the front page for just a moment?”

“Certainly, miss.”

After a brief look, she nodded, “Thank you very much!”

“No problem at all. ...Find what you needed?”

“I did, thank you again!”

“You’re welcome,” he said as they continued onward.

“So, how long’s it been? You don’t look spooked so it can’t be too bad.”

“Nearly three months. I’ve lost some time somewhere, either during the trip to Earth or when we came here. Either way, not as bad as I feared it could be.”

It had been a concern, actually. They both knew enough about physics to boggle at the notion of travelling between galaxies. If the engines of the ship, and the teleportation of the Command Crystal, worked as plainly as they appeared to, no problem (albeit astounding to them). However, if some manner of time or perception manipulation had been involved…

There was perceptual alteration… no way we were in our right minds during that trip; it’s all a blur and I don’t know how long it was. Didn’t get a chance to look at the clock before everything started overloading… There were more important readings demanding our attention.

“Agreed,” he said. “And with that worry out of the way… we’re here.”

The palace itself included a domed, exterior space underneath, rising on four corners which each included an ingress into the towering structure. They weren’t guarded, though as the pair approached one, a trio of pegasi guards swooped in to land nearby.

“What business do you have in the Crystal Palace, travelers?” the middle guard asked in a polite tone. He was an aqua shade with a silvery grey mane and tail.

Rarity smiled, letting the glamour drop as she gave a short curtsy. Three sets of eyes went wide. “Captain Gale Force, a pleasure to see you again! You might recall we danced at the Royal Wedding?”

“L-lady Rarity?!” he sputtered, flabbergasted. “Is… is it really you?”

“Accept no imitations, my good Captain! How is your lovely wife?”

“She’s… well. I… Miss Rarity you’ve been missing for months, and you just… and who is this… being?”

Aiden chuckled.

“I’m aware of how long I’ve been gone, Captain. And this is Knight Lieutenant Aiden Alexander Windborne, of Earth’s Esper Corps. He is a dear friend who helped me find my way back home.”

“Captain.” Aiden said politely, saluting.

Gale Force looked stunned for an instant, but then returned the salute, as did his subordinates. “Knight Lieutenant. I’m not familiar with your people, and from that fact alone I’m sure you both have quite a story to tell. Let me be the first to extend the hospitality of the Crystal Empire, and welcome you to the palace. You’re both quite welcome to stay and await the return of the royal family.”

“Oh… they’re not here?” Rarity asked, sounding crestfallen.

“I’m afraid not, but they should be back this evening. In fact, they were visiting Her Highness, Princess Sparkle, in Ponyville. As you can no doubt imagine, your friend has been a bit out of sorts, and Cadance… err… her highness… has been quite concerned, to say nothing of Shining Armor.”

“Oh I’ve no doubt, the poor dear! I assure you it was quite unintended! I’m looking forward to returning there as soon as possible! Honestly if not for the distance we’d have gone there directly from our crash site.”

“Crash site…? Wait, was that… did you…?”

“Crash land a spaceship on Equus, some distance to the west? Yes, darling, we did.”

“I… don’t know why I’m surprised, given I’m talking to an Element Bearer."

Rarity laughed, and made an ‘oh, stop!’ gesture with one hoof. “So… as pleasant as this conversation is… might we get settled in to wait for Cadance and Shining Armor?”

Gale Force blinked, and shook his head as though clearing it. “Ah, yes of course! Right this way!” He turned and led them into the palace.

The room could best be described as ‘sumptuous’. Despite the crystalline walls, ceiling, and floor, the room felt warm and inviting thanks to rich carpeting and a cheery fire in the hearth. A four poster bed (and another, smaller bed that had been levitated in for… Aiden if he got his way about it) scarcely took up a tenth of the space, alongside several chairs and a comfortable sofa. Tea had been provided, alongside some sort of cream cheese pastries. Neither would have been Aiden’s first choice but they were surprisingly good.

They were expecting the royal couple within the hour, and Aiden had set aside the translator to recharge. He hadn’t used it much but Rarity hadn’t had it plugged in while packed. Fortunately they had several solar batteries alongside a small aether charge converter.

They’d settled on the sofa together before the fire, which felt quite familiar. He couldn’t quite close his eyes and pretend to be back at Fort Friendship, if nothing else for the difference in the aether field. Still, this was close, and welcome for it. Although…

“Rarity?”

“...Yes, darling?”

“Why didn’t we go straight to Ponyville? I mean, okay terrain might be a challenge and it’s far enough I’d have to stop and rest for a night once or twice, but we could have done it.”

“Ahh… I actually didn’t know the range of your teleport hopping, or how well you’d be able to do it here, so making for the closest pony city made sense. We could have gone to Yakyakistan even. Difficult or not, I don’t doubt they’d help if we asked. Eventually. Probably.”

Aiden chuckled. “Fair enough. About five hundred miles at a stretch, by the way, before I need a long break. I start to get really loopy from too much repetition after that, and that’s bad. Anyway I don’t mind the grand tour, and I guess it’s my fault for not saying something sooner. I’m sure you must be anxious to get home though. We can set out anytime you want.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “By now, I’d be surprised if Cadance didn’t know we were here. Captain Gale Force will have sent a courier to rendezvous with the Crystal Express and let them all know. We can’t just skip out on them. And once Cadance is here, she can get word to everypony even more quickly than we can travel. I really don’t mind. I’m excited to get home, yes, but… this is home, too, in a way.” She smiled softly at Aiden, and he felt his heart melt a bit. “I… mean no offense whatsoever, but… I want to get home to Ponyville not simply appearing there from a portal, slipping quietly past everypony and showing up at my own doorstep. They deserve to know I’m back, not simply be shocked when I show up. I don’t want to sneak up on Sweetie Belle, or Twilight, or Spike, or any of them. I…”

Aiden grinned. “You want to make an entrance. You want to show up on the train, and have them all waiting.”

“Is that so wrong?!” she demanded dramatically, throwing her hooves in the air.

He laughed, and hugged her. “Not at all… and like you said, it gives them to chance to be at their best when you arrive, too. You won’t walk up to Spike right as he places flowers on your grave while crying or something.”

“Oh dear, no! No no, do not put that horrible image in my head! You can’t just… oh…”

Aiden felt it, too, and they gently pushed away from one another. There was… a presence approaching. Rapidly. There was also a sound, like a singer happily carrying a single, glorious note for longer than mortal limitations should have ever allowed.

He hated to admit it, but he’d become accustomed to the ‘song’ of Rarity’s magic. It was clearer now than it had been before Baltimore, what with his senses improving, but it was still like a pleasant background noise that he’d gotten used to. It was beautiful, strong, and inspiring; much like the mare it belonged to.

And now… another approached. Rarity whispered, “Cadance… my word… I’d never felt… is this how… oh my…”

“...What you said.” Aiden muttered. Rarity's cheeks were flushed, and he suspected his were as well.

The door flung itself open in a burst of teal magic before the tallest pony Aiden had yet seen appeared in a blur of pink and purple. Mostly pink, though with a fair bit of yellow in her mane and the teal glow still suffusing her horn. Aiden felt his breath catch in his throat. She was stunning, and it wasn’t merely physical beauty. Her aura was simply… he couldn’t describe it. Rarity’s magic rivaled his own in terms of capacity and scope, if her focus was obviously quite different. This pony, while not exceptionally stronger, simply shone with magic in a way that exceeded them both. And he knew. This is an alicorn. This is a Princess of Equestria. He fought the urge to stand and bow, or salute, or something. Anything.

And then she made a noise that probably startled every nearby bat and dog, and crossed the room to engulf Rarity in a massive hug that included forelegs and wings. She was chattering away (and with the translator across the room on the charger, Aiden couldn’t understand a word of it), and the effect was rather dizzying.

It would explain Aiden’s choice of words as he tried to get his bearings. “Well… who’s… who’s a pretty pink pony princess?”

The two froze in their embrace, as Rarity looked in shock at Aiden, over Cadance’s shoulder. She was stifling a grin, and Aiden soon learned why.

The princess’s head turned, as though on a swivel, and she grinned devilishly at Aiden, horn still glowing.

She then spoke, “Oooh. Is it me? I hope it’s me.”

In flawless English.

...Well… shit.

16: Unexpected Allies

She watched the group before her stoically. The ‘human’ would collapse shortly; his left arm was pulverized and oozing blood, his ribs were cracked, and those were only the most obvious injuries. It was surprising that his life wasn’t at risk, but his presence in the Field remained strong. In fact, in this odd little contained world where they sat while moving rapidly away from Canterlot, he seemed almost untouchable even while struggling to remain on his feet.

It was the same for the Oni ‘traitor’, despite the hole gouged in his torso. If anything he seemed oblivious to it as he tended with unexpected gentleness to the fallen Twilight Sparkle. She grimaced. Her grudge against the young alicorn had never been much, and as she looked down at the shaking, writhing form of the young princess she realized it had faded entirely. They came here to save… well, not me exactly, but they risked themselves just the same. Idiots… and yet…

“Chrysalis. ...I have a number of questions.”

She looked down at the white (off-white? ...pony colors) unicorn, attempting to be haughty. It didn’t work. The eyes that looked back at her were nothing like those of the seamstress she’d humored back during The Wedding. She had the distinct feeling that she needed to answer, or else Rarity would attack… and quite possibly win.

“Very well then, little pony. Ask away. Queen Chrysalis will answer you.”

“Where is Raven Inkwell?”

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “Of course that would be your first question. Haven’t played hero enough today? Well, you can set your mind at ease. ‘Raven Inkwell’ is an earth pony living in Ponyville, an assistant to the mayor. The ‘Raven Inkwell’ of Canterlot is a changeling infiltrator, and always has been.”

“Impossible… she was at the wedding where you-”

“I didn’t say it was always me, little pony. In fact said infiltrator betrayed me before the invasion took place. Like many changelings who didn’t side with me, she wasn’t ejected from Canterlot at the conclusion of that little debacle. Your precious ‘princess of love,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes, “didn’t banish ‘changelings’ so much as ‘enemies’.”

“...Really? Then why didn’t she warn Princess Celestia about you?”

“Because she didn’t know. She’d already abandoned me before I put that plan together. And before you ask, she’s fine. She’s with that splinter cell that your friends helped while you were...” she looked meaningfully at the human, grinning lasciviously as she returned her gaze to Rarity, “elsewhere.”

It was Rarity’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’m not some lovestruck filly you can embarrass with leading tones and looks, Chrysalis.”

“Queen-”

“Of what?” Rarity asked derisively.

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed as her wings twitched in irritation. But this wasn’t bravado. Rarity was completely unintimidated. She sighed. How times had changed. “I suppose, thanks to that unicorn… and… ugh… Thorax,” she spat the name with disgust, “I’ll have to accept your disrespect, for the moment. In any event, I changed places with the previous ‘Raven’ about six months ago.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Shortly after you lost your own hive, then?”

“...Correct.”

*Six Months Prior*

Raven Inkwell was having a difficult day. As much as she hated to admit it, there was such a thing as too much love. Or anyway, there was love that was simply too saccharine to subsist on. She’d had plenty to eat before this issue had come about: Celestia’s love for her little ponies was genuine, and if that weren’t enough she got the odd snack here and there from various officers and lesser dignitaries. Nothing too untoward of course, just adults enjoying little diversions. ...Until recently.

Fortunately, she wasn’t someling to underestimate. An infiltrator that had long gone rogue, she had no intention of letting an overly infatuated royal guard put her position at risk. And avoiding him was a simple matter for the present, his coltish infatuation was palpable from far enough away that she had managed to go without even seeing him while alone in days.

So imagine her surprise when he pulled her into an empty room on her way to her own. She reversed the capture hold, pivoted on one hind hoof while sweeping his legs with her other. It was a level of flexibility and physical skill that he likely didn’t expect from the unicorn who was, as far as he knew, a glorified secretary.

Or so she thought, until she saw ‘him’ grinning up at her, and not in a ‘that was hot’ kind of way. ...Maybe a little like that.

“Good to see your skills haven’t atrophied, Spymaster Diaphonie.”

Raven blinked. “...Your Majesty? That would explain why I didn’t feel any emotion from you.”

Chrysalis chuckled, assuming her own form in a burst of blue-green fire. Raven didn’t follow suit, but her horn lit, and the room was suffused in a gentle light. “I’m hurt, Diaphonie; I’ve always felt a fondness for you. Why else would I have allowed you to leave the hive?” She gestured vaguely to the now glowing walls. “I assume that means we can speak freely.”

“It means I’m respecting your insanity enough to hear you out, because I believe it will be amusing.”

“Hmph. And see? From anyling else I wouldn’t accept such disrespect. ...You broke my heart, Diaphonie. Had you been there…”

“You would have had me take Celestia’s or Luna’s place when you captured them, and the hive would be just as blown up as it is now. Overconfidence was ever your biggest weakness, Your Majesty.”

“Your independent nature was yours. What have you accomplished here?”

Raven shrugged dismissively. “A comfortable, rich life where I’m free to do as I please, serving a ruler who respects my abilities and cares about my wants and needs.”

“...I let you leave, didn’t I?”

“You did, and now you’re trying to say it was the wrong choice.”

“It’s not as though you agree with that overgrown dragonfly!”

“...Thorax?” Raven asked, raising an eyebrow. “No, I don’t. He’s a weak minded child who should have been born a pony. He got the right support at the right times and if that continues he might make a passable ruler. But a changeling giving away love? Ridiculous. I keep what I earn. Giving it away lessens its meaning.”

Chrysalis snorted. “Exactly. They’ll all go soft living that way. They might as well be ponies!”

Raven chuckled, looking down at her own fur covered forelegs. “They are rather soft, aren’t they?”

“Yes, you agree! So-”

“It’s not so bad, really.”

Chrysalis blinked, and clacked her mouth shut.

Raven smiled gently. “Your Majesty… they’ve beaten you, twice. Shown the hive a way to live that doesn’t involve hurting others. They have a society dedicated to pursuing dreams, making life better for everyone, pony or not. They even managed to accept us, and not just Thorax’s shiny, happy little group.”

Chrysalis’ head tilted to the side in confusion. “What are you saying?”

Raven grinned. “I’m saying Celestia knows what I am. I went to her, after Cadance defeated you and the hive with food-”

Chrysalis snorted in disgust.

“...A blast of love magic that flung every ill-meaning changeling all the way to the Badlands. You were beaten by love. ...Was the irony really completely lost on you? Or the fact that I wasn’t expelled?”

“...Shut up.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Anyway I went to her and confessed my situation. I assured her, truthfully, that I had taken the place of nopony and merely wanted to live out my life as ‘Raven’, twin sister of the Ponyville Raven.

“With the same name even,” Chrysalis muttered derisively.

“What can I say? My mother wasn’t very creative.”

“Oh bite me.”

Raven chuckled. “I demonstrated my trustworthiness with logic and reason, and after a long talk she accepted me as I am. Though of course few in the castle know. They aren’t ready to know something like that. But what I’ve learned from her…”

Chrysalis sighed and sat down dramatically, under the pretense of settling in for a long story. But Raven stopped and stared at her instead.

“...I have an idea, Your Majesty. Tell me what you think of it.”

“I wait with bated breath,” Chrysalis replied dryly.

“You’ll take my place.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “...So... I can get close to Celestia… and eventually replace her?”

“No, don’t be silly. You’d never pull it off; Luna would catch you within a day, at most. I want you to learn from her, as I have.”

“...So… I can… eventually replace her?”

“Ugh… no, dammit!”

Chrysalis sighed and rolled her eyes. “Diaphonie, if you’re trying to ‘reform’ me to their standards of morality through some misguided-”

“Your Majesty, I don’t care if you ‘reform’ or not; that’s your choice. But you should. There’s nothing left for you on the path you’re on. Your children have grown up, one way or another. I’ve even been contacted by the ones who didn’t join Thorax, for advice about living quietly among ponies. I’d like to spend some time with them, helping them out so they don’t go back to the old ways. There’s no need for that.”

“The old ways were fine!” Chrysalis countered, stomping a hoof. “We are the superior species!”

“So prove it by adapting! That’s what superior species do, Your Majesty! If you can, that is. Because consider... the ponies are a so-called ‘prey species’ that have a greater control over their world than griffons, dragons, minotaurs, or us. Especially us. What’s there to feel superior about, again?”

“They got help! The Seraphim-”

“That’s what they do! They extend a hoof in friendship to any who would take it. And they give as much as they get. Your problem is you’re only happy if you’re taking.”

“Because that’s what we do!”

“No! And Thorax and his bunch proved it even more than I have. There was a time when we had to… and that time has passed. This isn’t about changelings anymore, Your Majesty; it’s about you. You refuse to accept what’s clear as day in front of you, in front of us all. ...Learn from her, Your Majesty. ...And if you still insist on making enemies of them, of pursuing a war of subjugation-”

“You’ll join me?” Chrysalis asked, a touch of hope coloring her words.

Raven snorted softly. “No. But I won’t stand in your way.”

“...I suppose that will have to do, then. ...Because I won’t change my mind so easily.”

Raven smiled. “We’ll see, Your Majesty. Changing is what we do, after all.”

*Present*

Shadows were everywhere. The only light in the darkness was from her own horn. She was alone, with only the shadows looming all around. The pressed in, stifling, strangling. She couldn’t breath. She couldn’t fight it. She was nothing alone… she always had been.

“But you’re wrong,” the tallest shadow replied with barely restrained glee. “Look what you’ve done on your own. You could be so much more. You need only let go. You need-”

No.

“Let go of your fears. You only fear loss, but you’ve already lost them. Loyalty turned on you, struck you. Laughter cried because of you, giving you up for dead in an instant. Generosity has turned her eyes to the hero of another world. You’ve already-”

No! That doesn’t mean-

“It will. But you can take them back. You know how. You know the spells you need. You know how to take it all for yourself. Their trust is so weak, but you can force them to stay by your side. Forever.”

...No.

“And you can kill the invaders, all of them. You already know how. You simply need more power. And it’s right here. Reach out, and-”

No...

“No.”

Twilight gasped as another light shone out, scattering the shadows; another voice echoed her denial. You?! You can’t be here! How?!

The shadows clawed at the new light, to no effect. They hissed and snapped but couldn’t approach. “Heh, beats me. I’ll give you one guess, but I won’t even pretend it’ll explain anything.”

...Pinkie.

The other light laughed. “Knew you’d get it. Same as you got this. Even without me showing up, you knew the answer.”

I… don’t know. I was weakening, I couldn’t see…

“Eh, come on, Twilight. Who hasn’t screwed up a little and given in to her inner demon at least once?”

Twilight laughed, tears streaming down her face as she hugged the other light almost desperately. It’s good to see you.

Light suffused her vision, resolving at first into the light of the morning sky, and then her own raspberry aura surrounding a clear crystal that oozed shadowy aura like old oil. Twilight ground her teeth as her aura shattered the blood soaked crystal she’d pulled from her own skull, and then proceeded to crush the fragments into powder. She sobbed in pain and anger as she continued rendering the crystal down into its constituent molecules. She let out a shuddering breath as a familiar scent and feel surrounded her.

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie said, hugging her tightly.

It wasn’t possible. They were in Aiden’s pocket verse. She’d been nowhere near them. She couldn’t have known. ...She was Pinkie Pie. Twilight returned the hug. “Why are you sorry?! And how are you even here?!”

Pinkie nuzzled into her mane. “I shouldn’t have freaked out like that; it made Rainbow feel even worse before she left. She was really shaken up. It felt like you died! ...I knew you didn’t, but I couldn’t make myself-”

“Shh… it’s alright, Pinkie. Everything’s okay now. ...Well, not everything, but… oh, heh… oops.” Her horn lit, and the statue of Rainbow Dash became flesh, fur, and feather once more. “Sorry, Rainbow.”

The pegasus coughed. “It’s fine… pretty sure I had that coming.” She looked over at the two of them. “...Can I get in on that?”

Twilight snorted lightly and gestured her over with a wing. “Like you need to ask.”

Rainbow joined the hug. “I’m really sorry I hit you. It was dumb.”

“It’s okay. It… actually healed a lot faster than I anticipated, because I’ve been channeling so much magic. Alicorn thing, I think, and I’m still getting used to that. Besides… you looked hot.”

Rainbow jumped away, fluttering for a moment before her wings failed her and she dropped stiffly to the ground. “What?!”

Twilight grinned at her as Rainbow’s face went red. “Mhmmm,” she purred. “All righteous anger and ‘how dare you hurt yourself for us!’ and that perfect pose against the night sky? ...Daring Do and the Lost Chakram, one hundred percent.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Ohmygosh, page 317?! I looked like that?!”

“Mhmm,” Twilight replied, still grinning. “I couldn’t have moved if I’d wanted to. Had to take it all in.”

“...Awesome,” Rainbow squeaked, her face still glowing.

Twilight giggled and pulled her in with magic, wrapping a wing around her and holding her and Pinkie close. No matter what some silly shadows said… she wouldn’t lose her friends.

“Oh, err… you don’t have to keep that promise,” Rainbow muttered bashfully.

“Which promise do you mean?”

“Uh… the one about not using Clover’s spell,” Rainbow looked away, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Yeeaaah… I was… it wasn’t fair of me to say that then. It’d be like you telling me not to fly my hardest ‘cause I might get hurt or something. We can’t hold back with these guys. ...And besides, if you turn all evil from using dark magic…”

“We’ll bring you back!” Pinkie chimed in.

“Exactly!” Rainbow agreed.

Twilight smiled, sniffing as her eyes welled up. My friends. She blinked. “Wait. The voice I heard while I was out of it. Where-?”

“She’ll be along,” Pinkie said. “But I didn’t have time to stop and wait. I’m just glad she could reach you at all.”

Twilight smiled. “Yeah… it was really great to hear from her.”

Behind her, Garken chuckled as he stood up. “Looks like you lot will be fine. Good to know. I had wondered how a race such as yours could put up any sort of resistance against my distant ancestors. I have at least the beginnings of an answer.”

“Oh stop, you’re making me blush here,” Rainbow replied with sarcasm to the lukewarm praise.

He snorted. “Your princess there already handled that, little bird. Though, if you truly want to serve as her beloved knight, I suggest you see me later. With your speed and reaction time, we can refine your fighting skill into something genuinely useful.”

Rainbow’s eyes had gone wide. “‘B-beloved’? You’ve got it all wrong!”

“Of course I do,” Garken agreed placidly. “Windborne! I’m going to take a look around this verse of yours. I’ll link my aether to the area so I’ll keep moving with you.”

“Didn’t know… that was a thing…” Aiden muttered between short breaths.

Twilight craned her neck and winced at the human’s appearance. While his life wasn’t at risk, his magic had weakened considerably and his arm was only the worst of a slew of injuries that wouldn’t heal properly while he was pushing himself to get them away from Kirin. She could feel how far they’d already come, but… “Rarity! Can you take over for Aiden? He needs rest and a magic recharge. I can help him if you keep us moving; we’re still too close to Kirin to stop.

“I… can,” Rarity hedged, breaking away from her conversation with Chrysalis. “Though I won’t be nearly this fast,” she added.

“It’s alright; just keep us moving towards Ponyville.” Twilight disentangled herself from Rainbow and Pinkie and went over to Aiden, who seemed oblivious to the conversation. “Aiden, let Rarity take over. Sit down next to me.”

“Next to smart purple pony,” Aiden muttered, sitting down heavily as though we were a puppet with his strings cut. Twilight felt the slight shift in aether control as Rarity began shifting them, muttering to herself as she did so, something like ‘harder than it looks’. Their relative speed was less than half what it’d been, but that was still more than enough. They’d be in Ponyville in minutes.

Twilight lit her horn, gently channeling aether around the human, letting Aiden absorb the greater concentration as easily as breathing… though unfortunately he wasn’t doing that as easily as she’d have liked. But she was no doctor, and for now this was all she could do. She took heart that he seemed to be less strained at least.

“So,” a familiar, undesired voice asked leadingly, “Nothing to say to me, Princess Sparkle?”

Twilight sniffed. “A whole lot of things to say, Queen Chrysalis. But right now, only ‘thank you’. I could hear what was being said out here, even if I couldn’t react while that thing was in my head. I can’t speak for whatever is between you and Celestia, but I’m glad we could get you out of there. For that matter, without your help, we wouldn’t have escaped.”

“Hmph. Surprisingly magnanimous of you, though it’s a bit boring.”

“Heh, sorry. Bigger things to worry about than old grudges. I don’t know what you know from 1500 years ago, but fighting amongst ourselves is a sure way to repeat history.”

“We won, didn’t we?”

“...Chrysalis. Do you know why Celestia has to control the sun?”

The changeling blinked. “...What?”

Twilight smiled wanly. “Exactly. Oh, that reminds me. That moment? When you beat her, and I watched her fall, her horn scorched and that look of pain and failure on her face? That might have been the worst moment of my life. I’m not sure what it says about me that that was somehow worse than what you’d done to my brother, but…” She turned to look up at Chrysalis, and the strength and depth of feeling in her eyes brought a chill to the changeling queen. “If you ever hurt her again, you’ll wish we’d left you to Kirin’s tender mercies.”

Chrysalis grinned down at her. “My my, look who’s growing up. Challenge accepted, young princess.”

Spike yelped as he hit the wall, wincing as the crystal gave a bit under the force of the impact.

They’d come out of nowhere. A dozen Oni-koru, and Spike was sure that two among their number were way stronger than the rest. When they’d blown open the door into the map room he’d managed to get a look while jumping up from his seat (where he totally hadn’t fallen asleep while organizing possible plans of response to the attacks the night before), but getting away had quickly become impossible. Before he’d moved three steps he’d been hit by one of the two strong ones, and knocked into the wall… where he now sat. He looked up at the demonic looking enemy… and breathed a massive gout of green flame.

The term ‘baby dragon’ is somewhat misleading. Spike was a teenager, and nearing the end of those years. The fact that he was still quite small was deceptive. His draconic magic, his strength, and his resilience were all not to be dismissed. And that wasn’t even touching on his breath. As the shadow creatures that served the Storm King had realized, it was quite dangerous, and that was when Spike wasn’t focusing.

Or channeling.

It might not have been the best plan, but he decided in that instant that one less strong enemy in the castle would be a good idea, given that most of their own strong fighters weren’t there to help. ...And Princess Celestia could probably handle one Oni, even a tough one.

He had the satisfaction of seeing the surprise and anger on the faces of the other ambushers before the second strong Oni was on him in a blur, throwing a sharp kick towards his head. He ducked to the side and said kick crushed the crystal wall where he’d been. The force of the impact sent him sprawling, and he used that to get distance while the other Oni maneuvered to corral him.

“Help!” He shouted, knowing full well he wasn’t taking them all on alone, before projecting another gout of fire at the strongest one. The flames guttered and died as they impacted a shield of force that dispersed their magic.

Damn, didn’t figure that’d work more than once. Now wha-

Spike’s train of thought derailed painfully as another of the Oni struck him from behind, knocking him towards the strong one, who brought down a fist towards his head. Everything went black.

Teluma was certainly stubborn, Starlight would give her that. If this were her old village, the Oni would be just as unbroken as Twilight and her friends had been even after days in the ‘reeducation room’. Of course, that was part of the problem. Despite being the best suited to handle something like this, at least of those available in Ponyville, Starlight wasn’t too comfortable with interrogating a prisoner. Granted, Twilight hadn’t wanted anything bad done to her, even if she refused to answer at all. And granted, Starlight didn’t feel pressured to get answers out of her quickly.

...Just have to wait to Hockholm Syndrome to set in, gee, wonder why I’m feeling ill at ease here…

An explosion upstairs drew her attention away from considering her next method of questioning. “What was-”

“Help!” Her eyes went wide as she barely heard Spike’s yell. She gathered magic to teleport to him and winced as her horn burned and vibrated under the strain. She looked at Teluma, who was grinning down at her.

“They’ve come for me. And you, the strongest here, are still healing from an old wound. You will all die.”

Starlight didn’t bother responding as she ran for the door. Before she could reach it it slammed open, and she looked up with wide eyes at a massive Oni-koru warrior. He looked like a gargoyle with grey, stone-like skin and a pair of leathery wings on his back. A shark-like mouth held rows of jagged, ivory teeth. But the worst, most prominent feature was his clawed hands, one holding an unconscious Spike with the other pointing claws at the young dragon’s throat.

He looked down at her, grinning evilly. “Your life, or his. Choose, little pony.”

20. On Three Fronts, Part 1

In the short time he’d been there, Garken had heard plenty about the trials of navigating Twilight Sparkle’s castle. He could understand well enough; most of the denizens within couldn’t track aetheric flows and concentrations well enough to find whomever they were looking for. Add to that the seemingly endless nature of the hallways and rooms. He wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that there was some manner of spacial folding magic at work, making the place bigger than it looked (and needed to be) from the outside.

Nonetheless, he found the room he wanted. The three within were rather distinct to him, after all. A diffident knock, drawing on his time as the self-effacing Cade, gained him entry on the permission of the Night Princess.

“Garken Caedum,” Luna said quietly by way of welcome. “To what do we owe this visit?”

Garken’s eyes flicked to the other two inhabitants, and the corners of his mouth twitched. Aiden and Rarity were slumped together on a plush sofa, sleeping soundly. “We indeed. Did the fight with Kirin take so much out of them?”

“Hardly. They came to me a short time ago, asking that I return them to the dream training they’ve recently taken up.” Luna smiled wanly. “Aiden had an idea that we’re putting into practice, drawing on the focus that his Cutie Marks have given him… or the focus that led to them, perhaps.”

Garken chuckled. “Such an amusing name for Aetheric Focal Markings. You’re hardly the only culture to use them. ...Though I’ve not known them to occur naturally elsewhere. ...What was his idea?”

Luna smiled. “What is the difference between time and space?”

“There isn’t any… depending on how you… ahh,” Garken nodded thoughtfully. “You’ve compressed their perceptions, to experience more in less time? Based on Windborne’s ability to compress space.”

Luna returned his nod. “In one guess, well done.”

“Not for nothing I was Grand Marshal for nearly four decades,” Garken said before grimacing. “Pity that that too fed my pride. But you asked why I came. Luckily it was to speak with you rather than them. I have a favor to ask, in the unlikely event that I survive this. Actually, even if I don’t.”

Luna frowned. “You foresee your death in the coming conflict?”

Garken snorted derisively. “I predict it. I’ll leave foreseeing to oracles-”

“First rule… of Pinkie Sense… we don’t talk about… Fight Club…” Rarity muttered vaguely, shifting in her sleep to nuzzle Aiden’s neck.

“I’ll be sure to mention that to my sister,” Luna said, grinning over at the slumbering pair. “...Setting aside your pessimism-”

“Realism.”

“What is your favor?”

“I wish to visit the crash site of the Clades, our vessel that you smashed with the moon.”

Luna sighed and nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry… I know it was your home as well.”

“Hardly. Frankly I miss my house in Sacramento more than I miss even my good quarters aboard that ship. Every chance to step off of it I embraced. The archives are another matter, and I believe they’ll still be intact.”

“Archives?”

He nodded. “The Oni-koru, despite our limited technological progress over the past millennium, are not complete savages, Your Highness.”

“I was not suggesting you were… quite the contrary I find the prospect of records kept by your people fascinating. I’ve no doubt Twilight would teleport you there immediately if you mentioned this to her.”

“Setting aside that it’s more your moon than hers, that is why I haven’t. This isn’t the time; there’s nothing in them that will help us now. The archives were kept, and updated, by the line that produced my first teacher. A brilliant man named Zeran Luxuria.” Garken smiled fondly, an odd look for him, reminiscing. He shook his head. “Regrettably, my talents drew Briareus’ eye before the old man could drill enough wisdom into my head to avoid the mistakes I would later make.”

“Youth is a time for such things; the lessons those mistakes teach us make us who we are.”

Garken sighed. “As you say… but how many civilizations died to pay for your tuition?”

Luna tilted her head thoughtfully. “...Well… nearly one.”

He blinked, then laughed. “Perhaps we have a bit of common ground then, at that.”

“More than a bit, I would say. Like you, I was taken from the life I might have chosen, because of my talent, and my nascent power. The Seraphim did not randomly choose my sister and I as Equus’ first alicorns… And like you, I lost my way in the wake of my own power… and the expectations it brought me.”

Garken smirked, sighing through his nose. “A shrewd insight. It was a task beyond my ability, reconciling the teachings of my two teachers. ...Had I known I could simply default to the first in all things… In any case I would save those records, if I can.”

“Of course. Your people will need a new direction, after all… and a new leader.”

“Hah… here’s hoping they find one.” He blinked, looking up suddenly. I can feel Tempest approaching the castle. I’ll go meet her, she and our griffin allies should be making for the town’s hospital rather than here.”

“Another friend with whom you have much in common,” Luna remarked, smiling at the Oni. “Do not hesitate to seek her counsel, nor to offer yours to her.” She shook her head, keeping her smile. “You have a place in this world, Garken Caedum, whether you sought it or not, whether you want it or not. Do not be quick to seek death… you’ve made the sorts of friends who won’t let you go so easily.”

He turned to leave, waving a hand over his shoulder. “Death is the seeker, Your Highness. But I shall strive to stay ahead of it as best I can.”

“Trixie is very much against this!” The showmare protested from her place pressed against the wall, valiantly keeping herself from trying to teleport through it. The hospital room had been vacated of doctor and nurse at Celestia’s request, and Trixie had been asked to stay by same. However, Twilight’s admission of what they’d be doing had been a bit much for the performer, especially one particular revelation...

The object of her consternation rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t have told her,” Raven muttered as Celestia tried to calm the panicking pony.

“She was going to find out… because there’s no way Starlight won’t figure this out,” Twilight replied flatly. “She and I have studied Changeling magic too much for her not to. Besides, under the circumstances Trixie is her medical proxy. So you have to convince her to let us do this.”

“Wait, why do I have to?”

“Celestia and I are Princesses, so there’d be a conflict of interest in her saying yes because of our authority coercing her.”

“Since when has she cared about that?”

“She’s right,” Trixie said almost absently as her eyes darted between the three guests in the room. “Trixie is not impressed by your title, Twilight Sparkle.”

“And mine?” Celestia asked, smiling archly down at Trixie.

“...Slightly more so.”

“Either way, Raven,” Twilight continued. “You’re the one performing the spell; I’m just directing any overflow so as not to harm her.”

“And watching me to make sure I don’t ‘accidentally’ do so, of course,” Raven noted dryly.

“Also that. So explain to her why she should allow it.”

Raven sighed, looking away from Twilight to stare at Trixie through lidded, bored looking eyes. “She should allow it because she loves the mare lying in that bed. And that mare’s talent is magic… a talent that is going to be rather hampered without my help.” She smirked a bit, raising an eyebrow. “But maybe that’s what you want…”

Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me…?”

“Oh I do. I completely understand wanting her weaker. It’s a bit intimidating, being the weaker partner.” She smiled darkly. “Isn’t it, little magician?”

Trixie growled, forgetting to be afraid of Chrysalis for the moment. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not intimidated by Starlight Glimmer! She celebrates that her friend is… similarly great!”

“Hmph, of course you do. And yet you’re against my healing her… You honestly think I’d try something right in front of these two? I’m not exactly at the strength I was during the wedding. If I was after revenge this would be a poor time for it.”

“Raven…” Celestia began.

“And since when does revenge have to make sense?!” Trixie interrupted her, loudly. “Trixie’s didn’t! She went out of her way to find an artifact she knew was dangerous; that’s why she got it! She knew it wouldn’t last; one alicorn or another would come and… and…” She shook her head sharply, but her lips trembled. “But if… if you hurt her now… it’s too late to stop you…” She shut her eyes tightly. “Trixie can’t… I can’t… she almost died! Please… I know what it means to her… what it would mean to me, but… But I’ll help her get through it! I’ll be there no matter what! I don’t care how good at magic she is, or how…”

“How happy she is?” Raven asked piercingly.

“I’ll make sure she’s happy!”

Raven shook her head, taking a different tack. “You can do that. Right now. You love her. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but you love her more than yourself.”

“Shut up!”

“At the hive, when you both were saving Equestria from me… I didn’t see that. Maybe it wasn’t true then; it doesn’t matter. I didn’t see it. ...Because I didn’t have anything I loved more than myself, either. We’re both better than that, now… somehow. And you’re scared. Not of me, not really. You’re scared of losing her.”

Trixie sighed, looking down. It was a minute before she spoke again, barely above a whisper. “You heal her, somehow… and then what? She’s goes back out and faces more of these monsters. Trixie isn’t a warrior,” she sniffed. “Great and Powerful though she is.”

“Was sort of hoping we’d broken through the third pony nonsense,” Raven muttered. “Be honest with yourself… what would she want?”

Trixie let out a long, shuddering breath. “To make amends for the awful things she did.”

Raven blinked, stopped in her tracks by that reply.

Trixie didn’t stop. “And nothing will ever be enough,” she said quietly. “She’ll… keep going until she’s dead in a ditch somewhere. This was her way out. Even if she rails against it… it’d be a sacrifice she couldn’t deny the significance of. ...Not everything is sunshine and rainbows like it is around Twilight Sparkle. We don’t all get to be that good. It doesn’t all work out for us. For her. ...I… I…” She looked up, tears in her eyes. “She’d never forgive me for denying her the chance to keep throwing herself at some stupid impossible redemption… but she’d be safe!”

Raven stayed silent.

“But… not happy,” her head swayed back and forth, as though trying to fight the truth of her own words. “Not…” She broke off, throwing her muzzle skyward and screaming. “Do it! I can’t… I… I’m sorry…” Trixie broke down, sobbing quietly. Celestia gently wrapped a wing around her.

Raven had the good grace not to say anything in her direction. “All right. Reinforce the area. Her magic is by no means gone, and while I’m repairing her primary focus for it it WILL surge, probably more than once.”

Twilight nodded. “You came up with this awfully quick… and that’s pretty specific. You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“...Not exactly. I regenerated a pegasus’ wings once. And she loved me dearly for it, in case you’re wondering why. Delicious. She didn’t ever learn that it’d been me who’d cut them off, of course.”

“!” All eyes in the room (save the comatose Starlight’s) went wide to stare at Raven.

“What? She got too close to the hive and I overreacted a bit.” She shrugged, unrepentant. “It was some time ago; I was young. Anyway in her case the process kicked off a thunderstorm complete with a weak tornado… And she had a lot less magic in reserve than Glimmer here, so…”

“Got it…” Twilight nodded vaguely as wards began forming in the air around Starlight’s bed. “Still a little disturbed about that pegasus you maimed…”

“AND healed. I even let her go… eventually.”

“You’re all heart,” Twilight muttered. “Right. Wards are in place. They include a number of diagnostic spells and traps just in case you do decide to do something really stupid… or if the spell isn’t working and is harming her somehow.”

“Hmph, good. I’d be disappointed if you trusted me too quickly.”

“I need your help… that doesn’t mean I assume I’ll get it.”

Raven actually laughed. “Your student is surpassing you, Tia…”

“Of course she is,” Celestia replied simply.

Raven’s magic changed color, taking on a darker green hue as she focused. “And here… we… go…”

Starlight’s form vanished from sight, blocked by the light saturating the inside of Twilight’s wards. After a few minutes that light coalesced, surrounding the charred stump atop Starlight’s forehead. It dimmed, taking the shape of green flame dancing on a torch… or a horn, and stayed so as that horn seemed to etch itself into existence, drawn by the lines of flame. A swirl of aether raged out, smashing into the wards and cracking one before Twilight reinforced it. Green and teal lightning crashed in all directions, leaving lines of seared magic across the walls of force Twilight held in place. As the storm of Starlight’s mana died down Raven gave a shuddering breath, collapsing to her knees as the flames around the fully formed horn snuffed themselves, leaving no obvious sign that Starlight had ever been injured.

The entire process took less than ten minutes.

“That was… amazing!” Twilight blurted, at a loss. “So quickly… and so…”

“Hmph. You’re right to be impressed, of course. I was Queen of the Changelings… that wasn’t something just anyling could do, you know…” Raven replied, a mix of pride and fatigue clear in her voice as she struggled to rise. Celestia left Trixie’s side to offer her a hoof, which she waved off. She did smile at the Sun Princess as she regained her hooves on her own.

“Urgh… so hungry…” A voice spoke for the first time in that room.

...Before being cut off by a short range teleport glomp. “Starlight!”

“Geh… Trix… too tight… caaa-mmmmph!!” Starlight broke off her protest as Trixie kissed her fiercely.

“I’m sorry!” She blurted out as she broke the kiss, leaving Starlight with a dazed grin. “I doubted… I was scared and I… I’m so glad you’re okay! I’m sorry!” She hugged Starlight tightly, rocking back and forth against her punchdrunk partner.

“It’s… it’s okay, Trix… really. I’m alright… better than alright. That was… Twilight I hope you took notes.”

“...Of course I did. I’m a little insulted you’d imply otherwise,” Twilight said with a grin. “Good to have you back. I’ll get the nurse to bring some food up. What would you like?”

“Ah… I’m actually... not hungry, now that you mention it. I thought I was, but I feel fine now,” she frowned slightly as she continued rocking back and forth in Trixie’s embrace, but didn’t let go of her. “...So who’s the Changeling pretending to be Raven? One of the Gray Hive, or… well, probably not one of Thorax’s, but…”

Raven chuckled evilly. “Well now… isn’t that the question to ask?” Green flames erupted across her form briefly, leaving her real self before them all. It should be noted that, unbeknownst to all but the most circumspect of observers, the holes in her legs were a bit smaller than they’d once been.

It wasn’t really the first thing Starlight noticed. With a shriek of entirely reasonable panic she threw up a shield of swirling teal and green around her bed, protecting herself and Trixie. “YOU?!”

Chrysalis went from chuckle to full belly laugh, clutching her sides as she went down. “Yes! Me! AHAHAHAHAHA oh the look on your stupid, stupid face! THAT’S RIGHT LITTLE PONY! I HEALED YOU! YOU OWE ME! MY VENGEANCE IS AT HOOF! YOU WILL BE MY SLA-MPH!”

“Tone it down, dear,” Celestia said warmly, shoving a hoof in Chrysalis’ mouth.

“I… what… this… you… WHAT?!” Starlight rambled, trying without success to grasp the situation. She held Trixie out at foreleg’s length, staring into the eyes of her now sheepishly grinning marefriend. “You knew?!” Starlight facehoofed. “Of course you did. Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Trixie blinked, tilting her head in confusion. “Starlight… you can’t expect Equestria’s greatest showmare to be so crass as to step on somepony else’s big moment.”

Starlight looked at her flatly. “Yes I can. Stealing the spotlight is one of your top ten favorite things to do. It’s number eight.”

“Not since we started dating… it’s dropped several ranks since then. It’s behind-” Trixie leaned forward and began whispering in Starlight’s ear.

Said ear twitched, and began turning red along with the rest of Starlight’s face. “Uhh… okay! Welp… we’re gonna go… make sure Trixie’s wagon is okay! Inspect the bed for… bedding… bed… bye!” Her horn lit and the two disappeared.

“Wait!” Twilight called out too late. “Friendship que… uuuurgh.” She facehoofed and began muttering to herself.

Behind her, in the doorway unnoticed, a new voice spoke up around what sounded like chewing popcorn. “Huh… I think I went to the wrong villain for help with my horn…”

“You really sure about this, Pinkie? I mean, I guess you can’t stay behind if the Map thinks we’ll need you, but you could… I don’t know, follow far back or something?” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head nervously, trying to find the words.

“Dashie, that’s silly! We can’t try to make friends with the tower Onis if I’m being all super sneaky ninja in the background. They’ll be all ‘we want a party to celebrate our new friends, but we can’t have one because ninjas are too busy being sneaky to have parties’. And everypony and everyoni will be all sad. Did you know Oni rhymes with pony?”

Dash rubbed a hoof between her eyes. “Yes, Pinkie… I noticed that.”

“It’s a start!”

“A start of what? And where are we going?”

“To wake up Aiden and Rarity. They’re in this room with Princess Luna dreaming of being stronger. And then the dreams are real, because life is but a dream…” she concluded, shutting her eyes and nodding her head once.

Rainbow looked askance at her. “Right…”

“Here we are!” Pinkie said brightly, knocking on the door.

“Come in, Pinkie Pie.”

“Ooh,” Pinkie replied, opening the door. “Do you have a Luna sense that lets you know when I’m at the door?”

Luna chuckled tolerantly. “I do, Pinkie. It’s called ‘hearing’... your voice carries impressively. And Rainbow Dash, I hope you’re both well.”

“Well enough, I guess,” Rainbow replied, sketching a lazy salute (typical for an off duty Wonderbolt towards a laidback princess). “I’m not too happy that the Map isn’t sending me with Twilight though.”

“You don’t believe Twilight Sparkle can take care of herself? Or for that matter that I am capable of watching over her? My guard captain will be accompanying us, as well as Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon, and perhaps one or two of the griffon volunteers. Twill be a full party."

“Those are best parties!”

“Well…” Rainbow vacillated, “No of course not… it’s just… after what I did… and what I said… I…” Rainbow grimaced and looked away. “I want to make it up to her.”

“And so you shall, though I doubt she requires it of you.” Luna smiled gently. “I understand. Loyalty is a difficult Element to Bear. “Of the three I had the honor of holding, it was by far the most trying. The emotional attachments that come with holding true to one’s friends are sources of strength, but can also be sources of great travail.”

“It’s usually just the first one but… I wish I could understand her better. I know she rushes ahead, keeps so much to herself-”

“As is her wont, Rainbow Dash,” Luna reminded her gently. “Some might consider it an irony that the Princess of Friendship is an introvert. I would argue it leads her to place more value in the connections she chooses to forge, as she forges them carefully and with deliberation. That said, I doubt she will ever open up completely.”

“Yeah… well she should!” Rainbow looked down, kicking at the floor. “And maybe she would if I… we… could keep up with her. With the egghead stuff.”

“You cannot force yourself to be what you are not. She cannot outfly you, you cannot outthink her. You can still support one another… I know I don’t need to tell you this. If anything, I learned it from you.”

“Heh… thanks. I guess I need reminding sometimes. Alright! We’re gonna finish up this Spire stuff right away, and then I’m gonna sit down with Twi and she’s going to tell me all the magic stuff she’s been figuring out with Starlight, and all this big ‘save the world’ planning she’s been doing but not telling us about! And Pinkie, I want one of your ‘This probably won’t kill you!’ Quintuple Mocha espressos for it!”

“Sugar Cube Corner is not responsible for-” Pinkie began reciting from a scroll she pulled out of her mane, after pulling out and donning a pair of reading glasses.

“Yeah yeah, we all signed the disclaimer. I’m not dozing off during another Twilight lecture, even if I have to cheat to make sure of it!”

“Perhaps you could consider a recording of your own voice yelling about your devotion to your friends, Rainbow… it’s certainly keeping me from sleeping,” Rarity chimed in, stirring from her cuddled up position next to Aiden. He was also awake, though he was blinking owlishly and not quite all there yet. “Oh my… how long were we out? It feels like… I need the little filly’s room.” With that she hopped off the couch, muttering as she stretched a hind leg that was a bit cramped, and trotted off through a side door into the bathroom.

“Luna…” Aiden began slowly. He stretched his neck with one hand against it, to the accompaniment of several popping vertebrae. “That was… damn. I didn’t expect… that got dark.”

Luna looked sidelong at the ill at ease human. “I compressed your awareness in the dream as you asked… and it worked better than I would have guessed for a first effort. Due to the nature of the magic used I could not join you within the dreams and still power the sensory compression. Thus, anything you experienced was the product of your own mind, and your desire to push yourself. ...How long?”

Aiden shook his head, standing to stretch his legs out. “I really don’t know. Weeks? Months? I’m not sure I want to try that again.”

“Rarity seemed fine,” Rainbow noted, looking towards the closed bathroom door.

“Bleeeeehhh!”

“Ooh, that’s Rarity’s ‘throwing up’ noise!” Pinkie added, excitedly. “She says a lady doesn’t vomit, or upchuck, or ralph. So she’s throwing up!”

“...Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” Luna muttered dryly.

Interlude: How'd we get here?

Author's Note

Per request, a rough summary of events up until now... in a somewhat 'in story' format since it felt more natural that way. All the more appropriate to add this, especially given how long it's been since the last chapter... writing this helped me focus up a bit. This telling takes place during the next chapter in the story, and will be alluded to at the appropriate time in said chapter.

Personal note... I don't especially like dropping just an interlude chapter, but given how long I've gone without an update I'm making an exception. I will say the next real chapter is (finally) in progress. Given the nature of 2020 I will not give a timeline on that, I'd love to say 'by the beginning of August' and that is the goal but... we shall see. I hope you're all doing well out there, and thanks for reading.

Interlude: How'd we get here?

Interlude

That Which Has Gone Before

“That’s a rather pretentious lead in, isn’t it, darling?”

...With forward by Rarity.

“I most certainly did not-”

So, let’s start at the beginning of this particular conflict and head back about two thousand years. For simplicity’s sake I’ll separate this whole thing into sections for time periods… though how much I can really tell you about that first conflict is limited.

Over 2000 Years ago

My source on this is not trustworthy, but for what it’s worth the facts in question don’t contradict our other information. Long before anything else that set current events in motion, the Draconequii of Equus were perfecting magic as they knew it. Little did they know the voices whispering in their ears as they reached beyond their own mortality were not to be trusted. Thinking themselves in the presence of Magic Incarnate, Equus’ aether personified, they strove forward and shirked their mortal forms. They rose beyond their old limits, at the cost of their sanity and any Harmony they may have earned between themselves. It would be the end of most of them, and the signal that Equus was indeed ripe with magic, waiting for harvesters.

1500 Years ago (approximately)

An ancient, highly advanced, powerful race we call the Demondim (or Demon race, whichever you like, you know how it goes with old races and unpronounceable true names) attacked Equus, with the intention of molding the planet and its magically potent inhabitants into energy sources for their technology. These are your classic ‘sufficiently advanced tech’ types who blur the line between science and magic, or really treat magic as another branch of science, as valid as chemistry or biology. For them, magically potent souls and Equus’ crystals were a valuable commodity, and one which could turn the tide in their war against another ancient race, the Seraphim.

At first, they went at things subtly… by their standards. By damaging the balance of the climate on Equus, they drove a wedge between the pony tribes which had, to that point, lived in untested harmony for centuries. They were still molding the last of the Draconequii, with varying success, and could not actively oppose the planet. So while the dragons hunkered down in their caves and the griffons fought over the best farmland and hunting grounds they could, the ponies tried to adapt to the challenge which required pegasi to fully control the weather, and earth ponies to work much harder to harvest enough food for everypony.

“What about the unicorns?”

...What about them?

“What did they do?”

What DID they do?

“...”

Moving along… in time the three tribes were fully at each other’s throats, and the Demondim (in the guise of Windigos if you hadn’t picked up on that) were ready to begin harvesting the death they’d been sowing. But… we know how that ended: with the ponies coming together in a stronger Harmony and revitalizing the planet’s aether field, which would both repel the Demondim and save many from a horrible fate. In the face of a few brave souls that were willing to see past their differences even on the cusp of death, the monsters could not prevail.

And I should explain that the Demondim have always been loath to engage their enemies directly. They are few in number, and prefer the role of chess master, manipulating things at a distance rather than direct conflict. Whether it’s a psychological aspect of their people or simple fear I couldn’t say. Remind me to ask one if I ever meet one.

As such, when this first attempt failed, they adopted a new strategy. If they couldn’t damage Equus enough on their own without exposing themselves they would need an army to do their fighting. They sought out the Oni-koru. Bipedal with hands (and occasionally wings, tails, and other odd limbs), the Oni-koru could best be described as monstrous humanoids-

“That doesn’t tell them much, darling. ‘Humanoid’ doesn’t translate well into Equish.”

Right. Think of them like… if you mixed minotaurs with dragons, except they’re usually thinner than that. They look mean, and frankly most of them are, but if you know how to talk to them they can be okay… sometimes. ...Getting ahead of myself.

Back then, they were taken in by the Demondim. A warrior race, the Oni-koru saw promises of glorious battle out amongst the stars, far beyond anything they’d known. Adventure, conquest, fortune, and glory... If the Demondim had come to us first, they probably would have gotten plenty of volunteers. Glad that didn’t happen…

They came to Equus, with what technology the Demondim allowed them, and began the war of conquest their new masters wanted. But therein lies the problem, at least for the Demondim. The Oni-koru are a warrior race; fighting is in their blood. Conquering and ruling aren’t. Their own world was basically one big fighting tournament on repeat and other than that, low key anarchy. The Demondim, as I understand it, were walking a tightrope. Equus was a desperation move for them: a relatively undefended world full of resources that would turn the tide in a war they were losing. They couldn’t risk a more orderly race to be their army since said race might see the Demondim’s waning strength and turn on them. With the Oni-koru there was little chance of that. Instead they went for the challenges Equus could provide: griffon warriors, dragons, and not to discount the paragons of ponykind for whom fighting was much more common than nowadays. The Oni-koru had found a whole new set of challenges, and while they were winning and loving it, the going was slow. They also weren’t killing enough for the Demondim’s taste, which brings us back to the Draconequii. It wouldn’t be until some time later that Discord would really cause problems for Equus. No, at this point the Demondim approached the Draconequus they’d been most successful in molding: Kirin. Once a war-mage of terrible destructive talent, he’d molded his Ascension into the pinnacle (as he saw it) of martial prowess. His Aspect of Magic, his spark of Draconequii immortality, was his power and his desire to destroy and subjugate. During the torpor following his Ascension, the Demondim had carefully groomed him for the time when he would take over as King of the Oni-koru, supplanting their previous leader and whipping them into the fight with greater, more violent zeal, backed by a strength that would demand their attention.

“Why didn’t they just use him? ...Oh, I suppose they couldn’t risk letting him do all the work without risking him taking all the spoils for himself.”

That’s my guess, too. The Demondim couldn’t just hand things off to Kirin if they wanted anything out of this. With the Oni-koru as a distraction on all sides, they could quietly rob all the graves they intended the conflict to make.

“...Such a lovely people.”

Fortunately for Equus, moving an entire race across galaxies had at last drawn the attention of the Seraphim. And when they realized what the Demondim were using the Oni-koru for, they responded in kind. Scouring worlds where they’d plied their own influence, they were able to find what they needed, or rather who. While they didn’t go for a warrior race the way the Demondim did-

“Arguable, darling… and I do say that with love, of course.”

Fair but... eh... I’d like to think we’re more versatile than violent. Anyway the key for the Seraphim was that we had the capacity to fight, and to learn how to fight in a way that was totally beyond anything we knew as a race at that point. And, just as important, we were compatible with the natives of Equus.

“I’d say so.”

Heh. They wanted a people that could appreciate Harmony, but also help fight for it. I guess there’s a lot of very pacifistic races out there. I don’t blame them; I haven’t much enjoyed war. But we were a good choice because they could reach us, and convince us this world, despite being so far from our own, was worth helping, worth fighting and even dying for. I imagine it didn’t hurt that you folks are mostly adorable.

“...Bit condescending but I’ll let it pass, darling.”

Just the facts, ma’am. Anyway from there the Seraphim had their army. A bit of training up along the way and humanity arrived to help protect Equus from the Oni-koru. Meanwhile, the Seraph who’d stayed behind had begun her own experimentation to match the Draconequii’s clear advantages: Alicorns. Now, before you ask, no, she didn’t really make Celestia and Luna ‘stronger’ in the way you might think. Maybe a little in terms of tempering what they already had. But what she really did was give them a way to fully output the strength they were born with. How they happened to be born that strong at just the time they’d be needed most I can’t really say. Maybe Harmony at work? Then again, there’s nothing saying there’s never been stronger who just didn’t realize their potential. We lost plenty in the war stronger than some of those that made it through… But I’m off track here. And you know how this ended.

In a few more years, with the Alicorns at the lead, humans using Seraphim tech, and all the forces of Equus fighting for their world, the Oni-koru were simply outmatched. Decimated and driven to retreat, they escaped the planet, to embark on a journey of pillage and carnage that would give Kirin the power he needed to one day find his way back and take revenge for his defeat. And he would indeed need to find his way back. With their last act of spite the Demondim had destroyed Equus’ star; in their last act of love, the Seraphim created another, and would hide Equus and stand vigil against his return for centuries to come.

“And the fact that that vigil eventually faltered takes nothing away from how meaningful a sacrifice it was. They’d already won and the Demondim were defeated, protecting us was no longer necessary for their war. They just… did it. Your people, too, by returning them quietly to a world the Demondim and their allies had never known.”

They did. And that brings that chapter of our little history review to a close. Probably the longest of them, since it’s the furthest back and took the most explanation, but let’s move on.

Not too Long Ago, Really

About fifteen years ago, the Oni-koru invaded Earth. Given that it took them almost fifteen hundred years to find us it would be surprising they even held a grudge that long, if not for the fact that Kirin was still their leader, unbeknownst to them. The Draconequus had taken to disguising himself and succeeding himself every hundred years or so, to keep the unruly Oni-koru from getting bored of the same leader forever and rebelling. Even when there were rebellions, he could just take the place of the leader and tow the party line for awhile, slowly keeping them on the course he wanted.

“I guess he’s not all bad, hmm?”

...Chrysalis, who let you in here? Anyway… by the time they invaded Earth he’d directed modifications to their tech, the same tech the Demondim had left for them that they struggled to understand and maintain with very little guidance from their advanced, aloof former masters. This was designed to not only kill off humans in droves but direct a psychological manipulation at the Oni-koru: convincing them that we were so unworthy of existence that even the presence of power would kill us. That, without the Seraphim to hold our hands, we were nothing, and the Oni-koru could wipe us out and avenge their previous shame.

“Wait, was that how he intended to sell it to them?”

...An educated guess on my part, remind me to ask the bastard when I see him. The... essentially irradiated aether, did its work for the most part. However, some of us who were descended from the original travelers had a different reaction: the spark of magic in each of us was awakened. And with it our ability to fight back, to hold the line against the Oni-koru long enough for humanity as a whole to learn about our would be exterminators, and beat them.

“Probably didn’t hurt that many of the Oni-koru’s hearts weren’t really in it.”

I won’t deny that. But most soldiers don’t favor wiping out opposing nations completely. ...Some do, but let’s not get too deep into that. The point is, over the course of almost ten years and hundreds of millions of losses, the war played out. Most of the First Generation of Espers died, and a fair portion of the Second. Those of us who did survive faded out of the limelight. Our time as heroes became quickly politically inconvenient. Luckily we still had a lot of friends, more than some of us-

“You…”

Shush… more than some of us knew, who helped us get away from the growing sense of unease about us, and live quiet lives.

“I understand that. Of course beings with power must hide from the common rabble. Lest they be afraid you’ll take what’s rightfully-”

“Chrysalis, darling? Not really contributing.”

“Hmph.”

...Right. So a lot of us went into hiding and, despite public opinion being a little against us, overall things were getting better. A war against genocidal aliens apparently can force human beings to work together in harmony and even make it stick, for a while anyway. Whether or not it would keep going with just that we’ll never know. Let’s skip ahead a mere five years to the part you kids-

“Fillies. Kids are goats.”

...Right. You fillies were asking about. Rarity, did you want to tell this part?

“Nonsense, darling. You’re doing a fine job so far.”

...Of course I am. Well, you’ve heard this part already so I’ll summarize.

“That’s all you’ve been doing.”

... I’ll summarize harder.

Really, really not too long ago

Rarity found a gem that was actually a teleportation device still linked to an Oni-koru ship, specifically one that had been left behind on Earth during the war there. She accidentally activated it, and it warped itself and her back to said ship. She was briefly captured by Veritech, a weapons RnD-

“Rainbow Dash?”

...No, R n D… ‘Research and Development’, as in they invented and produced new weapons and such during the war. Of course the war was over but progress marches on, especially when you have those who are afraid of a repeat of the conflict. And I guess I can’t totally blame them for that. They wanted magic, which for humans is confined almost exclusively to Espers that awakened to it during the war, to be available to anyone. Unfortunately they didn’t mean ‘anyone’ so much as ‘anyone they chose’. They were less interested in science and developing new technology than in applying that technology to forge a new world.

“Such a nostalgic feeling.”

Are you still here? ...Huh, your tongue is forked. Oddly appropriate. Anyway they were hoping to use Rarity to further their goal of unlocking magic. Unfortunately for them General Grumman had made it his mission to keep an eye on them, and had a person in place who could help Rarity escape. Once she did… instead of going where they told her, she sensed me nearby-

“She was already in love, and just followed- hmmrrpph!”

“...Continue, darling.”

...Sensed me because I’m an Esper, and her time on Earth had given her a new perspective on sensing magic, allowing her to focus her old gem finding sense, which works on a similar principle, and expand it to a sense of all the magic around her. It’s why her sense for it exceeds pretty much anyone’s: a combination of her unique perspective and initial talent.

“Oh do go on.”

I’m trying but you all keep interrupting… and muzzling your sister doesn’t seem to be helping. Anyway from there, and with Grumman pretty much leading the charge, we went searching for a way to get Rarity home. A lot happened along the way… some of which I’m not ready to relive or tell all of you about, so we’ll gloss over and say that it was… challenging, and there were prices to be paid along the path we walked. We found a ship, and found our way here, but not before Kirin was able to pry the same information from Garken.

“How’d he get it, though?”

“He seems kinda mean. I don’t think I like him. And Joy always gives him weird looks.”

“Aw, he ain’t so bad. He acts all tough but it’s just fer show.”

“No I’m pretty sure he’s really tough.”

“Well okay but not like you need to be scared. He wouldn’t bully you or nothin’.”

...This is part of the stuff I didn’t want to go into. Garken… is complicated. He was hiding on Earth, and helping Adstrum, another RnD-

“Research and development!”

Right. Another RnD company, in order to make amends for the war. According to him, his people don’t believe in total war. Their kings push them to it while their Grand Marshals fight the wars their way; only doing what’s necessary to win, and sometimes even making amends afterward, if the enemies were worthy enough, by helping them to get stronger.

“That’s weird.”

They’re a weird people. And who knows how much of that is them being twisted up by 1500 years of manipulations by Kirin? I take solace in knowing that they probably gave him conniptions with how obnoxiously stubborn I'm sure they were at times.

“But doesn’t he just control them with crystals?”

As I understand it, that’s a fairly recent development. It wasn’t until he’d found Earth and started plotting against it that he began more drastically controlling his army. And according to what we’ve recently learned, even that’s not enough for him now.

“Of course not, since even his crystal enhanced soldiers haven’t been enough. He’s fighting a war his people don’t want to win. I’d sympathize with him if I didn’t hate him… and if I did that sort of thing.”

Quality contribution, Chrissy.

“Do not call me that.”

Heh. So at this point, near as we can tell, he’s developing a cloned army that he’ll use the souls of the Oni-koru to empower. And while we’re hoping we’ve killed that plan along with the spire Celestia’s team destroyed, there’s still unaccounted for spires, and whatever might be left on the Klades that survived its crash into the moon. That ship was massive, and very well armored. Most of it is probably intact, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to go there to see this finished.

“...I’d like this story better if it were just a story. Y’all are gonna win… right?”

We will. Together… we will win. He’s basically alone, trying to build puppets because that’s all he can do; he needs that control. I’ve noticed that… anyone weaker than him he tries to forcefully build into something he can better use. But he’s no architect or smith, and he’s damn sure no doctor. His… alterations do more harm than good. And he’s running out of options. A cornered animal can be scary… but it can also be caught. We are going to win. I promise you that.

It was some time later, as the two sat in bed, not quite ready to sleep.

“So darling… where did you learn all that?”

Aiden grimaced, “Assuming you mean the stuff about the Demondim, since most of that we both knew?”

“Exactly, yes.”

“I wish I knew. It sort of came to me, the moment your sister asked. By the way, she’s too cute. It’s literally unfair. I have a hard enough time dealing with one of you-”

Rarity’s eyes went wide, her lower lip pouting just slightly at the perceived rebuke.

“...Yes, that. ...Jerk.” He kissed her forehead and she grinned innocently. “But yeah I dunno, it’s like… a dream I forgot until someone asked just right. Or maybe… ugh I dunno. ...‘Progeny of Synnove Ó Catháin’... that’s what she called me. Sidera did. I think maybe I’ve got more of a legacy to live up to than I may have thought, or maybe she left something behind in my head to honor an old friend. Either way… I know where we need to go next.”