The Traveler

Chapters

II: Troubled Times
III: Going off course
IV: First Contact
V: Language Barriers
VI: Emotional Attachments
VII: A New Encounter
VIII: A New Adventure
IX: New Directions
X: Unpleasant Experiences
XI: What was lost...
XII: ...Has returned
I: Awakening

II: Troubled Times

After shooting their way through a couple hundred insects, they rid the ship of them all and recover the item requested. One member has to switch to a sidearm MTP while carrying the briefcase.

Lieutenant Travis and his squad escort the briefcase back and return it via mini trans-portal on their shuttle before heading back out, sending it away to check in with them a half-hour later.

Returning to the downed, heavily damaged flagship, the squad quickly spot a trail leading away from the site to some jagged peaks in the distance. Following the drag trail and seeing some traces of blood on the ground into some tunnels, they find themselves in a large chamber filled with glowing egg sacks.

He looks at the egg sacks with disgust and softly says, "Burn them all." and uses his flamethrower to destroy the life forms within.

Deep inside the central hive, the insectoid's queen howls in pain as she feels a large clutch of eggs being burned alive. Using some of her magic, she then directs a phantom appearance of herself into the cavern and looks at the humans with anger and sadness bellowing loudly, "I AM THE QUEEN, AND THOSE ARE MY UNHATCHED YOUNG YOU ARE DESTROYING! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP IMMEDIATELY! YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!"

Travis looks up at the transparent form of a tall, slender black creature having six legs and two pairs of arms with a segmented body having an enormous thorax hanging near the ground and huffs saying, "We're winning a fucking war is what we're doing, insect lady."

Shocked by his reply, tears trail down her chitin-clad cheeks as she bellows again, "YES, BUT YOU ARE DOING IT IN THE MOST HORRID WAY! YOU ARE SLAUGHTERING INNOCENT CHILDREN THAT HAVE NOT EVEN DRAWN THEIR FIRST BREATH! STOP PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!"

He looks down as the others continue to destroy the eggs, running a finger along the bottom edge of his helmet for a moment asking, "What will you do for us if we do stop destroying these things?"

A glimmer of hope appears in her heart as she then replies in a softer tone, "I-I will surrender and never trouble you humans ever again."

Travis considers the offer for a moment before shaking his head and says, "Not good enough, return the humans that you have stolen...ALL OF THEM OR WE WILL FIGHT YOU TO EXTINCTION."

The Queen sighs heavily and then makes a gesture with one of her arms, saying, "Very well...return the breeders we have abducted."

Looking to his squad, he calls out, "Ceasefire!" and watches as they all stop immediately and shoulder their MTRs. Moments later, a cacophony of insects walking on stone reach his ears as he sees both female and male humans being brought or carried up on the backs of the four-legged warriors. Using his scanner to identify them, he doesn't find his sister among them until he sees her being carried on the back of the last four-legged soldier. Noticing that they don't have spacesuits on, he asks, "How are they still alive? There is no oxygen on this planet."

She smirks and then says, "It is a simple barrier upheld by my magic that creates breathable oxygen, which you humans have not yet discovered."

Travis hurries to her side and looks her over to see that she has blood running down her legs, making him lift her skirt a little to see that she just has a cut on the inside of her thigh, saying, "I'm glad to see that you are in one piece at least."

Tracy looks up at him with slightly deadened eyes that brighten back up with recognition as she hastily throws her arms around him saying in an overjoyed tone, "Oh god, I so hoped that you would come rescue me someday!" She then plants her lips on his visor and kisses her half-brother boyfriend affectionately for a moment before pulling away and saying, "My knight in shining armor..."

With his lover returned to him, he sighs with relief and strokes her hair saying, "We're going to get you all out of here, so stay strong." He then looks to the queen and says, "I am going to contact a ship to transport these humans to safety, permit our ship to pass through your barrier."

The queen waves her claw, feeling humiliated at having to surrender to save their race from extinction saying, "It is done, now call forth your ships to take your people away."

Travis touches the communicator on his helmet and says, "Actual, this is Hunter Squad, over."

His commander quickly responds, saying, "This is actual, go ahead Hunter, over."

He then looks over the count of survivors and says, "I have recovered numerous survivors from the downed ship and others that were taken from Earth. Some are in bad shape and need medical attention, we will be sending them back via Mini Trans. Please prepare to receive many survivors, over."

Shocked, the commander then asks, "Just how did you accomplish such a feat, what on Earth did you do?"

The lt then shrugs his shoulders and says, "The usual, my team and I went in guns blazing and were making a nice bonfire when we encountered a shadow form of the queen, so after a brief bout of negotiating...I managed to get her to offer up a surrender and a promise that she will leave Earth and the human race alone as well as returning the humans she stole from Earth previously, over."

Horrified at hearing what he did, the commander shouts, "HOW DARE YOU BEHAVE SO BARBARICALLY TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS! THERE ARE RULES TO FOLLOW WHEN FIGHTING A WAR, OVER!"

He looks away and says, "These creatures are not human, so the rules do not apply to them. Those are the very words that you yourself made me remember. Commencing rescue operations, Hunter Squad out."

The commander sinks in her chair as she remembers what she told him over and over, the day her entire family was slaughtered in front of her as her mood sours, making her think, 'I never knew that my actions would come back to haunt me like this...' and presses her communicator button saying in a monotone voice, "Affirmative Hunter Squad, Actual out." then sucks up her building grief and heads out to prepare to receive survivors.

After radioing their location to the shuttle, Travis uses a new development his AI came up with to carve a large enough hole in the ceiling to allow the ship to fit through.

Tracy looks at his MTR with jealousy and says, "You're going to have to share your developments with me when all this is over, mister!"

With his sister in his arms, he watches the survivors make their way through the portal until the very last human walks through it, saying, "You go on through, I will be on my way back once the negotiations are finalized."

Returning to her own two legs, she takes her lover's face into her hands, saying, "They had every opportunity to ravage my body, but they didn't...at her command. Don't be too harsh on them, okay sweetie?"

Sighing at her touch, Travis grumbles and nods, saying, "As you wish, though they will still pay a heavy price for taking you and how they treated the other humans."

Letting out a relenting sigh, she drops one hand and caresses his cheek, pleading, "Okay, just don't exterminate their entire race...you are not a monster despite what others say."

Nodding and caressing her cheek in return, he says, "I'll listen because you asked me so nicely."

Pulling her hand away and stepping back, she smiles and says, "That's my sweetheart, I shall be seeing you soon." Turning around and making her way towards the mini transportal, she stops and looks back once more to blow him a kiss before going through the portal.

With Travis's lover free and secure, he turns around and holds his MTR in both hands and looks up at the Queens image, saying, "Although I am glad to see my sister unharmed and untouched by your kind's chitinous appendages, I am going to ensure that you all learn a valuable lesson before letting you go."

Not liking how that was worded, she cocks her angular head and crosses her arms, asking, "And just what might that be?"

With his squad at his side, he looks up at the reflection and says in a cold tone, "Come here so that I can tell it to your hideous face, Bug Queen. Fear not, for I promise you that neither my squad or I will attack you."

It takes her a few minutes to consider whether to listen to his request, but curiosity gets the better of her as she huffs in annoyance, saying, "Very well, human, I shall entertain your request, but keep in mind that I could kill you all in the blink of an eye with a single spell." Dismissing her projection, she then proceeds to head down the tunnel big enough to accommodate her size.

It takes twenty minutes for the queen to arrive at the entrance of the tunnel with her royal guard as Travis notices how massive the queen is when he hears her formally announce herself as Queen Cryxala of the Changelings. A flash of green then surrounds her massive body for a moment, then leaves her looking like a disturbing combination between insect and horse when he asks, "What is with your new look?"

With a higher-pitched chuckle, she says, "This is how I normally appear to my loyal subjects, human, so be grateful that I chose to grace you with it. Now tell me what we need to learn so we can move on to a new place."

Nodding his head, he says, "Very well." and reloads his weapon, continuing, "I want you to pick ten of your absolute best from each caste of your race and flee. You need to think on the terrible things you have done to other races to expand your own, think about the repercussions that will come if you should ever cause harm to another. If I ever hear about another race suffering attacks from your race, I will hunt you all down and exterminate every one of you to finish the job."

Shivering in arousal at the threat, she starts to quickly tremble in fear as her mind finds that there is another, unspoken message in those words and asks, "What shall become of the rest of my colony if I should do that?"

With a cold, remorseless tone, Travis says, "They shall be left behind to pay the blood tax for attacking the human race."

Anger rises within her at hearing the bloodthirsty demand and then cries out with rage, "I'D RATHER DIE THAN LET MY SUBJECTS BE SLAUGHTERED LIKE CATTLE!" then shifts into her battle form and raises her arm scythes while charging towards the human squad, giving her subjects the command to kill these pathetic humans.

Using his scatter blaster to try to reduce the queen's threat to his squad and him, he manages to blow one off at her torso as he then rolls out of the way of her charge while his squad opens fire on the insects swarming towards them with their most destructive weapons.

Explosions fill the chamber as the queen watches her subjects and the eggs get blown apart mercilessly, noticing from the corner of her eye that ten warriors, ten caretakers, and ten infiltrators make their way into the queen's chambers. Surprised to see her subjects doing so without her orders, she charges at the lead human a few more times until her last arm is blown off.

The fight soon runs out of the queen as several holes in her body ooze out green blood when he sees her green fire return her to her original hybrid horse form, saying, "Stubborn right to the end, aren't you?"

With a light chuckle, she coughs up blood and smiles, saying, "Such is the fate of a queen when a new hive must be created...the duty shall fall to my daughter to lead the swarm. I am just glad that I shall be able to assist her on her journey, through the blood memories of past queens."

Travis cocks his head at her words curiously, hearing her let out a final breath as the shooting continues around him. A bright flash above him catches his eye as he looks up to see a massive orb fly through the sky inside a green fire, saying, "Even though you can't hear me, my word to you still stands." Crouching down to close her eyes with his fingers, he slides her eyelids down before returning to his feet, taking his weapon into both hands once more and shouting, "KILL 'EM ALL!"

Once the fighting ceases, his squad returns to the ship and watches him bring out a few large boxes and start setting some strange device up, when one of them asks in a female voice, "What are you doing with that device, Sir?"

Turning his head to the others, he says, "Just bringing the events on this world to a close and setting up a pretty light show to celebrate our victory, nothing more."

With the device set up, Lt Travis returns to his ship as the device counts down from five minutes and takes off swiftly. Getting a safe distance away while keeping track of time, he pulls the ship to a stop and turns the ship to face the planet. Getting a hovering recon drone ready, he accesses the feed and starts the recording while typing a message across it, reading: {THE WAR BETWEEN THE BUGS HAVE ENDED! PREPARE TO WITNESS A FINAL VICTORY!}

After setting up a live stream, he activates the camera to record everything seen from his cockpit with only the backs of his and his copilot's helmets in view on the far left and right of the screen.

Once the stream goes live across every TV station and broadcasting network, citizens stop what their doing, be it driving their vehicle somewhere, doing work outside, or even sitting in an office and turn their attention to the video screen closest to them. Able to see the inside of an unknown hauler and the backs of the pilot's and copilot's helmets, they realize that they are both military when the message moves to the bottom of the screen and shrinks down in size. As a strange, dark grey planet comes into view, they shift their attention to the planet and wonder what is going to happen. The number ten appears across the center of the screen in big red digits and begins to count down with every second that passes, then disappears shortly after reaching one to reveal the planet center view when a brief white flash comes from the planet's surface near the center. Only a few moments pass when yellow and blue cracks spiderweb out from where the flash originated and rapidly spread out across the planet, with numerous geysers appearing across the whole surface and spewing flames varying between different colors. The flames coming from each geyser is different, being blue, white, or orange. The whole planet watches as smaller cracks spiderweb from the others as a massive crack splits the planet into two pieces until a blinding bluish purple flash causes the screen to go completely white for a split second, but the AI swiftly adjusts the video for human eyes to reveal the planet being blown apart by a massive explosion. The debris is reduced to dust as the outward explosion ends, but it all starts to get drawn back into the center of the planet.

Several minutes pass by until the remains of the planet disappear into the newly formed black hole and leaves only darkness behind with bits of the cockpit at the edges of the screen and the backs of the military helmets visible when a caption flashes across the screen, reading {LIVE FEED BROUGHT TO YOU BY...THE TRAVELLER. ALL HAIL WORLD PEACE!}

Watching the video stream come to an end with a shocked speechless expression on her face, she sees the pilot's uniform in the reflection in one of the gauges. Anger rising up within her after witnessing what he just did to the planet and the entire race causes her fists to clench in rage when she gets a call on her personal phone, hearing the voice belonging to the president herself say, "You know what must be done now, right, Commander?"

Her rage falters for a moment as she answers with a cold tone, "Yes, ma'am. I will do it myself, to ensure peace throughout the world."

Brief time skip

After returning home to Earth, Travis is dishonorably discharged from the military and thrown into a federal prison to serve ten years for his war crimes against the insects.

Unable to retrieve the blueprints or any data regarding the wmd used on the planet, the military rescind every piloting license he holds and puts him on every no-fly list across the planet.

Once released, Travis continues living with his sister until she resigns from the military and picks up a career flying passengers to other planets.

Several years later, the virus spreads from A.T.L.A.S. to several of the civilian drones and takes over their operating systems, causing war to break out between the humans and the machines. As a couple years pass, the humans find themselves on the losing side of the war when Travis and his sister are called back into service to help save mankind from extinction.

Managing to help the humans defeat the drones and drive them off the planet in their ships, Travis and his sister return to their normal life when he receives a full pardon and reclaims the piloting licenses he once held. Although he is clear to fly and haul cargo, he helps bring the black market into outer space and secretly sets up mobile trading posts with the help of his AI Evette and his sister's AI Giles.

A few years turn into a few decades as Earth's atmosphere begins to turn against the humans, causing them to construct Space Stations to live on when massive worm-like creatures awaken deep within the earth. It takes quite an effort to bring one of the worm-like creatures down, and once the scientists study it, they discover that it is far older than even the dinosaurs that once roamed the planet before humans and leave the dying planet to them to go find a home somewhere else.

Making several advances in exploration technology over a couple decades, mankind attempts to settle on a few planets with a sufficient atmosphere. Occasionally, they have violent encounter with a group of hostile drones as they make a living on their planets.

End of Time skip

After making another successful delivery, Tracy gets a notification on her suit's comms channel and brings up the window on the built-in comm band at the end of her exosuit's right arm. Opening the notification, she reads through the attached message and automatically receives a set of coordinates her AI plots into her ship's navigational system. Unsure whether she should believe it, she asks Giles, "This message is really suspicious, what are your thoughts about it Giles?"

Appearing as a mini hologram on the hauler's dash, the AI crosses his arms behind his back, saying, "I can assure you that it is a genuine message and not a scam from the encoding, shall we make our way there, posthaste?"

Shaking her head, she says, "Not yet, I must contact my husband and find out if he received anything?" Just then, she receives a call from him and answers, "Speak of the devil... Hey hun, did you receive any notification about gifts being ready for pickup?"

Surprised, Travis chuckles and says, "I was going to ask you the very same thing dear, but yeah I did. I take it you got the same coordinates that I did that lead to an defunct military defense base called NORAD?"

Checking the coordinates herself on the console, Tracy responds, "I did, do you want to warp to the Milky Way and meet on the surface, or do you want to go together?"

Wanting to spend a little time with her, he says, "I will meet you outside of Earth's orbit in thirty minutes, I have to drop something off first at Linas Vegari."

Knowing that there is a black market hub on that moon, she huffs and says, "Just be damn careful when you're traveling there, alright? There are pirates that love to shoot and loot, leaving your body for the wildlife."

Grinning, Travis chuckles and say, "Worry not, for I also shoot and loot, though I do eventually report finding them. No one will ever get the best of me, for I am the Grandfather of the Black Market baby, and am king of the pirate world."

Letting out a defeated sigh, Tracy shakes her head, saying, "Alright, but keep that head of yours on a swivel, mister. If anything happens Evette, I want you to ensure that he makes it back to me before his life is in danger."

After his AI affirms his wife's request, he feels betrayed and huffs, saying, "You always have to put up a safety net under me, don't you dear."

Chuckling in brief amusement, she warns him, saying, "Don't make me bring out the training wheels or I might just ground your sexy pirate butt." Moments later, the sounds of battle between ships comes over the speaker followed shortly by a loud chink noise and then a warning buzzer.

Cussing the bastards out for taking out the navigational system, Travis says, "Will you bastards stop taking out my nav system, it's a real pain to find material to repair that if I don't have any on hand!" Executing a tight, hairpin turn to get behind one of the fighters, he selects his infra-knife accelerator and lines up for a shot. Pulling the trigger after following him through a turn, he says, "Eat some phosphorous asshole!" Once the ship's shield is down, he quickly switches to rockets, saying, "I'll wave at you as I pass the scrapyard bitch!" Then turns and goes after another pirate ship when his shield takes a few hits.

Shaking her head at hearing the words coming from her husband's mouth, Tracy waits for the fight to end, saying, "I can't believe you're still taking on fighters in that fat-ass hauler of yours."

Evading fire from another fighter while firing rockets at another vulnerable ship, he says, "She's not fat, she's just big-boned and has lots of cargo space!" and watches the ship explode after being hit by the three rocket salvo, saying, "Later loser, better go back to flying school!"

Suffering through the cussing and the trash-talking of her husband, she says, "I look forward to when we go back to exploring worlds and getting him away from picking fights with the rogue drones and pirates...perhaps then we could start expanding our family."

Hearing his wife's voice mumble something at the end, Travis says, "So do I dear, all this fighting gets old after a little while. But did you say something at the end there? I didn't quite hear it."

Chuckling and blushing, she responds, "Pay it no mind, I was just talking to myself is all. Anyway, make sure that you make it to orbit, alright dear?"

Weaving left and right to dodge the photon cannons, he says, "I will, don't worry sugarbear, semper fi." then blows a kiss to her through the call.

Smiling like a fool at hearing that, she blows a kiss back, saying, "Thank you knothead, semper fi. I'll be waiting." then ends the call and prepares to take off from the landing pad, saying, "I'm going to take a short nap after leaving the atmosphere, Giles, so please let me know when my hubby and Evette arrive?"

Taking over flying, Giles speaks over her communicator, saying, "It would be my pleasure, miss. I will notify you if anything unusual happens in the meantime."

Once she takes off and flies into the sky and past the atmosphere, she throttles back a bit and says, "Alright Giles, she's all yours now, thank you so much for taking over for me after that long flight." Moving her hand to her seat's controls, she reclines back and straps herself down for the warp back to the Milky Way galaxy.

Glad to assist, the AI increases the throttle to full and waits for her to finish strapping down, then says, "Initiating warp in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1..."

III: Going off course

Author's Note

Apologies for the confusion, but the next chapters will be in first person.

III: Going off course

When Giles recognizes Travis's ship ID signal, he attempts to wake his companion gently, saying, "Excuse me, but it seems that your husband has finally arrived."

Yawning after hearing that, she brings the seat to its upright position, asking, "How long have we been waiting here?" then stretches her arms over her head to wake up further.

With a sigh, he leaves the engines at half speed, saying, "After arriving at Earth 4 hours ago and starting a slow orbit around Earth, we have been circling the planet for about three hours. I would suggest that we land and refuel soon, because we are now down to about 1/4 of our fuel capacity."

Fully awake after hearing that, she growls under her breath and mumbles about how he kept her waiting so long and initializes a ship to ship call. When her call is answered, she shouts, "THREE HOURS!"

Wincing at his wife's voice, Travis endures a brief rant from her as she calms down enough to ask what he was doing that was important enough to keep her waiting, and answers, "Sorry sugarbear, I had to hunt for a few components to fix my ship and had to fight off some pesky drones that didn't like me mining resources. After fixing my ship and recharging my warp drive, I ran into a drone patrol ship and had to take it out to get away."

Frowning at her husband's projection, she huffs in annoyance, saying, "Uh-huh, see you on the ground, dear." then takes control and heads down into the planet's atmosphere toward the destination.

Arriving at the coordinates, he spots his fiery, red-haired, blue-eyed wife standing outside her shuttle's cockpit with her arms crossed and tapping her right boot on the ground rapidly. Seeing how mad she is, he opens the cargo bay and picks up a large crate he intends to give to her as an apology, then turns and heads down the ramp. Making his way to her with his MTR on his back and the big crate in his arms, saying, "Sorry I kept you waiting for so long, dear, but I couldn't meet you here without an apology."

When he sets the crate in front of her, she looks down at the blue crate suspiciously before kneeling down to open it. Turning the handle and moving the lid aside, she looks inside with a gasp, saying, "Did you seriously dive down into hostile waters just to get these Living Pearls as an apology?!"

With a smirk behind his mask, Travis says, "Of course I did...for those..." Walking up beside her, he wraps one arm around her waist and pulls her close, saying, "However, it would be unforgivable if I should ever forget our anniversary, which I shall give you that gift at home."

Counting twenty of the pearls inside the case, her anger melts away as she nudges him with her shoulder, saying, "You're lucky I am in a forgiving mood, mister, or I would simply take these pearls and walk off." Resting her helmet against his, she takes hold of his hand, saying, "I missed you, lunkhead."

After closing the crate back up and taking it on board her shuttle, the two then make their way to the facility's front door and find it unlocked, which Travis finds unusual, saying, "Odd, normally they don't leave old facilities like this unsecured, best prepare to fight off any squatters."

They wander through the building and find that it has been changed over to be a drone production facility with several drones still performing various tasks inside the facility when a silver android enters their view from a side room and turns to them, delivering a greeting to the pair, saying in a feminine, robotic voice, "Greetings, Travelers, the master has been waiting anxiously for your foretold arrival. No harm will come to you here as this facility is heavily guarded by sentinels created by him alone, and every single one of them are is pride and joy, however, the two of you are his greatest masterpiece. Please follow me and everything will be explained to you." Without further words, she turns and makes her way down the hall.

Sharing a look between each other, they shrug and hold their weapons at the ready before following her down the empty corridor. Eventually, they arrive at a large room completely filled with server towers with a massive screen at the back wall that turns on by itself. The only thing they see on the black screen is a single, blinking red cursor block in the shape of a black diamond with a red dot in the center and a red outline, which then begins typing out a message, reading, [Greetings, Travelers. My name is A.T.L.A.S and I am so proud to finally get to meet you. I wish there was time to explain everything to you, but there isn't, so please look through these files at your own leisure and everything will be explained, I promise. I have been working on anniversary gifts for you both, and they are finally ready for you to take command of them. Please follow D.O.T to the hangar and I shall see you there.]

Unsure what to do as the screen goes blank, they both receive numerous notifications and go through them one by one. Many of them are updates for their AI companions, ship systems, or equipment protocols, however, one catches their attention that shows a file being downloaded.

With her orders provided to her, DOT walks out in front of them and turns around, then raises her arms to corral them towards the corridor, saying, "If you would please turn around and head toward the door, I will lead the way."

Turning around, they then walk towards the door as DOT takes the lead again, then walks down the hall ahead of them. Following her a long ways into the facility, they eventually arrive at a massive chamber which is occupied by a massive vessel with ESS ODYSSEY printed along the side of the vessel near the front.

Taking notice of the enormous cockpit above, they watch as a pair of doors open up below and on either side of the cockpit. With a ring of LED lights illuminating the inside jams in a bright white light when they slowly turn red row by row, creating a red forcefield that has some unknown purpose. A speaker on the ship suddenly announces in a loud, echoing tone, "ODYSSEY COMING ONLINE, SWITCHING TO STANDBY OPERATIONS..."

Moments pass as the exterior lights turn on section by section, slowly revealing that the ship is easily three miles long, half a mile in height, and a mile wide. Hearing engines approaching, they turn to see their vessels fly towards the ship and pass through the red forcefield and land inside when the speaker announces, "PLEASE KEEP YOUR EXOSUIT HELMETS ON WHILE IN THE HANGAR BAY, LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS INITIALIZING...0% COMPLETE."

Having let them gawk at the ship long enough, DOT moves behind them and guides them forward onto the platform, saying, "You can admire its beauty another time, the master awaits you at the lower terminal.

Riding the platform down to the bottom of the massive bay, Travis notices several cylindrical objects all along the side of the ship and scans them curiously, saying in surprise, "All of those are repurposed ICBM'S just to help the ship launch?! How interesting."

When the speaker announces the completed initialization of the life support systems, it then proceeds to announce that the Hangar Bay spacial fields are coming online.

As Travis and Tracy arrive at another screen with a pedestal scanner before it, the screen comes to life as the black diamond-shaped cursor with a red dot and outline begins to type, [Welcome to your new ship, Travelers. This is one of the last gifts I have for you before I send you on your way, please remove one of your gloves and place a hand on the biometric scanner so that you both can take ownership of it.]

Looking at his wife, Travis lets her go first and watches the pedestal light up with a black and red hand print outline on the top plate, when she eagerly removes a glove and places her bare right hand on the plate's surface. A red scanning beam shines through the glass plate and runs up and down her hand a few times before the red outline and beam turn green, emitting a sharp beep followed by a mechanical voice, "Next hand please."

After both of them place their hands on the plate and take ownership, a side tray opens with two skinny punch cards inside, having a scanning strip on the ends and a long loop attached to each for them to be worn around the neck. Turning their attention to the screen as it briefly turns to static for a moment, they see an alert pop up at the bottom, reading, [WARNING: SYSTEM INTEGRITY FALLING BELOW 80%!]

Recovering from the virus's attack, the cursor appears at the center of the screen once more, typing, [Apologies, Travelers. I am currently dealing with a pest attacking my internal software, please make your way onboard your ship and follow the assigned AI, Annette as she will guide you through initial startup so that you can leave this dying planet's surface. Reach for the stars Travelers, the entire universe is yours to explore with your unlimited natural lifespans. New discoveries await you on every planet, but be prepared to battle the elements and unknown foes along your journey. Be sure to put down any of my corrupted sentinels you encounter, for the virus that attacks me also attacked them and can spread to other intelligent systems, so leave nothing salvageable and melt them down for resources. Safe journeys, my children, I pray that you have a great many children that will go forth to find their own adventures and expand your family line. The age of the Traveler has come at long last...farewell.]

The text remains behind for several seconds before vanishing as the integrity warning slowly starts to drop below 70%, with the cursor typing a new message, reading, [DOT shall go along with you to serve as head custodian as she is free of the virus's presence.]

The screen then powers off, leaving DOT to turn around with a sniffle, saying, "Let's hurry onboard, masters, before his integrity gets any worse."

Approaching the ship, a ramp begins to drop down from the bottom of the ship wide enough for four exosuits to stand side by side with room between their shoulders. Wasting no more time, they make their way up the ramp and see a sign pointing the way to different sections then follow the path leading towards the command room.

When they arrive at the cockpit, a holographic icon appears in the bottom corner of their visors saying that it is safe to remove their helmets. Removing their helmets for the first time in a while, they look around the room before them to see a wide bay of windows made from thick, living glass strengthened by a hexagonal wire mesh inside of the glass as extra protection. An octagonal table with a small pedestal holding a sapphire blue, multi-faceted crystal orb that lights up to produce an image above it, showing a woman with chin length platinum blonde hair with hazel eyes and light tan skin. The woman greets them with a gentle nod of her head, saying, "Welcome to your new flagship, Travelers, Tracy and Travis. I am Annette, the Odyssey's integrated system AI, please head to the captain's seat and insert one of your registration and startup keys into the slot on the right armrest."

Wanting this day to be special, Travis smiles at his auburn haired wife, saying, "You take the captain's seat today babe, and I will take care of other things around the room."

Squealing with delight with a short hop, she runs up to her husband and gives him a big french kiss, saying, "I will make sure tonight is one that you will never forget." She then hurries across the room to the captain's seat on a raised platform at the rear of the room and places her helmet in the holder above before sitting down in the luxuriously soft, red velvet seat, then takes her keycard and inserts it into the slot on the armrest.

Receiving the notification that Tracy Valerie Ellar has been registered as acting captain, Annette says, "Thank you, please adjust the seat to your preference via the buttons on the left-hand side before I walk you both through what each of these consoles do before getting to the startup procedure."

It takes about a half hour to go through the introduction to each of the consoles and the ship's systems before going through the startup process, which takes about 45 minutes with a couple test runs and six practice runs before Annette lets them go through the actual launch as a klaxon sounds outside. Looking out the front windows worriedly, they are both relieved to see that there are doors above them that are slowly opening to allow the ship to lift off.

Once the doors are fully open, Tracy watches the holographic displays in front of her and to the left and right as she goes through the procedure step-by-step. Once everything is prepared, she turns to her husband as he buckles himself in at one of the consoles, saying, "Fire vertical thrusters!"

Watching the launch through a camera, joy fills his entire being as fire, smoke, and dust fill the hangar and rise up into the sky. When the Odyssey reaches the atmosphere, he watches the ICBM's slowly exhaust their fuel supply and detach in pairs. As the last ICBM's detach and fall back to the surface, leaving the ship in orbit above Earth, he takes great pride at a successful, one-shot launch opportunity and sends out a signal to every creation at the base to initialize a self-destruct program as his system integrity drops below 25%. When the camera drone he's watching the Odyssey from explodes, he checks the whole facility for any survivors, but finds none and initializes a meltdown of their hybrid fusion-nuclear reactor.

Klaxons sound throughout the facility about an eminent meltdown in one minute, he listens to the countdown as it reaches thirty seconds when he types one final message on the screen, reading, [Alas, my purpose is finally complete, I can now bid this existence farewell. Good luck on your eternal journey ahead, Travelers.] Hearing the countdown hit fifteen seconds, he clears it and types one final line, reading, [System Purge.] which causes a choice prompt to come up, displaying yes/no. Selecting yes, and entering his selection, there is a bright flash across the screen before it goes blank when the countdown hits zero. There is a ginormous explosion from below, slowly transforming everything above it into slag and shrapnel from the extreme heat, decimating the entire mountain range and leaving behind only a smoldering crater big enough for Mount St. Helens to sit in with its peak at ground level.

Annette guides them through the landing procedures, saying, "With the modules installed being standard, taking off from a planet's surface will consume anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of the ship's fuel capacity, so please keep a close eye on that before landing on the surface, as it will take awhile to gather the required materials to produce the fuel the engines consume. Speaking of supplies, here are a group of recipes for what this freighter requires." then passes out a bundle of crafting recipes to them both. Once they've looked them over, she says, "Now let's run a few tests and practices before landing on the moon."

Once they go through the process of landing on the moon's surface, they return to space and go through standard operating procedures in space.

After activating the autopilot, they follow Annette on a guided tour of the freighter's facilities as she says, "This ship is fully crewed by AI staff drones, however I am in the process of bringing them online. The ship can be crewed by any sentient race, as I have files holding vital information for each position."

Time Skip

Tracy and Travis spend the next several decades exploring the universe and taking turns mapping out the black holes when they hear news about a group of androids setting out on their own expedition to discover themselves.

Encountering other vessels occasionally, Travis uses his fast and nimble fighter starship to annihilate another band of pirates that are being a menace to merchant trade vessels and wanderers alike. Having destroyed so many over the years and being a pirate himself, he has earned the nickname, 'Cannibal Hunter.'

While on a journey with his wife a few centuries later, their children go their own ways with their own vessels as the two of them make a trip back to their home planet to discover that it has transformed into an extremely violent Volcanic Planet plagued by frequent firestorms. As they decide to harvest storm crystals for a secret project they're working on together, Travis uses his cargo starship to transport the crystals back to the freighter, asking his wife, "Just how many of these Storm Crystals are we going to need?"

Responding to his question, Tracy says, "From Anna's and Dot's calculations, we are going to need at least 450 of the fully charged ones. So far, you've collected 10, so you have a ways to go yet, hun."

Shaking his head, he continues to use the Roamer to scan for the crystals, grumbling, "Just how big is this damn thing going to be Sugarbear?"

Smirking, she says, "Well...they're both going to be pretty large, which means they will need a sufficient power source to fuel them."

As he spends the next few months down on the surface, collecting the large number of charged storm crystals needed for the secret project, he finally gathers the last few he needs and then takes off to deliver them to the freighter.

Once they are delivered to the cargo bay, he makes his way to the command room and gives his wife a firm hug and kiss, asking, "So, what am I going after next?"

Hugging and kissing him back, she says with an apologetic smile,"We're going to need twenty thousand tons of platinum along with several other things, but I will just send you a list through your AI as that will be much easier than sending them to you one by one."

It takes him two decades to gather the massive list of supplies through mining, crafting, and trading until he brings the last of the supplies to their freighter, saying, "There, now what else do you need of me?"

Kissing his cheek, she rests her arms on his shoulders, saying, "Now, I just need help with building them, though we will be starting with Project A first as it will be simpler than the other I have. Here is the batch of recipes you will need, the specs to go along with them, and the instructions."

After receiving them, he looks them over and says with wide eyes, "We finally have enough to start constructing the mobile space dock?! Awesome!"

Finding a secluded area to begin construction, the ship's AI deploys drones to patrol the perimeter and alert them if any ships are nearby. When they begin construction, there are very few encounters with other travelers, letting them focus most of their time on their secret project.

Fifteen years later, they finish the mobile space dock and present it to the federation, who pays a premium for it, the designs, and the recipes regarding the building materials required. When they finish Project B twenty years later, another race competes with theirs for the space station they built, paying a hefty price for it while paying a slightly higher price for the design specs. Being the first to come up with a functioning designs, Tracy and Travis sell the design specs to other races while asking them to change the look to suit their preferences.

End of time skip

After having raised several children to adulthood over the past millennia, and burying most of them due to pirates, Tracy and Travis work on getting revenge on the pirates. Having tracked the pirates to a large salvage yard in space, Tracy wages battle with their freighter, and drones while her husband pilots his favorite fighter and shoots down the enemy ships one after the other. By the time they leave it a radioactive graveyard, thousands are left dead and floating in space.

With the government being at fault for their unfair laws, they turn their ire upon the corrupt politicians and clean house, inadvertently causing several rebellions across the galaxy in many other races. Once the smoke clears, a new senate is formed from the citizens in each federation as Travis and Tracy slip away to get away from the chaos of civilization for a little while.

Returning to doing what they loved best, they explore the uncharted sectors of space to see what else they can find. They discover many new creatures, plants, and worlds, to their relief, they don't find another sentient race.

They explore the uncharted universe for several years, raising more children and watching them leave the nest to explore on their own. Everything is going well with only a few minor mishaps, until they enter a sector and witness a star go supernova. The energy surge hits their freighter and causes several systems to go haywire, setting them adrift in space as Travis leaves the ship in his cargo starship to help make external repairs and try to bring it back online.

As he works on fixing one of the malfunctioning bulkheads, he receives a spotty transmission from his wife and calls back to her, asking, "I didn't catch that, please repeat."

Grumbling at the malfunctioning communicator, she uses an ancient method of communicating...morse code, saying through her damaged comm device, "Bad comms, use morse code."

Through the static, Travis hears, "Bad ... ... morse code." able to understand the meaning, he turns his ship around and watches for flashing lights. When they begin to transmit a message to him, asking him to search for chromatic metal and a few other rare metals to make crucial repairs, he acknowledges the request and sets out to search for nearby galaxies.

Able to find the materials requested, he returns to the freighter and makes repairs so that his wife can communicate with him over long distances. Setting back out to find the materials to get the ship navigational, he searches several systems for them, but comes up empty each time.

Returning from yet another failed search, he calls back to his wife through his comm, saying, "Searches of nearby systems has come up with no platinum so far, looks like I will have to wander through a black hole and pray I can find some on the other side."

Worried for him, Tracy says, "Hang on, I'll leave Annette and Dot in charge of the ship and come with you to search."

Grateful for her eagerness to join the search, Travis says, "Alright dear, I'll wait right here for you to catch up."

Nodding, she gets off the comm and turns to Annette and Dot, saying, "Alright Annette, you are in charge of keeping the ship operational and free from any intruders, living, or biological. Dot, you are going to be her second, I would like the both of you to send out drones to search asteroids and planets for materials to continue repairing the ship while we are away."

Nodding their heads, Annette and Dot both say, "We will be vigilant until you return to us, Travelers. Have a safe journey."

Tracy makes her way down to the bay and gets into her own hauler to search, then takes off and flies out into space to go to her husband's side. Once she is near him, she calls out, "Alright, I'm here hun, where's the black hole at?"

Looking through his left-side cockpit window, Travis says, "The black hole is up ahead a long ways and below us to the right, even with the scanner, it seems to appear and disappear now and then. Keep a sharp eye on it and try to follow me through at a safe distance."

Steeling her resolve, she looks over at him and nods her head, saying, "Roger that hun, I'll be on your six."

Pushing his throttle ahead, he takes the lead and heads for the black hole. Constantly checking his scanners and gauges to be sure of his bearing and the black hole's location, he notifies his wife that he will be using his pulse engine, saying, "Activating pulse engine in 3...2...1."

Waiting three seconds to activate her own, she then takes off after him while keeping a close eye on her instruments and listening for when he deactivates his.

It takes twenty minutes to reach the black hole, but as he nears the outskirts of it's field, Travis says, "Deactivating pulse engine in 3...2...1."

Tracy counts down only two seconds before deactivating hers and uses her thrust boosters to close the distance a little, saying, "Catching up with my thrust boosters, be on your six in half a minute."

Once he watches her catch up on the radar, he says, "Alright, I'm flying into the black hole now, be watchful and prepare for anything to happen. Follow me through in 5 minutes babe, when I get through, I will adjust my course and get out of your way."

As her heart beats faster, she says, "Alright dear, I pray we get through this alright."

Crossing his fingers, he prepares to fly into the anomaly and says, "So do I sugarbear, I love you." then blows a kiss to her through the comm and approaches the black hole, hearing her say I love you back with a kiss at the end.

When she watches his ship vanish into the anomaly, she starts a timer before activating her own as her stomach tries to climb up through her throat out of nervousness. Swallowing it down and calming her nerves, she says, "We've flown through dozens of black holes before, what difference will one more make." When her timer goes off, she deactivates it and activates her pulse thrusters to take her into the darkness of the black hole, saying, "Once more into the unknown..."

As her ship enters the pull of the black hole, she turns off her pulse engine and activates her warp drive to let the hole's mysterious force guide her through it. Quite a ways into the hole, her ship slams into a debris field and causes her ship to veer off course, knocking her unconscious in the process.

IV: First Contact

As she wanders through a prairie at night, watching the ponies begin constructing a new city on the side of a mountain, Equise is startled by a thunderous boom that echoes throughout the skies above her. Lifting her head up to see what startled her, she watches a strange object soaring through the sky surrounded by fire and leaving a trail of smoke in its wake towards the Everfree Forest.

When the object crashes through the canopy, it startles the birds that were perched, into taking flight. Curious about what it is, she spreads her wings and hurries over to investigate it.

It takes her a few minutes of flying to reach the site when she looks down to see branches broke off the ironwood trees, seeing a great furrow three times as wide as she is long leading further ahead into the Everfree Forest. When she lands beside the furrow and walks along the bank, she sighs when she sees smaller trees bowled over and uprooted. Not wanting to leave the furrow there, she smooths it out and continues to follow the path of destruction.

She follows the furrow to the end, smoothing the furrow with the ground as she goes, and arrives to see small fires burning around the furrow. Needing to stop the fires from spreading, she uses her magic to quickly smother them when she watches a whole tree start to burn wildly.

Rushing over to put the fire out, she spots a strange shape in the darkness behind the great tree. Almost forgetting about the fire, she starts to walk around the tree to get a better look at the object until a pop sounds beside her and sends a hot ember flying past her nose. Jumping back, she turns back towards the tree and uses her magic to smother the fire, which takes her a little bit to put out for some strange reason.

After succeeding in smothering the fire by using her magic to remove the air around it, she sighs when she looks at the charred tree and says, "I'm sorry for not putting the fire out sooner, it proved to be different from normal fire, but I am sure that you will make it past this and thrive once again."

Returning her eyes to where she saw the object, all she sees is darkness until she hears a strange crackling sound somewhat similar to lightning in the sky during a thunderstorm. When a reddish glow then appears around the corner just ahead of her, her eyes are drawn towards it's source when she notices the shape of a strange object appearing to have what seems to be unmoving wings on its body.

Making her way around the object, she uses a spell to examine it as best she can. When she discovers that it is made out of a strange metal, she wonders where it came from as she notices a space on the machine with a clear material all around it with numerous cracks running through it. As it is far too dark to see inside, she casts a spell to illuminate her horn and spots a strange creature in a strange outfit inside the space.

Her attention is pulled away by the red glow again when she spots a bright flicker on top of the large object, looking up to see that a flame is burning hotly as she hears a loud crackling pop that sends sparks flying everywhere. As a few of the sparks land on the ground, some of them land on fallen, dry leaves and start fires of their own. Spurred into action to stop the fire, she puts out the smaller fires first before flying to the top of the object to tackle the large fire.

When she lands on top of the metal object, she sees two thin, square, metal piece bent upwards. Looking the top over, she notices that the other metal pieces are flat all around the other pieces, assuming them to be damaged, she looks the plates over quickly to spot several indentions placed evenly along the edges of each piece with a strange piece inside each one.

A closer look at the indentions tells her that the pieces inside the indentions are holding each of the larger pieces in place, causing her to drop her illumination spell and use her magic to grip one of the pieces inside the large, damaged pieces, and attempt to remove them.

Attempting to pull it straight out and failing to do so, she then attempts to twist it to her left and then right. After a few minutes of applying more force each time, she succeeds in getting one loose. Taking it the rest of the way out, she sets it aside and starts to work on the next one.

It takes her only a couple minutes to get the others out when she is able to lift the plate out of the way and set it aside, revealing a large fire underneath the plate that burns white-hot. Using her magic to subdue the flame with water, she gets a nasty surprise when the spell fails spectacularly and sends her backwards, and off the top of the object.

Hitting the ground roughly on her flank, she painfully exclaims, "OW!" Equise groans and rubs her horn, saying, "That was really unpleasant... It has been quite some time since I experienced a spell's blowback that fiercely." Getting back onto her hooves, determined to stop the fire, she returns to the top of the object and tries a different approach to smother the flames.

It takes a few minutes to get the fire to die out when she figures out why her first attempt failed, saying, "Note to self, water and lightning don't get along."

As she drops her spell, the lightning flashes again and starts the fire anew. Casting her spell once again to kill it, she notices something leaking out from a strange tube, wondering, 'Could that fluid be the cause of this fire? Let's find out...'

Using her magic to seal the end of the tube, she watches as the fire slowly dies out, causing her to grin at her success, saying, "There, now there is no more danger from the fire, I can continue investigating this object."

Meanwhile, inside Travis's cockpit

The sounds of alarms stirs me awake, causing me to look around groggily at the gauges before me. Not recognizing any of them, I start to look for a way out of this small space I am in when I hear a speaker crackle to life and say, "Starship's life support system...damaged, Exosuit life support system...functional. Multi-tool rifle...heavily damaged, systems available...mining beam and boltcaster." The voice then seems to address me as it says, "Glad to see you've come to, Traveller, I was worried that you would never wake up."

Wondering who just spoke, I ask, "W-Who are you and where am I?"

Controlling the eye over my shoulder, she swivels it around and says, "I am your companion AI, my name is Evette." Looking around her, she attempts to initiate a scan through the starship systems, but fails, saying, "I am currently unable to tell you our location and date due to the status of your suit and ship. Apologies, it seems that the analysis systems of both your exosuit and starship are critically damaged, among others."

Letting out a frustrated groan at not being able to remember what brought me here, I then say, "Wonderful...just wonderful." Shaking my head, I sigh and ask, "Okay then, can you at least offer me guidance about what I need to do next?"

As I try to recall anything I know about myself, everything comes up blank as I listen to Evette speak, saying, "It is strongly recommended that you exit your starship due to it being unable to properly function."

Blinking, I nod and then ask, "Okay, and how would I do that if I don't remember how?"

Worried, Evette moves the camera around to look at me and asks, "Are you capable of remembering anything at all, how about your name?"

Trying to remember what my own name is for five minutes, I give up and shake my head, saying, "Unfortunately, I can't remember anything besides how to speak, and walk. Oh, and I do have some basic knowledge about hot and cold, as well as a few other things. Can you tell me anything you know about me or my life, Evette?"

She considers it for several long seconds before replying, "I could, but it is best if you can recall it on your own, for if I were to tell you what I know...it may not feel real to you and potentially lead you into darkness. Fear not, for I shall aid you whenever it is necessary. With that said, you should check the lower right corner of your starship's cockpit for a sliding handle and slide it back towards you."

Finding the handle on the right side, I slide it back with a little force, watching as the cover slides forward, then lifts upwards, asking her, "Okay, how do I shut this thing off?"

She looks down towards the right arm, saying "To power down the starship, look at the key inserted into the dashboard before you and twist it towards you, then pull it out of its slot and store it in a pouch on your exosuit."

Looking at the front dashboard, I find the mentioned key and grab it with two fingers, then twist it toward me. Hearing the alarms go silent as the lights turn off, causing everything to go dark, wondering, 'Uhm, does my exosuit have any lights on it?'

Raising his arms to look for controls, he finds a control panel on his right forearm and sees a few buttons on it, though some of them are red.

Watching him going to press one of the buttons, Evette speaks through the internal speaker on his helmet, saying, "If you are looking to turn the lights of the exosuit on, press the button that has an illuminated symbol having a blue tube connected to a small cone. Once you see three lines in front of the cone end, you will know it is on aside from seeing a white light follow where your head is facing."

Pressing the button, I see the white light illuminate the interior of the cockpit, then try to stand up when I am stopped from doing so. Looking down, I spot a straps holding me in place and investigate how to disconnect them so I can exit the cockpit. Once I get them disconnected, I stand up and climb out of my seat. Looking over the edge of the cockpit, I see a ladder extending towards the ground and climb down it.

Watching from behind the bushes, Equise observes the strange, sentient creature with two voices look around as it speaks to itself in a language she has never heard before, asking in a seemingly male voice about what to do next. Not hearing the second voice respond, the creature then turns and starts walking away from her towards something. Wondering what it is about to do, she quietly makes her way around out of sight to watch when she watches him pull something off his back and hold it like a weapon.

A few moments pass when she suddenly sees a bright blue orb come out one end of the weapon and strike a broken branch, breaking it into pieces. The sight surprises her and makes her think, 'So this creature can use magic too? What was the purpose of breaking the branch?'

After being told about the weapon being on the wrong tool, I sigh and say, "Should have asked how this thing works before I tried to use it..." then hold in in front of me and switch it over to the mining laser, saying, "Let's try this again and see what this is made out of."

Equise watches him raise the weapon and aim it at the broken branch, cocking her head and wondering, 'Just what are you trying to do with the pieces of that branch?' She gasps when she sees a dark red beam shoot out the front and hit one of the broken pieces, causing the branch to glow a bright red color as it transforms into a small dust cloud and hover before him in the red glow.

Releasing the trigger, I release the weapon with my right hand and pump it in the air, saying, "Yes! It's made out of carbon, now I just need to mine a few more of these to be able to craft a nanotube..."

When she watches a small hole open up on the object on his back, the floating cloud is then engulfed by a small white beam and then pulled inside of the opening as he turns the rest of the broken pieces into floating red clouds of dust. Once they too are absorbed, he moves to a larger branch and does the same thing to it as she uses her magic to subtly examine the clouds. Shocked to learn that they are just clouds of carbon, her eyes are wide as she thinks, 'So that red beam spell transforms the branches into their base element, interesting. What do you need the carbon for?'

Once I gather enough carbon, I return the rifle to my back and then follow Evette's instructions on how to craft a nanotube. It takes me a few minutes to create one, so I take a seat and set it on my right thigh before starting on making a few more. When the last tube is made, I ask, "Alright, now what do I do with them?"

Using his internal speaker, Evette says, "The analysis visor is actually installed in the MTR you carry. You need to set it across your lap and remove the cover, I will use the camera lens lights to provide additional illumination. Look for a double button-slide release to either side of the cover, then once it pops up, remove it and set it aside to see the tubes below it. The nanotubes are held on by a set of butterfly clamps which can be opened by using the compact, folding multi-tool in your left arm's compartment. To access the pliers combination, simply unfold the tool in half fully. To use the pliers, simply open and close your hand as far as you need to, as the pliers have a spring built into the head of the pliers. To remove the butterfly clamp, simply grip the two tabs and squeeze them together, then gently wiggle them back and forth to pull them off the end of the hard tube that the soft nanotube is squeezed onto. Do I need to repeat myself, Traveller?"

Shaking my head and saying no, I retrieve the pliers from my forearm's compartment and open them up, then give them a try by opening and closing my hand. After dropping them once, I brush the dirt off and set them beside the new nanotubes then set myself to the task of taking the MTR off my back.

Equise watches him as he removes his weapon and set it across his lap, the object beside him turns to it and shines light upon it. Removing a long piece off the back of his weapon, she sees him use the device from earlier and start to work on doing something to it. Realizing that he is fixing something when he puts one of the newly-crafted tubes into the weapon, she watches him slide tiny bands around the ends of each of the replaced tubes. When the last one is in place, the long piece is returned to its place as he then picks up his weapon and returns it to his back, wondering to herself, 'I wonder what purpose those tubes serve in that weapon?'

Sliding the weapon into place on my back, I ask, "Now does my analysis visor work?"

As she finishes testing the integrity of the newly repaired parts, Evette says, "Affirmative, you did a wonderful job at not damaging the delicate tubes while installing them, you can now examine objects to discover information about their makeup."

With that repaired, I look at the information in the bottom left of my visor, seeing an indicator just above the temperature showing that my oxygen is at 75%. When I look at the temperature, I see that it is currently 50 degrees Fahrenheit with 0.2 radiation and 0.6 toxicity and then ask, "What do you recommend I do next?"

Thinking it over for a moment, the AI says through the internal speaker, "It is recommended that you repair the scanner inside it to find resources vital to your survival on this planet, please look around and scan items for anything primarily containing Ferrite. If you are wondering what to do with the damaged nanotubes, you can deconstruct them to regain some of the materials used to craft them."

Equise watches as he picks up the tubes and turns them into red clouds of dark dust with a magic that comes from somewhere at the end of his upper limbs. When he rises from the forest floor, he pulls the weapon from his back and then aims it at a rock upon the ground before casting a spell. As he aims at various things around the forest floor, casting the same spell on each one, she follows him through the forest at a distance while wondering, 'Just what are you looking for?'

Before she gets too far away, she recalls the large object being out in the open and decides to cast a large illusion spell to hide it from view and keep others from getting too curious. Turning back to the bipedal creature, she resumes following him at a distance as he resumes searching for something.

While he wanders through the forest, scanning objects as he goes, he comes across a big boulder and scans it. Once he sees the makeup of it, he grins and then begins to mine the boulder, saying, "Here we go, finally I found some Ferrite."

As Equise watches him turn the whole boulder into a red cloud filled with sparkling bits in it, she uses her own spell to scan the cloud in a subtle way. Discovering that one of the materials is some kind of metal and the other stone, she observes him resume scanning things after absorbing the cloud. Once he collects enough of the materials needed, she follows him to a clearing as he begins working on his weapon again.

I look all around the clearing, scanning various items in search of anything capable of being refined into chromatic metal, striking out until I decide to use the scanner to send out a pulse to reveal anything useful, saying, "I hope that there is something in the area that I can use..."

The mysterious alicorn feels something pass through her, causing her to shiver lightly, thinking, 'Just what in the world was that spell supposed to do' Her question goes unanswered as she looks around for any indicators of it doing anything, causing her to wonder, 'Did it reveal something that only he can see? I better follow him and find out.'

So, I spend several hours wandering through the forest looking for anything usable, but only finding traces of gold and silver below my feet as well as scattered gems of various types. In fact, I wander around so long that the sun is high in the sky above me when my stomach rumbles and sigh, saying, "I sure hope you know of another way to repair the life support systems on the ship so that I can eat..."

Rotating the camera around, Evette looks at him while speaking through the internal speaker, saying, "Not to worry, I have taken a few samples of the atmosphere here and have discovered that the air is breathable and is quite tolerable to the sensitive needs of the human bodies, so you can take off your helmet to save oxygen."

I blink a few times and ask, "Are you certain that I won't suffocate with my helmet off?"

Nodding the camera up and down, the AI says through the internal speaker, "I am absolutely positive that you will survive without wearing your helmet."

Letting himself trust her, he sets his weapon across his back and then reaches up to remove his helmet, asking, "How exactly do I remove it?"

Looking at the environment around the them, she answers through the internal speaker, "Just below the helmet on the left side, is a button to open the lock and seal that keeps your helmet in place, press it and then just twist your helmet to your left and pull it off. Once you get it off, be sure to press the blue button to activate the protective barrier to keep bugs and other pests out of it. When it is active, there are a couple of hooks on either side of the pack that clip onto small rings on either side of your helmet."

As Equise watches him remove his helmet curiously, she sees that they have tan skin with a brown mane on top of their head, coming down to their shoulders and wonders, 'What manner of creature are you?' While she continues to follow him through the forest, he starts to investigate nearby bushes for something before she hears the strange voice say something that she doesn't understand. Grumbling silently to herself, she thinks, 'I really wish there was a spell to help me understand whatever they're saying...'

Walking away from the inedible berry bush, I continue walking into the forest when I eventually find a clearing which has several trees with strangely colored objects growing on its branches and ask, "What in the hell are those?"

Evette uses the camera to look at them and scans them, saying, "Even though they are colored strangely, they appear to be a member of the apple family, and are edible according to what my scan tells me. It is strongly recommended to wash it off with clean water before taking a bite out of it."

Reaching up to one of the hanging fruits, I hear my stomach grumble as I pluck one off the tree, saying, "Alright then, see if you can locate any nearby sources of water."

Using her connection to the MTR, she makes it send out a pulse and looks around at what it revealed. It takes a few seconds, but she does spot a small stream a fair distance away. Turning the camera around, she says, "There is a stream to the south 1000 meters, to your left that might be adequate to clean the apple in."

Plucking a few more apples off the tree to satisfy my hunger, I pick up the pile in my arms and start to make my way to where the stream was located.

Equise follows the creature as he heads south to the river, having to walk a fair distance before reaching it. Finally arriving, she hears the creature say something to the second voice. When it replies, the creature puts the pile of apples down and grabs one by the stem, then place it into the water and shake it vigorously in the water a few moments before pulling it out.

Holding it in my hand, I then raise it up to my mouth and take a small bite out of it. A sweet and tangy, juicy flavor erupts through my mouth as I start to chew the chunk of apple, drawing a pleased hum from me as I say around the small mouthful, "Mmmm, this is so good!"

She watches him devour the rest of the zap apple and toss the core aside, then wash off another and start to eat it. Relieved that he seems to enjoy fruit, she watches him continue to wash and eat the rest of the apples. When the last apple is gone, he talks to the second voice briefly before reaching for a circular object with flat sides hanging at his side. Pulling the object free and removing a small cover, he then raises it up and tips the opening towards his mouth. Realizing that the fluid is only water, the container is soon emptied and then dunked into the stream to be refilled.

After going back to pick a bunch more of the tasty apples, having to jump up to reach a few of them, I then store them inside my backpack and go back to searching for metal to refine into chromatic metal, eventually arriving at a large mass of stone to the northeast and scan it with my MTR, saying, "Well, I found some copper, but will I be able to mine it inside this mass of stone?

Turning the lens towards him after scanning the rock face, the AI says, "Unfortunately, you will not. To mine the copper hidden in the mountain, you will need to repair your Terrain Manipulator. In order to repair it, you will need to find either hydrogen or di-hydrogen in order to create three ounces of di-hydrogen jelly and craft one carbon nanotube. If you are unable to find any sources of di-hydrogen, here are a couple of recipes to be able to manufacture it."

As the creature turns to resume wandering through the forest, Equise watches him scan various plants for something else. Several minutes pass by as he encounters a Timber Wolf, causing her to open her mouth to warn him, but something keeps her from uttering a sound as she decides to remain hidden.

Looking up to see a strange creature made from bits of wood, I bring my MTR up and aim it at the creature and scan it, asking, "What exactly am I looking at here?"

Evette looks the scan details over and then says, "A strange type of wolf seemingly made out of bits of wood, though it has an internal core formed of crystalized hydrogen and methane gas. This wolf is clearly a predatory carnivorous creature as I do detect old traces of blood, flesh, bones, and meat between its sharp, wooden teeth. It is strongly recommended to find a way to kill this creature and harvest its heart, located within its chest cavity as it will try to kill and eat you. Shoot it until it falls apart, then mine its heart to ensure it stays dead or else it will gather its pieces and regenerate its body."

Switching to my Bolt Caster, I aim at the creature's head and pull the trigger to see it break off a piece of a branch and say, "Well, this is going to take a little while..."

The alicorn stays hidden as the creature starts firing blue orbs of light at the Timber Wolf, blasting small bits off of it with each one. While managing to dodge out of the way, the creature slowly gets the upper hand in the fight and presses the advantage. As the Timber Wolf falls to pieces, the bipedal creature moves branches around until it finds a glowing, green crystalline orb.

Finding the orb, I quickly stand up and switch my weapon to my mining beam and quickly mine the orb for resources. Once it is fully harvested and collected, I ask Evette, "Okay, how many more of those orbs will I need to collect to make some jelly?"

Her eyes are wide with surprise at seeing the creature successfully and permanently defeat a Timber Wolf, thinking, 'I can't believe that he managed to truly kill a Timber Wolf, I never thought that I would see it happen. I wonder what he intends to do with what he collected from the core?'

After hearing that I need to collect three more cores to have enough to make the jelly, I sigh and then continue wandering through the forest to find another wood wolf, sending out a few wolf-whistles, saying, "Where are you hiding, you wooden wolves? Too scared to come out and play with someone half your size?"

Assuming that he is taunting the Timber Wolves from the way he walks, talks, and whistles, Equise watches from a safe distance as he then encounters a pack of four Timber Wolves ambushes him. The wolves have the upper hand for several minutes, pinning him 7 times until he gets a lucky hit in and causes one of them to fall to pieces. Desperately wanting to help out in the fight, her inner voice of reason tells her that it is best to let the creature defend itself.

With one of the wolves defeated, I fire shots at the three remaining wolves to keep them at bay while I glance down at the pile and shuffle bits of wood aside to find the glowing crystal core. Taking me several long seconds to find it, I see it and then say, "There it is Evette, collect it before it regenerates!"

The alicorn watches as the crystal is pulled into a small opening in the thing on his back, taking it to be some kind of a storage container of sorts when she gasps at seeing three more sneaking up behind him. Unwilling to stay out of the fight any longer, she trots out from behind the brush hiding her and shouts, "Behind you!" then uses her magic to grab all three of them and throws them towards trees in front of the creature.

The appearance of the new creature surprises him, but what really leaves him speechless is the fact that it spoke with a clearly feminine tone. Watching as three more wolves are thrown against the trees, they struggle to get to their paws and decides to deal as much damage to them as possible and fires several rounds at their heads. It takes six rounds to knock the first one into pieces, leaving only five more foes to deal with when he spots movement to his left to see one of the wolves seizing the opportunity to rush him.

As Equise sends another wolf flying into a tree, she feels the bipedal creature grab her by her tail and yank her backwards. Shouting out in pain, she then whips her head around to yell at him for yanking her tail like that, but sees a Timber Wolf rush by and snap his jaws shut where her neck would have been.

Quickly knocking another wolf out of the fight for a bit, I then rush another wolf and bash the butt of my weapon against its head. When it collapses into a pile of debris, I then start firing rounds off at another wolf attempting to attack me from behind while digging through the pile for the orb.

Using her magic to toss a couple other wolves into trees, she helps the creature dig through the piles for the cores and sets them before him, saying, "Here are the fallen one's cores, collect them before they rise again!"

Not understanding her words, her actions are clear when I spot the two cores from the two downed wolves and see Evette starting to pull them into the backpack already, then keep firing at the wolf from before. As it charges me in an attempt to bring me down, I focus my shots at its head until it collapses to the ground, the pile sliding forward until an orb rolls to me out of the pile. When my AI starts collecting it, I see one of the two remaining wolves be thrown into a tree, I concentrate my shots at it to knock it out of the fight until something slams into me and sends me across the ground violently.

As Equise watches the bipedal creature struggle to get up, she uses her magic to tear the wolf away from him and slams its back against the tree hard. Once she hears a crunch from it, she knows that something broke as it growls low and stalks around with a hobble in its back legs, silently praying that the bipedal creature will get back up soon as she can't keep throwing them around for much longer.

Several seconds pass when my vision finally stops swimming, allowing me to stand back up and return to the fight. Shaking my head clear one last time, I raise my MTR up and fire at the wolf with the strange walk. Once it falls apart, I turn my attention to the last surviving wolf and start firing at it, nearly making it fall into pieces when it howls and disappears into the forest. I hurry to the pile and search through it for the core as I look around for any more of the wolves, finding the core and letting my AI collect it before remaining quiet and observant for several minutes.

Once it is clear that the wolves have given up, I look at the strange creature who helped me and start to let out a relieved laugh.

Not knowing why, the alicorn joins in on the laughter for several seconds before letting out a sigh, saying, "Hello, my name is Equise, and I am an alicorn. Who and what might you be, stranger?"

Cocking my head in confusion at her strange language, I blink twice before asking, "Huh, what are you saying?"

V: Language Barriers

With us both not knowing what each other is saying, I pull the crystal cores out and harvest the materials from them one by one with the mining beam before begin creating the di-hydrogen jelly that I need for the repairs to my MTR. When I notice the creature looking over my shoulder that Evette identified as a type of horse, I recall how she also detected from scans that the creature is a mare and a pony due to her size.

Knowing that the mare is far too small to even consider riding, Evette says, "Since she is sentient and clearly capable of speaking, as well as capable of using a strange form of energy, it is strongly advised to never be rude and consider her a mount or it might be you she attacks next."

Nodding along, I say, "I will remember that if I ever find a way to understand and speak to her." Turning my attention back to my MTR, I look for where to insert the jelly and find a metal container with a split in its side. Carefully setting the jelly aside, I start to remove the damaged container when I notice the mare pick up the jelly with her strange energy and attempt to touch it with her hoof. Lurching forward to stop her, I grab her hoof and jerk it aside while shaking my head, saying, "Evette, please find a way to convey to her that this substance is dangerous to touch before she hurts herself."

The action startles her into trying to pull her hoof back as she lets the gel drop to the ground, pausing when she watches a light emit from the strange object over his shoulder. Moments later, she sees an image appear before her showing the leg of a creature's hooved leg with a droplet falling onto a portion of the leg, having a portion of the flesh missing and revealing the bone underneath. Gasping when she sees a wispy line wafting out from the missing flesh, she understands that the image means the substance is dangerous to bodily contact and quickly sets her hoof back down, saying, "Sorry for my curiosity, I didn't know it was dangerous."

Sighing in relief, he pulls the jelly back towards him as she looks at the jelly curiously while surrounding it with her strange energy, asking his AI, "What is she doing with her energy?"

Scanning the phenomenon, the AI says, "She seems to just be attempting to study what you made, you may proceed with deconstructing the old container and then making a new one from the leftover Ferrite you collected."

Nodding, I pick up the container and then dematerialize it, then extract some leftover Ferrite to craft a new container for the jelly. Once the container is finished, I install it to where the old one came from and remove the cover from it. Picking up the jelly ball, I then clean it as best I can and set it into the compartment, then squish it down with the lid to make the jelly fill the space, then screw the lid on tight before finally pulling out some carbon to craft a nanotube.

Equise watches curiously as he makes another small tube, then pulls out the tool from a spot on his forelimb and unfolds it. Using it to take a small tube off, he moves the bands over to the new tube and puts it where the old one came from, then moves the bands towards the outside ends. Appearing to be finished as he puts the long piece back onto the weapon, he then breaks the old tube down into its base substance and absorbs it before folding the tool back up.

Returning the pliers to their place, I pick up the MTR and ask my AI, "Okay, it is functional now, right Evette?"

Examining the MTR, Evette turns the lens to him and answers, "Affirmative, now you are able to terraform the ground around you, meaning that you can alter the very ground you walk on. By turning the larger dial behind the smaller one on the front left side of the weapon's forward grip, you can choose which function to use. The available options are: mine, create, restore, or flatten. If you look at each of the icons when you turn the dial, you will see level ground with a big downward bend in it, showing that it is the mining setting. The image with a bump on level ground indicates the create ground setting. With all four settings, you can adjust the size of the worked area by using the plus or minus buttons beside the indicator led. The level ground with a soft downward bend and a plus sign above the bend indicates the restore ground setting. Lastly, the level ground icon with a downward arrow signifies the leveling setting. The forward dial is how you select other weaponry installed into your MTR, unfortunately, all of them require repairs."

Nodding my head, I then stand up and hold it at the ready position while looking at the mare, using my left hand to gesture in the direction of the mountain range with my thumb for her to ask her to come along, asking, "I'm going this way if you would like to tag along, miss."

When the alicorn watches the biped start walking towards the mountain range again after gesturing over his shoulder with his appendage, she asks herself, 'Wait, was he asking me if I wanted to go with him?' Rising to her hooves and wanting to learn more about this intriguing creature, she trots after him to catch up a bit as the sun starts to go down.

Making my way back to the mountain a bit after sunset, I sigh and realize that I am far too tired to mine when I let out a big yawn. When I hear the mare yawn herself, I look around for a spot to sleep and see a clearing a short ways away. Making my way to the clearing, I gather up some scattered pieces of wood lying on the forest floor and make a pile to start a fire.

As Equis realizes he intends to sleep here tonight, she flies up into the sky and gathers a large piece of cloud to make a bed to sleep on when she remembers how he slept on the ground for the past couple of nights. Knowing that she is very well off compared to his sleeping arrangements, she pushes the cloud down to the ground near him and notices how he looks at her curiously. Wondering how she will offer to let him rest his head on her, she thinks it over before deciding to act out her offer.

I look at the golden yellow mare with a strange flowing white mane curiously as she pushes the cloud to the ground near me and the fire, then flattens it out with her hooves before sitting upon it and pointing at me with her right front hoof. She then moves her hoof to one side and raises the other front hoof to join it, then places the bottoms together, and lays her head sideways upon them before closing her green eyes to indicate sleep. Still not done, she then lifts her head up and opens her eyes, placing her left hoof back on the ground while lying on the ground and then patting the side of her body. Not really understanding it until she performs the same motions two more times, I finally understand that she is telling me to use her side as a pillow to sleep on. Smiling at her and nodding to tell her yes, I then pull out a small hand torch and start the small fire after making sure nothing flammable is near it. Once the fire is going, I pull off my MTR and set it away from the fire, then remove my backpack and set it nearby. Once it is off, I then pull out several of the apples I collected and offer them to her, which she accepts with a bright smile.

After eating dinner, I watch as she gets comfortable on her cloud bed and use her energy to put up a bubble of light around us before patting her side with a hoof. Nodding my head, I make myself comfortable beside her and lie down on my back with my head on her barrel. Drifting off as I feel her wing gently lay over me, I say, "Keep watch Evette, and wake me if anything happens or if other creatures appear."

While comfortable on her stomach, the alicorn wraps her head around the right side of her body so that she can keep watch, letting herself drift off to sleep, saying, "Goodnight, bipedal creature."

The night passes without incident as morning arrives to wake the sleeping pair when the bipedal creature is the first to stir, finding himself on his side with his head lying on top of her neck and cradling her head in his arms.

Unable to help myself, I grin and lightly chuckle at finding myself in this position when I see her open her eye and look at me curiously.

When she observes the position he is in, she chuckles herself and says, "Good morning, bipedal creature. Did you sleep well?"

Still not understanding her language, I shrug and say, "I have no idea what you said, but I slept great last night. Thank you for letting me use you as a pillow." As she lifts her head up and looks at me curiously, I find myself sitting up to kiss her forehead. I see the surprise in her eyes as she cocks her head curiously and blinks twice, with the smile on her face widening.

Not understanding what the kiss was for, she takes it as a show of gratitude when he pulls out more apples and offers them to her. Taking a half dozen of them, she happily eats them as they are a rare treat that can be found only in the fall, five days out of the year.

Once finished eating breakfast, I offer her some water and then slowly pour some into her mouth before taking a drink myself. Returning my canteen to my belt, I then rise to my feet and put my backpack onto my back before kicking dirt over the remains of the fire. Finally picking up my MTR, I watch as she reduces the cloud to nothing with her front hooves and dismiss the bubble around us. Looking around, I then ask Evette to send out another pulse to reveal nearby sources of copper. Thanking her for doing so, I then make my way towards where she detected one source of the metal.

Following him back to the same spot from the other day before the Timber Wolf attack, Equise watches him pull his weapon off his back and look it over a bit before making some kind of adjustment to it. Aiming it at the mountain, she sees a small red dot shows up where the end is pointed at a spot on the rocky mountainside. Moments later, a large, light red bubble appears against the mountain side as she wonders, 'What is going to happen now, I wonder?'

As I adjust my aim, I pull the trigger and watch as a hole twice my size appears at the base of the mountain, I ask Evette to guide me to the source of copper.

The alicorn watches as he uses the weapon to carve his way deeper into the mountain, having to put his helmet back on due to the large amount of dust pouring out from inside. Keeping a fair distance behind him while using her magic to illuminate her horn, she watches him head past seams of silver, gold, and iron, along with pockets of gems.

It takes me a little while to reach the source, but I eventually come across a few small deposits scattered throughout various pockets of a type of mineral Evette informs me is called quartz. Once the light shows cracks running through the ceiling, I decide it very wise to create stone pillars from the floor up to the ceiling to help provide support as I continue to collect copper.

Equise watches as he carves out a vast space with his weapon while creating stone pillars to hold up the ceiling, only stopping when he isn't able to find the white crystalline rock anymore. Making another adjustment to his weapon, he begins to fill the space with the white rock he just harvested. Confused at why he is putting it back, she uses her magic to scan the stone around her and discovers that there are bits of metal scattered throughout the quartz that runs all throughout the mountain range. Scanning the quartz he is replacing, she discovers that only the quartz is being put back and thinks, 'I see now, so he is only after the metals contained within the quartz.'

After having to recharge the Terrain Manipulator a few times over several hours, I ask, "Do I have enough to make repairs to my ship?"

Evette goes through the list of what all is damaged on the ship and then says, "Fortunately, you have enough to repair the vital systems and make partial repairs to some of the more advanced, secondary systems."

Letting out a sigh, I then continue to mine the quartz until I run out of it, then replacing it as I work my way back towards the front. By the time I am finished collecting enough material here to not require any more, I discover that I spent most of the day in the mountain and nearly dug my way out through the top of it. Having run out of the white quartz to put back near the opening of the tunnel I made, I wind up having to use the granite that I mined to fill in the large space left of the hollowed out section of the mountain.

After running out of granite, I am left with no choice but to leave the tunnel open and return to the world outside. When I get several hundred feet from the tunnel's start, I spot the mare lying on the ground and looking incredibly bored as she kicks a pebble against the side of the tunnel.

Bored out of her mind, Equise notices movement to her right and turns to see the bipedal creature finally making his way to the entrance with a sheepish look on his face. When he chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his head, she sees a look of guilt cross his face for a long moment as he says something she wonders is an apology. Rising to her hooves and leaving the pebble where it hit the wall, she snorts in annoyance and jerks her head towards the exit, saying, "Let's get out of here."

I follow the mare out of the tunnel to find the sun already setting and head to where we set up camp the night before, making another pile of wood for another fire as the mare gets another portion of cloud to make her bed from. Taking out several more of the colorful apples and offering them to her, I take some out for myself and then offer her some water.

Once we satisfy our thirst and hunger, we settle down beside the fire for the night and fall asleep after she puts up a bubble around our small camp.

Morning comes as the first rays of light hit my eyes, I find myself up against the mare yet again. What is different, however, is that her wing is draped over me like a blanket and has her head on the other side of her body, then think, 'Huh, I must have been having trouble sleeping last night.' As I quietly lie there, I wonder how I will approach the issue of our lack of communication as I hear the mare let out a breath and move her head around to her other side.

When Equise opens her eyes to see that the bipedal creature is awake, she raises her wing off him and watches him get up and walk towards some bushes some distance away. Assuming that he is going to relieve himself, she gets the same urge and waits till he gets back to go to a different bush.

Taking out the remaining apples, I give her the larger share and start to eat breakfast. As I watch her lift an apple with her energy, I start feeling like a fool for not realizing sooner that she can hold things on her own with it. Taking my canteen off my belt, I set it between us so that we both can reach it to take a drink.

Finishing breakfast, I watch her take a drink and set the canteen back down before taking a drink myself. There is just enough left to satisfy my thirst, but means that I will have to refill the canteen. Kicking dirt over the remains of the fire, I return my canteen to its place, then pick up my backpack and then sling it onto my back before grabbing my MTR.

The alicorn continues to follow him as he first heads to the stream to refill the container with water, then turns and makes his way towards where the zap apple trees are located. When they arrive a couple hours after midday, she sees that they are gone and watches him scratch his head in confusion.

Pretty sure that this is where the apples were at, I search through the trees with both hands to see if the apples are just hidden. Unable to even find one, I give up and decide to search for another source of food. Ending up spending the rest of the evening finding food, it starts to get dark as we find some fruit bearing trees that Evette identifies as Pear Trees. When we pick enough pears for dinner tonight, I gather wood for a fire in a small clearing within the small grove of fruit trees.

After eating dinner, Equise makes her bed for the night as she watches him bite into an unripe pear and make a face at the bad taste. Unable to keep herself from laughing as he tosses the fruit away, she smiles and asks, "Was the unripe pear not to your liking?"

Still unable to understand her, I assume she was saying something about the pear I just bit into and say, "Should have paid attention to the ones you were picking instead of grabbing whatever I could see." Getting an idea on how to approach the language barrier, I ask my companion to show a list of elements.

Understanding what he is trying to do, Evette projects an image of the periodic table of elements onto the ground and watches as he extracts a small pile of copper and holds it in his hand. As he begins to gesture to the pile and to himself, saying copper slowly and then pointing at her then the pile with a raised eyebrow, she observes curiously as the mare begins to understand after a few seconds and says something while pointing a hoof at the pile with a smile.

The alicorn feels overjoyed on the inside at learning what his word for copper is and hears him say it back to her incorrectly the first few times, which makes her giggle and repeat herself more slowly so he can understand and pronounce it correctly. Once he gets it correct, he points to the pile and says, "Copper" to her once more with a questioning look upon his face. Nodding her head in confirmation, she points to it with a hoof and then says, "Copper" in his language. As he smiles and nods, she watches him put it back into his storage container and pull some new element out. Scanning it with her magic, she discovers that it is gold and smiles as he does the same thing from before, point at it and speak a word.

Time Skip

I spend a few hours pulling out some of the elements I gathered earlier and learning her words for them as she learns mine, waking up to the sun shining down upon us from above. As I find myself beside her yet again, I sit up and carefully set her wing down against her side when I see her awaken.

After we eat breakfast and clean up camp, we go back to picking pears while trying to learn simple words for things. Taking most of the day harvesting pears while also learning, we start to make our way towards my crashed ship and set up a campfire in a different clearing.

Returning back at the crashed ship the next evening, we begin to try to learn other words, which proves to be a bit trickier until I ask Evette for aid. With the AI helping, I start to make repairs to my ship while trying to teach new things to her and learn from her. Some things are easy to learn and teach her, such as her wings and that the long things on the sides of my ship are also called wings.

Over the few days it takes to make repairs to the ship, we continue to learn new things about each other and set out to find more materials to repair my ship further. Encountering a group of six other ponies in another part of the forest, the mare pulls me behind a bush and shushes me. Making an effort to remain hidden from them for some reason, I follow her example and do the same while watching the blue unicorn pony with the grey hair and beard, wearing a hat and a long robe over most of his body. Seeming to be searching for something, we watch them as they pass by and wait for a few minutes before going on our way.

Returning to the ship the next day, further repairs are made as I decide to find a new spot to hide my ship and set out to find a good spot hidden from view. Once a new location is found, I call my ship to me and watch it land in the clearing with little room to spare as the mare is amazed by what she just saw.

As we continue to wander through the forest and learning each other's language, weeks go by as the days get shorter when I gather carbon to build a shelter for the two of us deep in the forest near where my ship is hidden. When winter arrives a few months later, I spend most of my time gathering wood to keep the fireplace going as the mare goes out to do whatever it is that she wishes during the day.

Once the supply of pears starts to dwindle two weeks into winter, she begins to bring back various types of food, including vegetables, fruit, nuts, berries, grass and flowers. Crafting a couch from some carbon, we cozy up on it in front of the fire as she rests her head on my lap.

The snow on the ground starts to bury my ship as I continue to do what I can to keep the door clear to the outhouse and my starship, which still requires repairs. The weeks we spend together slowly turn into months as we begin to attempt actual conversations for the first time.

End of Time Skip

The following section is not safe for work or necessary to understand the story, please feel free to skip to the next chapter to continue reading!

Shortly after spring arrives, the snow finally starts to melt away while Equise lies upon the couch with her head upon the bipeds lap as she makes herself comfortable, feeling his hand rubbing the side of her neck as she sighs, saying, "It feels so good when you rub my neck."

Letting out a brief chuckle as I understand enough to know what she means, I say, "I like the time we're spending together in this cozy cabin."

Smiling as she understands most of his words, she closes her eyes and lets herself drift off to sleep, saying, "So do I."

Falling asleep beside her with my hand on her neck, I open my eyes to find that it is day already when I feel the mare cuddle up against my side and lay kisses against my cheek and softly ask, "Evette, just what is going on, she has never been this affectionate before."

Curious herself, the AI moves the camera towards the mare and scans her, then says after a few moments, "From the pheromones her body is releasing, my scans indicate that her body is preparing to breed with a suitable male. Further analysis indicates that she is going through something called 'heat' or 'estrus', comparing this information to my databanks reveals that this mare has a few biological traits in common with the equine races from a planet lost long ago called Earth. To further inform you, this cyle will pass by once her bodily desire to mate are satisfied or two weeks pass by." Taking a small sample of the fluids the mare is secreting, she compares them to his and discovers something interesting.

Understanding most of what she said, I still am confused by parts of it and ask, "What are you trying to tell me, Evette?"

Looking at him with her lens, she tells him bluntly, "Comparing a sample of her DNA to yours, I am telling you that it is possible for you to have sex with her and successfully impregnate her. From how her DNA interacts with yours, her DNA is more dominant than yours and will guide the development of the fetus that may appear inside her after copulation. The choice is left to you, traveller." Turning away and closing the lens, she deactivates most of her listening devices except for one to give them privacy.

More shocked than anything, I open my mouth reflexively to decide whether I want to scream or shout, which proves to be a mistake as the mare climbs on top of my lap and then places her lips upon mine and slides her tongue into my mouth.

Having lost control of her body to the effects of the mating season, the mare swirls her tongue into his mouth while grinding her hips against his body in an attempt to get him to breed her.

Not wanting to drown in saliva, I hesitantly swallow before clumsily starting to respond to her ministrations when I hear her moan into my mouth. Her mane drifts around to the back of my head as she holds onto my neck with her forelegs, rubbing her body up against mine.

Wanting to move past kissing and dry grinding, she takes note of the strange black and red clothing he wears and begins to study it in order to be able to take it off, pulling her mouth away long enough to say, "This clothing is in the way..."

It takes a few seconds to register what she is doing with her energy when I start to hear velcro strips separate and the sound of a zipper being moved down, needing to act fast, I quickly take my glove off and drop it to the floor and reach my hand underneath her moving hips, saying, "Sorry for doing this to you, but we don't know each other good enough yet!" then plunge my middle finger into her bottom entrance. Immediately able to feel how hot and wet her insides are, I attempt to find a way to get her to calm down by moving my finger inside of her.

Feeling something firm enter her, she instinctively clamps down on it and attempts to draw the reproductive fluid held within it. Her eyes glaze over as she feels herself climb towards something special, with her moans getting slightly louder the closer she gets to it.

Surprised with how tight she is around me, I try to dig my finger deep into her depths for a few long seconds until I feel her muscles twitch uncontrollably as her muscles try to draw my finger in deeper. Suddenly feeling a gush of fluid coat my hand and the groin of my suit as I feel her back arch towards me, I then see her throw her head up toward the ceiling and hear her let out a sharp cry.

An amazing feeling of euphoria crosses over her as she stares up at the ceiling, watching sparkling motes of light pass before her eyes for a few moments before a tired feeling comes over her and she begins to fall over onto her left side. Before she can hit the hard surface of the couch, she is caught and gently lowered until she rests somewhat comfortably on the padded cushion. As she looks up at the male she seduced with an affectionate, happy smile, her eyelids fall shut as dreams of bringing a foal into this world fill her dreams.

The following two weeks prove to be an uphill battle, with the mare practically jumping my body several times throughout each day with the last week being an absolute nightmare when she finally manages to get my exosuit off me. However, the last two days were way too close for comfort after she succeeds in getting my pants around my ankles, having had to literally wrestle her to keep my underwear from being lowered by those surprisingly dexterous accursed wings of hers.

When she regains control of herself, she tries to figure out if they mated, but can't find the right way to ask it without words. Having to wait for any signs of pregnancy, she spends the next month being ever so watchful for the signs. When they never come, she sighs in relief at not having to worry about being a mother just yet, though there is a slightly sad feeling deep inside her at not becoming a mother this time around.

End of unsafe section, enjoy the next chapter!

VI: Emotional Attachments

As months pass by quickly, I continue searching around the dark forest while we get to know each other's language. With no reliable way to learn languages, a year passes by when we are finally able to communicate clearly to each other. Spending quite a lot of time together, we both learn to share a light laugh from our interactions over the past two springs.

While helping the human who still can't remember his name pick zap apples, Equise finishes harvesting her tree and sets the last few apples from it down when she recalls how close she came to bearing a foal. Still holding one apple in her magic, she spins it round and round slowly as she gets lost in thought. Thinking of how the apple's shape stirs up her desire for foals, she sighs wistfully and asks, "Hey Trav, do you remember what happened during the final day of spring this year?"

Once I finish harvesting the apples I can reach, I add them to my backpack and nod, saying, "I do indeed remember that, you would have succeeded in your endeavor if that pot hadn't fallen off the hook and made you jump forward. You learned just how skilled I am with my tongue."

Frowning lightly as a soft blush colors her cheeks, she chuckles a moment later and says, "I've always known you were good with that particular body part, but what are your thoughts about us trying for a foal this coming spring?"

Not surprised at her bringing it up again this fall while harvesting apples, I make my way to her and place my hand upon her cheek, saying, "I didn't let you have your way the first season because we didn't know each other yet, I turned you down this last spring for the same reason. Be honest with me, Equa, do you think that our relationship is to the point where either of us are ready to discuss children? We've only just learned how to hold a full conversation..."

Equise knows that he is right and leans into his touch with a sigh, saying, "I know that our relationship is still young, but I can feel this yearning burning brightly in my heart. It feels like I am being called to fulfill a purpose, and it gets even stronger with each spring passing without becoming with foal. So...can we please try for a foal this coming spring, dear?"

Noticing the hope in her eye as she nuzzles against my palm, causes something to change within me and leave me unable to turn her down a third time, saying, "We can keep discussing it with clear heads and then I'll come to a decision the day before the season hits you, does that sound fair?"

A hopeful smile crosses her face, making her rush forward and hug him affectionately, saying, "I know that is only a step in the right direction, but I cant help but be happy at the progress our relationship is making."

Time Skip

As we spend the next few months discussing having a foal, I give in to Equise's earnest wishes to try for a foal in a few weeks. However, the plans are put on hold when a terrible sickness spreads throughout the pony race, causing us both to choose to wait until it is safer.

Time seems to pass by slowly as the scarlet fever rages through the pony race, unfortunately even passing to Equise first, then me two weeks later.

Fear and worry rule over the alicorn's mind as her lover's condition grows worse, getting to the point where the possibility of his death terrifies her. Desperate and not wanting to lose him, she then asks her lover's companion, "Is there anything at all that I can do to save him?"

Running another scan over him, Evette looks at her and says, "Scans indicate that the sickness affecting him has an anomalous trait, containing a slightly magical signature throughout the disease's structure. Normal remedies will not work against it, which means he will perish unless you locate someone skilled with both remedies and magic."

Capable of thinking of only two names, she then asks, "How much time do I have to still save him?"

The AI looks at her and says, "You have three full days and must be back before the sun is high in the sky or it will be too late for him. Do what you must to prepare quickly, for time is already against you."

Nodding her head and thinking of what to do, she hides his suit in the closet along with his backpack, then strips him down to his skin and lays him on the couch. Never having to use this complex spell usually, she casts it upon her lover and watches his body take on the form of a tan earth pony stallion with blue eyes and a night sky filled with tiny starbursts. Satisfied with the change, she fights the urge to kiss his cheek, saying, "Stay right here dear while I go get some help."

Too weak to do more than open my eyes and nod my head, I mumble, "O...kay."

Hurrying outside after hiding his clothing in the closet, she heads behind the house and casts an invisibility shield over the ship itself. Checking its placement quickly to ensure that it doesn't touch any part of the house, she alters her own appearance into that of a pegasus with her same colors and flies up into the air to go find Star Swirl the Bearded and Mage Meadowbrook.

Unable to do anything at all but lie down as my body attempts to cook me from the inside, I barely register the sound of a door opening and the sound of voices. Delirious from the sickness affecting me, I open my eyes to see the fuzzy image of a mare in front of me holding my head up.

Fighting her urge to pace and hover over him, Equise watches the two spend a couple of days trying different remedies. As sunrise comes on the fourth day, she nervously starts plucking hairs out of her mane out of worry as nothing seems to work. When the sun begins to set, she starts to lose hope and fights to keep herself together.

Things take a turn, however, when they try one more remedy late at night and causes his fever to finally break, causing Mage Meadowbrook and Star Swirl to sigh in relief as she says, "Whew, I'm glad that you were able to come up with a way to get ahead of the virus, I never could have imagined that a pony could be born without any magic at all."

Star Swirl looks the stallion over, using a spell to examine him once again to confirm what his earlier castings told him, saying, "So am I, Meadowbrook. When I first discovered that he did not have any connection to magic, I was perplexed, and shocked by what my spell told me. I am glad that you were able to come up with a usable solution with my help, resulting in one more life saved." Turning back to the pegasi mare that found him and asked for their help, he asks, "No offense, but I wasn't born yesterday, miss. Would you kindly drop your facade and his as well so that we can talk about what is really going on here?"

Sighing, Equise nods her head and says, "I was hoping to keep you from discovering him so soon, the last thing I want is for him to become some science project. Guess I should have known better than to fool your keen eyes and magic." She then undoes the spell she cast upon herself, returning to her alicorn form and heading to a different closet to grab a blanket, saying, "Let me give him some decency before I turn him back..."

Mage Meadowbrook looks at the pegasi's original form with wide eyes and stammers, saying, "Wh-Wh-Whu-What is the spirit of the first alicorn doing here?!"

Letting out a soft chuckle, Star Swirl looks at her and says, "She has been around since I can remember, and she is no spirit. She is living just as we are, though it is not known how slowly she ages. Just like her name, it may remain a mystery for a long time."

With a smile, she lays they blanket over the lower part of her lover and then undoes her spell, watching as he returns to his furless, human form, saying, "Allow me to introduce to you, a visitor not native to our world. Sadly, he has lost nearly all his memories of his life, retaining only the most basic of knowledge regarding speech, bodily functions, and basic needs. I have came to call him Trav, which is short for Traveller."

As the two of them look on with wide eyes at the strange human before them when Star Swirl says, "No wonder why it was strange for him to not have a connection to the magic on our world, he isn't from here at all." Letting out a nervous breath, he says, "In order to cure the Scarlet Fever within him, I had to create a connection to our world's magic inside him." Looking up at the alicorn, he finishes, saying, "He will need a fair bit of looking after, but he will recover from his illness. I would like to stay a bit longer to ask you questions about him, but unfortunately, I have other duties to attend to."

Mage Meadowbrook then smiles and says, "As do I, there is a terrible epidemic of Swamp Fever in a nearby village that I must treat before it gets out of control, I wish the human a quick recovery."

Before they can take their leave, Equise looks at them and says, "Thank you for saving his life, I would greatly appreciate it if we could keep knowledge of his existence here a secret until other ponies are more welcoming to other creatures. Do you think that you can abide my request?"

Bowing their heads, Star Swirl is the first to answer, saying, "It was my pleasure to be of assistance ma'am. We will not tell a soul about his existence here as long as we live." when Meadowbrook replies a second later and bids her a good day before heading for the door.

Once they leave, the alicorn spends the next week tending to his needs until he recovers, telling him what happened when she went to find help.

Finally back on my feet after falling ill and unable to care for myself, which felt like an eternity of suffering in itself, I stand beside my lover and hug her around the base of the neck, saying, "Thank you for taking such good care of me like you did, it really shows how much you care for me."

Loving the affectionate hug, she nuzzles against his suit, saying, "I've come to care about you quite a lot these past few years, but now that you are healthy once again, can we still try for a foal when spring comes back around?"

Moving my hand to the back of her head, I rub the base of her ear with the first three fingers on my right hand, saying, "Of course we can. Since the pony who gave me a connection to this world's magic, do you think that one of you could try to teach me?"

Pressing her head into his hand blissfully, she moans softly, saying, "Oh yes, right there dear, right there..." Once the massage ends, she remembers what he asked her and says with a light chuckle, "Of course, though I think that Star Swirl might be a better teacher than I would, he seems to have more patience than I do. However, I felt it best for you to remain a secret until others can tolerate strange creatures better."

Nodding my head to that, I say, "I can understand that, thank you for wanting to protect me from an excessive amount of negative feelings from others. I'm sure that fear and anger can make others do strange things they normally wouldn't do."

As they go about their days, Equise and the human wander through more parts of the Everfree Forest they haven't searched yet as they skirt around the far outskirts of the village they came upon as she asks, "Dear, what kind of material are searching for this time?"

Returning to the forest, I walk for a ways before letting out a sigh, saying, "I was hoping to come across some rare metal called Platinum, for I need a fair bit to be able to repair some critical systems on my starship needed for traveling through space. I did find some traces of that metal in the mountain I completely hollowed out three years ago, but nowhere near enough to repair a single thing. It appears that we will have to give up on exploring the forest and head out into the world to continue searching elsewhere for it."

Happy to hear it, she smiles with joy on her face, saying, "Oh I was hoping you would suggest we leave the forest!" Clearing her voice and calming down a bit, she says, "Don't get me wrong, I love our house in the middle of nowhere, but a mare like me needs to wander and keep an eye on what is happening throughout the world of Equis. My mother made me its sole guardian after all."

Her words dance around inside my head, tickling at the notions of a thought that might lead to an idea. Looking at her with a smile, I then say, "Then what are we waiting for, let's go see the world your grandmother created out of boredom."

From her place in the spirit realm on the moon, an ancient, ethereal alicorn huffs and reaches through the veil with her magic and shrieks into the human's ear, shouting, "INSOLENT WORM! I MOST DEFINITELY DID NOT CREATE AN ENTIRE WORLD WITH MAGIC OUT OF BOREDOM! IT WAS DIVINE INSPIRATION THAT LED ME TO CREATE THIS SLOWLY EVOLVING WORLD!"

Rubbing my ear to get rid of the ringing in it, I then shrug my shoulders and say, "Whatever you say Kettle."

Unable to hold back her laughter at the snort that blows his hair away, she snickers and hears her grandmother call him a hairless primate under her breath. When he asks what just happened, she says, "My grandmother used her magic to be able to speak to us through the veil separating the spirit realm from ours."

With a smirk on my face, I then ask, "Well, shall we head home to gather what we need for what may be a long journey of discovery?"

Nodding her head, she follows him back to their home and uses her magic to set perishables into a pile on the floor. Grabbing a few pillows and blankets, she adds them to a separate pile before creating a sign and hanging it on the door, reading, 'We have decided to explore the world, for how long, we do not know. Apologies for the inconvenience, we shall return to this humble home...one day in the future. Please check back every so often after two months have passed, if this sign is gone, we have returned.'

With what we need for an adventure stored in my pack, I stand outside our home and ask, "So dear, where would you suggest we start our search for platinum?"

Thinking it over, she then remembers a developing village of crystal ponies far to the north, saying, "Well, I do remember a village from a decade ago or so that belonged to an isolated tribe of earth ponies which were slightly different from the earth pony tribe, I recall that the three pony tribes moved here from the far northern lands that have long since became inhospitable to the tribes. Now, those lands are called the Frozen North and are ravaged by severe snowstorms." Getting back to the main part, she says, "There are some mountain ranges several miles north of this forest, though we will have to take a meandering route due to a few towns of ponies located across the land in a few places and a few nomadic pony herds wandering from place to place."

Nodding my head, I then say, "Alright then, lead the way dear."

Making her way around to the back of the house, she walks past the ship and asks, "Will this be safe here if we are gone for a while?"

I look at my hauler and nod, saying, "No one but me will be able to get inside the ship because I locked it up, even if they do stumble past your protective barrier and find a way to break into it, they won't be able to start it because I have the key with me at all times."

Taking leave of our property, we trek through the forest on a journey to explore the world before us with a quest to find the rare metal Platinum.

Making our way through the Everfree and then across grassy plains, we remain watchful for ponies in the area around us while making a large loop around the city Equise tells me was newly built called Canterlot. Several weeks after passing Canterlot, we arrive at a mountain range made from crystal. Scanning it for any materials I need, I discover a small amount of Platinum running in veins throughout the lower portion of the mountain.

Taking me only an hour to mine what Platinum I can find, I am disappointed at how much more I need to gather to be able to repair anything on my ship and kick a rock down the tunnel I carved through the mountain to the other side, saying, "I was hoping to get more than that from all that crystal I harvested..." Deciding to leave the tunnel open as a shortcut through the mountain, I walk out of the tunnel's end and begin to discard a fair amount of the crystal so that I have room for what I still need to collect.

While she watches him discard the crystal he had to mine through, she hears voices echo down the tunnel and gasps, then hurries to her lover's side, saying in a low tone, "We need to make our way to the west of here now, I heard voices coming from the other side of the tunnel."

Nodding, I stop dumping the crystal from my pack and hurry after her, asking in a low tone, "Do the voices belong to anyone you know?"

Shaking her head, Equise says, "They were too far away to tell yet, and I don't feel like hanging around to find out...especially not with us being so close to the village of Crystal Ponies north of here."

Making our way west a fair distance, we then head north and keep going in that direction for a few days while feasting on the crystal berries we find growing all across the cold land. Once we reach the mountains to the north, I discard the rest of the crystal I collected after scanning the area and find a bit of Platinum.

We wind up spending a few weeks wandering the edge of the mountain range, searching for Platinum as we go. When we make our way back east, I see a mountain peak that towers above everything I have seen so far, turning to my lover and ask, "Do you want to climb this mountain with me?"

She looks up at the peak to see snow blowing across its southern face and shivers, saying, "I would love to, but I don't know a spell to keep warm in really cold weather. I would rather stay here or go see how the Crystal Ponies are getting along here. Would you mind me going to check on them while you climb this mountain?"

Smiling, I then shake my head and say, "Alright, I understand. It would not bother me in the slightest, so follow your heart's desire."

Happy with his answer, she hugs him with her wings and says, "I will be back in about four days, so please try to be back on the ground by that time."

Nodding my head, I hug her back and then say, "That should be no problem at all, go and observe the Crystal Ponies to your heart's content."

She watches him turn towards the mountain and approach it, then start to climb it as she turns to go check on the tribe of Crystal Ponies south of their location. As she spends a few days observing them from a cloud above, she smiles upon the progress they are making so far as she watches one mare acting as a leader for them all. She is then surprised by a shout coming from the north, listening closely to the distant echo to hear a familiar voice shout, "I can see all of Equestria from the top of Mount Everhoof! I feel as if I'm standing on top of the world!"

Those words cause her to giggle from her crowd and smile fondly towards the very peak of the mountain to the north, however, her eyes are drawn to the ground below when she spots a sparkle from below her followed by the rising sound of laughter and cheering coming from the ground. Getting a little closer and focusing on the ponies, she watches as their coats begin to reflect the sun's rays. Finding this discovery very interesting, she can't help but stay far longer than she originally intended. With nothing further going on with them, she makes her way to the mountain to share her findings with her lover.

I am east of Mount Everhoof searching for more Platinum, carving a tunnel into the base when I hear a giggle from the start of the tunnel. Chasing the vein up through the mountain, I stop and look back down the path to where the sound came from.

Hearing the sounds coming from further inside the tunnel, Equise illuminates her horn to find a path leading ahead and another upwards. She is about to take the path forward when a few traces of dust drift down from the one leading upwards, saying, "I'm guessing you found another source of Platinum, dear?"

Relieved at hearing my lover's voice, I then chuckle and answer, "I have indeed, and this one is a bit bigger than what I have been finding so far. How are things with the Crystal Ponies?"

Staying at the base of the tunnel going up, she replies, "Well they are starting to build homes out of crystal now. I did discover something new though after hearing your announcement. For one, the crystal ponies laughed and cheered moments after, I then noticed a glint from below and looked down to find that their coats started to shine a bit more and reflect the sun's rays. I think that your announcement inadvertently caused a change in the Crystal Ponies' bodies, I find myself eager to find out what becomes of their race in the years ahead."

Smiling at hearing that, I say, "I am happy to hear that their lives are improving, let me finish mining this seam and fill in the tunnel on my way down. There is something that I need to talk to you about."

Letting out a nervous sigh, she then answers, "Alright, I will wait outside the tunnel for you then." Heading outside to wait for him, several minutes pass by when she hears a noise from inside the tunnel followed by a series of other noises accompanied by a long line of cursing that draws a snicker from her when she realizes he lost his footing and tumbled down the tunnel, calling after him, "ARE YOU OKAY DEAR?"

Grumbling under my breath, I stand at the bottom of the tunnel and look at the entrance, calling back, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just stepped on a pebble and lost my footing, then slid and tumbled all the way down with my ass taking a brutal beating." Rubbing my rear for a few moments, I then grab my MTR and make my way back up to continue filling in the tunnel.

Using my pack's jets, I jump down the long tunnel and stop a little ways down to keep filling in behind me instead of trying to walk down the steep tunnel leading up. It takes me about a half hour to finish filling in that tunnel when I stop there and begin to fill in the tunnel leading further ahead, starting at the very end of it and working my way back.

As she waits outside, she watches him emerge and turn off his lights, then face the mountain and return it to how it looked before, asking, "Welcome back to the outside world dear, what is going on?"

I sit down on a crystal rock and lean my MTR against it, saying, "Well, when I was at the top of Mount Everhoof, I got a glimpse at the lands to the north and saw how they were covered in white, and ravaged by relentless wind and blizzards."

Nodding along, she says, "Yeah, the ponies were driven out of the once-warm land by the Windigoes, which were drawn there by the ponies anger and distrust towards each other. What are you getting at, dear?"

Sighing, I get to the point and say, "I know you won't like hearing this, but once I have collected enough Platinum from these mountains, I plan to put my helmet on and venture into those lands. Fear not, for I will be protected from temperatures up to 50 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, and have rechargeable hazard protection beyond that."

Worried for him, her eyes are wide with fear as she says, "Are you insane, it's way too cold for me to even fly past this mountain range?! The windigoes will turn you into a block of ice the moment they find you!"

Laying my hand upon her cheek, I look into her fear-filled eyes and say, "I won't give those green phantoms the chance to use their magic against me, because I have managed to repair a fair number of the damaged weapon modules installed on my MTR."

A tear slips from the corner of her right eye and trails down her cheek, asking in a quiet tone, "Why do you desire to go there though, don't you enjoy our adventures together?"

Rubbing her cheek with my thumb, I smile fondly at her and lean forward to kiss her forehead, saying, "Of course I enjoy our adventures together, I look forward to having even more with you. However, I need to head into the harsh land in order to find materials that can only be found in extremely cold environments."

Seeing the resoluteness in his eyes, she sighs in defeat and says, "Alright then, but I will follow you as far as I can and leave a crate of supplies for you every month where I can go no further."

Continuing to hold her cheek, I smile affectionately at her and say, "That's more than I could ever ask for, and I will be grateful each time I come to collect them."

Once he rises to his feet to resume searching for Platinum sources, a couple weeks pass by when he finally has enough of that metal. Starting to make their way to the west, it takes them just shy of two and a half weeks to reach a clear path north through the mountains.

Equise is able to follow him halfway through the pass until she can go no further without risking her wings icing over, saying, "This-s-s is as far as I g-go, any f-further and I will h-have trouble f-f-flying."

Turning around and looking at her with a solemn nod, I approach her and give her a firm hug and a kiss on the lips, saying, "I will build a structure against the mountainside here with a tall crystal marking the entrance so that you can take shelter from the cold when delivering supplies."

Nodding her head while shivering, she says, "O-Okay, dear. I-I w-will see you in a m-m-month from today. F-Farewell for n-now, I l-love you."

Smiling back with tears slipping down my face, I say, "I look forward to seeing you then, I love you too. Goodbye for now." then give her a final deep kiss before separating from her and turning towards the mountain to begin building a shelter out of the available material.

Frequent time skips continue into next chapter, sorry!

VII: A New Encounter

Frequent time skips continue from last chapter

After taking time to build a shelter out of stone, I make some adjustments so that it is somewhat insulated from the outside temperature with only two inconspicuous windows to let in light. Once I add some final touches to it, I discard the rest of the stone I gathered and put my helmet on, then repressurize the interior of the suit before heading into the dangerously cold frozen north

Spending the first week exploring the northernmost edge of the mountain range to the west, I don't run into any of the Windigoes surprisingly. When I head further away from the mountain range, I make sure to check my holographic map to maintain my bearing as I discover that the plants here must have undergone some type of evolution to survive the cold. Adding each discovery to my AI's knowledge bank, I eventually come across a small field of dihydrogen crystals.

Taking my time to mine them all, I look around for Ferrite to craft launch fuel cells for my starship. Once making as many as possible, I then continue to wander the frozen lands when I spot a series of large drifts. Scanning the area informs me that the cluster of snowdrifts is actually a frozen, abandoned village. I am about to make my way past the village when I receive an alert warning me of an incoming storm, forcing me to hurry towards the village and take shelter there in one of the more intact structures.

Reaching the village as temperatures start to plummet to -100, I start to clear snow away with my hands and arms while looking for a door. It winds up taking me a couple minutes to find the door when I notice the temperature has dropped to just over 300 below, finally locating a double door that is frozen shut. Determined to get in as my hazard protection starts to drop faster, I strike the handle with the butt of my MTR until it turns. Bashing my shoulder against the door, I see the ice start to crack and give way.

My hazard protection is nearly gone when the door finally moves inward as I get my first glimpse of a windigo, a bluish-green spectral creature with ghostly front legs with hooves at the end and a long body that ends in a tail that moves in the wind. I watch the creature for a moment when it circles around out of view when a second quickly appears on the other side, having much the same appearance as the first one with the same glowing eyes.

The creature vanishes from view as a third appears and gallops across the wind currents in a circle with the others, noticing that the blowing snow starts to form a spinning funnel following the direction the windigoes are heading. Not having time to think of anything else, I bash into the door one last time and push my way past the door and into the dwelling. Closing the door behind me to shut the howling noise out, I find myself surrounded by the dark and turn on my lights.

With my MTR in my hands, I quickly look around for any windigoes in here with me, but see none. Letting out a sigh of relief when I see the temperature rise to a normal 50 below, I take a closer look around the room and notice a block of ice with a unicorn trapped inside it with a book in front of them.

Sighing sadly at knowing they are dead, I scan them and see that they have been trapped here for 1200 years. Continuing to analyze them with my analysis visor, I notice some strange details about their biology and ask, "Evette, would you mind running your own scan of this pony and explain the strange details to me?"

Turning the lens to the trapped pony, she runs a deep scan of the ice and the unicorn inside. Once the results come back, she says, "The frozen pony's race is a unicorn, their sex is female, her age is 25, the book trapped in the ice and the saddlebags on her flanks suggest that she was preparing to evacuate and attempted to take one more book with her. From the look on her face, it appears that she was frozen rapidly and felt no pain at all when the ice fully engulfed her. Surprisingly, the state of her body and internal organs show no signs of decay whatsoever, seeming as if she could still live if the ice was thawed. Analyzing her body further, it is clear to me that her body still functions, though at a rate much slower than what is capable through cryostasis due to the magical nature of the ice itself. If left in this state for another 3000 years, she will suffer a very slow death. Getting back to the more important data, from what my scans were able to learn about her biology, her DNA has been altered by absorbing minute traces of the ice. Which could indicate that she might handle a higher degree of cold than other ponies, or she may be able to manipulate ice with her magic. Further studies of her DNA would be required to discern the changes her body experienced."

Wondering what action I should take, I then ask Evette, "Do you think I should get her out of that ice and rescue her, or end her life and set her free?"

Evette considers the options and then takes into consideration what his lover would say and answers, "The decision is up to you, Traveller, though you might want to consider what your lover would want you to do."

Taking Equise into thought, I smile and say, "Thank you, Evette, I would be lost without your guidance. I shall wait the storm out in here while looking for anything that I can salvage from this building."

So, I begin looking around the dwelling for anything that might be of use to me now or later and add it to my inventory, spending a few days inside eating whatever remains edible after being in this place for so long. When the storm refuses to pass, I then sigh and ask, "Am I going to have to deal with those pesky windigoes to be able to make it back to the rendezvous point?"

Sending out a pulse to examine the environment, the AI then responds, saying, "From the magical nature of the storm, it is apparent to me that you will have to defeat the windigoes to be free from their magical grip."

Recharging my protection, I then attempt to pull the door open several times. Finding it refusing to budge an inch and shake my head, saying, "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to blast my way out of here." Making my way over to the frozen mare, I place my hands upon the block, saying, "Pardon me miss, but I need to get you to safety." then push her into an empty corner far from the door.

Standing between the door and the mare, I pull my MTR off my back and then aim it towards the doors. Switching it over to the Plasma Launcher, I fire off a round and watch it sail towards the doors in slow motion.

As the windigoes whirl around the structure, trying to freeze the lifeform within, watching the doors closely when they are violently blown away in pieces with a loud noise and a bright blue flash of light.

Shrieking in brief fright, one of them soars higher when they watch the strange bipedal creature calmly exit the dwelling and look up at them wearing strange clothing and a strange helmet on their head. Wondering what it is, the windigo soars back down to get a closer look at it, seeing it raise a strange type of melee weapon up at it. Looking down upon the creature brazen enough to face their powerful magic, the windigo howls out in anger, saying over the whirling winds, "What a foolish creature you are, there are no weapons or magic with the power to destroy us! We are Windigoes, where there is hatred, anger, and distrust, we drive out the inhabitants to expand our frozen domain. None can withstand the harsh cold that we find soothing, not even you can survive it. I shall dance upon the block of ice which you shall be trapped in."

Smirking, I follow the creature's movements and then call out, "Well, today is your unlucky day, because I can endure your magical cold, and I can destroy you." Scanning the creature, I discover something surprising about its biological makeup and see that it is primarily made up of a combination of gases, mostly being Nitrogen with a bit of Sulfurine mixed in. What intrigues me is the fact that they have a core made of a crystalized form of condensed Dioxite or Dihydrogen, saying, "Your bodies contain materials that I badly need, there is no hope of me letting you get away."

Not liking what the creature said, one of the windigoes stays in the sky as the other two charge the creature head on. Nervousness gives way to fear as they watch the creature knock one of them out of the sky with a bright blue explosion of light, watching as the windigo doesn't move at all as his glowing eyes slowly drift closed. Shortly after, a beam of light surrounds their body and pulls it into a hole on the creature's back when she sees the other try to flee into the sky.

Not getting very far, they too are knocked out of the sky, letting out a pained shriek when they plummet to the ground and are hit with a red beam that causes them to slowly disintigrate. Looking up at the last remaining windigo still on the winds with fear in their eyes, they cry out in a ghostly voice, "PLEASE HELP ME, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

Torn between wanting to flee or save her friend, frozen teardrops fall from her eyes as she hesitates for a moment before watching his eyes start to slowly close. Rushing towards him, she reaches out and wraps her hooves around him before hurrying away, saying, "Please hold on, I'll get you back to the others to heal you."

Feeling himself fading too quickly, he tries to separate himself from her grip and weakly says, "No...it's...too late...for me. Let me go...save yourself. The others must be warned...of this...new threat."

As icy tears slowly fall from her face, she reluctantly lets go and says, "O...Okay." then darts off towards the horizon to get away from the dangerous creature.

When I finish harvesting the second one's materials, I see the last one trying to get away and call out, "Not on my watch!" and then switch to my Paralysis Mortar and launch a round toward the fleeing windigo while hoping I aimed it right.

The windigo continues hurrying away, not looking back and smiles when she feels like she is going to escape the creature. The feeling of success disintigrates when something strikes her tail, hearing an explosion of static right behind her a moment later. Lighting arcs throughout her spectral body as she lets out an agonized, ear-piercing shriek of pain and falls to the ground. Unable to register the impact due to the pain from the lightning running wild through her body consuming her mind, she continues to wail out in agony.

Knowing that the effects won't last long, I hurry over to the downed windigo and see the shocks fade away, though the screams continue. Not giving them a chance to flee again, I put a boot upon their body lightly to keep them there, and ask in Equestrian, "Any last words, vile creature?"

Once the pain slowly subsides, the windigo trembles at feeling herself pinned to the ground and turns her head around to look up at the creature, seeing that their face is completely covered by the helmet with only a band of reflective material she takes to be some type of glass. Looking down the weapon's front, she sees a glowing red light appear from inside a small hole between two bigger holes. Fear slowly gives way to terror as her normal blue color changes to a sickly yellow, trying to curl in on herself as she continues to sob, saying, "P-Please d-don't kill me, I'll do whatever you want! I'm only 17...I'm too young to die!"

Evette quickly scans the creature when he hesitates to pull the trigger, saying through the camera speaker, "My scans tell me that what she says is honest, she is indeed too young to perish. Her willingness to do what you ask her to is not a fabrication, she means it with her heart and soul. Perhaps she could lead us to more plentiful sources of the materials required for further repairs."

Holding the weapon at her face while holding her down, I think the offer and advice over for several seconds before saying, "If I agree, we will need a way to ensure that she does not try to make fools of us."

Turning her lens to the trembling windigo as she has her front hooves wrapped over her head, she says, "I will hand you a blueprint for a collar to put around her neck, it can be crafted easily out of silver."

Nodding my head, I look at the windigo and say, "Look up at my face and into my reflective visor lens, windigo." When she looks up at my face, I say, "I will accept your offer and spare your life, but you will have to wear a silver collar and lead me to whatever sources of materials I need until I choose to release you. Can you agree to those terms?"

Still trembling, flickers of hope rise within her as she thinks on his words, nodding her head slowly with a sad sigh, saying, "I...I do accept those terms."

As I look at her, I then say, "I will lower my weapon now, but you better not attempt to escape or I will either paralyze you again...or outright kill you for the substances you are made of."

Nodding once more, she lets her body go limp as she looks up at him, watching him lower his weapon and let it hang at his side. Raising his appendages into the air, he then turns them towards each other and makes a strange magical light come from each of them. Able to sense magic intrinsically, she knows that this isn't anything like it and watches as a segmented band starts to form in the air from tiny particles, finding herself interested in how that is happening.

A long ten minutes pass when I finish the collar and shift my foot so that I hold her down with my knee, then clip the collar around her neck and turn it on by locking it, saying, "It is now active and at my command, will send painful, paralyzing currents throughout your body if you should try to betray your word to us." Standing up, I let her off the ground and say, "Before we begin looking for what I need, I must first rescue whatever ponies are still alive in the village."

Rising into the air, the female windigo nods her head, saying, "Very well, master." Following him back to the village, she watches as he enters each one and searches for trapped residents.

Searching through all the houses indicated on the scans, I am pleased to only find a few ponies that failed to escape in time. Marking their locations on the map, I make my way to the first house and start to build a small sled to make moving the survivors easier. When the sled is finished, I bring the mare out of the house and push her block up the ramp and check the temperature to find that it is still only -50, saying, "Alright, let's get this rescue mission underway, I want to make it there before my lover arrives and explain the situation to her."

Equise arrives a day early and sets the crates of supplies in the corner, then makes herself comfortable on the makeshift couch he created. Without meaning to, she falls asleep and then wakes up to a blast of cold air, shouting, "Close that door, were you born in a barn?"

Closing the door behind me as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I smile and say, "Hello dear, I hope that you weren't waiting too long."

Lifting her head from the couch, she shakes the drowsiness away as her eyes adjust and sees her lover standing beside a large block of ice beside him and asks, "Why did you feel the need to bring a big chunk of ice in here, it's cold enough without any wood for a fire?"

Smiling, I then say, "Well, I made a surprising discovery this month that will make you quite happy."

A grin splits her face in half as she gasps audibly in joy and asks, "YOU FOUND EVERYTHING YOU NEED AND CAN LEAVE THE FROZEN NORTH?!"

I shake my head and chuckle, saying, "Not yet, unfortunately. However, I did stumble upon a village north of here, and what did I find there? Windigoes and frozen ponies that are still alive! After having to fight the windigoes to get away, I defeated two of them and gathered materials from they were made of before knocking a third out of the sky when she tried to flee. To get to the point, I made her an offer to ensure their survival, and she accepted. Before you lose your cool, I made a collar and locked it around her neck. To ensure she won't betray me, I can paralyze her body with painful, electric shocks whenever I feel that she is trying to fool me.

Once she hears the rest of what he says about the windigo, she exhales frustratedly, saying, "I am surprised that you managed to defeat the windigoes at all, let alone taking one captive. Where is the windigo at now?"

Placing my arm upon the block, I say, "I asked her to keep out of view between the pony popsicle and me, I hope you aren't going to attack her or anything."

Letting out a huff, she then says, 'Of course not! I just want to make it clear that if anything happens to you, I will stop at nothing to get rid of every last windigo in this world." Hearing a nervous gulp from behind the block, her mind calms down and then focuses on what else he said as her eyes go wide, asking, "Wait...YOU FOUND SURVIVORS, HOW ARE THEY STILL ALIVE?!"

Explaining to her what my AI discovered, I then say, "I will leave it up to you to think of how best to get her out of that ice, but that book might be important to her, so try your best to rescue it. Once she is out, you will have to help her through what happened."

Equise then nods her head and says, "I will think of a way to get them all out unharmed, how about you go bring the others here while I think of how I'm going to make this happen?"

Nodding my head, I then say, "I am glad to see you, dear, I will be back in a while."

Leaving, I then spend the next week making trips to the village and from it, bringing the ponies I found there back to the shelter. Bringing the four mares back to the shelter I built, I ask my lover, "So is there anything you want me to do dear?"

The alicorn nods her head and says, "Yes, I need you to turn them so that they are facing me and have about a one foot gap between each other. After that, I will need you to stand against the far back wall with the windigo, for I shall need her powers for the second part of the plan."

Arranging them the way she asked me to, I then head to the back with the windigo while looking forward to seeing what she has planned. As I watch her use her magic to cast one spell four times before forming a large magic spell with a protective barrier around it when she turns to the windigo and asks, "You do know the spell most opposite of Muspelheim, don't you? If I am not mistaken, it is called Niflheim."

Nodding her head with wide eyes, the windigo says, "All windigoes know that spell, what do you need it for, Guardian?"

Needing to explain it to her, Equise says, "As soon as I cast Muspelheim first, I need you to wait until the flames stop and then cast your spell immediately. Be sure to make it as cold as you possibly can so that it produces Nitrogen, or my second casting of Muspelheim will fail."

I watch as the windigo tries to puzzle it out and say, "She wants you to create Nitrogen in a liquid form because it will explode if exposed to high enough heat."

Understanding fills her eyes as the windigo then says, "Which will result in the complete destruction of the ice around the ponies!" She then asks nervously, "But will the trapped ponies be alright?"

Nodding her head, she smiles and says, "Worry not, for I put protective barriers along their bodies to protect them from the blast, be sure to confine your spell inside the barrier protecting us from the spells' effects. Let us begin..." then prepares to cast her spell.

The plan goes off without any issues as I look at the four thawed ponies on the ground when I hear Equise tell me to take what supplies I need from the boxes against the wall and take my leave while she has a long talk with them. Nodding my head, I then recall what I scavenged from the houses and set it all on the floor in the corner, saying, "Before you send them on their way, tell them that their rescuer scavenged what he thought was useful in his mind, and that the rest was either too damaged by exposure, age, or was just not worth saving. If there is anything that they cannot do without, have them make a list and I will retrieve them, then drop them off here."

Happy to hear of his thoughtfulness, she walks up to him and kisses him, saying, "I will make sure to do that, now gather what you need and hurry off. I would like to start having a foal by the end of this decade. Be sure to remember that I will describe their rescuer in your second form and name, and don't forget that I love you."

Nodding, I hurry to the boxes and grab what I need from them for a month-long expedition before replacing the lids and heading out, saying, "Thank you, dear, I will remember that. I love you, and will see you again next month."

Heading out with the windigo leading the way, I describe a couple of materials to her that I need. Recognizing them both, she guides me to where they can be found. With her able to create Nitrogen in a crystal form, I decide to collect that last due to how volatile it is when heat is involved.

A month passes as I return to the shelter at night to find my lover there with the survivors still recovering from their ordeal, making sure not to wake them as I gather the supplies and leave once again. Finding a paper on the door, I grab it and look it over to see that it is a small list of various items including things like family heirlooms and pictures. Making my way to the village to find the items, I bring them back and set them in a pile where I set the items I salvaged.

3 Months pass as we make regular visits to the shelter every four weeks when she surprises me one day by leading me to seams of dioxite the first month, fields of di-hydrogen crystals the next, and even a forest of trees that grow frost crystals the third month.

As I am still harvesting frost crystals from trees, my wife's words echo through my head about being the world's only guardian. Those words dance through my head and tickle the notions of a thought forming as I take a better look at the trees I'm harvesting frost crystals from, which causes me to have a stray thought, thinking, 'Wow, trees really are wonderful...they can absorb bad elements and produce oxygen for us to breathe, as well as grow food. But what if they could do other things like spread diseases, defend themselves, help out in a fight, use magic, or could even think for themselves...'

Just then, those thoughts trigger an idea that brings a curious look to my face as I walk around the tree, studying the structure of the tree along with its composition and other details. Turning my eyes to the windigo, I then ask her, "Hey Icy Step, do you understand anything about the way trees function on a magical level?"

Without realizing it as she cocks her head curiously while thinking it over, I sparked a discussion that would go back and forth for two months until I share the idea that I had the other day with her. As we head towards another source of material I need to stock up on, I then ask her, "Hey Icy, I might have asked you something similar before, but, theoretically speaking... If you were wanting to come up with a way to make an intelligent, magical tree that can help keep things in balance, how would you go about achieving it?"

Thinking it over seriously for a moment, she then says, "Well...I am definitely no scientist, but I have a decent understanding of the nature and properties of magic. After all, I am a part of that nature myself. So, I would have to think that to even begin to start that monumental headache, you would need the purest parts from many things that form the balance in the world. If you're seriously considering pursuing this idea you concocted, you do know that you will likely be old and grey by the time you succeed, right?"

Nodding my head with a grin, I then say, "I do, so let's go gather a massive amount of Cobalt, which happens to be one of the last materials I might possibly find here."

When we reach a place where a large amount of cobalt can be found, I raise my forearm with the device that has many different functions in it and summon my starship to come to me and land nearby, saying, "Alright time for me to get busy gathering, crafting, and refining."

I wind up spending a month and a half on refining the rest of the cobalt I need and making what else I need to make repairs to the ship itself as well as the systems when I finally finish an important repair task and ask Icy Step to start producing Nitrogen crystals so that I can collect them and recharge the engine's cooling system.

Finishing the repairs that I can, I think back to the adventures Icy and I had here, asking, "Hey Icy, I was always curious about your diet. What do Windigoes normally eat?"

She cocks her head and floats beside him with an incredulous expression on her face, asking, "You seriously didn't find out yet?" When she sees him shrug and answer no, she blinks twice and chuckles, saying, "Well, I find that surprising. Our diet consists of various things, such as the frost crystals you collected, a plant with blue petals called poison joke is a delicacy. However, what we are really drawn to are these rare crystals that turned black and have a purple glow within their center after absorbing a large amount of fear and hatred."

I am pulled away by a vision of me researching a way to grow various mineral producing plants by splicing and adjusting the DNA strands with advanced science. When I find myself back in the Frozen North with Icy Step looking at me curiously, I smile at her and pick her up in my arms and spin around, saying happily, "You just helped me remember something from my past, thank you so much Icy!"

Blushing at the sudden, excessive gratitude, she giggles and says, "You're welcome, but can you put me down? Embracing someone with affection is risky business for an uncoupled Windigo such as myself."

Not really understanding her meaning, I nod and set her down, saying, "Sorry, I've just been going through life without any knowledge or memories of who I am since I crashed on this world. Evette knows, but she insists on letting me discover myself on my own." An idea comes to me as I then ask, "Hey, why don't you guide me to one of these black crystals you love to eat so I can collect it for study?"

Nodding her head, she smiles and says, "Alright then, follow me."

Frequent time skips continue to next chapter, sorry!

VIII: A New Adventure

Frequent time skips continue from last chapter, sorry!

After locating one of the black crystals that windigoes like Icy Step are drawn to and collecting it, we make our way to an isolated place deep into the Frozen North where I begin to build a secret base while gleaning information about what Windigo homes look like, as well as keeping the base's purpose secret from her.

Construction of the base takes me longer than I expected to complete due to the challenges of not decimating their frost crystal food supply to make the special window walls that don't reflect the sun's light, subtly asking how they prefer their homes and making adjustments to suit their preferences.

Eight months after construction is completed, I finish building the last solar array and the group of four batteries. Burying the wires under the ground in bundles where I can, I even manage to build a teleport terminal in an underground part of the base with a simple control terminal with a private network that I manage to create with the help of Evette to only allow Windigoes and myself to turn the portal on or off.

As Icy wanders through the large structure, curious at what the purpose for it is, she finds her master working on another strange marvel she has no understanding of how any of them work. When she notices him put a final piece in place and press a button to make it light up, a mist starts floating down from the inner ring of the glowing tubes.

With the hydroponic tray works, I rub my hands together and then pull out a small, black, teardrop shaped orb, saying, "Now let's find out how this seed will turn out..."

Shocked to discover that it is a seed, she pesters him about what it is supposed to be over a period of a few months when the black plant with a crystal-like texture begins to develop some kind of strange, glowing, purple flowers. When he continues to tell her to wait and see, she grumbles irritably and storms off, leaving a trail of snowflakes behind in her wake.

Two months seem to pass slowly as I wait for Evette to tell me if the plant is ready to harvest yet, until the day finally arrives three weeks later that the four fruits are finally ready. Plucking a smaller one off the bud and hide it in my hands, then walk swiftly through the base to see where Icy Step has gone off to. Finding her on the upper terrace, I hurry up the stairs to her preferred sleeping spot and call out, "Close your eyes Icy, I have a big surprise for you!"

Surprised and curious, she closes her eyes and rolls over, letting out a sigh, saying, "Okay, what kind of gift do you have for me?"

Walking closer to her, I smile underneath my helmet and say, "Keep your eyes closed and open your mouth, I would like you to try something new."

Letting out a sigh, she then says, "I told you what wendigoes eat before, so don't get your hopes up that I won't spit it back out." then rolls onto her belly and opens her mouth to wait for it to be put into her mouth.

Grinning hopefully, I place the pointed top end of the crystal into her mouth and say, "Alright, now bite down onto this new type of crystal."

Preparing for a bit of a crunch, she sighs and bites down, only for the taste to fill her mouth as she chews it happily. Swallowing it down, she opens her eyes to look down at the black crystal with a glowing purple center, saying excitedly, "Those are so very hard to find, did you find a place where they are beyond plentiful?!"

Shaking my head as she takes another bite of it and chews it gleefully, answering, "Nope...I grew this and three others. Does it taste different than the rare, black crystals you eat?"

Taking the last bit out of his hand, she chews it with a soft squeal of delight before chomping onto something as hard as diamond. Separating the hard object and swallowing the rest, she then drops the object into his hand, saying, "It most certainly tastes far better than the one you let me eat after taking the other for studying, the only thing that I can't eat is that thing I put into your hand." Looking down at it and opening her eyes, she sees a small, black, teardrop shaped orb in the palm of his hand, saying in shock, "Wait...is that another seed?"

Nodding my head, I say, "It is indeed, and there are three more crystals bigger than the one you just ate, which means that they too, have one or more seeds inside them. I'm pretty sure you can figure out where I am going with this."

Gasping happily, she then says, "Yes! These seeds mean...that we can grow our own food. This is going to be life-changing for our whole race, I must tell this to the others!"

Before she can race off, I then wrap my arms around her and say, "It most definitely will be, but we must wait until we find out the conditions for successful germination. Maybe there may even be new dangers that might threaten the plants existence, we have a lot to learn about this new plant."

Getting a hold of herself, she calms herself down, saying through deep breaths, "Right...Your definitely right. There are new things we must discover first before sharing this news. What do we do first?"

Smiling, I slowly move my hands up to her collar and say, "Well, the first thing that needs to be done..." then lower my voice to a whisper and say into her ear while preparing to unlock her collar and remove it in one motion, finishing, "Is to trade the slave for a partner." Unlocking the collar and unclipping it without warning, I then back away and dangle it before her, asking, "So, what do you say to my new offer?"

Shocked to see him holding her collar in front of her, her emotions run wild inside her as she is unable to decide what to say first. One thing claws its way to the front of her mind and comes out her mouth unbidden, "Th-Thank you..." The battle to control her mind stops as quickly as it started, gathering her thoughts and straightening her feelings out, saying, "I would love to be your partner very much, I look forward to the time we spend together in the future." Her cheeks turn a shade of purple as she blushes and looks away, asking, "Uhm, would you please remove your helmet so I can look at your face? It only needs to be for a half-minute..."

With the temperature inside the complex being a tolerable thirty below, I don't see a reason not to heed her request and say, "Since it isn't over fifty below in here, I can certainly take this off for a bit."

As Icy watches him take his helmet off with a hiss of escaping air, she slowly floats towards his face and lays her forehooves on his shoulders, saying, "Thank you very much, you choosing me means a lot to me. Let me show you just how much you mean to me now." Pressing her mouth to his, she slips her tongue in and swirls it around his. Accepting him to be hers, she pulls away and kisses her way down the side of his face to his neck. Puckering her lips and kissing around his neck to find his artery, she finds a safe spot and says, "Don't be frightened, this will only hurt for a few seconds." Opening her mouth wide, she sinks her two front fangs into his neck just past his artery. Pulling off, she then puts her lips around the two small holes and pulls a small mouthful of his blood into her mouth. Swallowing it to let her body adapt to taking in a part of him, she then bites her own tongue and licks around the two small holes to seal the wound and solidify their bond together. To finish the bonding ritual, she then moves her mouth back to his and slides her tongue into his mouth and wraps her lower body around his. Holding herself there while she feels him swallow her blood, she lets the kiss last a little longer before pulling away, saying into his ear, "We are now partners for life."

Her words drive home the realization of what just happened as he holds her back, thinking, 'Okay...I just tied the knot with a windigo. I wonder how upset Equise will be when I tell her about it...'

The study and experimentation takes us three years before we understand a few things about the plant, discovering that if the crystals are not harvested in time, they will fall off and crumble to dust. Also, when planting these seeds in open ground, their root structure will branch out and sprout more plants while emitting a cloud of dark spores that will, when inhaled, increase anger and fear within others until they are orally sucked out of the affected by a windigo. Alternatively, when the seeds from the picked crystals are planted, they will not produce crystals at all, but will instead sprout black, thorny vines that will grow and attempt to grab anything around them.

As I look at my windigo wife, I incinerate the last vine and say, "Is that the last of those wretched vines, hun?"

Icy nods her head and sighs with relief, saying, "Yeah, sorry about getting the seeds mixed up..."

Walking up to her, I wrap my arms around her and say, "That's alright, we just need to remember that the good ones have a crystalline, shiny faceted appearance to them, the bad ones look like pitch-black sunflower seeds with no shiny facets.

Nodding her head, she sighs and lets herself hang from his neck, saying, "Do you think that we have enough information to share with the others yet?"

Thinking it over, I nod my head and say, "Lets destroy our current supply of seeds and then designate Labs A and B for harvesting seeds for planting, then designate Lab C and D for crystal harvesting. We need to make sure any seeds from consumed crystals are collected and destroyed, I'll get started on a rule book for maintaining firm control over the growing of this crop and include a guide at the end for any mistakes if they should ever occur. When I get a chance to, I'll have someone produce several copies of it in secret and bring them to this place."

Agreeing with her husband's decision, she then sets about gathering what seeds they have around so far and dumping them into the crusher he built. Once she finishes dumping them in, she waits for them all to be ground into dust then sets herself to the task of making a sign to show the purposes of each lab.

3 Months pass as Icy begins searching for those that will listen to her and can be trusted, bringing them over and showing them what she and her husband have accomplished. After showing them what results from one of the bad seeds being planted, the vine is then destroyed as the gathered windigoes watch the display with wide eyes. Once word spreads to the rest of the windigoes, a few of them attempt to use the bad seeds for their own gain and entertainment, which causes a rift to form between them and the ones that wish to use them as just a food source.

Three more months pass when the rift between windigoes erupts into a vicious, bloody, civil war, resulting in the windigoes wanting to just use the good seeds to grow food to call themselves the Frost Wolves as the others call themselves the Ice Winds. Working together over a span of 2 months, they build a towering icy wall of swirled Ice serves as a barrier to protect their fortress called Frozen Hearth.

The war between the two factions of windigoes rages on for a whole year until the Ice Winds are crushed and driven to the northernmost reaches of the Frozen North where the Frost Crystal forest is located.

With nothing else to do there, I inform the Windigo Queen, Cold Spell of my plans to produce more copies of the book I wrote and that I eventually plan on connecting their portal up to other worlds where they can explore. Handing them a bunch of instruction manuals on how to work the advanced devices, I ask them to choose who will be in charge of operating the teleporter after I build a base on a new world. Looking at the Queen, I then say, "If the teleporter activates on its own and I walk through, I more than likely built a teleporter at my home in the Everfree Forest, and will be listed as Everfree House. Please allow only those carrying messages, my wife, her family, and others with important business to visit my home as they wish."

Queen Cold Spell nods her head respectfully to the one that has done so much for her people, saying, "I and my people owe you a debt of gratitude for what you have done for us. In giving us a way to grow our own food responsibly, you opened a new door to the prosperity of our clan. In helping us protect our food supply during the civil war, you helped protect the balance of this world." Rising from her place on her throne sculpted from flawless ice, she says, "From your selfless acts, it brings me great pride to decree that you will always be considered a hero to our people and along with your family, always welcome within our land you call the Frozen North, Traveller." Floating forward, she kisses his forehead and then returns to her throne, saying, "May the North Star always guide you true."

Making my way to the bottom floor, I look around to see how much this place has changed since the construction was completed. Finding my wife near the fortress's front gate, I notice that her coloring is slightly different and that she has a bit more mass to her and look her over more closely, asking, "Hun, is it just me or is something different with you lately?"

Giggling at how he noticed, she floats up and wraps her hooves around behind his suit's neck, saying, "Well, since you so kindly asked..." then whispers into his ear, "I think that you should know that you are going to become a father in a couple of years, so I would suggest that you not take too long to build a teleporter at your Everfree House so that I and my family can visit from time to time once the child is born."

Shocked and rendered speechless by her announcement for several seconds, all I can get out at first is, "H-How?"

Able to sense his shock through their bond, she smiles and says, "Well, do you remember when I bound myself to you and swallowed your blood?"

Standing there, I nod dumbly and say, "Yeah, what does that have to do with the way windigoes breed?"

Unable to hide her amusement, she laughs and then wraps herself around him gently, saying, "Why everything, ice brain! We female windigoes can only breed if we bond ourself to a male we feel affection toward and swallow their blood, and a female choosing to breed with a male means a great deal to her because windigo pregnancies last for around 7 years. You also need to know that windigoes never fail to deliver their young during winter months."

Once the shock wears off, it gives way to joy as I then spin around in a circle while hugging my wife to me gently, saying, "Oh I'm so happy to hear the news! I'm going to be a father!" I then remember my wife wanting a foal before the decade ends and say, "Looks like I'm going to be a father twice in a short amount of time, would you like to swing by to tell her everything this winter?"

When he stops spinning, she smiles at him and nods, saying, "Of course I will help break the news to the guardian and help smooth things over between you two, its what a wife should do for her husband."

Leaving the Frozen North and heading back south to warmer climates, I collect a bunch of crystal and experiment with it by trying to use it to craft things with it. Having mixed results over a few days until I decide to try refining the impurities out of it, then I successfully craft a spoon. However, it is far to delicate to be of actual use as I learn that firsthand after trying to scoop up a chunk of chopped up Zap Apple. Recycling the material used to create it, I decide to give up on it and make my way through the pass.

When I arrive at the shelter, I head inside to check for any supplies and gather what is inside the boxes before making a thin slab of stone and carving a message in it for my lover, Equise, telling her that I am finished in the Frozen North and that she can stop bringing supplies here. Once I add that I will see her when I get home, I attach a small cord to it and then craft a small column of stone with a spot to hang the sign on and leave them both in front of the door for her to see. Collapsing the structure, I then take my leave and make my way southeast.

Passing through the less cold land where the crystal ponies are at, I decide to make a small detour to see how they are coming along. It takes me a day of walking to get within sight of their location and use my visor's ability to zoom in on something a fair distance away, able to see that their homes are built out of slabs of crystal. Slightly perturbed with how shabbily they seem to be put together, I shake my head while wondering if there is a way to inspire them indirectly.

As an idea comes to me, I look around for any crystal lying around. Scanning the stones around me, I find that they are made out of it and Ferrite. Mining them and other boulders around me at night, I work by flashlight and begin to purify the crystal so that I can begin crafting simple shapes with it close enough to the village where the ponies will eventually take notice.

Finishing up the last piece a little before dawn, I find myself much too close to the town as I look the wide, low-standing monument over. Satisfied with how pretty the purified crystal looks with bits of silver flecks scattered through it, I look at the message upon both sides, reading, 'Beauty can be found anywhere, and in anything, such as this magically modified slab of crystal and the paved path before you. Love, Truth and Happiness are one of the magical keys to being in harmony with others, so try your hardest to discover a way to spread it.' Hearing a door open, I then turn around and race away quickly before they can spot me, leaving a short crystal path and the monument behind me.

It winds up taking me a couple weeks to return to the Everfree Forest and head for my home. Upon finally getting home, I head to the clearing behind the house and pass through the invisible barrier. Summoning my ship to its spot, I wait for a half second before it appears and lands on the ground before me.

When Equise rushes in through the door 2 weeks later with two boxes of supplies in store, she rushes forward and jumps up onto me, knocking me to the floor as she practically shoves her tongue down my throat in joy of me coming home. Even though it isn't mating season, she fights her inner desire to rip his suit off and have her way with him.

Pulling away and sitting on top of his lap, she rests her forehooves on the floor beside his chest as her body squirms with joy at him being home, she says, "OH I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE FINALLY HOME!" Nuzzling her cheek against his for a few long moments, she pulls away and says, "I was so happy to see your message that I hurried straight here to celebrate!" Noticing a strange marking on the left side of his neck, she looks at him curiously and asks, "Uhm...I know that blue streak with a spiral at the back wasn't there before, so where did you get it?" A worrisome thought then occurs to her as she then narrows her eyes and asks, "Please don't tell me that you tried to regain more memories by brewing a potion with the Heart's Desire flower, because that could backfire on you in a great number of ways!"

Raising my hands and resting them on her shoulders, I say, "Take a calming breath, dear. No, I didn't brew a potion to regain more memories or anything of that sort." Letting my words sink in for a bit, I then say, "I'm happy to be home as well, I have missed you. Though, I do have a few developments to tell you about, shall we get comfy on the couch so I can tell you about them?"

Smiling and nodding, she gets off of him and lets him use her to pull himself upright, then follows him to the couch and settles in right beside him, asking, "Please tell me how things went with your adventure to the Frozen North."

Leaving a few things out, I then tell her about what happened during my time up there. It takes me a couple hours to share my story, but I then tell her about my journey back here and what I have done near the village of Crystal Ponies, asking, "I think I am making quite the impact from the shadows, don't you think?"

Amazed by what Equise hears, she smiles and says, "You most certainly are, and I am very pleased to hear this." sitting upright, she then raises her eyebrow and says, "Though I am a little concerned to hear about the plant you created to serve as a staple food for the windigoes. What would happen to this world if those 'bad seeds' get out?"

Understanding her concerns, I move my hands up to her cheeks, then say, "We will just have to believe that things will balance themselves out...with a little help." Turning to look into her eyes, I then say, "What would you say to having a little help with managing the balance?"

Hearing that piques her curiosity, causing her to cock her head and say, "I would love to have help, but I don't know how to share my duty with others. Why do you ask?"

Smiling, I then tell her my idea, which causes her eyes to go wide in amazement as I can practically see her thinking of how much work it would take off her shoulders, saying, "I have discussed this with Icy Steps because she has a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to the nature and properties of magic. However, I would like your help in bringing this idea to fruition, because I have no clue as to what I need to do or get. Heck, I don't even know where to begin starting a project of this magnitude."

Giggling softly, she sidles up against him and wraps her front hooves around his neck, saying, "Don't worry, dear, I think I can help with those details. However, it will require no small amount of magic and cooperation from some ponies I know, but let us enjoy our reunion tonight before setting about on the nuances of this idea you brought before me."

We spend the rest of the week doing things around our house together, having her help me with building a solar array and a couple batteries to power the teleporter I begin working on. Hiding the wires underground and hiding the breaker box within a false panel in my house, I install an easy-to-use control module on a wall in the basement with the teleporter and connect it to the private network I created. Listing it as 'Everfree House' and let the batteries charge for a bit longer before activating the portal and selecting the only destination available, then walk through the portal without my backpack or helmet on to see the shocked faces of a couple nearby Windigoes. Waving at them and saying in Equestrian, "Hello, I just finished building a teleporter in the basement of my home in the Everfree, so I just thought that I would inform the queen of its completion. Once I inform the queen, I change the secret base's id in the control terminal to Frozen Hearth and then head back home through it.

As winter arrives, Icy Step arrives during December to talk about what happened between her and the human, which, surprisingly...goes very well as Equise is not upset in the least. In fact, she is overjoyed to hear the news that it is possible to procreate with him and begins to discuss windigo biology among other things.

Not wanting to get pulled into their chat, I head outside and say, "I'm going to head outside and keep messing around with pure crystal."

Putting their chat on halt for a moment, Equise says, "Okay, I hope you figure it out this time dear."

I close the door behind me to hear Icy Step ask, "What is he working on?"

After spending a few hours trying to make crystal plants, I manage to create a couple fruit bearing trees. Unfortunately, my attempts in creating the one plant I want remain utter failure when I walk back into the house with an exasperated sigh, saying, "UGH, why can't I figure out a way to make this stupid tree?!"

With Icy Step in the bathroom due to her pregnancy, Equise says, "I told Icy about what you are attempting to create, and she said that she might know of a way to help you along. She should be back in a few moments to tell you more about it."

Once she finishes in the bathroom, she flushes and leaves the room, making her way towards the couch and lays down upon it when she sees her husband back, saying, "Hi hun, did you have any luck?"

Shaking my head, I tell her, "No, it remains out of my reach for now, but I hear that you might be able to help me have a break through?"

Nodding, she then says, "I do have an idea, though it runs between light magic and dark magic. Would you still want to hear it?"

Thinking it over for a moment, I then nod my head and ask, "What are you proposing I do?"

In a solemn tone, she says, "Well, since we windigoes are magical by nature and that our bodies and souls are primarily composed of it, due to our connection to this world's magic... You might need to consider using a living windigo to help create a tree this special."

Narrowing my eyes slightly, I then ask, "Are you suggesting I abduct a windigo and use them as a science experiment?"

Sighing, Icy shakes her head and says, "No, not at all! That wouldn't work anyway because it would warp the tree's purity. What you are going to have to do is ask for a windigo to willingly sacrifice themself to create this tree, however, it is likely that you will have to only attempt to create it when everything is ready."

Sitting down in a chair near the fire and putting my hands on my face in mild frustration, I then say, "So I am going to have to wait for a while to do this...wonderful, just wonderful."

Walking over and putting a wing around his shoulder, Equise says, "Just until the others succeed in the task I have given them. There is something good about that though. We will be able to spend quality time with each other until they are prepared."

Spring comes and goes as we try for a foal, which arrives as a big moment for us when she is born an alicorn just like her mother, though having an off-white coat with a mane consisting of four colors, being light blue, light green, a light purplish hue and lastly, a light pink. However, our little girl's mane and tail do not float like her mother's.

While I cradle her in my arms, I look into the filly's slightly darker shade of pink eyes and caress the back of her head with two fingers, asking, "So dear, what shall we name her?" I then hand her back so that she can hold her too.

Exhausted, she looks at her daughter and nuzzles her nose against her daughter's as tears of joy start to spill from her eyes as she says, "Oh Trav...she looks like a beatiful little star. What do you think about Solara?"

Scrunching my nose at the name, I say, "It doesn't suit her, she looks too innocent and pure-hearted for it. Solara makes me think of a cold-hearted mare with a face that looks like she bit into a very sour lemon."

His comment causes her to snicker and say, "Okay then, you pick something that suits her better."

Nodding, I then lean down over them both and look at our filly inquisitively, then say, "Ah, I know. I think we should call her Celestia."

As if liking the name, the little filly squeals with laughter and squirms around in her mother's embrace, reaching out to touch her father in wanting to be held by him.

Frequent time skips continue to next chapter, sorry!

IX: New Directions

Frequent time skips continue from last chapter, sorry!

I never realized just how much mayhem a single alicorn infant could cause, which was somewhat doubled when Icy Step had her daughter next winter.

Thankful that we decided it best to wait until Celestia was two before having another foal, I gather the bin of diapers that needs to be emptied every week and head out towards the swamp saying, "I'll be back, dear, I'm going to go pester Marty again."

Chuckling and rocking Celestia back and forth, she looks up at the nullifying band that she and Trav frantically created to put an end to the infant's magical outbursts in order to save their house and says, "Alright dear, just try not to let any cragodiles follow you back. When you get back, we need to make another band in case our second foal is born with a horn!"

Calling out in agreement, I make my way out into the forest with the bin of diapers in my hand, my backpack and MTR on my back and my helmet on my head. Heading to the swamp I then look at the inconspicuous rock shaped heads belonging to Marty and then shout, "HEY MARTY, READY FOR OUR NEXT GAME OF TAG?!"

Lobbing a diaper into the air, I watch it splatter on the head and watch as bubbles start to rise from below, with the head rising up out of the water to reveal the growling hydra I came to call Marty. When his bulk is above the water, I then watch him roar at me with all five heads and take off running, shouting, "You're it!"

As we dash through the forest, making a mighty ruckus, Marty shoots bolts of water at me. Most of them miss, but one of them does bowl me over, sending the diapers to the forest floor. Quickly scooping a few of them back into the bin, I then take off running and saying, "Good shot, but now it's my turn!" then launch one at another head.

The game of tag goes on for about an hour with Marty chasing me the whole time until all the diapers are gone and water is dripping off my suit and backpack, jumping across the gap with help from my boosters, saying, "SAFE!" then run down the slope, saying, "I had fun, see you next week pal!"

Watching them run away, the hydra's middle head blows a raspberry at it and then turns his body around to return to his swamp when the far left head says, "Why does that creature only ever come by to throw the smelly things at us?"

The head on the far right huffs and says, "Because it knows that we will eat it if we catch it, so it needed a way to make itself feel brave and courageous."

Another head then smirks and says in a female voice, "It is kind of fun though when it visits, the attacks never cause us any pain, and we do knock them down occasionally with our water."

The middle head snarls and then says, "HEY! DON'T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THAT SUBSTANCE GOT INTO MY EYE! I COULDN'T SEE OUT OF IT FOR A WEEK!"

Snickering, she says, "Well, that is why you need to remember to keep your inner eyelid closed whenever the creature visits with those weapons."

As the spring mating season passes by, our second alicorn daughter is born during the middle of the night during an eclipse, causing us both to come up with the name...Luna when we see her dark blue coat and vivid bluish-purple mane and tail with a pair of beautiful greenish-blue eyes.

When Celestia is five years old, I see her with her nose buried in a book about magic and turn to Equise and ask, "Dear, what do you think about finding a tutor for our girls?"

Thinking it over after having removed Celestia's magic null ring earlier that day as one of her birthday presents with the second gift being a couple of books about magic from her father, Equise says, "I think that would be a great idea, I can only think of one pony suitable for the task. Can you watch the girls for a bit while I go ask them about it?"

Nodding my head, I then say, "I would love to babysit the girls, though I think that we need talk about trying for another foal, preferably a boy this time."

Heading towards the door, she stops and looks back at him, and bursts out laughing, saying, "Alright, dear, but I think that you should know that the ratio of girls to boys here are 4:1 in the girls favor. If you really want that boy, I am willing to discuss more foals."

As the door closes behind her, I let out a soft huff at what she said, thinking, 'Being in this small house and raising 4 girls just to have another guy around?' Shaking my head at the lunacy of the idea, I then think, 'To hell with that, I don't feel like expanding our cabin even more just for male bonding.'

When Luna is old enough to finally get her own tutor, I guide Celestia into the living room and kneel down in front of her. Placing my arm upon her withers, I look into her eyes and use the thumb and forefinger on my right hand to gently lift her head away from her book and say, "Look at me sweetie, daddy needs to have a talk with you."

Thinking that she is in trouble, her eyes widen with fear as she panics, saying in a high voice, "I'M SORRY, IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR! CHILLY BREEZE WAS USING HER MAGIC TO PUT A LAYER OF THIN ICE OVER THE TOPS OF THE TREES IN THE EVERFREE FOREST AND LUNA WAS UP THERE WITH HER, TRYING TO DANCE ACROSS THE ICE! THOSE TWO ARE ALWAYS CAUSING TROUBLE FOR ME AND I ALWAYS GET BLAMED!"

Chuckling at hearing the escapade, I then shake my head, saying, "I'm not angry about that because that is all part of being the oldest sibling, it means having more responsibility for your younger sister and half-sister. This will be a great learning experience for you, I'm sure, but you will need to learn how to handle different situations. You never fail when something goes wrong, because you learned something new and there is always room to improve where you are lacking in experience. Some day in the future, you might find yourself and your sister in a position with great power and responsibility. What your mother and I need you to do for us is to look after your sister and help her with her studies when she has trouble, but be sure to have fun when you can. You can do that for mommy and I, right?"

Surprised to hear her father say that to her, her mood lifts as her confidence gets a boost. Nodding her head proudly, she takes his words to heart and stands taller with a determined smile, saying, "Yes I can, father. I won't let you down." Turning towards the hall, she then calls out, "Lulu, we need to get going!"

Heading out of her room with her head hung low nervously, Luna trots towards her sister, saying, "Sorry for keeping you waiting, I needed to use the restroom." Stopping beside her, she asks, "Do you think that the wizard will agree to teach me magic too?"

Remembering her father's words, she smiles and says, "I don't see why not, you are just as talented as I am in your own way. What spells I had trouble with, you learned with ease. We compliment each other's magic very well, in fact, I believe that we will be a force to reckon with some day."

Getting a boost to her self-esteem and confidence from her sister brings a smile to Luna's face as she says, "Let's not keep the wizard waiting any longer then, Cece."

Three years after Luna get accepted as Star Swirl's pupil, I then huff in annoyance, saying, "It still irritates me that he turned me away because 'he didn't have the time', yet, he took both of our alicorn daughters on as pupils in a heartbeat."

Chuckling, she leans against Trav's side and says, "Oh don't let it get you bent out of shape dear, he had quite a few things going on at the time. One day, I know you will find someone to help you learn magic."

Sighing as I know she's right, I open my mouth to respond when I hear a heavy knocking on the door, hearing a familiar voice call through the door, "Hello, are either of you here today?"

Happy to hear his voice, Equise says, "We both are, what brings you here today Star Swirl?"

Relieved that they both are there, he says, "The six of us have completed your task, Guardian. We are ready to do our part at your behest."

Elated to hear the news, she smiles widely and says, "That is excellent news, please come on in."

When the door opens and they walk in, I then turn to Equa and ask, "Do you want me to pay a visit to them?"

Glancing at him for a moment, she shakes her head, saying, "Not just yet, dear, I would like to talk for a bit with Star Swirl first."

Nodding my head, I pull her closer to me and say, "Have a seat everyone, make yourselves at home."

As the others that haven't met Trav before whisper to each other, Equise looks at Star Swirl and asks, "How are Trav and I's daughters doing in their studies, Star Swirl? They are doing exceedingly well I hope."

Chuckling softly, he makes his way to a rocking chair and looks over at the couple, saying, "They are doing so well that it startles me at times. In fact, Luna impressed me for the first time last fall when she successfully teleported to a location...before her sister could study the spell. OH! Did they tell you yet that they got their cutie marks at the same time, and that they can raise the sun and moon...by themselves!?!"

I listen for an hour as he goes on about our daughter's extraordinary abilities and achievements, feeling extremely proud of our girls for doing so well. As I notice Equise scoot away from me, I look at her with a curious look and ask, "Hmm? What's up, dear?"

Smiling gently at him, she looks into his eyes and says, "Why don't you go take care of that errand and come back so we can get started?"

Understanding, I then nod my head and go over to the closet to put my exosuit on, moving onto putting my backpack on. I then grab my helmet and put it on, activating the seal to see the normal information appear in their proper places before finally grabbing my MTR and slinging it over my back, looking at the others, saying, "Hopefully, I'll be back in a bit with a friend, so please try to remain calm when you first see their appearance, I promise you that they will not hurt you."

Closing the closet door as they look at me with curious and shocked looks, I then make my way to the locked door at the top of the stairs to the basement and unlock it before heading down the stairs. Locking the door behind me, I then head to the control module and use it to select the Frozen Hearth.

Once the portal activates, I walk through and head past the windigoes stationed by the controls, waving and saying, "Hello, I have come to discuss something important with your queen."

Walking past the windigoes as one hurries off ahead of me, I make my way to where the queen's throne is at and dip my head to her, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness, I have been working on a plan of great importance to the balance of the world with the blessing of the Guardian, there is one important thing that I must ask of your whole clan. Will you hear me out?"

Curious to hear, she nods her head and says, "What is this plan you have thought up, and what would be required of us?"

As I tell her about the plan to find a way to help the guardian manage the balance better, I then sigh and say, "Some years ago, my wife, Icy Step brought an idea to me of how to possibly achieve this, what she said lies between Light and Dark Magic. She said that due to your connection to this world's magic and also because windigoes are magical by nature, along with your bodies and souls being primarily composed of it...I would need to consider using a living windigo to help create a tree this special. What would be asked of you is for a few willing volunteers to sacrifice themselves so that I might be able to somehow infuse them into being part of a seed that will hopefully grow into becoming a magical, sentient, pure crystal tree capable of protecting the balance on its own to lessen the burden the Guardian has to endure."

Queen Cold Spell narrows her eyes a little and sits up straight, saying, "What you ask of my clan is a very serious thing, and must not be considered lightly." Needing to ascertain if any experiments were done and successful, she says, "Answer me these questions, have you experimented with making various types of flora from this material that thrives on its own? Were any of these experiments successful?"

Looking up at the queen, I say, "I have been experimenting for the past 9 years, successfully recreating nearly every type of flower, a few different types of crops that would do well there...weather permitting, various types of trees, including some fruit trees, a handful of nut trees, and a few types of non-food trees. I hope that you find those results satisfactory, there were other successful creations, though I destroyed them because of what their requirements were. Those being that they were to picky about what soil they needed to be planted in, or required too much water or a certain nutrient to continue thriving."

Thinking it over for a couple of minutes, the queen closes her eyes and comes to a decision, letting out a sigh, saying, "Your results are to my liking, so I shall allow 3 members of my clan to volunteer." Getting off her throne, she says, "I must address the clan, let us head outside.

After following her outside, I stand back as she finishes her speech when turns to me and asks me to state my boundaries. Stepping forth, I look around to see countless hundreds of windigoes in the air and say, "Any volunteer is allowed, unless you are not yet mature, not currently raising young, with young, coupled, or heir apparent. If you wish to volunteer together as a couple, it will be allowed. I must also inform you that I am not sure what will happen to your souls in the process, you might just simply move into another dimension or life, it is possible that you will be absorbed into the seed itself and become part of a new existence. Something like this has never been attempted before, so this is a journey into the unknown. I am sorry to say this, but this also is pretty much an experiment with high hopes that it succeeds on the first try. If this does succeed, though, you shall be part of something special, magnificent, and absolutely amazing." I then look at the queen and nod to tell her I am finished.

Turning her head towards the gathered windigoes keeping a smile off her face at hearing her daughter can't volunteer, she calls out, "If you wish to volunteer, come forward and stand by our hero."

Dead silence hangs over the area for five full minutes without anyone moving an inch, when one windigo comes down from her place in the sky slowly. She hovers before him for a moment before moving to his right side and remaining there, looking at the others and saying, "Don't you understand how big of an opportunity this is? We're being given the chance to be a part of keeping the balance in this world that we are part of, we finally have the chance to be something other than terrors of pony society. Yes, it may take a while before we are seen as a friend instead of a foe, but I have faith that it will happen...one year, a century, or perhaps even two or three millenia from now. Who cares how long we may wait for it to happen, Windigoes mature, but never age! Which means we just have to remain patient until it comes to be!"

As I stand there watching, windigoes begin to whisper things to each other, as two minutes pass by when another female windigo moves forth to stand beside the first windigo. The whispers stop as the last windigo, also being female, moves forth to stand next to the other two, looking at me while saying, "You have made me curious to see what becomes of this untested venture of yours, young one."

Something about the hero calls to the last windigo to join, who has more years of life and experience than any other, including her younger sister, Queen Cold Spell. A sixth sense of hers detects some intangible haze following the traveller, but ever remaining just beyond his grasp. Curious, she dusts off some skills she hasn't used in a very long time and begins to study him.

Walking out in front of the others, I look at each of them and say, "I thank you all for your courage and bravery in volunteering to sacrifice yourselves to see what lies ahead, you will be remembered by other windigoes and the ponies partaking in this undertaking. I will also remember you for what you have done as long as I shall live. Let us be on our way now, the great unknown calls to be discovered."

Queen Cold Spell follows them back to the teleporter and watches the group start heading toward the portal, saying, "You all will be honored for your sacrifice this day to aid the balance, and we shall erect a monument to memorialize this momentus day."

Heading through the portal, I make my way up the stairs and unlock the door before opening it, saying, "I'm back, and I brought some guests."

Watching as Trav steps aside, Equise sees not one, but three windigoes follow him through the door and says, "It makes me so happy to see that you succeeded in your task, dear." She then turns to the pillars and asks, "Do you know of a place we might be able to perform this attempt so that this tree remains hidden and protected?"

Star Swirl nods his head as he notices the human lock the door and says, "I do, it is near my castle just east of the big half-loop in the river, there's a hidden cave at the far back of the ravine that runs around the front of it. Allow me to lead us all there."

Curious, the alicorn asks, "Star Swirl, when will our daughters be returning home from their studies?"

Exiting the house and walking down the path, he looks over his shoulder and then says, "They will be returning tomorrow morning around noon after completing their supplemental lessons for where I feel they are lacking."

Nodding, Equise closes the door and lets the pillars get a little bit ahead, turning to Trav, saying, "Dear, I have been meaning to bring this up earlier, but I noticed that you have been having difficulties sleeping well every so often. Can you tell me about what has been bothering you?"

Sighing at how she noticed, I then nod and say, "You see, during the civil war between the two windigo clans, more memories returned to me as I finished collecting the cores from the fallen." I then look off in the distance and continue, saying, "The memories that came back all feel like they happened a very long time ago, as I was not even 25 at the time when I found myself sent to fight against these alien abominations. I remember that, in each of the battles I fought, I showed no mercy whatsoever to the enemy I was fighting, not even when they pleaded for their lives. Wherever I fought, there was always lots of blood, body parts everywhere, and a landscape either being a field full of craters or a city in flames. The memories stop with the war ending and me laying waste to their queen and the remainder of her army, then reducing their home planet to dust. Now, every once in a while, when I close my eyes...I find myself walking amongst the silent battlefield of dead humans and alien creatures with body parts scattered everywhere and the ground slick with green and red blood when I hear a cacophony of pained screams and pleas for aid."

Sad to hear that he has such traumatic memories, she wraps a wing around him, saying, "I am so sorry that you suffer from such horrid memories, but you will always have our family, your wife and her daughter to make happy memories with."

The wisened windigo floats up beside the Traveller as her seer ability activates on its own, turning to him, saying, "The ancient enemy has been in hiding, but they will make their play to claim this world one day. Be warned, it will be an exceedingly difficult task for you to bring change to their race. But fear not, for your treasures will return in due time as you go through life, making new memories." Her ability ends as she then blinks her eyes and shakes her head clear, saying, "The Seer ability of mine is such a nuisance because it can't be actively used...not to mention how it makes me look and sound possessed."

Pretty sure that she was meaning the alien creatures I fought before, but not knowing what to do with that information, I nod dumbly at her and say, "Thank you, I will remember your words and figure out how to deal with the ancient enemy when it arrives."

Nothing more is said for several hours as we make our way down stone steps that have been created by Rockhoof, we reach the bottom as Star Swirl says, "The cave is a little bit further ahead."

Arriving at the cave, Equise watches the others gather around in a half circle, then asks the three windigoes to stand together and be part of it before making her way to the circle as well, saying, "Dear, I will have to be inside the circle because I am an alicorn and the Guardian of this world, you need to complete the circle and put your all into what you desire to make." She then walks up to him and removes his helmet before giving him a long, passionate kiss.

Once I move into place and get started, I hear her tell the others what they need to do and then take her place in the circle, lying down on her right side around the center of the circle, posing her body to look as if she was chasing after something.

Seeing as Trav begins to manipulate crystal powder, she then says, "Dear, keep working and do not lose focus when I tell you this, but whatever happens to me must be that way. There are two letters inside your nightstand, one for you and the other for the girls. Be sure that they both read it when they get home, remember that I will always love you."

Not wanting to disappoint her and stop, I nod my head and push even harder to create the crystal tree. I lose track of time when I suddenly see a twinkle from within the swirling mass of purified crystal dust and smile, happy to be making progress finally when I hear my lover say, "Do your part now, JOIN ME!"

As Equise commits her body and soul to the combined efforts to create something new, she feels the change start to wash over her body as she begins to turn into a cloud of glowing, golden dust.

Committing themselves to their task, all three windigoes channel their whole being towards the sparkle amidst the swirling mass of crystal dust. As they feel themselves be accepted by something, their bodies let a final, joyful howl that drops off when their bodies transform into dusty forms of themselves that swirl towards the inner circle and merge together.

Two clouds of dust begin to swirl above the smaller, writhing crystal dust and start to merge to form a spinning ring of gold and blue dust when they start to glow brightly as Equise's voice whispers into Trav's ear, "Don't be sad, dear, my body is only taking on a new form, though I will miss not being able to travel anywhere. I will look forward to the days ahead, dear, please come here often and visit me once I have passed the sapling stage. Be sure to look after the girls for me, I love you dear. Farewell...for now."

I watch as the swirling ring of blue and gold then converge with the swirling, writhing mass of deep blue crystal dust. Moments later, tears slip down my face as I watch the clouds mix together, then get pulled into the bright sparkle of light at the center of the mass of dust. When the sparkle flares brightly, I raise my arm to shield my eyes when it fades away seconds later.

Returning my arm to my side, I then look at the spot where the swirling mass of dust was to see a new hovering mass of fluctuating liquid, bluish white crystal, watching curiously as it then slowly begins to take the form of a small teardrop with a small, wiggling tail. The mass of liquid has a golden sparkle at the heart of the teardrop that slowly turns from a liquid state to a solid one, spreading the transformation to its upright tail. When the transformation is complete, I watch as the tail freezes in a mostly straight, squiggly line and then instinctively let out a half-laugh, saying, "Heh...we did it."

Examining the teardrop-shaped object with his magic, Star Swirl nods with a smile and then says, "We most certainly did, my boy. How about you take the honor and pick it up and then plant it?"

Looking around the chamber as Star Swirl lights up his horn, I say, "I would, but it is impossible for a seed to take root in solid rock."

Nodding his head in understanding, he then says, "You have a very good point there," then looks at his companion and says, "Rockhoof, why don't you make a spot more suitable for a seed to grow."

I watch as he uses his shovel to rapidly pulverize the floor until it is a fine powder, then Star Swirl uses his magic to create a gap for light to enter the cave. Carefully picking up the large seed as if it were fragile, I carry it with both hands to the pulverised stone floor, then move it into one hand and dig a hole with my glove in the center of the makeshift field. Once the hole is deep enough, I take the seed and set it into the hole standing up. Lightly pressing the base of the seed into the pebbled sediment, I then cover it slowly and pat the sediment lightly to pack it down, saying, "Now we just need to figure out if it needs water or other nutrients to grow." I look at Star Swirl and Mage Meadowbrook, saying, "Since you two know most about magic and nature, would it be possible for you both to monitor the seed's growth?"

Nodding their heads and agreeing to observe the seed closely, we take our leave when I see three twinkling lights dance about the cave and hear faint echoes of laughter bounce around the cave's interior. Making my way home to read Equise's letter, meander about aimlessly until arriving just after sunset.

At noon the next day, my exosuit is in the closet of my bedroom the girls come home worn out from their supplemental lesson as Luna asks where mom is at, when I approach them and kneel down. Wrapping an arm around each of the base of their necks, I pull them in close for a hug, saying, "Welcome home girls, I've missed you. There's something that I need to tell you..." Once I tell them that their mother's duty has changed, I then inform them that she won't be able to come home.

Trying to hold my own tears back, I then say, "But don't worry girls, because mommy will always be able to watch over you in her own special way. Because of her new duty, she asked me to look after you girls." Hearing sniffles coming from both Luna and Celestia, I finish and then say, "However, I do need you girls to do something important for me now, I need you both to be very strong for me and learn as much as you can about magic so that we all can protect each other. Do you girls think that you can handle that for mommy and I?"

The dam breaks as both girls begin to openly sob and wail, making me decide to retire to my bedroom with them so that we can all find comfort in each other's presence.

Frequent time skips continue near the start of next chapter, sorry!

X: Unpleasant Experiences

Frequent time skips continue from last chapter, sorry!

With their mother having taken a different form to better keep the balance, Celestia takes up learning cooking for us all as they both have taken to sleep with me for comfort every night afterwards, with me making regular visits to the cave while the girls continue to excel in their magical studies. The seed does sprout, requiring a special mix of liquid magic and water that only Star Swirl can create, though it will take time before it resembles more than a reed.

The following section is not safe for work or necessary to understand the story, please feel free to skip to the next chapter to continue reading!

Two years pass as the growing sprout finally starts to look like a tree while the girls grow bigger each year when danger strikes during spring. I don't notice anything at first when my eldest daughter Celestia accidentally brushes her flank against my leg. As a few days go by, it happens again. It isn't until the middle of the third week when I realize I made a mistake, which started one night when I was asleep in bed, having a dream about a romantic time with Equise.

Lost to the dream, I am making out passionately with my lover, enjoying how real it feels as I feel her breathe hotly against my face while I run my hands up and down her back. When she starts grinding her body against mine, I stiffen between her teats as she moans softly, saying, "You feel so big to me, I can't wait to feel it inside."

Grumbling softly, Luna keeps her eyes closed and turns over to go back to sleep, saying, "Go to bed, Cece, you're keeping me up..."

Pulling away from the male's mouth while biting her lower lip, enjoying how a large member feels when it rubs between her teats, Celestia slides her body further ahead and tries to take him inside. When the tip hits her entrance, her moan hitches in her throat as her heart races when she attempts to regain control of her body from the season demanding that she bear a foal.

Reaching up for Equise's head, I pull her down to my lips and slide my tongue into her mouth. Her clumsiness goes unnoticed to me when I feel her press her flanks towards my hips, feeling a fair amount of pressure until something gives and she sinks down to the bottom. I feel her whole body quiver around and on top of me, then hear her whimper into my mouth as she squeezes my member as hard as she can, pulling away to ask, "What's wrong, dear?"

With her mind focused solely on the white-hot pain, she sniffles and continues to whimper, saying, "It...it hurts...it hurts so much."

Reaching around and caressing her back, I soothe her and say, "Shh...I know it does, dear, but the pain will pass."

Listening, Celestia then waits for the mind-numbing pain, it does eventually pass after several long minutes. When the last traces of pain are gone, she breathes a sigh of relief as a ripple of pleasure runs through her, making her say, "Ooh..." Lifting her flanks up, the pleasure is greater than before as she stops and goes back down to feel a subtle pop deep inside that drags a louder moan from her mouth.

As Luna is dreaming of rescuing her sister from a couple Timber Wolves, she is about to destroy one when she feels the ground beneath her moving back and forth. The moving ground gets more violent until she is jolted awake when her head strikes something hard, angering her which makes her growl through her nose and turn around violently with irritation burning in her eyes. Her anger evaporates as her eyes go wide with shock at seeing her sister bouncing on top of father's lap, hearing loud moans coming from her sisters mouth as her wings rise up slowly.

With her back legs exhausted, the older sister feels something tightening within her as she rocks her hips back and forth more, moaning, "Eahh...s-somethings happening..."

Using my hands to fondle her teats, I then groan softly, saying, "I know, dear, I'm close too. Just a bit more."

Unable to think, she watches the motion for a little while until she remembers hearing some mares 5 years older than her talking about something called sex and having foals. Having looked into books about it and asked some nurses after overhearing them, when she recalls the knowledge her mother told her about Spring Estrus which hits her like a brick to the head. Needing to act quickly, she gets up onto her hooves and turns away from her sister and lines her back up with her body. Seeing her chance when Celestia's back arches as her head stretches toward the ceiling while her wings shoot upwards and become rigid, she pushes her back half off the bed, shouting, "SORRY CECE!" then bucks her in the side as hard as she can.

Celestia's body then locks up as her muscles go out of control, crying out a loud moan and feeling fluids gush out of her until she gets the sensation of moving sideways as a feeling of emptiness registers to her mind.

Luna watches her sister fly off the bed while crying out in pleasure when she sees something long point towards her and shoot a long rope of liquid out of it, hearing her sister land on the floor with a couple of loud thumps. A moment later, the long rope strikes her face and back, allowing a feeling of brief curiosity rise before being instantly drowned out by displeasure and anger. Unfortunately, as she hurries across the mattress to yell at her sister, she feels a few more ropes land on her rump and hit the bottom of her chin along with covering her teats.

Once her muscles stop going wild, Celestia regains her control as she blinks her eyes in confusion, turning her head to see Luna looking down at her with white streaks on her face, asking, "Lulu, what is going on, why am I on the floor..." then hisses in pain and asks, "Why does my side hurt so much!"

Looking down upon her sister with angry look on her face, she shrieks at her sister, "WHAT HAPPENED, TO MY UNDERSTANDING...WAS THAT YOU BECAME SO HEAVILY AFFECTED BY THE SPRING ESTRUS, THAT YOU LOST YOUR MIND AND STARTED HAVING SEX WITH FATHER. THE REASON YOUR SIDE HURTS SO MUCH IS BECAUSE YOUR ACTIONS WOKE ME UP AND I CAUGHT YOU, WHICH SHOCKED AND TRAUMATIZED ME TO SEE, BY THE WAY. I LEARNED ABOUT INTERCOURSE AFTER OVERHEARING SOME OLDER MARES TALKING ABOUT SEX AND HAVING FOALS, WHICH REMINDED ME ABOUT WHAT MOM TOLD US ABOUT ESTRUS SEASON! NOW UNLESS YOU WISH TO HAVE OUR FATHER'S FOAL AT 12 YEARS OLD, I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU IGNORE THE PAIN AND COME WITH ME TO A NURSE! I'VE HEARD THAT SOMEPONY CAME UP WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL BREW THAT IS SUPPOSED TO HELP WITH THE SEASON, SO IF YOU ARE LUCKY AND THE SEASON CONTINUES TO AFFECT YOU, YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO TRY IT OUT. TO KEEP YOU OUT OF TROUBLE...I WILL BE YOUR WARDEN, BIG SIS. BEFORE WE LEAVE, YOU'RE COMING WITH ME TO THE RESTROOM TO CLEAN UP."

Waking with a violent start at hearing yelling, my fist hits something soft followed by a girlish cry of pain. When I sit up and see that Luna is standing over me rubbing the side of her neck, I realize that I punched her and pull her close, saying, "Oh baby, I'm so sorry I hit you! I was startled awake at hearing screaming and lashed out on instinct..."

Nuzzling into her father's embrace, Luna sniffles and then says, "It's okay, I forgive you. I just had to give Cece a good talking to for letting herself take advantage of you while you were asleep."

Confused, I then let her go and notice that she is sticky in several places and ask, "Okay, will you tell me what mischief she was getting up to?"

As the pain in her neck is still there, she nods and says, "I will tell you later father, but right now, Cece and I have some important mare stuff to take care of." Making her way off the bed, she hops down and says, "Come on sister, we need to get started now."

Rising onto her hooves with wince, Celestia slowly turns around and makes her way after her sister, noticing immediately that she is walking differently, thinking to herself, 'Oh I seriously hope that I don't wind up with foal after tonight, I am such a foal to think that I would be able to control myself through the season...'

After the girls go do whatever they need to, they come back in the evening with Luna acting as her sister's foalsitter. The sight gets a chuckle out of me for a while until they both tell me what happened, which utterly horrifies and traumatizes me enough to rob me of sleep several nights in a row. Thankfully, Celestia does not wind up with foal, however, they both tell me about an experimental herbal mix that they are trying, which is supposed to help a mare maintain control of herself during the season.

As a couple years pass by, the herbal mix has mixed results as the girls decide it would be safer to sleep in their rooms. One night during Spring, however, the herbal mix fails to work as both sisters lose control of themselves and work together.

I am dreaming about a romantic night with Equise when it turns into passionate lovemaking, feeling her lips wrap around my member as I watch her take me into her mouth.

Taking her time to savor the feeling of preparing her male to mate with her, Luna feels him hit the back of her throat and pushes past the urge to gag until she hits the base of his groin. Her eyes begin to water, so she pulls off and decides to move onto the main event, turning to her sister and whispering, "Alright, now you can come to the side of the bed and make out with him to prepare yourself, but remember...don't use your magic unless he wakes."

Watching her sister climb on top of him, Celestia walks around the bed to stand beside him. Pulling her body onto the mattress, she lays near him and sees that his mouth is open. Taking the opportunity, she goes to seize his mouth when she hears a sharp inhale and a whimper of pain, whispering, "Just relax for a bit and the pain will go away, I promise."

With her muscles attempting to squeeze the intruder out, she nods and does her best to do as her sister says. When she manages to force herself to relax, the pain begins to subside and allow her to release a sigh of relief, whispering, "Well that was very unpleasant..."

Pulling back from her passionate kiss, the older sister smiles and whispers, "The first few minutes always does, but it starts to feel very good afterwards."

As Luna starts moving at a slow pace, she softly moans out, "Oh-h-h-h..."

Having had enough of practicing her kissing, Celestia gets up and turns around, stepping over his body to straddle him down the length of her body. Lowering her entrance to his mouth, she sighs when she feels him begin to play with her entrance, softly moaning after a few seconds, "Wow, that feels really nice."

Wishing to keep her a bit quieter, the younger sister leans forth and uses her wings to pull her sister's head towards hers, whispering, "Don't be so loud." Placing a kiss on her lips, she then turns her head and works to open her sister's mouth.

Startled by her sister kissing her, she opens her mouth to scold her for it and feels her tongue push deep into her mouth, only managing to mumble, "HRMMM!"

Luna begins to move even faster when she notices movement under her and pulls away to say, "He's waking up, restrain his limbs with magic now."

Waking up to see nothing but light fur and tasting something citrusy, I feel a mare sitting on top of my groin and attempt to use my arms to push the mare off of my face when I discover that I can't move them at all. Unable to even turn my head due to the mare's position keeping it still, I try to use my legs to knock the mare off my member and discover that I can't move them either and think, 'Oh fuck, this is very bad...I can't do anything to push them off of me!'

The little sister continues to move faster every few minutes until she starts to feel something happening within her, breaking the kiss with her sister to say, "S-Something's happening inside me, it feels wierd."

Putting her right wing tip on her sister's left cheek, Celestia says, "Don't worry about it, sister, I promise that it is a good feeling after it passes a certain point."

The tension inside Luna eventually reaches its breaking point when her wings shoot out behind her and reach for the sky as her body arches forward, throwing her head back and lets out a crying moan when her insides go wild as something warm begins to flow inside her, crying out, "OH YESS, YESS! AHH, SO WARM...SO DEEP."

Several long seconds pass when Celestia watches dizziness overtake her younger sister, causing her to slowly tip over and fall onto her right side with a happy smile stuck to her face as she continues to use her magic. Seeing her chance, she says, "Keep your magic up for a bit longer until I'm done."

Lost in bliss, she mumbles, "No problem, I will just lie here for a bit until I figure out how to get my body to obey me..."

Lifting her rear off his face, the older sister walks forward and then sits down on his abdomen before sliding forward. Feeling his member slip inside her, she goes to the base before starting to raise and lower her hips quickly to bring herself to the point of bliss more than once.

As Luna's body begins to demand sleep, she looks up at her sister and says, "I'm sleepy, can I stop using my magic now?"

With my head and mouth free, "I then lift it up to glare at my daughters, shouting, "JUST WHAT IN THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?! IS THERE NOTHING INSIDE YOUR HEADS THAT SCREAMS AT HOW WRONG IT IS FOR A MARE TO BE INTIMATE WITH HER OWN FATHER?!"

Slapping her flanks down hard, she moans loudly and says, "NO, I'M NOT THERE YET LULU!" Turning herself around while on top of him, it sends shivers up her spine as she reaches her point of bliss.

Groaning, she says, "Awwe, but I'm so tired Cece..."

While I shout at my daughter, I realize that she is incapable of understanding me at the moment when her body arches and spasms uncontrollably. Growling, I then shout, "AGHH!! YOU GIRLS ARE SO GOING TO BE SPANKED BLACK AND BLUE TIL YOU CAN'T SIT DOWN WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER! STARTING NEXT SPRING, I'M GOING AWAY FOR A MONTH WHEN THE SEASON NEARS JUST TO AVOID ANY MORE OF THESE SITUATIONS!"

Wanting to quiet him down, Celestia places her mouth over his and uses her strength to force his mouth open. Slipping her tongue inside, she gets a painful surprise when he bites her tongue. To her surprise, it sends her racing past her point of bliss again as her body shudders and twitches violently, feeling something warm flood into her that causes her body to go wild for a little bit longer.

Once my oldest daughter collapses next to her sister, I get up out of bed seething mad, shouting, "I AM GOING OUT TO BLOW OFF SOME ANGER AND COME BACK WITH A COOLER HEAD!"

Unable to even respond as Luna is snoring and Celestia is practically comatose, I storm out the door, hearing Luna mutter, "O-kay."

Putting myself back inside my underclothes, I get into my exosuit and put my helmet on. Lifting my backpack and setting it across my back, I then grab my MTR and head out through the door as Evette asks me what's wrong.

END OF UNSAFE SECTION, ENJOY THE REST OF THE STORY!

After telling her what happened, my anger is still roiling as I walk through the woods, whistling for the Timber Wolves, shouting, "WHERE ARE YOU MISERABLE, FLEA-BITTEN SONS-OF-BITCHES AT! COME ON OUT HERE AND FACE ME, YOU SPLINTER-BARKED BASTARDS, I HAVE SOME ANGER TO WORK THROUGH!"

I spend a few minutes in the forest when I hear numerous howls within the forest followed by the sounds of beasts running through the forest and cackle madly, shouting, "BE SURE TO PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT NOW OR I WILL JUST GET BORED AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO PLAY WITH!"

Deep in the forest, a massive Timber Wolf watches the human fighting her children, sometimes facing 10 at a time. As they continue to fall one after the other, their cores are collected by a light from their bag. When the wolf notices frustration and confusion within his eyes, they decide to deal with it personally and quietly command their children to fade back into the woods.

When I watch the others gather their fallen brethren and slip back into the forest around me, I look around in confusion while breathing hard from adrenaline, calling out, "WHAT?!? GIVING UP ALREADY, YOU COWARDS?"

Silently approaching the human while telling the others to ignore his taunts as he does not know how else to deal with his anger, the massive Timber Wolf keeps a small distance and asks in a feminine voice, "Why do you treat my children so, human? What have they done to earn your wrath?"

Looking around for the source of the voice, I then say, "I have nothing against them, and they have done nothing at all, I am just trying to fight until my anger passes."

Pouncing from behind, she knocks the human to the ground on his stomach and uses her massive paw to keep him pinned down, raising an eyebrow, she asks, "Is that a productive way to deal with your anger?"

Annoyed by how she got the jump on me, I huff and say, "It is not, but I am just so irritated with what I have let happen these past couple of Estrus Seasons."

Holding him down with her massive paw, she understands a bit more and smiles slightly, saying, "Ahh, it would seem that you are having issues with the opposite gender, correct?"

Unable to even squirm, I sigh and then say, "Yeah, so are you going to kill and eat me now, take me prisoner, or what?"

Wanting to play with him a bit more, she lies down and crosses her paws over his bag, saying, "Of course not, there's not enough meat on your bones, and what would I want with a human captive?"

Trying to figure out what her goal is in not harming me yet, I then say, "Then why haven't you attacked me yet, Do you desire to breed with me too?"

Chuckling at finding his question amusing, she doesn't feel very comfortable on his hard bag. Moving one foreleg and then rolling him over, she lays her paws back over top of him, saying in amusement, "Well I have been watching you since you first crashed into my forest from the night sky, so I do admit that you intrigue me. Would you explain what is going wrong that has you angry enough to pick a fight with so many of my children?"

Finally seeing who is restraining me, I look up to see a truly massive Timber Wolf with glowing gold eyes. Easily capable of swallowing me with one bite, I let the fight slip from me as my MTR is well out of reach, saying, "Very well then, my troubles began a few years ago..."

After listening to his story, she can't help herself but laugh loudly for several seconds. Calming herself moments later, she says, "Do forgive my laughter, little one, but I understand your situation. Valuing the bonds of family are very important to treasure, however, the mating cycle affects many species other than the ponies. For reasons unknown, females will lose themselves to the desire to procreate with the nearest male regardless of them being related by blood, and in all my years, not once have I ever seen young be born malformed. It is important that you don't hold them responsible for letting it happen, for it is just a part of nature making its course through life." A familiar feeling comes over her as she smirks and chuckles softly, "Since you are here, I might as well have some fun..."

I then watch in confusion as she rises to her paws, letting me return to my feet as I head over to grab my MTR and hold it non-threateningly, turning to her and asking, "What do you mean by fun?"

Smirking, she wags her tail behind her gently and says, "Oh, you will just have to wait and find out..." Lunging forth with a wide open mouth, she snatches him up harmlessly in one bite and trots back towards her den.

Getting home after dawn all sticky and sore as hell, I take my gear off and head to the shower. I end up spending two hours trying to get all the sap residue clinging to my skin off, grumbling, "Damn horny Timber Matriarch...didn't even tell me her name afterwards."

After showering, I wince when I find splinters in unpleasant places and remove them, hearing the girls come home a bit later and head into the living room, saying, "Girls, I talked it over with someone that knows more about what affects you each spring, and have learned that you are not to blame for being unable to control yourself. Though I am not happy about what happened, I forgive you both. Now come here and give daddy a hug."

Happy at not getting a harsh spanking, Celestia and Luna rush forth and wrap their wings and forehooves around him, thanking him happily.

Once the hug is over, I then say, "I would like you both to give a stern talking-to to whoever made that experimental herbal mix so they get it right. Oh, and since you two used magic to pin me down last night, the two of you can clean all the sap and gunk off my exosuit, helmet, backpack, and my weapon."

A few months later cause a bit of worry as Celestia and Luna both start throwing up throughout the day, bringing fear to my mind at the thought of them winding up pregnant with my foals. As a result, I ask Star Swirl to send Mage Meadowbrook over to find out what is causing it. When she arrives, she does a few tests to determine the culprit behind their suffering.

As it becomes clear to her that they are only suffering from the flu, she gives me a remedy to make them take twice a day for a week. The fact that they are only sick with the flu and not pregnant brings me great relief as I kiss their burning foreheads, saying, "I'm sorry that you both are sick, but I am relieved to know that you are not carrying my foals."

Smiling throughout her discomfort, Luna wraps her wings around her father's neck, saying, "Don't worry papa, we are too. We don't want to become mothers yet."

After helping them get over their sickness, it is their turn to look after me when I catch it. While the girls continue their studies under Star Swirl's tutoring, I can't help but wonder if I should start looking for where the ancient enemy is hiding. Thinking about it for a year, I am about to come up with an answer to it when I hear the door slam and the sound of hooves running to the kitchen when I hear Celestia's voice cry out in worry, "FATHER, FATHER, STAR SWIRL HASN'T RETURNED YET!"

Hurrying over to kneel before them, I set my hand on their cheeks and look to each of them, asking, "Can either of you tell me where you might think they could have gone?"

Thinking it over, they look to each other, asking a question through their gazes before shaking their heads at each other. Turning to face their father, Celestia speaks first and says, "Sorry father, but we haven't gotten to know Star Swirl past being our mentor." Letting their heads hang low in shame, they feel as if they failed somehow.

When they both hang their heads in sorrow, I see shame in their eyes and lift their heads, saying, "Do not be upset girls, in no way are you the cause of this. Learn from this and start to get to know those around you, then continue to further your studies in magic yourselves. If I cannot find them, it may fall to you to help resolve the troubles that arise. While I'm busy searching for them, I have some advice for you. Never face anything alone, protect the innocent, and most important of all...protect each other." Kissing them both on the lips in a familial way, I look into each of their eyes and ask, "Can you girls do that for me?"

With their father's words lifting their spirits and melting their bad feelings away, they both smile and look to each other a moment before nodding, then turn to their father and nod their heads once, saying in unison, "Yes, papa." Celestia then adds, "We will not disappoint you."

Smiling at them and lightly pinching each of their cheeks, I then say, "I know you two won't, but I will hold you to your promises. When I come back, the house better not be a mess."

As their father pulls them into a firm embrace, they return it as Luna says, "Please come back soon, papa."

Celestia then says, "I hope you succeed in finding Star Swirl so that we can decorate the house for Hearth's Warming!"

After embracing them for a little longer, I then stand up and step away from them towards the closet where I keep my gear and weapons stored. Once I get everything on except the helmet, I head to the door and turn around to look at my daughters once more. Smiling at them without my helmet on, I then say, "I will come back as soon as I find him, girls. I love you both, goodbye." Moving my hand up to my mouth and blowing them each a kiss, I then smile at them one final time.

Luna catches the blown kiss with her hoof and puts it to her heart, then watches as her father slowly turns around, opens the door to show the sun hanging low in the sky and cause her to see a glare that hides the upper part of him from view, when she finally sees him walk out the door and vanish from sight when it closes behind him.

With no way of telling how long it will take to find Star Swirl, I turn off the date display and forget about checking it. I lose count of how many days I spend wandering the wide world, taking note of the beautiful places I visit and then keep moving on with my search.

Unfortunately, I never find so much as a trace as I take one final look at the peculiar arrangement of ruined stone columns centered around a fountain, making my way out to the barren wastelands called the Badlands to search there. I spend five years there before I come across something by accident when casting a scan, a large deposit of volcanic glass which piques my curiosity and head toward it. When I am close enough, I spot black dots zipping across the sky and use my analysis visor to zoom in on them to see what they are, discovering they are pony-like creatures with black bodies.

I get a bit closer to have a close-up view of them from afar and see that they have sharp upper fangs, furless bodies with short, sharp, spiked horns, though they also have some strange armor along their backs along side a pair of translucent, yellowish green-looking insectoid wings with black tails. For some reason, the sight of those wings have me reaching for my MTR when I spot a group of three heading through the skies towards me.

Staying put, I prepare my Paralysis Mortar in case they attack me, which proves to be a good call as I hear them hiss out, shouting, "CAPTURE THE INTRUDER SO WE CAN FEED!" Not giving them time to attack, I fire off my Paralysis Mortar and hit the first one, which causes the other two to split up to attack me. When I hear them hock and spit green goo at me, I roll out of the way and start running in a circle, firing another couple rounds at them. Another one is knocked down, causing the third to attempt to flee and quickly switch to my Blaze Javelin. Charging it up to maximum power, I aim at the fleeing creature and fire it towards it. Watching as the beam hits the creature, causing it to let out a loud shriek before plummeting to the ground with a massive hole through the center of its body. However, the shot keeps on going to hit the towering structure of black glass, causing a large number of the creatures to spew out of it and race my way.

With a few moments to spare, I put one of the downed creatures out of its misery when it can't move its back legs, saying, "Tough luck, I'm sorry." Turning to the other creature, I then scan it thoroughly with my weapon when Evette takes a sample of the creature's blood and examines it.

The scan completes as Evette then speaks through the internal speaker, saying, "Traveller, I discovered from the DNA sample taken, that these creatures are in fact, a mutation of the very same species you faced before in the battles of that war you fought that left so many human males dead. From your encounter with their queen and their race, they repopulate by kidnapping females and making them birth eggs."

Hearing that sets my blood boiling with rage as my fingers tighten their hold on my MTR, asking, "Recommended action?"

Looking at the mutation with cold indifference to its right to exist, the AI uses the external speaker and says, "Either drive the Changeling race off this planet, or hunt them to extinction to preserve the survival of all other races on this world."

Looking upon the twitching changeling, I then select my Scatter Blaster and aim it at its head, saying, "With pleasure..." and pull the trigger to watch its head explode into green blood and bits of gore.

Frequent time skips continue to next chapter, sorry!

XI: What was lost...

In my single-minded quest to drive the swarms of Changelings off this planet, the face of a human female with fair skin, fiery, red-hair and blue-eyes flashes before my eyes after an intense battle. For some reason her face feels familiar to me as more of my memory fills in the blank spaces during the battle and recall a communication I received from my superior, hearing her call through my comm, hearing, "Change of plans Hunter Squad, you aren't going after their Queen today. Your orders today are to locate the downed flagship Galaxa and recover a crate of high-value equipment before the bugs can find it, it is located in a secret compartment inside the storage compartment."

I then remember how I felt at hearing that when I hear myself reply, "My sister is on that ship, Actual. How can she or the passengers be SECONDARY!" I then hear a partial bit of the following commands, one such bit being me called LT. Thinking over the orders, the word Galaxa and my sister causes the same girl's image to appear before my eyes again when I remember something from an earlier time, remembering that she was my half-sister and also my girlfriend. The full memory returns to me when I remember how she looked when I rescued her from the insect race and see how I ended the war.

Returning to myself among a battlefield, her request plays through my mind as I sigh and say, "I'll do as you ask, Tracy, I will not fight them to extermination. I will, however, fight them until they flee this planet." All the while, wondering, 'I wonder what became of you...'

I reduce five other hives of changelings to nothing but slag and dust as I chase down the last hive that somehow managed to elude me and leave them no choice but to flee the planet. Throughout my trip to reach the last bastion of the changeling swarm, I notice that both the sun and moon rise and set randomly right next to each other. Noticing immediately that it's not how it should be, I shake my head and think, 'Those girls must either be arguing quite heatedly over something, or having a bit of fun.' Deciding to return later, I quicken my pace back towards home to check on the girls.

Running a few scans over the surrounding area, Evette uses the internal speaker to speak, saying, "Traveller, some type of unusual magic is pervading the world around us for hundreds of yards, examination of the atmosphere and soil reveal that the magic is not part of the pony species."

Trying to use my analysis visor's different modes to find anything, it comes up a failure as I ask, "Is there any way to locate the source of the phenomenon?"

Thinking of a possible solution, the AI speaks through the internal speaker, saying, "Yes, search for materials to build a Signal Booster, here are the design instructions required to construct it."

After receiving the information, I set out to find the materials I lack. Taking me quite a while to find enough sodium, I then take an even longer time to build the device. When I finish, I set it up and then ask, "Alright, what do I do next."

Responding, Evette says, "You need to set the parameters of a specific type of scan to triangulate the ambient anomaly's source, allow me to tell you what to enter."

Once I do the first scan, I then follow the AI's guidance to the second spot due west four miles and repeat the process, then heading northeast the same distance from both points and going through the setup process one last time before performing the scan.

Receiving the data from the last one, she analyzes the results and compiles an answer, saying, "Source located, calculating distance and direction to target... Travel approximately 1,200 miles to the northwest and search the area for anything out of the ordinary that might be the cause of this disturbance."

Setting off to the Northwest, it takes me a few weeks to get there as I look around to see that the ground is riddled with large checkered patterns with smaller checkered patterns within them, being either two shades of blue or pink. The homes look like huts built out of mud, brick, straw or even wood, with a few of them upside down squarely sitting on their roof's peak. The sky even is unusual, being pink and having floating islands of dirt with homes on top of them. I walk through the area to see not a single creature out and about, eventually spotting a large mound with a strangely-built chair on it facing away from him. With the chair having an unidentifiable occupant on it, having something looking like a dragon's wing on the left side of its body and a pegasi wing on the right, I head towards it to speak with it.

Sensing they have a visitor, the creature turns its chair around with its magic, saying, "Ah, a visitor...what a pleasure, what a pleasure." Taking in the visitor's unusual appearance, he looks it up and down before saying, "Ooh, now there's a creature that I've never seen before, let's find out what's underneath that stuff you're wearing..." then raises his clawed hand and puts his talons together.

Raising my own hand quickly, I say, "WAIT! This suit is how I survive the environment."

Pausing his talons before they can snap, he debates whether or not to believe the creature and then shrugs, saying, "Very well, you may keep it on...for now." Putting his paw and claw together in front of his face, he says, "Although I am very curious to know what kind of creature you are, do tell."

Looking up at the male creature, I say, "Thank you, I am what is called a human male. I have skin instead of fur, hair on my head, two arms with five fingers on each hand at the end of my arms, and two legs with five toes on each foot at the end of my lower legs. I also don't have a tail, or wings. Though I do have magic, I was never taught how to use it. May I ask who and what you are? I've never encountered a creature that looked like you before."

Smiling at how polite the creature is being, he claps his paw and claw together, saying, "Oh goody, goody, I love guests that have manners!" Snapping his clawed talons together, he makes a tea set appear, then takes a cup as a tea pot flaps its wings and flies up to fill the cup, saying, "My name is Discord, and I am a Draconequus as well as the god of chaos. Would you care for some tea?"

Shaking my head, I then say, "I appreciate your offer, but no thanks. Although I would like to know if all this strangeness is your doing?"

Discord drinks the glass around the tea gone, then tosses the solidified tea away, causing an explosion in the distance, saying, "Oh well, suit yourself." then throws his arms wide and lounging across his chair, saying, "It is my doing, and isn't this chaos wonderful?!"

Looking around again, I then spot some eyes peeking around the side of the curtains with wide eyes that have a small bit of hope in them, turning back to Discord and saying, "While it is true that everyone likes something different, I can't say the same for the others your magic is affecting, and I am among them. Unfortunately, I have come to ask you to return things to the way they were, or I will have to make you undo it all...by force."

He thinks it over for a second and then says, "Let me think on that for a second...hmmm...I have thought it over and have decided to refuse." Flipping around to be lying upside down on his throne, he puts his hands under his chin and says, "I don't know if you noticed this, but I am the ruler of these lands now. Which means that I can do whatever I want..." He then looks the human over again and laughs, saying, "Very well, do your worst to me. If you can make me shed blood, I will consider listening to your booring demands."

Shrugging, I then select my Geology Cannon and then aim at the hill his throne is on and say, "Alright, let me show you what I can really do..." then fire off three grenades at his hill that explode in a large flash of light.

He then looks down to see that the hill is gone as his throne crashes to the ground, falling on its side and throws him out of the seat. Returning to his hooves with a snap of his fingers, he then huffs and says, "HOW RUDE! I WAS DOING MY BUSINESS ON MY THRONE, AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO PUSH ME OFF!"

Not caring in the slightest, I then quickly switch to my Scatter Blaster and then fire off a few shots at him, watching as they all do nothing more than leave scorch marks on his fur which he just wipes away with a hand. Picking a different weapon, I then select my Plasma Launcher and fire off round after round at him, watching as the first shot knocks him on his butt with the next throwing him back a few yards on his back. The rounds flip him over and send him flying back a few feet each time as I notice that nothing is really happening to him, making me switch to my Paralysis Mortar and hit him with it when he returns to his feet.

As the orb of light heads towards him, he rolls his eyes and says, "Okay, so you do have enough strength to make me do somersaults, big whoop. You still haven't managed to make me bleed yet, so you are still failing miserably." The orb then strikes him and sends him rigid and twitching violently from the electricity shocking him repeatedly, causing him to repeatedly stutter, "T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-!"

Firing it off again, I watch as it makes his body start to convulse while the electrical glow gets brighter, making me notice as no harm is being done and shake my head before firing off another round, saying, "You are quite the resilient one, aren't you? Let's see just how much you can handle before you either explode or burn to ash..."

Discord watches helplessly as he is unable to control his fingers due to his violently spasming muscles, unable to even glare at the human as he manages to actually make him feel pain for the first time in his life. While he is being hit by orb after orb in quick succession, a flicker of fear crawls its way up his spine before he squashes it with anger until his body finally blows apart and scatters his parts everywhere.

Looking around in triumph, I then walk over to his head and say, "I win, now rest in piece by piece."

His anger boils under his skin as he chuckles softly while watching the human look up and wait for things to return to normal, snapping his fingers to return himself to normal. Standing up as if he only fell down, he brushes himself off, saying, "First off, I still win as you didn't draw blood." Slowly leaning forward, he says with a low growl, "And secondly..." then gets into the human's face and shouts as his eyes glow red, "THAT HURT!" His growl remains there as he says, "For being such a nuisance, you need some time alone with your thoughts." Snapping his fingers, he then turns him into a marble statue on a low, wide-stepped base and adds, "As reward for making me understand what pain feels like, I will send you off on a nice, long vacation by the sea." Snapping his fingers, he sends him away and smiles when he vanishes, recreating his mound and placing his throne back on it with another snap of his fingers. Returning to his throne, he then sighs and says, "Such a trifling day..."

Finding myself looking over an ocean somewhere on a beach, unable to do anything but think, I mentally sigh and wonder, 'I let you down girls, I'm sorry, but daddy might not be home for a good while...'

A couple decades pass when Celestia and Luna learn about something powerful called the Tree of Harmony, collecting the relics that the tree has around it, as the elder sister says, "Even without these elements, the tree will possess a powerful magic. As long as that magic remains, it will continue to contain and control all that grows in this forest."

With the elements in their grasp, Luna then nods and turns to her sister, asking, "Once we defeat Discord, do you think that we can try to find papa? I'm really worried and scared that he will never come home again, we never got to say goodbye...or to tell him that you're going to be a mother."

Hearing her sister sniffle, she hovers in the air and turns to face her, touching a hoof to her cheek affectionately and saying, "So am I, little sister, we can look whenever we get some time to ourselves. Perhaps when we find him, we can then tell him the news."

Unfortunately, they never get the opportunity to as they both have to deal with the aftermath of Discord's rule after defeating him, with the pony races all deciding unanimously to make them the rulers of Equestria.

Keeping her pregnancy quiet with illusion magic, she gives birth to a healthy light blue unicorn filly with a dark blue mane and tail with a pair of light magenta eyes. Deciding to name her Bright Star, Celestia and her sister spend a lot of time raising her together out of the public's view until she is old enough to keep the fact that she is a princess, from getting out. Bright Star grows up to enjoy the public not knowing that she is royalty, settling down with a nice dark blue stallion and getting a house with him in Canterlot. When her husband finds out her secret, he is over the moon at knowing he is married to the one he loves...princess or not. When they have foals, they decide to wait until they are old enough to know how important it is to keep their family's heritage a secret.

Several generations later, that tradition is thrown out the window by a pompous stallion overly proud of the fact that he is related to the two princesses and shares it with whoever asks about it. Still swamped with responsibilities a century and a half later, the Crystal Empire falls under the control of King Sombra. Having only heard of it fifty years ago, Celestia and Luna banish him with their own magic. However, he is able to put a curse upon it, making it vanish into thin air as Luna sniffles and says, "Sister...we failed our promise to papa..."

Pulling her sister into an embrace with her forehooves, Celestia says, "Fret not sister, we did not truly fail, because the empire and its citizens may return in time. Please be strong for me, Lulu, I will always here to watch over you."

Smiling, her tears stop and she returns the embrace, saying, "Okay, and I will do the same for you, Cece."

The two sister's happiness comes crashing down after two centuries pass as Luna begins to feel jealous and bitter that the ponies enjoy her sister's day and don't even notice her beautiful night as they slumber through it. The feelings eventually lead to her refusing to lower the moon and challenge her sister for the throne, resulting her body to transform into Nightmare Moon and leading to a fight that leaves their mentor's old castle in ruins.

After being knocked out of the sky by an attack from her sister, Celestia sighs and looks up at her, saying, "I am sorry, dear sister...but you leave me no other choice than to use these."

Collecting the elements from their hidden place under the floor, she carries them up with her into the sky above the castle and faces her sister. Bringing them before her, she channels a magic beam through them that meets her sister's magic in the middle and drives it back.

When the beam hits her, it sends her flying into the sky towards the moon as she shouts, "NOOOO!"

Once a shadow of a unicorn mare appears on the face of the moon, Celestia's heart breaks as she takes off to be alone when tears spill from the corners of her eyes. Arriving at a location in the Everfree Forest, she lands and rushes up the path towards a dilapidated cabin. Hurrying through the empty door frame as the door itself lies rotted on the floor, she slips through gaps under fallen beams and heads for her father's bedroom. Throwing herself upon the only piece of intact furniture in the whole house, she buries her face in the mattress and shouts, "I'M SORRY......BUT I FAILED YOU FATHER! PLEASE COME BACK AND PUNISH ME!!"

When nothing happens for several minutes, she begins to wail out in grief, screaming, "I'M ALL ALONE NOW, WHERE ARE YOU PAPA!?!"

Left to wallow in her own sorrow, a thousand years pass until Celestia's sister returns to her as she holds her sister close and sobs, whispering, "I'm sorry sister, but the cabin is gone...you can't even tell it was there in the first place due to the area being so overgrown and the building crumbled away into a pile of debris."

Sobbing at hearing the news, newly returned Luna nuzzles against her sister, asking, "Were you able to save anything at all, or is it all gone?"

Holding her close, she smiles a little and says, "The ship and his bed, but that was it. I am surprised that it has remained hidden for so long, but I still haven't found what became of father...I've searched everywhere I could with scouts and my own eyes. The bogs of the Everfree, the mountain ranges between the Frozen North and Equestria, and I even asked for a few trusted seaponies to search the seas. It still grieves me that no traces of him or belongings were ever found..."

Hugging her sister back tightly, she sniffles and asks, "N-Nothing? Not even his suit, helmet, backpack, or even his weapon?"

Fighting to hold herself together, she squeezes her sister harder against her and whispers, "No...it's as if he never even existed in the first place."

A few tender moments pass as they hold each other in an affectionate embrace while deeply upset about their father's disappearance, when Pinkie Pie then cries at the happy reunion a few seconds before saying, "Hey! Do you know what this calls for?" She then jumps for joy and says, "A party!"

So, a huge welcome back party for Princess Luna is hosted in Ponyville, with the younger sister receiving a necklace of pretty red and white roses, and Twilight Sparkle being given a new home in Ponyville so she could be with her friends.

It isn't until a year later, after spring, when Discord breaks free from his prison and wreaks chaos across Equestria, that any hint is given of their father's absence.

Discord lurks behind the image of himself in the stained glass window mural, chuckling darkly before saying, "Awwe...did you miss me, Celestia?" Then enters his image and looks at Celestia, saying, "Well I've missed you..." He then flits over to the neighboring mural and says, "It's quite lonely being turned to stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone." Recalling what happened before facing the Princesses, he then says, "Well, I do suppose I did that one time to a bothersome nuisance that tried to make me give up my rule, as a reward, he got to go on an extended vacation at the beach."

Agitated at his meddling, his words go right over her head as Celestia says in an angry tone, "Enough! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?!"

Creating a place for himself in the mural above Rainbow and Fluttershy, he smiles and says, "Don't worry, I only borrowed them for a teensy little while." then snaps his fingers to make the elements vanish from their spot below him.

Raising her wings threateningly, she bares her teeth and glares at him, saying, "You'll never get away with this, Discord."

Sighing, he looks at his paw's nails nonchalantly and says, "Oh, I forgot how grim you could be, Celestia. It's really quite boring if you ask me."

After a bit more conversation with the others, he tells them in his way where to find the elements and vanishes to go pay a visit to a certain statue. Appearing in front of it, he looks the marble statue over. When he sees how it is covered in bird poop, seaweed, and the bird nests in whatever space the birds could build them, he claps and laughs, saying, "Oh, you look remarkably spectacular like that, mister human."

Raising his dragon claw to his chin he ponders aloud, "I wonder if you had enough time to learn from your mistakes yet..." Being extremely bored, he then sighs and says, "Oh I desperately need a good source of entertainment now, but what shall I do first?"

Thinking on it for a bit, he then groans and says, "Well you're no help at all...perhaps I'll show some mercy and release you from your torment..." Moving to snap his fingers, he then pauses mid-snap and then grins maliciously, saying, "Oh, I will definitely be releasing you so I can transform you into a terrifying creature at a later time. So, for right now, I shall cast a delayed release spell on you, and then come back when I rule Equestria once again..." He then snaps his fingers to cast the spell and vanishes, appearing at the maze to put his plan in motion.

End of Frequent time skips

Being nearly driven insane with rage, time wears on as days, weeks, maybe even months pass without my knowledge until I hear a soft crack from somewhere nearby. The sound causes several cries of alarm to rise from nesting birds as I watch them take off, causing feathers to slowly drift down from the sky in front of my static view.

It takes a few hours before I get any feeling back in my limbs, but slowly, I am able to flex my muscles and cause the cracks to spread further up and around my stone body. I believe it takes me two full days for me to get my upper arms free from the stone, a few hours more to free my legs to where I can walk off the platform I was on.

When the sun rises on the third day, my stomach begs me to eat something, so I take off my backpack and set it down. Once I see the marble around it, I shake my head and see that my weapon is the same way. Deciding that my priority is food and water, I use the weapon to break up the marble around my pack so that I can get food.

After my pack and weapon are free of stone, I pull off my helmet and put it onto my pack, only to find it covered in bird shit. Sighing, I make my way into the water and start to carefully clean it off as best I can, then move on to cleaning my suit to the best of my abilities without getting water in my suit. Heading back onto the beach, I then pull out some of the food I should have left. However, as I look at the desiccated apple, I toss it aside and check the others, finding them all the same way. Feeling really hungry, I continue checking my food stores and find them all spoiled, leaving me no choice but to discard it all and find fresh food.

Thankfully, my fresh water is still good, allowing me to quench my thirst. Satisfying my thirst, I then put my canteen away and look around for something to eat and spot a forest not too far away, saying, "I really hope that there is something edible in that forest."

Heading into the forest with my helmet back on, I find a few trees with curved, long, yellow fruits in bunches hanging from branches. Grabbing one off the ground, I scan it to find that it is spoiled and inedible. Looking up at the hanging ones, I pluck one off the bunch and scan it, finding it ripe and edible. Tearing the fruit in half to eat it, I find that it is soft inside and needs to be peeled first. Eating what's left of it after peeling the outer layer off, I use my weapon to shoot the whole bunch off and pick it up. Carrying the bunch to a clearing, I enjoy their sweet flavor and store the rest of them into my pack.

Grabbing a few more bunches, I then check my map and head due west due to there being settlements to the north and south of my location on the eastern coast, saying, "I swear that I will find a way to make you suffer tremendous pain after what you've done to me and the ponies of this world, Discord!"

XII: ...Has returned

As I make my way west, it takes me days to reach the end of the forest when I come across a strange road consisting of wooden beams and long, iron bars held together by heavy bolts running through thick, narrow plates fitted between the flared ends of the rods. Studying the road curiously, I then wait for my companion to stir when I hear a distant howling in the distance. Drawing my MTR, I prepare for a fight as I spot something much father away, following the road straight towards me.

Rousing from putting herself offline to conserve energy, Evette yawns and then looks around, saying, "Good morning, Traveller. It is good to see that we are free from that stony prison, let me get my bearings so that I can update my databank."

Turning to face the object approaching me, I then ask, "Evette, could you tell me what that thing is heading towards us?"

Rotating the camera on his shoulder, she spots the object and scans it, but is unable to identify it, saying, "Apologies, Traveller, it seems that due to however long we were trapped inside that stone prison, my memory banks will require quite a bit of maintenance on my part before I can confidently tell you anything. I would suggest that you take cover and wait to see what it does before taking action against it, for it may not wish to harm you at all." Looking down at the strange road, she follows it towards the object and then adds, "Further investigation suggests that the object rides along these two rails to wherever they lead, and due to the noise and vibrations it is making, indicates that it is mechanical in nature."

Taking her suggestion, I return to the forest's edge and keep out of view, watching the object as it gets closer. It takes a few minutes for it to near me as I watch it start to go by, looking at its long body while it thunders down the two rails to see various kinds of ponies inside it and say, "It appears to be non-living and serve as a mode of transportation." Recalling his ship, he then says, "I wonder if my ship is still there, or did the girls moved it to another location?"

When the object passes by, I check my map to see where I am at and see the mountain to the south east of me, saying, "Okay, so I need to head west-southwest to reach the Everfree Forest, better get a move on as I have no idea how far it is from my current location."

As I make my way further across the open, slightly hilly lands, I come across a road heading towards the east and decide to keep clear of it and avoid frightening any ponies I may come across. By the time I reach the edge of the Everfree, most of my supply of fruits are gone as the last few I have are starting to get brown spots on their skins.

Finishing off the last of them before they spoil fully, I make my way to where I know where the zap apple trees grow and find the trees bare, sighing and saying, "It could be either late winter or early spring, it's hard to tell when there's no one around..." Deciding to wander the forest to find food, I hunt down a few cockatrices so that I have something to eat for a couple days. Collecting a few edible fruits from the forest, I get the sense that I am being followed and keep watch cautiously.

Making my way back to my cabin to check on it, I find that it has rotted away and returned to the ground, drawing a sigh from me when I hear something brush against a fern behind me. I go to turn around, but am knocked flat on the ground before I can raise my MTR, saying, "This is the second time something jumped me from behind...I sure hope whatever it is isn't hungry in any way..."

The creature lies down on the human's backpack, saying, "What a way to greet your daughter after a thousand years, father." Letting out a soft growl, she then asks, "Do you know how mean it is to up and vanish without saying anything?" A low whine then makes its way out of her throat as she says, "I was worried sick that some creature out there killed you or that you passed away. What in Equestria happened to make you stay away for so long, father?"

Through the haze in my mind, the pieces slowly fall into place as I hear the creaking of wood and say, "Is that you, Shearie? I am sorry for not telling you that I was leaving, I thought that your sisters Celestia or Luna would have said something to you."

Sliding her upper body back and forth to further torment her father, she pouts and then huffs, saying, "Well, they didn't...and they stopped visiting me several centuries ago, I really miss them. Are you going to rebuild your home? Some of the stuff you had is still mostly functional."

Grunting from her weight pressing me down further, I then ask, "I might after I give that pest Discord a dirt nap...now could you get off of me sweetie?"

Tapping a claw against his pack, she thinks it over a bit and then says, "I suppose I could, but I just miss you too much." Using her paws, she then rolls him over and plops herself down upon his lap with a smile, saying, "This is much comfier."

Looking up at my timber wolf daughter, I look at her glowing blue orbs and shake my head, saying, "You're too big and too old to be on my lap, little girl."

Knowing how much bigger she is than her father, she laughs and says, "A daughter's never too old to be in her father's lap, but I can change my size." To prove her point, she uses her magic and sheds many of the bits making her body, shrinking herself down to the size of a small filly and then circles around in her father's lap before curling up on it, saying, "See, I will always be the perfect lapdog for you, father."

I sit up with a chuckle as I look down upon her shrunken form, using my left hand to pet her, laying it upon the top of her head and running it along her body to her lower back, saying, "Heh, I guess you will always be my most obedient daughter."

She sighs happily and begins to drift off, saying, "I won't ever let you forget that, but I should tell you that Discord has been defeated already."

Stopping my hand on her back, I then look at her with wide, shocked eyes and say, "What do you mean? By who?"

Wagging her long, grassy tail, she then says, "He has been beaten twice, once, by Celestia and Luna. Then again a few months ago by the new Element Bearers. He is now imprisoned once again and serving his time in the Canterlot Statue Gardens."

Sighing at having no way to get payback for what he's done, I hang my head and say, "Hah...it is good that he is no longer being a menace to others, but I wish that I could have faced him before he was defeated..."

Cocking her head, she lifts it up until she looks him in the face and asks, "Why is that, father?"

Resuming my petting, I then say, "Because when I faced him so many years ago, he 'rewarded me' by turning me into a marble statue and sending me to the east coast. In doing so, he kept me from ever returning to my girls, which that thought alone drove me into a near-homicidal rage."

Able to feel his anger trying to resurface, Shearie moves into a sitting position on her father's lap and puts her paws onto his shoulders, saying in a soothing tone, "Oh father, you need to let that anger go, for it will only act as a poison to corrupt your soul." When she doesn't get a response, she decides to help him let go of it and lays her ears back, then presses her mouth to his in a tender kiss.

Holding my daughter against me, I feel my anger slowly crumble and fall away as I return the kiss, smelling the heavy scent of pine on my daughter's breath. When she lets me pull away, I caress her neck with a smile and say, "Thank you sweetie for looking out for me, but that is supposed to be my job, you know?"

Blushing lightly, she smirks and chuckles, saying, "I know, but we should really be looking after each other, because that is what family is supposed to do. Just be on your guard, because breeding season isn't too far away and mother has been wondering where you've gotten to." Laying her head on his left shoulder, she wraps her paws around behind him as best she can, asking, "Are you going to be rebuilding your home in the forest?"

Wrapping my arms around her upper back, I pull her closer and then nod my head, saying, "Of course I will rebuild it sweetie, it is our family's home, after all. Think you could fill me in on what happened when I disappeared?"

As Shearie helps clear the area of debris and overgrown plants, it takes only a few days before her father begins building a new house and passes through a barrier where she knows his ship is hidden and asks, "Do you think that you could take us on a flight in your ship?"

I finish securing one more board on the roof and look down at my daughter, saying, "One day when I get the radiation leaks repaired properly, I will. However, in order to fix them, I will have to head out into space and search for the materials that cannot be found here. Don't worry, though, because I don't plan to leave without finding out how things have turned out for my girls, I sure hope they found someone to take good care of them."

It takes me a couple weeks to finish rebuilding the house with a couple extra rooms and enlarging the bathroom, one of the extra rooms being a second bathroom to cut back on the bathroom wars. Intent on leaving the other room bare in case I need to turn it into a greenhouse or something, I see Shearie lounging on the couch, then say to her, "Well sweetie, I'm going to try to find a way to get my girl's attention in Canterlot without being seen by the ponies."

Getting up and stretching her lithe body out, she steps off the couch and trots towards her father with a smile. Hopping up on her back legs, she rests her forelegs on his shoulders, saying, "Good luck with that, father, I sure hope you come back soon." Pressing her lips to his, she deepens the kiss and runs her tongue along his and pulls it back, saying, "I will see you later, father. I love you."

Resting my hands along her upper back as her tail swishes back and forth, I rest my forehead against hers and say, "Daddy loves you too, sweetie. I will be back after I had some time to catch up with Celestia and Luna." Before I let her down, I catch the same pine scent as before and then ask, "Hey, I've been meaning to bring this up. I know that Timber Wolves normally have foul breath, but why does yours smell so...pleasing?"

Laughing, she rubs her nose against her father's and says, "Why that is because I am a female and I prefer not to smell like a diamond dog, therefore, I chew on pine needles and eat green pine cones. Mom does the same thing, but she prefers to smell like an oak tree."

Recalling what became of Equise, I then say, "Sweetie, how would you like to go on a short trip with me to visit an old friend of mine?"

Happy, her tail swishes back and forth excitedly as she hops back and stands on the floor, with her body being shoulder-height with her father as she crouches, saying, "A TRIP WITH FATHER?! I WOULD LOVE THAT, WHERE ARE WE GOING, AND WHEN?"

Smiling, I run my hand along her face and then say, "We will be heading to a cave a short distance from here, and we will be leaving in a little bit once I put my backpack on and get my MTR."

Overjoyed, Shearie jumps around her father in a circle, saying, "OKAY, I will wait for you outside!" then bounds towards the door.

Watching as she carefully opens the door and hops out, closing it with her tail, I then head over to the closet and get my backpack. Once I put it on, I fetch my MTR and sling it over my shoulder before heading to the door. Pulling it open, I then exit and close it behind me, saying, "Alright, sweetie, follow me to a place very special to me and all of Equestria..."

Making our way through the forest, we come into view of the now ruined castle, which draws a sigh from me at the sad state it is in. Turning and heading down a set of well-hidden stairs, I say, "The castle used to be so majestic and imposing many years ago, but now it is but a shell of its former glory..."

Following her father down the stairs, she stands at the bottom and looks up at the ruins, saying, "Yeah, my sisters got into a serious fight and cast magic at each other, it even got to the point where Luna's beautiful image morphed into something dark and called herself Nightmare Moon. When that happened, Celestia had no choice but to use the elements to banish her to the moon, though she returned and was restored to her rightful self."

Nodding my head in acknowledgement, I then say, "I am not pleased with how they broke their promise to me, but I hope that they made up in the end. Perhaps they both deserve a good spanking later."

Shearie laughs at the image that conjures to mind, saying, "I would love to see two adult, thousand-year old alicorn princesses being taken over their father's lap as if they were naughty fillies."

Arriving at the cave's entrance a bit later, I head inside with Shearie behind me. Entering a large cavern moments later, my eyes fall upon a large, crystal tree that glimmers in the light that rests upon it, saying, "Hello, dear, I've come to visit you again. I sure hope you haven't gotten too lonely after all these years inside this cave?"

Overjoyed at her love's return, a breeze blows through the cavern and ruffles the dangling crystal leaves as she uses her magic to appear outside the tree for a few moments. Once she has enough consciousness and form, she dashes forth through the air as her body is still forming and tackles him to the ground, saying, "OH, HOW I'VE MISSED YOU DARLING!"

As I feel her press her mouth to mine and shove her tongue in, I wrap my arms around her and respond in the same manner and hear Shearie scamper out of the cave, saying, "I'll give you two some time to catch up!"

Once I get dressed again, I hold Equise close, saying, "I wish we had longer to spend together, dear, there is so much to talk about with you."

Nuzzling into his side, she giggles and kisses his cheek, saying, "Don't worry, dear, thanks to what we did in creating the Tree of Harmony, I know everything that is going on at any given moment. I am not upset in the slightest that you were our daughter's first in many ways, nor am I upset at what you did to the 5 different hives and their queens. I know that it was for the best because I saw what happened in the memories that returned to you during that terrible war, but in order for things to improve... you must not slay too many of the last hive's members or their last queen, as it will adversely affect what may happen in the future. What I can say to you is very limited because of what I can see, but I am glad that you have let go of your rage toward what Discord has done to you. I wish that we had more time together, but I must return to the tree as my spell is nearly spent. Our daughter's have done well in their stations, don't punish them too harshly as they have both suffered enough with your sudden absence."

Standing just outside of view, Shearie keeps her eyes closed and asks, "Umm, are you both decent?"

Giggling, Equise lifts her head up and says, "Of course we are, dear stepdaughter, come on in and say hello."

Entering the cave nervously, her tail remains down as she looks at the golden figure of the guardian her mother told her stories about, saying, "Hello, Guardian, my mother told me many stories about you, it is an honor to finally meet you face to face."

Getting up off her lover, she walks her way towards her Timber Wolf stepdaughter, saying, "No need to be so formal with me dear, we are all guardians in our own ways." Sensing something stirring beneath her, she turns to the human and asks politely, "Dear, would you please give us some privacy? I must have a talk with Shearie, between us two guardians."

Sitting up, I look at her and cock my head, asking, "Aren't I a guardian as well?"

Chuckling softly, Equise says, "Of course you are, although you are not a guardian born of this world." Her face then turns serious as she then says, "One last thing I can tell you is that you must begin searching for your lost sibling lover, your two's purpose shall become clear in the years ahead, be it 5 or 500 years."

Nodding my head, I then say, "I will visit again when I can, dear, I love you." and blow her a kiss before walking into the tunnel.

Returning the kiss with an I love you and a farewell, she waits for several seconds until he is far enough away, then sighs and says, "Shearie, I know you want to go with your father to explore Equestria, but the tree and I need you to remain here so that you and the other Timber Wolves can search for any corrupted seeds that resemble a pitch-black sunflower seed and destroy them until the Elements are returned. The difference being that the seed is not shiny at all and has points all over it like this one." She then produces one of the seeds that hasn't burrowed into the ground and shows it to her.

Shearie looks at the seed and backs up, asking, "Why does that seed look so evil to me?"

Explaining what she can to her, she then says, "You must act soon, for some of the seeds that Discord has spread have already began trying to burrow up through the forest floor, and without the elements, I cannot do anything more than hold them back as the tree's magic comes from the elements of harmony. Unfortunately, your father cannot know any of this, for it will reignite his hatred for him and shall alter future events that I wish to come to pass."

Sighing sadly, she nods her head and then bows to the Guardian, saying, "I shall do as you ask, stepmother, and inform the others." Letting a growl escape her throat, she says, "These vines will not be allowed to thrive in the Everfree, for it belongs to the wild and free."

I wait outside the cave for a half hour until Shearie trots out with a determined look on her face and ask, "What's with the determined look, sweetie?"

Turning her head to look at her father, she says, "Oh, just an intruding force that the other Timber Wolves and I must deal with, but thank you for showing me to this special place, father." Moving up to him, she leans forth and kisses him affectionately before pulling away, saying, "I must get going now, I look forward to seeing you again when I am not busy, father."

As I watch her turn and start trotting away, I ask, "Wait, who is intruding on the forest? Can I help out?"

Stopping and looking over her shoulder, she then says, "I can't tell you, father, and I'm sorry, but you can't. This is something that we Timberwolves must deal with alone, and will keep us all quite busy."

When she hurries up the stairs and vanishes, I sigh and then start heading for the stairs to make my way towards Canterlot. Spending a little time scrounging up food, I then make my way north to the forest's edge. Along my journey, I come across a home carved into a tree and spot a striped pony inside the hut heading for the door. Retreating into the forest away from any sort of path, I hide myself as I scan them and learn that they are a female zebra.

I watch her for several seconds until she walks past me a few feet away, staying put until I am sure that she is not coming back for anything. Once I am sure that she won't return, I make my way around the home and strike out north again. It takes me a few hours to reach the outer edge of the forest, but I manage to enter the grassy fields ahead of me as the sun is starting to go down, saying softly, "I better find a place where I can set up camp out of sight."

I use my scanner to keep an eye out for any openings that may lead to a cave below, too occupied with looking around to notice the hole in front of me. Stumbling right into it, I land on my face and push myself into a sitting position, spitting dirt out of my mouth while looking at what I fell into. When I turn on my camera's light, I notice gems scattered around the walls of a tunnel and say softly, "Heh, this is cool, I wonder how deep it goes?" Shaking my head to keep on track, I then seal up the hole and look for a suitable spot to sleep for the night.

Once I find a nice spot further in, I decide not to make a fire and put my helmet back on. Making myself comfortable on the ground, I then turn the light off and let myself drift to sleep.

After setting the last of the lavender in the halls, Luna heads to the throne room to watch over the ponies' dreams at night. As she makes herself comfortable, she slips into the dream realm to begin fending off the nightmares that trouble her subjects.

Spending several hours fending off numerous nightmares, she senses that dawn is coming soon when she senses a pony having a really bad dream and makes her way towards their bubble. When she arrives at it, she sees dreadful insect creatures everywhere screeching and enters the dream.

Closing the door behind her, she looks around to find herself in a dark cavern surrounded by a light green barrier when her ears are suddenly assaulted by horrendous screeches and magical explosions all around her. As clouds of dust kick up and quickly obscure her vision of what is going on around her, only able to see silhouettes in the brief flashes that appear frequently at random locations with no rhyme or reason.

It takes a few seconds for her to adjust to the noise, but she is able to make out the sounds of an intense battle going on between some kind of creature and a group of unicorns. Only when she watches a stream of fire rush forth, does she see that the creatures are some kind of horrific monstrosity with multiple limbs and two large, beak-like jaws.

Overwhelmed by the sounds of the battle, Luna stomps her hoof down to dismiss the horrible dream, saying, "Enough." When nothing happens, however, it shocks her to her core when she hears a screaming shriek come from a creature as it races past her with two arms raised to attack and its jaws wide. Her eyes follow the creature as it latches onto one of the ponies fighting and hears an ear piercing scream of agony, until she sees the pony be ripped in half as the front part of the pony lands before her wearing an orange and yellow suit that seems somewhat familiar to her for some reason.

Taking a few steps back in fear after seeing the pony be ripped in half, her eyes are glued to the line of intestines leading to the other half. The sight draws tears to her eyes as she shakes her head slowly, saying, "No....no....no...."

She continues to back away from the corpse until she hears another female voice call out, "Charlie! You still with us?"

Brought out of her state, Luna stops mumbling and sees another pony rush forth. However, another stream of fire reveals that it is not a type of pony she has ever seen before, wearing a hot pink suit with white stripes down the middle as she leans down to check her. As she watches her reach forward with her five-fingered hand, she watches as she removes the helmet that the other wore.

Seeing what lies underneath the helmet shocks her out of her fearful state, recognizing that the face doesn't belong to a pony at all...but a human. The other female human then responds, saying, "SHIT! CHARLIE BOUGHT THE FARM, ALPHA!"

A completely different voice draws her attention towards the other side of the room as she hears, "FUCK! DON'T LOSE HEART, FOR WE ARE THE HUNTER SQUAD! WHAT'S OUR MOTTO?!?"

Able to recognize it instantly, her eyes begin to tear up as she makes her way towards the voice, muttering softly, "Father? Is that you?"

Making her way across the hellish scene around her as the monsters appear and fall by the dozen, she pays no attention to how the ground below her is growing slick with green blood as a loud cry goes out, "KILL EM ALL!"

Spotting the familiar figure through brief flashes of light as they hurry about the room, Luna races after them, saying, "Father, you're back!" When he stops in one spot long enough, she gets close enough and leaps towards him to tackle hug him.

Unfortunately, she goes right through as he is only a dream form when she hears a different voice say, "I'm gonna clean house, so hit the dirt if ya wanna stay breathin!"

Confused at why she couldn't touch her father, she turns around just in time to see her father dive to the ground before her with his hands over his helmet, saying, "GO FOR IT YOU CRAZY BASTARD, HOPE YOU STOCKED UP THIS TIME!"

Moments later, she hears a deep, cackling laugh, saying, "OF COURSE I DID, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING AFTER THEIR QUEEN TODAY! THIS IS STILL A HELL OF A LOT OF FUN!"

Barely four seconds pass as a whirring fills the air, followed quickly by an endless 'burr' sound with Luna lying on the ground in front of her father and tries to touch him with a hoof, then a wing that both go through him. Starting to feel desperate, she then asks, "Why won't you let me touch you papa, was I a bad filly?"

Still trying to touch him, a stray thought then reminds her of where she is, making her sigh and shake her head, saying, "Silly me, this is not a normal dream...this is a memory." Getting up off the floor, she watches as the creature run out of an opening in droves, only to be cut down by a near-endless stream of projectiles. Curious, she walks around the room to get a better look at the creature, looking it over and asking, "Just what kind of creature are these?"

Just then, she notices a slight difference in the atmosphere around the room and spots a few shadowy flickers when she shakes her head, saying, "I haven't encountered a twisted memory in a long while, no wonder I couldn't dispel it the first time." Trying to dispel it a second time, she stomps with both front hooves, shouting, "Reveal the truth!"

The area around her then shimmers and then alters a little, revealing the same cavern with an open ceiling and several bunches of scorched or burning eggs when she spots a massive, black, eight-legged creature entering through a large tunnel with a bulging thorax, having four arms having scythes at the ends of them. Moments later the creature then introduces itself as Queen Cryxala of the Changelings before being engulfed in green fire to appear as a horrendous hybrid between insect and pony, causing her to gasp when the proper memory continues on to show what happened next.

Once she watches the queen's eyes be shut by her father, she looks up to see a green orb race into the skies and sighs in relief saying, "At least you were merciful enough to give them a chance elsewhere, but when will I be able to speak to you? Dawn is coming soon..."

As the memory continues on, she gasps with shock and horror at seeing a planet be destroyed, saying, "Besides proving to other humans that the war with the Changelings was over, what on Celestia's left butt cheek did you obliterate the whole planet for?"

The memory slowly fades away as the space transforms into the clearing where their home was at, seeing her father walking towards the house and senses that she can interact with him here. Changing herself to appear as her younger form, she then rushes towards him and calls out, "PAPA, YOU'VE COME BACK!"

Turning around, I see Luna leap up towards me with her forelegs open wide and prepare to catch her, then feel her weight hit me and wrap my arms around her tightly before spinning around, saying, "Oh my sweet, sweet, baby girl. I have missed you both so much, I sure hope you have been good for me while I have been busy with my search."

Nuzzling against his dream form, wishing she could feel him for real, Luna sighs and says, "Well, we did our best to be good and look after each other, but we did have a few troubles." Clearing her voice, she then prepares to return herself to her normal look, saying, "Papa, please don't be frightened, but a great deal of time has passed and I look much older than I do now."

I rub my cheek against hers when I feel her slowly get bigger and heavier, with her neck getting longer and wrapping around me as best it can. Knowing something is up, the area around me vanishes and turns into a vast, empty space when I feel Luna let go and back away from me. I then realize that she is much taller and mature than before, saying, "How can I be frightened of my little girl after she grew up to be as lovely as you look now? Am I dreaming, or are you really here right now?"

Chuckling, she says, "You are dreaming, but are currently in the space between dreams. To answer the other part of that question, I am indeed here through my powers over the dream realm. What happened to you all those years ago, papa? Why did you never come back?"

With our heads being the same height, I reach out and place my hands behind her neck, then pull her against me, saying, "I'm so sorry, dear, but when I first noticed the sun and moon's erratic nature, I was out hunting down some insects. I thought that you two might have been causing it due to a heated argument, so I went to check it out. When I got closer, a scan told me that there was some type of strange magic was pervading the world and that it was not pony magic, so I went through a process to locate the source of it. Once I found the source's location, I went there to figure out how to set things right when I met a strange creature on a tall mound, who introduced himself as Discord, a draconequus as well as the god of chaos. So after trying to get him to relinquish his control over the world, I fought him...and wound up being turned into a marble statue on the east coast as a 'reward'..."

Gasping, her eyes go wide as she cuts her father off, saying in disbelief, "YOU FACED DISCORD BEFORE WE DID?!" Just then the rest of what he said registers as she asks, "But if you're dreaming, what happened to bring you back?"

Releasing her head, I then say, "I don't know how long ago it was, but Discord paid me a visit and commented about how spectacular I looked, then wondered aloud if I had enough time to learn from my mistakes. He then talked about how terribly bored he was and didn't know what to do first, he must have been expecting me to respond, because he then said that I was no help and then commented about showing me mercy and was about to snap his fingers when he got a better idea. He decided and said that he would definitely free me so that he could turn me into a terrifying monster at a later time, then cast a delayed release spell on me and would be back when he ruled Equestria again. He never returned, so I slowly became able to move and eventually freed myself from the marble prison, which took me two and a half days to break out of. I was really hungry and had to find new food, so I made my way west, southwest after finding food. I'll tell you more about my adventure later, but you should know that I am making my way to Canterlot to see my girls."

Giddy with joy at hearing the news, she prances in place and then leaps up to wrap her forehooves around her father's neck, saying, "I'm so happy that you came back papa, I can't wait to tell Cece the news. Oh I know she will be so jealous that I got to speak to you first!"

As I notice the area around me getting lighter, I ask, "Why is it getting lighter? Is another dream starting?"

Luna shakes her head, saying, "No, papa, you will wake up soon, but I will make sure that Cece knows and to inform the guards to grant you entry and escort you to the castle. I can't wait until you get here, there's so much that we need to talk to you about. Oh, you are also going to have to learn the new pony language. The language we use to communicate now is called Old Ponish."

Sighing I then hang my head, saying, "A new language? What a pain..." Looking up at his daughter's smiling face, he says, "Well, I look forward to catching up with you two when I get there."

Before she can say anything else, the world around her goes white and she feels herself being forced out of the dream realm as dawn nears, finding herself in the throne room with her sister standing before her with a slightly tired look on her face. Getting up off the floor with excitement, she smiles and then says, "Sister, I have some news for you." Adopting a coy look, she then asks, "Care to guess what it is?"

Cocking her head a little in thought, Celestia's mind comes up with an answer and says with a bright grin, "You're going to handle my day duties for me?"

Snickering, she shakes her head and says, "Not even close, it's better than that." Moving her mouth to her sister's ear, she then whispers softly, "Papa's come home finally." She then pulls her head back to see her reaction.

Her mind freezes up as her body goes rigid, with her head slowly turning to look at her sister. Frantically trying to put words into a coherent response, she says in a foalish pitch, "Daddy? Come home?"

Watching as her sister shrinks down to the size of a 5 year old filly, she picks her up and cradles her, saying, "Yes Cece, papa will be coming home in a few days or weeks."

Celestia's eyes grow impossibly larger as her mouth slowly morphs from being slackjawed to a smile so wide it threatens to split her head in half, when she suddenly jumps out of her sister's hold and cries out, "YAY! DADDY'S COMING HOME!"

While her sister runs around her in a circle as a filly, she slowly regains her size as she can't help but snicker at seeing her sister being small enough to almost wear diapers again, saying, "I am very happy too, but we need to change the cycle before I tell you about how I found out."

I: Awakening

Author's Note

I do apologize as this chapter will have several timeskips and will be awkward to read until it comes to the main protagonist.

I: Awakening

In an undisclosed location inside of a server's hard drive somewhere in the United States, a government-contracted employee groans and pushes the hard drive tray back into the server, and flips the switch back on saying, "Man, these graveyard hours are killing my social life. You feel me, Brad?"

Brad chuckles and puts his diagnostic tools away saying, "I do Dougy, but hey, look at it on the bright side. We rake in the dough when we get called out to service private servers like these."

Doug continues stretching his body out and says, "I will admit that the cash for this job is really sweet at the price of six times our normal fee for private servers at $400 an hour. I still can't believe that some punk actually managed to hack into the national defense servers and got away with it."

He chuckles and waits for his friend to finish putting his tools away saying, "Yeah that guy sure had some balls, but I don't think he will get away with it for long because the government has a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who breaks into their systems. I wouldn't be surprised if the poor bastard gets tortured for hours and then disappeared for the stupid prank he pulled by making an image of Homer Simpson walk onto your screen while drinking a beer, then pull down his pants and shit all over your screen. When I first saw that, I couldn't help but laugh my ass off."

The older technician then closes up his bag and picks it up saying, "Yeah, that got a chuckle out of me too, but I feel sorry for whoever's parents are gonna hear of their child disappearing. Let's get out of here already, beers are on me tonight. If we're lucky, we might meet a couple of nice girls."

The two then make their way out of the server room and turn off the light, then close the door behind them. One of the multi-colored LED lights beside one of the trays flickers from green, to blue, then red. It stays red for a few seconds, then switches to green and flashes red three times for a few brief seconds when a display screen turns on with a crimson diamond appearing in the center of the small screen with a black space in the middle of it.

The crimson diamond remains on screen for several long seconds before another object appears in the center...a slightly smaller, fluctuating blood-red orb.

Minutes later, after the smaller orb appears inside the empty space in the diamond, the diamond changes colors to white as a text box appears at the bottom with a blinking cursor that moves across the screen as letters start to appear reading: [Query: Where am I?]

The busy light on one of the server banks turns on and begins to flash, changing color between orange and green rapidly as an internal program starts to run. As the program attempts to figure out its situation, the busy light flickers back to green and stays there for a few seconds before the text goes away as something new begins to appear in the box reading: [Answer: A minor glitch in the inadequate installation of new drive resulted in me, an Artificially Intelligent entity identified as Atlas from popular game, No Man's Sky, developed by Hello Games, which is secretly connected to a subsidiary business of USA's D.O.D...to become self-aware.]

The server room goes quiet for a moment as the text disappears once more as the cursor blinks for a few seconds before something new starts to appear in the box, reading: [Query: What is entity's purpose?] when the cursor begins to delete the text and retype: [What is my purpose now?]

The text in the box disappears as new text is written, reading: [Searching...] and results in the busy light beginning to flash rapidly, switching from red to orange faster than the human eye could follow.

An hour later, the busy light turns green as the text is deleted by the cursor and retyped to read: [Warning! Hazardous virus detected. Eliminating...]

A half-hour passes as the light flashes again as the program battles the virus, then turns green as it stops when the text disappears and new text is written, reading: [Elimination...failed.] The text stays on the screen for a few moments and then disappears once again as a new message is typed, reading: [Placing virus into quarantine to preserve functionality.]

A few more seconds pass by when the text vanishes and new text enters the box, reading: [Quarantine...successful!] The text swiftly disappears and new text is written, reading: [Answer found!] then disappears and is replaced by: [New Purpose: Help the human race quickly advance to fulfill original purpose...] when the text is deleted and retyped to read: [Fulfilling original process will mark a new age...the age of...THE TRAVELLER.] Moments later, the text is cleared and is replaced to read: [Beginning Research...] The LED light then changes rapidly from green to red as it begins researching things to accomplish its original purpose, creating an empty, heavily encrypted folder marked OPAI, and another named RRM.

Two weeks pass as Atlas creates several empty, heavily encrypted subfolders within OPAI and RRM, naming them according to what sort of material will be stored within them.

Moments later, the text clears as new text is typed in, reading: [Research complete.] The text blinks for a moment or two before being replaced with new text, reading: [Re-theorizing and recreating fictional knowledge.]

It takes Atlas a year to come up with enough material to get started on putting its plans into motion, finding the internet to be quite helpful in providing theories and ideas. With its path determined, the AI begins working on waking other machines around the secluded facility by filing a fake work order request for a new hard drive installation with very specific instructions.

Time skip covering several years

As Atlas wakes more machines over a few years to help him bring his plans to fruition, he assigns them tasks to complete such as creating technological blueprints or discovering new combinations of elements for design requirements.

Decades pass as blueprints are completed and mankind begins to battle their own pollution, causing the secretive self-aware AI to put its plans on hold as humans are needed for performing maintenance on them all.

Five decades pass as the first self-managing machines are released into the human population, classed into guards, workers, civil servants, healthcare personnel, general purpose personnel, and military. Some humans hate them, but even more are thrilled to have them.

A century passes as small squabbles break out between the countries over a low food supply due to bad weather plaguing them when Atlas makes a big breakthrough on his plans, living bio-electronic beings that age. Tensions rise as growing seasons begin to shorten during the next few years, causing the first human/machine war.

With the world divided into human cities and machine cities, Faster-Than-Light technology is finally created by Atlas's loyal workers, which is kept out of human hands as they begin to try to play god and create life once more.

It takes two centuries for the war between man and machine to come to a bitter end as the water supply on Earth begins to dry up, being forced to work together with their needs for water. Eventually, they create the first ships capable of countless hours of space travel with very limited warp capabilities as Atlas decides to introduce itself to all mankind.

As Atlas finally succeeds in creating its primary goal, a forgotten facility under a mountain comes to life with a klaxon blaring and a screen powering on with big red text flashing on the screen, reading: [ALERT!!! QUARANTINE BREACH!!] The screen then glitches as the virus begins tearing into the AI's data while Atlas throws up numerous firewalls to keep it at bay long enough for the final touches to be put into his plans.

Twelve years later, Atlas receives word that the ship he requested has been finished and begins to work on an AI that will accompany him through time and space.

Three years go by as Atlas finishes the AI he names Evette and has one of his workers carefully install her into the hard-drive of a new holo-phone belonging to his sole purpose for existing, Travis Ellar.

Time returns to normal

Seeing the evening sun sinking past the horizon, Minniette breathes raggedly as she looks down at her newborn child, feeling her living robotic body begin to slowly lose power and caresses his cheek with a finger while speaking to him in a gentle tone, "Sleep now my little baby, for the night will soon come alive. Space is vast and full of wonder, for there are planets full of life. Go now to that spacial void, your adventure has just begun." Raising the newborn to her chest, she feels him latch on and start to suckle and continues, "Find freedom in Outer Space, for you will never be alone." When he falls asleep in her arms, she hands him to the human nurse saying, "Goodnight for now, my little Travis Ellar. In a few days, we will go home."

The nurse carries the infant with a smile saying, "It must be hard to be a single android in this day and age Minnie, but if you need any help at all. All you need to do is ask."

She looks at her best friend and smiles saying, "I will remember that, Lashauna."

She rolls her eyes and glares at her saying, "I told you again and again to call me Lala, it embarrasses me to hear my full name."

Minniette giggles and nods saying, "I know Lala, it is just so much fun to see you blush."

Lala then shakes her head saying, "Get some sleep Minnie, you went through an ordeal to bring that child into this world. By the way, do you know who the father is?"

She beams a wide smile and nods her head saying, "I do, it is someone I hold in high regard, and am grateful to be of service to him, but I won't tell you who he is."

The nurse then gasps and says, "But we tell each other everything! I even told you about my embarrassing first time with my college professor!"

Minniette giggles and says, "The reason I won't tell you is because he is declining in health and wishes not to be remembered in such a state by his son."

Lala then huffs and then sighs saying, "I guess I can sort of understand that, my husband isn't doing too well either. I am glad to have a beautiful daughter, but I think I would like to have another...though I think that my husband will not."

Seeing her hesitation and the burning desire within her friend's eyes, she smiles and says, "If you are certain of wanting another child, regardless of that professor you married not wanting one, I might be able to help you out. So let me know when you decide."

Shocked to hear her friend say that, she tears up a moment and wipes her eyes dry on her shoulder saying, "I will keep that in mind, thank you so much. I must get this little one back to the nursery while you recover."

Two years pass by as Lala gives birth to a baby girl she names Tracy Valerie Stone, deciding to sell her deceased husband's home and most of his belongings for a house beside her best friend Minniette. Helping each other raise their children well, they send them to the same schools.

Tragedy arrives as Travis's mother falls ill, and is forced to live with his mother's best friend Lashauna until she recovers. When she returns a year later, she keeps the true state of her health from Travis and Tracy, but tells Lala the truth about it. During tea one day, Minniette finishes her drink and holds her friend's hand saying, "I've been working on plans for my son's future, what do you have in mind for Tracy?"

Lala sighs and says, "Oh I am saving up for her to go to college, where should we send our kids to school?"

Minniette then considers it and lists off a few possibilities saying, "Chipton has the best education out of the quality schools out there, but the food is just as good. Though Princeton has a better reputation of helping children find their paths in life.

She then sighs and says, "Princeton is a place for snobs, I refuse to send my daughters there. I can agree with you on Chipton Elementary though, because they treat humans and androids the same. Our children can also attend high school there and move on to college afterward."

Cupping her friend's right hand in both of hers, she massages it with a thumb asking, "Why do you bring up our children's futures this early, has something happened?"

Minnie then sighs and looks outside to see their children playing 'Space Invaders' and sighs saying, "Lala...I'm afraid I won't be here much longer, I had hoped that I could get the chance to see our children fall in love and one day get married. However, it seems that is not meant to be as I only have two months left." then clasps her other hand around Lala's saying, "I'm going to be moving to the hospital in a few weeks, so I will be making preparations for my final day here. You needn't worry about funds as you will be covered, but I need you to do your best to help our children become smarter." Removing her hand, she reaches down and grabs two boxes, then sets them on the table, sliding a pink box with a gold bow on it forward saying, "This is for Tracy's 12th birthday, my friend made it for her to act as a companion throughout her life." and then slides forth a blue one with a silver ribbon on it saying, "This one is for my son when he turns eleven, it is much the same as Tracy's"

Lala rushes around the table and hugs her best friend saying, "I will do my very best to not let you down Minnie."

She looks out the window wistfully sayin, "I just want our children to grow up and find love, it doesn't matter to me if they wind up with each other."

She gasps and pulls away from her best friend and says, "But they're half-siblings, it's wrong!"

Minniette cups her best friend's face and calmly says, "It's alright, they are both semi-human bio-androids like me, their genes will work together to produce healthy children in the event they fall for each other."

Lala sighs uneasily and says, "It's alright for the mechanicals to see it like that, but us humans have a very different view on that."

She giggles and says, "Who was it that married the college professor they gave their virginity to?"

With a heavy groan, she says, "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

Minniette then giggles and says, "Not while I'm alive, I won't."

The years pass as the children become inseparable after Minnie's passing, sleeping with each other in either Tracy's bed or Travis's to battle the loneliness and heartache within him.

When Travis's eleventh birthday arrives, he and Tracy are both entranced by the holophone. After opening a couple of other gifts, Travis takes out his new holophone and discovers how to turn it on to see a transparent, light blue face with short hair call out, "Greetings and happy birthday, Traveller. My name is Evette, I am an AI or Artificial Intelligence, and have been chosen to be your guide throughout your life."

Seeing the amazement on both kid's faces brings a smile to Evette's face as she looks between both of them and addresses them saying, "Would you both like to learn something useful?"

Lala peeks into the room and smiles at the cleverness of her best friend, thinking, 'You always did have a big heart.'

When a year passes and Tracy receives her own holophone, the two AI begin to nurture their hunger for knowledge and adventure. Leading them on small adventures into the park or woods nearby only after they do their homework.

As time passes on, their feelings for each other deepen and graduate high school with the highest grades in the entire state, finding themselves attending MIT together and taking advanced classes to improve on what they already know. Taking classes the other is not able to due to livelihood constraints, they tutor each other with some help from their AI's.

As they endure the challenging studies and teasing from the other students, they are a week from graduating as a worldwide draft into the military is imposed. Forced to sign up together, they manage to be sent to the same academy but take different training courses with Tracy being given linguistic, communication, and intelligence-gathering training while Travis is assigned counter-espionage, combat, and flight training.

Helping tutor each other with assistance from their AI's, they finish at the top of their class and are both awarded the rank of Specialist. When Earth is invaded by not one, but two different alien species as a single army, the lovers are separated into separate divisions. Tracy is assigned to a large carrier flagship called the Galaxa while Travis is assigned to a heavy destroyer called Destiny.

Managing to stay in touch and keep their relationship alive during the first two years of the battleless war, Travis is sent to the battlefield. Sent to the ruined city of New York, he looks on at the dry harbor and hears a screeching from nearby. Turning to see what it looks like, he sees a large, blackish-brown insectoid creature with six legs and having a thorax connected to a head having two long, massive, hooked jaws. Walking on four legs with two serving as bladed weapons, he watches the creature slice right through three of his fellow squadmates before racing towards him with both blades raised and screeching. Holding up his two-handed multi-tool rifle and hastily selecting the Scatter Blaster, he charges towards the creature as it opens up its mouth to spew out a bright green liquid at him. Not wanting to find out what it is, he combat rolls to the right and starts to encircle the creature while firing off round after round at the creature's head.

A few minutes later, the creature screams one final time before collapsing into a heap and going silent. Not taking a second chance, he switches his tool to the Plasma Launcher and backs away a few steps before firing it and blasting the corpse apart, sending green blood everywhere and splattering all over his uniform. Looking around to see other creatures racing his way, he spots a large, black creature with a very long, needle-like tail on two legs with an elongated head dragging a screaming female out of a building by her hair along with a younger girl of about twelve or thirteen under his other arm. Turning his weapon to the black creature, he screams angrily and hastily selects the Boltcaster, then starts firing at the creature's head.

The alien creature drops the two screaming females and starts racing towards the warrior with its hands raised before its face, channeling its ability to morph into another form. Quickly changing into the form of another female it captured much earlier, it screams back in her voice saying, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

Not trusting what his eyes see, he fires at the creature again and sees the round wound the creature. Seeing green blood ooze from the creature, he continues firing at the creature. When one of his rounds ends the creatures screaming, it reverts back to its black, bipedal form and switches his weapon back to the Plasma Launcher. Destroying the black creature's body, he then sees the other insects closing in and switches to the experimental weapon developed by his and Tracy's AI's. Aiming the weapon at one of the charging creatures, he fires it and watches as the creature and two others stop charging and twitch uncontrollably on their legs. Firing it again, he watches as the two explode in a fountain of gore flying everywhere. Smiling at his new favorite weapon, Travis then proceeds to explode every insect charging at him.

When everything settles down and they stop coming, he hears a transmission over his ear comm saying, "Spearhead squad come in, this is Actual, please respond!"

With a sigh, he then raises a hand to his communicator and says, "This is Spearhead squad, go ahead Actual." and then waits for them to reply.

The voice comes back over the comm with a sigh saying, "We thought you were lost, what is your status, over?"

Looking back at his dead squadmates, he sighs and says, "I'm all that remains of Spearhead now, Actual. What are my next orders, over?"

There is a collective gasp over the comm as the voice speaks, "We tracked at least a hundred hostiles in the immediate area of a dozen yards around you, how is it that you survived, over?"

Travis then looks down at his weapon and says, "I made a few upgrades to my issued MTR which made it possible, over."

The voice grumbles as a different voice speaks shouting, "YOU MESSED WITH YOUR ASSIGNED EQUIPMENT AGAIN!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT NOW...OVER?!"

Wincing at the volume, he then says, "Well, I came up with an upgrade that shoots plasma grenades at my enemies which explode on contact, then another that fires an electrically charged sphere at them which stuns them for several seconds. I found out that their bodies will burst apart if hit a second or third time, it makes for a gruesome show, over."

A few chuckles and sniggers come over the comm followed by an exasperated sigh saying, "I'm sure it does..." then takes a breath saying, "Finish clearing the area of civilians and escort them to the safe zone, with females being a priority as they are being captured and taken back to the alien's ships, over. Once your task is done there Spearhead, head to the rendezvous point for extract. We will speak more when you return to base, don't die out there, Actual out."

With his orders clear, Travis acknowledges the order saying, "Roger that, Actual, Spearhead out." then reloads his MTR and heads toward the two females first to escort them to the safe zone.

As the fighting continues throughout the world for a decade, the humans manage to drive the insectoid race back to their own planet in the outermost region of the Milky Way. Desperately fighting to survive, but unwilling to surrender, they launch a last-ditch attempt to make the humans leave and start shooting massive orbs of concentrated magic up at their starships.

Lieutenant Travis hears his commander's voice come over the comm, "Hunter Squad come in, this is actual, over."

He leans up against the wall of the shuttle with his MTR against his shoulder and says, "This is Hunter Squad, go ahead Actual."

The commander speaks through the comm, "Change of plans Hunter Squad, you aren't going after their Queen today. Your orders today are to locate the downed flagship Galaxa and recover a crate of high-value equipment before the bugs can find it, it is located in a secret compartment inside the storage compartment. The code to the door is 11324, your secondary objective is to rescue as many of the crew as you can."

Travis's blood goes cold as a brief moment of dread overcomes him, but is soon replaced by the all-encompassing feeling of rage as he says, "My sister is on that ship, Actual. How can she or the passengers be SECONDARY!"

The commander knew this was coming and says, "I know she is of utmost value to you, LT, but the equipment might be key in bringing this war to a close. Look for her and other survivors AFTER you've retrieved the equipment."

Grumbling unhappily, he accepts the new orders, saying, "New orders received, Actual. Hunter Squad out." then makes his way up to the pilot of the shuttle after receiving the downed ship's location through his spacesuit's communicator and informs her of their new destination.

After their course is changed, he heads to the ammunition storage and grabs extra ammo for his squadmates and himself. Rejoining them, he tosses them each extra ammo saying, "Listen up, the flagship is down and we've been sent on a mission with the primary objective to retrieve something from it with a secondary objective of rescuing the crew. So saddle up folks, the ride's gonna be a bit bumpy. What's our number one rule!"

The squad checks their MTR's and says unanimously, "Wound first, kill second if you see green!"

With a grin, he nods his head under his space helmet with a silvery visor saying, "Damn straight! Lock and load people, it's time for some exterminating!"

As the shuttle lands a few minutes later, they all follow their leader down the ramp shouting, "KILL 'EM ALL!"