Knights of Iron

Chapters

Chapter 1: Crafts and Confessions
Chapter 2: Return & Rise
Chapter 3: First Flight and Meeting
Chapter 4: Mental Gymnastics
Chapter 5: Words of Authority
Chapter 6: Clad in Resolution
Chapter 7: Forging Hope
Chapter 8: Family Matters
Chapter 9: Day of Reckoning
Chapter 10: Departure for Rest
Chapter 11: Space and Time to Grow

Chapter 1: Crafts and Confessions

Author's Note

Welcome to a new story. Hope you like the setup.

Peace in Ponyville is a common sight and that normally means good things. There are things, under the facade of peace where upset can be found.

Chapter 1: Crafts and Confessions

Rarity washed her face with cool water in the early morning after her shower, making sure to clean her face of makeup thoroughly after her... activities last night. She enjoyed the afterglow right after her bedroom workout and the morning after. Her boyfriend, sleeping in her bedroom, rested with blissful content even without a smile. Though the scar over right eye and the patch of gray around his left eye and up his ear would normally take from a stallion's handsome appeal, his conduct retains a strong presence to him that could not be denied. The way he grabbed and pinned her after the mare went through the trouble of dropping her not-so-subtle hints was certainly the action and stance to be expected of a stallion. Goodness she's getting hot just remembering it without the wine she drank, but business first. Before that, "wake up darling." She nudged the white stallion to wake him, his lengthy claret magenta mane falling in his face as he turned over, seeing a cleaned and dressed Rarity, ready for work after the aggressive love making last night.

"Is it noon?" Rarity shook her head as he leaned up, legs swinging over the edge and planting to the floor. "Good." He took the mare by her top and pulled her into a kiss before letting go right there. The mare, startled, saw a wry smirk on his face. "I was afraid I missed morning kisses."

She couldn't help the deep blush coming to her face or the smile on her lips. "Goodness, you can be so rough yet so charming with a lady. Are you rehearsing in private?" The mare's teasing was met with an arm wrapping around her waist in a lazy hug. "Nature needs no rehearsals." Those words from Iron made her a bit swoon before she eased out, having to go downstairs to begin work. Iron wasn't behind that much after getting his shower to do the same.

Coming down in his wielder overalls and boots, the stallion gave Rarity one last kiss before taking Sweetie Belle to school. As he arrived, he noticed two mares waiting out in front of the school house. The cyan mare being Rainbow Dash, who’s dropping off Scootaloo, while Iron was contemplating why Fluttershy was there, since he didn’t see Applbloom just yet. “Morning Dash, Shy. Are you two waiting for something?”

Rainbow waved with a friendly smile as she and Fluttershy nodded with Rainbow speaking first. “We got a letter yesterday morning. Natah’s going to be paying a visit.” Though Rainbow’s face was calm, her wings were fidgeting with excitement as her racing buddy and colt friend were going to be paying a visit. The two were speed freaks ever since Natah was a young colt, after catching his first look at the sonic rainboom, but once they met they became thick as thieves. Fluttershy met him a bit later after the three became close over the years. Just beyond the 4 year mark, Rainbow Dash and Natah had finally grown to have a more romantic rather than rivalry-fueled relationship with Fluttershy following just a year later. Even if she was still “shying away”.

“He said he should be here before the first bell.” Fluttershy spoke up out of nervousness, having a schedule of grocery shopping to keep in order to feed her animals. Thankfully they did not have to wait long, as a sonic boom was heard just outside of Ponyville as they turned their observation to the sky. An ebony stallion with amber-gold feathers, body markings and a longhorn with an amber-gold gradient from his dark coat stood before them in a sleek armor of his own making landed in front of the schoolhouse with everyone present staring at the alicorn in awe.

“Natah, my guy!” Rainbow ran up to him and gave the prince a quick hug before pulling away. “Certainly took your sweet time to make your arrival, but I do like the flare from the entrance.”

“Right.” Chortled Natah playfully as he just smiled, noticing Rainbow’s fidgeting wings and a blush on both hers and Fluttershy’s cheeks. “So what’s got you two so rosy seeing me? We’ve known each other for… what a couple hundred years?” The girls simply nodded but they still didn’t know how to say it. He pulled them in but whispered to Rainbow, “I already know what it takes to melt that tomboy attitude, skittles.” His low and raspy voice at this distance tickled her hearing as she could feel her lips curl up with a hotter blush.

As he was getting a rise out of her, two familiar fillies began to poke his sides, making him squawk out in surprised laughter, which gave Rainbow some ammo for payback, using her feather to tickle him between open segments of his protective gear. She tried holding him but he did manage to escape, retreating from the tickle monsters. “Rainbow!” Scolded Fluttershy as the mare gave the cyan speedster a soft glare, more resembling a pout.

Rainbow shrugged with a sheepish grin, as she figured she’d have to go after Natah now. She was, in fact, ready to set out when they heard, “put me down!” The group looked over and saw Applejack carrying Natah back to the school house like a sack of apples, with Rarity in tow with a package in her hands. Seems lunch was forgotten for the filly and stallion, but she had other business anyway, so it works out. Once the three fillies saw each other, the sun grew dim from their bright smiles, Rarity’s seemed more out of awe. “To catch Rainbow Dash is one thing but Natah?!”

Applejack just shrugged her shoulders. From her perspective, she felt someone like Scootaloo about to rush by and stuck her hand out to catch them. When she saw it was Natah, she just carried him back to the schoolhouse, since that was where he was supposed to meet Rainbow for a reunion.

Natah, having been carried back like a rowdy foal, had continued to stand there just barely behind Apple’s side. The mischievous gaze on his multi-colored mare still bearing down on him. “I’m innocent…” As Natah was staring up to Rainbow with embarrassed apprehension, Rarity passed off lunch to Sweetie Belle before ushering her to her friends and their school while passing a meal to Iron, who took the food with gratitude. The stallion, knowing full well what may come next, looked over to Applejack. He’d worked in her family’s field a few times as a favor though honesty tends to work both ways when you spend enough time together.

Applejack looked between the two and kept her temper under control. She wasn’t really mad at them, more herself for not knowing better. “I just need to know what you two did last night. The smell is potent enough to be a perfume.” Rarity was both surprised and scared since that meant Iron was all over her, maybe not in that way now but the point still stands. “...buck.” Rarity was at a crossroads on how to explain it and her blush was getting no better.

Iron, ever the knight to the rescue spoke up. “We did what a passionate couple would do when there is trust between each other, we shared the bed. Though I nearly broke it.” His blunt words were just enough to give Applejack an idea of what Rarity was pinned under, at least so the children present did not hear the nasty details between two adults. “O…kay I am… silenced and impressed that you said that.” Iron raised a brow before looking over the flannel that was barely covering and supporting her breasts and her shorts which were seemingly ready to protest against her ample bottoms. “And I don’t think you have much room to talk, considering the fact you came here in those shorts and that top. Granted you work in the heat, but you just started your day.”

“Yeah, plus there isn’t a heck of a whole lot I can wear.” Applejack said with a dejected look, almost glaring angrily at Rarity’s more evenly voluptuous figure. How she is so blessed to not have the cursed bottom muscles the Apple females have must be nice, though it lets her feel some sympathy for Fluttershy for her figure. Poor pegasus is built like the unholy delivery of a runway model and a wet nurse. “Darling, you know I can make you something more accommodating for your figure.” Rarity felt that hot glare but knew why Applejack can be so touchy about clothes, especially denim; hard to work with, too rigid and not enough space.

“You could wear more breezy clothing, if you’re trying to fight the heat.” Iron’s innocent suggestion made the mare’s face heat up with frustrated embarrassment, making the stallion wish he’d not opened his mouth the first time. Now, though, this was just getting ridiculous. “Okay, AJ, what is the matter? What are you wanting from me? I know I cheated you out of the first night but your honesty is your default. You still put a filter on your words and it makes the signals a bit mixed.”

This made Rarity realize why she felt so inclined to try offering Iron so much to tell her she did like him. It wasn’t until she withdrew her generosity to give him more emotional sentiments, especially after last night’s date, that he finally reacted. “If you have something you really want to say Applejack, say it.”

The farm mare was about to protest before she was, quite literally, saved by the bell, ushering all the children in as she took a deep breath. She strode up to the white stallion with her honest nature acting as her foundation as she finally said the truth. “Since Bloom is now out of ear shot… Iron, all I want from you is your character. All that pillow fluff the other couples spew in bed… I don’t want that.” AJ could feel her body heat up again from her rising heart rate and heat, but she pressed on. “I want nasty promises, enticing threats, lovely dangers - I want my skin and ears to feel like I’ve been thunderstruck as you make me feel like a mare comic whore when you roll me on the hay. Not in the hay, on it. I want Equestria to see me bare your kids on the farm.” She felt her legs tremble while tears stung her eyes, her face down cast from the regret of listening to her best friend. “I feel… so dirty and sinful now…”

As she was lamenting her guilt, a hand raised her eyes back to Iron, who was looking soulfully into her green jewels before she was surprised again, this time by a quick kiss to her lips. “Then Tartarus better keep their claws off you.” Those words, possessive and protective, made her heart feel like it could leap out of her chest while the others, who heard that nasty honesty, felt as though an angel was forgiven for its sin of decadence.

“You… really don’t think I was… nasty?” Applejack was still thoroughly embarrassed, though the shame melted with those simple actions, bold as the sun and gentle as the moon.

“There really is no shame in telling someone how you feel. You are you, and others should love you for that alone.” Natah’s words held weight as he knows this much better than most. “Right, Dashie?” His teasing tone returned as he directed the inflection to the cyan mare.

“You better shut your mouth, goldie locks.” Rainbow’s own blush was only mocked by a challenging smirk, daring the mare to make a move.

Iron then held AJ in a hug as he addressed everyone, still looking at the farm mare with determined eyes. “My turn.” Everyone perked up to see what he’d say. "I'll fulfill your wish." The group was both flustered and confused as his words first came out as vague. "I'll threaten your body with pregnancy as I toss your beautifully sturdy frame in the orchard. The fornication I put you through will be an R-rated wet dream since you want the night sky to see you getting plowed and fertilized like your farm in spring." His words came out hoarse as he whispered into her ear but the others could hear his breathing into her. "I bedded Rarity because of her respect, so I'll court you for your honesty to yourself. You'll be my 'childhood sweetheart' as we toss in the dirt and seed an orchard of our own in your 'apple blossom'."

While Rarity knew Iron could be rather… nasty, what came out of him was filthy enough she and Natah both were as red as a sunset and just as bothered. “I did not know a man could talk to a mare so… boldly like that.” Natah’s words were chortled at by Rainbow but she knew what he meant. Even she wasn’t… that steamy with her language.

Natah’s gaze snapped to the mare, who really was trying to not laugh. “Excuse me, Dashie? Do we need to race?” Rainbow, remembering something from earlier on the topic, pulled a piece of paper from her bag and put it on a nearby table. This caught everyone's attention. "What's this?" Crude as it may have been, it looked like a well made map and a route through the nearby Everfree forest.

"It's a racing route. I was told by Iron that I'm too used to the routes in Ponyville, since they don’t push my limits due to familiarity. After thinking about it, he's right." She then started to go over the map and her racing route, which seemed to be more of a race of endurance. Iron gave it a look over and saw it went over the vast majority of the Everfree area, not just the greenery. Though one section in the middle of the forest and one at the end of the circuit were straight shots. She said this was to address the simplicity and stagnation of her usual training, a means of helping her to push her speed in time attacks. Fluttershy then spoke up as the two stallions looked at places on the map that looked a bit dangerous. "It took a few days to get the tracking just right so each lap would push her limits. I was opposed, but she did ask me to come along to be a spotter for the areas, so any harm is my responsibility too." They two let out a sigh of relief, though this did kick Natah's pride a bit, since he's often the reckless speed demon, even more than Rainbow.

With the route planned, Iron went about his way to the workshop after kissing Applejack and Rarity a quick farewell for their jobs. Natah, still with the pegasi, looked over to the butter yellow mare now that she was a bit more relaxed. “Speaking of asking, is there something you wanted to say, Flutters?”

The poor mare’s face went from the soft yellow to a deep red as her wings popped hard from an erection. Hard to hide the contents of her question with that body language. “I was… wanting to know if y-you would take me to the clouds like Rainbow does. T-take me as your m-mare.” The sound of the birds seemed to stop as everyone present felt their own feats of confidence get shot in the knee by this mare’s boldness.

Natah was also astounded before taking the mare into a hug, his shorter height meaning a face full of those soft pillows but his joy and pride could not be misplaced. “That is rather bold of you to say, Flutters. I thought you’d ask a different stallion, given… well…” He glared at the fact his left wing meant few pegasi would look his way. Rainbow would have said something had Fluttershy not beat her to it, taking Natah’s face and making him look at her.

“Listen here, Chronus, I asked you not because you are an alicorn, not because of your station and not because of your handi-” She stopped herself swiftly and lifted the smaller alicorn with ease and hugged him closely, more eye level. “I asked because we’ve known each other for so long, letting Rainbow and me see your growth, your smile, your pain and your bravery. None of that has anything to do with my emotions, so don’t ever say that again.” She wanted to bring up the handicap that he’s been having to hide with his armor, but it’s already a sore subject for him, so she left her words there and held him close, not wanting him to stew in his depression.

The firm gesture and caring aura brought Natah’s joyful smile back, Rainbow joining in on the hug so that Natah would fully know how much he is loved by the two mares. “You two are just… so dang sweet, you know that?” They only cooed to agree with him, sharing the moment for a bit more as Natah tried to fight back his tears of joy.

The Iron Forge Workshop
Arriving at the shop, Iron opened the massive sliding doors of the exterior walls, allowing natural light to flow in as he continued to open windows and skylights. The Forge, itself, awakened gently with a yawn sounding like groaning metal as it lifted itself from the floor. The main floor of the shop was expansive to accommodate the Forge, a golem made with metals of the purest refinement possible and powered by a Crystal Core. Various suits of armor made for the guard that work under the princesses and for the local towns lined the walls off to the side and away from the main floor.

"Greetings, Iron Wrought." The Forge spoke with joy. It wiped the sleep from its eyes before turning them onto a replacement core, made from leftover minerals from the resources gathered. "Good morning Iro. What's your condition?" The greeting was rather standard for Iron since he wanted to treat the machine as a person over a tool. Sentient golems worked day and night to make the tools and armor but can still dream like others, even if they don’t ‘sleep’ in the conventional sense.

"My status is optimal as always, at present, but I still thank you for asking." It replied graciously, the voice having a mix of humming and ringing like the song metal makes when flicked, almost like an accent for it. It reached for the Crystal Core it was working on and presented it to Iron. "Will this be a sufficient improvement to your shop?"

Iron looked at the core presented before shaking his head solemnly. "Iro, that core will not be you if we replace it, though I wish we'd done better on our first try for someone so precious and priceless." The stallion said sadly, his eyes noting the much improved design of the crystal density and the energy ratio from the atomic alignment. "We can send this to Canterlot to work for the princesses directly, but you will be more important to this town for both your time and contribution." These words, though meaning little to the golem now, seemed to resonate in it, as if the song of Iron's own heart harmonized with the machine.

"Very well. Thank you for your input. And your words." Iro nestled the core, cradling it like a father before setting it aside. "Now, for the armor you requested, the prototype is ready for deployment. There is an issue, however."

"I already figured." He waited for a bit as the golem took out another Crystal Core, though much smaller. "It doesn't look that potent, but we are testing power sources so this should be viable. Go ahead and install." The golem nodded before turning to the armor in question. It was designed to be similar to the standard armor used by the guard, modified for power sources ranging from backpack extensions to internal generators. A flexible material runs throughout the interior with additional connectors to prevent energy transfer lag from the power source to the entire suit, making it look closer to full plate armor. The back was extended outward to allow for the core in the form of a casing, which the core was slotted into before the casing was sealed and the back closed.

The Forge worked a bit and ensured a good seal before looking to Iron. "It is ready for its test." Iron nodded and stripped to his underwear, since this would be donned like standard armor, the Stigma on his back on display for a bit as he stepped into the armor. The inner material sealed up like a jacket before the plates moved about to ensure a firm fit to his form, his mane done up and in place before stepping to the middle of the shop for a literal test run.

The test began with a boom and was immediately ended with a roar from Iro, both turning Natah’s and Fluttershy’s heads to the shop as they flew over in worry. Meanwhile, Iron was at the end of a trench head created from the startup, the core of the armor having provided too much power, more than a physical body can handle, much less a terran. From Iro's distress call, the dark and gold streak of Natah was already on the way, landing in front of the armor and ripping the plates off so the arms could unlatch and release Iron. Thankfully, there was no serious injury, a concussion at the worst, mostly shell shock. "Thanks." The white terran said gratefully to his friend and savior.

"What the heck happened?!" The alicorn asked in a demanding and worried tone, his eyes reflecting this concern upon seeing the shallow trench created by the suit's test run.

"Relax. It was a simple startup and test run." Iron slowly eased himself to his feet, the alicorn stabilizing him as the stallion looked at the heavily dented armor. “Simple my bright stripes! You made a trench, what were you doing?” The alicorn’s warranted concerts were met with a deep breath and sigh as Iron steadied his body and mind.

“I was testing power sources for the new armor. Apparently a single heart, even from a small beast, was too much for the superstructure.” The explanation from Iron left Natah blanched from immediate fear. It used the heart as intended, but still could not handle the heart's output or the damage from the crash. “One hea-dear god! Iron I do respect the grit but could I ask, as rich as it is to come from me, for you to pump the damn brakes just a little?” Coming onto the scene from above, the cyan mare, Rainbow Dash, hit the ground to inspect what happened. Even after giving her the rundown, she was still worried about any lasting damage. "I'm fine skittles. I'll see a doctor later on."

"Seriously dude, what happened?" She asked, looking at how bent the armor was in places. “Besides you turning yourself into a RAILGUN ROUND and making us worry the next test is going to end up putting the metal through your chest?”

"I used the core of a Phantom, which proved to be too powerful. Maybe it was the size." As he was thinking of ideas, he looked over to Iro, who's plates were drawn into a concerned look. "I'm fine Iro, really. And it was an accident. We just did not know the result."

"Seriously, what possessed you to think that was safe?" Pressed the alicorn as Natah put his own two bits in out of worry. “You might be better off strapping something like that to a titan…” The alicorn felt glares from the mares being bored into him after saying that. "What?"

"He said it was a test. I doubt he knew what the outcome was going to be." She said before looking at the terran and asking, "right?"

"It was a small core from one beast in what is basically just powered armor. I didn't think it would be too much, so it's back to the drawing board." The terran rested on his couch in the shop.

Taking a breath of relief, now that his friend was taking it a little easy, Natah spoke up while he had an idea. “Since that is settled… Rainbow, why don’t we start our race here, if you’re raring to go?” He had the same cocky smile as the chromatic mare shared the look before nodding.

With both matters brought full circle in a seamless manner, a sigh of relief washed from Natah. “Good lords, all this has me stressed out. I can only imagine how Pinkie would react to this.” He had a right to voice his concern since the only one that seemed to put the brakes on when something gets out of ha-”

“Oh that’s an easy answer” The aforementioned pink mare said as she came out of Fluttershy’s tail like some shadow of hue before the rest of her followed, fully dressed before having a smile of dread and fury. “I remind myself that my friends can be reckless and they just need someone to care for them. Now if someone hurt them that way I would make certain that they feel as helpless as they make me for witnessing my friends in a state that I cannot relieve them of.”

“i…ok first of all, where did you come from?” Natah asked, expressing everyone’s obvious shock at the mare’s apparent super power to just break reality. “Secondly, who hurt you to get you THIS pissed?!”

“Oh I’m not hurt. I’m just damaged” The pink mare said factually with a beaming smile. While everyone was shocked, Iro was the one to express sadness with the inverbal groaning in his chest. “Aw, don’t be sad for me Smithy. I have plenty of help from my friends.” Pinky said with a reassuring smile before turning to Iron. "Still, I'd say what you did was a bit more reckless than what Natah normally does, even when you account for the race he and Rainbow are having.”

“Wait, you already knew?” The alicorn and pegasus asked in shock before the pink terran just nodded her head swiftly with a smile.

“So what’s this…? Are you some kinda shadow stalker now…?” She looked off to the side with a pondering expression and just shrugged her shoulders innocently, not really knowing or saying how she knew, since it’s her running secret.

“Are you sure you two want to do this right now, though?” Iron spoke up, referring to the race the two speedsters were geared up and psyched for. Natah chuckled as he answered with a cocky smile. “Don’t worry about a thing, Wrought. With both of our speeds, we can run the circuit and finish the area or even the lap before those beast’s have a chance to see what flew over them.”

“Even though you two will be going through a combination of long straights and winding turns that call for more dexterity?” This caught the alicorn as he seemed more proud of his direct speed than acceleration, having a sheepish smile. Iron knew better, though, since these two fliers loved testing their limits. This brought a smile to the terran’s face as he finally agreed.

As he felt better, Iron stood up, going to one of the benches and pulling out a strange object, though one Natah was a bit familiar with. "Another project?" Iron nodded to Rainbow’s question as he led the two to the sliding doors. "We'll start the race with this thing. When you hear it go off, you race." The speedsters nodded and got into position. "Mark." He said, aiming the object upward as the two relax their wings. "Set." Their legs tense as they prepare to kick off. Iron putted the tool's trigger and Natah sped off as he saw the light from the object while Rainbow launched at the sound.

The crack of the shot echoed throughout the town and Iron clicked a switch as an item dropped from a housing, followed by a scowl on his muzzle. "Burned." He tossed the shorted crystal cell into a crate while setting the object on the bench. "Um... may I ask... what this is?" The timid Pegasus asked, still a bit shaken from the sudden cracking it produced. "I'd be a little more worried about-" "What the hell was that!?" He knew the resident unicorn would not ignore that sound. She'd heard the sonic booms from Rainbow and Natah so many times that she never bothered to check the one he made, but the sudden crack from the tool he created was much more alarming as she forgot her teleportation out of hurry.

"Good to see you too, stardust." The stallion greeted the overly organized unicorn dryly before her eyes set on the object, activating her neurons out of her intense curiosity. Already knowing where this would be heading, he started to move about the shop with graceful steps to keep the item from her study. This had the added effect of agitating her as she became more angered with her charge, eventually combusting into flames with a glowing white coat. He played the matador and lined up one charge out of the shop before shutting the sturdy door. This action was soon followed by hard rocking and banging against the door as Twilight had fully forgotten she could teleport. Again.

“Oh, she is really mad.” Pinkie said with a giggle before putting her finger to her chin. “But she’s also acting a wee bit feral, and it needs to stop.” She went from happy to serious as she looked around. “Smithy, could you get a shield ready? We’re going to use that to knock Twili out. Iron, Fluttershy, let her charge in, open the door and let her run in so she doesn’t destroy the doors.”

Nodding, the three got their places and Pinkie counted down perfectly before blowing a whistle she pulled from her tail. With a kick to the plank, the wood latching was sent off its fixture by Iron before Fluttershy opened the door right as Twilight charged. She ran in and collided with the shield with a metal ring echoing in the shop. She soon lost her balance and was knocked out from the collision. Being the motherly type, Fluttershy hoisted Twilight up and onto the nearby couch to let her rest. The poor unicorn’s head was certainly going to be throbbing.

“OOOF. I know someone is going to be a dizzy wizzy after that.” Pinkie said playfully as she checked Twilight’s head. “She’ll be fine.”

As soon as Pinkie said that, the sky was shaken and light by two echoes of sonic booms. Right after these sonic disruptions, Rainbow was the first one to land in the shop, breathing hard and smiling from ear to ear as sweat dripped from her coat. A cheer rang from her like a war cry as her excitement reached its peak. Natah was seconds behind as he landed, armor steaming against the cooler air and bright red from the intense burden put on it. “Rainbow. What. The hell. Was that?!”

“That was the result of my hard work and constant labor, a Double Chrome Rainboom!” Her giggling could not stop as she was just ecstatic with her accomplishment.

Just as he was about to challenge her giggling, the safety of the armor activated and launched him out of the suit, more steam pouring from the interior to rapidly cool back into the safe zone for itself and the wearer. “...ow.” The ejection left him with no time to react as he landed on the floor with a blank face before getting up. “Ugh… that armor was augmented with Twilight’s help to push passed her Sonic Rainboom, and she pulls THAT out?!” Despite looking like he could have been cooked alive, the stallion does look surprisingly good as always with his abs-

“NATAH! CLOTHES?!” The alicorn’s confused face was apparent before seeing his nude state. He still blushed even after dressing himself, since he basically revealed his constant nudity under the armor. The steam finally washed away and the faces of pity were hard to press away. He saw the expressions with confusion before dread flooded his face.

“IRO! DOOR!” The Forge was quick to use its longer construction arms to grab and close the large sliding doors before locking them in place. The skylights were closed and the fans were turned on, just so the steam had somewhere else to vent. This revealed the armor possessing a wing of its own, made from a primary augment Twilight had made in order to hide Natah’s biggest secret and disability.

As the armor cooled during restart, the wing collapsed back into the armor as the party made sure no one could see into the shop. Just as everyone was settling down from sealing up the shop, Twilight began to stir, knocking everyone out of their stupor. “Um… why is she-nevermind I see the gun.” Natah didn’t need to look very far to see the possible reason she was knocked out. He approached her and knelt down with an empathetic expression. “You good twi-”

“Why does everything hurt…?” Her voice was hoarse yet she was still loud enough with her question from the frustration she was still feeling.

“Well we had to do SOMETHIN’ to keep you from going Tauros on us” Pinkie spoke up before helping Twilight to her feet. “More specifically on my damn doors.” The terran said with a scolding tone, making Twilight blush at her rudeness before looking away. The stallion didn’t question her but figured he’d have to explain himself anyway.

“One thing that had occurred to me.. what’s gotten amethyst over here so enamored with what is essentially a glorified starter pistol?” And there it is. “Probably the fact it didn’t sound like a normal sonic boom compared to the ones you too normally make or the one I made earlier.” Iron’s comment had Twilight shocked for a moment as she slowly looked back at him with fear. “But to explain why I made it, I wanted to make a secondary form of weaponry for the guard, veneration and respect included.”

“Veneration?” Twilight, knowing the definition but not its applications, was rather surprised that any weapon is given that much sentimental value for any reason. Being the general type of intellectual she is, this confused her.

Natah knew perfectly what Iron meant. Weapons like swords and spears are made and treated with great care as they are weapons that both protect and take life. They are venerated for their role and thanked for their service by the knights who value their worth. If something like this gun ever makes it to production just to have them in mass quantities, they are treated as a simple tool of death and not an instrument of defense.

Iron, still shaking his head at her question. “This weapon is no different from a sword, club or spear. It’s designed to take a life. That shot, though, was not as far as I hoped it would go. Which might be for the better.” Iron had been on and off of the project for months as he didn’t know if finishing the weapon would be worth the danger it could bring. “I don’t want something this dangerous to be treated so callously… but I also want to improve on the cartridge’s design to increase range before working on power.”

Natah was ready to offer some suggestions before the pegasi in the room shot him a glare. He’d already provided more than enough for Equestria, from helping terrans learn they can use internal magics and energies to current weapon redesigns that are in limited use for their power. While he’d want to see more in the world, he had to be reminded that people want to accomplish things, and taking that from them outright would undermine them learning how to do it in the first place.

Speaking of learning, the others looked to Iron’s armor as it was finished being rebuilt. It looked a bit more like the standard knight armor with a bit more bulk around the shoulders and legs with a few extra inches of plating. Natah was about ready to offer suggestions on the armor before both girlfriends clocked him on the top of his head. This caught the other three’s attention as the impact was enough to be felt in the shop. “I would not be surprised if he suffered brain damage,” said Twilight with a wince after remembering her recent collision with the shield.

“We kept telling him to stop and he can be dang reckless about his choices.” Rainbow countered Twilight’s words as the mare knew Natah better than the unicorn what the alicorn would get into.

“It was just a suggestion, wasn’t it?” Twilight challenged, starting to defend Natah before thinking about her own experiments and sighing from realization. “I guess that's why it was a test, though. You expected something to go wrong." Iron nodded as he really only started up the armor and used a limited output. Even without the throttle being opened up fully, it was too much for the armor to take and for him to keep up with at the moment. "Still... all that work from the guard and you can't even use it."

"Maybe not as intended, for the moment." He countered, looking over the armor before getting an idea. "Go ahead and remove the power source, Iro. I have something better in mind." The forge nodded and began a more detailed repair job since there would be no engine installed in the armor. "Won't that make moving around difficult?" Rainbow's question was valid, since the armor was made to be powered by magic, but he noticed something from the startup and wanted to try it himself. “It’ll be harder to move, but I noticed something on startup that has me thinking, so I want to take this opportunity to learn.”

Twilight turned to Natah, who was currently resting on Fluttershy’s lap after being knocked out, before looking at the aforementioned mare. “Why don’t you go ahead and take him to your place Fluttershy, let him rest after that ‘lesson’?” The mare flushed from embarrassment with Twilight having a teasing grin on her face. Everyone cleared the shop after Fluttershy left with the prince in tow, though the mare had to be mindful of other ponies seeing the alicorn’s missing wing.

The alicorn slept for a good five hours, twitching in his sleep as he had a strange dream before waking up in his caretaker’s bed. His blurry gaze opened after his brief sleep before looking around the cottage, falling onto the pink mane of his marefriend. “Where… where are the others?”

“Rainbow is back at work, Twilight is back at the library and Iron told me he’d be out in the Everfree.” She brought the stallion a drink with a slightly worried expression on her muzzle. “We’re sorry for the strike. We needed you to stop before you did or said something reckless again. Though I guess that five hour sleep was worth it?”

“And Pinkie?” He asked in a tone indicating he was not okay with being shut down so many times and put out of commission from his armor’s safeties.

“I’d asked her if she could make a pastry or dessert after you, as an apology.” Natah, feeling a press to his heart with those words, looked to the mare with curiosity. “We know you want to help us in fields outside of fighting, but we want to surprise you with our own accomplishment, like Rainbow’s new speed.” He wanted to say something before remembering that proud look on Rainbow’s face for her well earned victory. “Just like how Pinkie surprised me by saying she already had something themed in color and taste after you.” Those words finished cooling Natah’s temper as he is reminded of how much people push themselves for him.

“You two did that… for me?” Hell the fact all of them are pushing so hard for each other makes the sentiments just as sweet. “You… haah, I really am loved. Speaking of love, you want another kiss?” The prince’s playful teasing reminded Fluttershy of her spicy approach before she went for more than a simple kiss, making the prince spend another hour in bed for in-house activities.

Natah’s whole hour consisted of the timid mare topping him in her bed and begging him to make her keep her word. The new couple now just lay there with Natah relieved and stunned while Fluttershy was glowing. The prince wasn’t really against the arrangement, it was just unexpected of her. Sadly her stamina leaving her left her pinned on the stallion, who was now fighting for air under two cream yellow pillows. She eventually managed to turn over, pulling him with her and smothering his face in her chest. “Okay if this came from all the teasing, I’m sorry!” Natah’s innocent pleas drew a smirk from the mare who just wanted to keep her end of the relationship before pinning the poor boy to her.

“I just wanted to show my boyfriend my affection for his teasing.” Her teasing tone was met with Natah squeaking from mixed emotions before he squeaked again from her feathers tickling his exposed sides. The mare tickled the stallion for a moment before releasing him, letting the poor man escape his pillowy prison on his own. He soon realized what he left and fumed a little, which drew heavenly chuckles from the mare, soothing him again. He really could not be mad at this woman for being a little playful.

The two, now with some free time, got cleaned after their activity and Fluttershy prepared supper, since it was rather late and the alicorn had yet to eat after the fiasco at noon. Natah soon looked at the clock and felt a bit concerned. “Did Iron say when he was going to be back from the Everfree?” She shook her head, saying that all he’d said was that he was taking the armor into the forest for a stress test and hasn’t been back since, which was six hours ago at this point.

The two ate in relative peace after, making small talk about the ideas Pinkie had for dessert to pass the time before the alicorn sensed a flow of magic from outside. It moved with erratic grace like a monkey or a spider jumping from tree to tree. The minor issue was that it was closing in on the cottage. Ever prepared, Natah got up from the table, worrying the pegasus as she followed soon after. The prince armed a spell as the mana felt similar, friendly. There was a noise outside before the door opened, revealing an exhausted, smiling Iron with a look in his eyes that burned with revelation.

Turns out, Iron initially went to spend three hours in the forest but soon got addicted to the accomplished feeling of moving the armor with his own internal mana. He even used a modified version of the racing route Natah and Rainbow used to push his limits and reflexes, letting the more aggressive animals take shots at him. Natah called out the blatant recklessness since no one knew he was out for that long or under those conditions. This otherwise blatant double standard did not go unpunished as Natah’s ass was slapped with enough heat to make his poor bottom smoke from the fiery strength Applejack unleashed from her upset of emotions.

“Don’t act like you didn’t deserve that, Natah. And you,” she turned her anger furiously to Iron, having been worried sick as she’d been looking for him earlier only for Rainbow to tell her he was in the Everfree forest. She then hears from Rainbow that he’s back and at Fluttershy’s cottage, practically sprinting to catch Iron like she thought he was going to disappear. “I didn’t know what could have happened, and Rainbow would not have been able to know any better since she didn’t know you were going to be gone for so long! And the girl can’t be expected to look out for you!”

Natah wanted to say something for his smoldering ass, but left it since Applejack was rightly worried. Iron took the berating since it was his own incompetence that made her worry for so long. “I’m sorry for your grief. I’d stayed to the racing route they used so I’d have a point of reference. I didn’t think my stress test would take so long.” He wiped the tears from her eyes as he gently caressed her cheeks. “I think I can make it up by spending the remainder of today and all of tonight with you. I still owe you that first date.”

Applejack nodded before remembering his words, a slight wetness growing in her bottoms as she hid her smirk. “7:45. Don’t keep me waiting.” She turned to head home before feeling a hand slap her strong cheeks, making them give a little as she felt her heart strings tense from excitement. She even squeaked a bit as she gave Iron a naughty look before heading home. “I’ll go ahead and head home. I have a long night ahead of me.” Iron waved to Natah and Fluttershy as the latter gave the stallion a thumbs up. Meanwhile, Natah was still recalling his dream in vivid detail with Fluttershy taking notice of his worry. “What’s wrong Natah.”

“What am I…?” Natah’s head lowered as his ears had gone flat. “...and why do I have these....memories in my head? There are places I've never been to and people I've never met. Ever since that hit to the head, I could see…so much more. At one moment i was driving some sort of vehicle alongside many other people, fighting for the sake of all reality. Next thing I know, I'm the room mate of a lovecraftian shapeshifting rat then in medieval times with multicolored hedgehogs while falling for a cream colored rabbit.” The dread on Natah’s face was existential, as if he lost some form of line between himself and his reality, unable to see himself anymore.

Fluttershy listened intently to his words, letting him express his worry so he can vent the fear he has now. “I just...laid there thinking ‘are these memories mine’? Did I die and is this reincarnation or is all of this just a fever dream with me part of something more?” His distress had begun to manifest in the form of an alien energy coming from the markings on his body, flooding from his wing and horn in the process as it covered him like a dense atmosphere. “Who am I, and where did I come from? What am I doing here!”

The pegasus took Natah’s face into her hands and made him look at her. The mare made his eyes stay on him as she spoke. “Where are you right now?” These words, for a moment, stunned the alicorn. “Who am I?” He could answer that much clearly but confusion still ran through his mind. “I know dreams can be hard to understand. Maybe those were your past lives. Maybe they were other parts of you. Not much is known about an alicorn so maybe you shed some extra part of yourself, or you were something greater and we are seeing one part of you. This part of you, though, is still as real as the others. Maybe they are also you, but they have their own lives, just like you do. So don’t ask you, right now, are. You, right here, are you, not them. Okay?” Natah felt his world mending as his existence now felt more grounded, more validated as he just pressed himself into her, wanting to keep this reality as long as he can.

As the two would spend their evening in embrace, Iron had dropped off the armor at the shop and was having to run to make up the time walking just to conserve his stamina. He ran the full distance from the shop to the farm and scaled the house to the second floor, where Applejack was currently sitting and brushing her hair in a fidget. The stallion, ever the romantic, knocked on the window, getting the farm mare’s attention as she lifted the obstruction with a confused face. “Isn’t this a little… cliche?” She wasn’t complaining, she was actually quite amused.

“Better than going out the front door into the orchard. I don’t want Applebloom to hear how nasty I’m going to make you sound.” The mare’s heart beat hard against her chest again like it was going to jump out, even more after Iron took her by the waist and carried her deep into the apple farm’s western part of the orchard until the farm was well out of view. Iron took full advantage of the close proximity and whispered in her ear, the low voice sounding more hoarse as he spoke. "I will mean what I say, so unless you feel like explaining to Mrs. Smith who gave you a litter of foals, you better be on some kind of birth control when this batter gets poured into your own orchard." Excitement built into Applejack as her hot blush could be felt against the air and her nethers felt tense. That night, the two fulfilled the mare’s promise as she screamed profane absurdities under Luna’s night sky.

Chapter 2: Return & Rise

Thank god the screams were silenced with a kiss every time anything was done. There was, however, a small crater in the ground due to how much the two were going at it, before eventually passing out right there in the hole until dawn had finally broken the horizon. It wasn't sunrise just yet but given how little time there was to return home and clean up, It would be a close shot if Apple got back in time to wash up. While her nethers were thankfully clean and unharmed, her ass saw better days as it was completely ravaged from last night's fun. She certainly wasn’t complaining, but she’d have an embarrassingly difficult time explaining her performance. Again, worth every hour.

Iron had carried her to her room and eased her into the house. Explaining the grass and soil stains would be a little trying but the two, at the very least, made their first date magical last night. In fact, thinking about it, he wondered what a unicorn's horn was to the magically inclined race. He took his time getting back to the boutique, at least enough that Rarity had time to get her breakfast and coffee before work.

She had to have some questions about the test, the explosion and-more recently-where he's been. He didn't brace himself as he knocked on the door. Anything she felt to say, she deserved to say for him, potentially worrying her.Immediately as this happened, the door had then opened rather quickly, showing the mare in question. “Welcome to- oh....Iron.” She seemed to pause, processing yesterday's events from what Pinkie and Twilight told her and her reactions came flooding back. “What the hell happened yesterday at the shop?!”

Iron put a finger to her lips to stop her as she was worried enough. "The core was more than I thought. The armor was redesigned and I tested it for five hours or better. I banged AJ in her orchard afterward after getting a similar chewing.” He lifted his finger from her lips as he remembered something he said. “Which reminds me, I owe you a moonlight date." To the point as always without missing a beat. "Just make sure to skip any alcohol and I'll give you what I did to her."

With a raised eyebrow, she then crossed her arms under her bust, pushing it up before a smirk came to her lips, his finger still slightly printed on her smile. “Is that a promise?” After the treatment she got on her date the night before last, she was hoping to get more of him and keep up with Applejack. She wasn’t going to make Iron’s feeling a competitive prize, but she did want her and any other mares to be equals with his affections.

Iron wrapped an arm around Rarity after she asked, leaning into her ear to whisper, “how many kids do you want and would you like to toss in the dirt a little the same way I tossed AJ?” His direct question tickled her ear in a raspy whisper that proved he has too much affection to be contained to the enjoyment of one mare. Two might not be enough either.

A shudder came to her as her hands were placed down onto the chest of her now bearing knight. “Eight this evening, and don't you dare keep me waiting.” Though she was happy, she started to fear for her bed and her precious womb even with the hot blush on her muzzle.

"A gentleman should never keep his lady waiting for him after an arranged rendezvous." He whispered with a smile, giving the alabaster mare a peck on the lips before coming in, changing gears in case Sweetie was in the house. "Anyways, Iro tried fixing the armor back to the aesthetic you drew up but we won't implement everything until we are certain it holds. Hopefully it'll be done in time for the next Gala."

“Gala-? As in THE Grand Galloping Gala?” Immediately it had hit her as her tail then slightly lowered, leaving her to scramble to the calendar to see just when it was due. While she’d briefly forgotten he’d likely attended once or twice, Iron, himself, wasn’t too interested in the Gala with just how dull it is every year.

“Relax Rarity. We have a few months yet before this upcoming Gala. You’ll have more than enough time until then.” The stallion gently took hold of her hand with a smile and held her softly. “And you made the best dresses for your friends. The Gala will love the designs you made. And with what you made for me, and maybe something for Natah, your profession in fashion will get a boost.” Saying these words, he managed to click something in Rarity’s head, letting her go just as she went to the desk to work on an outfit for Natah, something befitting his appearance and his status.

“Speaking of,” she started, her mind focused on the drafter, “Rainbow did stop by to make a few adjustments to the suit Natah had. On the bright side she has found a way of converting the heat it uses into not only a weapon but a secondary fuel source as well.” Rarity had then went over to the concept board showing what the final concept would end up being for his first outfit, using some dress plating that resembled certain pieces of his suit to go with his outfit.

“And the suit?” Iron didn’t know where it was at the moment after dropping his armor off. Rarity said it was still safely in the shop. It just needed some adjustments with Twilight’s help. At least he's not asking for a weapon directly. “I can stop by the shop. Iro and I can iron out any technical faults before he starts it up again, at least for any safety concerns.” The stallion was already considering a larger armor that uses the heat as an intense use weapon, though the application would be rather limited. “But enough about the shop. What fabrics have you made for the next release?”

The mare was happy to show what she had in concept so far. “Most of everything I've gotten isn't completely settled in but with how it looks so far?” She'd been thinking of doing some silhouette lace as a form of curtain to go with a snug body dress and even some lingerie for Madam D's Treasures, taking notes after Applejack's colors with some light pinks for Fluttershy's feminine subtlety. “I might keep this.” While there isn't anything set in stone just yet, it's enough to bring in her income to work on higher profile releases.

“You've come just as I was in the midst of Fluttershy's order.” She said with pride, pointing to the green lace lingerie with the pink butterflies. “I've already finished Applejack’s but still need to get in touch with her to pick it up.” Just as everything was being shown, a silhouette could be seen landing within the view of Rarity's open window.

While Iron could take a guess who that was, he still decided to answer the door for Rarity to see who was coming by for what. “I got the door.” He eased the door open and looked to see who was in front of the boutique before relief washed over him.

Surely enough, Natah had appeared within the doorway, a smile on his face as if he was relieved of some stress of his own. “Just popping by to let rarity know sweetie is finally at the school.” So that explains his nervousness, being on guard around the kids after they saw how ticklish and alicorn is.

“Oh, hey Natah. You can come in if you want.” Iron stepped to the side to let the alicorn in. Neither stallion really seemed to have anywhere to be after their personal affairs. “Though you also answered where Sweetie was off to, thank gods.” Those words created an intrusive thought in Rarity’s mind as she pictured the two model outfits for her with an aroused smirk coming to her lips.

Just as Natah had entered the boutique, Rarity turned to the alicorn with her draft of his Gala outfit almost done. “Ah! Natah! This is perfect. This at least saves me the trouble of looking for you. Rainbow had stopped by to send these.” She had begun to hand over the suit design in question. Natah had finally gotten in before seeing the dresses on display, a slight flush coming to his cheeks as his one and only wing had begun to frill up slightly before seeing the draft.

As the trio were looking over designs and concepts, there was a knock on the door before a familiar cyan pegasus came in. “Hey Rares, I just dropped off Scootaloo soooo hey Natah... eheh…” The chromatic mane mare looked a bit nervous as she stepped in. Seems she was hoping the updates to Natah's suit would remain a surprise, as evidenced by him still eyeing the design for his Gala dress.

“You do realize I work with a forge that can work out the technical stuff, right?” The white stallion had the suit in his stores so he and Iro could work on it. While Rarity can figure aesthetic designs for just about anything, deductive reasoning would leave the suit still being back at the shop for those repairs and updates. A fact the mare did, indeed, forget. In retaliation, she turned her head to hide her pouting expression.

All that came from the alicorn was a smug chuckle as he heard this. “Still trying to help in getting me in the air huh?” Natah’s face curled into a smile as he blushed slightly, appreciating the mare’s efforts to help the stallion reclaim the sky. “I can tell ground races are probably starting to be a pain for you huh?” The conversation caught Rarity’s attention, as she, nor anyone else she knew for that matter, knows that Natah is missing a wing, much less how it happened. “What....happened for you to lose your other wing anyway....?” She knew that genetic illnesses can stunt or hinder the growth of a pony, like smaller wings, hollow horns, brittle bones - just so many things to deal with.

“I needed to have it removed. There was an infection that would have reached my heart if I kept using that wing. The worst part is that there is no vaccine or cure for it. It was deliberately made to be a virus. Maybe a parasite. Or both.” Natah looked over his left shoulder, lamenting the loss of his wing with disdain, as someone deliberately targeted him, but the reason was up in the air with how many variables an alicorn controls.

“Bringing up both your wing and ground races, I hope it's not prudent of me to ask for such a race before you receive a wing prosthetic.” Iron held a calm look as always while Rainbow had completely forgotten the stallion was working on such a thing for Scootaloo as well before he shifted gears for Natah.

“Won't the wing reject him, since he's technically full grown?” Rainbow challenged with concern, thinking that the body would just try to push the prosthetic out of Natah, to the point of painful inflammation similar to the healing process. Even stents for heart surgery are rejected due to the body trying to push out what it considers to be foreign objects, even if said objects provide an underline net positive. The main reason is called ‘rejection’, as the body can only tell something is foreign, not what it does.

Iron shook his head, knowing the risk already but having his sights set on an end goal he can see. “That's going to be the first test, no matter who it is. It'd be more debilitating with Scootaloo, since I'd be getting her hopes up out of ignorant optimism.” He continued, as the filly’s wings had been the source of much teasing for her for years. Even with Rainbow being a positive idol, the others remind her she can never fly with Rainbow.

“Oh... yeah that... that would be rather dickish of you, huh?” Rainbow already knew the answer to that one. She’s the thoughtless one for even saying something. “I'm a dick either way if it fails…” The stallion countered her thoughts in agreement, as this project, no matter how well meaning, might just be too ambitious, even for a craftsman of his caliber.

As if the memory were still fresh in his mind, Natah said, “You...remember what happened the last time we tried to do something like that right...?” He didn’t mean anything by it. The last time Iron tried making the prosthetic, “we tried to make a wing purely from regenerating muscle, bone, nerves and tissue.” Rarity beat him to the answer as the man was already beating himself up for the pain he caused Natah, forcing the stallion to rethink his entire approach. “Coupling that with the robotics, you weren't able to get off the ground without feeling-”

“Severe pain that caused you all to remove it again. I know. And you're suggesting I go full cyber on the wing?” Natah had then turned to Iron now, his interest growing from the possible improvements this could imply, the interest turning into intrigue as he could already think of how this was superior to trying to make a hybrid system.

As if Iron drew upon his studies in medical science, thanks in part to the hospital as he researched this field in tandem with Twilight’s help, Iron’s depression was replaced with renewed hope. “The inherent flaw was that we tried to make a natural replacement from foreign culture too quickly, cells and cybernetics alike that put your body into shock from the immune response.” This drew Rarity’s attention as she did not know the body was that reactive to something so basic. “Adding any engine, even a small Magus, would likely cause backlash to your internal magic as well, which complicated the situation further. So, with how I moved the armor, what if the person flexed and operated the wings with their own magic, no different from a muscle.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened greatly from some hope filling her as well. “That... that might work. A pegasus has magic in their wings and feathers, a connection we normally take for granted. So if you connect the limb-” “With a protein coating Natah's own nerve cells can make during the process, there is a high chance the rejection is minimized and he can feel his magic flow into it naturally. It'd be similar to power transfer between conduits. Before that, though, the ground race. The surgery may put him out of commission for a bit for him to heal and take to the limb.” As optimistic as Iron was feeling now, realism had to be considered to keep him from doing something reckless.

“If this works I'll at least be able to take back to the sky again.” Natah could not hold his own smile as he could feel a warmth in him, the feeling of being loved enough that, even if others hurt trying to help him, they are willing to feel his pain to see him happy. Putting that behind him for now, he looked at the stallion with a renewed smile. “Which route are we feeling this time?”

“The same one you and skittles took.” His immediate answer put fear in Rainbow’s heart, as now Natah had now armor to help him fly, much less avoid the beasts that easily. “I want to push my limits in one lap.” Rainbow interjected as she could not hold her protest to the idea any more. “On the ground? Are you sure you want to do that?”

“It's fair, it pushes our boundaries and we can be back in time for a shower and lunch. Plus I need to push my armor again and compare it to how Natah is now, make an alicorn the baseline since they can fight the Phantoms mostly unaided.” The terran looked at Natah with hopeful eyes, as he wanted to gauge how much stronger the surgery makes him, if successful, and how much more work he has to go.

“This is gonna take a bit without my armor but.... I'll try to see how much I can take.” The alicorn answered with a similar smile. “If I can't reach those speeds in the sky I'll resort to the ground instead.” He was okay with a silver lining, though Iron’s smile turned into a challenging grin, not wanting to let the man settle for less than he can get.

The two met at the shop where Iron is fully suited and ready to run as they line up. Fluttershy was gathered in case of the need for first aid and Rarity attended since she didn’t have too many more ideas for her line up. The mares look at the stallions as they are set, with Rainbow raising a wing to get them ready for the race. The girls agreed that if anything happens, Rainbow can pick them up and bring them back so Fluttershy and Rarity can patch them up, at the very least, before taking them to the hospital for medical care.

The boys get into a comfortable position to kick off while Iron's hooves are gripping the ground firmly about like Natah's, as it is easier to pull yourself along the ground than to push against it. Her wing drops and the two dart off, the pair raising with incredible speed along the ground as Rainbow and Fluttershy ascend the cloud for a vantage point to keep an eye on them.

Natah had begun to pull ahead in the first quarter of the race, having already learned the route from the laps last time. Iron picked up the pace, pushing the channels in his body as much as he could to move the armor at its highest setting. Using what he could to keep the pace, even Natah was beginning to lag behind with his handicap. “N-no…!'' After panting he had tried to continue with the run as his markings had begun to glow. something they haven't done for years. “N-not this time…! Not again!!” sparks had begun to skitter across the alicorn’s body like streams of electricity in ruby red, golden eyes beginning to glow brighter with his ears laying flat. Something was happening to Natah but it was too soon to discern what.

Hearing Natah fighting against his own weakness, Iron had felt sympathy for the alicorn. When Iron left the guard, it was of his own choice as he just could not work with Shining's strict and otherwise unreasonable requests. That was why he chose this small town, close to his previous station but away from his out-of-touch boss. When Ponyville got its forge, that one encounter is what encouraged him to make the armory he's made now. Seeing this handicapped prince living his best life on top of that and managing three ladies despite his damage... it pushed Iron, much like he's pushing Natah now. That is the reason he keeps improving his understanding of magic, even now, to push himself alongside someone that may be loved publicly but scorned behind closed doors. It's why he owes it to Natah to not give anything less as he starts pushing, enough the armor is soon wrapped in a corona of Forest Green with crackling Silver energy framing the aura as he was pushing as much as the Prince of Time.

Finally the crackling red energy had begun to surround the amber gold aura as he continued to speed up, the trail leaving after images and trail behind Natah growing more and more frantic, the buildup of the energy within him now skittering off and streaking around like sparks of lightning just as they were nearing the halfway point of the race. The alicorn’s upset state began to worsen as he had struggled to keep up in passing Iron “J-just... a little more…!” Through the panting, he had begun to push even further, the markings now outshining the rest of the everfree forest, a double boom of his own had begun to surface as he had finally started to pull past. If only for a brief moment before becoming purely level with Iron, his gold eyes locked to the path ahead as the energy had continued to streak off of in arcs of electricity

The final straight came up and both stallions took the corner differently. Due to the armor's bulk, Iron had to fall behind to try catching off Natah’s drag. Natah leaned down low, fingers buried into the ground as he slid into the turn and onto the straight as the terran came in a bit behind, already having to use the drag. He pushed even further until they were in line again, a trail of image-afters acting like ghosts of movement as they lit up the straight toward the finish. The air resists both stallions but Natah manages to break it first, even with both racers’ legs hitting the ground like a rolling thunder, forcing Iron back again from the turbulence. He tries to catch up from the drag before the armor strains, as the welds and bolts nearly buckle from the speed and output.

They cross the line with Natah mere seconds ahead and have to tumble just to stop. The aura of both racers rose from them like steam as the crackle of energy still arched, only dissipating off of Iron. “HOLY SUN! Please tell me you two are okay!” Rainbow demanded as she hit the ground, quickly trying to see their injuries while minding the radiant heat from their mana.

The butter yellow mare was already checking them over, getting them up to their feet. “They need to keep moving and cool off slowly or they’ll go into cardiac shock!” Rainbow nodded her head as she took Natah, getting him moving again while Fluttershy took Iron after he left the suit. As the two jog to help ease their heart rate over time, Iron looks over to Natah with a smile, trying to not chuckle away his precious oxygen, proud of the alicorn for his will.

Natah on the other hand wasn't doing too hot as his body had begun to convulse and tense from the energy that had left him utterly destroyed. There was scarring from the electricity that had ravaged him as the color within his markings and eyes had slowly started to drain away, his body had laid within the arms of the mare, as the alicorn didn't even have enough in him to sit up.

“T-too the... shop.” Fluttershy would have protested had Iron not had an idea. Once they were inside, he started sorting through a list, having Iro set Natah on a table and conduct a bypass transfer, using a crystal heart as a circuit breaker to cycle Natah's energy and bring it to harmony.

“O-oh god what happened out there?!” Rarity immediately rushed over to assess the damage just as contact of the heart reached Natah. An explosive pulse shot out from him and reached beyond the town’s limits as the energy flow in Natah normalized. While he was indeed still winded, Natah was at the very least equalized and safe from his own power.

Iron let out a startled noise from his relief as he collapsed onto the couch. “Moons I thought that wouldn't work. Iro, note; Magus Engine Equalizer or Terrestrial Dimension Catalysts.” The forge challenged the logic, suggesting a stronger Dimension Beast, which was countered by Iron for the energy backlash, possibly being too much at best and siphoning Natah at worst. They soon put the matter to bed as Iron looked Natah over, thinking the matter now was less important than the alicorn’s immediate health.

“The latter half of the race seemed to push Natah's body beyond what his current limits could handle. The lacking wing may be disrupting his equilibrium, though rest is a priority for now.” The terran had a look over Natah before patting his hand. “How do you feel?” Iron asked, happy to see the alicorn wake up.

“What.....happened? Di-id i win?” The party could not help but chuckle at this question. This alicorn nearly dies and all he could think about was the race. Rainbow chuckled before saying, “You did, by a hair's breadth of your life.”

“Your mana circulation was out of sync. The crystal heart I had on hand was more than enough to even the current, though I suspect the culprit is your wing, or the lack of it-sorry!” Iron quickly apologized as that is a sensitive topic for even a pegasus, and Natah is an alicorn.

Upon having said singular wing pointed out, Natah had grown slightly annoyed but just decided to drop it. “Just...because I like you.....I'm gonna let that one slide.” Natah was still catching his breath but was happy Iron still carried worry for him.

Taking a jab from the pegasi present, Iron figured now was as good a time as any. “Since we're here, why don't we start the surgery while you're evened out?” Fluttershy was ready to chew into Iron before remembering a lesson on magic channeling with Twilight. If the horn of a unicorn is overheated, struck or-sun forbid-broken, their magic becomes unfocused to the point of volatile. If that's true, a wing is about the same, acting like a current for magic. With Natah's condition, his is disrupted with his horn likely having to pick up the slack and thus putting it under burden. “Would you like some help?”

Iron was surprised by her words before smiling and nodding before looking at Rarity. “Think you can offer your needle work for this?” Immediately upon hearing this, Natah had begun to back up in slight distress, even though he was in no shape to really do any real running. Rarity, feeling Natah’s pain from all the times she pricked herself with her sewing needle, chimed in. “He would need to be asleep for that...remember.....?”

“...I forgot him and needles are like oil and water.” The terran really did not want to, though, as sleeping doses can induce strange or horrible dreams. “Would numbing the sight be okay or is it non-negotiable?” He looked really concerned as he could do nothing but dread what Natah sees when he goes under like that. The alicorn is not the only one feeling helpless. Just as this was asked, Rarity’s horn had immediately begun to glow, in placing a sleep like trance into the terrified alicorn, sending them to their back in silence as he let out a tired groan.

“At least one of Twilight's spells is of some help here.... let's...get started while he's still like this....” The stallion nods as Iro eases Natah into his stomach, giving the three space to work as Rainbow is ushered outside by the forge and the door closed. Iron begins the surgery as usual, making incisions to the muscles and tissue that normally connect the wing to the back and placing a connecting socket. Where he changed it was the injection of a compound that worked on and with the nerves on sight as Fluttershy kept the sight clean and both workers clean of sweat while they worked. After placing the connector socket and lining the silver nerves up, the naturals connected to the silver with the coating. This already started flowing mana into the socket as Iro brought the wing, shaped simply in form, and aided the two insertions. It slid into the connectors and locked firmly into place as the mana flowing through began to subconsciously form a wing structure from mana.

Just as installation was complete, not only did the wing begin to grow back but Natah had also stirred slightly, His once sleepy state beginning to falter “m...mmhn...?”

“Just in time, too. Iro, finalize the connection.” The forge nodded and used a small magus engine to open the circuit with Natah and his wing slowly, easing the pressure off his horn and allowing the wings to harmonize. Just as this had happened, Natah had finally begun to glow once more, this time much brighter than before, his markings beginning to become more and more elaborate as a result. Once the connection was complete, Iron made one last quick inspection and smiled at the successful surgery. “Morning, sleeping beauty. First obvious question, how do you feel?” He asked as Iro put the engine away.

“...stronger.” After looking over, Natah could see the mana regrown wing beside me, an expression of surprise and awe filling his eyes before joy welled tears up in his vision. A smile joined this expression as he almost felt like crying. “W-what did you do...?”

“So we did the procedure as last time, cut into the tissue, find the nerve, but once we put the socket in, we injected a protein to coat the nerves. This was already tested as you or Scootaloo would be the first ones to receive the wings.” The terran explained this as he pulled out a chalkboard, drawing the details as he explained. “This only has the immediate benefit of making the machine-to-body connection smoother, if anything. Next was mana equalizing, using a magus engine to help the automail harmonize with your other wing and your body, taking the burden off your horn.” He continued as he finished the diagram, putting the board away. “We'll need to run checkups for the next few months but Scootaloo is more long term since she’s going to have this for life.”

“An extra bonus; you get to customize this one to your liking!” Natah’s eyes lit up at Rarity’s words as he had an idea of what to change the wing to.

“Correction; we have to make the changes. It's mechanical so we can make adjustments to the colors but that's more phase changing than changing his mana.” With that, Iron brought up a monitor, allowing Natah to see the various options available to him. He had started to get into designing for a while before finally landing on a wing that he liked in the end, a satisfied grin coming to his face. “That'll do.”

The three nod before letting Rainbow back in, who is immediately taken by the look of the new wing and has her hands hovering over it. For the first time, Natah had begun to spread it out, the energy and mana finally beginning to take shape in completing the wing in question. Thanks to the mana circulation, Natah can feel her hands over his wing. “Enjoying the new look?” He looked back at her as he teased her intrusive thoughts. They won, and Rainbow starts to gently fondle the new appendage.

This did remind Iron to test every variable while Rainbow was messing with it. “Feel anything?”

Slightly amused by this, the alicorn had begun to boop it against Rainbow’s muzzle, the smile just not dropping as he felt more joy by the second. “Like if it was never severed.” Hearing these words, Fluttershy and Rainbow both felt their emotions well up. Rainbow turned to hide it but Fluttershy was balling with a smile on her face, overjoyed by those words as now there is hope for the flightless.

Iron was happy with the success, thinking the method can be employed in other places as a viable way to beat genetic diseases where they’ve thrived for centuries. “I would start research for horns,” he started before seeing the room's mood and smiling in peaceful content, “but one victory at a time.”

As if the wing were solid, they had then spanned out before pulling the two mares into a hug. “All we need now is to see if it can keep me up.” The alicorn could not sit still and the pegasi could not blame him. After years without a full pair of wings, having that half of something return and become whole is the most ecstatic feeling anybody can have. Rainbow, however, held him down a bit to keep him from injuring himself and complicating the process.

“Give it time first. We'll need to know if there will be mana cascading or erosion. So don't fly with them just yet. Give it a day, try some light flight exercise and tell Rainbow or Fluttershy if something turns up.” Though a bit deflated, he looked back at his new wing and smiled, grateful that the connection returned as he could feel the air more clearly.

“I'll keep that in mind. Dashie? I think we're a little overdue for something don't you?” The cyan mare looked at the alicorn with a flat look, as if to remind him he should be relaxing right now instead of getting frisky.

“You... um, could use the opportunity to work your...hips…” All eyes shot to Flutters in surprise from her audacious suggestion before Iron started to usher them out, telling them to have fun, use protection and get plenty of rest.

Natah’s smirk did not falter as he wiggled his eyebrows at her, making the mare blush a deep red. “You are lucky your cheeky ass is cute enough to ride.” scccrrraaatt “Wait! No! I didn't mean it like that! I mean...!” She just pouted seeing the smirk on his face. “...screw you too…” She did the man a solid and helped him up to her house, into her bedroom as she was trying to set the mood, hoping her brazen attitude did not misread her man.

Amused by this, Natah had tried to keep from laughing. “A ride am I? Then saddle up Rainbow, cause we're gonna need more condoms.” The alicorn managed to make the mare’s wings pop into an erection as she felt her tail swish by itself. “Unless you really do plan on having more foals than a rabbit blooming with buns?” Rainbow got to experience the shock and arousal AJ went through from Iron's 'threat'. So much for going topless now. “Don't... don't go stealing people's material and.... fuck it! Literally.” The alicorn moved his shirt slightly with a toothy grin and that was it. Unable to take the teasing any longer, the mare pounced on the prince and at first ran her hands across his body, stripping him out of his clothes while only her shorts could come off, a scent of citrus and cedarwood filling the air. "You better not regret this tomorrow or I am slapping you, got it? And you finish in my ass."

“Oh I don't think we have to worry about any regrets.” His sultry tone sealed the deal as the two shared their kiss to start a physical rehabilitation of their own. The mare, agreeing with the prince, made sure he was sufficiently relaxed for the rest of the day thanks in part to her athletic body and 'endurance routine'.

Chapter 3: First Flight and Meeting

A couple days passed after Natah’s wing was set in place. The nerves took to each other like sugar and water as the feeling in his wing was as authentic as a real limb. It didn’t take long for folks to see this in a gold streak with an amber core, as Natah has been flying through the skies frequently to find his new limits. The sense of freedom, the taste of the sky and the vastness of the horizon were his to experience all over again, joy welling up in him to the point of tearful elation. No one could deny the feeling they got off of him, not even a certain orange filly who looked at this development with renewed hope.

Scootaloo, who was in the same position as other pegasi with genetic defects that ranged from brittle wings to smaller wings or even feather defects. She’d grown accustomed to the insults and got used to using her scooter to get around at the same speeds, even getting her cutie mark of a burning wheel when she joined a sports contest out of an interest and a drive. Even with her accomplishments, seeing Natah in the air and seeing his speed rekindled her desire to be in the air, even thinking of the ways she can race if she could fly.

Arriving at the schoolhouse later, her friends could not stop gushing at the possibility that Scootaloo has a real chance to fly. They were so genuinely ecstatic that they could not stop wondering what Scoots would make her wings look like. “Big deal. At least if the ‘surgery’ fails then you can pass as a functioning terran.” The whole schoolyard could hear a record scratch as they looked at Diamond Tiara, who has the same smug grin as Silver Spoon for making anything close to a ‘wingless’ comment.

Scootaloo, thankfully, did not budge, as she hasn’t gotten the surgery so she is still a pegasus. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, however, were fuming at that comment as they began to argue about stepping all over Scootaloo’s one dream only to say she needed to face reality and accept her disability. This back and forth would be stopped as some students gasped and the schoolyard was silent again. Natah had arrived to see the filly in question as she would be the more long term patient for these wings. The filly could not hold her excitement as the wing was bare when drawn in to conserve mana but majestic when it’s unfurled. “Heya Scootaloo. How’s tricks?” The filly was just stunned the prince was even taking the time to talk to her. The rich fillies tried getting his attention before shutting them down. “No thanks. I have neither the time nor the patience for those that have to raise the stakes to win against a cripple.” The prince, practically shutting the door on any chance of nobility at the fillies, looked back at Scootaloo before handing her a card. “When you are ready, please plan with him so he can get set. Your wings will be the first long term set, so consider your choice carefully, okay?” She nodded in awe before his wings unfurl and he takes to the sky once again.

Sweetie and Bloom hugged their orange friend with cheerful faces as the filly felt her own wings rise from the joy. As if a silhouette of her new wings were there, she was ready to take flight, with her friends as the wind to support and push her. The day at school felt slow from her excitement, but she immediately bolted out of the classroom before arriving at the shop, and just in time to see a standard model made after Natah’s new wing. The forge looked up to her and waved to the filly with a smile as Iron kept his eyes on the apparatus. “You’re rather excited to be here, but that’s good.”

“I couldn’t sit still all day. My wings are buzzing from the excitement to finally get to fly.” She meant it literally given her disability but the smile on her face was bigger than the sun. “So are they ready? Are they ready?” The owner finished an adjustment as he sat up.

The white stallion, prepared for the operation, with a doctor this time so they can learn the full procedure, looked at her with a stern glare, making the filly lock up. “The better question is, are you ready?” He managed to stop Scootaloo for a moment with that question, making her ponder the implications of getting the operation. If it fails, she’ll lose the skill that helped her get her mark. If it succeeds…what would change? She took a deep breath before looking at him with a resolute expression and firmly nodding her head. He returned the nod with a smile and said, “then take off your shirt and lay on the table so we can start. The sooner you get your wings, the better.”

Scootaloo showed bravery in the face of her fear, exposing her back to the world before climbing on the table as the nurses pulled the curtains around the site and Iro formed a low density barrier to give the operation more cleanliness. Iron begins with numbing the site of the wings as the doctors follow along, giving them a chance to work with him as he explains the process. Scootaloo, keeping her fear planting firmly in the ground, gave the doctors and Iron as still a body as she could while they worked.

Just like Natah, her back was opened up after the nerves were numbed and cut, the wings detached cleanly as they moved them from the sight. A connector socket was put in place and connected to the muscles before the nerves were drawn to the socket interior. The wings were brought down and slowly inserted as the mechanism clicked into place, creating a perfect bond and seal. The nerves were stimulated and the magus engine was brought between the new wings, cycling the mana like with Natah as Scootaloo felt something, her back felt…larger. She could begin to feel her new wings before the sensation fueled the mana, letting her feathers teak form on the apparatus as purple wings.

Once the site was cleaned and the wings checked for feeling and delay, Scootaloo’s operation was called a success. “Remember doctor, I walk you through the next one so you can learn it more directly, then you do it without guidance.” The doctor nodded as he looked at the marvel that was born today. The young filly looked at her wings with tears stinging her eyes before the stallion pet her, getting her attention. “Give your wings a full day to settle and bond before you do any flying. The mana channels will feel much bigger so you’ll need to adjust some. Give them a few flaps every two hours until tomorrow and you’ll be good to go.”

The filly, unable to hold herself, lunged up to Iron and hugged him. “Thank you…thank you for this gift, Mr. Iron.” He smiled at the joy of a foal and petted her again. She was soon dressed and out the door as she ran full speed, her excitement making the feathers appear again as she let off a slight purple trail. She made it to the club house and had to physically stop herself from pumping her wings before climbing in. Her friends were ecstatic to see the wings. They were a Burnt Sienna orange while the manna that coated the limbs and made the feathers were a rose pink, about like her mane. They were the basic model as opposed to the one Natah got which had a guard on the outside joins. She didn’t mind or care and told them that if she followed the instructions she was given, she could fly tomorrow afternoon.

Back at the shop, Iron was putting the tools away after cleaning up the floor. A sense of pride and dread filled his veins as the immediate aftermath of the operation proved more than promising but the real stress begins, as anything can happen with those wings now. Looking at the gun on his bench, he finally decides to finish that one and maybe a variant at the very least. He started with the superstructure and focused on the inner workings to see if there may be a problem either with the mechanism or the throughput. Next was the cartridge, exchanging the clear crystal with a metal pearl. This would make it a little more efficient overall, is the hope, as he took his spot and fired off a shot, startling the ponies in front of the door. The first shot reached the target, so he pulled the trigger again and was dejected with a spent pearl.

To his annoyance, he found an issue with the capacitor as it was taking too much energy and burning through the resistor. Exchanging the parts and trying another shot, too much energy was held back now. Finally he decided to try two guns, one with a resistor, one with a capacitor. This was the fix he needed as the problem was staring him in the face. The resistor was acting as a limiter but the power it held back countered the spooling energy in the capacitor that wanted to go all out. Now going with a resistor first then a capacitor in a larger weapon may work for a different construction, but this one solution made him happy to see the fix to make these two guns; a heavy shot magnum and a rapid fire combat pistol.

As Iron was resting after finishing the guns, he heard yet another sonic boom and smiled as Natah was pushing his safety limits again. Natah was enjoying his freedom again and poor Rainbow was struggling again but now she had a new ceiling to reach for. The said mare saw Iron looking and gave him a thumbs up with a big smile, approving of this as she got to test her limits again. Fluttershy came by after hearing about Scootaloo’s operation when she heard the sonic booms as a reminder. “Did the operation go well?”

He nodded before looking back to the speeding pair saying, “she’ll have the same safety net as him. If she gives it twenty-four hours and beats her wings every two during that time, she should be adjusted enough to fly with Natah at the least.” She smiled before realizing what he said, snapping her head back at him.

“So you are asking him to slow down?” Iron nodded, with Fluttershy trying to fathom that arrangement for the life of her. She soon came to see his reason, as Scootaloo would want to speed up like Rainbow but the new wings will take some getting used to, so Natah will have to slow down so he can help the filly catch up. In a way, the two are kindred spirits. “Maybe,” she started, a worried face on her before she looked up, a smile replacing the dread with hope again as she continued, “that’d be good for him.” Iron could not agree anymore, hoping to see the filly take her place in the sky.

In canterlot, the sisters were busy with delegations of their politics, hearing the noble’s issues and complaints while a pony of equal importance was looking in a sphere of space in a separate room, her eyes fixed on several points before there was a gentle knock on the doors. “Come in.” The mare let the space vanish as she did up her mane. The door opens as she uses her magic to draw open the curtains, the rays of sunlight illuminating the faint midnight blue in her otherwise black mane and tail as her sand brown coat catches every beam of light in a faint shine of sand gold, the same light reflected back in her indigo eyes. The only decency on her person is a simple black dress with gold trim around the hips and bust.

“Forgive my intrusion, Princess Suda. I bring some…interesting news that you may find startling to-”

“Spare me the foreplay, guard, and get to your point.” The princess cut the guard off with a dry tone as she never liked long or drawn out introductions to something that can take seconds to explain.

“Right, your brother,” she already felt a tick coming to her forehead, her hand reaching for a drink as she was ready to hear whatever trouble he got into now. “We have received word from the guard in Ponyville that he’s been seen..flying.” She took her first sip before her fingers slipped, the shock filling her eyes as she forgot she was holding a cup. Her fingers lost support as the cup dropped.

The glass shattered and the guard’s armor was grabbed within that same moment. “Excuse your mouth? Flying? This better not be a joke, guard!” Her immediate response of rage was to be forgiven as Natah had been grounded for years after the infection took his wing. The strain it put on his horn forced Twilight to invest in the winged armor, which did alleviate the burden some, but his speed would be permanently stunted.

“Even more ma’am is that he’s been seen flying faster than the Element of Loyalty as of late.” These words had her worried as someone was either pushing him emotionally with blackmail of his disability or making up a story to piss her off, both of which were working. She let the guard go as she waved her hand, the space around her opening like sands making glass. “Princess, where are you going?”

“To Ponyville.” She walked through and dissolved the gate before the guard could stop her, appearing outside the town’s border before she began to walk into the town, looking for her brother.

Said brother was currently racing with Rainbow and keeping just a few paces ahead of her outside of town, leaving the sister to wander the roads as foals play and ponies work away, bringing and keeping an atmosphere of invite as they offer Suda their wares. She politely turns them down as many are just trying to be hospitable to a new face. The mare soon hears a buzzing rumor of a filly who just got her wings amputated. Some are appalled by this information while others are happy. The reasons are obviously varied but she did have an interest to see what the filly is like. Or, rather, what the operator’s intentions were, but she didn’t know where to go. As if on cue, she felt a shivering sensation and turned to a flower pot with a smirk before out came the pink party pony herself.

“Okay, Alter, can you please stop that?” My story, my rules. And don’t start doing Deadpool with me, young lady. “Um, I am 1,946, so you are the young one here.”

“Pinkie as much as I enjoy your conversation with your imaginary friend, could you point me in the direction of someone?” Suda knew Pinkie was a bit of an oddball, able to charm folks into a smile with charisma that seemed to beam off her like a rainbow. “I’m hearing talk of my brother flying and some rumors of someone named Scootaloo getting herself some new wings is my only clue.” She saw the mare slither out of the pot before springing up to her feet.

“Oh that is an easy one. There is a stallion, Iron Wrought, who worked on the new wing your brother now has before he did a ful surgery with Scootaloo.” At least that gives her a name to go off on but no locations. “You can find him at Iron Forge Workshop where he works, Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack or Carousel Boutique with Rarity.” Suda’s face dropped ever slightly from her normally pleasant smile at the sound of this. A stallion with a herd, nothing new there. She knew where two of the locations were, at least.

“Thank you Pinkie. I hope I’ll have some time left in the day to have some cake with you.” Pinkie jittered with a wide smile before hugging Suda, the party mare then disappearing in a puff of smoke and allowing Suda to check the two locations. She took the route to the acres first as she liked the smell of the farm there anyway, sweet and rustic with a hint of citrus.

Walking around, the mare soon spotted the farm mare in question while Rarity was chatting it up with her and working on sorting using her magic. The terran was the first to notice as she felt a presence before looking to see Suda, waving her over with a smile. Rarity took notice and felt her lips curl up. “Suda, darling it is good to see you.” The two mares greeted the princess of space with a hug as Rarity looked her over. “Goodness, you seem to be doing well. I take it that you don’t need any new dresses?”

“Not at the moment, Rarity.” Suda answered, her smile dropping into a serious expression. “I’m actually here regarding some serious news. I heard my brother is flying again and wanted to hear from you.”

“Oh you can lay your worries to rest dear. I partook in Natah’s operation, so the rumor is true of his new wing.” Suda’s eyes rose in surprise as Rarity admitted to her basically putting a sewing needle in Natah.

“Yup. He and Rainbow have been racing all day the past couple of days. I don’t think he’s touched the ground once, he’s so up in the clouds with joy.” The smile and hearty chuckle from Applejack was duly noted as the mare is seldom known for lying about anything this serious. “I don’t think I’ve seen him this happy in years and he just won’t uncurl those lips. I think I need Iron to make a new hip for Granny if his work is this good.”

That caught her attention and reminded her why she was here. “Do either of you know where this Iron or my brother is right now?”

“Natah and Rainbow are having a time attack right now. They won’t be back for maybe another half hour.” Applejack answered before looking from the farm to the shop. “Now Iron might be in his workshop. It’s on the other side of the train station some ways from the hospital.” Suda nodded, apologizing for turning up and running off but this business is serious to her. They told her they can perfectly understand, since this is her brother.

The unicorn walks all the way to the train station then asks for directions to the shop, confirming it with other ponies who get small works done for their own projects. She muses at the size as she recalls there being a forge in the area and thinking that the reasoning fits. She walks up to the shop and notices the door open as she hears grinding from inside the shop. Turning to enter the shop, its large sliding doors wide open, a white terran is seen filing down a blade to a fine edge with a small magus engine close by with a ring of gray sand hovering around it.

“Oh, a guest. Welcome.” Iro greets the mare after noticing her, giving her a friendly greeting as she waves back, still shocked these golems can be so kind for their size. “Would you like to place an order?”

She shakes her head as she says, “no. I’m sorry to be a bother at the moment, I’m just looking for a stallion by the name of Iron Wrought. Is he in right now?” The mare’s tone remained polite as she did not want to assume the stallion was the one she was looking for. That fact remained for a moment before she noticed the filing stopped.

The terran stood and turned to the nine foot four inch unicorn with a calm expression. “I am Iron Wrought.” The unicorn was taken aback that a terran could make something that could her brother fly again. Even the best unicorns in medicine and magic could not cure the underline issue or make him a new wing, yet this terran managed to do that.

The unicorn smirked and leaned down, letting her large breasts hang down as she crossed her arms behind them. “So I have you to thank for helping Natah fly again. Maybe a reward is in order.” Her eyes lowered into a naughty expression, the smile becoming hungry as she stared the stallion down.

“I’m down for that if you’re up for a little foreplay.” The sultry teasing cracked as she made a confused noise. “You do have a lovely figure and you look like a lady who knows her worth in men.” The mare could feel her heart skip a beat as heat began to build in her cheeks. “Though I’d have to get a shower first, unless you prefer I go as is for our first date.”

The startled smile was frozen on her face as she stood up straight and said, “I’m going to find my brother.” She left the shop as she and Iron had two different thoughts, Suda calling Iron an insufferable playboy while blushing at her own flirts being thrown back at her and Iron simply thinking she looked cute with her blush. The mare heard two sonic booms and in came a familiar black alicorn skidding to a halt as he looked back to Rainbow, sweat dripping down her body as Fluttershy came over, handing the both of them a towel as Rainbow, even in defeat, could not help but laugh at the reinvigorating challenge, even noting how they managed to both do the Double Booms with ease. “Well lookie, who managed to get ahead in life?” The mare teased as the pegasi looked to Suda while the alicorn snapped to her direction, surprised at first before crashing into her.

The short alicorn’s action startled the other two mares as they felt the hairs on their neck rise in territorial challenge before hearing, “Sister!” That word made them realize what they were about to commit before they flushed in embarrassment. Damn this mare grew like a tree or something. “What brings you into town? I sent you a letter a couple days ago, didn’t I?” Natah’s question was uncertain as he can forget small details like that sometimes, though he was certain he sent the letter, same time and day every week.

“I got your letter, and news of your wing.” She eyed up said wing and poked close to the socket, making Natah seize up. She thought it was defective as she jerked away, before seeing him holding a laugh. She poked again and he started running to Fluttershy, leaving the unicorn speechless. Natah, who Suda felt helpless to comfort or aid, now had a new wing and he could feel it. Even more, he can feel people touching it. Her eyes, full of surprise and awe, began to flow with tears as she didn’t know which intense emotion to focus on. All she knew was one certainty, someone, that stallion, helped her brother.

Seeing his sister weeping in silence, the alicorn flew up and wiped her eyes. “Sis, are you okay?” His concerned voice could not be missed but she quickly regained herself, nodded as she simply had no words for what she was feeling. It was like a prayer had been answered at last, and she could not be more thankful for the outcome.

Once she was calmed down, she cleared her throat, straightening herself up. “I’d like to spend a little time in Ponyville. I heard that a filly named Scootaloo got her new wings as well.”

Natah stiffened as he almost forgot his arrangement. He’d have to slow down to help Scootaloo catch up on so many decades worth of flying she missed out on from her defect. “Yeah, it gives us some time to hang out and let us catch up with friends.” Natah was more than happy his sister came over. Though he did not know they met, he wanted to properly introduce Iron to her and just vibe with everyone in his circle. “You got somewhere you can stay?”

“I didn’t really think about that. I might just crash at Sweet Apple Acres with AJ and them.” Suda, ever the impulsive and loveable sister, was never one to make detailed plans if she didn’t have the time, like now. Otherwise she would have reached out to AJ, Rarity or Pinkie since they normally have the space. “When is Scootaloo flying?”

“The doctor said it’d be some time tomorrow afternoon, give her time to adjust to the wings like Natah did.” Fluttershy was the first to speak up, shocking Suda again for something new as she knew the pegasus to be rather timid. It should be surprising though, since she dealt with animals and foals better than most other ponies. The unicorn nodded in her stunned silence before hugging her brother and heading back for the farm.

“I feel like we missed some important context.” Rainbow was not alone in this opinion, as Suda seemed…off beat? It was like her usual game of teasing and flirting had been thrown out of sync as she didn’t tease Fluttershy for her confidence or even Rainbow after a ‘sweaty activity’ with Natah, something she’d never stop flustering them for until evening. While this would worry Natah, he figured he’d get his answer tomorrow.

The next afternoon rolls around before anyone is aware of it, Suda in attendance and the Elements looking on in the front with high hopes as Natah instructs Scootaloo about how this feels and is going to feel. She’d followed the instructions from yesterday and got a feel for the size but now came the weight and range, since her wings must feel like they underwent a sudden growth spurt. As this was going on, Suda spotted Iron between Applejack and Rarity with his arms crossed, one hand gripping the forearm firmly as he looked onto the two with investment. This gave Suda another round of confusion doubled with frustration as she could not seem to pin this man’s emotions very well.

Natah takes a few inches off the ground as his wing is wrapped in his natural mana, the wing guard at the end serving a practical and aesthetic role while the red that made up his wings served their functional purpose. Scootaloo was next, closing her eyes as her natural mana began to pour off of her in force, kicking up a small gust as the energy wrapped around the frame and extended outward into their magenta feathers before giving them a small pump. Much like an infant taking their first steps, Scootaloo took her first flight with timid flaps, all while the feeling in her and her wings grew stronger, a smile coming to her face as the vibrancy of her wings increased from their dull appearance due to apprehension. Her bravery shined through again as she started flying alongside Natah, who was keeping pace with the filly while the crowd was in awe. Suda’s awe was the most present from this miraculous accomplishment of engineering as she looked at Iron again, his attention fixed on Scootaloo with a bit of fear as if he were expecting something to go wrong.

The filly, following behind Natah, felt the force of her wings, like they were the size of a griffon’s compared to her smaller wings. She lost her balance and her bravery for a moment and began to fall. The action made everyone seize up as Natah dove for her. The filly, her mind now going with greater speed, felt something click in her, the fear replaced with a new spark of bravery as she furled her wings and rolled, extending them again to catch the air under them and use her weight to quickly pick up speed. This maneuver, which is often used by advance fliers, was followed by a second roll as she evened out before taking back to the skies, her feathers now appearing to catch fire as she rose again into the air in a single beat and proceeded to press Natah’s pace. The alicorn, seeing her talent extended to flying, followed her into a sky dance that wowed the town below.

A whole hour passed and she finally sat down, her friends rushing to hug her with smiles as the crowd began to applaud from their collective astonishment. Applejack and Rarity clapped as Iron just collapsed, his fear draining from him as he didn’t realize he was holding his breath at times for so long. The mares help him up and even hug him as he smiles. Suda feels almost disgusted before seeing his hands go for the mares’ hands instead of their flanks. Her body language tensed a bit as this stallion was just one thing after another. He flirts back at her, made these wings for her brother and a disabled pegasus and now is holding hands over grabbing ass? What was his deal?

Natah, looking at the Elements with a wide smile, soon notices Suda’s frustrated seething and a smug grin came to his muzzle. Oh the things he is going to tease her with. But first, business. He walks the three fillies to the farm, Fashion and Stunt mares before he takes the time to tell the town what is what. “Thank you for coming out to see this today, everyone. I’m sure you all have a few questions so let me answer the obvious ones.” He walks to Iron and pats the stallion on the shoulder. “This is Iron Wrought, the one who made Scootaloo’s and my wing and a close friend for everything he’s done.” That would explain the ‘new friend’ Suda read about in his last letter. “And though this is his first accomplishment, I hope we can expect more in the future.”

The stallion dropped the even look for a genuine smile at Natah’s praise, making the unicorn’s heart jump again as she didn’t know he could look so handsome smiling-what?! Okay no! No he is not handsome! He’s a cussing playboy with no regard for mares or their feelings! And why is Natah smirking at her? The mare huffed and looked away from him before the alicorn snorted. This did make everyone wonder who the visitor was. “This also gives me the chance to introduce our special guest today, my sister, Suda Choro.” While the Elements knew that already, the rest of the town from the CMC to even Iron looked at Suda with surprise as Iron hung his head in shame.

Rarity and Applejack looked at him with confusion as Natah could figure out why. “She flirted with you?” He nodded. “You threw that flirting back at her?” He nodded again. “I don’t know about Rares and AJ but I don’t mind, my guy.” The three look at him with shock as he just died with laughter for a good few minutes. “Come on, let’s get some sweets and a drink at the Corner so we got someone to share this laughter with.” The alicorn, to the three in question, looked a little mischievous though Rainbow and Fluttershy could guess why, sharing a smile as they chuckled a little.

The group got to the corner as Pinkie was asking a lot of questions, some important, some loaded, others minor but all out of her natural curiosity. They placed their order and Natah began again. “So, I meant my words, Suda is my sister. She got more of the Alicorns height than I did from our parents. Dad’s an alicorn, mom’s a unicorn so it was kinda a lottery.” The girls nodded in understanding as genetics can be random when variables are involved. Heck those same genetics can jump generations, making the chances more random depending on the family tree.

“That still don’t explain why Iron is looking a bit ashamed for flirting with her.” Applejack was a bit concerned since Iron did admit to flirting with another mare and he’s done it with her and Rarity with such proficiency it’d make lesser ponies bolt in embarrassment. Okay that’s not fair, his absolute lack of a filter or restraint is the real reason since he’s normally never afraid to speak his interest. Heck he’s actually turned ponies down for one reason or another.

Natah snorted again as Suda looked at him with betrayal, like she was just stabbed in the back. “I promise Applejack it’s more hilarious than bad. You may not know this but my sister flirts with everyone she likes. Sometimes she flirts with people just to make them blush. And if she really likes you, she’ll just tease you.” The mares present look at Suda with surprise as the unicorn readjusts herself, arms crossed under her bust as she looks as composed as a noble. “So the fact she was flirted back with is both refreshing and funny.”

“Why would that be funny?” The lavender unicorn piped up, Twilight’s general curiosity of social cues getting the best of her as she tried to figure out why the act of flirting is so significant. “That sounds normal.” Normally she’s right, when it involves couples.

“Twilight, summer child, my sister will flirt with anyone just to mess with them.” Rainbow shot a knowing smirk to Rarity as the mentioned mare hid her face. She does mess with Spike but flirting is an issue. Now other stallions, that’s not an issue as she normally uses that tactic for her own gains. “She’s never been flirted with, which is making me wonder if Iron was just being Iron or if he said something direct, as usual, and she took that as flirting.”

“Hmph. Not like that stallion is my type if he can’t decide on his head wife.” Natah smirked as the reason came out like a light from a cave. “I still do not understand why stallions need a big herd for status or bragging rights in the first place. Are the six of you really complacent with that?” The mares all looked stunned before the whole table burst into laughter, catching the mare off guard as Rainbow and AJ had their faces to the table, Rarity and Twilight were trying to calm each other, even Fluttershy laughed from childlike joy before falling out of her chair and still found humor enough to laugh at the confusion. “What the cussin-what did I say?”

Rarity, after managing to compose herself enough to speak, managed to say, “d-darling, he’s not dating all of us, just Applejack and me.” This statement would have held her point if Rarity didn’t put a hand up. “Iron has turned down ponies before, I went on a few dates with him, found I liked his frank style of speaking and started falling for him. We had wine for one date, with me dropping some conspicuous hints, he took me home, got my permission and proceeded to stress test my bed.”

Applejack chimed in right after saying, “same with me. I was smitten, got a little miffed, spoke my mind, got cratered in the orchard and loved every hour of it.” Applejack, remembering something, looked at Rarity. “He did the same for you?” Rarity nodded, getting that same moonlight date. She lost a nightie to his ravenous means of love making but that was worth it. “So don’t worry yourself about him, sugarcube. Iron may not be the most subtle or gentle of stallions but he ain’t a brute.” Iron’s face turned up with a bit of hope as the mares held one of his hands, making him smile with a blush.

“So… no head mare?” Suda’s question was given a head shake. With just AJ and Rarity, a head mare would be redundant at the moment. Suda, in her efforts to avoid herding like the princesses, is a little behind on how the custom has changed, if at all. She knows it was put in place to curb the declining population numbers, but some discoveries could help the Equine population rise again, if successful.

“Darling, when he gets a third mare, or more, then we’ll talk. Until then, it’s just me and AJ.” Suda didn’t detect any sadness or joy from the way the fashion mare talked, as if she were just stating a simple fact. Even more, the two have known each other for a while, so they often bounce off each other rather well despite their different fields of work. Iron smiled hearing those words, a sense of relief washing over him as the two weren’t pressuring him into forming a herd so soon.

Suda was rather confused by this information as most stallions can’t wait to get a size-able herd while this stallion seems content with what he has. “Wouldn’t a herd be beneficial, though?” The unicorn’s apparent confusion had her brother chuckling before she gave the alicorn a glare out of embarrassment.

“Sis, he’s just being him, spending time with his friends and lovers as much as he can. It’s not like they can cuddle in bed all day.” The mares smiled as Natah defended Iron while Fluttershy had a pointed smirk on her face aimed at Natah. Yeah, he’s not getting away with that comment, and he realized this too late before blushing himself.

Suda, getting her groove back seeing this, smirked at her brother’s expense. “I don’t know. It seems you got benefits and problems of your own, little bro.” The shorter sibling then adopted the same glare with a smirk as some form of war just started between them.

“Could you two take your prank war somewhere else?” The white terran interjected, separating the siblings before sitting them down. “We get enough from Pinkie and Rainbow.” Said pink mare discreetly put a rubber chicken away while just looking innocent. The siblings, looking at each other, couldn’t help but laugh at their own foolishness. This let the meal time pass by without another issue before Suda looked at the time.

She made sure the time was accurate before sighing. “Ugh, I have to go back.” She got up from the table and stretched before looking at the table of friends. “It was good seeing everyone here. And Rainbow, Fluttershy?” The mares looked at the unicorn curiously before she gave them a wink. “Make sure to wear your best faces when you fuck my bro, yeah?” The space around her folded as the mares and alicorn blanched from her brazen comment.

“At least she likes teasing you as well.” Iron’s comment earned him a glare from Natah but the alicorn said nothing beyond his blush, a smirk coming to his face as that did mean a good thing in many ways. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to head back to the shop.” Natah asked what he’s got cooking this time, to which Iron only said he was on the verge of a potential breakthrough. He kissed Rarity and AJ, telling them he’ll wear something nice for their date and reminded Natah to fly with Scootaloo often so he can help her adjust. The alicorn nodded and Iron left for the shop.

While the ponies were enjoying their day, an army was moving deep within the borders of the Everfree Forest toward the small town. The footsteps were kept as light as possible while an evil glow of eyes looked onto the town with dark intentions. “Soon…”

Chapter 4: Mental Gymnastics

Fluttershy’s cottage left her in a state of worry today. Earlier in the morning, the animals all seemed nervous of something as they would not leave their homes for anything, not even food. She asked Rainbow Dash if a thunderstorm was planned, but the cyan mare said that there wouldn’t be any form of rain for another couple of days. After seeing the state of the cottage, she figured they needed to ask around, see if anything was going on. Their first stop was the workshop, where Iron had the doors drawn open on one side and a curtain around his latest project. He said it wasn’t even close to ready yet, but the bags under his eyes suggested he pulled an all-nighter.

Next was Rarity, if she had any theories. She figured Pinkie would cause an unrest but even she’s been acting a bit strange. That set alarm bells off in their heads before they skipped to the top of the list, Twilight and Natah, the latter having spent the night at her place to learn about the various sources and methods of what constitutes magic. Twilight said she was writing notes for a magic algorithm but that it was just to diffuse light and dimensions after seeing Suda bend space. A little something she asked Natah about, who had been intentionally secretive and misleading just to be a bit of a troll. Fluttershy then said her animals had been scared of something all morning, enough they hadn't touched their food.

Twilight, knowing a bit of animal nature, looked to Rainbow Dash, who shook her head and said they heard from Rarity that even Pinkie is acting like something wrong is about to happen. Natah, hearing this, knew damn well that when even the pink, hyperactive party pony is acting out of character, something is most certainly wrong. He put down the book he was reading, his interest in terran magic methods cut short as he went to the sky before looking around the town.

While the alicorn did not see anything, at first, he caught movement from the Everfree forest before keeping his gaze fixed on it. He turned his body and saw the trees past the tree line moving. This made him bolt to the city hall as he started to hammer the bell in its clock tower. The rapid ringing, from the history books Twilight read, meant one thing. She instructed Rainbow to start evacuating everyone and for Fluttershy to open all the pens in her cottage so the animals could get somewhere safe. Pinkie, who’d been frightened witless from the energies coming from the forest, jumped from hearing the bell before getting an idea, evacuate the foals from town.

Everywhere anyone looked, ponies were running about in a panic before Rainbow and AJ helped to funnel them a bit, moving them to safe places away from the town while Natah continued to hammer away at the bell, which had gotten the guards stationed in town to suit up and head out just seconds after hearing the thing in that manner. They split into teams to help move citizens away from the forest and allow the guard to advance to the front lines.

From the tree line came the monsters, an army of various creatures ranging from the small and fierce gremlin to the mighty and lumbering cyclops. Leading the pack was some robed creature who gave the monsters a gesture before they charged in. The guards in front, who were already trained in some capacity by Iron, began to harness their mana and power their armor and weapons as the metal surface seemed to shine while the blades were wrapped in corona of various lights. One gremlin, confident in its agility, lept up as several others stayed on the ground. Sadly, for the charging horde, the guard kept their gaze downward and ran their spears forward, the blades going clean through before swiping upward, sending the blood of the creatures to the air as an arrow pierced the airborne gremlin at roughly the same time.

Iron, proud of his lessons, did not stop long. He’d already closed and locked the shop after hearing the bell being pounded like crazy. Iro, who’d been helping him work on the new armor, looked concerned as the armor was supposed to be tested first. Fearing for secrets being leaked, Iron had to do something stupid. “Iro, sleep mode.” The forge protested, concerned for the terran’s safety as the armor was not done. “Now!” The urgency in Iron’s voice made the golem nod solemnly. The stallion owed Iro an apology after this, assuming the armor survived what is essentially a rush job.

Back in town, the ponies were being ushered away from the advancing as something shook the ground beneath their feet. The trembling made many lose their balance while the guard managed to stay upright. The source of the shaking soon came up, making everyone present freeze in fear. The beast was covered in segmented chitin plating, two massive pincers in front in tandem with grasping claws and long antennae that seemed to use scent and sound to see. Even with the bell ringing still, the beast used that for the clear picture. Seeing the scene and finally stopping, Natah dropped the hammer he took to beat the bell and flew in, his wing lit ablaze with mana before firing off three intense blasts, one from each hand and one from his horn at three of the elongated monsters.

The girls, unsure of what to do, looked at the beasts in front and the army in back. Natah, calling on strange emotions and memories from timelines divorced from him, soon started to issue commands. “Epsilon company, arrow formations to guard the populace. Archers, I want you working with Rarity for range attacks, setting an overwatch on our flanks. Rainbow, the skies are yours, I want a report on the rear army every thirty seconds. Pinkie Pie, Twilight, we need an alternate escape route planned and executed.” Seeing Natah take command like that was startling for a moment before the creatures’ chittering reminded everyone that now is not the time for questions.

The guards set up fast and met pincer with blade as the recoil canceled the attacks in a stalemate. Archers were set up on the flanks in the rear so Rarity can enchant their arrows quickly. While both sets were dug in, Fluttershy returned in time to see the set up with Natah throwing spears of magic at the strange monsters in front of them. She landed with little issue as she met up with Applejack for answers, hearing that Natah seemed to settle for a bit before issuing orders with respect and urgency. “Do not extend, victory is not the objective! Focus on safety until the citizens can evacuate!”

Seeing Natah like that made Fluttershy see the alicorn differently, as if he were changed yet… the same. Even Rainbow would find it difficult to stay cool around Natah’s current mannerisms. Speaking of, she came back before the thirty second mark to make her report. “We got a massive army as seen, counted roughly fifteen hundred units but the bulk is in smaller creatures. Heavy hitters are in the low double to the mid single digits.” Natah nodded as he noted that this could be an attrition style tactic, using the smaller numbers to exhaust the guard before sending in the heavy hitters. “I should note the guards are holding the line, but there is a form of commander. It hasn’t moved.”

Natah fired another spell as the worms, or bugs, were getting impatient. “Worry about that later. Collaborate with Pinkie and Twilight on an escape route. We need these civilians out of town yesterday.” As Fluttershy predicted, this action from Natah, taking charge like this, she’d be hot and steamy if the town wasn’t in danger. Though she wasn’t entirely okay with this change, feeling that it would cause her to hurt is all he knew was war. Taking his word, she flew to the party and book mare and said she needed to fly up every few seconds so details would need to be brief.

As the six were handling the civilian crowds, the monsters were slowly advancing on the town center and the hospital. They wanted no chances for the ponies to regroup, so some of the monsters were sent to the hospital to handle their medical aid. The guard at the front lines saw this and weighed their options based on what the detachment group had. This siege force included a couple cyclops and several quadruped monsters with faces of a cephalopod called octo-bulls, both supported by a hoard of gremlins and a pack of satyrs. They look to an archer and the guard launches an arrow into the sky that whistles loudly, catching Rainbow’s attention as she sees the route of the force.

Getting back to the ground, she practically tumbles in a panic as she gets Natah’s attention. “We have a problem! A detachment is heading for the hospital!” This news caught everyone in dread as Natah looked through the time flow. The guards would start moving before he could tell them to keep their post and reinforcement would not be possible without a teleport. “Ideas?”

“A dumb one.” He fired a concussive blast at one of the burrowers and went to Twilight. “Send me to the front lines at Everfree. The guards are moving to intercept a detachment heading for the hospital.” She fired up the spell as she quickly locked in the location as Natah looked at the others. “Do you girls think you can handle this for now?” They each gave him a thumbs up and he nodded as the teleport sent him away.

The first thing the robed commander saw was Natah being teleported in. A stern look crossed the alicorn’s face as the being pointed at the alicorn. Satyr’s started shooting arrows that were blocked with magic and a small detachment of gremlins got in close before blades of mana sliced through them. The mutilated bodies fell to the ground while the satyrs kept firing volleys of arrows. The commander raised a hand, a wand grasped in its fingers as the end of it, a crystal, lit up before the arrow heads were imbued with magic. The resulting spells created a blast that diffused the barrier, a mid level spell mixing air and fire. The alicorn already noted that who or whatever this was received education.

The being chuckled as the eyes under the robe seemed to glow. “It would seem we have something useful in our midst. What say we offer you a hand in ruling this-”

“Kindly kiss my striped tail and eat my ass while you’re at it. You invaded my home so you have nothing to offer.” The being growled at Natah’s defiance and fowl addressment before firing a spell directly. The spell was deflected by Natah back handing it with mana in his palm and scowling. “I am only going to tell you this once…and one time only. Call off your forces and leave…” The being simply laughed as it chose to partake in violence with an alicorn. It fired a small barrage of wind spells which were easily countered by lightning spells that destabilized the air. A fire spell was launched which was blocked by earth, showing the limit of this thing’s magic before the ground began to shake. More of the burrowers came up and forced the alicorn to go airborne before the satyrs fired more magic infused arrows, putting a strain on Natah’s talent. There was one certain outcome to the fight, letting him put the skill to bed as he smiled, whispering to himself. “Show them your best promises, you magnificent terran.”

Passing the workshop with the guards, they were closing in on the detachment and trying to pick off their numbers as best as possible, the gremlins jumping in front of arrows while the satyrs fired back, weakening the guards’ armor. They were mainly keeping the larger monsters guarded from anything severe until they could get to the hospital. Covering the distance for the monsters wasn’t much of an issue, but them falling over was. The smaller monsters and octo-bulls looked at the one cyclops that was laying on the ground. The guard took advantage of the confusion and fired at the satyrs to limit their range while a few troops moved in for the octo-bulls. The other cyclops, seeing this as a cowardly tactic, brought down the tree trunk it was using for a club, ready to smash the guards who were pinned from the tide of gremlins wearing them out earlier.

They braced themselves, ready for the impact that made contact with something, but not them. One of them dared to open their eyes as they felt even the gremlins stop, his eyes meeting a glorious sight that would be burned into their minds. Supporting the log, with green optic flashing to life as if awakened from slumber, was a ten foot unit of a soldier they had never seen. The plating was similar to their armor but the thickness was much greater in sections. The panels themselves were a plain silver luster with a few decorations of simple red. They could already guess who was moving this thing, and he flung the log upwards, throwing the cyclops off balance before vanishing in wind and taking its head clean off with a greatsword, explaining the first one falling over.

The unit, reinvigorated by this action, felt their mana surge through their bodies before they ripped their way from the gremlins’ grip, taking up formation next to Iron. “Orders?” They asked, regarding Iron as a commander, acting or not. The terran looked at the situation and the guards. They were at their limit and Natah was likely still holding the line. He didn’t want any casualties, but he knew these guards were pressed enough.

“Your orders are to regroup in the square and secure an evacuation route should it come to that.” The terran spoke with authority as if he never left the guard, determination shining in his eyes as he took out his mana-gun. “If you can’t move, rest there and defend yourselves as best you can.” The satyrs, hearing this, all armed their bows to line up some easy kills. Iron, seeing this, unholstered his gun and took aim, firing on the mark seconds between each shot as the noise startled the archers, making them fumble their shots and arrows, some hitting friendly fire.

The remaining octo-bulls, seeing this, charged in to grappled and trample the knight, writhing their tentacles all over to make the man miss his swings. He, instead, holstered the gun and stabbed one through the face before grabbing the tentacles of another, swinging the beast over him and colliding it onto the other. Viscera and green blood splattered all over the ground and armor as Iron made a note of the output. He’d have to be careful with his own movement if he wants to get out of the suit in one piece. Another bull flanks the terran with gremlins on its back and Iron gives the gremlins their quarry while the armor powers through their grasp, grabbing the octo-bull inside of the mouth and pulling the beast in two, spraying its insides over the area before he starts grabbing the gremlins by their heads, juicing their brains like oranges before throwing the bodies into the other gremlins with enough force to break their bones..

The otherwise futile attempt to kill this man is met with no results as the gremlins are simply unable to match. The knights that were resting, stable a few with their weapons outside of their armor. “Head for the square!” Iron demanded an explanation from them being out of their armor before shooting another satyr. “Forgive us sir but the hospital needs protecting and the bulk of their forces are more pressing than we can match!” Iron, seeing the logic, nodded solemnly as he prayed for the men to not die. They see the armor light up and hear a rapid thudding as the imposing armor vanishes. “We have our orders still, men.” They smiled and prepared themselves as the hoard, now to less than half its size, charged just for revenge at being handled in such a humiliating manner.

The guards in town, however, were slowly losing the stalemate and Rarity’s horn was hot. She had to swap places with Twilight but the mare was feeling the strain as well from enchanting the swords and shields for each strike. They were exhausted and Pinkie’s antics, while distracting, were not effective. Fluttershy’s method would not fare any better from how these creatures acted, as if they had no thoughts of their own. The burrowers came down again as the guards braced themselves for another strike and the ponies looked away. What they hear a second after is the sound of something crashing into another thing and something breaking, followed by one of the burrowers screeching in pain. The ponies look up and see this armored pony with a shield catching the broken piece of a borrower’s tusk.

The new guard looks back to the townsfolk before looking ahead to the burrowers, throwing the tusk to the side. “You did well, now leave the rest of this riff raff to me.” Rarity and Applejack were stunned to hear Iron’s voice coming from this ten foot behemoth of armor. It was distorted a bit by the helmet but they know it’s him. Rarity, noticing the same thing Twilight did, was about to speak up. “I know. Should only take me a few seconds.” The armor vanished, causing everyone to jolt in shock before the head of one of the burrowers fell, the armored terran on top as this action caught their attention. They can smell the blood oozing from the collapsing creature and feel a sense of vengeance rise in them before they both try to strike, the uncoordinated attack making them crash into each other as Iron simply gets out of the way. He fed more mana into his sword and right arm, the resulting slash creating a wave that cut through the other two burrowers at the expense of his shoulder.

He lands safely on the ground before the exhaust to vent the head from the armor starts to melt. The build up was too much from the strain he was putting on the patch’s systems. He routed systems before opening and leaving the armor, the hot air inside rushing out as Iron quickly strips his top to let the cooler air over his sweating body. “Dammit. That went better than the test run for the first armor but that’s spent.” He goes to the armor and pulls a rod from a holster on the back. He came prepared in case the armor failed. Undoing the wrap, it looked simple, a strong handle frame with a crystal at the top.

As the tow was resting, Natah popped in from a teleport, his wing messed up but otherwise fine. Fluttershy and Rainbow rush over to check on him with Fluttershy’s confused as all hell, finally can’t contain her emotions, her wings glowing a bright jade and pink as the remaining monsters, reduced to just over half, strode in, the commander having an aura of anger coming off of it. “I’ve had it with this resistance. Give up the mares or face destruction for your arrogance.” The commander fumed before seeing Fluttershy in her current state, rage powering her internal magic and affecting the feathers greatly.

The butter yellow mare stood and turned to the army with fury in her eyes, nearly unnerving the commander as Iron put the staff away, his own curiosity superseding the importance of defense. “You first.” The mare’s venomous statement was met with her wings releasing a powerful force of magic in the form of butterflies that shined against the light of the sun. They flew around the monsters and the wings cut into them, making the creatures bleed profusely as the kaleidoscope danced around them. The cyclops and octo-bulls thrashed around while the gremlins died from the rapid blood loss and the satyrs followed closely behind. The commander pointed the rod at the mare, firing an explosion spell before it was wrapped in a barrier, courtesy of Iron with a scowl on his face.

The being scowled as mana poured off of it, enough the robes were blown off as the being underneath was exposed. It was a strange creature to be sure, similar to a chimera in composition but something was off. The right arm was a goat while the legs were a tiger. The left arm was a whole snake, fangs included, and the creature possessed wings like a manticore in addition to a scorpion tail. The unnerving part was the face. It was a mix between some manner of ape and tiger, with the goat’s horns on the top and snake scales over two right eyes. Iron looked at the burrowers and noticed a more stable chimerism from the traits it possessed. The bases all seemed to be derived from insects but the size is what’s worrying. This thing, however, seemed like either the first attempt of a mix of two naturally occurring types of chimera.

Fluttershy, who’d felt her worries were insulted, poured more of her emotions into the kaleidoscope, making a steel curtain of butterfly wings before she fell over, a bit exhausted from overuse, similar to mana fatigue for a unicorn. The chimera, seeing this, fired a wing spell before an opposing angel of ground was raised to deflect most of the blade away from her. The chimera looked at Iron and fumed as the terran shot a challenging glare. “You’re fight’s with me now.”

The chimera, feeling insulted from this terran raising a challenge at him, fired off multiple spells of fire and wind while Iron resorted to simple earth spells that acted as shields, deflecting blades and defusing the blasts. Those magic lessons were handy but now wasn’t the time to be practical. He looked at Natah, who was gathering magic of his own just by cycling the mana in his body, using what stability he had. As if sensing something wrong, the chimera aimed at Natah, firing a heat spell which was deflected by two countering spells from Rarity and Twilight, since they got a chance to rest. That distraction gave Iron enough time to try something reckless as he conjured an incantation to bind the chimera in chains of mana.

The beast, resorting to its basic instincts, began to thrash against the chains and scream profanities before Natah opened his eyes. There was no anger, no hatred, no vengeance. There was only pity for this suffering creature. “Find peace in the next life.” The alicorn brought a hand forward and Natah’s vision saw the time on the chimera, what it would go through and the pain it would endure. With a sad click of his fingers, Natah set the chimera’s time to zero with a magic beam to the head. A painless, instant death for a creature warring with itself, yet forced to follow the will of an unknown maker.

The chimera, which had once been raging, now looked at peace, a sad expression crossed on its face. While the town wondered if it was finally over, there would still be cleanup of the other monsters. Iron, thinking he could go further, began to gather mana for another incantation. Wind kicked up around him as he began. “Heat of storms gather above as the cold of earth meets you in the sky. Arc of light and force of sound crash around to smite my foes.” The spells nature made the heat rise, changing the air density as cold fell to the ground, meeting again as the moisture began to form clouds, the white bases soon growing and darkening as they cover the town and reach into the forest, the intensity staying above the pony’s heads. Lightning arched within the dark plumes of nature’s fury and the colors in Iron’s eyes flashed. “Descend! Lighting Rain!” The arcs skittered in the clouds for a moment, collecting in the air before the strikes began, hitting one gremlin and killing it on the spot. This action dispersed the monsters, but that first strike was the start as lightning began to ‘downpour’ on the monsters, charring them and the ground they stood on for a few seconds before the released energy dissipated the clouds above.

While the spectacle was more than impressive, that last action left Iron drained as his knees shook just to keep him up, his staff acting as his cane just to keep him upright. Rarity and Applejack went to check on him as Fluttershy and Rainbow helped Natah up. The mares all looked around, wondering what to do with the bodies before Iron looked at the guards. “Gather all of these bodies to the shop!” He managed to get out before looking at his girlfriends. “Could you two help me to the shop as well? I need to wake Iro up.” While a little more concerned for his health, he does care for everyone. “I just need the key to open the crystal’s flow again.” They nodded as they were fine with that much. Natah, on the other hand, needed to head to the shop to get his wing replaced, which worked for the others for something else.

“You mind explaining what that was,” became the general question of the mares in the Iron Forge Workshop. Once Iro was awakened, he and Iron got to work making a new wing while the forge turned the monster bodies into raw materials for crystals, armor or weapons. The mares were not mad but they were not happy either. Worry would be the main emotion here as they never knew he had a background in being a commander, or captain or anything.

He lay on the table, stuck waiting for his replace ment wing, but even Natah didn’t know where that came from. With the fighting over, his mind gets to rest away from those intense feelings of duty. “I…really don’t know. It’s like something else was…guiding me. Not just my talent, but premonitions that were part of me yet not.” He didn’t have a better answer than that and it worried Fluttershy and Rainbow greatly since they thought they knew him the best, especially since the only thing wrong with him was something that could be managed. This was something new and out of observation. “Girls, I promise you I’m fine. It felt weird, yes, but it wasn’t like I blacked out. More like…a focus.”

Twilight, reading the room, really wanted to ask if he could replicate that sensation, but figured it wasn’t like flexing a muscle or walking without checking your balance. This was something that came out of nowhere, even for him. “Still, I’m sure even you are curious how or why that happened.” Twilight finally said something, getting everyone in the room on the same wavelength.

Natah, still coming up with theories, did present one possibility looking at Fluttershy. “Maybe…” She said in deep thought, drawing the gaze of the other mares from curiosity. This made her squeak in surprise as she began again. “He shared a dream with me where he was…another him? It sounded so strange but maybe it has something to do with his talent?” Twilight, ever the curious mare about magic, looked at Natah before the butter yellow mare’s eyes seemed to burn her direction like an ominous fire. The poor mare has been through enough worry, she would kindly like for Twilight to not add onto that.

Iron, after helping Iro with the new wing, began to socket the new limb after easing the mana flow off with a Magus Engine. The procedure wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been, since it was just a replacement. If anything, Natah was happy with that. “What about your suit, Iron?” The alicorn questioned with a worried look.

“It may just have to be rebuilt. The installations were a damn rush job.” Iro hummed as he found the prospect amusing. It sounded like the armor only welded itself together rather than combust. The crystal core may be spent because of it, but this was good news. “I’m just happy it went as long as it did. It just needs some minor adjustments and a proper tuning. If I had that before the attack, I probably could have run the thing full speed the whole fight.” Natah, feeling a smile coming to his face, felt a chop on his head, making him yelp and recoil. “Don’t get any cute ideas Natah. You are healing and Iro’s going to have me rebuild the whole suit. Honestly that’s a small benefit. But, better to leave the building to the masters.”

The mares chuckled at how cute that was, Iron talking like a doctor as Natah pouted like a child. It was just precious to see. “Speaking of healing, how does the wing feel?” Rainbow asked, curious how the operation affects him and how it’ll affect Scootaloo.

“Not that bad honestly.” He said, a surprised and relieved grin on his face. “It’s like your wings go numb and then the feeling comes back. It’s a little weird but pleasant. Better than I was expecting.” Rainbow sighed in relief, now knowing that the replacements won’t be so bad if Scoots needs them from now on. “Trust me, I know the fear you felt seeing what had to be done.”

“That reminds me, I have to write that down for the doctors so they don’t have to worry about numbing.” Iron said as he went to clean his hands, only for Twilight to beat him to it with an innocent smile on her face. The other girls chuckled as it was so like Twilight to carry quill and paper everywhere. “Mind readers aside, we have work to do. While the monsters didn’t manage to tear down the hospital…we should prepare to hear about casualties.” Everyone in the room knew what that would mean, either from the soldiers dying from their wounds or the patients dying from the stress which agitated their wounds.

“Would it help if I made something regarding that?” The group turned to Iro who seemed to have an interesting idea as he was smiling from ear to ear. The group pondered it for a moment before nodding to him. He smiled and drew the curtain before getting to work. As he worked, Twilight almost snuck the staff before Applejack stopped her. While the mare tried to pull a Fluttershy, the farm mare had practiced a stern scowl that bored through the book mare, making her relinquish the staff before returning it to the bench.

So repairs began with Twilight acting as a coordinator with several formans and Fluttershy working with Rainbow on relief. Natah and Iron were hauling monster corpses to the shop and even the CMC were contributing by getting a tally of everything important, from food to clothes while homes were being fixed. Twilight even felt it necessary to send a letter to Celestia detailing the attack, specifically the chimera. She’d never known there to be any chimera like that, theorizing them to be made rather than natural, even for the standards of mythic level magic.

Celestia, who was overseeing similar reports, read over the letter as the mention of the chimera caught her eye. It would seem that someone was deliberately making these creatures as her guards managed to report similar cases in other kingdoms. This worried her as their nation's treasure, the Elements of Harmony, may be seen as a weapon more than a tool. The Elements aren’t meant to kill unless a being is purely made of evil or malice. Chimera are not evil, but these are not natural. While she figured the Elements were viable, the best case scenario is just dividing the chimera into its component bases or doing nothing, at worst.

She’d left the letter on the table as she looked out to Ponyville, worrying in her mind as so many positive and negative variables exist in that town. She was then brought out of her thoughts when she heard, “when were you going to tell me?” She turned to see Suda, forgetting that because Natah lives there, it is as much her problem as Natah is. “An army of monsters, some artificial chimera and my brother’s wing-while I’m thankful for the process being painless-needing to be exchanged.”

Celestia, though she wanted to give a solid answer, didn’t know where to start, only massaging her temples. Suda, seeing the stress she put on Celestia right there, softened up a bit, looking remorseful. “Why is there so much happening? It feels like something is encroaching on us and I don’t know what answer to give to the masses when they start asking.” Suda wanted to tell her to just tell the truth, but if the truth is twisted for sensation, it’d make the situation worse than it really is.

Celestia received another letter, though it was from Natah and addressed to Suda. The confusion was seen on the mare before she passed the letter to the unicorn, who shared the confusion while she opened the letter. Suda, upon reading the contents, felt as though she were an alien in the room, as she read something she’d never seen before with the fluency of a native speaker.

[Sister, I am writing in this script to tell you what happened.
I had a dream the other day of being in strange positions.
In those dreams, I had command of armies.
That same authority came to me, and it scared me a bit.
It felt familiar yet it was so alien.
If you can read this, then we share something unknown.
Reply using this text, as this could be our way of keeping secrets.

Natah Chronus.

P.S. I think we should keep this from Twilight.](https://imgur.com/N9724VC)

Seeing this letter, and wanting to write back in the same script, Suda got a slip of parchment and began to write the reply letter while speaking with Celestia. “What does it say?” The mentioned alicorn asked, curiosity laced with concern.

“Something personal that Natah felt to bring up with me, so I want these letters to be private.” She’d finished the letter before looking at Celestia with a bemused expression, like the alicorn took something, making the princess squeak in confusion. “I’ll let you send this one but you really need to teach me how you do that.” She passed the letter to the princess as she sent it off. She didn’t think much about the letter as it was just a reply. Who would be startled by a reply letter?

That answer would be Twilight, who found Natah’s bookmark about other ponies using magic. This came in the form of lesser and greater miracles for the pegasi and the alicorns with their wings and Sage or Druid arts with the Terrans for their internal mana. Twilight, thinking Iron was only going off of observation rather than training, education or practice, felt it prudent to teach the terran how to use his magic. This got her clapping her hands as she heard stories of other ponies using magic and she saw that today with Fluttershy. Teaching Iron magic would certainly make her giddy as she was already preparing note cards and criteria lists.

As Twilight was getting lost in the details, a familiar belch caught her ear as she took the letter and opened it out of habit. She tried to read it but her eyes turned fish eyes from confusion as she could not tell, for the life of her, what in Celestia’s name this was saying. She then started pouring over translation tomes and other language examples only to find nothing but her slipping sanity. The unicorn, desperate for an answer, started to make up translations that made no sense. AsTwilight was still futile deciphering the script, the door opened to Natah, who’s eyes met with Twilight’s making him flinch with fear.

“Uh…you okay Twilight?” The Alicron was pulled into the library before the door closed and Twilight loomed over him, one palm on the wall and the other holding the letter. Seeing the letter, Natah wanted to reprimand Twilight for snooping into other people’s mail but saw Celestia’s seal. He and Suda really need their own seals for each other. He took the letter from Twilight and read it aloud.

[Natah, I seem to share the disposition to the writing.
I am able to read the language as if I were a fluent native to it.
While I do agree we should keep this from Twilight, we both need answers.
I'll be in Canterlot Castle, as I've been, so we can figure this out.
To be honest on my part, I've been able to scry things I should not be able to see.
See me in town as early as possible.

P.S. Strut that wing when you get here little brother, and let the nobles see what they can't have.](https://imgur.com/gOMNUuc)

“The same what? You could write and read that language and you never told me?” She seemed to look even more demented over the fact she was denied any knowledge about something new over something being kept from her.

“Well, Twilight, we love you, just not enough to share all of our personal secrets.” Natah’s reason would have been countered by Twilight if Spike had not spoken up saying, “you tend to make people’s privacy your business when you think they are hiding knowledge over keeping secrets.” Spike knew to read the room though he sounded a bit sour about something unrelated to the situation. Natah even decided to press that truth on Twilight with an embarrassing question like, “what was the first piece of adult literature you read to bed?” That shut the mare down real quick as she really did not want to answer that and it just proved Natah’s point, making her pout as she did, ultimately, relent.

Natah took the time to read the letter, now that he could focus on the contents, and blushed a bit at his sister telling him to strut his wing and bling in Canterlot like the prince he is. While she isn’t wrong, that kind of thing may make him retreat to his room out of embarrassment.

Both Natah and Iron, however, ponder the same question: Who or what made those chimera, and for what purpose? While everyone had that same question, those two had that question at the front of their minds as they work, making it be something to revolve potential solutions around. Iro, having already thought of something, was working on a chimera of his own just for the fun of it while turning the raw materials into crystals and metals.

Fluttershy, having been bedridden from the use of a lesser miracle like that, leaving Rainbow to take care of her as much as she can. The CMC, hearing those details, came by to check on the mare, bringing her a few things the others had prepared. There were lotions and masks from Rarity, on top of some food and tonic she made with Twilight for mana restoration, some apple pies from AJ, and a small cake from Pinkie. “I hope you get better Fluttershy.” Applebloom said with a worried look as no pegasus had used magic like what she did in history. While there were stories, they were often treated as myth as very few were seen doing something like that.

Fluttershy gave each of the crusaders a patting with a smile on her lips. “I’ll be okay, girls. I’m just a little fatigued is all. A little rest should do me some wonders.” The three smile as their ears raise up again. They left soon after with Sweetie Belle running into Spike on her way home, the dragon moping about as he kicked a small pebble.

Curious to his mood this time, the filly could not help but follow the dragon around the town. First he went in front of city hall, then the market, then the park until Sweetie could tell he was just aimlessly wandering. She could tell it was about Rarity, as always. Always her sister, her older, beautiful sister. The poor dragon had the most hopeless crush on the mare with how much he fauns over her. Heh, like she can talk. She’s not much better, having seen how capable he is over all with cooking, social skills and what responsibilities he can handle. Seeing him like this, though, upsets her in many ways. She could tell he wanted to fight, but what could he do?

Slapping herself on the face, she manages to motivate herself and leaves her hiding spot, going up to the dragon and tapping him on the shoulder. The dragon turns and sees the filly, his mood brightening just a little. “You need a shoulder to lean on?” Spike just nodded, looking away sadly. The silence still resumed and Sweetie started poking. “I can’t be of help if you’re quiet.”

Spike, not sure how to say it to Sweetie Belle, just starts with, “It’s Rarity.” Sweetie nodded, already figuring out that reason faster than a breath. “She’s been around that Iron Wrought so much and…” He paused but Sweetie could already tell what it was. Her sister, who caught Spike’s eye, starts dating a stallion and Spike gets jealous over it. Then he comes to find out at some point that Rarity is sleeping with said stallion, so he’s more upset than mad.

“Well you can’t really blame my sister. While she’s used to stallions just wanting her for her looks, she does get many adults who stay for her.” Sweetie reasoned in a factual manner like if someone said the grass is green.

“But I stayed!” Spike’s mild outburst drew a bit of attention before he blushed, apologizing before the others went back to their business.

“You stayed because it’s a crush.” Sweetie countered.

Spike, huffing a bit of fire with a pout, crossed his arms. “Like that guy is so special fighting those monsters. I could fight too.”

“Spike,” Sweetie started, making the dragon look at her before saying, “We’re kids. What were we going to do about cyclops, octo-bulls and those chimera?”

Spike wanted to say something, he really wanted to, just to put on an act that he’s simply better than Iron, but the inner conflict had him sputtering before Sweetie stopped him with a hug and a smile. “You aren’t the only one with a crush you silly goof.” The filly pulled away with a blush on her cheeks before kissing his cheek. “And I’m not the only filly crushing on the same person.” The filly then danced a little as she walked away, singing in music notes as she managed to plant a seed in his head. She and her friend may have to take after their sisters a little, but Spike did prove to be surprisingly mature for his age. An attractive quality that made the three of him crush for him a little before they decided to make a move. It was a good thing Sweetie went first.

Spike, who was still stunned by Sweetie’s actions, tried to reason she was just being friendly, that he’d take Rarity from Iron as his. However, as he watched the filly walk away, he couldn’t help but wonder if Rarity would ever be proud of that. Yes Iron stayed, but he’s blunt and honest. Spike would stay but for selfish reasons, not the least of which being Rarity’s beauty. He then thought about how Natah acted, how Iron pushed himself, things Spike was beginning to doubt he could do, even if he wanted to just to look cool.

Finally walking home, the dragon was in tears as he opened the door. Twilight, who was sorting papers for repairs, heard the door before seeing her dragon in tears. She got up and rushed over before kneeling, asking if he’s already. “No, Twilight, I’m awful.” She didn’t know what to make of that. She asked a simple question and gave her a loaded response. “I’m awful for how I’ve been acting.” She just hugged him, letting him cry his heart out as he accepted the situation.

A few minutes later, Twilight got a tissue for Spike as he blew his nose. “Start from the top.” The unicorn listened intently as Spike laid out everything, his jealousy, his resentment, his greed and his ignorance. He treated Rarity as property over a crush, resented Iron when she practically clung to him and was jealous of the stallion for his acts of genuine heroism, even when he was exhausted and out of his armor. Spike just felt awful, and it took Sweetie Belle to show him that. Twilight, doing her best to not spoil the reasons, told Spike that she is at least proud of his growth today. She even hinted about spending time with Sweetie and the CMC in general. He nodded, a bit absent but thankful for the suggestion, heading out the door to do just that.

And from one upset to another, Natah came in. Twilight felt this one was a bit more personal as he just looked like he saw a ghost. “Okay I just got done with Spike, you look worse. What happened?” Natah, took a breath as he simply did not know where to begin with this one. He said that while he’s happy everyone is okay, if a bit startled from how he acted, he went to see Fluttershy and she’s just not herself. As in she was trying to act like it didn’t happen and that somehow hurts worse than when she screamed about his lack of cuteness.

Twilight, sort of knowing what Fluttershy means, also knows where Natah is coming from, as the pegasus is normally reserved but still bold at times. For her to scream and act like then and then try to act like it didn’t happen feels like she’s trying to bottle up her opinions and emotions of the incident rather than talk about it. “Do you…think your sister could be of some assistance with this? What you went through and the aftermath…I’m just out of my element here.” The mare scratched the back of her head in embarrassment as she wanted to help but Natah’s particular episode was a unique case. Taking in the mare’s words, Natah looked at Canterlot as he remembered the letter. He did have a rendezvous to keep.

Chapter 5: Words of Authority

As Natah approached Canterlot from the sky, he could not help but marvel at the beautiful sight from above. This bittersweet feeling was spoiled by the truth that so much of the beautiful view hides the filth of the society that gate keeps its golden borders. The alicorn shakes his head, reminding himself that he needs to meet Suda. They never specified a place to meet, so he went for her tower of the castle, gently knocking on the balcony door. The unicorn answers, briefly forgetting to look down, as the alicorn stares up with a blank expression at her nude form. “Don’t give me that look, brother. You’re pretty much the only one who’s seen all this and it’s nothing you aren’t familiar with.” She teases, reminding him of his girlfriends, which brings an agitated blush to his face before the unicorn chuckles. “Let me get something on and we can head down.”

The alicorn waits right outside, looking at Ponyville from such a high vantage point with a smile on his face. It’s nice how something so quaint and quiet can look so serene from all the way up there. He hears the mild rustling of clothing and sees Suda in jeans and a crop top with her earrings and a light jacket, going for a rocker aesthetic with band names she likes. “Ready to go?”

Natah was about to say something before seeing the mischievous grin on her face and he replies with his own. “As ever, bitch.” The unicorn snorts in an attempt to hold a laugh as she was going to enjoy this. Speaking this language would likely throw Celestia, but the two agree she’s an honest mare, so they’ll leave it be. They’d talk notes in town though, which makes their grins more devious.

The two land in Canterlot’s market center for a meal as Natah speaks up saying, “So about the scrying you made earlier?” The nobles, hearing this strange dialect, felt as though he just started to speak nonsense.

This was floored when Suda answered, “It was a strange place. It resembled our system in many ways but the inhabitants were…strange.” This caught the alicorn’s curiosity as she continued saying, “They stood upright like us, but all of them had flat faces. Well, the ‘normal’ ones. One faction used strange golems but the other faction had troops with bodies mutilated for strange and often strong enhancements.”

Natah had forgotten they were messing with the nobles, who thought the two were speaking nonsense but their facial and body language said they were having a full and coherent conversation in a strange tongue. “Hmm, that sounds different from mine. I saw myself in a strange vehicle. It had speed similar to Rainbow Dash and ‘modes’ for various tracks. I even seemed to be with a sizable team but…their faces were blurred.” Natah could only figure that this memory was connected to him yet not his own, so the memory has nothing to fill in except for the shape. “What’s more, they seemed to race in other dimensions.”

Suda looked a bit shocked before contemplating the implications of this information. If that was true, it would mean these dimensions they were in were made, or else like how she perceived space, in layers. She makes a Scrying Eye and starts to have a look before the story Natah told was confirmed right there, as they can see many dimensions thanks to her scrying into other realms by using her talent. “Alternate realms with different physics…”

Natah, hearing this, had a brief idea. “Do you think the chimera we fought could have come from there?” Suda, thinking logically, took a peek at each of the realms to try finding the closest match to any of them. After looking through about four as quickly and meticulously as possible in a couple minutes, she closed the Eye and shook her head. “So these ones are being made.”

Suda, curious of those words at first, smirked and flicked his forehead to get him out of that stupor. “No more business talk. How’s Ponyville doing?”

“Well aside from getting repairs after a monster and chimera attack, everything is good.” The news made Suda’s eyes bug out from concern before Natah looked, seeing he may have forgotten to say something. “Weren’t you scrying us.”

“I’m sorry am I a stalker?” She asked her brother, feeling a little betrayed before getting back to the main topic. “No, back to the attack. Ponyville was attacked?” Natah nodded, sharing the details of the attack and what happened, which was the main reason he came, with a secondary reason being Fluttershy as she seemed to be the most affected by this. Suda, taking this in, now understands why he left the attack out, since it was still standing, with so little damage she never thought to scry the town.

“You have enough on your plate watching our borders, keeping an eye on dangerous locals and turning down these snobby harem trotters that just want you for a crown. I didn’t want to put more stress on you than you already have to handle.” Suda, wanting to counter this, simply pouted that all she had for an excuse was the risk of him dying, which was hard to do as alicorns have a strong constitution physically and magically, this coupled with his hold over time had made killing all the more harder to achieve. “Besides, I’m sure your secret crush wouldn’t mind the chance to show off if you were there at all.”

“You leave Iron out of this.” She countered swiftly with a stern look.

“I never said it was Iron, though he did give the lead chimera a show before smiting him with a thunderbolt.” Suda, feeling betrayed that her brother baited her, just blushed at the fact she said that insufferable stallion’s name aloud before trying to deny it again. While this whole spectacle was happening, the nobles, seeing the facial language, were now convinced that they were speaking a whole other language. The only question was do they blame Natah for defiling the mouth of a princess or praise Suda for uplifting a crippled pony. The confusion on their faces did nothing to calm Suda as she just sulked in her chair, calling him a jerk.

“Princess,” one of the nobles called her to get her attention. “Pardon my intrusion but…what is that curious dialect?” The noble's words could not be any more blatant about how he views the dialect as something exotic to be owned, the act making Suda’s now hidden expression open with a rage Natah can see before sensing the mischievous side come out like some dimented joker.

She turned back to the table, arms crossed and one leg over the other before directing an eye to the noble’s direction, hope on his face. “The dialect is called ‘none of your bucking concern’ you sycophantic twat.” The harsh tone and sharp facial language would have normally shooed the noble away but he seemed even more enamored as she spoke to him in that tone. “Should I have said that in Equish?”

“Leave it sis. Guys like that would own the origin of all time if they could buy it.” Even with Natah’s honest disdain for most nobility and him knowing them like a clear pane of glass, the noble seemed appalled at such a ‘baseless’ accusation of his reputation. The stallion even went so far as to demand Natah to not speak with Princess Suda so casually.

Suda, taking offense to this, had a threatening look on her face, which drew attention. “My brother can be as casual with me, his sister, as he wishes. He is my family after all. Yet here I am dressed like some ‘lesser admirer’ of the same ‘unsophisticated music’ my brother listens to and I make it sound refined.” The nobles, trying in vain to defend their reasons, drew Suda’s irritation as she slammed the table, making them go silent. “Why don’t you vacate this spot before I scry something truly uncouth, Noblis Scoom.”

The nobles were rightly startled as the venom and heat coming from the foreign language was like a weapon twisting in a wound. A laugh came from the crowd that made all of them recoil with disgust, as the Royal siblings saw a familiar red mare with a maintained black and blonde mane and wild tail strutting up to the table. Her saucy accent and hoarse voice for a lady make her sound similar to a high profile escort, though her manners are as refined as a lady’s should be. “You petty nobles get told off by a lady and your first reaction is to stand there like a bunch of children. Does that not say something of your interests?” The crowd, appalled, left the scene to deny anything she said. Her gaze turns back to the two as she waves casually, dressed in attire that’d be seen on a Neighponese street girl. “Sup you two.”

Natah, happy to see another noble of integrity, smiled alongside his sister. “Scarlet Pride, to the rescue?” Suda said, almost reading the Alicorn’s mind as they shook hands. “Guessing our little ‘foreign tongue’ act drew some attention?” Suda already knew the answer to her question.

Scarlet nodded and said, “With my sources trying to figure out who spoke first and then blame or praise the other.” The siblings knew that much already, but they were happy this keeps them confused and in line, since Suda is still willing to call Natah her brother while the nobles want her to disown such ‘damaged goods’ like he’s product. “But I can guess, by the way you were speaking, you both have an instinctive understanding of it.” The two parties nodded, making the fact of who spoke it first moot either way.

“We still don’t know how we can speak it. We were tempted to tease Celestia about it, but I doubt she’d know.” Natah added, going so far as to think that even their mom and dad wouldn’t know what it was since only he and Suda saw something like that, so the chances of knowing how or why are nil.

Scarlet, ever the friendly ear, takes a seat and orders a meal for the three of them. “Then what will be the main reason to use the dialect, if no one can read it?” Scarlet’s smirk did not drop as she figured the tongue can be used for more than teasing.

“Secret letters and hidden conversations, a way of planning in plain sight without the eavesdroppers knowing what’s going on.” Scarlet smirked at Suda’s plan. It was risky, as that meant the letter, if intercepted, would mean the party in question would suspect something, but with Suda’s and Natah’s skills, this could be a moot point as well. Scarlet points out that these two love taking risks, but then that is what makes them suitable rulers alongside the other siblings, as caution and action contrast each other and create a favoring reaction.

The siblings chuckle at those words as they can do so much with so little attention, at least until someone demands they speak plain Equish out of frustration and insecurity. “I can figure what you two are giggling about, and I do not blame you. Being able to keep secrets while discussing those secrets has to be a net benefit for you siblings all around.” The two nodded, agreeing before their meal came and they dug in, savoring their meal and Scarlet’s company.

A good moment like this, sadly, comes with the tax of something bad happening. Natah, feeling something amiss, starts to see futures and streams of the other country leaders coming to press the sisters about the Elements. He paid for his and Suda’s meal as he got up. “Brother?” Suda looked up, a bit startled as he spoke. “We need to get to the castle, now.”

“What’s up?” Natah, thinking of the best way to show her, weaves the streams into a pane, showing her what’ll happen soon. “Hold on, I have an idea, if you’ll trust me.” Natah finishes his food without a word, waiting for Suda as she does the same. The two mix their magic and their talents as they begin to weave the streams of time and the pockets of space around them, seeming to teleport from the perspective of both Scarlet and the sisters when, in reality, they displaced themselves through time.

The sisters, understandably, see this particular magic performance and ask what that was. “I’m afraid we have a more pressing matter, ladies.” Suda says, making the guard balk while Suda continues. “In exactly twelve minutes, the rulers of our neighboring kingdoms will come to the castle regarding the elements. My brother didn’t see the full stream but their tone and your faces did not make it look like a peaceful request.”

“You expect us, or the princesses, to take the word of a banished royal?” One guard spoke up before Suda’s glare promptly floored him.

“Banished by the nobility, not by the sisters, get that fact straight now.” She turned back to the sisters and said that they need a plan by the time the other rulers get inside. The sisters, seeing the gravity of the situation and the situation of the other kingdoms, can only guess what they are going to ask of the girls. They agree to let the siblings attend so they can act as the mediators for negotiations. Suda, ever curious about the interaction, asked Natah who was in attendance.

The alicorn said that the kingdoms in attendance included the Griffons, Minotaur, Cervine, Dragons, Zebra and Lupine. This was troubling news given that the kingdoms mention seem rather random, even more they would note that the Lupine don’t agree with Equestria, much less anyone else to their limited interpersonal knowledge. More concerning, the worst case scenario would be each nation taking a single element, leaving Equestria effectively defenseless. They thanked the siblings for this information and gestured to either side of their thrones as the other rulers arrived, right on schedule. Credit to Natah.

“Princess, we have a grievance!” The griffon, Black Beak, shouted with a boom in the throne room. The siblings all shared the same opinion with this guy: he’s going to be trouble. “We were informed you were attacked by those very same creatures, yet you fended them off with such ease.” Shows what this guy knows. Natah threw the fight just a little since Ponyville was saved regardless of his participation. “And I have no doubt it was those Elements of yours that saved your feathers again.” And there went Suda’s patience, before Natah stopped her from striking. He reminded her to play it cool and put them in a bind, not the other way around.

“Please calm yourself, King Black Beak.” Celestia gestures a simmering mood as she tries to keep tempers from boiling as she explains. “It was not the elements that saved Ponyville, as I had only just heard news of this earlier. It was one of my guards who managed to halt the chimera and Natah who spearheaded the task.” She explained, gesturing to the shorter alicorn who stood proud, fighting back a big nose and smug grin of accomplishment.

“You really expect us to believe you could fight those things without the elements?” The griffon went on, Natah’s pride stepping aside in place of his curiosity to the king trying to sidestep the statement. “They seemed more than instrumental for handling your terror of a sister.” The room felt hot as the siblings all backed away from Celestia, her aurora mane beginning to smolder with the corona of her celestial body as her eyes became like that of burning gold.

The kings, all realizing the princess is not weak for her forgiveness, recoil at her display of rightful anger and disgust for their words. Her glare and heat threaten to melt or burn the throne room as she speaks. “I would most appreciate it if you kept your business about how you think the Elements can deal with the monsters. Include my family in that again, and your attendance is moot. Am I understood, dear guest?” The kings, all of them, dazzled but terrified of the princess, nodded their heads as the aurora mane cooled before losing the corona, while her eyes returned to the soft magenta as she breathed to relax. “As you were saying?” She asked flatly.

With Black Beak no longer running the narrative, the other kings expressed a similar need for the Elements, to combat the monsters and hopefully drive them away. While the griffon king called and treated them as weapons or objects, the others expressed different interests that Natah took notice of, before Black Beak spoke up again. “As you can hear, we all have the same problem. I propose a battle royal to settle the matter, in our own coliseum. Our warriors will fight for the ownership of the Elements.”

Natah noticed the king gesturing to the other royals and glanced at Suda, the unicorn catching the same insinuation before speaking up. “So you lot get to fight for six citizens of ours and we’re supposed to just go along with it?” The king, feeling offended by Suda’s words, whipped around and barked at her that Equestria has been in ownership of the elements for too long. “So we only spectate with no chance of proving ourselves. Yeah, see, that isn’t flying for four very big, very pissed off reasons.”

“Learn your place femal-” The Cervine King was cut off as a void space was shot by his feet, the resulting shot stripping the floor next to him. The others look and see it was Suda’s magic, with another armed and ready.

She held the dimension destruction method with a dark glare as she said, “you come into Equestria, demanding that we hand over six citizens and we don’t get any say for our own attendance even though you are inviting us, just to merely spectate.” The unicorn, seeing the king reach for a bow, snapped the sphere at the string, making the limbs snap as she continued. “Then you want to threaten us with force when we, like you, have a right to defend ourselves.” Suda, having proven to be the more direct powerhouse, showed she’s not to be taken lightly or directly fought. “So here’s the deal, Equestria fights for the Elements as well. Or, I start erasing landmarks and nations.”

“As if a pony is that strong.” Suda’s magic intensified, increasing the dimensions of her destroyer to challenge the dragon’s word. This was neither the proud and experienced Torch nor the cunning and cautious Ember. This was just some newt ambassador who thinks the dragons are the strongest for size. Fair, but misguided. The dragon said no further and this made the other kings think twice.

“I believe Suda has spoken for my sister and me quite well.” Luna said, not hiding the smug grin before it turns into a hard scowl, with a minor visage of Nightmare in her eyes. “If you want to take the Elements from us, earn them. If we lose, we lose. If we win, we win. It is just that cussing simple. Whomever wins earns the Elements. Not the mares attached to them.” Luna’s words made the other royals balk while Natah grinned. The timeline was leaning further and further into the princesses getting their attendance to fight for the Elements while the mares are omitted from the details.

“What gives you the right to boss us around?” The lupine spoke up. The ponies all paid attention to those words and the body language of the lupine. He’s scared. He could be scared of Suda, or for his people.

“The fact that we want our people safe, just like you.” Suda was the first to answer, catching the princess’ interests while Natah just looked on, curious. “No one wants to feel like their home, their nation is crumbling around them.” She said, addressing them directly as rulers. “I get your desperation, I didn’t know my own brother fought those creatures until just today. But what right do I have to cage him just to keep him safe for myself. Would you not be doing the same thing taking the Bearers from us, putting them in gilded cages until it was time for them to fight? Making sure they were safe until you ordered them to fight for a nation they know nothing of?” She looked to Natah, who felt his cheeks heat up. “I know my brother well enough to want to protect him,” she says before turning back to the royals, “but that isn’t my call to make, because I know he’d want to fight. The bearers, they are just young girls with this responsibility thrust onto them. If you want the elements, we’ll fight for them. We will not, however, hold this contest to decide the fate of the bearers unless you have troops of equal value to wager.”

Natah, checking the time stream, saw that Suda practically solidified the omission of the mares as the prize, mentally thanking her with silent tears as she showed herself as a proud and capable royal all her own. The royal leaders began to argue with each other, with the majority agreeing to take only the Elements while the griffon and cervine kings wanted the mares with them. Natah could already sense the intent from the two kings, their minds plagued with ruinous thoughts of defiling the mares. He looked to the princesses and his sister before they could tell he wanted to try something stupid. So he pulled from one of the failed timelines before snapping his fingers, letting everyone see the result of what would happen if the mares were taken as well as the elements. “This,” he began before switching to another failed timeline. “This is what failure looks like, when you submit to ineptitude and try desperately to hold on to pride.”

He snapped his fingers again and the perspective returned to the throne room. “So I hope everyone here knows their own place in this universe, because I can’t change time for others, only myself. Such a fate and existence means I can do what I want, but it would be a lonely, pathetic life of misery and solitude.” The kings that agreed to the terms looked at the griffon and cervine kings with a glare, almost hinting they should be thankful for their renewed chance to live. The kings argued it could just be a fabricated trick. Though Natah was not smirking or laughing, something the girls took note of with its own horror. “Now what would make you think I can fabricate the future. I can see it, it can be changed, but it can’t be manipulated. A price is paid for something to be earned. So take the loss here and earn the elements. Otherwise, stay out.”

The kings, thoroughly terrified of the royalty and nobility present, take their leave after agreeing to hold the battle royal a week from today. This would give the guard time to train, though Celestia’s mild confidence was challenged by Natah’s experience, as the Ponyville guard could barely handle the chimera, and they were coordinated by another chimera. “Then how do we get our troops to prepare?” Suda’s question left Natah stunned as he realized who the pegasus guards would have to learn their own magic from and Suda took a guess on who would be their chief armorer. “Oh…fuck me with a cactus.”

The two head to Ponyville with Suda making a gate in, still wearing the same setup as from Canterlot’s market district and catching eyes in the process. Being familiar with the area, she and Natah stopped by Iron Forge to check on the shop’s aforementioned owner, who was being visited by spike. Unknown to them, the dragon stopped by earlier that morning to apologize to Iron for his jealousy, something that was forgiven in a heartbeat as the terran had no ill attitude toward a drake who was still young and blissfully innocent. In exchange, he let Spike join him on how to use a Magus Engine for gem cutting and refining before seeing the siblings at his door.

The terran cleaned his hands and shook Natah’s but wasn’t sure about Suda before she shook his hand with a seething blush. “Okay…? Anyway, how was your day?” He asked the two before going back to his previous projects.

“Well we got news.” Natah saying just ‘news’ was enough to warrant concern as Iron resumed his work. “So the rulers from other nations came in demanding for the Elements. Suda managed to get the mares out of the deal, thank Sun.” The terran hid his anger but did not hide his gratitude for the mare’s actions. “And we have a battle royale coming up, so you know we need armor for the guards.”

Iron, setting the project aside for a bit to look over the armor. “Training?” Natah nodded, saying that the terran guard would have to learn from him and the guards who’ve been using the armor consistently and the pegasus guard would need to learn from Fluttershy, something he was hesitating on while trying to speak plainly. “So then it comes down to how soon we can gear up. And while victory is not the goal, it is the minimum?” The alicorn nodded before looking at his sister, who’d been still as a statue as her eyes were fixed on the magiguns.

Seeing this, Natah was about to say something before Iron beat him to it, snapping her out of her stupor. “Those are the prototypes. I want the final product to be the first in a line of templates, so no.” Suda, struck by those words just huffed, saying it was a good thing, since she didn’t actually want them. The alicorn just smirked while Suda started walking to Fluttershy’s. Iron told Natah the base should be done some time before or after the battle royale, so they can be a surprise gift if he needed to give her something. Natah nodded and turned as a mischievous smile slowly creeped onto his face for a moment before falling, remembering who else they had to visit.

Suda was the first to knock on the pegasus’s door, the butter yellow mare answering with enthusiasm before shutting it just as fast after seeing Natah. Sighing in frustration, Suda bends the space around herself and Natah, telling Natah to just sit in the living room while shee and Fluttershy talk in the kitchen. “Okay, Shy, why are you avoiding my brother?”

“A-avoiding. I’m not avoiding anyone out of shame.” Realizing she may have said too much not five seconds into the conversation, the mare tried to hide herself behind her mane, all while Suda just raised an eyebrow before taking a seat.

“Fluttershy, I do respect you for standing up for my brother, given what happened to make him act like that. So how is that different than if I acted the same way?” Fluttershy made the argument that Suda is his sister, so she has more right to scream and throw a tantrum over the episode he had, thinking she disrespected Natah’s condition or character. “Okay, and I tease him because he’s my baby brother with two hot girlfriends. Also you are his girlfriend and you were concerned for him since that episode was off base from how he normally is.” Fluttershy continued to demean herself as she’s just a girlfriend, making Suda’s eye twitch. “Just a girlfriend?”

“Slipping there, sis?” Suda flinched before seeing Fluttershy’s startled look. The mare did not account for Suda to be something similar to Natah’s condition as said alicorn peeked in. “Just a side note, we can write and speak what you just heard. Don’t ask why.”

The pegasus, now in stunned silence, looks at the unicorn who was a bit sheepish with an embarrassed grin on her face. “Yeah, we threw each other a curve ball and spoke that tongue in Canterlot’s market district to discuss the invasion and some other things. The nobles’ faces were priceless.”

Fluttershy, seeing that this was Suda’s way of consoling her, listened more intently to Suda, who said that family is family but it’s still a relationship, just like having a best friend, a significant other or spouse. Family is what you make of it and Fluttershy had every right to act the way she did out of concern for Natah since that side of him came up outside of normal context. The pegasus, seeing how silly she was acting over her concern for Natah, was soon alone in her kitchen as Suda wanted to peruse around the town. “Natah?” The alicorn heard Fluttershy, entering the kitchen to the sight of the sad pegasus. “Can we talk?” He just nodded and joined her to talk about the events of the invasion.

Suda, meanwhile, was looking around town for Applejack and Rarity, curious about their interest in Iron since she still, for the life of her, can’t figure out what they like about him. The man, to her knowledge now, has a functioning suit of armor powered by magic sources, a spear with a similar core, two guns and enough balls to get into a fight with chimera that are less natural than the normal fare or even obedient for that matter. And he just goes and throws himself at them like the idiot he is for the sake of a whole town, his girlfriends, his best friend and his country, whose nobility hates him, with no actual idea of if he’d make it out of the fight in one piece, never mind alive if the suit malfunctioned any further than her brother claimed.

“SUDA!” The southern drawl of Applejack’s voice got her out of her thoughts as the unicorn jumped. “Dang girl you were out of it, day dreamin’ about my man like that?” Suda paused for a moment with fish eyes, swearing to herself it was all in her head. “Sugarcube, my whole farm heard you on the way here. You better get me a barrel of good Mule Kick for saving you from self-incriminating embarrassment.” The smug look on AJ’s face made Suda slowly hide hers with her mane. “Yeah, I know, I’m horrible. And, on a Pinkie promise, I won’t say a word to Iron.” Suda’s face flashed with rage before seeing the serious look on AJ, remembering that no one should ever break a pinkie promise.

“Never…” Pinks I swear to Moon if you do not stop that!

“Uh, Pinkie?” Suda seemed to snap Pinkie out of her supposed stupor, dreading what she already knew.

“I know already, little tsundere.” The pink party mare teased before hopping off, leaving a bright red blush on Suda’s face before she starts walking, much to the farm mare’s humor as she begs the unicorn to not leave.

Rarity, Applejack and Suda met up in town, catching a drink of a sweet and salty milkshake as the taller unicorn just sulked. While Rarity would find this amusing, she almost needed to ask, until it just blurted out. “Have a crush on someone?” The fashionista could see every muscle in Suda tense as the mare resisted every urge to talk before taking a breath and calming down. “Sore topic?”

“Between you two and my brother, it became one.” She said with a spicy inflection as the other two bit their lips to stifle a laugh. She sighed before saying, “I’m sorry. That’s not fair to take my emotions out on you two.” She sips more of her drink to try passing her embarrassment by.

“So what’s got you kicked by the spurs?” Suda took a moment to collect herself before explaining the situation regarding the other nations and the Elements. While the mares are upset the griffin and cervine kings wanted them as some form of collection set, they were thankful Suda set the terms that she did, otherwise things would have gone south for their mental health real fast. She even shared news about Fluttershy and Iron teaching the guards their magic and arming them with the equipment needed to attend, though she suspects Black Beak will try setting a weight limit on gear unless you’re large by nature. “Hah, if he does that the contest will be a moot point if the more warrior inclined see the obvious rule fiddling. Everyone would probably have to fight nude.

Suda, to her aroused horror, pictured a nude Iron laying on her bed before she downed her glass and paid for it and another. “Don’t ask…please.” Applejack, curious but considerate, did not pry into what her words did to the poor unicorn’s thoughts.

“I could make something for you to take your mind off of the topic, darling. Something lacey or bold?” The two looked at Rarity questioning if they weren’t the same thing. “Goodness, no. Lace can be modest and well covered, while bold can be simple but exposing.” The two just shrug at her explanation as Suda wears anything just to tease people and Applejack is all for the delicate clothing but those are for special occasions, which can be few and far between.

The mares spend the afternoon after their shake walking about the town and letting Rainbow and Twilight know about the arrangement. While Twilight was against giving up the elements, like Celestia was, Suda managed to separate the relics from the users, eliminating any risk of the mares losing their agency and rights, though she would not put it passed Black Beak to try something to get the mares as well, or muddle the rules to put Equestria at a disadvantage.

Later on in the day, they noticed the guards with the first version of Iron’s armor, the guards inside managing to move the plated gear, though with some difficulty depending on the race. Seems training started with the basics, and the guards had to use their own magic as the generator for training their mana and powering the suit. The pegasi were up in the air with their own training as their wings glowed, each one wrapped in a different elemental energy.

Suda, while not thinking of how much Iron is doing, is certainly praising Fluttershy for being brave enough to teach other Pegasi what she did. That or she taught Natah and he taught them. Either way, the results for terrans and pegasi were already promising. Which left. The unicorns. Oh. Joy. “I’m sorry to leave like this, but our forces only have a week to prepare for this battle royale.” The mares held their hands up with a smile, telling her to do as a princess should and help lead Equestria to a promising future. The unicorn smiled and said her goodbyes before returning to Canterlot.

While in the castle, she paid a visit to the barracks which seemed rather…void for some reason. She looked at the guards, who were doing their exercises before putting it together. The guards were not pushing their limits, only doing what was comfortable out of some misplaced pride they will win by default. While she wanted the guard to learn the fault of such thinking the hard way, Equestria, literally, does not have the time. The guard captain, Shining Armor, saw Suda and was about to call his men to attention when he felt magic on his lips. She did not want him stopping the guard just for him to make them work harder for one day. She took a deep calm breath before a thunderous, “ATTENTION!” The guard stopped everything they were doing and lined up.

Shining, rather surprised a princess’s roar could sound so sexy, could not hide his shock before the Princess of Space spoke. “Now I’m not sure if you are aware, so let me cover the basics. The Elements of Harmony are currently under scrutiny for their lack of participation in the fight against chimera; you may have heard of the chimera attack on Ponyville by now.” Both Shining and his guard were not aware of this just yet, as evidence when Celestia almost came in to give the news, now spectating. “While my brother and I have managed to spare the bearers from change of national ownership, you still have a country and a treasure to protect! The terrans and pegasi have a head start on their training, as it will be all hands on deck. So for this whole next week, I am going to run your drills, stress you to the bone and push you so hard you may be gasping for air! We have very little time and you need to be ready. Now, divide into platoons of three and get ready, because I’m going to run your mana until it is boiling!”

Celestia, happy that Suda was taking on the same responsibility as Natah, in respect and elation of his restored freedom, left the guards to their training. If they come to her about Suda’s training method, they can leave. She may need to get some Terrans and pegasi up to Canterlot, though she wonders how the terrans are training to participate.

Chapter 6: Clad in Resolution

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

Chapter 7: Forging Hope

Three Days Ago
We turn back the clock to check on Iron’s progress of armor. After sending Shining Armor away, the terran wanted to know what that was. It felt like magic, like being wrapped in telekinesis, yet it felt nothing like being held. He took the armor to the workshop and was greeted by Iro, who noticed the change. “Oh, Iron, it seems there is a pleasant change within you.” Iron was curious, inquiring about this change. “It feels as though you are… more open? Hmm, maybe less burdened. Either way, the mana flows through you more freely now.” Iron looked at his hands, wondering how to interpret that.

This was interrupted by Rainbow, who came in to pester him again about a weapon. The mare saw the gear he’s been making and wanted a weapon to use. In her words, she just wanted something functional and cool, like those guns, or maybe a blade. Though Iron was briefly annoyed, he used this chance to ask Rainbow to get Natah, Twilight and Rarity. Though confused, she did just that, as Natah was there in seconds and Twilight followed shortly after with Rarity with a teleport.

“So what’s up?” Natah asked, curious about Iron’s request to see him and the unicorns. Instead of explaining, Iron held his hand out as the nodes appeared again, the same lines of mana forming on his body and mana emitting from the ‘End Nodes’. Twilight, stunned by this, examined the mana to make sure this wasn’t a trick of some kind. Sure enough, it was real mana, leaving her and the others flabbergasted. “Dude, how and where? That is cool.”

“In town. Someone fired a concussion spell and I managed to hear it. My reflexes spiked and I came to some epiphany before redirecting the blast.” While Rarity was looking him over in concern, he continued as he mentioned that the initial form of this method is the likely reason Terrans can use the armor more naturally. Rarity then mixed heads with Twilight as they came to the two mares in mind that can explain this; Applejack for her strength and Pinkie Pie for her supernatural precognitive awareness.

Just as they discussed the mare, she… stepped out from a slip in space? “Hiya?”

“Pinkie…?” Twilight was beside herself, as this was… beyond new for her. Not only did Pinkie break physics, again, she did so even more seamlessly than normal. And she looked… different.

“Okay Alter, not too many spoilers.” STOP THAT! “Never.” She growled at… someone playfully. “So, I’m from the future, a good one, though I found that certain conditions can create a positive time loop if done in the exact order, like right now.” She looked at Iron and smiled gleefully. “Though you are roughly two seconds ahead of schedule so I got time.” She went on to explain the Soft Line and Hard Line methods and how unicorns and pegasi used the soft line method, which turns their mana inward as opposed to Terrans taking in mana from the Hard Lines to project more mana. She even explains that Alicorns can use this and the other methods at their best since they are walking conduits of mana. While she can’t say more than that, she can teach the method and secure the time loop, starting with Natah.

Natah learned to turn all of his leylines inward; hands, horn and wings. This let him cycle his mana more freely and can be switched between the three methods, which can boost magic strength, range and duration with technique. Twilight and Rarity could think of a few uses on their own. Iron, however, not only picked it up, being a Terran, he then projected the Soft Lines to the armor, moving parts of it remotely. He thought that if he could condense his Soft Lines into a connector, he could make something out of it. Pinkie Two warned against that, saying that it’d be too risky at this juncture. But he did do something great with it. Again, she couldn’t say wh-at is Pinkie One doing here?

“Oh, is this an Iron chapter?” The present time party mare asked as she and her futuristic counterpart started conversing about this ‘Alter Sol’ being a procrastinator-HEY! “You know it’s true, Alley.” The present Pinkie teased. “So how did teaching go?”

“Iron almost began developing a skill with his Soft Lines two weeks earlier than intended. It still needs safety to practice after the Royale.” The second Pinkie then fetched a watch from her mane and smiled. “Three seconds early and we are done. Sorry to dip, but I need to zip. Tell the family you miss them, even if Lime is a gwump about it.” The two Pies laugh before Future Pie leaves through the fold in space-time.

“Heheh, I think Alter is having a headache.” FUCK OUTTA MY SCRIPT! “Oops.” She exclaimed with a teasing smirk. “So, did you manage to get all of that?”

The four just nodded, not wanting to recount this interaction too many times, with Natah noting how this event really was a time loop. Using this connection with the Soft and Hard Lines, it would seem he marked this exact date and time and had Pinkie, who’s unnatural perception of reality aided her, had her come back to this point in time to teach him, Iron, Rarity and Twilight this exact skill as opposed to learning it way later to prevent some form of apocalypse. Very cheeky to use feedback time loops like this. And he made sure to develop it as much as possible later but only learn it right now, thus keeping the loop stable. Shit, now he can feel a headache coming on trying to keep track.

Moving on from that, Iron did keep notice of the method he was trying for. He felt a connection with the arm of the armor and got a safer idea than what he was trying for. He’d keep this one from the others as he wasn’t sure if he could teach everyone in time. The others, though, went off to teach the other ponies the Soft Line method, as Natah noted that unicorns and pegasi do not have Hard Lines like terrans. While this would be a stinker for Rainbow, it did help her Miracles some as she’d managed to make a miracle she calls Spectrum Acceleration, which covers her in a Rainbow corona and increases her speed greatly.

Twilight worked with Rarity to teach the Soft Lines to the other unicorns while Natah taught the Hard Lines to the terrans, with many of them already seeing the application for magic casting though taking notes from the unicorns that magic, like miracles, takes mental fortitude. They didn’t know if there was a way to mitigate this and one unicorn suggested the terran’s use a unicorn practice of focusing on the same kind of spell, which reduces mana requirements and casting time, even teaching this practice which gave Natah some ideas on how to address magic, about Suda and the sisters around this time.

Iron, however, was busy with weapons and armor, trying to incorporate the Soft Lines with their function or to lower the burden of the armors, at the very least. With the armors, “Perfection.” The lag of the armor’s movement is removed entirely as the user’s mana acts as a form of nervous system to the internals. This increases reaction time and spatial awareness of the user as the armor plating becomes like their skin. Even Iro, during this test, noticed the armor felt more like Iron’s own body, almost being gentle by accident.

With the recap on the second day out of the way, we move to the third day as the sound of a gun makes the town flinch. The source, a new weapon made by Iron, received a hard glare as he was not a fan of this solution. The energy weapons used crystals as an energy source, which meant multiple rounds that could be adjusted through the gun. This one was more dependent on the ammo’s dimensions, and that limits the gun severely. He unloads the chamber and ammo before setting them on the bench, looking over his latest project behind the shop, which needed to be open for Iro to see the progress of.

As if on cue, his girlfriends came running in. “What the Sam Hill was that!?” Exclaimed Applejack, her body covered in sweat and dirt. She must’ve dropped everything thinking Iron got into another accident. Seeing he’s fine, she got flustered and marched up to him. “Listen here, mister! You better not be trying anything stupid again!” Iron presented the frame of the gun and she looked at it questionably. “The heck’s this.”

“A failed project. It fires a physical round, unlike the guns that would use a crystal as the ammo. But they are dependent on the ammo’s dimensions. A strict limit with almost no flexibility.” Applejack looked the thing over and put a finger to her chin as she presented it to Rarity.

“Any idea, Rares?” The farm mare asked, wanting an opinion from the fashion pony, not just on style but function.

“Hmm… this is basically a slingshot. Good structure, nice balance… So what's the issue, exactly?” Iron was about to say something when he noticed that proud grin on her face. She knew he looked at problems with context. A slingshot, by itself, is weak. The solution would be stronger bands, but that would mean more size to the gun or bullet. The structure would suffer greatly if he made either too big. So what sling? A bullet’s kinetic force alone through gas is-! That expression of realization let Rarity know to return the weapon as he broke it down and rebuilt the chassis.

The body now had a cylinder with individual shots and he knew he could connect Soft Line’s to things, maybe even conduct mana through them. Using that as a base to create an electromagnet, the barrel of a gun lights up after it is charged with mana from a Soft Line. Arcs of energy form as the weapon is fully charged and the weapon fires. The sound was no different but the force was much greater, as the bullet rips through an armor plate meant for heavy armor. His own armor patterns.

“How the heck…?” Applejack looked at Rarity who smiled with pride in her boyfriend’s abilities. He often tries to look for a direct solution and Rarity, in the field of dress, has to get creative with her designs. If the base is good, add to it in small and subtle ways. For a gun, it’s the same thing. It can be improved on through small changes. “So our man can make multiple solutions but he’s too earnest. Hehe, that does sound like our dear and endearing stallion.”

Rarity feigned disgust as she gasped. “Applejack, the nerve of you! In public no less!” The farm mare snapped her head in shock before the two started to laugh, getting a warm smile before receiving a kiss on the cheek from their man, making them blush and giggle. “Goodness, now I’m the indecent one.”

“We’re both acting like school fillies, Rares, so you’ll get no grief from me.” The apple farmer said, trying to hide her blushing face behind her hat.

Iron, feeling a sense of pride, looked at his entire arsenal with his mares in mind. He wanted to pay respect to each, and Rarity’s aid let him look at the crystal ammo guns he made with a new form of solution. They are using an energy reaction, similar to a unicorn’s horn, so why not rebuild it around the idea. This sentiment even made him blush as he said, “Opal and Amber.” The mares looked at him with a confused look as he started working on the guns again. “The magigun is Opal, after Rarity.” The unicorn blushed and tried to remain dignified though the smile was broad and proud. “The ballistic is Amber, after Applejack.” The farm mare could guess a few reasons for the pet name and almost wanted to be called Amber at some point just to see how she’d react.

“Are they going to be that different?” Iro said, catching Iron’s attention as the stallion answered with a nod.

“Opal can be my means of casting offensive spells without relying heavily on the hardlines. Amber will be less demanding on the mana but more geared for any tough armor.” The golem nodded as Iron asked him to get the rifles, wanting to get to modifying them as soon as possible and have them ready for the royale later.

The modifications took the rest of the third day as the guards’ training also geared up to prepare any and all compensations for the foreseeable royale. These mods included a hard rifle modeled after Amber, called Onyx, and a magica rifle modeled after Opal, called Garnet.

The fourth day rolls in after, with the shop busy the whole day after looking over a minor issue that could get worse if left unattended. Because the internals get so warm, any pony will sweat inside the armor, and that may not be enough to rust the internals but it’s still a problem in the long term. Iro already had a suggestion and Iron got to work making the item, an internal suit that works to act as a layer of material between the body and metal, similar to the cloth for standard plates. This can be mounted with the softlines but would likely leave nothing to move the armor. After looking at the patterns he made, he had a solution as the Magus engines or Chimera reactors could be used to connect the leylines from suit to body, making a complete circuit.

With the modification in place with a dummy frame, he powered it up for the test and found one key issue. While the suit had its own leylines, the connections could become demanding. So it was back to technique or production to solve the underlying issue. This gave him a chance to look at everything he’s done up to this point. He’d been so focused on making mass improvements overall for the royale that he forgot about the longevity of his work. So he put the hammer down, so to speak, and began looking at the rack of creations to contemplate the best improvements.

The few seconds that passed through Iron’s mind, in this deep form of concentration, made it feel like hours passed him by as he went over the best improvements to make. After looking at the armor patterns, the reactors and engines and the mithril carapace, he came to no conclusion. Everything was good as is. The mithril carapace acted as a form of nerve extension for the leylines, best suited for connecting with the armor, which the armors reactors acted like horns or wings for the pegasi and unicorns. The most practical solution wasn’t an advancement. It’s integration. The lines can help vent the extra heat, and the armors can increase the process’s efficiency.

Donning the mithril carapace again, he extended his softlines and the armor came to life, even moving around his body to be equipped. The reactors, getting a jump from his connection, turned over and powered the suit further, making the whole system feel lighter and cooler. He didn’t need to improve. He could, instead, diversify the armor into patterns for the royale based on needs. This isn’t a war, but two of those national treasures belong to his mares. If the other nations want the treasures then he’s going to make them earn those treasures.

Coming back from his inner monologue, he takes off the armor and gets a drink, sitting next to Iro. “Are you not worried about the royale?” The forge said, showing obvious confusion to the situation at hand.

“I am, but I was so caught up making brute force improvements that I was breaking our work before it even left the shop.” Iron said, looking at the forge with a sad expression, almost apologetic.

“I am a forge, so ‘tis what I do. I make what is needed.” The forge said, content with its role, though desiring something… more.

“You make what we need, yet you should be rewarded for your time and effort. After all, I may have the ideas but it’s you that’s helping me to make these advancements, from the guns to the armor.” The terran countered, taking a swig of his drink as he continued. “I already know Shining considers you the maker of these works, and you may as well be, for all your help.”

Iro, looking shocked, made the terran look at him before Iron could look away. “You are the one, however, creating the diagram of these marvelous advances.” He countered, looking over at the rack and wall with a proud smile on his face for the stallion. “For what is any smith without a hammer to shape a bright future for their fellow kin.”

Iron, smiling a bit, started to chuckle with a bit of joy. Iro, smiling at this, soon began to chuckle as well. “Damn you are a piece of fine art, Iro. I might be a good designer, but you are a good friend.” The forge smiled, happy to hear such words as always as the two share in each other’s pride. “How about we make something stupid after this, if we ever get the materials?” Iro showed his curiosity as Iron looked past the skylight. “An armor, regardless of the size, that can skid the clouds with the pegasi.”

“Such a thing would mean putting stress on the body.” Iro said, concern laced in his voice.

“Maybe, but I did say stupid.” He said, leaning forward. “After all, once this royale is over, it’s back to dealing with the monsters, the chimera more specifically.” Iro, seeing this, could understand Iron’s emotions a bit more. The pony just wanted to do something cool and stupid because he can, not out of necessity. The pegasi pride their flight, and soon would pride their miracles. Iron doesn’t want to take that from them, but what choice will he have?

Iro, feeling the stallion’s depression off of him, presented the man with a scroll. Iron, a bit confused, opens the text to see the contents, before feeling his core being struck for a jolt of surprise. “This text is something that I could vaguely recall. One of the methods in which mana changes the nature around itself. I had hoped to bequeath it to you much later, but seeing your character before me like this, I think it is time you earned it.” The day ends with Iron’s enthusiasm radiating off of a serious expression that burned his passion into his work, as he finished everything that needed doing and got to work on special orders for the royal family.

The fourth day, after the orders were finished and sent that night, began with division patterns. One for each pony type and colors for roles based on the task they were expected to handle. He managed to mass produce the armor that was most practical in design with one addition for mana storage, a Capacitor Cloak hooked to the back of the waist and the shoulders. It made the suits a bit more unwieldy, but these would be temporary, using the power source as a charger at low operations.

Additional adjustments were made to the mithril carapace to account for the softline load, as the ponies were instructed to push their limits with them as much as possible to make the connection smoother and limit reliance on the power sources for the difference. He didn’t refine the techniques for nothing, and he still had to thank Shining for the happy accident, if the man was willing to humor a ‘lowly terran’. The smith put that idea down, as this was neither the time nor place to be petty. There is a nation and a treasure on the line, so grudges are taking a back seat. Looking at his work, and the barracks orders, he filled out everything the princesses needed, but he still needed to make an armor for himself, something experimental and highly refined.

Looking at the clock, he was already finished with the work after working all night with Iro as the two made, calibrated and tuned every armor down to the internal connectors. He had nothing to do, except see his girls. He’d spent so long cooped up in the shop, he likely smelled stale. So he got a quick wash and left the shop open for Iro to enjoy the sounds of nature, something the golem had requested if Iron was out during the day.

The stallion noticed Natah and decided to take this day of rest and turn it into something fulfilling. “Hey Nat.” The alicorn looked down and smiled before landing, greeting the terran. “Hope you have a free day. I’d like to take the mares on a date for some rest and would like you to tag along.”

“Iron, you know I can’t turn down a chance to relax with a friend.” The alicorn replied with a playful jab. “What are we hitting up?”

“The lake. Have some privacy while I cool off and relax.” Iron saw the smile on Natah’s face before the terran had a sudden realization. Before he could stop the alicorn, Natah was already out of the shop to get ready, leaving the stallion to sigh. “I did not want to stress test his wing like this.” Iron got ready in some trunks with an earth breaker design on them, making sure to wear a shirt. The man took the most direct route through town to the lake before seeing Natah already in the water. He was ready to jump in before seeing the alicorn swimming just fine. Upon seeing a film of mana around the socket, Iron took a breath of relief before slipping into the body of water.

The terran just lay in the water as he relaxed, letting the cool body calm his hot nerves as he tried thinking on the armor he made rather than what to make next. He tried making a bigger armor, but that will add too much mass and complexity. The mithril carapace is a good addition, much like the suits worn under standard plate, but anything more would be redundant. Adding reactors is fine, at the cost of stability unless fine tuned. In his relaxing mind, he began to see a picture forming. There was something of noble bearing but it was still blurry. He opened his eyes and let the topic go before splashing Natah and starting a water fight with the prince.

After about thirty minutes of play, the two were back to relaxing as the prince let his curiosity get the better of him. “Where did it start?” Iron hummed, wanting to know what Natah meant by the question. “When did you know your talent was building?”

Iron thought back to his first build, a sword that uses mana to wreath itself in a corona of energy. “It was a force blade. Using the principles of a unicorn’s horn to enchant a sword. I guess that’s where my tactical talent helped me.” Natah could see where the talent came from, then. He could guess that Iron’s always had something of a tactical mind from an early age, molding his curiosity into what it is today.

“Have you ever had a dream beyond that?” The alicorn asked, less curious and more excited to hear what Iron wanted to do.

Iron never gave it much thought. He’d heard stories of other people, trying to get inspiration from others in order to make something of his own. It all felt okay, but something was just missing. The prince chuckled at those words, saying that is what is called experience. Life is never about just one person or one thing, but a collective experience. That, with Natah’s time gift for instance, is how the Prince of Time shaped his experience of being a careful and meticulous man and a passionate and bold prince.

Thinking on those words, Iron thought of what he is. He’s never a visionary. He always took a risk, tried something new, made himself the experiment for the safety of others. A sword and shield that starts and ends the fights. Though he thought of the princesses being more fitting or the image, a different one came to mind, making him think of a king. That word made the image return, only instead of a blurry silhouette, it was clear as day. A red clad ruler, standing firm against the voids with a sword wreathed in power and a shield of resolve. The eyes glowed with duty as the king stood proud as a symbol of hope.

Letting the man go, Natah could already see the work Iron was going to put in. That whole day was spent making armor for the royal family in order to prototype his own Frame. A pattern, made from the Royal Family patterns, would be his prototype for that image, for a king worthy of this land. He’d have to defile it, donning it for the royale, but that would be remedied with a perfected version for the true king.

We come to the fifth day, the day of selection for the guard. Iron had finished the other Frames earlier and the image was coming to his head again, a Frame for a king. The hammer in his hand charged with mana as Iro smiled, opening the sky lights as Iron struck the anvil. The ringing hammer mixed with the crash of thunder, a sound that made him meditate during his work. He struck the anvil repeatedly, as thunder rolled across land and sky, the clouds gathering and darkening the surrounding lands as the light shone on the workshop.

Twilight, seeing this alongside Rainbow, could only guess what was happening before seeing that image, a visage of a king clad in red with bright green eyes burning with a sense of purpose. The anvil was struck again and the shop’s interior lights up as Iron and Iro get to work. Unknown to the terran, he’d garnered quite the audience from the royal family as they watched Ponyville with interest. The sounds of the hammer, striking and forming the metal of the Frame in question, made the image a reality over the course of the day. Mana charged strikes and lightning from nature energizing the metal as it molds into the shapes of the Frame. The next sounds to follow were like chimes of a bell, as the details were chiseled in and welded on while ornaments were adorned to the metal to complete the silhouette. It wouldn’t be Iron’s best work, but it would be the first of his pride.

The armor was almost done, but something was missing. He then added the helm and cosmetic designs, adding a draconic design to the king’s head and back before there was one more thunderous crack. A seal was stamped on the chest, resembling a face in a geometric way and bearing meaning to the word of hope.

The storm of emotion, finally having its purpose met, slowly began to banish itself as all six of the element bearers rushed in. The terran, hearing this, looked back with a smile. His tired face and baggy eyes are overshadowed by a glow of fulfillment. “It… is done.” He loses the strength to stay awake as he starts to fall. His mares dive in and catch him as they see this peaceful expression plastered all over his goofy grin. Their eyes all went to the armor and it radiated with pride. This was not misplaced arrogance and boasting coming from the armor, but emotions of hope, duty, love, peace and purpose. The emotions and energies of the last two weeks distilled into this visage of a crimson ruler.

All six could only think of one word to describe this, his first, masterpiece. “Beautiful…” The six look at Iron and look at Rarity and AJ. They all agree he needs to rest.

Chapter 8: Family Matters

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Chapter 9: Day of Reckoning

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Chapter 10: Departure for Rest

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Chapter 11: Space and Time to Grow

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