"Okay, so...a little too much."

It was too much. Like the entire wall covered with giant expanding foam, pony limbs, and whatever got caught in the blast. Like the coffee set, and the couch.

"Oh...it would have been cool if a cup of coffee had survived. I could have played a villain or some shit taking the last drink, monologuing my evil escape plan." He laughed to himself.

The mares were now the pony parts of the foam meeting wall modern art piece.

Fortunately for the pair, their heads were clear and the occasional limb sat exposed, if unmovable. He bit his lip to keep from laughing. Fancy Breeze was upside down.

Opening a window he used 'Ventum Impetu Dis', and forced the smoke that had filled the room out the windows. The strong wind that had picked up with the winter storms dissipating the smoke before it could be really seen from the streets.

"Yep, too much."

He chuckled as he stood up and pulled a pair of null rings from his pocket. He looked down at the coffee table and sighed. It had fallen over after having half the table wrecked in the blast. Safér was not gonna be happy with the sudden remodel.

Taking a closer look around he could see that the entire right side of the room had suffered, the carpet had been blown apart and the lovely paintings that had adorned the walls were just gone.

"Oh boy."

As he walked over the remnants of what was once a very nice floral patterned couch with wood trim, he got his first real look at his 'friends'.

"Fuck me your not even a goddamn unicorn." He whispered.

Navy blue mane with a bright thick pink highlight almost down the middle was in place of the indigo he had seen a minute ago. The white fur had given way to a yellow cake color, similar to what the folks down in Riyolt liked to eat on remembrance days. Was good stuff if a bit dry.

But with this, his suspicions were confirmed. These were not his friends from Ponyville.

Looking to the right of the mare he had to blink, then look again.

“It couldn’t be…” But it was.

"Jesus, is that….holy hell that's Fancy Breeze." He quickly pushed a ring over her horn before pocketing the other one. She groaned as he forced the ring on her horn so it didn't fall off.

He couldn't believe it. The posh, snooty mare he had contended verbally in middle and highschool for years was now cosplaying as Twilight Sparkle. He noticed both mares were wearing what might have been a non-descriptive jumpsuit of blue. It was in tatters if the side boob that the yellow one was showing off in the gap of the foam.

"Nice….."

He shook his head, berating himself for being a perv in the middle of a serious situation, as he walked to the other side of the room. He had no idea what to do with them now. His instincts screamed at him that it was long since time for him to run. But he remained.

Partly because he wanted answers, and partly because he went far too hard on the 'Flash Bang Foam Surprise'. He hadn't tested it before this moment, though he wished he would have had it back in the Everfree. Could have really come in handy tying up all those guards in the castle of the Two Sisters.

The other reason that kept him there was the fact that he did fire off that not-claymore at point blank range, he was more than a bit concerned that he may have done some serious damage to the pair.

Looking back at the mares he was sorely tempted to rifle through their pockets regardless of any injuries and just go, but he didn't want to weaken the hold that foam had on them. Information would be nice to come by, but if he could wake them up he might be able to glean something from his would-be kidnappers without weakening their imprisonment. That would be for the best.

That was likely what was about to happen, he figured. They were feeding him just enough of a story to keep him occupied, while demanding questions of their own. Hell the story that was told to him was inaccurate and old news considering he learned of almost everything after about three months after the events of what was now being called the ‘Longest Night’.

Ponies had apparently never seen an eclipse before, then again he had never seen one where the moon was actually bright at the same time as it was parked in front of the sun. So he couldn't be too harsh on the ignorant populace. But they should have at least had an eclipse at some point in their history. A normal one at least.

A flower vase had survived the explosion, though not the flowers, "oh there they are." The flowers in question were smeared into a colorful paste on the wall behind where the vase was still sitting.

He checked for water and was grateful to find it nearly full. He levitated two large orbs and threw it at the pair.

He smiled as they gagged and coughed, they would at least live, shaking their heads as they tried to slowly come to and piece together what had happened. He leaned against the wall as he watched them struggle for a bit. The yellow mare being the first to notice both their impromptu imprisonment and that he was no longer on the couch in front of them.

"Darling, what is the meaning of this?" She spoke out in that north-atlantic tone, it sounded a little off, and the realization that it was off caused her to look about in shock at both herself and Fancy, who was still shaking her head to clear it.

"I think you need the whole costume to make it work 'Rarity'." He air-quoted, chuckling to himself.

"How?" The mare croaked out. Her face hardened into a flat glare. Her real voice sounded like she was from one of the western cities.

"Well clearly my 'notes' were more powerful than you two could handle, and disrupted whatever spell that had been cast on you to make the pair of you look like the real Rarity and Twilight." He replied grinning.

“Oh shit, this bitch is so mad!” He chuckled.

"That was not a note." She bit back, her heated glare threatening to melt his face off.

"Sure it was, it was a dm of my love for how amazing your cosplay looked. I was almost convinced. Almost." He dusted himself off, some of the debris managed to hit him.

He was embarrassed to say he truly was almost convinced. Had he not created that enchantment to detect passive magic fields, and she hadn't overplayed her 'Rarity' impersonation, he would have never known.

Fancy's characterization of Twilight was so damn near on point that he noticed nothing.

"How did you know?" She flexed one partially free hand, and he noticed her frown when that was all she could move. "What is this bucking stuff?"

He turned over a flipped chair and sat down. "That is super expanding foam. Originally it would have been used as insulation, but when you add a hardening chemical, of which I will not name by the way, you get something that can stop people in their tracks. It acts like rock and they are gonna have to chisel you out. Might even lose some mane over it." He grinned. "It came with an extra gimmick if you couldn't tell."

"Yes, something loud and disorientating. This would be the 'flash bang' you originally spoke about during that little story earlier that you told us about."

He clapped. "Very good, you can pay attention."

"You still haven't told me how you figured it out." She stated. She had gone into a neutral tone, clearly not wishing to give away anything else. But he could already tell she was off her game. Like with the manticore in the Everfree, he held the high ground.

He thought about what to tell her. Partial truth seemed to be a good idea. He didn't want to drop the hints that he made an item to specifically detect the magic that had been used in their disguises, even if it wasn't it's intended purpose.

It had been originally designed to detect power fluctuations. Most notably ones with ancient equipment.

"Honestly, I was almost fooled. Till you started popping buttons on that top like a pez dispenser. Rarity for all her vanity would never damage an article of clothing she worked on." He leaned slightly forward, "and she only ever wears her own clothes."

"Damn." She hung her head, the illusion of being composed shattering just like that. They really couldn’t keep a ruse for long that was for sure.

"That and you never asked about my own clothes, she would have either gushed over them or condemned them to hell for being awful. Oh and there's also the fact that those two ladies, as well as four others, are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony." He finally growled out, losing a bit of his own composure.

He went on in an increasingly angry tone. "You know, the artifacts that are practically the Equestrian nation's defense weapon? Do you really think I would be dumb enough to believe that any of them would be allowed to go anywhere outside Equestria without am armed escort?"

When he had first seen them, he had started to surreptitiously look for guards trailing them, when none showed he knew something was very wrong. After seeing what those gems could do he had no doubt that Celestia would do everything she could to ensure their safety. This entire plan was doomed to fail from the start.

And the fact that the enchantment practically screamed at him when they got close was enough to tell him that he was in danger. Since then he had actively kept them distracted by asking them how they met, which was a question he already got an answer to when he asked the first time back in Ponyville, which they obviously never learned about. Good it meant the girls would not get in trouble for any of this, and he wasn’t about to narc on them like that.

While he kept her talking he began to form an escape plan. Odds were, they were not alone. It was more than likely that the shop below had slowly started filling with disguised soldiers in civilian attire. He couldn’t leave out that way, and they would be watching from the street for any attempt to leave by window or roof. As he was thinking, and keeping the conversation going, he started to feel around in his jacket, and smiled as his hands brushed against a large box strapped to his back. A plan of his own was forming.

"I told them this plan would not work. The moment you had been spotted we should have just observed you and learned your habits, what you might have been here for, and where you disappeared to in the night." She looked him up and down. "Honestly, pink does not suit you."

“Yeah that’s true, I think I was played on that one. Never compliment a mare’s tits so brazenly.” So they had spotted him. How soon?

"When did you notice I was not what I was pretending to be?"

"I'm not gonna tell you that!" She snapped back. Ignoring the tits comment entirely. True, he hadn't expected an actual answer, but he was still trying to piece together an actual line of questioning.

Just then, Fancy decided to chime in.

"Orion, you can't escape." He laughed, and she blushed. "I'm serious," she looked at her accomplice, and shook her head. "There's no harm in telling him Agent."

"Agent? As in secret agent?" He did his best to hide his bewilderment and amusement.

"I suppose you're right, Agent Breeze." The yellow mare sighed, and then fixed him in her gaze. "I am Agent Drops. This, as you know, is Agent Breeze. And what she said about there being no escape is quite true. By now fellow members are already in position inside the establishment and-" He tuned her out, and turned around slipping the box free from it’s straps.

He hated when people overestimated their capabilities. It was often sloppy and not a real assessment of what they were capable of. His grandfather would have said she was ‘ten pounds of shit in a one pound bag made to look like roses’.

He started to sing instead, while fiddling with the black box with a few switches on it. Fixing it to the center of the wall behind his own original seating.

"Secret, Aaaaaagent Mare. Secret, Aaaaagent Mare. They've given you a number…" He sang on.

Behind him heard Agent Drops yell at him.

"Listen," he interrupted, "I already figured you guys were all over the place by now." Not taking his eyes away from what he was doing.

Fancy again spoke up before her partner could scream at him again.

"Orion! They're gonna know! The explosion! The smoke. They have likely already set up the anti-teleport field by now. You really can't escape. Please, turn yourself in. It's not like you're really in trouble. Tartarus, if it wasn't for your intervention the Elements might have failed in their duty!"

He started to laugh as he looked over his shoulder at them.

"Did you forget the spell you cast? Or did you not know that sound dampening spells work both ways." Her eyes bulged. "And correct me if I am wrong, but is it not a pretty windy, rainy day?" Her partner's face color paled." No, I've got a little time to plan. Thanks to you." He chuckled, opening up the panel to start making some adjustments.

He really needed to make these more situationally compliant. This was taking far too long as it was.

Quiet arguing went on behind him that he ignored till his high school acquaintance spoke up once more.

"By now everypony has your description, Orion." Man she was determined to have him give up. "The Grendamares know you're still banished from Paris after all. They were pretty mad to find out you violated that order. If it wasn't for our intervention they would have moved on you last week!"

He paused. So they had known of him last week? That meant his disguise was now utterly useless, likely had been since he entered the city two weeks ago.

"Well, I guess I won't have to be pink anymore." He smiled. Never in his life was he happy a plan fell through, he was so tired of pink. That fucking zebra likely played a huge joke on him. Maybe he shouldn't have complimented her tits, and her ass.

Finishing, he closed the panel, the wires looked good. By now everything had likely been ready judging by the activation of that crystal in his pocket. It meant they were aware of the situation and were preparing for departure.

“What is that?” Agent Yellow finally asked cautiously. He was surprised they hadn’t demanded sooner. Man their priorities were askew.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll find out in a minute.” He laughed.

He dusted himself off as he stood back up and turned to them.

"Well, it's nice to know Equestria has a shadowy spook agency that Celestia controls. Good to know Big Sister is always watching." He was done, they had given him enough without him even needing to ask. Man ponies like to talk too much. Plus he was burning daylight.

"Now, I gotta jet. Thank you for wasting my time." He grumbled. "Fancy, try and stay outta trouble, and you, frowny face, fuck off."

He walked toward them, lifted the couch he had been sitting on, setting it on its end and placing his back against it, and magically activated the switch of the bow.

The explosion was much greater as this was far more destructive. However, it was quieter, because most of the energy was sent into the alleyway instead of filling the room itself. The force from the bomb ripped away brick and mortar in a showering spray that pelted the ground below.

"Oh no doubt they heard that!" He laughed. The two mares gaped at him. He winked and jumped out the hole he had made in the wall.

With that, the great chase had begun.

This was not a perfect plan. First, he was on the wrong side of the city. Secondly, because of the anti-teleportation field, he couldn't shorten the distance he would have to run with a series of short teleports. That, however, came with the advantage that they couldn't track his movements as easily through the wormholes that were formed after a 'port. But he wasn't sure it was a good trade off anyways as he had a huge amount of ground to cover.

Third, and not the least, every officer and agent was now alerted to the fact that there was trouble. Thus Orion began his mad dash journey across Paris. Well it started like that.

He rocketed out the hole in the wall using a spell he had become all too comfortable using. As his horn blazed to life flames poured from his hand sending him up and over some rooftops and into an entirely different block of the city.

Cutting the flames, he timed the landing to his max range before casting an air cushion spell to cause him to land gently, if with a little stumble, in an unremarkable alley. Much like any other in Paris. Absolutely filthy. They should really hire a sanitation crew to sweep through the place.

He did not look behind him as he bolted down the tight quarters and into the street beyond.

Tugging the hood of his cloak over his head he slowed down and blended in with the crowd as they slowly made their way through the road, each of them going about their day as normal and ignorant to the presence of the pink fugitive in their midst.

Orion activated his detect life enchantment and nearly cursed out loud. Too many people here, and with a glowing horn he would soon be spotted. He would just have to keep his head on a swivel. He deactivated the charm, and did his best to appear like he belonged.

He had to change streets, often backtracking because of increased presence from the Grendamares on those roads.

They were everywhere, and milled about like angry ants looking for something to bite if their faces were anything to go by. More than once he had to slip into a side street or filthy alley narrowly avoiding whatever the puddles that emanated foul odors. It wasted time, and the more he had double back, the more his window of escape narrowed.

“Damn their checkpoints.” The delay made him increasingly aware of time slipping by.

Those fuckin' pirates would leave his ass behind he just knew it. Evening began to fall, and with it, a moon rose with no silhouette. It was unusual to see after so long, even for him, and because of that the streets began to rapidly clear because of the fear of what might happen now that the Mare in the Moon was once more walking the earth.

This only served to slow him down further as he had to surreptitiously look about whenever he changed streets. He focused on just getting a mile in range. Which meant just over the perimeter wall.

He had not failed to pick up on the gossip as he went, and what he heard he did not like.

The entire city was on lock down. No one in or out. The anti-teleportation field was city wide, the amount of unicorns they would need to keep a spell like that running must have been enormous as well as taxing. He could hole up and wait them out, but his ride would likely leave him behind.

“Fucking pirates.”

He should have checked, he forgot to check. Before he had realized it he had come out onto a wide street with no hoof traffic. At all.

Looking around he bit back a curse. They must have spotted him from the air. On both ends of the thoroughfare was a line of Grendamares.

"Not good,shit."

Turning around brought no joy, at least three pegasi bared his path back the way he had come.

"Double shit!"

Before he could weigh his options a shout from his right drew his attention.

"ORION FALLS! YOU ARE SURROUNDED. THERE IS NO WAY OUT!" It was that bitch Agent Drops, she was in a new uniform, but pieces of foam still stuck to her mane. He shifted his eyes to see if Fancy Breeze was about but did not find her.

"SURRENDER, NOW!" For someone who wasn't in trouble they certainly acted like he was an international criminal. He really wished that the coffee tray had survived, he would have looked so badass taking a drink before he had escaped.

"Hey squirrel brain, pay attention, you gotta get out of this ya moron."

He thought furiously on how the hell he was going to get out of this mess. The good news was he no longer needed to be subtle, which meant he didn't have to hold back expending his magic to fight. The bad news. He was isolated against what was shaping up to be a small army.

"Fuck it. All or nothing."

"What? Can't a stallion go on a moonlit stroll through fair París without being accosted? Man, what has this city come to?" He smiled at the confused looks he got. The guards in the alleyway chuckled.

"ORI-!" He dove right for the three guards, horn blazing as he struck, knocking them all to the ground and dashed up the wall as the metal on his hooves glowed. He was so happy his daydreams of being Spiderman had finally paid off for him.

Bursting onto the rooftops he bolted in a direct line toward the edge of the city. He was already so close. He just needed to be within a mile of the target. Though this was a gamble, if that field prevented what he was about to do he was going to be in serious trouble.

It didn't take them long to organize, now that he was no longer hiding and the streets were empty, he could now see them coming in a three D image in his mind. The enchantment flapping at his temple fed him what was coming.

He would have mocked them if he had the time.

Spinning around he grabbed six little metal vials and threw them into the air behind him, landing he took off running before a massive flash of light, sound, and a little concussive force hammered at his back. He was a little deaf, but he didn't need to hear anyways.

Even partially deaf he could still hear the screams of panic and the vibrations of impact let him know the pegasi had gotten the full force of the flashbangs.

They likely wouldn't fall for the same trick twice so he dove back down to the ground and passed into another alley, one he hoped would be as straight as it looked from the air.

It might have been, if not for a team of unicorns suddenly blocking up the far end. He didn't hesitate and dove through a window into a house on his left, tearing the drapes off the wall and knocking over a chase.

The homeowner started screaming in prench at him before he even rolled to his hooves. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! I DON'T SPEAK FRU FRU BULLSHIT LANGUAGE, BITCH!" She recoiled as if slapped.

He didn't waste any time before bursting out what he hoped was the front door and continued on in a westerly direction. He was almost to the edge of the city now, he jerked and almost fell over at the double chime in his ear. That was a lot sooner than it should have been.

"Did they actually move closer?" There was no way. They were closer to the city then they should have been. It's not like they could remove the other end of the device from the mast of the ship after all, so there was not a chance they could just dump it overboard before fleeing.

It was a good thing too. "Ah there's Agent Breeze." He chuckled as he came to a jogging halt. She at least took the time to remove all the foam.

If he guessed he was about five hundred meters from the city wall. If this didn't work he could just hop the fence so to speak. He prayed it worked. Because if not he was about to go against what had to be a battalion of soldiers, and he wasn't sure he could get out of this without being lethal.

As he drew closer, now walking and looking as casually as possible, hands jammed into his pants, he noticed the uniforms. These were Equestrians. So it was true. Celestia owned Prance in all but name. There was no way the Prench would allow her to have forces within their borders, much less in the capital city otherwise.

"Fuck me, does The Great Marshmallow own everything?" He called out.

The line of soldiers shifted, gripping their weapons tighter. Insulting the sun monarch was still a big no-no in Equestria it seemed.

"Orion, enough of this. You can't win, though we are all very impressed you managed to get this far." She smiled gently, trying her best to keep the sting of her words from biting too deep. She turned out to be a nice person after all.

"But it does mean I won the bet!" A new masculine voice spoke out. "I told you both that he would likely almost get away before we finally stopped him! And look where we are!"

Keeping the line of soldiers in his sight he peeked over his shoulder and almost laughed. This was almost too ridiculous to believe.

"Hey! There's my living flail!" Which brought Golden Trot up short. In the moonlight Orion could just make out the stallion flushing in embarrassment. "How's the legs?"

"Fine. Thank you." He responded flatly. Lots of that going on around him lately. He managed to hear laughter somewhere amongst the Equestrians.

"Oh this is fun."

"But she's right. We have you now. There is no escape. We will not be falling for that little flash trick again." He gave him a wide berth however, coming over to stand beside Fancy Breeze.

The fugitive stallion had to chuckle. "Anyone got a bet on me totally escaping?" A hand shot up. A mare wearing sergeant stripes stepped forward, she looked vaguely familiar.

"I do." She simply spoke. Okay now she was really starting to remind him of someone.

"Welp, you're about to get paid." He stuck his left hand in his pocket and the world turned into pain.

“Oh goddamnit.”

The first words he heard we're shouts for water and bandages.

"I said get some bucking water you fools! Our meal ticket isn't dying on us today!" It was Thunder Chaser. His eyes fought their way open to see the concerned stallion bellowing orders as he stood over him. Boulder Springs cradling his head, concern etched on his face.

"You fucking idiots. You moved the damn ship closer?" He groaned out.

The Captain's head jerked down at Orion, a concerned glare warred with an angry scowl on his face. "Lad you're the bucking idiot here. What in creation made you think going back into the city was a bright idea?"

"Needed...a...book" he could only wheeze in return. Why did he feel like he was on fire? "I…. I'm just gonna shut my eyes for a bit."

When he opened his eyes again he was in a private room, wrapped in bandages nearly head to hoof. They hadn’t bothered to install planks on the inside of the vessel, so the ornate patterns of gold on white walls and ceiling were a welcome sight. At least he didn't feel like he was on fire anymore. Now he just itched. Terribly.

The clinking of glass and metal drew his attention to his left. The ship's cook, Griff, was setting down a tray of food on a metal platter.

"Oh? You're awake young drake!" He exclaimed. The short griffon smiled gleefully. The moment the old bird had found out who he was he had fought hard in his defense. Almost coming to blows with the much larger Captain. It was good to see him.

"Hey Old Man how's it going," he croaked out. God his throat was dry. A wooden straw met his cracked lips and he drank deeply. Cool water flushing his throat.

"Don't hey me you fuckin' idiot. You could have killed yourself!" The griffon squawked at him, shaking his black clawed finger at him.

That forced a chuckle out of him that hurt. When he composed himself, he asked. "Where?"

"I'll let the captain tell you. For now, let's get some stew into you." Orion groaned. It was that blasted fish stew, he could smell it.

"It's good for you!"

"It tastes like lemony piss!" He fought back.

"It's good for you and you WILL eat it." Roared back the diminutive bird.

"Screw you ya overgrown chicken!"

After a bit of arguing and a lot of force feeding, Griff left to get Thunder Chaser. Laughing to himself.

For a long moment Orion just stared at the ceiling. He had escaped, but something had seriously gone wrong if he was this injured. It hurt to move, hell it hurt not to move.

Not too long later the Captain came in, being gentle about shutting the door. He grimaced as he looked the injured stallion over. "Lad, what in the buck happened out there?

"Ambush. They knew who I was despite the pink. Where are we?"

Taking a chair he eased himself in with a groan. "Still in Prance. It seems Equestria has mobilized their air force in a foreign nation. They have airships everywhere, so we've been forced to move slowly and at night. You have 'em madder than a squid who can't open a can." He chuckled despite their situation.

"Figures." He shifted and winced. "Are we safe?"

"Yep, Sunny Glare managed to get the stealth field up. We are lucky he at least knows how to read the damn language on this ancient heap, otherwise we would have to spend time covering the whole damn thing in branches!"

That was good. "Just be glad I grabbed a recon ship and not a light cruiser or something….how is the ship?" He asked hesitantly.

"It's in fine condition lad. We did have to shut down engine three again. Once you're better you can see about finally nailing down the issue, but for right now you need to rest. Oh and He wants to see you." He growled out that last bit.

Six months on and they were still at odds.

"How long was I out?" He finally asked.

"About five days, Orion. Sunny was worried you weren't going to make it. I may not like him, but his heart is in the right place. That's likely what he wants to talk about." He got up to leave. "Rest, I'll send him in to check you over and talk."

Thunder Chaser left, and he just rested his eyes. When he opened them again Sunny Glare was locking the door and casting a sound proofing spell on the room.

"Oh boy, that can't be good."

"So what's up Doc? Is it cancerous?" He jokingly asked.

The short sun yellow stallion just fixed him with a puzzled glare. "What's cancerous mean?"

"Of course the crazy horse world doesn't have cancer, what the hell was I thinking?"

"Nevermind, what did ya need man?" He was feeling a little better. Griff would likely try and take credit and feed him more of his abominable soup. So he wasn't about to admit it any time soon.

It took a moment for the effeminate stallion to speak, oddly twirling his red mane with the bold yellow highlights that matched his fur. It was easy to see why he attracted so many mares, and disappointed them all at once.

"What I need is to understand why magic affects you this badly. It's as if you have no bucking natural defense against anything." Orion was shocked to hear the guy swear. He never swore.

"What?"

"Orion, when they brought you to me, you were covered in burns. Your fur was damn near scorched off. Certainly so in quite a few places. The worst you should have gotten was a tingle. Your bucking horn is cracked, again!" He fumed.

"Well, I just teleported through a city-wide anti-teleportation zone. Could that have been what happened? And where did the foul language come from? What would your mother say!?" He laughed, a hoarse wheezing sound. Come to think of it, his horn did feel numb.

"Oh sure, if you wanted just a headache." He scooted closer, not that he needed to. "You have to understand, I did a resonance check on you. All that anti magic they were using clung to you like spider webs. The feedback from all that discharge had to go somewhere and it went out your horn. Which is why it's broken. You remember the last time that happened?"

He did, it was during his fight with Nightmare Moon. It had damn near killed him, it was a miracle that he got out of there at all. She had hit him with something nasty and it drove a crack nearly straight through his horn. Had he not been able to channel through his hands and hooves as well he would have been toast. Even still, every spell he cast could still be felt in the damaged appendage despite him not using it. He barely got out of there when it was all over.

"Jesus, how bad was it this time?"

The scholar turned medic shook his head. "Honestly, not as bad as last time. The force used by Prance and the power behind what Nightmare hit you with is about the same. You haven't vomited up anything this time, and the crack is not as big and healing rapidly. I just don't understand why you're so susceptible."

"Well, no one has ever actually hit me with magic before. Even in school I never got struck directly." He mused.

"Orion, that's not the problem. You have the magical absorption capacity of a three week old foal. It's why hospitals keep foals for a month, every single one born is largely weak to magic till about a month after. It's why foals being born is often a terrifying ordeal, Boulder and his family got lucky. A rogue magical storm could end the lives of dozens in the wrong place."

"Oh….oh shit."

"Oh shit indeed." A silence descended over the pair. "In any case it seems you might be finally building some type of tolerance. I can only hope this continues. In the meantime your training will now involve being hit with different magic attacks. Till we eliminate this problem entirely you are in danger. And I'd advise you to set about creating some enchantments designed to redirect any foreign magic away from you. Okay?" He was deadly serious.

"Yeah, yeah okay. Thanks for letting me know. So how long am I trapped in bed?" He asked. Hopeful that it wouldn't be another two months.

"Well as I said, you've taken this one far better than the last, but you're stuck in bed for at least three weeks. Don't give me that look, I'll have you strapped down."

"Ew, no thanks I don't wanna be chained up by you thank you very much." Seriously ew, no thank you.

"Ahhh, a prude like all the others." He responded morosely. "Oh well, the point still stands. You WILL stay in bed till you're better. This wasn't as bad as last time, but I will take no chances in you making it worse for yourself."

"But the ship... engine three still has that bug in it. I'm the only one that can keep this bucket of bolts running." If another engine went down he worried the strain on the remaining two would be too much. The ship was thousands of years old after all. Who knew when the next problem would rear its ugly little head.

"We will handle it. I can read the language just fine, I get better with each day. Tartarus Orion, you had to learn most of the systems through trial and error. You were out in that desert for months. No doubt you are likely the cause of engine three's issues. Just rest. The more I translate the better we will be able to work the systems. The power core is stable, and we are moving slow. We have to. There's enough airships and search posts that one could walk from one side of Prance to the other without setting a hoof on the ground. Relax."

He wanted to argue, but his body was telling him to listen. His eyes were already heavy as it was. He was exhausted.

"Can you and Thunder stay out of each other's way that long?" His own voice sounded leaden to him.

"Yes, yes. He is not the first surly stallion I've met. We will be fine. You get some rest. I will see you in the morning." He opened and closed the door gently after one more peek.

That was it for Orion. He was out.

Three days later, and a whole lot of napping, saw the invasion of the crotch goblins. His peace shattered in a morning already bad for having to wolf down that damnable fish stew. He wasn't surprised when his door slammed open and all five of the little hellions poured into his room at a near dead run.

"UNCLE ORION!" they screamed out as one. It was fuckin' adorable the way he had somehow taken on uncle status with the brats. But he would never tell them that. He held a comfortably annoyed look on his face.

"Ah children. Come to make my day a living hell?" That got the expected round of giggles.

"Nooooo Uncle Orion, we came for a story!" Oh no.

He had promised them the story of how he had survived the storm, and his adventures all leading up to their reunion and even his battle with Nightmare Moon.

"Fuck."

Before he had to answer, their father bolted into the room, breathing heavily.

Boulder Springs was a large stallion though he still came well short of Orion's own height, not that his wives had minded considering he had five of them.

Only a fool asks for more than he needs.

The last time he had seen this pony, before the events of the Storm and their reunion in Zeygpt, had been him rolling around on the ground at age eight, holding his broken arm and wailing into the air. The scar were it had punctured through was still visible

The five little giggling monsters were his brood, and it showed in their faces when they saw him hunched over gasping for breath.

"I am sooo so sorry about this Orion." He panted. Apparently it was his turn to babysit the kids.

His family situation was different from most herds.

In your traditional herd the mares provided, defended the family, and generally took a more dominant role in the relationship in general. There was an Alpha mare that usually defaulted to the very first one that married him, and the pecking order went down in order of marriage.

The stallion was more often than not subservient to them, and often kept the home clean, children and mares fed, and attended to any menial tasks that might need to be done such as shopping and making sure finances stayed up to date.

In Boulder's case he married all five at the same time. Though if Orion had to say, he figured the pegasus, Thunder Peal, was the actual mare in charge. She was the first born of Thunder Chaser's own herd and it made sense since they lived and worked under him.

Because of that, their family was unique in that everyone had a voice, and everyone shared in the duties that kept that family together. Including child rearing. Simply put, a normal American family.

Well except for the multiple wives part. That was more a Mormon thing.

In any case he waited in his bed, scratching at the bald patches in his fur, where black was starting to grow in between the pink, as Boulder struggled to get his heart rate down.

"Children," he had picked up the term from him, "Uncle Orion is still recovering. You can't be in here. He needs to rest up. Now come on, let's go to the galley so we can play a game."

A chorus of awes and grumbling followed on the heels of his request. Of which somehow tugged on the bed ridden stallion's heart strings.

"You know," little ears flicked in his direction, "I did promise them some stories...and seeing how I am laid up with nothing to do, I suppose I could share some tales to your abominations. Besides," he laughed, "you look like they ran you ragged already. I can entertain 'em for awhile."

Their little eyes grew big and round as they all turned back to their father, peering into his very soul.

"I..uh…" They said not a sound, it was eerie, but continued to stare. He sighed, "fine but keep your stories appropriate, please? I don't want them reciting tales of your exploits with mares or something."

"Hahaha dude I have no tales of that kind. I still got my 'V Card' after all." Well, relatively speaking. New body, new V Card.

He gave Orion a confused look. "What's a 'V Card'? He wanted to throw something.

Everytime he thought he plumbed the depths of pony ignorance, he found the floor gave way and it sank deeper.

"It means I've never had a relationship," he hissed. Trying to convey his meaning with his eyes.

"Oh….OH! Wait, seriously? You?!...no way…" Boulder whispered to himself. Looking incredulous at him the entire time.

"Jesus Christ this is embarrassing." He scratched the side of his face, the fur was beginning to grow back there as well.

"It's not that big a deal dude. Just get outta here and go, do something with one of your wives man. I got this." He turned his attention to the excited smiles of the children with a wicked smile of his own. "And if they misbehave, well Grandpa Thunder might have some words with them in his study." The smiles vanished.

"Heh, okay I suppose you do. Um, please keep your stories appropriate. Wouldn't want them to have nightmares, you know?" A book came flying at his face and he yelped and dove behind the door. "Okay, okay I'm gone." He chuckled, closing the door.

He waited a moment, the expected smiles returning, him listening for the tell tale footsteps of their father leaving.

"Okay, first. Thunder Springs? Would you be a total bro and go get that book, I'm not finished with it." The little tan pegasus giggled and went to retrieve it.

Once the book was back on his bedside table he smiled at them. "Alrighty, now that the parental unit is gone I will make a deal with you. I will tell you a bit more than what he wants me to tell," he raised a hand as the smiles turned into grins, "but you must promise me that what you hear will never leave your lips till I am long dead. Deal?"

The collective nod was his response.

"Good enough. Now, I am no storyteller. That means it's likely to get a bit janky and not well put together. Bite me, you wanted a story you don't get to pick how it's told. So where would you like me to start?"

They all thought really hard. The problem for them is they heard all kinds of half spoken tales about him that had managed to get around the crew., but nothing ever concrete or from him directly.

Finally, Bright Star's child, Shooting, raised her white hand.

"I think it would be best to start at the beginning. When you met our parents!" She said excitedly. After a few seconds the others agreed with her.

"Okay, that's as good a place to start as any. Thinking about it now, it might end up that you lot will have to come back for a few days to get the full story then." That just got them even more excited.

"Poor kids, since the disaster that is this trip started, they've had to remain below decks this entire time. They must be craving stimulation like none other." He smiled.

"Okay, so when I met your parents it was on the very vessel you all were born on…."

Author's Note

Not as exciting as the last chapter I'm sure, but very important for a few key characters to make an appearance.

This chapter came together in less than a day, edited within twenty-four hours. Clearly you all know where my passion is, hahaha. Now the story can really begin. We all know the story of the Elements and how they overcame with the power of friendship.

Orion has to overcome with the power of being an asshole. Clearly he lost out on the lucky lottery.

I want to stop and take a chance to thank all the new followers, those that have saved this to their libraries. You guys rock. To those who comment every chapter post, Y'all are kings. And Queens if I have any female followers.

I look forward to laying this journey out before you.

Thanks for reading.

Peace!