Chapters Confusion, terror, and overwhelming sorrow.
That was the majority's reaction to the laser-focused male human who showed up in front of them, a strange, black branch made from metal in his hands. This was quickly hidden by semi-realistic smiles and welcoming postures.
"H-h-ello! My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I would be glad to be the first to welcome you to Ponyville and Equestria!"
Glaring at her and her friends as they huddled together, he studied them critically while looking around at the semi destroyed Ponyville. Buildings were in states that ranged from ashes and complete collapse to newly rebuilt and painted. Ponies were gathering around the group from tent homes and rebuilt businesses, nervously wondering about this new arrival and whether he knew about Jason as whispers echoed throughout the gathering group.
"T-thank you.’
He gulped while staring at the destroyed Sweet Apple Acres, the stick slowly wobbling as he shook his head, then refocused on the contrite, nervously waiting, and bravely standing mares.
'Um- is it safe to say that I took a wrong turn in that-? Oh, who am I kidding? I knew I shouldn't have clicked on that link…"
Looking around, he came to a conclusion that left Twilight, her friends, and the other ponies, gobsmacked.
"At least this Equestria isn't threatening my species with extinction…"
A heartbreaking and stunned silence collapsed on the two groups, leading Twilight to shake her head in disbelief, before choking back some sobs at her realization.
"I-I-I'm sorry, but did you say extinction?!"
He squatted, nodding gravely.
“It seems like you’ve gone through something yourself. Mind telling me what happened, Twilight? Or maybe I should ask Applejack. Rainbow?”
The whole group freezes, then releases their collective breath, Applejack choosing to speak.
“A-.”
A golden flash erupted next to them, the light revealing a fairly worried Princess Celestia. Sparing a quick and glad glance at her little ponies as they bowed, she refocused on the quickly standing human, noticing the weapon hanging on his shoulder being brought to bear against her, a mask of fury on his face.
"You're the one behind this and me being here, aren't you?! Punishing your fellow Princess, her friends, your subjects, and me for whatever sick reason-!"
Her mentor’s and fellow ponies' horrified expressions and tears caused him to closely examine them, take some calming breaths, and lower the weapon again.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. I-. I come from a world where another you, and another version of these mares and the rest of your subjects and army, as well as the whole Crystal Empire, are trying to murder my species.”
Her face changed from horror to seriousness, her flowing tears continuing even as her mane and tail threatened to burst into flame, her teeth sharpening.
“Give me a little time, and you’ll have everything I can spare. Come with me to-.”
“Oh, I do believe that we have another visitor, do we not? ”
With a weak series of snaps, a clearly injured Discord appeared in front of the group, a mask of mischievousness hiding a shattered heart. In response, Fluttershy stood up straight while hissing at him. Flattening her ears, she thrust her head forward, lifting her foreleg and pawing the ground with it, growling, “Say a single wrong word, and I will shatter every bucking bone in your lower body, followed by your feathering ribs, you rutting monster!!”
Releasing his mask as the rest of the gathered ponies vocally agreed with her, he lowered himself to the ground, on the verge of tears. Taking a deep and shaky breath, he attempted to communicate with the new human.
"I, I need to-."
Twilight savagely stuffed a hoof into his mouth, his teeth breaking as he desperately tried to speak.
"It's- It's nothing! I would like to get to know all the details about you and your situation after you and the Princess talk!"
Lifting an eyebrow at this while nodding at the purple Alicorn, the human shook his head while stepping closer to Celestia.
“I’m trusting you as the Co -Princess of Equestria, Your Highness.”
After nodding back, they disappeared as Discord began quietly sobbing and trembling. After Twilight slammed his head into the ground, she removed her hoof and wiped it clean on his body.
"P-P-please! I've done what I can to-!"
His own screams of pain interrupted him as Twilight hit him with a torturing magic spell, augmented by an enchanted medallion with lavender colored Chaos magic. It started as high as he could stand before it quickly dropped to a subtle current that continued to send painful shocks throughout his body.
"Th-th-thank you for-."
Crack.
He was left in speechless horror and pain as she bucked him in the exact relative place, with the exact strength, Applejack did with Jason. Staring at him emotionlessly, she wiped away tears, steadied herself and galloped away, Rainbow having kept her distance.
"What you enabled me to do, I now do unto you."
A thunderous crack of rainbow lightning lanced its way down the path she traced, thankfully knocking him out before he suffered too much or even screamed. Setting her hoof on the ground, the medallion glowed, teleporting her to the castle as Discord's tears continued to flow, evaporating off of his sparking body.
As the duo appeared in Celestia's massive room, she had changed into Daybreaker, yet her eyes retained her usual color. Setting up a chair for the human and serving him a cold drink and scones from her personal bar, she politely waited.
"A year ago, a circle of magic appeared in the Pacific, the largest ocean in our world. After a few days of study, we began to get heavily guarded Royal visitors consisting of yourself and your fellow Princesses. They had teleported their land to ours in a last-ditch effort to flee from a perfect storm. Literally.
Apparently, 7 years ago, a guy calling himself the Storm- you fought him here as well? Well, in this case, he had absorbed the magic of the Everfree and your Sister's, in place of yours and Twilight's.
Nothing happened for the next couple of years, but the unstableness of Tempest's bit of magic; the wildness of the Everfree; and the darkness of your Sister's, eventually led to an explosive release, unleashing disasters all over the world.
In the end, they killed the four by invading and allying themselves with the rest of the world over 4 years, taking their weapons, resources, and people into their nation and transforming themselves into a warrior race with the characteristics of dragons, changelings, and griffons.
With some complicated magic mumbo-jumbo BS, they were able to leave behind that part of the Everfree when they transferred their land to ours. Now, here's where things go completely chaotic.
Discord had stayed out of the whole thing when he could, but when Fluttershy was in "moral danger" regarding their relationship and his previous actions from some pissed off griffons, dragons, and all the rest, well… He killed the group, she and her friends agreed, and the remaining non-ponies and their few pony friends on Equestria fled and spread out on Earth. Then things abruptly deteriorated, fast .
Of course, we had to figure out what the hell went wrong, so we investigated. Our best and brightest scientists determined that while most of the physical damage was done to the rest of the world, the most severe mental damage was done in Equestria, their racist, skittish, and xenophobic attitude having no more masks or filters of politeness.
They dropped all pretense, as thin as it was, of valuing Friendship and Harmony when we tried to initiate peace talks among them and the various Royalties-in-exile, while offering to repair the mental damage.
Fortunat-."
He was stopped by a firm hug with Daybreaker's legs and wings, her lava tears flowing down the latter.
"Forgive me. A thous-. No.'
She moved him a full leg back so they could make eye contact.
'What is your personal boon? Anything- access to the Treasury, my bed, or anything else within reason."
He stared at her in blunt surprise, shifting to a questioning look, before deciding to ignore the middle two words.
"While I'm… Appreciative of Her Majesty's personal offer, my foremost concern is my species' situation. I can see that you have equally pressing concerns, so-."
She shook her head while placing a hoof on his lips.
"I cannot speak for my Sister, although I can say that she would want to help. I will say that I will use my own personal guard and Sol Treasury to fund anything and everything possible to find a way back to your world and bring weapons, soldiers, spells, and serums to strengthen and supplement your own… And forgive me, I have completely forgotten to ask for your name."
"It's Dan, your Highness. And there's no need to be sad, as we were talking about more important issues."
At that time, a servant came in to gather the dishes. She abruptly froze at the human's appearance, trembling as tears sprung to her eyes. Regulating her breathing and making herself look as harmless and repentant as she felt, she left the trolley behind the duo, went in front of him, and bowed as deep as possible.
"I… I… I, am, so, so sorry, for what I did to you in Ponyville, Jason. I… I… forgive me, Your Majesty!"
She galloped from the room, barely restrained sobs following her as she took a split second to gather the used dishes, impressively place them gently on the trolley, and drag it behind her. As the door closed, Dan turned from following the mare's path and faced Daybreaker with a confused look.
"... Mind explaining what the heck just happened, Your Highness?"
As she tried to revert to Celestia with a series of calming breaths, she suddenly found herself torn between turning Ponyville into a lava field with everypony inside except the foals, and temporarily forgetting what happened by trying to seduce the hu- Dan . Seducing Dan and having an afternoon and night filled with unrestrained sexual experiences, consequences be screwed.
The whole gang was in the Map room on their thrones, which were now a bit grander, with gold highlights and jewels. Well, all but Dash, who was nervously flying around.
"What the buck are we going to do?!"
"Language, Dashie. I suggest that we bring Sunset over here and-!"
"Pinkie, you heard her during the trial. She's not going to associate with us in any way unless Spike sends a message. Did you see him with us when that other human appeared?"
"What if I go over there, instead? After the 'Battle of The Bands', that high school went through, everyone there should be more trusting of her, and she trusts me… Not much, but it should still count for something… "
"... I don't know... From what she told me after the trial, she hates our guts. More specifically, she hates my guts and Celestia's guts. You guys, she just loathes a tick below hellfire. Don't ask me how one is less hateful than the other, I'm just quoting what Spike said. Growled out with emerald and yellow flames is more accurate, but I digress…
"... No, I already did both this morning. T-thank you, though. Still feels weird, not having wings and y-yet f-f-f-."
"Why won't you let me give them bac-?! "
"BECAUSE I DON'T BUCKING DESERVE THEM, YOU HORNPEGGER!!"
The silence that enveloped the room was one of shock. Emotions had been running high for a while, and yet that was the first time one of them had ever insulted another.
"I-I-I'm so sorry-!"
There was an immediate group hug that consisted of all the mares and, after a moment of surprise and slight shock, Spike.
As everypony except Twi and Spike left the throne room, the remainder shared a light hug themselves, the first since the end of the trial that ended with Ponyville's destruction almost three months ago.
"I swear, I will spend the rest of my life-!"
"No, you won't, Your Majesty. I've watched you and the girls.'
Looking up at her, his eyes were filled with tears, a small smile finally appearing.
'Keep it up, Twilight.'
They hugged again, much tighter this time and with a relieved, fanged smile on her muzzle.
'Keep it up."
Breaking it up, he wiped his eyes before reaching into his personal Chaotic pocket dimension, the green and purple portal closing after he took out a large jerky made of various types of meat. Breaking it in half exactly, he gave one half to his mom as they sat on their thrones, and they chatted about what had happened since their last conversation.
Sunset.
Was.
Pissed .
Scratch that, she was burning with-.
"Come on, Miss! You just need to have the right form and pressure to overcome this lil' beauty! One last try!"
She was with the girls in the local fairgrounds, having paid for five attempts at the Flim and Flam Bottle Booth. Supposedly, the goblet pyramids were held together by a special velcro that needed to be hit at the right angle and with the right pressure to collapse. The former was supposedly marked near the center of the pyramid.
Giving them her best kind-hearted smile, it slowly transformed into a furious and enraged scowl, her pony ears, demonic tail, and pony/demonic wings appearing as she wound up and threw the magic-infused ball. Dash ponied up and saved the horrified and screaming brothers from their booth going up in a small nuclear blast.
"... I'm sorry, girls, it's just-! UUUGGGGHHHHH!! I KNOW I OVERREACTED AND I KNOW I'M OVERREACTING NOW!"
Finding a free table in the crowded food court, she sat down and dropped her head on the center, everyone else surrounding her.
"Seriously, Sugarcube. Ah know ya needed time off from that… Situation ya feel like keepin' a secret, but Ah'm of the mind that it's doing no good keeping a lid on it. It's poisoning the rest of yer life, in school and outta it."
Glaring at her, she stopped it and looked at the rest of them with sorrow and worry.
"Should… Should I really-? What am I asking, of course I should…"
Taking a deep breath, she told them everything that Spike told her.
Dan couldn't believe it.
He couldn't-.
"I refuse to believe that. T-t-there's no way that-..."
Stopping in front of the porch, he opened the doors and stepped out, staring at a hazy Ponyville once he leaned on the railing. Daybreaker reared up and folded her forehooves over it, her lava tears melting the metal effortlessly.
"Believe me, Dan. It's true. Only reason I told you was because I didn't want my mouth filled with something else when I could be telling the truth."
It took a moment for it to click, but he looked at her with an unreadable expression before shaking his head, a small smile stubbornly appearing. Before Daybreaker could capitalize on it, from a small rip in spacetime emerged one Discord as he dragged himself onto the floor, Daybreaker turning towards him with barely simmering hatred and rage.
"P-P-please, I need a safe place, j-j-just for a couple of days, t-t-that's all. P-P-please, Cell- Flame! PLEASE!!!"
Stepping to him, she lifted a hoof and set it on his head, before sliding it over his blinded eye, the lightning marks and around his groin.
"The slightest hint of any spellcasting other than when I'm facing you directly..."
With a couple of nods, he crawled into a corner where she could watch him from any place in the room and curled up, quietly crying himself to sleep.
"... Where am I going to sleep, Your -?"
She wrapped him in a wing, guiding him to the bed while summoning a dozen pairs of beef jerkies. He ate one while she ate three at a time.
"... I'm surprised that you eat meat."
"We Alicorns have to. It gives us the most calories for the least work."
Blinking at the glow that suddenly covered him, he looked down, then back up at her apprehensive and lustful face with a lifted eyebrow as he moved out of her hold.
"It gives you the most calories, huh? You can look, but keep your hooves and wings to yourself."
Setting the gun on the chair next to the bed, he insisted on her entering first, then followed, fully aware and slightly irritated at her seduction attempt.
At the beginning of a private breakfast, Celestia fought against Daybreaker, the two personalities mentally arguing. Suddenly, the latter reminded the former about something Dan said.
"There's one thing that I don't get. If Discord is on the side of the racist ponies, then how can you humans still be fighting?"
He rolled his eyes as he wiped his mouth of the meat's juice while sipping his fruit smoothie.
"He said, and I quote, "I'm just here for the chaos." Imagine that. Only having a fighting chance because one overpowered, immature child, doesn't want playtime over too soon."
At that moment, a Noble by the name of Blueblood was entering the dining room, having stopped by the kitchen and getting oatmeal beforehoof, having memorized the staff's names.
"Greetings, Aun-tie…"
The plate on his back rattled slightly as he struggled to control his emotions, using his eye for faces and emotions to quickly determine two things:
This wasn't the same human that had snuck Changeling spies into Canterlot and burned down/vaporized the Royal Records and Bathhouse to drive home his point, even after the Harmonious Staff passed emotional and physical judgment, and
This soldier has gone through horrific experiences, is continually struggling to not lash out, and is searching for help. His strange weapon that looked like a significantly more advanced version of the Portable Horn from the Griffons testified to the first two.
"Auntie Celestia, Sir. May I join you for breakfast?"
Given permission with a nod, he decided to sit to his Aunt's left, right in front of the human.
"You're Prince Blueblood, right?"
"I can only assume that you're also a fan of that show, are you not?"
The man was evidently surprised at this, hiding it quickly and nodding in response.
"Yes, I am. Name's Dan, by the way. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
The rest of the meal passed in relative quiet, Blueblood learning that Dan was a professional chef, was the pride of his squad, and absolutely hated learning by reading.
Celestia and Dan finished not long after, leaving the dishes to be gathered as she sent letters to the head of her private guard; her Sister, who was away running interference with the more night-based species of Equestria; and the Crystal Empire.
Going to the throne room, Celestia insisted that he wait in the private waiting room while she attended to the various petitioners, which have been pitifully few since the trial. Most have gone to her Sister's Dream Court instead, where she's had to implement orders and get certain types of help from her, anyway.
After barely 15 minutes, Daybreaker had to rescue an increasingly nervous and furious Dan from a crowd of pleading ponies who were defending him from an equally numerous number of ponies who wanted to literally rip him to shreds and piss on them.
Using the Canterlot Voice, she terrified the haters and relaxed the defenders, scattering the former. As the crowd left, she double checked on him.
"Are you alright?"
"I am, thank you."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not going to go on a bloodthirsty rampage, if that's what you're asking… But you're not, are you?"
She shook her head and brought them to the nearest window that overlooked the courtyard. Watching his reaction, she was relieved that he wasn't angry or suspicious.
"... You want me to tell them what I told you, don't you?"
She nodded while trying to revert to Celestia for the meeting with her fellow Princess and friends.
"... Just be there with me, Your Majesty. I don't know if I can restrain myself from killing them with my bare hands."
Casting spells to give him as much silence as possible and locking the door, Blueblood dropped his disguise with a green tower of flames.
"Enjoying yourselves, Your Majesties?"
They had the decency to blush and scoot apart while Chrysalis was cursing her advisors under her breath regarding this method of communication.
"What we do in our private-!"
"There's another human, a soldier, called Dan, My King. Princess Celestia has taken him under her wing."
The oxygen in the room was sucked out, leaving them silent as they wrapped their heads around the announcement. To their quiet questioning, he nodded several times, keeping eye contact.
"Keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn't go to Ponyville without increased protection, I don't trust anyone in either place. Who do you trust, Chrysalis?"
"Other than you, dear? I can think of a couple. I'll send them."
"Good. Any more details, Vanquished?"
"He came with two weapons, I believe you called them guns, Sire. He also has knowledge of the show.
He felt chills at the Royal Couple's freezing and subtle shaking in rage as they threw off the fine blanket and got dressed.
"Agent? You are to continually report to us about everything that happens regarding Mr. Dan. Doesn't matter how small, I want to know what he likes to eat and drink, his shoe size, even his blood type, if possible.
"If I may be so bold to guess, you'll also want to rescue him before a misguided or hateful pony tries to harm or kill him, then help him either start a new life or get revenge."
Jason pauses halfway through his shirt, finishing wearing it before staring at Blueblood.
"He gets so much as a scraped knee, I'll burn the whole country down before personally salting Canterlot and Ponyville. Return to your new assignment."
The image was sucked back into the pebble as it dropped to the floor, getting caught in his magic and replaced in the new looking saddlebags.
"... That's what I'm afraid of, Your Highness. That's what I'm afraid of."
"Ring-a-round the Rosie, A pocket full of posies. Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down! "
Pinkie was hugging herself, rocking back and forth on Applejack's floor as she unnervingly sang the lullaby. Rainbow was next to her, hugging Fluttershy with one arm as she stuttered in disbelief, and patting Pinkie with the other.
"Sugarcube, yer gonna be questioning yerself for da rest of yer life if ya don't open the darn thing. Maybe it's not that xenophobic "Princess ", again."
Screwing up her courage while nodding, she opened it and read the newest entry. She quietly gasped at the beginning and end, gulping when she closed the book ten minutes later and looked at a nervous Applejack.
"Nothin' good, is it?"
Getting up, she told her to get the girls together, pack enough for a few days, and meet up in front of Principal Celestia's office.
"Maybe I can convince her to come with us. We need all the help we can get."
Gathering at their pre-arranged meeting spot, they entered into a three-way shouting match between the Principals and a crying Princess Twilight, Spike trying to get a word in.
"WILL YOU PLEASE LET MY MOM TALK?!"
As his flames set off the water sprinkler, they nervously went to the Rainboom's practice room. When everyone was seated, Twilight magically drying herself and the Principals, there was an uncomfortable silence. A few seconds later, Sunset broke it.
"I can only assume that the reason for this is the new human and what he told Twilight."
Luna, who was visibly holding back, exploded.
"And this…! This…! Bi-brat, believes that giving basic decency to him makes up for-!"
"WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SAY , PRINCIPAL LUNA, IS THAT I KNOW IT WON'T !! What I want is to do better, and all this shouting is not going to help ANYONE OR ANYPONY!"
The darker principal crossed her arms and huffed, looking away from everyone else as her sister glared at her.
"And of course , my perfect sister is on her side, as-!"
"Oh, will you come off it, Luna!? There's another whole world filled with fellow humans who need help, and your only concern is that Princess Twilight gets even more browbeaten when she's already paid her fair share!anything to contribute to this, I suggest you leave."
Scowling, she got up, made it to the door, looked back and forth, groaned, and pivoted back to her seat.
"... What do you need, Miss Sunset and… Princess Twilight?"
Twilight opened her backpack and took out some blueprints of the guns she was able to carefully disassemble.
"Advanced weapons that can integrate with magic. Dan gave us-."
"With the most threatening and hesitant aura I've ever felt, and I've been around other dragons and yaks."
"-his guns, called the M4 Carbine and the Beretta M9, to make blueprints from. The few griffons that stayed after the trial have agreed to help, as well as the Twin Thrones and three of the noble families, but we haven't had experience with any kind of warfare for centuries.
As they looked at the blueprints, an unnervingly calm smirk came to Luna's face.
"You have that look again, Lulu. Your time in the reserves and ROTC coming to mind?"
"Yes. I have contacts that owe me. Rather, they owe, 'Nightmare Moon '. She will be paying them a visit.
She abruptly looked up at a flinching Twilight and nervous Sunset.
'You have my help. But don't think I've forgiven you."
Twilight nodded as Luna, now NMM, stood up and strode out, expelling an aura of cold hardness and seriousness that no one had ever felt, with the exception of Celestia.
"In the meantime, I think that we need to go to Equestria to help Dan be more comfortable and trusting."
"W-why? We have the journ-."
"And look what happened after you were forced to come here. Trying to capture and judge someone because you mindlessly thought these two worlds were exactly alike.
They enthusiastically agreed as they hoisted their bags, Rarity having brought three , a backpack, a purse, and a carry-on, all fabulous, of course .
"Your Celestia has a kingdom to run. I have a school to watch. Good luck, and break a leg."
Smiling, she joined the group as they waited at the open doors for her, not noticing a purple haired girl scooting away as low and as slow as possible.
"What hogwash! They're falling for her tricks! Again!"
"Ah dunno, Scootaloo. This doesn't sound like anything she would do."
"Yeah. In Rarity's detective nove-."
"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP ABOUT THOSE STUPID NOVELS!! I'M TALKING ABOUT OUR SISTERS LEAVING US FOREVER!"
"Scoots. Think about it. If they were-."
"They were packed, Sweetie Bell.What ?!"
The two Crusaders were staring at each other, unamused, then turned to a frustrated and disbelieving Scootaloo.
"Get yer mind on straight, Scoots. We're gonna see our sisters off."
"An' it's a good thing that we weren't gonna leave without tellin' our kin where we're goin'."
Her face turned white as the library doors opened behind her, the girls having amused expressions, and in the case of Rarity and Applejack, pride.
As the two groups walked together, Scootaloo was moping in the back while her adoptive big sister grinned, patting her back.
"If it's any consolation, it wouldn't have worked. Anything you did to make it look like her would've made it clear it wasn't her, since that's not how she worked.
"... Anon-A-Miss ."
"Ehhh, I'll give it a three out of ten. Just be glad your fellow CMC stopped it before it started. You never know how horrible and out of control it would have gotten. It could have ended up destroying the school.'
She turned towards Rainbow with a doubtful expression.
'Seriously. Think your plan through, then consider if more people truly believed Sunset had returned to her bullying ways."
Rarity came in backwards and interjected her own two cents.
"Also consider that maybe people would send in secrets of their own, Darling, and that they would be serious and damaging."
Rolling her eyes, she slowly thought the plan through, expanded it as Rarity suggested, then blanched.
"I'm an idiot . Okay, okay, not an idiot, but I clearly have more maturing to do."
"And that is a very mature thing to confess, Dear! You ended a horrible plan and confessed you hadn't thought things through."
Nodding, she found they had stopped in front of the Wondercolt statue, everyone else gone except for Sunset, the CMC, and their sisters.
"Can I trust you, Squirt?"
She stood up straight and saluted her sister, Rainbow saluting back.
"You can count on me, Miss Dash!"
They relaxed and she messed up Scoot's hair.
"Aw, stop being mushy and adorable, we have a reputation to uphold, ya know?!"
Giggling, they tightly hugged each other, Scootaloo playfully pushing Dash back and Dash exaggerating her tumble with a slow yell as she "fell" through the portal.
With a wave and hat tip to the trio, AJ and Rarity also went through the portal. Scootaloo stared at the ground, wishing it would swallow-.
Sunset lightly knocked her head.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
Looking up, she unwillingly smiled, before dropping it and biting her lip.
"I-I-I'm so-."
"I've already forgiven you. Overheard the whole conversation. Like your sister implied, stay out of trouble, Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, see ya later."
And she disappeared as well.
Back in the library, one Diamond Tiara was dictating as fast as she could everything she heard from Scootaloo, along with everything else she heard from the shouting match in the Principal's office.
"This is going to be the biggest breaking news in the history of, everything ! Imagine: 'Diamond Tiara: The Girl Who United Mankind!' I'll be able to dictate policy, tell-!"
Abruptly, her phone was brutally smacked out of her hand, shattering against the wall and crushed underfoot.
"Absolutely. No. One."
Meanwhile, several Griffons, Fancy Pants, Dan, Daybreaker, the head of her private Guard, and a disguised Pharynx were standing around three blueprints that showed the human guns and the griffons' gun.
"We've, whew, seen the advantages of Mr. Dan's guns and our gun. We've also seen their disadvantages. Our only problem is how to combine them in both forms while only keeping the former."
"The way I see it is that you guys haven't gotten to the point of creating a more durable material while also being easier to shape, to where you could mass produce it."
Pharynx had used a Changeling spell, taking a few mental pictures of both blueprints while he blinked as backup. At the right moment, he implemented Their Majesties' plan, boldly interrupting the griffon that started the fight.
"What if we tried to make our own version of Changeling ooze? I've encountered it, and not only is it practically indestructible when dry, it can take any shape. We just need molds for every nonmetallic part."
This spurred on a spirited discussion that began and ended with finding more Changeling ooze to analyze, which Pharynx gave a saddlebag full. Asking for his name, he refused, only stating that he was a common pony that happened to be in the right place and right time.
/Mission accomplished, Your Majesty.\
/Good. Rejoin your brother. He should be finishing with his assignment, as well.\
Meeting up in front of the empty lot where the Royal Bathhouse used to be, he lightly shivered at his brother's presence.
"You finished the character assassination and counterfeit orders?"
Thorax smirked ever so slightly at the destruction before them.
"They'll be tossed out and the money given to Dan by the end of the week."
He shook his head and focused on getting back to the hotel.
"Are you sure this is the right way of giving Dan everything he needs? Wealth he hasn't earned through false evidence?"
The smile he got made him shake before he clamped down on it and scowled.
"Who said it was false? I can shapeshift to some pretty convincing -."
"Not interested! Not interested! Let's get a film, food, and into our room, in that order!"
Approaching the front counter, they pretended to be their opposite personality as they got what they wanted. Getting into their room, they dropped their disguises as Pharynx tiredly flew to his bed and dropped into it, gracefully grabbing the drink and popcorn that floated over.
"So, which candy do you want to try first, Scaredy Cat?"
He looked at his neon green brother, unamused, before choosing.
"You're never going to let that go, are you?"
He gave a genuine smile before lightly giggling and shaking his head, giving half his sour candy to his curious brother.
"Thanks, Mr. Dumb and Large Muscle."
The beat of silence was ruptured by them loudly laughing till they cried, Thorax's large horns unfortunately being the wrong size to hit the mattress with.
"Remind me who I am, again?"
"You're Thorax, the Brave, Bold, and Slightly Sociopathic."
"Uugggghhhh… Remind me to place,'Owner of Common Sense', at the end sometime. Once I've learned it, that is."
"I'll be glad to teach you, older bro."
She was shocked at the sight of the underweight, scarred, and trembling Discord in Luna's bathroom. It ripped her heart when he noticed her and begged for a break.
It all started when human Dash had finished excitingly chatting with her Equestrian counterpart about teaching her to fly. Slightly embarrassed, Rainbow used her Chaos Magic to give her a headstart in learning.
"Thanks!! And don't worry, we'll get through this together, and stronger than before!"
For the first time, Rainbow felt a flicker of hope that she cautiously kept alive as Dash flew to Canterlot with a long and lingering shout.
Meanwhile, Pie was talking with Pinkie and her coltfriend, Cheese Sandwich, about apology parties, sneaking into the Changeling Kingdom, and designing death traps in order to disable them, as rational ponies do.
As Dash landed in front of the gates, Dan escorted her to the dining room as a tired Luna nearly stumbled over her presence.
"You're… The human Rainbow Dash, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Just call me Dash."
Nodding, she nearly fell asleep then and there, only waking up thanks to automatically magically pinching herself.
"Feel free to use Our room and lavatory. 'Tis unwise for them to be unused. Good day."
She teleported out, leaving a rapidly jumping and excited Dash, Dan guiding her to Luna's room per her request. As he left, she looked around and curiously touched herself, blushing.
"... Still feels weird to be naked and for it to be the default. Eh, at least I'm not going to be here for long. Not about to give up meat or fingers!"
She struggled with the smallest towel, which still covered half of her when folded, and the door, placing the former on her back. Walking into a cloud of steam, her sharp hearing found a sobbing creature inside.
"What the…?"
She used her wings to clear the air, finding the creepiest creature lying in the massive bathtub in the center of the room, sobbing into its claws.Dr. Discord, Ph.D , thank you very much , as I've spent too much time and money for you to not use it while I help make and clean your messes.
"Why…? Why did you do it…? I… All I wanted was light-hearted and fun chaos while… While… Oh, Celly, you couldn't have taught her better…? And-?!"
"Um, hel-?"
His terrified scream and look of absolute fear as he scrambled to the far side of the tub sent shockwaves through her heart. Seeming to steel himself, he suddenly prostated at her hooves.
"F-f-forgive me, Your Highness! Please, n-n-not today, M-m-my Queen, p-p-plea- not today !oh, just make it quick, for the love of Faust !!"
He then curled into a ball while shaking, begging, and wailing harder than ever while she continued staring, shocked at the display. Hesitant, she reached out a hoof and began stroking him, him freezing as she did.
When she was done she gently released and stepped away.
"... Y-y-you're not Her Majesty, are you? You're h-h-human?"
She smiled kindly and nodded before hugging him again, this time he hesitantly returned it, soft at first before increasing the pressure to where she actually felt firm squeezing.
"W-who else have been torturing you?"
"Step. Away. From. The traitor."
Gilda was curious, despite herself.
News from Canterlot was that another human had appeared not long after Jason, and the ponies and remaining pony-buckers were helping him with something regarding money and a position in Canterlot.
Eh, ultimately, not her problem, especially after the flankshow that was the trial that other human had magically set up using that staff.Secret Baking Admirer From Afar .
She has gotten it and others from a griffonness who lived very far away, whose fur and feathers were a sensible light and dark pink, respectively. Unlike one bright pink annoyance of a pony.
While it was slightly infuriating that she refused to give her her name, nor did anygriff know of any other griffon majority city or town that far away, she wasn't really complaining due to the increased business she had, and how cheering others up were having a domino effect of cleaning up the town and restoring their pride, however slight.
Taking them and the rest of the warm scones out, she found a line of her regulars wrapped around her house. Beginning her sales, she was surprised to find dragons in line as well.
"What brings you lizards all the way here?"
"Your scones, believe it or not."
"You're right, I don't believe it. Blueberry, strawberry, or raspberry?"
"One of each, please."
Raising her eyebrow at the medium-sized jewel given to her by the red male as the orange female grabbed the scone-filled bag, she made sure to keep it close.
During the rest of the day, she overheard something about the human also being embroiled in a blackmail scheme against a trio of royals. Interestingly, a majority of the ponies, and all of them pony-buckers, for that matter, were trying to persuade and petition the court to just give him their whole estates.
At the end of the day, she wearily entered her house, dragging her money bag. Dropping it in her bedroom closet, she proceeded to drop herself into bed, falling asleep instantly.
Grumbling, she stretched herself from her claws to her wings. Flying to the door and gently opening it with a bang, she politely roared in the face of the idiot who dared wake her up.
"WHO'S THE FEATHERING MORON who woke me up…"
She gulped and nearly wet herself as her wide eyes took in a pissed off squad of armored dragons, the Dragon Lord among them; a serious and lethal looking six-pony group who were clearly Burning Soldiers; a nervous crowd of fellow griffons; and an amused Dan holding a leather blanket.
"Me. I would be that 'feathering moron', Ms. Gilda."
"U-um, w-well, I had just woken up from my nap, Ambassador, so-."
"It's perfectly alright, Ms. Gilda. Or would you prefer, 'Gilda'?"
"N-no. You can- feel free to call me whatever you want."
"I prefer to treat others with respect, so, 'Ms. Gilda' until you're comfortable around me. Name's Dan, by the way."
Nodding, she stepped aside, wordlessly inviting him in, only for him to shake his head.
"I'm here because you are the only young griffon around who commands respect from the whole community, and I need your permission for something."
As he laid out the plan, she thought he was flat-out insane, but glances at the cutting edge climbing equipment the dragons and ponies had, along with the top-of-the-line protective gear Dan wore, caused her to keep it to herself.
Yes, self-preservation is the best way to go.
As she led them to the Abysmal Abyss, the crowd only increased around them until there was a massive crowd of following spectators.
"Why did you need me to come with you? You clearly have everything you need and it's not like anygriff would have cared what you were doing… Until you brought the Idol up, of course."
"I want everything to be as transparent and legitimate as possible, Ms. Gilda. After all, what's a Queen without a crown or symbol of authority?"
"Uh, why me? I'm-."
"The only griffon other than Gabby who took it upon herself to do something about her surroundings. I also have the word of a certain pink griffon about the work you've done lifting up your fellow griffons."
She fell silent at that. As the ponies and dragons finished preparing themselves, Gilda silently mulled over what she was told, then made up her mind.
The minutes passed in agonizing slowness, until the team began pulling up the massive amount of rope. Much to everyone's surprise, they were having trouble pulling him up, the minutes passing even slower as the human slowly emerged from the abyss.
"You did it when you didn't need to do it, nor were you forced to. My King."
She bowed, much to his and the other creatures' surprise.
"W-why-?"
Beginning at a normal volume, she quickly grew louder so that everygriff heard her.
"It's all so clear now, Your Majesty. The recipes, the scones, the projectile weapons… You've been working behind the scenes to boost our pride and help us improve without the Idol!Long live The King !"
She started the chant, which the rest of the crowd, including the dragons, took up. This caused the ponies to look amusedly at a blushing and confused Dan who was visibly stuttering.
"You want me to be your King? Alright, fine! Gilda, consider yourself my Right-Hand bird-kitty. You choose those who are trustworthy and knowledgeable to supervise various categories in the kingdom, from finances, to war, weapons, food, and so on!
To the same question from various individuals in the crowd, he answered,
'No, she's not going to be my-.'
A gasp rose from the crowd, much to his and her growing embarrassment. Looking at each other, they turned to the nervously questioning crowd and stood next to each other, holding hand and claw with embarrassed smiles to the cheerful roar of the crowd.
'We're not going to, ahem, build a nest, are we?"
"Unless we discover I can lay your eggs, no, not literally. A married, Royal home? Yes."
"... I think I'm okay with that… Dear."
"Probably the same thing here… Honey."
The wedding was scheduled for the middle of next week.
"Diamond Tiara, we are very disappointed in you."
Behind their desks stood the Principals, usually nicknamed, 'The Twin Princesses', due to their nearly royal-like behavior. At that moment, she was desperately trying to stay upright and keep her lower body dry.
"W-w-what did I-?"
"Principal Luna" interrupted, her slitted eyes opening and staring into her soul.
"You very well know what you were planning to do, Ms. Tiara . Be glad that it is her sister you are primarily dealing with and not Nightmare Moon. She is dealing with more important things than one little bratty upstart who didn't think things through."
At that, a chair moved and caught her as she realized that Nightmare Moon wasn't a myth, and those Seniors were justified to be terrified. She numbly nodded as NNM softly smiled, before setting her face into granite as she wore a military backpack and marched out, Gilda following.
"Now, what were you thinking of doing with the information you had?"
Her stuttering and slight shaking didn't help matters. A couple of minutes passed before she gained the courage to speak up.
"T-tell the world that there are other humans in trouble, a-and that we should try to do something ."
Thinking it over a bit, Celestia walked from behind the desk and sat next to her, a comforting aura around them. Diamond's shuddering took a bit to dissipate, but when it did, she felt more confident. Just not enough to suppress the tears that suddenly appeared as she hugged herself.
"I-I-I thought I was going to be beaten to an inch of my life, or a coma, after my phone was destroyed! I-I-I-!"
She cried, releasing the emotions she had inadvertently held back. After a bit, she stopped hugging herself, wiping her face with an offered napkin.
"... I, I wasn't sure what I was expecting… Thinking back on it, I only would have made my life and my family's, and the life of everyone else in the school and their families, bad and maybe even worse.
"Do not go there, Diamond Tiara. Your information will never be released. You are safe."
Nodding, they stood up, D.T leaving while pulling out a spare phone and deleting the backup.
Only to stare at a blank backup folder where it was supposed to be, and quickly realizing this wasn't her phone.
"That… That …! Gilda."
Meanwhile, she gave her boss Tiara's phone as they were traveling to the local ROTC just outside the city.
"This will be the evidence needed. Once you've returned to the school, give young Diamond 500 cash for the trauma she suffered and another thousand to replace her phone."
As they approached the gate, a special, silent alarm swept through the camp, throwing the upper hierarchy into subdued terror as they called for their superior.
Nightmare Moon had arrived, and she wasn't there for candy.
Thorax was downright horrifying the way he dispatched the attacking yaks when they threatened to throw, "annoying and lying griffons!" into jail, after almost crushing them to death, of course.
Pharynx did his part, of course, but in a way that they were merely put out of action with a twisted leg or knocked out.
"Next time, older bro, I start, negotiations!"
"Hah! I'm, sorry you, didn't, get to see a race, join the growing, 'Griffon Empire'. What's the new total?"
Pharynx flopped his yellow, fat little body on the nearest suitcase handle, catching his breath.
"If I'm correct-.'
"And you always are, younger brother."
He returned the grin.
"There are five races joining this new, what's officially called, 'The Preservation Alliance'. There's the griffons, obviously; the ponies, with only select ones in Canterlot and Ponyville in the know; the dragons are in the process of accepting Dan as the Dragon Lord's Rid-. That's not what it means, and you know it, Thorax.
He glared at his dirty-minded brother, who returned an innocent look.
'-Ber, alone, which the Griffons are grumbling about, but are politely discussing, I hope.'
"Any other griffon wants to speak up against my husband and I?!"
The remaining members of the council attempted to bow in respect, but their wounds and broken wings prevented them to.
As they limped to the mildly amused Burning Soldiers for magical healing, she returned to a lightly clapping Dan, a custom forged sword and shield on his waist and back. Beside him was an impressed Ember, riding equipment already worn. Gilda focused on the latter.
"You were that confident in me, huh?"
She shrugged, holding up her right claw with a ring that neatly matched the one on Dan's left hand.
"I would've been the queen in your stead once they suffered some light burns."
Gilda shook her head while pointedly wrapping her tail around Dan's waist, which he quietly moaned about.
'Anyway, I'm sure that we now have the numbers, skills, and help for when we find a way back to Dan's world. Only problem is that we still need offensive and defensive weapons, both long- and short-range."
"At least they're doing much better with the Ooze replacement."