“Long ago in the land of Equestria, the land was under the rule of a wise and powerful Alicorn King. Under this reign and with his children at his side, Equestria thrived in a grand era of peace. But as time went on, one group grew envious of the King’s power and plotted to steal it for themselves. These creatures of shadow were known as the Spiral Legion.”

“One fateful day, the Legion launched an all-out attack against the king and his children to seize power for themselves. Reluctantly, the King was forced harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: The Elements of Harmony. A great and terror battle took place, in the end, however, the King and his subjects were vicious, and the Legion’s most powerful members were banished to Tartarus. However, in the aftermath of the fight, Many of the King’s children were killed in the fight and the remaining Legion members stole the Elements and swore vengeance against the King and Equestria.”

“Guilt-stricken by the loss of his children and the Elements of Harmony, the King went into self-imposed exile to atone for his mistakes. However, before leaving The King entrusted the rule of Equestria to his two surviving daughters. The eldest using her powers to raise the sun at dawn and the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and all of Pone kind.”

“Over time, the story of the Alicorn king, Elements and the Spiral Legion faded into legend and the land of Equestria is now in a state of peace and harmony for all.”

-*****-

Nighttime, somewhere in the border between the town of Ponyville and the Everfree forest. As the bright moonlight shines down, a lone figure slowly walks through the thick brush of the forest. The figure is a young gentleman dressed in rough hunting clothing, a pair of goggles, and a large semi-automatic shotgun in hand. Moving ever so slowly, the gentleman keeps a watchful eye of his surroundings. He sniffs the air around him, trying to regain the scent of prey he nearly loses.

The Gentleman continues to move until he hears a loud crunching noise. Cautiously, the gentleman processes slowly towards the source of the sound. The gentleman followed the noise to an open clearing, where he saw it, His prey.

In the middle of the clearing was a large reptilian creature with dorsal fins on its back, arms, and head, sitting in a crouching position. From where the gentleman was, all he could see was the creature’s back. The Gentleman quickly and quietly took an aiming position, with the barrel of his shotgun pointed straight at the creature’s head, however aiming was a bit difficult as the creature’s head kept bobbing up and down.

Suddenly, the creature's head stopped its movement as it slowly sitting up, before slowly turning its body slightly to the side. It was then the gentleman was able to get a better look at the creature's face, it's large snout, visor sharp fangs, and its large red eyes. It was also when the gentleman saw that the creature's snout and fangs were dripping with blood. A closer look revealed that the creature was feasting on the corpse of a dead animal, a deer or some sort. However, the Gentleman didn’t have time to worry about the poor animal.

With the creature now still, the gentleman was able to take perfect aim. However, a feeling of dread washed over the gentleman, the creature wasn’t looking to its side…it was looking straight at him.

The Gentleman quickly tired to the pull the trigger of his gun, but before he could even blink, the creature leaped at him tackling him to the ground. With only his shotgun, the gentleman was able to keep the creature at arm’s length as the creature tried to claw and chop at him. Eventually, the gentleman was able to swat the creature away. However, the creature was able to regain its balance and take a defensive stance.

“RRRAAAWWWRRR!!!” the creature roared as it once again charged at the gentleman, only this time, the gentleman was able to fire off a round from this shotgun, sending the creature flying into a tree.

Stunned, the creature quickly stood back up, before leaping into the trees. With the moon’s light now blocked by clouds, the gentleman desperately tried to find the creature within the tree line while also reloading his rifle. Soon all was quiet, nothing was heard except for the gentleman's heavy breathing. But he remained unphased, his eye focused solely on the tree line, watching, waiting for the creature to make a move.

However, without warning, the gentleman was hit by the side and fell hard to the ground. He quickly regained his composer and realized, the creature tricked him, and didn't attack from above but had stricken him from the side. The creature now stood over the gentleman with its red eyes aimed at him. The gentleman tried to reach for his shotgun, but the creature had knocked it away. The Gentleman had greatly underestimated the creature's intelligence. At this point, the creature looked as if it was going to slash the gentleman with his sharp claws, until…

“MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!!!" the gentleman shouted as he unleashed a barrage of punches at the creature, knocking it away from him. With the creature once again stunned, the gentleman raced for his rifle and once again took aim at it. Only this time, the creature slowly backed into the shadows. With one final roar, the creature disappeared.

Dumbfounded, the gentleman suddenly realized why the creature retreated, the sun was beginning to come up.

“Damn…” the gentleman grumbled.

“Sir! Are you there sir? SIR!” a voice called out. The gentleman looked down to his belt to see that the voice was coming from a small radio.

The gentleman sighed and took the radio and held it up, “Yes I’m here.” He replied.

“Thank goodness. The sun had just come up.” The voice noted, “were you successful in your mission?”

“No, it got away before I could finish it. It’s stronger and smarter than I thought it would be.” The gentleman replied.

“Damn…it’s a shake sir, what will you do now?” the voice asked.

The Gentleman sighed as he fixed his messy hair a bit, “It’s time to cash in a favor…bring them here on the double.” The gentleman commanded.

“Right away sir.” The voice obeyed.

-*****-

The sound of a buzzing alarm clock echoes through a small room, Next to it, a sleeping figure slow stirs in bed. It’s not long before soft groans are mixed with the clock as a hand reaches for it and shuts off the alarm. The figure soon sits up on the bed, the figure is a young girl with long silver-white hair with pink tips, hazel eye, dark cocoa skin and a chocolate color horn on her forehead. She strengths out her arms before crawling out of bed and looking out the window to see a beautiful sunny day. Her name is Princess Aiya, a student of Princess Celestia.

“Dear, Princess Celestia

It's been three weeks since you sent Twilight and me on our ‘tour' of Equestria. While Twilight has yet to get used to her new surroundings, I, however, have embraced it with an open mind and heart"

Still, in her pajamas, Aiya leaves her room with a small box of bath soaps with her.

“Moring Aiya.” A voice says from behind. Aiya turns to see a small purple baby dragon standing before her.

“Good morning Spike.” Aiya warmly smiles, “is Twilight up yet?”

“Not Yet, I was just about to though” Spike replied.

Aiya sighed and shook her head, “That girl, she’s been acting so suborn ever since we left Canterlot.” She then looked back down to Spike, “if you somehow manage to get her up before I do, tell her I’ll see her for breakfast. I’m going to the bath.”

“Ok then.” Spike nodded and processed to walk off, only to stop in his tracks, “Wait…isn’t he usually in the bath around this time?” Spike asked.

Aiya made a sinister, teasing smiled, “That’s what I’m counting on.” She replied before walking off.

“Since we started our travels I’ve met and seen many new faces and places. But so far none have compared to the friends I’ve made while aboard the Dawn Threader. For example…”

As Aiya walked down the hall, she heard the conversation of two voices,

“You sure you want to do that?” one voice said.

“Would you relax? I’ve done this hundred times.” A second voice said.

“and you’ve gotten electrocuted a hundred times.” The first voice said.

A few moments later, a loud bang followed by the sound scream with a loud crash following next.

“Told you so.” The first voice said.

Aiya looked to see two figures before her, one was a tall young man, with blonde sandy short hair, silver eyes and skin the same color as her's, wearing repairman clothes. The second was also a young man. while although on his back and buried under recently fallen items, had Cobalt hair with sliver times, baby blue eyes and was a bit shorter than his partner.

“Just a…minor…set back…” the fallen young man said while clearly dazed.

"Hyde and his brother Blaster, two of the ship's pilots and mechanics. Hyde is more of tall silent type and mostly allows his actions to speak for him. And then there's his ‘brother' Blaster, despite his…goof nature, he's smart for his age, he could give some of Canterlot's top scholars a run for their bits. Both have worked on the ship for a year and are pretty close with the ship's captain."

Aiya giggled at the brother’s interaction before moving on. As she passed the den, she walked by two more figures, one a young man with short white hair with silver tips, pale white eye, a horn on his forehead. The second was a young woman with bright rainbow hair, Light coco skin, cerise eyes, and light grayish cerulean wings.

“No, you can’t.” the young man said

“Yes, I can’t!” the young woman said.

"Nope," the young man shook his head.

“UGH! Why is it so hard to believe that I can do it?!” the young woman shouted.

“Cuz last I checked Dash, you can’t reverse time just by reversing a planet’s rotation.”

“If I fly fast enough I could…” she pounded.

“You’re hopeless.” The young man sighed.

“The royal escorts you chose for us have also been opening welcome. Your nephew Prince Edward is a perfect gentleman and it helps that he's already friends with the crew. His comrade Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, is a bit of a different story…if you had told me she was the younger sister of the legendary Wonderbolts caption Spitfire…well…I'd have a real hard believing that."

Aiya walked on by without being noticed by the pair. It was then Aiya came across another figure. This one was another young woman with bright baby blue eyes, large pink puffy hair, and a voluptuous figure much like Aiya's. Aiya watched as she bounced around the kitchen, preparing breakfast for the ship’s crew before turning to Aiya.

“Hiya Ai, morning.” She said.

“Morning Pinkie Pie.” Aiya smiled, “Is He in?” she asked with a sinister smiled.

“Hehe, just got in.” Pinkie replied with a wicked smile of her own.

Aiya smile grew wider with glee as she hurried down the hall.

"among those, I've come to come, friends, Pinkie Pie, our captain's distant cousin, is the one I hold most dear. Upon first meeting her, I didn't know exactly what to think. But after a few ‘bonding' sessions, she and I have grown close since then. That girl can get a bit too wild but she's still a valued friend, especially since we have a common goal~…"

Aiya soon reached the bathroom, only to find that someone was already in the shower, with water running and music blasting, the young man didn't even notice Aiya enter. Stealthy, Aiya slowly removed all her clothes and slowly approached the shower and enters it.

“Now, I’ve heard the rumors and whispers about him. About, who he is, where he comes from and what he’s done. I think you know whom I’m referring to. At first, I admit, it was more out of curiosity, I wanted to know more about him and see what all the fuss was about. But after a while…”

Aiya reminded behind the young man for a few more seconds, still blissfully unaware of Aiya's present. It wasn't until Aiya lean in close to him and blew a small puff of air into his ear.

“GAAAHHHHHHH!!!!” the young man yelped and fell out of the shower, all the while, Aiya laughs.

“I started to have fun~”

The young man was slim muscular build, white pale white skin, thick bushy-curly hair with one side being black and the other being a dark maroon, with lastly bright amber eyes, the same eyes that were burning with rage and aimed straight at Aiya.

“WHAT THE HELL?!!!” the young man shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Good morning to you too, love~," Aiya said in a sweet-sounding voice.

"I know, messing with a person like Damien Runner is like playing with fire, as Captain Shining Armor would say and Yes, he does live up to the stories of him having a temper. But after a while of knowing him, these outbursts made him more like a little puppy throwing a tantrum. It’s actually pretty cute.”

“I thought I locked that fucking door!” Damien shouted as he stood up while also covering himself up.

“You did, but I unlocked it.” Pinkie Pie, who suddenly appeared in the shower already naked and wet, replied, catching Damien off guard.

“W-What the?! Pink?! How did you get in here? I thought you were making breakfast!” a dumbfounded Damien asked.

“Oh, don’t play dumb, you know I love to…multitasking~” Pinkie pie replied while licking her lips with her eye centered at Damien’s crotch area.

Damien blushed and quickly tried to cover the newly formed tent in his towel as the girls laughed.

“One thing I have noticed about him is how easily fluttered he can be…which is both cute and rewarding~”

"Aww Come on love, like you don't like to bath with two beautiful girls of your dreams," Aiya said as she and Pinkie Pie held each other, as they did, their breasts squished up against one another.

Damien, watching this, blushed a bright red before racing out of the bathroom, all the while Aiya and Pinkie Pie giggled.

“He’s a goof,” Pinkie commented.

"yes, but he's our goof," Aiya noted while smiling.

-*****-

Meanwhile, outside the bathroom, Damien sighed deeply as he felt his heart beating like crazy. "Damn it…those girls are nuts!" he thought to himself.

“D!” a voice called out. Damien turned to see another young woman standing before him. This girl had tanned skin, bright golden hair, bright emerald eyes, and was also looking very displeased. “D, What the Sam-hell are you doin’?! Runnin’ around in your birthday suit like that?” she asked in a deep southern accent. “Don’t you know we got princesses on board?!”

“and then there’s our great Captain Applejack. Don’t get me wrong, Ms. Applejack is a great captain and a good friend, however, her attitude towards my ‘fun' kinda makes her a stick in the mud, I know she means well but she can stand to lighten up a bit. However…”

“One of your princesses just ambushed me in the shower!” Damien argued back.

Applejack sighed while facepalming herself. “I swear that girl again…Fine, just get dressed and get to breakfast.” Applejack demanded before walking off.

“ugh…fine…” Damien hissed before going off as well.

“Hmph, somehow I expected to see you in such a matter…" another voice called out, this time, making Damien's blood boil.

“It’s not just her…”

“Oh, for fuck's sake…" Damien grumbled as he turned to see another young woman with dark violet eyes, dark sapphire blue and purple with a raspberry streak as well as a single horn on her forehead and two large mulberry wings, with Spike standing next to her. “Piss off Sparkle…” Damien snarled.

Twilight sighed in disappointment, “always you and your vulgar language. Can’t you at least have some class?”

Damien flipped Twilight a middle finger before walking off, all while Twilight rounded her eyes and walked off.

“As I mentioned earlier, Twilight wasn’t actually open to her new setting. If Captain Shinning, Candance and I hadn’t forced her out of tha library, I would be alone on this trip…her attitude isn’t exactly helping either…especially around Damien for some reason…I think some of Captain Shinning's opinions about him have somehow rubbed off her…But Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping a close eye on her, she’s been far too concern with her studies so far...”

As Twilight walked off, she caught sight of Applejack and slightly blushed.

“Hehe, Twilight’s got a crush~” Spike teased

“Sp-Spike!!!” Twilight shouted out embarrassment.

“Along with other things~”

-*****-

A few hours later after breakfast, everyone gathered in the den.

"Alright everyone, time to explain today's agenda," Applejack announced.

“So, what’s on for today Aj?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We’ve been summoned back to Ponyville by Count Jo.” Applejack explained.

“wait, THE Count Jo?” Twilight asked in bewilderment.

“Incredible, I’ve heard stories about Count Takumi Jo and his herd.” Aiya said in amazement, “But how do all of you know him?”

"He's the one whose provided this ship and our gear," Hyde explained.

"OK…but why?" Twilight asked.

“Duh! He’s Damien’s godfather.” Pinkie replied.

Upon hearing Pinkie’s response, Aiya and Twilight went silent, until…

“WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT??!!!” both princesses shouted out of shock, stunning everyone else.

“what? It’s not that big of a deal…” an annoyed Damien said as his ears were still ringing. “my grand-dad helped him a few years back and since then the count is pretty much part of the family now.”

"Interesting," Aiya said with wonder.

“Well if you ask me, he gives me the creeps.” Rainbow Dash commented.

“At least you’re not in his crosshairs 24/7” Blaster grimaced

“How come?” Spike asked.

“Let’s just say Blaster and the Count have…history…” Hyde responded.

“History that involves Blaster pissing off the count way too much.” Pinkie chuckled, making Blaster sigh.

“alright Ya’ll, enough foolin’ around.” Applejack said to the group, “We’ll be in Ponyville within the hour.”

“Oh, you girls are going to love Ponyville! I’ll finally get to take you to sugar cube corner!” Pinkie happily proclaimed to Aiya and Twilight. “and Aiya! You can finally meet Fluttershy!”

“yes…Fluttershy…I can’t wait…” Aiya said as she looked over at Damien with a half sultry, half glaring look, dumbfounding Damien in the process before he awkwardly walks away.

“Well now, I got a feeling our trip to Ponyville is going to be fun…” Rainbow said in a sarcastic tone, while Ed shook his head.

-*****-

Damien soon arrived at the ship’s bridge where Applejack was, while Hyde and Blaster were in the pilot and co-pilot seats.

"So, what do you think he wants? He never calls unless it's an emergency.” Damien said to Applejack.

“Ah’m not sure…but I got a bad feelin’ about it.” Applejack replied.

“Ever the optimist, huh Jackie?” Hyde commented. “We don’t know if it’s bad…maybe Jo just wants to shoot at Blaster again.”

“HEY!” Blaster shouted as he took offense.

“Quiet you two. Just get us to Ponyville pronto!” Applejack command.

“On it boss.” Blaster said as he set the course back to Ponyville

-*****-

Aiya eventually returned to her room and flopped on to the bed, letting out a loud sigh. She looks to the side and sees a framed photograph of her and the others when they first started their journey. She smiles as she looks at all the new friends she’s made.

“In short Princess Celestia, all is well for us, our travels have been very eventful and fruitful in knowledge. Though, something tells me that wasn’t the main reason why you sent up on this trip. Regardless. I’m grateful for all those I’ve meant, I just hope twilight can be the same way. Oh well, maybe by the time we’ve returned to Canterlot, she’ll lighten up a bit. Until then, thank you, Princess Celestia, and give my Aunt Novo my best wishes.”

“-Sincerely, Princess Aiya of Mount Aris.”

-END CHAPTER-

Author's Note

Think of this chapter and the next few after this as the story's prologue.