At The End

Chapters

Chapter II: The World we live in
Chapter III: The Beginning
Chapter IV: Theories
Chapter V: Ponyville
Chapter VII: The Raiders And The Princess
Chapter VIII: Shadow's doubts
Chapter IX: Once more Everfree
Chapter X: Dream
Chapter XI: Reunions
Chapter XII: Doubts and Revelations
Chapter XIII: The Changeling and the Medic
Chapter XIV: Mark Gains
Chapter XV: Feather and Peacocks
Chapter XVI: Speculation
Chapter XVII: Hope for the Best
Chapter XVIII: Fate Looming
Chapter XIX: Canterlot
Chapter XX: Ravaged
Chapter XXI: The Final Days
Chapter I: Homeward bound
Chapter VI: Dangerous encounters

Chapter II: The World we live in

The sky was lit by the afternoon sun, its glow a fiery red. The landscape ablaze of fiery orange.

The scenery was nowhere near as nice as it had once been. The once green forests, blue rivers and golden fields were now devoid of the love and attention that they had once had.

The sun no longer inspired ponies to live their daily lives. The moon no longer inspired ponies to dream of a better future.
The days of sunshine and rainbows had faded into the past. The times had changed, the past is the past. The present is the path to the future.
Never had anypony considered this could ever happen to such a peaceful country. Even with the Changeling invasion, Equestria had never seemed so… lost.
War had made peaceful alliances an idea of the past. Everything revolved around industry, there was no time for care and attention. Quantity had surpassed quality. The way that a pony would do certain activities was not done in the same manor as it would have been before the fall.

The unicorns had once been the privileged of Society, were now required to pay magical taxes. Each week, they were to send a jar containing magic to a local collection centre. Where their magic was processed then placed on a train and sent to Canterlot.

Why ? Only a few ponies knew.

The Shadow had claimed ownership over these lands. Chasing off anypony who had dared question their loyalty to him. Surrounding countries had closed off their borders, and prepared for war. With such a force, at his hooves, their was no resistance from ponykind after the elements dissapeared.

No one could figure out why… Even he had expressed his concerns out loud. The elements were indestructible, a force that ran deeper than gem stones or even blood.

Harmony was an idea. And you can’t kill an idea when it has taken hold.

Twilight turned from the balcony. Her armour ticked and cracked as she walked back into her room. The royal Canterlot astronomy tower had once again become her place of residence. Concubine to the royal court. His majesty would often call upon her to bring services to the nobles of Canterlot.
Those nobles who had not questioned his rule, or who had endorsed his place on the throne were now given priority over other requests. They were always the winners in any court hearing.
The thought of fair judgement was lost upon the higher society. All else were now classed as second class citizens. No ‘ifs’, no ‘buts’, just peace and order from a state of discord.
Twilight removed the armour. Grey and metallic, it was. Not the grand design that those of the old royal guard had once used.

Twilight laid her head on the pillow. Her eyes red, her cheeks stained with tears. Long had it been since she had felt happiness.
As the vassal of Ponyville, she had started to come to terms with the suffering of her kin. So had her friends, of sorts. Each of them now owning positions in the Greater Equestrian Society !

Rainbow was a scout in the Guard. Made out of remnants of the Wonderbolts.

Pinkie Pie was the one in charge of Propaganda. To make ponies feel better without actually giving them anything other than smiles.

Rarity had joined the Armour and Fire production team. She was the one who had to ensure that the armour they produced met the minimum standard. If it fit, then it was good enough.

Apple Jack worked with the Flim and Flam brothers. A thought that sickened her whenever she spoke her mind to Twilight. She had the responsibility of the War supplies. All essential resources for the war effort went straight to supply camps near the aggression areas. Her job was to ensure that all deliveries arrived safely.

Fluttershy was one of the animals combat trainers. As her ability to communicate with animals had some usefulness for the Shadow. The idea to set loose a pack manticores upon an advancing enemy was of strategic benefit. One that Fluttershy regretted she had. She was always on the verge of tears.
To see her friends with such horrible jobs, she could only feel more ashamed.

She would often walk through her lands and watch as ponies slaved over their work. Trying to make a living. Trying to survive.

Yet the suffering still tugged enough to bring her to tears every time she came to her tower. She had not returned to the library since her escapade through the jungle with those kind, self sacrificing friends she had made on the other side of the mirror.

“I hope you’re alright Lou.”

Using her magic, she closed the outer doors. She didn’t want her changeling guards to always be listening. Though there was most likely some magic spell that prevented any room to withhold her secrets. Though it didn't mean she wouldn't be secretive.

Her pain.

Her Love.

“You know that I’m not.” Came his reply. She opened her eyes and there he laid. Looking at her. His face as sweet as she could remember. But no breathing.

“Was there nothing I could have said ? Nothing that would help me past this pain ?”

“We all suffer. Whether by death or by survival…”

“Please tell me there are better days ahead. That the clouds will roll back and let the sun shine.”

He did not reply. His eyes closed as he exhaled. When he opened them he approached, their lips inches apart. She closed her eyes in anticipation.

“There was never any hope… It was just a dream, Twilight.”

The words echoed through her mind. The feeling of uncertainty growing as the fear that the love she had felt was nothing more than a dying leaf clinging to an already long dead tree.

Was that the fate that had claimed them ? Were they nothing more than memories of creatures who had long since sacrificed their lives ?

Tears had begun to fill her eyes again before a knock at the door echoed around the room. She sniffed back the tears. Armour on, façade on. No smile, no tears. Just… duty.

Rainbow Dash was on the other side. The almost monochrome mare was a shadow of her former self. Her main held only red and yellow, the other colours slowly fading away. Her coat a dissipating blue.

“Dash ? What are you doing here ?” Rainbow wore a determined look on her muzzle, her gaze unwavering.

XXXX

“And your sure that they were Griffins reinforcing the Feather Beak division in the Mountains ?!” Twilight exclaimed, Dash’s ears folding back out of nervousness. Despite being friends, friendship begins to fade quickly when under pressure from your masters.

“My flight schedule was over ! You know as well as I do that I couldn’t stay away any longer.” She replied, almost in a hiss.

Their meeting place was not exactly safe. It wasn’t terribly secret either. But nothing was secret in this, the world they now lived in. The lack of secrecy allowed for much more political stability. At least… that’s what HE said.

“And where were they exactly ?”

“In the Foal Mountains, near Bison’s Ridge.”

Twilight sighed, she would have to tell her Master that. Any attack from the Griffins in that area could lead to disaster. Those mountains was a perfect natural defence for either side. The mountains were cut by the fast flowing Terek river, if one side controlled the mountains they could fight a defencive battle and negate any push from the Badlands.

“But that’s not the only thing I saw on my way back.” Rainbow whispered into Twilight’s ear. Her head rising slowly, brow furrowed and a look of showk in her eyes.

XXXX

“What do you have to report ?” Twilight dreaded this moment every waking day. She entered the Throne room. Changeling guards standing beside the pillars. Behind them, the stained glass windows depicting Equestria’s heroes fending off great evils.

Ahead, sat on the throne was The Shadow. The wavering figure of darkness, untouchable and undefeatable. He's voice deep and almost alien sounding.

Twilight’s armour clicked with each step as she approached the Throne, the sounds echoing loudly around the Hall.

“Scout Rainbow Dash has reported the sightings of Griffon troops being deployed to the Foal Mountains. If they reinforce the Feather Beak Division, we could find ourselves with a hole within our southern Defence lines.”
She stopped at the base of the steps leading up to the throne. Her eyes fixed on the figure of smoke, shaped like a larger version of Celestia. After a moment, The Shadow snorted and rose from his throne. Descending the steps as he approached Twilight.
She could feel herself begin to shake with fear. Her right hind leg twitching ever so slightly. The memories of what he had done to her, wrecked her with self doubt. Perfect for a submissive pet.

“Is that so.” He said, passing her completely and walking further down the row of stained glass windows. “Walk beside me.” Twilight rushed to his side. Fearing reprisals, and the consequences.

“So Emperor Talonside has finally made his move.” He stopped before window, depicting the Celestia and Griffon creating the first Pony-Griffon Alliance.”

“How naïve you ponies are, to think that you would put your trust in a creature who would rule with only words, not action.” He let out a dark chuckle. Twilight looked up nervously, meeting his own gaze as he looked down at her. “I do not desire your sympathy Miss Sparkle. Though if it weren’t for you, I would not be here. Then again, I had also been quite foalish to have sent you away like I did. Not when you were actually more useful here. But I guess that was destiny !” He declared, moving along to stop at another window further down the Hall.

The Elements of Harmony. The Element bearers rising up to claim their prise. And bring about momentary harmony.

“The Elements of Harmony...”He trailed off, looking down at Twilight. “To think that you had the entire world thinking that you could defeat your enemies with love and… Friendship.” The sentence ended with a slight twinge of disgust. "It is a shame that they abandon us now. Now when I needed them the most."

“Placing your faith in the Magic of Friendship only creates cracks. Now our enemies move in on us.” He looked back up at the window. “Be thankful that I am prepared to force them to submit before its too late. If the world is to be at peace, we will need to be as swift as possible.And that is something that everypony seems to have forgotten, that enforcing peace is our right and duty.” He seemed to sigh at that last part.

They came to another set of windows. Depicting a city ablaze in a great fire and ponies carrying a chest through the streets. Twilight had never had the chance to ask Celestia what this window depicted. There were few references of this one in the public history books. And now she might never get the chance to ever know.

The Shadow however seemed to be captivated by its story emblazoned in glass. Twilight wasn’t sure, but it almost seemed afraid.

“You planned this, didn't you?” He asked aloud, though Twilight could tell that it was something that she should not have heard. He looked down at her, deep red glowing eyes looking softly at her. For a moment, Twilight could have sworn she saw the eyes of a pony. But they disappeared within an instant.

“There is something in the air. The mages near Ponyville have reported it as well.” He said, walking past her, back to the Throne. “A magical signature that I have not felt since...” Trailing off, as it sat down. Seemingly conflicted by what to say to Twilight.

Twilight approached the steps once more. She was curious, her inquisitive nature was very interested in the sound of ancient Magic.

“I shall deal with the Griffins once and for all. You, my dear, shall look into this for me.”

“What am I looking for exactly, your highness ?” She bowed.

“The magical signature of the queen.” He said, still looking at the window.

"Q-queen Chrysalis ? But she's--" She began only to be thrown against the far wall. Then draged along the floor back to the Shadow. There was no pity in his eyes as he let her go.

"Not that stupid bug!" He yelled into her face. That voice! She would probably wet herself from fear if she had not been prepared for such violence from her master.
"Feather brain Dash gave you information of sightings in the Everfree forest. Go there, and find it." She ran away. She had to get away.
"I know that you think this is hope for your liberation." He said as she backed away towards the entrance, her tail firmly tucked in terror. "There is no hope to be had from her." He muttered, staring into the panneled glass. She was stopped by her rump as she backed up against the door. She watched fearfully as the mass of darkness moved towards her and stared her down with a look that could kill. "Go to Ponyville and find the source of the magical surge. Should you find her, try not to be to quick to judge. Take your time in trying to destroy the source." The doors opened and she hurried out, tears streaming down he face. Once she was far enough away, she stopped and held herself against a nearby pillar breathing heavily.

Clearing her mind of the images that his words had conjured, Twilight's mind began to rapidly come up with a plan. If only she could find the resistance. The Doctor or even Discord could probably help this... Queen? What did her master mean by that? She was missing something, if only she could get into the archives...

But maybe she didn't need to. She turend towards the dungeons, there held was her family and the Sisters.

Shining had been leading a resistance group before her return. From then on to the loss of the elements, he had surrendered. And now he suffered for her mistakes through daily beatings. But if The Shadow was concerned about the return of ancient magic, maybe there was something she could do about it. Maybe Shining new of a way to contact the resistance. She knew that they used to hide in the caves of Rambling Rock Ridge, but those had been abandoned years ago.

XXXX

Twilight passed the Changeling guard protecting the Dungeon. Descending the steps, her shoes clicking on each step. At the bottom awaited her family. An insurance if ever she were to try and make another stand against his Majesty.

The ponies in the cells raised their heads as she entered the room. Despite being under the scrutiny of one of the dungeon guards. Twilight rushed over to see her parents. Her brother was still lying on the bed at the back, Cadence was by his side, caressing his wounds tenderly. He did turn her head to look at her, sparing a small smile. Contact between prisoners was prohibited unless for interrogation. All other contact had to happen through the eyes.

Giving her family one last reassuring smile, before turning towards the royal sisters.

Celestia and Luna. Princesses of the Day and Night. Locked up like animals. Their powers having been drained from them and savoured by the Shadow. The power of the cosmic entities now under the command of their master.

“His Majesty, has felt some kind of disturbance. An ancient magical signature.” Her tone cold, but Celestia could tell it was just a façade. She was a master of it after all, as was her sister.

“If that is all the information you bring us, that is not much to go on.” Said Luna, pawing at the tilled floor.

The walls of the cavern were laced with ancient magic. An interference field that disrupted any kind of acts of spell casting. Even the simplest of spells were jammed. So even if the sisters still had any magic, their own security measures would prevent any kind of action.

“He spoke of an ancient force, he was concerned by it.” She spoke, the sister looked between themselves. Uncertainty on their faces. “It may bring chaos to the order that his Glorious Majesty has put upon our once feeble society. I am to find it and return this force to our master.” The look of disgust that she betrayed to them was not one that she was trying to hide. She just couldn't bare to call him her matser in the face of all this. At least the Shadow was no longer trying to torture her in her dreams.
"It cannot be the tree of harmony, he spoke of a Queen, do either of you know what it could be?"

“Whatever this magic is, we do not know.” Celestia said, but all the while, Luna was standing next to her sister. Her muzzle obscured from the guard by her sister’s frame, mouthing out a sentence over what her sister was saying. A trick they had used many times before.

‘The castle of the Two Sisters.’ Twilight winked. She then turned to her brother. But at one glance she could tell that he was in no shape to give any information. Not even a look.

“Worthless mules! If I were in your place, I would try and come up with an answer.” With that she left. Heading back to her quarters. She gave her family a desperate look as she passed.
Her family watched as she left, Velvet raised her hoof but Nightlight stopped her, shaking his head.

XXXX

Twilight returned to her room. Removing the armour once more as she sat down and thought. Spike had returned from his errands. Running information left and right under the official royal seal made him indispensable in her daily activities. But there was never a moment to rest. Escorted through every journey, there was never a moment to one’s self.

“Hello Twilight…” He muttered wearily. His pace slow through lack of sleep. He had bags under his eyes. Twilight felt her heart ache at the sight. Her adopted baby brother was used as mail dragon right down to the bone. All of it her fault.

The young drake was forced to wear the same sort of armour as her. But unlike hers, it was mostly for show. Twilight’s on the other hoof was made for battle. If ever a neighbouring nation attacked, she was to lead the remaining pony forces into war.
Despite being a battle commander, the title was merely for show. To make the nobles feel happier about using her for their activities instead of calling her a slave.
Though she still had the chaos magic coursing through her. Her own magic having been stripped from her body when The Shadow had sent her to Earth. The reason why she was allowed to keep it was simple. Despite being an enemy to the crown in the regards of her alliegences, removing the chaos magic would make her hard to track. The Shadow could easily locate her within a country now almost devoid of normal magic. Chaos magic being unique allowed her Master to know where she was at any given time she used it. It was probably why there was a ban on all usage of magic unless the pony in question had a permit to use it. Such as Medical staff, healers, shield officers and mages. The mages were the ones who had to alert the Shadow if they ever detected any foreign magic within the Kingdom.
They weren't really necessary really... Twilight never understood why they were even there. The Shadow could easily detect magic without needing to concentrate that much. Each of the mages were powerful unicorn Nobles who were the elite of society. So she still had the magic, but was unable to make contact with Discord or the Doctor after they disappeared with the resistance, aybe they had fled the borders. She had better not make contact.

For her family’s sake. She was a parading tool. A figure head in the fall of pony freedom that had once made Equestria the most powerful nation in the world. Not by military power. But through diplomacy.

“Very good Spike.” She walked past him, she stopped however when she felt his claw on her hind leg. He looked at her with worry.

“His… His ugh… Paladin Chrysalis gave me this today.” He held out a piece of paper. She took it in her magic and opened the folded note.

It was hard to believe sometimes that she and Chrysalis were now allies. Her Changeling drones having been taken from her, she was made a paladin by title. Egg layer by those higher up in society.

It had been a disgrace for her to surrender. Like anypony maybe, but when it came down to her drones. Her family.
She was a concubine to her master. Her only purpose was to replenish the ranks.
Disturbance detected within Everfree control zone. Air search parties have not been able to identify the anomalies frequently reported within Ponyville Agricultural areas.

Recommend that our forces circle the forest to asses the situation.

Twilight lowered the piece of paper. ‘So Celestia and Luna had been right !’ She thought. Searching the Everfree was not an option however. Not only because of the dangerous wildlife, but also due to the fact that they were at war with the Yaks and soon to be the Griffins.

Rainbow had reported something about the Everfree area on her way back from her patrol. Could this be linked ?

Just then, Chrysalis burst through the main doors of the Observatory. She marched up the steps to where Twilight was standing, with the note. Escorted by her former drones, she stopped at the top of the steps.

“What is the meaning of this Chrysalis ?” She demanded, once she would have cowered before the queen. However, fear and prejudice was forgotten when your old enemy is reduced to be nothing more than an incubator for more and more royal changeling soldiers.

“I see that your ‘pet’, has given you my report.” She looked down at Spike almost in disgust. Despite her place in society, Chrysalis remained often as mean to others as she could. The only other pony she had confided with was Twilight.

“I am here to demand that word be given to the royal court over this matter. If the creatures of the Everfree are becoming untameable, then we should act swiftly and destroy anything that is a threat to the War effort.”

It was hard to imagine Equestria at war. Those were stories of old, where tribes of ponies bickered amongst each other. Ponyville was no longer a cider producing empire it had been 4 years ago. Now it supplied border forces with tinned apple pies. The taste was stale, not made with the love and care that the apple family had given their apples. Now production time all that mattered.

Frontline troops were not given anything to boost morale. The only reason for them to fight was to protect their families.

But from who ? Who was the lesser evil. The invaders ? Who were contesting the Shadow’s authority… or The Shadow himself, who ruled with an iron hoof. Maybe the propaganda was also a factor in their decision to fight until the end…

“I am afraid that there are no spare forces available.” Twilight sighed, head lowering as she returned to her desk, placing the piece of paper on her favourite book. A book that had been given to her as a gift from another realm.

“Rainbow dash of the 503rd Pegasus Reconnaissance Squadron has reported Griffins massing along the frontier near the Foal Mountains. General Spitfire of the Equestrian Air Defence Headquarters will be given these orders.” She handed the documents that she had been given by one of the royal Aids while exiting the dungeons.

“She is to place an all out alert in all danger areas. Vital sectors will be given priority over internal affairs.”

Chrysalis stared at her for a moment. Despite her mean attitude, she held respect for Twilight. Even though she had been the cause of her downfall.

“If that his Majesty’s decision, then I shall oblige.” She turned around and began to make her way down. She stopped, halfway past the threshold.

“The next batch will be born by the end of the week.” Twilight nodded absent mindedly. Chrysalis watched her, concern on her face. “But I do not believe there is enough Love in this kingdom to support them. Not even the best Canterlot weddings give off the love that we need. If we could have clearance into the archive--”

“I am sorry Chrysalis.” Twilight cut her off, moving to her bed. “But you must find love elsewhere. If canterlot’s reserves are depleted then you must either find other troops, or give your own love to your hatchlings.”
That stopped Chrysalis directly in her train of thought. A direct hit on her heart. Twilight meant no ill will by what she said. But if resources were being diverted to the front ! She could expect neither help from Twilight nor the marriage officials.

Most were afraid of her anyway, so to have 750 drones turn up at a wedding was frightening enough. But to be wed by vows under the scrutiny of a society that all second class citizens despised, there was no desire for happiness. Love or Friendship.

She closed her mouth with a click, and disappeared down stairs, followed by her guards.

Twilight glanced in the direction where Chrysalis had been, wondering if she may have said the wrong thing.

She went to her balcony and looked out into the vastness of her homeland. Far below, she could see Ponyville. Beyond... The Everfree forest. Everything seemed normal, quiet even. Closing her eyes, she focused a minuscule amount of magic through her horn. Detecting a magical signature is not as hard as it may seem. But seeing that magic is no longer used as it once was. Sparingly, as the use of it was deemed an essential resource. One that The Shadow used for his so called “Resurection”. However Twilight had no idea as of what purpose it served to him…

Though he had been right. There was something in the air. A signature that was strange in nature. Most magical signatures were nothing more than that. A frequency set upon a magical waveband. This signature did not feel like any frequency she had ever studied.

It had a rhythm, a message.

“Home.” She breathed. Opening her eyes, she turned to Spike who was standing in the doorway. He had heard what she had said. And he bore a hopeful look on his face.

“Spike, send for the girls. We need to come up with a plan, but not here.” He saluted, running for stairs and disappearing into the streets of Canterlot. Lighting up her horn she scanned one last time. The signature was fading, but its power was undeniable. She sighed, still no sign of Discord's magic. She could only hope that Discord and the Doctor were still working on trying to defeat the Shadow.
"Where are you Doctor ?" She breathed to herself. Holding her breath, she had almsot expecting the sound of the TARDIS to start wooshing behind her.

Nothing. Exhaling, she looked back down at Ponyville. Determination on her face. Maybe the magic source was a sign from Discord ?

“Whatever is down there, we must find before anypony else does.”

Chapter III: The Beginning

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter IV: Theories

The 21.45hr train at Canterlot was the last evening train to Ponyville. Despite the destination being Ponyville, the trains took long detours to serve other surrounding stations around Canterlot. Only military trains went straight through to the front lines. That meant there was a shortage of trains.

While Twilight could have called upon her friends and travelled via royal cart. She decided to go with the train. It would allow her friends to rest up after their long day’s work. They were all tired. Even Apple Jack, despite no longer having to buck apples, she was was exhausted from having to deal with all the production quotas she had to ensure were being respected to the minimum. Gone were the days of a small role as an Apple bucker, now came the days of office work. No fun with her family, just paper work and snobby nobles.

The rest of her friends were no better. Poor Pinkie trying to boost morale when you were being forced to work non stop. And with a war on. None of them had ever been alive during a war. Those were things of the past. Ancient times. Now, the war was for peace. At least that was what Pinkie had to put on all the posters. Her coat was losing its colouring, and her mane had never seemed more flat.

Rarity was also tired of overseeing the production of clothing for a cause that was not fashion. Had it been for some sort of great parade, she would have slaved over it without hesitation. But now… She was a slave to a job she didn’t want. She was seriously starting to hate her ‘special talent’ as the Shadow had put it.

Rainbow had to use her speed for high altitude scouting missions. On several occasions, she had defected to the other nations. But when she was caught... Rainbow had not been the same since. It was only thanks to her friends that she was allowed to live here instead of Tartarus. The Shadow had known that the Elements of Harmony Bearers were the image that most ponies saw and looked to as heroes. To have them serve him as tools of propaganda was the best way to not have a revolt. But ponies were peaceful creatures, not the Shadow...

Fluttershy was the one who suffered from the ‘special talent’ exploitation the most. Using her to get to ferocious animals was something that the Shadow had come up with the moment she had introduced herself to him. Using magical, chaotic beasts was a perfect way to not have to send out the unicorns to the front. All magical resources weekly from unicorns was a necessity to the Shadow, if only they knew why.

Twilight never found out why no one had been able to stop the Shadow during her absence. Celestia and Luna’s power should have been able to help. But the magic surrounding the Shadow had been the key to his success. It was ancient magic, seemingly impervious to all attacks. Even when she had returned, Twilight had tried her best to reunite with her friends. But using their families as leverage, her friends had surrendered rather than letting their families suffer.

It was cruel. Never before in the history of their nation had any form of evil used such methods of persuasion. Ponies were peaceful, kind, caring and loving. Whatever the Shadow was, he was not kind, not caring.

It was heartbreaking. And there was nothing they could do about it.

One may ask why not use the elements on such a foe ?

If they could, they would have tried long ago. The elements had disappeared, lost from their places of safe keeping. They had vanished the moment that Twilight disappeared to Earth. Why the elements had gone, no one knew.The fact that the tree of harmony had also disappeared, was an even greater cause for concern. Without it, the Everfree became all the more wild and chaotic.

What did it all mean? There had to be a reason for the elements and the tree to have just... vanished. Harmony was more than just an idea, long had it been known that the species residing on Equus were creatures of harmony. Moulded by the magic of friendship. Had the elements sensed this danger and maybe, gone for help? If that were possible, it had been years now... Harmony had not returned.

The Shadow had been intrigued by how easily Equestria had fallen, but despite this, he hardly ever bragged about it. His control over Equestria was swift and met very little resistance. The partisan elements that remained within the borders worked out of charity to their fellow ponies. Ambushing and stealing frontline supplies of food and medecine to give to the poor.

The magic of harmony was lost. Or maybe transformed into a world where everyone suffered as equals compared to the old Equestrian system. Maybe the elements had abandoned them. Maybe this was the future…

Despite a ruinous tyranny, the Shadow had shown a form of compassion. He had never killed anyone… yet. The forms of torture that he allowed was nowhere near as physical as the jungle environment that she had suffered with her human allies. The ponies of Equestria had been made to think that the world was soon in harmony. And all we needed now was a war. A war to bring the other creatures to their knees. If they surrendered, the better.

None of them did. And for good reason.

Despite facing off a huge force of ponies and changelings. The Griffons and the Yaks had quickly understood their advantage. There were very few Unicorns on the front. Those there were weak from magic drainage. There was nothing they could do to oppose the will of the allied nations. All they had to do now was wait for the Shadow to show a weakness.

The shadow… such a strange creature. Its voice deep and gravely. Slow and threatening. Covered in a mist of black magic, none had seen its true form. But daily its shape would more and more ponylike. As if it was able to create itself a body closer resembling that of the occupants of the land it now controlled. Its red eyes were the thing that frightened Twilight the most. She shivered at the thought of having to stare into those lights of pure hatred.

It reminded her of Discord in a way. Only difference was that Discord had been helping fight the Shadow. Even after she surrendered, Twilight knew that Discord was not going to surrender. He knew something, but never got a chance to say what before he and The Doctor had disappeared.

She could only hope that they would find a way to help rid them of this blight. Maybe they were traveling in time? Chasing leads or maybe trying to find the elements. If only the tiny amount of chaos magic residing within her could allow her to comunicate somehow. To try and find answers.

She dared not, unlike her own magic, chaos magic was not natural for her. It did not replenish properly like her own harmonious magic. Discord probably had no intention of giving it to her permenantly. He had only sent it to help her survival on Earth.

XXXXX

The mountain side of Canterlot rushed pass as the train swerved though the tunnels heading down towards Whitetail. The train would have to stop at Whitetail to allow access to the military trains that circulated primarily at night for obvious reasons. That was why Twilight had reserved the sleeping carriage. The horizon was obscured by black storm clouds. The Everfree was lost in a mist of pouring rain.

“It’s raining over the Everfree.” She said absent-mindedly. Her friends moved to look out the same window. Spike was resting beside her, sleeping.

“Yep, without the weather team the forest is generating its own weather patterns.” Rainbow pointed out, looking to the other, she noticed that Fluttershy was crying. “Are you alright Shy ?” Her friends all turned to look at the tearful pegasus.

Wiping her tears, Fluttershy sniffed and put on a brave smile.

“I’m sorry, I’m just thinking about going home. To see my animal friends.” They all gave her reassuring smiles.

“I would like to return to the carousel.” Rarity said aloud, staring off into space. Her mane dishevelled and dark bags under her eyes.

“And I would like to go back to Sugar Cube Corner.” Said Pinkie.

“Ah wouldn’t mind goin’ back to the Acres !” AJ added. They all wanted to go home. And so did Twilight. She just wanted to lie down in her bed and sleep. The smell of books reminiscent of nostalgia and bringing her dream to life. But before that could happen, she was awoken by the sound of Spike snoring. Smiling down at him, she gave him a nuzzle before looking back at her friends.

“I know we all want to go home…”

“What are we doing here Twilight ?” Twilight turned to Rarity who was awaiting her reply. “If its for a break I would be delighted, but Spike made it seem more like an emergency.” Twilight sighed and pulled a map from her bags.

“I know that you are all aware of the Yaks advancing though the Crystal Empire, the deployment of more of our forces towards the south has left us short on ponies to send.” She explained, drawing out the lines of movement to both fronts that were opening.

“Rainbow saw something ominous emanating from the Everfree.” She turned to the once prismatic mare, who nodded. “I then received a message from Chrysalis who had been informed by the mages that a strange Magic had been detected also within the Everfree area.”

Twilight circled the Everfree with her quill and turned to look at the rest of her friends. They all look baffled. Though Rainbow had seemed the most interested in the oinformation. She was the first to actually deliver the news, now they had to find whatever it was.

“I understand that part darling, but why send us ?” Asked Rarity.

“Because the only guards left in Ponyville are peacekeepers. They are only five of them. Too few to deal with whatever is in the forest.”

“But why us sugar cube ?” Twilight sighed and looked at her friends. Apple Jack asked another question. “Surely the Shadow won’t allow us to even get near that thin’. Whatever it is.” Twilight sighed. Apple Jack was right in one regard. They were not allowed to approach whatever was in there with Friendship, but she hoped that she could maybe not find whatever was so worried about. Despite her inquisitive nature telling her otherwise.

“You’re right AJ, seeing as I am the only one here who can still use magic freely. It is my duty to contain it and bring it to the Shadow. Or destroy it.”

“But the signature only appeared for a moment according to these reports.” Pinkie pointed out, placing Twilight’s notes back on the map.

“I know Pinkie, but I felt the magic too. There was something about it.” She paused. Thinking about she was about to say. Twilight leaned forward to whisper to her friends. They all leaned in too.

“It felt good, like hope, something so tangible.” Her friends shared glances, confused. "Maybe there is hope."

“Hope ?” Asked Rarity.

“I can’t explain it, but the signature felt old and hopeful. The Shadow seemed worried, more worried than the whole Griffon situation.”

“But what does that mean ? Hope ?” Rainbow huffed in annoyance. Twilight spared her a glance but continued her explanation to the rest.

“I don’t know what it is and I don't know how we're going to handle this until we get there.”

“… And destroy it ?” AJ asked, Twilight shot her an alarmed look. “You said you were to destroy it or take it to our highness.” She clarified.

“No AJ, we’re going to help it if we can.”

“WHAT !” Spike jumped awake as all the mares screamed out in unison and the seemingly foolish action that Twilight seemed ready to take. Fluttershy had even begun to hide behind her mane as if wanting to bailout of this quest.

“Twilight darling.” Rarity began, obviously trying to think of what to say. “What you’re suggesting would get us all hurt.” She looked to the other who nodded in support of her argument. “And our families !”.

Twilight had expected this response, but she knew that she had no choice.

“It does not have to be known.” She defended, her friends giving her incredulous looks. “If it cannot help us but we can help it get back to where it came from, maybe we can help it escape.”

“Twilight… you’re not making any sense.” Rainbow said, she looked a bit worried. Worried for Twilight.

Twilight knew what she was trying to say. She remembered all too well her experiences in the other world. Terrifying it was. The sounds of the explosions, the rattle of their guns. The blinding lights from their fireworks. Lou and his friends had been there to help her, a strange magical being in his eyes, to get home. They had been ready to sacrifice themselves for her, to die for her. If there was a chance of this being an interdimensional creature lost in her world. She may not be prepared for the consequences, but the violent actions that her master would take was all that she needed to clear her mind of doubt. Even if she was to be executed like in the stories of old, she would take in that comforting thought of having died trying her best. And maybe saving a life.

'Tomy… oh Tomy'.

She could remember his smile, his laugh. The spark in his eyes as he listened to her tales of far away Equestria. He would have loved it here if the Shadow was not in control. If he had still been alive.

Tomy had given his life for her while they were carrying supplies up to the front. Ambushed on the way back through the paths, in the pitch black, he had fought off so many enemies that Twilight had never seen coming. Had she been more attentive… had she gone more slowly, maybe she would have been able to use her powers to save Tomy and herself.

Twilight sighed as tears began to creep into the corner of her eyes. They had all sacrificed themselves to save her. Deciding to fight on, instead of fleeing to a different world for safety. They could have lived. But now… What kind of world would she have brought them into? She didn't want to think.

She felt her tears beginning to soak the fur on her cheeks. She was depressed and she was now ready to do anything to stop the shadow. No matter the cost. And if this strange source of the magic she had felt was not the key to stopping him and it was trying to flee. She would help it, just like how the brave Humans from Earth had helped her.

“I know what you girls are saying.” She looked at her friends, giving them a hopeful smile. “When those creatures saved me from their world. I had hoped to repay them in kind.” She had already told her story to her friends. She even had to explain to the shadow… while she was being held for interrogation. “I want to help anyway I can. To stop all this pain we have suffered.”

Looking down to where Spike was sitting she saw her saddlebags. Inside, with all her documents, was a book. Weathered and damaged, yet she had cherished it. The book was about a seemingly unending force bent on world domination. Yet it was foiled by the humblest things upon the world.

“He was afraid of this magic.” She continued. “He was worried, and that means that we may have just found our ‘Bacteria’.” Her friends looked at each other once more, their eyes full of wonder has Pinkie asked the question that was on everypony’s mind.

“Bacteria ?”

Twilight smiled, levitating the book from her bag to the table they were sitting at, she laid it out for all to see.

“A gift from a friend.” She sniffed. “There is hope girls. If the world of Humans could produce something stop the invaders from Mars, then ours must be able to do the same.” It may have been a book, a story from another world. But she hoped. She prayed that Equus would do something. A form of Magic or a warrior of ancient times to help the ponies of Equestria live in peace.

“But the elements are gone Twilight. What hope can there be ?” Rainbow sighed as she dragged her hooves over her face. She gave Twilight an exasperated look. “We don’t even know what we’re looking for…”

Rainbow had a point. How could they find something that only appeared for a few moments ? It may have been a fluke. No… No it wasn’t. She knew it. Otherwise, she would not have been sent to investigate. There was point to all this. She just hoped that she could do what had to be done.

“No Dash… I know what you are all feeling. I know how lost you all are on this subject. But I was sent here by the Shadow himself. If he fears it then we have to assume that the Magic is a threat to him.” There was a brief silence before Twilight continued. “I want something better. I want to make Lou proud.”

“Was that the name of your special somepony, darling ?” Rarity asked. Twilight’s cheeks lit up. She had of course told her friends about the other world and the friends she had made. And accidentally let slip that she had become attracted to one of them.

She loved Lou, she just wished she knew where he was. And if he was alright. He, Mark and Jack. Maybe they were alive…

Lighting up her horn, for a moment, she scanned the air. No sign of chaos magic. She sighed, hoping that the Doctor and Discord might have tried to contact her. She just wish she knew where they were hiding.

The train continued to roll down the hill. The landscape hidden by cover of night. Using her chaos magic, Twilight extinguished the lights within the carriage. With the light dimming, her friends began to move to their seats for their sleep.

“I know that you are all scared.” They all stopped, each one turning to look at her. “But I would not have brought you with me if I believed that there was nothing for us.” Giving her friends a last comforting smile, she extinguished the last lamp.

As they all fell fast asleep, a light buzzing was drowned out by the rumbling of the train on the tracks.

Chapter V: Ponyville

“Lou?”

“Yes?”

…

“When am I coming home?”

…

“I wish you could. I’m sorry Rom.”

“Why can’t I come home? What’s happened? Lou?”

…

“I’m sorry…”

“Lou? Louis what’s going on? Please… Louis!”

XXXX

I awoke with a start. My heart was pounding in my chest. It was a nightmare. Just another nightmare…

Taking deep breaths, I calmed down when I realised where I was. I was in the dining ball room of the castle we had taken shelter in last night. The sun was rising and the storm had passed.

Standing up, I wobbled, remembering that it was four legs. Not two.

Looking around, I saw our gear and our bedding on the floor. What I did not see were Mark and Jack. Their gear was still here, only neatly packed away. My ears perked up, swivelling towards the door way leading to the castle entrance. Making my way to the door, I opened it slightly and stepped out.

“Oh yeah?”

“Don’t you remember the time Lou asked Andy to go and get water. He goes out in the middle of the night counting his steps. On his way back he miscounts and ends up falling into our hole?”

“Hahaha! Now that was a fun time.”

“The Lieutenant was yelling at us to keep it down!”

On the steps leading into the castle were my friends. Happily laughing and recounting stories from our early days on the Canal. It was refreshing to hear them laugh and smile. I know that this was hard on us, but like our operations during the war. They were making the most of it. As we should.

“I hope I’m not interrupting?” I asked, stepping out onto the top step with them. They both turned and looked up at me with huge grins.

“Sure thing Cap!” Mark laughed. I cut him short by hitting him with a wing on the back of the head. Wings may actually be starting to become more and more useful!

“Here to join the nightmare squad?” Jack asked. It was now clear that they had been awoken by their own nightmares. Dark bags under their eyes.

“You were talking about your brother.” Mark stated. “I didn’t wake you... I didn’t want to make it too personal.” His gaze shied away when I looked at him. I needed to tell them. Having me cooped up over my nightmares wasn’t going to help me. They would understand.

“Romain’s gone.” They looked at each other realising that they may have sparked an unwanted conversation. “Shot down over Europe. Didn’t make it out in time…”

“I’m sorry--” Jack began, but I cut him off.

“No! You need to know what’s going on. It helps a bit to talk.” I looked up at the forest, the world we were now trapped in. I then looked at Mark, giving him my most hopeful smile. “I want to go home too. Be normal for my family. Because if I were to return as a pony... they might lose it. Losing their youngest child, now losing your eldest…”

“I’m sorry.” Mark said, before turning to look at the horizon too. “I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday. We’re all in this together. I was just too self centred to even realise it.”

“I don’t think Jack or I will hold it against you, Mark.” I said, draping a wing across his back. “If we are stuck as ponies then I’m sure we can work out a way to get on with our lives.” Mark smiled and so did Jack. We were together, and we were unstoppable. Being ponies wasn’t going to change our relationship together. Though it may end up ruining our relationship with home.

We must have sat there for a while. Watching the trees move in the wind. Birds flying in the sky and the clouds moving overhead? We were lost in thought. Shaking myself awake again, I rose to my feet… er hooves… paws.

“Pack your things.”They rose to their paws too. “I want to explore this place before we head out.” Going back inside, they both following suite.

“Head out where ?” Jack asked, as we entered the dining room.

“North, like we did yesterday.”

XXXX

This castle was not only huge, but also strange. Each room that we visited had a different story to tell about the history of this place. The architecture would vary from one room to the next. Seemingly a mismatch of stone and carvings. The designs not fitting together.

There were signs of burning throughout the castle. Maybe the cause for the difference in architecture…

Maybe the castle was burnt down during its life time, and someone had it restored later on. There was very little to go on. We knew nothing of this place, its importance in whatever society that existed at this time.

We had no time to explore the lower levels. We had no idea how big the forest was. If it took us an entire day to get here, then maybe it would take the same amount of time to get across it.

I was not going to allow us to stick around another night. Not unless we had too.

“If we get split up, we meet back in the hall.” I had said. Exploring alone was dangerous and I had no intention of losing anyone in an accident while exploring this strange place.

The latest we would leave was mid day. So that we still had plenty of time to navigate the paths to the North without losing the light. Hopefully we would find the edge of the forest before night fall.

“I wonder where that goes ?” Mark looked towards the spiralling staircase at the end the hallway we had gone down a few minutes ago. The rooms we had seen appeared to be some sort of barracks. Bunks and pieces of armour were still scattered about the place.

“Maybe it’s the living quarters to whoever ruled this place.” I proposed, moving up the first steps. Continuing on my way, up, the other followed behind. The stairs were large and were definitely made for either a fat pony or a for several ponies at the same time.

The atmosphere as we ascended seemed to become very dark. As if we were approaching something unsettling. We ended our ascent on a landing. Four doors, two to the left another to the right with the final door at the end of the hall.

The first three were rather uneventful. They appeared to be rooms for children. They were bed chambers. One was painted a deep blue, adorned with faded moons while the opposing door was a bright yellow adorned with Suns.

The other door next to the lunar coloured bed chamber was also a bedroom. However this one was devoid. Cleared of whatever was in it, the only thing that stood out from this place was how charred the walls were. The entire room seemed to have been engulfed by a raging inferno. Everything destroyed, yet the rooms and hallway next door seemed to be fine. As if they had been rebuilt after the fire and left this room in its state.

“This is strange.” Jack said as he moved to stand by the wall facing the door to the hallway. He then moved closer to the wall and bared his claws. Carefully, he scratched the wall. The soot and ash crumbling in his paw. “This place was burnt but not by fire.”

He was right. While the atmosphere in the room felt very stuffy, there was no indication of there ever being a fire spreading on the floor. Only a chared circle where something had caught fire.

All the boards we were standing on we solid’ish’. No sign of burning, nor did the walls smell like there had been a fire. Maybe it was a magical occurrence?

“Let’s check out that last door.” Entering the hallway, we began to move towards the last door. Every step we took made us tremble. Something was off. I could feel it within me. This room was screaming to not be opened.

As I began to lift my paw to try the lock, the handle moved on its own and the door swung open. We all screamed, all of us drawing our guns with our magic and shaking with fear as we stared at the ‘self opening’ door.

“Captains first?” Mark suggested, he was shaking with fear. Swallowing hard I leaped into the room. My 45 ready to take down any ghost that may await me.

Nothing.

“Clear.” I breathed. Mark and Jack pocked their heads through the door and took a look around. No ghosts, but a self opening door was very frightening. No way it was a breeze.

This room was the largest of the lot. Huge with large windows. It was in ruins like the rest of the castle, but much like the other room we had just visited, there were scorch marks everywhere. Both rooms had been neglected. But this one was special and I could not place my paw on why.

“Check out the floor.” Mark pointed out. It was made of stone and was very well burnt. Whatever happened here, something made of fire scorched the floor in a particular trail. Ash and dust leading towards an empty corner of the room. It there was furniture here but the scorch marks ended before reaching the stone. There was something missing, though none of us knew what it could be.

On closer inspection, I noticed that whatever had caused the flames had left scratches along the floor. Like claws? Or something else. But leading into this corner of the room? Why?

It was as if someone or something was pulled or dragged into this area of the castle.

“Damn.” Jack inhaled, staring at the floor.

Looking to see what he was looking at, my breath caught. Carved into the floor was a swirling cloud with loads of stars doted amongst it. Huge it was. Carved out over the entire floor. Only by standing at the door then having the mid day light shine on it could it be visible with all the burning.

But what did this mean. Did that woman send out here to find this?

There were questions that needed answering. And I knew that it was only by finding Twilight that we could get them.

“Let’s get the hell outta here.” The air in the room was starting to make me jumpier. I had to get out. The forces there were breathtaking, in a bad way.

“Right with ya!” We ran, the door closing and clicking shut as we ran faster to escape this horrible feeling that was enveloping our hearts.

XXXX

Despite the exploration of the castle being very… cryptic. The outer city seemed far more interesting with its story to tell. Just like the castle, it too had suffered from a ghastly inferno. It seemed like much of the inner buildings had all suffered from a great fire. Like the great fire of London! The more clues we searched for, the more we were able to piece together.

Judging by the burning that had impacted the clay in the foundations of the inner city, much of it had happened prior to the buildings that were now standing in ruins.

There had been a fire once and it had consumed much of the settlement. It seemed strange that the two bedrooms we had explored were still showing signs of burning, yet the rest of the palace had been rebuilt after it. Maybe the two were unrelated? Or maybe they were related. Maybe the rooms were left intact because of its sentimental value?

The two celestial rooms that we had discovered were somewhat intact. If only we knew what it all meant.

I wasn’t thick, nor were my friends. We all knew that this had something to do with our mission here. But without context into the history of this place, it was pretty much futile to continue to search for more information here.

We had slightly missed noon according to the sun. We had no other way of telling the time. No watches, even though I had mine on when I had been brought here. Oh god!

What if in my living room was a pile of clothes? That would definitely freak my parents out.

Standing on the steps with all our gear, we began our journey. Hopefully we would make it out of the forest. Or find some shelter before the sunlight was lost to us.

North was the right choice! From the castle we found ourselves a path and ventured deeper into the abyss. We came across another part of the ravine, a rope bridge was the only way across. This must have been a rear entrance into the city. The ravine acting as a mote, most likely encircling the place. Incredible.

The ground was still wet within the forest, the humidity and lack of sunlight making the terrain slippery. Puddles and mud slides made it a bit of a tricky trek. Walking on paws was not like wearing boots. They were very sensitive. I had not walked often bare foot on the Canal, but when I did I hated it. This was similar, but I had no choice since we had no shoes to wear.

I and Mark tripped and slipped up several times. We weren’t very clean any more. The mud in my fur felt sticky and horribly itchy. I just wished I knew a cleaning spell. We may have been Marines, but that did not mean that I would want to go back to this. Or that I was used to it.

Jack was lucky because he was tailing. He could easily avoid the rough patches while Mark and I got filthier every step of the way.

About an hour in, we suddenly found that the path was getting dryer and dryer. The trees were beginning to clear. No light at the end of the trail yet…

Ahead was a clearing. Unlike the ones we had seen before, this one had a little hut. Circular in shape with a straw roof, it looked like nothing I had ever seen. Rudimentary but seemingly very solid and water proof.

And inhabited.

Outside the hut was a Zebra. It was working on something with its back to us. Humming to itself. We all watched on. A little disbelieving, we had not expected to run into a creature that was not a pony. At least it seemed sentient, that was certain.

Taking a step forward I began to make my way over to the Zebra. Slow tentative steps, I was also thinking of what to say. If I could say anything at all. It may not even understand English.

“Um… Hello ?” I called out. The Zebra did not jump, but slowly turned its head to face me and the others. “I’m sorry for interrupting your business. I was hoping you could help me and my friends here.” I gestured to Mark and Jack behind me.

The creature did not say anything at first. Approaching me slowly it studied me closely before opening its mouth.

“My oh my, what a state you are in. How may I help you and your kin?” It-she asked. Female then and had a strange accent I had not heard before. At least not to my memory.

“We’re trying to find the closest settlement. We’re looking to find a friend.” I needed to be truthful. Finding someone who could help us was what we needed and I was in no mood for being cryptic.

“Ponyville is the closest town, its inhabitants will welcome you without a frown” She replied. Was her melodic tone normal or was she trying desperately to make words rhyme?

“Who is this friend that you are looking for? If I may ask of course?”

“My name is Lou Conlin, my friends and I are looking for… Twilight Sparkle?” I dropped her name as a question. It may be that this Zebra had no idea of who Twilight was. But she knew, from the look on her face, it was not good.

“I am Zecora of Zebreca. I have not heard a name like yours for as long as I remember. But if it is Twilight that you seek, I am afraid that I cannot help you meet.” She said. Now that made very little sense in my head, so I cocked it to the side. Showing my confusion. She seemed shocked that I was not understanding what she was saying.

“You do not know of her fate? You must know the stories as of late?”

“We’re not from around these parts.” I grimaced. I was not terribly sure if I should talk about being from a different planet. Especially after she had spoken of Twilight like that.

“We would just like to know of how to get to… Ponyville, to rest up. And how to contact Twilight.” Hopefully she would point us in the right direction.

“Follow the path straight ahead. You shall find Ponyville and a bed.” She pointed to a path to our right. The trees thinning out further down.

“Its inhabitants may help you meet, if she deems you worthy of her greet.”

“Thank you madame Zecora.” Turning to towards the path she had indicated, we began to follow it down. A feeling of pride in my heart. I had just spoken to a Zebra! And it was not as hopeful as I would have liked but I was happy no matter. Twilight was here!

XXXX

“What do you think she meant by ‘worthy to greet’ ?” Jack asked.

We had now been walking for over an hour and we were still not out of the forest. We were all a little worn out now. We had not eaten since last night and I was beginning to feel a little light headed.

“Don’t know and I don’t care at this point.” I replied, looking over at him I gave him a weary smile. “I just want to get somewhere where we can sit and rest.”

“Hear hear!” Mark replied while panting. We were all worn out.

And just when it seemed like we were still going to be walking for a few more hours, the trees thinned out almost completely.

We had done it! We were out!

Despite hearing so many strange sounds and finding traces of creatures that may have been too much for us to handle, we had made it alive and with no serious injuries. Just a very filthy coat and bad back from carrying these saddlebags. We may not have worn them properly…

No matter, we were home free ! All we had to do is follow the trail and hopefully, get to Ponyville before the sun began to set.

“Jesus…” I turned to Jack who was muttering to himself. He looked to be in a bad way.

“You alright?” I asked, the look he gave me told me ‘no’, but he forced a smile.

“Just need to relax a bit. My back is killing me.” He rose shakily to his legs and began to move ahead. I looked to Mark with a raised brow.

“Guess I’m tailing, huh?” I had never known just how expressive animal features were on us. The way his ears folded backwards was clear sign of disappointment. Reading pony body language may be easier than reading human body language.

“Yes you are.” I stated and moved to follow Jack who was already getting a little far ahead.

“Just great I hate tailing.” He mumbled, and I laughed. This earned me a magical slap on the back of my head.
I wished that the Zebra… Zecora had given us an estimation of how long it would take to get to Ponyville. We were all dragging our paws and there was still no town in sight.

What had appeared however was a large orchard. Apple trees spanning as far as the I could see on the right side of the road.

In certain areas we could see ponies picking the apples. They all we all dressed in overalls for ponies, some were hitting the trees with their hind legs while the others were pulling oversized carts of apples around, following their fellow apple tree kickers.

We all stopped to look at these ponies. They were far off but we could still see some defining features. Unlike us, they all lacked wings and horns. They were normal ponies and they seemed to be struggling. They also appeared to be suffering from malnutrition, many of them were looking very thin.

Down the road, we could see a more ponies approaching us. They too were all dressed in the same gear. Maybe they were another team that was coming to work on this part of the orchard ?

As they approached, a small pony with a pink bow in its hair ran up to us.

“Well hi there, welcome tah Sweet Apple Acres! Are ya hear for the inspection?” She had the voice of a child that sounded feminine. Guess she must be a girl. Though I was not sure yet.

“Inspection?” I wondered what she meant by inspection? Maybe our military gear made us look like inspectors in their world...

“Ah thought y’all was part of the Imperial Guard, with those strange cloaks!” She pointed at our insignias. She was right about the military markings but not about us. Just as I was about to formulate a reply, a very old looking lime green pony with grey hair approached us.

“Now now Apple Bloom, I’m sure that these fine colts are here for the rosters.” She held the young one back, the looked at me. “What’s ya name sunny?” God that accent was thick.

“Lou Conlin and this is Mark and Jack.” I pointed to them and they nodded their heads as a hello.

“We’re not part of the guards, we’re travelling from the forest over there.” I pointed behind me.

“The Everfree?!” The young one, Apple Bloom reeled back in shock. Obviously that was not the right thing to say.

“Now now Apple Bloom.” The old mare said, putting her leg over the filly. “Well I’m Granny Smith, this here is Big Mack and Apple Bloom.” We nodded to the others, and smiled. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! We were on our way to make our harvest before the end of day. To meet our production quota.” She then looked out at the other workers in the orchard.

“That’s why we thought you were here to inspect our work for the war effort.”

“The war effort?” Jack asked as he stood beside me with Mark.

“Y’all been living under a rock?” She asked in almost utter bewilderment. To be fair, we were new to this world, so speaking from hindsight, maybe things seemed a little strange for a magical land of talking horses.

“Not really, we’ve just been travelling for a while.”

“Well… like I was sayin’, we thought you were here to inspect our work. But seeing as you are not, is there anything we can help y’all with?” She asked. She was obviously in a hurry to get on with her work and I was not going to hold her and her friends any longer.

“We were on our way to Ponyville.” I paused as I began to wonder. What would happen if I asked about Twilight?

“We’re trying to meet up at Twilights lodgings.”

“Y’all friends of Twilights?” Apple Bloom asked, having escaped the grip of Ms Smith.

“Yes but we are just trying to get to Ponyville. If you tell us how far, we’ll leave you and your workers to your business.”

“We’re not workers!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “This is mah family!”

Ooooh… that seemed to make sense. But this Apple Bloom seemed a bit to young to be working the orchards.

“Sorry, I had no idea.” I apologised. She took it with huge grin. Her family seemed to be alright with that.

“So… is Ponyville far?”

“It sure ain’t, but are y’all sure you want to meet with Twilight? She’s a bit of a busy mare as of late. Her bein’ the commander of all of this area.” Ms Smith asked. This was interesting but I was not going to push my luck before these ponies started asking too many questions.

“Thanks, does she live anywhere in particular? Or does she pick lodgings?”

“She used to live the old library. It’s been abandoned since the Shadow took over. She lives in Canterlot now.” She then pointed to a mountain that was partially obscured by clouds. But even from here, I could make out the outlines of a town. I gulped.

“Thank you for your help. We’ll leave you to your work.”

Bidding them farewell, we made our way down the dirt road once more. I had my eyes almost completely stuck on the distant mountain. There was no way I could ever walk that far. Not in one long haul.

The others agreed. We would need to figure out something if we had to go all that way to meet Twilight.

I was getting slightly worried however. It had been twice now that we had been asked if we wanted to really meet Twilight. They made it sound like she was not… well… I don’t know. I still remembered my vivid encounter with that shadowy figure in her mind. I had never seen anything like that before. While Twilight may have been on my side then, there was every possibility that she had become corrupted. Or worse.

There was a war going on and we did not know against who. Other ponies? Or something else… We were suppose to help the ponies of this world and we had no idea of where to start.

Twilight was my only hope for answers, but maybe Twilight had changed. It had been years since we last saw each other. Maybe this life under occupation had made her believe that their was no other option but to side with this mysterious creature that everyone seemed to call: the Shadow.

That was another thing. The Shadow… Who was he? We had very little information. All we knew was that he had invaded all alone it seemed and was now in charge of this country. Or this world. We had no idea what he had done. Was he evil? Did he have bad intentions for this land?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but as a marine, I never questioned whether the Japanese were evil. Maybe they were… But I fought them without really being sure.

All that mattered was finding Twilight. Dragging our paws along the road, we approached a dip in the road, and down below… A town. Ponyville.

We had made it. Spurred on by the sight, we ran? Galloped? Whatever… we rushed to the town. Upon entering the outskirts, we slowed down and gaped at the architecture. The town had a seemingly medieval feel to it. The buildings made of straw and tightly packed hay criss-crossed by large wooden beams.

It was beautiful. Ponies all around looked at us but seemed to keep to themselves. While we looked over joyed, it soon became apparent that the ponies here were not.

They looked miserable. Tired. Hungry and thirsty.

We asked several of them directions for Twilight’s house. In the end, we ended up in front of a large tree. The entire thing looked almost mystical. Approaching the door, I knocked.

No answer. To be fair the place looked abandoned. Putting my paw on the handle, it was locked. Turning my side, I prepared to breach the door with my shoulder. Only for Mark to stop me.

“Are you seriously going to break into her home like that ?” He hissed. I stared at him with a dead paned look before turning my attention to the door. My friends covered me as I knocked the lock right off the other side.

Slipping inside, I held the door for my friends before closing it.

We must have spent a few minutes with our mouths hanging open. From the outside, this place looked kind of small, but inside…

It was very large and spacious. All around were book shelves embedded in to the outer walls. The centre piece had a horses head on a table. Flicking on our torches, we moved still in awe at what this place was. Beautiful.

I could see Twilight living here actually. She did say that she was a bit of a bookworm. I think.

Pulling out my torch, I moved through a door way into what appeared to be a kitchen. Mark went to a door in the back that was probably a basement. Though a tree was supposed to have roots, so basement was a little strange.

Jack on the other hand followed the stairs up. One thing that I had noticed was the fact that this place looked not only abandoned, but was also left in its state of habitation. Books were still laying out on the floor. Food was left moulding on the side counter. Washing still in the sink. And a thin layer of dust covered everything. Cobwebs covered most things. My sensitive pony nose was struggling to not sneeze.

There was one thing that caught my eye. On the counter top was a crown. Small and delicate. Made of gold with small shards of amethyst or maybe sapphires within the tips. Beautiful though dusty. I picked it of with my magic and observed it.

“I wonder why she would leave this behind.” I whispered to myself.

“Hey guys !” A shout came from the library area. Mark and he sounded worried. Placing the tiara down, I grabbed my gun and ran to the library. Jack was already jumping down the stairs. It was strange seeing him like that. His legs working together to cushion his fall like a feline would. It seemed automatic. Maybe I could do that too…

Both of us ran down the steps of the basement. The room was very large. Big machines were all hooked up to other things. Wires and cables snaking along the floor. Amongst it all was Mark. He was lifting bits of glass from the floor. Large shards of reflective glass causing his flashlight to blind us momentarily.

Holstering our guns, I moved up to see what he had discovered. He looked at me as I approached, holding a shard in his magic, he then looked ahead of him.

‘Wonder what happened here.” He said, chucking the piece of glass to the side and nodding towards the large contraption ahead of us.

Within a large arch was a beautifully carved wooden frame. Rounded, most likely a mirror judging by all the reflective glass about the place. What seemed the most unsettling was that the glass appeared to have shattered outwards from the mirror. Only a few scant pieces were lying at the base. Either hit the mirror from behind without leaving a dent or a hole or…

“This must be where Twilight tried that experiment of hers.” Mark suggested, looking over a few pieces of paper on a table next to us.

“She said that it came through the mirror and pulled her into our world.” He was right. She had told us that when we had first met. In a cave on our way back to Henderson Field.

“Looks like we can’t use that mirror to get back home then.” I muttered. Looking at my own paws, I noticed what appeared to be a key of some sort just lying on the floor. There was no indication as to what it could be used for.

Taking a look around with my torch, I noticed a cupboard door on the side wall to my right. Pushing past Mark, I placed the key in the lock and turned. The doors opened to reveal nothing. There were small metal plackets marked ‘Honesty, Magic, Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity, and Kindness’.

I had no idea what that meant. Nor was it important right now. First we needed to rest up. Get some sleep and hopefully find our way to Canterlot in the morning.

I sure did hope that we wouldn’t have to walk. Oh boy.

“Jack, go back to the library section and set up camp.” I turned to him. He was still standing at the base of the steps. He grunted, shifting his wings as he returned up the stairs.

“Come on Mark, lets take our gear off. Then eat.” I turned and made my way towards the exit. My back was killing me… and so were my legs.

“Sounds like a plan.” He said, following my lead.

XXXX

We had very little to say that evening. We were all so tired. None of us really wanted to sleep, but at the same time, we really wanted to curl up in to a ball and sleep like kittens.

It wasn’t truly hard. Especially as cat-ponies. But the nightmares was what kept us away from the idea of sleep.

Not that we had a choice, either way, sleep would come and so would the nightmares.

“Tomorrow we go to Canterlot.” I yawned, smacking my lips before finally looking to Mark and Jack. They both nodded, yawning as well.

“We’ll hopefully find a better and easier way than walking. But if we can’t, then prepare to walk.”

“We’re really heading up there? To where this so called Shadow is ruling from?” Jack asked. I just nodded. I had no other ideas of what to do other than that. Maybe we were walking into a bad situation. Maybe there was someone else we had to talk to… I don’t know.

We had been dropped into this. Now we had to dig ourselves out.

“I don’t know what to do guys.” I admitted out right. I was not afraid to tell them what was on my mind. They knew that I was not a natural leader. Just one of circumstance.

“Okinawa did not help me with how to lead men. I’m not sure of what to do.” Looked at them solemnly.

“If only I could say that we needed to go see him or her and then find a way to meet Twilight without going to the wolf’s lair. I wish I knew what we had to do here. But I don’t. I don’t know…”

I never wanted to command. It always felt like an extra responsibility that I did not want. Responsible for other peoples actions. Their successes and their failures.

I looked up as my friends made their way beside me and gave me a hug.

They had never done that before. At least not for trying to comfort me. Maybe they had done it once or twice during the shelling on the Canal.

I hugged them back as we all curled up together and closed our eyes. Without another word, we went to sleep.

Chapter VII: The Raiders And The Princess

“Lou ?”

“Yeah ?”

“Why are you home ?”

“If only I knew…”

“You left me…”

…

“You left me now I’m dead.”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry Tomy.”

Behind me, I could hear the sound of a plane. Its engines whirling around as it fell from the sky. It kept getting louder. Tomy was standing beside me. Looking at me as blood poured from his guts.

I didn’t understand? Tomy didn’t die in a plane crash… did he?

“Help me Lou.”

I turned to him. It wasn’t Tomy.

Who was it. I was forgetting… why was I forgetting ?

“Who?”

“Help me Louis! Oh god please help me!” Around me were so many faces. Each one fading from recognition. Each one becoming blank.

“Oh god.” I made to move away from the bodies. My leg caught on something unseen, I tripped. Falling onto my back I was forced to look up. The aircraft was crashing down upon me. Huge, loud and terrifying.

I wanted to move but something stopped me. A boot was set of my wounded shoulder. Looking down at me was Romain. His face was twisted in rage. He knelt down to whisper something into my ear.

“You don’t deserve to live happy.” His face disappeared, the aircraft was so close now. My breath caught as I chocked back a whimper.

He was right.

XXXX

I awoke with a start, my heart pounding and my eyes watering. Looking around, I saw that I was in the library. I was cuddled up to Mark and Jack, both were restless, they too were having their own nightmares.

I didn’t have a nightmare every night. Some times I would dream about our fun times. Or maybe about being a superhero. I had dreamed of Twilight once or twice, maybe even fantasized once of a life together. That was one weird dream, but nicer than these other nightmares.

Just as I was about to lie back down, I heard a click. My ears swivelled towards the door.

It was open slightly. Not surprising seeing as I had knocked the lock right off. I would have to apologise to Twilight when we finally found her.

Mark stirred slightly.

“Mwhat’s going on?” He asked, still asleep.

“I’m sure I shut the door.” I said, getting up from our pile, I adjusted my cloak and holster around my leg. I probably should have removed them but I was just far too exhausted from all the walking.

“I’ll go and get it.” I mumbled. My paws pitter-pattered on the wooden floor as I pushed the door shut. I was in mid yawn when the door flew towards me.

I fell to the floor in a daze. My ears were ringing.

All I saw was a large figure dressed in spiky armour rushing over me and putting a sword to my throat. What was going on?

Mark and Jack were quick to act. Both were up and yelling at the intruder, their revolvers at the ready. Whoever it was who was holding me let go and retreated. I was quick to get to my paws and shake myself off. Maybe we could talk with whoever attacked me. I was in no mood for a rough fight.

Looking up, I struggled to see who it was. The armour glinting in the moonlight. Soon my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I finally saw who it was. Those eyes! That hair! There was no way I could ever forget those features.

I was bewildered. I thought that it would take us ages to meet up at the mountain city.

“Twilight?” I asked hesitantly. Afraid to make a move in case things spiralled. She looked awful, her once radiant eyes no longer seemed to hold the spark that they once did.

At my question, she seemed to have lost it. Her sword clattering to the ground. A deathly silence filled the room as she took a slight step back, her ears splaying backwards.

“Lou?”

I swallowed thickly, nodding my head, her eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. Her gazed lowered as she continued to mutter to herself. I was a bit worried, it only took a few moments as I made a few steps towards her. I stopped when her head snapped up, her gaze stern and unwavering. She looked mad, but there was something else.

After a moment of just staring, her horn charged and a large smile split her face. Within a flash she was atop of me, hugging me with all her might. She was crying, tears of joy ran down her face as we hugged. The others joined us in the group reunion, no words were spoken as we rejoiced in our ‘retrouvaille’. It was lovely and I was so happy.

“Oh my gosh, it’s you!” She sniffed, wiping away her tears with her magic, she looked at us in turn. “You’re all here!” She said once more before looking at Jack.

“Jack?” He nodded, then she looked at Mark. “Mark?”

“Who else?” He laughed, smiling broadly. He was very happy to see a familiar pony face. We all were.

“Twilight?” A voice called from the door way. We all turned to look at whoever was interrupting this lovely moment.

At the door was a small creature, scaly like a lizard but with a tail. Twilight turned only her head and greeted the creature. Her smile never leaving her face. She recognised the creature so I had no feeling or need to take action.

“Spike!” She called and made her way towards ‘Spike’.

“What’s going on, who are these ponies?” The voice sounded quite young, hard to tell if it was male or female.

Twilight approached the Dinosaur and ushered it in. The others and I held ourselves high, not really sure who this was. We were a little cautious, but not enough for us to draw. If this creature was with Twilight, then that was fine.

“Spike, these are my friends from Earth!” She began. “When the Shadow sent me through the mirror, these are the ones who found me.” She explained before gesturing in at each of us in turn.

“This is Lou, Mark and Jack.” She said before looking back from us to Spike. “Guys, this is Spike. My number one assistant and adopted baby dragon brother.” So he was a dragon!

“Hi, nice to meet you.” He said as he approached us, a claw raised at me. Raising my paw, I grasped his rather clumsily and shook it.

“The pleasure is ours.” I said, the others nodded and smiled down at the drake. After releasing, I quickly realised that Twilight was staring at me with an increasingly intensifying scrutiny. Something had caught her attention. She was staring at my paw.

“Is that a paw ?” She asked, looking at all of our paws with a disbelieving look.

“Uh yeah, I was going to ask what species are? Couldn’t remember you saying if ponies had paws or not. The wings seem a little over the top too.” I explained, flexing a wing out from under the cloak. Twilight and Spike froze, their eyes widening as they looked at each other in obvious disbelief. Both Mark and Jack did the same. Twilight seemed almost ready to faint.

Then suddenly, she had a huge revelation. Or something like that, because after a few seconds, she raised her head and began to bounce up and down the room. With swipe of her magic, her armour clattered to the ground as she continued to bounce around us repeating her mantra.

“Ohmygoshyou’reAlicorns!Ohmygoshyou’reAlicorns!Ohmygoshyou’reAlicorns!”

Spike seemed a little lost for words but at least he kept some form of composure. I was pulled out of my train of thought as my right hind leg was raised without warning. I almost fell on my face had Jack not caught me.

I turned my head to see Twilight studying me attentively. Grasping my wings and going into full inspection mode. I felt a bit self conscious, especially since she was very close to where my large calibre was.

And that it also happened to be placed near to my erogenous zone. I had been quite surprised when I had seen my ‘new’ junk, but it sure wasn’t easy to have a piss.

After her thorough check up, Twilight appeared in front of me and gave me some of the biggest eyes I have ever seen.

“This is incredible!” She squealed. “I must take notes!” She declared running around us and grabbing pieces of paper and writing utensils.

This was weird, maybe she had always been like this? I couldn’t remember, but I was tired and so were the others. She may be fully awake, but we weren’t.

I turned my attention to the young drake who was watching the whole scene unfold.

“This often happen?” I asked, he just shook his head. A resounding no then. Looking over at Twilight who was now rummaging through a desk under the staircase, I made my way over to her.

“Twilight it’s nice to see you and all but-” She cut me off by grabbing my mouth and taking a look at my teeth.

She appeared to be making a mental note of everything that was happening. Everything about me. I was tired and I also wanted to go to sleep, and she was waaaay too excited.

As she turned to make notes, I grabbed her by the tail with my magic. I then yanked her back towards me. She squealed and landed on her rear right in front of me. She turned her head looked up at me with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry.” She whispered “B-but this is incredible, you’re all ponies! Alicorns no less!”.

“Twilight it’s lovely to see you and all but we’re tired. I know you have questions but we’re exhausted, and you look it too.” Helping her up, I gave her my best smile. Realisation came over her and she gave the others an apologetic squee’.

“Sorry, you’re right, but I have so many questions…” She trailed off. I knew that she wouldn’t be getting much sleep, and I was certainly going to be struggling too.

“Twilight lets get some rest, we’ll talk in the morning.” Turning around, my friends already settling down on the floor, I began to settle down only to have Twilight rush to my side and stopping me.

“W-wait, there’s a bed upstairs!” Mark snorted, chuckling while Twilight looked at him confused.

“You want to take the captain to bed now?” Jack laughed too.

“I-I what? No! I mean-” I silenced her with a paw and gave her a thankful look.

“I appreciate the thought, but that’s your bed and we’ve already set ourselves up here. Just go to sleep Twilight we can talk in the morning.”

Lying down, I watched a Spike whispered into Twilight’s ear and made his way up the stairs. Twilight sighed and moved to the door to close it.

“Night night all.” Jack mumbled as he closed his eyes. As did I, until something soft and fluffy pressed itself into my side. Opening an eye. Twilight looked at me as she curled up and pressed herself into our circle.

“Uhm?” I asked, a brow raising in confusion.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I have been wishing for this moment, to see you all again.” She sighed and pressed her head into my side and sighed. “I don’t want this to be a dream. I’m staying with you. So don’t go anywhere.” She was very stern on that last part. “Please.”

Something had obviously happened to her. Something bad. Maybe had we met again on Tarawa or Okinawa, I would be like her, desperate. And she was desperate for us to be real.

“We’re here Twilight.” I assured her.

“Then don’t leave me.” She mumbled, as she drifted off into the realm of sleep. She still looked as adorable as when we had first met her, a little faded maybe. We all had questions, but those would have to wait.

XXXX

It couldn’t have been more than two hours later that I awoke again. I couldn’t sleep. There was a feeling of sickness in the pit of my stomach. I needed some air.

As I opened my eyes, Twilight stirred next to me. Her eyes opening as she turned to look at me. She almost seemed worried, before her eyes settled on me. She smiled, and moved her head to bring her muzzle up to my neck.

I stiffened as she nibbled at my fur. My wings shifting slightly under my cloak from the contact. I could hear her mumble something, the words lost in the fluffiness of my fur coat.

“I need some air.” I muttered, rising to my feet. Twilight was quick to get up too, following me as I made my way to the front door.

The air outside was cold, fog rose from the ground as white mist escaped from my every breath. The moon was still high in the sky, the pale light was far more beautiful than anything I had seen on Earth. Everything seemed so peaceful, tranquil almost. Twilight followed me out, closing the door behind herself.

Even in the moonlight she was incredibly beautiful, the way her eyes shinned even in the faintest light was almost jaw dropping. Mine probably would be on the floor right now had I not been feeling so tired.

So I just sat there, Twilight standing there for a while before coming to join me under the stars. A cold breeze blew lightly through the streets of this medieval looking town. I could hear the sound of trees swaying off in the distance. A few clouds blew fast overhead, but other than occasional sound of a shutter banging open and shut from one of the nearby houses, everything was still.

The town seemed dead, deserted. As if life had been chocked from its inhabitants.

My thoughts were interrupted by a wing draping across my back.

I looked down at Twilight who was looking up at me with a sad smile, she then leaned into me. Nuzzling my neck again like she had when I had awoken.

The action of having someone do this to me was strange. I had never had a lover before, no girlfriends, just good friends at school. Twilight certainly was a strange addition to my life. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head to the side to rest on top of hers.

It was a lovely moment for the both of us. In each others company, it felt like most of the stress I had within just melted away. I think Twilight felt it too. She had been on edge when we saw her tonight, now she was Twilight.

My Twilight.

“For a Thestral, you are really good lookin’.” She hummed, I lifted my head to give her one of my best confused looks. Or maybe it was an incredulous look? Either way, I tried my best. All I got in return was giggle.

“Oh! Please tell, what is it about this ‘Thestral’ that makes you like him so much?” I didn’t really need a factual answer. She was a native to this world, of course me becoming an equine is going to be rather appealing to her.

“Oh I don’t know, it could be those fangs! Or the bat wings! Or maybe…” She then began to list off everything about me, from head to toe, or paw… or maybe claw? I lost track of what she was saying after point number fifteen. She was excited, and I honestly couldn’t blame her.

“Or… it could just be that you’re actually next to me. Here, talking to me.” I had no idea that multicoloured ponies could actually blush red to such a degree. It was cute and god damn adorable.

“I’m glad that you can see me like that. My family don’t think that I am much of a talker any more.” I looked down to see that Twilight had completely stopped, she just gawked up at me. I sighed, lowering my gaze to look at something else.

“It’s not like that. I mean my parents, my sister, my--” I cut myself from continuing. She had not known Romain. She didn’t need to know, not now.

“I don’t have anyone in my life yet, I haven’t really been looking much.”

Twilight eyed me cautiously for the next few moments, hesitating about what to say. Twilight then turned her head to the stars, looking up at the moon. She sighed, weariness starting to kick in.

“I haven’t found my special somepony yet.” She then turned her attention back to me, nudging me so that I would look at her again.

“I didn’t want to think about it. Not when I had no idea if you were still okay or not.” I chuckled, earning me a wing to the side and an angry look from her.

“Don’t you dare laugh! You and the others were my friends. After all we have been through, I thought me and you would make it work.” That part got me a little off guard. While our relationship had been… how should I put it? Romantic? Loving? I also knew that it would not last. We were from two different worlds. She had to be returned to hers and I had obligations to mine, not pursuing the relationship seemed reasonable.

“I haven’t looked either. It’s been awhile Twilight.” I sighed, I knew what I wanted, but I also knew what that would mean.

“Three years since we met. Almost four now.” I then reached into the pocket of my cloak, retrieving my wallet and removing the print that was held inside. Passing it to her within my magic.

“You’re actually pretty good with that you know?” She took the print and squinted to see what was on it. Was it really that dark? I could just see fine.

“Good with what?” Grabbing my flash light, offering that to her as well. “Do you want a light? You seem to be struggling there.” She took the offer, continuing to squint at the picture with almost all her concentration as she fumbled around with the torch in her magic.

“Unlike you, my eyes aren’t designed for darkness. Seeing in the dark is more of a Thestrals speciality.” Finally lighting on the torch, I raised a paw to shield my eyes. Damn, so I can see in the dark now? I hadn’t paid any attention to it before now.

“And I was talking about your magic.” She turned towards me, giving me an approving nod. “I know Unicorns that struggle to levitate objects, yet you did it with absolute ease.”

I smiled sheepishly, rubbing my paws together nervously. I hadn’t really paid any attention to the use of Magic before now. It wasn’t hard.

“I don’t know about using magic. It just seems so easy.” Turning my attention back to her, I could see the tears. Her eyes were becoming red as she looked at the picture. After a few moments, she turned to me, handing me back the items.

“I wish I could ask to keep it so that I can make a copy. Its painful but that was one of the good memories.” She said, watching as I placed my wallet back in my coat with the torch.

“Maybe once we’ve figured everything out. We still need to figure out with the others how to help you out.” Nuzzling her head, I spread a comforting wing across her back.

“What?”

“Me and the others aren’t here by accident Twi.” I watched for her reaction, she seemed all the more confused. Her mind obviously trying to tie the dots together.

“For me, it started a few days ago. I don’t know about the others, but suddenly we started having these abnormalities appear on us. The next they show up at my house, a strange woman appears and brings us here. Turns us into “imperial ponies”, gives us magic then fucks off.”

“You mean to tell me you were brought here? On purpose?” She was actually hopeful about that. She wanted us to be brought here.

“The demi-goddess said that we were here to help you, nothing much more to it than that.” I shrugged. Twilight on the other hand seemed to be ecstatic. Her eyes shinning in the moonlight, more tears forming in her eyes. Before I could say any more, she had wrapped herself around me and planted her lips against mine. Not for long as she seemed to be trying to kiss me all over my face. Her murmurs were filled with sounds of joy.

“Oh thank Celestia!” She breathed as she regained her composure, removing herself from me. Though keeping out faces only mere inches apart.

“Sorry.” She added, trying to look away sheepishly. Now it was my turn to lean in and give her a peck in the end of her nose. I’m pretty sure she turned red from that, but what I had noticed was how much her coat had regained in vibrancy. Her coat had seemed rather faded and dull earlier, now she was practically radiant.

“I’m not sure what we’re suppose to do here to help you Twilight. But me and the others are pretty much stuck here for no other reason than our obligations to you.” I gave her another bop on the tip of her nose, smiling as she continued to shrink in on herself.

“That and none of us know how to get back to Earth on our own otherwise.”

“You want to go back to Earth?” She squeaked, as I rested my head on top of hers again as I had done earlier, closing my eyes and giving myself a moment to rest my eyes. I didn’t reply. In all honesty, I didn’t want to reply.

“Why don’t we talk about you?”

Chapter VIII: Shadow's doubts

“How could you be here?” The words echoed around the empty halls of the white castle. The throne room was empty, the changeling drones having dispersed from the moment they felt the anger in the room.

“How could you be back?” Red eyes glowered at the stained glass window before the shadow.

A city in flames, ponies running terrified, others carrying a box through the burning streets. The mural had once stood in the castle of the two sisters. Having been moved when the castle was abandoned after Luna’s banishment.

Nopony knew much about what the mural was meant to be depicting. Celestia had not kept good public records. While she herself and her sister had known the significance of the depiction, most ponies had no idea.

Ancestors and their stories had long since past. The times of old were forgotten. Maybe for the best.

‘If only they knew’. The shadow glanced away from the mural. Moving to the side, it eyed the mural depicting Twilight’s rise to power. Going from simple unicorn to Alicorn.

‘Now bearer of chaos magic!’ Laughter echoed around the room, the resonating sound reverberating off the walls and hanging in the air for a moment.

Had the Shadow’s musings been any more painfully silly, maybe the air would have trembled longer. Its gaze going back to the previous window. It’s eyes seeming to grow ever more confused, the raging intensity of red burning away. Sighing, a pony’s sigh. The Shadow moved further along down the hall, opening the doors to the throne room, the hallways had been deserted.

Nopony wanted to be found near the abomination. Not even the Changelings. Ponies were a harmonic race, a race of travellers. Of explorers. Of lovers…

Of murderers.

The sound of hooves against marble was the only thing to be heard throughout the entire castle. Shadow had moved through the halls towards the magical archive located in the old library. If the threat that it felt was returning, there would be no power available on Equus that could possibly stop the oncoming storm.

The air within the outer courtyard was beginning to stir, a smell of pine trees and salt water, rising into the air. Trees began to sway in the heavy wind. Shutters banged in the distance. Flaming torches were blown in several directions before going out.

A storm was coming.

The entrance to the magical archive was abandoned too. The door sealed however against intruders. Unicorns were paying a heavy price for this rooms existence. The first sign of life made itself known as a young mare maid came around the corner hall with a cart full of jars. Upon seeing her ruler, the mare broke. Her movement stopped as all power to breath was removed from her.

Letting go of the magical signature to open the door. The Shadow moved towards the mare.

Approaching slowly, the maid appeared about ready to wet herself from fear. The ponies had not taken well to their new ruler. Had there been some sort of misunderstanding? Ponies should rejoice! Soon the whole world would do the same… or maybe not, if she was involved.

The mare dove to the ground as the sound of hooves stopped before. She couldn’t speak. She was terrified.

“West Ford.” The maid trembled even further at the mention of her name. Despite this, her eyes rose up to meet the Shadow’s as it raised her head with dark tendrils under her chin. The eyes that regarded hers flashed for only a few moments, but she could see the eyes. The eyes of a pony. They were kind and caring, looking Ford over with a seemingly pure concern. The eyes rested upon her stomach before turning back to the shade of red they had been moments before.

“Your foal is coming along?” The question appeared more as a statement, as the magic from the shadows cast removed from the young maid.

“Take good care of your child. A mothers love is the most precious thing out there.” West Ford nodded, removing herself from the bowing stance she had taken, backing away slowly from Shadow’s presence. Turning she ran as fast a she could to disappear, turning a corner, she vanished into the castle, having left the cart she had been pulling.

The Shadow approached the cart. The contents still unopened from their collection period. Stacked neatly away in groups, marked with labels. Lifting one of the containers into the air. The lid opened, a beautiful light of light blue magic was lifted out. It pulled off to the south. Ponyville the label had read. Trying to get back to its owner. Consumed by dark tendrils, the light from the fledgeling harmonious magic was devoured by its holder.

The floor was littered with magic sealing jars as the Shadow devoured each one with gusto. The sight was ungodly, terrifying to any onlooker. Each time that piece of harmonious magic was pulled into the mass of darkness, the outer shell would scream. Its body contorting and transforming slowly into a more… presentable appearance.

Moments after it began, the feasting stopped. The mass of vengeful magic was compacted down slightly to that of a pony. The process traumatic. The result…

‘Not yet I suppose’ The form seemed more accommodating. More time… It needed more time. Sending Twilight out there could only buy so much time. But not if she held her family in higher regard. If SHE had returned, then there wouldn’t be much time left now.

Recalling the Ponyville express to bring as much of the collected magic was important, but slowing down the pawn was all the more important. Hopefully keeping Twilight and her friends there as a distraction would buy more time?

‘What would it matter? You would have won either way… Galaxia’. Dropping the final container, the Shadow pursued its journey towards the dungeon. Knowing how Twilight thinks was the best way to keep her from returning with a captive too soon. Knowing the goddess, she had planned this out long ago. Maybe it was time to up the ante. Information was required, and only one of Twilight’s family could possibly give it.

The entrance to the dungeons had also been deserted. Changelings were clever enough not to get in the way of power. Well… at least these Changelings were. Of all the shapeshifters that history could recount, the bugs were the most loyal once their queen was made an obedient tool.

‘How easy it had been’.

Cages stuck into the magical rock stretched out into the gloomy cavern. Each cage had its inhabitant. Fed and watered. Even a ‘Great Evil’ could show compassion to its enemies. Ponies weren’t the enemy here. Not even the Griffons, nor the Yaks were the real threat. The real threat was within.

‘Where had harmony gone?’ The ponies of Equestria had wondered. Harmony had never left. It was always here, the ponies had not yet realised that the work of ‘world domination’ was not a desire out of hatred. It was to bring all races together. To force them to never have to fight ever again. To make peace… forever. If only the ponies in the cage ahead had known that instead of trying to resist.

“What were knight Sparkle’s plans?” The question made the ponies look up in fear, having not noticed the dark being in their presence. Celestia and Luna had been huddled together as they tried to cover the remaining members of the with their wings. A futile effort, but a motherly one nonetheless. A quality that Shadow admired. If only slightly.

“You were the one that sent her into the Everfree was it not?” Luna answered, her gaze unwavering as she glared directly at the bright red eyes.

“You told her to go to the castle. Though she has taken a stop at Ponyville.” The armour had been removed in Ponyville. That was for sure and the use of chaos magic had been limited for now. So Twilight had indeed stopped there.

“To rest up? If anything you should have sent for a royal cart!” It was Celestia’s turn to answer. She too lay defensively over Twilight’s family as the cowered in almost catatonic fear from their current interrogator.

“And yet, I sense creationist magic within the Everfree. What could it all mean, hmm?” The question seemed to linger in the sisters minds as they processed what they had just heard.

“T-then you are mistaken.” Celestia breathed, her mind still trying to comprehend what her soul was telling her.

“You and I would both know, Celestia. We were both there for her reign!” Celestia and Luna’s eyes became as small as pinpricks as the information was dropped on them. Their interrogator could not care less.

“If it is her, I have to assume that she has made contact in some way. I want to know with whoom?” The shadow awaited their signs of pure confusion that each of the ponies shared before huffing in annoyance.

“We don’t know--” Celestia began only to be thrown off the pile of ponies she and her sister were protecting. The dark tendrils of the vengeful magic throwing the ponies off to the side as it dug into the pile in search of the answer.

“Then I’ll talk to somedrake who does know.” It’s target found, the tendrils removed the source of information from the protective cries of those around, Twilight’s parents trying desperately to help their adopted offspring.

The green and purple drake hung upside-down, held by the ancient force that the Shadow commanded around his tail. Leaning forward, the Shadow grinned at him in the kindest way that it could as the thick black smoke of magic parted to show a smiling mouth of pure white light. Mouth twisting into a sly grin, the pony features becoming slightly more pronounced.

“Now… what is Twilight’s plan?”

Chapter IX: Once more Everfree

The screaming in the distance was painful to my ears. I peered through the curtains of the library’s front window. Outside, I could see a few columns of ponies. Unicorn ponies, all facing the town square.

Despite the screams of pain, the ponies only winced and seemed to hang their heads. None ran away from whatever was hurting their people. They were resigned, moving slowly forward one by one.

I watched as the line began to disappear. Further towards the market place. My friends watching over my shoulder, confused and slightly worried.

Twilight had warned us earlier of a daily magical collection. All unicorns who did not have a form of employment that required the use of magic were given papers ordering them to come to their local collection centre and submit to magic collection.

There were signs outside mentioning this when we had arrived but I had paid little attention. We had been tired and we knew so little about our bodies that we weren’t even sure if the rules applied to us. Apparently it did.

“Just stay with me, and they won’t even come near you.” Twilight had explained while showing us some papers making her an exception to the whole process.

“So if they’re collecting magic from unicorns why are you allowed to have your magic?”

“It’s not as simple as just a complete magical draining. If you completely drain the harmonious magic from ponies, then that’s it. The magic doesn’t grow again until a very long time after.” She explained as she moved things about the library. There was still a bit of mess from when she had once lived here. Books were still strewn over the floor, probably from when the Shadow had escaped.

“My magic was taken when… well you know.” She sighed as the closed the curtains, obstructing our view of the outside.

“The magic that I have now is Chaos magic from Discord.” Going back to what she was doing, I watched as she floated books around, dusting off the shelves and putting the books away.

“Which means that collecting this magic is important. Important enough that it needs to been farmed.” I frowned. There was so much I did not understand about this place. Twilight’s explaining was very insightful, but the jigsaw pieces were not fitting up with what I was trying to theorise.

“Growing magic to then collect it and do what exactly?” Jack asked, moving back and forth between his gear and the kitchen. He was still trying to clean his clothing as much as he could while we were still in relative safety. Despite having to go back to the Everfree.

“All of it goes to Canterlot. There, the Shadow uses it for... something. I’m not sure what, but it must be a weapon.” She said as she handed me my gear that had been bothering her cleaning route.

“When I was returned here, we had tried to find the elements of harmony. But we couldn’t find them. The vault that housed them was empty. When I turned myself in, the Shadow wanted to know why we hadn’t used the elements against him.”

Twilight turned as Spike came into the room, holding a stack of books and was somehow able to hold this three foot stack without any trouble whatsoever.

“I told the truth. That the elements were gone and that I had come to surrender to save my family. Only after that had he devised a plan for a system that would allow for a daily collection of Harmonious magic from Unicorns and other spell casting creatures within Equestrian borders.”

Spike stopped near Twilight and stared at all of our gear in wonder. I made my way over to Twilight and gave her a comforting hug. I knew that this must be a huge strain of her mental health. Ponies did not seem to act like humans, they seemed more willing to just roll over and play dead. Maybe that was why there had been so little resistance from ponies to having their magical powers stripped from them.

“My friends will be here soon.” She observed the clock on the wall. Half nine.

Twilight had already explained that her friends were coming over. They were apparently accompanying her in their search for us, basically. Element bearers she had said, I guessed that she meant the bearers of the elements of harmony like herself.

I had lots of questions about how the elements worked. What it was about them that Twilight needed so much. They could apparently defeat great evils but how?

She had asked Spike to find me a book earlier. He hadn’t found it, Twilight had scolded him for forgetting where the magical history section was. I didn’t mind, but the book I had been given did shed some new light on the situation.

The elements were objects tied to how these creatures viewed harmony. Harmony was representable with 6 elements and once combined against an evil that could not be persuaded to stop, it would, purge them of “evil” ambitions. Or turn them to stone… ‘ouch’.

The fact was that despite this nice piece of information, I still had no idea what me and the others were suppose to do here. We had already gone through most of the books earlier this morning trying to find answers.

But this was a small town library, what we needed was a library that held older and more sensitive information.

“Canterlot’s archive is the best place for information, but it has been… removed and turned into the Shadow’s private quarters.” She said, moving past me as I continued to re-read the information about the elements and how they worked.

“And we’re not going there unless we have to.” Mark said, tightening the straps around his right hip with his mouth. The moment Twilight had explained how she had known about our arrival, we quickly understood that we were being tracked. So we had to limit our use of magic to essentials only.

“Anywhere else that’s got a reasonably large bank of information?” I asked, moving to follow Twilight as she made her way to the basement entrance. She hesitated before the door. The question wasn’t what stopped her. It was this place. She had demons here, I could almost see them from the look she had.

“It’s empty down there Twi. We’ve checked.”

“I know…” I followed her as she seemed to wander down the steps. Broken.

The others followed suite. Watching from the stairs as we both made our way into the centre of the room. She was silent, moving the pieces of reflective glass back and forth with a hoof. Before looking up at me. There were no tears. Just a solemn look of guilt.

“It’s all my fault. You wouldn’t be stuck here if it weren’t for me. None of you would.” She looked at all of us, returning her gaze to me, I hugged her once more. The others joined in, moving to close Twilight within a protective shield against her own self doubts.

Despite how we felt about our journey here. None of us could deny our eagerness to help Twilight out. Not one of us would abandon her over returning home. Despite all the loss that we had suffered, even my family had become secondary. For the time being, only Twilight and Equestria were all that interested us.

“The castle of the two sisters, there’s a library there.” She sniffed, melting into our embrace as if nothing could be better for her.

A top the stairs, Spike watched with a content smile. He seemed to be really happy to see us all hugging and sharing this loving moment, all of us together. Despite this, the moment I noticed him, he scampered off, out of the room.

Maybe he was still a bit nervous around us.

XXX

Out of all the ponies we had met on our visit to Equestria, Twilight’s friends were the probably the most interesting. They were all a variety of colours but also of personalities. When they had first arrived, they had kept their distance until Twilight cleared the tension in the room.

The five were close friends of hers and she had told them all about us it would seem. Well at least to Rarity, who spent more time asking about our clothing and who our tailors were, when she wasn’t asking which one of us wasn’t in a relationship.

When Mark had accidentally let slip that I had ‘dated’ Twilight, if you will, she spent the rest of the morning asking me all sorts of details about all sorts of things that revolved around me and Twilight.

I was in to Twilight, but I still had no idea how to approach the subject of me and the others returning home and maybe never seeing any of them nor Equus ever again. It had crossed my mind… so had the idea of staying here.

The greetings shared with the others, was something that neither me nor my friends could have ever expected. Each of them were uniquely driven, each of them had seemed bleak when they first arrived, now they were all beaming. I swore that I could see a distinct physical change.

Especially in that Pinkie pony. The vibrancy of her pink coat seemed to almost glow when she got to sing her ‘welcome to Ponyville’ song to us. It was so strange, even her hair seemed to gain some shape to it. Fluffing up instead of dragging down the side of her face.

I could see why they represented the elements of harmony, they all seemed far nicer than anyone I had ever met. Despite Rarity incessant nagging about our relationships with Twi.

They were there for her. And while they may have suffered too, none of them blamed Twilight for anything when they spoke with us.

I didn’t hesitate in hugging Twilight with a wing, as she tried desperately to not give in to Rarity’s demands.

The collective gasps from discovering us to be Alicorns was also something that had an impact on me and the others. Twilight had to try explain to us why this was so important for them. Alicorns were not just a rare breed. They were royalty.

Mark had audibly gulped at that and decided to leave his wings hidden from view under his cloak.

With the whole team assembled, Twilight had laid out her plan. I butted in a few times to give my advise. Especially when it came to getting back into the Everfree. None of us really wanted to go back there after yesterday’s long trek, but we apparently had no choice about that.

The castle of the two sisters had apparently been the same castle that we had spent our first night in. The ruins had contained an archive full of antique books dating back thousands of years though we were quick to dismiss that. Most books would probably crumble to ash if that were the case.

Twilight had defended her case, but I left it to: believe it when I see it.

The route planned was the same that we had taken, it was the safest to avoid… Manticores? Whatever those were. Apparently this was their late autumn mating season and they could quickly get out of control and angry. Fluttershy was the one who explained in more detail. Jack and her actually spent a lot of time together. Talking about magical animals and other mythical creatures.

It was past mid day by the time we left. Two hours had passed by so quickly for introductions and planning. Our group of nine ponies and one dragon made its way through Ponyville as we headed back towards the orchards in the distance.

The citizens of Ponyville were as attentive today as they had been when we had first arrived. The looks that me and my friends got were a little unnerving. It looked like they wanted come and say hello. Or maybe rob us, who knew. Not me.

The guards that we saw seemed a little nervous too. When we approached, they flung themselves onto the ground. Twilight, it seemed, was the one who commanded their fear. She ushered them to rise, and to continue with their work.

Controlling ponies papers, protecting the town, stopping thieves… I could think of a few things these guards could be doing instead of whimpering on the floor.

Looking at them, even a civilian could tell that they had no experience here. They were not soldiers here to enforce martial law. They were “three week wonders”, with not nearly enough training to make them intimidating. But maybe that was the whole point?

Equestrians had seemed rather resigned to their fate. Despite the talk of war, the atmosphere didn’t seem too worried. They may not fatalists, but pacifists seemed highly plausible. Maybe they were trying to let the invading forces take control.

Where was the ‘evil’ control? In all honesty, for a nation that seemed desperate to overthrow its ruler. I had seen very little forms of violence against the creatures of this land. The forces here seemed to be rather complacent here and there.

Only five guards to hold control over, what I considered a large settlement, seemed careless.

Twilight had explained that the war was drawing soldiers from all over the nation. They were fighting two fronts. The Yaks in the North and the Griffons in the South-East. Yet despite this, the ponies had not tried to revolt. Instead they followed their orders without question.

Was I missing something?

There had to be something. I had been told about the resistance, though they seemed more keen to just target food and medical supplies, not trying to overthrow the tyrant. From what I saw, there was very little oppression. The daily magical collection was probably enough to keep ponies frightened, but after three years?

Maybe the Shadow wasn’t being nearly as oppressive as what Twilight and the others seemed to think he was. Though that could all be due to the difference in our cultures. Tyrants and dictators were probably not something often found here.

Maybe he had taken enough extreme measures to exact control over the equestrians without actually having to go and make public displays of murder.

My thought’s were stopped as new ones came in. Just ahead, a large dust cloud could be seen. From the clouds emerged ponies, though they looked weird. Freaky even.

Totally black, holes in their legs, armour made from carapace. They were bugs, but they still shared a basic similarity with the ponies of Equestria.

“Changelings.” Someone had said, maybe Spike. My friends and I were shocked, watching as this herd of creatures entered the town. Soldiers. They were soldiers!

The 5th changeling guards were apparently part of a force sent south to defend the border against the Griffons. They had been suffering skirmishes over the past month.

Twilight had no information about troop movements, she wasn’t one to know about the Changelings. That was for someone she called Chrysalis.

My friends and I could only spare them lowered glances. I remembered seeing the same thing with different companies throughout the campaign. It was hard to watch these people just trundle past as they limped their way back for medical care. Just how far was the border?

Many of the creatures spared momentary glances towards Spike as he sat on Twilight’s back. The drake never even sparing them one in return. He must have had a bad time with these things in the past. The bugs could only lower their heads out of, what looked like, shame.

XXX

Despite leaving at mid day, the arriving force of Changelings had slowed down our trek as we had let them pass. When the last few limped by, we saw them disappear down the main street before completely vanishing to the other side of town.

Going past the orchards, we could see the forest slowly rising ahead. An orange ‘earth’ pony within the group called Apple Jack told us a great deal about the orchards here. It was her family’s farm. And they had produced cider. In fact, they were one of the greatest in “All of Equestria!” she had declared, earning some very convincing nods from all the others.

Mark had shared his desire to taste one when all of this was over. She held him to that.

The sun was slowly beginning to set as we finally entered the dark forest. The trees closing in around us once more, now the light was fading. But we kept going. Pushing forward along the path, passing the Zebra and her snug little house. Our torches were on now, I gave mine to Rarity to use. My eyes adjusted perfectly to the darkness and I could also see quite far ahead. So much so that I took point over Twilight who had been leading since Ponyville.

“It’s well documented that Thestrals and bat ponies have excellent nocturnal vision!” She said, almost as if quoting a dictionary. She did always look cute when she would close her eyes and go on to explain everything without missing a beat. She looked even cuter when she realised that she was being stared at and would begin to blush furiously.

“Where have you been all my life?” That got her to blush harder, so much so that she began to try and find an excuse to keep moving faster.

The night had fully settled in now. The Everfree was every bit as inhospitable as Twilight and her friends had claimed. The air was filled with strange sounds. Roars and wooshing sounds that reminded me of Guadalcanal.

Another hour of marching before the first in our group, Rarity, collapsed with exhaustion. They all were. Mark, Jack and I could have continued, but the girls were worn out. Moving slightly slower now, we approached a clearing. It contained some ruined buildings from the castle town. We weren’t far, despite this, we set up camp within the foundations of one of the more sturdy buildings.

The girls had brought sleeping bags, so had Spike. We had not. Well the angel hadn’t given us any when we had arrived.

Pinkie and Apple Jack prepared the meal. It was now that I got to witness the crazy reality breaking pony at work. Pulling ingredients from behind her back as they both prepared a rather appetising dinner of baked beans and potatoes.

The dinner was exquisite, it just tasted so nice. The ingredients were so fresh!

Clearing our stuff away, Apple Jack had explained that she would clean up tomorrow. There was a kitchen in the old castle. That would have been nice to know when we had been there…

As everypony and dragon went to bed, my friends went to sleep, curled up together for warmth. I waited a moment, checking the surround before joining them. At least I would have, had Twilight’s magic not pulled me towards her and dumped me next to her. She pulled a blanket from her saddle bag, gesturing for me to lie next to her. I obliged.

That night, we slept peacefully. The sound of the forest roaring and wooshing drawing us into a deep sleep.

Chapter X: Dream

I’m not sure if I could actually explain what happened to me that night. I had gone to sleep, that I was aware of. Then suddenly I had awoken again, but I wasn’t awake. I was no longer in the forest. I was in the air. I was flying.

I should have been terrified, falling through the air with only myself and no parachute. I wasn’t. My wings were gracefully gliding me through the clouds. I could touch them! The soft fluffy white objects were putty in my paws as I dragged my foreleg through them.

It was magical. It was wonderful. I laughed as I held up a piece to my face. The cloud fragment slowly began to evaporate in my grasp, but I was so happy.

The wind going through my golden mane, the rushing of air passing my ears. This was amazing!

“Enjoying yourself, child of night?” The voice made me jump, beside me was the angel. She was standing there, while I was flying, she was just… sliding next to me. Despite this, she was smiling broadly at me. Like a mother who took pride to see their child do something they thought was brilliant.

“What are--” I cut myself off as I stopped flying and landed on a cloud nearby. Soft, like a pillow it was.

“What are you doing here? Where are we anyway!” I asked as she slid to a stop next to me. I was standing on a cloud. This wasn’t real, was it?

“As a Thestral, it is you duty to roam and defend the dream realm. This is where we are now.” She spoke with that lovely soft voice. Again, it sent shivers down my spine. I just wanted to go up to her and bow for forgiveness. As if I had been rude to her.

“Don’t worry about your urges to bow to me. The old imperial ponies were some of the most loyal subjects I had ever created. You and the others are no exception.” I froze.

She knew?

“Can you read my mind?”

“I don’t have to. I already know everything that you are thinking of. Everything that you are going to say and everything that you will ever do.” The words hung over me, the weight of whether that was true or not felt like a huge revelation of my own existence.

“I doubt that.” Looking around, I began to notice things flying in the sky. Other bat ponies moving through openings of pure light that popped in and out of reality.

“Gateways into the dreams of others. Ponies like you are made for this. I’m sure you’ll be very good at it soon enough.” She smiled, I looked up at her as she came to sit beside me.

“Are you saying that me and the others are trapped here?” I had been worried about such an outcome, but I dared not voice it with the others. They had hardships that didn’t need to be made worse by a looming fear of never going home.

“Can we not return home?”

“Of course you can, though I’m sure you could easily find your calling here.” Multiple circular voids of pure blackness appeared in front of us, slowly sliding past us. She sat there, watching as they floated before her and made their way into nothingness.

“Who knows, maybe Ponies and Humans could end up working together one day.” She then leaned down, breathing into my ear.

“Maybe with you.”

“For a supposed God, you’re putting in a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.” I remarked, she laughed before going back to viewing the portals.

“Plus, if you were my creator, you could just end this now.” I said, slowly looking up at her. Her gaze never left the portals. She just… sat there, continuing to work.

“You would--” My words were cut out as she turned to me with a smile that looked so out of place. It was like the motherly one, like the smile from before, but this one had lost all meaning. It was strange, borderline psychotic.

“You can try to think of me as being some benevolent being. Your human gods are no different from me, because they, like you, are one in the same. You believe that you have free will because I make you believe. You think that you have control over your destiny because I make you believe it. You have to believe it.” I backed away slightly, I was frightened now. It was that look. She was empty, where before she was the kindly guardian angel, now she was a soulless devil.

“Your life is already written, what you will do is what you will do. It’s fate, and you and I are both bound to it. The one difference is that I control your fate. You think that your pain is nothing more than your suffering. You’re wrong, its my enjoyment.” Just like that, she pulled away from my now trembling form. Her entire being changed before me. The mare in front of me changed, from a great white and blue alicorn to one of white and orange. Her features more graceful, seemingly more worn too.

“I’ve lived a far longer life than you could ever imagine. I have created countless realities to call home. In the end however, it just gets so boring. So why not create a little drama from time to time.” She then turned her attention away from me and back to the portal.

My mind was racing so fast, smoke was probably rising from my ears. I was looking at a creature that was impossible. I could not explain the emotions I felt at that time. But the one I felt was rage. I would have moved to strike her had she not turned at that moment.

The look she gave me was like nothing I could ever properly describe. Like looking at someone who had lost it all and I mean everything.

“Do not take my words for your truth. I’ve spent an eternity alone, no one is coming to save me. I didn’t kill Tomy, Romain nor any of the others out of spite to you, but like me, no one is coming to save them now. I told you I wasn’t kind Fire Fly, nor am I unkind enough to deny you a form of existence. Would you really hate me for having had enough of all of it?” I could see tears in her eyes, the more I thought about it, tears of my own began to spring forth at the mention of my brother’s name. I was talking to a being that I had very little understanding of. Despite this, she was asking me to look at her not as an all mighty creator, but as a person. Someone who had been forced by her own creator to just… work. Endlessly.

She had written herself into her own story, I was merely a spectator to her wildest dreams.

A portal then appeared in front of me. Looking up at her, she gestured with a hoof to take a look. Unlike the white portals used by the few bat ponies that flew about the sky, this one I could not physically enter. But I could see inside.

I could see a room. It looked like some strange office space. Sat at a desk was a human talking to some flat object. The person wore a strange uniform. It looked like some sort of flight jacket, padded with protective pads on the shoulders and elbows. The colour was a matted yellow that would have looked weird but the whole aesthetic seemed to fit together quite well.

It was only when the person turned to the door did my breath get caught.

It was Tomy!

“Tomy!” I called out, but my words were here. Not there, before I could see any more the image changed back to black. I looked up pleadingly at the creator beside me.

“Wait, bring him back!”

“That was not Tomy.” It was him, but it wasn’t. She was right. Of course she was.

“Why show me that? Why even tell me any of this?” Of all the things that could have happened at that moment, my thoughts froze when she pulled me into an embrace. Hugging me with her wings pulling me into her side.

“You think that they died for me. My pleasure. It is not. I am trapped and the sooner you realise how similar I am to you, the sooner you’ll realise that I am not as all powerful as you may think.” Her words were spoken softly, hinting on borderline regret. She was alone, she had no one but us to keep her company.

“How real would a world seem to you where no one died. Believe me I tried it. But in the end you just end up controlling the lives of so many, that it becomes hard to focus. I just want it to end.”

“Why don’t you?” I offered, making her smile.

“End it? But then where would you go. You wouldn’t be anywhere. The existence of all rests upon me.” She explained in more detail. “Would you really have me deny your own existence?” That one sentence sealed the deal. There was nothing I could say now or ever that could ever work out for me.

“Who are you?”

“Galaxia.”

I had not expected her to give me a reply so quickly, especially after having withheld that information since the moment we met her in my front room. Galaxia. Great creator, god of worlds was sitting next to me, watching portals flying in front of her.

She had spared me little more than a glance. She was concentrated on something, looking through the looking glass, trying to find something.

“My name’s Louis.”

At that, she glanced at me, almost surprised. Almost.

“Y-you-” She stopped before falling silent. What had I said? She frowned before turning to look at me once more.

“I guess I’m not that ‘all knowing’ as I thought.” She then nipped my right ear. I squeaked, which caused her to laugh even harder before turning her attention to the floating portals ahead of her.

I don’t know how much time passed. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? We just sat there, me feeling totally out of my depth. She was just sat there, looking. The clouds that surrounded us began to dissipate. In the distance, a light began to form on the horizon. The sky was beginning to change colour. Dawn was nearing.

“What are we doing here Galaxia?”

“Do you mean me and you here? Or you and your friends?” She asked, she knew the answers no matter what, she was just playing along. For my sake, or maybe hers.

“Both.”

“You are here because this is the place that Thestrals come to watch over the dream world when they sleep. Most bats are nocturnal, which is why there are so few here now. Entering the dream realm requires a lot of personal magic to enter.” She said, turning her attention the rising light on the horizon. The wind was starting the move around now.

“Why you and your friends are here is due to the ponies of Equestria needing your help with overthrowing the Shadow. But there is far more that you have to do than just that.”

“Like what?”

“You know what happens to a conquered nation. Equestria is at war. The Shadow wants to try and slow you and the others down. The outcome of this war depends on how quickly you can stop the fighting and take back control of Equestria. Knowing full well that there is very little you could do if you are to lose against the other nations.” She continued, the wind was really picking up now. Despite the rising sound, it seemed to whirl and whoosh with a rhythm. Pulsating.

“What’s that noise--”

XXX

My eyes opened as I awoke with a start. The sound of the wind was still in the air. Growing louder and louder before finally coming to a stop. I got up, Twilight was still holding onto me, hugging me tightly as if she was worried I would end up leaving her.

Releasing myself from Twilight’s grasp, I exited the camp. The others were still asleep. Though the sun had still not risen yet, my eyes had no problem adjusting to the lack of light.

Walking out into the path, I made my way towards the ruins of the castle. Ahead was the rope bridge that my friends and I had crossed when we left the castle yesterday. As I made my way towards the bridge, I noticed something that had not been there the day before. There standing to the side of the path, was a box. A large, wooden blue box. I would have paid it no attention had I never seen this box before. But I had.

I then heard voices coming from one of the ruins. Two distinct male voices who seemed to be having an argument judging by the conversation they were having. Approaching the ruined home, I could not find anything strange about the place.

It was in ruins, signs of burning all around, though the architecture seemed far more ancient than the surrounding houses. Its condition therefore was worse than the one I had slept in with the others.

Behind some large slabs, the voices echoed. A passage of some kind in the floor, or maybe a basement. Taking my sidearm in my magic, I gave the surround one last look before venturing into the tunnel.

Chapter XI: Reunions

Twilight’s eyes cracked open as dawn came. She would normally have been up at this time a few years ago. Trying to get every waking hour to have time to study her friendship lessons, often just rereading some of the letters she would send to her mentor. Celestia had always known that Twilight would become an alicorn someday. The idea had often frightened her, she could not always think about the implications of such a life. An immortals life.

As she awoke, her forelegs moved about, trying to grab something that was maybe just out of reach. Suddenly, her eyes shot open. The speed that she stood up was almost as fast as lightning. She looked around.

Lou was gone.

She would have gone into full panic mode had she not noticed Mark and Jack still sleeping on their side of the encampment. Lou’s items were still beside where they had both slept together. So she could discount the idea of them just being a figment of her imagination. Despite this, she had no idea where he was, or what had happened to him.

Her heavy breathing as she tried to calm down had an affect on the others. Well at least Mark and Jack who both awoke, groggily looking around, seemingly confused before finding Twilight there, searching around the camp for clues.

“What’s going on?” Mark asked quietly not wanting to wake the girls unless they needed to go. Twilight turned to him with a fearful look. She explained that Lou was missing, that he had disappeared while they were all asleep.

“Lou wouldn’t bother going off by himself if there was something wrong.” Jack offered to comfort Twilight’s thoughts. In fairness, he too was a bit anxious about this, though he didn’t show it.

“Any sign of tracks? Or signs of a struggle?”

The ground had dried since yesterday, despite the thick foliage. That didn’t stop Mark from finding some tracks however. Twilight was relieved to not see any large prints on the ground. Fears of a manticore abduction were pushed away without much thought. But that still didn’t explain why he had just wandered down the path without alerting them.

“Twilight, take it easy.” Mark said, placing a reassuring wing over her. Giving her a smile that only he could do without faulting. That smile he had given her when they had met all those years ago. The reassuring smile of a friend who was worried, but not worried enough to actually show it.

“He wouldn’t have just left without telling us unless it was something he believed insignificant caught his attention. Significant enough not to tell us that is.”

“He often just gets up and leaves like this?” She raised a brow. Giving him a look of deadpan seriousness. He shrugged before moving to follow the tracks.

“You two should get the others up. I’ll hang around here and see if he comes back.” Whenever Lou went missing or just had to go and get new orders from their commanders, Mark was always on standby to take over. He may not have been a natural born leader, then again, Lou hadn’t seemed like one either. That didn’t stop him from doing his best however.

Still half asleep, the others prepared their clothing, clearing the camp and heading out to join Mark in their search for their ninth comrade. Spike had seemed the most upset when he was told that Lou had disappeared. Not that he was crying but he seemed sadder. Twilight had noticed since they met up with Lou and his friends, Spike’s whole attitude had changed. Unlike before, he was declining to eat, instead opting to being with her and Lou.

If Lou was going to end up staying with her, Spike would soon have another ‘big brother’ of sorts. Should he decide to stay with her that is.

The trail of paw prints were very hard to follow, after a few steps, the trail had completely vanished. Mark wasn’t even sure if these tracks were not the ones they had left from the day before. It wasn’t until they approached the old rickety rope bridge did excitement begin to flow through Twilight’s heart.

There on the edge of the path, slightly dug into the forest, was the TARDIS. The doctor’s mode of transport when she had gone with him on a few of his adventures. He mostly travelled with Ditzy now, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t go on adventures with him from time to time.

She had long awaited to find the Doctor’s TARDIS waiting outside her door. Standing there with a massive ‘know it all’ grin and a full laid out plan that would soon turn to improvisation. It never happened, until now.

She rushed to the doors, hammering her hooves as she cried out his name. If the Doctor was here, maybe Discord was too.

The doors remained shut.

They all turned when voices began to emerge from the brush. From the ruins of one of the buildings, three figures appeared. Twilight almost rammed into them from the speed she was going. Her friends also ran over. Fluttershy going to join Discord in a loving embrace. He always had a soft side for the young mare.

Lou, on the other hoof, ducked to the side as Twilight rammed into the doctor and embraced him a ‘welcoming’ embrace. Lou would have gotten away had Twilight not used some of her magic to grab him by the collar of his cloak and embrace him too.

“Don’t you ever go wandering off alone ever again, do you hear me!” He gulped as she glared daggers at him. Twilight was one enemy that he could not defeat. Even if he wanted to.

“Its good to see you to Twilight!” The Doctor had chuckled, waving off her affection.

“Where have you two been?” Both he and Discord shared a look before turning to Lou who joined his friends to talk amongst themselves. They had secrets it seemed.

“You should more thankful Twilight!” Discord declared while snuggling Fluttershy in his arms.

“And he should be lucky I was there to help him land his ‘sexy’!” He then pointed an accusatory talon at the Doctor who then reached out protectively at the TARDIS. His TARDIS!

“While I’m sure that you were instrumental in helping us land. Why don’t we take this conversation somewhere a little more useful.” He retorted before pointing to the castle of the two sisters, barely visible through the trees.

“I’m sure that we have a lot to catch up on.” The others all nodded in agreement. Twilight just sighed, before making her way with the others to the ruins. She had questions, but they would have to wait. Her armour hurt already.

Lou had noticed the sores on her body. He stood in front of her, his back facing her before he got onto the ground.

“Come Twi, get on.” Her face went completely red. The mouth clamped shut, until she could release enough of the tension to make a sentence.

“I-I’m fine! I d-don’t nee-d-d your heealllp!” She squealed as Louis used his magic to pull her onto his back. His magic grasping the armour from the sides as she was placed onto him. With some effort, he stood and shrugged off the odd looks from the others. He then motioned for spike to get on too.

The little drake had never seemed so excited. Clambering up, soaking up the feeling of joy that they all shared.

As they walked along, Lou carrying the weight of both Twilight and Spike on his back, made his way with some difficulty, but never voiced it. Despite her armour that was digging into his sides. But at least it gave her the rest she needed as they made their way to the Castle of the two Sisters for a long discussion.

XXX

Twilight had never been so wrong in her entire life when it came to guessing why the Doctor and Discord had not shown up since her failed attempt to find the elements. They had decided to find answers, but found that the TARDIS struggled to make the journeys they needed. In fact, they had struggled to land back in the right time. So they what had been 3 years for Twilight had been mere moments for the mad pony in a box and the Lord of Chaos. They now found themselves sat in what once used to be the old throne room. An old counsel table stood to the side and they now found all twelve of them sat there, discussing the Doctor and Discord’s little escapade.

The Doctor had explained that the eye of harmony, the power source of the wondrous time machine, was fluctuating uncontrollably. Making their landing a little harder than they expected. They weren’t terribly surprised that the landing was a bit off by a few years. The doctor had believed it could have been as far as a decade.

The girls had listened intently while they spoke of their adventure in time and space to find their answers of where the Shadow had come from. Lou and the others seemed far more confused than anything else. They listened politely but often butted in when there were things they did not understand. Which was quite often.

“Its like talking to the Brigadier.” The doctor had muttered, explaining to the ‘out of place humans’ nonetheless. They were here, so they needed to know.

The information wasn’t very enlightening. The records of the earliest sighting of the Shadow appear to come from a time just before Celestia and Luna’s coming to power. The surface level details were scarce, if existing at all.

However they had brought back something that made Twilight’s jaw drop. Discord deposited from a bag he magicked up, a load of books from the old library of this very castle. From the week of its reconstruction after it was burnt down during an inferno that had claimed many of the buildings of the ruined city outside. What was strange was the fact that she had ever even heard of this great fire.

Yet Twilight knew that this was important. She remembered the window from the throne room. An entire city ablaze, ponies had carried something in a box. What, she had no idea.

“That’s all we have to go on. Hopefully theses books can give us some insight.” The Doctor gestured to the books before taking one in his hooves.

“A library is filled with the most powerful weapon of all! Knowledge!” He declared.

“Hopefully we find what we’re looking for then.” Twilight said as she grabbed another one of the books. ‘Myths and legends’ the title read. Had there not been a world ending, liberty destroying event outside, she would have probably grabbed a couple to read in her own corner in glee.

Even with all of this, the others picked out books of their own. Even Rainbow Dash didn’t object to reading to help her friends and her country.

Lou and the others on the other hoof, decided to pay the old archive a visit instead. Louis had told them he just wanted to check it out. Maybe they could find something there that could help.

She watched him go, deciding not to go with them despite her better judgement. Lou wanted to talk with the others in private. He hadn’t seemed with it since they found each other earlier. She worried that maybe she had said something wrong. Or that she had done something wrong.

Maybe he didn’t want to stay with her after all. Despite being so helpful.

The rest of the day was spent going through the books that had been saved from the past. Many of them were very interesting, though Spike thought they were far too boring.

‘How could these be boring!’ Twilight had thought. Spike had grown to enjoy some of the old books in the library despite his preference for comic books. Though over the past couple of years, the production of that type of media had come to a halt, forcing him to read the older books in the astronomy tower. He actually grew quite fond of them.

This time, Spike had seemed like a completely different dragon. A thought entered her mind as she watched him go off and explore the castle. ‘Is that really Spike?’ The intrusive thought was quickly banished, brushed off as her being to jumpy. She was so excited to have her friends from Earth here, anything else would seem a little odd.

By days end, the group had gone through most of the books. They had found very few mentions of the Shadow, almost as if the creature that was here had not existed. It had to have been in at least one of these books. Despite all of their efforts, the pile was growing smaller and smaller and still nothing.

There had been some information however. Pinkie had found a memoir, written by one of the old professors of the school that had once stood within the old castle. Squire, the pony in question, had written a lot during his lifetime. Or at least, a lot had happened.

The town, Eversegur, had suffered a large fire that consumed many houses of the north side of the town. The fire was identified as an accident, and no culprit was ever found. However a week into the inferno, the castle had caught fire unexpectedly. But only one part of the castle.

The residential area, where the royal family lived. The fire claimed the lives of both King Cosmos and Queen Vesper. Celestia and Luna’s parents. This was some of the best information that they had ever had about the rulers of old. So long had the princesses ruled that there were very few who actually remembered their parents. A third death had been recorded, though it didn’t mention who. It referenced only the great goddess. There were myths and legends about gods and goddesses, but nothing that actually proved their full existence other than statues and relics of worship.

The book then went on to detail the coronation of Celestia and Luna. The burial of their parents and so on. The window must have been depicting the deaths of King Cosmos and Queen Vesper. She understood now why there was so little information on it now. Celestia wasn’t very open with her own personal information. Neither was Luna.

Lou and the others hadn’t returned yet, she had been feeling a growing pit in her stomach as she read through book after book. The thoughts of Lou’s attitude shift was making her uneasy. She must have done something wrong. And she knew that she had to apologise.

Excusing herself, she left the throne room and made her way past their encampment, heading to the archive. She was biting her lip as she tried to figure out what to say to him. Opening the conversation with the information that she and the others had found maybe?

She entered the castle’s library archive and found Jack going through a pile of books at one of the tables. He wore a frustrated frown as he pushed the book to one side and made his way through the next one.

He was alone however. The others were nowhere to be seen.

“Jack?” He raised his head to look at her. A smile appeared on his lips as he watched her approach.

“Yep?”

“Do you know where--” She cut herself off as Mark emerged from one of the side rooms. He was holding a few books in his magic and placed them down.

“Do I know where?” Jack asked. Awaiting the rest of her question. She shook her head and glanced around the corner into the room that Mark had emerged from. Lou wasn’t there.

“I… Do you know where Lou is?”

“He went to the lower levels of the archive a few minutes ago. Do you want me to go get him?” She shook her head in reply. She began to make her way towards the stairs before coming to a stop. She looked back and saw Mark and Jack talking. Mark was flicking his tail in frustration. He did look rather cute when doing so.

She thought for a moment while looking at them as they worked. Maybe she could ask them first. Lou was very close to them, maybe they knew why Lou seemed a little strange. She turned and made her way towards them.

They watched her as she approached, giving each other curious glances. They could tell that something was wrong with her from her posture. Learning pony posture wasn’t as hard as they had feared at first.

“What is it Twilight?” Mark asked, a sympathising smile crossing his face.

“Um…” She hesitated, for a moment, but their caring smiles were just to good. They had always been such great ponies. Always there for her when things didn’t look to good for either of them.

“Have I done something wrong? Something to upset Lou?” They shared a look, a knowing one. They knew something that she didn’t know.

“Lou spoke to us today.” Jack started, Mark sighing as he moved to give her a comforting hug with a wing.

“He had a bit of a strange dream last night. I’m not sure I or Mark could actually tell you what he went through but…” He trailed off, giving Mark an opportunity to speak.

“It’s probably got something more to do with what happened with his brother.” He said. His head lowered as he exhaled.

“He told you about his brother, right?” She shook her head. They both winced, obviously not sure about the matter they were treading on.

“Lou’s brother, Romain, was killed a couple of months ago.” Her breath caught in her throat, she had not expected to hear such news. She didn’t remember Louis talking about his brother while on Guadalcanal.

“Lou thinks it was his fault.” He sighed, moving back towards Jack and the pile of books that rested on the table.

The silence would have continued then, an all consuming void that made the atmosphere of the room grow much darker. If only it had lasted more than a second.

“He would still be here had I not gone to war.” They all turned to look at the stallion standing atop the stairwell. His face almost completely expressionless. Twilight had gasped and tucked her tail between her legs. Feeling like a filly who had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been.

“So it is my fault, like with so many others.”

“Lou I-I…” Twilight began, but all coherent thoughts were lost as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing. She had never lost anyone in her family that was as close to her as a brother before. She could not even imagine the pain that was coursing through him right there, right then.

“Could you come with me Twilight, I need your help with finding some more books.” He gestured with a leg before turning and making his way down the stairs. The others gave her no more support than some sad glances before returning to their own search. Moving slowly, she swallowed hard and made her way towards the stairs.

With a heavy heart, she descended into the lower archive. Dreading the awkward conversation that was sure to come next with every step down.

Chapter XII: Doubts and Revelations

My mind was full of a mixture of different emotions. I was tired, hungry and frustrated. I knew that there had to be something in this archive that could give me the answers that I was looking for.

Since finding the Doctor and Discord this morning, I was elated to find out some more information about the history of this castle.

There a lot of pieces that didn’t fit right in my mind. And now, with Twilight finding out about my brother… I was angry.

Not angry at her, nor the others. Just angry and I wasn’t even sure who to direct my frustration at!

I was almost too occupied on my self loathing that I hardly noticed Twilight come shuffling down the steps to join me.

From the corner of my eye, I could see her looking at me with obvious worry, though it didn’t feel directed at me. She was more worried about herself and the repercussions of what had just happened upstairs.

She was afraid that I was angry at her, that I would turn on her and scold her for being too nosey. That was not the case. Twilight has my upmost admiration, I just wish I had been the one to tell her.

“I’m looking for a book on the history of the town. Maybe something that can give us a list of the generations that once lived here.” I motioned to the shelves in front of me. There were so many books, and they were mostly intact, over a thousand years later. What a find.

Twilight came up beside me, not really sure of what to do. She obviously didn’t want to start the conversation, probably She just grabbed a book off the floor, ‘Magical creatures and types’ the title read. I had been looking through it to get some additional information on imperial ponies.

“You’ve been looking for information in here?” She asked.

“I wanted information about Imperial ponies. You know… information about me and the others.” Twilight just nodded, never taking her eyes off the book. I sighed, Twilight was my one of my best friends, I didn’t want her to be like this.

“You did nothing wrong Twilight.” She looked up at me, her eyes unwavering in concern.

“I should have told you when we were back at the library.” I sighed, stretching out a wing and pulling her in close to me. I winced as her armour dug into my side, but didn’t voice the pain.

“I-I’m sorry… I should have… I don’t know…” She trailed off. There was nothing she could say. I looked down at her and nuzzled her head. The effect was almost immediate, as her eyes closed and she began to hum a small purr.

“I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want it to affect you. Nor did I want it to affect our mission here.” She blinked as I stopped the show of affection.

“I know what you want from me Twilight. But I’m not sure that I am in a position to actually decide right now. I love you, but Romain was my brother. I don’t think my parents would take any of this very well.”

I honestly still couldn’t believe that I was actually thinking of loving a horse. The idea of it being called bestiality had crossed my mind. It wasn’t like the human race was very accommodating towards itself. But I honestly didn’t see anything wrong in my love for her. She was a person, who was far smarter than I was. Especially when it came to her magical knowledge.

“You know that I’m here for you? I’m not going anywhere this time.” She said, placing her hoof on my paw and stroking softly.

“That’s the problem isn’t it?” I chuckled. “You’re here, I’m from over there.” Realisation immediately crossed her face and she looked away from me. Removing her hoof from mine.

“We’re from two different worlds. There is very little I know about Equestria, and you don’t know anything about Earth. I love you Twilight, but what would we both do on either side?”

She nodded sadly and began to move away from underneath my wing. My heart ached, I knew that I had said the logical thing, but maybe not the right thing. With slow fluid motion I reached out with a foreleg and grasped the rear plate of her armour. She turned to ask what I was doing, her eyes beginning to form tears. The moment her eyes met mine, I pounced, figuratively.

I leaned over her and planted my muzzle on hers. Our lips met. She was shocked, I could tell. And I was sure to regret this action later, but right now... I needed a friend, and she was willing to be more. So maybe I could too.

Her surprise had caused her to hesitate, but before long, I felt her melt into the kiss. It was as passionate as I could have imagined a passionate kiss being. I put my heart and soul into it. Not wanting to make her lose her resolve, I already knew that I was committing a lot to this world. I just hoped that it wouldn’t make me lose my way.

Twilight and I broke the kiss and looked at each other. She breathed heavily, out of breath before turning her attention to a noise that came from the stairs that we had come from.

I had expected Jack or Mark to be standing there, laughing or chuckling. Instead, I saw Spike, crouched down on the floor, holding his stomach. Twilight rushed over to him, concerned for her friedn who looked very sick.

“Ugh… too much love.”

The drake looked like he was about to be sick, and he was, rather violently in fact. I had seen many people get sick before. I myself had been violently vomiting while landing on Guadalcanal and Tarawa. To Twilight though, this was completely different. She immediately drew her sword and took her distance from Spike.

“Twilight what are--”

“Changeling!” She cut me off. As if on cue, there was a blast of green flames. My surprise was matched by my inability to grab my gun rapidly. There in front of me, stood a large Changeling, its black body easily recognisable as the creatures we had seen yesterday. It was huge, easily larger than me by a few heads.

The creature now realised that it was in danger, decided to run, only to smack into a wall of magic that Twilight created. Dazed slightly it shook its head and looked at us almost fearfully, before setting its resolve and turning to attack. Twilight dodged the lunge, I didn’t.

Out of complete shock of what was happening, my magic failed and my gun fell to the floor as me and the bug went flying backwards. A gunshot banged loudly making my ears ring. I had not yet fired a shot as a pony. Maybe I should think about the ears before doing anything rash.

The bug on top of me was also shacking from the shot but didn’t remove itself from me, instead it tried to attack me.

At least it would have, had it not suddenly gone flying repeatedly against the wall opposite the book shelves. I got up in time to see Twilight standing there, her sword drawn but her magic bashing the creature until finally… she ceased. The bug slid down the wall and lay in a heap on the floor.

Picking up my gun, I made my way over to Twilight, who was eyeing the creature with disgust.

“What the hell is going on?” Jack yelled as he came down the stairs with the rest of the group closely behind. When they saw the bug lying on the floor, Twilight standing over it with a sword almost at its neck, they all screamed.

“Chrysalis!”

The bug, Chrysalis, rose slowly to its hooves. It was shaking before crumbling on the floor. It vomited one last time, the green substance coming out thick almost like jell-O. It wasn’t pleasant and I saw some of the girls go green and run back up the stairs.

The others on the other hoof just stood there, glaring angrily at the creature. Twilight seemed rather hostile towards Chrysalis and I didn’t know why. Either way, I wasn’t going to get in the way, just in case this thing was hostile.

I was therefore quite shocked when Jack moved in to help it.

“Stay back Jack, she’s dangerous!” Twilight warned him, but as a faithful medic to his true nature, he didn’t heed her warnings. Instead he rubbed the whimpering creature on the back, helping to ease the unpleasant situation that Chrysalis was going through.

“Hush now, don’t hold it back. Clear out your stomach and it’ll all be fine.” He said with complete assurance. The bug fell over but he was there to catch it. Helping it down into a more suitable position.

All the while, we could only look on in disbelief at what Jack was doing. Well… Me, Mark, Twilight and her friends seemed shocked. Discord on the other hand seemed rather amused while the Doctor just shook his head sighing, though offering a concerned glance at Twilight. She just shrugged in return.

“Would you guys stop acting like frightened kids and help me!” Jack demanded.

“Where’s Spiky?” Rarity asked, noticing that the drake wasn’t with us. He obviously hadn’t been with us for a while if not at all.

As Twilight lowered her sword, she explained that Chrysalis had been pretending to be Spike. I honestly couldn’t get my head around the whole ordeal. Rarity however had not taken the whole thing lightly instead to throw rather weak insults at the bug. Though Chrysalis seemed barely conscious.

Mark had anxiously moved to help Jack, so did I. Jack was always quite smart and he had not been one to refuse medical aid to the enemy, though I don’t ever remember him helping Japs while on the Canal... Even if I wasn’t sure what it was about this bug that made Twilight go so violent like that.

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Jack asked aloud to nobody in particular. Twilight, lowering her sword completely, realising that she was in no danger, moved to help Jack. Maybe she wasn’t as afraid of Chrysalis as her show of force had been.

“It’s indigestion.” He looked at her, he had come to that conclusion but couldn’t understand from what. Their group had barely eaten anything during these past couple of days.

“Changelings don’t eat like us, they consume feelings, love is the most powerful source of nourishment.” Her gaze turning to me, I felt a little uneasy now.

“Help me get her upstairs Mark. I’ll look after her until she’s better.” Jack said, getting underneath Chrysalis, he lifted her up with all of his strength. Mark tried to help, but Jack was already holding all the weight and left him no room to help. It wasn’t until Discord intervened, walking over to them and clicking his talons together, snapping his fingers essentially and having Chrysalis float off his back.

Jack gave him a thankful smile and followed the rest of the group as they went upstairs, carefully escorting the bug to the dining room. Where a fire had been lit. It was where we had set up camp the first time, this time however, it was an actual base camp.

Chrysalis was deposited on Jack’s bedding, leaving her to be tended to by him while the others glared intently at the unconscious creature.

XXX

“Who is she Twilight?” It was now well into the night. Twilight had not wanted to go to sleep with Chrysalis so close. Within the last few hours, the others had decided to eat and go to sleep. They were tired after a day of research. The only ones who were still up were Me, Twilight, Jack and the time travelling duo who were still busy reading through the old books they had brought back.

Jack, on the other hand, stayed by Chrysalis. Tending to the sick Changeling, despite what had happened, Jack still wanted to help. He wasn’t one to turn a blind eye on someone who was suffering.

“Queen Chrysalis. She’s the queen of the Changelings.” My eyes widened as I watched the sleeping bug all while Jack moved back and forth and checked on her now and again.

“Any idea why she was here?”

“The Shadow must have known I wouldn’t do his bidding. He must have taken Spike captive and sent Chrysalis instead.” She sighed, falling onto her haunches after removing her armour.

“I don’t know why she didn’t send one of her drones to do this. Maybe she thought there was something she could do. I don’t know…” She trailed off as she closed her eyes, breathed in deeply before falling into my side. Nuzzling my fur and mumbling softly.

“Maybe she thought she could help?” I suggested.

“Doubt it. Chrysalis was an enemy of Equestria. She tried to invade while the Shadow was securing his rule. She ended up becoming a slave, like me…” That last part seemed to really hit her hard. Calling herself a slave meant something completely different. She knew it, just from the look she gave me.

“I am... was... a concubine to the royal court. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just so glad that you’re here. I want this to be over and never have to relive those memories.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I looked away, the revelation of Twilight being a sex slave for someone else’s pleasure hurt me. I didn’t know, but now I did, it made my blood boil.

“Though she looks like she’s been through it too.” I pointed out the sleeping Changeling, Twilight looked in her direction before looking up at me with sad eyes.

“She has, but she was also one of the many enemies that me and my friends have fought. I don’t think I could forgive her for what she did.” She said. So there had been something dramatic that had gone down between the two. What? I had no idea and Twilight was not of the right state of mind to say much of anything.

“Shame this happened right now, but I’d rather know now if we had a traitor in our midst.” I said, grabbing my saddle bags in my magic and bringing it over to me.

“Have I told you just how good you are with magic?” She said once again.

“Yes you have, twice now.” I chuckled, rummaging through the bags I removed some odd items, reaching for my canteen and taking a big gulp of water. The thing was terribly worn, having seen me through my service.

“You’re actually too good at it. Have you thought of what this could mean? Its almost as if you’re an actual pony.” The thought had entered my mind once. Or maybe twice. Galaxia had said that she had given us some of her magic. Maybe hers was easier to master than just normal magic.

Did that mean I had the power of a God? I shivered at the thought. There was no way that godlike powers would sit well with someone who was still recovering from grief. In case I ended up trying to do something I wasn’t suppose to. Then again, whatever I do, I was suppose to do either way.

Just how cynical could she make me?

“I’m sure that once this is all over Galaxia will take the magic back. It’s already hard to imagine not moving around as a pony now, so hopefully everything will return to normal after this fiasco.” Twilight watched me for a long moment after I spoke, seemingly confused or unsure of how to respond. Finding her resolve she then asked it.

“What if this permanent.”

Now that was something I didn’t want to be dealing with right now. It terrified me. I just wanted to go home.

I had done a lot of soul searching while here, maybe I would now go home and grieve like I should have with my family. Romain deserved better from me… and so did Tomy, George, Peter and so many others.

Twilight saw that I had no answer, so she decided to ask another, less personal question.

“Who’s Galaxia.” I didn’t hold back any information on who Galaxia was. Twilight was slightly confused about why I referred to her as ‘The Creator’. I went into great detail over why this whole thing was important. I was hoping that in turn, Twilight could provide some light on who she was. She was obviously a pony and had ties with the Shadow. She wouldn’t have come personally unless Galaxia was just a mask or a vassal of the real puppeteer.

“I’ve never heard of Galaxia in any of the old books, then again…” She trailed off, her eyes narrowing in thought. Drawing some of her magic, she pulled a book from the throne room over to us.

“Pinkie found this today. It’s a book of the one of the inhabitants of the town. He wrote a little about the royal family here. See this…” She pointed to the lines, written so weirdly that I couldn’t read a thing that was written. So I just shook my head. Making her roll her eyes as if I should know better.

“It says that there was a fire that consumed the royal palace. Only the royal chambers were destroyed, the king and queen were killed, a third casualty was recorded but it was never said who.”

“So the king and queen were killed by a sudden fire outbreak?” I asked, turning my attention to the surrounding halls.

“There have been many fires here. The last one occurred during the rise of Nightmare Moon. It was because of that fire that Canterlot was made the new capital, instead of just being a country retreat for the royals.” The Doctor spoke up from behind us. My heart jumped, but Twilight seemed to have known he was there because she didn’t react. Instead she sought more warmth in my fur. Letting him tell the story.

“Discord and I have seen some of it while travelling. Due to the destabilisation in the Eye of Harmony, we were unable to get a stable landing coordinate to get any information from the fire itself, but we did find out that just before the deaths of the royals, another fire had broken out in the suburbs.” My eyes then widened. When I had met them both this morning, they had been searching through the ruined basement of the northern suburb.

“Was it the building I found you guys in this morning?” He nodded, though it was more of an unsure nod.

“We think so… there isn’t much about that time, most written records are quite scarce. Maybe once harmony is restored, I can finally go back and see it for myself.” He sighed almost longingly. There was something about him I could just not place. He was a very kind pony, but there was something about him that made his quirkiness seem… forced. He’d been there too…

“Do you know who that house belonged to?” Twilight asked.

“It was more of a social home so there were a few families living there. The name that stood out the most was the Peacock family.” He said, pulling out a book and glancing at the pages all while squinting.

“Honestly ponies write really weirdly.” He mumbled, before closing it and putting it away behind him. I still didn’t understand just how normal ponies who had no horns could even hold books in their hooves. It was something that just baffled me.

Twilight didn’t say any more, instead she just continued to nip at my neck affectionately. The Doctor quickly understood the gesture and made his quick getaway. I just sighed contently. It did feel really good. Moving to where our bedding was. Neither me nor Twilight wanted to hide the fact that we slept together. It felt a lot less intimate than if I were human. I would probably scold myself for not finding another room for us to be in solitude.

But right now I just wanted to rest.

Lying down, I closed my eyes, and dozed off.

XXX

It was nice to be flying again. I couldn’t explain what it was like honestly. I was just really giddy every time I would dive, my wings started to burn. Not in a painful way, mind you. They just felt like they were actually getting the use they deserved. Landing on the ground, looked around the dream realm. It was a lovely place, I saw a few bat ponies walking around, wishing each other good a lovely night before disappearing through the white portals they would open. I got some looks from some of these ponies when they past by, but nothing more than a bewildered look before shaking their heads and disappearing off into oblivion.

Honestly… I was just at peace while here. At peace with myself and with everypony else.

“Fire Fly?” A voice called from behind me. I turned, almost expecting Galaxia to be there. She was not, instead I saw a ghostly shape of a bat pony that stood before me. Unlike the others, this one seemed almost transparent. His body seemingly ghost like with very little physicality to him. He had a brown coat with a light blue mane. He didn’t wear much other than a saddle bag with a pair of spectacles on his nose. It gave him the air of a teacher or maybe a professor.

I was sort of expecting him to be looking for someone, but suddenly he ran up to me. A broad smile across his face as he approached.

“You’re a hard one find Fire Fly, had Galaxia not told me that you were not a nocturnal bat, I would have been looking everywhere!” He laughed, I just glanced around, almost expecting the pony he was looking for to appear from somewhere next to me.

“I’m sorry but I think you’re looking for somepony else.” I gestured, smiling apologetically. He just scoffed and gave me a warm smile.

“Fire Fly, Lou Conlin?” I just gave him the most bewildered look of all. I had heard Galaxia use the name Fire Fly, but I wasn’t entirely sure of what she meant by it. I gave the stallion a shake of the head, I wasn’t really sure what he wanted, but I was here… and I had no way of knowing how to leave the realm. Last time it just stopped when the sun came up, or maybe Galaxia did something…

“You’re confused I know that, it’s not easy for one to be called by another name.” He smiled softly before moving over to stand beside me. I observed him as he did.

“I think that Fire Fly is a great name for you to use when you’re here.”

“In this realm, or when I’m awake.” He laughed at my question, leaning in to whisper his reply.

“Fate is already written captain. You can try to chose the identity that you want to use, but sometimes it is provided for you by others. Seemingly.” He leaned back. He was talking about Galaxia’s world view of the fatality of the entire situation. That this was some game with an end that had already been decided without my knowledge.

“It’s not like Fire Fly is a bad name mind you! You could have had mine.”

“What is your name then?”

“Squire Bottoms” I almost snorted out a semblance of amusement, I think he wanted me to, but I didn’t.

“Not even a snort? No?”

“You want me to laugh?” He sighed contently, reaching giving me a happy smile before passing me a book from nowhere. I took it within my magic, glancing over the cover. It took me a moment to remember the book that Twilight had shown me before going to bed.

“You’re the one who wrote this?” I asked, he nodded vigorously. Using his own horn to open the book and show me some of the pages.

“I was a professor here during the reign of the old King and Queen. I had been working on a way to document the extinction of the Imperial ponies, such as yourself!” He gestured to me. Something clicked as I realised that I had read one of his books earlier too. It was a book about mythical creatures and magical stuff. Whatever the title was…

“You read one of my books today, trying to find out why Galaxia made you into imperial ponies. You and the other humans that followed you through the rift.”

“You obviously didn’t find much out, I’m guessing there was nothing for you to find?”

“The imperials died out over two and a half thousand years ago. Not much for me to find in the end.” I sighed, looks like I would have to ask Galaxia if I ever saw her again. He watched my reaction for a moment, then continued.

“Though I do believe that they didn’t go fully extinct.”

“How so?” I was slightly intrigued. More over I didn’t even know how I could be talking to someone who had been alive back when humanity had been going through the dark ages.

“I don’t mean to be rude but you’ve been dead for centuries, I thought this was the ‘dream realm’ not heaven!”

He looked up in thought, it was obviously a very complicated situation and I doubt that the answer would be one that could fit on the headline of a newspaper.

“Well that is true that this is is the dream realm and not… heaven? I am here because Galaxia had my dream form remain here to help guide Princess Luna during her first time navigating the dream realm.” He explained. Though to me it meant fuck all. There was no way I could even begin to understand what the fuck he was talking about. So I just gave my best confused look. He shook his head with that same smile and cursed under his breath as he pondered on what to say to me.

“I am not really here. As you have said, I’ve been gone for a long while. Your not talking with the actual Squire Bottoms because he hasn’t been around for a long time. Think of me as a brain pattern that has been recorded on a record.”

At least I knew what records were, but brain patterns? I had no clue, but I guess I could understand the whole recording part, so I guessed that he meant that his soul was somehow placed here. Seems like a rather cruel fate if you ask me…

“So why have you come looking for me then? It’s not like I have anything that could interest you.” I asked.

“You? Have nothing to offer me?” He gasped in faux shock.

“You don’t seem to realise that I am struggling to actually believe that I have the chance to help you find your place here. The dream realm is in dire need of your magical talent. Princess Luna has been worked off her hooves.”

“I think your confusing me with someone else. I don’t have any magical talent and I certainly have not decided what I’m doing after this. Fated or not, I’m still gonna make a choice.” I told him. It was strange just how scary all this was to me at times. I now had a stallion from the dark ages trying to convince me in staying to… do something. Not that I knew what talent he meant.

“It’s strange just how many ponies don’t realise how good they are at something until its already too late.” He mumbled to himself.

“Dream walking isn’t an easy feat. Just your mere presence is proof of real desire to actually be here. Most bats never even come here, yet you did without any effort. I know full well that you are not originally a bat. Humans like yourself don’t have the magic that ponies have. Despite this, you have mastered it perfectly.”

“I didn’t come here on my first two nights here. So I’m sure you’re looking at a fluke. A freak of nature or just a simple accident.” I explained, he putting way too much pressure on my identity. I was struggling to figure out who I was during these past few days. All I wanted was to get this all over with and have my life return to normal. Every word that he or Galaxia said made me become less and less certain of who I was.

“That’s because the most powerful of magic is love. Your magic is awakening because of that dear Twilight Sparkle.” He watched me sigh and gave me a reassuring smile.

“I know that you don’t know what you’re suppose to be doing. But would you really want to leave this world without experiencing your own abilities?”

I turned my attention towards him this time, cocking an eyebrow, giving him the most tired and confused look I could.

“You’ve talked about magic. You’ve spoken about abilities. Are you going to start calling me the chosen one next?”

“Not at all, we’re all chosen after all. We’re not accidents, everything has been done by design. I’m offering you my help to help you learn and master your own magic. We will stay clear of over using it however.” He said, sitting down and pulling out another book from thin air.

“We wouldn’t want to make any of this permanent.”

“Make what permanent?” Why did every sentence that came out of his mouth that concerned me in general make my stomach twist in anguish.

“Every creature on Equus has their own magic. All of them!” He exclaimed. He opened the book in front of him, its pages blank. Taking a pencil from somewhere, he began to draw on the pages. I leaned in to see what he was doing.

“So when a creature from a world that has no magic is brought here. They act like a sponge, soaking up the residual energy that roams around the world. Had humans had magic, you would still be one right now.” He drew a stick human surrounded by squiggles that probably represented magic.

“Instead, the magic changes you to fit the world that you are now living in. It doesn’t do any mental rewriting, just a physical rewrite. However, due to the lack of original magic to maintain a semblance of humanity, the body begins to lose its shape. No longer understanding what itself is suppose to be.”

“So you’re saying that the longer we stay here… the higher the chances of us becoming permanently stuck like this.” He nodded, though still rocked his head from one side to the other.

“Well yes but not fully. The magic that you have right now is not your own. It was given to you by Galaxia. Her magic however is far more malleable than the magic I use or the magic your marefriend uses. If you were to return home now, the magic would just leave slowly but surely. However, if you stay long enough, or use so much of of it that it starts to attach itself to you. Then the magic will change. No longer will it be malleable. It will be you.”

“Then I need to get out of here as soon as possible.” I sighed. Looks like something else Twilight and I would have to talk about. If Twilight and I were going to be serious, I still needed a way to live on Earth all while visiting her. But my emotions were all over the place. Despite the revelations that were being dropped on me while I was here. I wanted more. I needed more. I was loving the dream realm. I felt like I was in control of my dreams. And despite the pain I felt, the nightmares weren’t here.

It was with that thought that something hit me. My breath caught. I looked down and saw a blade from a bayonet stuck in my chest. What was--

“Wow easy there partner!” He said, placing a hoof on my shoulder, drawing my attention away from the blade.

“Nightmare crafting is not what I came to discuss with you just breathe.” He said, it was so strange just how reassuring his smile was. It made me feel safe.

I breathed slowly, looking down, the blade was gone. I was safe.

“I knew that you were good at this, but nightmare crafting is dangerous especially when used by somepony that does not have the training.” He chuckled, patting me on the back to ease my suffering.

“You should rest up. You don’t need all this stress right now.”

He stood up and placed his hooves on my side and gently pushed me over. I looked up at him, confused but he just lowered my head and shushed.

“Sleep now Fire Fly. You need more rest than most of the bats that come here. When we meet again, we’ll talk more about how to use your magic, okay?”

I just groaned, I had no idea what had come over me. I was fine moments ago, now I felt exhausted and very sleepy.

“How… where do I go? How do I… find you?” I mumbled, my eyes were closing I could hardly feel anything now. It was so nice.

“Look for the Peacocks. I’ll be here when you return.”

Chapter XIII: The Changeling and the Medic

Author's Note

Late chapter, nothing serious just moving house. Enjoy!

Chapter XIII: The Changeling and the Medic

Canterlot was quiet now. The mandatory curfew that the Shadow had put in place had made the once bright city turn from its original, joyful look and prestige that it once held. The night district was one of the places that suffered the most.

Bats were nocturnal. And bat ponies were some of the most nocturnal creatures around. Their whole commerce and trade revolved around the night. The creatures not wanting to change their work cycles because of the mandatory curfews.

Bats now roamed the country without their beloved princess for guidance. They were leaderless, and now they suffered for not wanting to change their habits.

The night district was abandoned. Mostly abandoned anyway.

There was a lot of things that had changed due to the new governing body that now stood in place of Celestia and Luna. None of this mattered however.

Nothing did.

All that mattered now was how long the Shadow had left. It needed more time. If Chrysalis was discovered there would be not much time before Twilight would want to ride to her family’s rescue. If Galaxia was here too, then time was running out. Spike had been more than accomodating with the information that he gave. Twilight’s thought process was essential in being able to control the situation.

Outside, the night sky was gloomy. Another freak storm was coming.

Shadow had spent most of the day emptying the magical reserves within the archive. The amount of harmonious magic it consumed was making the dark vengeance magic go completely mad. The mix of harmony and the dark magic that surrounded the shape of evil, were fighting for a form of control. Though the vengeance magic was not as powerful as the copious amounts of harmonious magic the Shadow had consumed within the past two years of power. The measure of extracting the harmonious magic was maybe a little… evil. But with the status of the elements still unknown, there was no other option.

Shadow had no problem being called evil, the ponies had made no attempts to hide their thoughts of Shadow’s reign.

Was it truly evil? Was it evil to want all races to stop fighting and just get along? Without being able to think otherwise, a total military control, surely they would understand?

No they wouldn’t. That was why they resisted. But in the end, none of it mattered. All Shadow needed was to absorb the magic of harmony. What was needed was the elements.

Shadow sighed, looking at the mural of the burning city. It was almost as if longing for a time long past. Tears may have been shed. It wasn’t known.

Why had harmony abandoned them. It was all a mistake.

Why was Galaxia like this? Why did she have to hurt ponies?

If there was an answer, Galaxia had given none back then. If they were to meet again, she would give no answers now. The only hope at this point was that Chrysalis was now fighting Twilight. The former queen was very resentful to her old enemies, despite being in the same boat, Chrysalis was not one to make friends. The queen was to fall, her Changelings would most likely go into complete confusion. She was their mother after all.

Shadow snorted in disgust. Chrysalis wasn’t a mother. No mother would deny their children one of the most important thing in the whole world.

XXX

Chrysalis’s eyes opened slowly, her vision was blurred. She groaned, her body ached all over, especially her head. She felt like being sick again.

If only she had not followed her orders, she wouldn’t be here, close to two ponies who were falling in love. The torrent of emotions, loving emotions, made her stomach churn. Having not eaten properly since her failed invasion and then some, she knew that she had been suffering from malnutrition.

Blinking away her watering eyes, she tried to get up. Her limbs were just too weak to do anything for the moment. What she did notice however was that her legs were not bound. Twilight had really done a number on her, ‘mopped the floor with her’ would be the best way to describe what happened.

Despite having been discovered as an imposter, these ponies had not taken the wise precaution of tying her up, nor had they placed her in the dugeons if the marble floor was anything to go by. Fools!

Trying her best to stand to move her eyes began to focus on the room she was in. It was the old castle dining room where they had set up their camp. They were fools then! Naive little ponies always believing in the best of all races, they blinded themselves in that belief.

Chrysalis never looked for friends, nor did she ever need any. Friendship wasn’t a concept that the Changeling queen wanted to even try and comprehend. She had been shown none, therefore she would give none.

Using her forelegs, to try and lift herself up, she groaned as her head pounded. She was almost there when a voice made itself known.

“I wouldn’t get up if I were you.” Lying near to her, with one eye open, was one of the Alicorn ponies that she had met with Twilight the other day at the library. How she had not seen him when he was right next to her was inexplicable. But the whole thought process caused her legs to begin to shake and collapse under her weight.

“Told you.” He said, getting up and making his way over to her.

Lying on her stomach once more, she mustered all of her strength into glaring angrily at the pony that came to her. The fool! When she would regain her strength, she would teach this pony why it was unwise to approach a changeling queen unarmed. She tried to hiss, but all objections to his presence was lost when he began to rub her back with his hooves.

He was massaging her! The rogue, the scoundrel! She almost expected a knife in the back, but none came. Instead, he continued to massage her back. Tending to her rough spots, the armour that she had been forced to wear had done a number on her body.

“You should consider not getting up yet. You’re not in the best of shape.” He said, releasing her back and moving in front of her face, he began to pick off something from her head. She felt something being removed, a bandage, soaked in her own blood. She watched as he removed and replaced it with a new one.

He worked with pure professionalism, not once did he slip up. He was apparently from a whole different universe where magic didn’t exist, yet here he was, using magic on her and the equipment that was in his saddle bags without any real difficulty.

He moved away, noting his magicwork before moving away towards the still burning fireplace.

She closed her eyes for a second. After the massage, she had never felt more relaxed in her entire life. Normally she would have to order such services from her drones, but right now? A pony that she had met only the other day was doing it without question.

He returned with a tray filled with baked beans. He placed it next to her, with a fork still held in his magic. Glancing up, her eyes froze when she saw the look he was giving her. It was a caring look, the emotion was leaking from him like a stream. And that smile he had.

It was a smirk of someone who was willing to help her. She looked at the tray and stuck her tongue out in discuss. She didn’t want to talk. This had to be some kind of trap. To make her talk, give away information about her mission here, despite her mission being rather mundane. Delaying tactics.

“You should eat a bit.” He gestured, still holding the fork in his magic, ready to feed her himself if necessary. She looked away, she didn’t need this. He was trying to do something to her. Give her a truth potion of something.

“You’re suffering from starvation, you need small amounts of food. If this isn’t what you’re species eats, I’ll try and get something else for you.” She snorted at that. Changelings only ate emotions, not the physical food that other species ate.

“Changelings don’t eat, ‘food’.” She snarled, an attempt to make herself intimidating. It didn’t work because all he did was stand there, eyeing her, then the fork. He frowned before eating it himself.

“Fine with me, I’m starving.” He mumbled before eating everything that was on the tray. As he ate, Chrysalis noticed some rather interesting features about this pony. Unlike the others, he had a much larger horn. Not a huge noticeable difference, but the breed was definitely one of the old spell casters that she had been told about by her forebearers.

His horn was curved almost, instead of being straight like those of the other Alicorns that she knew of.

“So… what do you eat then?” He asked, placing the tray down off to the side before lying down on his stomach next to her. Why was he doing that? She felt ill once more, the amount of caring emotions made her feel sick again, she needed air.

“I need some air.” She forced all her might into standing. She was almost there when the stallion moved underneath her barrel. She almost squeaked from surprise. She shot him a glare, but he didn’t falter. He just smiled and walked her out to the entrance of the castle.

“Why are you helping me! I am a queen, know you’re place!” She hissed as he helped her outside.

“You’re actually our prisoner, so know your place before telling me mine.” He said bluntly, before moving to check the bandages once more.

“You fool! You should know that Changelings aren’t to be trusted! It will be your downfall.”

“Maybe, but I have seen no signs of physical aggression to me and my friends. I don’t know what you’re problems are and quite frankly, I don’t care.” She snorted and shot him the best deadpan look she could muster.

“Plus, if you do try anything, I’ll gun you down before you ever get the chance to run, escape or kill any of us.” He stated matter of factly, before sitting down next to her. Why was he--?

Moments passed in total silence, neither of them speaking. Instead, they watched the forest to outskirts of town. The trees were almost undefinable in the night that engulfed them. The first few rays of light began to rise to the East. The sounds of the forest were beginning to stir as dawn broke. They may have been sat there for moment, but Chrysalis just couldn’t contain her irritation. This stallion was leaking so many emotions, all of it going straight to her. If only she could help herself. But she was so hungry.

Her stomach made a loud ‘gurgle’ before the queen of Changelings leant foreward and threw up once more. The stallion was quick to help her. As she spat the last of her stomach contents out, she turned her attention to the pony next to her.

“Why are you helping me? You know that I am a prisoner!” She said, and he just shrugged.

“I don’t know how your planet treats prisoners, but I would be damned if I were to refuse medical aid and basic humanity to someone, no matter their origins.” He said, she was completely confused and she had obviously done a very bad job at hiding her confusion.

“I’m a medic your highness. I’m not some warrior, a person who can just shrug off my ties or my beliefs. I believe that everyone deserves to be saved in the field. I guess I’m just too caring.”

She couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going on. Here she was, a prisoner apparently and yet she was sat outside with her ‘guard’ who was talking to her. An actual pony who was sat beside her.

“Why aren’t you running away. My kind is despised by ponies, your friends seemed rather shocked when they first saw me.”

“Like I said, I reserve judgement for an actual tribunal. Maybe you are the most horrendous person to exist. Right now? You’re someone who needs help, and I’m the only one willing to openly help you.” She couldn’t get her head around it. What did it all mean? What was that feeling in her stomach? Like butterflies.

It wasn’t until two seconds later, Chrysalis vomited once again. The steps of the old royal palace were starting to change colour to a shade of sickly green. It was those damned emotions he was leaking.

“You’re making me sick.” She coughed, glancing over at him, she saw his confused expression. Sighing, she knew that he wouldn’t leave her, without an explanation. Though she was a prisoner so he wouldn’t.

“Changelings consume emotions. Good ones are the best. You’re…” She hesitated, never before had she felt these emotions directed at her without a disguise.

“You’re feeding me with the care you are giving.”

XXX

Jack didn’t move, he probably should, but he knew that the queen was in need of food. Chrysalis was nowhere near as terrifying as Jack had first thought. Creatures that fed on emotions wasn’t something that he could even begin to comprehend.

Depending on different emotions, a certain amount of nourishment was received by the changeling in question.

If only he had known. For all he knew, he was being too generous and cause a division in the team if they thought he was fraternising with an enemy.

Honestly he couldn’t see Chrysalis being an enemy, she was tall and full of holes. Her lizard tongue she used when hissing was a bit worrying but other than visual features, she didn’t sound as menacing as he could have been lead to believe.

At least not in a way that warranted the physical pain train that Twilight had brought down upon the bug. If anything, Jack found Chrysalis to be… cute. For lack of any other way to describe her. She may look frightening but once she was helped and then tended to, she seemed far more accommodating.

What really worried him however was the emotion feeding. For all he knew, there could be terrible side effects. Lack of knowledge on the subject left him with a pit in his stomach. The other part was that he didn’t know how the feeding of emotions would affect the bug he was sitting next to.

What if he ended up like Lou?

His friend and commander had made no secret for his love of a pastel pony who was apparently a princess of all things. He hadn’t judged because after Guadalcanal, their love had seemed more like a thing thrown from the heat of the moment. Not for one moment did Jack believe he would end up with his two comrades in the land of talking ponies, bugs and god knows what else.

Now he was here, watching his friend reunite with his girlfriend and start to fall in love once more. It terrified him. Maybe this was part of some plan. Lou had spoken the day before of having met with Galaxia in what he called the ‘Dream realm’. He had spoken of her in such a way that it almost made him question his faith. Maybe his god was Galaxia? Or a creation?

They had agreed to keep the whole thing quiet. Deciding it to be best if they just went like nothing had changed. But the idea of free will being removed from the equation had terrified him. Lou too appeared to suffer, Mark on the other hand was far more reserved.

Since their arrival, Mark had been… distant. Jack had been quite open with Twilight’s friends, they all seemed like great people to him. Mark however had decided to keep his distance.

It was obvious that something had affected him, and being here only seemed to make things worse.

Maybe the same would be said for him. If Chrysalis was indeed feeding on his emotions, how long would it be before he too would fall into a honey trap. He just wanted to go home.

“I want to go home.” He said, breaking the awkward silence that had plagued the scene for the past five or so minutes. He turned his head to Chrysalis, giving her an apologetic smile.

“I’m tired your highness. All I want to do is go home and be with my family, but until then I’ve got to help your world fight against the Shadow.”

Chrysalis eyed him curiously, the more he looked into the gateway into her soul, the more Jack understood something. She was no villain. She had been beaten, starved, used and who knew what else. Right now, Chrysalis was being treated like an enemy by the others. There was history between them, but three years of submission had been set upon them all. She should be an ally, not an enemy.

“The question now is, do you want to go back to being put into submission, or help us free yourselves from oppression?”

XXX

Her mouth hung open for a few moments. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A pony was actually asking her for allegiance. But the question hadn’t come from the mind, like if Twilight had asked her. The question came from the heart. He wanted to go home, and he wanted her help.

If there was still a chance of some way for her to regain the initiative. To regain control over her hive, then maybe, just maybe she could finally be free.

But for what?

Would she just return to the same of life of Equestrian domination? Would she try to take over pony kind and suck up all that sweet, sweet love? Or could she find reconciliation?

There was a pony here that was not afraid of her. He may have not been an actual pony from what she had understood, but nonetheless he was there, beside her. Willing to tend to her wounds and also give a massage to relax her muscles.

He was no secret informant. No spy trying to get information out of her. He was someone who cared about her. About her well being.

Never before in the history of her reign had a pony cared for her. She was a monster, not worthy of friendship because it wasn’t a concept that she believed in. Despite this, she had someone here with her. Sitting beside her, not eyeing her suspiciously, but caringly.

It was then that he did something totally unexpected. He took her hoof within his paw. The blush that covered her face could have probably been seen for miles. Thankfully he was looking at leg instead.

“Is it normal for your kind to have so many holes?” He asked studying her leg for a moment before looking up at her. His confused look growing ever more bewildered when he saw how red she looked. He immediately let go when he realised that he may have done something wrong. Maybe he was too close to her.

“I’m not entirely sure…” She mumbled, looking down at her legs. She then watched as he stood up and stretched. She eyed him curiously as he stood and looked down at her.

“Name’s Jack.” He said, holding out a paw to help to help her up. He smiled down warmly as he waited for her.

“In case you need help.”

“Am I not your prisoner?” She stood, her legs still weak but with his help, she was able to help her stand and walk.

“You may not like us your highness, but I don’t have anything against you. If you decided to help us, I’ll be right by your side. If not...” He shrugged.

“If you decide to fight against us, then I’m sure that Twilight will mop the floor with you once more.”

“And you’ll not stop them?” She asked.

“Nope.”

As they stood watching the rising sun. A new day. They were completely oblivious to Twilight and her friends watching them from the hall. They stood, some mouth agape, others glaring at the sight, but Twilight… She was happy, maybe there was a way of redeeming Chrysalis. And despite everything that had happened, these last three years had proven that Chrysalis was as much of a victim as she was.

Who knew, maybe Jack would be the perfect pony to help with overcoming that.

Chapter XIV: Mark Gains

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter XV: Feather and Peacocks

Mark and Jack were still outside. The later embracing the former, trying to calm his fears. I knew all too well what Mark was feeling. Not wanting to be alienated by your own family because you dared to help a stranded princess in need of help, now your good deed must not go unpunished.

I moved away from the door and back into the throne room where Discord and the Doctor were both still working on figuring out who the Shadow was.

Last night, I had met with a strange bat named Squire Bottoms. A funny name but nothing that was worth mocking. If anything, Squire had been rather pleased to call me Fire Fly. Maybe that was why Mark was even more worried. I mean… being called Fire Fly by another pony felt kinda nice. Maybe Mark was right. Maybe Galaxia too, using too much magic and identifying as one of the locals here may put me and the other in jeopardy.

I would need to talk with Mark later about his family issues. Also to convince him that I had no intention on staying here. If we could get home, I would be there with them.

Discord and the Doc were not much help while I sat with them. They had spent the entire night working and fawning over the books that were left. Their pile was growing shorter and shorter. Twilight had asked her friends to start checking the old archive, maybe they would have more luck.

I had also spoken to Chrysalis with Twilight. The two were a little unsure of what to say to each other. Twilight was the one to apologise first however. She had attacked the poor creature without any clear signs of aggression. Chrysalis and Twilight had shared very little together, but they were willing to help each other out.

Learning about who Chrysalis was, was a perfect opportunity to try and get some information from her on what was going on. She had been ordered by the Shadow to replace Spike and have him placed in the dungeons.

Twilight had expressed the urgency of rescuing her adopted baby brother as well as the rest of her family. It was agreed that if the situation allowed, I would not hesitate to free her family with the rest of the State leaders that Twilight spoke of.

Chrysalis gave details of her mission, detailing that she was sure to be discovered and that she had been ordered to hold Twilight back from coming back. That surprised Twilight, she had said that her orders were a little vague but that she was ordered to either deal with the source of foreign magic, or to bring the source back to Canterlot as prisoner.

Delaying tactics? I had not expected such a thing, nor had I even begun to plan for that. However, from what Galaxia had said, maybe it was wise. We were obviously going to have a show down with the Shadow, but he was undefeatable according to Twilight and her friends. We needed a weapon, or something that we could use to stop the Shadow. But I had a feeling that it wasn’t as simple as what Twilight tended to say. There was something about this whole thing that didn’t make sense. The Shadow wanted to delay us, but why. If we were suppose to battle with the others surely he would want to fight us while we were still green, but maybe that was the problem. The technology of this world seemed… missing. Maybe the Shadow had no idea that we were here. Maybe he thought that it was Galaxia who was here.

If Galaxia was the real threat, then it would seem normal to want to delay the inevitable. But there had to be a purpose! Surely this was not an exercise in folly, the Shadow had shown no signs of idiocy nor was there anything here that screamed mistake! No...

The Peacocks. That was now twice that I had heard that name. The name had to be the key to this whole thing, I was sure of it. Or at least it would give us the identity of the Shadow, and that would be a huge boon for us.

I got Twilight and Chrysalis, who was still a bit sick, to come and help. Chrysalis did not seem like she wanted to help the Shadow any more than Twilight. She wanted to be free, and maybe this alliance and a gift of our friendship was the best we could give.

Jack joined us after some time. He had left Mark to relax and recover, explaining what had transpired.

Poor Mark.

I had no intention of alienating one of my best friends just because of what could end up happening. I was going to talk later, hopefully to get him to forget about Equestria and focus on the mission.

Hours passed and we were going through almost every register that the archive contained. I had even gone to the other chambers but they were being used as storage for mirrors, so nothing there.

We were running out of books before Jack finally struck oil!

There, in front of us, was a register of the old town prior to the rise of the Sisters. That meant that the register dated at least one hundred years before the death of the old King and Queen.

There were three Peacock families according to the book, one of them died out quite early on, the other two had continued well into the reign of the sisters. What was interesting was that the book detailed what each family member was doing at the year of recording. Herringbone Peacock, Plume Peacock and their child a son who was just called Peacock. Pony names were strange, almost like a title that they created when they were making a herd. That was Twilight’s theory anyway.

Herringbone was the farther and a builder, he worked for a construction company who worked for third party contactors for the government. Plume was the mother, she worked at the castle as an advisor to the royal family. She had been for over 15 years, the title read: spell caster. Twilight had explained that it was an old term to define old magicians of ancient times, the ones who wrote most of the spell books in this archive.

Starswirl the Bearded was one such pony that Twilight revered as a magic genius. She looked rather dreamy when she spoke of him.

There wasn’t much about the son, only that he was attending one of the schools on the north side before… well. The register gave no closure other than: Deceased in fire. So Twilight’s comment on their having been more than one fire within this town was accurate. The question now remained was what did they have to do with the Shadow.

I didn’t want to jump to conclusion, but my three helpers were more than happy to point out their hooves at Peacock. It did seem more likely that it could have been the son. But why?

With the information that we had accumulated now, we gathered the others to help us find more information on the family. There was a possibility that there could have been books here written by them, if anything, there should be some by Plume.

Mark had come down to join us late in the afternoon, his hair was ruffled and he bad some ice in a cloth atop his injured wing. Discord had magicked the ice up for him and Mark was thankful for it. Moving past us, I watched as he made his way down into the lower archive subsections. Watching him with concern, I made my move and followed him down, leaving Twilight and the others to continue to search for more clues.

He was standing by a larger book, a register of some kind. He seemed transfixed by the pages, barely acknowledging my arrival. He just stared at the pages of the book. We were in the mirror room, there no books here so I hadn’t even looked around before now.

I was glad to have such good night vision because seeing in the da rk was one of the better perks that came with this body.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I bet Jack told you everything?”

“Yes…” He sighed, at my response. He looked at me, straight into my eyes.

“Are you still Lou?” I opened and closed my mouth several times to try and come up with an answer to that. It was right to the point, no time wasting and I was not prepared.

“Yes I’m… I mean I am Lou, if that makes sense to you.”

“I’m not going to openly judge you, but every time I look at you, all I see is a pony who seems to be enjoying his life.” He said, moving past me and further down the hall of mirrors. I followed, unsure of what to say to that.

“Then I wake up to find Jack talking to our uninvited guest. They were practically falling over each other out there this morning. It made me snap. Why are you all so happy to be here, but I’m not…? I just want to go home…” He trailed off. I didn’t reply, there was nothing that I could say that would make him happy, or at least not lose his temper.

“But I probably won’t now… not after what happened with my parents. They’ll never look at me the same, especially with wings, pony ears and strange eyes…”

“Are your parents religious?”

“What does it matter, unless I can get home the same person as I was 4 years ago, they’ll never look at me the same.” He was right. My parents had also struggled with my return. I had nightmares that would wake them up. My sister often hoped that I would get better. But nothing could really prepare you for the return home.

Unlike my friends, I had nor returned crippled. Only a bullet wound right through the shoulder. The pain was still there sometimes, if my mind lingered on the memory too much.

“We’ll get you home Mark, no matter what.”The look he gave almost broke me. He just looked really sad, tired. Longing to return home.

“That’s just it. I don’t.”

“What?” He stood in front of me, his expression unwavering in sadness as he looked at himself in one of the mirrors and then at my own body.

“I flew today Lou.” He said, flexing his wings, wincing in pain as he moved his right one but did so nonetheless. Obviously his sprain had dissipated now. His face was renewed with a form of joy that I had not seen in him since our first meeting before the raid on Makin.

“I went flying down the stairs! Nothing spectacular, but I was doing it and it clicked with me…” He trailed off once more, his human mind finally realising what he was saying, trying now to suppress the joy that he felt once more.

“You want to fly?” He nodded slowly, staring off into the distance as if reliving an age old memory.

“Just like you enjoyed your time in the dream realm, if it actually exists-”

“It does.”

“-And how Jack absolutely loves using magic! I’ve seen him hoarding several books in his bag.” He laughed, moving past me once more to look at one of the mirrors, or should I say, lack of a mirror.

“You guys are happy with this. I’m not, I get the feeling that we’re not going home Lou. That scares me. I don’t want to sacrifice my happiness to be with my family, but I also don’t want to be with my parents if it stops me from enjoying this!” He then froze and looked to the mirror to his left and sighed.

“I’ve got to get out of here before I end up like you. Like Jack. I mustn’t stay here, or else I won’t want to…” I heard him sniff once, as I moved beside him, he whipped his tears with his forelegs and gave me a smile. I smiled back, unsure of what to tell him. He didn’t wait for me however, he just looked at the mirrors in front of us and gestured towards the absent one.

“This one was the one that was used to capture the Shadow.”

“The one that’s missing?”

“There’s two of them missing, one of them is in some place called the Crystal Empire. The other was moved to Galaxia’s quarters.” So she was involved quite deeply, so our reasoning for the Shadow to use delaying tactics made sense. If he didn’t want a repeat of what led to this situation it would make sense to try and delay her arrival. For what purpose? We had no idea.

“Each mirror has a different pediment, decorated with moons and suns. See there?” He pointed to one of the other mirrors. I could see that they each had their own unique name and pediment display.

“When was the mirror moved?”

“The date coincides about the same time that the old Monarchy was killed in a fire. Galaxia too, if what the books say are correct.” If Galaxia was truly living her story, then it was certain that she must have faked her own demise, but what was her role here? There was barely any mention of her in most books. If anything, they only ever referred to her as a third member of the royal family. Maybe she was the mother of one of the old royals.

“You found this out by yourself?” He nodded. I shook my head and gave him a hug with a wing.

“You stupid idiot, you could’ve gotten hurt!” I said in faux shock and anger. I did crack smile when he laughed himself and flexed his injured wing.

“I did.” H chuckled as we headed back. Looking ahead, Mark took on a worried look once more.

“I hope that Mom and Dad are alright. I think I gave them a heart attack when they found me.”

I had no reply to that. I wish I could have given him some more comfort, but I had none. The best I could do was help him get through this. And hopefully we would not be here too much longer. We had some good leads, all we had to do now was find a way to defeat the Shadow. Hopefully one of the spell books here would give us the answers.

As we both emerged from the archive, we were practically assaulted by Twilight as she bounced around holding a spell book within her chaos magic.

“The Doctor found it! He found it!” She said, bouncing around us and leading us over to one of the tables where everyone had gathered.

“Ms Rarity was very helpful.” The Doctor said, waving a hoof dismissively. The white mare with a purple mare blushed and waved her hoof also.

“It was nothing darlings.” The others regarded them with odd looks of suspicion but didn’t butt in. Discord took the book in his talon. He opened up the relevant page and began to read to us what the book had to offer.

It was a spell book of sorts, without any spells, but what it recounted was very intriguing. Plume was a student here, in her early thirties. She had been tasked by the royal court to do research into different types of magic. Plume had been tasked with researching one of the most dangerous forms of spell casting, Vengeance magic. The idea was to make records for all ponies, so that they could understand what magic worked for what situations or climate. Vengeance spell casting was a form of dark magic that was used back before the unification of the pony tribes.

The royals felt it necessary to look into cataloguing the most dangerous of magic so that future generations could be taught why such spells were banned and why they were too dangerous to use.

Twilight had known about most of the magic types, though Celestia had forbidden her to do any research on dark magic. She had looked of course, but hadn’t found out much.

The book didn’t really go into detail. It gave no mention on how to cast such spells, though Plume had obviously never tried using the spells herself. She had expressed her concerns about even trying to cast such spells because the magic could only be unlocked by a form of joining. A joining that meant becoming consumed by the desire for vengeance. A desire to kill, no matter what.

Discord explained what it meant. Unlike the ponies here, he was chaotic from the start, however ponies come natural with harmonious magic. That harmony is then broken down into subcategories depending on what tribe the pony was. The same was said for the Griffons, Yaks, Dragons and other creatures of Equus. He then explained that allowing a creature of harmony to become consumed, one must commit to the desire complete that one objective. Vengeance magic was there to replace the harmony that a pony had.

I was fascinated, Discord explained it in a way that was easy for me and the others to understand. Quite honestly, despite his chaotic appearance, he was by far one of the kindest people we could have hoped to have met while here. I had asked him about Twilight and her own magic, he said that for his full power to return, he would have to remove his from Twilight. Leaving her defenceless and without the ability to use magic, which she seemed rather worried about.

There wasn’t much more within the book that indicated what could have happened, or who the Shadow was, but I had a feeling of who it was. Peacock was student in the city, his mother a student of sorts herself. There was apparently a report that she had written detailing the use of spells. Further searching had proven fruitless, but I knew that the report wouldn’t be here. If anything, it was probably lost to time.

XXX

Squire was sat on the ground, looking through a book as I approached. He looked up, a smile spreading.

“Fire Fly!” He called, motioning for me to come and join him. I did, flying softly to him, my wings fully extended. He closed his book as I came to a stop beside him.

“Sit down dear boy! What have you to talk about then?” He asked.

“We found out about the Peacock family. Mark also found out about the mirror that was used to trap the Shadow.” I said, he looked to the sky thoughtfully before giving me a sly grin.

“And how is the poor boy, I hope you’re getting him set straight. He isn’t going to be an avian if he doesn’t learn how to fly!”

“Mark doesn’t want to be an avian, Squire. He wants to be human again.”

“Shame, he would be such a great flyer. But who knows, maybe once this is all over he’ll decide to stay for while.” He said, pulling an old pipe from thin air and beginning to smoke.

“Why do you want him to stay?”

“Imperial ponies like you are a rare breed. Not often that such great ponies return from the realm of extinction!” He exclaimed. I gave him an incredulous look which made him chuckle.

“You’re funny Fire Fly! But like I said, my offer still stands to help you learn how to control your dream magic. While I’m sure that Mark will find somepony to help him learn the magic of flight.”

“I thought that flying was more of an art.” I replied. He snorted, coughing up smoke from his pipe.

“Every form of magic is an art.” He said slyly as he leant over to whisper in my ear.

“Either way, I wish the boy the best. If he decides that flying isn’t what he wants well…” he trailed off, becoming distant for a moment. Looking at the full moon that was rising. I looked as well, though I saw nothing that stood out as strange.

“Fate will make the choice for him.” He grumbled.

“I want to learn about dream magic. I feel like I should while I’m here. If the others don’t want to explore their own powers, that is up to them.” I explained, shrugging my wings.

“I will warn you Fire Fly, if I you allow me to teach you dream magic, too much spell casting will start to blur the line between being human and pony. To the point where there will be no distinction between the two.” He teased in a sing song voice. Moving towards a large tree that arose from the ground with a slight tremor.

I moved to follow, a little nervous, but I was sure that I could take it. This was the dream realm right? This couldn’t affect the real world, so long as I kept spell casting to here, then I should be fine.

“I’m sure. I’m sure that I can keep spell casting to this realm, without affecting the real me on the other side.”

That mad him choke on his pipe once more. Looking back at me with devious grin he replied.

“Just keep watch and repeat, don’t over use your magic or the choice will be made for you. Don’t worry though, I’m sure you’ll be a great bat!”

“Squire can I ask you something?”

“Go right ahead!”

“Am I already trapped here? Are we all?” He froze for a moment, before turning to me with a one of the kindest smile that I had seen him give me.

“That depends, do you believe that being stuck here is a trap?” He asked. I just sighed, not really sure of what to say. I know that for me, I have something here, but Mark hasn’t. Apart from us, Jack I’m not so sure.

“You all have more to gain from staying here and accepting the magic of harmony.” He said, spreading a wing over my back. It was comforting.

“Now, let’s start with something simple…” With that, I began my apprenticeship in the field of dream spell casting.

Chapter XVI: Speculation

The next morning was rather uneventful for Twilight. Her mind was focused on everything that was happening. Lou was still asleep next to her, mumbling softly with a content smile on his face. She had been worried at first about his returning nightmares, though it appeared that he was okay. She couldn’t even imagine what he was dreaming about, though Thestrals were known for their ability to explore the dream realm.

Lou had apparently spent some time there now, only five days of being in Equestria within bodies they could barely comprehend, yet Lou was apparently visiting the dream realm almost every night. Dream magic was something she had studied, but being the Alicorn of magic didn’t allow her the privilege of visiting such a place. Maybe she could pick Lou’s mind for details?

Mark and Jack were both still working with Chrysalis on research on how to defeat Vengeance magic. There wasn’t much, but if it was a subtype of dark magic, then the only hope they had now was finding the elements of Harmony. Finding the tree of Harmony would be even better, but it too was gone, so finding either was going to be a lot harder than her human friends could imagine.

Jack had asked her about spell casting. He was eager to find out more about how spells worked, how he could comprehend the matrices of magic. She was all too happy to oblige his request for knowledge. It seemed that they both shared that passion. Mark on the other hoof was not was not so willing to learn about how to use his own magic. He seemed frightened and if what Lou had told her was true, she could perfectly understand why.

Everyone here wanted to go back to a sense of normality. Her friends wanted to have their lives go back to normal. Pinkie wanted to throw proper parties once more. Fluttershy wanted to be with her animal friends and have tea dates with Discord. Discord was all too happy to go back to being with Fluttershy. Rarity just wanted to follow her passion once more. Rainbow wanted to continue her career with the Wonderbolts. Apple bucking was all AJ wanted to get back to, though she also wanted to be with her family, everyone did.

Chrysalis was harder to pin down, though it appeared that she too just wanted to get back to her hive. She had been broken down so many times that Twilight could hardly recognise the former Changeling queen. Though there was something about Chrysalis that had changed since her reveal. She almost seemed brighter, especially having spent nights being looked after by Jack.

Lou and his friends had kept talking about going home. Being with their families appeared to be the most important thing that they could accomplish at this moment in time. She didn’t get the feeling that any of them hated Equus. Except for Mark who, when Rainbow Dash had offered to help him how to fly, decided that it was the best time to take a walk... alone. It was heartbreaking to Twilight because of how Mark reacted around his own friends. He seemed to be alienating them from his circle, only being with them if he really needed to.

Lou and Jack had not seemed very concerned about their situation. Actually, that was a lie, they were. It just so happened that they both were very interested in the magic situation that they found themselves in. In fact they both seemed fascinated by their abilities. Mark wasn’t and that worried her. Ponies when they became resentful normally had the makings of a villain. She was most likely being paranoid, but if she could convince Lou to stay, would Mark resent her for taking his friend from him.

She was thinking way too much into this, Mark was a good pony who was very kind when he wasn’t hiding from them. Plus he had also found out about the mirror and some extra clues about how the Shadow was released by her spell.

Twilight sighed, still remembering the day of her failed experiment. It broke her heart remembering the whole experience. She also played a lot of ‘what if’ scenarios in her head. They had all played out the same though. She could only cast her mind on her time on Earth, the wonderful humans she had met. Colonel Sanders and Lieutenant Stone, the medical corps in the MASH… Tomy.

Thinking of him always made her tear up. Out of all of them, he had been the one to ask the most questions about Equestria. He would have loved it here, she was sure of it. Imagining what kind of pony he would be, an Earth pony? Or an imperial alicorn like the others. If only he hadn’t died trying to save her. If only she had not been there, maybe he would still be alive.

It was best not to think about those types of scenarios. One could go mad, rabbit hole diving in endless possibilities had he survived. But in the end, he didn’t survive. He died and she survived. It was like a form of mental torture, imagining what one could have done better or differently. If only she had died there, what a mercy it would have been.

That only applied to her and Tomy, nothing else. Had she died there, then what would have happened to Equus? What would’ve happened to her world, her family never knowing what happened to her. It would have been merciless.

Maybe Tomy’s sacrifice was the real mercy. He had played his part to help her defeat the Shadow, now she had to complete the mission for her friends and family. For Lou, Mark and Jack safe return.

And for Tomy.

It was about an hour past mid day when Lou finally awoke. He had slept peacefully the entire time and was rather shocked to see what time it actually was. What Twilight found even more amazing was just how excited he was. He was up within seconds and walked around with a light spring in his step. He gestured for her to follow him, going down the steps of the old castle, she watched him jump halfway down and glide the rest of the way. She hadn’t seen him learn how to glide though it appeared that he had found a way to learn.

“What is it? Did you find something while in the dream realm?” She asked as she glided down towards him.

“Watch this!” He said, before lighting up his horn and within a flash, she watched him open a portal in front of her. Stepping through, he disappeared, leaving her open mouthed with a complete loss of understanding. She then squeaked when he stepped out from beside her, another portal hovering in mid air before closing in on itself.

Her shocked expression at what he had just accomplished was matched by just how overly happy he was. Smiling broadly at her, exposing his fangs as he just smiled at her, expectantly.

“Sooo? What do you think?”

She could barely say anything as her throat had started to go dry. Licking her lips, she formulated her reply.

“That was… incredible! How did you…?” She just gestured with her hooves at thin air. He chuckled and began his explanation.

“Squire Bottoms taught me last night. We started with simple dream spell casting but then he told be about teleportation and gateway opening. So I decided to learn gateway magic first, in case I have to use it to get me and the other home!” He then sat down next to her all while staring at her expectantly. Obviously he was hoping for a reaction of utter surprise and shock. Well he got it.

“Squire Bottoms? You mean the pony who wrote the journal that Pinkie found?” He nodded eagerly.

“Yep, don’t ask me how it works but Galaxia had his magical soul placed in the dream realm to help other Thestrals, though apparently he was also asked to help me with dream spell casting.” She had not expected this from him. From yesterday to today, there was a completely different pony standing there. She was concerned but decided not express it out right. Though Lou must have picked up on it slightly as his ears lowered slightly and his smile faltered.

“Mark was right.” He finally sighed.

“Damn magic… What about Romain, my family? It’s almost like the dream realm wants me to stay here. Like Galaxia wants me to stay here.” He said, before smiling broadly once more.

“Could I run away?”

“Run away from what?” She asked hesitantly.

“From Earth! From my family! Just burn all bridges and stay here with you! To never leave you and just be happy, never having to think about my responsibilities.” His smile remained, but she could see into his golden eyes, he was scared and his faltering smile. He then sighed and hung his head low. Twilight was worried, the mood change was so instant, yet almost fitting. Lou liked it here, Mark, not so much.

“You shouldn’t abandon your family Lou, they’re your family after all. I’m sure there is a way that we could find a method to allow you to go from one side to the other.” She offered, but he just sighed and looked at her with a worried expression.

“Squire told me that magic was almost an identity. The more me and the others use it, the less human we are and the more pony we become. Even if we can establish a door way, surely there will be a point when I won’t be Lou Albert Conlin any more and all that will remain is Fire Fly.”

“Fire Fly?” She asked, he just laughed. Almost as if regretting having disclosed that information.

“Squire and Galaxia call me that. I guess it’s a sign… Unless we can cheat and you decide to stay on Earth with me?” She had not really expected such a request from him, though it was not one that she could just refuse. She would have replied had he not beatten her to it.

“Ah that wouldn’t work! You’re already a pony, you couldn’t live on Earth without major problems. I too if I stay here too long as well.”

He was right, Twilight was a creature of harmony who had been given chaos magic by the lord of Chaos himself to help her survive the world of humans. If harmony was returned to her, she would most certainly not have her human form returned to her on the other side. Unless they could find a mirror like the one that led to Canterlot High.

“Do you think Fire Fly suits me?” He asked almost out of the blue. She eyed him for a moment, honestly there were many names that she had in her mind but the one that she always saw was Lou. Not Fire Fly nor Frost Fire, not even something like Strong Heart.

“That’s up to you, though I’m happy with Lou. There’s no reason for you to be anything else.” The words had an immediate effect. His head rose high and he looked down at her as they shared each others company. He hadn’t wanted to admit it out right, but just like Mark, he too was scared.

“Thank you.” He said, lowering his head to nuzzle her head and give her an affectionate nibble of the ears. She loved that, and she loved the way he smelt, despite his lack of hygiene, he had a certain smell that she couldn’t place but comforted her either way. The whole show made her moan in delight.

“We should probably leave here tonight.” He said, removing his head from her own and looking back out into the forest.

“There’s not much more that we can look into now and I’m not sure of what to do.”

“Finding the elements of Harmony would be a first, but I’m not sure of where they are.” Twilight began to stand, halted only when Lou placed his wing in her back once more and held her in place.

“I never got the chance to ask but, what is it with these elements? You and the others revere them, Chrysalis and Discord seem more apprehensive.”

“That’s because they are both former villains I guess. The elements were used twice on Discord who later became reformed.” She explained, allowing him to understand why the ponies were allied with such a creature.

“Chrysalis hasn’t, but she is only here because this is her chance at freedom. I’m worried she might go back to being evil again, but I think that might be a little hard, especially when her main source of nourishment is Jack.”

Lou’ brow raised at that, a full notion of understanding that maybe Chrysalis was only in it for the free food that Jack gave her. Though he and Twilight had seen how she acted around the others thanks to Jack, there may be a possibility that she was reformed.

“So the elements purge evil from evil people?” He asked.

“Not exactly, harmony doesn’t work on Discord because he is a creature of Chaos. Chrysalis I’m not so sure, but if the Shadow is truly the Peacock’s son, then there should be no reason why the elements shouldn’t purge the dark magic from him.”

“This all sounds rather like a fairy tale.” Lou rubbed his chin in thought, looking at the sky.

“Are you sure that he doesn’t have the elements hidden away? Maybe they are--”

“No.” She cut him off. The elements had disappeared and even the Shadow wanted to have them. She had a feeling of why, but she couldn’t be sure yet.

“The elements have been missing since my arrival in your world. When I returned, the tree had also disappeared. I’m not sure why, but I almost have a bad feeling about the reasons why they just upped and vanished.”

“Galaxia’s playing a game. And using the elements would be too easy.” He assumed.

“Or the Shadow wants us to use the elements on him. Maybe he can absorb the magic of friendship. Or maybe he can use it to bring the other nations to kneel.” She added.

“Or maybe he wants to be freed from the Vengeance magic that surrounds him.”

In all of her wildest speculations, Twilight could never have conceived that maybe the Shadow wanted to be rid of… well, the Shadow! Maybe the son of the Peacock family had realised that he had made a mistake and was trying his best to return to normal.

Dark magic was a very difficult subject to master, maybe that was why…

“Maybe that’s why he has been using unicorn magic instead, because it is a subtype of Harmonious magic. Maybe he’s been consuming other ponies magic to try and free himself!” She exclaimed, standing up and walking forward triumphantly, not realising that she was dragging Lou across the grass due to his wing still holding onto her back.

She blushed and helped him up as he shook himself off. Smiling sheepishly, she closed her eyes hoping not to make it awkward. Luckily for her, he decided to be the kind coltfriend and give her a loving kiss. They shared it for a moment, enjoying each others company as the late autumn sun shone upon them. Strangely, for a moment, Twilight thought she could hear shouting from deep within the forest. As they broke the kiss and she listened intently for the voices, none came.

The wind picked up once again and so she could guess that it may have been her imagination.

Chapter XVII: Hope for the Best

Dream magic was just way too fun. The ability to open up gateways like in the dream realm and to appear somewhere else was just… cool. Honestly I had never experienced such a sensation and it seemed to just help me take my mind off things.

I asked Twilight to not tell anyone about it, not wanting to spook the others but I really wanted to show them any way. It was fun, and I was happy. Sadly it did mean that using my new found spells were more of a way to avoid the challenges of my real life. It was a coping mechanism, and I knew that.

These past few nights I had not had a single nightmare. Save for the one I had with Squire but I no longer had this feeling of dread wash over me when I went to sleep. The others still suffered from nightmares, Twilight told me about Mark mumbling to himself, then he would start to cry out a few times before going dead silent. I had not noticed.

It was a shame that this was not what I actually wanted. I wanted a life of normality, not one of fighting nightmares. But with my return home, I had quickly learned that it was not going to happen that way. Here on Equus however, I was home free. I could go to sleep without fearing the nightmares, here they didn’t define me. Here I was… Fire Fly. Imperial Alicorn from the northern lands! Slayer of the demons of midnight! Ruler of the fallen empires! Friend of the uh… the uh…

Maybe I wasn’t as all powerful as my training had me believe…

In fairness however, I was so happy with how well my training session with Squire had gone yesterday that it all seemed so effortless doing it here in the real world. Squire had a very interesting way of explaining magic that made it easy for my simpleton mind to understand.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the guilt that I had. I could just run away. Leave Earth behind and live here, with Twilight. Helping her attend to her nation and her people.

Guilt was the only reason that I would stay home and endure the nightmares. That and my pride in my family. My father had fought in the Great War, lost his cousin and father. He endured nightmares from Verdun, not able to escape. I could, the opportunity was available to me right here, right now. But for my father, Romain, Tomy and so many others that I had immense respect for their ultimate sacrifice, I could not bring myself to cower away.

I will return to Earth.

Twilight and I had talked during our session outside on what we should do next. There was very little for us left here in the old castle. Despite having some information about the Shadow, what magic was being used and how to defeat said magic, we were still lacking the weapon to use. The elements of harmony were the only things that Twilight and her friends were sure would bring about the end of the Shadow. If it was the case, then the Shadow, Peacock, would want them too. To be purged of the magic that had taken over, finding the elements would be a top priority.

But something was amiss. I was sure of it. Twilight and Chrysalis had spoken of the battles raging against the Yaks and the Griffons. Why fight your neighbours if all Peacock wanted is to be free of the magic that he had corrupted himself with, trying to avenge his parents death? I had my suspicions, and Chrysalis was the most likely example of my inner reasoning.

Twilight had spoke of many bad things happening in the weeks prior to the release of the Shadow. She spoke of ill feelings, moments of xenophobia and racism towards the other creatures from other nations. It seems that tensions run high amongst them all. Maybe the neighbouring nations had attacked first, wanting something that they felt Equestria had robbed them of.

Twilight was unsure, not ready to press blame on the other nations when from her view point, they were trying to stop the Shadow from occupying their lands. She saw them as possible liberators, but I wasn’t so sure. Many of the history books spoke of battles of old between ponies and the other creatures of this magical land. Bad blood might still exist between them now.

I just hoped that by defeating the Shadow and getting the rulers of this land back on their throne, hopefully they could avoid serious military repercussions. Not that I knew much of course, I was most likely due to help occupy Japan once war was won.

Quite honestly, I wasn’t sure how I would react around the Japs. I had never met one before the war, all I knew was what I was told. They were insidious, revolting people who plotted with a knife behind their backs. And from the few prisoners that I had seen, there was always a sense of insecurity around them. I also wasn’t sure if I could forgive them for the death of my friends. It was also their fault that my brother was dead, so maybe hating them was perfectly fine. Maybe it was… justified.

Having notified the others of our departure, we all began to tidy our stuff away. Moving the books that we had read back to their place in the archive. I kept one with me though, it was book about dream spell casting. While I was not going to be practising anytime soon, I was sure as hell gonna read up on certain defensive spells. The sound of my gun going off the other day was horrible. Having sensitive ears that amplified the sound made using our guns more of an after thought. I noticed Jack also taking a spell book with him, Mark though was as defiant as ever. Taking only what was his, putting what was not back in its rightful place.

Chrysalis, Discord and the Doctor helped to an extent. I was unsure if the Doctor would be joining us on our journey back to Ponyville. He seemed reluctant to leave his blue box of wonders. When we were all settled in the dining room once more, he asked the crucial question.

“What’s the plan here? You can’t just expect to go to Canterlot without any sort of trouble.” He was a bit irritated, I did get the feeling that not knowing what to do was not something that happened often to him.

“We don’t have much choice Doctor.” Twilight replied.

“We don’t have the elements, nor do we have any real means to defeat the Shadow without help. Our plan is to free the Princesses and hopefully conjure up enough Harmonious magic to purge the Shadow.”

“I’m not sure that’s a foolproof plan. In fact, I’m not sure that it would work at all! You’d need an army of ponies to purge the dark magic. It’s not exactly… perfect.” He finished, and he was right. Quite honestly our plan was to literately overwhelm the evil magic with good magic.

“That wasn’t my only plan…” She said quietly, almost not wanting to be heard, she eyed me quickly as she hung her head. ‘She had another plan?’

“What’s plan B?” Mark asked, he was a bit apprehensive as he asked, Twilight just gave a nervous smile as she looked at him.

“Well… I was reading up on how to open up void ways.” She began only to have Discord and the Doctor look at her in shock.

“You want to trap him in the void?” They both said in unison. I for one was lost, but it seemed to make sense to them. Though her friends and Chrysalis seemed as confused as we were.

“Just like Galaxia, open up a void way and force him back into the dark. At least until we can find a way to purge him of the Shadow. Until then, its banishment.” She explained almost ashamed of saying what she was saying. They were talking about sending the Shadow back into… the void?

“I’m hearing a ‘but’ coming in soon aren’t I?” I asked, she smiled nervously before realising that she had no choice but spill her plan a little more.

“Well not a ‘but’ exactly… more of a ‘weelllll’.” She rubbed her leg nervously.

“I’m not sure I could open such a void gate, and it might be outside of any one of us here’s abilities.” She said, even shaking her head when Discord gave off a pout.

“Outside of our abilities except yours.”

I looked at the others, a feeling of understanding was washing over me. I could see that Mark and Jack were also starting to understand what her plan was. Mark was slowly starting to sweat, his visage becoming pale.

“You want us to initiate the spell.” I offered, and she nodded nervously.

“It might be easier for you three than for any of us. Discord can open up gateways to other pocket dimensions, but his power is limited because I’m using it. But--” She lifted a hoof when Mark moved to interject.

“–Even if I gave up the magic in me now, I wouldn’t have any magic to help either of you. I’m afraid this is sort of a ‘its on you’ kinda deal.” She was right and I heard Mark sigh in the back but still loud enough to make him reply with a mumble.

“But using our magic too much will trap us here.”

“So? Surely you guys love Equestria!” Rainbow said, looping up in the air with a smile. If only Mark could share it.

“Maybe for you. For them too.” He said, gesturing to me and Jack.

“But I don’t want to stay here, I want to get home as soon as possible. I’m not sure this is the best plan Twilight.” She gave him a sad smile, understanding what he was saying.

“The third option is to try and negotiate with the Shadow. Get Peacock to accept our help with his problems and free the Princesses and my family to help recover the nation from war.” She offered.

It was not exactly a good plan either. I could tell that the first option was the best plan that we had. But maybe we could negotiate with the Shadow. If Peacock was still in there, if he was still in control, maybe we could do this. I wasn’t sure about locking the poor guy back away in a mirror once more. Maybe we could help purge the magic and all be happy?

It was late afternoon by the time we left the castle. The sun was going down in the sky and I could almost feel the eyes of the forest around me. I had been a bit worried of monsters attacking us while we were here. Twilight’s friend Fluttershy had spoken of creatures such as Manticores and Chimeras. I for one was worried that maybe my imagination would get the better of me. I had been worried that maybe an army of imaginary Japs would come out from the brush. Quite honestly, I was almost expecting it, I even thought I heard shouts coming from the forest several times during our stay in the castle.

The Doctor seemed a little sad to be leaving his blue police box, but ventured forward nonetheless. I took point and Mark followed close behind. Jack was tailing. During our trek through the forest, Mark approached me, his expression full of concern.

“What do you think Lou?” He asked, my attention was on the path and I almost hadn’t heard him first.

“Huh?”

“What do you think, about the plan?”

“I’m not sure, it doesn’t sound hopeful, but we don’t have much more to offer.” He looked ahead instead of focusing on me. I think he was hoping for something more comforting. Maybe some of my wisdom on how we would get through this, but I had nothing.

“I just hope that if we end up having to learn to cast this spell, we won’t have to train too much. The more magic we use the higher the chances of us becoming trapped here, right?”

“I’m not really sure of the magic behind it, but that’s what Squire and Galaxia gestured to.” I responded, it must have been a little rough because Mark went absolutely silent. He seemed lost in thought, maybe thinking of running away. Observing him for a moment, I sighed.

“Mark, I’m not going to let you wallow like this. We’re here to help these people!” I whispered to him.

“I know the risks and I’m going to work on learning this spell. I’m not losing you Mark. Not after all of the stuff we did.” He looked at me with a look of relief. Maybe it was something else, I wasn’t sure.

“If I have to take on the spell, then I will. You want to go home, I do too. But I won’t ask you to follow me where you can’t return from.”

The words seemed to ring around his head when finally he cracked a smile. Moving his wings slightly, he looked at me and whispered.

“I know that you guys think I don’t really like it here. I do like it, I swear! I’m just, not sure about the whole becoming trapped here thing.” He explained, earning a wing across his back from me. I smiled and gave him the kindest words I could offer.

“Mark, I’m going to learn this spell tonight. You won’t.” I said, he looked at me slightly confused.

“We need to free the rulers from their prison. I’m sending you with a team to free them.”

“We’re working this out in the morning right?”

“Yeah, but know that I want you to rest easy. You’re not going to be stuck here. Maybe tonight I should introduce you to Squire, he could ease your fears.” I offered, Mark’s ears splayed back in nervousness and smiled weakly.

“Or make them worse.” He mumbled.

Crossing the Everfree was much easier this time round. The paths were still worn from our last few journeys, though we did see signs of the illusive beasts that roamed the forest. We saw signs of destruction, trails of blood lingered in the forest. We had feared that maybe a pony had been taken or even killed by the creatures.

Surprisingly it was Fluttershy who calmed the fears of everypony. She was an animal expert according to her friends, she was quick to identify that the blood belonged to another animal. While I believed that the sight of blood would easily make her faint, she proved me wrong. She may have been shy and scared of most things, but animal nature wasn’t one of them. She knew that animals had to eat, so for her this was normal.

Mark and I held point for the entirety of the trip. I was sure that Twilight and some of the others would be better than me or the others would be if attacked, but I didn’t feel good not doing what I had been trained to do. It was more of an instinct, not a show of how good me and the others were.

Either by sheer luck or some unforeseen miracle, we exited the forest just as the sun was beginning to set. We approached Ponyville just as the last rays of light disappeared over the horizon. All of Twilight’s friends went their separate ways. Fluttershy and Discord were the first to leave, spending the night at Fluttershy’s nearby cottage. Apple Jack and rainbow were next, heading to the nearby Orchards.

Upon entering the town, we bid goodnight to Rarity and Pinkie, Rarity also dragging the Doctor along with her. He seemed a little reluctant, as his hooves dug into the ground as he was dragged away to his doom.

That left five, now ready to head home to Twilight’s tree house. Jack and Chrysalis were almost passing out, but that didn’t stop Jack from allowing the bug to ride on his back. Despite being much larger than he, the former Marine was still able to hold his own and carry her into the library.

“You better make it up to me for the lock.” Twilight said, absent-mindedly looking around the library as we settled our items down in the corner near the staircase.

“I’ll buy you a new one, don’t worry.” I yawned and lay down. I was so tired I didn’t have the stomach for food. All I wanted now was to go to bed, and see if Squire could help me learn the ‘void way’ spell.

I saw Twilight look at me, a little disappointed for some reason. What did I say, was I not suppose to replace her lock?

As the others settled down on the makeshift beds, I was about to lay down when a sudden force pulled me off the ground. I yelped, only to come face to face with twilight on the landing. She was looking at me, bemused.

“Wh-What?” I stammered, a little surprised by how fast I had gone from the ground floor to the first floor.

“You’re not sleeping on the floor! You’re sleeping in a proper bed.” Twilight ordered, as if sensing my reluctance, she grabbed me by the ear and pulled me into her bedroom. My ‘owowowow’s not gaining me any favours as she deposited me in the rather small bed.

Twilight removed her armour and placed it upon a chair in the back. When she finally turned, she pounced. Pressing her lips against mine as we lay on the bed. It was a powerful kiss, full of passion and desire. But I also felt a twinge of sadness, a feeling of uncertainty.

“You’re worried about facing the Shadow, aren’t you?” I asked, after having stopped kissing and just lying there. She only nodded in response, sighing heavily she moved to her side of the bed to grab a second pillow from the floor. It was all a bit dusty, but I wasn’t complaining.

“I was talking to Mark earlier about another plan, something that could allow the others to escape if we fail.”

“I’m not sure about our failure Lou, I just…” She sighed, ears splaying backwards emphasising her concern.

“I’m worried about what it will all come too. Our peoples aren’t as… bloody as your own. Even against the Griffons and the Yaks, we’re not suffering fatalities, only wounded casualties.” She had explained this all before. I was well aware that Equus was far from anything that I knew. Even their wars were rather… bloodless, the only fatalities that did occur were accidents. I’m not sure how such peoples could exist, but they did.

“I’m not sure I could bring myself to kill the Shadow, Peacock, I mean. It’s not something I could do.” I hugged her with a wing as I lay on my stomach. Giving her a sympathetic smile, I stroked her back with the extra appendage that I had, eliciting some moans from her exhausted form.

“Like I said, I told Mark that I wasn’t going to have everyone there. We need to split up into teams. We both know that the whole ‘bringing the royals to Peacock once again’ will only bring about our downfall. We may need another solution.” I knew that it was a fools hope, but a hope nonetheless.

“I’m hoping that we can talk this out, but I have my doubts, especially when it comes to this kind of magic.

“I know… I mean, when somepony becomes corrupted such evil magic, how much of them is left after so long trapped within a mirror? Magic tends to be infectious, just like you and the others. You’re a better example because of all spells you are learning withinin the dream realm.”

“Talking about training, could I have that book.” I said, pointing to the one that was partially sitting out of her bag.

“I’m planning on going with Squire and learning how to cast the spell to open ‘void ways’.” I explained. Twilight passed me the book with her magic. One glance was all I needed, hopefully I could just pull it out of thin air like Galaxia and Squire could do.

“Hold on… this book was written by Plume?” I asked, Twilight nodded.

“It’s her spell book that we went through. It talks in some detail about how to cast this one but the notes appear to come from another apprentice in the castle. Plume must have been the pony to write it down. I’m not sure though…” She said, snuggling up to my side and yawning. She did look cute when her tongue would poke out like that.

“I know that I’m not really in shape, but you do realise that learning, casting and then actually using this spell will take its toll on you?” She asked, I just tilted my head to the side, confused.

“Like I said earlier, magic is infectious, you’re not a magical being, the more magic you use, the more it will…” She trailed off, gesturing to my body.

“Will make me a pony permanently?” I offered, filling in the blank and receiving only a nod in return.

“I’ll have to ask Squire just how much magic I can do. Ever since I’ve found out about this, everyone has been more than a little vague.” I huffed in irritation. In all fairness, I was new to all this magic bullshit. While it was really fascinating to actually be able to cast my own spells, fly around the dream realm and be a fluffy imperial cat hybrid pony, no one was being clear on how much magic I could use before there is no humanity left within me.

I was willing to risk it for myself, but not for the others. I liked spell casting, but I also wasn’t prepared to push my luck to its total limits. Returning home as a human was one of the most important things I should keep my mind on. Maybe one day, I might try actual spells, ones that would be more taxing, but for now, I was going to play it as safe as I could.

XXX

“You need to keep holding the spell like that. No, not too hard, try and… No not like that, hold it within your heart, you have to want it. Yes, just like that, not too much or you’ll end up ripping a hole in the fabric of reality.”

I sat there, sweat running off my brow, my tongue sticking out to the side in concentration. My eyes were locked with the training mirror that Squire had pulled out of his arse… well… out of thin air at least!

“You know I’m not really the pony you should be asking about this. I had a colleague who could have told you how to master such a spell.” He said as I let go of the spell, exhausted. This was going to be harder than I thought.

“You mean Plume Peacock or the pony she wrote the notes down from?” I asked, he looked at me with a little shock, only to regain his composure and clear his throat.

“Plume was actually the one who was researching the spell, she wrote it down back when she was still Galaxia’s protegée.” I cocked my head to the side in confusion.

“Wait… Plume was Galaxia’s student?” He nodded, almost a bit sad but he didn’t voice it.

“Yes, back in the old days. Before she became a teacher who taught ponies how to respond to evil magic and curses, she was a student who studied world travel.” He noticed my confused cock of the head and continued.

“The idea of opening a portal that lead to alternate realities. Dimensions far from here, unlike the dream realm, these places were out of reach by normal magic. Creationist magic was the only way to open such gateways to the other worlds.”

“Like the magic that me and the others have?”

“Far more than what you three have. In fact you ponies only have a minute amount of magic, your own magic is supplementing you. Twilight has the same deal if you will. She only has a small amount of chaos magic since she was stripped of her own when she was sent to your world.” He explained.

“So how much magic would any of us have to use before it becomes permanent.” He smiled, he knew that I would ask about it once more.

“You and Galaxia haven’t been very clear on the subject. And what happens if it does become permanent. The books in that old archive weren’t very helpful.”

“It’s not just the use of magic that will make you a pony permanently. Just staying here without using magic for about a year or so would bind you magically to this world.”

“So we have roughly what? A few months if we continue using magic? If we don’t use magic unless if we have to…” I mumbled to myself in deep thought. That meant that we still had time, a lot of time.

“And if we return to Earth, does it just go and the reset when we return to Equus?”

“I’m not the expert on that subject, Plume would have been your pony.” He said, moving past me to inspect some floating white portals of dreaming ponies. I had seen him several times going up to these portals to ‘calm’ the nightmares of ponies. What he meant by calming their nightmares was entirely lost on me.

“Ideally, the magic should reset. But I can guarantee that you won’t be trapped here if either of you lose your humanity. You can still go back to your home, but you just won’t be human any more.” He explained all while doing his duties for the night.

“I’m not sure I could live with that.” I said as I moved to join him. He turned to me, seemingly confused by what I had just said.

“You ‘can’ live with it, Fire Fly. Magic isn’t just a tool, it’s a being, and it wants to be free. Your inner magic is what will define you. You are the one in control, because the magic, is you.” My mouth hung open at the sheer amount of nothing that sentence meant.

“That is one of the biggest pieces of shit I’ve heard!” I exclaimed, he just laughed and smiled caringly.

“The magic is you. The magic you are using now is Galaxia’s mixed with yours, but sooner or later, your inner magic will prevail over hers. And when that happens, you’ll be a proud member of the pony race.” He continued, his clarification only compounding my confusion.

“Magic is a being, it’s the heart. If your heart wants to be heard, it will tell you. If you end up becoming a pony, it doesn’t stop you from returning home.”

I would have given him quite a lecture on why returning to Earth as a pony would cause more harm than good. People weren’t very kind to things they didn’t know much about. I was right because I was one of them. My inner hatred for the Japanese wasn’t something that would rub off too soon. People liked to blame others for their problems and I knew all to well that I could end up making things worse for both worlds. The best I could do was keep it all a secret and do things… off the record, so to say.

I would have told him all that had I not peered through one of the portals that Squire was busy going through. Within one, I saw Mark. Human Mark, and he was having one strange nightmare. Squire noticed and watched me as I looked at the horror that was starting to unfold.

Mark was being beaten, his body slowly morphing into his current pony form. He was terrified, screaming begging for someone to save him. My breath caught, the taunting from the people, they were his family. And they were killing him.

“Can we help him Squire?”

“We can appease the dream, but I feel like you want some more, direct action.” I nodded my head and he just gestured to the portal.

“Then as a guardian of the night, go help him.” That was all the warning I got before he pushed me through the hole. I yelped in surprise, only just catching myself on my hands as I landed on the wood flooring of the home that I was now in.

Looking back behind me, I saw the portal, Squire still standing there, urging me on with a motion of his hoof. Turning to face the commotion in front of me. I saw a sight that sent a chill down my spine. Mark’s family were pinning him to the floor. Their cries and shouts of surprise and anger at the ‘devil’ that was in front of them.

Mark was begging them to stop, pleading with them to allow him to explain. The sight and sound made me freeze. This was a possibility, the idea that our families might not accept our return if we were not human. Mark was more terrified of this than I was, but his own imagination could only spark my own. This was a nightmare, not the real world.

I watched as Mark’s farther turned away from his son, yelling: “I’m gonna kill it!” Turning to grab a rifle that was hanging on the wall. Loaded he marched up to shoot his own child, Mark staring pleadingly, tears staining his face as he cried for mercy from whatever God was listening.

“Stop!” My voice echoed around the room, with such force that everything shook. Marks family were blown over to the ground, before vanishing. The entire house began to shift and shake, slowly fading out of existence.

The only one who was still there was Mark, his hands over his ears as he tried to protect himself. His mouth moving rapidly as he chanted out a rapid prayer. In that one moment, I watched Mark go from pony to human within a blink of an eye.

He shook and yelled out as I reached out to hold him. He opened his eyes in fear, then slowly becoming confusion as he saw me holding him. I sat beside him and held him carefully, stroking his head, trying to comfort him to the best of my ability.

“Lou?” He chocked, wiping away his tears. “What are—What are you doing here?”

“It’s okay Mark, you’re safe. It was a nightmare.” I shushed his worry and concerns. He looked around, noticing the black that we lay in. The only light that shone came from the portal behind me, where Squire was entering, still a pony.

“I don’t--” He began only to be cut off when Squire appeared beside me, and Mark went wide eyed. His hand raised and pointed at the ghostly figure next to me.

“H-holy shit!” He stammered, almost a shriek. I looked at Squire and smiled, returning to look at Mark as he observed Squire fearfully.

“Mark, this is Squire. Squire, this is Mark, one of my friends accompanying me from Earth.” I introduced them, Mark now looked a little confused, if not relieved. Helping him into a seated position, Squire extended a hoof to Mark who shook it gingerly.

“That was quite a show there, though I confess that you have nothing to worry about Mark. Nightmares are an illustration of what our minds consider the worst case. You are far from transforming into a full on pony in your own home.” For once I felt that Squire actually said the right thing immediately. Then again, maybe Squire was toying with me. He seemed to like the company.

“Not sure about that.” Mark sniffed, sitting up beside me.

“What are you doing here? How are you here?” He asked. I looked at Squire, debating internally if we should say or not.

“You were having a nightmare. Squire taught me how to move through dreams if someone I knew was having a nightmare and such, you’re my first customer.” I waved my hand in exaggeration. Now I had him looking at me all the more confused.

“What Fire Fly is trying to say is that it is part of his role as a Thestral to monitor the dreams of close ones. You two are quite close so it was his duty to help you in your time of need.” Mark’s eyes switched from me to Squire several times over before he formulated a response.

“Fire Fly?” I was expecting something a little more… prepared than that, but I don’t think I could begin to imagine what this situation must look and feel like when you’re on the receiving end.

“It’s nothing important.” I said, earning me a disappointed look from Squire.
“I just wanted to help out a friend in need.”

“Thanks I guess… I was hoping to get some proper sleep. I’m sorry that you guys had to--” he didn’t get a chance to finish before Squire reached out with a hoof. Mark backed away in surprise.

“Um…? Yes?”

“Come here, let me touch your forehead a moment.” Mark sat back up, a little unsure of what to do. The moment he looked at me to see my reaction, Squire reached forward. Taping Mark on the head lightly, his eyes closed and he fell to the floor.

“What did you do?” I almost yelled at him, moving to check on Mark.

“He’s fine. I sent him into deep sleep.” At my alarmed look he shook his head.
“No you have nothing to worry about. It’s a trick that we bats use to allow ponies who are struggling with bad nightmares to at least get their rest.” He said, lighting his horn, I watched in fascination as a whole world built itself around us. I watched in surprise as Mark was lifted into the air and deposited on a luscious bed with lovely white sheets. The world was peaceful, a small cottage in the middle of a beautiful forest. Birds chirping, squirrels running and bouncing. A dog barked in the distance, but other than that, everything was still.

“He’ll sleep peacefully now.”

“Can you teach me that too?” My question eliciting a laugh from him. Squire shook his head with mirth.

“I’ll teach you that once you finish learning the void spell.” He chuckled, moving towards the portal. I moved to follow, turning around one last time to check on Mark. His sleeping form still unresponsive, lost in dream of sleep.

Chapter XVIII: Fate Looming

The city of Canterlot was calm, the night breeze swiftly blowing through the dying leaves within the city streets. All was still, houses were locked, others empty, shops closed. Here and there were signs of poverty, graffiti adorning several of the more prestigious houses. Acts of arson and sabotage by resistance forces had made the city feel dead. Other than the sound coming from the elemental forces of nature, all else was still.

Shadow watched from the balcony of the throne room. Said room was now littered with every container from the archive, all of them empty. The inky blackness that surrounded the pony was wavering, shaking, creeping all over the pony within. It was sick no longer the large mass of magic that it had once been.

Within the past few days, Shadow had watched as things kept on deteriorating. While the war was being won and quite easily, despite the casualties. All was going down hill rapidly from within. The magical collection had slowed to a halt due to resistance attacks along several of the major train routes. Tendrils of dark magic shook and lashed out, almost trying to attack an unseen enemy.

This was all preplanned, Shadow knew that, there was nothing that could be done, but the fears of another eternity in the void grew and quelled when something unexpected had happened. The magical signature that came from the magic laced armour that Twilight bore, was now moving back towards Ponyville, without the creationist magic. The pulse of said power still remained, within the deep dark of the Everfree.

What was going on?!

There was no logic in this development. The Shadow had expected the magical signature of creationist energy to accompany Twilight, yet it was still in the Everfree. There was no doubt that Twilight was in Ponyville, and there was also no doubt that she had not brought the ancient magic back with her. So what did this mean?

For eternity it had envisioned its rise to power, to return to the world of the living and finally claim victory over the ones who had wronged them. The Peacocks were no monsters. And yet…

Ponies ran away, cowered in fear when within the presence of an ancient creature that eluded all shape and semblance of normality. There was nothing to fear! All would be sunshine and rainbows once the enemy had been eradicated.

Who was the enemy, though?

The question had been asked several times now. Though the self doubt was unfounded, Chrysalis had been the one to attack first. The Changeling queen had taken the risk believing that victory would be swift. Using her children as an army, she was no mother. She was an egg layer, and her drones were not her children, they were disposable.

A hidden tear escaped the inky blackness of the vengeance magic. It struck the marble floor with a soft tick, the sound resonating throughout the throne room. If monsters could weep, then was there really a monster in the room. Or was the act of using such evil magic all that the ponies required to brand them as such?

Nobles were the only ones who dared approach within these last couple of months. They were all so snobbish, petty, insolent, cunning and down right rude to the eyes of the dictator. Never before had such cruelty reigned over the land of Equestria. The nobles were the ones who actually held power.

With the ruling sisters now locked away within the dungeons, the Crystal Empire now under threat from the Yacks and the Badlands to the south also in jeopardy, the Shadow had created the perfect ruinous state. Fully aware that the most suited to rule were those who had power and had a vision, the Shadow on the other hoof, had no ambitions. At least, none that were long term or involved fighting Equestria’s neighbours.

What had happened? Why did nopony care, surely they weren’t all heartless…

The shadow had witnessed it all, over the course of history, it had managed to exert its power over the world from within the void in the mirror. Later being able to do the same with the Human world that shared a stable world gate. It had wanted revenge, then, by pure chance, it had been freed.

Years of trying to stir up trouble after having spent so long within the mirror had not been kind. Had only the fires of the raging inferno killed them both, when they tried to kill Galaxia, how much better it would have been.

Instead Galaxia had survived, having known from the very beginning what was to be or not to be. Yet the Shadow did not, they could only imagine the planning, the years and years of meticulous preparation that Galaxia had gone through to set up such a merciless game. Even after having taken over Equestria, having defeated the great princesses, reduced a hostile invading army to ruins and having had the advantage in the beginning of this damned war… The Shadow had squandered it. The vengeance magic was strong, seemingly unwilling to give up the host that it now had. With all the harmonious magic that had been consumed, she had hoped that the magic would be banished away, destroyed even.

Maybe there was a chance to flee and settle down somewhere one last time. To reflect back on the past and the family that had once been whole. Now it seemed impossible.

Had only the elements of harmony not abandoned their bearers, they could have allowed harmony to banish the Vengeance magic, claiming to be a victim there would have been nothing the ruling ponies could have done but to announce freedom to the last surviving member of the Peacock family. But now…

Mistakes had been made, the Princesses would have helped, maybe they still could help? They would certainly not leave the Shadow untouched with so much Vengeance magic still within their borders. They would probably show reluctance to helping a pony who had caused them grief and even killed their parents, but surely they could find it within their hearts, the kindness or at least the generosity to help a pony in need.

But it was too late for that now. Their was pride within the name Peacock, and if it was to end like it did the time before, then the execution would be swift and brutal.

“Guard!” The distorted voice echoed around the room, hanging in the air for several moments before a changeling drone appeared in the room. Its expressionless blue eyes looking up at its new ruler, its head cocked to the side as it approached.

“Princess Sparkle is on her way back. Ensure that the collection from the southern region takes priority over the rest. Then have all trains cancelled in that area.”

“But… you’re excellence.” It spoke, seemingly conflicted. “That would mean stopping the resupply of our forces in the Southern land.”

“Reroute the trains through the closest hub. You may leave.” The drone dared not continue to argue with a god. It skittered off into the gloom. Its form vanishing into the darkness, with a soft click, the door shut behind it.

Lighting up its horn, the Shadow concentrated the location spell on Twilight. She was still asleep in Ponyville, with only seven hours left until sunrise, there was a lot to be done.

The paranoia was fierce right now. If Galaxia was here and with Twilight, then her return would have happened already. However, there was something else with Twilight. A tinge of a magical signature completely foreign to anything that had come before, so strange yet also so… familiar.

The Shadow moved around the throne room for a moment. Minutes or maybe even hours had passed yet there remained the nagging feeling of déjà-vu, like an itch that couldn’t be scratched because it was almost too insignificant.

Movements stopped as a memory came to light. The night of torturing Twilight Sparkle in the world she now found herself in. The Chaos magic given to her by her friends. What at first had been sadistic pleasure was then turned into rage. Wanting to get information on where the magic had come from. How had Discord been able to share his power with Twilight and how had she managed to master it without turning back into a pony.

Maybe it was the Chaos magic… Maybe those affected by it don’t turn back into their original form because the laws of reality were still bending.

But then… that night…

Twilight had somehow managed to summon one of the creatures from that realm into the dream. How?

“I should have sent you into the void. Let the darkness take you instead of sending you to that world.” The words held venom within them. Twilight had proven to be an annoyance during that time, but now…

“All of this wouldn’t have happened had you not hurt me, Galaxia.”

Moving out into the castle corridors, the Shadow made its way towards the dungeons. Down and down the spiralling staircase to the lower dungeon, the Shadow stepped into the dark hall.

The prisoners were all curled up within the cage. The Changeling guards were still unseen but most likely watching from the shadows. Approaching the cage, the Shadow looked down at the ponies within. The sound of the cell door opening made the occupants awake and look up in fear.

They all backed away, the two princesses moving to protect their little ponies. Shining armour, having recovered from his injuries, moved to cover his wife and family all while keeping his gaze locked on the creature outside.

They watched on, almost in horror as the inky blackness became more and more visible to the group. The wall sconces were barely able to light the surround, yet still bright enough to illuminate the figures in the hall.

The Shadow watched on, its features morphing slightly, allowing a smile to become slightly visible to the prisoners. To their shock, it was not malicious, nor was it sadistic. The creature sat down within the cell, closing the door with a soft click behind it.

With that, they just sat there, looking on in fear at their captor just sat there too. The silence had made the air hard to breathe. The only sounds came from the flickering flames from the sconces. Their breathing was shallow as they waited, waited for a sign, an action or even sound.

“Where are the elements?”

The question held sorrow within the rasping voice. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other for a moment, before glaring at the Shadow with stellar fury.

“We already told you that---” Celestia began to respond, her voice cold. She had already answered that question loads of times. The elements were not within the tree, nor had they magically reappeared within the box that Celestia had kept them in. She had answered time and time again, this time however, she was cut off.

“Celestia… please.” The words held such weight behind them. Sadness, tiredness, fear.

“My time is coming to an end. The end is near. Soon all of you will be free and I…” The voice croaked within the throat of the monster.

“What?” Celestia breathed, a look of confusion having now replaced her anger. She was bewildered at the sight of the creature that was talking to her. She could hardly recognise the Shadow in those moments. The eyes, the sad smile, the lack of power. Had she not had a magic dampener on her horn, there was a distinct possibility that she could overpower the Shadow right then and there.

“There is no hope now, not for me. Soon you shall all be free and I will be nothing more than a painful memory. I need the elements, I need them now!” There was still anger in that voice… and pain. Had the Shadow made another mistake, it needed help, but it wouldn’t ask directly.

“What are you looking for Shadow? What do you want?” Luna asked, her expression changing to match her sisters confusion. The group of ponies they were protecting were also showing interest in what was going on. Their ears perked up slightly in confusion and wonderment.

“The same as you still do, Luna. I wish to let it all go. But you cannot help me, not directly. I need the elements. I need harmony… just like you.” The words almost made the lunar princess gape in shock. Her inner turmoil still present from Nightmare Moon. The Shadow wanted the same thing, just different.

“What have you done?”

“Not enough, like I said, my time is up. I cannot escape fate, but my fate is still unknown. I will face it with my head held in whatever position I will hold it in. Whether in pride or shame, I shall hold it.”

“Why do this?” Celestia asked once more, a feeling of concern looming over her. Not for herself, but for the creature that was sat in the cell with her. “Why are you here?” The Shadow snorted, a smirk crossing its face.

“Because I want to go home. To see my family once more, to love and be loved. Why…” It stopped mid rant, its eyes widening and slowly becoming their usual sickly shade of red. Peacock wanted to spill it all out, cut loose with the explanation. The desire for vengeance, the need to avenge the death of loved ones who had perished all because Galaxia. Celestia and Luna knew Galaxia, to have them help out, maybe even vouch in Peacock’s favour. Maybe there was a slight possibility that she could be pardoned.

But there was nothing that could be done now. There was nowhere to run, no safe haven for a monster.

“No… not yet.” Mumbling, the Shadow rose to its hooves and moved away from the group. Celestia called out, but her captor did not heed her, nor spare a glance in her direction. The cell occupants watched in confusion and loss as the Shadow left them there.

“You’ll all be free soon.” Came the voice from the end of the hall. The Shadow calling back over its shoulder.
“You’ll be free and I’ll be done.”

Chapter XIX: Canterlot

I stirred from my slumber as something shifted beside me. My eyes flickering open, only to freeze, my eyes widening as I suddenly remembered where I was. In a bed in Twilight’s library, but not just any bed.

I was in her bed, with Twilight.

There was a strange feeling that washed over me. Me, a boy who had never ever slept with a girl before, at least not in the same room, was now in bed with one of the most… beautiful girls I had ever met. While I had slept with Twilight on the Canal, here too, I had never slept in a bed or in such a private place with her.

She was facing me, her fore legs were holding me within a loving embrace. We were nose to nose, or muzzle to muzzle I should probably say. I had not noticed until now… but she had a wonderful scent. In fact, I was sure that she didn’t have it a few days ago.

Maybe I was the only who had seen it, but I was certain that Twilight and her friends were changing. Like a butterfly undergoing a metamorphosis, they were changing. While not as visually striking as a cocoon for a butterfly, the fact that the ponies that I had come to know quite well over the past few days looked different, was rather strange.

I was sure that Twilight’s coat was once faded. I had very little memory of when she had returned to being a pony when she had been saved by the Doctor three years ago. I could not remember if her coat was always so grey…

Now though, her coat was a beautiful lavender colour, her eyes a vibrant violet. I inhaled sharply as I realised that she was watching me intently. With my muzzle as close as it was to hers, I could feel my face flush in embarrassment. I was not use to this and certainly not use to being in someone else’s bed.

Now I was not sure if Twilight had mind reading powers or whatever, but I soon found her inching closer and closer. Whether it took seconds or minutes, her lips drew closer to mine. And then it hit me. That lovely feeling, one that I felt whenever I was with Twilight.

The butterflies within the pit of my stomach and that feeling of arousal that came with it. It was so… sensual, sexual even. Twilight was certainly quite eager for this. Though not jumping the gun right yet. I returned her kiss, the feeling so much passion was wonderful, hoping that it could last just a bit longer.

“Your fangs are sharp.” She breathed as we broke the kiss. While I was still recovering from the shock, I still managed to hear what she had said. I shook my head and gave her a worried smile.

“I hope you’ll give me a nibble one day.” She was acting way to sultry for me in that one moment. I had never been with a girl before, all I knew about females came from pin-ups in magazines.

Every word she uttered just made me more and more aroused. I knew full well where this could go if I waited any longer so with a yelp and a crash. I promptly fell out of her bed. Luckily for me, the sheets tangled around my body and covered my arousal that she had brought upon me.

“Are you alright?” Staring down at me with concern, I gave Twilight a dazed nod with my head before moving to stand. The sheets fell away from me and I hurriedly put my Trench coat to cover myself. Twilight watched on in amusement, her cute smile making me blush in nervousness.

“You shouldn’t worry so much, we ponies don’t normally wear clothes on a daily basis.”

“Doesn’t make me feel any more comfortable.” I mumbled. She giggled and moved to get out of bed.

“I hope I didn’t wake you, I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She said as she grabbed her armour. Why she needed to put it on now was still a mystery to me, though I’m sure that Peacock must have made her think that it was obligatory.

“I was up all night thinking about how we should approach this situation.” She sighed, moving to the door of her bedroom. She turned at looked at me, using her magic to pull the blinds open. The first rays of sunshine beginning to crest over the horizon.

“I’m worried about this Lou… I’m not sure how we could actually do this.”

“I have a plan, though I’m not sure of how to implement it.” Moving over to join her, she led me out of her room and began to descend the stairs. Quite honestly it was still a little scary going up and down steps.

It often felt like I was putting too much effort into not falling over and then suddenly missing a step or even just forgetting which leg had to be used at what moment.

“I’m hoping that if we can get to the Palace today, we can put into effect the plan that we agreed on yesterday.”

Mark, Jack and Chrysalis were already up. Since our departure from the Forest, the Changeling queen had taken up the form of Spike the dragon. I was a little uneasy at first. As was Twilight, from what I could see, though she kept her opinion to herself. Her gaze did betray her uneasiness, however.

The guys were checking their equipment. Each one looking over what they had and what could be necessary for today. If we could catch an early train to Canterlot, then there were high hopes that we could end this madness today.

Twilight might be tracked by Peacock, should that be the case we could expect a large welcoming comity awaiting us. That or Peacock himself could show up, make the whole thing easier for us.

The guards that we could expect were Changling drones according to both Twilight and Chrysalis. Should that be the case, hopefully Chrysalis could get them to stand down. Though if Peacock was to exert pressure on them...

We had not yet been intercepted, nor had we received any news of what was going on. It appeared that the war effort was draining so many resourced that messengers were scarce. Quite honestly, I was unsure of what to make of it. It seemed like this Tyrant that now controlled this land was unsure of what to do.

If Peacock was still in control, it could be that he wanted out. To be freed from the Shadow. If that was the case, why do all of this? Was this all some sort of mistake, an act of revenge gone too far?

I was not one to understand for I was no immortal who had spent an eternity trapped within a mirror. Could it be that all of this was unintentional? At least, on Peacock’s side of things…

For the moment I was unsure of what to make of it. Some things didn’t sit right with me, the fact of what we were dealing with being so alien to me and the others made me wonder what exactly was I capable of doing.

Had we been back on the Canal, Tarawa or even Okinawa, I would have tried to come up with some actual tactics. Maybe even try an assassination attempt. Here… Now… I wasn’t so sure of what to do. I felt lost and the evidence that we had found, the books that we had read and all the information we had learned didn’t point to what I was expecting.

It felt like I wasn’t witnessing the wrath of a tyrant son, filled with revenge that could only be satiated by the death of those who had wronged him and anyone else that got too close to the truth. Instead it felt like a heartbroken attempt at revenge. How old was Peacock? Surely he wasn’t old enough to understand what he was going on.

It all felt reserved, the forces fighting each other were not killing each other. No fight to the death. Maybe this was something that was bread into the creatures of this land. Maybe killing was a form of sin. A crime so terrible that all parties respected the laws against it.

It just felt thrown together. As if… there was no end goal. Just…

My thoughts were broken as Chrysalis nudged me with a claw. I looked down at her and she gave me a strained smile.

“I don’t know what you’re plans are, but I hope that you will leave my children out of this.”

“That all depends on if they try to arrest us, kill us or let us do what we need to do.” The look of worry could have made me show a sign of stress. If the queen of the Changelings was worried, then I wasn’t sure what would happen.

“My children are the guards, they are loyal to fear. Fear is what keeps them in check.” Moving back to the window to peer at the growing crowd of unicorns outside, her mind seemed to stop. It was not a look of sorrow that she bore. No… it was a look of anger, frustration… rage.

“They will not obey me, not unless I can reclaim my title.”

“Once we have done what we have come to do, your people will be yours once more.” I moved to join her, but the look she gave me shook me at my core. It was scary, almost like looking into the face of a predator.

“That won’t be necessary. They won’t be any use to me once we’re done. All I need is my freedom and then those drones are.… well, I have no need for them.”

“You’ll abandon them?”

My words had an effect, but not one that I had expected, if the smile she gave me was anything to go by, then I was sure of it.

“You are no Changeling, bat.” The smile grew. “I can tell that you are a more like these ponies despite coming from another reality.” Chrysalis looked out one last time towards the outside before pulling the blinds back and moving towards the basement.

“Don’t put you’re fairytale endings upon me and the hive. You’ll only disappoint yourself.”

XXX

“LISTEN UP! THE TRAINS FROM SOUTH CITY TO CANTERLOT ARE CANCELLED! THERE IS AN INCIDENT ON THE LINE, ALL PONIES WHO HAVE BOUGHT TICKETS CAN CLAIM A REFUND AT THE MAIN OFFICE IN CANTERLOT! I REPEAT--”

Things were not going the way any of us had hoped when our group had arrived at the train station. From what was being said, it appeared that the rail line between South City near to the Badlands was cut. Rainbow had offered the possibility of a rebel attack.

I was unconvinced. While it was true that such a thing could happen, this just felt too convenient.

“How about we take a chariot?” Rainbow’s offered.

“Yeah, we’ll be there faster than ever!” Pinkie added, bouncing around our group. I raised an eyebrow at them as I began to nibble on my bottom lip in thought.

“Pull a whole group will ya Dash? You ain’t pulling us all the way up there.” Apple Jack interjected.

Only a few minutes after I had awoken, Twilight’s friends had come to the library. They were all chatting, seemingly excited for the day and what we could hopefully achieve. I had been quite surprised by their enthusiasm despite the circumstances.

While the others and I were less than pleased with the situation that we were now facing, Twilight’s closest friends all seemed eager and willing to get moving and ‘Kick Flank’ as Rainbow had so kindly put it.

Fluttershy had been the more timid of the bunch, though her name did imply it, I was certain that she seemed more hopeful about our confrontation with Peacock.

As the group had reunited for the coming trip up to the capitol, I had been surprised by the assortment of colours that had now entered the room. Even the Doctor and Discord seemed brighter… their fur/scales I mean. Everything just seemed brighter, more cheerful despite the fact that we were far from a victory. But maybe our victory was assured.

Galaxia seemed to want that, and I was… maybe not happy, but willing to go along for the ride.

I just felt like there was something amiss however. As if I was suppose to be looking out for something. I had no doubt that this would not be easy. I quite certain of it in fact.

What I really needed was to understand what my role was in all of this.

“You feel up to it newbie?” Rainbow Dash’s voice tore me back to our current predicament. We were now near to some large strange looking chariots, close to the train station, though I was not sure how this could beat the train. Unless… No…

If my disbelief was not visibly showing on my face, I can assure you that when I noticed that Rainbow was looking directly at Mark, my mouth was most likely hanging open.

“But I can’t--” Mark began, backing away, a hurt look crossing his face. Almost like a look of betrayal.

“Sure you can, you did some pretty good gliding the other day!” Rainbow said, grabbing a harness from one of the exterior racks on the outside of the station.

“Could y’all tell me what’s goin’ on?” Asked the cowmare of the group.

“Mark and I will fly you guys there.” Dash replied, tugging at the straps on her harness. She looked up and smiled broadly.

“With my speed and his avian wings there’s no way that we won’t be there within two hours!” She exclaimed, grabbing a second harness and moving towards Mark.

I would have felt sorry for him when she shoved the harness on his head, had it not been for what she had said only moments earlier. Had Mark really been out with Rainbow, flying?

“Darling the poor stallion doesn’t know how to fly properly. Even Fluttershy would be a better flyer than the poor fellow.” Rarity interjected as Rainbow and Mark tussled around as he tried to squirm his way out of his predicament.

“Yeah RD, you’re probably makin’ a mistake here, the colt ain’t got you’re experience nor your stamina.” AJ offered as she moved to remove the harness from Mark.

“Yeah, I don’t know how to fly! What on earth do you expect me to do! I’ve never flown my entire life now you want me to fly all the way up there!” He yelled as he struggled against the harness. His trench coat caught in some of the straps on his back, moved slightly just enough for his wings to poke through. Thankfully, no passing ponies seemed to notice an Imperial Alicorn within their town. If they did then they didn’t show it.

“Its only two hours and I’ll be right here. We’ll be doing this together, not alone, all you need to do is help me fly. And--” She moved to strap herself onto one of the chariots. “-I’ve seen him fly. He can do this.”

Mark looked away, his brow furrowed in thought, his eyes focused on the ground as he disputed with himself. It was taken from him though when Rainbow moved to stand beside him and placed a wing on his back. The look they both shared seemed a little odd, but it seemed to have the desired effect. Mark sighed and nodded his head in resignation.

I moved to intervene, to help Mark out with what Rainbow was asking of him. He had been scared, terrified even, now she and the others were expecting him to take on a flight all the way up to their capital. As I drew near and try and wiggle him out of this, he raised a leg to cut me off.

“I’m not comfortable with this. But I haven’t been comfortable in any situation for years now.” He said as he allowed himself to be hooked up to the chariot with AJ’s and Rainbow’s help.

“You and that guy helped me last night. Without it… without your help, I wouldn’t be here sir. If my wings are all that this mission requires from me, then it shall be done.”

Mark had very rarely called me “sir”. Other than for jokes, he had only ever used the words rarely for me. The respect that words carried when ended with “sir” was enough to allow me to understand. His fear was back home, not here. So I resigned myself from the argument, and moved back into my place and helped the others load up on the chariot.

My fears on how two ponies could ever pull a chariot with eleven people. One dragon, one bug queen, eight ponies and… what ever the fuck Discord was, did not go unnoticed. Twilight who had been eyeing me the entire time, moved over to me and explained the process.

While I sometimes saw myself as a little fluffy cat-bat-pony hybrid creature, I still ever only really thought of myself as human. My magic, my wings, none were always prevalent to me because using my magic, at least, had come naturally. So it was no surprise that I had forgotten that some of the others also had wings. Twilight, Fluttershy, Discord and Chrysalis were all capable of flight.

Jack and I too, if we were actually prepared for it. Maybe Mark was built different to us, meaning that it would be easier for him to learn how to fly just like it had been easier for Jack to learn how to cast spells? And me with dream magic?

Quite honestly, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but if Mark believed that he was up to this. I was not going to try and stop him. Judging by the sweat and the shaking, he looked about ready to back out at any moment anyway. Or throw up from fear.

Had my doubts on this mode of transport been any more vocal, I could not have been further from doing so. I think I about wet myself when the chariot became aloft. Never before had I felt a rush of fear that could ever equal it in intensity and rapidity.

Jack may have been in the same situation judging by how hard he was clinging on the airframe for dear life. The Doctor on the other hand seemed quite content, even raising his hooves to the air to shout out a few times, a look of pure excitement on his face.

Mark however, from what I saw was just crazy. From being totally nervous and even face planting during take-off, he had managed to get airborne. And while his take-off was skewed by his uneasiness, the flight was probably the most graceful thing I had seen either of us perform during our time on Equestria.

I could never describe what it was about the way that he flew, but despite how hard the thing seemed for him, Rainbow was there to keep him steady. Not once did she try to push harder, nor did she criticize him.

When he struggled she helped him, when he began to tire, she would help him find the right pace for him to keep going.

It was beautiful and amazing.

If only his landing could have been as majestic…

XXX

Landing near to the castle had been impossible, we had noted some air patrols circling the white city. We saw several flying carts get escorted down to the ground, out of sight within the city.

Hoping to catch Peacock off guard. We made our landing further down the mountain.

The others taking their time to land properly and congratulate Mark for his first ever flight. Incredibly, he smiled, a proper genuine smile. Maybe he too was starting to come round to his new self...

The trek up was probably one of the most exhausting things I had done lately, including magic. We shared our water with those who began to thirst. Chrysalis had refused our help, though did when Jack ordered her too. I saw Twilight’s horn glow a few times, but was so exhausted I let her do whatever magic she wanted too.

The others were pretty worn out with the flight, Mark seemed about ready to pass out though he kept going. We took a breather a couple of times before we reached the top.

What we saw when we made it to the city was incredible. While I could imagine that it would look even prettier with life and some cleaning, the white city was something only people untouched by reality could ever dream of.

The gateway into the city did have some guards who searched carts, questioned some ponies, even detaining those they found suspicious. They, however, did not react to our presence. They didn’t even acknowledge us.

“The spell I cast on us earlier was a form of cloaking spell, A disguise if you will.” She whispered to me, leading the entire group into a nearby alley. She breathed a sigh of relief before whipping her head back, her horn glowing and a light shimmer fazed momentarily around us.

“You’ve been doing that since we got here?” Discord asked her, a brow raising slowly. She nodded, panting.

“You could have asked me to do that for you.” He said, snapping his talon fingers. A bright flash of light engulfed us, though nothing appeared to have happened.

“I… forgot.” Twilight mumbled.

“Take a breather team. We need all of our strength to keep going on, plus we still haven’t reached the castle yet.” I moved over to join Twilight, checking to see if she was okay or not.

“Remember the plan? Twilight and I will confront Peacock, the rest of you will need to cause a big enough distraction to hold off the guards.” Chrysalis looked a bit uneasy with that, though she didn’t voice it.

“You two will free the prisoners in the dungeon and help them free any other prisoners there to help with the fight. Twilight and I will stop Peacock.”

“We might have to shoot through the locks. Not sure about anything else, but hopefully we won’t have to get into too much of a fire fight.” Jack said, grabbing his revolver and checking it over.

“Let’s get going, the longer we stay here, the higher the chances of us being discovered.” The Doctor said, moving further into the alley.

We all followed after him, moving slowly and carefully. It took us over an hour to make our way through the outer city before reaching the palace grounds. Just like the rest of the city, the castle was beautifully decorated, though there were signs of a battle that had taken place. Certain parts of the castle seemed still under repair, most likely due to the drain of manpower and resources for the war.

The gates were closed with a dozen guards holding position. They were armed, but I hoped that the sounds of gun fire might make them break. With one last check of our equipment, the girls promising to keep their ears covered for the first few moments, Mark, Jack and I shared one last check of the guns.

The noon day sun was approaching its place in the sky. Twilight and the others were looking with determination, though it wavered in the face of their growing fear. Chrysalis pointed out the guards who had come to relieve their comrades.

“If I were in charge, they wouldn’t be changing shifts so soon. Peacock is way to kind to them.” She sneered, Twilight rolled her eyes but didn’t argue with the queen.

“Maybe Peacock is a better parental figure than you!” Discord scoffed, moving to stand.

“Allow me to clear the way.” He puffed out his chest and with a snap of his talons and a flash of white, he charged.

Aloft on a flying pig, he charged at the guards. Stunned, I shook my head as the others screamed their battlecry. It wasn’t an epic charge. Certainly not as frightening as the banzai charges the others and I had faced.

The guards who managed to see us were the only ones who got to see it coming. Our attack rattled the guards so much that they ran screaming back through the gate. The others fell to Discords charge.

Racing to secure the gate, we breached and forced the remaining Changelings to flee.

“Girls, secure the gate! Chrysalis, Doctor, lead Mark and Jack inside into the dungeons. Help them free those prisoners then get back here.” The three nodded and made their way towards the entrance. The girls remained near the gate to hold off reinforcements with Discords help.

In the distance, a bell began to toll. The alarm and not a moment too soon.

Moving fast, Twilight and I breached through the main entry way. While the Changelings began to take action, none stood the test against our gun fire. The sound alone had them crawling on the floor in agony. Like the sound of thunder trapped within the echoing halls of this once majestic palace. Our attack was on, now it was time to end this insanity.

Chapter XX: Ravaged

The sound of hooves and claws scratching at the beautiful marble floor was all that I could bring myself to focus on as we rushed through the halls of the majestic palace. Charging headlong into the fray, several guards attempted to stop us. If either brave or just plain stupid, the bugs were no match for the magical wonder weapon who ran at my side.

I was not sure how she could ever gather such concentration at a time like this, but the way she was able to throw our enemies aside with such ease was actually quite frightening. More than once I had almost got caught, only to have Twilight appear with a bast of magic and the foe would be gone.

It made me understand why she felt guilty about Tomy… had she not been so afraid back then, maybe he too would still be here?

Outside, the bells were still tolling. I gave a silent prayer, hoping that the others would be able to complete their mission, and maybe help us take down Peacock if required.

XXX

The sound of thunder echoed throughout the palace. The tolling of bells rang through the air. The Changeling guards were quick to react, rushing to defend their ruler, all of them armed with spears that were once used by the royal guard.

Not for a moment did the Shadow seem phased. While not expecting such a commotion, maybe thinking that Twilight would allow herself to be taken into custody, she should have seen this coming. Too late now…

“Save yourselves.” The words carried through only a whisper. The drones turned to look at their ruler, their looks of confusion amongst themselves only made her repeat with a little more force.

“Save yourselves.”

“Your majesty…” One of the guards approached, her aid, Chitter said while bowing.

“You must fight back, the guards here are--” The look that he received made him freeze. Stepping back, the Shadow rose to full height, now diminished by the consumption of all the harmonious magic. Now a shell of the former tyrant, the vengeance magic moved slowly, crawling over its occupant like sickness. Nowhere near as potent as it had once been only a week before.

“Save yourselves before your Queen tries to reclaim you.” Moving through the room, the guards around its side, the Shadow opened the door and turned to the group amassed there.

“Go, before you end up having to face my wrath.” If there was suppose to be a growl in its voice, the drones didn’t react. Eventually, one by one, the drones left until only one remained… Chitter.

“I’m sorry your highness.” He said, before buzzing his wings and making his way to the corridor.

“Chitter.” The voice stopped him mid buzz as he turned to face his overlord.

“Go to the dungeons, free the prisoners. I believe they have suffered enough punishment at my hoof.”

“Yes, your highness.” With those single words, both parted ways, disappearing off and out of sight. Standing alone in the throne room, the Shadow could only await the end. There was no hope now, none at all.

“I’m coming home.”

XXX

Celestia and the remaining prisoners all jerked awake at the loud hammering from above. Faintly they could hear alarm bells toll, indistinct shouts from those beyond the dungeons. The guards who were standing watch over the prisoners bolted for their weapons and made their way for the door.

“What’s happening?” Shining Armour’s question rasped out from his corner in the cell. Still badly bruised from all of his beatings for information about the resistance, the young prince tried his best to adjust his position.

“I believe that Twilight may have returned.” Celestia moved over to the door to try and get a better view. She called out, hoping that somepony on the outside might hear her cries. She received no reply.

Moving back into the cell, she looked upon the residents of the cell with whom she had shared such a tight living space for the past few years.

“Sister, we should wait before trying anything.” Luna approached.

“We can’t break out of this cage without help from the outside?” Twilight Velvet croaked, looking up at Celestia with watery eyes.

“My daughter is out there, surely you have a way to open these cells from within?” She whimpered.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other almost in shame. More of despair than the latter. They had never conceived of an escape plan. A weak point somewhere in the dungeons because in all the time Canterlot had been in existence, neither Celestia nor Luna believed that they would be ever find themselves being held within their own prison.

Velvet seemed to choke as tears began to well up in her eyes as Nightlight joined her. Wrapping a leg around his wife, he held her as she slowly broke down before the group. Cadence moved with Shining as she too began to realised that they were trapped here without knowing when or if the rebellion outside would succeed.

“Then allow me your Majesties.”

Heads snapped to attention as a figure emerged from the gloom. Wings buzzing softly, Chitter moved over to the cell, key in hoof. The ponies moved back as the door swung open, all of them looking around wearily, waiting for the Shadow to pounce on them. No attack came, only Chitter who was standing in the doorway.

“Where is your Master, bug.” Luna spat, eyes narrowing.

“My orders were to release you. You are free to join your friends outside.” Moving to the stairs, the group watched as the Changeling began to ascend only to stop and look back at them in confusion.

“There is no trap, you are free to go.” He said, buzzing his wings once he took to the air, still looking at them.

“I’m sure Twilight will find you sooner or later either way.”

With those last words, Chitter flew off up the stairs, leaving the others to look at each other in wonder. With few tentative steps, Celestia and Luna emerged from the dungeon, the others following suit. Moving slowly up the stairs, they soon found themselves backing away as figures moved to block the door. All of them almost jumped as a light was shone into their faces and a gruff male voice spoke.

“Princess Celestia?” Lowering their heads slowly, Celestia tried to get a better look at their saviours. Descending the stairs, the pony spoke once more.

“My name is Mark, I’m here to rescue you.”

XXX

Had I’d known just how hard it would be to get to the throne room, I would have asked the others to come with us. But they had their jobs to do, and I had mine. I was still quite unsure of the plan as I and Twilight weaved through the halls towards the throne room.

Twilight suspected that the Shadow would still be there, I wasn’t so sure because that would be quite a bad position to hold up in. Especially if it had no back doors.

During our run through the halls, I began to notice that fewer and fewer enemies were presenting themselves to us. We passed some Castle staff hiding in a corner, cowering in fear from us. I paid them no attention as we charged through the hall. My heart was pounding in my chest as I tried to keep a steady pace. I was not yet still very accustomed to running on all fours. Had I put too much thought, I would have most likely tripped on my own paws and that would look terrible.

It would hurt too, but I do remember falling over myself quite a lot back on the Canal.

As we turned down one last corner, ahead I could make out two large wooden doors at the end of the hall. No guards were present at their posts. Coming to a stop, Twilight and I backed up to either side of the door. Breathing heavily, we shared a look, a nod was all that I could spare to ask if she was alright.

No words were spoken, there was no need. We knew the plan, Twilight would be my support. All I had to do was open a portal to hell and suck the evil pony creature back into the void. No mirror for an eventual escape this time.

With a check of my ammunition in my 45, a simple nod and we were on.

Pushing the doors open slowly, Twilight and I took a look pass the corner. Moving slowly I raised my hand gun high into position in front of me as I entered the trap.

While the interior corridors were bleak and seemed worst for wear due to neglect. The throne room on the other hand was even bleaker. All of the colours from the blues and reds were all gone, the lights were out, the stained glass windows seemed to have very little light coming in. The entire atmosphere seemed darker, more… oppressing.

“Welcome back Twilight!” A raspy voice echoed throughout the room. The doors behind us slammed shut, the banging echoing louder than the voice for the few moments that came. Then silence. I observed the room attentively, looking for a sign of an ambush. Twilight however, kept her eyes fixated on the thrones before us.

“Show yourself Shadow!” She exclaimed, still advancing towards the thrones at a slow but steady pace.

“And what If I don’t want to?” I stopped as my paw kicked something before me. A glass jar, emptied of its contents. I had not noticed when I first entered the room, but now my mouth clenched tight as I observed the hundreds upon hundreds maybe even thousands of glass jars scattered about the floor. Like the refuse of a beast who has just finished gorging itself on more and more of its primary food source.

“Then we’ll hunt you down, until we find you.”

“And who is the pony with you. Not one that I recognise, are you one of them?” I stayed put, Twilight only stopping as she realised that I had not joined her yet.

“Are you an emissary of Galaxia?” It clicked in my mind right then and there that she knew. She knew that Galaxia was behind all of this.

“I see myself as no emissary, to neither Galaxia nor my homeland.” I approached the thrones carefully joining Twilight at her side.

“So an emissary who is completely unaware? I doubt that very much!” The voice scoffed and with a the sound of a rushing wind, the black figure appeared behind us, blocking the path back to the doors.

“Yes, I doubt that Galaxia hasn’t told you what to do to me. She probably said that you were here to help save the little ponies from the big bad evil Shadow who couldn’t just learn to accept that life can be harsh sometimes.” Moving slowly towards us, I saw Twilight begin to falter at the sight of the advancing blackness. I gave her my best look of reassurance as the creature stopped about fifteen meters from us. This was my first time seeing the creature in its entirety, completely alien to anything I could have ever have believed. If only I had not met this creature once before hand, though that took place within Twilight’s mind so even then, my memory was quite fuzzy in terms of what the Shadow looked like. Now though, I understood why this being had been brought into existence. It may have been fuelled by nightmares, though I could only see the pony within. I could hear the pain, the sadness… the loss.

“It is over Peacock, you’re going back to where you came from. No longer will you hurt the ponies of Equestria or the creatures of Equus in general! Surrender now or we’ll banish you back to where you came from!” Twilight made her stand there. The dark mass turned slightly and watched Twilight with its piercing red eyes.

“You know nothing miss Sparkle, you don’t know what its like to lose your family all to the power of some insane mare with a desire to watch the world burn!” Huffing in annoyance, it turned away from us and moved towards the doors before coming to a halt.

“You should have attacked me while you had the chance.”

“Is that why you fear me, Plume?”

The question seemed to catch her completely off guard. The Shadow turned around to face us, or more likely, to face me.

“What did you say?”

“Your name was Plume Peacock. Your husband was Herringbone and your son was Peacock, you were once the wife of a loving husband. The mother of a promising young child.” I could almost feel Twilight’s shocked look from behind me. Having not truly believed that such a creature born out of hatred could possibly one of Galaxia’s prized students.

“I see that miss Sparkle wasn’t informed on this information.” The mass breathed, looming over me with a force that almost made even those nights avoiding Jap patrols on Makin feel easy compared to facing off with this being of hatred.

“And I take it that Galaxia didn’t give the information away freely? That isn’t her style.”

“No she didn’t… I figured it out only recently.” Backing away from Plume to buy breathing space, I never broke eye contact with the mare inside.

“At first I wasn’t sure if it actually mattered, whether or not your identity remained hidden had very little for me to care about. It was only as I began to piece the puzzle together that I finally figured out that You were Plume, not Peacock.”

“I wasn’t expecting this. Especially not from an acolyte of the Goddess of Creation!” She half laughed, only to return to glaring at both me and Twilight.

“Plume studied Dark magics, Vengeance magic in particular. Who else could have mastered it so perfectly if not her. Peacock would have been to young and unlike an experienced adult, he would have lashed out by now. You on the other hand, you cared enough about other ponies. Every action in this stupid war just seemed too…. comedically caring. Had this been the revenge of a child then we would be dead already. You only went after Galaxia, the King and Queen dying was just an accident, or payment, I don’t know. Either way, you made all of this possible, all out of spite for the one person who took your family from you. The one who made your house burn and did nothing to save your family as they perished into ash.” All throughout my explanation Plume sat quietly, contemplating her next move. My words had an effect, but I was not sure in what sense. Twilight was the next to speak, after having thought long and hard about what had just been laid out before her.

“That explains why you didn’t try to stop me and my friends when I returned.” She mumbled, eliciting a look from both me and Plume.

“You thought I had the elements of harmony! That I could banish the Dark magic from your being. That’s why you needed the harmonious magic! Without a counter balance, the opposite to Vengeance magic is Harmonious magic, you needed me to purge you. To save you...” She trailed off as her eyes widened in sudden realisation. I too suddenly understood what this whole charade was all about.

“All I wanted was to avenge my family.” The words muttered barely louder than a whisper, but a distinctly feminine voice could start to be heard.

“This was all an accident. You could have died there that night but Galaxia decided to trap you in the mirror.” I approached the mass carefully. I saw it! The pony that I could save without having to resort to trapping in the void. Unless...

“My family… to avenge them...” The words tapered off. Slowly becoming distorted by the dark mass covering her.

“We can help you if you just stop. No pony here has to get hurt.” At Twilight’s words, Plume eyes flared and within moments I could feel myself being chocked by a mass of black magic around me.

“Galaxia took everything from me! If I can’t have her, then you’ll have to do!”

XXX

Twilight reeled back in shock as Lou was picked up by the neck and thrown across the great hall. She watched in terror as he crashed into one of the pillars and fell to the floor. Seemingly lifeless or at best, unconscious.

Plume slowly made her way over to his body as the jars of glass cracked under her movements. Lou made no movements, no sign of life as she advanced towards him. And within that moment of fear, a pang of anger appeared. Spreading throughout her entire body, Twilight charged her horn and dragged Lou away from Plume. The blob looked at her and snorted in annoyance, moving to swipe her away with a one easy flick. Twilight ditched and rolled to the side. Lou sliding to a halt near to her as she checked his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was still breathing but he seemed to be in a bad way.

With only one toss, Lou seemed to have a broken back, a bad concussion with blood pooling from the back of the head.

As another attack swept past her, Twilight moved to change their cover. The loss of the pillar they were using as cover made her lose her magical connection, leaving Lou stranded on the floor behind the debris of the pillar and leaving Twilight breathless..

“He represents Galaxia, Twilight!” The gruff voice screamed, even now, Twilight could hear Plume’s voice deep down. Faint, but once it had been pointed out to her, she could just about hear it.

“My revenge isn’t with you, defend him one last time and you will be treated no different.”

Twilight couldn’t even respond to that. Never before had she been faced with a villain who was not only threatening a loved one, but also herself with death threats. She tried her best to put up a barrier between her and Plume. Jumping and weaving throughout the room, ducking from pillar to pillar as she tried to draw attention away from her coltfriend. There was no where to hide, nowhere for either of them to run.

The door blocked by Plume and a finite number of pillars to hide behind before the entire room would begin to collapse. It was only when she slid pass Lou’s unconscious body that she grasped the severity of her situation. Lou was the only one who had learned how to perform the Void spell needed to send the Shadow back into oblivion. Now she was stuck, powerless compared to both Plume and her coltfriend. Leaping from her shelter to behind the thrones, she chanced a glance to search for a means of escape.

The room was sealed, but out of all the reflecting broken pieces of glass, she saw it. Her salvation if only she could reach it. Her breathing was ragged from running, her magic was low due to the earlier fights in the outer castle. But she needed this now more than ever, a chance, even if it would put her through a moral dilemma.

Focusing her levitation spell, she took a final glance at Plume who was bearing down upon her hiding spot. Closing her eyes, she focused on the shards of glass, all the little pieces she could grab with her mind. All of the pieces she had seen only moments before, all levitating, now surrounding the air above her and Plume. The aforementioned entity moved back, realising the danger she was now in as hundreds of shards flew into her direction.

Twilight could feel herself slipping away into unconsciousness as the magic waned and failed. A trickle escaped her right nostril as blood began to leak. Reaching a hoof to her muzzle she blinked in shock, only to set her resolve back to her salvation. Releasing her muzzle, she dove for the gun on the floor. Sliding past and grasping it with her magic, time slowed as she took aim.

Only one shot fired before the levitation cancelled out once more. The force of the recoil, the thunder of the explosion, the power of the shock wave kicking up a small amount of dust from the pillars as the power of the firearm was unleashed.

It was only as the gun hit the floor one last time did she notice what her action had achieved. Plume was motionless, still standing where the glass shards had been thrown at her like thousands of knives. Now though, there was a difference.

Unlike before, the black mass moved violently, but the pony within didn’t. She was still, unmoving as the inky Vengeance magic suddenly and unexpectedly, cried out.

It was like no scream Twilight had ever heard. The cry was savage, nowhere near natural for a pony, at least, not to Twilight’s knowledge. The scream seemed to last for ages, though it could have been mere seconds, but it all felt like an eternity. As the scream intensified, Twilight noticed that the Shadow was now breaking apart. Reaching out, lashing out. The magic tried in vain to reach for her before starting to evaporate, releasing in its final moments of existence, the residual magic that it had been forced to consume by its former mistress.

Twilight witnessed one of the most beautiful sights she had ever witnessed on Equus as a the entity dispersed into hundreds and thousands of Harmonious magical trails flying off into every direction through the palace walls. A violet trail connected itself to her chest as her horn suddenly began to glow a deep yellow before being overcome by its once purple glow.

Her magic was back, all of it! The chaos magic had finally been removed from her, now on its way back to Discord. She was now a creature of harmony once more.

Her smile broke when she heard a cough. Looking up, she saw a mare with light brown fur and silver mane standing where the Shadow had once been standing. It was only now that the evil magic had dispersed that she finally saw what was going on.

There, behind the mare, was a void gate. The inky blackness slowly falling backwards into it. Blood began to trickle from the mare’s neck as the bullet wound made itself present. Twilight stumbled in shock as Fire Fly emerged from the rubble, his horn glowing at full strength, his face contorted in concentration.

Her mouth agape, Twilight couldn’t utter a word as she watched him approach Plume who was now starting to hack. It was only as Fire Fly approached Plume did Twilight suddenly freeze as he rushed her off her hooves and pulled her into the gateway.

She cried in shock and horror, but as soon as their tails disappeared, the gate closed.

XXX

“Don’t you dare move Plume!”

“Don’t you touch me you--you murderer!” I reached out with my hand and grabbed the pony by the neck and slammed her onto the ground. Lying over her to prevent her escape.

“Stay down, if you are hurt I can’t help you if you keep trying to run away!” Turning the pony around, I looked over the mare as she struggled to get free. I looked at her neck, the bullet wound was there, but only as a scar. No blood, no gurgling or mashed up words as she screamed at me.

Releasing her, I backed away as Plume found her strength once more and backed away from me.

“You really are as psychotic as she is you know!” She spat, looking at me with daggers in her glare.

“To you, I could be anything! For me? I’m just trying to help you Plume!” Sitting down away from her, I stretched out my legs. It had been a long time since I had even seen myself as a human being. Having hands and two legs gave me some hope and allowed me to give a silent cheer. I sure missed having hands! But my entire body hurt like hell, like thousands of pins and needles ran all over my back.

“Helping like this? Helping me by putting me back in the void?” I watched her slowly begin to descend into a spiralling frenzy of hysteria. Moving back and forth as she continued to spout her vision of her world to me.

“At least Twilight understood that my only freedom would have been death! Yet as an emissary to Galaxia you couldn’t allow that, could you?! An ending to my suffering! An end to all of this madne--”

“Shut up!” The two words seemed to echo louder than I had anticipated as they reverberated around the darkness. Right there and then, I began to understand just how much power I had here over this mare.

“You think I would trap myself in the void just to beat you over the head about how pathetic you are?! To trap myself in a place that I couldn’t escape from even if I tried?! I did this all for you Plume!” I sat back against the tree that materialised behind me, allowing myself a few moments of breathing from all the pain that was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

“Why else would you send me here and take me with you?! There is no other sense to this place!” She dug her hoof into the ground, trying to intimidate me.

“You want to savour my loss.”

“Look around you Plume… just... look around you.” I didn’t shout this time. I didn’t want her to come back with some snarky comment. I just wanted her to look around, to see where she was as I waited for her to calm down before continuing.

“W-where…?” She gulped, looking around at the starry sky above us, in the distance, the horizon began to change hue from dark blues to a light orange.

“This isn’t the void…”

“The vengeance magic is in the void. This is the dream realm.” Almost on cue, a sun rise began to crest over the horizon. Illuminating the world around us. A world so similar to the one that I knew, and one so different that it still seemed quite impossible to me at the same time.
“The vengeance magic is in the void, Plume! We’re in the dream realm. The only place that I could take you before you would die!”

“What are you talking about?” Her voice, while still quite high, had visibly calmed down now. She was looking at me with trepidation and insecurity. She backed away slightly and took another look around her.

“You know what I mean, Plume.” I coughed once more. She really did a number on me. I Thought as I wheezed out another cough.

“You wrote that book on Magic and you knew that if you didn’t purge the parasite, you wouldn’t be able to return to your original form. Like Twilight said: You needed the elements to help save you. And this is what I’m doing, saving you.” She looked at me, contemplating what I was saying as things were clearly starting to make sense now that she was getting back into the right state of mind.

“This isn’t for Galaxia, Plume. This is for you. Don’t you think that you deserve to be saved?” My question seemed to hit her dead in the heart as she jolted slightly. Whether from shock ore just utter confusion, I did not wait for an answer before offering out my hand.

“Ah mister Fire Fly! I wasn’t expecting… you…” The voice behind me trailed off as Squire approached tentatively.
“Plume?” He asked, his head tilted in utter shock and disbelief. Plume, likewise, was also starring at Squire in utter shock and confusion.

“Squire?”

I wasn’t sure how long the moment lasted, I wasn’t keeping track of time. All I knew is that my body was hurting like hell and the two of them were so busy look at each other in shock that they only turned their attention back to me as I groaned out my back pain and straightened myself out.

“Mister Fire Fly, this was not what we discussed the other night! You claimed that you would send the Shadow back to the void!” Plume looked at both of us, obviously preparing for some kind of attack, but relaxed when I answered with my truth.

“Yes and I did, but I couldn’t leave Misses Peacock to the mercy of another eternity in the void. This was the Vengeance magic’s doing, not hers.”

“B-But I don’t understand. What am I doing here?” Plume asked me, looking at Squire once or twice making sure he wasn’t preparing an attack of some kind.

“You said you were saving me, but from what exactly! I understand the principals of magic, but I don’t even know you!”

“I’m marine, Plume. A soldier if you will. I know full well what happens to a defeated enemy once their own adversaries take charge.” I sat up and beckoned her over. She approached a few steps, but didn’t move much after that.

“I knew from the moment I entered the room that all of this, all the pain and suffering that the creatures of this world endured was because of a mistake. All of it!” I tried to stand, suddenly realising that something was off I fell back on my backside. I didn’t feel right, like my stomach was churning and I could feel myself ready to vomit.

“Easy there Fire Fly.” Squire said as he supported me from my right side. Taking a moment to breathe, I looked up at Plume with as much sorrow I think I had ever shown anyone since my return home.

“When I entered that room… when I saw you for the first time. Properly, at least. I saw my mother.” I couldn’t remember how long I saw her, but even now, I saw her there, appearing then disappearing ever so slightly where Plume stood.

“I lost my brother Plume. My mother lost a son, because of me. When I came home from the war, I thought I could escape the torment, that I could help my family find their way through the hardships that we had all suffered. But I was wrong! I was so damned wrong because whenever I hear my mother screaming at my dad for not having done enough. To have stopped him, my brother from going to war? Only then do I realise that this was my fault… all of the death, all of the suffering. You don’t think that I can see it, but I do. I see it in you, an innocence so profound that ponies did suffer, yes. But that wasn’t you, this was Galaxia, like you said. I would do anything to have my brother back, do you hear me? Anything, but that can’t happen because guess who I killed? Hm? I killed brothers, cousins, fathers, uncles and god knows who else! I just want to sleep at night, without dreading the self inflicted wounds that I have for just having served my country.” I could almost feel a tear building up in my eye with every word I spoke. I broke eye contact once or twice to wipe my eyes from time to time. But I had to tell her. Tell her what she was not for me, but to others too.

“I saved you because I knew what the nations you were fighting against would do to you. Your body, your life… your name. All of it was taken by someone, you and I both know how crazy she is! But I refuse to let you become the great evil that ponies need to fear. You were not meant to be evil Plume! Please don’t throw it all away… please don’t let her win.”

Plume didn’t move for the longest of times, contemplating the words that had just come out of my mouth. I told her all that I felt that she needed to hear. My conscience would probably never be clean but hopefully with everything I had said, she too would just be able to let it go. Holding out my hand towards her, I gave her a reassuring smile as I hit the final nail over her head.

“Let me save you Plume.”

I saw the tears begin to roll down her cheeks as reality set in for her. Her legs trembled and so did her bottom lip as she realised what she had done. All the crimes, the magic theft, the ruthlessness of her reign…

Waving my hand with a little more force, I finally got her to move. Falling onto my left side I held her with all my heart. I wished that I had done this with my mother now. To have comforted her during her times of need.
No words were spoken for a long while as she continued to cry. Unlike me, she had truly lost everything. Her husband, her son, even her way of life like before the fall. All she knew was that castle in those woods, and a life from centuries past.

“I didn’t… I’m not…” She mumbled to herself as clung to my side and stared out into the distant sun rise with red puffy eyes. It was quite nice actually, to just sit there, the three of us in each others company.

“Mister Fire Fly is right Plume. This was not your doing.” Squire spoke up for the first time, looking at her with sorrow filled eyes as he tried to understand what to do to help.

“You would be the most welcome here. The dreams never have a lack of lost souls who need help.And I think I could use some help here, if you want to.” Those words right there, made Plume’s head snap to attention.

“Its never a dull time archiving the dreams that Princess Luna asks me to help with. It would also be a good way for you to leave make amends.”

Plume looked up at me, her mouth hung open slightly, unsure of what to do. I smiled and groaned as I shifted uncomfortably from side to side as something dug at the base of my spine for a real nasty itch.

“There’s no reason for you to tell anyone about who you really are Plume. I’ll keep your secret and so will Squire here.”

“No… No ponies should know. They should know and this is Luna’s realm after all. It would be wrong of me to keep it from others.” She mumbled to herself, still loud enough for me to us to hear, but I felt it was for the best. I just nodded my head and shifted once more. Something was hurting down there and I was not happy at all.

“I’ll help you learn the layout of this place and I’m sure that Fire Fly would be happy to show you around too!” He exclaimed, I almost chocked but laughed that off for the moment.

“And I’ll clear your name. Your story doesn’t have to end in tragedy, I know that you can’t go back to living as anything more than a phantom, but maybe this can be your safe haven? I may return one day, but right now I need to go home.” Reaching behind me I tugged at my shirt that was tucked into my trousers. Trying to sort out my mild discomfort as I spoke to the others. My surprise was shared amongst the others as a mass of golden mane came out in my paw.
My paw? I bolted forward only to land on my forelegs in total surprise. How had I gone from human to pony in just a few seconds?

“Whoa there Fly calm yourself.” Squire said as he moved to approach me.

“This whole thing is normal, you should probably get going to the waking world. I’ll take care of Plume until you return.” I glanced over at Plume who was watching me with concern as I slowly got my hyperventilation under control.

“Thanks Squire.” Moving to stand, I moved to join Plume and gave her a hug. She obviously wasn’t expecting it because she jolted from the sudden affection I shared with her before smiling.

“I wish you could meet my mother, I think that both of you could learn so much from each other.”

“Could… could you tell her something from me.” I nodded at her request.
“Could you tell her just how lucky she is to have such a thoughtful son like you.”

“I will, best of luck to you both.” Turning around, I made my way towards the tree I had been leaning on before lighting my horn and opening up one last world gate. I gave a small nod to both ponies behind me, observing them for a moment and said my farewells.

As I stepped through the portal I immediately fell onto my haunches as white face stared me down with a smile that I could tell if it was creepy or actually happy for me at first glance.

“Galaxia?” I glanced around behind me, looking to see just where I was. Neither Plume nor Squire were in sight, the dream realm was gone so I was somewhere else. Though I didn’t know where the hell I was though. Everything was dark, no lights yet I could see myself and her quite clearly.

“You really should be more careful with all your spell casting, who knows! You might end up becoming a pony quite permanently!” She laughed and I felt my ears drop in worry as I forced a smile.

“I better avoid that. I need to get back home… is that why you are here? To send us back home?” I asked the goddess before me, the white and amber alicorn as she looked down at me with her usual motherly smile.

“My dear child, you could have returned home the moment you got here! The worldgate under the waterfall will always lead back to your house. That living room window needs to be used for something!” I gawked up at her when she said that. The waterfall was our way home all along? And it led straight to my parents front room window?!

“I must say that I am pleased with how everything turned out in the end.”

“You are?”

“Why yes! After so many years of suffering, you gave Plume a second chance. Spared her another eternity in the void where she could only wish for death! Maybe now that she is trapped in the dream realm she will learn her lesson.” Galaxia said as she began to circle me. Looking at me all while placing herself next to me and wrapping me into her side with a wing.

“What lesson?” I asked, confused as I myself only felt that the only lesson learned was that this goddesse next to me was a--

“To not cross my path. She learned that, the hard way.” She chuckled, and I could feel myself tensing up at her musing. She’s a monster!

“But you put her through that, you made all of this happen!” I should probably have died right there and then as her head slowly tilted to look at me with fire in her eyes. I audibly gulped in fear as I soon found myself powerless against such a creature. The need to shit myself in fear made itself known quite rapidly only to ease off as she began to giggle and closed her eyes in quite a cute manner. It caught me so off guardthat I began to genuinely believe that everything was fine. I genuinely did…

“Oh of course I am! It pleases me to no end to know that I caused someone as insignificant as her so much pain.” She sighed a content sigh and that psychotic aura began to fill the air once more. There was a feeling of pleasure in others misfortunes. This wasn’t their misfortune however… this was their ruination.
“I am everything that anyone should fear and I must say that I am quite pleased with my work. You can go back to living your boring life mister Conlin. It provides quite a lot of entertainment to me to witness all of this! Maybe next time I’ll work out something ever more tragic? Do you even realise how fun it is to make ponies believe that they can resist me? Oh gosh the amount of times I can write that will only ever make me laugh harder!”

“This is nothing to you isn’t it?” I dared to ask, looking up at her through the corner of my eye. In my horror, she leaned in and whispered into my ear.

“And it amuses me to no end.” With a giggle, she pulled away and stood up next to me still laughing at her own insanity. I would have called her out on it. I would have told her, but I was scared. I was just too scared.
“You should get going, I’m sure you and the others have a few things to finish off here before you all get to go home. Farewell Fire Fly, it was almost a pleasure!”

“Wait!” She stopped and turned around to face me, her face neutral as she observed. Building up one last bit of courage, I asked:

“What happened to you Galaxia?”

“Power mister Conlin. Total, unlimited, immortal, undying, limitless Power.” And with a last sad smile, she was gone.

And with that, I found myself standing in the throne room. But I was not standing on the ground, instead I was on my back with legs up in the air with a whole group of ponies looking down at me in worry and shock. Twilight was the one who stood out the most because of not only her state but also because out of all the ponies, she was the only one who almost took up the entirety of my vision.
“Twilight?” I asked, but the question had barely left my mouth before it was forcefully blocked by Twilight kissing me for all I was worth.

Chapter XXI: The Final Days

My final day in Equestria was quite… interesting to say the least. After the confrontation with Plume and the rescue of the Princesses, I had been given a chance to finally rest. I was first housed in the hospital medical ward of Canterlot castle, where I met Twilight’s brother, Shinning Armour.
He was a really nice guy, severely bruised and battered, yet he still found the strength to welcome me to Equestria. He knew who I was from stories told by Twilight upon her return from Earth almost three years ago, saying that I was not like what he was expecting.
Unlike most of the ponies I had met, Shinning seemed to hold me in very high regard. Thanking me at almost every turn for having protected his younger sister. When he met Mark and Jack, his reaction was no different, praising them for all that they had done and personally thanking Jack for his help with treating his wounds.

My time in the hospital wasn’t just spent alone or with Shinning. Twilight had refused to leave my side the entire time as I laid in that bed to rest my drowsiness. It wasn’t until late in the evening that I got to finally meet all the others once more. Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy had come by to say their thanks. I even got to finally meet Spike the Dragon. The real one this time, not Chrysalis in disguise. He was an amazing little fella, adorably kind and very protective of his adoptive older sister, Twilight.
He had pointed at me a few times with a serious look and pointing back to his eyes in a very familiar gesture. He was clearly sceptical of me as of me as Twilight’s saviour, though he did warm up a little when Twilight asked him to do it for her. Trust issues might be quite frequent with the end of Plume’s reign, though hopefully Twilight could get him to loosen up one day.

Twilight’s parents had been another matter entirely however. Never before had I had to meet the family of the girlfriend before. Mostly because I never had a girlfriend before Twilight. Now suddenly I found myself almost incapable to even look them straight in the eye. It wasn’t until the conversation finally got going that any fears I had completely washed away. In fact, I began to feel some regret. They were not talking to me the way I had expected. The conversation always revolved around how great of a hero me and my friends were. They made me feel small, despite holding me up in such high regard.
Twilight Velvet almost strangled me to a choking point with hug so strong that Twilight had to pry her off of me.

Lastly the Doctor, Discord and the five girls all arrived to check in on me and the others for a little while. Very few words were said, neither of them having much to add to this happy reunion. Honestly, I was just glad that everyone was safe and relatively unharmed.

There was one absentee however.

“Where’s Chrysalis?” My question was answered by the same folding of ears to the backs of most ponies heads. Jack was the one to explain what had happened. As I had felt deep down, the queen had fled after Twilight and I had confronted Plume. With a couple of her still loyal drones, she took off and had not been seen since.

While my wartime experience had kinda prepared me mentally for this, I was still somewhat saddened by her leaving. Whether I believed that she was a good person or that she truly was a victim of this situation, I felt slightly ashamed for not having been more accommodating with her.

I hoped that she was well and, should she return, that she would be an ally and not an enemy.

Despite the news of Chrysalis, I chose to just rest easy for the time being. While the others were all asking questions about what had happened after I dragged Plume through the gateway, I explained to them that no matter what had happened, it was over. While that wasn’t enough for most of them, Mark and Jack got the idea and understood that I was just way too exhausted to even try to explain what I had done. Quite honestly, I wasn’t that tired, just really mentally exhausted. My body ached and my head hurt from time to time. Twilight had explained that it most likely came from using too much magic all in one go.

As the evening drew closer, the crowd at the end of my bed began to disperse. Doctors came and went and after about five hours, I was given the all clear. While they wanted to keep me over night, I was told that I could move about a bit if necessary.

I went for it! Taking shaky steps as I desperately needed to pee. Twilight had offered to accompany me, and blushed when Mark burst out laughing.

I was quite thankful for not being kept in a ward but in small individual hospital rooms with another pony. Going to the bathroom as an Equine was still as hard and as strange as it was when we first arrived. I was thankful that no one was there to see me almost face plant the shitter.

It was only as I was leaving the restroom that I passed a mirror above the sink. I got to take in my appearance once again. Golden eyes peering deep into my soul, seemingly filled with a spark that I had yet to see for a long while. My grey fur had been groomed, though would require a proper wash before I could call it perfect. What caught my attention however was my mane and tail. Long and golden, now highlighted with a few flecks of violet meshes running straight down. Only a dozen or so strands, but I was sure they had not been there before, though maybe one of the others had done something? Rarity did say that I could use some mane treatment during our time at the Everfree castle.

“I don’t think Rarity did anything though you might be able to ask her later before she catches the train with the others back to Ponyville!” Twilight suggested.

“Nah I won’t bother her with that. You’re going with them?” I asked her as she escorted me through the hospital halls back to my room.

“No.” She sighed, looking ahead, blowing a few strands of mane from her eyes. “I’m here to help the Princesses with the peace negotiations.”

“Is that what they’ve been dealing with today?” Moving towards my bedroom door, Twilight was prepared to answer me, only to stop as she noticed who was talking with the room’s occupants.

“… we shall handle most of the negotiations, though I would really appreciate your presence if you feel up to it. There are no obligations here, though I have a feeling that your presence may help deal with any tensions that may arise.” Celestia stood by my bed, talking to my friends who were both contemplating what the white alicorn with the etherial mane had just said.

“I’m not sure that we can help you, your highness. Technically, Lou is our commanding officer here, it might be best to check it out with him.” Mark said as he turned his attention from me, back to Celestia. The white pony turned to face me, a smile adorned on her features as she observed Twilight and I.

“Mister Conlin! I’m thankful for your return so soon. Could you perhaps spare me and my sister a moment?” Moving over to my bed, I looked at her and prepared to rest myself and talk this through before she adding:
“In private.”

“Sure” The only response I could blurt out in the typical manner that tended to get me into trouble. Especially on Guadalcanal.

It was rather taxing to walk all throughout the castle, following Celestia at her side, flanked by two guards and Twilight. In private had not excluded Twilight from the conversation and she was rather eager to hear what was going on. As a princess, she was a ruler and as my “special somepony”, that gave her a pass on hearing what was being asked of me and the others.
“You appear to be looking better.” Celestia said after we left the medical wing. Moving throughout the halls, softly illuminated by torch light, hanging from braziers on the wall.

“Your… staff were very accommodating.”

“I trust that they were. I do hope that being with prince Shinning Armour isn’t going to cause you to much trouble.” She nodded, turning to the left and making our way along large stained glass windows that overlooked some gardens.
“I also trust that your new accommodation will be to your liking. I have had the castle staff preparing your suite for you and your comrades.” I stopped in my tracks and both Twilight and Celestia turned with confused expressions.

“With all due respect ma’am. My friends and I were rather looking forward to going home.” Twilight’s head dropped at that, I felt bad, but I had been telling her that all this was going to have to wait for a while.

“You know of a way back?” Celestia asked, brow raised in surprise.

“Yeah… there’s a gateway under the waterfall in the forest. I was going to send--” I stopped when a figure approached from down the hall. Tall and dark, easily a head higher than me though still smaller than Celestia, princess Luna made her first appearance. She approached in silence, not uttering a word as the came to a stop and observed me.

“Mister Conlin, this is my sister, Luna. Ruler of the night and guardian of the dream realm.” Luna just stared at me before holding out a hoof to me. Unsure of how to grasp it, I put my paw to the side and prepared to shake.
“Luna, this is Louis Conlin, the leader of the human trio.” My brow raised at that, she had known that me and the others were human? Maybe the others had told them.

“It is a pleasure, young Fire Fly.” Luna shook my paw. Her voice was quite different to that of her sister. Unlike what I had expected, Luna seemed far more… posh and upper class than her older sister at the time. The moment she spoke the name that Squire and Galaxia had given me, I understood just who she was.

Squire had spoken of Luna, though I had yet to meet until now, he had made me understand that Luna was very important to the dream realm. A guardian, as Celestia had introduced, but the bringer of sweet dreams is what Squire normally refers to her as.
“The pleasure is mine your highness.”

“Fire Fly?” Celestia asked, looking between me and the lunar princess.

“It is the name that Harmony has bestowed upon him.” Luna replied, shrugging her wings. “I do believe that many of the Thestrals will also be calling him by that name. Though I am hopeful that it is to your liking?” She asked and I nodded slowly. While I wasn’t against the name, I was still Lou Conlin. And I ain’t changin’ it!
“It has been a long while since my eyes have seen imperial alicorns. This has Galaxia’s hoof prints all over it.”
“Imperial alicorns are a product of Galaxia?” Twilight finally spoke up, looking between me and the princesses.

“Neigh, they are a product of interdimensional travel. Our realm tends to have strange side effects on those crossing the veil. Imperials are those that are deemed chosen by Galaxia back during her reign. Many races were taken, from simple creatures bestowed with intelligence. To Krigelians from across the stars.” Luna explained looking down at Twilight and gave her a smile.
“We have had humans come here before, but most likely not from the same realm as our guests.” She continued, gesturing to me with a hoof as she gave me an approving smile.
“I do believing that you were explaining something to my sister and her protégée, please continue.”

“Uhm… yeah, my friends and I were hoping to get going by early morning. But I think I can hear a request on all of your lips.” I explained, looking at them expectantly. There was a short moment of silence as both Celestia and Luna shared a look before gesturing me to a door that was situated in the wall facing the garden windows. With a golden shimmer, the door swung open.

The room was an office space, lavishly decorated with reds, whites and guilded metal along the edges of the furniture. The walls were covered in varnished wood panelling and bookcases filled with old tomes. The room had a very homely smell to it, light only by a couple of sconces and the flickering light coming from a fireplace that sat near to the back of the room.
“Mister Conlin, if you would be so kind to take a seat. I believe that I have something to ask of you and your friends.”

XXX

It was late at night as I made my way back to the medical ward. Twilight kept up at my side, never wanting to leave me even as we made our way in silence back to my bed.

“Are you alright Lou?” The question made me stop to think. Ever since we both left Celestia and Luna to tend to their duties, I was slightly worried about tomorrow.

The princesses had been blunt, straight to the point and very abrupt with what they wanted my friends and I to do. This evening, dignitaries from the other great powers who had been at war with Equestria for almost three years had arrived for negotiations. The war was over, the threat had been vanquished and chased away with no culprit other than the changeling drones that were being held prisoner within the castle dungeons.
Plume, however well intentioned she had tried to be within her fits of anger, had now left Equestria at the mercy of three warring powers that had now converged upon the capital. The Yaks, the Dragons and the Griffons had all come to claim back what Equestria had tried to take from them.

Tensions had always been high according to Luna, but with the defeat of Plume, Equestria no longer had an army strong enough to maintain stability throughout its cities. Equestrian industry had been completely toppled onto its head. Ponies were jobless, as society slowly made a full u-turn back to becoming a civilised state where ponies could live together in peace and harmony.
Now it was all out the window as mediatory requirements had made outrageous claims according to Luna and Twilight. Celestia had been a bit more silent on the matter.

“Worried.” Was my only reply.

The princesses expected quite a lot from me and the others. Apart from appearing at the summit, they were also hoping that we could help ‘dissuade’ any aggression from the neighbour states as mediators from a different world. The fact that we had been the ones to free the Princesses and banish the Shadow back to the void, Celestia hoped that it would the negotiations far less one sided.

“I’m right here Lou. I’ll always be right by your side.” I felt Twilight snuggle up against me, rubbing her cheek against my neck as she hummed contently. Her sent was strong once more, the smell of lavender filled my nostrils and eased the worry that built up within me.

“I’m coming back you know.” I said and she stopped, removing her head away and looking at me with slight shock.
“I never said I was leaving for good. Once I’ve figured out how to deal with my family problems, I’ll come back.” A bit vague at best, but I hoped that the idea of my return would make her understand that while I couldn’t live here full time, I could still hopefully come over from time to time. I still wasn’t sure how to explain this to my family. Magical talking ponies, magical gateways in their living room and a son who was going out with a princess from a mystical land unknown to humanity, was definitely going to be hard for me to explain.

But after so long of not feeling lost, confused and outcast by those that I had worked with after the war. Maybe I had found my therapy. A place where I could escape to rebuild my life whenever I’m feeling down, a place to call my safe haven from hell. If the nightmare’s were to persist, I might just end up moving back here to sleep my nights away with Plume and Squire.

“I’d come and live on Earth if you want me too. I’d go wherever you go!” She quipped and I chuckled. Twilight was honestly perfect in every way and if only I could bring her back, but I still had no idea how I was going to explain this all to my family.

XXX

Mark and Jack were still awake by the time we got back to the room. Both had apparently refused to take Celestia’s offer of a large bedroom with sheets. Electing to sleep on the floor, they had both made they’re little beds in the corner of the room, leaving the chair for Twilight to sleep on. I could tell that Twilight wanted to sleep with me, but I was in no hurry to leave the medical wing without the doctor’s approval. Plus I wasn’t sure what would happen if Twilight and I did get a private room together.

Shinning and Cadence were both asleep on their side of the room. The light pink alicorn was resting easy on the other chair while her husband snored softly, his breathing still a little ragged as he slept.

Sat together in the corner of the room, Twilight and I explained what had been discussed with the princesses. My original plan had involved sending both my friends back home early with Twilight’s friends. Having now mulled over what Celestia had said, it was now in our best interests to stay a bit longer and help with the primary negotiations.
Twilight had explained that such talks could go on for very long periods of time. Months, maybe even years. We could never stay that long, but maybe we could find a solution early?

Each of them gave their ideas, and out of all of them, Mark and I seemed to have the same train of thought. An idea that could be a bit violent, but hopefully wouldn’t declare war. That fact alone made me promise Twilight that we would only use it if the negotiations were not going anywhere.

The morning came rather quickly despite not getting as much sleep for the nerve racking feeling of having to be a mediator between two factions that I knew almost nothing about. Twilight had been kind enough to bring us some books on the different species that inhabited this land. Griffons were the ones that interested me the most. Warlike with a very quick tendency to hurl insults at those they see as inferior. They felt like something that, as a human, was quite relatable.

The Yaks and Dragons were a different story all together. Twilight insisted that we really didn’t need to worry about the customs of each race just yet as we were only there to stop any arguments from descending into anarchy.

We were offered breakfast at the hospital, before being taken back to the office that Twilight and I had visited yesterday. The entire table was covered in tons of food fit for kings and queens alike. Pancakes staked higher than Celestia, maple syrup and chocolate sauce in small silver pots on the table.
Twilight’s friends were already there and had seemingly finished their half. We all shared a good moment all together, listening to what each of the girls were going to do. Each were overjoyed on the prospect of returning home, to be with their loved ones and had hopes of just returning to a normal life, though Rarity was still quite eager to have us come see her to test out some of her new ideas for pony clothing.

A knock on the door interrupted our breakfast as a pony dressed in gold plated armour called for us to follow them. Biding our friends farewell, the four of us finished up our halves of the food before rushing to follow the guardsman. The girls waved us off out into the hallway and Rainbow called over to Mark and nodded her head at him. He nodded back with a smile and she giggled into her hoof before disappearing back into the office.

“What’s that about?” I asked. He just raised his eyes to the ceiling and tilted his head from side to side comedically.

“My ears only, captain!” He quipped, his steps now accentuated by a small bounce. The genuine smile I saw on his face brought me so much relief, especially after all of his initial reactions to Equus. Jack looked at us before rolling his eyes and smirking mischievously.

“Kids gonna get laid, Cap’n!” This caused the rest of us to sputter and Mark to slap us all upside the head with a flare of his magic. His smile was still there though.

“Not really, but this concerns only her and I.” He continued, allowing us all to share looks. Jack looked at him before cracking another large grin.

“Yep! He’s getting lai—OW!”

XXX

“...I will not tolerate any talk of a peaceful negotiations unless Equestria surrenders unconditionally! You and your little ponies have been in control of the Badlands for far too long! The foal mountains are ours and so are the lower southfold by natural right! I demand the full occupation of Equestria by the Griffon empire for compensation of this war that YOU have brought upon us! This meeting will go nowhere without the total occupation…”

It had been less than an hour into the meeting and I could feel my military façade falling away. For the past minutes or so, we had heard everything that I could imagine from peace talks post war back on Earth. The Griffons, the Yaks and the Dragons had a basically proved Luna’s and Twilight’s point. They were insufferable!
While each were able to refrain from cutting each other off as military alliances, they were not above cutting off the princesses as they tried to negotiate a deal that would be beneficial for all parties.

Despite this, the Griffons above all else, were rather eager to place their demands and refuse to listen to the Ponies. I was very uncertain of weather or not I should intervene to help out Celestia, but the few moments I got to open my jaw were immediately squished under the barrage of rather egregious demands from those present at the table.

“…You and your little ponies will be given ample treatment! You have much farmland that can be more productive under a new rule if you were not all so incompetent! Should you have not attacked us from the start we might have been more accepting of other terms but I speak for all of the empire when I say that your aggression has been enough for the past two thousand years! And, might I add, you have…”

The whole conversation seemed to have driven me to ultimate boredom as my eyes slowly drifted across the room and took in all the elements that interested me far more than these selfish negotiators trying to squeeze my patience to a breaking point.
The room was not dissimilar from the office that we had used for breakfast. The main difference being the lack of bookcases and the obviously larger space that made accommodating a big dragon easily the size of truck. A large rococo style chandelier hung high upon the ceiling, right over a large round oak table, softly illuminating the enclosed room that lacked windows.

I couldn’t even throw myself out a window...

Twilight had explained that negotiations were normally held in the throne room. Due to obvious battle damage, we were not able to use that room. Instead, we now had to bare this whole argument with a group of creatures that were easily making my imaginary trigger finger itch in a tiny room with no windows.

“...Yaks do not accept your terms! Yaks will not allow ponies ruin their lands by denying angry jumps! You cannot say what Yaks can do or refuse to give us Crystal pony palace. Crystal empire land belong to Yaks! Equestria belong to Yaks! Ponies cannot live...”

It had been out of professionalism that me and the others wore our uniforms, and there had been one or two instances where I had wanted to grab my gun and start threatening these people with two words: “SHUT UP!”.
Sadly, I was too professional and my desire to understand this world had kept me from making any more rash decisions.

So for the moment, I was still trying to figure out who was the most annoying out of the three ambassadors. The Dragon, a young woman named Arcelienna was probably the one that annoyed me the least. She, compared to the others, wasn’t always trying to twist Celestia’s words to form a completely different meaning. In fact, I saw a few times whispering to Spike who had joined us halfway through the hour with a stack of books on laws and justices from across the allied nations. Whatever the young kid had said to her, it had made her far less threatening than the Yak or the Griffon.

Ambassador Sharpclaw was easily becoming my least favourite because unlike the Yak, he was coming out with full sentences that honestly made him sound arrogant, but also cunning. His verbal traps were hard and I would have certainly fallen for them a hundred times over if it weren’t for Celestia’s delicate handling of the situation.

The Yak ambassador had a name that was way to hard for me to pronounce. It sounded so foreign and honestly, even hearing Celestia say it made me feel overly impressed by just how calm and diplomatic she was. Out of all of them, I would have probably got their names wrong five times over by now.

“… That I agree with my colleagues here, the idea that Equestria should be shared amongst us all is definitely worth the investments of all our nations to work under a union or an alliance!”.

“What?! Pony land belongs to Yaks!”

“To you?! You bumbling hairy bumblerumps are fools if you think that we will ever let you have a part of Equestria! The empire did more than any of you!”

“Quiet pony bird! Yaks help win victory!”

“Pony bird?! You airheads are have more fat than honour!”

“Please calm down…” The princesses tried to say, to no avail.

“Griffons are fools if they think that Equestrian aggression was handled only by them! Do not forget who supplied you with lava for your armour industry!”

“Your lava was low quality, we could have gotten a better deal from the Barlocks!”

“Please be quiet” I mumbled, my head beginning to hurt and I saw Celestia shoot me a strained smile.

“Our lava?! Low quality?! Ambassador your empire still has yet to refund that lease! Should I remind you of our agreements!”

“Scaley bird and pony bird make me mad! No recognition for Yak help!”

“Shut up, wool head!”

“Pony bird!”

“Please! This is an important meeting--” Twilight began to try and appeased the situation, only for her to be cut off by the others who all yelled at her, but the one who stood out the most was Sharpclaw.

“Quiet concubine!”

Those two words were the drop of shit that overflowed the toilet. My frustration at these pathetic creatures all bickering when the ones who had tried to help were standing right in front of them really ground my gears to a boiling point!
Calling Twilight a concubine was a no go however. How the ambassador had found out that information was unknown to me and still is to this day. But the action itself of insulting Twilight while in my presence awoke some sort of pride within me to defend her with all my heart.

And so, with a gentle motion I placed my foreleg on the table and glared at the Griffon until he turned his attention to me. My original intent was to strike him with my paw, but the simple stare caused him to flinch in shock. My magic was running and my holstered 45 was slowly inching its way out of my pocket.

“You insult her again, I’ll break your fucking beak you miserable fuck.” I growled at him, eyes stuck on him as he retreated slightly when Mark came to back me up.
“All of you are insolent little children! My only respect here is holding on by a thread!” I raised my voice slightly and lowered my paw. Enough to cut the Yak off before he could start rebuffing me.
“In all my time here I have yet to meet creatures with the lowest amount of respect as you lot. This room is for negotiating a peace deal, not a surrender, not an occupation! A peace deal ladies and gentlemen!”

“This is between us and the princesses, pony!” Sharpclaw finally regaining his pride. My attention returned to him and so did Mark’s as both of us stared him down.

“You make false assumptions ambassador. As princess Celestia presented us at the beginning, we are a third party to this whole debacle. You think that you have the final say in this whole discussion? You three really are nothing. You couldn’t even defeat the Shadow without our intervention!” They all looked at each other before easing their inner tensions and giving me their attention. I dared not spare a glance at the ponies however. I was far too committed to this ‘debate’.
“I am Captain Lou Albert Conlin of the United States Marine Corps. This is here Sargent Mark and Sargent Jack also here to represent the interests of our country the United States of America in their fight against the Shadow!”

“You didn’t do anything! We’ve never even heard of you or this America!” Arcelienna spoke up, eliciting nods from the other two pea brains.

“We come from a realm outside of this one. Here on behalf of princess Twilight Sparkle to help defeat the Shadow.”

“You expect me to believe that three ponies trying to lie, managed to stop the Shadow?! I don’t know where you got these fools from Celestia, but I can assure you that you can expect our invasion force to be here within a few--” Sharp claw was cut off as I shifted my wings free from under my cloak and spread them wide above for all to see. I was careful not to smack mark on the head and so was he when both he and Jack followed suit, spreading their wings wide for the three cuckoo’s to see.

It had the desired effect, all three backing away from their seats as they looked at us in shock. I was sure hoping that what Celestia and Luna had told us last night applied to alien cultures too.
I did see Arcelienna mutter ‘impossible’ under her breath as her eyes widened too.

“Yes ambassadors, they are imperial ponies, come from another realm as they claim.” Luna finally spoke, a smug grin on her face as the ponies saw the situation turn on its head.
"Any attempt of an invasion against Equestria’s current legal borders will be met with severe retaliation from my country. While I cannot guarantee what the borders will look like if you try, I can definitely give you an idea.”

“Yaks want back our land! No compromises!”

“We stand with the Yaks!” Sharpclaw said defiantly. Glaring at me with destain as he tried to lever a way out, but I wasn’t going to. Not now.

“You’ll have to face off against multiple armies to confront us!”.

In silence I pulled out Mark’s revolver, loaded and ready, placed neatly on the table gave an annoyed look at the ambassadors. All of them.
“This is one of our weapons. It’s not a sword, no. It’s a piece of metal, capable of spewing out a piece of lead faster at the speed of sound. A single round! Capable of putting you down dead.” I snarled as my eyes rested on the Griffon.
“It holds six of these metal projectiles, but many of our other weapons can fire more rounds and fasted than this puny thing.” Lifting the revolver and twirling it in my magic, I then pointed it at each of them in turn before resting it pointed at the Griffon.
“You dare declare an invasion of Equestria, you’ll have weapons like these to deal with.”

“Liar!”

“I have 145 thousand troops awaiting on our side of the gateway, our armies combined make up much more. Should Equestria be attacked, our common defence pact with the ponies will be put into question. Believe me that while you can believe that you have the advantage, we will have airial supremacy. We will have ground supremacy. Hell, we’ll even have naval supremacy if need be! The question is, do you really want to negotiate your own annihilation? Or maybe we can find some common sense and put our weapons away and start discussing like adults.”

The three of them looked at each other as they contemplated they’re next move. Opposite me, I saw Twilight break a quick smile that I returned with a wink. A wink that Celestia and Luna saw too and were quick to share their own thankful smiles.

XXX

“That was awful.” Mark complained as he stretched himself out as we left the office room once the Ambassadors had gone back to their rooms to deliberate with their assistants.

“I have had worse.” Celestia tutted as she joined us and gave us all a thankful smile.
“I am very thankful for your assistance there mister Conlin, you truly are a master of diplomacy.”

“That wasn’t diplomacy!” I grumbled, my mood was rather low after having endured that for over four hours straight. At least more progress was made between the last hours than in the first two. My mood could have remained sour had it not been for Twilight’s constant affection that was clearly making Cadence very excited as she clicked her hooves together as she watched us cuddle.

“Is it over?” Jack dared to ask. Celestia sighed and looked on out past the frosted window out into the distance for a moment.

“It will take time for them to make up their minds on whether they accept our peace plan or not.” She then turned to face us all and sat down on a cushion that was carried by one of the guards.
“Yes, I do believe that today is at an end. While I believe that there are still more hurdles to cover, we should be able to complete the next few sessions on our own.” My friends both gave a silent cheer and I watched as Mark also gave a silent prayer, his eyes closed as his paws tapped together as he sat on his haunches and gave his faux thanks.

“Are you sure, sister? They could prove instrumental in keeping those foals from making any more wild claims.” Luna quipped as she approached to give Jack a back rub. The poor guy was still trying to get comfortable from standing so long.

“Yes sister. I think we have it safe hooves.” Giving us all a caring smile and a confident nod, she continued.
“Be at peace, my fellow humans. And know that you are always welcome back to Equestria.”

XXX

We were now all on a train back to Ponyville. The place where this whole thing started. The soft clatter of the train on the tracks were quickly sending me and the others off to sleep. I remember distinctly looking out the window just as my vision began to blur and saw one of the most majestic sights I had ever seen.

Equestria, the land of little ponies was laid out before my eyes once more and I could see what this place truly was. The horizon was beautiful, colours all blending in to each other as I saw mountains and rivers off in the distance. From time to time you could make out some settlements off in the distance. The autumn winds forcing some households to light fires despite not being in winter yet.

The rolling hills, the yellow fields and swerving rivers were absolutely mesmerizing! A definite sight to see and one I would have enjoyed longer had I not fallen asleep.

I did not go to the dream realm for once. This time, my mind was led astray by a rather nerve racking thought. One that had been bothering me since we first arrived. How was I going to explain my disappearance to my own parents?

I could already tell that my hopes of actually explaining this as me and my friends running off would be not very easy. My only hopes is that we could get back to the gateway before the evening time. Maybe while my parents were out at work, we could just get home and sort ourselves out before they got back.
My sister too, she was still finishing her studies so surely we could do this before they got home. So long they hadn’t got the Police Department involved. I sure hope I wasn’t being considered a missing person right about now.

My fears could have been left to fester for a little while longer had Spike not woken me up. We were nearing Ponyville and the already absurd journey was coming closer to an end. My final day in Equestria had me feeling exhausted and nostalgic of the mundane janitorial life I had been living back home.

I wonder if I have been fired yet? I thought.

I think my jaw dropped when we descended the train and gazed upon the small town. Everything was so much brighter. The dulled colours of the houses, the signs even the ponies just looked uniformly brighter.

We walked slowly throughout the streets, eyes on us all. Twilight was leading the way with a happy spring in her step. Ever so often, she turn and wave to passing ponies. All of them biding her a happy return. Entering her library, Twilight deposited Spike from her back and tasked him with a little cleaning. The young drake agreed after Twilight had told him that he would get a special reward of gems. Quite honestly, I still would have said no. This place was trashed and was in no way cleanable by one solitary dragon. Lucky for Spike, the five mares that had been with us from all the way back from the start had also stopped by.

Not just them however, outside the house was a crowd of ponies and creatures that I had never seen before. I did notice the cute little filly with the bow in her hair who was riding Apple Jack’s back. She and many others came over to cheer us on. Mark backed away slightly, but still happily thanked the ponies for all the praise. Jack and I were just shocked.
So many people all here to thank us for our service. Our help and our friendship. I cried a bit, I felt the tears in my eyes as I realised that this was what I never got when I arrived back home. I had received no praise, no hero’s welcome. I hadn’t wanted one.

And yet here I stood, happily thanking all the creatures here for all their kind words in these trying times. I was so glad to have helped, and with no casualties, I was so pleased to be welcomed here. If only it could have been the same with Chrysalis.

Zecora was there too! She had caught wind of our arrival earlier and decided to drop what she was doing to come say her thanks. I was still not sure how these guys ever found out about what we did but it soon became apparent that this was a Pinkie Pie thing.
The pink pony had gathered the entire town after their arrival this morning and told the news to everyone.

The fact that we were aliens spawned from another world did not even seem to frighten these creatures, in fact we were each overwhelmed with tons of questions about where we were from, what was our world like and if we were planning on staying.

But time was getting on and we would soon lose the light if we waited any longer. While all these creatures were very kind and respectful, I didn’t want to leave it any longer. So within a few brief moments, we grabbed our things and bid our farewells to everypony. Our time here was coming to an end. And so, with cheerful smiles and waving paws, we exited the library and made our way back into the Everfree with Twilight as our guide.

XXX

“Well… this is it then.” Mark said as he approached the pool of water. The soft waterfall crashed at the side. The ground was still marked with our first arrival. Tracks and signs of our first tumbles as we learned our footing, now it was time to go as the afternoon turned back into evening.

“Damn right! Can’t wait to get back on my own two legs!” Jack laughed.

“But you’re standing on your own four legs Jack!” Twilight teased happily, giggling as he rolled his eyes in her direction. She then turned to me and gave me a small smile.
“You sure you know what you’re getting into?” I nodded, she sighed and sat down and looked at all of us in turn.
“I can’t really remember what my final words were to you back when you all saved me the first time, but hopefully reminding you that you are always welcome to Equestria at any time will be enough to entice you to not let this be a final farewell.”

“You’re not the one who was saved Twilight.” I smiled and hugged her tightly and so did the others. A group hug reuniting us all once more as the last four of the original Raiders.
“You saved us back on Guadalcanal.” I heard her sniff as I said that. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears as she fought back her urge to start crying.

“Thank you… all of you.” Releasing our hug, Twilight retreated as we all checked that our bags were properly attached. Making our way over to the portal, I turned once more and felt my heart ache as I saw her give a sad wave, still wiping her eyes on her forelegs.

“You two go on ahead. I’ll be right there.” Both of them shared look before wading through the water and pushing their heads through to the waterfall. With a slight flash, I watched them disappear into nothingness. Moving back to Twilight, she looked up at me and opened her mouth to say something. I cut her off. Our hug wasn’t the best, but the action was of reassurance. To reassure her that I would not leave her hanging.

Turning around, I grabbed my bags and placed them on my back and followed after my friends. Twilight stood up and watched as I stood in front of the water fall and in that moment. I could almost make out a full reflection. There stood me, Imperial pony gifted with wings and a horn. A grey coat with a delightfully long golden mane that was highlighted with long violet meshes. I was sure I didn’t have them before before coming here, yet my tail in mane were definitely improved in my opinion.

Moving forward, I expected to get my head soaked by water, but the portal appeared right in front of the fall. And as my face passed through, my entire body was taken through for a stomach churning experience more violent than last time.

And as I emerged from the portal, I felt myself get thrown to the ground and suffer from terrible shakes in my bones from world travel. My head was a mess of confusing emotions as I fought against the growing migraine that had started to make it’s presence known.
Cracking my eye open, I became faintly aware of talking. I heard voices, muffled and indistinguishable. As my eyes began to focus on the room I was in, I slowly began to recognize my living room.

But my gut began to twist as something seemed very off about this room. The mantle piece, the fire place were bare. No trinkets, no family photos, all the bookshelves were empty. The entire room had been emptied, no furniture, nothing.

The voices that I heard were much louder now, but the ringing in my ears was still far too mind numbing that all I could do was turn my head slowly towards the door. To my hallway, there I saw my friends, back to normal but both were on the ground. Mark was lying on the floor, holding his face and jack was sat there rubbing his legs and looking up and talking.

I felt happy at that moment, my friends were back and they were lucky enough to no longer have the wings and pony ears that they had been gifted with at the very start of our reunion.

But then I saw it. Two large figures stood in the doorway, looming over all of us like giants. Though these were not my parents like I had feared. They were intruders. Armed with rifles, both aiming at my friends. They wore brown army boots and olive drab uniforms. Both wore helmets styled to the ones that I had once worn, but what were they doing in my house? And why were they looking at me like that?

It was then that my mind caught up. My friends were back to normal, now deprived of the creationist magic, they were now back. Back to being crippled. I croaked out for a little help, but something was off once more. I still feel like…

I tried to stand, but my legs were still grey and my mane and tail were still there.

“Get on the ground!” Yelled one of the intruders. I heard Jack say something back, but right then and there, I felt myself growing weak. I saw Jack turn to face me, a look of surprise on his face at my still ponified appearance and then he screamed at me.

“Lou, go back through!” I span around, trying to get back through the portal, but my legs failed me and I stumbled. I reached up, only for something very hard to hit me and I felt all my strength leave my body. With a groan I crashed to the floor and everything went dark.

Author's Note

This chapter is to be the last for a short while. Upon further review of the story I was considering writing a third and final installment as a "Slice of Life" following Louis Conlin's life after his forced change.
I have decided not fall down that route and squander the opportunity to give this story an open end and hopefully the following chaper(s) will suffice.

Chapter I: Homeward bound

Author's Note

A return ! I would like to thank all those who read the prequel to this work ! I have been working on this one for a while, but have struggled with REAL LIFE. Either way I can't wait to see what you all think of this story.

We are moving away from war now and going on the adventure that was teased in the prequel. Lets hope I can do some better writting than the last story, heh ! :twilightsheepish:

Thanks again and see you all soon with the next chapter.

Chapter I: Homeward bound

This is one of the most difficult tasks that is asked of me. I write to you about your son Romain B.Conlin, who was under my command. In an operation to help cripple the German war machine, your son’s aircraft was shot down over enemy territory. After a long report from ground forces, I am to tell you that there were no survivors. It is unclear as to what happened, but I believe that there just was not enough time for anyone to jump clear.

Your son was one of the brightest and friendliest men that I have ever known, and I am proud to say that served with him. His sacrifice will allow total victory over the Nazi war machine. I can only hope that you will be able to find consolation in the knowledge that he died a Hero, saving countless lives.

The Officers and Men of this Bomber Command join me in our most sincere sympathy for your loss. We shall, his friends and comrades, miss him dearly.

Yours most sincerely,
Capt. Avery F.Anderson
23rd Heavy Bomber Squadron

“Medic!”
The cries of pain growing louder.
“Medic!”

Three men rush past me, slipping and sliding through the muddied ground. Behind me, a machine gun opens up. Short bursts. The rounds shining through the night.
My fingers trace along the edge of the negative. Caressing the faces upon its surface.

I look down, my foxhole is on the edge of the ravine, below I can see several corpses. A small native family trying to flee the fighting, only to be gunned down by their own side.

Or maybe ours, it didn’t matter any more, they were dead. And I wasn’t.

“Pressure… He’s bleeding out.” The medics rushed past me again. The man on the stretcher was pulled from the battlefield. They all disappeared into the night.

A flare lit up the surround. All I could do was shiver at my post. That was not right. My job was to lead men, and here I was, cowering away like a junior officer. Maybe I wasn’t as brave as I had made myself believe.

A lot had changed since Guadalcanal.

Their was no longer the dread of being cut off… No.

I guess you could say that there was something different about Okinawa. Something more terrifying than what I had known all those years ago.

1945… Has it been that long already ? Have I gone so far ? Done so much ? The days of being support gunner for the 2nd Raiders was a distant memory. I was not a Gunner any more. The days of following orders from far down the command chain had long since past.

Now I issue the commands, and I still feel more fear now than I ever did back on the Canal.

Maybe, just maybe… it was time to purge my soul of doubts ?

My name is Captain Lou Albert Conlin. I command this company. Through flares and deafening machine gun fire, I stand alone. Surrounded by people who’s names are slowly slipping from me. My mind isn’t as clear as it once was. I feel…

“Despair ? Pain ? Resentment ?”

Twilight was often there to keep me company. A little voice of reason in my head. Even though she tended never say much. A limitation of my own imagination…
“Resentment… Resentment…”

“There is no shame in that. You did nothing wrong.”

“And yet, had I gone with you…”

“There is no shame… what would have happened if those artillery guns were a real threat ?” The fact that Twilight used such terms always brought me back to reality. There was no way that she ever could have understood our mission to destroy those guns. My primary objective was to get her home.

“And yet they would be with me if we had gone.”

My days of war were coming to a close. I was leaving, this place. Not the way I wanted. My brother was my ticket home. And now, all I could do was break down.

I had been fighting far longer than he. Yet he is the one to fall, not me. Why ? Surely I deserved to die long before him. And yet he is gone, I can only wonder what is happening back home. My hands clench with burning fury. Why him…

Why him…

“Your friends have gone for home. For you…”

“Maybe… If I had just stayed at home…”

And yet the more I sit here the more I understand that there is nothing I could have done. I am powerless. I command an army and I am powerless.

Maybe that is why Mark and Jack took the easy way out. Maybe that is why they hadn’t resisted at the angel’s beckoning.

They were both gone.

It all happened on Tarawa…

We were moving further into the Atoll, covered on our flanks by the rest of the men of my old platoon. Mark and Jack were ahead.
If only someone who wasn’t there could understand what we were seeing… Nothing ! The entire atoll was on fire. Dust, ash and smoke rising and falling everywhere. But from the tip of our spearhead came a figure. A woman, clad in nothing more than a strange toga dress. I halted, I thought I was going crazy.

If that were the case, why had my friends stopped too ?
I watched as the woman approached them, I could hear the rest of my men asking ‘why have we stopped ?’. Were they blind. Had they not seen this ?
She approached my friends and spoke to them, I could not hear what she said. Maybe I was to far away ? I began to run up to them. They then turned to me and held up their hands to stop me. It was as if I was being held. I could only look despairingly at them as a screeching sound approached.
Everyone behind me hit the dirt. An explosion propelled me backwards, spared from the shrapnel by some unknown force. My friends disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Ringing in my ears as the figure stood over me. She knelt down above me, her mouth repeating the same words. “Not yet.”

Despite the explosion, they had survived. Though the explosion had enough force and shrapnel to cripple them. I watched helplessly as medics dragged them away from me. Mark was blinded and Jack was paralysed in his legs. A fate I had been spared.

The landing craft left the shore and took my friends away to the medical ship awaiting them out to sea.

Going home.

The woman had never truly left me after that day. I would sometime see her here and there. But nothing more than a ghost caught in the wind. One that I could not feel. But I could see it.
Had she saved my friends, or was she there to warn about impending dooms ? If that was so, why had she never stopped following me since then.
But even so. Mark and Jack were, as far as I was concerned, home. Safe and sound.
I found it very hard to make friends again after that day. My promotion did very little in that regard. If anything, it seemed to alienate me more from my men than I would have wanted. But maybe that was the point. Maybe they didn’t want me to care as much as I had once had.

I think Major Sanders could see this. Or at least feel it. Losing my friends was a hard blow. Losing my brother had become the final straw. My sanity over this war held only through my friends. With their loss and my own brother gone too, what did I have to look forward to back home ?

Why was no one caring ? Why would they ? They have their own problems, they don’t need me to add to their despair.

Could I have avoided this ? Was all this pain avoidable ? Had we crossed through the barriers of dimensions, would everything still be fine ? Had I followed Twilight to the other side. Would I be happier now ?

Oh Twilight…

My mind often slips back to those days. Feels like a million years ago now. Those were the days. Tomy, Mark, Jack and Twilight. The old gang. Jumping through worlds with smiles on our faces. Falling through space as we grasped an eternity over freedom.

But I have no time machine. No way to go back to that time.

Twilight.

My friends.

My brother.

All had passed away from me like leaves in the autumn breeze. Happiness was become a distant memory. There was nothing now that was sparing my soul from this heartache.

If only…

If only I could see Twilight again.

In the distance I could see the woman, just standing there. I looked around me. All those who were looking in the same direction as me should have seen her. And yet there was no commotion. No gasps of awe. I turned my gaze back. And there she stood, towering above me. She was neither dirtied nor wet. Her appearance was as pristine as her grace.
Without even a gesture, I was lifted out of my hole. A force unseen, unknown to all. But I had felt that before ! Back when I had helped Twilight and on Tarawa. Open to the elements.
The rain had not stopped for four days straight. The ground was slippery. How I was even able to stand on the edge of my foxhole without falling back in was in of itself a mystery.
I looked up at her. Despite standing right in front of her, she was slightly taller than me.

Whether by my own desire or her powers, I found myself looking straight into her eyes. The gateway into our souls.

“It is time, Captain.” That voice ! I had no recognition of it, nothing that indicated we had ever met before Tarawa. And yet… It sounded so familiar.

“Time for what ?” My question had not even phased her. She knew I was going to say that… “Who are you ?” Beside me I heard Lieutenant um,… What’s his name ? Landry I think ? Was yelling, telling me to get the ‘Fuck Down !’ Even if I wanted to pay attention, I don’t think this angel wanted me to listen.

“Time for you to come home.”

“Why ?”

“For your next adventure. As your comrades are about to embark on.”

So she wasn’t coming here with the footsteps of doom ?

“Why ?” My question repeated, something was happening, I could feel a warm sensation envelope me. My body seeming to become lighter and lighter. “Who—”

I was cut short by one of her fingers against my lips. She smiled sadly at me. Something was coming. And I wasn’t going to like it, was I ? I felt something push through me. Through my right shoulder. Was water was leaking from me ?

Blood began to trickle from the wound.

“I… I-” I began to feel faint my eyes heavy and my legs weak.

“No shock and no pain.”

Around me, my men began to take action getting up slowly, as if time was slowed. I began to feel fear again. What was happening to me ? Before panic could settle in, the angel took my head in her hands. A reassuring smile on her face.

“No shock and no pain. No fear and no despair.” Her voice was all that mattered. “Sleep now, child of the night.”

I fell, my last moments of consciousness lost as a flare flew into the night. Its light blinding me, bathing me in an orange light. I caught a last glimpse of the angel, before the Lieutenant Landry’s face filled my vision. And faded into black.

And just like that, the war ended.

For me at least.

After 4 years, I now found myself standing outside the very place I doubted I would ever see again. Powerful words to say that you are going home. Especially coming from your commanding officer. But I had doubted the words that she had spoken on that ridge.

Why had she sent me here ? Alive ?

She had mentioned an adventure. Something that may have interested my pre war self, but not now. Was I just a pawn in some elaborate game of chess ? A toy soldier ?

It had crossed my mind that I was not in control of myself. If I could not go back in time to rectify my mistakes, how could I possibly be in control ?

“Oh my goodness !” The voice rang inside my head for a moment, my gaze lowering to see my sister Amelia standing in the doorway of our house outside of the city of New York.

I had moved here 10 years ago with my family. Just before the outbreak of war.

“Hi sis.” My response was not a strong or as positive as I would have liked it. I guess from the way I was dressed, right down to the sling holding my arm, I looked a mess.

Before I even knew it, her arms were around me. Embraced in her hug, I was unable to resist moving in and joining her.

She was crying, I could tell from her breathing. My parents appeared at the door. My mother, looking far worse for wear than my sister, and yet…

I had never seen father like this before. Not tears, no… but a look of shame. A look of guilt.

I had joined up out of despair and the need for money. Maybe even the idea of an adventure. Romain had joined up to be like his big brother.

To be like me…

Mum hugged me as if every second counted. I dared not let go. I didn’t want to. I was home and I was alive.

Finding my place in society was difficult for the first few months. Even when I thought I had something good, the distance of life between me and other people made interactions hard. People who still lived in the American dream. People who had seen far too little of reality.
Job interviews were one sided. ‘What could I bring to your company? Myself. Is that not enough?’
I had managed to get a job as a caretaker for the local school. A janitor’s position as small and as underpaid as they could ever give me. I had not boasted about my past. I had not shown off my medals. Nor had I shown them my rank. I didn’t want the respect. To be treated like a hero would be more painful than a Jap’s bayonet.

I wanted out. Start fresh. To find my place in the world all while dropping the act of defiance towards my time in the Military. I worked alone and held up with late nights. Others would suffer the same I as I did. The nightmares were the worst of it. No matter how early I woke up or how late I went to bed. There always seemed to be far too much time to sleep.
Every day I woke up, I began to feel worse and worse. A feeling of sickness slowly taking hold over me. Even my teeth started to look and feel funny.
I was begining to doubt the existence of the Angel for quite a while. A fairy tale explanation as to why I was alive. But as every day passed, I began to feel more and more strange. Physical changes that seemed to grow more and more confusing. I played it off as ‘another thing wrong with me’.
Not like that list was long enough already.
My health was of no importance when it came to what mind was telling me. ‘You’re home ! Tomy never made it ! Why ?’ That was true. Why was I alive. When so many others, friends… good friends were not ?

That was probably the cause for most of my nightmares. My father had told me not to think about it. He had had his own share during the battles of the Great War. But I couldn’t put it behind me ! They wouldn’t stop screaming.
I couldn’t get them out of my mind.
In the empty hall of the school, I collapsed. Curled myself up into a ball and wept.

“I should never have joined up. I’ve destroyed myself. I’ve destroyed my family…”

“And what about me ?”

“I…”

“I would still be trapped on your world if it weren’t for you. Worse I could be dead right now had you not found me !”

“Why tell me this ! Why--” Soft lips pressed up against mine. I looked up, Twilight’s face blurring into view as she broke the kiss.

“I would not be home if it weren’t for you. I would be dead, an unknown corpse in an unknown jungle. And yet with all the crazy things that happened, you believed in me ! You saved my life, and I wouldn’t be able to say that if I were dead.”

“You're not here...” I looked down at the floor, lowering my head and closing my eyes.

“Had you not joined up, you wouldn’t be able to create this illusion. Had you not sacrificed your innocence, your sanity, you would be unable to see me right now.” I could tell she was gone. I didn’t want her to go. She was the voice of reason ! Just out of reach. Locked in another reality.
But had she been right ? Had I not gone through so much despair and loss, just to have that brief moment of satisfaction ? Had I sacrificed my Brother, my family’s happiness for her safety ? Was that destiny ?

Every weekend I would go walking in the park with my dog Snoopy.

Walking snoopy around the park was maybe the only moments of comfort I could get. Well… That might be an overstatement… But the feeling was still there. The feeling of relief.
Snoopy didn’t seem to mind. Running round, never quite bringing the ball back. Shame, meant I had to keep chasing him around. He’s the dog, not me ! You’re suppose to bring it back ! You dimwit dog !

What a fool I was, chasing him around. But at least it made me smile. I still rememeber that one Saturday where I was wrecked by a dream. A daydream. Ahead, trees rustled. Something was pawing at my leg. Snoopy holding a small stick. I took it from his mouth. Why was it so heavy ? I look up, my breath is caught in my throat, an army of Japanese troops charging at me.

I was unable to move, unable to scream. I look down and see that I am wearing my uniform. Blood leaking from my shoulder. My 45 in my hand.

Snoopy barked louder and louder, the echoes melding into mortar fire. And as I stare at the water. My reflection settles. An unfamiliar, yet familiar face looks back. Eyes a deep gold. Pupils thick and slitted vertically. Rounded ears, covered in fur sat atop my head. And my teeth…

Snoopy jumped up at me and pulled me back down to earth.

An illusion...that is all. And yet… why can I still feel something in my hair ? Why was everything all so clear around me ? I didn’t have bad vision, but… Every sound sounded so much clearer too !And my service weapon in hand…

“Long distance.” The operator responded.

“Hi, I’d like to place a call to Montreal please.” I gave the number to the operator.

“One moment.” I was waiting in the phone booth outside my work place. Mark had not picked up, I was now trying to call Jack. With only the light of a nearby street lamp for illumination, I struggled to make out their terrible hand writing on the back of my bible. It also allowed a reflection to stare back at me. Ears twitching on my head.

“No answer sir, would you like me to transfer your call to another line ?” Damn.

“No thank you.” I hung up the phone. I swear those ears on my head were sentient. Lowering at my dismay. Why weren’t they answering ? Never had fangs before now. Biting my lower lip with them was starting to become a reflex.

The journey home was long and tiring, I could have driven, but walking was always more interesting. Cars drove by me, turning my collar to the wind. I put on my trilby and walked home.
There were no lights inside, my family having long since gone to bed. Snoopy looked up as I entered the lounge. Half asleep in his bed. How simple a dogs life must be. How peaceful.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my service weapon. I was sure that I had returned that with my military gear.

Sat on the edge of the sofa, I observed the weapon. It still had drying mud on the surface, as if pulled from my last moments of Okinawa. That was months ago.

And that is how I waited, all night, toying with a weapon of war. As the first rays of sunlight rose into the sky. I stood up. Over the mantle, the old family mirror reflected my inhumanity. Removing my hat, ears perking up, twitching ever so slightly. My pupils returned to a more round shape. Don’t get me wrong ! They weren’t as slitted like those of a feline… but still odd enough for me to notice when fully slitted.

And those fangs… why on earth did I suddenly have such long canines ! Was I infected by something ?

They were long enough to pass over my bottom lip and under my upper lip. Luckily for me they weren’t that long, so maybe I could hide them easily enough. I’d hate for every one to think I was Count Dracula ! ‘I vant to suck your blooood’. Now that would be funny !

A knock at the door brought me back to the real world. Ears swivelling to face the sound. I turned to face the door. Looking back at the mantle, the clock showing 5 AM. The knocking continued.

Putting my hat on, I made my way to the door. Mouth closed and lips as sealed as possible. I didn’t want to expose my sharp canines at our friendly neighbours.
I could hear voices on the other side of the door. They seemed worried.

“Maybe we should have called first?” One of the voices asked.

“Shh ! I can hear something on the other side.”

Those voices… They sounded far too familiar to be one of our neighbours.

“Lou ! Are you there ?”

I swung the door open. A huge smile on my face. In front of me were two men. One was standing, the other was in a wheel chair. Emerald Green and Amber eyes stared pleadingly into mine.
“Mark ?” He continued to stand there, my gaze lowering to meet Jack’s. “Jack ?” They were both wearing oversized hats, covering their heads. Mark was also wearing a huge overcoat. Far too large for his body size. Jack was dressed normally I guess… just a plain grey suit.

“Please let us in.” Mark said, pushing his way past me, followed by Jack He sounded irritated, angry even. Closing the door behind them. I led them into the lounge.

Mark sat down in the small chair, his back to the window. Jack rolled up next to him. It pained me to see him this way, but what had me baffled was Mark.
“I ugh…” My silence and awkward stare directed at Mark caught his attention very quickly.

“Were you expecting someone else ?” Mark asked, his eyes looking at the hand gun on the puff. I shook my head. Hugging them both, Mark retreated a step to get a closer look at me.

“Don’t ask me how. But you’ve got them too !” He pointed at me. “I was as blind as a bat and one day, I wake up with my eyes fully… functional... I guess.” He looked away from me. “Just wish they could look normal.” He muttered.

“I had nothing wrong with mine ! Yet their as Amber as the sky at sun set !” Hissed Jack, in desperation. “My legs would have been better, but instead I get these !” He bursts. Removing his bowler hat, revealing two fluffy ears on his head.

Mark did the same, revealing the same attributes. What was going on, how come my friends were having the same changes as I ?
“Oh and I forgot, as well as becoming overwhelmed with my sight returning. I now have to try and explain these !” He stood up and removed his overcoat that he was previously clutching with fury.

As the clothing was discarded, two wings shot out from behind his back. Fur and feathers a dark shade of brown. Just like the ears he now had.

Jack was looking Mark over before looking to see my reaction. Mark was also very interested to see what I would do.

“Don’t faint ! It took me ages to drag Jack into my family car when I picked him up. I’d rather not have you fainting as well.” His expression unwavering as I got up and touched the feathers.

“Yeah I know they feel like Twilight’s wings. That’s why we came here. I got a call from Jack so I picked him up first, before coming here.” He said, looking me over. I must have had my mouth hanging wide open because a small smirk appeared on his face. “By the looks of things, I made the right decision. Are those fangs ?”

My hand went straight up to my canines. Then to my own hat that I deposited on the couch.

“Um, yeah… They are. Ears too by the way.”

It was then that I heard stirring upstairs. The others too, looking up at the ceiling. I moved to close the living room door.

“Maybe not the best place to talk, my family will be waking up soon.”
The way they looked at me must have seemed like I slapped them across the face.

“You have a family ? As in kids ?” Mark asked, his wings shuddering at his sides.

“No no no ! Just my parents and my sister. We should keep it down.” I replied, looking at the ceiling then back at them. They had a look that seemed to go right through me. As if they had seen a ghost.
“You should, yes.”
A voice from behind me. One that I had encountered before, and from the looks of things, so had my friends. I spun around, jumping back when I saw her standing there.

“What the--” I began, only to be silenced by Mark and Jack who both began to speak at once.

“You ! What are you doing here ! What did you do to us !”

The 'angel' smiled , her amusement betrayed by her eyes. Mark however was not impressed and crossed his arms in frustration.

“I am sure that you are beginning to understand, no ?” Her voice was as sweet and motherly as the last time I had heard it. When she saw us all give her either confused or furious looks, she sighed. “I know that I didn’t choose you for your intellect, but surely you see what is happening, no ?”

“Let’s say that we do, who are you ?” Mark asked, I had wanted to say something, but he cut me off.

“Oh come on ! You are seriously saying that you have no ideas of what is happening to you ? I mean… you came to see Lou for advise.” She said. Turning to me for support.

“You told me that you were sending me home to prepare for another adventure… You said the same thing to them ?” I asked, before the others could butt in.

“That she did.” Muttered Jack. The woman turned her attention to him, their eyes met and he looked even further away, his ears pressing flat against his head and tried to hide his embarrassment. Was he blushing ?

“That I did.” She smiled at him, before returning her attention to me. “And you are still asking yourselves why. Well shall I tell you ?” We nodded. “Equestria is in trouble.”

What ?

“Equestria is in trouble. Twilight is in trouble.” We all looked at each other. Twilight was a concern to us. She may have not been with us long, but I could count her as a sister of arms. An impossible lover from my heart.

“You played your first part magnificently. Protecting her until she could return to her reality was pure bravery !” She exclaimed, approaching the three of us. “Yet there was never any hope for Twilight. The elements of Harmony were already lost and powerless against this foe.”

“The Shadow.” I said, filling in her sentence for her.

“Yes ! An ancient Evil !” She declared in a dramatic voice. “Though that is not the entire truth. The shadow is the result. The once loyal subject was only the beginning.” Her gaze lowering slightly. As if remembering a long distant memory.

“Evil consumes all who do not resist its dark tendrils. And they become powerful if they give in freely to its destructive powers.” She explained, a master of disguise, whoever the shadow that I had faced was or is, she was connected to them. Though her face betrayed very little in that regard, despite being so expressive only moments before.

“Who was this person ?” I asked, her brilliant rainbow coloured eyes rising to meet mine. I could have sworn I saw something there. Her eyes were so brilliant, so beautiful.

“Somepony who didn’t deserve the pain.” Been a while since I had heard that term. But the use of it made me think. “Destiny cannot be changed, what happens, happens. And that is why I saved you all.”

“Saved us ?” Asked Jack. “Being dead might have been a better option than being paralysed !” He declared. Was anyone waking up upstairs or were they having the day off ?

“You had no option young one. None of you did.” Looking at each of us in turn, she continued her approach. “Neither did I. Had I not intervened, you would all be dead. Captain Lou here would be alive and fighting on Okinawa only to be killed by the Divine Wind on the return trip home.” At that thought maybe these changes weren’t so bad. “But you didn’t because I had no choice. I was always going to save you. But in the process you were going to get hurt. Badly.”

“And you couldn’t have just healed us normally ! I mean, are these wings necessary ?” Asked Mark, stretching one of his wings so she could see properly.

“Yes !” she nodded eagerly. “Though you may not see why yet, you are all turning out great !” She marched up to the window.
“Hold on, what does this have to do with helping Equestria ?” I asked. She turned to me, then looked at the others with a huge grin.

“Well Equestria is a land of ponies and mythical creatures ! No humans. Your transformations aren’t random growths ! They are more along the lines of preparation. Bringing your pony selves into this reality. Only fragments, mind you.” She then turned back to the window.

Was she saying what I thought she was saying. From the looks the others were giving me, they thought it too.
“What do you mean, preparing us ?” We asked. She didn’t reply, instead she tapped her finger on the window. The sunlight seemed to become unbearably bright. I shielded my eyes. I saw her turn around and face us.

“You’ll see once on the other side, My Little Ponies.”

Chapter VI: Dangerous encounters

The sun was slowly setting as Twilight and her friends finally left the Whitetail woods. They had spent the entire day walking after the train was forced to go back to Canterlot for an emergency. Most likely due to an incident on the line. Or maybe an issue on the fronts.

No matter, they were almost home. Spike had ridden on her back the entire way. All of them were very tired and worn out.

The fact that the train had been diverted back to Canterlot had made all of them frustrated. On the ground they were all too slow for Rainbow who wanted to get there within a few minutes. But without transport for the others, they had no choice but to walk.

That and Twilight didn’t want to be seen abusing her ‘powers’ by ordering the guards to bring her a chariot. Especially in front of all the other commuters and passengers.

So they walked. Following the normal folk as they made their way to their own destinations. The trip was made even more difficult for Twilight with not only Spike on her back, but also her amour. The spiky metallic shards were every bit as uncomfortable as they looked. While the armour was real and functional, it seemed like it was more for intimidation as a former element bearer than to be practical in actual combat.

The straps rubbed at her legs, her hind quarters were sore and she had begun to limp. She couldn’t just take the armour off. It was laced with a tracking spell from one of the nobles own personal magic. It was a way to track of prized possessions. If they ever were to take it off their life sign, he would know.

All those who had to wear such armour knew what would happen to their love ones if they ever took it off. That was loyalty, but not to him. To their friends and family. That was control. That was power.

“Twilight?” Spike spoke. Turning her head do that her ear was in his direction, he leaned in and whispered. “Don’t you find it strange that we’re not being followed?”

“What do you mean Spike?” She whispered back. Looking around, Spike then leaned back and continued.

“We’ve been sent to find some ancient magic and you said we’re going to help it. How is the Shadow to know if we followed his orders?” He asked nervously. Her friends appeared to have heard and were now looking at Twilight awaiting her answer.

Clever Spike. Despite his young age, he had quickly taken to how the Shadow ran things. Most times, changeling drones were being sent out as spied to follow through with missionaries orders. Easily concealed, they were the perfect tools.

Despite this, Twilight felt quite satisfied in knowing that with the situation in border areas, almost all the drones were being sent to the front. This left far too few of them to effectively follow Twilight and her friends while also defend Canterlot. Despite this, her master had shown her to be cunning, sometimes letting his forces crumble only to wipe the floor with his enemies by himself.

It was how he had been able to take control over the Changelings. How Chrysalis had fallen to her newest low.

“I know what you mean. And I’m pretty sure that we are being followed.” She said, taking a glance at the other ponies who were walking around them. None of them batting an eye at the element bearers.

“That’s why I’m using a concealment spell. That’s why no pony has even noticed us since earlier.”

They all looked at her, shocked.

“What do you mean, darling? Are we invisible?” Rarity asked, her brow raised in suspicion.

“Not at all, its just that we look like different ponies”. Twilight smirked, all thanks to Discords magic. Chaos magic was very useful. And the spell was very simple so there would be no suspicion from the mages as to what she was doing as all she would claim was that she had been flexing her magic to find a trace of the ancient magical source.

“I’m making us look slightly different so that we can elude any guards and make it so that we won’t be noticed by other ponies. Nothing dramatic, just six normal ponies and dog.” If looks could kill, then Spike’s would have been done with her by now. She smiled sheepishly as he crossed his arms and lifted his nose like all the nobles in canterlot used to do.

“Does that mean we can’t go tah our homes for the night?” Apple Jack asked.

“I wanted to go back and see my cottage.” Fluttershy whispered, barely audible.”

“I don’t mind bunking with whoever has room.” Rainbow said while hovering around, looking at her hooves.

“I was planning on going back to the boutique and check on Sweetie Bell!” Rarity said, then added. “And to check on my fabrics. Its been so long since I’ve been home.”

“I was hoping to go back to Sugar Cube corner!” Pinkie exclaimed loudly, drawing a few odd looks. Twilight was quick to shove her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “Phorry.” She squeaked. Twilight removed her hoof and gave her friends a warm smile.

“Its only a temporary change. Nothing long term, by the time we get home, you should all revert back.” She explained, silencing their worries for the time being.

Just as the last rays of sunlight were beginning to set, they ascended a crest in the road. And below…

Ponyville off in the distance. It looked so peaceful basking in the sun set.

They all cheered on seeing their homes. They all began to gallop, running down the road passing disgruntled ponies. They were just so pleased. The day’s walk from Whitetail had been very tiring.

They could not hold the gallop for very long, especially Twilight with her armour. So they kept up with a steady trot as they now neared the entrance to Ponyville. The remaining town guards were stationed in barracks next to the post office on the outskirts of town. The guards had let them through without question. Only stopping unicorns to see their magic permits. Luckily for her and her friends, the forms that they now bore were only earth ponies and pegasi.

Upon arrival, they began to realise just how sad Ponyville looked nowadays. The whole town was a shadow of its former glory. The colours fading from the lack of care, passion… and friendship.

If only they could find the elements. Find a way to stop all this madness… then maybe the world could go back to the way it was before. Maybe there was a way to restore what was lost. Twilight remembered. “If one man can stand tall there maybe hope for us all.” She breathed. Lowering her head as she caught her breath, her friends regained their composure. Spike was alright, sitting on her back.

"Alright girls!” Twilight declared, getting their attention. “We meet at the library tomorrow morning at 10 to prepare for our expedition into the Everfree.” Her friends nodded in agreement. “Bring only essential supplies, we don’t want to be over encumbered.”

“Sure thing! Gotcha! Certainly darling! O-oh okay… and Okie Dokie” Were the replies she got and with that, the group dispersed within the mostly empty town square. Sighing Twilight dropped the spell, showing herself to the world. It made no real difference. The guards were to few to actually control all the exits let alone the entire town. She knew that she was being tracked, hopefully she had eluded any unwanted third parties for the time being. Maybe she and her friends could get to the source of the magical disturbance before the ones following her could catch up.

It didn’t make much difference if she dropped it now seeing as her friends had already gone home for the night. All she wanted to do was lie down and take the armour off. It was painful and she was sure that blisters were forming in where the straps met her joints.

Making her way from the town square to her library, she began to feel worried. She had not gone back to the library since she was thrown into the other world. Even after her return and her attempt at rebellion, she dared not return to that place.

She had no choice now. She could not burden her friends by sleeping at one of their homes. She was too embarrassed. Even now she was worried about going back to her home. The place where she had unleashed the Shadow.

Where had he come from? The portal led to another world, didn’t it ? She had been sent to Lou’s world from that portal. Yet it could not be the case. Maybe the Shadow had created a portal within the mirror to send her to that other world.

But then where did he come from? The mirror was not reactant, she had not detected any magic when she scanned it for safety. It was pointless, she had no idea how any of this happened. Only that it took just three days for Him to take total control and declare war on the other nations.

The Changelings would not have been a part of this had Chrysalis not foolishly thought that she could invade the now seemingly leaderless country, only to have her plans fall apart at the last moment.

The Shadow ruled alone, and it proved most effective.

“Twilight?” Spike broke her out the trance. She had been starring at the road, and only moved a few hoofsteps away from the Ponyville market place.

“Are you okay Twi?” He asked, she looked up at him and gave him an adoring smile. He was always there for her, wasn’t he?

“Sorry Spike, lets get home shall we?” She said, getting her things together and heading down the street towards her home.

“So what’s the plan.” The young drake asked. He was always very inquisitive, and often questioned Twilight’s reasoning. Chrysalis did that too when she often had to make decision about the Changelings within her jurisdiction.

“First we go home, get some sleep. Then at first light we head out to the Everfree.” She replied between a yawn. She was exhausted and sleep could not come soon enough.
“We’ll see about tomorrow when it comes.”

“But—” Spike began but Twilight cut him off.

“I know what you’re thinking Spike, but I am too tired to talk now. Lets just get some sleep.” She said as they approached the library.

Stiffling a yawn while approaching the door, she levitated a small flower pot beside the door and dug out the key. Pushing the key into the keyhole, the door creaked open, slowly.

The lock had been forced from the outside. Someone had broken their way into her library. Almost on instinct, Twilight drew her sword from her right hip. Spike jumped to the side as Twilight mouthed ‘Stay close’. He nodded and made to stand behind her. Sticking her ear to the door. Inside she heard a voice.

“I’m sure I shut the door.” A muffled voice mumbled.

“I’ll go and get it.” The voice said getting closer to the door. She could hear movement on the other side. Preparing her self, she awaited for the right moment to attack.

There were still rumours of rebels hiding in seemingly abandoned houses. Often alone. But she also knew that it could also be spies from the warring nations. If so, then she could expect a fight.

The knob on the door began to move slightly as the door began to move back. Taking her opportunity, Twilight slammed the door open and then jumped through. Her eyes having to get use to the darkness, she found her target lying on the floor. A stallion clutching his muzzle in obvious pain and surprise. He was not dressed like a deserter, but that didn't meant that he was harmless.

Twilight jumped into action and grabbed the pony and slammed him down against the ground all while holding her sword to his throat.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” She screamed at him, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOME?!” Her voice rising to that of the royal Canterlot voice.

The dazed pony seemed absolutely out for the count. But in the heat of the moment and the action, she had failed to notice the two other figures who were only moments before, rousing from their sleep.

“PUT THE WEAPON DOWN!” They were screaming at her. Twilight was so surprised that she dropped their friend on the floor. Backing up, she was outnumbered. Though they did not appear to be armed.

“DROP THE SWORD!” They yelled each time in more and more intensifying panic. They were holding strange metallic objects in their magic. And as the her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed their gear on the floor. It had markings that she had seen before. Looking over at the pony she had assaulted. He was wearing a similar cloak with a patch near the shoulder. It was rectangular in shape. Blue with a diamond in the centre. She also began to notice strange things about these ponies. Not only were they using magic, but they also had their wings flared defensively.

The strange weapons they were holding. She recognised them!

‘Oh no’ She thought. She watched as the pony she had assaulted got to his hooves. Looking up at her, his golden slitted eyes gazed upon her.

Her heart was hammering in her chest. She had wished… She had hoped… “Oh my gosh!”. Her breath escaped her as she struggled to breathe.

As the pony’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, so did his friends. They lowered they weapons, and stared in awe at her. Twilight didn’t take her eyes off the pony that was in front of her. Her magic failing, her sword dropped to the floor in a loud cluttering of metal.

The pony opened his mouth and spoke in complete bewilderment. She recognised it almost immediately.

“Twilight?”

“Lou?”