How Do You Shoot a Gun With Hooves?

Chapters

The Arrival Part 1
The Arrival Part 2
The Arrival Part 3
The Arrival Part 4
The Arrival Part 5
Tropic of Capricorn Part 1
Tropic of Capricorn Part 2
Tropic of Capricorn Part 3
Tropic of Capricorn Part 4
Tropic of Capricorn Part 5
Tropic of Capricorn Part 6

The Arrival Part 1

"Well kids, you know what they say."

Detective Kate Beckett did not bother to look up from her cards. She could tell without even pulling her eyes away from the pair of 7s she had clutched in her fingers exactly what smug expression her partner wore. She had played enough hands with him to know that his eyes were doing that half-narrowed thing they did whenever he tried to look sinister but it just came off as silly. And he would be sporting that cocky little grin that made her debate between kissing him and decking him.

Or maybe she'd do both.

"Aren't ya gonna tell us, Castle?" Detective Esposito asked, taking a swig from his beer.

"Why should I?" The tall, dark and cocky mystery writer asked, staring them down from just over the top of his cards.

"You don't deliver a line like that and then leave us hanging," Detective Kevin Ryan complained.

Castle shrugged. "Makes no sense to tell you...I said you knew what they say." And with a flourish he laid down the queen and ace that gave him the straight.

The other three cops groaned, more from his lame joke than his winning of the pot. They played for hardly anything but respect and beer money and each of the three officers knew that Castle would end up using his winnings to buy the 7th Precinct something nice and shiny, so losing meant they won, if you looked at it from the right angle.

"Lady Luck smiles down upon me," Castle beamed, picking up his chips one by one and kissing them. "I think I will name you Billy, and you Ginger, and you will be Princess Cadence-"

"Dude, anyone tell you you’re a terrible winner?" Esposito groused, taking one final swig of his beer before standing up and pulling on his coat.

"All the time," Castle said. "You sure you can't stay for one more hand?"

"Nah, we have an early one tomorrow," Ryan said. He looked out Castle's bay window with a twisted look of disappointment; the sky was still being lit up by random bolts of lightning, causing the city to be lit up and reveal the pounding rain before the thunder would come and the city would be bathed once more in darkness. The last thing he wanted to do was try to catch a cab in this weather.

"You could sleep here," Castle said with an impish grin. "We could have a slumber party... do each other's nails and talk about boys..." He fluttered his eyelashes at the two tough New York coppers.

Ryan and Esposito glanced at each other; silently realizing that yes, there was something worse than trying to catch a cab in the middle of a monsoon.

"Castle, I didn't know you swung that way," Beckett said with a dark smirk, giving Esposito and Ryan a wave as they donned their jackets and left Castle's apartment. She threw back her head, exposing her long, graceful neck, chestnut locks rolling down her shoulders as she took three long swings from her beer. She could feel Castle's eyes boring into her and deep in her mind a naughty aspect of herself did a snoopy dance. It had been a long time since Castle had looked at her like that and it gave her a kinky thrill that she could still make his eyes glaze over.

"What you don't know about me could fill-"

"-a book?" Beckett asked. "Really Castle, is that the wit that got you all your millions?"

"Don't knock it. If the Twilight books can make millions..."

Castle didn't get to finish, as a violent crack of thunder had them both leaping from their chairs. The detective and the writer glanced at each other and chuckled nervously; neither would admit they'd nearly wet themselves in fright.

Beckett glanced over at Castle's shiny new TV and decided that they needed a change of subject to cut through the sexual tension and storm-fright that stunk up the room. "So, I see you got a new big boy toy."

Taking the bait like a big-mouth bass, Castle happily stepped away from the table and his winnings and practically skipped over to his latest purchase. "Isn't she a beaut? 50 inch LED screen with 1080 HD and 3D capabilities, complete with connection to the Internet and all my gaming systems. If I could marry a piece of machinery...oh, I'd happily risk the divorce..." He lovingly stroked the TV and Beckett fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"It's just a TV, Castle, not a-"

A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky and struck Castle's building. Beckett was blind for a moment as every light bulb in the apartment seemed to go from 60 watt to 200,000. She could hear things whirling and buzzing about her as the surge protectors tried to fight the massive jolt. And then there was the scream, panicked and pain-filled, that broke from Castle's lips.

Beckett shielded her eyes and moved towards her partner, watching in horror as blue bolts of electricity burst from the TV and ran through his body. Beckett swore she could see his skeleton and would have found it humorous (like it was a cartoon show made real) if not for the fact that she could smell Castle's flesh burning away.

Her instincts were her downfall. She knew even as she reached for him that she was going to kill herself but she just couldn't stop from grabbing his shoulder and attempting to pull him free. Beckett threw back her head and cried out as the energy dived through Castle and into her, causing her skin to quiver and her brain to flash like a Bug Zapper.

As stars burst behind her eyes Beckett was dimly aware that the TV had popped on and was randomly flipping through channels...a basketball game, some old 50s sitcom, a bad made-for-TV-movie, a kid's cartoon-

There was a final surge and Beckett suddenly felt as if she was weightless. No...not weightless...just going so fast that weight didn't matter. The world became a swirl of blue and white and all she could feel was Castle's shoulder pressed against her palm...

She let out a silent scream as her body began to twist about, stretching and shrinking. Her bones shattered and reformed, her face melted and was reshaped...her very essence was being altered...

And then there was nothing.

No pain. No agony, Nothing.

And Beckett let sleep claim her.

~MC~MC~MC~

When she finally felt like she had the power to open her eyes, Beckett found all she could do was groan. She tried shifting her weight slightly to relieve the sudden pain that throbbed up and down her spinal cord. She reached over to rub her back and found, to her annoyance, that her fingers were asleep. She could feel the heel of her palm grinding into her back, easing the tension that had formed just above her hip, but it was as if her fingers weren't even there.

Blinking, Beckett slowly brought herself back into the waking world. The first thing she noticed was that she was still in Castle's apartment.

The second thing she noticed was that she wasn't in Castle's apartment.

Oh, it looked like his apartment, sure. Same hardwood floors, same couch and chairs, same walls and white vaulted ceiling...

But it wasn't his apartment. It was like a knock-off you would get on Canal Street: it looked the part from a distance but when you got close all the differences popped out.

For one thing all his beloved gadgets were gone. No TV, no video games, no laser tag, even the TV that had shocked them was gone...no gadgets were left. Well, gadgets from this decade...there was a calculator and a fridge and a blender. The chairs and couch were odd...a bit lower to the ground and shaped just a bit differently...and made out of more wood. The kitchen was pretty close to being the same, other than everything being lower to the ground. And the view out of his window was not of New York but of rolling green hills and beautiful if unnatural trees. She glanced at the poker table, which was still set up, only now the beer bottles had been replaced with cherry juice.

Beckett got onto her feet, swishing her tail in annoyance.

It took her 10 seconds to process that fact.

She swished her tail.

She had a tail.

WHY THE HELL DID SHE HAVE A TAIL!?!?

Beckett let out a yelp and began to dart about the room, her hooves clunking against the hardwood as she searched for a mirror.

...SHE HAD HOOVES!!!!

Beckett burst into Castle's study, not caring in the slightest that she was invading his private sanctuary. Hell, he had done it enough times to her, and this was an extreme circumstance. Beckett spun around, knocking a pen and some paper (no computer, she idly noticed in the back of her panicked mind) before she found a mirror.

She couldn't even muster up a scream.

A purplish-red pony stared back at her from the mirror's frame. She twisted her head this way and that, feeling her heart sink into her stomach as the pony in the mirror mimicked her actions. Her long brown hair ('mane...it's a mane...I have a mane...') was streaked with several tan highlights that she would have never considered for herself but now found to be quite daring. Her hair was more like a glamorous model's 'do than a horse's mane, as it had so much bounce and body she couldn't help but feel that such locks belonged in a shampoo commercial.

She was startled to find that her face wasn't very horse-like. Yes, there was a slight muzzle, but not the long, stretched out snout commonly found on most equine. It was actually rather cute, or at least it would have been if it hadn't been twisted in a silent scream. Her eyes were huge and a deep green that was normally found only in Disney films. If Beckett were thinking straight she would realize that this face was just as expressive as her old one.

She raised her 'hands' up, waving them about and found that, for several seconds at least, she could stand on her hind legs and use her 'arms' like she always had. She preferred to be on all fours, however, and continually returned to that position when she wasn't pressing her hooves into her face like she was that annoying blond child in the Home Alone movies. And that was the other strange thing: while her hooves made the common 'clunk clunk clunk' noise all hooves made, there was no true 'hoof' at the end of her legs; just a flat piece of warm flesh that seemed to be at once tough and sturdy yet soft and flexible.

And her skin was odd too. The panic hadn't faded very much but it had enough for her to realize that her body wasn't covered in coarse hair but a very soft fuzz that couldn’t be seen unless it was right in front of her eye. In fact, when she pulled away it looked like it was just one solid piece of purple-red skin.

The part of her that was still a cop locked away her fear and gave herself a critical once-over. She wasn't that bad looking...for a pony. Slender...yet muscular. Not ripped or anything but it was clear she was strong. While her face didn't look like her own (and she was actually glad for that...her head on a horse's body would have been TOO weird) she could admire this form and see the beauty in it.

She was also startled to find that she was young. Not a child or a teen...but she looked to be in her early twenties rather than her mid 30s. Whatever had changed her had reversed the clock. There was also a vitality within her...the aches and pains that came with her job ('The warriors decay' Roy had once called it) were gone, leaving her feeling better than she had in ages.

The twisted look of terror left her face as she examined herself more and more. As she did when she was preparing to go to a murder scene, Beckett took a deep breath and counted to 5, releasing everything to the universe and accepting her new reality. There would be time to panic later. First, she needed answers.

"Beckett?" Castle groaned out, finally stirring.

Shame flooded through Beckett as she remembered that not moments ago Castle had been electrocuted. Running ("Gallop...I gallop now') back into the living room, she nudged his side, helping him stand up.

"Castle..." she gasped, dimly realizing that her voice, thankfully, was the same. However, such observations would have to wait, as she was too busy staring at her partner.

Whatever had transformed her had affected Castle too. He had fallen a man but now arose a mighty stallion, a few inches taller than her and skin a brilliant shade of blue (the same as one of his favorite shirts, she realized). His face was a bit longer than hers but still not the normal elongated horse's snout one might have expected. His short mane was still a rich brown and his ears flicked slightly against a few stray hairs that tickled the sides of his neck. He was younger too, but with Castle he always looked younger than what he actually was.

Beckett realized belatedly that he was different from her, as he sported a good-sized horn upon his head, the same color as his skin.

Castle looked at Beckett at long last, tilting his head to the side as he took all of her in. A myriad of emotions flashed across his face: fear, surprise, amazement, a bit more fear, and then…lust?

“Uh… Castle?”

“I told you I’d get to see you naked,” Castle said with a smirk.

Beckett’s eyes widened as she realized he was right and she leapt over the couch, grabbing a blanket and throwing it over her body. “CASTLE!”

“What?” Castle said innocently.

Beckett slammed her eyes shut when she realized he was naked as well. “We are ponies and your biggest concern is that you saw me naked?”

“I think it is more concerning that you weren’t worried about being naked till I woke up.”

“I am completely worried about being naked! Now get some clothing on!”

“Ponies don’t wear clothing.”

“Ponies also don’t talk!” Beckett snarled, which was funny, considering she was a pony. Not funny ha ha…more funny ironic. “I think we are beyond the realm of sanity!” She waited, only to hear…nothing. “Castle…Castle.”

“Would you look at that?” Castle said, staring at himself in the mirror. “Even as a pony I am ruggedly handsome, aren’t I?” He frowned as he tapped his horn against the mirror. “Could do without the phallic object on my-“

His horn sparked and shot out a bolt of magic.

“Beckett, I’m a witch!” Castle said excitedly. “A witch pony! This is so friggin cool!”

“Castle…” Beckett said, struggling to keep the blanket around her.

“Would you relax? Apparently we are like Barbie and Ken dolls…you can’t see anything.” He leaned forward and, with surprising skill, managed to summon some magic that pulled Beckett’s blanket away. “This is super special awesome!”

“Castle, if I had my gun…” Beckett ground out.

“You wouldn’t be able to shoot it!” Castle clicked his teeth together. “Hey, I finally get to see your tattoo!”

“What?” Beckett said, utterly confused. Castle trotted over and tapped her flank with his hoof.

“See, tattoo.”

Beckett frowned, examining her hip. On each side was a tattoo, alright. But unlike the one she had gotten in college (and she was so happy THAT wasn’t visible on this body), these tattoos were stylized versions of her police badge.

Glancing over at her partner, Beckett couldn’t help but smirk. “Don’t be laughing just yet, Castle…I’m not the only one with a tramp-stamp.”

“Wha?” Castle stammered, looking in the mirror and finding, to his surprise, that he too now sported a tattoo on each flank. His were, however, the image of an ink bottle with a quill resting inside of it. “Huh…not bad.” He twisted about, his tail nearly striking Beckett in the face as he looked himself over. “What does it say about me that I am a little turned on right now?”

“Oh, nothing we all didn’t know already, Castle,” Beckett said.

“What did we know?” A third voice called out, causing the two of them to freeze. Before they could turn a pink head, topped with pink hair and, if it was possible, a pink personality, poked its way between them. “I want to know, because I don’t know. Which I guess would mean that not everyone knows. But once I do know what everyone knows then everyone will really know and you will be right! Or is it wrong? Oh well.”

“…ok, now I am scared,” Castle said, eyes wide with fear.

“Don’t be scared, this is an exciting day! My friend Twilight sent me to get you for the big surprise party, which I guess isn’t a surprise because I just told you…or maybe it will be a surprise because it isn’t really a surprise so you think it is a surprise and you are waiting for us to scream surprise and we never do!” The pink pony frowned. “But now you know that…hmmm…”

“Beckett, I don’t want to be a pony anymore.”

“I haven’t wanted to be one since we woke up,” Beckett complained.

“I don’t get what you are talking about, but that is ok, because I can find out as we head over to Twilight’s for the party! Come on! By the way, I am Pinkie Pie! That’s Pinkie with a G, but the G is silent and also isn’t even in my name, which is silly but I like silly…come on, let’s go to Twilight’s! She and the rest of my friends are excited to meet you…are you excited to meet us? Have you noticed if you say excited over and over it sounds funny? Excited excited excited excited excited excited-“

And with that, Beckett and Castle found themselves pushed out of the apartment.

The Arrival Part 2

"Apples, scooters, doll, tree house, rose petals...I think that's it!" Pinkie grinned as she hopped along behind Beckett and Castle like a kangaroo on a coffee kick. "That is every word I know! Now, every number I know! 1...17...2,304...0...1,243,540..."

The two partners had the looks of war prisoners being led on a death march. Their heads were lowered to the ground as they half-walked, half-stumbled down the lane, their brains slowly being reduced to mush by the constant spray of words.

"She's raping my ear, Beckett," Castle complained weakly. "Can't you arrest her for that?"

"If I could arrest people for being annoying you would have gotten the chair years ago, Castle." Beckett tried to make her snarky comeback sound tough and biting but her worn-down state left it little more than a puttering comment that trailed off at the last word. Part of her was wondering if the electrical shock hadn't killed her and she was in some strange hell where Satan was a pink hyperactive pony.

Of course…Beckett doubted Hell looked so…nice. If it weren't for the motor-mouth pony that was spewing nonsense behind them and the fact that they found themselves in strange new bodies, Beckett might have actually enjoyed the walk. The sky was crystal clear, the weather was nice and warm without being overly hot, and the scenery was lovely: it was rustic without being wild, with groupings of trees dotting the horizon and a field full of windswept grass and wildflowers. Even the dirt path was hard-packed and dust-free, which was odd but Beckett really didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to odd, since said legs had hooves at the end.

They had passed several ponies, each one sharing similarities to Beckett and Castle's new form. It seemed as if nearly every color of the rainbow was represented by the smattering of ponies, each with their own tramp-stamp.

"You notice that the population is divided into thirds?" Beckett whispered. "There are regular ponies like me... the horned ponies like you-"

"I think the proper term is unicorn, but feel free to call me a horny pony."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "And I am pretty sure I saw some flying pony."

"Pegasi," Castle stated. His face twisted a bit in thought. "Pegasuses? Pegas? What is the proper plural for pegasus?" He tapped his chin in annoyance. "I should know this… but it isn't often that I have to write about Nikki Heat fighting off an army of pegasuses…ooo, what if-"

"No Castle"

"But-"

"No!"

"71...22...4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42… oh, we're here!" Pinkie pointed her hoof at a massive tree that lay directly before them. Beckett and Castle's jaws dropped at the sight of the tree, as most of it seemed to have been converted into a breathtaking structure. It was like something out of a fairytale; Snow White or Sleeping Beauty would have been perfectly at home in such a building. "Come on, let's go!" Pinkie stopped hopping and raced ahead, Beckett and Castle looking at each other and wondering if they shouldn't take the opportunity to make an escape. "Come on sillies! Let's go!" Against their better judgment the two transformed-Manhattanites followed after the chatter box.

Pinkie Pie didn't even bother to knock on the door, choosing to instead merely burst in with a squeal and an explosion of confetti.

"Hey Pinkie Pie," a dark purple unicorn said, trotting up towards them. Beckett would have wagered, based on her own assumptions about her age, that the dark pony was maybe a year or two younger than her; there was youthfulness to her face even if she held herself with maturity. "Uh, Pinkie… I asked you to deliver a message to Mr. Castle and Miss. Beckett…you didn't have to-"

"Surprise!" Pinkie screamed with glee. Castle and Beckett cringed away, trying to retreat only to find the door slammed shut behind them. "See, you thought it was a bluff, or a double bluff, or a triple bluff but really it wasn't a bluff on you but on Twilight AND you! What's a bigger surprise than a party that is a surprise to even the people holding it!?" From seemingly nowhere Pinkie pulled out 20 multi-colored balloons, letting them float to the ceiling as she began to drag out cakes and cookies and punch that she had hid around the library.

"Is she always like this?" Castle asked nervously.

"No, she's actually a bit calmer today," the purple unicorn said dryly. "Sorry about this, I wanted our first meeting to be a bit more…down to earth. I think Pinkie forgets that not everyone is as young of heart as her."

Beckett watched as the pink pony bounced around, jabbering to several other ponies (including one wearing, of all things, a giant cowboy hat). Beckett decided she needed some answers before she cracked. "Right, Miss…"

"Oh! I'm sorry about that…I'm Twilight Sparkle. But you can just call me Twilight…we're pretty informal around here…"

Pinkie slammed several party hats onto their heads before darting away.

"Not by my choice, mind you…" Twilight said, her smile faltering as she looked at the green hat. Beckett got the feeling that, when it came to Pinkie Pie, such attempts at formality…and sanity…were attempted in vain. "Anyway, I am really sorry about this but I guess it is for the best. We all have been waiting to meet you. We've been watching your house, waiting for you to show up…"

"Wow, that sounds very…stalkerish."

Twilight's eyes went wide and she hurried to wave off Castle's comment. "No, no no no! I merely meant that we were waiting and…watching…and…" Twilight lowered her head and sighed. "Let's…just meet the rest of my friends, ok?"

"Castle, stop picking on the talking pony," Beckett muttered. Castle merely shrugged and trotted after Twilight, who had seemingly perked up once she had come closer to her friends. Beckett was willing to bet that Twilight functioned best when surrounded by others; Beckett was the same way, despite how much she tried to give off the illusion of wanting to be forever by herself. "Twilight, I'm sorry about my partner…he has a bad case of…Pinkie Pie-itis."

"Ah," Twilight said sagely, sharing a secret smile with Beckett while Castle grumbled. "Alright Miss Beckett…"

"Kate," Beckett said. As disturbing and strange as this was, something within her felt a connection to the purple unicorn and, for reasons she honestly couldn't explain, made her want to treat this pony with a touch of kindness and not her usual gruff, aloof attitude.

"Kate," Twilight said, rolling it about her tongue.

"You can call me Richard, or Ric if you want or Castle if you prefer," Castle piped up. "Please don't call me Mr. Castle."

"Because Mr. Castle is your father?" Twilight said drolly, remembering the old joke.

"Well, actually because being called Mr. Castle makes me feel like I am surrounded by Alexis’ friends-“ Castle grew quiet, his steps faltering for a moment as he thought of Alexis. What would she think when she came downstairs in the morning and found him gone. Or…worse? Would he ever see his daughter again? Was he trapped here, worlds apart from her? Who would help her out when she had a problem? Who would be there to comfort her when she was blue? Hell…who would do that for HIM?

Suddenly the whole talking pony thing wasn't that fun.

Twilight and Beckett didn't notice Castle's fallen features, as they were too focused on meeting Twilight's friends.

"Please ta meet ya! Name’s Applejack!" the orange pony with the big cowboy hat said, holding out her hoof. Beckett stared at it for a moment before bringing her hoof up, pressing it to Applejack’s and 'shaking' it. "Twilight says you two folks are from out of town. Where ya'll from?"

"Uh…I don't know if you've heard of it…" Beckett said vaguely.

"Well, try us," Applejack said. "Ponyville ain't that well known, so we know what it's like for folks not to know about ya home town!"

Beckett, deciding to just go with it, stated, "Manhattan."

"Man…oh, you mean Manehattan!" a white pony with purple/blue hair said with a voice that would have been suited for an episode of Masterpiece Theater. "Oh, how wonderful to meet two ponies from such a wondrous and upscale town!" The white pony frowned a touch. "Though, maybe the reason no one says they know of it is because of your pronunciation. It is MANE, not MAN, Katherine."

"Right…" Beckett muttered, inwardly groaning as she realized they were most likely in for a lot of horse puns.

"Excuse Rarity, Kate," Applejack said, giving the white pony a cold look. "You'll never meet a pony that wants everything just so quite like Rarity."

Rarity sniffed in displeasure. "Some of us prefer to talk properly, Applejack."

Castle, who had snapped out of his funk, leaned in towards Beckett, whispering, "Now I feel weird not speaking with a random accent. Is it too late for me to be Scottish?" Castle chuckled at his own joke, only to let out a yelp when he saw that Rarity was now standing right next to him, flashing him a flirty grin.

"Well, hello there," Rarity said with a flutter of her eyelashes.

"…eep."

Beckett rolled her eyes but held off on any snarky comments; Castle was, for once, not flirting with a woman that showed interest in him.

Twilight, meanwhile, had been working to get a pale yellow pony to come out from her hiding spot. The poor thing was shivering and trembling and Beckett instantly went to her, speaking softly as she would to a child or a nervous witness. "Hi there…my name is Kate."

"H…hello," the quiet pony said, her voice so soft Beckett could barely hear it.

"It's ok, Fluttershy…it's ok," Twilight said gently. Fluttershy merely tried to return to hiding behind the couch, causing Twilight to let out a sigh. "Sorry…she has-"

"It's ok." Beckett trotted over to Fluttershy and lowered her head, continuing to speak in slow, patient tones. "Fluttershy…that is a very pretty name."

"Thank you, Miss B…Kate," Fluttershy said softly.

"Now, you don't need to be scared of me or my partner. I'm a detective, and that means I'm a good per…pony." Beckett forced herself not to think of the officers that had proven themselves to be corrupt, like Royce or the men that had killed her mother.

Seeing that Fluttershy was beginning to trust her, Beckett decided to continue coaxing her out. She thanked God that Castle was being distracted by Rarity, as Beckett doubted the shy pony could handle a dose of Castle (though, the pony was friends with Pinkie Pie….).

"What do you do for a living, Fluttershy?" Beckett asked, backing up to give the pony room to leave her hiding spot.

Smiling, Fluttershy instantly warmed up to the topic. "Oh, I take care of the animals. The mayor pays me to monitor and care for all the wild creatures…any time there is a poor little grizzly bear with an injured paw or a sad mountain lion with a chipped tooth I help them out and make sure they are cared for." Beckett raised an eyebrow at the ‘poor little grizzly bear’ line but didn’t question it. For all she knew grizzly bears had the right to vote in this world.

"Fluttershy is really good at her job," Twilight added, joining the conversation.

"Well…everyone is good at their jobs," Fluttershy said humbly. "Twilight is the best librarian we've ever had…and Applejack runs an entire farm by herself…well, her and her brother."

Rarity used her hoof to poof up her hair; it was a move Castle had seen his ex do many times…normally right before she got a judge to get her more of his money. "I for one am a fashion designer…maybe you've heard of some of my work? Fluttershy here even modeled several of my pieces a while back."

Castle looked at the quiet pony and did not see 'supermodel'. Of course, he hadn't thought that Rina would be a supermodel…

A memory of the awkward, skittish girl who used to watch High School Musical with his daughter and stammer when he asked her about her day flashed in his mind and instantly Castle decided that, much like Rina, Fluttershy would have him in her corner if she needed him.

"What about you, Richard?" Rarity practically purred. Castle shuddered; she didn't sound British…she sounded like his MOTHER.

"Ah…I'm a writer."

"Anything we would have heard of?" Twilight asked.

Castle opened his mouth, only to scowl. Of course they wouldn't know of his books…he hadn't written them here. For the first time in years…he wasn't famous.

He glared at Beckett as she began to snort.

"No," Castle finally ground out. "Unless you've heard of Nikki Heat."

Twilight frowned, her horn glowing as she yanked a book from the shelf. "Nikki? Do you mean Filly Heat?"

Castle and Beckett stared at the book: it was an exact copy of HEAT WAVE, except instead of a silhouette of a woman it had a silhouette of a pony with a glowing horn. He flipped it over and, sure enough, there was a picture of him…or his pony self…staring back at him.

"Shut the front door," Beckett muttered.

"I am, I am," a blue pony with rainbow colored hair complained, flying into the library after slamming said door shut. "See Twilight, this is why I always prefer coming through the window! No one asks me to slow down and shut things when I go through the window!"

"I ask you to shut the window all the time, you just don't listen."

"Whatever," the brash pony said. "These the new arrivals?"

Twilight nodded. "Richard, Kate, I'd like you to meet my friend Rainbow Dash."

Castle tilted his head to the side. "Huh…a little on the nose, don't you think?"

"Well, it's better than your names!" Pinkie said brightly. "I mean, you aren't made of a castle and you don't look like a castle and you don't live in a castle…you should have been named Richard Bookybook or Writerdude or something like that." Pinkie leapt onto Beckett, bouncing on the detective's back. "And what the heck is a Beckett? I've never heard of a Beckett! Is it like a bucket? Was that your name, Kate Bucket, and you changed it to Beckett to be hip? I thought of doing that, but I like the way Pinkie Pie sounds…listen! Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie…"

"Oh ponyfeathers, she's stuck in a loop!" Applejack said in a panic.

"On it!" Twilight said, using her magic to lift Pinkie up and deposit her in the upstairs' bedroom, shutting the door and silencing the chatterbox. "She'll be better in a few minutes. Till then, we can help you guys get settled in."

Beckett, suddenly remembering the insanity of the moment, shook her head and stared at Twilight. "Listen…it's nice to meet you all but this is all very confusing. I mean…you act like you know us and yet…"

"Well, we don't know you," Rarity said, delicately eating a cupcake Pinkie had left behind. "But we know of you."

"Of us?"

"The P-princess sent Twilight a letter, letting her know to expect you," Fluttershy said softly.

Castle and Beckett shared a look. "Uh…what Princess?"

Judging from the shocked faces…that wasn’t the right thing to say.

The Arrival Part 3

Beckett and Castle squirmed, pressing their hooves to their heads as they were assaulted by 5 agitated, startled 20-something ponies, each of who seemed to be trying to beat the others in a game of "who can yell the loudest". Even Fluttershy had been so startled by the innocent question that she forgot all sense of softness and had joined in on the shriek-fest.

"How is it you don't-"

"She's only the-"

"Everyone knows-"

"Just what do you-"

"It makes no-"

Beckett's eye twitch. If any of the ponies had been one of the many criminals she had arrested, they would have soiled themselves and gone screaming out of the library. When Kate Beckett made that face things never ended well. The part of her that was a cop, that would never change even as she grew older and wise and maybe even changed species, suddenly burst to the forefront. Kate Beckett was shoved aside and Detective Beckett, NYPD, was in the driver's seat.

She brought her hoof to her mouth and issued such an ear splitting whistle that all of the girls went silent, brains aching at the sonic attack.

Castle, for his part, slowly uncovered his ears. "How did you do that?"

"Whistle? Just purse your lips and blow," Beckett said, misquoting the famous line.

"No...I mean whistle like that without fingers."

Beckett looked at her right hoof and frowned. "Uh..." Noticing they had an audience, Beckett pushed aside the question. It was time for her to take command of the situation and stop being a passive participant. She'd been letting other pe…ponies run the show since she got here and she was sick of it. She might be lacking fingers and now have a desire to eat grass, but she was still Kate Beckett, darn it!

'Darn it?' Beckett wondered, her 'I am woman, hear me roar' empowerment blocked for a moment when she realized, with dread, that she could no longer swear. Heck, she couldn't even think of the words...she knew they existed...but when she tried to call them forth all she got was the Saturday Matinee, Rated PG vulgarity.

Apparently this sugar coated pony land was having an effect on her mind.

She shook her head, mane whipping back and forth as she forced herself to focus on the task at hand…hoof…whatever.

"Alright...now you all have questions for us. We have some ourselves. But I am not going to be bombarded with them, and neither is my partner." Castle slowly rose to his feet; this was classic Kate Beckett and it was easy to forget she was wearing pastel colors when she was getting into her groove. "So, you can either take the time to ask us in a reasonable, civilized manner...or Castle and I can leave and find someone else to ask." She leveled them with a cool stare. "Understood?"

The girls all shifted, each feeling like they had been chastened by a favorite teacher. For Applejack and Rarity, it was a strange role reversal: They suddenly found themselves playing the role their little sisters usually found themselves in. Rainbow Dash, who normally bucked against such treatment, found herself lowering her head and looking at the floor in shame and Fluttershy had her wings pressed so tight to her body it was surprising they hadn’t been sucked inside of her. Twilight found herself half cowering and half wanting to plead with Beckett to teach her how to talk like that.

"Why do you say that?" Everyone looked up to find Pinkie Pie leaning over the railing on the second floor, chewing on an apple. "It's somepony, not someone. Everyone knows that!"

Beckett and Castle shared a look, realizing that this world really was different than theirs in more ways than the dominate species.

"It's just how people from where we come from talk," Castle said. "You know...like how Rarity and Applejack talk different from the rest of you."

“We do?” Rarity and Applejack asked in confusion, even as the others nodded.

"...okie dokie loki!" Pinkie Pie hopped down the stairs, giggling happily.

"Now then...any other questions?" Beckett asked.

Applejack swung her tail back and forth. "Sorry to be yellin' at ya'll...just we never heard of any pony who didn't know who Princess Celestia was."

"Well, we haven't. Unless Kate Middleton's real name is Celestia..." Castle joked, only to see his witty remark flew over their heads. “Wow…tough room.”

Twilight frowned, unable to wrap her mind around the idea that her beloved mentor was unknown to anypony. "Princess Celestia is the ruler of Equestria, along with her sister Princess Luna. Celestia controls the sun and governs over many aspects of our lives."

"Huh...so basically a god is your government...somewhere Pat Robertson is doing a happy dance."

Beckett glared at Castle before turning back to Twilight. "Well, we have never heard of Princess Celestia."

"But you must have!" Rarity exclaimed. "You said you were from Manehattan...that isn't that far from Canterlot..." Castle groaned at all the horse-puns, "so I simply don't see how you couldn't know her!"

"Maybe that's what the Princess' letter meant," Fluttershy said softly, her wings shifting with nervous energy.

"Letter?" Beckett asked.

Twilight smacked her head with her hoof. "Geez...duh, Twilight." She raced around the library, trying to find the scroll. "Princess Celestia sent me a letter the other day...where is it..."

The front door opened and a small purple and green lizard trotted in, happily munching on a ruby.

"Holy cow, you have scaly rats!" Castle exclaimed, rearing up. "Don't worry, I'll kill it!"

"Twilight!" the little lizard screamed, running away from Castle and hiding behind Twilight's back legs.

Twilight looked at Castle, an eyebrow raised. "Don’t have dragons where you come from?"

"I think you'll find that our Manhattan is a bit different from your Manehattan," Beckett said simply, ears twitching.

Twilight, meanwhile, was trying to comfort her assistant. "Spike, it's ok...this is Kate and Rick...Princess Celestia sent us a letter about them, remember? Do you know where it went?"

The dragon, glad to have something to occupy his mind and force out thoughts about the stomping he had almost received, happily nodded his head. “Sure, Twilight! I think I left it over here!” He hurried over as quickly as he could to a pile of scrolls and books, diving in and rooting around for the right one.

Beckett glanced at Castle, who gave her a sheepish grin that seemed to say “How was I suppose to know they had dragons?” Beckett merely mouthed “Play Nice” before making her way over to where Twilight was watching over Spike. “Seems like none of us are making good first impressions.”

Twilight glanced at her and blushed. “Yeah…though this has been better than how I first met Pinkie Pie.”

“What did she do?”

“Scream and run away.”

“There is a story there.”

“Oh yeah.”

The two of them shared a look before they began to laugh.

Twilight sighed. It felt good to chuckle, especially after she had been so sure that her and her friends had offended Beckett and Castle. It was strange…she had only met the mare a few minutes ago but already Twilight wanted to desperately win her approval. Maybe it was because, even though Beckett was just a few years older than her, she appeared so much more mature and confident than Twilight felt.

‘She can walk into a room and take control and everypony will jump to her call. She sees somepony that is confused or scared and she knows just what to do to make it all better. And when things get bad she reacts in just the right way to set things straight!’ Twilight looked at Beckett from under hooded eyes. She’d never admit it to the older woman, but Beckett, more than Candace or Princess Celestia or any pony she had known, was what Twilight would want a big sister to be like.

Of course, Twilight would have been startled to learn that Beckett was watching her and wondering just how much better her life could have been if she had let go of her need to isolate herself a bit sooner and, like Twilight, have made real, true friends. Oh, she hung out with Lanie and Ryan and Esposito and…Castle…but it wasn’t the same. She was wise enough to admit that the relationships Twilight had with her friends were stronger than anything Beckett had with anyone save maybe Castle. It was clear that Twilight and her friends were more than friends, they were family…and that was something Beckett wished she had.

“So…” Twilight said awkwardly, trying to avoid discussing her feelings. “Are you and Richard…”

“We’re partners. He helps me with cases.”

Twilight frowned. “But he’s a writer.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Beckett groused.

“How does that happen?”

Beckett tried to think how to explain it to the purple unicorn. “Imagine if Pinkie Pie were really famous. And imagine Princess Celestia really liked Pinkie and would do anything Pinkie asked…including partnering her up with you.”

“…yeah, I could see how that could be strange, especially if you are forced to hang out with him.”

Beckett watched as Castle said something to the ponies that caused them all to laugh. Leave it to Richard Castle, in any body, to find a way to make friends. “We aren’t forced anymore…I’d never tell him this, but I doubt I could solve as many cases as I do without him. He’s a good friend.” Beckett gave Twilight a quick look. “Again…never tell him.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Beckett stared at Twilight in confusion. “Uh…that means I promise.”

“Ah.” Beckett shifted to avoid a book Spike had tossed out of the way. “So Princess Celestia…how do you two know each other?”

“How do you know we know each other?” Twilight asked.

“Detective, Twilight. I am paid to read people.” Beckett decided to lay out her train of thought, feeling for a moment like Sherlock Holmes, but figured that was better than feeling like an awkward pony. “It is clear you and your friends respect the Princess, but not just as if she were a distant politician. You respect her and you come to her defense…it is clear you care about her and I’ve found that we rarely care about people that passionately that we don’t know personally.”

Twilight’s grin grew quite big at Beckett’s logical deduction. It was so rare to have someone lay out their thoughts in such a rational, mature manner. “Wow…you must be an amazing Detective.”

“One of Manhattan’s best. Now…the Princess?”

Twilight smiled softly as she used her magic to pull down a framed photo of Princess Celestia and herself as a youngster. It was a silly photo of the Princess trying to hold back her laughter as a young Twilight, decked out a poofy dress, grinned happily. The unicorn had thought she needed to dress special for her first day as the Princess’ student and gotten her mouth to pull out her frilliest dress. Celestia, bless her, had not laughed a bit when little Twilight walked up and happily proclaimed herself ‘ready to learn!’

“The Princess is the reason I am who I am. She was the first pony to believe in me…she made me her personal student and taught me everything I know about magic.” Twilight smiled fondly as she rubbed her horn against the picture. “And she is the reason I have my friends. She made me see the value of friendship and I write to her whenever I can, letting her know all I learned.”

“She sounds pretty special. I hope I get to meet her.”

“Oh, you will!” Spike said, pulling out at last the scroll. “Found it!”

“Thank you, Spike,” Beckett and Twilight both said, before heading back to the other ponies.

Pinkie Pie was rolling on the floor, giggling like mad. “Oh! Oh! And what if the army of Pegasi used cupcake cannons?”

“I don’t know, I still think the zombies would win,” Castle said with a grin.

“Dear God their bonding,” Beckett whimpered, dreading the thought of Castle and Pinkie teaming up. It would be like mixing cocaine with Red Bull.

“Castle here was just explainin’ how he comes up with his stories,” Applejack said. “Amazin’ how he can take a small thing and turn it into some wild adventure.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Hey Twilight, you mind if I borrow his book? I need something to tide me over till the next Daring Do book comes out and I think Filly Heat sounds like my kind of pony!”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes…she is so brave and honest…”

“And don’t forget brilliant and beautiful!” Rarity added.

Beckett had the decency to blush, which didn’t go unnoticed by the writer. “You tell them who you based your character on, Castle, or you just take all the credit.”

“Beckett, you wound me!” Castle placed a hoof on his chest. “I was just getting ready to inform them about my muse before Pinkie Pie distracted me.”

“Who is Filly based on?” Rarity asked. “Some daring, heroic mare?”

“You could say that…” Castle said, nodding towards the now overly blushing Beckett.

“You!?” Pinkie squealed. “You’re Filly Heat! That is so cool and amazing and super special awesome! You must be really amazing to have a book based on you! I’d love a book based on me! It would be full of adventures and parties and cupcakes and…”

Beckett waved off the gushing the other ponies sent her way. “Girls, I’m just like the rest of you. I put my…” Beckett paused, wondering if the ‘pants one leg at a time’ metaphor worked here. Deciding not to risk it, she turned towards Twilight, who was now even more star struck than before, if that was possible. “Twilight and Spike found Princess Celestia’s letter. I personally want to hear what she wrote about Castle and I.”

“Got it right here, Miss Beckett,” Spike said.

“Kate, Spike. Call me Kate.”

Castle leaned down, grinning as he inspected the baby dragon. “This is so cool…he’s like a scaly Ryan! Hey, do you have a tough partner that you crack wise with?”

“Uh…no.” Spike considered Castle’s words. “But that would be totally cool!”

“It would, wouldn’t it? We could come up with a name that is a combo of your two news and use it while you ran around…”

“I see why she was afraid of him bonding with Pinkie Pie,” Rarity muttered to Applejack, who nodded in agreement. Twilight, meanwhile, was trying to explain to Spike why he couldn’t have a ‘tough partner to crack wise with’.

“Yeah, that would be terrible!” Pinkie added. “Uh…what were we talking about?”

“Spike, the letter,” Twilight said, trying to get things back on track.

“Right…ahem…’My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle: Tomorrow, two new ponies will be arriving in Ponyville; their names are Kate Beckett and Richard Castle. I have already arranged for a house to be prepared for them, so they will feel at home. Mr. Castle and Det. Beckett are not from Equestria, so I ask that you help teach them all about our culture and how we live and have fun. They may act different than you and you may be confused by their questions, but they are good ponies and I know you 8 will grow to be fast friends. I will be arriving as soon as I can to speak with them and explain how they came here. Sincerely, Princess Celestia’. That’s it, Twilight.”

Castle and Beckett shared a look of surprise. It was startling enough to know they had ended up in the world and in these bodies…but from the sounds of it Princess Celestia understood why they were here…and might know how to get them home.

It took only a look for the two of them to silently agree that they should keep their non-pony status a secret for the time being and instead play along till they had a chance to talk with the monarch.

“Well, that was rather cryptic,” Rarity complained. “Still, it answers quite a bit!”

Fluttershy walked up to them, her head down slightly. “So I guess you will be staying in town for a few days …”

Castle nodded. “Looks that way, Fluttershy.”

“Boy howdy, the Princess was right to pick us! We’ll get you two squared away and have you acting like real Ponyville citizens in no time!”

“Yeah…stick with us and we will show you all sorts of cool things!” Rainbow Dash bragged.

“And I bet we can teach you a thing or two also,” Castle said.

Pinkie grinned, wrapping her arms around Castle and Beckett and giving them a hug. “This is so cool! Hey, we should throw a party to celebrate…wait, we are already at a party…can we throw a party within a party? Because if we can that would be soooooo amazing! It would be like putting a donut inside a cake! Hey, we should bake donuts and put them in cakes…”

Castle and Beckett glanced at each other, wondering if they would SURVIVE long enough to meet the Princess…

The Arrival Part 4

Beckett stared at the ceiling, refusing to get up. Normally she was quite a morning person; one had to be when they were a cop. Also had to be a night owl, if you wanted to get technical. The life of a cop meant that sleep schedules were the things of fantasy and fairy tales. More than a few rookies learned that the hard way and suddenly made the switch from law enforcement to private security. Beckett prided herself on being able to wake up at any point and tackle the day with a grim smile and a heavy dose of coffee.

Of course, this wasn't a normal morning for her. She hadn't awoken in her own bed, for one. And she hadn't awoken in her own body either. Or maybe it was her body, just twisted and reshaped into the purple-red pony form that she found herself in. Was she still her on the genetic level? Or had her spirit been placed in this form? It didn't matter in either case, as Kate Beckett now found herself a talking pony sleeping in a replica of Richard Castle's loft.

It wasn't the physical changes that were causing her to lose sleep. She'd fallen into bed the moment Castle and her had gotten back, exhausted from the meet and greet which had quickly devolved into a Pinkie party. Even with all the sugar running through her body (apparently these ponies had such a high metabolism that they NEEDED sugar and sweets to survive...though Beckett doubted any of them ate quite like Pinkie Pie) she had been sent to the land of slumber the instant her head struck the pillow.

Beckett could admit that it was one of the better nights she had. With no case to keep her up and her current situation left up in the air till the Princess arrived, Beckett's mind had been able to drift into more pleasant dreams.

Pleasant...but strange...dreams.

Beckett had dreamed of her mother. That in and of itself wasn't strange; she often dreamed of Joanna Beckett, having dream conversations with her beloved mom. As silly as it was, Beckett found that those simple dreams, where her and her mother discussed simple things were the most peaceful images she could have. Ever since she had lost her that fateful night, when someone within the shadows had decided to snuff out her life in order to protect his own sins from ever finding their way into the light, Beckett had dreamed of her mother and it helped her feel at peace.

What had been different about the dream was her mother. It hadn't been the woman Beckett knew: a tall, regal yet humble woman with long brown hair and caring eyes. Yes, those aspects were there...only her mother had been a rust-covered pony, with a dove as her tramp stamp ('Cutie Mark' her brain whispered softly to her). They had been walking through Ponyville, discussing Beckett's visit with Twilight and her friends and what Beckett might do the next day. She'd awoken just as her mother nuzzled her check against hers, telling Beckett that she loved her.

The detective had smiled and enjoyed the lingering memory of the dream for 30 seconds before the startling realization that she had dreamed of her mother as a pony and she wasn't disturbed.

Beckett had sorted through her thoughts and what she found was...well, not disturbed, but off-put by the situation. First, it was easier for her to think of herself, Castle, her family, and her friends as ponies. Oh, she still had a clear memory of what she looked like as a human, as well as her mother or Roy or Ryan and Esposito. But it was so much simpler to think of everypony in pony terms. She could see Esposito with a Green Beret logo Cutie Mark and Ryan with a bottle of milk and some honey (and boy, would he hate that!). She could see Martha easily trotting about town, heading to Rarity’s show to get a new hat…it was freakin’ weird to see everypony she knew as ponies.

And that was the other thing: her vocabulary had been quickly altering to fit the Equestrian Standard, as she had come to think of it. It was somepony, not someone. Castle was a stallion ('Note, do NOT let Castle hear you say that') and she was a mare. She thought of Castle with his smug smile and annoying jokes and tried to call him a jackass in her mind, but all that did was conjure up images of mules.

'And why can't I swear?' Beckett thought to herself in annoyance. She was careful around Castle and would never do it in the bullpen like some female detectives she knew, always trying to make themselves seem tougher, but Beckett did have a bit of a potty mouth. Who didn't? But she couldn't even bring herself to say da...da...darn.

Beckett rolled her eyes. It was as if this body had come with a Disney filter!

Finally making her way out of bed, Beckett trotted into the bathroom to get ready to face the day. It was interesting just how similar her routine was in this form; somehow she was able to grip the brush with her hoof (she wasn’t even ready to try and figure that brainteaser out!) and get her mane free of tangles and her teeth minty white. Giving herself a once over in the mirror she didn’t know if she should be pleased or horrified that the pony staring back at her no longer startled her.

She found a small bathrobe and threw it on. She had gotten use to being naked rather quickly but that didn't mean she had to like it. Rarity had mentioned she was a dress designer; Beckett made plans to ask the pony to design some clothing for her. No shirts or pants, as it was quite clear that those were off the table, but perhaps a replica of her jacket...the tight leather one that she...

'No...not leather,' Beckett thought, realizing just how horrifying that might seem to the girls. That would be like asking a tailor to make a suit out of his neighbor. 'Maybe I should get something new, something different. If I am stuck as a different pony...person...I might as well enjoy it and live a little.'

Making her way into the living room, Beckett found that Castle was already wide awake and making breakfast while Twilight and her friends sat around, talking or helping where they could. Pinkie, while still bubbly and upbeat, was for once focused on her task of making some apple bread, while Twilight and Fluttershy listened in rapt attention as Castle explained how he got his muffins to turn out perfect each and every time.

"Well, mornin' sleepy head," Applejack said from where she stood, watching Castle work. "We thought ya weren't ever going to wake up."

"Leave her alone, Applejack. Just because some of us prefer to use a rooster to wake up doesn't mean there is any shame in getting one's beauty sleep," Rarity said from over the corner where she was admiring one of the sculptures Castle had.

Beckett walked over and nodded to each of the girls. "Sorry, didn't realize everypony would be up..."

"We decided to come early, that way we could get the day started," Rainbow Dash said. She was lying on the couch, her nose practically buried in the copy of 'Heat Wave'. "That way we can get the boring junk out of the way and get on to the cool stuff."

"Rainbow Dash, the museum is not going to be boring!" Twilight complained, her horn glowing as she set the table.

"Yeah yeah...I still say we should be showing off some more instead of visiting some dumb exhibit!" Rainbow Dash set the book down, her wings beating hard as she began to float up into the air. "Come on, wouldn't you rather see me show of some of my amazing moves, Kate?"

Beckett walked over to the kitchen, nearly crying in delight when she saw that, yes, Ponyville had coffee. Sure, she had to drink it from a straw, but the caffeine-goodness would perk her right up. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time to see the museum and your 'amazing moves', Rainbow Dash. Remember, we don't know how long Castle and I will have to wait before the Princess gets here."

Rainbow Dash, for her part, crossed her legs and let out a 'humpf'. "Geez, it’s like hanging out with my mom!"

"Considering my age, you aren't far off."

Twilight looked at Beckett, surprised. "You don't look that old, Kate. Even if you were a mother, you'd only have a baby."

Castle chuckled. "Don't be so sure, Twilight. We might look young but we are older than you think...my daughter is probably a few years younger than you." His horn began to glow and he moved a knife back and forth, spreading some creamy butter on the corn muffins he had made. He was quite enjoying having a superpower and was going to miss it once they got back home.

"You have a daughter?" Fluttershy said softly.

"Yeah, Alexis." Everypony could hear the fatherly pride that dripped off every word as he spoke his daughter's name.

"What is she like, Richard?" Rarity asked.

"Does she look like you?" Applejack asked.

"Does she have her cutie mark yet? What's her special talent?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

"Do you think she'd like us?" Fluttershy said softly, scuffing her hoof against the floor.

Castle tapped his hoof against his chin. "Well...you six remind me a lot of her." He pointed at Twilight. "She is a dedicated student...always worried about her grades. I honestly don't know where she gets it from, because I was such a troublemaker." He gestured to Fluttershy next, then Rarity. "She is incredibly kind and generous...she'd rather see others happy before herself." He turned to Pinkie Pie and grinned. "But she is my daughter and she has a VERY playful side. Me and her play la...uh...tag all the time and she comes up with very creative ways to win." He turned to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "She is also honest to nearly a fault...she hates to lie to me...and she will stand by a friend to the bitter end."

Castle paused and looked at Beckett. The detective was startled to find such emotion radiating out of his deep dark eyes; the power of it made her heart beat a touch faster.

"She's also a bit like Kate too."

Not Beckett. Kate.

"How so, Castle?" Beckett said, trying to sound flippant but failing to keep the soft whisper out of her voice.

"When she sees something is wrong...she never stops till it is corrected."

Beckett blushed at his words and was thankful her skin was its reddish-purple, as it hid her embarrassment quite well. She was so use to him joking and his cocky attitude...when he was like this it had the power to sweep her off her feet.

"As for your other questions..." Castle said, moving out of the way and letting Pinkie get the apple bread from the oven, "Alexis looks a bit like me but she has her mother's fiery red mane." Castle got a strange look on his face and Beckett nodded slightly in confirmation: he too was experiencing a change in his vocabulary. "She hasn't gotten her cutie mark...I honestly don't know what her special talent will be, because she can do anything." He paused, looking down at Fluttershy and gently nudging the side of her head with his. "And yes, she would love all of you."

"I hope we get to meet her," Twilight said happily, unaware of the flash of pain that went through Castle and Beckett when they thought of the possibility that THEY would never get to see Alexis, or any of their friends, ever again.

"Yeah...me too," Castle said, trying not to choke on the words. "Now then," he said, forcing himself to be chipper, "I believe breakfast is served!"

The girls quickly gathered around the table and began to eat. Castle and Beckett both looked at each other and silently shared the same thought: while this was a nice vacation, they needed to get home.

The Arrival Part 5

"Ugh! Can we go now?" Rainbow Dash complained. She dragged herself across the floor, her wings limp and her head slumped as if she had her very essence drained by a non-sparkling vampires (Castle had been utterly amused to find out that even in Ponyville those books existed, much to Twilight Sparkles’ utter annoyance).

Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a quivering stare. "We've only been here 3 minutes, sugarcube."

"...are you sure, it feels like 3 decades!"

Beckett and Castle merely chuckled at the flyer's antics. After their breakfast the girls had explained their plans: while they wanted to spend as much time as they could with the two new arrivals, all of the girls had jobs that they couldn't be away from for long periods of time. So, they had come up with a brilliant idea: They all had taken the day off to show them around Ponyville and get them acquainted with several important areas. Then, each of the girls would have Beckett and Castle for a day, showing them around their homes and their favorite spots, with Twilight following around to help ease the burden. She had explained that Spike could manage the library and that Twilight had taken it as a personal task from her mentor to help Castle and Beckett out.

What Twilight didn't tell them was that she was being a bit greedy, wanting to spend more time with Kate, who she was rapidly coming to adore, and Richard, who amazed her at being a writer and had her wanting to pick his brain. She wanted to hang around the two new comers, learn all about them and, she hoped, develop an even stronger friendship.

The day's first stop had been Twilight's idea: the Ponyville Museum.

"You guys really lucked out!" Twilight said as she made her way through the lobby, ignoring Rainbow Dash who was being shoved further inside by Applejack. "The museum is featuring a special exhibit of art based on the history of Equestria! I know Mr. Piles, the curator, from Canterlot, and he will be able to give you a great crash course on our history!" Twilight was nearly bouncing as much as Pinkie Pie.

"History is so boring though!" Rainbow Dash complained. "Wouldn't you guys rather be outside, enjoying the fresh air instead of being coped up in some stupid, smelly museum?”

Rarity sniffed. "There will be plenty of time to get dirty and dusty, Rainbow Dash. I personally think Twilight's idea is magnificent. We could all use a little more culture in our lives."

"Whadda mean?" Pinkie Pie said, sucking on the straws that led up to the beer helmet (though she was using it to slurp up chocolate milk) that was topped on her frizzle pink head. "We're-UUUURRRRPPPPP-cultured!"

"Just ignore her, Pinkie," Applejack said, still struggling to get Rainbow Dash across the lobby floor. "If you ain't talkin' like some big city big shot then Rarity thinks you're uncultured."

Castle leaned in towards Beckett. "We don't talk like big city big shots, do we?"

"Trust me, Castle...you are one of the last things people think of when they think 'refined'."

"...why so much anger, Beckett?"

Rarity leveled a cool glare at the apple farmer. "Well, I personally think there is nothing wrong with speaking properly and with dignity."

"Why, do you mean like this, darling?” Applejack said, a perfect Manehattan accent flowing from her mouth. Castle did a double take, for sure that his mother had possessed the apple farmer’s body.

Rarity's jaw dropped and she began to sputter.

"Everyone forgets I spent a few weeks up in Manehattan, back when I thought I wanted to be 'cultured' and 'refined'."

"H...ha...how did...ah...how …" Rarity stammered.

Applejack stopped pushing Rainbow Dash long enough to playfully shut the designer's mouth with her hoof. "Come on there, Rarity, everyone knows ya don't keep her mouth agapin' like that." Applejack instantly switched to her refined accent. “A proper lady never lets her mouth hang open like some silly foal.”

The other ponies looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Rarity stared at them for a moment, fuming, before she realized just how silly it all was and joined in on the giggling.

"Ah, I see everyone is in good spirits," a gray pony said with what Beckett would call an English accent, walking up to them. His brown mane had begun to thin and lose its color but his dark eyes still gleamed brightly, even behind his glasses. He was wearing a tweed jacket which ended just before his cutie mark, which was a magnifying glass over a book.

"Mr. Piles!" Twilight said happily, hurrying over and placing her head against the museum curator's. Dusty Piles returned the gestured, though his was a bit more reserved.

"Ah, good to see you, Miss Sparkles." Piles’ accent would have been completely at home in London. Beckett stared at him, trying to picture him as a human and had a sudden vision of a British actor from that WB show that she would sometimes catch when she had a day off, back in early 2000s. She half expected him to whip off his glasses and begin polishing them. "I am glad you sent me your note; I don't get to discuss in great detail the history of Equestria all that often these days. Most ponies are more interested in running about getting dirty that educating themselves…unlike you eight."

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

Twilight turned back towards her friends, flashing them an excited grin. It was clear that they were in Twilight's zone on comfort. "Mr. Piles use to teach Equestria History in Canterlot before he was assigned by the Princess to start this mobile museum exhibit."

"Well, I for one can't wait ta see it," Applejack said. "Twilight has been gabbin' about it all day!"

Piles nodded. "That does not surprise me...you were always...how did the other students put it...rambling?" Twilight blushed. "Now, I believe introductions are in order..."

"Oooo, let me!" Pinkie said, hopping over to Piles and shaking his hoof, her beer hat nearly falling off with all her bouncing. "I'm Pinkie Pie! And this is Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight-but you already knew that so I don't have to tell you, even though I just did, so ignore that last part- Richard Castle and Kate Bucket!"

"Beckett," the detective stated.

"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked.

"Pretty sure," Beckett said with an eyeroll.

"Oh...okie dokie loki! Richard Castle and Bucket Beckett."

Beckett shot Castle a death glare, warning him of bodily harm if he so much as giggled over Pinkie's antics. The writer choked on the chuckles that were threatening to bubble forth but somehow found a way to keep them down. Instead, he focused on shaking Piles' hoof. The museum curator was staring at Twilight, an eyebrow raised.

"Your pink friend reminds me of Sunny Summers."

Twilight tilted her head to the side. "Huh, now that you mention it, she does kind use Sunny-speak."

Beckett, for her part, closed her eyes for a moment; if Piles began talking about anyone named 'Willow' or a pony whose last name was 'The Bloody' she was going to go running for the hills. There was only so much a human…pony…could take.

"Hello Ms. Beckett," Piles said, shaking her hoof. "Twilight tells me that you and your friend Mr. Castle are not from around here?"

"No...we aren't even from Equestria."

"Fascinating. I have always had an interest in the other lands outside of our own. I must discuss with you some of the aspects of your homelands before you leave Ponyville."

Castle chuckled as he nudged the door open for the girls to trot through. “Trust me, teach…you would not believe half the things we told you.”

Piles gave Castle a queer look but within moments forgot the comment as he slipped easily into the role of tour guide. The first room, which was labeled “The Founding”, was filled with pictures that reminded Beckett of the old oil canvases depicting the Revolutionary War and the Founding Fathers.

“Now, this might be a bit boring for you six,” Piles said to Twilight and her friends, “so, unless Mr. Castle and Ms. Beckett have some objections, I will cover only the basics. Equestria was founded nearly 1,600 years ago by three tribes of ponies: The Pegesi, the Unicorns, and the Terra or ‘Earth’ Ponies.” He gestured to a painting, depicting the signing of the Equestria Treaty that brought peace to the three groups. Castle and Beckett glanced several times at the 3 founders and their seconds, then at the 6 girls that stood behind them, before deciding that questioning why they looked like near clones of the founders was just asking for too much weirdness.

“For 100 years we ponies lived beside one another…but never was there a true government or ruler. Fights broke outand there were many tense moments that threatened to splinter the land.” Piles led them to a much bigger room, this one labeled ‘The Coming of the Princesses’.

However, anything he was about to say was drowned out by the gasps of the 8 ponies he was guiding. All of them stood in shock, staring at the centerpiece of the room.

It was a massive statue, nearly three times Castle’s height (and he was the largest of the ponies). It was made of shiny gray stone, polished to a near mirror finish, and brilliant emeralds. The statue was that of a fierce looking goat, with two long horns darting back from his head and a short beard hanging from his chin. The eyes were made of onyx stones that seemed to suck in all light and the posture of the beast gave off the illusion of great strength.

Midway along the body the stone gave way to the emeralds, which were cut to appear like scales. They ran down the goat’s back legs and along his rump. Instead of his body ending where it should the beast sported a giant curved fish tail, the fan- like end of which appeared to be razor sharp.

“What…what in tarnation is that?!” Applejack exclaimed.

“So primal…” Rarity whispered.

“It’s freaky looking,” Rainbow Dash complained.

Pinkie Pie slurped her drink. “Huh, it’s a goat fish thingie!”

“I’ve…I’ve never seen anything like this,” Twilight murmured in wonder.

“It’s a capricorn,” Fluttershy said.

She cringed when all eyes turned towards her.

“A what now, sugarcube?” Applejack said.

“A…a capricorn…I think. But I could be wrong…uh…”

“She’s right,” Beckett said, stepping forward. “It looks a bit different than the capricorns I’ve seen pictures off…but that’s what it is.”

Piles turned to the two. “And how did you know that, Ms. Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy ran her hoof along the floor. “Uh…my dad told me about them…” When the others looked to her for comments, Fluttershy merely drew into herself, going silent.

Piles smiled, taking back control of the tour. “The young mare is quite right. This is a statue depicting the legendary capricorn: half goat, half fish. It is said that thousands of years ago the capricorns roamed the oceans, battling any that dared to trespass into their waters.” Piles chuckled to himself. “Of course, that is just a fairy tale.”

Castle leaned in towards Beckett. “But flying ponies and unicorns…those are all logical.” Beckett rolled her eyes but favored him with a smirk.

“Why is the statue in here, though?” Twilight asked.

“Ah, I was getting to that.” Piles directed them towards one of the walls. “Around 1,500 years ago, an event that had never before been seen by pony kind occurred. Appearing from the shores of the Mareatine Sea,” Castle moaned at the new horse pun, “came the first Unicorn ponies with wings…or Pegesi with horns. They were Celestia and Luna…the first Alicorns.”

Pinkie Pie bounced to the front of the group. “AAWWWWW! They are so cute!”

Beckett had to admit the picture was adorable. It depicted a winged, horned filly with white skin and a flowing blue/pink mane standing on the shores of some ocean. Behind her, sitting in the sand, was a pitch black baby pony, her hooves wrapped around the elder’s leg, the elder’s mane being gummed.

“Of course, this is merely an artist’s rendition…the Princesses have been very quiet about their past and we only have what few tidbits have been offered to go by.” Piles led them to another picture, depicting Celestia, now looking to be almost Twilight’s age and size, standing next to a gray unicorn with a huge beard who was, save for his head, hidden in a bush. “Celestia and Luna were trained in the art of magic by the one known as ‘The Teacher’. It was this mysterious pony, whose very name is unknown to us, that taught the Princesses the skills that would aid them in helping guide every pony for many years to come. Now, over here…”

Twilight ignored Piles, staring at the photo. She had heard of ‘The Teacher’ all right and had been driven to near madness trying to learn more about him. His name, his looks, his spells…nothing was recorded about him. The unicorn only knew of him because Celestia every year took one day to be by herself. This day the sun would rise but for a few hours before night fell, and Celestia would stand on her balcony, staring off towards the sea. Those in Cantalot whispered that The Teacher had died protecting her and Celestia honored him that night every year.

Twilight had only once worked up the nerve to ask her mentor and teacher about The Teacher; it was the only time Celestia had become truly cross with her. The Alicorn had told Twilight that it was not a simple tale and that even speaking her old teacher’s name brought pain to her heart. She made Twilight swear never to ask about The Teacher again…and the unicorn had reluctantly agreed.

“-doesn’t explain the dreadful statue, though!” Rarity complained, breaking Twilight out of her thoughts.

Piles smiled, walking up to the great statue. “I was just getting to that, Miss Rarity. This statue was discovered on the shores of the Mareatine Sea, and my research has shown it is 1,500 years old. I believe that Princess Celestia and Luna’s ancestors worshipped the capricorn as a kind of mythical god. We very well may be standing next to something that our dear Princesses gazed upon as children, never dreaming that one day they would replace this silly thing in the hearts and minds of their people.”

“And then Luke Skywalker took the One Ring to Narnia…” Castle muttered.

“So some respect,” Beckett whispered.

“Come on… it is a bit silly!”

“Castle…we…are…ponies. I think ‘silly’ flew out the window a day ago. On pegasus wings.”

Piles led the group to the next room, labeled ‘The Heroes and Villains of Equestria’

“Even with the coming of the alicorn princesses our lands have faced threats. Three of the most dangerous were Nightmare Moon,” he pointed to a painting that depicted the Mare in the Moon, “and-“

“She wasn’t that big!” Pinkie Pie said. “Or, I don’t think she was.” Pinkie looked at the painting, showing a cackling Nightmare Moon towering over the planet, then slowly raised her hoof over her head, measuring. “Nope…not unless the world was really small back then.”

“It…is an interpretation.”

“…okie dokie!”

Piles sighed. “As I was saying, the second threat was the Element of Disharmony and Chaos…Discord.”

Rarity leaned back in horror as she stared at the painting. “I am glad he didn’t look like THAT!” The painting was that of a truly monstrous chimera-like dragon. The artist had gone out of his way to remove any sense of humor or silliness from Discord and make him look truly nightmarish. If every Beckett or Castle were looking for an example of what Satan might look like…

“And the Queen of Changelings.”

Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue in disgust at the painting of the Queen, which had her looking like she was rotting from the inside-out.

“Wait,” Castle said, confused. “You guys act like you’ve meet these three.” The 6 ponies looked at him, shuffling slightly. “You have met them?”

“Met them?” Piles said with a laugh, walking over to a covered frame that sat in the center of the room, near portraits of Starswirl the Bearded and Lackhorn the Gifted. “My dear boy…they defeated them.” He grabbed a hold of the cloth with his teeth and pulled, revealing a large painting depicting a fictional battle that pitted Nightmare Moon, Discord and the Queen against the 6 Elements of Harmony.

“Wow…” Beckett said, tilting her head. “It…kinda looks like you?”

The ponies depicting in the picture were…maybe the Elements of Harmony, assuming said elements had been drawn by, in Beckett’s opinion, anime artists. The girls were twice as big than they actually were and looked more like the paintings of Princess Celestia. They were also more mature looking and elegant…Beckett guessing this was the Ponyville equivalent to airbrushing. Their manes were longer, their muscles bigger, and every other aspect exaggerated to make them look more heroic.

“What the heck am I wearin’?” Applejack complained, staring at the armor her painting self wore. “And why am I swingin’ a chain?”

Fluttershy covered her eyes in utter terror at the sight of ‘her’ riding into battle on top of an Ursa Major, her eyes glaring at Discord as she led an army of Timber Wolves into battle. Rarity, meanwhile, was too busy insulting the dress the artist had drawn her in (which looked to be little more than straps of black fabric that had magical incantations written upon them).

“Hey, they got me right!” Rainbow Dash said, pointing to the mighty pony with flaming wings, muscles bulging as she attacked Nightmare Moon. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was trying to figure out why her confetti cannon was firing actual cannon balls…and why she was sporting a Mohawk.

Twilight furrowed her brow. “I…guess it is nice…” She looked at her heroic self, wielding powerful white magic. Twilight thought it looked like the artist had simply drawn Princess Celestia and then painted Twilight’s coloring over the princess and erased the wings.

“Well… at least you aren’t slutty,” Beckett commented, giving Castle a glare as she remembered some of the sample cover art he had gotten for the first Nikki Heat novel.

Piles looked at the painting and smiled. “It is a dramatic retelling, girls…of course the artist is going to embellish…”

“Embellish nothin’!” Applejack complained. “That there picture of me has more muscles than Big Macintosh!”

Twilight looked at Piles, chewing on her lip. “It’s…very nice…I just think none of us expected it. I mean…this is the heroes of Equestria section-“

“And you defeated Discord, The Queen of Changelings and Nightmare Moon. Twilight…you 6 are the greatest heroes!”

“Actually, it was Shining Armor and Princess Cadence that-“ Rarity began to point out, only to be silenced by Piles.

“Yes, yes…but everypony knows you are the 6 that did the most damage.”

“I-if you say so,” Fluttershy said meekly.

Castle decided to help the curator out. “Girls, it is fiction. Think of it like my books…yes, Filly Heat is based on Beckett, but she isn’t Filly. It is just me taking elements of her to create something new, something more dramatic. The same with these paints: they are just taking some of your greatest abilities and…adding onto them.”

“Exactly!” Piles said happily. “Now then-“

Any more arguments about the paintings and the girls’ depictions were cut off by a loud crash that rang through the quiet museum. All of the ponies stared at each other before racing back to the ‘Princesses’ Room. Piles looked about, trying to see if one of his paintings had fallen, only to shriek like a foal when he saw that a chunk of stone from the capricorn statue had fallen to the ground, shattering to pieces.

“No…no no no!” He hurried over, trying to delicately collect every little fragment. “No one move! I can fix this…”

“Mr. Piles…” Twilight said nervously, backing away. “I think we have bigger problems.”

Piles looked up, jaw nearly falling to the floor when he saw that the section of rock that had broken off had revealed living, breathing flesh underneath the stone.

“Hey…there is a pony inside there!” Pinkie said. “Just like there is cream in a donut!” Another chunk of rock fell, the onyx eye shattering as a real eye, just as black as the fake stone one, blinked before focusing on them. “Except…not as scary!”

“Rrrr….rrr……AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” The statue exploding in a blast of dust, sending bits of rock and emerald shards flying all over. Twilight quickly summoned up a force field to protect her and her friends. From behind the semi-clear purple bubble they could only watch as the former statue shook the last bits of stone from its hide.

The capricorn was even more terrifying in the flesh than it had been as a statue. Every muscle twitched as he slowly shook himself free of rock fragments, his emerald tail swishing in annoyance. His dark eyes roamed about, locking on the ponies. He leapt from the pedestal, his hooves clanking on the floor as he shifted his body, working the kinks out of his muscles. The capricorn was just as big as Princess Celestia and looked down at the ponies with calculating eyes.

“How long have I slumbered?” he bellowed, nearly sending the ponies flying across the room.

“Uh…I don’t know…how long have you been asleep?” Pinkie Pie asked innocently.

The Capricorn leaned down, touching his nose to the force bubble. “You shield yourselves? And with such a flimsy spell…” the capricorn’s horns glowed, his green short-cropped hair standing on end for a moment, and Twilight watched as her bubble dissipated. She was left gaping, wondering how the heck the mysterious goat-fish creature could break through her protection spell with such ease. “Where am I?” The Capricorn pointed his hoof at Fluttershy. “You, the one that trembles before the might of Tydal…where am I?”

“Meep.”

Tydal frowned. “Speak up.”

“Meep,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Have you all forgotten how to converse? SPEAK UP!”

“YouareinthePonvilleMuseum,inPonyvilleinthelandofEquestria!” Fluttershy shot out.

Tydal observed her for a moment, touching his green beard with his hoof. “Ponyville…I have never heard of this place. Why was I brought here? Why have I been taken from the battle? I remember…I remember…” He closed his eyes, trying to work out his memories. He snapped his head towards Twilight. “Where is Celestia?”

“Celestia?” Twilight stammered.

“Yes, little one, Celestia!” Tydal’s booming voice sent Rarity and Applejack tumbling into a wall.

“She isn’t here,” Beckett said, swallowing what fear she had felt. She marched up to the capricorn and glared up at him. “So why don’t you back off?”

Tydal actually laughed at Beckett’s denouncement. “A fiery one…I am not used to you ponies showing such backbone…you are usually too busy whimpering in terror.” He turned his back to Beckett and the rest and marched away from them. “I do not have time to wait for Celestia to arrive. Inform her that I am headed to Bridle Bay and that I will return soon…with my army.”

“A-army?!” All the ponies exclaimed.

“Indeed.” Tydal’s horns glowed, a ball of water forming between them before he fired it into the wall, creating a hole big enough for him to exit through. He turned back to stare down the ponies, head held high. “Know this, my little ponies…when I return all that you have known will change. My army will remake this land…and all its people will know your names, for you are the ones responsible for my return…and the rewards I shall rain upon you.”

And with that, the Capricorn leapt away.

“…I’m guessing that’s not part of the normal tour…” Castle muttered.

Tropic of Capricorn Part 1

“That wasn’t supposed to happen, right?” Castle asked as they galloped down the lane. “Right? I don’t think they’ll have that on the tour…”

“For the last time, yes!” Beckett snapped, turning her head to glare at him, only to snap it back just in time to avoid a tree branch that was in the road. It was hard enough to run now that she had four legs…she wasn’t going to make things more difficult by looking the wrong way. “The statue wasn’t supposed to turn into a capricorn that threatened to bring an army to destroy us all!” She put on another burst of speed, trying to keep up with the rest of the ponies as they raced to Twilight’s house.

“Remember…when us being magically turned into colorful ponies…was the strangest thing we’d dealt with this week?” Castle huffed, long legs eating up space as he finally came to race beside Beckett.

“I remember when being told that a mystery writer with no police experience was going to tail me was the strangest thing I’d dealt with.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you can hold a grudge?”

Beckett smirked slightly as they rushed into the library. “Tell me? Oh Castle, that’s what it said under my photo in my yearbook.”

“…mine said ‘I can’t believe I ate the whole thing’.”

“You stole that from The Simpsons.”

“All writers are thieves, Beckett…the good ones just hide it well.”

Beckett let out a ‘humpf’ but didn’t argue the point. Her mind instantly went into ‘detective mode’ as she thought about what had just happened and the danger Ponyville was in. As bad as it sounded, Beckett had missed having mystery and danger looming over her head. Ever since her mother had been killed she had allowed herself to be swallowed up by her job; the grim and gritty reality of life in the trenches in the great war for the soul of New York had allowed her to avoid focusing on everything that tried to steal her attention away. Here in Ponyville she had found herself with only time and her transformation…and the latter had been pushed to the backburner when it was clear they would have to wait for the Princess to get answers.

And Beckett had feared that, without something to keep her occupied…she would go mad.

And considering how much she was coming to like Ponyville and her new friends…that might have already happened.

But now there was something that needed to be done. There was action to take and orders to give and Beckett was the wo…pony for the job.

“Alright,” she barked out, all the other ponies stopping their frantic search for information on Tydal. They instantly lined up like good little soldiers, waiting for her commands. “We need to get organized and quick.” She stomped her hoof once. “First-“

Beckett’s next statement was cut off by, of all things, the opening riff to what sounded like ‘Old Time Rock ‘n Roll’.

Every pony turned, watching as Spike slid into the room, holding a tennis racket and wearing sunglasses, dancing to the music and lip syncing along.

“Just take them old records off the shelf!”

“Spike…SPIKE!” Twilight shouted, using her magic to turn off the music.

The baby dragon frozen, realizing he had company. “Uh…back so soon?” he asked meekly, lifting the sunglasses up.

“Dude…” Castle said softly, “they are never going to let you live this down.”

Beckett took the racket and tossed it aside. “Spike, Twilight, see if you can find anything out about capricorns. The rest of you go back to your houses and pack anything you need and be back in half an hour latest! Applejack, can you pack two extra packs for me and Castle?”

“Sure thing, sugarcube.”

“Alright, we’ll get packing!” Pinkie said, racing out of the library…only to return 2 seconds later. “Why are we packing again?” Pinkie Pie asked innocently.

“I know…we’re goin’ after that crazy capricorn, aren’t we Kate?” Rainbow Dash did a hoof pump when Beckett nodded her head. “Alright! Time to bring on the painbow!” With that the Pegasus blasted off, already planning on what gear she would need to take down Tydal.

Twilight ignored her friends as they hurried out to get ready. She was too busy flipping through books, trying to learn anything she could about capricorns. “Kate, thank you, but you and Richard shouldn’t come…this could get dangerous.”

Castle gave her a wide-eyed look. “You honestly expect us not to come? There is an evil capricorn army to take down and I want to try this horn out! All I’ve used it for so far is to make muffins!”

“It will be dangerous,” Twilight repeated. “The girls and I have dealt with these kinds of threats before… none of us want you two hurt. You would just be in danger and I think…no, I know…that you will be safer here.” Twilight walked over to Castle and placed a hoof on his shoulder, keeping her tone firm yet compassionate. "I am tell you two not to come. Okay?"

"ha...hahaha...hahahahahahahahaha!"

At first, Castle and Twilight assumed that Pinkie had returned. But the source of the laughter wasn’t from the party planner. Beckett rolled on the ground, kicking her hooves in the air as she laughed so hard tears were rolling down her cheeks. The two other ponies and Spike watched her as she pitched back and forth, giggling and snorting and stammering so hard Castle was afraid his partner was suffering from a mental breakdown.

"Kate?" Twilight said softly, nervously approaching the dark red-purple pony. "Kate?"

"Oh...Oh God..." Kate laughed, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. "You...you actually think...he'll listen to you..." Beckett burst into another fit of giggles.

"UH...someone want to clue me in here?" Twilight said, facing dropping in annoyance.

Beckett ran her front right leg against her nose, sniffing slightly. "You honestly think...you can tell Richard-Freaking-Castle...to stay put...after you told him there would be danger?" Beckett was lost once more in a sea of laughter.

Castle stared at her, mouth agape. "I think I am getting a bit insulted!" While he was pevved, he was also a bit concerned; such antics from Beckett were not the norm. She was likely to snark back and giving him a sly wink or maybe a chuckle...but to break down and laugh so hard was simply not like her.

Of course, he had noticed that he too was thinking a bit...different...then he normally did. His desire to pull some pranks on his partner had been growing with every passing hour and the only reason Beckett hadn't woken up with a whip cream beard was that the girls had arrived before he had a chance to get his 'tools' ready. He also found that his emotions were running to the extreme. Like Beckett, even the smallest thing could get him giddy and he always felt the urge to look around and just be HAPPY. Even his more negative emotions, such as the annoyance he felt now, were being tapped down and shortened by the pleasant feelings that seemed to radiate out of him.

Which left him with three possible conclusions: Ponies feel things different from humans; this place was such a magical world that it was hard to say mad; or they were going insane.

Judging by how Beckett was still clutching her sides, he was thinking the third option was looking better and better.

"I found something!" Spike called out. Twilight and Castle hurried over, while Beckett forced herself to stop giggling and shortly join them. "It was in here: 'The Myths and Monsters of Equestria'. It's an older book..."

"Old?" Twilight said, running her hoof along the dark cover and finding it covered in dust. "Spike, I think this book started off white!"

"Ok, so maybe it's out of date...still, listen to this!" The baby dragon cleared his throat before reading. "Capricorns were considered by some of the ancient Equestria's founders to be the guardians and protectors of the sea. While it is now known that they were merely a myth, ancient ponies would worship the capricorns, asking for protection from the seas. Capricorns were said to be fierce warriors who could send a hundred ponies flying with just a swish of their tails. They were said to be not as fast on land as ponies, but in the water they were described as being second to none."

"The book seems to think that capricorns aren't real," Twilight said. "Guess the author never met Tydal."

"Yeah," Spike said, flipping the page, "I bet-"

"Oh my God!" Castle laughed, stopping Spike's claw and forcing him to turn back to another page. The others began to snicker at the image of a small dragon that somewhat resembled spike: the same purple skin and green spines, but this dragon was much fatter and seemed less...cute...than Spike. Oh, it was still cute, but in a more crude way...a rolly-polly sort of way.

"What the?" Spike exclaimed.

Twilight leaned down. "A Gem Dragon...mostly harmless."

Now Castle was the one rolling on the ground laughing.

"That’s it? All the book as to say about me is mostly harmless?!?! MOSTLY HARMLESS!?!?!" Spike shouted in shock and frustration.

"Well...they did say mostly," Beckett said with a smile.

Spike grumbled.

Beckett, finally deciding to let the baby dragon off the hook, walked over and gently rubbed his back with her hoof. "Come on Spike, think of it this way: this book was wrong about the capricorns, so it must be wrong about you. Heck, maybe the opposite is true and you are really some fierce, dangerous dragon!"

Spike gulped. "Well...maybe not dangerous..." his mind went back to a few months ago, when his greed had magically turned him into a monster. "But...a good fighter, and someone that can help out against threats!" He turned his head, mumbling under his breath, "Yeah...the hero Rarity knows me to be."

Beckett glanced at Twilight, who mouthed "it's complicated". Beckett shrugged; she was a talking pony who was getting ready to chase a capricorn who had come out of a statue...interspecies romance didn't even make it on the Top Ten for weirdness.

The door to Twilight's home burst open and the rest of the girls hurried in, each with saddle pack hung over their backs. "We just got word from Diamond Tiara's daddy," Applejack said breathlessly, "some ponies saw that capricorn go runnin’ into the Everfree Forest about 10 minutes ago."

Twilight's horn glowed and she pulled a map to her, studying it as Spike helped her get her pack on. "Ok...if Filthy Rich’s shop is here...yes! Tydal must being using the old eastern trail! It leads directly to the Bridle Bay."

Rainbow Dash frowned in annoyance. "Man, the Everfree grows right up to the coast! Even if I fly over it I would never see where he came out of!" She sulked, crossing her arms over her chest and blowing a strand of orange hair from her eyes. "We'll never manage to catch up to them!"

Twilight smirked as she stood up. "I think we will. Spike found a book that said that capricorns are slower on land than ponies. It is a day's walk to the coast...I bet we can overtake him."

"And may I ask exactly what we will do when we do catch up to the brute?" Rarity asked. "He did manage to destroy a wall with just a pinch of magic!"

"That's why I am bringing the big guns." Castle and Beckett, who were working to slip on the saddle packs Applejack had brought them, watched as Twilight retrieved a thick book from the shelf. Opening it, Beckett and Castle could only stare as Twilight, with utter reverence, slowly used her magic to lift up five golden necklaces and a brilliant tiara from inside the hollowed out book. Each necklace went to one of her friend's packs while she placed the tiara in her own.

"Uh...what is with the bling bling?" Castle asked.

"These are the Elements of Harmony.” After the incident with the changelings, Twilight had convinced Celestia to let the girls keep the Elements at the library, in case a major threat arose. “Each of us represents one of the elements and with their power we can defeat any foe." Twilight frowned slightly. "As long as we stay united." The other girls shuffled uneasily, remembering clearly their battle with Discord and how he had warped each of them, using their insecurities and weaknesses to make them not just abandon their friends but become, in each girl's own opinion, a monster just as terrible as Discord. Fluttershy had become a bully and a brute; Pinkie Pie a dark, brooding figure who sucked up any ounce of joy; Applejack a cruel liar; Rarity a selfish self-centered fool; Rainbow Dash an uncaring pony too lazy to help those in need; and Twilight into a pony who abandoned her friends and country when trouble came around.

Spike looked at Rainbow Dash's necklace. "Uh...that looks so much better on you." Rainbow gave him a confused look.

"So, what happens...your powers combined and you summon Captain Planet?" Castle asked.

Pinkie frowned. "Why would we call my old 3rd grade teacher? I mean, he was a bit scary, always telling me to be quiet and he did want my mom and dad to put me on some medication for something called OMG or something like that-"

"This must be a nightmare for you Castle," Beckett said with a slight smirk, "a word where no one gets your references."

Twilight, breaking herself out of the melancholy that had arisen at the memories of their first battle with Discord, stood tall and marched towards the door. "Ok girls...and Richard...we need to get a move on! Spike, I want you to send a letter to Princess Celestia, letting her know about Tydal and to prepare for his army if we don't reach him in time!"

"Will do, Twilight! Good luck!" Spike waved to the girls, Beckett and Castle as they raced out towards the Everfree. "Good luck..." he said softly, praying to Celestia for their fast return.

Tropic of Capricorn Part 2

The Everfree Forest.

When Beckett had heard the name, she had thought they were going to walk through yet another Disney Cartoon style sugar dipped trail full of happy trees that whistled as they walked and grounds that were better groomed than Yankee Stadium’s infield. Heck, she was half prepared for a bluebird to flutter down and offer her a cup of tea and some cookies as squirrels braided her mane.

So the dark woods with its looming trees and stifling atmosphere was a bit of a surprise…but still, it was pretty tame in her eyes. Beckett had been in crack dens and the worst of slum houses…so a spooky forest that looked like it would be at home in some farm’s Haunted Hay Ride was not going to make her knees quake.

Castle had glanced over at her the moment the forest had appeared over the hill, a grin playing along his features. “This is so cool! Think there will be spooky ghost ponies that sing about the danger we are in?”

Beckett had rolled her eyes. Twilight and her friends had begun to tremble the moment they saw the forest (well, Fluttershy had been trembling since they left the museum, but still…) but, to their credit, they had sucked up their fear and plunged in.

Still, it was clear to the two partners that the 6 ponies’ confidence had begun to plummet. The forest was part of the problem, but Beckett knew from experience that the 6 were thinking about Tydal and the battle that lay before them. It consumed their thoughts and with every step they took they begin to doubt themselves and their ability to defeat the capricorn warrior, even with the Elements of Harmony. Beckett had seen many rookies on their first raid get attacked by the jitters and knew that something needed to be done to get them back on the right path.

And, for once, Castle’s mouth was the answer.

“So…” Castle said, looking about the forest. He had somehow managed to not say a word for almost two hours, which was rather surprising to Beckett. She hadn’t known him to ever go so quiet for so long. Perhaps he too was feeling a case of the jitters.

Or, more likely, he was looking for the singing ghosts.

“Yes Rick?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing, just admiring your lovely dark and spooky forest. I like what you’ve done with the place. The scary faces on the trees are a nice touch. Some thunder would make it a bit more terrifying, sure…” He looked about, poking at a rock and was sorely disappointed when it didn’t trigger a trap.

“How can you be so calm?” Applejack asked, glancing about nervously. “This is the Everfree Forest.”

Castle scoffed. “Beckett and I have gone through worse and lived to tell the tale. You ever hear of Hell’s Kitchen? Now that is a rough place. Or…uh…Satan’s Bathroom?”

“Satan’s Bathroom?” Beckett asked. Castle gave her a look and she quickly played along. “Oh, right, Satan’s Bathroom. Real dangerous.”

“And we survived. Trust me, if we survived those places, you 6 can survive this forest. I mean…you’ve gone through worse, right? What about those three monster thingies Piles had pictures of? You girls beat all of them and they looked worse than Mr. Fishy Tail.”

“I don’t know about that…” Rarity said, though it was clear she was perking up as she thought of their victories again the other threats to Equestria, “…though Nightmare Moon was rather dangerous.”

“Rather dangerous? Are you kidding me?” Rainbow Dash said, flying over to hover just in front of Castle. “Do you know who she was?”

“Uh…a…Nightmare…Moon?” Castle blinked, considering just what he had said. “Ooooh… Night-MARE Moon. It’s a pun!” He turned to look at Beckett. “It’s another pun.”

“Castle, everything is a pun.”

“Right.”

“…anyway…” Rainbow Dash said, not use to her bragging being yanked off course, “Nightmare Moon was the goddess of the night and shadows. She could create illusions, enchant objects, cover the world in shadows…and we kicked her butt!”

“Really?” Castle asked.

Applejack nodded. “Darn tootin’! That’s when we first used the Elements of Harmony and freed Princess Luna.”

“Freed?” Beckett asked. “I didn’t know there was a captured princess.”

Fluttershy trotted up to them, shaking her head. “Well, not freed like she was in a scary dungeon…Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon.”

“…really?” Beckett asked. “How does that…was she brainwashed or possessed or…”

Twilight blinked. “Uh…no. She was just angry at Princess Celestia.”

“And the Elements…made her not angry?” Beckett said, it clear that she didn’t believe a word she was saying.

Rarity frowned. “Well, when you say it like that it does sound a bit silly…”

“But that is just the power of friendship and harmony…it can heal any rift and bring people back together.”

Castle blinked. “So…it’s kinda like if Hans Gruber turned out to be Bruce Willis’ brother and they hugged at the end.”

“Totally!” Pinkie said. “Though I don’t know who any of those people are. Are they friends of yours, Bucket?”

“Beckett.”

“Oh…are they friends of Beckett’s, Bucket?”

“…sure Pinkie Pie.”

“Okie dokie!”

“So the Elements of Harmony…make bad guys good?” Castle asked. “That’s it? No magic fireworks? It doesn’t turn you into giant robots that create a megazord or something?”

“Nope, but that would be so cool!” Rainbow Dash said in agreement.

Twilight frowned, not liking the way Castle was so easily playing off the Elements. “Well, they were also instrumental in defeating Discord. Without them, all of Equestria would still be under his rule.”

Beckett nodded, turning her head so she could reach into her saddle bag and pull out an apple. All this walking was making her hungry. “So the Elements turned this Discord back into a good…dragon…thing?” She took a bite, eyes slowly drifting shut as she savored the juicy fruit. Be it just pony taste buds or some sort of magic, everything in this world tasted so much better than it did in the human world. If there was one thing she would miss when she went home, it would be the apples…and the cakes…and the salads…and the oats…

“Well…no,” Twilight admitted.

“Then what happened to him?” Castle asked. “Did he transform into a butterfly or was he sent to a place where he could do good?”

“Yup…if doing good is giving the birdies a place to land in the Princess’ garden!” Pinkie said happily.

“Huh?” Beckett and Castle both said in unison.

Applejack gave them an awkward smile. “The Elements…kinda turned him into a stone statue.”

“WHOA!” Castle exclaimed.

“Wow…that’s a bit extreme!” Beckett stated.

Rarity gave them a sour look. “Well, he was the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. He corrupted us and turned us into vile, evil shadows of ourselves…”

“But the chocolate rain was nice,” Pinkie said, licking her lips.

Beckett spat out her apple core, looking over at Twilight. “I want to make sure I have this straight…the first time you used the Elements of Harmony they turned Nightmare Moon into a Princess; the second time it turned this Discord guy into a rock.”

All the girls nodded their heads.

“So…how do you know it will do anything to Tydal?”

They all stopped nodding and looked at each other, confusion written clearly on their features.

“Uh…because they will,” Rainbow Dash said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Beckett wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “How does it work? Do the Elements affect beings based on the evil in their heart or is it more of what you guys feel for them? Are you controlling the…magic…” Beckett said the word like it was a vile poison, “…or are you just a vessel for it to work its…magic?”

The girls blinked.

“You don’t know how they work?” Castle asked slowly, using the same tone he’d used when Alexis was 5 and told him she was going to school dressed as Wonder Woman.

“They work…via magic,” Twilight said weakly.

“And you don’t know what they will do to Tydal,” Beckett complained, doing little to hide her frustration. She hated going into any situation where there were unanswered questions. “We are going to fight this capricorn warrior and our ace in the hole might be a deuce?”

Twilight and the rest of them grew quiet at that thought. The high spirits that had swelled within them once again deflated, leaving them once more consumed with doubt. The Princess had told them that the Elements had the power to protect Equestria and defeat evil and they had accepted that declaration without question. Now, Beckett was making them truly think about the mystical items they had tucked in their saddle bags and realize that they really didn't know anything about them. What if Beckett was right and when they used the Elements all it did was give Tydal a mild rash or a sunburn? What then?

"You see...this is why I hate MacGuffins," Castle muttered.

"Oooh, are those like muffins with gunk on them? Because I would hate that too!" Pinkie bounced over to him, leaping on his back. Castle let out a grunt, his legs wobbling as Pinkie tapped her hoof against her chin. "Unless the gunk was frosting...then I would definitely like it...unless it was a corn meal muffin, then I would rather have butter on it...is butter gunk?"

"Pinkie..."Castle gasped.

The pink pony leapt off of Castle and hurried to the head of the crowd. She held her arms up, motioning for them to stop and listen. "Ok, so maybe Bucket-"

"Beckett," Kate reminded her once more.

"-has a point. Maybe we don't know how the Elements of Harmony work. Is that such a bad thing? There are a lot of things I don't understand, but that doesn't mean they don't work!"

Applejack considered this. "You know, she does have a point...I don't rightly understand how half the doohickeys Twilight uses work but that don't mean they don't help us out."

Castle looked at them, not liking how the other ponies were already forgetting Beckett's warning. "Uh, guys, I think a doohickey and a magic weapon designed to defeat evil are...a bit different."

"Maybe, but we don't have time to figure it out now," Rainbow Dash said. "We need to be taking that lousy Tydal down, not running back to Twilight's place to figure out how the Elements work."

Beckett looked at Twilight, hoping she was at least getting through to her. "I understand time is of the essence...but we can't go rushing in just hoping that lightning strikes twice. We need to come up with a game plan."

Twilight mulled over the older pony's words before finally nodding her head in agreement. "Kate is right...we can't rely upon the Elements." She held up a hoof when the others began to stammer in protest. "I am not saying we won't use them...we'll just be careful. We all have skills that can be used first before we resort to using the Elements of Harmony." She looked over at Beckett and smiled when the detective gave her a nod of approval.

"I h-hope you're right, Twilight," Fluttershy said softly. "I don't want to let anyone in Ponyville down."

"None of us do, darling," Rarity said, flipping her mane over her shoulder.

Pinkie, still at the head of the pack, glanced at them in slight annoyance and exasperation. "Come on guys, don't be such gloomy roomies! We've done this before and we'll do it once again."

Castle and Beckett looked up as the forest suddenly began to fill with the sound of music. It sounded like an army march which had been dipped in sugar and covered in sprinkles. More disturbing was the fact that none of the other ponies seemed to notice.

Pinkie Pie

Once again we find ourselves facing danger!
And wow our foes keep gettin' stranger!
We will do what we must!
Success or Bust!
Once again, once again, once again!

Beckett slowly turned away from Pinkie, who was marching up and down the trail, singing to her friends like she was in some Broadway musical. "Is she..."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I have no idea," Castle said as Pinkie Pie marched up to the rest of the girls, looking to them like Patton. "Maybe it's a Pinkie Pie thing."

Applejack

Once again we fight for those that we love!
This task, it fits us just like an old glove!

Rarity

Through the day and night
We'll bring him a fight!

Rarity & Applejack

Once again, once again, once again!

"Beckett, I'm scared," Castle said with wide eyes as he watched Rarity and Applejack dance-march with Pinkie along the trail, the music growing louder and...yes...yes there was an actual spotlight shining on them!

Beckett, for her part, turned to Twilight, hoping to appeal to the pony that, to her, seemed to have the most common sense. "Twilight, we have to get moving...I don't think a song-"

Twilight

Once again we find ourselves on the move!

"You aren't listening to a word I am saying, are you?" Beckett's ears drooped when Twilight continued with her verse, being joined shortly by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Soon, all the girls were singing and dancing about the trail, belting it out with so much passion that Castle's mother would have been giving them a standing ovation.

Castle

Ok Becket this is creeping me out!

Beckett

Of that there can be no doubt!

Castle

My ears are now ringing

Beckett

Great, now we're also singing!

Entire Cast

Once again, once again, once again!

One again...once again...once...a...gaaaaaiiinnnnnnnnn!

Once again!

Beckett and Castle blinked as the music suddenly came to a stop and the girls continued on their way as if nothing had happened. The two former humans looked at each other before racing to catch up with the moving party.

"Uh, Twilight?" Beckett said, nudging her. "What was that?"

"What was what, Kate?"

"The singing and the dancing."

Twilight just looked at her. "Oh that? We do that all the time. Sometimes music helps lift your spirits when you are down, don't you agree?"

"Uh, yeah, sure...but that was a bit more than humming to yourself or whistling."

Fluttershy frowned. "Didn't you like it?"

"Oh...it was very lovely," Castle said quickly, trying to keep the fragile pony's spirits up. "It's just that normally, when Beckett and I go after bad guys, we don't break into song."

"Well you should! It's fun!" Pinkie Pie squealed. "Ooo! Should we sing another one?"

Luckily for Beckett and Castle, there was no chance to begin another piece, as just as they came around a bend of the trail they happened upon Tydal. The mighty capricorn was leaning up to snag some fruit from a branch, quickly snacking on his treat. It was clear he had been running since leaving the museum and had only just now finally given in to the need for sustenance.

"There's that museum-wreckin' varmint!" Applejack shouted, pulling her lasso from her bag and spinning it around her head. Tydal looked at them, eyes narrowed as he watched the 8 ponies begin to approach him. "Now, why don't you do the smart thing and just stand still?"

Tydal looked upon them, his every move measured and calculated. He did not act rashly or jump into battle; instead he studied them, like a jeweler might gaze at a diamond, seeking out imperfections in its facets. There was something so revolting about the slowness of his gaze...so reptilian.

'No,' Beckett thought, staring at those slitted dark eyes, 'he's like a shark.' His tail swished back and forth, the fan-like ends looking so light and delicate yet holding an edge that could do them all serious harm. Tydal merely chewed on the pear he had captured, the juices dripping down his cheeks and into his beard as he looked upon them.

It would have been better if he had gazed at them in anger or rage. Beckett knew how to handle people…ponies…no, people, she reminded herself… like that. But he was so cautious, so studious that it left all 8 ponies frozen in place, unable to make a move against him.

"I see that patience is something they do not teach in your Ponyville." Tydal's dark tongue darted out to lick away a few seeds that clung to his teeth. His voice did not boom like it had before and there was a rich cadence to his words that would have made many a mare swoon. "I told you I would return and I assure you that I keep my promises. There is no need for you to come greet my army at Bridle Bay. We will return like the waves upon the shore and wash away all that you have known."

"Yeah, and that's why we are here to stop you!" Rainbow Dash said boldly, darting forward. The spell had been broken and all the ponies prepared themselves for battle (even if some of them, namely Fluttershy, prepared by hiding behind Castle).

Tydal scowled, or scowled as best as a goat could. "I had been warned there would be ponies like you. I offer a grand future and you chose instead to stand by that which you know."

"You're darn tootin' we do!" Applejack said.

"Yeah, you big...meanie head!" Pinkie Pie added.

Beckett pawed the ground with her hoof, ready to charge the moment Tydal made a move. "Do the smart thing and stand down, now."

Tydal snorted. "I will do no such thing. The day I listen to the boasts of ponies is the day I die."

"That can be arranged," Castle said calmly.

"I offer you this one chance, my little ponies: stand down and I will not hold your previous words against you." Tydal took a step forward, his horns beginning to glow. "But know this: if you continue down this path, I will not be held responsible for what happens to you. You are not the enemy I seek."

"Sorry, Tydal," Twilight said firmly, her horn glowing brightly, "but I'm afraid we'll have to reject your offer."

"Fools," Tydal answered, preparing himself for whatever Twilight threw at him.

Which is why Applejack was the one to attack first.

Her lasso landed neatly around him and with a tug she had him hitting the ground, his legs firmly bound. The capricorn's tail lashed out, making short work of the rope and freeing his legs before he rushed towards the farmer. Rarity was prepared though, her horn glowing as she lifted up a fallen tree and sent it right at Tydal.

He exploded into a puddle of water.

"Oh no..." Fluttershy said, before remembering he was the bad guy. "I...uh...mean...woohoo."

“Well…that was easy,” Castle muttered, seconds before the water began to swirl about, darting off in several directions as it formed into tentacles. “Me and my big pony mouth.”

The tentacles thrashed about, striking trees and bushes as they attempted to flee from the ponies. Each of the ponies gave chase after the slivering water snakes, not wanting to give Tydal a chance to escape.

Pinkie Pie let out a yelp, chasing after one only to hit a tree when the water shot up into the air. Rainbow Dash was coughing on leaves after taking a dive after one only for it to twist off to the right at the last moment.

“Everypony stop!” Twilight called out. “Ignore the water tentacles!”

“But that is Tydal!” Applejack shouted. “If we let him go-“

“That isn’t Tydal!” Twilight said, her horn beginning to glow brightly as she focused on where Tydal had been standing before he’d been struck. “I’ve studied elemental spells and it is accepted by everyone that it is impossible for a pony to transmutate into an inorganic form.”

Beckett spat out a mouth full of water she’d received after trying to sink her teeth into the tentacle (a stupid move, she knew that, but she needed to try something). “Twilight, are you sure?”

“Positive! I bet he’s using an invisibility spell to make us think he turned into water and he’s merely directing them.” Twilight focused on a containment spell that would lock onto Tydal and prevent him from wielding his magic. “But I know his tricks and I know how to deal with him!”

The magical blast left Twilight’s horn, buzzing through the air. The tentacles paused their frantic movements as the spell struck their origin point and Twilight smiled as her spell flashed…

…and sizzled out as the tentacles slammed together, turning into a liquid capricorn.

“Uh Twi,” Applejack muttered, the ponies regrouping as the liquid Tydal took a step towards them, “I think he did that trans-thing.”

“That’s…that’s not possible!” Twilight screeched.

“Come on guys, it’s just a wet version of the same capricorn! We can beat him!” Rainbow Dash said boldly.

Tydal chose that moment to split into 8 smaller watery capricorns.

Castle glanced at Rainbow Dash. “Ok…neither of us are allowed to say ‘can things get any worse’, alright, because we are apparently jinxes.”

“Enough talk!” Beckett shouted, taking a bold step forward and trying to look as tough and dangerous as she could in the body of a reddish-purple cute pony. “Let’s get him!”

“Leeroy Jenkins!” Castle shouted, charging forward and tackling one of the Tydals…only to go flying through the watery being and tumbled off into the forest.

“Rick!” The girls shouted. They had no time to worry about him as the mini Tydals began to dart about, trying to escape from the clearing in any way they could.

Applejack chased after one of the Tydals, trying to find a way to get in front of him and stop his progress. “Come back here, you slippery little polecat!” The apple farmer let out a yelp as she was unable to stop in time to avoid a large tree trunk. She looked around in a daze, little apples spinning around her head. “I don’t want to pick the apples today Granny Smith…”

Twilight was trying to use her magic to capture the little Tydals but every time she managed to get one in a sphere two more would run up, flicking her horn and causing her to lose her concentration and break the spell. Pinkie Pie was bouncing all over, pouncing on the Tydal spawn and giggling when they burst into puddles, only to frown when they reformed around her hooves.

“Uh…please stop,” Fluttershy asked, trying to keep track of all the Tydals that were darting around her. “Please…could you…no? Ok.”

“NOOO!” Rarity screamed in utter panic as one of the Tydals slammed into her.

“Rarity, what’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked, hurrying over to her friend.

“He…he…he got my mane wet!”

Rainbow Dash just stared at her.

“…just because you don’t care about your manestyle-“

Beckett looked about, trying to make sense of the chaotic scene. All around her the girls were running around with no sense of direction or purpose. It was like herding cats (‘Better be careful…for all I know cats can talk here too and it would be offensive to say that’ Beckett thought drolly). She wanted to regroup, to come up with a new plan, but there was simply no way to get the girls to pay attention and stop randomly attacking the little Tydals.

Deeper in the forest, Castle slowly came to with one of the Tydal spawns standing on his chest, glaring at him. His watery skin shimmered and shifted with every unneeded breath and Castle would have found the creature cute if he wasn’t so fearful of being water-boarded by living water.

“You are an artist, not a warrior,” the little capricorn hissed. “It is written in your movements as it is on your flank. Has Discord become so desperate to defeat me that he now forces poets and writers to face me?”

“What are you talking about? Discord-“

Tydal’s head snapped back, the little spawn grunting into annoyance. He leapt off Castle’s chest and raced into the underbrush, followed shortly by the other capricorn water spawn and, moments later, Twilight, Beckett and their friends, all dripping wet but hot on the trail.

“Castle, come on!” Beckett shouted.

“Wait a minute…”

“We can’t lose him!” Twilight shouted.

“But-“ Castle stammered, Tydal’s words ringing in his ears as he followed after the girls, plunging deeper into the forest.

Tropic of Capricorn Part 3

The chase for Tydal was on but Castle's heart was no longer into it. The fun and thrill of hunting down a capricorn warlord held zero appeal to him, what with Tydal's words echoing through his head. They teased and taunted him and made him consider things he wished he didn't have to. No matter how hard he tried, he could not pull himself away from the mental path he had set himself upon and each step he took through the Everfree was accompanied by another thought or memory that made him question everything they were doing.

The part of him that remained a writer, even in this 4-legged form, screamed that something didn't add up. The details and facts were not sliding into place with the information Twilight and Beckett were running with. If he were reading this he would have been screaming at the pages, demanding the characters get a clue and realize their mistake before it was too late.

But he wasn't some reader separated from the world by ink and page or a computer screen and wires; Castle was living this adventure and he had to play by certain rules and accept certain facts: namely that Beckett had already made up her mind and getting her to come to his line of reasoning would be a Herculean task.

He had considered for 3 seconds trying to convince the others, but realized that would be silly. The 6 girls were friends and, while nice to him, they would trust each other long before they trusted him. Oh, they might hear his words and consider them, but all it took was for one of the girls to go against his idea and Castle would find himself shot down within seconds.

Beckett was the only answer.

Of course, the first step in convincing her would be, strangely enough, to stop taking steps. It was hard to have a deep conversation about the nature of good and evil when you were galloping through a dark forest.

Luck shone upon him soon enough in the form of a section of the forest that had collapsed upon the trail, halting their chase to a snail's pace. Up ahead in the darkness the ponies could hear Tydal struggling to get through the fallen trees and underbrush that had reclaimed the trail. It was a good sign, as it meant that he could not outfox them while they attempted to traverse the clutter. It was their hope that, with their superior land speed, they could catch him.

It also gave Castle a chance to hang back and have a word with Beckett without any other pastel ears listening in.

He trotted over to her and used his magic to lift a heavy branch, allowing her to slip through. Beckett flashed him a grateful smile before attempting to get over a half-rotted tree trunk.

"This would be so much easier if I had hands," Beckett complained. When she saw that he was not laughing at her little joke she gave him a good once-over, wondering if he had been hurt. "Castle, what's wrong?"

"Beckett...things aren't adding up."

"I don't think they really do in this world," Beckett answered before grabbing a hold of a branch with her teeth and using the leverage to pull herself over the massive fallen tree trunk. “Yuck!” She let go of the branch and spit in disgust.

Castle shook his head. "No, I mean about Tydal. Something is wrong."

"We'll get him Castle, don't worry."

"That's not what I mean." Castle blew locks of his mane out of his eyes in frustration as he hurried over the log. "None of his actions fit what we think about him."

"What are you talking about? He said it himself, Castle: he is running to the coast to get his army. And unless you haven't been paying attention, he is still running towards the ocean."

Castle frowned at her glib tone. "If he has an army that must mean he's a major deal, right? And he has magic...powerful magic. Twilight herself was shocked he could pull off that water-transmutation thing." He stopped on top of the log, making sure he was out of earshot of the other ponies before continuing. "Why are we still alive, Beckett? Why didn't he kill us?"

"Maybe he is trying but we are too good," Beckett said, but Castle could tell just from her tone she didn't believe her own statement. His words were making a chink in her armor.

"Really? Because I think that display in the clearing showed he has some moves."

"Then he is smart and didn't want to risk the odds. We have him 8 to 1. He's on the run because he doesn't want to risk defeat."

Castle shook his head, not buying that theory. "That's another thing," he leapt down from the trunk and began to make his way through a tangle of vines. "He hasn't attacked us once."

"The clearing-"

"We attacked him. I watched him Beckett, well, before I was knocked out...the only time he acted was to counter something we did. He never once pressed the attack...what kind of great fighter does that?"

"A smart one."

"Or one that doesn't want to fight...one that isn't looking for a fight at all and doesn't want to hurt anypony." He looked at her, trying to convey his honesty and his desire for her to listen. "He had me right for dead, Beckett. Back in the clearing he could have killed me but he didn't."

"Don't joke about that."

"I'm not, I'm being honest. Tydal could have killed me but he didn't." Castle's jaw worked. "He said something about Discord...thought that dragon-thing had sent us."

Beckett was silent for a moment and Castle began to hope that she was actually listening to him and coming to his side. "He was lying, Castle."

Castle's shoulders slumped.

Beckett sighed, taking a moment to catch her breath before attempting the next section of the trail. "Ok Castle...what do you think is going on?"

"If I were writing it...Tydal isn't the enemy. He was trapped in that stone a long time and I think he believes he's in the middle of a war that already ended."

"This isn't one of your stories, Castle." Beckett moved to sweep past him, only to find her partner blocking her way.

"No Beckett...but this world plays by a different set of rules and I think you are jumping into something you don't understand."

Beckett glared at him. "I am trying to save this place."

"And I am trying to save you before you do something stupid!" Castle shouted in frustration. He loomed over her and for the first time Beckett realized just how much bigger he was than her. "How many times have you done this? How many times have you rushed in, acting like Big Bad Beckett, only to realize you were in over your head? I watched you get shot...I watched you nearly die...I won't do it again." His voice grew quieter as he attempted to get her to understand. "I think we are making a mistake, Kate. I think we are going after somepony that is confused and if you rush in you are going to kill an innocent creature....and that will break you."

If he had hoped to get understanding from his partner he was sadly mistaken. Rage replaced blood in her veins and Beckett was in his face the moment he finished, eyes blazing crimson. It would have been funny to see the steam shooting out of her ears and her mane on fire if it weren’t freaking the heck out of him. "And how many times have you been wrong, Rick? How many people did you think were innocent, only to be made the fool? That call girl. Your old prep school buddy. Both murderers and both people that suckered you in. And what about all your ex-wives? That isn’t the mark of something who is a good judge of character!" She knocked her head against his. "So how about you remember your own faults before you call me out on mine? And how about you remember that you are just some spoiled writer playing make believe before you begin making decisions that could affect an entire world!"

She watched him lower his head and begin down the trail, his tail drooped and shoulders slumped. She knew she had been rough with him and the magic of this world was already making her regret her words. Or maybe it was her own heart. She instantly wanted to run up to him and beg for his forgiveness but she forced that feeling down, ignoring just how sick the act made her tummy feel.

"She'd be so proud of you." Beckett looked up, startled by Castle's words. He answered her silent question before she could voice it. "Your mother...she worked to help people she believed were innocent...she dedicated her life to the wrongly accused, believing everypony deserved a champion. She died for that ideal. She'd be so proud to see you condemning somepony so quickly. So...very...proud."

Beckett felt like he'd physically struck her, her knees wobbling and the blood leaving her face. Shame and rage and hate and despair warred within her. But when she looked up to deliver her tirade she found Castle already gone.

And she had been left alone.

Again.

~MC~MC~MC~

It took another 30 minutes before the 8 ponies burst through the foliage and found themselves leaving the Everfree Forest and galloping along the white sands of Bridle Bay. Dawn would be approaching soon but they had no time to wait, as they could see Tydal's hoof-prints all along the beach, leading towards the water.

Castle remained in the center of the herd, never allowing Beckett a chance to get near him. He had known it was a low blow but his anger had burned so bright that he couldn't help but speak the words. Within 10 minutes he had been sucking up his tears and telling Fluttershy he was suffering from allergies. All he wanted to do was run to Beckett and apologize but he knew he couldn't do that, not now. Maybe not ever. They had drawn their line and each had picked a side, their hateful words building a wall along that line so thick and tall Castle doubted they could ever break through.

"Don't worry, sugarcube...we're almost there and we will get that no good capricorn."

Castle smiled at Applejack's bold words but couldn't find the heart to agree.

"Just up ahead!" Twilight called out, racing along a curve of the beach. Her horn glowed, illuminating the way through the darkness. "We're-"

She stopped dead, the rest of her friends colliding into her and sending them sprawling to the sands. They stared in shock, trying to comprehend what they were seeing.

The waters of Bridle Bay still churned, lapping at the walls of the great structure had arisen from the sea floor. While Twilight and her friends might not have realized what they were looking at, to Beckett and Castle it was clear that this was a dark sandcastle on a gigantic scale. There were several towers the surrounded the main body and windows cut into the hardened sand and even a great drawbridge that hung out over the water, its lip touching the very edge of the beach. It would have been magical had it not been for the seaweed and barnacles that covered much of the surface, giving it a dark, unkempt feel that whisked away any notion that it was something from a fairy tale.

"Oh no," Fluttershy gasped, pointing to one of the castle walls. The rest of the group cringed and trembled at the sight of armored capricorn warriors standing upon the bridge, glaring out across the waters. Though it was hard to tell in the darkness Castle and Beckett got the impression that the capricorn warriors were smaller than Tydal, with shorter horns, beards and tails. In fact, if Castle had to wager, he’d have bet that they were roughly Twilight’s size.

That didn't stop the dread the group felt at the sight before them, realizing it was too late to stop Tydal from raising his army.

"Wait a minute," Rarity said, taking a step forward. "They aren't moving!" Her friends blinked, realizing that what the designer had said was true: none of the capricorns were moving..blinking...breathing.

"They're...they're stone!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She flew closer, inspecting one of the frozen soldiers, before zipping down towards her friends. "Yeah. those guys are just big dumb rocks!"

Their courage relit, the girls, Castle and Beckett made their way towards the drawbridge, keeping a watchful eye for any tricks. But the stone soldiers never moved and there was no sign of life anywhere in the castle.

Save one.

They all stopped at the foot of the drawbridge, watching as Tydal stood before two stone capricorn sentries, each just a bit bigger than Castle. Each was dressed in grand battle armor and stared out at the beach with hard, dark scowls. He reached out with his hoof to touch the face of one of the grim monuments but could not bring himself to make contact. Instead the mighty warrior lowered his head and let out a pitiful wail that rolled across the Bay like thunder heralding a storm. The ocean seemed to hear his call and the waves grew more violent as the currents churned.

"Tydal," Twilight said, taking a step forward. She steeled her heart when he turned to look at her, tears falling from his eyes, and took another step, thinking of Ponyville and Equestria and all that were depending on her. "There is no army..."

"Leave me be," Tydal said. All the girls were struck by just how old he sounded. Where once there had been a booming voice and bold proclamations there was now only a hollow sound of somepony who had lived a hard life only to find he had nothing to show for it. "You won...you have taken everything from me...just let me be."

"We can't be doing that, darlin'," Applejack said. "Now, I don't know what is going on, but it is clear that we can trust ya to be runnin' around."

Tydal let out a bitter chuckle, the capricorn looking like all he wanted to do was lie down and sleep. "You expect me to follow you back to your city, clad in chains for your ruler to jeer at me?" He puffed up a bit, his strength returning in the face of a challenge. “Never. I may be willing to lie here and mourn but I will not be a trophy.”

"We expect ya to stop running and to stop threatening Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"I have never threatened your town, only those that would stand against me."

"Well that is us," Rarity declared firmly.

"Yeah, Mr. Fishy Tail!" Pinkie Pie added.

Fluttershy bobbed up and down in the air, trying to sound as strong as her friends. "You won't hurt our friends...ok?"

Tydal turned his back to them. "I have nothing more to say. I will never be your prize and I no longer have the power to change your fate. Leave now and find some way to live in the chaos that you call life. As I will mine."

Rainbow Dash scoffed, floating over to kick one of the sentry statues. "Yeah, you think we are going to believe that? How do we know you won't come back with another army and these statues aren't some trick?"

Tydal whipped back, eyes ablaze with fury. He fired a magic blast that sent Rainbow Dash skidding across the sands, the girls crying out in shock. Castle’s eyes widened…that was the first time Tydal had lashed out at one of them. "You will not speak of them that way!" He planted himself between the sentries, his horns beginning to glow. "I tire of your insolence. I do not wish to end you but if you force my hoof I will become the weapon of your destruction!"

"That's funny," Applejack said as Twilight used her magic to retrieve the Elements of Harmony and place them on each of their heads. "We were thinking the same thing."

The only noise to greet those dark promises was the lapping of the waves against Tydal's fortress. The capricorn's horns glowed as Twilight's eyes went pure white, their duel magic begin to swirl about the air. The ocean began to swell as if a storm was brewing, though not a cloud was in the night sky, while on the beach a rainbow of colors began to form around the girls as they were lifted into the air.

"No."

Castle stared in shock as Beckett step forward, placing herself between the ponies and the capricorn.

"Twilight...no." Beckett closed her eyes, steadying her nerves. It was never easy to face down someone with a loaded weapon and this was no different. She had been in so many of these situations, watching as rookie cops egged on a junkie to the point that a shootout was the only outcome that could happen. And as she had stood there, Castle's words echoing through her head, Beckett realized she couldn't let this happen.

Today...no one died.

"Kate..." Twilight said, struggling to contain the mystical energies that flowed through her and her friends.

"Twilight, listen to me...Tydal is not our enemy." The girls began to clamor at once but Beckett rolled right over their protests. "For the last day I have been reacting and not thinking like a detective. Maybe if I had things wouldn't have gone as far as they have." She gestured to Castle, who stepped forward, still a bit nervous that Beckett would beat him for his earlier words. "Castle clued me into something and I am ashamed that I was too stubborn to see the evidence that was right in front of my nose."

"And what evidence is that?" Rarity demanded, though her voice cracked a little as she too struggled with the magical buildup.

"That if you removed Tydal's first words to us, his actions don't look like those of a villain...they are those of a hero." Beckett turned towards Tydal, the capricorn making no move to strike her as she walked to him. Behind him the Mareatine Sea continued to churn. "He has never attacked us. He has never tried to hurt us. And other than his first comments he has never threatened us. He has given us the chance to leave him alone and we have refused. We are the aggressors here…not him."

"But you can't ignore what he said!" Rainbow Dash shouted in frustration. "He wants to destroy Ponyville!"

"No, he wants to save it!" Castle declared. He moved to Tydal and, with more respect than Beckett had ever seen him display, Castle bowed to the warrior. "Tydal...tell my friends what enemy you wish to defeat. Who do you believe their master is?"

Tydal appeared confused by the request. "The Element of Disharmony and Chaos...Discord." He said the name like it was the most vile of curses. “He is the mad god that controls Equestria and turns its ponies mad. All know this…don’t you?”

Twilight and her friends began to murmur in surprise.

"Piles said the statue dated back over a thousand years..." Castle turned to Tydal once more. "Tydal...Discord has been defeated. Twice. You believe that the war goes on but it has not. You have slept for many years and the battle you think you must wage has long been over. You have made a mistake…and you need to be an honorable…er…goat-fish…and accept that!"

The capricorn looked at Castle then Beckett, trying to comprehend what they were saying. "Discord...is no more?" He closed his eyes, his memories so jumbled they caused him physical pain. “No…but…”

"Because of these six ponies he is," Beckett said. "Heroes...just like you." She turned to Twilight, pleading with the unicorn to listen. "Twilight, this has all been one big misunderstanding...Tydal thought you were under the command of Discord...and you have let your past experience with him and Nightmare Moon cloud your judgment."

"Don't listen to them, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said brashly. "They are lying! They might be under some spell! He could have bewitched them himself, to try and trick us!"

Pinkie Pie nodded quickly. "And how do we know you are really Richard and Bucket? You don't answer to that name! You keep saying your name is Beckett! Maybe you are spies that kidnapped poor Bucket and took her place! Oh, poor Bucket…she’s probably trapped in some broom closet, sad and alone…"

Twilight looked at Kate, the elder pony's eyes silently begging Twilight to consider her words.

The Elements of Harmony trembled around their necks and the two former humans realized that within moments there would be nothing Twilight could do to stop them from unleashing their magical energy.

Castle slowly placed his hoof again Beckett's. "If they attack us...I want you to know how sorry I am...I should have never..."

"I know."

Castle took a deep breath, not daring to look at the faces of their six friends. "And Kate...I want you to know...I-"

"Castle...me too."

Tydal moved to stand with the two, head held up proud. "If we are to die today…I am proud I ride to oblivion with two ponies such as you.” For the first time they had seen him, Tydal actually smiled. “Unleash your magic, unicorn…we are ready to meet the Creator!”

Twilight blinked away tears and her friends let out yelps as they fell to the sand, their necklaces no longer glowing. "No..." Her horn glowed and she ripped the necklaces and tiara away, flinging them aside. She walked forward, offering her hoof to Tydal, the capricorn tilting his head in confusion. "No...I would rather fall into a trap offering friendship...then hurt an innocent. Tydal, if Kate and Richard think you are on the side of good…then so do I. And I would like to be your friend."

The sky around them exploded in a great light and for a moment Beckett believed that Tydal had lied and cast a spell to destroy them all. But then she saw the light was pure and came not from the capricorn but from a magnificent winged unicorn.

"I'm guessing that is Princess Celestia," Castle said as Twilight and her friends bowed before the coming of the sun goddess. "A little over the top but not a bad entrance."

Celestia settled onto the sand and all saw that she wasn't alone. Spike hurried over to Twilight and gave her a hug, and while next to Celestia Princess Luna, the former Nightmare Moon and goddess of the night, stood regally. Celestia took a step forward, staring at all nine of them.

“Celestia,” Tydal whispered, taking a step forward. “Is this real?”

"I hope that it is. I did not believe it when Spike spoke of your return, Tydal," Celestia said, looking at him, studying him as if trying to find some flaw. "I needed to see it with my own eyes."

Luna was not as formal as her sister. Twilight and her friends had only really seen Luna twice: once after her freeing from her Nightmare Moon persona, and again during Nightmare Night. Both times she had been skittish and unsure of herself, trying to find a way to interact with ponies. But now the smaller princess darted across the sand and tackled Tydal, sending them both into the surf. Twilight and her friends could only stare as Luna reached around...and hugged Tydal tightly.

"I can't believe you're here!" she squealed, sounding like the young princess she was than the powerful moon goddess. She didn’t care that she was getting wet or that one of her shoes had been lost in her gallop. She merely continued to hug the capricorn warrior with all her strength.

"Luna?" Tydal said, his voice losing all formality as he stared up at the princess.

And then the capricorn laughed.

It was a joyous sound and all that heard it wondered how it could come from the mouth of one who had appeared so grim. Tydal got to his feet and placed his hooves on her shoulders, looking her over with a careful eye.

"Look at you! You...you were barely filly when I last laid eyes upon you...and here you are, so mature and beautiful. Who would have thought the little foal that enjoyed riding upon my back would grow up to be such a beautiful mare!"

Luna sniffed, tears gathering in her eyes. "Tydal..."

The capricorn nuzzled her before turning his attention to Celestia. "And are you too old to greet me like this one?"

Celestia responded by walking over and resting her head against the capricorn warrior's. Twilight and her friends were struck by the fact that Tydal and Celestia could look each other in the eye with ease…they had never seen the princess matched in size. "I have missed you so much."

Twilight and the others slowly rose, their confusion clearly written on their faces. "Princess Celestia...I don't understand," Twilight whispered.

Celestia turned to Twilight and smiled. "Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student...when I received Spike's letter Luna and I raced to find you, to prevent a great tragedy. I am so very proud that you were able to see beyond what you at first believed and look upon the truth of the matter. You allowed the power of friendship to remove the blinders that kept you from seeing reality and for that I am truly proud.” Twilight smiled, taking joy from the remarks even if she didn’t understand them. Celestia sighed, lowering her head slightly. Never had any of the 6 girls seen the Princess look like this, so emotionally vulnerable. “It is my fault, in my own way, that things progressed as they did. Had I been more open with all of you…you would have understood just who this was and the respect he deserves.”

“Who is he, your highness?” Fluttershy whispered.

It was Luna that spoke, and her words were filled with pride. “This is Lord Tydal, the god of the sea and King of the Mareatine.” The 6 holders of the Elements gasped as the proclamation while Luna moved to stand next to the warrior (now revealed to be so much more) and nuzzled him again, as if afraid he would disappear if she lost contact with him. As if seeking to prove her statement true, Tydal’s horns glowed and the sea behind him instantly went calm. The others could only stare in shock as they realized just how lucky they were. “But more than that…he is our mentor and our friend.”

Tydal returned the friendly gesture, sensing Luna’s fears. “Do not worry, my faithful student…I am not going anywhere.”

It was those three words, which had been spoken by her own mentor so many times, that caused Twilight Sparkle to realize just who Tydal was and understand just how grave of a mistake she and her friends had almost committed.

“You’re him,” she said, bowing before the capricorn in utter reverence, “you’re The Teacher.”

Tropic of Capricorn Part 4

After such a proclamation, the last thing Castle or Beckett would have expected was a beach party but that is where they now found themselves.

Of course, it wasn't a real party. More like a small fire with 7 mares, a stallion, 2 alicorns and a capricorn all circling the fire, watching it flicker.

Beckett and Castle sat off to one side, watching with interest Celestia and Luna. The girls had told them so much about them and the two humans-turned-ponies had formed this grand image in their head of the two goddess sisters. And in certain ways the princesses had lived up to the ideals: they were just as beautiful and glorious as both had imagined them to be and the power they wielded could be felt by the two just sitting there.

And yet in this moment they appeared so different…so youthful and utterly normal… that it was hard for the two of them to understand the reverence that twilight and her friends shared for the princesses.

Of course, from the way the 6 ponies were gaping, it was clear they too weren't use to seeing Luna and Celestia like this.

Things had started easily enough, with Celestia suggesting they gather round so she could explain to everyone about Tydal and The Teacher (a title Tydal was confused about himself) and all that had transpired during the capricorn's time as stone. While he hadn't been sure of Castle and Beckett's proclamation that the war was over, Celestia's assurance that Discord was defeated and Tydal had indeed been gone from the world for almost 1,500 years was enough to get the god of the sea to settle down.

That is, until he overheard Pinkie Pie make a comment about Nightmare Moon.

Ten minutes and a long explanation later, and the two princesses were sheepishly looking at the ground as Tydal actually lectured them.

"A thousand years I have slept and it is clear you both have learned very little since I last taught you your spells." He clicked his teeth together in annoyance. "What is the first rule of magic?"

"Never let it rule you…you rule it," the princesses said dutifully, sounding like schoolfillies. Twilight even joined them towards the end, feeling like she was back in magic kindergarten.

Tydal snorted. "And yet this Nightmare Moon business…Luna, what were you thinking? You allowed your jealousy and arrogance twist you into something nearly as bad as Discord! And for what…to have some ponies look up at the stars? You are not that shallow…" he whipped his head around to glare at Celestia, the older of the sisters cringing. "And you…banishment? A simple cleansing spell would have allowed Luna to calm her rage and actually listen to you, and you choose to LOCK HER IN THE MOON?"

"She was going to make the night last-"

"So your brilliant idea was the trap her on the moon and let her hatred fester? What part of that sounded like a good idea to you?" Luna nodded in agreement but covered it up with a cough when Tydal turned to glare at her. "Of course, if somepony hadn't allowed themselves to go mad with power…" he let out a long suffering sigh, holding up a hoof when both opened their mouths to speak. "There are no excuses for mistakes. Only lessons." It was hard to tell if he was speaking to them or himself. The capricorn turned to Twilight. "You, the unicorn…you are Celestia's student, are you not?"

"Y-yes Teacher," Twilight said with a slight stammer.

"What does she have you do when you make a mistake?"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "Uh…normally she explains what I did wrong and I write a letter to her about what I learned about friendship."

Tydal stroked his beard. "I like it…Celestia, Luna, I expect letters from each of you in one week's time about what you have learned about friendship…and why that is better than fighting against one another. And you will continue sending me such letters till I deem you have learned your lesson."

The sound of jaws dropping echoed along the beach.

Tydal looked skyward, annoyance in his eyes but a smile upon his lips. "A thousand years and you two fillies still need me…somewhere out there our mother is laughing at me." Tydal sat down between the sisters, giving each an affectionate nuzzle to show that, while he did not like their fights during his absence he was not truly mad at them.

Twilight and her friends could only stare at the way the two alicorns and the capricorn sat together, a familiarity about them that had not been lessened by the passing of a thousand years. It was so shocking for the girls to seem them together and even more so when they realized just how RIGHT it was for the sun, the moon and the sea to be together on that beach.

Beckett and Castle, for their part, sat in silence, understanding that at the moment their questions needed to wait in the face of such a monumental event as the one that was occurring before them. Beckett wasn't a religious person, but she supposed-

"Princess Celestia..." Twilight began, only to find herself at a loss for words.

Rainbow Dash, ever the bold one, did her best to speak for the group. "We all just...have some many questions..."

Pinkie Pie chose that moment to pop up on Tydal's back, the capricorn looking at her with a slight smile, which only served to startle the other girls even more. "Yeah, like how old are all of you? How do you know each other? What did you teach them? You guys have a mom? What is she like? She isn't Twilight, is she?"

"Huh?" Luna said in a very unladylike manner.

"You know...you're from the future and you traveled back to the past to teach your mom, Twilight, about magic so she could in turn teach you when you were babies? And you are planning to teach her a spell she taught you so she can defeat some evil metal pony that also came back to prevent your birth? Oooh, and why were you fighting Discord? I mean, I know why but why why?"

"Anything else?" Celestia said in good humor.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head rapidly. "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck? What is the sound of one hoof clapping? What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

Tydal narrowed his eyes. "An Equestrian or Zebrica swallow?"

Pinkie Pie blinked. "Uh...I don't know..." She got off Tydal, tapping her chin and mumbling to herself as she puzzled over that question.

"Are we sure they don't work for Discord?" the capricorn asked.

"Very sure," Celestia said, before turning to Beckett and Castle. "I know you two have questions for me, but I wish to address some things first."

"Of course," Beckett said, tapping down her disappointment.

"Rest assure...you can go home." Beckett and Castle shared a relieved smile as Celestia began to tell the other ponies her tale. "Thousands of years ago, our mother," she gestured towards Luna, then herself, "began to create this world."

"Create?" Rarity asked.

Celestia nodded. "Indeed. Our mother, who is known by many names and forms, is The Creator. She breathed life into the world and filled it with all manner of creatures. The lands of Zebrica and Griffora, plus many others you never heard of, each filled with beings that would leave you breathless. And that is just this world alone..."

"You mean...there are other worlds?" Fluttershy whispered.

Celestia shared a secret smile with Beckett and Castle. "Indeed. And all know our mother." She looked back to Twilght and her friends. "And to each of these lands she created the dominate species, and with them several powerful beings, given the best traits and abilities of all their people, to guide them. They are, for lack of a better term, gods, each masters of an element of life. The Great Griffon, the Lady of Zebrica...and Lord Tydal."

"Wait...does that mean Tydal is your brother?" Twilight asked. "He said 'our mother'…."

Luna smiled playfully and all of the 6 ponies had a flash memory of Nightmare Moon. They hadn't seen Luna so delighted since her return to the side of good. They were too use to her being skittish and awkward around everyone…to see she actually had a playful side threw them for a loop. "Perhaps...but he is much too old and grumpy."

"Hurrrr," Tydal grumbled.

Celestia smiled as well at her sister's jest. "We are siblings, yes, but also nieces and cousins to Tydal. There is no need to define our relationship."

"Just how old are you?" Spike asked bluntly. It was the first thing he had said the entire time…the baby dragon was still in shock from the entire day: he'd sent a letter only to get whisked up by the two rulers of his world, who then took him to a great ocean where a long lost god and his best friends were prepared to kill each other. It was all mind boggling and his heart was still racing from the frantic flight over the Everfree.

Tydal snorted in annoyance. "Let us just say that even with the extra 1,500 years these two now have on me, they are still fillies when compared to me."

"That means old," Luna said with a smile, earning a snort from her mentor and a mutter about 'disrespectful fillies'.

Waiting to see if there would be any further interuptions, Celestia continued. "I was quite old by your standards but had the maturity of a filly when our mother brought Luna and I to Lord Tydal and asked him to train us, so that we might be ready to lead Equestria."

As Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told the gathered ponies all about their time under Tydal's tutelage, it seemed to Beckett that the two goddesses were becoming younger before her very eyes. It wasn't a physical transformation, of course, though Beckett wouldn't have been surprised if such a feat had been achieved. It was something in their eyes, a light that grew with each story of childish pranks and youthful indiscretions. Celestia in particular seemed to be reshaping into an entirely different pony.

When she had first appeared before them in a blaze of solar energy, Beckett had been struck by both her noble bearing and her cold, stony appearance. Oh, Beckett was sure to Twilight and her friends the Princess was joyful and pleasant, but Beckett lived in New York, a place where if you weren't scowling you were hiding your frown behind a huge fake grin. Celestia had the look of a career politician, knowing how to work the crowd while hiding the utter loneliness that power brought from her student and her friends.

It was a feeling Beckett knew all too well. She wondered just how much the princess and her had in common; both had been robbed of family in the cruelest of ways, as well as mentors. Both had been forced to put away childish dreams for the good of those they served. Both weren't allowed to truly have lives as their own: Beckett because of the specter of her mother's death that forever hung over her head like the bloody dagger in Macbeth, for Celestia it was the crushing duty that only she could bear.

But when the sun goddess had seen Tydal and known that yes, the god of the sea had returned, something had begun to flicker and grow within her. That light swelled with each unencumbered laugh and playful smirk. She was allowed the drop her shields and, for this moment at least, be her true self because she was surrounded by people she could trust.

Beckett looked over at Castle, who was nearly crying he was laughing so hard. Celestia had told them about some magical mishap she and her sister had suffered and judging by the quirk of his lips Tydal remembered the incident well...maybe painfully so, considering the way he rubbed one of his front legs against the other.

Who were the Tydal and Luna of Beckett's life? There was simply no way that her mother would return to her (other than in her dreams); New York simply didn't have that kind of magic. But as she watched Castle and thought of the woman she had been before he had roared into her life...she considered that perhaps she had already found that person that let her be young and stupid.

"Teacher, I have a question," Twilight said softly once the laughter had died down. Soon it would be time for Luna to lower the moon and Celestia to raise the sun and Twilight didn't know what would happen after that, so she was desperate to ask her question before it was too late.

Tydal scowled slightly. "I will answer anything...as long as you do not call me by that silly name." He gave Celestia a sharp look. "Really Celestia, the Teacher? You could not think of something a bit less..?"

"Do not blame her, Tydal," Luna said in support of her sister. "Blame the silly artists."

When Tydal raised an eyebrow in confusion Celestia flashed a coy smile. "They were always asking us about our past...but it was simply too painful to talk about you. But as you know, the walls of any castle have ears and somehow several of the resident artists got it into their head that you were some mythical unicorn who hid in a bush to gain enlightenment."

Applejack gasped. "That's why them pictures were like that?"

Celestia nodded. "Indeed. You must remember that back then many of the races were separated and had little contact with each other. The painters and sculptures did not know what griffins or capricorns were so they tried to make them fit what they did. That is where the legends of merponies and the harpie came from." Celestia playfully nudged Tydal. "It could have been much worse...would you have preferred to be called Mr. Fishy Tail?"

Tydal glowered for a moment, letting them all think he was truly upset, before letting out a long, rolling laugh. "That is true...I think Pinkie Pie here is the only one that can get away with calling me that." Pinkie grinned at the comment.

Her boldness seemed to have impressed the old capricorn king. Of course, all of the ponies had impressed him now that they weren't trying to kill him. He found himself marveling at each of them: during his time the ponies had been skittish creatures that shied away from fighting battles and trembled under the gaze of a fierce warrior. Even the bold pegasi had bowed to Discord. To see 8 strong, confident ponies gave him hope for the future.

"Now, Twilight Sparkle...you had a question for me?"

"Yes, Te...Lord Tydal. I was wondering how you came to be trapped in that statue."

Luna and Celestia's smiled faltered and the two alicorns suddenly found the sand very interesting. Tydal noticed his students' reactions and gave them each and affectionate nuzzle.

It was Celestia that spoke first. "After many years Luna and I came to Equestria and presented ourselves to the ruling council. We explained to them our abilities and magic and asked that we merely be allowed to live among them and play a part in their lives. We knew that they would never accept us if we simply demanded the throne and had hoped to earn their trust.

"But then Discord came and our hooves were forced."

Luna picked up the tale. "The ponies were no match for him. The Pegesi Forces were turned into chickens and the unicorns found their magic turned against them, making them enslaved to the Chaos God and forced to be his puppets. He teased and tormented the earth ponies, playing with them as children play with toys. We sent scrolls to all the neighboring lands, begging them for help, but none came to our aid, fearing that doing so would draw the attention of Discord to their own people." She lowered her eyes, pawing at the sands with her hoof. "None came...save Tydal."

The capricorn's own eyes flickered. Since awakening in the museum his memories had been jumbled, but Luna's words were awakening within him remnants of the final hours of that day. "My army needed time to prepare...I knew they would not be able to march for 2 days, so I ran ahead, wanting to help." He looked into the fire, the flames dancing about as he spoke. His voice had grown deeper and the rumble seemed to lull them all into a trance. "I arrived like a hurricane and brought with me the fury of the sea, sending the chaos god flailing. There was little time to celebrate, as I knew he would strike at us all within moments. Celestia, Luna and I devised a desperate plan."

Twilight couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth. "The Elements of Harmony! You helped create them."

"Indeed," Tydal confirmed. "Though it was Celestia who devised the spell and Luna the plan. I merely provided the power. The three of us poured our love and our friendship into six round stones, infusing each with an element of harmony: Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Honestly, Loyalty, and Magic. With these we knew we stood a chance...but it was a fool's chance." His voice grew softer, weaker, as if he were fighting the battle once more. "Discord would never give us a chance to use the elements...not unless one of us made the ultimate sacrifice."

It was Castle who now filled in the blank. He knew at once what Tydal had done; of all gathered they were the only two that had raised young girls. "You fought him on your own...to distract him and give the princesses time. You couldn't risk them so you took the burden yourself."

"Yes…"

~A Very Long Time Ago~

"GO!" Tydal roared, never once looking back at Celestia and Luna. He merely stood tall, a beacon of hope upon that shattered battlefield.

"Don't do this!" Luna screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "There has to be another way!"

"There are two," Tydal said simply, his tail swishing back and forth as he watched Discord slowly rise up from the crater he'd been planted in. The Chaos God was no longer sporting his usual smile and the fury that flashed in his eyes promised a long painful death. "But I will not risk either of you. I am selfish that way…and I will not live in a world without either of you."

"Tydal!" Celestia called out.

"If you ever listen to a word I say, listen to me now and GO!" He called upon his own magic, feeling every droplet of water within a ten mile radius heed his call. The sisters were silent, then the sound of their wings filled the air and the old king was able to smile at long last. "Goodbye my girls."

"Do you always grin when you face death?" Discord snarked. He was doing his best to appear calm but the arrival of the sea god had irked him.

"Do you?" Tydal shot back, launching himself at the draconequus.

Discord easily batted him away, sending the god of the sea slamming into a cliff face. Tydal struggled to his hooves, blood trickling from his forehead. "They are weak, capricorn. They are weak because of you. You are too old and too stubborn and your failure to make them strong will be your undoing. They know it as well…that is why they have left you to die. That is why they ran…they have used you for their own gain, old fool…and now you will die for a land that fears and hates you and your kind? You have abandoned your kingdom and your subjects to help those two and I will make sure they pay for your arrogance! Perhaps I will sink your precious keep and turn your army into lawn ornaments! And they will all know it was your fault, old fool…all your fault!"

If Discord thought his attempt at mind rape would work on Tydal he was sorely mistaken. "They ran alright. My students have many years ahead of them and they are now racing towards their destiny. I have seen it Discord…and this land will be brighter than the sun and more glorious than the moon. You watch them run, Discord…you watch them run!"

Tydal rose up once more, all the waters he could summon flooding the battlefield, swirling about him, becoming a massive tidal wave. High above, he could already feel the energy of the Elements of Harmony charging up. He ran at the god head on, ignoring the agony as he felt Discord launch his magic at him, his skin being flayed and his blood boiling in his veins. Not candy clouds or dancing owls this time…Discord wanted to cause pain. Any other being would have turned back, curled up, given in under the agony.

But there was an old saying in the Mareatine: 'all the waters in all the worlds will turn to dust…the day Lord Tydal gives up'.

Tydal roared with the full power of the sea, striking Discord in the chest and sending the draconequus to the ground once more. The great wave crashed down on them, the white water forming THOUSANDS of liquid Tydals, each one pulling Discord down, holding him. Tydal felt his horns shatter as he pumped every last bit of magic he had into his attack while his skin was peeled away and his organs ruptured. He stood upon the draconequus's chest and continually slammed his hooves into the chaos god's body until they began to crack.

"They say everypony dies someday…but their day…is not today!" Tydal screamed as he gave everything he had to pin the beast down. He threw back his head as he felt the Elements full charge. He would not stop…he could not stop. "NOT TODAY!"

Magic exploded from the shattered remains of his horns and he felt his skull cracking under the onslaught. He leaned in closer, jamming his broken horn stubs into Discord's eyes, firing blast after blast into the draconequus's head. He felt his leg bones turn to dust and his spine snap. Discord drove one of his hands into Tydal's chest and squeezed, bursting one of the capricorn's lungs.

"No…why won't you stop? Everyone else gives up…everyone else rolls over! Why not you? You aren't special! You're nothing!" Discord roared, throwing everything he could at the capricorn. He was desperate now, trying to find some way to break this one, knowing that doing so would award him with complete victory. And yet the waves continued to crash against him and the warrior king did not give the chaos god an inch. "Why? Why…won't you just…give up?"

Bloody tears fell from Tydal's eyes and a smile formed upon his lips that had Discord feeling something he had never felt before.

Fear.

"I...I don't know how."

And as the greatest magic the worlds had ever seen was unleashed and struck him and Discord, all Tydal felt was pride…pride that his students had DONE IT! He felt himself go blind and deaf, the world plunged though not into darkness but a glorious light, more beautiful than anything he had ever known. Tydal laughed as he rode the wave of harmony to oblivion. It was the greatest of ironies that at this moment, at the end of it all…the god of chaos screamed and the warrior king laughed.

The waters receded and Tydal's body fell limply from the now stone statue that had once been the lord of chaos…and he smiled.

Somewhere out there…he hoped the Mother was smiling with him.

"Glory…to the Mareatine…long…live…Equestria…"

And then…he knew no more.

~MC~MC~MC~

All of them were crying now, sniffing to try and stop the flood of tears. Luna had shut her eyes and laid her head upon Tydal's chest, great sobs wracking through her body, while Celestia tried to keep her head held high but simply did not have the power to do so. The bears of the Elements each choked back sobs as they thanked every deity listening that Beckett and Castle had managed to stop them from hurting the warrior who had given his life to save a land that was not even his own.

Celestia finally found the strength to continue. "When Discord was trapped in the stone Luna and I rushed to the beach and found him still, dying from the torment Discord's magic had racked upon his body." Her eyes went glassy as she remembered the wrecked form of her mentor lying on the sands.

Tydal looked at the sun goddess, rubbing his cheek against hers to wipe the tears away. "I would do it again, Celestia. For you two...for my people...I would do it again."

"And we will never let you have the chance," Celestia said firmly.

Luna spoke next. "As he lay dying my sister and I sought to save him...and decided that if one desperate plan had worked, we would try another." She placed her hoof on top of her mentor's. "We used the Stone Sleep."

Tydal's eyes widened. "The gargoyle spell? But you knew-"

"-we had to risk it!" Luna exclaimed. "We did not want to lose you! The Stone Sleep healed the gargoyles of all wounds...we thought perhaps you would be strong enough to survive its affects."

"And you were," Celestia said gently, "it just...took time."

"1,500 years," Tydal whispered, before falling silent.

"But everything is ok now," Castle said. "You are alive!"

Rarity nodded, dabbing her tears away with a hankie. "Yes, and there are such wonders we'll show you! The ages have brought about such beauty..."

Twilight smiled brightly. "The spells, Lord Tydal, oh the spells we have created! And the ones you'll be able to share with us…"

"And Equestria has flourished!" Applejack nodded. "There are farms and cities in the clouds..."

"It is so peaceful, sir," Fluttershy added. "You can finally rest."

Raindow Dash scoffed. "Who wants to rest? You'll be famous! Everyone will want to meet you!"

Pinkie Pie began to hop up and down in glee. "Ooooo, imagine the party we'll have to throw for you! You haven't been to a party in a thousand years, so it will have to be a doozy! And it was an Equestrian Swallow!"

Tydal smiled sadly at the joyful ponies, wishing he could feel the same way. "Yes...I am alive...the last capricorn..."

His words halted all the merriment. Each of the ponies grew quiet as the implications of Tydal's words hit them. They all wondered how they would handle being the last pony, trapped in a new and strange world. To go from being one of many to the one and only…it was a bitter pill to swallow.

"You are not alone, Tydal," Luna said.

The king of the sea smiled. "Of course, Luna. I have you and Celestia and these new friends...I am blessed."

"Yes, you do, but you still misunderstand," Celestia said. She rose up, Luna joining her as their horns began to glow. The moon began to dip and the sun began to rise but Twilight could feel that there was another spell gaining energy. "After your failed to awaken from the stone sleep we brought you here and upon the shore met with your subjects. We told them of the spell and what you had done to save each and everyone one of them. We asked them what they would like to do, as it was unclear when you would awaken, and all gave us the same answer: None would go on another day without you. They would await for their king."

Tydal stared at the stone capricorns, daring not to hope. "It...was not Discord?"

"No, my friend...it was us. We dared not try and undo the process with you, fearing that doing prematurely so would kill you. So we waited. But with them, each healthy and strong...there is no risk at all." The sisters' horns glowed brighter and suddenly the air was filled with the sound of cracking stone. All of them watched as the castle began to tremble, the gray rock chipping away and landing in the sea. Several pieces fell onto the statues of capricorn warriors, but instead of smashing them it only allowed the beings trapped within to break free all the quicker. "Welcome home."

As the sun rose over Bridle Bay the great keep of Tydal awoke from its stone slumber. The pale yellow walls and towers were uncovered, the sealed windows were broken open and let the light finally pierce the long dominate darkness...and the capricorns within awoke.

It was two, however, that held the god of the sea's attention.

The two menacing sentries, now awakened from their stone sleep, thrashed their tails as they stretched their muscles. Now uncovered the ponies could see their tails were a creamy pink with shades of red. Their grand golden armor glittered in the light and their dark eyes took in all that was before them.

Their expressions were serious...until they looked upon Tydal.

"Father?" one whispered, her voice a mere breath but it carried easily along the air.

"Daddy!" the other squealed, the warrior leaping from her station and bouncing towards her father, her sister right behind her. Their armor was cast aside as they rushed along the beach, tackling Tydal and sending him to the sands once again.

"Coral...Misty..." Tydal whispered, nuzzling them each. "My girls..."

Twilight and her friends stood in awe as many of the capricorn warriors, who had looked so stern when frozen in their stone skin, burst into jubilant calls at the sight of their king. Several of the female soldiers broke into song that reminded Beckett of Latin hymns. Even the ocean seemed to join in on the celebration, the waves crashing against the keep in rhythm with the music.

Princess Coral broke away from her father, her now freed poofy pink hair bouncing about her head and horns as she hopped over to Luna, invading her fellow princess' personal space. "Wow, you sure got big Luna! We look like sisters now, except you're an alicorn and I am a capricorn, but hey those both end with -corn so I guess that is close enough!" She hopped over to Pinkie, a huge grin forming as she looked at the pink pony. "Your hair is as poofy as mine!"

"I know, isn't it neat!" Pinkie said in delight. "Hey, we should throw you a party too, since you just woke up!"

"I don't know what a party is but I already love it like I love you!" Coral squealed, giving Pinkie a giant hug.

Castle chuckled as he nudged Tydal. "Now I see why you could put up with Pinkie Pie."

"By the tides there are two of them now," Princess Misty groused as she watched her twin dance about with Pinkie, exploring the beach. She shook hooves with each of the ponies, acting with more control than her twin sister. "Father, who are your friends?"

Tydal smiled. "You know Princess Celestia and Luna. May I present the Immortal Elements: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and of course Pinkie Pie." The 5 girls smiled (as Pinkie was still busy with Princess Coral, discussing designs for a 'Party-a-pult'), only to blink and mouth the word 'immortal'. However, Tydal had already moved on to the last three members of the group. "This is Spike, ward of Twilight Sparkle, and Richard Castle and Kate Beckett...it is because of them that we are all here, healthy and safe." He gave his daughter a serious look. "Let the council know...they have been selected."

Misty nodded her head but couldn't help but the grin that graced her normally stern face. "Two ponies...who would have thought such a thing would ever happen?"

"Today is the day for miracles," Tydal said simply.

Castle turned to Luna. "Uh...what just happened."

"Tydal has decided to make you honorary members of his royal guard, the highest honor one can receive in capricorn society," Luna said with a slight smirk. She looked out at the castle that had been her home so long ago and felt her heart lifted; after the events of Nightmare Moon she had felt so awkward and unsure of herself, unable to interact with her subjects as the guilt of her actions and their fear of her had formed a barrier between them. But now there was an entire race of beings who knew and loved her and had not been affected by her fall into shadows. Here she could be her true self, without worrying what others felt. Here she could heal.

Celestia smiled at her sister's obvious joy. She too felt it...first Luna had returned to her, then Tydal, and now the capricorn race...she wondered if the earth might not split open at that moment and all that had been thought lost would return again. Truly that would be the only way to top this moment.

All about Tydal there was a swirl of talk and celebration, but for the god of the sea there was only one that he cared to see at that moment. The ponies froze as the king leapt up the castle walls, climbing to the tallest tower. Though he lacked the speed of ever an average pony, he made up for it in grace. They watched as from the single room at the top of the spire a beautiful female capricorn with hair the color of fire and eyes as clear as the sky stepped forward into the sun.

Tydal bowed to her. "My queen."

Queen Merida used her hoof to lift up his bowed head. The look in her eyes told all that this was a ritual that had played out a million times. "My love," she whispered as she embraced him.

After 1,500 years...Lord Tydal had finally come home.

Tropic of Capricorn Part 5

The next week seemed a blur to all the ponies. After his reunion with his wife Tydal had been approached by several retainers. It seemed that with long overdue arrival the entire castle was ready for him to reassume his duties as king. Thus, it was with a roll of his eyes (Applejack had muttered that she was surprised his eyes hadn’t spun out of his from all the rolling he did) that he allowed the retainers to quickly clad him in his royal gear.

Within moments he was wearing steel shoes that rose up his legs, a breastplate bearing the symbol of a tidal wave, and a high crown upon his head. It resembled Celstia's and the princess confessed that after the war with Discord Luna and she had modeled their royal jewelry after the royal armor of Tydal. In fact, many elements of the capricorn race had found their way into Equestria (the royal guard armor, the layout of Celestia’s throne room, even some of the moves the Pegasi Battalion used were merely capricorn attack patterns adopted for the air) and the girls were thankful for this, as it allowed them to deal with the craziness of the next few days with more ease than they would have suspected.

After his crown had been placed upon his head Tydal first act had been to declare to all that there would be 5 days of feasting and celebrating before he would join Celestia, Luna, the 8 ponies and the baby dragon on their journey back to Ponyville, where he would present the great capricorn nation to all of ponykind. The capricorn race had returned and soon all of Equestria would know it.

Everyone in the group found some small way to help the reawakened castle. It had been found quickly that while the keep was as strong as ever there were no more stores of water or food (all of it had been reduced to dust). Applejack had gone with Princess Misty into the Everfree and the two had struck up a fast friendship over their mutual love of gathering and preparing food. It surprised the farmer that a Princess could be so down to earth but Misty told her that capricorn society was much looser with its social rungs than Equestria was (and, Applejack had informed her, it had only gotten worse with time). Even the royal family was expected to pull their weight and Tydal had instilled in his daughters the need to go above and beyond their subjects.

Misty admitted that she was glad her father ruled as, while she was a gifted warrior and currently held the position of Head of the Royal Guard along with Princess Coral (who, being born first, would be the first to take the throne should something happen to Tydal and Merida), she was more at home in the kitchen than on the throne, something the apple farmer could agree with. They had swapped recipes and Misty had shown Applejack several tricks that had been lost to the ages that made the orange mare want to rush home and try them on her own pies.

Rainbow Dash had quickly singled out several of the more daring capricorns warriors and had delighted in showing off her moves, including the sonic rainboom. The capricorns, in turn, performed their own water tricks that had Rainbow Dash for once clapping without a hint of jealousy. While Celestia may have suggested a few moves for the Pegasi Battalion to adopt, Rainbow quickly saw many more that could easily be modified for flight…and moves of her own that the capricorns could learn. Already there was talk of the first Aquatic Rainboom.

Rarity had taken it upon herself to get the entire castle back into shape. She had ooohed and aaaahhhed at the structure and the design she had said that the keep was to drab and did not fit one of Tydal’s standing. The capricorn had grunted but Queen Merida had accepted Rarity’s request and given her a small army of retainers and servants to help get the castle up to date and looking its best. Rarity had been in heaven as she learned from the capricorns their own design styles and tricks and made notes on an entire ocean-line of dresses when she returned to Ponyville.

Of course, after helping Rarity the Queen had set her sights on another pony. Fluttershy had been hiding in her room for the first 5 hours, frightened by the capricorn warriors with their heavy armor and fierce scowls. It had taken some coaxing, but Tydal’s wife finally got Fluttershy to join her in the Meditation Chambers, a massive room that sat on the surface of the water and had a large hole cute in the floor to allow the Mareatine to gently lap at the edges. Merida had explained to Fluttershy that no capricorn or pony was allowed to speak in the Chamber and that it was a place for quiet thought. The pegasus had nearly wept with relief, spending many of her hours with the Queen or other members of the council watching the fish swim below them. She found that, when they were like this, the capricorns were not nearly as scary and other than their fish-tails it was easy for her to believe she was spending a day at the spa.

Pinkie Pie and Coral (her new ‘super bestest non-pony, non-dragon friend ever!’) quickly became the fear of many in the keep (earning the name “The Pink Plague”). All the warriors had learned how to deal with the hyper daughter of Tydal, but with Pinkie Pie added to the mix the old rules were tossed out the window. All the girls admitted that Coral was clearly the Pinkie of the capricorn race, and not just for her frizzy pink hair and bubbly personality. How she managed to pop up on the top of towers or in a hollowed out tree, only her and Pinkie knew.

As for Twilight, she was utterly delighted when not just Princess Celestia but also Princess Luna had asked her to come with them as soon as they had entered the castle. The two sisters hadn’t walked through the Tydal’s keep in a thousand year but they still knew every twist and turn, smiling slightly when they glanced at some doorway or alcove that held memories of childhood antics.

They had finally arrived in the great library, which was nothing like what Twilight had expected. It made sense of course that capricorns, being aquatic, would not use scrolls, but the heavy stone tablets that Celestia brought down with her magic. They had Twilight suddenly longing for the Canterlot library and its light, easy to carry books.

“What are we doing here?” Twilight had asked softly.

Her mentor had smiled. “Tydal mastered many spells and there were a few that were lost to us when we placed the castle under the stone sleep. I think it is time you learned a few…”

For the next two days Twilight and the princesses left the library only for meals, rest, and their duty to see the changing of night and day. For Twilight the hours became a whirl of spells and lost knowledge. It seemed as if every hour she was letting out a gasp, discovering some forgotten trick or casting. Works that had been believed destroyed after the burning of the Library of Marexandria lay on the shelf for her greedy mind to devour and Twilight came to the conclusion that, were it not for her friends, she would be happy to spend the rest of her days cataloging the great library of the capricorns.

Every once and a while Tydal would appear, muttering to himself as he looked over a particular tablet one of the three ponies were examining. Sometimes he would shaking his head, other times merely stroke his beard or stomp his hoof before leaving them to work. Twilight still hadn't worked out what exactly was a good reaction from the capricorn but Celestia and Luna always seemed pleased.

It was a bit strange for Twilight to see her steady, all-knowing mentor actually studying and making notes. Celestia at times looked like Pinkie after a sugar binge, hurrying over to this shelf or that, grabbing what she could only to mutter in annoyance when she didn't find what she wanted.

"It’s different for her," Luna had confided in her after the first night. "I was trapped on the moon for a thousand years but it felt like the time hardly passed at all." When Twilight had stammered something about her assumption that Luna had been awake the entire time the moon princess laughed softly. "You thought I was peering down at you from the moon, plotting my revenge?"

When Twilight didn't answer Luna glowered just a bit. "I was mad but I wasn't insane, Twilight. And had I been awake those thousand years with only the stars to keep me company, I would have been a sobbing wreck who could barely walk. No...think of it as a dream that seemed to last forever but only for moments. A thousand years lasted a second but a second lasted a thousand years, if that makes any sense."

"Kinda," Twilight said, trying to wrap her head around the analogy.

Luna glanced over at her sister, who looked more tired than she had after their first battle. "For me, it has only felt like a few years passed since I became Nightmare Moon and only 500 years since Tydal fell. For her...she has had to live with the loss of both of us for 1,000 years. Put yourself in her shoes, Twilight: if Celestia reappeared after leaving for a thousand years, would you too not be anxious to prove yourself to her?"

Twilight gulped, thinking about how much of a basket case she would be is such an event took place. "Good thing I won't live a thousand years, right?" Luna got a strange look on her face, like she had bit into a sweet apple only to find it filled with custard. "Princess?" Twilight licked her lips nervously. "Why did Tydal call us the Immortal Elements?"

"...that is a story for another day." With that the Princess of the Moon made her escape, leaving a befuddled Twilight in her wake.

As for Twilight's 'Number 1 Assistant', he had thankfully been allowed off the hook and given free roam the keep at his pleasure. Castle had been given the same leeway during his free hours and the dragon and the writer had become fast friends, their first disastrous encounter forgotten. They bonded over being the 'sidekicks' to powerful women...as well has being forever surrounded by them. They two were a common sight all over the keep, looking around the different rooms and bugging anyone they could to tell them about the history of the capricorn race.

As for Beckett, she had mostly drifted, checking on everyone and feeling very much like a mother hen. It was hard not too; even though the girls were considered adults by Equestria standards they behaved like teens and Beckett didn't want them to be hurt or neglected. If she were to be honest with herself, she actually liked having ponies in her life that she could mother (not counting Castle, who was more like a baby at the best of times). Fluttershy made her want to stop whatever she was doing and sit beside the pony and hold her till she had the strength to face the world. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie had her half in fits and half laughing at their crazy antics. Applejack and Rarity, while very mature, still needed guidance. And Twilight...

...Twilight was the little sister she hadn't realized she was longing for.

Beckett thought about all of this as she stood on one of the tower balconies, watching the sun as it slowly set over the Mareatine. The feelings that bubbled up within her, so foreign and yet so wonderful, had her questioning everything she knew about herself.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Tydal said softly, joining her by the rail. Beckett had become use to the mighty capricorn’s presence; even though he towered over her there was something comforting about having him nearby. She supposed it was the same way Twilight and her friends felt about Celestia.

"What's hard?" Beckett asked, glad Castle wasn't there to turn that little question into a dirty joke.

"Having charges." Tydal glanced down at her, fin waving back and forth in tune with the waves. Or maybe the waves were moving in tune with his tail. "Especially ponies. They are so emotional and love their extremes...my hair was three times darker before those fillies arrived on my drawbridge." Beckett chuckled at the comment. She wasn't surprised that Tydal knew what she was feeling...heck, she felt rather stupid for forgetting that he had been in the same boat she found herself in now. "But when you look at them, even when they think they know better...you just can't stop helping them."

Beckett nodded, eyes never leaving the water. "They want to be independent, I get that. But they need someone in their lives...they need a mother or a big sister...I don’t know if that can be me."

"Then don't," Tydal said simply. He raised his hoof before she could object. "It's like Celestia said: why define your relationship? The Princesses...they are my daughters, my sisters, my nieces, and my students. It is such a tangled ball of seaweed that I'd need to spend another 1000 years in stone just thinking it over to make some sense of it. So I don't bother. I love them and they love me...that is good enough for us. Why can't it be the same for you?

"But that isn't the real problem, is it? The real problem is that you don't know if you should stay or go home"

Beckett blinked but realized once again it was stupid to wonder how he knew. Tydal was thousands of years old and had knowledge and skills she could never hope to obtain. It would be silly to question how he was able to read her...especially when Beckett was sure that her mood could be read by even the slowest pony.

"When did you know-"

"That you aren't from this world?" Tydal asked. "The moment I learned your name...no self respecting pony would have a name like that...and the only beings that care about having two names are humans."

Now she was really shocked. "You know about humans?"

Tydal stroked his beard. "Know about them? I've been one." He looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "You honestly think it was pony magic that made you into...well, a pony."

"I didn't-"

"Seems my Mother has a sense of humor...go to one world and you become the dominate species. Rather handy, save for the gaining of limbs." He waved his hoof about. "I do miss having fingers though." He paused, chuckling slightly. “Merida always complained about that.”

“Merida… she was a human?”

“Indeed. Why my queen decided to follow me back here and fall in love with an old grumpy like me…”

"So...I can go back?" Beckett asked.

Tydal smirked. "I think I'll stay quiet on that. I get the feeling my faithful student wants to show off and it would be no fun if I played the mean mentor and spoiled all her plans."

Beckett smiled softly, the last rays of the sun falling upon her skin. She knew somewhere in another tower Celestia was stepping away to let Luna raise the moon. The capricorn's words rang in her head and she felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to choose between her home and this wonderful place. "Lord Tydal-"

"None of that," the king said sternly. "I made you my royal guard, which gives you the right to not put on airs or treat me like one of those simpering dolts Celestia is forced to deal with in Canterlot. None of my subjects should feel the need to elevate me and I expect no less from you."

"-Tydal, I wanted to ask...you, Celestia and Luna…you say you are gods…just how powerful are you three?"

The capricorn wasn't expected that and Beckett felt a shot of pride that she had been able to surprise him.

"Hmmm...how powerful are we?" He tapped his hoof against his chin, his shoulders slump and his stance lax. His eyes were half closed and for a moment Beckett thought the old king might actually go to sleep. It was such a great contrast to the swirling ocean that suddenly rose up sharply, shooting into the sky as if gravity had been reversed. Tydal did not even move as the waters went white as the entire Bridle Bay formed into a giant capricorn's head. She took a step back as the head slowly loomed towards her, so large that it could easily swallow the castle whole. Within the clearer parts of the behemoth she could make out startled fish swimming about.

"Let's just say that was pretty easy for me." The waters receded as quickly as they had risen, leaving a startled Rainbow Dash and her capricorn friends slack jawed. "Goodnight, Kate Beckett," Tydal leapt from the tower to the water below, leaving Beckett to ponder all he had said as he disappeared under the waves for his evening swim.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You're sure they are coming?" Mrs. Cake asked nervously. On her back, her twins Pound and Pumpkin giggled, happily hanging from her baby carrier saddle bag.

"Yes, Mrs. Cakes," the mayor said. "Twilight Sparkle's letter said they should arrive by noon."

It had been nearly a week since Twilight and her friends, along with two mysterious ponies, had gone running into the Everfree, trying to catch a capricorn monster that had nearly destroyed the Ponyville Museum. As was the norm, the town didn't worry when they most famous (or as some would say, infamous) residents went clamoring off on an adventure, but when Derpy had spotted both Princess Celestia and Luna racing out of Twilight's home with a screaming Spike on the younger's back, the ponies of Ponyville had become nervous and wondered if the heroic mares had finally met their match.

"I see something!" Bon Bon called out, squinting in an attempt to make out the shapes that were coming out of the Everfree.

The crowd began to cheer, only to go silent when they saw it was not the girls that emerged from the forest but Princess Celestia herself, her little sister matching her step. Between them, his head held high, was the capricorn that had escaped from Mr. Piles' exhibit. All three wore their finest royal armor, the power they radiated making several ponies instantly bow.

Behind them came Beckett and Castle. Each of them wore specially designed armor: silver shoes, breast plates bearing their cutie mark, and helms that resembled those of Celestia's royal guard. Riding on Castle's back was Spike, who had been given a silver-thread cloak with a tidal wave symbol upon the back and a small helmet modified to fit his head. Castle and Beckett led a procession of 25 capricorn warriors, each warrior wearing the same armor as the two ponies, only with the tidal wave symbol (clearly the mark of the capricorn's house) on their breast plates.

Surrounded by the warriors were Twilight and her friends, but they did not look like any prisoners the town had ever seen. Each of them wore jewelry that resembled Celestia and Luna's royal adornments, though each piece had been emblazed with their own respective cutie marks and were silver instead of gold. Beside the girls were two capricorn girls in golden armor and a stately capricorn female who nearly rivaled Celestia in size.

The marchers, numbering over 40, stopped several yards from the mayor and the rest of Ponyville. It was so quiet they could hear a mouse 3 miles away burp.
"Princess Celestia...P-princess Luna..." the mayor stammered.

Celestia smiled, her regal bearing firmly back in place after a week of running about like a filly. "Mayor Mare...citizens of Ponyville...I am sure rumors have spread about what happened at the museum and the nature of the being that escaped into the Everfree. I hope to answer all your questions and put your minds at ease." She turned her head, gesturing towards the capricorn in question. "May I present Lord Tydal, king of the Mareatine and god of the sea. He is my brother."

It was as if everyone that lived in Ponyville had been struck dumb. They couldn't have been more shocked in Celestia had declared that she was going to married Discord.

Tydal stepped forward. "I have been informed by Princess Luna that the use of the Royal Voice has gone out of...style." He rolled the word on his tongue. "Yes, style. Therefore, I shall speak to you in my normal tones." He turned to all the citizens, clearing his throat. "For thousands of years I have slumbered...but now I have awakened...and thanks to the brave efforts of two ponies and the wisdom of 6 young mares...I and my subjects are ready to enter the world again." He stomped his hoof and one of his royal guard stepped forward with a small chest in his teeth, which he placed beside his king. "Is a Mr..." he frowned, turning towards Twilight.

"Piles, Tydal."

"..Piles here?"

The curator stepped forward, wondering just what awaited him. He was sweating a bit, wondering if Celestia was going to have him banished for displaying her family in a museum for the last 4 months.

Tydal looked down upon the pony. "I believe I promised rewards when I returned with my army." He opened the chest, revealing it full of bits. "I hope this will suffice till I can properly reward you and this town."

Piles began to stammer, his glasses rising up from his face to be polished only for his shock to cause him to snap them in half.

"We also have other things for ya, Mr. Piles!" Applejack called out. "Bunch of artifacts and such from the Mareatine."

"I..I..."

"I think we broke him," Castle said with a laugh.

"Well, i know how to fix it!" Pinkie exclaimed. She glanced over at Coral, who shared her grin. Both reached into the bushes and, through forces no one could begin to understand, pulled out a cannon and a small catapult. "PARTY!" the two pink haired maniacs fired their weapons, the entire edge of town suddenly covered in balloons and streams.

Tropic of Capricorn Part 6

"Well…that's new."

It had taken nearly half the day to get away from the party Pinkie and Coral had set up (and considering that Pinkie needed to leave in order for the meeting to take place that had made things all the more harder). Finally the Princesses and Tydal had managed to round up all the ponies they needed and got themselves, Beckett and Castle, the bearers and Spike back to where the adventure had begun: the not-quite-Castle's-loft.

They had shed their armor and jewelry and Castle had instantly zeroed in on the newest edition to the loft: a beautiful glass statue of a human knight, standing on top of a wooden drawer. He was carefully inspecting it, but the moment his hoof went to touch it Celestia used her magic to pull him away.

"First, we have to explain some things." Motioning of them all to sit, Celestia began to lay out the information she had been waiting a week to give. Much as she always did when she needed to deliver news, Celestia considered all her options and her audience before selecting a tone and style. With some ponies she needed to be gentle, others firm. Some needed the answers spelled out, while others would get antsy if it wasn't just put right on the table.

Looking at the eager faces, Celestia decided to go with the last route.

"Kate and Richard are not from this world."

Luna wasn't surprised, but of course she had already known about Beckett and Castle. The girls were startled, trying to wrap their heads around this new information, and Spike kept glancing at Castle like he expected him to suddenly turn into a manticore. Tydal didn't say a word and Celestia wasn't surprised her mentor had picked up on the fact that these were not two ordinary ponies.

Celestia smiled. "As I told you, there are many worlds. And at times, my mother feels the need to bring people from world to another." She looked over and Beckett and Castle, who hadn't missed the 'people' comment. "She informed me a year ago that she would be bringing you two here…I was not told why but I knew I needed to prepare for your visit."

Beckett looked about the loft. "You set this up?"

"The loft and all the paperwork to make you legal citizens of Equestria. I even had a copy of your latest book brought here…I hope you don't mind my changes."

Castle smirked. "No problem at all…but how did you get my photo?"

The princess merely chuckled. "It is very hard to explain…let's just say that when you travel between worlds as often as I do, you learn how to see what one being will look as a pony."

Twilight looked up at her mentor in wonder. "You've…been to other worlds."

"Yes Twilight, I have. And I am not the only one."

Tydal nodded, glancing at Castle. "Tell me…are the Vikings still sailing across the Atlantic? They were always my favorites."

"Uh…they have a team in Minnesota."

Before Tydal could question him on the mysterious land of Minnesota, Celestia decided to take control of the conversation once more. "You would be surprised to learn just how many ponies here in Ponyville alone are from other worlds." Walking over to the statue, Celestia made sure not to actually touch the crystal knight. "In the past, it would involve powerful spells to move between the different worlds. Now, we use this."

"How does it work, exactly?" Beckett asked. "I mean, why us? Your said your mother had already selected us a year before we popped up, so what...did she know this was going to happen and you would need us to talk Twilight and the rest down? Were we just people she picked at random to turn into ponies? Did we need to be here, or was it that we needed to be away from New York for our own safety?"

"Yes," Celestia said.

"...now I really wish I had my gun," Beckett groused.

The princess looked down at Beckett and smiled softly. The detective found herself unable to stay mad at the sun goddess and cursed the princess' sweet, wonderful personality for making it so hard to hate her. "The truth is, Detective Beckett, that I simply do not know. Our mother is on a level none of us can understand. It could be any of those reasons...I know all of those scenarios have been played out at least 4 times in the last twenty years...or something we haven't even considered yet. You just can't predict when it comes to her."

Tydal grunted. "No wonder Discord was so screwed up. It is a wonder any in our family are sane."

Twilight and the rest of her friends could only stand there, jaws dropped, as the implication of that statement rolled through their brains.

Castle was bouncing up and down at the thought that there were other people from their world walking around as pastel ponies. His mind raced as he wondered if this were some sort of secret celeb retreat and he would run into Lady Gaga at any moment or find George Clonney having a nice bowl of hay fries.

"You said the statue is the key," Beckett said, bringing her hoof up to touch the statue. Once more, Celestia used her magic to stop any contact from being made with the crystal.

"It is more like a doorway than a key." Luna said, everyone thankful that Tydal's presence kept her from reverting back to her 'Thou art' style of speaking. Celestia was already trying to think of ways to keep Tydal at Canterlot as long as possible, if only to help her sister. "We give these statues to all that enter our lands, so that they might have a path back home." She glowered a bit, remembering a certain Doctor who insisted on using his blue box to travel between the dimensions.

"Wait...you aren't leaving, are you?" Rarity said in shock. When Beckett and Castle shot them guilty glanced, all the ponies gathered around them, tears in their eyes. "You simply can't leave! We...we haven't had a chance to show you anything!"

"I wanted ya ta meet my brother and sister and see my farm!" Applejack said, the tough farmer nearly whimpering.

"Come on...you can't be...serious..." Rainbow Dash was trying to hide the quiver in her voice.

Fluttershy just looked at them, sniffing weakly. "...can't you...stay?"

Pinkie's hair actually deflated at the thought of her two new friends leaving. "You can't leave! I had all sorts of things planned!"

"Kate...I..." Twilight gulped, unable to even look at the older mare. "Please..."

Beckett turned her head away, tears burning hot in her eyes. "I...I want to stay. I really do. You...you're all such good friends...but we have a life..."

Castle looked absolutely miserable. "It isn't fair, girls. I can't leave Alexis but..." he reached over and hugged Fluttershy, the quiet pony sobbing on his shoulder. They had only known each other for a week but their ordeals and trials had caused them to be bonded more tightly than any could have suspected. For each of the girls it was the same feeling they had had that first day Twilight had come to Ponyville. The thought of never seeing Beckett or Castle again rendered them utterly heartbroken.

"It works both ways."

Everyone blinked, tears dribbling down their cheeks as they slowly turned to look at Luna.

"The doorway...it isn't a one way trip." The goddess of the moon was shaking her head, clearly amused by their overreaction. "Did my sister not say we had been to your world many times? I was there two weeks ago, preparing the final details for Kate and Richard's arrival."

Fluttershy's chest trembled ass he forced down a cry-induced hiccup. "They can come back?"

Celestia smiled gently. "Of course. Just because you have to part now does not mean the way is blocked to you forever."

Twilight, who had been pressing her head against Kate's, looked at her mentor with hope glowing in her eyes. "You'll come back?"

Kate smiled through her tears. "Of course."

Tears of sorrow turned to tears of relief.

Celestia cleared her throat and the ponies all sheepishly turned their attention towards her, though the princess could clearly see that they were not going to move apart any time soon. "You will find when you return a statue similar to this one. All you must do is touch it and you will return here, in these forms." Using her magic, she opened up the drawer for them all to see. "And if you find yourselves longing to converse, this drawer will transport any message you wish to send across the void and to your friends on the other side."

Twilight was now practically giddy. "We can be pen pals! I always wanted a pen pal... I think I have a book back at the library, I'll consult it!"

Beckett merely smiled at the hyper-active librarian. "I'd like that." She let out a sigh as she glanced at Castle. "Girls...I hate to say it but I really think we should go now." She held up her hoof to stop another protest of tears. "Castle and I have been gone for a week and I am sure people that care about us are missing us. We need to get back."

"But I promise we'll come back as soon as possible!" Castle exclaimed, already planning ahead how he would convince his workaholic partner to take a week off so they could return to Equestria ASAP. "And until then we'll send letters every day."

"I'll send you some every hour!" Pinkie said happily, her hair magically repoofing.

Castle and Beckett went to each of the girls, giving them a hug or nuzzle and promising to be back. They each bowed before Princess Celestia and Luna, thanking them for all they had done. The princesses, in turn, promised to keep everything safe for them until they came back.

Tydal looked upon the two, his face gruff but his eyes shining with warmth. "I expect you to return soon and often. You are my royal guard now and it will not do for my reputation to have two of my guards making ponies cry." He then leaned down close, making sure his words were for them alone. "Do not be surprised if a tall, dark haired strange appears at your door one day in need of a vacation...more likely within days if Celestia's court is as draining as it was a thousand years ago."

Castle grinned. "There will be a bed waiting for you." He glanced at the princesses and flashed the capricorn a grin. "Them too."

"Watch where you look, Richard...the last being that looked at my family like that tasted my tail," Tydal warned.

Beckett pulled her partner away before the god of sea did any damage. "We'll see you soon...I promise."

The girls called out their goodbyes and Beckett and Castle, knowing that if they didn't act soon they never would, placed their hooves on the statue.

With a flash of light they were gone.

~MC~MC~MC~

It wasn't like the first time they had traveled between the universes. There was no pain from their bodies being twisted into new forms, or the blinding agony of the lightning. There was merely a crack and a flash like someone had taken a quick photo of them. When they opened their eyes they found themselves alone in Castle's loft, a crystal statue of an alicorn upon the table. They looked at each other, grinning like mad.

"We're back..." Beckett whispered.

"We're back!" Castle laughed, grabbing Beckett and giving her a hug. The detective laughed as her partner swung her around, letting him get closer to her than he ever had before.

When they finally pulled away they took a moment to inspect themselves. They counted their fingers and wiggled their toes and checked for tails before deciding they were 100% human and not some weird pony-human hybrid. They were wearing the same clothing they had on during the poker game and had it not been for the statue they might have thought that their memories of Ponyville were merely dreams they had shared.

"Dad?" Alexis called out, hurrying down the stairs. "DAD!" The red head raced down the stairs, her grandmother fast on her heels. "You're back!" Alexis hugged her father close...before pulling back and slugging him hard in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Castle rubbed his shoulder, bracing himself for another hit. "Geez, do I need to begin testing you for steroids?"

"You're lucky we don't give you a more savage beating, Richard!" Martha complained. Castle shot Beckett a look; it was hard to hear his mother and not think of a certain white pony. "Really, gone a week with only a letter to let us know you were ok? I know you were involved in some secret hush hush case but I think we warrant a bit more than that."

Castle blinked for a moment, mind racing at the new information he had just received. Luckily for him Beckett was quick and picked up the ball. "Martha, do you mind if I see that letter? I want to make sure your son got all the facts right and didn't make it sound like we were skin dipping on some tropical island." She flashed her classic 'you are dead' look but he could see the twinkle in her eye.

"I wouldn't do that...the letter, not the skin dipping."

Beckett rolled her eyes as she took the note from Martha and quickly scanned it. It was written on Castle's own stationary (the one that said at the top 'From the Desk of Jedi Master Richard Castle') and, in Castle's handwriting, stated that the two of them had been called by a contact in the government and needed to fly down to DC for a few days and they would be back soon.

"You're lucky, Castle," Beckett grunted, hiding her surprise that the letter existed.

"Well, I still think you should have called," Martha said, wagging her finger at them. "Poor Alexis and I were so eaten up...well, we had to go through several hours of shopping therapy."

"Over several days," Alexis said, giving her father a kiss on the check before heading back to her room. "By the way, love the souvenir."

Castle and Beckett shared a look as they were left alone, but before either of them could question the strange letter they heard a musical chime and the click of the Alicorn statue's drawer. Pulling it open, Beckett found a simple note that read: 'I assume by now you have learned about the note. I sent it ahead of time, so you would not be missed. -Princess Celestia'

They had just gotten done reading the note when the drawer chimed again and another scroll appeared.

'Dear Rick and Bucket. Hi, it's Pinkie Pie! Just wanted to let you know what has been happening since you left 6 minutes ago...'

Castle and Beckett let out a groan as the drawer dinged again…and scrolls began to pop out.