Bellator, Venator, Salvator

Chapters

Xeno-Hunter (Edited with help)
Arrival to Canterlot
Interlude: The Confederation and its military
Short Aftermath
Day of The Beasts
Death and Resurrection
Interlude: Psionics
Nightmares (Warning! Graphical and emotional content)
Bonding
Return of the Princess and the Centurion
A bit of talking
Interlude: Bounty Hunters
Not a War Room
Anger
The Ship
The Convocation of the Creatures
Interlude: The Hegemony and its military
Sapience
Interlude: Confederation Core Species (I)
Essentially a Filler
Twilight's Idea
Interlude: Confederation Core Species (II)
School Rage
Love... is NOT in the Air
Sadness
The Past (Part 1)
Interlude: Hegemony Member Species
The Past (Part 2)
The Past (Part 3)
What Happened to Celestia
Confronting your Fears
Dreaming
Discussing

Xeno-Hunter (Edited with help)

“So... are you up to this job, sir?” Replied a young, well-dressed human in a slightly nervous tone. He was one of many workers of the Bounty Station that handed bounties to bounty hunters of all types and from many sources, be it from normal people, wealthy companies or in a few cases the Confederal Senate.

As for his concern...

Who wouldn't be nervous when a walking mass of pure muscle and wide shoulders is sitting directly in front of you looking down a hologram with frowning, calculating eyes (well, eye in this case)? The fact that this “mountain” wasn't even looking at him didn't make him feel better; if anything it made him feel worse, even though they had already told him that the therawyrm would be “intimidating”.

(He was new at the job and this was the first time meeting the xeno-hunter his predecessor spoke so much about).

Apparently, this particular therawyrm had been in several dozen jobs involving monsters (and a few times sapient criminals) of all kinds, and was a certified purple psionic, the hightest psionic not part of the military. He knew this because two minutes before the therawyrm had incinerated the beard of a foul-mouthed head-hunter several minutes before; red psionics could do that too, but they required some effort to do it, whereas he didn't even look at the annoying bounty hunter. There was also the issue that the man himself was basically layers of muscle upon muscle covered by black scaly skin, big even for a therawyrm (seven feet tall and probably weighing five hundred pounds at least, not counting the heavy-looking set of black armor he was wearing at the moment); in fact, the young man was pretty sure this guy had to be the biggest therawyrm ever!

“Mmm... what's the catch new boy?” Spoke the giant suddenly, startling the government official.

“What?” Said the official.

“I said what's the catch. It says here that the bounty is fifty million credits plus a special reward. That's quite a lot of money for a simple extermination job.” Replied the therawyrm in a interrogative tone. “What freak do you want me to kill? A Leviathan, an Ether Drake maybe? I can't kill those without explicit permission from the higher ups you know.”

“Well, it is a petition from the higher ups themselves, but it's not a leviathan; the object of the bounty it's on a planet deep on the Dwarf Galaxy, a few light years away from the Wormhole. You have been there before, right?”

The therawyrm grunted in displeasure, and who wouldn't? The Dwarf Galaxy was not exactly a safe place, at least compared to the Milky Way, and for several good reasons.

“There's also this for you.” The young one handed him a data pad. “It contains more information for the job, but you cannot watch in in public-”

“Or else it'll blow up.”

“Actually it would simply short circuit and destroy the files inside. Well, that's what I've been told.”

The therawyrm huffed and got up from the chair, rising to his full height of more than seven feet and looking straight on the man's eyes.

“Well, I better go back to my ship and leave for whenever I have to go before whoever posted the bounty changes their mind, boy.” He turned to the door and was about to walk when the recepcionist spoke.

“Wait!” He said while stretching his hand “It's been a pleasure meeting you sir. I hope we meet again. And my name is Andrew, not boy. What's yours?”

The therawyrm, after several moments watching the hand with doubt, clasped it with his large, left one and gave a strong shake, but not enough to rip the young man's arm off from its socket.

“Praeratus, Praeratus Haeleb. Wish me luck... boy” With that he walked out of the building smirking, with an huffing Andrew watching his retreating back... alongside several other people.

'What a weird surname for a therawyrm', thought Andrew before addressing the next in line. "Next please."

Praeratus already knew he was being watched the moment he stepped off the building (it was psionic proof), but he was not surprised. After all, not many therawyrm were bounty hunters like him. And none of them WERE him.

Bounty hunters (sometimes called hired guns for several reasons, most of them being unflattering comparisons to their more common and less scrupulous rivals, the mercenaries), the 'clawed arm of the law': where the police and other keepers of the law would warn you first and then stun your ass, bounty hunters would beat the crap out of you and then bring you in, and half of the time to the morgue. Of course, bounty hunter was simply the common name for all those who worked for the government unofficially and used violence to achieve their means, with many 'subclasses' within: there were Head-Hunters (who always killed and beheaded their quarry), Hunter-Warriors (most of their bounties were individuals that troubled the government like terrorist officers or cult leaders), Delvers (who basically crawled in derelict ships and other ruins to retrieve objects for their clients)... and of course, xeno-hunters, who as the name said hunted and killed creatures who were dangerous enough to threaten a planet but not enough to be a problem for the military stationed on the same system, like berserking Titanic Beasts or invasive species.

While on route to the main ward of the Acropolis (the largest space habitat ever made by the Confederation, a star-shaped space station housing a permanent population of more than fifty million sophonts) to retrieve his friend from the “Dog Park”, as it was called even though it was in fact a warehouse, Praeratus was met by the stares of many who already knew of him for at least a hundred years but stared anyway. Of course, it was a normal thing when you were a therawyrm with an always closed left eye in a time where most people would simply go to the hospital to get a new one, and black scale-like skin and eye, an uncommon coloration for therawyrms.

Therawyrm, even the name of his species sounded tough. And they looked tough, being an species of long-lived (to the point they were the only organic species with a natural lifespan of up to fifteen hundred years) dragon-like synapsids with the aforementioned scaly skin, sharp teeth (although they were omnivorous, their diet was mostly carnivorous since they evolved from predators) and breasts (the women obviously), just like the other inhabitants of Kharan (some animals had fur covering their bodies though, and some of them were pure reptiles)

The therawyrms, alongside the animals from their homeworld, possessed a great physical strength thanks to the high gravity of their planet and their rough evolution. That strength, added to their unnatural size that was the rule in their homeworld (a bit above two meters tall and 330 pounds on average; it was unnatural because other planets with similar gravity had much shorter and stockier inhabitants, although the therawyrm were still very robust) and warrior culture (developed from prehistoric times, where all members of a tribe had to fight off predators several times larger than them and territorial herbivores the size of small hills) made them both the ideal heavy troopers and engineers of the Confederation, with one therawyrm with a machine gun equaling an entire support team, shrug off flesh wounds thanks to their heavy constitution and their thick skin; and adapt well enough to their surroundings. Of course, the entire species had several setbacks that didn't make them the perfect soldiers (nor species) overall.

For starters, most other therawyrms were quite quarrelsome, with many of them loving to discuss trivial things for the hell of it (Praeratus was an exception, but for a reason); their reproduction rates were also rather slow (due to their long lifespan), with most couples never having more than two children, a third considered very lucky; and they were amongst the those species who didn't discover Faster-Than-Light travel by themselves, having been uplifted from their Early Space Age (they had settled the other three planets of their system, but if not for the Zaurak Principate
they would have taken years to make a warp drive, much less a hypedrive), so aside from their military capacity they didn't have a lot of political power in the Confederation. They were also usually slow on their feet due to their dense bones and muscles, but extensive training could solve this issue.

And then there was the fact that they simply hated the Hegemony with a passion. Granted, most if not all other members of the Confederation hated the Hegemony too, but the therawyrms received the brunt of their invasions in the Hegemony War.

Who and what was the Hegemony? Just a damn empire based in a caste system that also practiced slavery and was led by an oligarchy that nearly destroyed the Confederation in the longest interstellar conflict ever (although the inverse was true), and had a comparatively small yet well defended portion of the galaxy under their yoke, plus some outposts on the Dwarf Galaxy. If not for the Confederation forcing them to the negotiating table two hundred years ago, they would have succeeded in ther goal of dominating the galaxy, and even then the scars (both physical and psycological) of the war could be seen in many people, Praeratus included.

Of course, Praeratus was one of the reasons the war was won. Well, him and nearly a thousand of his kin.

A bit more than a eleven hundred years ago, several zones of the Confederation (which at the moment was a bit over five hundred years old) were rife with crime and conflict, with terrorist attacks, invasion of smaller empires, spaceborne monsters that attacked ships and civil unrest on some of its members threatening to break out, forcing the Confederate Senate to take extreme measures against the collective threat.

Praeratus wasn't just a therawyrm, he was a former Centurion.

Centurions where the result of genetic enhancement, years of training, state-of-the-art weaponry and armor, and a few (like Praeratus) even had the capability to use psionics. However, unlike the average super soldier or psionic warrior that already existed, the therawyrms that formed the regiment hadn't been chosen as adults, but rather, they had been grown in vats, their genetic material selected from from the best therawyrm troopers at the time to be stronger, faster, smarter and overall much better soldiers (current Gene Warriors were basically watered down Centurions), which in turn was increased with a tough training and various genetical enhancements that made them even better soldiers, especially in squads and with support from other troops.

Therawyrms had not been chosen just for their bodies either (there were several species that outmatched them in other fields like strength and dexterity), but also for their longevity: a single, thousand years old soldier with the experience of a dozen campaigns was much, much better than a thousand troops barely on their thirties (and the Centurions had slightly lengthened lifespans to boot). These 'Hyper Soldiers' had been trained and prepared for a plethora of covert operations (infiltration, sabotage, mind control and interrogation, assassination, boarding and hijacking...), but with only a thousand men and women on the program, High Command decided that the main goal of the Centurions would be raising morale (and decreasing it in the case of enemies) in battle, both with their mere presence and psionics if they had the.. After all, there was nothing more spirit-raising than a seven feet tall walking tank shrugging enemy fire thanks to their powered armor and energy shielding, wielding machine guns and plasma cannons like toys and throwing enemy vehicles with either their bare hands or, with a bit of luck, their minds, while raining death on insurgents, marauders, privateers and many other enemies. Sure, Psionic Warriors could do the same thing, and in the end they were more succesful since there were more of them, but to use their powers they had to wear open, lightly armored suits that left them more vulnerable, and most of them were trained in melee combat and light weapons, not heavy ones like HMGs or plasma cannons.

For eight hundred years, the Centurions fought small wars and and brougpht pain and suffering to their foes, and even though the thousand dwindled to nine hundred (they were the best soldiers, but not invincible nor unkillable), the soldiers had always won their battles and safeguarded the peace.

And then the Hegemony came three hundred years ago and dragged the Confederation into the bloodiest, most catastrophic war since the War of Orion's Arm, with at least a trillion dead and thousands of planets destroyed (and in some cases even small stars were destroyed). Out of nine hundred only Praeratus and a couple of dozens of Centurions survived until the end of the war (which was still impressive considering that their collective kill count approached the quarter of a billion between vehicles, troops, ships, stations and even planets), another reason the therawyrms hated the Hegemony (and the war ended only two hundred years ago, which for a species like them was not long enough to forget, nor forgive).

After peace with the Hegemony was signed with a treaty (which amongst other things limited the fleets of both sides to never exceed more than ten thousand warships, including twenty titans), and banned the further training of Centurions and hyper soldiers for the Confederation; common gene warriors were extempt of this), the Confederation didn't know what to do with their surviving heroes, and even the Centurions themselves didn't know what to do. Half of them wanted to go down fighting, even if they had to go rogue to do it. Reality ensued for them and those who kept fighting died (since they less than twelve against an entire empire), but brought a couple thousand Hegemony troops to Hell with them, so in practice they had accomplished what they wanted. The rest of the Centurions, Praeratus included, decided to leave the service by order of High Command and get non-military jobs. They still wanted to fight the Hegemony, but without support of either the military or the people then anything they'd do would be in vain. Of course, that didn't mean that they couldn't still serve the Confederation, thus all of them went their separate ways and turned to bounty hunting, police work and any job that required lethal force but also was legal. Since they didn't really had any parents they didn't have surnames either to help them in the civilian world, so their trainers (who had been either other therawyrms or other long-lived species 'adopted' them andlet them use their surnames.

Years later, Praeratus 'Haeleb' was the last living Centurion.

After several years of having a normal job (and an incident), he decided to be a xeno-hunter to protect people from literal monsters (although given the overall scarcity of this he also killed figurative ones). That was after...

The therawyrm grimaced, not wanting to remember the pain of that day. He lost his eye... and the only thing he had loved besides his friends and brothers and sisters.

As he was forcing himself to not think about that awful day, Praeratus was getting close to the 'Dog Park' ( a large warehouse that had been refurbished as a place for people to leave their pets to play while they did their own things) where he had left his 'dog' in. So occupied with thinking back of better days that he didn't pay attention to the approaching sound of a large quadruped rushing on his direction (and the sounds of bodies thrown to the floor, complains and exclamations) until it was too late.

Praeratus was pushed to the ground with an 'Oof!', something that startled him because, well, he was a former Centurion. Of course, that was before he felt a warm tongue licking his face with haste, which made him groan.

It was his 'dog', Cyranus. Who was not a dog at all, but a brown gorgonops, a native of large predators from Kharan (the average gorgonops weighed some 1200 pounds; Cyranus himself was big for one, with an approximate weigh of 1600 LBS, although they kind of looked like dogs with their long muzzles, their walking and running gait, and the fact that just like dogs, their ancestors had been apex predators in the past (although their protruding canines, large size and solitary lifestyles made them closer to cats than dogs in personality, and they had scale-like skin just like therawyrms, though theirs was covered in fur), plus the fact that they were commonly used as attack and guard animals by both the law and the criminal elements just made the similarities closer.

“Not again.” muttered the xeno-hunter while pushing the gorgonops off him with care. “Cyranus, I always tell you to wait for me, and you always come rushing the moment you know I'm near. People get hurt when you force your way through them you know”, scolded Praeratus while petting Cyranus' head. The first times he escaped Cyranus whined in shame, but nowadays he didn't even bother to look sad about that.

Despite all of this Praeratus still loved him. Cyranus had been with him since his retirement, and when THAT happened he was the only thing that stopped him from doing something he'd would have regretted.

“Cyranus, there you are! Like always with your master!” said a female voice from behind them coming from a pointy-eared woman with black hair and a dress. She was an älf, a species of long lived humanoids with long ears and natural psionics (although not all of them developed their power to do more than basic telekinesis). This one in particular was one of the caretakers in the Dog Park. “Sorry again sir. For the twelfth time.” she sighed, making Praeratus chuckle, which in turn made the poor girl blush in embarrasment.

“It's okay girl, I'm already accustomed to it.”

“It's just... we cant' hold him in, he simply knocks the doors down and forces his way out the moment he knows you're here!”

“Don't be sorry girl, I don't think you can stop a 1600 pounds cuddling machine from getting out of a fenced compound. Or is it an actual park inside the warehouse?”

“A bit of both. You can't imagine the complains we get from the rest of the district when we take too much time to clean the place of animal crap.”

“Still.” continued Praeratus. “Did he do anything else, bit another animal like last time?”

“Fortunately no, although he did hump another gorgonops we had at the moment. Like that other time.” she said. This made Praeratus glare at his friend and sigh.

“Cyranus, if one of these days someone approaches me with a box full of brown gorgonops pups, I won't even bother to take you to the vet, I'll castrate you myself with the knife.” And with knife he meant a 20'' long energy blade that he could project from his wrist.

The älf moved in to defuse the situation (and because the talking was attracting a crowd, a crowd who covered their crotches when they heard the therawyrm threaten his pet).

“Other than that he was a little angel.”

Praeratus sighed again. At least he didn't bite the ear off a dog this time. Not that he didn't like him doing that (it was unavoidable, Cyranus was an apex predator who had to remind his position to others from time to time), but he was getting tired of him getting complains and threats because of it (not that it affected him at all).

“Well, we'll be going. Until next time I have business here.” he said before turning and walking away with Cyranys at his side and waging his tail.

“Bye Mister Haeleb, be a good boy Cyranus!” said the woman to the retreating forms of the therawyrm and his gorgonops.

Half an hour later, the pair had arrived to the Main Hangar of the Acropolis, an entire district that harbored thousands of ships that arranged from size, from house sized rustbuckets and common vehicles to destroyer-sized behemoths (the biggest ships civilians could own and arm legally), and many more in between. The place was mostly used to dock ships full of passengers, cargo and the rest, but a few platforms were used by those who lived on their ships like Praeratus.

Praeratus starship was parked at the back of the third platform, a 160 feet long, stocky and winged vehicle that didn't look too threatening apart from its black hull, which was covered with carvings of the many animals he killed.

Only those stupid enough to attack him (either in space or inside atmosphere) or beasts that had the misfortune of causing a ruckus and gaining a bounty would end up discovering too late that the ship had retractable dual autocannons on front, a missile launcher in each wing, a gamma laser in the belly and an quite-stronger-than-average shield generator, plus the fact that the hull of the ship was entirely made of durasteel, the same metal used in the construction of warships, plush powerful plasma engines that gave it superb sub-light speed. That combination of firepower, defensive capacity and speed allowed the xeno-hunter to fight against ships of size ranging up to corvettes and win most of the time.

It was also Praeratus and Cyranus home for all intents and purposes, with living room, kitchen, bedroom, study, two bathrooms and many other commodities (among them a personal gym and an expensive but rarely used Med-Pod) that a xeno hunter would need for long periods of time alone with his pet in the dangerous parts of the galaxy, plus an hangar bay with a wheeled ATV (an modified armored car with a kinetic machine gun) for planetary movement and a snub fighter for dogfighting in case the ship couldn't fight. Many people that knew him wondered why the xeno-hunter had a ship that big though, since it only housed a man and his pet.

To Praeratus' shock and suspicion, there was a large metallic box, nearly as tall as him, right in front of the frontal landing gear, which had stairs on it to double as the main way to getting in and out of the ship (and that also had carved beasts on the underside). The size was not the shocking part, though; it was the aquilae (two headed eagle) on top what shocked him.

The aquila was the flag and sign of the Confederation, with one head looking to the left (peace) and the other to the right (might). Only things linked with the Confederal Senate had the sign, as to remark their importance (everything else had more mundane symbols and stamps). Only two times something like this happened, and he nearly died in those.

'Hrm, at least they didn't leave it in front of everyone', thought Praeratus with irritation. Sometimes, the Confederation called him for 'special' bounties, which in this case meant really dangerous freaks causing a lot more damage than the average escaped zoo animal. Most were animals that evolved on dangerous planets and somehow ended up in worlds were they had no natural predators and the local peacekeepers had difficulty dealing with them, but some were biological weapons that could be a real problem for the planet they were in, or Hegemonic monsters that they forgot to exterminate. Obviously a common xeno-hunter would have it difficult to kill the things... but a former Centurion wouldn't have much of a problem (although as said before he was not unkillable, so he still had to take care on those missions).

Opening the door to give Cyranus entry, Praeratus looked around the platform to see if anyone was looking his way. After making sure nobody was looking his way, Praeratus approached the container and lifted the top... and quickly closed it when he saw what was inside, alarm clear on his face.

'Did they really send me a...!?', he thought before lifting the lid again to see 'it'. 'Yes, yes they did!'

Making sure again that nobody was looking his way, the therawyrm lifted the box with his psionics and walked to the ship. While climbing the stairs, Praeratus couldn't help but think about what monster could be tough enough to warrant the use of a thing like that.

When he reached the inside of the ship, Praeratus walked through its rather narrow corridors while still lifting the box towards the living room, and after reaching the room (a rather simple place near the cockpit with a holovisor, a couch with a side table on the left, a table with chairs, an armor stand with his Centurion powered suit on it, a wooden piano at the end of the room, and several pictures on the walls. Cyranus had his bed and water and food bowls there, and right now the gorgonops was eating his favourite kibble, happily oblivious to his friend's state) he lowered the crate with care. Making sure that 'it' was safe and sound, he dropped himself in the couch and sighed.

'If they have sent me one of those again, it has to be a really big freak, or a lot of them, or maybe it's not an animal', thought Praeratus while pulling out the data pad the young human had given him earlier that day. Giving it a close look, the therawyrm saw a smaller two headed eagle in the button of the thing, hoping that this one. However, before activating it, he gazed at the side table, or more accurately, his armour.

Slowly, he pressed the datapad and saw the hologram come out.

Instead of the usual recording or video from the Confederate representative, the datapad contained an archive about a planet on the Dwarf Galaxy, which made him grimace and remember that the boy from the Bounty Station. While reading the message, Praeratus recalled what he knew of it.

The Dwarf Galaxy was exactly that, a smaller than average galaxy that was nearer to the Milky Way than the rest, so near that starships could go there using their warp drives (hyperdrives were faster, able to travel thousands of light years per day, but needed hyperlanes to function; none led to the Dwarf Galaxy, and the galaxy itself had none, requiring the use of Warp to travel through it), but even ships without any FTL could go there thanks to the Wormhole that floated a few light years away from the Acropolis. It was nothing out of the contrary.

What WAS out of the contrary was the things that were, lived and happened. And 'things' meant space storms, a higher quantity spaceborne monsters (like ether drakes, tiyanki, space amoebas and stellarite devourers, all of them capable to fight battleships one-on-one and win with relative ease) than in the Milky Way and, from time to time, extradimensional horrors that could drive people insane with their mere presence and psionics powerful enough to annihilate entire fleets and planets. That was not counting the fact that most of the known parts had Hegemony outposts on them, and even two hundred years after the signing of the peace treaty they were waiting for the moment the Confederation broke their part of the agreements, or their power waned, to invade the two-ways wormhole that lead nearly directly to their capital.

Still, everything he already knew of the Dwarf Galaxy was nothing compared to the facts he was reading.

-The system presents a variant of geocentrism, with the satellite and the sun orbiting the planet through unknown means, possibly external influence from the planet itself. The sun shares exact proportions with the satellite, with an approximate diameter of less than a thousand kilometers (making the star the first stellar body discovered smaller than a planet), yet it appears to undergo a similar process to hydrogen fusion despite its lack of volume. Both objects are also closer to the planet than previously thought, several times closer than the average elipsis. Its suspected that the energy that mades them orbit the world it's also what anchors them to its orbit, since the planet's possesses an weaker than average gravity well.

'Uh, so I'll be even stronger inside atmosphere. I like that. Ok, moving on.'

-The unknown planet presents the common features of a world with animal and plant life: liquid water, landmasses separated by oceans and such. However, what makes it special is that one region has the weather controled by a local native species via the previously mentioned psionic-like energy.

-Continuing from above, the planet is inhabitated by at least a hundred sentient species, and most if not all of them resemble anthropomorphic animals like equines, bovids, felines... along creatures from fiction and hybrids.

There were several photos under the paragraph showing a member of each species, which indeed resembled either common animals, monsters from myth or a mix of both: ponies (multicolored equines with brand-like marks on the back of their hands), bovids (minotaurs), arthropods (which for some reason resembled the ponies a lot)... Furthermore, apparently the horses were divided in three subspecies, two of them with interesting characteristics: normal ponies (physically noninteresting besides their coloration, shared with the others), winged ponies (who obviously were able to fly thanks to their wings but somehow could also walk on clouds, as a large town in a cloud showed; maybe they were much lighter than they looked?) and horned ponies; all of them had some some kind of latent psionics, but only the unicorns could actually use it through their horns. He kept reading the report. The other fantastical species were half avians half felines (griffins), dragons (not giant therawyrms or animals that looked like dragons, actual flying, firebreathing lizards) and a plethora of others.

Praeratus kept reading, not interested on the locals themselves, but wanting to know if they could do anything to threaten the yet unmentioned objective.

-The technological tier of each species is varied, from medieval tools and hot air airships to skyscrapers and railroads. However, the complete lack of nuclear plants (probably because of the latent energy used by the locals renders it irrelevant) and artificial satellites puts the planet in the Machine Age.

Admitedly, the first part wasn't so shocking because, to be fair, half of the Confederal species resembled animals to a point too (therawyrms included), but few of them had tails (and therawyrm women had tits, making clear they weren't exactly reptiles). But a hundred sentient species living in the same planet... No species in the Milky Way had evolved to sapience alongside several others, not even uplifted ones; even different species evolving on the same star system was very rare.

And that was counting only the sentients. The fauna included definitely fantastical creatures: lion-bat-scorpion hybrids (manticores), multiheaded reptiles (hydrae), giant cliff dwelling morays (cliff moray), gigantic translucid bears nearly as big as titanic beasts (which he loathed due to the Hegemony use of them)... the list went on.

Unfortunately for the entire planet, none of those things were comparable to the freaks with the bounty. He had hunted many creatures throughout his hunting career, and even more soldiers and pirates on his military days.

But these things were different. Dangerous looking enough to give him a bad feeling.

The image of one the things in questions showed a 10 foot, vaguely reptilian creature with wickedly long claws on all its four limbs, a maw full of sharp teeth, spiked tail, white eyes full of something that could only be called rage and, given that it was surrounded by several floating corpses of loc-hanae lifted by a red glow, psionics (weak as they may be).

Praeratus read the information below the image:

-The creatures in question are biologically engineer living weapons designed to cause terror in enemy civilian zones and disrupt enemy logistics thanks to a combination of a healing factor, strength, natural armor and weapons, intelligence, permanent state of anger and red-tier psionics, and unless killed inmediately they'll grow stronger. The creatures were cryogenyzed and sent to a random planet of the Dwarf Galaxy after the War due to the inestability of the creatures. It was hoped that the container would be destroyed in route, but unfortunately recent investigations show that it not only landed in a planet with sapient life, but one of the weapons thawed and escaped cointainment, procceeding to effectively wipe out the largest military of the region before dying to its wounds and exhaustion. The goal of the objective should be obvious: eliminate the container before the surviving creatures can thaw and destroy all life in the planet. However, there might be a problem that could require the use of the supplied object.

The next image showed some kind of horned hybrid of an ape and a goat with hooves instead of feet, protuding tusks, blue skin and eyes, white fur and a long tail.

-The pod had been seen in proximity of the person shown. The unknown is some kind of warlord, possessing an army and in the middle of conquering one of the regions of the planet. What's worse is that this man may have an idea of the pod's use as a weapon, since the last recordings showed several beings of the same species hacking the container. The hull was made to resist reentry and impact, but repeated attacks from medieval weapons will breach the weakened hull.

Praeratus knew what the report was implying: kill the guy and his lackeys before they did something they would regret.

The last paragraph stated the reward for completing the mission: the previously known five million credits... and the opportunity to reenlist on the Confederal Military. The Confederation might not be able to enlist him without any reason, but as a reward? That didn't count.

On the other hand, it was the Confederal Command that made clear they wouldn't enlist him again, but that had been a long time ago, and this was a desperate.

And he also promised that he wouldn't risk his life. But she died.

He deactivated the datapad and looked at the armor stand that held his Centurion armor. Unlike the suit he was currently wearing it had a blue coloration and non-glowing, reflective visors, especifically made to mimick the armor worn by the warriors of ancient Kharan. Possessing an advanced energy shield and in-built weaponry, and enhancing a Centurion's physical capacities by a tenfold, the Centurion armor set was what made a Centurion a Centurion.

And he had made a promise to never wear it again, both to his commanders... and her. But if the creatures were indeed that dangerous he may need to put it on again.

The xeno-hunter looked down at Cyranus, who had finished eating and was staring back at him. Praeratus extended his hand and petted the gorgonops, who grunted happily at the gesture of affection.

“Cyranus, would you like to save a planet of primitives?”

Author's Note

Here it is, the first chapter of the story.

Edited a bit to rewrite the grammar and add the surname.

Edited again with the help of Cage_

Arrival to Canterlot

CLANG!

CLANG

CLANG!

Hammering and beating.

Those were the only sounds that could be heard in Canterlot at the moment. With the petrification of Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance, the capture of Princess Twilight and the theft of their magic, and the utter defeat of the Royal Guard, the poor enslaved citizens of the city thought that Equestria was doomed and that Storm King was unstopable, that the clanking coming from the plaza below the castle's courtyard was the preparation of weapons of destruction under a sky covered in

It was actually far worse than any weapon made or spell casted in Equestria. Or Equus for that matter.

It was a fool believing that he could control something that had been really close to destroying all life on the planet.

A couple dozen of particularly strong storm guards had been hitting a metallic object the size of a house (barely fifteen feet tall, but at least sixty long) they had found in a vault in the old Royal Pony Sisters castle on the Everfree Forest a couple days before the fall of Canterlot with hammers and picks to open it up, to see what it held inside. They only had two spare hours per day, and they weren't allowed to rest for eight hours (and thus had been working for at least 56 hours while watching or hearing their smaller peers enjoy the perks of being evil minions, like random acts of puppy kicking and urban vandalism), but since they didn't have anything else to do (Equestria had lost not just because of the surprise attack on Canterlot, but also because they were basically useless against anti-magical armor and creatures nearly twice their size, and the Royal Guard had never battled an actual enemy to begin with) and were loyal to their master, they didn't mind.

What they didn't know, but their master did, was that the moment the walls of the thing were opened they would used as a divertion (or maybe as sacrifice) to draw the demons out while their king used magic to make them submit to him.

Yes, demons. Whatever the thing was contained demons, because only a demon could be able of destroying the Equestrian's military might before expiring with nothing but claw, tooth and magic that turned soldiers insane and against each other or made them implode in a gory manner. And the monster that caused all those deaths nearly killed Celestia not with the destructive magic it possessed and used to cause uncountable deaths, but with a single slash of its claw. It had been so horrible that the alicorn had made Equestria believe that her army hadn't been destroyed by a singular monster, that they had died driving off an invasion of monsters from the Everfree Forest that appeared one day (why did the everyone fall for this, he didn't know, and didn't care). Even then, the trauma made Celestia have nightmares for a decade, nightmares of a red scaled monster slaughtering Equestria and then the world, but she conformted herself with the fact that it wouldn't happen again, having hiding the contraption and the journal in her hold castle to make sure nopony found out the truth.

At least, that was what the Storm King could collect from Celestia's journal, which was right now on his lap while he watched his soldiers hit the object from his throne (he was lazy and didn't want to stand like the common bad guy, so he ordered his soldiers to carry it out) on the castle's balcony.

But he knew better, for the simple fact that the thing had been made with technology, not magic. It was not a punishment to Celestia for banishing her sister, or dismishing the other races. It was a pod, an ALIEN pod. The monster inside? It could have been many things: the vanguard of an alien invasion, the invasion force itself, some kind of living weapon... It was difficult to know what aliens think (as for how he knew... he was deadly savvy about villainy, and had read a science fiction novel before, one from Abyssinia about magicless alien octopi invading the country in heat ray-toting tripods and slaughtering or harvesting the cats before dying to flu because they didn't have inmunity. Yeah, sure, an advanced race with superior technology and science ends up massacred by a common disease? Ha!).

Although it got right the pod part, thought the Storm King while mentally counting how many 10 feet tall freaks could fit inside a house-sized alien vehicle. Because if there was one there were more, and he would be the one to control them.

(Neither he nor his troops knew that they had been watched by the same aliens that created the monsters, but het, nobody's omnipotent).

On his right side stood his (loyal) right hand Tempest Shadow, a nearly six feet tall (nearly a foot taller than most mares, who were five feet tall on average; only Celestia was taller with five inches of height over her), dark lavender unicorn with dark pink mane and opal eyes (plus a scar on her left eye, which mare her look even more dangerous) which, due to an 'accident' on her childhood, had lost her horn (and received the scar) and therefore any hopes of using magic without blowing stuff up, having to traing her body to become a very skilled and strong hand to hand fighter. She also had a killer body (metaphorically speaking, since she hadn't killed anybody yet) with a bust of 40 inches, hips of 35, a waist of 35 again and a very toned flank, all of it supported by clearly muscled arms and legs. As for why he knew this, it was simply impossible to that kind of figure with the skin-tight suit he gave to her (she prefered to dodge attack rather than receive them fully; she was still a unicorn after all). The westler-like unicorn had become her most useful minion in exchange of having her horn restored with the Staff of Sacanas.

She was also quite antisocial, made even worse because she was very beautiful for other ponies (although not for the King nor the rest of his army), which tended to attract attention to her even when kicking flank.

On his left side, Grubber, some kind of light gray hedgehog or badger with electric blue eyes and a bluish tuff of hair on his back, who was his other important minion (because unlike a certain sentient stormcloud he didn't have ambitions of power and simply was there, making him the perftect advisor. He also idolized Tempest Shadow and wanted to be friends with her, something she hated, which in turn made Grubber sad, which in turn made the King happy). In contrast to Tempest he was short, pudgy, ugly overall and a coward, although some creatures considered him kinda cute, what with having the head of a pug.

Behind them stood four stormguards, two of them with red crests and red-fringed tails that denoted them as the personal guards of Tempest Shadow.

They all had been waiting for this moment, to control the 'demons' (his two most trusted minions knew the truth, but he had made them promise they would keep the charade up) with the magic stored in the Staff of Sacanas and obtain a way to conquer Equus without having to use an army that would definitely lose against angry birds, angry bugs, even angrier flying ovens, and yaks if he didn't use the Staff. On the other hand, the other threat to his future rule, the (sadly 'reformed') spirit of Chaos Discord. hadn't appeared, and the the Pillars of Equestria (somehow still alive) were at the moment exploring the world for some stupid reason. Still, if the old goat and those nags chose to help the ponies they would find themselves facing an unknown group of monsters from beyond space. And thanks to the Staff of Sacanas hehad the magic to submit their wills to him.

Admitedly, that's not how it all started. Before discovering that ruined castle in the Everfree Forest, he simply wanted to use the Staff of Sacanas to drain the alicorn princesses of their magic (after turning them to stone with Orbs of Darkness), using that power to do the same thing to other powerful casters and then rule the entire world of Equus.

And then, one day, his storm guards that were using the Everfree Forest to spy surrounding areas found the old Castle of the Royal Pony sisters... and on its depths, a hidden vault that contained a huge metal contraption and an old yet well preserved journal dating from about two hundreds years before. When his boys brought him the journal and the thing, he decided to modify his plans a little.

Sure, controlling the sun and the moon (as he had danced about it earlier that day) was an unexpected bonus, and having much more magic than anyone else in Equestria (and the mean to get even more magic) was neat since he simply loved being much more powerful than anyone else. But according to the journal, the monster who slaughtered the army wasn't simply resistant to magic, it was outright inmune: direct attacks from a several hundreds years old alicorn that could destroy a small mountain, and the aid of ten thousand trained stallions, had no effect at all on the thing other than angering it even more. And indirect magic (like grabbing a boulder and dropping it on the monster) was likewise useless because of its awesome toughness and strength and its healing powers, and the fact that it could simply catch it with its own magic and throw it back with much more force (she DID crush the monster to death with a boulder, but only after it sustained wounds that couldn't heal fast enough, and even then she crushed it until she exhausted her magic, which spoke volumes of its toughness and how desperate she was to kill it. Desperate and terrified).

Of course, the magic of a single pony princess might have been useless, but the magic of four? And with one of those princesses being the 'Element of Magic'? The things WOULD be his pets, whether they liked it or not. He only needed enough magic to breach their unnatural resistance to it. Besides, if the magic of four alicorns wouldn't do it, he could simply steal the magic of Discord (the moment he appeared in scene), powerful unicorns like Star Swirl (when he came back that's it), Starlight Glimmer or Trixie Lulamoon, who were in hiding (finding them would'nt be a problem since Equestria was completely under his yoke know)... or Tempest Shadow. She would become useless to him when he enslaved the aliens, she would betray him the moment she learnt that no amount of magic in the world could heal her broken horn, and she was after all just a useful pawn.

And to make sure he could escape if the Staff didn't have enough power, he had one of his airships prepared to lift off at the time. It was a fool-proof plan! All he needed was to wait for his brutes to break the walls of the pod and he'll have the best insurance a villain could have for his rule.

He still had a fool next to him though.

“So...” Said Grubber for the tenth time “, when will the demons come out? Because I'm hungry.”

“If you don't shut up, you'll be the first thing they'll eat.” Threatened Tempest Shadow in a calm tone. This made Grubber look away in and whistle.

Tempest snorted. The Storm King remembered that he promised he would heal her horn only after taking control of the demons.

The reminder made the king smile mentally She didn't know that he would use her as a living training dummy to see what the demons could do, having no intention of healing her horn. Even if he wanted to, that was an impossible task for even the magic of four alicorns. Healing magic simply did not exist; if it did, then hospitals wouldn't have been invented.

“Sorry, it's just I'm bored!” A couple seconds. “They have done nothing but beat that metal thingy for three days and it doesn't appear like it's even dented! Although I don't want to be near when it ends up opening.” he whispered the last part.

“Then help them open it!” Yelled Tempest.

The hedgehog gulped in fear and stared forward. The possibility of being near the thing just moments before the monsters broke free was enough to shut up Grubber for more than two seconds.

The Storm King stroke his chin while thinking. His lackey had a point, this was getting rather boring.

“Patience, they have been beating the thing two days straight and didn't look very sturdy when it was found, so I calculate it'll finally break today, no matter how it looks. But you have a point Grubber, this is getting boring.” He admitted. He then smiled. “And I know the perfect thing to alleviate it. Tempest, bring Princess Twinkleshine, inside the cage of course. I want to see her cry a bit more.” he ordered to Tempest Shadow, who complied and left with her personal guards. He then turned to the other two “As for you, bring Princess Stonelestia here. I want to test something.”

The storm guards nodded and hurried off to as they had been ordered. He didn't specify the speed, but it wasn't necessary; they had been somewhat scared of him before, and probably didn't want to find out what he could do with enough magic to move the sun and the moon at the same time.

“What are you going to do with them your majesty?” Asked Grubber.

“Simple: I''m going restore Celestia just to rub on her face that I'm going to enslave a bunch of the same thing that was THIS close to actually killing her,” While saying 'this' he made a pinching motion “, and set them loose on the rest on the world. And see who can cry more, her or the purple crybaby. And who knows, maybe we can use her as a distraction too.”

“But what if she tries anything? We don't have any Orbs of Darkness left, and we haven't made more of 'em since the attack.”

“With what? I drained her of her magic, and you know that, with some exceptions, ponies are practically useless without their magic: no strength, no flying, and no... well, magic in the case of unicorns. And that's without taking in account their tendency to fly the moment they see danger, again with some exceptions. Remember the Royal Guard?”

“Yeah, they were kinda pathetic.” Nodded Grubber. Admitedly the Royal Guard did fight a little at first, but since the storm guard armor and shields rendered their direct magic useless (and by extension forced the ground ponies and unicorns to fight against soldiers that were bigger, more skilled and better armed than them they), they ended up surrendering (although many pegasi wisened up and flied away, not that it helped against someone that had airships).

Several minutes later, Tempest and her guards came back draggin the cage holding Princess Twilight Sparkle, who was crying a river and speakign about 'failing friendship' and that stuff, and the other guards came with the black figure of the petrified Celestia. And what a figure it was, with wide hips and enormously sized breasts, each nearly as big as her head and always perky, with her body covered by a yellow one piece dress that also showed her legs and part of her thigs, and showing a good amount of cleavage, plus golden regalia and hoof shoes. The Storm King found her attire ridiculous, even if it wasn't that revealing, but apparently her subjects loved her as a maternal figure so much that lustful thoughts didn't exist. Too bad for her because he didn't see her like that either, he could have spared her if so.

“Well, time to wake up the sleeping beauty.”

The poor alicorn couldn't do nothing on her petrified state except think. She had hoped that Luna, Twilight and the rest had been able to escape capture to travel to Mount Aris, home of the hippogriffs, and ask for aid from her old friend and monarch of the hippogriffs, Queen Novo. The hippogriff queen was in possession of the Pearl of Transformation, a powerful transforming artifact that as it name implied had the power to transform those touched by its waves.

Unfortunately, she had been a statue for over three days straight, and got petrified before he could say 'hippogriff' completely. Knowing them, they would probably try to find the Queen of the Hippos. And as said before, that was three days ago (or even longer considering that she couldn't see anything on her current state). For all she knew they had been captured. Just to makes things worse, she felt her magic wane and dissappear earlier that day, which meant that somehow the one who attacked Canterlot had the power to move the sun and, given that Cadance had been petrified too (and probably Luna too), the capacity to do even more.

She would have continued thinking, but then a sudden light that made close her eyes and fall to the ground. She raised a hand to her head, groaning in discomfort.

Wait.

She could move! She wasn't stone anymore! That could only mean that Twiligth and the others had...!

Her joy disappeared when she heard a very familiar voice say“C-celestia?” while crying.

Opening her eyes, she saw Twilight inside a metal cage (and either the cage nullified magic, or Twilight's had been already drained, and the second possibility was the most likely one), with messy clothes and tears falling from her eyes. The sight broke Celestia's heart.

“Twilight!” Said she said while getting on her hooves and rushing to the cage, gripping its bars to comfort her fellow princess, ignoring the other observants in the place, who were looking at the display with either mirth (the Storm King), confusion (Grubber), indifference (the storm guards) or disgust (the unicorn with the broken horn).

“I failed Princess. I betrayed Queen Novo's trust, and the girls abandoned me. I failed Friendship!” cried Twlight before putting her head on her hands and sobbing. Celestia couldn't help except cry alongside her.

“I'm sorry Twilight.”

“Oh boo, poor little ponies who are sad for losing, bwah! I'ts making me cry crocodile tears.” Said the Storm King while wiping away an imaginary tear.

Celestia wiped her own tears away and got up slowly while facing him, glaring daggers and spreading her wings in anger (she may have been unable to fly without magic, but she wanted to make clear she was not going to cower like a coward). Putting aside that there was a pony wearing armor with the symbol of the villain amongst them, she spoke:

“I don't know who you are, and I don't know what do you want with our magic, but as long as there's hope you'll never...” She said before trailing off when she saw with widening eyes what the ape-like creature had on his hands.

“Oh, so you rememeber this little thing eh?” Smirked the brute. “I found it in a certain abandoned castle located in the middle of a certain forest where the weather is uncontrollable and the animals take care of themselves.” His smirk became a smile and then a grin when he saw Celestia's eyes widen to their limit, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks and her press her body to the cage with all the strength she had. She hid the darn thing so well she forgot where she hid it! “I forgot to introduce myself: I'm the Storm King, future overlord of the entire world. These are Tempest Shadow, a unicorn who got cured of things like friendship and goodness, and Grubber who... well, is.” He said while hugging his two underlings and lifting them off the ground, making the unicorn called Tempest Shadow (who she realized had her horn broken) uncomfortable and asphyxiating the hedgehog. He then released them and smiled.

“And guess what else I found in a vault so well hidden that it was only found by sheer luck?”

At that point Twilight had already stopped crying, watching with reddened eyes as her beloved mentor turned from defiant to scared to death, which in turn scared the purple alicorn. She had seen Celestia angry or scared before, but never terrified like that.

It was at that moment that Celestia heard the sound of something metallic and hollow getting beaten by weapons.

“No.” Whispered Celestia when he looked over the railing of the balcony and saw the thing that gave her nightmares centuries ago being beaten by large brutes wielding hammers and pickaxes.

“Yes! I know about the demons!” Shouted the Storm King triumphantly. “And thanks to your and your fellow princesses I have the magic to control them.”

“D-demons?” Celestia heard Twilight say behind her, but she was too scared to turn to look at her former pupil.

“There was only one...” muttered the alicorn in a tone between horrified and shocked.

“Girl, have you seen the size of that thing? It's big enough to hold at least ten monsters, maybe even more if they are cramped. I've made the maths and I'm sure it has at least ten things inside, nine not counting the one that nearly killed you and destroyed your army.”

It was at that moment that Twilight spoke, concerned for her former teacher who had started to shiver in fear. She did know about the sacrifice of the Royal Army fighting off an horde of monsters that came from the Everfree Forest, and that they would be remembered, but that was it.

“Princess, what's he talking about?” she asked to her mentor, who looked at her with dread.

“Your precious princess has been lying to you all these years little girl!” laughed the Storm King. “Her precious toy soldiers hadn't been killed by monsters in plural. Here,” he said while throwing the journal to Twilight “, start reading from the marked pages.”

The princess, wanting to know what was he talking about and terrified Celestia, did as she was told

What she read shocked her to the core.

“A... a single monster... Celestia is this true!?” Asked Twilight to the alabaster alicorn, who shakily nodded in confirmation.

“Yes, just a demon was needed to annihilate the predecessors of the Royal Guard and nearly kill your precious Princess of the Sun! And it wasn't just your average bog standard freak, no!” Explained the Storm King in an excited tone. “It had magic, and I don't mean the scrappy lightshows and rainbows you call 'magic'. Its magic turned those idiots in berserkers that tore each other to shreds, or grabbed them by the dozen and crushed them like grapes. And guess what? I'm gonna make them my pets! I'll even give them names, like Diablo or Harbinger!”

“You won't be able of controlling them.” Whispered Celestia staring at the thing with dead eyes, silently praying that there were no more demons still inside. “The magic of thousands of unicorns and an alicorn did nothing to one. Several will kill us all.”

“Puh-lease, why do you think I have THIS.” With that the Storm King showed her the Staff of Sacanas, snapping her of her fear and making her gasp. The Staff of Sacanas, able to drain any creature of its magic! Now she knew what happened to her magic.

“Where did you get that Staff!?”

“I'm not going to tell you anything whitey, but I'm going to tell you this.” Said the Storm Kign while approaching the alicorn and forcing her to press on the bars of Twilight's cage. “Your magic might have been nigh useless against that demon, but that was because you were only one simple alicorn who wanted to slay it instead of control it. Now, quick question: what would happen if I insert the magic of four alicorns in this staff, on of them being the Princess of Magic, and add a distraction in the form of twenty peons as both bait and distraction?” Seeing the princess expression he raised his arms: “An unstoppable force of monsters under my command! Nobody will be able to stop me because they will be busy eating each other's faces or being mauled by 10 feet tall monsters from space! Not even the Dragonlands will be safe from my future pets. And all thanks to you ponies!” He then started to laugh maniacally.

However, before he could continue speaking about his future conquests, a voice coming below the group spoke:

“Bait!?” It was one of the large brutes that had been beating the object, looking up towards them direction with the others and glaring at his king. Nopony knew how did they heard their king speak from that distance.

“Crud.” muttered the Storm King.

“We don't want to get eaten by demons, or worse!”

“Yeah! Our lives and our butts are literally the only things we have! They may not be much, but we don't want to lose them!”

Celestia started to feel hope. Maybe the minions would betray their master, and since they had anti magical armor and weapons they could serve as a diversion to free Twilight, grab the Staff, defeat the Storm King and his forces and then release Cadance and Luna and restore Canterlot!

Unfortunately, she didn't take in consideration the loyalty of the brutes. Or their awareness.

“Your great evilness, I volunteer those red boys as bait!” Said one of the stormguards while pointing at Tempest's own guards. “They do nothing except follow Tempest Shadow around while not doing anything to advance our cause!”

“Now that you say it, yeah, I don't think they have done anything of use.” agreed tyrant while stroking his chin in thought. “Although their lack in bulk might reduce the distraction time I need to use the Staff.”

Tempest bodyguards gasped in fear. Tempest herself, however, simply scowled without bothering to even look at them, indifferent to the fact that they would very possibly end as alien food.

“H-hey, why don't you use the pretty pony princesses as bait for the demons while the others get the heck out of dodge when they get out? We're all more valuable than them, they do nothing!” That statement made Twilight gasp, Celestia freeze, and the Storm King think.

“Well, you make some points, but as I said before their smaller size might not be enough to distract the...” Said the Storm King before being interrupted by a sound similar to a thunderclap. The sound had been so sudden that everyone present, excluding Tempest and the Storm King, jumped startled out of their wits.

“What the heck was that!?” Exclaimed Grubber, who had been catched by one of the storm guards.

“Bah, it's probably just a storm.” Dismissed the Storm King before his eyes widened when he realized that nopony was managing the sky. “Wait, where are the thunderclouds? Because that wasn't me.” He looked at the Staff with puzzlemen. “I think.”

“Maybe it was a cannon?” Added Grubber.

“Cannons, in Equestria?” Said Tempest Shadow in a doubtful tone. Her skepticism was due to the fact that cannons were practically non existent in Equestria because Celestia never liked them due to their capacity for destruction. Other countries, however, fielded them in battle, although none had ever been shot to kill, only to intimidate and inspire fear.

“That pink pony had one with her remember?”

“Yes, but it shot cakes, not cannonballs.” Replied Tempest before another 'thunderclap' was heard.

“Wait, did you see that?” Said Twilight.

“See what?”

“There was some kind of purple magic bolt in the sky.”

“Magic? Boys, did you do as I said with the unicorns?”

“Of course your majesty!”

Everyone looked at the sky. and sure enough, when they heard the next thunderclap they saw it: a brief but bright pulse of violet energy in the sky. At first they didn't know what to make of it. That was until they saw one pulse hitting the pinnacle of Celestia's tower, sending debris falling to the ground and covering the group in dust, leaving them all agape in fear/unease/awe/envy.

“W-what did just happen!?” Stuttered one of the storm guards. “Those weren't magic projectiles! We made sure that the unicorns had nullifiers!”

“I don't think it was magic. It simply didn't look like a magic bolt.” Said Twilight in a low tone, attracting the attention on her. “And those 'bolts' struck anything in their path instantaneously, as if they were as fast as light.”

“As fast as light?” Said one of the storm guards. “Like a heat ray?”

“You read that stupid book?”

“Hey, when you get bored of magic you start reading about other planets and killer tripods.”

The Storm King narrowed his eyes at that, but only Celestia saw it.

'What, jealous that somepony else can do that you bucking monster?', Celestia thought angrily before looking more closely. 'Wait, you're not jealous. You're angry.'

“It's the aliens! They want their monsters back!” Screamed Grubber before grabbing his mouth, eyes widened in shock. 'I've spilled the beans', he thought.

“Aliens? What aliens? What are you talking about?”

“Aliens and demons!? Now we're definitely doomed!” Shouted one of the brutes before noticing something. “Am I the only one hearing someone screaming?”

“What do you...”

“...aaaaaAAAA-” BRAK! Something fell in the middle of the courtyard, making them jump in fright.

Twilight was the first one to see what it was, screaming in horror at the sight of the splatered corpse of a dead storm guard, bones sticking from his body and blood oozing out slowly from the mouth and eyes. They could even see his guts unrolling out of his belly and one of his eyes hanging from its eyesocket.

Grubber did as Twilight and screamed, Tempest Shadow recoiled in horror and disgust, the guards turned green and removed their face plates to empty their stomachs, and Celestia froze again, staring at the corpse while rememorating the battle of two hundred years ago that left hundreds of stallions in a similar state (although mostly by the use of claws and teeth).

The Storm King, on the other hand, approached the dead guard and inspetcted it, touching the corpse with the Staff of Sacanas.

“Mmm, it appears that this guard has been launched towards the sky by something, or someone, with prodigious strength, rising to a height of several hundred feet before falling down and hitting the ground at a speed of several tens per second. He does present the usual marks of a very severe beatdown, but those wounds are from the fall, not from a beating.”

“That's nice and all” Said Tempest in a calm tone. “But all I'm seeing right now is A BUCKING CORPSE SPLATTERED LIKE A BUCKING WATER BALLOON! HOW DOES KNOWING HOW HE DIED HELP!?” She screamed. She had never screamed at her master for several reasons (one of them fear), but right now she didn't care.

“Well, for starters it means that whatever or whoever killed him didn't use weapons nor his arms, but magic, and if you did your jobs the it's not pony magic. And I'm pretty sure that not many ponies have killer intent either.”

They may not had killer intent, but they sure has hay had big lungs for such small creatures, because soon the ones present started to hear the screams of horror of the citizens of Canterlot.

Soon however, sounds of a different kind began to accompany the screams: battlecries, yells of pain, bones snapping, the thunderclaps from before, and the roars of an unknown monster. Eventually, some citizens (the few that didn't have chains on them) came running from the main part of Canterlot, none even looking up to see their beloved princesses or the feared conquerors of the country, running past the confused storm guards and the object, all of them running across the plaza to to find shelter in their homes. Even worse, alongside them were a couple of common storm guards, lacking their armor and weapons, scared out of their minds.That meant that whatever was happening, it wasn't good for the Storm King's forces.

“Hey, where are you going!?” Screamed the Storm King to his fleeing troops, who kept ignoring him. “Get back here and... Well, stand around?” He looked around and realized that they were alone in the castle.

Something was certain in the minds of all present creatures: those ponies and guards had been spooked by something. But what? And where was it?

“What are the running away from?” Whispered Twilight fearfully, was pressing her body against the bars of her cage to put the most distance between her and the corpse.

Before the Storm King could say something, they heard another sound, and this time it was a sound they all recognized.

Footsteps.

Two sets of footsteps that to be precise. The first set seemed like it came from a pair of heavy armored boots, regular and steady, whereas the second set appeared to come from a large quadrupedal animal, maybe a large bear, slow but heavy.

“Look over there.” Whispered Grubber while pointing to a spot between the buildings, eyes wide in fear. “It's the aliens.”

The group could do nothing but gasp with widening eyes as they saw the ones who were making that stepping enter the plaza from the direction the ponies from before came from and ignoring the bewildered brutes, stopping only when they exactly below the Storm King and the others.

The animal was definitely big (larger in fact than a bear), and kinda looked like something from their world, looking like a non-magical hybrid between a canine (shape of the head, body covered in brown fur, mammalian gait and eyes) and some kind of reptile (a pair of long fangs protruding from its upper jaw, sharp non-retractable claws, bony ridges along its body and a non-flexible tail), but its mouth was covered in fresh blood. Unlike its master, the animal had stopped walking when they reached the metal thing, standing near it and growling menacingly at the storm brutes, who stepped back in frigh, fearful of the blood-splattered monster.

The bipedal figure (maybe the owner or master of the monster), on the other hand, was definitely not from Equus. It (with all that armor it was difficult to see if it was a mare or a stallion) was large, (a couple inches taller than seven feet, and very stocky), lacked a tail (something that was practically the norm among the races of Equus) and wore a suit of black armor that hid his identity (and gender) yet clearly showed that it was powerfully built. The helmet in particular had two slits that glowed red like demonic eyes. With its left hand/claw he held a strange-looking weapon that was eerily similar to a shrunken cannon.

It was an alien

And the way it stood made pretty clear that it was angry.

Neither party did anything except stare at the other for several minutes until the alien crouched and, with the help of some kind of rockets on the shoulders of its armor, gave a jump much higher than any creature of Equus could have been able to do, well above seventy feet above the balcony. The group ran away from the railing (minus Twilight, who was in her cage and in shock of the appareance of the armored unknown, and Celestia, who didn't want to leave Twilight's side and was also in awe) when they realized that the alien would land where they stood. Tempest, Grubber and the storm guards ran back to the Storm King when it did, breaking the tiles and shaking the balcony from the strength of the landing. The Storm King, on the other hand, simply looked at the alien with bored eyes.

The alicorns watched in fear as the alien walked towards them with its weapon in hand, and stopped when it reached Twilight's cage.

“Are you by any chance Twilight Sparkle?” Asked the alien in a terrifying voice that sounded like it was distorted.

Celestia shook off her fear and put herself between Twilight and the alien warrior, glaring at its 'eyes' and standing defiant (despite the fact that it was at least a head taller than her and twice as wide) and making clear she wouldn't let it do whatever it wanted to do with her former student.

“Whatever you want to do, I will not let you touch her.” Threatened the alicorn to the much larger being.

The alien sighed, grabbed her shoulder with his free hand and... pushed her aside with care, surprisinng her, before grabbing the bars of the cage with and lightly pull them out, tearing them off the cage like twigs. Twilight didn't waste time and sped out of the open cage to hug the alabaster alicorn for half a minute. Both princesses glanced at the alien.

“Spike asked me to get you out of trouble.” Said the alien, causing Twilight to smile and cry, this time tears of happines.

“Thank you.” Thanked Celestia with a smile.

The alien looked at Celestia in the eye and retracted its helmet, shocking the creatures present with his now revealed identity and gender.

He was a reptilian being with one closed eye that looked a lot like a dragon with the shape of his head and the black scales, but his open eye had round pupils instead of slitted ones, his scales were more skin-like, and he was clearly smaller than the average dragon: he was clearly clearly an adult, and bigger than any teenage dragon, but the average adult dragon was thirty feet tall and fifty feet long (although if he had been that tall he would weighed at least three times more than a dragon... and that was without that heavy-looking armor he wore).

And his eye... She always thought that eyes were the windows to one's soul, and most of her enemies (King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek...) had unnatural ones that usually denoted a sense of superiority, selfishness, megalomania, insanity...

The black pupil and white sclera of the warrior, on the other hand, showed intelligence, determination, stoicism, calculation... all of it masking sadness.

“You're welcome.” Smiled back the alien with an unaltered deep baritone voice, making her blush, before the Storm King moaned in disgust:

The alien warrior glared at the tyrant and extended his hands towards him, surprising everyone when the Storm King, who dropped the Staff of Sacanas, was suddenly surrounded by a purple glow (similar to Twilight's telekinesis, noted Celestia) and pulled towards the alien's extended arm, who grabbed his neck.

“YOU.”

“Yes, o angry one?” Replied the Storm King without fear despite the fact that a huge alien dragon capable of using magic had his hand on his neck “Am I in trouble or what. Because I don't think I have done nothing wrong. I am a bad guy after all.” He smiled smugly.

“You son of a bitch.” Replied the alien before putting pressure and strangulating the Storm King. “Give me a reason to not rip your head from your shoulders and feed it to my gorgonops.”

Throughout all his life and career as both Centurion and xeno-hunter, Praeratus had seen many atrocious things that sickened him: cannibalism for pleasure and not for survival, terrorist attacks (which in those days meant the use of fusion devices and sabotaging of orbial weapons), doing horrible things in the name of your non-existant gods, the abuse of children in general...

However, none disgusted him more than slavery.

When he arrived to the Dwarf Galaxy through the worm hole he didn't waste time and went straight for the planet using his warp drive (no hyperlanes to travel through with) to avoid being detected by the local Hegemony outposts and draw their attention. It may have not been listed in the datapad, but Praeratus knew that the real goal of the bounty was to stop that ape-like alien from awakening the cryogenized creatures not just to save the unnamed planet, but also to make sure that the Hegemony didn't discover the existance of the living weapons and start another war. He wanted to kill Hegemony grunts just as every veteran of that war (not all of them were therawyrms), but everyone agreed that breaking the peace that cost so many lives wasn't worth it.

Interestingly, when he finally reached system he saw that the planet's orbiting moon and sun appeared had stopped moving, leaving with part of the planet in perpetual day and the rest in continual night. Maybe it had to do with that warlord that discovered the container.

After landing his ship on the mountain from which the city hanged (for some reason no one had noticed it landing, but that was probably because no species had invented even radio detection devices and despite having radios and hey, the longer it took the natives to notice an alien ship on their world the better) where the objective of the mission would arrive soon (apparently he wasn't part of the invasion force), Praeratus decided to see explore the city and the surrounding country with a drone equipped with a cloaking generator, knowing that the primitives had no way to discover the machine.

The report about the planet was right about the warying technology tier: many houses were mostly built out of wood, the roads were paved with stone and rickshaws (they didn't appear to use beasts of burden for transportation) were everywhere, yet he could also see trains and railroads, primitive home appliances (washing machines, fridges and such, although televisors were notably absent and the radios were quite rudimentary), arcade machines of all things, and such.

However, when he saw what the invading army did to the locals made his blood boil with rage and press the control of the drone so hard it nearly broke.

Slaves. Pony slaves. And many of them were children. Scared children... The last time he had seen something like this had been during the Hegemony War, with many of those slaves being used not just as workers, but also as slave troops and living shields against the Confederation (although the latter use had been abandoned after when the Confederated Military got desperate and attacked anyway), with the rest simply tortured and killed in retaliation. The Confederation also killed and tortured many of their Hegemony prisoners, but didn't use use them as cannon fodder.

These slaves, however, had it better and worse. Better because besides manual labour they simply cowered with fear, and worse because they were used as playthings. Not 'playthings' as in sexual objects, playthings as actual playthings! He even saw one of those xenos using a pony like a damn ottoman for support its feet for fuck's sake!

He would do something with three goals in mind: learn the language of the locals, gather information about what was going on, and scare the furry frackers shitless. However, instead of going it that same moment he waited until the next day to act, exploring the place some more to search the entrance of the hanging city (jumping from the mountain would have been one hell of an entrance, but he didn't want to land in the middle of a invader army; even if their weapons were medieval at best and unable to damage the sets of armor he had, did not have any way to counter his psionics (unless they had lead helmets dense enough to break their bodies, and even then it would only block mind-related powers), and were simply crappy overall, he was still one against a few hundred at least. He had worse odds in the past, but those times he didn't have to deal with collateral damage.

When found one, more specifically the paved road that went into the city, he donned his xeno-hunter armor (it was an intimidating set of black-coloured plates and red eye slits; the materials used on its making, nanofibers and such, enhanced his strength and speed twofold, plus had jump thrusters placed on the shoulders, all of it costing as much as a armed starship; despite the cost and the perks, however, it was not even half as powerful as his Centurion power armor, which beside being better in all the ways it also had a personal shield generator. However, he didn't want to use it except for really, REALLY dire situations in which he needed to be ten times as strong), grabbed a laser rifle (he had quite an arsenal composed of both kinetic and energy weapons stronger than it, but the lightspeed pulses of the rifle could destroy all conventional armor sets from the Confederation in a few shots, shields included; he could also change its shots from red, which was lethal, to violet, which was anti materiel) and equipped his energy blade, attaching it to his right wrist. After that he secured the ship, released his ATV and left.

While he left, the sun and the moon of the planet went wonky, rising and setting rapidly for several minutes; despite this, however, he ignored them, knowing that he was in a galaxy full of strange(r) things.

He drove down the mountain at a speed of 70 mph with Cyranus riding shotgun. The ride went smoothly until they arrived to a subjugated village... with all its inhabitants forced to build a stone statue of the 'Storm King' (the name of the fracker who orchestrated all of this) under the painful whipping of the invaders, from whom some were laughing. And some were children.

'The hell I'm gonna let that pass', he thought before acting.

He made his presence known by running over three invaders, shocking the present natives; Cyranus followed suit by jumping out of the car and mauling an entire group by himself. The rest shook off their astonishment and attacked, but Praeratus simply mowed them down with with a three-round burst of the machine gun of the ATV.

All of this in less than twenty seconds, after which Praeratus procceeded to free the chained slaves. However, rather than thanking him (or dropping on their kness and worshipping him, which was a possibility), they all ran inside their houses while screaming. Praeratus sighed, but acknowledged this (he already knew he would be terrifying to the natives of the country, especially since they were apparently quite skittish; but a 'thank you' would have been nice, even if he wouldn't have understood them. He also forgot to read their minds to acquire knowledge of their language), piled the dead guards in a giant pile to disintegrate them, and drove away from the village in direction of the city with the giant palace.

After running over and gunning down a couple of patrols ,the pair reached the main entrance to the city. When they passed through the gates (this time the guards were fast and smart enough to get away) and into the place, the first thing he saw pissed him off.

A maroon cat with green eyes (and with a head full of indigo hair that was pretty damn weird on him, since he literally looked more like a humanoid bipedal cat than a cat-like feline alien), wearing only a jacket and daisy duke-like pants, was talking with the guards posted at the gate. That wasn't what pissed off Praeratus, but rather, the cart with the giant cake the cat that had with five ponies (two pegasi, two normal ponies and a unicorn) pulling it with miserable looks, plus all the other chained ponies he could see from his position, with many of them outfitted with muzzle-like contraptions that covered their mouths.

But that was not the worst.

The worst was the small, purple dragon with green fins at the top of the cake, blowing green fire and standing still like some kind of living candle. The sight of a boy so disturbingly similar to a therawyrm being used as a damn object was rage-inducing enough, but the fact that said kid looked like he wasn't even ten years old... That brought him memories of the Hegemony War. BAD memories that included felines gunning down civilians.

(If he hadn't been so pissed off he would have seen that the ponies were simply faking their despairing, and badly; and that the 'cake' had a pair of eyeballs on its side. Living eyeballs.)

Several moments of silent shock later, one of the guards regained his bearings. The hairy brute shouted and stomped towards his vehicle, pointing his spear on Praeratus's window and spouting in that untelligible language, probably ordering him to drop his weird looking weapon. Cyranus growled and crouched low to lunge at the alien, but a look from Praeratus made him stop.

Praeratus then looked stepped out of his car, looked at the guard at the guard and retracted his helmet (psionics tended to backfire a lot if used within enclosed armor), shocking the aliens when they saw he was basically a dragon (especially the purple boy)... before grabbing the guard with his psionics, ripping out all the important knowledge he had on his mind (language, name and appareance of the important people, all that) and, after basically mind raping the xeno, launching him upwards at a speed of over thirty meters per second, screaming bloody murder all the way.

Cyranus didn't waste a second and proceeded pounced on one of the other guards, tearing him apart with claws and teeth. The sight of a predator the size of a bull mauling another being horrified the ponies (whose species were in fact called ponies), who ran away screaming (or at least the ones without chains) alongside a few storm guards (as that's what were they called). The other ignored them and attacked the pair, only to find out that the monster was simply too savage and the dragon-like creature had both telekinetic powers and a weapon that spat deadly pulses of light. When Cyranus bit the neck of the last living guard, the fight ended. Praeratus, after incinerating the corpses with the laser, stomped towards the terrified cat, and before he could talk the therawyrm grabbed him by the neck with just two fingers and lifted him up, watching the bag of fur gasp for air.

“Scum like you should burn. In. HELL.” Praeratus punctuated with a snarl that showed his sharp teeth while pressing the cat's neck. "Like the others."

However, before he could behead the fracker, one of the ponies (the white unicorn with purple hair and with a mark of diamonds) screamed “Leave him alone you monster!” and shot him an energy bolt from her hands towards his head... which did utterly nothing to the therawyrm when it connected, harmlessly fizzling and disappearing.

Praeratus dropped the cat and turned to glare at the ungrateful bitch, who went from angry to terrified when she realized that she had angered a 7 feet tall creature that just slaughtered a dozen of guards with some kind of weapons and had just shrugged a magic projectile.

Suddenly, the cake the ponies were pulling exploded outwards, revealed to be the hiding place of a bunch of avian humanoids with reptilian tails dressed in stereotypical ancient pirate outfits and wielding cutlasses (but interestingly no archetypical pistols or shoulder animal, although most of them looked a lot like green psittaca, which in turn resembled parrots) and lead by a female of their species (at least he thought they were same species, because she looked more like a paradise bird, possessed a pair of ears and lacked the lizard tail) with a green crystal as a pegleg and a tricorn.

Alongside them also came another female avian with butter plumage, but this one looked like the bird-feline hybrids from the report, only instead of a feline her lower part was of a pony, in addition of an equine mane and tail of lavender. Her clothes were minimalist, the kind of clothing wore by those who love to swim, with a white t-shirt and shorts.

All of them (except the purple boy, who was still in the top of the cake) attacked him, screaming at the top of their lungs. Bad idea when the only weapons you have to fight a xeno-hunter outfitted with heavy armor are steel swords and a toy cannon.

He grabbed the cyan pegasus with the rainbow-colored mane and the cloud mark by the face and slammed her to the ground, slapped away the pirate captain so hard that her beak bled (which in turn showed how much Praeratus restrained himself with them; otherwise he would have ripped AND pulverized her head), grabbed the lasso of the orange one (who was dressed like a cowboy, and whose mark was three red apples) and used her as a flail to hit the others... The pink pony (with three balloons as a mark) shot him with some kind of cannon that shot sweets and cakes, and she in turn ate a 'knuckle sandwich' courtesy of a puppeteered white unicorn.

“Rarity, what are you doing!?” Screamed the pink pony.

“I can't control myself! It's using some...!” She said before uppercutting herself.

“I'm a HE, you stupid primitive!” Shouted Praeratus (he would have used a more rude expletive, but there was a kid near; admitedly, swearing was quite worse than killing, but he was too pissed off to care) before using his psionics to lift all of them and slam them to ground. All of them except the butter pegasus with a pink and a mark of three butterflies, who until know had been cowering under the cart alongside the little dragon. When she saw her friends forced to the ground by a purple force, however, she got out of her hiding spot with amazing speed and put herself between them and Praeratus, glaring up at him.

“HOW DARE YOU!” She screamed. “WE HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU AND yet... you... go and...” She stopped talking altogether when she realized that Praeratus was glaring back, and when a seven feet tall, one-eyed black therawyrm who's also a psionic able to lift tanks is glaring at you, you might as well be dead.

The worst was that Praeratus wasn't even using his psionics to diminish her bravery.

“Dare I?” Whispered Praeratus while turning around and lifting the cat again, this time with his psionics. “I rescue you from this piece of filth “continued Praeratus before turning sharply towards them and roaring “, AND THIS IS HOW YOU UNGRATEFUL ALIENS THANK ME!?”

He turned again towards the terrified cat, who despite all his squirming and struggling couldn't simply free himself, and was about to vaporize his head with the rifle before a young voice screamed:

“WAIT!” He turned again and saw it was the young dragon, who got up from below the cart and walked towards him with raised hands. “He's not a bad guy!”

“Spike no!” Cried the white unicorn

Praeratus glare practically evaporated when he saw the scared expression of the boy, Spike, and when he got closer the therawyrm knelt to his level (or at least only one foot taller) to look less threatening to him.

“And how's that, boy?” Asked Praeratus in a calm tone. “What I saw tells me otherwise. You were a living candle for a giant cake for heaven's sake.”

“It was a disguise! To enter Canterlot unnoticed!” Explained Spike. “Our friend Capper was trying to get us in the city!”

Praeratus looked back to the cat, Capper, who hastily nodded.

“And why do you want to infiltrate the city?” Questioned Praeratus, but rather than the dragon, it was the pink pony who answered him.

“To rescue a friend captured by the Storm King's lackey to steal her magic!”

“And why does he want her magic?”

“To control the world, you doofus!” Replied the cyan pegasus. “He already has the magic of the other princesses and can control the sun and the moon!”

The moon and the sun?, thought Praeratus. He already knew about this 'magic', so didn't question it. That would explain their weird movements from earlier.

Wait a minute...

“Are you guys telling that one of your rulers has the capacity to blackmail the other countries by controlling something vital for most living organisms?”

Before the ponies could complain, Praeratus got up. “Nevermind. I'm not here to talk, I'm on this planet to do a job, and the longer I'm here with you the more time they'll have to break out and destroy all life on this planet.”

“Destroy all life?” Said Capper in a puzzled tone.

“Wait, 'on this planet'?” Wondered the hybrid girl. Like an alien? You're just a weird dragon!”

“I'm a dragon-LIKE alien, miss horsey-bird, not even a true reptile, so don't expect from me to breathe fire except THIS” He said while hefting his rifle. “,and no tail or wings either. And my name is not 'it', Rarity” he snapped to the white unicorn who flinched at his tone.”, it's Praeratus. And I'm here to fix the Confederation mistakes.” He replied before moving away.

“What are you talking about?”

“The less you know, the better. Cyranus, follow me!” The pair were about to enter the city truly when Spike stopped him again.

“Wait!”

“What know?”

“Could you rescue our friend for us, please? She's called Twilight Sparkle and is a purple alicorn with sparks as a Cutie Mark. She's practically my sister, and she got captured because of me.” Said Spike while tearing up.

Praeratus crouched in front of the purple dragon to wipe away his tears (and take advantage of the physical contact to modify his memory, altering the violence he had seen but making him only remember it happened.

“I'll make sure to save her kid.” With that he detracted his helmet turned to his gorgonops. “C'mon Cyranus, forward march!” And the xeno-hunter went deeper into the city in a light jog in direction to the castle, with his 'hound' at his side.

While on route to the large building, the encountered many other ponies and stormg guards; the former ran away at the sight of the stomping aliens (the ones unchained that's it; the rest simply screamed and stood away from their path), while the latter tried to attack the. The key word being 'tried', since Praeratus didn't even slow down when either throwing them away with psionics or simply slamming into them. Cyranus did the same, not stopping while biting the leg off a storm guard and not even licking the blood on his muzzle.

When Praeratus saw that he was close to the castle he went from a light jog to a simple walk, and Cyranus imitated him. Entering into the plaza in front of the palace and below a huge balcony, Praeratus saw the containing pod that held part of bounty surrounded by larger than average storm guards, all of them wielding either hammers or pickaxes and looking at him warily. Cyranus stopped near the the cntainer and growled at the nearest brutes; Praeratus, however, kept going towards the balcony, ignoring the wary storm guards who were clutching their weapons while keeping away from his gorgonops.

Looking up at the occupants of the balcony (the Storm King, some kind of hedgehog, a few storm guards, a taller than average dark lavender unicorn with a broken horn and an even taller pearly white unicorn with a multicolored mane, all of them but the titular king looking at him with fear or awe), Praeratus crouched and activated the shoulder thrusters to jump. The low gravity of the planet, the enhancements of the xeno-hunting suit and his own physical strength allowed him him jump three times his own height without aid, but the balcony was so high that he needed the boost from the thrusters to reach it.

The natives ran back when Praeratus was about twenty meters above the railing and mere seconds before he landed on the structure, cracking the stone and making the balcony shake with the force and his weight, but he saw that the white alicorn stayed near a cage with another, smaller and younger looking alicorn inside. A lavender alicorn with sparks (he remember they were called a Cutie Mark) on the back of her hands, just like Spike described her.

Approaching the cage with the quivering girl, Praeratus saw that it didn't look very sturdy and decided that the best way to free the purple pony would be simply ripping the bars out with his hands. Mere feet from it, he asked to the scared pony:

“Are you by chance Twilight Sparkle?” He said using his voice filter, not yet willing to reveal his identity.

However, before she could had said anything, the white alicorn put herself between between the cage and Praeratus and flared her wings, glaring up at him in the visors.

“Whatever you want to do, I won't let you touch her.” Threatened the alicorn.

Now that he was closer could inspect the woman's features: she was tall (not as tall as him but at least as tall as the average human male, and definitely taller than all the other ponies he had seen previously, even the males), with the aforementioned alabaster fur and beautiful magenta eyes. Her muzzle and proportions were longer and sleeker than the average pony's, and her horn and wings were also longer and larger respectively than the ones from unicorns and pegasi, with the latter looking like they could actually keep her in the air and the former sharp enough to poke an eye out. Her

As for her other features, her Cuite Mark was that of a stylized sun (which revealed her role as controller of the star that orbited the planet), and she wore a single piece dress coupled with golden regalia in the form of bracelets and her tiara, plus horse shoes that may had been the equivalent of heels for hoofed creatures.

What attracted his attention the most was, unfortunately, her cleavage (although not just because he was a man), which showed the biggest and perkiest pair of breasts he had ever seen on a woman with that height. Those things had to be approximately as big as her head. Good thing he had the helmet on, or else she would have seen his eye drift towards her cleavage and probably see him as a pervert.

Sadly, he had chosen to forego other romantic relationships a long time ago.

The staredown lasted only a two seconds, before Praeratus grabbed the shoulder of the alicorn with his free hand and pushed her gently to the side, surprising her, before opening the cage with his bare hands. Twilight quickly got up and ran towards the white alicorn, hugging her while crying. He let them have their intimate moment: apparently the white one was either Twilight's mother or someone very near. Of course, she had someone else wanting her back.

When they finally looked up at him, he decided to remind Twilight of her 'little brother' and demonstrate that he was, if not a friend, an ally at least.

“Spike asked me to get you out of trouble.” He informed, watching the young woman tear up again and smile. The older alicorn looked up again.

“Thank you.” She said in a weak voice while smiling. Praeratus had always responded to being shown kindness by being kind in return, so he retracted his helmet, shocking everyone present by showing his dragon-like head. He looked at the woman straight in the eye for several silent moments, seeing awe and curiosity on them.

“You're welcome.” He said while smiling back. To his (hidden) surprised, the alicorn blushed.

“Oh, great, the classic love in first sight between a beautiful princess and a handsome knight, except the princess is a thousand years old nag, and the knight is a black knight, is as handsome as a rock from space, and is a dragon... from space.” He heard a voice say in a disgusted tone. Looking towards the group on the back of the balcony, he glared when he saw his real bounty, the Big Cheese, the Storm King, holding some kind of staff. Killing him would effectively decapitate the occupation force and by extension stop any attempt to breach the container of the weapons.

He would make him scream in pain first.

Extending his arm in direction of the Storm King, Praeratus grabbed the conqueror with his psionics (and startling the others like it happened in the gate. This confirmed that apparently dragons didn't have 'magic' and that psionics didn't exist here) and pulled the xeno towards him, making the alien drop the staff; he then grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.

“YOU.” Said the xeno-hunter in a monotone voice that didn't hide his anger. However, rather than become terrified or start begging for mercy, the xeno simply looked down at him with boredness.

“Yes, o angry one? Am I in trouble or what. Because I don't think I have done anything wrong. I am a bad guy after all.” he said with a toothy smile.

'Cocky motherfracker. He's one of those who likes being a bastard for the hell of it!', thought Praeratus furiously, snarling “You son of a bitch.” before tightening his hold on the King's neck. He could have mind raped him, but he wanted to feel his life slip away on his hands. “Give me a reason to not rip your head from your shoulders and feed it to my gorgonops.”

However, before the Storm King could respond, the dark purple unicorn with the broken horn yelled and charged towards him.

“Watch out!” Warned the white alicorn. Praeratus felt grateful for her 'assistance' (it's not like she could do anything without her magic), but it was not necessary.

The xeno-hunter dropped the Storm King, turned towards the purple unicorn and... did the exact same thing he did with the Storm King, only this time he grabbed her by the head and crushed it like a rotten egg.

Well, he would had crushed her head like a rotten egg if it wasn't for Twilight screaming at the top of her lungs:

“WAAAIIT!”

Praeratus, still holding the woman by her shoulders, looked at the panting alicorn.

“Why?” He simply said.

“She deserves another chance, she hasn't killed anypone; she can be a better pony!”

“So, I have to let her live because she's a pony and hasn't killed yet, is that it?” Said Praeratus, having read both minds (but only a little to not alert them and because he simply didn't want to know everything they knew) and seen that Tempest Shadow, as the unicorn was called, had sang (yes, sang, not talk, sang) to Twilight about her life earlier. He forgot reading the mind of the white alicorn, but he didn't think she had information. “Because by that same assumption I'm an unfeeling monster; I killed thousands, but they were all lowlives, invaders and monsters that deserved it.”

“Well, too bad.” Said another voice in front of them. The therawyrm and ponies looked as the Storm King aimed his Staff at the xeno-hunter. “Because we could have been the best friends. And I know you want to take your freaks back. You abandoned them, and I rediscovered them, therefore they're mine!”

“Back?” That made Praeratus chuckle, confusing the Storm King (and scaring everyone else in the balcony because of the way he laughed). “You think I want to retrieve those freaks? I'm a xeno-hunter, I'm here to kill them or stop you from releasing them, not to recover them!”

“Oh yeah? Then I suppose I have no more use for you. Now I get to kill three birds with one stone!” Laughed the Storm King before conjuring a huge ball of lightning with the staff and shooting it at them, apparently not caring that Tempest Shadow was in front. Praeratus throwed her backwards and braced himself, trying to cover as much of the three women behind him with his body as possible.

“Behind me!” He screamed to the women, who did as they were told.

Everyone looked on as the magical attack hit him... and promptly dissappeared. The Storm King went from laughing like someone whose plan went better than they thought to someone who just realized they shot a 200 feet monster with a peashooter (or a warrior from the stars able to cast powerful spells and that shrugged the magic of four alicorns), dropping his staff in shock.

He wasn't the only one. The ponies, the hedgehog and the storm guards were looking at him with wide eyes (and in the case of the hedgehog UNNATURALLY wide), with their mouths hanging open. Praeratus, though? He simply glared at the Storm King while he gathered a psionic bomb (a exceptionally powerful attack that did minimal damage to stone yet annihilated organic material and damaged metal) on his free hand. He wasn't amused.

“MY TURN.” Said the xeno-hunter in a dark tone before throwing his arm backwards and hurling the purple ball of death and destruction towards the Storm King with enough strength to push him inside the room and through the wall like a cannonball, going through the following walls of stone. And the bomb hadn't even exploded yet.

'Mph, weird.', thought Praeratus while looking at the Storm King-shaped silhouette. 'Usually the explosion would had-'

BOOOOM!

The slow yet powerful shockwave of the psionic bomb came out of the the openings in the castle (windows, the gate of the place and such), and unfortunately for the people in the balcony they were right in front of one.

Grubber and the storm guards were lucky, since they already were away from the entrance, but Praeratus wasn't; he received the full impact of both the psionic shockwave and the propelled throne. He was barely hurt by these, but his body wasn't anchored to the ground; because of this he pushed the ponies that hid behind him, and while Tempest Shadow managed to grab on the railing and Twilight's arm, the white alicorn was pushed out of the balcony. It wouldn't have been a problem to her, since she was an alicorn and could either just fly away or crash and survive the fall (although very painfully), and her wings were big enough to let her glide down.

Unfortunately, her resiliency only worked when she had magic, and the shockwave broke her wings.

“CELESTIA!” Cried Twilight in anguish as she saw her mother figure fall to her death whilst screaming.

Praeratus didn't waste a second and dropped his rifle while rushing forwards and jumped off the balcony, using his weight, his thrusters and a psionic charge (for those occasions where he needed to go fast over short distances) to give him enough boost to reach the now named and grab her bridal style.

“HANG ONTO ME!” He shouted to her before crashing feet first on the plaza, making a small crater due to the impact. Even with his enhancements, armor and years of doing the same thing (with the only difference being the shorter height), the action still hurt his knees, although not by much.

“Damn, It's been a long time since I've jumped like that. This reminds me of when I was still in the military.” Praeratus said to Celestia, who was apparently wasn't listening. “Quite a long time ago I jumped out of a gunship from an altitude of ten kilometers with a platoon of Helldivers. Of course I jumped with my power armor on, but had the misfortune of forgetting the jetpack. I nearly broke my knees.”

It was then when he realized that the alicorn had pressed herself further against him. It would have made an interesting scene if not for the fact that she was hugging Praeratus tightly and looking behind them with terrified eyes, whimpering in fear.

It was then when heard Cyranus growling. At them.

The therawyrm set Celestia to the ground with care and then turned slowly while detracting his helmet. What he saw made him frown.

Eleven reptilian monsters the size of cars (or 'demons' as the natives had named them) had breached out of the pod while he was in the balcony and slaughtered the storm guards. Only they didn't do the deed themselves.

Cyranus (who was indeed growling at them) had several corpses of the brutes around him, all of them mauled beyond recognition. Surrounding the pod where ten living storm guards, weapons dripping with blood and glaring at the pair with murderous intentions. The red glow in their eyes made clear they were being mind controlled by the demons, who were completely inmobile (which was a fortunate effect of being low-level psionics. Blue and above could both control a creature and move). Above them, Twilight, Tempest Shadow, Grubber and the storm guards were watching the events unfold with horror. Twilight in special was looking at her former mentor.

“Listen carefully.” Praeratus whispered to Celestia, who looked up at him slowly with vacant eyes. He had seen that look before in civilians who had suffered near death experiences (an evacuation bordering on failure, an encounter with a wild predator), similar to PTSD but choosing the 'fly or flip out' option instead of the 'fight or go berserk' one most of the time. “I'm going to attract the attention of the possessed while you run away. The monsters are unable to move whilst they control them, so with a bit of luck I'll be-”

“What are you whispering about.” Interrupted another voice next to them. The xeno-hunter looked with astonishment as one of the previous ponies, the pink one, had somehow placed herself near them and was right now looking at him with a smile. Behind her he could see the group running into the plaza... including Spike.

'Stupid frackers, they're going to get themselves killed!', screamed Praeratus on his mind.

The cyan one sped towards them.

“Stay the hay away from our princess you-!”

“RAAARGH!” Roared Cyranus before giving an adrenaline-fueled punce that propelled him over Praeratus and towards the frightened pegasus, but before the 1600 pound killing machine could eat her head Praeratus grabbed Cyranus by the left hind leg and threw him towards one of the possessed brutes.

Getting up, Praeratus turned towards the pegasus and grabbed her by the neck, glaring at her terrified eyes.

“You do that again, I'll kill you myself.” He said before shoving her backwards and charging towards the screaming brutes. Usually he would have just beat them to death, but several factors (among them the fact that there was a kid near him and that if he killed the brutes, the demons would be free to kill the others and attack him and Cyranus) made him settle to control his strength and just knock them senseless.

Intercepting a clumsy attack from a hammer, the xeno-hunter grabbed its head and kicked the owner of the weapon away while backhanding another with a pickaxe. A foaming brute was about to throw his weapon at one of the ponies before the xeno-hunter grabbed his throwing arm instead. Then, Praeratus pulled the storm guard towards him and used him as a makeshift club to hit other two, after which he grabbed a fifth by the head and slammed him several times on the ground. The other four fought against the newcomers, which to the surprise of Praeratus fought them off quite well, with the avian pirates ganging on one and the orange one using her lasso to restrain another before kicking him in the gut. Praeratus, however, was more interested in the fact that, although he was the one who was inflicting the most 'casualties' on them, the storm guards (and by extension the demons) were more preoccupied attacking the locals than him.

Unfortunately, that also included dragons. Cyranus recovered from the previous throw and rushed towards Spike who, even when he was already running, was not fast enough to escape. Grunting, Praeratus slammed himself on his possessed gorgonops and after both fell to the ground restricted him, retracting his helmet and looking at Cyranus in the eye. The organic weapon was completely overmatched by the former Centurion and was forced to leave the beast's mind. Slowly, Cyranys went from biting and roaring to panting.

“Relax boy. Calm down.” Whispered Praeratus to Cyranus ear while petting him. He kept doing it until he felt the gorgonops breathing regularly. He was asleep,and therefore safe from any future attempt of possession. Praeratus sighed in relief, aliviated that his friend was free from the bioweapon's control. And it looked like the others had taken care of the remaining brutes.

All except one that was right now rushing towards Celestia with his weapon raised and screaming gibberish like a maniac. However, the therawyrm could understand two words amongst that gibberish.

“DIE XENO!” The words came from the brute's mouth, but the brute was at the moment under total control of an engineered monster. This confirmed to Praeratus the datapad's report abount their use as a weapon aginst the Hegemony and that they hadn't forgotten their purpose. Why was it confirmed? Because the brute made a beeline for Celestia while passing next to him for a feet.

And the white alicorn hadn't even moved from where Praeratus had set her, too terrified to do anything. The others attacked the brute, but the possessed, pumped on too much adrenaline and centered solely on killing the alicorn, either charged through them or trampled them.

Praeratus didn't have time to think, he simply activated his energy blade and rushed forward. Just seconds before the hammer could crush Celestia's head...

THUK!

Everyone (Celestia included) watched on with horror as Praeratus impaled the brute from back to front with a 'magic' blade made of a glowing violet energy before lifting it up and throwing the corpse away.

Praeratus sighed. He wasn't happy that he killed someone in front of a kid (even if the death was bloodless thanks to the blade being so hot it evaporated the blood and cauterized the wound. He could also did the same thing from earlier to 'delete' what he had seen), but it was either that or let the possessed madman kill their ruler and destabilize their kingdom in one movement, and that was something he couldn't let happen.

Now, the only thing left was killing the bioweapons before they could recover from-

A sound well known to him and a roar of pain made him look in direction of the monsters; one of them had a scorched stump where its left arm should have been. Looking up, he could see Twilight Sparkle with his laser rifle on her hands, the barrel smoking from the discharge. She had somehow changed the fire mode to 'blue'.

The response of the monsters was inmediate. All of them bolted towards the group, but instead of attacking they ran past them and into the city, separating and going into different directions.

“NO!” Shouted Praeratus started to run after them, but then stopped. The beasts ran so fast that even the former Centurion couldn't have been able to keep up with them, and outnumbered him eleven to one so he didn't bother chasing the creatures. Didn't stop him from getting mad.

Snarling in anger, the therawyrm turned towards the balcony and pulled Twilight towards him, grabbing her by the throat.

“Let her go you freak!” Cried the cyan pegasus while charging at him. Praeratus didn't even bother to look at the damn alien to grab her with his psionics, slam her to the ground, make her bite her own arms with enough strength to draw blood, and throw her against a building, not fast enough to kill her but still strong enough to break her wings and several bones and knock her out. Considering what he was able to do, she was pretty luck to be alive.

“RAINBOW DASH!!” Screamed the yellow pegasus.

The display terrified the rest of the group, but despite this attacked the xeno-hunter, which ended with them stopped cold by a terrifying feeling of dread with unnatural origins. All except Spike, who hadn't moved from his place since the moment the therawyrm grabbed his friend, frozen by a more mundane fear.

As for Celestia... She might have been very powerful, but only with her magic (and the encounter with that demon hundreds of years ago made her realize that even with magic there could be stronger creatures than her). She could only watch in horror as her former student was mere seconds away from death.

That didn't matter to Praeratus, who turned his head to glare at a crying Twilight.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT! NOW THEY'RE DISPERSED! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY-” He started to rant before closing his jaw and grunting while dropping the alicorn, forcing himself to calm down.

'Killing her will only make the natives hate you and worsen the situation.'

'I don't give a damn if they hate me, they already attacked me when I saved their asses! And the situation has gotten worse already, the fracking idiot let those things get away! Now they'll kill even more, multiply to grow stronger, mind rape anything that crosses their path, destroy all life on this planet and force to use the 'thing', alerting the Hegemony of their existance and their origins, and start the Second Hegemony War!'

'She didn't let them go away, she simply shot at one!”

'I don't give a damn! She could have aimed for its head!'

'She's a civilian, most don't know how to use a firearm properly! And I doubt anyone on this planet has ever heard of energy weapons. Hell, I doubt they even know what gunpowder is!'

'And? She's an ALIEN civilian! And like all alien civilians, she fracked the situation when it got to her! I have never let a quarry get away in a hundred and fifty years and now some stupid alien lets the most dangerous monsters yet escape to do accomplis their mission!'

'You forget what your job as Centurion was! You may have slaughtered millions of alien soldiers, but never, ever touched a civilian! No matter their allegiance!'

“RAAAARGH!” Yelled Praeratus before grabbing the container of the bioweapons (which weighed well above twenty tons) with his anger-fueled arms and throwing away at a distance of over twenty feet, shaking the ground. The extraordinary feat (he had throwed heavier weights before and at longer distances, but with the Centurion armor) left him panting in exhaustion.

What Praeratus didn't know was that his mental discussion was being broadcasted to the minds of the ponies, hippogriff, avians and dragon in the plaza (except Rainbow Dash). All of them were hearing the mental discussion of the alien warrior, going from terrified to astonished, and not just for the incredible feat of strength they just saw happen (especially Applejack; her brother Big Macintosh was strong, so strong he could pull a wooden house for a good distance at full strength, but not even he could lift a metallic space thingy bigger than a common house and throw it away like a barrel!).

Celestia in particular couldn't help but feel sympathy for the dragon-like warrior, who was divided between taking his anger on her fellow princess and her ponies (and by extension her) and struggling against himself to become rational. The fact thath he had freed Twilight and personally saved her twice in a single day helped.

Then there was the way he held her after saving her of the fall. She had never been grabbed by somepo-someone so strong yet so gentle, with a emanating presence that made feel safe. And then there was his smile... That thought made her shake her head a little and blush from embarrasment.

Fortunately for everyone, Praeratus managed to calm himself down in the end.

The therawyrm, now calm, turned towards Twilight. He was still glaring daggers, but not with killing intent.

“Do you know WHAT can were those things, and what can they do?” Asked Praeratus to Twilight in a calm yet commanding voice. When she shook her head, he continued. “Biological weapons made specifically to fight and kill aliens, and in this case it means anything born on this planet. They're strong, fast, smart, can heal wounds and possess magic.” Each word that spoke of the creatures capabilities made Twilight's eyes widen and her pupils shrink. “And don't need genders to reproduce, so don't expect them to be only eleven in a few days."

“W-what can we do!?” Exclaimed Twilight. Praeratus, after recovering his laser rifle looked at her in the eye with a serious look.

“Nothing, not if your only means of fighting are based on your magic because they are inmune to it; and you're simply not advanced enough to pose a threat to them, not with spears and swords. I'm the only one who can kill them.”

He then approached Cyranus and hefted him over his shoulder. He had to return to his ship and plan his next move. However, before he could leave...

“Wait.” He heard the soft voice of Celestia say. Praeratus turned and looked at the alicorn. “Why did you help us?And can I know the name of my saviour?”

The xeno-hunter thought it for a moment before responding.

“Because I hate slavery. As for my name... it's Praeratus.” With that he detracted his helmet and jogged off.

He didn't see the smile on Celestia's muzzle.

Author's Note

Here's the second chapter. Some might be put off by Celestia's portrayal, but how would you act when a monster that nearly killed you years ago (and without magic) came back and in greater numbers? And she also never met a big, handsome male either.

Interlude: The Confederation and its military

Year of founding: 2472.
Type of government: Senate.
Current head of government: President Bragor Mactus.
Core empires (those with a voice in the Senate to represent them): Gazam Sorek , Zaurak Principate, Terran Union, Älf Kingdom, Zoklap Tzak (League), Kadren Cabal, Nivac Republic, Darf Systems, Othilad Monarchy, Aimtroog Consensus, Nifog Clans, Clans of Kharan (formerly Protectorate of Kharan) and Katdir Republic.

Main
The Confederation (and not Confederacy, as many call it) is a Federation that was technically formedin the year 2472 by two fledging empires, the Terran Union and the Gazam Sorek (gazam word for Commonwealth), to better fight off an enemy force. After defeating their common enemy after a costly war, both factions decided to maintain the Federation due to the perks they saw on it. Hundreds of years later, the Confederation is now a powerhouse composed of a dozen core member empires and twice as that in non-core members. Despite this, the Hegemony, a smaller empire, managed to hurt the federation seriously due to its blitzkrieg and its liberal use of WMDs

Military capacity
The Confederation's military is composed of three main branches: Defense Armies (tasked with the defense of Confederated planets and captured worlds), Assault Corps (the main attack force, with some space capacity) and the Navy (troop transport, air support and space).

Defense Armies (also called planetary defense garrisons) is , in a nutshell, a non-uniformed branch made up entirely by the armies of the member government whose main task is, as said before, the defense of worlds belonging to Confederated species. Although they do have spacecraft and can be part of an assault force, they mostly fight to defend the planets they're posted in, and their ships are used mainly to transport troops and materiel and, in the case of attack, to hold out for the arrival of reinforcements. The Defense Armies are the branch that hires bounty hunting services the most. We'll talk about bounty hunters later

Assault Fronts are the largest branch of the Confederate military, and unlike the defense garrisons its made up of all member empires of the Confederation, wich each species having a role on it (therawyrms and zoklaps are heavy infantry, humans and darf are the bulk of the troops, älfs are specialists and psionic troopers, and so on). The Fronts are, in turn, made up of several sub-branches:
-Regular troops: the most common sub-branch, made out entirely of infantry, specialists (snipers, combat medics, heavy
weapons and common special forces) and others (military police, drill sergeants...).
-Heavy infantry: a combinated sub-branch made up of power armor users and large species that serve as the shock troops
of the Confederation.
-Super soldier program: also known as Gene Warriors, this division-sized army is basically the special forces of the special
forces, which each Gene Warrior worth as much as 30 troopers. They are called in when the situation calls for special
handling. The Gene Warriors had their own super soldier equivalent in the Centurions, an all-therawyrm regiment of 'hyper
soldiers' with psionic capabilities, but the Hegemony War took out most of them, with less than thirty surviving the conflict
and only one still alive at this point.
-Engineer corps: responsible for logistics, vehicle maintenance, demolitions, communications, clearance of obstacles,
entrenching, countermobility (placing mines for infantry and vehicles) and route opening for assaults. Some of these jobs
can be carried out by heavy weapons and heavy infantry, but the engineers are the ones that make sure its done
-Psionic soldiers: called by some Psionic Warriors, this small but powerful brigade istrained in the use of psionics to lower
enemy morale, decimate infantry and other uses, although due to this they can only wear light armor to use their powers
effectively. They're also skilled in the use of melee weapons to fight in close combat, which thanks to abilities like psionic
barriers and enhanced reflexes doesn't suppose a big problem to them.
-Mechanized corps: basically the vehicle depot of the Front: armored fighting vehicles (tanks, IFVs, AA vehicles and self
propelled artillery), reconnaisance vehicles, electronic warfare and ambulances. Combat mechs had been deployed in the
past, but their failure rate made the Assault Fronts discontinue the entire branch.
-Air corps: dropships that bring the troops from the ships in space to the worlds below, strike craft that provide air
superiority and bombing runs, and gunships that provide heavy support to troops with problems.

The Navy is the smallest yet most powerful of the three branches, with more than thirty thousand vessels currently in use. Its ships are classified as:
-Corvettes: smallest proper capital ships, whose main job is fight in swarms to attack enemy ships in point blank range.
Further classified as interceptors (electronic warfare), missile boats and picket ships (essentially larger dropships)
-Destroyers: larger ships whose main task is to intercept and destroy strike craft, missiles and torpedoes, although they can
engage other capital ships if the situation requires it. Further classified as gunships (support for corvettes) and artillery
ships (exchanging their main ship-to-ship armaments, and most of their point defense weapons and autocannons for
kinetic batteries to bombard worlds).
-Cruisers: ships of the line, these vessels and the main fighting force of the Navy. Further classified as light strike craft
carriers, torpedo boats (for when missile boats aren't enough) and troop transports (able to land directly in a world's surface without difficulties).
-Battleships: weighing millions of tons (yet still able to fly inside a world's atmosphere, although with difficulty), these
behemoths are the third largest vessels in the Confederate Navy, used as heavy ships of the line (using large weapons such
as plasma cannons, kinetic launchers and such), space artillery and heavy strike craft carriers . They don't have further
classifications, but can swap armaments when the situation requires it (like swapping hangars for a spinal-mounted
weapon, like a mega cannon, to breach a starbase's shields). Despite their power, battleships require the support of other
ships due to their larger profile and slower sublight speed, which makes them vulnerable to swarms of corvettes.
-Titans: even larger and rarer than battleships, these kilometer-long monsters are exclusively used to destroy
battleships and other titans with large weaponry and ion cannons (capable of destroying entire fleets and small
continents), although this leaves them at the mercy of large swarms of corvettes just like battleships (that said, if they can
bring their weapons to bear the swarm would be instantly destroyed.
-Colossus: the largest, rarest (only one of these things exist) and most controversial Confederate vessel, this ships has
enough firepower to destroy an entire world with a single strike of its World Cracker beam, regardless of size. Naturally,
many outside the Confederation (and some outside it) have protested against its existance.
-Starbases: armed starports used to defend a Confederal planet or watch over a taken one.

Author's Note

Yes, this doesn't have anything to do wit Praeratus in Equus, but I wanted to flesh out the Stellaris part of the crossover, and since most games are basically constant wars... Another note for those who know the game: transport ships are exactly as in the game, I just gave them some justification.

Ship sizes are the following:

-Corvettes: Approximately 225 meters, and a weight of 150.000 metric tons. Humanoid design.
-Destroyers: 750 meters or so, and a weight of 2 million metric tons. Avian design.
-Cruisers: 1 kilometer exact, 10 million metric tons. Mammalian design.
-Battleships: length of 1450 meters, 20 million metric tons. Mammalian design.
Titans: 15.000 feet long with and a weight of 600 million metric tons. Reptilian design.
-The Colossus: giant ass ship, 11km in length. Humanoid design.

All ships have blue coloration.

Short Aftermath

The victory party was simply something to behold, with stands and the worldwide famous singer Songbird Serenade participating on the celebration. And what not to celebrate? The Storm King and his army had been defeated, the three petrified princesses restored to their selves, they had finally made lasting relations with their hippogriff neighbors, the Friendship Festival interrupted two days before could continue... Even Discord (who hid and did nothing during the occupation for fear of being turned to stone again) came to party with his friends alongside those ponies who hid away during the occupation, along many storm guards who deserted.

However, not everypony attending the Festival was happy after seeing a black armoured warrior killing in front of them, including a certain alabaster alicorn, who was right now talking with her sister and another fellow royal, Queen Novo of the hippogriffs. Unlike them, however, she had other reasons to feel uncomfortable that night.

Celestia couldn't help but frown seeing her little ponies celebrate the victory over the Storm King as if the Elements of Harmony had been the ones who took him out, even when most of them knew in fact it had been the actions of a dragon-like warrior from the heavens, called Praeratus, who killed him. That was probably the reason they didn't want to talk about him.

Nopony had ever killed in Equestria for the last thousand years since she prohibited the death penalty (which had been never applied to begin with), and the first thing they had seen from Praeratus was a tall armorclad warrior killing storm guards with a weapon that shot deadly pulses of light, and the aid of his 'pet', a bear-sized, dog-like reptile.

There was also the fact that the wave emitted from the Staff of Sacanas only repaired the damage commited by the Storm King... and the corpses of the brutes killed by the brainwashed brutes. The rest of the damage (the corpse splattered on her balcony, the damaged tower, the brutes killed by Praeratus companion, the crater he made when he saved her, and all the windows and glasses in the palace save one in the throne room) were not affected at all, which needed a hasty clean up before the party could continue later that day. Fortunately, the metal pod that brought the demons to the planet was a simpler thing: they moved it away from the plaza and put it inside a warehouse somewhere in the city. It was too big to fit anywhere but the warehouse, but at the very least it was hidden from the public.

And of course, there was Rainbow Dash. The pegasus, who in another instance would be flying over the party goers and performing a sonic rainboom to awe them was instead covered in bandages in a wheeled cart, pulled around by Fluttershy due to her broken bones (among them her wings and part of her ribcage) and her wrist wounds (done by herself after Praeratus forced her to bite her arms to the point she drew blood). Although she understood why he did it (after all, the pegasus tried to attack him while was in essence punishing Twilight), she still didn't like the fact that he esentially crippled one of her ponies, even if it wasn't for life: breaking a pegasus wings deliberately was like breaking their back and therefore a serious crime in Equestria, even if the wings eventually healed (like her own wings, which had casts because the shockwave of Praeratus spell slammed her through the railings of the balcony). The bitter expression that could be seen despite her bandages made clear that she was very, very angry about this (and still pained).

Which was why her sister was trying to convince her, with Novo's help, to apprehend the alien warrior and throw him and his pet to Tartarus to rot (Cadence had teleported to the Crystal Empire, so she had no opinion in the matter) over three vases of cider in a table. Celestia's response to her sister's petition was obvious.

“No.” Before either mare could cry their astonishment, she continued. “Girls, you want to arrest someone who not only defeated the Storm King and by extension ended his reign, but also saved me twice.”

“That thing was this close to rip Twilight's head off, and that's not counting how it pushed Skystar to...” Replied the hippogriff before being cut off by an angry Celestia.

“HE, Novo, he's a male. And his name is Praeratus, not thing, and from his point of view WE may be things, since he's not from this world. And Skystar and the others had it coming since they attacked him when he was helping them.”

“They weren't in any danger!”

“How would he know that? He told me he hated slavery, and the first thing he saw of our planet after arriving were enslaved ponies and a giant cake pulled by the chained Elements of Harmony. Yes, they were disguised to enter Canterlot, but at that moment he didn't know it.”

“What about Twilight? She could have been incinerated for one simple mistake!”

“Like when she tried to steal your pearl and you nearly drowned her?” That made the hippogriff look down. Twilight had both forgiven her and apologized for trying her pearl, but she still felt bad about it. “He berated himself for nearly taking her out, and we all heard it in our minds. Even then what she did is, in practice, much worse than stealing your magic: she startled the monsters that Praeratus was about to destroy. Only one of them exterminated the entire Royal Army and nearly killed me, and now eleven more of those beasts roam Equestria. I was not happy with the way he reacted, but I do understand it.”

“You destroyed one though.” Pointed out Novo.

“Only after it exhausted itself by slaughtering ten thousand stallions and using the opportunity to smash it to death with a giant boulder.” Muttered Celestia while glaring at her. “I barely had enough energy to transport the thing it came from to the old castle and hide it there.”

“Are you saying that...?”

The glare that her sister gave to her made Luna shiver. She had never seen her so angry yet so scared before, much less towards her.

“Tirek was completely helpless until he began to steal the magic of others, Sombra was powerful but didn't have any tactics and refused to work with others, Chrysalis needed the love of Shining Armor to defeat me, and Discord was extremely annoying and unstoppable when he wanted to, but in the end just a jerk with a hidden heart; and none of them actually ever killed anypony for that matter.”

“That demon, on the other hand, ate, possessed, smashed, imploded and mauled thousands of trained stallions like an unstoppable force of nature, and I only survived because it was sloppy from escaping its prison and exhausted itself after slaughtering so many in so little time. I had nightmares for decades after that massacre, nightmares of red demons doing unspeakable things to me and my ponies, and with everything that happened today I'm pretty sure they'll start surfacing again.” Said Celestia, grabbing her forehead in anguish for remembering that. She couldn't sleep well for years.

“Surely I can...” Said Luna before being cut her off by her sister.

“For the sake of us both, don't enter my dreams if the nightmares come back.”

The trio remained silent for a few seconds.

“Still” Started Luna again. “, the thought of somet-some unknown being in our fair kingdom and powerful enough to ignore an attack made by the magic of four alicorns without supervision is just disturbing to me.”

“Luna, he didn't shrug off the spell, it dissappeared the moment it touched him. He's not resistant to magic, magic outright stops when it touches him, just like with the demon. Even then, you want to arrest an alien warrior from another world who has access to a powerful weapon that we can't simply counter because it's purely technological, wields a powerful magic-like power capable of wrecking a castle, owns a dangerous beasts and is and strong enough to lift a giant metal object and throw it away with his bare hands. The feat left him exhausted, but I doubt that even Rockhoof, who is the strongest earth pony ever born, could repeat that, or at least not without exhausting himself like Praeratus. Besides that, no normal chains or cage could restrain him, enchanted ones would not work, and Cerberus would not be able to stop him from getting out of tartarus. If he does not want to be captured, then we can't capture him, and if he decides to actually fight to kill...”

Seeing the dawning realization in Luna's face, she kept talking.

“Adding to that, whereas I nearly died to one single demon he was confident that he could take on eleven more of those things. That day two hundred years ago I discovered that are we are not alone in the universe, today I remembered that fact, and Praeratus himself is living proof that we can't fight against that. We simply cannot do anything to him if he chooses to pile us with the demons.”

“Then what do you suggest we do, nothing?”

“It's better than making him decide to attack us Luna! Aside from that, what would YOU do if you travelled to another place to save its inhabitants yet they start attacking you because they think you're evil, even though you actually helped them in some way?”

“You're defending someone who killed dozens, yet you were the one who outlawed the death sentence in Equestria.” Said Novo in a questioning tone.

“He saved me when he didn't have to, twice. Well, the first time was indirectly his fault, but the second was also partly mine because I didn't move from that beast's way. And I don't think he wanted to actually kill that one; he simply reacted.” Replied Celestia

This, however, made Novo smile in a way that Celestia didn't like.

“Oh, so the mighty princess of the Sun is interested in a space dragon eh?” Said the hippogriff in a teasing tone.

Celestia blushed. In truth, Praeratus wasn't... 'unappealing' for Celestia, to say it in some way. Sure, he was a reptilian (or reptilian-like) alien with a rugged appareance and much bigger than her, but that ruggedness (especially his closed eye) made him somewhat attractive in a 'tough guy' way. Plus, the way he held her when they fell from the balcony with his strong arms...

“I'm not attracted to Praeratus, I can't! I barely even know him!” Cried the alicorn, making the hippogriff guffaw and her sister chortle on her drink. Novo laughed even more and even started banging the table... but she stopped abruptly when she looked at Celestia again. More specifically, her cleavage.

“What?” Asked Celestia in an annoyed tone. “Is there anything wrong with my breasts?” Although some times she was quite proud of her breasts, most of of the time she was bothered by them: many times she felt her back strained by their weight (although a session with the royal massager mitigated the pain), she felt them cramp from time to time, she had to order special bras because all the others didn't fit her, were quite sensitive, and overall make her feel awkward since many mares were secretly jealous of her (once she reduced their size with a spell, but ended undoing it because she didn't want to be an hypocrite) . She then smirked, swaying her breasts sideways a bit. “Is the Queen of the Hippogriffs jealous of-”

“Did you know that you have a blue beauty mark in your cleavage?”

“What?” Celestia said before looking down. What she saw made her gasp.

Praeratus, with his helmet retracted to have better vision through the scope, had been spying on Celestia (whose mane was somehow wavy despite the lack of wind; not that he hadn't seen weirder) and two other women for a while, watching them speak amongst themselves from a spot several hundred feet above the city. Cyranus, now awakened and fully recovered from his possession from earlier, was sitting beside his master and munching on some kind of local bird.

'Mph, pretty sure they're talking about me', thought Praeratus while lowering his rifle to a certain spot in the white alicorn. He then probed her mind (it was easy for a purple psionic like him; he only had to see his target and subtly 'enter' their mind, and these ponies had weak psionic defenses to boot) and saw that yes, they were speaking about him. 'Nice tits by the way.'

After leaving the city and driving back to the ship, Praeratus told the Senate representative that he could not stop the escape of the surviving bioweapons. Rather than canceling the bounty, the representative reminded him that the bounty was open as long as the creatures lived and that he, as a xeno hunter of reknown and a former Centurion, couldn't simply leave a task undone, much less when they had given him an alternative way to kill all the creatures that neither of them wanted used in fear of alerting the Hegemony. Letting the things kill and expand would alert them regardless, but the 'other way' would do it much faster.

After that the representative told him that the satellite overseeing the planet would self-destroy to avoid detection from the Hegemony. From that moment onwards, Praeratus and Cyranus were the only citizens of the Confederation in the planet.

Praeratus then decided to keep watch on the festivities from afar. Those things wanted to kill 'xenos', and the party had a lot of people on it.

Looking away from the cleavage of Celestia, Praeratus saw several things that gave him more facts about this world

-Despite its light gravity, it's inhabitants (or at least ponies, birds cats and hippogriffs, as the hybrids were called. He had probed the mind of the butter one a bit, finding out her name, Skystar, and her species name) were not only short (with ponies of the three subraces being only a bit more than five feet tall on average with some exceptions like some unicorns he had seen, Celestia and the blue alicorn, which given her looks was probably her sister; hippogriffs were taller, but not by much), but also quite slender (he doubted they weighed more than a hundred pounds, and that would be for the earth ponies; the others definitely weighed even less, especially the pegasi, who had to fly). In short, it meant they had the density of a lightworlder species yet the height of a heavyworlder one. Granted, some earth ponies were denser than average, but still nowhere as dense as a therawyrm, much less a former Centurion.

-The six girls from before were apparently of some importance due to the way other ponies acted towards all of them, not just Twilight (although the cyan one was unable to move due to the injuries he gave her before. He wasn't proud of having forced her to a trolley, but she would be flying around at that moment if her 'loyalty' hadn't made her try to 'save' Twilight from someone who was justifiably pissed off with the purple alicorn).

-Alicorns were a special subspecies of pony treated as superiors by the others.

-Despite being an active part of the occupation, many storm guards had been received amiacably, although he suspected it was because they had gifts and none of them were actually on the festival, but being held by a pegasus that had clear influence of steroids.

-The local peacekeeping force (nicknamed 'Levy') finally reappeared on the scene after several days of forced work. Their uniform, if it could be considered like one, was simply a set of plate armor that appeared to be made of gold of all things, including a face revealing helmet with blue plumes on the top. The weapons they had, spears and swords, were even more primitive (no guns on sight). And yet the nation had trains and radio. Most intriguing of all, though, was that all of them were white, had blue hair and the same haircut. Where they clones? Maybe, their leader could move the (admitedly tiny) sun, it was possible they were clone troops.

These facts were useless for him for a fight, but it gave him a further insight of the world he was, and that would be useful to treat with the locals in the future. Besides, now he knew who could win in hand to hand combat between him and an army of 'levies' (yes, levies was the plural of a group, but he called them whatever he wanted).

(He realized that the festival had begun to quiet down, but he didn't pay any mind to it, believing that it was simply the people leaving for their homes after quite a day).

He also discovered that some kind of naked freak of nature (the head looked kinda like a goat, but everything else was a puzzle made out of animals; at least its height of nine feet was proper for a lightworlder) had jumped into the party. Literally, he jumped out of nowhere and started dancing with the ponies. Probably the so called 'magic'. Better watch out for it.

Another thing he saw was the indigo unicorn, Tempest Shadow, was next to Twilight and using her broken horn to create some kind of fireworks in the sky with a smile on her muzzle. He prodded her mind a bit and snorted. Apparently saving the young woman from falling to her death was enough to be considered 'redeemed' even though she was the right hand of the Storm King. Granted, the storm guards were the ones who carried it out, but they were soldiers, not officers, and even then he killed several of them already. It wouldn't be fair to let someone who had a hand on the invasion live. Besides, she also attacked him and would have died if not for Twilight. Still, having a rough life (attacked by a giant bear and losing her horn and friends) was not excuse to be a bitch (especially since she was the one who drove her friends away with her misery).

'If the legal system of this place was up to me, I'll blow her head off to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone ever again. Hell”, he thought while aiming at her body and putting his finger on the trigger. “, there's no need to wait. A soft pull and...” He shook his head and put his finger away from the trigger. “No, I've come here to kill those things. I've already rescued these people, let them judge their own.”, he thought before looking back to the unicorn, who kept smiling... until Twilight grabbed her shoulder and pointed towards his direction.

'How did she see me? I made sure to not generate lens glare.', he thought while watching both ponies gasp. It was at that moment that he saw a glowing blue dot on Tempest's chest. He grunted and facepalmed, remembering that his rifle was a laser.

“I'm getting sloppy.” Grunted Praeratus when he realized what happened.

He had forgotten that his laser rifle had a, let's call it a laser targeter, to point and aim better at targets that were farther away. What made it different to other targeters was that the dot came directly from the barrel instead from a sight attached to the rifle. That way, if he aimed to, say, the head of a quarry, he would shout straight to it instead of the chest or neck. Of course, like all laser sights it would be stupid (and suicidal) to let it on in the middle of a a firefight or while hunting something smart enough to realize what it was.

And he had it on all this time, moving it throughout the festival and startling ponies into silence. Now he knew why did the party became quieter.

He aimed again towards Celestia's chest (no way he'd aim at her head), who was looking up at the mountain alongside the other two women at the table, the blue alicorn and the hippogriff sharing the looks of alarm that the rest had. On the other hand, Celestia was apparently incensed with him, covering her cleavage and snorting before moving her lips. Praeratus couldn't help but chuckle seeing her reaction. That said he also chided himself for being so stupid to no realize he had the targeter on.

Standing up, Praeratus lowered the rifle and looked with his own eyes, which being augmented provided him with a wider visual sight of the city below him. He saw hundreds of ponies looking to the mountain above them with fear; some of them screamed and ran, but most were silent.

Several pegasi levies, shaking off their fear-inflicted paralysis, flied towards him at full speed and with weapons in hand, but the xeno-hunter, not in the mood to fight (and/or kill) alien soldiers who thought they could take an a former hyper soldier on, grabbed them with his psionics and forced them to land, pushing them down at a ludicrous speed before slowing down mere meters from the ground.

Naturally this terrified the ponies, but most didn't move from where they were.

Praeratus kept watching them from several minutes, not sure of what to do. Greet them? Ignore them? Uplift their technology to make them indebted to him and thus to the Confederation? No, the last one would be ridiculous AND stupid. The last time that something similar happened, the natives of the planet ended up covering their world in nuclear fallout.

Movement from below attracted his attention. If it had been a pony he wouldn't have paid it any mind, but the one that moved was a storm guard, and not just a storm guard but one of the big ones that had been hitting the pod. And he was in possession of a wood axe.

The storm guard took advantage of the state of the ponies to approach Tempest Shadow from behind, but either he was clumsier than he thought or Tempest had a fine hearing, because he had barely raised his weapon when Tempest bucked him several meters back. This made the ponies enter in a panic, and to make things worse the brute, who hadn't been fazed by the kick, grabbed the nearest being, the younger hippogriff, and grabbed Skystar's neck; he then threatened to crush the girl's neck unless his demand of 'destroying' Tempest Shadow was met.

Unfortunately for the brute, Praeratus saw this. In less than ten seconds, the therawyrm lifted the idiot mere seconds after he grabbed the girl with his psionics and raised him up to a height of several dozen meters above the ground; he then shot him with the rifles two times, the first time to kill him, the second to completely incinerate the corpse, with the ashes falling down to the ponies below.

Not even this made them move from their stupor (minus the young hippogriff, who ran towards her mother and hugged her, both of them crying, and the blue alicorn, who got up from her seat but was seated again by Celestia), probably because they feared that any sudden movement would end with them in ashes.

Which was why the sudden tremor that shook the city took all of them off guard.

Celestia didn't move from her seat.

She simply couldn't believe the speed at which Praeratus killed that storm guard.

Luna snorted angrily and stood up, but before she could unfold her wings Celestia forced her down on her chair with her magic.

“Sister, what are you doing!?”

“What did I tell you about angering him!”

“But he destroyed that creature!” Cried Luna.

“It was this close to crushing's Skystar head!” Celestia cried back while gesturing at Novo and Skystar, who were hugging. The former comforting and caressing the back of the latter, who whas crying a river.

“Oh, Skystar.”

“I was so scared Mom! He had his huge hand on my throat and-and-!”

...rumble...

The entire city Canterlot was shaken by the tremor, forcing many of the creatures present to the ground, Celestia and Luna included.

“What was that!?”

“I don't know!”

“It's the monsters, they've come back to destroy us all!”

The white alicorn ignored the cries of fear of her ponies and tried to stand up, but another tremor made her slip. Huffing, she used her magic to raise herself and flapped her wings to stay airborne, her sister and the hippogriff royalty following suit alongside several pegasi.

“What that an earthquake!?”

“No, it was too irregular.”

“Celestia!” Shouted a voice from behind them. It was Twilight, accompanied by Spike, the rest of the Elements (with Rainbow Dash being carried by Rarity's magic) and Tempest Shadow. Another tremor shook the city, but this one was weaker. “Do you have any idea of what's happening!?”

“No Twilight, I have no idea.”

Rainbow Dash, still in the casts, was quick to speak.

“I bet it's that freak's fault!” Said the cyan pegasus in a muffled tone due to her bandages. “When I get getter I'm gonna-!”

“RAINBOW DASH!” Celestia screamed to Rainbow with her Royal Canterlot Voice, shocking her and every other creature near. “Do not blame somepo-someone that helped us in our darkest hour!”

“B-but he broke my wings!” Cried Rainbow Dash

“And I may have doomed all the life in our world by trying to help!” Screamed Twilight back. Rainbow was about to say something when something interrupted her.

Something that gave a somewhat loud yet very familiar growl (especially to Tempest Shadow), which was soon drowned by dozens of animal cries and roars. Everypony in Canterlot stopped screaming and running and, turned slowly... and their faces paled when they saw a huge mass of flesh and fur rise from the city's outskirts. Now they knew the source of the tremors.

“Oh, no.” Whispered Celestia with horror in her voice.

It was an Ursa Major, a 160 feet tall, purple and partly translucid bear that was amongst the largest (if not the largest) monsters in all of Equus, and the adult stage of the Ursa Minor (the other difference between the two aside from size was the coloration; Ursa Minors were blue). These bears were big and dangerous enough to make fully grown dragons fly in fear (with a notable exception), and threaten even an alicorn. This one in particular looked like it had rabies, with its irregular behaviour (Ursa Majors stayed on their lairs for most of their times, and never went too far when they got out) and its foaming mouth, and several somethings hanging from its fur.

The fact that despite its crazed expression (with bloodshot, glaring eyes and bared teeth) it was only growling instead of roaring like most Ursa Majors would do when they were awake and angry.

And then the group found out WHAT was clinging to its hide and making the other sounds.

Monsters. Manticores, hydras, cockatrices... All of them were grabbing the hairs of the Ursa to hang on it and, unlike the gigantic yet somewhat silent bear, they were roaring and screeching at the top of their lungs.

The silent staredown was suddenly broken by a loud, brief and thick pulse of purple energy coming from the mountain that pierced the Ursa's left knee like an burning hot knife on a wooden plank (and coincidentially incinerated a monster hanging there). The Ursa Major, unable to hold its weight with a wounded leg, fell off the city. It managed to hold on the mountain, but it would take it some time to climb back onto the city.

Unfortunately, the beasts clinging to it had enough time to jump from the falling bear into the city and started attacking the screaming populace.... until most got grabbed by the same purple aura that Praeratus had used earlier to stop those guards and lift that brute. Then, to the amazement of the present, the hovering monsters were turned into ice staties and crushed, sending pieces of ice and frost down below. This settled it: Praeratus was helping them, because no pony could have used magic that violently

Even the insane monsters stopped their attack to see the gruesome display, although only for a few seconds before going back at their attack. Celestia and the group looked back towards the mountain and saw a black figure jump from the mountainside, glide the considerable height between the mountain and the city, and land directly behind them and on a manticore that had taken advantage of the distraction to attack a couple, crushing it with his weight.

It was Praeratus, carrying his beast over his left shoulder and his weapon on his right hand. The alien warrior released the beast, who inmediatly roared and charged towards another manticore, body slamming the lion hybrid and crushing its head with its powerful jaws. The grisly visage of blood, skull fragments and grey matter made all creatures present scream in terror (and Fluttershy outright fainted because of it).

All except Celestia, who was looking at Praeratus, who had his head exposed, with wide eyes. She could feel her heart quickening and her face blush at the sight of the large warrior looking at them. In fact, she was sure he was looking at her! Maybe Novo was right after all.

'He helped us again! And he'll fight those monsters to protect us! Oh, he's about to speak! Will he say that “this is the third time I'm helping you”?'

“What the frack are you doing standing there!? Get out of here!”

… Did he just insult them?

Author's Note

The third official chapter! For the next one I plan to write more detailed violence, and show that as powerful as Praeratus is, he's not omnipresent.

Day of The Beasts

“What the frack are you doing standing there!? Get out of here!” Bellowed Praeratus to the group behind him; before any of them could respond he was already rushing towards one of the monsters, a mashup of goat, tiger and snake that breathed fire on his direction. The therawyrm ran through the fire and killed the thing by beheading it with a singular slash from his energy blade.

'Why didn't I grab a slugthrower?, he thought while attacking the other crazed beasts. Yeah, they all may have looked like they had rabies, what with all the foam they spewed and their (hopefully) unnatural aggressivity, but their maddened eyes and the fact that a few of them weren't mammals or synapids (the hydras and the chicken-snake hybrids) made clear that something else made them act like that. 'And a pistol, for that matter?'

He didn't need to probe their minds to know that it had been the 'demons' work. To possess what amounted to an small army required finesse for it to work over long distances, a minimum of formal training, a high capacity for psionics and , overall, being a blue-rated psionic , something that none of the (hopefully) still few red-rated bioweapons lacked.

But if what you wanted was to reduce the enemy's numbers without wanting to leave your safe spot, you had two options: mess with their brains to make them see their companions as if they were the enemy, or fry them enough to turn them into insane berserkers but without actually killing them; you didn't have direct control over them, but neither did your enemy. Obviously the demons had done the latter with these animals.

Both tactics tactics had lost most of their effectiveness nowadays due to the modernity of military helmets and the fact that even civilians shrug through the mind breaking or the hallucinations if they had a stronger will than the performer; he would know, he did the exact same tactic alongside other Centurions and Psionic Warriors during the War . That said, most civilians were still susceptible to these attacks, and non sapient animals, having not much of a will, had no natural defense to this.

Better still, the ponies had started to fight some of the less dangerous creatures; the unicorns and alicorns blasted them with magic, the pink one used her cake cannon to help the cowgirl, the levies were using nets to inmobilize the smaller beasts, the weirdo turned them into birds and such... Sure, some of their attempts made it worse (for example, the birds prompted pecked the creature, and the adrenaline coursing through the animal's veins made them nearly impervious to physical attacks), and some of them (like Spike, the yellow pegasus and her cyan friend) weren't actually doing anything, but helped the other civilians to get inside the castle. What bugged Praeratus was that they didn't kill the maddened animals, even though they had the means to do so it was the sensible thing to do (and the that their minds were so broken that they wouldn't never recover; death would be a mercy for them).

'As long as they don't get killed, fine by me.', thought Praeratus while raising a psionic barrier between a family of four and a hydra. “Get out of here now! Move!” He bellowed to them before grabbing one of the heads of the monster that had lunged towards him before snapping its neck. While he beheaded the other three heads he saw out of the corner of his eye how Cyranus was faring. The gorgonops was at the moment brawling with a particularly burly manticore, but given that the fighting beasts were surrounded by several corpses of other manticores, these things weren't a problem for the battle-tested gorgonops.

Usually he would have just sniped the animals from afar with the rifle, but after using all the energy (ultraviolet) to kneecap that monstruous bear its battery got depleted competely, so for the moment it was nothing but a glorified club; even if it had some energy left the barrel was so hot that another shot would had melted it.

Grabbing them all and using cryokinesis on them like he did minutes before was out of the question too: he had spent a lot of his psionic reserves in grabbing so many individual creatures and frash freezing instantly instead of doing it one by one. Furthermore, the surviving animals were already in the city, and he needed concentration and finesse to grab something he couldn't see, finesse he didn't really have because he had been trained to use psionics in a 'brutish manner' (basically to kill in the most direct way, be by messing with the atoms of his targed or snapping his entire body), as a psionic warrior would say. He could hover over the city with his jump pack and grab those he could see from above, but that would leave out the animals already inside some of the buildings and reduce his reserves even more. He could simply grab those inside the buildings, but again, it required some finesse.

And there was no way he'd calm those things down, their minds were simply too broken and pumped on adrenaline to salvage, unlike with Cyranus earlier who got possessed. Besides, his job was killing monsters, not helping them.

That left him the simplest option: maglock the rifle to his back, get into melee range and kill the beasts in close combat (with either his blade, his hands or close psionic attacks). Not that he didn't mind it, on the contrary, many of his hunts ended with him going hand to hand with his quarry after chasing it to its lair with Cyranus, and he needed the exercise to not lose his strength (it was a low gravity planet after all, and using his ship's gym all the time was tiresome), but with all these ponies still out in the open, he had to be careful with his attacks, else he would cause quite a lot of damage just by missing, and he preferred to shoot at any rate.

His chain of thought was interrupted by a collective scream of fear coming from a side street. Praeratus saw a group of ponies being cornered by a couple of those winged chicken-snake hybrids and a huge bear-wasp animal the size of a small house. The therawyrm saw with shock how the screaming ponies got turned to stone by the 'cockvipers' and then smashed to pieces by the bear.

'Dammit.', this was one of the things he hated the most, not being able to save everyone. As powerful as he was both with his body, his weapons and his psionics, he was not omniscient (nor omnipotent). He simply couldn't be everywwhere or win all battles, a lesson he learned the hard way during the Hegemony War.

He was about to kill them when he heard a very loud scream of both horror and rage behind him. It was Celestia who, with an expression of fury enhanced by glowing white eyes, fired at the monsters a huge beam of pure light that vaporized them and kept going until reaching the outskirst of the city. Praeratus thought at that moment that maybe he had understimated these aliens, or at least Celestia.

That was until he saw the white alicorn collapse on her knees and cry. At first the xeno-hunter thought that she did that due to a combination of exhaustion and witnessing the death of several of her subjects, but after probing her mind a bit he discovered another reason: the poor alicorn had seen a similar thing two hundred years ago when that one monster got out of the pod, only that time it wasn't animals killing, but also stallions cutting and stabbing each other to death.

Praeratus grunted in displeasure. He couldn't blame her for having PTSD (especially given that from time to time he too he it, mostly due to the harshest battles of the Hegemony War in which he was involved), but this was not the time to lose composture, especially when you are the main leader of the country and you are surrounded by creatures that wanted nothing but to see you and your friends dead and would do anything in their hand to see it happen.

Like another cockviper that took advantage of the vulnerable state of the alicorn to sneak behind her and attack. Praeratus thought that it would petrify her, but instead the creature did something else: it grabbed Celestia's neck with its body and began strangling her. Celestia (whose face was somehow turning blue despite the fur) tried to pry it off her, but either her previous attack had weakened her both magical and physically, or the thing was simply too strong for her to disentangle due to it being pumped on adrenaline. Worse still, none of the others realized that their monarch/friend/sister was being constricted to death.

'Like hell she is', thought Praeratus before running towards the struggling alicorn and grabbing the thing by its tail, prying it off of her. The monster looked at him with its red, maddened eyes, probably hoping to turn the therawyrm to stone. Since apparently Praeratus was inmune to magic, nothing happened.

Praeratus decided to give the thing a taste of its own medicine by using cryokinesis (which slowed down the movements of the atoms of an organisms to lower its temperature; it was what he used before to kill those animals) to turn it into an ice sculpture in question of seconds, and then crushing it.

'You know what? Screw it, I'll kill the ones I can see and then search and destroy the rest, I still have enough energy!'.

The therawyrm propelled himself upwards, grabbed and lifted all the creatures he could see in the city (including the ones dealing with the locals), and then incinerated them all with pyrokinesis which was the reverse of cryokinesis, accelerating atoms to rise their temperature; unlike cryokinesis, it had a lot more of uses in for a soldier) at the same time. After making sure there weren't survivors, Praeratus depowered the shoulder thrusters and descended slowly.

He knew that many animals were still pretty much alive, and that he couldn't simply snuff them out of their hiding spots after spending a bit more than a half of his reserves. Good thing he had a sniffer in handy.

“Cyranus, come here boy!” He shouted. Soon enough his best friend came running towards him, his entire head covered in blood and gore.

While petting him, Praeratus told him what he wanted him to do. “See if there are survivors inside the houses. If there are, well, you know what to do.”

The gorgonops eagerly nodded, sniffing the air and then galloping towards the center of Canterlot and entering his first building, a shop of some kind. Soon Praeratus heard roars of anger at first, and then of pain. The latter didn't come out of Cyranuys

'I hope he doesn't get himself killed.', thought the xeno-hunter as he watched Cyranus dragging the corpse of a manticore and going to another building before scoffing mentally. 'As if, he saved that botched hunt by killing that goliath alone. I doubt anything in this planet that can fit in a house can challenge him. Alright, maybe those chicken things, but I'm inmune to whatever that crap they do is, so maybe he's too; besides, I'm pretty sure I killed all of them.'

Praeratus then decided to check on Celestia and the others since he had done their fighting for them.

“Celestia are you alright?” He said while turning to the alicorn. When he turned he saw her gaping at him with wide eyes. Hell, everyone else had the same expression, even the blue pegasus.

“What?” He prayed that they wouldn't start screaming at the realization of what he could do. Fortunately, they didn't. Unfortunately, one of them was thinking diferently.

“IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY!? AFTER THE DEATHS OF INNOCENT PONIES THAT YOU COULD HAVE SAVED!?” Screamed the blue alicorn in a furious tone so loud that the buildings and the ground quaked. “INNOCENT PONIES HAVE DIED BECAUSE YOUR-”

“DON'T BLAME ME FOR SOMETHING I COULDN'T CONTROL YOU DAFT IDIOT!” Interrupted the therawyrm by roaring at the top of his lungs, shocking the alicorn and the others with the power behind that scream (thanks to years of screaming orders and warcries in the middle of a battlefield, enhanced lungs and simply being bigger than her by quite a bit). She probably had never been shouted at in all her life, or at least not by someone that was not family or friend. Praeratus kept speaking, but this time in a more even tone.“And this is not over yet! There are still many of those things in the city!”

“Then why don't you do get all of them, uh?” Asked the weirdo. The animals he had turned into birds weren't in sight, but Praeratus was sure he had killed those too. “You make it look like you could!”

“Why don't YOU get all of them, eh!? You turned those into birds, I bet you could turn them into something harmless! And you're 9 feet tall!” The weirdo shutted up and looked away.

“I hate killing. It's simply wrong.” His simple response made Praeratus snort in disgust. He didn't even explain WHY was it wrong!

“Many planets, in the past, refused to kill because they thought it was wrong and that they could defend themselves without ending lives. You know what happened to them?” He asked to the present people, who shook their heads. “They're dead, nothing more than either lifeless husks or space dust.” He then surprised them with his next words. “I'm not going to let that happen to this planet, even if you don't like it.”

“Besides, just because it looks like I can do it doesn't mean I should, or can. I can't just use my psionics all the time, and if I did what you're saying I would end up destroying half of the place just to get the surviving-” He said before being interrupted by Twilight, who rather than using her voice raised her arm. Yeah, she actually raised her arm like a primary schooler in class, apparently just to talk to him. “Yes, Twilight, what do you-?” He managed to say before a levy came up at him with his spear aimed at his face

“It's Princess to you, dragon.” Said the levy in a venomous tone. If the primitive thought that his spear would force an armor clad, thousand years old former soldier that could kill without even moving to recognize a primitive ruler who, as much as grateful and nice as she was, hasn't done much to earn his respect, then he had another thing coming for him.

Praeratus didn't even bother to look down to the warrior to grab the idiot by the neck, making everyone present (minus Celestia, who was still sitting in the ground) gasp at his action.

“I don't think I was talking to you, beast.”, he said before 'gently' (as in not strong enough to splatter him) throwing the alien away. “And where were you when the invasion started, uh!?” He then turned towards the rest of the levies. “Anyone else?” They promptly backed off with scared looks. “Good. Now, did you want something Twilight?” Continued Praeratus from before.

“H-how did you do that Praeratus? You didn't say you could do that.”

“What do you mean, the killing? Well, it was either let you die or help you out.”

“No, I mean the burning and the freezing and the exploding... That was no normal magic, I couldn't feel it. What kind of magic are psionics?”

“Oh, that.” 'Why does she want to know about psionics now? Is she even aware of the situation? Actually, I don't mind it, better curious than terrified of me, especially since she's a leader.'

“Well, do you have about stories psychic powers? Unrelated to magic I mean.”

“I don't think psychic powers can burn stuff or turn it into ice.”

“Psychic powers, as in mind reading and that stuff without magic? Like in my comic books?” Wondered Spike.

“Impossible, those are nothing but fiction, and all they do is read minds and grab stuff. I mean, he did grab stuff, but that may be some freaky alien magic.” Scoffed the blue pegasus

“Too bad because it's not magic girl, it's psionics. As for how did i kill those things, I simply accelerated and slowed their atoms to incinerate and frash freeze their bodies, respectively.”

“Atoms?” Said Twilight in a confused tone. Praeratus groaned internally; even though they had things like airships, rudimentary radios and even early films, they hadn't invented microscopes powerful enough to see particles.

“The smallest particles of chemical elements that exist, like your or me... or those animals I killed. Anyway, why did are you asking me that in a moment like this?”

“Would you believe if I tould you that I just wanted to know because?” Said the alicorn in a sheepish tone, making Praeratus eyebrow twitch. “I had never seen something like that happening without magic before. How do these psionics work”

“I'm afraid I can't actually explain how psionics work, only that they do. I'm not one of those who dedicates their lives to study the power of psionics, I simply use them when I-”

“Thank you.” Interrpted Celestia before before going to the xeno hunter and bowing in front of him; at this act of gratitude, Praeratus responded by grabbing her left hand and kissing it, to the amazement of the others, who looked on in bewilderment. Celestia, in turn, blushed due to his action

“You're welcome” Replied Praeratus as he let go of Celestia's arm. “, but thanks for what?”

“For helping us yet again. These beasts were too frenzied and numerous to handle, and if not for your assistance, that cockatrice would have killed me.”

Before Praeratus could say 'Just doing my job', a very loud growl coming from outside the city drew the attention of the group. It was the Ursa Major, which had managed to climb back to Canterlot after being kneecapped by Praeratus, rearing on its feet even with its a wound on its knee. They hadn't sensed the trembling it made because it climbed much slower than before, but it was impossible to miss the huge purple bulk now.

“You again.” Growled Praeratus. “I should have gone have gone for the head with you.” He then turned to the group and said: “Everyone, stay here.”, before walking towards the Ursa at a steady pace.

Only to be stopped by the yellow pegasus, who landed in front of him.

“What now girl!?”

“You can't kill that poor thing!”

“Poor... It's big enough to topple a skyscraper, it wants to kill everything on this city, and there's no way I can calm that thing down!” He screamed.

“But it's only a mother!” Yelled back the pegasus. “It may just want to find her baby! Maybe if we just...”

'This idiot doesn't get that that thing isn't going to just stand there!', thought the therawyrm, deciding to probe the mind of the girl to see what was her issue. It turned out that Fluttershy, that being the girl's name, was a pacifist and an animal lover, but one of those who literally would die rather than hurt a single hair from a dangerous beast if it couldn't be convinced to 'be good' (by glaring at it. How the hell did that work without psionics?). Too bad she was trying to convince someone whose income came from killing dangerous beasts with extreme prejudice after stalking them for days and who had a particular dislike for very large creatures like the Ursa Major.

“I don't think you understand the situation girl. That thing is not desperate to find its young, its insane and full of nothing but murderous rage! In fact, I'm pretty sure it KILLED it's young!” He said, eliciting a yelp from the young pegasus.

(If Praeratus and Fluttershy had turned to look back at the group they would have seen Discord watching their discussion with angush, unable to decide on what to do. In one hand Fluttershy was not just the one who reformed him, but also his best friend. On the other hand, he also wanted to live and according to Celestia the collective magic of four alicorns simply dissappeared when touching him; angering someone who he was completely powerless against would probably end up with him turned into an icicle, a funeral pyre, ripped apart or worse. Besides, the alien, Praeratus, had saved his friends even though he didn't have to, he wasn't actully hurting her, and he also had a point concerning the Ursa Major. There was something very wrong with the giant bear).

Praeratus, not wanting (nor willing) to keep hearing Fluttershy, walked around the yellow pegasus, psionically grabbed the heaviest thing he could see (some kind of heavily ornamented bookshop by the looks of it), and threw it with all his might towards the roaring beast. He wasn't in the mood to fight a giant bear, did not have access to heavy weapons, and although a psionic bomb would have been a better option, the feats from earlier had drained Praeratus psionic reserves and had to recharge; besides, lifting and throwing a building made in a low-gravity world was easier and and just a tiny bit less effective.

The effects of a two hundred (local) tonnes of stone and wood hitting a slightly heavier bear at a speed of approximately eight hundred yards per second were both spectacular and terrifying: the Ursa Major, though very resistant by Equus standards, was still a creature that had evolved in a low gravity world, owning a good part of its size to the weaker strain it had, not its strength. As such, it didn't have much in the defense department aside from its not-so-thick skin and sheer size, unlike dragons or armored vehicles (and the first were rarely much bigger than the aforementioned house)

It wasn't surprising, then, that the gigantic bear ended with a gaping hole bigger than its head that went traversed its torso. The monster, after standing for several seconds, fell off the city.

Praeratus nodded at what he saw. 'That should take care of the main problem. Cyranus can take care of the rest.' He then turned and walked back towards the group. 'Now what do I do with them? Do I tell them how much more dangerous is the Hegemony, or do I-' He looked at the group again...

Only to see something that froze his blood cold for the first time in two hundred years.

Author's Note

Well, first cliffhanger. Also, can I get more comments from you guys?

Death and Resurrection

It was one of the frackers for which he came to the planet to kill.

One of the bioweapons, maybe an scout, was literally right behind the natives, who hadn't noticed neither it nor the dead pony it had on its mouth standing over because they were looking at Praeratus, freaked out by his sudden paralysis and not understanding what was wrong with the warrior from another world. That was until the creature behind them made its move.

It could have done many things: possess one of them to mess with the locals, mind rape all of them, kidnap one of them and leave before they realized someone was missing...

Maybe it knew something about her, maybe it simply attacked the largest target (aside from the weirdo), or maybe it remembered the demise of one of its siblings years ago, but the creature chose Celestia as its prey for the moment, and made itself known by tearing the alicorn's casted wings off so fast that she didn't register the pain until after a few seconds.

Her scream of agony startled the others, after which they attacked the bioweapon with any mean they had: magic, punches, kicks, throwing stuff... Didn't do a thing. The creature then shoved them all away with its psionics, grabbed Celestia with its tail and began mauling her. For the avarage person of the Milky Way it would have been horrible, but for these aliens it was like a living nightmare, watching their leader/friend/sister being mauled to death by a huge monster straight from hell.

Unfortunately for it, it's staunch dedication in killing her would be its undoing, because Praeratus, stupor changed to anger at seeing one of the few ponies that thad been civil to him being mauled to death, attacked the monster by pushing it off Celestia with the remaining psionic energy he had and tackling into it with a scream of anger.

Both combatants rolled on the ground, with Praeratus punching the creature's head with all his might yet being unable to cave its skull in while the monster, in turn, attacked his armor with vigour; unlike many other beasts that tried to do so in the past, the thing actually managed to rip parts of it and even make him bleed thanks to a combination of strength, claws sharp enough to cut into ship hulls, and intelligence to seek for weak spots, and that was not counting its regenerative capacity. To makes things worse, Praeratus hadn't activated his wristblade, which would have facilitated the fight a lot, before attacking, and now he was too busy fighting the thing in hand to hand to activate it.

Meanwhile, the natives where doing nothing to help him, not even distract it with their magic or by throwing stones, with some of them trying to save Celestia and most of them watching the fight from a close distance even though they knew what would happen to them if the alien warrior lost to the alien monster.

“I'm going to tear your damn head off and crap down your neck!”

The thing growled while trying to rip his face off, but then it stopped attacking and started looking at him intensely. The therawyrm would have used this moment to snap its neck, but before he could, a voice spoke on his mind.

'YOU CENTURION' The monstruous tone (sounding like a demonically vocoded voice filtered through a turbine), the faint psionic signal he felt and the simple fact that it simply could not speak naturally with those jaws made clear that the one talking to him was the creature. Then there was the fact that it (and by extension its brethren) knew he was a (former) Centurion. Granted, there was the possibility that it simply knew because they had the info (the monsters had been created by the ones who made and trained him after all), but still.

And the thing was, if not sapient, sentient to a higher degree that other animals. What differentiated one from the other was that a sentient being had rudimentary self awareness and basic emotions, but little else, whereas a sapient had both the a capability to plan ahead instead of centering on the 'now' and a higher capacity for complex thinking. Like mind-raping a small army of animals to use as both a distraction and a way to weaken your prey.

This revelation had changed the mission for the worse: not only he'll had to fight against ten monsters that matched him physically, he'll had to fight ten monsters that were nearly sapient beings!

Praeratus, too shocked by this and the fact it knew about him, let the monster stand up.

'HELP US KILL XENOS' Said the creature.

“What?” Said Praeratus, too shocked to say reply with a coherent response (or attack again for that matter). He already knew they would be smart, intelligent even. But to be sapient to a degree... Either it and the others had acquired intelligence through all those years of frozen containment, or already were sentient even before being cryogenized and launched to the planet . Both possibilities were equally terrifying in prospect.

'HELP KILL XENOS!' Repeated the creature in a more urgent tone. 'THEY DANGER TO CONFEDRATION!' It was clear that it saw the locals as a threat; which was to be expected, as it was supposed to think like that. Praeratus, already knowing that it would not 'abandon its duty', had only one thing to say.

“Tell me where are the others.” Ordered Praeratus. If this thing was that both sentient and zealously loyal to the Confederation, then surely it would obey a direct order from a (former) officer.

'NO, HELP KILL XENOS!'

Apparently it was not that loyal, or maybe it was simply its instinct of self-preservation, but it was clear that simply ordering it to obey him was out of the question (back to the original plan of killing them all then). As for him helping them in their hardwired objective...

“Read my lips chainsaw with brain: NO.”

“No?” Praeratus turned to see the ponies. It was the Pink Pony, who was still crouching next to the mangled but still living Celestia. “What are you talking about? Are you guys speaking telepathically to each other?” She said in an awed tone. At another time he would have scolded the damn idiot for not realizing the danger she was in, but right now he didn't want to take his attention from the thing.

“This thing wants me me to help it and its brethren in killing everyting on this planet.” At this nearly all of the natives tensed up, either ready to bolt or to attack. Ungrateful idiots. “You can't be stupid enough to think I'm going to do it!”

'THEY XENOS!' Continued the bioweapon while snarling at the locals, this time expanding its telepathy so that they could hear. 'THEY MONSTERS!'

“We're not monsters, you are!” Screamed Rainbow Dash, probably expecting it to retort in someway. Well, technically it DID retort. By roaring and lunging at her at lightning speed. If not for Praeratus putting himself between the two, she would have died.

That didnt' mean the 3 inch fangs piercing his suit and sinking into his flesh didn't hurt, and in truth they hurt a lot (enough to make him scream in pain), but at least Rarity was safe, and Praeratus was already accustomed to pain. Besides, he repaid the bite by punching one of the monster's eyes off its eyesocket and stomping the left arm to a pulp. And yet, despite the serious injures he gave to it and the fact that it was still biting his arm, the creature hadn't changed it original targed (at first it looked like it was Rainbow Dash until a claw that nearly took Luna's head off made it clear that the pegasus was simply the closest), and right now, Praeratus was starting to actually struggle to keep the bioweapon away from the terrified locals, who were still doing nothing to get away (except those futilely tending to Celestia, who simply couldn't move at all), neither trying to help nor running away. Apparently their 'fight-or-flight' response was stuck in a third option, 'freeze up'.

Granted, most of them were (even though they had weirdly coloured fur and manes, giant eyes and, well, everything else aside from their basic shape) basically equines (or partly equines in the case of the hippogriffs), equines like horses weren't exactly the bravest of animals, and he had seen that same response before (although in individuals, not entire species), but the ones who weren't equine at all still did nothing but look at the fight in front of them with an expression of fear. And that was not taking in account the fact that mere minutes before scores of ponies had indeed run away.

Worst of all, for the first time in his career as xeno-hunter, Praeratus was getting tired from the prolongued fight; he simply had never fought a creature so vicious with only his bare hands (and his normal suit instead of the Centurion armor) instead of shooting at it or using psionic attacks, much less one that could heal from its wounds even during a fight.And yet it simply wanted to get him out of its path to kill the 'xenos'. Sooner or later, or he the thing would eventually decide to kill him. If either of those outcomes happened...

Fortunately for the tired xeno-hunter, the cavalry arrived to his rescue. Or more accurately, K-9.

Cyranus, after killing the last animals hiding in the buildings, came back to where his friend was, not expecting to see the powerful therawyrm struggling against one of the things that had entered his brain hours earlier, with the fight going so bad that the thing had even managed to rip parts of Praeratus hunting armor. The gorgonops was not stupid however, he knew that attacking it outright would end with him as its dinner or with it controlling his mind.

Rather, he crept on the ground and around the two combatants, taking advantage of the fact that the creature was distracted and that the locals, who at another time could have screamed at the sight of 1600 pounds gorgonops with blood on its muzzle, were either watching the brawling aliens or tending to a half death white horse woman (maybe Praeratous could allow him to eat her corpse later? She didn't look like she could survive being ripped apart).

Because of that, rather than seeing a roaring gorgonops charging, and too busy trying to pry the the former Centurion off of it to be aware of its surroundings, the bioweapon was completely surprised by seven hundred kilograms that jumped on its back to bite the tape of its neck. The attack was futile because of the weapon's armored hide and regenerative power, but it wasn't supposed to die of it: it was supposed to be a distraction. A distraction that the relieved Praeratus didn't waste time to take advantage of.

“RAAAGH!”

Screaming with rage, Praeratus activated his wrist blade and cut the monster's arms off, with the legs following suit; by using an energy blade instead of a metallic one, he made sure that its arms couldn't grow back at all. This may hadn't worked with a lesser weapon, but his had been designed and built by the best weaponsmiths of the Confederation, ensuring that not wound would spell blood... or close again.

But why did the xeno-hunter cripple the thing instead of killing it outright when it completely at his mercy?

Simple, he needed to know where were the others hiding, and his psionic reserves had recovered during the fight, enough for a forceful mind probe.

Praeratus glared at the creature with a look that would have stopped its heart cold if it had regained its eyes fully.

“You should have told me the location of your friends.” Growled Praeratus. Deactivating his energy blade, the xeno-hunter reached down and grabbed the monster's head by the cheeks. The creature's eyes widened; it knew what was about to happen.

'STOP!' Screamed the creature futilely before it roared in agony as Praeratus' mental prowess punched through its mental defenses.

There was a good reason for the ban on any mind probing more complex than simple 'looks'. The mind of the probed could be irreparably broken, even by accident. And sometimes, the pain that this caused to the individual was much, much worse than simply being perforated by lasers or ripped apart by hypersonic bullets, because there were no 'real' wounds.

But Praeratus didn't care about what he did to the monster. He only cared about where its brothers were hiding.

On its mind, he found out what they did after they escaped from Canterlot. The creatures reached a large forest in the middle of the country, used their psionics to drive the local predators insane to use them as a distraction for their real plan: allow one of their numbers to kill Celestia with impunity. They figured out that since she controlled the sun, then her death would stop it from orbiting the planet, burning the half facing it while freezing the other. Even if that didn't work (since Celestia had a sister that apparently moved the moon; Praeratus didn't know about Twilight and her magic abilities), the death of the 'queen' would send the ponies to a panic that would naturally expand to the rest of the world, easeing up their extermination.

They didn't count on Praeratus and Cyranus though. Hell, apparently they counted on the xeno-hunter joining them on their mission because he was a therawyrm and, therefore, a member of the Confederation. The fact that they could outright smell the scent of war he had on him didn't help.

'HELP... HELP... HELP' Said the still somewhat sane creature while looking at him with what could have been a pleading look.

Praeratus had only one thing to say.

“NO.” He growled before crushing the thing's head like a rotten nalem. No way in hell he would help these things, much less after having killed native sapients.

Praeratus pushed the corpse off of him and stood up, . Now he had the location of the remaining monsters, and since he didn't feel a psychich message then they may not now what happened to their brother, or that their hunter knew where they were hiding at.

And then he remembered the mauled alicorn.

Turning around and approaching Celestia, the therawyrm saw a sad bud realistic aftermath of what happens when someone from was basically a fairy tale is pounced on by a living weapon that can reliably destroy small ships... individually.

Aside from tearing her wings off, the damn monster had neatly ripped part of her belly, partly exposing her (fortunately not cut) guts to the world for everyone to see. The left arm and part of the right leg had been ripped off too, the other leg had been crushed to a fine, white/red paste (although her right arm was relatively unscathed, at least at first sight) and her right breast had been ripped. The only other part of her body left somewhat unscathed was her head, and even it had a nasty gnash on her left cheek.

Worst of all, however, was the fact that despite her mauling she was still alive, although it was only a matter of time. Praeratus watched her look at him with pleading eyes, but there was nothing he could do except grant her a quick death to spare her from her suffering, but he doubted the ponies would even let him.

Overall, a sad image, but one not unknown to Praeratus. He had seen worse. He had suffered worse. But these aliens, accustomed to 'villains' that at the most turned them to stone, simply seen something like this until today.

“I'm sorry girl.”

“It's your fault.” Spoke a voice behind Praeratus in a venomous tone.

With a speed literally not from that world, the -now growling- therawyrm turned and glared at the small crowd behind him, scaring them all.

Praeratus could have demanded to know who said that, but he had regained enough psionic energy to probe all of their minds at the same time. Adding the fact that, as noted before, the animal life of the planet didn't have genuine defenses against psionic powers related to the mind, none of them realized that he wasn't glaring at them with murderous intentions , he was inspecting their thought (and this time he was aware they were there).

It was the blue alicorn, Luna. Who was also Celestia's sister and the co-monarch of the country.

Praeratus grabbed the glaring alicorn telekinetically and pulled her towards him, after which he grabbed her physically by the throat. The others gasped and screamed, and some levies charged at him alongside the orange pony (Rainbow Dash would have done so too, but, well...), but Praeratus pushed all of them down with enough force to bend their armor in the case of the levies, and a leg in the case of one unlucky levy that was too close. Except one of the levies. Cyranus got to one the poor devil first and bit his torso, not enough to pierce his skin but still enough to scare the alien shitless (and break a couple of ribs at least) before shaking him around and throwing him away.

“For your own sake, do not ever come at me like that again.” Growled the therawyrm to the pained men and woman before releasing them and turning back to Luna, who was struggling like a maniac to set herself free. Her fury evaporated when the xeno-hunter grabbed her by the throat. Apparently she had never been held by the throat by someone who not only completely outmatched her physically, but also rendered her magic useless. She was probably accustomed to order everyone he didn't consider a friend around and feel untouchable just becuase she had wings and a horn, the bitch. That would change, either at that same moment or in the future.

“Now, you will give me a good reason of why this is my fault, if you don't want me to throw you to the cold void of space. And trust me, there are things out there, things that would enjoy a random blueberry coming towards them at relativistic speeds. And that's in the best case.” Even though he refused to hurt civilians, he wasn't some saintly idiot who did nothing when provoked or attacked, and his patience had its limits.

“W-what's the worst case?” Asked the Twilight in an anxious tone. Praeratus merely glanced at her before looking back at Luna. They didn't need to know about that their world was situated in a galaxy full of... things.

“Well? Why is this my fault, uh? What's your response!? Tell me! TELL ME DAMN IT!” He roared on her face before huffing with rage. “I'm done with you.”

He then tightened his grip on Luna's throat, having finally decided that she had to go. The other locals tried to save her from his murderous rage, but Praeratus unleashed a wave of pure fear that stopped them cold.

Praeratus would had crushed Luna's neck if not for the alicorn's next response.

“It's... because of your failure... as warrior... that my sister is... about to pass away...”

Praeratus' rage turned into rea, and he released Luna to turn to Celestia. Seeing the alabaster pony barely breath, Praeratus closed his eyes and sighed in shame. He was a former Centurion, a purple psionic that could detect the brain waves of anything that was in close visual range (and by extension have a kill radius of over a mile even if he were naked), and yet couldn't detect a single freak of nature. And because of that mistake the native woman who respected him the most would die after minutes of agony.

Celestia, on death's throes but still conscious, looked at the devastated xeno-hunter and smiled at him (even though that revealed that not even her mouth was unhurt, with several of her teeth fractured at the root). The only thing he could think of at the moment to help was grab her remaining hand and hold onto it. It wouldn't really do anything, but he wanted to offer his support. He had done similar before and during the Hegemony War, but

“Your sister's right. I should had foresaw this. If I had realized this was a trap you wouldn't be... well, this” He said while looking down at her. The alicorn, though clearly in pain, smiled up at him.

“It's okay Praeratus. At least you saved... my... little ponies.” She said with a labored breath before coughing up a glob of blood. She had mere minutes before dying. The worst thing was that, even though she was smiling, her watery eyes were saying something else. He knew that look, it was the look of someone terribly afraid of dying and wanting help. The fact that she didn't really want to go and yet managed to keep her composture about dying despite being a civilian was heartwrenching.

And her death would be his fault, if not entirely, at least partly, both by not seeing the monster behind them and by being utterly unable to heal any damage psionically. Accelerating the healing proccess would have worked in another occasion, but her wounds were simply too much for him to handle with his still low psionic reserves, and that was without counting the fact he didn't have at hand the proteins needed to help the healing. He never bothered to heal himself like that.

“C-can't you do something for her?” Said a small voice below him. It was Spike, who was crying alongside Twilight. The latter, although still pretty sad, wasn't exactly hearwrenching, as much as he disliked to admit it. Probably because she was an adult; seeing men and women crying was simply common to him.

A crying child, on the other hand, was another thing altogether, having seen quite a lot of kids crying through his eight hundred years service. The fact that unlike the ponies Spike resembled a therawyrm made it even worse.

“Please?” Continued Spike before openly crying. Twilight was saying something too, but he didn't pay attention to her.“You have to have something to help her! Do something please! You can't let her die after having saved her twice before!”

'What I'm supposed to tell him, that I can't help her at all?, thought Praeratus sadly as he watched Celestia trying to comfort the young dragon. “I'm sorry Spike, but I can't do anything. She'd be already gone before I gain enough psionic energy to do something. It's out of my hands.”

“But you're an alien with rayguns and magic! You must have something that can save her!”

“Spike, please... let.... Praeratus... be.” Whispered Celestia. She was getting worse and worse by the moment.

“No.” Said Praeratus while standing up, his sadness turned into determination. “He's right. I must have something. And I just realized that sometimes, I'm an idiot.”

“Why... is... that?” Asked Celestia.

“Because I have the mean to save you.”

With that, Praeratus grabbed the nearly dead alicorn with care, assembled her severed body parts on a psionic field, crouched low and activated his shoulder thrusters, jumping exactly like he did before and landing on Celestia's balcony. However, unlike before, he kept jumped again and landed on the mountain, using a combination of speed, psionic charges and thrusters to climb up in a frenetic pace. Praeratus had remembered that he owned the only thing that could save someone as mutilated as Celestia.

The medical pod, or Med-Pod as some called it.

A simple looking device (in fact, their first design came a modified cryopod; the only new addition was a separate console) that could heal any injury, no matter how grievous it was. It was also quite expensive and heavily restricted (only the military, hospitals the wealthy and lucky individuals like Praeratus could own one, and even then the wealthy needed quite a lot of moolah and a permit to use them). What would have needed weeks, even months to recover naturally, it healed in mere minutes at most; even the clinically dead could be brought back as long as the brain of the user/patient was intact (or even with just the 'old brain', the parts that were needed to think, breathe...) and the body hadn't been dead for more than five minutes, although it did had some drawbacks (the reconstruction process was so painful that special anesthetics/unconsciousness were outright mandatory, it couldn't cure illnesses already in the user, the user could lose of their memories if their brain was damaged, and repeated use could result in addiction).

The history and the origin of the devices in general, on the other hand, was rather uninteresting: before the Hegemony War, the Confederation's high brass wanted a way to reliable heal special troops (like psionic soldiers, Gene Warriors and Centurions) without having to wait for them to heal for a lengthy period of time. At first it wasn't simply profitable (either the soldiers returned from their missions not injured enough to require its use, or they, more accurately their bodies didn't return at all), but during and after the Hegemony War, it became a godsend.

Unfortunately, after the war, someone managed to steal one of the pods and reverse engineer it, and because the things were simply too useful to officially ban, the Senate simply added a shut-down mode, made the ones in public exaggerately expensive, and forced those who wanted one to possess an official permit to own and use one so that it design wouldn't fall in other empire's hands. Praeratus, as a former Centurion, didn't need the permit to use his. In fact, he hadn't even bought it: it was a 'trophy' he got from one the few missions which involved actual bounty hunting instead of xeno-hunting. The mission (rescuing a wealthy aimtroog from a notorious privateer gang) went smoothly at first, but then it turned out it was a trap: the aimtroog who he was supposed to rescue was actually part of the gang, which apparently had a bone to pick with Praeratus and thought they could take him.

Needless to say, they were wrong: their fight against Praeratus went to hell quite quickly despite their preparations (over a hundred battle-hardened men and women, a blue psionic, heavy weapons and armor and even a stolen gunship), and twenty minutes later they were all dead. When the xeno-hunter explored their hide out to seek out survivors, he found that the gang had medical pod hidden well inside their lair. Seeing that the bounty didn't say anything about recovering a lost or stolen Med-Pod, he figured he could take the pod for himself, if not to use it, at least to have it as a form of trophy.

While alternately climbing, jumping or charging up the mountainside, Praeratus looked down to see how was Celestia doing.

She had stopped breathing, her open eyes were blank, and her mane had stopped waving. She was clinically dead, and by the looks of it, she died just after he left the city.

'Damn it, have to hurry!' Thought Praeratus hurrying up his mad dash towards his now visible ship. He didn't know how long had she been dead, but he hoped not long enough for the Med-Pod to not bring back. Even though he had never used this one in particular to its full capacity to heal his body (if he had, he wouldn't have remained one-eyed, and most of the times he had used it were for Cyranus, not him), he knew what it could do.

Running towards the ship, Praeratus pressed the button on his wrist that opened the door manually and entered it. He rushed throughout his home until reaching the room that howed the Med-Pod, putting the recently defunct pony in the pod with care.

'This has to work. This MUST work!' I'm going going to let it happen again! Thought Praeratus while playing with the terminal that controled the Med-Pod, closing the machine and begining the process of healing.

“WHERE THE BUCK IS MY SISTER, BEAST!?” Praeratus turned to the direction of the scream to see Luna and the natives that could fly (Twilight, Fluttershy, the weirdo, the hippogriffs and some levies) entering the room he was in.

“Yeah, where's Celestia!”

'Ah, right, I forgot. Half of them have wings.' Thought Praeratus morosely before turning back to the console. 'I'm getting sloppy, letting the door open and... Wait a fracking minute.' They had come inside his ship, his home, and had started shouting demands.

If there was something that Praeratus hated aside from the Hegemony, giant monsters and assholes in general, was people either entering his ship without his explicit permission or outright trespassers; it wasn't a place to rest between jobs, it was the only place he could be himself aside from a battlefield, and a gift from the Senate after his many tribulations when he was a Centurion. His ship shared Cyranus' place as both his most valuable possession and best friend (the latter in the metaphorical sense that's it).

'Who the frack do these aliens think they are!? This is my house, and they already know my name for frack's sake! And what if they see IT?'

'Not time for that Praty! Stay focused or Celestia stays dead! Besides, the thing is well hidden, remember?' Thought Praeratus while forcing himself to stay focused.

Without even turning to face the trespassers, Praeratus said in a level tone: “Your sister is inside this pod; she died in the way to here, and this is the only thing that can bring her back to life. And Luna...”

“IT'S PRINCESS TO YOU, DRAGON! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH BRINGI-” Screamed Luna before being interrupted by a psionic field grabbing her whole body and slamming her against the wall.

Praeratus, so pissed that he had a purple psionic aura emanating from him, stomped towards the struggling alicorn and grabbing her head with enough restrain to make clear he was pissed.

“SHUT THE FRACK UP BITCH! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU'RE THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION! THIS IS MY HOME, AND YOU CAN'T JUST DEMAND AND ORDER ME AROUND IN MY HOME! AND YOU KNOW THAT MY NAME IS PRAERATUS, NOT DRAGON, HORSE!” He said while bashing her head agains her wall. The other natives were too scared of his outburst to help the princess.

He wanted to kill her very badly, but he didn't want to make himself look a monster to the locals after saving them, Celestia would not forgive him for basically murdering her sister in hot-blood, and frankly, part of this was his fault to a point: he had rushed with Celestia without telling them what was his plan.

Growling, Praeratus let the half-conscious Luna fall to the ground and turned back to the terminal. Seeing that the process was ending, he turned to the spooked weirdo, whose name was Discord.

“You. How long since I left with Celestia.” It wasn't a question, it was an order.

“Hey, I have a name you-”

“How. Long.” Repeated Praeratus, making his eyes glow to make clear he was serious.

Inmediatly, Discord made a chronometer watch appear out of thin air and looked at the time “A bit over four minutes, give or take five seconds. Why do you need to know?”

Praeratus exhaled in relief. One minute more and Celestia would have stayed a corpse. Seeing that the reconstruction was ending, the therawyrm walked to Luna and offered his hand to help her up. The shaken alicorn, not in a position to refuse (or insult), grabbed it and stood up.

“Your sister, LUNA, died on the way to here” This earned him a gasp of horror from the natives. He kept talking. “, but this thing can revive the recently deceased as long as they haven't been dead for more than five minutes.” A loud 'PING!' from the pod indicated that what he just said happened. “In fact, the process of resurrection has just ended.”

“Are you sure that Princess Celestia will be alive and well?” Asked the older hippogriff, Novo.

“Her head was okay, and I got here in time, so it should be fine.” Said Praeratus while approaching the terminal to open the Med-Pod. “And besides, this is not my first time using a Med-Pod like this.” That one was a lie, he had never actually revived someone else himself, but they didn't have to know.

Praeratus pressed the button that opened the pod. The device's hatch opened, showing a now-fully healed Celestia, her; the Med-Pod couldn't repair anything other than flesh (or plant matter), and therefore the alicorn's dress kept its torn state, leaving among other things her breasts naked for the onlookers to see, but otherwise she looked perfectly fine, without scars blamishing her fur and her ethereal mane waving again.

“Wow.”

“She's... she's okay.” Whispered Twilight in an awed tone.

“You raised her back from the dead...” Said one of the levies.

Only Discord realized that something was wrong.

“Erm, Praeratus was it?” Said the ferret-like being with a nervous voice.

“Yeah?”

“She's not breathing.” Pointed Discord. He was right, Celestia's chest wasn't moving.

“WHAT!?” Exclaimed the former Centurion before a robotic voice came from the terminal.

“Warning: procedure interrupted! Blood flooding patient's lungs. Death inminent unless blood drained from lungs.” The way it said that was... not exactly intelligent, but Praeratus was too busy raging at the moment to care.

“Damn it!” Why the hell where her lungs still flooded!? With blood flooding her lungs, her respiratory system was completely blocked and thus she would die again even with her heart pumping blood through her circulatory system, and unless the blood got out she would stay like dead (or at least he thought so; he had never heard of people being brought back by a medical pod more than once).

“What's happening! Why isn't she breathing!” Exclaimed Luna while shaking her sister vigorously. Praeratus walked towards the pod and gently removed Luna's hands from Celestia, and then lifted her away psionically.

“The machine just said it woman!” Responded the xeno-hunter while putting his head on the alabaster's alicorn chest to confirm her condition. You can never be sure afte all. “Her heart is working again, but her longs still have blood inside of them and if I don't get it out, she'll drown, and I doubt that the Med-Pod can resurrect the same person twice.”

“Then do something please!” Pleaded Luna. Yes, pleading instead of screaming or ordering. She had no more pride left, not after being grabbed by the neck and then slammed to a wall.

He didn't care. Instead of replying, Praeratus carefully opened Celestia's mouth and, to the bewilderment of the aliens, connected his rough lips with hers.

“What are you doing to the Princess, beast!?” Screamed one of the levies while unseathing his sword. Praeratus moved from Celestia's side to the levy's, uppercutted him so hard that his jaw broke and his hit the ship's ceiling, and returned to Celestia. All of that in three seconds.

Praeratus, although clearly miffed, kept blowing air to Celestia's lungs as if nothing had happened, after which he pressed her chest delicately to push the blood from her lungs and out of the mouth, and repeated the process until Celestia finally reacted. By coughing up the remaining blood on his face.

Praeratus grunted in disgust; this wasn't the first time someone spitted blood on his face, but it was still disgusting (and the first time it came from someone he hadn't injured previously). But hey, at least Celestia had started breathing again, so it wasn't all that bad.

And then he was suddenly bear hugged by both Luna and Twilight (or at least they thought they were bear hugging), crying and blubbering.

“Y-you saved my sister yet again!”

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

Praeratus almost felt bad for what he was going to say next. ALMOST being the keyword.

“On the one hand, you're welcome; it was the least I could do.” He said while hugging them back... for two seconds, before stepping back from the girls. “But on the other... Sorry, but I have to ask you to leave my ship. Without Celestia.”

The alicorns stopped crying and looked up at him, dumbstruck by his petition, alongside the others.

“W-what?”

“First, you guys just barged into my ship, MY HOME, whitout even bothering to ask me for permission to enter. I do not take kindly to that, and if it weren't for the fact that you're important people to Celestia I would had done... nasty things to you.” He didn't say WHAT he could have done to them had they been other people, but their frightened expressions made clear they got the meaning.

“And second, just because Celestia just came back from the dead doesn't mean she can movie, or should for that matter. She's still pretty weak due to the procedure and we should let her rest.”

The alicorns and the other locals were torn. Sure, Praeratus had done nothing but help them even though he also... did nasty things (like breaking Rainbow Dash and killing those storm guards), and he was on their world to take out the demons that nearly killed the Princess of the Day two hundred years ago. And he was actually asking them to leave his ship in a polite manner.

However, they didn't know anything at all about him, and the fact that he possessed dangerous weapons, powerful magic and a device that could resurrect the dead didn't help matters.

And then there was the fact that he nearly killed Princesses Twilight and Luna.

“You only saved our princess to eat her or do something worse!” Exclaimed one of the levies while brandishing his spear.

Praeratus growled. He had enough with them!

Praeratus grabbed them all with telekinesis, walked to the door of the ship (even with half of the captives hitting the metal walls of the ships), and threw them out, where they landed next to a waiting Cyranus. Others might have been surprised by the speed with which the gorgonops had arrived, but Praeratus was already accustomed to it. In fact, he had been half expecting his friend to scare the locals when they were inside.

“Cyranus, come here boy!” The gorgonops obeyed and ran inside. Praeratus then glared at the group below him. “And if you want to come back, you better not bring your clone troopers!” Roared the xeno-hunter before punching the button and closing the door. “Fracking aliens. Did they really come just to insult me in my face?”

Walking back to the Med-Pod room, Praeratus saw that Celestia, despite the conmotion, was still asleep. He didn't want her to sleep in a cold machine, but he didn't want to make her sleep on a couch with a gorgonops as company either.

And there was only one bed in his ship.

Sighing outloud, Praeratus picked up the sleeping woman and carried her bridal style to his bedroom. As he neared the room, the still asleep Celestia shifted on his arms and tucked her head on the crook of his neck. Praeratus stopped cold.

He had never felt the head of someone next to his since...

Praeratus shook his head and continued his walk to his room. It would be better to simply forget.

Finally arriving at the door of the bedroom, Praeratus opened it with psionically, entered, and turned on the light to see.

It was a rather spartan bedroom, with a bed large enough for two people as big as Praeratus to fit in, a tandem wall stand next to the door that held a ballistic rifle (just in case, one couldn't never be sure), a simple metallic table and chair, and a walk-in closet.

The therawyrm held Celestia in one arm carefully and opened the bed with the other, after which he laid her on the bed and covered her with the sheets.

“Sleep well Celestia.” He said in her ear before turning off the light and closing the door slowly to not wake her up.

He didn't see Celestia moving in her sleep.

Author's Note

If you're thinking that the Med-Pod is an Asspull, it's not. The characters can only die once (well not really, but given they end up mad they might as well be), so if they die after being revived once, they'll stay dead (insane). Also, Praeratus might seem a bit 'angry', but his name is partly based on the Latin word that means 'anger'.

Also, changed his rage at the group entering his ship from a cultural thing to a personal thing. I'm going to make him like Mal Reynolds too, although one that fought for the lawful side that technically won.

Interlude: Psionics

Psionics, the power to alter the fabric of reality with just a thought or a flick of the hand.

Many have wondered when was the first psionic born, or how do psionics actually work. What do we know is that, despite the name, psionics aren't simply psychic powers like mind reading or telekinesis (even though they are part of the repertoire). In truth, its the alteration and control of reality.

(Just to make clear, the term 'psionics' refers both to the power and the people that use it).

Where do psionics come from? Nobody knows. There are many theories about the subject: some scholars believe that they the result of genetic experiments done by some ancient Precursor empire, while others believe is a simple biological ability that many have the capacity to have, but few the capacity to use. What it's known, however, is that the use of psionics depends on the reserves of psionic energy that an individual has, that certain species (like the älfs and the doboids), are natural psionics, that insulating suits hinder the use of psionics,that only organics can use them (to this day, no synthetics have been recorded using psionics) and that consuming Zro, an extremely rare aeorosl of exotic particles, enhances psionic capacity greatly at the cost of addiction.

PSIONIC POWERS.

-Pure psionics: using the pure energy of psionics in their raw state to cause damage (like psionic bombs or lances).

-Telekinesis: the most simple ability, yet among the most destructive if used right, is simply grabbing and moving an object from one point to another with the mind. Can be used offensively in many ways, but chiefly by accelerating an object to high velocity to mimic mass drivers. The heaviest object ever directly moved and confirmed was a heavy Hegemonic battleship during the last days of the Hegemony War, causing destruction nearing teraton range when it crashed on a nearby planet. However, there are rumours of psionics strong enough to move planet-sized objects and even small stars.

-Pyrokinesis: exciting the atoms of something (doesn't matter from what; even air counts) to create fire and manipulate it at will. Psionics rated higher than blue can generate ionized plasma.

-Cryokinesis: the reverse of pyrokinesis, the atoms of an object are slowed down to literally freeze the subject.

-Body manipulation: another form of telekinesis, this involves using a body like a puppet. Some psionics have the ability to pseudo-reanimate the corpses of dead organisms, turning them in what many call zombies; these are little more than meat puppets, but can serve from distractions to cannon fodder, and some are still able to use weapons.

-Telepathy: the perception of thoughts by the of the mind. Some reports say that the most powerful psionics can communicate with people located light years away from their location, but for the moment those are just rumours.

-Mind reading: related and similar to telepathy, but instead of exchanging thoughs the psionic can read the mind of non-psionics without the 'readed' being aware (skilled psionics can do this to less powerful ones). Can be resisted by non-psionics through sheer force of will, but these defenses can be overcome by brute force, resulting in what is coloquially called 'mind rape'.

-Mind manipulation: a more complex variant of mind reading, it deals with the control of organics through their minds (like hypnosis, which bends the affected to the will of the psionic, or possesion, in which the psionic assumes direct control, plus a plethora of others like the induction of hallucinations), culminating in permanent possession, the complete and permanent transplant of a mind on a foreign body.

-Healing: the acceleration of the cells of a body to hasten the healing period. Only reccomended if there are protein bags at hand or the body has the nutrient.

-Teleportation: ripping a hole in the fabric space-time to essentially make a shortcut, similar to the experimental jump drives.

-Barriers: formation of energy barriers, or 'shields' as they are known coloquially, that can stop from matter to energy to gases and even mind probes (or the inverse, as containment). Powerful enough psionics can create shields able to completely cover ships up to battleship size. However, although usually more resistant to any damage than conventional shielding, these barriers are taxing to the psionic and attacks that hit also affect them, and the technique requires the consumption of Zro, so they are used mostly as last resort.

-Physical enhancement: simply making one better physically, like short rushes to reach point B faster, or forcing the body to pump adrenaline to increase strength.

TIERS.

Like laser weaponry, the different tiers of psionic capacity are determined by the color of the psionic 'aura' that an individual may display when using powers like mind control or telekinesis, classified from red to gamma. The higher is the intensity of the color, the more psionically capacity and reserves the individual has.

-Red: most psionics in the Milky Way (confederate, hegemonic, independent and others) are red. Even though they are the weakest psionics, those categorized as red can, for example, lift objects weighing up to ten tonnes with telekinesis and basic pyro/cryokinesis.

-Blue: a step above from red, these psionics are thrice as powerful as reds, and have higher psionic reserves.

-Ultraviolet/purple: the highest color the common civilian will see, psionics in this category can effectively use all the psionic abilities, although not to the level of the next two tiers. This is the highest tier for species that are not naturally psionic.

-Green/emerald: the second rarest color and the highest confirmed to actually exist, able to throw multiton weights to the orbit of a planet, control large groups of organics, destroy large buildings and more. Only innate psionic species can reach this tier.

-Gamma/gold: the rarest color of all, and several times more powerful than green psionics. Currently, are no confirmed gamma rated psionics, but there are records of them in the past. Due to their amazing psionic capabilities (among them, the total control over entire planets, psionic blasts rating in the teraton range, covering small fleets in imprenetable barriers and other similar feats), many consider that, if a gamma psionic existed, they would might as well be gods.

Author's Note

Well, another interlude, this time about psionics. Since the only thing we know about Stellaris psionics is that they are used to demoralize enemy troops, I made them a mix of how psionics are used in XCOM, biotics and general psychic powers.

I didn't even imply the existence of The Shroud because Interludes are basically public knowledge; only certain government people know about it.

Nightmares (Warning! Graphical and emotional content)

Celestia didn't know what was happening.

Just scant minutes before, a large airship had come out of a storm cloud and descended into the city. From it came two unimaginable creatures: some kind of hedgehog-pug hybrid who called itself Grubber... and a tall, dark scarlet unicorn, with a broken horn and a scar over her right eye, covered in a form-fitting yet practical suit of light armor. Her name was Tempest Shadow, and she promptly ordered Celestia and the other princesses to surrender the city and give up her their magic to her. A PONY had willingly betrayed her species to serve evil!

And then, mere moments before Twilight could try and negotiate with Tempest Shadow, something large falls from the sky out of the blue.

Well, it fell from the sky until it spewed some kind of magical fire that was situated below it just before it crashed on the square; the flames it spewed were so hot that the cobblestone pavement the thing landed on turned into a cloud of black smoke that covered the entire place and made the nearest ponies on crowd cough.

When Luna dissipated the smoke cloud, everypony gasped in awe, horror, shock or a combination of the three when they saw what had landed on their fair city.

It was a ship. No an airship or a mundane boat, but an actual spaceship, built with some kind of glistening white plates and resting on skids. However, it wasn't exactly a UFO either: instead of the stereotypical 'flying saucer' with no clear engine it looked more like a stubby bird with an opaque glass at the front and some some kind of rocketon its behind. The flames that came from under the thing were in fact tiny rocket-like devices that were attached to the skids. Those had to be really powerful to nearly stop cold the fall of something that big.

Nopony moved, dumbounfed as they were by this turn of events, to the point that they even ignored the dozens of . Aliens, honest to herself aliens that had just landed on her city! And their appearance stopped a possible invasion in the process, so they had her gratitude.

“Woah nelly. Look at the size that thing.” Said Applejack in an awed tone.

“It's not that big Applejack.” Replied Twilight in a similar tone. “I mean, it is pretty big, but, well...”

“'Not that big'?” Said the Apple pony skeptically. “Tha' thing's bigger than a barn!”

“I've seen airships bigger than that. I've been on an bigger airship than that. Of course, airships are mostly helium to stay in the air and-”

“Who cares about its size! It's a Celestia-darned UFO!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash in an awed tone before looking sheepisly at the alicorn. “Sorry princess, it's just... it's a real life UFO.”

“You're forgiven Rainbow Dash. As a mattero fact, I'm just as excited as you.” Smiled Celestia before looking back at the ship with a frown. As much as an historical event this was, she was, for some reason, worried. And not just because of the arrival of the aliens, and yet she couldn't pinpoint it. Something was wrong, but what?

“It looks so scary from this distance.”

“I hope the aliens like parties!” Exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“It's not that interesting though.” Said Spike, making the group look down at him. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“That's what you have to say Spike? 'Its ugly'?”

“And why is it not interesting?” Asked Luna to the young dragon. “Sure, it's no exactly pleasing to the eyes, but it's obviously nothing like we have seen before.”

“Yeah, but what kind of ship would you use to impress the primitives you're visiting if you're not going to blast them with rayguns? Because that” He pointed at the ship. “, isn't making me feel in awe. It does look interesting, and it's an actual UFO, but that's it.”

“I'ts... well, you're somewhat right, it's not precisely what I thought an alien craft would be.” Replied Celestia. “ But you can't apply our way of thinking to beings that are not from ...”

“Excuse me.” Interrupted an angry voice from behind them. It was Tempest Shadow. “Are you forgetting that you're IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUCKING INVASION!” She exclaimed.

“Language, there are children here!” Scolded Twilight while covering Spike's ears. The lavender unicorn began ranting about having gone there in record time for nothing and making the rest of the army to wait for something.

“Erm, Tempest?” Interrupted Grubber, in an awkward manner.

“WHAT!” Shouted Tempest Shadow, making Grubber flinch in fear.

“I don't think this is an invasion anymore.”

“What do you mean.” Tempest said angrily.

“Well, invasions don't work if there's only a dozen guys on it.”

“Again, what do you mean.”

Gruber pointed his arm at the sky, and Tempest followed it with her gaze. For some reason, her anger turned to worry.

“Where are the others. They should have been visibles as for now.”

“The others?”

“The rest of the army that was supposed to help us attack the city, and then use the confusion to turn the petrify the four princesses so that the Storm King can-ack!” He was interrupted by an irate Tempest.

“WHY THE HAY ARE YOU REVEALING OUR PLANS TO THESE MORONIC PONIES YOU IMBECILE!?”

“W-well, it's not like we can continue with the plan thanks to that thing over there!” He managed to say while signaling to the spaceship.

“Ppf, as if that would have worked out for you!” Snorted Rainbow Dash, “We kicked the butts of Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek and the Pony of Shadows.”

Celestia would have adder her own opinion in the matter, when suddenly...

HISSSSSS

A burst of vapor came from below the ship, startling the crowd that had gathered around it. And then, from the underside of the ship, came down some kind of metallic staircase.

“Wait.” Whispered Twilight in a scared. “I think I know this part!”

“What are you talking about Twi?”

“There's this one Abyssinian book. It was about an alien invasion from octopi-like aliens that landed on the planet EXACTLY like this! Okay, it was a cylinder rather than a spaceship, but the rest is spot on!”

“And what happened after they landed? Did they receive a 'Welcome to Abyssinia' party!?”

“No, they built giant three legged machines to destroy anything in their path and suck the blood of living creatures, while also seeding some kind of red weed that absorbed the water of the land! Only the flu managed to stop their rampage!”

“But isnt' Abyssinia a desert already?” Inquired Cadance, puzzled by this.

“That's not the point!”

Meanwhile, Celestia was discussing the situation with her sister.

“Celly, what should we do?” Asked the blue alicorn in a worried tone.

“For now, nothing. For all we know the aliens are just visiting us. Besides, we have magic on our side, and four alicorns. We can just defeat them if they result hostile.” Reassured Celestia, even with that feeling of wrongness still on her mind. Why did she feel like that.

“Hey, look!” Exclaimed Spike, pointing at the staircase of the ship. “I think I can see something coming down from the ship!”

The crowd held their breath in anticipation as something large walked down the stairs in a slow manner.

Celestia didn't know what would the aliens look like. Would they be as Twilight's book described them, space octopi that drank warm blood? Or maybe they would be pony-like, not exactly ponies, but at least bipeds?

When the thing finally came down the ship, Celestia looked it over... and her eyes widened in pure terror at what she saw.

It was a biped alright. That was the only thing that made it similar to ponies, because the thing was basically a 10 feet tall, slouched dragon-like lizard.

Celestia had a brief but horrible reliving of her past that showed a monster just like the one she was seeing currently massacring thousands of stallions (half of them by making them tear each other apart with their bare hands) and drenching the praerie in blood and gore.

That was not an alien being. It was another demon!

The others, too fixated on the creature, didn't realize that the state in which the diarch of the Sun was in.

“What a brute!” Exclaimed Rarity while raising her arm in a dramatic manner. “Dear Celestia, what an ugly brute!”

“Yeah, it's freakin' ugly!” Agreed Rainbow. “Still beats an octopus in a beauty contest though.”

“Girls, don't insult the alien!” Warned Twilight. “It may be ugly, but given how did it come to our world, it's has to have a great intelligence to build something like that. Besides, we are the aliens to it; it may even think we're hideous, with our fur, and clothes and...”

Celestia wasn't aware of what Twilight was saying, terrified by the mere presence of a monster that looked exactly like the demon that nearly killed her hundred of years before, and by the fact that it was looking RIGHT AT HER with blank, angry eyes.

She was so terrified that she didn't realize she had been hyperventilating since the monster had come out of its ship. Only a blue hand grabbing her arm brought the Sun diarch out of her fear.

“Celly?” Asked a voice next to her in a very concerned tone. Celestia looked down to see it was Luna.“Are you alright?”

Celestia, finally out of her stupor, looked back at the thing, which was now inspecting the crowd surrounding its craft.

“We have to leave. NOW. It's dangerous.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Luna in a puzzled tone.

“That... thing over there. We have to get the hay out of here.” Whispered Celestia.

“Sister it might look like an horrible monster, but it's an alien from another world, not a monster from ours. 'Don't judge a book by its cover', like Twilight says, remember? ”

“You don't understand, we must-!” Managed to say Celestia before hearing something that froze her blood again.

“I'm going to talk to it, maybe it can understand us.” It was Twilight, who after saying that walked towards the demon in a steady if unsure manner. Before Celestia could do anything (scream, use her magic, run up to her and drag her back) to get the princess of Magic away from the demon, she was already extending her arm and saying:“Greetings, and welcome to Equus!” with a sheepish smile.

The monster, who until that moment had been watching the growing crowd around its ship, looked down at Twilight, who looked up at it still smiling.

It happened so fast, Celestia didn't even see it rise its arm and literally slap Twilight's upper body away as if she were nothing but a mannequin. The still smiling alicorn's torso landed in the middle of the crowd, which was now completely silent and unmoving for several seconds. Until Spike screamed.

In an instant, the demon charged at the crowd at its right and began slaughtering the defenseless ponies with claws and fangs, killing them so quickly that it already killed at least thirty before two furious alicorns blasted it with a beam of raw magic.

Or at least tried to. Because the demon erected a magic shield to deflect the attack. The dumbfounded Luna and Cadence tried to attack it again, alongside the Elements, but Celestia, who was now holding a sobbing Spike her arms, raised a shield between them and the carnage.

“SISTER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Exclaimed Luna in the Royal Canterlot voice.

“We can't fight that thing! We must leave, NOW!”

“It killed Twilight!”

“And it will kill us if we don't-” She said before looking back and watching the demon catch a terrified earth pony colt that didn't react fast enough. The demon looked at the terrified and screaming boy right in the eyes... which acquired an eerie red glow . The horror in the colt's face turned into confusion at first and then pure rage, with maddened eyes and foam froathing from his mouth. Celestia looked away, knowing what was about to happen, but the others kept watching.

When the demon finally let the colt down, he rushed towards a mare that looked like his mother, who tried to grab him... and received a set of teeth tearing her throat.

“OH MY CELESTIA!!!”

And then the worst came.

The ship exploded, sending pieces of it all over the square and crushing unlucky ponies. But that wasn't the worst part; it was the dozen or so more demons that came out of the explosion. Half of them attacked the ponies with either their claws and teeth or by spitting fire from their mouths; the other half, however, began doing something worse, anypony (or anything, as an unfortunate Tempest Shadow found out when her minion gouged her eyes out) they could catch into insane savages and sicing them on the rest.

“WE MUST LEAVE, NOW!” Screamed Celestia before running to the palace with Spike still in her arms, not bothering to see if they followed suit and so terrified that she forgot she could fly or teleport.

While running through the panicked masses to her palace, Celestia tried to think about what to do with this new threat. They couldn't fight the creatures outright; she nearly died by one and now there were a dozen of them. The demons were physically powerful, inmune to magic, had their own type of magic... Maybe she could call for help from the dragons and the yaks? Both didn't use magic (even though the former were inherently magical), and therefore were more adept at fighting physically than ponies in general. Maybe they could destroy these fould beasts?

So distracted was the alicorn princess that she didn't see a demon running past her and then standing in her way with its claws poised to cut her in two.

Spike, on the other hand, had stopped crying and saw the thing.

“CELESTIA IN FRONT OF US!” Screamed the young dragon. His scream brought Celestia out of her thoughts, and the alicorn barely managed to lift off mere feet from the killer claws that would have bissedted her in two.

Celestia, after landing in the (hopefully safe) balcony of her tower, locked the door in her room (Philomena was nowhere to be seen, but Celestia had other problems at the moment) and set the tired Spike on her couch. After that she walked of the balcony to see the chaos that was her city now; ponies crushing others in order to flee the massacre behind them, mares and stallions of all ages attacked and murdered by their maddened relatives, fires spreading on several buildings... It was chaos, but not Discord chaos. He always made sure to never kill. But these creatures... it was as if they only lived to slaughter the innocent. Celestia began to cry at seeing the carnage happening on her city and being unable to stop it. And the worst part was that it wasn't made by a crazy draconequus, a power-hungry centaur with the magic of four alicorns or an army of shapeshifters, but merely twelve (yet insanely powerful) monsters.

Celestia then looked down from the balcony to see a trio of monsters looking up at her but doing nothing else, something that frightened her to the core. Why were the demons just staring at her? It could grab her with its magic, climb the walls of the building or even just jump at her.

A familiar, bloodcurling scream coming from the left side of the plaza in front of the palace attracted her attention. Celestia gasped in horror when she discovered that the surviving Elements and her fellow princesses HAD followed her... but hadn't been fast enough. Now she could only watch the horrors that transpired on her city.

One of the demons was slowly disemboweling Fluttershy (she was the one that screamed), making her suffer a slow and excruciating dead, while at the same time crushing Rainbow Dash with its weight. Cadance and Rarity, trapped in an alley, were so busy trying to push back a group of insane ponies that they didn't see the demon that came from above before it bit their heads off with a single bite. Pinkie Pie had been brainwashed by a demon and was currently eating Applejack entrails. There were no signs from Luna, but considering what was happening to the others, she prayed to the powers above for her sister to have a quick and painless death... or at least that she died instead of becoming a mindless beast.

Celestia walked inside her room and dropped to her knees, crying her heart out. What was she supposed to do now? What force in the world could fight against these monsters when a single one wiped out an army of ten thousand warriors and nearly sent the alicorn of the day to the other side?

“P-princess?” Said a voice behind her. Celestia looked back and saw Spike on her couch, crying a river. She had legitimately forgotten about the young dragon. “I'm scared.”

Celestia inmediatly stood up and hugged the poor dragon, which returned the hug with all his strength. The poor boy had just seen something that a child his age should never have suffered to see.

“W-what are we going to do now?” Sobbed the purple drake while still hugging Celestia.

“First we must escape of Canterlot. As much as it pains me to say this, the demons might be too busy dealing with the population to bother us.”

“A-and then?” Asked Spike. She could tell he didn't like her plan, but didn't have the strength or the will to even object against it. Not after seeing his surrogate big sister killed as she were nothing.

“We'll gather the rest of Equestria and call our friends to destroy these beasts for good. As powerful as they are they're are only a dozen against an entire world.”

“And after that?”

“We'll mourn the lost ones.”

They stayed like that for a few seconds, with the screams of those who had gone to the Festival interwined with the roars of the demons.

“Princess.” Said Spike suddenly in a concerned tone.

“Yes my little dragon?”

“I saw you freeze when the first monster came down the ship.”

Celestia looked down at the worried boy with horror first, and then resignation.

“Princess? Are you okay?”

Celestia sighed in defeat. 'I should tell him what I know. The damage is already done anyway.' She thought.

“Spike, I...”

Before she could tell Spike that she fought one of the demons centuries before, she was interrupted by a roar coming from behind them. Celestia put Spike behind her as a demon climbed into the balcony, followed by another smashing through the door of her room, and another, until the twelve monsters that came from the ship were inside the room and surrounding the pair, jaws and claws covered in blood and eyes glowing red.

Celestia didn't know what to do. Running would be useless and flying was out of the question, these things could simply grab her out of the sky. She could try to teleport herself away with Spike, but she didn't know if her magic could work with so many demons and so close, and for all she knew they could be able to teleport too.

“Princess, what do we do now?” Whispered Spike while clutching grasping her leg in fear, utterfly terrified of the demons.

Before Celestia could say something, one of the demons, the one that came from inside the palace, made its move. It walked slowly (yes, not rushed, not galloped, WALKED) towards them, stopping only two feet from the frightened pair. The fact that unlike its brethren it didn't have even a smear of blood on its body and its eyes weren't glowing just made it look scarier.

It began walking around the pair and occasionally sniffing them, as if it could smell their fear. It got dangerously close to Celestia, breathing on her face and making her tremble at its proximit.

The demon stepped back a couple feet, appeared to think about something for a moment, stepped forward again with its jaws open... and, with unnatural speed, grabbed a screaming Spike from behind the alicorn with its magic.

Celestia tried to grab the writhing drake, but one of the demons shoved her to the ground and put its foot on her back, not putting enough pressure to crush her but still the sufficient to make sure she couldn't help move at all.

“CELESTIA, HELP!!!” Screamed Spike while being prodded and sniffed by the curious demon. It probably wanted to know what was this screaming creature that looked an awful lot like it and its brethren.

“SPIKE! LET HIM YOU YOU MONSTER!” The sight of her only surviving friend (no, family!) being handled like a toy send Celestia to a rage, and despite her impotentness and fear of the beasts she struggled to push the monster pinning her down, but it was useless.

The demon holding Spike, to her surprise and horror, stopped his 'research' to stare at her.

And then it spoke.

“No.” Its voice sounded like it came from Tartarus itself, yet its tone was normal, civil even. It then grabbed Spike with its claws and began walking towards the entrance of her room.

“CELESTIA! HELP ME!” Cried the terrified Spike, trying to get free himself from the demon's claws.

“NO! DON'T TAKE HIM ,PLEASE!” Screamed Celestia hysterically, trying futilely to get up. “TAKE ME INSTEAD! I BEG YOU, DON'T TAKE HIM, TAKE ME!”

The demon stopped walking just as it was about to leave the room and looked back at Celestia... before crouching its head and going ot of Celestia's sight, with Spike still clutched on its claws.

And then Celestia heard Spike give his loudest cry yet before hearing a sickening crack.

“SPIKE!” Cried Celestia at the top of her lungs, not wanting to believe that Spike was...

The lifeless, twisted body of the baby dragon that was thrown inside the room and just in front of her made clear that it really happened.

The alicorn stared at the reflection of her face in Spike's wide, dead eyes. When the demon that was stepping on her lifted its foot, she inmediatly grabbed Spike's body and cradled it.

Celestia closed her eyes in pain and cried her heart out, hugging the dead dragon child and chortling 'I failed' in a broken voice. All while the demons surrounded her.

Discord, Tirek, King Sombra, Chrysalis... the worst enemies of Equestria-no, the entire world of Equus, with had either entire armies at their command, powerful magic that rivaled or surpassed that of the Alicorn Sisters, or incredible cunning, and yet in the end were defeated. And yet, the world would be destroyed not by an army or by a powerful magic-user, but by nightmares that, as powerful as they were and with their strange and horrible magic, were only twelve.

“Are you crying?” Said the horrible voice she heard before from the demon. Celestia glared up at the monster and set Spike's body aside with care.

She had enough.

The monarch of the Sun screamed in rage, jumped on her hooves and lighted up with all her magic might, glaring death at the monster who killed Spike with glowing eyes. It might have been useless, but she didn't care anymore, she had nothing else to lose.

“You have destroyed my city, slaughtered my people, and killed my loved ones!” Shouted Celestia. “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?”

The demon, unfazed by her rage, simply grabbed her with its magic. Instantly her magic was nullified and the light left her body.

Then, the demons said something that she would never forget.

“Your death.”

And then it ripped her arm off with a bite, making her scream in pure agony. As if her scream were a signal, all the other demons (twelve 10 feet teen feet tall monsters with sword-like teeth and raking claws) started killing her, biting or clawing at her body, ripping her limb by limb, taking bites out of her flesh. But they didn't want to kill her quickly. No, they were killing her slowly, making sure she suffered and screamed all the way.

The last thing Celestia saw was the endless darkness inside the talking demon's open jaws.

Celestia woke up screaming, covered in a cold sweat.

The alicorn, after screaming for several seconds, touched her body to make sure she was in one piece, and sighed when she felt her body untouched.

'Calm down Celly, it was simply a dream. A horrible, horrible deam, but a dream nonetheless' Thought Celestia before realizing something and making her gorn glow to illuminate the room. 'Wait... This is not my bed.'

Indeed, the bed she was laying on was not hers, but rather, a more simple one (although nearly as big as hers). As a matter of fact, she wasn't even on her bedroom, or her palace for that matter! The walls of the room she was in were entirely metallic, so it was clear she was in Praeratus ship. The room itself was a rather empty place, with only a metallic table and chair, a closet at her left, and a stand in the wall which supported some kind of metallic tube..

She also remembered what had happened to her to be ther: an army of monsters from the Everfree Forest attacked Canterlot, Praeratus and his 'pet' Cyranus destroyed it, a demon sneaked past them and mauled her, Praeratus killing the demon with the help of Cyranus, Praeratus grabbing and carrying her to presumably his ship (he said he had the means to save her), and then nothing. Probably lost consciousness on the way, and that didn't matter to her since Praeratus kept his promise about saving her. Her wings were on her back again, her legs were intact, and her right breast was again part of her chest, although she felt there was something wrong.

And just then also realized she was naked. Okay, not exactly naked, but her dress was so torn up that she might have been be fully naked.

Celestia, feeling utterly embarrassed by this, covered herself with the bed sheets.

'Oh my goodness, what if someone enters sees me like this? Hay, what if Praeratus sees me like this!?' Thought Celestia, blushing at the thought of the alien warrior suddenly entering the room to see her naked on his bed. Speaking of Praeratus, where was he? She had to thank him for saving her and her city from destruction, and for promising to save their world from the alien monsters.

Celestia shakily got up from the bed, made a makeshift tunic with the sheets (it wasn't as if Praeratus would chide her for tearing sheets he could replace... she hoped) and stepped out of the bedroom... and inmediatly fell to the ground because she slammed her head on a wall.

“Ow! My poor muzzle!” Exclaimed Celestia, caressing her hurting face. “How can Praeratus even move through such a narrow ship!”

“Well, for starters it's not so narrow.” Replied a deep voice that came from above her.

Celestia's looked up and widened her eyes when she saw Praeratus (who, suprisingly, was completely healed from his wounds) looking down at her with an expression between amusement and bemusement. And she blushed when she shaw that he was wearing only a black tank-top (which, given that he was black already, made it look like he was bare-chested; even if it wasn't, it still gave her an AMAZING view of his muscles) and white short pants.

There was only one thing Celestia could do at that moment.

“Hi?”

Author's Note

Trying my hand at horror elements. And don't worry, the next chapter will be mostly interaction between Celestia and Praeratus, and him explaining why she's still on his ship.

If the bioweapons acted like that (speaking and not moving) its because Celestia's still pretty much traumatized by them and still thinks of them a somewhat demonic.

Bonding

After leaving Celestia sleeping on the bedroom, Praeratus went to the cockpit (the closest place on the ship to a personal room; he either slept on the pilot's chair or the couch. He no longer slept on the bedroom), took off his xeno-hunting suit to get something more comfortable while on his ship (a simple tank-top the same color of his skin and white short pants) and dozed off for a few hours, although not just to rest: normal sleep aided the healing of a normal body, and thanks to Praeratus' enhancements and a meditation technique his body could recover even faster.

After waking up and noticing that it was daytime already (probably the other princesses moved the sun; he would investigate of how and why later) he made sure that the 'Thing' was still hidden and safe (he didn't want to take risks with Celestia on his ship, even if they were alone), watched a recorded documentary of the Hegemony War on the kitchen for another hour, and decided to scout the planet a bit more with the drone. More accurately, he needed to know if the bioweapons were still hiding at the forest. The reveal that they may be sapient to a degree had complicated things, and he'll had to take them out before they could reproduce and begin using more refined tactics. What they did minutes before in Canterlot was bad, but he was pretty sure they would do worse in the future if he couldn't exterminate them in time.

Sitting on the couch with the drone controller in hand and Cyranus at his side, Praeratus activated the holographic screen and started the thing. However, rather than sending the drone directly to the giant forest, he decided to check the damage done to Canterlot first. He wanted to make sure that nobody else had died during the attack, wanted to see if there were surviving animals. Besides, it would take only a couple of minutes at best, he could afford it.

'It's not like the things know that I know where they are hiding.' Thought Praeratus while sending the drone inside the surprisingly intact city. There were a couple wrecked buildings there and there, and quite a lof ot traumatized people, but for what he could see the only confirmed deaths were the ones he saw petrified and crushed and that poor devil that ended as bioweapon chow, so aside from that the city was okay. The real problem would the the inhabitants. They may have seen (and experienced) devastation no much different from this, but he doubted that any of them had seen that level of slaughter, or any kind of slaughter for that matter. Most were still terrified by what they'd seen, horrified by the aftermath, or depressed by some reason he didn't know (maybe the had never suffered so much in so little time?). At least they were helped by the others, Luna, the group of flyers and Discord included.

A rather big crowd, however, was blaming him for causing this, and one of them (a tall, white unicorn with a black mane and a goatee; judging by the fact he was wearing a fine, red robe and some kind of medal on his chest, he was probably nobility, wizard or some other fairy tale crap) even claimed that he was cahoots with the bioweapons, that he was the one who brought them here (which was a total lie, especially since at least Luna and Twilight knew the truth, and by extension their friends too) and that he kidnapped the princess of the sun to do nefarious things to her (despite Luna announcing to the crowds that he saved her; however, she didn't say that he actually resuscitated her from death, probably to not scare them further or give them the wrong ideas about what he could do).

“If not for me you would had been their dinner, you ungrateful little zab.” Growled Praeratus. Cyranus, sensing the therawyrm's anger rising, went to him and nuzzled his arm; Praeratus, exhaling to calm down, petted the gorgonops to return the gesture. Cyranus always did this when he felt Praeratus losing his temper and, although it didn't happen that much (once or twice per year, mostly due to ungrateful clients, annoying cops and assholes in general), the xeno-hunter always felt thankful when the gorgopnops did this.

“Thanks boy. I needed that.” Thanked Praeratus while petting Cyranus, prompting him to grunt in joy.

Even though the former Centurion understood why these idiots still distrusted him, he still wasn't happy by it. Then there was the fact that, aside from from Luna, Spike, Twilight and the rest (minus Rainbow Dash that is, and even then he was pretty sure she respectec him at the very least), none of the natives felt grateful towards him for saving them, their leader and their city. Praeratus wanted simply to let it slide, but after hundreds years of being thanked by thousands of people of all kinds (from entire ceremonies before, during and at the end of the Hegemony War as a Centurion to simple hugs and gifts as xeno-hunter), he couldn't help feel a bit... 'slighted' for their attitude towards their saviour. Especially when that unicorn spoke about Celestia. Why the hell would he do anything to her after saving (and resurrecting) her several times in a single day?

He thought it over and let the thought slide: he saved Celestia several times, all of them with Twilight as a witness and two with Luna, and those two were the princesses. Why would the common folk ever believe that guy? They couldn't be that naïve or stupid.

Moving on, he brought the cloaked drone over the forest and, after reaching the forest in twenty seconds (the drone could fly to nearly supersonic speeds), he began surveying the place in search of the bioweapons.

Nothing. Aside from a noticeable lack of predatorial wildlife (of which he knew the reasons) and weirdly enough a few villages populated by deer-like beings (still living deer-like beings), he couldn't see where could the bioweapons be.

Grunting, Praeratus activated the infrared sensor of the drone to try and see something through the trees. Nothing again.

'Easy Praty, the things have only been free on the planet for just one day. They can't be far.' Reassured Praeratus to himself.

As he changed cameras and flew the drone, though, the previously calm therawyrm began to despair. Motion detection, sound detection, x-rays, psionic detection... There was nothing on the sensors!

“C'mon, c'mon, where are you hiding you freaks!?” Shouted Praeratus in desperation. Where the hell could the things be!? He used all sensors and yet they still evaded him. Not even the most effective natural camouflage could have hidden them from hunting drone! The only option left was...

'HELP... HELP... HELP'

“Of course.” Mumbled Praeratus while laying back on the couch and grabbing his muzzle in annoyance. “The thing was calling for help, and the others listened. But instead of responding, they moved, and since they literally came out of containment less than six hours ago, they wouldn't have needed much time. At least those deer will be safe. For now.” However, he realized something was amiss. “Yet I didn't feel it using its psionics. How did they heard that?” He knew of several animal lifeforms that could use telepathy by various means without the capacity of using psionics, but their ability had a reach of a mile at best, and even then...

His chain of thoughts was rudely interrupted by a femenine, very loud scream (to the point that Cyranys got startled and looked everywhere) coming from inside the ship. It was Celestia, and apparently she just woke up. However, whereas others would have jumped to their feet and ran off to see what made her scream, Praeratus simply set the drone in 'stand-by' mode and got up from the couch. He didn't see why would he worry: she was well inside the ship and near him, it was impossible for anything from outside to enter without him knowing (or it through the now-active defenses for that matter), he would have detected something entering with minimal effort if he wished to, and barring all that he still had a healthy and well trained gorgonops who would have reacted to unwelcome visits (and knew how to deal with them).

However, he was confused as to why did she scream. He supposed she woke up because she had a nightmare, but most of the time nightmares didn't make sleeping people wake up screaming at the top of their lungs (he would know); it was touching them that made them scream. Of course, she was a special case given that she had some trauma and had been dead for a few minutes.

Praeratus, busy as he was thinking about Celestia, didn't see the alicorn stepping out of the bedroom until she slammer her face on his chest. The former Centurion watched with a mix of worry and amusement as Celestia moaned while caressing her muzzle.

“Ow! My poor muzzle!” Muttered the alicorn with a muffled voice. “How can Praeratus even move through such a narrow ship!”

Praeratus chose that moment to speak.

“Well, for starters it's not so narrow.” Replied Praeratus with a smile.

Celestia stopped moaning and looked up slowly at him with wide eyes.

“Hi?” Said the princess in a sheepish tone.

“Hi, I suppose.” Replied Praeratus while offering his hand to Celestia to help her stand, and accepted the gesture. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!” Replied Celestia while looking away from him. “I mean no! I had a nightmare, and, well...” Her sheepines turned into fear.

“I heard you screaming. Let me guess, it involved the bioweapon attack, am I right?”

Celestia sighed dejectedly.

“Not exactly, but it had them. Throughout my long life I have had many nightmares, but it's the first time in a hundred years that the nightmares involve death, blood and...” Celestia didn't say more, but Praeratus knew she would have said 'demons'.

“First time?”

“I had nightmares for decades after killing the first monster. Fortunately I stopped having them a hundred years ago, but with what happened today, I fear I'll start having them again. My sister, Luna, actually asked me before if she could helpe me with the issue.”

“Your sister? You mean Luna?” Celestia nodded. "She can enter the dreams of others? Fascinating.” Said Praeratus in an interested tone. Psionics could do that too (hell, he could), but it took practice and finesse.

“She's not only the Princess of the Night, she also makes sures that my little ponies don't suffer in their dreams, mostly by making them face their fears.” She then looked down in sadness. “Unfortunately, I fear that the events of today have traumatized the inhabitants of Canterlot too much.

Praeratus couldn't avoid but grunt in displeasure.

“They're lucky it was only one.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone before he could think and stop himself. Dammit, now he would look like an insensitive asshole to the local that liked him the most!

'Wait. Why did I think that?'

Surprisingly, however, Celestia didn't seem angry (or surprised) at all with what he stated.

“I know.” Sighed Celestia. “You're a space warrior, surely you have to have fought worse things out there than just some monster, or even a dozen of them.”

“Yes.” Unfortunately, the 'worse things' were tank platoons, enemy psionic attacks and warships manned by people that used their brains, not vat-grown attack animals (except the giant ones, but the Hegemony's titanic beasts were biologcial weapons too) that simply charged forward (except the bioweapons). “Although that one wasn't a pushover either; if not for Cyranus I would have been killed.”

Deciding that it would be better to change topic to distract Celestia from her worries (at least until he took her back to Canterlot), Praeratus remembered that she was nearly naked; nearly, because she had made a makeshift tunic with the sheets of the bed.

“What do you think your subjects will think of you if they saw wearing that?” Said Praeratus while gesturing at her 'clothing'.

Celestia's reaction was inmediate: she promtply blushed at his comment and hugged herself to show less of her body.

“W-well look who's talking! Is as if you were bare-chested with that shirt!” Stammered Celestia, although Praeratus could see a small smile. Seems like his plan worked. And since she was the first person on his ship since ten years, why not prolong it?

“You're saying it as if it were a bad thing.” Replied Praeratus with a chuckle before hearing a growl coming from Celestia's belly. “You must be starving with all the action of yesterday.”

“Wait, yesterday!?”

“Or today or something, I don't know how you fellas manage to even have an stable schedule when the star and the moon are the ones orbiting the planet. Cyranus, come here boy!” When the happy gorgonops reached the pair, Praeratus said to him. “Cyranus, take the pretty lady to the kitchen.”

“Pretty lady?” Repeated Celestia

“He doesn't actually know you yet. Anyway, I'm going to find you some clothes while you're in the kitchen.”

Cyranus, feeling that Praeratus was happy, grabbed Celestia by the arm (obviously without actually biting her) and gently pulled her like a dog (alright, she was actually dragged on the metal floor, but her arm was ok) to the kitchen.

Praeratus chuckled at the sight and entered the bedroom to find some clothing for the alicorn, all the while thinking about why did he act like that.

'Maybe because she's the first person you've invited in the ship? Granted, she was more of a corpse than a guest, but you're treating her pretty nice.' Thought Praeratus while opening the wardrobe and searching throught to find something he thought would fit Celestia nicely, a white dress her size (although it might be a bit tighter for her in the chest and hip department) that she could put on . He always kept it for sentimental value, but now it would have a use.

'Just like she would have wanted.' Thought Praeratus morosely before shutting the closet door.

The kitchen Celestia was brought to, in contrast to the bedroom she slept in, was actually quite comely (although clearly hundreds of years ahead of any kitchen on Equestria, if not Equus), with cupboards, a large fridge, oven, a table with four chairs, dishwasher, a smaller oven on the counter... What attracted her attention the most, however, was the clearly artificial (as in, no magic involved) hologram that came from the table.

What it displayed, on the other hand, was anything but amazing: a large battle (and given the black void and countless stars in the background, it was in space!) between two 'fleets' of hundreds of starships firing at each other with magic bolt-like weapons, rockets of some kind and genuine laser beams; many of the ships had some kind of shield, but just as many were destroyed. There was a voice saying something, probably talking about the participants, but it was speaking in an unknown language Celestia had never heard before.

'These have to be the worse things Praeratus talked about.' Thought Celestia while watching the display. Just a second later the images changed, showing the point of view of a soldier (clearly from a camera of some kind) firing some kind of raygun towards a incredibly tall building (its top didn't reach the clouds, but it was clearly taller than most buildings in Equestria) covered with some kind of beehive-shaped shield, clearly different from the magic shields conjured by unicorns.

The soldier was firing from the interior of another, not as tall and ruined building alongside dozens of other other soldiers, all of them wearing futuristic armor that covered their heads, with with many of them belonging to different races (some were either 6 feet tall with pony-like physical complexion or 4 feet but wider than most ponies, other were 12-15 feet tall brutes carrying huge weapons with two hands, and a few that for some reason didn't have helmets were the dragon-like race of which Praeratus belonged to, although none of them was black; they were either gray or brown, instead of being multicolored like the dragons of Equus. None were as tall as him as well). The battle kept going like that for a few minutes, with neither side able to gain the upper hand on the other, even when even more powerful weapons entered the fray.

That was until another soldier, a lithe, pointy-eared and hairless ape, walked out of the building. Unlike his colleages, the soldier wasn't wearing actual armor, and the only weapon he had (or something that looked like a weapon) was an L-shaped object hanging from his hip. The soldiers on the building must have noticed him, because a shield flared around the warrior to protect him from their attacks.

Celestia expected the soldier to use himself as a distraction so that his companions could attack the enemy. She didn't expect what actually happened.

The soldier raised his arms towards the building and, suddenly, an eerie purple glow emanated from his body. The energy the soldier made was then condensed into a sphere of energy on his open hands that he threw towards the shield at great speed, all of it under increasing attacks from the enemy. However, just as the sphere was about to hit the shield, the soldier to whom the camera belonged ducked alongside his fellow soldiers, which was for the better because as soon as they did that a powerful wave of purple energy rattled the building they were in. After the building stopped shaking, the soldier rose from his position and looked at a cloud of debris covering the shielded building. Or more accurately, a cloud of debris covering the spot where the shielded building was before.

Celestia watched in amazement as the cloud dispersed completely and confirmed what she was seeing: the enemy building had been utterly demolished! And by a single warrior no less! Sure, she had seen greater destruction before in Equus, but it came from powerful magic-users like alicorns, powerful unicorns and certain creatures (like Tirek). She already doubted Equus capacity to defend itself when she saw Praeratus kill an Ursa Major by casually flinging an entire bucking building at it (although to be fair, he had already shot the bear in the knee with his raygun), and THAT was only after probably spending a good deal of his 'psionics' killing the horde of frenzied monsters that came with the gigantic bear.

Another terrifying thought came to her mind: what if Praeratus wasn't the most powerful 'psionic'?

So engrossed was Celestia on her thoughts that she didn't realize the aforementioned alien warrior had been watching her for a few minutes.

“There you are.” Said Praeratus suddenly, startling Celestia and making her neigh.

“P-praeratus, that was not nice!” Exclaimed Celestia, looking back and watching Praeratus (with a netly folded dress hanging from his arm) enter the kitchen and give her the dress. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Put it on, I won't have a woman wear a sheet of all things in my home.”

“Wait, in front of you!?” Exclaimed Celestia in shock. What did he think she was!?

“Why not? I won't stare.” Said Praeratus. He already knew (well, supposed, but this confirmed it) that ponies valued their privacy when dressing, but he feigned ignorance to have a laugh.

“Because it's rude! And why did you made me come to the kitchen when I could have stayed on your bedroom to dress myself?” Asked Celestia in an angered tone.

“Because I'm still a man and sometimes I don't think ahead?” He said, earning a glare from the unamused alicorn. Oh, c'mon, don't look at me like that. Besides, I want to make the beed.” Replied Praeratus while handing her the dress, after which he turned and closed his eyes. “Go ahead, I won't stare.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Snorting, Celestia took the sheet off and put the dress on. It was a bit tight (making her breasts look even bigger than they already were, and her hips stick out more), but aside from than that it fit like a glove. She did wonder why did Praeratus have a dress when he lived alone.

“Well? Can I open my eyes?” Asked Praeratus, with his back still facing Celestia to give her privacy.

“Yes.”

The alien turned around and looked at the alicorn.

“Well? How do I look?” Asked Celestia.

“Pretty good all things considered, although I should have accounted on your...” Praeratus touched his own chest to drive the point home, which made Celestia sigh.

“Yes, I know, my breasts are huge, I know that already. “Said the alicorn, embarrased and looking away from Praeratus.” They make me feel clumsy, they're very sensitive, sometimes they cramp, I suffer back aches, I have to order special bras, and most mares are jealous because of them. One day I reduced their size to feel normal for once, but at the end I returned them to their size it because I didn't want to be an hypocrite when one of the things I preach to my little ponies is 'be yourself'.”

Celestia looked back at Praeratus, hoping to hear some kind words from him, but instead saw him watching the hologram with a grim expression in his eye.

“Damn it, I should have shut it off.”

Celestia heard a frightening roar, screams and weapon discharges, and looked back at the hologram to see a group of soldiers shooting at a monster (some kind of huge hybrid between a crocodile and a bear which, comparing sizes, had to be at least twice as big as a dragon, and at least thrice as heavy)... that, to her horror, had a vehicle full of alien children (screaming alien children) clutched on its claws.

“Oh my goodness!” She exclaimed when the monster spit a literal river of acid towards a group of soldiers, dissolving them and making them scream in agony. The monster then brought the vehicle to its mouth, eliciting more screams from the children trapped inside. Celestia covered her eyes with her hands, unable to see the demise of the innocent boys and girls, but Praeratus pulled her arms down.

“Don't worry, the kids were saved in time.” Said Praeratus while pointing at the hologram. “Look.”

Sure enough, another soldier (a 7 feet tall behemoth covered from head to hoof in a much more impressive and complex-looking armor set colored blue) literally flied into the scene and, to the astonishment of Celestia, drop-kicked the monster's jaw and snapped it, forcing the creature to release its prey. The children were safely caught by a red aura that moved the vehicle away from the fight, which lasted little more than thirty seconds thanks to the arrival of the warrior and two huge, elephant-like vehicles with cannons instead of trunks.

'So that's how aliens fight. How awful. But at least the children are safe.' Thought Celestia in relief when the display changed to a group of soldiers releasing the crying children from the wrecked vehicle. The image then changed to a huge spacecraft firing a beam at a planet. It didn't destroy it, but judging the expanding shockwave it must had leveled a landmass.

“Such destruction... What kind of war causes so much death?” She asked sadly to Praeratus, who grunted.

“The Hegemony War, a hundred-years long war between the most powerful galactic entities that ended only two hundred years ago, and the first conflict in which the Confederation fought an enemy that had the will, the power and the weapons to threaten us.”

“Us?”

“I consider myself part of the Confederation, and they were the ones who tasked me with the erradication of the demons.”

Celestia kept watching the recording, lost as she was watching the armored warrior fighting the soldiers of the 'Hegemony'. Even its name sounded evil.

“That Centurion was me.” Praeratus said suddenly.

“W-what?”

“That soldier over there.” Said Praeratus, pointing at the same warrior from before, who now was lifting a heavy armored vehicle and using it to cover himself. “I am him.”

“You fought in the war? You must be pretty old then.” Said Celestia.

“I was already an adult before it began. Well” Said Praeratus while walking to his fridge and opening it.

“, you must be pretty hungry after all the action from yesterday. Here.” He said while laying a plate with a sandwich on it. “It's spinach.”

“Thank you.” Thanked Celestia before taking a bite of the sandwich. It wasn't exactly the tastiest food she had ever eaten (much less cake), but it wasn't bad either. “Aren't you going to eat something?”

“Nah, I'm not hungry. Besides, most of my diet consists of meat-based products.”

Celestia stopped eating and looked at him wide eyed. Praeratus huffed.

“Celestia, don't look at me like that; I'm an alien, not a pony, I don't share your diet. If I don't eat meat I die, period. Well, not exactly, but my species has to eat more meat than plants or we die.”

“What, no, no, it's not that you eat meat! Hippogriffs and griffons eat fish. It's just... I thought you'd eat gemstones.”

Praeratus gave her a puzzled look.

“Why the hell would I eat gemstones. I mean, therawyrms can, but even if the shards didn't wreck our innards we wouldn't be able to digest them.”

“So, you're three hundred years old?” Continued Celestia, wanting to talk about something else.

Praeratus looked at her again, this time with annoyance.

“Celestia, do I look that young to you? I've been a soldier for seven hundred years!” He said in an offended tone, although she could see he wasn't actually angry at her, just annoyed.

“W-what!? You're over seven hundred years old!?”

“I'm over a thousand years old! Eleven hundred thirty nine to be precise. I'll be forty in a couple of months.”

Celestia gaped at him. He was older than her!

“A-are you old by your species' standards?”

“Not at all, we're only seniors when we reach fourteen hundred. Hell, even then we're pretty active unlike other species.”

“Fourteen hundred... Ponies in general can live to two hundred years.”

“That's not so bad, most species in the Confederation have similar life expectancies. Hey, now that we're talking about lifespans, how old are you Celestia?”

Now it was Celestia's turn to be annoyed. How rude was he!

“I thought it was impolite to ask a lady her age?” She said while scoffing and crossing her arms.”

“Not where I come from. C'mon, I told you mine, you tell me yours.”

“Alright, I'm eleven hundred twenty nine.”

“Well, you look pretty good for someone of your age.”

Celestia smiled at this compliment (and unbeknownst to her she also blushed a little).

“Well thank you.” She said before taking another bite from the sandwich

“And also for someone who died and returned to life just a few hours ago.”

Celestia choked on the piece of sandwich when she heard that.

Author's Note

Well, it seems that the 'Romance' part of the story has reared its head. As well as that, it has become clear (or at least more obvious) that this is a crossover with Stellaris, and I will introduce even more 'things' from the game in the future. Bad things.

Can I get more commentaries and likes please?

Return of the Princess and the Centurion

While Praeratus and Celestia where talking on his ship about how she died, Luna, Twilight and the others (including Starlight Glimmer, who had joined them) had their hands full with the citizens of Canterlot, who had gone into a mass panic after what happened yesterday (although technically speaking it was still 'yesterday'). And that was before they realized that Celestia wasn't with her fellow royals and friends.

'If only Celestia were here. Heck, if only Praeratus were here. At least he would scare them into submission by just glaring at them.' Thought Luna morosely while watching Neighsay speak in front of her throne to the gathered crowd.

The Princess of the Night, who at the moment was staring at a brewing riot, didn't know what to do with her ponies or how to calm things down. Twilight tried to deliver a speech of some kind, but they outright ignored her . Discord did some of his 'antics' to distract them alongside Pinkie Pie, but they mostly ignored him too. Fluttershy could have tried to calm them down (she was better with animals, but who knew), but she was already shy with level-minded crowds, this one was simply too much for her. The guards tried to impose some sense of order, but they were ignored too.

And finally, there was herself. Their other monarch, who could move the moon, drag an entire town to the dreamscape, and fight her sister on equal ground. And yet, when she ordered them to calm down, told them that Celestia was fine, and even screamed at them with the Royal Canterlot Voice... they didn't stop. Heck, if anything it made the situation worse, making them think she was 'in cahoots with the dragon'.

And that was before Chancellor Neighsay came to the scene (literally in his case, since he teleported), demanding to know the whereabouts of Celestia and to Discord to be turned to stone again, thinking that the chaos was of his making and that he waited for after the defeat of the invaders to show his true colors (which naturally made the draconequus angry, but didn't do anything to not make things worse) and speaking ill of Praeratus, calling him the vanguard of an alien invasion.

“'Vanguard'?” Repeated Discord (and briefly turning his head into Neighsay's) in a mocking tone before getting serious. “He's an entire invasion force! But one that is in OUR side! Somepony should shut him up before he crosses a line!”

“And what do you think we should do about him, Discord?” Replied Twilight, who was occupying Cadance's seat. Spike was sleeping in her parent's house alongside the CMC. In any other instance he would have been with her, but after the attack of the frenzied monsters mere hours before she thought it would be better if he slept.

“I don't know, maybe just order him to shut up? He's just some glorified teacher that knows how to scream, not a real politician.”

“He's still a noble, a high-ranking one, and the head of the Equestrian Education Association.” Explained Luna, although not with a understanding tone. She too was getting tired of him. “As much as I dislike him, he's simply worried about what happened and what could happen to Equestria.”

“Well, yeah, but one thing is being concerned about your country and another is insulting someone who might be even more powerful than me and that doesn't feel queasy about actually killing.”

“Pff, he's just some alien.” Replied Rainbow Dash. She was obviously still furious at Praeratus for not just shattering half the bones of her body and her wings, she was also angry at having made her bite her arms.

“Yeah, but an alien that is probably just as inmune to magic as the monster that attacked and strong enough to lift a metal space thingy with his bare hands. He probably has more muscle on his biceps than Applejack in her entire body. No offense.”

“Ah'm not offended, ya're right about him.” Replied the cowmare. She was still amazed at the feat of strength Praeratus displayed.

“And that's not taking in account the building he lifted to take out that Ursa Major!”

“You could have done that by just snapping your fingers.” Said Queen Novo.

“No, I could have not!” Exclaimed Discord, insulted by what she said.” Didn't you heard what I said th the guy? I was a jerk a thousand years ago, and I am still a jerk, and sometimes I'm proud of it. But to use my powers to kill living beings? I'd never do that. I'll annoy, brainwash and even hurt other creatures, but I'd never kill.” He then thought it over and muttered: “Although I was thinking of similar alternatives when Chrysalis kidnapped us, like turning her into an actual bug and throwing her in a cave full of bats. Don't look at me like that, she'd have it coming.”

“What about that stained glass window showing you dangling ponies over a fire?” Questioned Rarity, making Discord gasp and glare at her.

“I made them dance ABOVE the fire like puppets, not INTO it like those histories full of cannibal natives!”

“It doesn't matter, we can't do nothing but let Neighsay speak.”

“Well, why don't we tell him that Praeratus... well, brought Celestia back, if you know what I mean.” Suggested Discord.

“And make Canterlot fear him even more than they already do?” Replied Luna. “They are already scared of the fact that he slayed an entire army of frenzied monsters, an Ursa Major and an invincible alien monster by himself, they'll go into complete chaos if we told them he can resurrect the dead!”

“Wait, he really did that!?” Asked Starlight in an amazed tone before being shushed by her friends.

“Don't say it out loud Starlight!”

“Weren't you paying attention before when we told you guys about it?” Asked Twilight

“No, not really.” Admitted the light purple unicorn, making the alicorn sigh in exasperation. Luna didn't even look down at the personal student of the Princess of Friendship, tired as she was after all she had been through.

However, what the Chancellor said next shook the blue alicorn off her weariness.

“And that's why we must attack the dragon and its beast before they attacks us!”

“WHAT!?” Shouted Luna while getting off her throne, scaring everypony present. “Absolutely not! I will not let you alienate ourselves from the only one who can stop the demons!”

“Yeah, he was a bit of a meanie, but we did attack him because of a dumb misunderstanding!” Agreed Pinkie Pie.

“And don't forget, he killed dozens of manticores, hydras, bugbears and a freaking URSA MAJOR!” Screamed Discord. “, to save the city. Granted, it didn't look like he was putting effort into it, and several ponies still died, but if not for him a lot more would have been done for. Oh, and he also killed the demon. With his dog's help, but he killed it. Also, where were you when the Storm King invaded, uh!?”

“Knocked unconscious and thrown into a dungeon after trying to defend a group of students from his minions!” Shouted Neighsay angrily, making Discord feel ashamed and whisper 'Oh'. “Where were YOU during the invasion!”

“Hiding because the last thing we wanted at the moment was an even worse maniac with even more magic at his disposal! Which thanks to Praeratus didn't happen.”

“And he also saved my sister from a certain doom.”

“If that's really the truth, then why doesn't he let her leave?” Questioned Neighsay.

“We told you already, he said that she needed to rest after saving her.”

“Didn't you think for a moment that hey may haven't been sincere? I'ts an alien, not from this world! It may have nefarious plans for her!”

“I saw my sister with her wings teared out, her belly cut open and showing her innards, and her mouth bleeding, all of it with my own eyes, so yes, I'm pretty sure he was sincere! And if not for him we wouldn't be having this conversation, or worse, we would be ripping each other apart! And his names is Praeratus, not 'it'! Remember that.” Said Luna, remembering perfectly what nearly happened to her when she commited the same error.

“It may be so, but do we know anything about this... Praeratus aside from his capacity for destruction and the fact that he's not from Equus?”

“He came to the planet to take out the demons, he even said it was a task from his government, the Confederation.”

“And do we know anything about the demons? If they're actually demons.”

Luna sighed. She'll had to tell them some of the truth.

“They aren't demons, they're aliens too, and apparently artificial ones. They came to Equus two hundred years ago. One of them escaped its metal prison and slaughtered the Royal Army to the last stallion. My sister only survived because it was tired after killing so many, so fast.”

“And so you didn't think that maybe he may be here to corroborate if the 'weapons' accomplished their mission? They could have been sent by this 'Confederation' to destroy every living thing on Equus for them to use!”

“He said it was a mistake that they were on our world Neighsay!” Replied Twilight, making the Chancellor scowl at her.

“Why are you defending that brute? If what you said before is true, he nearly ripped your head off for a simple mistake!”

“That 'simple mistake' is the reason that Praeratus is still on Equus and the monsters are still a threat!” Screamed Twilight in an angry tone, surprising Neighsay. “I grabbed his weapon to see what made it shoot heat rays, and accidentaly hit one of the monsters, which were stunned after being expelled from the storm guards they had possessed before to fight Praeratus. This shook them out of their daze, and they escaped the city.”

“And what about the Element of Loyalty?” Continued Neighsay, pointing at the heavily bandaged and casted Rainbow Dash. “He put her in that condition and broke her wings, which is a henious crime by itself! And that's not counting those storm guards he slaughtered alongside his beast, here and in the village of Detrot! They may have been evil, but they didn't deserve to die; they didn't even try to hurt the Elements, just capture them!”

“'Didn't even try to hurt the Elements'? “Scoffed Rarity in contempt. “I'm pretty certain they wanted to do something worse than poking us with their spears all the times we were at their reach. They only wanted Twilight.” She whispered to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who nodded in agreement.

“Erm, girls...” Said Rainbow Dash in a concerned tone. “Did you heard that?”

“Head what?” Replied Applejack.

“Hush, things are getting hot here!” Pinkie Pie whispered to the two.

“And Queen Novo!” He turned to the Queen of the Hippogriffs, who was glaring at him. “He would have killed your daughter when she was just trying to help the Elements rescue Princess Twilight!” Despite his apparent concern, the group could clearly heard the disdain in his voice. Novo was about to give him a piece of her mind when her daughter cut her off before she could speak.

“Hey, I'm here you know!” Said Skystar. “And yes, he would have killed me and the others if not for Spike, but that was because we attacked him.”

“And why did you attack him?”

“Because he would have killed Capper, our abyssinian friend, if we hadn't. AndhewouldhavekilledCapperbecausehethoughthewaswiththeStormKingandbecausehesaidhehatesslavers!” She said the second sentence before Neighsay could speak again and so fast that she was outright unintelligible.

The Chancellor said what everyone had in their mind.

“What? Excuse me, what did you just say?”

Queen Novo coughed in an awkward tone.

“She said that Praeratus attacked this Capper because he probably thought he was part of the Storm King's army, and since the Elements were chained to a cart and pulling a giant cake he probably thought they were his slaves.”

“And I said it that fast to shut you up, you jerk!” Exclaimed Skystar while flying up to Neighsay's face. “You have done nothing but insult Praeratus and saying that he's an evil alien waiting for the right moment to conquer us, something he's not because if he really were evil he would have done so already and without any trouble!”

“Sorry, but I find hard to believe that somepony that posseses powerful magic and weapons and that came especifically to kill some monsters that came from space too is genuinely good.” Replied Neighsay, glaring at the annoying hippogriff. “And please get out of my face.” He then grabbed Skystar with his magic and moved her back to the group.

“Hey, don't you speak and touch to my daughter like that!” Shouted Novo while stomping towards the Chancellor before the others could stop her.

“She was violating my personal space, and it's not like I hurt her. And now that I remember, didn't you try to drown Princess Twilight and the Elements when they tried to borrow your Pearl of Transformation?” Claimed Neighsay in an even angrier tone.

Novo stopped cold.

“A-and what if I did uh!?” Stuttered the suddenly-nervous hippogriff.

“MOM!” Screamed Skystar. “Dont' give him a reason!"

“I only did that because Twilight tried to steal it instead of asking for it nicely!”

“And yet instead of throwing her into prison, you turned them back into ponies when they were still in Seaquestria, underwater.” Said Neighsay, putting emphasis on 'underwater'. “You would have drowned the heroes of Equestria for a simple misunderstanding!”

The crowd behind him, which at that moment had been silent (relatively speaking that's it), exploded into an uproar when they heard that.

“Uh oh...” Said Pinkie Pie.

“Princesses, they're starting to get violent!” Said one of the guards guarding the throne.

“I betrayed her trust and that of her entire kingdom thinking that I had to save Equestria at any cost, rather than asking for it nicely!” Responded Twilight (who got angry when she heard Neighsay refer only to her and the girls, not Spike) to defend Novo. “And how do you know about that!”

“When its about the security of my kingdom, I'll do anything to know, and I have my sources.” Replied Neighsay in a matter-of-fact tone. “And do you believe that your action should have been ended in cold blooded murder?”

“Well, no, but-”

“But nothing, you could have killed them and ruined our chances to restore the petrified princesses and defeat the Storm King!”

“Well” Whispered Discord to Fluttershy, who through all of that had been silent “, I don't know about you, but I think that Praeratus would have solved the latter anyway. Hey, question.”

“Yes Discord?”

“Why did you try to save that Ursa Major? I know you like animals and living creatures of all kinds, even the dangerous ones. But that one had been turned into a walking disaster by those things. Heck, you didn't say anything when he killed at least a hundred animals that were just as innocent as it was.”

“I know.” Acknowledged Fluttershy sadly. “But Ursa Majors are near their babies all the time, and seeing one without an Ursa Minor nearby worried me. I thought that I could use that as a way to bring her back to her senses until...” She didn't continue, but Discord knew what was she talking about.

“Shy, didn't you heard what Praeratus told you, that the Ursa probably killed her cub?”

“I did, and I think I knew it in my heart, but I simply didn't want to believe it at the moment.” Replied the yellow pegasus while looking down in sorrow.

Discord looked ruefully at the sad pegasus. He would have asked her about the other animals that Praeratus and his 'dog' had killed, but decided against that (and he was sure that, as much as an animal lover as she was, she didn't care for manticores, cockatrices and other monsters; she did still care about them, but he cared more about others, even though most weren't as inherently dangerous as an Ursa for the simple fact that none could send a pony to the other side by simply stepping on them). He put his arm over Fluttershy's shoulder to comfort her.

“Sometimes we can't get what we want you know. And as much as it hurts me to say this, Praeratus did the right thing by killing that Ursa. It was simply too far gone to help it. Something that big can squash ponies by sheer accident, imagine how many if it had activelly tried to do so. Putting it down was the best solution.”

“Yes, and I understand, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy with it.”

“I know, but look at the bright side, instead of suffering a horrible death by starving, which I'm pretty sure it would have happened to it because it was simply to mad to try and eat ponies, Praeratus gave it a quick yet painless death, as gruesome as it was. Besides, the bear must be right now in a better place.” He was tempted to say that the cub may be alive, but that one was much more difficult to believe. But hey, at least Fluttershy slightly less sad.

“Discord?” Asked the kind pegasus, looking up at him.

“Yeah?”

“Remember Praeratus' ship?”

“How can I forget? A real starship, black as night and possibly heavier than any living thing on Equus, yet clearly capable of flight?” He said while putting his arms in an overly dramatic way. He was, however, genuinely awed by the ship.

“And covered in monsters.” Replied Fluttershy.

Discord deflated (not literally in this case), remembering the relief-like carvings covering the black ship.“Ah, yeah. Quite a lot of them too, and most of them were pretty darn scary. Why would he cover his ship with something like that? To scare others during Nightmare Night? Now that I think about it, do aliens celebrate Nightmare Night?” He wondered while stroking his goat beard.

“Or maybe it's some kind of way to remember what monsters has he killed.” Replied Fluttershy.

Discord looked at her and thought it over. It actually made some sense (if Praeratus was really a monster hunter, he would need something to remember what and how beasts he had slain, especially since he was some kind of special hunter for his government), but even then, why would he cover his entire ship with carvings depicting giant bugs, dragon-like beasts, golems lupine reptiles and outright freaky aliens instead of simply making a photo of them (aliens had to had photography)?

Fluttershy then looked at where Chancellor Neighsay and Queen Novo, and her eyes widened in shock. Discord followed her gaze and understood why she did that. The two had started to actually scream at each other during their arguing, one saying that he was a useless stallion and the other that she was waiting to invade Equestria with her army. Worse, Luna had joined in to aid Novo, with her RCV (Royal Canterlot Voice) making the throne room tremble, yet doing little to stop the soon to start brawl.

“Uh oh.”

“Your species has done nothing but give us trouble! Guards, arrest her and throw her to the dungeon!”

Yelled the unicorn to the nearby guards, who moved to do it.

“Touch me and I'll throw YOU to Hippogriffia's dungeons!” Replied Novo while glaring at the stallions, scaring them with her furious gaze. “And I'll do it with five thousand angry hippogriffs!”

“See!?”

“BOTH OF YOU, STOP THIS MADNESS!” Shouted Luna to no avail while trying to physically pull back Novo alongside Skystar.

“Mom, stop!” Cried the hippogriff princess while pulling with Luna, without success.

“Twilight, do something!”

“But what!”

Things would have had a turn for the worst, with Novo managing to free herself from Luna and her daughter and Neighsay illuminating his horn, when suddenly...

RRAAAAAHHRRR!

It was a roar, but it wasn't like any roar they had heard before, sound more like a thunderclap than a roar from an animal. And it was loud, so loud that the remaining stained glass window (which for some reason had survived Praeratus' previous attack that vaporized the Storm King unlike all other windows in the castle) shattered in a thousand shards.

What they did know, however, was that the roar came directly from the entrance of the throne room. Twilight, Neigshay and the others couldn't see at first what could have made a roar like that. The assorted crowd of nobles and commoners, on the other hand, parted to let them see a sight that gave them all a combination of joyouness, awe, awkwardness, fear and terror at the same time.

Joyousness because Celestia, the loved Princess of the Day, was standing right there with them, although with a frown decorating her usually smiling face.

Awkwardness because Celestia was dressed ina very tight white dress that, although fully covering her body sans forearms, was clearly tight on the chest and hip areas.

Awe, because right next to Celestia stood Praeratus, wearing simple clothes (a black tank-top and white short pants), very different from the armored black armor he wore the previous day, and yet still emanating an aura of respect.

Fear, because Praeratus was glaring at them, with the intimidation factor enhanced by the fact that he was the largest 'stallion' in the room (Discord was two feet taller, but nowhere as robust nor wide-shouldered as the dragon-like alien) and having only one eye open (which made him unnerving to many because instea of the slitted pupils of a dragon he had rounded black ones in white sclera, like a pony).

And terror, because right in the middle of the two stood Praeratus' beast and the creature that made the mighty roar heard mere moments before: a dog-like animal with protruding fangs, bony ridges and brown fur at least as tall at the shoulders as a pony and probably weighing a full ton, all of it pure muscle. And it was looking right at Novo and Neighsay. It wasn't glaring, snarling or even baring its teeth at them, though; it was simply staring at the pair directly (maybe with a bit of curiosity), which was unnerving given the furious-sounding.

Praeratus simply looked at the beast with a smile and petted it's head affectionately.

“Good job Cyranus!” Said the dragon, prompting a happy bark-like sound from 'Cyranus'.

Celestia gave a small cough, bringing the attention of those in the throne room to her.

“Could somepony explain to me what is happening here, please?”

“Tell me one more time please; are you sure that there are no side effects of coming back to life using the Med-Pod?”

“Yes.” Said Praeratus in a jaded tone, tired after saying 'Yes' to the same question fifteen times already. “And please stop asking me the same question over and over again, it's getting repetitive.”

“Sorry, it's just... I died and came back to life! That's a bit difficult to swallow you know!” Replied Celestia.

“Just leave it at that then.”

After telling Celestia of how she died only to be revived, Praeratus decided that it was time to bring her back for several reasons:

First: her subjects were getting quite anxioux by the absence of their other princess.

Second, he wanted to recover the pod of the bioweapons. Maybe he could find something that could help him, and he didn't trust the locals with it.

Third: Chancellor Neighsay (that was how the obnoxious unicorn was called) started suggesting to attack his ship and both take Celestia back by force and arrest him (as if), and judging by the reactions of the group that spoke on his favor and the increasingly riled up crowd in the throne room, he might actually convince them to do it. Better shut him up by bringing Celestia and with a show of force.

However, he didn't think that the citizens of Canterlot would react well to a black ship bigger than a hous landing on their city, so he decided to grab the car again.

It wasn't really a car though, despite being a wheeled vehicle and a military variant of an actual car line. It was actually a H-21 Wedge, a light armored vehicle used for reconnaissance and flanking, capable of reaching over 70 miles per hour and able to be customized to carry a wide array of weapons including machine guns, laser cannons, RPGs and autocannons. The one owned by Praeratus only had the standard machine gun (which fired hypersonic 8mm bullets at a rate of fire of 525 rounds per minute), but he could change the loadout when it suited him (although he only had a grenade launcher and a laser beam cannon, limiting it a bit). It could also carry a small cloak generator, a shield generator, and other gadgets that could be useful for xeno-hunters, plus modified engine and, in case of emergency, it could use liquid as fuel, urine included.

The most important feature for Praeratus, however, was that it's suspension was strong enough to let a large gorgonops ride on its backseats (and if the situation required it, a power armor-wearing therawyrm) without sacrificing too much speed.

“What is this?” Asked Celestia when Praeratus grabbed the belt of her seat. It looked awfully a lot like a...

“It's a seat belt, a safety device used to keep a passenger on their seat. That way you don't get hurt if the car hits something in the road or crashes.” Explained the therawyrm

“Oh! We have them too actually, but we call them safety belts.”

“The-ra-wyrm, ter-a-wyrm,” Shrugged the xeno-hunter before trying to strap it on Celestia... and realizing that her breasts were on the way. He sighed. “This might be a bit more complicated than I thought.”

“Allow me.” Said Celestia before grabbing the seat belt and illuminating her horn. Praeratus watched on as her breasts went from being as big as her head to a much smaller size, allowing her to put the belt on. Praeratus also saw Celestia give a small smile of satisfaction.

“You really don't like having those, don't you?”

“No, but was gifted with them and so I have to live with them.”

Praeratus shrugged at that. If she wanted to keep her tits big even when she could change their size, then he didn't have the right to complain, not that he would complain of something that didn't involve him at all.

“Fine by me. Are you ready to leave Celestia?”

“Yes.”

“And you Cyranus?” He said to the gorgonops laying on the back of the car, who snorted as if to say 'Yes'. “

“Good.” With that he started the engine, pressed the button that opened the hangar door remotely and drove out of the ship and towards the city below.

While they drove down the road, Celestia thought to pass the time by playing a game.

“Praeratus, would you like to play Answers and Questions with me?”

“Sure, why not, although it won't take us long to arrive to Canterlot.”

“Why does your vehicle use wheels instead of flying or walking? I always thought that aliens didn't use use the wheel.”

“Well, we do have hover vehicles in the Confederation, but if for some reason they malfunction they drop like stones, which always ends in injury and even death if they fly too high. Besides, they usually have to be light enough to be able to fly, something wheeled vehicles don't have to. Plus, the recoil from mounted weapons is a bitch to control in a vehicle that is not in direct contact with the ground, especially on the move.” Explained Praeratus. “Well, I've answered your first question, I think it's my turn.”

“Of course.”

“How many sapient species live in Equus?”

“Well, aside from ponies, dragons and hippogriffs, of which you already know, there are yaks, changelings, griffons, yaks, breezies, minotaurs, deer, diamond dogs and many others." Said Celestia. Praeratus could have noted that there were actual animals with those exact names and similar looks, but decided to keep it for himself (especially since therawyrm were also animal-like). "Why do you ask me that?”

“To finally confirm it.”

“What do you mean with 'it'?”

“That your world is indeed an anomaly. Hell, your 'system' is: multiple species living on the same planet, strange psionic-like energy that for example allows flying mammals to fly with tiny wings, amongst the lowest gravity ever recorded, geocentrism, unanchored celestial bodies that are also tiny-”

“'Tiny'? What do you mean by that?” Said Celestia in a puzzled tone. She wondered about their size, but didn't ask what 'unanchored' meant, or 'heliocentrism'?

“The moon and the planet are not the smallest celestial bodies I've ever seen, but the sun's is not just smaller than the smallest star recorded, it's the first one I've seen that is smaller than a planet. Even gas giants are at best as big as stars.”

This made Celestia look at Praeratus in shock.

“Wait, are you telling me that my sun is a star? And just how small is my sun?”

“Celestia, all suns are stars. Those stars you see in the night sky? All suns. Well, nearly all of them, and not all of them bring light to planets.” Replied Praeratus. “As for how small, it's just as big as the moon, which has an aproximate radius of a thousand kilometers, although both are rather close to Equus. In contrast, the most common stars, the class M, are hundreds of thousands of miles wide on average, yet millions of miles from the planets on its orbits.”

Celestia could only say 'Woah'. That was definitely bigger than her sun! On the other hand, she didn't want Luna to find out that, technically, she was the ACTUAL Princess of the Sun.

“That may be impressive at first, but I've seen bigger than that. MUCH bigger. Well, it's your turn now.”

Celestia shook off her amazement and said her question.

“Why are you so strong? There are no ponies strong enough to copy the feat you did yesterday with that thing, and I doubt you use your psionics to do it.”

“Mainly for three reasons. One, I'm a therawyrm, and we are strong thanks to evolving in a high-gravity planet; in fact, Kharan is amongst the planets in which life evolved with highest gravity. We have thicker bones and skin, and much more muscle mass than other species of similar size, although larger species, like the ogyr, are still at least slightly stronger. Two, the suit I was wearing at the time made me twice as strong as I already was, so technically I was cheating a bit.”

“And the third reason?”

“As I told you before, I'm a Centurion. Centurions were the elite troops of the Confederation, a regiment composed of of genetically engineered therawyrm. We were modified in vitro to be stronger, faster, tougher and overall superior to most other soldiers. Hell, the so called 'Gene Warriors' are simply watered down Centurions, since they have neither the training nor the equipment, and none of them are therawyrms to boot.”

“Wait, in vitro?” Repeated Celestia in shock. “You were bred on a vat!? Why would they do that!?”

“Yes. It was necessary though. Those were rough times, and the Confederation needed a new kind of soldier, one that could live through several hundred years of pirate attacks, terrorism and hostile governments. Besides, we didn't have mass casualties until...” Praeratus' voice trailed off a little before he continued: “Until the Hegemony War. The regiment had a thousand men and women when it was formed; a thousand brothers and sisters bonded by blood and battle. Only a hundred died throughout the eight hundred years before the war, which was sad yet normal when you take in account that we never lost a battle. But after the treaty with the Hegemony, there were only twenty five of us left. Two centuries later, I'm the last living Centurion.” Given the tone with which he said that, he was clearly bitter about the fate of the other Centurions, yet also tired. And since he just called them 'brothers and sisters'...

“Oh, you poor thing.” Sniffed a misty-eyed Celestia. She had heard sad stories throughout her life, but this was by far the saddest. The fact that Praeratus, unlike ponies who would be already crying when remembering something sorrowful of their lives, simply had a melancholic look when he remembered that made it worse.

Praeratus turned to the teary Celestia and wiped a tear off her carefully (and without looking away from where he was driving to).

“The past is the past Celestia: what happened, happened, and it cannot be changed. They fought to do what they loved most, protect the Confederation from enemies that wanted to destroy it and enslave its people.” His gloomy stare became happier. “Besides, as long as I remember them they are not dead to me. Plus, the regiment has 100 feet tall memorial back on Kharan. No greater monument has been built.”

“Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?”

“Yes. And let's be sincere, by comparison you have worse problems right now. Besides, we are approaching Canterlot and the ponies won't like to see their princess upset.” He said softly, earning a nod from Celestia.

The Wedge entered the city, scaring the ponies who were outside their homes to see what made the strange growling sound. Soon, they were outside the palace.

Praeratus stepped out first, followed by Celestia (who dispelled the size spell to restore her large bosom) and Cyranus. Naturally, the nearby group of twelve guards reacted badly to the 'dragon' standing beside their princess.

“Dragon! Stay away from the princ-ACK!”

Praeratus didn't waste time to grab them and bring them to him, unable to even struggle.

“Praeratus!” Exclaimed Celestia in shock. “Those are my guards!”

“Don't worry I'll make it quick.” He said to her before turning to the 'guards'. “You come at me with those pointy sticks again, I'll shove THIS” He said while his huge, muscular fist that was as big as their heads. “, up where the sun doesn't shine and tear out your guts.” This made them scream/yelp/squak in horror “Or snap your backs and let my gorgonops bite your muzzles off, which by comparison would be merciful. Understoon!?” He screamed, earning what apparead to be nods from the paralyzed guards. “Good.”

With that he slammed them on the ground hard enough knock half of them out (and break some muzzles and jaws), with the other half sitting in the ground and groaning, too pained to move. He turned towards Celestia to see her glaring daggers at him.

“What's the matter with you!? They were simply worried about me!”

“Celestia, nobody, and I mean nobody, comes at me with a weapon, no matter if its a simple blade on a stick or a bread cutter, and walks away unscathed.” He replied, making Celestia huff. “Oh c'mon, they're not even crippled!”

“You're impossible.” Huffed Celestia. In another occasion she would have been furious at this treatment of her ponies, but after the events of the previous day she knew that Praeratus was actually being tame with them. Besides, even she got tired of the... 'enthusiasm' and bigotry of her guards. That said, he could have just settled in threatening them instead of also injuring them.

“SILENCE!” Screamed a thunderous voice from inside the palace (one that Praeratus recognized), scaring the ponies that were outside.

“That was Luna!”

“Looks like that chancellor of yours is pissing her off.”

“Neighsay doesn't exactly respect her after... well, I'll tell you another day. For now let's concentrate in stopping my sister from making a mistake.” Before she could enter the palace, however, Praeratus stopped her.

“Wait!” He went to the Wedge, locked the doors and went back to Celestia. “Had to make sure the car was secure, don't want it to be gone when we're back.” He said while both entered the palace with Cyranus behind him. Praeratus already knew the way to the throne room after exploring the palace with the drone, so Celestia didn't bother telling him where to go.

“I doubt that my ponies would steal from an alien that stopped an army of monsters and an Ursa Major by himself.”

“I'm too paranoid to believe that. Once I left it with the laser beam remote control on, next thing I know I'm getting arrested for vigilantism and finned for littering.”

Celestia didn't want to know, but shed had a faint feeling that the littering part probably had to do with ashes.

Soon they reached the throne room, but were unable to enter due to a literal sea of ponies blocking their way. And despite the racket they mounted, the pair could still hear and see (they were both taller than the crowd) what was happening at the front, with Queen Novo and Chancellor Neighsay about to tear off each other, even with Luna and Skystar restraining the former.

“This looks bad.” Muttered Praeratus while glaring at the tall unicorn with the goatee.

“BOTH OF YOU, STOP THIS MADNESS!” Screamed the blue alicorn.

“We have to do something!” Cried Celestia. However, before either of them could do something, Cyranus got ahead of them in that regard.

He roared.

Gorgonopsi were well known across the galaxy for several reasons, one of them being their roars. Given that Kharan was much larger than most other planets (which also explained it's heavy gravity), and that gorgonopsi required large territories to live (they were quite antisocial), they had evolved with large larynges and square-shaped vocal chords which provided them with a louder call without putting more pressure on their lungs. Their roars were so powerful that they could be heard from a distance of over 12 kilometers, significantly more than a lion's. They roared to warn their families, attract females and scare away competitors and rivals, but at close distance it could be used as a way to stun prey (although it was still unknown if it was because it was that powerful or because the prey was scared shitless), making them the most awesome (and annoying) alarm on the Confederation. What could be better than an alarm that was loud enough to break every single window in your house tough enough to withstand weapon's fire from most trespassers and big enough to bite said trespassers in two?

There was also the fact that sounds are affected by gravity, and so the roar of Cyranus was simply deafening for everyone in the throne room minus Praeratus (although not just because he had stronger ear drums; years of fighting alongside tanks and ship engines simply made him accustomed to very loud sounds).

Naturally, when the gorgonops roared at the top of his lungs, the ponies closest to the trio went momentarily deaf. The rest simply parted sideways, both because of fear and because they simply weren't capable to stay in place due to the pain in the ears. This allowed those at the throne and in front of it to look at the newcomers.

Praeratus spent five good seconds glaring swords at the now-spooked Neighsay before smiling down at Cyranus and petting him in approval. Even though he trained him to not do that during a hunt, it was pretty damn useful during a hostage situtation or even in a firefight. Besides, he simply loved hearing his friend roar to show his might.

“Good job Cyranus!”

Celestia, deciding that it was time to get some answers, coughed to get the attention of the throne room and spoke.

“Could somepony explain to me what is happening here, please?”

Author's Note

Neighsay makes his appearance, nearly starts a war and gets a first look at two aliens that do not like him at all (well, one doesn't, but the other is like a dog and dogs reflect their owners). On the plus side, Celestia has finally returned to Canterlot and rendered Neighsay's arguments about attacking Praeratus to save her moot.

Comment to say how do I do and how do you guys think I could improve the story. How is it doing for now?

Last chapter for July, but I think I can upload the next one before 15th of August, or maybe earlier if I can get 2000 words per day (I write the fic once per two days).

A bit of talking

Every creature in the throne room stared silently at her with a mix of wonder and shock. Not because she asked that, but because of the tone she used to say it (although many of them were still partially deaf after having the 'dog' roar mere meters away from them).

Usually the alicorn would use a warm tone when speaking directly to her subjects, but this time, she simply asked what was happening in a normal tone. No, forget that, she was using an authoritative tone! It wasn't a new thing for Luna and the others (especially Luna, Twilight and Discord, since they were the ones who interacted with her the most and were her sister, her star pupil and former archenemy, actual annoyance respectively), but most citizens of Canterlot had barely heard her like that through most of their lives. There had been times of course, but those had been rare, and Celestia hadn't been accompanied by a draconic alien and a canine beast in those occasions either. Nonetheless, all of the ponies in the crowd still bowed in the presence of their beloved princess.

“Well?” Said Celestia again in the same tone, this time looking right at Chancellor Neighsay and Queen Novo. “I'm waiting for an answer.” She said before walking towards the throne, followed by Praeratus and Cyranus.

Novo was the first one to shake off her stupefaction.

“This moron here” She said while pointing at Neighsay. “wanted to imprison me and Skystar just because of a I went a little overboard with Twilight when she tried to steal the Pearl of Transformation, something that you know already and yet he isn't willing to forget.”

“Of course I'm not willing to forget and forgive! Your Majesty, Queen Novo would have drowned Princess Twilight and the Elements just because the princess was in a hurry and couldn't ask properly for her pearl!”

“Great, here we go again.” Said Discord in an annoyed tone. “At least it won't be two hours of hearing an idiot giving a stupid speech about imprisoning a super powerful alien.”

Celestia would have retorted to Neigshay with something among the lines of 'even princesses make mistakes', but Praeratus beat her to it.

“Are you that stupid?” He said with an incredulous tone. “Twilight should have waited for Novo to give her that pearl or whatever it is instead of nearly getting her and her friends killed by stealing it! I would have killed her too if I had invited her and her friends to my home for dinner only for her to grab something that I love without my permission.”

“And who are you to criticize the Princess Twilight!? She's the alicorn princess of Magic!” Exclaimed Neighsay.

“Am I supposed to care about that? To me she's just a random girl who, accidentaly or not, has made things worse than they already were and making my job harder!”

This made Twilight look down in sorrow, knowing that he was utterly right about that. Celestia walked to the poor girl and hugged her alongside her friends, but this didn't make her feel better.

“Also, who are YOU to criticize me, Neighsay!” Replied Praeratus. “I've done nothing but save your city from a power hungry maniac despite having no real motive for doing so aside from stopping him from freeing the monsters, destroy an entire horde of insane beasts instead of going after the creatures, and actually risk my life to save your princess from one of the monsters that I would have already killed if not for Twilight shooting one with my rifle and spooking them all because of some stupid reason!”

“I was curious about how it could fire lasers...” Said Twilight.

“Most of the time curiosity kills the cat, and only the cat. This time it will kill the cat, the dog, the horses and the entire fracking planet unless I kill it first.” Replied Praeratus in a monotone voice without even lookin up at her, making Twilight feel even more miserable. The others didn't know what to say to comfort her.

“It's Chancellor Neighsay to you dra-wait, how do you my name when we just met?”

“I saw you leading a crowd inside the palace while inspecting the city to evaluate the damage, and if you call me a dragon...” He said in an ominious tone, making those present step back a little, expecting to see the unicorn lose his head. “I'll ignore you because that's a compliment to me.”

Neighsay, Celestia and everyone else stared at Praeratus in bewilderment, baffled at both what he said and the way he said it.

“I thought he would disintegrate Neighsay with a snap of his fingers or something. I mean, it's not like he would had deserved it, but he would had it coming.” Discord whispered to the girls, earning nods from the group.

“What.” Said Praeratus in an annoyed tone to the assembled ponies. “Dragon is a compliment where I come from, and frankly I was getting annoyed at how many times I've been called that since I've came here, especially since I don't resemble a dragon at all: I don't breathe fire, I don't possess scales, tail, wings, cold blood or slitted eyes, I didn't hatch from an egg, I urinate and I'm not even a reptile. Hell, I'm pretty sure that I'm closer to a pony than to a lizard.”

“Well, to be fair, you don't look like a mammal either.” Starlight said.

“I'm a synapsid, a class of reptile-like living beings with mammalian features like warm blood and sweat glands.” He turned back to Neighsay. “Now answer me dammit!” He screamed the last part at Neighsay, scaring the crowd again, even though it was more like a loud demand than an actual roar.

“I'm the Chancellor and head of the Equestria Education Association, I answer only to royalty, not some alien beast!” Exclaimed Neighsay before turning to the two nearby guards. “Guards, seize him!” He ordered them, not realizing that the 'royalty' he served was right behind him. Nor remembering that the 'alien beast' had both a bad temper and power.

The moment the guards stepped forward Praeratus grabbed them telekinetically and pulled them towards him, grabbed them by the head and glared at them right in the eyes (although one by one because he was one-eyed).

“You are the first mooks I've seen on this planet that obey an order despite clearly wanting to get away from a threat. In another instance I would consider this admirable, but you are a bunch of specieist zabs, so...” With that he threw them to the ground; inmediatly the two stallions stood up and ran back to their posts, not caring about the order of the Chancellor. Snorting, the former Centurion turned to Neighsay. “Well, as you can see, your 'guards' can't do anything when it comes to actual threats.” This made everyone behind them minus Celestia nod in agreement, even Rainbow Dash, although neither Praeratus nor Neighsay saw it. “And it appears that your primitive, backwards brain can't get that maybe, just maybe, pissing off an alien in possession of an advanced ship housing an entire arsenal and who has done what your princess couldn't-” He then stopped and looked up at said princess. “No offense, Celestia.”

“None taken. And thank you for not injuring my guards. Well, not these two at least.” She replied with a smile, which he happily returned. As much as he hated moronic lawkeepers like those guards, he simply couldn't kill them, they were simply following orders. That said, if they kept acting like obnoxious cops, he would resort to more 'drastic' measures (much more drastic than slamming them.

“You're welcome.” He said to her before frowning (and missing Celestia's own frown) and glaring back at Neigshay. “Well, where was I? Ah right, maybe pissing off an alien who has done what your princess couldn't, which is taking out the Storm King and killing a magic-proof, incredibly dangerous monster with his bare hands is a bad idea.”

“You're dangerous!”

“Exactly, which is why you should shut the frack up before you end up doing something that you will regret: magic is useless against me, all magic, no matter if its from you, or Celestia, or anyone else; it simply won't work against me. And many of you are physically threatening and dumb as rallati, except they are animals and have the excuse of not being sapient beings. You don't.”

Rallati, singular rallatus, were a genus of flightless bird common across the galaxy, known for their fearless aggresivity despite their lackluster appearance (basically what happened when a pidgeon did the deed with a duck) and size (the heaviest weighed barely more than fifty pounds). They were considered verming in most of the Confederation due to their reproduction rate and, although they could be tamed with some patience and good care, most ended up shot or served at restaurants (they were mostly feathers and skin, but therawyrm considered them a delicacy if served with bleach).

“On the other hand” He said while turning towards to Novo (and ignoring Fluttershy, who had her arm raised like she were a student in class). “, you realize that Twilight is, as I've been told, quite powerful in the magic department and may have decided to use more desperate means to get that pearl right? Like... where do you live exactly?”

“The City of Hippogriffia, in Mount Aris, but hid with my daughter and my subjects in Seaquestria, using our Pearl of Transformation to turn into seaponies. Why are you asking me that” Asked Novo, not completely getting what Praeratus was trying to get at.

“Then imagine for a moment that Twilight, desperate to get that Pearl, encompasses your city in a dome, drains the water still inside and dispels the dome; the water rushes in at neckbreaking speeds and, since Seaquestria it's probably at the bottom of the sea where pressure it's at its strongest, pushing the already fast water at maybe even supersonic speeds, and given that even jumping in a pool in a bad position can result in broken bones...” He trailed off, but Novo's face of dawning horror (and Skystar's and Twilight's for that matter) made clear what she was thinking about: the purple alicorn had the opportunity, the power and the reason to practically destroy Seaquestria.

“Hey!” Cried Rainbow Dash in anger even though she couldn't fully move yet, prepared to defend her friend. “Twilight would never do that! Sure she stealed that thing without even consulting us and betrayed our trust, but that doesn't mean she would destroy an entire realm just to get a thing when she can ask for it!”

“Yeah!” Agreed Applejack

“Rainbow Dash is right! She wouldn't do something so horrible!”

Twilight and Celestia smiled at their words. Praeratus, on the other hand...

“That's not the point, though.”

“Then what is it!” Exclaimed the group.

“The point is that you are already trusting someone that is powerful enough to wreck an entire city and massacre its population if she wanted to. Four counting Celestia, Luna and Discord.” This made Neighsay scoff.

“I would never trust a creature whose only goal in life is to cause chaos and make ponies' lives miserable!”

“Also” Interrupted Celestia.

“Hey, I don't do that anymore!” Complained Discord before thinking it over. “Well, sometimes I do, but I don't try to hurt ponies. Or at least nice ones.” He said without realizing that Praeratus' frown deepened. In fact, of the creatures present, only Celestia saw it, which made her wonder about why he did that and worry about what he might do.

“And yet you still fear and distrust someone who is trying his damnest to save you from ten invincible, bloodthirsty monsters that are essentially invincible and that can turn people into berserkers by just looking at them, to the point that I nearly died if not for Cyranus!” Raged Praeratus.

“Because you're not a pony!” Replied Neighsay with conviction, making everyone present gasp in shock.

Praeratus' frowned even further if that were possible before he turned to the crowd.

“Get out, all of you.”

“Why would we obey some alien!” Exclaimed one of the assembled nobles.

Soon, the entire crowd was insulting Praeratus and Cyranus.

Praeratus turned slowly and glared at them. If looks could kill, there wouldn't have been anything left of the crowd, not even the ashes. He was that pissed.

“Because of this.” Praeratus' eyes were covered in the familiar purple aura that the natives of Equus that knew him had associated him with. The crowd was invaded by a deep feeling of fright and promptly ran out of the throne room screaming in horror, leaving Praeratus and the others alone. The therawyrm then grabbed the gates of the hall and closed them with enough strength to crack them at the hinges.

“That's going to be a pain in the flank to repair you know.” Quipped Luna, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

Praeratus looked at her, but to the relief of the Princess of the Night his gaze was more of annoyance than anger.

“You are a princess, are you not? Just ask someone to fix it.” He replied before turning again to Neighsay. “So, that's the real problem. Is not that I'm powerful enough to wipe out an entire city by glancing at it and willing to hurt your princesses, but that I'm not a damn pony.” He growled.

“That should be obvious! Other creatures shouldn't be trusted by ponies! They're a danger to Equestria, no matter if they reform or change their ways!” He was obviously talking about dragons and changelings, since the first had always looked down at ponies with contempt (although without actually attacking Equus) and the latter had actually attacked Equestria twice in the past.

“But does that mean that I can trust ponies?” Replied Praeratus.

“With what?” Asked Twilight.

“Do you girls want to be uplifted?”

“Uplifted? What does that mean?”

“Uplifting is basically raising an species to the Faster-Than-Light space stage without having to pass through several hundreds, if not years of social and technological evolution.”

“Why would we want to be tainted by alien influence?”

“I cannot explain it better, but I can say this: giving you laser cannons and coilguns would help a lot in regards of the 'demons'; heck, even simple gunpowder weapons would help, or at least actual ones. And that's not counting medicine, robotics, vehicles, renewable energy... and of course, spacecraft capable of using Faster-Than-Light engines.”

“Woah...”

“Would you uplift us?” Asked Twilight in an excited, hoping that Praeratus would tell her something in the lines of 'wait until you're worthy' or something like that.

Instead, he looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“No way in hell.”

“Why not?” Asked Celestia.

“First, most of the Confederation members take a dim view to uplifting because of a... previous experience involving a primitive species, so we decided to simply monitor the advancement of any pre-space age worlds we found." He was, of course, talking about the Zaurak Principate and their obsession with uplifting primitives. "Second, even if I were allowed to uplift you you would need to unify Equus first because this is the first case of a planet inhabited by multiple species that aren't even in the same genus. And third, as far as I know most ponies are either xenophobic assholes or cowardly creatures that don't deserve any trust with technology, with you as the exceptions.” He said, visibly angry when he said the last statement.

“We need that technology to defend ourselves from our enemies! You are beholden for for bringing the demons here!” Cried Neighsay. Praeratus simply glared at him.

“You said 'why would we want to be tainted by alien influence' literally mere seconds ago! And if you say taht the demons being here it's fault again, I'LL RAPE YOUR MIND AND MAKE YOU EAT YOUR GUTS WITH YOUR BARE HANDS, AND MAKE YOU ENJOY IT!” He roared, with so much strength that Neighsay was pushed back. He then said in a much calmer tone: “Besides, given what you're saying you barely coexist with other species!”

“Hey! We live with other creatures just fine!”

“Praeratus, that wasn't nice! My ponies may not trust other races but-” Began to say Celestia before Praeratus interrupted her with.

“Celestia, they're not children.”

“W-hat?” Stuttered Celestia, beffudled by his response.

“They're not children.” Repeated Praeratus, staring at her with an irritated look. “I know they're your subjects and that you love them, and I respect that, who can't? But they're not little children, they're- is anyone here below twenty?” He asked, earning a raised arm from Skystar. “Thanks.” He turned back to Celestia. “They're adults, not children, treat them as such.”

“I'm older than most ponies you know. They're essentially children to me, and I help them when they come for me to help and need me.”

“And I'm older than most non-therawyrms and yet if someone throws a cake to my face I don't laugh it off, I scream at their face if it's they're old for their species and knock their teeth out if it they're young enough to survive it, and that's when I'm in a good mood! And if they come for me to help, it's because there's a monster causing enough trouble to be a problem to the local peacekepers, but not enought to warrant a tank platoon!”

“Hey!” Cried Rainbow Dash. “Who are you to speak to the princess like that!”

“And who would react like that to a delicious cake to the face! Are you allergic to cakes?” Replied Pinkie Pie while somehow getting to his face. The ponies expected him to shove her away, but his reaction surprised them.

“Girl” Said Praeratus, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking at her right in the eyes. When he spoke again, Celestia swore she heard pain on his voice. Not grim stating nor resignation, actual sorrow. “, sometimes people don't like cakes. I'm not allergic, but I don't like cakes. Not at all.”

“But why not!?” Cried Pinkie Pie, probably wanting him to say something. He simply stared at her.

“I'm not going to tell you. And please, if you're only going to talk about cakes, just stay quiet please.”

Pinkie, with her mane deflated, saluted him and returned to her previous spot. Praeratus, who missed Celestia's gloomy face, glared back at the cyan pegasus.

“As for you... who is she for me to speak to her like she's better when she's not? And I'm not talking about what I said before about doing what she couldn't. She's just a princess in a planet which is probably full of them.”

“A princess that raises the sun-”

“A tiny sun smaller than your planet, which for the record is not exactly big. In fact, I know of at least three psionics that can do Celestia's job just as well, if not better. Hell, those same psionics could move the sun, the moon and the planet at the same time.” The truth was that he wasn't so sure about that (the star and the moon might have been small enough to move for an emerald psionic, at leat to a point, but moving a planet was another thing altogether, and affecting three celestial bodies at the same was outright impossible even for emerald psionics), but he wanted to see how well would they react to the possibility of three powerful 'magic-users' that weren't even from their world and capable of controlling minds, burst entire cities to flame, and similar.

“Yeah, right!” Scoffed Rainbow Dash.

Praeratus couldn't believe that somebody could be so thick (he could have used peitax, which was a much worse Kharan insult, to describe her behaviour, but the stupid horse hadn't reached that point. Yet)! Was she so narrow-minded to not believe what he said? Or maybe it was just the fact that it came from the mouth of the one who broke her wings? It was probably of combination of the two, but he didn't care.

“'Yeah, right' what?”

“Uh!?” She probably wasn't expecting him to keep talking to her.

“I said 'Yeah, righ' what? I don't think you're that stupid, but just to make clear, I'm a damn alien! I came here on a starship, and therefore I saw with my own eyes that your celestial bodies are tiny!”

“Why should we believe you, uh!? You just said it, you're an alien!” Retorted Rainbow Dash, angering Praeratus. Naturally this worried the others, who had seen (or head of) first hand what happened to her when he got angry, wondering if Praeratus 'beating' did something with her head.

Fortunately, she didn't actually attack him.

“Why should-!” Began to scream Praeratus before calming down. “You know what, I think I'm getting angry just by talking to you. From now on you'll stay quiet like the good ignorant alien you are.”

“HEY! I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO SOME-!”

'I'm not asking, I'm ordering! SHUT THE FRACK UP BEFORE YOU FORCE ME TO DO SOMETHING YOU WILL REGRET!' Shouted Praeratus directly to ther brain, eyes covered in a purple glow. The angry pegasus became scared stiff at his terrifying visage, and did as she was ordered. She had faced bad guys before, and most if not all of them had been dangerous of their own (Chrysalis, Sombra, Garble and his friends, various monsters, Tempest Shadow and some more). Unlike Praeratus, though, they were obviously evil, whereas he simply looked intimidating, and had been angry nearly all the times she had seen him (and as much as he hated to admit it, he had a reason to be angry at her). The fact that he was (again, despite her hating it) a 'good guy' just made it worse. What hero broke wings and threatened to tear your brain just for speaking your mind?

(While all of this was happening, Cyranus was laying on the floor with his head on his paws and watching the sapients scream at each other. Aside from the big white one, who had slept on his house, and the small yellow one, who for some reason was trying to get his attention, none of them interested him in the slightest at the moment, and unless Praeratus asked him or the freaky aliens did something, he wouldn't intervene.)

Satisfied with Rainbow Dash obedience, Praeratus turned back to the now silent and partly terrified group.

“Where's Spike?”

Instantly, Celestia's gloom evaporated. She surprised Twilight by grabbing her the shoulders and looking at her with a worried, nearly manic expression.

“I want to know-no, I NEED to know where and how's Spike!”

Twilight (and the others for that matter) was understandably freaked out by the way her former mentor asked her about the purple dragon and by the fact she was shaking her rather violently.

“H-hes sleeping at my parent's house with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Also I think my brain is moving inside my skull.” She replied, muttering the last part.

Celestia let go of Twilight's shoulders and gave a sigh of relief.

“Princess, why are you so worried for Spike?” Asked Starlight. Instead of receiving an answer from the diarch, she got it from Praeratus.

“She had a nightmare.” Said Praeraus, making the others (especially Luna, for obvious reasons) look at him in shock. “One involving Spike and the bioweapons probably.”

“Praeratus!” Cried Celestia in a mix of anger and embarrasment.

“What? You need help with it, and I'm not exactly a therapist.”

Celestia sighed, but then realized something.

“How do you know that it had Spike and the monsters?”

“Well, I just saw you grab Twilight and shake her like a maraca.” Replied Praeratus in a somewhat humorous tone.

Celestia blushed and looked away from Praeratus. How could she be so forgetful AND foolish?

“Also “Continued Praeratus, but this time in a more serious tone. “I believe you also forgot that you woke up screaming.” 'Which is still pretty damn weird to me' He thought.

Everyone stared at Celestia in shock. The poor alicorn, already used to being watched all day by thousands of ponies and smile back at them, was unable to look straight at them in the eyes.

“It's just... in my nightmare, the monsters arrived in Canterlot just like that book and began killing everypony when they got out. And then...” She said before and breaking down and crying her heart out, still disturbed by what happened to Spike in her nightmare.

Naturally, this worried her sister and her former pupil, the former because somepony had a nightmare and she couldn't do anything for it, the latter because it was the first time she saw Celestia act like that, and both because Celestia had a nightmare. They (and the others, sans Neighsay) inmediatly crowded around the alicorn to comfort her.

“Sister, what happened to Spike in your nightmare?”

“Luna, let your sister be.” Said Praeratus in an authoritative tone, angering her and her friends.

“I'm the princess of the night and dreams, and I have found out that my sister had a nightmare!” She cried while glaring at him alongside her friends. They all regreted it when he glared back. All of them (even Discord, who was arguably the most powerful creature on the room) felt like they insulted a natural catastrophe. The fact that, at that distance, they could see that Praeratus had indeed a surprisingly normal eye (no slitted pupil, no freaky colours, just a white sclera surrounding a black iris) only helped to scare them more.

“And I'm a eleven hundred thirty nine motherfracker that was already wiping out terrorist cells and exterminating monsters when your civilization was even more primitive than it already is. I may not be a therapist, but I know what trauma is when I see it.” Hell, he still had a trauma trigger from the Hegemony war, as much as he hated to admit it: the few times he had seen a member species of the Hegemony after the war, he always attacked (and killed) the poor devil thinking they were enemy troops. And cakes, but only if he didn't see them coming. “And crowding around someone who had never had a similar experience before doesn't help at all.”

“You talk as if you know how to deal with traumatized ponies.”

“I fought in a damn war with mind-controlling frackers, biological weapons, giant monsters and real weapons, of course I know how to deal with those who had suffered!” Snarled Praeratus.

“Are you sure?” Asked Luna, her arm over Celestia's shoulder.

“Girl, through eight hundred years I've seen thousands, tens of thousands of soldiers either breaking down or stare off into space after watching their friends die in front of them in horrible ways!” He replied angrily, remembering very well those same soldiers he described and the ways their friend died:

gibbed into chunks of meat, incinerated or ripped apart by gunfire, eaten alive by of various shapes and sizes, crushed into nothing...

“From the way you speak, I gather that you know how to comfort somepony that has been through the same thing, am I right?” Sassed Queen Novo.

'Damn it' Thought Praeratus when she said that. I wasn't that she was wrong, it was that the only way he knew to comfort people aside from giving inspiring speeches (something he was rusty after not doing it for hundreds of years) or simple small talk was...

Praeratus sighed, approached the now sobbing Celestia and, to the amazement and shock of the onlookers (especially Luna, Twilight and Neighsay, although the last one was more angry than amazed), gently lifted her up her from her throne, and hugged her tenderly, with her head on his chest (with her horn over his shoulder so that it didn't poke out his eye) and his arms holding her back with care.

He hadn't held someone like that since that day, a long time ago. Sometimes, he dreamt she was still there.

He had to stop himself from tearing up in front of the locals, he didn't want to speak about his personal life with such inquisitive creatures.

After a few minutes of hugging Praeratus, Celestia stopped sobbing, calmed by the powerful heartbeat of the therawyrm. She looked up at him, with her eyes still watery but this time she had a smile adorning her face.

“T-thank you.” She sniffled while smiling. “I needed that.”

“You're welcome.” He smiled back, earning a blush of all things from the white alicorn.

“Well.” Continued Celestia, now properly calmed. “I believe we should talk with Praeratus about what can we do about-” She was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the gates.

“Who might they be?” Wondered Rarity.

'Didn't I scare all of them? Or maybe I'm still rusty with the mind influencing thing.'

Celestia used her magic to open the gates and let the ones who called enter.

It was Spike, accompanied by three young girls: a yellow earth ponie with a red mane, a white unicorn with a mane of two shades of fuchsia, and an orange pegasus with a purple mane. Praeratus could see that the 'cutie marks' of the girls resembled each other by a good margin, which was interesting given that all the cutie marks he had seen until then were unique.

“Guys, we saw a sci-fi thingy just like one of my comics right in front of the castle!" Said the young dragon in an excited tone while running towards the throne with the three girls. "There was also this one huge crowd of scared ponies running out as if scared of-" He said before noting Praeratus and Cyranus' presence. "Praeratus, is that-uh!?”

Spike was interrupted by a gold-coloured magical aura surrounding him, which then lifted him up and brought him to Celestia, who inmediatly embraced the confused little dragon and hugged him with all her might (and unknowingly putting his head on her large bosom).

“Princess, I can't breathe!” Exclaimed the young dragon while trying to get his head out of the princess' breasts... by pushing said breasts away.

Celestia realized what she did and blushed, letting Spike move, although still keeping him on her lap.

“Ahem, sorry Spike.” She said while looking away from the confused dragon with a sheepish smile, who after recovering his breath looked behind him and smiled when he saw the man who saved his surrogate sister.

“Hi there Praeratus! I didn't thank you for saving Twilight, and don't worry, I know that you were mad at her when you, well, you know!”

“You're welcome kid.” Smiled the former Centurion before ruffling the boy's head affectionately. He was he first local he helped after all. He then looked back at Celestia. “Well, I have a few things to say, but I rather do it in safer place to talk?”

Before Celestia could speak, Luna blurted out:

“I know just the perfect place!”

Author's Note

Here's a new chapter for you. And if you think that Praeratus' way of comforting Celestia's is not how it works, it's because of two reasons: one, it eases the romance, and two, I don't know how to deal with trauma in an accurate way.

Interlude: Bounty Hunters

Bounty hunters: who are they?

Going by the most basic definition of the names, bounty hunters are men and women who hunt down and either arrest or kill a criminal or outlaw for whom a reward is offered for either their capture or death; basically the clawed arm of the law, where sometimes the arrested arrives in chunks... even while still alive. However, its more than that. WAY more than that, in fact.

Bounty hunters are essentially the real life equivalents of the adventurers of games and literature, taking the jobs that no one else can do (or wants to do for that matter), fighting criminals and monsters either alone or in small groups, with the permission of the Confederation, taking jobs from many sources: civilian corporations, peacekeeping forces, wealthy people, desperate people, shady organizations, and sometimes even the military and the Confederal Senate. Most of these come from military or peacekeeping backgrounds, but some are simply civilians that want to see the galaxy and have adventures without either joining the military or turning to mercenary work. As a sidefact, bounty hunters and mercenaries do not get along, especially since the former thinks of the latter as amoral killer for hire and the latter believes that the former steal money that was rightfully theirs.

Types

As said before, the idea of bounty hunting in which a single man or woman tracks down a criminal is simply one of the many types of bounty hunter that exists.
-'Normal' bounty hunters: these are the most common and known. Most of their jobs consist in simple search and arrest/execution (and when it's the latter, taking a tissue sample of the dead quarry), although it varies, from a single criminal to an entire group, and from simple murderers to entire criminal groups. One of the most famous (and living) is Herzlichen Masran, aimtroog and former heavy trooper, who managed to bring down the Red Dwarf mercenary group.
-Xeno-hunters: despite what the name may imply, these hunters do not exactly go after aliens (as in, other species other than their own); they hunt beasts, animals that cause trouble in a world and that most of the time can't be dealt with by the local peacekeeping force (and sometimes even the garrison). Many of them are simply invasive wildlife, which are animals that made their way to a world somehow (released pets that grew too much for their owners, escaped zoo animals and such) where they have no natural predators sans sophonts. A few of them, however, are native creatures that were thought to be extinct only to suddenly reappear in modern times and that are inherently dangerous, or even forgotten xenomorphs and titanic beasts from the Hegemony War that have survived until modern times. Many of these hunters track the aforementioned beasts right to their lairs alone, but some always have a loyal beast at their side, helping them tracking the monsters down and even aiding in its killing. The most famous xeno-hunter is Praeratus Haeleb, therawyrm and last living Centurion (although only government officials, the military and a few others know this last fact), and his gorgonops Cyranus.
-Head-hunters: these are nearly identical to bounty hunters, with two differences: they always kill their quarry, and rather than simply taking a tissue sample from it, they bring the entire head to make clear to the ones that hired them they did their job. There are no head-hunters of renown.
-Hunter-warriors: another variety of bounty hunters, these ones go mainly after war criminals, cult members of various cults and terrorists, and annihilate them in the most explosive way, usually by bombing their bases with kinetic ship armaments or going in guns blazing. The most known of the hunter-warriors is 'Tally', an älf cyborg that is also a sports star (specifically Jugger; Tally is not her real name) when not hunting.
-Delvers: these men and women brave derelict ships, ruined buildings, gigantic cave systems and other closed spaces to explore them or retrieve valuable objects. The most famous delver still alive is Moosk, a native of planet Reash who despite his 'quirks' is known for never backing down from a job, no matter where it brings him or how long it is.
-Psionic hunters: unlike most bounty hunters, most psionic hunters are, as the names says, psionics, and hunt down criminals of various kinds who can use them too and are too much for normal peace keeping forces to deal with. Most psionic hunters are from naturally psionic species, life älfs. The most famous psionic hunter, Coran the Magnificent, is in fact an älf.

There are more variants of bounty hunters out there in the Milky Way, but listing them all would be impossible.

Author's Note

Not a true chapter, but interludes do help to know the backstory of the 'Stellaris' side. This one, of course, is about bounty hunters, and many of the named ones are references to videogames and films.

Not a War Room

“An observatory? Seriously? Don't you guys have a bunker or something for these situations?” Praeratus said while walking inside the room. “And why do you have an observatory in the castle? Pretty sure there are better places for it.”

“Yes, but this one is the first, built over eight hundred years ago.” Explained Luna without mentioning her banishment, not knowing how well would he react to her evil past and not wanting to risk it. “Besides I thought that since you're an alien and you came from the sky, it would be interesting if you-” Replied Luna before Praeratus interrupted her.

“Nevermind. Nice telescope you got here.” Said the therawyrm while inspeacting said device.

“Really?” Said Luna.

“Yeah. Although in the Confederation you can buy smaller, more advanced ones without even using a credit card. Still not bad for a society that hasn't send their first satellite into space.” He said, making Luna's smile disappear.

“Ugh!”

“What's a satellite?” Asked Twilight.

“I'll tell you later, first we talk about what to do.”

The 'safer place to talk' that Luna chose wasn't a hidden room, or an office, or even a simple war room (even though the last one wouldn't have fit in the peaceful nature of the ponies). Heck, even the headquarters of the 'Royal Guard' would have sufficed.

Instead, the blue alicorn had brought them to an observatory housing a large rectangular table in the middle surrounded by wooden chairs and a huge telescope. A primitive, basic telescope that obviously couldn't produce images using other wavelengths, but a telescope nonetheless.

Praeratus requested that only those with political influence came with them, so it was just him, Celestia, Twilight (who although complained at first, wanting her friends to be with her, complied at the end), Luna, Novo and Neighsay, the last one coming by Celestia's request, while the rest, Cyranus included, went out to help the rebuilt city (Discord naturally protested and threw an actual hissy fit turning into a multicolored snake with a megaphone instead of mouth, but Cyranus bit him and dragged him away). Obviously Praeratus wasn't exactly pleased with the white alicorn's choice, especially since Neighsay wasn't even a politician but more like their equivalent of Minister of Education, but she told him that Neighsay was still a important pony and did had some influence in Equestria, so he let him come with them as long as he said sensible things and kept his stupidty and racism for himself.

He would also preffered for the leaders of the most influential species of the planet (aside from ponies and hippogriffs, these were dragons, changelings and yaks) to be there too, but Novo was the only one readily available, since she was right there with them.

Praeratus waited for all of them to be inside the observatory and sit down before closing the door himself.

“Well, now that we are away from prying eyes, we can start talking of how to deal with the bioweapons.” Said the xeno-hunter before realizing something crucial. “I can't sit on this chair.”

“Why not?”

“It's made for ponies, and I doubt you weigh two hundred kilograms of pure muscle.”

“I can help with that!” Chirped Celestia before illuminating her horn and teleporting a larger, metallic chair. “It's a chair for larger races. I had it made after an incident during a party.”

Praeratus inspected the metal chair, put pressure on it with his psionics to see if it could sustain his weight, and seeing that it didn't budge too much he sat on it. He looked at Celestia and smiled in gratitude, which in turn made her smile happily at him.

Novo and Celestia sat at his right, Twilight and Neighsay to his left at and Luna in front of him. He addressed the blue alicorn. “First things first, do you have a map of the world here?” He asked her.

“Right here.” She teleported a rolled map of Equus from her room, opened it and laid it on the table.

“Thank you.” Thanked Praeratus before looking at the map. “When I searched through the mind of the monster that mauled Celestia to find out where the other monsters were hiding, I saw a forest. I know there are a lot of forests in Equestria, but this one” He said while pointing at a patch of green with the words 'Evefree Forest' plastered on it. “, it's the closest.”

Twilight gasped in horror, bringing the other's attention to her.

“What is it Twilight?”

“That's the Everfree Forest!”

“Anything special about it?”

“Well, for starters the animals there take care of themselves without the supervision of ponies, the weather there can't be managed by pegasi, it's-was full of monsters and some rogue dragons...” Said Novo, smirking when she saw the usually solemn alien stare at her in something akin to shock. “By the look of your face I conclude that's in fact the norm in the rest of the galaxy.”

“Well, no, not really. I mean, we do take care of wildlife and the weather in certain worlds, but mostly with technology, and many of those animals are already tamed. Even then it's done only when it's required, not all the time, and many people think it's unethical to control nature like that. At most we just move a few clouds to help the crops and put out fires, or relocate native species. Of course, we can simply terraform the world.”

“Terraform?”

“Making a world more habitable for people, like turning a frozen wasteland into a tropical paradise. It takes a few years at least, but it can be done.” Now it was his turn to smile when he saw Novo, Celestia, Luna and Neighsay give him looks of bewilderment/awe/shock. Howver, before Luna could say something (probably related to what he just said), Twilight continued.

“That's also where Zecora and the deer live!”

“The deer!” Cried Celestia in horror. “I forgot that they lived there!”

“Who is this Zecora you're talking about?” Inquired Neighsay.

“She's a friend of mine, a zebra that lives in the Everfree and who sometimes goes to Ponyville to sell potions.” Replied the purple alicorn, making Neighsay snort in disdain. Naturally this pissed her off, but before she could give a piece of her mind, Praeratus resumed talking.

“Don't worry, I surveyed the zone when you slept and found nothing aside from the obvious shortage of fauna and the villages of those deer. Either they left to escape from me or it was lying about where they hiding, which is quite a feat given that it was completely outmatched in the psionics department.”

The women breathed out in relief, while Neighsay kept looking at the map.

“Thank goodness.”

“Actually, that doesn't make things better.”

“What!?”

“Why not!?”

“Well, for starters the monster I killed actually spoke to me. Well, thought, but still. Add the possible fact that it did in fact lie to me, and we have a problem. A serious problem.”

The group knew that something was very wrong, both by what he said and the tone he used to say it.”

“What, exactly, do you mean with that?”

“The things are sapient, or might be sapient. It's the only way it could have spoken to me lied.”

“What does sapient mean?” Asked Luna.

Praeratus repressed a grunt of annoyance, but replied to her question.

“There's a difference between sentience and sapience. A sentient organism is one that is aware of its own existance and has a subject experience of reality, plus simple emotions like fear and anger; all members of the animal kingdom, and some plants and fungi, are sentient.” Explained the therawyrm. “Sapience, however, it's a bit trickier to explain. It's the ability to think and act by combining knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight that other creatures lack.

He realized they weren't really following him whe he saw their puzzled expressions. He supposed it would be better to just simplify it.

“Or, to put it simply, not just thinking of doing things now, but tomorrow and after. Basically the capacity to plan ahead and solve complex problems.”

“Oh! That's better to understand.” Said Twilight in a happy tone (which was ironic considering she was a very rational person herself).

“And this helps us how?” Said Neighsay. “Because going by that definition, most creatures of Equus are sapient.”

“Really? Then how do you...? Nevermind, that's not important at the moment. I'll put this in perspective, but I need three figures or something similar: one of a pony, one of a vicious beast, and another of a random weapon.”

Celestia teleported what he requested (a doll of a pony, an action figure of a manticore, and a butter knife) and laid it on top of the map. Praeratus noted with interest that the pony was actually her.

“Imagine that Dollestia-” He said before being interrupted by the laughs of the other two princesses and the hippogriff queen, making Celestia blush in embarrasment. Neighsay said nothing, but it was obvious he was 'displeased' with the name.

“H-he called you Dollestia! Hahahaha!” Laughed Novo.

“That's the funniest nickname I've heard for you since Sunbutt!” Agreed Luna.

“Sorry princess!” Managed to blurt Twilight between laughs. “It's just... Dollestia!”

Celestia blushed even more (if that were even possible in the first place) when she heard that. She promptly turned to Praeratus, who was watching it happen.

“Please don't call me that in front of Discord. He won't let me forget it.” She implored to him with her hands clasped in a beggin position.

“Don't worry, I won't tell a soul, and if for some reason he finds out I'll call him Dildord.” Assured the xeno-hunter, not considering the possibility that sexual toys may not even exist in Equestria, or Equus for that matter. He then turned to Luna, Novo and Twilight. “As for you...” He said before clasping their mouths and jaws with his psionics, stopping their laughing. “There, you're cuter when silent.” He said, earning a glare from them. “If I let you open your mouths, will you laugh again?” When they shook their heads, he fred their jaws. “Next time I'll give YOU embarrasing nicknames, and trust me, there are at least thirty that rhyme with Luna, Novo and Twilight Sparkle.”

It was Celestia's turn to laugh, but she did so quietly.

Neighsay, on the other hand, didn't find it funny.

“Can you please continue with your demonstration? We are going nowhere with this!”

“I hate to break the mood and agree with him, but he's right, we're sidetracking. Imagine that Dollestia is strolling through a city alone and-”

“Which one?” Interrupted Twilight. “Manehattan, Fillydelphia maybe?”

“And why would she do it without me or an escort?”

“Hey! You I go out alone sometimes Luna!”

“I know, it's just that-”

“I don't know what are the names of your cities, I literally didn't know those names until right now, she's alone because she's an adult woman and not a kid, and I want-no, HAVE to do this.” Explained Praeratus in an exasperated tone. “Can you girls just wait until after I finish what I want to show you please?”

“Sorry.” Apologized the three alicorns.

“Right. Dollestia is strolling through this Manehattan when suddenly” He says while putting the manticore figure in front of the doll. “, a wild manticore appears out of nowhere and attacks her.” He then puts the manticore away from the doll. “This obviously fails spectacularly for two main reasons: first, it attacked her directly without even thinking about it, and second, I gather that Celestia possesses powerful magic, so a simple monster won't be a problem for her.”

“Of course a manticore wouldn't be a problem for her, she has been raising and lowering the Sun for over a thousand years.” Stated Neighsay.

“I know that.” Then he grabbed the butter knife with telekinesis and hovered it behind the doll before saying in a serious tone: “But what if instead of being directly attacked by a stupid cat-scorpion hybrid, she was stalked by a perpetually angry yet uncannily smart creature whose only goal in life is to exterminate all life on this planet?”

He then paused and looked at Celestia, whose eyes were wide and irises were shrunken and focused on the knife hovering behind the doll that represented her and realized he was about to recreate the event that ended up with the alicorn dead for several minutes.

“Luna, can you bring me another doll please? Well, three: two of your guards nd one that doesn't look like Celestia.”

“What? Why?” Asked the blue alicorn. She supposed that Praeratus wanted the guards for something, but why did he want to

“I changed my mind, this one is not Celestia, it's some other random pony.” He said while make head notions towards Celestia.

Luna realized what he meant when saw her sister's unsettled expression, so she complied with his request and teleported another doll, this time one that represented herself and three small figures depicting guards.

Praeratus continued, placing the guards near the doll and moving the knife around it in a slow manner. Luna was reminded of an old novel from a big before her return set in Griffontstone, one about a killer that stalked his prey, both female griffons and hippogriffs and pegasi mares, to kill them and steal their prettiest feather in a sick display of love only to end up arrested and executed. What Praeratus was simulating was somewhat similar to what happened in the novel.

“The bioweapon stalks Luna through the shadows of Manehattan, watching her every move at any distance, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. You have already seen what these things can do.” He was, of course, reffering to the possession, telekinesis, movility and overall capacity of the bioweapons.

“Yes, I remember it too well.” Muttered Celestia in a weak voice, unable to forget both the massacre two hundred years prior and her own death yesterday.

“Luna ends up walking in a somewhat empty street in the night, but is not really worried since she's an alicorn, a princess and it's night, and therefore her domain. She's so confident that she doesn't see that there's something bigger than the manticore from before hiding in the sides of the street, watching her every move until...” He said before simulating a strike with the knife.

Luna expected a simple cut, Novo thought that the knife would impale the doll (somehow, since it wasn't even sharp), Neighsay expected Praeratus to simply tape the doll, and Celestia simply wanted all of it to end already.

Instead, the knife struck the doll disturbingly fast, and in the leg, with so much strength behind it that the leg of the doll was actually severed, which in turn showed how powerful Praeratus psionics were, since the knife wasn't supposed to cut anything at all.

Plus, it wasn't difficult for Luna to imagine blood sweeping from the 'stump'.

“The demon, despite having the capacity and the will to do so, doesn't kill her right away. Instead, it just cripples her, wanting to draw in more prey to kill by making her scream for help” He said while placing the 'guards' around Luna before throwing them all off the table “; that way it can kill more ponies in one singular strike instead of wasting time seeking them out one by one in their homes.”

Luna looked at the broken toys in the floor swallowed hard; just like before, it wasn't difficult to see the broken doll and figures as her and her guards' mauled corpses laying in the cold ground.

“And why couldn't it simply go on a rampage through the city instead of... killing Princess Luna and anypony nearby?” Asked Neighsay, just as scared as the other three.

“Because they'll want to spread chaos, terror and panic in the world, and what better way to do it than not only killing the princess in charge of the moon in a very gruesome way, but also in the middle of a city and therefore making clear that they're not afraid of doing it in front of everybody?”

Praeratus looked at the group with heavy eyes.

“Look, I'm not going to lie to you, just one of those freaks can cause untold damage and death by itself thanks to its the fact it was genetically engineered to be a perfect killing machine and its ability to use psionics in indirect ways, to the point that one of them slaughtered an army two centuries ago and another nearly ripped my head off if not for Cyranus. And there are ten of them. Ten super strong, psionic and self-healing monsters that may know that by killing you they can desestabilize the planet, and may also know that someone that can kill them is hunting them down. And they adapt, so simply using my psionics to kill them may not be a viable option in the future.”

“B-but you can do something, right? You came here to help us!”

The alien former soldier sighed, and Celestia thought he became older for a second.

“Aside of using you as bait to bring them out of whatever hole they are hiding in, I'm not sure. As for me being here to help you, you're not completely wrong, but...”

“But?”

Praeratus reclined on his chair and looked up, his expression unreadable.

“The monsters, they weren't supposed to escape the container. I know one of them did, but it was an accident.”

“Praeratus what are you talking about?” Asked Celestia.

“Celestia, remember when I told you about the war?”

“What war?” Asked Neighsay.

“Praeratus was a soldier once, and fought in a very devastating war.” Explained Celestia, remembering vividly the images of thousands of ships firing at each other in space and soldiers fighting humongous beasts.

“And it wasn't just a war, it was the Hegemony War: a hundred-years long conflict that saw billions of deaths. Remember also when I told Discord about dead worlds? They 'died' in that war, and even though I hate to admit it, at least a good chunk of them were destroyed by the Confederation to drive back the Hegemony, deprive them of resources... or simply to see them burn in hell.” The word 'burn in hell' dripped with venom, and it was obvious that, despite the fact he didn't scream nor growl, Praeratus was pretty much furious. Why, they didn't know, but Celestia had a feeling it wasn't due to the actions of the Confederation.

“Goodness...” Said Neighsay.

“How could you do that!? Destroy entire planets just because they belonged to the enemy!?” Cried Luna.

Praeratus glared at her, and Luna felt that feeling again: the feeling of having insulted somepony that she shouldn't had. The first time was when Praeratus pinned her to the wall in his ship.

“First, we had to, it was one of the driving points to the peace treaty. And second, don't try to make me feel guilt for something I didn't do, or even do anything about it! I was just a soldier when the brass chose to unleash the Colossus on the worlds of the Hegemony, and I didn't know of the destruction of those planets until the first cracking.”

“The Colossus?” Asked Twilight. Something told her (maybe it was the name) that it wasn't something good.

“The ship that destroyed those worlds, a six-mile long warshop armed with the most destructive weapon ever known to sapient life, a laser powerful enough to utterly crack any kind of world in a single shot no matter its size. The government only planned to use it's existance as a deterrent to possible threats to the Confederation, but the Hegemony forced us to actually use it. Needless to say, they began regretting taking our people as slaves and cannon fodder when we burned theirs to cinders, even with our people in the middle of the fire.” His previous anger had made way to sorrow.

“Civilians too?” Asked Twilight, remembering what he said to himself yesterday about refusing to hurt civilians.

“We were that desperate, and at the moment we didn't care about their civilians.”

This horrified the locals: a weapon not made by magic capable of destroying a planet? That was terrifying! There was also the name of the weapon, the Colossus. There were many objects of nefarious purpose (Staff of Sacanas, Alicorn Amulet, Orbs of Darkness) whose names outright stated their nature. But Colossus? It simply meant something enormous, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing by itself.

But the worst by far was the fact that it had been built explicitly with the approval of Praeratus' government. What kind of king or princess could order something like that? Or worse, what kind of enemy was this 'Hegemony' to warrant the construction of such a ship?

“And you won, right?” Asked Twilight nervously, making Praeratus stare at her. Suddenly he seemed very tired.

“Yeah, we won... but after a hundred years of lives lost, planets razed and people kidnapped to never return.” He then glared at Luna. “And just so that you know, we were desperate to win.” He growled, making the blue alicorn look away in shame

Celestia wanted desperately to console Praeratus in some way, but he didn't know how. Comforting one of her little ponies was easy, she was wiser and a bit of a mother figure to all of them, but Praeratus wasn't just older than her and thus rendering the 'mother figure' part moot, he had been fighting wars for over eight hundred years and monster for two, so in a way he was wiser than her.

“I'm sorry, it was just-”

“Don't be sorry, just think about what you will say before saying it.” He said in a cold tone before his expression darkened even more, if that were possible. “Of course, you may want to keep some of that anger.” He sighed yet again. “It wasn't supposed to be populated.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your world, Equus, wasn't supposed to be inhabited by intelligent life. Hell, pretty sure those who did it didn't know it could even support life until now.” He said.

“I don't like where is this going.” Said Twilight in a frightened tone.

“What are you saying Praeratus?” Asked Novo.

The therawyrm spoke again.

“Did you girls notice that, when I fought against that monster, it only tried to kill me AFTER I stopped it from killing you?”

To the surprise of the locals, it was Celestia who answered.

“The Confederation made the monsters to attack the Hegemony.” It wasn't an angered tone, nor a suprirsed tone, more of a matter-of-fact tone. “And they send them here thinking Equus wasn't inhabited.”

In another time Luna and Neighsay would have exploded at that, screaming that the presence of the demons in their world was his fault. But after seeing how furious he was when Luna thought he was somehow related to the Colossus, they wisely stayed quiet.

Praeratus nodded to the white alicorn. “The bioweapons had been originally created to attack Hegemony worlds, aiming to disrupt their supply lines, take out important targets and terrorize the civilian population, but after achieving peace with them the Confederation decided to get rid of them before the Hegemony discoreved their existance. I still don't get why they didn't simply shoot them or throw them into a black hole, but in the end they launched them through a wormhole to the Dwarf Galaxy, and it landed here and, well, you know the rest.” He said, looking at Celestia with regret.

“The brass,” He continued. “, seeing that the only bioweapon that escaped containment was taken out by the locals, and that only outside interference you guys didn't open it, either by accident or deliberately, chose to simply watch over the planet to make sure the things didn't escape.”

“They had been watching us all this time?” Novo asked.

“Only the last two hundred years or so, and believe me, it was a good thing that the government decided to make First Contact with you.”

“But you-I mean they, could have helped us when we were in trouble, no?” Asked Neighsay. “We had a lot of villains that would have trembled in fear at the sight of a ship that is probably bigger than Canterlot.”

“Bigger. Much bigger” Replied Praeratus, smiling when he saw the Chancellor gulp in fear. Of course, if a battleship that was supposed to stay in zero gravity for basically all the time (they could hover over a planet's surface, but not for long, and unlike cruisers they weren't designed to do that) was forced to enter atmosphere that meant something was wrong. “. And about helping you... help you with what? I'm pretty sure that, aside from the Storm King, there is nothing threatening Equestria, or the world. Plus, something tells me that, as bad as your 'villains' were, none of them killed anyone, even the Storm King, right?”

“Well no, but he still enslaved Equestria and other kingdoms in his search for power.”

“Good thing that I hate people who practice slavery then.”

“And we have to thank you for that.” Said Celestia with a small smile. Unlike Neigshay, she was quite happy to ignore the fact that Praeratus had killed quite a lot of living creatures on her land, especially since one of them was a demon.

“Yes, I suppose I was.” Replied Praeratus, returning her smile with his.

“Praeratus, you said that the Confederation launched the monsters to the Dwarf Galaxy through a wormhole. What is that?” Asked Luna.

“It's the galaxy Equus is on. The Confederation, the Hegemony and all the other empires are based on the Milky Way, but there are a few wormholes scattered through the Milky Way; some of them connect parts of the galaxy, but for some reason at least lead to here instead of, I don't know, another, random third galaxy or even the void in the cosmos that separates galaxies.”

“Wait, you live in another galaxy!?” Screamed the locals (Celestia didn't, but was just as surprised with widened eyes), shocked by the possibility of intergalactic empires waiting for the perfect moment to attack each other with Equus in the middle.

“Yeah, but the Confederation doesn't have any hold on the Dwarf Galaxy except the satellite that was used to monitor the container. Plus, we're technically the good guys, remember? We have a strict policy of never interacting with younger civilizations until they discover faster-than-light travel and settle their neighboring system.” He said, earning several sighs of relief. He grunted; he didn't want to burst their bubble, but they had to know. “That said, the Hegemony has at least a few outposts here, and going through the treaty they have every right to do whatever they want on it as long as it doesn't take place near Confederation space.”

The natives promptly stared at the former Centurion in horror, terrified of the fact that their world might be close to an intergalactic empire that practiced slavery, could destroy planets without even resorting magic and, as Celestia saw back in Praeratus' home, used giant monsters in battle to crush their enemies.

“And how close is the nearest 'outpost' of the Hegemony?” Asked Neighsay.

“No idea, but not close enough to notice a satellite self destructing.” Shrugged Praeratus. “Besides, they're only interested in species that can provide something of interest to them and are advanced enough to receive radio signals.”

“We do have radios.” Twilight pointed out.

“Yes, but I doubt they can reach signals coming from beyond your celestial bodies. I'm going to be sincere with you, as dangerous as the Hegemony is, especially to a planet which doesn't even have satellites orbiting it, the real danger is the Dwarf Galaxy.”

If the natives were frightened before, now they were terrified.

“What do you mean, the Dwarf Galaxy is the real danger?”

“I'm going to answer that with another question. How big is the largest dragon in Equus? Something tells me they are quite big.”

“Former Dragonlord Torch? He's just as big as an Ursa Major, although his wings make him look bigger than he actually is and his tail adds more length.” Replied Twilight. “Your ship is still bigger though.”

“So approximately fifty meters. Well, the average Confederate corvette is a bit over four times bigger than my ship, and has a minimum weight of nine thousand tonnes.” Praeratus leaned on his side of the table, taking care to not crush it. “An ether drake, which so you know is not a dragon at all but a multi-eyed, beam-spitting monstrosity that lives in space, is large enough to swallow a corvette with one bite.”

“Oh my Celestia.” Twilight said in a low voice, making Praeratus stare at her.

“Girl, don't pray to a woman that, even though I don't like to remind it to her, has died and brought back to life by me, in my presence.” He said, before realizing what he said and remembering that one of the people present wasn't there when he revived Celestia.

“What do you mean, the Princess was killed by the monster!?” Cried Neighsay.

“Yes, but not outright: that thing caused wounds too grievous for Celestia to survive, but I managed to get her to my Med-Pod before her death became irreversible.” Praeratus said in a casual tone, delighting himself in Neighsay's growing fear.

“Why do I have the feeling that there are worse things out there?” Spoke Novo.

“Because there are, and one of the worst are sun-eating, probably immortal spiders bigger than battleships that go from system to system eating planets, and if the navy can't kill the thing in time the only option left is evacuating the system, which sees billions of people displaced and planets dead due to their sun losing energy. Of course, those things are just animals doing what they have to survive, so they can't be really blamed for following their instincts.”

“Sun-eating spiders...” Whispered Celestia in sheer horror. The mere thought of a creature that fed upon stars (and now knowing that her sun was one) was, naturally, quite terrifying to her. The fact that, according to Praeratus, her sun was actually tiny compared to the average star only helped to scare her further. “How much time would a 'sun-eating spider' need to devour the Sun?” She feared the answer, but something in her wanted to know.

“Never saw one feeding before, but comparing sizes and the fact that stellarite devourers do vary in size... less than a month.” Answered Praeratus in a grim tone. “But as powerful as one is, they are the rarest of them all, even here.”

“'Rarest'?”

“Space jellyfish born from pulsars, living asteroid hives, tiyanki herds, the aforementioend ether drakes... the list is long. These things live in the Milky Way too, but the Dwarf Galaxy has a higher number of them, and since is several times smaller than the Milky Way, they are more concentrated. But you shouldn't be worried.”

“We shouldn't be worried!?” Screamed Neighsay. “You just told us that Equus is located in a galaxy full of space dragons, sun-eating abominations, an intergalactic empire and-” He ranted before an angry growl from Praeratus stopped him cold.

“Don't call them abominations.” Growled the xeno-hunter. “They may be dangerous animals, and they may ruin a lot of lives just by eating, but devourers are simply that, animals. And as far as I know they are more 'natural' than anything that lives on this planet. Besides, as dangerous as devourers, drakes and the rest are, they rarely attack planets since, being voidborn creatures, the slightest pressure of gravity would turn them into pulp. And about the Hegemony... Space is big. Really, really big. For you, a journey around the world may be an odyssey worthy of a film, but that's peanuts to space since distance is measured in light years, which is the time light travels in one year. Even the Dwaf Galaxy is still seven thousand light years across, and since the overall technology level of Equus is still quite primitive and your radios practically emit no signals the possibilities of the Hegemony finding you are pretty slim.” Before Luna could speak, he continued. “And no, they can't detect my ships, it's simply too small. The bioweapons, on the other hand, are still very much alive and on this planet, and as most of you have seen, they're quite dangerous, so they're a more inmediate threat.” He said, reminding them of the real problem at hand.

There was silence in the observatory for half a minute.

“Well” Said Luna. “, what do you suggest us to do then?”

“Aside from you, what other leaders have political powers?”

“Well, there are King Thorax and his brother Pharynx from the Changeling Kingdom, Dragonlord Ember from the Dragon Lands, Prince Rutheford from Yayakistan, King Aspen from the Everfree, Lord Gestal from Griffonstone and us. There are many others, but they're not as powerful.” Replied Novo.

In another instance Praeratus would have asked if a democratic governement existed, but he decided against it. For now.

“Reunite the leaders of the planet and tell them about the bioweapons and the extreme danger they pose.”

“The Convocation of Creatures!” Cried out Twilight.

“The what of what?” 'That's got to be the most racist thing ever' Thought Praeratus.

“It's an assembly of leaders from all across the world to share knowledge, speak about trade and more.” Explained Celestia. “It has not been held for seven hundred years due to several reasons, but maybe after the Storm King we could assemble the others to inform them of the monsters' presence on Equus.”

“And when is it supposed to take place.”

“In two months, give or take a few days.”

“Then it's decided, I'll go with you to this 'Convention of Creatures', we'll tell them about the danger of the bioweapons and I'll ask them to tell me if they see any sign of them on their lands.”

“That's it, just say that there are nearly invincible monsters running amok in our planet and that you're hunting them down?” Said Neighsay incredulously.

“What should I tell them then, that their planet is the least strange thing in a galaxy full of them? Do you think they would react well to the fact that Equus is in a galaxy inhabited by space monsters and settled by an empire that takes slaves to force them into battle, or worse? Because you didn't.”

“It is decided then. Well, I suppose we could...” Began to say Celestia before trailing off, staring at the open dome of the observatory. Following her gaze, the group saw what she was looking at: a blue dot moving in the telescope.

“What's that?” Wondered Twilight

“I don't know, but it reminds me of yesterday when big guy here was watching us from afar.” Replied Novo while signaling at Praeratus, who got up from his chair.

“Praeratus, do you have any idea of what might it be?” Asked Celestia before looking at him and seeing his widened eyes tracing the dancing dot in something akin to a combination of shock and anger.

Celestia became worried. She had only seen him like that before when the demon mauled her.

“Praeratus, are you okay?”

“How the hell...?” The words had barely left Praeratus' mouth when, without warning, several hypersonic slugs struck the telescope, destroying it, and then the observatory itself, making the ponies and hippogriff scream in fear and duck under the table to avoid being hit by the deadly projectiles. Before the alicorns or unicorn could create a shield to protect themselves (which actually would have worked), Praeratus did it, forming a psionic barrier that deflected the bullets at the cost of making them ricochet and wreck the observatory even more. Eventually the deadly barrage ceased, leaving five shaken up natives and one angry xeno-hunter in a room that had more in common with a giant strainer than an observatory.

“What was that!?” Exclaimed Neighsay while getting out from under the table with the others.

“MY OBSERVATORY!!!” Cried Luna in agony when she saw the sorry state of her favourite place in the castle.

Praeratus, on the other hand, growled in fury.

“That was the machine gun of the Wedge. Somehow, somebody opened the doors, started the car even without the keys and fired the machine gun, which should be impossible because it's fingerprint-locked, which as the name implies requires me to put my fingers on the handles to unlock AND open the doors, start the car without the keys, and disengage the safety of the gun to fire it!”

“You use fingerprints to protect your propiety?” Asked Neighsay, in awe for the first time since he saw Praeratus (with the first one being the time that the Old Pillars of Equestria, including Starswirl the Bearded, turned out to be still alive and well). Praeratus, too angry to respond and still a bit contemptuous of him, ignored the Chancellor and ranted about ripping somebody's penis or ovaries and force feeding them to him/her.

Twilight, having an idea of who could have done it, facepalmed.

“Pinkie...”

Author's Note

There you go guys, a new chapter, and this one is longer to boot!

Also, despite adding the deer and the Convocation of Creatures I won't add anything else from the IDW comics since it simply makes no sense (and given what I wrote about the Dwarf Galaxy, both Discord and Cosmos would have known about the dangers on it... or gotten themselves eaten by a stronger freak, enslaved by late-game empires or accidentaly ended in THAT PLACE).

Anger

As soon as Twilight said 'Pinkie', Praeratus went for the door. Usually he would have done so in a normal way, but he was so furious that his stomps shook the observatory, which wasn't the smartest thing to do since it was now riddled with bullet holes and therefore in danger of collapsing and falling to the city below. Praeratus didn't care though; somebody nearly killed the leaders of two countries with his car. A car that the pink pony shouldn't have been able to open for the simple fact that she wasn't him.

In another instance he would had just jumped out of the observatory with a psionic charge and land near the Wedge, but he didn't want to bring down the tower (even a stomping, two hundred-kilogram storming out of the place might had the same effect,) with the others still inside.

“Praeratus where are you going?” Asked Celestia with the other a bit far behind, practically running behind Praeratus down the tower due to his stature and legs making him walk faster than them by a fair amount.

“To teach that pink girl a lesson about touching touching my stuff and nearly getting you killed.” He said without even turning his head while cracking his knucles at the same time. Twilight, hearing this, did what she did best.

“No!” Screamed the purple alicorn, flying and landing in front of Praeratus, who stopped. “Please dont' do it!”

“Do what? Do you even have an idea of what I may do to her?” He asked. Seeing her shake her head, he continued. “Besides, I didn't plan on killing her.”

“Really?” Said Twilight with a hopeful smile.

“Yes, I'll just beat the life out of her to make clear what will happen if she does it again.” He said before restarting his march, leaving a wide-eyed Twilight behind.

And then Celestia did the very same thing.

“What now!?” Screamed Praeratus, now angry.

“Praeratus you can't do that!” Said Celestia.

“Why not!?”

“Because it would be wrong!”

“'Because it would wrong'!?” Repeated the xeno-hunter. “Haven't you realized that you haven't been turned into a flour sifter by sheer luck!? No, forget that, there wouldn't be nothing left of you except a pair of legs and a gory stain in the ceiling!” He ranted, knowing very well the effects of an 4-inch round going at a speed of 3 kilometers per second hitting a body. Energy weapons left either burnt bodies or ashes, and melt through armor like butter, but kinetics were much more grisly and hit shields like freightrains, although just like energies that was mostly for space battles. Inside the atmosphere of a world, weapons' roles were slightly iffier since bullets could pierce armor better thab flesh-burning lasers, but for the most part followed the rule of 'Energy for armor, kinetics for shielding' that naval weapons had.

“Yes, we could have died, and what she did was wrong, but still, that doesn't give you the right to brutalize one of my ponies!” Replied Celestia.

Praeratus grabbed her by the shoulders with care and looked at her straight in the eyes.

“Celestia, she's a goddamn, adult in her twenties, not a baby nor a kid, I already you that before in the throne room. She has to be accounted for what she did.”

“Please Praeratus, she probably was just trying to see what was inside, she's a curious mare.”

“And because of that you, Luna, Novo, Twilight and Neighsay could have died, and for you it would have been permanent; even if your body stayed intact, the Med-Pod only works once.” Technically he was wrong and right at the same time: wrong because the pod could revive a dead body as long as the head was whole, and right because after two or three times of coming back to life the user ended up addicted to it, wanting nothing more to use the thing time and time again until they become irreversibly insane... and then, dead. “And there's another thing: how the frack did she get inside my car. There's no way that a pony could force their way in.” He said in a much calmer tone before resuming his march in an slower pace.

Celestia, seeing that he had calmed donw a bit by talking to her, had an idea to save Pinkie Pie's life, or at least not put her in Canterlot's Hospital Intensive Care Unit. Since she knew she couldn't talk him out of it, and that to fight him would be a 'bad idea' to put it simply, she decided to calm him down by talking. If she kept stalling him by talking, he might calm down further to a point that he won't want to brutalize the Element of Laughter, just threaten her and scare her to deaht, which despite her still not liking it was a much better alternative than actual death or being beaten to a pulp by a super strong alien soldier.

“Well, earth ponies are the strongest breed of ponies.” Said Celestia while walking next to Praeratus.

“I'm pretty sure that not even the strongest zoklap would be able to rip the doors, and for your information zoklaps are on average twice as tall and thrice as strong than therawyrms, and we in turn are stronger than most other races whose maximum height never surpasses eight feet without acromegaly.” Said Praeratus.

“Acromegaly?” Twilight asked from behind them, having never heard of that word before.

'It's working!' Thought Celestia triumphantly

“Unnatural height for an species, like an eight feet tall therawyrm, due to an excessive production of growth hormones by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland after the growth plates have closed. Basically being too tall for an individual of your species, but without the strength to support your body. It's also called gigantism by most non-physicians.”

“Do you think I have gigantism?” Asked Celestia, and this time it wasn't just to make him calmer, she really wanted to know. Being much taller than most of your subjects helped your image of being a motherly monarch, but sometimes (mostly when she had to get inside houses with ceilings made for much shorter ponies) she wished to be shorter.

“Nah, you're average at best compared to medium-sized species, and I doubt you weight more than a hundred pounds.” Said Praeratus in a nonlachant tone, earning a huff from a now blushing alabaster princess and laughs from the other monarchs. He didn't know it, but she actually weighed a hundred and thirty pounds; and since her own sister, who was only half a head shorter, did indeed weigh only a hundred pounds, she felt ashamed. Oh well, at least it seemed like Praeratus had finally let go of his intent to 'punish' Pinkie Pie. “That said, given the gravity of Equus you guys should be much taller and thinner than me. Think of yourselves like Discord, nine feet tall yet barely wider than you already are.”

“Why would we be like that?” Quizzed Neighsay.

“Gravity. The stronger it is, the shorter and stouter a lifeform becomes, and the inverse is true, with lower gravity worlds having tall yet thin wildlife and flora thanks to the reduced strain. ” Explained Praeratus. They had already walked down the tower, and were now walking through the corridos that would lead them to the gates to the castle. While in the way they were greeted by the palace's staff and guards, whose smiling faces turned into expressions of fear or scowls of disgust when they saw Praeratus... and got terrified when Praeratus glared back at them.

She didn't understand what got them so spooked. Sure, Praeratus was quite intimidating thanks to his appearance and sheer size, but she knew that he wouldn't attack without a good reason.

And then she saw something in her mind that explained their attitude.

It was like one of those 'imagination spots' many ponies had, her included, but this one showed images of filth-covered ponies living in ramshackled huts and either fighting each other for no apparent reason and screaming in an incoherent language, or watching in wonder and despair as spaceships of all kinds and shapes flied over their huts and around a kilometrical skyscraper hovering in the air well above the ground... before a giant ship, resembling one of those Celestia had seen on that 'documentary', aimed a giant cannon attached to its underbelly to the village and obliterated it. It was obvious what it meant: Praeratus made them think that he saw equestrians as primitive, brutish and utterly defenseless.

Luna and the others didn't receive those telepathic images, and so kept talking among themselves, but Celestia, who thought she had finally calmed the xeno-hunter down with her tactic of talking, had received them too.

“Praeratus.” She said to the therawyrm in a serious tone. “I saw that.”

'And I heard what they thought about me, thinking of me as a damn savage monster that shouldn't be here.' He said in her mind, clearly angry at what they had thought about him. 'I simply showed those pricks what I MIGHT think of their species. You know I don't really think of you like that, but they don't, and maybe they'll try and not think when a psionic they don't like and who in turn likes them even less is near them. '

'That doesn't mean !'

'Girl, there is simply no way for you to make me let a bunch of primitive morons that do not even have cars get away from insulting me without consequences.' He said in a tone that made clear he wouldn't speak more.

Celestia sighed, but didn't press the topic further. Even though Praeratus had a point, that didn't mean he could go inside her ponies' minds and scare them with fake visions that depicted them as savage beasts without a hope of advance.

Eventually the group reached the gates of the castle... and saw something that would have made them laugh, but Praeratus growling made them think against it.

As it turned out, it wasn't Pinkie Pie who breached inside the Wedge and fired the machine gun, but Discord. Said draconequus was freaking out inside said vehicle because Cyranus, who somehow had been reduced in size to be barely bigger than a stallion, had turned it upside down. Said gorgonops was roaring at him from outside and trying to get inside to no avail and pushing the car around at the same time, with Fluttershy trying fruitlessly to pull the smaller yet still powerful gorgonops away and the others watching on, either not realizing or not caring what would happen to Discord if Cyranus managed to get inside the Wedge.

Without even saying a word, Praeratus marched towards the conmotion, and when he was at a short distance he shouted.

“Cyranus, come here!”

The gorgonops stopped to attack the Wedge and trotted to his owner, with Fluttershy still holding onto him.

'What the frack happened to you boy?' Thought the xeno-hunter, slapping himself to make sure that, yes, Cyranus had been shrinked

Praeratus, petting the now dog-sized gorgonops, turned to Fluttershy.

“What the hell happened.” He asked, and it was clear by the glare he was giving her and the tone of his voice that a simple 'It's complicated' wouldn't suffice.

“W-well, as you know, when you told us to leave you guys alone, Cyranus dragged Discord away when he threw a fit for not being invited.” Stuttered the yellow pegasus. The others, including random citizens of the city had noticed the presence of Praeratus and the group and promptly bowed, although it was obvious they were scared or angry at Praeratus' presence.

“Continue.”

“Naturally, Discord didn't like that at all, so he decided to teach him a lesson.” Fluttershy explained, whispering this last part. A normal pony wouldn't have been able to hear her, but when you are a super soldier hardened in a thousand battles, your hearing ends up so damn good that you are able to hear a tiny insect flying several decameters away, and even if Praeratus hadn't had that, he was still a purple psionic and could have just probed her brain to get the information without raising any suspicions.

“And why, may I ask, is Discord hiding in my overturned car?”

“Well” Said another voice behind Fluttershy. Therawyrm and pegasus turned to see Rarity and the others approaching them.”, Cyranus didn't take well being shrunken, since he inmediatly chased Discord around Canterlot before teleporting inside your vehicle and activating the weapon. For some reason he can't get out by teleporting again.”

'Weird. Celestia could use her magic' Thought Praeratus before shaking his head and walking towards the overturned vehicle and turning it right with his psionics, after which he opened a door. The draconequus didn't waste time in getting out.

“Thank you Praera-” He had barely open his mouth when Praeratus grabbed his neck and slammed his head on the hood of the Wedge. The locals, mouths agape and eyes widened at this, didn't even move.

“Change him back.” He said, referring to the shrunken Cyranus. “Now.”

“Hey!” Complained Discord after recovering from the daze of being slammed on a metallic surface, feeling brave even with his neck on the line. Literally. “It's his fault that he's like that, biting me like a chew toy and dragging me out like I were a mere sack of potatoes!”

“I don't care who started it, but you were the one who did that to him, and if you don't fix it, I'll shrink you, and believe me, it would be quite different to doing it with magic.” The tone on Praeratus' voice and the way he was glaring at the draconequus made clear he was serious, and neither Discord nor the others wanted to know how could Praeratus do that.

Discord had powerful thanks to his magic, and unlike previous threats to Equestria like Chrysalis or Lord Tirek, that magic was his own and didn't come from outside sources; Sombra had powerful too, but it was dark magic, magic Discord refused to mess with, and even then he preferred brute force whereas Discord would rather mess with others. He could do a lot of things with it: mess with the planet, turn a mosquito into an Ursa Major-sized freak, move the Sun and the Moon at the same time, shrink a bull-sized predator to a more 'manageable' size (although he wanted to make Cyranus as small as Fluttershy's rabbit Angel; somehow not only was he size of a big mastiff, he was still strong enough to overturn a large metal carriage). He was also pretty old, so old he didn't keept count,

But he had seen what Praeratus could do; namely, lift an entire horde of manticores, bugbears, cockatrices and hydras and turn them to ice statues, kill an Ursa Major by throwing a house at it, and wrestle, and eventually kill, a magic-proof, practically invincible monster that annihilated the Royal Army and nearly killed Celestia. And just like that monster, magic was useless against him. Heck, just having physical contact with him rendered magic useless: Discord would have snapped his fingers to get away from the irate alien, but a combination of a lack of air and Praeratus' hand grabbing his neck stopped him from doing so.

Not wanting to find out, Discord restored the gorgonops to his original size. Fluttershy found herself dangling from the neck of the now huge Cyranus, who was sitting like a dog and therefore was taller than the tiny pegasus.

“Done, now what?” Discord asked in a bored tone, thinking that Praeratus simply got angry because he made his 'dog' smaller. After all, he didn't even hur him!

How naive he was.

“This.” With that Praeratus opened the door of his car, put Discord's head in the opening, and began to close the door with his head in the middle.

“DISCORD!” Screamed Fluttershy, watching in horror as Praeratus brutalized the draconequus she had spent a lot of time in redeeming, which paid off when Tirek betrayed him. The others, despite being Discord's friends too, didn't even move from where they were: most were utterly terrifed of Praeratus's disproportionate punishment (they didn't know where the bullets hit) and the fact that Discord, who was the Spirit of Chaos and arguably the most powerful creature in Equestria, was utterly helpless against it. Luna, Novo and Neighsay, while also scared, knew that it was a struck of luck that Discord antic's hadn't killed them, although they didn't think he deserved THAT. Celestia, who would have been the most furious and outspoken if it had been done by another creature, stayed silent.

After slamming the door on the draconequus' head for an entire half minute, Praeratus grabbed lifted Discord and threw him rather harshly to the ground. The Spirit of Chaos shakily stood up, allowing the Elements, the royalty, the children and the ponies of Canterlot to see the beaten Discord. While it was much tamer than they thought, the state he was in was still quite disturbing

Discord's entire head had swollen, with his two eyes turned black and a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth and left ear, and his remaining fang was nowhere to be seen. Given how strong Praeratus was this was a much better outcome than a bloody smear on the ground and a headless corpse, but they had never seen the usually happy and confident (and sometimes overconfident) Spirit of Chaos look like he lost a boxing match with a minotaur or a yak.

“Mommy I don't wanna feed the horse, it's gonna poop some more.” Mumbled Discord before falling to the ground in a heap, with Fluttershy practically jumping to his aid. Fluttershy looked up at Praeratus and went from horrified and sad to furious, standing up as fast as she could and glaring up at him.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?” She screamed at the top of her lungs to the alien. In another instance she would have refused to even speak for fear of her life, but she refused to let the alien get away with nearly killing her friend. She inmediatly regretted it when Praeratus looked down at her and reminded her that he could simply slap her head off (which, given how fragile pegasi were even for ponies, and that Praeratus was exceptionally strong, was a strong possibility), or worse.

Which is why him grabbing her shoulders, turning her around and making her look up surprised her.

“See that?” Asked Praeratus while pointing to an observatory in the palace. Even at that distance Fluttershy and the others could see it was covered in holes and looking like it could collapse in any moment. “We were talking about what to do when your friend Dildord the freak of nature fired the machine gun of my Wedge, which so that you know is a weapon that can kill anything on this planet. And he aimed it at us.” He said that in a calm tone, but it was obvious for everypony present he was angry.

And he was, to put it mildly. Not only the rulers of the country, an important figurehad and the ruler of another could have died due to the stupidity of an idiot, said idiot had messed with his friend and actually thought (literally, he probed Discords' mind before beating him) he could get away with it! And Fluttersy had the gal to think of him as a monster! His punishment of Discord was brutal, but the goat-like fracker shouldn't have pissed off his friend nor touched something that looked dangerous and that nearly killed Celestia and the others!

Still, he got easy, since instead of just smashing his head he wanted to break his back, but there were children in there, and as much as he disliked to acknowledge it Discord didn't deserve to die just for touching what he shouldn't had. Of course, that didn't mean he could get away scot-free after what he did. If Discord had been a soldier of the military, he would have been physically punished (garrisons flogged, assault armies did the same but with scourges, and the Navy spaced for five seconds; most considered the naval punishment the worse of the three) and dishonorably discharged. But he wasn't a soldier, he was technically a civilian.

The Element of Kindness looked down to avert the therawyrm's gaze, partly because of the shame for not realizing that Praeratus had a very good excuse for what he did, but also in fear because she simply wasn't used to being stared down, since usually she was the one who did that.

“Hey!” Screamed a familiar tomboy voice in the same obnoxious tone. Praeratus barely turned his head to look at the annoying blue horse, who was still in casts. “He may be an idiot, but he's our idiot!” Oh well, at least she didn't scream at him for some stupid reason. “And you have to fix this!” She said, while motioning to her her casted wings and her body.

“Why.”

“Because you did this to me!” Screamed Rainbow Dash.

“THAT'S WHAT WHAT YOU GET FOR ATTACKING A FRACKING VETERAN, BITCH!” Roared Praeratus, his shout echoing throughout Canterlot like thunder. He then stomped towards her, teeth bared and eyes glowing violet. “That's it.”

Rainbow Dash, still covering her ears, went from angry to terrified when she saw the 7 feet tall, dragon-like alien going straight at her with murder in his eyes, and given what they all saw him do, it could be more than just an expression. Twilight, Fluttershy and the rest, including Skystar, the CMC and Spike, shook off their fear and made a semicircle in front of their friend, trying to look angry and determined and yet utterly failing at hiding their fear when it was obvious that Praeratus wasn't stopping.

And then Praeratus looked down and saw Spike looking at him with fear.

Celestia, Luna, Novo and Neigshay looked on, unsure of what to do. Luna wanted to help her friends, but at the same time, and much to her shame, didn't want to face Praeratus wrath again.

“Say” Began Luna nervously. “, shouldn't we do something about this? I mean, Skystar is with them.” She said to Novo.

“I know, but something tells me that Praeratus will not hurt them.” Replied the hippogriff. “Plus, if he really wanted to, well, do that to them, do you think we could stall him by fighting him, let alone stop him?”

Luna swallowed hard at that; Novo had a point, nothing they could do would work, and angering Praeratus even more would only makes things worse, and the last thing they needed was a furious alien warrior killing them instead of the monsters he was supposed to hunt.

Chancellor Neighsay decided for once to follow the advice of a non-pony.

And Celestia, who was frowning at the scene, was utterly dejected and angry, but not at Praeratus. She had managed to calm him down by talking, and comes Rainbow Dash and makes him angry again. Of course, given the state Discord was after being 'punished', she didn't know if her tactic actually worked.

The sight of the young dragon (the first being on the planet to ask him for help) being scared of him, made Praeratus stop in his tracks and sigh in irritation... and shame.

'Praty, your anger is getting the best of you in a crucial moment' He thought to himself.

'Blame the aliens, not me! They've done nothing but press my buttons!'

'Doesn't mean you have to react like a bomb about to go off! Just scream at them and leave it at that!'

'I'm a veteran of the Hegemony War, remember? In a sense, I AM a bomb! And Discord had it coming, for nearly killing Celestia and making Cyranus as big as a damn dog! No one messes with Cyranus and gets away with it, no one! And if Celestia dies again, nothing would bring her back!'

Just like the previous day, he was so angry he thought outloud and other could heard him. Celestia in particular was taken back by the way he said her name.

'One thing is beating up someone for good reasons, another is nearly crushing their heads for a sad but understandable accident, just like with Twilight. Your're going to end up making them think of you as a hot-tempered brute'

'I don't give a damn what a bunch of stubborn, primitive and stupid technicolor freaks of nature that have done nothing but give me problems think of me as long as they obey and get out of my way when the bioweapons end up coming to kill them all!'

“What did he call-” Started to say Rainbow Dash, angry again, before her friends covered her mouth. They felt insulted too, but they wanted to hear more, and not make him angry again.

“Shush!”

'Not all of them, remember?' Continued Praeratus. 'Twilight has been quite friendly to you you know, her stupidity not withstanding'

The purple alicorn would have frowned hadn't she been busy hearing Praeratus' 'debate'.

'And what about Celestia and Spike? Do you care about what they think of you?'

Praeratus looked down to see Spike, who wasn't looking at him with fear anymore, and then to Celestia, who was staring at him sadly.

Praerauts sighed again. What the hell was happening to him? Since he arrived to Equus he suddenly became easier to anger. Maybe the planet's atmosphere had something to with it, or having been unable to do his job, or something else.

In any case, he couldn't take it out on these aliens.

“You know what?” He said to the group. “I think I got a little carried away by anger.” With that he grabbed the unconscious Discord and laid him inside the Wedge. “You guys coming?”

This time, he did see Celestia's happy smile.

Author's Note

Another chapter.

If what happened to Discord puts you off, I can explain why I did it:
A) As you have seen, Praeratus is not exactly a forgiving guy, much less when he's somewhat right. Plus, Discord did have it coming, althought Praty did take it too far.
B) Makes clear how outmached the natives the Equus are.
C) Just like Celestia and her trauma, Praeratus has problems, only it's about controling his anger.

Thumbs up and faves if you like, and if you see something wrong tell me so I can fix it or change it.

The Ship

The Wedge was driving back to the ship, followed by Luna, Twilight and Fluttershy flying behind them and a magical sphere conjured by Starlight Glimmer that carried those who couldn't fly: Starlight herself, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Cyranus was galloping behind the vehicle, since Discord was on his seat. Queen Novo and Skystar weren't with them; apparently the hippogriff queen had decided it was time for her and her daughter to return to Mount Aris, lest her subjects thought something bad happened to their ruler. Neither was Neighsay, who chose to stay in Canterlot... or rather, Praeratus made him stay in the capital through mind manipulation. Some guards tried to go with them, but Praeratus forced them to the ground with telekinesis and said and made clear that he wouldn't let a bunch of defective clones get into his home.

When Celestia told him that they were not clones despite looking the same (their armor was enchanted to hide their identities, which Praeratus found stupid since they could just wear full body armor), the therawyrm replied that it wasn't just how they looked, but also how they acted and thought, more importantly, what they do... like accusing someone of helping a woman just to eat her later. And he was pretty sure that little zab didn't mean the literal eating.

Spike, however, was riding shotgun on Celestia's lap. Or rather, Celestia was hugging (and from time to time snuggling) the dragon while sitting him on her lap (and not realizing he was pressing his head on her well endowed chest, kinda like a makeshift headrest. Or maybe Celestia did, but didn't mind). Spike didn't actually want to go in the Wedge, but Celestia grabbed the boy to take him with her and literally refused to let him go: Twilight tried to pry him from her arms back in Canterlot and got an angry snort from Celestia for her troubles, which was rather surprising from her since she was, well, Princess Celestia, one of the nicest ponies in Equus. What made it even more disturbing was that she did that to her former pupil and current fellow princess Twilight Sparkle, who many thought was like a daughter to her.

And right behind them was the pod of the bioweapons, dragged by the Wedge with an enchanted chain provided by Celestia. One of the reasons he returned to Canterlot with Celestia was to recover the pod, which Celestia put on a warehouse couldn't use his psionics and drive at the same time (well, he could, but he didn't want to take chances with three civilians on board, specially since one of them was the ruler of the country he was on and his first 'friend' there, another was in need of medical attention, and the last a child), so he decided to simply tow it with the car. It was three times as big as the Wedge, but thanks to both modifications to the car and the strong yet light metal that made up the pod's structure, the car could drag it at normal speeds and only be slowed down a bit.

Praeratus looked at the happy alicorn and the slightly confused dragon, and smiled at the image. Seeing them like that made them look like mother and son... and made him wonder about something.

“So” Began the xeno-hunter. “, is he adopted?” He said while gesturing at Spike with his head.

“N-no I'm not!” Sputtered Spike in an alarmed tone. “And Celestia's not my mother! I do think of her as my mom sometimes, but so do most ponies!”

Celestia, on the other hand, laughed at Praeratus' question. The therawyrm, having never heard her laugh (or at least not like that that, his memory was a bit fuzzy) before, noted that hers was a beautiful sound.

“Technically, I AM your foster mother, since I did raise you when Twilight was still young.” Explained Celestia while stroking Spike's head. “Of course, since she was the one who hatched your egg I gave you to her when she became old enough.”

“She's more of an older sister though.” Replied Spike before looking at the beaten draconequus. “Praeratus, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Shoot?”

Ah, right, he forgot, Equus' cannons were barely deserving of the name.

“Alien way of saying 'sure, ask me'.”

“Did you really have to be that rough with Discord?” He said while looking at Praeratus with a frown.

Praeratus sighed. He didn't know how actually old was Spike, but he doubted he was old enough to understand his reasoning.

“Spike, he did two things that could have landed him on prison if he were part of the Confederation: animal abuse and involuntary attempted sophontslaughter. With my car, which is also a gift from the military and belongs to a former soldier, which technically makes him getting inside attempted car theft.”

“Abuse? He just made him smaller.”

“Spike, Cyranus isn't just my pet, he's my friend, a friend that prevented me from making the biggest mistake of my life.”

He still remembered the moment when he put his hand on the terminal that controled the airlock, about to press the button that would open it and space him and out an end to his depression... only for Cyranus, a puppy of less than a month of age then, barging in the hall and yapping like one of those annoying toys children loved those days, fifty years before. After feeding the pup and letting him sleep on his lap, he vowed to always protect it from anything that it couldn't defend himself against... like the spawn of an animal orgy including mammals, reptiles and birds. Admitedly he knew Discord didn't hurt the gorgonops, and that he had the excuse of not wanting to be a living chew toy, but he did made him smaller, and that made Praeratus wonder about what could the alien do.

“Having said that, there's also the fact he entered my car and fired the machine gun attached to it. Celestia, Twilight, Queen Novo and Chancellor Neighsay could have died if not for a combination of sheer luck, not even knowing what a gun is from Discord's part, and me using a barrier to protect them.”

“But why didn't you punish him by screaming right on his face, glaring at him, slapping him or something else?” Asked Spike. “I mean, look at him! He looks like he went to a headbutting match with a rock and lost! A hard rock!”

“He has a point Praeratus.” Agreed Celestia. “Plus, the population of Equestria, maybe even all of Equus, might going to fear you for it.”

“They already fear me, remember? Just for being an alien that killed where others would had ran away AND die.”

“Yes, but now they'll fear you because you beat the Spirit of Chaos to a pulp without even trying.”

“By that name and the way you say it I assume Discord is very known for something.” Celestia had told him a bit about Discord back at the ship, but only that he was kind of insane, that he was a reformed villain and that he became one of her friends.

“He overthrew me and my sister over a thousand years and ago ruled Equestria with a chaotic fist until we turned him to stone with the Elements of Harmony. Two years before he escaped from his prison and wreaked chaos until the new Element Bearers, who you already know, turned him to stone again for half a year, after which he-”

“Wait-wait-wait, did you just say you turned Discord to stone?” Asked Praeratus in a bewildered tone.

“Yes. We didn't know what to do with him, and we didn't even think of killing him, so we petrified him. In the end it paid off... well, after a thousand years that's it.”

“What kind of chaos are we talking about?”

“Making chocolate rain, turning animals into beasts, force-drinking ponies glass instead of water...”

“And that didn't kill them?” He was pretty sure that drinking shards of glass would, if not kill them. at least gravely injure the inside of their throats.

“No, they literally drank it. In fact, Discord usually drinks the glasses instead of the milk or water they hold.”

Praeratus couldn't believe what he just heard. How, just how could a mostly-mammalian sophont drink liquid, hot glass without getting burns?

Praeratus put that aside, deciding to ask Discord after healing him, and asked something else.

“So, because I beat him ponies fear me?”

“Praeratus, Discord is powerful, very powerful, to the point some ponies think he's some kind of god of Chaos just like I'm a goddess of the Day, something we're obviously not, but you get the point.”

He did, because given what he could and what he already did he might be a god to those same ponies. By his own definition, gods didn't bleed, and he hadn't seen something that didn't bleed yet (machines didn't count, and plant aliens still bled, just not blood). Sure, Celestia could rise the sun (and by extension her sister the moon), and Discord was, according to the white alicorn, even more powerful, but the latter was at that moment probably regretting pissing off the former Centurion and the former actually died... although she didn't stay dead for long. He wondered what would the natives think of him when the truth finally came out and discovered that he could bring back the (recently) deceased.

“After a year I depetrified Discord, thinking that Twilight could reform him with Fluttershy's help to make sure he wouldn't wreak havoc again, and even then it took the return of another villain, Lord Tirek, who Discord saw as a friend until he betrayed him and absorbed his magic, to actually reform him.”

“And then you come and beat the living snot out of him.” Said Spike. “I wouldn't be surprised if the dragons overthrew Ember to make you their-”

“Spike, language.” Scolded Celestia in her signature soft tone.

“Sorry.” Apologized Spike before glancing at the road ahead and widening his eyes in awe. What he saw made him drop his jaw.

It was a huge, metallic hulk with wings, colored black and covered in carvings depicting alien monsters.

“Impressive, ain't it?” Smirked Praeratus when he saw Spike's reaction, but when he looked at Celestia he saw her sharing Spike's expression. “Why are you looking at it like that? Didn't you see the outside when we left?” He asked.

“No I didn't.” She simply said, still looking at the outside of the ship.

Praeratus got out of the Wedge, unchained the pod and lowered the hangar platform remotely, after which he deactivated the automated defenses as to not exterminate the rest of the group, which was at the moment staring in awe at the incredible piece of technology in front of them.

“Incredible...” Whispered Luna while looking up at the thing, wondering if Praeratus could give them a fly to space to see her stars up close (and not knowing that the closest star was at least a parsec away from Equus and didn't belong to her at all).

“Woah nelly...” Breathed Applejack.

“It's, well, a bit dark for my tastes, but it's still quite incredible.” Said Rarity while thinking that the ship would look better in a nice shade of white and without those horrid depiction of alien beasts covering the hull, and hoping that the psychic alien wasn't reading her mind. Fortunately for her, he wasn't.

“Look at the size of that thing!” Exclaimed Starlight while lowering the non-pegasi near the pod. “It has to be at least nearly half as big as the Castle of Friendship!”

“160 feet long, 90 feet wide counting the wings and 50 feet tall, to be specific.” Replied Praeratus. “And unlike your castle, my home can go to space.”

“Pff!” Huffed Rainbow Dash. “It may fly in space, but I doubt it can fly faster than me!”

“Girl, I doubt that you can even surpass the speed of sound.”

“I do! I even make Sonic Rainbooms when I break the barrier!”

“And? Equus' gravity is among the lightest I've seen, I bet a propeller plane flying straight could do that too; if you want to impress me, try to breach the sound barrier of Kharan. Besides, I've seen a couple animals that can reach supersonic speeds too.” Of course, he didn't say that those same animals, creatures evolved in gas giants that essentially were living jet aircraft, with rigid wings and even 'jets' instead of anuses; those things were also so specialized in flying in their native environment that they couldn't be moved to zoos or reserves, only observed from afar with drones.

“Plus” Continued the therawyrm while grabbing Discord from the car and locking it without turning to look at the girl. “, I think you only breach the speed barrier thanks to whatever magic you have. Hell, that magic is probably the real reason you can fly with those tiny wings.” Obviously this made the proud pegasus angry, but Praeratus didn't care; after all, he was just telling the truth.

“Not exactly, but close.” Twilight whispered to Starlight.

“Cool!” Exclaimed Spike while pointing at the snub fighter in the hangar/garage above him. “You have another, smaller ship inside your ship, like a stacking doll!”

“That, my little dragon, it's an F-54 Eagle snub fighter, most common interceptor of the Confederal Navy.” Smiled Praeratus. “It can't achieve Faster-Than-Light speed, and is nowhere as tough or armed as the ship, but it is much faster in realspace, and it's more difficult detecting it thanks to it's smaller frame.”

“Does it have rayguns?” Asked Luna, who was behind them and alongside her sister.

“Yeah, does it?” Repeated Spike with enthusiasm.

“Nope, but it does have coilguns, which basically are small automatic cannons that propel projectiles at hypersonic speed thanks to magnetic coils in the barrel that accelerate them as they advance. Not the best weapon to fight heavily armored ships, but it depletes shields much faster than laser and plasma weapons.”

“You guys still use projectiles for your spaceships?”

“Spike, laser beams and pulses and plasma bolts have a limited range, but metal slugs propelled at one percent the speed of light never stops moving in vacuum because there's no gravity slowing them down: once the gun fires the projectile, it keeps going through space 'till it hits a ship, or a shield, or a space monster, or a world, although the last one is definitely a bad thing since .”

He knew he shouldn't be explaining to a kid how weapons worked, but he couldn't resist explaining things to children that wanted to know those things. He simply loved children. Annoying adults? Punch to the face. Annoying elders? Scream to the face. Annoying teens? A weaker punch to the face.

But annoying children? He glared at them with his single eye, but nothing more. He simply lacked the heart to hurt them physically or mentally. It helped that Spike resembled a therawyrm boy.

Besides, it's not like he would even let the young dragon touch the control panel of the Eagle, or that Spike could actually open the thing, since it was finger-print locked just as the Wedge, something that regular interceptors lacked.

“Man, you're just like Twilight when it comes to things.” Laughed Spike. Said alicorn was too busy marveling at the spacecraft to hear him.

The xeno-hunter got on the platform with Discord on his arms and looked at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

“Well, aren't you guys coming?” Asked Praeratus to the two girls. “C'mon, get on!”

The ponies did as he said, with Rainbow Dash leaning on Fluttershy. Before Praeratus raised the platform, he noticed that Celestia, instead of coming with the wounded, stayed behind with the others, still looking at the outside of the ship with Spike, something that bothered Praeratus.

“Celestia, don't you want to come inside with us?” Asked Praeratus in a concerned tone, bringing Celestia out of her trance.

“I think I'll stay outside with the others a bit, if you don't mind. I didn't have time to see your ship from the outside before. Plus, I don't think I have to, you're only going to heal Discord and Rainbow Dash”

“Sister, are you really alright?” Asked Luna, just as worried as the therawyrm, if not more so.

“Yes, I just want to be with my a bit.” Said the alabaster alicorn with a small smile that Praeratus thought made her look cute.

Cyranus, who until that moment had been digging on the ground for some reason, trotted towards Celestia and, to Celestia's embarrasment and Praeratus' annoyance, rubbed his head on her bosom. This was his way of asking people he liked to pet him, but usually he rubbed his head on their arms, not their chest, much less when he did that to women. Of course, until now Cyranus' list of people he liked was made up entirely of Praeratus' friends (mostly other bounty hunters, soldiers, retired military and superior officers).

That side, while the two millenials felt awkward and irritated about this situation respectively, the rest of the group had other thoughts.

Luna, Twilight and Pinkie Pie thought it was hilarious (althought Twilight tried ineffectively to hide it), Fluttershy and Rarity cooed at the scene, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Starlight sheepisly looked away with blushes on their faces, and Spike watched on in confusion.

“Well sister, it seems like you and Cyranus are getting along pretty well.” Said Luna with a smile.

Celestia gave a small, awkward laugh and petted the affection-seeking gorgonops, who grunted happily and rubbed his head again, this time against her open hand.

Praeratus didn't understand why did Celestia want to stay outside. In another occasion he would have probed her mind, but he had put her in his personal list of 'People Whose Mind I Won't Probe Unless Really Necessary', and Celestia appeared to be sincere in her intention. She probably wanted some alone time. Plus, from the way she was petting Cyranus, it was obvious the gorgornops liked her.

“Well, it looks fine to me. I'll let the main door open for you guys if something happens.” However, before he raised the platform, Celestia spoke again.

“Why did you cover your ship in those carvings?”

“Ah, those. That's my way to let people know I'm a xeno-hunter, like a sign board: each carving represents a monster I have killed on the job. As you can see, I'm pretty good at it.”

With that he lifted the platform to the ship , leaving Celestia alone with Spike, Cyranus and the girls on the summit of the mountain.

While the others spoke among themselves in excitement, Celestia walked around the ship with Spike at her right, Cyranus walking right behind them.

The reason why Celestia chose to stay out from the ship was simply: the relief-like carvings that covered the hull of the ship enticed her.

Most other ponies, like Fluttershy, would have been terrified at the sight of dozens, if not hundreds of carvings depicting nightmarish beasts of all types, including lupine monsters, leviathans, bird-like creatures, dragon-like abominations with fangs instead of lips and even beasts that resembled the 'demons, all of them terrifying, all of them horrifying.

And, unless Praeratus was lying (something she doubted given what he knew about of him), all dead by his hand. Granted, he probably killed most of them with his wide array of weaponry and psionic powers, but she was certain the last moment of a few of those monsters' lives was a seven feet tall dragon-like warrior about to punch off their heads with nothing to stop him... or, glancing at Cyranus, the bear-sized pet of said warrior lunging at them with jaws open wide.

“It's a bit scary to think that Praeratus was able to fight all those monsters by himself.” Said Spike while pointing at a depiction of a giant bug, earning a growl from Cyranus. “Ok, by himself and with your help Cyranus.”

Celestia couldn't help but agree with the young dragon. On the one hand, it was proof that Praeratus was indeed powerful, having slayed many monsters from another galaxy. On the other, the fact that the demon he fought the previous day could have killed him showed just how powerful these creatures were.

“Just how many do you think are here?” Asked Starlight, noticing in disgust that one of the monsters, some kind of crocodilian monster with an elongonated body and horse, was depicted AFTER being killed with the brain cut open.

“I counted mentally and I think there are over sixty creatures.” Replied Twilight. “The 'Milky Way' galaxy must be really dangerous.

“Or maybe not. Praeratus said it himself, space is inmesurable.”

“Of course it's inmesurable!” Exclaimed Pinkie in her usual bubbly tone. “Space is big, REAAALLLY big! You just wont' believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly it is! I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to SPAAACEEE!” She then began singing about space. In another instance they would have joined in, but they weren't in the mood that day.

“I wonder what will Praeratus do when he inevitably sees Pinkie doing this in the future.” Said Rarity, who had been touching one of the wings.

“Either finally freak out, or compare it with something from his galaxy and dismiss it.” Replied Twilight.

“Ain it a bit strange that most of these critters look an awful lot like animals from Equus?” Wondered Applejack out loud and pointing at the engraving of one of the monster, a lupine one for its appearance. “Ah' mean, that one's basically a wolf with a skull for a head!”

“Yes, it is puzzling indeed.”

Before Celestia could give her opinion, a familiar chirping sound came from behind them.

“Philomena!” Exclaimed Celestia in joy when he saw her pet phoenix flying towards her.

But when the female phoenix got close enough to the ground, Cyranus lunged at her and would have eaten the bird if not for her reflexes. The gorgonops, not one to give up, began to chase Philomena around the ship. For some reason, the phoenix didn't think of flying upwards, but to be fairm, she was still an animal.

“Isn't it cute watching animals befriend each other?”

“Pinkie!”

“Cyranus, no!” Celestia screamed to Cyranus when he finally pinned down Philomena and about to crush her with his paws. “Let her go this instant!”

Cyranus just stared at her before getting looking back at the terrified bird. He sniffed her for a few seconds, snorted in what appeared to be acceptance and got off of Philomena, who promptly perched herself on Celestia's shoulder, never moving her frightened gaze from the beast that nearly killed her. And she had every reason for being terrified: as a phoenix, she simply didn't have natural predators (though mostly because most feared fire; some, like rocs, would have happily eaten her). Cyranus didn't kill to eat, he killed because he saw threats.

Celestia, having calmed down her phoenix, did something that surprised everypony present.

She began scolding the gorgonops as if he were an actual dog. She even tapped his head!

“That was not nice Cyranus, not nice at all! You can't just attack anypony that comes to your friends just because they...”

“Are you girls seeing what I'm seeing?” Whispered Starlight, awe in her voice at the scene unfolding in front of her.

“What, the actually-not-so-tall alicorn succesfully scolding a one-ton dog-bear-lizard-like alien animal like an actual dog?” Whispered Pinkie Pie. “Yes I do!” She happily exclaimed, making the others turn to her and see her with those crummy prank glasses with fake eyes.

“Pinkie!”

“What?”

The mares groaned in exasperation and turned back to watching.

“Look at him, he's ashamed and everything!” Remarked Luna

None realized that, before adopting an ashamed stance with head looking at the ground and tail inmobile, the gorgonops had been wagging his tail in a happy manner before.

(The weird white woman had finally shown some backbone after being nothing but a useless coward! That was good! Praeratus didn't really mind women with giant teats, but he did like those who were brave. Like her. When he realized this, Cyranus looked down in sorrow. He was just a pup when she was still alive, and just like like his friend, remembering her made him upset, which the ponies thought was shame.)

And just like that, Celestia scolded Cyranus for at least a few minutes, never realizing that the gorgonops wasn't actually ashamed of attacking Philomena, who got brave enough to perch on his head.

Just when Celestia was finishing scolding Cyranus, Praeratus, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Discord came out of the ship, with the cyan pegasus coming out first, flying and laughing like a maniac, clearly happy to have her wings back. Discord, on the other hand, was the last one to come out of the ship, and unlike his usual self he did so quietly, clearly unrerved by something. Only Celestia and Luna saw it, though, since the others were busy watching Rainbow make circles around Praeratus' ship.

“Girls, you won't believe what happened! There was this one huge coffin thingy, and when I got hooked to it there I felt a lot, and I mean A LOT, of inmesurable pain!” The casual manner she said the last part made the girls cringe. “After that, though, it was quite nice.”

“That's good I suppose.” Said Twilight.

“It also means you owe me an apology.” Also said Praeratus, who was leaning on the frontal landing gear, arms crossed and a frown adorning his face. “And I want it now.

Instantly Rainbow Dash' became sore. She didn't like to be remembered of that.

“Why can't Discord be the first?” He complained, pointing a hand at said draconequus, who was staring at Cyranus warily. The gorgornops, in turn, glared at him, but at least wasn't growling.

“Because he didn't attack ME, he only made Cyranus smaller. I never let those who mess with my friend get away scot free, but he didn't even hurt him.” He sighed, and his frown softened significantly. “Also, I think I went a bit overboard with his punishment, what with nearly crushing his head.” He frowned again, making Rainbow flinch in bear. “You, on the other hand, flied at me like an idiot who's also high and clearly wanted to hurt me, no matter if you would have crumpled by just crashing onto me. And no, Pinkie, I don't mean high as in 'flying high in the sky'.” Truth was that he doubted drugs didn't exist in Equus, but at the same time he doubted 'high' also meant under the influence of drugs there. “Plus, I don't think you even thinked twice about attacking me without thinking about the consequences.”

“You just said 'think' thrice in a same sentence.” Noted Celestia.

“And?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to point it out.”

“Fine, fine! I'm sorry for misjudging you, not thinking before acting and attacking like an idiot!” Blurted Rainbow Dash. “Are you happy now?”

“No.” Before Rainbow or the others could scream at him, he extended his open hand. “Grab it.” Rainbow Dash did so and Praeratus shook both hands. “NOW I forgive you.” He said, frown gone away and a slight smile of amusement on his lips. This caused the girls and Spike to smile, and Rainbow to sigh in relief, but then he turned to the draconequus and his frown returned, to Celestia's dismay. “Now, you touch my gorgonops again, I'll do THIS.” He grabbed a nearby boulder with telekinesis, turned it to ice, and then launched it at neckbreacking speeds to the sky. “Faxerunt?”

“What?” Asked Discord, puzzled by the foreign word.

“In my language, it means 'understoond'. Well, understood?” He repeated, earning a nod of acknowledment from the Spirit of Chaos. “Good.”

Just then, Spike yawned.

“Man, I'm tired.” Said the young dragon, making Celestia remember something.

“Oh, Luna, we forgot! It's time to end the day and bring the night!” With that she illuminated her horn. Inmediatly, a golden aura enveloped the Sun, lowering it; Luna did the same and rose the Moon, letting the group see the night sky.

Celestia looked at Praeratus, expecting to see a look of awe on his face. Maybe, just maybe, seeing in person the celestial bodies of Equus move thanks to magic would impress him.

Instead, she saw him inspecting the sky with his hand on his chin. He did look interested, but aside from that, nothing.

“That's it!?” Rainbow Dash unexpectedly yelled, startling everyone except Praeratus.

“What do you mean girl?”

“Everypony, and I mean everypony, is completely in awe when Princess Celestia raises or lowers the Sun, and yet you act as if it wasn't much different from watching a pony walk their dog on the street!”

“Well, I did tell him I did that I raise and lower the Sun before.” Said Celestia.

“Yeah, well, but we all do and yet we still think it's awesome.”

Praeratus shrugged. “It appears that you didn't hear me back in Canterlot, but the sun that orbits Equus is actually quite small.”

“What do you mean with 'quite small'?” Asked Fluttershy.

“Let's see how can I compare... Cyranus, soos!” He called to the gorgonops. Cyranus, knowing what the order meant, stood on two legs and used his tail as a weight to maintain a somewhat stance. In that posture he was over ten feet tall. “Now, Spike, could you stand next to Cyranus?”

“Where do you want me to stand?”

“Any side except the front.”

Spike did so and stood to Cyranus' left; after a few seconds of standing on two legs, the gorgonops dropped back on all fours.

“Good.” Praeratus looked at the assembled ponies and draconequus. “Did you guys see that?” He asked. “I wanted to see a relative size comparison.”

“Of what.”

“Instead of getting into a long explanation, I'll just say that Spike represents the Sun that orbits Equus, Twilight is Equus, and Cyranus is the smallest star type in the Milky Way.”

This 'revelation' made the girls, Spike and Discord gasp in shock (and drop their jaws to the ground in the case of Pinkie and Discord).

“The Sun is a star!?” Exclaimed Rarity.

'Yes Rarity, the Sun, which is obviously a star, IS a star.' Deadpanned Praeratus in his mind. “I would love to explain you more about the galaxy you live on, really, but it would take me hours, some of you would never get it even if I forced the information right onto your brains, it's already a bit late, and I'm pretty sure some of you would rather go to sleep than hear an old soldier ramble about the universe.”

“You're right Praeratus.” Agreed Celestia in her usual motherly tone, who then turned to the group. “Girls, you can sleep with us in the castle in the private room.”

“Erm, sister, wee, ehem, might have a little problem with that.” Said her sister in an awkward tone.

“Is there something wrong with the rooms?” Asked Celestia in a concerned tone

“Oh, no no no, it's not about the private habitations of the girls, it's about, well, yours.”

Celestia's head snapped towards her sister so fast only Praeratus (and Pinkie Pie) saw her move.

“What happened to my room?”

“Remember when Praeratus took out the Storm King with his 'magic'?” When Celestia nodded, she continued. “Well, I don't think you realized it then in the heat of the moment, but he was watching his lackeys try to pry open that thing” She signaled the breached pod behind them. “ in your tower.”

By the time Luna ended speaking, Celestia's eyes were already in their limit.

“My room...” He muttered in horror. “But that means I have nowhere to sleep! Unless...” She gave Luna a hopeful look. Her sister gagged and shook her head. She refused to let her sister sleep on her tower, not after that. Celestia promptly became sad again. “I have nowhere to sleep!”

Usually she wouldn't be so... childish, but she really wanted to return to her home, at least to sleep, and now she discovered her savior had destroyed it.

However, before Twilight could offer her to pass the night at the Castle of Friendship, Discord beat her to the punch.

“Are you sure?” Asked the draconequus while gesturing with his head at the ship above them and then at Praeratus. “I mean, it is his fault you have no bedroom.” He said while glaring at the therawyrm, who was quite willing to return it with is single eye.

Celestia realized what Discord was talking about and did something that neither Praeratus nor the natives expected her to do: she turnted to him with her hands in a position and a smile and look that was halfway between beseeching and, weirdly enough, alluring.

Praeratus sighed exasperatedly... again.

“Sure, why not?”

Author's Note

Well, another chapter for you guys! Another one full of speaking, but don't worry, next one will see Praeratus kicking ass!

Fave, comment, and thumbs up if you like, comment what's wrong if not!

The Convocation of the Creatures

With Celestia practically living on the ship, the weeks that preceded the 'Convocation of Creatures' went fast for Praeratus. Yes, she practically lived with the former Centurion for several weeks. Celestia's tower was repaired in less than three days, but Celestia chose to continue to sleep on the ship for reasons unknown to both her little ponies and Praeratus.

Sure, the alicorn did come down to the city every day to do her royal duties (something Praeratus didn't care about since he had more important things to do), show her subjects she was fine and by extension quench their fear of the 'killer dragon from space and his beast' as they began called Praeratus and Cyranus, play with Philomena, eat and pass the time with Luna and little else, but after that she flied back to the ship to sleep. She even had breakfast with Praeratus.

Thanks to this, the monarch discovered certain things about Praeratus that revealed more about him: he had a piano on his living room (and not a futuristic-looking piano as she expected when he told her he had one, a wooden one that wouldn't have looked out of place in a music shop) that he knew how to play (and in her personal opinion, he was at least as good playing the piano as Countess Coloratura, maybe even better), was a good cook on the kitchen, he had a good singing voice and many more things. Plus, he also transferred directly to her mind the ability to speak ConTalk, the common language spoken by members of the Confederation (it turned out he wasn't speaking it when talking to them, he was speaking Equestrian. He had telepathic powers, so Celestia wasn't surprised by that, although she wondered where did he het the information from) in the unlikely possibility of meeting other people from the Confederation. She also told him things about herself Equestria: its origins, her enemies, her shenanigans, the time she had to banish her sister when she became corrupted and threatened to unleash an 'everlasting night' ... He actually took rather well the fact that Luna could have extinguished all life on Equus.

At the same time, Praeratus discovered things about Celestia: just like all ponies she liked to sing, but he thought her singing was superior to all others thanks to her lovely voice, she was just as good as him at cooking (although mostly sugary food), despite living in a medieval city found things like opera boring, liked it when he played the piano, was overall a kind woman, and more. She even tried to help him find the bioweapons despite her obvious fear of them.

Speaking of the monsters, Praeratus still hadn't found their hiding place despite his efforts. Since he couldn't find them using the drone, and refused to even scout the other lands until he got express permission from their rulers, he decided to search them the usual way: trekking around Equestria with the Wedge and look for signs of their presence with a motion radar and Cyranus' honed smell.

He didn't find jack. Sure, he found a footprint over here, a chipper scale over there, and random dead animals, but that was it. He only realized the beasts were still in Equestria when he went to a desert town called Appleloosa and found that an entire herd of cattle owned by a fellow called Braeburn (who turned out to be Applejack's cousin) had been slaughtered to the last one night... by a member of the same herd.

Apparently, the bull that was supposed to protect the herd from vermin and rustlers (why they still had cattle rustlers even with radios, trains, steel metalworking and tripwire still evaded him) had gone crazy and killed the cows. It required the effort nearly all the stallions of the town (including a huge one taller than Celestia called Troubleshoes Clyde, who despite his enormous size was quite shy and worked as a rodeo clown of all things) and the aid of several bisons (a species of bovids related of minotaurs that were even more primitive than then ponies, not even using metal tools and having a nomadic lifestyle) just to hold it in place, and even then many received injuries.

Not willing to risk letting a dangerous animal kill people and much less 'curing' it of its madness after killing livestock and injuring ponies and bisons, Praeratus decided that allowing the animal to live was simply too risky and put the bull out of its misery... by siccing Cyranus on it. He didn't know if it was because he killed a supposedly innocent animal or because Cyranus didn't wait for the bull to die to eat it (although there weren't children present), but the crowd got pissed and grabbed their pitchforks and shovels to lynch him.

A shaming speech, combined with an entire mob slammed into the ground telekinetically for three seconds, a shout or two and a laser discharge to the air, and the town promptly asked for forgiveness. When he told Celestia he expected her to be furious for his treatment of her subjects, but was pleasantly surprised when she told him that, as long as nopony got seriously hurt, it was fine if he wanted to defend himself. He was, according to her, their only hope against the demons.

However, despite the obvious evidence of the contrary, he didn't find the bioweapons. He searched signs of the monsters throughout the towns, cities, forests beaches, mountains and caves of Equestria, and yet found nothing. Either the things were even smarter than he though, which wouldn't had been weird given what they were, or he was getting sloppy. He hoped it was the later, because if it was the latter, the situation was even worse than it already was. Sure, there were only ten of those monsters, but as he had demonstrated to Celestia and the others, one was already a walking disater with a brain and a extreme hatred of anything not related to the Confederation.

There was something to be happy about, though. During those months before the meeting his activities with Celestia (letting her sleep on his ship, eat with him sometimes, play and even walk Cyranus and more), plus an interview with that despicable monster called press in which he told them his goal in Equus helped improve his until then not exactly good public image on Equestria, finally making the ponies see him at least as a somewhat friendly alien who, aside from rightfully considering them primitive and xenophobic, simply had a bad temper.

Naturally the ponies didn't like being called stupid (yes, for some reason they thought that being primitive equals being stupid, and that he was referring to just them and not the inhabitants of Equus at a whole), but after Praeratus showed them the technological wonders of the Confederation (spaceships in the middle of faster-than-light travel, worlds in the middle and after terraforming, space habitats, ecumenopolises... anything not related to war of course), they realized that indeed, their steam-powered trains and skyscrapers were nothing in comparison to what they had been shown. That said, Celestia begged him to not even mention the Hegemony, fearing that her ponies wouldn't take the existance of a slavery-practicing empire very well, something in which he agreed.

Of course, that didn't stop the journalists from asking random questions ('How old are you?', 'How many creatures live in the Confederation?' and similar), stupid questions ('Do you have chocolate in the Confederation?' or 'Are you sure you are not a wingless dragon?'), not so stupid questions ('Just how dangerous are these bioweapons', ' and even ' Are you a god?', to which he obviously said no) and such. It also turned out that democracy hadn't been invented in Equus, since they reacted with astonishment when he said that the President of the Confederation was chosen by its people, not his predecessor, and that the title was not hereditary.

The rest of the time was uneventful, with him doing little else aside from searching for the monsters.

One day, though, he decided to teach Celestia how to defend herself without magic and, well...

“So...” Celestia asked, watching as Praeratus mounted what he called a 'shooting range', putting holographic generators on the floor of the training yard of the palace, separated from each other by several meters, with the closest ten meters away and the farthest right at the end, next to the targets the guards used when training with crossbows. “, what are we doing again?” She had to scream because of the distance between them.

“I'm going to teach you how to handle a weapon to defend. A real weapon, not those things you call swords!”

“Don't you have swords too? Made of metal I mean.” Asked Luna from behind them, unkowingly petting Cyranus, who didn't mind. After several weeks of going with Praeratus to the castle, the gorgonops had taken a liking to the blue alicorn. The same couldn't be said for all the other ponies though.

“Those are real swords, with nanonamilate blades of stainless durasteel: their edges are so sharp that they can your toughest metals with barely any effort even if wielded by a pegasus, not oversized iron daggers that can't cut thatch even when when used by me.” Said Praeratus derisively before placing the last and farthest generator. Next to him laid a box containing several weapons that Praeratus brought from his personal armory.

“Oh.” She said dejectedly. She didn't like to be reminded of just how useless was the Royal Guard, or at least compared to Praeratus.

Praeratus had told her earlier that day that he would teach her how to use his guns. When asked way, he said that, sooner or later, Celestia would end up facing the monsters again, and he knew that, since her main-no, only way to fight was with magic (when she told him that earth ponies possessed great strength and that alicorns had it too, Praeraruts reminded her that he, despite being much, much stronger than her, wasn't winning the brawl witht the bioweapon that attacked Canterlot until Cyranus came to his aid, even emphasizing the fact he was wearing a suit that made him twice as strong at that moment), she'll had to resort to more 'mundane' means to defend herself.

Of course, he doubted ponies saw ray guns and the pinnacle of projectile-based weaponry as anything but mundane.

“Done!” Said Praeratus just before activating the holograms, grabbing the box with the guns, getting up from his crouching stance and jogging to her position.

Celestia was unable to hide the blush on her muzzle when she saw the therawyrm run towards her, , since he was only wearing cargo pants (which she presumed had some gimmick of his hidden) and a short-sleeved shirt that showed his burly arms, despite the fact she had been seeing those same arms for nearly a month and a half by now. She herself was wearing a simple blouse that showed a bit of cleavage and skinny jeans, plus her regalia.

“Now.” He said after arriving to ther side and standing next to her, leaving the box in the ground. “I'm going to teach you how to properly hold, aim and shoot firearms. Each of them has a different type and utility, but today, I'm going to teach you handguns.” With that he opened the box, showing Celestia the weapons inside, before grabbing one of them and closing the box.

It was an L-shaped device made of an uknown metal, with a trigger between the barrel and the grip of the thing surrounded by a loop, and something akin to markers on top of it the barrel.

“This right here is a P-95 semi-auto laser pistol. Laser weapons have three chief advantages over bullets and plasma: pulses, bursts and beams always move at the speed of light, and therefore are undodgeable; the shoots have no mass, and no mass means no recoil; and the 'magazines' are actually batteries that hold nearly unlimited 'shots', meaning that you only need to watch out for overheating.” Explained Praeratus as he showed her the weapon. By now a small group of guards and castle staff had come to see the demonstration from behind them alongside the Princess of the Night and Cyranus.

“Most pistols, like this one, can fire laser pulses in two settings, red and blue: the red frequency produces less heat and thus lets the shooter fire more pulses, but in turn has less power behind each pulse; the blue is the inverse, with a blue pulse being nearly thrice as powerful as a red one but also generating much more heat, and therefore forcing the shooter to reduce their rate of fire.”

He continued explaining about the pistol: the safety, the cooling mechanism that opened the gun to allow the excess heat to dissipate in case of overheating, the differences between cyclical and effective rates of fire, the effective range of the laser pulse before it dissipated into harmless particles, to always treat it as if it always were loaded and never aim it towards other people...

And after that, the first test.

“Okay, I told you the basics, now it's your turn to show me you got them. First, what's the first step?”

“Focus the target while keeping the finger off the trigger.” Replied Celestia, doing as she said and aiming at the closest hologram. By this point the small group behind them had grown to a veritable crowd that spoke in low tones, excited to see their princess fire the alien weapon.

“Second step?”

“Inhale, exhale.”

“Third st-... will you morons just the frack up already!? She can't concentrate with all that racket!” He shouted to the assembled princess, guards, maids, butlers and rare noble that were gossiping behind the two, making them shut up immediatly. Ten or twelve he could ignore, but not over fifty people speaking while he was teaching a woman that until a few weeks ago didn't even believe in the existance of laser weapons how to shoot one!

The xeno-hunter snorted and turned back to Celestia, who was still focusing on the target. That was actually good, she didn't get distracted from her goal.

“Third step?”

“Switch the safety.” Said Celestia while doing so with her thumb.

“Last step?”

Celestia didn't even bother to respond before firing. The crowd, who cringed in preparation for a thunder-like blast, didn't expect the actually quiet sound that came from the little weapon. Celestia, on the other hand, whooped with laughter and danced like a filly when she saw the hologram ripple when the pulse hit it.

“I DID IT! I DID IT!” Cried Celestia in pure joy, literally prancing to Praeratus and hugging him with all her strength. The therawyrm laughed and, seeing no harm on doing it, hugged the alicorn back, lifted her in the air and twirled around with her. He wanted her to feel happy for passing the tirst trial with weapons, especially since it wasn't just about the alicorn being able to defend herself from the bioweapons. He wanted her to lose her fear of them.

Neither Luna nor her friends (the former especially since she was her sister and the guardian of dreams) knew it, but Celestia was still traumatized by the events of two hundred years ago, and therefore, still had nightmares from time to time, nightmares involving the 'demons', although at least she stopped waking up screaming; in fact, this was why she kept sleeping on his ship, feeling secure on its walls of metal and with Praerauts near her. Praeratus hoped that, by giving her a more reliable way to defend herself in case the things attacked (which would), her trauma lessened. Truthfully he knew there were much better ways to handle her trauma, but he wasn't a therapist and really believed that facing your fears was the best way to overcome them, just like him; when the Hegemony War began he was deeply in fear of titanic beasts, but by its end he only felt anger when fighting them (of course, it helped that their size made them the ultimate target for, well, everything from handguns to naval ordnance).

Of course, he didn't realize that he was essentially with Celestia right in front of her sister, who was smiling lightly at the sight, and subjects, who were talking again, this time about how cute they were like that.

That was until a guard came running.

“Your majesties!” He cried while moving through the crowd and entering the training yard. “I have news of... uh?” The guard became dumbfounded when he saw the Princess of the Day being lifted by the draconic alien, both of whom were looking right back at him.“Princess Celestia?”

Celestia blushed and asked Praeratus to let her down.

“Yes, my little pony?”

The stallion remembered he was supposed to be in a hurry and frantically said: “It's about the Convocation of the Creatures! The date of the meeting has been pushed forward to Friday!”

Celestia gasped in horror. It was Monday! They hadn't prepared for the Convocation!

Celestia, after several seconds of panic, managed to calm herself. They still had four days to prepare for the meeting with the other rulers.

“There's no need to worry, we still have four days until the Convocation, we can prepare. Twilight can tell her friends and call Cadance, Praeratus can wear that armor...” She was referring to the Centurion power armor that Praeratus kept on the living room of the ship.

Praeratus promptly threw a wrench into her plans with another problem.

“No way in Hell I'm going to bring my Centurion armor to the Convention .”

“What!?” Exclaimed Celestia. “B-but why not!? It would leave an impression in the leaders!”

“Why not? Because it's not some uniform made to wear in a parade, it's the most sophisticated piece of infantry armour technology in the Confederation, maybe even the galaxy, despite having not been upgraded for two hundred years!” Replied Praeratus. “Besides, if you want me to leave an impression, just going will suffice. I'm an alien, remember?”

“Yes, but they'll surely mistake you for a dragon at first, especially Dragonlord Ember. Also, if you won't bring your armor to the meeting, what will you wear?”

“I think Rarity can sew a suit fit for him sister.” Suggested Luna.

Praeratus chuckled. “There's no need for that.”

The Convocation of the Creatures was set in a castle-like building called Hall of Unity erected in Mount Metazoa, a mountain placed in some place in Equestria whose name Praeratus didn't bother to know. According to Celestia, most of those who were going would arrive via flying in airships, flying normally or simply going by ground in trains.

Naturally this meant that the dragons, yaks, changelings and many other races entering the Hall of Unity freaked out when they saw an huge, black metal hulk larger than most dragons covered in depictions of monsters fly over the building of the meeting and landing on the parking lot for airships and balloons and nearly blowing them away with its sheer presence.

In the ship's cockpit, Praeratus, Twilight, Celestia, a few guards and a unicorn mare Praeratus had the pleasure to meet before, Raven Inkwell, Celestia's aide. Luna had decided to stay in Canterlot since the Convention would last two days, and since Praeratus didn't trust in Cyranus to rein himself in the presence of so many new alien species (most of which resembled for some reason animals; again Praeratus himself didn't judge) he let him stay with the blue alicorn.

The three women were looking with worry at the small chaos the ship caused with its presence, watching with worry as the leaders of all lands and their retinue freaked out at the sight of the ship.

“What are we going to, urk, tell them.” Managed to say Twilight before vomiting on a bag provided by Praeratus. The alicorn may have been used to fly since Rainbow Dash helped her when she received her wings, but she had never flied on a vehicle that literally took less than twenty seconds to go from Canterlot to Mount Metazoa. Raven and the guards had the same problem as her, but Celestia, having gone to the Moon (and even walked on it and wearing space suits, made by Praeratus even!) and near the Sun before with Praeratus alongside Luna, wasn't affected.

“I don't think there's need for that Twilight. As soon as they see us coming out of the ship they'll calm down, and if not we'll just talk to them... Before they do something stupid that's it.” Said the alabaster alicorn, dressed on the pink dress she wore on the last Grand Galloping Gala.

Said former Centurion (who was dressed in the same clothes from four days prior), on the other hand, was wondering how the hell did this primitive world have a gyrocopter. Sure, he had seen locomotives and motorboats, but until now no heavier than air aircraft. That said, what Celestia said about the crowd that was growing in front of the ship gave something to think.

“I can handle that.” He said before pressing two buttons, the first bringing out a microphone in front of him and the second deploying the external speakers of the ship. He used them mostly to broadcast mating calls and, in the case of people when bounty hunting, demoralizing insults. “Will the morons outside shut the frack up!?” He screamed in the mic, scaring the natives gathered in front of the ship. “You are making so much noise I could heard you from space, and just so you know, there's no sound in space!”

“Praeratus...” Muttered Celestia, blushing in embarrasment. Unlike her ponies, she already knew what 'frack' meant thanks to Praeratus telling her. It wasn't pretty, descending from millenia old, just as ugly word that, while still used, it wasn't spoked that much, nor was it in the same context as 'frack', which was used mostly in war and violent things in general. The parent word, on the other hand...

“Really?” Said Twilight, ignoring her fellow princess. “Then why you say the other-”

“Artifical audio.” Responded Praeratus before Celestia could finish the sentence.

(Not many knew this, but for some reason ether drakes and other spaceborne fauna could produce noise such as roaring in spite of the natural law that dictated that sound waves couldn't in a vacuum. This fact always mortified biologists.)

Praeratus' 'tactic' worked, and the natives between them and the Hall of Unity dispersed... except a small group consisting of a young-looking, small (as in, much taller than Spike but shorter than Celestia, and nowhere as tall or massive as a therawyrm) and blue-scaled horned dragoness with a cautious look on her face, two changelings taller than the rest, one green and the other dark purple (King Thorax and his brother Pharynx), a male yak with eyes covered by hair, a brown griffon who was inspecting the ship with interest, a deer that looked like royalty and looking at the ship with a mix of anger and fear, and...

“Queen Novo!” Said Twilight happily before rushing to the door.

Celestia giggled at Praeratus' confused look. “She's the Princess of Friendship, remember?”

Praeratus shrugged. “Well, I suppose you'll want to speak with the others. I'll get dressed.” With that he stood up from the pilot's chair and went to the bedroom, while Celestia decided to come out of the ship with Raven and the guards.

While down the stairs, Celestia smiled when she saw the Queen of Mount Aris and the other leaders (Dragon Lord Ember of the Dragon Lands, Prince Rutheford of Yakyakistan, King Aspen of the Everfree Forest, King Thorax and his brother Pharynx, and lord Gestal of Griffonstone) but frowned when she saw Twilight walking around as if looking for someone. Before she could walk to her, Novo called her.

“Celestia, we're over here!” Said Novo.

“Novo!” Smiled the princess, coming over the queen and hugging her, ignoring the stares of the others. “Long time no see!”

“Long time? It's been only a little more than a month and two weeks!”

“Ahem.” Coughed a voice behind her. Looking back she saw a familiar, green-colored changeling king smiling at her. “Aren't your forgetting somepony? And unlike Novo, It HAS been a long time since we've seen each other, Princess Celestia”

“Thorax!” She said before hugging him too with all her strength.

“I'm happy to see you too Princess Celestia, but you'll end up breaking my back if you keep hugging me like that.”

“Oh. Sorry” She let him go. “But still, I'm happy to see you guys again after-”

“Is that the alien's ship?” Interrupted Ember. “I thought it would be bigger. I mean, it IS big, but I don't think an adult dragon could even get inside that thing.”

“What?”

“You send a letter to each of us the previous week, remember?” Said Thorax. “About a dragon-like alien called Praeratus and his dog-like friends that came to Equus to hunt down and destroy the monsters that annihilated the Royal Army and nearly killed you two hundred years ago by order of some 'Confederation', took out the Storm King and his invasion force, stopped an horde of monsters, including an Ursa Major and a magic-proof demons, saved you from the brink of death, and has something important to ask us. Besides, Novo here told us about it.”

“You didn't tell them why does he want to speak with them?”

“I supposed he'd prefer to tell them in person.” Said Novo sheepishly.

“Maybe you're right.” Celestia turned to Ember. “As for Praeratus, he only looks somewhat like a dragon without tail nor wings; he's actually a synapsid, which is a class of reptiles with mammal traits like hair and mammary glands, although his species, the therawyrms, lack any kind of body hair.”

“So, he's not a real dragon?” Said the Dragon Lord in a dejected tone. She was probably hoping to see a literal space dragon, although Celestia doubted she would react well to an image of a dragon-like monster big enough to swallow her father whole.

“No, but calling him one would be a compliment. Also...”

“Is this thing really capable of going to space?” Asked lord Gestal, carefully inspecting a carving depicting some kind of land shark with a beaked mouth. “It does have wings and those strange rockets, but they look like they need to air to operate.”

“Actually those aren't rockets, those are plasma engines that allow the ship to move through realspace.”

“Plasma? And realspace?”

Celestia sighed. Now she understood what Praeratus felt each time a pony asked him something for genuine curisity but that he didn't really want to explain.

“I can't really explain it, but plasma is basically very hot fire, so hot that it can reduce a dagon to cinders; believe me, I've seen enchanted rods to test the heat of lava melt like chocolate just by being near the fumes of the engines. In this case, though, it's simply used to move a three hundred tons spaceship through realspace.” The alicorn princess explained.

Ember, who had walked to the main landing gear to touch it, took a couple of steps back when she heard Celestia, clearly unnerved by the fact that there was fire hot enough to burn and even kill dragons, which weren't supposed to feel the heat of fire at all.

“As for realspace, it's the dimension we're standing on , and Praeratus didn't come to Equus through a magic portal. In fact, last month he took me and Princess Luna to the Moon to see Equus from there!”

“Fascinating...” Breathed Gestal in wonder. In his mind, he tried to calculate how much gold would this 'Praeratus' ask to give him a ride to outer space... and realized just as quickly that the price might be simply too much, that the alien might not be interested at all in gold, or that the precious metal may not even be used as currency on the 'Confederation' he came from. If he knew that gold was in fact viable currency in the Confederation he would have an orgasm... as long as he exchanged it for confederal credits backed by energy that's it.

“Yak wonders if alien dragon is strong!” Wondered Rutheford the way yaks did, screaming what he thought.

“Oh, he is strong, he can lift ten tons without breaking a sweat.”

“Oooh! Yak is excited to meet space dragon!”

“Me too.” Agreed Ember.

“Well, I suppose I'm three.” Said Gestal.

King Aspen, in contrast to his fellow leaders, wasn't happy at all.

“Why are you excited to meet this creature? He could be in the side of the demons and lying to you to spy on Equus for all you know!” Exclaimed the deer king.

Celestia sighed in exasperation and facepalmed. NOW she felt how did Praeratus feel when Chancellor Neighsay accussed him.

“You are lucky that Praeratus is still inside changing clothes instead of being here hearing you insult him.”

“I am.” Said a voice behind them in a cold tone.

The natives looked back to see Praeratus walking down the stairs of his ship. The former Centurion had put on the closest thing he had to a formal suit: his mess dress uniform from when he was still in the military. Since High Command wanted the Centurions to remain anonymous to the public to further enhance their image as mighty soldiers and make retaliation against then outside of combat difficult (they didn't have families, but terrorists could get creative), the hyper-soldiers never wore anything aside from their powered armor in parades, public interviews and such; even when they absolutely had to take off their helmets they used cloakin fields that changed their skin color). Messes with other Centurions, parties with Gene Warriors and private occasions were exempt from this though.

Celestia thought that the blue cloak, the golden shoulder epalettes, the black tie and the tan beret he was wearing all looked good on him, although she was puzzled by the fact he wore brown 'shoes' when there was no need for that (and always confused her why did he wear them when it was obvious his feet didn't really need them).

Of course, only Celestia was focusing on the way he was dressed. The others were busy trying to not run away when they saw Praeratus, who according to Celestia was a rather nice guy if not angered, stomping towards the king of the Everfree Forest with a rather deep frown on his face.

Aspen, either too stubborn to be intimidated by this or too stupid to realize the error he commited, didn't back away from the approaching alien that stopped in front of the group, who realized just how big he was: the only one who matched his height was Prince Ruthefort, and even the rather stout yak was nowhere near as muscular as the alien (especially since at least a good part of his 'bulk' was actually fur). Ember in particular noted he really wasn't that similar to a dragon (he lacked a tail, wings and slitted eyes, and at that distance she could see that he had scaly skin and not actual scales), Praeratus was much more robust than a dragon of a similar height. The natives flinched when the angry alien stepped forward, expecting him to obliterate Aspen, who was still glaring up at him.

Fortunately for the hart, Praeratus ignored him and turned to Novo to hug her, a gesture she eagerly reeturned with a smile, before turning to Thorax and extending his arm. He was not smiling, but he wasn't frowning either, so Thorax assumed everything was good and Aspend comment didn't aggravate him.

“I guess you're the king of the changelings. I'm Praeratus, xeno-hunter and former warrant officer of the Confederation.” Said Praeratus while waiting for the changeling king to shake his hand.

Thorax, shaking off his daze, smiled and grabbed Praeratus claw with excitement, and why not? He was the first inhabitant of Equus that shook hands with an alien from outer space!

“I am. My name is Thorax and this” He made a gesture to his brother. “, is Captain Pharynx, who like the name says is Captain of the Changeling Guard and my older brother. It's incredible to see a real life alien with my own eyes.”

“Yes, but unfortunately I'm also the 'only good one' in Equus at the moment, so to speak.” He said, making Thorax sigh.

Praeratus looked over the darker changeling and nodded, earning another nod from the dark green changeling. He liked the way he stood and inspected him, wary of him but not in an hostile way.

Rutheford, impatient like the yak he was and waiting to measure the strength of the therawyrm, shoved Thorax aside and grabbed Praeratus' hand.

“Yak is Prince of Yakyakistan! Yak would like to test strength of space dragon!” Yelled the boisterous bull while shaking and pressing the therawyrm's hand with all his strength. Had Praeratus been a pony or another inhabitant of Equus the greeting would have crushed his hand, but even yaks were not as strong as therawyrms, much less Centurions. It was comical to see the yak accidentaly trying to crush the hand of the therawyrm to no avail.

'Yeah, well, good luck with that Rutheford' Thought Praeratus before turning to the brown griffon.

“I'm lord Gesalt of Griffonstone, and I will be happy to speak with you about the” He leaned forward and whispered the next part.” ... problems. We don't want to start a panic while surrounded by Equus' leaders after all.”

Praeratus nodded. This guy knew the danger the bioweapons posed just by merely being alive. He finally turned to the other female monarch of the group, the blue dragoness, who had been staring at him since he arrived and was still staring like she was in a trance. Praeratus thought it was the infamous 'Uncanny Effect', the same that affected species when they saw things that resembled them yet had something off about them

“Well?” He asked. The girl came out of her trance.

“Eh... yeah, hey there mister alien, nice to meet you and the other creatures.”

“Something tells me you aren't feeling awkward just because of me or my appearance.” He said.

“Sorry, it's just that I'm new to this 'diplomacy and politics' thing when it comes to non-dragons. Heck, most dragons aren't into actually talking to others to ask for things, preferring to just take their stuff by force. That only changed when a friend of mine called Spike-”

“Spike the dragon from Ponyville?” Said Praeratus in an interesed tone. “Green eyes, purple scales, green fins and all that?”

“Yes! Do you know him?”

“Well yeah, he was at Canterlot with Twilight and the others... when the monsters attacked.”

Ember stayed quiet for a few moments, not knowing what to say about that day. According to the letter she received, ponies died, something practically unheard of in these times given how protective their princesses were of them. Of course, they themselves were ponies...

“...did ponies actually die on the attack?” She asked Celestia, making her sigh.

“Yes, several were turned to stone by a cockatrice and then shattered by a bugbear, and one got bitten in two by the demon. Fortunately, those were the only casualties, but it was the first time in two hundred years since ponies were killed. Of course, everypony would have died, and after that the entire world, if not for Praeratus taking the horde of beasts and the demon out.”

“Oh. Then thank you for saving him and his friends.” The blue dragoness said in a grateful tone and with a smile.

“I had to do it, no one else could.” Replied Praeratus before asking something that itched him. “But how did he help you, and with what?”

“Spike was the one who helped Ember become the Dragon Lord.” Became to explain Celestia. At another time this would have been Twilight's shtick (as Discord and Pinkie called her obstination for explaining things), but the purple alicorn was still searching for someone. “He helped her persevere through the obstacles of the trial to obtain the Bloodstone Scepter, and despite being the one dragon managing to actually end the course, chose to give the Scepter to the young princess.”

'Princess?' Thought Praeratus, puzzled by the fact that firebreathing reptiles had princesses. 'Just how many princes and princesses are there? There's Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Skystar that other, the blondie and now a dragon. Wait, I forgot, they don't even have republics'

Just when Celestia finished her explanation, the deer in the group decided to butt in. Just not in a good way.

“So, you must be the alien that has been spying on my kingdom, terrifying my people with a metallic monster that spews light and slaughtered innocent animals that could have been saved!”

“And you must be the leader of a kingdom so damn primitive that it makes ponies look advanced by comparison, which is quite a feat considering that they don't even have computers nor jet aircraft.” He turned to Celestia and Raven. “No offense.”

“None taken, you're completely right.”

Praeratus looked back at the hart “And for the record, I had to make sure the demons weren't hiding in 'your' kingdom; a single monster that can heal life-threatening wounds a grave threat, ten are simply impossible for you to come.”

Aspen scoffed. “Once we managed to wrap Canterlot and capture the princesses thanks to our magic, I doubt that-”

“And another thing, the monsers are completely impervious to magic. Not only that, they can use psionics, which for what I've seen are more powerful than magic and which I believe are the reason magic doesn't work against them or me.”

“And pray tell, why do you think these 'psionics' would be more powerful than our magic?” Aspen Asked in an arrogant tone.

Instead of replying with words, Praeratus decided to do it with actions: he raised his hand, formed a psionic bomb and launched the projectile made of pure psionic energy upwards at an height that barely exceeded that of the Hall of Unity . The explosion forced everyone in the area to close their eyes, and even then many were thrown back by the shockwave, and all the windows of the side of the Hall facing the explosion shattered. Somehow, despite the force of the shockwave, the Special Forces beret that Praeratus wore stayed on his head.

As Praeratus expected, his demonstration of power terrified the non-pony natives and most of Celestia's entourage; Celestia herself was only a bit surprised by his action, Novo looked impressed by his action (she had been told he used that same 'spell' to vaporize the Storm King and wreck the interior of the palace, but seeing it in person was much impressive than hearing about it) and Twilight simply stood up again after being knocked down by the shockwave and kept searching for someone. On the other hand, he saw the fear in the eyes of Thorax and his brother, shock in Gestal's, and awe in Ember's. He couldn't see the look on Rutheford's eyes because the fur of his head was in the way, but a quick probe to his mind allowed the therawyrm see that the yak was even more excited to fight him. Why did he want to fight someone that clearly outclassed evaded him.

But it was the reaction of the King of the Everfree Forest what he wanted to see.

The formerly angry and arrogant hart was now staring at where the psionic bomb exploded with wide, terrified eyes that made clear he had never seen something like that. This made Praeratus smile internally.

Celestia grabbed his arm to attract his attention and glared at him while touching her forehead. Praeratus knew what this meant, she wanted to talk to him through telepathy. They did this when they wanted to speak in public without having to do so verbally.

'Why did you do that!?' Exclaimed Celestia. 'You may have started a war with Equestria and the deer, maybe even other races!'

'Celestia, I'm not part of Equestria, remember? I'm still a citizen of the Confederation, not of Equestria. Besides, I'm pretty sure Aspen wouldn't be stupid enough to declare war against a country ruled by two powerful alicorns, one of whom is the one charged with raising and lowering the Sun. If he's sane, he won't do such a thing' He didn't of about Aspen just said about capturing Celestia and Luna before with roots. Knowing them they probably let him to satisfy his ego.

'I know that' Admitted Celestia. 'But still, he might declare war on the Confederation and by extension on you'

'Celestia. do you really think that a bunch of primitives, who are even more primitive than ponies that at best use spears and swords in times of war, could scratch the hull of my ship or even get past the shield and defense systems, or me and Cyranus?', inquired Praeratus.

'Okay, I can't argue with that'

'Plus, it'll be him and his magic and soldiers against an interstellar federation with more troopers than Equus has inhabitants, not counting Gene Warriors, heavy troopers or psionics and, last but not least, starships that can easily turn his precious forest to a steaming crater or a glassed spot from well beyond the Sun with just a press of a button. And even ignoring that fact, I think you forgot that the Confederation is literally in another galaxy...'

'Alright alright I get it, Aspen's an idiot!'

“Not an idiot, a brainless moron.” Replied Praeratus verbally before turning to a still shocked Aspen and snapped his fingers in front of his muzzle, bringing him out of his stupor.

“And for your information, I'm pretty sure that those 'innocent animals' were in fact savage monsters from a place that everyone in Equestria fears, and that was even before the bioweapons tore their minds apart and directed them to Canterlot to kill people, which they did. I didn't just save a city, I also secured your home by exterminating them. I'm a xeno-hunter, a type of bounty hunter whose y job is literally hunt dangerous beasts to make sure they don't endanger people's lives. Just take a look at my ship: each of those carvings is a beast I killed, and believe me, some of those make Ursa Majors look like giant teddy bears by comparison.”

He waited for the deer king to give some stupid answer, like not having the right to kill animals or something like that.

Instead, he kept staring at him in fear. It was Gesalt who asked him.

“How commited are you to the job? Also, just so you know, dragons aren't considered civilized creatures by many races.”

“If I had to choose between a dragon who has killed and all the animals of Equus I'd slaughter each and every stinking bear, goat, cow, timber wolf, lion manticore, rabbit, hydra, cockatrice, bugbear, giant ass bear and whatever else rather than go after some petty criminal that you definitely can take care of, even if they're a murderer. And trust me, I can render all animal life on this planet extinct or completley docile. Of course, to do that I would have to use my ship or put all my effort on brainwashing them, but I think you get the principal of the thing.”

They did. Well, sort of.

“Incredible.” Breathed the griffon lord, astonished by the determination of the alien bounty hunter.

“Yes! That's what yak call commitment!” Agreed Rutheford.

Twilight, after spendind all her time since they came to Mount Metazoa wandering around, finally gave up on her search and returned to the group. The crowd that had assembled around the ship and witnessed the psionic explosion had dispersed, allowing the Princess of Friendship to go to them.

“Has anypony seen Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire? I searched everywhere and couldn't find her.”

“Cadance!” Said Celestia. “You're right, she was supposed to come before us!”

“I believe we should discuss this inside the Hall.” Said Novo.

“Indeed.” Agreed Praeratus while staring at the other natives away from them, who stared back with a bit of fear. He had a bad feeling about this.

The Hall of Unity was filled to the brim with dignitaries, representatives and leaders of all lands and races attending the Convocation: breezies, spiders, abyssinians, bat ponies, Saddle Arabians, zebras, minotaurs... In another occassion these beings would have been talking to each other about important things (treaties, old feuds, importation and exportation, shared festivities), but this time they were all looking warily at the imposing dragon-like alien standing next the Princess of the Sun and the rulers of Mount Aris, Griffonstone, the Changeling Kingdom, the Dragon Lands and Yakyakistan. King Aspen wasn't among them, too terrified of the alien.

Praeratus didn't have to probe the minds of the people in the Hall to know that most of them were scared shitless of him, just seeing them look away when he looked at them let him know that. Some of them, however, were angry that 'some freak dragon from space' was not giving them the respect they deserved. In another time he would have beaten the shit out of them and ordered him to respect him (either because he was a veteran of a war that made any conflict they had look like a mere snowball fight, they were king-obsessed morons, he a member of a super advanced civilization or something like that), but the presence of friendly aliens and the simple fact that Celestia wouldn't have liked it limited him to simply glare, which also worked.

(Praeratus didn't know it, but since the Everfree forest was right in the middle of Equestria, the deer were citizens and therefore bound to its rules in a technical stand-point, but they considered themselves independent and Celestia always treated the forested zones near their village as foreign territory.)

The Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle and Raven Inkwell weren't with them either, having gone to the library of the Hall to update the archives with new equestrian documents alongside several other librarians and archivists.

“We received a letter that said that Princess Cadance was unable to come to the Convocation due to some kind of problem back at the Empire.” Said Gestal.

“Problem?” Said Celestia in a worried tone.

“Apparently there was an issue in the Crystal Empire. Something about her daughter catching the flu and not wanting to leave him alone.”

When Praeratus had asked Celestia who was this Cadance weeks before, she told him she was the Princess of Love and ruler of the Crystal Empire, telling him about Sombra, the Crystal Heart, Flurry Heart and all that, and that her husband, Prince Shining Armor, was the previous Captain of the Royal Guard and Twilight's older brother. Celestia told him that he was quite furious for what Praeratus did to his sister, to which he replied if he knew what she did. When Celestia said that he knew but didn't care, Praeratus made clear that if the unicorn decided to attack him, he would rip his horn and shove it where the Sun wouldn't shine and that he would do the same to the so called 'Princess of Love' (which had unfortunate implications if thought about it) if she tried to do the same. He didn't care if they were parents, if they attacked him just because he became rightfully getting angry at Twilight for making his job difficult and possibly dooming the planet he'll defend himself. Besides, he wouldn't kill them, he'll just injure them badly to make them understand. Celestia grimaced at that, but accepted it: there was nothing she could do, and even she thought that Shining Armor was foolish.

After that he told them what he wanted, which to their astonishment was surprisingly easy: their permission to look for the bioweapons on their countries. When asked why hadn't he done already, he replied that he still required official permission from the most influential countries. He already did had Celestia and Luna's, now he needed theirs. When asked about the Everfree Forest, he simply replied that he didn't know that people could actually live in such a hellish place (with sarcastic emphasis on 'hellish').

While the royals discussed about his petition, Praeratus noted that Thorax, who along with his brother sat at a table some distance away from the others, seemed to be uncomfortable with the looks the assembled creatures were giving at him, with some even glaring with anger; Pharynx, on the other hand, was glaring back at them. The xeno-hunter decided to speak with them a bit, with and intrigued Celestia in tow.

Having seen the exact same thing happen at the embassies of the Acropolis, it was obvious to him that this was racism. Wanting to know more about the issue, Praeratus walked to the changeling brothers and sat witht hem alongside Celestia.

“I guess changelings aren't exactly liked here.”

“No, we aren't. But I can't really blame them for thinking that we might drain them of their love.”

This puzzled Praeratus. Draining love? “What do you meant with 'draining love'?”

Thorax looked down and sighed before looking back at him. “Before I became the King of the Changelings, and before we learned that we could share love to live, our race had to steal the love of others to survive. Our previous queen, Chrysalis, decided to attack Canterlot by impersonating Princess Cadance on her wedding day and hypnotizing Shining Armor to weaken the magic dome he created to protect the city, allowing the changeling army outside to attack, and she could have succeeded if not for the love the bride and groom had for each other creating a wave that pushed us out of the city.

Celestia then told him about of when Thorax ran away to the Crystal Empire after Chrysalis' defeat, of when he befriended Spike, of how he became the first Changeling King after the second defeat of Chrysalis...

“The changelings became fast friends with Equestria, but as the saying says some wounds don't heal at all. Most races still fear and distrust changelings, and even many ponies, despite their friendliness, do not like them at all.” Finished a saddened Celestia.

“I'm certain that your Confederation does not have this problem.” Said Thorax.

“Actually, the same thing does happens in the Confederation. Not from nor to therawyrms fortunately, we've long earned our place, but I've witnessed it from others.”

“Really?” Thorax asked.

“Yes. Some species that are part of the Confederation now were our enemies in the past, and many people like to remind them that fact. Violently if they can.” He couldn't remember how many riots and fights began because a group of älfs was refused service in a zoklap-manned restaurant because of the Sendarín Skirmish, or the fights between recruits because some were othilads, the last species whose empire achieved the Core status. And that was without counting sapient synths, former marauders, nomads and such groups. “Give it time, it had been only a little more than half a year since then.”

And suddenly, the peaceful ambience got destroyed by a single sentence.

“The ponies shouldn't have accepted the bugs at all! And neither some dragon freak some space!” Said rough a voice behind them. It was a dark green-scaled dragon horns, small enough to not crouch to not hit the ceiling yet taller than Praeratus. “Of course, it's a pony we're talking about here, and everyone knows they're stupid idiots that have trust in everything.” It (yes, it) scoffed in derision.

Praeratus' head snapped so fast to the dragon that neither Celestia nor the changelings saw it move. Celestia, having seen him do it so many times before (mostly when Cyranus tried to simulate a cat in the piano), wasn't surprised by it, only by the why. Thorax and Pharynx, on the other hand, were freaked out.

“Gnasher...” Growled Ember, facepalming at the dragon's attitude. Gnasher was one of those dragons who still refused to befriend ponies, or other creatures in general. Despite her actually ordering them to at least not attack other creatures, some still did it, mostly out of spite that such a 'wimp' became their new Dragon Lord (despite the facts that the 'wimp's' father was just as big as an Ursa Major, and that they could have ended with an actual baby as leader if Spike hadn't been good enough to give the Bloodstone Scepter to her). Gnasher was amongst the worst, since unlike, say, Garble, he had some political power (being the first and sadly only dragon ambassador) and therefore saw himself as untouchable, because small creatures like ponies couldn't really hurt him, and big ones like yaks risked war

Ember was about to scold the green dragon when the therawyrm got up from his seat and walked to him. Despite the size difference between him and Gnasher, something was sure that Gnasher was two words away from exploding inside out.

“Apologize to Princess Celestia freak.” Said Praeratus.

“Excuse me!?” Screamed Gnasher in a furious tone. “Did you just call me a freak!?”

“Organic sophonts can't eat minerals and gain nutrients from them. And pretty damn sure that fat thing you call body can't be lifted at all by those tiny things you might call wings. Now apologize to her.”

Gnasher, furious, stomped towards him.

“Why you little freak, I'm gonna burn you to cinders!” Said the dragon before he inhaled, ready to burn the therawyrm to a crisp.

Those in the Hall, sans Celestia, didn't know what to expect. They thought that Praeratus would dodge the fire, or protect himself with a 'magic' shield, or something similar.

None of them expected him to actually rush forward and punch Gnasher in the belly with enough strength to send him flying into the wall several meters behind him. There were no creatures in the way, so none got hurt, at least physically.

Gnasher, however, was anything but unharmed. Praeratus hadn't just knocked the wind out of his lungs, he punched him hard enough to break his ribs despite hitting him in the gut (which somehow didn't suffer a rupture) and, judging by the small river of blood coming from both his jaws and his muzzle, cause internal hemorrhage. He was still alive, and even more surprisingly conscious, but with a furious therawyrm stomping towards him with eyes glowing violet, things looked pretty bleak for the green dragon.

Ember, Thorax and the others were naturally shocked by this. They knew he was strong thanks to Celestia's reports, but not THAT strong!

Celestia teleported between the angry Praeratus and the half dead Gnasher, not wanting him to become a murderer, despite Gnasher having started it and quite willing to burn Praeratus. If he had been a pony, she would have reacted... well, not exactly like he was at the moment, but close.

“That's enough Praeratus!”

“You know that I hate being called a freak.” Replied Praeratus. His tone was even, but it was obvious to her that he was furious. However, Celestia had the feeling that that wasn't the only reason he punched Gnasher across the Hall.

“Look at him!” She pointed at the injured dragon, who was now surrounded by several other dignitaries. “He's not even conscious!”

“He's not dead isn't he?” Retorted Praeratus, making Celestia huff.

“Could you at least look around you.” She looked up at him straight in the eye.

Praeratus did as she asked and saw that the attendants of the Convocation were staring at him in fear, shock or anger, including the leaders he wanted permission from to search in their countries.THIS made him rethink what was he about to do (just beat the dragon a bit more).

'Dammit, I really need-wait'

Celestia began to worry for real when Praeratus's expression went from ashamed to alert. Something was wrong.

“Praeratus?”

“There's something right below us.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the ground in the middle of the Hall sank, making a giant hole big enough for a troll to crawl inside.

The natives watched in fear as a seven-foot monster covered in red scales with jaws full of fangs and razor-sharp claws practically crawled out of the hole and stood at all fours in the Hall, with dirt still clinging to its claws, roaring at the top of its lungs and followed by three other monsters.

Then saw in awe as a pissed off Praeratus extended his arms and turned them all to ice from the inside out in less than five seconds. But then came another, and another, and many others until there were at least twenty of the monsters, all of them glaring at Praeratus with beady eyes full of rage.

That didn't stop Praeratus from crushing them all telekinetically and using their bodies as a plug for the hole, holding the 'plug' together with a psionic barrier, which the monsters below didn't waste time in attacking. Since the creatures were able to dig through stone the measure would be only temporary, but he didn't expect it to actually hold them off indefinitely.

“ALL OF YOU, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! I'L TAKE CARE OF THEM!” He screamed to the people in the Hall. The natives, who had been paralyzed by what they had seen, did as they were told so, but it was clear by the way they ran and screamed in fear that not all of them wouldn't be able to get out before the bioweapons (they looked exactly like the bioweapons aside from their smaller size and their quadrupedal stance) got in the Hall. Plus, those who were pulling Gnasher wouldn't get him out before it happened due to his size. On the plus side, it appeared that these things weren't psionics, so he wouldn't worry about aliens going crazy and killing other aliens.

“Twilight, Raven and the others are still in the liberry of the Hall!” Exclaimed Celestia.

“Then go get them. I'll take care of the monsters.”

“What!?”

“Please, as if a bunch of genetic freaks would even hurt me. Now go, the thing's are restless.”

“Wait!” Exclaimed Rutheford, running up to them with a mace on his hands, with the other leaders behind. Aspen was the only one to run. “Yak wants to help space dragon!”

“Want to help? Go with Celestia, you can't fight these things!”

“But...” Began to say the aforementioned alicorn before clawed arms began ripping the barrier of corpses and psionic energy apart.

“NOW!” He roared. The leaders nodded and ran to the library, with Celestia giving him a last look before disappearing.

'How the frack did these things reproduce?' Thought Praeratus grimly, watching on as his makeshift plug finally gave up, letting the monsters get inside the Hall. 'Questions for later, now is time to kill'

When the first monster came out of the hole, the first and last thing it saw was a clawed fist flying to its face.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I wanted to write more of my novel before this. Also, from September 30 I'll upload the chapters twice per month rather than each ten days, to give you guys time to read the story. Next chapter will be all Praeratus kicking freaks' asses and taking names, but before I'll upload the interlude, this time about the Hegemony and it's military.

Well, here goes the second to last chapter of the month, and what a chapter, just a hundred and fifty words away from ten thousand, which is the limit I put to myself.

Interlude: The Hegemony and its military

Year of founding: Unknown, presumed 2600
Type of government: Caste-based, theocratic oligarchy.
Current head of government: Unknown, but chief presentor is a doboid known as 'Deacon of Virtue'.
Member species (Have actual rights) : doboids, loc-hanae, naurits, martox.
Serf species (Slaves): msomi, lélegur, rochve, various.
Resident species (Not slaves, but have no rights): drifters, wabak.

Main
The Hegemony is the other galactic superpower of the Galaxy, a religious empire lead by an oligarchy of four and based on a two-caste system supported by slavery, with each side further separated in more castes, pluse one more category for species:
-Member species: the four founding species (although technically talking it would encompass only the doboids and the loc-hanae; the other two, sans their leaders, are slaves in all but name, although they have more rights than the serfs), with the leaders of each species forming the leading oligarchy. These are the doboids (religious leaders, politicians, psionics), loc-hanae (military officers, spec-ops, peacekeepers), naurits (naval officers, smallcraft pilots) and martox (service sector).
b]-Serf species: enslaved species that have neither freedom nor rights, but still have to fight. These species are msomi (basic infantry of slave armies), lélegur (secondary combat psionics), rochve (engineers, vehicle drivers), and slaves of multiples species, obtained from independent governments in the Milky Way (none of them belonging to the Confederation) through raiding or sophont trafficking. All of them are kept in line by neural implants, both in battle and civilian life.
-Resident species: these species (currently only two) have much more freedom than the serfs and have their own leaders, but don't engage politically and can only serve in the military. These are the drifters (marauders turned privateers and enslavers) and wabak (heavy infantry).

Military capacity
The Hegemony's takes a similar approach to the Confederation when it comes to its military. However, due to the fact that they practice slavery and do not have as much as space as their rivals, they have several key differences to make up for the latter fact:
-Assault armies also play the role of planetary defense garrisons, but many have at least a slave division defending them all times.
-Despite all doboids being psionics, the Hegemony armies don't differentiate between psionic-capable soldiers and common troops.
-Slave armies: composed of most of the Hegemony's 'member' species, these divisions of forced conscripts are their main fighting force of the empire, slave soldiers from all backgrounds (aside from the msomi, lélegur and the rochve, many slaves come from minor empires or even the Confederation due to the Hegemony War and deals with marauders) that have no say in the matter due to the neural implants that nullify their wills. Some, however (mostly officers), volunteer themselves in a desperate attempt to raise their food rations, help their families, genuine but misplaced patriotic fervor or simply to escape the hell that is forced labor. Contrary to popular belief, and despit outnumbering assault armies, slave divisions are in fact just as trained and equipped as their 'free' counterpart, althought not motivated, and therefore are much more dangerous than the public thinks.
-Assault armies: composed entirely of loc-hanae and rochve, these divisions are sent in when the slave armies either succeed (to guard the taken territory) or are defeated (to attack the weakened enemies). They consider themselves inherently superior to slave armies despite of what was previously said about them.
-Clone army: the real elite of the basic infantry of the Hegemony, the body-encasing armor that these loc-hanae wear does little to hide the fact that they are actually vat-grown clones. With a natural lifespan of less than a decade save for exceptional individuals, their lack of personal initiative is deemed an acceptable trade-off for their total obedience to their superiors and their exceptional capacity for battle.
-Xenomorph army: ravenous hordes of bio-engineered horrors created in vats made up by little more than teeth, fangs and an instintive surge to kill. A cadre of doboids monitor and supervise the raging swarms the best they can from positions well inside the Hegemony lines. Many fringe worlds of the Confederation are still plagued by their presence due to the fact that they can reproduce, requiring either military intervention or the aid of xeno-hunters to flush them out.
-Titanic beasts: these humongous creatures) either natural lifeforms captured from Hegemonic worlds or bio-engineered monsters) are by far the most powerful and dangerous force the Hegemony can deploy on a battlefield. Due to several factors (among them the slow developing and overall rarity for natural ones and sheer cost for engineered ones) only three are deployed at a time, but since even a single one requires repeated artillery strikes, and sometimes even attacks from naval weapons to be put down the Hegemony considers it a good trade off.

(Their navy is exact to the Confederation's, but half the titans and no Colossus)

Author's Note

New interlude, and as promised this one's about the military of the Hegemony.

Ship sizes are mostly the same, although battleships are a full mile in length like Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Since it's an empire and not a federation all ships have one design, which in this case is the moluscoid style with purple colorations. Mmmm,a pseudo-religious empire with slave troops and smooth ships with purple hulls? Where have I seen that before?

Sapience

As soon as Praeratus killed the first creature, three more jumped at him, with one attacking frontally and the other two from the flanks. He caved the first one's head in and grabbed the other two by the necks when they lunged, ripping their throats out.

His plan was simple: wait for Celestia and the others to get their people out of the Hall and then blow the Hall with a psionic bomb; after that he would send a psionic fire storm down the hole and go inside to see where did the monsters come from. He didn't know how many of these things were there, and he didn't want to take any chance with them. For all he knew there could be more than a thousand of them under the Hall of Unity. Until then, he would resort to mostly hand to hand combat and psionic attacks to take them out.

On the bright side, it didn't like any of them were psionics, relying completely on numbers and brute force (which might as well non-existent when compared to their bigger relatives and Praeratus). That would have been more than enough to kill the people attending the Convocation, but he was a xeno-hunter and a former Centurion, he had been in literal worse odds and won.

'Besides' He thought while stomping on the back of a monster and ripping the lower jaw of another, using said jaw to rake a third monster and decapitate a fourth. ', these things aren't really smart, and it doesn't seem like they can heal either. As long as they keep going at me, it should be fine. But I do wonder, how did the big ones make these?' He wondered before grabbing a monster's head and ripping it off.

It was obvious by this point that these things had to come from the bioweapons, what with these things looking exactly like them aside from their smaller scale and their quadrupedal stance. But how did the bioweapons 'create' these ones? As far as he knew they were supposed to be sterile, since there was nothing in the report saying they could reproduce, either by mating (somehow, since the genitals of the one he dissected were so mismatched he simply didn't know if they even had gender) or by parthenogenesis which... wasn't so out of the question since a lot of reptiles could do that in times of need and the bioweapons were mostly reptilian in both appearance and physiology; on the other hand, they were intended civilian populations and infraestructure, not full military forces that could take them out (after suffering heavy loses), so he didn't know why were they able to make more of themselves. Maybe the bioweapons thought they couldn't take him out even if they attacked all at once and instead chose to crush him with weaker and psionic-less yet much more numerous spawn?

He had to give it to the bio-engineers that made them, they knew how to create killing machines that surpassed the xenomorph packs of the Hegemony, and some (and, while he loathed to admit it, ones that knew how to differentiate between friend and foe).

But were did these 'imps' (the bigger bioweapons were called demons, it would be fitting to call them imps, small demons) come from?

Having a minute of clarity, Praeratus stopped himself from killing a creature that managed to bite his arm and probed its mind. He was unpleasantly surprised when he found a blank mind, literally: this thing, and by extension all the others, only had an image of him and killer intent on their minds, which turned out to be even more primitive than the one of the bioweapon of Canterlot.

In the full minute that passed since the first monster came out of the hole he had killed at least thirty, maybe even forty of them, their gory remains, ashes and pieces of flash-frozen flesh and bone littering the ground of the Hall of Unity and their blood splattered on Praeratus' uniform, which aside from the bite in the sleeve and the aforementioned blood spots was somewhat in perfect condition. They still kept coming, they still attacked without thinking, they still died.

And then they stopped coming out of the hole.

Praeratus, confused by the sudden cesattion of attacks, looked at the darkness in the pit, thinking that it was just a trick, that they were waiting for him to lower his guard and attack him with his pants down. He stayed like that for a full minute before carefully stepping away from the hole. They gave up.

Not wanting to test his luck and not willing to test the strength of the foundation of the Hall, Praeratus pushed the dead monsters inside the pit and covered it with dirt and furniture, to negate them a way to enter and to hide the grisly remains of the monsters

'Did they get demoralized? No, these things are too stupid to just give up and run' Thought Praeratus while making sure the gore and blood was well hidden under the pile and ripping a piece of cloth to bandage the bite on his arm. Seeing that the creatures weren't coming, the therawyrm decided to head for the library to check on Celestia and the others, in the upper floor. 'I wonder if the leaders have decided to-' His thoughts were rudely interrupted by something screaming right on his mind with such intensity that he was fell on his knees.

'DIE!'

Praeratus, recovering from the mental backlash, looked around frantically and, for the first time in two hundred years, fear.

A bioweapon. There was a bioweapon near. And, despite being two steps higher in the psionic scale, he hadn't detected it until that moment.

'But how!? How the frack did a freak of nature hide itself from me!? Frak, how is it hiding from me right now!?' Thought the xeno-hunter while looking around like a maniac and throwing mental probes, finding neither the mental presence of the monster nor nothing that betrayed its location. He hadn't detected the bioweapon in the attack on Canterlot because he had depleted his psionic reserves annihilating the horde of mad animals and wasn't actively looking for them. Now, however, he had plenty of psionics left and wanted desperatedly to know where it was.

At the same time he received that 'thought', someone screamed somewhere in the library. It was Twilight.

“CELESTIA!” Screamed Praeratus before running at full speed towards the direction of the scream. Twilight may have been the one who screamed, but Celestia was arguably the more vulnerable to the demon.

On the plus side, now he knew where the thing was, and could act accordingly.

By ripping the monster's own guts out and force feeding them to it.

But first he had to find it and rescue the leaders, Twilight and Celestia.

After leaving Praeratus to fight the monsters alone, Celestia and the others ran to the library of the Hall of Unity to get to their aides. However, despite knowing that Praeratus would be okay, Celestia still was worried for him. She didn't know hoy many of those smaller monsters were there, but there were probably lots of them, and since they looked like miniature demons they probably were quite dangerous.

“Celestia, are you okay?” Asked Novo, who was flying alongside her.

“Uh? Yes, yes I'm fine.” Unfortunately for her, the hippogriff queen was good at reading faces thanks to having a teenage daughter with the usual teenage issues.

“No you're not. You're worried about Praeratus, aren't you?”

Celestia sighed. “And what if I am? I have the right to be worried for him, we left him alone with who knows how many monsters.”

“Don't worry about him Celestia, I'm sure he'll be okay.” Novo said in a reassuring tone, seeing the concerned expression of the white alicorn. “After all, he took on an army of beasts, an Ursa Major and a demon and won!”

“And an adult male dragon.” Chimed Ember behind them, running alongside the others. “That said, I expected him to threaten Gnasher or glare at him, not punching his guts out.”

“Yes, no offense to him, but he seems to have an anger problem.” Agreed Gestal. “Wouldn't blame him for it though, most dragons tend to anger those who they don't see as a threat until those same creatures snap and punch their faces.”

The older Ember would have exploded at that, but after being 'crowned' as Dragon Lord, travelling to Equestria and other lands and see that the reputation her people had in those places was not unfounded (no thanks to individuals like Garble or Gnasher), the new Ember could only nod in agreement. On the other hand, that meant that, aside of the aforementioned green ambassador, dragons and changelings got along pretty well due to their similar background.

“I'm sorry for the way Praeratus acted. He hates being called a freak by primitives.”

“You know, you shouldn't take responsibility for what he does.” Replied Thorax. “He's not a pony, and frankly, that dragon had it coming, badmouthing you and insulting an agent of a foreign government that probably encompasses several planets.”

“Actually, the Confederation is made up by seven thousand star systems, not just planets.”

That comment made the entire group stop on their tracks and stare at her in shock (minus Pharynx, who was looking back from they came from, and Ruthefhord, who didn't want to leave them behind and go to the library alone with the possibility of being eaten by monsters from outer space). By that moment they had reached a hallway, and while they didn't know it at the moment, Twilight, Raven and the other archivists were going their way to tell them they had found something involving the ancient past of Equestria.

'Star systems!?' Thought the leaders at the same time. Especially Ember, terrified of the possibility of an alien fleet glassing the Dragon Lands because her ambassador was stupid enough to insult one of their subjects.

“Since we're having conversations at an inappropiate moment, has any of you seen Aspen?” Pharynx asked.

“Yak saw deer running away like coward!” Exclaimed Rutheford.

“Well, deer are known for being skittish creatures you know.” Supposed Gestal. “Plus, I doubt that he lets predators hunt other animals in his kingdom and therefore is not accustomed to see blood.”

“Gnasher started bleeding from his mouth and nose when Praeratus punched him.” Pointed out Ember. “Which is weird given that he hit him in the belly and not the head.”

“How far was the library?” Asked Celestia, not wanting to deviate from their goal.

“Well, I've never been on this place before, but according to the map on the entrance of the Hall...” Began to say Novo before they heard a voice coming from in front of them, at the other side of the hallway.

“Your majesties!” It was Twilight Sparkle, followed by Celestia's aide Raven Inkwell and the other archivists: Urtica the changeling, Blacktip the Dragon, Horwitz the Yak and Glenda the griffon. “We have found something important that-”

“Good, you're here, now we can get the heck out of here before those things come!”

“Things?” Asked Horwitz. Unlike practically all other yaks, especially his prince, he was a well-spoken individual, never speaking in thirdperson, conjurating verbs and always using his name and proper nouns instead of saying his race's name most of the time. He also hated violence, which was what dumbfounded all other yaks the most. “What is he talking about? And what was that ruckus we heard from the library? We could heard the creatures scream and run.

“A bunch of space lizards dug a hole in the Hall, and we would be their dinner if not for Praeratus staying behind to hold them off while we got to you.”

“Space lizards?” Said Twilight before gasping in realization and fear. “The demons!”

“Well, sort of; they looked exactly like the monster at Canterlot, but barely bigger than Praeratus.”

“Still, the demons are here! Princess, we have to get out of here before they kill us all!”

“I wouldn't be too worried about that. Praeratus turned the first ones that came out into ice... and the next twenty monsters into meat pancakes.” Said Novo. “They didn't seem to be that strong, and this is Praeratus we're talking about.” She was saying this mostly for Celestia's sake, but fortunately neither the alicorn nor the other creatures realized this.

“Well, I guess we-” Began to say Gestal before a voice screamed, making them all drop to their knees due to the intensity... and the fact that, whoever or whatever it was, the heard the scream right inside their minds.

'DIE!'

Celestia, Twilight and Novo, after recovering from their shock, realized with dawning horror that there was only one breed of monsters in all of Equus that could do that.

And then happened.

The wall next to the group exploded, covering them in splinters and dust, and before any of the natives could react Twilight was already screaming back in the ground, screaming in pure agony... because she had a bloody stump where her left arm was seconds ago.

And right next to her, dwarfing even the hulking Rutherford, stood one of the dreaded 'demons' Celestia wrote about, a draconic monster with sword-like claws in each of its limbs, a spiked tail that looked like it could crush stone with ease, white eyes that glared at them with something akin to rage... and with Twilight's left forearm dangling from its maw full of fangs.

Celestia, still scared of the monsters, was unable to move even with her former pupil crying in pain in front of her. Novo, Thorax, Gesalt and the archivists were simply terrified of the damn thing and unsure of what to do.

Pharynx, Ruthefhord and Ember, though, weren't easily intimidated, although in the case of the first it was more of a lack of understanding how dangerous the monster was.

The yak Prince screamed bellowed in anger and threw himself at the monster which, busy as it was enjoying the terrified thoughts of Celestia and Twilight, found itself surprised by the attack and tumbling down with the bull.

“Yak smash monster!” Shouted Ruthefhord as he repeatedly bashed the monster's head with his mace, doing negigible damage (if at all), but he didn't care, he wanted to defeat the beast.

The bioweapon easily got him off it with a psionic burst of red energy that sent the yak head first through the opposite wall of the corridor, bruised and barely conscious but still alive.

Ember and Pharynx thought this was their chance and attacked the monster, with the dragoness flying around and breathing fire upon it and the changeling doing the same while shooting magic bolts to its face, both careful to not get near the monster's deadly claws or mouth.

Unfortunately, in their hurry to attack it they forgot it could do 'magic', which they were rudely reminded of when the monster grabbed both of them in a psionic field. Pharynx tried to teleport away, but found to his horror that his magic didn't just work, it was as if he didn't have it in the first place.

Novo, Thorax, Raven and the archivists watched in dismay as the monster grabbed the two monarchs by the neck with its claws and opened its jaws to bite their heads off.

Fortunately for them, the distraction the three action-minded royals provided was enough to allow a certain black-skinned alien to lunge at the monster from the end of the hallway Celestia and the others came from.

“STAY THE FRACK AWAY FROM HER!” Screamed Praeratus while punching the monster's head. Unlike Ruthefhord's mace strikes, his fists hurt the monster, snapping bone and ripping muscle, but the monster was quick to react and shoved him away just like it did with the yak previously, with a psionic pulse that threw Praeratus off it and right next to Celestia, who had recovered from her shock and was attending to the passed out princess the best she could, having ripped a piece of her dress to tie her bleeding stump and stop the bleeding. It wasn't the best option, but couldn't anything else. Of course that didn't stop her from turning to Praeratus to see if he was ok.

“Praeratus!” She asked Praeratus. She got even more worried when Praeratus instead of replying was staring at the bioweapon, who instead of slaughtering them as she thought it would it was just glaring at the xeno-hunter. “Praeratus are you alright!?”

Praeratus snapped off his trance and looked at her with a wide, frightened eye, something that terrified her. Until know, he had seen Praeratus get angry (Cyranus doing his needs in the ship), embarrased (Cyranus doing his needs in public), annoyed (a mix of the previous, plus Cyranus chasing Philomena any time he saw her), happy (any time he saw her happy), melancholic and even sad (both when watching recordings or documentaries of conflicts of which he had been part of), but never scared.

But then she realized several things about the monster.

One: the monster was clearly bipedal, but rather than being hunched over like its brethren, it stood fully straight like a pony. It could have been easily mistaken for a dragon if not for the lack of wings.

Two: it wasn't attacking them. Praeratus told her that one of the advantages he held over the bioweapons was that he wasn't always 'pissed off', as he put it. This one, however, was staring at them with cold, calculating eyes. It was still obviously angry, but not to the point of his peers.

Three: when it used psionics, Celestia saw that they had a blue coloration. Praeratus had explained to her, Luna and Twilight how psionics worked, like their colour-based tiering system: the higher the intensity of the psionic aura, the more powerful their abilites and bigger their psionic reserves were, with red being the weakest and gamma/gold the strongest, and ultraviolet/purple was literally in the middle, very powerful but not to reality-warping levels. Praeratus told them that, while possible, becoming a more powerful required time to train, time that the monsters didn't had because they had stayed frozen for two centuries.

Four: the monster had a burn mark on his left arm, and while it was glaring at Praeratus it also stole a few glances at Twilight, and she swore she saw it smirk before it swallowed Twilight's arm.

Celestia gasped in horror when the realization dawned on her: this wasn't just one of the bioweapons, it was the one Twilight shot its arm off back in Canterlot when Praeratus arrived.

Then, it looked right at Praeratus.

'Why?' They heard it say. Unlike the nearly feral scream of rage of before or the rudimentary speaking of its dead fellow, it 'spoke' with a surprisingly calm tone, although still with a creepy voice, and it was just one word, so they didn't know how coherent it was.

Praeratus, who had been staring at the creature until that moment, came out of his stupor.

“W-what?” He replied stuttering. It was obvious that even he was surprised by the fact that the monster could speak like a civilized being.

“That thing is speaking? Because I'm not hearing anything.” Whispered Ember from behind them.

'Why do you protect these creatures from us?' It asked again.

Praeratus stood up and glared at the monster.

“Because they don't deserve to get exterminated by a bunch of vat-grown freaks just because of a mistake.”

'But these creatures can be a threat to the Confederation with their witchcraft and monster pets.' Said the bioweapons. 'Sooner or later they will be able to escape their orbit and reach the stars, and join the Hegemony. Besides' It leaned forward with a sneer on its face. ', I'm pretty sure that Centurions fit in the vat-grown freaks category'

Praeratus stared at it in shock and fear, alongside Celestia. How did it know?

“How the frack do you know that?”

'Our creators transferred all the military knowledge they could to our minds, both of the Confederation and of what they knew of the Hegemony. Like the fact that they goad primitive or weak empires to join them' It said while glaring at the natives.

It was Celestia's turn to get angry.

“We would NEVER join those tyrants!” Exclaimed Celestia in anger, earning a snort of disdain from the monster she should be terrified of.

'They all say that. Next time you know, the idiots that think they can stay away from the Hegemony end up used as cannon fodder, literally if they are not good enough.'

Praeratus decided to take the chance to learn more about the bioweapons' capability. “How did you manage to create those other bioweapons? The report didn't say anything about you being capable of enlarging your numbers”

'Ah, the fodder? They aren't an adaptation if you're wondering that, they're our young, which by comparison are little more than hatchlings. I needed a way to get close to you without being detected Plus, their brains had barely developed beyond the primal state, so they were of little use to me. Besides, we can make more of them' It said in a casual tone, like someone commenting on the weather and not about using his children as attack animals.

Celestia would have gone berserk if she had heard that before meeting Praeratus, but now she was just dismayed. Despite the fact they would have slaughtered the leaders of the world if not for Praeratus, Celestia felt pity for them since they surely didn't know they would die.

“Why are you talking like that? Last time I met one of your friends he spoke like a hulk.”

'Oh, that. Well, one of us has to convince you to help us by stating actual facts and the so called story of Equestria's heroes instead of screaming at you like a rabid animal'

“How did you manage to become a blue psionic?”

'By practicing, of course' It replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

“But how did you-” Began to say Praeratus before the bioweapon interrupted him with a short song.

'Grabbed a pony, burned a pony, froze a pony, flayed a dozen, mind-raped the rest and thaaaaat's it!' It sang with a sadistic smirk while staring at Celestia. The singing was crap, but since it only sang to mock a species prone to sing, it didn't care 'If you haven't noticed it until now it's because I grabbed ponies from remote towns, and erased the memories of those who knew them, I'm not stupid. And all of them screamed your name before I ripped their bodies apart, atom by atom.'

It must had made the other listen because most paled, Novo fell to the ground unconscious, Ember puked her guts out alongside Thorax, Gestal looked like he had a heart attack and Pharynx glared at it with all the fury he could muster.

But Celestia, being the emotional pony she was, was the one who took the news the worst, crying her heart out and covering her face in grief.

'But' It said while looking at the unconscious Twilight, not even glancing at the crying alicorn.', despite my instincts telling me to massacre all of you, and the ruckus the kids caused, I'm not here for that.'

“Why are you here then?” Muttered Praeratus in barely contrained tone that did nothing to mask his rage, so furious he forgot to ask how did it hide its mental presence from him.

The monster's smile was replaced by a fang-bearing snarl while it glared at Twilight.

'To kill the white horse that can move the sun... and rip apart the bitch that shot my arm off!' The beast exclaimed before lunging at Celestia and Twilight claws first. Before it could kill them, Praeratus body-slammed it with a psionic-enhanced tackle that sent them both through the walls of the building, punching, biting and slashing at each other until they hit something sturdy enough to stop their flight: the durasteel hull of Praeratus' ship. The creatures that came to the Hall, having evacuated when the first monster came out, panicked when they saw the alien that came with Celestia and an even bigger monster flying out of the Hall.

After slipping down the hull, Praeratus, who was the first one to recover, grabbed the monster telekinetically and slammed it between the lower part of the ship and the ground several times, not stopping until he depleted his psionic reserves significantly and the monster's skeleton was flour.

The therawyrm, seeing that the bioweapon was still breathing, came over it and grabbed its face to forcefully probe its mind to see where the other monsters were hiding and level it with the ship's armaments.

And then the thing raised its claw somehow. But not attack him.

'Before you try and get the information of my... brothers whereabouts, let me remind you that, as savage as we are' It said while glaring at him ', we are not stupid'

Praeratus barely had time to realize the danger he was in when a claw sprouted off the ground and grabbed his leg. A big claw, whose owner dug itself from the ground alongside another bioweapon and at least ten imps, and before Praeratus knew it he was being held by the bigger bioweapons, after which the imps bit into his legs and chopped them off. Praeratus screamed in pain, but not for the loss of his legs (it wasn't the first time); the monsters grinded their teeth instead of ripping his legs off outright, and since they were in fact serrated (he hadn't noticed it when they bit him before in the Hall) it was like a pair of chainsaws cut his legs.

Several of the guards that were guarding the crowd watching the battle, most of them ponies, griffons and hippogriffs, chose that moment to attack the bioweapons, screaming battle cries and raising swords and spears.

Before Praeratus could scream at them to not come, the young monsters rushed to the guards faster than they could react and slaughtered them in less than ten seconds.

'Ah, isn't it beautiful, the sight of children getting their first kill?' It said in a mock emotional tone. 'But let's not deviate, I'm here to kill those two xenos. But first... You, bring me that'

One of the imps grabbed a hand still latched on an spear and brought it to the blue monster, who grabbed the weapon with telekinesis and inspected it after throwing the deattached hand away.

'A spear, the second oldest weapon a species can discover after the wooden club. Despite being capable of creating gunpowder-based slugthrowers, and having primitive cannons, all species on this planet still rely on medieval weapons at best, and none at worst. And therawyrm skin is pretty damn tough, and if that therawyrm is a Centurion even more so' It then aimed the head at Praeratus' glaring eye. 'Therawyrm eyeballs, on the other hand, are just as vulnerable as any other to a giant spike going through them.'

“Before you kill me, could you at least tell me where are the others?”

'You think I'm stupid like the others? No, I won't tell you where they are, but I will tell you what the Confederation will find when they inevitably discover the planet: a safe, clean world, an army of loyal if savage pets, and a 30 feet tall metal statue of a therawyrm soldier fighting loc-hanae. Goodbye, Centurion' It said before thrusting the spear forward...

BRAM!

… And missing Praeratus' eye entirely because the head of the left bioweapon was suddenly blown to bits.

'What was that!?' Screamed mentally the monster, roaring at the same time. Praeratus, on the other hand, was smiling, because he knew what killed the bioweapon: a green plasma bolt going at only mach 1, but with the equivalent energy of 15 kilojoules, shot from a high-powered hunting rifle.

There was only one place where a weapon like that could be stored, and there was only one being on the planet that knew where it was and how to get it.

“Get away from him, you monster.” Said an angry voice coming from behind them, from the stairs.

It was Celestia, aiming at the nearly-flattened demon with an R-90 hunting rifle with a smoking barrel.

And she was angry.

Author's Note

Another chapter for you guys! This time the plot thickens a fair bit and get to know what the bioweapons had been doing through the last two months. You know the drill, comment, thumbs up and fave if you please.

Interlude: Confederation Core Species (I)

Aimtroogs
-Homeworl: Kujja.
-Group: Reptilia (humanoid subgroup)
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 9 feet, 150 pounds, up to 200 years.
-Species traits: intelligent, but physically weak due to having evolved in a low-gravity environment. Thanks to their education, many are natural engineers.
-Home system government: Aimtroog Consensus (rational consensus).
-Total opulation: 25 billion.
-Racial slur: longnecks, noseless, Greys.
The aimtroogs are the technological powerhouse of the Confederation, being the core species that supplies the highest number of scientists, and were the ones who made the critical discovery of Hyperspace. They're quite weak despite having an average height of 9 feet due to the low gravity of Kujja; despite this, many aimtroogs are quite willing to perform violent works, serving in the military or turning to crime.

Älfs
-Homeworld: Altea.
-Group: Mammalia (humanoid subgroup).
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 5.5 feet, 140 pounds, up to 1000 years.
-Home system government: Älf Kingdom (irenic monarchy).
-Species traits: all are psionics, and quite charismatic, plus very longlived, but their population growth is stagnant except for baby booms and don't adapt well to non-confederate environments.
-Total population: 30 billion.
-Racial slurs: pixies, elfs, leaf lovers.
The älf species (they call themselves alteans, but nowadays that only applies to those from Altea) is the main contributor in psionic teachings and the mainstay of Psionic regiments due to all of them being psionics. Despite their nearly-human appearance (the only differences are their lighter frames, hair color and pointed ears) and capacity to interbreeding, humans and älfs are not related at all. Due to the Hoxxes Incident, many älfs and darfs are at odds with each other despite the closeness of their governments. Despite them simply being respectful to nature, many species, darfs included, think of them as nature-obsessed weirdos.

Darfs (sometimes called dwarves)
-Homeworld: Gardelgard.
-Group: Mammalia (humanoid subroup).
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 4.5 feet, 150 pounds, up to 300 years.
-Home system government: Darf Systems (communal parity).
-Species traits: darfs are generally of tough bodies and very industrious, but in contrast to älfs they aren't very charismatic, and theirs is the species that hates Hegemony species the most after the therawyrms; it may not seem a problem, but that means that ships with darf captains cannont be place in borders shared with the Hegemony lest they restart the war.
-Racial slurs: groundlings, walking beards, stunts. Despite most darfs not minding being called it (and many actually liking being called that), 'dwarf' is nowadays associated with people diagnosed with dwarfism and therefore is considered a slur by many non-darfs.
Darfs are considered by many to be the the anthitesis of älfs: where an älf would speak or hide, a darf would attack; whereas älfs are all psionics, darfs psionics are extremely rare; and while älfs have some differences with humans, darfs might be a human subspecies (their beard-related cultures is simply a case of extreme machism, not a racial trait). As mentioned above, many darfs think of älfs as traitors due to the Hoxxes Incident in which several thousand darf colonist were left to die by an älf captain.

Gazam
-Homeworld: Shanrak.
-Group: Mammalia.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 6.2 feet, 160 pounds, up to 150 years.
-Home system government: Gazam Sorek (representative democracy)
-Total population: 50 billion.
-Species traits: gazam population is always growing (it was 120 billion before the Hegemony War), but the only species that don't find their appearance and customs disgusting, freaky or otherwise alien (or edible for that matter) are humans, darfs, katdir and therawyrms.
-Racial slurs: pork, piggies, swine-things, hogs, fossiles, antiques.
-The gazam, alongside the the humans, are THE Core members of the Confederation, having formed it in the galactic year of 2472 when both fledging empires were threatened by Marauders, and when they finally won the war, rather than going their separated ways the gazam and humans decided that there was safety and strength in numbers. Nowadays both species are so close and so similar that the only real difference between them is that gazam are suids and humans are apes.

Humans
-Homeworld: Terra.
-Group: Mammalia (humanoid subgroup).
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 6 feet, 150 pounds, up to 160 years.
-Home system government: Terran Union (direct democracy).
-Total population: 50 billion.
-Species traits: humans are an adaptative species, and while not the most populous they are the most widespread species across confederate space, but it takes longer for them than other species to learn their mistakes, since Terra suffered a global nuclear winter three times in just one century, the last one AFTER they founded the Confederation.
-Racial slurs: apes (shared with mammalian humanoids), Morties, fossiles, antiques (oldest core species alongside the gazams, which share slurs).
-The species with the third largest population, the Terran Union was the co-founder and initial Core member of the Confederation alongside the Gazam Sorek, united in a common cause against a Marauder fleet that threatened the territories of both. The most remarkable thing about them -aside from being the cofounders of the Confederation- is that despite their relatively average lifespan they're the amongst the oldest civilizations in the Milky Way still standing, having discovered the Warp Drive in 2200.

Kadren Cabal
-The Kadren Cabal is not a government per se, but a smaller alliance founded between the birth of the Confederation and the outbreak of Hegemony war by smaller factions, and many non-Core members of the Confederation protest at the fact they have a senator, even though the Cabal is pivotal enough to having earned its place in the Federal Senate.

Author's Note

Another interlude, this one about the Core members of the Confederation. Well, the first half at least. The älfs are literally the Alteans from Voltron because I like the show, but the commie dwarves is exactly what happened to me in my game.

Essentially a Filler

Celestia stared at the therawyrm with wide eyes, shocked by his outburst. Or, more accurately, by what it meant.

She knew he was quite fond of her, since he had let her sleep on his ship from the day he arrived, but to hear it from the usually stoic therawyrm... The fact that his stoicism was mostly disturbed by moments of wrath or even shock made it even more, well, shocking.

“W-what did you just say?” She managed to sputter in her shocked state.

“I said I care about you, and that son of a bitch had the guts to insinuate I raped you. I don't take it well when people insult me and my friends like that, and you are one of the few friends I have here Equus.”

“What!?” Twilight, who had exited the living room less than a minute before, entered it again when she heard Praeratus he had few friends. “What do you mean with 'only friend'!?”

Praeratus looked at her with a mix of annoyance and anger.

“Twilight, I clearly said 'one of the few', not 'the only one'.” He growled. Twilight suddenly remembered herself, Spike, Princess Luna and possibly Novo.

“Oh... I'm sorry.” Twilight apologized, smiling sheepisly at her own error. Behind her, Novo, Ember and Thorax entered again in the room since they saw Twilight do so and didn't want to be left out of whatever would happen next.

Praeratus glared at her one last time before looking back at Celestia. “I know I went too far with Aspen, and I admit I have an anger problem, but what was I supposed to do, let him insult and slander me and get away with it? I am goddamn war hero from several galactic conflicts that deserves respect.” He didn't say that the 'anger problem' started when he came to Equus, but he didn't believe they needed to know that.

Celestia sighed. “I don't know, you could had just screamed at him, shook him around a little, at most a punch, not beat him to within an inch of his life.”

“I don't think it was that bad. “Interjected Novo. “I mean, Praeratus might have gone overboard with Aspen, but he was threatening to get inside his ship and house to get to you, plus the defiling thing.”

“And called me and dragons in general mindless beasts.” Agreed Ember. “I don't care if he dies, I've worked my tail to make dragons be actually friends with each other and other races, and I'm not goint to let a dumb moose undone all I've accomplished. Heck, he also insulted the hippogriffs and the changelings!” She said motioning to Novo and Thorax.

“Really?” Said Praeratus and Celestia simultaneously, earning nods from both. Nods they didn't see because both looked away from each other (and Celestia even blushed) when they realised they had said the same word at the same time.

'Did I do what I think I did?', Celestia thought, not knowing Praeratus was thinking the same thing.

“Yes. I don't remember when, but it was just before you came out.” Said Novo angrily. “That jerk had the gal to call the hippogriffs traitors and cowards for not holding our own against the Storm King's forces when he came, blaming us for the fall of Equestria despite the fact that his armies didn't even know deer existed. Well, that or they didn't consider them a threat, I'm not really sure.” She admitted. “And don't get me started on what he said about changelings.”

Despite being calmer, more rational and overall much more friendly than his older brother, Thorax was still the king of the reformed changelings, who had it even worse than dragons with other races, and even he had limits of how many insults to his race he could tolerate in his presence.

“What did he say about changelings?” Demanded the Changeling King.

“That you were still the evil vermin you were in the past and that you were just bidding your time under a veneer of 'goodness' to fool the ponies and attack Canterlot again.”

Thorax, naturally, fumed at this. “That's rich coming from him, since at least Chrysalis was actually defeated when she attacked. When HE attacked, the princesses let him go away after Twilight solved whatever was the problem” He turned to Celestia and Twilight. “, right?”

Both alicorns nodded. “It was either that, or face actual war, and frankly we didn't want to fight one.”

“Because the Royal Guard is a pathetic, cowardly lot of useless clones that tries to look tough but crumbles when their opponent can actually fight?” Snarked Praeratus. Even after a month and a half, and while most guards were at least respectful of him, there was still some 'friction' between some of them and Praeratus, no helped by the fact that not only he refused to bow to royalty, but at one point even ordered one of them to salute a war hero and former officer of the Confederal Military when he asked why they should respect him; when the stallion refused, he said that was why he would never recognize any authority that wasn't part of the Confederation, much less one that couldn't even get to space.

Suffice to say, the other guards didn't like him, and the same was true for Praeratus, but nothing else came from that incident.

With all that said, the guards were capable of fighting; it's just that it had never fought; most of the time she, her sister and the 'heroes' of the time solved the problem.

“And because it wouldn't be a war if we decided to attack. You know how powerful are me and my sister, we raise and lower the Sun and the Moon.” Celestia said.

The others looking at Praeratus, as if expecting a response.

“What?” He asked before he got the memo. “If you are wondering it, no, I can't raise the Sun nor the Moon with psionics.” The four were about to sigh in relief when he admited. “But... both of them are only a thousand kilometers wide, and while the Moon is completely solid the Sun has less mass than a planet of the same diameter, so who knows.” He said, making them look at him in a bit of fear. He was pretty sure he couldn't move either celestial body, but as he just said, who knew?

“You were joking, right?” Asked Ember.

“No, I really don't know if I can do that. I probably can't but, well, who knows?” He said shrugging.

It was at that moment when Novo realized what might have been the problem.

“You know, I think I know now why Aspen is so distrustful of you.” She said to Praeratus.

“Mmm?”

“Your attitude.” Deadpanned Novo, earning glares from everyone but Praeratus. “What?”

“Queen Novo! That's not nice to say.”

“Maybe, but it's true.” She replied before turning to Praeratus. “Look big guy, Aspen and that Gnasher dragon were jerks, but so were you. From who wants to save us from space monster you're quite happy to fight back when attacked or even more, given that Aspen didn't do anything but speak before you broke him. Also you broke that dragon's ribcage before he could fry you.”

“Just because the Confederal Senate sent me to save you doesn't mean I have to have the higher moral ground.” He said, remembering pretty well the atrocities he commited during the Hegemony War. He was only allowed because he was a Centurion and because, at that point of the war, soldiers who at least tried to be professionals were the exception.

“And that also doesn't mean you have to remind us how outmatched we are every time somepony ticks you off, even in defense of others.” She said while looking at Celestia and smiling coyly.

“What does that have to do with my attitude?”

“Let me rephrase myself: you're a powerful, god-like alien that owns a ship that can travel the galaxy in the drop of a hat and probably has enough firepower to turn the Dragon Lands into ashes. Yet you're also a jerk that at best insults back when insulted by ponies and mauls them at worst.”

“So?”

“Those guys that insult you to get a rise from you? That's exactly what they want.” Explained the hippogriff.

“I made pretty damn clear that when I'm kicked I don't turn the other cheek, I kick back.” Said Praeratus. “It's not my fault that those zabs don't get I'm not the passive type.”

“Which brings me back to the original question. This may sound outlandish, but I think that Aspen wanted you to kill him.”

Every creature in the living room, sans Praeratus, looked at the Hippogriff Queen in shock.

“N-novo why do you think that!?” Exclaimed Celestia.

“To make other creatures fear him. Think about it; they heard about Praeratus' power, brutality and short temper, but haven't actually seen them in pony until know. Aspen, who thinks he has been spied upon, wants you to finally lose your temper and kill him, demonstrating that you're an evil invader and that the 'good' races have to rally to fight you off.”

“If he were sensible, he would wonder just how many would I kill before going down, and how. Hell, I wouldn't need to actually fight, just bombarding them with the ship would suffice.” Said Praeratus.

“Yes, but I as I have just said, that would only prove his point about you being evil.” Novo pointed out.

Praeratus narrowed his eyes at her, but Celestia grabbed his arm before he could retort.

“Praeratus, she's right, you can't just react like that when they insult you. Doing that would be like letting them get away with... well, whatever they do to anger you.”

Praeratus grunted and closed his eyes. She was completely right, especially since unlike random ponies Aspen was a king. A king of a practically nonexistant kingdom, but a king nonetheless, and he had some influence on the planet. Not enough to actually do anything, but enough to make others think.

It was at that moment when Twilight gasped and clapped her hands with a smile.

“I think I have an idea AND a solution for our problem!”

Author's Note

Guys, I'm terribly, terribly sorry for the shortness and lack of quality of this chapter, which is basically a bridge one, but I'm getting busy with other things. Don't worry, the next one will be at least longer.
Next chapter we will officially transitionate to Season 8.

Twilight's Idea

Two weeks later...

“For the umpteenth time, NO, I will NOT be the coach of Twilight's goddamn School of Fiendsip, Celestia.” Said Praeratus with a growling tone, never tearing his his gaze away from the screen linked to the drone he was using at that moment to survey the Dragon Lands in search of any sign of bioweapon activity. The ship was hovering several hundred meters over the realm since the drone's range was somewhat limited, and Praeratus wanted to show

That said, despite Ember's warning to her people about the arrival of the alien dragon, a lot of dragons got scared senseless by the flying machine, both the big one and the small one. A few even breathed fire at the drone, probably because they were scared yet unwilling to admit their fear in front of their peers or didn't really fear it but wanted to show their bravado anyway.

Unfortunately for the 'brave' dragons, the drone was designed to withstand temperatures far higher than their fire... and a taser that left them paralyzed for several hours. The burns weren't life-threatening, it served as a good way to make the other dragons see what would happen if they followed their peer's examples, and Ember only asked him to at least not break their bones, so it was good.

In contrast, even the largest ones refused to even fly below the ship after Praeratus deliberately melted a giant boulder with the thrusters, even though he only wanted to warn them.

When Praeratus landed at the behest of Celestia, many dragons were surprised that the alien looked so much to them. Naturally there was a certain teen dragon that thought he was some kind of freak instead of a real dragon, but instead of going into a rage as both royals feared he simply glared at him and said:

“You think I care if a bunch of reptiles see a synapsid as one of them? Yes, synapsid, I came from a womb and sucked from a tit, deal with it lizard boy.”

Of course, not everything related to their arrival was negative. Celestia was happy that she could be on the Dragon Lands without it being official business, most dragons were more curious than scared of the ship, and Praeratus was quite willing to answer their questions. Granted, most of those questions were mostly about his time in the military and the beasts he had hunted, but it was a nice change from scared ponies.

“Why not?” Asked Celestia, who was sitting behind him in the couch, drinking tea and petting Cyranus' head. The gorgonops, grunting in bliss, was laying his head on her lap, but in a way that didn't support his weight on her body to crush her. “And it's School of FRIENdship, not Fiendship.”

“I don't care. Also, do you want me to remind you again of why? Hell, WHY are you still pestering me with that?” Growled Praeratus. “Pretty sure that by now you know I won't accept.”

“Twilight practically begged me to pester you until you gave in, and I always keep my word, especially if its from a friend, even if it doesn't work.” Celestia replied before taking a sip of her tea. “Besides, you told you liked the idea.”

“And I still do, I just don't want to be part of it.”

Twilight had the brilliant of idea of making a school were creatures of all shapes and sizes could learn friendship like ponies. Admitedly she already had it before (and in fact she had the school built before leaving to the Convocation), but the Unity Hall's fiasco made her to bring it forward instead of waiting.

Praeratus had to give when it was due: the school would allow the children of other species to mingle with each other and, eventually, become friends, and since the teachers were her own friends and former Element Bearers (plus Starlight and a few more), she was sure it would work out in the end. Her friends approved of it, Celestia and Luna approved of it, and even Praeratus saw it as a way to counter Neighsay and Aspen's blatant racism.

The only problem was that she also wanted Praeratus to be a teacher. The coach, to be more precise.

Obviously the xeno-hunter refused, making clear that he a soldier, not a teacher, and reminded her that the bioweapons were still at large and evolving, and he didn't want to waste time as some coach. Besides, the only 'physical education' he could think about were military drills, screaming at the top of his lungs, more drills, a recreated fight or two, even more drills, impaling recruit's hands in walls with metal knives, playing instruments on the run, and yet even more drills. He was a former hyper soldier, not a teacher.

Besides, that wasn't the only reason.

This forced the purple alicorn to take drastic measures: give him the feared art known as 'puppy dog eyes', which until now had never failed her (and in turn she had been unable to resist). When this obviously failed (because he was a millenium-old dragon ex-soldier from space that could lift buildings with his mind), she asked Fluttershy to give him the 'Glare'. That backfired espectacularly when Praeratus glared back with his only eye; not even Rainbow Dash and Discord could get her out when she hid under her bed for days.

This forced Twilight to take even more drastic measures to assure his collaboration in her future school.

Beg Celestia herself to convince him in person. She was still sleeping at his ship from time to time, and he outright screamed he cared about her. That obviously meant were friends and he would had to help her since friends helped each other. It was a proven fact, proven by hundreds of years and by herself, the Princess of Friendship.

Therefore, that meant he would have to hear Celestia out and help Twilight! Right? RIGHT!?

(I'm writing like this to show how unhinged Twilight is getting).

Yes, but also not exactly.

You see, while Celestia always approved of Twilight's ideas, even she thought that making Praeratus the coach of the School of Friendship was a bad idea, especially since, if he accepted, he would be the only real teacher on the school: instead of teaching normal subjects like Music or History, they would teach the Element of Harmony they represented (Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity and Magic).

Indeed, that was also another reason Praeratus refused to be the coach: as far as he cared, he would be the only real pedagogue in a school 'full of kooks that teached things that could get kids killed'. Naturally this offended the former Elements, but they promptly shut up when he reminded them that there were things out there that wouldn't care about beint generous or nice,

The last reason was the one he thought of as the most glaringly obvious: the bioweapons were still out there, having been in and planning for two weeks, and who knew what were they doing. Either the natives of Equus had the memory of simple robots or they deliberately chose to forget the attack on the Hall of Unity, becaus everyone except Celestia and Luna (and maybe Spike, given that every time he had to walk near the Everfree he practically begged Praeratus to go with him, sometimes with/alongside Celestia) continued with their daily lives despite the fact that the bioweapons were definitely kidnapping, experimenting and butchering numbers of ponies, griffins and such to study them and become stronger, and mindwiping the minds of anyone who saw them to hide their tracks. To make things worse, psionically-induced mental changes were practically undetectable to him unless he used his full power to scry on those minds, and the mental walls of the sophonts of Equus were already weak as they were, so if a blue psionic didn't drive them mad a purple one would.

Besides, Praeratus had to admit that, as much as he wanted to, worrying over those deaths and kidnappings would lead to nothing, so he forced himself to shrug it off and keep searching from the bioweapons. What DID bother him, however, was the fact that all of the royals he met begged him to not reveal the actions of the bioweapons (well, all but Aspen, who didn't know it since he wasn't there when it ambushed them and they didn't want to tell him and make things worse). When he asked (as in, he roared) why, they said that their subjects were already on the edge by the appearance of the demons, they didn't want to throw all of Equus into chaos by revealing that those same monsters were abducting and killing creatures without being no one noticing.

Praeratus didn't like it, but they were right. Plus, they also pointed out that, as powerful as he was, he couldn't be everywhere at once.

At least he hasn't used the 'thing'. That was good.

“Are you really sure there's nothing I can't do to convince you?” Continued Celestia, having finished her tea.

Praeratus gave a deep breath as to not scream at her. Just what would it take to finally shut her up about the damn school!?

“No Celestia, there's nothing that will change my mind about this 'School of Friendship'. Now” He said , turning off the drone after bringing it back and getting up from his chair. “, I'll take us back to Ember's place and say goodbye. We've been here for two days already and haven't found nothing about the bioweapons.”

Celestia watched in anguish as the therawyrm walked out of the living room without changing his mind back. Yes, it wasn't the end of the world, but Celestia had promised Twilight that she would convince Praeratus, and as it has been told before, she made good of her promises.

'What to do now?' She thought before looking down at Cyranus

“Oooh, what do I do Cyranus?” She said to the gorgonops. Cyranus simply grunted at her as if shrugging before standing up and trotting to his corner, making her groan.

'What will I tell Twilight, that the School of Friendship will have to be without physical education? If it were another issue I would tell her to simply let it go, but she's very enthusiastic about the school and what it could do to bring the races of Equus together, and so am I.'

She looked intensely at the floor of the ship, which was now shaking as it flew towards Ember's home, trying to formule another plan to make Praeratus change his mind. Despite her innate wisdom and a thousand years of experience, she got nothing to help.

The alabaster alicorn sighed in defeat and rested her chin on her hands.

'I supposed I'll have to tell Twilight that the School of Friendship will end up without a coach. Well, at least I can say I tried... and failed, yet again.' She thought morosely, remembering all the times she had lost (admitedly those involved fighting, but the situation brought them to her mind): her sister becoming Nightmare Moon, Discord returning, Chrysalis invading, Tirek escaping... Sure, this 'defeat' was simply not getting the help of Praeratus.

Didn't stop her eyes from getting watery; she was still strong enough enough to not cry completely, but not enough to not sniffle and tear up a bit.

“I'm a failure..” She said while covering her

Cyranus, seeing his new friend in such a deplorable state in which he had never seen her before, walked up to her and rubbed his head on her arm. He always did it when the same thing happened to Praeratus and it always worked..

Celestia, wiping away her tears with her sleeve, hugged the gorgonops before smiling down at him.

“Thanks Cyranus.” She said before hugging him again, prompting the alien hound to purr in satisfaction. “I don't want to insult Philomena but, between you and me, you are much better at comforting ponies than her. Yes, she can warm them, but so can you, and you won't scorch them if they touch you. You're also a good guard dog, although you're a biiit...” She said before trailing off for a second, realizing what she just said.

'Wait a minute. Good guard dog... guard dog... guard... THAT'S IT!'

Celestia stood up, smiled at a startled Cyranus and hugged him. “You just gave me an idea! A great idea” She said before kissing Cyranus on the head and flying to the cockpit, leaving a confused gorgonops alone on the living room.

Meanwhile, Celestia couldn't avoid smiling and congratulate herself after realizing how to make Praeratus joing Twilight's school, and being able of make good of her promise to the lavender alicorn. As she was about to enter the cockpit, she ceased flying and walked normally, trying now to not smile in front of the therawyrm.

“Celestia, I can hear you coming you know.” Said Praeratus without looking back at her. “And if you ask me one more time about Twilight's little project... I can't promise I won't scream.”

“Oh no, I gave up on that.” She said as she walked to the pilot's seat. “But can I ask you something? It's still related with the school, but not about you.”

“Sure.”

“Do you remember that the School is placed in Ponyville, right?”

“Well, yes, I went there a couple time before, you know. And received a 'warm welcome' the first time.” Praeratus said in a sarcastic tone, remembering very well the angry mob that tried to attack him the first time he came to the outright medieval town, just after Pinkie Pie gave him a genuine.

While none ended in the hospital, and in the end he admited he went a bit too far with it, Praeratus made painfully clear that he wouldn't tolerate being further attacked, and when Twilight tried to scold him by saying that fighting back against scared ponies was wrong, he rebuked that attacking people that simply looked scary was even more wong, and it was their fault they were xenophobic town hicks, not his. Alright, that last part might have more out of spite than anything, but still.

“And you know that the Everfree Forest is right next to the town.”

“So?”

“Well, from time to time the town is attacked by creatures from the forest... sometimes even Ursa Majors.”

“What!?” Praeratus exclaimed, looking at her in bewilderment and accidentally turning off the engines while it was still flying. The falling ship would have crushed Ember and the other dragons if Praeratus hadn't catched it telekinetically, after which he carefully laid it on the rocky ground. He sighed in relief, but then he glared at Celestia, who then realized that maybe, just maybe, telling him that while he was flying the ship wasn't a good idea. “Excuse me, I think I didn't year you. Could you please repeat what you just said?” He asked with a sweet tone and a smile... that showed all of his pointy, curved teeth.

It was at that moment that Celestia remembered, that Praeratus hadn't been told about Ponyville 'weirdness'.

Author's Note

Well, at least it's longer than the previous chapter... But don't worry, the last chapter of 2019 will be longer and will have actual action!

Interlude: Confederation Core Species (II)

Katdir

-Homeworld: Shelit
-Group: Reptilia.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 4.8 feet, 160 pounds, up to 120 years.
-Home system government: Katdir Republic (representative democracy).
-Total population: 40 billion.
-Racial slurs: newts, split-jaws, jawless freaks, wetskins.
-The katdir are the most unremarkable species in the Confederation, save for the fact that they're the only amphibians with a senator in the Confederal Senate. That, and the high number of katdir swimmers, but it's to be expected from amphibians.

Nifog
-Homeworld: Gasrda.
-Group: Avian.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 7 feet, 140 pounds, up to 160 years.
-Home system government: Nifog Clans (assembly of clans).
-Total population: 40 billion.
-Racial slurs: toothy birds, featherfracks, turkeys, feathered lizards.
-The nifogs are the species most non-ninfog Confederal citizens imagine on their heads when they think of strikecraft and dropship pilots and ship commanders. Despite being quite literally flightless birds, most nifogs that man vehicles are superb pilots thanks to their 'native' training in their homeworld, Gasrda, which is among the very few worlds with floating islands and continents. This forced the ancestors of the nifog to develop air travel earlier at the same time they reached the Reinaissance Age, much sooner than all the other species.

Nivac
-Homeworld: Raht.
-Group: Reptilia.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 5 feet, 220 pounds, up to 400 years.
-Home system government: Nivac Republic.
-Total population: 30 billion.
-Species traits: nivacs are the speciest with the third longest lifespan, industrious in the fields of engineering, and despite their size they're actually stronger than humans thanks to the heavier gravity of Raht. They are, however, a very sedentary species, and average swimmers at best: they can stay underwater for more than two hours, but they can't actually swim, but walk in the seafloor just like hippos on Terra.
-Racial slurs: turtles, tortles, tortis, shellers.
-Nivacs, just like the turtles they look like, are longlived, slow, sure and confident, but while they're difficult to anger, if pissed, they never forgive. By extension, most nivacs that become bounty-hunters become head-hunters and hunt down those that wronged them.

Othilad
-Homeworld: Geotiin.
b]-Group: Arthropoids.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 7 feet, 100 pounds, up to 60 years.
-Home system government: Othilad Monarchy (elective monarchy).
-Total population: 40 billion.
-Species traits: othilad are very fast on their feet, possess four hands that make them naturally dexterous in many fields, and are able to withstand extreme heat, but there are the shortest lived core species of the Confederation with a maximum lifespan of 60 years, and despite what many think about them they don't breed very fast.
-Racial slurs: bugs, worms, buggers, rachnids.
-At first glance, the othilad look like the stereotypical insect species: monarcy aligned, utterly alien in appearance, and unable to speak the lingua franca of the Confederation. That's when the 'alien' part ends: their monarchs are chosen, not succeeded; they have feelings just like any other species of the Confdereation, and while their mouth parts don't allow them to speak common they can still speak a few languages, and even then they can just use translators. At first many species didn't like them for the simple fact that they were essentially bugs, but with time the Othilad monarchy became one of the most respected members of the coalition.

Therawyrms
-Homeworld: Kharan.
-Group: Synapsida.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 6.5 feet tall, 330 pounds, 1500 years.
-Home system government: Clans of Kharan (assembly of clans).
-Total population: 11 billion.
-Species traits: therawyrms are physically very strong (able to lift ten times their own body weight) and tough (their scaled skin can deflect small-caliber bullets at a distance and withstand red-grade lasers from pistols and carbines) thanks to the very heavy gravity of Kharan, and theirs is the longest lifespan of any known species in the Milky Way; in fact, there are five known therawyrms that were born before their uplifting by the Zaurak Principate. However, they're quite quarrelsome due to their warrior culture, many find them intimidating, they're slow on their feet and reflexes unless they train heavily, and as the single synapsid sophonts of the Confederation many think they're unnatural. Also, because of their clan-based mentality and aggressivity, they're lumped with zoclaps as the 'Barbarians' of the Confederation, a title of which they happily approve. Finally, there's their birth rate, the lowest of the Confdereation, with only one child born from a married couple, three at the very most, and twins are very rare, with triplets practically nonexistant.
That said, they're also proud of the Confederation and many serve on it as heavy infantry, the only sub-branch they can join.
As a last note, many think they don't deserve their spot in the Confederate Senate due to their uplifting by the Principate, despite their service in the Fronts and their utter loyalty to the Confederation.
-Slurs: lizards, hot-blooded reptiles, titty scalies, geezers. Dragon is meant to be a compliment for just like for reptilians, but it can be used as an insult too.
-Most of the important information on therawyrms has been previously mentioned in their 'Species traits' section, but there's a part that doesn't fit there: the Hegemony War. Before the war, therawyrm population surpassed thirty billion individuals, but after the Treaty there little more than ten, and even after the baby boom their population hasn't recovered from the losses, and by comparison they suffered the most deaths of all species involved in the war. Hence their extreme hatred for anything Hegemony related.

Zaurak
-Homeworld: Krynn.
-Group: Reptilia.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 5.8 feet, 120 pounds, 200 years.
-Home system government: Zaurak Principate (plutocratic oligarchy).
-Total population: 15 billion.
-Species traits: zauraks are shrewd salesmen and very talented in most fields thanks to the thorough education system of the Principate, but planets within the oligarchy's direct sphere of influence population might seem desolated of plant life due to their lack of frugality, and their tendence to uplift species that, while not completely primitive (they always make sure to uplift those that have harnessed the power of atom), shouldn't be introduced to certain technologies too fast, like the therawyrm.
-Racial slurs: lizards, newts, hornies.
-Zauraks are possibly the most pacifist species of the Milky Way, never wanting to start a fight and only fighting when all other options are impossible. It's not a racial thing though: the Zaurak Principate believes that, in order to help other, less advanced species to progress, they have to be genuinely non-threatening to them. The oligarchy's tendency to uplift primitive civilizations has caused problems for them, but they always point out that hadn't they uplifted therawyrms and zoclaps, the Confederation would have been destroyed (or at least severely weakened) a long time ago.

Zoklaps.
-Homeworld: Aega.
-Group: Mammalia (humanoid subgroup).
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 15 feet, 3500 pounds, 150 years.
-Home system government: Zoklap Tzak (league, direct democracy).
-Total population: 10 billion.
-Species traits: zoklaps are the physically strongest species of the Confederation, able to lift five times their own weight (pound by pound therawyrm are stronger, but zoklaps are ten times as heavy), and they're big enough to shrug small arms fire to some point (rifle-sized kinetics and blue-grade lasers), and they're very united as a species due to their traditions, but because to their single eye their depth perception is pretty poor, and most other species fear them for their size, and in war their size leaves them at extreme disadvantage, since they're too big for normal transports and small cover and a perfect target, although the make great snipers.
-Racial slurs: cyclops, Willies, ogres, wun-wuns, monoeyes.
-There's really nothing else to say about zoklaps, other than they're limited to heavy infantry when enlisted because of their size

Author's Note

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE FROM SPAIN!

Here's the second half of the Interlude about the main Confederal Species. Sorry for those of you who expected the next full chapter, I'm also in Spacebattles Forum (Stupid The Ork) and still writing my second novel (and hoping that I'll finally manage to publish the first one).

If I don't upload the next chapter before end of the year, HAPPY 2020!

School Rage

“Is there something wrong Praeratus?” Asked Celestia in a worried tone.

“Something wrong?” Growled the xeno-hunter, who was sitting next to her on a chair that was fortunately big enough for him to sit on... and strong enough to support his more than five hundred pounds of weight, five hundred from him and the rest from his repaired bounty hunter armor. “No, nothing at all. Except that Twilight said the School of Friendship was supposed to be a project to ease bonding between the species of Equus. And I'm seeing an unnatural amount of ponies here.” He said while making a gesture towards the crowd of pony children and their parents in front of them. Well, mostly ponies: there were also a dragon, a changeling, a hippogriff, a griffon and a yak. One by species that's it. “Also, you lied to me.”

“Hey, it's your fault too!” Replied Celestia in a defensive tone. “You were the one that forgot the Everfree's practically empty of monsters!”

After Celestia told Praeratus about the dangers of the Everfree forest and the fact that Ponyville was regularly attacked by its beasts, he finally agreed to join the School of Friendship, not as coach, but as protector; Twilight had never told him the peculiarity of Ponyville, and despite the fact that she had been living there for more than two years and became an alicorn in the meantime, the problems hadn't stopped coming to the quaint little town (of xenophobic primitives), and he didn't trust ponies with taking care of children near a place as dangerous as the Everfree, especially if said children weren't ponies themselves. Therefore, he decided to take it upon himself to guard the School of Friendship while it was open.

And then he remembered that the Everfree was practically empty of monsters, with most most of the aggressive wildlife of the forest slauguthered by him when the bioweapons mindraped them and sent them to attack Canterlot along with that lone freak. That wasn't a problem though: after all, he still didn't know where were the bioweapons hiding and for all he knew they were hiding under Ponyville. Fortunately (or unfortunately from a certain point of view) they weren't, and since he could simply fly the ship to other countries and come back to Equestria he supposed that being a glorified cop wouldn't be so bad, especially if it was to protect children.

The real problem was that, aside from the previously mentioned non-Equestrian kids, all the others were ponies. As in, only four out of maybe two hundred students weren't ponies.

Naturally this... angered Praeratus a bit (as in, he was pissed). Twilight had explicitly told him that she built the School of Friendship so as to help the relations between races, and yet the vast majority of students were ponies. Not even Spike was allowed to enroll in the school despite asking his legal guardian to do so. It would have amounted to nothing given that he was just one dragon, but still, he would have preferred that Twilight had let the boy join her 'little project'.

Behind them, Ember, Thorax, Rutherford, General Seaspray (the representative of Mount Aris), Grampa Gruff (some old guy from Griffonstone), Luna, Twilight's friends and Cyranus looked on as the two argued.

“Pony princess and space dragon act like married couple.” Whispered Rutherford to Pinkie, who was sitting behind him. She promptly smiled and giggled.

“I wonder what their babies will look like...” Rarity wondered out loud with a whisper, imagining either baby dragon-therawyrms with feathered wings and pony eyes or foals with scaly skin and claws (but not sharp teeth: when she asked him about his species in general in case she made him clothing he told her that therawyrms were born toothless just like mammals, but when they came came they would get replaced several times over a therawyrm's lifespan like sharks and crocodiles).

Rarity's whisper must have been louder than she thought, because everypony that was sitting near Rarity, including Celestia and Praeratus, looked at Rarity with wide eyes.

“What?” She asked.

“Did you just suggest that Princess Celestia and Praeratus could have children in the future?” Said Seaspray, asking what was in everyone else's minds. The man, a tall hippogriff with purple feathers, was the only one of the lot that Praeratus somewhat respected since he was an actual soldier, but only somewhat because he was for some reason the general of Mount Aris' navy. Yes, for some reason a general was the top officer of a navy. Granted, the 'navy' was simply the military of the hippogriffs, and the other races of the world didn't have actual fleets either, but stil.

It also made Celestia blush. Praeratus didn't, but it was obvious by the deadpan stare he was giving the white unicorn that he wasn't amused by her opinion.

“Why not?” Said Rarity, ever the romantic thanks to all those romance stories. “In fact, I believe it's fate!”

“Fate? Ya sure about that?” Asked Applejack.

“Of course! A princess and her kingdom threatened by demonic beasts, and a powerful, magical knight in shining armor and his faithful hound come down from the heavens to save them and slay the monsters. Besides” She continuted, this time in a more sly tone and a grin. “, Princess Celestia has been sleeping in his ship for the better half of two months.”

Naturally this made Celestia blush, but fortunately no one noticed.

“Yeah, except this 'knight in shining armor' is an alien and a soldier, and can be a jerk sometimes. And boring.” Deadpanned Discord while looking a Praeratus. He forgave him a long while before from the beatdown, but couldn't be as chaotic as he wanted when he was near because the therawyrm would still beat him, just not as savagely as the first day.

For example, one day he and Pinkie Pie decided to prank him for being a jerk and went inside his ship (he didn't care about why) when he was away to put buckets of water in every door. Either the ship had a silent alarm or Praeratus was paranoid, because just as they were placing the last bucket he returned and literally threw them out with his bare hands, and made clear that if they entered his ship again without his explicit permission he would brainwash them... into his drinking buddies. It didn't sound so bad, but the way he said it and the fact that he didn't say if it would be temporary or not scared them.

'He's also pretty boring' , thought Discord nonchalantly.

Praeratus' closed eyebrow twitched whe he heard that thought.

“And the kingdom he saves is full of xenophobic, moronic cowards whose only enemies until now had been other morons, not real threats.” Bit back Praeratus, not raising his voice but making sure to Discord (and Rarity for that matter) that the xeno-hunter heard him. “And I'm only boring because the alternatives would be either an idiot surprised by every little thing on this planet or a screaming madman.”

“Hey, you don't have to be a jerk now!” Replied Discord. “And when I was a jerk myself I wasn't a moron. Well, maybe I was a moron, but a powerful one, and smart too. Heck, I'm still am! I can create literal rains of chocolate, displace a mountain and even move the Sun and the Moon at the same time! And don't read my mind!”

“And Chrysalis conquered Canterlot twice, you know.” Replied Thorax, not liking remembering his former 'queen'. “And there were also King Sombra, Lord Tirek, the Storm King...” The changeling monarch was only listing the foes that didn't reform. Something told him that Praeratus would do much worse to Starlight than the beating he gave to Discord.

What no one knew was that Praeratus alrady knew (uh) what Starlight did, enslaving Equestria and messing with time itself; the last one was amongst the biggest crimes one could commit not just for the Confederation, but for the entire galaxy, but while he did think of hurling her into a psionic portal to another dimension he ended up chosing against it, partly because she seemed genuinely regretful of what she did... and partly because opening portals wasn't his forte; he had the capacity, but he rather grab things and launch them towards hard surfaces at hypersonic speed. Didn't stop him from glaring at her to time to time without the others noticing.

“And I can do similar things with my psionics, and a single battleship could burn a planet several times the size of Equus three times over. The world itself, not just all the life on it. And I read the minds of those I don't trust at all. What are you going to do about it goat boy, roll on the floor and holler?”

Celestia was about to ask them to shut up before they could get louder when Twilight beckoned to Praeratus to take her place. Praeratus looked at Celestia and read her mind.

'Please don't traumatize the next generation of ponies' She begged him, nowing that despite his love for children he was also very honest.

'I can try, but I won't promise. Besides, they'll probably traumatize themselves'

“Thank you so much for supporting the grand school of our school!” She said before stepping back from the podium. “Now, I present the School of Friendship's Guardian and first alien in Equus, PRAERATUS!”

She expected the crowd to cheer and applaud Praeratus because, as a... jerk as he could be, he had come to their world to save not just Equestria, but all of Equus, all because a mistake of his government that he didn't even know about, and was even willing to die to destroy the monsters.

Instead, she was sorely disappointed by the lack of reaction. Well, lack as in 'looks of fear or disgust' when Praeratus walked forwards.

“Go get them big guy.” She encougarged while smiling. It was more for her confidence than for him however.

“Yes, I'll get them.” He replied, not looking away from the crowd of ponies that was now looking up at him.

Before he discovered the truth of the School, he had already made a speech of how dangerous were the bioweapons, of the hours where he was avaible for them to talk to, and tell them a bit about the Confederation.

After he saw that the vast majority of students were ponies, though...

“I'm here to protect you from space monsters. That's it.”

He would have walked back to his seat if not for a scratchy voice speaking out in the silence of the hall.

“That's it? The big and mean wingless dragon from space simply says 'I'll protect you'? That's lame!”

Praeratus turned to see where the voice came from.

It was the dragoness that came with Ember to represent the Dragon Lands, a girl two or three years older than Spike with orange scales, purple head and tailfin, wings and blue eyes that had a cocky look, a refreshing change from the fear . For some reason Praeratus thought of Rainbow Dash when he saw that cockiness and heard that voice.

Everyone around the young dragoness stepped away from her, fearful that Praeratus would do something to her.

Well, do something he did.

“And why do you think it's lame, child?” Asked the xeno-hunter, crossing his arms and rising an eyebrow in intrigue.

The girl was either too brave, too dumb, or knew he wouldn't even shout at her, because she kept talking.

“I thought you'd say some awesome speech about being a space knight or something like that!” Said the girl. Praeratus probed her mind, just enough to know her name: Smolder, and to confirm that she was indeed older than Spike by two years. “I mean, you took down the single nastiest bad guy out there!” She probably didn't know about Tirek or Chrysalis, or did but thought that the Storm King was greater a threat.

Praeratus looked back at Celestia, and seeing her hopeful look he sighed and went back to the podium.

“I'll tell you guys something alright. I think you know this already, but if you don't, I came to this planet two months ago, and despite my actions, I wasn't here to actually kill the Storm King” He said (and unsurprisingly earning a collective gasp, even from the dragon girl; he resigned himself to the fact that 'kill' was practically the 'frack' of Equus) before creating a life-sized hologram of a bioweapon. “, but to hunt down these creatures.”

“Pff, those things don't look so tough. I've seen dragons back home that are scarier.”

Praeratus decided that it was time to scare her straight.

“Smolder.” He said without raising his, surprising the dragoness by knowing her name. “Just one of those is tough enough to survive a punch to the face from me, strong enough to bite my legs off, and smart enough to use you as bait to draw me out, and just like me it's psionic. In fact, two hundred years ago one of them slaughtered Equestrias' Royal Army just after it escaped from its prison. There are still eight of them out there, they can reproduce, and I don't know where are they hiding even after scouring the entire planet for their presence, and worst of all, just one of them can take me on.” He leaned forward to make sure everyone heard him. “And the only feeling they have is hatred for everything in this planet... and joy when killing you. So, yes, those things are pretty damn tough, pretty damn evil, and pretty damn invincible for you.” He then leaned back and straightened himself. “Which is why I'm here to protect you from them, but first the rules that you will have.”

He would have told them simple things like not going near the Everfree forest without permission, or staying inside, when suddenly...

“WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE!?”

It was Neighsay, who was glaring at them (or more accurately at him) from the gate at the other side of the hall before he made his way through the crowd, ranting all the while.

In another occasion Praeratus would have ignored Neighsay, letting the bigoted unicorn rant about letting creatures not of Equestria inside one of its most important castles. But at that moment he wasn't in the mood. Scratch that, just seeing Neighsay made him snap.

With a growl, Praeratus extended his right arm and lifted the Chancellor with telekinesis before pulling him towards him at break necking speeds before physically grabbing him with the same arm by the neck, not enough to choke him but in way that left him unable to speak.

Which wouldn't have been necessary with the angry glare Praeratus was giving him.

“If you want to give some stupid and specieist speech about the dangers of non-ponies attending Equestrian schools, give it to yourself while your bathing in your house, because I won't let you say anything pro-pony either in my presence or with two royals behind me.” He said while gesturing towards Ember and Rutherford, both of whom were glaring at Neighsay.

Before the head of the EEA could say anything, Praeratus continued, this time tightening his grip on his neck and making it difficult for the unicorn to breathe.

Celestia and the others were having a bad feeling about what was happening, but something kept them from acting.

Fear.

“Not only that” Continued to say Praeratus not realizing that he was choking Neighsay.” , but your damn ideology about how ponies are surrounded by possible enemies goes out of the window when you look closely.” He made a wide gesture to the onlooking crowd. “Look at that, there are at least a hundred ponies there. Yet how many dragons, yaks, griffons, hippogriffs and changelings are out there? Five! This school is supposed to promove friendship among species, and yet I'm only seeing a not-so-subtle show of blatant racism!”

“Praeratus...” Said Celestia, hoping that the ranting Praeratus would realized he was unconsciously crushing Neighsay's neck (and proying that he wasn't doing it on purpose).

“I would let it pass if there were more non-pony kids here, but there are only five of 'em; this won't just make them feel ostracized, they're outnumbered by a species of ungrateful, cowardly morons that scream at the first sight of danger and that believe they have to impose their way of life in others!”

Busy as he was ranting, Praeratus didn't see Neighsay trying futilely to pry his claws off his throat, or the growing fear of the crowd.

“Praeratus!” Screamed someone behind him before feeling something grabbing his leg.

The former Centurion looked down and snarled at the one that had the gal to interrupt him while he was pointing out the damn truth... and saw a scared Spike hugging his left leg and looking up at him, with Celestia literally centimeters away. She too was scared, but it was Spike's terrified face which took his attention.

And a certain voice in his head, that had been oddly silent since the day he arrived on Equus, whispered that she wasn't scared of him, but what he might have done to Spike.

'Plus, imagine what would have happened if you just stomped the boy without bothering to look.', it wondered

'SHUT UP!!', he replied to it before looking back to Spike and Celestia.

The sight of the boy and woman that fully liked the ex-Centurion being scared of him snapped Praeratus back to his senses. He then turned around and saw that the assembled crowd was just as scared of him as the group behind him, including the non-equestrians. Praeratus then looked at the half conscious chancellor and realized what he would have done if Spike hadn't stopped him to the ground and

“I...” He began to say before staying quiet for a few moments and then sighing, looking down in shame 'What the frack is wrong with me?'

Giving one last ashamed look to Spike and Celestia, Praeratus stepped down the platform, weaved through the crowd frozen by fear, and exited the place.

He took notice that Cyranus, who always followed him wherever he went, stayed with Celestia.

Praeratus stood guard next to the door of the school for what seemed like days even after the parents of the foals and fillies went back to their homes, including the Royals that came with the representatives of their races.

What transpired while he was out was exactly what he guessed, and it was loud enough that he didn't need to use telepathy to hear it: Neighsay ignoring his near death experience and demanding that Celestia banished him to Tartarus. But instead of Celestia being the one defending him, it was Fluttershy of all ponies the first one to scream back that Neighsay.

“Praeratus managed to calm down and speak like a rational creature about his rules only for you to come screaming! He already was on edge because he thought that the School would be a place that would teach friendship to children of all races!”

Then, it was time for Pinkie Pie and to his surprise for Discord.

“Tough space marine guys like him always attack annoying jerks if they're annoying no matter how weak they are!”

“Yeah, Pinkie's right! I would know, I'm very annoying and he thinks I'm a jerk, which I am, but not always!”

Praeratus didn't care how did that those two know the word 'space marine', and possibly what it meant, only that the draconeequs he disliked took his side.

'Doesn't mean he's not an idiot with too much power and not enough restraint.', said his mind,

'Shut up will you!?' The guy forgave me for nearly killing him!

After them came Twilight, who to his surprise turned out that didn't like how she made the school.

“It's my fault, not Praeratus', that the School of Friendship teaches ponies, and even then it's only because I didn't want to find out how would have you reacted to a hundred non-ponies attending a school right next to Ponyville!”

'I shouldn't have been so angry with the girl. I mean, I could HAVE read her mind before to find that out, but still.'

And then it was Luna's turn, and unlike the others her words made more sense instead of just lashing at Neighsay.

“If anything, it's your fault Neighsay! You said that the EEA would only allow me to build a school if it was for Equestrians! Don't ask me how do I know that, I'm the Princess of the Night!”

And then Ember theorized that, because of what happened, he would let the monsters kill them all, forcing Praeratus to telepathically tell them he wouldn't leave Equus until he killed all the bioweapons.

But even with their support and his statement, the damage to the school was done. He didn't need to read mind to know that parents would not send their children to a school guarded by a psychotic alien that had no allegiance to their country and practically despised their species. However, despite their fears about Praeratus most parents didn't revoke their children's appliances, trusting their princess' judgement.

'They shouldn't be so trusting of three pretty pony fairy tale princesses that can't do shit after facing only morons, ghosts, leeches and bugs. Very, very dangerous trustful indeed.' Said the voice in his mind.

'Just because they didn't have either psionics or guns doesn't mean they weren't dangerous, and those villains definitely were dangerous to Equestria.' He replied.

'A centaur that sucks magic and a shapeshifting bitch aren't nothing compared to hill-sized freaks that spit acid or a cruiser with enough firepower to...' Began to say the voice before it noticed something. 'Well look at that, you have company that doesn't fear you, at your ten! See you later Praty!'

“Hey, Praeratus!” Said a childish voice he recognized as Spike. The baby dragon was walking up to him alongside the other foreign students and two ponies. But what mattered to Praeratus was that it didn't seem he was scared of him even after his ranting and near killing of Neighsay.

“Mmm, yes Spike?” He said, doing everything to avoid sighing in relief.

“I met with to see how did you look up close, and so do these guys.” He said gesturing to the children, who began introducing themselves to him.

The first one was the blue and yellow furred/feathered griffon with informal clothes. “The name's Gallus.” It was obvious he was a bit scared of the alien bounty hunter, but Praeratus had to give credit where credit's due, at least he looked at him in the eye instead of staring at the ground awkwardly.

Next was the yak girl with brown fur, green eyes, pigtails and a furry jacket (how the hell could she wear that without being cooked alive by both it and her own layer of fur), who was also the biggest of the children. “Yak's name is Yona! Yona's happy to meet space dragon she heard a lot about!” She said smiling, holding up her hand. Praeratus, for the first time on that day, curved up his lips into a smile, and shook Yana's hand.

After Gallus came the changeling that came with Thorax, a young pony girl with light cyan fur and blue eyes.

“H-hi there, my name is Ocellus-” She managed to say before Praeratus cut her off with a raise of her hand.

“Girl, I know you're a changeling.” He said, making her gasp in fear and the others in shock. The pony went so far as to step back from her, but Praeratus then nudged him back to place with telekinesis.

“How do you know that!?”

“Well, apart from the fact that you weren't transformed back at the meeting you don't have a typical Equestrian name.” Said Praeratus nonchalantly.

“Don't worry, I'm not a bigoted jerk like most ponies. C´mon, let me see how do you really look like.”

Ocellus did as she was asked. It turned out that her pony disguise was literally a ponified form of her real body, cyan chitin and monochromatic blue eyes included.

“Ocellus why were you disguised as a pony?”

“B-because ponies still fear changelings even after Chrysalis' defeat and Thorax crowning, and they think we're evil bugs.”

“Well, would you feel better if I told you that the vast majority of evil aliens are mammals or reptiles, while one of the nicest species in the Confederation is essentially a bunch of bugs?” He said, referring to the othilads of the Othilad Monarchy.

“Wait, really?”

“Yep. They're four armed, short lived, and their biology makes them unable to speak the common language of the Confederation, but at the same time they're friendly, compassionate, intelligent, and just as technologically advanced as any other empire, and very respected even by our enemies.” He said with a smile.

“Really?”

“Wait, did you say empire? Wasn't the Confederation some kind of alliance?”

“It is, but calling an interstellar governments an empire is pretty common back in my galaxy, no matter if they're an elective democracy, a communist party or even a megacorporation.”

“Woah...”

“I can tell you more, but first lets finish this introduction.”

They hadn't noticed it yet, but a small crowd composed of the royals, Twilight and her friends, Cyranus and a few parents was watching the former Centurion interact with the children.

“What about you kid?” He asked to the only pony of the group, a green furred colt who was practically all light green; even the clothes he was wearing, a sleeveless shirt and short pants, were green.

He was also pretty terrified of him, which was totally justifiable given that he saw him choke Equestria's Minister of Education while ranting about the supremacism and bigotry of Equestria.

“M-my name's Sandbar, mister Praeratus.” He said nervously. Praeratus tentatively probed his mind and sighed when she saw what Sandbar was thinking.

“Look kid, I'm not going to disintegrate you with my raygun or bend you.” Before Sandbar could parrot Ocellus previous response, he continued. “I'm can use psionics. They're like magic, but there's nothing magical about them.”

“So that's how you knew my name!” Exclaimed Smolder.

“Yep, and psionics aren't only for grabbing stuff. But I'll explain more later. Anything to say about you Smolder?”

“Well, Dragon Lord Ember brought me here to represent the awesome race that are dragons!” She boasted proudly.” Praeratus facepalmed, but Smolder was a pre-teen so she probably wasn't observant enough to realize what she was doing. “Plus I wanted to see a cousin from space from up close, and you may be freaky with the lack of tail and wings-”

“Actually Praeratus is not a dragon.” Interrupted Spike.

“What?”

“I'm a synapsid, a reptile with mammalian traits like, warm blood. In fact, genetically speaking I'm probably closer to ponies than reptiles.”

“I thought you hated ponies.” Said Sandbar.

“Well, not exactly. I just don't like it when they stall pinning their faults at me or fearing and attacking me despite all my successful attempts at saving them, but otherwise they're not bad, just annoying. Besides, I do have some pony friends.” He said, finally noticing the crowd that was growing behind the children and seeing that Celestia was smiling at him. “Well, I think there's one of you left, right?”

Finally, it was the hippogriff's turn, a light-lavender furred/feathered girl with purple a two-toned blue mane and tail, and who for some reason was smiling very happily at him.

“Hi there, I'm Silverstream! I don't think you know of me, but I'm Queen Novo's niece and Princess Skystar's cousin, the one you saved from a storm beast!” She said.

'Uh, that explains why she looks familiar.” Thought Praeratus, remembering the peppy hippogriff princess. “Does that make you a princess?”

“Well, kinda, but I don't really have a title. Also, that Neighsay unicorn is an A-grade jerkoff! You saved Equestria from the Storm King, and if not for you everyone at Mount Metazoa would have been eaten by those monsters! And you want to protect us from other, even meaner monsters.” ” Silverstream replied before doing something that surprised Praeratus, the kids and everyone else: hug him. “Thank you.”

Praeratus, shocked at first by her actions, smiled and hugged her back. He heard the 'oooohs' of the onlookers, but didn't have it on him to facepalm at it.

'Celly?' He asked the Princess of the Day through telepathy while at the same time looking at her with a smile, which she returned in earnest. It was the first time he called Celestia by her pet name, and he knew she wanted him to say it. After the near-disaster of today, she deseved it.

'Yes, Praeratus?'

'I think I'm going to like Twilight's pet project. Also, you can call me Praty'

'Ok... Praty.' She replied before chortling and then finally laughing, and while she wasn't doing so with her face her smile still got wider.

'Oh c´mon, you're making it sound like it's embarrassing!'

'Sorry, sorry, it's just... Praty?

“Well kids, I think it's time for you to know a bit more about me... Nah, screw it, this is for all of you.” He then began telling the assembled creatures about himself, the Confederation and the Milky Way, .

No one noticed that a certain pegasus girl was smiling and thinking about what she could do with the alien's technology and magic.

And no one, not even Praeratus, realized they were being watched by furious eyes.

Author's Note

Here it is, the last chapter of 2019 and the 2010s, and it's twice as long as the previous one to boot!

Merry Late Christmas, and HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR EVERYONE!!!

Love... is NOT in the Air

Just a week later, Praeratus was starting to regret accepting the job as guard for the school.

He should have remembered that the Everfree forest was completely empty of dangerous animals, and he was pretty sure that the last thing the psionic bioweapon wanted was to attack him when he was on high alert all the time.

High alert that was basically useless when monsters didn't attack, nor anything else for that matter. A couple manticores did come out one day, but they fled to Fluttershy's when Cyranus charged at them.

Well, there were several other incidents in Ponyville, but none involved the bioweapons, random creatures from the forest, or were that important: Pinkie Pie's sister Maud getting a boyfriend she didn't like, Fluttershy looking after Rarity's shop by faking several identities as assistants, Rainbow Dash looking after Applejack's grandmother and her friends, Cyranus nearly 'mating' with one of the aforementioned manticores, Discord and Pinkie taking a joyride on the Wedge (which he allowed), Rainbow Dash taking a short flight with the Eagle with Discord's help (which he didn't allow) that ended in a crashed snubfighter and a pegasus with broken arms and legs...

Aside from those and a small incident involving the new kids, Neighsay and the School of Friendship itself, which ended with the children as friends and Neighsay accepting the school reluctantly, nothing interesting happened. In paper that was very good, since even with his increased probing of Equus he hasn't seen any sign of the bioweapons.

In theory that was good, since there were no reports of strange sightings nor disappearances, and he was pretty sure the kidnappings and murders were finally over. In practice, though? It mean the creatures had decided to stop the abductions and hide, which was bad because they could still replenish their numbers and get smarter and more adept with their psionics, but Praeratus couldn't do anything about it: his probe was rendered useless, the ship didn't have a scanner, and he would have needed to be at least a green psionic to scan the whole planet. But at least he was prepared in case the things showed up again.

Right now he was on his 'Office of Praeratus' (essentially the janitor closet made, but of a bigger size. Alright, it was actually pretty damn small, so small that he had to lower his head if he wanted to move, and could easily break the walls if he wasn't careful, but he didn't want to dissapoint the builder of the place, and he didn't really mind), sitting on his desk and thinking about what he could do to pass the time since nothing of interest had happened for a few days. Cyranus wasn't with him, guarding the school from outside after the with Applejack's dog.

Also, he wasn't actually sitting on anything. There weren't chairs made for species bigger than ponies at the school, and even if there were none would be strong enough to support a normal therawyrm, much less an enhanced one like Praeratus. Hence he 'sat' on air by supporting his back on the wall. He didn't mind it since he was careful to not push against the wall and his knees weren't hurt by it, but while he knew therawyrms weren't supposed to pose like that, he refused to either stand up again or sit on the floor. Praeratus could get very stubborn.

'Patrol some more? Nah, I've just came from walking. Watch a recording of the last Behemoth Battle? No, I would need the HV to do that and I don't want to go back to Canterlot to watch a holo. Dammit, I never expected to say it, but I'm bored out of my mind. At least during in the War I had enemy fire as background sound, and the jobs and hunts were at the very least interesting... Hey, I've always wondered, why are we here?

'To seek and destroy unused bioweapons of the Confederation made for the Hegemony War.' Said Praeratus' mind. Throughout his very short career as guard of the School of Friendship it went from suggesting him to deal with Neighsay with his fists to simply keep him company when Cyranus was away.

'I not me, I mean life in general. Existence. How did it happen?'

'Well, I don't know what scientists or priests say about it, but it all started when a giant cloud of nothing farted enough energy to form-' It began to say before being rudely interrupted by someone kicking over the door of the room and screaming in joy.

“PRAERATUS!” It was Celestia. For some reason she was as excited and happy as the day he had taught her how to shoot a gun. So happy she was she either didn't realize the room wasn't made for alicorns her size since her breasts were pressed against the wall, or didn't care. “Praeratus! You will not believe what I will be doing in the next three days!”

“Mmm? What are you doing here Celly?” He asked her. While he and Celestia saw each other every day since his ship was still in Canterlot he had never gone to the school after Twilight officially opened it.

“I've been selected as the lead actress for a theater play!”

“Really?” 'Why would anyone choose their princess, or any leader in any case, to be part of their production?' He thought before shrugging it off. “Congratulations for your selection then. You seem pretty happy about it.”

“Of course I'm 'pretty happy', and you have no idea how much I always dreamed of being part of a theatre play! It was my passion since before I became a princess!” She said before she started to sing... and hit her muzzle on the wall of the cramped space after bouncing on her chest.

By now Praeratus had discovered that ALL sophonts of Equus had something in common beyond their primitive societies and the fact that they inhabited the same planet despite that some of them weren't even mammals, was their propensity to sing in unexpected occassions to, for example explain things to children, complain about Applejack's overworking, show anger when Discord took his antics to a new level, or simply being happy, among many other examples. Celestia and the others were actually surprised when they asked him if it was the same in the Milky Way and he said that no, the phenomenon was specific of Equus (and maybe the Dwarf Galaxy, but Equus was the only planet he knew of).

One day they egged him to sing when Celestia revealed he had an excellent baritone voice, and after several ours of hearing a dozen people asking him to sing he accepted to make them shut up, but the result was not what they expected. Sure, his singing was above average, but the out of nowhere music that always appeared whenever a native sang didn't come when he did.

“It may have not looked like it, but that really hurt.” She complained while rubbing her sore mouth and breasts. “Praeratus, why did you choose such a small place to be your office?”

“I didn't, it was either this or walk around the school all the time, and I may be able to travel three hundred miles in less than twenty four hours and stay over a week without foor or water, but I'm no god, I still have to sit from time to time.”

“There's no chair.” Celestia said with a bit of shock when she looked over and saw that Praeratus was, quite literally, sitting on thin air.

“I'm not going to sit my ass in what would have been the janitor's closet. Now, do you want to talk about your future role here, or in a more comfortable place out of the school?”

“Out of the school.”

“Then you have to come out first, I can't do it with you in the middle.”

“Alright.” Celestia then tried to turn on the ... but found out she couldn't. Somehow, because Praeratus, despite being bigger, could turn. “Praeratus, I think my wings are stuck.”

'Oh, right, forgot hers were as big as her.' “So?”

“'So'!? Help me get out of here!” Celestia exclaimed.

“You can use magic to teleport yourself, remember?” He pointed out.

“When a lady asks a gentleco-man to help her” She began to say, rapidly switching out gentlecolt for gentleman. “, the duty of said gentleman is to help her. So, either you help me get unstuck, or we are staying in your office” She then crossed her arms over her chest. Praeratus, though, could see the small smile adorning her muzzle.

'Did she just decide to prank me with... Nevermind.' “Thought Praeratus before sighing in defeat and, careful to not press himself too much against the walls. “Okay, but I'm a bounty hunter and ex-commando, not a gentleman, remember? Gentlemen are polite all the time to everyone for no good reason, which I am not.”

“You don't treat me like a princess since I asked you to do so.” Said Celestia as Praeratus came to her and inspected her wings to see if they were in fact stuck on the door frame, which they were. At least her problem was genuine.

“I think you don't really know what a gentleman is, but that's fine. Now, I'm going to grab your wings and press them together so that they fit through the door. Say something if I hurt you.”

“How considerate from your part.”

Praeratus did as he told, making sure his grip didn't crush the alicorn's delicate and strangely wings. “How are you doing.”

“I'm fine, not really accustomed to having someone else grab my wings like that, but otherwise I'm ok.”

“Good, now you are going to step out of the room. But be careful, I'm still grabbing your wings and I don't want to rip them off by accident if you fall.” He couldn't see her face, but he did hear her swallow hard.

“W-why do you think it could happen? You aren't goint to pull, are you?”

“Of course not, but you have already seen how strong am I compared to ponies, you guys are pretty damn fragile compared to most species in the Milky Way, and I'm not taking any chances.” He said, making Celestia grunt in discomfort, which in turn made him smirk a little. He was only joking a bit, to get back at her for her 'gentleman' thing. “C'mon, you know I won't pull or anything!”

“I have the right of being scared for my wings if a being strong enough to rip metal apart with his bare hands is pressing them together. I can't avoid it, it's just-AH!”

No sooner said than tone. As soon as Celestia was outside the room, she promptly slipped on something and fell. Praeratus, despite not being the one pulling her wings, let go of them.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes.” Said Celestia as she rubbed her sore breasts yet again after helping stop her fall. It must be nice having nearly literal airbags on your chest to stop falls, even if it hurt if they did. “I just tripped over my hooves.”

“You know, you seem awfully clumsy today girl.” He told her as he helped her up.

“Well of course I'm clumsy today, I'm excited, and you already know why! Now c'mon, I know of a very nice restaurant in Canterlot to stay while I tell about it.” She said before grabbing the therawyrm's arm and dragging him towards the entrance.

Praeratus, despite letting himself be dragged, was genuinely surprised by her enthusiasm. Did she really wish to be an actress that much?

'Ohmyselohmyselfohmyself it worked!' Thought Celestia with glee as Praeratus ate his order, a simple salmon steak with some salt and pepper. She, on the other hand, had a much more luxurious menu practically built around a simpler daisy roll due to, well, being the Princess of the Sun. She actually asked for just the daisy roll, but couldn't say no when the owner of the locale practically begged her to take anything she wanted.

Around them, the other clients were not-so-discreetely looking at them and gossiping. Cyranus wasn't with them, having Praeratus left him back at Ponyville to guard it while he was away for the day. He did ask Fluttershy to 'take care' of him, but who knew.

“So, let me get this straight.” Began to say Praeratus (who fortunately was sitting on a chair specifically made for him and which she had brought from the palace) after swallowing a piece of salmon“It has been one thousand and a hundred eleven years since you raised the Sun for the first time, or 'ones-versary' as Twilight calls it, and she wants to commemorate the event by making a play about the event... and asked you to play yourself in it. In turn, you want me to be at the play to serve as further emotional support because you have a bit of stage fright, right?”

“You simplified it a bit, but yes, I want you to be there. Not just to cheer me on, but because I want you to see me. You are my friend after all.”

“I can understand that, but how the hell do you have stage fright if you're used to speeches and such?”

“Giving a speech to a crowd a hundred meters below you is quite different from acting in front of one that is mere yards away from you, and I've never acted before.”

“Ok then, shall we eat?”

“Of course!”

What Praeratus didn't know (and she was sure she asked him to not probe her mind) was that Celestia didn't bring to that restaurant just to ask him about the play. In truth, the restaurant was simply the beginning of something much bigger than simply asking him to come to her 'ones-versary'.

She was in love with Praeratus!

She didn't know when did she start developing feelings for him, but she was completely sure it started when he resurrected her after being mauled by that demon. What Praeratus did next (letting her sleep on his ship because of her nightmares, saving her yet again from the demons alongside the other royals, regrowing Twilight's eaten arm, being nice to Spike, forgiving Luna... and, of course, bonding with her) just made her realize she was in love with him.

Despite being a millenium-old alicorn princess skilled in socials, Celestia didn't know how to deal with these kind of things since she never had any romantic relationship before in her life, always refusing suitors for several reasons, the most common being their love of her image as princess, not her as a pony. And no, she had no loved Discord in the past, and didn't have romantic feelings for him, not after everything he did (and the fact he was plain old and ugly, although Fluttershy may not see him that way...) and despite forgiving him. He was her friend, and a dear one, but that was it.

And it wasn't just a need of affection from Praty either, she felt actual love for him. Just to make sure it was real she visited the actual love expert, Cadance, the day after returning from the Convocation of the Creatures. After assuring her niece and nephew in law she and Twilight alright, a short walk through the Crystal Empire, few 'tests' and some speaking Cadance confirmed that yes, she was in love with the xeno-hunter, and it wasn't a spur of the moment. It has been several weeks since then, and her feelings for Praeratus hadn't changed since then.

Now, all she needed to do was to know if Praeratus would reciprocate that same feeling. After all, even though he was a genetically engineered supersoldier slightly older than her, strong enough to rip monsters apart with his bare claws, intelligent enough that Twilight seemed dumb next to him, able to lift entire buildings and set forests ablaze with a thought, and with enough firepower to level all cities on Equus, he was also a hurt male that needed some love too.

Despite that, though, she wasn't just going to ask him for a date os something. Well, she was, but not a date outright. Cadance was the one who told her what to do: get him to a restaurant, talk a bit, go somewhere else to do stuff (she asked Luna and Twilight to cover for her, saying that she needed to unwind to prepare for the play; the perfect alibi!), talk some more, have a nice walk around the city, and then reveal her feelings to her. The only thing lacking was the 'catalyst', as her niece called it, a reason for him to go with her.

“So... how was your salmon steak?” She asked after they ate.

“Uh? Well, I can't say it's the best thing I've ever eaten, but it's more filling that most fish I've had before, and definitely tastier than any rations I've eaten in the battlefield. And your... whateved that thing is? How was it?”

“Oh, it was simply delicious! My congratulations to the chef, and thanks for the meal!” She said to the waitress that came to gather their meals, who smiled.

“Oh, no, it is you who must be thanked for coming for our humbled establishment your-”

“Humble?” Interrupte Praeratus rather rudely. “I haven't converted a bit to a credit, but I read your menu and I'm pretty sure that a salmon steak shouldn't have the price of a-” He began to say before being interrupted in turn by Celestia, who grabbed him by the arm.

“Thanks for the meal my little ponies bye!” She said before leaving, dragging Praeratus with her. Outside the restaurant she turned to him and exclaimed. “Do you really have to complain all the time!?”

“Well, yeah, I had to complain. Those prices seem to bee a bit high for just a simple fish.”

“It's a classy restaurant, they're supposed to be expensive.”

“My salmon was the cheapest dish on the menu, and yet it costed more than all of Sugarcube Corner's cupcakes together.”

“I just said it's because...” Began Celestia to say before sighing and rubbing her muzzle. “Sometimes you are impossible to deal with.” But then she smiled. “You know, you should make up for what you did to that restaurant.”

“I didn't do anything aside from complaining about their prices, and as client-”

“Exactly! Those nice ponies made us a feast and you criticised their prices! C'mon, I know just the perfect way for you to apologize to me!” She said, before grabbing him again (and before he could question why he should apologized to her at all) and dragging him around Canterlot.

First they hit the local bowling alley, where their stay was short due to Praeratus always winning.

Next they went to an arcade, where Praeratus was utterly dumbfounded by the existance of its machines. He already knew they had arcade machines, he just didn't understand yet how could they have things like them and yet no actual computers.

After that they visited the art gallery, not having to wait in the line because of Celestia. They... well, they went from picture to picture. Even Celestia, who was a pony, was a bit bored.

Following the art gallery they visited the Canterlot Museum. At first Praeratus seemed like he was actually interested by what they would see, but after a few exhibitions and pointing out several inconsistencies and (to him) glaring errors (like the universe being entirely composed of magic and only a billion miles wide, the Sun being a giant ball of magic and fire, or ponies being the most advanced species ever. Yes, ever), not being kicked out of the place partly because he came with the Princess of the Day... and mostly because he was the super powerful alien that saved the city two months prior and had a short fuse.

Finally they visited Canterlot Carousel, Canterlot's branch of Rarity's Carousel line of clothing shops, and the most popular of the city.

“Uh, didn't know that Rarity founded and owns a fashion chain.” Muttered Praeratus when they entered the establishment, seeing that the interior was a near-perfect replica of Rarity's. “I mean, I've seen this place before, but I thought the name was just a coincidence.”

The pair were greeted by a tall cyan unicorn with red-yellow mane and tail, Sassy Saddles, who freaked out when she saw Celestia and the savior of Canterlot on her boutique.

Why did Celestia bring Praeratus there? To buy him clothes. His wardrobe was very dull, and if he didn't wore anything from it he wore his xeno-hunter armor, which was simply intimidating. She could have asked Rarity back in Ponyville, but the melodramatic unicorn would have linked two and two together and blow her plan out of the window, whereas her employee wasn't as romance-obsessed as her.

Praeratus naturally didn't want to at first, but relented when Celestia went to her knees and cried. In the end, the therawyrm got a nice black suit that covered his body and remarked his muscles, while Celestia got a beautiful sundress that showed all her curves... and both walked out of the boutique wearing their new clothes because Celestia threatened to have a tantrum in the streets if Praeratus didn't put his suit on. Childish? Definitely, but she wanted to make him wear something else.

(Of course they had to go back to the ship to leave the bounty hunter suit, but that wasn't important)

By the time they were simply having a walk around the city, it was already night in Equestria.

“So... I think it's getting late.” Said Celestia, in a bid to start the last part of her plan to reveal her love: ask him to accompany her to the castle. To make it seem like she was tired, she faked a yawn. “And I'm getting tired. Praeratus, would you mind accompanying me back to the palace?”

“Of course, although I'll have to park the car first. Don't want to be guilty of a thief getting himself turned into a strainer.” He said as he walked before stopping and looking at her. “The ship is in the airship port though. Do you want to wait here, or come with me and walk back to the Castle after getting I back?”

“I'm coming with you.” 'YES!' She screamed mentally as they went to the car. “Walking a little more won't hurt, especially in a lovely night like this.”

While in the way to the Wedge, Celestia realized that she hadn't thought of what would Praeratus do when she opened her heart to him, but shrugged it off.

'He'll probably freak out or something.' She thought with a small smile as Praeratus and her walked to his car.

As Praeratus was driving through the not crowded, yet not deserted streets of Canterlot, Celestia prepared herself mentally for what would she do.

'Okay Celly, it's actually pretty easy. Wait for him to get out, stand next to him, ask him what he feels about you, then you do the same, finally admit you love him and wait for his reaction.' She thought before realizing something that filled her with dead. 'But what if he doesn't love me back? He has to, no? I mean, he DID let me sleep on his bed when the nightmares returned...' She thought before seeing the airship port just in front of them. 'Nevermind, It's too late to go back now.'

“Here we are.” Informed Praeratus as he parked the Wedge under the ship.

Both occupants got off the vehicle. While Praeratus lowered the ramp, Celestia took advantage of him being distracted to discreetly stand next to him.

“So” She began to say. “, how was this day for you Praeratus?”

“Good, good. I got to be for you alone, although I fear what is Cyranus doing back with Fluttershy.” He said without turning to look at her.

“Well, for me it has been one of my best days of my life.”

“We just walked around Canterlot.”

“Yes, but I did with one of my best friends... and savior.” She said, saying savior in a kind tone.

They way she spoke made Praeratus turn to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Praeratus, not only did you become a new friend for me after having only Spike, Luna, Twilight, her own friends and Discord, but also you saved me. You saved me when you didn't have to do it at all.”

“Well, one has to have standards you know.”

“Not only that, you also agreed see me perform in Twilight's play in three days.”

“You asked me, remember?” He pointed out just as the ramp came down.

“I know, but you didn't have to say yes. And you didn't even grunt when I dragged you along to wherever I liked.” She said, slowly getting closer and closer to the confused therawyrm. “The only reason other ponies wouldn't do that if they could is because of my rank, soemthing you ignore.”

“Celestia, where are you going with that?” Praeatus asked as she was mere inches away from him.

Instead of replying with words, Celestia decided that it was time.

She carefully grabbed his muzzle, looked at his eyes with all the love she could gather... and kissed him.

It wasn't a kiss with tongue, but it wasn't a simple peck on his rough lips either; just to show Praeratus she loved him.

Praeratus himself was too stunned to do anything as she kept the kiss for over half a minute.

Celestia, kiss ended, looked up at him with a blush adorning her face and a smile on her lips.

“I.. I love you Praeratus.”

She didn't know what to expect from him. A splutter of confusion? A heartfelt speech with the same message? Him kissing her again?

Praeratus' surprise slowly gave way to... sorrow.

“I...” He said as he backed away. He was scared, but... “I would love to love you... but I don't think I can. Or should.”

With that he turned and ran at full speed into the night.

And leaving a confused and heartbroken Celestia behind.

Author's Note

And we've finally arrived at the romance!!

... which is kind of sappy. I know, it's probably not the best way to develop the romance of the story, nor a good deliverance, but you guys could help by writing some advice.

Sadness

Praeratus didn't know how long did he ran. Nor did he care. He had to get away from Celestia, get away from her before he broke her heart further than it surely and already was.

'Have to run, stay away from her, have to run, stay away from her...' Was the nearly maddened mantra going on his head, with each phrase coming and going with the beats of his heart, which only got worse as he ran even faster through a forest.

'You know, this is all that bitch's fault for making you remember.' Said the voice in his head, which in contrats to its previows statements full of anger sounded... concerned for him.

Too bad he didn't care for it, but he did care about its blatant insult towards Celestia.

“SHUT THE FRACK UP, IT'S MY FAULT FOR BREAKING MY PROMISE TO HER!!!” He shouted at it, his roar echoing throughout the woods.

Eventually he stopped running and found himself in a clearing. He wasn't tired, nor out of breath, but he needed to do something, anything to calm himself before he did something he would regret.

Praeratus did what he did best: breaking things.

He began tearing the place to pieces. He broke the trees surrounding the clearing, shattered the rocks doting it, even stomped on the soil... He kicked, slashed, punched, bit and even used psionics, all to blow off steam. He also killed animals that had the bad luck of not getting away fast enough, but he didn't pay them mind.

By the time he finally calmed down, the clearing was several times wider, covered in gravel, dust, tree bark and some gore and blood after an unquantificable period of time of wrecking the place, and Praeratus was left panting and shaking from the experience.

“That... that should suffice.” He said to no one. Well, no one but himself.

'You did all that just to vent some steam... why exactly if I may ask?' Asked the voice.

“To think of what to do.” Praeratus replied as he sit on a boulder that miraculously survived his onslaught. Wiping his muzzle with his hands, he grunted. “I shouldn't have run away like a damn coward. Dammit I didn't even say WHY I can't and shouldn't love her back!”

'Oh c'mon you can't be serious! Celestia doesn't love you, she can't1'

“And why, exactly, can't she love me?” He asked to the voice.

'Well, for starters, you're not even a mammal so she can't really feel attracted to you even in the primal sense. And don't come to me about the planet's races, you're still a goddamn alien that simply looks like one of them... which is also one of the most distrusted if what we've seen is to go by.'

'Second, what would the ponies think-hell, what would Equus think if the Princess of the Sun, Bringer of the Day and whatever other titles she has enters in a romantic relationship with a very powerful being that's supposed to be morally superior because he's an alien and is genuinely superior because of his aforementioned power yet doesn't act as such?'

“They would have to respect her opinion precisely because she's the one rasing and lowering the Sun of Equus each day for one thousand eleven hundred and eleven years, and she was most of that time alone and regretting imprisoning her only family on the Moon, whereas her subjects don't give a damn about her feelings. I think she deserves something better than just a play as award.”

'You say you want to love her, yet you also compared your love with a prize.'

“Don't make it seem like that, you fracking idiot! I can't compare shit!” He roared. “And-"

'Fine fine fine, she deserves to be loved by someone that can love her back. I get it, and understand it to a point... but I refuse to like it'

“Well, too bad, because I don't-” Began to say Praeratus before the voice interrupted him.

'Also... DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ALLURA!?!?' It said, screaming the last part. 'You can't just break your promise to her!'

Praeratus stayed silent as the voice ranted about her.

Allura, an älf noble he met after the War before becoming a xeno-hunter... and his first and only love.

At least for now.

Praeratus shook his head and put those thoughts aside. He remembered what she told him on that awful day.

“I already did; in fact, I broke that promise several times before!” Screamed back the therawyrm. “I haven't forgotten her despite she wanting me to live my life, to find somebody to love and forget about her her!”

'Allura was on the verge of a coma when she said that, she probably wasn't thinking straight!'

“Oh, Allura was completely lucid when she spoke to and made me swear to live for her after she died.”

'She's didn't die, she's just in a coma!'

“The doctors said she wouldn't ever wake up from that coma, and that it was better to let her die in peace than to make her suffer!”

'You weren't there to see it! For all you know-' It began to say before Praeratus interrupted it just like it interrupted him before.

“Just because I wasn't there to see her death doesn't mean she did! We filled all the papers, we got flak for it, nearly offed myself because of the guilt, and remembered that I had a new life to take care of, and Allura's promise!”

Praeratus would have ranted more and more if he hadn't heard a twig snap behind him... and a gasp of horror.

Was it amongst the most cliche things he had seen since he arrived in Equus alongside laughably evil bastards, random music and wacky physics? Yes, but it also meant he was being watched.

The former Centurion quickly turned to the direction the noise came from, raised his hand and used telekinesis to lift whoever had been watching him and propel them to him.

Them, in this case, was not about gender, but quantity.

“Hey, don't be so rough!”

Praeratus eyes widened, then narrowed when he saw who had been spying on him.

It was Luna and Discord. He had been so clouded with fear that he didn't detect their brain emissions.

“Oh hi there Praeratus!” Discord greeted, an awkward smile on his face and eyes trembling in fear (literally).

The blue alicorn, on the other hand, was glaring daggers at him, which was incredible given what nearly happened to her the last time she did that.

Praeratus ignored the draconequus and focused on the princess, who continued to glare at him.

“I suppose you came here when you heard the ruckus I made.” He said to her.

“Yes, but only after two days of you going berserk.” Replied Luna, still glaring.

“Wait, what?” Praeratus asked in bewilderment before dropping the two. Well, Discord was dropped, Luna flapped her wings to stay afloat. “What do you mean with 'two days'?”

“Buddy, you may not know it, but you have been ripping and tearing this place to pieces for two days straight.” Replied Discord as he dusted himself. “Three, if we count after we arrived.

'Three... three fracking days!?' Thought Praeratus in bewilderment.

“And boy was it scary! I mean, I can do worse, but not with these noodle arms of mine!”

“Discord...” Muttered Luna, annoyed by her friend's incessant and useless babbling.

“I wonder what would Flutters think of your rampage? I know, she's my best friend, but I really, really want to see her reaction if she saw-”

Discord was unable to end that phrase because Luna screamed with the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“DISCORD, SHUT THE BUCK UP!”

The force of Luna's shout catapulted a screaming Discord to the other side of the enlarged clearing, stopping only when he crashed into a particularly large tree. It also pushed her back a few yards, but neither she nor Praeratus took notice of this.

Luna snorted in satisfaction before turning back to Praeratus.

“How long have you been watching me?” Asked the xeno-hunter, fearing he had been acting like a feral beast for more than two days.

“Since you stopped being a living engine of destruction and started speaking to no one several hours ago. We followed you here after you broke my sister's heart, but I knew better than to approach you as you were.”

Praeratus grunted in shame. He must have been really angry with himself if he had killed someone he knew about enough to care for them.

“Who's this Allura you've been talking about?”

As if a switch had been pressed, Praeratus' ashamed expression became angry.

“I'ts none of your damn concern!” He roared at her. While his shout was not psionically enhanced, it was still strong enough to startle Luna and make her stop flying. After that he stood his towering seven foot tall, five foot wide body over the six foot pony that wasn't even half as wide. “And how much did you hear!”

“It is my damn concern if its related to my sister's well being!” Screamed back Luna, just as angrily as the much larger alien. “You broke my sister's heart!”

“First off, and before we start a shouting match, that you will definitely lose, how do you know about that?”

Luna, knowing that Praeratus was right, forced herself to calm down and looked up at him again.

“I saw you both having a date through the city, and thinking that a bit of spying would do nopony arm I followed you as-”

“It wasn't a date.” Praeratus interrupted.

“She's in love with you, and enjoyed your company, and it didn't seem you disliked it, so in essence it was.” Rpelied Luna before continuing. “Naturally I was confused by this, since it was the first time in ever I saw both of you doing things together, and so I watched you from afar with a scrying spell. I then watched as you broke Celestia's heart by telling her that though you wanted to love her, you couldn't, and shouldn't.”

“Go on.”

“Naturally I was incensed with you, but rather to chase you then I came to Celestia to bring her back to the palace and comfort her.”

Praeratus sighed again, and returned to being ashamed of himself. Maybe he should have specified why he could't love her back instead of just saying he couldn't and running away like a coward.

“And after that?” He asked.

“After that I heard that something was tearing apart the center of a nearby forest, and putting two and two together I came to see you talking to yourself like a madstallion for an entire day.” She said while gesturing up, making Praeratus look at the sky and realize it was night.

“And for the record” Said Discord, teleporting to them after snapping his back to place. “, we also came because you threw a boulder to Manehattan, which for the record again is several leagues away from here. NAUTICAL leagues, which are longer than nautical miles, which in turn-”

“Discord, he gets it.” Groaned Luna, her anger temporarily forgotten to deal with Discord's obnoxious pointing out.

“Damn...” The thought of people nearly dying because of him was, well, unsettling to say the least.

“And what of Celestia?”

“Right now she's at the play in Ponyville-HEY!” Luna screamed again as Praeratus sped off. “WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?”

“To fix a mistake.” She heard Praeratus scream before disappearing into th woods at ludicrous speed.

“YOU THINK I'M GOING TO!!!... let you!... leave like that?” She began to scream before trailing off and eventually falling silent and slumping to the ground in defeat. She doubted the alien warrior had even heard her.

“Well, look at the bright side.” Said Discord, standing next to her with a giant bag of ice on his head. “He's trying to fix whatever happened between them instead of just mucking around in useless... Hey, fancy go to the play?”

Praeratus ran through the forest and eventually got out, looked around and, spotting Ponyville in the very far distance, raced to it, his speed enhanced thanks to his psionics.

'Must make amends with Celestia!' Thought Praeratus furiously, running at full speed to the town and either destroying trees and rocks on his way or jumping over bewildered animals and ponies. 'Before she kills herself or something!'

'Oh c'mon, you think a thousand years old mature woman would kill herself-' Began to say the voice before Praeratus interrupted it.

“Yes, yes I do! I nearly spaced myself if not for Cyranus being there, remember!?”

'Well, yeah, but... Hey, stop running and look up.'

Praeratus, confused by the voice's response, did so just when he was a mere mile from Ponyville.

“Where?”

'That cloud over there, at your left. The white bitch is there with the purple one.'

Praeratus would have screamed at it to shut it up, but instead looked up and, after sending a psionic probe, realized that it was right, Celestia and Twilight were up there.

And even with the distance, he could heard the sobbing.

Without even thinking, Praeratus was already covered in a psionic barrier that encompassed him, then hovering and raising to the cloud.

Twilight, who was about to confront Celestia and beg her forgiveness after getting mad over her lack of acting skills, got the greatest scare of her life when Praeratus, who until that point hadn't shown any capacity of flight, came out from the cloud she and Celestia were on and hovered between them (despite breaking many of Equestria's laws of physics, Praeratus was unable to stand on clouds like pegasi could).

“A-” Praeratus grabbed Twilight's muzzle before she could scream. After a few seconds, the purple alicorn realized who he was and calmed down, but before she were able to do anything, Praeratus spoke to her through telepathy.

'I know why are you here, and understand it, but you too know what happened between me and Celestia, and that's worse than just some theater play. Go back to the theater.'

Twilight gave him a quizzical look mixed with some anger.

'Please, I need to tell her something about... Just leave, please.' He said, and for the third time since Praeratus came to Equus she saw him genuinely feeling bad and ashamed.

Twilight gave him a look of empathy before nodding. Praeratus, nodding back in gratitude, let go of her muzzle and watched as she teleported back to Canterlot.

The sound of the teleport spell made Celestia cease her crying for a moment and glance behind her. When she saw that Praeratus was hovering behind her, she became so startled that she jumped and nearly fell if not for Praeratus pulling her.

“P-Praeratus what are you doing here!?” She said as Praeratus brought her over to him and made her sit on the cloud.

“First of all, why are YOU here? Aren't you supposed to be at your one-oneswhatever anniversary?And why are you crying? It's not just because of me, I can tell.” He already knew by reading Twilight's mind, but he wanted to hear it from Celestia.

“W-well” Celestia started. “, after isolating myself for two days, Twilight called me to do the rehearsal of the play and, well, it turns out that being a ruler does not make you a good actress.”

“And hearing that from your own former protegee must have hurt, right?” Praeratus said.

“Actually, I didn't leave because she told me I was bad, I did because she wasn't honest with me right until the very end.” Replied Celestia, now calm and composed. “I actually like being criticized by my friends since, you know, I'm the princess. It's just that Twilight wasn't honest with me, I am a very poor actress yet she bottled up her frustration right until an hour ago. And you? Why are you here?” She asked him.

“To ask for forgiveness. I shouldn't have ran away like a fracking coward and rampaged through the forest like some mindless beast.”

“Praeratus here's nothing to forgive!” She said as she stood up and hugged him. “I was rash and stupid, thinking that you would actually return my feelings with everything that's-” She began to say before Praeratus interrupted her.

“It's not that!” Praeratus replied as he gently pushed Celestia away from him. “I WANT to love you, but I feel I CAN'T or SHOULDN'T, remember?”

“I can understand that, but why?”

Praeratus, hearing the dreaded and yet expected word, looked down to the cloud for a solid minute.

“Praeratus?” Celestia asked, worried by the therawyrm's lack of response.

Praeratus sighed and then looked up at her. He looked like he was about to cry. Not stoically look forward to comfort a crying child, not frown sadly like a commander that failed his men, actually cry.

“I... I think you should know about her.”

“Her?”

“My dead wife.”

Author's Note

Next chapter will be a complete flashback, and might have timeskips showing the relationship between Praeratus and Allura, I'm still not sure. What I'm sure about is that I'll try my damnest to make it actually tragic.

And yes, Allura is from Voltron, except she's not a princess here. I did say that the story would also have minor crossovers didn't I?

The Past (Part 1)

'MONG'S' was one of the most popular pubs in the Acropolis thanks to its location near the hangars and the many celebrities that went there to have a drink. The bar was especially crowded that day because it was the anniversary of the last battle from the most devastating war the Confederation fought, which ended exactly a hundred years prior.

'… we are here to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Midlorian, the last and most costly battle of the Hegemony War-' You could barely hear words of the aimtroog reporter because of the racket the regulars were making.

“Quiet down a little, will you!?” Shouted the owner and only bartender of the bar, a grey skinned and stout therawyrm that that seemed to be well over a thousand four hundred years; that was when a therawyrm was considered past their prime. Groaning, the man grabbed a megaphone he had for occassions like this and shouted: “The Commeroration is going to begin any moment now, and you won't won't hear it if you don't shut up!”

His words managed to finally silence the barflies, at least enough so that everyone inside could hear the broadcast. Everybody watched with wide eyes and solemn hearts as President Rrrugan Vakarian, himself a veteran of the War, gave a speech honoring the billions of deaths.

Everybody except one that's it.

A certain black skinned therawyrm that fought in the war.

Praeratus actually got off his seat, among the closest to the holovisor, and walked off the establishment as President Vakarian began his speech.

“Hey!” He heard behind him. Praeratus turned to see the owner of the bard looking at hi. “Why are you leaving boy? The Commemoration...” He trailed off as Praeratus silently lift his shirt to show the myriad of scars he gained during the war... and the mark that all Centurions had. Only the bartended saw it, but it was all he needed.

“I'm not a person of speeches.”

The bartender, knowing what Praeratus meant (he was definitely a veteran himself) and realizing who he was, nodded to him in understanding, but before Praeratus could turn, he filled a especially large jar with ale and throwed it at him.

“Keep it, it's the least I can do for a hero!”

Praeratus nodded in thanks and left the bar, sipping his drink along the way.

'A speech. A trillion people dead, hundreds of worlds glassed or cracked, quadrillions of credits lost, twenty billion displaced... and all he can give is a fracking speech?' Thought Praeratus as he walked through the deserted streets of the Residential ward where which his house was and drank his jar, slightly dizzy but not enough to stumble. “A motherfracker is what he is.”

After the Treaty was signed, Praeratus and the other Centurions were relieved of duty and given civilian jobs (no matter how he liked his job as taxi driver and how many times he told himself he chose to be one) by High Command to keep them away from anything violent that could remind them of the nearly total extermination of their regiment, their brothers and sisters, since it was literally all the high brass could do for them at that point. Didn't stop Victus, Fadila and nearly a half of all surviving Centurions to become pirates and raid Hegemonic space.

He still remembered the fight between him and Victus that obliterated their meeting place when they refused to listen to him and live their lives. He won, but also knew that Victus would refuse to back down (despite getting his ass kicked repeatedly) and, in his own words, 'live like a fracking civilian when we could make those cats and squidfaces pay', and so Praeratus let them go under the promise of not involving the Confederation. That left him alive alongside the others, went along with him.

That was the other reason he went to MONG'S; he needed a damn drink after hearing from some bounty hunters that an Hegemony deserters outpost had been raided earlier that day by other bounty hunters; therawyrm bounty hunters. The outpost was destroyed, and the deserters exterminated, but none of the ex-Centurions survived the job.

Not that the rest got any better, what with being bounty hunters and ignoring the outright begs of him and the military to not risk their lives.

After a millenium since they were born, a century since the war officially ended, and out of a regiment of nine hundred hypersoldiers that were worth an entire squad of common Gene Warriors each, he was the only one still alive.

And he would have cried right in the middle of that street if he still had tears, but he had already cried his heart out earlier that day when he found out what happened to them.

Sometimes, he wished to simply end it all the easy way (a bullet/pulse/beam to the brain, flying into a star or blackhole, opening a hatch that led to open space, travel to the Dwarf Galaxy through that wormhole near the Acropolis and let himself be killed the moment he found something nasty...), but just when it seemed he'd do it he always backed off. He may have been suicidal, but as former Centurion and therawyrm, he wanted to die fighting, not just drop dead.

But on the days he was working and depressed, he had those possibilities in mind. Just because.

After five minutes of walking through the Residential ward, he finally arrived at the neighborhood in which he lived. The place was located right in the corner of the ward, where the reinforced plasteel floor and ceiling of the ward met to make a triangle with the walls as limit; said walls were dotted with several large windows that showed the star-dotted blackness of space, illuminated by the lights that came from the ceiling, the street lamposts, the buildings themselves...

Too bad the place itself was rifled with crime of all types all day and night (or more accuratelly all day, since the lights never always on): robberies, trespassing, burglary, graffiti,gang brawls where nobody died but everyone ended in the local hospital... Yep, it the worst neighborhood in the ward, and a a terrible place to live for more decent folk, like couples with children or, but the perfect location for veterans who didn't mind cracking some burglar's skull if they dared to get inside their homes.

His own house was at the end of the street he was walking on, a simple bungalow of red walls and roof, a couple windows on the front, one at the back, and all of it covered in covered in a thin layer of something. Overall, not exactly the most welcoming home, but for a single man it sufficed. Besides, the filthiest house was better than any trench or foxhole by default.

However, just as he was about to open the door, he heard it, an unmistakable sound that pierced the silence of the neighborhood.

A scream.

The kind of scream a man made when his scrotum was being crushed slowly. He would know.

In another occasion he would have shrugged and gone to bed, but given that there was at least someone out there instead of celebrating the day in some place, watching HV or something like that and was screaming at the top of his lungs because he was being castrated, and that the worst thing that happened around there was a brawl, he decided to investigate. Besides, he didn't have anything to do at the moment.

After using a probe to locate where the scream came from and running between the apartment blocks and houses to go there, he found himself in an alley and witnessin a most peculiar sight.

A woman beating the shit out of several thugs of various races with her bare hands and a bit of telekinesis. The screaming came from the only thug she used cryokinesis on, a nifog whose crotch looked like a strawberry slushy.

“And that's for not coming quietly, you zabs!” The woman said as she finished kicking one of her 'assailants' in the belly before spitting on his face and turning... to see a baffled therawyrm looking at her.

In another occasion, the woman would have mistaken Praeratus for a thug and attacked him, and probably would have ended just as broken as her opponents.

Not this time.

The woman somehow realized that he wasn't a thug, even with the empty jar clutched on his left hand, and also realized that the man had catched her brutalizing some guys without context. Also, he was pretty damn big even for a therawyrm, and as a skilled psionic she could sense that he was more powerful than her.

“H-ello there!” She said with an awkward smile.

“Hey...”

“If you are wondering what happened here, I didn't start it, I can explain!” She said before she began ranting.

Praeratus, not actually caring about what happened, simply nodded as she spoke and took on her features.

She was a slender älf with brown skin and long, curly silver hair tied in a ponytail, with pink sickle-shaped tattoos on her cheekbones, right under each of ther bright blue eyes, which also had lavender pupils. She was wearing a simple leather jacket over a white armor set with pink accents in the breastplate, shoulders and knees. Given that she was wearing armor, she probably was a bounty hunter of sorts, and the thugs were her quarry.

She was, in a word, beautiful, but not that good of a bounty hunter given that her armor was still visible and didn't see any weapon on her person, and a bit absent mindled, because one of her catches of the day (incidentially the one castrated) was rising behind her and aiming a Gar20 at the back of her head.

Without even thinking, Praeratus threw his empty jar over the älf's head and right into the nifog's face with enough force to shatter into a thousand shards, but not enough to cave his head in. The nifog was lucky to be knocked out by that, because the pain of having several alcohol-covered pieces of glass pierce his skin would have been just as bad as his penis being flash frozen and shattered.

The älf, who froze when Praeratus saved her from having her head turned into a plasma-burned mush, tore her eyes from the knocked out nifog and looked back at the therawyrm with wide eyes, then back to the guy, then back to Praeratus, and so forth for at least fifteen seconds, all the while muttering 'wha'.

Praeratus decided to stop her before she began acting weird...er

“Ma'am, are you alright?” He asked the älf as he approached her. Now that he was closer he could see her face better and deduct her age at a bit below 500, the mean age for adult älfs. Well, älfs and therawyrms, but the latter aged much better than the former; by the time an älf was 800 they were considered old, whereas a therawyrm of similar age was still on his prime, and would be like that until they reached 1400.

The woman stopped her mumbling and shook her head before looking at Praeratus and smiling awkwardly – again.

“Yes, yes, I'm fine! No, I'm better than fine, I'm alive thanks to you! For that you have my thanks!” She said as she bowed by bending her torso forwards, the traditional älf sign of respect, used only by nobility and royalty. It also explained why she acted as she did: she was a pampered blueblood.

Praeratus returned her bow with a curt nod. “You're welcome, but if we wait too much one of your bounties is gonna bled out, and everyone's watching Vakarian's speech so I don't think the police nor the hospital's are avaiable.” He said, pointing at the currently unconscious nifog with no balls.

The woman looked back and saw that Praeratus was right.

“Oh no! If he dies I won't get paid!” Simple and straight to the point, eh?

“Fortunately for you, I happen to have a first aid equipment back at home. It's not the best, but if we arrive in time I can save him.”

“But how do we-” She began to say before Praeratus, who already knew what she would say, grabbed all the downed thugs in a psionic field, and then walked to his home. The bounty hunter, after a few moments of stupefaction, realized he was leaving with her bounties and hurried after him.

After an strenuous hour in which the castrated nifog nearly bled out, Praeratus managed to heal his wound and stabilize him, after which he threw him with the others on his basement and had coffee with the bounty hunter, who was the one that made it while he was operating.

The woman's name was Allura, and she was a rookie psionic hunter, a bounty hunter that used psionics to catch her bounty. She was after those four lowlives with orders of catching them alive. She was also the daughter of highly influential Altean nobles, Lord Alfor and Lady Melenor, and close family to the Royal Family.

Most important of all, though, was that she too was a veteran of the Hegemony War. A Psionic Warrior to be specific.

Before the War, during a vacation on a paradise planet on the reaches of the Confederation, she revealed she wanted to be join an humanitarian effort. Naturally her family freaked out, although not all in the same way: her mother, Alfor was a bit downtrodden, whereas her mother was proud of having a daughter who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty to help people, even though Allura wouldn't have to actually defend herself.

And then the Hegemony attacked the planet, starting with a kinetic bombardment that reduced the surface to ruins, and then sending armies to round up survivors and either kill them or take them as slaves. Fortunately for them, they were already leaving the planet's starport when the first Hegemony ship began to fire at the planet, but they still saw said ship turn its firepower towards the station, which was still filled with people, and obliterate it.

Being powerful psionics, Allura and her parents felt thousands of voices scream in terror before going silent, and even more watching the destruction of the planet in satisfaction, before entering hyperspace and leaving the doomed planet.

Melenor didn't make a fuss when Allura dissappeared one day only to to come back two months later, decked in the iconic armor of a Psionic Warrior to tell them she had joined the Garrison of a nearby system and that she would join the fight soon.

A fight that lasted an entire human century. Älfs lived longer and matured slower than humans, but even for them one hundred years of war were too much. Because of the war ((despite not being nowere as much involved in fighting as most Psionic Warriors, or troops for that matter) and, most importantly, seeing what the Hegemony did with their 'prisoners', she had developed a mean streak that could only be satisfied with violence, which was why she turned to bounty hunting after several years of fruitless nothing and nightmares and anger from the war.

Despite that, she seemed to hold much better from the war than Praeratus and other veterans given that she didn't have the typical marks of PTSD, survivor's guilt and such traumas.

(That also explained why she had been so rough with those thugs. She wasn't used to take prisoners alive)

Another thing, she too felt insulted by the speech of the President about the war, although she also believed that the treaty was the best option, something that Praeratus didn't refute.

“So, what's your story Praeratus?” Allura asked as she took a sip from her tea. They were now in the therawyrm's house, and after watching him make sure that the nifog would survive he sedated him and his buddies.

“Mmm?”

“In what branch did you serve?” She clarified. “I know most therawyrms served in Heavy Infantry, but did you?”

“At... first, but after the battle of Zion I joined the Helldivers. Heavy weapons.”

The Helldivers was a Gene Warrior special operations platoon that deployed on planets via drop pods, which were both their mean for landing and LZ cleaner, since a single pod landing had the same explosive energy of a small naval artillery gun, and the enemy troops that survived having half a ton of plasteel landing on them at mach fifty landing on them would have to face four angry space marines. Being selected from the best super soldiers, the Helldivers were considered the elite of the elite, and therefore the public didn't know much about them even during the war.

Of course, since Praeratus was a Centurion he served ALONGSIDE Helldivers, not as one of them. Besides, at last half of the Centurions loathed and held contempt from what they saw as cheap copies of them and who weren't even therawyrm in turn the Helldivers...

Uh oh.

“I thought therawyrms weren't allowed to join the Helldivers?” Allura asked in an interrogating tone.

HOW THE FRACK COULD HE BE SO STUPID!?

“Erm, well, yes but... You must remember what happened at Tyger Pax. They were down in manpower and needed some help.”

“I WAS in Tyger Pax.” Allura said as she narrowed her eyes. “And I didn't see any Helldiver tall enough to...” The älf stopped talking when she realized what she said. “Tall enough. You know, Praeratus, I have never seen a therawyrm taller than my father, who's pretty tall himself.” She said before asking something. “Say, how old are you Praeratus?”

“I'm two years shy of a thousand forty.”

Allura stared at him for a full minute (a very pregnant minute mind you) before something seemed to click on her head.

“You're tall for a therawyrm... You're old enough to have participated in all the conflicts before the Hegemony War...” She said before trailing off and looking at something past Praeratus' shoulder, at the wall of the kitchen. The therawyrm followed her gaze and internally screamed at himself when he saw what she was looking at.

It was a physical photo showing a dozen therawyrms, male and female alike, all of them relatively young and wearing the same type of armor, saluting alongside a gazam man. Nothing out of the ordinary save for three facts.

One: the synapsids towered over the porcine by more a foot instead of a couple inches, and it was obvious that most of their height was theirs.

Two: the armor they wore, while pretty much antiquated nowadays, was the Sajaak Assault armor MK.1 the first functional itineration of power armor ever made by the Confederation for its army, and the forerunner for all powered exoskeletons designed and used by the Confederal military.

Three: one the therawyrms was a certain black skinned, black eyed male.

The photo was made in the, let's call it 'graduation' of the Centurions, in which twelve of the young super soldiers had been sent to deal with a heavily defended pirate base and wiped it out with not casualties. It was one of the few memories Praeratus took when he 'left' the military, alongside his armor and his many medals. The armor was stored in a storage unit on the Commercial district, hidden from prying eyes and always watched over by cameras and military personnel posing as guards, and the medals were on his bedroom.

But since he never thought he would invite people to the hovel he called home, he simply hung the photography on the kitchen's wall, never expecting others to see it.

If not for Allura screaming and squealing when she discovered who he was, he would have hit his head on the wall.

Several times.

“So, the mighty and wise Praeratus never guessed that someday, someone would enter his home and see that photo?” Celestia said after having a laughing fit. Celestia had finally composed herself and both were walking (slowly if it can be added) towards Ponyville for no real reason.

Praeratus groaned as he heard the alicorn giggle, but this had been good for the two of them: she had forgotten about the play enough to cheer up, and he managed to not sink into depression at least for the moment.

Of course, that would change when he got to... that day.

“Yes, yes, laugh it up Sunbutt, but don't forget, I saw several photos of yours that somehow no one has noticed despite being out for everyone to see.”

Celestia's laugh was cut off as she remembered that fact, and she both glared and stared in fear at Praeratus, who didn't care and began speaking about how Allura gushed and squealed about meeting a Centurion.

He didn't notice that Celestia was holding his hand as they walked.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I'm also writing a story in Spacebattles. This is the first of a three parter mini-arc about Praeratus' life after the war and before becoming a xeno-hunter. As always comment about the fic, fave and most importantly of all press Like.

Edit: changed Praeratus job from accountant to a taxi driver after rewatching The Fifth Element for the first time in five years. I'm starting to wonder if I'm basing him off Korben Dallas too.

Interlude: Hegemony Member Species

Doboids
-Homeworld: Aethera.
-Group: Mollusca (cephallopoda subgroup).
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 7 feet, 180 pounds, 400 years.
-Species traits: all members of this species are capable of using psionics, and are also quite intelligent, and quite traditional, but overall physically frail and weak (although individuals can vary), their weakness forces them to use 'serf' species and slaves for heavy work, and their population growth is stunted due to both their slow reproduction speed and the War. Their sense of hearing is also rather poor, but that's not a problem for a species that can use telepathy.
-Total population: 40 billion.
-Caste: religious leaders, academics, politic.
-Racial slurs: squidfaces, squids, octopus, mind flayers, brain suckers, squiggies, parasites.
As one of the four member species (and the other half with all power), doboids are officially the highest echelon of the Hegemony, being its religious leaders and politics, and most psionics able to kill are also doboids. Most are somewhat zealous of the religion the Hegemony was built upon and petulant, and will force any non-hegemonic sophont in their presence to join their empire, either through evangelization or through the force of arms, and if that fails, they will enslave them; if that fails too, they'll do anything to kill the sophont, mostly in the form of either psionic blasts or loc-hanae troopers.

Loc-hanae
-Homeworld: Kilrados.
-Group: Felidae.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 7 feet, 250 pounds, 180 years.
-Species traits: loc-hanae are physicall powerful, nowhere as near as therawyrms nor the Hegemony's own power houses and 'residents', the wabaks, but still strong enough to deadlift 700 pounds with little difficulty, they're born fighters due to being predators (their sharp teeth and retractable claws have a part on this), and honorable to a fault. On the other hand, they don't take well to any insults to the Hegemony's religion, take insults to their personal honor even worse, and due to the Hegemony's stagnance they take long to adapt to anything.
-Total population: 80 billion.
-Caste: officers, special operations, peacekeeping.
-Racial slurs: furballs, cats, Thundercats, clawhands, furries, kittens, tiggers, Hobbes.
Powerful and zealous, loc-hanae evolved on a savanna planet, Kilrados. These felines are the main fighting force and peacekeepers of the Hegemony, very proud and honorbound to the empire, and also serve as officers for lesser troops and slaves armies and peacekeeping forces, both in the 'Core' systems and worlds conquered by the Hegemony. Their history begins exactly when they found, fought and evetually joined the doboids, so anything before the 'Birth of the Holy Hegemony' is a mystery, since the loc-hanae destroyed every bit of history that came before the event.

Naurits
-Homeworld: Tuanda.
-Group: Arthropoda.
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 5 feet, 130 pounds, 120 years.
-Species traits: naurits adapt fast and and have incredible reflexes, which makes them born strikecraft pilots and vessel officers and crew, but they're also disturbing looking even for arthropods, and while still stronger than doboids most other known species outmatch them physically. Plus, their reflexes do not apply with ground vehicles.
-Total population: 40 billion.
b]-Caste: strikecraft pilots, naval officers, crew, merchant navies.
-Racial slurs: crabbies, mandibles, bugs.
The third member species of the Hegemony, and the first to be conquered by the fledging empire, the naurits were conquered by the doboids and the loc-hanae just as they were leaving Early Space Age. Their primitive armies were no match for the superior warships of the alien empire, but rather than wipe them out to the last, the Hegemony conquered them and assimilated them in all aspects of their culture. Despite this, many naurits aren't as religious as their 'betters', probably due to the fact they are also in charge of the merchant fleets of the Hegemony.

Martox
-Home system: none.
-Group: Reptilia (humanoid subgroup).
-Average height, weight and lifespan: 6.5 feet, 150 pounds, 250 years.
-Species traits: charismatic and pleasant to be around even to species not belonging to the Hegemony. On the other hand, they are quite sedentary, meaning most won't leave the planet or station they were born in except in extreme cases, and quite wasteful, and are also the lowest echelon of the Hegemony main species, only higher than the genuine slaves, drifters and wabak. They're also the only one without a system to call home.
-Caste: service sector.
-Racial slurs: nomads, homeless, four-eyes, toothies.
The lowest echelon of the caste system, martox are still part of it, and therefore not slaves. Due to their place in the Hegemony most martox are very pious, if not zealous, but can be just as dangerous if properly motivated.

Author's Note

Another interlude, this time about the 'main' species of the Hegemony. If it looks a bit lacklusting, it's because I'm keeping the real thing of the Hegemony (its religion) for much later. Besides, the 'serfs' interlude will be longer.

The Past (Part 2)

After five minutes of excited älf practically jumping on her chair and squeeing like a fangirl (which she technically was), Praeratus decided to shut her up the only way he knew: close her mouth and hold her in place with his psionics.

“Allura, I'm going to let you go in five seconds, and after that I expect you to stay quiet, understood?” He asked the älf woman, who did something akin to nodding with her eyes. Praeratus nodded back and let her move.

“I'm sorry, it's just...You're a Centurion!” She screamed again, albeit much quieter. “I've always wanted to meet a Centurion in person, as in, without the armor and the voice distorters and all that! You guys are living legends!”

“Were.” Praeratus said in a depressed tone, remembering very well the news from earlier that same day.

“C'mon “Said Allura, who was looking at the picture of Praeratus and his fellow therawyrms and officer, therefore not seeing his pained expression.'“. just because you guys no wage your battles to fight the evil forces of the Hegemony doesn't mean you-”

“Allura” He began to said in a low tone. “, with 'were' I mean that there are no other Centurions. Did you watch the news earlier this day about an attack on Hegemony territory?”

Allura's enthusiasm faded into confusion, then realization, and finally into pity.

“I didn't mean-”

“Don't be sorry, they wanted to do it. “He then sighed and sat down on his chair again. “I should have broken his legs to stop him.”

“His legs?”

“Victus. He was one of the best, but also the one who hated the Hegemony the most. Do you know how many of us were there before the Hegemony War?”

“A thousand, no?”

“Nine hundred, eight hundred years of war takes its toll even on the greatest warriors ever made. The brass never told about the losses since, well, a hundred deaths in less than a millenium is not bad, even for hyper soldiers. But the near complete annihilation of the regiment of those same hyper soldiers in less than a hundred years... That's too much, even for therawyrms.”

Praeratus then lowered his head and held it on his hands, grunting all the while. He wasn't crying, but it was obvious he was grieving.

Allura got up from her chair and, slowly as to not startle Praeratus (he may not have PTSD, but he could still suffer of something similar) she approached the therawyrm and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Praeratus looked up from his nearly crouched position in confusion.

“Praeratus, I'm sure that someone has probably told this before, but as long as you don't forget your brothers and sisters, and what they accomplished in life, they'll never be forgotten.”

Praeratus, hearing this, smiled at her. In truth this was the first time ever someone had said that to him. He was also pretty sure that this was not how you helped someone with either a traumatic event in some point of their lives or depression, but he still felt grateful for the bounty hunter.

“Thanks, I needed that.” He said before standing up and stretching after stooping on a chair for half a minute.

“Well, now that we know each other a bit more...” Allura said. “Can I ask you something, something that is a bit personal?”

Praeratus looked at the älf noble with confusion.

“Well, go ahead, but I don't know why would you ask me something that 'is a bit personal' to you at this point. We just met you know.”

“Well, it's not exactly personal, and thinking about it it's not that important, but...” She said before trailing off, putting her arms behind her body and rubbing them in embarrasment; she even blushed! To many this would have seemed cute, but to Praeratus it was clear that something was off with the bounty hunter.

“But?”

“Could you help me with bounty hunting?”

Praeratus stared at her for at least half a minute.

“Allura... First, I don't think you need any help from me since just one hour ago you were beating the shit out of several men, and castrated one. Second, you, like, fought in the Hegemony War and didn't get killed or captured, so you have to be a good fighter to have done so. Third, you told me this is your fifteenth job, so it's not like you're inexperienced. And fourth...”

Allura expected him to say something about the lines of him not willing to fight anymore, or not after the recent deaths of his fellow discharged Centurions.

She got sorely dissappointed.

“We just met. Literally if I may add.”

“I know, but... You were a Centurion, the best soldiers the Milky Way had ever seen! AND you're also a psionic, and a purple one to boot! You can't imagine how many älfs would rip their scalps if they knew a therawyrm outmatches them in psionics!” Exclaimed Allura. “Besides, I don't want you to work with me or anything like that; just having a giant, tough looking therawyrm that definitely looks like a veteran next to me when I'm around people would help my reputation.”

“You want reputation?” Praeratus said in a puzzled tone. Granted, he didn't really know much about bounty hunters, bust most didn't want to be known by the average person, preferring to be faceless warriors that did the hard jobs for the government. Those that were known and even had nicknames had the misfortune (or luck, depending of how it was looked) of doing extraordinary feats, surviving impossible odds killing quite a lot (of anything), or deliberately making themselves known and selling their image. What Allura wanted put her in the last of those.

“So, you want to sell your image or something?” Praeratus asked.

He immediatly regretted saying that when Allura glared daggers at him, and not just figuratively speaking, she grabbed several kitchen knives from the drawer with telekinesis, and while she wasn't aiming their edged at him, the threat was clear. Or she was too angry to notice she grabbed those knives, who knew.

'How the hell did she know where I put those? Hell, WHERE did I put those? Haven't seen them since I bought them' He thought.

“Do NOT compare me with one of those self serving bastards!” She yelled before realizing what she was doing and blushing in embarrasment, a sheepish expression on her face. “I mean, I'm not a bounty hunter for the money. I beat bad guys and bring them in to save people, serve the Confederation and in general do some good. The money is just a bonus.”

“Just a bonus? For a bounty hunter?” Praeratus said in a skeptic tone, knowing that bounty hunters literally earnt their living with their profession (although in some cases they earned of their income through other means, like the aforementionend image selling).

“Praeratus, I'm a noble of Altea, and not just blue blood but with direct relation with the royal bloodline.” Allura said in what seemed to be tone between proud, haughty and matter-of-fact. “I don't like to brag or boast of this, but being a noble means I can get things for free in any Altean establishment or business the moment they see my face.”

“Well, I don't want to sound offensive to you or your people, but I've never seen your face until now.” Snarked Praeratus.

“Of course you haven't, I work with a helmet!” Allura said in a proud tone.

“So... You want people to know about you, yet you also wear a helmet when you are around those same people.

“I want people to know about my persona, not me personally.”

“I can get it, but...” Said Praeratus before trailing off himself.

“But?”

“Say, do you know of any bounty hunter that is both known and also willing to walk around with their head uncovered?”

Allura didn't waste time in putting two and two together and blushed in embarrasment.

“J-just help me okay!?”

Praeratus did something he had never done since the end of the War.

Laugh his heart out.

“Praeratus, it's not nice to laugh at a lady!” Celestia complained as both entered Ponyville.

“Oh c'mon!”

And so Praeratus, after submiting a resignation letter to the company he worked for, started to go with Allura when she hunted, becoming a bounty hunter himself. Eventually he sold his house and moved to her ship, a warp-capable pink-hulled freighter repurposed as flying home, to live with her.

At first, when it was time to find and capture bounties, it became clear that Praeratus was the better fighter (and psionic, and pilot, and intimidator, and, well, many things) of the two, but when it came to actually speaking with other people, Allura was a natural people's person, which made sense given she was a noble and her past as a Psionic Warrior, which despite their powers were much more outspoken and casual than Gene Warriors (and Centurions for that matter). Not that Praeratus was unable to speak to others, he just preferred to be blunt and straight to the point.

Of course, speaking to people and beating bad guys wasn't the only thing that came from their partnership.

In the early months, it was simply a close partnership, a therawyrm and an älf, both veterans of the Hegemony War, hunting down drug and weapon dealers, felons, runaway convicts, a genetic monstrosity from the Hegemony that survived the war... Over time, however, the partnership gave way to a full friendship, in which Praeratus told Allura many things about the therawyrms, the Clans of Kharan, the Centurions and his many tours of duty in his long life. She, in turn, told him about Altea, her family, her own tour as Psionic Warrior, and her early days as bounty hunter.

And that friendship, in turn, gave way to love, something he never though he had on him.

When the Confederal High Brass caught up to what the last Centurion was doing, they contacted him and... told him to be careful after he told them that Allura knew his secrets. They didn't fear that she would reveal his secret, nor that people would discover who he was (Centurions hardly were without their helmets in public, and even when they got them off they always had cloaking fields that changed the color of their skin; most non-therawyrms had difficulty telling one from another if they had the same skin color), only that Praeratus wouldn't eithe reveal it to others nor get himself killed.

Now the only problem was Allura's family.

And not just the blood-related relatives.

“Ah, It's good to be home.” Allura said, stretching her arms up and letting the sun of her home kiss her face. She was dressed for the ocassion, wearing the Altean dress she wore for special... ocassions. Like being in Altea.“ and land after three days in warp.”

One day Allura received a message from her parents Alvor and Melenor, reminding her that it was time for her mensual visit to Altea to see them.

The stunned reactions they when they saw a therawyrm walking in the room with a gorgonops puppy on his arms was near would have been hilarious if she had sent their image to a comedy show.

And that was before Coran, the family's butler, bodyguard, friend and all around weirdo entered the conversation and. His eyes tripled-no, quadrupled in size!

A short conversation later, the three asked Allura again to visit them. Three days of warp travel later, they were landing the ship on her family's personal landing zone, which only they could use.

“It's your parent's fault for calling us when we were at the other side of the Confederation.” Praeratus pointed out as he came out of the ship, wearing his blue mess dress uniform and a beret because he literally had nothing else that could be called formal.

(Well, he had, but he didn't like wearing jackets and jumpsuits all the damn time)

“Mph, you're just complaining because you don't like wearing that.” She said before a certain hyperactive pup gallop down the stairs and yapped at her to get her attention. “Who's a very nice gorgonops that doesn't mind anything? Who is? Yes you are!” She baby-talked to Cyranus while hugging and coddling him, making him yap in happiness and Praeratus laugh.

They had adopted the little thing after rescuing him and many other animals from an animal fight, illegal fights in which beasts from all parts of the Milky Way fought for their lives to amuse people. Many animals that were domesticated yet dangerous had ended there as future fighters, but this one didn't have anything linking it to any owner, so they decided to take it.

And besides, taking care of a baby gorgonops could serve as training before, well, you know.

“Well, now that everything's done, let's go see my parents and Coran.”

“Coran? Who's that?”

“The redhead with the magnificent moustache who's also the family's butler and my old nanny.” Allura said as the two walked towards the castle of her family through the streets of the city, älfs of many ages watching as the daughter of their ruler walked alongside a mountain of a therawyrm man with a mix of awe, confusion and unease.

“Anything else I might want to know about him?

“Well, aside from a butler he's also my parent's bodygard, my father's comrade from the war with the Selenites, and also a mechanic. Don't worry you'll like him.”

“'Father's comrade'? They fought in that war?”

“Yes, though since they were in the Garrison they did little more than repel Selenite attacks.” Allura informed, But anyway, at the very least they shall respect you from what your job durning the Hegemony War.” She said. Talking as they were they didn't realize they were just one street away from the Castle of Lions, seat of her family and her former home. Sure enough, three älfs, two men, (one powerfully built and with a magnificient white beard, the other much smaller yet with an even more magnificent red moustache), both wearing typical Altean noble clothing and one woman in a pink dress, were already walking down the stairs to meet them. “And one last thing before we meet them. Coran's also, well... weird.”

“What do you mean with-”

“Only saw him half naked, who this!”

Celestia couldn't contain her laugh. Hell, she wasn't just laughing, she was belly laughing!

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, but Coran didn't leave me the frack alone anytime we were on Altea!”

Neither had realized that they had finally arrived to where the play was about to take place, nor the fact that the creatures present were looking at them in confusion.

And Celestia wasn't prepared for what came next.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay and the shorter chapter, I'm a bit busy with my novel. As always like and comment.

The Past (Part 3)

Praeratus had to stop himself from shoving the älfs' head up his ass (the älfs own, not his).

After a full minute of Coran hovering around the therawyrm and acting like a demented weirdo by asking questions like a machine gun and touching, sniffing and even licking him to see if he was a possible danger (or a vacuum cleaner vendor, or a rival to his title of Coranic, or whatever he thought he was), the red head finally said:

“Well, I can't feel weapons on your person and I can sense you're not hostile.” He said. “Of course, that might need a new...” He trailed off before sticking his tongue out and moving his face closer to Praeratus' like a depraved chamaleon. A glare and purple energy from him were enough to make him step back, but didn't scare him off. “Hey! You must know that I'm trained in several martial arts that range from all across the Confederation! Hiyah!” He shouted as he made martial poses.

Praeratus just glared at him before looking at a convenietly close autonomous garbage disposal robot that was also off, just at the other side of the street. The machine was big, five times taller than him at the very least, which made sense given that it was supposed to gather and dispose of the trash of that part of the city.

But that didn't matter to Praeratus, who needed a way to both vent his anger/annoyance and make clear to Coran what would happen to him if he didn't stop, and lifting a trash robot without even looking at it would make him back off, or at the very least shut him up.

Fortunately, he didn't have to make a fool of himself with an scene.

Mainly because Cyranus didn't care about making a scene, what with being an animal and a baby one at that.

“AAAAH!!!” The bloodcurling scream from the älf wouldn't have sounded out of place in a horror film, but being chased around by a yapping gorgonops pup? Hilarious. “GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME!!!” While Cyranus DID bite him in the left shin with enough strength to make him bleed, and the baby beast was already as big as an älf child, it was clear by Allura's deadpan stare and her parent's actions (her father laughed as he gently pulled Cyranus off his butler, while Melenor put her hand on her face), Coran was overreacting.

Five minutes later, and they were all drinking tea and Ambrosia (an Altean drink that tasted like heaven yet had not a drop of alcohol on it, reserved mostly for special occasions like that one) on the castle's main hall and discussing things.

Coran turned out to be an all-around nice guy, despite his obvious quirks, like the excessive care he took of his moustache and his pride at being the best älf mechanic ever. Neither Praeratus, who knew better, nor Alfor, who aside from knowing better was his best friend, dared to tell him otherwise. Aside from that, though, he was the most happy of the three with the therawyrm and Allura's relationship (after doing the required inspection of an overprotective adopted relative and trying to lick Praeratus again), just as Allura told him while they were in warp.

Most important, however, were his engineering and mechanic skill: he was the the one who modified Allura's ship to turn it into a miniature destroyer by giving it a more resistant hull composed of durasteel and a shield generator, a powerful weapon system (autocannons on the chin, missile pods on the wings, and a pulse laser on the middle) and plasma thrusters; the upgrades wouldn't have been so incredible if he had just bought and installed them, but instead he designed and build them from the ground up, all by himself, which was impressive given that those technologies were military-grade and he was, well, eccentric.

Next up in the 'list' was Alfor. His large size (for an älf that's it, and especially for one who was in his species equivalent of middle sixties) and silver beard belied his affable nature and the fact that, just like him, had fought in a war, and unlike Coran he actually fought outside of Altea's system, so he also knew the devastation the Selenites brought. Finally, he was a surprisingly good swordsman, yet an average psionic despite being of royal blood and a veteran. Overall, he was a good man, and the second most accepting of the relationship, his only concern fearing that they could get themselves killed on their job and Praeratus' family own reaction (of which Praeratus, who was by all accounts a clone of several therawyrm warriors, lied about).

Last but not least, and the real obstacle for their relationship, was Melenor. She was a quite good looking woman, just as beautiful as her daughter, despite not being much older than her husband (in fact, Allura told him once that many people saw them as sisters instead of mother and daughter!). She liked to wear pink clothes, she loved her family, liked Coran's antics, and was overall a good woman.

She just didn't want her daughter to marry a member of a species of backward mammal-reptile hybrids uplifted by other reptiles and whose only real places in the Confederation were either lugging things around for smarter people, which to her were everyone who was not a therawyrm, and grunts. Grunts that loved to eat fallen enemies even if they were still alive, and sometimes especially when they were still alive.

“That... that BITCH!” Screamed Celestia, so angry she unkowingly used her Royal Canterlot Voice to make clear she was angry with Melenor's attitude towards Praeratus, and using one of the many swears she heard from Praeratus to make it even clearer.

“Yes, she was a bitch right at the beginning.” Agreed Praeratus. “But after a short civil conversation with her we finally managed to...” He said before realizing something and looking around.

“Managed to, what?”

“Celly, do you know where are we right now?” He whispered without looking at her.

Celestia looked around and realized with something akin to dread that they had somehow arrived to the theater in which the play would be... played, without realizing it, inmersed as they were in the conversation, Celestia by hearing it and Praeratus by telling it and recalling his life.

And everypony, the Mane Six, Luna, the non-pony kids, Spike, the people of Ponyville, some from other places... was looking straight at them without making a sounds.

Or more accurately, at him.

However, it was clear by their focused expressions and their silence they had been busy hearing the story of his life a hundred years prior.

For how long, he didn't know, and to some point, didn't want to.

Celestia looked up at Praeratus with uncertainness and unease by the situation.

“Erm... what do we do now, Praeratus? I don't think they're supposed to hear something as private as your previous love life. Could we leave it for another moment?”

Praeratus thought it for a moment before shaking his head. “No, you must know every moment, and besides, they'll get to know it too. Were was I? Ah, right, Melenor being a bitch. Well, as you know I don't being insulted with completely wrong accussations...”

To say that Praeratus was angry by her statement would be an understandment. If not for Alfor and Coran holding him down enough seconds to allow Allura to calm down, Melenor would have ended dead, and even then she still got a good scare when Praeratus' fist impacted on the pillar right behind her.

Five minutes of speaking later (speaking which involved a heated argument from Allura about her love for Praeratus, Alfor's approving their relationship and assuring that he loved both Allura and Melenor, Coran pointing out that she was mixing the 'honorable therawyrm with the monstrous wabak. And synapsids are the middle point with mammals and reptiles, not hybirds.' , and Praeratus own speech of him returning Allura's affection, mixed with an implied death threat to her), the woman finally gave in and approved of their relationship, but she also made clear that she'd be the one choosing the place of the wedding and Allura's dress.

The wide stares she received from everyone in the room at the word 'wedding' were definitely worth a laugh. Well, worth a laugh from someone not with them.

“So, Praeratus.”

“Yes Alfor?”

“Would you let me name your future children for you? I know a few names from Kharan.”

“WHAT!?” Praeratus cried in horror as his future father-in-law belly laughed to his amusement and Coran fell off the hoverboat they were on while screaming too, although that was probably Praeratus had accidentaly pushed him off the hovering vehicle, and given the very low buoyancy of the lake and the fact he didn't know how to swim, he was in real danger unless he remembered he was a psionic.

A few days after Allura and Praeratus came to Altea, Coran suggested Alfor to go fishing in the city's artificial lake with Praeratus so that the two could bond, with him going with them because he didn't want to stay with the women, wanting to give them some time alone to speak of the things a mother and a daughter that travels across the galaxy would speak while they catched dinner, discussed about how to cook fish and drank Ambrosia.

He also didn't want to be near the little monster that nearly bit his leg off. He was possibly regretting that as he climbed to the boat all drenched and annoyed that his moustache got wet.

“Hahahaha!” Laughed Alfor good naturelly as Praeratus began spurting out reasons of him not wanting to be a father, all of them nonsensical. “I was just joking, Praeratus!”

Praeratus finally calmed down when Alfor said that, but then Coran spoke.

“You know, that's exactly what I said to you when you were engaged to Melenor. First I told you I was joking, then you began rambling about not being the most adecquate of being a parent...” Coran then listed some more before finishing with: “And yet twenty years later you got a daughter.”

It was Alfor's turn of being flustered and Praeratus' to smile.

“Well” Began to say the Altean noble.”, every father-in-law in waiting asks that question, and I was hot-blooded then...”

“Uh?” Praeratus looked at him strangely, no longer smiling. “What are you talking about?”

“Nevermind.” Alfor said, calmed down from his short and actually quite controlled outburst and grabbing a can of Ambrosia from the fridge. “Still, I'm still hoping that you and Allura will have children in the future. Call me weird if you want, but after watching Allura grow from a curious princess into a battle-hardened Psionic Warrior and then a bounty hunter, I always wondered if she would have children with someone to love. I'd love to see little kids sitting on my lap, watching in awe as their grandfather tells them his old war stories.” He said with a melancholic look, watching as the sun of Altea sinked into the mountains at the east. “I'm not young Praeratus. I have, what, two hundred years before I finally go with my ancestors, but if I saw Allura become a mother before that, I would die a happy man.”

Coran, in a rare moment of normalcy, cried softly at his lord and friend's speech. Praeratus, however, didn't know what to say at this short but heartfelt revelation.

“Alfor, I would really love to have children with Allura, but you know that there are several problems with that. First, our biology is not compatible; we're even on the same animal kingdom.” He reminded him.

“Oh, please.” Coran said as he pulled the chord of his fishing rod. “As if that were a problem in this galaxy and these days. You'd only have to go to a good hospital and spend some money in modifying's Allura's womb to make it accept your genetic material. Fourteen months latter and POOF!” He exclaimed in a dramatic pose, forgetting that he was holding a fishing rod on his hand. “You've got an hybrid baby of therawyrm and älf!”

Coran was talking about a process known as 'Xeno-Compatibility', or just 'Compatibility', in which just like he explained a womb of a woman of a given species was altered on the genetic level to allow a embryo made with DNA of the mother and a father of another species to form and grow with traits of both parent's species.

Since most of Praeratus' Centurion enhancements weren't on the genetic level, theorically he and Allura could have children that wouldn't inheritc his superior physiology and grow normal. On the other hand, there was still the risk of them inheriting something, and he didn't want his future babies being stronger than adult men, and not just for, say, in case a would-be bully ended with their backs snapped.

“And if Allura wants children but not becoming pregnant because that would ruin her body you can always adopt, although I would love to see an hybrid of therawyrm and älf.” Said Coran. “Would the baby be an älf with the scaly skin and pointy teeth of a therawyrm, or a therawyrm with smooth skin and actual ears? That's the question of the century.” He wondered out loud. “And how long would be their lifespan?”

Before the redhead could ponder further about the possible appearance and genetic makeup of therawyrm-älf hybrids, Praeratus decided to both lie about the issue and give a serious answer.

“Second problem is that your planet might not take well that the daughter of a noble with direct bloodline with royalty has entered a relationship with a therawyrm, if Melenor's attitude is anything to go by.”

“Oh, please.” Coran dismissed in a disinterested tone. “Älfs in general may be pricks to other species nowadays, but we Alteans still remember our teachings of love and tolerance for other species, and a lot of respect for those that live longer than us, which in this case means therawyrms since, well, you live longer.” He said, not noticing the annoyed glare Alfor was giving him. “I'm certain that no one reacted in any negative and/or aggressive manner when Allura came with a giant of a therawyrm to her home. Am I wrong, Praeratus?”

“No. They did stare at me and wonder outloud what did my parents fed me to grow so tall, but other than that they didn't do anything.” Admitted Praeratus as he did put down his rod and grabbed his catch, some kind of brightly coloured fish.

“And even if they complained about you, do you really think you should will care about what a bunch of pointy-eared hairless apes think of you?” Coran said, and Praeratus hoped that the älf was aware he was basically insulting his own species. Alfor definitely was, since Coran had barely enough time to dodge the psionically lifted water thrown at him by Alfor. “You know I'm right Alfor! Älfs are jerks unless they're from here!”

“No, I would not.” Admitted again Praeratus, not wanting to see a fight, if only because the boat would capsize and he would sink to the bottom of the lake because of his muscle and bone mass weighing him down, and didn't fancy walking on the bottom of the lake. “As I just said, I would like being a father, but I don't think I should. Not after failing my soldiers.”

Alfor and Coran stopped their scuffle when they heard Praeratus' words.

“Your soldiers?” Alfor repeated.

Praeratus sighed. He didn't like telling people parts of his past as Centurion, even though they weren't strangers and he could tell them without revealing his nature as hyper soldier, but he didn't like having to remember THAT either. Now that he said that, though, he'd have to talk, lest Coran tried to pry the information from his brain and actually succeed, as unlikely as it was.

“During the war, I was assigned to lead a squad of young yet capable Heavy Infantry troopers: Lanse, Padge, Keth and Hank. None of them were therawyrm, and while good at fighting as anyone skilled with the use of power armor can be, they were also unwilling to obey orders. I was assigned explicitaly to enforce the mandate of at least one therawyrm per Heavy Infantry squad.

“I remember it. Something about filling empty vacants because not everyone had armor or something like that.” Coran said, earning a nod from Praeratus. Heavy infantry was a rather new development, started a bit before the outbreak of the war, and so there wasn't enough powered armor to equip all heavy troopers; on the other hand, there were many eager therawyrm eager to fight the Hegemony, and since therawyrms were considered by many to be living power armour, the brass decided to give them training, their future signature unpowered armor and heavy guns, and the heavy infantry as it would be known was born.

“Yes. At first they weren't amused by the fact that some old reptile was not only their commanding officer, but also better than all of them put together without even wearing a powered exoskeleton, and I wasn't amused by the fact that I was a glorified nanny for a bunch of zabs. After a few missions, however, we began to warm up to each other, and with time I saw them not just as my soldiers, but as my children.”

Praeratus might have been tweaking the truth a bit, but otherwise he was telling the truth. For a few months he lead the small but determined squad, and although the kids were neither his fellow Centurions nor even other therawyrms, but as far as he cared they were part of the family too.

“We fought together, we ate together, when they fought between themselves I stopped them before it could get out of hand, they stood besides my bed after taking a plasma blast to the chest...” He said with a smile as he remembered the good memories of fighting, laughing, drinking, partying and talking with the 'kids', as he nicknamed them. Those had been some of the best weeks of his life, and definitely the best thing that happened to him during the Hegemony War sans overwhelming victories.

His smile turned into a frown when he remembered what happened to them.

“It was during the late stage of the war, only a couple years before the ceasefire. One day, we got reports about an Hegemonic outpost in Fochona IV that housed some kind of superweapon, deep in Hegemony territory. We were supposed to aid a small strike force in demolishing the place to destroy the superweapon and, if possible, revers-eengineer it. At first everything was alright: we were well equipped and motivated, and while the facility was heavily armed the Hegemony didn't expect an attack in their territory, what with the barely trained guards.”

Praeratus then stopped for a moment, before continuing with the story. He didn't like to remember what happened that day or telling it to others, but he was the one who started it by opening his damn mouth, and therefore had to finish it.

“Of course, we didn't expect the place to be their biggest and most important xeno-engineering laboratory, the freaks they already had to be alive and functioning, nor the troops guarding the place to have a... rather imaginative psionic among them.”

Praeratus stopped talking, looking forlornly at the now dark horizon.

The truth was far worse than what he told: the station wasn't just the main growing facility for monsters, it was the main growing facility for giant monsters, one of them already awake and waiting for some foolish Confederal assault team to attack the place and get eaten.

And the psionic wasn't just 'rather imaginative' with her powers, she was also a purple one. He was rated as purple too, and technically her equal, but as stated before she used her powers in many unorthodox ways.

Like creating zombies out of the crushed bodies of his 'kids'.

Alfor and Coran watched with consternation and a bit of fear as Praeratus growled and showed his sharp teeth, crushing the metal he had unconsciously grabbed.

However, after what seemed to be an eternity, Praeratus manage to calm himself before sighing and looking at the bottom of the hoverboat.

“After two hours of grueling fight, we managed to destroy the station, kill the bioweapons, and send that bitch running... at the cost of practically all of the strike team sans me and a couple others.”

By 'me and a couple others' he actually meant that only he survived, the other two being corpses in enoug condition to have a decent burial. Everyone else was either ripped apart, frozen/burned to the molecular level, shot to the point of overkill, or just plain eaten. Better that they didn't know that.

Praeratus, gueesing by the two sorrowful expressions that they had enough, sighed in exhaustion and stood up, walking to the controls of the hoverboat. “Let's go back to the castle; we did what we wanted to do here, it's getting dark, and the girls might be worried about us.”

However, before he could take the boat to the shore, he felt a hand latch on his shoulder. Glancing back, Praeratus saw that Alfor was grabbing his shoulder and giving him a sympathetic look.

“Praeratus, I doubt I'll ever even understand the pain you went through that day, but I can say this. Your men, your kids, didn't die in vain: even if the superweapon you were told about didn't exist, you still destroyed the most important cog for their Xenomorph hordes. Millions, perhaps even billions of people would have been killed or worse by those things. You should be proud of what they did.”

Praeratus knew that the Altean lord was right: even if all got killed, they DID destroy the most pivotal Titanic Beast installation. The fact that after that day Titanic Beasts became a rare(r) sight on battlefields could attest to that.

“Above all, though? If you managed to make the youth of other species see you as a paternal figure, I'm sure that, if you end up having children with my daughter, you shall be a perfect parent. Think about it, Praeratus Haeleb.”

“Well” Coran said as he stood up and gently pushed Praeratus out of the way to reach the controls of the boat. “, we all can say that this has been a fruitful fishing, and not just for the fish. If Melenor had been with us I'm pretty sure she would have cried a river with your story and begged for your forgival. She's very sentimental. Well, let's get going before Allura and Melenor get impatient.”

Praeratus didn't know what to think about that. Nor the fact that what started as a conversation about possible future granchildren ended as him sharing a war story.

Later that night, after they ate their catch and talked some more, Praeratus was still thinking of Alfor's words of him being a father as he walked to Allura's room. Back on the ship they shared the bedroom yet slept in separated beds, but after announcing their relationship, Alfor told them that it would be appropiate if the two actually slept on the same bed instead of just the same room.

Praeratus was divided. On the one hand, he wouldn't mind being a father with Allura, And that was not counting the fact that, since the galactic population of therawyrms was, while stable and sustainable, the lowest of the Confederation was a little less than eleven billion, a far cry from the over fifty billion from before the Hegemony attack, and even after a hundred years the population growth was, while positive, nearly negligible compared to all other species. Having a child, even one that would be more älf than therawyrm and not born in natural conditions, would help his species on the long run.

On the other hand, there was the obvious worry of him being a good father. It wasn't because of a possible descent to abusing (he'd kill himself before he could even scream at his possible future kids), but because, as he told Alfor and Coran earlier that day, of the fear of losing them. He took it hard any time a Centurion died, he took it harder when it happened their numbers were less than a hundred, he took it harder still when Victus and the others died, and he took it the hardest when his 'kids' died on that gods-forsaken station.

Especially when Lance ripped Keith limb by limb with his bare hands.

If something, anything happened to his and Allura's baby(ies), anything, he'd never forgive himself for failing them.

Praeratus shook those thoughts as he approached the door to Allura's bedroom. If he'd have children in the future, he'll had to ask Allura first if he wanted to be a mother.

Which, despite what Alfor wanted, would be a challenge, because Allura hated children. Well, not exactly full-on hatred given that she wanted to be a known bounty hunter, but she did find most kids to be annoying, especially the touchy ones (wanting to hug her, pull her hair and in general do kids stuff, although given what has been already told she should had seen it coming), and so most of her interactions with kids nearly ended with her screaming. Maybe Alfor didn't know his little girl hated kids? What would be her reaction when he asked her if she wanted to be a mother?

When he finally opened the door to Allura's room, he expected her to be either combing her hair, reading a book while waiting for him, playing with her pet mice, or just sleeping.

He didn't expect her to be laying prone on her luxurious, king-sized bed, wearing black lingerie and lipstick, staring at him with a bedroom eyes and a seductive smile... and having breasts nearly as big as her head, definitely bigger than they were just hours prior. As in, bigger than when they were having dinner a mere two hours prior.

“Hey Pratty.” Allura said with a sensual tone. “Do you like my new look?” She stood up from the bed and sauntered to him, swinging her hips as she walked, which also had the (possibly intentional) effect of making her enlarged bosom bounce with each step.

Praeratus was so engrossed talking and remembering his past that he didn't realize he was describing a nearly sexual scene in the presence of children, but the audience was in turn so engrossed on his personal life they were more focused on the fact that the monster-killing, tough as nails and mean as Tartarus alien warrior could have been a father.

(Celestia, though, DID look down to her breasts and give a little smile. Nearly is still smaller than just as big as a head, cramps and backpain be darned!)

Praeratus didn't resply, instead just staring at her as she finally stood in front of him and put her hands on his chest, looking up at him with half-lidded eyes.

“While you were fishing with my father and Coran, I went to the city and asked for a breast enhancement operation. If you are wondering why weren't they this big during dinner, t takes hours for them to grow, what with using a mix of natural and artificial methods. They're also permanent and will probably give me problems in the future, but I'm pretty sure it won't be that big of a problem.” She said before looking down and grabbing her breasts, shaking them around. “I'll be honest with you though, I thought these would lac...tate... Uh?”

Allura's seductive demeanor evaporated when Praeratus just walked right past her and sat on her bed with his back arched forward eyes looking to the ground for a few seconds before raising and looking at her.

“Allura, I need to ask you something, but first, I would like if you sat next to me.”

Allura, puzzled and concerned not just by his lack of reaction to her new look, but also to his lack of expression, did as he asked.

“Sure, ask me anything.”

“Would I make for a good father?”

Praeratus question took her aback.

“W-what?”

“I said if I would make for a good-”

“Yes, I know what you said! But... why are you asking me that?”

Praeratus then told her everything he talked about with her father and butler.

“Well.” Allura said after her boyfriend finished his tale. “I think you would make a great dad. You were a good officer after all, I'm fairly certain that fathers have it easier than sergeants.” She said while rubbing his back in an attempt to reasure him. “It's me the one who sould worry about being a mother. I don't like kids, remember?”

“Yes, but what about your own children?”

“Well...” She said sheepisly. Never in her entire life had she been asked if she would have kids, or if she wanted to. “First we should t. Say, my cousin Romelle will be getting married in two weeks. We could use the occasion to announce our love. We can think of children after that. How's that, hmm?” She said before smiling again. “That said, why don't we... practice a little babymaking?”

Praeratus thought it over... and shook his head.

“No sex until we tell everyone.” He said with a smirk, something he regretted when Allura shouted right next to him.

“What, why!?”

“Your own fault for getting the idea of telling everyone. Night.” He said before laying on the bed and closing his eyes.

“But-”

“Night.”

Allura groaned before rolling her eyes and

Neither of them realized that he slept without changing clothes first.

Praeratus then stopped talking, before sitting on the stage and staying quiet for a good full minute, Celestia and the others watching.

“What happened then?” Asked Celestia.

Praeratus stared at her when she said that, but it was clear by the empty look on his eyes that he wasn't looking at her, but through her.

“I still remember that day. Romelle throwing the bouqet, Allura fighting for it, both of us announcing our relationship with a kiss, the cheering drowning the protests, the family congratulating us... the wedding cake exploding... Allura pushing Romelle out of the way of the xenomorph...

...her body being torn to shreds...

...Him ripping the monster apart...

And then began to sob. Not softly, not without tears, actual full-blown weeping. It was a hearbreaking sight, to see the usually collected and stoic (when not angered) dragon from outer space do something many-no, ALL thought he was unable to do: cry.

And then he shouted.

“THE DAMN CAKE HAD A FRACKING MONSTER INSIDE!!!” He bellowed, his shout a mix of his voice and the feral scream of an animal in pain.

He didn't shout, he roared.

Praeratus' echoed roar was heard everything within a radius of five miles, and thanks to his psionics the radius was amplified by a hundred. Practically all of Equestria, even its farthest locations like the Crystal Empire, felt the rage, and then the pain, of the xeno-hunter.

Everyone present (the Mane Six, Luna, the kids, Ponyville's citizens, Luna, Discord, Cyranus, Spike and Celestia) cried, sharing Praeratus' sorrow.

Now Pinkie Pie, who knew why Praeratus hated cakes appearing out of nowhere.

He didn't know how long he cried his heart out,

And then someone hugged him from behind. Feeling a fluffy cheek touching his own, he knew it was Celestia.

And then something large nuzzled his legs. By the fur-covered toughness he felt, it was obvious it was Cyranus

And then he felt something small hugging his arm. He didn't have to open his eye to know that it was Spike.

It was obvious that the three of them were doing their damnest to make him feel better.

It DID make him stop crying.

But after a few minutes of silence, when he looked at Celestia, and she, smiling, opened her mouth to say something, possibly along the lines of not being alone...

All Hell broke loose.

Author's Note

Cliffhanger, and it looks like we're going back to longer than 5k words chapters! As always, fave, like and comment about the story. No, seriously. This may sound offensive for some of you, but please, give me comments longer than 'I can't wait!' or 'It's good!'. And likes too. Please.

What Happened to Celestia

When Celestia began to wake up, the first thing she realized was that, whenever she was, it reeked of something nasty, a smell she thought she could recognize .

The alicorn princess groaned as she tried to get up from the soft, wet ground she had been lying on. For some reason her magic didn't work, forcing her to use her arms to try and get up, failing two times until succeeding at the third. She opened her eyes, but wherever she was was so dark she couldn't see anything, and no matter how much he tried, her horn couldn't even give a spark of light, eventually giving up on the ordeal.

'What happened?' The alicorn asked herself as she looked around the cave, basement or whatever place she was in, and walked carefully as to not fall again. It was still dark, damp and smelly, and one wrong step and she'd be back on that ground, but at least she was able to walk.

“Where am I?” Celestia asked herself again, this time out loud, as she wandered through the 'cave', trying to ignore the wet sounds she made as she stepped and the fact that, given that she didn't feel her horseshoes, her hooves touched something that was probably disgusting.

Eventually she reached what seemed to be a wall. Celestia didn't know why, but a little voice in her mind told her to stay away from it, yet something else compelled her to come closer and touch it. Ignoring her instincts, she did so. She grimaced when she touched something squishy and dripping in liquid.

She screamed when she looked closely and found out what she touched. Or more accurately, who.

It was a blue furred, red earth pony mare with a rose as Cutie Marks, her body hung on the wall and her entrails. Her eyesockets were empty, both her eyes gouged out out and her tonge ripped out by something a long time ago given the dried blood on her face.

Despite that, the frozen expression of terror on her face made clear to her that the mare died in agony.

And when Celestia backpedaled from the strung corpse and fell to the ground, she discovered to her horror that the unfortunate mare was just one of many, many ponies in that cave. Dead ponies that's it.

'THIS IS NOT A CAVE, IT'S A LARDER!' Thought Celestia with utter terror when her eyes, finally adapted to the dark, watched the practically uncountable corpses of ponies littering the cave she was in and the state they were in: disemboweled, flayed, ripped apart, decapitated, gnawed on, crushed to a literal pulp... It didn't really made a difference, they all were dead, their blood covering the floor of the cavern Celestia was on... and now, after several seconds of struggling to get up from the fore, Celestia herself.

It was as if the worst depictions of Tartarus had come to life to haunt her.

'No' Celestia thought, remembering one of Praeratus many complains about the prison in which many of Equestria's villains had ended; mainly, that ponies sweared by it and used it as an adjective it being, in his personal opinion, a prison from which anyone strong enough to break the bars of the cages and take out Cerberus without a drop of magic in them can get out.

'Tartarus is just a fancy, boring prison from which anyone can get out. This is something much worse. This is Hell.' Celestia thought after what seemed to be for her an eternity of screaming and squirming in the bloody remains of her subjects, smearing their blood on her body. Eventually, however, she managed to calm down, at least enough to stop screaming and stand up again. She wast still both scared and terrified, but it was better than just screaming.

The princess of the Sun didn't know how did she get there, where she was, why was she in a cave, who or what brought her there, but she did know she had to get the heck out of there, and quick, before whatever did this came back, because without her magic she was useless. After that, and only after that, would she ponder about the many questions she had.

Walking back to the wall, Celestia touched it and walked along it, careful to not touch either the remains of ponies or their blood. If she was in a cave, there had to be an opening or entrance she entered from. There had to be, else she'd be dead by the combination of the rotten stench and the lack of oxygen.

Her efforts were rewarded when she fell (again) through an arc of carved stone connected to another, much cleaner (but still reeking of death) cave devoid of dead ponies, which in turn gave way to what seeemed to be a cave system. It also had a small subterranean river to boot!

Despite her situation and the carnage behind her, Celestia gave a little smile of success. She could get out, and also wash away the blood covering her body.

However, as she cleaned the blood off her body in the cold yet clean stream, the questions she asked herself before returned to her mind.

Who, or what, kidnapped, then dropped her on a cave full of dead ponies, and if they were the same creature, why did they do that? Why did they kill those poor ponies, what did they...

The alabaster alicorn's hear skipped a beat when she remembered the immediate moments before waking up: her talking, then hugging Praeratus alongside Spike and Cyranus, demons emerging from below the stage... The last thing she rememberd was the fist of a demon flying towards her head.

Suddenly it all made sense: the bioweapons had kidnapped her, using the play and Praeratus inner turmoil as a distraction to get close to the theater without being detected by the xeno-hunter. But it didn't explain why she was alive instead of headless, since the 'talking' demon made clear they wanted her dead to deprive Equus from the Sun, and Luna and Twilight to make sure it stayed that way.

She would have pondered further when she heard a scream coming from the other caverns.

She could recognized that scream anywhere, having raised its owner for nearly all his short life.

It was Spike's.

Celestia practically jumped out of the river and flied, not caring that the undeground was so cramped her wings rubbed against the stone.

Somewhere in those caverns was the closest thing she had to a son, alone in the dark and surrounded by demonic creatures from space that could manhandle her like a doll, take possession of other living creatures and worse, and she'd never forgive herself if something happened to the dragon child.

“SPIKE!” She screamed, the Royal Canterlot Voice making the stone around her rumble. “SPIKE, WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“Celestia!” She heard him scream, and this time she heard it coming from another cave entrance, one that was clearly artificial.

Not thinking of what the existance of that kind of structure in such a place could convey, Celestia flew directly to it, entering yet another cave similar to the one she woke up in, except without (obvious) butchered ponies or blood everywhere, and actually lit with glowing mushrooms.

And right in the middle of the cavern stood Spike, looking fearfully around him and trying to be as small as possible.

“SPIKE!” Celestia screamed, speeding towards the dragon child with her legs, no longer flying, and grabbed then hugged him with all her strength when she got close enough. The dragon, who wasn't looking in her direction when she said that, tried frantically to pry her arms off him.

“Let go of me, please!” The little dragon said between tears. With his eyes closed because of the fear he didn't see who was hugging him and the fur on Celestia's arms. “I don't want to die like them!”

Watching Spike beg for his life broke Celestia's heart but also made part of her want to burn inside out whoever made him cry with sunfire. Months ago she would have been horrified for thinking that, but at that moment she didn't care.

The alicorn used her magic to restrain Spike, who despite being unable to move a single muscle still tried to free himself, now screaming incoherently.

“Spike, look at me, please!” She said to the struggling dragon. “It's me, Celestia!”

Spike, hearing Celestia's voice, finally stopped crying and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was Celestia, he could only stare in something akin to both relief and hope.

“Celestia?” He asked, not even bothering to use her title, scared and tired as he was.

Celestia nodded, and seeing that Spiked had finally calmed down (at least for the moment; either that or the fatigue had finally got to him) and was in desperate need of comfort, set him free on the ground. Spike promptly jumped to her and buried his head on the crook of her neck, huggin her with all his remaining strength. Celestia did the same, bringing him up from the cold stone floor of the cave.

“I saw them.” Spike finally said after a few moments of silence. He didn't move from his position, but it was clear he was crying. He then pointed to an specific point in the cave, one not illuminated by the light of the mushrooms, occupied by a large mound composed of many mass forms stacked one upon the other “. They're there.”

Even at that distance, and with the lack of light, it was clear that 'They' were more dead ponies.

No, not just ponies: upon a closer look she discovered that there were a few griffons, changelings, diamond dogs and even a minotaur in the pile of bodies. That said, there was something strange with these bodies: even with the darkness covering them it was obvious that none of them had the kind of wounds or mutilations the ones in the first cave had. In fact, it would have seemed as if they were just asleep if it weren't for the open eyes of those whose heads she could see and their expressions of fear. There was no sign of blood either.

Just how did the bioweapons kill these poor devils? Via starvation? Asphyxiation? Something much, much worse than either possibility.

Scenes of the demons actually ripping the souls of the creatures and feeding on them began to enter Celestia's mind. Praeratus told her explicitaly that, unlike magic, there was nothing supernatural about psionics, but given the feats psionics could do and he told her about, like moving around mile-long ships like toy boats, creating undead armies, open portals to other dimensions and outright possession...

Celestia forced herself to look away from the pile and think of other things: none of that mattered to the princess of the Sun that moment, only that they had to get out of there. The closest creature she had to a child-her son, already had mental trauma, but that kind of pain could be healed. Death couldn't, and if they stayed there any longer they would end up, she was sure of that, if not for the demons, then for starving or just hopelessness. And that not having in account her friends, subjects and all of Equestria's reaction if they died: the country would fall into anarchy despite the other princesses, Twilight and her friends would be left devastated (especially Twilight, who was practically Spike's big sister), Luna even more so since she was her sister, Discord would be broken since she was the one who gave him a chance to redeem himself...

And Praeratus would possibly commit suicide, either by directly killing himself or taking the fight to the demons for a suicidal, last battle. Either possibility was equally terrifying and tearjerking, given what he told her earlier about his previous loved one.

She wouldn't allow that, not if she could help it.

“Celestia, I'm scared.” Whispered the dragon.

“Me too Spike, me too.” Celestia admitted, trying to both cheer him up and take his attention away from the bodies.

“Can't you teleport us back?”

Celestia perked at that. How could she be so forgetful?

'Because you're surrounded by something you've always wanted to stay away forever.' Said a voice in her head. Celestia, startled by the voice, looked around the cave until she found two blue glowing eyes glaring at her. The voice alone was all she needed to know who, and what, was speaking to her. 'Death'

Celestia looked in horror as dozens of bioweapons appeared literally from out of the shadows of the cave. Adult bioweapons.

The monsters stepped forward in a slow manner, as if they-no, wanting to prolong their fear of an impeding death, growling softly and drooling like the monsters they were.

All except one, who rather than walking on all fours stood up like a pony.

The blue psionic.

Author's Note

I'm going to take a short break of writing here for a month; need to write more of my novel and tend to my Spacebattles account, and there's the Coronavirus worry, which is even worse here in Spain. Yes, I know, that's a lot of time since this chapter is pretty short, but dont' worry, the next will be at least 5000 words long. As always comment, like and fave.

Confronting your Fears

As soon as Praeratus rammed the demon through the walls of the Hall, Thorax grabbed his still groggy brother and helped him on his hooves.

“Pharynx are you okay!?”

“What do you think it looks like? That's the last time I'll attack something bigger than me without turning into a giant monster.” Groaned the older changeling while he did the same to Ember. “And you, Dragon Lord?”

“Can't say I've been better.”

Meanwhile, Celestia, Novo and the equestrians were tending to Twilight, who was still unconscious, but at least stopped bleeding.

“How is she?” Asked Raven worriedly.

“She's okay, I've managed to tie the wound before she bled out.” Replied Celestia. “But she lost too much blood. And there's no arm to reattach either.”

“What's her blood type?” Asked Glenda, who stood next to her liege.

The overall medical technology of Equus (Equestria, Mount Aris and Griffonstone basically) was advanced enough to reattach severed limbs and repair broken bones, but while they did practice blood transfusion, it was a relatively recent thing, and most creatures refused to donate their blood, not simply because compatibility (ponies, yaks, minotaurs, deeer and mammals in general, for example, were uncompatible with dragons or changelings; hippogriffs and griffons, on the other hand, were compatible with both mammals and birds), but also because they deemed it unnecessary and several other reasons (ponies simply found it disgusting; griffons refused to give their blood unless they got money from it; dragons and yaks thought that sharing blood was a show of weakness...). And to make things worse, despite their willingness to help her...

“She's M.”

The creatures present looked at each other with worry and dispair. Raven and Novo were E type, the rest were either C or D, and Celestia was ED: all of those the most common blood types in Equus. M, on the was the rarest blood type. Not only that, even if they could save her, she would still be missing an arm.

“Is she going to... die?” Asked Glenda in a sad tone.

“It appears so.”

Celestia, however, was not one to give up, not when she had the means to help.

“No she won't.” She said before picking up Twilight with her magic. “I can save her.”

“How?” Asked Ember, who was behind them.

“Remember what I told you of Praeratus saving me from death? I actually died, but he brought me back.” Everypony but Novo (who knew it already) gasped at the revelation. “And he did that with a device he has on his ship. I can teleport myself there with Twilight and put her on it.”

“Wait wait wait, teleport to the ship outside where currently two super strong aliens are duking it out?” Asked Ember.

“Praeratus wouldn't hurt me.” Celestia said in a slightly ofended tone.

“ I wasn't talking about Praeratus.” Replied Ember in a defensive tone with her hands raised. “I meant the 10 feet tall monster that can read minds and eat arms.”

“The monster will be busy fighting him, and besides, the ship is closed and locked down. The defenses aren't online, which is actually bad, but other than that we'll be fine.”

“Good luck then, we're going with the others.” Said Novo. In truth she would have preffered to say something else, something in the lines of helping her friend, but as much as she was ashamed of it she was terrified of the thought of going near a demon that was not just stronger than even Praeratus, but also quite eloquent (at least with its mind).

Celestia nodded in gratitude of her concern and, with a flash, teleported herself and Twilight to the ship's cockpit.

The alicorn didn't waste time and rushed to the Med-Pod room with Twilight floating behind her, but when she got in front of the door that lead to the room thoughts of fear plaguing her mind. Would she be quick enough to save Twilight? Would the others be okay? What was happening out there? Was Praeratus okay!?

'What if that monster does kill him!?' Thought Celestia with horror. Despite knowing that the battle-hardened, older than her and overall powerful therawyrm was quite capable of handling himself in a fight, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the genetically-engineered monster could kill Praeratus. It was, after all, capable of 'talking' and standing like a person (the coloquial and polite word that meant sophont, a sapient being; Praeratus told her that calling a 'person' a 'creature' was offensive in practically every world of the Milky Way. He never called them on this because, in his own words, 'you had no way of knowing this'), and able to hold a grudge against the one who shot off his arm. The last one didn't sound that exceptional, but according to Praeratus the demons were always angry and thought only of slaughtering the inhabitants of Equus. The one that ate Twilight's arm, on the other hand, was calm enough to concentrate its anger on the one who hurt it and her, the keeper of the sun that orbited Equus. Sure, her death wouldn't really meant doom for the planet (Luna and Twilight could raise it, as could Discord, and there were a few unicorns that could do it too, like Starswirl and Starlight, but it would take them much more effort to do so), but the equestrians would, as Praeratus said, 'lose it' if their most beloved princess got killed.

Celestia shook her head, forcing herself to look at the unconscious Twilight to finally enter the room focus on the matter at hand, getting her into the Med-Pod. Carefully laying her former pupil on the sarcophagus-like pod, Celestia sealed the pod and went to the console. Praeratus, being the prepared man he was, had taught her how to operate the device in case of an emergency, just like this one. The Med-Pod, aside from mending grievous injuries and bringing back the dead it could also replenish lost blood, somehow never depleting its supply of plasma. Not even Praeratus knew how it worked, but since it worked anyway, he didn't care. He told her that, at first, he tried to rationalize it, but one day he gave up trying to explain the proccess and, not willing to disassemble the pod to see how it worked in fear of not being able to assemble it again, decided he simply couldn't understand.

Of course, while it could synthetize and restore the blood of a patient in a short time, regrowing an arm from a stump was much more difficult. It wasn't impossible (in fact, once Praeratus cut off his left arm and grew it back with the Med-Pod to show Twilight and Luna its healing properties, after which he gave the arm to Cyranus, who to the horror of the mares ate it, although only after his friend prodded him a bit, and even then with some reluctance), but it took at least several minutes, minutes that she, as much as she disliked to think, didn't want to pass waiting when Praeratus was outside fighting.

Celestia, seeing that the proccess had already begun and that her guidance was unnecessary at this point, decided to go to the cockpit, which had a terminal linked with the hidden cameras in the hull, to see how was Praeratus doing, somewhat certain that the demon was dead and that Praeratus discovered where did the rest hide. Only somewhat certain, because the last time he fought a demon he needed the help of Cyranus to kill it, and this time he was both alone and against a more self-aware enemy.

Her concern turned into horror when she saw the xeno-hunter pinned down by two other demons while several smaller ones ripped off his legs with their teeth.

“PRAERATUS!!” She screamed futilely before running to the ship's door. 'What can I do, WHAT CAN I DO!?'

She didn't know what to do, her magic was useless against them and even the small ones could easily kill an armored pony or griffon, as several of her foolish guards and others discovered the hard way, but she still wanted to save him!

But then she remembered something that made her stop in her tracks, just before she pressed the button that opened the door to the outside.

'The armory!'

The alabaster alicorn, ran through the ship to the room that housed Praeratus' weapons, some of which she was sure could kill the demons. Praeratus, prepared as he was, had told her the code that unlocked the door, but also told her that she should only open the armory without his consent in emergencies. Unfortunately, this was an emergency.

Celestia unlocked the door and went inside, looking for a weapon that could kill the demons quickly. Around her were rifles, pistols, shotguns, automatic weapons and more of all types: some were mass drivers, other were laser weapons, a few were plasma throwers... there was even a shoulder mounted gauss cannon at the back of the room, which according to Praeratus was powerful enough to rip an Ursa Major in two with one shot.

But she already saw what she needed for the occasion, a rifle that hung on the left wall of the armory: the R-90 heavy hunting rifle, a plasma thrower designed specifically to deal with heavily armored beasts. This was the only weapon she knew how to handle aside from the P-95, and even then it was a simply quick course in which she never even fired a shot, but she was desperate and in need of a powerful weapon, which the rifle was: she knew that a bolt from this weapon was powerful enough to disable a portable energy shield that could shrug a grenade (a weapon that aside from explosing dispersed hot metal fragments, extremely lethal to normal infantry and lightly armored vehicles but not a problem for heavy infantry or tanks).

Celestia rushed back to the door with the large rifle held in her hands, opened the door and looked outside.

The bioweapons were still pinning down Praeratus, and the smaller ones were busy killing off the surviving guards and scaring away the assembled creatures, just like what she saw in the screen. What she didn't see was that Praeratus had beaten the 'talking' monster to a pulp, literally; now it looked more like those manticore or bear rugs that freaked out herbivores like ponies and deer but that griffons, and sometimes yaks, considered fashionable.

But most importantly, all of them had their backs turned to her.

Without hesitation, Celestia aimed at the head of the closest monster and pulled the trigger.

[Before we get to the results of Celestia's bravery, there's something that you, cosmic readers from another dimension, must understand about weapons in this universe we call Stellaris.

Laser weapons are the mainstay of most militaries in the Milky Way in both of their forms (longer but slower-firing beams and shorter but quick-firing pulses), thanks to being literally recoilless, no bullet-drop in atmosphere, lightspeed, batteries instead of magazines and, by extension, easier logistics, and ease of use, but whereas starship lasers are the common armor-melting weapons for capital ships, infantry lasers are usually 'deflected' by standard infantry armor unless they hit the head of joints or the laser is a prolonged beam.

Kinetic weapons (commonly called mass drivers despite the existance of railguns and coilguns), firing magnetically propelled metallic slugs, are much, much slower and give quite a kick, but just like lasers their role changes with size: whereas ship cannons are used mostly to deplete the energy barriers of enemy ships, hypersonic bullets are better at penetrating personal armor than laser pulses, and quite frankly, kinetic discharges have a more intimidating roar instead of the slightly quieter laser shots.

Plasma weapons are a different beast altogether, firing an incredibly hot bolt of ionized hydrogen contained on a magnetic 'bottle' at supersonic speeds by forcing it through a barrel via magnetic field accelerator. This makes them somewhat less efficient in the marksman role since aside from pistols bullets are usually hypersonic and have more range, but since the bolt has no mass it keeps flying until the magnetic bottle disperses or hits something. Then there's the fact that even plasma pistols can punch through a therawyrm or zoclap and kill them unless they are wearing armor, which is impressive given how tough both of these species are. On the othe hand, they still require ammunition to fire, and the recoil, while more forgiving than kinetics, is still an issue, and since unlike lasers the bolts can't be modified before firing, most plasma weapons are always lethal to mid-sized species. Still, plasma weapons are highly feared throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, and regulated in the Confederation, for a very good reason]

A large blob of green energy flew from the barrel and hit the back of the head of the demon almost instantly, reducing the heat to a burning mush. It also the side effect of making the pulverized monster miss the mark when it was about to impale Praeratus with a spear.

'What was that!?' She heard it scream, something that gave her a grim satisfaction. Apparently, despite the demon being a monster literally born to kill, was panicky enough to not bother hiding its thoughts.

“Get away from him, you monster.” She said, making the monsters and Praeratus look at her.

The therawyrm, despite obviously being in pain after having his legs bitten off, smiled at her, a smile she returned.

The blue psionic demon was another story.

'You, kill that bitch, NOW!' It screamed to the other livin bioweapon, which roared and charged at her. Celestia, now scared for her life but still unwilling to run away, fired the rifle several times in hopes of hitting the demon, who managed to dodge the first three deadly bolts of superheated plasma until a fourth one, either by sheer luck or because it was slower than it thought, ended up hitting its left let, which caused it to fall mere meters away from Celestia, its snapping jaws already inside the ship trying to bite her legs.

In another occasion, Celestia would have froze in terror. Now, though, she glared at the monster with all the repressed anger she had kept for two hundred years, anger for all those stallions lost, and shot the monster, disintegrating it piece by piece until its body became barely more than a big pile of blackened bones covered ashes.

'Frack this,!' Swore the blue psionic when it saw its able-bodied brother die in the hands of a primitive xeno. It was already growing its bones back, but it would take a while for it to heal completely. 'You two, get me the hell out of here! The rest of you, kill that horse bitch!'

Two of the young bioweapons came to their senior and lifted him up with their claws with surprising ease before leaving at full speed. Celestia didn't see them leave though, busy as she was shooting at the screeching mass of claws and fangs that tried to get inside the ship and rip the pony apart, all the while ignoring their dwindling numbers due to said pony f

Unfortunately for them, the imps had forgotten about Praeratus, who despite lacking legs was still a former soldier and knew how to move on the ground without using neither his legs nor psionics to lift himself up.

The xeno-hunter grabbed two of the imps by the tails and yanked, but rather than pulling the monsters themselves to him he ripped their tails off, after which he used them as a makeshift whip (or in this casea a one-thong scourge made of steel-hard vertebrae) to lacerate the other monsters and draw their attention away from Celestia and to him. As for why didn't he use his psionics to wipe them out or at least kill the psionically adept one, it was simple: he didn't trust himself using them when wounded. This was due to an incident that happened in the War of Orion's Arm against the Selenites during one of the last missions of the conflict, besieging a Selenite base covered by a barrier. An enemy grenade landed near him just when he was about to attack an enemy armored vehicle with a psionic lance (which was similar to a psionic bomb, but instead of propelling an sphere the launcher focused the energy on a spear-like bolt, which didn't explode but was in turn much more effective against armored enemies) and, since he wasn't wearing his helmet because Centurion armor was hermetically sealed (and therefore useless for psionics unless he let a part of his body uncovered; this was the reason why most psionic troopers didn't wear helmets or full armor), the explosion ripped nearly half of his head.

Psionics and injuries didn't mix, what with the pain distracting the psionic when they were using their abilities. At best the psionics were unable to do anything, but at worst people died if the psionic was blue or higher, and quite a lot at that.

And unfortunately for everyone around Praeratus, both Confederates and Selenites, he had reached the blue spectrum a hundred years prior.

The energy he had gathered to form the psionic lance was violently released in the form of a psionic shockwave that crushed everything in a radius of a hundred yards. Fortunately, the Confederates had several psionic warriors that managed to raise a barrier that kept it away from their lines. The Selenite defenders that were near, though, were not so lucky: the psionic shockwave pulverized the Selenites outside the base and bypassed the barrier, blowing up the generator and... Well, Praeratus and the others didn't come inside, but those who did came out with looks of awe mixed with a bit of fear. Later they discovered that every Selenite inside the base had been turned into jelly-like blobs of raw flesh and liquidified bones. Of course, while the troops didn't mind it at all (and in fact had expected Praeratus to do the same, although with his fists)

After that debacle, as the higher ups called it, all psionic warriors and psionic-capable Centurions were forbidden to use their powers when heavily wounded, an order that Praeratus took to heart to the point that he refused to use his psionics with any kind of armor on. Even after years of enduring pain and ending up accustomed, many times he resorted to his fists or Cyranus after spending his ammo when hunting because he didn't trust himself with a broken ribcage or an eaten arm.

Of course, there were a few moments when he was seriously wounded, had to fight and all he had at hand were his psionics, like the bioweapon that attacked Canterlot, although to be fair he wasn't that badly injuried by it: cuts and broken bones can't be compared to severed legs after all.

Praeratus, having finally killed all of the small bioweapons, crawled to his legs and inspected them, comparing the gaping wounds with his own stumps.

'Mmph, the nerves have to wrecked.' He thought morosely when he saw the damage the serrated teeth had done to his legs from the thighs down.Just like he felt, it was like a maniac with a chainsaw sawed them. 'Well, look at the bright side Praty, at least they let the groin alone'

“I did it...”

Praeratus looked back to where the voice of Celestia came from and saw the alicorn covered in ashes , with a large splotch of red blood (which fortunately wasn't hers) in her dress. Aside from that she looked unscathed.

But Celestia didn't seem to realize this, busy as she was staring at the carnage in front of her that she herself did.

Worried, the xeno-hunter crawled up the stairs until he stood next to the frozen alicorn, who had still watching. His instincts and experience told him to get to the Med-Pod and reattach his legs before he lost consciousness and bled out, but he wanted-no, needed to know if Celestia was alright. Besides, this wasn't the first time his legs were severed.

“Celestia, are you okay?”

She didn't respond, and despite the fact that her head was turned to him she wasn't even looking at him, but through him.

“Celly?” Celestia had told her that, since they were friends, he had to call her nickname, 'Celly', from time to time.

Having promised her to never read her thoughts, he was surprised when the usually composed alicorn broke down into tears and slumped to the floor.

Despite the angry expression she had when she killed the first demon, Celestia hoped (in the naivete that was characteristic to ponies) that pointing a weapon capable of killing them would send them running away, not remembering that she tried the same thing with the first one two hundred years prior, where she blasted a rock near it to scare it.

It replied in kind by doing the same to a hundred royal soldiers, bursting them to flame with an new, unknown type of magic that now she knew was called psionics.

In the end, the Princess of the Day managed to kill it, but not before it slaughtered her army and nearly killed her. Killing it wasn't the only thing that traumatized her though; she

“Celestia! Celestia what's wrong!” Praeratus exclaimed while lightly shaking her by the shoulders.

“I-i've killed living, breathing creatures again!” She managed to say between sobs before she clasped her arms around Praeratus and sunk her head on his chest. The therawyrm, not knowing what to do, simply hugged her back.

When Novo, Thorax and the others, after calming down the other creatures, they saw Praeratus embracing a still weeping Celestia.

Author's Note

Sorry for the shortness and possibly lower quality of this chapter. It's just... I've been watching Primal, the new Adult Swim mini-series from Genndy Tartakovsky and, well, it made me cry despite coming from the man that gave us Dexter's Laboratory and Hotel Transylvania (although he also gave us Samurai Jack, Sym-Bionic Titan and Clone Wars). Watch it if you can guys, it'll be worth your time.

As always, thumbs up, comment and fave the story.

Dreaming

Celestia flew through the halls of her castle, not daring to look back and with Spike clutched in her embrace. The only way she had to know they were still chased were Spike's screams of terror, since the dragon was able to see the horde of monsters and insane ponies that was only mere meters behind them.

“They're gaining on us Princess!!” He cried while looking back.

“Hold on!” Exclaimed Celestia, flapping her wings faster to gain speed. Despite this, the horde was no farther than before; at least it wasn't closer either, which as far as she cared wasn't enough, and on top of that she didn't know where she was going or where would they go if she managed to escape Canterlto but her magic didn't work due to the mere presence of the big demons, so she had to use her wings.

Unfortunately, she forgot that those corridors led directly to the throne room, a dead end, and only remembered that when she saw the open gates of the hall. Which was infested with smaller monsters. Either they had arrived there already or they knew where would she go.

“Celestia, in front of us!” Cried Spike.

Celestia stopped in mid-air and tried to turn back, hopeful that the creatures couldn't jump that high and knowing that she was faster than any living pegasus, but she found herself in front of a literal living wall of scales, fangs and hands holding anything resembling a weapon, so tall that it reached the ceiling of the corridor. They were trapped.

In another occasion Celestia would have laughed at the somewhat comical sight of ponies and other creatures forming a wall, but right now those same ponies and creatures wanted to kill her and Spike. Especially her ponies: in all her life she had never seen murderous expressions like those, not even when the first demon attacked and did the same thing to her soldiers, who turned on their fellow stallions and slaughtered them, after which they did the same to each other, leaving her alone with the demon and surrounded by corpses.

But they didn't. Instead, the small demons and insane ponies just glared at them (well, the monsters did; the ponies were trying to attack them, but the horde was so 'packed' they couldn't do more than scream and spit).

“Why aren't they attacking?” Whispered Spike.

“I don't know, but it can't be good.” She replied.

“Well, depends on what you consider good.” Said a voice coming from behind them. It was the light voice of a mare, one that Celestia ddin't know. The alicorn, not wanting to move her whole body out of fear, turned her head to see who spoke.

She saw, on the corner of her eye, a demon sitting on her throne. The sight of a creature much bigger than even Discord sitting on a throne made for a much smaller alicorn would have been quite funny in another time.

Of course, the fact that in front of the demon demon stood a yellow-furred, white maned unicorn that looked at them with glowing blue eyes and a sinister smile.

The demon sitting on her chair, in turn, was leaning forward in a playful manner, with its ugly head resting on its left claw and something akin to a smile adorning its muzzle. It wasn't glaring at them like it's brethren, but it was clear by the way it was looking at them, the cold, calculating eyes and the fact that the mare was essentially mirroring it...

“Well? Come in!” The possessed mare said in what seemed to be a mocking tone.

“What do we do now?” Whispered Spike, scared out of his wits by the fact that the monsters could speak.

The Princess of the Day, unsure of what to do, was about to say something when, without warning, her body moved on its own accord, walking until she stood right in front of the stairs that led to the throne. The same force that made her move forced her to look to the smiling unicorn right in the eyes, with the also-smiling demon behind her.

“Well? Aren't you going to introduce yourselves?”

The day had started well. No, the day had started great: Twilight and the others defeated the Storm King and his forces with the help of Tempest Shadow, fred Celestia, Luna and Cadance from their stone prison, brought Equestria and Mount Aris closer (although after trying to steal Novo's Pearl of Transformation), and the Friendship Festival was restarted. It was beautiful.

And then the monsters came. The creatures in general looked like small, wingless dragons with spiked tails which were further divided in two types: bigger, silent ones who stood on their hind legs and appeared to be no more than ten, and smaller (as in, just slightly bigger than Celestia herself), noisy ones on a quadrupedal stance that appeared to be the bulk of the horde, numbering at least a hundred.

Nopony knew where they came from, nor what they really were aside from reptiles, but everypony present knew one thing: for some reason, the creatures didn't like them. They weren't staring, they weren't frowning, they were glari

So busy were the attendants to the Festival that none saw Celestia shiver in fear. Well, none except Spike who was right next to her, but he too, for some reason, was scared of the creatures, especially since Twilight, ever the diplomatic and not remembering what happened last time (three days prior to be precise), walked towards what appeared to be the leader of the 'visitors'. Celestia, seeing the closest thing she had to a son so terrified and next to her, lifted him with her magic and brought him to her.

“Princess, I'm scared.” Said Spike, with his voice muffled because he had sunk his head on her bosom. In another occasion he (and Celestia) would have felt embarrassed because of this, but at that moment he was the most scared he had ever been.

Of course, his fear couldn't compare to Celestia's, for she knew exactly what the creatures were: demons. She had slain the first one two hundred years prior after it escaped the meteor that brought it to Equus and slaugthered the Royal Army, after which she hid the metal contraption that brought it in their world for fear that it could release more monsters if they existed.

“Me too Spike, me too.” Replied the alabaster alicorn while clutching the back of the boy's head, not looking away from the supposed leader of the creatures that, unknown to Twilight, who was futilely talking to it, was GLARING RIGHT AT HER.

And then it bit Twilight in half, which the other monsters took as a signal to attack and slaughter the party-goers.

Chaos ensued, with hundreds of screaming ponies running in any direction to get away from the murderous creatures, trampling those unfortunate enough to trip in front of them. A few, including Rainbow Dash and her sister Luna, tried to attack the monster, but died before they could fire a magic bolt at them. Worse, they died because the monsters themselves attacked them with their own magic attacks, which they turned to the terrified and horrified ponies (terrified because of obvious reasons, horrified because nopony in Equus had seen such grisly brutality ever, not even Discord), ripping them apart with red projectiles of pure energy, burning them from the inside out with fire and even causing their limbs to flash-freeze so that they were easier to catch and maul, if they even survived the sudden change of body temperature.

Despite all of that, those attacks weren't the worse part.

It was the brainwashing. One of the monsters grabbed a guard with it's magic and looked at her right in his eyes with its own glowing ones. The terrified earth pony's face adopted a maddened expression, and just as the demon let her go shehe lunged at the nearest living pony (a pegasus colt) and procceeded to punch him with all her strength. She didn't stop punching even as the poor colt died.

Celestia, who until that point had been frozen in terror, ignored the pleas of help from the ponies that were still alive and sane and teleported herself and Spike in front to her palace's Panic Room, which, despite the name, was more akin to a giant vault, a whole new infraestructure built under the castle, specifically where the Crystal Caves were before, complete with bedrooms, bathrooms, a common hall, a kitchen and even an arcade, and big enough to house two hundred ponies, although not very luxurious in contrast with the palace it was built under. She made it built and announced it existance publicly after Chrysalis had captured her, Luna, Twilight and the rest despite the concern of her friends. One of its most important features was made it so special was that its walls were made of meteoric iron, which had anti-magical properties similar to Chrysalis' throne, rendering a magic user's magic useless as long as they were inside its perimeter. Only pegasi could use their inner magic to fly, and even then not at the speed they usually flied.

She knew that what she was doing was not just selfish, but also would doom everypony else out there in the city that might be still alive and sane, but something deep inside her told her that she and Spike were the only ones

Leaving the baby dragon sitting on a sofa in her and her sister's suite, Celestia teleported to the gate to the underground refuge to close it and seal the place. The gate was rather small, a vault door with a diameter of no more than twenty feet, but aside from a customized lock system nothing could open it, and she was confident that not even a thousand demons aided by ten times their number in ponies could force their way in with the door locked in place.

Before she could press the button that would close the several-hundred tonnes metal door that would seal the place, however, she decided to wait for at least a minute to see if anypony would come.

'At least I could try and see if there's somepony out there' She thought while she stared into the abyss outside the reach of the refuge's lights. She had to give them the chance to save themselves from the horrors that now plagued her beloved city.

Unfortunately, no pony came. On the other hand, she heard a lot of roars and screams of agony or rage muffled by the stone walls.

Celestia sighed in a mix of defeat and sorrow and prayed for her little ponies that were still alive (since she doubted they were still sane) before closing the vault door and sealing the refuge. She hated to do this, she wasn't thinking rationally when she came, but acting on a combination of survival instinct, maternal instinct (Spike saw her as a kind of mother figure even though she only took care of him for a few months before passing him to Twilight and her family; not that she didn't feel the same way about him), and the overwhelming fear those with traumas have when they faced by the very same thing that traumatized them in the past... like nearly invincible, magic-using demons.

Slowly, she made her way to where she left Spike. The young dragon was, surprisingly, reading a 'Power Ponies' comic book, although he was less reading it and more covering his face with it. Celestia knew that this series in particular was his favourite, and that several months prior he and the Elements had somehow ended inside it, getting out after battling the current villa. How did it end on her suite since neither she nor luna read comic books was a mystery.

Celestia inmediatly knew that something was wrong.

“Spike?” She called to the young purple dragon. When he didn't respond, Celestia called again. “Spike, are you alright”

Spike looked up from his comic, and Celestia's heart sunk when she saw the expression on his face.

She had seen him get upset a lot of times before, and of course she had seen him cry a few times. But she had never seen him cry like this. And then the emotional dam that had hold him (somewhat) together broke. The poor baby dragon cried literal rivers of tears, and Celestia inmediatly went to his side to hug him to her chest in an attempt to comfort him. The mix of mucus and tears ruined

They stayed like that for several minutes, with the alabaster alicorn hugging Spike until his crying became weeping.

“W-why?' He sobbed while looking up at her with teary eyes. “Why did those things attack us just when we had finally beaten the bad guys? Why did they kill Twilight and the others like that?”

Celestia caressed the head of the dragon while hugging him.

“I don't know what those monsters are or what do they want, but if we give to dispair then we'll have already lost.”

“But they killed everypony else!” He cried again before forcefully prying himself from her hold and glaring up at her “And why didn't you do something!”

“Spike, there was nothing I could do.” In another occasion she would have screamed back, but after all what happened Spike had every reason to be angry with her. “You saw what happened to Luna, those creatures were resistant to magic.”

“You could have done something!” Screamed Spike in an accusatory tone. “Like sending them to the Sun, or burning them, or-!” He ranted before Celestia, for the first time in her life since the dragon was born, screamed at him.

“I WAS SCARED OKAY!?” Shouted back Celestia with the Canterlot Royal Voice, looking absolutely livid for a moment before realizing what she had done. Fortunately, Spike was more surprised than scared at the revelation.

“Scared?” Repeated the dumbstruck dragon.

“Yes, scared. And not just because those monsters started killing ponies.” She then sighed. “Spike, I have to tell you something that I haven't told anypony else, not even my sister.”

She then told him about the first demon and the slaughter it did two hundred years prior. By the time she finished Spike was nearly as pale as a ghost.

“O-one monster killed all those soldiers?” He said in a small, terrified voice.

“Yes, and now there are at least ten of the same species and a hundred smaller ones, all of them. I hate to say this, but we must leave Canterlot. I doubt anypony is still alive out there, or sane enough to not attack us like wild animals.”

“Then why are we hiding here?” Asked Spike.

“There's a secret tunnel which joins with a short cave system that leads to an abandoned mine a mile away from Canterlot. We'll use it to escape the city and go to alert the rest of Equestria.”

“Can't you just teleport us?”

“No, this refuge's walls prevent anypony capable of casting magic of using it, alicorns included. They're also thick enough that even an Ursa Major would need days to get inside.”

“But what will happen if we go out and there's nopony left outside?” Said Spike; he, of course, was talking about Equestria.

“The monsters are fast, but not that fast.” She started to sound hopeful. “They might be able to destroy the closest towns to Canterlot, but by the time they reach Manehattan we'll be already there.”

“And then what? What will stop the monsters from doing the same thing to the ponies there?” Asked Spike in a nervous tone.

That simple question smothered the hope that started to burn in Celestia's chest.

Sure, they could escape Canterlot through the secret passage, but what would stop the monsters from reaching the towns and cities surrounding the capital and massacre their inhabitants with total impunity?

“We're going to die!” Screamed Spike hysterically, shaking in pure terror. He was a child, but it was jarring for Celestia to see the usually composed (compared to his friends in similar situations) scream and act like that. Plus the fact that a child of all things said 'die'. “Those things will come here, and when they do they'll rip us apart and-”

“Spike!” Celestia shouted while grabbing the terrified young dragon by his shoulders, making him cease his trembling. “Spike, calm down!”

“But we're going to-” Just before the dragon could end the phrase, however...

SLAP!

“Do not. Say. That.” Whispered Celestia. Spike, clawed hand covering the reddened mark on his cheek her slap left, didn't say anything. “Those monsters have already killed my sister, my pupil, and my friends. I will not let them kill my...”

Before she could finish her own phrase, she was interrupted too. But not by a slap.

“Celestia?” Asked Spike when he saw Celestia become paralyzed.

“Did you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

He didn't feel it since he was sitting in the couch and somewhat addled by his fear of getting eaten, but the alicorn, who was crouching in front of him and had a cleared mind, did.

A tremor. Which was impossible because the walls of the refuge were thick enough to isolate the place from the mountain it rested under and the crust it rested upon. Which meant only one thing.

Something was attacking the refuge.

Just as her mind registered that thought, she and Spike heard what was possibly the most terrifying sound for both of them at the moment.

The incredibly heavy gate of the panic room falling and shattering the floor... followed seconds later by the screeches of the smaller, furious monsters and the screams of mindless rage of many mares, stallions and foals.

Celestia didn't waste time in grabbing Spike and flying, and by the time the monsters and mad ponies catched up she had flied back through the open gate and into the castle.

“Well?” Repeated the mare.

“I... am...” Celestia began to stutter before stopping, breathing deeply and speaking again, this time more confidently. “I am Princess Celestia, Princess of the Day and Diarch of Equestria, and this” She gestured towards Spike, who was alternating between the horde around them, the possesed mare in front of them and the demon sitting on the throne with fearful eyes. “is Spike. Since I've told you our names, could you do the same for us?”

“Well, we would, but there are two chief reasons for us to not do so. First, the bio-engineers and scientists that created us didn't have time to assing a name to us before they sent us here.”

'Scientists? Engineers?' Thought Celestia.

“Oh, right, I forgot. You primitives don't have satellites and you think we're some kind of demons. Well, sorry to burst your bubble girl, but we're not. We're living weapons created and grown in vats to fight enemies of the Confederation. So, technically speaking, we're aliens.”

Celestia and Spike's eyes widened in both astonishment in fear. These creatures that had killed so many both centuries before and mere minutes prior... were more akin to living killer robots. Living killer robots made by aliens.

As if the monster, which could no longer be called a demon for obvious reasons, read their thoughts, it spoke through the mare

“No, they didn't send us here to kill you, despite our burning desire to do so. After the war in which we were supposed to fight ended in a peace treaty between the Confederation and the xenos, High Command decided that we were a risk in case that xeno spies discovered our existence, so they destroyed any documents of our creation and got rid of us by freezing us, putting us in a containment unit and launching ot in a wormhole... which led us directly to your galaxy and, unless it wasn't one of those holes in the veil of time and space, is still linking both galaxies.”

Celestia was about to ask more about it before stopping herself and remembering all the deaths and destruction these monsters caused.”

“And the second second reason?” Asked Celestia, not liking where was the conversation going.

“Because in the case we had a name we wouldn't tell it to a bunch of primitive xenos that have the potential to be another threat to the Confederation. Your killing of one of my brethren with nothing but spears and swords just helped cement that fact.” Replied the possessed mare in a suprisingly venomous tone

In another ocassion Celestia would have wondered if the monster's 'voice' sounded like that because it had been close to the one she had killed, or because she stopped what technically was a preemptive strike, asked how did it know about the battle if they were frozen inside the 'container' or even who and what were the Confederation and the Hegemony.

Instead, she had to contain her rage at this disproporcionate retribution to not burn Spike to death with her mane, which now resembled a bonfire, and her eyes also burned with rage. The dragon, who had never seen her so angry, stared at her with fear, more scared of her than the monsters and insane ponies, who also were affected by the fury of the alicorn: whereas the former simply stepped back by this sudden show of resistance, since they were still magic-proof, most of the later screamed in agony when the fire turned them to cinders, or melted their skin and bone of those farther away. The possessed mare, on the other hand, was completely unaffected by Celestia's fire despite being a pony and therefore affected by magic, and mere feet away from her.

“You killed those ponies... turned them into mindless beasts... and destroyed my city... BECAUSE WE MAY BE A THREAT!?” Screamed Celestia, which by this point had acquired a much terrible appearance: burning mane, paler fur, black eyes with yellow sclerae... she even had fangs! Many didn't know it, but this form, what she called Daybreaker, is what she feared she would become if she decided to cut her power loose to finally defeat her enemies instead of being always defeated.

She hadn't expected the monster to metaphorically explode too, standing from the throne and roaring, with the possessed mare mirroring it by screaming mindlessly at the top of her lungs... and punching Celestia in the muzzle with all her strength.

Celestia always thought (well, assumed) that, as an alicorn she was much tougher than most ponies (barring exceptions like Applejack or her brother Big Macintosh) thanks to the magic that ponies received when they became alicorns. Now she discovered that either the anti-magical effects from the 'weapons' applied to ponies they took control over, or that alicorns are in fact not stronger, because the punch not only threw her to the ground (and forced her to release Spike), but also broke her muzzle and made it bleed.

“YES, YOU XENO BITCH, YOU ARE A THREAT! YOU, YOUR SPECIES, AND EVERY LIVING THING ON THIS PLANET THAT CAN THINK!” Screamed again the mare.

Celestia's angry form evaporated as fast as it came, replaced by her original, terrified body as the mare, who like most ponies was barely above five foot tall, loomed over her menacingly. Behind her, over her shoulder, she could see that the monster possessing her was looking at her over her shoulder.

“H-how can we be a threat!” Celestia stuttered.“Magic is useless against you, and our only weapons are spears and-ack!” The possessed mare grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up with surprising strength.

“The loc-hanae began with spears too. Next, they discovered pikes. After pikes came gunpowder, which you already have. Then they made repeaters, machine guns, tanks, planes, nuclear weapons, mass drivers, lasers... all of that in less than five hundred years, and that was before they met the doboids. If a bunch of cats and squids can go from savages to an fanatical empire that nearly wiped out the Confederation, so can a primitive planet of freaks of nature that includes magical horses and giant firebreathing lizards that fly! But we can make sure that can't happen!” She said before tightened her grip on Celestia's neck. She spoke again, this time with a low, threatening tone “I'm gonna make sure it doesn't happen.” With that she squeezed, and would have broken Celestia's neck if not for a certain dragon launching himself at her back.

“Leave her alone!” Screamed Spike whilst hitting the mare's head with all the strength he could muster. It did made her drop Celestia, but it didn't look like Spike was doing any actual damage to her.

The pony nonchalantly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and held him in front of her for a second before throwing him away... an in front of one of the small monsters, who inmediatly grabbed the terrified dragon with with its deadly claws. It could have easily killed him with but a gesture of its wrists, but its semi-open, drooling jaws, the hunger on its eyes and the way it was inspecting the quivering dragon made clear it had something much more sinister in mind.

“NO!!” Screamed Celestia before rising on her hooves and flying towards them, only to be pinned down by one of the big aliens.

She could only watch on and scream in pain and anger as the alien fully opened its maw, saliva falling on the now screaming spike...

She didn't really know what happened next.

One moment, the monster already had half of Spikes' body on its mouth. The next, there was a thunderclap, and its entire head, struck by something very small yet at the same time very fast, bursted in a explosion of gore and bone.

Every creature in the throne room, even the monster with blue eyes, stared at the headless body that dropped to the ground. Well, every creature sans Spike, who took the chance to escape the monster's clutches and run to Celestia who inmediatly hugged him. Around the pair, alien monsters and insane ponies died by several ways: some were killed by the mysterious 'thunder', others were either burned to ashes or turned into ice sculptures... a few, however were simply crushed to a bloody pulp or even ripped to shreds!

“Spike are you okay!?” Asked Celestia, wanting to make sure that Spike was simply terrified and nothing else.

Spike, rather than responding or even looking at her, was staring at something that was behind and above the alicorn with amazement instead of fear. Celestia followed his gaze and the most outlandis sight she would have never imagined even in her wildest dreams met her eyes.

A male dragon with black scales encased in blue, incredibly advanced-looking armor hovering down from a hole in the ceiling of the room (how didn't they notice it, she didn't know) and blasting monster and pony alike with a strange weapon on his left hand, right one covered in a purple iridiscent glow.

Or at least that was what he looked like at first glance.

Taking advantage from the distraction the warrior gave her by simultaneously saving her and Spike and annihilating the invaders, Celestia made a more thorough inspection and, aside from the much smaller size yet greater proportional bulk, there were several significant differences between him and a normal dragon.

For starters, the 'dragon' wasn't flying with wings, but with rocket-like devices attached to the shoulders of his suit. What appeared to be 'scales' was actually scale-like epidermis, similar to that hereditary disease in which the skin hardened to form plates that looked like scales. He didn't even have a tail!

And then there were his-no his eye; for some reason, he had his left eye closed. Unlike a dragon's, his had a round pupil with a rather mundane coloration of black alongside white sclera.

As for personality, she found nothing; she simply couldn't read the stone-like expression of the warrior. Well, nothing except anger shown in the form of a frowned brow. She did note, however, that he didn't shoot at the monsters and insane ponies behind her and Spike.

It was clear by now that the warrior was an alien too. One that was an enemy of the 'demons'.

As soon as the last insane pony was turned to ashes, the warrior landed in front of Celestia and Spike. Now that he was barely a meter away from her, Celestia noted (and with an uncharacteristic blush at that) that the draconic warrior was at least one head taller than her and twice as wide. She didn't know how many inches did the suit add to his height, but judging by his muscular neck and large head most of the mass was his.

Without giving her a chance to even say 'Thanks', he looked down at her and spoke.

“Get behind me, now. Things are going to get ugly.” He said with a deep, powerful voice. Celestia, being as she was an alicorn and a princess, was simply not used to being ordered around, but given the circumstances she happily obeyed.

The monster sitting on her throne, who until now had been speaking through the now dead unicorn mare and doing little more than gestures, roared in what seemed to be anger and stood up from the throne.

“Celestia, what's happening? And who's that?” Asked Spike, not taking his eyes off the alien, who in turn didn't take his from the monster.

“I don't know Spike, but I think our prayers have been answered.” Replied Celestia.

“But we didn't pray.”

“It's a way of speaking.” Smiled Celestia; it was good to see that Spike had recovered from the ordeal, at least somewhat. It was not time to grieve, not before the monster could be struck down.

Said monster was now roaring at the warrior, as if it were speaking. Given what it did with that unicorn, it might have been able to, just not with words.

“Your presence on this planet is a mistake. A mistake that I'm going to fix.” Said the warrior. Apparently it was indeed speaking.

Another roar. “Why? A better question is why are you attacking them!” Another roar, this one even louder. “After what you and your freaks did, it'll be a wonder that they even consider contacting ANY civilization, much less if it was the one who sent you here!”

The monster, seemingly not liking what it was hearing, gave a last roar and lunged at the warrior claws first and jaws open wide.

It would be the last thing it would do.

Just before the monster could touch him with its claws, the warrior punched it right in the chest. Both equestrians saw in a combination of amazement, fear and shock as the monster, who until know seemed to be invincible and all mighty, get literally ripped in half by the force of the punch, its blood painting the throne behind red for half a second before the corpse destroyed it and crashed in the wall. It was over.

The warrior, nodding at the carnage he caused, turned around and walked to the pair.

Spike, seeing the 7-foot alien dragon walk towards them, hugged Celestia tighter. She, in turn, began to think about what to do.

'What should I do? He did say that it was a mistake that the monsters were here, but at the same time he single-handedly slayed them all, so I should forgive him. Wait, should I even ask for an apology? He DID slay those magic-resistant, magic-using, nigh-invincible monsters!' She though furiusly.

“Celestia.” Said the warrior, surprising her.

“H-how do you know my name?” She stammered. She got even more surprised when the dragon put his arms on her shoulders.

“Time to wake up.”

Author's Note

Here it is, the 20th chapter, and its longer than the previous one to boot!

*Cue 20th Century Fox fanfare*

There's nothing really important to say, only that I hope to upload five more chapters before the end of the year.

As always, comment, favourite and thumbs up.

Also, happy Halloween, or in FIMfiction happy Nightmare Night!

Discussing

Celestia realised that she had been dreaming when she heard voices speaking in front of her. Familiar voices. Why had she been asleep in the first place?

“You said she was already awake.” That was Twilight, who said that in an anxious tone.“Why isn't she moving?”

“Twilight, I'm pretty sure she's just awakened right now and mere minutes after having to kill other living creatures to save her life and that of others. Knowing ponies, that has to be traumatic, even though it wouldn't be the first time she did so.” That was Praeratus, and in contrast with Twilight he didn't seem worried, or at least was good at hiding it. That was good, though: if he wasn't worried then things were alright... at least from his point of view.

Celestia tried to get up from where she was, some kind of couch or sofa, but was too dizzy to do so.

'Why do I feel so weird?' She thought. 'Did Praeratus make me run twenty miles in an hour or something?'

“See? She's moving. Just a little, but she's moving.”

Then she remembered what happened: the attack of the small monsters, she and the others trying to get out of the Hall before being cornered by a demon that actually (telepathically) spoke to them after eating Twilight's arm, Praeratus attacking the thing, teleporting herself and Twilight back to the ship to get the younger alicorn in the Med-Pod, seeing Praeratus lose his legs, grab a weapon from the armory and save Praeratus by killing the big monsters and most of the small ones, and then cry herself to sleep.

“Celestia, how do you feel?” Asked Praeratus.

“A bit doozy, but otherwise alright.” She said before opening her eyes... and closing them because the lightning of the room was too bright for her.

“I can help with that.” She heard the voice of Ember before feeling her upper left breast being pinched by sharp nails, making her jump and scream in pain while grabbing her hurt bosom.

“Ember!” Screamed the other royals.

“What? She's up isn't she?”

“Yes, but it doesn't change the fact you pinched her breast! Why didn't you pinch something else, like her muzzle or her arm!?”

“It was the first thing that came to my head. Besides, I didn't squeeze that hard, did I?”

“It's not that!” Twilight said before Celestia heard the sound of wings flapping and something wooden hitting the ground.

“Hey, don't flap those things here, the place is already cramped with creatures as it is!” That was Thorax. “Praeratus, how can you live in a place like this!”

“Are you calling me fat!?” And that, Novo.

“Not you Queen Novo!” Apologized the changeling king. Soon enough, everypony that was not Praeratus was screaming and even shoving each other, which in turn made one of them push her to the floor again. And she hasn't even opened her eyes yet!

“Alright that's it!” Screamed Praeratus, who until that momen had been silent.

Celestia heard the familiar sound of psionics being used, and the also familiar sound of voices muffled by closed mouths.

“Look guys, I know you're all worried about Celestia, but that doesn't give you the right to wreck my living room, especially since . As for the why is the room so small, Thorax, this ship is also a home made for two, not a dozen. Now, I'm going to let you go, and when I do I want you to stay quiet AND still. Got that?” She didn't heard anything, but she was sure they nodded. “Good.”

“Cyranus is bigger than a cow!”

“Yes, but he also walks carefully when inside the ship.”

She then heard his heavy body walk to her. “Here, let me help you.”

Celestia, with the pain in her breast subsided, opened her eyes again and, after a few seconds of adjusting, looked around.

She was indeed in the ship's living room, which was currently occupied by Praeratus, Twilight, Novo, Thorax, Ember and Raven, which she didn't know was with them since she had been silent all this time.

The living room was actually alright, aside from two toppled chairs and the couch and a couple of pictures that fell off the walls during the brief scuttle.

“So” Began Novo. “, how are you feeling?”

“Quite alright, still a little dizzy but overall I'm good.” She then looked at Praeratus. “What happened after I... well?” She said in a sheepish tone. Even though she was wholly justified for doing so, she still feel ashamed of literally crying herself to sleep after killing those bioweapons.

“Well, after you cried yourself to sleep” Began Novo, not seeing Celestia cringe at that.”, Praeratus brought you here, after which he promptly beat Aspen's sorry flank to a pulp.”

“Novo! That's not what-!” Cried Twilight before Praeratus interrupted her.

“Not exactly, but close.” The therawyrm muttered in a dark tone, which surprised Celestia. Last time he spoke like that, Discord nearly died. Whatever the King of the Deer did or said really made him angry.

“Praeratus, what happened.” She asked worriedly, fearing that Aspen might be worse than just beaten.

The xeno-hunter breathed deeply, either because he too was ashamed of what he did, or because it would be a long story. Maybe both.

“Well, after you fell asleep...”

'Well, what do you know, she can somehow beat her previous crack record' Thought Praeratus as he watched Twilight freak out at her now-whole arm and screaming about how it was impossible to regrow deattached limbs from nothing. He had already made sure that all the monsters were dead, and after ordering the guards to make sure no one would enter his ship (the equestrian ones complied inmediatly; the rest refused before he managed to 'convice' them peacefully), he brought Celestia to the living room and laid her down on the couch. While in the way, he saw that the Med-Pod was occupied and remembered that the last time he saw Twilight she had a bloody stump where her left arm should have been. He was also impressed and a bit proud that Celestia managed to start and then program the device to heal Twilight; regrowing an arm was a much less difficult task than reviving a woman, but it was still impressive, even more so considering that Celestia had to do it herself without his assistance.

It was entertaining seeing the usually calm purple alicorn act like that, but there were important things to do.

“Twilight.” He said, hoping that it would be enough to make her look at him and stop rambling about her new arm. It wasn't. “Twilight!” He said again, this time louder. Nothing, she still didn't look at him. “TWILIGHT!” He finally shouted.

That did the trick.

Twilight, who Praeratus had sit on a chair so that he could reattach his legs, fell down screaming from it due to the force of the shout.

“Wha, wha, what!” She scramed looking in all directions until she fixated on Praeratus. “Oh. Sorry.” She said with a sheepish smile before she remembered that her left arm had been eaten and realized where she was. “Wait, I don't have to be sorry!”

“I just want to know how are you?” Said Praeratus calmly.

“How am I!? I've grown a new arm from nothing!”

“Not from nothing, the Med-Pod injects the broken bones with liquid collagen before-” He began to say before Twilight raised a hand.

“Nevermind!” She groaned before remembering something else. “Celestia! Where is she!?”

“She's alright, but right now that's not what matters.” Responded the therawyrm. “Now, why were you on the Med-Pod? Did those things get inside the Hall?”

“Me, along the other scholars, heard a roar coming from the hall, and we had barely met with the others when one of the demons crashed through the wall and bit my arm off. Now, you told me where she is but not how.”

“She's sleeping in my couch.” Replied Praeratus. When he saw her staring at him, he continued. “After putting you inside the Med-Pod, she saved me from the monsters, which had managed to pin me down because I was stupid enough to forget that the monster didn't come alone.”

“Didn't come alone?”

“There was a small army of young bioweapons accompanying him, alongside two big ones. And the first one was intelligent.”

“Aren't all of them intelligent?” Asked Twilight, who by now had started to become worried.

“Yes, but only in the sense that they are sapient. This one, on the other hand, was-well, technically is, able to speak through telepathy, and is also a blue psionic.”

“Blue psionic?” She whispered, fearful by these news. Praeratus had told her what he knew about psionics to satisfy her curiosity: how they worked, which species where naturally psionic, how the Milky Way treated those that could use them and, most importantly, their rating. And if Praeratus was right, blue psionics were significantly stronger than red psionics, although not as strong as purple ones like Praeratus himself and nowhere near as green ones. “But weren't they supposed to be red?”

“Well, that one is blue, and there are several ways to strengthen the psionics of oneself. It seemed like it was the leader of the others, and to make things worse it managed to run away while I and Celestia killed the rest. That means there are at least seven of the big ones, and since the small ones are their offspring, who knows how many of those are they hiding out there.”

“Oh, no.” She said with wide, terrified eyes. Not only one of them had gotten stronger with its psionics, the demons could create to create an army of smaller yet still dangerous. Worst of all, those weren't clones, but their CHILDREN. Praeratus was sure that ten of them could destroy all life in Equus; the paled at the idea of dozens, hundreds of full-sized, nigh-unstoppable monsters from space.

“Don't worry, though. I'm pretty sure it won't be able to move with the pummeling I gave to it, and I think I killed all the little freaks they could make. Plus, I didn't feel psionic energy in any of those freaks.”

“How can you be sure about that? About the small ones being dead I mean.”

“I can't give an actual answer, but I don't think that, as biological weapons designed to attack civilians, they were not supposed to reproduce at all. Plus, they've out of their pod for less than two months, not enough time for them to either lay a lot of eggs, give birth to enough hatchlings, or enough time for those hatchlings to grow and become dangerous.”

“That's it?” Said Twilight in an skeptical tone. “That's all you can say?”

“Look Twilight, I don't really know about what can those monsters do even though it was the Confederal Senate the one who tasked me with their extermination!” He snapped to her, making her recoil in a bit of fear that turned into concern when the therawyrm sighed in exhasperation and looked at one of the walls of the room. “These last weeks I thought that, while smart, dangerous and outnumbering me ten to one, those things couldn't replace those I killed. But now? Now I don't know what to think anymore.”

They stayed like that for fifteen seconds.

“So” Began to say Twilight again. “, what do we do now? The speaking one is still out there.”

“I'll begin searching for it and its' brethren again, and when I find their hideout I'll blow it to pieces with the ship's cannons. But to search for them I need the permission of the other kingdoms to do so.”

“But why? I mean, I know why do you want it, but wouldn't it be easier to simply scout their nations without asking them?” She asked.

“What would you do if a UFO flew over your house and blinded you with spotlights? Or if a seven foot , heavily armored alien accompanied by a giant, dog-like animal probed your mind without your permission while at the same time the animal roared at you or anyone else, probably family or friends?” He said. “Besides, as I said before, I prefer to have official approval to go to other countries. It's a quirk of mine that I got after years of asking and requesting.”

“Well, pretty sure Ember will happily let you search through the Dragonlands, as will Novo.” Twilight said. After all, he had saved their friends, and in Novo's case her daughter too.

“And the others?”

“Well, the only one that WILL definitely be a problem will be Aspen, but you already investigated the Everfree, so all he could do will be complain and insult.”

“Which is basically nothing.”

Twilight nodded. “As for the others, Gestal will want something in return for letting you and Rutherford might probably ask you to let him go with you to destroy the monsters, but otherwise they will let you. As for Throrax...”

“Speaking of which.” Interrupted Praeratus as he looked at the door, puzzling Twilight.

Until Throax came flying and panting to the room, of course. Even after nearly two months with Praeratus on Equus, she still couldn't get her head around psionics and what they could do that magic couldn't, like 'feeling' presences, even from ponies that weren't psionics themselves.

“Praeratus, what did... you do... with Celestia!?” Thorax managed to say between pant and pant. Despite what he said and the way he did so, the changeling king didn't sound angry, nor worried in the usual way.

“Nothing, she's sleeping right now.” He said before narrowing his eyes at the changeling and grunting: “What happened? Didn't I tell you to not bother me until I came out? Did the monsters return?” He said, preparing to bolt if it was indeed that reason.

Fortunately, it wasn't. Unfortunately...

Thorax took a few seconds to recompose himself and replied. “Worse.”

“Worse?” Repeated Praeratus and Twilight simultaneously. What could be worse than genetically engineered monsters that could kill with literally one look at someone?

“It's King Aspen. He's inciting the other leaders to attack your ship and 'rescue Celestia from your vile claws'.”

“But she's okay! She's just sleeping!”

“I know, I saw him hugging her before, but Aspen didn't, and he's, well, Aspen. He didn't take very well your insults, and even if he did he still doesn't trust you at all since you spied on his kingdom.”

“I wasn't spying the damn forest, I was looking for the monsters, and its not insulting if it's the damn truth, much less when I wasn't even actually insulting him.” Growled Praeratus. 'Great', he thought ', now we have another Neighsay. At least he's not preaching that I'm in league with the freaks'

“Thorax, please tell me that the leaders aren't believing his words.” Pleaded Twilight. The last thing the world needed was most of the planet turning on their only hope, or worse, them going to war against Equestria and her allies. It was be impossible for that to happen, but she wasn't be so sure it couldn't happen, since ponies and many other creatures were, to her embarrasment, quite happy to believe what an authoritive figure said.

“They aren't, but they are scared of you after your show with that psionic thing and what you did to Gnasher and the monsters. Heck, I am scared too, but of what would happen if you decide to leave us.” Explained Thorax.

“What are the others doing about it?”

“Raven Inkwell, Novo, Ember and Pharynx are trying to defuse the situation in your behalf, but I don't think the creatures will hear them out: many think that hippogriffs are elitist jerks, and dragons mindless brutes. Changelings, well, you know already.” Thorax said dejectedly.

“And Gestal and Rutherford?” Asked Twilight.

“Gestal does not like Aspen at all, but he's watching it from the sidelines; as for Rutherford, he attacked the monster that ate your arm and got slammed into a wall for his troubles.”

“Is he okay!?”

“Yes, but he hasn't woken up yet.”

Praeratus rubbed his muzzle in annoyance. “I suppose I can talk to him, say something to shut him up before he does something he might regret.” However, before he could step out of the room, Twilight grabbed his sleeve.

“Praeratus, please, don't YOU do something WE might regret.” She practically begged. She, of course, was talking about the fact that, while he was essentially invincible and unreachable, Equestria wasn't. She looked at him straight in the eye with the traditional puppy dog eyes, hoping that it would deter him from doing something rash, since she knew she couldn't completely stop him. It worked on her when the CMC did it, it might work on him too.

Too bad that Praeratus was simply too experienced, different, old and jaded by years of fighting and killing to fall for that, and even if he wasn't, she was simply too old (and, as much as he hated to admit it, freaky with those huge eyes of hers) to make it work.

“I can't promise anything if he's badmouthing me.”

“Promise me at least you won't hurt him please.”

“Twilight, what I did just said.” With that he left the room.

In route to the door, he thought of what 'punishment' would he give to Aspen.

'A beating? Nah, I can kill a pony with just a slap, a punch or a kick would pulverize him. Mind-rape with images of the Everfree burning and screaming deer being hunted down by bioweapons? He might not be able to recover from that either. What to do without hurting him? Hmph, I guess a good shout and a glare will be enough for that zab', thought Praeratus, settling in just scaring the hart before arriving at the door of the ship and taking a look outside.

He saw the King of the Everfree, the Queen of Mount Aris and the Captain of the Changeling Guard practically scream at each other in front of a large crowd. Gestal was watching from afar with a neutral expression alongside a glaring Ember, who probably didn't know how to talk to someone she disliked without burning them, and Raven Inkwell, who was scared and didn't dare to intervene in the screaming contest.

“Why did you think he killed all those freaks!?” He heard Pharynx scream.

“And where were you when the monsters attacked, uh!?” Novo said.

“With my entourage! If those monsters had killed the brute, they would have needed me to protect them!” Replied Aspen.

“If those creatures could kill a seven-foot tall space dragon warrior who not only is incredibly strong, but is also in possession of a powerful force that trumps magic, what makes you think you could do anything to them?” Spoke Gestal with a critical eye. “Especially since, as I've been written to and you probably too, those monsters are able to use 'psionics'.”

“That's because the magic of ponies is inferior to the magic of nature!”

“Yeah, right, magic that makes trees attack a city surpases the magic can move the Sun and the Moon.”

Aspen heard that. “An you! Why are you siding with the stranger! He mortally wounded your diplomat!”

“That pompous moron was asking for it!”

“It seems that even now dragons are little more than wild beasts that don't even tolerate each other, to the point that their leader does not care if one of her fellow dragons die for it.” Aspen said in a derisive tone, making her growl.

Praeratus decided to defuse the situation before the damn deer got himself killed. However, just as he was about to step down the stairs to confront him, what Aspen said next stopped him on his tracks.

“And why are we speaking? For all we know the alien ordered the demons to attack the Convocation! And that monster is probably raping Celestia and eating the others alive for his amusement as we speak!”

On another occasion Praeratus would have ignored that, and in fact it would have prompted him to retort back with some snark. But after nearly dying to protect them, and seeing that even though only some guards died (he simply didn't give a damn about a bunch of primitive cops of which he didn't even know their names) Twilight still lost her arm, and having living with the alabaster alicorn for the better part of a month and a half, made his blood boil.

His eyes began glowing purple.

“Estimated creatures of Equus...!” Began to say Aspen, who was too busy monologuing to the crowd to notice their terrified faces and murmurs when they saw the therawyrm walk down the ship slowly but surely, with a murderous frown adorning his head and his sharp teeth bared in a rictus of rage.

The other royals, knowing what was about to happen, were unable to could even scream at Aspen before Praeratus yanked him towards him and...

“How bad was the beating?” Asked Celestia in a livid tone. She would have been angrier, but Praeratus wasn't a subject of hers, knew he had trouble keeping his anger in check when insulted and, deep inside, she was happy with what happened to the condesdending hart. Still, that didn't mean he deserved to be beaten half to death by a five hundred-pound bounty hunter.

“I broke all of his limbs and splintered his antler.” Said Praeratus, a bit of anger on his voice. “He's damn luck he can still scream after what he said.”

“You do realize that this might mean war with the deer, right?” Whispered Celestia in a low tone.

Twilight, who of those present was the one who knew her the most, remembered the last time she heard Celestia talk like that realised what was about to happen, so with upmost care she left the living room after signaled the others to do the same. Admitedly it wouldn't do much since there was no door sepearating them, but at least they would not get in the midddle.

“A show of force will keep them in line.”

“WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” Shouted Celestia, so angry that her mane bursted to flame and she unconsciously used the Royal Canterlot Voice, when she was just a foot away from Praeratus. Since her shout was nowhere as loud as artillery strikes or monster roars he barely flinched, but she neither realized that nor cared at the moment. “YOU NEARLY KILLED SOMEONE WHOSE ONLY CRIME WAS BADMOUTHING YOU!!” She ranted before breathing heavily and calming down significantly, her mane turning back to normal. “I understand it when somepony does something dangerous, but Aspen just insulted you! You are better than that.”

“Celestia, it wasn't just because he was insulting me.” Praeratus said calmly but with an edge on his voice.

“Then why? Why did you nearly kill him?”

“Because he dared to think that I was the one who summoned the monsters; the Confederation made them and send them here, but Equus was supposed to be unhabited and I don't like people blaming me for the mistakes of others, and you know that perfectly.” He said. Despite this, something told Celestia that it wasn't just that.

“That's it?”

“AND BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, OKAY!?” Shouted Praeratus

Author's Note

Here it is, the chapter that finally implies some romance between Praty and Celly. If you think it's not that good, you'll be right because I don't know how to write romance, but I'm learning.

As always comment, fave and thumbs up.