The journey of a walker

by linfantun

Rating: teen
Tags: Science Fiction, Discord, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 42469

A solitary walker traveling from one place to another will end up finding himself in a peculiar world, where he can only wonder: What will this new land show him?

For a long time there is a walker who travels for no apparent reason without any knowledge of where he is going, no matter what he ends up finding, just letting the path take him to wherever it has prepared for him, he will reach one who will be under the shelter of a new world that would be most peculiar and unknown to him, but ready to know what it would show him in this new reign.

Published 2023-11-14 21:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2025-02-16 21:02:38 UTC

chapter I: Point of no return

Something was happening, his body felt too heavy, he could barely feel that they could move, and he could not open his eyes, where had he gotten into now? With great difficulty he managed to open his eyes only to see that at every corner he looked despite the difficulty of moving his head there was nothing, no matter how hard he tried to find some point of reference, his instincts screamed at him that something was not right here, there were no noises or figures that could allow him to discern where he was, and it doesn't help in the least that he can't move from place to place despite his efforts. Something happens, suddenly all that weight on him disappears, he gets up quickly and runs his hand behind his back and takes his service rifle, prepares himself and points in whatever direction this place stands for, waiting for any kind of threat to hover over him as he advances in slow watchful steps.

Nothing was happening, he could only hear the sound of its escarpments sounding in this infinite void, little by little the doubt of whether there was any danger begins to disappear, he still did not trust this place, but nothing is presented, perhaps it was just an empty space around him and it seemed that it was going to be that case, he could not see any movement, not even visual. Not even by his radars could he find nearby movement, he did not hear the slightest sound outside of his own footsteps, there is simply nothing here, he stops and lowers his gun no matter how much he wanted something to show and a part of himself begged him not to, but he refused that part. One option he has is to activate his night vision and thermal systems, perhaps with them he could see what is around him and figure where he is and access the terminals of the system of his armor, but when he sees the configuration texts they are distorted and he sees the clock system of his armor that he has the same thing happens to him.

This already gives him an idea of what he is and for a last check he sees his hands and they are indeed distorted, he is in the world of dreams, but... Because he is in a black space with nothing else? The closest thing he has had to something similar was to see the outer vacuum of space, mostly of those times it happened from inside a ship, on few occasions it floated in the void, but it was not usual when it happened, that and only in specific conditions. But here, here there are simply no indications of being inside the ships of his dreams and the ground under his feet is solid, which automatically rules out being floating through the vacuum of space, but being in an infinite black space without any kind of reference that he had never experienced before, only the closest he come to experimenting with something similar was about those strange surreal worlds that he experience not long ago.

He takes a long breath and has just gotten into a strange situation that he didn't know very well what to do and he just wishes he could at least have more control over the situation, but that it can be done, there is always the possibility that a unique event could occur since there is always a first time for everything. But things can get weird and he begins to notice that the whole landscape of darkness is beginning to disappear around him, it leaves him confused by the sudden disappearance of the darkness, until it is not a simple change of color, it is... a light? and he sees that it is coming from behind him, he turns to look and sees the gigantic light in the distance, all the darkness that was around him disappeared completely, only his black armor reflecting in an infinite white space.

Concentrating his view a little where the light is coming from, he notices one of sorts of structure, things are just getting weirder and weirder for him and now what was that structure in the distance? Just having questions and no answers...Again, but at least one positive thing that came out of this weirdness is that he no longer to feel that oppressive darkness that was all around him and at least this white space gave him a better sense of tranquility as well as visibility.

He know what might be the best course of action that he should take in this situation, the first thing was to look for a way out of here, but it looks like that task is going to have to be relegated, there was no way out from what he's seen in this whole place and it seemed like something didn't allow him to imagine any kind of way out of this environment, only leaving him the second and only option which is to go to that structure and see what it could be, but it is possible that it could become a trap or he would end up encountering something and he would not know if it could be a pleasant thing or something unpleasant. He really had no choice, all this has put him to the point that the only way to find a solution is to have to go to that mysterious structure and throw everything to chance, he gets up from his place and takes a long breath.

"Let's see what surprise this cursed land is going to bring me." With a new renewed step, he begins to head for his new and unknown destination.

Perhaps either due to the effect of the dream world itself or simply an optical illusion due to the lack of references around it, the strange structure was much closer than it appeared, but thanks to this he began to discern what the structure is, it is not very large and has the shape of an obelisk, but he couldn't identify if there was any exit beyond the obelisk or perhaps the exit is the obelisk itself, one never knows. As he gets closer he begins to feel a horrible tingling that ends up transforming into a horrible chill that runs down his spine and without thinking twice he points his rifle behind him, there is nothing there, he sees no trace that someone else was here, but why did he feel that someone was watching him? This place is just making him more paranoid than he should be, and he turns to look at the obelisk and with a quick step goes into overdrive, he did not want to stay longer than he needed.

As he approached very quickly he noticed that there was something floating above the tip of the obelisk, as he approached he began to slow down his steps and took one last look back, for now it did not seem that there was anyone following him or watching him, he refocused on the obelisk he saw that the thing floating above was a small sphere, and he is not sure if it is a good idea to take the object given what could happen, in the end he makes the decision to take it and leave his doubts behind, when he touches it disappears without leaving any trace.

He cursed himself for making such a reckless and stupid decision to make him possibly get caught in such an obvious trap, but those thoughts die very quickly when he sees the obelisk disappear, a new figure begins to form, it's a different thing and it's like a door with a certain peculiar shape, his curiosity makes him want to approach the door and open it but he just ends up stopping possibly that thing was going to disappear again if he did, but without even having knocked on the door it disappears before his eyes and with a simple blink everything around him begins to disappear.

The first thing he notices is that he is in some exterior courtyard and not inside the old castle in ruins and when he looks around he notices that the towers are different, in some way they were becoming familiar to him and when he reviews them more carefully and in detail they realize that somehow he is in the castle that is on the mountain, and apparently in some inner courtyard of the enclosure, how was it possible that he had an idea of the interior of the castle if he had never been there? He only had reference to the exterior façade that he could at least see from a distance, he pinches the bridge of his snout in this situation, this does not help at all in the current situation in which he has once again just gotten into, only making them get weirder and weirder.

"Damn, now where did I get into?" He said to himself, being for the first time in his life, that he wishes that at least his dreams would take him somewhere he knew.

He sighs tiredly and takes a look at the night sky at least he could tell that the lights of the stars like the moon of this world are still beautiful, notice that they suddenly started to get brighter, he gives a better look and realizes that the extra brightness was not coming from the firmly star, it comes from the moon, there were somehow stars on the surface of the moon. The second thing he notices is that among all of them there is one that shines much brighter than the rest, as if it were a miniature sun, but the curious thing is that despite its brightness it did not overshadow all the others at all and apparently all those small stars have a particular brightness that differentiates them from each other. It is having distinctive colors; others seemed to do so with patterns that differed from the others.

He also sees that there are 10 of them that are distinguished and very much from all the others, 6 of them although they do not have at all close to the brightness of the largest has a more intense brightness and also that these curiously form the color pattern of the rainbow, the other comes from an interesting emerald green color, the other one was definitely the strangest of all, instead of having a certain color it is very chaotic oscillating between many colors sometimes it shone brighter and sometimes less and it had no identifiable pattern it just didn't make any sense, the other stood out for having an intense pink color and the next one would appear with a purple and blue that made it be united with the pink one.

From the corner of his right eye he sees that something was moving on one of the balconies of one of the towers, he hides behind one of the structures to avoid being seen by whatever created that movement there, with some care not to reveal his position he takes a small look towards the balcony where he saw movement, At the top he sees that there is someone up there, he moves with a little of the corner carefully and also among the shadows to allow him to see better what is on the balcony. He is dumbfounded by what he is looking at, it is the same being of that tapestry that represented the moon and the night, they did nothing of justice to such great beauty and magnificence that shows, with a mane of ethereal shape with a moderate color sapphire blue with a grayish Persian blue outline where small white dots stand out that were as if observing the stars at night, and it is accompanied by a dark blue coat with curious marks on her skinny ones that are like black spots and in the center of these that have a shape of the moon in a state of waxing gibbous, after that he stop looking so that it does not notice her presence.

Under the lights of the dreams of her subjects is one of the two rulers of Equestria the Princess Luna, with vigilance and care of the dreams of his subjects in the veil of the dream world, her beloved moon reflects on its surface small spheres of light that show the dreams of all ponies, they all have different radiances as their colors in their being, the brightest of them all is that of her sister Celestia, being the element of the sun itself it is like witnessing it in the same day, the 6 elements of harmony also shine more intense than any other and being represented with the colors of the elements of friendship. Among them there are also some very special ones, one of them has a unique brightness and unlike the others that are orderly, this one is changing and chaotic at all times, these are the dreams of the lord of chaos Discord a place that would not dare to get into more than only the most critical of situations, other of them are that of his young niece Princess Cadance with his beloved Shining Armor.

Observing these lights some of those are extinguished fading into the veil of darkness, she understood very well the meaning, the dream world still reflects even the real world that is beyond the veil and as it happens in reality itself that brightness disappears when everything is over, it is melancholic to see those bright lights and that only in a simple blink they disappear, but it is part of nature itself that something like this happens. She breathes a sigh of sadness for those close to him who sadly witnessed their departures never to return, she could only give his prayers hoping that they have left without having any pending, but as there are also lights that disappear, new ones come representing a new beginning for the young souls who give their first greeting to the dream world, at least it gives her a motherly smile for those who have arrived.

Notice that some of the lights change to erratic patterns accompanied by a darker color, that is the representation of nightmares that the more erratic and darker they become, the worse the nightmares are, sometimes their type are from simple mundane things about small worries that became big just needing to relieve them and let go of unnecessary worries, others represented fear in the face of a wide variety of things, with them their best way of alleviating them is to make them face those fears little by little until it disappears. But there are those nightmares born of trauma, guilt and madness itself, they are those where the fiercest battles are fought, their damage can be very deep, many times it requires a lot of care as well as help from others to cure those mental ailments, she observes that one of the small lights is transforming into nightmares and she gets close enough to walk on its surface and he is a new nightmare is raging.

Without Princess Luna noticing he was watching her as well as the small lights on the surface of the Moon, he avoided much that she would discover him beyond just taking a look or two to retreat back to his coverage at the right time, that moment arose when he looked at the moon to get close enough for that magnificent one to begin to walk on its surface and disappear completely in a of those spheres that seemed to have a different pattern than the others. He leaves his cover, and a question comes to mind, if that being is the replanting of the night, the stars, the moon, and the dream world, how has he not detected it? Perhaps given his origin he may not have form of connection with this world, but there would still be the problem about that strange dream he had.

Leaving aside his questions, he takes a look at the surface of the moon and seeing the small lights makes him have a small smile under his helmet, he wishes at least to be able to go there and see with curiosity what is stored there, as if a mysterious presence that is here grants him the wish materializing some stairs that allowed him to go to the moon, under his helmet he gives a smile while tilting his head from side to side for the simplicity of his desire. He approaches these stairs and despite being translucent they are solid that will allow him to travel to the surface of the moon, thus begins his small ascent to the moon, being so close he extends his hand to touch the surface and by touch he makes it gradually descend to its surface until it touches its ground, above it is the castle.

He looks again and seeing the large number of lights that are present were large and more magnificent than they could be from ground level, but compared to his own size they are small before his own figure, he approaches one of them and they see that from inside the vision of the interior of a house is reflected that reflects a kind of joy, as well as imaginative elements such as toys and other decorations, this is the dream of a fairly young one that represents happiness in his home. He gives a small smile at the sweet dreams, he approaches another light for his mere curiosity to see what else there is, but before he can see inside the light disappears without even having touched it, for a moment he was doubtful of what it meant and he observed not far away another that seemed that his light disappeared but the sphere remained, then comes the understanding in the face of such an event, they are those who simply leave never to return, at least it is a gift that they have received by being able to leave quietly something that their loved ones will never be able to have.

It's enough time to stay here, he has to leave here as soon as possible from this dream world before he is discovered, once again that tingling returned and that feeling of being, again he points his gun in the direction where he felt that he was being watched, again there was nothing there, why does that damn feeling that something is watching him not go away? And he ends up putting his hand on his helmet just wishing this would end, taking his hand off his face he puts his weapon behind his back again. He prepares to return to the castle and sees that the scales he wanted once again manifested themselves, but behind them he sees that for a single moment he sees that one of those dreams that unlike the rest were with more erratic and darker patterns returned to normal like the rest once again.

He sees that a kind of portal opens through that dream he knew he had to hide, and he gets into one without seeing where it would take him, he falls face down on the floor of the dream luckily without causing him any harm, he looks around and he is... In a very luxurious garden with large bushes covering both sides of the garden, it did not seem to be from the castle and the building in front of it is a large and very luxurious one, he realizes that this is one of those mansions of the rich that he saw in that small town. He was not going to deny that he had a hint of curiosity to explore the place a little, but he had to stay out of the dream and especially since he is already very close to at least the user of it, he decides to look to the sky in search of the portal that allowed him to enter this world of dreams, but he can't find it anywhere.

Well it's time to have to find another way out and he's going to one of the bushes as he makes his way through these there's no way past this point, there was just kind of a void under his feet he's not going to try to throw himself into that void, well it seemed like for now he has to stay in this place until he wakes up or the dreamer does, Looking at things for now, it was better to stay in the position where he sits on the grass than wait for something to happen. Like a curse, the yard begins to disappear under his feet, he rises quickly from his place and begins to run at full speed, but the ground ends under his feet and he has to jump over the fragments that have not yet disappeared until he manages to grab hold of the base of the house, stand on the base of the house and take a look into space, Well, he has no other choice: he looks at the door of the mansion and enters silently while bending down a little by the size of the entrance door.

Look around making sure that whoever the dreamer is not near where he is and with the quietest steps he can take, look for a place to stay temporarily among the different rooms as well as having a window in case of emergency of having to leave or that he allows him to connect with another part of the place in case he has no other route, It didn't seem that there was a good place to hide downstairs only having to go to the next floor, a part of his mind told him that this could be a bad idea to do it, he was going to listen to him if it weren't for the fact that once again he sees that again the floor under his feet began to disappear, he saves himself by going to stairs and jumps to the upper floor, falls with a soft sound, looks from one side to the other in the corridors and sees that there is someone else there, he quickly gets into the first door to avoid being seen, when he opens it there are only two things he notices, the first is a room, the second and for his greatest bad luck the room is not empty.

Princess Luna is satisfied to have helped with the nightmare, but she still has to keep an eye on the other dreams, she sees that one of them changes very suddenly from a normal dream to a nightmare, she prepares to go inside the dream, she stops when she sees who she was dreaming of has awakened and the sphere of light goes out, this is worrying for Luna, the nightmare was brief but very intense causing its user to end up waking up from sleep.

She approaches the sphere she uses and with a spell allows her to see what was the last thing she saw before she ended up waking up from the nightmare, it was a little difficult for Luna to identify the place given how ostentatious the room looks but thanks to some family paintings they apparently belong to the Rich family, she has not met them personally but she knew about them since they are the main distributors that provide them with Zap apples, and apparently this dream belongs to her daughter, for now there is nothing to indicate that it has happened. Despite normality, many times nightmares can end up being sudden without even warning, she kept going and everything seems normal until it reaches just the moment when the nightmare occurred or rather what caused it, she sees that huge creature, black as the nights without any light that violently entered the room, she paused the moment of his entrance to analyze in more detail what happened as well as the mysterious creature.

The first thing that Princess Luna notices is that this being despite its darkness there are things that can be discerned, the first is that this being is a biped given the way it is standing, the second came with the visible parts that allow you to see that it is wearing armor given in part to the bear arms as its helmet, Regarding his appearance, she couldn't deny that it's quite intimidating and that if something like this appeared abruptly it would scare anyone. She continues with the dream she hears the cry of terror of the filly the being seemed to throw herself against her to catch him as little by little the dream disappeared and she notices a very strange thing, the being somehow his reactions find her out of place acting more as if of surprise or so it seemed from the little she can say about her gestures, and by the position of his head he is not looking at the foal but at something else, unfortunately the dream ended there with no more clues that could tell him about that creature.

Luna sits on her rump thinks for a moment what this type of nightmare could have been, the most logical thing is that it is some kind of horror story that she was told and by scaring her she would create that type of being, something common in younger minds thanks to her great imagination, but it did not coincide because of the problem that it was very suddenly without even a previous warning of what would happen, in addition this detail is Where would he have gotten such a concept about said creature? Perhaps it has come from the type of literature that has given the constant change that has arisen in the last thousand years, with its magic it makes an image of the being for later, notice that the sphere shone again and had those erratic patterns again as it also darkened, for the good luck of the filly Luna is right next to her and enters the interior of the dream.

Somewhere in the dream world he is somewhere away from everything else while floating in a distant void, but still close since he can still see the moon in the distance, he gives a quick review of what happened apart from being discovered by the youngling, he tried to jump out of the window in a desperate attempt to flee before everything disappeared and ended up floating in some unknown point alone having the celestial body as a reference. He did not know if the creator of this dream world had managed to discover his presence or not, but something told him that it was very possible that it did, for now the only thing he has to do is simply return back to the moon and return again to the castle, luckily his armor has some thrusters implemented under his boots in case of being in a vacuum condition he activates them and redirects himself there.

Luna finished helping Diamond Tiara with the problem of her nightmare in addition to her telling him her name as a thanks, summing things up a little the strange being that she saw this time in the nightmare despite the similarity did not match what she had seen but it was not something unheard of being that it was a very sudden event, she had no more clues, but in the end maybe she is just giving too much thought to a simple nightmare and besides, the night is about to end and using her magic she begins to make the dream world disappear, letting her return to reality without knowing that she would also do it with someone else.

He woke up and his gaze met the destroyed roof of the castle that through the hole he saw the beginning of the morning, he had just had a very surreal experience compared to the previous time he entered that abstract world, at least his advantage was that it was just a dream not like that abstract world, but now she has a current situation and that is that apparently he has just met one or rather one of the rulers of this ancient castle, at least he is getting lost in something or his very miscalculate the time of existence she should not be alive. There is a possibility that it is an eternal one or that it has a very long life span, completely leaving aside the possible encounter with one of the rulers of the old castle, two questions come to mind: First, what was that strange vision he had and how did he end up in that strange dream world?

What was it all that vision or dream? In his long life he never saw anything like it, but regardless of the meaning it deals with the only clue he has is the strange door and that was all he has and he has no other references apart from the strange sphere, besides that horrible feeling that something was watching him twice, then to end up in that dream world and be discovered in the dreams of one who is quite young Because of his recklessness, perhaps he could find some information but there is the problem with the translation, as he had already analyzed previously for now he did not have too many solutions for everything that involves and seeing how he can solve them will be a little independent of whether the inhabitants of this world are friendly or not.

He gives a long sigh for the things he is going to have to do and the tasks he has pending, with a little laziness he sits on his bed improvises stretches a little and cracks the part of his shoulders and back, the latter gives him pain in the center and massages himself a little there, he has already had that area very tense for quite some time and has not had much opportunity to relax and rest, he looks at the pieces of his armor with a greater emphasis on the plate on his back he gives a long sigh is the one he despises the most but the most vital.

He gets up from his place and goes to where he put the pieces of his armor and the first one he takes is the plate of his back, that is the most difficult part of all but the one that will always have to be put on first, he grabs it from its handles and begins to maneuver it little by little aligning it where it should be placed, When he is sure that it is correctly aligned he puts it in its place making him grimace in pain and shortly after a whistle sounds indicating that the armor has been successfully sealed, he exhales because of the horrible sensation he felt but little by little the pain disappeared from his system as well as relieving him in a general way, the hard part is already done as he breathes a last breath of relief.

He turns to look at the other pieces of his armor and puts them on in no apparent order since it is not necessary except for his helmet which is the last one he wears, once ready the first thing to do is to look at what will be the first of his tasks that he is going to do, the first thing to do is to establish a camp in time and form and he made a list of all the materials that he was going to need, seeing his tactical vest he takes out the things he would not need for his next expedition, among the things he will not need are the cartridges of his weapons next to a small sphere and he puts them together with his rifle. He was not going to take it since the bullets are quite valuable and difficult to manufacture due to the type of materials they use, before leaving that forest with its strange creatures check if it has everything necessary that they are, its hand axe and war hammer, several ropes but he could use the vines as a spare, a shovel, a hand pickaxe, along with food and water, with everything prepared he goes to the hole where he first entered the castle from there he goes to accumulate the necessary resources in the forest.

In Canterlot Luna goes to her balcony and lowers her beloved moon allowing the night to give way to the day and the sun of her sister, she gives a yawn of tiredness at least it was not a particularly difficult night as other times she has come to have, but it is not by far a boring work there were always interesting things to see in the dreams of her subjects, only as long as she does not end up getting into that type of dreams that when she remembers them his fur turns a slight purple, discard those thoughts so that they are also interrupted by someone who knocks on the door of his room.

"Come in. "The door to his chamber is opened, by his personal butler, Night servant.

"Her majesty, Princess Celestia, is waiting for you in the royal dining room," she said in an elegant and simple tone.

"Thank you, we'll be there shortly." The butler bows and closes the door, leaving Luna alone.

She leaves her room and goes straight to the dining room, on her way out she flanked by two of her royal guards who escort her to the royal dining room. Take a look at her two guards, in a way Luna understood the reason for their existence as a force to protect assist and help the ponies as providing protection to royalty, out of the need to protect everyone else, but Luna and Celestia are more than capable of protecting themselves from any threat, especially during the invasion of Chrysalis and their Changelings.

She arrives at the entrance of the royal dining room and the guards stay at the entrance next to Celestia's lairs, there Celestia is waiting and when she sees Luna, she gives her a maternal smile.

"Good morning, Lulu".

Luna returns the smile.

"Good morning to you too, Tia."

With a brief inspection by Celestia she sees that Luna looks much better than other times.

"It is seen that our dear ponies haven't had so many nightmares this time. "She gives a smile because her dear sister is in better condition than at other times.

"There weren't too many nightmares on this occasion, more than one or so peculiar.

"It's good to hear, that Lulu, I just hope it's not that one... kind of dreams like the last time you told me," said in a soft tone, but it took a little effort so that she wouldn't notice the blush that wanted to form, Luna gives him a smile of defeat, she would have liked to play at least a little joke on her.

"Luckily for you, you'll be safe, for now," said with a mischievous smile as Celestia gives him a suspicious look as well as a smile ready for the next battle.

Both hear the sound of the dining room door open, several servants arrive who bring them snacks and their respective breakfasts that are of the best class that Equestria could give, with millimetric precision each plate, spoon and cup of tea are put without a single slip and move with perfect synchrony without a single error in each movement, they finish preparing the table and leave the two sisters alone so that they can enjoy their meal without any interruption from them, before even the two princesses start they see that in the middle of the table a strange door emerges and they are generated in the middle of nowhere, it does not surprise the princesses at all they know perfectly well who it is, out of nowhere they listen with several trumpets that come out of nowhere to reveal the new guest who is dressed in a long royal robe with a golden crown and a conceited look.

"Oh wow, wow, a lot of candy and I haven't even been invited," Discord said melodramatically.

"Good morning, Discord," Celestia said in her elegant tone as she levitated a cup of tea, while giving a small imperceptible smile.

"Discord" Luna said more coldly before the chaos entity, something that would not go unnoticed by Discord.

"Come on, dear Lulu, you don't trust me." While he changes his normal wings for those of an angel who at the same time wears a robe along with a golden halo on her head, Luna's only reaction is only to raise an eyebrow at Discord's act, Celestia only tilts her eyes, she returns to the topic they were going to talk about before the interruption.

"Now Lulu, what was the particular dream that you wanted to mention what you found in the dream world?"

This captures Discord's interest and gives a conspiratorial smile.

"It will be one of those special dreams for Celly," said with a smile ready for action, Celestia ignores Discord's comment as best she can, and Luna just looks at him without any emotion.

"No, for now it has nothing to do with it." Discord only gives a nasal snort of boredom as he settles into a pink cloud that he summoned next to a glass of chocolate milk and drinks the glass leaving the chocolate in shape and then eats it, Celestia drinks her tea. "But for the good fortune of both of you, keep the fragment that would reveal the peculiarity of the nightmare." Its horn glows in the room, it emanates a magical spiral that shows just the moment when the mysterious nightmarish creature appeared, this made both Celestia and Discord look on with interest.

"Anyone could definitely get a very good scare if something like this appears suddenly," Celestia said, turning to look at Discord. "Discord: Isn't it one of your creations that ended up escaping from your dreams?"

Discord looks at him with false offense and gives him a mischievous smile.

"Oh no, dear Celly whatever that thing is it's not my own creations at all, it's nothing chaotic, it's too sane for my taste and I'm not a big fan of very dark colors, you know.

At least that left out of the equation in case there was the remote possibility that it was something created by Discord, Celestia looks at Luna and before giving her question Luna answers exactly what she wanted to know.

"It came from a filly; I think it's from the Riches' family.

Before the mention of them Discord only gave a wry smile.

"It seems that someone was getting into the wrong place." he receives a disapproving look from Celestia, Luna talks about the subject again.

"From what she has told me, she has not read or seen anything that could indicate where she might have come from.

"Haven't you tried to figure out with your magic its possible origin?" Celestia said, Luna only gives a small sigh of defeat.

"We couldn't get there in time to get into his dreams, she woke up before we could act, although she suffered the nightmare once again, but his form was very different from the one seen before.

"Maybe you're giving too much thought to a simple nightmare Lulu and probably if you keep this up, you'll become a lunatic" Discord said with a big sneer.

Luna's eye twitched with anger and Celestia looked at him sternly, in the end Luna despite having a little of her pride hurt Discord was right about... This, well it seen that the world was putting on hooves up by having to agree with the very entity that stands for the irrational, now swallowing a little his pride turns to look at him.

"Discord, this may be the only time and let it be clear to you that we will have to agree with you, for this time" Those last words came painfully from his throat.

Celestia looks at him curiously while drinking a little more of her tea, in the case Discord looks at her with a gesture impossible to read on the one hand, her ego was growing to stratospheric levels by making the princess of the night herself admit a point of his, but on the other hand... To be right about something logical sent him a strange chill is like feeling as if she had violated a fundamental rule of his own nature, something that Luna at least smiles a little at this small victory.

"This battle is declared a draw" Celestia said as she finished drinking her tea and when she glanced at the two of them and put her cup down on the plate. "For now, we'll leave this mystery for another time, Lulu remembers that you might have the chance to meet him again in the dream world.

"You're right Tia, we might find him there again," she said with a smile, which Celestia would return, and she turned to look at Discord.

"Do you want to stay with us?"

For now, he had nothing to do and in part Fluttershy had left early to tend to one of her animals, specifically a manticore that injured in a fight and a couple of foxes injured by the Timberwolf.

"It's okay after all, there won't be much to do today, partly because Fluttershy has to go help some of her animals," he said boredly as he floats over some of the food and lifts it towards him, seeing how too elegant it is, gives him a more chaotic patroness, smiles at his creation, and eats it.

"How has Fluttershy been?" Luna said.

"It has been good, although with a little more work than usual, a couple of foxes arrived last night showing wounds that apparently were from the claws of the Timberwolf, shortly after came a manticore," he said in a casual tone as he takes one of the cakes and begins to eat it.

"At least they arrived safely in time and can treat their wounds," Celestia said as she grabs a sandwich.

"The curious thing about it is that yesterday there was much more activity than usual on the part of the Timberwolves.

"More active?" Luna said curiously.

"Oh yes, they were howling for a good part of the morning and part of the afternoon, sadly it wasn't the season for zap apples," he said with a disappointed tone since those apples are quite delicious, it comes to his mind for a moment why he was going to wait for the season if he could bring the season earlier, he only feels that both princesses are looking at him, he already has an idea of what he was going to do, he simply tilts his eyes. "Okay, I'll bring some when the first harvest comes." Give the princesses a smile to which they give it back and it was going to be a little secret between the three of them.

"It's curious the case of the Timberwolves, maybe they were marrying some large prey and they had to require more of theirs to succeed" Celestia said, pouring herself another cup of tea.

"In fact, apart from the fox couple, shortly after the rain stopped, Manny Roar came to visit to be treated for battle wounds.

Both Sisters look at him in confusion.

"Who´s Manny Roar?" Luna said, being the first to ask before Celestia did.

"It's Fluttershy's manticore friend, they became friends with him after he removed a thorn from one of his legs," he said, remembering what Fluttershy explained to him at that moment.

Luna for a strange reason has the feeling that she knew that manticore, but she could not find it exactly where, but she dismisses that thought to ask one more thing.

"Being the element of kindness, I wouldn't be surprised," Luna said, noticing something. "Wait a minute, don't tell me that Manticore was attacked by the Timberwolf?" said with concern, something that Celestia also shares when she sees him with concern, Discord gives them a reassuring smile.

"Luckily the manticore was not attacked by the Timberwolf, rather, it was... Beaten," said hesitantly in the last part, something that the princesses finished also end up confused. "Don't worry, Fluttershy also ended up confused by it, we only know that Manny saw a creature as a hostile within his territory and we don't have a description of what exactly it was like since Manny attacked in the middle of a big storm and already close to dark, after being hit by the strange creature he would end up disappearing.

Celestia thought about it for a moment it was not usual for an animal as large as a manticore to end up being injured and manage to get out alive, only leaving them one thing certain, she did not want to kill him and trying to understand that reasoning was going to be complicated, for now it was better to leave it given the lack of clues and it is better to enjoy a little more time with her sister, the rest of the conversation that took place was about trivialities and the beginning of a small three-way joke war.

With breakfast finished both sisters separate to different routes, Celestia had to go to an important meeting with one of her ministers, on Luna's side she goes to her chambers to go to sleep and in the case of Discord she went to another dimensional plane to cause chaos but avoiding damaging them with her magic.

They spend several hours without anything to highlight around the small town of Ponyville despite having the dishonor of being the most chaotic city in Equestria, but this time they are calm, the ponies went from one place to another either going to visit their own friends buy something or another for themselves or simply to enjoy the day especially that it is the weekend, the foals and fillies are eager for the class to end being especially for a trio of fillies who are eagerly waiting to find their special talents. Sweetie had told Apple Bloom and Scootaloo about what she saw last night surprising the two friends about the event and to a certain extent it was scary with the little she had described as the situation she talked about with Rarity and the proposal she had made to her, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, although a little afraid to do something like that, but an opportunity is a chance to find your talents wasn't going to be wasted.

In the blink of an eye the school bell announced the end of classes and with great excitement all the foals left with excitement, the Cutie Marks Crusade deviated from going to the boutique, first they went to the tree house to get the necessary tools to investigate any possible footprint they could find, with everything they need now if they go in route to the Boutique eager to find some clue about this creature as well as earn their cutie marks.

The Cutie Marks Crusade are outside the boutique while they investigate all clues related to that strange being, inside Rarity gives a small smile when she sees her sister's happiness, but due to some requests they made to her she could not participate with them something that, although she would have liked to help her sister, but it has the benefit of avoiding getting involved in the mud. It wouldn't seem like she needed it anyway, and it's enough to see them happy and interact with her friends, although she has to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't cause a mess, especially that time when they ended up covered in tree sap, which makes her shiver the time she saw her, his thought is interrupted when he hears the bell at the entrance a customer, he notices Who could it be? It is her dear friend Fluttershy.

"Oh Fluttershy! said with a big smile when he saw her.

"Um... I not interrupting you in something" said in his soft, low, gentle voice, Rarity smiling at him.

"Don't worry darling, I can always give a little time for my friends" said gently.

"Thank you, Rarity" said softly, they both made their way briefly to Rarity's kitchen and Fluttershy took a seat.

"Do you want little tea?" She offered, as he prepares a teapot to make tea.

"No, thank you, I won't be here long."

"Okay.

"Thank you.

Rarity takes a seat on the opposite side of Fluttershy, settling in a little.

"How did it go? Fluttershy."

"I guess fine, just more than having to take care of my beloved animals a little more" said with concern, something that Rarity notices.

"Did anything happen to any of them?"

"Last night I received a couple of foxes who were injured by the Timberwolves.

"Oh dear," said with fear at the thought of what could have happened to them and seeing Rarity's reaction Fluttershy gives him a reassuring smile.

"They are recovering quite well, thanks to Celestia who arrived with minor injuries and are recovering well. He gives her a reassuring smile.

"Oh, at least it's reassuring that they're okay.

"Rarity, I also wanted to ask you: What's Sweetie, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo's plan this time for cutie marks?"

"I proposed to them the idea of being investigators of mysterious creatures."

This makes Fluttershy a little fearful, but also curious, she would have always been fascinated to find new creature and learn from them.

"It sounds, a little... dangerous, but also interesting, but wouldn't it be wise to keep an eye on them to avoid any incidents?

"In fact, after finishing a few sketches of the orders they made of me, I was going to pay them a visit and make sure they weren't going to make a mess.

"Especially now, since yesterday morning and part of the afternoon the Timberwolves were more active than usual, in addition to the fact that shortly after the couple of foxes arrived, I received a visit from Manny Roar who arrived last night injured.

"Manny Roar?" said doubtfully.

"It's the manticore that" Nightmare Moon tried to use to stop us.

"Oh, that manticore, well, did the Timberwolf have anything to do with it?"

"Not in this case, it was a strange creature that had entered his territory and challenged him only to end up being beaten and abandoned to his fate, but it seems to me rather that he wounded him so that he would not follow him, he only hurt his leg and his wings.

"What was the creature like?" said curiously, but he also had a strange feeling.

"He told me it was dark as night without any light, and it had no face at all, and it was large," she said with fear at the description Manny told her.

Faceless, those words drilled into Rarity's mind, maybe Sweetie didn't tell her the color, but she said that what she was looking at them at the window didn't have a face either, this could be a simple coincidence or... there is something else in this and that was scaring her and for Celestia's sake, that it was just a coincidence, she is about to mention an incident they had last night, she is interrupted by her sister's call.

"Rarity, we just found something!" Sweetie said, as she hurried into the boutique and was originally going to go to Rarity's studio when she sees her in the kitchen she goes quickly for her, thanks to Celestia that she did not come covered in mud, Sweetie saw Fluttershy. "Oh, Fluttershy, sorry, I didn't see you" said apologetically.

"No problem, Sweetie, I wasn't going to be long," said with a motherly smile.

"Now, now, what have you found?" Rarity said.

"We just found a footprint near the river, and it is big, Scootaloo thinks it's from a Diamond dog and Apple Bloom thinks it's more of a dragon, the weird thing is that instead of four it has five fingers.

This makes Fluttershy and Rarity worth going to check what it could be and without waiting for a moment Rarity and Fluttershy look at Sweetie.

"Could you take us there, please," Fluttershy said.

"Yes, it's not very far from here.

Sweetie takes Fluttershy to where she said they had found the handprint they found, Rarity was going to accompany them, but she couldn't in part because of the assignment she had to do to finish before the start of the next week and also to avoid the mud and she didn't want to ruin her mane as her coat. Soon they arrive near the river where the other two fillies that were arguing are.

"The hand is a Diamond dog's, don't you see that the large size it has makes it more similar," said Scootaloo.

"No, the hand matches a dragon's hand more, and they can get bigger and bigger, and it's more similar to Spike's," Apple Bloom said.

Both fillies continued their discussion until they noticed that Sweetie has arrived not with her sister but with Fluttershy, exactly the pony they need to know finally which animal the footprint belongs to.

"Fluttershy, it's a great thing to see you again," said Scootaloo.

"Hello," she said quietly, "Um, could you show us the footprint, Sweetie said they had found a footprint."

"Oh yes, in fact, we were going to go to your cabin to ask if you could help us, only we were going to tell Rarity first, but she saved us a little bit of that," Apple Bloom said.

"It's this way," said Scootaloo.

The three fillies take to the edge of the river where they found the footprint carefully, they go down the sides of the bank as they also try to avoid slipping and falling into the water since the ground is still wet, and with the correct angle it allows them to see the footprint.

"It's that footprint, do you know what animal it belongs to?" We have discussed whether it belongs to a Diamond dog or a dragon," Sweetie said.

"Well, let me see the footprint." She begins to see the footprint, while Apple Bloom approaches Sweetie speaks to her in a whisper.

"You're not going to tell him that you think the footprint belongs to that strange thing you saw last night.

"I'd like to, but I've thought about it a little and I think I'd rather it wasn't that one... Thing" said with a slight chill, from what he had seen.

"Fear not, Sweetie, I, Scootaloo, along with the elements, will protect you from the strange creature," Scootaloo said proudly as he puffed out his chest in bravery, something that makes the other two come at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You can't remember the last time you were scared by surprise by a toad," Sweetie said.

"I wasn't scared!" It just took me by surprise," said with slight anger as she turned a little red with embarrassment for that event, only which makes the other two giggle, before looking back at Fluttershy who calls them.

"It doesn't match any footprint I know," said with surprise at not being able to find the animal that left the mark, this only leaves more than questions for the cutie marks.

"So, if the footprint doesn't belong to an animal you know, then what would be the closest thing to it?" Scootaloo said, to which the other two agree with his point.

"Um... well, the shape of the hand is more similar to that of dragons, but unlike Spike, this one is much larger but not as big as that of an adult dragon, but it is definitely not that of a Diamond Dog does not match the general thickness, but still the most discordant is the fifth finger, there are many animals that also have the fifth, but they are longer, something that allows them to manipulate objects in a better way.

“! It means that we have found a new creature!" the three said in unison.

Up that Fluttershy had to cover herself because of the ears for the sharpness of their voices, the three of them put their flanks together to see if they managed to acquire their cutie marks, but they only look with disappointment to see that they had not achieved it and give a sigh of sadness, Fluttershy approaches and gently puts her helmet under Sweetie's chin which makes the other two also raise their eyes to Fluttershy who smiles at them with motherhood.

"They may not have been able to acquire their cutie marks, but it's undeniable that the three of them managed to discover on their own a possible new species, or even one that we could rarely see.

Her words have an effect the three of them may not have been able to get their cutie marks, but it is undeniable that they have really just found clues about a possible new creature or at least a rather unique one, Apple Bloom comes up with an idea of who could help them at least a little about this.

"I have an idea." It makes them look at her curiously. "What if we are going with Twilight and see if she can give us some books that can help us identify the animal.

"That's a splendid idea, Apple Bloom, maybe Twilight has a book that can't help" Sweetie said excitedly.

"Then let's not keep her waiting and go there" said Scootaloo in haste and with emotion.

The three fillies began to trot in the direction of Twilight's library only taking a detour a little earlier for Sweetie to let Rarity know where they are going while behind her Fluttershy follows with a smile, coincidentally she was also going to Twilight’s library to borrow some books, Fluttershy turns to look at the Everfree forest, she just heard the howls of the Timberwolves like the last time she heard them yesterday, afraid takes a faster step that continues behind the three fillies.

Deep in the woods as he almost finishes gathering the supplies he was going to need for today, which among them are leaves, lianas both as a reserve and to carry the branches behind his back, he picks up the last one, places it on his back and listens to the howls of those wooden creatures in the distance, his proximity sensors did not detect any kind of danger that hung over him for now, but it was better not to risk it, start taking the last things he needs and go in route to the castle.

While in Ponyville the small group arrives at the library and Fluttershy gently knocks on the door, but they don't hear anyone inside, she knocks on it once again in a gentle way and already inside they hear the hooves that followed a slow step until she reaches the door, the one who opens it is Twilight, but he didn't look good.

"Oh my, Twilight excuse me, we didn't know you were ill," said with concern at her condition.

"Don't worry, it's not something, worrying," said wearily.

"Not that you want me to stay and take care of you" Fluttershy said.

"There's no need Fluttershy, it's not a serious thing, I just need to get some rest.

While the cutie mark when seeing Twilight's state, it was best to leave it for another day when she felt better, but Sweetie realized that Spike was nowhere to seen.

"Twilight, where's Spike?" Fluttershy noticed that the little dragon was missing, too.

"He went out to look for some positions with Zecora that he should have picked up, but it wasn't just, and I told him to go with Applejack, it shouldn't take long to return.

Just for a moment Twilight sees that something pink is approaching at high speed too fast and before she can react, she is grab by Pinkie who seemed very urgent.

"Twilight, my Pinkie senses tell me there's going to be trouble!" She said urgently as she moved Twilight up and down like a ragdoll, when she let go, she was dizzy from the sudden movement.

Fluttershy look at them.

What problems are going to happen? said with concern, something the Cutie Mark Crusaders are also worried about.

"It's about Applejack and Spike, something big is going to happen to them!"

At the mention of Pinkie Sense, warning that something was going to happen to Applejack and Spike, something in all of them gave them a severe shiver in the distance, they see someone running at full speed towards them, realizing that it is Zecora.

On his way with vigil he looks at each of the different sides around him aware of any possible threat that may be looming over him, with his war hammer unhooked ready for any action that may come, he hears the howl again this time close to what was planned, possibly not far from where he currently is, He has to move quickly and move away before they can find him and start causing problems. Before he can take the first step, he hears a call, he could not understand a single word, but the tone is a cry for help in quick thoughts, he gives an idea of the next course of action he must take, everything is discarded by a single thought, he must go to help, he runs where the screams are coming.

Applejack runs with all his strength while he has Spike on his back while behind them they are followed by a large pack of Timberwolf, it is the second time he has had to deal with the Timberwolf in a very short period of time, and to make matters worse this time they are much better organized and more numerous than last time.

"Applejack to your left!"

With a quick reflex crouches down making the Timberwolf lose its neck by just for very little of achieving it , Spike sees another one that goes to the right and jumps towards them, it would not give Applejack time to dodge it must act fast, he inhales forcefully and spits a fireball that hits it fully causes it to catch fire and deviate before it falls on them, this action causes Spike to start breathing with difficulty, he had used it many more times than expected, causing him to start to exhaust himself.

"Spike, be careful not to overexert yourself!" said with concern at Spike's constant effort to keep them at bay.

The Timberwolves began to chase them shortly after they left Zecora's cabin to collect the potions, their howl being the first they heard and they tried to leave as soon as possible, they were already far from the cabin to be able to return, but the Timberwolves completely cut off the path that took them back to Ponyville forcing them to have to run into the forest. They were not going to go to a completely random point they tried to go in the direction of the castle of the two sisters, but they were not allowed to take any path that could take them there taking them to an unknown part of the forest, unfortunately Spike could not call for help, by the time the Timberwolves appeared he had dropped the scrolls and the feather he was carrying with him when Applejack took it to his back and now he had no form of communication.

"Applejack!" He points to one in front of them who launches himself to attack them, Applejack looks at him with determination.

"Hold your hooves tightly!"

In a quick maneuver she manages to lean against the Timberwolf before he could counterattack, kicks him in the head causing it to end up destroyed into thousands of pieces, while that was happening Spike sees that there is a path that could free them at least part of the Timberwolf.

"Applejack, take the left, there's a path that could get us rid of at least several of the Timberwolves!"

"I see it!"

Applejack makes a long flight managing to run in the direction indicated by Spike they see that in front of them appears a Timberwolf that tries to jump towards them, but being very close to Applejack she was not going to have time to dodge him and Spike to be able to spit fire against him, without knowing what happened suddenly they see that something hits the left side of the Timberwolf with such force that it not only ends taking it out of the way but being destroyed by the impact, Spike tries to see from the side where the projectile came from but he could not see someone there but noticed that several Timberwolves were heading to the place where the projectile came.

"Spike get down!"

Out of pure reaction he ducks and avoids a branch on the road, Applejack puts on all his hooves to stop before falling to a bank but he is a rag and a particularly strong one that if they tried to cross him they would be dragged by the current, they look from behind and see the group of Timberwolf running towards them at full speed and there was no way to get back where they came she began to gallop in the direction of the river with the hope of being able to find a slower or shallow part that allows them to cross.

Not far from them he was dealing with the Timberwolves that began to head towards him after having thrown that stone at full speed, with a hammer movement he hits one of them destroying another that grabs him crushes him to the ground, but he has no more time to lose and charges against the small blockade that he has in his way, with a movement of his hammer he breaks the small block, the Barrar and steps on others under his heavy boots, giving him free rein to regain the step where the two of them were headed.

Behind him and he did not understand why they follow him despite all his failures in trying to catch him, out of the corner of his eye he sees something approaching towards him dodges something that is approaching at full speed that knocks down several trees behind him, he stops to see what it was that just attacked him a giant version of these wooden creatures comes out, Under the larger one, several smaller ones of those wooden creatures begin to surround him and he sees that some merge with the larger one making them larger and more powerful facially, being three times his size, and he keeps his gaze towards him.

"Now I understand why they kept persisting so much with me" said clearly, as that great creature begins to growl at him ready for battle, instead of feeling intimidated he just gives a smile under his helmet. "Let's end this once and for all." He gets into a battle stance.

The large creature throws itself against it accompanied by the smaller ones, it swings against the larger one, aimed directly at the head, dealing it a blow that destroys part of the muzzle only for it to regenerate, the smaller ones surround it and attack it simultaneously, causing that despite its efforts and its systems it rolls around it without being able to act faster and loses focus with the bigger grabs it, shakes it with great violence, makes its hammer be thrown in another direction, begins to hit the upper muzzle of the creature with great force, manages to break it but at the cost of throwing a good distance to collide and break a tree in which it fell.

He gets up from the ground to see that several of them are running at full speed, he is not going to back down and throws himself at them, throwing punches and kicks in every direction that these damned wooden creatures dared to be in his vision, destroying each one of them into thousands of pieces without a hint of mercy, he grabs one of them by both ends and pulls it making it be split in half to crush the rest of his pieces under his feet, he looks around being the last one left, the rest did not seem to regenerate from the broken fragments around him.

He hears the howl of the larger one heading in his direction and he didn't seem happy at all for what he has done, he keeps his guard over his current position and the big creature lunges once again to bite him but he grabs its large fangs while holding him in the position he is in, he sees for a brief moment the glow of something metallic on his right flank and it is his hammer that is it reflects thanks to the light that passes through a clearing, frees its left arm from the fang and gives a powerful left hook in the eye, blinding and stunning it. With a powerful grip he takes the muzzle and closes them with a strong key, contorts his body by stomping the ground to create stability at the cost of breaking the ground and throws it in the direction of his war hammer, the large wooden creature collides with several trees knocking them down and although it would not break into many pieces it would be damaged a lot.

He runs at full speed to his direction and takes his hammer in one motion the large creature rises as fast as possible despite the damage it suffered, he takes advantage of one of the fallen trees as a platform and throws himself into the air to grab the creature's back, he tried to get rid of it, but he began to strike with his hammer again and again with more and more speed and force, seeing fragments of wood shoot out in all directions until his back snaps, leaving him immobile, he would not stop there, he lashes with his hammer every part no regret, no remorse, no reason, only madness.

With the last blow it resonates in the forest, it has finished its work and under its heavy boots there are only shattered remnants of what was once the great creature, not a single fragment was reunited they are beyond having been shattered the imposing wooden creature has died, it raises its head and before its own vision as its sensors several of them smaller surround it but not a single one approaches, all of them are afraid at the idea of facing him, despite the effort of many of them together with the most powerful version they have they have been totally defeated, and triumphantly and undefeated gives a powerful roar of victory to the sky, all of them begin to flee with only the shrieks of fear the battle is over, but he must still run as far as he can to rescue the two inhabitants.

Both Spike and Applejack heard that strange roar in the distance without knowing exactly what it had been, but what he had made clear is that the group of Timberwolves that were originally chasing them had a part of them swerving before the roar sounded in the distance, but they still had some who are behind and start howling to possibly seek more help in hunting them down.

He hears the howls of those wooden creatures, runs where they are coming from and goes faster in a small clearing, he sees those wooden creatures and in front of them are the two inhabitants, he notices that one of them was getting dangerously close and was not going to be able to reach them in time. With a quick maneuver in the middle of a run he grabs a stone and with the ballistic calculations of his armor he throws it at full speed towards the creature, but damn luck would not smile on him despite having managed to hit another appears by surprise jumping to the two, but the damage he did to the first one by his fragments would blind him and instead of taking a well-given bite he ends up colliding with both of them causing them to fall into the river.

They didn't know what had happened, the only thing Applejack could hear was Spike's warning that one of them who was very close, another threw himself, but something impact with him was behind them and the fragments made the other instead of giving his attack well collide with the two and cause them to fall into the water. Applejack instinctively swims to the surface, but one of her legs had been injured after hitting a stone in the fall and desperately tries to reach the surface, where she could only barely take a breath of air before being pushed back by the force of the current.

Applejack feels that she is hit with something strong behind her back, but she manages to stop, but one feels the force of the current pushing her down, with a lot of effort she comes to the surface thanks to some rocks that help her stay in place, she manages to at least take breaths of air that she needed so much, but having to hold on with all her strength to keep holding on to the stones and that the current does not push her down or manage to lose its handle.

"Applejack!" she hears Spike's call as he tries to stay as best he could as well as trying to find him and sees him being drag by the strong current in his direction.

"Spike swim to here!" Spike hears Applejack and manages to see her, but the direction he was taking was not directly towards the stones but from the side, paying attention to them he tries to swim with all her strength towards Applejack stretches her hoof as much as she can, without completely letting go of the stones to try to reach Spike. "Grab my hoof!"

In a last effort Spike tries to reach Applejack's hoof and manages to do so but his strength failed him at the last moment to be able to hold on to the stone, both end up being dragged by the strong flow, Applejack could not take it anymore and begins to lose consciousness due to exhaustion, lack of air and the increasing cold she feels makes her end up losing consciousness and begins to sink, Spike tried by all means to prevent Applejack from sinking but he does not have enough strength to prevent it and being a cold-blooded reptile he began alarmingly to get tired to feel a long lethargic sensation, his eyes feeling so heavy he could hardly keep them open being the last thing he sees is a large black figure running towards them before ending up closing his eyes.

Finally he locates them, he runs with all his strength, he begins to approach the shore, seeing that he has the small reptile nearby, he begins to stretch to try to grab it, before it sinks he manages to grab it and with quick movement but also with great delicacy he puts it under his long poncho and putting it against his chest although that would not warm him up, he tries to locate the other one but he could not see it and out of fear it must have sunk and already being drowning, he sees a tiny orange spot under the water it is the only chance he has, he launches himself at full speed to overcome the speed of the other one when he is far enough ahead he gets into the river very quickly and grabs it before it comes off his hands.

Thanks to her great height the river only managed to reach the middle of her hip and due to his great weight he manages to remain stable, he begins to advance to the bank and when he comes out he puts the inhabitant who was drowning in a position on her back to see her barrel, he did not see her breathing with one hand he begins to do CPR without applying the great force that they normally apply to his own kind, before giving the last one necessary to start doing mouth-to-mouth breathing, she began to vomit the fluid that was trapped in her lungs, breathing again. He breathes a big sigh of relief at having made it in time and finally checks the little one and luckily he was still breathing since he had managed to catch it before it ended up sinking, but a danger of hypothermia remains, but since the wood, leaves and other things that a fire could do were wet and it would take a long time to be able to make a fire in that state, he hears the howls of another animal not far away and finds a growl of fury and frustration, he has no time for this and begins to move away from the place.

While in another place they gallop at full speed is the search party that is organized by the four friends Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity along with Big McIntosh and Zecora, Rainbow did not participate since they needed to warn Princess Celestia about what happened, they went to Big Mac to ask for help and that he did not hesitate once to look for his sister. Thanks in part to one of their Zecora concoctions, they managed to allow both Rarity and Twilight to power their tracking spells. On Rarity's part, she did it both to help Applejack and Spike and to prevent Twilight from trying harder than she should and only hurting herself more than necessary, even though her friends insisted that Twilight stay in the treehouse due to her health condition, something that she flatly refused. It was his fault for sending Spike and Applejack to look for Zecora's potions just to put them in danger and he could not live with something like that without at least trying to find a solution to it.

The expedition heard that great roar in the distance, but they had to quickly hide when they heard a large pack of Timberwolves running towards them, the tension of having them so close and hoping that they do not get to discover them, in the case of Fluttershy she notices that they look fearful being possible that it has something to do with that roar, with the herd far away, they resume the gallop where they can track them, at one point they reached the last part that allowed them to track them by land until they reached the last part that took them to the rapid where the trail was.

"No; no no no no, the trail ends by the river.! Twilight is starting to have a coughing fit; she is about to faint.

"Twilight!" Rarity said worriedly, approaching her and taking her temperature only to realize how bad she is. "For Celestia, Twilight!" Your fever has gotten even worse. "Seeing Twilight’s condition, Zecora takes the initiative.

"McIntosh you must return Twilight back to my cottage, her health will worsen if she goes further by making more damage.

"Zecora, I still can't give in now, Spike and Applejack are still in danger out there," Twilight said with extreme exhaustion, as Big Mac reaches over to carry her on his back with Rarity's help.

"You have managed to take us very far thanks to you and Rarity in finding their way, but you must not make an effort and rest for the day." Twilight was going to protest but is interrupted by Rarity.

"Twilight, Zecora is right, you must rest, you have done more than you can and continue with this you could only end up hurting yourself more, plus I trust that Applejack and Spike have managed to get out of the river," Rarity said worriedly, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie approach.

"There is still a chance that we can find them, maybe one of the animals in the place may have seen them." Fluttershy said.

"We'll take care of looking for any clues," Pinkie said while taking a comically large magnifying glass from her hair.

Twilight sighs, she knew they were not going to give in just to prevent her from hurting herself further. "Okay, Pinkie, Fluttershy, be very careful, we'll meet again at dawn."

Soon the group would begin to split up while Rarity, Zecora and Big Mac go back to Zecora's cabin, Pinkie begins to look for any clue about the current state in which Applejack and Spike is, Fluttershy and Pinki Pie established a meeting point area where they would meet for when the last lights of the day begin to disappear and avoid getting lost.

Fluttershy is looking for the animals that could help give them information, Pinkie begins to find a unique type of footprint that did not seem to match any of the Timberwolves or Applejack's. In addition, because of the shape they are made of a type of large footwear that in the end disappears at the end of the bank to see that another footprint is on the other side. on Fluttershy's side some animals mentioned to him a strange black creature that fought against the Timberwolf and that managed to defeat a very large one of them, they also told him that the fragments never merge again, something that Fluttershy could only feel a deep sadness but it is something that she cannot control no matter how much she would like it not to happen, she refocuses on what they need to do and a little bird gives him the key piece of final information, he told him that this strange black creature was the one who managed to get Applejack and Spike out of the river to help her at first and then they would leave the area to the south.

Both friends return to the meeting point they set up to meet again since, since the day was beginning to get dark and only both hopes to have bought enough, when they meet again the first to speak is Pinkie. "Fluttershy, I just found something that can help us know what Applejack and Spike were.

"The animals have also told me about the possible where abouts, but they also told me about a strange creature that roamed the place.

"Strange creature?" Oh, those must be in his footprints," said with realization as a spotlight lit above his head.

"Footprints?"

"Near the river, I found some huge footprints! That they are some kind of footwear like my dad's boots when he had to cross hard rocky roads, I wonder if he still has them? Fluttershy could only ask what kind of stone it would have to be for him to need them, but she puts that thought aside. "Anyway, the footprints even go to the other side of the river, but from there I haven't been able to see any further if it has left beyond."

"The little animals have told me that one around here was a very strange creature of a deep dark color that fought against the Timberwolf and managed to defeat the largest version of them." Pinkie produced a realization, but it is minor not to mention what she saw in that clearing, but Fluttershy gives her a sad look since she has already been told what happened.

"They already told me, you don't need to mention it," said melancholy, she takes a long sigh to recompose his posture to speak again." One of the little birds told me that the strange creature managed to rescue them and then head south.

Pinkie thinks about it for a moment the reasons for going south she gets an idea of what it could be, but she needed to confirm it. "Fluttershy, what's in the south of where we're from?" said curiously.

"Um... apart from the woods, maybe..." she realizes where they could be going, he sees Pinkie, who has also come to the same conclusion.

"The castle of the two sisters," they said at the same time, they begin to hear the guttural sound and howls of the animals, something that terrifies Fluttershy.

"I think we should go back to the others now," Fluttershy said fearfully.

"Oh, don't be afraid Fluttershy, Aunt Pinkie Pie has the tools to scare away any creature that comes at us." Fluttershy looks at him a little annoyed being that she is a year older than her, but she hears a growl near her and goes as fast as she can to stay by Pinkie's side and they are on their way back.

On the other hand he had started to finish running once he managed to get far enough away from all the sound of a creature, he gave a long sigh of tiredness and looked at the two he had in his arms, they were still holding on and the younger reptile was snuggling more on his arm trying to warm up, The other one didn't move much but he stays in a deep state of sleep, at least the two are still in good condition, he checks his map and he is almost not far from the castle anymore but also the night will soon fall on him he has to move as soon as possible.

Finally he reaches the outskirts of the castle, apparently on the northeast side of the river, he gets through one of the holes in the facade and goes to the room where he had stayed the last night, he arrives at the enclosure and approaches the bonfire and with a gentle movement he puts the small reptile on the back of the other and takes off his poncho to use it as an improvised blanket for the two of them, he puts them both with great care as if it were the most fragile gem that exists, he checks the branches and leaves and they have dried to allow him to use them again, he takes several branches and leaves to put them on the fire and starts a new fire, he leave some branches in case he was going to have to make some splints in case they both have injuries.

He approaches the two and sits in front of them, takes the small reptile with great care to check that it does not have any injury and checks it from top to bottom, it seemed that it does not have any which is good news for his relief, then also carefully he checks the inhabitant starting with the legs that given its quadrupedal nature it is possible to be the first affected areas. Check the right rear leg, see that it gives a groan of pain, possibly hurt at the time the fall occurred or during the trip to the river, she would not notice at least not immediately thanks to the cold water, check it elsewhere for possible wounds that luckily the others are only small cuts not very serious that can heal on their own.

From between his pockets he takes out some bandages and takes some of the branches and made a comparison for the size he was going to need, being longer than necessary he takes out his knife and cuts them to the necessary height, takes the bandages and begins to roll the part at the top of the leg first, He lifts her leg carefully while she makes a few pained gestures to do it on the other side. He has a first-hand view of its teats that looked a little chubby, at least he has the verification that this species is a mammal, he stops rolling it along with the branch to the leg, once finished he squeezes them making a gesture of pain come out of it that little by little began to diminish, with everything done, he carries them again for a moment and rolls them both up and covers them with the poncho not far from the fire so that they stay warm and safe, he is placed near the corner that he used as a place to sleep.

He sits down at the place, takes out his canteen only so that it is open and empty of its vital content, he gives a nasal snort for forgetting to close it properly and gets up to go to the river to fill it, when he approaches he sees that there is something floating peacefully near a small stone that has stuck it, he approaches it and sees that a kind of hat noticing that it is from the inhabitant since when he saw it for the first time she had it on before falling into the river, he takes it and checks it to see if there was any damage despite how violent that part of the river was, the hat is completely intact, he gives a small smile at the strangeness of this small hat given its ability to survive adversity and before returning he drinks water and then refills his canteen and leaves the place.

He approaches the place where the two of them are and puts the shade next to it as well as enough of the fire so that it can dry, he goes to the corner like the last one he lies down and turns to see the scene before him, he would not know the reason for the action of going to help them, but that matter, what is done, done and even if it was a small action that he did in this new world, it is undeniable that he has changed things. He shrink his legs to hug them and although he wanted to take his parts off his armor to sleep better, he still didn't feel comfortable at the idea of being looked at his flesh but he also does it so that in case he has to take any action against some danger to the two of them, little by little his consciousness begins to tire and he lets him re-enter the world of dreams once again, waiting for what will happen tomorrow knowing that he has entered a point of no return.

Chapter II first contact.

Tranquility a strange emotion to feel in a moment of high tension, there is no pain, agony or fear, all of them disappeared with the Timberwolves, in addition to not feeling wet after their fall into the river, all around them is the imposing large trees that govern the forest, even so, the only peaceful noise he hears is the howl of the wind between the leaves.

Little by little he felt the heat that increased in his body, the gentle breeze accompanies him, he begins to remember the last events that happened shortly after the fall, he remembers the last events in which it had happened, this icy sensation of the water that little made him lose consciousness, before losing it he remembered one last thing, but in a very blurry way something was trying to reach him, he could not discern that mysterious figure before disappearing into the fog of unconsciousness, perhaps how Applejack were saved by that strange figure, but beyond that it is only a guess he has.

He leans on his back and sees in the highest clearings of the forest the moon that shines with great splendor, together with its countless stars adorns the night sky, he wonders if it is possible to contact Princess Luna and know about his current state like Applejack's, it is a fact that it is possible that his friends are looking for then, it is possible that Zecora was the one who saw the warning given to the danger posed by the Timberwolves. But without a way to communicate with them, it would be difficult for them to find them, and there is only one safe place in the entire forest and that is in the castle of the two sisters.

A great concern comes to him for Twilight, despite being sick when something very worrying happens she does not take a break for the moment of acting, it is possible that overexerting herself will only make her condition worse, he can only pray to Celestia that she will not do something crazy to try to find them.

The moon begins to shine much brighter than usual, and he sees that a figure rises from the Moon and lands gracefully in the small meadow, it is not difficult to know that this figure is of Princess Luna so much a long relief is presented in him little being of power at least to be able to ask for help.

"Princess Luna." He bows as a sign of respect to the princess.

The princess takes an action that to a certain extent leaves him surprised and that is to feel a hug from her, who grabs him with her hoofs and surrounds him with her wings, against all sense of formality he could not help but return the embrace to the princess.

"We are very glad that we find you safe" she said with a softness and motherhood in her voice.

"Me." "He swallows hard and gets brave enough to speak. "Please, I just want to know if Applejack is, okay?" He said fearfully and with a lump in his throat as he felt the weight that something bad could have happened to Applejack, Luna gives him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, she's all right, though in a deep sleep," she said in a reassuring tone.

He could only have a great relief to know that at least she is fine.

"Thank you to Celestia that she is well. "One more thing comes to ask Luna."

Before his question answered, Luna talk.

"Don't worry, Twilight has already gone to bed so she can recover, and the others are looking for you and Applejack Little by little he begins to let go of his embrace.

At least he has good news, but he only has one more question left.

"Princess Luna, I don't know if I can answer this question, but do you know where we are?"

Luna looks at them with a smile.

"You're in the castle of the two sisters, don't worry about the possible animals in the forest, the spell that we and my sister made to keep the animals of Everfree away still works.

Well, at least that's good news for both Spike and Applejack, but how exactly did they get to the castle? The last thing he remembers is that there was something trying to reach him before he simply disappeared into the fog of unconsciousness, could it be that there was a third party involved in helping them?

"We see that you have many doubts, we will be happy to help you.

"How did you find out about our disappearance?" He had an idea of how.

Luna gives a little smile.

"We see you already have some ideas, but it was a double set who noticed your situation, the first was the element of Pinkie Pie's laughter that apparently her... "She said strangely in the last part, something Spike replies.

"It's best not to question it, the last time Twilight tried to understand it and try to find any logic we just ended up getting into a lot of trouble." He remembers those events, but in part he did not want to do it because of that part that was quite uncomfortable for him, and he still have serious doubts about how none of them had realized what had happened to him, but it is better to leave it there.

"Something like a special ability to sense certain things that call her a sixth sense," she said with doubt if she was saying it correctly.

"Yes, that's the idea." Although thanks to Twilight's classes and her books he told her that there were more senses, but it is not the time for something like that.

"Going back to the subject, shortly after Pinkie Pie's warning, an acquaintance of yours, Zecora if we remember the name correctly, came to warn you that the two of you could be in danger thanks to the fact that she heard the howls of the Timberwolves and went to ask for help.

"Yes, me and Applejack went with Zecora to pick up some potions especially to treat Twilight's illness, and you'll know the rest. "He remembers the last event and unfortunately the potions lost her shortly after they were attacked by the Timberwolves.

Mentally, Luna sees that even zebras keep their old and long-standing traditions of potion-making, but for now that thought is set aside.

"When they received the notice they all gathered and the element of loyalty Rainbow Dash was the one who would give the warning, Celestia used a powerful location spell that allowed her to see where they were and the good news is that they were both already close to the castle of the two sisters, for today your friend will return with the others to warn them, and if you can go back to Fluttershy's cabin."

On Spike's part, well at least that sounds like something that Dash would end up doing to show his great abilities as Pegasus, he notices that the surroundings of where they begin to disappear, he is about to wake up Luna also notices it and gives him a small smile.

"We'll see him next time, Spike," she said softly and gave a small smile.

Soon everything around him disappears leaving once again the world of dreams to return once again to reality, the first thing he begins to feel is like a soft and at the same time heavy touch of a cloth, when he opens his eyes in front of him he sees a fire that already seemed close to ending, beyond that, he see the shapes of stone structures and some of these are already demolished by the passage of time, Princess Luna was right they are inside the castle of the two sisters.

He turns to look to his right when he hears light breaths and sees Applejack who is deep sleep and in good condition, the strangeness arises, where had the fabric that wraps them both come from? If neither of them carried more than just their saddlebags to carry Zecora's concoctions, besides, why does this cloth weigh so much more than it seems?

He gets up from the place despite the protests of his own body to only stay a little longer to sleep, he refuses those thoughts given the situation in which he is, he remembers a little the state of the castle he looks up on the left side of his to see one of the holes in the roof and it is not far from dawn.

The moment he lowers his gaze against the corner of the window he sees something hidden in the shadows, he could not discern what it was until whatever is there it moves, he recoils instinctively while panting in surprise. In that back corner there is a huge black figure who is sitting behind the wall and with his knees hunched against him while two of his hands are placed on his knees completely sagging, Spike wanted to run for such a creature in front of him and find a place to hide, but another part of himself was telling him that that thing over there may be the reason why both Applejack and Spike he is here, he gathers a little courage and little by little and with steps as silently as he can approach.

He had woken up not long before Spike did it due to a not very pleasant dream, he notices that something is moving under his poncho, shortly after he gets up from the place and when he sees that it is the small reptile who gets up, he begins to look from one side to the other trying to figure out where he was, the first thing he does is look right at the hole in the ceiling, This already gives him a hint that he have possibly been to this place before.

Until he rests his gaze right where he is at first it seemed that he did not identify his shape, until he moves, his reaction is expected to be frightened by his presence, it seemed that he wanted to start running, but he is enigma by his action, he stays there looking at him with fear, the next thing he does is start to approach him with the quietest steps he can make, He may think he is asleep, but it is clear that his curiosity makes him want to get closer, he simply lets him get closer and not make any kind of sudden movement.

Spike gradually approaches this figure and recoils precipitously when he sees that his head is looking on him, at that moment he just wants to run, but he doesn't and they both just stare for an indeterminate amount of time, little by little Spike's fear begins to fade when he sees that the mysterious being did not seem to want to hurt him. He begins to get closer once again to have a better visualization of the being, but not so much that he touches it, the first thing he notices is that what he has on top of him is not his natural skin or scales but some kind of armor and his appearance is quite scary, only the only thing that did not make him run away is the non-action, A better idea comes to his head and it is perhaps better to start a conversation and see if he can at least speak the same language or at least something understandable.

Spike points at himself. "Can you understand me?" "He waits for the reaction of the being and this his action is to tilt his head to his left, apparently he had not understood what he said, he realizes that this was going to be much more difficult than he could have expected.

He looks at the sounds he had uttered curiously, they are quite peculiar being like a kind of sounds similar to a semi-sentence with some kind of sound that he does not identify, he looks at the moment the small reptile that seemed to be trying to create some form of communication and he simply cannot help but give a smile when he sees an effort to see how to communicate, out of the corner of his eye he sees that the other being begins to move. He looks at the little lizard and pulls his hand away from one of its legs to hit the ground hard enough for it to hear him.

Spike reacts to the sound, and he raises his hand, but avoiding stretching it he points one of his fingers points behind him, out of sheer curiosity he turns to look where he is pointing and sees that Applejack begins to move under the fabric.

"Applejack," he said with concern and begins to go towards her. When he heard the words spoken, he realized that it was a name, but for now he had to see from his small corner the stage that will soon show.

Applejack gradually begins to wake up partly because of his own natural clock for work time, also from the light that begins to enter little by little into the castle that begins to hit his face and feels something heavy, she opens his eyes somewhat unfocused around her and scratches a little with a leg that already allows him to see what is around, only to leave her quite confused by where she is.

"What in the hay, where I´m?" She said with confusion when he saw the entire stone structure facing forward and the fire that is also in front of him with its almost extinguished fire.

"Applejack."

She hears Spike's voice and turns to look at where the voice is coming from, and it is indeed Spike's giving him enormous relief.

"Oh, thank Celestia, Spike, you're all right...!" horse apple! She gives a slight groan of pain; Spike reacts with concern.

"Applejack." "He goes with her.

"I'm fine Spike, I only hurt one of my legs, possibly during the fall into the river, but it's not something I can't recover." She said proudly in the last part, the thought comes to her about her brother, for bad luck, Big Mac is going to have to do extra time until she recovers.

"At least things turned out better than I could have thought, don't you think?" He said with a small smile at the event, something that Applejack did too.

"You're right about that. "Now you have a long series of questions coming up and I was going to need some answers. "Well, looking all over the place, I imagine that we are in the castle of the two sisters, right?" She said in questioning.

"Yes, that's right.

"Now, how did you manage to bring me here and where did you get this heavy cloth?" She said curiously, noticing Spike's reaction already gives an idea of what happened, but it is better to let him tell him what happened.

"Applejack, I wasn't the one who managed to bring it here and besides that strange fabric belongs to him," he said with concern and turns to point to where the being is.

Applejack turns to look.

"If I will be convicted, that's new," she said more with curiosity than fear as he observed the mysterious figure that is hidden in the corner being partially covered by darkness, but that little by little was disappearing with the first light of day, in a way it relieved Spike's worry and nervousness, to which she looks at him and smiles. "You don't have to worry Spike, we've already dealt with many other types of creatures much bigger than him, the only thing I can tell you is that he looks quite unique," she said with a smile and a reassuring tone to Spike, which helps him and he turns to look at the being and Applejack also does the same action.

"I suppose we will have to put our trust in him. He said cautiously.

"Yes, we are directly at his mercy for now it is better not to try to do something that can be considered hostile or dangerous, although it may be somewhat doubtful that we represent a danger to him, but it is better to prevent in such a case, besides as much as his appearance does not give the slightest confidence if he had already wanted to hurt us, it would have already done it from the time it rescued us in the river or during the whole time we were asleep," she said seriously, but he also turns to look at Spike to give him a smile.

"You're right, but we'll have some problems with communication," he said with annoyance.

To which Applejack looks at him.

"Let me guess, doesn't speak the same language?" She said without being surprised by that fact.

"Yes. He tilts his head in affirmation.

No one told them that it was going to be easy to communicate with a being who speaks another language, like being part of the elements of harmony, but at least this was going to be something simpler.

"Well, you have some idea of how we could talk to him or at least give him some way to communicate ideas," she said concentrating on a practical option.

"Well, I had an idea, maybe it can be communicated by pointing to objects, which is possibly the first best step we can take." It is the first suggestion that came to mind.

"I think the first thing we should do is introduce ourselves earlier, don't you think so," he said with affirmation and a smile.

Spike realizes that it was better to do that first.

"Oh, you're right, let's start with that," he said a little embarrassed at first teaching someone the basics without even introducing him.

Applejack just tilts his head a little with a smile.

The two turn to look at the being who is still sitting there just watching them and listening to them speak without being able to understand a single word of them, then not knowing very well how Spike is the first to speak.

"Could you come here?" Emphasize more the movements of his hands so that he gets closer.

"Come," she said confidently, while also making the same gesture for him to come closer.

He understands the gestures that made to him, he is not sure if it is a prudent idea for them to do that, but if they insist, he will not deny their request. He gets up from his place and begins to walk towards them, leaving the darkness that the corner provided him.

They both see him with peculiarity given the strange vest full of saddlebags that he has in front of his torso that did not seem to be very comfortable, but from a certain point of view it would make sense that he had them in front and not on the sides as the ponies did, instead of going directly to them he walks a little to the side of the two to end up sitting on the other side of the fire while he both look at them.

Strange as it may seem, a peculiar silence made on the part of Applejack and Spike due to the peculiarity form of being, but they quickly put aside those ideas and if they return to concentrate on what they want to do originally, and the first to start is Spike. He draws the attention of the being by showing them his hands and directing them towards him.

"Spike, my name is Spike," he said slowly to emphasize his name. When he heard the name, he tried to pronounce it.

"Scriet," he said with difficulty, given the very strange form of pronunciation he has, having to strain his voice a little to do so, making it deeper than he could.

Spike looks at her clearly confused by the strange sound he made to pronounce his name despite failing in the attempt, he turns to look at Applejack so that it is his turn, she only gives a snort that calls the curiosity of the being given to the particular sound she emitted, but neither of them notices it, Applejack is the next to catch his attention and he turns to look at her.

"Applejack." That she points to herself as if at the same time avoiding her accent so that it can be the most understandable for him to be. He begins to try to pronounce the name.

"Altresark," he said once more, not pronouncing the word and seeing once that he was unsuccessful. Applejack just breathes a sigh of tiredness, at least he did not say something much worse than he might expect, Spike sees a certain quirkiness in the way he speaks.

"Well, at hand it seems that he can partially say something," said Spike.

"But it won't get any easier, let's leave the language classes for now, and ask him his name." "Something Spike himself was forgetting.

"How do we tell you what your name is?" She said with doubts about that report.

"Let's just improvise for the moment." He turns to look at the being, points to him and speaks to him. "What's your name?" He said slowly, so that he would understand him or at least interpret him, and so that he would understand himself better, Spike points to him and then does it to himself.

The being gives a small smile under his helmet as he shows his hands and puts them on himself. "Faltrun," he said softly in his voice, which unlike the last two attempts, his voice came out completely naturally, without a single hint of sounding overstrained.

Applejack and Spike hearing that sound was a much more peculiar one than they both predicted, the first to try to pronounce his name is Spike.

"Rutune," he said with effort, not knowing if he had done it correctly, and when he sees Faltrun, he only has his head tilted to the left, which shown doubts about what he said.

But instead with Applejack every time he tried to make the sound the word did not come out as such no matter how hard he tried; given the physical differences they have there seems to be no way he can make the sound unlike Spike who could be a little easier for him.

"All right, I don't think no matter how hard we try to pronounce his name we don't seem to be able to do it," Applejack said as he made a strange face because of the unnatural way he felt when he tried to make that strange sound.

"Well, at least we prevent you from ending up saying an even stranger word than the one I said." While he raises his shoulders at the situation he is in, while he gives a smile at the event.

Faltrun simply gives a long smile under his helmet at the reaction of the two to the attempt to pronounce his name but that it can be done, Faltrun notices that Applejack seemed to instinctively grab his hat, only to realize that he does not have it and it would seem that suddenly a strange sadness began to take over his features, before a simple action Faltrun catches the attention of the two touching the ground once again, it does not seem to work well at the first time and hits with greater force managing to make both look at him, and with attention he points to the place where he put the hat. Applejack looks at it as if it were the most precious gem, it had its moments when out of frustration she threw it to the ground, but she always cherished it until the last of her days.

"Thank you," she said with great relief and a smile at the small gesture he made.

"Ets yanka," he said softly while making a small bow of his head, they do not need translation to understand the meaning of his words, Spike looks at the roof of the castle to see that very soon the night is about to disappear.

"I think we'd better go back to the others soon," he said with concern, something that catches Applejack's attention and he puts on his hat and returns once more to the place where belongs, as well as Faltrun who looks at him with interest.

"We're still in a safe place, I don't think it's entirely necessary to have to get out of here," Applejack said.

"I'm not saying that because we're not in a safe place, it's Twilight that I'm worried about." Faced with that approach, Applejack perfectly captures Spike's idea as his concern.

"I understand and I will have to agree with you, but only one question: Where should we go?" "To Zecora's cabin or Fluttershy's one," she said doubtfully since they are the two possible places where they could be.

"Princess Luna visited me in my dreams and told me that the meeting point would be at Fluttershy's cabin." He know Applejack can get there without an extra leg, but it's slower and in case they have to run" it wouldn't be a good idea, another option is for Faltrun to take them there, but how was I going to tell him if he could take them there or even if he agreed to go there?

On Applejack's side he more or less has the same idea that Spike has, but beyond staying here maybe and good time to get attention Faltrun starts to gesture to him and gets his attention, just for a moment it occurred to him that it is quite easy to get his attention as if he were aware of his surroundings, but she leaves him quickly and does the best she can to indicate if she and Spike could try to take them, until Spike notices the gestures that Applejack is making and it seems that he forgot yet another additional problem they have.

"Applejack, we still have a problem.

"I know apart from the difficulty of communication, I don't think he knows much about where Fluttershy's cabin might be either, but we could still try to guide him there. Spike looks at him strangely and doubtfully.

"How exactly are we going to do something like that?" He said doubtfully.

"I guess we can just give directions, plus there's still a way to get the cabin and that's to go on the way down the river that crosses it," Spike thinks for a moment.

"You know it's the best idea, plus with your help we can dodge possible dangers," he said with a smile at the workable option.

"But I'm going to need your help, it seems that given the gestures you make with your fingers it seems that at least he can understand them better," she said a little embarrassed given her... In a failed attempt to communicate with Faltrun, Spike simply tilts his eyes at such a situation and gets to work.

Faltrun sees that Spike joins Applejack and begins to make signs trying to communicate, the first thing was to at least try to make him understand the houses with a mental image through an air drawing with the desire to try to return there, at first Faltrun was a little puzzled by the ideas that they were trying to convey to him until he realizes that the figure that they were doing is from a house, which allows him to grasp the idea that they want to return, he gestures to them as best he could, he would agree to take them there.

But Applejack and Spike misinterpreted his gesture with a denial, noticing the action Faltrun again indicated with a new one to indicate that he agrees to do it, luckily they seem to understand, one thing that Applejack and Spike have to agree on is that the form of gestures that Faltrun makes even though other species also have fingers, are quite confused, Faltrun who was keeping observes knew that they both agree that the way their gestures are strange. But leaving him aside, he sees that once again he sees that he makes another gesture, but this time he could not understand what they are trying to say, he puts his head aside in doubt. Applejack and Spike knew that it is not working since it is not easy to try to show a river and to be able to follow it and Spike produces an idea.

"Wait here, I think I know how we could tell you."

"It's okay but don't do something that involves fire, like the last time you tried to communicate through smoke flares, that part of the farmland has not recovered from the fire yet," she said seriously.

"Okay, let's not talk about it too much, and I was partly trying to help them see if I could get their cutie marks," he said, sorry for the event.

He quickly goes to where Faltrun is making signs to him to follow him.

Faltrun understands his signals and gets up from his place, he goes after Spike who arrive at the edge of the castle river, at first he thought he could be thirsty and did not want to put himself at risk of being attacked by some animal or that was what he thought at first, when he was already on the edge of the river he begins to point once again to the houses but this time pointing to the river. At this point he had already understood what they wanted to do, but not directly to the town but to another road that can take them there following the river. He thinks for a moment if at some point he saw a house near the river, but there was none, but the possible path they want him to take comes to mind and he remembers that there was a fork that took him out of the forest, but he did not have the opportunity to explore it.

Spike watches him waiting for some possible answer since it seemed that he got into his own thoughts and beyond just putting a hand under his snout, the moment is not long in coming and Faltrun looks at Spike who seemed a little anxious he didn't know if it was because of the nerves of being very close to him or for something else, he makes some signs of agreeing to take them to the destination they want to go. With this ready, Spike goes to Applejack to tell him the result.

"Applejack, you seem to have the idea of where we want to go.

"At last. "Take a look at the ceiling, especially at its opening to see the sky." "I think it's better that we leave now, if we're lucky we might find them on the way."

"In that case, I could tell you to get ready to leave." "Before leaving to warn him, Applejack stops him.

"I don't think it's necessary. He points to Faltrun that he is getting ready to leave.

"Okay, then we just have to list the... "He'd completely forgotten that he didn't have a scroll and pen at all to write down the things they were going to need, and Applejack tilts his head with a smile.

"I see that Twilight has long accustomed you to writing down every single thing you're going to need." They both hear the heavy footsteps of Faltrun who approaches the couple, he bends down and signals to the two of them in case they want that he can take them wherever they want to go.

"I think in this case Applejack is better to take you more than me given to your wound and before you say anything I insist, even if you still have a lot of strength to still walk, it is better for him to carry you, so would not end up hurting yourself in case some mishap happens," Spike said in suggestion knowing what Applejack was going to say, He only takes a breath.

"Okay, you beat me this time," she said, an eyebrow raised at Spike's words, but he is right in the end.

Spike turns to look at Faltrun to tell him that they are ready to leave and points to Applejack, with the order made he approaches her and bends down and with one hand he takes it with great delicacy, then he takes his poncho and begins to make several movements that make Applejack take by surprise.

"Wait, but what are you doing!" She said strangely at the rapid movements he made with her.

Delicate way so as not to hurt her while at the same time he did it with the poncho, and ends the action he had made a scarf with Applejack facing forward, she is not at all happy with what he has just done to him, he literally has her like a filly and hears a contained laugh and gives a deadly look to Spike.

"No, say, absolutely none of this, especially Rainbow," she said with venom in his voice before the situation in which he is, Spike begins to regain his composure a little and already manages to swallow his laughter before finally releasing it.

"Okay, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." By accident he ends up poking his eye and hurting himself in the process, he sees that Faltrun approaches and carefully bends down, apparently because of the body language with concern and with surprise for the action. "Oh no, I'm really fine," he said quickly with the necessary gestures to show that she is fine.

"Well, at least he cares about our well-being," she said curiously at the strange action. Faltrun reached out to Spike and was for a moment confused by the action. "It seems that he also wants to take you and again let's not argue, you are much smaller and younger, so you don't have the same resistance," she said triumphantly, Spike only sighs in defeat.

"At least he doesn't take me like a foal," he said with a smile to which Applejack only tilts his eyes.

Spike looking at Faltrun's hand grabs one of his fingers as a sign that he is smart and a gentle movement he takes it gently with one hand, takes it behind his neck and Spike grabs it as best he can, grabs onto small openings that allow him to hold on and puts his small legs as far in front as he can to keep his balance. With everything done, he goes once again to his little corner to pick up the last things he is going to take with him.

Both look curiously at what he is taking in his hands but it is not at all easy to discern, one of the objects sticks behind his back and Spike did not understand how he managed to hit behind him, the next thing he takes out is a war hammer, for the size of the two it is huge, but the normal size for Faltrun, The only curious thing is the head is accompanied by two picks, one short at the top and another larger one at the back and a strange sphere that he keeps inside one of his saddlebags.

With everything done he goes in the direction of the river and shortly before entering the forest he takes one last look at the castle, Applejack and Spike is curious about his line of thought, but having no way of seeing his facial features there is no idea what he thinks, he concentrates again at the front of the forest gives a deep breath ready to enter the heart of the forest and without hesitation.

At every step he takes; despite going deep into a forest with the strangest and most exotic creatures there is, calmer than expected. High up in the treetops you can hear birdsong being heard, it is strange to Applejack and Spike, but other than that Faltrun didn't seem to be baffled by the strange tranquility in the woods, they might even swear that he would seem much more relaxed in the way he walked and acted. Apart from all this, although it was noticeable that with a fast pace, it is noteworthy that his great height allowed him to cover much more path for each step, it is something that the two would notice since as such they did not have much to do and so as not to get bored of being alone observing the path Spike begins to talk.

"Hey Applejack, how fast do you think you need to catch up with his pace?"

Applejack thinks it for a moment, she wishes could put his hoof under his chin, but she is in a bit awkward position given the way he put it on.

"I suppose I would have to trot just to be able to match his pace, but what is that question about?" she said curiously.

"I was just asking, I just did it to distract myself with something else besides seeing everything around the forest and apart from having to be so high and on his armor it's not the most comfortable feeling," he said with pain due to the awkward position.

"But at least you can get comfortable, down here as much as I would like to do it is not easy and it does not help that all these bags that he have on his chest are already starting to bother me with the hard ones they can be," she said with a small irritation.

"Oh, point taken, each side has its advantage as a disadvantage.

Faltrun recorded each of the words they say so that in the future he can learn, he notices that in his sensors he begins to discover that there is something ahead and it is much larger than other points on the radar, he prevents himself from passing his left hand and grabbing Spike.

"Hey, but what are you doing?!" He said with surprise, something that captures Applejack's curiosity and he sees that he puts inside the wrap, Spike looks up with annoyance at the action he did only putting them in an uncomfortable position. "You could let me know beforehand.

Faltrun looks down and gestures to him to be quiet and points to the front of the direction they are heading, he understands that there may be trouble ahead, and Applejack instinctively pulls Spike closer to her to protect him.

He unhooks his war hammer and begins to move much quieter and hides as best he can from the shadows, Applejack helps him to function as an additional sentinel that watches on each side of him without knowing that it is not necessary, soon Faltrun detects the signal that from what he can locate it is right in the river seemed to be something quite large and he should see him soon.

As he approaches a more visible point among the foliage he sees a being very similar to a reptile, but he only has a long tail his size is much larger than him, but none of that would attract his attention as much as that peculiarity, that he has hair somehow very well groomed and has a magnificent mustache, Applejack tries to see what Faltrun is looking at to notice that it is Steven Magnet who had helped him in the past.

"Wait, he's not bad." While he attracts attention and Spike hears Applejack's voice he speaks.

"What's going on out there?" As he looks higher to see all the way up and sees Faltrun who lowers his head to Applejack.

"He's a friend. "She tries to signal to himself that he is not bad, but a friend of theirs.

"Wait, who are they talking about?" he said with serious questioning that answered by Applejack.

"It's a sea serpent that we became friends with during the Nightmare Moon rampage."

Spike has an idea of who might give that Twilight had told them a while ago. Faltrun grasps the idea that he is not hostile and hooks his war hammer again, they soon hear him calling them.

"Hello, is there anyone there?"

"Come, let's not keep him waiting any longer," said Applejack.

Faced with her vote of confidence, Faltrun has no choice but to trust, he leaves the part that allows him to stay moderately hidden to relieve himself, Steven Magnet hears the footsteps behind him when he turns to look he sees Faltrun who looks at him with curiosity before the peculiar being in front of him, and then he sees that he has something of a bright gamboge color on his chest and realizes who it is.

"Oh, you're one of Rarity's friends, Applejack, if I'm not mistaken," he said, glad to see one of Rarity's friends.

"If you're right." she smiles back.

Faltrun takes Spike and puts him back on his head while he only concentrates more on the conversation, in addition to being curious if Applejack's language is a common one spoken by other creatures.

"I guess something happened to the two of you for him to have to take you back, or I'm wrong," he said worriedly. Applejack sighs.

"If we had an incident with the Timberwolves not long ago and I ended up hurting my leg, but I'm much better," she said in a reassuring tone.

"Oh, that's good news, but hey, I'd better not delay them too long."

"Wait before you leave, where is the fork in the river that allows you to go further to the forest?" Spike said that he was a little quiet as he listened carefully, and Steve gives him a small smile.

"In that case, when you get to the fork, take the right river and it will take you to the outskirts of the woods," the trio soon prepares to leave when Applejack signals them to start moving forward.

"Thank you," Spike said.

"We'll see each other in better condition," Applejack said.

"See you next time and send greetings to Rarity from me."

Faltrun goes on his way to the river before leaving, he tilts his hand from side to side as a sign of farewell and to which Steve gives him a smile they also respond to him, Faltrun integrates into the forest and listens carefully to the different words that Applejack and Spike exchange in their conversation, she didn't know what or what they would talk about, but something told her that Applejack is telling her a little more about the aquatic reptile.

While both remain in conversation and Faltrun listens, he also remains vigilant of all possible in case there is something dangerous nearby, but for now his radars only detect movement of small animals and very far from each other, he notices that he is already close to the fork that he sees a little hidden from among the trees.

"We're here," Applejack said, looking at her that they are already in the area shown by Steve.

"He said we had to take the right side that will allow us to go out to the outskirts of the forest. "As long as you remember the indication.

"Well, tell him where we have to go." Spike taps Faltrun's helmet and raises his hand to show that he listens to him.

"Take that direction." He points to where the river was on the road. Seeing Spike's signage, he puts his hand in front with his thumb hidden while pointing his fingers outstretched to the direction Spike says to make sure it is the right path. "If it's that way." He nods his head hoping that he gets the idea and, he did.

He approaches the river holding a little under the wrap by accidentally touching Applejack's rump to which she blushes from the action, and was going to tell him not to do it, but he quickly realizes that he does it to raise her a little higher when he sees that the river is deeper than it seems. he enters the river and reaches him above his hip given to the mud under his heavy feet he walks with some difficulty, he reaches the bank of the river he drops the scarf, Applejack who looks at him with a raised eyebrow, but ignores the event, they are on their way to the outskirts of the forest.

Spike begins to feel tired and little by little he begins to feel the need to go back to sleep, Faltrun notices and carefully takes Spike and has him carrying his left arm while he settles a little to be able to sleep better, Applejack looking up and seeing the situation only gives a smile at the altercation that happens.

"Tef cilima iks ril rimialk," he said in a soft tone.

She might not understand his words, but I could understand in his tone how young Spike is.

"Yes, that is a long time ago given his young age," she said with a smile.

Faltrun looks at him curiously, gives a slight laugh, returns to his route, Applejack gradually felt a little tired and took a little nap. Little by little Applejack ends up falling asleep and Faltrun only tilts his head with a smile, carefully separating Spike from his arm and putting him inside the scarf making them both settle in.

He continues his way, but the quiet moment interrupted when he detects multiple signals that he began to approach them and hears sounds that are approaching. He moves through the trees and avoids the clearings to hide as best in the shadows and unhooks his hammer to prepare for whatever comes, the moment presents itself when he hears the sound of several bushes moving and to his surprise someone apparently trips in front of the place, he only stares with some surprise of who it is.

It is one of them that looks like Applejack, but aside from the colors and, he swears a little taller, but what catches his attention more is that it has wings.

"Ouch," Fluttershy said in a low, soft tone.

Faltrun just stares curiously, that is the softest and lowest sound of pain he ever heard, but he puts his thought aside and hides a little better, he makes the decision to better separate. He carefully puts his hand under the wrap to hold them both and with the other he unties his poncho, he hears more voices approaching, he gently puts Spike and Applejack on the grass, takes his poncho and to attract attention, he gently moves the bushes.

"Fluttershy, honey, you've got to be more careful," Rarity said as she helped lift Fluttershy up.

Before saying a word, they both listen to the bushes move.

"Hick! Fluttershy tries to hide. but on his way, she accidentally bumps into Big Mac, who offers a hoof to Fluttershy that helps to get back up, while hiding his blush.

Rarity carefully approaches the place where they heard the bushes move, she does it carefully both as a prevention in case there is a dangerous animal, and not to stain her perfect coat, carefully moving one of the bushes. There she sees Applejack and Spike asleep in the small clearing.

"Quickly, come here." She turns to look at others.

Given the urgency of Rarity's voice, Big Mac and Fluttershy quickly go up to her and they both look at them.

"Oh, thank Celestia, they're fine," Fluttershy said with relief, but she notices Applejack's splint. "Oh Celestia, what happened?" She said with concern.

Both see the splint.

"We'll figure it out later, come, help me carry then, but let's not wake up," Big Mac said in a soft tone to avoid waking them.

They both get the idea and carefully help Big Mac gently lift Applejack using Rarity's magic, they put her on her back without waking her up, Fluttershy puts Spike after use covering him with her wings, everyone starts to walk away from the place.

Without anyone noticing at a safe distance Faltrun observed their actions and making sure that they are in good hands, he goes in the opposite direction to the position of the others taking on route to the castle, it is only a matter of time before the two of them talk about him and he does not know the next interaction they are going to have, but it will be in the future what is going to happen and it will be waiting.

Prologue

Darkness is the only thing he manage to see for a long time, it's better that way the last trip he made things went south too fast not knowing exactly what happened there, he just knew that he had done something that they had liked at all and ended up having to make a long and persistent battle against them, In the end he left there and to add insult to injury, the trip was not at all smooth, being too hectic for himself and harder than usual, and he does not expect to repeat that experience.

He opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is a great infinity of stars and each one that crowns the moon at the top with its beautiful brilliance welcoming them to this new planet. It is to be appreciated that he has a beautiful view of the stars and the moon compared to the last place he was, in those accursed lower levels of an ecumenopolis, now he understood perfectly well why it is not convenient to have for one of those horrible things that not even the light of the star of the accursed world could see, And end up in a civil war for something he don't know did at those levels, but it's not something that brute force, great violence and tactical and strategic moves wouldn't solve.

Leaving that bad experience completely aside, he stared at the night sky, the more he observed the moon and the stars that crown it, a strange sensation invaded him, he felt relaxed, the night was calm, the singing of some nocturnal animals, all this was so... Calm as a dream, his being simply told him to stay here, enjoy the night and free himself from the heavy burden that his armor has on him that for a long time has carried him everywhere, that relief in a part of him wanted to at least rest from it.

But he refused to do it, even though the tranquility and beauty of the night implore him to do so, he is still in an unknown world, his senses, his experience and his long training told him that he must keep a watchful eye on his surroundings, because even in the most beautiful places that exist, there is always something that could be stalking him. But also, given to his own laziness to do so, it is not as simple as taking off a glove and voila.

He gets up from his place despite the protests that he wants to stay for a while longer, yes but he must move as soon as possible and look for a place to stay. He sees his surroundings and well, it is no more different from other worlds he has been in the past and this one would be quieter, or so it seemed. Now him going to need to guide in this world and find at least one quiet place to settle, especially if it hidden.

Time he just needed to check... The systems of his armor, damn the moment when his systems disabled and especially the situational capability systems, which are the compass, night vision, among others. But at least he did not seem to be in a dangerous situation for now and on top of that he has been in worse situations before, but he will not be able to listen to music for his trip and he completely hated being in a situation that is perfect for having an enjoyable time to listen music.

Leaving that detail aside, he begins to take his first steps in this new world without concentrating too much on his surroundings since there is something that keeps him thinking and that is exactly how he came to deactivate the systems of his armor.

He has various ideas of what could have been the reason that it deactivated by his arrival in extremis, but he did not feel that he had given any blow at the arrival, another possibility was that there could have been an anomaly that deactivated them. They will be elements or unknown matter that interfere like that... It was a strange place where he arrived for the first time since began his journey and the only thing, he could say about that place was as if he had stepped into a strange surrealist painting like the ones who a friend of his family made in the past. Thanks to that thought, a chill run through him: he did not want to have a problem again, of being able to find whether he was in the real world or not, and especially of that feeling that there was something watching him.

Returning once again to the real world, look around and analyze the place where it is, it is a long plain decorated with some scattered trees, but infinite fields of green pastures accompanied and decorated with flowers of many colors, despite how simple and mundane it is shown, it is a very beautiful landscape, With the moonlight and the accompaniment of the starlight’s, they give a dreamlike landscape and a little feeling told him that there is something that is beautifying even more than it actually is, and if he could would take a picture of it. But one thing, one thing is clear: once again, it must remember that one is in an unknown world that one does not yet know what may be in store for him.

He walks for several hours without an apparent direction but he didn't care much about all this being that he would prefer to see what surprises this world is going to stop him and he would lie if he doesn't feel a little excited, when he takes a quick look at the sky he notices that apparently the first lights of the day begin to make an appearance, Well, at least he got to enjoy the beautiful night that he was lucky enough to at least admire. Having a little curiosity, he looks where they are coming from the east, well a point to see that the star of this world rises on the same horizon as his home world, in addition to showing from the distance various mountains in the distance and one is alone.

He walks on a small slope on the ground and ends up falling on his face against luckily avoiding getting hurt, he gives a slight snort and a small smile under his helmet at how ridiculous it was. He turns his back and looks at the sky as the night would soon disappear, under his helmet he breathes a sigh of relaxation and sits down in the place where he is to watch the sunrise.

As it is with the night this one looks with great beauty, the vivid golden colors that illuminate the horizon that feeling had returned and once, this display of beauty is beyond the unusual, that it happened once may be a coincidence, but twice that could no longer be a coincidence, In his memory came of having read some of those old records about the different expeditions that his people made, he does not know completely if they have already done them again or he still does not have the luxury of allowing something like this, but it is already a point and apart in addition to the fact that he did not want to remember again... Those events that occurred before he left, quickly getting those thoughts out of his head, and avoiding damaging his mental health only one thing came to his mind and that is that he must move on.

In the time that he walks and observes his surroundings at least it did not seem that he was near any civilization for now or perhaps he ended up in a prehistoric world, if so he must be somewhat careful with interacting with the locals whether they see him as something hostile and attack him or there are those cases where he is seen as a god, that gave him a slight chill for thinking something like that, he wouldn't want to be the object of veneration at all and especially when those incessant conflicts start just because of a difference of interpretation or anything. That is especially worse when the religion practiced is a good-hearted one and gives true teachings to others only to be destroyed by those who supposedly follow him only to prove the complete opposite of what they preach, that is definitely for him the worst kind of hypocrisy there is, but he is also not the best one to point out something like that given his not very good record in almost all of his life.

Leaving aside his long ramblings he sees in the distance apparently that he is near the edge of a forest and in just a few moments finally the systems of his armor are activated, he stops and gives an in-depth review of each and every one of the systems there and check their correct functioning, showing all the systems are active and ready to be used and luckily he didn't have to use the armor repair systems.

He deactivates the review system and with a long sigh he starts heading to the outskirts of the forest we will have to see what can be in store for him there, when he reaches the edge he hears something in the distance and this does not please him in the least and the general appearance of the place did not help too much if he is completely honest. He looks elsewhere to see if there is a high point that can give him a reference of the area and the size of the forest, but seeing that there is nothing that can help him he only had to enter inside, before doing so he prepares some battle equipment that he has on top of him and begins to enter the interior of the forest.

The appearance of this place does not help at all, of large trees that even though the light of dawn illuminates the skies here is like a patch of darkness that dominates every corner of this place, with large and thick trees that cover that place, the sickly green of the moss that grows in the place and the worst part, the distant cries of the animals that inhabit this place. It keeps abreast of everything and every possible noise that could represent some kind of danger, its sensors detected movement but most of them were from animals that did not present a danger, but some of the creatures that one of those was able to capture, was a bird with the body of a reptile that would disappear behind some bushes, but others of them were normal as far as he could tell, soon his sensors pick up something very different, behind him something is following him and stalking him, seeing an imminent danger he unsettles his war hammer and hears some twigs on the ground break behind him.

Without thinking about it, he turns around very quickly ready to defend himself from whatever is stalking him, but his reaction changed instead of tensing up, he only ends up feeling great confusion, the creature before his eyes is made of wood and lacked any pupils in his eyes and his mouth despite having wooden teeth look sharp to tear the flesh of his prey. He had never seen a type of creature made entirely of wood and several questions arose as to how exactly these things have managed to survive, soon his sensors detected two others that were approaching his two sides, thanks to this warning he returns to his senses and gets into a defensive position, while that creature growled at him he simply returned it with his own while taking slow steps backwards.

Soon the moment is given, one of them tries to attack him, but he quickly manages to grab him and the second one throws himself against him, without wasting a single moment he uses the one he has grasped and uses it as a mace and attacks the other making them end up fragmented, the last one began to retreat and runs after the trees disappearing from sight, He breathes a sigh of relief and re-hooks his war hammer to his hip, looks at the remains of the other two that were torn down, and out of curiosity approaches the remains of the creatures. He bends down and picks up of the fragments giving them a look at the shards, they are no different from the common wood of the trees, they did not seem especially hardy. This only makes him wonder if this kind of serious species really should not have been able to survive its environment.

But suddenly the fragment that he had in his hand for some reason flies out of his hand, look where the fragment went, he gets up and observes what happens, he just made this world weirder than ever, the fragments come together with a strange green aura and little by little the figures of the creatures were reshaped, The sensors start to detect movement, much more movement that is going full speed in its direction.

"You got to be a kidding me.

Without thinking twice he runs at full speed in any direction that can take him away from this gigantic horde that is chasing him and it doesn't help that he can hear the howls and the gigantic amount of footsteps coming from behind him, he sees that his sensors tell him that they are dividing into two more groups on each side of him, With a quick glance on each side of him they effectively follow him sideways and apparently several were going as fast as possible to the front, it seems that they are going to try to surround him and catch him, he is not going to give them that opportunity at all and he does not have time to stay and fight with them.

The creatures that were on each side begin to converge towards him, a group on the right tries to attack him, one of them throws himself at him, avoids being taken by one of his legs and with a quick movement unhooks his hammer, hitting the nearest one with a powerful blow and another that follows him is stepped on with great force, one of them backs up to avoid being hit. But it is a distraction the group throws itself at him, jumps up and shrugs his legs avoiding one of them grabbing him by his leg. He crushes him with another fence, swings his hammer to shreds another one, and before a third escapes grabs him by the head, with a quick calculation he finds a weak spot in the left line of the creatures in front. He throws it hard towards that line, these not being able to dodge in time given the speed, one of them is strike and this causes a domino effect where to end up colliding and tripping over each other creating an opening in the line.

Seeing the opportunity he has, he quickly takes a turn on that side, the creatures try to grab him, he successfully dodges them and runs while dodging the different trees on his way, his sensors show him that he is already moving away from the herd and is getting them to lose their trail as long as those things don't smell the metal or him. He began to slow down, and his sensors no longer detect any more movement of the herd near him, but he hears the howls in the distance and still has a chance to find him, for now it is better to cover ground as possible that can separate him from those creatures.

With the necessary distance covered, he lightens his pace as he has at least managed to get far enough, even so, he still is on alert, this place could give him unpleasant surprises given the last two creatures he saw, there could be much more dangerous things here. On the walk that gives with the occasional noise of other animals in the distance something begins to change, the presence of other animals declines for a strange reason.

For a moment he sees in another direction where he is walking there is something in the distance of the forest, he activates the telescopic sights, he puts his gaze back there and notices that apparently it is the end of the forest, with relief he was finally going to be able to at least go out and see what is going to be in store for him beyond this place and he heads there, a peculiar thing came up as he got closer, he began to notice that there seemed to be something there like some kind of structure.

When he comes out of the forest he stops completely and sees a kind of ruins, from top to bottom he tries to identify them to the possible form that they once had, and apparently it was a castle or at least it was one if his assumption is correct, but one thing is clear to him at least this world is not in prehistory, Now a part of it if his curious to know who were the builders of that place, but it will be for more than that. On approaching the place, the castle it has built around a ravine, and this may present a good defensive position given the forest around it and the ravine, but from there if they cut off their means of communication with the outside, the place it would completely isolate from the others.

Leaving aside his ramblings about the place he takes a closer look and sees that it seems to be on the side of the castle, due to the lack of a form of main entrance, to his left he sees a wooden bridge, but it is in another ravine that has no idea how to go there and is not suitable to support it, He looks to his right apparently there is a stone bridge but it did not look in good condition, when he saw the edge of the precipice at least it did not seem to be very deep in case it of fall, but it would hurt if it falls there, he looks in the direction of the bridge and approaches to make some checks, the diagnosis he gives is beyond the fact that time and vegetation have taken their toll it seemed that it can still sustain him as long as he did not exert too much pressure.

He looks around making sure that there is no danger in the middle of crossing the bridge, when he sees that there seems to be no threat nearby and his sensors do not detect anything dangerous, he approaches the bridge, lies on his face and begins to drag allowing all his weight to be distributed over a greater area, luckily, his armor prevented him from being hurt by his tactical vest.

The action works and he manages to cross without much problem to the other side, he gets up from the place and removes some of the dust that accumulated on his vest, opens the holographic screen and takes some notes to do some tasks that he will have pending and one of those is to see how he can fix the bridge, he deactivates it and fixates on the ruined castle, looking for an entrance to get into. He sees a hole in the wall being a bit small for him, he bends down and gets inside the castle sees around him that he is in a corridor and his condition looks no better than his outside.

Leaving those thoughts completely aside, it's time to explore this place and see what things it can tell you, it goes more through the more or less eastern area of the castle and at certain points it stopped because it showed damage not entirely caused by time but from battle, It was more noticeable in the part of the roof at least in this part of the castle that used siege projectiles that collapsed the structure, this place saw combat action at least within its walls and already with this it gives an indication that at least those who built this castle faced the war.

He enters through a secondary entrance and arrives at the main hall of the castle, there are two things that capture his interest and that is the two large tapestries that crown the entrance by the stairs, he positions himself in position to see them from the front, the first one that he notices is one of a precise golden color that represents quite well the sunlight that illuminates this world, The other represents a deep navy blue that represents the veil of night that covers this world, both perfectly represent two symbols that are the native star of this system and the moon that accompanies them in the dreamy nights, but it is not the only thing it has, there are two other symbols that these long tapestries show and they are those two beings that are represented with wings and horns.

Perhaps they could have been ancient shields representing those who ruled this ancient castle, reminding him a bit of the ancient symbols of a bygone era, another option is that they were the symbols two unifying houses that were formed into one, but that would normally create a single shield and symbol for both houses, another option is that they represented a god/goddess of the day and the sun, the night and the moon, and more hypotheses he has inside his head regarding those symbols but receives little evidence. Before continuing, he reactivates his holographic screen and writes down another task that he has pending, he approaches one of the tapestries, grabs it and gives it a small check, he is not an expert in looms it would be, but these have an unparalleled quality that despite time still is in particularly good condition.

Carefully leaving the loom, he takes a route up the stairs and sees what more surprises may have in store for him, he walks through the long corridors, takes a few laps around the place and finds some traps that strangely are not very dangerous, but, to play a joke, he arrives at a large gate and has the idea that this could be the throne room or so it seems, he opens the gates and when he looks inside it is indeed the throne room.

At the back of the place there are two thrones with tapestries of the same color as the one in the room where the previous ones are and they give the same representation of the sun and the moon as of the same shades of color, this seems to indicate that whoever has led this castle was an ancient diarchy, perhaps the sun and the moon represented these two houses that made a dynastic union or at least they were in the given past.

Looking at the place in more detail than the structural damage of this place like other parts was not entirely caused by time, but these here the damage that was done was with another type of weaponry, it comes to take a better look at one of the roofs that collapsed, These seemed to have been destroyed not by artillery shells but by something else, but he can't explain the fact, thanks to seeing through the ceiling he notices that the sun is at the zenith is not accurate but tells him that it is noon. That takes him a bit of a surprise, he thought that it should be late or something like that because he got into a very wooded area that does not allow sunlight to enter well, in the end old sayings are right, when you are discovering something, new time passes very slowly.

Seeing on the other side he sees two towers that flank the structure and he gets an idea of what it can become, he goes in the direction of the right door, he bends down a little and opens it, the first thing he sees are the stairs and simply when he sees the size that they have, only the only thing that comes to his mind is simple, these scalds are not big enough for his feet, leaving aside his complaint he checks the structure and it seemed that it could hold him well, then turning sideways using a little the wall as a handle begins his strange adventure through small stairs, with dreams, hopes and a little luck he finally manages to reach the end of the stairs, He opens the small door and has to contort himself a little to be able to squeeze into a not very large door.

It has several pieces of furniture that the weather was not at all kind, unlike the tapestries or at least for some the ones could see in good condition, the place is a fairly modest room perhaps with a bit of luxury, but in the end quite modest, thanks to one rays of light that hit something that is on the floor and shines a little, curious he gets a little closer, grabs it and removes some of the dust it has, relaying itself to be a full-length mirror.

He sees his reflection and from it he sees his armor that is black like the space itself, a somewhat questionable color but at least it showed its effectiveness in many situations that needed to be hidden between the shadows and the darkness, returning once again to look at the mirror he checks a little his helmet that shows his snout, But it does not allow us to see any of his characteristics, and on his chest he has his tactical vest that is covered by a large number of bags and in addition to having a tactical belt with more bags, on his right side he carries his war hammer and from a small silhouette can see the gunstock of his weapon that is on his back. He looks at himself for a more moments in the mirror with false vanity when he makes poses and leaves the mirror in the place where he found it, placing it carefully, he approaches one of the windows of the room.

At least it allows him to see the good magnitude of the place and he sees that there is a river that is on the east side of the castle that will be for now a good advantage without having to go to another point to acquire water, he looks through another of the windows he sees only nothing but the forest and it is not exactly small and that is only going to give him a lot of problems in the future, for a few moments something caught looked as if by accident he had seen a reflection of light and he would swear he came down that big mountain, he takes a look at its summit and it looked like he is seeing a city there.

That is something that you don't see every day, he uses light filters to see better and that the light does not bother him and he looks back at the top of the mountain, there is indeed a city, but the highlight is the castle that is as if it was on the edge of the abyss and also that it is in good condition different from where he is, Underneath his helmet he found an inhabited planet and now his great curiosity told him to try to go and see who the inhabitants of this world might be, but first he had to observe them from a safe distance and see if they become hostile or not.

With no time to lose, he goes once again to the exit of the room, seeing those stairs with contempt, he begins once again to descend them carefully, he is finally about to finish the last flight of these stairs but bad luck smiles on him and he ends up slipping, rolling, for the last one he falls face first against the floor, He gives a grunt more of annoyance than pain he rises only to give a snort of anger, with his pride a little hurt he gets up from his place, wipes a little of the dust that stuck to him and luckily he didn't leave a hole like the last time this happened.

He turns to look at the exit of the throne room based more or less on a mental map of the shape of the castle that he saw from the tower, he gets an idea of where to go, he takes the path that leads him to the west wing of the castle that seemed to lead him to the main entrance of the castle, As he goes down the path, he goes down the stairs to the main hall, he goes through the different entrances and makes a mental note to give him a visit for later, as he advances through the different parts of the castle he passes through a gate.

He arrives at the main entrance of the castle and stops to see a strange sculpture in the center of the small room, he approaches this sculpture and touches it for a few moments as he walks around it, the computer system gives him some analysis beyond some curious symbols that he has there is no more that he can discern of its purpose, he leaves the compound, focuses his gaze on the lonely mountain, seeing the big city there, and well, some questions arise about him, exactly how did that place come to be built? But putting that aside for a moment, he sits down on the grass and starts thinking about what his next course might be.

The first thing he has is to establish a camp inside the castle, prevent the entry of those strange creatures of the forest and establish some access points for him, the second is to start an exploration of the forest deeper as a possible exit from it without having to return by the same route, The third thing is to find some information regarding the species that inhabits this world, fourth to find a possible route that can take to that city and acquire intelligence information.

With the four options made, start to see the viability and what will be the priority:

The first choice would seem to be the most important, although since he entered the castle grounds, he has not seen those creatures enter and they always stay away from here, with this he can conclude that for now it is not a priority.

The latter needs to explore the wooded area in depth to have landmarks and find exits that are not dead ends.

The third thing may be that the castle still retains its library and can give it a visit to acquire more information, although there are several main problems, they are the language, the writing and the time when it was all written, although it is possible that the castle has it will have to deal with translations and it would not help that they are outdated and for now it does not have many options to go elsewhere.

The fourth goes hand in hand with the second, there is no more science behind it, and will need to do general planning if want to do something like that.

He decides and it is to start a deeper exploration of the forest and start putting landmarks and find an end, as they were still early, he gets up from his place, stretches his neck and his limbs. The path he will take will be along the river and see where it could take him, being that he also noticed that that city has a waterfall and has the feeling that this river is born from that mountain. He follows the course of the river, turns to look at the entrance of the forest, takes a deep breath, prepares himself and begins his journey into the forest once more.

In the interior of the forest as move further and further away from the castle grounds the activity of the creatures that inhabit these forests became greater and greater, that castle has something that prevents the creatures from entering its grounds or at least those that could represent a serious danger because its sensors detected some that do not pose a threat. He looks from one side to the other by the grunts of several of them, everything would be momentarily silenced by a powerful distant roar and the sky was gradually darkening, he glances at the sky and it seems that a storm was coming soon, he begins to look in his pockets for a poncho that he has that will allow him to cover himself from the rain, As he tries to memorize where he put it, his sensors detected motion and a large one going in his direction.

Without thinking twice he unhooks his war hammer but before he can take it he ends up having to dodge an attack by throwing backwards and this causes his hammer to fall, he rises to see the creature that attacked him once again a rather unique creature presents itself to him that is totally and completely different from the last ones that chased him, It is a larger creature and is made up of several parts of other animals, such as a tail of some kind of insect, patagium-type wings, the body of a large predator with dangerous claws, large ears, and menacing eyes that stares at it fiercely.

"This forest is getting more and more interesting," he said with a smile under his helmet.

That creature quickly approaches, uses its tail and attacks him with its sting, but it just doesn't move, when connecting, it only causes the stinger to be damaged with a quick movement before it escapes, grabs it, pulls it with great force in its direction, connects a good blow on one of its legs, This causes a howl of pain from the creature, he exerts another blow on one of his wings avoiding breaking it but hurting it so that he cannot use it immediately, it is left lying on the ground unable to move because of the pain, he does not want to kill it given how fascinate he is, but he does not have time to continue dealing with it. He starts running in the direction of where his hammer is, in one swift movement he grabs it and hooks it back to his hip and moves away from the presence of the creature, getting lost in the vegetation.

Once at a safe point, he returns once again to look in his pockets for the poncho and finally manages to find it, he puts it on just at the moment when the rain became more intense, he continues on his way while he is aware of some possible movement, luckily he detects almost no movement making the environment calmer at least outside the rain, That gives him some relief and taking advantage of the quiet moment proceed to look for the mapping systems of his armor and give them a review of how it has gone, when seeing him has been more or less marked the point of entry he had and the areas where he had his intense encounter with those wooden creatures, he began to walk with difficulty, he deactivates the map seeing his surroundings again, the river began to overflow and the place where he is begins to get bogged down.

He leaves the path of the river through a part that is no longer covered with mud while he maintains the course, the storm continued to worsen thanks to the lack of grass and his high weight began to cost him to be able to walk on the ground thanks to the strong mud that is generated, it was not the first time it happened to him and it was something recurring but it was never friendly to walk through one, especially when it turned into a muddy hell. With difficulty he stops for a moment to take a breath and see a fork of the river going to two sides, one was of a smaller flow and the other was much larger and seeing the mud that he must pass he looks at the smaller flow giving another breath he goes again.

Thanks to the fact that he took the side with less water flow as well as had a greater presence of grass helps him to be able to get out of the mud and return to a normal gear, on the way luckily, he has not found anything that could represent a danger given the intense rain that falls on him. In the distance he notices that the forest was beginning to end, he finally finds a starting point, with a smile under his helmet he gives a renewed march towards the exit of this infernal place. He arrives at a small clearing in the forest that split by the river, looks up at the sky and tries to figure out what time it might be, giving an idea that it is already late.

He notices something in the distance, stops for a few moments and uses the telescopic sights, there is a village on the other side of the forest he has some extra questions about why there is one so close to a very dangerous forest like this, but he is not going to get into that matter for now and seeing that the rain also affects there it is a good opportunity to at least explore the place a bit, Looking at the roads and the infrastructure, all of them have to cross the river on foot, but seeing the flow of them, one that is near a small park seemed to be the smallest ideal to cross it.

He approaches the outskirts near the edge of the river and gets in, luckily the water only reaches above his knees, he walks on its mud with some difficulty, when he reaches the edge he puts his hands on the ground to give himself a boost, standing up again he looks at a small building on the other side of the park that apparently still has its lights on. There he goes and when he gets closer he looks up and down, it has the appearance of a carousel, the most notable is the two figures that are above the enclosure that are those beings from the tapestries of the castle, but they do not have wings or horns and the other thing to highlight is that the structure itself is not very tall in general and its entrance is quite small.

He approaches the enclosure and bends down putting one of his hands on the ground to give himself stability and look out the right window, the lights being off activates his night vision system and the interior of the enclosure shows that apparently it is a boutique and the work center of the place, among the things he sees are some mannequins that are simply these quadrupedal beings, the intelligent species of the planet only makes things weirder, leaving aside that thought surrounds on the right side of the boutique, stops at another window that shows a dark room and the only highlight is a laundry room, it looks under the door frame there is some light coming in, it surrounds the establishment and finds the window that shows the room that is illuminated.

Although it was almost night and the darkness could help him, he could not get close to the window because there are not enough shadows, an idea comes to him, looking through his pockets, he finds a small mirror relatively to his size, taking small silent steps, he approaches and begins to bring the mirror closer to the window trying to prevent them from seeing it, Looking sideways and placed in an indicated position, he sees a little bit of the interior that is a kitchen, but he does not see the owner of the place. Tilted a little more, the mirror sees something that out of the corner of his eye, tilts it again and manages to see who the intelligent beings of this world are.

When he sees them he looks at them with surprise and an incredible feeling of tenderness when he sees them, they are quadrupeds so he can say both share a coat of light gray color his difference is the mane that they both have, the older one of a moderate indigo and the younger grayish mulberry with pale pink and light grayish stripes, the color of the eyes of the eldest are moderate blue and the youngest of Harlequin pale and light grayish, or that is what the data provided by his armor indicates, he must thank whoever has implemented the color identification system, but one thing caught his attention and that is the horns that both have on their heads, they match the tapestry but they lack the wings, with this came more questions and seriously that there are already too many that he has, being that he does not have hands, how exactly can they manipulate the objects to build all this?

When he looks at the older one he sees that a strange aura of light cornflower blue emanated from his horn and began to levitate several objects specifically, plates that he cleans, this leaves him with a great surprise, it is telekinesis and apparently it was natural being that that horn seemed to be part of both, this answers at least that question of how they could move objects and it came to his mind if there were others like her, but only with wings and one without either, that makes him have more questions than ever in his mind, he seriously has to stop, without realizing it.

Sweetie belle looked at the window with boredom, but she sees a shiny thing that is reflecting the inside of the kitchen, but it is not the window, it is something else that is outside. She knows and sees that there is something that reflected and that turns to look at her and in a simple blink a lightning strikes illuminating it for a moment saw it and terrified by that presence.

"By Celestia!" She turns to look at Sweetie. "Sweetie do not do that please." She notices that Sweetie fell on his rump in fear and pointed her helmet at the window.

"There's something that's watching us."

Worried about the occurrence, Rarity goes to the window and tries to see if there was anything looking around the sides of the window up, down, in the distance, but there did not seem to be anything there.

"Sweetie, there's nothing around, are you sure saw something?" Sweetie pulls herself together.

"I'm sure I saw something, there was something shining in the window, like a mirror and could see the kitchen and only for a moment when the lightning shone on... There was a strange thing that had no face that the mirror made shine. "

Rarity thinks about it for a few moments still can't match, she sees a reflection in the window, she turns to look where she is coming from, it is from the work room and one of her mirrors receives some light from the kitchen and also a mannequin is also reflected overlapping each other, it seemed that Rarity solved it.

"Sweetie dear, it was just a reflection of one of my mirrors with a mannequin. He points with his helmet to the workroom where the mirror and the mannequin are.

She looks in the direction where Rarity is pointing, but this did not convince Sweetie.

"But Rarity, what I saw wasn't a mannequin at all, it was actually more terrifying.

"Sweetie, I can't go out there, there's a rain that can ruined my hair and a lot...mud."

Sweetie sighs, knowing that she will not be able to convince her sister, especially when there is every chance that Rarity's beauty will tarnished.

"Okay, maybe I just saw things, nothing else.

Rarity, seeing her sister's mood, could not help but see her that way, her sister, puts her helmet under her snout.

"Sweetie honey, if you want tomorrow after school, I'll help you look for clues and maybe you'll get your cutie mark along with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in Fantastic Creature Investigators.

That manages to revive Sweetie Belle's mood.

"Really!"

Rarity nods in response, giving him a smile and making him her promise.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She ends up hurting her eye a little from biting it, she massages the place a little.

Sweetie gives her a hug.

"Thank you, Rare.

Both sisters break away from the little hug they both had, go upstairs together talking and smiling with each other and Sweetie with excitement for tomorrow.

Far from the boutique, but vigilant of all possible movement in the place and seeing that the lights on the lower floors went out and the ones upstairs came on, he breathes a sigh of relief being that it did not seem that they were going to look for him, seeing for a few more moments the sky the rain did not stop stopping, but the night already dominated the landscape once again, with his gaze he rests on the largest building that is not far from where it is and goes straight there taking better advantage of the veil of the night.

He approach a few houses on the way he doesn’t need to investigate the residents anymore for now, as approach the main building either see anything more special and a little further to the left there is a statue and with curiosity he go to see it and beyond that it doesn't seem to have anything special or inscriptions, when he looks at another direction with some surprise he sees a building with a very strange roof, like the shape of a hat, curious he goes to the place.

When he gets closer, it is indeed a hat but the guy he has could not place it, but there was something telling him that it was possibly for jokes and the other one, according to what he can see on the main sign of the front, apparently is a beauty salon even so peculiar and the other one already with a more mundane aspect, simply a kind of restaurant except for the tables outside that seem to be mushrooms, a little close by their looked like a market and a book store according to what he see from the sign outside.

Leaving the two peculiar buildings, he goes on his way to the west where he sees that the small town converges more, looking more closely at the houses, they are apparently made of wood and thatched roofs, being quite thermal in general, if only hoped that they did not get to remove the wood from that cursed forest, because if so, those lumberjacks must give them an extra and big paycheck, he stops for a few moments to look at a couple of stores, one jewelry store, the other apparently a retail stand and the other is not sure what it would be. He continues a little further in the distance he sees some lights on a building in the distance and it is bigger with many others that he has been able to see, he realizes that apparently it is a kind of hospital given to some symbols that suggest it, moving a little further away from the place he finds another smaller building and this time it does have something written but the translation systems cannot identify it, Finally, he sees a tree that looked like it was transformed into some kind of building.

He approaches the place and apparently even the owners of the place had not gone to sleep and taking into account what happened it is better not to get into it, he moves away from the place and sees a small building somewhat more isolated from the rest, he is approached with curiosity to see what it has the first thing he notices is that on the ground there are train tracks, that is already an indication that this society is already an industrial community although it would need to know if they already have internal combustion vehicles, in the distance it hears a whistle and turns back where it came from, in the distance it sees a light approaching where it is, with a good step it gets behind a building hiding in the shadows where there is no light and waits.

The rain was starting to stop the machine stops at the station and only a few sounds coming off the train and he hears some voices coming from the platform, unfortunately he couldn't understand what they were saying, giving a slight glance he sees a family coming out apparently, they were wearing more types of colors and extravagant baste, From what he can identify, they are a family, a very young one looks exhausted and the father carries him on his back. He gives a small smile, they are not so different from his own, he stops looking at them and stands next to the building covered making it impossible to see, the locomotive looks old, but not bad in general and the passenger cars are the ideal size for the inhabitants of this world.

He hears the whistle of the train and the locomotive moved lazily on the tracks, little by little it comes back to acquire more speed, he observes with a slight smile when he sees a very young one snuggling with his mother while rocking him to sleep, already at high speed he begins to head towards a road that is unknown and disappears from his sight on the horizon, he had no more reason to stay here, the clouds began to recede allowing the moonlight to illuminate the small town a little, and he began his last march south.

On his short walk he doesn't find anything interesting beyond a house bigger than usual, possibly belonging to some rich man of the place, he leans in front when he sees a rather peculiar building in the distance that he would swear is a cake, when he approaches the enclosure it is indeed in the shape of a cake, he did not have to be a genius to know what this place specializes in, but it is a very cool and creative way to indicate what it is and specializes, strangely he has the wish that maybe in the future he can try the desserts, but for now he must continue with his task and the last clouds begin to move away leaving the light of the moon visible.

With only one more section left on his way there is nothing else that stands out in the area and he only finds it when he reaches the western edge of the river that he crossed, he sees another building not very large, apparently it is a kind of school, a little closer to there is apparently a mill that connects with the mouth of the lake, He approaches the bridge and it is seen that he has enough resistance to cross it and passes it without too many problems. As he approaches the building and look inside through the windows, it is indeed a school.

He crosses the dirt road he sees that there are trees with strange red fruits hanging over them and a fence that separates the property, he arrives at the farmland, and he had the desire to at least try one of those fruits, but he resisted the temptation that would be stealing the product from someone else. He finally arrives at the entrance of the farm, and it is quite a beautiful place to say a least, the place could just cross the fence without too much trouble.

But now is not the time to continue doing it, it was enough for now and accompanied by the moonlight he looks east in the distance that cursed but fascinating forest, advanced with his heavy and observing once more the beautiful moon reminding him of the times he came to observe it in his old home world and a memory that he treasures, but he just couldn't afford to go back after what he did there.

With his heavy steps he reaches the river with one last look at the farm there, small town, with a smile he ends the experience that he managed to gather, at least superficially, a little information, he gives his look with contempt at that cursed forest, the last border line that divides this small and peaceful town from that forest and its strange creatures and inhaling deeply he is on his way to go once more to the forest knowing what it might bring him there.

In his walk under the veil of night next to the shadows that emanated this forest he hides from most of the predators and avoids having his encounters with them, on the map that is no longer far from the castle, in that case he begins to collect several dry branches and leaves for a fire that he will need to make, as well as checking his physical injuries that are already beginning to feel painful and uncomfortable.

He arrives at the outskirts of the castle and crosses the river being careful not to wet what is on top of him and after doing so he goes inside passing through the main gate, he thinks for a moment which could be the best to stay for the night, one of those two rooms in the towers, but it's a no because of those stairs that made him fall, another option would be the main hall, but he ruled it out given the lack of exits in case of emergency and it was decided to establish it near the river that has the castle that he saw passing through to the east.

Luckily he didn't seem to have activated any trap in the area from what he could say or so it seems, when he arrived at the place he went to a wall, stacked the twigs and dry leaves to prepare the campfire, fiddled a little with the back of his helmet he took off his helmet and left it near the campfire, he feels thirsty and takes out his canteen and consumes the vital liquid inside, giving him a relief of freshness and eliminating his thirst. With his canteen empty he goes to the river to collect water, when he looks at it is crystal clear so much that he can see the bottom of it as well as the fish that swim there, he sees the reflection of the moon as if it were a mirror, he bends down puts his canteen under the water and when it is full he takes a good drink of it again and once again refresh him and getting a little closer to fill it and he puts it at the bottom of the river, it comes out a little more than it should, making the shadow that covered him see his face.

His coat is pure white that contrasts with a short pointed mane of black as the night, his muzzle was of a medium size in length as well as in thickness and a small line that indicates the position of his mouth, in front he has two nostrils not having as such a nose, under his muzzle a black beard like his mane color and in the center of his forehead a black hair that will the top of his muzzle and separating both parts of his face, a standard sight for his own who belong to the same clan. But the noticeable difference he has are two strange black lines in the form of a tribal pattern that pass under his eyes and disappear behind his neck, being an old symbol of what he has achieved so far, his eyes are not especially large, but he has a color that is not at all common that they are violet being a rarity even among his people.

But he saw only a pristine weariness in his features marked by a bygone era, those eyes that could only remember that constant horror day and night, he abandons all thought of himself letting the shadow once again cover him like a veil, and once again his distraction made him forget to take out his canteen, he takes it out and seals it, putting it in place.

Moving away from the crystal clear waters and returning to his little corner hidden from the rest of the world, he takes his place near the campfire, from among one of his pockets he takes out a bar of ferrocerium, behind his belt he places his hand on the sheath of his knife and takes it, placing the bar with the knife begins to create sparks that hit the dry leaves until it catches fire. With that task finished, he puts the bar in its place, looks for some of his rations that he brought with him, cared for and well maintained for long periods of time, he grabs one of these rations and it is stuck with his knife, heats it on the fire and eats it and he does it with some more that he has.

Without eating any more he leaves them for future use, everything he had taken out he keeps in their respective places, he stays there while he watches the fire, the crackling of its sound in an empty place and a light that shows at least his tired face observes the living flame, with fatigue reaching his features a long yawn arises, it's time to get ready for sleep, looking behind his back he takes off his service rifle puts his safety and against the wall, runs his hands on the buckles and locks that hold his tactical vest together and takes them off one by one and when he frees himself he puts it next to his poncho, getting up he takes off his belt and puts it along with the rest.

Then came the most complicated and time-consuming part of all, which is to take off his armor, he places his hands on some front points of his armor, which are small holes that he presses and rotates, they are a security system that holds the front piece together, a hissing sound is heard and the front armor of his armor separates without falling, he takes it off his back and for a moment gives it a look and under his tactical vest there are several metal blocks covering his torso, he carefully puts it near a small corner.

After that, he places his hand on the part of his right shoulder in the same way, he also gets into some small holes, presses and turns the belays and the armor making the same whistle, then another near his elbow and forearm doing the same procedure, emitting a whistle again, with it finished, he removes the armor from his arm and then goes with the other with the same procedure.

With both arms free he makes a few slight movements with them as he frees himself from the weight and especially on his shoulders, it is already revealed a little bit of a light gray gambeson that covers up to his neck except his hands, he sees for a moment his hands and checks to see if he has any small lesson, luckily he has nothing in his palms or in his five fingers, there the black marks on his face make an appearance in his hands. With that he goes with the second part, which is to take off the lower part of his armor.

As the rest goes in parts, starting with his hips that go through the thigh, the second goes from the knee to the ankles and the sabatons are apart, he takes all that off and puts them with the rest. Now came the most complicated part and it was having to remove the one that connects with his back, unlike the others that have simpler lock this one has much more special and various lock given the vital components that it has there.

The first thing he have to do is go to the first dorsal in this one through its opening that has to pull a kind of lever there, then it goes through another integrated in the dorsal middle and finally in the lumbar intermediate, it hears a metallic sound and two handles come out in each area where pull the levers, he takes the two handles and pulls them to each side, then pushes them out and makes a hissing sound, repeated with the other two. With that process done, two last additional levers come out, larger, the first at the top that is on his neck and the other that is at the end of his back, he takes both of them and turns them with the hands of the clock and he can take off the piece of armor, turn it and put it in front of him.

Now to make sure of one last thing to check, look for two openings that have it behind its trapezoids and as with the other pieces it is pressed and rotated from these come out a protrusion that goes through the middle session of the back on each side of the spine being four, he pulls one and takes out a small metal system that contracts and he extend a small mechanical arm that contains a test tube inside of this a dark grey liquid, when he sees that it is fine, he puts it back in its place and checks the others which in total are 8 of them and all are in good condition and puts it with the rest of the other pieces.

With everything done he takes a full look at his gambeson that covered his torso neck and reaches his thighs minus the hands and head that are not protected by the gambeson, this is a piece of clothing above the skinsuit, he sees the buckles he has, he grabs the first one that is on his neck that has a small handle he turns it and pulls them unbuttoning it, he proceeds with the others and takes it off to reveal the last piece. His skinsuit of a white color like his fur that tightens his robust figure here begins his next process, he poses hand in a small system that he has on his right wrist and when he presses it his suit stopped getting his figure and he loosened to the maximum.

He takes it off by means of his head and puts it in a place that does not get dirty by the dust, he is completely naked more than a boxer that he has on him, when he takes a look at his being he has his white fur on top, but what stands out are those black lines that with tribal pattern that cover his body and his tail that is 35% length of his body.

He sits down and checks his feet, which luckily, he did not get a sore on the sole or between his five toes, but if they irritated, he takes his tactical vest, searches his pockets for talcum powder and finds it and applies it to the affected areas. Once this is done, he is going to check his groin, unlike his feet, he created a slight laceration on the right side, here he looks for another object in his vest, a small bottle that applies a foam that allows his wound to close, on the left side he only presents irritation and only uses talcum powder.

With relief he could begin to feel more relieved to get rid of those irritations and a little pain that he has, he gives a long yawn of tiredness that dominates him and puts back on his suit and his gambeson. He goes to the corner where he put all his things, puts his poncho on the floor as a bed, lies on it and puts his vest on the other side like an improvised pillow, with everything done his thoughts gradually began to disappear, soon the world of dreams begins to dominate him and his consciousness disappears from the physical world.

With his arrival in this new world, he took the first step to know what will be in store for him in the future, only time will tell.

Chapter III preparations.

Trapped in the middle of a forest, she runs as fast as her own being can without stopping either from pain or from fatigue, she goes after distant screams of those she loves like the howls of her pursuers, in her desperation she could not stop trying, she cannot simply leave them to their fate without at least doing something for them.

"Spike Applejack where are they!" she said with all his strength as she galloped.

But she does not hear an answer and in only hears a horrible cry of distant death that makes everything stand up, gallops at full speed to where it came, tears begin to flow in abundance. That scream was Spike's, and he could only beg Celestia to find them in time, she arrived at the river, she looked at it in desperation in a vain attempt to find them. She is aware of hearing several growls that come from all directions, she knows who those growls are and has no way to flee, the river is coming with too much force for her to cross, the wolves are surrounding her in multiple directions not allowing her to escape, she has no choice but to fight and she get into position.

The magic begins to flow in his horn ready for the fate that awaits him, the first of the wolves launches, reacts with eager speed in launching a powerful lightning bolt that destroys them and turns him to ashes, she tries to concentrate the attack on as many as she can, but they dodge her and one of them attacks her hind legs only to be accompanied by another who attacks her other leg. Twilight tries to counter him despite the pain she tries to refocus on an attack spell, only to be unsuccessful when another of them attacks her on her front legs and neck, due to the sudden loss of air, she loses the concentration she needed and in a vain attempt tries to free herself. She felt the blood flowing through his wounds like the increasing difficulty of breathing, her senses were disappearing from his being and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Forgive me, Spike, Applejack," she said helplessly and with deep regret.

She wakes up startled by the nightmare she had, being the first thing she sees is the roof of Zecora's cabin, she still feels very weak from the effort they made yesterday and her fever is still high, she tries to move to look around, with some difficulty she manages to see Zecora who seemed to be throwing one of her concoctions into a bowl. Zecora turns to look at Twilight and gives her a smile when she sees that she has already woken up.

"I welcome you with joy in your awakening, but you must not make an effort to avoid worsening." She approaches with the bowl. "Drinking this concoction will allow you to regain your condition."

With a little help from Zecora Twilight gets up a little and starts drinking the concoction, it does not taste the most delicious, but it is pleasant in the least, it is just peculiar in its taste. When he finishes drinking it, he lies down again. She looks at Zecora giving him a sincere smile.

"Thank you Zecora, one will owe you for all this." She gives a sincere smile, making her return it to him as well.

"It won't be necessary; with the help you must avoid going back to the reckless trajectory."

Twilight makes a small grin about what Zecora said, in her eagerness to look for Spike and Applejack could have made her health condition even worse, but she still can't get rid of that deep fear she has for something very bad would happen to both of them, she can only embrace the trust she has in her friends that there is a possibility that they can find them.

"Grief scares you in every constant, but never doubt your friends for a moment," she said encouragingly to Twilight, and she looks at him. "Rest this evening, and your strength will recover with the weakening."

Twilight cannot quite deny Zecora's words, and all she would need for now is to have to wait for her friends to get something. Little by little he feels that the exhaustion caused by his illness begins to consume him, it is better to let his mind return once again to the world of dreams. Zecora takes the blanket she has with her mouth and covers Twilight; she goes to take a short break.

In another part of the forest Everfree Spike begins to wake up little by little from his nap when he hears several voices, the first thing he feels is a heat that emanates from under his chest, a soft fur as well as feathers above, confused he begins to rise to feel that the feathers move in another direction.

"Oh Spike, I'm sorry if our conversation has awakened you," Fluttershy said softly.

Spike hearing Fluttershy's voice scratches his eyes and puts his surprise gaze on her.

"Fluttershy," he said incredulously, and with questions, before he could ask another voice to speak to him.

"Spikey-wikey, it's good to know what you've woken up from," Rarity said, hugging him gently.

Spike is deeply in love and when he looks at her, he cannot help but almost melt at the sight of her, but he puts it back on Fluttershy's back being a little disappointed.

"Rarity," he said in a loving tone, soon putting aside his crush when he notices that he does not see Applejack anywhere. "Wait, where's Applejack?" He said worried that he would not see her.

"Oh, don't worry Spike, Big Mac is the one who has Applejack," Fluttershy said and with one of his wings he points a little further back from where they are.

Spike sees where he points and there is Big Mac and there is Applejack and Pinkie Pie, when he sees in front of where he gives a smile and then apparently talks to Big Mac again. Spike realizes that if he and Applejack are next to them, if the last thing he remembers is that he had fallen asleep on him, he thinks about it for a moment and it does not seem like they are worried or afraid, then they did not have contact with him?

"When did they find us?" He said curiously, deep down eager to know if they ever found him.

Before either of them could talk about how they found out, out of nowhere Pinkie appears who is the one who gives the answer.

"It wasn't very difficult to do it, we found you in a meadow sleeping comfortably," she said quickly and cheerfully in his voice, as she jumps up and down.

Spike blinks a couple of times something that Pinkie would say randomly sounds, he turns to look at Rarity and Fluttershy only for them to both nod in affirmation of Pinkie's words, he hears Rarity's melodious voice.

"Yes, only with the addition that we found them behind some bushes when they moved.

Fluttershy hid her face a little inside her mane, embarrassed to be very frightened by the sound of simple branches.

Spike abandons his crush for a moment and that explains how they had met, but it seems that he may not yet have enough confidence to talk to others, perhaps fear, distrust or simple shyness, he would have his reasons the only thing that if he has no idea if Applejack would have already mentioned it, his train of thought is interrupted by Fluttershy's voice.

"Is something wrong, Spike?" Fluttershy said curiously at Spike's constant gestures about having doubts.

At Fluttershy's call, Spike puts aside his thoughts and sees Fluttershy.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking a little about some things and how we got to that little meadow that Pinkie mentioned," he said a little hurriedly, hoping it had not noticed.

"Well, Applejack said there's one very important thing they both must have said when they were at the two sisters' castle, though she insisted that Twilight and Rainbow must have known it too," Fluttershy said, though he was hesitant.

Spike gives a good idea of why and he couldn't agree more, given the meeting with him, it's definitely something that they should better discuss together, and then see what could be done, in addition to having to prepare a possible letter to Celestia and Luna, that's going to be a long letter over given the excitement that Twilight puts on him about this new discovery.

"I'm going to have to agree with Applejack and it's going to be a long explanation. He said with interest, what is going to come out.

Fluttershy and Rarity share a look, they both get an idea that, if it's something that needs to be discussed with Twilight, it means that it's going to be very important, but for now it's better to leave it for the moment and focus on returning, and then they'll be attentive to what both Applejack and Spike will talk about, they just hope that this won't cause many problems in the future.

Not much had happened along the way, except for the occasional talk and Spike getting off Fluttershy's back, the atmosphere had become a little more anxious than usual. On the one hand, it is due to the mysterious issue that both Spike and Applejack have between hoofs or claws in the case of Spike. In addition, he has a constant thought about whether Twilight is okay.

"Fluttershy.

"Yes, Spike," he said with materiality in his voice and a small smile.

"How is Twilight?" He said with concern.

"She is now in Zecora's cabin, yesterday she went with us to look for clues about your whereabouts, but no matter how much we insisted that she stay, she did not pay attention and it was with us, in the end when we found no clues of you her condition worsened and we had to take her to Zecora's cabin and she has been there since yesterday, but before we started the search, the visit and luckily it seems that thanks to Zecora's positions it has been improved," she said in a hopeful tone to help Spike a little more.

Spike can only feel a certain fear that something bad might happen to Twilight, although he is in good hoofs with Zecora he cannot quite help but worry about her and hopes to see her soon.

A little time passes, and the small group arrives outside Zecora's cabin, and the first to knock on the door is Rarity and shortly Zecora opens the door quietly, seeing that both Spike and Applejack have managed to return unharmed and gives a smile.

"They are fortunate to be found. But I ask for tranquility that will be needed, for your friend." Zecora said in a muffled voice, pointing with one of her helmets to the place of sleep where Twilight is.

They all look at where Twilight is and see that she is sleeping quite peacefully, they didn't know if she was like this as she felt that things could have gone well or Zecora may have given her in her potions a means to have peaceful dreams, but it is better to put something like that aside and it is better to hope that it is not something that has lasting effects.

"Oh, thank you Celestia, she's better than the last time we saw her," Rarity said in a low, relieved voice.

"We'd better let her rest, we'll tell her we're all right tomorrow," Applejack said quietly.

"It's better. Rarity said, "Look at Zecora. "Thank you for helping us."

"There is no need to thank myself, but to thank yourself.

Before the group leaves, Spike approaches Zecora.

"Excuse me Zecora, it won't be a bother if I can at least stay and be with Twilight.

Zecora gives her a smile.

"There will be no problem.

Spike smile.

"Thank you, Zecora."

The others simply give Spike a smile of tenderness for his great loyalty to Twilight and Big Mac gives a sincere smile, even if they wanted to stay for a little longer, the sunset was already beginning to appear on the horizon and it is convenient not to stay in the woods during the night. The main group split up saying goodbye to Zecora and Spike and the group begins their way back, Applejack stopping only for a moment to look back, Pinkie Pie standing next to him.

"Are you missing?" she said curiously, using binoculars to see in the distance.

Applejack turned to look at Pinkie, she was not going to ask where she got those binoculars.

"I do miss you both and I honestly hope you're all going to be okay tonight.

"Oh, don't worry about it, they're going to be fine, especially with the surprises in the forest," she said cheerfully, as he set out again.

Applejack looks at Pinkie Pie curiously, she must have heard from him, or it is just one of the strange times that Pinkie Pie talks, whatever it is better to go her way.

Night comes and Zecora prepares some quilts and blankets to spend the night, Spike was going to get ready to sleep in one of the quilts, but he is stopped by Zecora who points one of her hoofs at Twilight was beginning to suffer from some bad dreams, Spike approaches and settles between Twilight's blankets and closes in to hug her. The action works and Twilight calms down and reciprocates Spike's embrace. Even if her mind is not conscious, it hugs him tightly and she would not let him go.

Zecora finally sees the scene and replaces one of the candles she has leaving her cabin in the dark once again, they let the chirping of the crickets flood the outskirts of the cabin with their song.

The first lights of dawn began to infiltrate through the sale of Zecora's cabin, these lights began to hit Twilight in the face little by little she began to wake up, she still felt tired but better and she no longer felt completely sick. She feels that there is something that is moving between his hooves and it seemed that he is also hugging something, she removes the blankets that she has on her a little and she could not believe who she is seeing, she could not stop some tears of joy from being shed to see that he has Spike between his hooves, he is still fast asleep and with a very peaceful vision of himself, She lets him fall asleep for a while longer while he hugs a little more.

Zecora was not in the cabin at the time, he had left a little before dawn to gather supplies for his positions as well as food, the forest is quiet and does not echo the grunts of the most dangerous animals. The creature that gave that powerful cry frightened of them and they are afraid to show up. But this mystery of the strange footprints they found stays, it is someone who walks on his two legs, but no species she knows wears shoes, due to their size it must be larger than the minotaur's. Something told her that it is possible that this mysterious being is the one who could have saved them, given the proximity of his footprints, but they are assumptions without a concrete foundation, she just hopes that what is in this forest is not going to be an evil one.

With all the supplies gathered Zecora returns to her cabin, when she goes inside, she sees that Spike has gotten up while he helped a little in tidying up the cabin, Twilight also helped as she could, but neither had realized that Zecora had arrived and spoke to them both.

"Even if they are rested by dawn."

At those words both Spike and Twilight are scared, Spike almost loses his balance of putting one of the bottles that luckily none of them dropped, but in Twilight's case she was not so lucky and one of Zecora's masks falls on her, luckily she does not get hurt, but when she lifts up somehow the mask gets stuck.

"Let me help you, Twilight." Spike reaches over to help him remove his mask.

Zecora goes to put the ingredients where they should go and approaches to help Spike and Twilight in removing the mask it seems that neither of them succeeds, she takes it off without too much difficulty something that showed that both Twilight and Spike could not do.

"Thank you, Zecora," Twilight said, a little embarrassed about not being able to take it off at first.

They hear the door of Zecora's hut knocked on.

"I go," said Spike.

He approaches and opens the door and they see that in fact they are all his friends except for Applejack, they all look at Twilight who is much better and before saying a word she ends up being hugged by all of them who incidentally also took Spike in the middle making a big group hug to the two, no word was needed between them all for the mere joy that Twilight has recovered, but Spike would receive no less, in fact the opposite he received even more. But in the end, it is a relief for everyone that things have gone well.

The group organizes to take Twilight back, Zecora prescribes a couple of potions for a quick recovery and to deal with the last vestiges of her illness, with this they return and agrees that they were going to meet later about what both Spike and Applejack were going to need to mention, but for now they have to let Twilight rest.

While in the forest Faltrun is overheated the things he was going to need to have the castle as a temporary shelter like other things, taking what he can fit in his empty pockets, he started shortly before dawn since he had woken up again from his nightmares, the incident he had the day before had abandoned the supplies he was going to need for the camp, gathered what was necessary and headed back to the castle. Since he had met those wooden creatures, he had only seen them once and in all of those they were fleeing in fear, well at least he would not have to deal with them anymore. But he does not have to let his guard down in the slightest, this forest could still bring unpleasant surprises that may come upon it.

With his arrival at the castle he can relieve his tension and focus on what he was going to need, he builds a shelter much better inside the castle with several sticks and leaves to function as covers, with the easiest part already done he plans to make a system that prevents dangerous forest animals from getting in. But it seemed that it is not necessary, the time he has been in the castle he has never seen a single one of those animals inside the castle, he did not know the reasons why, but it was not necessary, the last task he had to do was the most complicated and that is to have to build access points to avoid the ravine that surrounds the castle, but can jump the ravine without problems, but it is better to create an access point and not complicate his life.

He goes first to the bridge he originally took to enter the castle for the first time, when he arrives he takes out the small sphere that he kept in one of his bags, activates it with a few touches of its surface activating it, it floats around the bridge collecting and analyzing the damage and weak points needed for an urgent repair, with the transmitted information, the sphere is getting closer, but it is not going to deactivate it yet.

He approaches the edge of the ravine, and his armor makes the necessary calculations to jump across the abyss, shows the best point and the necessary speed, gets into position, and jumps to the other side without any problem. Now he approaches the edge of the forest and uses the sphere to analyze the trees, and lianas or roots to look for the ones they can best as the necessary amount. The trees that had the best wood he marked for later use, while the lianas and branches he collected.

When he gathers everything, he needs, he will leave them near the bridge, take the sphere, deactivate it, and put it away. He approaches one of the trees that he marked, there are not many in general since he needs the strongest ones in general, which are the best option to make the repairs of the bridge, he approaches the first one and with his hands he takes the tree uproots it without too many problems and takes it with all the other materials he will need.

An hour after starting his work he gathers all the necessary materials, he begins first with cutting some of the trees into trunks to make beams, with the amount already made he begins to put two of them tilting them and putting them on the sides of the bridge, he takes the vines he has to tie them. He takes two other logs, but as vertical pillars putting them in their corners and buries them deep in the ground, with this side done they throw the other necessary trunks to the other side and take the materials that he would need for the other side, to do the same process. Now he needs to fill the gaps in the stones with the wood and fix the loose stones with the vines, gradually fill in the gaps in the stone and fix the loose stones.

But his work stops completely when the bridge ends up collapsing under his weight and falls into the void, in a quick maneuver he grabs the cliff causing the stones to break in his iron grip, seeing that he is already close to the ground and is not very deep he lets go, he takes a look up where the bridge used to be. Give a snort of disappointment for the result, now he will have to make one from scratch or must take the long way that is down the river, just leave it that way he is going to take it the long way.

Since it is already down there it is better to take the opportunity to explore a little to see what things and surprises it can bring him, although it is most likely that he will not find much given to the nature of the place. He spends a while walking without finding anything interesting, luckily it would seem that there are not many animals in the area either, as far as he can say, he stops for a moment when he sees that a little away from where he is he sees that a part of that ravine is stairs, that calls him too much curiosity since that was created in addition to noticing that there is an opening that indicates that it is a possible cave.

He approaches the edge of the cave to see inside, he can only look with strangeness and many doubts about what he is seeing and it is a crystal tree, he approaches and goes inside the cave, he notices that it has some peculiar symbols that on its branches would seem like shields or something similar, but in the center of these it has a different symbology. In the trunk there are two symbols that are literally the representation of the star of the system and its natural satellite, he wonders if the one he saw in that dream has something to do with it, in the center a type of star that does not know its meaning, the rest is quite unknown except for two of them. One is a gem and a lightning bolt, but one does not know that it is about the others.

Beyond just merely the appearance it has is strange there is something that does not know how to explain it beyond the fact that in a way there is a unique form of energy, he thinks about it carefully and it may have to do with the natives about their strange abilities. He remembers stories about the different expeditions that found something that described magic, a kind of added essential force that governs nature itself, this would seem to be like everything else and would explain why he had not seen those strange creatures of the forest in the castle.

Well he went into a cave only for the final in a strange turn of his reasoning to end up having a rational idea of the functioning of this world, a strange form of allegory of this world, too bad that he had to rule out some sign of madness, he has already been very far from that more than he would like and he does not want to have those memories again. He prepares to leave and takes one last look at the mysterious crystal tree, it is perhaps a very strange thing that he will not deny is the energy he felt, it is very positive and harmonious, he takes his next steps that leave the cave moving away and continues his way back to the castle, little does he know that that tree shone a little, perhaps its meaning is curiosity, perhaps take a closer look at their actions.

The afternoon arrives once again in Ponyville the ponies go from one place to another in their chores of the day, even though a certain family was more than happy not to have lost one of their dearest ones, more than one matter still has to be dealt with what they should both talk about, the five friends arrive at the agreed meeting point, Spike had told Twilight about the plans they were going to make on the subject of how they had managed to get to the sisters' castle, Twilight was very interested in her since she indirectly gave an implication that someone had helped them but it is more special than usual.

The group of five friends arrived at separate times at Twilight's treehouse and Rainbow was the last to arrive, not so much because she was slow but because she forgot the memo. With everyone present and somehow with Pinkie comically pulling out a magnifying glass and a detective envelope from somewhere, they quickly put it aside given how Pinkie is, they gathered in the center of the library.

"Well, Spike, Applejack, what can you tell us about what you've experienced in the woods?" Twilight said with a hint of curiosity.

"As you know, all the trouble we had with the Timberwolves and our fall down the river," Spike said.

"Plus, the wound I got on my leg when I hit one of the rocks," Applejack said, emphasizing the condition of his leg.

"I wish I had been there to help them fight and show them that they shouldn't mess with any of our friends," Rainbow Dash said proudly.

Applejack just tilted his eyes.

"Believe me, there were too many and the only thing we could do was run to avoid them but know for Celestia why there were so many at that time.

"The zoology books that talk about Timberwolves, mention that they group together in large numbers when they go hunting very large prey," Twilight said in reflection of the events.

"Let's not get too far off topic, oh we won't finish," Spike said. "The point is that at the end when I woke up I was in the castle of the two sisters, when I explored a little I saw the one who saved us and let's just say that it is very different," Spike pauses for a moment, he didn't know how to explain it. He knows that they are looking at him with eagerness.

"It seems to be exact; it is a being that we had never seen, quite tall something like 4 meters tall that was wearing black armor and did not know how to speak our language, besides appearing to be him because of the type of voice he had," Applejack said.

Before starting to question her appearance anymore, the first to do so is Pinkie who speaks.

"You mean him. "She takes a photograph that shows the group of friends to the subject she is referring to.

It is from Faltrun shortly after she had left with his poncho on, but not reached his feet, all the friends when they see the photo are surprised in a way it gives them some scary given the scary look he has, which affects Fluttershy the most, Rainbow Dash could not deny that her appearance despite being scary is 10% cooler than she expected, With Twilight being more doubtful as to how Pinkie had gotten the photograph, Spike and Applejack were simply going to wait for her questions.

"Pinkie: How did you manage to get a photograph without him noticing? Twilight said in surprise, as she reviewed the image.

"I just posed in front of him and took a picture of him," she said obviously, but it only generated more questions than answers and for the sake of his mental health she left it better to put it aside.

Rarity is the next to check out the photo.

"Outside of its scary appearance, it's too simple the way it dresses, plus those colors aren't very good for hiding in a forest, and even at night it's too contrasting in low-light environments," Rarity said, analyzing the only color the being shown in the photo.

Everyone looks at him curiously at the mention of their colors, only for Rainbow to speak later.

"But it does look pretty cool, just the way it looks," Rainbow Dash said.

Rainbow Dash was arguing with Rarity. The next to take the photo was Fluttershy, when she analyzes a little more, she realizes two things.

"Spike: By mere coincidence, doesn't he have about five fingers?" She said curiously.

All except Applejack, Spike and Pinkie look at him with doubt, Applejack, Spike look at him with clear surprise and Pinkie looks at him with interest.

"How did you know that he has five fingers?" Applejack said in surprise.

"Um. On the day the two of you disappeared at the Cutie Marks, they found a handprint or five-fingered claw that it found close to the river near Rarity's house.

Rarity remembered that.

"It's true, I had completely forgotten that strange footprint they found, I wouldn't be surprised if it was his, besides it's very possible that it was he who made that roar in the forest," she said thoughtfully.

"He's also wearing those huge boots, he left those marks near the river," Pinkie said, emphasizing that last point, something that Fluttershy also nodded to the find.

"What kind of language did he speak? They mentioned that he did not speak our language, you can emphasize it more Applejack," Twilight said as she collected all the notes and clues that each one mentioned about this being.

"Well, I'm not an expert in languages, but I can tell you that there is definitely no way to be able to speak his, the first word he said was his name or so it seems, the sound he made is very different and impossible to pronounce, only Spike could say his name, but not very well.

Twilight thinks things over for a moment.

"Their language is not pronounceable to ponies, but dragons seem to be able to or at least partially," she said curiously as she notes.

"Well, I imagine that you two also gave your names, how do I get to pronounce them?" Rainbow Dash said.

Everyone is attentive to what they are going to say, and it is Spike who speaks.

"It seems that he could, but not without much difficulty, when he tried to pronounce our names, although they did not resemble each other, he was close to doing so, but it was noticeable that his voice did not come out naturally and forced much to make the sounds.

Twilight was thoughtful for a moment while she had her helmet moving slightly from side to side over all the information, her pen that took with her magic writing down on a parchment what she said, all the others got the idea of what was happening with this being.

"Well, with everything you've said, we're in the presence of a being of completely mysterious origin, there's no way we can speak his language, and his difficulty speaking ours won't be easy, with the addition that Spike is only partially the only one who could try, but as for his intentions, it is clear that he does not seem to show signs of evil at least, but he is cautious of possible contact, besides that we know that he is in the castle of the two sisters," Twilight said reflectively.

"It wouldn't be convenient to give him a welcome party so that he can get to know everyone, so he doesn't feel alone," Pinkie said with her characteristic speed.

"Pinkie darling, given his way of being, perhaps the best way to get closer to him, it's more quietly," Rarity said.

Pinkie thinks about it for a moment a calmer approach comes to mind.

"In that case a secret party, just between the seven of us and him, is fine, but when the time comes it will be a party where we will invite everyone," she said with a smile at the end of the last one.

"But first we must send a letter to the princess about our meeting and perhaps wait for our next course of action. She turns to look at Spike.

Before she asks for it, she already has a sheet of paper ready, Twilight begins to write the letter she will send to Princess Celestia.

In Canterlot Princess Celestia is in her private quarters while working on some bureaucratic documents, a few moments ago she left a meeting with her ministers that at least turned out a little more fruitful than other occasions, but it does not take away from the fact that sometimes they are somewhat tedious to have to deal with constantly. Soon he sees a green flame materialize in a scroll, she smiles, unrolls the parchment for a moment she sees that a photograph falls on the ground, she lifts it with his telekinesis, but he does not see the image as he puts it behind the parchment.

They begin to read the content with each word they do, they begin to be surprised, they have just possibly met a species of unknown origin, they have no way of communicating, the difference is not only one of language but also a possible biological difference. It didn't seem that his intentions were evil, given the help he provided to Applejack and Spike, but cautious to say the least since apparently he left them there once he saw the presence of the others, the last part of the letter is a postscript that mentions that they send him a photograph of the being, that Pinkie Pie had taken it, but he does not say how he did it, knowing the element of laughter it is possible that by completely unknown means.

Celestia looks at the photograph and cannot believe what she sees, she knows perfectly well that her student does not make this kind of joke, but this was going down a path that would make the coincidences of it happening something unreal and even imaginative. That is exactly the fact that his sister Luna showed her when that poor filly had nightmares, but his true appearance hidden behind a strange armor. Put those thoughts aside and start writing a letter to Twilight, showing that she should wait for instructions, since she must talk about this with Luna and the two royal courts on the matter.

When he finishes, he rolls up the scroll and sends it back to Twilight, gets up from his place and approaches the door to talk to one of her lairs.

"Guards," she said in a soft, but authoritative call.

"If your majesty?" Both guards said in unison.

"I need you to notify the members of the day and night royal court to prepare for an emergency meeting and notify Princess Luna once she wakes up.

"As you order, princess.

One of the guards quickly leaves to give the warning and Celestia goes into her room once again, approaches her carpet once again to lie down again and before finishing the rest of the documentation she needs to do, she takes one last look at the photograph and saves it to use later, this was going to get very long once the Cortes met.

She returns to his work with the documentation he has to finish, she stops to feel the presence of a magic very different from that of all the others, a unique but too familiar, she turns around where the magic comes from to see a certain character who has decided to appear in the form of a pedestal hidden from among his things.

"Good afternoon, Discord," she said politely.

"What an interesting thing has been put in these, to have to call all the most important of Equestria including those who are only snobs. While floating in a pink cloud lazily over Celestia, while drinking a glass of chocolate milk.

"The situation ended up coming from an interesting finding that Twilight and her friends found, more specifically Applejack and Spike who are the ones who had the first encounter with him. "While she continues focusing on the documents it has to finalize.

"As well as the element of laughter, which somehow manages to take a photograph without noticing," he said with a smile.

Celestia looks through a mirror she has in her room to see that Discord has the photograph in her eagle claw.

"Avoid damaging the image, it is for now the only one we have on him," he said gently.

Discord snaps it back to where he found it.

"At least one interesting thing is going to happen these days, I wonder what Luna reaction will be. It is exactly like that picture," he said with interest in the picture.

"You may be very surprised that it wasn't the figment of a filly's imagination, but that part isn't as interesting as knowing how I got into Luna's domain?" She said with a hint of curiosity.

Discord starts to think a little about that question that Celestia asked while grabbing and lowering his beard, an interesting question came to him.

"Something tells me that his entry into Luna's domain was more the exception than the norm," he said with a smile at the idea he has.

Celestia looks at him curiously.

"What reasons could you have to consider it?

"Now that the being that came from dreams is real, it could come with its own peculiarity," he said with a smile and floats to Celestia's vicinity.

She thinks for a moment about his words, to see what it is about.

"Luna hasn't found it, but achieving something like this is only possible if the user has a strong magical control to hide in the dream world or..." "She comes to the realization of the second option.

"That just makes it something that we could say is unique and completely different from anything that has ever been seen," he said with emotion in his voice.

"But that would go against all logic, every being and even thing in this world has a magical essence that makes them what they are," she said reasoning in the face of such a thing.

Discord smile.

"What is sometimes called logic in the face of our own observations, can become illogical to others who see different things," he said cryptically in his words.

"A being from another world or even from another reality," she said reflectively.

"That is a question that sooner or later you will have to solve, like the enigma of how things work in their own reality." He floats in front of Celestia while watching her eyes waiting for an answer.

Celestia understood his words if it is true what he supposes or supposes, it will be quite an experience in understanding the functioning of things of this being, but it gives Discord a smile.

"It's going to be an interesting experience to talk to the being and understand the workings of its world as it does to make it understand ours, but it's even possible that your own form of chaos is as strange or even more illogical than what we do," she said with a slightly conceited smile.

Discord just snorted and gives him a look of defiance with a smile.

"We'll see when that day comes," he said with a smile.

Soon Discord disappeared from Celestia's chambers leaving her alone once again, she gives a long sigh at least she could let her for moments not have to deal with bureaucratic work again, but eventually she had to do it again once again she refocused on her work.

Faltrun had explored part of the cliff that was there, but since there was not much more to explore, he goes back to the castle, in a sense he whistled without being heard from outside his armor, it is just a song of his people, too bad he could not keep a repertoire to listen to them. He arrives at the outskirts of the castle and goes inside to approach the south side where the bridge was, well he no longer has as such an access to the outside the way of the river, it is better that he would leave it for now, he decides to focus on something else, there is still a certain void of information that he needs, he hoped that the library of this castle was still intact.

He gets a little into the different corridors that are in the castle, avoids the traps that there are, it takes him some time due to the lack of reference for the unexplored parts of the castle as well as a record of the traps, after a few moments of exploration he finally arrives at the castle library. To his surprise a huge amount of these are kept on its shelves with the exception of one or another that has fallen out of place, for the final test all of those with care given the delicacy it has for the passage of time, the inside of the book was still preserved quite well and the leaves are still maintained.

He sees the writings inside and these are made with pen and ink without the use of a printing press, it was not yet listed as those who do not have wings or horn could write without the use of those, before starting to analyze the letters and try to start deciphering the letters, notice that on this page he has drawings. They are not the explanatory type rather it had a rather funnier theme, for some strange reason it is a kind of knight fighting with some kind of snail, he turns to the next page for a strange hybrid of them with other creatures of very curious and even funny shapes, when he turns the next page, he has to hold back his laughter.

"That kind of mood never changes," he said gracefully at the type of drawing.

It's one of them that has a kind of air instrument that is placed right on his butt, it's been a long time since he had a sincere laugh for something so absurd but at the same time it's strangely so familiar, but he has to put it aside for the moment and goes for the first page of the book. He takes out the small sphere and starts doing analysis of the letters, this work is going to be an exceptionally long one for himself.

Several hours pass and soon the last lights of the day begin to hide on the horizon, Faltrun finishes the decoding work for the moment, gets up from his place and stretches a little until he feels the vertebrae of his back crack along with other joints, he walks to the exit of the library and goes once again to his camping place.

At Canterlot Castle when Princess Luna had woken up, she had received the memo of an emergency meeting from her sister, before that she was going to meet her in the solarium since it was time to raise her moon and make way for the night. Soon he finds himself in the solarium and sees his dear sister Celestia who is waiting for him while she gives him a smile that returns it and stands next to him.

"Ready Lulu's."

Luna aims at them with a sound.

"Ready Tia."

Both sisters use their magic, Celestia hides the sun king on the horizon hiding its light, Luna raises the quicksilver moon to rise in the night sky accompanied by the infinity of stars. With their homework done, both sisters give a small smile at the arrival and departure of their respective stars and go to the meeting room.

"Sister, you have summoned us for an emergency matter, what is the reason?" Luna said seriously.

"The elements of harmony, namely Spike and Applejack, have come into contact with a being of unknown origin during their time in the Everfree Forest," she said with a serious countenance in the matter.

"We imagine that he had no bad intentions.

Celestia smiles.

"That's right, especially Applejack who had been injured in one of his legs.

"But it does not mean that any suspicion of his intentions is ruled out.

"Yes, the information Twilight gave is interesting, he has no knowledge of our language.

Luna reflects.

"A communication problem, this will not be easy at all, and it will take a long time to learn our language and his.

"There is an additional problem, apparently the language he has is an unpronounceable one, not the sense of his words, but in the ability to make sounds, the peculiar thing is that Spike seems to be the only one who could come close to saying something, but without a great difficulty in doing so and in making mistakes."

Luna looks at him curiously.

"You mean that there is no natural way to say their sounds? "Think for a few moments. "It's possible because we have a biological form that differentiates, that also means he could have the same problem when trying to speak in ours."

"And it's only going to get even worse." Celestia shows the photograph that she had sent to her.

Luna takes it and when she sees it, she is completely surprised.

"It's not possible." Look more closely at the image.

"It's exactly like that strange nightmare you showed us.

"But how?" Luna was trying to find a logical answer to this, especially how he managed to access that filly's dream. Reach a conclusion. "He's not a being of this world, it's possible that he was from beyond what we think," Luna said in surprise.

"It's a conclusion that Discord and I also came to a similar conclusion.

Luna upon hearing the name Discord turns to look at Celestia.

"Discord?" She said doubtfully.

"A few hours ago, Discord came to my room, and it seems that he is much more attentive to events than I would expect.

"Okay then the idea that he doesn't know of this world comes from Discord.

"We didn't come to that conclusion because of his appearance, but rather because of another question, just as you had doubts about how she had come to that filly's dreams without you noticing?

"The chances of something like this happening are that he was a very powerful magic user, hiding his presence in the dream world or he is someone who has no magic at all in his own being.

"That is exactly the conclusion we had reached.

Luna thinks of one more thing: there is a third way.

"There may be another way, a different one, even in the strangeness of things everything has an essence that makes them part of themselves, it may be that in the end it is not magic that defines it, but something from which it comes that distinguishes it from everything else.

Celestia thinks about it for a moment.

"It's possible, but it's imperceptible to you, but trying to get to that form would be much more complicated, especially if you're someone who hides your true nature.

"But then we shall have to find out whether his actions are good or bad for us all." Both sisters arrive at the meeting room watched by both the day guard and the night guard.

"In that case, let's start with the first step."

Both sisters arrive at the meeting room and the doors open, where the members of the two royal courts are present.