Trail of a Shooting Star - Book Two - Earthbound

Chapters

2 - Prism flame of Love ***
3 - A Draconequus mind *
5 - Filling the ranks *
6 - A promise unforgotten *
7 - Dreams of Excess ***
8 - Wings of Steel *
9 - Bonus Level - A squadron of my own *
10 - Blood Circus ***
11 - The Mind Trap *
12 - Blink *
13 - Emergency Master Plan *
14 - The man who killed the Doctor *
15 - Interlude - The darkest day *
16 - Rage of a good man *
17 - Black Omen *
18 - Living the dream, Nightmare of chitin *
20 - Project Chrysalia *
21 - The mare who waltzed into his darkness **
22 - The Manhattan Incident ***
23 - Interlude - A shadow from the past *
24 - Heart of Darkness *
25 - Epilogue - A new age *
1 - Poker and some poison jokes **
4 - Of Shamans, Beauties and Beasts ***
19 - Sirens in the distance, Brothers in arms *

2 - Prism flame of Love ***

Somewhere between several millennia of years passing by…

Smiling broadly, the Doctor pushed and pulled several controls of the TARDIS, steering it through time and space,
“I must say… Marfa Three was such a wonderful place…” On the other side of the control console, a soaking wet Derpy glared over to the Doctor, prompting the time pony to grin a bit nervous. “Come on, Derpy? It isn’t my fault you landed in that pool of water, only to find out that this fruit wasn’t ripe yet and didn’t depicted a muffin but a blurry picture of a Marjin-fruit.”

Grumbling, the Pegasus mare kicked the ground a bit,
“And there I was hoping to get a muffin twice my size that regenerated every time I took a bite…”

The TARDIS then stopped and The Doctor stepped outside,
“Ah! Derpy, come and see this!”

As the Pegasus mare stepped outside, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped slowly,
“What is that?” In front of them both was the gigantic valley of Equestria filled with giant trees and an enormous supersized giant of a tree reaching high above them all.

Showing this all to her prompted the Doctor to beam,
“Hmhmhm… This Derpy, is what Equestria will look like in 3000 years… The old cities and villages merged together to one huge city of trees. Welcome to Ponytropolis!”

As they trotted along the streets, Derpy’s eyes went wider and wider and looked around in wonder,
“The trees are huge… Far bigger than any tree I’ve ever seen!”

“Of course! The Ponyville library was the first of its kind and with the centuries these magically enhanced trees grew so large they could house several families at once. I think… a thousand years ago ponies advanced heavily in bio-magic. That giant tree above all the others? That’s the new form of the Ponyville library.”

“Wow…” It was then that Derpy noticed much more humans than the mere four she knew as the Harmony Rangers in her time. “There are so many humans here… Surely a few hundred just what I see here… Did they all cross over into our world?”

Nodding in confirmation, the Doctor took notice of this as well,
"Either that or they were born here. These Rangers have a human woman with them, don’t they? One is enough to start a cycle. Yeah… Humans, like ponies can get quite lovey-dovey…” And without further delay, both of them asked around to get to know something about the Darkness Sisters. But whosoever they asked, nopony seemed to have a decent clue of what they were talking about.

“’Darkness Sisters’? Nah… Never heard of that. Is that a singer duo?”

“The what sisters? Darkness? Not that I know about…”

“I think that was a topic in this talk show last night on the Everfree Radio, wasn’t it?”

Sighing in defeat, Derpy frowned at this. At this rate it would take even them forever, no TARDIS could speed this up. However, she was suddenly brought to attention of a shopkeeper who stepped outside his shop in order to intercept her,
“Young filly! May I point your attention to this? Original equestrian Tupperware! It never breaks! It never…” But just as Derpy turned around, her tail swapped the Tupperware out of his hooves and it shattered on the street, prompting the shopkeeper to narrow his eyes. “…broken…” With a swift move he raised his hoof up to a glass container. “Here! One of the last samples of the legendary Mirror Pool, before they forever destroyed the thing. It’s a dust trap for me; you can have it for one Bit.”

While Derpy giggled and bought the container, the Doctor shook his head, as he approached the two of them,
“Alright… Before you continue to embarrass yourself with this junk of yours, can you give us certain information?”

Arching a brow in slight annoyance, the shopkeeper looked at him. Holding up the sonic screwdriver at some crates, the Doctor read the data readings and nodded as if confirmed in suspicion,
“And who might you be?”

“I’m the Doctor, nice to meet you. We need to know about the Darkness Sisters.”

“Silence, good sir! Don’t summon the evil of old ages again!”

“Ah-hah! So you do know about them…”

Nervously, the stallion looked around and gestured the Doctor to keep the voice down,
“I know enough to hold my mouth shut.”

“OK, why don’t we play with open cards? These metal boxes over there, these are Anularian cargo crates and there’s nothing Anularians produce but weapons. What does an ordinary shopkeeper do with these?”

Blinking first, the stallion now gave the Doctor a sly grin and shrugged,
“I must say I like it when customers have a keen eye for merchandise… Yes… I am more than an ordinary shopkeeper, my good sir…”

This prompted the eyes of the Doctor to narrow,
“And I am more than an ordinary doctor… I think some officers of the Selauri council might want to take a look of what is in these crates. These don’t belong on this world and should never have been here in the first place.”

Gritting his teeth for a second, the pony thought in haste,
“Well… I would see them coming if they would approach this world. It’s always a good thing to have a spaceship.”

The Doctor nodded,
“I know… That’s why I travel around in a gallopfreyan TARDIS…”

This visibly shocked the stallion,
“G-Gallopfrey?!?” Now a nervous grin formed on his face. “W-why don’t we go inside? I might have some history data crystals just for your liking…”

Inside the shop, the artifacts and relics of adventures already long forgotten rested on shelves. As they looked around, Derpy wondered what of these things might be artifacts she and the Doctor left behind. Leading the Doctor to a certain chest, the shopkeeper opened it and took out a blue data crystal which he laid gently onto a table. With a brief,
“That would be all for now. Thanks!” the Doctor nodded to the shopkeeper and activated the data crystal to study its content.

While the Doctor browsed through the pages by sliding his hoof over the crystal, Derpy looked over his shoulder,
“Isn’t this altering the timeline?”

“This isn’t our future, Derpy. We as time travelers are in a different timeline and don’t know the outcome of our future. Taking a look into the future of those who have stayed behind might tempt us to alter THEIR future, but I am certain that Princess Celestia…” Just as he opened on the pages on the date of their time departure, the pages were filled with only three words over and over again.

DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING!
DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING!
DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING!
DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING!
DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING! DARKNESS IS COMING!

Now the Doctor nodded slightly spooked,
“… already took care of this…” After a frown, he regained his composure and continued browsing. “But I sure wasn’t expecting her to do it like this.”

As he browsed in the pages, several hundred pages were filled with more lines. ‘DARKNESS IS COMING!’, ‘BLACK OMEN’, ‘ETERNAL DARKNESS FOREVER!’, ‘HEART OF DARKNESS’…

The pages went on and on and Derpy went a few steps back,
“I don’t like this, Doctor…” Then finally, the Doctor browsed to one page where two words seemed to have been smeared all over the text like they were written in blood. ‘ALICORN WAR’. Derpy shook her head. “What’s this supposed to mean? Are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna fighting again?”

Gulping, the Doctor slowly backed away,
“No… No, this is much worse!” Deactivating the crystal, the Doctor nodded and gave the shopkeeper a small chip while Derpy put the crystal and the glass container she bought into her saddlebag. As they stepped outside, the Doctor made a hasty trot along the street.

Derpy knew this pace. It was always this pace when the Doctor was concerned about something, but still composed enough not to panic,
“What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”

“That’s the thing, Derpy… I don’t know. There are 1500 years in this history crystal that are completely overwritten and that means either that something really awful happened or Princess Celestia plays a prank on me for taking a peek into the future. In any case, I don’t know. Let’s head back to the TARDIS, we need more clues.”

Looking back to the shopkeeper behind them, Derpy arched a brow,
“What about these weapons?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I already took care of these. Until the Selauri arrive, he will have nothing more than mere doorstoppers in these crates.” After they stepped inside of the TARDIS, the time machine vanished from the very ground it stood on.

* * * * *

Equestria, today

It was shortly before noon as Tyler instructed Flynn and Sam on the top floor of the barn,
"Now, what have we learned?"

Both men looked forward in a determined fashion,
“They’re uncontrollable…” Flynn said.

“Yes?”

“Very excessive and sneaky in their ways to achieve their wishes…” Sam continued.

Tyler nodded,
“And most of all?”

“Unstoppable when in a horde!” Both said in unison.

“Good! And now that you both know that I was right about this, let’s think of a way to make you two survive this day…”

Flynn looked down at the horde of mares besieging them and begging them to let down the ladder again,
“They are worse than a horde of zombies!”

Tyler grinned,
“You should be thankful that these here are only unicorns and earth ponies… If pegasi mares would be among them, we might have to fight.” With that he magically closed the barn doors from the inside.

But this caused Sam to frown,
“Hey, wait! If you close these doors, we can’t get out either!”

With a slight rumble, the doors were shut. Tyler then rested his hands on their shoulders and teleported the three of them outside,
“Duh!”

Now Sam smiled,
“Oh yeah! Your magic!”

One second after that, Flynn closed the barn for good with a bar,
“That should keep them occupied until we’re gone…”

But just as they were about to leave, Applejack slapped Tyler’s back with a broom she held in her mouth,
“Fhoo! Fhoo! Yer not fuppofed to be around here, Fugarcube! Ah already told ya that thif farm needf to be male-free for the fake of Babf!”

Tyler endured the slaps and shook his head,
“Well, we only try to stay faithful to the ones we love, honey… At least Sam and I do that.”

Letting go of the broom, Applejack smirked,
“Ah know that, Sugarcube… That’s why ya get the broom and not the apple pellets from mah shotgun.”

Tyler grabbed the broom and gave his girl a kiss, gently streaking her cheek,
“I’m sorry we gave you a hard time. I will compensate you for that later, OK?” Calming down with a slight blush, the earth pony began to grin and nodded.

Sitting around in their clubhouse, the four crusaders were conversing,
“Well, how does heat feel, Babs? The adults sure make one big fuzz about it…” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Heat sucks! Ah want to play with mahself all the time! Or… ya know… Get someone to do adult stuff to me.”

Scootaloo stretched out her tongue,
“Ewwwww! I’m so not gonna enter heat season when I get older! That’s so gross…”

Sweetie Belle blinked at her Pegasus friend with big eyes before she raised a hoof,
“Rarity says a mare gets in heat whatsoever…” Raising a hoof she tried to imitate her older sister. “Oh! My! This time of the year makes me think so uncouth! It’s so unladylike!”

The four fillies giggled in good fun before Scootaloo jumped up once more,
“So how is your spice cake, Babs? We’ve spent some time with Granny Smith to make it.”

Looking over to the cake, Babs grinned,
“Thanks, folks. That stuff actually is very good. Ah must have Granny Smith make some more for mah folks in Manehattan."

“So… are you going to wear his jacket all day long?” Scootaloo said while pointing at Babs’ new leather jacket.

“Huh? But of course!” The young mare announced. “That jacket is the most precious belonging a guy ever gave me. And ah… ah…” Babs now blushed deeply.

Noticing, Apple Bloom nudged her cousin,
“Yeah… We know… in that moment, ya were completely into Tyler. But… ya know… Ah think ya should concentrate more on crusadin’ with us. Of course, yer jacket can’t come with us then. It might rip and that would ruin the day.” That made Babs smile and she nodded. Getting rid of these thoughts was precisely what she needed right now. And of course nothing should ever happen to her most precious belonging.

A few hours later, Applejack sat down in the library and shook her head while Tyler massaged her. Meanwhile Lyra and Twilight were conversing in the other side of the room. With a sigh the earth pony enjoyed her herdmate’s massage and closed her eyes,
“Finally… Granny had her nap at noon and now keeps Babs busy with the crusaders… And Ah’m sorry for the broom, Sugarcube… Ah guess ya folks had been busy yerself getting out of several mare-hordes, eh?”

“Well, the mares of Ponyville know that I’m in a herd and while one half thinks that I’m unreachable due to the princesses in the herd, the other half thinks rushing at me would be showing ill manners that won’t suit for such a… ‘High-class-herd’…” Tyler said while gesturing quotation marks. “But Flynn and Sam only have one or no mare at their side, so plenty of mares see their chance in getting a decent romance or sexual adventure.” While the mares looked silently at each other, Tyler stood up. “Speaking of romance and adventure… You must excuse me, ladies… I have some things I need to prepare for the evening.” His glance over to Twilight and Applejack said everything and both mares smiled quite charmed as he left.

As Lyra witnessed this, she chuckled,
“Aren’t you two lucky girls? Well, anyway… I don’t have any concerns about Sam. He’s faithful and would never betray me. Actually I’m thinking of giving the ‘pony-human-relationship’ thing a complete chapter in my Anthropology. Human males treat females different than stallions do. That’s because of the population difference between our two species I guess.”

Twilight nodded,
“Right! According to Tyler, humans have a one to one instead of a one to five balance between male and female citizens. Thus human males tend to impress her by doing stuff she desires, which is sweet for a mare, but rather uncommon in Equestria…”

Arching a brow, Applejack grinned,
“Not to forget about the sexual chemistry between mares and stallions…”

But Twilight shook her head,
“Well I can’t say anything about that. Tyler was my first lover ever and I frankly see no purpose in doing it with a stallion for the sake of comparison. I’m more than satisfied with him.”

Applejack smiled while feeding Appleseed,
“That’s because ya never experienced a stallion before, Twilight! Lyra and Ah made that experience. And ya can believe me: It’s a different league… And Ah’m not speaking of size here…”

Lyra nodded in confirmation,
“Although the feeling is the same for the mare, humans last longer and are more agile, resulting in a longer and stronger experience for her. I guess even without love a mare would have difficulties to… you know… return to stallions. I guess I will name the chapter for that ’Potential social problems’…”

“Or maybe it’s the cause for some social evil…. eva… evlo… stuff?” Searching for the term, the country mare looked over to Twilight.

Twilight nodded in thought,
“I should write a letter about these thoughts to the Princess as well. Maybe humans really could cause social evolution to pony society, at least in the way stallions and mares treat each other. I mean human guys all treat their mares sweeter than the average stallion from what you tell me…”

Applejack now leaned forward,
“Ah think ya overthink that issue. So what if human guys treat their female partners better? Human women expect that treatment as well. Ya know what? Ah overheard the three of them talking about human clop material… They sometimes even do it one female and two males! And ya can’t expect two stallions to share one mare like that in a serious relationship. They would fight one among another.”

Lyra held a hoof in front of her mouth in shock,
“Two stallions for one mare? You mean… right into…?

Applejack nodded and pointed at her flank,
“Front and back entrance! Sometimes the front entrance and the mouth…”

This visibly scared Lyra,
“I don’t have experience with that, but if it’s even half as good as normal sex back there then both ways at the same time… No… I would lose my mind!”

Twilight however arched a brow,
“A certain mare AJ and I know seemed to like this experience. Then again, such a thing would-”Twilight opened her eyes and a blush formed under her nose. “Listen to us, girls… All we talk about is sex!”

Applejack chuckled at this,
“Well it IS heat season? Of course we do that, Twilight. Honestly Ah can’t wait to get Tyler into my hooves. Since Babs is in heat, Ah had to make sure that he stays away from the farm. It’s hard to want to but not being allowed to for the sake of a young mare in her first heat…”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Flynn and Rainbow were on the training grounds again and Flynn was lifting weights while Rainbow was stretching her wings. However, an obvious vibe surrounded the two friends, caused them to behave a bit stiffer than usual.
Shaking her head finally, Rainbow forced herself to take the initiative,
“So… I saw you, Sam and T-man hiding in the barn this morning? Problems with the ladies?”

Resting his weights, Flynn shrugged,
“Yeah… it seems like every pony gets mad to some degree in heat season. At least, you’re behaving normal… That’s a relief."

Rainbow snickered, a drop of sweat ran down her forehead,
“Well… Having a decent amount of willpower comes with being an Element bearer, I think…”

“I’m glad to hear that. I enjoy spending time with you. If you would go crazy like the others, I might have to tie you down and I don’t want to do that.” With that he patted her shoulder and Rainbow smiled, enjoyed the touch on her coat. However, this changed in an instant as the touch of his fingers went over her delicate wings.

It was a gentle touch but it was just the right pressure to send shockwaves of pleasure through her body and caused her to jump up in surprise,
“YEAUGH!!!”

In an instant, Flynn’s hand backed away, fearing that he might have hurt her in a way,
“WHAT?!? What is it?”

Rainbow shortly recollected herself and her breath before looking at him with a slightly angered face,
“I think you know very little about Pegasi!” She sighed once before raising a hoof at him. “Lesson One: CAREFUL with those wings! They are highly erogenous zones! You don’t mess around with this, OK?”

Looking down, he nodded as he understood,
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Rainbow now closed her eyes, controlling the slight anger inside of her. He didn’t know, so she had to explain it to him,
“Lesson Two…” After spending an entire hour on various lessons about what to do and what not do to a mare, she sighed. “You don’t seem to know much about us ponies, huh?

“Actually… No, I don’t. I’ve never been with a pony, remember? Because on Earth there aren’t any sentient ponies like you.” With that he bend down and got his weights again. As Rainbow saw his butt again, a slight flush went over her nose and she turned away. Every once in a while her eyes danced over to Flynn’s trained body, as beads of sweat ran down his naked chest.

When Rainbow saw this, she gulped. 'That guy is impossible! Walking around like this…' Rainbow forced herself to look away. All these muscles made her heat go worse. The sight was actually tempting her to lick every drop of sweat from his body. Pressing her lips together, she got a hold of herself and shook the thoughts away, leaving nothing more than a blush on her angered face,
“You know, Flynn… I really should beat you up!”

“What?!? Well it’s not MY fault you’re in heat!”

“Oh yeah? You could be more of help by not presenting your muscles all the time! Or doing that thing with your butt! Show some decency!”

“What? We both agreed on training together today! This was YOUR idea, RD! And since when are you looking at my butt? Show some decency yourself before accusing me of lack of decency!”

Blushing deeply, Rainbow yelled at him,
“Stupid human!”

Flynn blushed as well; this conversation became strange all of a sudden as she behaved like a human girl arguing with him. “Stupid Pegasus!”

“Oh yeah?!?”

“YEAH!!!” What happened next was a bit too fast for Rainbow Dash to notice, but suddenly he pulled her in and kissed her, prompting her eyes to widen. As their lips parted, he gasped and released her, probably a bit surprised as well. “I… I shouldn’t have done that! I’m sorry!”

But as he turned away from her, she touched her lips with her hoof and looked at him. Should she return the favor or kick him in the face for pulling off that stunt? Before he knew it, she turned him around again and looked into his brown eyes. Her cerise eyes seemed to look for something in them as he gulped. “Rainbow… I…” But before he could finish, she kissed him more passionately and embraced him while doing so. Now he was the one who was surprised.

After this they looked into each other’s eyes for a bit. Rainbow blushed even more now as one thin yarn of saliva reached from her tongue to his. 'Ponyfeathers… I got to say something before this turns awkward…' “What… What the hay just happened?”

Flynn harrumphed nervously,
“Beats me… I think I short-circuit for a moment and did something unexpected. And then you did the same.”

Rainbow chuckled, nervous like he was,
“I… uh… I just followed a gut feeling… “

“Same here… umm… You think we made a mistake?”

Thinking for a bit, Rainbow finally shrugged,
“You know, it wasn’t unpleasant on my side… But I don’t know about you… You have a problem with hanging out with me? Even if we tend to do unexpected things?”

He then looked at her with a smirk,
“Actually I don’t have a problem with unexpected things.” His hand now went through her wild mane. “You know… You have such beautiful eyes… Of all things of you I like the eyes the most.”

Another blush formed on her face,
“M-my eyes?”

Chuckling for a bit he nodded,
“Sure thing. They’re cerise and big and totally cute. And you’re really interested in my butt?”

Wiggling her rump a bit, Rainbow grinned before she looked at him,
“Come on, Flynn! Don’t tell me you’re not looking at my flank either…”

After shrugging, Flynn shook his head,
“I know your flank is sleek and firm but I try not to look at it so often. That’s because… you know… respect and stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah… human males and their way to think females are the weaker gender.” With that Rainbow jumped at Flynn and nailed him down.

As he looked up again, he growled a bit,
“More unexpected things to happen?”

Resting her forehead on his, Rainbow now closed her eyes,
“I’m not weak, OK? I can fight on my own.”

Flynn grinned,
“But you don’t want to fight me, do you?” His hands slowly streaked over her body alongside her torso, causing her wings to erect. With an even broader grin, he looked up to her. “Your wings did that thing again…”

Blushing deeply, Rainbow looked behind,
“I… I was just up to fly to let you stand up agai-” But as she looked back, she saw that his hands went over her flank, slowly kneading her butt. “What… What are you doing?”

“More unexpected stuff…? Hmmm… This is one fine and firm ass…” Giving her flank a spank, he tried to get up. “OK, enough wooing around, RD. Get up, I want to stand again.”

But Rainbow pushed him down again,
“Don’t you know some decency? Spanking me like that in public!” She looked hastily around to see if anyone was looking, then leaned down again and kissed Flynn on his lips once more. As their lips parted, she nodded. “There are some unexpected things we should do in private, Flynn… They’re awesome, but not meant for everypony to see. Maybe you should ask Twilight about a spell to walk on clouds…”

* * * * *

In the afternoon, Flynn went over to the library and got his inspection from Twilight. The Rangers agreed to keep their magical balance in check and since Twilight was the authority in the field of magic in Ponyville, she agreed to keep check on them on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their usage. While Tyler and Rachel were checked weekly due to their everyday usage of magic, Flynn and Sam only were checked every month,
“She proposed what? A spell for you to walk on clouds?” Twilight smirked at this as she inspected Flynn. “You’re finally going to ask her, right?”

“Excuse me?” he asked with a frown.

“Well, ask her to be your special somepony, dummy!”

“Actually Rainbow and I…” he said with a shake of his head, but Twilight interrupted him.

“…spend more time together than any other two. You love her, admit it!”

Arching a brow, Flynn looked at the unicorn,
“Well… Yeah, but…”

With a provocative smirk, she cocked her head,
“But? Is there a reason why you hesitate?”

With a sigh, he closed his eyes,
“I don’t want to chain her down… She’s like me in a way. Freedom is her thing, but…”

Twilight waved the thought away,
“Oh, excuses! Rainbow thought her pet tortoise Tank would slow her down, now she just loves him. You on the other hand are the fastest on the ground; of course she’s interested in you, the only male that could cope with her if it comes to her speed.”

Flynn now looked down,
“Well… If you put it that way…”

Resting her hoof on Flynn’s chest, Twilight looked up to him,
“Trust me, Flynn… You two match brilliant together. Rainbow must think so, too. Why else would she invite you over to her house?” With that Twilight charged up her horn and transferred the magic to Flynn. “There! Three spells for the time span of about two days, should be enough for six days roughly, but I don’t know if you use them on the spot or whenever you will it. We haven’t experimented with your way to handle magic yet. So... try to get a Pegasus stallion’s attention first and ask him to get you a cloud for trying. Or try it with Rainbow if you want to discover this new experience together with her.”

This brought a smile to Flynn’s face,
“This actually is a great idea, Twilight. Thanks!”

As he stood up, he bent down to kiss the tip of her horn and the unicorn giggled,
“Don’t mention it. You’re quite welcome.”

As Flynn was out, Tyler came downstairs and nodded at Twilight,
“That was very good Twilight… See? Matters of love are best when you do it without magic.” Twilight nodded at him, assured of herself. Not only did she learn to trust in the magic of love since she was in Tyler’s herd… No, he also taught her to think things over, not just using magic as remedy for everything. To evaluate when magic was needed and when not, was a very valuable lesson. This was worthy of a letter to Princess Celestia…

Half an hour later, Rainbow snickered while carrying Flynn up to her home,
“…Yeah, you lack wings. Otherwise we could hang out all the time…” Carefully descending to the cloud, she looked down to Flynn’s feet. “You’re able to step down to them?”

Taking his first step on the cloud, Flynn tried to gain a steady foothold, but his stance was a bit wobbly,
“Whoa! These clouds are… They feel like pillows. Hard to walk on them as someone with two legs. The whole thing is so fluffy… Whoa!” With that he fell down to the cloud, but stemmed himself up again.

Landing onto the cloud herself, Rainbow cocked her head while looking at him,
“You OK?”

“Yeah… but I must admit it feels strange to walk on water vapor. I think I’ll need some time to fully grasp this…” As he reached down to the cloud, it also felt a bit moist. Not like soaking wet, but the touch was similar to fresh grass, wet from the rain. “Twilight said these spells of hers last six days… But would you mind to get me down to the ground tomorrow until I’m more comfortable with this?”

Seeing the concern in his face, Rainbow smiled and nodded,
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you down if you want to. And should anything happen with the spell, don’t worry either. Being part of weather patrol comes with a course of air rescue. This is also one of the requirements for the Wonderbolt Academy. You need a rescue time of at least 3.1 seconds in 50 meter height to fill that requirement. And you have to do that in one go. I mean, objects of that height smash on the ground in five seconds and that means there is no second try”

Arching a brow, he looked at her,
“And your time… is…?”

“2.6! Relax… Even if you would fall, I would be there in a jiffy. And cloud homes like mine have to have a standard height of 75 meter above ground. As for the fluffy ground… That’s usually the case with the outside of cloud homes. Come inside, the floor there is much more dense and should feel like solid stone.”

As they entered the cloud house, the floor indeed became more solid and Flynn heard the buzzing of a small rotor as something hard hit the backside of his head. Making himself little, Flynn ducked in instinct and held his aching head. Forcing out a grin, he looked up to the cause of this. The tortoise flew around slightly uncontrollable and encircled Rainbow a bit,
“Sooo… You must be Tank.”

Raising her chin high in pride, Rainbow hovered beside Tank and pointed her hoof at him,
“Yeah… Tank and I are great buddies. At first I thought he was too slow, but then I saw that he came to my rescue when all other contestants left me behind.”

Flynn cocked his head,
“Contestants?”

“Long story, I’ll tell it to you another time. Anyway, he carried me home when I was injured and since then I don’t want to miss him.”

Nodding in thought, Flynn began to smirk,
“I see… You’re attracted to loyal characters, hm?” As he looked around, he saw in the reflection of a mirror that Rainbow made sure that Flynn wasn’t looking before she nuzzled the tortoise heartily. This made him smile. “You know… You should give a damn about what others think… Forget this fixation over your image.”

Rainbow looked up with a heavy blush and Flynn looked at her in the mirror,
“If you want to show Tank some affection, it shouldn’t bother you what others think, least of all me. He’s your pet and companion and you’re both happy with each other, right?”

The tortoise gave its owner a slow smile and Rainbow grinned before grabbing Tank and nuzzled him thoroughly,
“Sure!”

Looking through her shelves, he saw lots of trophies and medals as well as a few books.

‘Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone’

‘Daring Do and the Griffin’s goblet’

‘Daring Do – Raiders of the forgotten kingdom’

Taking one of the books out to look at the cover, he smiled a bit,
“Rainbow… I… I never thought of you as the type of girl who…”

“Who reads?” Rainbow said while arching a brow.

Putting the book back to its place, he turned around to her,
“No, not that… I meant a girl who’s into adventure stories. I always thought you would be more into sport stories.”

“Well… It’s the kick of danger in these adventure stories that I like…” Frowning for a bit she shook her head. “Actually I don’t know if there are any sport stories… I should ask Twilight about this.”

Due to a lack of a chair, Flynn sat down on the edge of Rainbow’s bed and thought for a minute before he smiled,
“You know… On Earth there was this one story about a guy, a boxer, who died after winning an epic fight in the ring… And I kid you not: The fans of the story held a real funeral for the character.

Rainbow’s eyes widened,
“Wow… It must have been some story if the hero was so popular. How many came to the funeral? Thirty? Forty?”

Flynn shook his head,
“Over 700 people.” That number caused the mare’s eyes to widen. That actually was a big crowd, considering this was a fictional character that died.

Now looking for words, her mind tried to lay out the intentions of why she invited him over in words that would appeal to him. “Flynn… How do I put this? I’m…” Struggling with her words, Rainbow shook her head while shutting her eyes for a second before looking up to him again. “Darn it!!! I’minheatnowandireallyreallywanttomakeoutwithyou!”

With this she winced back in case he wouldn’t take it easily. But there came no reaction. As she looked back to him with one opened eye, he looked up to her,
“Am I understanding you… You, a pony, want me, a human, to fuck your brains out?”

The way he said that gave Rainbow a slight shiver,
“I’m… I’m not your type of mare?"

Getting into a sitting position again, he looked at her,
“Ugh… Rainbow, look…” With this he patted on the bed, inviting her to sit beside him. Rainbow complied, flew up and sat down. “A purely sexual relationship, even when it’s only for the sake of give you relief in that season… doesn’t seem right.”

“I’m not asking for a sexual relationship. You human men don’t get the full extent of us mares in heat when first faced with this, do you? You don’t know how deep…” A tremble went through her body. “Deeep… deep this can go… It’s so embarrassing! You don’t know how hard…” A wingboner formed behind her head. “…haaarrrd this can get.”

As he arched a brow while looking confused at her Rainbow cursed the fact that she wasn’t good in confessing things. Shaking her head fiercely she rested her hooves on his shoulders,
“DARN IT!!! I’m no good with words. I would court you more properly if I just wouldn’t stumble over that gosh darn clumsy tongue of mine all the time. Look: I want to be with you! I want to be the mare you look at. The only mare you look at…”

“The only one? So… like… a monogamous relationship? But don’t you ponies normally live in herds?”

Cocking her head now, Rainbow immediately shook her head in disapproval,
“Herds? Buck that shit! I want you for myself! I’m loyal to all my friends but in life there are certain things that have to be unique! Like one Rainbow Dash! Or one stallion she adores… if you can handle me, I’ll do my best to handle you.”

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Rainbow gulped, fearing that Flynn could reject her idea of being together with him. But he simply nodded,
“Well… That’s probably the coolest and sweetest thing a pony ever said to me. So you want a relationship the human way?”

“Uh-huh… I guess that would be awesome.”

Flynn nodded once again and seemed to think of it, until he grinned and pulled her in,
“As a little proof of your determination in this… Why don’t you say these three little words?” Her wingboner now stiffened a little more and the cerulean Pegasus backed away a step.

Arching a brow, she shook her head,
“Flynn… Please don’t make me do this…”

“Why? Would it be a lie?”

“No!” She then bowed her head; the deep blush on her face was partially covered by her wild mane. “It’s just… I would feel so silly with this…”

Sitting down beside her again, Flynn nudged her. “What fools we become to yell out our feelings, eh?” Turning her face to himself, he glanced into her eyes. “We’re two idiots who hesitate to exchange these three little words… even though our bodies scream them at each other. Then again… Do we have to exchange them? Do I have to tell you… this?”

With that he slowly pushed Rainbow down to her bed and gently pressed his lips on hers. Surprised at first, Rainbow looked at him with wide eyes, before her eyes closed first halfway and then completely. With closed eyes she caressed his chest for a bit as his kisses wandered down her neck and chest. Following his actions with her eyes, Rainbow slightly raised her face before he winked over to her and let his tongue slide over her tummy.

Under normal conditions, this would feel good. Now, in heat, the feeling sent down little shivers through her body. As he almost had reached her teats, Flynn halted and his tongue ascended again. Looking at him slightly confused, Rainbow gave him an asking glance, shaking her head slightly. Why did he stop?

The answer came as his face slowly ascended to her tummy again and she could feel his warm breath shortly before his lips caressed her once more. The sensation from this mixture of soft warm air and gentle, almost wet touch made her lean her head back with a gasp. Closing her eyes, she already fantasized what this feeling would do to her elsewhere...

And the kisses crawled up her tummy and chest, slowly like a caterpillar. She had stallions before, but all of them were interested in oral or vaginal sex, short adventures where the mare gave more than she would receive. But this here… This was paradise! For once SHE was on the receiving end and it felt awesome.

As Flynn’s lips nibbled on her ear, he grinned,
“You seem to enjoy yourself, Rainbow…”

Her breath was shivering. Something compelled her to lay down a bit more as she saw his face above hers. He had something planned for her and she gave him a shy nod,
“Please… Please don’t stop!”

With that his lips crawled back down her chest and tummy, bringing her sweet sensations again, Rainbow’s body tensed up a bit. As he reached her teats, his tongue slowly encircled the nipples and he gently sucked on one of them, causing Rainbow to let out a silent moan. Then, her body stiffened even further as his tongue wandered further down. Down to her most intimate spot. She could feel the soft and wet flesh of his tongue right there, licking over her labia and the sensation caused her to arch her back with another slight moan.

Right now her private parts were so sensitive her entire body felt like under high voltage. And as his tongue began to invade her, his arms went around her hind legs and his hands rested down on her teats. Her eyes popped open as her nipples felt like being on fire and electrocuted at the same time, a feeling that made her coat hair stand up a bit. And the touch of the soft delicate flesh of his tongue that entered and fucked her ever so gently sent waves of pleasure through her body.

As she looked over to Flynn, his eyes were closed and his face halfway hidden from her sight. Right now he was so close to her and yet so far out of reach. Humming into her labia, he seemed to enjoy licking her. A deep blush came on her face as she thought he would do that for the sweet taste of her down there. Letting out an audible moan, she shook her head,
“I… I want as well!”

Flynn halted in his licking and opened his eyes, looking over to her. After a short nod, he closed his eyes once more and his lips pressed on to one of her labia lips, gently stretching it until his lips released it. The sweet sensation was enough to prompt another gasp from the Pegasus mare, before he stood up and began to undress. First his shirt came off, followed by the shoes. Getting up on the bed, Rainbow could already make out the bulge in his crotch. The jeans currently hid the prize she was claiming tonight, but it would fall any moment now. As his belt and button were undone, Rainbow aided Flynn a bit, tugging down the sturdy fabric of the jeans.

And there it was, his member, towering up in front of her. Rainbow found a liking in the tip’s form. Unlike a pony penis, this one had a rounder tip; it would slide inside easier, making faster and rougher sex quite possible and enjoyable. As she pushed him down onto the bed, she pressed her lips down on his. While kissing him, she could smell her own love juice on his lips. The smell of her own womb on his face aroused her and her hoof slowly stroke down his chest while she hovered over him.

While trying to emulate his caring kissing and licking, a thing she never had to do since stallions always skipped to plain sex, she slid her tongue gently over the muscular chest on the path her hoof had gone before. On the height of his nipple, she began to bite a bit, placing small gentle bites all over it, causing him to twitch a bit in slight pain. When she looked at Flynn’s face, she saw he was looking at her with a sly grin,
“Playful little vixen…”

Giving him a short wink, Rainbow now caressed his tummy and nether regions. Not too muscular, not too fat… His body was trained, just right in her eyes. Her flank shook in anticipation as she let her tongue glide over the hot and hard pole of meat that was his member. The delicate skin was almost as that of a pony penis, only brighter in color. Getting it up, she let her tongue fly over the tip while looking at his face. He was waiting for her to do it and gulped and his body shivered as hers did while he gave her pleasure.

It was most pleasant to see that he enjoyed it as much as she did before, but Rainbow’s eyes narrowed a bit in mischief. From stallions she knew that males tend to have all their sweet spots in the crotch. With that she decided to let her teeth work a bit and delivered a tiny bit of pressure, careful not to bite him hard enough to hurt him. The sensation brought him to let out sweet moans of slight pain as she playfully tugged his foreskin ever so slightly with her lips just as he played with her labia before.

As he reached out for her, his hand went through her wild mane and she knew that he wanted to finally feel her lips. 'Time do make you feel awesome…' With that thought, she wrapped her lips around the tip on his member and slowly began to bob her head. First only blowing the tip, she more and more let him slide deeper into her mouth. By his heavy breathing and her mane in his tight grasp Rainbow knew he was feeling it. He wanted to buck her mouth. Finally she pressed her head down into his crotch taking him in with his full length, what caused him to gasp and grab her mane even tighter.

She could feel the round tip of his member massaging her throat, causing her to slightly gag and a tear forced its way out of her eye. Taking it so deep always was a hard thing to do. But instead of thrusting up to her to finish in her mouth, Flynn pulled her head gently up. When her lips released his member, she was compelled to take a deep breath again, followed by a cough. Meanwhile his member slapped against his tummy, all wet and hard.

Pulling her up to him again, her body slid up his body, causing his hard erection to rub against her tummy. Flynn looked into her eyes before she licked his lips,
“Time for the entrée, Rainbow…” With that he wrapped his arms around her and rolled around with her, taking the top position. His eyes locked on hers, he entered only the tip before he gulped. “Ready?”

But Rainbow managed to get a smirk onto her face. Dolphin position was such a kinky thing to do…
“First time with a mare? Don’t worry… I can handle you.” Her hoof gently slid along his cheek. “You’re my first human as well… Show me what you’re made of!” With that he nodded and one thrust later, he entered her in one long slide. Coming in with enough force, her flank was pressed down into the cloud of the bed.

Still looking into her eyes, Flynn saw and monitored how tiny her pupils had become as she stared at him, mouth and eyes wide open, her voice failing her. The sensation must be amplified by her heat… It took Rainbow a couple of seconds before her mind coped up with it and let her force out a moan while she blushed.

Slowly sliding out of her, Flynn grinned,
“Damn, girl… You have one hell of a tight pussy…”

“Comes from all the training… My muscles down there-” Her sentence ended abrupt as he once again shoved in his entire member, causing her to gasp. Her greedy womb clenched down on him after greeting him welcome like she never wanted to let go off him ever again. It made the feeling inside of her even more intense. As he began to move in a steady rhythm, Rainbow began to reward every thrust with a silent moan. But these silent moans turned into loud and deep moans once he began to really pick up the pace. As one orgasm after another lashed up her spine, her eyes rolled in ecstasy. 'This is a dream… one bucking dream… Oh, holy Luna! Let me sleep forever!' After reaching another, rather strong orgasm, she squirmed beneath him. “BUCK!!!”

After going limp for a bit, she whimpered up to him. It was no use. She could have orgasms all day, but without him releasing it inside of her she would only heat up more and more. But it was in that moment that he grabbed her wild mane and pressed his lips on hers once more as he began to ravage her womb with his fast thrusts. It made her open her eyes in surprise first, but she rolled back these eyes soon as she once more began to feel the wonderful movement inside of her.

It was in this moment, when Rainbow was lying on her back with him on top of her, that she realized how she felt for him. Sure, it was a great feeling. Entirely awesome! But then there was something more… Something she couldn’t point her hoof at. But then Flynn arched back, gritted his teeth and ejaculated in her. Then, in midst of all this sudden bliss that shrouded her mind and devastated her body with shivers, it hit her. Receptive! That was the word… And femininity… With Flynn, she felt like a real mare. Not the type Rarity would like her to see or how the princesses are… No, she was the one touched by his and only his heart and only he was worthy to be the one with her. To be open for him, to take all he could give, to accept every facet of his self… such as he accepted her as his mare and not just because of her awesome moves or fancy speed. Rainbow knew she had her flaws and did her best to hide them from the sight of others.

But Flynn just accepted this as part of her awesomeness. He flipped her flaws around and loved her even more for not being perfect. And it was because of this imperfection that he chose to love her and to dump his seed inside of her womb. Closing her eyes for a second, she grabbed his face as he rested on top of her. With him still being connected and united with her, what better moment could there be? “I love you…” she whispered beneath her breath, barely audible.

But Flynn heard her and pressed his lips on hers for a passionate kiss,
“I love you too…”
As his hips began to thrust again, Rainbow closed her eyes with a smile. He was starting round two. And Rainbow knew that by tomorrow she would be a different mare.

* * * * *

At the next morning, Tyler was sitting at the balcony, reading a book as Twilight levitated the breakfast to the table on the balcony: Scrambled eggs and toast. Putting away the book he then enjoyed the small breakfast with her,
“I think I’ll have to release Applejack’s tension a bit, could you go to the farm for me and invite her over? I would go myself, but since she doesn’t want me on the farm because of Babs…”

Taking a bite from her fork, Twilight nodded,
"Sure… I can do that.” Leaning against the chair, Tyler looked at her and Twilight arched a brow. “What is it?”

Tyler shook his head,
“Oh I just wondered… How was YOUR first heat?”

Smiling, the lavender mare cleaned her mouth with a handkerchief and nodded,
“I was in the castle with Cadance. Princess Celestia sponsored a surrounding for me so my parents didn’t have to worry about sending me Celestia knows where and my studies weren’t interrupted either. Cadance was such a help, explaining to me how to ease these urges the best way.”

Leaning in, Tyler arched his brows,
“So? What is the best way for a young Twilight Sparkle to forget about heat?”

With a beaming smile Twilight held her chin high,
“Playing so much with Cadance that I was too tired to think of anything else but sleeping!” This caused Tyler to laugh and Twilight joined in. “I guess Cadance had the most fun and work with me in these two weeks.” While both enjoyed a cup of coffee, a sudden blue flash let the table go flying back inside the library, followed by several crashing noises. Twilight didn’t even bother to flinch. “A good morning to you too, Rainbow Dash!”

Tyler opened his eyes and levitated the cup of the vague height the table was,
“She certainly is off the track today; she usually aims for you when she crash-lands.”

Half a minute later, Rainbow came out to the balcony, a moony smile on her face. Both herd mates shared a glance before Tyler turned to the Pegasus,
“You look different today, Rainbow Dash… Satisfied…”

“Uh-huhhhh…” Her dreamy response prompted Tyler to chuckle dirty. He seemed to have an exact idea of what she had been through.

Twilight arched a brow while looking at him and smirked,
“You seem to enjoy this, huh?”

“Oh yes, indeed!” he answered, “Rainbow is so gosh damn in love she doesn’t know what to do anymore. Tell me, RD… How often were you two at it last night?”

With a dumb grin on her face Rainbow blushed a bit while babbling her response,
“I lost count at some point…” With that she giggled a bit. “But if I knew that it would turn out like this, I would have done it earlier…”

Tyler bend over to her, but neither waving his hand in front of her nor snapping his fingers near her ears caused a reaction. That face she made right now made her look like she went gaga,
“Now imagine him being instructed on all the sweet spots of a Pegasus mare…” Tyler said this in a low and lewd tone, still a big grin on his face

Rainbows breath became heavier again until she looked up to Tyler. Twilight arched a brow. Was Tyler trying to provoke Rainbow? With a shaky hoof the Pegasus grabbed Tyler’s neck and pulled him towards her face, resting her forehead on his. Closing her eyes while breathing heavily, she slowly shook her head,
“T-man… You know what time of the year it is? If you’re going to heat me up, I’m going to beat you up! But do you honestly think this could get any better than this?”

Tyler grinned, but in his mind he knew that he couldn’t fool around with his friend or she would never forgive him,
“The thought alone of this becoming even better makes you want it right away, huh? At least it causes a reaction in you.”

While remembering the events of the last night, Rainbow bit her bottom lip hard as her flank slightly shivered and she nodded. She was getting all wet and ready just by thinking about it. Twilight, however, was tempted to poke her horn into Tyler’s side, reminding him not to overdo it.

“Well, I could talk to him… teach him the one or another thing about wing muscles and their sensitivity when licked, but in return I want you to let that guy live, OK? I mean one man can only endure-”

Twilight now tugged his shirt,
“Tyler? She came already…”

“Huh?” As he turned around, he could not but chuckle at the Pegasus lying on the ground, squirming in delight with the tongue hanging out of her mouth. “I think her fantasies have gone a bit overboard… You think it was the mentioning about the wing muscles?” Twilight’s angry mumble confirmed him. Of course it was the mentioning of that. Crouching beside the unconscious mare, Tyler and Twilight shared concerned glances. Seeing his friend in this state had made Tyler come back to seriousness. “You make sure she gets on her hooves again and snaps out of it while I’ll have a little talk with Flynn! I want to know how that guy sees things.”

Twilight nodded and a smile returned on her face. Good thing to know that Tyler could make fun, but also knew when fun had to stop,
“Tyler? It would be a good thing to monitor the two of them for a while… before one of them gets out of hoof… or hand…”

* * * * *

One hour later it was very quiet outside. Rainbow Dash, after taking several cold showers under a cloud in high altitude had finally regained her composure. And being zapped with a painful electricity spell sure helped to sober up enough to think normally again. The cold water prickled on her sensitive body and stretching a bit finally got out the tiredness out of her and helped her to come to her senses. After some days of cloudy lust that fogged her mind, her heat was finally under control after that orgy last night and she was able to reflect a bit of what happened.

She had been with Flynn… And by Celestia’s wing, it had been tremendously awesome. Looking down and holding her tummy, she remembered the words she had said to him. Was it rewarding him for making her feeling so good? Or was she growing addicted to him already? In hindsight, she sounded like a whore. But by sleeping with him, what became of the many admirers of hers?

She usually was surrounded by younger Pegasi stallions in this part of the year. They all kept their distance of course, not risking being sent to hospital for forcing something on her. Rainbow had the reputation to do that if someone got too close without her consent and she became used to that, took advantage of it. It saved her the harassment other mares had to endure. A deeper relationship would end this attention, but the compensation…

Rainbow now took another cloud, kicked it hard and let the water run down her body. She had to control her thoughts. Just like speeding up for a Sonic Rainboom… just concentrating on accumulating speed… No more thoughts about sex… 'Sober up, girl! Time to see things from the logical point of view!' He was better than all the toys she had under her bed, was the real thing and couldn’t impregnate her, at least not until she turned human herself. But what were the chances for that? Come to think of it, a relationship with a human would be everything she needed. 'Good and enduring sex, no risks while still pursuing my dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt Elite and later Captain of the Wonderbolts…'

Turning her face into the rain, she smiled while the cold raindrops ran down her body. It sounded like a decent plan. No, the perfect plan! As the rain stopped, Rainbow shook the remaining water out of her mane and tail and took a determined look down at Ponyville. Of course it wasn’t all only her… Flynn had to agree on this as well. But she was certain that if he enjoyed it as much as she did, he would love having her as his mare. Otherwise, she would do so much unexpected stuff with him, he would have no choice but to accept her.

Meanwhile Grinko, Sam, Flynn and Tyler sat on the edge of a lake and fished. Four fishing rods rested in their hands or in Grinko’s case, paws.Letting out a sigh , Flynn shook his head and closed his eyes,
“I did it with a pony… Am I sick now or something?”

Tyler’s face didn’t even flinch,
“You did it with a trans-dimensional alien being in a form similar to Earth’s ponies that just happened to become the girl you love and that loves you back… If that helps you in a way…”

Flynn wrinkled his nose and cracked his neck a bit as he sat down,
“Actually… Yes it does!”

Sam reeled his fishing rod in, only to cast it anew,
“So how was it? You had sex with the fastest pony on the planet. Want to tell us a bit about it? Details, details!”

Looking over to his friend Flynn arched a brow,
“Well, what about you and Lyra? Does she squeal with glee after the fifth orgasm in a row as well?”

Arching a brow, Sam grinned,
“No… Usually she whimpers in joy while I finish for the first time at that point…”

Tyler chuckled and shook his head,
“I take it due to being an athlete and Element Bearer, Rainbow’s willpower and endurance exceed those of average pony mares…”

Flynn looked down,
“Still… although she said she wanted it, I feel like I took advantage of her…”

“I can relate to that…” Tyler said. “Last year Twilight and I were in a very similar situation. You know… In that moment I was worried more about what that would do to the two of us, but she was more afraid than I was that this would affect our friendship for the worse. But since then we both learned even more about each other and love each other more with every passing day.”

Sam smiled,
“Quite a nice story… What about you, Flynn? Do you and Rainbow will continue this? Or was this a one-shot?”

“I don’t know. The sex with her was the most exotic one I ever had. She was willing and ready and took it like she was born to do it… or rather born to endure the most exhausting things.”

Flashbacks of the last night came to his mind, Rainbow lying on the bed of cloud on her back, his hands and arms around her flanks and how her hind legs luffed in the air as he fucked her merciless. With a sex-crazed face impression she shook her head, awestruck by his sexual prowess. “Baby, what you do to me?” she babbled in her ecstasy. “You drive me crazy! Oh, Celestia, Flynn… I’m yours!” Her heavy and helpless moaning echoed in his mind when he remembered how her eyes rolled back as he simply continued to pound her. How her hooves embraced him as she took everything he gave her, slid down to his butt to aid in his thrusts.

Closing his eyes, he gulped. Last night he decided not only to have sex with Rainbow… He was claiming her as his girl. Maybe from the outside the others thought that they were equal in their lust for each other. But from the heat of that moment, Flynn knew that Rainbow already had succumbed to the joy they both had. He endangered the Element of Loyalty. This was a heavy responsibility to carry since it could hurt her as well as others so much. A sudden feeling of dizziness came to his mind as the adrenaline rush went through his body. He had to talk with one the princesses about this.

* * * * *

On the next day, Flynn took a jog to Canterlot. Normally this would take half a day to go up there by foot, but due to his speed he managed it within an hour. Upon entering Canterlot Castle, Flynn recognized the many Guards saluting to him,
“Folks… Uh… Why are you doing this? I’m not one of the Royal Guard.”

“No, Sir! Flynn Marshall, Sir! But you are a Harmony Ranger, one of ponykind’s defenders and a soldier in your world. We do it out of respect and gratitude…” one of the mares said in a disciplined manner, looking straight forward without moving a facial muscle other than to speak. Flynn had to fight the urge to laugh in front of her. The serious face all the time had to be hard to maintain.

Stiffening his own stance, he then raised his chin and inspected the mare’s uniform, corrected minor details that were wrong in his eyes,
“Let me tell you something: I don’t like the sound of being called ‘Sir’ if I don’t serve within the Guard. So either call me Flynn, Flynn Marshall or Ranger Marshall if you have to take a title… Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ranger Marshall… I think I do understand…” she said, smiling a bit.

Patting her shoulder he nodded,
“Good. Remember and tell the others as well. I don’t want to hear another ‘Sir’ from you guys if we’re not serving the country’s army.”

With that he entered the castle and approached the throne room. Before reaching it, a servant, a unicorn with formal attire, held him back,
“Excuse me? Where do you think you are going, Sir?”

Frowning at yet another ‘Sir’, Flynn shook his head,
“I need to speak with the princess. It’s kind of urgent…”

“I will see if she can spare some time for you. Please wait here while I ask.”

While Flynn waited, he looked around. Canterlot Castle was cleaned well. None of the damages they had witnessed during their recapture of the castle were to be seen anymore. One minute later the servant returned and looked up to him with a nod,
“The princess says she has some time to listen.”

Entering the throne room now, Flynn approached Princess Celestia, who signed off some paperwork with her secretary. Giving him a short glimpse while reading the decrees and signing them, a smile formed on the princess’ face,
“Good morning, Flynn! It’s nice of you to visit me. You have a problem of some sort? What is it that you come all the way up here to Canterlot?”

“Well… You see… My relationship with Rainbow Dash…”

Now the princess looked up from the paperwork,
“Oh? So you and Rainbow are now special somepony and special somebody? How wonderful!”

“Yeah… Um…”

Celestia now saw how he was struggling with the words and closed her eyes with a smile. In the next moment, her quill was levitated back to her secretary and she smiled at her in her usual regal way,
“We will continue this later, Raven. Right now I feel a bit more like counseling…”

The white earth pony with the black mane nodded and carried the paperwork away,
“Certainly, Princess Celestia! I will be there if you need me again…”

Standing up from the throne, Celestia now passed by Flynn’s side and smiled,
“Flynn? Let me invite you to a cup of tea…”

Rubbing his neck, he nodded,
“Uh… Sure…”

A few minutes later, Celestia and Flynn were sitting outside at the balcony. Although she didn’t told this to anypony, not even her herd mates, Celestia enjoyed these counsel sessions when it came to human and pony problems. It was something new to handle and every new challenge meant a fresh wind in her life. Pouring some tea into both of their cups, Celestia already eyed Flynn for reactions. What was noticeable on the way to her chambers was that he tried to keep up with her while walking, never walking behind her in order to not even have the chance of being staring at her plot. Human males seemed to have great respect in front of females in their society. She knew that already from Tyler and seeing this with Flynn’s behavior only confirmed it.

With a smile she put two pieces of sugar into her own cup before reaching the sugar cubes to him,
“Sugar?”

Looking at the sugar, Flynn snapped out of his tense stance,
“Oh, yes… Two, please…”

Dropping two cubes into his tea, she nodded and began to stir inside of her own cup,
“Well then, young man… What’s on your mind?”

Grabbing a cookie from the plate, Flynn took a long look at it,
“Last night Rainbow Dash and I did it…”

Levitating the spoon away, Celestia levitated the cup to her mouth, breathing in the gentle aroma of its content,
“You speak of intercourse, right?” As Flynn nodded, the regal mare took a sip from her tea. “Good to see that you two finally gave in to your feelings to each other. It’s certainly not good to hold it back at this age…” Celestia now arched a brow while kept smiling. “I was thinking of appointing Cadance to you two to nudge you a bit into the right direction.”

After taking a bite out of the cookie, Flynn simply stared at the alicorn now,
“What.”

“Or make it an appointment for Twilight since it has been a while since she’d send me a letter regarding friendship…” Celestia continued to speak with closed eyes.

His eyebrows arched as his eyes widened,
“What?”

“Or maybe-” Celestia now noticed that she was thinking loud and giggled a bit. “Oops! I’m sorry! Please, um… Continue!”

Shaking his head for a couple of seconds, he collected his composure,
“So… We were at it and… I…” He blushed deeply now. “You know… Rainbow and I did it very rough and fast and more like…Um…”

Celestia took another sip from her tea before she simply closed her eyes and nodded,
“In short, you two bucked like crazy.” Surprised by her common way to talk, he looked up to her, but the alicorn simply shrugged. “What? You don’t live for thousands of years without seeing even that kind of thing by chance sometimes, Flynn. Some of my subjects like it as rough as possible. I am quite aware of this and I won’t judge them because of this.” Taking another sip of her tea, she looked into the distance. “Am I understanding you? You are worried that your love life with Rainbow Dash could turn out unhealthy?”

Stirring his own cup of tea, Flynn looked down into the cup before he took a deep sip,
“It’s not so much our rough love life coming all of a sudden that worries me… That’s more like a damn breaking apart. Even the others were mocking us a bit that we’re holding back our feelings. It’s the way Rainbow looked at me. Like… forgetting everyone else and… you know… more like a willing love slave. As much as I enjoyed the hard sex we had last night… She’s an Element Bearer! What if she can’t use her Element of Loyalty anymore because of me?”

This prompted Celestia to blink at Flynn in surprise. A smile formed on her lips that she quickly hid behind her hoof. This, however, became a gesture that quickly turned out to be in vain as she started to burst into hearty and loud laughter. Slamming his fist on the table, Flynn looked angry at her,
“Hey! Don’t laugh at me! I’m really worried about this!”

Wiping away a tear with a handkerchief, the princess simply raised her hoof,
“Oh Flynn, you are so sweet! I can see what Rainbow sees in you. One night of excessive sex during heat season when your love to each other finally stands in full bloom, and you are worried she could abandon her friends because of you. And you do this not out of arrogance, but out of concern of everypony else…” She now levitated her teacup down with a gentle smile. “You two really are soul mates. I feel so happy for both of you.”

“So… I shouldn’t worry about this?”

Shaking her head, Celestia simply continued to smile,
“No… If anything should happen, you will have friends coming to your aid. Right now there’s one mare out there waiting for you to treat her good. And you should give her your best. Once heat season is over, your rough love life will ease down as well and Rainbow will normalize.”

Flynn now nodded with a smile of his own,
“I… I see… Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

Giving him a warm hug, she smiled,
“You are quite welcome, Flynn.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile there was a ruckus at the Ponyville spa as Aloe’s voice echoed through the building,
“Lotus!!! Are you out of your pony mind?!?”

The blue Earth pony held both hooves in front of her mouth and looked up to Sam, a deep blush on her nose. As she regained some sense, she walked away a few steps and shook her head, her eyes still locked on to Sam,
“I… I beg your forgiveness, Sam! Saying this was so rude of me! I’m… I’m sorry!”

After digesting the first shock, Sam held up his hands, trying to calm the mare down who was obviously more offended by her own behavior than he was,
“It’s OK… You’re… You’re not to blame for that state of yours…”

Aloe came to his side with a bag of bits, placed it in front of Sam and looked angrily at Lotus,
“Don’t defend her now, Sam… It is NOT our policy to offer ‘relaxing blowjobs’ to employees… especially not to those in relationship with somepony.”

While Lotus hid her face in shame behind her hooves, Sam looked down to the bag,
“What’s this?”

Aloe shook her head,
“Your salary for the next two weeks… You’re on vacation now, Mr. O’Donnel. For the next two weeks you are excused. And a bit more, too… Please deem it as compensation for the inconvenience Lotus caused you.”

Taking the bag, Sam looked at Aloe,
“To make it clear: I am not offended, only shocked. This ‘compensation’ of yours is not necessary. I’m only grateful that there are no customers here right now… THAT would have made it an inconvenience…”

He shook Aloe’s hoof before leaving and the earth pony glared over to Lotus, who gulped,
“A-Aloe? Are you going to…?”

She nodded,
“Yes, disciplining is in fact in order. Go to the staff’s room, while I get the strap-on.”

Shortly after leaving the spa, Sam stowed away the small bag with bits into his pocket. It was then when he saw Pinkie Pie sitting around at one of the many mushroom tables of a restaurant. The usually lively and bouncy party pony was sitting there dull and sad. Her shoulders hanging, her mane flat as could be and tears rolled down her cheeks. And yet Pinkie was smiling. Frowning for a bit, Sam decided to talk to her. But just before he could manage to approach her, a voice became audible just behind him,
“Hold it right there, buster!”

Stiffing up in surprise, Sam turned around, only to see a snickering Rainbow Dash,
“Rainbow!” He grumbled while raising an index finger to her in a scolding manner. “Don’t you ever dare to sneak up on me like that in this time of the year again!”

Yet Rainbow simply shrugged,
“I’m sober right now after last night with Flynn. I didn’t want to startle you, Sam… You’re a good guy and I like you as a friend… But frankly? Stay away from Pinkie Pie if her mane is like that.” With that she pushed him into some bushes to spy on Pinkie Pie with him.

“What do you mean, Rainbow?”

“Hay, if I could explain that to myself I could tell you… Listen: Pinkie Pie can get very emotional! Usually her behavior can’t be predicted, not even in heat season does she obey behavior rules. She’s just…” With that Rainbow looked around, trying to make certain the pink energy bundle wasn’t around. “You know… random!”

Looking over to Pinkie, Sam nodded,
“Yes…Tyler once said she’s the good spirit of Ponyville and maintains happiness.”

“True! But then are times when her mane gets flat… And that’s when things are not alright with Pinkie…”

Sam arched a brow,
“You mean the flat mane is an indicator that her psyche is out of order? Does she have a problem with something?”

Nudging his ribs, Rainbow arched a brow,
“Well, the first time I saw her like that we tried to get her a surprise party and she played tea party with a bucket of turnips, a sack of flour, a pile of stones and Gummy. She thought we would abandon her as friends… When Tyler was missing and imprisoned into a crystal sarcophagus in the Crystal Empire and everypony thought he died in that explosion, her mane flattened once again as she couldn’t cheer certain ponies up. That state was lifted when T-Man returned to Ponyville. So you see there are things about this mane that can tell you something’s not right with Pinkie.”

In thought, Sam nodded once more,
“So you say the state of depression transforms the lively and bouncy party girl into a loner? But she doesn’t look like she’s depressed… Actually I can’t determine if she looks happy or sad… I mean her mane is all flat, she’s crying and yet she’s smiling…”

“Hey, what are you two up to in these bushes?” Both Sam and Rainbow shrieked up in surprise as Tyler’s voice became audible behind them. With a grin, he stood behind them and shook his head. “Sitting in the bushes together? That’s cute… Does Lyra know about that?”

“Get down here, you fool!” Sam mumbled as he pulled Tyler in. “Something’s wrong with Pinkie Pie. I just noticed it as Rainbow held me back to warn me about certain strange or odd behavior patterns. Now I don’t know what to do… And frankly, I have to go now… I promised Lyra to help her out a bit. See you later, folks.” With that he stepped out of the bushes and went back home.

Tyler, however, shook his head and was about to head for Pinkie Pie,
“I’m going to ask her…”

It was in this moment that Rainbow held him back as well,
“What?!? No!!! You can’t do that!”

“Why not?

“Because one cannot know how Pinkie Pie reacts!” she said, shaking her head.

In annoyance, Tyler rolled his eyes,
“Rainbow, that’s silly!”

But the Pegasus shrugged and raised a hoof at him,
“Alright! Don’t blame me if she goes crazy and makes cupcakes out of you!”

Shaking his head, Tyler smirked before he became a bit thoughtful,
“Silly filly! She would never do that! Although… I wonder… How would a Tyler-cupcake taste anyway?”

Stretching out her tongue, Rainbow grimaced,
“How should I know? Ewww! Like I would try one!”

That’s when Tyler grinned once more,
“You would stick with a Flynn-cupcake, hm? Alright…” Sticking out her tongue in disapproval, Rainbow then flew off.

Slowly approaching the pink earth pony, Tyler tried to get a better look into her face. She was crying, that much was certain,
“Pinkie Pie?”

Looking up to him, she sniffed and wiped away her tears, trying to look normal and smiling gently. Still, the tears continued to roll down her cheek,
“Oh? Oh, hello, Tyler…”

Sitting down beside her, Tyler smirked as he remembered something,
“You know… There’s a joke among humans… A horse comes into a bar and the barkeeper asks: Why the long…” As he looked at her, he saw that she wasn’t really in the mood for jokes right now. “…face…” He then looked down. “I’m not as good as you are in cheering up others, huh? Pinkie… The last time I saw you like that was when I was returning from the Crystal Empire… You were a miserable looking little mare.” His hand now rested on her shoulders. “I hate to see you like this. Twilight and the others are concerned too… Please, Pinkie… if there’s anything I can do-”

“I love him!” it broke out of the pink mare. “I love him so bucking much…” As she looked up to Tyler, some tears ran down her cheeks again.

Surprised from the sudden outburst, Tyler stammered a bit in search of words,
“Oh… B-But isn’t this a… good thing?”

Searching for words, the usually blabbering mare stammered,
“I… I don’t know… He… He actually has a special somepony. And they are happy together.”

Slowly, it began to make sense for Tyler,
“Aaaand you’re afraid you would ruin it for the both of them if you step into their relationship?”

Pinkie slowly looked up and nodded,
“Mhm…”

Tyler now leaned back and rested on the ground,
“Well then… Have you talked with one of them? The mare perhaps?”

“No… I think she’s absolutely in love with him. What if… What if she doesn’t accept me as a herd mate?”

Tyler knew what worried Pinkie. Sometimes she was quite an erratic character and although she always meant well, maybe she already knew how others saw her,
“Hmmm… You are a bit hard to understand at times… But every pony of Ponyville knows you mean well. And if you ask me: I say you have a heart of pure gold.”

Looking at Tyler with a pout and big puppy eyes, she cocked her head,
“You don’t only say that to cheer me up?”

But Tyler smirked and shook his head,
“Look at me, girl… You know every pony in Ponyville and probably some from other towns by name! I couldn’t do that for half of Ponyville even if you force me to! You know personal data like birthdays and important events. You care about your fellow pony. And everyone knows that.”

“But if I care more about one of them… won’t the others be mad?”

“You mean that you love one of them not as a friend, but as the one you love above all? Why should they? You sacrificially do SO much for the whole town; no one has the right to demand more.”

He again sat up next to her,
“And if they dare to do so, you tell me! I’ll back you up!”

Now Pinkie cocked her head again and arched a brow, not fully understanding,
“Back me up?”

“Sure! Wouldn’t you stand up for me as well? We’re friends and friends stand up for each other. In fact, I bet the whole town would stand up for the mare who is friends with every pony.” This brought back a smile on Pinkie’s face. Tyler nudged her chin. “There you go, girl…You look better with a smile… Now dry your tears and tell me who the guy is that stormed into your heart…”

As she dried her tears, she shook her head,
“Would you do me a favor? Would you stay with me when I’m confessing to the both of them?”

Rolling his eyes, he nodded and got up with her,
“Sure, I’ll do that. But before we do that, let’s get to Sugarcube Corner. You don’t want to confess your love with a tear-stained face, do you?”

* * * * *

An hour later, Tyler went through the streets with Pinkie Pie until she suddenly stopped. Looking at the house, he first frowned before he recognized it. This was Bon Bon’s and Lyra’s house! Exhaling a bit, Tyler knew what was lying up ahead, but nodded at the pink mare,
“Alright, Pinkie… I will talk to them and you can express to them whatever is on your heart, OK? I will make them listen to you. But I can’t guarantee they will accept you.” Tyler then entered the house and gathered Lyra and Sam in order to talk to them, assuring both of them that he took note that there was a certain someone who had to say something quite important to the both of them.

Both the human and the unicorn nodded despite not knowing what to expect. They all sat down in the living room and waited as Pinkie entered the room. Lyra arched a brow and looked up to Tyler, who rested his index finger on his lips before he nodded towards Pinkie. As Lyra looked at Pinkie, who shyly looked down as to confess to her first love and didn’t know what to say, she looked at Sam, who waited patiently. For Sam, it was solving the mystery of what happened to Pinkie Pie. In Lyra’s mind, she giggled and took a mental note. 'Sometimes human males just don’t get it…'

She continued to smile and stood up, approached Pinkie who was visibly startled by Lyra’s sudden movement. One could see that she was uncertain of what to expect from the unicorn. Possibly denial, the fear of this was written all over her face now. But Lyra quietly sat down beside the pink earth pony and rested a hoof on her shoulder,
“You love him that much?”

Pinkie didn’t look up, but nodded with a smile, as a lonely tear rolled down her cheek,
“Yes…”

Lyra looked at Sam, prompting his eyes to widen as he slowly understood,
“So much that it hurts?” Lyra asked.

“Yes!” Pinkie now looked up to Sam with tears in her eyes. “Oh Celestia, yes!” Looking down once more, Pinkie shook her head. “It’s not easy being around me at times… I know that… It’s not easy having so much more energy than others and sometimes I go beyond the limits… And since I don’t know how you two would react on me… I… I rather restrain myself from telling you. I… I love you so much, Sam… that I would break my own heart before I ruin your love with Lyra…” Lyra looked over to Sam with a gasp.

As he remained silent, visibly unsure what to answer to this, the mint-coated unicorn smirked and faced Pinkie again,
“You don’t ruin it for us, Pinkie Pie… You are…” She tipped her chin twice in thought. “…a little eccentric once in a while, but I wouldn’t want you to suffer for my sake…”Facing Sam again, the unicorn smiled. “I would welcome her, Sam… It’s up to you now…”

When Sam stammered a bit for words, Lyra frowned a bit, nodded towards Pinkie. Obviously she wanted Sam not to break Pinkie’s heart. So he took a gulp and a deep breath and approached the pink mare as well,
“I must say no one ever confessed to me like that. But I never was in a herd before, either. You show us another Pinkie Pie today… One that isn’t all bouncy and lively… It’s a bit startling when you don’t know what’s going on, but a nice surprise once you do… And I do love that mane-cut…I’d love to learn more about THIS new caring Pinkie Pie…”

As he raised her chin, her lips shivered and her eyes became all teary. Leaping up, she pressed her lips on his, whimpering into the kiss as she slowly pressed him down to the ground, embracing him tightly. Witnessing this, Lyra chuckled,
“I guess we’ll have to brief him first on the strength and strong urges of earth ponies… Right, Tyler?” Looking up, Lyra was about to thank Tyler, but he was already out of the room. “Tyler?” As she looked out of the window, she saw him going down the street. Smiling at his decency, she turned back to Pinkie and Sam.

Outside Tyler walked down the street as a carriage approached the village from Canterlot. It didn’t take long for him to recognize it as Luna’s carriage. With a smile he waited until it landed and greeted Luna welcome with open arms,
“Luna! It’s…” With a raised nose she passed by without giving him a look. “… so nice to see you… What the hell is going on?”

“I should be the one asking thou this, Tyler Jones!” she said with a strict tone in her voice.

Tyler grimaced in an instant. She wasn’t in a very good mood and it was best to play with open cards in this state of hers. “What’s on your mind?”

“I deem it thou are aware of the time of the year?”

“Yes, tomorrow it has been one year since I got your love letter. It is heat season.”

His memory of the exact date caused her to gasp and to forget for a moment that she was angry at him, but she found her strictness again in a matter of seconds,
“Tis very sweet of thee to remember this, Tyler, but this is not my problem right now… Last night I noticed a dream that was about thee.”

Tyler shook his head, not really understanding,
“A dream? By whom?”

“A little filly…”

In an instant Tyler face palmed,
“Babs…”

“I usually don’t interfere with these kinds of dreams, but her fantasizing about your adult member thrusting up her petite young womb… Twas a bit too much to see the scepter that usually is for us adult mares to stretch such a young sex to that extent… Once ‘thou’ was done filling thy seed into her, I approached this young filly and told her how it saddens me to see her together with thee, my companion, even if it is only in a dream.”

Tyler grimaced slightly at this,
“I don’t know if that was the right thing to do… How did she respond?”

“Well, she was sorry and ashamed about it and promised to try forgetting thee… I made clear that I’m not angered about this since tis her first heat and she’s not to blame for her dreams, but she should find someone her age in the future and not someone who sees her as a child yet. If thou ask me though, this young lass has a crush on thee. I’m afraid these dreams of hers will continue for the next two weeks” Giving herself a facehoof, Luna shook her head. “This isn’t making my work any easier…”

Tyler nodded. Luna surely was a bit grumpy seeing this and not fully understanding because he didn’t tell her yet,
“Luna? If you want to, I’d let you read my mind regarding her.”

Nodding briefly, the Princess of the night approached him,
“Then I shall do so…” With that her horn charged up and Tyler’s memories about Babs and how she wanted to offer herself to him as well as Tyler’s escape from her flashed up in her mind. “I see…” Stepping back one step, she looked up to Tyler with a smile. “I never doubted thee, beloved. I simply didn’t know how to handle this on first sight.”

Tyler shook his head,
“The whole thing was crazy anyway…”

With a giggle, Luna held a hoof in front of her mouth,
“But thou ARE cute as a boy. Maybe I should transform thee to that age?”

Giving her a smirk, Tyler shook his head,
“What’s next? You let me ride you in that young age?”

Giggling a bit, she shook her head,
“Oh, I would let thee do quite more than that.” Both stopped laughing in an instant and Luna looked up to him, her face one deep purple blush. “Uh… Don’t tell the others I said that!”

Grabbing her jaw, Tyler grinned widely,
“Luna you little minx… You tell me right this instant what you would do to my young body if I would be in that form now!”

Reluctantly, she looked down and send the images into his mind. He then pulled her in gently and smirked,
“Sucking your teats? That’s not a sexual kink I guess… That’s your yearning for maternity!”

Luna looked down again with a smile,
“Well… Tis my wish to give birth to your child…”

Tyler turned around and grinned,
“Well… Maybe I should swing my… ‘scepter’ for you to get one!”

Luna blushed once more,
“Tyler! Please don’t mock me with this! I would rather ask thee a question…”

“Yes?”

“It is quite possible for me to change into the age of a younger mare and back into this mare you know me as… Seeing that young mare has made me curious. “Would you-”

“No I wouldn’t… At least I wouldn’t without the consent of the others. Why don’t you ask them if you want to try something like this?”

“As thou wish… I shall ask permission before we perform our little role-play…”

“Role-play…” he repeated while shaking his head. “Luna, you don’t want to play it, you want to be a young filly while I have sex with you.”

“Well, if it comes to pedofillya, do thou know how old you had to be before Tia and I could deem thou an adult? 3000 years at least in alicorn terms… Thou are but a newborn with the mind and feelings of an adult. It’s no real pedofillya, we know that… But it feels that way at times.”

Tyler nodded with a heavy gulp,
“I see… So by doing this you want to give me an insight in how you feel… Fucking a mare with the body of a filly…” He sighed heavily. “Luna… No… I have to decline this offer for now.” Luna looked up and Tyler could see the disappointment in her eyes not to be able to satisfy her curiosity, so he caressed her cheek. “Are you mad at me?”

“Nay… Maybe my mind still goes a bit astray in these last days of my heat cycle… It’s good to have a partner in thee that isn’t as affected by heat as we are…”

Tyler now beamed as they went back to her carriage,
“Oh yeah! After these two weeks your heat cycle is over as well… In hindsight it sure was funny at times…”

Meanwhile Lyra giggled a bit, nudging Sam and Pinkie into the ribs,
“Come now, you two lovebirds… Don’t eat each other, OK?”

Founding her composure again, Pinkie grinned as her lips separated from Sam’s and she looked down with these big blue eyes of hers; eyes that were filled with love and care as she glanced down to Sam. They seemed deep and vast as the ocean in his eyes,
“I never felt so good since I saw my first Sonic Rainboom…”

Now Sam frowned,
“Wait… If you’re turning back to normal… Why is your mane still flat?”

“Duh! You said you love my mane that way… So every time we’re not outside…”

Sam slowly caressed her cheek and Pinkie leaned into his palm,
“You weren’t lying that you love me so much that it hurts, huh? Wow… I… I don’t know if I can give back that amount of love… until now, I had all hand full with-”

Lyra laid a hoof onto his mouth, cutting him off,
“Hush, big guy… Nopony wants you to go for records… Just give her the best you can as you do for me…”

She whispered something inaudible into Pinkie’s ear and the earth pony looked down to Sam with a deep blush, before she smiled down to him,
“I’d love to try that as well…”

Lyra now giggled dirty and took pen and paper,
“You do that… My Anthropology lacks information about human reactions to earth pony libido…”

Now Sam looked up to his unicorn herd mate. “Lyra!” But a pink hoof turned his face back to Pinkie, who shook her head before she came down to his ear,
“There’s time for this later… I’m a bit scared though… No one popped my cherry yet…”

Sam smiled and nodded up to her,
“In that case there’s really no rush… We should plan ahead to make this a very special moment for you.”

“Why? It’s only you causing me pain for a short moment… Afterwards it’s only fun.”

“No, Pinkie… A girl only has one hymen and can give it to one guy.”

“Well, shouldn’t I doing it with you right away? I want to gi-”

Lyra held a hoof in front of Pinkie’s mouth,
“What Sam means is that the first time is special to a girl. It should be with someone you really like and who likes you as well. You know… So you give it to someone who deserves it and can help you make this moment a wonderful experience.”

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Pinkie finally nodded,
“I see! So it becomes a memory you can look back to with a smile?”

“Yeah, something like that!” Lyra said in response, a gentle smile on her face.

Standing up now, Sam opened the window and let some fresh air into the room. It was getting dark already and the moon rose up,
“By the way, Lyra… Who’s responsible for this calm singing every evening?”

The unicorn turned around and smiled as she heard the Royal Canterlot Canto in the air,
“Oh! Right! You and the others can’t know that yet… Why didn’t you ask before? That’s Princess Luna’s Royal Canterlot Canto. She began doing that soon after Tyler courted her. All of Equestria looks forward to it now every evening! Children love to hear it as a lullaby, couples and herd mates love to gaze at the stars while hearing it…” Then the idea sprang to her mind. “Well… Pinkie? Since you’re new in the herd… Would you like to join us today?”

The earth pony nodded and sat down to Sam’s left side while Lyra sat to his right side. As the moon shined in through the window, the three herd mates sat together and Pinkie leaned her head at Sam’s chest. Lyra watched this with a granting smile. Pinkie Pie wasn’t the easiest herd mate she could think of for her and Sam, but was willing to deny herself her own love in order to ‘preserve’ both their happy life as a couple. Yet this was nothing Lyra could stand for. Nopony should suffer for her sake. Although Pinkie did this in good will, it was a misguided action.

But it gave the unicorn a good insight of the depth of Pinkie’s feelings. Somehow the idea came up in Lyra that her life with Sam was about to get a lot of crazier and all in a good way as well. Sam stroke Pinkie’s shoulder and looked down to her. Somewhere inside this bundle of never-ending energy was a heart beating for him. As he looked over to Lyra, she as well leaned at his chest and smiled as she looked up to him. With both mares leaning against him, he looked up to the moon. This actually was a pleasant change. No dire threat to their lives, no enemies, just hearts opening to each other...

On the next day, Pinkie was bouncing again through the streets with her curly mane, giggling again like a child as she cheered up several ponies. Sam, Lyra and the other Rangers stood there on the balcony of the library and watched her. Rachel shook her head,
“So everything missing in her life was someone to love her? Great! Sam, you go on with this, you can go to hell like Jones here!”

Sam rolled his eyes,
“Shut up, woman!”

Just as Rachel was going inside again, Tyler chuckled,
“Oh, well… She’s just mad that she has to keep her feelings for Big Mac a secret.”

From inside Rachel’s yelling became audible,
“I HEARD THAT, JONES!!!”

“HUSH!!! THIS IS A LIBRARY!!!” Twilight now yelled from downstairs.

Spike’s voice now became audible,
“Twilight… You’re yelling as well…”

“I AM NOT YELLING!!! I AM DISCIPLINING!!! Oh…”

Sam slowly shook his head,
“We humans have layers… Layers we sometimes shed for others and reveal our true self. Even ponies do that to some extent… But Pinkie Pie… Pinkie Pie has no such layers… With her it’s only purity and innocence. She knows no masks, no illusion to hide away feelings…”

Lyra looked up to him,
“You sound worried, Sam… Aren’t you happy that there are two mares who love you with all their hearts?”

“I am worried, Lyra… for Pinkie’s sake. If I sleep with her… will this shatter her innocence?”

Leaning against him, the mint-coated unicorn smiled,
“Ohh… That’s sweet of you…”

But Sam simply shook his head in confusion,
“Actually I’m too confused right now to be sweet… I mean that’s the way things are? One guy and several female partners?”

Lyra and Tyler nodded,
“Sure! Tyler himself struggled to get this right into his head. Twilight told me that he was unfamiliar with the herd topic as well.”

Tyler leaned in and played with Lyra’s left ear,
“What you forgot to tell is that I was chased by a stampede of sex-crazed mares all wanting into my herd…Could it be that you were among them?”

Lyra giggled slightly ashamed and then shrugged,
“Aheh… THAT was before I knew Sam and you know what heat can do to a mare’s mind…”

Sam shook his head with a smile,
“I guess you’re not deep enough in heat season I guess?”

After leading a small parade of ponies bouncing over the rooftops, Pinkie Pie spotted the Rangers at the balcony of the library and hopped off a roof. Gasping in fear that she could harm herself, Sam reached out an arm for her, only to witness her falling on a passing wagon loaded with mattresses and bouncing off it right up to them. With a big grin the pink earth pony leaped into Sam’s arms and laid both front hooves around his neck,
“Guess what! Everypony was worried why I was so sad, but was happy for me once they heard what was the reason for it and that things are now better and this all is so great and screams for a party that I just want to-”

Placing a short kiss on her lips was enough for Sam to halt Pinkie’s sentence and prompted everyone else to laugh at this. Pinkie, now joining the laughter, nuzzled Sam and rubbed her cheek at his,
“We will have so much fun in this herd!”

Meanwhile Flynn went for a walk in the streets as Rainbow Dash crossed his path. Like two teenagers who knew that what they had done went a bit too far, they both looked down a bit embarrassed,
“Rainbow… About that night…”

“Uh-huh… You know, Flynn… That was the best sex I’ve ever had with someone… But…”

He nodded as he caressed her sides and flank for a bit while she was hovering in front of him,
“I know… We shouldn’t let it go overboard…”

With that he pulled her in and gently sniffed her chest, what prompted her to snicker,
“Flynn… Stop it, you dummy!”

With a wide grin he kissed her throat, what caused her to gasp a bit. “I may hold back between the pillows, RD… But why should I stop to hold my girl precious?”

This prompted Rainbow to snicker,
“Your girl? Is this a herd proposal?”

But Flynn only continued to grin as he gently nibbled on her ear before he whispered the six most exciting words to her any stallion ever whispered to her,
“This is for your ears… only…”

3 - A Draconequus mind *

The joyful giggle of Appleseed filled the library as Tyler smiled down to his daughter.
As Applejack and Twilight looked over his shoulders, resting their front hooves on the table, the two of them watched as Tyler had his first attempt of changing a diaper. While the foal seemed to have the time of her life, Tyler grimaced once or twice before he sighed,
“Done! Looks perfect to me…”

Giving the whole thing a chuckle, Applejack shook her head,
“Well, it would be perfect, if ya wouldn’t had wrapped the diaper the wrong way around, Sugarcube.

Twilight giggled,
“It’s a wonder the diaper didn’t land on her head…”

“You try that without book, checklist or magic yourself and we talk about it again. OK honey?”

Hearing the slightly aggressive tone in their voices caused the little foal to hum a bit sad, stretching her hooves up to her father, who shook his head with a smile,
“Oh… That bright little thing… It’s almost like she knows what we’re saying… Don’t listen to me and Aunt Twilight… We’re not fighting; we’re just teasing each other…” With a few moves he corrected the diaper, washed his hands and held Appleseed up. “You still love Daddy, eh?” The little foal stretched her tiny hooves around Tyler’s face and rubbed her head against his, giving him a nice nuzzle, what caused him to smile.

“Like she could ever hate ya, Sugarcube…” Applejack added with a smirk. “Yer voice is so calming for her, she’s always sound asleep in a matter of minutes when ya sing her a lullaby…"

“That’s because I talked to her while she was still in your womb. Human babies get accustomed to the sounds they hear in the womb. I guess that goes with foals as well…”

Of all things that happened in the last time Tyler considered this time with the family and herd the one thing he would never want to give up. It simply was paradise and his heart was at peace. Despite all the fighting he always went through, the times when battle made his blood boil, he always loved these times over fighting anytime. Although he always wondered about the frightened looks of the others after the fights, he always deemed them the looks of herbivores not used to the sight of a human fighting. Maybe he should spend some time meditating about this.

But right now, with Appleseed in his arms, drinking the bottle of milk while looking up to him with these big and beautiful eyes and Applejack and Twilight lying right next to him, all thoughts of fighting vanished as fast as they came. That’s when he started to smile,
“You know… As beautiful as it is to see her drinking, there was one sight I loved even more…”

Cocking her head, the earth pony didn’t understand,
“And what was that, Sugarcube?”

“Seeing you breastfeeding her. AJ”

There was a moment of silence in the library. Both mares began to blush and the earth pony looked down, her face as red as her big brother,
“Shoot! Tyler, ya always say such things… Do ya really think-”

“Yes!” He interrupted her and bent over to kiss her. “You looked beautiful with that swollen belly of yours and you looked absolutely gorgeous breastfeeding our child…” While he tickled her chin a bit, prompting her to giggle in love, he looked over to Twilight. “And I know somepony who would look just as gorgeous with such a swollen belly…”

Now Twilight blushed deeply. In fact, both Tyler and Applejack couldn’t remember seeing their herd mate with such a red hot face before. ”M-m-m-me?!?” the unicorn stammered.

Tyler nodded,
“I imagine you quite lovely with a belly that big. In fact, such a big belly would suit Celestia and Luna as well.”

Taking a few steps back, Twilight shook her head,
“B-but… but… But what about my advanced studies?”

Tyler grinned and put Appleseed down to the floor, before he approached the unicorn,
“I could have a little talk with Celestia if you want to… I’m sure she and Luna would just love to hear from your experiences with motherhood…” Grinning, he knelt down to Twilight and kissed her gently, causing her eyes to pop open wide and her heart to skip a beat.

During the kiss, Twilight only managed to mumble a short “I’ll think about it.” before she grew more demanding in her kisses. As their lips parted, he took a deep breath, inhaling her scent. During heat season, all mares emitted this scent, the musky odor that fired the imagination of stallions. And since it was the second week of heat season this spring, Twilight and Applejack both emitted it as well. Tyler spoke with Big Mac about it and the stallion said that the scent of heat could make a stallion run wild for a mare, if he’s not careful enough. Tyler could relate.

The thought of the meaning of this scent send his thoughts to the darkest pits of his mind. Actually, looking at it in perspective, it was nothing more than the mare’s signal to males that she was ready… But since they were in a herd, the signal was another. No longer was it ‘I’m ready for intercourse, gentlecolts!’… No, it was the clear signal for ‘Come and take me, stud!’ And boy, did it work wonders! And his reaction seemed to be visible for the two mares no matter how much clothes he was wearing. It was as if they could smell the erection in his pants.

Now, looking into Twilight’s eyes, he gently tickled her ear,
“Why don’t we… send Spike on a sleepover to Rarity tonight?”

While biting her bottom lip, Twilight looked around,
“Rarity is in heat as well… It would be a bad idea…”

Nodding, he bend over to her ear, whispering now,
“I see… Then what about you and I sneak into your laboratory once he’s asleep? You can measure all the data you want from my personal ‘level gauge’”

“Sugarcube!!!” Applejack now interfered. “Mind yer talk in front of our daughter!”

“What? The puns? Hmhmhm…” Coming over to her, he stood beside Applejack and waited until Appleseed was in her cradle, before he whispered something into the country mare’s ear. “Maybe you should come as well, so we could discuss my plowing technique…”

Gulping for a moment, Applejack blushed, but closed her eyes and went along,
“Ya know Ah would neigh this library and probably the houses across the street awake if Ah would let mahself go. Ah could try to restrain mahself though… So Ah’ll better pass. Although Ah must say it’s mighty nice of Rachel to look after Babs in mah absence… Thanks to her, Ah can spend more time with ya guys and Appleseed.”

* * * * *

In front of the farm house, Rachel’s eyes narrowed as Babs rolled on the ground,
“Have Ah told ya what Ah would do to him if he ever makes a move on me?”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel clenched her fists,
“Over and over again…”

“Hey, Miss Rachel? Why is it that of all females in Ponyville, ya are never seen with a stallion or man?”

Forcing a grin, Rachel tried her best to stay polite despite the topic. She really hated this one, but the young mare couldn’t know that and wasn’t to blame for this,
“Because I’m not into stallions and the human men on this world are idiots…”

“But not Tyler! He’s such a cool and wicked guy…”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel thought that the incident with the poison joke flower did far more damage than was revealed on first sight,
“Listen, Babs… I know you have the hots for him since you’re in heat and all that… But seriously… THAT GUY?!? OK, I concede that he has his moments and I have to give him credit that he isn’t into someone so young like you as well. But…”

“But it’s not illegal ya know. If a young mare is aware of the consequences and is consenting, she can have sex with a full grown stallion even if it’s her first heat. Ah wouldn’t mind him banging me, ya know… Ah actually dreamt about it…"

Hearing this prompted Rachel to face palm, followed by shaking her head. Here we go again…

“It was sooooo hot! His big and fat member stretching my tiny little hole, reaching in so deep, dumping his hot and sticky seed insi-“

In the next moment Rachel poured a bucket of water over the little filly,
“I thought Applejack told you to stay away from these thoughts! You heat yourself up!”

Blinking first in surprise, Babs looked up to Rachel with narrowed eyes,
“Oh yeah? At least Ah have some fire in mah little womb. Ah’m not so cold and dusty down there like you are.”

“Why you little…” As Rachel bend down to the young mare, Babs held her head up, booping Rachel’s nose with her own. “If I wanted to, I could have stallions on each finger of my hand! And they would probably nibble at my fingernails for the slight hope to mount me with their fat pony cocks. But I don’t want that! You know why? Because I have my female dignity! I would nev-”

In the next moment they both were splashed with icy cold water. Even the hard touch of ice cubes was noticeable. It was then when Granny Smith’s voice came from the window above them. The old mare looked down at them both, arching a brow,
“Now, silly goose! Quit yer gawkin' and move yer caboose! Ya only heat each other up!”

Shivering and shaking Rachel and Babs looked at each other,
“Brr…. You know? G-Granny’s right, all the talk about stallions isn’t good for you, Babs. Let’s forget about this for now, OK? Time for a bath in the barn!”

“A warm bath? In this hot weather?”

In the barn Rachel pulled out a large tube, too heavy to lift, but light enough to pull it into the center,
“You can have a cold one if you like… Come on, I’ll join you”

Undressing now, Rachel took off her top. The sight of her ample breasts prompted Babs to widen her eyes,
“Wow! Now those are huge teats…”

“Close, kid… We humans have different names for these babies… Tits, breasts, knockers… to name only a few…” She slowly massaged her breasts and looked at them. “Although I must say it is funny how stallions stare at them like dehydrated little boys, thirsty for some milk.” Now looking over to Babs who blushed heavily, Rachel laughed loud. “I guess you get the idea, kid.”

Shortly after the makeshift bathtub was ready in the barn, Babs hopped into the cold water,
“Ahhh… Now that’s refreshing!” Giving this a wide grin Rachel climbed into the tub as well and began cleaning herself. It wasn’t until now before both were playfully splashing water at each other.

But little did they know that through a small hole in the barn wall, a green eye peeked on them. Outside the barn sat Big Macintosh and enjoyed the show. The wet curvy bodies, the slippery foam that slid over said bodies… Yeah, this was a sight for every stallion. As he began to masturbate to the sight the two of them gave him, his grin widened. Distracted by this sight, however, he didn’t hear the sound of approaching hooves until one hoof tipped his shoulder. The sound of an all too well known voice became audible inches behind him,
“And what exactly do ya think yer doin’ here, mah boy?”

The red stallion opened his eyes wide and gulped before he looked at the old mare behind him. “Uh…”

In the next moment, a broom was slapped over his head,
“Ah thought so… Now be gone, mah boy… Before Ah let ya EAT this broom! Ah didn’t raise ya like this and ah promised yer Ma and Pa to make a decent young gentlecolt out of ya! So if ya interested in that woman, ya better have the decency to ask her out for a nice dinner or two before yer even thinkin’ about peeking on her naked body! And yer not supposed to be here anyway! Now shoo!” Big Macintosh bowed his head, but complied. Granny was of course right. His presence there would probably only cause more harm.

In the evening, Rachel went down to Ponyville again. As she reached the library, she saw a large crowd of ponies besieging it,
“You have to make him leave, Twilight!” Rose, Daisy and Lily stood together in the crowd and exchanged frightened glances. “I don’t want to live next door to him!”

“We’ve heard screams out of his place!”

“Screams that weren’t natural!”

But the librarian simply shook her head,
“I don’t understand. Who should leave?”

“That dreadful Draconequus!” was the answer that came from somewhere from the crowd.

Tyler leaned in the door frame,
“I didn’t know that Discord was in town again.”

Arching a brow, Twilight looked at all the mares,
“You know… if he behaves and doesn’t cause chaos, there’s little to no reason to toss him out of town. Who doesn’t actively bother others and doesn’t break the rules…”

The mares looked at the librarian, not understanding,
“But Twilight…”

Rolling her eyes in slight annoyance, Twilight shook her head with a smile,
“Alright, if it means so much to you guys, I think we could give it a look to make sure he doesn’t freak out.”

Not half an hour later, the Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers arrived at the scene. It was a nice and tidy green lawn, well watered and with a white fence on the edges. In the center of the lawn was a slim and white booth, no bigger than an outdoor house. Arching a brow, Tyler approached the little house,
“Well… Not exactly what I expected from a former Spirit of Chaos…” But just as he opened the door, a wide area was stretching out before him. Several floating islands of earth and rock were connected with each other with bridges, including the floating island the doorway was standing on.

His eyes widened and he leaned back outside, where the others looked at him,
"Is something the matter, Tyler?”

Blinking twice, Tyler shook his head in confusion,
“Well… uh… You better see for yourself!”

As Flynn entered the booth, he came running outside and walked around the booth three seconds later,
“This is incredibly odd!”

“Well what is with that thing?” Rachel asked in slight annoyance. “You two are making such a fuss!”

Flynn looked at her with wide eyes,
“It’s… It’s bigger on the inside!”

Tyler now stepped in again and looked around,
“I think this is similar to the thing he did with the Descendants during his ‘cleaning’ of Canterlot Castle, when they attacked us.”

As the Elements of Harmony went inside one after another, Sam turned around to Lyra and Grinko,
“Lyra? Grinko? I want you two to stay outside and make sure that no pony gets inside or causes damage to this thing while we’re in there.”

The aquamarine-coated unicorn nodded briefly and gave him a short peck,
“I’ll be on guard with the big guy here. We’ll make sure everything will be clear outside.” With that she gave Sam a short salute and he nodded with a smile.

Grinko growled dissatisfied,
“Let me come with you, Tyler…”

But Tyler only shook his head,
“Not this time, Grinko. Sam is right; we need you here, outside. If something happens we’ll need you and Lyra to get us some help.” Now the defenders of Equestria entered the booth and stood there on the first island in silent amazement.

Rachel shook her head as she looked around in the landscape,
“Beautiful and yet ugly…” In the distance a mansion was lying on the biggest floating islands. Or rather hanging on the biggest island since the island was upside down.

Walking over many bridges, the artificial sky was filled with the same cotton candy clouds. Pies were falling up and down and far below the bridges and floating islands the ground was all checkered. All what was missing was the chocolate rain. One of the bridges they crossed was distorted and the gravitational pull was in a mess as well. While the bridge started with the upper side pointing upwards, it pointed downwards at the end and yet one wouldn’t fall off the bridge. While Pinkie had the time of her life, Sam only shook his head in wild wonder while looking around,
“This guy is either a complete nutjob or a complete genius! But either way the thought of handing reality to a guy like that is frightening…”

While they approached the mansion violin music played silently. It actually was quite soothing to hear something normal in all this chaos and not a cacophony to annoy the ears as well. The music echoed through the garden and as they went up the stairs to the front door. The door knocker was in the shape of Discord’s head and Tyler hesitated for a moment before he knocked. But instead of knocking sounds the door knocker screamed in pain and prompted Tyler to jump away a bit,
“What the fuck?”

Twilight arched a brow as she stood beside Tyler and grinned,
“Pretty jumpy, aren’t you? With that her magic grasped the door knocker. The illusion to cause Discord pain was typical for the Draconequus and if that’s the way he wanted to play, Twilight was willed to teach him a lesson. She would make him scream so that the real Discord would recognize them. A few hard and quick knocks… That should do the trick. But as she knocked like this, the door knocker moaned in pleasure with Princess Celestia’s voice. “Oh! Oh, Twilight!” In an instant Twilight let go of the door knocker with a red hot head and Tyler turned around not to burst into wild laughter.

Behind Twilight, the others snickered and giggled as well,
“He got you good there, Twilight…” Fortunately for the unicorn, the door now opened and revealed the inhabitant. Floating in midair, Discord played a violin and sung while doing so.

“♫It gets so lonely being evil
What I'd do to see a smile
Even for a little while♫”

As the Draconequus performed a pirouette, the violin hovered in place and played by itself. Sliding to his knees, Discord held his heart.

“♫And no-one loves you when you're evil... ♫”

But just as he opened his eyes again, a big grin formed on his face as he saw the Element Bearers and Harmony Rangers.

“♫I'm lying through my teeth!
Your tears are all the company I need! ♫”

Arching a brow, Tyler looked around in the mansion. It was a chaotic mess as the landscape outside with moving pictures in picture frames and flying goldfishes,
“Discord… What in the world are you doing in a white booth in Ponyville that has this chaotic landscape all by yourself?"

Blinking in wonder, the Draconequus arched his brows and grinned,
“But who says I’m all alone in here?” Stretching his arms, he snapped his claws and the others were surrounded by frantic screaming groupies, duplicates of himself. Discord himself was on stage and performed with a blue jacket and a pair of shades.

“♫Eh~ Sexy Discord!!!
Op-op-op-op open Chaos Style! ♫”

Taking the microphone from him, Tyler gritted his teeth,
“Enough! Stop this nonsense at once! We didn’t come here to see this! We came here to check on you because the ponies outside don’t know what to make of you suddenly live among them in such a small place.”

But Discord stood his ground,
“Well it’s not MY fault they can’t adjust to such a small house on a fine green lawn… I really need so little space; does this really bother them so much? I must say I feel offended…” Now all of his groupies folded their arms and stretched out their tongues.

Twilight raised a hoof at the Discord on the stage,
“That’s because the last time you were around, you flooded Sweet Apple Acres and caused another winter season! And the incident before you tried to make Ponyville the Chaos capital of the world!”

Tyler folded his arms and shook his head,
“You can’t blame them for expecting anything but trouble when you come around, Discord. You have to admit that you left a bad impression…”

Bending down to Twilight, the Draconequus tipped her chest and held up a document,
“Good points indeed, Twilight Sparkle… But YOU Elements reformed me and it was confirmed by the Princess. Staying in Canterlot is boring once in a while, so I thought I’d get a second house in Ponyville.”

While Twilight, read the document, Rainbow arched a brow,
“Second house?”

Discord simply shrugged,
“But of course! I have a place like this here in my chamber in Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia allowed me to use more of these bags of holding. They are just my style. I can fit all my entire chaos in a tiny room without bothering anypony else… Isn’t it a wonderful agreement? Outside my rooms and houses you can have all the order you want, but inside here I have this wonderful, wonderful chaos!”

Looking up from the document, Twilight nodded,
“The royal seal of approval isn’t a fake, girls… He is right.”

“Ha! You see? And you thought I was-“ Before he could end his sentence, Tyler patted his shoulder and shook his head, shaking his head to remind him not to overdo it, what prompted the former Spirit of Chaos to arch a brow with a smirk.

Looking around Flynn shook his head,
“I don’t get it… Not only can you duplicate yourself, you can be both male AND female as well?”

“Oh please, Flynn Marshall…” Discord said while waving the thought away. “Only mortals like to stay in one gender for their entire life. This is so boring… Not only can I change my gender and age, but species as well.” After a short flash, Discord disappeared and reappeared behind Tyler as a female anthropomorphic Draconequus with some breasts and pressed the cleavage into the human’s neck with a lascivious grin. Tyler looked down to Twilight with a sober expression, but his right eye was twitching. The lavender mare nodded in silence and Tyler’s hand reached out for one of Discord’s horns and grabbed it. Pulling the Draconequus from him, Tyler tossed the former Spirit of Chaos away. But disappearing in one flash and reappearing in yet another, Discord now had perfect human form and leaned against Rachel as a man in brown suit. “He doesn’t like humanoid women, does he?”

Sam arched a brow and looked over to Discord,
“You seem to like to perform imitations of other species just for the heck of it… But it is hard taking you seriously if you behave like a joker. Would you mind staying in the one form we know you in?”

Discord’s mood visibly grew better by this response,
“Ah! The intriguing Sam O’Donnell and Flynn Marshall! The two humans who DIDN’T get their cutie marks through direct magical contact… I know why you humans got them. Do you?”

Sam’s eyes now grew grim,
“Not exactly… But it doesn’t matter anyway. We have them and won’t lose them, so we don’t have to know how to regain them.”

Now Discord’s fingers slowly rose up,
“Oh, I can arrange that… All it takes is the snap of my-” Just as the Elements were up to interfere, Fluttershy hovered before Discord. Arching a brow, the now human Draconequus shrugged. “What?”

The yellow Pegasus looked at Discord’s hand and then back to his face,
“You gave me your promise, Discord…”

Grumbling a bit, the Draconequus snapped his fingers and returned back to normal. Another snap further, his groupies and the loud music were all gone as well,
“Fine… And here I was hoping that I could get at least a bit of fun out of them…”

“There’s no fun in being threatened, Discord! Now apologize to them!

Narrowing his eyes, Discord shrugged,
“Fine, fine… I’m sorry! Let me greet you welcome instead.” After another snap of his paw, they all were in a living room where a doorway and a pedestal were put in place. On the pedestal rested a glass orb of the size of a honeydew melon and another green orb floating inside of it. Pinkie Pie inspected the little orb of glass thoroughly. “Well then… Why don’t you step into the doorway and we can have a little picnic?” Discord said with a smile, opening a doorway to a leading to a vast meadow.

Rachel arched her brows,
“A picnic? That actually sounds quite good!” As she went through the doorway, the others could hear her scream all of a sudden. Tyler and Flynn stormed right into the doorway as they saw it. Two gigantic eyes, blue and embedded into a body covered in pink hair.

As the eyes took their distance in the sky, they could hear Pinkie in the other room,
“Hey! Discord has tiny versions of you guys in that orb! Did you allow him that?” Coming back into the living room, Tyler looked at the orb and saw them there. Rachel and Flynn were waving up to him, not bigger than an inch.

This caused Tyler to gulp,
“Twilight? Have a look at this!”

When Twilight saw the mini versions of Rachel and Flynn, she looked up to Discord, then to Tyler, before her eyes turned back to Discord,
“At least the effect is only temporal… Alright, you have my interest… How does it work?”

“How?” The Draconequus asked, before he laughed heartily. “Oh, Twilight! Did you really think I would take note of how things work? I’m the Spirit of Chaos! Chaos simply works anytime I will it to work. And trans-dimensional chaos is something quite lovely…”

Now Rachel and Flynn returned back as well,
“Well… There’s a meadow in that orb as far as I can see. And if I look at it from the outside, it’s like a mini planetoid. Complete with gravity and atmosphere.”

Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other before both shook their heads,
“Come again, Flynn? Maybe ya shouldn’t talk so fancy…”

Sam looked at the orb,
“It’s a Mini-Equis, if you will…”

Looking to Discord, Tyler arched a brow,
“Is it stable? I mean… We don’t have to fear something happening to the inhabitants once the orb shatters, do we?”

Thinking for a moment, the Draconequus tipped his chin,
“Hmmm…. I think the dimension inside would expand back to its former size and mass…”

In the next moment everyone in the room stepped far away from the orb. Sam shook his head slowly as he ended the thought loud,
“…thus crushing everything and everyone in its way…”

Tyler grinned a bit nervous as he looked around,
“I vote for going to the next room leaving the orb at peace.” With a united “Agreed”, the group went to the next room and Discord snapped a group of chairs and sofas into existence. Even though the furniture was floating, it was quite comfortable to sit on it.

As they sat down, pieces of cake appeared in front of everyone. But as soon as Rachel took a bit from her piece of cake and chew on it, it regenerated. Arching a brow, the Draconequus giggled,
“What’s the matter, Rachel Higgins? Eat up! Or aren’t you hungry?” Looking down to her piece of cake, she chew a bit more on the bite in her mouth. She definitely took a bite, otherwise there wouldn’t be any cake in her mouth.

When she looked up to Discord, she gulped the bite down and shook her head,
“I think you just want more fun in seeing me hastily eat a cake that can never be finished. That’s not about to happen…”

After eating a few bites from the never-ending cake, Tyler now rested his plate down on his lap,
“When I first saw you in the castle, I thought you were nothing more than trouble. But, in fairness, you took care of these Descendants in the castle quite good, what allowed us to advance without greater casualties. I give you that. So, you have proven that you can be of use, IF you behave. The question is: Why do you slightly misbehave like this again? You can just simply ask, if you want to know something. Or you could have told every pony outside that you want to behave from now on, what would have made this visit here not necessary in the first place.”

But the Draconequus shook his head,
“Tyler Jones, this ‘simply asking’ is but a mere asking for access to a recitation of information, hollow and emotionless… A reaction shows so much more from the character. It is so much richer in detail. So if I ask you about the human nature, you can only give me a definition, some words or a little speech… But if I get a reaction out of you…”

Tyler nodded,
“I see your point there, Discord If that’s the way you want to learn about the human nature, I’ll play along… Just promise one thing!”

“And what is that?” Discord asked with an arched brow.

“Promise me that you will never bring someone into danger!” The Draconequus arched a brow and looked at Tyler in thought, causing Tyler to arch a brow on his own. “What? Having doubts that you could keep that promise? You want to learn about humans, I guess. And you want to earn some trust with the others… Then promise us you won’t overdo it and we’ll see where this goes…”

Rachel shook her head,
“Jones, are you sure this is a wise idea?”

“Sure! He wants to show that he is something better? I gladly give him the chance to prove himself if he can guarantee me that he won’t overdo it.”

With a look at all of the elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers, Discord lowered his plate and raised his lion paw,
“I’ll promise I will not bring anyone into danger!”

Half an hour later, after a nice farewell, the friends conversed a bit while on their way out again. Fluttershy smiled while flying alongside Tyler and Twilight,
“I must say that he developed pretty well since the last time. I’m happy that he doesn’t suffer any backslide back into complete chaos.”

Twilight nodded and looked around,
“Quite an interesting idea he had canalizing his chaos into a confined space. In here, he can express himself while living among us in peace. I’m sure the others will appreciate it. If we leave his home unharmed, his chaos won’t interfere with our order.”

Patting her shoulders, Tyler looked down to Twilight,
“You were very strict with him, Twilight. I noticed that. Is there still a little grudge in you?”

Twilight smirked,
“He’s like a little misbehaving boy most of the time. Someone has to be strict with him.”

But this only made Tyler grin,
“Or maybe he just wants you to get mad.”

This made the unicorn blink in surprise,
“You mean…?”

“Yes!” Tyler responded with a chuckle. “He’s pushing a button and you anger a bit for his amusement.”

Growling a bit, Twilight shook her head,
“I will have to work on that then…” Shortly after that, they arrived outside and reported to the waiting crowd their findings. While still a bit wary about the chaos inside the little white booth, the ponies of Ponyville accepted their latest neighbor since this chaos was confined and thus out of sight in a faraway place.

* * * * *

On the next day Flynn strolled around the streets of Ponyville. Unlike before, the flood of mares that chased Sam and him seized to exist all of a sudden. Maybe it was because he and Sam were now in upcoming herds. It seemed to be a social norm that mares courted like hell out of singles and couples, but three herd mates made a crowd and required more proper courting. Either that or the fact that these new herd mates were Bearers of the elements of Harmony intimidated the mares. As he came across the flower shops, he stopped and looked at them. It was early morning, Rainbow would probably be sleeping or working somewhere, he could surprise her with a snack or two. With a smile he thought of the fun fact that the ponies ate the flowers instead of watching their beautiful blossoms.

It was then when Rose came out of her backyard garden and looked at Flynn. Giggling a bit, she confronted him and stood beside her prized flowers,
“See anything you’d like to have?”

Noticing her constant subtle wiggling of her plot and the twitching tail, Flynn arched a brow and grinned a bit,
“Rose… Are you flirting with me?”

“Maybe…?” As he folded his arms, she whirled her mane and wiggled her rump a bit more. “You can’t blame a mare to look her best for the handsome males of town, can you? I am but a humble rose in full bloom just waiting for the bee to plunge deep into her to collect her honey…”

Trying his best to fight the urge to laugh, Flynn shook his head,
“That’s one nice allegory… OK, how much?”

Opening her eyes wide, Rose gasped and looked at him aghast,
“Flynn!!! I’m not that kind of mare!” But after a strict harrumph of his, Rose recognized his finger pointing towards her prized roses. A dark shade of red appeared now on her face. “Oh…That would be two bits…”

After paying her, he got his rose and nodded,
“You know, Rose… Like this flower here you are beautiful and quite a sight… But if I would pick you up, certain thorns would injure me.”

Then, after a short giggle, Rose began to give him her best bedroom eyes,
“You flatter me, Flynn… It’s a pity that a man such as you is chained to only one mare, when he can speak in such a figurative language… I know at least two other mares besides me that would love to hear more about that…”

Flynn took a gentle sniff on the rose blossom and smiled,
“Careful, Rose… You’re trying to tempt the man who’s with Loyalty herself. Don’t burn your hoof…”

“Oh, but it is fun flirting with you humans… You guys are so good in that.”

Chuckling a bit, Flynn nodded,
“I’m glad you enjoy it, but I’m afraid the end result will be that you’re a more frustrated mare than before. So please let us stop right here, OK?”

Giving a sigh, Rose nodded,
“Oh alright… Have a good day, Flynn!”

“You too, Rose!” As Flynn went along the street, he heard a bell ringing in the distance. As he recognized the direction, he noticed that this was the school bell. It seemed that school was over for today and already several young ponies ran outside.

Leaning against the white fence, he saw the cutie mark crusaders coming along,
“Hey there, Ranger Flynn!”

Smiling at their happy faces, he got moving and went along with them,
“Hey there, girls… Had a great day at school?”

“Yeah… Today we’ve had home economics… Don’t ask! I bet Miss Cheerilee will spend an hour or two cleaning up our mess. And we didn’t earn any cutie marks from that either…” All three of them gave a disappointed sigh now.

When the three fillies split up on the town center after saying goodbye to each other, Sweetie Belle went towards the Carousel Boutique while Apple Bloom went up the street to Sweet Apple Acres. Flynn looked down to Scootaloo,
“No crusading today?”

The little Pegasus grinned,
“Yeah we will crusade, but later. First each of us has homework to do.”

Flynn smiled,
“I see. Well, I’m sure your parents will help you with that. By the way, why don’t you introduce me to them?”

There was a short time of a few seconds when Scootaloo halted completely, before she found her composure again and went on,
“Yeah… They’ll be glad to see you...” As they came across a market stall for ice cream, she looked up to him. “Hey… Could you buy me an ice cream? I love it, but my parents won’t allow me one until I made my homework…”

Flynn shook his head and smirked before he turned to the unicorn stallion,
“Undermining your parents’ authority for an ice cream? Not a very nice thing to do, Scoots…” With that he paid a bit to the unicorn stallion who arched a brow and looked behind him. “Now, Scoots? What sorts of ice cream do you-” But as he turned around, the little filly galloped away. “What the…?” As he began to run after her, the stallion stretched a hoof after him. “H-hey! Your money!!!”

Within a few seconds, Flynn almost caught up with Scootaloo, but a group of ponies came into his way and he had to slow down, not to run them over. Following Scootaloo with the eyes he saw that the filly ran into another alley. As he passed the group, he ran after her, but after running through the alley he reached another street with no Scootaloo whatsoever in sight,
“Now where the hell did she go?”

Whatever the reason was, the young filly sure made her escape. She couldn’t outrun him; surely she had to hide somewhere. But where was she hiding? Once losing track of someone in Ponyville on a busy street, one has plenty of possible places to hide in. But Scootaloo had no reason to run away from him. In fact, he was sure that being the one in relationship with Rainbow Dash would mean the filly would be more interested to hang out with him. And this only made Flynn grew more determined to catch the little filly next time around.

As the next day came, he already waited for the three crusaders to go home. All three of them went to Sweet Apple Acres, probably to their clubhouse. After several hours had passed, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle returned to Ponyville and split up, once they reached the Carousel Boutique. What became noticeable was that, once alone, Scootaloo let her head sink a bit. She was looking a bit around before she slowly trotted away. In one of the many alleys, Flynn harrumphed behind her and immediately got her attention,
“You can’t run away from me forever, you know…”

Just as she tried to gallop away once more, he immediately ran in high speed after her, catching her this time and held her up so that her front hooves were over his shoulders and her hind legs were kicking against his chest,
“Let me go!!!” she demanded while kicking wildly.

“Not until you calm down!” he snapped back. Slowly but surely, the little filly ceased to kick around and huffed a bit. Flynn then nodded. “Easy… easy… I don’t want to harm you. I only want to talk, OK?” Scootaloo nodded and calmed down. It was then when Flynn’s hands, just as promised, slowly let go off her and he placed her on the ground.

Tousling her wild mane, he nodded,
“Come on, Scoots! That’s not like you. Why did you run away? It’s not like you did something wrong on the way home, did you?” Rubbing his chin, he thought a bit. “Come to think of it… I know where Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom live… Yet I’ve never seen YOUR place. Where do you live?”

“That’s none of your bucking business!” she snapped at him. “Just leave me alone, OK? Please…”

But this unnecessary rude tone only made him frown a bit,
“Listen… Please don’t get this the wrong way… I’ve got to ask you this, Scootaloo. I’m trying to be very careful, because I think you are in trouble… Are you an orphan?”

In an instant, Flynn could see that this question alarmed the little Pegasus filly in the worst way as she looked at him with wide and frightened eyes,
“I… I don’t want to talk about that!”

He tried to lay a hand on her, but she jumped up, alarmed by his touch. Slowly, an even worse suspicion grew in him. “Scoots… I’m… I’m not going to hurt you… I just want to talk. I mean… you never mentioned your parents or the place where you live. So maybe you’ll tell me so I can at least understand it. That’s all I want to do right now. I want to understand you!”

“But I don’t want to talk about it, OK? Please! I…” Looking down now, the little eyes of hers glittered with tears. “I don’t want to remember it!”

Flynn looked down to her,
“OK… But what am I going to say to Rainbow Dash? Should I say: ‘Man, I met your number one fan today, but she has a problem and I can’t help her with it because she doesn’t want to talk about it.’? What is on your mind that you can’t even tell me, a Harmony Ranger? What could be so terrible?”

Now Scootaloo looked down. She knew that Flynn was a Ranger and protector just like Tyler and that he had to ask her these uncomfortable questions,
“I… If I tell you, will you keep it a secret?”

Flynn looked around to see if anybody was around. As he saw that no one was near, he pulled the little filly in closer,
“Everything you tell me will be kept secret from everyone else in Ponyville. No one will make me spill it. But then of course… if I can help you by telling somepony like Princess Celestia…”

With a timid nod, the little filly gulped and closed her eyes. This was it. This was her time to be brave on her own,
“I’m… I’m not an orphan, but my parents are both dead to me… It was three years ago, when mother passed away. I didn’t understand why she was gone, but it didn’t matter… What mattered was my still living father. He…” The filly gulped as tears welled in her eyes. As she looked up to Flynn, these tears ran down her cheeks as she looked up in anger. “Listen… I may be a kid, but this I know: A father shouldn’t… shouldn’t do this… to his own daughter. I didn’t mention to anypony that I live all by myself so I don’t have to go back there! I-”

Flynn noticed how her terrified voice pulled on his feelings. His index- middle- and ring finger now rested her lips,
“Stop it… That’s enough, Scoots… That’s all I need to know right now…” As he pulled her in and embraced her, a dam was breaking in her and her silent whimper and crying made him close his eyes. “You’re such a brave little filly carrying that burden all on yourself for so long now… I promise you: Whatever happens, you won’t have to go back there… Does somebody else know? The mayor mare perhaps? Miss Cheerilee?”

Scootaloo only shook her head,
“Nopony knows. And I couldn’t face Rainbow Dash like this.”

“That is bullshit!” Flynn said narrowing his eyes. “If any pony will stay with you, it’s her! She’s the Element of Loyalty, remember? She wouldn’t blame a young filly for having an abusive father.” After she looked down, he held her chin up. “Will you show me where you live right now?” She nodded and stood up, her young wings buzzing nervous. When Flynn got her on his shoulder and carried her away, he suddenly felt a water drop on his forehead. With a frown he looked up. “Odd… No rainclouds in the sky…”

But right above him was a tiny cloud just big enough for Rainbow Dash. Overhearing the story, she gritted her teeth. Tears of anger ran down her cheeks. How could she not notice? And how could anyone do something like that? Looking over to Cloudsdale, she was tempted to fly over there, ask around which Pegasus stallion was missing a daughter and beat the living shit out of him. But this would mean more attention for Scootaloo, who just wanted to forget about all this. She promised to take the young filly under her wing, but that Scootaloo was afraid to express her distress to the mare only meant that she was ashamed of herself. Being all by herself would be bad enough, but being abused and to blame oneself for it… Giving another glance down, she looked after them. For now, Rainbow had to trust in Flynn doing the right thing.

A few minutes later both Scootaloo and Flynn arrived in a dark alley with only one thing standing next to the wall. It was a small wooden box with a lid. Inside was a small door leading inside a tunnel deep within. Crouching along the narrow tunnel, he followed the little filly until they came to a small cavern, where several blankets lied on one place. Although it was quite dark, Flynn saw that the cavern was almost five to five meters and two meters high, with several wooden planks were put together as walls, ceiling and floor. There even was a makeshift bed. It was nothing great, but still was impressive for such a small young filly,
“Seriously, Scoots… Did you build that all on your own?”

Giving a shrug, the little filly smirked,
“It got better since I’m a crusader… Building so much gives you some ideas what to do with wood. This here is a room of the old warehouse above. Nopony ever comes down here. It’s so much better than the barren ground… So, what do you say? It’s quite an achievement, huh?” Looking around, Flynn gulped. Here she lived in such a place and smiled like it was some sort of adventure. He wasn’t sure whether to commend or pity her for that.

That’s when the determination grew in his eyes,
“Scootaloo!” As the Pegasus filly looked up to him, he simply shook his head, still looking around in the makeshift home. “While this might look awesome to you… this is a miserable place for a young filly to be.” Taking the lamp into his grip, he knelt down to her and gently stroked her mane. “You’ll come with me and live in a good and decent home from now on, OK?”

“But what about…”

“Don’t think about the others… I will send a letter to the highest authority of Equestria and ask for permission to become your caretaker until you’ve become of age and can live your own life.” With that he smiled into her face. “OK?”

The little Pegasus didn’t notice how the tears ran down her cheeks. Why were these humans all so nice to her and the others? Shaking her head, Scootaloo jumped up to him, rubbed her face in his chest as she silently sobbed. Patting her little head, he nodded and carried her home. By now it was late evening and Bon Bon arched a brow as Flynn carried the little filly up to his room. Scootaloo was already asleep in his arms; she didn’t notice that she was lying on his bed. That Flynn was having a discussion with Bon Bon went unnoticed as well.

But Flynn assured the earth pony that he had very good reasons why there was a little filly in his bed and everything would clear up in the next few days. Bon Bon didn’t like it very much, but Sam assured her that Flynn wasn’t that kind of man and that he would take Flynn down himself if he dared to try something funny.

Just as the sun had set, Flynn knocked at the front door of the library. Spike opened, already with a blanket over his shoulder,
“Evening, Flynn… What is it?”

“I have a very and I mean very important letter to the princesses… I need you to send it immediately to them.”

“What’s in it?” But just when Spike was about to unroll the scroll, Flynn held it tight so that the dragon looked up to his shaking face. “Uh… That letter is confidential, huh? Alright…” Spitting fire at it, he sent the letter on its way. “There you go. Must be some important stuff, huh?”

Flynn nodded,
“Very… Thank you, Spike. I owe you one!”

By the time Flynn came back into the house, Scootaloo woke up with a gasp. A warm and cozy bed… The only times she had the privilege to have this was in sleepovers with the other crusaders. It was then when she realized that Flynn had carried her here. And now she was lying in his bed. Her pupils became tiny dots as the door opened behind her. Gulping down a heavy lump, she closed her eyes shut. Steps came closer. It was the past all over again. The silent coming into the bedroom, the abuse… Was he about to do the same terrible things to her that her father did? Her body stiffened in fear. He could just lift the blanket and do all those nasty things… The tension was so horrible. She had to shut down all emotions again to endure yet another abuse, right? Just not by her father this time.

But only a warm and soft voice came to her ear,
“Good night, Scootaloo…” With that a kiss was placed on her forehead and somewhere in the room was a strange noise like someone… Her eyes popped open. There was nothing touching her in spots she didn’t want to be touched. There was no awful smell of sweat over her as she was abused. It was only kindness. Confusion raged in her mind. As she turned around, she saw Flynn lying on the hard floor. That actually touched the little filly. Thinking that he was the same as her father was pretty stupid. Good thing she didn’t told this to anypony.

Two hours later Lyra and Bon Bon came up to the bedrooms and whispered to each other,
“Lyra, do you really think that we should tolerate this as well? I mean she’s an orphan from what I understood. She should be in an orphanage, not in our busy household. We’re not fit to foster a filly…”

But the unicorn simply smirked,
“Speak for yourself, Bonnie… Sam and I already have plans regarding this. I don’t know about Pinkie, but I’m certain it will be a big thing for our herd if we have several foals. As for Scootaloo, I think we should wait how things develop…” With that they silently opened the door to Flynn’s room and gasped.

“Oh, just look at this…” While Flynn was lying on the ground, Scootaloo was lying beside him, the head rested on his chest. Lyra’s magic closed the door and she looked at Bon Bon. “Bonnie… Whatever is going on, I’m telling you that this filly trusts this Ranger. And whether or not she’s an orphan, it is important for her that she has someone to trust.”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes,
“But she already has Rainbow Dash! Why doesn’t she-“

But Lyra interrupted the earth pony,
“Bonnie, he’s together with Rainbow. Think about it! Scootaloo together with the Pegasus mare being the closest thing to family for her and the one who’s having a relationship with Rainbow Dash wants to help as well! They’re perfect for each other! I think the best we can do for now is to step aside and let things handle themselves.”

When they stepped away from the door, they noticed a sudden flash coming out of Rachel’s room and soon after that, there was music coming from downstairs. It was a tango, known by most ponies in Canterlot as “The scent of a mare”, a piece of great passion and romance and quite popular among the young sophisticated couples. Yet Rachel didn’t seem to be anywhere as interested or touched by the music as she was standing in the room in slip and tank top,
“Get out!”

Stretching his arms out, the former Spirit of Chaos grinned wide,
“Oh, come on, Rachel Higgins! You have to brighten up a bit and get into the spirit of things!”

One snap of his paw later, Rachel stood there in a black and backless evening dress,
“Well I appreciate the effort and this is truly a lovely dress…”

“Only to underline certain beauty…”

“Aw, you shouldn’t have…” After performing a pirouette, Rachel looked over her shoulder with a smirk and alluring eyes. “Hmm… Discord?”

“Yes?” Resting his paw and claw on her hips, he gave her his best smile.

In an instant her tone became sober again,
“Leave!”

Leaning her wide backwards, he looked deep into her eyes and wiggled his eyebrows,
“Oh… Can’t it wait until after the dance?”

In the next moment her Beretta pushed up his chin and she grinned while arching a brow,
“Right now, buster!”

His eyes widened all of a sudden,
“Now where did you hide that thing?”

“You would never guess in a million years… Now leave, before I hide a magic bullet in you where neither the Princesses nor Equestria’s best proctologist would ever find it…”

“Well if you insist…” Another snap later he stood with her in the middle of the room. “A promise is a promise…” With that he bowed down before her holding up a paw. Rolling her eyes she smirked and rested her hand on his paw in order to receive a hand kiss. But little did she know that in his paw was a handshake buzzer.

The shocking sensation made her shriek in surprise, before she pulled the hand away,
“Why you little…” Just as she pulled the trigger on the Beretta, chocolate milk came out instead of destructive magic. “What the…?” As she looked down at her gun, Discord disappeared in wild laughter. While Rachel growled, Lyra and Bon Bon giggled behind her. “Folks… Whatever happens… This never happened, you got that?”

* * * * *

During the next morning, Flynn woke up after a rather unpleasant night on the hard floor. What came into immediate attention was the weight on his chest. As he looked up, Scootaloo’s head rested there and she was still sound asleep. How beautiful she was right now. Innocent like an angel was she lying there. His hand stroked through her mane and over her neck. It wasn’t long after that that she woke up. When she realized that he was touching her, her head rose up and she looked into his eyes. Giving her a gentle smile he continued to stroke her mane,
“Good morning, Scoots. But you should have stayed in the warm and cozy bed…”

“I… must have fallen out of the bed, I guess…” she lied. Trying her best to hide that she actually liked the way he treated her, she stood up. The way he touched her was different than the way she knew the touch of her father. His wasn’t that invasive, not so demanding. It was only giving. And it felt good.

Jumping up to the bed, she looked outside the window as Flynn rested his chin on the mattress and looked at her,
“Feeling better? You know you’re about to get a new family now… I hope you didn’t get used to this kind of life…”

The little filly turned around and smiled,
“Yeah, I guess it feels great not to be alone.”

Responding with his own smile, Flynn nodded. While she didn’t recognize it, Scootaloo was in a way like Rainbow, who also hated to be alone,
“There you go, kid. You are so much prettier when you smile.”

Downstairs Rarity arrived in the house delivering a dress,
“Here you go, Lyra. Your gala dress is… What is Discord doing here?” Lying on the couch, the Draconequus held a black orb in his paws.

Lyra shook her head,
“My guess is that he is here for Rachel or the other Rangers…”

When Rachel came downstairs, she got a tad grumpier when she spotted Discord,
“That nerve!”

It was then when Sweetie Belle wormed herself in and pushed Rarity a bit away as she entered,
“Rarity? I thought you said we’re going to spend some time after you delivered that dre-“ Now noticing the Draconequus, her big eyes became even bigger. “It’s Mr. Discord!”

When Discord took notice of the little filly, he looked up to Rarity and Rachel. Both were glaring at him for their own reasons, but he simply grinned and made room on the couch, caressing the orb as Sweetie Belle sat down on the couch,
"What is it you have there, Mr. Discord?”

Looking over to Rachel once more for a short time, Discord grinned and looked down to Sweetie Belle once more,
“Want to know?” The unicorn filly nodded with a beaming face. “It was laid this morning… isn’t it adorable?”

Now Sweetie Belle gasped in pleasant surprise,
“Is that your…?”

Rarity raised her chin a bit,
“Now Sweetie Belle! Touching an unborn being certainly is not proper for a girl! Especially if it is a fragile egg! Now come! A lady shouldn’t touch everything!”

But nevertheless Sweetie Belle caressed the black orb with her white hoof,
“But Discord’s egg is about to hatch and I don’t want to miss it! Are you with someone, Discord? Who’s the mommy?”

“Well now…” With this Discord bend down to the little unicorn filly and whispered the answer into her ear with a grin. “You see…?”

Hearing this prompted Sweetie Belle’s eyes to widen and her voice cracked,
“RACHEL’S THE MOMMY?”

Rarity arched back, aghast,
“WHAT?!?” Now she and Lyra looked at Rachel, who was standing there dumbfounded.

With a beaming face, Discord appeared beside her and leaned against her while his tail was wrapped around the black orb,
“Oh, I’m so happy! So happy to receive a child from the woman I love!”

Rachel’s eyes went wide open and she gritted her teeth in surprise,
“A CHILD?!?”

While leaning against Rachel, Discord now placed the orb into her hands and grinned,
“Go ahead… Feel it! It won’t be long now…”

Looking around in complete confusion, Rachel looked for explanation in the faces of the others. She didn’t do anything and certainly didn’t lay an egg like this,
“I- I don’t understand!” As the orb began shaking in her hands, she gritted her teeth. But when a spider leg broke through the shell, she let go of the orb and jumped back, screaming.

Sweetie Belle gasped as the orb fell to the ground and some of the egg shell broke loose as well, but giggled as she saw that the content seemingly was well and healthy. Out of the black orb, the fur of a small creature popped out. The little head looked up and the white mane revealed a face similar to Discord’s. But that was the only similarity the little Draconequus shared with her father. Having a human and a dragon arm, the leg of a spider and a bear, the body of a lion and the tail of a cheetah she was nothing like her father as she climbed out of the egg shell with clumsy steps. With a smile, Discord held the little Draconequus up,
“Hmhmhmhm… Oh, come here… There’s a good little Dissonance…”

Rachel arched a brow as she looked at Discord,
“‘Dissonance’? A Draconequus name? So this is simply…” Now Discord started to break out in wild laughter, causing Rachel to grit her teeth in anger. “I can’t believe your nerve, buster…”

Sweetie Belle cocked her head and looked up to the adult Draconequus,
“Can a Draconequus have a baby just like that?”

Stroking the mane of his daughter, Discord nodded and cleaned her a bit,
“Sure! I wanted to have someone like myself around without duplicating myself, so I created Dissonance. You must be crazy to think that I would have a child with a mortal…”

While Rachel wanted to leave the room in anger, she bumped into Tyler, who entered the room and gave Discord an admonishing glare, before he spotted the little newborn Draconequus,
“Now then… So this is Rachel’s baby, eh?”

Rachel still grumbled at this joke on her, Sweetie Belle shook her head with a smile,
“Oh no, Tyler! That’s Dissonance! And she just hatched from her egg.”

Patting the head of the newborn Draconequus, Tyler began to smile,
“I see, I see… Discord! Now that you are the father of a child, you’ll have to become responsible. Yeah… you got a bumpy road ahead of you… Because if you let that child down, you will find that you were on thin ice.” Grabbing the Draconequus at the Goatee, Tyler slowly pulled him in and lowered his volume to a more threatening tone. “And when this happens, you will learn that the Princesses and I are below it…” With that he let go of Discord and left the room without any further word.

“Those were some harsh words…” The Draconequus muttered.

But Lyra shook her head after taking a sip of coffee,
“Not at all… He can relate. After all, he’s already a father himself. So yeah… You better take good care of the little one.”

In the kitchen Tyler thought of the extent another Draconequus could have. This day was beginning simply weird. It only was meant to be a normal visit to Bon Bon, Lyra and the other rangers. Who would have thought that Discord would prank the living hell out of them? Well, since I’m in the kitchen now, I could at least make myself useful. With that he looked for sugar, lemons and…

With a white flash, a carafe of light yellow liquid appeared in front of him together with a glass. As he turned around, Discord was sitting at the kitchen table together with his newborn daughter and lifted a glass of it by himself. Taking the glass and the carafe, Tyler sat down at the table as well. As he took the first sip, he arched both brows. That was quite good!
“Fascinating… I really thought of lemonade!”

The Draconequus arched a brow with a smile and raised his glass before drinking it, tossing the solid fluid behind him through the open window, so it detonated in the backyard. This caused Tyler to arch a brow for himself as Bon Bon cursed outside over her ruined laundry,
“A strange form of hospitality, that much is certain… But it still is hospitality. I give you that, Discord.”

Nodding humbly, the Draconequus smiled,
“Why, thank you!”

Arching a brow with a smirk, Tyler nodded over to the Draconequus,
“Alright, pal… What do you want?”

“Pardon?”

Pointing a finger at Discord Tyler took another sip of lemonade,
“You want something from me and the Rangers, Discord! Otherwise you wouldn’t be bothering us that much. Otherwise you wouldn’t make promises that restrain your pranks. There’s curiosity about something in you and it has to do with us!”

Rolling his eyes Discord clenched his paws,
“Ugh! You humans! You always take yourself so important… As a species on your own planet, you are nothing more than a nuisance to the environment. Just my style! However… after you and the Rangers threw the Descendants out of Equestria and restored peace in Canterlot, I just deemed you playthings. Another species to toy with… But all the information Celestia showed me about you shed new light on you. You are a species that deems stagnancy unbearable.”

After blinking a bit, Tyler reconstructed the way Discord thought and nodded,
“Yes, that’s true. Research and curiosity are the main aspects of humans. We want to learn, become something more…”

With a nod the former Spirit of Chaos sneered,
“Right… This is the motivation of the human species. To look at things you can’t explain and make sense out of it. Fortunately there are natural limitations to that…” His sneer withered and he looked sober at Tyler. “But unfortunately this motivation is getting bigger and bigger. From century to century, from millennium to millennium! Soon these natural limitations of yours will crumble and your potential will be ready to be fully used, not just the 30 % you’re currently using…”

There was a certain pause of silence between those two and Tyler tried to study Discord’s face for any signs of intentions. Yet the Draconequus continued. “But where does this lead you? Even Celestia in her…” Grimacing, the Draconequus gestured quotation marks. “…’all-knowing wisdom’ can’t predict what you humans might become. Maybe something unimaginable…” He then started to grin again. “But I know you can be quite a bunch, you silly fools!”

Arching a brow Tyler looked at him. “You say that because we wage wars?”

“I say that because you are such interesting beings. I would have a blast in a world with so many beings that fight each other over the tiniest of things. Who cares about a bomb that can level a city? That’s no fun at all… I hope you never use these babies! You’re too much fun to be extinct.”

Tyler now arched both brows,
“Fun?”

Resting a paw at his chest, Discord arched back,
“Well, I AM Discord, Spirit of Disharmony? Hello? Just because I don’t manipulate that much anymore doesn’t mean I stop enjoying these kinds of things… And in a way, Celestia is right, if I dare to say so… It’s no fun if something ends to exist that could as well amuse me.”

Tyler chuckled before he face palmed,
“How noble of you to ‘preserve’ your little entertainment… Ugh…”

“However… What bothers me is what’s lying up ahead…”

“What do you mean?” Tyler asked with a frown.

“Did you really think a couple of ponies in war citadels would be everything these ‘Darkness Sisters’ would throw at us?”

“Of course not…” He then eyed the Draconequus. “Alright… I think you have a hunch…”

“A hunch? Me? Nooo… Only a gut feeling… I can sense discord and these kinds of things, you know? Even if they are miles and miles away…” Unlikely to his usual behavior, the Draconequus now stopped floating and rested both his lion paw and eagle claw on Tyler’s shoulders. “You better be ready when the time is there, Tyler Jones… The forces that band together far behind the horizon feel very much like my former self. None of us can stop this on his or her own. I wish I could tell you more, but there are things in this world far older than me… I can just sense it… Darkness is coming.”

Tyler blinked in surprise at the Draconequus and nodded, patted his arms. Apparently, his connection to the dark side of things caused him to feel the growing threat even before it was near.

And his reformation took at least that much fruit to change his mind, so that he cooperated to preserve what he held dear. Maybe the things he held dear weren’t so noble on first sight… Who with a sane mind would love to see others fight? Then again, if he wanted to preserve even this, maybe he feared that it could end as well. However, Tyler was interrupted in his thoughts, when a sudden commotion came to his attention. As he left the Draconequus be, he saw that Celestia’s carriage had arrived in Ponyville.

Standing in an alleyway, Celestia looked down to the box which covered the entrance to Scootaloo’s former makeshift home. One of the guards came out of the warehouse and nodded up to the princess. Closing her eyes for a shake of her head, the Princess of the Sun stepped onto the street once more, only to recognize Tyler,
“Celestia…? What brings you here today?”

While giving him a brief warm smile, Celestia quickly returned to her formal expression and looked around,
“I’ve come here to speak with one of my subjects… Now where is Scootaloo?”

Tyler arched a brow,
“Why? Does she have a problem?”

“Not anymore… Thanks to a good Ranger and friend.” Celestia answered with another faint smile on her lips. It was then when Flynn and Rainbow arrived on the scene.

Five minutes later, a guards pony escorted the little Pegasus filly to the princess, who rested a wing over Scootaloo and nodded,
“Come with me, my little pony. You and I will have to have a little talk from mare to filly…” With these words she brought Scootaloo to her carriage and had a talk with her under four eyes and under the protection of a magical force field that was seemingly sound-proof.

Rubbing his neck, Flynn looked over to Rainbow,
“Did you think I made a mistake?”

“No, Flynn! What you did was getting her out of this situation. There’s no mistake in that. If anyone is to blame, we others are. Especially me…”

This last part prompted Flynn to cock his head,
“What do you mean by that?”

Rainbow landed beside him and sighed,
“I promised her to take her under my wing, you know? To be some sort of her big sister… I knew it meant almost everything for her. But it wasn’t enough for her to tell me this… Or enough for me to recognize something’s amiss. Hearing that she was abused is… I feel guilty for not noticing!”

Embracing the cerulean Pegasus, Flynn shook his head,
“Come on, RD… No one can take the blame here. Scootaloo is so much stronger than every one of us would have believed.”

“What do you mean with that?”

“For once, smiling while having such a horrible past… I guess seeing other colts and fillies with their parents must have reminded her every time of the things she didn’t have. There’s so much more strength in this filly than we all imagined. But we can make it better for her by giving her a stable environment from now on. You know… maybe you and I should step up a bit.”

Now she looked up to him in confusion,
“Step up?”

Flynn gave her a smirk and nodded, came a little closer,
“Why don’t we move a little closer? A house under your cloud home in that neat little valley…” Rainbow’s eyes grew wide as he continued, “…to have a decent home for the little one? You know… Being a mother might be just your thing. She already adores you and a foster child won’t interfere with your plans of becoming a Wonderbolt Captain… And I think you would make a great Mom.”

“My, that’s a wonderful proposition, Flynn!” The voice of Princess Celestia became audible behind him and as they turned towards Princess Celestia, she nodded. “Actually Scootaloo also doesn’t want to leave Ponyville, even though I promise to give her into the best care of Canterlot’s orphanage and that she could see her friends every day. Well, Scootaloo? Would you like to be with these two?”

“Like?” Jumping up, the little filly buzzed her wings franticly. “I would LOVE to!” Landing on her hooves now, she ducked a bit. “But is it really OK though?”

After sharing a glance at each other, both Flynn and Rainbow smirked and nodded at the filly,
“Of course squirt! I told you that you’re under my wing, didn’t I?”

Flynn rested his hand on Rainbow’s shoulders,
“And I promised you a good and decent home, right? We are both eager to give you our best shot.”

Celestia smiled and stepped to the side of the Mayor Mare,
“Mayor? I want you to take note of this: From this day forward, the Pegasus filly Scootaloo shall live under the care of Flynn Marshall and Rainbow Dash. I’m sure that with the love and care of her new foster parents, she will grow stronger in both body and heart.”

Scootaloo jumped up and her wings buzzed franticly,
“Thank you, Princess Celestia!” With that she came closer to Rainbow Dash, who nuzzled her a bit. As the filly went along with her new parents, Tyler went along as well, nodding at Celestia before he left. He also received a nod from her and in silent agreement both knew that everything ended well.

Arching a brow, the Princess of the Sun then looked up to a tree as the ponies scattered,
“And how long do you intend to eavesdrop, Discord?”

Sitting there on a branch, the Draconequus looked down to her, his tail holding Dissonance tightly,
“Ugh… Gag! I thought this pure unadulterated kitsch would never end! You really give them too much credit, Celestia…”

“Maybe you give them too little… I thought you wanted to see their reactions about certain situations…”

“Maybe… They never fail to surprise with their ways to think of something, but they would have a very hard time if they would go against me.”

Shaking her head like an understanding mother, Celestia gave the Draconequus a smile,
“Discord… You are a curious character on your own. You have so much potential… and lack so many ideas what to do with it. Remember our conversations in the Valley of Snow? Before you became of age and turned vile and chaotic? You were such an innocent little boy.”

Discord looked down, a bit of sorrow in his closed eyes,
“That was a long time ago, Celestia… We both aren’t the same anymore…”

“No… We are not. But I still see much of the playful little Draconequus in you Luna and I once knew. Who knows how our paths might have changed if you didn’t had become so vile in the past, my old friend…”

Harrumphing a bit, he leaned against the tree,
“Now you give me too much credit! I’m not like they are!”

“No… But that doesn’t make you less special in my eyes. And that little Draconequus girl you have as a daughter now only shows me that you actually DO want someone to care about.”

Stretching out his tongue in disgust, Discord floated around once more,
“Ugh… Gag! Would you stop it? Save that sweet talk for your herd mate! I sure don’t need that crap!”

Giving his reaction a giggle, Celestia shook her head. He behaved like a little boy thinking that girls would have cooties.
Seeing the alicorn giggle caused the Draconequus to fold his arms,
“Celestia? You know as well as I do that I am not the last of my kind… and I don’t mean Dissonance! If the others ever find the mood to come here…”

“I know… Do you think he will be ready by then?”

Discord rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes,
“While they all show some potential, he will advance the fastest. I can’t say if his mind will be ready when it comes to it, but I’m certain his will already is. He doesn’t know it yet, though. But… What about your plan, my old friend? Are you truly certain you’ll be fine with this choice of yours? You know… Once this is done, it’s final… There’s no turning back after that…”

The alicorn’s smile withered now and made place for a more serious expression,
“Your concern is sweet, Discord… But yes! Luna and I are more than sure. The book will be sent to her soon.”

Nudging her with an elbow, the Draconequus grinned,
“That isn’t what I’m asking…”

“Oh!” Giggling once more, the Princess of the Sun nodded. “Well… Yes, we’re sure in that matter as well.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile inside the time vortex, the TARDIS’ alarm rang as the spaceship was shaking. Derpy flew inside the control room while the Doctor hastily pushed and pulled on several of the controls,
“DOCTOR!!!”

“I’m on it, I’m on it! Just some sort of weaker time lock… Possibly to deflect the TARDIS long enough to identify us.” As the shaking got harder and harder, several lights popped out and the Doctor gritted his teeth. It was like the vessel was flying through syrup instead of the time vortex. Then the TARDIS suddenly came to a hold and the shaking stopped completely. For a moment, both the Doctor and Derpy stared at each other, not saying a word. It was smooth as glass.

Landing on the floor now, the gray mare looked around,
“It’s quiet like we’re in the eye of a hurricane… What happened? A sudden malfunction of the TARDIS? Where in time are we?”

Checking the monitors of the TARDIS, the Doctor rubbed his chin,
“Hmmm… I don’t know… The time scale is jammed… We could be anytime around 5000 years away from your time or one billion years… I just don’t know.”

This response prompted Derpy to cock her head in confusion,
“But I thought the TARDIS was time pony technology?”

“It is… But THIS TARDIS here is my second one… I got it from an alicorn after my old one crash-landed in your past during this war… Anyway, let’s take a look outside, shall we?”

Stepping outside, the two time travelers recognized a certain amount of canyons of white rock around There was air to breathe and meadows on the ground. Arching a brow, the Doctor looked up,
“That planet in the sky is Equis. I would recognize it anywhere in time. Well, I must say this is quite an unfamiliar look for the moon… Meadows and flowers and-”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Derpy looked around,
“We are on the moon? But I thought you said the moon of Equis is a barren rock without an atmosphere and unable to sustain life?”

“It is! And as far as I know the moon shouldn’t be colonized until the year of 2478… And yet there’s air to breathe, even if I don’t recognize any technology here. I don’t think this is a lunar outpost; this was crafted with some sort of magic. And the only species able to perform spells of that magnitude…” The doctor slowly halted in mid-sentence as a mild breeze turned into a moderate wind for a second. That was when they could hear it.

Doctor…

It was nothing more than a whisper in the air, soft and gentle like a breeze.

But just as the Doctor stepped closer to the center of the garden, the whispering voice called out his nickname over and over again. Gentle, like a welcoming greeting for a long forgotten friend. Turning around, the Doctor stomped one hoof at the ground and looked for the origin of the voice,
“Here I am!”

Approaching the two time travelers a white and bright light now appeared in the gardens. A voice, gentle and bronze in its tone began to speak,
“Let me greet you welcome, friends… Fear no danger… For the time you entered is sacred ground…”

As Derpy looked to the ground, little pebbles rolled away from the light, the Doctor kept staring into the light. Although it was bright, it didn’t hurt the eyes. Quite the contrary, it was calming and eased the eyes,
“Who are you?”

Now pulsating with every syllable, the light began to speak,
“I am… the Twelve Eyes of Monarchy.”

This left the Doctor stumped. He never heard of that name before,
“I don’t understand…”

Continuing to speak in a gentle tone, the voice of bronze continued,
“In this point of time, I am the King of Equis and Golden Millennia, the united planet and moon.”

Taking a deep gasp, Derpy bowed her head to royalty, but the Doctor arched a brow,
“Were you responsible for the altering of the history books? We went so far into the future, but no book or crystal could give us answers.”

“Why do you ask, my old friend? When deep within you, you already know you are a difficult individual to call? So I unintentionally carved a path of breadcrumbs for you to follow… And only a time traveler searching wisdom and truth would follow this lead. Not somepony yearning for riches…”

Shaking his head, the Doctor simply stared into the light with wide eyes,
“You call me old friend?” That’s when the time pony’s mind gave birth to an idea. “No…. No, this can’t be!”

“The stallion who often does the impossible suddenly doubts the impossible?”

Raising a hoof against the light, the Doctor yet again arched a brow, trying to deduce something,
“If you are who I think you are, then you should be dead by now!”

“Yes… I guess from your current point of view I should be… But so should you… That’s the problem with time travel…"

Derpy looked between the Doctor and the bright light, not sure what to think of it,
“Doctor? Who is that? Is that Tyler?”

But the Doctor only shook his head,
“No… No, this isn’t Tyler Jones. But I will find out who that is!”

“And you will find out who he is, Doctor…” a female voice said. Suddenly, stepping out of the light came an Alicorn of Light, a mare of pale pink coat with deep purple mane. Inside her mane was a golden strand of hair. With slender features like Fleur de Lis or Princess Cadance. Derpy deemed her as one of the princesses of the future and bowed to her as well. Answering with a bow of her own, she helped Derpy up, assuring her that she didn’t need to bow before her. “And believe me… You both will have some wondrous adventures… These will be the stories of old for us now… some of them are wonderful, some are to scare children.”

Memories of old now echoed from the light.

“Damn! This is one giant spider!”

“DOCTOR!!!”

“Whatever you do… DON’T BLINK!!!”

“EXTERMINATE!!!”

This prompted the time pony to grit his teeth in anger. Although they, whoever they were, didn’t tell him in detail about his future, they gave him a peek. And that was enough to make him determined enough to find out more about their whereabouts. Holding up his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor read the measures the light emitted. It had the magic wavelength of alicorn magic, but it was five times denser than usual. Who was standing in this light?

From witnessing Tyler’s potential, he was absolutely certain that the human he knew could never hope to ascend to a level five times stronger than an alicorn. A mortal human like he could not even hope to become as strong as strong as one alicorn. And the uncertainty of who was standing in the light instead made the Doctor distrustful,
“Alright… Who are you?”

A short chuckle emerged from the light,
“Like you always say, Doctor… Spoilers…”

Derpy now raised her head again and looked into the light,
“Excuse me? Do you… Do you by any chance know something about the whereabouts of Tyler Jones in this time?”

There was a short moment of pause before the voice answered,
“I am sorry that I have to crush your hopes like that, little Pegasus… But the human you knew as Tyler Jones is long gone. I remember him well. He was a good and honest friend to lots of ponies in his time. A heavy personal loss for me…”

Derpy lowered her head in sadness,
“Oh… I-I’m sorry… I didn’t want to burden you with this… Where is Princess Celestia?”

This caught the voice in the light by surprise,
“Princess Celes… Oh! Oh, I think she’s talking about you, dear…”

It was then that another bright silhouette approached the two time travelers and a female voice began to speak, a very familiar one this time,
“Hello, Derpy… From our point of view, it has been a long time once more… Meanwhile Luna and I have become queens. How are you, my brave little pony?”

Derpy gulped and bowed once more,
“We’re… We’re at the beginning of our search, Prin… I mean Queen Celestia… What is this all here? Why is there air on the moon when there shouldn’t be any?”

In the light the Doctor thought he could determine an equine head looking around, but it was just too bright to say it clearly,
“This, Derpy, is the Golden Millennia of Harmony. We have defeated all threats for Equestria and Equis and we alicorns have decided to watch Equis from above, only interfering if the ponies face another dire threat. But the way until there was hard and dire. Luna and I have lost so many good friends on the way here. And of course, the heroes of the ancient times are no more.”

The Doctor now arched a brow,
“It seems plausible… Every higher race guiding a lesser one through the times sooner or later has to step aside for the majority to gain momentum in their advance… But who’s governing the ponies down there?”

“We, the royal herd, of course...The ponies begin to form their first governments on their own, but it’s still a way to go before they are independent from us… Sometimes our daughters travel down to Equis to see the world or to advice a country or two.”

“Your daughters?” Derpy now blushed heavily.

“Yes, of course! Golden Millennia is governed by the Six Monarchs that united ponykind. Our daughters, the princesses take great pleasure from visiting Equis, may it be in their free time or their missions to monitor problems… The other species govern themselves and there are no wars anymore. If there is a dispute, one of us descends to monitor both parties in their joint dispute resolutions. No one ever gets forced by us but to partake on these resolutions peacefully.”

Again the bronze voice became audible,
“You yourself advised us never to tell you any detail about this time, Doctor. Right now ponykind is on its apex of advancement, any disturbance in the timeline might cause a disaster. Thus the moderate time lock was set in place in order to identify certain threats and to prevent this time to be altered. As a side effect the history books were brought out of order.”

“And what exactly does this mean? Darkness is coming? I mean-”

In the next moment, the stars in the night sky fluctuated as well as the lights of the king and Celestia. As the lights were subdued to a certain level, it was obvious that a humanoid and an equine silhouette were brought to their knees,
“D… Doctor! You must leave! Something is terribly wrong…”

In an instant, the Doctor understood and turned around on the spot,
“DERPY!!!”

Nodding, the gray Pegasus mare galloped after him as they hasted back into the TARDIS.
“What happened back there, Doctor?”

Jumping to the controls, the Doctor made haste to get the TARDIS back into the past,
“This future here is interwoven with our own, Derpy! What we saw in these gardens was a result of our doing!”

“But… if that’s what we’re doing, the result of a world without war is a good thing, right?”

Pushing and pulling several controls of the TARDIS, the Doctor cocked his head,
“Yeah, maybe… But we spent too much time in there! Somewhere in the past someone is interfering with this future and our presence is needed! To put it in simple words… we’re late somewhere and sometime!” Without further delay, the TARDIS fell through the time vortex towards her yet unknown target location.

5 - Filling the ranks *

The train arrived at Ponyville Station during a slightly cloudy day.
Much to the relief of the three men, the ponies were facing the very end of heat season and the mares in Equestria more and more returned to their usual peaceful and calm behavior And the existing herds could calm a little more, having a chance for more romance instead of lust.
As the ponies stepped outside the train, Tyler and the others looked around, the families and herds passed them with a friendly nod or some smiles. It was then when the recognized one colt in particular. Not because they knew him, but because of a problem they could all recognize all too well.
“But Mooooooooom!”

Trotting beside him, s mare held some sort of handheld in her hoof before putting it into her saddlebag.
“Button! No! Not while you are walking! You tend to forget everything around you! I won’t get you out from the Guard office again because you entered into…” As the colt and his mother gained some distance, their voices faded out.

The humans looked at each other and smiled at the slight similarity between both worlds as the Cutie Mark Crusaders approached them together with Applejack and Babs Seed. Flynn knelt down and opened his arms for Scootaloo.
“Hey! Come here, champ!”

With wet eyes, the Pegasus filly hugged him.
“Do you really have to go? I don’t want you to!”

Giving her a short squeeze and a peck on the forehead, Flynn nodded.
“I have to. But we will come and visit you several times, I hope. Now you be a good little filly and behave while I’m gone, yes?” Seeing the slight sadness in her face, he whispered into her ear. “I told Rainbow Dash to spend a lot of time with you while I’m gone…” This brought the glee back to her face and she hugged him once more.

Tyler nodded over to Babs, who was wearing his leather jacket as she grinned a bit. She really didn’t let go of that thing it seemed.
“Hey there, Babs. Are you feeling better?”

When she looked up to him, a wide smile formed on her lips.
“Sure! That first taste of heat surely prepared me for mah later heat seasons. Damn… To think Ah almost fell victim to mah own selfish desires… Ah really need to work on me.”

Tyler nodded and tumbled her main a bit.
“But you had your family and friends to help out.”

Chuckling a bit, Babs shook her head a bit.
“Not only that… Ah had a cute human boy to show me that Ah wasn’t as tough as Ah thought Ah was. Or that awesome human adult who showed me that getting mounted at all cost isn’t as great as havin’ a special somepony or someone to do that with. This jacket reminds me of both of these lessons.”

As she looked up to Applejack, the country mare nodded.
"Ah wrote her parents about the almost-catastrophe… They were worried, but happy that things turned out well in the end.”

Tyler smiled widely now, patting her mane. With a nod he helped her to carry her luggage into the train.
“You will make a fine young mare, Babs! The guy who gets you can consider himself lucky.”

Apple Bloom and Babs now hugged, slightly tearing up.
“Ah miss ya already, Babs…”

Rolling her eyes, Babs smirked.
“Come on now, Cousin… Ah’ll come back someday…”

A few meters further, Lyra, Bon Bon, Pinkie Pie and Sam said their goodbyes to Milky, who hugged her cousin ever so dearly.
“I will miss you Bonnie. All of you. These days in Ponyville were so relaxing… But I’m so very sorry for depending so much on you guys… I felt like an intruder.”

Lyra shook her head with a faint smile and grinned as she nudged Sam a bit.
“Well we couldn’t just let you suffer like that, right?” Sam frowned a bit before he shook his head. Lyra sure loved to tease him a bit every now and then.

So it was to no surprise that Lyra arched back a bit as he pinched her rump a bit before he knelt before Milky and hugged her as well.
“It was only a helping hand for a friend. I would be lying if I say it wasn’t nice to some degree.”

Milky smirked a bit.
“I can see what Lyra sees in your hands, Sam. They can relieve one of such unpleasant burdens.” A slight blush appeared over her cheeks and nuzzle. “I don’t want to imagine what you do to your herd mates in private… Maybe I will join in for that someday…”

Releasing Milky from the friendly hug, Sam nodded and caressed Lyra’s and Pinkie’s manes a bit with a gentle smile.
“Maybe…”

It was then when the announcement came.
“The Pony-Express Ponyville –Trottingham – Manehattan is departing in a few minutes. All aboard!”

Tyler now looked at Babs.
“That’s your cue, girl…”

Hopping in, Babs opened a window and leaned her head outside to the crusaders.
“Awesome time again, ya guys. But then again, Ah’m happy that the first heat only comes once in life.”

“Write us again, Babs!” Sweetie Belle said while raising a hoof. “We want to stay in contact with your branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

“Don’t worry guys, Ah will!”

When the train finally departed, the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other after waving Babs off.
“You know… Some day we will have to face this as well…” Sweetie Belle stated.

In an instant, Scootaloo stretched out her tongue in disgust.
“Ewww…. colts and all that smooch-stuff? Never!”

Apple Bloom tipped her chin a bit.
“Ya know… We should heat-proof our clubhouse… So we can’t possibly think of colts…”

After slamming three hooves together, the three fillies ran off.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HEAT GUARD! YAY!!!”

Looking after the crusaders with a worried frown, Applejack then turned to Tyler.
“Yer finally here and free again to spend some time with our daughter and already yer out on a mission once more?”

A heavy sigh escaped Tyler. He knew exactly why she worried and knelt down to her.
“Don’t worry, honey… I’m in Canterlot, not in a godforsaken desert…”

With a deep sigh Applejack closed her eyes.
“Ah know… But yer still not at my side.” She then looked down. “Well, Ah think ya just try to provide our daughter a future by fightin’ the threats at the horizon. That’s good and decent, too. Just promise me to come over once or twice for Appleseed’s sake. And for mine as well… Ah miss ya, Sugarcube…”

Holding her in his arms, Tyler nodded as her Stetson again took off and landed on Tyler’s head.
“A promise I will gladly give to you.” Now he nibbled at her ear what caused her to chuckle with a slight blush on her cheeks as he whispered another promise to gather the herd for a sleepover in Canterlot Castle as soon as he had the time and she and the others should bring Appleseed with them. In his mind, Tyler hoped to have some free time in the future, preparing this headquarter interfered with his life in the herd. He as well began to long for the others and Applejack only showed him that he wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

* * * * *

Half an hour later the train to Canterlot arrived at the station and the four humans entered the wagon. Taking seats they sat together with Tyler and Flynn sitting on the right side of the train, while Sam, Lyra and Rachel sat on the left. Flynn looked over to Sam.
“So Sam… how is Milky?”

“Well she quite understood the situation. Still you should have said you’re sorry… Your reaction was quite the strongest.”

This visibly caused Flynn to shrink a bit.
“Uh… yeah… I think I’ll write a letter to her as soon as I can. Hopefully Bon Bon can provide me with her address.” He then looked over to Lyra and Sam. “So how are things in your herd, guys?”

Patting Lyra’s mane, Sam now smiled.
“Pinkie gets accustomed to herd life quite well. Who would have thought that she actually enjoys being calm and quiet for some nice music? Although I must say… after we slept together, she developed quite a ‘hunger’.”

Lyra ginned over to Sam.
“Not that you complain about it…”

It was then when Rachel looked around.
“Wasn’t Grinko going to come with us? He’s a Ranger as well, he should come with us.”

But Tyler shook his head.
“Nah… He said he doesn’t like underground places. Everything deeper than a cellar is not his thing.”

A smirk on his face revealed Sam’s slight amusement over this.
“So you say Grinko wasn’t going to come because he is afraid of caves? How very pleasant for him… And Fluttershy…"

This prompted Tyler to arch a brow.
“Fluttershy?”

But Flynn and Sam simply shook their heads.
“Haven’t you noticed how they look at each other? It is so clear to everyone that these two have something with each other.”

Rachel nodded.
“Yes… Lately I saw the both of them while I was shopping. Fluttershy was being cut in line by two mares, but when they saw Grinko behind Fluttershy glaring at them, they made way on their own. And he didn’t even have to do something threatening…”

Tyler smirked a bit.
“So… Fluttershy and Grinko are together, huh? Well, we helped them to find each other, but I’m a bit surprised at the pace of these developments, I must admit that. Now the Elements of Harmony are all together with Harmony Rangers… all except Rarity.”

Sam and Flynn looked around.
“Well…”

“You see…”

Tyler looked at them, wondering a bit.
“What? What is it?”

But Rachel only rolled her eyes.
“Rarity is a bit too ‘High-Maintenance’ for these boys.”

Flynn shook his head.
“No, not that… Rainbow wants a monogamous relationship and I will accept that. I would only change that if she wants to do that. Furthermore Rainbow and I are planning to build a house below her cloud home, so I will move out from Bonnie’s and Lyra’s home in the future. You know… for Scootaloo. And I don’t know if I’m… you know… sophisticated enough for Rarity. She has very high standards.”

Sam nodded in agreement.
“I think so, too. Rarity is the right mare for some guys, but I’m just a simple car mechanic and now masseur and already have two mares, which is quite enough for me right now. Catching up with Pinkie can be fun, but also very tiring. Sometimes I simply fall into my bed in the evening…”

Lyra giggled at Sam and nudged into his ribs.
“Still you always find the strength to cuddle with us…”This prompted the group of Rangers to chuckle.

Looking over to Tyler, Rachel nodded at him.
“What about you, Don Juan? You have four mares at your disposal, why don’t you take Rarity as the fifth? I thought she always rhapsodized over your manners…”

But Tyler shook his head.
“I know this must be a shock to you, Rachel… But I don’t mount all of my mares nonstop. No… We all five discussed this earlier and frankly I am content with this herd as it is now. The girls suggested many mares back then, even Pinkie Pie and other mares. But to be honest, this herd, just as it is… it’s perfect in my eyes. I don’t see how Rarity could add something to it.”

This brought a genuine smile on Rachel’s face.
“Wow, Jones… It seems like you found your happiness here.”

He nodded.
“You should try it too, Rachel. Don’t you miss a relationship in your life?”

At first, she was going to say something harsh to him, but then she realized the meaning of his words. He meant a relationship, not having sex. Thus she calmed herself down a bit.
“I don’t think a relationship would work with a stallion. I mean he would have to sacrifice the freedom to have four other mares for having me. I sure as hell know I won’t join a herd. But then again…”

Tyler grinned.
“But then again you would have to be the one to release some of his sexual steam once in a while, huh? Well, either you go for a platonic love or you try it for yourself… I know I won’t judge you. Besides… by now every one of us already did what you shun so much. Maybe you can find the one who is willing enough to wait until you are ready for him.” Rachel looked out of the window and only showed Tyler the finger. It wasn’t easy being in a place with life forms that resembled cute little ponies that otherwise were as intelligent and sophisticated as humans. Heck, some of them even had the same flaws as humans. Maybe she should get someone in her life.

* * * * *

When the train arrived in Canterlot Station, the Rangers stepped out and stretched a bit before Tyler looked at the time.
“We have some time until we have to be there, why don’t we split up a bit and do some sightseeing or shopping for the time being? We still have one hour before we have to attend and how often do we have reason to come to Canterlot?”

Rachel smirked at this.
“Besides you, you mean…”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler smiled a bit.
“Yes… Besides me and my weekly sleepovers here… Now go and have fun, folks! We meet each other in one hour.” While Sam and Lyra went for a little shopping, Rachel headed for a nice cafe to try some of Canterlot’s delicacies.

Flynn however walked a long time through the streets of Canterlot, wondering if he could buy some ‘special toys’ for him and Rainbow. While they were both satisfied with what they had, it could never hurt to make her feel appreciated, more special. At least that’s what he thought would be the right thing. Walking down the streets and alleys, he soon noticed that he was entering the part of the city that was build inside of the mountain. Slowly the lights were replaced from normal firefly lamps to… Well he couldn’t make it out alright. It looked like torches, but these were torches with blue flames. A gentle blue light illuminated the streets as he walked down the streets. And another thing was noticeable. More and more bat ponies frequented these streets. It came to the point that they made the majority of the ponies he saw. It was then, when he passed a colorful advertisement sign that he was bumped from behind and stumbled down a few stairs, what caused him to smash through a door and to land on a soft and fluffy carpet.

As he looked up rubbing his aching limbs, he saw the slender long hooves of something he could make out as a bat pony. With a rather unusual blonde mane the mare looked down to him.
“Hey, Sugar! Glad you found the place… I’m Vivi and welcome to Vivi’s Bat Pony Salon!” She looked just like a regular bat pony to him, but proofed him otherwise as the dark cloak she was wearing suddenly grabbed him and tossed him into a chair. “So have a seat, champ!” Shaking his head for a bit, he recovered rather quickly from the impact. Was that a bat above him? No, it had to be the impact. Besides, she was a bat pony, not a real bat. Damn it, Flynn! Such a slight slap and you’re hallucinating already? When she approached him from behind, he hastily looked back and forth. Wasn’t she just in front of him? “So Sweetie… You’re in a hurry or something?”

“Uh… sort of… I and my friends are shopping right now before we have to get to a really important meeting.”

“I see… So I better hurry up with you, don’t I?”

Shaking his head, Flynn tried to stand up again.
“Uh, lady… I really don’t want to-”

But putting a hoof on his chest, Vivi buckled him in the seat.
“I know exactly what you want, big boy... But anyway I’m already a little… deadbeat…” With that she rolled Flynn’s chair in front of a mirror and raised a strain of his hair with her cape. “Hey! What say we go out later for a BITE? You look like my type…” But when Flynn looked into the mirror he only saw his own reflection. The strain of his hair was raised by nothing in it. Suddenly, he eyed Vivi with completely different eyes. Those fangs of hers seemed a bit longer than the usual bat pony. But right now she leaned in. Cheek to cheek with him, she grinned showing fangs. “Well, then sweetie? What will it be? A shave or a manicure…?” As he fought with the words, she grinned and slid her hoof over his chin. “Hmmm… a shave would be in place.…” With that she pushed his chair and put the shaving foam on his chin. For a time, Flynn relaxed for a bit. This changed however as she approached him with an old razor what didn’t look sharp at all. “You know, I don’t do many of these… I may be a bit ‘rusty’.”

Just as she wanted to swing the razor in full force, the chair leaned far backwards and Flynn fell a bit back, causing Vivi to miss. As he looked up, another bat pony mare looked angered at Vivi.
“He’s not one of these customers, Vivi… He’s a Ranger!”

Almost instantly, Flynn recognized the voice.
“E… Elise?”

When she looked down to him, she nodded.
“Sorry, but my cousin mistook you for her midnight snack.”

Crawling back, Flynn made sure to get some distance between him and Vivi.
“Yeah… I noticed that already… Wait, she’s who?!?”

Elise now glared at Vivi.
“Vivian Nightshade! Weren’t you forbidden to practice these things from Princess Luna herself? Didn’t you swear to the moon that you would never suck blood from a living creature again? And what about the Earl? If he finds out, you are in more trouble than ever!”

Vivi’s fangs now dug deep into her bottom lip.
“I was going to be good. But… you know… The clinic said they are short on blood bags… So I… I…” Now she fell to the ground and covered her head with hear cape in shame. “I was weak!”

Flynn now got up, still with a mistrustful eye on Vivian.
“Do I understand that right? Bat ponies have a sub-race called vamponies?” Elise nodded and then explained to Flynn in detail that vamponies were allowed in Equestria, but due to their carnivorous nature had to live in the subterranean part of Canterlot and were governed by Earl Draco von Hoofington who represented the vamponies in aristocracy. Princess Celestia and Luna made sure that the vamponies always were well fed and took strict regulations about their numbers. He nodded in understanding and looked at the two mares. “I see… Yes, it is dark already. No wonder I stumbled upon this place. Just my luck…”

Elise giggled.
“You take it with humor, good for you.”

Vivian, however, chewed a bit on her bottom lip. Despite behaving normal now, one could see the longing for blood in her eyes.
“Can I have at least a few drops of his blood? I’m so curious… No vampony ever had the privilege to taste human blood.”

But Flynn only shook his head.
“Let’s keep it that way… I don’t want you to like it and set traps for me in order to taste it again.”
Elise nodded in confirmation and remained between the two of them. “Blood bags, Vivi! Be a good filly and stay with them!”

As they stepped outside, Flynn looked at Elise.
“Thanks for your help.”

But she only waved the thought away.
“Nah, you’re welcome. I couldn’t let a Harmony Ranger fall prey to my cousin. She’s just hungry, Vivi’s usually quite a good girl. But you’re too cute to get sucked dry. Of blood that is…” Flynn harrumphed a bit, prompting Elise to giggle. “You were thinking about naughty things, right?”

“Well… I…”

Elise only giggled a bit more.
“I know you’re with Loyalty herself. It’s not that I want to interfere with that… Let’s just say you owe me one… hmmm… One fruit basket!”

Flynn’s eyes narrowed a bit.
“That is all? One fruit basket? Alright… a fruit basket it i- wait a second!” Now he stemmed his fists into his waist. “Aren’t you bat ponies the ones with fruits as an aphrodisiac? Yeah, I remember what Black Lily told me!”

Stretching out her tongue in good fun Elise grinned.
“A fruit basket is what I demand as thank you for saving your life. Is there a problem?”

Sighing in defeat, Flynn shook his head.
“No… But don’t expect me to feed them to you.”

Now Elise blushed.
“If you would feed me fruits in person, I would do anything for you…”

“Uh-huh… Is that how bat ponies tick, eh?”

“More than that…” She said with a deepening blush. “Offering fruits to a bat pony can be seen as friendship, comradely sharing something, but also as flirting… Feeding a bat pony fruits however…” Now she blushed to a dark tone of red, reaching almost purple due to her dark coat. “This is the most intimate gesture one can do to a bat pony mare. Like… the greatest grade of affection shown to us. If you would do that to me, I would be willing to bear your children, follow you to the ends of the world and do things to you in bed you can’t even begin to imagine.” Flynn harrumphed once more and simply nodded. For a good minute there was this awkward silence between the two of them before Elise cleared her throat. “I… probably shouldn’t have said that, right?”

“Oh! I… uh…” He was trying to search for words in an attempt to calm the situation a bit. “It was… A bit too much of information, but honesty is a very good thing. That way I can avoid further mistakes.” In a way, Elise was like Rainbow. But where Rainbow wanted good and long excessive sex in order to best him in endurance, Elise seemed to see sex as a giving and taking. If one was nice to a bat pony and lifted up her heart, they were up to give one their all as well to satisfy every need for romance and sex up to the level of objectification. The sheer thought of it brought an erection into his pants and he wished Rainbow was there right now.

After buying the basket and several fruits for Elise, he handed it to her and bid her farewell. Although she didn’t say a thing about it, he was sure that she somehow got notice of his aroused state, for the wink and the slight wiggling of her rump as she left were quite obvious. She tried to seduce him; that much was certain. But being with Rainbow was too good to risk it. And it would be the worst mistake he could ever do. After a few minutes he found the others again and together they approached the entrance of the former CCF, which was now the Ranger Headquarter. Rachel nudged Flynn into the ribs.
“Finally something to work for us two, eh? Military jobs are here, Flynn… I can already see them!”

“Very good then Rachel Higgins!” An all too familiar voice now spoke up behind them. As they turned around, Princess Luna approached them from behind with two guards escorting her. “I see thy enthusiasm is well placed then.”

Tyler beamed as he saw her.
“Luna!” Sharing a hug with her, he gently patted her cheek. “I looked for you in the castle, but I couldn’t find you.”

“Of course thou couldn’t find me, Tyler… I was up early today having a little talk with some of the nobles. Tis dreadful business, but still business and it needs to be done.” After that they entered the Headquarter entrance and went towards an elevator.

As the elevator began moving, Tyler and Luna both looked straight forward.
“How goes the construction effort?” he asked.

Giving a brief nod, Luna levitated a clipboard.
“Cleaning this mess was quite some work. According to the reports given to me, after several sweeps to make sure no remaining Changelings were present we began deconstructing and reconstructing to fit the facility to its new purposes: Monitoring Equestria and its allies for potential threats of the Descendants, Rescue and Service, Training Grounds, Research and Development.” After a few floors, the elevator stopped and they went down another corridor.

Rachel looked around with a faint smile.
“Still so many sealed doors, corridors and elevators?”

Sam shook his head.
“The layout is completely new though...”

Luna nodded and waited with them at another sealed door that was to open.
“Tis true. At first, this facility was designed to keep something in. Now tis designed for keeping things out.” After passing four further elevators and corridors with sealed doors, they entered the fifth and final elevator. With that last elevator they went down to the large Central Command HQ. Several groups of ponies sat together at terminals of crystal. Each group consisted of two unicorns and one crystal pony.

To say that the Rangers were surprised to see the former dark laboratory like this would have been an understatement. They were speechless. As they entered the Command Center, they looked around. This truly was nothing like the blood tainted gory hall they once barely survived, this was a clean, almost sterile environment. Turning around to the princess, Tyler shook his head with a smile.
“You know, Luna? While Celestia excels in all the ruling and paperwork, you seem to have a hoof for stomping a military facility out of the ground.”

With a slight blush Luna looked aside.
“Aw, tis nothing…”

But Tyler grabbed her chin and turned her face to her, giving her a short kiss.
“I really mean it, Luna. You are good in this.” Gently he tickled her chin. “My little war maiden…”

Luna blushed once more before she cleared her throat and closed her eyes with a sober face.
“Tyler, please… Not in front of the personnel.” Tyler grinned widely and nodded as Luna looked around. “Yes, once the construction was done, we really established a nice little command post here.” She then shook her head. “Although I have to say to thee, Tyler… Equestrian magic cannot be as complex as human technology. Our machines are still too crude to do that kind of information process. These ‘programs’ thou hast speakest of… That would take us several decades of intense development… So instead of one ‘come-poo-tar’ we’ll have several ponies casting several spells.”

Tyler nodded.
“It cannot be helped. But I rather have it this way than any other.”

Rachel leaned in a bit.
“Meaning that we don’t hand them another NORAD?”

“Yeah!” Tyler replied with a sigh. “Precisely. This interference in their technological development is bad. But without it, the future would look far worse.”

Luna nodded and gave Tyler a gentle smile.
“Celestia and I know how much thou wish to preserve our culture, Tyler. And tis a truly great attitude. Luckily we have the newly developed crystal magic…”

Tyler cocked his head.
“Crystal magic? But where does this-“

“That’s our contribution to the Rangers!” a female voice now stated.

As he turned around, Tyler saw the origin of this new voice.
“Cadance… Shining!” Seeing his best friend and comrade brought a smile on Tyler’s face.

As they approached each other, Cadance giggled and turned to the other Rangers.
“Watch! You’re going to love this…” Rachel arched a brow as she watched the two giving a certain handshake.

“♫ May it be trench or the battlefield,
With the danger high and low
If you need one, I will give to you
The fist of a bro. ♫”

During the whole greeting, the stallion and the human knocked their right fist and hoof together several times in different ways and ended the greeting knocking the hoof and the fist together. After that, both hugged each other very warmly.
“Shining Armor! It’s so great to have you two here!”

The stallion nodded.
“It feels great to be here. Cadance and I were going over to Canterlot, but we were stopping by to see you. Like I could ever resist seeing my sister’s herd mate and my best human friend!”

“So now that I know that it comes from you… what is this crystal magic doing?” Tyler asked.

“Cadey and I were thinking of a way to help out a bit. So we thought of something to emulate your ‘computers’”.

Proud of her subjects, Cadance held her head high.
“As you can see, crystal ponies not only glittering and shining while in a high mood, their spirit is also high, giving them the ability to concentrate much harder.”

Tyler’s eyes widened.
“You made them biological information processors! Amazing!”

Cadance shook her head now.
“It’s not that simple. We need two unicorns for getting the information in and out telepathically. And with a standardized speed of course. Every terminal you see here is a team concentrating with another. They were trained in the Crystal Empire since we had the incident in the Amasian Enclave.”

Shining smiled wide as he nudged Tyler.
“Cadance got the idea once I told her about your world a bit. And after she asked around, a few volunteers were found quickly.”

This caused Tyler to smile as he looked to Cadance.
“I wouldn’t have expected less…”

Blushing a bit, Cadance closed her eyes.
“Well you can’t be a princess if you can’t come up with something.”

Tyler and the Rangers nodded and then inspected the further parts of the headquarter.

An hour later, Tyler was sitting in a comfortable chair and was doing some paper work, while Cadance and Shining were drinking some coffee. It was just as Cadance was about to leave the room when Tyler sighed a bit. Both the unicorn stallion and princess looked up, exchanged some glances and nodded at each other. While Cadance left the room, Shining approached Tyler.
“You probably should order somepony to help you with that.”

“No, no! I’m fine! Just supervising the base, making me a view of all…” Now he went through all the paperwork on the clipboard. “…all the 243 forms and orders I have to look through… Ugh!”

Shining shook his head as he magically fetched a bottle and a glass and poured a drink in.
“You are burying yourself in work!”

Tyler now looked up, arching a brow.
“I’m not!”

Yet the stallion once more shook his head and sat down as he levitated the drink to his human friend.
“Tyler… I am your friend and I’ll always have your back covered. There’s something on your mind, I can see that.”

Tyler’s view turned to the white stallion.
“What?”

But Shining only shook his head.
“You have that look on your face you only show when something is bothering you. So what is it?”

Looking down to his drink, Tyler took another gulp before he sighed.
“I… think of the past.”

“The past…” Shining repeated with an arched brow. “About the many things you’ve seen in Equestria?”

Shaking his head, Tyler closed his eyes.
“Even before that. My past on Earth. I don’t talk much about it. And Twilight, Luna and Applejack don’t ask about it. Celestia knows about it, at least I think so… She saw my entire life in front of her eyes. The thing is: I wasn’t always who I am now. I wasn’t always one of the good guys. Or rather… I wasn’t giving much about who I was working for as long as the price was right… I ended this part of my life a long time ago when I saw that I was on the wrong train. In hindsight I am glad I did that. But now…? Being the head of a security force for several countries? I feel like my past is catching up with me. And that isn’t good.”

“This is nonsense!” Shining muttered. “You are who you are now, you are not the Tyler of the past. We don’t judge you for the things you did on Earth, but what you do right now on our world. And what you do here is wonderful!” Tyler looked at Shining, unable to find some words and the stallion didn’t give him time to find some. “You overcame a void dragon, blew up a complete mountain, fought the changelings from the Amasian Enclave, proved your innocence in a murder case and fought back a highly advanced attack force with the help of the Equestrians… On top of that you are a great herd mate and a father. Maybe your past was horrifying, maybe it was bloody and filled with fights… I don’t know… But here is what I DO know: I know that you’re using your fighting spirit for rushing in where ponies fear to tread. In a way you are an extremist. But while being that way, you inspire others to follow. You show less fear than ponies which lifts our spirit. You are a leader, Tyler… whether you like it or not.”

Tyler gulped heavily. Hearing this made his blood rush even more. A leader…
“Tsk! A leader… I am no leader. I don’t want leadership.”

Yet Shining once more shook his head.
“I once had a talk with Princess Celestia you know… That was after I married Cadance. There are two kinds of leaders. There are leaders who use their strength in order to gain power and wealth to rule over even more ponies and there are leaders who don’t want that power. These leaders have to be forced into leadership and to do live up to the expectations of others they tend to give it their all. I have a strong feeling that you are the second type. As a matter of fact I’m sure of it.”

This train of thought got Tyler’s attention. The role as strategic advisor, the Rangers, the Ranger HQ… Was he… guided into leadership? It was true what Shining said. Every time Tyler had a bit more responsibility, he tried his best in it. Having a herd, having the princesses in the herd, fighting for the sake of Equestria… And yet… deep within him he knew there was something he couldn’t make out. The beast living inside all beings, the mindless savage smiting what he didn’t like. And in Tyler’s case, this beast had all the powers to destroy what he cherished. Could he as a leader be good for Equestria? According to the others, this was the case. But in his own view… Tyler now closed his eyes.
“Shining!” The stallion looked up as he listened to his friend once more. “Promise me something… Should I ever attempt to harm somepony against all better judgment… Should I ever attempt to harm Twilight…”

He now looked up to the unicorn and Shining nodded in understanding.
“Don’t worry… If it comes to this, I as your friend will rise against you. Not to kill you, but to save you from yourself.” Tyler now stood up and hugged Shining for a long time. The stallion didn’t resist, but patted Tyler’s back. Whatever it was he feared, it wasn’t a problem he could talk about with his herd, but a good friend. A silent “Thank you…” sounded as the two friends separated from each other.

* * * * *

On the next day the Rangers waited for Tyler at a meeting.
“He is late!” Rachel stated flatly while tipping her fingernails on the table.

Flynn nodded.
“It’s not like him to get this late. What’s he doing?”

Shaking her head, Lyra shrugged.
“He’s probably still knee deep in paperwork… I mean it’s no wonder he came yesterday evening and asked us to split up the work a bit. I guess he will be here soon...”

In a dark corridor Tyler looked deep into Luna’s eyes. Glowing and sparkling a bit like her mane, her eyes searched in his for the thoughts of her lover, as she sighed happily after a long and passionate kiss. His fingers slid ever so gently over her lips as they looked into each other’s eyes. As their work shifts were different, he cherished every minute with her. Every moment with his herd mates was a treasure, balm for his soul.
“Your lips are soft and gentle like clouds of velvet and taste like the wine of dark seduction… I must confess I enjoy your nightly visits in my dreams…”

Leaning her head against his chest, she nuzzled him a bit, always careful with the horn.
“I myself find great pleasure and joy in visiting thy dreams after a long shift of nightmare watch…”

Tyler now grinned.
“It seems to me you’re quite comfortable of becoming my night mare.”

Smirking at his pun, Luna gently gave his cheek a lick. She remembered living out some of their fantasies. Some were kinky, some controversial by pony standards. But nonetheless did she enjoy it to be open with him, to unite with him in mind as well as their bodies occasionally united in the real world.
“It comforts me that thou enjoy when our minds touch each other… The stars know it helped my sanity during these last days of heat. Not to speak of the intimacy we can share… An intimacy far greater than in the wake state… Not only do our bodies touch each other… Nay… Our very souls are bare and naked in front of each other… And though I love this extent of intimacy with thee… Tyler, thou are thinking lately. Something bothers you.”

Tyler sighed. The prolonged time he had spent with her showed now. She could see right through him.
“It is about parts of my past, Luna.”

The princess now mustered Tyler’s face intensely before she adjusted his head and placed another long kiss on his lips.
“Some of us have a past we are not proud about. Tia and I know that all too well. But it doesn’t work like this. Thou can’t go through life like this. Thou have to let go of it. If thou need thy herd for this, we will always be with thee. No matter what, we love thou for who thou are, not for who thou were…”

With that she gently slapped his butt with her wing.
“Now go, my Dark Companion… Thy fellow Rangers surely are waiting for thee.”

In an instant, Tyler grimaced terrified.
“Oh shit!” As he made haste down the corridor, Luna giggled a bit. He was so adorable when he stumbled over his feet like any other stallion for the mares he’s hopeless in love with. So many times she and her sister had witnessed it. Witnessing it felt good, but experiencing it in participation was so much better.

As he entered the meeting room, the other sat there already, a little leisurely now after all the waiting time. Rachel arched a brow in mild annoyance.
“Took your sweet time there, Jones… Well, that leaves us with what? Half the time to discuss things before the Captain of the Wonderbolts arrives here to make her visit?”

“Sorry, folks…” Tyler began his excuse. “On the way here I was caught up with something.”

Lifting a sparkling blue hair from his shoulder, Rachel nodded.
“I can see that…” With that she nodded to his seat and they both sat down. While Rachel reported the amount of recruits and her potential plans to train them, Sam and Lyra referred to the materials in the assembly halls. Flynn nodded as it then was his turn to report about the scientific staff and their resources. All of this showed Tyler that Shining was right. Reallocating work among many workers made it easier for the individual. He knew that if he would have done it all by himself, he wouldn’t have managed half of all that.

Not two hours later they finished their meeting, yet discussed only three quarters of the planned topics. Waiting at the entrance, they stood in line for the welcoming of the Wonderbolts. As the sealed door opened, Captain Spitfire as well as some of her Lead Ponies entered, Rainbow Dash among them. Flynn smiled slightly as he recognized her.
“Rainbow…” The cerulean Wonderbolt repaid his smile with one of her own, before she returned to her formal face again, reminding him to do the same. Trotting towards the humans, the pegasi saluted in front of Tyler, who replied with a salute of his own.

“Ranger?”

“Captain?”

“I must say I don’t feel good so far below the ground. We pegasi prefer open spaces, some place to stretch out a bit. Let’s make this brief, alright?”

Tyler gave her a short nod.
“No problem at all. This place IS a bit cramped, we can relate a bit.”

Spitfire lowered her shades and eyed Flynn for a second before smirking.
“Ah, Mr. Marshall… Just the human I wanted to see!”

Arching a brow, Flynn cocked his head.
“Umm… Sure! What can I do for you?”

“I talked with Rainbow Dash about you two, Mr. Marshall. I like it when my Wonderbolts have stable and good relationships, keeps them focused. Nothing is worse than recruits staring at each other instead of paying attention.” With that she walked straight to the window and looked down into the assembly hall. “I also decided to recommend recruits who don’t get into the Wonderbolts to the Harmony Rangers. The will to serve Equestria is higher than ever though not every recruit is made for it. I think redirecting them here is a second chance for most of them.”

Flynn gave a slightly annoyed
“Mhm…” It was almost like his own past on Earth. He wasn’t cut out for the elite, so he was to fly transport planes instead of combat jets. But he couldn’t seriously blame Spitfire for not knowing.

The yellow Pegasus then turned around.
“I would like to see these recruits under your command, Mr. Marshall!”

Now everyone was stumped and Flynn slowly raised a finger at himself.
“M-me? Being a Wing Commander?”

“You are currently the only human I can nominate for this title since you seem to be the only one with flight experience. I say the Harmony Rangers need a Lieutenant Colonel for pegasi and I think no one would object if I nominate you! However, the decision for that is not mine. The princesses have to decide that.”

Rainbow smirked at Flynn and nudged his ribs, lowering her voice.
“Hey… And you always say you have bad luck! An awesome marefriend, an awesome filly as daughter and now an awesome job to look forward to!”

“Speaking of which…” he now started with an equally lowered voice. “Who’s with Scootaloo? You didn’t left her all alone back home, did you?”

Rainbow sighed heavily.
“Of course not, that would be a horrible thing to do… I apologized to her for having no time today due to my duty, so I dropped her at Fluttershy with a big pot of ice cream. She said she understands. I think I never apologized so often to somepony…”

Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth.
“Alright, scratch a few of your regular naps the next few days to make that up to her, you know it’s important!”

Overhearing them, Spitfire turned around and nodded towards them.
“Parenthood problems, you two?”

In an instant, Rainbow Dash stood in attention again.
“No ma’am! No problem here, ma’am!”

Spitfire looked up to Flynn and arched a brow before she smirked at Rainbow.
“Listen, Rainbow Dash… There are duties and there are duties… And some are more important than others.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened.
“Ma’am? Are you saying…?”

"I am saying that I want a very fast flyer to run an errand for me to Ponyville after we’re set and done here.” She now lowered her voice. “And I want you to monitor the reactions for the rest of the day. Got it?” Handing Rainbow Dash a Spitfire™ autograph card, Spitfire nodded. “I’m doing my homework… And we all had some idol once, right?” After a short wink, the yellow mare turned her head to the front again as Luna approached them once more. Rainbow smiled quite touched. That was quite a nice move from Spitfire.

* * * * *

After Luna brought them to another room she held her chin high and raised a hoof in order to present something.
“There are two mares among the recruits who deserve a special mention. Both are the top agents in the Equestrian secret service. I present to thee our infiltrating specialist Octavia Melody!” With that a darkened part of the room lit up and a gray mare with a pink bowtie.

As Sam leaned over to Rachel with a brief
“Isn’t this the cellist pony from the Gala?” he was rewarded with a confirming nod.

Flynn snickered a bit.
“What’s with the bowtie?”

But Tyler only grinned.
“Why? Bowties are cool…”

Octavia bowed a bit before she gave all of them a smile.
“It is a pleasure being here for this opportunity.”

Luna now went on to the second agent. “She will come in handy for the team for sure. And of course with her came her partner… an expert in demolition, Vinyl Scratch!”

Among some boxes and electric cables a white unicorn with moderate cobalt blue mane looked up, obviously sorting some things out.
“Yo! It’s so awesome to be here in… this…” As Vinyl lowered her DJ shades, her cerise eyes glanced at Flynn. In an instant both recognized each other and raised arm and hoof accusingly at each other.

“The crazy DJ!”

“The rump sniffer!”

Tyler arched a brow as he looked at Flynn with a grin.
“Rump sniffer?”

Pointing a finger at Vinyl, Flynn shook his head in denial.
“D-Don’t listen to a word she says! That was SO an accident!”

“Accident? Dude, you had your face buried in my behind!”

“Yeah, but not on purpose! I mean come on!” He then turned to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow… Really! I mean… You know I would never…”

But Rainbow just grinned.
“Flynn… I never took you for a guy that goes for rumps…” Smacking her own behind, Rainbow smirked at him. “Firm and trained enough for you?”

As Flynn sighed in defeat, much to the amusement of Rainbow and Spitfire. Rachel, however, arched a brow.
“No offense, but how can a DJ pony be an expert in demolition?”

With that Vinyl levitated one of her thicker disks and with a simple ‘click’ several spikes spring out, causing it to transform into a buzz saw, prompting Rachel to jump back.
“Oh… That’s how…”

Luna then cleared her throat.
“Rangers? Although I love to listen to thy conversations… the first recruits are here.”

Tyler arched a brow.
“Oh? I thought all this here… All this personnel here would be the recruits?”

Shaking her head, the princess smiled.
"Nay, Tyler. All this here is royal personnel from Canterlot and the Crystal Empire Palace. But we also need the brightest minds and bravest hearts in order to face this threat. Celestia and I have decided that after a thorough background check, every patriotic pony should be given a chance to serve the country with his or her talents. Agent Scratch and Agent Melody are only two of them. I’d like you to greet these first volunteers welcome. They should be in the entrance hall by now.”

On the way up Rachel looked over to Tyler in one of the many elevators.
“Well? Do you know what to say to them already?”

He simply shook his head.
“I think I’ll improvise… What more can I do now?”

Luna however held her head high.
“Thou will do it, Tyler. My confidence is high that thou will manage this as well as the challenges before.”

Then the elevator stopped one last time and Tyler took a deep breath.
“Here we go!” As they left the elevator, the recruits, about one hundred, stood in formation and saluted to the Rangers. Looking over to Tyler who looked at the many recruits, Rachel nodded briefly and stood beside him. “Stand at ease, newbies!”

Tyler rewarded this little help with a faint smile and eyed the recruits now with new confidence. He wasn’t alone with this.
“Good morning! You are the First Equestrian Volunteers! Or short, the FEV! Equestria has a long and proud history, for which we must now fight to preserve. We are our people’s only hope!” With taking a few steps in front of the recruits Tyler glared at them. “If that is too much pressure for you to take, if you feel any doubt, if you think you’re not up to this task, then this is your first and only chance to take a step back. I won’t lie to you. We will live a few months here in this base, we will work here and we will eat and sleep here. It will be two months underground before we surface again. Anyone claustrophobic should rethink the decision to begin his or her work in this facility. However… if you have to leave this facility, to see the family or in case of some sort of emergency, fill out the form 73B-T9, which will grant you two days of vacation. Each of you has three of them, use them wisely. Also keep in mind that everything happening inside this facility is considered top secret! So if anyone of you doesn’t hold his big mouth on what we’re working on in here… Consider yourself the very next special guest in an investigation of high treason!”

With that he stepped a bit back.
“That being said, we are entering phase one of our organization. ‘Operation think tank’! You are to think of projects that we could use in order to catch up with the military and technological might of the Descendants. I will discuss projects with the other Rangers in order for us to decide which project gets approved. I hope to see plenty of ideas from all of you while we refine our skills in here.” He then saluted to the recruits and the gesture was redone by every pony. “Welcome to the Harmony Rangers!”

* * * * *

On the next day, Tyler went along the corridors as he noticed somepony bouncing in one of the assembly halls. As he approached the pony, he shook his head.
“Pinkie Pie…? I know you’re an Element Bearer, but don’t misuse that title for getting clearance to a military facility!”

When Tyler reached for a knife, Sam shook his head.
“I already checked her. She’s who she claims to be.”

A nod later, Tyler looked at them.
“Well? Why are you here, Pinkie?”

“I’m here to bring Sam his blueprints!” The pink energy bundle answered. “He forgot them and I thought if he realized that he would be so sad, so I galloped all over Equestria to get in here.”

As both men looked at each other, Sam nodded furiously.
“Yes… our project for the Headquarter.” With that he handed the roll to Tyler.

As Tyler looked into the blueprints, he arched a brow. It was a familiar shape to the human eye and although the design was bulky, it might work for now. Given that they ever got that thing running. He then looked up to the three of them.
“So let me get this straight… We have the order to strengthen Equestria’s defenses and to investigate the whereabouts of these Darkness Sisters… And you come up with the idea of a magical propelled hover tank?”

Sam shook his head in order to explain.
“Tyler, we…”

But Tyler only raised his hand and shook it.
“No, no! I like it!” He then pointed a finger on Sam as to point out that he wanted a quick response to the following question. “But can you deliver results for me in time? Can you build that thing?”

Looking to Lyra and Pinkie, Sam grinned and nodded.
“Yeah… We can build that thing!”

With a determined nod, Tyler let go of the blueprints, causing them to roll together again.
“Permission for this project granted.”

In the next few days they gathered the materials from the storage room. Pinkie, with a worker helmet, stood on a small pedestal and conducted the transport Lyra was steering while Sam worked on the technology. For this tank, he had to face two major problems: Propulsion and armor. As Lyra looked over his shoulder for a while, she scratched her temple.
“Well, you told me about these things a bit. But to be frank: Sam, I don’t think we Equestrians can manufacture the kind of steel you humans can muster on Earth.”

“That’s probably true. We lack the heavy industry to do that. It will be not as efficient as composite armor on Earth. But when it becomes bulletproof and to a certain degree explosion-proof, we’ve done our job so far with Equestrian composite armor. Equis doesn’t have armor piercing missiles, does it?”

As they looked upon the large hall with all the materials, the large amounts of metal and steel, cables, glass and pipes, Sam folded his arms and nodded.
“Well… A whole hall for the three of us.”

“Four of us!” A sudden voice now exclaimed. When Pinkie, Sam and Lyra looked behind, Vinyl Scratch was standing in the corridors behind them. “I heard you three want to build something to make some holes in some war citadels? Then I’m your mare as well!”

Sam looked at his girls before arching a brow at Vinyl.
“Well, Princess Luna speaks well about you, so you have to know what you are doing… And if I understood Lyra correctly, another horn for welding would mean less breaks and higher efficiency. If it is work you seek, you’re welcome to join us.”

Vinyl now approached the trio and nodded.
“Awesome! May I make a suggestion for this ‘tank’ of yours?”

After a short glimpse to his girls and another nod Sam he shrugged.
“Sure, if you come up with ideas, we can think of implementing it.”

“You should mount my bass cannon on it.”

“What is that… bass cannon…? What does it do?”

Vinyl inhaled to explain first, but then tipped her chin with her hoof.
“Actually that’s a good question! It’s a sound weapon. Uh… I have mine at home in Ponyville, but give me a few days and I could build a new one to demonstrate it to you.”

Looking once more to his girls, Sam shrugged and nodded.
“Sure. It could be worth the wait.” As Vinyl trotted off with a content smile, Lyra looked up to Sam. “Are you sure about this? I mean we already have blueprints and another weapon system means new measures, new equations, new materials…”

Nodding, Sam looked at the materials gathered for the tank.
“It sure is a bit late for that, but frankly I wouldn’t mind a little extra for the tank. And since we only have one run and no missiles…”

Later that day Tyler and Flynn approached the Research and Development department of the base. Holding up a sample of human blood Tyler walked around in front of them. “This is human blood, gentlecolts… and you are Equestria’s lead scientists. Your job is to make it paint! I want you to make this a durable paint that is waterproof without it losing its magic-proof ability. The unicorns and earth pony scientists nodded at each other and began working on chalkboards.”

While they both walked down the corridor, Flynn looked slightly worried.
“Human blood used as paint? Daring idea you and Sam got there… Won’t that make anything painted with that an immediate detonation area?”

Tyler knew what Flynn was speculating on and shook his head.
“No, but if we’re wearing armor or something, it will give us a few seconds before the magic can harm the armor. I don’t want to wear body armor and get squeezed like a tin can.”

Picturing it, Flynn grimaced slightly.
“You mean it will detonate with magic and the armor will be in the center once that paint wears off? Should that calm me in a way?”

“No… Since we humans will wear it, the magic, if it passes, will be absorbed anyway. Maybe the armor will disintegrate or fall apart, but I’m happy with anything more than just clothing, you know? It should provide a bit more protection against melee weapons and conventional firearms. I don’t care if it looks crude, I don’t expect sci-fi Nano suits that make us invincible or enhance our bodily abilities.”

Flynn nodded.
“True… This isn’t a videogame.”

Later that day Lyra approached Sam in the hangar as he was sitting at a table, working on a small part. It was too small to be part of the tank now. They already had all these parts ready. Handling it with the screwdriver and, he assembled some weirdly formed parts. Climbing up a bit on him, Lyra looked over his shoulder. By now Sam was used to the weight of a pony and it wasn’t anything of a burden anymore. His strength was now so enormous he could lift Lyra with a single arm. It was a thing that Pinkie often liked to do when she was out for fun: Thrown into the air and being caught before impact again.
“Sam, what are you building there?” Lyra now asked, blinking at all the little parts on the table. So many parts, it had to be a very complex thing he was building.

“Just a little side-project I didn’t tell Tyler about.” He began to explain. “A finger…”

“A finger…?” she repeated, not understanding the meaning of this.

“I’m building a mechanical finger, yes.”

“But what for?” With a grin he looked at her and slowly the idea sprang to her mind, prompting the unicorn to beam. “You’re building hands for me?”

“Well, only mechanical ones. It is beyond me to make –oof–“

With that she jumped at him and hugged him tightly.
“Oh thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!! This is going to be so great!”

But Sam smiled with an arched brow.
“Still, you can only manipulate with it. I can’t make you one so you can feel with it.”

Lyra rubbed her head against his chest.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s better than nothing. And you are the one making them for me.”

Three days later the hands were lying on the table and Lyra beamed in turns at Sam and at the hands.
“Now remember, Lyra… These aren’t indestructible hands. And they don’t feel anything. Lyra carefully levitated the hands and nodded. There was no sense of touch in them, this was true. But slowly and surely, she wiggled the mechanical fingers a bit. They seemed so fragile and yet, they were similar to Rachel’s fingers. As he knelt down to Lyra and watched her awe at the fingers, Sam smiled gently. She looked like a filly in a candy store. “Are they OK?”

“OK?” Lyra asked with tears in her eyes and the mechanical hands grabbed him by his clothing before Lyra pulled him down to her and pressed her lips on his. Her kiss was demanding and with passion, despite not being in heat anymore, she almost behaved like it. “These are wonderful… Simply wonderful! I must have you now, Sam… Let’s search for Pinkie. You, me and her, now!”

Now Sam chuckled.
“Easy there, Lyra… You sound like you are at a peak point in heat…”

With that Lyra turned red as a tomato and giggled a bit embarrassed before they stood up again.
“Alright, sweetie, Let’s look for her…”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in another part of Equis two shadows were analyzing the holograms in front of them. While one of them grumbled in anger and frustration, the other one giggled in light amusement about all the anger.
“If victory is reserved for royalty, you must find this so very boring, my sister…”

“Are you not angered about this setback, Lamira, my sister? We lost two war citadels!” Now the horn of the first shadow shed enough light to reveal the face of a black alicorn mare with gray mane and red eyes.

A dark smirk was on her face as she looked through the holograms.
“Of course I’m not angered, Asira. I prefer to see this as an enhancement.” She pointed at the holograms showing the immense firepower of the war citadels. “The war citadels should have had no problems to dominate the Equestrians or these bipedal beings, these so called ‘humans’… But they were too strong for them.” A mischievous giggle escaped her now as she licked her teeth. “And that very strength is what will make destroying them that much more fun… I think it is time for you and me to step into action. To the north-west there is the Amasian Empire… I think we should start our journey around this world there…”

As several arcane runes appeared in front of the two of them, Asira began to grin.
“Oh, Lamira… You are always such an inspiration, big sister… These spells will do wonderful…”

6 - A promise unforgotten *

Darkness surrounded the three young fillies as the world around them changed. Safe and sound in their little capsule, they slept millennia after millennia as the last remaining words of the mother and grandmother lingered in their minds.

Farewell forever, my daughters…
The richness of this world… shall be yours. All that we’ve had, all that we’ve learned, everything good we felt… all this and more… I bestow upon you three.

It was warm and cozy inside the little capsule and they didn’t witness the many wars and natural catastrophes the planet was stricken with as Light and Darkness balanced each other out, now that the planet lost the alicorns who, in their might, controlled the sun and the moon.

* * * * *

Five years after the first Hearth’s Warming Eve
Countless of years after the Alicorn War

Suddenly their warm and cozy darkness was replaced with blistering cold and sunlight as the capsule was opened from the outside. The shocking change to their situation prompted little Celestia to wake up. The capsule was open and she looked up blearily to see who opened it. An icy cave or glacier surrounded the capsule from what she could see. The excited smile of a mare approached the three fillies as the darkness was broken from the slight glow of the mare’s horn. The glow of her horn revealed her as a unicorn,
“Master Star Swirl! There are three little fillies inside this capsule!”

In the distance, Celestia heard somepony speaking, a stallion it sounded like,
“What? There were ponies in it? Amazing! I just thought it would be a container for goods.” Master? Star Swirl? Celestia shook her head a bit, a certain dizziness took hold of her. The long slumber in the capsule took its toll on her and her tummy began to rumble, demanding food. One thing she knew for sure despite the hunger and beginnings of nausea: Luna and Cadance needed protection now. She was responsible for them. Jumping up, she confronted the mare and raised her head and unfolded her wings to their full span, shielding her niece and younger sister from the gaze of others.

The mare gasped and she stepped away, eyes wide with surprise,
“No… This can’t be!”

“What?” the male voice then asked as it approached them in the dark, “Clover, what is it?”

As hoofsteps approached the capsule, the mare looked into the darkness,
“Master Star Swirl… Wings AND horn…”

He stepped into the light slowly and Celestia could see an elder unicorn looking down to her as his eyes analyzed her, taking in every detail. Her eyes grew stern, ‘If this pony is the other one’s master, maybe it is stronger or of higher class.’
“Indeed,” he paused stroking his beard, “This young filly is one of the ancient alicorns. I’ve searched all my life for them.”

Those words alarmed Celestia even more and she charged up her horn as she lowered her head defensively in a protective stance. Noticing this, the mare arched her eyebrows and stepped back,
“She’s protecting her younger siblings, I guess…” the unicorn mare then stated as she retreated to the side of the old unicorn stallion. The mare seemed to be a scribe or researcher in Celestia's eyes. Her attire was simple, much in contrast to her master who was cloaked in rather attention-drawing blue attire. A big, pointy hat rested on his head and the bells, on it’s rim as well as on his cloak, jingled with every step he took.

“Of course…” Star Swirl confirmed, “Somepony must have put them into this capsule to escape whatever fate the alicorns faced. This is a whole new world for her and she has no one but these two other ponies…”

The young princess’ ears dropped. That old unicorn was right. She had no one else in this world except Luna and Cadance. Her mother, her father, her older brother… All the other alicorns were gone.
“Tis dangerous to tell others, master…” the mare now said while levitating a warm blanket around the three young ponies. Worry was in the mare’s voice. “The nobles and rulers might feel threatened in their rule by these three fillies. The nobility and royalty could mean them harm.”

Star Swirl, however, looked into Celestia’s eyes before he simply shook his head as a kind smile formed behind his beard,
“How could they? These young maidens are goddesses among mortals. Come, let’s get them out of the cold and get them something to eat. A frozen glacier is not the place for three little ponies, even if they are alicorns. Also I guess this young lady has lots of questions to ask about the world such as we have several about the past…”

As Clover attempted to levitate the two younger foals, Celestia intervened aggressively and dispelled the magic, levitating her only remaining family herself. With a friendly nod, Clover let her be. What the unicorn mare didn’t expect was the sudden gasp of Celestia when she first laid eyes on the stars of the night sky. Clover couldn’t tell if it was sadness or the beauty of the stars that touched Celestia. She had no way of knowing why, but the tears were in Celestia’s eyes, flowing like a waterfall, ‘ My family, all of them. Every alicorn . . . They light the sky. It’s like an eternal funeral pyre.’

* * * * *

Fifteen years after the first Hearth’s Warming Eve

The wood in the fireplace crackled and hissed as the fire slowly devoured it, delivering warmth in the night. Sitting at her scribe desk, the mare read a few lines of her old journal with the light of the fireplace and a candle as her sources of light.

In front of Clover rested a black book with stars on the leather book jacket at the far side of her desk. The only unfinished work he passed on to her. 'Star Swirl …' Her former mentor, long dead now had passed it to her so that future generations could finish his work with the brilliance he didn’t possess. But despite her age Clover had never achieved his kind of skill. How often did he rage in front of her and the young fillies that he couldn’t see the solution to this riddle?

Celestia often looked up to the elder unicorn, to observe his efforts and see his frustration. Clover always wondered if the young filly might have known something, but held it back so Star Swirl could find out on his own. Maybe she was sparing his dignity. Then again, Clover was uncertain if her mentor would have been grumpy or thankful if a young alicorn would had helped him with his work.

Dipping the quill twice into the ink, Clover began to write down her thoughts. The ink made a sizzling noise as the magic in it worked itself into the pages. A spell to conserve the paper and ink for several generations to come before the book needed to be restored. One of her master’s most useful spells.

What if a filly could be more than others think of her?
What if a filly strives for greatness?

Looking out of the window, Clover saw Luna looking up to the moon. Her love for the nocturnal celestial object grew with every passing night, as much as Celestia loved the warm light of the sun with its life-giving rays. Both fillies had studied the magic spells the unicorns performed to move the two bodies. While never being a part of the celestial ministry, Clover knew through her former mentor that each celestial object needed several spells at any given time to move. Several hundred unicorns were used to perform these spells. And now these two fillies had learned all of them, ‘Are they trying to enter the ministry? Or are they…’ Clover’s thoughts went in an odd direction, ‘No, it couldn’t be. It would be so wonderful though. And yet… These two fillies show such strong magical potential despite being so very young.’

Celestia, although much younger than Clover, surpassed her by far. Clover often wondered if perhaps these were the powers of the ancient legends. The third one still in her cradle, Cadance, was still very young, ‘Maybe alicorns age differently than normal ponies and her body first needs to accumulate enough magic power to grow.’

However, the slow rate of aging left Clover no other choice than to deduce that alicorns either have a rate of aging beyond the grasp of the pony mind or perhaps that they could choose their age after a certain amount of time. When faced with the question of age, Celestia could only shrug. She couldn’t say how long the capsule was buried under ice and dirt. It never meant much to them. They were here and enjoyed being with other ponies.

This was an untroubled 15 year span for the ponies. It was a time where Clover witnessed the three young fillies, who she learned were actual princesses, grow up to some degree. It still took her by surprise every time she thought of it. Among themselves, they never behaved like royalty, but more like family.

During these years Celestia took it upon herself to teach Luna the manners an alicorn princess would need,
“A princess must eat her Alfalfa before dessert."

“But it’s dumb and gross and I hate it and it’s a stupid color and besides… You never eat your Alfalfa!”

‘That filly…’ Celestia thought before she shrugged, ‘Oh well… lead by example…’ And with that she leaned forward and took a bite out of her own Alfalfa and chewed it. Luna's stern face returned to smiling again. Her sister was not being hypocritical about her own rules. Peeking over to her younger sister, Celestia grinned a bit, still chewing on her own Alfalfa.

Her own playfulness took hold of Celestia and she raised both hooves to towering above her head,
"Bleh! Alfalfa monster!"

This earned her a laugh from Luna, who turned away and raised a hoof in defense,
"Ewww!!! No!!!"

Yes... These were untroubled years…

The days seemed to blur into one another and eventually there were the days where Clover had more and more problems getting up. Her legs ached more and more with every passing month. Age finally took its toll on the mare. It didn't occur to the fillies immediately and Clover was happy about that. Yet she still managed to notice the occasional worried glance from Celestia. However, no matter how bad her own health was, Clover worried more about the fillies under her care, 'If I'm gone, what about them? They're still so young...'

And then a most dreadful evening took place.

As Clover walked in slowly with every step a minor struggle, she noticed the worried glances of the two princesses. Although Cadance had become a little filly by now, her aunts were quite more mature, almost young mares, by pony standards that is. Maybe by alicorn standards they would still be very young.

"Thou two make strange faces... Do I look that old to alicorn eyes?" Clover asked.

Startled like being caught red-hooved, both of the sisters gulped,
"N-Nay! Of course not!" Luna stated.

Giving the dark alicorn a smirk, Clover shook her head,
"Yes, I do, Luna. I don't blame thee for worrying about me." sitting down to the edge of her bed she gave them a smile, “Thou three are the answer. The answer to the question: ‘Are alicorns only fairy tale and legend or are they still present to watch over us?’ Thou can not imagine how much it meant to Master Star Swirl and me to find thou three. But now I want thee to leave this place and find thine own place in this world. Thou can not stay in here forever.”

This frightened Luna visibly; resting a hoof on the old mare, Luna looked up to her almost pleadingly,
“Can we not continue on being thy friends? I have had such fun while playing with thee and Tia…”

“We ARE friends!” the old mare smiled as she turned over to hug Luna, “Nothing of this shall change that, Luna. But I believe that thou three were left here for a reason. And even if it takes an eternity, thou owe it to thyself to find out that reason." Luna didn't fully understand what she meant, but nodded and gave Clover her bravest smile. It was a smile Celestia couldn't share so easily.

In the previous 15 years, Celestia had learned to see the flame of life in every pony. It was a faint magic, only effective within a few inches and it only illuminated the pony a tiny little bit. Approaching the mare who took care for the three of them for so many of her years, Celestia could see the flame flicker and rapidly grow weak. Clover was nearing the end of her journey on this world.

Smiling at them, Clover rested her head down on her bed,
“Thou three will become a shining example for us ponies. We will try to emulate thy greatness. We will fail at first. We will stumble and fall down several times along the way… But sometime in the far future, we will be worthy as thy companions. In the end, thou shall guide us to achieve our own greatness as well.”

Gulping, Celestia slowly shook her head. Tears ran down her cheeks. Even now, in the final moments of her life, the old mare kept her smile and courage. Just like the white alicorn she knew that her life would end very soon. The courage touched the young princess,
“Clover…”

But the lavender unicorn mare only shook her head with another gentle motherly smile,
“I don’t regret finding thou three… For a mare like me who devoted herself to the studies to enrich this world with wisdom and knowledge… Who never was part of a herd… thou three were the daughters I never had. I only regret mine eyes never beholding the world thou will build…” Taking a final breath, Clover smiled before exhaling for the last time. All was silent in the room. The flame Celestia saw in the mare flickered one last time and vanished completely. Clover the Clever was dead.

Luna bowed her head down, tears running down her cheeks,
“May thou rest peacefully…” it was then when Celestia approached her dead body with a saddened face that Luna arched a brow as she looked up again, “Tia? Thou know that we cannot bring back those who have passed into death?”

“I know, my sister… I shall not try such heresy.” Celestia looked down to the dead mare, “I shall make a vow to thee, Clover the Clever… In every generation there is a mare… that outshines her fellow ponies like a beacon… I vow to thee that I shall look for such fillies… And the stars are my witness: I will guide them to greatness if I find them… ”

They didn't pack much. Only a few rations for the journey and some books. Celestia treasured the books Clover held dear and one half of her saddlebags were reserved for them. It was the best she could think of at the time. Somehow, this mare and her mentor needed to be rewarded for their dedication and sacrifices. Ponies needed to know about their doings.

* * * * *

And so the years and centuries passed by. Three young spirits helping out whoever crossed their paths, bringing order to those who didn’t have it. Soon the rumors about them reached the farthest villages of Equestria. For some they were guardians… for others, they were good spirits, not really belonging to others… They were the mares that controlled the sun and the moon with the power of hundreds of unicorns, using their power to do well for everypony.

* * * * *

The day of the Discordian Age

As the pink cotton candy clouds filled the skies from the horizon stretching over the ruined chaotic landscape, a strange noise became audible. Turning around, the two young alicorn mares and the filly witnessed a blue box appearing.

Outside stepped the yellow coated hoof and a stallion with silver mane looked at the skies, before his eyes rested on the alicorns,
“Ah! Just in time I think. Your highness? I’m here to help!”

Celestia arched a brow,
“Highness? Nopony hath addressed us as such in a long, long time… Who are thou?”

“I’m a traveler through time and space that just happened to find three descendants of the ancient alicorn race." the stallion said, "But please… Call me the Doctor!” stepping to their side, he looked at the unfolding chaos before giving them a smile, “Let me help you clean this mess…”

The cotton candy clouds rose up and formed the gigantic body of a Draconequus. Two shining red eyes stared at the two alicorn mares. It was a sight that tore through the hearts of the princesses. Their former friend and playfellow had lost all of his inhibitions and unknowingly was losing those who tried to save him from his own self-destructive path. It hurt to see him like that, but for the sake of all of ponykind, Celestia knew he had to be stopped. As the giant figure of cotton candy cloud achieved solid form, its eyes narrowed angrily and looked down to the mares.

“Thou think thou could stand up to me? EQUESTRIA IS MINE!!!”

Determination was set into the expressions on the faces of the two mares,
“Nay!" Celestia shouted, "Not if I can help it! Luna? Let’s go!” the dark blue mare nodded and nudged young Cadance to enter the booth.

Facing the Doctor, the young Celestia looked into his eyes,
“Doctor… The word for healer and wise one, throughout the world. If thou really wish to help us then help us to find the means to cure this land.” With a nod she and the Doctor entered the blue booth and it disappeared mere seconds before a gigantic claw of cotton candy cloud smashed the ground it was standing on.

* * * * *

Equestria, today.

Rachel Higgins slumbered peacefully in her cabin Nr. 36-A. A mere bag of holding assembled into a closet room gave her a complete cabin with bathroom, bedroom and living room. For once, Discord's work turned out to be useful and pleasant at the same time. Like this, the base could hold several hundred ponies if needed. And the room to make that happen would fit into a locker room with several hundred lockers. In the next moment the whole base began shaking as loud dub-step music hammered through the ventilation system. In an instant Rachel was sitting up in bed, her right eye twitching angrily like she was seconds from a nervous breakdown,
“VINYL!!!!” dressing as quickly as she could Rachel stormed down the corridor as the loud music continued, “I swear, I’m going to kill that unicorn!"

As she arrived at the base’s kitchen, Tyler and Flynn were already standing outside the door. Flynn was rubbing the back of his head in pain,
"What? Is she in there? Well, what are you waiting for?" she yelled over to them to be heard over the loud music.

Tyler, however, shook his head,
"Don't open that door! Trust me, it's not safe!"

Shaking her head, Rachel signaled for him to speak louder,
"What is it, Jones? You have to speak louder!"

Ignoring the warning look on Tyler’s face, she opened the door. A pressure wave slammed her away from the doorway and nailed her against the wall on the other side of the corridor. Rachel tried to push against the music, but the pressure on her pressed her against the wall and she couldn’t move against it. Tyler and Flynn held their ears as Tyler magically closed the door. He noticed that with the pressure on the door he had to use way more magic than usual. When the door was closed, the pressure on Rachel was gone. She suddenly slumped to the floor, reeling from the intensity of the music.

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head,
"What are we going to do about this?"

As if on cue, the power to the corridor ceased and the music came to a sudden stop.

Casting his gaze to the ceiling lights, Tyler nodded,
"Sam finally turned the power off."

From the inside of the kitchen, Vinyl's voice became audible now,
"Hey! Who killed the wubs?" The three humans nodded at each other and stormed in.

* * * * *

Half an hour later the human Rangers were standing in Tyler's office as he and Vinyl were sitting at his desk. Folding his hands together, Tyler gently shook his head with a sigh,
"Vinyl, don’t wash the dishes so loudly.This is the third time this week and there are complaints of wubs louder than anypony can stand coming in on a regular basis. I know you like your music and are used to this... But please... Think about your fellow Rangers.”

The unicorn’s jaw hung open in disbelief,
"Aww ,come on! It's the best way to wake up in the morning! You guys should be thanking me!"

Hearing Vinyl’s words, Flynn and Sam had to hold Rachel back and cover her mouth before she could reach the self-assured unicorn. Tyler’s eyes flickered their direction and he gave them a brief nod of his head towards the door. The two men had to struggle to get Rachel out of the office. Tyler gave the mare in front of him a stern look,
"Vinyl, there are 350 ponies in this facility living under the ground. Life underground is difficult enough without any extra stress. This is not the time to party like we do in Ponyville. I have to ask you: Do you take this seriously?"

The unicorn mare looked up, shocked,
"Wha-? Of course I do! I volunteered for this!"

Tyler closed his eyes and arched his brows then sighed and nodded,
"Indeed you did, but you deprive the other personnel of their sleep and thus they work less efficiently. I can't let you continue with this. Either you limit the volume of your music, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave."

Vinyl looked down, 'This is not between me and Octavia anymore, this is getting serious. My career as an agent depends on this!' Gulping down a big lump in her throat, the mare took a deep breath and closed her eyes,
"I... I understand. I won't do kitchen duty anymore... And my wubs will be limited to the bass cannon testing ground."

As she was about to head out of the room, Tyler arched a brow and smiled,
"Vinyl."

With a sigh the unicorn rolled her eyes and looked back,
"Yes?"

Tyler stood up and headed for the window of his office. Looking down to the command center he continued talking,
"You are doing too much of everything. It’s in your nature, you’re a pony of passion. That’s not a bad thing, don't forget that. I want to see the report about that cannon of yours by the end of the week. Do you think you will have it ready for a test run by then?" As he glanced over to her with a smile, her eyes grew determined once more and she nodded. With a nod of his own, he looked out again,
"Then you're dismissed."

Not very long after Vinyl had left the office and the command center, Rachel went up the stairs to Tyler's office and opened the door,
"And? Was the problem resolved?"

Tyler continued to look toward the command center, smiling,
"I didn't throw her out, if that’s what you’re asking.. She may have her flaws, but she still is a great asset to this facility. I don't think she needs anymore disciplinary inquiry. Oh, and Rachel?"

She arched a brow,
"Yes? What is it?`"

Tyler chuckled a bit before he put on a wide grin,
"Next time when you come in, would you knock and ask for permission to enter? I thought you were in the military."

The comment caught her off guard. It stung more than she would have thought. She gritted her teeth angrily. Although he was right, it was only too obvious that he intended to mock her a bit about her minor mistake.
"Yes, sir!" she said with a defiant undertone in her voice before walking back to Flynn and Sam. Looking back to Tyler’s office, Rachel arched a brow. "The way he sometimes talks... Flynn, doesn't that remind you of something?”

Grimacing a bit while not understanding, Flynn turned around a bit,
"What do you mean? Is there something wrong with the way he talks?"

Rachel frowned and rubbed her chin with her hand,
"Hmmm... Probably nothing, but I somehow always had the feeling that, for a civilian, that guy knows way too much about military organization."

Sam shook his head,
"You forgot he served in a war in the Amasian Enclave on this world already. And that he is the Strategic Advisor for Canterlot."

Folding her arms, Rachel cocked her head and arched her brow,
"Sam... It's not that simple. I’m not talking about stuff he might have taught these ponies from the 'Art of War'."

Shrugging now, Flynn opened his arms,
"Then what do you mean, Rachel?"

With a sigh, Rachel rubbed her neck.
"Jones knows CQC. As a matter of fact, I'm sure of that one"

Sam now arched a brow,
"CQ what now? Isn't that from this video game?"

Rachel rolled her eyes,
"It IS a real term, OK? Jones knows CQC, which basically means he, at one point in the past, had contact with someone in the military. Or served in the military for some time. Someone who can keep up with a marine isn't an amateur in unarmed combat."

Flynn thought for a moment,
"Now that you mention it... I think the one time when he punched you was a CQC punch. Swift, controlled and precise... But I'm not sure... I mean that was quite some time ago.”

Rolling his eyes now, Sam shook his head,
"Well, that's not unusual anyway. Every country has a military back home on Earth."

With a nod Rachel raised her right index finger to punctuate her point,
"Yeah, that's true, Sam, but not all teach CQC. Some use other martial arts. So my guess is either he learned that from some US-soldiers or... mercenaries."

Flynn and Sam looked at her before they both smirked at each other. Sam was the first to shake his head,
"You're jumping to conclusions. Also, what would it help now to know if he had a military training at some point in time?"

Flynn nodded in confirmation,
"Yeah, what's next? Legendary Soldier Tyler Jones or something? Come on, he's just the first guy who stumbled into this world. As far as I'm concerned right now, he just wants to live here and protect the ones he loves. That's not a bad thing in my book. I don't care too much about his past right now, we have other things to think about, like a vacation."

Sam grinned widely,
"Oh yeah! Our first few days off from this facility! Lyra, Pinkie, and I will go on a boat trip on the lake again. A few hours of privacy for a little picnic…”

Flynn nodded to this,
"Sounds good. Rainbow and I will hang out with Scootaloo. To make up for all the time we're not there for her alone. Truth be told, I can't wait to see that filly smiling again.

Both men now looked to Rachel,
"What about you, Rachel?" Sam asked.

"Yes, what are your plans?" Flynn added.

Rachel raised her chin and smirked,
"I'm going to spend one day with Octavia to have a little stroll through Ponyville. She said she could point me towards some nice musicians that aren't all about preying on females. A little social development, you know? A girl can't pet her weapons all the time."

Come noon, the humans were packing some personal stuff. Shortly after, the friends stood in the elevator going upwards of the facility. Together with some other ponies who also decided to take their first vacation. On the last checkpoints, each Ranger had to sign a consent form not to talk about the projects in the facility and had to perform one last Changeling test.

As soon as they were out of the facility, Sam stretched a bit and looked over to Lyra,
"Damn! It feels good to be in the sunlight. Don't you think so?"

Lyra had her eyes closed and nodded with a smile as she let the sun shine onto her face, "Finally some natural warmth and not from magic heaters. This feels soooo good!"

Flynn cracked his knuckles again,
"Man! I'm tempted to run down to Ponyville right freaking now."

Tyler held him back,
"Save your strength for the real deal. You don't want to go down there and be out of power for your girl, do you?"

Flynn gave the comment a smirk,
"Point taken..."

* * * * *

Meanwhile in Ponyville library, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were conversing as Rainbow borrowed the latest issue of Daring do: Daring Do and the Coin of Ashalon.
"Rainbow, how do you keep track of Flynn? I mean he's gone for so long, how do you, as the Element of Loyalty, know that he stays faithful to you?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow just snickered,
"Ha! Flynn is faithful to me. I have my ways of knowing that. I mean it's not rocket science. Maybe you would prefer it to be that complex, Twilight, but frankly? I just look for the way he looks at me when we see each other again. I can just tell he's been pent up for all those weeks if he looks at me with that glance only human males have.”

Twilight cocked her head with an unbelieving smirk,
"His look? Oh please..."

Shrugging a bit, the cerulean mare smiled,
"Well... And his behavior. A faithful man will come at you. If he's done something wrong like breaking something, Flynn usually avoids me. That's when I know I have to make him spill the beans." It was at that moment that the door to the library was tossed open and Flynn stood in it. Both mares blinked in surprise before Rainbow smirked a bit.

His eyes pierced through to Rainbow and stabbed down to her rump,
"So here you are..." without hesitation Flynn approached Rainbow and lifted her up until she rested on his shoulders.

While Rainbow laughed wildly, Twilight shook her head a bit in disbelief,
"What the hay?"

Her Pegasus friend looked over to her with a happy smile,
"Told ya!" While Flynn carried Rainbow outside, Twilight blinked a bit trying to process what had just happened, ‘It was like he was claiming her…’ Slowly a smirk came to her lips as she realized the true meaning and what these two were up to now.

Just as she turned to her books again and levitated some back into the shelves, the sound of another pair of boots came to her notice. Tyler stood in the door and like Flynn before, he eyed her with greed in his eyes. Taking a gulp, Twilight attempted to smile,
"T-Tyler..." With quick and determined steps he approached the librarian and within seconds, she was in his arms. A short surprised yelp was the only thing she could do before his lips pressed down to hers. Twilight's eyes widened. Standing on two legs, she had his right arm wrapped around her and aiding her balance while his left hand began kneading her rump. Her cheeks began burning as she started to give in. Yes, he wanted her. He had been faithful, no unfaithful male would express this much need.

A sudden harrumph from Spike brought the two of them back into the library,
"Would you two like some privacy? Good! I'm at Sugarcube Corner." with that the baby dragon left the library.

After a long and passionate kiss, Tyler grinned at her and caressed her cheek,
"Twilight? I'll stay the night over at Sweet apple Acres to spend some time with Applejack and Appleseed. Tomorrow I'll come over to you, OK?"

Giggling, Twilight narrowed her eyes a bit down, eying him seductively,
"I see. Spending some time with your daughter, hm? Well, our sleepover day is tomorrow, so I think that's OK. I'm sure I can think of some errands for Spike between now and then. We might have the library all for us."

Letting his hand slide over Twilight's rump ever so gently, Tyler grinned,
"I hope so..." As she returned to standing on four hooves, Twilight could not help but notice the bulge in his crotch. Somehow it was a pity she had to pass this to AJ, but today the library had a bit too many customers. It was funny though. Although humans didn't undergo the hardships of a heat cycle, they could behave the same when deprived of sexual activity for a longer duration. That might be some nice info for Princess Celestia as well, but not truly worthy of a friendship lesson.

* * * * *

Half an hour later Tyler held Appleseed up, who laughed as she looked down to her father,
"There you are, my little girl! Who's a cutie?"

Applejack smiled at him,
"She sure likes yer voice. It always takes Granny or Big Mac twice as long to get her to sleep."

Tyler nodded while tickling the little belly of his daughter, what was rewarded with lovely foal laughter,
"That's why I was talking to her while she still was in your womb, AJ. She probably knows my voice so well now that it calms her."

Apple Bloom cocked her head,
"A foal can hear the voice of a pony while still in the belly of her mother?"

Nodding his head, Tyler stroked the filly's mane,
"It sure can, Apple Bloom. It's the same with human babies.”

Kneeling down to the little filly, Tyler gestured to her with a head motion to come closer as he held Appleseed in his arms. Slowly, the young filly approached her niece and Appleseed looked up to her aunt with big eyes. Then the little foal stretched out her little hooves and grabbed Apple Bloom's face. Laughing in delight, the little foal then let go and Appleseed looked up to her mother who smiled down with a nod.

Somehow Apple Bloom got the idea that being with a special somepony wasn't just being nice to that one pony you like the most or kissing and doing weird adult stuff. It was sharing a bond and cherishing the fruits of each others love. Seeing Applejack nuzzling Appleseed while Tyler held her in his arms felt familiar to her and there was this nostalgic feeling that she had experienced this once before. And feeling it once again, felt good. It felt right.

An hour later Appleseed was in her cradle and Apple Bloom in her bed.

Taking off her Stetson, Applejack took a deep breath,
"Whoa Nelly... This sure was a stressful day."

Tyler nodded,
"You’re telling me, I was about to drown in work in Canterlot. Good thing Shining Armor nudged me in the right direction."

Chuckling a bit, AJ shook her head,
"Ah'll thank him later for keeping yer feet on the ground. But as for yerself... Whaddya say, big boy? Yerself, me, and some mugs of cider in the barn?" wiggling her eyebrows a bit, she grinned seductively, "Ah'll get ya thinkin' about other stuff in no time, Sugarcube..."

Closing his eyes, Tyler shook his head with a chuckle,
"You certainly know how to put that into the nicest words, don't you?" standing up, he tickled her ear before he lowered his voice, "Waking up in one of my mares in the morning sure will be something that would get me to think of other things.”

* * * * *

Early the next morning, Tyler woke up in the barn of Sweet Apple Acres to the crow of the farm's rooster. The previous night with Applejack had been great.

Now he woke up as something licked his cheek,
“Honey… I told you I’m not that much into that tongue-erotica…”

“Oh! You’re awake! Morning, sweetie!” in an instant Tyler’s eyes popped open as he looked to the origin of the all too familiar voice.

The crystal blue eyes of Pinkie Pie batted as she looked seductively at him. In the next moment Tyler’s scream echoed over the farm, causing Winona to howl along.

Storming out of the barn, he made haste down the streets as Pinkie looked after him with a giggle,
"Oh well... Back to work!"

Mere minutes later, Tyler, still untidily dressed, reached the outskirts of Ponyville while running, 'This can't be happening! This can't be happening!!! I would never betray the girls like this!' As he reached Ponyville, he found a crowd of ponies arguing and feuding. Shaking his head not understanding, he then noticed that Flynn and Sam approached him with Rachel and Grinko. “Folks, what is going on here?”

“You tell us!” Sam growled, “I woke up next to Bon Bon and Fluttershy!”

In an instant, Grinko had grabbed Sam and growled at him,
“You what?!?”

Flynn shook his head,
“Well… I for one woke up besides Rarity, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so bad in my life… Where’s Rainbow?”

While still growling at Sam, Grinko turned his head slightly aside,
“She’s fine, she’s in Fluttershy’s… bed…”

Flynn’s jaw dropped and he pointed a finger at Grinko,
“Why you dirty little furball! If you touched her…” the three men and the Masar began feuding and arguing about who betrayed who in their honor or friendship.

The blasting, eardrum-shattering, bellowing report of a gunblast behind the four males shocked them out of their aggravated blaming.

Rachel stood behind them holding a shotgun and blew the remaining magic dust out of the run,
“Boys… and their precious little toys… As you can see, every pony in Equestria is all out of order right now. Something must have happened."

Sam nodded although still a bit grumpy,
"She's right, arguing won't help us right now. We should head for Canterlot and ask the princesses what's going on."

On the way to the train station Tyler shook his head in anger,
"I swear if Discords is behind all this, I’m going to shave him, tell the Elements to turn him back to stone and tell Celestia to send him to the sun!"

Flynn stopped on the spot, turned around and walked back, much to the wonder of the other Rangers,
"Hey! Flynn! What gives?"

As he turned around for a second, he shook his head, his face showing determination,
"I'm getting Scootaloo! I won't leave her in this mess!"

A sudden worry began to grow in Tyler and he looked back to Sweet Apple Acres, 'Appleseed...' ,
"He's right! I'm heading back to the farm to get Appleseed. And Apple Bloom as well... I can't leave my daughter unattended!" with that he made haste towards the farm.

Sam and Rachel looked at each other and nodded,
"That leaves us to get Sweetie Belle. Come on!"

Ten minutes later the Cutie Mark Crusaders were fetched from their homes and with the Rangers in the train. All three fillies were in pretty sad moods.

With her lip pouting out, Apple Bloom looked down,
“Why is mah sister actin’ like this all of a sudden?”

Sweetie Belle's eyes filled with tears, her face showing both confusion and despair,
“Applejack is not my sister! And why is Rarity ignoring me?”

Rachel and Flynn comforted the three fillies as best as they could on the ride to Canterlot. Since the conductor was quite useless as so many of the other ponies right now, Sam helped out with the engine.

As Rachel and Flynn looked at each other, they nodded,
“It seems the ponies without cutie marks are not affected by this.”

Flynn nodded while stroking Scootaloo’s mane,
“True, but what about us? Why are we not affected by this? I mean we have cutie marks as well”

Rachel thought for a minute and looked on the ground,
“Hmmm… I think it's because we have racially unique ways that we earned our cutie marks. Plus, the human mind is completely different to the pony mind. Maybe it’s a mindset thing or something. Or maybe it only affects ponies with cutie marks. I don’t know.”

Once in Canterlot, the Rangers and the Cutie Mark Crusaders made haste to enter the castle and for a brief moment the three fillies almost forgot the strange situation in their excitement to meet the princesses. Tossing the doors to the throne room open, they found the two regal sisters at the windows looking outside.

A sigh of relief escaped Tyler,
"Thank God you two aren't affected by the menace out there!"

Both alicorns looked a little startled at the humans. They appeared to hadn't expected them here.

"Tyler? What are you doing here?" Celestia asked while her eyes slowly widened.

Luna's eyes, however, narrowed a bit, 'Curious... It seems their cutie marks haven't been affected by this either... Maybe it's because of their unusual earning... Or the human mind is not affected by this spell.'

Scootaloo now gently tugged on Flynn’s shirt,
“Dad? Will Rainbow Dash be OK again?”

The question got to Flynn once more.

The bond between him and the little Pegasus grew with every passing day since she had begun calling him like that,
“Of course she will be, sweetheart. All of the others will be OK again... The Rangers will see to it.”

It was then when Tyler spoke up,
“Don’t be too quick with promises, Flynn. First we need to know what caused all of this crap!” with that he turned to the white alicorn, “Celestia, can you tell me why the fuck I woke up next to Pinkie Pie instead of Applejack?”

Sam nodded,
“It’s a wonder Fluttershy didn’t have a heart attack when she…” Tyler’s statement finally sunk in and he then turned to Tyler, “You what!?”

Tyler immediately shook his head,
“Let’s not start this again, man! I was sleeping in the barn. I was prepared to get a certain Manehattan filly trying to nibble on me or AJ’s broom slapping me… But waking up next to Pinkie? Yeah, I dare you to even try explaining that to your herd mates!”

Flynn folded his arms,
“This is a complete mess! It’s like the memories of every pony in Equestria are messed up!”

Tyler faced the two regal sisters again,
“So! What do we do to correct this mess? Beat up Discord or something?”

Both Celestia and Luna shared a look, before Celestia shook her head,
“You Rangers will do nothing. We will watch this and let the situation solve itself.”

The gathered Rangers cocked their heads, Celestia’s words causing them to look at the princess in confusion,
“What?”

The white alicorn continued,
“This is not Discord’s doing. I myself have sent a book to Twilight that caused this. It is a book written by Star Swirl the Bearded that contains an unfinished spell. Now she must correct the spell in order to undo the problem she caused.”

Not believing his ears, Tyler stared at her while shaking his head,
“Celestia… Why? What madness drove you to do that to Twilight? Or to do that to the ponies of Equestria?”

“This is Twilight’s final examination for her advanced studies. As of now, you Harmony Rangers are under stand-down orders. Do you understand?”

While the others nodded, Tyler stared at Celestia.

The Princess of the Sun approached him and stabbed him with her strict look,
“Do you understand, Ranger Tyler?”

Tyler gritted his teeth. Of all the things she asked of him this was the first time he strongly disagreed. Now, in this moment where all of Equestria was vulnerable as a raw egg he had to sit by and do nothing.

Just before Luna was about to say something he nodded,
“Understood… The Rangers will not interfere. With the ponies all going loony, there is little we can do anyhow…”

As he turned around, Celestia’s strict face returned to normal,
“Tyler,” as he halted, the princess sighed, “Have faith in her.”

Tyler nodded and went to the gardens with the other Rangers and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Both princesses looked after them,
“He doesn’t seem to like thine order, my sister…” Luna said flatly, “He didn’t like it at all… Maybe we should have told him about this earlier. Then again, he might have warned Twilight Sparkle about the task waiting for her.”

“He’s just worried for Twilight and the others.” Celestia answered, “Did you see the look on his face? He was expecting a fight, was even willing to fight me in order to save this country.”

Luna arched a brow,
“A human like him against an alicorn… Under any circumstances that would be quite a sight… But isn’t that why thou and I love him?” with a nod, Celestia approached the window and looked outside, “Tia? Art thou thinking about her again?” Luna now asked while cocking her head.

“Yes, I am, Luna. It’s fascinating how much Twilight resembles her. The same thirst for knowledge, the same wish to please to her mentor.” With a smile Celestia looked down, “Luna… We’ve exchanged some memories in this one year after your return. I’ve shown you how I teach Twilight… Do you think-“

“Nay!” her sister interrupted her, “What you did was precisely what you had to do, there was no other way.”

Looking up to her younger sibling, Celestia’s ears stood up, erect,
“Luna, how can you know that? I mean… It is possible that I failed somewhere. Look at the Rangers. They unite the ponies with their willpower and strong minds. Maybe I could have lead her that way as well.”

Coming to the side of her sister, Luna smiled as she looked down at Ponyville with her, “Because I am myself again and not an uncontrollable war maiden any longer. Thou taught her well. She was able to defeat me, Discord and Queen Chrysalis. And she chose wisely in the Crystal Empire, sending Spike to the rescue, all of these things perfect examples of thy teachings. The Rangers are a powerful force, yes, but our Elements of Harmony are what forged these Rangers into what they are today. Thanks to the Elements they are protectors of the values of Equestria.”

Luna’s reassurance made Celestia smile again, ‘Now… now after all these years the day has finally come; the day I can fulfill that ancient promise I made to Clover the Clever.’

Twilight had been carefully prepared. Since that fateful day in Canterlot, when Celestia witnessed the powerful magic coming from the young filly, she had prepared Twilight step by step to be prepared for this one day. Nopony knew that the School for Gifted Unicorns exclusively served Celestia as a tool to find unicorns worthy of her time. For four centuries the school had brought forth great unicorns of good and remarkable potential and it filled Celestia with joy to see the magic grow inside the unicorns with each passing generation. It was a nice diversion from her younger sister’s banishment. In hindsight, Twilight was found just in time to be shaped into a good and proper student to face Nightmare Moon.

There was no doubt in Celestia’s mind that Twilight would pass this test. Since the beginning of her studies, the princess had strengthened the mind of the young unicorn mare. But for the last preparations, Twilight’s heart needed to be strengthened and this could only be done among other ponies. Not failing her mentor, Twilight was successful. Each and every success and test mastered filled the princess with joy and pride. Now all the efforts Celestia brought up to prepare Twilight seemed to be brought to the test.

* * * * *

Strolling through the royal garden, Tyler saw Rachel coming over from the Cutie Mark Crusaders,

"I'm trying to keep the little ones busy to divert their attention from all this crap. But honestly? I can't do that forever. I'm a marine, not a kiddie counselor. Flynn went over to the headquarter. I don't know for certain, but if the ponies there are suffering as the rest of Equestria, it must be terrible. Maybe you should take a look later on as well while I take care of the fillies."

Nodding his head Tyler looked over to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo,
"Yes, of course. Since we're not allowed to interfere, let's just minimize the damage to the HQ. You may not be a counselor, but for now you are another girl for the girls, do your best."

Giving a sigh, Rachel nodded,
"I'll give it a try for the little ones."

Looking over to Grinko, Tyler smirked a bit,
"So… You and Fluttershy, huh? Do you two-” before Tyler could end the sentence, Grinko raised his paw.

Growling a bit, the Masar wrinkled his nose and shook his head,
"Although I respect you as a friend, Tyler Jones, I won’t dishonor Fluttershy by talking about our more intimate moments. My lair mate and I are bonding and learn much from each other. And more you don’t need to know."

Tyler smiled and patted Grinko's shoulder,
"I wasn't going to ask about that now but fair enough. I know how sensitive she is to this topic... or rather... I can imagine. And I expected nothing less from you and your honor, Grinko." looking down to Ponyville, Tyler heaved a deep sigh.

The entire situation was dreadful,
"I guess in this case we have to hope that our girls find a way to fix this on their own, huh?"

The Masar nodded calmly and folded his arms,
"There is strength in their hearts. They can handle this. I have faith in them, but still I don't like doing nothing."

Grinko’s statement earned another nod from Tyler,
"You and me both. This uncertainty is agonizing." with a sigh he then headed towards the garden exit, "I'm going to headquarters..."

* * * * *

While walking down the streets of Canterlot, Tyler saw the full extent of the problem. Ponies of every kind were doing things horribly and were most upset about it as were their customers.

Arguing and feuding ruled the streets and with a deep breath Tyler went on as Discord appeared near him, munching a bowl of popcorn as he hovered beside the human,
"Wonderful, isn't it? The only downside to it is that it this is not my doing."

As Tyler approached the military facility, his eyes narrowed,
"Yeah... Quite a pity..." the situation at hand was bad enough, that Draconequus wasn't helpful at all and his gloating brought Tyler to a foul mood.

As they entered the elevator to go down into the depths of the facility, Discord took another bite of his popcorn,
"You know you should lighten up, Tyler. It's not everyday that you have to stand back while others do the work..." Tyler's fists clenched together, 'That asshole is not responsible for this. Keep calm and soldier on... Keep calm and soldier on...' His mind repeated this mantra over and over again trying to ignore the former Spirit of Chaos.

It was then when he overheard Discord during one particular sentence,
"Oh and Twilight is weeping so hard about what she did to her friends..."

Tyler's pupils shrank to tiny dots, 'That does it!'

In the next moment he grabbed the Draconequus and slammed him against the elevator wall,
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"

It was in this moment that a pressure wave from Tyler's body forced the elevator doors out of their hinges and tossed them into the room,
"Fucking stop your attempts to cheer me up, Discord! You suck at this!"

But the Draconequus simply smirked as if Tyler could never hope to harm him,
"I never intended to cheer you up... But you needed to blow a fuse or two..."

Looking around, Tyler saw the damage he had caused. The elevator walls were dented heavily in several places and the doors were torn right off the wall, 'If that would have happened while in a crowd of ponies...'

Tyler gulped and patted the shoulder of the Draconequus,
"In that case you did well, Discord... But that still doesn't mean I approve of your methods."

Sneering, the former Spirit of Chaos vanished in a flash and reappeared inside the room a few meters from Tyler,
"I only promised to use my powers for good... The methods for these good results were never part of that agreement."

While most Rangers now were arguing and feuding in the several departments, Tyler was happy that it wasn't like unauthorized ponies were inside the facility. Maybe whatever happened was contained in here because of the security systems, so that whatever spell swapped the ponies had to swap all Rangers now. He then approached the so called 'Speed Testing Ground Alpha'. As he entered, he arched a brow because there was only a ladder inside this room.

After climbing it up, he saw Flynn tying his shoes,
"Flynn? What are you doing here? And why are you all alone?”

Stretching and jumping a bit, Flynn just looked straight forward,
"There’s nothing I can do right now for Equestria, so I’m going to train.”

Looking around, Tyler noticed the shape of the hall. It was perfectly round as is rose high above the two Rangers. It reminded Tyler of some sort of missile silo or a colossal smooth-bore cannon pointed straight up. With enough speed a motorbike could ride up the round walls and stay there for a few seconds.

The ceiling was about one fifty meters high and Tyler arched his brows,
“Flynn… Are you trying what I think you are?”

“Yes, I want to see how fast I can go. Also I need stronger shoes. What better way to test them than with this?”

Flynn began to run and quickly gained speed. Tyler climbed down again.

On his way up to the exit, he met Rachel again,
"Tyler! The weather… It’s changing again!"

Arching a brow Tyler looked down to her,
"Is it changing for the worse or the better?"

Rachel nodded with a wide smile.
"Better! Much better! Rainbow Dash is at it again!"

Her statement caught Tyler’s attention immediately,
“Oh? That is good news! Alright, you keep watching Ponyville, while I tell Flynn. I bet he will be more than thrilled that his girl is back to normal.”

"What's he doing anyway? Running?"

A quick nod was Tyler's response,
"As I left him, he was doing that, yes..."

Rolling her eyes, Rachel shrugged,
"Typical for him... Well, lets see what progress he makes. Ponyville isn't going to run away."

Tyler arched a brow,
"Where are the Cutie Mark Crusaders? And my daughter?”

"Oh, they are fine. Princess Celestia is having a tea party with the fillies and Princess Luna is taking care of Appleseed. If you ask me, Luna is having fun with that.” Rachel said casually.

Narrowing his eyes a bit, Tyler smirked,
"Yeah, you're probably right. Come on, let's tell Flynn to lift his mood."

They went down to the Testing ground once more. As they entered, there was a harsh wind coming from the ladder and the air was filled with a roaring sound.

Rachel held her ears,
"What is happening?"

Tyler shook his head and slowly approached the ladder. As he looked up, he saw a ring of energy above him. Or was it fire?

It was way too fast to make it out. Shaking his head in disbelief, he stepped away from the ladder,
"Oh, you have to be kidding me… That fast?”

Looking up, Rachel witnessed the ring of speed herself,
"Flynn is worried like all of us, Tyler… Running is his way of stress relief if he can’t fly.” she said as the two of them left the room.

Tyler looked at the door, worried,
“I thought so… but this…? This is he running on anger!”

Rachel folded her arms,
“Now don’t tell me you’re not angry about all this? We left Ponyville in a bad state and were told to hold still. I know at least you and Sam must be mad as hell about that."

Tyler looked at her and nodded, she had a point. He entered the track room again and yelled up to Flynn, enhancing the volume of his voice with magic. He wasn't sure if Flynn heard him, but then the ring slowly descended.

Flynn began to slow down after a while. He lost more and more height in the tube and began to audibly and visibly slow down. The pacing of the footsteps became slower and after five minutes he was slowing down almost beside them and came to a complete halt. His clothes were ripped to shreds, his body steaming and smoking, his shoes were completely broken.

Both eyed Flynn with wide eyes,
"Damn, Flynn... How do you feel?"

Breathing deeply, Flynn already seemed to be in control of his breath again,
"I feel… I feel tired actually and I'm hungry... God I'm hungry."

Tyler grimaced at his fellow Ranger,
"Man, you should feel like… total shit!"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Flynn shook his head,
"You have no idea how much it hurts while running. But now while I'm standing still again, the pain is gone, but the hunger is rising. I think I can't overdo it or I'll begin to starve."

Tyler nodded and looked at Flynn's body,
"Yeah... seems plausible... Your body speeds up its regeneration AND metabolism. You should absolutely watch what you are doing."

Rachel arched a brow at the steaming skin. Would it even be safe to touch his skin right now?

But this wasn't the reason why they were coming,
"The weather is changing back to normal. Rainbow is back in the skies."

The news slowly brought a smile on Flynn's face,
"Finally some good news, folks... Fuck yeah! Um... I'm going to hit the shower, you go up now, I'll catch up with you guys."

By the time they were coming out of the facility again, the ponies normalized as well and the city of Canterlot was on business as usual. Already night time had begun and the streets were filled with the usual chatter instead of fighting and feuding. The checkered clouds in the skies were gone and Sweet Apple Acres was good and well again.

But then they noticed Sam storming right at them.

Out of breath, he huffed a few times before he shook his head,
“These little fillies... Apple Bloom! That girl went down to Sweet Apple Acres again once things began to return to normal. Shortly after that the other two followed her."

Tyler frowned at the information,
"Those silly little fillies... What about Appleseed?"

Sam shook his head,
"Still with Princess Luna. She stood guard next to your daughter the whole time."

Tyler visibly calmed down,
"One less worry at least."

Yet once more Sam shook his head,
" One more thing... About Twilight…"

Tyler smiled and looked around,
"Yes, yes… What about my little girl? I bet she’s beaming like she could take on the world right now. Judging from Canterlot and the surrounding towns, she must have done it, huh?”

Yet Sam wasn't sharing his joy in this,
"That's just it, Tyler! She’s an alicorn now.”

Tyler stopped on a dime instantly.

As he looked around, Sam continued before Tyler could ask him about it,
“Wings and horn, yes… Like the princesses. Princess Luna stated that Twilight passed the test and became royalty. And Princess Celestia simply vanished. Due to her sister, she's having a talk with Twilight in Ponyville now."

A sudden churning feeling in his stomach compelled Tyler to sit down, to digest this message, “Are you… Are you sure?” Sam nodded, Tyler took a deep breath, “This is deep.”

* * * * *

The rest of the night the Harmony Rangers spend their time in the headquarters. Although the stressful time was over for the most of them, Tyler slept lightly and agitated, waking up several times. In the darkness of his cabin, he sat on the edge of his bed torturing himself on how to react to this newest development. The next morning came and with it the coronation of the new princess.

Standing in the back rows of the crowd, the Harmony Rangers were in a rather humble place to be, not seeing the entire throne room.

Flynn shook his head, grinning while he did it,
"Celestia knew this was going to happen! Why else organize everything for a coronation?"

Rachel looked over to Tyler,
"Why exactly are we back here again and not with the others in front?"

Tyler looked over to Rachel,
"This is Twilight's achievement, not ours, not my own. I won’t steal her glory. And neither will any of you."

Arching a brow, Rachel slowly shook her head,
"But still, as her herd mate, you should be there in the front rows."

"Perhaps, but this is her moment and I refuse to do anything that could spoil that for her." Tyler responded.

"So basically, you’re afraid you could detract from her because of your presence?" without waiting for a response she slapped the backside of Tyler's head, "That’s bullshit and you know it! You might as well say that you not being down there would spoil it for her. You did nothing for this, this IS her glorious moment anyway. You just don’t know how to react to all of that, do you?"

Tyler took a deep breath,
“I am mortal, Rachel. I know I don’t talk much about that shit because I cherish every day with my herd mates… But I will die one day. Either in the heat of battle or peacefully in my sleep, or I’ll just drop dead one day while I work in the fields with Applejack, if she lives that long. I’ve thought about it for quite some time now and I think Luna will be the one most devastated when I die, since I’d have probably outlived AJ and Twilight. Now Twilight will outlive me. Imagine the pain that will cause to the three alicorn mares in my herd. It will be like a blow with a sledgehammer.” closing his eyes, Tyler shook his head, “I doomed them to grief the moment I started something with them…”

Rachel and the other Rangers looked at each other before she slapped the back of his head once more,
“You are a moron, Jones! Live your life without thinking of that bullshit!"

Lyra took another note,
“First specimen’s behavior confirms, Human males sometimes are stupid.” looking down at Lyra, Tyler arched a brow. The unicorn simply shrugged, “What? You don’t eat cake while thinking about how it makes your rump get fat! If Pinkie did that, where would be her fun in it?”

“You guys have good points…" Tyler said as he watched the coronation took place.

It was then that Princess Twilight entered the room.

Sam arched a brow now,
"Besides, if it works for Twilight, the most powerful unicorn in recent history, then why shouldn’t it work for a human who’s as powerful as she is?”

“I would never want that.” Tyler said with a somber tone.

Flynn grinned widely,
"To be immortal? How so? I thought everyone would love that. I would love that!”

But Tyler shook his head,
"Only fools see it as an absolute blessing. Me being immortal? I can adapt to a lot but that would probably be impossible! Loneliness, boredom, repetition, and worst of all: routine… that scares me…”

Lyra cocked her head, thinking for a minute,
"But you wouldn’t be lonely with your herd mates would you? I mean... Alicorns are immortal as well, Tyler."

He nodded,
“True… At least in this case we would share eternity forever…” he shook his head once more, stronger this time, “No… I would see generations born, grow old and die over and over again. I don’t know if my mind could bear that for an eternity… And Appleseed… I would have to bury my own daughter… No father should ever do that.”

Grinko growled a bit,
"Silence now! Pay attention to the coronation!"

As Twilight gave her speech to the crowd of ponies, the Rangers came a bit more out of the background. Tyler, however, at one point vanished.

Rachel noticed it first and nudged Flynn, who simply shrugged, "Bathroom maybe?"

During the cheers for the new princess and the short parade in her honor, Tyler was nowhere to be seen. As the newly crowned princess took off and roamed the skies for her first flight, she suddenly noticed something straight ahead of her levitating in her path.

Tyler smirked a bit while he folded his arms,
"Everything’s just fine, hm? Maybe we should-"

But he shouldn't end his sentence. With wide eyes Twilight saw the obstacle before her and lost her balance in midair, "WHOA!!" in the next second, both of them collided in midair and fell to the ground, “Tyler?!? What are you doing???”

Holding his head in minor pain, he looked over to her,
"I was going to have a little talk with you. I thought you could fly with these wings."

"Gliding flight, yes… Liftoff and landing, no!" Twilight responded, perturbed.

Milliseconds before they would have both smashed into the ground Twilight's magic levitated them to a steady hover in midair.

Exhaling in relief, Tyler closed his eyes,
"That was a close one. Good thing you have alicorn magic now. I almost had an accident in my pants. So if you didn't take off by yourself, how did you get started in the first place?"

While Tyler was levitated down to the ground, Twilight teleported herself right next to him, "Shining Armor. I asked him to toss me like Cadance. It would have worked if someone wouldn't have blocked my way."

Sitting on the ground, Tyler grinned a bit,
"Note to self: Get you to Rainbow Dash for a thorough flying tutorial…" his grin withered and he looked at Twilight, "And you? You have some nerve, girl! Who are you to decide if everything is fine with you being a princess? That's a bit hasty, you know? I for one need some time to adjust to that."

His tirade caught Twilight by surprise and she looked at him with a gasp.

Tyler only shrugged,
"What? Did you really think you would become a princess all of a sudden and everyone would be fine and dandy with it all at once? Maybe this is how ponies work; but we humans? We are different."

Slowly Twilight took a step back as tears welled in her eyes, her lips started to quiver,
“Tyler… Does this mean that you… that you don’t love me anymore now that I’m a princess?"

Now Tyler was caught by surprise,
"What the...?" realizing what she meant only made him roll his eyes, "Twilight… You know…? Sometimes you are just plain dense!"

The statement left Twilight dumbfounded,
"Huh?"

Shaking his head, he smiled down upon her as he took her cheeks into his palms,
"Until now we have two alicorn mares in the herd, why should it matter to me in a bad way when the unicorn in our herd ascends to alicorn status?"

Raising a hoof to her mouth, Twilight attempted to search for reasons,
"Because…"

Tyler rolled his eyes and gently flicked her muzzle tip, prompting her to stop in an instant,
"Oh, shut up, girl. As far as I’m concerned, you still are my little Twilight. No wings are going to change that. I just need some time to get accustomed to them. And if you start to get bitchy all of a sudden, I’m going to pull you down to the ground again, you hear me?”

Twilight smiled again, this time with confidence,
“It’s a promise!”

"There you go… Congratulation for passing that test, Twilight… I am so proud of you.”

Sharing a hug now, both of them stood together for what felt like an eternity. Twilight wasn't even sure how long she was in his embrace, but she could be in his arms for the rest of time, as long as it would always feel so good. Accepted. Yes, she felt accepted now despite a major change in her life.

Rubbing her muzzle into his chest, she wanted the moment with him to last forever,
"Thank you, Tyler. Thank you for believing in me."

Placing a kiss in her forehead, he looked deep into her eyes,
"Alright... Now dry your tears and let’s head back to the others."

As they headed back over to Canterlot again, Tyler looked over to Twilight, 'I love her as much as the others, but could I, given the chance, really join them? Could I really choose between them and ...?'

His train of thought was interrupted by Twilight suddenly,
"Tyler? Why exactly were you standing in the back rows at the coronation and not in front?"

'Oh dear...'

Author's Note

proofread by Truthseeker

7 - Dreams of Excess ***

Griffin Kingdom, Mardiastock dockyard, west of the capital city

The cold wind was blowing through the icy mountain tops as the two golden eyes eyed through the landscape. The beloved fatherland, rich in ore and blessed with warriors of strong hearts. The war-wise general often gazed out looking at those very mountains to ease his heart. The mountains supplied safety, food, home and ore. They would be a sight he would miss in his expedition to the west.

"Paj da biross tro kimer, Memret...[It's sure to be cold this afternoon, General.]" one of the officers standing next to him stated.

This earned him a nod from the old griffin,
"… Biross.[…Cold.]" the General repeated in confirmation. "Muji barash.[And harsh.]"

A small airship passed by and sounded its horn, greeting the military griffins. Marek gave the ship a slight smile. His fellow griffins wished him the best of luck and to return with great news.

One of his officers, a griffin a bit younger than the rest of them were, approached them,
"Djin scha va porsa, Memret Marek...[It is time, General Marek...]"

How hard it was to part from his wonderful home.

With a sigh, General Marek took a few last glances on the mountains,
"Karakh... Djin scha va porsa, karakh. [Indeed... It is time, indeed.]"

As he turned around, the General faced the giant dockyard of Mardiastock, the pride of the kingdom. For decades now, since the invention of airships, Mardiastock was the center of Griffin aircraft assembly and the General raised his look up to a dark, armored airship, the Nephelion. It was a good and beautiful airship, 500 meters long, a jewel of the royal air force. But the ship's and the crew's durability would be put to the test during the three week expedition. One week travel time to Equestria, one week staying and one week return trip. The hundreds of torches of the dockyard illuminated the armored airship in a warm and golden shimmer. And with great enthusiasm its crew started the steam engines which ran the propellers. The griffins on the dock cheered as the Nephelion left on her maiden voyage.

* * * * *

Equestria, Ranger Headquarter, the same day.

Sam looked down to what was in front of him, with laser-like concentration.

A strong lamp shined from above, illuminating the metallic object,
"Wrench."

Handing Sam a wrench with her levitating, mechanical hand, Lyra nodded,
"Wrench."

After tightening some nuts, Sam exhaled a bit and his eyes went over to Pinkie for a split second,
"Swab."

Pinkie now carefully patted his sweaty forehead dry with a swab,
"Swab."

Opening his right hand, he raised a screwdriver with the left,
"Cables."

Lyra nodded and handed him one of the cables as he took it and assembled it to the machinery,
"Cable one..." she then walked around him and handed him the second cable. "...and cable two."

Lyra wondered, ‘Will this really work? It isn't like the wiring Sam uses in electronic devices. These are cables to pump blood, or rather blood fumes through this machine of his.’ Although she deemed humans amazing for their very existence, she had to admit that she wasn't absolutely comfortable with a machine that utilized the blood of some living thing.

Before them lay the gutted remains of the motor of the Betty. After several days Sam had managed to rebuild the motor to the new design he conceptualized. Several mason jars filled with human blood were collected in order to ensure a stable fuel supply, but only one was being filled into the fuel tank.

Wiping his forehead with his forearm Sam nodded with a smile, his face smeared with oil,
"Alright... And what we want to see is this large feller here transferring the magic fumes into these pads there. That should cause them to hover." he pointed to the four cylindrical dishes around the motorblock that were connected to it.

Nodding over to Lyra, he grinned widely,
"Lyra, honey? Would you turn the key?"

The unicorn nodded and levitated one of her hands to the key, turning it clockwise carefully just like Sam taught her. The motor first gurgled a bit, but then came to life as the magic in it was unleashed from within several magical artifacts the princesses had created. Every cylinder had a small enchantment, only evoking a releasing spell under the right pressure. Plainly said, it was the magic equivalent of a spark plug.

When the motor started, Sam pulled his girls in for an embrace and they cheered at the already moving dishes. After a few moments the motor began to gurgle again and choke more and more. Smoke and sparks flew from it and the cheer of the trio died in an instant.

As the motor ceased to function, Sam growled angrily at it,
"Why you stupid little piece of..."

As he began to disassemble the motor and the parts around it, Lyra looked over to Pinkie, shaking her head a bit in worry before she looked at Sam again,
"I don't know, Sam... Maybe we should ask-"

Leaning over the motor, Sam seemed rather upset about it not running,
"No! This is between me and this cripple of a motor! God damn it! I will make this thing run if it's the last thing I do!" As he got up again, he looked over to the mares and snapped his fingers at a thought. "Maybe it's the mixture! The magic dosage or the consistency of the blood..." Lyra simply grimaced and shook her head. It felt like Sam was on the wrong track.

* * * * *

The next day, Twilight gasped ever so excited as Tyler's hands raised her dress over her rump.

Still she tried to be the voice of reason in this situation,
"Tyler... We- We probably shouldn't do this here in the royal garden. What if somepony comes by and catches us in the act?"

Gasping in delight as he gently entered her, Twilight blushed deeply and welcomed his lips as they exchanged kisses. Tyler had become so sexually active with her since her coronation, it was utterly obvious to the entire herd. Although she enjoyed it every time, she quickly ran out of excuses why she had to send Spike on errands.

Unnoticed by them, however, the two regal sisters were standing above them at the windows. Both mares looked down to their herd mates, their cheeks burning as they witnessed the act.

Coming to their side, Princess Cadance smiled and arched a brow,
"He’s taking her again?"

Celestia looked over to Cadance and nodded with a giggle,
"Indeed... Not that she’s complaining much about it. I have ordered the guards out of the garden and the rooms with windows to the garden have all been locked. These two are completely alone now. My guess is that he wants to assure her. To give her the certainty that he loves her in this form as well as her former unicorn form. If Twilight needs something, she needs to be sure of something. It appears Tyler understands that."

Cadance smiled as she watched the two of them going at it, grinning at the sight of Twilight biting her lip in order to avoid neighing in sheer lust,
"Their love is growing every time they are together like this. I can sense it. Twilight's heart races every time he enters a room, and aches a bit when he leaves. Right now her heart is pounding in excitement."

Celestia closed her eyes with a gentle smile,
"Ah yes... young love. I remember a certain alicorn mare that also was like that when she found that handsome stallion among the guards..."

A deep blush appeared over Cadance's muzzle, making her pink coat beam like a cherry, as her eyes bulged,
"Shining and I were not like that!"

The statement earned her a mischievous giggle from her aunt,
"Oh? So you weren't 'doing a little shake' for him once in a while?"

The Princess of Love took a step back,
"Ho-how do you know?"

“Actually I didn't. I was just guessing." Cadance's jaw dropped down and Celestia smirked down to her, "Gotcha!"

Luna harrumphed a bit,
"Jokes aside, these two can't continue with this lewd love-making. Otherwise the scandals are inevitable. I really think we should slow these two down a nudge. Not just because of the sex, but because of her influence now as well."

This caught Celestia’s attention at once and her ears stood up,
"Indeed... That is a very good point, Luna. If your influence can turn him violent and my influence can calm that violence... What effect would Twilight's influence have on him?"

Cadance shook her head not fully understanding,
"Are you saying that humans, or Tyler for that matter, are affected by alicorns in a way?"

Both regal sisters nodded their heads as Celestia looked over to her niece,
"We know of Tyler being affected by this after prolonged exposure to Luna's influence. Since Luna has the more volatile temper of us, her influence made him violent against his better judgment. Close proximity seems to do the trick. The closer he is to an alicorn mare, the more influence he absorbs with sex granting the highest extent of exposure. We've learned that my influence is able to counter that of Luna, but we didn't experiment with this. It is plausible that you and Twilight also have the power to have influence on him as well, but we don't know how that might turn out."

Luna nodded in confirmation,
"It could be possible that under thy influence he could turn into a hopeless romantic, Cadance. Please don't stay too close to him for a longer duration. As for Twilight, we wonder what her influence might do to him. Although the sex with him diverts Twilight's attention from the fear of her new powers, which is good, we should not let this continue indefinitely."

Celestia's eyes narrowed a bit as she looked down to the couple again as Tyler arched back, probably in orgasm to shoot his load deep into Twilight,
"Only the stars know what the Princess of Magic will awaken in the human who showed the greatest magic potential thus far... Discord already said that something is slumbering in Tyler that he's not aware of. We've seen Tyler do many extraordinary things by now... But if Twilight truly awakens what is slumbering in him... I'm afraid all these wonders and terrors will pale in comparison to what is coming. The ancient prophecy of Tilerions was feared for a reason..."

Her eyes narrowed even further then, 'But why? How could the ancient alicorns know about humans, when they arrived in Equestria eons after the Abarasion spell? Even Mother with her might and glory could not see into the future so precisely...'

* * * * *

Not an hour later Princess Celestia called for Twilight and Tyler. Both were a bit surprised from the sudden demand of their presence. Had they been caught? The princesses surely didn't seemed bothered by something.

In fact, they smiled a bit more than usual,
"Thank you for coming, Twilight... And you as well, Tyler."

Tyler blushed a bit as he caught Cadance’ snicker at her aunts side,
"Now that you are a princess, you must learn new forms of etiquette. And although I know that you and Tyler get along quite well these days, I must ask you to perform your duties as a princess. Which at present, is undergoing a royal training program, to start immediately.”

He chuckled a bit mischievously to mock Twilight a bit.
"You go then, Twilight... Show them what real princesses are made of!"

Twilight looked up to him, a bit annoyed that he would laugh about this, but Celestia simply arched a brow, cocking her head ever so slightly.
"Tyler, you will undergo these training courses as well."

This caught him unprepared,
"What? But I’m not a prince. Why do I have to do this?"

Luna gently encircled Tyler, her ethereal tail teasingly rubbing his chin and face as her rump bumped into him a few times,
"For instance? Thou are the herd mate of three princesses and an earth pony now. It is recommended that thou know as well how to behave in royalty and nobility. While we two will help fair Applejack to behave like a lady, thou two will meet a couple of tutors."

Grumbling a bit, Tyler looked down to Twilight, who began to smirk. This served him right for laughing at her. Tyler's grumpy face soon changed into a smirk as well and he knelt down to Twilight,
"Well, at least we're together in this, eh?"

"Speaking of together... It has caught our attention that you are performing..." Celestia now tipped her chin to think for a way to address this properly, "…several romantic activities in awkward locations. Although I'm very happy for you two... please don't overdo it like this, OK? Too many eyes are now on you both now."

Both Tyler and Twilight began to blush red hot. While Twilight stammered to force out some excuse, Tyler gulped and looked down, which caused both regal sisters to giggle,
"It's alright though... We had you covered. Nopony else knows of your little adventures in the royal garden."

Celestia then stepped over to one of the windows of the throne room,
"There is another thing... I have called the leaders of the other countries, in order to explain to them the threat of the current situation Equis now faces. The Amasian Empire, the Griffin Kingdom, Zebrica, Saddle Arabia... to name only a few. I also received a letter last week from King Gifford, that a griffin expedition airship named Nephelion will be sent to Equestria in order to evaluate the ‘threat’ of the four humans in our country."

The statement caused Tyler to cock his head and fold his arms,
"Now wait just a minute... Threat? Who's a threat here?"

Luna bumped her rump into Tyler once more and giggled,
"We do not need to remind thee that thy blood detonated two war citadels? That thou also obliterated Dragon Mountain?"

Twilight began to grin a bit,
"Or the fact that you led an army of ponies into a war against several hundreds of thousands of Changelings and left the field of battle as victor?"

Raising a finger, Tyler attempted to protest, but the words died on his lips before he could form a sentence. Letting his finger fall, he shrugged, suddenly crestfallen,
"OK... when you put it that way, I am the most dangerous guy on the planet."

Shaking her head, Celestia smiled,
"Now we know that's not true. You are hard and relentless if you have to be, but there are four mares who know all too well that you can be ever so gentle as well. You also are father to a foal. I simply won't tolerate that you are portrayed as a mere destroyer."

The last sentence made Tyler smile and he placed a kiss on her lips,
"That was very sweet of you, Celestia."

"It's only the truth." she replied before she looked at Twilight, "Twilight? We want to speak with you a bit in private..."

Tyler arched a brow and nodded,
"Girl-talk, hm? I'll be in my room. If there's anything you need from me, just call."

Looking back to her leaving herd mate, Twilight arched a brow as well, ‘What was that all about?’
"Wait, why are we discussing things without Tyler?" she asked her other two herd mates.

As soon as Tyler had left the room, Celestia and Luna looked directly at Twilight,
"Because this is not entirely about Tyler, but about you."

The statement prompted the lavender princess to take a step back and gasp in surprise,
"Me? What do you mean?"

"You were the first of us to have contact with Tyler." Celestia stated, "You were his first mare in Equestria and the first mare in the herd. As you know we decided to let each mare have the same rights in the herd and let Tyler tend to the needs of every mare as he saw fit. But I think this would make a wonderful testing ground for your leadership skills as a princess."

Twilight's eyes widened,
"You want me to become our herd’s Alpha?"

Cocking her head, Celestia smiled,
"Is there a problem with that?"

"O-of course!" Twilight stammered, "I haven't ever been an Alpha in my life before!"

Both Celestia and Luna looked at each other and smiled warmly,
"Don't worry, we haven’t either."

The revelation left Twilight in confusion,
"What? I mean... thousands of years and... it never occurred to you?"

Nuzzling Twilight a bit, Celestia shook her head,
"These were different times when we were young and the nation was in need of our leadership, not romance. Twilight, you are new to being a princess. Your efforts with your friends showed that you can stand your ground if you're brought to the test. You are a great leader among your friends. But for the routine of being a princess you must be introduced to problems on a more daily basis. We can't just go on and wait for the next catastrophe to teach Princess Twilight another lesson."

Twilight nodded in slight awe. Her former mentor seemed to have thought this through.

Patting Twilight's back with her wing, Celestia smiled,
"I think if you are put in place with a leading role inside our herd, you can do the least damage."

Twilight shook her head and stomped one hoof onto the ground,
"But what if I make the wrong decisions?"

Celestia tipped her chin a bit, thinking of an answer,
"If you are unsure if your actions and decisions are right, you can simply ask us if we are satisfied. If anypony of us is not satisfied, you'll have to find a solution." closing her eyes a bit, Celestia giggled, "That's why they call a herd ‘the streetmare's kingdom'. Keeping a herd together and healthy is almost like keeping a small country running. There are needs and contributions you, as an Alpha, have to consider. If you require any guidance with any issue whatsoever, ask Luna and I for help. We will be more than happy to help you with our experience in policy. And I think Applejack will be more than happy to keep your hooves on the ground.”

"Thank you prin-" just as Twilight was about to say it, she remembered that her former mentor didn't wish to be referred to that way inside of the herd, "Thank you, Celestia."

* * * * *

Later that day, Tyler, Twilight, Rachel, Princess Cadance, and a tutor stood together in a hall.

Slightly annoyed Tyler looked over to Rachel,
"Why exactly are you here with us?"

Grinning a bit, Rachel folded her arms,
"To learn a bit about pony customs. I never saw a princess in training, so I'm here to support Twilight a bit. Why? Afraid I could point and laugh at you?"

It was then when the tutor started the music record and looked over to Twilight,
"Princess? Would you care do give me an insight of your current knowledge of how to dance?" Twilight looked over to the others and after receiving several assuring nods, she began to dance. What followed then was probably the most nerdy breed to dance Rachel and Tyler had ever seen. In an uncoordinated manner Twilight took her steps, raised and flayed her hooves, she then kicked her hind legs in a similar fashion.

Tyler fought the urge to burst out laughing, but Cadance nudged him into the sides with a stern glare and nodded towards Twilight. Tyler quickly snapped out of it and nodded, feeling bad for his near outburst.

Rachel, however, simply shook her head,
"Twilight!"

Rachel's shouting made the young alicorn yelp in surprise,
"Yes?"

Coming to Twilight's side, Rachel continued to shake her head,
"No offense, but this type of dancing lacks aesthetics on all levels. Flailing with your hooves barely compares with a real dance."

Embarrassed Twilight looked up to the tutor, who simply nodded,
"Indeed, Princess Twilight. A princess should be dancing with grace and beauty, not flailing her hooves like she wants to kill somepony."

Tipping her chin, Cadance thought a bit,
"Maybe something slow-paced to get you into it, Twilight."

Rachel raised a hand,
"Oh! I have an idea! May I?" after receiving a nod from the Princess of Love, Rachel then approached Tyler and Twilight and looked over to them. "Does the term 'Wiener Waltz' mean anything to you, Jones?"

Tyler grimaced a bit,
"Heard it, seen it, but never did it. Also this is a dance for two legs." his eyes then took turns between Cadance and Twilight, "It's a lovely dance though."

Cadance arched a brow,
"Maybe you two could demonstrate it, so we can get the idea?"

Rubbing his neck, Tyler looked at Rachel,
"Do you know the steps? I have no clue."

Smirking a bit, Rachel patted his shoulder,
"It's a good thing I had a friend of mine on Earth who had this dance at her wedding. I took the dance course with she and her husband."

After explaining the steps and taking position with Tyler, Rachel demonstrated the steps with him very slowly,
"And there you go. Now we'll do it at the correct pace. One, two, three... One, two, three... See? Easy thing... Now you lead!"

Clenching his teeth together, Tyler looked down to his feet and tried to take the steps.

A sharp whistle from Rachel however made him look up to her,
"Eyes on the face of the lady, Don Juan! That's important! You should be able to do these steps in your sleep."

After a few minutes of dancing, Cadance looked over to Twilight,
"Well, Twilight? Do you think you can give it a try?

Twilight took a gulp and tried to picture the steps in her head before she looked up,
"Try? Y-you mean... right now?"

Putting a hand to her waist, Rachel grinned,
"Well certainly not next week, Twilight. Come on, you and Tyler now."

While standing on two hooves, Twilight tried to remember her few hours in a human body during the sleepovers as she leaned against Tyler and managed her balance, one hoof on his shoulder, the other placed inside his hand.

Gulping a bit, she looked at her partner.
"Is this the right stance?"

A bit unsure himself, Tyler nodded and laid a hand on her back, gently pulling her in.

Rachel walked around them and nodded in confirmation, correcting a few things here and there,
"This hand a bit more up, or it looks like you want to grope her butt."

As they began to slowly taking the steps, Twilight's seemed nervous.

After a while Rachel nodded, seemingly satisfied with the result,
"There you go Twilight. No flailing, no useless and clumsy kicking, just grace and beauty."

Tyler looked down to Twilight and smiled,
“I think we're doing great for our first dance together, hm? You look far better when you-"

A sudden pain in his right foot made Tyler clench his teeth together and Twilight immediately raised her leg that stepped on his foot,
"Sorry! Sorry!!!"

Gritting his teeth a bit more, Tyler forced a smile,
"It's alright. We're learning, right?"

Cadance raised a hoof and smiled,
"Gently now, Twilight. This isn't a race. Take your time."

The young princess nodded and looked down to her hooves, slowly taking the steps. As the hours continued, the steps slowly grew more confident, and Twilight looked up to Tyler with a smile and leaned her head against his chest. It was a gentle comfort she could bask in for eternity. Tyler smiled down gently to her as they danced slowly. Maybe it was her first real dance with someone. Looking up to the others, he saw Cadance nudging Rachel into the ribs with her elbow, while chuckling. With some minor drawbacks they managed to teach the two trainees a dance fitting for a ball.

As they parted, Tyler arched a finger and bowed before Twilight, who giggled amused and raised a hoof,
"Oh you..."

Gently grabbing her hoof, he placed a kiss upon it and winked up to her.
"All we need now is a decent waltz for this..."

Cadance passed them with a giggle,
"I could arrange some music. Shining and I would like to dance to some romantic music as well. You just wait."

* * * * *

It was early in the morning as Princess Celestia was sitting in the throne room along with her secretary and several guards. A few nobles were standing in the hall, awaiting their audience in front of the princess in patience. Some conversed a bit about some minor tax issues and what should be addressed to the princess in order to enhance the situation.

Suddenly the doors to the throne room swung open with force and Tyler stood in them. His eyes searched the room, but nopony whatsoever seemed to be of importance. As he spotted Celestia, he walked over to her.

Some noble stallions sneered at his actions,
"The nerve! Everypony else stands in line. I think it wouldn't be asking too much if that Ranger, no matter how famous he is, does the same!" a short glare from Tyler was everything it took to silence the stallion as he passed him.

Looking up, Celestia smiled as he approached her,
"Hello, Tyler. What can I do for you?"

As he stepped up the stairs to the throne, he grabbed Celestia's jaw and pushed her back,
“Tyler? What by the stars are you do-” interrupting her, he wrestled her down until she was lying on her back.

Lying on top of her, he opened his pants and looked at her with greed and lust in his eyes.

She began to panic,
“Are you insane?!? Not now! I-“

He interrupted her rudely, already entering her as he slammed his member deep into her womb. With a sharp gasp Celestia’s eyes widened. He was actually doing it. He was taking her in the throne room in front of everypony’s eyes. With a heavy blush she looked around in shame. The maidens were blushing heavily, the stallions watched with interest at the penetration and her exposed sex. And Tyler… Tyler just pumped into her like an animal, a primal, powerful, raging beast.

Nopony raised a hoof to help her. All seemed to be hypnotized by the event as the mighty Celestia was getting pounded by her human lover,
“Look at her…” one of the mares said, “So lewd and impertinent…”

Another stallion noble wrinkled his nose,
“We all heard the rumors that her human lover can do it for hours, but showing it in public? I say…”

Celestia heard the voices and her cheeks burned in shame. Yes, she was the ruler of Equestria, but she also was a mare, 'For him, I am lewd, I am his naughty little filly, I am his to do with as he pleases. I’m his back-alley slut and I bucking love to misbehave like this for a change…' As she moaned loudly, she closed her eyes as the ecstasy grew in her.

Her vagina fully exposed to the entire room, she slowly placed her front hooves on Tyler’s butt, aiding him in his thrusts while her hind legs were spread out high in the air. He was finally claiming her, training her to be his brood mare, his prized alicorn bitch. It felt so wonderful to be used by him. Moaning and grunting heavily, she enjoyed herself. He was her young master and a life in serfdom under his potent dick was exactly what she craved.

Finally his thrusts became faster and his animalistic moans and grunts into her ear signalized her that his shot was closing in.

He faced her with a smile,
“Celestia… Celestia!”

In the next moment Tyler shook her shoulder a bit while standing right beside her,
“Celestia? Come on, don’t fall asleep in your office like this.”

Opening her eyes with a gasp, she hastily looked around and stared into his eyes, confused,
“What?”

With a gentle smile, he shook his head,
“You were dreaming, my love. You probably worked so hard that you fell asleep on your desk. Come on… time to return to dreamland once you’re in your cozy bed.”

Sighing in frustration, she nodded,
“Alright…” a few minutes later, she was lying in her bed as he gave her a goodnight kiss, “Tyler? Would you sleep with me tonight?”

Arching a brow, he smiled while cocking his head,
“Without the others?”

Looking down in embarrassment she nodded,
“I would like some company before I sleep again.”

“Well… there’s no harm with some company I guess. You sure love to cuddle before you sleep.” he stated with a grin.

Biting her lip, Celestia looked to the side,
"Could I... get some special treatment?"

Her question only earned her an arched brow from Tyler,
"No special treatment for any mare in my herd, Celestia."

"Not even for me, Tyler?" she said with a seductive look and duck lips.

For that he spanked her once with an audible clap,
"Especially not for you, Celestia." his hand gently caressed the flank he spanked, massaged and kneaded it.

'He’s such a tease sometimes…' she thought with a frown, but then smiled,
“Alright then.” leaning to him with a gentle smile, she licked his cheek before she started to nuzzle him, "You are a good herd mate, you know that? You give Twilight so much confidence with what you're doing to her body. And you are exciting me simply by letting me beg for it."

Facing her, Tyler grabbed her jaw and forced her eyes to meet his,
"The great and powerful Celestia... Submissive to the man she loves? No man should have all that power..."

Celestia shook free from his grip and pressed her lips on his in a deep kiss.

After several minutes, she parted from him and gasped excitedly, her cheeks blushing, "The only power I bestow upon you is the one over my heart. As long as I love you, this power is yours. Luna thinks the same way. We see you as a rare opportunity to partake instead of simply witness. After so many centuries... you have no idea how old politics can get."

Grinning a bit, he rubbed her belly,
"Sounds like you are using me to get a life to live."

The white alicorn mare replied to the accusation with a grin of her own,
"Well, after a millennium of ruling Equestria and carefully shaping it into a peaceful and friendly little nation... Don't I deserve to live a bit?" with a sudden gasp she placed a hoof in front of her mouth and looked at him before shaking her head, "Don't tell Luna I said that!"

Tyler merely grinned into her face,
"This is really comforting..."

Dumbfounded, Celestia arched a brow and cocked her head,
"Pardon? What is comforting?"

"You have flaws, Celestia." he stated, grinning, "This makes you more interesting. I think I would love you only half as much if you were flawless... Now come... Let us sleep a bit."

That said, he laid down beside of her before they both snuggled a bit closer to each other. As he closed his eyes, he wasn't aware that his breathing against her long and slender white neck made her fantasize over her recent dream. If he would really do it with her like that... She wasn't sure if she would kick him off of her in order to preserve her decency, or if she would give in to his lust and become the broodmare like she fantasized for so long. But Tyler didn't know about any of that. Her warmth and odor slowly rocked him to sleep. That wonderful scent of her, almost like vanilla... darkness engulfed him and he began to sleep.

* * * * *

It was broad daylight when Tyler was strolling through the park, conversing with Cadance and Twilight about various topics,
“And then Spike ate the last gem as well.” both girls were giggling while Tyler smiled.

Cadance then suddenly looked over to Tyler and smirked,
“So… how is Twilight doing with being a princess and all?”

Tyler arched a brow,
“Well, she’s become very careful with her magic lately. Being an alicorn seems to mean that her magic spells turn out a bit stronger than before and that she can cast them with much more ease.”

"The herd life has become very exciting with Tyler..." Twilight stated, "But Applejack and Princess Celestia seem to do so well in..." the young mare blushed. "...you know... fellatio. I feel a bit like I’m falling behind. I’ve never done that before."

Just as Tyler wanted to reassure her that it wasn't a problem in his eyes, Cadance beamed and rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulders,
"Oh, that's not a problem, I can demonstrate for you. Trust me, when Shining gets his 'special care' from me, he can’t stand up for a couple of hours." Tyler shook his head in utter disbelief, Cadance looked around, "Good! Nopony around right now. Tyler, undress and hold still for a little while I show Twilight all the right angles.”

Raising his hands in defense, he took a few steps back,
“W- What? Now hold on a second! Cadance, you are a married mare!”

The Princess of Love arched a brow and began to grin.

That grin sent shivers down his spine,
“And Twilight’s counselor in topics of love. So hold still already! Or would you prefer that I get Twilight a stallion in order to train on his member?”

“That’s not any better!” he said with hugely wide eyes.

Jumping up, she pinned him against a tree, while her magic unbuckled his belt,
"Then stop complaining."

Tyler felt the urge to slap her away. But then he would have had to justify the act of violence to Shining and Celestia. How could he tell them that a married mare... His train of thought ended as he saw her horn glowing and a heart hovered above it. Like a guided missile, the heart glided down and flew directly into his crotch. In an instant, Tyler could feel the effect of the alicorn magic as his member began to rise like on command. 'Magic Viagra... swell!'

With a smirk Cadance whispered into his ear,
"If you cooperate now and hold still, Twilight will learn better and faster and might do this every night for you..."

Taking a deep breath at the height of his member, Cadance opened her eyes and inspected the human’s penis.

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and her hoof touched his testicles ever so gently as she looked up to Tyler,
"I see... a little smaller than Shining Armor... the tip is round, not flat... which I guess allows faster penetration... I can begin to imagine how you pump that thing into Twilight..."

Tyler gritted his teeth and prayed to God that no one would come barging in to them right now. His body felt like he was glued to that pesky tree.

Letting her tongue slide up from under the downside of his testicles and erected shaft, Cadance looked up to him as her tongue played with the tip. To say that it felt good would have been a bald-faced lie. It felt outrageously good! But at the same time, Tyler felt horrid for Twilight. Looking over to her though, he saw that the young alicorn looked on with great interest and furthermore took detailed notes.

The sudden feeling of teeth got his attention back to Cadance who grinned mischievously,
"Pay attention to the mare who gives you head, bad boy..."

He only shook his head, ‘This is wrong, this is plain wrong! Applejack, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor... so many ponies we’re betraying right in this moment and I’m just standing here like a dumbfounded little boy getting his first blow-job.’ And yet her mouth seemed to find every angle, every movement to make it great for him. Was that part of her being the Princess of Love? Cadance claimed to know over 50000 kinds of love and ways to make it… was she for real when she said that? And to make matters worse, Cadance began going deeper. Tyler took a sharp inhale as he passed her mouth and entered her throat. Bending over a bit, his hands rested on her head, which only pressed her deeper into his crotch. He could feel her chin against his balls as she gagged a little.

As he felt his cheeks burning, he saw Twilight only taking notes with a big grin on her face,
"Ah, so does it feel that good in a pony’s throat?" she asked.

He couldn't believe his ears, ‘What’s gotten into these two? I have to stop this madness before anyone sees them doing this. Is Twilight out of her freaking mind? If Applejack saw this, she would hunt me down for good with that shotgun of hers! And I would probably deserve it.’

Massaging his testicles with her hoof Cadance looked up to him, 'This isn’t right, it can’t be right!' he thought. Yet Cadance moaned into his crotch while sucking his scepter, taking it deep into her throat. A sudden movement of her rump and wet slippery noises made him realize that Cadance was masturbating while she was 'taking care' of him. This realization was when it happened. Jetting into her throat, his cum almost caused the Princess of Love to gag, but she forced herself to swallow and one bulge after another became visible on her throat.

That was the moment Tyler sat up in bed, sweaty and confused. As he came to his senses, he went through his hair with both hands, 'What the fuck are you dreaming, asshole?' He shifted out of the bed, careful not to wake up Celestia and went into the bathroom and took a cold shower. While the cold water streamed down his body, he still felt the erection raging between his legs, fighting to stay at attention. But his member went limp after a while and Tyler rested his forehead on the tiled wall, 'God... Freud would have a field day with me now!'

* * * * *

In the morning the herd sat together at the table with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor to have breakfast. While Applejack fed Appleseed a bottle of milk, Tyler had a bowl of cereal while the two regal sisters had some croissants with marmalade. However, as Twilight and Cadance looked around from their seats, it was quite quiet at the table. Celestia was looking down; Tyler was looking down as well and Luna… Due to her expression Luna seemed angered about something.

Cadance leaned over to Shining Armor and lowered her voice,
“Honey, do you think that their herd has a problem?”

Shining was busy eating his bread, looked up, looked around and shrugged,
“Maybe it’s morning grumpiness?”

Twilight slammed a hoof on the table and stood up,
“Why are you all so silent? If there’s a problem, we as a herd-”

Luna’s hoof rose up and cut Twilight off,
“Tis not a problem of realistic matter, young princess… More lack of decency and discipline… But no one’s responsible for the ways his or her dreams go… As for me… I am simply a bit disappointed in these two.”

Now Cadance understood and giggled a bit,
“I see…”

Looking over to her former foalsitter slightly grumpy, Twilight shook her head,
“But I don’t get it!”

With a wide grin, Cadance leaned over to Twilight,
“It means Casanova dreamed of a mare getting him off that wasn’t in the herd. I wonder who that mare was… Care to tell us, Tyler?”

While biting into her own cheese bun, Cadance noticed Luna arching a brow while looking in her direction. Gulping down the bite, she silently looked over to Tyler who began to shrink in his seat.

Looking over to her aunt just to get a reassuring nod, Cadance began to chuckle,
“Someone seems to have quite a fancy taste…”

Twilight looked at Tyler, who didn't dare to make a sound, but as soon as her eyes narrowed, Applejack nudged her softly into the side,
"Twilight, let him be. There's no use in askin' around. And yer not jealous about a dream, are ya?"

Luna just shook her head with a sigh. At least Cadance was taking it with humor and everypony else was clueless. If Celestia found out that part of Tyler’s subconsciousness lusted for Cadance’s flank, it would force an entire decade of counseling. But maybe it would turn out that he was beginning to grow more interested into alicorn mares. Her own wish of having a foal with him could only benefit from this.

* * * * *

Later that day Tyler was going down a corridor inside the castle, when he saw Cadance. Since she wasn't looking in his direction, he decided to go another way to avoid her.

Just before he could be out of her view, her voice sounded behind him,
“Tyler? On a word under four eyes, please…”

Sighing in defeat, he nodded, 'Here it comes…' as he turned around, he gave her a smile, although he could clearly see that she saw through the nervous gesture,
"Yes?"

As she reached him, she looked up to him with a strict expression on her face,
"Walk with me for a moment..." she said with a sober tone and went on.

As he followed her, Tyler made sure to be at her side, not behind her. It was a long walk and both remained silent for the time being. It was becoming awkward after a while and Tyler slowly got the idea that this talk with her might be very unpleasant, ‘Maybe it’s already adultery to dream about another mare?’

When they reached the palace garden, Tyler suddenly realized what Cadance had done, 'That little minx!' he thought as he recognized that she took the long way to the gardens to soften him up. It would have been a walk of merely half a minute from where they started, but she took a detour making it five long minutes to boil down his nerves.

Arching a finger, he cocked his head a bit,
"Why you..."

But Cadance winked at him with a mischievous grin, biting the air playfully like attempting to bite his finger,
"Don't point a finger at me, young man... You were the one dreaming about me despite being with your herd, so that's a proper penalty. Now... Sit down please. I wish to talk to you."

As he did as asked, Cadance sat down to her haunches beside him and looked into his eyes,
"Although I’m quite flattered by your… fantasy, I also see that you know that this was wrong and I see how you torture yourself with it.”

Stammering a bit, Tyler tried to get a full sentence out,
“N- now Cadance… I-“

She raised a hoof and shook her head with a smile,
“If I got upset about every stallion out there fantasizing over my flank I would probably go berserk in a matter of minutes. I see more in this, Tyler… You are attracted to the bodies of alicorn mares. You first courted Aunt Luna into your herd. While I don’t doubt your deep feelings for her as an individual, it’s quite obvious that the first mare you deliberately choose to get into your herd was an alicorn. You later welcomed Aunt Celestia into your herd. The reasons for that I won’t argue with you, but again you seemed up for the task. Now Twilight is an alicorn and she…” Cadance began to smirk, “She told me that the sex between you two almost doubled in frequency and duration… And now you fantasize about me… Should I get worried about my husband next?”

Tyler stared at Cadance in disbelief,
“Do you imply I would harm Shining Armor just to get rid of him just to secure myself another alicorn mare? That’s ridiculous! He’s my best friend!”

“I’ve seen friendship, even between best friends, often destroyed once it comes down to a mare…" the pink alicorn stated with a shrug, "Love can be stronger than friendship.”

“Never!” Tyler nearly yelled with a determined shake of his head, “I would never do that to Shining! You would despise me forever if I ever harmed him for such a stupid reason!”

“No…" Cadance said with a cold and sober tone, “No, I would kill you. I would utterly destroy you if you ever harmed Shining Armor.”

Tyler gave her words a thoughtful nod. He knew all too well about Cadance's reactions regarding Shining Armor and those who would do him harm,
“Yeah, I know that from Blueblood, and he just left him behind. What’s with Blueblood anyway? What did you do to the guy after those Griffin convicts were done with him?”

Harrumphing a bit, Cadance smiled in a dark way,
“Oh… I am a forgiving princess… PRINCESS Blueblood now enjoys the attention of some crystal stallion paramours. She even let one of them get close to her. After all the arrogance and attitude was corrected, she became such a nice character. Every now and then, I see both of them sitting in the crystal gardens and kissing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she chose him as her special somepony.”

Tyler's eyes opened wide,
“You CHANGED his GENDER?!?” as Cadance nodded with pride, Tyler shuddered a bit.

Cadance, in her own way, could be frightening,
“All’s well that ends well, huh? Even more reason never to piss you off…” sitting down next to Cadance, he patted her shoulder nervously, “One lousy dream doesn’t mean I lust after your flank. You are beautiful, but not so beautiful that I would kill Shining Armor in order to get you for myself. That would mean that I would have to have you against your will. And that would mean I would have to break you. I couldn’t stand my image in the mirror anymore without breaking it. And the others wouldn’t approve of it either.”

Looking over to Tyler, Cadance smirked,
“Yes… You’re not that stupid. By the way… What DID I do in your dream?”

Tyler cleared his throat and stammered a bit, so she put a hoof on his leg,
“It’s OK, I won’t tell Shining or Twilight and you don’t have to fear consequences from me. I’m just curious.”

Sighing, Tyler nodded,
“Oh alright… Teaching Twilight how to give head including deepthroats with a demonstration on my... well you know...”

Cadance imagined that for a bit, before she arched a brow and grinned wide,
“Is that so? Well, I must say if it comes to humans, Twilight has more expertise than I have. I may know so much more about love between ponies than any other… But concerning love with a human? That’s completely out of my expertise. Maybe I should task Twilight to send me some love reports to learn about human coupling a bit. As for sleeping with you… No, that won't be happening anytime soon. Maybe Shining and I will discuss a little ‘partner swap’ in about 500 years to spice things up again though…”

Her comment prompted Tyler to frown for a moment,
“Uh… You DO know that not one of us mortals could ever hope to live that long, right?”

Giggling a bit, Cadance winked at him,
“THAT’S up for a debate…”

Nodding first, Tyler's eyes then popped open and he looked at her her in confusion,
“Wait, WHAT?” his comment only prompted Cadance to burst out laughing.

* * * * *

The next day the Harmony Rangers as well as the Elements of Harmony were in the Royal Palace’ kitchen. While Sam prepared a mushroom and onion pizza with Pinkie and Lyra, Rainbow and Flynn prepared a spicy bean soup with Scootaloo.

Looking down to the young Pegasus filly, Flynn smiled,
"And? Do you girls have any plans for this week’s crusading?"

"Sure!" Scootaloo beamed, "The day after tomorrow, we will try to get our cutie marks in sieges. Apple Bloom said that we only need enough space to test-fire the catapult."

Both Flynn and Rainbow gasped a bit, but kept their smiles,
"Sounds great!" he said before he leaned over to Rainbow, "Monitor them and make sure they aim for a lake or something." giving this a determined nod, the cerulean mare agreed.

Meanwhile Tyler helped Applejack and Twilight with the cutting of some vegetables,
"You know? Back on Earth there was once a time when women were deemed to belong only in the bed and kitchen. Nowadays both genders have equal rights. That's why guys and girls often have problems when trying to cook together. Some say it's the best if the girls cook all alone, mostly because it's common belief that girls put way more heart into the dish for her loved one... some say that it's more romantic when the guy cooks for her..."

Applejack and Twilight stood on either side of him and looked up with smirks on their faces,
"Is that so...?"

Grinning widely, Tyler nodded while the other elements glanced over to the three of them,
"Certainly! It makes for a nice change if he does all the chores in the kitchen for her. It makes her see that he cares for her. But do you know what's deemed more romantic than a guy cooking for his girl?"

Rachel rolled her eyes with a smile,
"Oh, boy... That idiot never stops talking..."

Rainbow shrugged as she hovered at Flynn's side,
"What is it, T-Man?"

"A guy cooking with his girl..."

Both the earth pony's and alicorn's eyes suddenly popped up before they looked at Tyler,
"Careful with yer hands there, pardner..." Applejack stated with a smirk.

Twilight giggled, her cheeks slightly blushing,
"He's like that all the time in the recent weeks. It's like your primal side wants to come out or something, big boy."

Arching a brow, Tyler shook his head,
"Primal side? Yeah right. Me Tyler. Me hungry." after they laughed a bit, he patted Applejack's shoulder again, "Seriously though, what do we have prepared already?"

While the others prepared their meals in other parts of the kitchen, Applejack presented the ingredients she had brought with her,
"Well, Ah prepared everythin' for a nice salad and a few corn cobs in butter. And, here's something for yer taste buds as well, Sugarcube: Tofu burger with meat-taste from Zecora. And for dessert, my own recipe for hoecakes and some good syrup."

Twilight looked into her own pots,
"I prepared some ingredients for braised vegetables and a bowl of daisies for a salad since that's the only salad I can do properly. But... umm... Humans don't eat daisies, right?"

Tyler shook his head with a smile,
"No, we don't... But I'm eager to dig in to your vegetables, Twilight..." With that he leaned over and kissed her cheek, "We shall prepare it together..." he then placed the big bag of tofu on the table, "But first let me prepare some tofu burgers for all the humans here." looking over to Grinko, he presented one ball of tofu to him, "Would you like some of these too, Grinko? They may be not meat, but they taste the same and are as nutritious as meat."

But the Masar simply bowed before Tyler before he shook his head in respect,
"I respect that you decided to refuse to eat meat to honor your bond with your lair mates... Please respect that I decided to refuse to eat fake meat." as he looked over to Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus had already taken one of the tofu burgers and grinned shyly.

He simply smiled and patted her head,
"It's alright. I don't expect you to eat stuff that makes you sick."

As Grinko prepared some steaks, Rachel looked over his shoulder,
"Oh boy! Those look really good." With a nod, Grinko placed one already done steak on her plate and Rachel tried it.

Closing her eyes, she shook her head in delight,
"Aw man fif if fo good." gulping down her bite, she looked at Grinko,
"I thought all cows in Equestria were sentient? Where did you get this meat?"

Showing his fangs in his grin, he shook his head,
"Don't let the taste fool you. This is hydra steak from the neck." Rachel's chewing lost its enthusiastic pace in an instant and she looked at the plate.

After a moment, with a shrug, she took another bite and continued to eat.

After putting the pizza into the oven, Sam looked at his girls and nodded with a smile,
"Now you're about to get to taste some good old Italian style pizza. A friend of mine used to make pizza like this."

While Pinkie bounced excited in front of the oven to watch the pizza, Lyra used her magic to clean up a bit,
"Sam? About that motor..."

But Sam rolled his eyes in minor annoyance,
"Lyra? No. No talk about work now. Not while we’re having our vacation. It was very kind of the princesses to grant us Rangers another vacation since we couldn't enjoy the last one. So please, let us enjoy this."

Levitating her mechanical hands in defense, the aquamarine coated unicorn shrugged,
"Yes, I know... But I addressed Vinyl with our little problem and I think she can help us with it."

Just as Sam began to shake his head and raised his hands in order to give reason why he didn't wanted this, a pink hoof interrupted him as Pinkie was chewing on a cupcake while shaking her own head,

"Listen, Sam! I as the Element of Laughter don't like it when my friends frown... But I absolutely hate it when my herd mates do that!"

The statement caused him to blink in surprise at her.

For the first time since he’d known her, she seemed dead serious about something,
"Pinkie, uh... OK, I'll just wait until after the vacation?"

"Good! Now no more frowny faces, OK?" placing her hooves on his face, she moved the corners of his mouth up to make him smile.

Satisfied, she closed her eyes and beamed, patting him on the head what earned her a laugh and hug from him.

One audible belch later, Spike unrolled a letter and almost immediately stormed right to Twilight,
"Uh... Twilight? You guys should probably hear this."

Looking over to the baby dragon, Twilight noticed the letter in his claw,
"What is it, Spike? Do we get another mission from Princess Celestia?”

Handing Tyler the letter, Spike shrugged while the human gave the letter a fast read,
"It says that due to the recent coronation of Twilight, there will be a royal ball in Canterlot in two days and that it is mandatory that the leading Harmony Rangers and the Elements of Harmony are present." now looking into the letter with Twilight, Tyler then looked around to the others, "Well... that's what the letter says... Eleven names to attend to the ball. The Elements, four humans and Lyra."

For the rest of the day, the friends enjoyed their meals and conversed a bit among several topics, but there was a certain tension in the air now even no one was addressing it. This wasn't like the annual golden tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, it seemed far more important, since it was mandatory. Every person and pony secretly worried what the real reason for the ball was.

* * * * *

The following day, Sam was standing in his workshop in the Ranger headquarter as Vinyl Scratch approached him together with Lyra.

After greeting the white unicorn, Sam began explaining,
"Normally I would do this on my own, then I could blame no one but myself for a mistake, but currently I'm stuck and my mares told me they want me to get some help with this thing." with that he unveiled the motor, "So here's the idea: I want to make a combustion motor energized by magically charged human blood. My plan is to charge the blood with levitation magic and transfer it onto these dishes to propel something big and heavy. I already tried every imaginable combination of wiring to complete the circuit, but it only runs for a few seconds before it sputters and goes out."

Arching a brow, Vinyl shook her head,
“Nah, dude! A setup like that will never work! If you want to circuit magic with a machine you have to do it in a whole different way."

With arched brows Sam looked at Vinyl and the blueprints in turn, before he handed her the pen and unrolled the blueprints,
"Alright, show me."

After a first glance through the blueprints, Vinyl shook her head and scratched some things from it, levitating the pen over the blueprint,
"The first mistake you made was to make it a circular system like you want to store the energy again. That works for electronic devices, but not for stuff you power with magic. We unicorns tap magic from this world and it goes back into nature after being used. Now you can store it for a while, but you simply can't reuse it over and over again. That means that your circuit is worth nothing, since it's a circular electronic one, not a linear magic one."

Sam felt like slapped into the face,
"Of course! Then the systems are getting powered directly and then this goes here and this goes here... And this can go completely... But wait a second... How do I volume the amount of magic for every component?"

Smirking a bit, Vinyl nodded,
"I'll help you with the wiring, come on!"

A day after that, Sam, Lyra, Pinkie and Vinyl stood before the reassembled engine and the dishes. After rewiring the engine and checking everything, they had reassembled everything one final time. Looking to the others, Sam took a deep breath. All three mares nodded and urged him with their hooves to crank it over already. The key was turned and the engine started. Narrowing his eyes, Sam watched the dishes, which instantly began to rise and over beside the motor. One thing was missing though. The engine didn't cough, it didn't gurgle and stop. It kept running.

Picking up Lyra from the floor, he shook her gently in his excitement,
“It keeps running... It keeps running, it keeps running! Baby, you're the best!”

After receiving a big kiss on the cheek, Lyra giggled,
“I only said you needed help, you dummy!”

While Pinkie jumped on top of one of the dishes and kept doing circles with an audible “Weeeeeeeeeee!!!” Vinyl approached Lyra and Sam,
“So... You have an engine running smoothly... Are you still up to build that crazy idea of an armored vehicle of yours?”

Sam answered with a nod,
“Sure thing. Now we need a frame, a control system, the weapon system and some interior... And of course the armor plates... Lots of welding.”

Both unicorns looked at each other before they beamed at Sam,
“Sure, dude! We unicorns can do the welding and I can help you with the wiring of the systems.”

Lyra nodded enthusiastically,
“Yes, we could do industrial welding or magic welding, whatever resources we have at hoof.”

Vinyl tipped her chin in thought,
“We should make the weapon control system only move the turret though... Otherwise the weapons would siphon magic out of the engine. Maybe Ranger Rachel would make a great gunner for the main cannon.”

Taking notes, Sam nodded,
“I will talk to her. These actually are great ideas... I-” he then noticed Pinkie Pie smiling up to him with big puppy eyes.

Rolling his eyes with a smile, he nodded down to her,
“Alright Pinkie... You are in charge of the interior. Just no useless decoration, alright?”” Pinkie saluted and dashed off while Lyra and Vinyl got other materials ready. Nodding at the engine, Sam turned the key once more and the engine ceased to function. 'We're getting results rather quickly... Hopefully this thing will be useful...'

* * * * *

Two hours later in the evening, the Harmony Rangers and Elements of Harmony gathered in front of Canterlot Castle with everyone and everypony wearing their Gala outfits.

Rachel looked up in her evening dress and rested a hand on her waist,
“So... This ball will be like what? The Grand Galloping Gala just only for nobility and absolute VIPs?”

Tyler nodded and stood beside her,
“From what could be understood from that letter? Yes... Come on, folks. Twilight already went in to get prepared. The castle staff are on call to help the Princesses with their outfits. I'm sure she's going crazy by now.”

Upon entering the castle, a servant noticed Tyler and made haste to gallop over to him,
“Tyler Jones! Princess Twilight ordered me to bring you to her the instant you arrive.”

Tyler first glanced to the others before he looked at the servant,
“Then let's not waste any time.”

In her own suite, Twilight was ready and dressed and kept brushing her already brushed mane in obvious nervousness.

When Tyler entered the room, she immediately turned around,
“Thank Celestia you are here! I think I'm going to freak out if even one more servant wants to do something for me...”

Tyler gave her a good long hug and a kiss on the forehead,
“My God, you're shaking...”

“Well can you blame me?” she snapped at him in excitement. “Every Canterlot noble will be there tonight and will judge me. I-”

He placed a finger on her lips before he kissed her,
“And I am certain that they will like you. You have high expectations to yourself, Twilight. Everypony knows that. So as long as you are yourself I don't see any problems coming our way...” Twilight remained silent, touched by his words.

As she hugged him once more, the shaking of her body finally ceased and he patted her shoulder,
“There, there, girl... You would do the same thing for me, wouldn't you?”

It was then when another servant entered her room and harrumphed a bit,
“Your highness? The guests are waiting...” Twilight gave this a brief nod and the couple was led down by the servant before they stood in front of the great door to the ball room.

Gulping a bit, Tyler looked down to Twilight,
"Are you nervous?" looking straight forward, she frantically shook her head, which only made him chuckle, "Yeah... So am I..." his palm now rested on her back, "But you look gorgeous tonight, Twilight. Absolutely gorgeous."

His reassurance snapped her out of her nerviness and she smiled up to him,
"Thank you, Tyler.” the doors then opened and they entered the room, greeted by many Ohs and Ahs.

After half an hour and several short conversations and greetings they met Shining Armor and Cadance. One little rhyme dance and hoof to hand greeting later they began to converse with the married couple.

A while after that Tyler began to laugh,
"Liquid pride? Really?" slapping Shining's shoulder a bit, Tyler chuckled, "What an eloquent way to describe manly tears, my friend."

Chuckling a bit embarrassed, Shining grinned as Cadance leaned against him,
"Well... What kind of brother would I be if I wasn't happy for my little sister being successful?"

Tyler gave this a nod,
"True... true... Glory to those who deserve it. And no one deserves it more than our beautiful girls.” with that he bowed slightly before Twilight. “Twilight? Will you honor me with a dance?”

Still unsure, even after the dance lessons from Rachel, Twilight looked around, stammering repeatedly,
“Uh... I-I don't know... I… I mean we only practiced that one day and I probably need more time to master it...”

Tyler looked up to her with a certain fire in his eyes,
“Look into my eyes, Twilight.” with a gulp she did as he told her and looked at him, “We will dance like we practiced and we will have fun while doing so. If they don't like it, who cares? Who's the Princess here anyway?”

Twilight briefly looked over to Shining Armor and Cadance, who simply nodded in confirmation and Twilight grew bolder.

Coming to Tyler's side she took a deep breath and smiled,
“I'd love to...”

With that they walked over to the dance floor and Twilight jumped up to stand on two legs.

Looking into each others eyes, both of them danced slowly, which earned them a pleased murmur from the bystanders,
“Look how beautiful she is...” one young noble mare stated with a blush.

A nearby standing stallion patted the mare's shoulder,
“Why of course, my dear... A mare in love always shines the most.”

“And quite an exotic love that is...” a third pony said.

She was an older mare of yellow coat with brown mane, wearing a tiny hat.

But this caused the stallion to frown at the older mare,
“Hush! Not only is she a princess, but also an element bearer. She will know what she is doing.”

A second stallion nodded in confirmation and gazed upon the two of them,
“They must truly harmonize with each other if they managed to dance like that. I remember Twilight Sparkle from before. Her dancing style was... unique before she became a princess. It seems she had a great tutor, if he managed to teach her a dance she could perform with a human.”

Overhearing these voices, Rainbow snorted in minor frustration, before she looked at her partner,
"Flynn!"

Flinching a bit, he looked at Rainbow in surprise,
"What is it?"

Nodding towards the dance floor, Rainbow smirked,
"Come on! A little dance to show that we're not behind the others."

Looking over to Twilight and Tyler, Flynn gulped a bit,
"But they were instructed... I... uh... I can't dance at all. I don't want to step on your hooves."

"Hooves?" Rainbow now snickered, "Flynn, I don't need to take the steps, I have these babies here..." she wiggled her wings playfully, "So what do you say? Want to dance a little?"

Smiling broadly, he nodded,
"Sure, why not? Might be fun after all... But don't expect a top notch dancer..."

Rainbow only shook her head with a chuckle,
"I don't want a first class dancer, I want to spend some fun time with you. Come on!

While Flynn and Rainbow had their fun on the dance floor, wooing around, Octavia came to the side of Sam and Rachel,
"Good evening."

Rachel smiled down to her,
“Octavia! Good to see you again. How are you doing?”

Placing her instrument box to the ground, the earth pony mare smiled,
“Certainly fine, thank you, Rachel. I'm here to play the cello and gather some information. But right now I have a little break to rest briefly and to refresh my hooves, when you stand in one place and in one posture, the blood doesn’t flow so well. Events like this make Canterlot so much more special...”

It was then when Flynn and Rainbow bumped into another pair of dancers,
“Oh! I beg you pardon.”

When Flynn turned around, he saw a white bat pony stallion with a scar on his face, it was a single, wide scar that began near the crown of his head and continued, uninterrupted, to his left cheek right over his left eye. He was wearing a dark, blood red, almost black tuxedo. His dark red mane was wild and uncombed, but seemed to be put in place with styling gel, underlining the striking features of his face. In an instant Flynn got the feeling that this stallion wasn't quite an ordinary one. Not because of nobility status or being rich, but by the aura he emitted. It wasn't anything particularly alarming, but the feeling that this stallion was more than a loudmouth wiggled its way into Flynn's mind.

Eying Flynn for a second, the bat pony arched a brow and a smile grew on his face,
"Ah yes... the human who almost fell victim to one of my subordinates... No need to apologize. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Earl Draco von Hoofington.” the name rang a bell in flynn's head and he stepped in front of Rainbow, which caused the Earl to chuckle, “I see you know what I am by now. Don't be alarmed though. I would never do something so stupid. After all, the Element of Loyalty is very important. Even for us nobles. I would never allow anything to happen to its bearer...”

Rainbow arched a brow now and landed on the floor,
“Um... Flynn? What's this all about?”

Flynn leaned over to her,
“Rainbow? Allow me to introduce you to Earl Draco von Hoofington, a vampony noble.”

Her eyes now grew wide,
“That is so awesome! I didn't know such things existed! I mean... yeah... Rumors and stories, but really?” after putting on a grin, the Earl showed his fangs and Rainbow's jaw dropped, “Whoah...”

Chuckling a bit, the Earl then looked up at Flynn again,
“It is a great pleasure to see that you made it out of Vivian's salon in one piece, Ranger Flynn. Frankly I didn't expect less of a human, though. Your kind seems to have a knack for getting into the most dangerous situations and out again. Come... Let us converse together. My mares and I would be thrilled to hear about the tales your kind has to share...”

A few meters away, Tyler and Twilight looked over to the little group Flynn and Rainbow were going with,
"Vamponies, huh?” Tyler asked, “Is it safe to be around them? Or do we have to fear for Flynn and Rainbow? Are they in danger?"

Luna approached them and shook her head,
"Nay, Tyler... Earl Draco von Hoofington is an honorable vampony. Flynn is in no danger. Also Rainbow Dash is with him. The Earl would never allow any vampony to even touch them. He knows that he would have to stand answer to me if something happened. Every so often, he and I converse.” with that she bumped her rump into Twilight's, “And since the Elements of Harmony showed me how to socialize properly, we became very good friends. Well, mostly because we're both nocturnal. But it is a friendship he's not willing to risk." leaning to Tyler, Luna lowered her voice and held a hoof in front of her mouth, "And if thou ask me, I can stand him far better than the rest of the nobility, just don't let anypony know I said that." that said, she giggled, amused about her little secret.

Tyler sighed lightly and smiled at Luna,
"It's good to see that my bad little girl of the night finds more friends every now and then. The things we do to motivate those with money to further fund the cause, huh?"

Luna gave his statement a nod,
"Personally I would prefer to punch them in their lazy flanks. But Celestia says that would be tyranny. I would call it a nudge into the right direction since it's for the greater good. What good are all the riches if thou don't use them for something?"

Tyler nodded now,
"True, but don't force someone or somepony to do something they are unwilling to do, or we're no better than the Descendants. Better for these nobles to fund us by choice."

This brought a smile on Luna's face,
"Now thou sound like Celestia. I think there is some truth in it, but these are tough times ahead of us."

His hand patted her shoulder, gently stroking it while watching Shining and Cadance dancing now. The young couple drew some attention as well with their fast-paced dance.

"...And I wouldn't want to miss you in these times." with that he leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Why don't you give me the pleasure of dancing with you as well?"

Blushing, Luna closed her eyes with a smile,
"I'd love to, but I'm bigger than Twilight Sparkle... It would... it would look silly if I'm towering over you like that..."

Looking over to Celestia, Tyler smiled,
"What do you say, Celestia? Human for a dance?"

Celestia smiled and nodded,
"I think Luna and I would both love that... Luna? Why don't you go upstairs and dress up a bit for the occasion? You get the first turn. I'll go second.” Tyler smiled at her.

This already wonderful evening was getting better and better.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the distant lands of the southeast, down in an underground base, a commander stood before the two Darkness sisters,
“T-the reports have come in, my mistresses... They confirm: There is a new princess in Equestria.”

Both alicorn mares glared down to him like he was harassing them with insignificant information.

Princess Lamira nodded, her voice very calm and collected,
“Thank you commander... But we already sensed that. You only confirmed our expectations.”

Princess Asira gave this a sneer as they turned around and trotted down a corridor to the surface,
"Ascension to alicornhood... Either this is a blasphemy of our status or this new alicorn is somepony extraordinary."

Princess Lamira, however, kept her temper to herself and seemed to already be planning,
"We shall see to that in good time. Come now, Asira my beloved sister... For now, Nagohod must fly!"

As they exited to the barren surface, both of them spread their wings and began their flight. High above the citadels and far away from the base, they unleashed their magic, causing the ground beneath them to crack open. As the few citadels that hovered in the air made way, a horrible quake took place as the two alicorns of Darkness levitated the object out of the ground. The citadels were shrouded in darkness as the Nagohod obscured the sunlight with its massive size. Several of the citadel captains looked up to the giant object with open jaws. The air was filled with dust and dirt, falling down the Nagohod. The huge citadel, dwarfing the others with its size: ten times more massive in every respect, hovered in the sky now and both alicorns began to laugh as the horns of Nagohod echoed over the barren lands, signaling it's combat readiness.

Author's Note

Proofread by Truthseeker

8 - Wings of Steel *

It was another quiet and clear morning.The birds were singing and the smaller animals were frollicking around on the grass. The tranquility of the cottage at the outskirt of Ponyville was disturbed by a knock on the door.

Grinko growled a bit at the sudden disturbance and his purring ceased,
"Just when we were going to cuddle..."

Fluttershy rested a shoulder on his chest, shook her head, and opened her front door. In front of her stood a royal delivery stallion with a package from Canterlot,
“Good morning, miss!” he greeted her, “Are you Ms. ...” he recognized the hulking form of Grinko coming to the door as well and gulped a bit, “Ms. Fluttershy...?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded,
“Yes, I am. What brings you here?”

Grinko observed the courier pony for a second, then turned back, deeper into the cottage, not deeming him a threat, which caused the stallion to calm down again,
“Special delivery for you, ma'am! This little parcel here is just for you, I need your signature here and here.” he said indicating two dotted lines.

After signing, Fluttershy carried the parcel inside and opened it. Within was a small case and a letter from the princess,

Dear Fluttershy and Grinko,
To aid you both in your very special kind of bond, Princess Cadance, Luna and myself have crafted an amulet that will dull Grinko's fangs and claws as long as he wears it, so he can express his feelings to you in a safe and proper way. I hope you both use this to bond even further and show ponies and Masars alike that love can even bloom between our two species.
Sincerely yours,

Princess Celestia

While Grinko lifted the amulet out of the case and eyed it suspiciously, Fluttershy gasped and looked over to him,
“Oh... my... that means you can walk among ponies without them to fear your claws or fangs.
Isn't this exciting?"

Grinko looked over to her and arched an eyebrow,
"Hmmm... if you say so... it's a good thing that this is an optional solution to our little..." he harrumphed, "...problem... I'm happy that I can still go hunting when I take it off and don't have to rely on that tofu garbage..."

Taking the amulet into her hooves, the yellow Pegasus mare looked into his eyes,
"Oh, I know how much this means to you. Hunting for food is part of carnivore nature after all... but I'm happy that you can finally socialize with the other ponies as well."

She then placed it around his neck and the Masar looked into the mirror, taking note of the changes. His once sharp and pointy fangs were transformed into the flat teeth of a herbivore. Taking a soft bite at his own arm, he made sure that this wasn't merely an illusion to trick only the eyes. His now blunt teeth couldn't dig into his flesh.

He nodded and looked over to Fluttershy,
“True... this amulet has defanged and declawed me.” just as he took the amulet off, his claws and fangs reappeared and he nodded, “This is powerful magic.” Placing it around his neck once more, he decided to wear the amulet and only take it off for hunting.

Fluttershy beamed and rested a hoof on his chest,
“With that amulet, you can finally start making friends among ponies.” she looked down, slightly blushing, her voice trembling as she continued, “And... um... you know... with the danger of your claws and fangs out of the way... we might... um... continue in the shed...”

Pulling the timid yellow Pegasus mare to him, Grinko growled a bit in anticipation,
“I can barely await to taste your most precious spot...”

He began licking along her neck and Fluttershy could feel his strong, now clawless paws kneading her flanks. She couldn't read his mind, but she could read his actions. Without the threat of hurting her by accident, Grinko was eager to show her how much she meant to him. The Masar’s kindness was stronger than her own, which was fitting in a way since his body was stronger as well.

But all in all Grinko never misused his overwhelming strength to subdue her. It would have been so very easy for him to simply take her by force, to violate her petite body with his mountainous mass of muscle. But to that day, he had held himself back, which she could see evidence of, in the big bulge in his crotch. Sooner or later, she knew she had to give him something to ease his urge.

Fluttershy knew that with being with him, the day was drawing closer that she would offer him her virginity. She anticipated it as a moment she was afraid of and thrilled for at the same time. She knew that he thought of her as a mare of honor and treated her as such. He would never pressure her into any action, the offering had to come from her and her alone. Several things had to be prepared for that day. Candles, maybe something to beautify the shed a bit. But what would he do with her then? All the possible scenarios made her shiver, either in imagined delight or slight anxiety. It was then that her thoughts were abruptly ended by him as his purring slowly ceased.

Sniffing her chest, he looked up to her as his tongue slid up her coat,
“Fluttershy, I want you to be watching this time when I'm in the Everfree hunting.”

His statement startled the yellow Pegasus,
“Me? B-But, it's important for you!”

“No... It is important, because YOU are important, beloved.” after his tongue slid up her neck, he looked deep into her blue eyes, “Your beauty grows with every passing day, Fluttershy.”

Giggling a bit, she wiggled out of his paws and landed on her hooves again,
“Well... thanks to you being here recently, I’m the cleanest I’ve ever been in my life. With your baths you’ve shown so much determination and patience...” playing with the case a bit, she felt the heat rising in her cheeks, “I, um... I might reward you sometime for that.”

Grinko smiled and waved the thought away,
“Oh? You don't have to reward me with more kindness, Fluttershy. In fact, if it weren't for you, I might never understand several things about ponies.”

Hearing his statement frustrated Fluttershy in a way. Wasn't he expecting to have some more intimate moments with her? 'Does he think I'm too timid for that? That sexuality is beyond me?' she thought with a frown, 'I-I can do that as well! No fear pushes new Fluttershy around!' With that the yellow Pegasus snorted a bit and grew more determined to prepare the shed for a bit more... intimacy.

* * * * *

The next day the paper-colt yelled over the streets of Ponyville holding up a newspaper,
“Special Edition! Special Edition! Merchants and diplomats from the Amasian Empire gossip about worrisome earthquakes and tsunamis near their southeastern coasts. Princess Celestia offered emergency aid in case of catastrophic events. Special Edition! Special Edition!”

Meanwhile the Mane Six sat together with Lyra in a bistro as Twilight studied the menu,
“Tyler said something about working on the windows and doors in the library. He said that they have developed better thermal isolation materials in the Ranger Headquarter. It's a good thing the humans get us some ideas to develop a bit faster now. These Descendants seem to have technology far beyond us.”

Applejack nodded to her herd mate with a big smile,
"Ah hear ya. Ah had to convince Granny a bit that the windows may be fine now, but better windows will keep us even warmer in winter and Big Mac won't have to cut so much wood during the winter, since the heat won't escape as easily. So new windows for the farm as well. Maybe Ah can ask Tyler about a new plow too, now that we can afford it..."

Lyra and Pinkie smiled at each other,
“And our herd is thinking of getting ourselves a new bed...”

The curious announcement caused the others at the table to smirk.

Rainbow leaned over to the mint-coated unicorn and wiggled her eyebrows,
“Uh-huh? Come on, Lyra... Spill it!”

Rainbow’s threat only brought a grin on the mint-coated unicorn's face,
“Or else what? You do know that Pinkie is in my herd, right? You can't threaten me with her since herd mates stick together. But to stay on topic... How is Flynn in bed? I mean we all have our share in humans now. Besides Fluttershy and Rarity that is...”

Rarity patted Fluttershy's shoulder with a gentle smile and a nod,
“Never fear, my dear. You will train that Masar ruffian into a decent member of society and a perfect gentle... er... gentlecat! If anypony ever had the chance to tame such a beast, it is you, Fluttershy. I guess since you have him, you don't even have the need for a human.” ignoring the fact that Fluttershy was glaring at her with narrowed eyes, the white unicorn then rested a hoof on her forehead, “As for me... I will have to wait for the day I find my valiant knight, storming at my heart with words so gentle and pure. It is such a shame that Tyler doesn't want another mare in his herd. It would be such a pleasure to experience that as well.”

Lyra chuckled and nodded over to Rainbow, reminding her that she hadn't answered yet.

Rainbow snickered and waved it away,
“Oh, Flynn is awesome! And while he lasts far longer than the best stallion, he and I gave “10 seconds flat” a whole new meaning last heat season... Oh Celestia, I was never sensitive like that before...” seeing the arched brows of the Applejack, Rainbow snickered, “Oh, NOT what you think, AJ... Humans are like the wild hurricanes over the ocean. Once started in the right direction, they can go on for hours. Flynn slowly turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in bed. Once that boy starts, there's little I can do to suppress the neighing... and Celestia knows he loves it when I do that. After the first time I come, he just continues, leaving me helpless in a storm of multiple orga-”

It was in that moment that Rainbow noticed the sudden attention she got over that very delicate issue. A little bit too much attention, even for her.

Each of her friends started to grin, which caused the cerulean mare to gulp as she noted the heat in her cheeks,
“S-so... How's Tyler? I guess he really has all his hooves... or rather hands full with four mares?”

Taking a sip from her lemon tonic, Twilight nodded,
“Tyler has been very active in the recent weeks... but since our shared training he’s calmed down a little.”

Leaning in, Applejack slightly nudged her with a wink,
“Ya mean after Princess Celestia and Luna had a talk with ya both?” when the alicorn looked over to her herd mate, the earth pony simply shrugged, “Don't get me wrong, Twilight... Ah'm happy for ya, but there's a time for work and a time for buckin' like there is no tomorrow... Ya should stand up a bit more as a princess. Ya know... against troublemakers.”

“Against Discord, you mean..." the lavender alicorn flatly stated, “That I already do.”

Yet the country mare smirked,
“Not just Discord, but Tyler as well. Ah think it's for the best that Tyler is trying to keep his feet on the ground and not flying high in the clouds. But if he does slip up and get too big for his britches, we should dog-pile on him like a fly on stink. Ah know Ah will." with that Applejack stood up, "Well, Ah gotta go. Ah got some work left on the farm, but it sure did good to take a little break...”

Once Applejack was gone, the others looked at Twilight,
“Don't you share her concern for Tyler, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight blinked twice then took another sip from her lemon tonic,
“Tyler is a lot of things, but he is not stupid enough to let all of this to his head. I understand AJ's point of view though. From her perspective, it's her responsibility to make sure Tyler stays the way he is since she's the only mare in the herd who's not a princess. But if you ask me: worrying about this is silly, we would never make a second Prince Blueblood out of him and he would never turn into such a character.” Twilight looked up and smiled, “Which is a good thing.”

The others now shared her smile and nodded,
“Agreed, Darling.” Rarity stated, “Let us hope and pray that he never changes for the worse.”

* * * * *

In the meantime, Big Macintosh was working on the farm. He was going into the barn when he heard some giggling in the hay. Arching his brows for a second, he looked grimly toward the hay. ‘That better be not the cutie mark crusaders with one of their wild ideas of getting a cutie mark.’

That's when he heard a female voice,
“Big Maaack.”

First opening his eyes in surprise, his expression hardened,
“Rachel? Yer drunk...” he stated as his eyes narrowed in disbelief, “And naked as well...”

Big Macintosh had to admit that there was a rather substantial difference between being a peeping tom under the influence of the heat season and being sober as he was then. With a rational mindset, he was able pull himself together so that seeing her naked didn't caused him much of an erection problem, even though he had to admit that seeing the otherwise dressed Rachel was something else.

Shambling over to him, Rachel giggled and the stallion could smell the alcohol in her breath.

It seemed that Rachel had found Granny's bottles of moonshine, something that consumed in larger quantities, could turn even the strongest stallion into a drunk mess,
“Yessh… I know I’m drunnnk…Big Mac, if I’m sober I’m only a mean ol’ bidch talkin’ bullshidd to hide that I’m so lonely… Budd you are a good an decen guy, yar… YOU are always lisenin' tooo… to me!” holding her head, she took a deep breath,“Goddd how I hate Jonessss… That guy is so contennnnt with all of his life an’ I struggl to gedd a single relationshibb togethrrr.”

She then grabbed Big Mac at the chin and looked into his eyes,
“Yuu know…? You are se… the best guy around here as far as I care! You just shuddup an’ listen to my prblms, evn when I’m naked before you... That takes some quality! You know I…” she then gestured a pistol movement, “I would prolly just shoo… shoot at you for seein’ me like this if I was sober…”

Big Macintosh only sat there and looked around the room with big eyes as Rachel leaned against him and began to sober. Was this really happening? It seemed a bit unreal. Yet, here she was, leaning against him, her breasts pressing against his shoulder.

It was then that Applejack's voice became audible and she entered the barn as well,
“Big Mac? I'm back from Ponyville! Let's get over to the northern fields, ya hear? Big Mac? Where are-” then she saw the two of them together.

First Applejack's eyes grow wide, then they narrowed and her voice became very dark, “Macintosh!”

In an instant, Bic Macintosh sat up straight.

The stallion knew quite well that if Applejack called him in that way she was very upset with him,
“AJ! A-Ah can explain!”

Approaching both of them the country mare narrowed her eyes,
“Darn straight ya'll ‘r gonna explain to me why Rachel is all naked an' drunk with ya in the barn! Are ya takin’ advantage of her? What in tarnation has gotten into ya? If Granny finds out-”

She was interrupted as Rachel gently grabbed her and placed a big kiss on her lips.

The stench of alcohol filled the mare's nostrils as Rachel cuddled with her,
“Takn advantage? Alright... Budd you haaave to be reeaally nice to me, right AJ?”

Flinching back, Applejack gasped for air,
“Ugh... Macintosh! That girl is more drunk than Uncle Apple Rum on the annual cider festival! What did she drink? Granny's moonshine?”

The red stallion narrowed his eyes at his sister,
“That's what Ah was tryin' to tell ya, little sis... Ah found her like that a few moments ago and then ya barged in.”

The revelation caused AJ to flinch back and she held her Stetson in front of her muzzle,
“Oh... In that case, Ah'm sorry big brother... A-ah sh-should have known better. Can ya forgive me?”

Yet the red stallion simply ambled past his younger sibling,
“There's nothin' to forgive, lil' sis. Yer a mare of principles. Ah rather have a sister like that than anything else. Now Ah'll head for the northern fields while ya help Rachel sober up.”

* * * * *

Half an hour later Rachel gasped as Applejack poured icy cold water over her,
“That should help ya sobering up. Silly girl, drinking one whole bottle of Granny's moonshine. Yer lucky yer not sleepin' for the next few hours.”

Shivering over the icy water all over her naked body, Rachel now came to her senses,
“I... I think I've had that sleep already. Did I do something?”

Thinking for a bit, Applejack grinned,
“Nah, Ah don't think so... But ya were pretty comfy naked around mah brother."

In an instant, Rachel's eyes went wide,
“I WAS WHAT?!?”

Not a minute later, Rachel barged into the farmhouse's living room, dressed again and fuming in anger and looked at Big Macintosh, who had just come in to get some tools,
“You little shit!”

Applejack arrived in the room just as Rachel marched towards the stallion,
“If I find anything oozing out of my body that points to you...” she grabbed him and cocked back her fist to hit him.

Before the punch could hit home, Applejack raised a hoof,
“No, Rachel! Ah was thinkin' the same! But Big Macintosh found ya like this! Mounting ya in that state didn't even occur to him! He ordered me to sober ya up. Ya know... because ya were naked and all that.”

Her fist still up in the air, Rachel gritted her teeth. Big Macintosh wasn't even flinching and showed no signs of bad consciousness.

No, this stallion hadn’t laid a hoof on her,
“Aw shit! If that's the case, I can't be mad at you for doing the right thing...” in the next moment she just patted his cheek, “Decent. I like that in a man. Takes some guts to resist temptation. Shit! I should stop getting into trouble. I owe you one after another for helping me. Hell you might have the right to get a favor from-”

It was in this moment when Rachel was slapped in the back with a broom when Granny Smith stood behind her,
“Mind yer yapper in this house, young un! There’s children in here that might hear yer filth!”

Once outside, Rachel rubbed her back a bit while Applejack grinned,
"Ya have to watch it, Rachel. Granny's right, we don't want Apple Bloom to learn any bad words. Come to think of it, Ah'm happy Ah found ya with Big Mac and not the little one..."

Pulling the country mare in, Rachel's expression grew in panic,
“You can't tell Jones about that! You can't!”

Arching a brow, Applejack leaned back,
“But Ah'm the Element of Honesty! Ya can't expect me to lie for ya just because yer embarrassed.”

With a frantic shaking of her head, Rachel continued,
“No one said anything about lying, just don't talk about it! If he learns about this, I'm...” the next moment, Rachel halted in her sentence and looked up.

High above the farm an airship of unknown origin crossed the sky and Rachel pointed up to it as it headed for Canterlot,
“That's not a equestrian airship... Go get the Element Bearers while I'll get Jones and the boys... Something tells me that we will be needed in Canterlot...”

After the train ride to Canterlot, the Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers looked into the sky, where the airship still circled around the capital. Several Canterlot ponies looked up to the airship, slightly startled about the massive size of it.

Looking up, Applejack corrected her Stetson,
"Well what's taking them so long? Why don't they, ya know... come down already? It gives the impression that they are circlin' us like vultures."

Sam nodded and arched an eyebrow,
"Well, I guess such a big airship can't land everywhere. The size of that thing makes it hard to maneuver, so I take it they are looking for a safe place to land.”

Pinkie bounced up and down,
“Look, they’re descending!"

The airship landed in a larger market place that was normally used for the Canterlot weekly market and once the hatch opened, five griffins in thick and sturdy steel harnesses marched out to secure the area. Once they deemed the place safe, they nodded to each other and one Griffin call later into the cargo hold, one older Griffin, seemingly the leader of these Griffins, stepped outside. Halfway down the ramp, he noticed the Royal Guard approaching the place and a smile formed on his face. Giving a claw-sign, he went further outside, followed by more Griffins. The rest of the crew, all in all fifty griffins, marched out of the airship and stood in attention in front of the hatch and showed a prime example of military discipline, as the first five secured the airship to the ground.

Captain Dusk Aegis approached the lead Griffin and greeted him with a short nod,
“General Marek, it's an honor to have such a high ranking officer visit Equestria. Princes Celestia is already awaiting your arrival.”

The old Griffin nodded and looked up to the windows of the castle.

He was certain that the princesses would be standing at some of them right now, witnessing his arrival,
“Of that I am certain. King Gifford made clear that he demands clearance over certain rumors. This expedition into your land is more of a threat assessment, Captain. You can ease your guard ponies. However, My Griffins need to restock for the journey home and a place to rest.”

Dusk thought for a minute, then nodded,
"I will see to it that they will get their supplies and living quarters for the time being. But for now let me escort you to the throne room."

Turning around, the General faced the crew of the Nephelion,
"Clear and lock the place!"

One of his officers nodded and turned his head to the right, to the rest of his fellow griffins,
"Detachment, stand down!"

After that, the General turned to Dusk once more, only to face a pair of bright blue eyes.

While the General blinked in confusion, a certain pink pony bounced around him,
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, who are you?"

Dusk Aegis sighed and shook his head with a smile,
"Uh... General Marek, may I introduce the Element of Laughter..."

Marek arched a brow as he followed Pinkie Pie with his eyes,
"I see... That explains the cheerfulness. Yes, there were even more rumors about these Elements than the humans, yet since they're ponies, the King wasn't that concerned about them."

Pinkie now stopped in front of him,
"Uh-huh... Are you going to be mean as well? Because the last griffin I met was a meanie and way too interested in her own self."

After a frustrated sigh, the General simply grabbed Pinkie Pie and lifted her aside,
“For that I am sorry. Believe me that this is not representative for most griffins. But I am not here to laugh or smile or party for that matter...” just as he turned around again to go on, Pinkie stood before him once again, causing him to turn his head back and forth in surprise and narrowing his eyes for a stern glare, “Stand aside, Miss Pie... Or I will have these griffins remove you and hand you over to Princess Celestia.”

Pinkies eyes narrowed and for half a minute, she and the General stared each other down.

Then all of a sudden, she hopped aside and beamed,
“OK!”

Taking a deep breath, the General closed his eyes for a moment before turning to one of his officers as he went along,
“Note, please...” as the officer took pen and paper, he nodded to the General, who then started to dictate, “Sidenote: Element of Laughter met and inspected, seems silly and a fool on first sight, but is calculating risks and behavior... First recommendation: Not to underestimate.”

The Captain of the Royal Guard escorted the General to the castle while the remaining Griffins secured and maintained the Nephelion. Among them, however, was one particular, who tried his best to remain out of sight of the others. He did wear a bit more clothing, what covered his white feathers and snuck away at the first opportunity.

* * * * *

In the Castle, the Elements were greeted by Princess Celestia smiling gently at them,
"There is no need to worry, my little ponies. It is a state visit from the Griffin Kingdom. A General was sent in order to inspect our human friends. It was to be expected that sooner or later several nations start to get curious about our bipedal friends who fight so well for us."

Tyler nodded in thought as the other Rangers arrived as well,
"OK... I guess that means that they want to inspect the Ranger Headquarter as well. Twilight, why don't you and the Elements go into the ball room or go back to Ponyville and have a great time while we Rangers do this business here? Shouldn't take longer than a day or two... I mean they are here for us, so there's little to no reason why you girls should waste your time with this."

Twilight nodded and nuzzled Tyler thoroughly,
"Well, if you say so... If any problems should arise, just give us a call, we will be right there." turning around to the other Elements, she nodded, "Come on, girls... If we're here, we could use this time to enjoy Canterlot."

Half an hour later the Harmony Rangers stood in the throne room with Tyler and Princess Celestia as Flynn leaned over to Rachel,
"So, uh... Who is coming again?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked over to him,
"As far as I understood, it's a state visit from the east... Some sort of General to inspect us. You know the drill from the Air Force, right? Inspection time is showing yourself from the best side."

It was then that the Guards announced the visitors,
"General Marek of the Griffin Kingdom!"

The doors opened, but as General Marek and Grinko saw each other, both the Masar and Griffin went into combat stances. Aided by his fellow Griffins, the General drew a sword, while Grinko took the amulet from his neck, prompting his fangs and claws to sharpen in an instant.

The humans immediately took action and stepped between the opponents to prevent a bloodbath.

Flynn, Sam, and Rachel strained against Grinko and held him back,
“Stop, big buddy! What is going on here?”

With an expression of disgust and rage, the General then pointed his sword at the Masar,
“There is a Masar animal among your ranks!”

Grinko growled in a deep tone, while showing his fangs and struggling against his fellow Rangers,
“Masar and Griffins are arch enemies... Comes with the fact that we deem their kind as our prey... I have sworn to you that I shall harm no pony... But that offer doesn't include Griffins!”

One of the Griffin officers narrowed his eyes,
“You come and try, kittie! We are ready for you!”

Stepping between the two opponents, Tyler took turns in looking at both of them,
“Would you cut it out?!? We are not here to fight each other! If you really want to kill each other, I could easily toss a coin and shoot whoever loses.”

Gritting his teeth, the General nodded reluctantly,
“I agree... our mission is to assess the humans for the safety of the Griffin Kingdom, not eliminating savage Masar beasts...”

Tyler nodded and looked over to Grinko, who backed away with an angered growl, as the General sheathed his sword again,
“And because of our concern for griffin safety I must insist on complete cooperation. Which for now is to tell your... Masar... to get out of my sight...”

Looking over to Grinko, Tyler nodded in confirmation,
"I think as well that it would be best if you and the Griffins are not in the same room, Grinko. Please head over to the Ranger headquarter.”

Growling displeased, the Masar glared at the General,
“If you insist, Tyler Jones... I shall yield... not out of fear, but out of respect for you...”

As soon as Grinko left the room, Tyler looked over to the General. Something told him that there would be trouble in the future,
"As for me... Princess Celestia, I'm heading over to the training hall in the castle. Should there be anything of importance, I'm there for you to call for me..."

The white alicorn nodded with a gentle smile,
"Of course, Tyler... The General and I will converse a bit before we will summon you Rangers..." With that Tyler and the other Harmony Rangers left the throne room, only to spread out as soon as they were out. While Sam and Rachel went back to the Ranger Headquarter to meet up with Lyra, Flynn took a short detour to Ponyville.

Heading over to the training hall, Tyler recognized several familiar faces of the Royal Guard. Some of them served with him in the clashes in the Amasian Enclave and it comforted him that they remained in service. But right now he needed a bit of a diversion. This General was so rude, it was grating on Tyler's nerves, and smashing a training dummy to pieces might lift his mood up a bit. As he entered the training hall, he spotted one particular Griffin who seemed a bit different than the other Griffins he had seen until now. He was a pearl white Griffin and Tyler arched a brow. Unlike the other griffins, his plumage and coat were very ordered and clean, like used to thorough preening and brushing. As one of the other Griffin officers entered and saw the young Griffin however, he gasped and stormed out of the training hall.

Tyler came over to the young Griffin and took a wooden training sword,
"A bit indecisive, eh? Want a sparing partner? Smashing a training dummy might be fun, but it's no real challenge..."

When the Griffin looked over to Tyler, he was a bit surprised at first, but nodded in agreement,
"Sure thing. A training partner would be a great way to improve myself."

* * * * *

In the throne room General Marek and Princess Celestia conversed,
“I am here because there are various rumors about the skills and abilities of the human race that brought great concern to King Gifford. I will need your complete-”

But Celestia raised a hoof,
“General, please... For centuries Equestria and the Griffin kingdom lived side by side with only one minor conflict. You don't have to demand cooperation like a catchphrase, you will always have that here. If these investigations of yours will show King Gifford one thing, it will be that the humans living in our country are out to preserve peace and not to bring war to your kingdom and that his worries were nothing more than just that."

Suddenly the doors to the throne room slammed open and one of the griffins stormed in,
"General Marek!!!"

As he reached the old Griffin, Marek hauled off and threatened to slap him, which caused the Griffin to cower subserviently,
"Mind your manners, you fool! Don't you see that you are in the presence of royalty?"

Widening his eyes as he looked up to Celestia, the Griffin bowed once before he turned to the General again,
"I'm terribly sorry... It's just that..."

As he whispered something to the General, Marek's eyes suddenly went wide,
"WHAT?!?"

* * * * *

Meanwhile Tyler and the young Griffin dueled for quite some time. The fight, although not to the death had become to the grade where both opponents wanted to best each other. Both were heavily huffing and sweating, yet smiling at each other.

Tyler grinned as they exchanged yet another series of attacks,
"I must admit that this fighting style is much different to the ones ponies use. It's very hard to get to you..."

The doors to the outside suddenly swung open and General Marek stood in them, aghast to see the young Griffin standing there,
"Prince Griffith!"

It was in that moment that the training of the two duelists came to a screeching halt. While Tyler was astonished that his training partner was a Griffin prince, the white griffin showed signs of uncertainty. But this wasn't the uncertainty of battle, the look in his eyes revealed it: This Griffin was expecting to be disappointed somehow.

But Tyler didn't yield. 'Prince or not, I will settle this!' Raising the sword in his hand, he nodded over to the white griffin,
“Ready?”

Hearing Tyler, the uncertain look in the young Griffin's face died instantly and with a smile he nodded with confidence. Now Tyler charged at Prince Griffith, but he countered his attack with enough force so that the wooden training swords cracked a bit. Then, all of a sudden, the Griffin slammed towards Tyler and knocked him off balance. Just as the human tried to regain his balance, the prince then performed a pirouette, and his lion hind leg slid over the ground, pulling Tyler's legs away like a hook. The move caused Tyler to fall to the ground. A few seconds later, the tip of the prince's wooden sword rested on the tip of Tyler's nose.

Exhaling, Tyler raised his arms in defeat,
“Alright, you got me...”

Lowering his sword, the prince offered Tyler his claw and looked into his eyes with an expression of curiosity,
“You knew of my status... And yet you continued to fight... Why?”

As Tyler grabbed the claw of the prince and got up, he smirked still out of breath,
“Hmph! You didn't come into this hall to be pampered, did you? That move was unexpected though, I’ll give you that.”

With a beaming face, the prince nodded,
“Thank you! My tutors taught me that for bipedal opponents such as minotaurs.”

General Marek, however, came to the side of the two sparing partners and his face was far from being pleased as he nodded to the prince,
“Prince Griffith, you should be in the kingdom! Your father surely is searching far and wide for you as we speak!”

Looking over to the General, Prince Griffith now showed annoyance,
“Oh he will live, Marek. Like anything happens in the old walls of the palace with me not being there. Leave Ranger Jones alone, I deem him a good sparing partner. At least he doesn't limit me to dummy training...”

The General arched a brow in uncertainty, but nodded,
“As you wish...” when the prince left the training hall, Marek turned to Tyler, “That young fool... He could have been injured! And then royal blood would be on your hands!”

Yet Tyler knocked on the sword in his hand,
“These are wooden training swords, give it a break. I think he just wants to see the world a bit more. And the look in his eyes when you called his name... he doesn't get any fights back home, does he?”

“This world isn't all friendly, you know...” the General said while his eyes followed Tyler, “And of course no one would dare to injure the prince! The king would be furious!”

Laying the sword aside, Tyler nodded in understanding,
“I can imagine... I'm a father myself.”

This small revelation visibly surprised the General,
“You have children? Here?”

Now smiling, Tyler held up his hands, showing the General the approximate size of Appleseed,
“A wonderful little foal... The wonders of magic made that possible. Hopefully I can protect her and this country until she's old enough to take care of her own.”

Thoughtful, General Marek nodded,
“The worries of a father... I have three kids at home... two grown up girls, and one boy almost ready to fly. I think you and I can agree that the king must be informed at once about this?”

Tyler hummed in agreement,
“Of course, I will inform Princess Celestia, so that she can send a letter to him... However, a bloody nose once in a while does good for a child. He will learn several lessons in life if exposed to dangerous situations. Never to touch fire because it burns you... There are things you can preach forever, but it only takes one mistake to burn that painful memory into you permanently. I think the prince yearns to be allowed to do just that.”

The brows of the General arched a bit, yet he agreed,
"Hmmm... An interesting idea, although pretty uncommon among Griffins... I will relay this 'recommendation' to the king... With no guarantee that this will change his mind."

* * * * *

An hour later, the General was lead through the Ranger Headquarters by Tyler and the other humans.

He listened with great interest about the whereabouts of the previous inhabitants and the former function of the facility,
"I see... So this place was formerly a Changeling Research station designed to find out more about the species... Well, there are some ponies in the Griffin Kingdom, we would benefit from that as well.”

As they reached the laboratories, Tyler spotted some items of interest and smiled,
"Ah! I see they are finally finished..." as they entered, he approached one of the items and observed it closely.

It was a suit human body armor with several tiny hexagon plates on it.

One of the stallions in the laboratory looked at Tyler and nodded,
"Perfect timing, Ranger Jones! I was just about to send someone to you.”

Tyler nodded,
"Sure thing. Please go ahead and explain to the General what you are doing here."

After a brief nod, the stallion turned to the General and pointed a hoof to the body armor,
"Certainly! Inspired by the human invention of Kevlar, a synthetic fiber from the human world that we are unable to reproduce here, we went for a simple steel fiber. Not as light-weighted or flexible as a Kevlar vest, yet also able to halt a rifle bullet. Also these little hexagon plates everywhere on the vest are embedded and are of a steel bio-alloy. Each plate is capable of withstanding a magic spell up to class 5. We are trying to improve that to class 6 right now. And are working on a design for ponies as well to hand a small number of armors out to the Royal Guard."

The General frowned a bit, 'A steel bio-alloy... Dragon scales maybe?'

It was then when a very familiar voice began to speak,
"Excuse me, sir... But the Great and Powerful Research Department... wants to have a break ahead of schedule. Do you think that this would be possible?"

Looking over to the unicorn mare, Tyler nodded with a chuckle and pointed at the vests,
"Of course, Trixie. You guys deserve a break for this here."

His statement caused many of the researchers to cheer and several of them left the laboratory immediately.

One of them, however, stopped at Rachel's side and looked up to her,
"Oh yes! Ranger Higgins, your new weapon design is ready in the armory. But, uh... Do you really think that this much firepower is necessary?"

Rachel shrugged with a smile,
"Better safe than sorry, right?" she turned to Tyler, "Jones, I'm headed to the armory to see the result of a little project of my own..."

Tyler arched a brow, yet nodded,
"Of course, just make sure to be in the command center later on."

And while the others continued the tour through the facility with the Griffins, Rachel headed directly to the armory. The quartermaster gave her a few forms to fill out, then nodded and opened the door for her.

There it was. The six barrels were highly polished and glittered in the light of the armory as Rachel walked around it reverently, her hand sliding over the metal ever so gently,
"Now... How the hell will I ever name you to do you right? Sasha? Big fucking gun?" lifting the heavy weapon off the pedestal she got herself accustomed to the weight.

One hand at the forward grip, the other at the handle as she fingered the trigger, she felt the weight of it now that she was able to lift the weapon, yet she probably needed more training if she wanted to wield it for a longer duration "Hmmm... I think I will call you Big Mac!"

* * * * *

An hour later the Harmony Rangers ended the tour with the command center, the heart of the Ranger Headquarter. By then General Marek was astounded by the many advanced technologies that the humans had brought to the ponies in order to give them a fighting chance against the yet unknown enemy. However deep inside, the old Griffin knew that this was not everything they had in their arsenal. Tyler explained to him the whereabouts of the pony interfaces and that this was the Crystal Empire's contribution to the Harmony Ranger's equipment as information processing. General Marek nodded as Tyler spoke with three ponies in order to demonstrate a simulation for the Griffins. After a short instruction from both unicorns and the crystal pony, Tyler linked into their processing and began to concentrate.

The screen started to show animations and pictures that looked more like computer interfaces and area maps, which turned into real armies as Tyler concentrated. In big green letters the title “Attack Changeling Hive Scenario” was standing at the top of the screen. Among the many figures on the screen, Tyler was on a hill coordinating the equestrian ground army and air force units. With precise and fast hand signals he gave his orders to his officers and looked at the front hive entrance, the largest one. And while the equestrian forces advanced relentlessly, one flash ran over the battlefield and a short cut-scene showed Flynn tossing some bombs at the entrance and gaining some distance again before the detonation occurred at the arrival of the ponies.

Like a disturbed hornet’s nest, the swarm, well swarmed out to attack the intruders. As the first wave of ponies was repelled after some very bloody and costly fights, the swarm hovered in the air, seemingly victorious. But still Tyler was hiding in cover on the battlefield and the signal came over by crystal radio: “Package delivered”

Not one second later, Tyler looked up and a rainbow stream flew high in the atmosphere while something fell down from it. In the midst of the swarm the package detonated with a blinding flash of light and took out a majority of the swarm as more waves of ponies now closed in from over the hills.

With that the animation ended and Tyler woke up from the trance he and the ponies were in. All three nodded up to him, confirming him that the connection was cut correctly. General Marek nodded thoughtfully,
“Impressive... Most impressive... You’re already forming strategic plans to do something against the Changeling scourge.”

Yet Tyler shook his head,
“Only a simulation, General Marek. I do know that in a real battle, there are no such things as bulletproof strategies. It's a possible scenario, yet I'm not able to process all information to a realistic scenario. I think it was too much to our favor. For a realistic approach, several simulations with some severe problems will have to be included as well.”

The General arched a brow,
“A wise way of thinking. It means you don't just daydream with this screen. And of course you can instruct officers to your plans like a film projector. Yes I like it.” coming down to Tyler, the General continued looking at the screen, “I saw you aim for weak spots and avoid heavily guarded positions. I must admit that I am intrigued...”

Jones decided the time had come to show the General the reason for the entire facility and Tyler nodded over to some information terminals. The ponies at them nodded and showed displayed the information and memories of several ponies during the Descendant Invasion of Equestria. The main focus on this were no doubt the war citadels with their ability to lay waste Equestria's defenses within a matter of minutes. Backing away, the General shook his head at the sight of the sheer monstrosity of the war citadels. Of all the things he had faced in his days, these citadels were by far the most dangerous thing he had ever seen.

Not that Tyler blamed him... those citadels were meant for shock and awe and it was his job now to help the General over his own.

Resting a hand on the General's shoulder, Tyler nodded,
"Everything alright?"

Gulping heavily, the General stared at the screen,
“What power… Tell me what… What hope do we have… to do something against this? Overwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe those things.”

Tyler nodded in agreement,
“For that the Rangers have a secret weapon the Descendants don't have.” pictures of destroyed war citadels filled the screen as the citadels detonated.

General Marek shook his head in even bigger confusion, yet at the same time it lifted his fighting spirit.

Those citadels were monstrosities, yet somehow these humans seemed to have found a weak-spot,
“What? I don't understand... How can one destroy these things?"

Tyler nodded and pointed at a doorway,
"To explain that I want you to see something for yourself. General? We brought some good human ideas for war crafts…"

With that they brought the Griffins into a sort of hangar bay. While Sam, Lyra and Rachel went down with Vinyl Scratch, Tyler and the Griffins remained upstairs.

That was when Tyler held up a blood capsule,
"This here is a small glass capsule with human blood, General Marek. We found out that human tissue is able to store unicorn magic to a certain degree. Now... let us demonstrate for you what happens if such a capsule becomes destabilized."

He nodded down to Rachel, who picked up a capsule herself and threw it into the empty hangar bay.

The detonation was minor, resembling that of a fragmentation grenade, yet big enough for the Griffins to gasp before Tyler held up a travel bag,
"Now imagine bigger capsules all detonating at once in this bag here."

General Marek arched both of his eyebrows and nodded. It was a most unfamiliar way to defeat an enemy, yet by bypassing the defenses of these stone fortresses, the humans could destroy them from within, which seemed both daring and impressive. Tyler nodded over to his fellow Rangers in the hangar bay. It was time to show the Griffins the latest example of human and equestrian technology.

Sam, Lyra and Rachel nodded and went ahead into the shadows of the hangar.
Not five minutes later a roaring sounded off and an engine turned over as the hover pads powered up and sent tiny sparks and lightning toward the ground while a tank began to hover and a slight glow of magic emitted from the pads.

Coming into the light of the hangar bay, the hover tank caused the eyes of the General to widen,
“That is an armored combat vehicle! But how did you managed to make it so small? And there are no ponies pulling it! How is it propelled? Not with steam, I suppose, and it doesn't run on rails.”

One of his officers pointed at it,
“Look at it, it's floating!”

Tyler raised an arm and pointed it at the tank,
“One of our fellow Rangers developed a magic combustion engine fueled with human blood, so levitation magic is a given even without unicorns recharging it all the time. The main turret is unique since it takes one of our Rangers as trigger component to fire that thing. She gets used to that though.”

Aghast, the general stared at Tyler, wild marvel lay within his eyes 'Blood as fuel and magic explosive... These humans, these Harmony Rangers… They give their blood for victory. Utilizing the own blood in order to achieve victory... Truly these are great and fearsome warriors just like the rumors told. But can they be trusted?'

When Tyler recognized the general's stare, he gave him a confident smile,
“We have a fighting chance against the Darkness Sisters and their Descendants, General… I want you to tell King Gifford that if he sends Griffins to aid us, the Rangers will fight for him as well and are willing to share their knowledge with them."

As the tank moved forward, Tyler pointed over to a target,
"Look at that brick wall over there…” slowly but surely, the tank’s turret took aim.

Inside of the tank Rachel started to grin,
“Let's see what I can do to that wall...” her grip rested on the firing mechanism and she started to accumulate magic in her hands. In the next moment, the tank fired one magic round directly into the wall, demolishing it in an explosion of debris. Rachel gasped as the shot was fired and shivered a bit with her eyes wide open.

A blush came to her face,
“Man, what a kick... and almost no recoil! God, I love this cannon...”

Beneath her, Sam and Lyra steered the tank while Vinyl, who was responsible for the secondary weapon system, looked up to her, chuckling a bit,
“A girl for the bigger guns, eh?”

Outside some of the Griffins mumbled and chatted with each other. Tyler overheard the one or another deeming such a vehicle quite useful to defend the kingdom.

Shortly after that, he turned to the older Griffin,
"Well, we have the know-how, the Griffins have the resources... If we put our advantages together, both our countries could benefit and help each other."

General Marek forced a smile and nodded,
"Yes... that sounds quite good..."

* * * * *

An hour later, the Griffins resided in their living quarters and made themselves at home. However, not everyone of them was thrilled and the troops noticed the certain mood General Marek was in.

A heavy sigh escaped the old experienced griffin.

The equestrians and humans still were in the dark about the real purpose of their mission,
“What are we facing now? Are we about to test the humans, or are we being tested by our king for our loyalty or Griffanity? If I order this now, this ingriffane thing to do... What does that make us?”

It was then that one of his officers, a lieutenant stepped forth to his side,
“General... we are griffins under your order. We follow you as we follow the king on whatever hard direction you are letting us march.”

The statement made the general smile. Geoffrey, one of the loyalest souls he had ever met in a Griffin.

As the General turned around to his fellow Griffins again, he looked through their ranks and nodded,
“We begin.”

* * * * *

The next day the Griffins requested to interview the human Rangers. Tyler arched a brow at first, yet nodded and agreed to the fact that every Ranger could be interviewed one at a time.

General Marek interviewed them himself as he started the first interview with Rachel,
"I take it you are a soldier, Ranger Higgins?"

Confirming the question with a nod, Rachel sat upright and showed discipline,
"Yes, sir! And from the best bunch you can find on Earth. No one kicks more ass than a United States Marine."

While one of the other Griffins took notes about the interview, the General nodded,
"I see... And these... United States... How many humans live there?"

Shrugging a bit, Rachel waved the thought away,
"Around 300 million? Maybe one million more or less, who can get it all straight? But that's only a small part of the population of Earth."

The new information prompted the General to gulp,
"I... I see... And how many humans are there on Earth entirely?"

Rewarding the question with another shrug, Rachel then leaned back,
"Oh, I don't know exactly. I think about... 7 billion humans? Maybe even more since there's four to five babies every second... In a few decades they say we reach 9 billion.”

Dumbfounded, the General looked at her,
"B-Billions..."

* * * * *

When it was his turn, Sam leaned back in his chair as the General arched a brow,
“Feeling comfortable, Mr. O'Donnell?”

Grinning a bit Sam nodded before he arched a brow,
"Sure. Uh... Will this take long? I'm not a huge fan for these questioning things, you know...”

The General shook his head with a smirk,
"I assure you that we will try to keep it as brief as possible."

And so Sam started to speak about several topics,
“...I learned almost everything about cars and engines from my dad. My old man served in Vietnam. Said it was the worst thing he had ever seen. And I tell you: War truly changes a man. I knew my father before and after that war... And after that he was shaking in his sleep like he was expecting to be ambushed in the field or something. He became very wise after that. In fact, I owe my love to cars to him. There's a time for hands to turn to fists, he said. And there a times when a fist has to become a hand again.”

Taking note, General Marek then looked up,
"I see... That device you manufactured... That combat vehicle. Are there more of those in your world?”

"Oh you mean the tank? Not like that one. That one can hover. That's beyond us human engineers, but we have track vehicles and jet fighters... Uh... These function as machines that help us fly faster than the speed of sound. Several nations have these kinds of things in the thousands. Air Force, Navy, Army... Humanity roams the skies, seas and lands with the help of machines. We’ve also begun to terraform." seeing the confused look of the Griffin, he smiled, "Let me explain, we build a dome of glass, set up a certain atmosphere beneath it and turn a barren wasteland into a fertile piece of land again. That technology is still in development though."

Taking a special note now, the General nodded and made a gesture with his right claw,
"Very well... What can you tell me about the other Rangers...?" the questioning went on for half an hour before Sam was finished and free to go.

* * * * * *

After an hour of wait, it was then time for Flynn to answer some of the questions.

This time, however, the General was not present, but one of his lieutenants instead conducted the interview,
“Ranger... Flynn Marshall... Right?”

“That's correct, Sir... And you are?”

"I am Lieutenant Geoffrey, one of the General's officers, but don't let that bug you, I really am an OK Griffin. You are a Harmony Ranger in Equestria, do you have a military rank on Earth?"

"I am a freighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force."

Taking a short note, Geoffrey nodded,
"Notified as a yes..."

Flynn now cocked his head a bit and arched a brow,
"Excuse me, but I was told that General Marek was performing these interviews... What happened to that?"

Lieutenant Geoffrey nodded briefly,
"He wants to state his apology for not interviewing you like the rest of the Rangers, Ranger Marshall... But a recent appointment with Princess Celestia needed his attention. I hope you aren't disappointed with only a lieutenant interviewing you?"

Shaking his head, Flynn showed a smile,
"Nah, I'm fine."

This prompted Geoffrey to fold his claws together,
"Well, we had a talk with each one of the human Rangers until now, each one was willing to show their 'special talent' which you earned after a prolonged exposure to the equestrian environment. What is your special talent if you don't mind me asking?"

Leaning back a bit, Flynn shrugged,
"For one, I am really really fast, although I don't know how fast I can go as the upper limit yet. Oh and my wounds heal within a matter of seconds. So if I cut my finger, I bleed for a second before I start to heal."

Geoffrey arched both brows and looked to the other Griffins.

They agreed that this was the perfect opportunity,
“I see... This really is quite impressive...” after a nod to the other Griffins, one of them left the room and after some seconds, the door was locked.

Flynn arched a brow,
“Alright... What is this? What’s the meaning of this?”

The lieutenant drew a dagger as two other Griffins held Flynn down.

Flynn struggled, yet was unable to break free,
“Excessive speed, but the strength remains. Interesting... most interesting. I am sorry, Ranger Flynn... I really, really despise the following actions, but I'm afraid I have to test how far these regenerative abilities go...”

Flynn eyed the dagger and gritted his teeth,
"You stay the fuck away from me, Featherbrain!"

It was in this moment as Trixie came across the corner, returning from her break, when she heard the angered yelling and screams of pain coming from the doors. Seeing the griffins glare over to her, she slowly backed away.

Seeing Trixie, one of the griffins knocked at the door,
“Lieutenant? We were seen just as ordered... You should-”

He was interrupted by Flynn,
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”

It was in this moment, that the yelling stopped for a moment by a sudden sound, before shock and terror forced Flynn to scream anew. Pain filled Flynn's mind, his vision blurred as he stared at the dagger that had separated his right middle finger from the rest of his hand. Blood spurted over the table and floor as he stumbled backwards, released by the Griffins. Geoffrey attempted to continue, but the other Griffin in the room held him back, shaking his head.

Trixie galloped down to the Command Center, where she kicked the doors open,
“The Griffins are torturing someone!”

Looking up to her first, the humans looked at each other,
“Flynn!” Rachel said with gritted teeth before they all stormed out and through the corridors.

Once they arrived at the corridor where the interviews have taken place, they already spotted the Griffins standing outside with Geoffrey coming out.

That was when Tyler's face grew grim,
"Lieutenant, what is going on here? Why are there screams coming from the interview room?" Just as he wanted to pass to enter the room, the Griffins stepped into his way, blocking it, which only prompted the Rangers to group together. "You will let me pass right now..."

Yet Geoffrey shook his head,
"I will not. I have orders not to comply with your orders."

Tyler remained very calm, but the lightning over his fists gave insight to his anger,
“I will get access to that man... Right now.”

Geoffrey eyed Tyler thoroughly as his eyes narrowed,
“Do you really risk stepping up to a member of the Royal Griffin Air Force and by that risking a conflict between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom? I don't have to remind you that you currently are part of an Equestrian task force...”

Leaning in to the Lieutenant, Tyler's face shivered in rage,
“I would risk an all out war for every Ranger in this facility, human or pony... Now move aside before I move through you!”

Seeing the determination in Tyler's eyes, Geoffrey stepped aside and Tyler entered the room to look for Flynn. He cowered in the corner, several cuts in his clothes like they stabbed him in the shoulders and limbs multiple times. Flynn was also holding his bleeding hand in pain. Tyler followed the trail of blood back to the table, where the dagger still was stuck in... as well as a human finger.

Helping Flynn up, Rachel took his left arm over her shoulders and walked him out of the room,
“Come on... Let's get you to the infirmary.”

While passing Tyler, she and him exchanged angered glares, before Tyler shot his glare at the Griffin Lieutenant,
“Lieutenant Geoffrey... You have attacked and violated a Harmony Ranger under the jurisdiction of Equestrian law!”

The Griffin simply scoffed at Tyler,
“I, as well as the other Griffins here have diplomatic immuni-”

As he attempted to walk by Tyler, the move was swift and sudden.

One punch later, Tyler slammed the Griffin's face onto the table, so the Lieutenant could see the cut off finger clearly,
“I hereby arrest you and the Griffins here until further notice for malicious mayhem! Rangers? Get these birds into the cellblock... I can't stand the sight of them anymore!”

As the ponies put claw- and wing cuffs onto the Griffins, they struggled against the hooves marching them off,
“YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!”

Tyler looked down to the cutoff finger and his eyebrow twitched a little,
“Oh yes, I can! You will be brought to court, without the fear for your well being or safety, without fear of torture or abuse... And you will see justice in trial!”

* * * * *

A few hours later, the remaining Harmony Rangers conversed with a stallion in medical attire.

Doctor Little Do, despite his name was competent and passionate Doctor,
"Well, it's cut off clean. We amputated the bone standing off and treated the open wound. The finger is a stump now, but the real scar is a mental one. I propose a few weeks off for therapy would be the best for such a traumatizing-"

Yet the Doctor was interrupted as a nurse galloped down the corridor,
"Doctor!! Doctor!!!"

Turning around, the stallion expected complications of some sorts,
"What is it?

Looking up with a worried expression,
"It's about Ranger Flynn's cut off finger... It... It regenerated!

This earned her a collective, "What?!?" from the entire group.

As they got into Flynn's room, Doctor Little Do inspected the treated hand and arched his brows,
"Well I never... This finger was cut off completely and amputated! How in the world did you manage to heal it?" as he revealed the hand, the finger, although cut off and amputated properly before, was now back completely and differed slightly in coloration due to the still pale skin on the finger.

Tyler nodded in wild marvel,
"Yeah... As far as I know only the princesses have magic powerful enough to restore body parts and they aren't aware of this incident yet."

It was in that moment the the door opened and Rainbow Dash entered with two other Wonderbolts. Still wearing her uniform, she looked around in worry before her eyes met with Flynn's.

Flynn reached out for her,
“Rainbow...”

Coming over to him, Rainbow nuzzled him with care,
“I'm here... I came as soon as I got the message that they harmed you.”

While Flynn patted her cheek with a weak smile, Rainbow looked over to Tyler,
"T-Man! Tell me you got the bird who did that! I want to beat that shithead up!"

Tyler shook his head,
"We have him, but I won't let you do that, Rainbow. These griffins will be brought to trial and before they are sentenced to a ‘beating’, you won't put a hoof on one of them." Seeing that the Pegasus mare and Element of Loyalty was very displeased, he came over to her, "But here is what I want you to do: as soon as Flynn can leave this bed, I want you to bring him home for a couple of days or weeks until he is mentally recovered."

Rainbow frowned at the order,
"No offense, T-man, but you make it sound like he's a sissy! He's not! Flynn is stronger than you think and he and I will show that to you guys. He’ll be back in no time!"

As they left the room, the remaining three humans stood together as Rachel started to talk,
"I’ve known Flynn for a long time, but he's in pretty bad shape right now. Not physically, but mentally. I’ll have to have a talk with Rainbow later. He needs some assistance with that trauma, even if she thinks that he can shake it off like it’s nothing."

Tyler looked down into the command center,
"Well, what do you know... Flynn keeps surprising us with his ability of regeneration. Him regenerating a cut off finger is a miracle. It undid the physical harm done to him, but the mental damage will have some effect on him. I always thought only certain reptiles were able to grow back their severed tails. This certainly is not a normal cell regeneration... But still... How do I explain this situation to the Princesses? This situation is pretty ugly, when our 'supposed allies' do this."

Sam, however, leaned against the wall, his face thoughtful and worried,
“You know what bugs me right now? How obvious they made it... The torture I mean... Like they wanted us to know that they were torturing Flynn...” Tyler and Rachel looked up to Sam and he simply shrugged, “Come on, folks... If you torture someone, you do it behind several closed doors so nobody gets it. They did it in the open! They wanted to see our reaction.”

When Rachel now looked over to Tyler again, his eyes narrowed and his face grew grim.

* * * * *

Not an hour later Tyler opened the doors to the throne room with enough force that the guards jumped aside. Both door wings smashed against the walls, stressing the hinges.

When Celestia heard him, she looked up from her conversation with General Marek,
“Tyler? Is something the matter?”

Just as Tyler reached them, his hand grabbed the General's throat. The other Griffins were about to step in, yet the General ordered them to stay away with a short signal of his claws,
“What kind of game are you playing here with us, General? Torture to see our reactions on it? Torture to prove a point? If that's the case then you are in for it big time and I won't hesitate to kick your feathery butt for that!”

Celestia first wanted to intervene, but as soon as Tyler mentioned the topic of torture, her eyes narrowed,
“General... You ordered your Griffins to torture one of our Harmony Rangers?"

Choking a bit, the General looked over to Celestia,
“I... I never said my mission... would be easy or pleasant... But King Gifford demanded precisely these reactions to be observed. He wanted to know about your military prowess, how you value life and how you prosecute those who do you dire harm. Trust me, I didn't want to do this, but since you presented to me how dire the situation and how powerful our enemy in the south is, you will have to agree that I didn't have the luxury to postpone this decision to learn to know these humans better. I gave the order and Lieutenant Geoffrey and his fellow Griffins volunteered for that. In case of an unfortunate event such as prison or execution, the king offered to maintain wealth to all involved families for three generations. It had to be extreme like this and since Ranger Mitchell has stronger regenerative abilities, we-”

Tyler let go of the General, yet in his eyes was still anger. Stabbing his fingers into the direction of the Griffin, he interrupted him,
“You cut off one of his fingers! It's a miracle his healing ability is able to repair even that! You couldn't know this! Hell, even he didn't know it himself!”

The General now nodded,
“True... I couldn't have known that. But for this purpose he was the one who would heal the best. What is a finger in comparison to the certainty of that you aren't bloodthirsty barbarians?”

“And what are you then, General Marek?” pointing his finger at the the General's beak once again, Tyler gritted his teeth, “Nobody treats us humans like guinea pigs... You got that? Not for science and not for proving a point! They committed a crime and by Equestrian law they will be punished! But let me give you a fair warning, General. If one of you Griffins ever harm a Ranger again, I will come for him or her AND PLUCK THAT BIRD NAKED!!!”

The throne room was very silent. General Marek and Tyler glared at each other, eying for each other's reactions.

After many long, silent minutes, the General harrumphed a bit and nodded,
“That I understand. And believe me: It will never happen again.” he then turned to Princess Celestia, “My report is finished now. I think I can summarize it for you.”

The white alicorn nodded with a strict look and looked at Tyler,
“I think we would all like to hear that, General Marek...”

Harrumphing briefly, the old Griffin then started,
“The human race, despite its highly aggressive and destructive nature, a nature combined with weapons beyond anything imaginable, is nonetheless able to overcome this nature in order to cooperate for a higher achievement. Their crafting skill shows that the world they come from owns a technological advantage dwarfing everything Equis has seen to this day. It is my belief that humans, would they have nothing to fear, might use this technological supremacy to pose a threat to the whole of Equis.”

Tyler folded his arms and arched a brow.

His eyes met with Celestia's, but nonetheless the General continued,
“However, the humans I talked to, the Harmony Rangers, seem determined to keep this world safe in order to keep their own world safe from the threats our world has to offer. Despite the misconduct of Griffins, they were up to maintain a civilized attitude. Which only leads me to the belief that humans are far more than vile beasts with military experience.”

Tyler's strict facial expression lightened up by the smallest margin as the General made a explaining gesture with his eagle claw,
“Due to the military might of the Descendants and their superiority to everything else on Equis, I will recommend the king to send Griffins in order to receive military training from the Harmony Rangers and to learn whatever they can teach us. If we are to overcome this crisis against an enemy with technological advantage, it is only good and proper if we have someone with technological advantage at our side as well. However, I will advice the King to demand a high alert zone over the Everfree Forest since that currently seems to be the path from their world into our world. A multinational world torn by conflict seems not like the safest place to be.”

Celestia exchanged a look with Tyler before she responded with a smile to the General,
“This sounds very good, General. You are free to leave as you like. With the exception of Lieutenant Geoffrey and his accomplices. As for King Gifford... I will give you sealed letter for him... I'd like to... have a word with him.”

The last few sentences Celestia said with a voice as cold as liquid nitrogen. Already Tyler felt bad for this king. He had never had to deal with Celestia in such a foul mood. It really had to displease her that a foreign force had sent troops into her country to do her friends harm. But who wouldn't be pissed?

As the Princess of the sun left the throne room, the General looked at Tyler once again,
“Ranger Jones, I wish to apologize once more. It is times like these where we are being tested, in loyalty to the ones we love and the virtues we hold dear.” he looked down in worry before he looked up with a slight smile, “I shall return to the king with this report to depict humans as hardened warriors, but also valuable allies, who demand respect as much as the next Griffin. And of course Princess Celestia's letter.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the far reaches of the southeast, the war citadels surrounded the Behemoth class super citadel of Nagohod. Deep within this huge beast of a fortress, Princess Lamira and Asira trotted along a wide corridor, conversing about their plans,
"The preparations are nearly complete. The fleet is almost ready to roll out, Lamira."

Princess Lamira seemed content with the current situation,
"Finally after eons of preparation and precautions... now let us guarantee that our enemies are occupied as we make our move. I think it is time we send him in again."

Both now entered a laboratory, in which midst stood a large cryogenetic tank. A few bubbles of air floated up the half liquid blue jelly as the ponies around monitored the lifesigns of the patient inside of the tank.

As they approached the tank, Princess Asira shook her head,
“That failure? He failed his own mission, what makes you think that this abomination is capable of doing something now? I simply don't understand what you see in him nor why you keep him alive."

"True, after his defeat we had to piece him together. Fortunately his head was intact and still alive. With our help, he will become a stronger and faster predator, able to take his revenge, which currently clouds all of his thoughts."

"You read his mind?"

Nodding, the Princess smirked,
"Since he's asleep in cryostasis, I had made contact with him with telepathy. Not too much of a spell... He's thankful and since he knows that I would sense even the smallest bit of treachery, he agreed on serving us IF he is allowed to carry out his revenge."

Approaching a huge glass cylinder now, the ponies activated the machinery. As the massive humanoid creature came back from cryo sleep, medical readouts flashed over the monitors. Slowly, life returned into the dark plates, bolted together by armor implants to replace missing parts of the exoskeleton. Dark lightning sparked over the body as the breathing took place and the creature regained consciousness. The heartbeat grew in strength and became slightly audible. A pair of shining green eyes opened and stared up to the two dark princesses...

Author's Note

Proofread by Truthseeker

9 - Bonus Level - A squadron of my own *

It was early in the morning when Flynn got out of bed. Silently, not to disturb the others in their slumber, he got out of the house and walked down the street to the Ponyville post office.

Inside, an older earth pony stallion looked up to him and nodded. After some conversations Flynn got to know him a bit. Pavis Packwind was as hard as they came and his trust wasn't earned easily. Yet after several conversations with Rainbow Dash Pavis agreed to give Flynn the benefit of the doubt,
"So I see you're here for the delivery, huh? Alright..." He then lifted a brown little package onto his desk and nodded to Flynn. "This package here needs to be brought to Manehattan, but all available pegasi are either out there or still sleeping... So..."

Flynn smirked,
"So you finally got something for me, huh?"

Shaking his head slightly, Pavis now leaned in,
"Listen, kid! I don't have anything against you humans, but I'm also not very experienced with your kind either. I mean you guys are good at defending Equestria, but delivering a package is not fighting for your life." As Flynn narrowed his eyes, the stallion rolled his and shrugged. "Alright, alright, you at least deserve a chance, I give you that. If you get this done, there is more work for you here. And if you're only half as fast as you claim, I might get you into the Pony Express delivery department. As high-speed courier or something. Celestia knows I could use someone in case the pegasi are all not available. And if demand for a high-speed courier rises... Well... This will show on your paycheck."

Nodding in approval, Flynn smiled,
"Sounds good enough for me... Is that stuff here fragile?"

"No, the customer didn't mark it as such. But don't get any wild ideas, you hear? I want that delivered in top condition!"

The streets were all clear, no pony was up this early on the streets. Binding his shoes, Flynn warmed a bit up as he grabbed the package and looked ahead. And in an instant he disappeared into a cloud of a dirt, as the velocity made him go faster than everypony could turn their heads. At that speed, he would deliver the package within a few minutes.

On his way to Manehattan, he ran alongside the Ponyville Express, whose conductor activated the train horn as he saw the Ranger. Being greeted that way, Flynn beamed and his face grew determined as he looked ahead. It was like flying just over the ground. Although he was certain that a jet would probably be crushed by the dense air near the ground.

Near the outskirts of the city, Flynn slowed down and ran at the speed any other human could run. By now it felt very slow and dragging, but it couldn't be helped. Manehattan, like its counterpart on Earth, barely slept and the streets were filled with carriages and ponies. Looking for the address, he delivered a package in a matter of minutes. Receiving a receipt in return, he then made haste to Ponyville again.

* * * * *

At noon, Flynn and Rainbow Dash met near the marketplace. While he embraced her and caressed her neck carefully with his lips, Rainbow snickered,
“Hey there, my speeding stud...” After a short while Rainbow gently pushed Flynn away, demanding a tad more personal space in public. “So I take it this morning's delivery was easy?”

"Got there within ten minutes." Flynn answered with a wide grin, "The stallion who took it seemed to have expected a Pegasus, but not a human... You should have seen the face of Pavis as I returned half an hour later with the receipt, signature and all. He had no choice but to hand me the job."

Laughing, she nudged Flynn into the ribs,
“See? I told you that would be one good job for you. Normally we pegasi do the mail delivery for mail that is sent out of town, since we're way faster than unicorns and earth ponies. That’s because we only need to consider air line distance. But since you’re way faster than every runner in Equestria, you should be fine as well.”

Flynn nodded and his hand gently slid down her spine with his index and middle finger. A cold chill ran down her spine as he did that and Rainbow shook a bit in excitement. How she loved and hated it when he did that. These sweet shivers down her spine when he signalled that he wanted her. It was their little secret code and Rainbow used to wallow in that kind of attention. Of all attention in Equestria that was the one kind she couldn't get enough of.

Her little dreamland was briefly interrupted as Flynn grinned and pinched her flank,
“I take it you already brought Scoots to school?”

A little nervous and with blushed cheeks she looked around rather spooked. But after making sure that nopony was eavesdropping, she hovered right before him,
“You’re impossible, you know that? After weeks of telling you every little rule about how to behave in public...”

Flynn, however, smiled in the way he always did when he was out to have fun with her,
"Come on, Dashie...What good are rules that ruin a little bit of fun once in a while?"

The Pegasus mare chuckled a bit. Despite all that, she couldn't be mad at him for long. 'That smile...' she thought, 'Celestia, I would take on dragons for that smile...' When he pulled her back into a bush, she let out a playful yelp before letting herself fall onto him. Minutes later playful giggles sounded off from the bush as his pants went down.

However, their little adventure in the bush was cut short as an all too familiar voice gave a shout-out,
"Surprise!!!"

In an instant, Rainbow's and Flynn's heads popped out of the bush, both blushing with fury,
"P-Pinkie!"

"Yup! That's me! What are you doing in that bush?"

While Flynn was pulling up his jeans again, Rainbow thought of some answer,
"We... er... we're playing a game!"

The pink earth pony then beamed innocently as usual,
"Oh, that sounds fun! Can I play along?

Now the both of them grimaced a bit,
"Uhm... listen Pinkie, that's more of a game for two players...

"Aw don't ostracize me..."

Now Flynn was dressed again and stepped out of the bush with a chuckle,
"Ah, you would like to play that game more when you play it with Sam. I'll tell him about it later. I'm sure he can bring you up to speed." He then bent down to the pink pony. "But right now, why don't you prepare an evening of Marenopoly?"

This brought back the smile on her face,
"Oh well... Fair enough! Marenopoly evening it is."

* * * * *

The humans, Cutie Mark Crusaders and Elements of Harmony spent the evening together with their herd members in a board games evening. However, there was something that was noticed by Flynn... Which was the constant help he received from different ponies. A bit of magic to open that bottle or bring something down from high up, a chair pulled out for him, a bottle of ketchup opened. This angered Flynn a bit. It was as if he was deemed a little boy,
"For the last time! I don't need any pampering! I am perfectly fine! Look, I hereby forbid you girls to do things that I could do on my own!"

When he sat down a bit grumpily, Tyler offered him a mug of cider with a smirk,
"Well then, hold your own cider, because I sure as hell won't hold it for you, big boy! You know they do mean well..."

While Flynn accepted and took a gulp after muttering a low "Thanks!" to Tyler, Rarity looked over to him and nudged Rainbow softly,
"Aren't you worried about him?"

But the cerulean mare simply shook her head as she rested her wing over Scootaloo,
"I believe in Flynn. You guys simply worry too much."

Coming to her side, Twilight nodded, but gave a worried glance over to Flynn,
"Your faith in him honors you, Rainbow, but someone cut off one of his fingers. I deem that the same magnitude as losing part of a wing or hoof. Although he's physically well, I think the scars inside of him haven't healed up yet."

This was a comparison Rainbow could understand quite well and her expression got a bit worried. Flying over to Flynn she helped him a bit by carrying cheese and bread over to him to cut. As he noticed her worried look, he smiled a bit,
"What is it, Dashie? You look like you lost a race."

Resting a hoof on the same hand he once lost his finger on, she looked into his eyes,
"Flynn... You do know I believe and have faith in you above all... uh... I just want you to know... If you need something, anything... I'm there for you, OK?"

Flynn sighed and looked down to the plates,
"Dash... I don't know what they said to you now... But I do know that being with you is being with loyalty herself. I know that you will be with me no matter what. I just..." He looked up at her and they exchanged some uncertain glances. "...I just want some time to process that for myself, OK? All that caring for me just feels like none of you have faith in me being capable of making it."

That was an answer Rainbow could accept and she nodded before she hugged him dearly,
"Alright... Just a little reminder for you: I do have faith in you. But you don't have to prove yourself in front of me. I love you the way you are." Putting both arms around her, he chuckled and exchanged some kisses with her, which earned them an adorable "Awwww..." from the crusaders.

Sam then arched a finger and nodded over to Flynn,
"Oh yeah! Flynn! I almost forgot to tell you; We Rangers pooled up a bit and got you the missing bits you two need to get started with the house."

Lyra nodded with a chuckle,
"Bon Bon says she would miss that little bit of income you contributed, but she's also happy you’re settling down on your own." Looking up to Sam, she nudged him a bit in the ribs. "Something a certain someone should do for his mares as well..."

Pinkie rested her head on Sam's and looked down,
"A house with Sam? That sounds great, but I don't know... If I leave Sugarcube Corner, maybe the Cakes won't make enough money."

Sam looked up and smiled,
"Don't worry, we still have to get the money together to build for ourselves. Until then you have plenty of time to tell them, so they can adjust to the situation..."

* * * * *

On the next day, Rainbow got home a little later and was accompanied by Spitfire. After getting Flynn up into the clouds, they were having some conversations about the academy and Rainbow's many achievements there, Flynn finally got an insight of what she learned there and how much it differed from human flight school. Spitfire on the other hand was very interested in human ways to achieve flight without wings and was fascinated over the concept of machines capable of such speeds.

Two hours into her visit, she changed the topic,
"You know, Rainbow Dash... I always welcomed the idea that you got yourself a relationship with a human. Not that stallions are any better or worse... But it puts the risk of impregnation to a comfortable zero with all the benefits of a relationship." As both Rainbow and Flynn nodded in agreement, the Wonderbolt Captain then continued. "And that's the reason I am here today as well... I want to apply to this herd of yours."

Looking up to her Captain, Rainbow blinked in surprise,
"What? Uh... I don't know... Flynn and I agreed on the fact that this is a monogamous relationship, so I’m his one and only mare."

This prompted Spitfire to arch her brows,
"Really? Rainbow, you surprise me. I never took you for one to be taking a male for you alone... I mean, yeah it happens but those couples are exceptions nowadays. I always took you more for a team player. Then again, humans do have that tendency to see a relationship with someone or somepony as a privilege, don't they?" After a brief nod from Flynn Spitfire continued. "Listen, Rainbow... It's not that I want to force myself onto you two by saying you either let me in or your Wonderbolt career is over. No! I wouldn't do that to you nor the Wonderbolts... Yet... You see, I'm an experienced mare now as the Wonderbolt Captain for six years and it's always good to have someone to... succeed that place in case my career ends for some abrupt reason..."

Rainbow's eyes slowly grew wide,
"Are you saying that..."

Yet Spitfire raised a hoof,
"I won't make any promises to you, Lieutenant... But should you allow me to join, you and I will do some extra training courses in private, giving you some advantage over other nominated officers, should I ever step down as the Captain..." Standing up now, Spitfire then glanced over to Flynn. "And I could see to it that our running ace here also gets some extra training once you're out of breath..."

Her wiggling with the flank gave Flynn just about the right idea what she was talking about, prompting him to gulp. But nonetheless Spitfire turned to Rainbow again. "You don't have to answer right away, of course. Take yourself as much time as you need and make a well thought decision..."

Flynn accompanied the Wonderbolt Captain to the door, only to return to a frozen Rainbow Dash staring right in front of herself,
"This is a dilemma, huh?"

Looking over to him now, Rainbow now threw her hooves in the air,
"Dilemma?!? This is a major catastrophe!!! I have to decide between having you for myself or getting an advantage in achieving my dream! Not to mention that one of my childhood idols is going to apply for a herd membership!"

With a shake of his head, Flynn first grimaced a bit in confusion before he took a breath and rested his hands on her shoulders,
"Well... It's not that bad... You do know that whatever may come, Spitfire will never steal me away from you, right?"

Chewing on her hoof like a nervous filly, Rainbow peeked over to him,
"I don't know, Flynn... If I choose to let her in, would I sacrifice you for my dream? Wouldn't that be selfish of me? I once said I want to be the only mare for you... I'm too competitive for a herd."

"Rainbow... Sweetie, I always told you that I accept your choice regarding our relationship and that I’ll live with you in monogamy to the day you decide otherwise. This is your chance to come one step closer to your biggest dream, a dream you had even before you met me. Of course this would mean certain drawbacks. IF you deem Spitfire as your personal trainer a drawback."

Frowning a bit, Rainbow pointed a hoof at his nose to boop it,
"You forgot to mention that you’ll have to sleep with her as well, right? That's the very reason why she came to us and not to anypony else... She wants to get laid with you."

"If you wish to, I could take her in your presence..." His hand now gently slid over her back. "If you get an extra kick out of a threesome that is..."

Smirking a bit at his clumsy attempt to cheer her up, she then placed a hoof at his chest,
"Sweet of you, but that probably would do nothing good. Well, I was with you first, making me the Alpha... But still... I..." She then looked at him with a glance full of concern. "Flynn... I-I think I'm going to mess up."

Resting a hand on her shoulder he shook his head,
"I will always think that you are the Greatest. You are the best mare I could ever hope for and as long as you remember that no matter what the others do, you will still be my Alpha..."

Biting her bottom lip, Rainbow looked down with a blush on her face,
"You mean it?"

Leaning a bit in, Flynn lowered his voice,
"If you want to, I'll prove it to you each time the herd does it. Besides... I think it would do Scootaloo best to grow up in a normal herd..."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. This sure was a valid point. Not only was this about her or Flynn or Spitfire, it was also about Scootaloo and the little filly meant everything for the both of them. And when the young filly came down the stairs on the next morning, Rainbow and Flynn sat at the table and looked at her,
"Umm... Scootaloo? Flynn and I got a visit yesterday evening from... Spitfire and... er..."

Flynn took over and completed the sentence,
"And she wants to join us in our herd. But since you are with us, we wanted to ask you if you are alright with this..."

The young filly looked up to her idol and smiled,
"Oh, that's OK with me."

This prompted Rainbow to gulp down a big lump and she hugged Scootaloo tightly,
"Really? It wouldn't matter to you if Flynn and I get another mare into the herd?"

But the filly only shook her head,
"Of course not! It only means you can become that much more awesome! How many mares can say that they are the Alpha in a herd with a Wonderbolt Captain? Only Rainbow Dash can do that!"

Rainbow looked over to Flynn, visibly touched by these words. Flynn on the other hand winked over to her and stood up,
"I'm getting the morning newspapers..." But as he opened the front door, a big lump of coat and leather was hanging from the ceiling of the projecting roof. "What the... a bat?"

With a big yawn the bat pony opened wide and showed her little fangs, as she slowly woke up and blinked in her own sleepiness,
"Ah! Good morning, Flynn Marshall..."

Flynn's eyes grew wide,
"E-Elise! What are you doing here?"

While she still hang upside down from the ceiling, her bat wings were still wrapped around her like a warm blanket,
"Oh it rained quite strong the night before and my home is some miles away. So I hung around a bit... You don't mind that, do you?"

"Can't say that I do... But isn't this a bit uncomfortable?"

It was then when Scootaloo came outside as well,
"Hey dad, who are you talking-" Looking up to Elise, the filly's eyes widened. "Whoa! That's cool! How can she hang upside down like that?"

Spreading her bat pony wings a bit, Elise flapped them and performed a somersault before landing,
"Comes with being a bat pony, Sweetie..." Looking up to Flynn, Elise giggled. "Cute kid. Yours?"

Searching a bit for words Flynn nodded just before he shook his head and finally shrugged,
"Yes, I mean no! I mean... I adopted Scootaloo and take care of her."

Arching a brow with a sly smile, Elise then looked at Scootaloo, so the filly could see into her big golden eyes,
"I see... Well then, young lady... You tell me, is he doing a good job?"

Scootaloo looked up to Flynn and nodded while beaming wide,
"Best Dad ever..."

This prompted Flynn to smile down to her,
"Awww... Come here!" Hugging her, he let her nuzzle him a bit, before he nodded back inside. "Come on, eat up before I bring you to school..."

When the little filly returned inside, Flynn got nudged by Elise with her bat wing,
"Good with kids and good with the ladies... Say... why don't you introduce me to Rainbow Dash? I'd like to congratulate her for having such a cutie as a herd mate."

Looking down to her, he blinked in surprise,
"Elise, you want to join as well?"

Smiling a bit, the bat pony held her hoof to her chest, flattered,
"My, if you ask me like this, Flynn... You surprise me a bit."

Coming outside now, Rainbow arched a brow,
"I think what Flynn means is that Spitfire also applied for joining in earlier this week. Flynn? Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Harrumphing a bit, Flynn nodded,
"Er... Of course! Rainbow, that's Elise..."

"Elise Longnight" the bat pony added with a smile.

"Thank you. Elise, that's Rainbow Dash..."

"Oh, I know that!" The bat pony stated with a smile, "So I take it you want to know what I could bring in to the herd that would make me valuable for it?" Tipping her chin a bit, she then began to giggle. "I know that a certain somepony wants her career as a Wonderbolt to prosper, yet I take it you two someday want children of your own...?"

Looking up to Flynn, Rainbow recognized that he slowly nodded with a smile, what made her blush a bit. Surely her career was of importance, but his wish to have a foal with her couldn't and shouldn't be ignored,
"I think so... So what’s that to you?"

Letting her hoof slide through her short mane, Elise looked at the Element of Loyalty,
"Well, with your military careers, you both need your sleep at night, yet a foal doesn't care if you are asleep..."

Flynn now got it and smirked,
"And that's where you come in?"

Shrugging a bit, Elise chuckled,
“Well it can be an advantage if you are nocturnal... I wake up a few hours before you go to sleep and to be frank, I sure do love the laughter of foals. I wouldn't object to watching your foal if I'm in your herd." With a sly smile, she looked up to Flynn. "Or carrying your foal for that matter..."

Arching a brow, Rainbow grinned a bit,
"Seems to me you’d get the far better cut in this kind of deal..."

Giving the Pegasus mare a smile, Elise shrugged a bit,
"Give this bat pony a chance, Element of Loyalty... I assure you I can be a great addition to your herd..."

Now Rainbow looked up to Flynn who rolled his eyes and shrugged,
"Well, she DID save me that one time from being a vampony meal... She can be of-"

But this got the Pegasus' immediate attention and she flew up to his face,
"Wait a second! A vampony attacked you?!? Flynn, why didn't you tell me about that?"

Sighing, Flynn shook his head,
"Because I didn't want you to flip out like this..."

A girlish giggle caused Rainbow to look back to Elise, who simply winked at them,
"He's too cute to be killed, wouldn't you agree?"

Looking down to Flynn with a slightly angered face, Rainbow nodded,
"Yeah, unfortunately he IS that cute... lucky bastard, you..." With that her wing smacked into Flynn's butt before she huffed a bit. "Hrmpf... I think it’d look bad if I deny a mare who saved my Flynn the chance to court into the herd..." Pointing her hoof at his nose, she frowned at him. "Alright, enough trouble-making from you now, Flynn! If more mares save your ass, I'm going to think you do that on purpose!"

But Flynn smiled and pulled his girl in, rested her Pegasus body over his shoulder. The weight was there, but bearable for him. Maybe pegasi were so much lighter in weight than normal ponies. As he turned to Elise once more, he fondled Rainbow's wild mane and ear,
"Rainbow is very fond of me... She still has some trouble adjusting to the idea of sharing me with other mares because after all... We were a monogamous couple until recently."

Taking a step back, Elise then turned her head a bit down while keeping eye contact. A slight blush formed over her nose,
"Oh, I see... This is due to your normal human behavior. It must be a dream come true for every mare to have someone like that." The bat pony then shook her head gently and smiled over to Rainbow. "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash... First come, first served, Alpha privilege and all that... I won't compete with you over the man we both love. But I think that means that the role of Beta isn't settled then?

Now Flynn was a little confused,
"Beta? You mean like... second female?"

This, however, prompted Rainbow to shrug,
"Well the herd thing is way more complicated than the couple stuff, Flynn..." With a sly grin, she nudged him into the ribs. "Why? Having second thoughts?"

Shaking his head now, Flynn frowned a bit,
"No, If you are the Alpha, I think you can fill me in if I don't know something."

Looking to Elise now, Rainbow cocked her head as she landed at Elise's side while Flynn went back inside,
"So... If you don't mind me asking: When did you and Flynn meet?

"It was on his trip to Zebrica, he sure is such a cutie." Elise answered truthfully with chuckle. "Always faithful, always stumbling a bit over bat pony customs... These humans can talk with silver tongues... makes me want to nibble on his ears."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, yet smirked,
"Yeah... They sure can do that. I'm just not sure why he never mentioned you..."

Another girlish giggle escaped the bat pony and she held a hoof in front of her muzzle,
"Oh he never made a move on me if you mean that. That guy is faithful, a real keeper. Even more so than the next stallion and as a sailor I had my share. I assume it never occurred to him that I could be something more to him. And after saving him from my vampony cousin... Well let's say he was aware of certain things and tried his best to remain loyal to his girl. I think he is as loyal as you ask him to be. However... There's one thing I have to ask..." Looking all around to ensure that there were no ponies near, Elise leaned in and lowered her voice." Are they really as big as the rumors say?"

Arching a brow, Rainbow cocked her head,
"I don't know... What DO the rumors say?"

Spreading her hooves, Elise showed a length of a pony’s leg, which prompted Rainbow to snicker
"Who came up with that?"

Cocking her head, Elise arched a brow,
"But... you know... One of them pleases Princess Luna and she is quite big in figure... So some believe..."

Correcting the size down to normal human penis length, Rainbow nodded,
"Try this..."

Elise arched a brow as she looked up to Rainbow again,
"Uh-huh... That's not bigger than the average stallion. I don't know if I should be disappointed or relieved."

Waving the thought away with a hoof, Rainbow shook her head,
"Trust me, if Flynn was bigger, he’d tear a mare apart with his... you know... fast thrusts."

"I say humans are quite different, each on his or her own, but that also makes them that much more exciting..." With a most girlish giggle, Elise gently passed by Rainbow, her cat-like eyes half closed.

This made Rainbow think a bit. She had little experience with bat ponies, yet she could see was that Spitfire was out to get into the herd to have somepony at her side. It wasn't only to get laid, but a more of professional approach to get into a team of her liking. Combined with the offer to pass over her knowledge to Rainbow, this seemed like a good deal for everyone in the herd. Spitfire would have a herd, Rainbow would get Spitfire as personal trainer and Flynn... Rainbow chuckled a bit at the thought of it. Yeah... Flynn would have the privilege to bang two awesome mares.

Elise, however was a mystery. She seemed innocent and inexperienced when it came to Flynn. Then again, from what Rainbow knew so far, nopony but the princesses, her friends and herself had experience with humans, so this couldn't be much of an act. The innocence part however could be. And Flynn was too dear to her to risk him for anything. She would have to watch both Spitfire and Elise for some time. If not for her loyal Flynn, then for the sake of this new herd.

It was then when Rainbow's eyes widened a bit. 'Heh! Here you go talking all like a lead-pony. Being a Wonderbolt Lieutenant left its mark on you already, Rainbow...'

* * * * *

On the next day, the Rangers stood together in the valley under Rainbow's home and worked on some blueprints for the new house she and Flynn had planned. While Tyler and Flynn went over the blueprints, Sam, Lyra and Rachel calculated the materials needed for the house. Half an hour in, Sam looked up to his friend,
"Two new mares at once courting into that herd of yours? Flynn, isn't that a bit fast? I mean it was quite some time before Lyra and I got Pinkie in..."

Tyler on the other hand shrugged,
"What? I had Twilight and Applejack confess to me in two days. I say since there are more females than males in Equestria, it is not out of the ordinary to have more than one cutie confessing to you if you play your cards right..."

Rachel arched a brow,
"And being a human is giving out plenty of good cards already it seems. Especially if one is the lover of the princesses..."

Tyler cleared his throat a bit,
"Yes... that... that probably adds to it as well. But that also makes mares a health hazard. You're lucky stallions have plenty of mares to choose from, so they won't hunt you through the streets."

Smirking a bit, Rachel patted her rifle,
"If they were out to get me I assure you they would get me magic bullet by magic bullet..."

Flynn, however, looked into the blueprints,
"It's just that Rainbow's cloud-home and my room over at Lyra and Bon Bon's home are no places for a filly. Neither for Scootaloo or any future children. What adds to all of this is the fact that two mares are applying to join the herd. This of course means we should move or get something bigger. If Scoots and I can live in this one house with them while they get some bigger clouds together, it won't get so cramped." He then sighed a bit and looked at the others. "You have no idea how thrilled Rainbow is about this. And not only in a good way..."

Rachel leaned in and rested an arm around him,
"If you ask me... And I know you didn't... I think you two are all it takes now... I mean Scootaloo now has a father- and a mother-figure that both care about her, what more does a child need?"

Tyler nodded in thought,
"If Scootaloo was a human girl, I would totally agree with you there, Rachel, but she's a filly. It's actually more common to grow up in a herd here..."

Now Rachel nodded,
"I see... Flynn you lucky bastard..."

"Shut up, Rachel." he simply muttered, "This is not easy for Rainbow at all. You DO know how competitive she can be. I mean these things will have to happen slowly or not at all. I love both Rainbow and Scootaloo, but these two new mares? They are cute, but if it doesn't work, I won't feign feelings for their sake."

Patting his shoulder, Rachel smiled,
"Good way to see it, man... What really matters to you is the girl you love and the daughter you hold dear. If it's not going to be, then it's not going to be..."

* * * * *

Later that day, near the early evening hours, Flynn entered Rainbow's cloud-home,
"I swear I'll never get fully used to these cloud walking spells... Where's Scootaloo?

Decorating the table a bit after getting her living room ready to expect visitors, Rainbow looked over to him,
"Over at Sweet Apple Acres. The Crusaders are having a sleepover. AJ will have an eye on them."

"When will our guests arrive?"

"Should be any minute now..." Taking a deep breath in, Rainbow exhaled as she closed her eyes. "Flynn? I'm a bit scared of this."

Caressing her wild mane a bit, he smiled,
"Come on, Dashie... It's not like they're members of the herd at once and will draw my attention from you. We decided to let it happen slowly and as comfortably as possible. If you're ready to take them in as full members, you'll do it. And if it means anything to them, they will wait for your approval."

It was then when Flynn overheard a sudden commotion from outside. As he went outside, he saw that both Spitfire and Elise had landed on the cloud, both dressed in evening dresses and approached each other with wary eyes,
"A bat pony? Seriously? Well I guess I'll have to talk with Rainbow Dash later... About the quality of this herd... We don't need any of you troublemakers or floozies."

Elise's brow twitched a bit, yet she controlled her anger for now,
"What's the matter, granny? Scared of some fresh blood on the scene? Afraid of being left on the shelf, so you approach your best protege in the academy for the promise of a fast career?" Just as she said that, Spitfire's head rose up and she glared at her, her pupils tiny as dots and her teeth gritted in rage. But nonetheless Elise continued. “Well… Of course with so little plot to offer I can understand why you insist on wearing your bodysuit all the time. Show it off, little Wonderbolt! I dare you!”

It was in this moment that Spitfire’s wing slapped Elise on the right cheek. The bat pony’s eyes went wide before she retaliated with two wing slaps of her own on Spitfire’s left and right cheek. Enraged, both of them growled at each other like two rabid dogs.

Raising a finger, Flynn started to approach them,
“H-hey, girls?” Both mares now stared at him with blind rage in their eyes. How dared he to interfere with this? Flynn backed away with a nervous grin. “Ha, ha... N-Nothing!”

Huffing heavily, Elise closed her eyes in anger,
"I’ve had about enough of this! I think that you, Wonderbolt Captain, think that I’m harmless!" Now her eyes sprung open again and her cat-like pupils became thin slits. "And that’s where you’re sadly mistaken!"

Arching a brow over this vocal and visible threat of hers, Spitfire only smirked,
"Oh yeah? I think you are nothing but a spoiled, undisciplined brat. The likes of you only cause problems in well organized herds."

This caused Elise to sneer at the Pegasus in front of her,
"Says the mare who depends on her wingponies in every conflict! Say... How was your fight with that dragon? I heard you Wonderbolts really outdid yourselves with being captured."

While they exchanged insults and threats, Flynn looked over to Rainbow, who came out now as well,
"Shouldn't we interfere? I won't go in alone... They sound like they are going to start a catfight anytime now.”

Frowning in an angered manner, Rainbow folded her hooves,
"Hmph! No, I take it they don't want their share in the action tonight." This prompted both mares to listen up before they could haul off to beat each other up. Both then sat together in an instant and laid their hooves around each other’s shoulders while giving Rainbow and Flynn their best grins. But Rainbow didn't fall for this. "If you really want to become full members of this herd, you’ll have to work on that competitive behavior of yours. Because I’m the competitive one here! If you compete that much about the position of Beta, Flynn and I have to worry that one of you might compete with me for the place of Alpha! And trust me: He’s with me on that. So cut the competition out, OK? This won't do this herd any good."

Shoving her a bit away, Spitfire pointed her hoof at Elise, arching a brow while looking at Rainbow,
"My mother lost her herd because of a bat pony! She was devastated and wasn't able to approach another herd for years! I won't let that happen to me as well!"

"So what?" Elise snapped back, "You encountered one misbehaving bat pony! Does that mean we bat ponies are all evil now? Being a minority tribe is hard enough, so we take what we can get!" Both mares now bumped each others noses together and growled angrily.

Shaking her head, the Element of Loyalty sighed,
"Either you two pull yourselves together and learn to be with each other, or one of you has to go. And in either case, the one staying will be facing severe rumors. If Elise is going, Spitfire will be labeled a racist who doesn't tolerate bat ponies... And if Spitfire is going, bat ponies will be labeled as herd destroying. And I don't think either of you would like any of this."

Both mares looked at each other in surprise, before looking down, ashamed,
"Yeah... I think we're both not the best in courting. Poor sailor manners..." Elise stated before looking up to Spitfire. "I'm sorry..."

Rubbing her neck, Spitfire grimaced a bit,
"I... Uh... I think my experiences with bat ponies are too one-sided to make a good judgment on you. I'm sorry as well, Elise."

Rainbow then finally nodded, almost satisfied,
"I think you both now see that each one of you has her little flaws... Good to know each one in this herd has some flaws..." Looking up to Flynn, Rainbow smirked. "Yeah... even me. But Flynn taught me that flaws don't have to be bad. They just make the pony more interesting. Now go on..."

While both hugged, Spitfire smirked as she thought for herself. 'I will make Flynn Marshall squeal in delight... With my experience and agility I can surely outclass her. We will see who is Wonderbolt material here...'

Elise for her part grinned mischievously as her eyes were open just for a few slits. 'Once it comes to the night, that man will whimper my name in pleasure. I can't wait to bury my sweet little fangs deep into his shoulder to give him pleasures beyond his imagination...' Both mares ceased to hug each other while still grinning. And each of them now began to laugh for her own reason.

Nodding this conflict off as resolved, Rainbow then hovered besides him as they went along the clouds back inside,
"You know, Flynn? This herd thing really starts to appeal to me. I can lead by example, can show others how it's being done. Maybe being an alpha in itself might be a great preparation for myself becoming a Wonderbolt Captain!"

Flynn looked back to Spitfire and Elise, who once more showed a hug while beaming at him. Somehow he wasn't that sure about this peace. But at least for now they weren't fighting over certain positions. Giving them a smirk, he accompanied Rainbow on the way in,
"Uh-huh..."

* * * * *

On the next day, just after school, nodded over to Scootaloo while she was waiting for Rainbow Dash to pick her up, when Cheerilee spoke to her,
"Ah, Scootaloo! I wasn't going to bring it up for class, but I heard rumors about a Pegasus father looking for his missing daughter coming to Ponyville. Isn't this wonderful? Your father seems to be looking for you!"

Highly alarmed now, the little filly turned around to her teacher. Miss Cheerilee didn't know what her father did to her, so she couldn't know that this was actually very bad news. Home! She had to get home now and fast. With that, the young Pegasus ran down the path to Ponyville. Maybe Miss Bon Bon was already at home now.

In the meantime Flynn overheard two mares gossiping at the Ponyville marketplace as he returned from another delivery assignment,
"Oh, did you hear? Scootaloo's father seems to be in town. I thought she was an orphan. Isn't it great that after so long both father and daughter will be reunited? Not only does she have people around that care for her and love her, now this wonderful family reunion. I wonder who that Ice Hammer is..." All red alert alarms began ringing in his mind now.

In the next moment, Flynn confronted the mare,
"Who is he and what does he look like?!?" After answering the questions as well as she could, the mare looked up to him in confusion. But Flynn didn't care anymore as he ran towards the school. He had to find Scootaloo. And fast!

Meanwhile Scootaloo looked around warily as she sneaked through the alleys of Ponyville, trying to spot her real father before he spotted her and avoid him. Just as she galloped down an alleyway, he suddenly stood right before her,
"So there you are, little one..." In a heartbeat, Scootaloo's blood began to freeze.

As he slowly approached her, careful not to cause a scene on the main street, Rainbow Dash appeared and landed right beside her,
"There you are, squirt. I was looking for you. Why didn't you wait in..." Recognizing the filly's terrified stare, Rainbow looked at the stallion and shot him a glare "Hey! You leave Scootaloo alone! Who are you anyway? A bully?"

Noticing Rainbow, Ice Hammer turned over to her,
"Oh? I didn't know I had to justify myself here... You see..." Now his and Rainbow's eyes met. "I'm her father."

Now Rainbow's wings rose up and shielded the filly from his sight as she stepped in front of her,
"In that case, you better watch it, buddy! You won't come near her again! You've done enough harm to her! She told me what you did and she's far better off with us!"

Ice's eyebrows arched a bit, before he closed his eyes and slowly approached Rainbow with a chuckle,
"I understand... Yes, I really do." As he slowly turned away, Rainbow nodded. Obviously he wasn't out to pursuit the little filly any more.

But just as she turned to Scootaloo, the filly's eyes went wide,
"LOOK OUT!!!" But already the kick was delivered and the athletic mare was sent to the ground. 'Bastard took me by surprise...' she thought as she gritted her teeth. Her lip was bleeding, but that wouldn't stop her. If he wanted a fight he was at the right mare. Yet just as she attempted to get herself up, another kick to her chest caused her to gasp, robbing her of the breath to do so. "No!!! Rainbow Dash!!!" Looking down at her idol, the young filly's eyes were filled with terror when her father's shadow towered over the mare.

"SHUT UP!!!" Ice barked at her before leaning down to Rainbow, "I'll be right back to you and your snatch right after I taught my disobedient daughter some manners..." Now retreating with every step her father took, Scootaloo backed away, as his voice became quite strict and malicious, "Didn't I told you to stay at home? Have you ANY idea how long I searched for you, you little ungrateful bitch? Now turn around and bend over so you can get what you dese-"

In the next moment Ice Hammer's head was in the tight grip of a hand. But before he could even wonder what happened, he was slammed to the ground and Flynn leaped onto him. The hit was hard and fast enough to turn the stallion's vision flashing white and his ears began ringing. With an expression of rage, Flynn was now on him like a lion protecting his cubs. And while punch after punch rained down on the stallion, Rainbow regained her breath enough to push herself up and stand in front of Scootaloo.

Holding the filly behind herself, Rainbow shook her head as blood dripped from her bottom lip. As she looked up, Flynn delivered one particularly strong jab before his punches rained down with the speed of a sub-machine gun. The laceration she got was fortunately only minor, but the violence taking place was nothing she could approve of in front of Scootaloo,
"Flynn! Stop it! You're killing him!"

But Flynn didn't stop. Delivering punch after punch to the grown stallion in blind rage, his fist quickly turned red with pony blood. Grabbing Ice Hammer's ruined jaw he leaned over and pointed at him,
“If you ever again get close to my daughter or one of my mares, you sick fuck, I will not stop next time, do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME?!?”

Coughing blood, Ice Hammer tried his best to stay conscious. Everyone could see that the stallion had had enough already,
“Yeahhhrrr…

Meanwhile Sam and Tyler came to the scene and stormed right at Flynn, who now gritted his teeth,
"I’ll beat you dead if you don't leave them alone, asshole! I’ll KILL you in cold blood!” With one final blow, he knocked the stallion out before the other Rangers got hold of him and pulled him off.

* * * * *

On that same day, Tyler stood in front of the cell in the evening hours while Flynn stared angrily at the wall in front of him. The cell clock of the Ranger Headquarters was a dark and quiet place and several of the griffins in the cells further away waited in boredom for their trial in Canterlot,
"You are one angry and sorry bastard, Flynn…" Tyler muttered, "You know that? Do you have any idea how long I had to talk to Celestia not to pull you down to court? Since that stallion attacked first, you’re lucky I could make self-defense and defending others count. But then you went overboard and beat him up a few punches too many, which means that I had to assure her that you will be disciplined."

But Flynn simply grimaced as if he wouldn't care about the consequences,
"That fuckhead abused his own flesh and blood, Tyler... How would you react if you were in my place?"

Looking down, Tyler thought for a minute before he looked up again,
"If someone like him did something like touching Appleseed, you mean? I wouldn't have beaten him up... Way too risky to kill him... Instead he would learn to beg for the liberation of death. But then again, that would be too gosh darn easy. We should be better than this. You should be better than this." He looked back to Flynn. "Your payment is revoked for the next three months. And after these five weeks of arrest, I hope I get the Ranger out of this cell that swore an oath with me to protect others."

Flynn nodded with a smile,
"I think he would love to return to his fellow Rangers as well..."

* * * * *

At the same time in Canterlot hospital, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna entered the room of Ice Hammer. His jaw was heavily broken, yet the doctors claimed that after six months he would be healed. Standing in front of him, both alicorns looked down at him. While Celestia looked at him with a strict, yet gentle glare, Luna's face was visibly angered,
"You have failed little Scootaloo as a father." Celestia started, "I always wondered why that little filly had problems to achieve flight. Now everything is clear to me. The times your daughter had to be afraid of you are now over, Ice Hammer... You will never see her again."

Luna's face now went really dark,
"Sister, let me have at him... I will make sure that he will-"

But Celestia raised a wing in front of her younger sibling and shook her head,
"Enough physical violence, Luna. I won't stand for any more..." And with that she slowly approached Ice Hammer and looked down to him with her usual gentle smile. While Luna already went outside, she bent down and whispered something into his ear. It was almost inaudible, but as she left him, his eyes were widened, stricken with terror as if he had seen death himself. Throughout his bandages, a silent whimper became audible.

When both princesses walked back through the corridor to the exit, Luna was still grumpy,
"I still think we should banish him after his recovery."

Celestia shook her head while closing her eyes with a strict face,
"I don't think he will ever recover... After his physical recovery I think he will be a case for the asylum..."

Luna looked over to her sister and frowned,
"Sometimes I don't know what to think of thee, Tia..."

* * * * *

Meanwhile on the southern front of Equestria, a few kilometers from Appleloosa, Sheriff Silverstar approached a little outpost fort of the Harmony Rangers on behalf of a routine inspection. As he came to the gate, a rifle was pointed at him for a second, before the Pegasus in the tower raised it into the sky again,
"Oh, Sheriff... it's just you."

While passing through the gate, the sheriff murmured in slight anger,
"Maybe I was safer outside..."

Inside, the ponies approached the Sheriff and nodded over to him,
"Greetings, Sheriff. Test, please?"

Rolling his eyes, the sheriff held up his hoof in order for one of them to prick it and inspection the blood. After passing the test, the stallion taking the test nodded over to the others, causing each of them to calm down.

Silverstar, however, sighed,
"I know you are just doing your thing out here so close to the border, but down south is only desert and solitude for miles."

One of the other ponies rolled her eyes,
"Yeah, but orders are orders. You know what that's like, Sheriff. I mean almost nopony breaks the law and still your city needs a..." Trailing off, the mare now recognized something on the horizon.

The sound of boot steps echoed from afar. When the Pegasus in the tower looked up, his eyes widened,
"What in Celestia's name...?"

Counting the ponies in sight, the incoming giant creature made no halt as it stomped towards the fort.

Changeling structural integrity - 100%
Changeling vital integrity - 100%
Weapon spell charge - 100%
Telepathic connection - nominal

All systems nominal

TARGETS AQUIRED:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COMBATANTS: 6
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LOCAL LAW ENFORCMENT: 1
01000001 01101100 01101100
00100000 01111001 01101111
01110101 01110010 00100000
01100010 01100001 01110011
01100101 01110011 00100000
01100001 01110010 01100101
00100000 01100010 01100101
01101100 01101111 01101110
01100111 00100000 01110100
01101111 00100000 01110101
01110011

The Pegasus in the tower now blinked twice before he identified the dark chitin armor plates on the creature, yelling changeling all over it. This creature didn't appear to come with friendly intentions, so he raised his rifle and delivered a shot into the leg of the creature in hopes of felling it or slowing it down for the others.

But this only made the giant recognize the sniper...

Changeling structural integrity - 99.98%
Changeling vital integrity - 99.99%
Weapon spell charge - 98%
Telepathic connection - nominal

Unit is combat ready

TARGETS AQUIRED:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COMBATANTS: >>7<<
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LOCAL LAW ENFORCMENT: 1
01010100 01111001 01101100
01100101 01110010 00100000
01110111 01101001 01101100
01101100 00100000 01100010
01100101 01100011 01101111
01101101 01100101 00100000
01100001 00100000 01110000
01110010 01101001 01101110
01100011 01100101

Surprised that the shot had no effect whatsoever on this changeling giant, the sniper pony aimed and delivered another shot. The hit, this time directly into the heart, splattered some green blood over the ground, but the enemy was still standing and kept walking. What was this? A zombie? Angered and determined, the Pegasus now jumped up, taking aim for the final shot. Just like Ranger Rachel taught him; if everything else failed, he was to aim for the head,
"YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!" But just as he aimed for the head of this dark humanoid figure, he recognized that the enemy has raised his arm and a fireball formed in his hand. Gritting his teeth, the Pegasus stallion jumped away. "Oh BUCK!!!" In the next second, the whole upper part of the tower detonated.

Now the remaining Ranger ponies nodded at each other and took positions,
"Spread out! Defense formation! Just like we trained!"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Sheriff Silverstar stared at the Rangers who readied themselves for the impending battle,
"You Rangers are crazy! That thing can blow stuff up! We need to get out of here!"

Deep inside the Nagohod control center, Princess Lamira oversaw several monitors showing the world through the eyes and ears of the giant.
"What has he found?"

One of the many operators looked up from his monitor and smirked,
"Half a dozen armed ponies, well organized."

Blinking a bit, Lamira arched a brow,
"Already? I'm surprised they are already that organized after our first attack..."

Another operator, sitting very close to the princess and a unicorn mare, arched a brow with a determined glance to her own monitor,
"They are Harmony Rangers, Equestria's newest and strongest task force. Our sources claim those are trained by the humans, deemed as the best." On the monitors, the pony rangers gritted their teeth as the order came:

"FIRE!!!"

A storm of bullets rained down on the dark humanoid, who simply took one step after another, giving an aggressive, bellowing roar. Green blood splattered all over the ground as this unstoppable giant just continued to walk towards them like a machine.

Lamira arched a brow as a dark smirk crawled up her face. 'This is actually getting quite interesting. These humans are training the equestrian ponies to stand up against our forces?' Yes, she could see clearly the military discipline in their stances, the assurance only trained soldiers had. And the structural integrity was falling down slowly, yet constantly. 98.7%...97.5...95.3... Their shots seemed precise, causing damage to the humanoid giant as they also changed positions, always watchful of being able to cover each other. Leaning down to the unicorn mare, the dark princess then gave the monitor a cruel grin,
"The best, you say? This I want to put to the test...Leave only one of them alive!"

A Pegasus operator chuckled,
"And not too soon. He’s starting to request orders like crazy. Our newest asset sure lusts for blood."

Nodding, the unicorn mare began to charge her horn,
"New command: Execute all but one."

Gritting his teeth, the fangs of the giant crunched as he grinned with murderous lust. Concentrating magic in his right fist, he suddenly knelt down and slammed it into the ground with a gargling roar as several thousand magic shrapnel shards obliterated the ponies from below.

As the silence returned, Sheriff Silverstar opened his eyes again. The air around him was filled with smoke and the stench of burned flesh filled his nostrils. As he looked around, all the ranger ponies were lying on the ground, motionless. The wounds in their bodies... they were cauterized like something incredibly hot shot through them and not only mortally wounded them several times, but stopped all bleeding at the same time. Perforation and shock killed these ponies. Not once in his entire life had he seen such horror. But this giant simply stomped away deeming him no real threat. Seemingly it was his sad duty now to bury all of these ponies and fill in a telegram directly to Canterlot.

Author's Note

Proofread by Shwaggy

10 - Blood Circus ***

Northwest, Washington, D.C., J. Edgar Hoover Building

Rick Marshall frowned as he sat over the files,
"Hmm.... 1986, three missing children... last name of Williams... first names of Megan, Danny and Molly..." getting another file, he read through the lines, 'Later returned unharmed and well fed despite being gone for months...' his eyes then widened a bit as he read further, 'Claimed to have been in a world of intelligent, talking ponies. Authorities clueless, yet assuring no signs of abuse found.'

Looking back to the 'Jones'-file on his desk, he narrowed his eyes 'Kids these days This isn't the X-files, this is reality. A pony world... Yeah right...' a knock on his door alerted him to the presence of someone else and he looked up,
"Come in!"

One of his colleagues, Ben Miller, entered and waved a bunch of files as he closed the door,
"I don't know what you're up to, Marshall, but you really stabbed into a hornet's nest."

Frowning a bit, Rick looked up,
"What do you mean?"

Miller rolled his eyes with a smirk as he handed him the documents,
"What I mean is that this background check you ordered for this Jones guy rang several alarm bells. NSA, CIA and us are after him. They want to know what you have on him. And I'm curious as well. How did you find out about this guy?"

Taking the files, Rick began to look at them with a frown,
"The NSA and CIA are after him? What for?"

Giving it a shrug, Miller leaned against the wall,
"Hacking. That guy was a field operative in Blackwater during Iraq in 2002 and delivered frequent and reliable data about Iraqi targets and bases. However, he quit sometime around 2006. But not before handing some data packets to certain individuals, among them Manning. And you know the current policy about that whistle-blower. Deserving a medal, but getting 30 years of prison instead."

Rick's brow twitched a bit.This was dodgy material and the guys from the National Security Agency weren't very renowned for their patience in this manner,
"Mhm... how interesting... only the basic PMC training?" looking through the file he noticed the remarks about very poor performance with automatic weapons, "Not the shooting type, hm? I guess they won't label him as gun-crazy then."

Lighting a cigarette, his colleague took a short hit on it and nodded,
"The people remembering him said he learned enough about guns to identify, specify, assemble and disassemble them, yet his ratings at the range were horrible once it came down to rifles. The handgun ratings turned out OK, but with these ratings he was never cut to go to the battlefield. Not what you want in actual combat. But once it came down to opening doors with a key-card, magnetic lock in spec ops missions, he was your man. Hand that guy a laptop and point him at a firewall and he gets you into the system. More of an infiltrator than a soldier."

Giving the file a frown, Marshall pointed it out,
"Yeah, it says so here... Tyler "Magic" Jones, having a reputation of rewiring or unlocking electronic locks within seconds like magic. Hmmm... So what does a private field operator, wanted for cyber-terrorism do in a natural park in Nevada? And how the hell did he get into the country in the first place?"

"Well we did a bit of backtrack and found a motel in Laredo, directly at the Mexican border. Seems he was taking a stop in Lake Casa Blanca International State Park. We found a few passports, enough to get him through. From there it's not certain what route he took exactly, but we think he took the route Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and lastly Nevada. He seemingly maintained a low profile with hitchhiking."

Surprised, Rick Marshal blinked twice before looking over to his colleague,
"He went there by car or truck, huh? You want to tell me that this guy was able to cross the border and went through 4 states and several cities without getting noticed before he simply vanished from the face of the Earth? And all that while being on the wanted list? Are you guys out there even working?"

Miller wanted to say something, but Rick waved him away and rested his face in his hands before he looked up once more,
"Ben, I want that man found. As far as I care, he is still on American soil! I want you to get me someone from the NSA on the phone to get me some data about the guy. Voice pattern, fingerprints, whatever their crazy databanks have for us! If Tyler Jones makes a call, I want to know which state, which city, which street, which phone, what model, what he's wearing, and who he last fucked!"

* * * * *

Equestria, Ponyville

At the edge of city, Rainbow Dash approached the small cottage and after confirming that her friend wasn't at home, she flew around the building and checked the backyard. At the sight of the shed, she took a gulp. Fluttershy always told them to stay outside, but lacked to give reason why she wanted nopony inside of it.
"Fluttershy? Are you in there?"

When no response came, she checked the surrounding area to see if anypony was there. A short peek surely wouldn't hurt. It was dark inside the shed and many shadows shrouded Rainbow's clear vision of the things in the shed. There was something that looked like a very sharp knife, but turned out to be a feather with one half ripped away. Bumping into something that looked like a chair for torture made Rainbow yelp and take a step back from it, only to realize that it was only a chair with some pillows.

Sighing in relief, Rainbow shook her head. 'Come on Rainbow Dash, relax!' Looking up again, she then saw the basic outlines of the shed. As her eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, she made out a bed at one side of the shed. 'A bed? Is this where Grinko sleeps? Well, I thought she would be more hospitable than that... But maybe Masar prefer dark and simple sleeping rooms...'

Hearing voices coming closer, her head darted to the door. Fluttershy and Grinko were approaching the shed and would find her here. Hiding under the bed in haste, Rainbow gulped. She could explain things to Fluttershy, but Grinko was another thing. That big feller had a temper Rainbow was not sure what to expect from. Maybe he would get furious. Maybe even violent! The best she could do right now was to hide and wait for them to leave.

When Fluttershy entered the shed, she inspected the door with a suspicious glance,
"That's odd... I thought I had it closed... Maybe one of my critter friends sneaked in while I was away... They can be so curious sometimes."

Closing the door behind them, Grinko then lit up an oil lamp and nodded,
"They sure want to know what we two are doing here..."

Taking a heavy gulp, Fluttershy closed her eyes and approached the bed. Placing her front hooves on it, she then looked back to Grinko,
"You know... um... I think for all your long patience and waiting time you should be rewarded. So if you want to, we could take this... um... to the next level..." Underlining her offer, her tail rose up and exposed her virgin marehood to him.

Rainbow's ears stood up as she heard her friend saying this. 'Wait a second... She's not going to...' But already Grinko's pants fell to the ground and the cerulean mare shook her head slightly. This could not end well. And when she peeked up, she saw that the Masar's paw-like feet took stance behind his lair mate.

As he positioned himself behind Fluttershy, Rainbow's jaw simply dropped as her face heated up. Her eyes wide in disbelief and she slowly shook her head. That thing was about twice the time longer and thicker as Flynn's penis and although similar in shape at the tip, the tip was pointy instead of flat or round. And Fluttershy wanted this to go... Her voice fortunately failed Rainbow as the paw of the Masar directed the tip right between Fluttershy's legs.

His voice murmured in the room,
"Are you sure that you will grant me this? Once It's done, there is no return..."

Now Fluttershy's voice sounded off once more, this time a bit pleading,
"Please... Whatever you do: Please be gentle."

"You know I would never harm you, my love..." he growled in reply.

With a sudden move the immense shaft slid into Fluttershy with a slick sound, causing her to gasp and arch beneath her Masar lover with a shiver as the penis was fully embraced by her sex. Leaning her head back, she let out a high pitched moan as she closed her eyes. Her whole body shivered as she embraced this new feeling with all of her heart. "I... I can feel it... Your tip is kissing my deepest spot." Grinko pressed his lips on hers, suppressing another moan of hers. As their lips parted, they looked into each others eyes. "Any deeper and you would reach..."

With a gentle nod, Grinko leaned down to her and nodded,
"Your uterus, yes..."

To say that Rainbow was shocked would have been an understatement. She was mind-blown! How Fluttershy was able to take that huge thing in without being reduced to tears was beyond her. She certainly knew she herself would be terrified. And as they began moving, the wet and slick sounds of Fluttershy's sex filled the shed, paired with the sounds of their bodies colliding with every thrust.

Deep moans escaped the yellow mare's throat and in this moment of intimacy she really let herself go. Inspired by her lair mate, the Element of Kindness rewarded each hard thrust of her Masar companion with a moan what truly fired up Grinko's lust for her. As he bit into her ear carefully, she shivered ever so slightly. She knew it was his way to calm a female down, but it only got her more excited. Closing her eyes and holding her ears, Rainbow tried to witness as little as possible.

Then, the pace of the thrusts sped up and with a final thrust Grinko rammed his member into the farthest reaches of Fluttershy's womb with a lustful growl as his paws seemed to go through a certain movement along her flank to pull her in, prompting his mare to neigh in utter delight as the orgasm distorted her reddened face to one of pure lust and bliss. Rainbow blushed heavily under the immense volume of the neighing. This was most unlike Fluttershy. Then again, Fluttershy never had someone to do this with. But this was when it happened. Gushing out of her womb came the Masar load he ejaculated into her.

The sheer amount of volume of this load was breathtaking. Glob after glob it splattered down to the ground, prompting Fluttershy to moan excitedly and Rainbow to wrinkle her nose as the puddle of ejaculation grew. The stench of sperm almost caused the cerulean mare to gag, but this would surely blow her hideout.

After the deed was done, Rainbow could hear the noises of what sounded like intimate kisses. Caressing his mare with utmost care, Grinko rested his forehead in her neck as he closed his eyes and slid out of her and made way for even more semen to gush out of her,
"You are one fascinating mare, Fluttershy..."

Fluttershy exhaled deeply as her head spun around a bit, causing some slight dizziness. It was then when she witnessed a short glimpse of a multicolored pony tail peeking up from the side of the bed at the wall just for a second,
"This was the most wonderful moment in my entire life... Such volume..."

Cleaning himself, Grinko gave it a grin and looked into the eyes of his lair mate,
"Yeah... About that... I think I saved up quite a lot. I hope I didn't hurt you in a way."

Fluttershy shook her head, prompting her mane to whirl a bit,
"Not at all... I'm happy that I was able to help you release all that tension... Come to think of it, I... um... you know... enjoyed that you were all that excited."

Giving it a chuckle, Grinko pulled up his pants before he gave her one final kiss,
"My love, you don't have to hide it from me... You-"

Raising a hoof to his lips, she shook her head,
"You know I do, but I won't ever talk like that..."

Exchanging another kiss with her, he then rose up and parted from her,
"I'll be in the cottage, taking a short bath, then I'm over to Sam and Flynn..." Fluttershy accompanied him outside and sat down two meters from the door to wave after him.

Just as Rainbow was about to sneak past Fluttershy, she could hear the Pegasus voice behind her,
“Hey, hey, hey...” In that moment, her blood started to freeze. 'Oh snap... Caught!' With a nervous grin she turned around to explain.

But what Rainbow saw was one enraged Fluttershy,
“What I've told you about coming into my shed?” It was then when a yellow flash pinned Rainbow down and dragged her back into the dark of the shed.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Nagohod, one of the many operators looked up to Princess Lamira,
"Your highness, he is in the center of the equestrian nation."

Lamira gave this a nod and looked at the monitor walls in front of her,
"Excellent... Let him have his free will for now, but monitor him as he proceeds. I want to be informed if he starts any trouble whatsoever..."

Several operators mumbled some orders and technical data to each other and the red HUD on the monitor walls turned into a green one. The view halted and shook a bit, obviously as the changeling shook his head to get his mind clear.

Asira, however, shook her own head,
"Lamira, I'm telling you, this is a mistake... Nothing good will come from this."

"That is up for a debate..." Lamira returned flatly, "Right now I'm interested in other things anyway..." she then looked up to the operators, "Open me a link to the main control unit!

This visibly surprised Asira and she arched a brow while giving her sister a smirk,
"You activate her already?"

"No, I already activated her." Lamira answered, "I activated her before we even started with the citadels."

A display booted up in front of them both and showed a strange silhouette in the darkness. As the shadows began to move in the dark, a single yellow ring faced the display,
"Stage your request."

Asira never liked this cold and robotic voice, void of any emotion whatsoever. But it was another trump card she and her sister had that would be played at one point sooner or later. Lamira looked down at the display in a sober manner and nodded briefly,
"Request status information about observation project."

"Observation drone is in place and will begin collecting data once order is given. Do you wish to give the order?"

Asira rested a hoof on her sisters shoulder. Somehow, this felt like a mistake. But Lamira nodded,
"Confirmed. Begin observation." And when she looked up to her sister, Lamira only shook her head. "Don't worry... Everything will be alright."

* * * * *

Half an hour later it knocked on the door of the library. When Twilight opened the door, Fluttershy was standing in front of her,
"Um... Hello Twilight. I think I did something I shouldn't have done..." Turning around, the yellow Pegasus yelled at the cerulean mare that was tied up and gagged behind her. "SUCH AS YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!!!" Looking back to Twilight, Fluttershy then calmed again. "But, um... Since you're a princess and all, I thought I tell you to talk some manners into her for sneaking into my shed. I'm not in the mood to talk to her anymore..."

With that the timid little Pegasus galloped away and Twilight arched a brow at the struggling Rainbow Dash on the ground,
"You really outdid yourself again, Rainbow... Tyler? Please drag Rainbow inside, so I can have a talk with her."

Peeking outside, Tyler arched a brow and nodded, before he carried Rainbow in on his shoulder,
"What did you do this time, Dash-girl?"

Mumbling something into her gag, Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Twilight, however, used her magic to let a hook appear from the ceiling and placed Rainbow up there before she removed the gag. Struggling even more now, Rainbow growled a bit,
"Lemme go!"

Arching a brow, Twilight shook her head,
"Not before you told me why Fluttershy dropped you here! Why isn't she scolding you herself?"

Sighing in defeat, Rainbow now let her head hang down,
"I bucked up..."

A few minutes later, the tranquility of Ponyville was interrupted by Twilight's voice,
"WHAT?!?" Now pacing around her friend, she frantically shook her head, "I can't believe you, Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy explicitly said she wanted no one in her shed." Resting a hoof on her muzzle, Twilight closed her eyes as she came to a halt, "It will take some time to fix this..."

Meanwhile Tyler had a little fun with teasing Rainbow Dash as he played with the still hanging mare's ears and nose,
"Do you want me to help? Ow!" His short absence of attention earned him a soft bite into his finger and Rainbow grinned for getting even.

But Twilight shook her head,
"Oh, that's nice of you, Tyler... But I think this is more of a... you know... thing among mares."

It was then when Spike stormed into the library. Gasping for air, the baby dragon held up a scroll in his claws,
"Twilight? I just came back from Sugarcube Corner when a letter from Princess Celestia arrived."

Reading the scroll prompted Twilight's eyes to widen.

My dearest Twilight,
In order to find allies for our fight against the Darkness Sisters, I have invited a group of Masar visitors to Equestria. Among them is one of great importance. Masar royalty will come to Equestria and will visit Las Pegasus, Ponyville and Canterlot. Please prepare for their arrival in three days. The Royal Guard is already informed and will aid you in your preparations. Tell Grinko to prepare meat for their catering, so they don’t have to hunger during their stay.
Sincerely yours,

Princess Celestia

Looking up, Twilight gave the situation at hand a nod,
"Spike, you go over to Fluttershy and tell Grinko that we need several times the meat he and the humans eat in a week!" After saluting, the baby dragon dashed off and Twilight turned to Tyler. "Tyler, I'd like you Rangers to prepare Ponyville for the impending visit. Plan a route through Ponyville and plan ahead with the Royal Guard. We want them to be prepared as well so the Masar visitors don't cause a panic while they pass Ponyville." Tyler nodded and headed out as well. With a sigh, Twilight then faced Rainbow Dash. "As for you..."

* * * * *

Three days later the Elements of Harmony sat together in the upper part of the library together with Tyler while Twilight went through her last checklist,
"Everypony in Ponyville was informed?"

Spike went through the checklist and gave it an approving nod,
"Check!"

Looking up to Tyler Twilight arched a brow,
"Grinko on his way to the Canterlot kitchen?"

Giving a nod, Tyler raised a thumb,
"I've accompanied him to the carriages myself. He and 600 kilogram of hydra meat are brought to Canterlot this instant. Check!"

Beaming, Twilight then looked over to Spike,
"Great! What's next?

Spike looked down the list and arched a brow,
"Triple check checklist to check the double check-"

Now Tyler patted the baby dragon's head,
"It's OK, Spike... That is checked as well." A stern look from Twilight then prompted him to shrug. "What? More than a double checklist is a waste of time.

The sound of fanfares interrupted Tyler and he blinked twice
"That music? That must be them."

As they approached the door to the balcony, Pinkie Pie bounced in with an excited and happy grin on her face,
"Twilight! Tyler! You have to come and see this!"

Even though the music was audible for a bit, it took some time before the procession became visible. A young female, maybe only half as old as Grinko and looking like a Masar teenager, lead the parade through the secured and almost empty streets of Ponyville. The Thirteen Masar, holding the banners of the thirteen clans of Moranji followed her,
“Make way for Queen Sheeris!”

25 further Masar, seemingly the queen’s personal guard, let their falchions dance in the air as they surrounded the queen’s personal carriage which was veiled to all sides, blocking every view inside,
“Say hey, it’s Queen Sheeris!”

While some of the Masar were coated in lion fur like Grinko, some were seemingly from completely different origin. It seemed that the thirteen clans were similar to several kinds of feline predators known to live in the wilder areas of Equestria. Black and agile panther ones, muscular and big tiger-striped ones, even some complete white ones.

What caught Fluttershy's immediate attention was the fact that there were also some female Masar among them and it worried her a bit. As the colorful parade passed through Ponyville, Pinkie Pie bouncing aside the Masar teen up in front, the ponies wondered in marvel about these new Masar. They learned from Grinko that all these Masar were predators at heart and could kill them with one swift attack. Thus they kept their distance, even if the Element of Laughter seemed to enjoy the parade.

Sam rubbed his neck a bit, also a bit in worry about Pinkie bouncing like bait in front of so many Masar,
"I must say I am a bit surprised. No doubt it is a parade, but all that stuff... Is that really necessary?"

Giving it a simple shrug, Tyler then made an explaining gesture with his left hand,
"Why? It's a showcase for the public. You know... To display the importance of... um... this queen..."

Looking over to him, Rachel shook her head,
"Jones, you sound sooo convinced..."

Tyler smirked, not denying that he wasn't very convinced of the display this queen was putting on. However, in order to please her and win her as an ally, he had to play along with Celestia's plan to befriend even the Masar nation. Turning over to the others, he nodded,
"Pack your stuff folks... The Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers go to Canterlot. Let's see how we can assist Princess Celestia."

* * * * *

One carriage ride to Canterlot later, the Harmony Rangers and Elements of Harmony were briefly instructed by the princess and only Tyler remained in the throne room due to him being a strategic adviser. In her wisdom, Celestia had send the remaining Griffin ambassadors to their chambers and informed them that for their own safety until further notice they were to remain in their chambers. It was not before the final meeting where she intended to inform each and every nation about the grave danger of the Darkness Sisters and to form a battle plan with them.

Finally, the doors to the throne room opened and one of the guards raised his voice,
"Her royal highness, Queen Sheeris of Moranji!"

Leaving her entourage at the entrance of the throne room, Queen Sheeris slowly walked down the carpet to the throne and Celestia. She was of height as a human and her body was slender, yet she was trained and healthy, her abdominal muscles gave insight to that. Her paws were bare and Tyler mused whether or not this was due to her bond to nature.

However, the beauty of her body was literally 'marked' as four deep scars ran over her firm bottom cheeks. And even though he was unable to see it on the other side, Tyler wondered if this had some deeper meaning. Was she attacked by a predator in the past and thus had these claw-marks? A dispute with another Masar maybe?

As she approached the throne, Queen Sheeris opened her arms and performed a brief bow to Celestia,
“Princess Celestia… Green is the land under your rule and soft was the grass under the paws of my subjects on the way here. It’s almost as soft as the warm sands of Moranji. I am grateful and honored to be your guest.”

Giving the queen a gentle smile, Celestia nodded,
“You are welcome here, Queen Sheeris. We’ve prepared meat for you and your entourage. I hope you find hydra meat to your liking as you rest in our dining hall.”

Bowing her head in gratitude, the queen placed another smile,
“Your hospitality puts me to shame, eternal princess. But I wonder who hunted for the meat, since ponies are herbivores and lack the natural means and will to hunt for flesh.”

Tyler now stepped in front and smiled,
"Not all citizens under the Princesses’ rule eat hay and flowers, your highness… Here we shelter one of your citizens who wants to stay at my side until his 'debt' is repaid...”

Arching a brow, Queen Sheeris inspected Tyler, who now slowly approached her,
"And who might this young keen lad be?"

Bowing before the queen, Tyler gave her a smile.
"My name is Tyler Jones, your highness. And the Masar in question already showed us the Masar way of honor since he lived here among us. His name is Grinko Khass’ra, Son of Tass'kra."

The queen’s ears stood up and her face brightened up as she looked down to Tyler,
“My son Grinko… is alive?"

* * * * *

In the Canterlot kitchen, Grinko meanwhile prepared the meat he had ripped out of the hydra neck while Sam helped him,
"For real, I wish Tyler and Twilight would have told me why Princess Celestia asked me to get so much meat. This is by far more meat than I and you humans could eat in the next weeks... This is more like food for a whole tribe of Ma-"

In the next moment, just as Sam wanted to answer, the door to the kitchen sprung open and the queen herself stood in it,
"Grinko!"

His ears standing up, Grinko turned around with wide eyes in an instant,
"M-Mother!"

Coming over to him in a fast pace, the queen's embrace took hold of the Masar like a long lost treasure found again,
"The one face I yearned for to see the most in all these months is the one I find in the midst of our hosts." Patting and rubbing his back, a purring became audible from both of them. "I knew you couldn't be vanquished from starvation or death, my son..."

Looking up, Grinko spotted Tyler in the door,
"Mother, let me introduce to you Tyler Jones, the man who got me out of a hive of insect beings called Changelings..."

Turning around, Sheeris looked at Tyler once more,
"I see... This is what you meant with debt. You were the one who saved my only heir and son..." As she inspected him from head to feet, Tyler couldn't help but to feel like being inspected for a possible one night stand. Coming over to him, she patted his shoulders. "Then come! You and my son shall feast with me and my clans to celebrate this most wonderful day!"

* * * * *

An hour later Tyler sat amidst the Masar leaders and was partaking in their celebration. While the queen was sitting at the head of the long table, Grinko sat to her right, while Tyler sat next to Grinko,
"You never told us you were royalty..." he whispered a bit as the Masar all around them were eating, drinking and cheering.

Smirking a bit at the company of fellow Masar, Grinko shook his head,
"Did I have to? I was the only Masar in Equestria, that's special enough."

Arching a brow, Tyler then raised his hand to explain,
"Yeah, but we might have contacted your folks earlier... I mean you might have been with your mother sooner."

Grinko shook his head,
"It is good the way it is now. See? These are my people."

The festivity went on for some hours and while the meat was served one piece after another, the wine and the alcohol were served plenty. Secretly, Tyler hoped the royal sisters wouldn't become mad at the amounts these Masar were drinking away.

After a while, Tyler leaned his head to Grinko again,
"I want to ask you something about your mother, Grinko... You see I noticed she never ever fully opens her eyes... and even when she spotted you her eyes were open for merely a few seconds."

Giving this a mere and brief nod, the Masar turned his head to Tyler,
"That is right... My mother only opens her eyes to full extent once the needs of our people demand it or to look into someone. It is said that her shaman powers grant her the ability to stare right into your soul to assess your heart. Thus my people never dare to disobey her."

Arching his eyebrows, Tyler looked at the queen,
"You mean that she would see dishonorable actions in someone's heart and point them out?"

"Something like that, yes. Normally someone doing that would be dishonorable himself for taking away someone's honor, but if you're taking away honor based on a facade..." Recognizing the grin on Tyler's face, Grinko then arched a brow. "What is it?"

"I think we both know someone or rather somepony who has a very similar power..."

But before Grinko could reply to that, the queen stood up and raised her glass,
"A toast! On the return of my son! And the human that made this possible!"

As the Masar around the table cheered with raised mugs, Grinko raised his mug to the queen, his mother, prompting her to lower her mug with a gentle, motherly smile and meet his in midair,
"Vovoy, mother!"

It was then when one of the Masar slammed down his mug. This caused the other Masar to arch their brows,
"Is there something the matter, Tranjo?"

"We are here to celebrate the reunion of the queen and her son! Don't spoil it for the rest of us!"

Yet Sheeris looked up to Tranjo,
"No... If he is bothered by something, I want to hear what it is. Let him speak."

Growling frustrated, Tranjo looked up from his mug.
"You know exactly what the matter is, my brethren!" looking at the others, he bared his fangs, "This land here is paradise! Tender meat is walking here under our very eyes and we only have to reach out for it!"

Tyler wanted to stand up, but Grinko held him back, underlining the importance of staying put by using his claws against Tyler's chest as his paw pressed against it. 'He sure seems to be worried about me if he uses his claws against me.'

Queen Sheeris, however, remained calm and collected.
"Tranjo, head of clan Tirgo... I am sure you are aware of the circumstance that we are guests here in this country and our honor dictates that we as guests were served and fed with good meat already. The dishes on these my tables here give proof to that. We are here to hear about the danger lurking deep in the southeast. A battle is rising on the horizon and glory and honor awai-"

Now his paw slammed down on the table,
"To Gariksh with that! We are Masar, not domesticated pets! We are not fed for being obedient, we hunt for our prey! And you as our queen should leave us this freedom! Yet there you are, OBEYING TO AN ALICORN LIKE A COWARD!!!"

In an instant, Sheeris jumped up and leaped at Tranjo within split seconds. With a slash, the queen sliced the throat of the surprised Tranjo with her razor-sharp claws and the Masar tumbled backwards and fell to the ground. As she slowly walked back over the table, back to her seat, her Masar tail gently swung back and forth and her hips swung in a feminine way while the other Masar growled in discomposure. A Masar had been executed and they demanded justification.

While Tyler sat there and observed in silence, he noticed that Grinko's paw was shaking. 'How strong is this queen that all of them simply accept-'

His train of thought was interrupted when Sheeris sighed and leaned back,
"As your queen I encourage you from time to time and always in a respectful manner to question my logic. If you're unconvinced a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now: No subject will ever be taboo!" A wide sly grin formed on her lips. "Except of course the subject we were just 'discussing'." The sly grin now withered and transformed into a face of displeasure. "The price you pay for questioning my leadership and honor as your queen is: I collect your ugly head." Bearing her fangs, the queen now pointed her bloody claws at the dead Masar. "Just like this dishonorable meat bag there..."

It was then when her eyes sprung wide open and her voice was raised,
"Now if any of you sons of bitches GOT ANY MORE WILD IDEAS OF ATTACKING OUR HOSTS, NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME!!!" While looking directly into her eyes, Tyler took a gulp and looked down. It certainly reminded him of Fluttershy, yet it was different. And even if she didn't look at him directly, it was visible on the faces of the Masar that this stare of hers was of similar effect to Fluttershy's, even when its origin was different.

The remaining twelve tribe leaders and their advisers gulped and remained silent, prompting the queen to calm down again and her eyes closed again. Once more, her calm and gentle expression returned,
"I didn't think so..." Shortly after, a female Masar servant brought the queen a towel and a bowl of water and the queen cleaned her claws, rinsing the blood from her paws. Yet without turning around, she rose her voice once more. "Adviser Maruji!"

The young adviser stood attention in an instant,
"My queen!"

After using the towel on her soft paws, she looked over to the young Masar and nodded with a gentle smile,
"You served Tranjo long and good as adviser... He is without heir, so until we return to Moranji, you shall speak for the tribe of Tirgo! Do your tribe proud and don't repeat the same follies as your predecessor." With that the queen left the dining hall. Obviously her mood had been fouled by the execution she had to perform.

* * * * *

As the hours passed, mother and son spend their time to review the last months of his absence from the Masar nation. This, however, escalated rather quickly at the mention of Fluttershy, which prompted the queen's voice to raise in an outburst with a loud "WHAT?!?" recollecting herself once more rather quickly, she closed her eyes to contain the last remnants of her anger,
"I can understand that you wear this amulet in order to please the locals and live in their midst... An honorable choice of you. But... My son, a pony mare is not a proper lair mate for you!"

Looking at her with a determined face, Grinko cocked his head,
"And who are you to decide for my heart?"

Turning her head over to him, she arched a brow,
"I am your mother, queen of all thirteen clans. Do you know what effort was put into the unification of our people?"

Gritting his teeth, Grinko nodded,
"Yes, I do know and your efforts and sacrifices earned our family honor and glory. It fills my heart with pride to be your son. But nonetheless... I love Fluttershy. No Masar will deter me from her."

Narrowing her eyes, the queen then looked at him,
"What about Kyra?" A cold shudder ran along Grinko's back at the mention of this name. "Yes... Your Masar fiance before you disappeared in the desert."

Grinko shook his head in disregard,
"Kyra is of no importance to me. You know I never loved her and that you alone tried to arrange this marriage."

"What about your 'lair mate'? Does she know about Kyra?"

Taking a deep breath, Grinko closed his eyes and dropped the bomb,
"No and it doesn't matter anymore. We've already performed the Giriksho."

In an instant, a hard and unforgiving glare came from his mother and stabbed right through him as her paw slapped him,
"You... royal Masar blood... violating our bloodline with the engagement with the filthy blood of prey. How could you... HOW COULD YOU?!? SHE IS PREY! EVEN IF THEY ARE OUR ALLIES RIGHT NOW!!!" Gritting her teeth in anger, the queen now tried her best to tame her rage. "I should kill her on the spot if it weren't for our honor and our relationship with our hosts... But that would only drive you into another desert..." Shaking her head, her voice now once more became gentle and calm. "My one and only son... My best protege... and yet my greatest disappointment. But don't worry... Whatever happened in that desert altered your mind. Once we return home, my shamans will cleanse your mind of all this nonsense and you will come to your senses."

While heading for the door, his eyes shot over to his mother,
"I will not! You cannot force me into this marriage just for political gain!"

But just as he opened the door, the queen then gave him an unforgiving glare,
"Grinko! You will come back home with me or you will lose your right to the throne. And you and all your abominations of children with this pony mare will never be welcomed in Moranji."

Coming to a halt, Grinko then closed his eyes, silent anger filled his mind,
"I will sleep this over."

Without looking back the queen answered,
"Of course, my son... Take your time and come to your senses..."

* * * * *

On the next day, the Harmony Rangers stood together with Twilight in the now empty Canterlot throne room as Grinko summoned them to tell them about his dire situation. At the end of the explanation, Twilight shook her head,
"She did what?"

Lowering his head, the Masar sighed,
"You know, she is correct in a way: I can't have Masar children with Fluttershy, only foals. Even you with Applejack were only able to beget a foal. The royal bloodline will end with me and the tribe of Mavros will wither away into insignificance."

"But what if we prove them otherwise?" All rangers now looked at Tyler. "Think of it, folks... What if we force them to accept this relationship? I mean Fluttershy's stare is similar to the queen's stare."

Grinko's eyes widened before he shook his head,
"Fluttershy being a Masar queen? Now you know I love and honor her, but there is no chance whatsoever for this to happen! And even if it were to happen, the constant assassination attempts... No, this is by far not the life I wish her to live."

Rubbing his chin, Sam nodded in thought,
"So... until we come up with something, we only need their approval of Fluttershy as your lair mate to buy us some time?"

The Masar nodded in thought,
"I guess so. But this will only go by force. I would have to challenge my mother openly to accept Fluttershy as my lair mate and back it up with enough power to-"

"A dream that will be crushed in the first place!" his mother rudely interrupted him as she entered the throne room with another Masar female. Her slender, yet well trained body showed that she, like the queen, was in peak condition of health and her soft and clean fur showed that she was of high status. The white mane of hers whirled ever so gently each time she turned her head.

Queen Sheeris then continued,
"No Masar is allowed to fight royalty if he doesn't wish to kill and take the place. Only vassals of royalty may decide whosoever is in the wrong..." the queen now continued as they stood before Grinko, Twilight and the Rangers, "...speaking of which... I'd like to introduce Kyra, daughter of Kajirra to you..."

Kyra bowed before Grinko and gave him a smile while resting at the queen's side. Grinko, however, only answered with a nod and didn't exchange any feelings with her. Twilight watched the both of them. While Kyra hasn't completely fallen for Grinko, it showed that she had sympathies for him, yet not for his situation. Her looks, movements and her behavior...

Well Twilight didn't know much about the differences between ponies and Masar, but this she knew from experience in Canterlot. That Masar female expected to be engaged and married to her proper mate, accepting it with ease. For Kyra this seemed nothing like a matter of love, but a matter of status, her chance to show her own worth. But maybe Twilight was wrong all along as well.

However, her train of thought was interrupted as Rachel spoke up,
"You mean if Grinko sends in fighters against you and wins, even you, the queen, would be proven wrong?"

Queen Sheeris gave this a brief nod,
"That is correct, Ranger Higgins. Maybe this whole idea of might makes right seems brutish to you, but the fittest will be the one who will lead the species. That is how our clan of Mavros came to power and united the clans under our banner."

When the queen ended, Kyra then began to talk. Like the queen, she had a very melodious voice, not as growling and deep as Grinko had,
"So that you know, the banner of Mavros stands for strength and integrity. Even more reason why this charade of a pony mare being the lair mate of a Masar prince will never work. However, it is correct that you are allowed to challenge your mother with your own fighters, Grinko. But I wished you would forget about this stupid idea and perform the Giriksho with me."

The queen now scoffed,
"Also: Who would fight for him? These ponies here in Equestria? Ha! They are prey to my warriors, no more."

It was then when Tyler looked determined at the queen,
"We will! We humans are of similar shape to Masars, so it fits that we fight against you."

Kyra's eyes now went wide before she narrowed them to bare her fangs at Tyler,
"You have no authority to decide that!"

But the queen's claws rose up to hold the Masar female back,
"I find a liking in this idea... Grinko? Do you agree on a tournament? Your human fighters against four of my shaman fighters?"

Gritting his teeth, Grinko nodded,
"I agree. A knockout tournament? The Masar way?"

With the fire of anticipation in her eyes, Queen Sheeris nodded with a grin,
"Yes... Single elimination, winner chooses next opponent. I say let's have the tournament tomorrow."

And while the queen and Kyra left the throne room again, Grinko shook his head,
"You better not underestimate the shamans of my mother... They have magic unlike your pony friends.

Rachel held her forehead as she shook her head as well,
"A few hours of preparation... Jones, isn't this a bit on short notice?"

"Maybe... But in war we have to adjust even faster. I will have a talk with Celestia. We need to get Flynn out of his arrest for this tournament..."

* * * * *

In the evening hours it knocked on Fluttershy's chamber door. Since every one of her friends would simply enter after this, Fluttershy was sure that this must have been somepony not familiar with her. Upon her opening the door, Kyra stood in front of her and for a short time, she glared down to the timid Pegasus. This glare, however, ceased within seconds and she gently bowed her head,
"May I enter?"

Nodding, Fluttershy stepped aside,
"Uh... sure..."

While looking around in the room, Kyra arched a brow at several things, seemingly in wonder about pony customs,
"You don't have to fear me... Not only would harming you hurt my intentions, it would cost me honor as well. I am here to ask you to talk some sense into Grinko."

Fluttershy's ears stood up in an instant,
"What do you mean?"

The Masar female looked over to the Pegasus mare, giving her an inspecting look,
"He has his duties in Moranji. As heir to the throne of Mavros, he must beget a Masar heir to continue the bloodline. Right now, his clan is the ruling one over the 13 clans of Moranji and it did well in the past by uniting our people into one kingdom. Something that hasn't been done in centuries. However, once his mother will grow old or die, Grinko will either have to take the throne himself or has to present an heir in his place, able to lead our clans. And if he decides to be with you here, far away from his people, neither will he be able to lead us nor will he have an heir suited to continue the bloodline."

"So you want me..."

"Yes, to persuade him to return home. I am his fiance to be in Moranji, Kyra, daughter of Kajirra, member of the clan of Torr'ka. With me, he will be able to beget a Masar child and continue the royal bloodline, what will keep our people strong as a kingdom. But if he will stay here on this course, the kingdom will break apart and the clans will return to their ways of everyone for himself."

Fluttershy looked down. That wasn't a result she wanted to be responsible for and Grinko would... That was when it occurred to her, Grinko already decided to stay here! Looking up to the Masar female, she took a gulp and went into stance,
"I am sorry, Kyra. But if Grinko made his decision, then I will accept this and support him! If he decides that he wants to stay with me, then that's how it is."

Kyra's eyes remained on Fluttershy and her facial expression became sober. The Pegasus read the wish to harm her for this decision. But the Masar female remained calm and collected,
"Is that so? Well then, In that case there is no reason to cancel the tournament. I am certain your friends will appreciate the bloodshed."

Looking up to her in a bit of anger, the timid Pegasus held her position,
"My friends fight for Grinko because he is not allowed to! This is a very kind thing to-"

With widened eyes Kyra now fought the urge to giggle away,
"Kind? Please... Everyone can see that you are bad company for Grinko. To think that he taints himself with playing with his own prey... You took what is rightfully mine and effeminate Grinko! To think that he performed the Giriksho with you... Look at it! Your rump is untouched by him, unmarked! You should have his claw-marks carved deep into your coat, THAT would have been proper testimony that you are his lair mate. You don't even know that, do you? You don't know a thing about our culture and yet yearn to be with him, how ridiculous!"

It was in this moment when Tyler entered the room. His eyes looked at Fluttershy before they darted to Kyra,
"I think you would do good to leave..."

Looking down to Fluttershy one more time, Kyra nodded,
"Yes, of course..." On the height of each other, both Kyra and Tyler glared into each others eyes.

After the Masar left the room, Tyler came over to the Pegasus mare,
"Did she try to harm you?"

Shaking her head, Fluttershy looked down,
"She said some ugly things though... Am I really bad influence for Grinko?"

Looking down to her in strictness, Tyler shook his head as well,
"Shut up, don't repeat that bullshit, Fluttershy! Grinko is with you because he loves you and because he decided to do so himself." Kneeling down to her, his palms rested on her cheeks and raised her face. "He cherishes you like his very own treasure, everyone of us can see it."

"But she's right. I didn't know that I have to have his claw-marks once we...we..." She stammered a bit, blushing as her eyes evaded Tyler.

Tyler nodded in thought before he smiled,
"Because he would never demand it from you. He would never make you cry. You are that important to him that he would even desert the customs of his people. What you two have is something wonderful and we Rangers won't let anyone simply destroy it. This is the reason why this tournament takes place. Now come... It will start in a few minutes..."

With that they left the room and went down the corridor. But after a short while Fluttershy went towards the corridor for spectators while Tyler went down the corridor for participants.

* * * * * *

On the way to her seat, Rainbow Dash intercepted Fluttershy and landed behind her,
"Fluttershy, wait!"

Closing her eyes shut, the yellow mare took a slight glimpse over her shoulder, the urge to avoid further contact visible in her eyes. In her voice was reluctance, not anger,
"What do you want?"

When Rainbow Dash caught up with her, the cerulean Pegasus looked down in shame,
"I... I just wanted to say sorry... I-I shouldn't have gone inside your shed. But once you and Grinko came over and entered, I kinda lost my nerve. I expected you two to be so mad at me that you would lose it, so I hid myself... I didn't mean to watch you two at it...

Shaking her head a bit, Fluttershy looked up to her friend,
"You overstepped a line you shouldn't have, Rainbow. You witnessed something that wasn't meant for your eyes!" Seeing the misery Rainbow now was in as the feeling of guilt dictated her to confront her friend prompted Fluttershy to close her eyes with a sigh. "You're really sorry?"

"Yeah, I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Folding her front hooves, the Element of Kindness then arched a brow,
"You promise never to come into my shed again?"

Looking up to her, Rainbow nodded frantically,
"Never! I promise! Pinkie Promise!"

Grinning a bit, the yellow Pegasus smiled a bit as she peeked over to Rainbow,
"Well... I don't know... You are lucky I didn't told Grinko about it... yet."

Waving her hooves in a panic, Rainbow shook her head,
"Don't do that! Not only does that guy have a short fuse, he also has claws and fangs! And a pecker that big is just frightening..."

Giving a deep sigh, Fluttershy looked at her cerulean friend,
"I guess it wouldn't have come to this if I satisfied your curiosity by telling you guys a bit more about the shed, hm?" giving a silent smile and a nod, Rainbow agreed before the Element of Kindness continued, "Good... I forgive you... But if I ever catch you in my shed again, I'm going to tell him that you watched. And that you are intimidated by his... size." These last two sentences made Rainbow gulp.

* * * * *

Meanwhile Tyler and Luna were conversing on their way to the arena as the alicorn arched a brow to the question of her herd mate,
"How I would name a foal? Oh... I... I would probably go for something classical. Crescent Moon or something like that. But I would nickname her Woona."

Chuckling a bit, Tyler shook his head,
"Why Woona?"

Beaming, the dark alicorn winked up to him,
"It sounds adorable, don't thou agree? She would be a little Mini-Luna."

Tickling the ear of the princess, he grinned,
"Aha... So you hope for a girl?"

Closing her eyes, Luna gave the thought a smile,
"A filly to hold in my hooves never to let go..." when they stopped at the arena area, the Princess of the Night rested a hoof while looking at Tyler's chest. "Now then... If thou get chosen as an opponent, I wish thee good luck and don't hold back thy prowess. Tia and I will cheer for all four of thou, yet I will cheer the loudest for the one I hold dear."

Leaving Luna behind, Tyler then joined with the others. On one side of the arena, the human Harmony Rangers stood side by side in a line, facing their opponents. While Queen Sheeris and the two regal sisters were watching from a grandstand, the Masar were watching from one side while most of the Elements of Harmony and several Ranger ponies as well as some Wonderbolts and herd mates sat on the other side.

Looking over to Flynn from the corner of her eye Rachel harrumphed a bit,
"So Flynn... How is the cell block?"

Giving a smirk, Flynn kept looking ahead,
"Nice and comfy, you should try it."

On the side of the queens fighters, however, the four Masar consisted of different looking types of Masar. Among them was a huge Masar brute, surely two and a half meter tall. It was obvious that his fighting style would base on his sheer overwhelming strength.

The two female Masar were faces the humans already knew. The smaller teenage Masar girl they knew from the parade and Kyra. Both seemed well trained and Tyler expected both of them to fight with high agility and speed.

As the fourth fighter, a black panther-like Masar had a necklace of tiny little skulls around his neck, maybe little critters of Moranji. What his fighting tactic was was beyond Tyler. Maybe a well balanced fighting style with both strength and speed.

Stepping into the arena, the referee looked around as he began his speech,
"Welcome Ladies and Gentlecolts, your royal highnesses and Masar warriors! Welcome to this one and only tournament Ranger vs. Shaman! The rules of this tournament are very simple.

Due to the differences between Queen Sheeris and her son Prince Grinko, these two teams will face each other. The first two opponents will be predetermined by their teams, every further opponent will be chosen by the victor. The first team that loses four times has lost. However, to make it short, here are some of the basic rules:

Rule Number 1: There will be no weapons in a fight.
Rule Number 2: Only two opponents at a time.
Rule Number 3: Victory is achieved either by Knockout, surrender or the opponent leaving the arena."

Looking up to the princesses, the referee nodded,
"One reminder to all fighters, though: On behalf on relations between our two nations, Princess Celestia insists that no fighter kills another one."

With that the stadium cheered, each side for its champions. Among the ponies, however, was one particular that was not as cheerful as the rest of them. Cloaked up to the muzzle, this particular pony had rather stiff movement and seemed to rather stand than to sit down. And even then, the steps it took sounded more metallic than usual. Staring silently at the arena, a blue glow came from one eye socket. A blue HUD flashed for a brief moment until the surrounding area was visible once again.

Initiating data collection...

01000011 01111001 01100010 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101111 01100010

01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111

01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01101111 01100011

01101111 01101100 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01100001 01110010

01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111

While the Masar now sent in the youngest one, the teenage girl into the arena, the Rangers decided for Flynn to make the start,
"You go and show us what you can do, Flynn." Tyler stated.

Climbing up the arena, Flynn shrugged,
"You know me... It will be over quickly..."

Just as the fight started, there was a distinct cloud of dust emanated from the ground Flynn was standing on while Nerys approached him with with fast steps. But when she punched to hit him, the punch went directly through him without doing him any harm. Confused that her punch had no effect whatsoever on him, she punched again, this time with her claws wide open. Yet once more her hands went directly through Flynn as if he wouldn't even be there,
“What are you? A ghost?!?”

With that her claws began to glow red hot and fire began to cover her arms. Unimpressed and with a determined face, he continued approaching her, prompting her to back away with each step he made. Trying to punch and kick him, she gritted her teeth more and more as she lost more and more ground.

And while the ponies simply looked at the scene not knowing how to react to it, the princesses already cheered. With their alicorn eyes they saw right through it. Flynn evaded the attacks and returned into walking position that quickly, that it wasn't even perceivable by mortal eyes. But their cheers prompted their subjects to realize that one of the Rangers actually was about to win.

On the blue HUD, however, the circles tried to get a lock on Flynn, but failed to do so.

Unable to lock on target
Downloading needed protocols
Processing...
...

At the edge of the arena, Nerys gritted her teeth and stormed at Flynn, her claws glowing red hot now,
"Not with me, Firlak!" Ripping some of his clothing to shreds, she grew more confident again and kept on attacking. More and more she drove Flynn back until he stood at the edge of the arena, what brought a smile to her face. "This fight is over!"

But just as she was out to toss him out of the fighting zone, Flynn was suddenly beside her and looked at her with a calm voice as her eyes widened and turned to him,
"Indeed..."

After a strong pat on the back, the young Masar whirled around, tried to get a hold of Flynn to stay in the arena, but it was too late. With an audible sound she slumped to the ground with her bottom, prompting the referee to raise a hoof,
"Nerys has left the arena and thus has lost the fight! Flynn Marshall is the victor!"

Target victorious through excessive speed
Uploading data...
Processing...
...
...
unable to determine exact value
Estimated magical potential: ~75.924 Marics

A Masar tried to help the young female up, but Nerys tossed him aside, growling in frustration. Coming to the side of her, she looked up to Kyra,
"Kyra... Sis, I-"

But her older sister cut her off,
"Shut up, little sister! You always are too impulsive, taking things lightly. As expected from a fire shaman... Now... Let me show you how an air shaman does things..." With this she went to the edge of the arena and yelled over to Flynn. "Not bad... Or was it just luck? Let's see how you do against a real fighter!"

While Flynn stood at the edge near his fellow Rangers, he and the rest of them looked over to Kyra before Grinko looked up to him,
"Don't take this lightly just because you defeated one of them. They will probably adjust to your speed right now. Nerys was Kyra's younger sibling. Out of courtesy it would be best if you choose Kyra as next opponent. That would grant her the chance to reclaim her sister's honor. But be careful. She's determined to win!"

"Adjust to my speed, huh? Yeah... not gonna happen." Flynn flatly stated as he pointed at Kyra.

Now the voice of the referee became audible in the stadium again,
"Flynn Marshall has chosen Kyra to be his next opponent. This might become a very interesting fight since Kyra has a personal gain from this tournament."

Facing Flynn, Kyra arched a brow,
"I didn't saw you before with the other Rangers... Who are you?"

Nodding a bit, Flynn smirked
"Just a friend helping out a friend. And more you don't need to know..."

With that Kyra nodded and stormed at Flynn, delivering the first kick. Like before, the attack went directly through Flynn and he shook his head,
“Listen, Sweetie... As much as I love to do all that...”

But as she began to smirk, a cut appeared in Flynn's clothing and skin, prompting his smile to wither,
“What's the matter, human? Rethinking your strategy?”

Grinko shook his head, as Kyra continued with the attacks and Flynn now slowly backed away,
"Just like I thought. This isn't like the fight with Nerys. Flynn may be very fast, but Kyra isn't just using her claws and fangs... She bends the air around her attacks as well, sensing the air movement in the arena. Flynn is in trouble.”

While they exchanged more and more punches and kicks, both Kyra and Flynn began to take the fight personal, prompting both to give it their best. But even when Flynn blocked her attacks with success, the air surrounding her paws and legs delivered a cut each time. 'Alright... Simply tossing her out of the arena won't work this time. Better think of something...' With that he delivered a hard and especially fast kick into her ribs, causing her to slide away and holding her chest in pain while gasping for air.

Lowering his defenses, he gave Kyra a doubting look and expected her surrender, but the Masar female growled at this before she yelled over to him,
"No! We're not done yet! You haven't seen anything! Get ready!" Flynn gave her a confirming nod and went into stance once more while Kyra gritted her teeth. 'He's very fast. I can see why Nerys was confused. But you won't defeat me... You have one major weak-point and that will be your downfall.'

Taking in her breath, Kyra stormed at Flynn once more and let a storm of punches rain upon him. Blocking them all with a series of cuts on his arms, Flynn concentrated more on her arms and paws, what prompted Kyra to grin in the fistfight. It was time to let the trap spring.

Then, with a sudden boost of wind behind it, her next kick tossed him three meters high into the air, just before she jumped up as well. Looking up, Grinko gritted his teeth,
"Watch out!!!" But already the air shaman was on Flynn's height and delivered a kick into his torso, sending him straight out of the arena.

The referee's judgment was swift and decisive,
"Flynn Marshall is outside of the arena and thus has lost the fight! Kyra is the victor in this fight!"

Coming down to Flynn, Kyra helped him up,
"I must admit your speed is extraordinary, but in the air, your fast movement is worth nothing. All it needed was two strong kicks and you were out.”

Nodding, Flynn looked into her face,
“I see... thanks for pointing that out to me. I will have to work on that.”

And while Flynn returned to the others, Kyra looked at the remaining Rangers,
"Let's see... You there! The female! I choose you..."

Coming into the ring, Rachel then tossed her weapons out of the arena,
"I rest my usual weapons here beyond the arena. Since we're both female, I can hope on your fairness?"

Bowing her head slightly, Kyra agreed,
"Very well... I shall not use my claws and fangs to injure your body or face. I give you the word of a Masar air shaman."

Nodding, both opponents then approached each other, the stances wary and careful,
“So, since we both have only out arms and legs, you won't use these air powers of yours?” Rachel asked with a grin.

Arching a brow, Kyra smirked,
“Don't push your luck, sweetie... I already gave my word not to carve you up that much, but punches will come!”

With that she tried to deliver a punch, but Rachel evaded and countered with a throw, prompting Kyra to fly through the air. But the Masar female landed on her feet, glaring at Rachel. A few more attempts later, Kyra had enough about her attacks being countered and delivered a strong kick. But Rachel blocked the kick with her arm before she delivered a punch into Kyra's stomach.

Sliding back a few meters, the Masar female narrowed her eyes with an angered growl,
"Damn you!"

Smirking a bit, Rachel danced a bit on her feet,
"What's the matter, kitty? Thought I would be done so easily?"

While Twilight was casting some healing magic into Flynn, he shook his head with a smirk,
"Well, this comes to no surprise, since Rachel holds an MCMAP Black Belt 1st Degree. Plus, she's used to brawls."

Tyler nodded as he looked into the arena,
"It seems Kyra deemed her an easier fight..."

Grinko, however, shook his head,
"Only a short drawback... Rachel lacks her guns and doesn't have any magic on her own... Kyra chose her for an easy win and despite Rachel being tougher as on first glance, Kyra will stand out victorious. She was only going easy to feel the water."

Tyler wanted to say something, but Kyra rose up before he had the chance to do so,
"You fight good... But I've waited too long and traveled too far to go home empty handed! So even though I enjoyed seeing your techniques... This match is over now..."

Arching a brow, Rachel couldn't help but grin.
"Is that so in that case come at m-"

In the next moment, Kyra's body had moved over to Rachel faster as the Marine could have realized and buried her fist deep into her stomach. Looking her into the face from the side, Kyra's voice was calm and very quiet,
"If you were a shaman like me, I might have had no chance against your techniques. But you are the one outclassed here. Fret not, you fought good and with honor and for that I'll grant you the knockout..."

Slowly Rachel went down and was counted out, prompting the referee pony to raise his hoof,
"Rachel Higgins is K.O. and thus has lost the fight! Kyra is the victor in this fight!"

While Rachel was carried to the Rangers by some earth ponies,Sam and Tyler looked at each other and exchanged nods. Both knew that whoever was chosen next would probably go through a lot.

That's when Kyra pointed at Sam,
"You there! The walking mountain of muscle! I want to fight you next..."

Both Sam and Tyler looked at each other, both were actually well trained. And when they looked at Kyra again, both were pointing their fingers at themselves.

This prompted Kyra to shake her head,
"No! Not you! You! The dark one!"

Approaching the arena, Sam growled,
"I'll give you a dark one, you stupid bitch..."he then mumbled under his breath.

Once they were both in the arena, Kyra smirked and prepared her claws,
“This fight will be over rather quickly.”

Sam's right eye twitched a bit,
“Don't be so sure about that...”

But just when the fight started, the Masar female charged directly at him like a fury and ran her claws over his upper body. Screaming up in pain, Sam then delivered a powerful blow into her rips, prompting her to withdraw.

Gasping for air, he shook his head to become clear again, seconds before she leaped onto him from behind, clawing at his back before ramming her fangs deep into his shoulder.

“HiaaaAAARGH!!! GET THE HELL AWAY, YOU BITCH!!!" Slamming his fists into her face, Sam then tried to shake her off but to no avail. Her fangs only dug deeper into his shoulder. While the ponies booed at this, the Masar cheered wildly.

It was then when an idea sparked in Sam's head,
“So you want to do this the extra hard way, huh? I can oblige!" With that he took hold of her mane and tail and shoved her fangs deep into his flesh as his grip over her tail tightened. "Bitch, you're toast!"

Arching a brow in wonder was the only thing Kyra was able to do before Sam unleashed an attack of high voltage through her entire body, causing her to roar in pain as the electricity filled her mouth. She had to let go or this would kill her. Falling off limb, she tried to get up again, but was unable to do more than some slow and short movements. The stench of smoking fur filled the stadium.

Once more the referee announced the outcome of the match,
"Kyra is K.O. and thus has lost the fight! Sam O'Donnell is the victor in this fight!"

Clenching his teeth, Sam held still as Twilight performed healing magic on him to close his wounds several minutes later,
"She had one hell of a bite."

Coming to his side, Lyra and Pinkie looked worried at the sight of the deep wounds,
"Will he be OK, Twilight?"

Shaking her head, Twilight gave the unicorn a smile,
"Don't worry, Lyra... It would be worse if she had bitten him in the neck than in the shoulder. These Masar know what they are doing. Even without her winning you were weakened by her for the next round."

Grinko nodded and looked over to the two remaining opponents,
"Maraffo is from the clan of Tirgo... Stone. Defeating him will require lots of strength and wits. But you're already exhausted. I would go for Threythos, even though I know next to nothing about the Clan of Morhi. Great thinkers and strategists, but other than that, I can give you nothing..."

Nodding, Sam faced the two remaining Masar once Twilight gave her approval,
"I will face Threythos next."

Entering the arena once more, Sam looked at his opponent,
“So... I think you know by now that biting at me won't do you any good. But let's be make this worthwhile, shall we?”

The black Masar only arched a brow and smirked,
“Worthwhile... I like your approach to this, human. Making this worthwhile would mean to make the fight enjoyable. But believe me, I won't lay a claw upon you. You will surrender..." With that the Masar began floating in midair

Blinking twice, Sam arched a brow in wonder,
"What? Levitation without magic? Now that's something you don't see every day..."

Grinko, however, raised his voice in a hurry.
"So the rumors are true... the Clan of Mohi has psychics among them... Sam!!! Watch out!!!"

Sam heard the Masar's call, but it already was too late. Already he felt his muscles cramping and going heavy. Forcing himself to move, he took a step only to fall to his knees,
"What the hell?!?"

As the eyes of the psychic began to glow yellow, his muscles began to tense as if he was holding down Sam with his own body,
"You will surrender, there is no point in resisting! The more you resist to my will, the more I will subdue you!"

With adamant will did the psychic shaman glare down to the human and Sam felt his muscles grow heavier with each passing second. Gritting his teeth, he yelled over to Threythos,
"Hey! Give me a fighting chance, OK?"

Rachel shot a glare over to the referee pony,
"What the hell? Hey! Referee! This isn't a proper fight! There is no way to block such a fighting style!"

But the referee simply shrugged,
"No weapons are used, I'll allow it!"

Tyler gritted his teeth as Sam was subdued more and more by his own strength,
"That psychic bastard..." Lightning shot over his arms as anger filled his mind.

It was in this moment when Threythos blinked and his mental grip over Sam was released in an instant,
"A...a power... but where? Emanating from a... a male!!!"

As he whirled around to make out the origin of this strange new power, he looked at Tyler, gasped and took a step back. There were two blurry entities right behind the human, lurking in the subconscious back of the mind, staring at him. Yet Tyler seemed unaware of it as he glared at Treythos. And yet the aura of willpower literally oozed from him. Gritting his teeth, the Masar psychic looked around. These humans, the ponies, griffins and the royals... Couldn't they see these two shadows? Couldn't they feel this immense urge to fight? They were right in front of everyone! This aura was bright as the sun.

'Terrifying... It's terrifying!'

It was this abnormal behavior that prompted the strange pony in the audience to look around. A scanning pattern went over the HUD as the crowd was monitored.

Anomaly reported by subject
Scanning for origin
Processing...
...
...
...
Negative

But while Threythos wondered in terror, Sam leaped at him from behind and nailed him down. Just as he was out to haul off to beat the crap out of Threythos, the Masar looked up and frantically shook his head,
"You win!"

Now Sam was surprised, but grabbed the throat of the Masar,
Huh? Hey! What is with you, you goddamn sack of fleas?!?"

"I can't fight right now, there's another spirit around blinding my concentration..."

Shaking his head in confusion, Sam arched a brow,
"Spirit? What are you babbling about?"

“I don't expect you to understand. The fight is over!”

With this the referee raised his hoof,
"Threythos has surrendered and thus lost the fight! Sam O'Donnell is the victor!”

Kneeling before his queen a couple of minutes later, the Masar psychic bowed his head in shame,
"I won't apologize for my defeat, but I had my reasons..."

Looking down to him with a strict glare, Queen Sheeris growled in slight disgust.
"Name them to me! And for your sake I hope they are good..."

Looking up to his queen, his eyes pleaded for understanding while pointing at Tyler,
"Have you ever felt the fighting spirit of another?"

The queen's eyes narrowed and she looked up to Tyler as she tried to understand. Then, after opening her eyes completely just for a second, the short glimpse of an aura was around Tyler. Whatever it was Threythos had seen, it had to be something that was situational. She then nodded and looked down to the psychic "I see... Your fine senses couldn't ignore this I guess. In that case, you are forgiven..."

As he returned to the other Masar, the queen once more took seat at the side of Celestia,
"I am most curious about this adviser of yours, Princess Celestia... IF someone so focused as Treythos can be brought out of concentration, then it must be more behind this 'human'. However, these fighters of yours won't overcome my last champion... Maraffo will make an impenetrable fortress for them."

Facing the last remaining Masar fighter, Sam gulped,
“Quite a big guy, huh? Impressive display...”

But the Masar simply growled,
“Flattering me won't help you in this fight, human! You look like a fighter of great strength among these other humans... Come on, I dare you! Give me your best shot!”

Looking a bit surprised at how Maraffo opened his defenses, Sam shook his head,
“Is this a joke?”

“No, this is not a joke. But it's also not a trap if you think that. I grant you the first hit, friend...”

Sam didn't like this, it was too easy, too convenient. But nonetheless the match had to continue. And since these Masar had a reputation of honor to maintain, there was the highly likely chance that this Masar meant, what he said. Hauling off, he delivered a punch, able to shatter several ribs. But Maraffo didn't even flinch.

Looking down to Sam the hefty Masar smirked,
"That's all? Try harder." Sam's eyes widened, but then he nodded and delivered several punches, even supporting them with the electric power he had in store. But still the Masar before him didn't even flinch. At the last punch Maraffo intercepted Sam's fist and took it into his grasp. "Let me show you how it's done..." Mere seconds after that, the Masar's paw punched deep into Sam's stomach, causing him to gasp with wide eyes.

Lyra rested her hooves at the edge of the arena,
"SAM!!!"

Approaching Sam, Maraffo nodded with a smile,
"You are strong, no doubt... but my body is able to withstand even the ramming body of a Rhokastadon. And these weight as much as ten Masar. Since you have pony females cheering for you..." He then grabbed Sam by the collar and raised him up. "...I promise you, I won't dishonor you by tossing you out of the arena... Besides... You are just what I need to get that last one of you humans really angry..."

Sam gritted his teeth and delivered several punches directly into Maraffo's face, but the stone-like giant simply smiled, before his forehead rammed into Sam's, knocking him out. Going down to the ground, the human simply lied there while Lyra's scream filled the stadium.

Looking over to the referee, Maraffo nodded,
"You can count, but don't count on him standing up so soon. I was gentle, he will make it."

Tyler's skin was sizzling with electric bolts and Rachel knew that he was more than just pissed. When Threythos looked at Tyler once more, one of the blurry entities became more concise. It was a dark figure and the eyes were glowing in dark blue tone. Fear forced the psychic to turn his eyes away and Kyra patted his shoulder,
"What do you see?"

Shaking his head, Threythos closed his eyes,
"Whatever this human is... The final fight will be something very powerful. I couldn't bear to fight this human. And you wouldn't know how to deal with him."

Looking over to Tyler, Kyra arched a brow, before her eyes went over to Maraffo,
"What about Maraffo?"

Looking up again, Threythos gulped,
"He is strong and does have a fighting chance. Maybe he can make it. Maybe it would be wiser to just call it a day. I know that it is our duty to fight for the queen... But I fear that this is an opponent we know too little about."

Kyra shook her head,
"Now you're crazy! He's just a human like the others."

But Threythos persisted,
"None of them was exactly like the others! They are individual fighters. They don't seem to follow the same teachings as we seem to do. If that woman wouldn't have refused to use her weapons against you, maybe things would have been different in that fight."

Looking over to Rachel, Kyra remained silent for a few moments before she replied,
"That's possible... Maybe they excel in other areas of fighting, but then they shouldn't partake in such a tournament." But after exchanging some glances with the Masar psychic, she rethought these last words. Come to think of it, her personal pride wouldn't have her miss such an opportunity either.

Threythos then nodded over to Tyler,
"Well you do love Grinko... And as the prince and son of the queen, he can fight some opponents before he is defeated. Now... Whatever took him in the desert... This man was able to overcome it and free the prince. Which makes this human a danger like any member of the royal bloodline."

But as Sam was carried to Lyra and Pinkie, who took care of him immediately and Tyler approached the arena, clouds began to gather in the skies. Elise and Spitfire looked over to Rainbow and Scootaloo,
“Rainbow? Didn’t the weather patrol clear the sky earlier today?”

Rainbow shook her head in wonder,
“These aren’t natural equestrian clouds. They are moving on their own...” She then looked down to Tyler. As soon as he jumped and landed in the arena, a lightning strike hit the center of the arena like punctuating Tyler’s arrival. That was when Rainbow was certain. “T-Man’s the reason for these storm clouds! Which means he must be rather pissed right now”

The voice of the referee then echoed through the stadium once more as the wind began to become stronger,
"Due to the large magic capability of Ranger Tyler he declared to use no permanent force field spells to keep his opponent at bay."

While facing each other, Maraffo inspected Tyler with doubtful looks,
"So you are the last of the human rangers, are you?"

"And you the last shaman of the queen... So?"

Maraffo then began to grin,
"I hope to see glory and honor in this battle. Do not disappoint me in this fight!"

Tyler's eyes narrowed in anger as small lightning surrounded his body,
"Believe me I will make sure you leave this arena flying... You haven't done this for nothing..."

“I wanted you to be properly motivated... It was nothing personal, he was just the last opponent before you. So if you hold a grudge, then let us fight!” And with that the Masar began running.

With great speed Maraffo ran around Tyler, who followed the hefty Masar with his eyes. 'Always near the edge of the arena... He won’t attack from behind…' Tyler thought. 'He will attack from the side or from the front.' Grinko had told him that under no circumstances an honorable Masar would attack from behind in a one on one duel. So a Masar fighting in the name of the royal family was bound to fight honorable. When Maraffo ran out of Tyler's view, Tyler held still and slowly turned his head from the right to the left. And indeed, the choice of attacking from behind didn't occur to the Masar.

But once directly to Tyler's left side, Maraffo approached with a giant leap from the side, prompting Tyler to evade and a fierce battle broke loose between the two opponents. While the powerful blows of the Masar were either evaded or blocked by Tyler, it was rather difficult for him as well to land a good hit. As they fought, the scanning proceeded and resulted in massive amounts of data. Several muscles of Tyler's body were highlighted and brought up in a small frame for further analyzing before they made way for the next part of his body to be analyzed.

Protocols register rising Maric values
Dermal layers: Maric values rising
Muscle density: Values rising
Processing...
...
...
...
Insufficient data
No conclusion possible

Once it came up to Maraffo, the data spat out rather different results, causing lesser confusion.

Protocols register inconsistent amounts of Maric values
Dermal layers: Maric values inconsistent
Muscle density: Values at peak
Processing...
...
...
...
Parts facing the opponent show vast amounts of Maric values and high density
Prognosis to recreate results: Not possible, insufficient data

Ramming his fist deep into the arena ground, Maraffo then created a stone pillar that catapulted Tyler high into the air before he jumped up to get to him. Flynn gritted his teeth,
“The technique that got me!”

But before Maraffo could deliver an attack on him, Tyler unleashed one of the flash spells he got from Trixie, blinding the Masar. And while Tyler floated a bit over the ground before he landed, Maraffo slammed into the ground on all fours, enraged and excited over this fight.

After all these attacks, both opponents halted for a short while, recollecting their breaths. It was then when Tyler recognized it. The Masar only needed his hands to alter the stone or earth around him. When Maraffo opened his eyes wide, Tyler jumped forward as two giant stone hands slammed together to clap together. Rolling forward, the human looked at the hands, who now crumbled apart.

In shock, he looked forward again, as Maraffo charged at him and hit him, resulting in a bloody wound on Tyler's chest. Gasping for air, Tyler held his chest in pain as he slithered over the arena ground. Holding at the edge lying sideways, he looked down to the ground mere inches away.

Behind Tyler, Maraffo jumped up for a high leap to kick his human opponent out of the arena. From that angle, however, the exposed spine of Tyler might end broken. But just as he was about to reach Tyler and deliver the hit, the human turned around and a magical attack prompted the Masar to fly backwards with a furious roar. Landing on his back near the other edge of the arena, his chest now was bloody as well.

Taking the shirt into his grasp with one hand, Tyler now ripped the clothing of his upper body to shreds, showing the bare skin. And while the audience cheered, each race for its own reasons, the hefty Masar stood up again.

Tyler only shook his head as to warn Maraffo while tiny little lightning bolts began dancing around his body. There even was a lightning jumping from his ear to his shoulder and between some of his hairs. The smell of static filled the air in the stadium.

But Maraffo was blinded with rage and pride. He wouldn't lose a fight that easily. First taking a few steps, the Masar then charged directly at Tyler with an enraged roar. With a fierce roar of his own, Tyler then supercharged, causing his body to shine bright.

When Threythos gazed into the bright light, he could see the two blurry shadows next to Tyler almost clearly. Somehow, in this moment of fighting spirit against an enemy much stronger, these beings almost crossed over into existence. The willpower emanating from Tyler was breathtaking, choking.

The video feed witnessed through the monitors scanned Tyler’s entire body. Several rows of numbers and calculations flooded the screen as the lens showed the shining white body before the HUD spat out a result:

ESTIMATED MAGICAL POTENTIAL: 453,965 MARICS
01000011 01111001 01100010
01100101 01110010 00100000
01110101 01101110 01101001
01110100 00100000 01010011
01100011 01101111 01110101
01110100 00100000 01000101
01101101 01100101 01110010
01100111 01100101 01101110
01100011 01111001 00100000
01010010 01100101 01110000
01101111 01110010 01110100

!!WARNING!! MINIMUM ALICORN TRESHHOLD !!WARNING!!
DANGEROUSLY CLOSE

01010010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01101101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01100100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01000101 01101110 01100001 01100010 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01000101 01101101 01100101 01110010 01100111 01100101 01101110 01100011 01111001 00100000 01010000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010 01110101 01110000 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01101111 01100011 01101111 01101100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110000 01100100 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01000011 01111001 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110000 01101111 01101110 01111001 00100000 01001101 01100001 01101001 01101110 00100000 01000011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01110010 01101111 01101100 00100000 01110101 01101110 01101001 01110100

Just as the Masar leaped at Tyler, the human unleashed his magic and bathed the stadium in bright light. When the light ceased, the audience saw that Maraffo was slammed outside the arena and thus had lost the fight.

After blinking a bit, the referee raised his hoof,
“And this marks the final victory for the Harmony rangers!!!”

While Tyler now tended his wounds with some healing magic, Grinko and his mother approached the arena. The queen arched a brow at the sight of Tyler and inspected him,
“I see what it is what fascinates my son about you, Tyler Jones... Alright, by my honor I accept defeat and you and your... 'lair mate' can do whatever you want...” When Fluttershy approached the trio, the queen glared down to her. “I'm sure you will make my son happy, but for our people begin hard times as I have to get yet another heir and raise him or her before I die. Maybe all of this could have been avoided if I killed you in the first place...”

Grinko and Tyler wanted to interfere, but now the yellow Pegasus seemed really enraged,
“You were considering killing me just to get your will? And what sort of mother are you for even thinking that? He's an adult Masar and has the right to decide who he's in love with! And I don't care if you are a queen! FOR ME, YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A BAD MOTHER AND MEANIE!!!"

Now, as Sheeris' eyes opened wide to stare at Fluttershy, the mare answered with a stare of her own. Tyler and Grinko held the other Rangers and Masar back while the other Elements of Harmony gazed in disbelief at Fluttershy. Shaking his head in slight fear, Tyler grinned,
"Unbelievable! Two massive stares colliding with one another! I never thought I would see the day!"

Nerys then stormed at the queen to help her out, but as soon as she was in Fluttershy's field of vision, the stare of the mare made her halt in position as it paralyzed her at once. In an outburst, Kyra tried to get into the arena as well, but was held back by Maraffo,
"NERYS!!! Let go of me, you stupid goon! My little sister needs me!"

"You can't help her by going there! You'll only get caught in this stare!" Maraffo then looked over to Threythos, "Hey, Threythos! You have some insight into the spiritual world, what do you see there in their fight?"

But Threythos shook his head in terror,
"Believe me, Maraffo... You don't want to know..." The spectacle taking place in the eyes of the Masar psychic was frightening him once more. Both the queen and the yellow Pegasus mare were surrounded by furious auras of sheer massive oppression, trying to top each other. Slowly, these auras grew bigger and bigger.

Grinko slowly backed away,
"We... we should probably get some cover... If they charge up their stares even more, no one can say what the backlash will do to the surroundings!"

Nodding in agreement, everyone went into cover behind some rocks as the Pegasus mare and Masar Queen simply stood there and had their mental fight.

Kyra then grabbed Grinko by the neck and pointed at Fluttershy,
"Okay, since when does prey have such a highly advanced shamanic ability? She is taking on the mentally strongest of us!"

Slapping her paw away, Grinko looked at her in mild anger,
"Well if any of you would have listened to me in the first place, you would have known that she is far more than mere prey! Her ability to make a full grown Masar cringe in fear if she has to shows that she is far more suited as a lair mate than any other Masar female!"

Scoffing into his face, Kyra shook her head,
"Ha! Yeah, but you can't have children with her!"

Tyler then looked over to Kyra while nodding to Applejack,
"I was able to beget a child with my mare here. It's a healthy foal.

Growling, Kyra shot Tyler a disapproving glare,
"Yeah, so what? The queen demands a Masar child to continue the royal bloodline! And that is something this mare is incapable of doing. Even if you can manage to beget a child with her, the child will be a pony!"

Now Luna approached the two groups and landed between them,
"That is all what all the fuss is about? A Masar child instead of a pony? Tis that easy to solve all this? If thou would have come to me with that in the first place, I could have worked something out. It will take some time though..."

Grinko then gave Princess Luna a surprised look,
"Is that... even possible?"

Luna, arching a brow, gave Grinko a sober and stern look in reply,
"Pray tell, fierce Grinko... Are thou doubting mine skill in researching new forms of transformation? I might be able to craft something for the two of thee that might help the situation."

Threythos shook his head as he pointed towards the arena,
"No need to worry anymore... They are both knocked out." Both Fluttershy and the queen had passed out from the sheer extent of exhaustion. Tyler and Grinko looked at each other and smirked. Seemingly both stares were equally strong.

* * * * *

Half an hour later the two female opponents came back to their senses and Sheeris held her head,
"A tie... A tie with prey..." the queen spoke as she shook it in disappointment, "I must be getting old..."

Looking over to the still unconscious Nerys, Princess Celestia shook her head,
"Nothing to be worried about. Your subjects were mind-blown that a pony mare was so strong willed that she had something shamanic able not only to withstand you, but to knock you out as well." Leaning in to the queen, Celestia lowered her voice. "If one could manage to let her bear a Masar child, such an ability would surely be of use for your bloodline, hm?"

Looking up to the Princess of the Sun, Queen Sheeris nodded,
"You do have a point there... Such a child, should it inherit her ability for these stares, could even become the next queen... that could even surpass me!" Standing up and coming over to Fluttershy, Queen Sheeris looked down to her. "I see my son chose with a wisdom beyond his years when he chose you as his lair mate. But if you want my blessing to this I want this one condition forced upon you two: I demand a Masar child from you two, preferably female."

Fluttershy and Grinko nodded at her before they looked at each other. Kyra gave the two of them a last glance before she bowed to them and followed the queen. Fluttershy then looked after her,
"She hoped to have your children as well. Maybe..."

But Grinko shook his head,
"No... She would only accept you in the pack if she would be the Alpha. She would never ever follow a pony mare, even if she is equal to my mother."

* * * * *

Later that day, Tyler escorted Flynn back to his cell,
"That sure was a nice brawl, hm?"

Nodding, Flynn laid down on the bed in his cell and looked at the ceiling,
"Yeah. It certainly was nice to get some movement once in a while."

Nodding a bit, Tyler then let out a sigh,
"I'll try to talk with Celestia once more. You could have escaped today, but didn't. Maybe, considering this, we could get you out of here a week earlier as sentenced."

"Sounds good. I have herd and daughter to care of."

Giving it a smile, Tyler then closed the cell door and left. He then went outside the cold and blank atmosphere of the cell block, went along the corridor until he returned to his office near the command center. At this hour, most of the Ranger ponies were not present since the majority of them were stationed near the border or busy elsewhere.

The command center was rather quiet now with only a single operating crew present while the others were performing research some levels closer to the surface. Every step he took echoed a bit through the corridors. Looking down to the trio of ponies, Tyler smiled. Yet this smile withered a bit as he looked ahead again. These halls were quite eerie once they were empty. And the history of this place as well as the silence all around weren't helping either.

A cold shiver went up his spine before he turned around to open the door to his office. Much to his surprise a box of moderate size was placed on his desk. Approaching it with an arched brow, he cocked his head,
"Well, well, well... what do we have there? A package? I wonder what that could be..."

'From Zebrica from an old friend'

Arching a brow, Tyler smiled.
"Zebrica... I wonder if the old Zalaaargh-"

But just as he opened the package, something black jumped out of it and embraced his face as he fell backwards. Lying on his back, Tyler's body became limp as the black chitinous body surrounded his head. An evil chuckle went through the room as a dark figure towered over him.

11 - The Mind Trap *

Somewhere deep within...

The gentle touch of the hand caressed the little belly of the lavender foal with blue mane and Tyler smiled ever so gently as the laughter of it filled the room. Tickling his second daughter, he prompted the little foal to laugh even more and as the door to his right opened, Twilight entered,
“Applejack says she's needed at the farm for Applebuck Season. She said that she will make up for it later.”

With a smile Tyler looked over to them and nodded,
“Of course, her family needs her now. How is Appleseed?”

As soon as Tyler had asked this, Twilight smirked and looked behind herself,
“Well... Why don't you ask her herself?”

Coming from behind Twilight, Appleseed stormed right at Tyler,
“Pa!”

When she jumped at him, the young filly tackled him over and hugged him tightly before nuzzling his chest furiously. Laughing a bit, Tyler brought her mane into disorder,
“Hey there, sports! How was the train ride?”

Looking up to her father, Appleseed beamed widely,
“That was wonderful! The conductor even let me sound the horn!”

Now standing up, Tyler smiled down to her as he went over to the small white cot,
“You keep growing fast like a zap apple tree. Ha, ha! Must be Granny's good food on the farm.” Lifting her up, he helped Appleseed to see yer younger sister. “Well then, Appleseed? Here's your little half-sister Nova...”

First looking down to her baby sister, Appleseed then frowned a bit, not understanding completely,
“Pa? What's a half-sister? Is that bad or somethin'?”

Resting a hand on her back, Tyler shook his head with a gentle smile,
“No, little one... It means you both have the same father, but different mothers.” Nodding, Appleseed leaned over and played a bit with Nova.

It was then when Celestia entered the room, the eyes full of enjoyment,
“The laughter of foals is such a sweet delight.” Twilight looked up to her with a proud smile. In the past years Celestia had learned to overcome her fears and welcomed the idea of alicorn foals. And once Twilight became pregnant, it was Celestia who took utmost care of the young mother. It appeared that Celestia, although calmed to the thought of alicorn foals, wanted to make sure that this foal had the best childhood possible so it could choose for the better if it ever had to choose like this.

Now, Appleseed turned around and galloped over to the Princess of the Sun, a wide smile on her face,
“Aunt Celestia!”

When the little filly approached her, Celestia bowed down and nuzzled her with care, just like a real daughter,
“Hello, Appleseed, my little pony. How are you?”

“Great! The train ride was fun. Can I get a big bed like last time?”

Giggling a bit, the white alicorn nodded,
“Why of course you can, dear... And if you want to make another royal pillow fortress, I will come and join you later.”

“I would join thine fortress fun as well, young Appleseed, yet since I'm afraid I'm not in the condition to play the invader this time...” When Luna entered the room, the sight of her swollen belly brought as always a smile on Tyler's face. Carrying his foal now was her wish come true and there was no day nowadays when she didn't cut her own sleep short in order to have a short stroll trough the royal garden, only to partake in conversations with ponies from nobility. Yes, Tyler saw she enjoyed presenting her 'foal tummy'.

Maybe it was pride to be a soon to be mother, maybe it was pride of being the first of the two sisters to conceive a foal... Whatever it was, Luna's beauty never ceased to grow for Tyler. Ever so often he'd spent countless of nights at her side, caressing her belly as he did it for Twilight when she carried Nova and Applejack when she was pregnant with Appleseed.

More and more Tyler and his mares weren't simply loving each other... Over the years, it was literally obsession, it became adoring one another. No matter who it was, staying away from the rest became unbearable. Every time the whole herd was together Tyler felt completely content like he was in heaven just being in their presence.

Now coming over to her, he smiled and raised her chin, welcoming her with one passionate kiss while caressing her long neck,
“How is my beautiful girl and soon to be Mommy of the Night? “

Blushing ever so gently, the dark alicorn closed her eyes before she leaned against him,
“Tis wonderful, Tyler... This little testimony of our love surely begins to make mine belly go big and round. And due to the kicks it's going to be one hay of a lively one...” Looking at him with a smile, she raised her head and pursed her lips, awaiting his kiss. A wish Tyler gladly obliged to...

* * * * *

His body lying on the ground of his office, Tyler's head was almost fully embraced as the small Changeling bug was wrapped around him. Slow and steady breaths escaped his mouth.

Meanwhile on the surface, a diplomatic Gala was held in Canterlot and both Griffins and Masar were present. Due to the long hostile relationships, Princess Celestia tried her best with Queen Sheeris and General Marek to find a solution for a non-aggression pact for the beginning. And while the three of them were in negotiations, Twilight and the other Elements tried their best to negotiate a bit among the two sides. A task not as easy as they thought since both sides were quite stubborn and distrustful against each other.

Even Shining Armor and Princess Cadance could not help much. For some reason Princess Celestia summoned them as well to Equestria. A reason she kept secret. Shaking her head, Cadance looked over to Shining and Twilight,
“Love-magic won't work. They would see it as manipulation. And if aunt Celestia taught me one thing, it is that manipulation and diplomacy don't go well with one another. We need to find another way, a common ground to work with.”

Shining nodded and looked around,
“I wonder where Tyler is. He could talk some sense into them. Or at least assist me with it.” Looking at the rest of the guests, Shining sighed in relief, “At least Grinko and that griffin prince are slowly coming together...” This prompted Cadance and Twilight to look at each other and while Cadance winked, Twilight began to smile. Now both girls knew what to do.

Standing near Fluttershy and Grinko, Prince Griffith conversed quite lively with them,
“I am curious, Lady Fluttershy... A Masar herd mate?”

Looking up to Grinko, Fluttershy nuzzled him a bit before turning to the prince again,
“Oh, Grinko is very gentle to me. He even wears an amulet for me so we can be together. And since we're together he had shown to be able to be very protective when it comes to me or the things I like.”

Arching both brows, Prince Griffith then looked at Grinko,
“Well, what do you know...? And I was taught that Masar are heartless creatures living only for the hunt.”

Shaking his head, Grinko gave it a faint smile,
“Quite the contrary. We Masar follow one basic principal in life. I think it's the same as the Griffins do.”

“And what principal is that?”

“The principal of honor.”

This prompted the griffin prince to smile,
“Hear, hear...”

But just as he wanted to begin the next topic, a detonation occurred and blasted a wooden door to pieces, when a dark figure entered the room. Bipedal like a human, but black as a Changeling, clothed in black leather and with several strange mechanical implants throughout the body, the figure looked around. While the ponies, griffins and Masar mostly gasped at the newcomer, Grinko and Lyra already knew of Mimesis. And even the Elements of Harmony recognized the Changeling touch in this creature, which now smirked with a terrifying manner,
“Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts… I am tonight's entertainment! I only have one question… Where is Twilight Sparkle?” Grabbing a chin of a mare, he sneered down to some of the ponies. “You know where that bitch is? You know where she is? No? Meh!”

One earth pony stallion stood up to it, despite some other mares trying to hold him back,
“Hoity, don’t!”

But Hoity Toity wasn't going to be bullied by a changeling,
“We’re not intimidated by you, Changeling thug!”

Turning his head at the stallion, Mimesis began to smile. It was no good smile,
“You know? You remind me of my father…” With that Hoity Toity was grabbed at the collar and Mimesis gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing up with a fierce green glow. “I HATE my father!”

Just when Mimesis was about to haul off and deliver a devastating blow to the stallion, a strict female voice sounded off,
“Enough of this!”

Halting in his movement, the humanoid Changeling stopped harassing the ponies and looked over to Twilight, who gave him a strict glare. Smirking a bit, he let go of Hoity and turned to Twilight,
“Why hello, beautiful... I wondered when his little bitches would show up.“

While Fluttershy hid behind a growling Grinko, the others never ceased to keep their eyes on the Changeling menace,
“So he's the feller that framed Tyler? Ah never thought a Changeling human would be possible...” Applejack stated.

Giving a nod, Rainbow Dash eyed the calm enemy with cautious looks,
“I thought they said they killed him...”

As he stood in front of Twilight, Mimesis looked down to her, giving her a smile that prompted several other ponies to step back,
“A pity you are an alicorn now... Guess that makes killing you that much more unpleasant for me... Oh well, there are enough unicorns in Equestria to...” He halted as he saw Lyra among the ponies. “You...” But unlike before, Lyra didn't back away. Instead she looked over to Twilight. When the young princess nodded, the fear in her eyes vanished completely and she lowered her horn in order to stab the Changeling if she had to.

With the lust for murder in his eyes, Mimesis looked at Lyra, barely holding himself back,
“I remember you being the biggest thorn in my eye right after Jones... The mare responsible for my first defeat...”

“We Harmony Rangers will always fight threats like you, bug brain!” the mint-coated mare spat in reply.

With a grin half in disgust, half in amusement, Mimesis stormed right at her and in a fast movement he tried to grab her horn. But instead of grabbing the horn and sucking all life out of Lyra, his hand was repelled by a powerful force field and the unicorn Ranger used his confusion to stab at his hand. Jumping back from Lyra, Mimesis looked at his bleeding hand as the wound slowly healed. And when he looked at Twilight, the Princess of Magic glared at him with her head held high,
“We are now prepared for your magic sucking attacks. And as the Element of Magic, I created and performed a spell on every unicorn in Equestria to make sure that you'll never be able again to suck a unicorn to death! You can starve to death now, you monster!”

Answering with a glare of his own, Mimesis then began to smirk as he took the form of Tyler,
“Well that’s too bad… That’s putting us into a very hard time now… You see, I have something that you want and for releasing him, you need something I want…”

Gritting her teeth, Twilight now supercharged her horn. That Changeling menace was exactly as malicious as Tyler described him,
“What did you do to Tyler? Answer me before I get a flyswatter for you!”

Arching a brow, Mimesis then began to smirk,
“Ooohh... You have such fighting spirit in you... I like that.”

Mimesis then heard a voice he didn't hear in a long time,
“Then you're going to love us!”

But just as Sam's fist was about to hit his son, Mimesis turned around and intercepted the fist with his hand, holding it in an iron grasp. The electricity was sizzling between the two of them as father and son glared into each others eyes,
“Nice to see you... Father...”

With a powerful magic blow, Sam was catapulted through the air in a wild spin and almost crash-landed on some ponies, but Rarity levitated a red velvet couch to dampen his fall before he could even crash into them. Coming back to his senses, Sam nodded at the mare,
“Thanks! I owe you one...”

All the commotion caused General Malek, Queen Sheeris and Princess Celestia to return earlier from their meeting, prompting the Masar in the room, already on their toes due to the intruder to form in front of the trio. Meanwhile the Griffins in the room formed in front of Grinko and Prince Griffith.

Now facing two fronts of enemies, the Changeling smirked. The monitors inside of the control room of the Darkness Sisters showed and cataloged each one of the races and Princess Lamira smirked,
“I told you this was a good idea, dear sister. Now we know about our enemies while they know little to nothing about our strengths...” Asira answered this with simply rolling her eyes.

Queen Sheeris now leaned her head to Princess Celestia,
“So this is one of these Changelings? One in human form I presume?”

The Princess of the Sun glared at the Changeling with strict and angered eyes,
“I don't know how you escaped the grasp of death and I don't know who saw fit in recreating you into this form... But you are not welcome in this realm and your actions will find an end here! If you release Tyler and leave in peace, then no one will harm you... But if you don't do so... If you continue on this way...”

“Hmph! Then nothing!” Mimesis barked back. “I don't feel threatened by a mare defeated by my grandmother!” He then looked around, “Or these clowns here... Ha! Feather-brains and fur-balls! These are your allied forces?” Looking over to Sam, Lyra and Rachel, he simply shook his head with a sadistic grin “Run... Run, little Rangers... Your leader is in another castle... If he ever wakes up, that is...I left that little shithead to rot while I lay waste to all of Equestria in the meantime. If he ever manages to wake up, what I doubt, he's in for a nice surprise! And now... Let's start with your demise... Two Rangers missing and we're in the capitol of Equestria, there will be no overcharge this time!”

Closing them for a second, Luna's eyes then went wide before she looked over to Celestia,
“Sister! I can say that Tyler isn't in a waking state, but somehow I can't enter his dream!”

Glaring at the Changeling, Queen Sheeris now slowly began to growl, her eyes wide opened,
“I've had it with this insolent creature. My brethren... I say it's time to announce a change here! Changeling meat is on the menu now!” With that, seven of the dozens of Masar stormed at Mimesis and tackled him a few meters away, beginning a fierce and bloody brawl.

While they distracted Mimesis, Princess Celestia stepped towards Sam, Lyra and Rachel,
“Hurry! You must go and find Tyler! If that villain spoke the truth, something awful must have happened!”

All three of them nodded and hurried out the door while Celestia stepped at the Element Bearers,
“Girls! You come with me to fetch the Elements from Canterlot Tower!”

While several Masar stormed right at him, Mimesis had almost no problem with the majority of them. However, the shamans of the tournament were a challenge. A single strike of Maraffo's paw caused Mimesis to slide over the ground several feet. Looking up the Changeling knew that he had to act quickly. With one pirouette, Mimesis kicked away Maraffo's claws, followed by a second kick that swept away the feet of the Masar juggernaut. But before he even fell to the ground, Mimesis punched hard onto his wide chest, prompting the Masar to smash even harder to the ground.

Now looking at the approaching other shamans he knew he was slowly getting cornered. They were of no importance to him now and were not part of his revenge now,
“It seems I must leave now. I have other, more important things to do. But don't you worry: I will come for all of you as soon as every human ranger is dead.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile the three rangers hurried towards the entrance to the Ranger HQ, where they found the Ranger ponies on guard duty lying on the ground. Grimacing a bit, Lyra halted when she saw them,
“Are they...?”

Checking for pulse, Rachel shortly after sighed in relief,
“No, they're alive. He didn't waste time or effort on them. Tsk! No sports.”

Checking the main entrance doors, Sam shook his head,
“But he made sure that the entrance is blocked. He welded the door shut.”

“Great! Now what?”

Giving the situation a quick thought, Sam nodded and looked to the right,
“Hmmm... The cargo lift would be a solution. Lyra and myself found a weakness in the construction layout while going through the blueprints”

The mint-coated unicorn nodded while Sam tinkered with some cables of the wagon,
“We found out that although the way by foot is several miles long, the cargo lift is a direct route deep into the heart of the facility. We were going to bring this to Tyler after tonight's gala, but now the shortcut will help us to get down to Tyler faster.”

Nodding in confirmation, Sam smirked,
“We have 30 seconds to make it through the security gates. After that, the short circuit will be rerouted and the gates will close one after another.”

But Rachel shook her head with an uncertain look on her face,
“30 seconds for a route deep into the mountain? Sam! Don't you think that's a bit short? How fast does this thing go anyway?”

The mechanic quickly opened a small hatch near the rail wagon and began inspecting some wires,
“Safety systems, Rachel. It's laid out so that no army can march in here. So we will have to be quick about it no doubt. My guess would be just to slow down enough to keep up with the doors and once we're there, we'll make a hard full-.”

He was interrupted by a certain detonation in one of the higher towers of the castle where a body fell down and crash-landed in one of the Canterlot buildings. Lyra's eyes went wide when she saw what came out of the cloud of dust,
“Oh Celestia no... Hurry, Sam! He escaped the brawl with the Masar and Griffins!”

Approaching the Ranger HQ, Mimesis shook his head,
“This takes far longer than I expected. Their allies really got stronger in my absence...”

Seeing everything from the control room of the Nagohod, the Darkness Sisters witnessed the scenes. Turning over to Asira, Lamira raised her chin,
“And you were worrying...”

Arching a brow, Asira returned the smirk,
“I still am! For these Masar took him down to 78 percent efficiency. And he still hasn't managed to fight one of these humans...”

Electrifying his fist, Sam then slammed it right into the wires and the spark caused a short-circuit prompting the sealed doors to open wide, revealing a shaft with a rail wagon on which the Rangers jumped. Now Mimesis started to sprint towards them and they loosened the brakes, beginning their ride down. But little did they know that the spark went down the cables, ran down several miles along the connection before it finally reached deep into the facility and opened several sealed doors at once.

* * * * *

Down below in the prison block the lights began to flicker before falling out completely. A murmur went through the cells as the griffins began to complain,
“Oh great... Now it's bed-time already?”

“Hey! It's not even nine!”

Shortly after that, the cell doors clicked and unlocked on the majority of the doors when the emergency power went back online. Coming to the cell doors, one griffin after another found his cell door unlocked.

As the first stepped outside, more and more escaped their cells. Coming to his cell door, Flynn tried to open it as well, yet found it locked,
“Oh come on!”

At the same time the other rangers made their way down and the wagon more and more gained speed. Behind them, a few hundred meters above, Mimesis made his way down as well, hovering over the ground just a bit. When the 30 seconds were over, the doors slowly began to close and Rachel looked around in a little bit of panic,
“The doors are closing! We have to slow down or we'll derail!!!”

But just when Rachel was about to reach for the brakes, Sam held her wrist,
“No! Don't brake! Don't slow down! That's our only chance to be faster than he is!”

Shaking her head, Rachel simply stared at Sam,
“This is crazy! We will crash into the facility! If the doors don't cause us to derail first that is!”

Looking over to him, Lyra arched a brow,
“Sam! Where will the cargo lift land anyway? After the Cargo Checkpoint there is...”

Sam frowned deeply,
“I don't know what that rewiring did to the system. Actually this whole wiring of the base is like a mystery and flammable like a Christmas tree! But I never really looked that deep into the plans. I know there are some rooms down there, but there are also some inches of concrete.”

Down below, the Griffin prisoners one by one made their way out of the prison block. Rattling his cell door, Flynn tried to get their attention.
“Come on! Let me out! If something's happening you can't leave the rest of us behind!”

But running off, the Griffins mostly ignored him. One of them, Geoffrey, halted at his cell,
“I would free you, Ranger Marshall... And if it's only to make up for that missing finger... But I don't have the key card to the cells. I'm sorry.” He wanted to say something else, but a sudden rumbling caused the prison block to quake.

In the next moment the cargo lift Sam, Lyra and Rachel were on crashed down diagonally from the ceiling and slid across the cell block. Dust and debris filled the air, making it hard to breathe. When everything was quiet again, Flynn opened his eyes. The iron bars of his cell were dented and ripped away as were those of several other cells. The massive steel lift had smashed through the entire cell block. And due to the bloody stains on the ground, Geoffrey didn't make it away in time. 'Maybe he was a loyal asshole of a griffin, but he didn't deserve THIS fate...'

When Flynn stepped outside, he saw Sam and Rachel stemming themselves up from the cabin, shortly before Lyra stood up coughing,
“Nice landing, Sam...”

“Shut up, Rachel! Be happy that we're still alive!” Looking at the debris everywhere, Sam then gritted his teeth in pain. “Although I must say that we've had better landings with Flynn...”

Seeing the bloody pulp behind them, Rachel grimaced,
“As did that Griffin... or Griffins...”

Flynn shook his head in disbelief at all the destruction,
“What in the world is happening, folks? You take a ride in the cargo lift and crash it? Why the rush?”

Pointing behind him, Sam nodded towards the crash site,
“That's a question you can ask that chitinous son of a bitch that returned from the grave! And he did something to Tyler. What that is, we don't know yet.”

Not understanding, Flynn arched one brow,
“Chitinous... Changeling? But... We ripped him to pieces!”

It was in this moment that a loud banging sounded off in the distance above. The banging then was followed by the noise of bending steel and debris falling down. Rachel shook her head in terror as she stared at the crash site, where one could see into the remaining cargo lift track,
“No... He can't be that powerful... Not through solid steel.”

While the noises grew louder, the Rangers gained some distance from the crash site. Looking over to Lyra, Sam gave her a determined look,
“Lyra? You go and get some cover. He will go for the one with the least combat experience. And if he manages to find a way around that protective spell, he can and will deal lethal harm to you. I can't let that happen.”

Giving him a smirk, Lyra then winked and nodded,
“Alright... But I'll be close by to lead the reinforcements to you.”

Just as she made her escape through the door next to her, the last safety door went down in a screeching sound and the dark chitinous menace levitated itself down to the cell block, glaring at the Rangers, most of all Flynn,
“Ah... Ranger Marshall...”

Giving the Changeling before him a cold glare, Flynn lowered his voice,
“You two are going to get Tyler while I handle this feller here.”

Approaching Flynn, Mimesis gave a short look to the running Sam and Rachel, before he turned his full attention to Flynn,
“Do you really think that you can withstand me, human?”

Flynn gulped and clenched his fists, was preparing himself mentally for the imminent threat,
“No, I don't think so...” Just as Mimesis was about to strike, Flynn evaded almost quicker than the eye could see and delivered a hard and swift kick to the Changeling's face, causing the beast to stumble backwards. “I know so!”

Wiping the green blood from his chin, Mimesis gave Flynn a cold glare,
“I'm gonna enjoy watching you die... primate scum!"

With that Mimesis stormed right at Flynn and a fierce brawl between those two broke loose. Delivering a storm of punches every time the Changeling missed, Flynn made sure he only got Mimesis occupied. Every minute Mimesis was fighting him was a minute for the others to search and help Tyler,
“If you're back here and there's something wrong with Tyler, I wonder what sort of trickery you used this time...”

Halting in his movement, the humanoid Changeling began to smirk,
“Ah... Someone's curious... Alright, I won't let you die dumb. I created a new breed of Changelings called Mindling. It's a prototype, first of its kind. It analyzes your heart's desire and creates a perfect illusion to feed off your emotions.”

“So he's sleeping?”

Laughing out loud, Mimesis shook his head,
“Oh it goes far deeper than dream... Not even Princess Luna can hope to reach him. He is experiencing and witnessing everything as if he's there in person. Quite interesting, don't you think? I wonder what he will see... Maybe mounting every mare in Equestria as they bow to him as their respective master and emperor. More honest, don't you think? Not like the entire crap about being the selfless hero.”

This prompted Flynn's impression to darken, his eyes glaring at Mimesis,
“You bastard...”

Closing his eyes, Mimesis chuckled,
“Now, now, no reason to get personal...” But when he opened his eyes, they flashed up with a poisonous green glow. “Then again, the whole thing here is personal...”

With powerful blows Mimesis then smashed the concrete walls while missing Flynn. The hits were rare, yet powerful. Flynn on the other hand delivered quite many hits, yet only few of them powerful enough to do harm to the chitinous plates of the Changeling's hardened armor.

Getting smashed into a wall, Flynn went to the ground. After jumping up, he delivered a kick to Mimesis' chest, causing the Changeling to sway back long enough to get back on his feet again. In the next attack, he barely evaded the powerful blow that landed deep into the wall. Having his fist and arm stuck in the wall, the Changeling was open to attacks. And with great speed did Flynn deliver a hailstorm of punches and kicks even heavier than he delivered them to Ice Hammer. The storm heated up the armor due to all the friction and impact, but this got Mimesis the chance to strike hard and deliver a fierce blow.

The blow was so powerful and strong that Flynn slid back a few meters over the ground before coughing some blood. Monitoring all of this in their command center, Princess Lamira cheered when Flynn went to the ground,
“Oh, how wonderful... He's killing this Ranger...”

Asira on the other hand only arched a brow when she gave her a smile and a shake with her head,
“You cheer too easily, big sister... The Masar brought him down to 78 percent and he's down to 60 percent already due to this one Ranger... These human rangers are far more capable fighters than the ponies they train... Fitting for their predator eyes...”

Mimesis, standing far away from Flynn, looked down smirking. But that smirk withered away, when Flynn got up again, wiped his chin clean and went into combat stance once more, his wounds healing away within seconds. He was not done for yet. And this human will infuriated Mimesis enough to go for another attack run.

* * * * *

Meanwhile Sam and Rachel stormed towards the command center, where some ponies were lying on the ground. Checking their lifesigns, Rachel nodded over to Sam,
“Again, only knocked out. Seems he got in, set the trap and came to us after it snapped.”

Nodding in agreement, Sam looked around,
“And we humans always ask 'what can one man do?' Well, a man with a plan can do quite something.” Pointing at Tyler's office he then went on. “His office, come on!”

Upon entering Tyler's office, they saw him lying on the ground. Kneeling down besides Tyler, Rachel carefully inspected the Changeling creature. Sam on the other hand arched both brows,
“It's attached to his face! Is this thing a facehugger or something?”

Shaking her head , Rachel leaned wide over Tyler and pointed an index finger to his mouth and then neck,
“No, it's not connected with his mouth, but his neck. It leaves him alone except for this bite. Not to kill him, but to connect in some way Like it's... biting him there to reach his nervous system. Like a tick or something... A parasite to feed off the host...”

“Well we can't let it sit on him! It has to come off!”

Looking up to Sam, Rachel gave him an angered glare,
“You think I don't know that? But this thing here is connected to his spine at the neck. I could rip it off, but it could damage his nervous system, maybe even paralyze him. Well if you can't guarantee me that won't happen, I won't do it.”

Gritting his teeth, Sam looked around. Rachel was right. If this thing was connected to Tyler's spine, the injuries caused by ripping it apart could be disastrous. And the sound of thundering battle in the distance made him realize that Flynn needed help against Mimesis. Looking at Rachel again, he gave her a determined look,
“Rachel! I'm going to help Flynn. Two against one is better than a one on one. You stay here and try to do something about that thing. Maybe find a way to get to Tyler. If we can't get it off from the outside, maybe he can do something from the inside...”

With that he went off to help Flynn. Shaking her head in irritation and confusion, Rachel then looked at Tyler while trying look better at his neck,
"Now he leaves me here with Sleeping Beauty... God damn it all to hell... Jones! JONES!!! Come on, ponyfucker! I know you can hear me!“

* * * * *

Meanwhile, deep in Tyler's mind, years had passed already. The one or another gray hair showed, but his eyes never ceased their fire despite his age of 78. A lot of ponies had passed since and each one of them peacefully, what calmed his mind. It was only last year when Big Mac passed away, what took the remaining Apple Family hard. Apple Bloom, by now a grown old mare herself was now living in Canterlot with her own shop of potions and perfumes while Appleseed and the rest of the family worked the farm. That is, she herself had children with a stallion, helping Apple Bloom. Applejack was long gone as well. Tyler remembered the times when the time was closing that she as well had to go, but the old mare always gave him a brave smile when he mentioned this topic,
“Do me a favor and put an apple in my coffin, Sugarcube... If I leave this world, I want to leave it in the knowledge that the family goes on with the best apples. Apples that come from the heart.”

It was this greatness that always made him wonder how he could have been without her and the others before he was in Equestria. Now in Canterlot, the seasoned man stood at a railing and watched over Equestria, his daughters all visitors behind him to celebrate yet another anniversary. While the alicorn daughters all remained young, it became obvious that Appleseed was aging almost twice as fast as he was. Maybe, so he hoped, he would at least not carry her to the grave. And yet. In her eyes was the same greatness her mother possessed as well and with a life so fulfilled as hers, who could have blamed her for being that? A content smile formed on his lips as he closed his eyes. Yet suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind. A familiar voice he hadn't heard in decades now.

“Jones!”

Blinking twice, he looked around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice. Yet it simply escaped his grasp. Too close to be far away, yet too far away to be seen.

“Come on, ponyfucker! I know you can hear me!”

Rachel... That wasn't right. In all these years he never met her again although making sure that nothing evil crossing over to Earth was the most important thing for her. And yet... Nothing evil was in this world. But this felt... weird, misplaced. There always was evil in the world, always a problem to solve. The more he thought about it, the more all of this seemed unreal to him. But could all this, this beautiful paradise all be nothing more than a... ?

He closed his eyes. This was horrible. All these years were for nothing? And his beautiful daughters were non-existent? A cold shiver ran down his spine as his hands clamped down at the railing.

It was then when Appleseed leaned her head to the side,
“Pa? What's the matter?”

His eyes shot open wide and he gulped heavily before turning around to his three daughters. Appleseed had become a fair beauty of an earth pony and like her mother before managed the Apple Family business nicely. Nova and Crescent were, like their mothers, alicorn beauties and their slender figures would surely place them among pony models. When he looked at them, their eyes were filled with worry.

Giving them a loving smile, he rested a hand on Appleseed's shoulder,
“Appleseed… Nova… Woona... When each of you was born, each time it was one of the happiest moments of my life. When I first saw your tiny faces, you stretched your tiny little hooves up to me with so much strength. I never wanted to let go of you. But now... I... I don't think you're real. I don't think any of this here... is real.”

Approaching her father, Crescent, nicknamed Woona by many of her friends, looked up to him with a worried face,
“Don't say such things, daddy... You're scaring me.”

Embracing her with a smile, he shook his head,
“No... No, no. I don't want to scare you, Sweetie. You three are the best daughters I could ever hope for.” Looking around, he took a glimpse at this perfect world around him. “This here is everything I ever wanted for my family and herd. But it isn't real. There is no such thing as a perfect world for me. I have responsibilities elsewhere… I… have to go now… I can't stay here with you in this dream.”

A tremor went through Canterlot and the ground shook a bit. One after another, they embraced him until the three daughters surrounded their father. Crescent shook her head, tears in her eyes,
“Daddy…”

Embracing them with all his love, Tyler closed his eyes shut as the tears ran down his cheeks,
“I promise you three: I’ll make all of this reality!”

He then let go of all three of them and stood up. It felt both wrong and right, but hurt anyway. He wanted to stay, but deep within he knew that none of this was actually here. Forcing a smile, he wiped his tears away and nodded,
“Alright! We play one last game! Nova? Crescent? I want you to fire as much magic into daddy as you possibly can!

Leaning her head to the side, Nova arched a brow,
“But... You always told us that this would cause you pain. I've paid close attention to your stories from back then, Dad.”

Crescent shook her head once more and stomped her hoof to the ground to underline her statement,
“I don't want to hurt you, daddy...”

Nodding, he caressed their cheeks while looking into their faces,
“I know you are confused that I ask you to hurt me, Crescent... I know you are a good girl. But now I need you to do that no matter what.”

Reluctantly, the alicorn daughters obeyed and began charging him. What would have needed hours or days with unicorn magic, took minutes with alicorn magic. Within seconds, his veins began to shine as the blood in his body was charged completely. More and more the magic saturation in his body began to climb up and the pain in his mind became staggering, unbearable. But his theory was true , whatever held him inside this limbo was connected to him and had to feed his mind with all this information. If he wanted to break free, he had to do something out of the ordinary...

* * * * *

Outside of his dreamland, the other Rangers fought on with Mimesis as Rachel had to let go of the dark insect on Tyler's head,
“Fuck! What now? You little shit become hot all of a sudden?”

Chirping in pain, the insect tried its best to clamp down on Tyler, but more and more the illusion began crumbling down as the creature couldn't cope with the effort needed to maintain the illusion.

In Tyler's mind, Equis was shaking in massive earthquakes, breaking open the planet's crust. Volcanoes broke open in every part of Equis as this fake world began boiling. Now, of that Tyler was certain, there should have been some partial necrosis or overload, something he knew about, but not the one causing this illusion. Or the cause of this illusion knew of this effect, yet was unable to show this effect on him. With tears in his eyes he took a last glimpse at the girls in front of him.

His daughters, precious like nothing else and with tears in their eyes as well. They as well knew that this was a goodbye forever and that they would cease to exist in this form. Gulping down a heavy lump, he let the tears stream down his cheeks as he made his final announcement,
“I promise you… I’ll make all of this real one day…”

It was then when the planet in his mind detonated.

The Changeling bug, once clamped down tightly to his face, now let go and Rachel could rip it off from Tyler. But now the insect menace tried to attack her. Snapping at her and waving its legs in a frenzy, it tried to get to Rachel's neck in order to attach itself to her.

Tossing it away a few meters, Rachel then pulled out her gun as she stood guard over Tyler,
“Come on, you little fucker... Just show yourself one more time...” Kicking Tyler gently at the ribs, she never let down her guard. “Jones! Damn it, wake up! No more excuse to lay low!”

Opening his eyes slowly, Tyler's eyes then suddenly sprung open. There was a mild pain in his neck, like someone had slapped him there. It wasn’t long before he realized the situation he was in. The Command Center was half in ruins, he was young again and distant fighting noises sounded off across the rooms. He was right. Something had been attacking him to put him under the illusion of a completely happy life. One part of him felt relieved, not to have blown up the planet for real. The other part, however...

With this Tyler stormed into the next room before he went magically airborne and headed to the fighting noises. Flynn and Sam lied on the ground as Mimesis stood above them as the victor of the clash. Just as he raised one sharp piece of debris to finish them off, Tyler slammed against him and rammed him against the wall, causing the both of them to break through. Debris flew through the air as the Ranger returned from the trap laid out for him. And Tyler was far from pleased.

Years of happiness, harmony and love with his most beloved ones, daughters with all of them… Nothing but a fucking lie, forced upon him only to be ripped apart from him again. And this illusion enraged Tyler beyond any capacity he ever thought possible,
“Do you have any idea what you did to me?” More hitting and punching followed as Tyler’s eyes grew harder and colder. For the first time in his life, he had the certain wish to end an existence for messing up with him and he pummeled Mimesis mercilessly. Healing magic was working in an enormous rate as Tyler’s fists soon were bloody and blue from all the punches.

But after a while, Mimesis blocked the punches and kicked Tyler away, only to deliver a heavy hay-maker, prompting Tyler to sway back. A heavy kick then send Tyler a few meters flying before he slid over the ground. Wiping the green blood from his chin, the humanoid Changeling grinned,
“I created the perfect mind prison you couldn’t escape without sacrificing your heart’s desire…It must have been like tearing out your own heart…” His hand grabbed Tyler's throat and lifted the human up, letting him choke and suffer while he grinned. "Maybe I had to sell my soul to the Darkness Sisters for returning from the brink of death… But if I get another chance to destroy you and your precious little girlfriends, this is a price I’ll gladly accept anytime!”

Hearing this enraged Tyler even further. He would certainly make sure that Mimesis would never ever lay his chitinous fingers on the girls,
“DIE!!!” With this Tyler broke apart two heavy and solid concrete pillars and slammed them right at Mimesis from both sides. The grip suddenly ceased and Tyler gasped for air as he fell down. But as he looked up again, the Changeling again shoved the pillars away. What had the Darkness Sisters done to his body to endure so much pain and injury?

* * * * *

In the darkness, Rachel tried her best to listen for the silent moves of the changeling bug. A sudden noise prompted her to quickly turn to the right, only to look into more darkness,
“Come out, come out... wherever you are...” The adrenalin was pumping through her veins, any second now the attack could come from every side.

When the door to her left suddenly opened, Rachel turned around and pointed her gun, only to raise it again as she identified her target as Lyra. A sight of relief escaped both of them, before Lyra's eyes popped open again,
“LOOK OUT!”

Turning around, Rachel could fire several blasts in wild frenzy just in time to get one hit at the changeling bug. Levitated, the bug chirped and hissed angrily as it floated into the darkness again while Rachel stood up from the ground,
“Fuck! I fired non-lethal spells as well. Was the panic... Watch out for it, Lyra. It will attach to your neck and send you to some sort of dreamland. Jones seemed to escaped it barely and whatever it was he saw there, it pissed him off for good.”

Lyra nodded with a determined look upon her face and charged up her horn,
“I'll do my best. The princesses are on the way down here by the- THERE IT IS!!!” Firing a spell at the Changeling bug, Lyra gritted her teeth while firing more, assisted by Rachel. The insect hurried over the chests and tables before it leaped at Rachel, its fangs and legs stretched out wide. Falling backwards over a chest, Rachel only saw the opening jaws descending upon her, before they suddenly stopped and glowed in a mild mint coloration. Huffing out loudly, Lyra gasped for air. “Gotcha!”

Struggling with its fangs and legs, the chitinous hazard still tried to reach Rachel, causing a scratch on her left cheek. Retaliating with a punch of her own, Rachel prompted the Mindling to stop for a moment before the little beast struggled to get free,
“That little fucker... almost got me. Time to end this!

“No, wait!”

When Rachel looked at her unicorn friend, Lyra began to smirk and shortly looked into the direction the thundering noises of fighting echoed through the HQ. A smirk Rachel repaid with one of her own,
“I like that idea...”

* * * * *

Down below, the two magical titans battled each other with both not giving up an inch. Thundering punches were thrown, each enhanced by magic and deflected by protective magic from the opponent. It was only a contest of endurance where the one losing endurance first being the one losing the fight. But both opponents had massive reserves and wrecked entire halls in their fight. Gritting his teeth, Mimesis bared his fangs,
“You should have stayed in whatever happy illusion my Mindling had granted you!” With that he pummeled Tyler in the same way he was pummeled before and smashed Tyler through the ground, so it gave in under both of them.

Down below, the clouds of dust and smoke obscured the vision, yet Tyler got up fast and got hold of the Changeling from behind,
“HAPPY?!? LIVING A LIE HAPPY??? I WILL NEVER LIVE A LIE!” With that Tyler slammed Mimesis into a wall and his thundering punches hit him mercilessly once again. Finally, when his arms had grown heavy and he couldn't beat the Changeling anymore, he huffed and recollected his breath. “And I could never love a lie...” Yet his oath still lingered in his mind and the three girls he made the promise to were not a lie. He swore to himself that he would see to it that they would become a reality one way or another for they would be his three little girls. Like Appleseed already, Nova and Crescent would come to be.

This, however, made Tyler halt for a few seconds, what was enough time for the Changeling to recover and deliver a heavy kick into the chest, followed by a heavy blow to the jaw, sending Tyler's vision flashing white for a split second.

The attack was hard enough to stun Tyler for good while Mimesis approached him,
“For a moment… I really thought you would kill me… How foolish of you to hesitate…”
Taking Tyler's form, Mimesis grinned as he hovered a large boulder to his side, attempting to smash his opponent with it. “Not a mistake I will make, I can assure you that. As soon as I'm done with you, I will go on a rampage through Equestria.”

It was then when Mimesis heard Lyra's voice from above,
“Excuse me? I think this shit here is yours, bug-brain!” Just as he looked up to her, the unicorn levitated the Mindling down to him with great speed before she let go of it. With wide eyes Mimesis turned around, only to see the opening fangs of his own creation.

* * * * *

Several minutes later the Rangers arrived downstairs and saw the Changeling lying on the ground, the Mindling attached to his face. Like before, the bug was clamped down tightly around the head.

Resting a hand on the wall to support himself, Tyler closed his eyes as a tear escaped them. His voice became merely a whisper now,
“I promise you… I’ll make all of this real one day…”

Kicking the side of the Changeling, Flynn looked to the ground where Mimesis was lying,
“What do you think he’s seeing with this damn bug of his?”

With an unforgiving glare Tyler then looked down at the humanoid Changeling,
“Whatever it is… It’s still too good for him!” With that Tyler levitated a sharp piece of debris to his side and approached Mimesis.

Following him with her eyes, Rachel arched a brow,
“Jones, what are you doing?”

Taking the debris into his hand, Tyler shook his head with a determined face,
“What I should have done in the first place! Making sure that shithead never returns!”

Stepping in front of Tyler, Sam shook his head and raised his hands,
“He's helpless, you can't do that! That's not like you!”

Tyler's glare at Mimesis grew harder before he looked at his fellow Ranger as he shoved him out of the way,
“If I gave you an illusion of a happy family as a prison for your mind, Sam... Something so beautiful that breaking free itself is an ordeal, then you would want to make sure I would never be able to do that to you again as well! This time he won't return to make one of us suffer! Not me, not you, not anybody!”

But just as Tyler rammed down the sharp piece of debris to smash Mimesis' head, something or somepony teleported the Changeling away, leaving only the ground to hit. Realizing that his vengeance was taken from him, Tyler's hands clamped down on the debris until his hands began bleeding. Gritting his teeth in sheer rage, he fell to his knees,
"NO!!!!!"

The realization filled his mind with anger, damning the cause for this misery, whoever revived the Changeling in the first place, damning himself not to kill him as he had the chance. In an outbreak of hatred and rage, he reared up from the ground, his fists clenched together as his roaring voice echoed through the mountain,

”NO!!!!!"

For a moment, his eyes flashed up in a dark blue glow. When his hands went through his hair, they smeared his blood through it,
"Our enemies stab deep into the hearts of those who oppose them. I will kill them... The next time around, there will be no hesitation..."

Looking at him, Rachel slowly shook her head. Worry was in her eyes,
“Jones... Maybe this reaction of yours right now was intended all along...

“Yeah, maybe... Our enemies are assholes.” With that, Tyler lost no further word as he went towards the shower rooms.

While Tyler went down the corridor, Rachel stood up and lowered her voice while Sam and Flynn came to her side,
“I begin to worry about Jones...”

Nodding in agreement, Flynn looked after him as well,
“Yeah, it wouldn't be wrong to have an eye on him...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the flying citadel fortress of Nagohod, Mimesis reappeared on the floor, the Mindling still attached to his face. While the Descendants carried him into yet another tube with blue gel, the two princesses Asira and Lamira glared down to him as they supervised everything. Asira gave a sigh while shaking her head,
“So he failed again... I must say I'm not that surprised.”

Lamira, however, began to smirk in a sly way,
“Oh he didn't fail... Not entirely. Now we know the layout of their military headquarter... And what he did to one of them was most delicate... A trap one can only escape by abandoning paradise... Yes, I like that.”

Giggling a bit, Asira shook her head, causing her dark mane to whirl,
“Lamira, dear sister... You are so malicious.”

This prompted Lamira to laugh heartily,
“Princess of Malice... Yes, I like that! However, this Tyler Jones has willpower beyond anything we know. He escaped this trap all too easy. We will have to find out more about him and why he is so powerful... He who understands a thing can destroy a thing..”

* * * * *

In the evening hours, Tyler sat at Appleseed's cot, caressing her little mane as a gentle smile formed on his lips. By now the diplomatic problems of Equestria were looking better, now with a common enemy and some friendship forming between the two princes of the two realms. It was a concern for another day. Now, Tyler concentrated on his little foal. Only time could tell if she would go the same way he imagined. His lullaby slowly made her sleepy.

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream”

When Applejack trotted into the room, she looked into the cot at their sleeping foal,
“Yer oddly fond of her since yer back from this incident, Sugarcube... What did ya see due to that Changeling trickery?”

Turning his head to her, Tyler's smile didn't wither this time,
“I saw paradise. Most of it was an utter lie. But three things? I've decided that they should be a glimpse into the future. Because after all, it's my decision what of it I want to make real, right?”

Looking at Tyler for a long time, Applejack then took a deep breath and looked at Appleseed,
“Ah'm worried about ya, Sugarcube...” She stated with fear in her voice, nuzzling him a bit. “Promise me that yer not changing to the worse!”

Resting a hand on her cheek, Tyler nodded,
“The others spoke with you already I see... You all don't have to worry... There was good reason to be enraged.”

Looking up to her herd mate, Applejack slightly shook her head,
“Ah worry about ya, Tyler... No one should see paradise to lose it... Even Ah mahself would lose it then. Ah want ya to talk about it with Luna.”

Nodding in agreement, Tyler gave her a smile. Having her back to a young and healthy condition was something this dream couldn't give him,
“Alright... If it means so much to you, I will have a talk with her.” Then, to her surprise, he pulled her in and kissed her with all the love he had for her in these last few years in this illusion. Maybe, so he thought, this deep love within the herd could become true as well, if he would just work hard enough for it. And although it surprised her, Applejack let it happen, partly enjoying it, partly because she knew how he suffered because of this Mindling.

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the time vortex, thousands of years ahead...

Waking up with a gasp, the Doctor's face was sweaty and pale. As soon as he heard the silent humming of the TARDIS, the ambient noise of timepony technology, he closed his eyes with a sigh of relief and shook his head. It was happening again, but why? These were short dreamless periods of slumber, just enough to refill a bit of fatigue, not enough for decent rest. Looking over to a silently sleeping Derpy, he sighed. She was trying her best as his companion and special somepony to ease his concerns, even when ‘getting him distracted’ meant to demand some ‘conjugal duties’ from him. A tired smile grew on his face. Of course she tried, but he would never do this to her. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a mistake. If this continued, she would cause a new little problem on her own.

In the bathroom, he looked into the mirror, into his face, one of the many he already had. 'I’m the Doctor. Have lots of neat gadgets, a great companion to call my own… And occasionally… save a world or two… So why can’t I sleep?' Every time something like this happened, his mind was working to surface something from the memory from one of his earlier regenerations. All he could do about it was to hope that it was meaningful to his current search for answers and would return to him in time.

12 - Blink *

The night was calm and quiet and Tyler stood in front of the easel, putting some paint on it to finish it. Standing now for the finished painting, he glanced upon the motive, his three little girls. Giving it a nod, he rested the brush for a moment and took a step back.
“All men dream... but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.” The world blurred behind him and Luna stepped through a portal. Moving his eyes to her and turning his head, he greeted her with a smile as he took a step behind. “This I did... Sir Francis Drake.”

Stopping behind him, the Princess of the Night replied with a smile of her own,
“Wise words indeed, mine beloved. Although I would say this about ponies... Maybe thou and I shall speak about Sir Francis Drake later... I hope I am not disturbing some deeper contemplation?” She waited for him to shake his head and as he did, she continued. “‘Tis three nights since the incident, Tyler... And I sensed a...” Tipping her chin, she looked for the right word. “...disturbance within you.”

With a nod, he signed his piece of art, knowing all too well that it wouldn't be for display whatsoever.
“As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced... Yes... I blew up a complete planet to get free from this trap. A part of me is happy it was only a dream, the other part...”

Inspecting his art, Luna smiled and looked over to him.
“So I take it thou imagined our daughter in this way?” Leaning against him, she looked at the picture again. “What a fine maiden she is.”

Looking at Crescent, Tyler gulped a bit.
“She... was brisk and daring, always playful and looking for the adventure... I miss them.”

“Do I sense a devotion to make that illusion come true?”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler smirked.
“In a manner... The girls are what I intend to make come true. Appleseed is reality already. At least as a pony. I can only hope and try to make good on the role as a father so she turns out just as good as in the dream.”

While encircling him, Luna brushed her rump and tail against him, the tail gently stroking his chin.
“Thou dost know that I would love the idea of carrying thy child... ‘Tis a dream I strongly support and dream myself. But thou cannot obsess with the idea of forcing us to make the three of them come true. Thou must let go of the dream or it will devour thee.”

Nodding in silence, Tyler looked to the front for a long time. After that, he glanced over to Luna and gave her a simple smile.
“Luna? You couldn't enter that dream, could you?” As she shook her head, he took her cheeks into his grasp and looked deeply into her eyes. “Then enter my mind, my love. I'm offering you three decades of dream.”

Giving him a brief nod, Luna gulped a bit and touched his forehead and a short spark of her horn let her see all the things Tyler experienced while under the influence of the Mindling. The contact was short, but enough for the trained alicorn to grasp all the information she needed to see. Looking at him now in wild marvel, her heart began to beat at a faster pace. Still her cheeks rested in his hands and began burning in the mild midnight air, when his calm voice spoke to her.
“All this was a dream... But a dream I want to make reality. Everything I did to you all in there, all the words I said, all the joys I let you see and feel... Let me say and do them to you once more! They tried to cripple me with this... But I only got something to work for now, something to fight for.”

With a giggle Luna bit her bottom lip.
“What thou didst on our 'wedding night' is forbidden, thou knowest?”

He arched his brows in confusion, yet smiled, a bit unsure.
“Forbidden?”

Giggling even louder now, Luna then licked his cheek.
“By three Equestrian laws... But thou seemed to enjoy the extra tightness.”

Now it struck him and he knew what she meant.
“Oh... Uh... That.”

Nuzzling him, Luna then closed her eyes halfway, a look he could dive into for all time.
“It's alright... If it's thee who is doing it to me, I am fine with it. And since our bond was so strong and deep at that point, there is nothing to pardon.” Looking deep into his eyes, hers began to sparkle in the way only hers could. “There is no pleasure too dark I wouldn't grant to someone whose heart is so devoted to mine. If thou winnest me over like that again, I'd be happy to grant thee this illegal pleasure as well. Transformations are, after all, mine expertise.”

Smiling, he raised her chin in preparation to place another kiss on these soft lips of hers.
“I intend to love you girls even more than the last time...”

* * * * *

On the next day Tyler came out of the library in the morning and stretched himself a bit while Twilight levitated a checklist in front of her.
“Another vacation for the Rangers involved in the Mimesis incident, huh? Well, at least you're back and can take care of things here in Ponyville.” Twilight said this with a smirk on her face and bumped her rump into Tyler. “You do know that there are several herds here in Ponyville missing several members because of the Ranger policy?”

Tyler rubbed his neck.
“It's only for security reasons, sweetie... But I will talk to Celestia... Maybe we can get clearance to get more personnel out once in a while.

It was then when he noticed a jumping ball of leather that bounced along the street without losing momentum. As it passed in front of him, it halted and bounced in place like it recognized him, then circled him once before it wreaked some havoc on Applejack’s apple stand and then bounced away.
“What the hay? Come back here, ya stinkin’ vermin!”

Tyler now noticed a brown stallion who jumped after the ball.
“Derpy! Quick! Don’t let it escape!”

And not a moment later said Pegasus mare came flying by on cue.
“I'm on it, Doctor!”

That was the moment Tyler recognized the two of them. It was earlier this year when he saw the two of them in Canterlot after a meeting with Princess Celestia. Now this was the perfect chance to learn more about those two, especially if they were in pursuit of a strange leather ball.
“Come on, Twilight, honey! We can shop later! Now I sense some trouble here...” And with this he began his own pursuit of the two ponies. Twilight noticed this sudden change of plans, rolled her eyes and followed him as well. 'This better be good...'

Rarity was sitting in a cafe with Sweetie Belle, gently sipping on a cup of tea in her latest dress, when the small ball of leather bounced on their table and smashed the tea set into pieces, splattering cake and tea all over the place before it bounced off again. Shortly after, Derpy and the stallion came after it, behind them Tyler and Twilight.

The white unicorn mare wiped her face clean with a handkerchief in front of her little sister.
“Sweetie Belle? Here are some bits for the waiter. Once you’ve paid, you'll bring this dress home to mother at once. She'll know what to do...”

In a mixture of confusion and fear of the boiling rage behind her big sister’s manners, Sweetie looked up.
“And what are you going to do?”

But at this point all the little filly was able to see was the dress her sister was wearing seconds ago slowly floating towards her while Rarity dashed after the little mob.
“I'LL DESTROY IT!!!”

Once the leather ball passed Pinkie Pie, Rachel, Sam and Lyra, it shortly bounced in front of them and seemed to inspect them, before it moved on, the others still in pursuit, not minding the trio much.
“Hey! No one invited us!” Once Pinkie stated that, she began to gallop after them as well. Sam and Lyra nodded at each other with a grin and followed them also. Something was going on here. Shaking her head, Rachel followed as well. 'What now, Jones?'

As they passed Rainbow and Flynn, the mare nudged Flynn in the ribs and pointed after their running friends.
“Awesome! A race! Come on, Flynn! We partake!” On the way down to the marketplace they met Fluttershy, who was simply dragged along by the two. Meanwhile in Fluttershy's cottage, Grinko's ear twitched.

Finally, at the edge of Ponyville, the ball of leather bounced right inside a blue box, almost the size of a phone booth, that stood at the side of a building. Running inside, the little mob of pursuers quickly came to a halt, due to the fact that the ball bounced right into Tyler's face and caused him to reel back, prompting everyone else to crash with him into a pile of ponies and humans. Slightly dizzy, the ball came to a halt and uncurled into a little animal, similar to some sort of armadillo. But it definitely was no armadillo Tyler had ever seen. While the pile of comrades was on top of him, the little animal was lifted by a brown hoof.
“There we have it... An Umopalasi! Luckily it's in its infant state; a full grown Umopalasi might have attacked somepony. But how did this get onto the planet?” Turning a switch on the command console, the Doctor then gave the Umopalasi a brief tickle on the belly and smiled gently. “Who brought you here, eh? Little predator?” Giving a squeaky little grunt, the critter muttered its reply. “No! Really? I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. I'm bringing you back home, OK?”

Crawling from below the pile of friends, Tyler then stood himself up.
“Speaking about planets... Are you still on Equis or already on Mars? Are you serious that this is an alien creature? But let's start at the beginning: Who are you?”

It was then when the stallion looked up to the shrugging Derpy before turning around.
“What? What are you doing in here? How did you get in?”

Pointing his thumb to the door, Tyler shook his head.
“Saw you running through the streets and followed you. You ran into this box, I followed. And I guess the others simply followed me.” Now the others gradually climbed off from one another and scrambled a bit further into the room.

Now leaning to the side, the stallion arched both his brows as he saw the little group of ponies and humans. Frowning a bit, he then leaned over to Derpy.
“For future travel, please remind me to lock the door behind us.” Derpy gave this a brief nod.

Now circling around the humans, he arched one brow and inspected them a little closer.
“Curious... Normally ponies and humans wonder a bit more about the TARDIS upon first arrival... Especially humans.”

Following him with her eyes, Rachel arched her brows herself.
“So? What's so special about it? It's bigger on the inside. No big deal...”

Sam nodded.
“Yeah, we've seen that before. This here is a simple Bag of Holding. Nothing new...”

Blinking twice, the stallion grumbled a bit before he caressed the command console of the TARDIS.
“Bag of Holding... Pft! Don't you listen to them...”

With a shy smile, Derpy then waved over to Tyler.
“Hi, Mister Jones!”

A little confused, Tyler shook his head once.
“Derpy? What are you doing here with this stallion in this blue box? No, scratch that question... I shouldn't ask.”

While Derpy blushed a bit, the stallion arched a brow.
“Not what you might think, young man...” Looking at the creature in his hooves, he stowed it away in a small container. “We caught this little feller here because he would grow ten times larger and Umopalasi are one of the very few species that are immune to magic. Imagine a predator like that on a rampage.”

Flynn then leaned down to Rainbow Dash.
“I thought she was only the clumsy yet lovable mailmare of Ponyville...”

Rainbow simply shrugged.
“She seems to trust this stallion... And I trust Derpy. She would never be with someone who's up to something. She's a good filly.”

Looking over to the stallion handling some controls on the terminal, Flynn frowned a bit.
“Yeah, but can we trust this guy?”

“Of course you can!” Derpy now stated in a slightly angered voice as she overheard the others talk. “He has saved Equestria so many times and you never even knew he was there. He never stops, he never stays, he never asks to be thanked. I would trust him with my life!” The blonde Pegasus said this while raising her chin and smiling. The others noticed she took personal pride in siding with this stallion.

Arching a brow, Sam looked at Derpy.
“Mh-hm... Yet the question remains: Where is he going with that thing there?”

“The Doctor? In the TARDIS?” Her eyes became dreamy for a moment. “Next stop everywhere!” Shaking her head, Derpy now blushed deeply. “Oh, I must look silly. But if somepony takes you to a planet mostly consisting out of diamonds, you really start to dream a bit.

“Planet mostly consisting of DIAMONDS?!?” Rarity screeched in a mixture of excitement and surprise. Looking around at the others who arched their brows when she got everyone’s attention, she chuckled a bit. “Ahehe.... Erm, Derpy? Darling, you and I should have a little talk about the stallions you spend your time with... Maybe his pets are little ruffians, but his taste in travel locations...”

This caused Tyler to laugh heartily.
“Come on, Rarity... Are you seriously buying that? I mean come on, girls... Magic, alicorns, unicorns, pegasi... I grew accustomed to all that. But now you want to tell me that we're inside a little blue box able to fly around in space? Yeah... Not in a billion years! As far as I know, the question still remains.” Pointing a finger at the stallion, Tyler now frowned. “Who is this guy? As long as I don't get my answer to that, I'm not leaving this box here...”

Just as he leaned at the console, a switch turned over and the TARDIS began to spin around, leaving the time vortex she was currently in. Inside, the friends stumbled over each other once more and only Twilight and the Pegasi were able to remain in mid-air.

Climbing over the others, the stallion now made haste to the position Tyler was leaning against and pulled the switch back again, causing the TARDIS to stabilize.
“You've stopped her travel... Good thing nothing too serious happened...” Now looking slightly angered at Tyler, the stallion frowned a bit. “Hands off my TARDIS command console, young man! Where is a broom when you need one? Now shoo! Back off this terminal before you steer her into a supernova! Or make her the supernova!”

Looking on a screen, the stallion shortly arched his brows before he frowned.
“That's odd... It's the star system of Paretoka, a solar system with one planet and one moon. The Library of Paretoka should be filled to the brim with space travel... But the TARDIS doesn't monitor any ships in space, only a massive field of debris surrounding the star like a space station was destroyed or something.”

Cocking her head, Derpy looked over to him.
“A space station?”

Nodding, the stallion smirked,
“Exactly, Derpy! The system of Paretoka never had a space station. This asks for further scans!”

But as he passed Tyler on his way to another part of the console, Tyler tracked him with his eyes and pointed a finger at him.
“Now hold it right there, buster! I still don't know who you are and I demand an answer to the question I'm now asking you for the third time: Who are you? And while we're at it: Who put you in charge and with what justification?”

Turning to Tyler, the stallion then came back and looked him straight in the eye.
“I'm the Doctor, I'm a time pony. I'm from the planet Gallopfrey in the constellation of Kasterborous, I'm 9 hundred and 3 years old, and I'm the stallion who's going to find out what happened to all 3 million ponies on the planet below.” Leaning forward, the Doctor then smirked . “You got a problem with that?” Slightly baffled, Tyler simply shook his head, causing the Doctor to smile and turn towards the control terminal of the TARDIS. “In that case... Allons-y!”

Cocking his head, Tyler looked at the Doctor in mild confusion.
“Did he just... tell me he's 903 years old?” The others fought against the urge to burst into laughter. It didn't happen often that someone could baffle Tyler that easily. Coming to his side, Sam patted his shoulder, which caused Tyler to shrug off the hand. “Whatever... We've wasted enough time with this stuff here. Time to get outside to Ponyville again.” But upon opening the front door, Tyler halted completely. This wasn't Ponyville, this was a field of stars. From the right, a planet of brown and yellow coloration moved with a pale yellow moon; obviously the box was floating and turning around. Falling backwards, Tyler crouched away from the door, his eyes wide. “We are- we are- we are-”

Coming to his side, Derpy hovered in mid-air and looked outside as well.
“We are in space, yes.”

Looking at her with wide eyes, he shook his head once, his voice whispering in panic. How could she be so calm about this?
“Then why aren't we getting sucked out?”

From behind, the Doctor's voice sounded off.
“It's the TARDIS’s force field. It prevents you from getting sucked out. Close the door, you're letting the cold in!”

Approaching the door in disbelief, the others looked out, some of them shaking their heads in confusion. Rachel was the first of them to regain her speech.
“This... this is... A completely different planet!”

“It is.” Derpy said as if it was a completely normal thing, before she kicked the door shut with a gentle move of her hoof and trotted back to the side of the Doctor. While she did that she was humming a happy tune and the others followed her with their eyes before looking at each other. That little clumsy mare was more than met the eye.

Once the surprise was digested, Applejack was the first to eye the Doctor for a moment. Correcting her Stetson, she inspected the stallion from mane to hoof.
“A time pony, huh? So, what's the big deal with time ponies? Ya look like an earth pony.”

The Doctor on the other hand eyed Applejack briefly, before he gave her a smile.
“You look like a time pony.”

Rachel chuckled and leaned forward.
“She means what traits do you have that other kinds of ponies don't have?”

Giving a shrug, the Doctor looked up to Derpy.
“Well, the main things would be the regeneration and two hearts.”

Shaking his head in disbelief when he heard it, Sam smirked.
“Two hearts? Really? That I would like to put to the test.” Rolling his eyes, the Doctor nodded and Sam knelt down to the stallion's chest, listening for the heartbeat. And just as the Doctor had stated before, there were definitely more heartbeats to hear than normally. Four loud beatings instead the usual two echoed to Sam's ear. Looking up to the others, he then nodded. “I'll be damned... It's true, he has two hearts!”

Folding his arms now, Flynn nodded. If one part was true, there was little reason to believe the other one was false.
“And what is the deal with this regeneration thing? Is it like my cell regeneration?”

Raising a short, whirring instrument looking like a pen, the Doctor took a reading of Flynn, before he looked at the data by moving his teeth a bit so the glowing end of the instrument pointed upward.
“No, your regeneration ability is permanently active, mine is only active in near-death situations. My body then repairs itself, and it changes. New body, new personality.”

Rachel gave this a smirk.
“Making assassination attempts harder should the first try be sloppy, eh? That should come in handy, no doubt.”

Tyler looked at the Doctor for a while. This was another big thing for him and the others. 'Shadow ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi and alicorns... Sure, why not a time travelling time pony race as well?' As he digested the revelation, he sat down at the side of Derpy and eyed her for a bit.
“You look excited, Derpy. Is traveling like this fun?”

“Most of the time it is interesting. I'm privileged to see things normal ponies don't ever see in their entire lifetime on a weekly basis,” she answered.

Looking back at the Doctor, and the others who were asking a lot of questions, Tyler nodded.
“I want to ask you something… How did you meet the Doctor?”

Chuckling a bit nervously, Derpy looked to the side.

“Oh that... Um... That was in my own time-frame. You see, I'm not from the current Equestria you now live in, I'm actually from a point in time that was in the past. But I like the new Equestria. It's bigger and brighter and all the muffins they have there...” Taking a deep breath in, Derpy closed her eyes and smiled. Tyler could see she was imagining herself in a bakery or something like that.

After a moment, she continued.
“You see I come from the time shortly after the end of the Discordian age. We were very poor back then, and had to rebuild the country. Each day we ate simple grass. Grass fries, grass salad, grass soup... Even grass souffles... Buärch! There was nothing so delicious like muffins. Yes, we really were struggling back then, even when the two regal sisters led us through those hard times. That was when I discovered 'them'.”

“Them?”

“The gray gentlecolts…”

“Gray gentlecolts...” Tyler repeated for himself, “That doesn’t sound like much… Who are they? Or who were they, if they're gone now...”

“They are parasites. They convinced the Equestria of my time that everypony needed to save time… to hurry to make the most out of it. But they betrayed everypony for their precious time. For if you struggle to save time, time hastes away from you to them…” With a bit of sorrow in her eyes, Derpy looked down as she remembered the threat she once faced all on her own...

* * * * *

It was night and the blonde mare galloped along a field path, huffing heavily until a sudden flash of light caused her to stop. More and more lights began shining from several lamps right at her in a blinding brightness, surrounding her in the field, until several formal voices spoke.

“You are alone, Miss Hooves…”

“What can you, a mere Pegasus mare, hope to do against us?”

“You could never hope to defeat us!”

“You are a failure!”

“An outcast!”

Holding her ears shut as best as she could, Derpy tried to ignore the insults, not noticing the tears running down her cheeks. She already tried to warn the others, yet nopony believed her. Everypony only believed that she was a crazy mare claiming that beings from beyond the stars are in Equestria to steal from the nation. It was then when she overheard another voice making an offer.
“If you help us find one particular stallion, we might let go of your world... You and the others could return to your old life.”

Stomping her hoof on the ground, Derpy now gritted her teeth.
“Even if... Even if I knew how to find the one you're looking for, I wouldn't help you!”

There was a moment of silence, before the gray stallions approached Derpy from all sides.
“Is that so? In that case you leave us no choice...” Her scream echoed through the night before it was suddenly silenced.

* * * * *

Raising her head, Derpy then looked at Tyler with underped eyes, her right eye slowly beginning to emit a slight glow.
"They did this to me in order to find the Doctor… Ever since then, I can see temporal anomalies… My left eye is my good eye, but my right eye always looks at things that are heavily amiss in the continuum of time and space. I saw that your arrival in Equestria altered the timeline. I can’t say if this is a bad or good thing, but I know you mean well. You are a nice guy and you always were polite to me.”

With a smile, Tyler shook his head.
“Why of course, Derpy. You're a nice pony.”

Shaking her own head, Derpy smiled.
“That's not what I meant... You know, because of my eyes. Ponies often treat me like a dumb idiot, a moron who doesn't know better. But not you... And not the Doctor.”

Tyler's smile withered now. He could imagine how hard the clumsy mare's life would be due to how others treated her. Personally he’d never had the experience of being in a situation like this, nature fortunately spared him that. Treating others badly because of their biological disadvantages, however, was wrong and he would speak out for anyone being attacked in such a way. Even if such an individual would otherwise be a total jerk. There were things civilized beings shouldn't make fun of.

Before he could ask another question, the TARDIS gave out a sudden loud noise and all eyes turned to the Doctor.
“Down safe and sound. Alright, everyone! Out we go! Paretoka is waiting...”

But when they stepped outside, a wasteland of ruins and deserted cities lied in front of them. A dark cloudy sky made the gray skyline even more grim. The TARDIS itself was standing on a platform that was once surrounded by walls, yet these walls were heavily damaged and broken, giving sight to the ruined outside landscape. Rachel shook her head while grimacing at the scene, when thunder cracked in the distance.
“Doctor pony, I think this planet has waited far too long for something... Looks like a bomb had impacted here or something.

Sam looked down to his feet as he took a careful step onto the alien planet. The ground was almost completely layered with ash, even when no ash was falling from the sky.
“We definitely aren't in Kansas anymore... or Equestria.”

“Alright... Doctor, we need to get back to the Equestria we came from. I don't like being absent from it one bit!” Tyler demanded as he came to the side of the stallion.

Giving Tyler a sly smile, Rachel patted his shoulder.

“Relax, Jones... We all know you are worried. Who wouldn't be at this sight? But if I get this right, this is a full-fledged time machine and spacecraft in one. So there is literally no hurry. We have all the time in the universe to go back.”

Tyler nodded, yet reluctantly so. It was true, having a time machine meant that they could search for a year and the time they would have been absent would only be five minutes. But still a certain feeling befell him, causing the hairs on his neck to stand up. Something compelled him to urge for a return.
“Still... I don't like this place.”

Giving a grin, Rachel looked over to him.
“Why not? I mean is it the fact that all this here seems to be one giant ruin or ancient battlefield, or the fact that we are millions, maybe even billions of years ahead of our time?”

Glancing around, Tyler then looked to the others.
“I don't know... It's like... I shouldn't be here. Like I could learn something I shouldn't learn...”

Coming to their side, the Doctor looked around a bit before holding up a short whirring tool, seemingly scanning the area. The routine manner in which he did that didn't find much sympathy with Tyler. Somehow he got the idea that this would be a common thing if one would stick around with this particular stallion,
“It's chronophobia. Pretty rare thing among time travelers... The fear of time or in the case of time travel the fear of altering something to an irreversible state. For now this might be a good thing. One less careless human I have to worry about. And the year? From what the TARDIS display showed, we are in the year 1.075.370.574 from your point in time.”

Looking into the cloudy night sky, Flynn shook his head.
“Swell... Over a billion years ahead of our time.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose in a mixture of repulsion and sorrow.
“Yeah... And the future sure doesn't look good for this library planet...” Her eyes then wandered over to Tyler. “Not in a billion years... Eh, Jones?” Tyler only shook his head and shrugged.

Bumping her rear against Flynn, Rainbow grinned.
“You sure take me to the nicest places, big boy...” This prompted several of them to grin despite the grim surroundings.

Giving the Doctor a glare, Tyler's expression darkened.
“Like I intended to go into the future. Alright, Doctor...” Coming to his side, Tyler looked upon the ruins of what what once was an impressive skyline of a city. “What do you think happened to this place? The Darkness Sisters?”

Shaking his head, the Doctor looked around.
“No... This was something different. If we're dealing with something magical, this place wouldn't be so destroyed. No, this was technology at its finest.”

Twilight looked around and shook her head, failing to understand.
“You mean a war took place here? But if this is a library planet... Who would ever attack a library? This is awful!”

Taking more 'scans', the Doctor seemed to find more and more orientation, since he headed in a specific direction.
“Someone who wants knowledge. But not just any knowledge... Knowledge so forbidden that some creatures in the universe would kill for it.”

Looking at the Doctor, Sam leaned against a massive rock.
“Knowledge you say... But if it is forbidden knowledge, why should it be in a mere library? Shouldn't it be... Heck, I don't know, guarded by an army or something?”

“Precisely! The three big questions are: Who came here and attacked? When did it happen? And what were they looking for?”

Now Sam leaned forward and tapped the Doctor on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, but what the heck are you doing there all the time? Is that some sort of scanner?”

Looking at the short instrument he held skillfully in between his teeth even while speaking, the Doctor shifted it aside every time he spoke while holding it. It reminded Sam of someone speaking with a cigar clenched between their teeth.
“Don't be ridiculous! That's not a scanner, it's a screwdriver.”

This left Sam stumped.
“A... a screwdriver?”

“Yes, it's sonic. And don't give me that 'why are you holding it like that' thing. Unlike you, I have no hands to hold it otherwise.”

“A sonic... screwdriver... OK, what can it do?”

“A better question would be: What can't it do? But hush now, I need to do some more readings... Maybe inside the library I can get a few more better readings to determine what weapons were fired...”

While Sam muttered a simple “I sure could use one of those,” to Lyra, Flynn gave the Doctor a doubting look while speaking to the others.
“How is he going to do that? I don't see any weapons lying around here or any remains of the battlefield like armor or military equipment.”

Raising a finger, Rachel gave a smile and closed her eyes.
“Depending on how good that thing is he's holding there, I think it's some sort of molecule scanning device... thing, and he's using it to scan these blasts to determine which weapon was fired due to the residue. Like powder residue from a pistol, you know?”

Turning around, the Doctor gave her a smile and nodded slowly.
“Clever girl...”

When the others looked slightly surprised at her, Rachel simply shrugged.
“What? You think the Marine Corps consists of idiots knowing only how to fire a weapon?”

Coming to the Doctor’s side, his assistant showed great concern about the surroundings.
“Doctor? I don't like this... Remember the last time we were in a library?”

Looking around, the Doctor gave his assistant a brief nod.
“I can ease your concerns, Derpy. I have checked the planet from orbit for Vashta Nerada activity with the TARDIS sensors, no data whatsoever. Relax... For once, we might have a nice trip.” Both the time pony and the gray mare looked at each other in a very sober way until the Doctor sighed. “Alright, I don't think this will be a good one either. Be careful and don't wander off too much.”

Looking around, Twilight grinned widely, much to the notice of the others. The librarian and alicorn shook her head in awe while flying through the halls of a complete library planet.
“Imagine... All of these books will be written some day by ponies, griffins or humans of some sort. It's so tempting to read some of them...”

Tyler looked over to Twilight and shook his head.
“If you can read them that is... These are books in a library of an alien planet.”

“That shouldn't be the main problem...” The Doctor flatly stated, catching everyone's attention. “The TARDIS has a universal translator that will translate everything for you. But I doubt you will have the proper understanding of poetry one billion years ahead of your time. It might sound like gibberish to you. And nonfiction books? For one, the technological understanding will be out of reach for you and I strongly recommend that you don't take anything with you... Otherwise I'll have to leave you at the nearest populated point in time and space we find to preserve your history. Also, there is a third reason why you probably can't read these books here anyway...

“What is that?” Twilight halted in motion as she turned to the Doctor, her hoof gently stretching out to one of the books. When she touched it, the book collapsed into a mess of dust and old paper. Looking down at the little dust cloud she caused, she said the next word synchronously with the Doctor. “Age...”

Sighing, the Doctor nodded.
“Yes, the readings showed that there was weapon fire about 5000 years ago, making it harder to analyze. I am sorry, but all books here are not in a reading condition.”

“I think we should split up. That way we can cover more ground. What do you say, Doctor? A little companion-swap?” Tyler now proposed to the Doctor and the others.

Looking briefly at Derpy, the Doctor then smirked.
“I would prefer Derpy as an assistant, but let us see what an alicorn princess can do...” This statement earned him an arched brow from Twilight.

Rainbow then nodded and pointed her hoof at several ponies and humans.
“Alright, then let's do this: Flynn and I make a team, Derpy and Tyler make the second team, Sam, Pinkie and Lyra make another. Twilight, Applejack and the Doc make a team as well, and Rachel, Fluttershy and Rarity make the last one.”

Giving a smirk to Sam, Lyra then nodded up to Rainbow.
“Sounds like a decent plan to me. We should meet here again in what? Half an hour?”

“Yes, that sounds good,” Rachel agreed. “This should give us opportunity to scout the area while at the same time lessening the chance of us getting lost by wandering too far.”

Coming out of the TARDIS once more, the Doctor brought some devices with him.
“Before we go, here are some flashlights and some communicators for each team.”

Shaking his head, Sam arched his brows at the sight of the communicators.
“Those are telephone earphones...”

Giving a look to each of them, the Doctor smirked.
“No flies on the human... You just speak into those, remember that the bigger end is the end you speak into.”

Shooting Tyler a short glimpse and arched brow, Twilight nodded to him. Obviously he had some more questions about this Doctor, and Derpy was his best way to get some answers without confronting the stallion himself. On the other hand, she and AJ could probably expect some questions themselves.
“Be careful, Tyler...”

Coming to her side, Applejack corrected her Stetson.
“Yeah... Ya sure watch it in here. We’ll keep an eye out ourselves. This place is givin' me the Heebie-jeebies.”

While the three herd mates gave each other concerned glances, the Doctor opened a doorway for Applejack and Twilight.
“Alright then, your majesty? Right this way!” And with this the groups went off in different directions.

* * * * *

Ten minutes later the trio of Rarity, Rachel and Fluttershy scouted the area. That is, Rachel scouted, Fluttershy most of the time hid behind her and Rarity wrinkled her nose with closed eyes.
“I was expecting a planet consisting of diamonds and what do I get? Ashes, dust and dirt. This Doctor sure isn't a gentlecolt!”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel smiled and nudged Fluttershy, winking at her.
“That's true, Rarity, but think of what you could learn from this. Futuristic designs!”

Gasping for a bit, Rarity's new found enthusiasm quickly withered again.
“No... Although you are right, knowing what will be chic in a billion years won't do me any favors.”

Just when Rachel wanted to go with a second attempt, a gentle nudge from Fluttershy halted her. The timid Pegasus shook her head, pointing out to let go of the topic. Giving a smile, Rachel nodded and looked up, before she saw it. It caused her smile to wither away in an instant. In front of her was a sentence, carved into the stone wall.

'Beware of them!'

A yelp later, Fluttershy hid behind Rachel and looked around.
“Beware of who?”

Taking the communicator, Rachel looked at the words again.
“Uh... folks? Do you see these messages on the walls as well?”

Standing in front of a 'Don't turn around!', Sam nodded and looked at Pinkie and Lyra while speaking into the communicator.
“Yeah, weird stuff. Looks like someone left some messages. Doctor, is this a quarantined planet?”

Flynn now joined in over the communicator.
“This is weird alright. This one here says 'Blinking equals Death!' What's that supposed to mean?”

Within the blink of an eye, the Doctor froze and closed his eyes.
“No... For the sake of the universe, no!” Turning around, the Doctor looked at Twilight and Applejack while raising the communicator; his eyes showed great concern now. “If you see a statue, don't take your eyes off of it!” The order made the two mares wonder a bit, but the serious and concerned tone of his voice made them believe that a threat could be nearby.

Flynn and Rainbow frowned at this command as they heard it in the communicator.
“Statues?” Flynn asked before they turned around a corner, seeing one of them. “Yeah... Doc? We got one here. Kind of a sad picture. A Pegasus crying. Or at least I suppose so. Holding its hooves in front of the face. Maybe the artist had problems with faces...”

The Doctor's face now grew very grim.
“Now listen closely: What you have in front of you is nothing like an ordinary statue. It's a Weeping Pegasus! It's only a statue if you look at it. If you don't look at it, it's fast, really, really fast! Think of it as the most lethal predator that can not be seen. And this I mean literally. They are quantum-locked. As soon as any living creature looks at them or a part of them, they turn into a statue. The lonely assassins they are called. That's why they cover their eyes with their hooves or wings. They are not weeping, they try to avoid looking at each other.”

Taking the communicator to her ear, Rachel looked around and joined the conversation again.
“Each other? Do you mean there is more than one of them?”

Nodding, the Doctor eyed the doors of the room for possible signs of Weeping Pegasi.
“Possibly, yes. I'm sure of it. Otherwise this one wouldn't cover its eyes. Derpy and I met them before, troublesome stuff. Whatever you do… Don't blink! Don't turn away, don't look away and DON'T blink!”

Both staring at the Weeping Pegasi, Flynn and Rainbow slowly backed away. Looking over to Flynn, Rainbow arched a brow.
“Do you think we should take him seriously on this?”

Flynn answered by grimacing a bit.
“The real question, Rainbow, is: Can we afford not to take him seriously? I mean who would come up with a story as unbelievable as this? Living statues, I wouldn't think of-” Unconsciously, Flynn blinked once, causing the statue in front of them to move incredibly fast and almost reach them, startling both of them into jumping back at the sight of its fangs. “Holy shit!”

Rainbow gulped deeply, looked at the statue and raised the communicator while Flynn kept staring.
“Uh.... folks? The Doc's not joking. We, uh... we need to get out of here! And fast!”

“Everyone back to the TARDIS at once!” Rachel barked into the communication device before the friends made haste to their meeting point.

Running along the hallways, Tyler once in a while looked over to Derpy, who was flying right next to him.
“Is it always like this? You step out of that TARDIS and sooner or later stuff is going to happen?”

Giving a smile, Derpy stretched out her tongue.
“Well, what can I say? The monsters and the Doctor. You can't have one without the other! But I wouldn't have it any other way...”

While running, Tyler took the communicator and spoke into it.
“Doctor, what are these Weeping Pegasi after anyway? They're not here for a little snack, are they? I mean, this planet is dead already. Or were they the cause of this?”

“No, they are not after individual lifeforms, at least they don't target individuals like that. And these creatures don't use weapons. They are after the TARDIS. They didn't wait for it though. My take is that whatever happened on this planet, these Pegasi feasted on the remains, on the last survivors. Now that the TARDIS is here, they are after it. They go for the strongest energy source they can sense. Inside the TARDIS is an endless supply of time energy, they could feed from it forever, but the damage they could cause with this could switch off a sun. They must never get inside of it.” Looking over to the TARDIS, the time pony sighed a bit in relief. It was good that three of them already were at the TARDIS and could move it away, should it be necessary.

Tyler's running came to a sudden halt when he and Derpy came across a door that was highly unlike the rest of the library planet. It was clean and the wood was unharmed by age or fire. When Derpy recognized his stopping movement, she came back and looked at the door.
“Why is this door so much more preserved?” she asked. Smiling at the Pegasus beside him, Tyler raised his hand to the doorknob, before Derpy's hoof intervened. “Better not, some doors are not meant to be opened again. We should return to the others.”

Nodding, Tyler looked up at her.
“Yet we should see why this is the only place preserved. Maybe the only one on the entire planet. Also, we should see if we can find a way to the others through here.” And with this he opened the door.

This part of the library seemed far more preserved than the rest of it. A large rotunda with a light coming from the ceiling that shined down. The construction wasn't as nearly as demolished as everywhere else and the books were in way better condition. Was it technology of some sort? Tyler heard a mild humming nearby, maybe a generator was running even now. Maybe some sort of magic by the inhabitants? As Tyler entered, he saw the figures in the dark that revealed themselves as human or humanoid busts, strangely looking alive. Resting on pillars they encircled one single pillar, on which a scroll was placed and which was the only thing in the light of this place. The funny idea of some ancient secret occurred to him and he chuckled as he came closer. Looking around, Derpy followed Tyler closely, always aware of looking for a Pegasus statue.

Tyler then stood in front of the scroll and unrolled it. Was it an ancient recipe? A diary of someone perhaps? Maybe a powerful spell someone developed... But as he unrolled the scroll, only one sentence was written in the scroll and Tyler leaned in to read it out loud.
“Malice will fall once Willpower awakens.”

There was a white flash and a sudden darkness and Tyler found himself on the ground, gaining consciousness again. 'What the living fuck happened?’ It felt like he was knocked out for some time and the busts on the pillars all were burned now as if electrocuted beyond recognition. The smell of smoke and burned flesh hung in the air, causing him to wrinkle his nose. What happened? And whatever happened, how long was he out? As he got up to his knees, he recognized Derpy at his side. Shaking her shoulder, he looked around before he saw it. Another Weeping Pegasus was standing in the hallway right out of the open door in front of him, its back turned to the two of them. Taking a gulp, Tyler's shaking of Derpy's shoulder now intensified, his eyes fixed on the statue.
“Derpy! For crying out loud, wake up!”

Mumbling a bit, the gray mare then blinked a bit and woke up slowly.
“Breakfast already? Oh good! I'll take a muffin!”

Looking briefly at her, Tyler shook his head.
“No, God damn it! We are in-” When he looked at the door once again, the Pegasus already turned around, facing both of them. The adrenaline began pumping in him now. “Derpy! Get the fuck up, we are in serious trouble!”

Hearing the distress in his voice, the mare's inner alarm bells began to ring. Looking up, Derpy now recognized the Weeping Pegasus. Within seconds she was in the air again.
“Sweet Celestia!”

Slowly backing away, Tyler kept his eyes fixed on the statue in front of him.
“Derpy! While I keep track of this one here... Look for an exit, we need an exit!”

While the gray mare flew around in the room, looking for another exit, Tyler stared at the doorway, where the statue stared back at him. Cold sweat ran down his forehead as he fought the urge to blink. First it was just looking at the Pegasus, then the looking turned into a concentrated stare, yet after a few seconds, it turned into a chore of concentration. Finally, he couldn't do it any longer and blinked, causing the statue to move closer to him by two meters. Already he saw two more Weeping Pegasi at the door, making three of them.

Above him, he could hear Derpy flap her wings as she came to his side,
“There's only one door leading into another room behind us with many holes in the walls and some... Well, I think plant-life. Mushrooms or something.”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler kept looking at the Pegasi.
“Great... From one big room trapped in a little hole like rats. This is just great.” While he slowly backed away with her, he patted her back. “OK, here's what we'll do from now on. If we have to blink, we'll tap each other twice so the other one knows that they have to take a turn. So we can-” it was then when Tyler recognized it: Right after he blinked the last time, one of the Weeping Pegasi had pointed its hoof at the wall. “What? Why is he pointing there?”

Derpy's breath became more frequent.
“They have located the generator behind the wall!”

There was a loud banging in the distance and Tyler slowly shook his head as the light began to flicker.
“No... Fuck no!”

More and more the light began to flicker and Tyler had to shine at the statues with his flashlight in order to keep sight of them. Backing away into the other room, they were now trapped when suddenly something crawled up Tyler's leg and prompted him to look down.
“What the serious hell?” Distracted for a second, he quickly turned his head up again, only to find four pegasi statues in front of him spread out and their fangs bared wide enough to barely be fully in the cone of light. With the back against the wall, he tried to shine at them, but inching closer with every second, they were only meters away from him and Derpy...

Before they simply stopped moving.

Tyler's breath halted for a moment as he tried to grasp the situation. He was blinking in wonder, yet still none of them moved. Some of them were out of the cone of light and still refused to move.
“What's happening? Why aren't they moving anymore?” Coming a bit closer, he observed the statue aliens in front of him a bit more. “Why aren't you...” It was then when he recognized some mild lights on the floor to his sides, crouching barely over it. Looking down he recognized that the Weeping Pegasi stepped into the path of some glowing ants which now crawled all over them in the hundreds. 'Fluorescent ants... That's what crawled up my leg. And the flashlight made them visible and illuminates the statues for them to see these pegasi monsters.' Shaking his head, he grinned directly into the face of the monster in front of him. “Well I'll be damned! Big lonely assassins getting stopped by a thousand tiny eyes, huh? Have fun getting rid of them! Derpy? Come on, let's go.”

Derpy first looked back at the Weeping Pegasi behind them, wondered if these creatures now pleaded for help as they would not move for a very long time. But disregarding this, she placed a muffin on the head of each statue and stretched out her tongue before she galloped after Tyler. It was a minor price to pay for some safety and those ants deserved a treat for saving them.

Meanwhile Lyra, Sam and Pinkie hurried down a hallway as they spotted the Pegasi.
“Watch out!” Lyra screamed in rising terror, before she crawled backwards to the others, her eyes wide open. The stone Pegasi, already showing fangs, gazed at them like prey.

Coming to her side, Sam went in front of the girls as they slowly backed away.
“Pinkie? I know you're prepared for almost every ridiculous situation... Do you have a grenade launcher at hand right now?”

Giggling wildly, the pink mare only made grimaces at the Pegasi.
“No, silly! I don't need explosives for my parties to start with a bang.”

Rolling her eyes, Lyra looked over to her.
“Glad you find the time to joke in a situation like this...”

“You're welcome!”

Still staring at the statue in front of him, Sam sighed.
“Alright, I can't stare at these assholes forever, sooner or later I'm going to blink. Now let me rephrase the question: I need a weapon right now. Have you-” It then occurred to him. “Do you have a spray can with you?”

“A spray can? Oh! I have one with me just in case of spray can emergency! Don't want your party in the wrong colors!” With that the pink mare pulled one out of her puffy mane and gave it to Sam.

Looking quite baffled at Sam, Lyra overlooked Pinkie's randomness for now since Sam outdid her this time.
“A spray can? That's a weapon on Earth?” Then she helped Sam with looking at the statue.

Grinning a bit at the obvious lie, Sam raised the can and sprayed the statue in the face.
“Yeah, um... We use them to fight walls!”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Lyra now frowned.
“You have to have pretty dangerous walls on Earth!”

Spraying all over the statues eyes, Sam covered them with pink paint.
“We may be unable to kill them, but if they can't see us due to the paint, they can't pursue us that easily, right?”

Grinning nervously, Lyra shook her head.
“Hay, as if I know! It could also make them especially mad.” Once finished, they slowly backed away, before they made haste down the hallway, always remembering to keep one pair of eyes in the direction they came from.

* * * * *

A few minutes later, all friends were back at the TARDIS and the Doctor. All but Tyler and Derpy. Slamming the door shut behind them, Rachel braced against it before Twilight and Rarity barricaded it with magic and some shelves they levitated over to her. Not long after that there was a bang against the doors and Rachel gritted her teeth.
“I wish I would have my guns with me now. Or at least Sam's stuff.” As soon as she had said that, several attacks were made on the door. Obviously the Pegasi were kicking at the door from the other side.

Locking down the TARDIS, the Doctor was standing with his back to the others.
“From my personal experience, weapons make more problems than they solve...” He then gave her an inspecting look from head to toes. “Very human...”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Derpy and I had traveled for half a year in search for some answers to the Darkness Sisters after we ran into some... major problems. Ever since then we looked out for the cause of it and each time we stumbled upon you humans... No offense to you, but your race has this urge to solve problems with guns... That's sad! You can do so much better!”

While still bracing herself against the barricades, Rachel nodded towards the doors.
“Yeah... But right now some statue monsters are after us. I would like to shoot at them, can you blame me for wanting to get rid of a threat?”

It was then when Twilight's eyes opened wide.
“You mean you looked for some information about the Darkness Sisters for half a year of time travel and never found something like a clue?”

“No... It's like someone or something was covering the tracks.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Twilight then looked at the Doctor.
“But who would benefit from us not knowing about the future?” Halting there for a second, she added a short “Besides us I mean.”

The Doctor then looked at Twilight in silence. There was an answer to this in his mind, but at this point it was nothing more than a hunch, nothing solid. 'Were they really so desperate to let these ponies and humans run into the unknown? No clue, no hint, no help whatsoever? But for what purpose?' His mind began racing. Surely, they were humans gifted with magic enhancements... surely not knowing the future was always better for the fabrics of time and space but not even hints...? What were they up to? How deep was this plan he had discovered, yet only scratched on the surface? Shaking his head while closing his eyes, he then turned away. “I don't know...” '...yet for sure...'

Rainbow Dash on the other hand grunted, displeased.
“Alright, whatever! We have a time machine and some friends out there to help. T-man and Derpy are still out there! We should simply leave this place and time.”

It was then when the communicator sounded off with Tyler's voice in it.
“Doctor? Guys, do you copy me?”

Answering now, the Doctor looked at the others as he stood in front of the TARDIS.
“Yes, we hear you.”

Tyler's voice was calm and collected.
“Rainbow Dash is right. If these creatures are after your TARDIS in order to feed from it, we have to get you to it and pilot it and us out of their reach. Everything else is expendable.”

The Doctor knew only two kinds of lifeforms with this tone in their voice: Someone who was prepared to die or someone with a plan. Looking to the door, he was hoping Tyler was the second type.
“Well, we're already at the TARDIS. First thing's first: We have to get you two out of there and back to the TARDIS as well!”

Looking to the tunnels blocked with Weeping Pegasi, Tyler gave the grim situation an exhausted smirk.
“Like I said... Everything else is expendable. There are dozens of statues between us and you. The hallway is filled with them. We would never make it. You're the ones with the time machine, go find a way to fix this!” With this he looked back to the gray mare at his side. “Derpy, do you trust me?”

The Pegasus looked into Tyler’s eyes, before her face grew determined and she nodded.
“I do!” But as he looked across the tunnels, she looked at him. “Although I don’t know what you’re planning to do. What are you up to?”

His eyes nailed on the statues in front of him, Tyler gulped as he fought the urge to blink.
“What did the Doctor say about the Weeping Pegasi?”

As he tapped her twice Derpy nodded and concentrated herself in order not to blink.
“That we shouldn’t blink when they come for us because they’re super-duper-fast?”

Now she tapped his leg twice and he nodded, concentrating once more.
“They go for the strongest energy source they sense!”

“So?”

“SO I will make sure I’ll become the center of attention!” With that he instantly supercharged and the hall he and Derpy were in was highly illuminated.

The blonde-maned Pegasus shook her head in terror.
“What the hay are you doing?!?”

Stepping right into the center of the hallway, Tyler then yelled over to the Weeping Pegasi.
“HEY!!! STATUE FREAKS!!! You look quite ugly in bright light! And you have pigeon droppings all over you!”

Meanwhile the Doctor slammed down his communicator in anger.
“Damn it, boy! You're either super clever or the stupidest human I've ever encountered!”

Shaking her head, Twilight tried to grasp the situation.
“I don't understand. What’s he doing?”

“He’s luring them to him by becoming the strongest energy source.” The Doctor's eyes now grew determined. “He’d better watch out for her, because if he doesn't, I will hunt him down! Into the TARDIS, everyone!”

As the friends one by one entered the TARDIS, Twilight looked at the Doctor.
“You mean he's playing the bait? We are going to help though, aren't we?”

Pointing a hoof into the TARDIS, the Doctor nodded.
“Of course we are, but not here and not now. They will send him back in time, so that is where we are going.”

While entering the TARDIS, Rainbow Dash looked back at the others.
“You know, folks? I somehow regret chasing after that ball...”

Flynn shook his head and pulled her in so she rested on his shoulders.
“Not helping, Sweetie. None of us wanted this to happen. But if they are sent back through time, a time machine would truly be the best choice to help them. Tyler's not an idiot. He wouldn't give up so easily without a backup plan. And the Doctor seems to be that backup plan.”

Despite the words of the others, Twilight still recognized the Doctor's odd look.
“Doctor? What is it? You still look concerned.”

“Because I am concerned, Twilight. I'm worried for Derpy.” There was a moment of silence when the Doctor looked down. “Ponies have traveled with me and I've lost them... Lost them all!” Slowly the Mane Six and Rangers gazed at each other. This wasn't good news. But with a determined look the Doctor then looked up again. “Never again!” And with this, he switched a lever and started up the TARDIS.

While looking at the statues in front of them, Tyler pulled Derpy in and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“They’re at the TARDIS, Derpy… Wherever these things send us, the others can find us… Meanwhile I will protect you in place of the Doctor.”

Derpy simply nodded and closed her eyes. Soon the terrors of the Weeping Pegasi would be over.

* * * * *

Moments later, a gentle shaking on her shoulder made her aware that it had happened already.
“Derpy... Derpy, come on!”

Shaking her head to get clear, the blonde Pegasus looked around.
“We're in the past?”

Tyler first looked around, then ceased the overcharge. The air wasn't smelling like debris, it was a fresh and warm breeze coming from outside the window.
“It appears so... But don't you worry. If you are right about this Doctor, he will come for us, right?” When there was no answer from her, he looked down to her again. “He can do that with the TARDIS, right?”

Looking up to him with a determined smile, Derpy gave him a nod.
“Mh-hm! It will be child-play for him. I bet he'll find a way. The Doctor never leaves his companions behind, if he can save them.”

“Oh, good... In the meantime, let us see how far we were sent...” As they walked out of the building, the skyline of a futuristic city stretched out in front of them. Tyler's eyes slowly opened wide with a smile. “Well, would you look at that...?” A small glider flashed by and went into the distance, before it united with the heavy air traffic the planet was in. Smiling at this, Tyler looked down to Derpy. “What do you think? I think we can actually take advantage of this.”

The blonde mare gave this a smile and a nod.
“You're right, maybe we can find some answers here.”

In the evening, they managed to get a room in a hotel and went to the elevator. Once inside, Derpy shot Tyler a disapproving glare.
“I better not ask where you got the 'credits' for that room. That's a penthouse room near the roof. I may not be a manehattan filly, but this I know: These are very expensive, no matter what time-frame you're in!”

Chuckling a bit, Tyler patted her shoulder.
“Just a little trickery to get around. Don't forget that we're stranded here with no means to return until the Doctor finds us. I think by tomorrow, we should go to the outskirts of town and do something outstanding. Something the history books will write about. Something so massive the Doctor will know that it has to be us.”

Laughing a bit, Derpy then gave him an easygoing smile.
“I already have something in mind. The Doctor once told me to make it big and unmistakably my sign.”

That night, Tyler found little to no sleep at all. Still the horrors of the once-abandoned library halls echoed in his mind and he was worried for the others. This Doctor was a stallion who was around whenever there were problems. Or maybe the problems came to him? It would be wise in the future to talk with Celestia about this guy. 'Future... Yeah right... First I have to get myself and the others back to our own time and space.'

Grumbling a bit, Tyler stood up. There was no chance to get sleep now and he was thirsty. Fetching a glass of water, he then went out to the balcony. At least he hoped it was normal water. Who could know? Maybe in the future they could have liquid hamburger or something. While drinking at the balcony, his head leaned back a bit in the process and looked up to the moon. What he saw then prompted him to spit out the water in his mouth.

There it was. High up in space a gigantic spider crawled over the moon like it was one giant cocoon. On one of the roofs Derpy Hooves looked up to the moon, her eyes both looking straight at the spider. Her right eye began to glow yellow as her face grew darker and more concerned.
“It’s him…”

On the moon, the mechanical spider then faced the planet. Red lamps activated on its bridge as a stallion with a blonde mane stepped forth. A dark smirk formed on his face as several screens zoomed in to the planet’s surface and showed Tyler and Derpy looking up to the moon.

“The tri-faced time scourge, and the Eye of Time… Well, Doctor… my old friend and enemy, it seems like I finally found the assistant you hold so dear…” A grim laugh echoed through the hallways of the spider-shaped ship as it crawled over the moon, several flying saucers slowly closing in from behind it…

Author's Note

Proofread by Shwaggy

13 - Emergency Master Plan *

Equestria, present day

Captain Dusk Aegis saluted in front of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before shaking his head.
“I am sorry, your highness. Neither the Element Bearers nor the humans are to be found. Princess Twilight's assistant has no clue either. Shall I continue to-”

It was then when another guard stormed in with a mare and stopped in front of the princesses.
“Your highness! This mare here claims she knows what happened to them.”

The mare of orange mane and yellow coat nodded as she got the attention of the two alicorn sisters. Celestia eyed her for a second before she nodded.
“Carrot Top... Please tell us what you know.”

Bowing before them, the mare nodded.
“It was three days ago, when I saw Derpy with that stallion in pursuit of an odd leather object. They were followed by the Element Bearers and a small group of Harmony Rangers, all four humans among them. They all ran down the market place and entered a small blue booth similar to Discord's booth-house. And then this booth simply disappeared”

As soon as Celestia heard this, her jaw dropped slightly and she closed her eyes in worry.
“Oh, by the stars...”

Looking over to her older sister, Luna shook her head.
“If they are with him, they are out of reach. Out of reach for us, but also out of reach for our enemies. Still... ‘Tis worrying me that they are... thou knowest... with him. He certainly has many more enemies than we do.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, the TARDIS was flying through the time vortex in a bumpy ride. Several shocks whirled the little ship around, causing it to flip upside down. Inside, however, none of this was noticed as it simply hummed in working order. Steering it with routine, the Doctor still had a concerned look on his face. While some of the girls slept, Rachel sat on some stairs looking around.
“Where are we stopping this time? Just in the past of this library planet?”

Giving her a short glance, the Doctor then shook his head as he continued to watch the screens of the TARDIS.
“No, it wouldn't do us any good to rewind time like this in the hopes of finding the two of them wandering around the planet. No, I will see to it that we check some details first. For that I have to visit some... Well, let's call them useful associates. Friends or companions would be too much, I don't agree with everything they do.”

On the other side of the control room, Twilight and Applejack couldn't find any sleep. Too great were the worries about Tyler and what he might face in the time he now was stranded in, and neither the alicorn nor earth pony mare could find any rest like this.
“Ah must say that Ah'm not fond of knowing Tyler could be in who knows what sort of trouble. Ah mean he's all by himself with Derpy, on a planet that was attacked at some point. Hay! Even to think about it makes mah brain go haywire due to worry. So whatever it is yer doin', Doctor... Do it fast!”

Twilight shot the Doctor a concerned look and he sighed.
“Alright, alright... No distractions, but give me some time to assess the situation. We definitely need to ask some of the authorities.” Not long after this the TARDIS halted and he headed for the TARDIS front door, which woke up the rest of the friends.

Coming to his side, Rachel then nodded.
“Finally... Maybe we can see some real...” But as she opened the door and everyone was heading out, they were greeted by a squad of several, thick figures in heavy black armor, who immediately aimed weapons at the group. One of them had no helmet on, and had a head that one could best describe as some alien sort of rhinoceros. “...some... real... Oh, good God.”

Stepping in front of the group, the Doctor shook his head.
“There is no omnipotent being among the Judoon, Ranger Rachel. Nor is there one in the Shadow Proclamation.”

“Shadow what now?” Rachel asked.

“Proclamation. Outer space police, if you want. Hush now, the officer wants to say something.” With this the Doctor nodded towards the rhinoceros.

Grumbling a bit impatiently, the Judoon then eyed the Doctor.
“Scopo trono frojo kofo todo.”

Answering the glare with one of his own, the Doctor then answered,
“Nobo hosho koro toso. Bokatosa fopapapajo.” Now the armored beings lowered their rifles, which earned them a relieved sigh from the Rangers and Elements, who now lowered their hands and hooves. The Doctor gave them a brief nod. “Maho.”

Several minutes later the group was brought to a completely white pony, emanating a soft yellow, almost golden glow. On her forehead rested a blue jewel, glittering softly.
“A time pony? Here and now? This can only mean that we're in trouble soon or in trouble already without knowing it. Your race is one bad omen for the rest of the universe.”

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor gave a playful smirk.
“Yeah... More to the point, I'm missing a friend or two on Paretoka. I was hoping you could let me into the archives so I could look the incidents there up.”

It was in this moment when Rarity's curiosity broke forth and interrupted the conversation.
“Oh! Oh! I would love to know what you did to your coat to make it shine like that. It's so regal and maybe I can do that to my coat as well.”

Looking over to her, the Doctor smiled as he shook his head.
“Miss Rarity, the constable is a star pony, one of the very few pioneers traveling space. Be nice to her, that coat shines because of the soft background radiation of the universe making it shimmer. Every facet of space travel has star ponies in it. And this gem on her forehead is not jewelry like one could assume; it is her way to communicate with other star ponies even thousands of lightyears away. One could say that the ‘trii’, this blue jewel, is their long range communication system and means for telepathy.”

The constable, however, arched a brow at Rarity, who still eyed her coat and trii in admiration, before she turned to the Doctor once more.
“Doctor, even if you were helpful to Origin and several other planets throughout universal history, I cannot grant you access to those restricted files. Besides, what would it matter? Everything about Paretoka that is left in the archives are cold cases insignificant for you.”

Arching a brow now himself, the Doctor then put on a smirk.
“Cases? What cold cases?”

One Judoon now nodded.
“Vandalism of Paretoka landforms became cold cases as the planet was evacuated.”

Frowning a bit, the Doctor thought for a bit.
“Yes, I know that Paretoka was attacked at some point. Evacuated because of what? Who attacked them?”

Shrugging, the star pony mare shook her head and activated a terminal.
“That's just it, Doctor... You see, someone messed up our archives and deleted everything. The only thing in place of these deleted files is just one sentence.”

Looking down, the Doctor then closed his eyes.
“Darkness is coming...”

The constable's eyes widened with a gasp before her face grew grim.
“How did you know? This interior incident is classified!”

Smirking a bit, the Doctor turned around.
“Yeah... Call it a hunch. Several data crystals and archives throughout the entire universe were altered, so it comes as no surprise. Someone is very thorough in wiping out vital evidence. Do you at least know when these cases of vandalism took place? Or in what corner of Paretoka? Or when your archives were altered?”

“What we know is that there was massive vandalism of Paretoka regarding the landforms. One couldn't miss it from orbit or from the surface. That's all our archivists could remember.”

Nodding, the Doctor then headed back to the TARDIS, much to the surprise of the others.
“Aren't we looking into these archives? Maybe we can find something nonetheless?” Rachel asked.

Shaking his head with a smile, the Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS.
“No, we have everything we could get from here.”

Entering the TARDIS one by one, the friends looked at each other. Frowning in annoyance, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Well, that was a waste of time.”

Nodding in agreement, Flynn pointed at the door.
“Yes, why did we take so much time talking to them? I mean all we now know is that someone vandalized the landscape before the planet was attacked.”

“Precisely!” The Doctor now answered, “If you're stranded on an island or in this case a planet you don't belong to, you put in a sign for others to see. Something to stand out. And since the two of them are trying to reach us, I bet these cases of vandalism are Tyler and Derpy. Let's head back to Paretoka, I need to see these signs and assess when they were caused.”

* * * * *

In the meantime, back on Paretoka, Tyler and Derpy went through the Paretokan nightlife. As far as he could remember, he never saw anything so focused on books and knowledge. It seemed that at each street corner was a smaller sub-library where some author or professor published a new book or a group was having a small convention of some sort. Aliens in several forms and shapes crossed their way, yet Tyler tried not to make a big deal out of it. 1 billion years in the future was a long time and who knew of what half of these lifeforms had done in the meantime.

As his thoughts went back to the girls, he shook his head with a gentle smile. 'Oh, Twilight... Where the heck are you? You would completely go nuts on this world' Looking over to Derpy, he gave her a grin.
“Well? What can you tell me about the Doctor?”

Looking up, the gray mare blushed a bit before she looked down with a dreamy expression on her face.
“Th-the Doctor? Oh, he's quite an amazing stallion. I wouldn't know where to start. Sure he has his traits and quirks, but in the end he always has been my hero.”

Arching a brow, he gently shook his head.
“That's not very precise, Derpy. Can't you go more into detail?”

Raising her head once again, she beamed up to him before looking around.
“Well, this is a library planet. I propose you look him up.”

Not an hour later both of them were in a closed part of the library and Tyler read through the user manual for using the fusion archive.
“Well... I don't know, seems to me there goes the command and then the topic you are looking for... Let's give it a shot!” Facing one of the heads of the pedestal, he then uttered his command. “Search! Article: The Doctor”

The head, the pony head of a mare, opened its eyes and looked at them both with a pleasant smile.
“Welcome to the Paretoka Archive. You have selected file B3461 – RZ968 – 745 – Alpha01: Identified entity known as 'The Doctor'
Begin presentation...”

A hologram of one of the curators appeared and began to hold the presentation.
“He is the Doctor, last of the ancient race of Time Ponies, Keeper of the Equestrian Timeline, Defender of the Laws of Time, Protector of Gallopfrey, Confederate of the Solar Empire, Honorary Member of the Lunar Republic...” As the curator spoke, Derpy was certain that the Doctor would chase through time and space to come get her. Right now he would steer the TARDIS with that determined look on his face that would make her heart beat like crazy, just like every time she saw him with that glare.

Dates, historic events, incidents both small and big, video feeds and pictures. More and more holographic articles about the Doctor's adventures on several different planets came up and some quotes in form of audio logs were played as the holograms of different stallions appeared as well, some of them paired with pictures from surveillance cameras.
"I am not an earth pony, I walk an eternity..."

“It's the TARDIS! It's my home.”

“There is no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.”

“Is nopony interested in history?”

Surrounded by the holograms of the many versions of the Doctor, Tyler's jaw dropped. Who was this stallion, this complete stranger who seemed to come every time there was trouble somewhere in the universe? Or was the trouble following him? He had had his adventures and, from the look of it, escaped the clutches of death quite often with this regeneration of his. Every single one of the stallions shown here had a different face and seemingly a completely different personality. But all had one thing in common: they were out to help those in need and punish those who were threatening others.

In the morning, on the way back to their room, Tyler looked down to the gray mare at his side, not sure if he should envy or pity her for this friendship with the Doctor.
“We really should have a talk about the ponies you frequent with, Derpy. It is a bit concerning that you are so deep in trouble most of the time.”

But she simply snickered it away.
“Aw, it's nice of you to care that much. But I'm trusting the Doctor. So... Have you thought a bit about my proposal for the message we are leaving for the Doctor?”

“I did. But Derpy... Isn't this a bit... off?”

Shrugging, Derpy flapped her wings and hovered in front of him.
“Oh not at all. I bet the Doctor will know for certain that this is my doing.”

Later that day, Tyler was standing outside the balcony. For one day and night the giant spider was sitting on the moon and was staring at the planet. The fear of the population had ceased for now, since no attack followed. And yet the atmosphere on the streets was tense.

Unnoticed by him, however, Derpy held a little electric tool in her hooves as she was sitting in the bathroom, glancing on it in worry.
“Please be negative. Please be negative... Oh please, oh please!” Shortly after that, the little tool beeped twice and gave a green light, showed a happy smiley and displayed a little hologram with the word 'Positive'. Her eyes slowly widened and the adrenaline began to rush through her bloodstream. She had to tell the Doctor, she had to confess what she did. A silent weeping filled the bathroom this evening... What she had done was wrong and she wasn't even sure if she could face the Doctor again with this certainty.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, a couple of thousand years later, the TARDIS re-appeared on the destroyed fields of Paretoka, this time outside. As soon as its doors opened, the stench of the destroyed landscape once more filled the nostrils of the friends. Rarity wrinkled her nose at this.
“Ugh! Was it really necessary that we return to this dirty place? Applejack? Once this is over, remind me never to call your farm a stinking dirt hole again.”

But the country mare simply snickered.
“Yer going to regret that, ya know?” Turning to the Doctor now, Applejack arched a brow. “So Doctor... Uh... Yer sure ya know what yer doin'?”

But the Doctor simply smiled at her.
“Fascinating!”

This left Applejack stumped for a second.
“Huh?”

“Your accent! I really like it!”

Now Twilight and Applejack both grew grim in their looks.
“Doctor!” both of them yelled at him, causing him to grin nervously and raise one hoof in defense.

“Alright! Alright... I'm on it. Now! The TARDIS suggest that the coordinates for the landmark destruction is right.... behind us!”

When the group turned around, they saw it. Gigantic letters were carved into the mountain wall behind the TARDIS. Correcting her Stetson, Applejack whistled in awe.
“Holy apple tree! Now THAT'S somethin' ya don't see every day.”

Rainbow on the other end snickered.
“It sure suits her to let him write something like this.”

Giving the sight a smirk, the Doctor nodded.
“Only she would choose this word to get my attention...”

In gigantic letters there was the word MUFFIN carved into the giant mountain wall. Twilight's face was buried into her hoof.
“I can't believe he did that...”

Closing his eyes now, the Doctor's smirk slowly turned into a grin.
“Neither can I... What's worse is that somewhere in the future this word is deemed one of the last artifacts of the once glamorous Paretoka. If ponies knew... Alright, time to do what we came here for. Let's assess when these letters were carved in.” And with that, the small group of friends accompanied the Doctor, always careful to watch the surroundings in case another Weeping Pegasi lurked over the barren hills.

* * * * *

In the meantime, Derpy got out of the bathroom again, the tears dried and with a gulp she stepped outside to the balcony, where Tyler still was looking at the gigantic spider.
“Hasn't moved since they found it.” He stated flatly as he shook his head. “The news is going full berserk on this. They speculate whether this is a PR gag to get the attention for a new book or if this is some sort of stupid joke.

But when he turned over to Derpy, he saw her slightly reddened eyes. Frowning, he knelt down to her.
“Did you cry? Hey... I promised to take good care for you, so there is no reason to cry, you hear?”

This made Derpy snicker a bit.
“That's not it... The situation would have to be more dire to make me cry. But thanks for caring so much.” Patting her cheek, Tyler then looked her into the eyes before he nodded with a smile and stood up to go inside once more. Looking after him, Derpy sighed. 'If only he knew. How do I explain this to the Doctor? How do I justify this to the stallion I love? Would he even like me as a companion anymore?' Her train of thought, however was interrupted as the screen in their living room was flickering all of a sudden. And not just theirs, even the screens in the libraries and the streets, every broadcasting system was going haywire for a moment.

Then every monitor and hologram on the entire planet showed only the face of one stallion. A dark smirk rested on his face as he faced the crowds as his voice echoed through the streets and rooms of every place where a planetary transceiver was placed.
“Greetings, citizens of Paretoka. My name is ‘The Master’… I have journeyed through time and space to find your puny little world. Your world is currently shelter to two I am looking for. They may look like you, one male human and one pony mare... But they are in fact far more special than most of you.”

Terror struck the inhabitants of Paretoka. Surely the gigantic spider on the moon was capable of dealing a great amount of damage and this stallion, this 'Master', seemed like somepony able to perform every atrocity.
“To those of you who know of how or where to find them: The fate of this planet rests in your hooves and hands…” By now several Paretokan ponies looked around and conversed and whispered to each other. It seemed some already eyed one another in trying to determine who were the wanted ones. The Master, however, continued. “To the two of them I say this: I have brought along some old friends of the Doctor who just BURN to meet you… Surrender to me, or doom this world for destruction…”

Tyler gave the transmission an angered look before he looked over to Derpy.
“Dooming for destruction... Not a nice guy, this 'Master'... What are we? Part of a war?”

Shaking her head, the gray mare looked up to Tyler with an equally concerned look.
“He's one nutjob of a time pony. In my travels with the Doctor we stumbled upon him several times. And each time the Doctor and I barely escaped his plans. A very dangerous stallion. If we surrender to him, I have no doubt that there will be even more casualties than before. But I wonder who these friends are he's mentioning. Certainly some enemies of the Doctor.”

Giving a nod, Tyler patted her shoulder.
“Even more reason to get the Doctor here as soon as possible. Come on, we'll carve the rest of that message of yours directly into the place we've determined.”

* * * * *

At the same time, high up on the moon, the Master monitored some screens to see the many reactions his speech had received. Behind him, however, a humanoid figure approached him, came to a halt and nodded. Metal plates covered this otherwise human shaped body.
“Master... They become restless. They want to attack.”

Without looking back, the Master now lifted his head and smirked.
“Then let them attack, Mechtoo. But monitor them. If they overdo it, step in. I don't want the interstellar authorities showing up here. Not yet that is. First I need to find 'him'.”

Bowing to the time pony, the cybernetic warrior nodded.
“For every unnecessary victim I shall kill a thousand of them.”

Turning around, the Master now arched a brow as he faced his servant.
“Don't take them lightly... You may have that advantage of yours, but even you can't defeat everything. I will leave the spider with you and return to Barelioth.”

On his way to the spacecraft to Barelioth station, his real base of operation, the Master thought for a moment. 'Mechtoo... Funny name... Human mercenaries and their little kinks. Whatever...' As he entered the shuttle, the Master thought a bit how he'd met Mechtoo. A couple of decades maybe, just before he was contacted... by her. Somehow it was funny how she already knew about him. How she predicted how he would behave. And Mechtoo had been obedient and useful in all these years. An efficient, sober assassin, swift and reliable.

Yet how she could know that he would turn out to be such a reliable asset was beyond the Master's imagination. What she wanted to get rid of, however, was most pleasing. Soon the trap would spring and the Doctor would come to the rescue of his companions. This was something he liked about the Doctor. In certain ways he was predictable.

* * * * *

Down below on the planet, however, Derpy and Tyler had returned from their short venture out into the Paretokan outdoors and Derpy was watching the news while Tyler was taking a shower. As he returned from the bathroom, he looked over to her. Surprised by how easily Derpy took the television invention, both of them have had a little chat about this. Derpy explained to Tyler that with the Doctor one learns a lot of new stuff each adventure and broadcasting systems were nothing new to her for about five years now, yet it was hard to keep that idea for herself in the Equestria they both knew.

The news was full of sightings of the giant spider high up on the moon as one of the newscaster was given a note.
“I'm just receiving info that our planet is receiving yet another transmission from the orbit of Paretoka. It is emitting from a fleet that is approaching from behind the dark side of the moon. We will put it through now.”

What followed was an unpleasant, mechanical voice, far from everything euphonic. Monotone and without emotion it barked its only message like a battle cry.
“*EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!*”

Gulping down with a concerned look on his face, Tyler grimaced.
“That doesn’t sound very good at all!”

“No…” Shaking her head, Derpy backed away in fear. “Oh no!!!”

Looking behind, Tyler couldn't help but notice the distress Derpy now showed as the transmission simply continued.
“What is it? Derpy, do you know what's coming down the planet?”

Derpy now looked up to him, tears in her eyes.
“He won't be here in time. I’m sorry… but without the Doctor… we’re dead!”

Tyler didn't know the extent of the approaching threat, but whatever it was, it had to be horribly bad due to Derpy's reaction. He had to see this, had to assess this threat. Running out to one balcony of the building, he looked up into the sky. And there they were. Flying by the spider and the moon, flying saucers now filled the sky over the planet and opened fire to the ground. Blue energy beams flashed in the night sky and each hit resulted in a fierce detonation. Ponies and humans as well as other alien races ran in wild panic. This was not an attack with the intend to take prisoners; this was pure annihilation.

He had to return to Derpy and bring her to safety. On his way back to her, several explosions went off behind him. But this was of little to no concern to Tyler. Only one thing was important now: Derpy had to survive this with him, they had to escape the fate Paretoka was facing. This planet was doomed for destruction in the first place. They had already seen the result. In his understanding of time, this marked it determined to happen. But him and Derpy could still evade this, they were not bound to this fate.

* * * * *

On the bridge of one of the flying saucers, several big mechanical bodies glided over the the floor as one turned around to the others, its long eyestalk facing its fellow aliens. With every syllable the two lamps on its robotic head flashed up.
“*DALEK FLEET IN BATTLE FORMATION.*”

“*ALL WEAPON SYSTEMS CHARGED AND READY.*” said another one.

“*STRATAGEM SUCCESS CHANCE IS RISING TO EIGHTY-NINE PERCENT.*” the first one stated.

“*THE PONY EXTERMINATION WILL COMMENCE!*” a third Dalek exclaimed.

Down on Paretoka, a stallion in military uniform stood his ground in a command center as several other ponies coordinated the quickly dwindling defenses of the planet to repel the attack as best as they could. Sirens were howling and several screens were blinking in a wild frenzy as the entire planet was under attack at once.
“Activate every last one of the mobile fortresses! Inform the Star Queen to send help! Ladies and gentlecolts, Paretoka Library is under siege!”

On one of the Dalek ships, one Dalek turned around and faced a doorway.
“*SUPREME DALEK ON THE BRIDGE!*”

As the door opened, steam vented out as a Dalek in red varnish entered the bridge and looked around to its fellow Daleks.
“*THE MASTER'S INFORMATION TURNED OUT VALID. WE HAVE FOUND THE EYE OF TIME AND THE TIME-SCOURGE. WE HAVE WAITED LONG FOR THIS ULTIMATE VICTORY. SOON THE DALEKS WILL REVERT ALL OF CREATION!*”

In unison, the Daleks then proclaimed their intentions.
“*DALEKS WILL REVERT ALL OF CREATION! DALEKS WILL REVERT ALL OF CREATION!*”

When Tyler opened the door to their room, Derpy jumped up with a surprised yelp, but collected herself quite fast as she recognized him.
“Tyler! It's just you...”

“We are leaving, Derpy. Right now! There's only bedlam outside and if we wait for these guys to come down, it will be too late. Our best chance will be to get out of the city. Preferably towards the spot where we left our mark.” Both nodded at each other and left their apartment without further ado. While the sirens were howling and the Dalek ships were bombarding the city, they headed for the eastern city limits. The road was blocked once with fallen debris from the skyscrapers and Derpy spotted that behind the obstacles the road was blocked for several miles with further debris, cars and crashed air crafts.

Spotting stairs into the ground, Tyler waved her down again.
“This way! With some luck, the subway stations will still be functional.” As they climbed down the stairs, there were some minor quakes in the distance. Pretty soon it became dark and gloomy and the electric lights flickered as they descended deeper inside. Approaching a terminal, Tyler tried to get it to work, sadly to no avail.

It was then when Derpy heard something.
“Tyler! The train is coming!” Beaming as she hovered at the departure platform, the sound of a train became audible for Tyler as well and he stood beside the gray mare. But when the train came into sight, Tyler recognized an odd shine from it, gently pulling Derpy back. What followed was a blistering heat as the burning train passed the station without breaking or colliding with anything. Fire was bursting out of every window the wagons had.

Once the train had passed, Derpy silently began to weep, causing Tyler to gently pat her back as she cried into his chest.
“Now, now... It could have been worse. Fortunately we weren't on that train before. Now come... We will have to go through the tunnels...”

* * * * *

On the bridge of the Dalek flagship, the Supreme Dalek coordinated the invasion strike force as several screens and holograms were active in front of it.
“COMMENCE THE LANDINGS! BRING THE EYE OF TIME AND TIME SCOURGE HERE! PREPARE THE EXTRACTION PROCESS!”

From the shadows of the Dalek ship bridge a red single visor emitted a weak red light as the figure stepped out from the dark.
“Supreme Dalek? Are there any news to report?”

Now facing the humanoid figure, the Supreme Dalek shortly glared at it before its response came.
“PARETOKA AND ITS INFERIOR SPECIES IS FALLING TO OUR FLEET.”

Slowly shaking its head, the dark figure, the voice betraying it as male, came even closer.
“I mean: Is there any news from 'him'?”

Looking back to the screens in front of him, the Supreme Dalek now paid attention to them.
“NEGATIVE! THE DOCTOR IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. OUR STRATAGEM WILL BE OVER BEFORE HE EVEN ARRIVES. THE MASTER'S PREDICTION ABOUT HIS ARRIVAL IS OVERDUE BY 9001 RELS.”

Now the red glow of the visor got stronger, letting it shine in a fierce hellish red.
“I'm warning you, supreme one... Your task here is to extract these two individuals from the planet, not to turn this planet into a wasteland!” Raising a sword up to the eyestalk of the Supreme Dalek, the unnamed stranger eyed him as he cocked his head. “If you disobey, I'm here to make you remember your place. Never forget that!”

The sword was then lowered and Mechtoo turned around on the spot, leaving the bridge. Silently, the Supreme Dalek waited until the doors were closed behind the humanoid henchman before he raised his voice.

“THE ABOMINATION IS BECOMING A NUISANCE. WE SHOULD KEEP AN EYESTALK ON HIM.”

“THE ABOMINATION HAS A PECULIAR KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE. SUPREME ONE! WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”

“THE MASTER IS NOT TRUSTWORTHY. NO TIME PONY IS. THE DOCTOR, WITH HIS MANY LOSSES OF COMPANIONS, GIVES PROOF TO THAT.”

* * * * *

Down on Paretoka, Tyler raised his head up and peeked at the street, probing carefully if it was safe to be outside. But when Derpy came to his side, he gently pushed her back down the stairs.
“No! You stay down there where nothing can harm you. Whatever happens to us... I want it to happen to me first.” After she nodded, Derpy descended a bit down the stairs and Tyler carefully crawled up to the street.

And already he saw them. On one side of the street, the corpses of ponies and aliens were stacked by two prisoners as one single Dalek guarded them.
“THE TIME SCOURGE IS NOT AMONG THE CORPSES HERE. YOU HAVE SERVED YOUR PURPOSE.” Two shots were fired and the pony and alien collapsed lifeless to the ground. 'Bastard...' Tyler thought. 'Worse than Nazi scum...'

But as he focussed his attention towards the Dalek while trying to sneak by, he didn't see the loose stone he was stepping on. Alerted by the sudden sound the Dalek turned around.
“HALT! HALT OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!” Halting in his movement, Tyler immediately gazed at the mechanic alien. This thing, whatever it was, it had to be part of the invasion force attacking the planet.

Raising his hands to the head, Tyler waited for the blast that would end his life as well. Yet it didn't come, prompting him to arch a brow.
“So what are you waiting for? Why don't you just kill me? Like all the others over here!”

“I CAN'T.” the Dalek answered.

This left Tyler stumped and he shook his head in confusion.
“You killed half the freaking planet and now you can't kill me? Then why do all this? If you can't harm me, what do you want with me? Why can't you kill me?”

“BECAUSE YOU ARE FIXED.”

'Fixed? Now what the hell does that mean?' Slowly Tyler's hands descended again.
“You know? If you can't kill me...” With that a detonation wave emitted from Tyler in a 45 degree and hurled the Dalek against the wall.

The light in the eyestalk flickered for a bit, yet the Dalek reanimated itself rather quickly.
“SYSTEMS RESTORING. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

As it was out to move again, Tyler stepped his boot against it and pressed it into the wall once more as he grabbed the eyestalk.
“Fat chance, buster. You just said that you can't kill me. So let's try out how much damage I can do to you to kill or destroy you.”

The eyestalk in his grip as well as the longer of the arms were trying to move, but Tyler was more concerned about the energy weapon that was being directed at him. But somehow, like a complete miracle, the devastating blow that would end his life in a second never came.
“RECORDS INDICATE THAT YOU WON'T KILL A DEFENSELESS BEING. YOU ARE AN ASSOCIATE OF THE DOCTOR.”

Scoffing into the eyestalk, Tyler sneered into the robotic blue eye.
“I'm Tyler Jones. Check your stupid records once more!”

There was a certain pause between him and the Dalek before the lamps on its head flashed up once more.
“MERCY!”

Now Tyler was stumped beyond measure. Was this Dalek really afraid of him right now? 'What the hell will I do in the future that such a race of destroyers fears me?'
“What did you just say?”

“MERCY!!”

A dark blue flickering occurred in Tyler's eyes as he gazed deep into the eyestalk of the Dalek, a sadistic grin on his face growing wider and wider.
“Now isn't that interesting?”

“MERCYYYYYY!!!”

A few more minutes later Tyler came down the stairs to the subway station where Derpy jumped up and embraced him dearly.
“Tyler! Oh Celestia be thanked, you are alive and unharmed! When I heard the Dalek energy weapon I was so afraid for you!” As she loosened the embrace, she looked up to him. “What happened to the Dalek that threatened you?”

Yet Tyler simply shrugged.
“Which part of it?”

This left Derpy more than surprised and her jaw dropped.
“You destroyed it? How?”

“Magical pressure wave, concentrated into the eyestalk. Not that it fought back much. It said it couldn't kill me. That I was fixed. What does that mean?”

Derpy gasped for a while, but immediately recollected herself.
“The Daleks have an archive they can access through time and space. If they can't kill you now, it means that at some point in the future... YOUR future, there are things that have to happen. Even the Doctor said that there are things and events in the universe bound to happen. Nopony and no creature can prevent that without risking the entire universe as time would go haywire. The Daleks may be dangerous, but not stupid.

This Tyler rewarded with a nod.
“So basically, regarding the Daleks, I have a life insurance that could be over any minute? I mean if this thing I'm supposed to do would be in an hour, the Daleks would be able again to kill me?” Once Derpy nodded, he grimaced. “I'm not sure if this is a great advantage, but let's make the best of it” The gray mare nodded once more while Tyler was looking around. “I can kill one of them, but surely not that entire fleet. I have to get you off this planet.”

But just as they went a few steps a wall detonated in front of them and six eyestalks lit up in front of them. “HALT!” Sighing in frustration, Tyler shook his head and cracked his knuckles. He had killed one of them, six more shouldn't be such a great difference since he now knew about their weak spot. As they surrounded them, one of them stopped a few meters away, supervising the scene.
“INFORM THE FLEET! WE HAVE ARRESTED THE TARGETS!”

Another Dalek approached the two of them and pointed its energy weapon at them.
“MOVE! MOVE OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tyler pointed a finger at the Daleks.
“Spare me the threats, tin can army! I know from that last Dalek that you guys can't kill me. That I am destined to do something first. So if you can't kill me, I won't cooperate with you! So if you don't have any objections, then I'll transform you guys into scrap metal now.”

The Dalek in front of him eyed him and the flashlights on its head activated.
“NO, WE CAN'T KILL YOU. BUT WE CAN KILL THE PONY. YOU WILL OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler then reluctantly nodded.
“You won't harm her! If you do, I will rip you garbage bins apart one by one!” As more and more Daleks surrounded them, Tyler rested a hand on Derpy's shoulders. “Unfortunately I will have to do what they want, Derpy. I can't let anything happen to you.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in outer space, the TARDIS entered the current time and the Doctor steered her closer towards the Paretoka system. Frowning a bit, he looked to the humans.
“You know, you didn't need to punch him.”

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Rachel folded her arms.
“He was asking for it! I don't know what business you had with him, but this Harkness guy had his hands in the danger zone for a few seconds too long.”

As the Doctor looked at Flynn and Sam, both simply shrugged.
“What? Doc, we don't swing that way. I can tolerate a lot, but if they get too close, I remind them to keep their distance.”

Flynn nodded in agreement, pointing at Sam.
“Yeah... What he said.”

Looking over to the mares, the Doctor arched a brow, only to see them nodding in agreement.
“Ya know...” Applejack began, “It's not like he was rude or impolite or somethin'... But if he messes with a mare and friend of ours, Ah think a beatin’ is in order.”

During the conversation Rarity had a hoof over Fluttershy and comforted her.
“Now dear, you don't need to fret, you didn't fall for it.”

Fluttershy remained unusually calm, unlike the others.
“I know. I just... um... thought what Grinko would have done to the Captain if he would have been present at that moment.”

While the others grimaced a bit at the thought, the Doctor then had Paretoka on one of his dispays. Coming to his side, Rachel frowned a bit.
“These things there... These flashes... They don't look like thunderstorms... Are they...?”

The face of the Doctor grew grim in a couple of seconds.
“Energy weapons...”

* * * * *

In the meantime, Tyler and Derpy were escorted to one of the Dalek ships and brought off the planet, where they were brought to the Supreme Dalek. Smirking a bit, Tyler looked around.
“Nice little armada... Only for the two of us? Aw, you shouldn't have!”

Passing by several other Daleks, the red Supreme Dalek now faced Tyler and Derpy.
“THE HUMAN WILL REMAIN SILENT! WE WILL HAVE TO ADAPT TO THIS NEW SITUATION.”

Smirking, Tyler rolled his eyes. He had to play along for a while now. If they couldn't do him harm, they might spare them for now.
“Oh yeah, right! You can't kill me so you're just going to place me here on a pedestal to collect some dust.”

Looking to the other Daleks, the Supreme Dalek raised its voice again.
“HOW IS IT THAT THIS HUMAN TARGET IS THE ONE PERSON WE CAN'T EXTERMINATE NOW? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR ARCHIVES?”

Another Dalek turned around from a console.
“OUR ARCHIVES HAVE BEEN ALTERED! IT ONLY SAYS: 'DARKNESS IS COMING'!”

This made Derpy gasp in shock.
“Doctor...”

Now several Daleks turned around to them as the Supreme Dalek spoke up.
“TIME PONY TREACHERY! THE MASTER BETRAYED US AND THE DOCTOR ALTERED OUR ARCHIVES TO FALL FOR THIS!”

Leaning over to Derpy, Tyler grinned nervously.
“Stay behind me, I'm the one they won't kill, so maybe I can shield you. And for goodness sake, tell me you know what they are talking about!”

It was then when the Supreme Dalek shot an energy beam directly to the ground before Tyler's feet.
“YOU ARE A PART OF THIS! YOU KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!! EXPLAIN!!!

It was right when the Supreme Dalek aimed for Derpy's head that another Dalek glided to their side.
“ALERT! ALERT! INCOMING SHIP DETECTED!”

As the Daleks turned around, the Supreme Dalek replied with its conclusion,
“IT IS THE DOCTOR! HE HAS LOCATED US! OPEN COMMUNICATION CHANNEL!”

One other Dalek glided over to Tyler and Derpy and pointed its energy weapon at them.
“THE HOSTAGES WILL STAND! STAND!”

When the communication channel was established, the human Rangers gasped at the sight of the Daleks.
“Who... WHAT are those things?” Rachel asked.

Sam was the first to chuckle a bit.
“They look like pepper shakers.”

“The most despicable race of ethnic cleansers the universe has ever seen...” The Doctor answered, his voice growing cold and unkind all of a sudden. With a sober “Oh...” The expressions of the humans grew more disgusted.

Now coming into view, the Supreme Dalek looked directly at the screen in front of it.
“I WILL TALK TO THE DOCTOR!”

Fighting the urge to burst out in laughter, the Doctor simply smirked.
“Oh that's a new one! Daleks with an urge to chat. Well then: Hello!”

“THE INVASION OF PARETOKA WAS A SUCCESS. YOU WILL NOT INTERVENE!”

“Oh is that so? And what would stop me from doing so?”

“BECAUSE OUR PRIZE IS RIGHT HERE. WE HAVE TWO OF YOUR ASSOCIATES. YOU WILL NOT MOVE YOUR SHIP AND OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Leaning over to Applejack, Rainbow lowered her voice,
“Why are they only threatening to kill Derpy?”

“Beats me... Maybe he's too important for their plans?”

The Doctor now glared silently at the Daleks and thought of a plan until he suddenly smiled.
“Alright! I won't move the ship through space. But if there's one thing you should have been doing right now, it's being a bit more precise with your demand, you lot. Bye!” With that he switched over a lever and the TARDIS vanished in space, only to appear around Tyler and Derpy, who looked around in wonder as the friends suddenly stood around them.

While Derpy ran over to the Doctor, Applejack and Twilight hugged Tyler dearly while he looked up.
“Doc, you are late!”

Patting Derpy's mane for a bit, the Doctor then smirked over to Tyler.
“I know, I know! But the TARDIS needed a shield to take less damage during the rescue.”

“Alright!” Tyler started, “Now let's get out of here and return to our point in time. Back to Equestria!”

“Not yet!” The Doctor said, much to the surprise of everyone else.

Stomping her hoof on the ground, Twilight shook her head.
“Doctor! On behalf of everypony else here: I insist that you bring us home!

Yet the Doctor gave Twilight an equally stern look as he shook his head as well.
“I don't take orders from Princess Celestia, what makes you think I take orders from you?” Stumped by his bluntness, her eyebrows arched high up. But before she could say anything else, the Doctor grinned over to her. “You above all should know that friendship isn't forcing others to do your bidding, right?”

Tyler now leaned in, resting a hand on Twilight's shoulders.
“Still... Doc, what holds us here? Do you want to save Paretoka from the Daleks?

“The Daleks are only a figure in this game of chess here.” The Doctor flatly stated. “The real player is someone or somepony else.”

Coming to his side, Derpy looked into his face.
“The Master?”

Tipping his chin, the Doctor hummed for a while. “Possibly... Yet I'm not sure. The last pieces of the puzzle are still missing. And Paretoka is our place to look.”

* * * * *

The sirens in the distance were still howling and the horizon emanated the hellish glow as the cities of Paretoka were burning. In his lone library on a mountain in one of the smaller villages, a lone old stallion looked at the catastrophe hitting his planet. Behind him a certain technical moaning became audible before a door opened and several steps from hooves and boots could be heard. Closing his eyes, the old stallion and curator smiled.
“Without turning around, I can tell who you are... I don't know your name, but whosoever does? Only one stallion in the entire universe uses a TARDIS like this one.” Turning around, an old stallion looked at the Doctor and smiled a little tired. “I greet you, Doctor. Surely you are here to solve the problem we are facing right now?”

Looking down with a regretful impression, the Doctor reluctantly shook his head.
“I already saw the planet destroyed... So... there is little I can do.”

“I see. Yes, the laws of time.” As the girls looked down one by one, the old stallion smiled and shook his head. “Oh, don't fret like this. Ponies come and go, my friends... But knowledge needs to be preserved. And during all these many years, the curators of Paretoka have preserved many topics and plenty of knowledge. Some say Paretokan ponies are the ones with the greatest memory. In fact I've yet to see one who can remember more.”

Giving a gentle and kind smile, the Doctor nodded.
“The equine version of a quantum computer... The perfect planet for a library.”

Agreeing with a nod and smile himself, the curator looked at the Doctor.
“Indeed. For millions of generations, we Paretokans have preserved history. Some through technology, others through telling the stories over and over again. Our children have to learn early to know them by heart. But why someone would attack us of all planets is beyond me.”

The smile of the Doctor now withered as he arched a brow.
“Oh, don't be so modest. What can you tell me about the Darkness Sisters?”

In the next moment, the friends all looked at the Doctor, who exchanged stern looks with the curator. The Paretokan pony then finally sighed after half a minute and lowered his head.
“These are dark times you want to know about, my friend…” With an even heavier sigh the old curator then looked at the Doctor again, his eyes showed clearly that this was knowledge he wasn't parting from eagerly. “Times without hope… What motivates a pony to investigate times that most of us would want to forget?”

Looking to the ground, the Doctor smiled a bit.
“An old friend from the past needs my help to aid her with some much older enemies. So you do know about the Darkness Sisters. And their history.”

“Only a few facts. Much of the Chronicles of the Six Sovereigns is gone now. All at once, all archives, all datalinks in our vast library concerning them disappeared.” The curator answered.

This made the Doctor frown for a bit. 'Six Sovereigns... Queen Celestia and Luna and four others? Or maybe something even higher? A royal herd no doubt, but with who...?' Looking up from his thought, the Doctor then nodded.
“So at one point these chronicles were still there... Who or what do you think took them?”

The curator simply shook his head.
“That I don't know... We only read the first chapter before they disappeared. Cataloging books in our mind is a tedious procedure and can only be done at a slow pace. Especially for such an old book. It is... Or rather it was written that in the depths of the Heart of Darkness a pure-hearted warrior had to withstand the powers of the Princess of Malice.”

Now shaking her head, Twilight arched a brow.
“Princess of Malice…”

“Yes… Not an official title I suppose… The Equestrians never had such a princess. It has to be a self-given title.”

“The Darkness Sisters.” The Doctor now mused before he faced the old stallion again. “I came across a peculiar being... Alicorn artifacts are powerful devices… Could they by any chance grant the power of five alicorns?”

Blinking baffled and surprised at the Doctor, the mane six, the humans gasped a little, yet the curator shook his head,
“No. No single artifact could grant more power than that of a single alicorn… but… Maybe the one you talk about had more than one artifact? Given that the six Elements of Harmony once surpassed the power of a single alicorn as well? Maybe even more alicorns at once.”

Now the Doctor felt like someone had slapped him. Of course, this was a possibility as well… These alicorn amulets Princess Celestia talked about granted the power of one alicorn. But this one entity had the power of five alicorns. But wearing five amulets at once? That would have been a silly idea. It had to be something different. But now the sleep deprivation problem got a bit clearer for him now. His mind knew about these artifacts somehow, yet the memories had to resurface to him again.

But this train of thought was abruptly ended as a metal object slammed into the library. Raising a shield in reflex, Tyler immediately was in front of the girls.
“A bomb?”

Raising his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor did a short scan before he shook his head.
“No... It's a communication probe. Someone is making a call.”

A small hatch opened and the hologram of an all too familiar face smirked at them all.
“Ah! I see you are all together again.” the Master started, “Good! Good... Just like I predicted. You sure don't fail to be on schedule more or less Doctor. Reliable, predictable... And fortunately obsessed over rules and even more rules.”

Tyler's eyes grew cold as he glared at the hologram.
“So you're the one responsible for the Dalek attack on Paretoka? The Daleks said you tricked them.”

“They've had their value in this plan, but now they are nothing than a liability...” As the Master looked at Tyler, his eyes stabbed him with a glare unforgiving and frightening. “I see you've found my reason for being here. Well done! Saves me the time looking for him among the Daleks. This one I noticed above all as soon as I saw him, as you did yourself, Doctor, didn't you?. The tri-faced time scourge of Tilerions. He's just the right companion for you, the killer of our own kind...”

'Three-faced time scourge...' Tyler repeated in his mind while frowning at it in thought, 'I wonder what that means.' It certainly wasn't a very positive nickname he had among these two time ponies.
“Why? Why am I so important? For the timelines? What the hell about the timelines?”

Both the Doctor and the Master now looked at Tyler and the Master began to smile. It was not a good smile, and Derpy knew that the mad time pony stallion had wicked plans for the Doctor and his friends.
“Well, go on, Doctor. Tell your new friend why he's so important and dangerous.” Closing his eyes, the Master began to chuckle in a manner that made the blood of everyone else freeze. “Fear him, his mere existence in our universe killed hundreds of time ponies!"

While the others looked quite shocked at Tyler, the Doctor was ever so untouched as he looked at the Master,
"Fear me, I've killed all of them..." With that the Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver and deactivated the probe.

Looking after him, Rachel shook her head.
“This 'Master' guy is an asshole.”

As the stallion headed for the TARDIS, Tyler looked after him.
"Doctor, what does that mean, that my mere existence here killed hundreds of time ponies?" The Doctor remained silent, what only enraged Tyler even more. “Answer me!!!”

Finally, the stallion looked back to Tyler.
“You changed the timeline with your mere arrival in our universe. This brought up events that changed even several minor fixed points. Fixed points in time I remember. Now those points are gone, they never occurred. And you can't change fixed points without the universe collapsing to a mess of things all at the same time. Yet here we are, unharmed despite several fixed points changing. Whatever you did, with or without knowledge of it, it is something that surpasses even time pony knowledge. For that even the alicorns of Equis feared you. And this is the very reason why I as a time pony should destroy you on the spot.”

Tyler and the Doctor stared at each other for quite some time before Tyler asked the next question.
“Will you?”

“No... The universe continues to exist and I want to know why. Killing you might actually destroy a key element to solve this mystery. You are an impossible man, Tyler Jones. I begin to like you.”

Derpy cocked her head as she looked at the Doctor.
“But why are these Daleks interested into ponies and their magic? What do they hope to achieve with this, when all they can control is technology?”

The curator shook his head with a tired look.
“One of our sub-curators heard the Daleks say something about the Abarasion spell. We know very little about it, but one thing we do know and that is enough. The Reversal of the Abarasion spell holds only one thing: The end of creation itself...” The Doctor began to shiver ever so slightly. This was the ultimate prize for the Daleks. This spell was the very reason they were here today. Yet Tyler, their target, knew nothing about it. Or did he? Eying the human a bit, the Doctor began to think even faster.

Tyler's blood on the other hand began to freeze in his veins,
"Abarasion spell... Us! They think we know it! Or that I'm charged with it."

Giving Tyler a sober look, the Doctor then kindly smirked as he shook his head.
"No, don't be stupid, that was cast by the queen of all alicorns herself, that spell would fry your brain and overcharge you before even a fraction of it was stored into you." Jumping up to his hind legs, the Doctor then grabbed Tyler and rested his front hooves on Tyler's temples. "You were connected with Princess Celestia. Deep within this big human brain of yours... That's where the Daleks expect remnants of Celestia's memory and maybe some information about this spell. So yeah... they won't shoot you."

This prompted Tyler to smile. At least he was safe in a confrontation with the Daleks and could face them head on.
“That's good!”

Giggling a bit, Derpy bumped her rump into Tyler.
“Yeah, they will suck that information out of your brain along with all life of your body."

Tyler's smile immediately withered.
“That's not so good...”

“Oh, but this is brilliant! Now that I have you all back on the TARDIS and have all information I need, we can lure the Daleks away from Paretoka!”

But just as he wanted to start the TARDIS up for time travel, the ship rumbled and quaked as if incapable. Arching both his brows, the Doctor then looked up.
“Oh no... Girl, don't do that to me now...” As the TARDIS refused to do a time travel once more, the conclusion sprang to the Doctor's mind. 'Time lock!' looking to the displays, he then steered the TARDIS towards the space station.

After a short while Pinkie pointed a hoof at one of the screens of the TARDIS.
“Oh, look! We are flying to that moon!”

“This is no moon. It is a space station.” the Doctor flatly stated. “He has activated a time lock around the entire solar system. The TARDIS can't escape all these Dalek ships with such a lock around. We need to get to the lock, open it and get away.”

Shrugging, Sam pointed at the growing orb of metal they were approaching.
“Which basically means we are going for that station and cause some chaos?”

Thinking a bit, the Doctor then nodded with a smirk.
“Basically... yes. It depends on what you imagine under chaos.”

Right in that moment the TARDIS screen began to beep a bit and the Doctor frowned a bit before switching a few levers and pressing some buttons. In front of them all, a monitor then showed the face of the Master as another communication was opened.
“There you all are. Guess who?”

Rachel looked up at the Master and her eyebrow twitched a bit in anger.
“The nerve... He seems rather relaxed for a stallion whose ass we're about to kick.”

Looking over to her, the time pony waved the thought away before he looked at the others.
“Me? Oh don't be stupid. You won't lay a finger on me. You all are only here, because she wanted it this way. Well then, Doctor. With this time lock, you know as well as I do that we have no choice but to see this through. I am well prepared for her. Are you?”

“Who are you talking about? Who is she?”

An evil smirk came onto the face of the time pony. That grin grew even wider once a fierce roar sounded off in the distance behind him.
“Do you hear that, Doctor? Do you know what that means?” A dark chuckle now escaped his throat. “Darkness... is coming!” The chuckle went into full force and became a maniac laughter. Gritting his teeth, the Doctor now knew that this was a trap set by the Master directly for him. Lurking through the centuries, his greatest adversary had waited like a spider in its net, aided by a yet unknown force who was out to get him to erase even the last remnants of warning for the rest of the universe. The reason still unknown, the Daleks on his tail and nowhere to run with the TARDIS, he had no choice but to spring the trap as the TARDIS steered directly towards the space station where his destiny, maybe even his own demise, waited for him and his companions.

14 - The man who killed the Doctor *

The hall was dark and eerie as a sudden moaning became audible. In the next moment, the TARDIS appeared out of a wall, transparent and only half visible before she swung around and slid across the ground, her bottom emanating a wave of sparks as the metal screeched beneath her. When she came to a halt, the Doctor, both his eyes shut tight, dared to open one of his eyes, before he sighed in relief.

Stemming herself up, Rachel shook her head, shooting a glare towards the time pony.
“Nice landing...”

“Not the usual way I steer her... For obvious reasons that is.”

Looking over to the others, Twilight shook her head in wonder.
“How did we get inside without blowing a big hole into the hull?”

“The TARDIS may not be able to travel in time right now, but phase-shifting is still possible.” the Doctor answered.

Twilight looked up to Tyler in order to get an explanation, but he only shrugged.
“Uh... I guess some sort of teleportation through solid walls, only with technology.”

Looking up to the dark ceiling, Applejack shook her head before correcting her Stetson.
“Oh well, whatever. Ah still don't get it. Why are these Dalek fellers so gosh darn obsessed with exterminating everythin' in their way?”

Closing his eyes, the Doctor slowly shook his head before facing the earth pony.
“There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought.”

Tyler looked over to the Doctor, narrowing his eyes.
“They are your sworn enemies, aren't they?”

“Yes! We go way back, the Daleks and I. Back to the last great time war. My people, the time ponies battled them for the sake of all creation, until both sides were destroyed by me.”

“That's why the Master called you killer of your own kind... You killed all of them to end this war? Was it worth it?” Tyler then asked.

“Killing something is never worth it.” The Doctor replied sober and looked down. “But if I hadn't done it, nothing would have been left by now.”

“Will we die at the hands of your enemies, Doctor?”

In an instant, the Doctor looked at Tyler. That kind of allegation... He had heard it many times. And in a way it was true. Where ever he came and went, people suffered, so the idea of people putting him on par with a bringer of hardship was nothing new.
“Not if I have a word in this! I lost too much over all these years. I'm sick and tired of loosing companions...”

Sam now nodded while caressing Lyra's mane.
“Alright... What do we do about the current situation?”

Handing out some technical devices to the humans, the Doctor began to explain his plan.
“I want you to search the station and find a way to repel the Daleks while I go and look for that timelock mechanism. If you find a way to hold the Daleks back long enough, I might find and deactivate the lock, so we can make our escape and you can return home. The Element Bearers will remain in the TARDIS, only you humans, Derpy and I will go outside.” Nodding in agreement, the humans then went along a corridor, watched by their worried herd mates.

* * * * *

Meanwhile on the surface of Barelioth station, the swarms of Daleks surrounded the massive space station, focusing their entire firepower on one particular spot alone.
“THE STATION WALLS ARE OUT OF SOLID XENTRONIUM ALLOY, SUPREME DALEK. OUR WEAPONS HAVE DIFFICULTIES PENETRATING SUCH DENSE MATERIAL.”

Looking around, the Supreme Dalek monitored the Dalek fleet from its bridge.
“NOTHING WILL HOLD THE DALEKS BACK! MAXIMUM EXTERMINATION!!! EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR AND THE MASTER!” Slowly and surely, the immense armor began to glow in a red hot fashion.

Inside the station, however, unnoticed by the Doctor and Derpy, both were watched by the cyborg Mechtoo, who was lurking in the shadows. A sudden humming on his left wrist then got his attention and he stayed behind, making sure not to be spotted by the time pony and Pegasus. Once sure to be alone, Mechtoo then raised his left arm and activated a holo-communicator, showing two eyes only. As dozens of bits of information flashed by his visor, he nodded at the instructions.
“It will be done, mistress.” With that, the cyborg disappeared into the darkness of the station.

* * * * *

Half an hour later the humans were standing in some sort of logistics hall. Sam read a sign describing the layout of the section they were in.
“Seems to me there are several freight halls. More than we could effectively by going in a group. We should spread out.”

Tyler hummed a long time in thought before he nodded.
“Alright. The Daleks are still on the surface of the station, we should be OK. However, if you run into trouble, try to avoid it and regroup with the rest of us. If this isn't an option, go for some rampage and make some noise. We others will then catch up.”

Everyone nodded in agreement before they spread out. Inspecting some of the crates standing in the freight hall he chose, Sam found nothing of use. Only some spare parts he couldn't make any sense of. Flynn on the other hand wrinkled his nose at the stench in his hall as he found a broken metal barrel that was oozing out shining blue slime. He immediately evaded this barrel big time for security reasons. Rachel Higgins was on edge. Pointing her gun at the hallways in front of her, she shrieked up at the squeaking right next to her. But all the flashlight revealed was a little rat squeaking as she stood up and sniffing a bit before she went her way.

Tyler Jones was walking between some shelves and pillars in freight hall A when he suddenly heard a noise from behind some shelves. He knew that none of the others were with him, so whoever or whatever this was, was not one of the team. Immobilizing the encounter would be a good idea. Thus he accumulated some magic and brought three rows of shelves down, which caused a domino effect on the shelves behind them. But just wen the shelves were down, a humanoid figure landed on top of them as if evaded the shelves with jumping up. The figure was male and armored and instead of a face there was only a red glowing visor. As the figure made 'eye contact' with Tyler, its hands clenched to fists as a male voice spoke up.
“You...”

Raising his arm, Tyler accumulated magic in his hand in order to attack if necessary.
“Who are you?”

Remaining calm, the masked cyborg seemed to eye Tyler as if scanning him.
“I'm like you, 'Magic'... I hide behind a codename. Call me 'Mechtoo'!”

This caused Tyler to listen up.
“How do you know me?” But little did he know that currently his entire body was being scanned.

0100110101100101011000110110100001110100011011110110111100100000011010010111001100100000010001100110110001111001011011100110111000100000010011010110000101110010011100110110100001100001011011000110110000101110

Target aquired
Acessing Mission Protocols

Prime directive: Tyler Jones, the human Rangers and the Elements of Harmony MUST survive.

Secondary directive: Tyler Jones must be brought to the test to reach his very limits.

010000110111100101100010011001010111001001110000011011110110111001101001011001010111001100100001001000000100001101111001011000100110010101110010011100000110111101101110011010010110010101110011001000000110010101110110011001010111001001111001011101110110100001100101011100100110010100100001

Now Mechtoo was confused. He had to battle this man to the very limit and at the same time preserve his life? 'I best ignore these protocoargh-' His train of thought was abruptly ended as his cybernetic suit electrocuted his biological body, which was now compelled down to its knees as Mechtoo screamed up in pain. 'Alright! ALRIGHT!!! I OBEY!!!' Just with that thought, the electrocution ended and his view darted up to a confused Tyler.

With a sudden move, Mechtoo then jumped up and Tyler was forced to look up to keep up with the movement. The cyborg was fast, even faster than Flynn and that could only mean that he was a force both swift and deadly. Tyler readied himself to face a rather impossible opponent to battle. With that speed and sword, there was no way to tell how fast he could cut off every limb. In the next second, he recognized a sudden cut in the metallic pillar behind him and made a hasty step forward as he turned around, facing the enemy behind him. Resting in Mechtoo's hand was a katana sword, humming aggressively like the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The pillar between the two of them tilted and fell as the two adversaries faced each other.

By now Tyler knew he had no choice but to rely on magic and greatly so. Raising his hand, he fired a magic shot at Mechtoo, but the cyborg simply deflected it with his sword while in midair again. The next cut went right through the wall as Tyler barely evaded the ultra sharp blade. For a moment he thought he could even see the densely sonic waves emitting from the katana. Both turning at each other once more, Tyler shot another magic projectile, yet the cyborg leaned far down evading it while at the same time kicking high up into Tyler's face. Or so Tyler thought. The mechanical boot went right pass him, yet the pressure was enough to cause a cut on his cheek. A full hit would have been a definite kill. But why not do that? What was this cyborg's intention? But while thinking too much, Tyler was kicked into the chest, causing him to slide backwards.

Jumping up, the cyborg assassin held his sword in the hand and faced the ceiling. With a speed even surpassing Flynn's, the sword flashed around, barely to see. All Tyler could clearly see were Mechtoo's torso and head, constant in midair like not moving at all in a game of momentum and gravity. As Gravity pulled the cyborg assassin down again, he performed a midair back somersault and kicked a heavy piece of falling debris towards Tyler, who teleported out of harms way to avoid the attack. Teleporting out behind Mechtoo, Tyler raised his hand once more while the cyborg span around. While the katana blade was only inches away from Tyler's throat, his hand rested on the helmet, able to blow the threat to pieces. Both stared at each other and Tyler wondered if the cyborg really meant to kill him. It would be so very easy now for both of them to end the other.

What happened next was more than unexpected for Tyler. Lowering the katana, the cyborg nodded and gained some distance.
“Good! You are almost as good as she wants you. But you still need some training. Get to freight hall B where your fellow humans are, then head towards the Elevator Shaft C. You need to activate the station's defenses. You can do that by re-activating the computer core that you can reach with that shaft. And you have to be fast. The Daleks are already picking at the outer shell of the station. Soon they will breach and swarm through every corner of the station.”

And just like that, the cyborg assassin jumped away, leaving Tyler behind, stumped.
“What the fuck?!?”

On his way to the others, he already heard them from afar as they ran over to him.
“Tyler? Where have you been? We were looking for you.”

“When we heard magic projectile fire, we were worried and came as fast as we could.

Looking behind, Tyler shook his head.
“I ran into a henchman of the Master I think. Odd feller, he was fighting me, but when I thought it was over, the guy simply vanished after telling me where to find you guys.”

Flynn now arched a brow.
“Which means...”

Tyler nodded.
“He must monitor us somehow! We should have a look for cameras and destroy them on the spot.”

“Speaking of seeing... where the hell are we? I can't see shit.” Flynn stated.

Tyler narrowed his eyes a bit and raised his arm to fire a magical signal flare into the dark, revealing a huge hall several square miles across with tens of thousands of cylinders hanging in rows. Shaking his head in disbelief, he took a step back.
“So this is freight hall B...”

The sight caused Rachel to shake her head in disbelief.
“What in the world is that?”

Sam narrowed his eyes and tried to make some sense out of it.
“Seems to me like a giant cryogenic hall. You know? In every of these cylinders rests a living being sleeping.

Coming across on of these cylinders at the gangway, Flynn yelled over to the others.
“Hey! Here's one, too!”

Cutting it open with magic, the human Rangers immediately regretted their decision to open the cylinder as the stench became unbearable. The pony corpse in front of them was rotten away, yet the stench had been preserved over the ages.
“And that's what happens if your capsule has a malfunction... Poor guy... Hopefully he didn't wake up to experience all this.”

It was then when Rachel whistled the others over and pointed at yet another capsule that was opened. This time however, the capsule was empty, yet still powered. Whoever or whatever was in there, may have made it out.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, down below, One single earth pony stallion crawled backwards as a blurry and barely visible figure approached it. Once close, the outlines of the humanoid figure became more clear and the camouflage was dropped, revealing Mechtoo. The stallion shook his head in confusion.
“Stealth Camouflage? But no one used that in over 3 galactic periods!

Bending down face to face with the stallion, Mechtoo's visor glowed hellishly red into the pony's eyes as the katana was unsheathed.
“You got free... Are there any others who got free? I am looking for someone...”

Shivering as the blade tickled his nose, the stallion shut his eyes. This couldn't be happening. Yet suddenly the door opened and caused the blade to leave his nose alone.
“What?” As the four humans entered the room, the pony shook its head. “Great. Now what?”

Standing up again, Mechtoo slowly turned at the Harmony Rangers.
“Ten minutes... It took you quite some time to get down here. Especially with the others to help you. You are too slow, Tyler Jones.”

His eyes growing grim at the sight of the cyborg now harassing ponies as well, Tyler spoke up.
“Who are you?”

The red visor silently grew in strength, the cyborg assassin seemed to scan Tyler from head to toe once more as he pointed at Tyler.
“Neither enemy nor friend. I've traveled a path that makes these two words meaningless for us two. While you four were busy stumbling through this station, I've removed all Daleks on your tail for now, so now you and I will battle to the death. I waited an eternity for this day to happen. Now I will take my chance.”

Tyler's eyes darkened as he got into fighting stance.
“What is it? Revenge of a time traveler?”

Still calm in voice and posture, Mechtoo slowly shook his head.
“No, it is nothing that trivial. I just want you to fight me in a battle to the death. Only one of us two will leave this space station. I know who it will be. The outcome will be my salvation!”

Taking stances behind Tyler, the others looked at the cyborg.
“So... Beating up a robotic dude, huh? That's a nice change in a while...”

By now the pony made haste out to the door, leaving the humans and the cyborg behind, who simply cocked his head.
“Alright, now we don't need to worry about unwanted pony interferences.”

Not taking his eyes off the cyborg for one second, Tyler began to talk.
“You guys take a look after this one guy, I should handle this guy here. Besides: He is after me as it seems and this one survivor might help us out a bit.”

Slowly retreating, the others eyed Mechtoo as well when Rachel spoke up.
“Only under protest... And you watch it, Jones! If you die, You'll be in so much trouble, I swear to you!”

Tyler smirked before the door closed behind him and his smirk withered.
“Why fighting? Can't we talk this over?”

Mechtoo slowly shook his head.
“Not my decision, Magic. She wants it that way. I can't disobey her, so there's my problem. I have to fight you no matter what until she says otherwise! But I thank you for ordering the others out. You respect my mission to face you alone, so I will honor you with all the fairness I can muster.”

“You know it doesn't have to be this way. Whatever power can she have over you that you can't overcome?”

Now holding his sonic katana in fighting stance, Mechtoo got ready to fight Tyler.
“Against my mistress you cannot win. For every attempt more ponies and humans will suffer.”

Then the two of them stormed at each other, before Mechtoo started to move with great speed once more. But this time Tyler simply vanished. Halting in surprise for a split second, the cyborg held back, only to turn sideways quickly enough to block Tyler's attack from the side. On Tyler's hands, or rather coming out of them, were two shining bright triangular blades and each time Mechtoo couldn't block the attack with his blade, each block resulting in a wild fire of sparks, these magic blades carved deep into his armor. Finally the two opponents faced each other once more.

Halting in position, the cyborg now eyed Tyler for a moment.
“You have become quite faster since our last fight... Yet you lack the speed I have. How do you move so fast?”

Clenching his fists, Tyler gave it a grin.
“I don't. I teleport. Or rather I don't teleport into a static position, but also put movement into the teleportation. The idea struck me when I escaped your somersault kick with the debris. I don't have to move physically to fight you.” What Tyler didn't mentioned was the fact that he was almost out of teleportation spells. He had to come up with something different or the cyborg would kill him.

Now Mechtoo slammed his sword into the wall and turned back to Tyler.
“I see. Like this I can't foresee your movements either. Excellent progress! It comforts me that you are reaching a combat level I remember. Now we can fight as the men we are. No attack magic, no sword, no super-speed. Just hand to hand. It is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon.”

Blinking for a bit in surprise, Tyler nodded and went into fighting stance as the magic blades on his fists disappeared. This was promising, even if Mechtoo had a full body armor. As the fist fight went on, Tyler didn't hold back with his healing magic. As more and more punches and kicks were exchanged, Mechtoo was holding his stomach despite not being hit much at that point.

Then, all of a sudden, the cyborg seemed to have lost his patience as he suddenly punched super fast. It didn't hit, yet it gave Tyler the right idea. 'You don't obey your own rules? Then why the hell should I?' His next punch got some attack spell, yet not knowing how much his armor would take, Tyler dosed the spells high. The blow itself was gruesome. Although the punch with the fist would have been enough to paralyze the muscles for a moment, the magic added destruction to the punch. This, however, was over the edge. Not only was the armor penetrated, not only were the muscles paralyzed... No, the entire biceps and bone along with the armor were disintegrated, leaving a bloody stump.

Growling in pain, or what Tyler thought would be growling in pain, the cyborg now held the remaining stump of his arm as the blood shot out of it while stumbling back.
“ARGH!!! Aghhhh... Nnnnnggh Not again...” The blood now sprinkled out of the wound and splattered to the ground for three seconds before the wound closed and first bones recreated themselves along with the muscle tissue, sinew and skin. Looking up to Tyler, the cyborg seemed to be out of breath. “Ugh... Alright... I deserved that. I moved in super-speed, thus I broke the agreement which justified your use of magic. I wasn't cautious...” He then grabbed a capsule filled with white liquid which he injected himself after a long needle shot out of the capsule.

Shaking his head in disbelief at the sight of the fast regeneration, Tyler took a step back, his eyes still focused on the once cut off arm.
“Can't be...”

Cocking his head, the cyborg then simply shrugged.
“What can't be? Regeneration process? Please... Lots of species have that! Even more have it through technology to a lower degree. I was wrong though... You can't give me salvation... Not yet!”

“Who are you to claim such a thing?!?”

Taking a deep breath, the cyborg then walked away.
“All in good time, Tyler Jones. There are things to be done first. This whole station runs on auxiliary power. But you could reactivate the computer systems able to restore the main energy.” Staying behind, Tyler took a long look at the floor. 'He knew my name... Changelings, Descendants, Daleks, cyborg ninjas... Shit, I never was so popular!'

* * * * *

Coming outside, Rachel and Flynn were standing a few meters away with the earth pony while Sam stood near the door and approached him. Shaking his head, he pointed at Tyler.
“Man! When we saw that guy coming out, we thought you were a goner, Tyler. So he just went away again?”

“Yeah... Go figure. What about the pony?”

Nodding over to the others, Sam shrugged.
“While you and Mr. Killercyborg had your little dispute, they both calmed that guy down enough to persuade him that we are not here to harm him. He's warming up a bit.”

Coming over to the others, Tyler then nodded at the stallion who returned the favor.
“May... May I now get some answers of what is going on? I... I was on my way to planet Xaren, a gas mining planet for Methane and other useful materials. I woke up here and... and saw horrible things. Ponies shredded to pieces. There was a laboratory with all sorts of pony body parts.”

Leaning over to Tyler Rachel shook her head and lowered her voice.
“Seemingly that poor feller was kidnapped by some space pirates a long time ago and brought here. Either to be sold or for who knows what...”

Shaking his head, the earth pony looked at the humans with uncertain eyes.
“I don't understand. What stardate is it?”

“One billion seventy five million... something...” Flynn answered bluntly.

The expression of the stallion grew empty and pale in an instant.
“That's... That's one million years ahead of my time! Every... Everypony I once knew is dead! My friends, my family! My entire civilization perhaps.”

The others looked at each other with unsure glances, not sure what would be the best to say in such a moment. After a bit, Tyler looked at the stallion who now stared at the ground with an absent glare.
“We can take you with us. I'm sure we could bring you to your planet, if you wish.”

Still looking down, the stallion nodded.
“Yeah... I... I think I have an idea where to go to...”

Nodding at each other, the others then went on leading the way as Tyler began to speak.
“We will bring the guy to the TARDIS and ask the Doctor to do a little-” His sentence abruptly ended at the metallic sound behind them. As he whirled around, he barely saw the stallion standing on top of the railing. The others whirled around as Tyler raised his arm to storm at the stallion, but already the body fell. Leaning over the railing, held back by the others, Tyler could see the stallion disappear into the darkness. No scream, no sound of impact... Nothing. Taking some steps away from the railing, Tyler leaned against the wall and shook his head in shock. “This place is hell.”

Rachel shook her head.
“No shit. Don't take it personal, Jones. He made his own decision. Even if this decision was utter bullshit.

It was then when the communicator rang anew and with an emotionless “Yeah?” Tyler answered it, only to hear the Doctor's cheerful voice.
“I don't know what you did down there, Tyler... But you took out the main security systems. Good work! No bad surprises with laser turrets coming out of the ceiling or something.”

Taking a deep breath, Sam shook his head in frustration.
“Fighting a cyborg assassin in a computer room that was out to kill one sure was something considering he had that strange sword around...”

“Yeah... Buzzing like the screwdriver of the Doc.” Flynn added

Tyler nodded in agreement.
“Doctor! We are being followed and guided by a rogue cyborg who on one hand wants to kill me and guides us at the same time to make better progress. What the hell is going on here?”

Frowning a bit in thought, the stallion hummed.
“A cyborg you say? Hmmmm.... Plenty of cyborgs around in the universe.

“Yeah but surely not everyone has a sword buzzing like your sonic screwdriver!”

This caught the Doctor off guard.
“A sonic sword?!?” His mind once more began racing. Of all encounters there was nothing like a cyborg with a sonic sword. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and took a look at the TARDIS monitor. “Alright, I will see to this in good time. Unfortunately your way back again is blocked by several tons of debris. But there should be a hall with an elevator up to us. In order to get to that elevator, you four have to get through the computer core chamber.”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler chuckled a bit.
“Yeah, he already told me to do so.”

By now the Doctor became most curious. Who was that cyborg? Why did he know where to go? And most importantly: Why was he helping when he was a definite henchman of the Master. Or was he something else?

* * * * *

An hour later at the big bulky doors of the computer core room, Rachel shook her head.
“It is a miracle that we're not lost already on a space station the size of a moon. I mean this place is huge!!!”

Flynn nodded while looking around.
Yeah... Under other circumstances, without the good Doctor perhaps, we might be lost in here. But these devices of his sure make this easy. Tyler? What's your take on him?”

Trying to open a door, Tyler shook his head.
“I'm trying to have no take on him right now, Flynn. That guy is dangerous since he is surrounded by enemies most of the time. I'm a bit worried about Derpy. She's a good girl, she doesn't deserve to die because of some possible mistake of a time pony. Then again, his determination to stop losing companions seems to have grown very big. But this can only be caused by losing lots of them in the first place. Like I said: I don't know what to think of him, but I would prefer remaining cautious.” The door opened a bit and after being stemmed up, the Rangers passed through it, reaching a large hall. A large apparatus was mounted on the ceiling, maybe some assembly robot of some sorts. The hall was surely big, yet poorly illuminated.

Spotting a terminal on the ground, Tyler nodded with a smile and knelt down next to it.
“Now what do we have here...?” After wiping away some dust and rust, the inscription became readable again. “Military Alicorn Defense Operation System... That actually sounds like it could help us against the Daleks outside the station. I think we should say thank you to Celestia and Luna once we return. OK, maybe I can get the goddamn thing running and warm up the station defenses. Sam, could you see to it that we get some power here? We have a terminal, but the power is down from it.”

Nodding, Sam looked around until he found a hatch to climb through.
“Alright” Climbing down, Sam was in some sort of maintenance area. It was dark and dusty and the air smelled timeworn. Obviously no one had been here in eons. Finding several levers, he switched them all on until one of them turned out to be the main breaker unit. “Bingo!”

More and more lights turned on in the station and the hall they were in now turned out to be in worse shape than first thought. As Tyler found that the terminal had power to run, he started to look into it at once. He was surprised he could operate an alien machine God knows how old, but if the TARDIS managed to make them understand different languages, it certainly could also make them read all languages. As he entered the system, he managed to start a boot-up routine.

On his way back, Sam then had the maintenance corridor lit up. It was then when he saw it. A logo he first saw during the Canterlot invasion. A logo or rather crest of a dreaded cult. Making haste back, Sam began to yell.
“STOP! NO!!! TYLER! THAT THING IS AN INVENTION FROM THE DESCENDANTS OF TACITUS!”

“What?!?”

But before Tyler could return his attention towards the terminal again, it gave an audible message ring, followed by a text to speech announcement.
"Boot-up complete"

Slowly standing up, Tyler got back to the others as they stared at the assembled and hanging robot interface that now turned to them. A yellow lens stared at the humans, before the audio speaker gave it a go.
"Oh.... I-I-I-It's you..."

The voice was male from what they could hear through all the stuttering and quite more pleasant and melodious than the Dalek voice. Seemingly the voice algorithms of the robot were heavily damaged after all that time. Looking over to the others, Flynn arched a brow while pointing at the robot.
"Do we know that thing?”

"I-I-I-It's been a lo-ooo-ooo-oo-ong time...” the robot then continued as it was carried over to them. “How have -ave-ave-ave you four been? I've been really busy being aaaaaaaltered and misused by-by-by-by several alien races. You know-ow-ow-ow-ow, after you disassemble-emble-emble-embled and BANISHED ME INTO SPACE."

Gritting her teeth, Rachel shook her head in surprise.
"We did WHAT?!?"

A tractor beam was shot at Flynn and levitated him above ground while the others were grabbed by robotic arms. One by one the humans were captured and brought in front of the reactivated computer core. Feeling the pressure in his body rise, Tyler screamed up in pain, causing the robotic body to come closer to inspect him.
“OK, look-k-k-k-k: This isn't Equestria and by the current stardaaaaaate I read our last confrontation liiiiieeeees-lie-lie-lies countless of ages in the past, I think it's only proper not to kill you in an instant, b-b-b-but to study these other two inside of you that defeated me, you bipedal monster.”

A hidden shaft opened into the ground and right above it, the humans were simply dangling in the robot's mercy. “I must say though... Since you aaaaall- Since you all went through all the trouble- trooouuuble to reactivate me, you must really, really love to kill. I've learned to love it too-oo-oo-oo, but there are some things that we have to take care of first.” Then the humans were released all at once and fell down the shaft. In midst of the dark, Tyler fired a flare into the direction they fell and spotted the others, one by one, he teleported down to their height and pulled them in so they could take a hold on him.

Looking at the fast passing walls of the shaft, Rachel shook her head.
“Tell me that you can teleport us back to the surface, Jones!”

As the harsh wind blew through his hair, Tyler shook his head.
“Can't do that so fast... But here is what I can do...” In the next moment, a big magic sphere surrounded all of them and their descent slowed down to a large degree.

A sigh of relief followed.
“Good... We won't end as human pancakes”

But Tyler gritted his teeth.
“Hang on to me. The sphere only levitates me, but none of you...”

Nodding, Rachel looked him into the eyes, their faces inches away.
“Alright... But don't try anything funny. I'll bite your nose!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the TARDIS, Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof down.
“OK. this is stupid!T-man, Flynn and the others are looking outside, risking their lives facing Celestia knows what and we sit here doing nothing?”

AJ leaned back and nodded over to Fluttershy and Rarity.
“She's right.”

Twilight shook her head. Rainbow was so eager to help, she didn't see the possible threat.
“Rainbow, the Doctor said we should wait here. That it's too dangerous for us to go outside the TARDIS.”

Pointing to Twilight, AJ grinned.
“Now she's right.”

“Oh yeah? Well since when do we follow the orders of a stranger if our special someones are in danger?” Rainbow now snapped at Twilight.

“They're both right.” Applejack stated with a grin.

Taking flight, Rainbow then headed for the front door of the TARDIS.
“Yeah, well... I'm not going to wait here for their return. I'm going to look for them and help them out.” Without further hesitation, she then left the TARDIS.

Twilight facepalmed before she turned to the others.
“Come on! I have a very bad feeling about this.”

Meanwhile miles below, the human rangers landed on top of a mountain of metallic debris. The hall they were in now was huge as well and several pipes lead down from the ceiling. Sam wrinkled his nose.
“The junkyard... How nice! I'm sick and tired of getting tossed around. What are we? Errand boys? Now how long will it take us to find a way up again?”

A screen activated near them, seemingly belonging to a disposed machine, yet now reactivated to communicate. A familiar robotic voice emitted from it.
“I see you managed to survive the fall. That comes to no real surprise, but it gave me enough time to re-assemble my routines. These vocal algorithms were so rotten, they reminded me of you. Just sit tight in there while I get you some companions to play with... They will be-”

In the next moment the screen was shot broken by a magic projectile. Looking around, Tyler shook his head.
“Which basically means that we should get going. Come on, folks!”

Climbing over several dozen piles of debris, the humans slowly recognized the stronger heat. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Sam took a look around.
“Man, what is this? A giant smelter?”

Rachel pointed at a doorway blocked by some debris.
“Seems to me this station was built around this computer core a long time ago and as they kept building, they had to manufacture minerals and ores as well.”

Once they were over a certain mountain of debris, the human rangers were shocked in awe at the sight in front of them. Three all too familiar shapes were lying in front of them. Ruined, but still noticeable.
“War citadels... but bigger and more technical. It looks like the Descendants tried to build spaceships with their citadel design.”

Tyler shook his head in disbelief. This was simply unreal.
“What in the world happens in the future? Or happened if you will... And it WILL happen in our lifetime if that thing, this computer system recognizes us four.” Making careful ascent and descent over the fields of debris, the rangers slowly made their way through the massive junkyard.

Tossing away several light parts of debris, Tyler then began welding the heavier parts to pieces so they could pass through. It was then when they reached a longer corridor, who was fortunately free from debris. The air was cooler here and the air seemed to move a bit. As they went along, the communicator activated and the Doctor's voice sounded off.
“Tyler? What is going on? I see here that the power to the station is partially getting re-enabled more and more and the systems are booting up, but at the same time you descended about five miles instead of going up. What happened?”

Taking the communicator, Tyler gently shook his head while looking back.
“It seems we ran into a remnant of our past... Or rather our future that is still out to happen.” Gritting his teeth, the Doctor kicked the ground a bit. This was getting tedious with the time-line. His eyes however shot open as Tyler continued. “Doctor? Do you know anything about the Military Alicorn Defense Operation System?”

The stallion closed his eyes.
“MADOS...”

“Yeah... Something like that. He told us something about companions coming to play. Now Doctor... Is there anything we should know about this now?”

The Doctor now thought in overdrive once more. The Master, the Daleks, the weeping pegasi... Someone had put great effort for things falling into place. And now this. 'When they come, they come all at once. This Darkness, I really give her that. She is one hell of a mastermind.' Opening his eyes again, he looked at Derpy.
“Listen, Tyler... If you see something resembling robotic ponies...” Derpy gasped a bit and the Doctor nodded as he continued. “Just run! Don't try to fight them on your own.”

Looking at the others, Tyler arched his brows.
“Uh... Alright? Robotic ponies... Yet another nightmare to come, eh? It never gets old...”

Derpy now approached the Doctor with a worried expression.
“Doctor... Cyberponies now as well?”

Shaking his head, the stallion then stood in front of the mare.
“No need to worry if we stick together and hurry. We have a job to do as well, Derpy. Let's do it and leave as fast as possible.”

Meanwhile, while Tyler was stowing the communicator away, Flynn and Sam both shook their heads.
“You think this computer thing really has a robot army for us to fight?”

Fighting a chuckle, Tyler then rolled his eyes.
“You are right, Flynn. They should stand in line after the Daleks.”

* * * * *

While Derpy and the Doctor went along the corridor, the mare looked out for any suspicious shadow. While the Doctor halted in his movement, some speakers activated inside the station.
“Battalions 1 to 2785 dead. Battalions 2786 to 3012 out of order. Battalions 3013 to 3015 functional in cryo-sleep. Activation routine started. Launch emergency upgrading from cryo reserves.”

Looking up to the speaker, Derpy shook her head. This made
What does this mean, Doctor?”

Gently kicking a robotic pony head aside, the Doctor shook his head.
“It means that there are 3000 mechanical nightmares waking up and soon they will wake up more victims out of their sleep just to transform them into nightmares themselves. Under other circumstances and with a fully functional TARDIS I would fight them head on... But not with such very important ponies... And humans.”

Just when the two of them wanted to continue, a screen activated beside them, showing a yellow ocular.
“Ah! You are here, too. The archives mention you and your machinery, yet I have yet to analyze it.” Derpy now pointed at a camera looking at them and the Doctor nodded. “Please remain where you are. Some of my minions will soon-”

The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver and switched the monitor off in mid-sentence.
“He is getting tedious again. MADOS... I thought we had taken him out for good in the caverns of Miridas Prime.”

As he turned around, he saw Derpy staring at something behind him, slowly backing away.
“What? What is it?” Turning around, the Doctor booped his muzzle on the armored suit of a humanoid figure. Taking two steps away, he gulped at the sight of it. “You... You're that cyborg Tyler talked about!”

“And you are in deeper trouble than you think, Doctor...” the cyborg replied in return. When the Doctor went into fighting stance, the cyborg gently shook his head. “I'm not here to kill you or those with you, Doctor. I am here because I have to be here, simple as that. And you can't ever hope to kill me. It is impossible, Doctor… Believe me, I tried. In oh so many ways… I tried blood loss, suffocation, blowing up and poison… I've tried kinetic and energy weapons. Nothing! Nothing brings me down permanently. Not even the vacuum of space. And the millions of years I have witnessed are more than enough. I am tired of life. One may think this cybernetic suit speeds me up. In fact, it slows me down. A cage that keeps me from going so fast I would harm others.” He then looked at the Doctor and shook his head. “And you? You should heed your own warning and run, Doctor! This adventure holds nothing but death for you. Yes… I remember what happened. Or what is still going to happen to you. Where Daleks and Cyberponies and all the other horrors of the universe failed to kill you, the deeds of one man and one man alone will result in the Death of the Doctor! I saw so myself.”

Determined, Derpy glared at the Cyborg.
“You give this the meaning of a fixpoint… But Mister Jones would never-“

“I said nothing about him killing the Doctor in person…”

This caused the Doctor to shake his head.
“That man is many things, but not a coward. He would never stand idly by and watch it happen!”

A chuckle now escaped the metal visor of the cyborg.
“Oh, not only did he watch it happen, he MADE it happen! As he laid witness to all the terrors of the Alicorn War, he made a decision, an oath that would end you as well. An oath you told me you once made yourself.”

“What oath?”

There was a moment of silence between the two of them before the cyborg uttered his reply,
“No more!”

This prompted the Doctor to look down, to think the situation over. It WAS the same oath he took once. How could his and Tyler’s time lines be interwoven like this? A decision was the most powerful weapon a time traveler had in his arsenal to fight the future. This looked awfully a lot like a fixed point in time. So Tyler helped someone in the past who now came back as the Darkness? Or did he fail in a task and Darkness was coming? And all of this begged one essential question. A question the Doctor never asked and was unable to see yet. 'The Daleks knew of Tyler's presence in this time before he even came here and were told so by the Master. But how did the Master gain this knowledge? Who had told him about it? It has to be someone of importance who is close to Tyler in his very own time-line. But who would live long enough to...'

His eyes darted back to the screen now showing Tyler after the cyborg had pointed his sonic sword at it. The question of where that cyborg had learned to build a sonic sword lingered in the Doctor's head, yet other things were of greater importance now. 'Is Tyler sparing the Darkness Sisters for some reason? But what madness would drive him to let them escape?' Thinking fast the Doctor then collected as much facts in his minds as he could gather. 'Or maybe fortunate for him... Only an alicorn can kill another alicorn and he lacks the horn of one. Unless...' Now an even greater concern grew in his mind. 'Alicorn offspring...'

Coming one step closer, the cyborg now chuckled beneath his visor,
“Your mind is in overdrive. You start to think that somehow some alicorn is the Darkness that is coming. Your reputation precedes you. But it's not that simple. Because until now you lack the final piece to the puzzle, the one fact to solve the mystery.” He then turned around and headed towards the next door. “I must go.”

The Doctor and Derpy exchanged glances before they looked at him again.
“Where to?”

Looking back, the cyborg then shook his head as he shrugged. “Don't know yet. I know that I will see the others before the end, but after this adventure here... I will never see the others again... ever.”

* * * * *

In the meanwhile, far below. Flynn stretched his limbs.
“Hey folks... Don't mind me, but I'm going for a quick scout route.”

Tyler stretched out his arm to state a protest, but Flynn was already in the go and several hundred meters away. Grumbling a bit, he shook his head.
“That's Rainbow's influence on him. Come on! We have to follow him in case that moron manages to run into trouble.”

Finally at a pleasant enough speed, Flynn scouted several of the halls in their route. Many lead into dead ends and knowing that would definitely help in the ascent. But as he stopped at one of the halls, he managed to hear screams of terror in the distance. 'What in the world...?' Approaching the source of the screams, he found several ponies being held in line by something best described as robotic ponies. Gulping a bit, he took cover and watched them. The robot ponies lead the normal ponies into several chambers, where all the screams were coming from as each time a wave of sparks emanated from the chambers. On the other side a new robot pony emerged. A cold chill ran through his spine and he went backwards to retreat. Whatever these robots were doing, they were transforming ponies into more robots.

Yet halfway on the way to the others again, one of these robots noticed Flynn as he entered a new corridor.
“Halt! Intruder alert! Protocol orders that all intruders must be deleted!”

Taking a step back, Flynn suddenly heard an all too familiar voice he least expected now.
“Oh no you won't!” Coming in fast, Rainbow kicked the head of the cyberpony, what prompted it to fall over and slide over the ground for some meters. Coming to his aid, she hovered beside him. “You OK?”

Shaking his head in surprise he looked up to her.
Rainbow! What the fuck are you doing here? You were to stay in the TARDIS!”

But before they could argue about it, the cyberpony got up again with a crack in its helmet.
“Hostile elements will be deleted!”

In an instant, Flynn pulled Rainbow in and hid with her behind a pillar as several energy projectiles shot by. Gritting his teeth, he looked at her.
“You are impossible, you know that? I'm the one with the healing boost, not you! If you were to get shot, I could never look into the mirror again!”

Yet a sly grin formed on her lips.
“And yet... You're jeans are not as loose as before, eh?” Her comment only caused him to roll his eyes. He had to think of somehing.

In the distance, the other rangers heard the shots and Tyler shook his head.
“That idiot certainly has a talent to find trouble.”

Approaching them more and more, the cyberpony was only a few meters away from the pillar and Flynn and Rainbow's cover would soon be lost.
“Delete! Del-” With a gargling sound, the cyberpony stopped in its tracks as a silver flash zipped by. Once in a complete halt at the side of the two of them, Mechtoo looked back at the robotic menace as its head was slowly cantering and fell to the ground.

Rainbow arched both brows and looked at the cyborg. “Whoa... He's even faster than you, Flynn.”

Flynn, however, raised his arm in front of Rainbow, shielding her.
“Yeah... But why does he protect us and attacks Tyler?”

Mechtoo turned around to both of them and shook his head.
“One of my directives is to ensure that the Harmony Rangers and Elements of Harmony live.”

Approaching the cyborg, Rainbow gave him a smile.
“Come on, Flynn. He saved our lives; he can't be that bad.” Approaching Mechtoo, the cerulean mare looked up to him. “Thanks! We owe you one.”

Mechtoo looked at Flynn, who was eying him with cautious eyes before he knelt down to the Pegasus in front of him. His right hand raised to her mane, yet he hesitated, his hand shivered ever so slightly before he finally patted her head.
“M-my pleasure...”

Rainbow looked over to Flynn.
“See? No problem at all.”

But Flynn looked at the motions the cyborg performed with his head and shoulders. The visor and helmet blocked the sight on the face, making the cyborg faceless. But these motions... Was this cyborg crying beneath his mechanical shell? He didn't dare to speak his mind, this was a far shot and he could be wrong. After some time, Mechtoo stood up and went away again.
“I have to go dispose some more enemies. Daleks as well as cyberponies. Once I'm done, You'll have a nice firework, I can promise you that.”

Rainbow and Flynn stayed behind, stumped. It was then when she cocked her head.
“OK, he was helpful and cool, but that last thing was just weird.”

Flynn, collected again, shook his head.
“Come on, let's head back for the others...”

Five minutes later, they met the other Rangers. Tyler shook his head.
“Alright, Ranger... Report!”

Nodding, Flynn pointed behind.
“They are transforming ponies into these 'cyberponies' as this cyborg assassin called them.”

This caused Tyler to listen up.
“You were attacked by him as well?”

“What? No... He actually got us rid of one of the cyberponies. He helped us.”

Tyler looked down in thought.
“Am I understanding you? You tell me that this guy who attacked me twice actually helped you by disposing one of the enemy?”

When the two of them nodded, Tyler held his forehead.
“This is making so little sense... Why is he doing what he is doing? Anyhow... Let's search for the others. I'm sure they are looking for you as well, Rainbow.”

Rainbow nodded and guided them back up where they found the others after a few minutes search. Not long after this they were back at the TARDIS. While Twilight scolded the cerulean Pegasus for not thinking ahead, the humans conversed a bit.
“Actually that makes our part of the bargain. We activated the defenses of the station, even if these defenses deem us a threat as well. Leaves only the Doc with his time-lock problem.”

“That won't be a larger problem anymore.” As they turned around, they saw Derpy and the Doctor approaching the TARDIS as well. “I have located the time-lock several miles below us. We will have to go down there and deactivate it. Then we can simply leave.”

“Like it's that easy, eh? Ain't that sweet?” By now a giant screen in front of the TARDIS activated and showed the face of the Master.

Sighing, Rachel shook her head as her brow twitched.
“Now look who crawls out of the woodwork.”

Tyler began to grin.
“We are coming down to whoop your little ass, you little punk!”

“Hollow threats by a companion of the Doctor...” Right now, unnoticed by the Master, a cloud of black smoke approached the time pony from behind. Seeing the surprised eyes of the others, the Master then turned around, his usually calm and threatening voice now more panicked and pleading. “What? No! I did as you told me to. NO!!! WAIT!!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!!!” The transmission ended in screaming and static and the friends were looking at each other with uncertain glances.

Tyler gulped as he nodded.
“One more down, two more to go...”

Rachel, however, shook her head.
“What? Are you out of your mind? We know of the cyborg, yes, but what about this Darkness? Fighting something with a solid body is easier than a black cloud of evil. Tyler, we aren't ready for this!”

“And you never will be!” All whirled back as the cyborg approached all of them and the TARDIS. While everyone went into fighting position, the assassin made no attempt to attack them even when holding his sonic katana. “In the name of my liege I have brought many criminals to justice and assassinated many enemies who brought great misery upon others...” Looking at Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack, he ended at the Doctor. “I have struck the fearful, the brave, the beautiful, the honest and the liars alike... And I never showed mercy upon those who couldn't be saved in their errors.” With a swift move, he sheathed his katana again and bowed his head to the Element Bearers. “Fortunately, you are none of these. It is imperative for me that you live. I've waited long for this day to come.”

Cocking her head, Twilight arched a brow.
“Why have you attacked Tyler?”

Nodding in agreement, Rainbow came to her side.
“Yeah! And why then the sudden change of mind when you defended me and Flynn? Are you a villain or one of the good guys?”

“I attacked Tyler Jones because my mistress demanded it. She demands him to be ARGH!!!” interrupted in mid-sentence, the cyborg fell to his knees as lightning shot through his armor.

Approaching him in worry, Flynn, Rainbow and Fluttershy came closer.
“What's wrong?!?”

But before they could reach or touch him, his katana was unsheathed once more and rammed into the ground between him and them,
“I am being punished for telling you parts of her plans. Don't come any closer!” In an inferno of lightning the punishment took place in front of the others, underlined by the screams of agony the cyborg gave out. After a while, the lightning ceased, the body of the cyborg steamed and smoked and the smell of burning flesh was in the air. Yet after a minute, the cyborg gasped and stood up, seemingly in no more pain. He grabbed a capsule of white liquid and raised it high, revealing a long needle beneath it before he rammed it down into his stomach in an area not as heavily armored.
“Understood!” was everything he said before he was going towards the door.

But now Tyler went into his way.
“Not so fast! How about some answers first? What's with these robot cyberponies? Why is your mistress on a station with a rogue AI and all these nightmares? What the FUCK is happening here?”

Mechtoo simply shoved Tyler aside.
“I have to repel the remaining Daleks. You on the other hand can go ask my mistress about these questions. The landing pad on which the TARDIS is standing is actually a shaft down to the reactor core. Normally there would be hundreds of compartments for safety measures, but MADOS deactivated them so the cyberponies can hunt for you unhindered. Take the elevator down until you can't go further. You will reach yet another elevator that will lead up again to the place my mistress is. There you will find all answers you seek, Doctor. And there your journey will most definitely end.

Tyler's face grew grim.
“What's that supposed to mean?”

Standing still in the doorway, Mechtoo looked back one final time.
“Tyler Jones... You are the man who will kill the Doctor.”

Tyler looked at the cyborg, aghast. But nonetheless the cyborg disappeared into the dark. On the way down the elevator shaft, Tyler looked at the Doctor. There was an unpleasant silence between all of them until Tyler spoke up.
“Do you believe him, Doctor?”

The stallion looked up to Tyler and eyed him for a second until he finally shrugged.
“I don't know... What do you think?”

“What I think?” Tyler now stated in an aggressive tone. “Heck, a cyborg assassin which attacked me over and over again to push me to the limits and was right with everything he said about where to find stuff as if he knew it in advance just told me that I'm responsible for your death! How can you be so calm?”

The elevator came to a stop after going for what felt like an eternity before they entered a corridor and stepped into a glass elevator. The Doctor shook his head while looking at Tyler.
“How can you be so excited about it? I thought it was common human belief that you are the makers of your own destiny. Relax... Many want to see me dead, this doesn't need you for monsters and terrors to come after me.”

Knocking at the windows, Sam arched a brow.
“This is NOT glass of any kind...”

Giving the glass a short look, the Doctor nodded.
“Probably Diamonium. It looks like glass, but it's as hard as a diamond. Probably strong enough to withstand several detonations. Although my sonic screwdriver could mess this up.”

Then, finally, the elevator reached the top floor and a large crystal hall surrounded by Diamonium panels stretched out in front of them. Tyler slowly shook his head.
“It's way too quiet in here. No mechanical humming, nothing...”

Coming to the side of the Doctor, Derpy shook her head.
“Doctor? I don't like this. We should head back.”

Looking around, the Doctor nodded before he saw the machine in front of them.
“Wait a second. There it is!” Coming to the machine, the time pony made haste and let the sonic screwdriver whirr aggressively. Come on... Come on!!!” Finally, the machine malfunctioned and the Doctor turned around. “Got it!”

But as he turned around, Derpy was hit by a green magical blast, catapulting her into the air and into Tyler's arms, which caused him to fly back as well and push the others back into the elevator. While being swatted away like a fly, Derpy also lost her saddlebags, which fell to the ground revealing one container of liquid and a letter.
“DERPY!!!” Stretching out a hoof towards his assistant, the Doctor then saw that the green magic also closed the elevator doors.

While the others were surrounding her and Tyler, the gray mare blinked and opened her eyes again, shortly followed by a short shake of her head.
“Now that was something... Hey! My saddlebags! MY MUFFINS!!!” Within seconds, she was on her hooves again and the others helped Tyler up. And then they saw it. A pitchblack cloud of an unknown material, maybe even Darkness itself approached the time pony, circled around it like a predator eying its new prey.

While the others tried to get the elevator doors open, the Doctor remained calm and looked deep into these two emerald eyes whose cat-slit pupils followed his every movement.
“So that’s how it is… Now I understand… All of this is a deathtrap. Yet not only just for me...” Coming towards the elevator, the Doctor then smiled. “Time for us to part, Derpy.”

Realizing of what the Doctor was up to, Derpy slammed her hooves against the elevator doors.
“NO!!! DOCTOR!!!”

Closing his eyes, the time pony shook his head with a smile.
“I said to you, that I’ll have to protect you, Derpy… No matter what, I won’t lose you. And you will always live to see another day”

“But, Doctor… I am…” Now her hoof went over her tummy.

As he saw that, he looked up to her, shaking his head with a big smile as tears ran down his face. “My Derpy, managing what no other companions managed to do… Even more reason for you to live.” Looking over to the Rangers who tried to open the door in vain, the Doctor smiled once more. “It will be alright, Tyler Jones…”

Tyler slammed his fist against the glass, trying to get a hold of it to stem it up.
“HANG IN THERE! WE’LL BE THROUGH IN A SECOND!!!”

“No you won’t… You can’t save me from this, Tyler… But this isn’t your fault. I always knew that this day would come. They said I could save all of the Rangers but one… Who would have thought that this one Ranger… would actually be me? Fret not, Tyler Jones… You can’t save me, but there will be another one you will save, so she can kill me in a few seconds…” Tyler slammed his fists against the glass more frequently as the Darkness behind the Doctor grew larger. The two giant green eyes lurked inside it, eying its prey. “But it must happen this way, you know… I don’t blame you for doing or don’t doing a thing. You are forgiven for having this destiny... always and completely forgiven.” With a happy smile on his face, the Doctor closed his eyes. “Goodbye…”

While Tyler’s hits against the nigh indestructible door grew harder and his yelling louder, Derpy looked at the Doctor, tears in her eyes. He held up his sonic screw driver and the elevator went down, getting them into safety, while he remained back to face the Darkness. With a determined look he turned around. “I’m ready… shall we begin?”

Slamming his fist against the door one last time, Tyler gritted his teeth. He couldn’t save him. Looking down to Rachel who held Derpy in order to calm her down, he felt guilt rising up in him. All his powers and he couldn’t do anything. Just as they went down a couple of floors, an explosion happened right above them. Looking up, shards of glass rained down on the elevator and a gigantic claw reached out of the building along with a dark cloud billowing from inside. Inside the claw was something and the friends could make out it was the Doctor. Then there was that distinct yellow glow that immediately got Derpy’s attention. The time pony regenerated inside the claw’s tight grasp as the claw simply squeezed the pony’s body to death once more.

In that moment, a scream went through the elevator cabin as the gray mare realized the death of her love. Droplets of blood sprinkled down the elevator shaft and the friends were forced to look away from the horror.

Once at the bottom of the elevator, they made haste to the other elevator and to the TARDIS. Yet while certain, everything was safe right now, Rachel halted and knelt down to Derpy. The heartbroken mare was silently sobbing the whole time.
“Is it true, Derpy? You are pregnant with his child?” Now the mare began to wail as if a dam was breaking and Rachel gave her a hug, patting her back. “There, there... Let it out, girl. I know I would be done for if the guy I love and expect a child from would die in front of me.”

Coming to their side, Tyler looked around before looking at them.
“Despite all reverence... We mustn't remain here for too long, girls. The enemies might lurk around the next corner.”

As the others entered the TARDIS one by one, Flynn arched a brow.
“Don't mind me asking, but why is it that the Doctor and you seemed more like adventure companions and you... you know... suddenly are pregnant from him?”

Looking down, Derpy slowly shook her head.
“Because I'm a bad mare...”

Now the others looked at her in confusion.
“What do you mean?”

“He was sleeping and I... I was in heat and... and...” A new stream of tears began to flow as she shook her head. “I took something from the Doctor I shouldn't have.”

Rachel and Tyler looked at each other before Tyler shook his head.
“If he wasn't mad at you for hearing this... Why should you be?”

Raising her head, Derpy looked at Tyler.
“What?”

“As far as I see it, the Doctor wasn't mad at you for having his foal. It didn't matter to him in that moment. He wanted you to live. Both of you.” With that Tyler went to the TARDIS and the others.

While Rachel wiped away Derpy's tears with a handkerchief, Applejack and Rainbow looked over to her.
“Ah don't know...What love makes fools of us. Poor filly. Raising a child all by herself will be hard.”

Rainbow nodded.
“You bet. I remember some stallions saying that she has a fine flank, but a relationship would be out of the question with these eyes.”

Arching a brow, AJ looked at Rainbow.
“That's not a nice thing to say. What did ya say in return?”

“Nothing, I beat them up!”

After Derpy was set again, the gray mare accompanied Rachel to the TARDIS where Tyler was headed for the command console.
“Let's hope that the Doctor managed to get us that timelock down. Otherwise we'll be right in the middle of a world of shit with all the Daleks up there.”

When Derpy saw that Tyler was heading towards the command console, she flew after him.
“No, Mister Jones! You are not instructed to fly the TARDIS!!!

Messing around with some levers and buttons, Tyler went through the center command console.
“Hell, no one here is! Not even our pilot would know how to fly this. But if we don't try, we'll die here for sure! And I'm not to let the Doctor died in vain! If you want to get us out here instead, Derpy, feel free to take command!”

Derpy didn't knew if there ever where some equine gods. But if there were, they caused a miracle to happen. The TARDIS somehow blocked the controls and had a liftoff, spinning wildly as she made her wild and irregular ascent.

Pulling at him like a madmare, Twilight frantically shook her head.
“TYLER!!! STOP IT! YOU WILL GET US KILLED!”

“LIKE HELL I WILL!!! I DON'T EVEN THINK I'M STEERING THE GODDAMN THING. BUT WITH THE DALEKS ALL AROUND THE STATION OUR BEST HOPE IS TO FLEE!” While the TARDIS slid along the walls of the shaft and caused some debris to fall down, its outer hull went through the most stress it had seen in centuries.

As the TARDIS scratched along some Daleks who already made it through in the thousands and were sweeping the station section for section, they turned around and opened up a channel to the Supreme Dalek.
“TARDIS ON ESCAPE TRAJECTORY!!! INTERCEPT! EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANIONS!!!”

Intercepting this transmission, Mechtoo glared down the shaft as the TARDIS passed him with great speed as well.
“Oh no, you won't... Not if I can help it!” At the bottom of that shaft, of that he knew, where the safety inhibitors keeping the fusion reactor from fusing the entire station into a sun. He could smash these, but while doing so he would most certainly die. And not even his regeneration could hope to cope with this. Without hesitation, he jumped over the edge and began his rapid descent towards their salvation and his demise.

As he fell, the electrocution of his body set in again. The mistress who commanded him obviously didn't wish him to die, yet this time he was not to obey her orders. When the electrocution gained strength to unbearable pain, his visor cracked and split open, revealing a set of two brown eyes. No force in the universe would deter him from this decision now.
“I was immortal... and for over 1 billion years it was good. This stunt is a once in a lifetime and that's not bad. Cuz there's no one I'd give my life for so easily... than my little Dashie...“ Tears filled his eyes as he closed them with a content smile. Only one thought filled him.

'I'm finally coming home to you, Rainbow...'

Bypassing several thousand Daleks, the assassin dived down the shaft to the reactor core, until brightness filled every inch of the Barelioth. As the TARDIS escaped the giant space station's gravitational field, a short glimpse of light shot away from the station as the fusion reactor overcharged. The station began to shrink in size as flames shot out of every square mile. In an inferno of epic proportions the station and all the Daleks and cyberponies within were obliterated as the mighty fusion reaction took place.

Looking at the monitors in the shaking TARDIS, the Rangers and ponies witnessed the spectacle. Shaking his head, Tyler fought for the words.
“It's... it's like the birth of a star.”

Twilight gasped as she remembered a private talk with the princesses and the fact that all stars were in fact deceased alicorns. Was this the way of things in this universe that powerful beings turn into stars upon death? Rainbow's eyes widened upon seeing the station turning into one giant fireball.
“It's beautiful...”

Standing next to her, Flynn looked down to her and patted her shoulder.
“Seems to me, he kept his word with the fireworks, huh?”

Looking up, Rainbow smiled.
“Yeah... He was weird in some ways, but in the end, he was awesome doing that for a mare he barely knew.”

Nodding himself, Flynn looked back at the gigantic fireball.
“That's definitely something never to forget.”

But as the fusion reaction grew, so did a pressure wave emanating from the burning remnants of the space station. Tyler,upon seeing this, gritted his teeth and turned to the others before he held Applejack and Twilight close to himself.
“HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!!! NOW!!!” What happened next was nothing more than a mixture of shaking, tumbling bodies and flames, as several instruments and walls on the TARDIS burst out in flames.

* * * * *

Minutes passed and Tyler slowly looked up in the TARDIS. It was dark and quiet and the smell of smoke was all around.
“H-Hey... Everyone alright?

Stemming themselves up one by one, the others looked up and nodded with Twilight being the one answering for them all,
“Yeah... Yeah!”

Wiping away some dust from his forehead, Sam took a look at the TARDIS interior,
“I just realized... We merely escaped the detonation, yet we are still stuck in this point in time. This damage here sure doesn't help.”

All eyes turned to Derpy, who now ducked a little.
“I... I could try at least...”

Flying over to the instruments, Derpy took a careful look at the levers and buttons, yet uncertainty was all over her face. Seeing this, Rachel only shook her head and sat down.
“Swell, stuck a billion years ahead of our time and stuck in a spaceship and timemachine we can not fly properly”

This only caused Tyler to frown at her.
“Shut up, Rachel! Derpy let the Doctor steer in all their adventures. How could she foresee that such a thing might happen?”

Coming to Derpy's side, Fluttershy and Rarity tried to give her some comfort.
“Left to say that the one who she loves so much sacrifices himself for her to see another day...”

“Take your time, darling. I know I couldn't remember anything right in a situation such as dreadful as this.”

While the others argued around, Sam knelt down to Pinkie, who kept looking at the last remaining functional monitor.
“What are you looking at, Pinkie?

Pointing at the monitor, Pinkie beamed at Sam.
“Did anyone of you bring a spaceship made out of light with you? Because I know I didn't!”

With a “What?!?” in unison, the others stormed over to Pinkie. Looking at the monitor, they saw it. The hull seemed a shimmering white silver, illuminating space by itself. Struts of light passed the TARDIS in a glittering dance of lights as the ship embraced the time pony spaceship in its aura of light. Both to the left and right the hull passed by while the TARDIS flew towards the center of the U-formed ship. Magnification levels increased on the TARDIS monitor, showing pony activity on board the ship as its crew witnessed the TARDIS approaching. A gentle tractor beam took hold of the blue booth and tugged it into the ships interior.

When the TARDIS landing noise sounded off, Sam gulped.
“Please remain on your seats while we are taking parking position... Do you folks think these are friendly? Maybe these are Descendants and pissed that we've blown up their station.”

Tyler only shook his head.
“Sam, the TARDIS was drifting in space... If they wanted to kill us, they could have done that sooner.

As he took one step outside of the TARDIS into the bright light, Twilight raised her hoof.
“Tyler! WAIT!”

But he took in one deep breath of air outside of the TARDIS.
“Breathable atmosphere...”

Stomping her hoof down, Twilight gritted her teeth.
“How reckless! You could have been killed!” Looking down to the floor, Tyler's eyes went wide for a moment. Every step he made, the floor seemed to react to, as if tiny ripples emanated from his feet with every step he made. This technology was far more sophisticated than that of Paretoka.

One by one, the others came out as well. The white walls as well as the floor and ceiling all were decorated with equine fresco and scarcely placed statues.
“Well...Scifi meets Canterlot architecture. This place looks like a palace!” Rachel stated in slight awe.

As she stepped outside, Rarity's eyes went wide. “Sweet Celestia... Look at this place! LOOK! AT! THIS! PLACE! This is- this is... There are no words to describe this!”

“A bit darn bright would point it right there, if ya ask me, Rarity...” Applejack stated while narrowing her eyes. “Hey! Wherever ya are, could ya dim the light a bit?” After a few seconds, the light dimmed to levels the others were much more accustomed to. “Thanks, Ah guess...”

Looking at the TARDIS, Tyler wrinkled his nose and shook his head while lowering his voice and leaning to Rachel.
“Typical... Once the threat is gone all is done, the cavalry steps in...” Rachel nodded in agreement. Whoever were their current hosts, they surely did nothing to repel the threat they faced mere hours ago.

Then the walls opened, revealing a big door worked seamless into the wall and leading further into the ship. A long corridor hall with several floors was stretching a few hundred meters from the door. But in this moment, a single star pony mare came forth to the friends, a gentle smile on her lips.
“I am Apase, the ship's security chief. You are the survivors from Paretoka?”

“We are... You come late several hours. Just do your goddamn duty and evacuate the remaining survivors.”

Leaning over to Fluttershy, Rarity giggled excited.
“My... Do you see that coat? This surely is some beauty these star ponies have... Maybe they could give me some advice to do that with my own coat...”

“There are some Star Ponies saying the same about other ponies. White glow may be chic in your eyes, but it's way too common among my tribe, I can assure you that.” Apase soberly replied to Rarity. Coming to Tyler, the white mare looked up to him and inspected his face. However, upon noticing the TARDIS, she seemed a bit surprised and looked up to Tyler once more.
“Oh! Sir? Are you by any chance time travelers accompanying the Doctor that come from Origin?”

Slightly baffled, Tyler shook his head while looking at the others.
“Origin? Uhhh... No, we come from Equis.”

“I see! Yes, in that case you are more than welcome. The Star Queen wishes to see you.”

“Star Queen?” Tyler now asked in surprise.

Giving a short nod, the white mare looked around.
“Indeed! All of you are invited in person to meet her right now.”

The friends looked at each other, unsure what to do until Tyler simply shook his head.
“Alright... Come on, folks... Let's hear what this queen has to say. Without a pilot manual, the TARDIS isn't going anywhere anyway.”

They were lead into a big hall, seemingly a makeshift throne room on board the ship and waited a few minutes at the base of some stairs while the white mare looked up to a door at the top of the stairs. When the door opened, she turned towards the friends, raising her hoof in a presenting manner to the door.
“Her august majesty, monarch over the seas of stars and patron of all star ponies...”

Rachel leaned over to Tyler.
“I hope she can help us out a bit if she has all that influence...” Tyler only nodded in agreement.

But nonetheless the servant continued to proclaim the introduction.
“Queen Luna!”

Tyler's head darted up the moment he heard that.
“What?!?”

The gentle steps of platinum horseshoes clanked as the monarch descended down the shining stairs and her mane and tail waved gently without a breeze. Tyler blinked twice and shook his head a bit to make clear that this wasn't some sort of dream, but it didn't change what his eyes saw. The dark chest armor of obsidian, platinum, silver and dark velvet as well as the now far more detailed tiara behind the horn. Shimmering lipstick and eye shadow only punctuated the female features of the queen's face, her mane and tail, although formerly filled with glittering stars now had shining galaxies and comets in it, enhancing the beauty of her mane even further. When she opened her eyes to glance down to the friends, her eyes slowly widened with a deep gasp. Her bottom lip shook a bit before a wide and beaming smile formed on her face.
“TYLER!!!”

Now rushing down the stairs, she made haste to him and nuzzled his chest.
“What a pleasant surprise to see you all here!” Looking behind him, she also greeted each one of the ponies and humans. “It's like a glimpse at old times, far better than any hologram or photography can resemble you all...”

Taking her chin into his gentle grasp, Tyler arched a brow with a smile.
“You? Not thou or thee?”

Shaking free of his grasp with a blush over her nose, Luna smiled.
“Oh, you don't expect me to keep that for a billion years, do you? When I heard about Paretoka, I was worried! More so when I remembered your stories from back then. But it's good to know that you managed to escape. So, where's the Doctor? I recon he flew the TARDIS to safety?”

While everyone else but Derpy grimaced over this question, Tyler shook his head.
“Ummm... No, he didn't make it.”

The revelation seemed to surprise Luna for a bit as she looked at Tyler, then down to the ground and closed her eyes.
“I... I see... Well, let me order my servants to see through my belongings if I don't have anything that could help you. You're not stranded here, my friends. I won't allow that! You will return to your time to share your knowledge with the others. But for now... Rest a bit. Forget about these wide eyed fears. On this ship nothing will harm you. Tyler?” As he and Luna shared a look, she winked at him. “On a word under four eyes, please...”

* * * * *

Half an hour later, in the chambers of the queen, Tyler smelled the sweet scents of perfume lingering in the air ever so slightly.
“Thank you for getting us back on our feet. It sure means a lot to get some peace and quiet in midst of all that troublesome time.” Looking over to her, he then smirked. “Sooo... Queen Luna, eh? Shall I bow to you?” he asked jokingly.

“Don't you dare to do that, Tyler! Frankly I miss your type of subject among the billions of subjects I nowadays rule over.”

“He, he... You mean the Lunar Republic?”

Looking over to him, Luna began to smile.
“Oh? You took a look into the libraries of Paretoka, I see. Yes, a project of mine that found great popularity among my subjects, especially among humans. Ponies, no matter what tribe, seem to find a greater liking in alicorn guidance.”

His finger slid ever so slightly over her back.
“One billion years... And just look at you: You only became more beautiful.”

Looking down with a blush, Luna then closed her eyes and smiled.
“It's charming of you to say that.”

Tyler then took a look outside to the stars.
“Have you and the others found other herd mates?”

Her ears rose and she looked a bit surprised over that question.
“Oh... uh... yes! The ones that live that is. Celestia, Twilight and me have someone. Cadance has someone, too.”

“Nice to hear... And your herd mate? Does he treat you good?”

“Frankly he has to do a lot of business. But once in a while we find time to get together. I mean we stay in contact with telepathy and magic. If I want intimacy, I can simply ask if he wants some as well. What else to do when I roam the universe while he, Twilight and Celestia remain on Equis.”

Tyler nodded in thought.
“I see... Thus Queen of the Stars, huh?”

“Once space travel was invented, I found more responsibility in the stars than the moon. I had to wait long, but my time finally came and I could shine brighter than before.” Her eyes closed with a content smile as she felt for her heart. “But I'll never forget Golden Millenia and my time with the others there. It truly was paradise. That is... until the incident.”

Tyler's brow arched.
“Incident?”

But Luna shook her head with another smile.
“Hmmm... Nothing for you to worry about, Tyler. This still is several thousands of years ahead for you... I think... Time sure flew by, I don't remember exact dates after a billion years.”

“Some things do change, huh?” He nodded as he looked into her shimmering eyes and smiled. “Fortunately, some things don't.”

Getting free of his gentle grasp, the alicorn then closed her eyes as a slight blush formed on her nose. He was flattering her again, that was sweet of him. It vanquished the fear he might see her as an old hag. When she opened her eyes once more, he could see that she didn't forget of what they both had in her past. Her eyes said enough.
“So... For old times sake... Would you sleep with me, beloved?

Slightly unnerved, Tyler arched his brows.
“What? Luna, what about your current herd mate?”

“Oh I will grant him an appropriate compensation in return. I'm sure he would love to have his way with one or another hundred mares to impregnate.”

“You really are asking me for the kick of adultery one billion years ahead of my time?” But little did she paid attention to his question. Instead she opened the doors to her chamber, where a big satin bed was waiting for the two of them. Trotting towards it, her eyes looked back to him, a wink, a laugh and a smile on her face as her wing gently slapped her flank. She was luring him in, that much was certain. “Luna, you really are a bad filly...”

“I always was your bad little girl of the night… I remember us doing worse things in our dreams. So for the sake of old times... Let me cherish these hours of ancient times like a wine ripe and precious.”

As his hands glided over her flanks, the queen's tail raised, awaiting the partner she surely lacked for quite some time.

* * * * *

An hour later Tyler returned to the others. As he passed his fellow rangers, Rachel took a glimpse at him, before she ignored him and shook her head.
“Tsk, he and Luna... It was predictable, you know that? These two are always at it...”

Once he was taking a seat between her and Applejack, Twilight looked up to him.
“Did you find out anything?”

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head.
“I think if ponies knew what I did tonight I would be a searched man throughout the universe...”

This prompted AJ to snicker.
“Oh, don't sweat it, sugarcube. Ah'm sure anypony will agree that ya can't cheat on Luna with herself.”

Twilight arched a brow and grinned.
“From our point of view perhaps. I only pity the poor guy she's with right now. You are a bad guy, Tyler... We should watch ourselves.”

Tyler leaned back and caressed the backs of his girls.
“The pressure is all mine now, girls. Think of it. Even after a billion years Luna still has such feelings for me. I seem to have made her happy in my lifetime if she's so glad to see me again.”

Then the door swung open and the queen entered the room, winking over to Tyler, who looked down and huffed a bit embarrassed.
“While we wait for my servants to find something of use, why don't I tell you a little story?”

The others looked at each other for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Sure thing...”

“Yeah, a small diversion from all the stress might do all of us some good...”

What they didn't expected was the fact that Luna then darkened the entire room, before several millions of lights began to emit from her in a vast hologram filling the room.
“Long, long ago in a time all but lost to pony memory in the center of our universe there dwelled the ponies called the Origin tribe.” The shimmering forms of five alicorn mares now became visible. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight and an unknown alicorn mare. “They who possess the power to create harmony and who united all other tribes on their world beckoned to the stars in every corner of the universe. 'Come forth!' They said... 'Come forth to receive our friendship as well!'” Three of the many stars all around them began to glow even brighter. “Their call echoed through the void between the stars and three other tribes heeded them.. Three, whose curiosity was sparked, summoned by the Origin tribe's call.”

As Luna turned her head to the right, she smiled as the pictures of these tribes began to form. “The mysterious Warp Pony tribe...” Seven ponies seemingly of pure nebular or ethereal energy suddenly appeared in space over the moon of Equis and descended down to the surface, as one gigantic asteroid obscured the light of the sun as it moved into a stable orbit and a swarm of insect like ponies, who had several eyes on their foreheads, began to surround it as only three of them came down to the surface. “The unfaltering Mantipony tribe...” Luna now said as she turned her head to the left, where a fleet of ten spaceships similar to the one they all were in now left Hyperspace and moved into orbit as well, sending down a shuttle towards the surface of the moon. “And the noble Star Pony tribe...”

Rachel shook her head and held up her hands just as Luna was about to continue.
“No disrespect, your highness, but let me stop you right there! Why? Why telling us all this? We came to learn something about the Darkness Sisters, not about the distant future.”

Luna glanced over to Rachel, blinked twice as in surprise and closed her eyes with a smile.
“Maybe to give you an impression of what's at stake. If you fail to overcome the Darkness Sisters, probably none of this will ever happen.”

Sam arched a brow and raised a finger.
“Wait a bit... The Doctor said that if we see the end result, the timeline is set in stone.”

Giving a smirk, Luna then glanced over to Sam.
“I know the Doctor quite some time longer than you, Sam. Thus, I know of rule number one regarding the Doctor.”

“And that is?”

Luna now smirked.
“The Doctor lies. Time can be rewritten, but it is a bit more complex to do so.”

Nodding in thought, Tyler looked at the last flickering remnants of the hologram Luna had cast.
“So Equis made contact with other planets? Outstanding... Far into the future though, right?”

Luna shook her head, showing some concern.
“Frankly we don't know exactly how it worked, but the diplomats we spoke with said that Princess Twilight seemingly made the first call due to the energy they recognized in her.”

The revelation let Twilight drop her jaw.
“M-me?!?”

Giggling a bit, Luna patted her shoulder.
“Don't you worry your pretty little head. I assume it will come in natural. And since you did it first must mean you were the one who understood it first.”

Flynn and Sam on the other hand began to smirk.
“One Billion years and you still don't know what caused this call? I say bullshit! You know what caused it, but you don't want to tell us!”

“Your reputation of having great power of observation still precedes you, Rangers. I told you enough already, where would be the fun in knowing what to do? Or when? No, this is a mystery that will unfold itself in good time.”

Coming to the side of the queen, a star pony maid stretched up to her and whispered something into her ear, causing Luna's ears and eyebrows to rise up high.
“I see.” Turning towards the ponies and humans again, she smiled at each one of them. “My friends... You are in luck! We have found a data disc left behind from the good Doctor.”

Trotting over to Derpy, Luna then looked down to her with a smile.
“Derpy Hooves, stand up tall!” Nuzzling the Pegasus, the queen leaned her head on hers. “Your pain is the hardest now, you bow to no one today.” Derpy gulped down and wiped the tears out of her eyes, before she forced a smile and nodded. Luna then continued. “You were the Doctor's friend and assistant. I will hand this disc to you. Use it and bring these humans and ponies back to their own time, where they must continue their quest. And bring the news of the Doctor's death to myself and my sister in your time, they will help you out with everything you might need.” Turning towards the others, Luna then nodded. “I must now say farewell to all of you. It was such a pleasure seeing all your faces once more.”

* * * * *

Coming into the TARDIS, Rachel looked over to Tyler.
“Well, Jones? What do you think?”

“She knows far more than she wants us to know. Who would have thought that one of my girls could have such secrets from me? Or two of her herd mates that is...” He nodded over to Twilight. “Then again, this here is one billion years ahead of our time and maybe she remains silent in order to preserve history.” Coming to Derpy's side, Tyler sat down beside her. In her hooves rested the disc that would bring them all home. Looking into her tear-stained eyes, he sighed. “Derpy... I'm not asking if you are alright. Anyone in your place would be devastated. But we need you to steer the TARDIS home. Can you do it now?”

“What would it matter now?” The gray mare stated emotionless.

Tyler looked at her. No one could blame her for being that way after losing the one and only love she knew.
“It would matter to him. You are now responsible for the TARDIS. And you don't want this to grow up in a TARDIS floating in space, do you?” With this he pointed his index finger at her belly, arching one brow while he did it.

“I... I guess that's right.” Derpy then replied. Standing up, her hoof went through her mane. “I'm an idiot! Falling in love with the one stallion in the entire universe that is constantly surrounded by enemies... What was I thinking?”

Shortly after the friends looked at each other, Rainbow shook her head.
“Derpy, are you bucking kidding? You are deemed nothing more than a clumsy klutz in Equestria! And now look at you! You were living a life full of action at the side of the one you love! And saving us and thousands of other ponies on Paretoka! Even I have yet to manage that with Flynn.” Resting her forehead on Derpy's, Rainbow then looked her into her crossed eyes. “You listen to me right now: That Doctor saw in you what all of us couldn't see. I won't allow you to say that you are an idiot! For you see... We others were the idiots.”

Now the others looked at Rainbow while Derpy looked up to her.
“Huh?”

Yet Rainbow simply nodded.
“It took the death of the Doctor for all to recognize what he left behind. And that's not this handy TARDIS of his. It was this hell of a loyal companion, sticking with him until the end.”

Now fighting against her tears, Derpy gulped down a big lump in her throat.
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash. Thank you all.” She then turned around and inserted the disc into the drive it was meant to be.

A holographic picture of a stallion appeared and he looked around with a smile.
“Emergency manual for the TARDIS. What? Are they actually expecting me to read all of this? Oh please, as if anypony would read this on Gallopfrey...”

A distant voice then interrupted.
“Come on, Doctor... You know: For kids!”

The stallion, seemingly the Doctor in an earlier regeneration phase narrowed his eyes before he pointed a hoof at where he was looking.
“You know as well as I do that we time ponies have all become sterile since the incident! Kids... Children, tsk yeah right! To do that something extraordinary had to happen! You bet your flank on it that if any mare would become able to have my child, I would definitely make sure who caused this. And how! Alright... Let's get this over with...” He then looked at Derpy. “Greetings!”

While Derpy focused on the Doctor's image, the others could see her trembling ever so slightly. If this was right and she had been with the Doctor and pregnant from him, then either she or he had been altered in a way. Both possibilities were bad.

* * * * *

A few seconds after the TARDIS had vanished, a door opened behind Queen Luna and a black unicorn with dark cerulean mane entered the room. Not looking behind, Luna still looked at front.
“I assume everything went according to plan?

With a smirk, the dark alicorn came to her side.
“Oh yes... most certainly. Crescent is talking to him right now, he demands some very difficult answers. I will see to that myself later on. That disc of his got them back into their time?”

“I think so.” Luna stated.

“Good! Otherwise we would have a lot to explain to him. It was his one demand for cooperation. And I know nopony being better at keeping secrets.”

Closing her eyes, Luna took a moderate breath.
“Celestia, Twilight and Cadance have stated concerns about these procedures.”

“Oh, did they? Well, ask them if they want another golden millenia catastrophe. I'm sure he will be delighted to do that one more time...”

Opening her eyes once more, the Queen of the Stars and Night looked up into the sky with a determined look.
“Never again! It almost ruined him.”

“There you have it. This is the sole reason we are doing all this. Because we all desire harmony instead of conflict. And we all know that one thing IS certain, even if we spook the rest of the universe with it already: Darkness IS coming! And we will need him then.”

Author's Note

Not proofread yet since proofreader is busy in RL; any hints to mistakes are welcome.
Depiction of future Luna was inspired by this picture

15 - Interlude - The darkest day *

The guards of Shadowgate were highly nervous. The plains around the shadow pony capital city were cloudy that day, but this was to none of their concern. The fiery clouds in the distance rapidly approaching the coastline were much more troubling than a few drops of rain. Alarming the king and his son at once, both came to the edge of the capital, where they could see above the canyon the city was build in. Slowly and surely, the clouds of fire encircled the city until they engulfed half of it.

And then it happened. Several war citadels broke through the fiery clouds and revealed a mighty armada of about a hundred citadels. In midst of these armada the Nagohod left the clouds and obscured the sunlight with its enormous shadow. Widespread panic filled the streets as ponies ran in sheer terror as the sky above them was filled with stone.

The mere sight of Nagohod, this enormous beast of a war citadel, caused the shadow pony guards to tremble in fear. Yet discipline and training hardened their hearts good enough to stand their ground at the side of the king. Looking at the monarch, they awaited his command.
“Your highness...”

Nodding to his captain of the royal amasian guard, King Arthax glared at the mighty fortress.
“Yes, Mirotex... This is truly the darkest day in recent amasian history... The Alicorns of Darkness have returned...” His voice was calm, yet in his mind all alarms rang like crazy. An enormous armada was hovering over his capital and encircled it. Surely they came with no good intentions.

It was then when he heard an all too familiar voice.
“Father!”

Whirling around, he saw his son approaching him from behind.
“Irtex! You shouldn't be here! The catacombs of Shadowgate won't shield us against their rage, my son. But they will lead out of the city. We all have to abandon the city. You must lead these ponies here away while I try to get as many ponies out of the city!”

“But father, I-”

Nodding his head, the king smiled down to his son.
“I know you wish to help me. But it has to be like this. Should I perish, Amasia will have need for your guidance. You will have to go a different path than I go, my son.” Placing a kiss on his forehead, he then looked at the captain of his guard. “Mirotex, take good care of him.”

Answering with only a brief nod, the stallion took the prince and carried him away, much under the protest of the young colt, who called out for his father.

* * * * *

Up above, the two black alicorns stepped towards a window and conversed a bit.
“Two days of travel, a record speed for this giant hunk of stone fortress.”

“It comes to no surprise if you consider that WE are the ones levitating it, not several dozen unicorns. And the levitation field we span around Nagohod also gave the surrounding citadels a speed boost.” Looking down to the city of Shadowgate, Lamira wrinkled her nose. “The city truly has grown like a cancer... They've abandoned their traditions of regulated births... Seems these rotten mortals have forgotten their rightful lords.”

Asira let out a cruel laughter,
“Nothing we can't help with, Lamira... We will teach them who was always calling the shots.”

Muzzling her sister, Lamira smirked.
“I am glad you think the same. Asira, my beloved sister. Let us open Nagohod's eyes to open theirs as well.”

Not a minute later the eyes of the gigantic pony bust at the front of Nagohod opened, Lamira and Asira flying in each eye socket. As they began charging their horns, their manes and tails began to go ethereal, glowing orange, then red hot magma and bathed the gigantic eye sockets in a hellish light.

Down below, the Shadow ponies gazed up to the spectacle,
“THERE! THE GIANT PONY BUST HAS OPENED ITS EYES!”

Slowly, but surely, the red glow in the bust's eyes made the shadow ponies forget their fear and anxiety as their own eyes began to glow red. Coming out into the open, several looked up with content smiles in their faces as the hypnotic effect of the light drew them in.
“This is beautiful...”

Others, however, those who didn't look up made their escape and with their shadow powers they dematerialized and fled through the thinnest cracks and openings down to the deepest catacombs, where deep below thick tunnels gave way to an escape route, which was quickly filled with an almost never-ending stream of floating shadow.

By now Lamira chuckled sadistically. Slowly the red hot magma shade of their manes and tails brightened up to a blazing white hot one and grins of madness came to the two dark sisters. The time was up.

In the next moment, two bright plasma bolts were speeding down onto the surface, right into the center of the capital city. Whoever was left in the city had barely the time to flinch as the detonation vaporized everything. A dome of destruction arose from the canyon the city was build in and the following detonation blast grew with a steady horizontal speed, destroying everything within its path like a steamroller, never growing in height. The inferno slowly consumed every inch of the capital and flooded fiery death into the deepest corners of the canyon, causing it to crumble apart on the edges, where the stone was be exposed to the most stress.

* * * * *

At the very same moment, Princess Celestia, currently walking on her way to the other representatives, came to a sudden halt. Feeling a great loss of life somewhere on the planet choked her for a moment. It was distant, but so strong she could feel it even here. Leaning against the wall, she struggled to control her breath again which by now had fasten in pace. While almost hyperventilating, her eyes looked around in mild panic. Something horrible had happened right now and alicorn magic was behind it.

A maid came around the corner and spotted the princess, only to gallop over to her.
“Princess Celestia!”

Getting her composure again, Celestia took a deep breath and nodded at the maid.
“I'm alright again. Just a bit too much stress, I guess. Don't be troubled for my sake.” With an unsure smile the maid nodded and went on her way while Celestia went on to the conference hall. She had to be careful from here on. Ponies were worried enough already even without her behaving oddly. Still, the feeling she experienced was most troubling. More so knowing the fact that the delegates from Amasia agreed to come, yet never arrived. When she entered the conference hall, the Masar and Griffons were already sitting in the chairs in front of a podium. The zebrican delegates were missing as well, declining to sit in one room with Masar. She had to meet with them alone.

General Marek recognized the alicorn mare at once and approached her.
“Princess Celestia, when do we start the conference? Obviously we all are a bit... eager to finally start this conference.”

“We will begin right now, General. I will say some words and then we will evaluate who can commit how much to our cause, if anything at all.” she replied.

Now facing all the high officials of Equis, Princess Celestia nodded at them with a kind smile, even while worrying in the back of her head. Fortunately the ponies were catering them with snacks and drinks to calm their patience. What puzzled her a bit were these uncommon robes some of the unicorns were wearing. Abandoning the thought, she waved it away as some new Canterlot fashion.
“Thank you for taking seats. It comforts me that our efforts to a temporarily non aggression pact were so fruitful. I have summoned all of you here for one purpose: To defend our countries at all cost. The Darkness Sisters and their Descendants of Tacitus must be stopped or others will suffer under similar attacks like Equestria. You are all briefed on their destructive force, each one of you was shown what their war citadels can do. Weather alteration and bombardments to strike our subjects with terror and fear are only the beginning.”

One of the unicorns approached her with a kind smile that slowly turned into an eerie one.
“Oh, if you ask me, you haven't seen it all!”

By now the other unicorns gasped in surprise. Several griffons arched their brows as the princess leaned a bit forward.
“And who are you then? You are not of the castle staff!”

Sensing the danger, the Masar began to growl at the unknown mare and the one or another griffon sword was readied to be unsheathed, should this mare try an assassination attempt. Not seeing this, the mare bowed before Princess Celestia.
“I am a mere messenger from the mistresses I serve. They wish to see you.” And without further ado, she lit up her horn, causing a hologram to appear above her. Her eyes now empty, the mare was nothing more than a husk, but the hologram was very full of life.

Sneering down, Asira looked at the delegates and representatives in the hall.
“So... You're finally banding together? Don't let me stop you. I rather have it that the enemy is gaining strength. And that very strength is what will make destroying your nations that much more fun.” Looking down to Celestia, Asira grinned. “But you don't have a fighting chance. You don’t know who we are or what we plan…. You will never see our attack coming!”

Grinko stepped forth and growled at the hologram.
“And who are you to intrude here, not even introducing yourself? This is outrageously rude, even among enemies!”

Ignoring the Masar prince, Asira continued to look at Celestia.
“Where are the four monkeys who so carefully protect you and your country now? Where are the pony agents you call the Elements of Harmony? They all are not here...”

Gritting her teeth, Celestia glared back at Asira.
“If you don't know where they are, then they are safe!”

Shoving Asira out of the hologram, Lamira now smirked at Celestia.
“Then this is it, Princess Celestia… Today marks the beginning of the end of Equestria’s defenders…”

Seeing the maleficent smirk of Lamira, Celestia looked around and saw several of the unicorns again. Under their robes a red glow emerged and their eyes began to shine red, unfortunately unnoticed by anyone else as all were paying attention to the hologram, not the servants in their midst. Raising her left hoof, she shook her head in realization. 'Alicorn amulets!'
“NO!!!”

But it was too late. Several detonations were caused by the alicorn amulets as the unicorn Descendants simply detonated themselves, causing heavy collateral damage. Three of them appeared by teleportation and pointed their horns at Celestia, Grinko and Prince Griffith before they teleported away with them. When the dust settled down, only the golden tiara of the Princess of the Sun remained.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, deep within the Ranger HQ, Vinyl Scratch heard a loud rumble throughout the base from her current position, the command room. This rumble was too sudden to be an earthquake,
“What the hay?” The rumble returned, this time even stronger, louder and, what frightened her the most, closer. It was in this moment when the Ranger knew that these weren't any rumbles, but detonations on the surface coming down into the base.

It was then when a griffin looked up from a data terminal,
“Ma'am! Internal systems are shutting down all over HQ!”

And all of a sudden, they were everywhere. Descendants of Tacitus teleported into the halls and while some of them overwhelmed the researchers in the laboratories, others in the assembly halls overcharged their alicorn amulets and detonated, destroying vital assembly lines. Professor Mindfire and Trixie were taken by surprise as their colleagues were attacked, but fought back with spells of their own, before Mindfire got a hold on the new paintball rifle prototype and opened fire with it, killing the Descendants in the laboratories with short controlled bursts resulting in lethal wounds as the blood projectiles exploded upon impact.

Trixie wanted to say something, but the announcement of the speakers made her stop,
“This is HQ Command: Security Status Red! Repeat, Sec-” In the next moment, Vinyl was hit from behind with a fire extinguisher and fell to the ground, halting her warning to the entire base.

When she rolled on her back, she saw the earth pony stallion towering above her with an empty smile on his face as if not at his senses as he raised the extinguisher high to kill her with the next blow,
“In Tacitus name...”

But a short attack spell into his testicles caused him to collapse in pain long enough, so that Vinyl could get up again to nail him down for good,
“What have you done?” she barked at him while charging her horn, only seeing this mindless sneer on his face, what truly enraged her. “ANSWER ME!!!”

Stemming himself up from a defeated Descendant, the griffin officer from before stood up, blood running from his forehead.
“Ma'am! We're picking up movements from the lower levels! Multiple sensors have been tripped. We have a breach!” Vinyl knew a lot about strategy thanks to the time spent as a Ranger and her time as an agent for Princess Luna. Deep within she knew that the enemy somehow must have gathered vital information for their attack today. Surely the recent attack of Mimesis gave them this information. With lots of them inside the perimeter, she had to take steps to defend this base. 'Where the hay are the human Rangers? Now more than ever we other Rangers need them.'

While the alarm howling throughout the base got her back to the situation, the pony and griffin rangers in the command center were now busy coordinating the counterstrike.
“They penetrated down to Level six before we even knew they were here.”

A griffon looked at all of the others.
“They must know our base layout!”

Looking at a screen, a unicorn mare pointed her hoof at an insignia on the attacker's uniforms.
“Intruders identified as Descendants of Tacitus special forces.

A stallion then approached Vinyl and saluted.
“Ma'am! I request to authorize a personnel reduction to Code One levels.”

Arching a brow, Vinyl then nodded.
“Major, this room must remain secured! But I get you. If we don't fight them back, it's all over!”

One mare was speaking calmly into a headset, her voice now audible in all speakers in the command center.
“All Command Center personnel: Go to Code One Defense Readiness!” At once every griffon and pony present in the command center either were tying up the captured Descendants on the floor or were taking arms. Swords and rifles were handed out and every one barricaded the command center up as a last stand.

A screen activated showing Royal Guard Captain Dusk Aegis. The meanwhile battle hardened stallion looked at Vinyl with a strict glare as she answered to him.
“Ranger Scratch, With this alarm here you are signaling that your headquarter security is severely compromised. How is that?”

Looking back to the barricades, Vinyl gritted her teeth.
“There's only one way, sir.”

Dusk's face grew grim as he looked to the side.
“The recent intruder... We were attacked on the surface as well, I can't spare forces right now. Princess Celestia has been taken by the enemy forces. All available forces are in pursuit or securing the streets. You are on your own.”

The message took Vinyl by surprise and she simply nodded before she cut the communication and headed for the exit.
“Ma'am, where are you going? We need you here!”

Standing in the door, Vinyl looked back to the others.
“I will come back, but first I need to go get some things.” 'Octavia, hang on!'

* * * * *

Back at the delegates of the other countries, the Masar and Griffons were in outrage. Maybe it was sheer luck that they didn't jump at each others throat or maybe it was because they were attacked both at once by a third party.

One of the clan leaders approached Queen Sheeris and rested a paw on her shoulder.
“My queen, are you alright?”

Channeling her wrath, not to scream like a hysterical little kitten, the queen caged her anger deep within while holding her face with her right paw, forged it into something far worse. Determination. There he stood, before the enemy took him from her. The place where Grinko stood before he was teleported away was still steaming a little.
“...The ecstasy of steel and flesh... sweat and muscle and rage...” Lowering the hand from her bleeding face, she revealed a bleeding wound, a slash that barely missed her left eye. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deep, making the shivering appearance of being nigh orgasm before whispering her decree. “...War...”

Leaning forward, several of her advisers and the leaders of the other clans were awaiting her explanation.
“My queen?”

Turning around, Queen Sheeris opened her eyes, a certain fire of bloodthirstiness raging in them.
“For my son's sake... WAR!”

An aggressive growl rose from the throats of every Masar and the messengers of every clan stormed to the front and knelt in front of her before she continued, a steady growl in her voice,
“I will aid the equestrian forces with my entire Masar Navy! Every raider, every mercenary, every pirate... Tell every Masar that Queen Sheeris has called to arms. Fresh and live meat on the battlefield along with honor for generations to come for every Masar following me. I will let the oceans burn with our infamous thirteen fleets. No prey takes my son hostage and goes unpunished! NO PREY KILLS A MASAR AND LIVES!!! Our artillery batteries will pluck them from the skies and our warships will turn their feeble bodies to ashes as the sea shall turn red!”

General Marek looked over to the queen. Her anger was understandable, yet looking over to the spot Prince Griffith stood a few moments ago, there was a mixture of fear, anger and determination in his mind. Approaching one of his officers, he nodded in a strict manner. “Go to the Nephelion at once and start her up. We need to inform the king as soon as possible: Prince Griffith was taken by the enemy. Recommendation: Total War.” The officer looked at him with wide open eyes for a second before the General nodded. This was everything it needed for the griffon to comply.

* * * * *

Princess Celestia came to her senses again, the blur of her vision slowly ceased and the world arose from darkness. She had been unconscious for a bit. Looking around, she recognized the uncomfortable boundaries she was in. A set of limitation rings was set upon her horn, normally one would suffice to inhibit magic, seemingly the Descendants were taking no risks with an alicorn. Trying to move her wings equally turned out useless, yet way more painful due to wing cuffs, inhibiting her ability to fly as well. 'Long-range teleportation' she thought. Risky and dangerous if done by unicorns and able to knock the traveler out. Looking to her side, she spotted Prince Griffith and Grinko in other forms of bondage. Strong shackles of iron were tied on their wrists and while Griffith had his own set of wing cuffs, Grinko was wearing a muzzle, rendering him unable to bite.

Getting up, she caught a glimpse outside, where an inferno was in the air. War citadels bombarded the ground below the shuttle she was in. These things were similar to the war citadels the Equestrians described, but were different altogether. Armored with plates of black crystal these war citadels began their approach from the south-east and bombarded the ground without prejudice as dark shuttles encircled them and performed strafe runs on the streets. Within minutes Celestia could witness that the entire empire was a blazing inferno on the ground as well as in the skies. What terrifying magic was this? A cold ran up her spine, a feeling of uneasiness she never felt before. The sky was filled with clouds of fire, making it impossible to counterattack this mighty armada right now.

And then she saw it as the shuttle passed another patch of clouds. Nagohod was flying right above a giant crater inside the canyon landscape. The city of Shadowgate was nothing but a field of ruins beneath it. And the energy emanating from this enormous war citadel felt like an icy cold dagger deep within her heart. Whoever or whatever was on this fortress was responsible for this slaughter on the ground. And Celestia's expression grew from surprised to determined. Slowly the rings on her horn began to accumulate heat. It was a daring move to try this. These rings were meant for unicorns, but were still able to withhold her magic to the point that her spells were immediately dispelled. However, they wouldn't hold forever. It was only a question if they would give in first or her magic powers.

It was then when she overheard a conversation in the next room. While a unicorn mare was steering the shuttle, she was speaking into a headset as well.
“Shuttle Epsilon is requesting to land on Nagohod. We have the 'guests' our mistresses so eagerly await.”

“Roger, Shuttle Epsilon. Maintain course and altitude. Any lower might get you some fire from below. It seems there are several resistance groups down below. Seemingly the shadow ponies had a backup plan. And the numbers we are getting showed us that the main attack, although vast and devastating, only took down half of the population.”

“What? Only half? Someone warned them. We have to-”

Shaking his head, the voice of the stallion chuckled.
“We have to do nothing. The traitor was already found. Our mistresses will handle the situation at the great meeting.”

The landing procedure took place and while Grinko and Griffith, who were still unconscious were carried away, Celestia was brought forth to the two dark alicorns, their manes and tails in their dark coloration again. But as they saw the iron wing cuffs on Celestia's wings, their eyes opened wide in an outrage.
“Who put these iron wing cuffs on her?”

A stallion looked left and right before he stepped forward.
“Well.. I did. I-”

In the next moment he was blasted and swapped away by powerful alicorn magic as Asira glared at his lifeless remains.
“How dare you to get these filthy things on her! Insolent worm...”

Taking a step back, Celestia shook her head in disbelieve, then gave the two alicorns in front of her a devastating glare while the wing cuffs were undone.
“I'm not sure if I should be aghast or relieved... You didn't need to kill him!”

Arching a brow, Asira shook her head.
“Neither did we need him alive! Serves as a warning for the others. They can kill the lesser tribes as much as they want for all I care. But you belong to us...”

With a glare of defiance, the Princess of the Sun looked at the two alicorn mares in front of her.
“So you want the joy of killing me?”

Grinning sadistically, Lamira fought the urge to laugh.
“Oh, not only that. I want to have the pleasure to see your reactions to what's in store for all these worms below. I want the pleasure of you whimpering for them as our Descendants wipe them away one by one under Black Omen. After all that, THEN I want the joy of killing you. And don't you fret: My horn will make a nice fit with your chest and heart.”

Celestia arched a brow. At least for now she was safe from harm. But maybe she could use this time to find out more.
“Black Omen? What is that?”

Grinning broadly, Asira shook her head.
“You will see soon enough, Sun Princess. We are certain you will be most pleased.”

“The world will be most pleased...” Lamira then added with a dark chuckle before she sobered. “Well then... Where are they? Where are your champions hiding? The wielders of the so called 'Elements of Harmony' and these dreaded human monkeys?” Gritting her teeth, Lamira then looked at Celestia in a threatening manner. “Please don't tell me they are dead. I so long for the opportunity to see them die myself.”

A mixture of relief and uncertainty got hold of Celestia. The girls and the humans were out of reach for the Darkness sisters, but would they return with the Doctor in time to save Equestria once again? And what would Luna do? Her temper might lead to yet another crisis. Not showing one sign of concern, Celestia gave both alicorns in front of her a stern look.
“I do not know where they are... But even if I would know, I wouldn't tell you! But I can assure you: They are alive and well! I can feel it!”

“Oh really?” Gritting her teeth, the dark alicorn found no liking in Celestia's tone or attitude. “So, you feel it... Can you feel this?!?” In the next moment a ray of dark magic shot from Lamira's horn and engulfed Celestia in a dark force field, causing her to gasp in pain. It felt like it was sapping her powers, draining them from her little by little. When she collapsed to the ground, Lamira sneered down to her. “You are so lucky we share the same father, Sun Princess... Because of this you will die once all your champions lie dead in front of you and Equestria lies in ruins! And all your silence won't protect them either.”

Looking up in surprise, Celestia gasped once again, partly in exhaustion and pain, partly in surprise.
“You... are Daughters of Tacitus!”

Lamira's face didn't even flinch at Celestia's realization.
“Such as you and Luna are Daughters of Tacitus yourself! But unlike you we are far more determined to end all this...”

Asira wrinkled her nose.
“The very reason you are still alive is the bond of blood we share in kinship. Any other alicorn would be dead by now...”

* * * * *

An hour later the Descendants were meeting in a large hall and were cheering to their commanding officers. Lots of the amasian Descendants were not cheering as loud as they could. Some didn't feel like cheering, but the majority were not informed of the fact of who were leading them. For them, this was a victory stained by unnecessary bloodthirstiness. A unicorn stallion was standing in front of them on a stage, yelling out to them.
“Descendants!!! We are victorious!!! But even we are not completely free of the treachery of Equestria!”

A tied up earth pony was levitated on stage and a dagger was levitated to his throat as the unicorn commander looked at the crowd.
“In the name of Tacitus’ children!”

In unison, the Descendants raised their right hoofs for their united reply.
“Tacitus’ children live in death!”

Raising his right hoof, the unicorn commander smirked even more now, raising his voice.
“IN THE NAME OF TACITUS CHILDREN!!”

And once more, the Descendants replied in unity
“TACITUS’ CHILDREN LIVE IN DEATH!”

The dagger was now levitated so hard against the throat that the skin was penetrated. A few drops of blood ran down the blade and the earth pony stallion shivered, fearing for his life as the next shout was made.
“IN THE NAME OF TACITUS CHILDREN!!!”

But before the Descendants could respond for the third time, a giant screen activated above the stage and Princess Asira and Princess Lamira were shown on it.

“TACITUS’ CHILDREN LIVE!!!”

As soon as the crowd of Descendants understood what happened, they cheered in wild roar. Looking down to the stallion, the princesses grinned with murderous lust in their eyes.
“Rule of hoof, traitor… The gods can't be stopped by betrayal!” His throat was slit and he slumped down as warm blood ran over the floor.

Raising a hoof, Lamira then smiled gently to calm her followers.
“Ease down, my subjects. We Alicorns of Darkness have returned… never to leave your side again. The Alicorns of Light sought to destroy us… but their hatred had only made us stronger! Today you march forward into your future! A stronger force! An enlightened force! Prepared for the new world! The time has come to claim this world as our own! The time has come to destroy whoever wants to stand up to us!”

Raising her right hoof, Asira then raised her voice until it boomed over the crowd,
“One nation! One world!”

In one united voice their followers replied,
“The Kingdom of Darkness!”

* * * * *

An hour later, a few Descendants were briefed by Lamira and Asira, their faces shown on a monitor.
“You prepared our forces in Amasia well, Commander Kitros.”

Shaking his head, the stallion waved the thought away.
“The preparations went on for three generations, Princess Lamira. Only your wise choice of infiltrating key positions made this minor victory possible.”

Giving him a nod, Lamira smiled.
“All of the pieces for our final victory are in place except a few minor ones. The ancient ruins of the Palace of Darkness in our island of Aresios must be protected. The Changelings were seen making preparations for a landfall at the western coast and are getting dangerously close to things no one must discover. They were seen approaching the site from the north. Once you destroy them, I will give you further instructions.”

Bowing, Kitros returned the smile.
“It will be done, your highness.”

Once the transmission was over, one of Commander Kitros' officers shook his head.
“This will end bad.”

Kitros looked back at his officer a stern glare in his eyes.
“I can't remember that I asked for your opinion in this, Officer Twinkle Spot. A mare fresh from a demotion.”

Twinkle Spot shook her head, remembering the fight over Equestria, when mutiny took place on her citadel bridge and the others overwhelmed her to retreat to the south-east.
“Yes, I was commander once. And being demoted to a mere officer was simple and easy in comparison to the punishments other commanders faced after the debacle recently. I already fought against the Harmony Rangers in Equestria. Can you say that as well? I know the wit the humans utilize when fighting. Our mistresses didn't kill Tyler Jones, but dared to take one of his mares... They dared to harm and take the royal family members of several kingdoms... With this they have made their one and only deadly mistake. Tyler Jones will be surrounded by willing allies now. And his rage, once he finds out we took somepony he holds dear... He will unleash Tartarus upon Equis...”

Another mare raised her hoof.
“Not only this... We are forgetting the direct heir to the Throne of Darkness. Taking the heir to the Throne of Light will not go unnoticed if it is her sister. Princess Luna is-”

A stallion now cocked his head.
“Wait a second! Commander, they've hurled our brotherhood directly into a family feud for the throne hierarchy?”

Now commander Kitros stomped his hoof to the ground. He had to stop this train of thought immediately or his own head would roll.
“Silence! If such thoughts leave this room, they won't even find your bodies once you disappear!”

Twinkle Spot shook her head.
“I can face mortal enemies in Tacitus' name... But to fight his daughters? That asks for a special kind of boldness...”

Going to the door, Commander Kitros looked back at the others.
“Whatever is going to happen, Equis will be engulfed in flames one way or another. Until then we have our orders... I suggest you perform them in good faith.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Princess Luna was informed of the fact that her sister was taken by the enemy along with several others. When she was handed her sister's tiara, a silent rage began to boil in her. The mare who delivered the message already feared for her life as Luna simply turned around and trotted towards the balcony.
“Darkness Sisters... Whoever thou are... Thou have taken the pony who was the most precious pony in my life... And I will makest thou pay...” A tremble went through the castle before her balcony simply detonated. In midst of the smoke two catlike cerulean eyes glowed with fierce anger as the black coat covered her body when her voice boomed all over Equestria.

“THOU WILL PAY!!!”

Author's Note

Not proofread yet, any notice about mistake is welcome.

16 - Rage of a good man *

Equestria, today, deep below in the Ranger HQ

Nodding over to some griffins, the Harmony Rangers in the command center had built heavy fortifications towards the one and only entrance and rifles were pointed at it. Speaking into a communication crystal, one of them spoke directly with Vinyl.
“Ma'am, I'm not sure how long we can hold this command center against their storm.”

Vinyl's voice sounded off with some mechanical background noises.
“Our only chance is to hold this facility and wait for the human rangers to return. We'll hold the Descendants back for as long as we can. Hang in there, I'm coming!”

A few hundred years ahead in the time vortex, the TARDIS was losing speed and Derpy gave her best to steer the time machine. As she came to a halt,the TARDIS made that distinctive sound of landing, Derpy looked at the others and nodded.
“And we're back... I hope...”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight trotted over to the exit.
“I only hope that everything is right at home.”

Tyler on the other hand shook his head and smiled down to her as he gently nudged her.
“Oh Twilight, you worrywart. I mean we have a time machine here and Derpy said she would get us as closely as she could to the point of our departure. So we're probably gone only a few minutes, maybe only a day.

But as he opened the door of the TARDIS, they saw that the TARDIS was standing right in one of the corners of the command center. The alarm howled while the announcement echoed through the base.
“Mayday! All stations: Ranger HQ remains under attack!”

Throwing his arms into the air, Tyler rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“Oh, come on!” In the next moment, the doors to the Command Center were detonated and the Descendants stormed in. Going into cover, the human Rangers gave their best to counter the threat in front of the TARDIS while the girls remained inside the time pony spacecraft.

Closing the door behind her, Derpy shook her head with a smile.
“Don't worry... The Doctor told me that this door withstood supernovae and destruction of planets. There is no way they can't get in without our permission.”

The girls first looked at each other before they shot Derpy strict looks.
“That's fine and all, Derpy... But what about the others?” Griffins and ponies now fought side by side with the humans with firearms and magic, doing their best to repel the threat. Lyra tried to ignore the shots and blasts all around her and charged Tyler as best as she could, always remaining in cover behind Sam. Tyler looked over to the others. In this dire situation, the Rangers were pushed back into dead ends and fought for their very lifes. And frankly he didn't knew of a way to regain some ground now.

But suddenly, a tremble in the distance became noticeable and grew rapidly in strength. The shooting stopped as the Descendants turned towards the corridor they had entered the command center in.
“What in Tacitus' name...?”

And all of a sudden all hell broke loose as the corridor wall detonated and made way for a large sphere of magic, which blazed a trail through the tight corridor, bending the walls out. The door, already damaged and battered by the detonation, literally flew through the command room with several screaming Descendants with it as the hover tank made its entrance. A brief pause was all it took before the turret began moving towards a group of Descendants flanking the Rangers. Frozen in shock, they were unable to move as the attack came. While the main cannon was not firing, a deafening blast of sonic waves hammered against their little fortification in a tight beat, slamming the crates and ponies against the wall and rendered them immobile. As the attack ceased, the crates and ponies fell down and the ponies were knocked out. The other rangers held their ears shut. This weapon was loud, even more so in a subterranean command center hall such as this.

The turret turned towards another group of Descendants, but they threw away their weapons and surrendered. After the griffins took care of the Descendants, the hatch opened and Vinyl's head peeked out.
“Awesome! Tavi! Have you've seen what my bass cannon did to these suckers?”

From within the tank, another voice became audible.
“I heard it, Vinyl... Probably the entire base has heard it...”

Pumping her hoof in the air, Vinyl was visibly in a cheerful mood.
“Aww yeah! THAT will teach them to attack us!”

While Rachel gave the girls the all-clear in the TARDIS, Tyler climbed over some fortifications.
“Vinyl!”

“Headranger Jones!” Jumping out of the tank, the white unicorn saluted. “Sorry, but they attacked us in surprise. Suddenly they were all around the base. Chaos! We held them back as best as we could but they kept streaming through the corridors. Lots of Rangers are kept as hostages now.”

All of a sudden, one of the technical communicators from the Descendants sounded off.
“Hello? Why aren't you fools answering? I demand an answer! Have you taken the HQ already?”

Octavia's head now peeked out as well and she shot her partner a strict glare.
“Vinyl, we should tell him!”

This visibly seemed to be an issue that was difficult for the unicorn.
“Uh... Yeah... Uhm... Ranger Jones?”

Reaching down to the enemy communicator, he paused and looked at the white unicorn.
“What is it?”

With sinking ears Vinyl looked down as she delivered the bad news.
“You've been gone for three months now. And today we got attacked. They took Princess Celestia... And Princess Luna is missing as well.” A gasp came from the girls once they heard that.

A short tremble went through Tyler as he picked up the enemy communicator. This was bad news, extremely bad. He had to contain himself now. Looking at the others, he raised the communicator to his ear.
“Hello...?”On the other end he could hear Celestia's whimper for his name. In the next moment, the casing of the communicator he was holding cracked open. The others, standing around him, noticed this boiling anger in him, threatening to break loose. His whole body was shivering and he gritted his teeth. “Celestia? Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”

Now a completely different voice took over and harrumphed briefly.
“I think our guest is occupied right now for the time being. I will be your conversation partner from here on.”

Taking a deep breath through his clenched teeth, Tyler closed his eyes. His breath was shivering in rage as the adrenalin was pumping through his veins. He really had to contain himself now.
“Congratulations! You’ve made the worst mistake of your life… You took someone very precious from me. But I give you this one chance now... If you bring her back, never to return to Equestria, that will be the end of it.”

A dark giggle sounded off now.
“Aw, how sweet... But I have no intention to bring her back to you.”

Turning away from the others, his eyes became cold as they flashed up in a blue glow once.
“Then this is your decision. Now I will get you and if it takes me to the ends of this world! I will look for you, I will find you... and I will kill you.”

“A monkey throwing threats around while beating his chest... How adorable.”

“I couldn't care less about your opinion about me. I'm coming for you. I will bring pestilence and plague to you and to all who follow you! And I will continue to bring ruin to every war citadel and Descendant until you break and yield!”

The communicator got another squeeze and was then thrown to pieces by Tyler before Sam approached him.
“So... What are we going to do now, Tyler?”

Looking at Sam for a short time, Tyler arched a brow.
“We? We are going to do nothing... YOU guys stay with the girls and protect them. And I will clean up this headquarter...”

Following Tyler with his eyes, Flynn got confused.
“What? All by yourself?”

Standing up, Rachel looked at Tyler and shook her head.
“He's going to slaughter them! Hold him back!”

Stepping into his path, Twilight shook her head as well.
“Tyler! No! Don't go down that path! I understand your anger that they took Princess Celestia, but you mustn't-”

Gritting his teeth, he rudely interrupted her.
“I mustn't do what?!? In our absence the world had become a place where the villains wear a smile on their face while they take what you can never replace!” A sadistic grin formed on his own face as he began to grin into hers. “Well, tables can turn as our enemies will soon enough learn. I will strike them and shall then watch them burn on the pyre of obsession! Lust for riches and greed are a great motivation, but even greater is the motivation of fear... I will carry hell to their doorstep; I will make them pay! They will reap the rage they’ve sown on my judgment day!” As he spoke, his eyes began to glow more and more in a blue tone. “Now... Step out of my way, Twilight!”

Coming to Twilight's side as she stood her ground, Applejack shook her head.
“No, she ain't! And neither will Ah step out of yer way, Sugarcube!”

Looking to his side at Applejack, Tyler arched a brow.
“What?!?”

Taking down her Stetson, the earth pony mare looked up to him.
“Tyler, how can ya seriously consider murderin' all these ponies and then carry our foal in these bloody hands of yers?” Struggling, Tyler had to look to the side, vindicating Applejack. “Exactly... Yer not that type of guy, Tyler. Don't let them make ya something like that!”

Tyler remained silent for a long time until he looked up again.
“Rangers! It's time to secure HQ again. Time to get our comrades free again.” Looking at his two herd mates, his eyes now seemed more to seek for approval. “This I have to do...”

When they gave their nod of approval, Tyler went through between them and Applejack looked over to her herd mate.
“Twilight? Ah have a very bad feeling about him.”

Nodding in thought, Twilight looked after Tyler.
“Me too... It's just not like him to be that harsh. Something's amiss.”

Rainbow nudged Fluttershy in the ribs.
“Come on! I have a feeling that T-Man is having trouble keeping his mind together.”

In the living quarters, the Descendants had gathered a small group of hostages. While the hoof-cuffs held the earth ponies in place, certain wing-cuffs took care of the pegasi and horn inhibitors of the unicorns. Finally victorious, the Descendants couldn't but gloat.
“So there you have it! The Harmony Rangers are a joke after all! And all that defiance is just a pathetic gesture not to be taken seriously. Where are the humans now that you need them?”

One mare gritted her teeth in anger.
“The humans taught us to fight for our rights! They would never abandon us!”

“But where are they now? For three months they have been away... Nothing!”

Spitting at the Descendants, one stallion sneered at them.
“Get lost, traitors!”

Wiping the spit from his hoof, the unicorn stallion stood above the Rangers and hauled off his rifle, obviously to beat them with the stock. But as the rifle reached up, a sudden detonation caused the unicorn to halt in movement as his eyes popped wide open. The door on the other side of the corridor was blasted away and slid over the ground to the Descendants, who looked into the corridor. Smoke blocked their view, but in the dense smoke a pair of eyes glowed in a fierce blue shine.
“Am I interrupting something?”

Tyler's voice made the pony Rangers listen up.
“That voice!”

“Ranger Jones!”

“I knew he would return.”

Aiming at Tyler, the Descendants got into position.
“It's one of the human rangers!”

Pointing at the human Ranger, the squad leader of the Descendants barked his orders.
“One of them alone is not much of a threat... Get him! If he resists, shoot him!”

As the Descendant stormed at Tyler, guns blazing he supercharged and illuminated the entire corridor while he conjured a shield against the bullets and a swarm of magically enhanced parasprites. The swarm hungrily befell the Descendants and began to chomp on their armors, rifles and swords and the more they ate, the more they multiplied and devoured more metal and iron, cleaving a way through the corridor plates and hoof-cuffs chaining down the other Rangers. Once freed from their chains, the loyal ranger forces used their chance to free themselves and took the fight back to the intruders in a fierce brawl.

Overwhelmed, the Descendants were on the run for the exit, only to spot Tyler in front of them as he suddenly teleported to block their way.
“Going somewhere? You were bragging a moment ago!” As they crawled backwards in fear, a chuckle of madness escaped Tyler's throat. Unnoticed by himself, his eyes flickered up blue once more as he slowly followed them, his voice cold and unkind. “Yeah, crawl like the worms and snakes you are. Crawl on your bellies and let me see you squirm! Fall down on your knees! I want you to beg for the same comforts you gave Celestia! You will rue the day you took her from us! From me...” Deep within, a male whisper that was not Tyler echoed in his mind as he cracked his knuckles, no doubt to finish the Descendants now.

'Let them pay... No forgiveness! No way out! Only bloody justice!'

Flying high to see over the group of Ranger ponies in their way, Fluttershy and Rainbow gasped a bit, but Fluttershy wouldn't stand for this unkind behavior.
“Head Ranger Jones! Arrest these Descendants at once!” she ordered aloud, only to wince a bit afterward.

Looking over to her, Tyler snapped out of his frenzy for a moment, which was enough to get a grip on the situation again. The blue glow of his eyes ceased with a silent inner roar as the unknown force deep within was caged away by Tyler's will to do the right thing. One moment later, he ordered the other Rangers to arrest the Descendants and the ponies were relieved not to have firing squad duty.

While the headquarter still was in disarray, the Rangers more and more cleaned up and repaired some of the broken walls, doors and machines while also taking ground until every last Descendant was brought to the prison cells. Coming back into the Command Center, Rachel looked over to Tyler.
“Well then, Jones... You raged against them for some time now. How do you feel?”

Looking down at his hands, Tyler silently let these last few moments go through his head over and over again. Something that was not him tried to make him stay on this course. Was this the influence of the Darkness Sisters or something completely different? He had to look out for this. He couldn't afford to become a monster and lose the girls like this. Closing his eyes, he gently turned his head towards Rachel.
“After this here? I feel...” Taking a deep breath in and out Tyler nodded. “I feel unsatisfied, but fine!” Kneeling down to the girls, he put his arms around their necks, embracing them. “Thanks for putting my head right, folks...”

As he went over to some other Rangers, Twilight followed him with her eyes, her glance deeply worried.
“It's not over yet. Far from it! The Darkness Sisters seek out to harden his heart. Girls, keep an eye on him, as often as you can!” All six mares nodded in agreement. If Tyler was indeed a target for the enemy to corrupt, each Element was out to do her best to make him withstand their attacks. Fluttershy, however, was the one feeling most uncomfortable. While Tyler was her good friend, it hurt to see him growing so unkind. Surely the loss of Princess Celestia brought out the worst in him. She could understand, but never approve of such harsh reactions.

And then of course was the thing with Grinko.
“T-Twilight? What if Tyler is at least a little right? I mean... I am worried over Grinko's well being as well and I don't know what I would do if they did something to him.”

“I can understand that. But there won't be any executions without a fair trial. We're still civilized ponies and no Descendants.”

Coming over to her herd mate, Applejack rested a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder.
“Twilight...”

Patting the hoof on her shoulder with her own, Twilight nodded.
“I know. Right now we almost lost him. We two and Luna must now make sure he doesn't cross over. It's the arsenal of the Princess of Malice. Stabbing into pure hearts to turn them evil. Maybe Tyler is a fighter, but right now he himself is at stake.”

* * * * *

Two hours later, the four humans and seven mares left the Ranger HQ. After getting adjusted to the bright sunlight, they took a look at Equestria. It was still in one piece unlike so many things below. Seemingly there really had been only three months of their absence. Tyler nodded and looked over to the girls.
“Luckily this is still our time. Alright... as a safety precaution, I will make use of something I didn't make use of in the recent time at all.” The girls looked up to Tyler and he whistled sharp before he yelled up the Canterlot mountain. “Tellyhawks!”

There was a distinct eagle cry in the distance as two dozen pegasi in silver coat and armor came down from the cliffs of Canterlot Mountain. Landing in a straight line in front of the Elements and Harmony Rangers, their fine silver plate armor shimmered and glittered in the sunlight while they saluted and stood at attention.
“Sir, it has been a while since you needed us!” one of them spoke up as he saluted as well.

Rachel arched her brows.
“Friends of yours, Jones?

A grin formed on Tyler's face.
“I got them from Celestia and Luna while I fought the Changelings in the past. They are sworn to me, the most loyal soldiers I have. I trust them with my very life.”

Nodding with a smile, the leader of the Tellyhawks looked up to Tyler.
“In your absence, they tried to undercut us as well as they tried to undercut the guard and castle servants.”

Sam cocked his head.
“They tried and failed?”

But the stallion soberly shook his head.
“They tried and died. We were authorized by the princesses to eliminate everyone who tries to force himself into our section of the guard.” When the girls dropped their jaws in shock, he shook his head once more. “Each Tellyhawk here had to endure a complete thought screening by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia in order to serve as a Tellyhawk. We have no secrets from each other. Whosoever wants to avoid this screening, is unfit for us and probably with ill intentions. One warning is spoken. Once they get persistent, we are free to deal with them.”

Rainbow frowned at this.
“While I get the loyal part... That's a bit harsh, don't you think?”

But the stallion simply shook his head with a sober face.
“Not at all! We have very high standards, since we protect our target, even if it takes our lives to do so. We are more of an extreme version of the Wonderbolts. Higher risk, higher glory.”

Nodding, Tyler took a step forward.
“Right... And this is why I called you. For the time being, I will extend your service as my personal guard to the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight's eyes darted to Tyler
“What?”

Saluting, the leader now smirked.
“We understand, Sir. We will oblige.” Turning around, he raised his voice. “Atten-HOOF! Six teams of two! Volunteers one step forward!”

When the entire group of twenty four pegasi stepped forward, Twilight frowned at Tyler.
“Do we really need bodyguards?”

Tyler sighed and looked down to her.
“I would prefer it otherwise as well, Twilight. But they took Celestia already. And with Luna gone into the nether regions of Canterlot, I have to make sure that you are safe and inform Shining to keep an eye out for Cadance.”

“But-”

Yet just as Twilight wanted to say something in protest, Applejack held her back and looked up to Tyler.
“Sugarcube, we don't need this! At least not for ourselves. But while we're away from home, maybe the Tellyhawks could keep an eye out for our families?”

Tyler looked over to Twilight who nodded in agreement and saw the nods of the others behind her as well.
“Families... Families it is.” Looking over to his personal guard, he arched a brow. “Would it be asked to much if you-”

Shaking his head, the stallion smiled.
“Not at all. You point us at the ponies, we guard them with our very lives.”

Giving Twilight and Applejack a kiss on the nose, Tyler nodded at them.
“This takes care of the ones I love... I will see you two later. Sam? Flynn? You go and bring the girls down to Ponyville in order to fetch the Elements and determine who the Tellyhawks should give security to, Rachel and I have things to do up here in Canterlot.”

As she came to his side, Rachel eyed him for a short time.
“If you go nuts, Jones... I swear I will kick your sorry ass down to the ground!” And while the majority of the human Rangers went to Ponyville, Tyler shook his head and headed towards the castle with Rachel at his side. It was about time to find out how bad the situation was and then spread the news.

* * * * *

On the next day, it was rather quiet in Spitfire's office. Since Rainbow's absence in the academy it was mostly routine. Routine... All things get worse if they become routine. In things you had to achieve, routine spoiled the achievement and the taste of victory. And things of daily routine lost their spice, lost their challenge and wonder they had before.

It was then when the experienced Wonderbolt Captain noticed a sudden commotion outside. Turning around to the window, she saw that many of the cadets were flying out of order, heading towards the main training place while the alarm siren began to howl. Something was happening and it wasn't good at all. Opening the window, she took off and flew towards the main training place as well while yelling over to her fellow Wonderbolts.
“What's going on? Hey, Soarin! What's happening?”

Turning over to her in flight, the stallion shook his head like not believing his own words.
“War!!! Equestria is at war!!!”

Arriving on the main training place, the Wonderbolt pegasi looked up as several members of the royal guard gave a situation report.
“The devastation we are reported about is unparalleled. Judging from early refugee reports coming from unicorns at the border, tens of thousands are dead. The capital city lies in ruins.”

Many of the cadets gasped at these horrific news, looking at each other to clear things up.
“Canterlot has been attacked?”

“Yes, but not to this extent, this is somewhere else.”

As more and more pictures were shown, the Wonderbolts recognized the casualties and refugees.
“Aren't these shadow ponies?”

Grimacing in sympathy over so many losses, Spitfire shook her head.
“These damn Descendants whacked our allies even worse than us, Soarin.”

The guards continued, remaining calm every moment.
“The attack was performed by a gigantic war citadel with a firepower never seen before and was, from what experts rank, of alicorn magnitude.” A depiction of a map was shown now, presenting the canyon of Shadowgate and the area of effect the attack had. “Nothing lives in what was once deemed the equine pride of the southern hemisphere.”

The one or another pony gasped in shock at the pictures depicting a sea of flames.
“How terrible!”

While pictures of refugees were shown, the guard then continued.
“Shadowgate has been wiped off the map.”

Heads were shaken, not understanding this magnitude of destruction.
“Who could do such a horrendous thing?”

Raising a hoof, the guard then looked around to the pegasi in front of him.
“Due to the disappearance of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Head Ranger Tyler Jones as well as other foreign high officials called for an emergency mobilization against this common enemy. If you should be drafted, please report to Canterlot at once!” Spitfire's face grew grim. This was bad, really bad. It was a challenge and insult at once to every Wonderbolt that the princess was taken away just like that.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, down below in the valley, the Elements of Harmony made their way from the station towards the library. Rainbow snorted in worry.
“Shouldn't we keep an eye out on T-man? He seems to need a helping hoof right now.”

Flynn shook his head while looking up to Rainbow.
“Rachel said that she should be able to reel him in now that he's calmed down enough. Keeping him busy will sure do the trick for now.”

Sam gave this a grimace and nodded
“True... With all the talk about impending war on the street, Tyler sure has his hands full more than enough than to even think about raging some more.”

Cringing a little, Fluttershy shook her head in worry.
“I don't like the sound of that... I don't know what he would have done if we didn't interfered."

But Flynn looked up to the yellow mare.
“You did good back then, Fluttershy! You seemed to reel him in just in time. I dare to bet that Tyler would regret a bloodbath at his hands far more than a few harsh and unkind words against some fanatics. But taking a princess responsible for the turn of the sun is a threat going at the whole world. Who knows what's the best way to go here?”

Patting Fluttershy's hoof in assurance, Sam nodded at her as well.
“Flynn is right. You did good. Now Tyler might find a way to save Princess Celestia, Grinko and Prince Griffith rather than to regret the slaughter of several squads of Descendants.” He then looked around. “While we're speaking of it: Before we left, I saw that the Nephelion had left her place and was on her way to the east. Seems to me the Griffins will take drastic measures now themselves now that their crown prince was taken...”

Rarity arched a brow now.
“As did Tyler...” Looking around, it was obvious that four Tellyhawks flew above the group in a small circle while four of them trotted in a larger circle in front, behind and to their sides. “While I do enjoy being treated like a jewel, being guarded like one at all times is becoming tedious."

While arriving in her library in Ponyville, Twilight and the others found the library ransacked. At that point, three Tellyhawks were searching the place, careful to look at every spot to clear possible ambushes. Once again, Twilight was fearing for Spike, but he was nowhere to be found. Upon checking the Elements of Harmony, they found the showcase shattered and broken in its corner. Close to a hysteric outburst, Twilight shook her head in a frenzy, as a well known voice spoke up behind them.

“It seems crisis is always near
Whenever I decide to visit here.”

While the Tellyhawks whirled around in suspicion, Twilight raised a hoof in order for them to step down before she approached her.
“Zecora! Spike is gone! And the Elements! We need to-”

Raising a hoof in front of Twilight's lips, the zebra shook her head with a smile.
“Reason to panic there is none,
since no baby dragon or element is gone.”

She then eyed the Tellyhawks with an arched brow.
“But I see friend Tyler's fear,
For he sends stallions to protect what he holds dear.”

Leaving the library, the zebra lead the friends back to her hut, where Spike sat in a corner with the priceless trinkets. Looking over to him upon entering, Zecora smiled.

“When the attack came, Spike showed no fear,
and in wisdom brought the elements here.”

Twilight gave Spike a big hug and held him dear for a minute, while the others praised him for thinking ahead. But it wasn't for long until Lyra spoke up.
“This is a dangerous situation. The Descendants tried to attack us Rangers now, not Equestria. They were after those who can defend the land. They attacked the Harmony Rangers, so they had nothing to rival their armies. And they went after the Elements of Harmony because of their magical power to deal with mighty enemies.”

Sam nodded and gently stroke over Lyra's back.
“But they failed! Our rangers drove them back and are determined to get even throughout Equestria. And Vinyl was so quick-witted to secure our greatest advantage.”

“That hover tank?” Flynn asked with an arched brow.

Sam nodded in confirmation.
“The technology in there will get us even with them. The ability to store magic will give airship crews even without unicorns a temporary shield. Or at least the need for unicorn crew is reduced to a minimum.”

Stepping in front of the Element Bearers, Lyra eyed each of them.
“There's another thing... If they want to remove us Rangers, chances are they intent to get rid of the Elements of Harmony as well. The Tellyhawks' assignment couldn't have a better timing than now.” This thought frightened and comforted Twilight a bit at the same time. Tyler saw it coming, she did not. His mind was that of a fighter, a protector and he used that mind of his to protect them all. But this tactical understanding was not achieved by reading books about it. Coming to think of it, she never asked him about his past on Earth. Out of respect, she always waited for him to approach that topic, but now, seeing his intriguing expertise in tactical planning, she began to doubt that this was merely achieved in the fields of the Amasian Enclave fighting Changelings.

Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by Zecora as she spoke up again.

“What they plan I know not,
but surely one can sense a plot.
Like you I can see that they conspire.
And what they have in store for us will turn out quite dire.

Friend Tyler ventures out to fight
and get back what is dear.
But like him you must fear no fright
and hold him always near.”

Nodding, Twilight looked over to the others
“Yes, they want to corrupt him. Zecora, do you have an idea what they want to awaken in him?”

Shaking her head, the zebra closed her eyes.
“There are things in this world one should never try to reveal.
If they succeed to open such a door, friend Tyler might never heal.”

Twilight's mind began to wander, but she looked up to the others once more.
“An irreversible damage... That's what I fear, too.”

* * * * *

On the next day, the girls took the train up to Canterlot to meet up there with Tyler. The destruction of Shadowgate caused the equestrian ponies to show their best solidarity and compassion. This of course not only sparked sorrow, but also anger.
“The only good Descendant is a DEAD Descendant!” was the word out on the street

Holding a speech in Canterlot castle, Tyler stood in front of the empty throne as he held a speech in front of some delegates from other cities and nations.
“We must face this threat with all our valor, our blood, indeed with our very lives to ensure that peace and harmony, not fear and terror, dominate this our free world now and always!” Receiving standing ovations from the Masar and Griffins, Tyler nodded and spoke to some Griffin and Masar. Rachel eyed him the whole time, analyzing his every word.

As he left the castle, Twilight trotted to his side and looked up to him in worry.
“Tyler, please! Don't lead Equestria to war. I'm sure we can-

Coming to a halt, Tyler got down to her and looked her in the eye.
“We can what? I hate to break it to you, Twilight, but they struck deep into the heart of this nation and took the one responsible for the sun's turn. And whatever they are up to, they are not out to make friends with us. They took hostages. They want to hold us back with this, probably in the believe that this will break our will. Oh I will show them will... I will let them taste the resilience of man. They will learn that taking Celestia was a wise choice, for it means they have the one thing holding me back not to kill them at once!”

Once more, Twilight's face grew stern and she stood in front of him once more, this time as an opposing force.
“No!”

Arching a brow, Tyler looked down at her.
“No?”

“The Darkness Sisters already tried to make your heart hard and unkind when they sent Mimesis with his mind trap! You are falling right into that trap once again! And now that you took over leadership in the princesses' absence, the ponies begin to grow unkind. Maybe you haven't noticed, but you lead by example!”

Looking at the ponies on the street, Tyler wondered for a bit. The princesses had influence on him and his behavior. Could he have influence on the ponies as well? If that was possible, then his actions had to be taken with care and Twilight was right. In a matter of seconds, his hard expression withered away.
“You have a valid point there, Twilight...” Closing his eyes, he gently turned his head to the left, almost like looking over the shoulder. “Fluttershy!”

Gulping, the yellow mare looked up.
“Y-Yes?”

Now turning to her entirely, a genuine smile formed on Tyler's lips.
“I will bring Grinko back to you... I will unite you two again. In fact, I will take all of you with me.

In unison, a collective “What?” was the answer.

But Tyler nodded assured of this way.
“Oh, you girls can bet on it. I will not leave the Elements of Harmony unguarded, so the enemy can take them away in my absence. You girls will accompany us, so we Rangers can have an eye on you and the elements you are wearing. And if needed, we will make use of the elements. They took care of Nightmare Moon, so they could take care of the Darkness Sisters.” Twilight nodded. That logic was sound. Either to cleanse the Darkness Sisters or to banish them to the moon, the elements could be used to end this for good. Her train of thought, however, was brought to an abrupt end as Tyler spoke up again. “Yet we lack something. Currently we have... what? Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi along with bat ponies, Masar and probably griffins against the Descendants... But to get every last one, I have to address another tribe. One Luna always warned me to visit ever since Flynn stumbled into their territory. The one and only dark tribe Equestria offers to the world...”

Twilight gasped at this statement.
“No, you don't mean... Tyler! No! Ever since I became a princess, Celestia and Luna also told me about what lurks down below the crystal caverns under Canterlot! You can't actually plan to go down there to the dreaded Castle Ensanglanter!”

Now the others were left stumped and Rainbow arched a brow.
“Excuse me, Miss Egghead. What castle?”

Turning around, Twilight shook her head explaining things.
“It's ancient! From a time when Equestria wasn't even founded. The vamponies built a shelter deep below the surface, hidden away from the Windigos and their lust for hatred.”

Hearing this, Applejack took off her Stetson and looked up to Tyler.
“Sugarcube! Twilight is right! Ah don't want ya to go down there either. Not without a mob with torches and forks.”

But Tyler simply shook his head.
“I have to. I believe they are the current hosts of Luna. If I want to see if she's right, I have to go down there. Besides... If Equestria is about to be engulfed in a longer night, I must make sure they stay down there. For that I need Luna's help!”

Stomping her hoof to the ground, Twilight insisted upon being heard.
“But Tyler!”

Taking her cheeks into his palms, Tyler placed a long passionate kiss onto her lips.
“I know you worry about me going down there, my love. And I hate to do this to you. But I swear to you, whatever comes: I shall not perish. I will bring back Luna AND Celestia. But for doing that I need to meet them.”

Twilight watched him leave to the bat pony district and the girls remained silent as Applejack came to her side. There was no word needed, AJ could read it in Twilight's face.
“Ah hear ya, Twilight. The situation is rotten like a bad apple. And now he wants to go down there all by himself. A part of me wants to force him to stay, but Tyler already faced much for us. Don't ya dare to lose hope on him!” But when Applejack looked over to Twilight again, she saw tears in her eyes as the alicorn began her lament.

♫“Twisted is this way, what hope is there to give?
Is he to risk himself for our chance to live?
Can I bare to risk the man who once inspired my heart?
Does he become their prey? Or will he take them apart?
They kill without a thought, they murder all that's good.
I know I can't refuse and yet I wish I could.
Oh Celestia, if his evil side breaks free, what horrors wait for you and me
In these our hero's arms...”♫

As she ended, a silent sobbing became audible and the earth pony rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
“It's a nasty situation, Twilight... No doubt about it. But Ah have faith in Tyler. He won't succumb to whatever awful stuff they will throw at him...” Twilight turned over to her and they shared a hug. One after another, the six friends joined the group hug to give each other comfort. On one of the upper balconies Rachel stood and looked down to the girls, her face being stern.

* * * * *

An hour later, Tyler entered a shop in the lower streets of Canterlot after bypassing lots of bat ponies. A mare came flapping to the front and looked at a storage list she held in her front hooves.
“Good evening! I'm-”

But Tyler interrupted her with a smirk.
“Vivian Nightshade. And you are the owner of Vivi's Bat Pony Salon.”

Waving her front hooves, the vampony frantically shook her head.
“Head Ranger Jones! I-I-I... I didn't drink from the tap, I swear!”

Raising his hands in comfort, Tyler couldn't but chuckle.
“Easy there, Vivian... I'm not here to investigate and I'm sure you wouldn't give me or Princess Luna any reason to do so.” Vivian then visibly relaxed and Tyler leaned over the counter. “Vivian? I am looking for someone. Or rather... Some place. A place only a vampony like you could help me to find...”

Vivian blushed as he came so close.
“Ranger Jones?” The sudden tickle under her chin surprised her a bit, but it was nice and comforting, making her forget even her thirst for blood. Slowly a blush formed over her nose.

Giving a smirk, Tyler then lowered his voice.
“If you were a princess and mighty angry at someone...”

In an instant Vivian's eyes popped open and she pushed Tyler away.
“Oh no you won't! You are trying to make me tell you where the secret passage lies to Castle Ensanglanter! Well that I won't tell you!”

Looking over his shoulders, Tyler looked if someone was near. As he saw no pony but her, he leaned in and lowered his voice even more.
“You see... I have this fresh batch of Descendant prisoners...”

The next whisper was inaudible for outsiders, but once again, Vivian's eyes popped wide open.
“Suck blood from their what?!?” She arched back from the counter, a deep blush on her nose and a hoof at her chest. Taking two flaps of her wings, she landed a little further away and giggled. “I must say your offer is quite bold... And I doubt you would let me do that anyway... Shame on you for tempting me like that. But here is a price I want you to pay...” Her smile made way to a sly smirk. “I can tell you the path to Castle Ensanglanter, but if you tell another soul about it, you must pay a hefty compensation to the vampony tribe for jeopardizing our safety!”

Tyler eyed her for a moment. She was serious about this and sharing a secret such as this wasn't something to yell from a tower. Finally he gave a nod.
“That sounds reasonable... A secret like this should be kept well guarded and secure. Name the price.”

Giving a grin, she now leaned forward.
“One gallon of blood.”

“You mean my blood?

“Certainly.”

Tyler smirked. That little minx was plotting well to corner him into her demands.
“Then I shall keep this secret with me until I die.”

Getting a piece of paper, Vivian then wrote something down, before she took two little knifes, pushing one to Tyler's side of the counter. Pricking her hoof with it, she then used the shed blood on her knife to sign and turned the paper to Tyler. After a brief reading, he quickly understood it to be a contract of reparation to the tribe, should he ever tell somepony else about the way to Castle Ensanglanter. After looking up to her, he saw the determination in her eyes. Probably contracts were the vampony way for promises, signed with blood. Its meaning deep for them, he deemed it more proper to respect their ways.

Pricking his finger caused Vivian to gasp in delight, and as he looked up to her, he saw the lust in her eyes as she licked her lips at the mere sight of his droplets of blood. After signing the contract, he made sure no blood of his were on his finger or the knife he used while Vivian took good care of the contract. Once stowed away, she then returned and nodded at Tyler.
“This way, please...” Leading him to the rooms behind the salon, she gave him a seductive grin. “Princess Luna sure is a lucky mare, if she has you coming after her no matter what.” Revealing a hatch below a carpet, she then looked up to him. “Follow the corridor down there and you should find your way to the castle. The corridor goes directly through the crystal caverns and below. You won't see much of it, though. Mostly bricks. I go down there twice a month. This corridor is safe, don't worry.

Climbing down the hatch, Tyler nodded as he was on the ground of the corridor. It was built for pony height, so walking upright wasn't going to work. As the hatch was closed behind him, Tyler was left only with his magic to illuminate the way in front of him as he began his descent. Strangely, these tight corridors of red bricks had an odd familiarity to Tyler. It wasn't the bricks themselves, more the idea of passing through hundreds of short and tight corridors to go down. Soon, after a felt hour of walk, the brick stones became more withered and aged, making way to catacomb like halls. And yet Tyler had no difficulty seeing in these dark halls; some of the mushrooms and crystals down there were fluorescent lighting the way for him. More and more even these simple stone bricks were gone and made way to a passage of pure cave walls. Cut, yet crudely executed. Whoever was down there, he sure wasn't expecting lots of traffic.

Finally coming to a large cave, the claustrophobic feeling ended and Tyler took a deep breath at the sight in front of him. The flora down here was mostly fluorescent mushrooms, sometimes whole fields of them lighting the way. Down here was a small landscape. Hills, a small canyon, even a large waterfall with a river.

And then he saw it after passing the next hill. A gray castle, its walls and towers bathed in a hellish light from a thousand torches. The faint scent of blood was in the air, which was barely moving here. Maybe this huge cave was completely enclosed. On the ceiling, Tyler could make out large formations of crystal. Maybe the crystal caverns Twilight once mentioned were up there. Which could only mean that he was at least half a mile away from the bright light of the sun.

The castle was surrounded by what seemed to be a bottomless pit, at least Tyler couldn't see the bottom in pitch black darkness. The only way over was one stone bridge, sturdy and thick with dozens of statues on each side. As he began to walk on the bridge, he couldn't decide what should worry him more, the red eyed statues of vamponies or the fact that their heads followed him slowly. One could see the movement, this was way different than the weeping pegasi. Maybe these statues were the guardians of this bridge.

But as he looked at the castle again, two wings of leather blocked his way and two stallions of the Lunar Guard stood in front of him.
“You are not allowed to pass this point!”

'Where did they come from all of a sudden without noise?' Startled for a second, Tyler quickly regained his composure and nodded over to the castle.
“You know why I'm here. I wish to see Princess Luna!”

Both stallions looked at each other, before they looked at him once again, their voices now pleading instead of intimidating.
“Please, Tyler Jones... We were ordered by the princess to stop you from seeing her. And we are going to be punished if we hurt you. Please don't make it harder for us.”

This left Tyler truly stumped.
“What?!? But why? Why wouldn't Luna want to see me?”

A calm and sober-minded voice spoke up now.
“I think she doesn't want you to see her that outraged...”

Behind the two vamponies, another one appeared and Tyler recognized him.
“Earl Draco von Hoofington!”

Giving a short bow with the head, the earl smiled.
“You remember me, thank you...” His smile, however, withered now. “We were instructed not to let any Harmony Ranger to the Princess, especially not you. If you are here to pursuit a meeting with her, I am sad to disappoint you.”

Tyler looked around, spotting several red pairs of eyes in the shadows. Seemingly the vamponies were eying him from their hideouts. Nonetheless he had to gain something for coming down here.
“Well, you drive a hard bargain there, good Earl... What if I wish your tribe to fight among my side as well and also came down here to speak with you?”

Bursting out in wild laughter, the earl now showed his vampony fangs.
“You really are an entertaining young man. I suppose you know our reputation: The vamponies serve the Princess of the Night. And after 5000 years I see no reason to back-stab the hoof that feeds us well. I have seen many come and go, but none were important enough for her to push away if she is so enraged. That's why it's such a pity that I can't let you go to your lover. I really can't disobey my princess after so many years, now can I? I'm afraid I have to send you away, Tyler Jones. So sorry...”

Tyler now spotted the vamponies coming forth in combat stances. Slowly the situation at hand began escalating as the earl spoke up again.
“The vamponies are great warriors! You are a great warrior, too, no doubt! Please don't force our hooves and return to the light. We will be lead to battle by the Princess of the Night! And she will determine our stratagem.”

An adrenaline rush pumped through his veins and Tyler knew that he had to remain calm. Any wrong move could end bad now. Running was out of the question and fighting would turn out quite ugly Standing still, he took a deep breath before he spoke up calm and collected.
“You know I really have nothing against vamponies since you obeyed the law bestowed upon you. Indeed I admire your loyalty and devotion towards Luna. Even to the extent to part two lovers if one of them orders you to. Yet I wonder about the fairness if I have to first shed blood for the sake of giving you a message for her. But if that will entertain you...”

Arching a brow, the earl couldn't but chuckle.
“I see... Well, you make a good argument, young man. How interesting... If you only wish us to deliver a message to our princess, I shall lend you my ear. I swear I will deliver it to her as soon as possible, if you leave then.”

Up above in the highest castle towers, two turquoise eyes looked down to the bridge as Tyler started to write down a letter while the Earl and his vampony guards patiently waited. After giving the piece of paper to the earl, Tyler then turned around and made his way back to the surface, but not before he took a last glance at the castle. The Princess of the Night looked down to him, her heart aching as her closest allies had to send him away.
“Down the deepest caverns of darkness thou would follow me, my love... But I have to send thee away from here. My influence would harm thee and pull thee over into complete darkness, never to return.”

Being near to tears, she found her composure quite quickly again at the sound of approaching hoofsteps. A short knock on the door and upon Luna's order to come in, Earl Draco entered and presented the letter.
“He left as you wished, but he persisted on leaving a message for you. Do you wish to read it?” Nodding briefly, the black alicorn mare levitated the letter over to her, unfolding it on the way.

My love,
For the sake of everything we both cherish: please don't turn evil again. I will find a way to get Celestia out of the clutches of the Darkness Sisters and if it takes me to strangle them into submission. But if all precautions fail, I will need your assistance, my love. As you read these lines, the Masar and Griffins are preparing for war and we Rangers will perform a rescue mission in order to get Celestia back. I will need some time to get to her, though. Luna, please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. Let this be my rage, not yours.

In love,
Tyler

Reading these lines, Luna sighed a bit and looked into the mirror. Her now completely black coat shimmered below her battle armor. She was ready for war as well. Not allowing her to fight for her own sister's safety was... bold of him, but she knew he meant well.
“Von Hoofington...”

The earl stood attention and saluted.
“Princess?”

Turning to him, Luna continued to talk as she trot by him and within her levitation magic, the letter was folded and put into a small box like a treasured item.
“Once the armies of our allies leave, we will give them five days until we catch up. I will grant Tyler this one wish. Five days patience... But not even he could tell me not to fight for my sister's freedom.”

Giving a nod, the earl then went to a table to a glass, pouring some blood into it before he emptied it in one go. Once done, his eyes looked over his shoulder to Luna.
“This young man has a very big place in your heart, your majesty... None could ever hope to dim your rage simply by bidding for your patience. Not while you're so angered that your rage compels you to unleash your full powers and look like the dreadful Nighmare Moon again...”

Closing her eyes, Luna gave it a smirk.
“That's right, thou are a very observant one, old friend.” A slight blush rose over her nose. “He will one day become the father of my children...”

Taking a step back, the earl's jaw now dropped.
“But... He's a child! An infant if one looks at it from our perspective! You and your sister are as old as... well... I don't know! I know you two now for over 5000 years and you barely even aged a day! I dare to claim that you may be ageless. What does he have that makes you yearn for him that much? What could he as a mortal being offer to gain such attention?”

Looking down, Luna's eyes became dreamy and another blush came over her nose.
“I think he's just going with the flow and takes us with him.” Turning around, she saw the earl's confusion and chuckled a bit. “I mean, he's just natural with my sister and me. He shows no signs of intimidation like so many of the others. Oh, he knows that we are powerful, yet he...” A genuine smile rose up her otherwise strict face. “He treats us like any other mare. No! Rather... Better than any normal stallion would treat any other mare. Can thou understand what I'm trying to put into words?”

Giving a smirk, the earl nodded.
“I guess I can. The older we get, the more we yearn for these individuals, who are as rare as black diamonds. I can only wish you the best of luck with this young man. I hope you and your sister are soon reunited with him and can cherish happiness once more. The entire castle enjoys it when your canto echoes down here.

Touched by his words Luna smiled and raised the earl's chin.
“Thou are indeed my greatest ally in these times, Von Hoofington. Who would have thought that the most dangerous tribe would be the most loyal one in these times?”

Giving a wholehearted laugh, the earl showed his fangs.
“This is easy... Anypony of the vampony tribe answers to me and I would sense even the slightest sign of treachery. In all these millennium you have taken good care of our needs. I have no desire to betray you. Although I'm curious...”

With a wholehearted laughter of herself now, Luna shook her head.
“Neither a drop of alicorn or human blood for thou anytime soon, old friend. This is the limitation I will maintain with you.”

“He has made a contract with one of my servants, though... Keeping this place secret. If this contract is breached, the tribe will gain one gallon of his blood.” When Luna looked over to him with a strict glare, he simply shrugged. “It was his decision to make...”

Arching a brow, Luna eyed the Earl.
“Thou think he would ever lead down an army to this place? Thou don't know him like I do. So he made a contract that he will pay this price. If this should ever occur, I am most certain that he will be betrayed somehow.”

“We shall see... If that man makes a mistake, I will hand the corked bottle over to you. But I will demand the full price. I'm curious about what kind of individual he is... If he is as honorable as you describe him, he will pay the price.”

Looking down to the bridge where Tyler was returning to the surface, a gentle smile formed on her lips.
“For his mares he would go down the deepest depths of Tartarus... Literally!” For the rest of the journey up it lifted Tyler's spirit as below him the Royal Canterlot Canto accompanied him until he was on the surface again.

* * * * *

Once he returned to the surface and his fellow Rangers, he was surrounded and bombarded with questions as the ponies seemed to ask for guidance.
“And?”

“Were you able to achieve something?

“Are they giving us some vamponies for our joint operation?”

Holding up his hands in a comforting manner, Tyler then explained the situation.
“Princess Luna is fine enough to sing cantos, so I deem her to preparing something of her own as well. There are some things I don't fully understand yet, but I can give an all-clear for her, so spread the news. No Nightmare Moon threat is going to happen anytime soon. But until divine alicorn intervention kicks in, we have to do as best as we can. Our allies are preparing as we speak and the plan stands, folks. We and the Elements of Harmony will go and rescue Celestia, Prince Grinko and Prince Griffith and get the hell out of there before the three armadas attack the citadel fleet and destroy that super large one.

By now, Rachel, the only other human Ranger present, cocked her head and shook it slightly.
“You want to sneak into the enemy fleet and get the only three hostages out that they ever made?”

“Yes. Twilight and I must work something out on the way there. If we get Celestia back, we can unleash all hell unto their fleet. This maybe is not something Celestia would approve of much, but way better than to let them harm her subjects. Also, she ordered us to do whatever is necessary to counter this threat.”

Arching a brow, Rachel nodded.
“Yes, she said that... But Jones... leading them to war so soon after they recovered from the last attack?”

“We have no other choice. Once Celestia, Grinko and Prince Griffith are free again, we can unleash all the destruction upon the Descendants that we can muster with our joint forces. The Descendants must learn that we won't be crushed under their heel. And the best way to teach them is to strike with a devastating blow so fierce that they never recover again!” Tyler didn't notice how his voice became harsh again and a slight blue glow sparkled in his eyes once more.

But the sound of Rachel's gun cocking right in front of his face caught his immediate attention.
“You know... I've watched you for some time now, Jones... Seems to me we have to have a little 'talk among Rangers'.”

In an instant, the pony Rangers backed off and retreated the scene, avoiding this conflict upon their fellow human Rangers. Tyler on the other hand simply stared at Rachel, aghast.
“Are you really pointing a gun into my face?”

“Fireball Spell, class five, ten of them at once. Not even you could hope to absorb that much all at once without some tissue damage. You are getting out of hand, Jones. Maybe you're the Head Ranger and shit, but I'm the safety precaution here. If you step out of line, we other Rangers will be there to get you back into line or make sure you don't step any further. I hope that you come to your senses now, but just for protocol: What do you want me to tell Twilight if you don't?”

Tyler's eyebrow twitched in silent rage.
“How about: I'm home late today because some gun-crazed bitch from the states thinks she can gun me down.”

Rachel's glare was unbroken as she took a deep breath. Upon exhaling, she then closed her eyes.
“In that case... I'm sorry.”

The gunshot echoed through the streets of Canterlot and at least five blocks wide the ponies scrambled and fled the possible crime scene. Smoke filled the air and Rachel stared at the wound she inflicted on Tyler's temple. Holding her gun at the barrel, he had diverted the shot, so it only streaked him, yet the wound was bleeding nonetheless. Gritting his teeth, he ripped the gun out of her hand and tossed it away, bitch-slapping her in the process.
“See that, bitch? In this world, you insane Yankee can't solve everything with a gun!”

Gaining her balance again, she growled at him in anger. How dared he to say that.
“Like FUCK am I insane! Since Celestia got taken away, you more and more became violent in your behavior! You must be a fool not to notice this!”

Stabbing his finger into her direction, he then pointed down the way.
“If you want violence, I could bitchslap your sorry ass down the street! One should think I had enough to do with Descendants and crazed kidnappers. But no... NO!!! Now I have a freaking Yankee here as well thinking she can police me around! What kind of sick joke is this?!?”

Rachel's eyes opened wide before her face became hostile. Calling names was a game two could play.
“You really think you can judge me for doing my job, Mr. Ponyfucker?!? Don't you see what is happening to you or to those around you? Go on! Why don't you tell me? Did it really took a gun into your face to recognize that we and the girls think that something is terribly wrong with you?”

Looking to his side, Tyler remembered the troubled faces the girls had in the last two days since he heard about Celestia taken away. Did he became so oblivious about his own behavior? Looking up to her, he then nodded.
“You're right! I don't know when I'm crossing this fine line at times recently. I don't know who is behind this. But I intent to find out! And until then I need you to cover me.”

Kicking a table over, Rachel continued to yell at him and grabbed his collar while doing so.
“Shut up! It's convenient for you to wave it away like that! You can't take on the Darkness Sisters while you're freaking unstable like this! God damn it! The last thing we need is you on a rampage! Ever since that day Mimesis had you in that mind bug trap you've been stranger and stranger and now even small things begin to get you off. And we Rangers need you! We humans need your firepower and the ponies need your leadership right now!”

Coming to them from a side-alley, Sam and Flynn stormed to them, but halted as they saw that the two of them were fighting once again.
“We heard a gunshot!”

“Rachel, what the fuck are you up to?!?”

Standing in front of Tyler, Rachel hauled off,
“Beating some sense into this fucker here!!!” There was a loud crack as her punch hit his cheek, but Tyler didn't sway or flinch. He withstood and once more there was utter silence around them both and they looked at each other.

For a moment, Tyler's eyes glowed blue as he looked into Rachel's eyes. They were not full of rage and hatred, but fear and pain. These eyes of her... Were they fearing him or were they fearing for him? Both options were bad. The fine glitter of tears formed in them and slowly the blue glow ceased. His voice, harsh and rough before, was now soft and kind as he spoke.
“Did you forget, Rachel? The Descendants took not any pony, not only the one able to turn the sun, not only the one I love, but the one we all love. The reason why I do this is not just anger or madness, but because I opened myself to Celestia, revealed every dirty little secret I had and still she wanted me as a lover. There was no masquerade needed, no fake smile. And then, just like that, nothing of my ugly past on Earth mattered anymore. The one mare that shook me awake, the one that showed me most that I was accepted no matter what I did before, was Celestia, Rachel. And I swear to you one thing: I won't sit idly by and leave her to these guys!”

Searching for an argument to counter this, Rachel quickly turned to the side and scratched her head. It was a reasonable way to look at it and not a rampage in the making. This approach was just enough to be acceptable.
“Fuck... Whatever... If you start to harm the girls, I'll kill you.”

As she attempted to leave, Tyler spoke up once more,
“Rachel!” Turning around for another look, she saw him nodding with a smile despite the shiner. “Thank you...”

Turning away once again, she showed him the finger while she left, and Sam and Flynn came to Tyler's side.
“Shit, man... I never thought that she would pull the trigger on you, Tyler.”

“Yeah... And we know her longer than anybody else here.”

Closing his eyes, Tyler put the table right that was kicked over by Rachel.
“Rachel did that because she cares. I absorbed the energy that hit me, but that was just a minor part. Fortunately for me I was able to deflect the gun. But this thing... It's her way to signal me that she's worried sick about the situation. Being the woman she is, she would never say that straight into my face. And I did get out of hand lately.” Turning around, Tyler looked at the two of them. “You American shitheads... It feels damn good to know that we face enemies together, but even better to know that you guys have the balls to face even me if you think I'm losing control.”

Flynn replied to this with a big grin.
“Sure thing...”

Sam on the other hand patted Tyler's shoulder.
“I can't let the guy who brought me together with my girls become one of the bad guys, now can I? Don't slack off, man! We're going to whoop your sorry little ass if you step out of line, huh?” With that, Sam gently punched Tyler into the shoulder.

* * * * *

later that day, in the evening hours, in the cloud home of Rainbow Dash, Rainbow sat together with Elise and Spitfire, discussing the situation at hand.
“We Wonderbolts are all going to be there among the armies to repel the enemy armada.

With a slightly worried face, Rainbow looked over to the yellow mare.
“Will you fight with the others at the front?”

Looking over to Rainbow, Spitfire shook her head.
“Frankly I wish I would, but my superiors want me to remain and drill more cadets. The drafting efforts are exhausting right now and it seems my contribution is to chase down more pegasi in order to find more Wonderbolt material.” Putting a hoof over Rainbow's shoulder, spitfire pulled her in. “Take that as a mental note, Lieutenant: Being a Captain makes you one of the figureheads of the Wonderbolts. Ponies on the streets look up to you, take you as the role model. But behind the scenes, you are one in the chain of command with your superiors deciding your way to some extent.”

Hearing a sharp whistle from below, Elise's ears stood up.
“Flynn is below. He wants a lift up.”

Trotting towards the front door, Rainbow chuckled amused.
“Bat ponies have good ears it seems.”

“Well, despite the rumors we don't use them to eavesdrop on others...” Elise retorted, giving Spitfire a glare, yet the yellow Pegasus mare resisted to grin.

“I didn't say anything...”

A few moments later Flynn came in and placed a kiss on Rainbow's lips while Elise and Spitfire received kisses on the cheeks as court mates. It seemed proper for the time being and was enough for each of the two newcomers.
“It's good to see you two again. When we heard that we were gone for some weeks, I was afraid you would take it in a wrong way. Well... here's the news I'm allowed to give from Ranger HQ: We're still on alert. But it seems Tyler has come back to his senses and the plan at hand seems to be that we take the Elements of Harmony with us as a means of defense against the Darkness Sisters, should we encounter them. We will set sail in Fillydelphia and then down south, evade the currents from the south of the Amasian enclave and about some other island we will take some sort of shortcut. Since we have an alicorn princess with us, they predict our journey to be a brief one.”

Elise grew pale upon hearing this. Shortly after, she kicked with her hind legs in rage.
“BUCK!!!”

Looking over to her with an arched brow, Spitfire shook her head.
“Is there a reason why you rage so much?”

“Damn straight there is a reason, stupid!” the bat pony now replied. “Maelstrom!” Kicking the ground, Elise looked to the ground, tears in her eyes. “You know? Due to the currents there, sane captains rather go the long direct route against the current leading north near the Amasian Enclave than to squeeze themselves through at the edge of Maelstrom. They do so because this is like a filly virgin. So tight you either crash on the cliffs or go down Maelstrom. And almost no sailing pony ever returned from Maelstrom. A huge vortex in the sea a third the size of Equestria. Captain Lily only did it once and at that point she was forced to. If they take that route, the Rangers and Elements are risking their lives.”

Looking up to Flynn, Rainbow's eyes widened.
“Is our trip really going to be that dangerous?”

Flynn grimaced and nodded in reluctance.
“Tyler and Queen Sheeris agreed on the fact that if we want to get Celestia and the two princes out of there before the main attack force meets the enemy, this is our path... even if the risk is formidable.”

Rainbow looked down to the ground, uncertainty in her eyes for a short while before she looked up with new determination in them.
“We will go and we will return. I once said I'll always be loyal to the princess, and I gosh darn intent to keep it that way! Besides... If our big guy here goes out there all alone, he would miss some decent wings to assist him.”

Looking down, Spitfire grimaced unsatisfied.
“I only wished that there would be more that we could do... Sitting safe in Equestria preparing armies while you risk your lives without any help at all still feels unsatisfying!”

Flynn and Rainbow looked at each other and after a smile they nodded in silent agreement.
“There is something... I want you to have a good look on Scootaloo while we are gone. Would you girls do that for me without fighting?”

Both Elise and Spitfire looked at each other, smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Sure thing!”

“But don't stay away for three more months this time, stud...”

“Oh I intend to come back with Rainbow... I mean, I have three great girls here...” Looking from Rainbow to Elise and finally to Spitfire, he smirked “Awesome, cool and hot. Once we come back, I'll find some time and tell you the whole story why it took us two so long to return... And in the meantime, I want you two to behave as best as you can.” Placing a kiss first on Spitfire's and then on Elise's lips, he went towards the door. “If you behave, there will be more of that later on.”And with that he and Rainbow left again to make some more preparations.

Savoring the kiss, Spitfire leaned a bit back, her eyes dreamy.
“Hehe... He called me hot... Yep, I still have it.”

Rolling her eyes, Elise slowly shook her head.
“Featherbrain...”

Now shooting a glare at Elise, Spitfire's eyebrow twitched.
“Fangface...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in another dimension...
The car came to an abrupt halt and Rick Marshal approached the house of beige. The garden was well done, the grass green and healthy and there was the laughter of kids in the air. A good neighborhood, it seemed. Ringing the doorbell, he waited patiently at the front door.

As the front door opened, a seasoned old lady, maybe 60 or 70, blonde hair with several streaks of silver stood before him and Rick gave her a genuine smile.
“Mrs. Megan Williams?”

All of a sudden, her mood became slightly hostile and her eyes became hard.
“I thought I had told you people to leave me and my family alone.”

Shaking his head in confusion, Rick Marshal tried to stay polite with maintaining his smile.
“I beg your pardon?”

“You're from the press, right? You louts should learn to leave me alone!”

Shaking his head, he then showed her the bureau's badge.
“No, Ma'am, I am not from the press. Agent Rick Marshal, FBI.”

Right now a little girl stormed to Megan's side and looked up to Rick.
“Grandma? Who is this man?”

Stroking her hair, Megan forced a smile.
“It's alright, Lily. He's having some questions for granny. Why don't you play upstairs?” When Lily complied, Megan arched a brow and turned around on the spot and left the agent on the door sill. “You may come in. What does a federal agent want from me?”

Taking several steps into the house, Rick knew that he had to think of something. Seemingly Mrs. Williams had her share of people labeling her mad and by becoming one of them he would never get any answers from her.
“I am looking for a man who disappeared without a trace. A man who entered a national park and never got out of it as if he just, poof, turned into thin air.”

“And what do you think do I have to do with this? I'm not offering shelter to anyone. And the garden doesn't have any body bags in it.”

“No... But when you and your siblings were children, you also disappeared without a trace and returned. Well fed and unharmed... I think that if there is the slightest chance that the man I am looking for is in the exact situation you were in as a child, you could tell me more.”

The aged woman gave the federal agent a strict look and eyed him for a long time.
“We three had to undergo several years of therapy... No one believed us. And after a while, the connection ceased. Molly was so devastated by this. Danny... He... He tried to find an explanation. If we were doing something wrong or maybe didn't do enough. For three years he blamed himself before we just went on. But not one of us forgot about what we were part of. There are things beyond this world that would blow your mind, Agent Marshal. There are far more things possible than you could imagine. But tell me: Why should I open this book once more for a stranger?”

The federal agent countered her stare, but nodded in the end.
“You are right, Mrs. Williams. I am a stranger to you. Who am I to tell you to do something? A world of talking and thinking ponies, no one would believe that. But one fact remains: This man vanished from the face of the earth and no explanation seems proper. So if I scratch all other options as impossible, the one remaining, no matter how stupid it may be, must be the truth.”

Megan now arched a brow once more and eyed Rick for some time.
“What did he do anyway to deserve a federal agent on his heels?”

“Oh I am the least of his problems for messing with national security. I just want the man found. What happens to him afterward is none of my business. What we know so far is that he was camping and that without a fight or struggle, this man disappeared into thin air with only a clean geometric hole in the ground as if a sphere teleported him away with magic.”

At the word 'magic' Megan's thoughts whirled around. Her eyes ran over the ground as if she was trying to connect pieces of the puzzle.
“The connection opened again...”

Arching a brow, Rick looked at her, puzzled.
“Mrs. Wiliams?”

“If that man truly went to the enchanted place I think he went, then he will be enlightened in a way you can not imagine.”

Shaking his head, Rick Marshal then made his way towards the door.
“I'm sorry I wasted your time, Mrs. Wiliams.”

Looking after him, Megan then cocked her head.
“Agent Marshal?”

Standing in the door, Rick then looked back one last time.
“Yes?”

“If I'm correct, then you might face wonders and terrors that might compel you to think outside the box. The question is not 'Is this crazy?' The real question is: 'What if it's not?'”

Rick gave her a nod and left the house, went through the front garden and entered his car, where his colleague Ben Miller was sitting.
“And? Did you find out anything useful?”

Rick sighed and rolled his eyes as he fastened his seatbelt.
“She still clings to the idea that there is some sort of other world out there and proposed that Tyler Jones might be in that place.”

Giving a chuckle, Ben Miller shook his head.
“What a nut job, right?” as Rick remained silent, Ben Miller looked over to him. “Right?”

Looking forward, Rick seemed to be lost in thoughts.
“I don't know, Ben... She'd better be a nut job. Otherwise Tyler Jones may have more tricks up his sleeve than hacking mainframes. Not to speak of the fact that it would be impossible to arrest him on another world.” With that the car was started and drove down the street.

Author's Note

Not proofread yet. Any notice to correct something is welcome. :twilightsheepish:

17 - Black Omen *

It was in the late evening when the two dark alicorn princesses came down to the dungeon to inspect their other prisoners. Obviously out to gloat, Lamira cast a spell to shed some more light. Both the Masar and Griffin were dirty and roughed up.
“Prince Griffith of the Griffin Kingdom and Prince Grinko Khass... whatever...”

Asira sneered down to Grinko.
“Let me kill him... I wish to see the misery in their faces when they see that they came too late for at least one of them.”

But Lamira held her sister back.
“No, Asira! I'm afraid you won’t lay a hoof on him.”

“What? Why not?”

Growling, Grinko bared his fangs.
“Because I would tear you to shreds first.”

Lamira arched a brow, an evil smile on her lips.
“No... I find it hard to believe since you won't have the mind for that. Because let me tell you what I will do to you, Masar… I will make you hunger. You might endure some days, but after two weeks the hunger will drive you insane. And when you can’t think of anything else but to feast… Then I will send HER into your cell…” Raising his chin with her hoof, the alicorn mare gave him a sneer. “First, clawing into her torso to make sure she can’t escape and streams of blood will run down the yellow coat… and as your teeth sink deep into her throat, I wonder what she will think of your love to her when you rob her of the last mean to plead for your sanity… I will allow you to come to your senses again. And when you realize that the nightmare has become reality and begin to scream, I WILL KILL YOU!!!” With that she slapped him and the blow forced him to turn his head away.

Spitting blood, Grinko looked up to her, cold hatred in his voice.
“You monster…”

Asira chuckled as they left the prisoners and shook her head.
“Lamira, you always inspire me with your devious plans... Bringing a Masar into a eating frenzy to kill his own beloved... Only you could come up with this.”

In the cell, Griffith looked over to Grinko.
“Don't tell me you're going to let them do that to you...”

But the Masar only grimaced as he shook his head.
“Don't be a fool... I would rather gnaw my own wrists to pieces before giving them this pleasure...”

Arching his brows, the griffin prince arched back, aghast.
“The cost would be your life...”

Grinko, however, nodded in pride
“But what will remain is my beloved and my honor!”

Replying with a nod of his own, Griffith smiled.
“Hear, hear...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the ruins of the capital city, several shadow ponies tried to salvage whatever they could find. The kingdom was in disarray with the king gone and Descendant forces roaming the edges of the canyon, searching for survivors was a dangerous undertaking

Armies of Amasian slaves were already forced into hard compulsory labor near internment camps, always the ever watchful and unforgiving whip of the Descendants above them. The agenda was clear: The rubble of the capital had to be cleared and in its place a new palace was to be risen to resemble the power of the Darkness Sisters.

In the streets a lone shadow scampered through the rubble, careful not to be seen by anyone as it moved from ruin to ruin. As it met another shadow, the dark figure lowered her dark hood, revealing a young mare and her foal.
“Eternal damnation upon the enemies of freedom…”

Looking to the left and right, the other shadow now dropped her hood as well and an older mare nodded at her.
“Eternal damnation. Clover, it's not safe to be out here in the open.”

“I have to reach the coast. I have a basket float hidden there. Not big enough for me, but big enough for the little one.”

The old mare's eyes widened, aghast
“Clover Night! Are you out of your pony mind?!?”

“On the contrary! My son will live or die as a free Amasian! He won't be a slave. If the sea wants to take his life, then he shall die free. But the worst thing I could do to him is to let him get caught and raised by them!”

Resting a hoof on Clover's shoulder, the old mare shook her head.
“Don't lose hope! Ghora’Khar will come to our aid...”

But Clover swatted the hoof away.
“This is not the Enclave! And where is he? Where was he when they came and brought misery to our land?”

“Again: Don't give up hope yet. This is exactly what the Descendants want. The resistance is gaining momentum as we speak.”

“And until they are ready to fight them, I will take care of my son in the way I see fit.” A shouting made both mares listen up and with haste, they went into opposite directions. When Clover finally reached her desired destination, she placed her son into the basket float and carried it carefully to the water. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked down to her one and only son. “I hope that fate can provide you a better future than I can, my son. I hope and wish for you to grow up big and strong and above all: Free.” With a heavy heart, she let go of the basket. And while the float began its journey into open sea, Clover Night forced herself to turn around and galloped back to her hideout, tears of uncertainty accompanying her.

It was dawn when the float made its way down the coastline, passing riffs and screaming seagulls it made its way to another beach. On it several dark wax constructions were hauled back to the safety of the beach. The Changeling Queen and her swarm had finally reached the southwestern coast of Amasia and were tired after their long journey over the sea. A few Changelings were lost during the journey. None of them could be sensed by Shiria and for her this was the certainty that they were dead. Right now the rest of her drones were drinking the water from a waterfall, fetched in some wax constructions they created in this cave nearby the beach before the preparations for a new hive could be made to replenish some of the ranks until the journey would go on. Standing at the shore, she enjoyed the cool seawater in and around her hooves. Life in a hive was always a bit warmer and cooling off was always refreshing. Yet suddenly something bumped into her. Was it a spy? Who dared to spy on the best spies on the planet? But no, this wasn’t a spy… Upon looking down, she recognized that this was a basket with a little shadow pony foal. While growling a bit, she tipped the chest of this little creature. 'What a waste of time! This thing can’t even…' Before she could think her thoughts to an end, the little foal laughed and grabbed her perforated hoof, causing her to gasp once more. As the maternal instinct kicked in, she took hold of the little foal, what now seemed to fall asleep in her hooves. Fear grew in her as she more and more was irritated. What were these feelings she felt right now? It was different to the care she gave for her Changelings.

Looking at her find she didn't pay attention to the approaching drone.
“Forgive me, my queen! I wasn't aware of the intruder. I was on the lookout for bigger threats. Do you wish me to dispose of this little worm?”

Looking down to the pony infant, Shiria wondered for a moment. This was a most interesting chance and she was going to take it.
“No! I will try something new now… This pony shall learn the Changeling way…”

Cocking its head in confusion, the drone now came a little closer.
“But… My Queen!”

“You dare to oppose me?” With a glare from her queen, the drone ducked and retreated. Now levitating the foal up, Shiria gave it a smile. “Whatever mistake I made with the treacherous Mimesis, I will not repeat with you… And since you’re a colt, I shall name you Symbios… You will make a fine playfellow for my daughter Leilia…” Turning to her drones, she nodded before giving out further orders. “Collect as much fresh water as you can and scout the area for ponies! The stench of smoke doesn't come to my liking, but there should be some ponies somewhere here that the Descendants haven't taken. Take them and bring them into the hive. As soon as the preparations are complete, we will investigate further!” Now her eyes went to Symbios again and a gentle smile came to her face. As she carried the foal to the cave and after a while to the surface above the cave, a frail ray of sunlight broke through the darkness of the smoke clouds the Amasian Empire was under right now and shined down to the unfinished hive.

A ray of hope.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in the north, the morning sun shined brightly over the port of Baltimare. The Alisia was undergoing minor repairs and the ponies on deck did their normal duties, when First Commander Will entered the Captain's cabin.
“C-Captain? Someone is asking for permission to come on board.”

But Captain Lily shook her head without looking up, waved her commander away.
“Not now, Will. We are still undergoing repairs. I'll see to potential customers later this evening. So as long as it isn't the harbor chief or a Canterlot inspector, permission denied.”

Will wanted to say something, but not a second later, the door was opened and Tyler entered the cabin.
“I know I'm provoking yet another series of stress and trauma to your ship, but I want the best crew I can get. And you and your crew are the most trustworthy.”

Lily's ears went backward like the ears of a cat being cornered and her eyes became thin slits as she glared at Tyler. With a quick gesture she ordered Will to leave the cabin and he obliged.
“You... Am I cursed by Princess Luna to constantly stumble over you and those around you, Mr. Jones?”

“Aw, Captain. Am I so terrible for you? The least you could do is hearing me out.”

Grumbling a bit, Lily looked to the side while she nodded.
“Alright, you have one minute...”
The tranquility of the harbor was suddenly disturbed as a certain “WHAT?!?” caused the seagulls to scatter. Pointing her hoof at Tyler, Lily slammed her other hoof several times on her desktop. “Are you out of your human mind?!? Nopony with a sane mind travels that route!”

Tyler remained calm and nodded.
“I'm aware that the current between the Amasian Enclave and the neighboring island is too strong for us to reach our destination in time. I am also aware of the risk of this route. But I've heard that you did this route once and here you are, alive to tell the tale...

“I was hunted by nopony less than the Flying Hoofmane at that time! That was pure desperation!” She retorted, “There are dangers on the sea that you couldn't possibly imagine, Tyler Jones! I know them, I faced a lot of them in my travels. And you didn't!”

Taking a seat on her table, Tyler took a look on his fingernails. Unseen by Lily, however, were his eyes at that moment, that began to glow slightly blue.
“I faced other stuff. But you know? The Princesses of the Sun and Night would most certainly compensate you and your crew generously for this mission and all your expenses...”

At the sound of that, Lily's ears rose up with a twitch.
“What...?”

But nonetheless Tyler continued.
“... and I even might get them interested in sponsoring a capable mare such as you for the next few years...”

Lily glared at Tyler, a certain tremble in her body. He was trying to make it more appealing to her and unfortunately for her he was successful with it. The Alisia could need a visit at the dry dock and with a sponsorship and several missions from the princesses, she and her crew could easily build up a fleet of their own. However, the risk to earn all this... This man had some nerves and whenever she stumbled over him, she and her crew were in for something. And now his talking skills were aiming for her approval once more.
“Why don't you offer me to smear strawberry sauce all over my body while you're at it, boy?”

Looking over his shoulder to her, Tyler gave her a grin.
“If you wish that, that could be arranged as well, Captain...”

A heavy blush formed over her nose now as she gritted her teeth. Already she could feel her bat wings to erect behind her. This was a dance of words now, but she wouldn't fall all over herself into the trouble of adultery with a male from a prominent herd. This always led to only one thing: Trouble! She had to turn the table, had to regain control again. Slamming her hooves onto the desktop, she then pointed her right hoof at Tyler. “You're not funny, Mr. Jones! I'm in charge of this ship and its crew, not you! Wait at the pier, the crew and I will discuss this.”Tyler obliged and left the ship, a fact that prompted her to sigh in relief.

Coming back to the others, Tyler shrugged before Twilight looked up to him.
“And? Did you get us the ship?”

Smiling down to her, he gave her a wink.
“Give it some time...”

A couple of minutes later, Lily came down to the pier, still a blush on her face. She took Tyler's hand and shook it.
“You got your ship... Don't let me regret this...”

Leaning over to Twilight, AJ arched a brow.
“He seems normal right now. No harsh emotions, no anger, no hate... Like any day Tyler.”

Twilight gave this a concerned nod.
“But he isn't. Something's not right with him, whether we admit it or not.”

They came on board and for a moment there was a murmur among the harbor ponies when the hover tank approached the Alisia. Looking over to Tyler, Lily shot him a glare.
“Let me guess... There's some cargo you want to take with you as well?”

Tyler shrugged with a smile.
“I'll leave the compensation later to the princesses, you don't have a problem with some safety precautions, do you?” Lily grumbled in displeasure and the tank was levitated into the cargo hold by Twilight, Tyler, Rarity and Lyra. What would have been an impossible task was made quite easier with the fact that Twilight was an alicorn and that the tank already hovered and had lesser weight, so the most part was setting it down appropriately. Once down, the tank was fixed in the cargo hold to be unable to move another inch. An hour later they left for the open sea.

* * * * *

Half a day later, they sat down in the cargo hold and while Vinyl and Lyra took turns with Twilight and Rarity to charge the batteries up, the others conversed. Right now, Twilight and Rarity were done and while Rarity was out to look for some refreshments, Twilight came to the others.
“That should almost do it. Vinyl says she and Lyra are now doing the last few checks inside of the tank.” Looking around she lowered her voice as she leaned in to Applejack. “Where is he?”

AJ pointed to the front, her voice lowered as well.
“Over there in the bow. Twilight, Ah think we should help him somehow. It doesn't need a lot to see that he's in need for our help. He's strugglin', seekin' isolation. And frankly it pains me to see mah Sugarcube like that.”

Letting out a sigh, Twilight looked over to the bow where Tyler was.
“To solve a problem one must first know the origin of it. Right now we only know that Tyler has moments when his anger knows no bounds, like there would be someone else in him, controlling him either from the inside or outside. But ever since we spoke up to him, these short outbursts of anger ceased completely.”

Coming to their side, Flynn looked over to Tyler as well as he handed Twilight a refreshment as well.
“A frightening thought considering him being the strongest human user of magic among us... I think the last time I ever saw him so pissed was when Mimesis attacked us in the HQ. Only that this time the reason for him to be angered is inferior than 30 years of fake happiness. Worrisome.”

Rachel, who sat one meter away, looked over to them and leaned back.
“Why worry? We are traveling with an unstable, 200 pounds heavy, mobile weapon of mass destruction, currently with the patience of a spider sitting in her web. One wiggle and bang! He could blow this ship out of the water.”

Twilight frowned. This sentence wasn't to her liking, yet Rachel had a point. Now approaching Tyler, she sat down at his side and looked up to him. He didn't look at her, but his face showed no emotion at all.
“Coming to the walking, talking weapon?”

Looking down again, Twilight lowered her ears.
“The others are simply worried, Tyler. Not as much about this crazy mission, but about you.”

Giving a short chuckle, he nodded.
“I know. I think I can't blame them for that. I would be worried as well if this would happen to any one of them. Sometimes it just...” Looking over to her, he gently shook his head. “It feels like I'm standing right beside me, losing control while another person takes over. It would be a lot easier if I knew what was wrong with me. I'm sure I could adapt. If it were a broken leg, I could walk less on it. A sickness? I would cure it out. But now I'm at a loss of what to do.”

Twilight nodded at this. The one suffering most under this unknown situation was Tyler.
“I only wish I could read your mind right now as easy as Celestia and Luna do... Maybe I could help you better if I could do that.”

This brought a smile on his face and he rested his palms on her cheeks.
“Don't blame yourself, Twilight. You, AJ and the others are the best support I could ever hope for at the moment. I am grateful for each and everyone of you. Don't think that you're not helping. The others reel me in if I'm going too far. As for AJ and you...your very presence soothes me. When you are with me, I think I can get these waves of anger under control.” Leaning forward, he placed a passionate kiss on her lips. Twilight didn't protest. If this was aiding him good right now, she was happy to oblige. And yet she saw the fear in his eyes. The fear of bringing them all closer to danger. The thing she wondered about most was what he was fearing more: Bringing them into danger or this new unknown force.

* * * * *

One hour later, in the captain's cabin, both Will and Lily looked out of the window, both silent for several minutes. The commander was the first to talk as he closed his eyes with a sigh.
“If I understood him correctly, there's a thousand things that could go wrong with this stunt alone.” Looking out of the window, Commander Will shook his head. “Advancing all defense forces to intercept the enemy armada on the open sea. He's abandoning the entire country...”

Standing next to him, Lily took a deep breath. Her first commander had reasonable concerns, but the Alisia was already chartered and on her way. Turning back now would mean to abandon the payment as well.
“He's in command; with both ruling princesses out of the game and Princess Cadance busy with preparing the Crystal Empire for battle, there's no one who can hold him back now to get us our princess back. And Princess Twilight is with him, so there's nothing we can do. He thinks that the best choice would be on the open sea, away from all collateral damage. Will, if I order the crew to do a maneuver awfully reckless, but with the chance of success, they would do it.”

Looking over to her, Will gave her a smirk.
“The crew has faith and trusts in the fact that you want us to succeed, Captain.”

“That's the point, Will. With all the troubles we've been through with this human, he always wanted to keep us away from harm, never aimed for our misery. That's the sole reason I agreed to this. He took precautions. Not only for their sake, but for ours as well... Maybe we should start to trust him a bit more as well.”

Outside Rachel wondered what was going on in the captain's cabin.
“What are they doing in there so long?”

Flynn gave it a shrug and grinned.
“Well, whatever a mare and a stallion do in their alone time, you know?”

In the next moment, Rainbow was slowly descending on Flynn, letting her weight on him as her front hooves rested on his shoulders and her head on his.
“Shut up, Flynn. Not even we two do it with so many people close by. And these ship walls are thin; we would so hear the action.” Flynn answered this with tickling her sides, what caused her to laugh.

Half an hour later, Lily came back with Will and continued their duties.
“I want a steady course correction towards the coast! Make sure we don't drift away too much southwards.”

Standing up, Rachel came to Lily's side.
“Excuse me, Captain. Are we in any kind of hazardous waters right now? The sea looks normal to me.”

Arching a brow, Lily looked into the south and nodded.
“That's because you only see some part of it. In higher altitude one can see the extent of it. This vortex is huge.”

This caught the ranger's attention.
“A vortex?” Looking south, she concentrated on the horizon. “There's this short and thin dark line on the horizon... Barely visible. Is that it?”

Landing beside her, Lily looked at the horizon as well.
“That's rumored to be the other side of the vortex.” Lily eyed Rachel for a moment. “You have good eyes! For a human that is.” Taking flight again, she began her explanation. “There are theories if it really is the other side or just something in the vortex. Some believe the roundness of the planet is flattened there to some degree and they could see to the other side. But nothing is certain about this. Maelstrom... Devourer of ships and ponies, even sea serpents avoid these waters. And don't try anything. Nopony has ever crossed that vortex. The thing is that the area seems to be slowly draining magic from every living thing the closer you get to the center. Pegasi tried to cross it being airborne... They never returned either. So there's no magic and no flight as means to cross this monster. Only out here on the farthest outskirts of this phenomenon we can make it.”

Looking out to the ocean, Sam's expression grew grim.
“Rachel...

Giving it a nod, she turned over to him.
“Yeah, Sam... Just like Bermuda. A dreaded place where ships are lost in. But this might be a natural magical phenomenon on this world we don't understand yet.”

Flying to the bow of the Alisia, Lily looked down into the sea.
“We have yet to watch out! The sea here at the edge of Maelstrom is filled with rocks and riffs able to smash us to pieces. The current would then drag us directly into Maelstrom.”

The next few minutes were spent with bat ponies pulling the Alisia and steering her like this through the riffs and sharp rock formations. While the route was most uneventful, a certain tension was felt among the crew. It wasn't until long when one of the younger bat ponies spoke up.
“I don't like this...”

One of the more experienced mares, however, nodded over to her.
“You're new to our crew, Moonwing. Don't worry. You weren't with us on the day we made this route. The thing is: The Captain took exact log of that route. So and so many knots over so and so much distance.”

“So we're safe?”

“Sort of... This is another ship. This pot here is twice the size, she has to re-calculate the route in her head from scratch.”

It was then when one of the mares spotted it. A large rock formation directly in the ship's path 300 meter ahead.
“Captain! Rock formation ahead!”

Remaining calm, Lily nodded and flew with the others.
“I know, sailor...”

Worried glances were exchanged by the younger sailors. Frightened whispers let the worry spread like an airborne virus.
“We're too fast... Way too fast! We should have already began to turn.

Now closing in, the rock formation came close to 200 meters and one of the bat ponies spoke up.
“Captain, we're over our mark by a ship length! We need to turn!”

Lily's eyebrow simply twitched in anger.
“You're relieved.”

Turning over to Will, one of the bat ponies shook her head, her eyes pleading for help.
“C- Commander!”

Will looked over to the Captain, wondering if he had to intervene. Lily counted further in her mind before she opened her eyes wide all of a sudden and shouted her order.
“Right full rudder! All ponies pull reverse!”

In an instant, the ponies pulled the ship's bow back, trying to slow the ship for a sharp turn. The ropes bounced under the instant stress, yet withstood. The Alisia tilted to the side as she turned to the right, making it hard for everyone not airborne to keep standing. And all of a sudden, the tremors shook the hull as the shields flashed up brightly and a geyser of sea water gushed high up the air. Once the sea and ship had calmed again, Twilight dared to take a peek outside.
“Are we sinking?”

Landing next to her, Lily shook her head.
“Not even closely. It seems I miscounted for one or two seconds, but we had the shields, so the ship was only shaken, not shattered. Pretty tricky, this last part. Only a sharp turn is able to steer away from the large obstacle and not run into the riffs below that would rip the hull into pieces. Especially with a fat porker like the Alisia.”

After some monitoring of the sea water, Will turned back to Lily, as he flew in front of the ship.
“Captain! The riffs are ceasing, we are entering deeper waters again.”

“Good! Return to a course eastwards, then maintain speed and course for another two hours and report any unusual rock formations on sight.”

Holding her head, Rachel tried her best not to throw up below deck.
“I hate this... That's why I'm a Marine and not a Navy seaman. I can't handle all this shaking in the long run...”

Moving a barrel and a crate out of the way, Sam rolled his eyes.
“Shut up, Rachel. It could have ended worse. Vinyl! How's the tank?”

Climbing on top of the tank, the white unicorn nodded.
“They sure made good use of the props. That baby didn't even flinch when everything else tilted. We're good.”

* * * * *

At the end of the day, Captain Lily assembled her crew and looked at them. The evening sun was shining into their faces, letting their eyes glow golden, almost like topaz gemstones.
“We are back in safer waters. I once vowed to you never to make that trip again. I broke my promise and I can't blame you for being angry at me for putting you through this a second time.”

Giving a short glance to the side to the crew, Will then looked at Lily and nodded.
“We understand, Captain.”

This brought a smile on the captain's face. This, however, quickly withered and her face returned to being serious.
“Don't get me wrong: We are not out of the worst. We are going deep into the enemy lines and will deliver our passengers there. Sneaking through their lines and striking deep into their heart.”

The crew mumbled in wonder about this until one of the mares raised her hoof.
“Excuse me, Captain... But what chance can one ship have against their entire armada? Against enemies able to destroy an entire city?”

An obvious question Lily expected.
“Good question, sailor! Listen, everypony: We have on board a very important piece of Harmony Ranger technology. It already saved our lives today in the riffs. With the help of this piece of equipment, we are able to wield magic even without many unicorns on board. Princess Twilight has developed a cloaking spell and Ranger Scratch will maintain the shields and cloaking effect. The enemy will not see us and the shields should protect us for the one or another hazard.”

Shaking her head, one of the bat pony mares shook her head.
“This is suicide, cloaking spell or not! What if the cloaking spell loses effect while we're in the middle of their fleet?”

Giving her a glare, Will and Lily frowned at her.
“I suppose you do your duty, Moonwing! And leave the magic to the unicorn Ranger! Otherwise you are in deep trouble!” While the rest of the crew returned to their duties, Moonwing grimaced and went below deck with a reluctant “Yes, Ma'am!”.

Commander William was about to follow her, but Lily's wing blocked his way.
“No, Will... I'll handle her...” Now coming below deck, Lily then approached the crew member directly. “Moonwing? On a word, please.”

Upon noticing her captain, Moonwing stopped her work and stood attention.
“Aye, ma'am!”

Lily then slowly encircled her, inspected her here and there.
“You are new to my crew, Moonwing... You do good work and you grew some attitude. But all that doubting? If you think you are unfit to serve on my ship, then maybe you should serve on another once we reach the harbor? Or are you here for a specific purpose?

Arching a brow, Moonwing turned her head to Lily.
“Captain?”

“I tend to trust my crew members completely, but if there is doubt about something, specifically treachery... I begin to ask questions.”

Moonwing's eyes slowly widened.
“D-do you think I'm a Descendant?”

Both mares glanced at each other and for three seconds, Lily shot Moonwing a glare.
“Are you?”

Another couple of seconds of silence followed while Moonwing's ears lowered with each passing moment.
“Captain, you're scaring me for real now...

“Good! Because if one of my crew is a traitor, the entire ship is at stake. I won't allow that. Before I jeopardize the crew, I'll tie the traitor up and toss him or her into the sea. Here in open waters, no one would miss a young mare and spy.”

Tears now began to well in Moonwing's eyes. The young mare seemed rather intimidated, even began to snivel.
“C-Captain... I... I'm sorry I doubted you. I'll work harder than ever! Just... Please don't do anything to me...”

Giving a determined nod, Lily's harsh face warmed up a bit and pulled Moonwing in for a motherly hug. This mare wasn't a traitor, she was too timid for that. There was no hope she would ever make it through a serious interrogation.
“Trust is something you have to earn on this ship. We are one big family here. I need each of you to work together as a unit without questioning every move. Do you understand this, sailor?”Sniffing once, Moonwing now nodded and Lily patted her shoulder with a smile. “There you go. Now dry your tears and get back to work.”

Lily then returned to deck, where Will was waiting for her.
“And?”

Rolling her eyes, Lily gave it a wide grin.
“Well, she's new on the ship, but teared up quite fast. She's not a Descendant, but a typical ensign. Brash, full of herself and taking on the world...” Smiling, she looked over to her first commander. “You think we were the same at this age?”

Will smirked and gave it a shrug.
“Maybe? But right now we're probably worse than that.”

The comment caused Lily to laugh out loud.
“True! Maneuvering the ship against reckless odds is slowly becoming our reputation.” Her laugh, however, came to a sudden halt, when she spotted something on the evening horizon.

There it was. A large fiery storm front with clouds of fire, several miles wide. In it the armada of the enemy slowly made its way to Equestria. Lily's facial expression grew grim. Exchanging glances with Will, she nodded, before the commander replied with a nod of his own.
“It begins! All ponies to battle stations! Turn the Alisia around and steer her to an intercept course right into the storm.”

One bat pony grinned widely.
“Every sailing ship avoids storms like that. We are the only maniacs daring enough to steer right in.” Hearing this brought grins on each bat pony face and with a united “AYE!” they cheered themselves up.

Giving the upcoming storm front a glance, Tyler turned over to the tank in the cargo hold.
“Vinyl! Power up the tank with the strategic shields, raise shields along the sails, ropes and bat ponies, make sure the masts don't break under the firestorm's pressure. That the ropes, masts and ponies don't take fire. We will need all the speed we can get.”

Taking a gulp, the white unicorn nodded and closed the hatch. Deep within the cargo hold, the tank's engines began to hum loudly. And as the first wave of flaming winds approached the ship from behind, the shields withstood the stress. In the tank Vinyl monitored and maintained the charges. What usually needed several unicorns at once was done with ease due to the immense storage of spells they had prepared. A storage that seemed to hold for quite some time before the shield would collapse. While first spooked by the flaming winds, the bat ponies quickly learned to have faith in the shields surrounding them. They were safe and the shields were holding the inferno back, which made the crew more confident for the task ahead.

After five minutes of constant fire around the shields, the wide eye of the storm reached them, the harsh winds of fire ceased and the armada of war citadels became visible above them as the mighty fleet caught up with them. Tyler gulped briefly as he looked up. Hundreds of war citadels, surely manned with tens of thousands of Descendants able to bomb the ground and shielded with a ring-like storm of flames. This was an armada for the sole purpose of waging war against the entire planet.
“We're in the heart of their armada...”

Looking up, Flynn shook his head in disbelief.
“Oh, we are so screwed.”

Tyler's facial expression darkened.
“No, we're not! Twilight's cloaking spell is working and our tank's generator is maintaining it and the shields for the entire ship. They can't see us. Otherwise they would attack right now.” Looking at the tank, he raised his voice. “Vinyl! Maintain the cloaking field spell and the shields for the Alisia just as Twilight instructed you. I want sphere upon sphere, layer upon layer, all magic stored in the tank. Do everything to make sure the magic keeps flowing.”

Vinyl cocked her head while arching a brow.
“With so many spells at once, the spells won't last days, but only a hoof full of hours...”

Nodding, Tyler smiled.
“That's all the ship will need to get back to safety. We don't know about their sensors, if they have any. So for the time being, it's all or nothing now.” Now facing back to Twilight, he arched a brow. “Twilight? It begins. Just like we both trained, honey. Are you ready?”

Taking a gulp, Twilight nodded.
“In a couple of seconds; I'll give it my very best. Where am I aiming the teleportation at?”

Looking up to Nagohod, Tyler's face grew more determined with each second.
“Their main citadel fortress.”

Staring surprised at her herd mate, Twilight's jaw dropped.
“What?”

Nodding up to the immense citadel, Tyler's face barely changed.
“If they hold the hostages anywhere, it has to be there. We get them out, it's game over for them once our armadas meet them. And for some reason I sense a strong magical force up there.” While Twilight was busy preparing the spell, Tyler turned to the front to the bat ponies. “Captain Lily, I want your ship to get on an intercept course with the main citadel fortress. Focus all your speed and maneuverability into that. We only have this one shot!”

Looking at each other for a second, the bat ponies then looked over to their captain.
“Captain, what are we going to do?”

Gazing straight front, Lily shook her head.
“Change course and speed as he said, you flying rats! If you slack off now, I'm going to drown you myself!”

This left the one or another bat pony stumped.
“B-but Captain!”

“With... With that course, we are steering right into Maelstrom!”

Angered, Captain Lily put her hoof down and raised her voice.
“In a couple of miles, you cowards! Now pull yourself together! We have this one and only chance to deliver this team to rescue Princess Celestia! So I expect you girls to fly as you have never flown in your entire life! Somewhere up there is our diarch, waiting for them to rescue her. We will not fail her!”

And while the Alisia went on an intercept course for the mighty Nagohod, Tyler and Twilight were floating over the planks as the magic formed to their will until both opened their eyes, Twilight's face showing worry.
“Tyler? I can't teleport so many individuals safely over such a distance with so many moving obstacles and unknown factors.”

A hologram appeared between Tyler and Twilight. Concentrating, Tyler plotted a trajectory up to Nagohod visible for Twilight.
“I understand and I think I see an opportunity... A low part of the fortress serving no apparent purpose. Can you do it?”

Concentrating, Twilight closed her eyes shut before she opened them wide. If not teleportation, she had to create a magic sphere and fly levitate them all up there.
“I can! I believe I can!” Now the other element bearers and Rangers began floating as well as the magic circle grew, their manes whirling around wildly. “This will be no teleportation,girls, but a force field with immense acceleration. I can't teleport us directly in, I don't know about the windows, walls or structure of the fortress. I'm sorry.”

Exchanging glances with each other, the girls then nodded at their friend.
“No problem, Twilight. We believe in you!”

But more and more the bat ponies tired and the fortress of Nagohod came closer, surely to bypass the ship very soon. Raising her voice and head, Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“We have to help them, T-man!”

Looking over to Rainbow, Tyler shook his head.
“We can't! We are all inside Twilight's force field already. The bat ponies are more than able to get this ship going, Rainbow. Have faith and let them do their part!” This order didn't came to Rainbow's liking. She wanted to help in this race against the enemy fleet, was able to do so. But she had to admit that staying with the others was more important now. Like several pegasi flying in formation, they were one unit now.

The sea became rougher as the citadels flew over the ship, sometimes closing in to only a few meters. A large majority of the armada already passed the sail ship by now, which was tiny in comparison to them. Looking over to Lily, Commander William shook his head while pulling as strong as he could.
“Captain! The crew is getting tired with all that weight to pull, they can't keep up this speed forever!”

Gritting her teeth, Lily pulled even stronger to make up for her tired crew, sweat running down her forehead.
“We don't need forever, Will!”

Tyler looked over to Captain Lily. The spell was almost ready and the crew of the ship was giving its best to deliver their package. A commendable crew, what brought a smile on his face as he spoke up.
“Once this is over, I shall grant you and your crew a cargo hold full of fruits, Captain!”

Lily grinned widely while still pulling, sweat running over her face.
“It never gets old with you, Tyler Jones! Come on, girls! A bit more!”

Coming together, the friends now grabbed each other and stood united for the impending spell. Looking around, Rachel shook her head.
“Another thing I never thought I'd do: Being catapulted high into the sky. Let us hope that we will make it.” Everyone nodded at this except for Twilight, who still concentrated. Upon opening her eyes, the alicorn unleashed her magic and the sphere of magic shot up into the sky and towards Nagohod.

Once the Elements and Rangers were off the ship, Captain Lily raised her voice once more.
“All! Hard to port! Turn her around! We get out of here!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, up above, Princess Asira's ears rose up and she blinked in surprise two times.
“Did you feel that as well?”

Arching a brow, Lamira looked around.
“Yes... Magic of alicorn magnitude was used... Close by...”

Looking over to their priced hostage, Asira lowered her voice.
“You think Celestia...?”

“No... We have subdued her... I guess it's either her protege, niece or sister... One of them is close...”

Shaking her head once, Asira began to trot towards the command room.
“I will alarm the Descendants.”

But Lamira raised a wing in front of her and closed her eyes with a smirk.
“No, wait! This could be interesting as it could be useful. Let's set up a couple of traps. Gather a small group of Descendants, do not alarm the fleet. We will maintain speed and course for Equestria while looking for whoever is up here. She could even have a few Rangers with her, who knows? If so, it is an excellent opportunity to interrogate and execute some of them, maybe we could learn more about their whereabouts.” Yet as soon as Lamira was trotting away, Asira looked after her. 'Hrmpf! I won't let you risk our operation with being so careless. I will deal with these worms myself...'

In the meantime, far below in the lower regions of the fortress, Rachel had grabbed Twilight's Head and placed a big kiss on her nose. All of them made it inside a hatch that was now closed by Flynn.
“You did great, Twilight! For a moment, I thought we would crash into the fortress wall.”

Twilight, however, chuckled a bit.
“Rachel... magic force fields don't have to deal with inertia. I can slow them down or move them around far better than flying with these wings.”

This prompted Rainbow to snicker.
“You can say that again. Next thing we both do when back in Equestria: I should start to give you flying lessons.”

Twilight nodded, but then looked down the corridor.
“Tyler? I take it you Rangers lead ahead while we Elements remain behind you in cover.”

Nodding, Tyler patted her shoulder as he peeked behind the next corner.
“Sure thing. Let's try to keep it safe and quiet.”

Looking back Flynn arched a brow.
“You folks think the bat ponies will make it?”

Tyler smiled at this question.
“Vinyl is with them, the tank and the shields will bring them home safely.”

Sneaking through the corridors, they made their way unhindered and unnoticed. After arriving in a smaller storage hall, they hid for a moment behind some crates. Tyler looked over the crates to see if there were guards of any kind. Once he saw no one around, he nodded and looked at the others.
“Alright. We are somewhere far below in the bow of this fortress. Somewhere has to be a way up. A stairwell or some ladders or something.”

“The elevator A on hall Epsilon.” Everyone looked at Pinkie, stumped.

“Excuse me Pinkie... Wh-”

Inhaling a bit, Pinkie closed her eyes with a smile.
“We go through the door over there, head to the right, take the second junction to the left and then walk through hall Epsilon.”

Shaking his head, Tyler arched a brow.
“Pinkie... How can you know that?”

Coming to his side, Pinkie turned his head to the side and pointed her hoof at the poster on the wall.
“Duh! It's on the map, silly!”

This prompted him to smile at her.
“Very observant. Thank you, Pinkie!”

“You're welcome!”

Rachel looked at the map and cocked her gun.
“An elevator? I don't like this... Too cramped space, too obvious as a trap.

Looking over to her, Tyler grinned.
“The alternative would be running upstairs... Maybe... 50 or 60 floors... Maybe even 100. That and free-climbing high over the sea.”

Grimacing a bit, Rachel then nodded.
“Oh, alright... Elevator it is...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the throne hall, Lamira was receiving a communication from the armada.
“Nagohod Command, this is Citadel Siberiod. Air space around the armada is clear; Operation Black Omen can be initiated.”

“Understood.” Trotting over to the panorama windows of her throne hall, Princess Lamira watched at the armada of citadels in front of Nagohod. The red evening sky was visible with a look above the clouds.'It's them... Of that I am certain. Celestia's little lap dogs are coming. Now then! Let us show them who they're up against...' The Armada came to a sudden halt right above the sea. “This is the right place… Here on Nagohod we will found Black Omen… Here the Harmony Rangers and the Elements of Harmony will die…” Just as Lamira had said this, her black mane and tail turned into something like red hot plasma and began to move without a breeze as if a sudden breeze had stirred them up. In an instant, streams of dark magic emanated from Nagohod and darkened the flaming clouds of the citadel armada, swallowed them and transformed them to a pitch black cloud And as her eyes began to glow, this eerie black cloud grew from the Descendant armada and spread far beyond the storm, thick enough to block the sunlight and an aura of evil engulfed the gigantic fortress as the cloud spread over the sea, growing relentlessly until it reached the coastline of Amasia, making the surviving shadow ponies cringe in fear.

This evil aura was so strong and powerful that it caused the Harmony Rangers and Elements of Harmony to look up in the elevator, grimacing with an uneasy feeling.
“Do you guys feel that, too?”

“I don’t know what it is… but this feeling…”

“Yeah… It feels like a sickness!”

In the throne hall, where Celestia was held, the skies darkened more and more. Seeing the last rays of sunlight obscured by Black Omen brought great grief to the Princess of the Sun. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes, unable to witness more of this. Its purpose was clear to see: A spell to veil the entire planet into eternal darkness.
“May there be mercy on us alicorns for our sins...”

Meanwhile the elevator came to a sudden halt, causing everyone to look up. Rachel gritted her teeth when she opened the ceiling hatch.
“Jones, I told you this was a bad idea.”

With a flaming mane and tail of her own, Princess Asira looked down the immense elevator shaft with an evil smirk,
“There I have you. Farewell, you mortal fools...”

When high above them the flames descended, Rachel turned to the others, aghast.
“They're going to fry us alive!!!”

Pushing everyone back, Tyler unleashed a large amount of his magic and drilled a large hole into the wall beside them.
“Rangers!!!” Not losing any time, the others nodded and while Sam and Flynn took a jump on the other side, Tyler and Rachel took the ponies and tossed them over, so Sam and Flynn could catch them.

As only Rainbow was left, she raised her hoof in protest.
“Nobody tosses me!”

But Rachel simply grabbed her and nodded.
“Fine! You can make the jump with me, stupid!” As they crossed over and looked at the others, Rachel looked back to the elevator. “Where is Jones?”

It was then when the ceiling hatch from the elevator fell down and hurried steps became audible. In the next moment, the cabin fell and Sam and Rachel jumped up. But mere seconds later, a fiery bolt of flame caused them to stand back until it passed the shaft as well. Once everything was over, they peeked down the shaft. Down below was an detonation and the cabin they were in was in ruins. A sharp whistle was getting their immediate attention and to their relief Tyler stood five floors over them.
“Now that was close. Had to make that stunt, we wouldn't have made it with that explosion right behind us.”

Turning to the others, Rachel gave them a reassuring nod.
“He cut the elevator down so the bolt would hit it several floors beneath us. Good thinking...” Looking up again, she spoke to him with a communication crystal. “Hey! Are there some stairs to meet up?”

Taking a short look down the corridor he was in, Tyler shook his head.
“I don't see any here right now... Make your way up, I'll do the same. We'll meet upstairs” Rachel nodded and turned to the others, surely to make their way up as safest as possible. For the time being, Tyler only had to take care of himself. Something that was actually pretty easy for him. As he made his way up, Tyler couldn't but recognize a certain resemblance in the way these corridors suddenly took. The floor wasn't made out of stone or steel plating anymore, but dark marble. Something that reminded him of Luna's wing in Canterlot Castle.

Finally there were two doors in the corridor he was in. Both of the finest wood he ever saw. As he opened one of them, he entered a chamber, that would turn Luna's chamber to shame in terms of luxury. A carpet of red velvet dampened his every step and the wooden ornaments on the walls and the ceiling were highly decorated with gold. However, the luxury wasn't going overboard and remained practical. Walking up a few stairs leading to the upper part of the chamber, Tyler passed two marble pillars and saw a big canopy bed with veils of transparent pink velvet. Whosoever was sleeping in there sure loved comfort. It sure looked like a bed a mare would lay on to lure a stallion in. But another thing sprang into his sight. It was a pedestal in front of the bed. On it rested a tome of black leather.

A sudden rush of adrenalin streamed through Tyler. 'This could be it...' he thought. 'This could be some written clues of their real whereabouts...' But as he opened the tome, a certain red glow emitted from its inside upon opening, which quickly ceased. It was in this moment when the ear of Princess Lamira twitched. And then she knew where to look for at least one of the intruders. With a heavy gulp, Tyler began to read.

'I damn all these traitors of the Light Tribe! They are the cause for all of this! The servants spoke of a spell that the Queen of Light cast in order to banish all other alicorns. At least that's what they overheard father saying. If that's right, I know who to blame for this genocide. But being a star herself, Queen Faust is out of reach... But the servants also state that she had daughters with father... I executed these servants on the spot for claiming such a preposterous thing. Some servants said that Asira and I should be disposed of and they should free themselves of the rest of us. That an alicorn filly couldn't be such a threat. I showed them how to dispose something properly. I don't think they will underestimate me or Asira ever again.'

Turning the page, Tyler wondered when these pages were written. It read as if a filly had written them down. The cover of the book looked old, really old, yet the paper was in top shape as if time hadn't harmed it at all. Maybe a spell to preserve it, maybe it was rewritten over and over again. He couldn't tell. Reading along he explored deeper into the diary.

'I don't sleep well. These claims of the executed servants make me think. To think that father ever managed to feel something for an Alicorn of Light... It's highly unlikely, but if it's true, then I found a way to get even with the Alicorns of Light after all these eons. If I can't punish the Queen herself, I will punish her daughters instead. They may have some noble blood of darkness in them, but the filth of light streams through their veins. My half sisters are corrupted. But I will not kill them. Death would be too easy for them. No, I will make them suffer by taking away everything they cherish. Their realm shall burn to the ground!'

A dark idea spawned in Tyler's mind. Like Celestia and Luna, Asira and Lamira were survivors of the conflict Celestia called the Alicorn War. But unlike Celestia and Luna, the Darkness Sisters were not found by ponies who meant well. They were growing up among ponies who wanted to get free from the oppression of the Alicorns of Darkness, who seemed to be quite terrible at that time. But these two fillies were innocent at a certain point and cornered to defend themselves. Growing up in a harsh environment, their hearts hardened at an early age. Now, unknown centuries, maybe unknown millennium later, their hearts seemed to have become black as tar. Wondering what could have caused this, Tyler wasn't aware that he was about to find out right now.

'I managed to do it! Mother always urged me to master this spell, but I never succeeded in performing it until today. I wish she would be here to share this with me. The 'Heart of Darkness' spell to bring forth the darkest powers in an individual. With the king, the creator of this spell as my father, I never had a doubt to master it one day. I wonder if he would be pleased with me seeing me succeeding where so many others failed.'

Looking over to the next page, Tyler gulped. This was a game-changer. They were alone all the time and had little to no compassion for their servants, who were nothing more than servants to them, not friends. An understandable position if they already tried to kill the two of them. Harshness and barren discipline dictated their doings, driven by a mad drive for revenge. As he continued to read the entries, Tyler explored just how deep this madness had gone.

'The spell made me so much stronger. I can sense it! Our divine king's power runs through my veins as I do his bidding. I am but the extension of his will to return to this place and rule over these peasants.'

'Asira was a bit hesitant to undergo the same procedure, but after talking to her, I managed to persuade her to try it as well. She's not as powerful as I am. Fitting, her being the younger sister. But it fills me with pride to call her my sister. Since the disaster of the Abarasion spell she has been a friend and companion. The bond between us got even closer after she stepped into the Heart of Darkness. The taste of her marehood still lingers in my mouth and my nether parts are still tingling with satisfaction as I write these lines...'

Tyler halted for a moment. This was a revelation to digest. It seemed that, like Celestia and Luna the Darkness Sisters had to deal with the lack of alicorn stallions on this world. While Tyler never thought that Celestia and Luna would be able to perform an act such as this, he remembered that he never asked them for certain. Knowing that the Darkness Sisters were willing to perform such an act revealed a lot about their mental state. Both sisters were close as lovers as well, meaning they were able to feel something. And it meant that both of them were each others potential weak-point.

'I managed to do it. With the perspective of accumulating riches some agents of mine have begun to infiltrate certain key positions in Amasia. Guiding these agents little by little into the direction I desire, I can make sure to gain indirect influence in Amasia. If this works, I will do this where ever there are ponies. There won't be a place where I won't have my agents and they will begin to undermine agencies, organizations and governments in my name until the time is right. Asira doesn't know of the plan yet, but I will inaugurate her in these final stages. With her at my side, I am sure we can achieve this long awaited goal.'

This last entry was more than interesting in Tyler's eyes. So the two of them had started their infiltration tactics centuries ago and had started their military development. To have enough patience to wait centuries, only to take total revenge showed the determination these two mares had. But to what horrible extent?

* * * * *

In the meantime, the others were not as fortunate as Tyler and had to knock out several Descendants on their way. Rachel shook her head as she peeked around yet another corner. The corridors they went through right now were all plated in metal and every few meter there was a screen. It wasn't sure what purpose these screens served, but Rachel couldn't care less now. “Five guys... Five possible reasons they might notice we are still down here. I'm not sure if knocking them out was a wise thing to do, Sam.”

But Sam simply shrugged.
“Either that or alarming the entire citadel.”

Looking around, Lyra arched a brow.
“Is it just me or does this part of the fortress have a resemblance to a dungeon?”

“Oh no!” Fluttershy began her thoughts. “This must mean Grinko is around here!”

Patting her shoulder, Flynn held the yellow mare back.
“Relax, Fluttershy... Calling out for him now might draw unwanted attention.”

With a nod, the timid Pegasus agreed.
“Oh... I understand. But... How would you react in my place?”

Shaking his head once, Flynn went on.
“I think I would go crazy...” Fluttershy gave it a short smile until she looked over to Rainbow, who gave her a bragging smirk. It was like her friend was almost saying 'That's my stud and he's as awesome as me.' A thought that made Fluttershy giggle a bit. For a moment, she almost forgot her worries for Grinko.

This, however, changed when Rachel pointed at one metal door.
“This one's locked unlike the others.” Looking into the cell, she saw two silhouettes hanging in chains at the wall on the other side of the cell. “Prince Griffith?” As the griffin looked up, she nodded over to Twilight. “Twilight, can you lock-pick the door?”

With a brief nod, Twilight stepped forward.
“I will give it my best.”

Upon entering the cell, Rachel inspected both princes and gave the others a nod.
“They're alive. But in worse shape than expected.”

While Twilight took care of the heavier bruises, Prince Griffith spoke up.
“Don't mind me, they seem to concentrate more on him. They threatened him to let him hunger until he's driven mad. And then they threatened they would send Lady Fluttershy to him to... let him feast on her in a frenzy.”

Shoving the others out of the way, Fluttershy came to the front and raised Grinko's head to her.
“Oh, how awful... No one should ever drive one that mad. I know my Grinko would never lay a claw on me to harm me.” She then lowered her voice so only Grinko could understand her, as she whispered into his ear, a heavy blush on her face. “Only to mark me as his...”

Rachel and Twilight exchanged nods and Rachel turned to the two prisoners again.
“We'll get you two out of here now...”

But now Grinko shook his head as he opened his eyes.
“No, I'm staying.”

“What?!?”

Giving a nod himself, Prince Griffith came back into a standing position.
“Me too... I'm afraid you'll have to get us out later on.”

Sam shook his head and raised his arms to shook the griffin's shoulders.
“This is not negotiable! The joint strike force of both your kingdoms and Equestria is out to destroy this armada here!”

“And what if we are gone?” Grinko countered, “Then the enemy will know that he is without hostages and will be more careful. Once the battle goes on, we will be able to help from the inside.

“Grinko, you are a Harmony-”

Standing up now, Grinko stood up tall.
“I'm currently not acting as Harmony Ranger! I am Grinko Khass’ra, Son of Tass'kra, Prince of the noble clan of K’tithrak Mang. It is my will to remain here and fight honorable, not to run like a coward. Me and these Descendants still have a score to settle.”

Griffith came to his side.
“I'm with him on this.”

“Prince Griffith!” Shaking her head in frustration, Rachel gritted her teeth.
“Not you too...”

But the griffin prince shook his head in determination.
“My father would be ashamed of me if I let others fight for me without taking arms as well. I will accompany Grinko, we will watch each others back.”

Giving a nod and a smile to Griffith, Grinko turned to the others again.
“Just undo these chains and we will play the waiting game.”

Rachel stabbed the Masar's chest, looking into his feline eyes.
“If Jones would be here, you would listen to him!”

“No! Not even he could deter me from this decision.”

This left the others stumped.
“I thought you were in his debt?”

“There are things not even debt can toss aside. One of them is honor.”

Now hovering in front of Grinko, Fluttershy raised a hoof.
“Ummm... and what about me? What if I wish you to come with us?”

Grinko halted for a moment, looking at her, then sighed.
“I can deny the others my obedience. You, my love, I have to ask for permission. Please... Let me face this fight.”

Recognizing that she was in control over him and had the chance to call him back, Fluttershy felt the heat rising in her cheeks. She meant more to him than anything or anypony else right now. A fact that made her heart race.
“Well... I don't like the fact of knowing you in such danger... Swear to me that you won't do anything reckless!”

A united aghast “Fluttershy!!!” came from the humans, but Grinko nodded and pulled her in.
“I swear! I shall return to you, my love.”

Unlike the human rangers who didn't seem to find a liking in leaving empty handed, the ponies smiled at their friends. Rarity shook her head with a touched smile.
“Now, you two... I hate to interrupt this bond between you, but we should get going, before somepony notices we're in here.”

It was in this moment when Tyler's voice sounded off in the communication crystal Rachel was wearing.
“Come in, please!”

While Twilight undid the chains and Flynn went outside the cell to watch the corridor for possible threats, Rachel answered the crystal.
“Jones! Good to hear from you. We've found the princes, but also ran into some complications.”

“Something serious?”

Looking over to Fluttershy and Grinko, who now both looked at her, Rachel give a sigh and shook her head with a smile.
“No, I don't think so. So what about you? Have you found something?”

“I know some gruesome details about the Darkness Sisters now... We have to stop this armada at all costs.”

Now frowning, Rachel looked over to the others.
“Why? What is it?”

“They are planning to-”

In the next moment, Flynn stormed back into the cell and took the communication crystal out of Rachel's hand.
“Tyler, watch out!!!”

“What? Why?”

“You are on every monitor of the citadel!”

As the friends came back to the corridor, each screen showed Tyler in the chamber he was in. Seeing himself on a big screen over the door he came in, Tyler gritted his teeth and leaned at the stone pillars at the stairs, the only cover he had so far. A few meters away, on the other side of the room he spotted a ventilation shaft. He could smash through and escape, he only needed a short distraction. Then, he heard the female voice of the princesses.
“So this is Tyler Jones... At last.”

Lamira arched a brow once she recognized the opened book in front of her bed.
“Reading my journal? Was it an interesting read? I should have known someone like you would not have the manners to respect the privacy of a diary...”

With an evil smirk Asira took a step towards his hiding place.
“Tell me, Tyler Jones, if you can: Our war citadels, our descendants... You have destroyed and killed so much. What is it exactly that you have created? Can you name even one thing?” As Tyler remained silent, the alicorn mare smirked. “I thought not. We have given ponies under our reign purpose to strive for. Something far greater than the equestrian ponies could ever hope to imagine! A common goal to achieve! If only you would have harnessed all that boundless energy for a useful purpose. Then maybe you could understand this. But let's face the truth: There's nothing good to expect from you vile monkeys.”

Raising a wing in front of her sister, Lamira smiled victorious, but shook her head.
“If you can't do the right thing for the good of all ponies... Maybe you can do it for one of them?”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler peeked over to the ventilation shaft. They were playing the cards rigged to their own advantage as if he would be the villain.
“Like the one you took from me?”

Gasping aghast, Lamira shook her head.
“Do you really think we would harm our own sister?”

Asira gritted her teeth.
“How preposterous! Princess Celestia is alive and well.”

Hearing this was good, but it could also be a trick to make him obey their demands. Stepping aside of the pillar, he had raised his hands in surrender, yet his hands were clenched down to fist. Lamira grinned.
“See that, Asira? He's not so dumb after all...” But a grin formed on Tyler's face and when he opened his fists, a blinding white light flashed up. Within mere seconds he shot a bolt of magic into the ventilation shaft hatch, breaking it open. But just as he jumped to dive in, alicorn levitation magic got hold of him. As he was levitated towards the two alicorn mares, Lamira sneered at him. “I got you now...”

Looking backwards, Asira saw that the screens had returned to black and after some nod from their Descendants, she turned to her sister again.
“The feed has ended, dear sister... We can speak freely again.”

Levitating Tyler close to her, Lamira inspected him like a science specimen.
“You were privileged by Celestia and Luna... What do they see in this monkey face of yours that they let you, a mere mortal, mount them? What a disgrace...”

Spitting into her face, Tyler struggled in their levitation magic.
“There's your disgrace, bitch!”

But his spit only hit a magical force field in front of her.
“Interesting... You are able to move muscles in my levitation field; you should be completely unable to do that... So you have found out our dirty little secrets...”

Repulsed, Asira shook her head.
“It's a wonder he hasn't jacked off to these parts of the diary, dear sister...”

Lamira sneered at these words.
“Asira, watch your tongue! He is the primitive one here, there is no reason for us to step that low.”

“You are right, I'm sorry.”

Leaning in to Tyler, Lamira looked deep into his eyes.
“I am eager to see what lies in that mind of yours, monkey. That is the very reason why we won't kill you on the spot. Instead, there shall be an interrogation first. I want to know what made you so strong.”

For Tyler, it was a real pity to see something so beautiful on the outside being so ugly on the inside.
“If you think that I'll talk than you are sadly mistaken.”

“Talk?” A dark giggle escaped Lamira as she raised her hoof, fighting the urge to burst out in laughter. “There is no need for you to talk.”

They teleported and appeared in a larger hall with round circles on the ground.
“I will give you to the Gazad, Tyler Jones... Altered ponies unable to live by themselves anymore. They have given up much for their ultimate special talent, which is reading the minds of others. Nothing is secure from them.”

Tyler was then tossed into the center of the hall and the levitation magic ceased. But before he could come up on his feet again, the princesses' horns flashed up and his body suddenly felt extremely heavy. 'Gravitation magic' There were sudden streams of steam coming from the circles in the floor and when Tyler looked up, his eyes widened in terror. For the content of the cylinders ascending from the floor were not whole ponies, not normal or mutated ones... These were brains! Encapsulated within red crystal, six brains ascended around him until the crystals gently began to vibrate, resulting in what seemed to be their way of communicating. It began as a whisper, audible, but silent for him. And yet each word was clear to hear.
“Another one...” Tyler could feel something trying to probe his mind. Concentrating, he gave his best to repel them. “This is taking a bit longer than expected...”

Above, the Darkness Sisters watched silently, smirks on their faces.
“Subdue him!”

A certain wave of mental prowess forced through his body, loosening Tyler's defenses.
“We have entered his deeper mind.” Tyler fought the intrusion as best as he could, but the Gazad had way more mental might than he had. Within seconds, they entered his mind despite his best efforts to resist them. “Ahhh… The so called 'Tilerions'…” Flashbacks from Tyler's memories appeared before his mental eye as well as they appeared as a hologram above him. Flashbacks of the void dragon and staring right into his roaring snout, memories of the Grand Galloping Gala, where magic caused Tyler's vile reaction and earned him his cutie marks.

Asira arched a brow.
“It seems he wasn't used to magic before he came in contact with it. To make such a rapid progress...”

“Now we found thoughts of his origin…” the Gazad continued. Memories from Earth flashed through his mind. The splendid richness of its flora and fauna as well as man's many technological achievements. Finally, his argument with Shimmerwind below Canterlot surfaced again.

'”And who are you to talk, Tyler Jones? Your world is FILLED with technology! All the progress you humans make should be for us ponies as well!”'

'”Technology is a double edged sword.”'

In unison, the Gazad spoke out their latest finding in Tyler's mind.
“The technology of Earth…”

Earth. Hearing this word caused Princess Lamira to listen up.
“Where does he come from? Earth, where is it? How is it that we never found a way to his world but he found a way to us?”

The mental violation went deeper and deeper and became painful for Tyler, who still resisted. Knowing about Earth was one thing for them. But there was no way he could ever allow them to find a way there. But as much as he tried, he was no match for the Gazad.
“Wait… There is more…” Slowly, the pain in his head began to reach critical extent. It wouldn't take long now until he had to give in. “We find potential in him… We find alicorn potential in him!” In this moment the Gazad found an image in the deepest corners of Tyler. An image of two pairs of eyes that now looked back like it was awakened by the Gazad. Disturbed like a wild animal, they growled at them in a dual voiced tone and in fear the Gazad escaped Tyler’s mind, their voices now more and more panicking while Tyler gasped for air as the pain suddenly ceased. Descending back into the floor, the Gazad seemed to try fleeing from Tyler physically as well. “Tilerions… He’s partly alicorn! Alicorn! He’s a human fighter transcending to alicorn power! Kill that human! Kill the transcendant!! Kill the transcendant!!! KILL THE TRANSCENDANT!!!”

With a cold glance, Princess Lamira looked down to Tyler,
“Kill the human…

The gravity returned to normal and Tyler could breath normally again, when the Descendants already stormed in. Not losing any time, he jumped up and directly at the first unicorn. In reflex, the spooked Descendant tried to get loose by shooting magic, but Tyler absorbed the magic and shot it at the other Descendants, catapulting them away before he blasted open another ventilation shaft. Tossing the unicorn stallion away, Tyler jumped down the ventilation shaft, where he slid down several floors. As the Descendants stormed down the corridors to pursuit after Tyler, the Princesses looked after them with gritted teeth.
“Find him!!! Whatever it takes! FIND HIM!!!”

Coming out of the shaft in some sort of maintenance section, Tyler made haste down the corridor until he ran into the barrel of a gun after turning around a corner. Quickly recognizing it as Rachel's gun, he made a step back while Rachel lowered her gun.
“Idiot! I almost shot you for real this time.”

Twilight came to the front and looked up to him.
“What happened, Tyler?”

Now catching some breath, Tyler shrugged.
“I, uh... ran into some complications myself. They caught me and wanted to read my mind for information... Until they were spooked by something.”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel shook her head.
“If I would read your mind, I'm sure I'd be spooked too, Jones! Now what do we do? Grinko and the Griffin Prince said they want to remain here in order to fight them from inside here once it all starts.

Tyler's brows rose up.
“And you let them do that?”

Fluttershy nodded as she flew in front of Tyler.
“I have faith in Grinko to do the right thing.”

Grumbling a bit with a smile, he patted Fluttershy's back.
“We'll talk about this later... For now, there's a third hostage we need to get out of here. This maintenance area is almost not under surveillance. I think I passed a sign for some maintenance shaft on the way here, but passed by since they went after me. Come on, let's investigate together.” As they went on, not one of them recognized their shadow, a pair of green glowing eyes following them in the dark, just close enough to follow them.

* * * * *

Half an hour later, a hatch opened and the Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers silently made their way out of the shaft into a great hall. Bouncing ahead, Pinkie Pie came to Tyler's side.
“Tyler, we made it! This looks like a throne hall room!”

With a swift move, Sam grabbed Pinkie and held her mouth shut.
“Hush, Pinkie... I know they're here somewhere...”

Tyler replied to this with a concerned nod.
“You're probably right, Sam... It's way too quiet here...”

But before anyone could muse about why it was so quiet, Rainbow pointed at the glowing force field at the left side of the throne.
“Over there! It's the princess!”

As they approached her, Tyler spoke up first with a calm and kind voice.
“Celestia?”

When she looked up at the others, Celestia's eyes widened.
“Tyler? Girls, what are you doing here? It is dangerous for you to be here!”

Looking up to her former teacher and herd mate, Twilight pointed at the others.
“We came to rescue you, we have brought the elements, maybe they can defeat the Darkness Sisters like they defeated Nightmare Moon.”

Closing her eyes, the Princess of the Sun shook her head.
“I'm afraid this is far worse than Nightmare Moon, Twilight. You are all in grave danger, you must leave!”

But Tyler shook his head.
“I won't leave without you, Celestia. It's worse enough that we weren't there to stop them from taking you in the first place.”

Turning over to Twilight, Flynn pointed at the force field.
“Twilight! Can you dispel the magic imprisoning the princess?”

Giving a brief nod, Twilight looked up to him.
“Of course!”

“Then do it!”

“This takes time...”

Looking over to the lavender alicorn, Rachel frowned.
“Even more reason to start right now!”

Glancing at Celestia, Tyler's hand rested on the force field. Unfortunately, this was magic he couldn't absorb. What would he do to take her into his arms right now.
“They plan to destroy Equestria. I don't know how exactly, but they destroyed the Amasian capital as well. Tens of thousands are dead. It is possible that they are after every pony not willing to serve them.”

Looking up to the ring on her horn, Celestia then glanced at Tyler.
“I managed to loosen the grip of the ring suppressing my magic. Once free, I might be able to do something to stall them or maybe even to stop their armada for good. But I don't know how long my powers can endure a world without my precious sun.”

Tyler nodded in worry, seeing her like this brought back the inner rage inside of him, but his feelings and mostly his worry for her determined his mind right now.
“Hang in there, we're going to set you free any minute now...” But in this moment, the doors to the throne hall sprung open and several dozen Descendants marched in, pointing their guns at Tyler and the other human rangers hiding behind their only cover, a large black equivalent to the throne in Canterlot. Gritting his teeth, Tyler turned his head slightly to the others, his eyes always watchful on the Descendants coming in. They didn't attack, but from their point of view, the rangers and Elements were all cornered in here. “Twilight! Hurry up!”

And when Princess Lamira and Princess Asira entered their throne hall, the Descendants made way and the others were able to get their first short glimpse on the Darkness Sisters. Once standing in front of their throne, both sisters smirked in an evil manner while holding their chins high.
“Everything comes to he who waits... But even faster to he who takes... And we've waited so long to take this chance...” With a sneer Princess Lamira looked down at Tyler. “You monkeys don’t deserve to live here and constantly meddle with our plans. It is our divine right to rule this world.” An evil and sadistic grin formed on her lips. “We are your celestial princesses now, mortals…”

With a grim face Tyler looked up to the two alicorn mares,
“You two shall not stand in my way to free her!”

Losing her patience, Princess Asira raised her voice,
“You dare to challenge US?!?” A lightning cracked through the black skies as she said this.

Charging her horn, Princess Lamira gritted her teeth, going into fighting stance as her grin died and her eyes began to glow red,
“Mark me well: I will wipe the name of ‘Tilerions’ from this world…” Now the anger exploded from her as she shook her head in rage, underlining her final announcement. “FOREVER!!!”

While Tyler and Lamira conversed aggressively, Asira slowly went to the side of the hall, trying to peek behind the cover. Something was going on there.
“If you have a grudge against me, come face me! But let the people of Equis out of this! These dark clouds out there are not necessary!”

“SILENCE!!!”

Now seeing behind the pillars and cover, the dark alicorn saw the ponies with their distinctive trinkets around their necks. Her eyes opened wide.
“These are the Elements of Harmony…” Turning to her sister, Asira clenched her teeth together, her face showing wild rage. “THESE LITTLE WORMS HAVE BROUGHT THE DREADED WAR DEVICES TO DESTROY US!!!”

“They dare to do that?” It was then when Lamira spotted Twilight with her Element of Magic on her forehead. “No….” Her face turned from angered to hostile and murderous in an instant. “KILL THEM!!!” Within a split second, Tyler teleported back into cover and a fierce shooting began between the Descendants and humans.

Taking cover while taking aim for her next few shots, Rachel spoke to Twilight.
“Twilight! Can you do something to get us out of here?”

“Teleporting all of us at once? I've never done it with so many and with an uncertain amount of distance...I already had problems with teleportation from the sea to up here. Now you want me to teleport us even further?”

Ducking down, Flynn covered both Rainbow and Fluttershy in order to protect them.
“Or maybe a portal! Can you make a portal to get us out of here?”

This made Twilight's ears twitch.
“Yes! I could! Oh, Flynn, this is genius! But I need some help with it. Rarity, Lyra! I need you two to assist me with triangulating the magic for the coordinates.”

Both unicorns nodded and came to her side as the preparations were made.
“Just tell us what to do.”

“Concentrate on Equestria! Think about it! The more you think about it, the more I can concentrate on building the actual portal.”

The magic accumulated in their three horns until a spark connected the magic and a disc was growing from it. Erecting tall, the portal emitted a bright lavender light as it towered behind the group of friends. Standing in front of it, Twilight's jaw dropped. First in awe, then in wild marvel. She really did it despite the odds.
“It works... IT WORKS!!! TYLER! GIRLS!!! THE PORTAL STANDS!!!"

One by one, the Element bearers and Harmony Rangers made their escape through the portal. Seeing this, Lamira pointed her hoof at the portal.
“STOP THEM!!!”

Looking over to the slowly closing portal, Twilight then turned over to Tyler.
“TYLER!!! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!! WE HAVE TO GO!!!

Firing at the Descendants in front of him, Tyler gritted his teeth.
“NO! THAT'S THE SOLE PURPOSE WE CAME HERE! I WON'T LEAVE HER AND THE OTHER TWO BEHIND!!!”

Shaking her head, Celestia looked over to him.
“You have to! Equis needs all of you alive, Tyler! You still have some days time. GO!”

Exchanging glances with Celestia, Tyler then reluctantly nodded before he grabbed Twilight and jumped through the portal with her as well. However, unnoticed by the both of them was a humanoid shadow that followed them through the portal also.

But just as Princess Lamira wanted to order the pursuit, the portal closed in front of her eyes, causing her to shiver in uprising rage.
“Find them…” Tossing a Descendant away, her rage began to boil up with each passing second. “SEARCH FOR THEM!!! I WANT YOU TO BRING THEM BACK TO ME!!!”

Coming to her sisters side, Asira arched a brow looking at the place the portal stood.
“I saw that they used portal magic, but we do not know how far they traveled or in what direction. And I saw something that looked like Mimesis making it through the portal with them, obviously in pursuit. Seemingly they didn't escape your little bloodhound.”

Lamira, however, shook her head in anger and gritted her teeth, her eyes glowing fierce.
“Asira! Monitor the entire planet! Call the Draconequii at our disposal if you have to! Wherever they are, they will use this magic again to return! If they do or Mimesis makes a call, we will track them down! These Rangers and Elements are the direst threat known to us! As long as they are free to do as they please, our reign is at stake! We must control everything or we will lose everything… Find them at all cost!”

Author's Note

Not proofread yet, any notice of errors major or minor is welcome.

18 - Living the dream, Nightmare of chitin *

Tyler was lying on his back, Twilight's weight on his chest. They had made it through the portal in time. A sigh of relief escaped him, knowing full well the Descendants were unable to follow them now. However, much to his surprise, there was a certain noise in the air that rang several alarm bells. A noise he didn't hear in a very long time now. It was distant, but distinctive. Looking into the clear orange evening sky, he saw it. An object he didn't see in a very long time either. It was an airplane. And its jet turbines were audible as it roamed the sky. Shaking his head, he stemmed himself up.

This had to be a mistake. Once sitting up, he recognized the others were coming to their feet and hooves as well, little by little. The journey through the portal seemed to have left everyone dizzy to a certain degree. Rainbow looked over to Fluttershy, a bit of worry in her voice.
"Hey, Fluttershy... Do you have a hard time flying as well?"

The yellow mare nodded and landed.
"It wasn't so difficult before we went through the portal... Now it seems so hard to even stay in the air. Like my wing muscles aren't used to this."

Rarity, upon cleaning herself from the dirt, shook her head slightly.
"Girls, believe me... I can relate... Somehow my magic doesn't work as I remember. I need much more power to do even the easiest things. It seems we're down to mere earth ponies now."

Rolling her eyes, Applejack couldn't but grin.
"Oh no! Whatever shall we do?” Looking over to Pinkie, she smirked. “Right, Pinkie?” That smirk however withered in an instant, as Pinkie seemed upset about something. “What is it?”

Looking up, the pink mare shook her head.
“I can't do it anymore!”

The others looked at Pinkie Pie.
“What? What is it?”

Taking a look at her hooves, Pinkie arched a brow
“My bounciness! It's gone! This place is weird. Like... the wrong kind of weird!”

Tyler stood up and looked around. The nature sure seemed different as well. Then again, an all too familiar feeling came up with this place.
"Brace yourself for a big surprise, folks: This isn't Equis, this is Earth."

Leaning against a tree, Flynn shook his head.
“Also known as the Everfree Planet.”

In an instant, Lyra's eyes went wide and her pupils shrank down to tiny dots.
"Wha- waddya mean? Earth? Are we actually on the human world?"

Looking over to the mint-coated unicorn, Tyler nodded.
“That's what I think, Lyra. Ponies don't have airplanes.”

Jumping up, Lyra then rested her front hooves on Sam's chest.
“Sam!?! Do you know what this means?”

But Sam only smirked and shook his head.
“Sure! It means we're in trouble! Not only are we to return to Equestria, we have to return to Equis as well now first!"

Holding a hoof to her heart, Lyra closed her eyes with a smile.
“Entering the human world... Calm yourself, heart of mine... This is the chance of a lifetime!” Looking at herself, Lyra frowned a bit. “Odd... I thought there would be some sort of transition or change, once we crossed over into your human world. Like you guys did, when you came into our world. You told us it made you stronger and all that, not to forget your special talents.

Flynn shook his head.
“Don't look at me. I tried it just now and only twice as fast as a normal human here on Earth. My superspeed is limited now... And I think this limitation goes on and on until I return normal again...”

Tipping her chin in thought, Lyra thought for a moment.
“So there is no empowering for us like in Equestria... It seems to be more of a de-powering here on the human world... Bummer! I hoped for something more interesting and more of use?

Sam rewarded this with a chuckle.
“Like what? Did you think you girls would all turn human with clothing and tanned in the colours of your coats?”

This prompted Lyra to giggle along.
“Yeah, you're right, Sam... That would look so very silly for a human.”

Sam looked over to Twilight, visibly worried about the situation.
“I thought the portal was supposed to lead us back to Equestria... Not to Earth...”

Giving Lyra a short glance, Tyler then looked over to Twilight.
“Twilight, can you open the portal again? This time to Equestria?

Looking up to him, Twilight nodded before she turned to
“We can give it another try... Lyra? Rarity?”

Coming to Twilight's side, the white unicorn gave the situation her best smile.
“I do hope we don't use up all of our magic with this, Twilight...”

As their horns began to glow, Twilight returned the smile.
“Don't worry, we will be in Equestria in just a second...”

And before them the portal rose up anew. But just before Twilight wanted to step through, Tyler held her back.
“Let me go first... Whatever happens on the other side... I think I should be the one taking the first blow...” Twilight arched a brow, but rewarded this with a smile. Once more, he was concerned for nothing more than her well being. But just as Tyler stepped near the portal, he could see the landscape on the other side. The land seemed to be Equestria no doubt, but there was something off. He could hear something, like a rumble in the distance growing louder.

And all of a sudden, an army of pink ponies bounced into view and across the landscape.
“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!” A thousand identical voices yelled this one word and a beam of magic was shot at the portal.

As the portal closed, Sam looked over to Twilight.
"Let us never open the portal to this parallel world again.

Twilight shook her head in disbelief.
"Agreed! Alright... This was definitely not the Equestria we wish to go to...” Taking a look over to Lyra and Rarity, Twilight gave them a nod. “One more time?” Both unicorns exchanged some glances and nodded in reply. There was still enough magic left in them.

But as the portal opened for the second time, a sudden commotion became audible on the other side. Ponies yelled and shouted angrily at someone, the ponies and humans knew all too well by now. It was Discord and seemingly he was stripped of all his powers, for he was tossed back and forth, kicked several times, until a hand grabbed his jaw and lifted him up by it. The next sight the friends could see through the portal was simply unreal. Another Tyler, Rachel and Flynn stood there, dressed in black dull leather, highly decorated with medals and banners. After he lifted Discord up, this other Tyler looked around at the other ponies with a smile, as presenting them Discord like a trophy.
“Now you will see true Inquisition Ranger justice!”

The ponies on the other side began to cheer, while the humans on this side of the portal simply gulped. Inquisitor Marshall then spread out his arms and addressed the crowd before them.
“We do not ask for your friends! Or your loved ones!”

In the next moment, Discord was thrown to the ground.
“We do not want your tired and sick!”

Raising her fist, Inquisitor Higgins then shouted:
“It is your corrupt we claim!”

A boot was pressed onto Discord's head, pressing it into the dirt.
“It is your evil that will be sought by us!”

“With every breath we shall hunt them down!”

“Each day we will spill their blood until it rains down from the sky!”

The boot was removed from Discord's head and Marshall helped him up.
“Kindness! Loyalty! Honesty! Harmony is a myriad of principles which every being of every faith can embrace.”

“These are not polite suggestions.” Inquisitor Jones continued, “These are codes of behavior. And those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost to her, our beloved princess!”

Looking around, Inquisitor Higgins shook her head.
“There are varying degrees of evil, we urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over...” She then pushed the shotgun barrel deep into Discord's neck causing him to look down and she leaned down to him. “...into true corruption, into our jurisdiction.”

Stomping his heavy boot onto a bench, Inquisitor Jones then looked at the surrounding ponies and gestured at Discord.
“But if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three and on that day you will reap it.”

“And we will send you to which ever afterlife you wish. “

Now going into formation behind the Draconequis, the three inquisitors raised their guns for the impending execution. Begging for his life, Discord shook his head in terror, not daring to look at them directly.
“No! Please! You humans are crazy!”

But their sentence was clear and no plead would soften their hearts to spare this poor chaotic soul. It became a sight that forced Fluttershy to look away and pressing her hooves against her ears as strong as she could.
“By Celestia's eternal will
We vanquish this chaotic ill.
Power hath descended forth from thy hoof,
That our hands may swiftly deliver thy power's proof.”

Gritting her teeth, Inquisitor Higgins pointed the shotgun barrel at Discord's head
“In nomine Solaris,...”

Marshall held the sub-machine gun with an icy expression towards the temple.
“et Luna,”

Inquisitor Jones' eyes glared down coldly to the Draconequis, cocking his gun.
“...et Spiritus Concordia.”

The portal closed just as the gunshots went loud.

Tyler closed his eyes slowly shook his head, before he turned to the others. This had been a glimpse into total madness. Looking at the other humans, he put up a genuine smile.
“You know? Suddenly I'm happy to be the way I am.”

Flynn nodded slowly, also aghast of the scene he just witnessed.
“No shit... Seeing myself as a pawn for a tyrannical Princess Celestia, as inquisitor and executioner...” Looking over to Rainbow, he smiled. “You like me better the way I am now, right?”

“Definitely!” Rainbow agreed.

Tyler looked over to Fluttershy and knelt down to her.
“You know we would never do that to him, do you?”

The timid yellow Pegasus nodded, wiping away a few tears.
“Y-yes... Just another bad universe.”

Looking up to Rachel, Tyler nodded over to Fluttershy.
“Rachel, why don't you take her and give her some distance for now? I don't want her to see all these horrible things. Maybe the next will get even worse...”

Rachel nodded and conversed a bit with the Pegasus while the others sighed in frustration.
“One last time?”

“Alright... But this really is the last one, Twilight.”

Both unicorns nodded and once more, the portal was opened before them, revealing a bright sunny day in Equestria. Another Pinkie Pie was visible now, as she smilingly ran towards another Applejack, Rarity and Twilight, what already prompted the friends to sigh in frustration. This wasn't the world they were looking for, either.

But right when this other Pinkie Pie reached the others, she slammed the other Twilight's head clean off, what caused the others on this side of the portal to gasp in shock. The next thing Twilight knew, her tail had been pulled and in reflex she had closed the portal, much to the relief of the others. A silent sobbing came from her right side and Pinkie's warm embrace was suddenly around her. The pink mane flattened and Pinkie's ears dropped when she silently wept into Twilight's shoulder. Patting Pinkie's head, Twilight shook her own.
“Pinkie Pie, that wasn't you. I know you would never do that to me.”

Sam came to Pinkie's side and rested a hand on her head.
“We all do. Just a different Pinkie Pie in an alternate Equestria... Our Pinkster would be too busy making us smile than to even think of harming us.” With a relieved “Yeah...” Pinkie turned around to him and gave him a warm hug as well, nuzzling him thoroughly. While patting her head and rubbing her back, Sam looked up to the others. “So we can't have have a portal back home as we don't know how to make it fit to the Equestria we are aiming for. Maybe we are lucky to even be on this version of the human world and not in who knows what of a cyberpunk alteration. Now what?”

Now a wide grin formed on Flynn's face.
“The solution is simple. We go back to Equestria the way we three went to it.”

Rachel looked at him.
“You mean...?”

“Yes! Bermuda Triangle and we'll get ourselves a 'one-way' ticket to the Everfree Forest way before the Descendants even reach Equestrian soil.”

Tyler nodded in thought. Whatever the reason they were on Earth, they couldn't simply go back the usual way. That is, not the fastest way. Fortunately there seemed to be other means to go back to Equis, but going them was a major undergoing and they didn't have the luxury of time on their side.
“Alright. Girls, I want to do this by the book. I doubt that any airline is letting you on board. They would probably scream their living guts out and call the authorities. First thing? We'll find a shelter. A motel or something. Then we'll find out where we are and get some financial means. Next something to eat and a transport of sorts... Anything to get us to the next airport. Wherever we are, an airplane is our best choice to get back to Equestria by the end of the coming day.”

Rachel nodded in agreement.
“Sounds like a plan, humans here would not understand the importance of our current situation... It is more likely that we would make the breaking news with talking ponies.”

Tyler looked over to Rachel and both exchanged smiles and nods.
“Precisely. Fortunately for us it is getting dark already... So we should be able to sneak you girls into a motel room without getting you noticed...”

* * * * *

Five minutes later, the ponies and humans arrived at a street and peeked out of some bushes, inspecting the fast driving vehicles. Shaking her head in confusion, Applejack looked at the others.
“What in tarnation?”

A confused look the others shared with her. Looking over to the humans, Twilight turned her head to Tyler.
“What are these? They look like some sort of carriage, but nopony's pulling them...”

“These are cars!” Lyra replied before Tyler could react in any way.

“Come again?” Rainbow asked, a confused look on her face.

Sam chuckled.
“Lyra is right. We don't use horse powered carriages anymore for a long time now. It would be too inefficient to breed and feed all these horses. Like the tank that we used back in Equestria, humans have built machines that run on fuel. So instead of magic moving the wheels or something pulling a cart or carriage, a liquid is burned and a machine inside turns the wheels to propel the car.”

Applejack wrinkled her nose.
“Well, by the amount these things stink, Ah guess they aren't healthy to be around. Maybe the Flim Flam Brothers would have a great time with these, but Ah think they're stupid. No machine can replace a hard workin' pony folk. Besides: How are we to cross the street? These 'cars' are so fast they would run us over!”

Giving her herd mate a smirk, Twilight charged her horn and with a certain flash, the group was at the other side of the street. While AJ chuckled over the fact that she forgot about teleportation spells, Tyler looked back at the street.
“Good aiming, Twilight.”

But the alicorn shook her head.
“Actually I aimed for the trees over there. I guess if I would have aimed for the edge of the street, we would have landed right in the middle of it. From now on, we should use our magic with caution and only in an emergency. If the effect is so weakened, we have to ration it.”

As they reached a variety of buildings, the ponies recognized the obvious advertisement. 'Old Donald's Motel Inn' said the neon sign high over the street. The area seemed to have many of these motels. When Tyler looked at the sign, he shook his head.
“Oh God help me... Of all the places we had to land in we land the Land of the Free.”

Flynn grinned and looked over to Sam and Rachel.
“America!”

This caused Rachel to pump her fist.
“Fuck, yeah!”

Tyler nodded to the others and gestured them to stop.
“Alright. I'm going into the office and ask about the details for a room. As soon as I'm set, we'll get you girls out of the open.” Everyone nodded and Tyler set course for the office. He came back for them ten minutes later and nodded. “OK... Mr. Donald in there gave me a strange look for asking if I first could get the key to the room, but I assured him to get the money for the room in the next hour, so let's get the ponies in right now before I organize some cash for us.” Taking the long way around the building, the humans and ponies avoided lighted areas as best as they could and made haste to pass where it was unavoidable. At the end of the building Tyler then opened the door and one by one, the mares all entered and settled down in the room.

Approaching the TV, Lyra sat down on her haunches and looked around.
“This must be a television set! Now where is it?”

“The what?” asked Twilight.

“The remote! Sam told me that humans change the moving pictures in the television set with a remote. Oh if only BonBon would be here. I'd love to show her around...” Lyra replied.

Shaking her head, Twilight's glances jumped from Lyra to the TV and back.
“No, I meant what are you talking about? How can you know all these terms? Did Sam told you about it?”

Waving the thought away, Lyra shook her head with a smile.
“Well, he told me something... but my main information source are my dreams! I always dream about Earth. Sometimes I see stuff from Earth in my dreams. Sometimes children, sometimes inventions. I think I have a connection to Earth.”

Hearing this, Twilight's eyes widened.
“Lyra. I think you're the reason we're here.”

Lyra's smile withered in an instant.
“What?”

Twilight nodded and eyed Lyra for a bit.
“Yes! I believe that your connection to Earth helped us to find this one human world among the many parallel worlds out there, where Tyler, Rachel, Flynn and Sam are from. Your connection altered the coordinates of our first portal. Thus, we didn't went to Equestria, but to the human world.” Lyra looked down, unsure if she should be thrilled or unhappy about this. Her connection seemed to have altered their plan to escape. Twilight noticed this and shook her head with a genuine smile. “Don't worry. The situation hasn't changed at all. We still have to go to Equestria. You brought us to the one place the Descendants could never get us.” This prompted the mint-coated unicorn to look up. Her smile returned.

Tyler patted her head and nodded as he handed Lyra the remote.
“You and Sam show them a bit about our world through the TV. Sam, no action or horror movies without supervision. I don't want them to get a wrong idea about our world.” Turning over to Flynn, he nodded towards the door. “Flynn! Come on, you go with me as we pay the room and get some food.” Flynn nodded and both men left the room while Sam sat down on the couch and switched on the TV while the ponies gathered around him.

While Tyler and Flynn were in the office, a young woman left it as a little boy came in
“Mommy! Mommy! There was a pink pony at the window that waved at me!

Looking at her son, the woman shook her head in frustration.
“Jason? First a blue blob and now a pink pony! I told you a hundred times to cut the crap about your imaginary friends!”

“But Moooom...”

“No buts! You are grounded for telling stories, young man!”

Tyler heard these words with a swollen vein on his forehead. 'God damn it, Pinkie...' Looking up to the motel owner, he handed over some papers with his signatures.
“And you said we can get some cash around here? I mean I already asked of you to give us a room without proper ID or cash at hand, I at least want you to have proper cash in time...”

“Don't worry...” the old man on the other side of the desk replied, “an ATM machine is right here around the corner. I'm sure four young people have good reasons to go into a sleazy motel room...” Tyler gave a forced smile and shook his head, while they were on their way to the door.

But just as they arrived, it slammed open and a Mexican looking young man entered, looked at them for a second, but ignored them as they seemingly were not the ones he was looking for. While passing them, Tyler and he bumped into one another, earning Tyler a harsh “Hey! Careful, ese'!” Approaching the front desk, the young man shook his head angrily.
“Donald! How often have I asked of you to do something about these voyeurs of room 12?!? They keep peeping!”

“Enrico, You're not shy, are you? If you have a problem-”

But Enrico interrupted him with slamming his hand onto the desk.
“They don't peep on me, you old, lousy man! They peep on Maria! Each day after bath time! She's barely twelve! If you don't talk some sense into them, I'll call the cops!”

This earned Enrico a serious glare from old Alec Donald.
“Oh, alright... You're right, this goes too far... I will have a...”

By that time, Tyler and Flynn had left the motel office. Looking back to the office, Flynn shook his head as they approached the ATM machine.
“Tyler, how are you planning to get us some cash? I kinda left my credit card in Equestria.”

Looking at Flynn, Tyler arched a brow.
"Credit card? You use that crap?" He shook his head and looked at the cash machine. "It boggles my mind that you Americans still think that living on the tick and the American Dream are still things worthy to achieve."

“What do you mean, Tyler? Everyone wants to achieve the American Dream...”

But Tyler wasn't having it.
"Yeah... You know? You have to be asleep to dream. And I don't know about you; I for one intend to go through life awake."

Flynn merely rolled his eyes.
“No, I don't mean that, Tyler. An affordable house, a good and decent job... That's something everyone wants. I mean I want a decent job to take care of Scootaloo once this shit here is over. Anyway, what are you doing?"

Concentrating on the task in front of him, Tyler tapped several displays on the smartphone he suddenly held.
“I'm not against prosperity, Flynn. I simply doubt it's as easy as they want to sell it to us. Problems don't vanish with a credit card, they start with one. As for what I'm doing here... I nicked that other guy's smartphone. Got me some apps to get me access to the machine here.” After a few mechanical noises, the ATM spat out some one hundred dollar bills and Tyler took the money, waved it into Flynn's face. “You see? Easy money...”

Flynn was simply dumbfounded.
“You can do that?”

Patting his shoulder, Tyler smiled and gently tossed the mobile phone over to Flynn and he caught it.
“Sure, want a free smartphone? Here, free phoning as well, they won't charge you a thing.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Flynn looked at Tyler with wide eyes.
“How can you know how to do all that?

“I wasn't always the nice guy I'm in Equestria now. Let's keep it with that, OK? Come on, we'll have to pay for the room and then do some shopping. I'd rather do that with you than with Rachel... Should save us quite some time...”

* * * * *

Two hours came and went by in which Tyler and Flynn were absent to buy some food. Taking the bus for now, they made it back later carrying four heavy bags full of items from the grocery on top of some canned food and other stuff. Knocking at the door, they waited and after a short glimpse through the window, Rachel opened them.
“About time you two come back...”

While Pinkie bounced on the bed, making the headboard bang against the wall with every jump, Rachel took the shopping bags Flynn and Tyler were carrying. They went to unpack the items out of the bags, when suddenly there was someone knocking at the door. Hasty glances were exchanged until Tyler's lips formed the word “Hide!” The ponies nodded hastily and while Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie Pie hid under the bed, Applejack, Fluttershy, Lyra and Rainbow Dash hid in the other two rooms.

Once they were sure that it wasn't possible to spot the ponies, Tyler and Rachel opened the door while Sam sat on the bed and Flynn on the sofa. In front of Tyler and Rachel stood an older man, about 40 years old, beard, baseball cap, flannel shirt.
“Hey, folks.”

“Hey, how can we help you?” Rachel answered.

Taking off his baseball cap, the man then leaned against the frame of the door with his arm.
"Name's Bill. The truck over there is mine. Uh, listen folks, how do I put this in words? I was young once as well, OK? And if a foursome is your way, fine with me... But I can't get to sleep next door if there's constantly this banging at the wall!" Right now Rarity and Twilight shot angered looks over to Pinkie, who grinned with a bad conscience.

Tyler and Rachel looked at each other and their jaws literally dropped, before they nodded frantically.
"Oh, umm... We're sorry! We will stop with that for now.”

“That would be appreciated.”

The trucker nodded and returned to his own motel room as Rachel closed the door.
“Not. One. Word. Jones.”

Tyler fought the urge to break into laughter.
“The thought alone is ridiculous...”

While they continued to unpack the items from the shopping bags, Twilight looked at all the dollar bills on the table, she wondered. It was paper currency, not golden bits as the ponies were using in Equestria. Maybe gold was too valuable here. Tyler often spoke about limited resources and that mankind waged wars in the past both long ago and recently for the sake of precious ores. Certainly this paper money was some sort of surrogate currency, replacing the coins of metal they've had before. But how did Tyler manage to get so much of it in such a short notice of time?
“Where did you get all that money?”

“From the cash machine down the road.” Tyler answered truthfully.

“And what did you give in return?”

“Nothing.”

Now Twilight's brows arched in surprise before her face grew more stern.
“You stole it!”

Tyler's movement halted completely, before he sighed and looked over to her.
“Unlike Equestria, they only pay you here after a months worth of work. And that is not the amount of time we have. And since selling the Elements to the Pawn Shop is way out of the question, I had to come up with something. Either that or risking being punched to death for asking Rachel to sell her body.”

Rachel shot him a glare.
“Damn straight I would kill you for that!”

Twilight thought for a moment. He had a valid point. They came into this world without anything of value he could sell and the only thing that would come close to jewelry were the Elements of Harmony. And right now they truly didn't have the luxury of time with Princess Celestia held captive by the Descendants and an armada on its way to Equestria. A frustrated grumble escaped her.
“I can understand that, but that doesn't mean I approve of it.”

Coming to their side, Rachel shot Tyler another glare until she turned to Twilight.
“Whatever he did, this will come in handy. I'll take the rest of this as advanced payment and get us a a means of transportation. Maybe a van or something so we all fit in.” Taking the money, Rachel then left the motel room.

Not five minutes later, Flynn gasped, prompting everyone to look at him.
“I just thought of something...”

“What? What is it?”

“Our folks! They might want to hear that we're alive and kicking.”

Sam, however, shrugged.
“Flynn, do you think this would be wise? I mean, we disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. They probably think we're dead. Have fun trying to explain to your folks all about the cuteness overload we're coming from.”

Raising his arms, Flynn then shook his head and looked down.
“Well I have to tell someone I'm OK. Even more so when they believe we're dead! Saying I'm OK would be the least I could do! My mother, my brother...”

Tyler looked over to him.
“It would only beg some questions... Where have you been? Why haven't you give us notice earlier? Bla, bla, bla...”

Sam nodded and pointed over to Tyler.
“He's right. It's not only about you or me being OK... It's also about the relationships we've been building up. We learned to be cool about it, even Rachel began tolerating it... But for someone who never met one of the girls here, they would probably think that we should be thrown in jail for being with ponies.

“I guess so...” Looking up again, Flynn held a bottle up to Sam. “Hey Sam! A beer?”

Taking the beer with a wide grin, Sam leaned back.
“I won't say no to that.” As he took a gulp of the cold beer, he closed his eyes in delight. “Hmmmm... Yeah... That really hits the spot!”

Tyler grumbled a bit, but smirked.
“Too bad it's not a Foster's... That would make my day complete for now...”

Taking a sniff at the beer, Lyra arched a brow.
“That's stronger beverage than cider, isn't it?

Pinkie on the other hand took a gulp, followed by a delighted giggle. AJ on the other hand went into the kitchen.
“Whoohee! Ah don't know about ya'll, but Ah'm starving! Whaddya got for us there?” As she looked through the shopped items, she found several vegetables and apples. But just as she wanted to take a good bite, Tyler snatched it out of her hooves. “Hey! Sugarcube, what's with ya?”

Flynn looked over to them and frowned.
“Come on, Tyler... They have to eat something!”

Tyler looked into Applejack's uncertain face and nodded in defeat.
“Oh alright, but let's wash it thoroughly.”

Coming to their side, Twilight arched a brow, shaking her head as she looked up to her herd mate.
"Tyler, what is with you?"

Giving a harsh sigh, Tyler looked over to her while washing the apple.
“I don't like the idea of exposing you girls to this environment. I mean we already see it. There is no magic on this planet or this our human universe. Unicorns can't use magic and Pegasi can't fly. Probably earth ponies can't use their strength either. I think the only reason why you can still do the things you usually do is because of the elements. Just look at Lyra. She can't do magic at all. That's one confirmation I get for this theory.”

Looking over to the two of them, Lyra then looked down.
"It's not so bad... Sam helps me."

Sighing, Tyler lowered his head.
“Look, it's not that I don't want you to see Earth, alright? I'm just worried. Because if you ponies can lose your magic here on Earth, maybe you might lose more than that.”

Twilight now looked up to him, a touched smile on her lips.
"We won't lose ourselves, Tyler. I'm with you on that. I won't let that happen." Nuzzling him a bit, she then became stern for a bit. "But why wash the apple so thoroughly?"

Sam took the vegetables and shrugged.
"He's got a point there, you know? With all the pesticides and fertilizer we spray over these things... Healthy as they might be, even us humans might catch an allergy. And we are somehow accustomed to that. It's not too far fetched to think that you ponies might be affected more from this, since you come from a world we would deem purely biological farming.”

Twilight eyed the apple for a moment, frowning a bit. Tyler spoke of several billion humans on Earth at some point in the past, it seemed probable that they exposed their food to chemical agents to repel pests. A hidden danger she wouldn't think of coming from a world were there was no such problem.
“Earth seems to have many things we don't know about. I trust in you to help us to keep out of harms way, but please don't overdo it.”

Applejack was handed her apple and took a bite out of it. Chewing a bit, she let the taste tingle a bit on her tongue.
“Hmmm... These apples have some sort of aftertaste. Maybe because they grew on non-equestrian soil?” Twilight's eyes followed Tyler. He tried to protect them from everything now, but in doing so slightly forgot that they were adult mares.

* * * * *

Later that night, the ponies had gathered in front of the television set and seemed eager to learn about the human world as they used the TV as some sort of window to the world. After a whole hour of the Discovery channel for Fluttershy, whose eyes widened with glee at the sight of elephants, there was an hour of some extreme sports for Rainbow Dash and an hour of teleshopping and fashion channels for Rarity. By that time, Rachel had returned and nodded over to Flynn.
“And?”

“Well, sometimes they sleep a bit, sometimes they watch TV.”

Lowering her voice, Rachel leaned over to Flynn.
“Do you think it's wise for us to expose them to this? There are some human habits they shouldn't take to Equestria. One of them is becoming a couch potato.”

But Flynn shook his head.
“They need to get some rest and something to get distracted a bit. It was stressful enough and we're not yet through.”

While determining what to look next, Twilight zapped a bit through the channels.
“Do me a favor, Sugarcube and switch over to the 65. There was some nice channel with a creek.”

Rainbow, however, shook her head.
“Nope! We should totally watch that action movie 'Buy hard' on 47!”

“65!”

“47!”

While they argued, Twilight zapped through in slight boredom. They've watched all those channels before. Suddenly, however, she zapped through to the next channel and her eyes popped open at the sudden sound of heavy moaning. The arguing behind her stopped in an instant and AJ corrected her Stetson.
“Is that...?”

Twilight nodded, a wingboner forming behind her.
“I think that is some sort of erotic showcase, yes.”

Looking over to the TV, Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Oh great... Jones! The girls found the porn channel. I guess their innocent minds are forever ruined.” Tyler grumbled displeased, but continued to eat.

As the next scene showed up, Rainbow grinned.
“Oh! That's a great thing to do; I tried that with Flynn once!”

Applejack on the other side could only cock her head in disbelief.
“What in tarnation? Now that's ridiculous! Ah don't believe that's possible.”

But the cerulean mare showed to the screen.
“You see it happening right there, Applejack.”

Fluttershy stared at the screen in a mixture of amazement and embarrassment. She didn't look away, but the heat in her cheeks made her aware that she had to be blushing. Such an open display of intercourse. She never saw two humans having intercourse. Then again, she never witnessed intercourse with any single human and it would never occur to her to ask Tyler and his herd to watch. Such an open display of such an intimate act was not to her liking, so after a while, she turned away.
“I... I wonder if Grinko is alright...”

Patting her head, Rachel gave her a reassuring smile.
“I'm sure he is. Oh, girls... You watch the crappiest shit ever. As if any woman ever wants to deal with the aching back after a pile-driver.”

Looking up, Rainbow chuckled.
“I bet I could take it. Flynn takes me in a pace that is usually faster than what these slowpokes are performing.”

Looking over to Tyler and Sam, Flynn shrugged as he took another sip of his beer.
“One has to love the honesty and openness among mares...” All three men chuckled in unison on that.

Rachel on the other hand, shook her head and took the remote from Twilight as she sat down beside her.
“Seriously, Rainbow. I don't need details about your sex life with Flynn. What else is on?” While switching through the channels, there was an old black and white movie on, as a young boy stood in the wild yelling the name of Fury.

When a black stallion galloped through the picture, the ponies cocked their heads. Rachel snickered about this.
"Right... I take it Horses obviously don't look the same here as in Equestria..."

Throwing her mane over her shoulder, Rarity gently shook her head.
"They do make an entrance. But I think our stallions are way more appealing like these animals."

“Rarity, I didn't know you ponies deem horses animals since you're equines yourself.”

Arching a brow, Rarity gave her human friend a questioning look.
“Rachel... Darling, horses don't talk, do they?”

Taking a seat next to Lyra, Sam began to caress her back while looking at Rachel
“It's the same thing as with us humans and monkeys, Rachel. On their world, ponies have evolved, horses have not.” Lyra sat up right, enjoying the careful strokes on her back.

Finishing his meal and beer, Tyler looked over to the others before heading towards the couch.
“We shouldn't be awake all that long. Tomorrow, we should head straight to an airport and get us a plane. A private jet or something.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the break room near his office, Rick Marshall was addressed by his colleague Ben Miller.
“Rick! Guess who used an ATM machine in Roseville, California?”

Looking up from his coffee, Rick arched a brow.
“Sacramento? What do you have for me, Ben?”

He followed Miller into his office, where he activated a DVD-player.
“They've send it over to us via internet the moment they recognized him. The ATM's internal camera caught someone you're looking for. I take it this will make things interesting now.”

Seeing the empty screen-show the ATM video feed gave, Rick frowned a bit. But his eyebrows arched up and his eyes widened as he saw Tyler in front of the machine and taking a big pile of cash while talking to someone.
“Well I'll be damned...”

Miller patted Rick's shoulder.
“Seems to me we got our next hot clue of where that guy is, huh? Good thing that some habits are hard to break. The machine was near a couple of inns, the area there is filled with inns. Seems to me Tyler Jones is getting active again after being gone for so long. And he has accomplices...”

Looking at Tyler's face, Rick nodded.
“Ben? Call the bureau we have in Sacramento.” Miller exchanged a glance with Rick, as the agent simply nodded. “We begin.”

* * * * *

At the same time, somewhere else in California, a swath of destruction ran through a place only fifty meters from where Tyler and the others arrived on Earth. Unnoticed by them was the trench as something heavy had plowed itself through the ground and seemed to had bounced across the ground with great force. Then, in a tool shed, the object stopped its journey, yet not before smashing the door out of its hinges and bringing the tool shed into a complete disarray. Black arms and hands laid over the tools, as the humanoid Changeling lied unconscious in the shed.

Slow and steady breathing was audible from him as sparks of electricity came from a ripped cable from the ceiling. Then, all of a sudden, the Changeling menace opened its eyes and got a grip on its surroundings in order to stand up. A few short checks for injuries passed the time before he stepped outside. His already torn clothing was never replaced after his fight in the Ranger Headquarter, after his unfortunate defeat. If only the mind bug had been more of use to him...

The last thing he remembered was being in a laboratory on board of Nagohod. Not only did they removed the mind bug and disposed of it, but also they injected something into him. A dosage of radiation they told him what was already done to an earlier form of Changeling. His genetic memory searched for something similar, but all he could find were the memories of a little filly.

Useless memory snippets for now. However, he remembered Princess Lamira stating that the end result might be something quite extraordinary. Whatever that meant. Looking at his hands, he attempted to accumulate some magic in them, but utterly failed to do so. Shocked, he searched for an explanation. He was charged with magic, so why was it so difficult to perform spells? But as he tried as he might, his right hand transformed into an insect claw. Mimesis' eyes opened wide.
“That's interesting...” His hand transformed back after a bit of concentration and he looked at the horizon. This place he was in, it denied him the magic he had absorbed, but with these new abilities he was able to pursuit his target.

Approaching a hill, he looked into the sea of lights emitting from the city. His eyes glowed with fierce green over the sight. “What the?” 'Is this... a completely new world?' A grin formed on his face as his brain started to think of the possible things to do in a world. He had to be cautious, had to learn about the habits to help him infiltrate the places he had to go. What worked for his advantage was the fact that no one in this place knew about Changelings, so the effect of surprise was on his size. In the distance, he could sense the magic of others. In this world without any magic, his senses seemed to be sharper and could sense magic users in the distance. Not well enough to pinpoint their exact location, but enough to sense the vague direction. His targets were near.

And another thing was near. Drunken stupor. Laughter. Down below he could see them, a group of three young men, humans like the rangers, yet clothed differently. Their hair in unfamiliar cuts and color, it confused him a little bit that humans did that. Probably to stand out. As he came closer, the three of them, one of them pointed over to him
“Hey... What's wrong with this picture?”

Recognizing Mimesis was barely clothed, the punks started laughing.
“Enter the amazing dark Hulkster, hehe... You OK, buddy?”

With a blank expression, Mimesis stared at the one who had asked him. This was troublesome. He wasn't one of them, had to start with his disguise before they realized that he was a danger. Fortunately they seemed to have no clue at all. Playing along might be the best option for now until he was certain he could handle them.
“I'm OK... buddy...”

Snipping his fingers in front of Mimesis' face, one of the others shook his head.
“Man, that guy is tripping. I don't know what stuff he took to dress up like this”

Another hand knocked on his chitin plates as the chuckles continued.
“Check it out! He even wears protective sports gear of some sorts. Quite a costume he made himself there.”

“It's the wrong time of the year for a costume, man... Halloween is a couple of months away!”

The Changeling's eyes closed a bit more. Criminal subjects, nothing anyone would miss anytime soon. He was lucky and could continue with his preparations right away.
“Your clothes... Give them to me! Now!”

This tone, however, didn't came to the liking of these gang members as the first already held up his butterfly knife.
“Fuck you, asshole!” Two more knifes were now held up and Mimesis eyed them silently. Then, all of a sudden, his throat began to form a large bulge and in the next moment, a watery spray of greenish vomit shot out of his mouth, directly at the gang member to his right. Reeling back in disgust, the gang member suddenly realized that his arm was beginning to dissolve rapidly, almost melting away like butter in a microwave oven. Acidic fumes arose from the arm and among the screams Mimesis felt a sudden collision at his left side. The other gang member had tried to stab him, yet failed to do so. The blade only slipped to the side, since the chitin was too hard to penetrate. Turning to his left, Mimesis grabbed the second gang member by the neck.

While the human struggled in the choking tight grip, the Changeling's head began to quake while his upper and lower jaw cracked open, revealing four mandibles with razor sharp teeth on them. With a gurgling growl, the four jaws surrounded the head of the screaming gang member, his fellow member paralyzed in fear.

A sickening crack came from the inside of his four mandibles and a mixture of human blood and brain tissue squirted out between them. Leaving the corpse slump to the ground, Mimesis then turned to the last remaining gang member, who crawled backwards in sheer terror. The mandibles grew back to jaws and Mimesis eyed the man in front of him.
“Well, now... About these clothes...”

The young man nodded and started to undress.
“OK.... OK!!! Just stay away from me, man!” Once the clothes were all on the ground, Mimesis nodded at the young man. “Thank you... Why didn't you do so in the first place?” His jaws suddenly opening, he leaped at the naked young man, whose screams echoed through the night.

* * * * *

In the motel room, Twilight rose up from the bed with a shriek, sweat in her face.
“Tyler! TYLER!!!”

Jumping up from the couch, Tyler looked around in the room, finding Twilight with the other ponies on the bed. Twilight's shriek awakened them and they looked up to their spooked friend.
“What?!? What is it?”

“We have to go! Now!

“What? Why?”

Shaking her head in hysteria, Twilight shed some tears.
“Mimesis! He followed us to this world!”

Rachel shook her head and laid down again with a sigh.
“Oh, Twilight... You had a nightmare. That's all... Get back to sleep.”

Tyler looked into Twilight's worried face and they looked into each others eyes, until he smiled and nodded. Packing their stuff, he woke up the others, what caused Rachel to roll her eyes.
“Jones! What is with you?”

But Tyler didn't react much to that, he simply continued to pack in haste whatever little stuff they had left.
“I'm not going to argue with you, Rachel. When I learned something from the past, it's that Twilight has a thing for her bad dreams coming true. At least when it comes to Changelings.” Twilight, although still tired, smiled at this. He took her seriously from the first second. Pointing a finger at Rachel, Tyler cocked his head. “Tell me you have a car out there...”

Shaking her head in disagreement, Rachel pointed to the door.
“Yes. A used Chevrolet Van, an Explorer; driver, co-driver, 9 seats. Took the rest of our money.”

Nodding, Tyler gave Flynn a slap at the back of the head.
“Rise and shine, ranger! Have an eye on the girls for me for a second, OK?”

Waking up, Flynn stood up with a mumble and woke up Sam as well. One by one the friends became awake, although still tired and sleepy while Tyler and Rachel went outside in a hurry to get the van.

Shaking his head as he saw the big van, Tyler grinned.
“You know, Rachel? Normally I would make a remark about American cars and how unnecessary big they are... But this here in our current situation? It's just fine!”

With another shake of her head once they entered the van and started the engine, she rolled her eyes.
“Thank goodness he's satisfied...”

They parked in front of the door and Flynn opened the large side door. Once sure the coast was clear, he waved the girls in and one by one, the ponies entered the car, uncomfortable being cramped in such tiny space. Lyra went in first, seemingly with no problem. Much unlike the others, who had difficulties sitting upright. Applejack shook her head in frustration.
“Ah don't like this... But hay... If ya'll say it's that urgent, Ah guess there is no helping it.”

Tyler looked back through the mirror and grimaced.
“Sorry, honey. I know it's uncomfortable for you girls to sit like that, but it's better than you all bumping into each other at every turn we make.”

“Fasten your seat-belts!”

This left Rainbow Dash stumped.
“Seat-belts? What the hay?” But Lyra already caught on and fastened her belt first. Once seen the example, the ponies did the same.

The car began to move and Pinkie yelled in excitement.
“Yeah! It's like a mobile party!”

Tyler's eye twitched a bit as he drove on.
“Pinkie!”

“Alright, alright... Are we there yet?” Little did they know that once the van drove off, an all too familiar shadow approached the inn from the other side.

* * * * *

On the next morning, the area around the inn was silent except for some vans and trucks driving by. The binoculars in his hand, Rick Marshall looked at it. 'Old Donald's Motel Inn' It was then when the radio sounded off with several whispers.
*Krz*“Unit One, ready!”*Krz*

*Krz*“Unit Two, ready!”*Krz*

*Krz*“Unit Three, ready”*Krz*

*Krz*“Understood. All units ready and waiting for the Go.”*Krz*

The units were in position now and readied themselves. Any moment now they would storm the place. Two of the units looked at each other and nodded. They were ready as they could be. And then the Go from Agent Marshall came. Hand signs were silently exchanged with the others until the counter was on. Three fingers, two fingers, one... The doors were kicked open and the SWAT units stormed the lobby of the inn and the motel rooms. Orders were shouted and one by one the chatter over the radio grew silent.

Rick frowned a bit. It was too silent. Normally either someone stupid enough to resist would pull out a gun to start a shooting or there were screams of children or women being in the way. But now... There was nothing. A certain anxiety came up in him. In a place as big as this, any reaction would be better than nothing. Inside, the members of the SWAT team looked around at destroyed rooms, ransacked and searched. The air was thick and heavy, the sights in front of them hard to stomach. One of the team turned away and threw up. This was when the commanding officer of the SWAT unit raised his radio.
“Uh... Agent Marshall?”

Rick answered on the spot.
“Yes! What is it, O'Reilly? Did you get him?”

Shaking his head, the SWAT commander took a gulp before he raised his radio again.
“I... I really can't tell, sir. Someone got something here, that's for sure. You better come and see for yourself.”

Ben and Rick exchanged some glances before they entered the motel room. But as soon as they stepped over the door sill, the sweet stench of vomit, mixed with the stench of burned flesh filled the air. Arching back in revulsion at the stench, both agents grimaced.
“What in God's name...?”

The sight before them was horrifying. Several bodies, some limbs and torsos seemed molten away, like someone placed wax figures all over the place and held a torch near them. There was a young woman, laying on her side. From what Rick could saw, she wasn't injured. Slowly shaking her shoulder, he tried to get any sign of life from her. Her body then suddenly cantered and rolled over to her back and Rick arched back in shock and disgust. Her right half was molten away to a reddish goo that was now dripping from the many, or rather this one large wound. He turned away. Running for the door, he left the room and gasped for fresh air. His guts were in an uproar, everything protested against these sensations. The smell, the sights, the squishy sounds... Too much! Pulling himself together, he took one deep breath after another. He had to control himself in front of the others.

Coming to his side, Ben Miller shook his head in revulsion.
“This is sickening... What kind of person does this? Do you think Jones was on to us and eliminated them to wipe off all hints towards him?

“No... Tyler Jones is a hacker, not a chemist and he has no background of murder. He would've hacked their bank accounts, he wouldn't turn them into human smoothies.” Rick had to burp on this. Still the urge to throw up was in him. Bending forward, he rested his hands on his knees and took deep breaths. Something was wrong here. All of a sudden this simple case of one hacker on the loose turned into a freaking nightmare. Droplets of sweat pearled from his forehead as he opened his eyes once again. “Ben, make some calls. I want the nearest airports under strict surveillance! Some syndicate seems to be after Tyler Jones besides the FBI and NSA... We have to make sure he doesn't slip through our net. And I want Jones before they get to him!”

Taking note on his smartphone, Ben Miller nodded before he turned to his colleague.
“That would be McClellan Airfield and Mather Airport... Uh... Rick, are you sure about that? You think a syndicate assassin is spraying acid all over people? Just to get rid of eye witnesses as he hunts for Tyler Jones?

“Ben, you saw the place in there. An acid potent enough to liquify people in a matter of what? Seconds? I may not be a chemical expert, but this I know: Such an acid, no matter what kind, doesn't come cheap and needs to be manufactured in a lab.”

Miller now raised his hands arching a brow.
“Now hold it... Rick, you're serious, aren't you? You mean Tyler Jones is messing with some kind of drug cartel and they've sent some acid killer after him? This is far fetched!”

Taking in a deep breath, Rick got up again, the urge to throw up gone.
“Is it? This guy messes with the military and NSA, what makes you think a drug cartel is different to him? And you've been in there, Ben... You've seen these people!”

Ben Miller looked over to the inn. The gory sight in there truly was out of the ordinary. From the profile he knew that Tyler Jones had a tendency to evade trouble, not to cause it. Ever since they started their investigation about him, the movements they backtracked, the people they interrogated about Jones... Nothing pointed at something Jones being violent in such a manner. Rick had a point there. However, looking over to his colleague, Ben slowly shook his head.
“OK, maybe Jones didn't do this. I can go with that. Still... Rick, I don't know. That guy is probably a lot of things, but a vigilante-hacker going against a syndicate all by himself? What's next on the list? Batman?”

Coming to their side, the SWAT commander nodded to them.
“My men have secured the area, sir. The other rooms were either empty or filled with bodies. All rooms were ransacked. Whoever did this, searched for something or someone.

“Thank you, O'Reilly...” Rick replied. Looking over to Ben, he took out his phone. “I'm not sure what he is, Ben. But I know what he will become now: Tyler Jones is the most wanted man in California!”

20 - Project Chrysalia *

Long ago, when the world of Equis was young and bountiful, an alicorn king and an alicorn queen struggled with the borders of their two realms. From these struggles erupted a war that threatened to destroy the world, until the goodhearted queen understood that the might of their heritage was a threat to all what was good and proper and sealed all but the youngest alicorns into stars.

But even half an eternity can not undo all evil.

It was never to resurface... And for a million years it never did. The secrets of the King's demonic machine for his final solution, the weapon to create all final weapons. But while nature did its best to conceal the ruins of the ancient evil that should remain buried, curiosity always found a way to unleash hell upon the world.

55 years ago...

A group of scientists gathered around the excavation dig's latest find: a large set of steel compound bulk heads. On their lab coats, they had the insignia of the Descendants of Tacitus imprinted.
“Professor Lab Rat! Look!”

The young unicorn professor looked up to the massive bulk heads. Massive beams of corroded steel were welded to the bulkheads, blocking further entrance.
“Amazing... What possessed them to seal these laboratories shut tight?" The bulk heads were welded open and upon opening them revealed a number of chambers, one of them surrounded by oval stone formations, barely visible in the dark.

Somewhere on Equis, on a chaotic plane of existence, today...

The darkness was silent as the fumes rested in the nothingness of the plane. Suddenly a white flash disturbed the tranquil of the plane and several lights were lit as a female Draconequis approached a bunch of young looking male Draconequii.
“♫Wake up! Wake up, you moronic fools! Rise and chaos!♫ It's a brand new eon and we have a new client...”

Stretching their limbs, the Draconequii yawned and slowly got up.
“Finally something happens...”

“It's about time...”

“Yeah... Nothing ever happened since big brother Discord left a few thousand years ago... And since the Alicorn War all we had left was to play with our thumbs.”

The female Draconequis now leaned over a blue orb,
“Just look at this: This orderly world... So tidy and harmonic. Ugh... How boring. Discord seems to be asleep as well...” But not a moment later, the female Draconequus inspected the world a bit closer. “Oh! Just a second...” With a chuckle, she knocked at the orb and the picture rearranged. “Hmhmhm... The picture wasn't up to date...” Her eyes widened with the depiction of the blue world shrouded in a cloud of darkness. “But what could be better than this? Two Princesses of Darkness threatening the entire world with their dark followers and a sun blocking cloud Megaspell, a damsel in distress, a fellowship of heroes on the run...” Looking up, she spotted two thin threads connecting Equis with another orb, another blue world “...and an entirely new world to toy with...” Grinning in anticipation, she shivered visibly. “Ooooh, this is gonna be so good...” Turning over to another of the Draconequi, she smiled and let his head rest in a bear paw and insectoid claw. “Cacophon! Little brother, be a dear and find us a way to these heroes.”

“Certainly, big sister Eris!”

As he dived in to the equestrian plane, Eris chuckled.
“Let the games begin...”

At the same time, on the Alisia, Captain Lily's eyes widened with awe at the black cloud above.
“Will? Do we still have the compass?

“No, Captain... It's damaged.”

This prompted Lily to sigh in frustration.
“Then setting course back to Equestria without the stars is going to be impossible. Good thing we already set course away from that armada and Maelstrom... Maintain course until land is spotted. One bat pony scout ahead for one mile, we will only pull, no sails. I won't capsize this ship by not seeing land in time. Take turns!” Flapping up to the bridge, she took over the rudder. “Let us hope that this will suff-”

But the crow's nest interrupted her.
“Captain! Icebergs!”

That exclamation took her by surprise.
“What? Impossible! Not in these warm waters!” But right in front of the Alisia a purple glowing iceberg of ice cream emerged from the water and towered high up as it passed the sailing ship. Lily just shook her head in disbelief before her new order was yelled over deck. “Belay that last order! Set all sails! Everypony pull her out of harms way! Let's get out of here!”

More and more glowing icebergs emerged and lit the way ahead. Will simply shook his head.
“Sunk by huge desserts? No one would believe that in the harbor!”

Lily gritted her teeth while steering her ship. More and more the waters began to glow from beneath.
“To think that I hoped for some light to find the way home a few seconds ago... Hang on!” The Alisia slid through a wave of ocean blue jelly and plowed right through, much to the dismay of the standing crew, who was shook by the sudden impact. But not halting, the Alisia gained altitude until it reached the other side of the wave and regained some of her momentum.

First Commander Will looked at the path of the jelly and icebergs and saw that they were leading away from the ship. Shaking his head, he looked over to the Captain.
“Jelly instead of ocean water, icebergs of ice cream... There's only one force on this planet capable of doing that.”

Lilly nodded.
“Last thing I heard was that he was reformed. So either he's using the oceans to wreak havoc outside of Equestria, or he broke loose at home and spreads his chaos beyond equestrian borders. In any way, this is bad.”

Looking at the orange horizon, Will and Lilly took some last glances at the fiery storm that still surrounded the Armada of war citadels.
“Captain? Do you think they're able to free her?”

Lily sighed and shook her head.
“I sure hope they free her before Princess Luna arrives on the battlefield. When alicorns fight, this might get messy...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the throne room of Nagohod, Princess Celestia tried to find a better understanding for the whereabouts and motivations of Lamira. 'He who understands an opponent can defeat an opponent.'
“Why are you doing all this? This is not destruction for the sole purpose of destruction. No, you're not that stupid!”

Arching her brows in dismay, Lamira looked at Celestia like someone couldn't see the sky was blue.
“Why? Because you Alicorns of Light deserve it! Thousands were killed in the Alicorn War! But each on a personal level! Pony against pony, alicorn against alicorn. But while father was wise not planning for total destruction, Queen Faust brought onto us a curse, eliminating our divine race!”

Searching for words, Celestia shook her head
“Lamira! The... the Abarasion Spell was the only way to spare Equis from-”

“SILENCE!!!” Lamira boomed and the space between her and Celestia rippled, “HOW DARE YOU TO CALL IT A SPELL?!?” Nagohod gained altitude and reached the upper side of Black Omen, revealing the night sky. Looking outside, Lamira's face showed eons of bitterness. “Just look at it! This is not a spell! It is a holocaust! The utter destruction of all alicorn order! Alicorn corpses burning in the skies, sprinkled and splattered all over the firmament! No more discipline! No virtue! Only chaos!”

This angered Celestia. She and Luna had faced chaos, real chaos by ending the Discordian Age.
“Life and prosperity are not equal to chaos! I suppose next you'll tell me the Alicorns of Darkness had a better solution than this?”

“Certainly.” Asira replied without hesitation. “There was a grand project father started in the last days of the war.. Named after the one daughter father sired directly after Luna and you. Her name was Chrysalia.”

Celestia gasped in shock, tears of sorrow glittering in her eyes.
“No!”

Closing her eyes, Lamira nodded in confirmation.
“Yes... Our half sister first lost her mind and then, recently, her life at the hands of a shadow pony. The transformation she had to endure left her eternal lifespan untouched, but her chitin plates were a poor exchange for our almost indestructible alicorn hides, a hide that can withstand everything except alicorn horn. Chrysalia was an alicorn deep within. It hurt to use her like this, but she was beyond help after the first few thousand years. We monitored her swarm over the ages, ensuring she was well and ready for usage. And in the meantime we trained our capabilities. Carefully, our might as well as our half sister and her swarm grew. Until recently when we finally found father's secret facility in an archeological excavation dig.”

* * * * *

It was never to resurface... But after a million years, it did. And with it, the Alicorn War was ignited once again.

Under normal circumstances it would have been dusk when the Changeling wax crafts reached the beach. Now, under Black Omen, they only became visible at the shine of the many torches and lights turned at the sea. It was a sight that made the entrenched Descendants gulp in fear. Three dozen crafts, each the size of an airships, reached the sand and opened their hatches. The inside of the crafts was completely pitch black, until one pair of green glowing eyes prompted the Descendants to take a step back from one of them.
“It's her!”

“Subject Two!”

Thousands of pupil-less blue eyes now opened and a heavy humming sound was emitting from the inside of the crafts within seconds the swarm filled the sky of the entire beach. Outnumbering the guards in the thousands, all guarding posts were swept aside, there was no defense against the storm. And whosoever wasn't captured, was executed on the spot. Trotting over the field of battle, the Changeling Queen had her eyes kept on target, the inner research facilities. Although these ruins were still in good shape despite the ages they have seen, the Descendants had supported the corridors they deemed vital for their archeological research with trusses and beams of steel.

A strange feeling of nostalgia filled Shiria as she stepped through these halls and corridors. Although she'd never been here before, this place seemed familiar, known. There were moments when she felt a mixture of dread and security at the same time. Yet all of a sudden there were flashes of rapid movement and death. Someone or somepony was killing her children in the dozens. Entering a large hall behind some bulkheads her Changelings broke open, she entered a dark storage hall. There they lied on the ground, her dead children, swiftly killed by an unknown force. Anger began to boil up in the queen when she looked up and searched the dark with her eyes.
“Face me, Descendants! It's over!”

An unknown voice spoke up in the dark, a mixture of male and female.
“It is only beginning. Tacitus whispered of this from the stars. He told us of his return.”

Clenching her teeth, Shiria began to growl. Whosoever was behind this slaughter would pay dearly for each dead Changeling.
“Your king is long dead! And his return would only bring utter destruction.”

Now an all too familiar voice now rose up. A voice that let Shiria's blood freeze.
“Is that what you really think?”

When Shiria whirled around with bare fangs and charged horn, her movement died in an instant, when she saw who stood in front of her. Her eyes went wide open and her jaw dropped slightly at the sight in front of her.
“No... Can't be...”

In front of her stood Tyler Jones, a human who swore to fight the Descendants where he would find them. And now his eyes looked at her, disappointed, worried.
“Shiria...” The Changeling Queen didn't understand. 'What is he doing here? Why...? How...?'After a moment of her hesitating, a dark smirk came on his face as his eyes began to glow red. In the next moment, a large pile of trusses and rubble buried the Changeling Queen underneath it. But not two seconds later, there was a fierce green glow coming from the inside of this pile before it began to melt and finally detonated, revealing a shield that had held the rubble at a safe distance. The detonation wave was strong enough to sweep this fake Tyler away from her and slammed him into a pillar of stone. Embedded into the pillar, he coughed blood.

Kneeling on the ground, the Changeling Queen stemmed herself up with an angered stomp to the ground. 'I was careless! Damn you for this trickery!' Looking up, her face showed fierce rage.
“No! You're not him... or human for that matter!” Galloping over to the 'human' in rage, Shiria took flight as a gargantuan Brute Changeling broke through the ground and rammed the pillar the fake Tyler was slammed into down with the full momentum of its weight. The human was then slammed to the ground mere moments before Shiria landed on top of him and began to pummel his face with her perforated hooves without any mercy. “You are not Tyler! YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO HIM!! HOW DARE YOU TO USE HIS IMAGE!!!”

The last punch broke the spell and a white unicorn mare with red mane beneath the human disguise merely grinned, blood running from her muzzle.
“I'm everything you never had...” Shiria looked down in shock. How could a mere unicorn have so much power to withstand her own? But in the next moment that same unicorn kicked her off from her and high into the air, before she blasted a ray of magic through her torso, causing Shiria to shriek in pain and slump to the floor. “...and I'm everything you'll never gain.” Shiria gasped in pain. This last shot barely missed her heart. She would live, but first she had to survive this fight. This was no ordinary unicorn and she had to find a way to dispose her. Time was of the essence. Seeing the dead Changelings behind the mare gave her just about the right idea she needed now. As her horn began to glow, the mare sneered down to her. “A magic attack? You can barely stand, left alone fry my face!”

This prompted Shiria to grin widely, her dark chuckles echoing through the hall.
“I'm not aiming at your face...” The mare cocked her head in wonder with an arched brow until her eyes shot wide open at the sound of penetrated flesh and bones. Crimson blood ran down her snow white hooves and her body swayed moments before she collapsed to the ground, several broken off Changeling horns stabbed into her back, crushing her spine and ribcage and perforating her inner organs. Shiria gave it a sigh before she let the healing magic flow through her wound.

* * * * *

The door opened and Shiria, escorted by her Changeling warriors, stepped into the laboratory. Pony scientist were kneeling in front of her, her Changelings flanking them. Giving the scientists a harsh glare she trotted over to a Changeling serving her proper water. “I will spare you scientists... If and only if you explain to me how a mere unicorn could take on me. And you will explain Project Chrysalia to me.”

The scientists exchanged some glances, until a seasoned stallion stepped forth. His once blue mane was beginning to turn white and wrinkles marked his face.
“My name is Professor Lab Rat. If we talk to you, our lives among the Descendants are over. If we tell you everything you want to know, can you guarantee our safety?”

Shiria glared at him and slowly his ears dropped, regretting the question in fear of angering her to the point where the opposite outcome might be the case. But the Changeling Queen slowly shook her head, her voice still calm.
“I am currently in a very bad mood, pony... And that state is nothing you should trifle with. If you want safety, I will not host you in my hive in any other form than food. However... This doesn't mean you are meant to die. I will order a squadron to take you on a wax float and bring you to Equestria. You can face justice there. Now speak!”

The scientists exchanged another series of glances and nods, until the very same stallion turned to Shiria once more.
“The mare you faced earlier was probably specimen Sun Float, a unicorn who was charged with another...”

“Another what?” Shiria interrupted him.

“Form of Energy...”

Shiria then arched a brow and turned to the scientists.
“Show me!”

Big and durable bulkheads opened and revealed a hall wide and high. Several chambers were housed in the hall, one of them looked as if a Changeling had cocooned something in there and something hatched from the cocoon. A pile of stones looking like hatched Changeling eggs surrounded this peculiar chamber. Several notes and measurement papers were around that, obviously to study the whereabouts of these fossils. With a measure of fear in his frail voice, the pony scientist began his explanation.
“When we were brought here, Princess Lamira and Princess Asira wanted this project continued. The data banks showed many failures and only one successful attempt to use this machine. The Machina Infernum was the apex of Alicorn technology back in the days. Its complexity exceeds our understanding by far.”

“Even after fifty five years of research we merely understand its basic functions. Professor Lab Rat is one of the last remaining scientists working on this excavation project since its beginning. A lifework!” added a second scientist.

Shiria could only roll her eyes in annoyance. 'Ponies...'
“I take it this one successful attempt was this one chamber with the strange fossils around. So why is this machine called the 'Machina Infernum'?”

When several dozen lamps activated upon the turn of a switch, the light revealed that this hall was merely the entrance to a big round and open elevator to store specimen that were stored in a seemingly bottomless pit 150 meters wide.
“The purpose of this machine was to transform ponies into superweapons. A unicorn able to face a Changeling Queen, an alicorn filly transformed to a Change-” He suddenly stopped and held his hooves in front of his mouth.

But Shiria showed no sign of anger whatsoever. The Changeling Queen simply twitched an eyebrow at the revelation.
“So... That's how it is... Tacitus used his own daughter to create the queen I knew as my mother. A disposable weapon...The purpose of this machine is wrong in all ways imaginable. A doomsday machine for the sole purpose of breeding death incarnated. They created an entire race of weapons to bring misery to others.” As she touched the fossilized cocoon, memories of her mother came to her mind in a chain of flashbacks. For once, the genetic memory of a changeling queen became a curse for Shiria. This wasn’t something she wanted to see.

For the truth was simply horrid. As she stepped forth to the fossilized Changeling egg shells she relived the horror, the agony her mother once went through. Every second a new flash of pictures raced through her mind, another wave of helplessness passed by and struck her down. How they took her mother from her own mother as a child, put her into this machinery and transformed her. The memories were engulfed in flames as the little alicorn suffered in the transformation chamber. Damned her and all her descendants to a struggle with no hope for happiness. And deep within her the hatred for the Alicorns of Darkness grew.

No, this was far worse than she could ever hope to imagine. Not even the Changelings in their parasitic ways could have plotted something of that magnitude of malice. There was cleverness, there was trickiness, even malice as a way to handle things as a Changeling. But never would they ever resort to such a final solution.. This was wrong. All of it was plainly wrong. While her mother was dead, it couldn’t be corrected for her. But she… Yes, maybe she could return to her former form. And if she would, she would take the crusade to the rest of the Alicorns of Darkness. She would kill every last one of them.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes to find her composure again. Anger, even more so blind anger wouldn't help her now. Behind her, one of the scientists spoke up.
“Ummm... Sun Float wasn't the only experiment the Darkness Sisters were performing.”

Turning around, Shiria shot the stallion a glance.
“How so? Who else was receiving a dosage of energy?”

“Oh, there were a lot of experiments, but none of them were performed here. This place was meant to remain untouched except for the salvaged energy banks. But I overheard some talk about it. There was also that strange bipedal Changeling...”

Shiria's facial expression became dark at once.
“Mimesis! What sort of experiment?”

“Due to the logs we've salvaged and translated, Princess Chrysalia was exposed to a hefty amount of negative energy of the machine, making her the first Changeling Queen in history. Thus every Changeling is filled to some degree with the same negative energy. But Mimesis got yet another dose of negative energy.”

In an attempt to imagine the result, Shiria arched a brow.
“If an alicorn filly turns into a Changeling Queen with this... What would happen if a humanoid Changeling gets exposed to that same energy?”

Frowning at the odd question, the pony first looked to the ground, seemingly trying to piece the variables together. When the stallion looked up again, he shook his head.
“That I cannot say precisely. But I predict that the result would be monstrous in shape, form and size. Since Changelings are insectoid due to the negative energy of the machina, this might shine through even more in his body. Maybe multiple legs, gaining size...”

Looking back to the massive bulkheads, Shiria shook her head.
“And why didn't Sun Float turn into a Changeling or a monster?”

This obviously was a question the scientists seemed to have rather avoid, for their grimaces showed Shiria that it was an unpleasant one.
“Um... Sun Float was injected with positive energy. This form of energy doesn't tend to vile transformations, but talent alterations like enhanced magic.”

Turning to the scientists completely now, Shiria cocked her head. This was getting interesting.
“You keep talking about negative and positive energy. Can you tell me what's the difference?”

The question merely earned her a nod from the scientists.
“Certainly! The 'Machina Infernum' has two procedures: Harvest and Transformation or Alteration. The polarization of the energy depends on the type of blood the machina is fed with in her harvesting procedure. One drop of blood of an Alicorn of Light will fill 100 Energy banks with enough magical energy to keep the machine running with positive energy while a drop of blood from an Alicorn of Darkness will do the same amount for negative energy. It costs one energy bank for an alteration or transformation. Most of the canisters in the cargo halls in this facility were heavily damaged due to the age of this place. Only a few have made it through the ages undamaged, leaving us with about five banks of positive energy and 25 banks of negative energy. We think the positive ones were extracted during the Alicorn War from captive alicorns. That's at least one theory. Another, more propable theory would be the salvation of droplets of blood on the battlefield from horns.”

Another scientist continued.
“Once we understood that the Changelings were made here, we had no interest of creating new ones until all would have died. You and your swarm being stored in the CCF preserved you. However, the Princesses instructed us to bring results other than Changelings. Since negative energy only brought undesirable monstrosities even with the most minimal dosage, we switched to positive energy. But all Changelings we caught and exposed to positive energy died within a few days.”

This caused Shiria to nod.
“Because they were soulless drones without individual will. They have a hive mind. Without that connection, there is not much in them. Like a fish out of the water, they were deprived of what kept them alive. Sun Float on the other hoof was a pony mare with her own free will. This means only a Changeling Queen or princess could ever hope to survive the process with positive energy...”

Nodding at each other, the scientist unicorns agreed.
“That was our conclusion as well. But your arrival makes our last order fruitless.”

Looking down to the pony, Shiria arched her brows
“And what order is that?”

“Execute order sixty six.” the stallion answered. “To avoid misuse of the enemy, destroy all energy banks left in this facility. The Darkness sisters have brought many of these banks away already. One bank of negative energy was meant for Mimesis for further experimentation, one positive energy bank was used on Sun Float... And there's... only one energy bank of positive energy left.”

Shiria nodded and turned over to her Changelings.
“That's all I need to know. Let them explain to you how the machine works and don't fail me!” Looking over to the ponies, she arched a brow. “I suggest you work with them as best as you can. And remember: I hear and see, what my swarm hears and see! If you are planning to betray us, I will find out at once! As of right now, this facility is property of my hive and we will forge our own future now. No predetermined fate of some ancient forgotten king!”

As she left, one mare looked at the stallion who explained all to the Changeling Queen.
“You think this was safe, Lab Rat? You're sure she will let us live until we are in Equestria?”

The old stallion looked over to her and sighed.
“At least we have her word on this.”

“Tsk! Only her word! And what is the word of a Changeling worth?

“Shut up before her drones report us!”

Shiria was trotting through the facility, not minding the worried whispers behind her. Her mind was racing considering other things. 'So an alicorn filly was transformed into a Changeling Queen. That didn't turn out satisfying enough for them, so they waited until I came to be. I created Mimesis and thus, without knowing it myself, gave them a whole new way of thinking... Their entire project with a being capable of so much more fighting spirit than any pony or any Changeling could muster. They repaired his body which was cut to pieces and exposed it to the same amount as mother... The result must be horrendous... But always negative energy... What would happen, if a Changeling Queen would be exposed with positive energy? Would I turn into a monster as well? Would the damage done to mother be repaired? But without my control, what would happen to this hive of mine?' A single drone, escorted by two Changeling warriors brought her the Changeling Princess Leilia and her prince to be, Symbios. Still fragile and small, both the shadow pony colt as well as the Changeling Princess were slumbering peacefully.

Nuzzling her daughter, Shiria was close to tears. This feeling... It was sickening. 'I have to leave my hive in jeopardy and my daughter alone while under undergoing this procedure...' Looking over to Symbios, Shiria gently smiled. 'Even if my hive perishes with me, he will have enough love to sustain her. I just hope they will live up to his name and find a way of symbiotic relationship... Until I find a way to aid her as well. I could ask for help, but I doubt Celestia would ever give her blood for a Changeling's sake... Not after what happened...'

* * * * *

In the meantime, in the throne room of the fortress of Nagohod, the held captive Princess Celestia had problems of her own. The latest revelation was enraging her beyond her limits.
“YOU caused the utter destruction of Shadowgate?!? An entire capitol leveled and thousands murdered just to make a point?”

But Lamira simply sneered.
“It served them right for abandoning their rightful lords and mistresses.”

Clenching her teeth, Celestia shook her head in anger. The inhibitor over her horn was trembling more with each passing moment.
“You would kill thousands just for progress and prosperity instead of living in the past like you do?”

Turning around to Celestia, Lamira barked at her, angered.
“They've grown like a cancer, not only did they abandon us, their leaders, but also their way of life! Their heritage! As soon as we are done with Equestria, we will 're-educate' these traitorous dogs for the mere attempt to break free from us. While we lead the armada to war for the total annihilation of Equestria, the Descendants left there have order to stomp out enough gulags and camps for this 'educational procedure'. And then these ponies will have strict birth control...”

It was in this moment that the magic inhibitor on Celestia's horn finally snapped and broke apart with a loud and high tone. The shattered pieces of the ring flew off and Asira saw that they began floating, like defying gravity. The scent of static filled the air as large amounts of magic were accumulated. Gritting her teeth, the younger of the Darkness Sisters turned to Celestia, only to draw her jaw.
“What in darkness' name...?”

Celestia's body shined almost blindingly bright and the magic billowed over her entire form including mane and tail.
“I took an oath that I would never harm a redeemable pony, no matter what horrid crime he or she would commit! But after seeing what you did with Nagohod and what you are planning, you leave me no choice! Princess Lamira! Princess Asira! Sisters! You are evil! But it is not my horn that will destroy your mighty armada... It will do so by itself!”

Taking a step back, Princess Lamira and Asira looked at Celestia, aghast.
“What?”

But before they could subdue her anew, Celestia unleashed a powerful beam of light from her horn, colliding against the stone of one of the closed eye in the throne room. It looked as if the beam was only hindered for a second, as the molten stone on the edges of the beam began to run down the hole. Three long seconds the beam endured, before it faded away. Fatigued, the Princess of the Sun shook her head in order not to fall unconscious. However, the strain was strong enough to force her to the floor.
“I guess I should have trained Megaspells a bit more over the ages...” But while the threat in the throne room was seemingly over, the real damage was yet to come. The beam of pure light shot through the cloud of Black Omen and soon these otherwise pitch black clouds began to shine brightly in front of the citadel armada. Rays of light shined down to the ocean as thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of tiny orbs of light slowly glided from the now brightened sky. As the first citadel came in contact with these orbs, they simply went through the thick stone armor and came in contact with the crew. Once struck by the orb in either their torso, head or limbs, several of the Descendants began to halt in their movement and seemed out of focus for a moment. Disorientated, they shook their heads for a bit before they began to chuckle and murder one another in whatever way was available at that time. Not very long after this, the first few citadels of the armada gave up the fire shield spell surrounding the armada and began shooting down one another. A chain reaction followed in which shot down citadels crashed into unaffected ones while others were infected by the orbs as they as well entered its area of effect. Even shields were of no use against these orbs.

Watching the spectacle in utter disbelief, Lamira shook her head in shock.
“What is this trickery...?”

Giving a smirk, Celestia regained some of her strength and stood up.
“It is the Light of Justice! No armor or force field can shield you from this. Whosoever is kissed by it and is unjust in his heart, will turn on other unjust hearts. One by one the citadels struck by this divine light will destroy one another. Only he who is just in his heart can ever hope to withstand the magic of this spell!”

Looking up from a screen, Asira shook her head in a panic.
“Lamira! The losses are tremendous! We are losing citadels left and right! About 60 percent of the fleet are down!”

Gritting her teeth in anger, Lamira barked her orders to her sister.
“Order the armada a full stop and retreat from the light!Ascend Nagohod over the clouds! We have no choice but to take a longer detour around it...” When she shot Celestia a glare, it didn't last long before a smirk returned on her face. “A Megaspell... Interesting... I thought this was a knowledge long forgotten?”

“Black Omen is a Megaspell as well.” Celestia retorted flatly. “You cannot expect me to sit idly by while you hurt my subjects as well as our allies.”

“True...” Eying Celestia thoroughly, Lamira gave her best to contain her anger. “That was well played, Celestia... I don't know what is greater right now. My hatred towards you for decimating my armada like this or the admiration for such a brilliant move.” Coming closer to the force field, Lamira stared into Celestia's eyes. “You can not imagine how much I want to shove my horn into your heart right now... I know that once I will, it will be so satisfying... and heart breaking as well, since I can only do it once.”

Celestia shook her head, her face showing both determination against and pity for Lamira.
“No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in existence than the need for freedom, peace and harmony. Against that power governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The equestrian ponies learned this lesson once with Discord. With the help of the Harmony Rangers, Elements of Harmony and their allies they will teach Equis this lesson once more. And if it takes them a thousand years... They will overcome you!”

While the remaining citadels began their evasive maneuver to escape the Light of Justice on the sides and Nagohod ascended into the clouds to evade above of the spell, one of the many light drops swirled across the skies and down towards the seas in the northwest of the Megaspell. Landing and sinking into the chest of Queen Sheeris, it lost its glow within seconds, emanating a comfortable warmth in her heart. Looking down to her chest, Sheeris cherished the warmth in this cold and unnatural night. A fond and gentle warmth like that of a lair mate resting at her side. Looking up, her eyes showed determination.
“Princess Celestia is captured, but not yet defeated. In this time of darkness, she's giving us Masar more than we could hope to ask for. A light, my brethren, of hope. A light of freedom! Rays of justice...” A gentle breeze went through her mane, as a steady growl emitted from her throat as she was surrounded by her fellow Masar. “A beacon towards just vengeance! Let us repay the princess who gives us the warmth of the sun with all the wildness our clans can muster to battle this darkness! Hunt them down! You know no fear, you know no pain! Tonight we'll feast upon the sweet flesh of the followers of an ancient king! But where is their king now?” Raising her right paw straight and high up into the sky, the black sails of her battleship, the Tiger's Claw, were set to full force and her mighty navy followed her, the roars of tens of thousands telegraphing its fierce approach. Fire rose high up into the sky as their artillery barrages and air shamans pierced the sky already reaching the outermost citadels of the weakened Descendant armada in the west.

In the northeast, one of the Griffin generals held a looking glass in his claws to enhance his already good eyesight.
“The Pony Fleets of Equestria and the Crystal Empire are approaching from the north and will arrive on the battlefield in a couple of minutes. The Masar are already engaging the enemy, my liege.”

The seasoned Griffin behind the generals nodded as he looked up from his seat, his chin resting on the clenched eagle claw. Standing up, he came up to the front and looked at the spectacle. Already the first hits of the Masar artillery was hitting. Thundering detonations were lightening the otherwise darkened sky.
“And so shall we! Princess Celestia does not stand alone. All of my kingdom's states stand united with her. Adelph, Phobos, Damasio, Korotia and our war keep of Korros. For preserving the peace and good relations between the pony and griffin nations for over a thousand years, we stand with the ponies against our common enemy who took sons from their rightful places. For our allies and for my son Griffith... Attack!”

A nod was given and a flare pistol was fired into the night. Upon spotting the flare, dozens of weapon officers gave the signal to light the armaments. Five seconds later, thousands of crude rockets of hundreds of air ships swarmed the skies as the Royal Griffin Armada opened fire and brought heavy losses to the Descendants as their lethal payload hit the lit openings of the citadels. Although hundreds of rockets missed their target and merely scratched the stone armor, the ones that did hit brought a swift demise to the victims. But after the first volley of rockets, the Descendants regained their ground by raising magical shields on these strategic weak-points. Meanwhile King Gifford's generals were plotting their strategies.
“Against flying stone fortresses like this, the ground troops of the Masar navy are of little use if they can't enter the citadels. So on this battlefield the fight for air supremacy is of primary importance! Establish the sky-trenches with our Equestrian allies as soon as possible and hold them for our troops as well as the Equestrian Pegasi! The Masar may have mostly ground personnel, but their artillery batteries can breach these stone walls with ease. If they don't shoot directly at you, see that you hold the skies above them clear. Like that they can breach the stone armor and open the opportunity for our and other troops to board the citadels. And of course, the breached walls are a welcome target for all cannons.”

In the meantime, Queen Sheeris was surrounded by her advisors. Unsatisfied with the damage the artillery was doing so far, she shook her head.
“Order the tank ships beneath the citadels and let the air- and water shamans do their thing! Sea water mixed with our crude oil should do wonders.” Thick and heavy machinery on board of broad ships with thick armor plates were handled and hatches were opened. In a play of water and air the crude oil was lifted out of the huge tanks and shot directly at the citadels.

Splattered all over the firing balconies, the brown liquid halted the unicorns for a brief moment. It stank and dripped all over the place. More so, it blocked the view when splattered against magic shields and forced the Descendants to lower them again, what often caused the oil to splatter all over them.
“What is this stuff?”

“Ugh! It stinks!”

But as a barrage of blazing arrows approached from below, the idea came quickly. One unicorn managed to yell the order “BACK INSIDE!!!” before the balconies were set on fire, rendering several citadels weapon- and defenseless. Fire filled the skies and this time by Masar doing. Growling in anticipation and satisfaction, the Masar Queen bared her fangs and claws while turning to her personal guard.
“I am not here to merely witness! ONWARDS!!!” With a full squad of her best shamans, she stormed to the front of her ship before strong winds cast by her air shamans shot the squad and her up to the citadel above them.

And as they entered it from the west, Princess Cadance approached the very same war citadel from the north with several squadron of Wonderbolts, her husband Prince Shining Armor and their own Guard, which she levitated with her. Entering the citadel from a balcony heading northward, they made their fierce approach to the inside.
“Shining! Let us take the bridge! If we can claim this citadel or learn about it, maybe we can turn the tide more to our favor!”

While fighting alongside her, Shining nodded and fought always a few steps in front of Cadance in order to take the most fight from her. Cadance was weaker in pony to pony close combat, but her spells were much stronger than his. Like this, he was always a little dirtier than she was. Once he had a brief moment to spare, he raised his voice to yell over to her.
“By the sight and sound of it, we weren't the only ones thinking like that, honey!”

In a crossing section of two corridors it finally happened. Cadance and Shining came to a halt when they heard the growl from the left. Escorted by four of her shamans, Queen Sheeris approached the crossing of the corridors from their left side. Her coat and clothes were soaked in blood already, her claws still dripping from the blood of her last victim. Her fangs bare and her eyes fierce from the slaughter she already brought to the Descendants, the queen now was approaching the two of them. Behind her, the roars of slaughtering Masar warriors echoed through the corridors as they laid waste to the Descendants. From the right, the sound of swords, axes and daggers slicing through flesh telegraphed the approach of yet another ally. King Gifford and his entourage approached Shining and Cadance from the right, their cloaks and swords soaked in blood as well. It was in this moment, when all three united parties of this yet fragile alliance met, that the glances of Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, Queen Sheeris and King Gifford met. No words were exchanged, only nods. There was no need for words, each one of them had a very good reason to be here. Facing the Descendants in front of them united in a straight line, the four of them began their fierce and bloody fight, each one determined to free who was taken from them or to protect what was dear. There was no question asked, the facts simply understood. Each and everyone of them was equal, there was no leader among them, no one of greater or lesser importance. And all of a sudden, this once fragile alliance became a force of nature, united and strong. This one citadel would be captured, an even harder slap into the face of the enemy armada.

While Shining Armor stood in front of Cadance all the time in fierce pony to pony combat with spear and sword, Cadance assisted him from behind with attack magic while the two of them were flanked by the Masar and Griffins. It quickly became noticeable that the Masar always had their backs turned to their queen, so she could unleash the full force of her Stare onto the enemies. Once petrified by this, the Descendants were nothing more than meat to be slain. Blood filled the air as mighty paws collided into pony flesh and skin was sliced open by razor sharp fangs and claws. The sound of ripping flesh was everywhere; either by claws or by the sharp blades wielded by the Griffins, who in their way of fighting and numbers of slain enemies were a worthy match to the Masar and their victims. When the first few rooms around the bridge were cleansed, the Masar queen nodded over to Shining and Cadance. By now Shining's once white coat was sprinkled in red and brown. The Princess of Love shook her head, her horn glowing from all the usage. This was against her nature, but the thought of preserving love back home by bringing utter defeat to the Descendants made her go on. The couple was a sight Sheeris could understand and respect.
“There is no greater glory for a couple than standing united while being surrounded by enemies. May your love be most fruitful.”

Shining wiped the sweat from the coat on his forehead as he replied with a smile.
“I think that's exactly what she has in mind.”

Giving a giggle, Cadance winked over to Sheeris.
“He's such a sweetie sometimes, taking me to the nicest battlefields.”

Suppressing the urge for a loud laughter, Sheeris tapped another Masar on the shoulder and nodded over to Shining and Cadance.
“Have an eye open for these two today and watch their backs. If they should inspire any glorious songs for the feasts, I don't want them to be sad ones.”

“It will be done, my queen!”

Together with united forces they took this first citadel. The unicorns in the engine room were no match for the attacking Masar, as they were too focused to keep the citadel up and running. Only too late they recognized the maws that would devour them alive. Within minutes, victory was at hand inside this citadel and King Gifford nodded at his messenger bringing him the news.
“The Descendants here in this citadel are all dead and the surrounding citadels are under heavy fire! We have taken control!”

Cadance nodded.
“Then the timing couldn't be any better. I have the citadel under my spell. It should be easier for me to fly this citadel than our worn out unicorn soldiers.”

Shining gave her a caring smile.
“I'll raise a shield around this thing right now to get us some safety, honey. It should shield us long enough for any larger evasive maneuver to take place.”

Then, all of a sudden, when the dark clouds broke open with a deafening thunder, they revealed the massive body of Nagohod as it left the thick layer of cloud in its descent. A hellish shine emitted from thousands of torches as the mighty behemoth descended into the battlefield. In the throne room, a choir of unicorns began their chorus as the majestic citadel entered the battlefield to take an active role now.

“Nagohod must fly
Stone pinnacles tower above the foe
Victorious high up in the sky
As she brings the enemy glorious woe”

Thousands of jaws opened in shock and awe. Nagohod was so huge. Larger than any war citadel the equestrian ponies ever encountered and by far more deadlier. Fear grew like an airborne virus and spread fast among the ranks of the alliance. But their meanwhile hardened officers and generals, among them many Harmony Rangers and Shining Armor, shook them free of it and maintained their will to fight. Cadance only shook her head, a grin of pity on her lips.
“They must have the smallest horns in the universe...”

The eyes of Nagohod's pony bust opened anew and Lamira and Asira approached the openings.
“Load the main cannons and open fire!”

Asira leaned her head to the side, prompting her neck to crack a little.
“Time to squish some fleas...” Tossing several airships out of the way, Nagohod breached through the front of the enemy armada, mostly unharmed while a hand full of airships were obliterated by the Darkness Sisters directly in front of it, destroyed by powerful attack spells that penetrated even the sturdiest of shields.

With a grim growl Queen Sheeris stood on the bridge of the captured war citadel and pointed at Nagohod as several searchlights lit the monstrous war citadel from below.
“Give this order to every ship in my navy: Take position around this stone abomination and open fire at will!”

While several Masar made haste to execute her order, Shining turned over to Cadance.
“Now we will see what Tyler designed for us. I will give signal to the fleet to fire the Ranger artillery!”

Hundreds of Ships from the Crystal Empire opened fire between the already firing Masar ships and as the orbs of blood detonated in the skies, the explosions caused both Darkness sisters to arch their brows.
“What kind of weaponry is this?”

Shaking her head at the unknown data, Asira tried in vain to make sense of this.
“Whatever it is, it's even able to damage Nagohod's armor. It's like several hundred attack spells were focused into little bomblets!”

Despite her sister's worry, Lamira sneered at this new information.
“A little crack here and there. Nothing serious, our armor endures! We will break through; give the order for the fleet to follow us!” Within an hour the sky was filled with the flames of burning airships and citadels as well as thousands of Pegasi and Griffins, either fighting the Descendants head on or with rifles from afar. Up in the skies, each citadel and airship was an equivalent to a trench on the ground, delivering cover for the combatants with wings. The odor of sweat, smoke and blood was everywhere in those sky-trenches. One equestrian airship got caught in a volley fired fired from a citadel and the entire crew on deck was killed. Galloping up to deck, one explosion caused one of the younger unicorn stallions to halt before he stepped outside. Hot dust swirled into his face. Seeing his comrades shot dead all over the deck, he quickly manned one of the remaining cannons and aimed at the citadel in front of him with a fierce roar. They would pay for all the misery they brought. Time froze for him and he could see a bullet passing by.

The same bullet passed and hit several hundred meters below in the planks of a Masar raid ship, on which the flak was turned around and aimed high into the sky. Upon the fierce roar of the Masar commander, the flak fired its shell high into the air, prompting a detonation on the right side of a Descendant shuttle hunting a griffin. Machine guns opened their blazing fire, but none of the bullets hit the agile target. Heaving upwards, the Griffin escaped high into the clouds, the shuttle still in pursuit with the guns still blazing. A bullet missed the Griffin's head only for a few inches, but he knew all too well that these shuttles were piloted and levitated by unicorns and their feeble lungs couldn't take the thin air high in the skies. Any moment now they would surrender to nature. And truly, the shuttle began to turn and descended again as its crew went out of air to breath. Now it was the Griffin's turn to open fire. Turning around, he pulled out a rifle he got from his duty in the Ranger HQ in Equestria, he opened fire while he and the shuttle did a nose dive and perforated the wings of the target.

A bomb separated from the torn wings and fell into the sea, where it detonated between several warships of the Masar. Aiming their artillery barrels at the citadels, their bullets were engulfed in flames before they ejected out of the barrel to bring utter destruction. Penetrating the thick and heavy armor of the citadel above, these projectiles made way for a certain unicorn cannoneer to deliver his payload directly into the heart of the citadel, resulting in its utter destruction and fall from the sky. Due to the following blast, the unicorn stallion was swept away, but caught mid-air and carried away by Griffins mere seconds before his airship fell as well.

The four fleets brought great damage upon each other, but Nagohod simply pushed onwards, swatting each and every obstacle aside either by the malicious magic beams from the two alicorns or its sheer massive size. The blockade the three opposing fleets formed was almost crushed and although most of the citadel armada was gone, the main threat, Nagohod was still existent.

Author's Note

Not proofread yet. Any notification to correct something is welcome.

21 - The mare who waltzed into his darkness **

Earth, Manhattan, 21:00

The crate was rocking back and forth, accompanied by several groans. Groans that made Rarity's heart race like wild. If they would open the crate, she would be found out!
“Dude! What did they send to this guy?” One of the men complained, “A ton of bricks? A horse?”
Inside Rarity's jaw had dropped in the meantime, aghast at the remark about the weight. She was as light as a feather! Surely it was this big and heavy crate being most of the weight, not her. There was a short fall and one part of the crate bumped to the ground.

“Careful, you dumbass!”

“Well, sorry! It slipped out of my grip. Seriously, what's in there?”

The crate was put down and the two men were wiping the sweat from their brows. Daring to peek through one of the many tiny holes in the crate, Rarity managed to get a look to the outside, where an older woman stood in the door.
“I don't think he owes you any explanation of what he's ordering, young man.”

They went outside the room and all Rarity could make out was some muffled chatter. But then, the two men returned and made their way to the exit.
“Alright, then... we took note of that scratch, Mrs. ummm... . Fletchett, was it? It's late, we will come back tomorrow to open and install it for him. “

Silence surrounded Rarity and suddenly this crate was very uncomfortable. Trying to push it open from the inside, her efforts were to no avail. Harrumphing a bit in frustration, she shook her head while her horn began to shine a little brighter.
“It can't be helped...” In the next moment the side of the crate was blasted open and the hatch fell to the ground along with the packing material. Crouching outside, Rarity looked around to find orientation again. She was standing in a big white living room from the looks of it. The furniture was set in almost clinical white, but the texture of the wood screamed modern art. Due to her, the floor was a mess with the packing material spread half over the place. However, as much as Rarity noticed, there was no single picture on the walls, no flowers to brighten up the place. The walls were simply blank. But all of this didn't matter, she had to leave. Opening one of the glass doors to the outside, a sudden wind gushed into her face, causing her to step back a bit.

Upon getting accustomed to the wind, she found out that she was about forty stories high in the sky. And that a walk to the ground had to happen through the building. The buildings around were huge, even more so than in Manehattan. She chuckled a bit. 'What was this city named? Manhattan? Oh the human pun...' Coming back inside, she closed the door behind her. She had to leave this place in the normal way, too bad there was no Pegasi carriage or balloon around. Suddenly there was a distinct noise that she heard. A key was put into a lock and was turned, followed by a series of clicks and a mumbling voice.

In her mind, Rarity cursed the fact that she didn't know where to find the exit. Then again the origin of these noises had to come from the front door. The owner of this place was coming home. Hiding behind a white sofa, she carefully peeked over to the man entering the living room. Wearing formal clothes and sun glasses, he put down some keys before taking off his jacket. Then, all of a sudden, a short melody sounded off and Rarity cowered a little more, uncertain what caused this. The little mystery was solved as he took out a small device from his pocket, pushed it a bit with a thumb and held it to his ear.
“Yes? Ah, Mrs. Fletchett! Yes, I just arrived. I take it the crate was delivered without any complications? A tiny scratch on the floor?...Yes... Yes, I understand... Tomorrow I will speak with you about it. I-” He paused for a bit. “No, I didn't think of that. Thank you for taking care of that, Mrs. Fletchett. Yes, I agree, if the parquet floor suffered, their company will have to pay compensation.”

He seemed to be talking with someone with this device. Someone not in this room, maybe not even in this building. Human technology seemed... useful. It was like Spike sending letters between Twilight and Princess Celestia, only that this device seemed to give him the ability to speak with the other person, as if she was standing right next to him. But this was of no importance. In this living room, Rarity was a sitting duck and had to find another, a better place to hide. Once he went into another room, Rarity headed straight towards the door she first heard the noises coming from. This had to be the front door. But as she tried to open the door, she found it locked. Clenching her teeth in a mild panic, she galloped up the steps of a spiral staircase, silently damning every hoofstep she deemed too loud.

In a panic, she stormed into a room, looking for a place to hide properly. There was a bed. No, this was not a good idea. As she heard steps coming upstairs, all alarm bells rang in her head and once the stranger entered the room, the bedroom was empty. It was dark and muggy in the cupboard, but no one was calling her out. Seemingly that was a good sign. A swooshing sound became audible like someone went under a shower. Slowly, but surely, Rarity calmed down again.

However, when the doors of the cupboard suddenly opened, Rarity almost gave out a shriek. Not because she was spotted, this man didn't even see her for some reason. The fact, however, that caused her to arch back was the one that this man was nude and his sex only inches away from her face. 'It'simpropertostare!It'simpropertostare!It'simpropertostare!It'simpropertostare!It'simpropertostare!It'simpropertostare!It'simpropertostare!'Closing her eyes for the fear of rustling the clothes so much to draw attention when turning away, the mare's cheeks began to emit heat as they began to fill with blood while she stood still. It was so close. Never before was a male ever allowed to be 'that close' to Rarity. A lady had to maintain a distance until perfectly sure a gentlecolt would be the one for her. And now this stranger who hadn't spotted her yet had his most precious jewels dangling right in front of her face, inches away. The scent of shampoo paired with the musk of male sex filled her nostrils, a fragrance entirely new to Rarity. At least this one was a very clean and orderly one. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that a few clothes were taken out silently and that the the stranger was clothing himself.

After he left the room, Rarity opened the cupboard gently, just passing through the opening and tried to sneak towards the door. The carpeted floor of the floor muffled her hoof steps almost perfectly. But that wouldn't help her at all to sneak past him and out through the locked door and the entire building and city. As for now, of this the white unicorn was certain, she was trapped.

* * * * *

Stepping inside the private airplane, Rainbow looked around with uncertainty.
“And you guys are totally sure that this thing is capable to fly? Looks more like a bigger... car, was it?”

Shaking his head, Flynn looked at Rainbow while talking to Rick.
“RD was never flown by anything that doesn't have biological wings. She doesn't trust these kind of things very much due to lack of experience with them. And of course, if you have wings yourself, this becomes a matter of pride.”

Already taking a seat, Rick fastened his seatbelt.
“Uh-huh... Does she trust you?”

Sitting down right beside him, Rainbow arched a brow.
“Sure I do! Flynn told me about his whereabouts being a pilot. I have faith in his capabilities, I just don't trust this piece of junk!”

“Well then... Flynn can fly even heavier birds than this if I'm not mistaken.”

Flynn now nodded.
“That is correct. Rainbow, sit back and relax while I take the stick.”

Rainbow grumbled a bit. It was not that she had no trust into Flynn's capabilities, yet this inability of hers to fly for herself right at the moment was infuriating, frustrating.
“Well, if you say so...” Following procedures, Flynn communicated with the tower while Rainbow leaned back in the seat and fastened her seat-belt. Rick couldn't but look at her. This was certainly no normal pony. Still getting accustomed to the fact his little brother was with a pony, he didn't noticed the dark look on Rainbow's eyes that grew darker with each passing moment until she turned over to him.
“What? If you have a question, shoot it! Otherwise it would be nice if you could stop staring at me!”

Taken by surprise, Rick looked up front.
“Oh! Uh... Sorry!”

While her mood got better, Rainbow looked over to Rick.
“You two are really brothers. One can see that.”

That left Rick stumped.
“Really? How so?”

Snickering for a bit, she shook her head.
“You're as dense as he is .” He grumbled a bit and tried to mind his own business, but Rainbow shot him a glance now. “It's because I'm a pony, right?”

Giving a sigh, he looked at her again.
“I guess so. This is... strange for someone who just recently found out that his own brother who was supposed to be dead comes back from the grave with a talking pony. It's a bit much, you know?”

Rainbow replied with a snicker.
“Oh don't worry. I won't bite. That is, unless he wants me to.”

Slightly puzzled about her openness, he lowered his voice.
“So you two...”

Amused by his behavior, Rainbow couldn't but chuckle.
“Yeah! And we're having lots of fun with it. He was the same first. Over-thinking stuff like that. But I'm proud to be with him. Over there in Equestria, Flynn is doing his part to ensure that everything is kept peaceful with the other rangers.”

“Rangers?” Rick asked.

“Oh, yeah... You don't know. Back where I'm from, the four humans stranded in our world founded an organization that uses human methods and invention alongside with pony abilities to secure the nation aside from the regular military.”

That prompted Rick to look to the front to his younger brother, a smile began growing on his face as pride filled his heart. Not hearing anything from behind, Flynn simply spoke into the microphone of his headset.
“Alright, we are clear for take-off. Rainbow? Once we're in the air, you can take a good look out of the windows. Might be a convenience to be flown instead of flying yourself.”

Rainbow simply grinned and shook her head when she saw the speed the airplane was flying with over the surface.
“If we were in Equestria, I would take this thing on in a race anytime and win, slowpoke!”

* * * * *

It was quiet after the stranger had left the room Rarity was in. It was way too quiet for her taste. Thinking for a bit in her hideout, she had come to a conclusion: The keys. If the front door was locked she might get the keys to it, which were most definitely in the living room.

While the stranger was in the kitchen, Rarity made her way towards the front door. A few more steps and then she could hide in this building. Probably somewhere in the staircase or the basements, hidden away from human eyes. She would come up at night and signal the others once the coast would have been clear. Then, all of a sudden, it happened.
“Hello?” That question from behind her stopped Rarity in an instant and she froze in mid-motion. “I know you are in here!”

Rarity cringed a bit. Maybe this was an inevitable confrontation. Coming forth into sight, she lowered her ears a bit.
“It appears I must apologize. It's just... I was afraid to be discovered with this... This mishap.

“What do you mean?” As he approached her, he went right through the mess on the floor, what caused him to stop. “What is... What's this? Feels like something is on the floor!”

A sigh escaped Rarity in a mixture of compassion and relief. This poor soul was blind. No wonder he didn't recognize her sitting in the cupboard if she's perfectly still and silent or see her here although a pony right in the center of the room would clearly stand out. This of course meant that she wasn't found out, but had to be careful for it to stay that way. Her hooves would surely give her away since she had four legs and humans only had two.
“Yes, um... The crate... I was inside and somehow the hatch closed and I was locked inside.”

The young man frowned at this, then shook his head in confusion.
“Couldn't you yell for help? Surely they would let you out in an instant!”

“Well, um... The thing is...” Rarity noticed her stammering and cursed herself for not being more eloquent right now. Finally she sighed when she thought of something and lowered her voice. “The truth is: The last thing I remembered was this hard thump on the back on my head and then I woke up here, inside the crate.”

Now his facial expression darkened.
“I've heard enough! I'm calling that company! Whosoever did this to you will lose his job over this! You could have suffocated in there! And after that, I'm calling the cops!”

Gritting her teeth, Rarity acted quickly. More people knowing about the crate would mean more people asking questions. And then she would be found out for sure.
“Please! No more about this incident! I... well... I should be going now. I must flee this embarrassment. And I shouldn't be here anyway I guess.”

Cocking his head, the man hummed in wonder.
“Hm? Why's that?”

“Because...” Another sigh escaped her. She couldn't tell him nothing but lies. She had to at least tell him something that's true. “Because I'm being followed by someone who wants to end my life. I can't go into much more detail, for you wouldn't believe me. Getting imprisoned in this crate was bad enough. I... I don't want to be a bother.”

With this she headed forward the door. Somehow she would probably make it without being found out. However, much to her surprise, he addressed her again.
“No, please! Let me make up for this! If you're really in that much trouble, the least I can do is to let you crash here until you've called some friends to go to. I... Well, I admit I don't have visitors very often. And besides Mrs. Fletchett, female visitors are an absolute rarity in my place.” That made the white unicorn hear up. “I have to ask though... You see: Since I don't get many visitors, maybe I could ask for some conversation as trade-off? Not that a blind guy could pose a threat to a gorgeous sounding lady such as you. I would probably fall all over the floor before I could make a move on you, so there's no risk for some awkward situation.” Looking back at him, she mustered him a bit. He was charming in a way, and fortunately for him the awkward situation already passed, but she wasn't planning to tell him about that.

With a flattered smirk she let her hoof slide over the floor.
“I think I can stay. I have some friends in this city who might come get me if I'm giving them a call. But I should probably wait until nightfall. May I stay until then?”

He nodded with a smile.
“Until your friends come for you, alright. Please! Have a seat on the couch.” For the next hour, Rarity and this young man conversed a bit. He introduced himself as Matt Richards, age 28 and he listened with great interest about her whereabouts as a seamstress and designer. Naturally, Rarity left out the fact of her being a pony. He might find it hard to believe or worse, might find this claim interesting to touch her. Right now he kept his promise and his distance from her. After he prepared some glasses of juice, he placed both glasses on the table and sat down in front of Rarity in a nice and comfortable armchair.
“I believe, Rarity... that you are a woman who longs to express herself, but hasn't found the recognition she longs for yet. Maybe you should move away from your hometown to get your business started. What was the name of it? You never mentioned it once.”

Again a drop of sweat ran down Rarity's temple. He asked a lot of questions uncomfortable to answer without revealing too much.
“Oh, uh... I doubt you ever heard of it... It's... uh... It's Ponyville.”

He blinked twice before he shook his head with a smile.
“And where would this Pony Ville be? Guatemala? This sounds quite foreign or simple. Rarity, you should really look for a better location.”

Rarity giggled nervously.
“I guess you're right. If you would see my place, you might think it's a completely different world.” He chuckled along and seemed genuine about this. This made Rarity sigh in relief. “I know that for greater success I had to leave my hometown, but my friends mean almost everything to me. They gave me so much support on so many different occasions. I won't do them justice if I just abandon them. But really... Places? Like what?”

“Milan, Italy or Paris, France... Not many places better to look for fashion. I may be blind and never see these creations, but that's something everybody knows. Milan and Paris are the way to go if you want to achieve something bigger. Then again, it's all up to you. If your friends mean so much to you, maybe your fortune lies with them. I probably don't know half as much about fashion than you do, so I can't judge your work or give you proper advice.”

“I guess so... Being blind does have its limitations... What do you do for a living?”

“I'm a singer. Well, I'm trying. I'm admiring Bocelli. His music is an inspiration for me.”

“Bocelli?” Rarity asked.

Waving the question away, Matt shook his head.
“Oh, you know... The italian singer who sings opera, operatic pop, easy listening and more. He as well is blind. Since he's twelve, as far as I know... His music always inspired me. I think it shows that you don't have to see the world to see its inner beauty.”

Beaming now, Rarity listened up.
“That sounds wonderful, Matt. Would you mind giving me a sample of your vocal chords?”

Matt seemed flattered, but uncertain. A slight blush formed on his face.
“Oh, I don't know, it would probably be an unrehearsed mess.”

With a mischievous giggle, Rarity leaned in.
“You started it, darling. Now let's hear some.”

Giving a sigh, Matt gave up and nodded.
“Oh, alright... But no complaints later, OK?” He hummed a short melody in order to get the rhythm right and began to sing. It wasn't a language Rarity recognized. Closing her eyes she listened for a bit and began to smile. Matt was no amateur. In fact he was better than Tyler at the Grand Galloping Gala. His devotion to singing truly shined through.

When he ended, Rarity had to pay attention not to clap her hooves.
“That was gorgeous, Matt! Simply gorgeous! Certainly not perfect, but you have so much potential! You should really work on that!”

“Aw, it's nothing special...”

“Oh yes it is! And don't let anypo-” She stopped for half a second, but recovered fast. “Uh, I mean anyone else tell you otherwise! You have vocal chords of pure gold! Is that how you afford this... this wonderful home?”

Matt shook his head.
“No... I'm from a rather wealthy family. My parents passed away last year, but a friend of the family, Mrs. Fletchett, keeps an eye on me once in a while. She knows me since I'm a little boy, seems to see me like a son or something. For her many services, I thought it best to give her one of the many lofts my family owns here in Manhattan. She lives in one similar to this one. Maybe too generous, and she always said she didn't do this for money, but I rather give her something back than to let bad blood boil up between us.”

Looking around, Rarity took a glance at the loft once more.
“Such a beautiful home sure is a wonderful and generous way to say thank you to a good and dear friend. I feel so much sympathy in that. If only every member of society would be like this.”

Now he cocked his head.
“You somehow sound like you remember something or someone rather unpleasant...”

“Well, I came across a member of high society once and was rather disappointed by his rude and utter brutish behavior. A character called Blueblood.”

Matt already scoffed at the name, a hand covered his big grin.
“Oh dear... The name alone screams uptight already. But please: continue!”

Rarity harrumphed. She wasn't actually planning to relive this night once more, but on the other hoof letting off some steam might do her well now.
“Well now... I'm not going to detail, but let's just say that I know what a lady should be treated like. He did the very opposite of all of these things. He plucked a rose and kept it. Instead of opening the door for me, he expected me to do it for him. And once that cake was falling at us, he used me as a shield to stay clean while I got all dirty.”

Matt listened to this with folded arms and nodded.
“While I don't understand the full situation due to lack of context, I understand your point of view, Rarity. This Blueblood guy sure isn’t a man of dignity. Good to see that there are still women out there believing in the old codex of gentleman behavior for a lady instead of all that feminist bullshit that makes men inferior to females. Well I can't offer such things, only the honest affection of a blind guy. I won't see the rose in front of me, and couldn't put it into the hair of the one I love to say it underlines her beauty. Well... Yeah, I could, but coming from a blind guy? Good luck with that. I'll praise one for things I hear, not things I see.”

This prompted Rarity to arch a brow.
“And what would that be in my case?”

“For instance? Your laughter. I know it sounds stupid, but laughter can reveal so much about a person without him or her recognizing at first. I can tell you were more than nervous about me finding you in my loft. I assume it was mostly due to this mishap and you somehow landed in the crate down below in the foyer. My first thought was that one of my friends deemed it funny to pull a prank on me for being without a girlfriend for so long.”

“I can assure you that I'm not part of a prank.”

Turning his head to her, Matt gave her another genuine smile.
“That's nice to know. I don't have many friends, so a new one is always welcome and dear to me.”

“Why are you without a girlfriend, Matt? You seem like a fine gentleman to me.”

He sighed in frustration and shook his head.
“Well, not every lady out there has the patience to adjust to the life with a blind person. Others are spooked off by a myriad of things. The simple question of 'Do I look good?' Yeah... What can a blind guy say to that?”

Realization hit Rarity now and she nodded in thought to herself. A humbling thought indeed. What good was all outer beauty for an individual unable to see? Matt could never judge a person by their appearance, but by their behavior. Suddenly his wish for her to stay a bit longer seemed far more flattering than she first thought. A slight blush began to form on her muzzle.
“I... I guess you have a very good point there, Matt.” Taking a sip from her glass of juice, she arched a brow. This was good tasting juice. “I wonder... How can you- Oh, this must sound so stupid...”

Remaining silent for a bit, Matt then shook his head.
“What is it?”

Grimacing a bit, Rarity was happy he couldn't see her struggling for words.
“How did you get these glasses, darling? I mean... How does someone who can't see...”

Now Matt got the idea and smiled.
“...manage to live in a loft like this? I'm blind, Rarity. Not helpless. The trick is to memorize the furniture layout of the room. Being in the kitchen, it's two steps to the fridge, another two steps for the glasses, six steps back to the couch and table with you. Takes a while, but once you get the hang out of it, you can live by yourself without being a helpless mess.”

Rarity looked down to her glass of juice.
“I guess that's one way to live without eyesight. You are so much stronger than I am in that aspect. If I would lose my eyesight, I couldn't live like that.”

“Yes, you could.” he countered. “It's not the end of the world, just the end of one of your senses. Though I won't lay judgment on you. What most of us forget is that humans depend greatly on their eyesight, it is by far our most important sense. Unless of course, you're like me. A guy that's been blind from birth.” Rarity wanted to say something, but Matt raised his right hand and waved the thought away. “I may not have compliments for outer appearance, but I know a thing or two about romance.” Again Rarity's ears twitched in interest. But she wasn't speaking up to stop him. “Did no one ever tell you that gold is nothing but a cold metal? That jewels are but pebbles of the earth that glitter in a cold light? And that true wealth is here and above and all around… A male and a female together…” Rarity gulped as he said that. True, gold and jewels WERE only these lifeless things and her dresses, despite being glamorous above all could not hug her or love her back.

* * * * *

Five hours later, the main group of Sam, Rachel, Applejack, Pinkie, Lyra and Fluttershy stood in front of a warehouse, where Sam had assembled a spotlight.
“Pinkie? Where ever did you get these things?”

Grinning wildly, Pinkie just waved the thought away.
“Oh, I always have spotlight accessories with me for fast party advertising.”

Giving it a chuckle, Sam now bowed down to her and tickled her chin.
“Let's me wonder what else you're hiding in this mane of yours...” Pinkie closed her eyes and beamed as she enjoyed his attention.

Looking first up into the sky, Rachel then looked down to Fluttershy.
“You think they will notice this? The sun will rise in about an hour.”

With a confident nod, the yellow Pegasus looked up to her.
“If Rainbow Dash will notice anything about this city it's sure to be her own cutie mark projected high up into the sky over the harbor.”

And truly, not half an hour later, Rainbow, Flynn and Rick arrived at the Dock after managing to sneak Rainbow out of the airport. Approaching the others by hoof, she shook her head with a laugh.
“You guys won't even believe how slow these flying machines are the humans have built... They might be comfy, but if they would have something like that in Equestria, it would be so out of business in no time!” Seeing the slightly puzzled, yet relieved faces, she grinned. “Oh yeah! Flynn and I have met his brother and escaped Mimesis! Rick's a secret agent of some sorts. Cool, huh?!?”

When they approached the others, Rick slowly shook his head in disbelief and stopped.
“There are more of them...”

“Sure there are. Rick, before we head over to them, I'd like to thank you for using your status as federal agent to step up for her. We might have been found out if you wouldn't have waved your badge into that guy's face.”

“Hey... I might be a federal agent, but I like the TSA as much as everyone else. Sure I'll help out my little brother and his extra-dimensional girlfriend...”

Looking over to Rick, Flynn began to smirk.
“You sound like you're beginning to accept Rainbow.”

A sigh escaped his older brother.
“It's helping me to see her as an alien from another world, not a stupid animal. Still, it's not easy to digest. And... maybe I'll skip that pony detail when I'll tell Mom about her.”

Flynn nodded.
“True... She wouldn't understand without a proper talk with Rainbow. Come on, I'll introduce you to the others. They're all pleasant characters.”

When both brothers approached the others now, Applejack looked up to Rick and corrected her Stetson.
“A secret agent? What's this all about?”

Looking around, Rick then presented his badge.
“Rick Marshall, FBI...”

Upon seeing the badge, Rachel rolled her eyes with a laugh.
“Great... A federal agent... What does the FBI want with talking ponies?”

“Frankly we weren't even aware of that, no one was...” Rick then replied with a shrug, “But that thing you got following you around is on a rampage and killed an entire police station and several SWAT units. As of right now, we can't let that thing roam free. Let's just say that all highway patrols and Sheriff Departments are looking out for a and I quote: 'mass murderer of unknown proportion and lethality.'”

Taking off her Stetson, Applejack looked up to Rick.
“We're mighty sorry about that thing being on a rampage. Things would be different in our world.

Rick nodded and looked to the others.
“Where do you think it's going to go? A killing spree throughout the states?”

Lyra shook her head.
“No! If he'll come anywhere, it will be here. Because here he can sense the magic.”

Seeing Lyra pointing at the tip of her horn, Sam gulped with a bit of worry.
“We need to get to Rarity. Tyler and Twilight might be able to fight that sucker off for a while, but Rarity is all alone. She may come to someone's rescue, but for what I know, she's not the fighter type. Especially not here on Earth.”

Flynn looked over to his brother and frowned.
“What are the authorities going to do about that thing?”

With a heavy sigh Rick then began to elaborate.
“Well, normally a report of a monster killing people would fall on deaf ears, maybe even cause some to laugh. Now? After an entire police station was wiped out? Not only are the California cops and officers from the entire West Coast out for revenge... Heck, no! Even police stations of other states have joined forces for a manhunt. They're out for blood now. There's a big mobilization going on right now and I gave the one or another person a hint to head for New York. All thanks to my little brother and his odd girlfriend.”

“I'm not odd!” Rainbow protested.

“Well you certainly stand out by human standards.” Rick now continued, “I just hope these cops won't end up in body bags. A lot of good police officers died already and I'm afraid the death toll will rise until that thing is put down. But enough of that... Does anyone of you know something about the whereabouts of Tyler Jones?” The friends looked at each other in silence. No one knew about Tyler's or Twilight's current location and even if they knew, of that every face showed utmost certainty, they would not deliver Tyler to the authorities of Earth.

* * * * *

Meanwhile Rarity was hiding again. Another visitor had come to Matt's loft and was standing with him at the front door Both were whispering and Rarity was eavesdropping. As soon as the door bell was ringing Rarity went into the bathroom claiming to have the need to. Matt was blind, but not this person. She could fool her blind host into believing her to be human with muffled hoofsteps, but any other person might see her for what she truly was. Right now, she listened to the both of them.
“Come on, man... You want this stuff or not? You're not the only rich kid I could sell it to, alright?”

Grumbling for a bit, Matt nodded.
“Sure, Fred, I'll take it. Hope you'll choke on the payment...” Taking out a few pieces of paper from his pocket, he handed them over to Fred who grinned widely.

“Always a pleasure, man. See you next month.”

After he left, Rarity looked around and a short glimpse to the outside revealed something that gave Rarity a lot of hope. Rainbow Dash's cutie mark was high up in the sky as if projected up there. The others were in the city looking for one another. Not losing any time, she activated the flush and came back.
“ Was that someone you know?”

Matt seemed pretty jumpy all of a sudden.
“Oh, uh... Just an old friend delivering something for me...”

He sat down on the couch and tampered with a small plastic bag with a white powder in it. Not knowing what he had there, it got Rarity's attention.
“What's this?”

Getting out something that looked like a plastic business card, Matt then deployed a tiny amount of the powder from the bag onto the table with the card.
“I don't want to sound rude, Rarity, but that's actually none of your business.”

The sudden change of his character left Rarity to believe that Matt was very uncomfortable with her seeing him do this. This unfriendly tone of his rang her alarm bells.
“Who was that? A friend of yours?” Matt simply ignored her and lined the white powder up to a thin straight line before he took a short and thin tube and bent forward.

Sniffing it in with one short go caused him to shudder a bit before he leaned back with a relaxed sigh. Then, like nothing happened before, his calm and gentle voice returned.
“That was Fred. He comes once a month and has a little something for me...”

Taking a deep inhale through her nostrils, Rarity realized what was going on here.
“You're intoxicated! This is a drug!”

Nodding in delight, Matt grinned.
“Yep! It sure is...”

Looking at Matt aghast, Rarity shook her head before clenching her teeth.
“All that talk about inner beauty and now look at you! You use this to escape your own misery!”

Now Matt shrugged and pointed vaguely into her direction.
“Hey! Other people take two cups of coffee each morning, I take this once a month. It will last me for a few days. So what?”

Her right eye twitched a bit in anger.
“So what?!?”

Her horn lit up and she snatched the little plastic bag out of his hands.
“Rarity! Give me back my stuff!” As she took her distance from him, Matt, obviously believing she would stand right next to him, jumped up as to catch the little bag again. But by doing so, he tripped and fell to the ground.

Rarity looked back to him and once she saw that he wasn't injured, her short thought of worry for him was yet again replaced by anger.
“No! These drugs are nothing but an easy way downhill! Taking this away from you is doing you a favor!” With this she trotted into the bathroom. And once the flush was sounding off again, she returned. “There! All gone! I can’t let you become a scoundrel who wastes his own life on such garbage!”

Matt now was in a turmoil. Anger and shame clouded his thoughts. He was uncertain what angered him more right now. Rarity or the fact that she was right and he wasted his life and money on such dead ends.
“I think it's best if you would leave right now... I'm... I'm giving a rather pathetic picture here, I'm sorry I can't be a better host or guy in front of-”

“Yes, you can!” Rarity interrupted him in a harsh tone.” You are so much stronger than this.”

“Meh! Just a hopeless romantic, an addict and a failure as a singer no one wants to hear anyway…”

But the unicorn mare shook her head.
“Matt... You have a fabulous singing voice and a big heart. I wouldn't call you hopeless.”

Looking up, his sweaty head shook as he turned to her.
“How can you say that? You don't even know me!”

Tipping her chin with a hoof, Rarity looked up to the ceiling, searching for words.
“Well… How do I put this…? You're not a complete mess, just dirty here and there. You are a diamond in the rough, you need some shaping! Once that’s done, you can shine and glitter brilliant, darling… But If you waste your life on that stuff 'Fred' is handing to you, you're going to shatter. And how better to repay you for giving me shelter than to help you out of that? Now stand up!”

Upon getting up, he held up a hand.
“How about a helping hand?”

Rarity raised a hoof, but took it away in realization that she almost revealed herself to him with this. If he would feel a hoof instead of a hand, he would begin to ask questions.
“I don't think so... You are the one who has to muster the strength to get up and I don't mean the floor.”

He looked down to the floor and contemplated upon this for a few minutes, before he finally nodded and got up on his own.
“You’re right... It's strange. You come into my life and you shake me up, like waking me from a nightmare… And you ask for nothing in return… You are an amazing woman, Rarity.”

Chuckling a bit nervous, Rarity looked around.
“Aheheh… Yes… I… I think one could say so.” After he sat down properly, she got him a glass of water and a towel to clean his sweaty face. Slowly the effect of the drug ceased and Matt's breathing normalized. “Do you feel better?”

Taking a deep breath, Matt shook his head.
“Yes and no. A bit of both... I feel better because you're still here and seem to care so much about me. And I don't feel better because now I'll have to confess to Mrs. Fletchett about my addiction.”

“You will find your courage. I only gave you a bump into the right direction. What are you planning now?”

Probably a detoxification from that stuff. Man, I'll never hear the end from Mrs. Fletchett regarding this. And you? I'm sorry for being such a bother myself... I mean you have plenty of problems on yourself and I'm just dragging you down with my own problems.” He sighed deeply now. “I'm afraid I am a terrible host to you. Seems your streak of bad luck with members of high society is persistent.”

Giving it a smirk, Rarity rolled her eyes.
“It could have been worse. You might have been a knave and rapist. Excuse me for a moment...” Stepping outside, she saw the projection of the Cutie Mark in the harbor region of the city. Frowning a bit, she charged up her horn and projected her own cutie mark into the sky high above her. It lasted only a few minutes before the magic faded away, but hopefully the others had seen her own beacon and came for her. Deep within though she felt a bit weaker as the spell had taken a heavy toll on her remaining magic.

Inside Matt was sitting there and was holding his head while his elbows were resting on his legs. Seemingly she had interrupted his drug consumption just in time so he was still responsive and didn't waste himself.
“You know? I guess I can see what you aim for. Looking for the fairy tale prince coming to your rescue. And nothing is wrong with that. I myself have wished and longed to find my own princess, but was always unable to do so. An evening in the loft, lighted by the lamps of the stars glittering for her. The loneliness is wondrous when one isn’t quite alone… I'm simply sorry I'm nothing but another notch on your streak of bad luck with men.”

His words brought a slight shiver on her spine. 'He’s better than Tyler in this…' she thought. While she spotted the cutie mark signal of Rainbow Dash earlier on the other end of the city and gave signal herself towards the others, she was certain they were on their way to her. But no matter how she looked at it, she was out to tell Matt the truth about her. Being kind enough to let her stay instead of sneaking through the dark alleys of the city facing Celestia knew what, he deserved the truth. Hopefully, this wouldn't backfire at her.
“Matt... I'm about to reveal myself to you, if this works. Do you trust me?”

Matt was silent a long time now as his faced turned to her. Finally, he was nodding.
“You're not a human, are you? Rarity?”

The fact that he already had this idea baffled her for a few seconds.
“Since when?”

A grin formed on his lips and he shook his head with a chuckle.
“I am blind, Rarity. Not deaf. You may have muffled your steps, but even then I heard more than one pair of footsteps.”

Looking down to her hooves, she blushed a bit.
“Yes, you are right. Could you come down to your knees a bit? I think I can work much better when we're eye to eye.”

Coming down to his knees, Matt seemed highly uncertain of what to think of the situation.
“Uh... Sure... What are you now, some kind of gnome or something else that's smaller?

“Smaller than a human is quite fitting. But I'm not a... gnome? What's a gnome?”

Upon coming closer to him, he arched back a little at the sensation of her breath.
“You're not up to something, are you?”

Rolling her eyes, she now began to smirk.
“Matt, I won't bite you, so hold still now. Don't make a lady wait!” He nodded and complied and Rarity charged her horn. 'Now, Element, please don't fail me on this! Whatever I have left, please use it to do that little wonder I'm asking of you.' Her horn began to sparkle and her Element first began to glimmer, but then it began shining brightly until the room was filled in a easing white light. When the bright light ceased, he held his eyes. At some point in whatever was happening, they had begun to hurt awfully. But when he moved his hands away and slowly dared to open his eyes, bright shiny forms appeared in front of him. As he moved his fingers, he recognized these things to be his hands. The blur in his vision made them look almost like shapeless forms, but the blur was ceasing and the edges of the forms became sharper. The realization struck him equally with the same amount of confusion. He couldn't explain his sudden and miraculous recovery from being blind since birth, but all he deemed important right now was the experience. Taking a gulp, his head slowly turned over to Rarity. The unicorn took a step back away from him. “I... well... I guess it worked? I hope you're not disappointed in me not being a human woman.”

While shaky hands rose to her, he touched her face ever so gently. He had to 'see' her like he would see her being blind. But everything confirmed, what his eyes told him. The same facial features, the soft and brushed coat, the exquisitely well done mane. Rarity didn't protest, but let it happen. Surely the gift of sight was a revelation and he needed some time to digest this.
“You... You really are a talking pony?”

Her hoof gently caressed his cheek.
“That I am, Matt. You can feel my hoof and coat, can't you? This is no hallucination of some drug, you're not out of your mind.”

He puffed at that.
“Good Lord, I was worried for a bit...” Again he held his eyes. “Hrrmmm... My eyes hurt...”

Cocking her head, Rarity looked up to him with a bit of worry.
“That is probably because you never used them like this before. Sit down, Matt.“

Sitting down to her haunches, Rarity looked at Matt for a few seconds before arching a brow.
“You look disappointed.”

Looking up to her, Matt seemed to return his focus to her, snapping out of it.
“Huh? Oh, I'm sorry if I do. It's just... I'm just processing that I somehow can see despite being blind my entire life before and the first thing I see is a talking white female unicorn with a... well, a explicitly well done mane!”

Clearing her throat, Rarity gently patted her mane while a slight blush formed on her muzzle.
“Why thank you... For someone who can see for just a few minutes you're getting observant quite fast.”

But now Matt seemed intrigued about her real whereabouts and leaned in.
“So since you're real and I'm not a nut-job on a bad trip... What's this all about? The real story of Rarity...”

Resting her hoof gently on his hand she looked into his face.
“I am part of a small group of ponies and humans that are here on this world by accident, Matt.”

Confusion was all over his face as he tried to made sense of what she said.
“By accident? What happened?”

“This is a rather longer story and maybe you should sit do-” The door bell rang and their heads darted to it.

Patting her shoulder, Matt stood up.
“Visitors? Odd... I'm not expecting anyone now. You better go hiding while I see who that is.” With a bit of worry Rarity complied and went back into the bathroom, her makeshift shelter from curious eyes. Moments passed. Moments that took almost an eternity for Rarity. She had revealed herself to Matt. Now she could only hope he wasn't out to show her around to other curious humans. However, her fears got interrupted when she heard a knocking on the door and Matt's gentle voice speaking from the other side. “Rarity? I believe you know these folks?”

When she entered the living room again, she immediately recognized the others. While the humans gave her warm smiles upon seeing her, the mares galloped straight at her for a group hug, what prompted some tears of relief out of her.
“Oh thank Celestia you are finally here! A lady should be able to be independent, but all alone in a strange city in a strange world? That's a bit much.” She then left the group hug and stood in front of Matt. “Fortunately for me this gentleman here let me stay the night over. May I introduce? Matt Richards, a wealthy young man, who allowed me to stay here until you could come for me. And until today, he was blind.”

Flynn leaned over to Sam and lowered his voice while pointing at the remnants of cocaine on the table.
“She's lucky... No one would believe an addict about a talking white unicorn mare...”

Rachel on the other hand arched a brow.
“Until today? What do you mean by that? Some operation or something?”

Chuckling nervous, Rarity looked down in a bit of embarrassment.
“I... well... With the help of my element, I gave away what was left of magic in my horn for him to gain sight.”

Rachel's eyes widened and Fluttershy gasped in shock while coming to Rarity's side.
“But Rarity! Since we don't have have any magic on this world this means...”

Looking down a bit, the white unicorn nodded with a sigh.
“It's gone, I know... Oh, it's alright, dear. It was the right thing to do. What Element of Generosity would I be if I would not act that way? We'll get back to our world soon anyway and then it will return to me all by itself.”

Applejack corrected her Stetson.
“Well Ah'll be damned! For somepony so depending on your magic that's mighty fine and generous, Rarity! Ya got mah respect for that! Still... Ah didn't know they could do that.”

Sam nodded and gave the trinkets a thorough look.
“Makes you think of what more they could do if brought to the test...”

Lyra gave Matt a thorough look.
“Hmmm... I don't know, Sam. If it would be that easy to repair broken nerve tissue, it would have been done already in Equestria. It might be only temporary.”

Everyone looked at Matt, who gulped a bit at the theory.
“Even if it would be only for an hour, it would be an hour so rich of sensations that all my money couldn't grant me in a million years. Whatever the duration of this little miracle, I am forever grateful for this.”

The others nodded and Rachel headed towards the front door.
“Well, it's time for us to go. We still have to find and meet up with Twilight and Tyler. And we still have that Changeling on our tail; we don't want him to find us here.”

Looking up to Matt, Rarity gave him an uncertain smile.
“I… I really should be going. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you for the while.”

Gritting his teeth, Matt knew that he had to do something. Rarity was the best thing that ever happened to him in a long time. To hell with people would look at him being with a pony that could talk and think! He never gave much about people looking at him since he never recognized their glances anyway. So why start now? In the next moment, he was on his knees in front of her to be eye to eye with her.
“I’ve never seen a pony before. Neither from Earth or someplace else… I’ve never seen anything before! But from what I see now, I see a white unicorn mare, pure and shining with the brilliance of a gemstone. Not only did you help me into the right direction out of this mess, but you also gave away your most precious ability of magic to help me. I owe my eyesight to you and I owe you the wonder of seeing beauty for the first time I open my eyes.” Matt then looked down, searching for words. “If… if you go, take me with you! I want to see the world you live in.”

Pondering the pros and Cons for quite some time, Rarity then found her words after a heavy sigh.
“I can't take you with me.”

He shook his head, not understanding.
“Before I met you, I was a blind rich guy with nothing but a singing voice almost no one wanted to hear. Thanks to you, my eyes can see now and I got a motivation. But only to see that life has more to offer than what others wanted me to believe.” His palms caressed her cheeks as she slightly blushed. “I would be an idiot for letting a chance like that go. Letting you go…The best thing that ever happened to me. I may have started to get free from that stuff... and surely will have to work hard to get truly free from it, but only to become addicted to you...”

Caressing his cheek with a hoof, Rarity shook her head.
“Matt... You have a lovely voice and a big, generous heart. There's a real gentleman beneath that.. I hope soon ex-addict... You're able to get rid of that. But please understand: We're about to get back into my world, where we'll face dangerous enemies. Maybe we will never return to this world. And although my world is filled with wonders I'd love to show you, there are dangers over there I don't want you being exposed to. It would be wrong for me to drag you into this.” She gave him a smile. “Besides... You know I do love to take the stuff away that makes you feel good.” With that, she placed a kiss on his forehead and turned around to the others and they left the loft.

Rachel looked over to Rarity as they left the loft.
“You sure you want to leave him behind?”

Giving her a look and a nod, Rarity smiled.
“I'm sure he will understand, Rachel. And I do hope I made a positive impact on his life.”

Trotting at her side, Applejack shook her head.
“If ya ask me, yer an idiot, Rarity... That guy was throwin' himself at ya, he would lick yer hooves clean if ya ask it of him. It doesn't take Princess Cadance to see that this feller was had feelings for ya. And ya were always complaining that ya want someone like Tyler in yer life.”

Rolling her eyes, Rarity shook her head.
“That might be true, but I'm a lady, not a fast conquest accepting someone I barely know for a couple of hours. He would be a keeper, if not for these circumstances... Besides, he has other things on his mind now than romance with someone from another world.”

Flynn looked up the stairs once more.
“Getting rid of this addiction you mentioned you mean. True... And that takes more than a couple of hours, which should be more than enough for us to find Tyler and Twilight and head home towards Equestria.”

In the garage they all entered the mini-bus while Rachel was sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Alright! Five Elements of Harmony, four Harmony Rangers! I think it’s time to get Jones and Twilight, before we go into hiding until we found a way back home.”

Flynn nodded.
“We should just get to the airport after reuniting and head for Bermuda again.”

“Basically that’s a great idea, Flynn...” Rachel stated. “...but we don’t know if the vortex that brought us to Equestria comes every time. It could have been a fluke. Oh and before we head to Equestria, maybe we could grab some cold beers, hard alcoholics and cigars. I really yearn for some luxury items. Stuff they don't produce over in Equestria.”

Sam grumbled at this when the bus started moving, Rick's car following them.
“No time for sightseeing, Rachel!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, up in the north of New York City, at the northern edge of the city of Yonkers, a police block was completely destroyed. The police cars were battered, perforated multiple times and tossed aside on their backs while blood and gore marked almost every square inch of the street. Police officers were lying over the ground limb by limb. All of them were dead. All of them but one. Barely daring to breath, he watched it fade away into the distance. Their entire arsenal, the cars, the bulletproof vests... 'Nothing could have prepared us for something like this. This shit was huge, three stories high, maybe even bigger!' His mind was racing, his thoughts blurring and whirling to an uncertain mixture of adrenalin and fear. Crawling over to one of the car wrecks, he grabbed the last remaining functional radio while keeping eye contact with the monster further down the street.
“Rob? Rob! Rob! Rob, come in, please...”

Robert Smith was sitting in a comfortable chair in the Police Department and was doing radio duty. He preferred this task since it always meant being in the comfort zone rather than going out to the streets. His voice was calm and he raised a mug of coffee.
“Yeah, what is it, Sean? You're not making a call because you guys are bored out there, are you?”

Sean Miller cowered behind the car wreckage, carefully trying to spot anything in the distance.
“They're dead, man... All of them! It came and simply... walked right through us.”

This prompted Robert to listen up with a stern look on his face.
“Now hold it! This is nothing to make fun of, you little dipshit! You guys were sent out there because some lazy ass pencil pusher from the bureau talked to us. I know it's lame and boring, but-”

Looking at the radio in his hand, Sean Miller gritted his teeth in anger.
“Listen to me, you stupid fucker! I would never joke about this, OK? Bill , Gene, Edward and Jim... They're all dead, man! And whatever it is that got us here... It's on its way to Yonkers! It's coming towards you! “

Robert took a look outside of the window and gulped. If it was a joke, it was a damn straight dark one. Suddenly a very cold feeling crawled down his spine.
“Sean...? I can see some trees moving out there. What the fuck are you guys doing out there? Felling trees?”

“I already told you about it, Rob! It's freaking huge and-” He paused as the sound of a falling tree became audible in the distance. “Call the National Guard, man! This is too big for us!”

Taking a gulp, Robert got out of his chair and gulped. A slight shiver ran down his spine.
“I... I get it...” Hanging up, Robert then dialed a new number. A number he was certain he was never going to dial in his whole life as a police officer. “This is Robert Smith, Yonkers Police Department. Give me the governor!” After a short reply his eyes got more serious. “Then wake him, Lady!”

22 - The Manhattan Incident ***

Earth, Manhattan, two hours earlier...

The crate was delivered into its final destination and was kept alone for some time now. After what seemed like an eternity, a series of creaks and cracks sounded off as Tyler slowly opened the crate from inside. Peeking out, he whistled in wonder.
“Oh my God...”

Twilight's head popped up beside his.
“What? What is it?”

“Whoever lives here has a 120 inch widescreen TV!”

Hopping out of the crate, Twilight shook her head.
“And I thought it would be something important.” Looking around, she tried to spot anything of interest, but only found blank walls and a minimalistic living room. “It appears we are alone, Tyler.” Approaching a bookshelf, she leaned in to read the titles, but couldn't understand the dots on the books. “Tyler? Can you come to me please?”

After climbing out of the crate and closing it carefully, Tyler looked over to her and came to her side.
“What is it?”

Looking up to him, Twilight shook her head and pointed at the books, levitating one of them up to him.
“I've tried to take a look at these books, but there are only these bumps on the cover and on the pages. Is that some sort of secret code?”

Tyler inspected the book and nodded in agreement.
“This is a book in embossed printing, Twilight. A blind human can read these dots with his fingertips like we see the letters of the alphabet.”

Twilight's eyes widened in marvel.
“Wow! To utilize your sensitive fingers in such a useful way. Ponies could never do that. Our hooves lack that kind of sensitiveness. Normally a blind pony would be tutored by a special teacher, for they could never see so they could never learn to read... However, there are research programs running in Canterlot and funded by the Princesses to create spells able to counter blindness. Up to this point, these projects have been fruitless.”

Meanwhile Tyler looked around. They were in some sort of flat and by the looks of it, it was on an elevated position in New York City, probably a penthouse. Going into the kitchen and opening the fridge, he found several things laid down tidily inside, although some were near the expiration day. Making his choice quickly, he grabbed some slices of bread and two jars.
“Well, maybe we can send some Rangers back to Earth to gather some info for Equestria. Maybe scientific data from Earth can give Equestria a nice boost to extend life expectancy. As for now, we two should probably eat something.”

Upon seeing him placing everything on the kitchen table, Twilight arched a brow.
“Plundering the food of other people? Tyler! It's bad enough we trespass into this building! Taking something from another is not what we-”

“And who's to say we're not coming back to pay the guy back who lives here?” He interrupted her. As he looked into her stern face, he shook his head with a smile. “Now come on, Twilight... We won't be fighting the Descendants forever... We'll come back here one day to visit Earth once again. I mean now we have the means to do so.”

Giving a sigh, Twilight shook her head and came over to the kitchen table where Tyler was preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“You talk like we're already won... I wish I could have your optimism into the future, Tyler. Don't be too overconfident!”

Handing her one sandwich, Tyler then continued to prepare the next one for himself.
“One can't worry all the time, Twilight...” Her frown didn't disappear, so he answered with one of his own. “Alright then... There are times when one needs to do wrong things in order to do the right thing.”

Grumbling a bit, Twilight took a bite out of the sandwich when her eyes widened suddenly and darted down to her meal. 'This is delicious!' Shooting him a much less aggressive glare, she pointed a hoof at him while digging into her new-found delicacy.
“But we should always do the right thing. Taking something what doesn't belong to you is wrong!”

Closing his eyes, Tyler sighed with a smile before he looked at her again.
“Yes, you're right. It's wrong. And we should try our best to do the right thing. But unfortunately life isn't always that easy. Too much is at stake now, Twilight. The fate of Equestria is more important than the belongings of one wealthy human. When too much is at stake, one may have to do a wrong thing in order to the right thing that's important. One day you'll understand me in this.”

Shaking her head with a smirk, Twilight gave her a doubting look.
“I think I'll never understand this kind of thinking.”

Tyler chuckled a bit when all of a sudden, he noticed how her eyes were glued on his sandwich. Their eyes met, went down to the sandwich again, before Tyler leaned in to her with a wide grin.
“Some pony got hungry and is enjoying me trespassing into the fridge of a stranger preparing her some peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches it seems...” Twilight simply answered with licking the small remnants of jelly from the corners of her mouth. Handing her his sandwich as well, he then stood up and noticed a desktop PC on the other side of the living room. “Oh, great! Just what we need now. I so hoped we could have one of these to show you, Twilight...”

After devouring her second sandwich with great appetite, Twilight came over to the computer.
“Tyler? Is that one of the machines you mentioned? The ones wired to the entire world?”

Smiling a bit, Tyler nodded.
“Give me a minute or two and I'll have you in the internet right away.” Twilight looked over his shoulder. A series of screens activated and after a short while, a simple picture showed with a series of icons on it. Tyler clicked on one of them and a smaller screen seemed to open with another set of little pictures in it. Making way for her, he waited until she took a seat on
Alright, sweetie? You use the mouse like this. If you click the left mouse button, you'll do this and if you click the right mouse button, you'll open the menu like this.”

Twilight nodded and while she browsed through the internet, Tyler managed to make himself a meal as well, ate it and cleaned up afterward. In the meantime, Twilight was slightly frustrated. Normally she would gladly take all the time in the world to read the websites one by one, but due to the current crisis, time was of the essence. Leaving the mouse alone, she instead charged her horn. The computer, at least that she knew, was operating on a certain language of 1s and 0s.Her horn electrified a bit, making her wince a bit as she tried to accumulate to the speed of the operation system. It felt alien, felt so simplistic and barren, void of all magic. And when she opened her eyes, they'd began glowing.
“Tyler? I... I think I have built up an interface.”

While about to take a sip from his glass, Tyler looked over to her and saw the rapidly changing screen and her supercharged horn, prompting him to spit his drink out and jump up, storming right at her.
“Twilight! What are you doing?!?”

But just as he was about to reach her, a force field slammed him away from her. Holding his aching nose, he looked over to her, slowly understanding. She herself was uncertain how fragile and sensitive this interface was and if she would take harm if the connection ceased all of a sudden.
“I... I have access... I... I...” Twilight closed her eyes and her magic ceased. With a groan she shook her head. “It's too vast. I can't take it all at once; I think I only scratched on the surface.”

Embracing her, Tyler inspected her eyes for any sign of trouble, but to his own relief he found nothing. Taking her cheeks into his palms, he looked into her eyes.
“Twilight, that was very stupid! Celestia was one alicorn assimilating my entire knowledge about mankind as well as my entire memory. One person at a time! But you are trying to download the internet, the entire spirit and knowledge of the human race. You are sure to fail like this.”

Rolling her eyes, she smiled sheepishly.
“I noticed. Such a vast library awaits me in there. Knowledge so bright I could go blind would I see it all at once. I reckon I would begin with a nosebleed within seconds continuing like that, my condition getting worse by the second.” She shook her head. “No. This spell is pointless and to use it like that utterly foolish.”

Patting her shoulder, Tyler then shut the PC down.
“Well, what did you manage to find out?”

“According to certain search engines, the best place to look for facts is this website... Now what was it... Ah! Wikipedia! Not what I'll call a good source to validate facts, but it helped me to gather several facts.

Now Tyler's interest was piqued.
“Several facts? How many sites have you visited?”

“1.839.586!”

Arching a brow, Tyler slowly shook his head.
“I don't know what to worry about more. That the computer survived this in these few seconds or you. And you're sure you can get all that by visiting so many sites in that little time?”

“That spell is a long working one. It will take weeks to remember everything like something I heard once before. I would need to re-do the spell sometime in the future to remember it like common knowledge used on a daily basis. I gave information about our current location, New York City, a higher priority, so I can be of better use for the others. You know? City layout, police force, traffic connections... I even learned about several military bases in the surrounding area, so we can avoid them altogether when we head for this Bermuda place.”

Tyler patted her cheek and caressed it for a bit. His favorite little nerd was faster in collecting vital data than he was, but on the other hand, the Wikipedia sites were not encrypted. Standing up now he stretched a bit, when he noticed a certain set of cutie marks in the morning sky over several parts of the city.
“Seems to me the others are regrouping...Rainbow and Rarity seemed to have found ways to signal their cutie marks.”

“That's a relief.” Looking into the sea of lights of the city from a window, Twilight smiled. “Your world is wonderfully big and vast.”

Coming to her side, he rested a hand on her shoulder.
“That it is... I only hoped to give you a better introduction to it under better conditions. But then again...I'm happy to have you here right by my side now, Twilight. Here in this darkest of moments of our journey.”

Both turned to each other and Twilight got up on her hind legs, resting her front hooves at his chest before they both leaned in for a passionate kiss. It was this moment, when an idea sparked in Twilight's head. An absolutely crazy idea. A bright light emitted from her body, forcing Tyler to turn his face away from her for a short moment. And as he returned his eyes to her, a young human woman stood in front of him, naked. Once he recognized her in her human form, Tyler gulped.
“Twilight… What... You're wasting your precious magic!”

Smiling up to him, she shook her head.
“If it's for you, it's not wasted.”

Tyler's mind began racing. Searching for words, he looked to the ground while stuttering.
“Sweetie, you- I mean... You... I don't think this is the-”

With that her fingers rested on his lips and she nodded slowly.
“This is the precise time to do something crazy like this! Can't you see?” He looked up into her face, only to spot glittering little diamonds in her eyes. “I'm worried sick about you! The man I love is always facing danger, always facing enemies who want and aim to harden his heart. You taught me everything I know about love, despite the differences our species have. We both chose to be together… and the others followed in the path we created. But I can be brave like Applejack, as our herd's Alpha I have to be.” Looking into her eyes, Tyler gulped. She was serious about it. “…Only this one step is missing. I know it's risky since we don't know if the sun of your world can change me back as well like our sun can, but... I want to do this with you. I want to be as close to you now as I can. Here in this darkest of moments of our journey.”

It was this determination in her words that made him nod.
“Hey... Don't you worry, sweetie... Nothing will make me hurt you girls. I won't let that happen, I just won't!” Not taking his eyes away from hers, he undressed as well. Right now all that mattered was they were together, facing the dangers ahead as companions, and their bond was stronger than ever. Embracing her body tightly, he let her slide down his member and entered her in one long thrust, what caused Twilight to moan in delight. Calling out for him, her lips searched and found his for a barrage of passionate kisses, as she began to move on her own.

While Twilight was moving her hips on Tyler’s lap, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the lovemaking with him with a deep blush.”
“I’m so happy… So happy!” Due to her closed eyes, she didn't see the blue glow in his eyes, which became stronger with each passing moment, paired with a lustful grin on his face. Her human body was leaned back and rested onto the bed while he held her legs up and spread, his thrusts pumping in a steady pace into her.

It was then when Twilight finally opened her eyes and noticed the blue glowing eyes of Tyler. 'Tyler…?' Before her eyes, he transformed, clenching his teeth as his muscles began to swell, doubling in size. Was this due to her own alicorn influence? 'Oh Celestia! What’s happening to him?' Fear sparked inside of her when he lifted her and rolled her over. In this human form, she was helpless, a doll at his mercy. Even more so than the weakened alicorn without magic. As he took her from behind, she closed her eyes. He was unusually rough with her and it hurt once in a while. His member, as well as his entire body was magically enhanced now and each hard thrust made her butt jiggle, followed by a short moan of her. Somehow her influence seemed to drive him crazy, turned him into something wild. A primal beast was awakening and surfaced in his mind. Or was it there all along? Maybe this was what caused him to turn violent in the recent past.

But Twilight had faith in Tyler. He would never do her harm and if it was with him, this act of love was something she wanted and enjoyed, no matter what form he was in. As his powerful hands grabbed her hips and he literally masturbated himself with her body, Twilight could feel his fingernails digging into her skin. She as well clawed herself into his body and the ground to find any hold. Although she was afraid of what was happening with him, it was paradise. Both of them were letting go of all limits and restraints and somewhere within her grasp was a lesson she had to fully grasp and understand. The world span in her mind.

She couldn't tell anymore when certain things were happening due to the many sensations she was under now. The feeling of her breasts rubbing against his muscular chest, the constant and fast movement inside her womb, the pressure each time he was balls-deep inside of her and the tip of his penis hit her deepest sanctuary. It felt like the strongest heat she ever endured. Was she sex-crazed right now? She couldn't tell, nor could she tell how she suddenly was on top of Tyler's body. What she could tell was that each new thrust from below was slowly chipping at her mind, which was currently going blank. Somehow this had to be some sort of influence she herself was under, it awakened her primal lust to be bred by the male. It reduced the two of them to mere animals, male and female and nothing was more important than to receive her lover's load.

Meanwhile her head had become completely dizzy when she could feel the ecstasy build up in her. The pain had already numbed down and she took the entire length of his shaft into her with ease. Then it finally happened. With power the sperm jetted up her womb. Once more it was bliss all around her and she closed her eyes with a sigh. She did it. She did the one thing Princess Celestia was so afraid to do.

But little did they know what this would do. As magic glittered all around both lovers, Twilight’s ovule and Tyler’s sperm were brought together by magic itself, determining the pregnancy. Right in this instant her eyes opened wide as her pupils began to shrink. It was in this moment that a massive magic energy wave went from Twilight’s gasping body through Earth, which was noticed through time and space, not only by the other Elements of Harmony on Earth, but also by all the alicorns on Equis. Several heads turned right in this very moment towards the epicenter of the wave. It was a clear message to the entire existence.

Twilight Sparkle had called.

Deep in the chaotic plane, Eris began to grin widely.
“There you are... Alright, little brothers... Go and have some fun while I meet with the Darkness Sisters. I expect you to wreak some nice havoc until I'm there!” Chuckles of Madness echoed in the plane as the Draconequii prepared themselves for their attack.

Meanwhile Tyler's body had become limp and his eyes clenched together, only for him to blink twice and come back to his senses with a painful moan. His body ached after that much alteration and he felt spent for no reason. Slowly the muscles which had grown, slowly ceased and returned back to normal. A process both tiring and painful.
"What the... what the hell? I feel like I partook in a triathlon! All my muscles are sore."

Twilight felt dizzy and disoriented. The tingling sensation in her womb was lingering warm inside. That orgasm was so intense she had to come to her senses again. What worried her most was this unfamiliar wave that had left her body. It was unprecedented. Never before did something like that happen. Not even when Tyler had sex with Applejack in her human form. Suddenly a great quake that was shaking the city of Manhattan got her out of her thoughts and a detonation occurred in the ground near Fifth Avenue and 109th st, when a pillar of energy streamed up high into the sky.

Tyler and Twilight stood up and went to the near windows, completely ignoring being naked. Witnessing the magic of Equis streaming into the human world, both their jaws slowly dropped.
“Draconequis magic... Chaos magic!” Twilight stated before holding a hand in front of her mouth in mild shock.

Looking at her, Tyler pointed at the constant stream of magic.
“You mean this is Discord?”

Turning her head to him, Twilight shook it for a second.
“No... He's reformed, he would never misbehave like that...I think...” Deep inside her head, she hoped for this to be the truth, yet she never met another Draconequis beside Discord, so the chance of him backstabbing them was at least present.

Right in this moment, the first rays of sunlight caused Twilight's body to return back to her normal alicorn body and Tyler nodded.
“Time for me to get dressed again, we should go down to the streets and see if we can find the others. Whatever is going on out there, the others will either go there or they'll think we're going there.”

Meanwhile on the streets of Manhattan, the chaos spread in a myriad of ways. On Timesquare, several people were storming out of a movie theater, chased by a Draconequis laughing hysterical while popcorn machines shot their content all over the people. Meanwhile, the more wealthier people got their problems as well as fur coats returned to life again and began biting whosoever was wearing them. In the New York Police Departments the phones were glowing red hot due to all the emergency calls. Several dozen officers were answering calls making little to no sense to them.
“No, Sir. I don't believe you that a Central Park bench chased you up the tree...”

“You say your daughter speaks in languages she never learned? Ma'am, in that case you don't call the police, you call the church!”

“Sir, I don't care if there's a 'dragon' in your subterranean garage nor do I believe you... Well, then park elsewhere!”

“Is it a little dinosaur or a big one that's chasing you? Oh, only the skeleton, I see...”

One police officer entered an office, the phone still in his left hand, one part covered so the person on the other end couldn't listen in.
“Lieutenant? You better check this call here.”

“I'm kind of busy here, Benson! The Commissioner is on his way to the mayor and told us to sort it out. And that's currently what I'm doing!”

But Nick Benson remained stubborn.
“Some of the the big bosses down from pier 34 is on the line. He wants to talk to you.”

With an annoyed look the Lieutenant rolled his eyes.
“And what's his problem?”

“He says the Titanic just arrived...”

* * * * *

New York City Hall, 1 hour later...

When the mayor arrived in his office, Police Commissioner Jim Redfield and the Chief of the Fire Department, Joe Nicholson were already speculating with other officers. Nicholson shook his head looking at a map of the city.
“Right now we don't know what is causing this. But we're certain that it is not a gas attack nor is it something in the water. People on the streets are not hallucinating when they report these strange things.”

“Which is clogging the emergency call lines.” Redfield continued, “Some of my officers are even complaining... about... Mayor, are you alright?”

The mayor looked up a little pale and some sweat on his forehead.
“Jim, until half an hour ago I was having a little chat with Mayor William F. Havemeyer. The man is dead for over 140 years... What the FUCK is going on out there in my city?”

Redfield grimaced a bit.
“W-we don't know...”

Turning to the map again, Nicholson shook his head, not believing his own words.
“The traffic is completely jammed, accidents are all over the place since someone deemed it funny to smear soap all over the streets. The ambulances are overstrained city-wide. The northern streets off the island are blocked by a glacier of mint ice cream, ridiculous as it sounds. The bridges along the Hudson- and East River are sunk, since they were clogged with spaghetti until the weight took them down. And the Statue of Liberty...”

Rolling his eyes, Mayor Bill Bigsby held his forehead.
“Oh, what now...

“Sir, she's having a sunbath... nude.”

“Goddamn!”

Redfield couldn't help but chuckle.
“Well... She's french, Sir.”

Slamming a fist onto his desk, the mayor then shot Redfield a glare.
“NOT THE POINT!!!” Looking at the map, the mayor then pointed at a particular corner of the island. “What about the Battery, Lincoln, Queens-Midtown and Holland? Are the tunnels free?”

“As far as we know, yes.”

Standing up, Bigsby then headed for the door.
“Then take whoever you need and get the people out of there. In the meantime I'm going to ask for-” Just when he was out to open the door to the hallway, a soldier opened the door and made way for a man in a suit. A sight that made the otherwise calm and collected mayor gasp. “G-Governor...”

Shaking his head, the older man patted Bigsby's shoulder while entering the room.
“Bill, I must say: When I heard about Yonkers being attacked by a massive 'spider creature', I thought someone had way too much to drink. I came here personally to leave a few heads rolling, but even at the outskirts of the city one could see that this isn't just one monster or the doing of some crazy gunmen... That's why I brought the boys over to play a bit with these unwelcome guests.”

Looking at the soldiers, Bigsby gulped.
“The national guard in my city?”

“Well with the police and fire department maintaining order within the population, I reckon you could need all the manpower you get to counter the threat. That's why I'm here, Bill...”

Leaving the office now, the governor left the mayor standing there, who gritted his teeth. 'Yeah... That and the upcoming elections, you calculating pig...'

* * * * *

In the meantime, Tyler and Twilight made their way through frantic people fleeing the chaos. While Tyler originally thought people would react crazy due to Twilight, they simply ignored her most of the time. The few who noticed her, seemed to be cautious of her, seemingly deeming her yet another terror of chaos. At the West side of the Central Park, the friends found each other and Tyler smirked at the van where they all stepped out from.
“There you folks are. Good to see you all again and unharmed as well. Who ordered the chaos? It wasn't me!”

Storming right at him, Applejack nuzzled him fiercely.
“Sugarcube!”

Welcoming Applejack in his arms, Tyler embraced the earth pony mare with closed eyes and a sigh of relief.
“AJ! Thank goodness you're alright as well, sweetie.”

A car door opened next to them and Rick got out, before he slowly approached the whole group, hands in his pockets.
“Mr. Tyler Jones?” As soon as Tyler turned around to face him, he continued with a formal smile.“Agent Rick Marshall, FBI. Sir, would you please put these on?”

When he held up some handcuffs, the others gasped while Tyler remained silent. Flynn, however, shot his big brother an angered glare.
“Rick, you can't be serious!”

“I don't know what this man is to all of you, Flynn.” Rick said in a sober tone, “But for me, he's work. Work I'm going to see through. So then, please, Mr. Jones. Would you let us do this civilized?” But before Tyler could even comment on that request, people were running out of a nearby subway station as a Draconequis flew out of it in hysterical laughter. As it passed by them, the Elements of Harmony followed it with their eyes.

“Was that...?!?”

“No, this wasn't Discord. But it was a Draconequis, no doubt.”

A few seconds later, a sudden wind came up and followed the Draconequis, prompting the ponies to open their eyes wide all of a sudden. The air was way less heavy for them to breath, their bodies felt lighter and stronger. Looking at her hindquarters, Applejack then looked at the others.
“Folks, do ya feel that?”

With a few flaps of her wings, Rainbow gained flight again as her wings have found their former strength once more. Exchanging nods with Fluttershy, both Pegasi mares began to smile.
“We can fly again...”

The horns of the unicorns lighted up again.
“Our magic is back!” Rarity exclaimed gleefully, jumping up to her hind legs and paddling her front hooves. “I so hoped it would return to me again!”

While Sam played his muscles and shot some lightning into the ground, Flynn took the next three seconds to take a round around Central Park.
“And so are our powers... Man, I feel awesome!”

Lifting and tipping over a car, Sam nodded.
“I can only agree!”

Looking at her hands, Rachel shook her head.
“Yes, but why is this happening?”

Frowning for a bit, Twilight then looked up into the sky, where some of the dimensional rips were open in the air.
“The Draconequii! They entered this dimension and all the rips in time and space are leaking the the magic from Equis into this world. This means the magic gets much more abundant in this part of Earth, much to our advantage.”

Stepping right beside her, Tyler looked up as well and folded his arms.
“Well, we have to stop them. Trans-dimensional rifts are nothing we need in lower and upper Manhattan. Totally destroys the skyline. First thing: Twilight? We need some crystal communicators. Think you can summon one with the magic you now have?”

Giving him a big grin, Twilight bumped her rear into his hip.
“I can give it a try, big boy!”

Nodding at her, he looked at the others.
“Good! Next, we need to get a better oversight over the whole-”

He was interrupted as a tan-colored Humvee came to a sudden halt only a few yards away. Stepping outside, a soldier approached them, followed by his two colleagues.
“Why are you still here? This is a combat zone! I'm sorry, folks, but I have to order you to leave the combat area by going south to the nearest evacuation point. And take your... multicolored... ponies... with... What the hell?”

While Twilight already charged Tyler and Rachel, Tyler shook his head while looking at the soldier.
“This is no combat conventional weapons can win. Do your duty and evacuate the folks from the streets. We'll handle these creatures.”

Arching back a bit in surprise, the soldier then returned to his former stance
“Listen, buddy: This was not a request! The last thing we now need are some wannabe heroes playing Superman!”

Rachel approached one of the soldiers and nodded.
“I'm in need of a firearm without ammunition. Corporal, do you have a spare assault rifle?”

Fighting the urge to laugh, the Corporal shook his head.
“And can you name me even one good reason why I should do so, ma'am?”

Standing at attention, Rachel saluted.
“Sir, yes, sir! Corporal Rachel Higgins! United States Marine Corps! Sir!”

Seeing the dog tag chain around her neck, he lifted it and inspected the tag. Looking up to her, he shook his head once again, but this time in amazement.
“I don't know what is going on right now, Corporal... But if Abraham tanks get transformed into giant cheeseburgers, I'm willing to give anyone able and willing to fight for us a weapon.” He then unloaded an M16 rifle, ejected the remaining bullet out of the weapon and handed the weapon to her. “But what you want with an unloaded rifle is beyond me.”

Rachel took the rifle, took aim with it and blasted away a magic bolt before grinning wildly.
“Oh that's alright... I got my own ammunition!”

Sam nodded at the soldiers.
“Got something with a bit more punch in case we run into something bigger?”

The soldiers looked at each other. One of them cocked his head.
“Should we really do that? I mean we're still responsible for these items.”

The other one merely shrugged.
“Kowalski, do you remember what happened to Carter and his team when they fired their pipe at one of these things?”

This question prompted Kowalski to shudder in mild terror. With an uneasy feeling he remembered the RPG fired directly at one of these floating creatures, only to turn back with a flash and suddenly being something else.
“Yes, and frankly I never imagined I'd see a man getting buried beneath a ton of cake. But you're not answering my question!”

“Well, we could have used it as well or someone stole it in the midst of battle while we were engaging the enemy...”

Shaking his head, Kowalski let out a sigh.
“I get it... Well, maybe they can put it to better use. But only one RPG! More and that explanation loses credibility.” With that he got Sam an RPG and explained to him how to handle it.

Looking over to Rick, Tyler opened his arms.
“Well then.... Agent Marshall? I take it you have no objections that we first clean up this mess before you arrest me?”

Rick's right eyebrow twitched.
“Why do I get the feeling you'll try to escape? But OK... Clearly we have bigger problems than you right now. First this mess here, then we can talk normally... Whatever is normal then.”

Closing his eyes for just a short moment, Tyler concentrated and felt the magic flowing through his body once again. A feeling he became used to and never wanted to miss again. Levitating himself up half a meter, several lightning arcs went off between his limbs and hairs before he opened his eyes again to establish a stable levitation bubble he could steer and fly inside, which also had the purpose of a shield. One of Twilight's higher tier spells that got so familiar to him by now.
“Alright... Everyone? Full force forward! Time to show Manhattan the Power of Harmony!”
While Rainbow and Fluttershy accompanied Twilight, Flynn went with Rarity and Applejack, Sam went with Pinkie Pie and Lyra. Rachel tried her best to keep up with Tyler in a jeep.

Upon seeing Flynn go to sonic speed within a second and Tyler levitating himself into the skies, the jaws of the soldiers dropped.
“Whoa...”

“Who are those people?”

Folding his arms, Rick leaned back at one of the MRAPs.
“My take? Wherever they came from, they are superheroes there. Me? I'm the sorry ass who has to arrest one of them.”

It was then when the third soldier stepped outside the MRAP and looked to the others.
“Kowalski, Miller! Message from HQ. We're to retreat from the city as soon as possible. It seems the shit really hits the fan hard right now.”

Turning around, Rick glared at the soldier before he pointed at Kowalski.
“I need to speak with your superiors!”

“But-”

Slamming his fist onto the MRAP, Rick gritted his teeth.
“From what I see, they are pretty misinformed! So you have two options now, Corporal! You can either follow your orders like a good little shithead or you take me to HQ and maybe you'll help saving millions!”

Looking at the others, Kowalski then nodded to the MRAP.
“Alright, get in.” While they drove off, a drop of sweat ran down Rick's forehead. 'Please don't tell me they're up to what I think they're up to...'

After making a few sweeps through the streets, both Rainbow and Fluttershy returned to Twilight and shook their heads.
“No luck, Twilight! They keep dodging.”

Looking to the ground, Fluttershy winced a bit.
“I feel bad for all these humans down there. They never were a part of this and we dragged them all into this conflict.”

Activating her communication crystal, Twilight then talked into it.
“Tyler, what should we do? With all these tall buildings, we can't get a clear aim! They can evade all too easy now.”

While in pursuit of one of the Draconequis, Tyler nodded.
“I see... Yes, we could chase them around, stopping them from making more chaos, but all we would achieve is buying the city some time to evacuate the people. That's not a final solution. And if they're bored here, they might go elsewhere...” Looking around, he suddenly got an idea and took the communicator into his grasp. “Alright, Elements and Rangers! We'll meet up at 432 Park Avenue! Head for the roof. One of the highest places of the city. We have to get an oversight and think of something.”

Meanwhile Rick stepped out of the MRAP and was escorted into a series of tents on the other side of the Hudson River. Everything was full with uniforms and Rick simply hoped he could buy enough time for the others to find a a solution. He was then brought into what looked like an operation headquarter and Kowalski saluted in front of an older man in uniform.
“General O'Neil? Sir, this man says he has vital information about the situation in the city.”

Turning around, the general inspected Rick for a short time before he paid attention to the life video feeds on the monitor screens in front of him.
“Alright, son. You got three minutes.”

Rick gulped and nodded.
“Agent Rick Marshall, FBI. I was pursuing a man named Tyler Jones for a few weeks now until the slaughter of a police station took place on the West Coast. I was able to claim vital information about some extraordinary individuals to that point. Beings that aren't human, but benevolent to mankind.”

O'Neil shot him a glare.
“Benevolent? Marshall, there are seven creatures in the sky over Manhattan, one gargantuan beast in the streets of it. They are anything but benevolent!”

“Yes! But they're the enemy to the beings I mean as well!” Rick countered on the spot.

“And what makes you think that they won't just fight for themselves but for us as well?”

“Because, sir, with respect: My brother is with one of them and from what I saw so far, they somehow altered four human beings beyond human capabilities. These humans are also fighting as we speak!”

Now Kowalski stepped in front and nodded.
“I can confirm it, Sir. One of them is fighting with an assault rifle shooting energy projectiles, while one has superhuman speed, one has superhuman strength and the last one seems able to fly like Superman.”

The general wanted to say something, but Rick forestalled him.
“Ridiculous, I know. But so is this whole situation. What I ask of you is giving them a little bit more time...” Lowering his voice, Rick then came closer to the general. “O'Neil... I'm not an expert on military tactics, but I know so much to know that if the military retreats so easily, it usually has something worse in mind. I urge you: Please wait and let the situation resolve itself.”

* * * * *

Half an hour later, everyone was assembling on the determined roof, some more exhausted than others. Sam groaned in exhaustion.
“That was probably the worst tour through Manhattan I made in my entire life.”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel gave him a grin.
“Oh, stop complaining, you big crybaby.”

Placing down Lyra and Pinkie, he arched a brow.
“Oh yeah? Well you weren't carrying two ponies!”

Leaning against him, Lyra battered her eyelids.
“Don't you worry, Sam. Once all of this is over, you'll get your reward for that.”

Placing down Rarity, Flynn nodded over to Rainbow and while the two of them began exchanging each others records they achieved in the city with their speed and agility, Rachel approached Tyler.
“Alright, Jones... here we all are. Now what's the plan? Sniping them from the skies with the Elements? I don't think this will work.”

“No, but maybe-” A detonation in the distance caused Tyler to halt in mid-sentence. Looking into the direction the noise came from, he shook his head. “They're really trying to blast these Draconequii with tank shells?”

In the next moment, several M1 Abraham tanks and military trucks were tossed through the street like toys before one tank came to a halt below them and fired down the road. Soon after the resulting detonation further down the street, a fierce and unnatural screech became audible in the city. Coming to the edge of the roof, Twilight shook her head in worry.
“What was that?”

“This looks and sounds like something much worse than Draconequii, if there is anything...” Sam stated with narrowing eyes.

And there it came around the street corner. An eight-legged beast, 60ft high with the lower body of a spider and the upper humanoid torso of Mimesis. Stomping through the streets, he roared at the soldiers who concentrated their assault rifle and rocket fire on him. While the bullets from the assault rifles didn't even cause a dent into the armor, the rockets packed some punch able to place the one or another crack into the chitin. Taking a car from the streets, he tossed it at the soldiers and their Humvee jeeps. Once the firing stopped, the drider's throat bloated up and a fountain of gastric acid was splattered all over the street, resulting in a melting, screaming crowd of soldiers.

Rachel wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“Now that's something you don't see every day...”

Tyler could only shook his head.
“What kind of black magic does it take to transform a mere asshole into such a monstrosity? And even our human military has difficulties with him. He was transformed not only to kill, but to exterminate any opposition.”

“Yeah...” Flynn mumbled, “These Darkness Sisters sure are crazy bitches...”

Stomping through the streets, the gigantic Changeling drider then looked up to the roof the friends were standing on. Roaring up to them, his whole stance became different, more like a predator readying itself to leap at its prey, causing Rachel to shake her head.
“Oh shit, he noticed us...”

Now making haste towards them, it completely ignored the soldiers in the streets firing at it. When it stepped on one of the tanks, Rachel pointed her rifle at him.
“Nobody treads on Amercian forces in this city!”

Looking towards the other Element Bearers, Twilight gritted her teeth.
“One, two, three, blast him!” In the next moment, six beams of harmony blasted down the immense body, and the drider swayed back burning. Crashing into the house behind, the drider screeched up in pain while a big cloud of smoke ascended into the sky, obscuring the sight to him.

Tyler looked over to the others and and began to grin.
“Sam, if six little ponies the size of your thumb would bump you into a building side and set you on fire with their friendship beams... how pissed would you be?”

Sam grimaced a bit, trying to suppress a laugh.
“Yeah... We better think of something...” As soon as he had said that, the building was shaking and Mimesis was climbing up the walls. “And we better do it fast!”

Taking a safety distance from the edge of the roof, the friends grouped together and Twilight took a look at everyone.
“The Elements of Harmony are not at their full capacity due to the lack of magic in this world. The magic dissipates too quickly, even with these dimensional rips in the air. But I have a radical idea. That Changeling drider is something the Elements of Harmony could battle, if the attack was only stronger. So we need to focus the attack into one searing burst to not only battle the drider, but also reverse the chaos caused by the Draconequii that are on the loose.”

Shrugging, Tyler pointed into the skies.
“And how do you suppose we do something about that? We can't get a clear aim to hit any one of them. And their distance differs from that of Mimesis, who comes directly at us. How do we get that much power into one attack?”

Giving Tyler a serious stare, Twilight nodded at him.
“We overcharge you with harmony magic!”

Now Tyler's right eye twitched.
“Excuse me, Twilight? You know what overcharge did to me and Dragon Mountain?”

Flynn gulped and looked at the ground, not very fond of the idea.
“Overcharge…”

Tyler then continued.
“You’re going to endanger us… You’re going to endanger Manhattan! The nice metropolis down there that has millions of inhabitants, even if it’s a Draconequis wonderland right now!”

But Twilight shook her head and stomped her hoof on the ground.
“No! Not necessarily! There’s definitely a very slim chance the harmony magic itself will protect us all.”

All looked uncertain at each other. They all knew to some degree about the risk of overcharge and if Twilight would have made the slightest miscalculation, it would be over with Manhattan. This uncertainty remained until Rachel slapped Tyler's head playfully.
“I love this plan! I'm thrilled to be a part of it! Let's do it!”

Shaking his head, Sam rolled his eyes when they jumped up one by one.
“This job is definitely worth more than just one painted window in Canterlot!”

Readying herself, Rachel aimed for the edge of the roof where she expected Mimesis to climb over.
“Alright! You Elements charge up Jones, we Rangers keep that thing at bay. Let's just hope this works or we'll get evaporated by the blast.”

With the Elements charging him up slowly, Tyler looked over to Rachel, a smile forming on his lips.
“See you on the other side, Rachel Higgins…”

Rachel nodded over to Tyler.
“Nice working with you, Tyler Jones…” As the bright energy of the Elements began to charge up Tyler, Mimesis climbed up the roof with a fierce roar. But as soon as he showed his face, the Rangers opened fire upon him with whatever firepower they managed to muster, meaning Flynn and Rachel shooting full autofire upon the Drider and Lyra firing beams at the monstrosity.

Giving a fierce roar, the drider then noticed Sam holding up a rocket launcher and aiming right at him.
“Surprise, motherfucker!” As soon as the rocket was fired, its fiery trail shot directly towards the drider, making Flynn and Rachel grin. But in an instant that grin withered as the rocket was caught in mid-flight and simply detonated in Mimesis' claw. The detonation was strong enough to force the Rangers to turn away, but when cloud of fire faded, all the detonation managed to do was to rip away one limb of the drider. Looking up now, Mimesis roared at the Rangers, well aware that they had shot everything they had at him. That's when he noticed the glow emanating from Tyler's charged body.

Unnoticed by all however, was the small team of Marines on one of the other roofs spotting the Changeling drider. They as well noticed the charging of Tyler and several pictures were shot
“Unknown energy weapon spotted! I repeat: Unknown energy weapon spotted! I don't know if they're trying to blow this bitch to pieces with this or the entire city!”

In the military operation room, General O'Neil shook his head.
“Alright, that's enough. Operation Hammerfall is commencing! Kowalski! Get this civilian out of here!”

Kowalski gulped and nodded.
“Yes, sir...”

But as his hand was resting on Rick's shoulder, the federal agent shook himself free.
“General! Destroying Manhattan can't be your solution to this!” Several heads turned over to him. “If this unknown energy weapon is fired, it could reverse the effect we see on the city right now!”

“That is exactly the point, Agent Marshall!” O'Neil spat out. “It could! We don’t know what this weapon will do! And doing nothing is not an option!”

Struggling against Kowalski's grip, Rick's eyes rested on O'Neil.
“And I suppose killing untold numbers of innocent US citizens is an option?” Looking at each other, both men remained silent until Rick spoke up again. "General… These flying creatures and this giant spider thing are hostile. But these ponies are fighting them, as stupid as this sounds! We shouldn’t interfere with a trans-dimensional battle if there is hope that the situation resolves itself to our favor! Who can tell if these rips are made worse if you bomb them?”

Standing directly between the Elements and accumulating their magic for the attack, Tyler's body shined brightly in all sorts of colors. Now seeing Tyler being charged up by the Elements, Mimesis understood the current situation, and his fierce expression turned into one of terror. Storming right at Tyler, the drider was out to perform the final blow. Tyler was defenseless now being charging. One devastating blow and it would be over and the others would be mere prey for him. The huge spider legs rushed towards Tyler, mere inches separated two of them from total carnage.

Until Tyler opened his eyes.

Tyler's unforgiving glare was the last thing Mimesis was about to see as the following flash scrunched his body to pieces and dissipated them so nothing was left of the Changeling terror. The detonation dome engulfed all of Manhattan, reversing everything the Draconequii had done to the city and turning each of them into statues. But since most of them were airborne at this particular moment of time, their bodies fell to a swift and painless demise. Outside of Manhattan though, the light was still too bright to see the skyline. Several jaws dropped in the operation room, aghast. The radio went dead for a second, before another voice became audible again.
“Echo Squad here, alive and kicking!” Several other squads reported in now as well, much to the relief of the operations room. Several sighs were given, followed by relieved smiles.

Two seconds later, other squads called in as well.
“Charlie Squad here! A bit shaken by surprise due to that statue falling from the skyscraper, but we are fine!”

“Alpha Sqad here! We're unharmed! All the stuff that deformed the city is gone!”

A heavy sigh of relief escaped Rick and he looked over to the General.
“You see?”

General O'Neil, however, harrumphed at this.
“There was no guarantee for that, Agent Marshall! Maybe it was the right decision from your point of view, but this might as well end badly for me! A man like me can't just let a reality-bending situation grow out of control!”

Going through his hair, Rick now began to smile.
“Well, I think the people who are allowed to live on today are thankful for your sacrifice, General.”

Harrumphing, O'Neil shook his head and kept giving orders. “Keep Operation Hammerfall stalled, the bomber doesn't need to come to Manhattan... At least for now. Nevertheless I want to keep things ready just in case. Lieutenant Hunnigan? Fetch me the phone, I need to report this to the Eagle...”

Hearing his mission put on ice got a lot of pressure from the pilot and he pulled a sharp turn to the right.
“Roger that, control. Thor-One goes into standby position.”

One minute later, the bright light around the city had ceased and Manhattan was turned back to its former normal state. Looking around, the friends cheered after seeing that the city had returned back to normal. Embracements were exchanged until Twilight's ear twitched a bit. Looking to the horizon, she cocked her head in wonder, not fully sure what she was feeling right now. It was magical, that was certain.

Then, all of a sudden, several lightning paired with bright flashes and harsh winds stirred the sky until a dark vortex accumulated the magic. Twilight shook her head in disbelief. She knew that spell since she had used it herself not long ago.
“Somepony's opening a portal...” Her ears dropped in fear. “A very big portal...”
The portal sprang wide open in the sky, looking like a gateway into Darkness itself and the dark cloud of Black Omen spread through it, followed by the gargantuan hull of Nagohod. “It's them!!!”

With the massive portal behind them, the Descendant fleet spreading out of Nagohod had no problem maintaining flight as the magic simply kept streaming through. Dozens of their shuttles filled the skies and enforced a strict air supremacy by shooting down every last helicopter in range.

Looking down at Manhattan, Lamira and Asira shook their heads.
“Yet another cancerous city. Look at them. These humans really grow worse than ponies.”

Asira pointed towards one of the skyscrapers.
“I sense them on the roof of that building. Commanders! Take precautions, do not let them escape another time!”

Lamira looked over to her sister.
“Relax... We have an entire hour before these fools of their alliance catch up with the portal.”

Asira arched a brow.
“I wonder if coming here was such a good idea. I mean victory is at hoof, why stalling with coming here?”

A dark grin came to Lamira's lips.
“Destroying Equestria isn't enough, I want it to be broken, first.”

On top of the building, the friends grouped together, thinking of possible ways to handle the situation at hand.
“What do we do now? We can't defeat an entire armada!”

Tyler shook his head while witnessing the Descendants encircling them more with each passing minute.
“That's not the entire armada. They had thousands of citadels. Things must have turned bad for them on the other side if they approach Earth with so few citadels.”

Meanwhile Rick was witnessing total chaos in the operations room. Several helicopters had been shot down in a matter of minutes and the video feeds showed the massive armada of shuttles around Nagohod. Several analysts tried to make sense out of the floating sky fortress while other officers organized the troops. The phone rang and the General took it.
“Yes? Yes, we see it as well. We seem to have some friends in the city on our side, but I highly doubt they're responsible for this big opening. No, Mr. President, I don't think these come in peace. Their advance party already spread some chaos in order to paralyze our defenses and now the main attack force seems to come through. A force significantly greater complete with air supremacy. Yes... Yes... I understand, Mr. President.” Hanging up, the general looked at Rick. “Get that civilian out! Operation Hammerfall will commence and this is final!”

Rick whirled around, not believing his ears.
“WHAT?!?”

“I won't argue with you on this one, Agent Marshall! First they opened small portals to scout and disable our forces, now they've opened a giant one that's permanent. For the sake of this nation and the rest of the world, we'll show them that they're not welcome here with their invasion force!”

While Rick was pulled away by two officers, he kept struggling.
“But what about the population?!?”

O'Neil closed his eyes and gave a heavy sigh.
“Against the threat of this spreading across the nation or even the world, one city is... expendable.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, on the roof, the friends were completely surrounded. Twilight had built up a force field dome protecting everyone while Tyler and Rachel made themselves ready to fight for their lives. One of the Descendants shook his head.
“You can't win. Not this time.”

Looking up, the friends noticed that Princess Lamira and Asira were descending down from Nagohod.

But suddenly Rachel frowned and looked closer into one direction.
“Jones! Something's coming! Looks like a bomber escorted by drones!”

Whirling around towards the direction Rachel was looking. There were only three dots in the distance before one of them had a bright white dot coming forward. Realization struck Tyler with terror. Stretching out his arm as if he could order the catastrophe to be undone.
"NO!!! DON'T!!!"

Split seconds passed and everyone was looking at the direction Tyler was shouting at. There was a blindingly hot flash of light and for a split second, Tyler thought it would be all over. But yet, the darkness engulfing him never came. In surprise, he opened his eyes and blinked twice. If the government really fired a tactical nuke, shouldn't they all be dead by now? One by one, the Elements of Harmony and the Harmony Rangers returned their eyes back to the Darkness Sisters, as a bright ball of energy was encapsulated inside a magic force field and came near to them. Giving it a short glance, Lamira arched a brow.
“Ah yes... the power of the atom... Impressive for a species relying solely on technology, yet futile against alicorns.”

Asira scoffed at the ball of energy which was maybe thirty feet wide.
“Is that the best they can do? Adorable...”

“We are talking about a measly species without any magic on their world, Asira. Don't be too high in your expectations. No force fields, no levitation, nothing but technological reliance. A species like that will always succumb to the need for resources with the risk of destroying itself over battling for said resources.”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler clenched his fist and prepared himself to attack, but Lamira unleashed her own form of the Royal Canterlot Voice.
“STAY WHERE YOU ARE, MONKEY!!! AND YOU ELEMENTS AS WELL!!! ONE MORE MOVE AND THIS CITY WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!!! I HALTED THE DETONATION, I CAN UNLEASH IT AS WELL!” This threat made Tyler and the others halt in an instant. They were able and willing to level entire cities to achieve their goals. As Tyler stopped in his attack, Princess Lamira took a look at the situation and closed her eyes, an evil smile on her face. “I'll give you a choice, Tyler Jones: Surrender to us, hand over the Elements of Harmony and return with us to Equis as our slave... Or be responsible for the deaths of the many people of this city.”

Standing there, Tyler thought about the possible ways to continue from here, until he finally lowered his magic charge and went out of combat stance. This caused Twilight to gasp.
“Tyler! You mustn't!”

Yet Tyler shook his head.
“Twilight, we have no other choice... This is a fight for Equis, not Earth... Down below are millions of humans that are at stake. If we don't do as they say, innocents will suffer once this bomb levels the city. We saw what they did with Shadowgate. If such a thing would happen here, mankind would come for them with a thirst for revenge leading into a bloody war that could take decades. And then even more innocents would die!” Twilight looked over to the other Element Bearers, but not one of them could think of another way. None of them wanted others to suffer. One by one, the Elements of Harmony were surrendered and fell to the ground as lifeless trinkets. Tyler gave Twilight a last glance. “You know what to do to do the right thing, honey.”

Laying handcuffs on Tyler's wrist, the Descendants escorted him and the Elements to one of their shuttles, smirking all the while over their victory. One last look was exchanged between Tyler and the others, before the hatch closed and the shuttle he was in flew up to Nagohod. Then one of the Descendants turned to Princess Lamira,
“What to do with the Element Bearers and remaining Harmony Rangers? Should we kill them now?” This prompted the girls to group together behind Twilight.

Yet Princess Lamira looked at Twilight and the Mane Six with a victorious smirk as she shook her head, the ball of energy flying high up into space until vanishing out of sight.
“Leave them alone… Tyler Jones is our slave and the Elements of Harmony are ours. As long as these ponies remain unharmed he is bound to his word. Let the Princess of Friendship witness her friends rot on this tasteless alien planet…” An evil chuckle came from her as she turned away. “Let them rot...” The shuttles ascended with the Darkness Sisters one by one to Nagohod and the gargantuan fortress went back through the portal back to Equis before the portal began to close and with it all hopes for Tyler to escape somehow.

The world ended for Twilight in this moment. The Elements of Harmony were lost, Tyler was taken by the enemy and the Fortress of Nagohod was still out to harm Equestria. Even worse, they were still stranded on Earth, hunted by the authorities for crimes they didn't commit. Everything seemed to lost its taste, seemed to move in slow-motion as a lonely tear ran down her cheek. Tyler, Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining... They were all in grave danger and all she could do was surrendering? No, she had to be be capable to do more.

Rachel looked down the staircase where she already spotted the soldiers storming up, weapons ready. Running back to the others, troubled looks were exchanged at her message. In the next moment an attack helicopter ascended right next to them and a spotlight was pointed at them.
“Remain where you are!” the speakers barked down to them. “Do not attempt any hostile act or we will open fire!”

Shaking her head, Rachel shook Twilight a bit.
“Twilight! If they arrest us now, it will be all over! We have to get out of here!”

When Twilight looked up again, her facial expression was very grim and determined.
“And getting out of here we will!” With that her horn began to charge up and shine.

The door behind the friends was kicked open and several Marines stormed on the roof, aiming at them from all sides.
“FREEZE!!!” Hot tears of anger ran down Twilight's cheeks now and she raised a shield about her friends. Her love had been taken, not her friends as well. Spooked by the sudden force field, a volley of shots were fired by one soldier, only to bounce off the shield. Too strong was the magic residue that gave the alicorn its power. And with a sudden flash, Twilight teleported herself and the others away.

Author's Note

Not proofread yet, any notification about typos or mistakes is highly welcome. Send them to me so I can send the Daleks to EXTERMINATE them. :scootangel:

23 - Interlude - A shadow from the past *

Green Haven Correctional Facility, New York, one hour after the Manhattan Incident

Mike Benson was nervous. Entering a maximum security prison always had some sort of risk with it and despite being in his job as a lawyer for about two years, this was only his second trip into such a facility. The guards gave him a small crash course, never to show fear, never giving them any form of edge against you. But despite all that, Benson knew what some of these men had done in the past. What they were able to. Fortunately this trip into Green Haven was a well prepared one and the young lawyer was lead to his client without any incident. Sitting at the table already, the man of about thirty had his wrists and ankles in cuffs. Opening a briefcase and fetching some sheets, Benson tried his best to maintain a sober face, never to look directly into the eyes.
"So... Mister Mel-"

"Barkster! I told you to just call me Barkster." The brief interruption was all it took for the inmate to build up some eye contact with Benson. The lawyer nodded in agreement, followed by a smile from Barkster. "Anyway, thanks for getting me clearance for the recording equipment It's at least something to do with the plenty of time I got in here."

Still nodding, Benson fetched a pencil and got ready to write.
"Sure, no problem. So you wanted to tell me something?"

Barkster nodded and looked around.
"Yeah... Yeah, look: You got to get me out of here, right? It's not that I'm not able to handle this place. But, you know, a bird wants to fly."

Leaning in, Benson folded his hands and arched a brow.
"Barkster... Look... They got you! Alright? They got you good! With all the evidence against you they found on your computer they got you in here for at least ten more years. I mean programs for banking fraud, placements for weapon caches and balaclavas, blueprints for several banks. The placements were checked and revealed enough material to get you in for yet another dozen of years.

"But I-"

Going through several testimonies, Benson nodded.
"Yes, we've discussed these things. But I already told you that no one believes you that this was a hacker job to place everyting on your hard drive. This idea of yours that your former colleague from your time as mercenary placed this to frame you? The jury isn't buying it, the district attorney isn't buying it and no matter who, the judge isn't buying it either. You have nothing to prove your statement, I'm sorry. So all this goes on and on..." Leaning forward, Benson then cocked his head. "Then you decide to beat up Bob Hicks. I wasn't exactly told the number of incidents... How many times was it now?"

Wrinkling his nose, Barkster shook his head.
"Fifteen! And he deserved every last one of it! That cocksucking snitch... The guards seem to love it, though. They keep putting me into the same cell block as Bob."

Seeing the photographs of a man beaten up into a hospital bed, Benson slowly shook his head. 'What kind of man would do this to others?' Looking up to Barkster again, he tapped the photograph and arched a brow.
"Well as long as they have to lock you up for every... 'incident', you can't expect your situation to go for the better. I don't know where you're from, but here in the states? You do some sick shit like this, you're going away for a long, long time."

Waving it off, Barkster turned away.
"Ah, you're a lawyer. Work your magic!"

This was an attitude Benson despised in a client. Shoving all the work to him and expecting fast and great results...
"Yeah, right... There's only so much one man can do!"

Looking back to Benson, Barkster arched a brow.
"Is this a financial problem?"

This caught the lawyer out of context.
"What are you talking about?"

Leaning in, Barkster now began to smirk.
"Do you need 'economic motivation'?"

"I'm going to pretend I never heard that."

"Ah, you prefer a whip to obey."

That did it; Benson had enough. Packing his things with a few quick movements, he stood up.
"This conversation is over."

All of a sudden Barkster jumped up and despite having his wrists and ankles in cuffs and chains, he managed to slam his flat hands onto the table, causing Benson to freeze in motion.
"This conversation is over when I say it's over!" His left index and middle finger stabbed at the table as his eyes stabbed right at Benson. "Sit down!"

Benson looked over to the guards and shook his head, causing them to relax a bit. Sitting down again, he looked at Barkster and the inmate calmed himself and sat down as well.
"So you're saying my only way out is breaking out of here?"

Resting his face in his palms, Benson sighed deeply.
"Mr... Barkster. Listen, as your lawyer, I can't give any such advice or even talk about any such thing."

Annoyed, Barkster then rolled his eyes. This was all a waste of his precious time.
"Yeah, yeah... I guess I need to contact Bain..."

Again Benson was out of context. Frowning a bit, he looked over to Barkster and gave him a questioning glance.
"Who's... Bain?"

Shooting Benson a glare, Barkster's face now grew grim.
"This conversation is over!" The two men parted and while the lawyer was on his way out, Barkster was lead into yet another room. "What now, boys? Is there another lawyer waiting for me?" grimacing a bit, Barkster looked down. The handcuffs constricted his wrists, made them hurt after a while. When he sat down, another man in suit entered the room shortly.

"Mr. ... Mr Barkster, is that right?"

Mustering the man in front of him from head to toe, Barkster arched a brow. This wasn't a sniveling little lawyer, this man was a whole different caliber. A caliber that yelled secret agent from a mile away. Ear-plug, sunglasses, short and tidy haircut, black suit and necktie, but other than that, this presence radiating off. The presence only a skilled and trained man had. Not that it impressed Barkster that much.
"Well, you're better informed than that useless lawyer they gave me. What do you want from me?"

"We want you to help us to find a man." The tone was sober and monotone, this man was trained not to fall for the same tricks Barkster had played on Benson. But that wasn't going to stop him to feel the water a bit.

"I don't do dating service, folks."

The sober look on the agent's face and his sober tone didn't falter one bit.
"Hilarious... We want you to become part of a team we're assembling to counter the threat that visited Manhattan."

Leaning back a bit, the inmate smirked.
"I bet... You can't imagine the riot this caused in the television room. To actually see cops on the run from their own cars? That's fucking hysterical! What was that crazy stuff?"

"That is what we'll have to find out. But I think we found one acquaintance of yours."

Leaning forward, Barkster arched both his brows.
"Oh really? Who? Santa Claus?"

"You aren't funny, Barkster. But this might be of interest for you."

A photo exchanged hands and on it, Tyler was with the Elements of Harmony and the other Harmony Rangers while the Elements started to charge him up. Barkster recognised Tyler at once.
"Magic..."

"We know that you served for the same contractor as he did. Somehow that man caused an energy pulse throughout Manhattan, which was at that point a chaotic wonderland. This pulse reversed all that chaos. Whatever he found in whatever place he went, we need to know more about all this.

Looking up from the photograph, Barkster arched one brow and cocked his head.
"What's that to do with me? I'm not into multicolored ponies."

Handing Barkster a business card, the agent smirked.
"We want to recruit you. You know Tyler Jones, fought among his side for some months. It's your chance to do something for national security. I'm quite sure you could become an asset for our organization."

Barkster looked at the card with a frown.
"Alien Encounter Global Initiative Systems..." The long name caused him to chuckle. "Say that ten times fast... Who came up with this mouthful?"

"We're working on something shorter... May I deem that as a yes?"

Looking down at the card, Barkster waved it in the air.
"And what if I refuse to be recruited?"

This brought a smirk on the agent's lips.
"Well, how many years is your sentence? I'm sure a certain man working for Uncle Sam to secure national security might prove several charges against him wrong."

"Ah... We're playing that game now, do we?" A grin formed on Barkster's face. This was his chance not only to get out of prison, but also to get Tyler Jones back for putting him in here in the first place while being backed up by a government agency as well. "Alright... I'm all ears..."

Author's Note

Not proofread yet, tell me about typos, so I can crush them! :pinkiecrazy:

24 - Heart of Darkness *

New Jersey, Camden, two hours after the Manhattan Incident

Reappearing in a field, the friends stood on wobbly legs and hooves. Flynn was holding his stomach, bending forward.
“Two hours... Two hours of constant teleportation! I feel sick!”

Rachel looked around, feeling a bit dizzy herself. They were at the waterside of a river.
“Where are we?”

Coming to her side, Twilight looked straight ahead.
“In New Jersey.”

Looking up, Flynn continued to hold his stomach while Rainbow held him.
“New Jersey? We don't need to be in New Jersey, we need to be in Bermuda! What do we want here?”

But Twilight's glaring eyes didn't falter. In fact, the alicorn seemed far more determined than two hours ago. Her voice, frail when she lost her love, was now solid and hardened by determination.
“The New Jersey.”

Rachel whirled around to the harbor and shook her head, an unbelieving grin on her face.
“Oooh.... Oh, no! You're not serious!”

Looking up to her, the mares exchanged puzzled looks.
“What? What is it, Rachel?”

Seeing the stern glare of Twilight towards the harbor, Rachel stepped in front of her.
“Twilight!!! Do you have any idea of what you're about to do there? You're attempting to steal an Iowa-class battleship!”

Hearing that, Sam and Flynn as well looked over to Twilight.
“What?”

“Seriously?!?”

“I am just borrowing it!” Twilight retorted.

Throwing her arms into the air, Rachel shook her head frantically and raised her voice.
“Borrowing means the intention of giving it back like you got it!”

Twilight rose up to Rachel with a few flaps of her wings and rested a hoof at the woman's chest.
“Listen up, Ranger! They got the Elements of Harmony, they got my herd mate and former mentor, important to me like a second mother, my herd mate and ultimate lover and they're still sitting in a sky fortress with Celestia knows what evil intentions for our country and endangering everything I love and cherish...” Twilight took a deep breath and looked deep into Rachel's eyes. “... and you expect me to sit idly by? No! Not gonna happen! Tyler taught me this while we're on this planet. If so much is at stake, buck the consequences of theft or other minor crimes.”

Rachel's eyes widened and she got Twilight by the shoulder and pulled her down to go down on one knee herself.
“Minor crimes? Twilight, we're not talking about stealing a package of bubblegum from the store around the corner, we're talking about a 100 million dollar navy vessel here! I think the US government is pissed enough after Manhattan, do we really have to add grand theft of such a magnitude to the list of why they're pissed at us?”

Slapping the hand from her shoulder, Twilight pointed a hoof at Rachel's chest.
“Well, then, Rachel? If you want to sit here and wait until Equestria is destroyed and the Darkness Sisters come back into this world to destroy it as well, feel free! Right now all I know is that I will get the love of my life back as well as protecting my herd and family!

Standing up, Rachel went through her hair with both hands closed her eyes just for a second and sighed. 'Fuck this shit'
“This is unbelievable... Twilight, you're totally crazy!”

Not hiding a cynical tone in her voice, Twilight then headed for the riverside, looking around for the New Jersey.
“You think?”

Walking at Twilight's side, Rachel then matched her own walking pace to Twilight's trotting.
“Yeah! And I think I'm too. For what it's worth, this day started crazy enough for worlds to collide. We survived a Harmony nuke, a tactical nuke, a Draconequis invasion and a 60ft Changeling monstrosity. What's the theft of a battleship to us? Hey, if you as an alicorn princess are certain you can take responsibility on this, I'm with you. Just wanted to make sure.”

Stretching out her tongue in good fun, Twilight chuckled with a shake of her head.
“You're an awfully bad liar, Rachel.”

Not an hour later, the museum staff on board the New Jersey was quite amazed. Correcting his baseball cap, one of the veterans looked at the assembled ponies standing in one straight line.
“Well I'll be damned! Am I going senile on my old days?

Saluting in front of these old men, Rachel nodded at each of them before she began to talk.
“Listen, gentlemen... I know no one has the right to ask anything of you since you already did your part for this country. And I know how crazy this sounds, but I need you to listen to what this pony here has to say.”

Now assembling in a line in front of the ponies as well, the veterans eyed their unusual visitors.
“That purple one? Alright... What do you have to say, Missy?”

Taking a step in front of the others, Twilight looked up to the men in front of her.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. In this world of yours, I may not be of importance, but in our world each one here has a very big role. The love of my life was taken from me from the same forces who attacked New York City a couple of hours ago. They took our means to defeat them and have returned to our world. If we don't stop them, they'll spread destruction to our homeland. I think the situation was never so dire. If we don't take this ship and hunt after them, chances are high we'll soon won't have a home to return to. Gentlemen, I don't ask you to grant me this ship...” Twilight then bowed down to the veterans. “I beg of you!”

Looking a bit puzzled at the sight of a real talking pony, the veterans looked at each other.
“Well, what do you think, boys?”

“The news are full with that stuff, they sure tell the truth, Howard.” answered another

Recognizing it around her neck, one of the veterans pointed at Rachel's dog tag with a nod.
“A buddy of mine was with you marine folks. Sadly he died two years ago. Good to see there are a few young men and women out there still doing the right thing, upholding the principles my friend and I were following. You remind me of him back in the days. Young, brash, always trying to do the right thing. A quality that seems to get lost over the recent years with each batch of cadets.” Correcting his cap, he then looked up to the New Jersey. “Well, I always thought this old lady here deserves better than to die of old age in the harbor, bored to death with rust eating her from the inside. And you can bet she still has it in her if one manages to start her up. So if you manage to help us to start her up, we'll prepare her on the way for a nice good beating. Whosoever attacked New York will soon wish he'd messed with another kind of folk. But I have to tell you, there are very few things still operational. She's a museum, not completely fitted for duty.”

Looking up to Sam, Twilight arched both brows.
“Sam, you're a mechanic for the Harmony Rangers... Are you able to give me an assumption of how long it might take them to start this ship up?”

“Well, Twilight...” he started, “You see, I'm mainly a car mechanic... I worked on a hover tank with Lyra, Pinkie and Vinyl Scratch, but from a naval vessel of this shape, class and size? I have no clue how long it will take to make that baby functional. It could take months, maybe even years to make her fully operational with the small amount of personnel we have here. This is a swimming museum after all. The ammunition rounds for the main cannons weight about... I don't know... 2 to 3 thousand pounds?”

Twilight nodded and looked over to Rachel.
“Rarity? Lyra? I want you to accompany Rachel over to the cannons to charge her up as best as you can.”

Rachel's eyes widened. Looking over to the main cannons for a second, she stared at Twilight, aghast.
“You want me to do with these what I do with firearms?”

Lyra bumped her flank into Rachel's hip.
“Make sure not to enjoy yourself too much while doing so.”

Twilight gave it a nod and began to head towards the bridge.
“While the gentlemen here get the engines running and explain to you how to aim with these cannons, I'll take her out of the harbor.”

Looking after Twilight, Rachel bend over to Lyra.
“She means...?”

Smiling up to her, the mint-coated unicorn nodded.
“Our magic may be limited here, but she's an alicorn nonetheless. And the magic that got into this world is still lingering in the air. She may be able to pull that off, yes.”

Entering the bridge, Twilight looked at the many instruments. Confused, she looked up to the old man at her side, who smirked down to her.
“Don't you worry there, Missy...” Placing a captain's hat onto her head, he patted her shoulder. “... I'll tell you what to do...” While the engines started up, the tows at the pier were levitated up on deck and slowly Twilight steered and propelled the Battleship out of the harbor, what caused several police cars to arrive on the scene.

Looking to the side, Flynn shook his head.
“Yeah... I think we got their attention. And I also think that we'll get a response in about ten to thirty minutes, if not earlier.”

Looking straight forward, Twilight narrowed her eyes as the New Jersey gained speed into open sea.
“Plot a direct course for Bermuda! And then we'll get back to Equestria.”

“Course is set, Captain Twilight.” One of the two men joked, causing Twilight's stern face to vanish under a chuckle. She then concentrated and slowly but surely, the New Jersey gained more and more speed and altitude until it almost surfed the sea.

On deck, one of the veterans looked over to his colleague.
“Ben, was she ever that fast?”

“Not even quite! This feels more like a motorboa-WHOA!!!” All of a sudden, the battleship gained enough altitude to ascend from sea-level and was flying in the air.

A navy helicopter arrived on the scene, yet the pilot's jaw dropped at the sight in front of him. Turning his eyes to his co-pilot, he shook his head.
“Do you see, what I see?” A simple nod was the only answer.

All of a sudden, the radio turned on. “Bravo Two, do you copy?”

“Oh great... It's Earle... How do you think I should report it?” the pilot asked as he looked over a second time.

Answering with a shrug, the co-pilot began to smirk,
“Well, the truth is probably the best thing to tell them. And with what happened already, they actually might not toss you into the brig.”

Holding his head, the pilot then looked at the New Jersey.
“NWS Earle? This is Bravo Two. We see the New Jersey clearly now and we are both sober. I repeat: We are both sober.”

“Bravo Two, why do you emphasize of being sober?” the voice on the other side asked.

“Well, the thing is: The New Jersey has left the sea.”

“The perpetrators have beached the New Jersey?”

“No, the perpetrators have moved the New Jersey above sea-level.”

There was an awkward silence on the radio, before the voice returned, noticeably irritated.
“Come again?”

“They are flying a battleship!”

* * * * *

Near Equestria, Nagohod approached the southern outskirts of of the main land and gained altitude. As the doors to the throne room opened, both Princess Lamira and Princess Asira were in extraordinary good mood. Lamira closed her eyes with a smirk.
“So much for our little side journey into the human world...”

Looking over to her, Asira chuckled.
“I still can't believe they tossed a cute little nuclear weapon at us.”

The smirk on Lamira's face now turned into a broad grin as she looked forward.
Seeing Celestia caged into the force field, Lamira couldn't help but to attempt to mock her.
“What do you think, Celestia? You're the harlot sleeping with apes, what's your point of view? Should we punish them for that audacity after we dealt with Equestria?”

When Celestia looked up, the exhaustion was all over her face. For days now she was disconnected from her precious sun and without any second of sleep while withstanding the effects of this force field. Slight under-eye circles had formed on her face and she shook her head with determination and defiance.
“It is not too late to stop this madness. You cling to an idea of a mad ruler obsessed with the thought of destruction. One who never raised a hoof for his family and used everypony he could for his own selfish desires of revenge. I and Luna on the other hoof follow the idea that Darkness and Light cannot exist without one another but are entwined with one another. There can be no victory with only darkness or only light... only death..."

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Asira shook her head.
"Thanks for that boring little attempt to lecture us, Celestia. Here is our response…"

Six Descendants stepped forth wearing the all too familiar trinkets. Celestia gasped. The girls had been defeated, maybe even killed. Understanding this brought tears to Celestia’s eyes. Tears that were only further victories for Lamira as she levitated the precious amulets and the tiara to Celestia, only to bask in the white alicorn's shock.
“Yes, Celestia… The Elements of Harmony! Ours! Now and forever!” With this the most precious trinkets of Equestria were put into a chest and locked up. Tyler was brought forth to the throne in chains. He was dirty, his clothes on his upper body were torn apart and the wounds all over his body made clear that the Descendants had beaten him up. Lamira pointed a hoof at him, presented him to Celestia like a trophy. “Your monkey champion…”

When Tyler looked up to Celestia, his face bowed down in shame moments later. He had failed her. It was a moment that Princess Lamira enjoyed with every second.
“Witness this moment, Tyler Jones! This is the very moment when the Alicorns of Darkness are victorious over the Alicorns of Light for eternity. Our ancient war is ending at last in the only way it could…” An arrogant sneer formed on Lamira's face as she looked down to him. “When we undo the Abarasion atrocity, all the ponies of Equis shall see you kneeling to us… Just before you die!"

But Tyler reared up in rage once more to her, determination still raging in his blue glowing eyes,
"I’LL NEVER KNEEL TO TYRANTS LIKE YOU!!!"

This enraged Princess Lamira even more. How dared this human to rebel against them any longer? He was defeated. There was no point in resisting any longer,
“YES, YOU WILL!!! Yes, you bloody will… Or I shall wreak unimaginable harm upon you…” One moment later, her horn flashed up and a dark sphere surrounded Tyler and blackened more and more. Levitating him up the sphere pulsated like a real heart.

Before it turned completely black and blocked any sight at Tyler, his eyes stabbed at Lamira.
“I swear to you, Lamira... You may deem yourself as a goddess... But if I get out of here... I will unleash a Götterdämmerung upon you...”

“A göter- what now?” Chuckling, Lamira turned around to her half sister. “Witness this, Celestia. Defeat is not enough for your champion… But death would be too easy for him. No! I won’t make him a martyr! He will be exposed to the darkest influences of alicorn presence and thus made a champion of darkness! I can think of no more exquisite idea but to turn your ape lover against everything you cherish.”

As the tears ran down her cheeks, Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head, unable to witness this madness any further,
“You don’t have the slightest idea of what this will do to him…”

Ignoring Celestia, Lamira looked up front.
“Report! What has happened in our short absence on Earth?”

From the control terminals on the sides of the hall, one unicorn stood up and stood attention.
“Only three citadels have passed the blockade with us. All others are still fighting the enemy lines.” Several ships and airships of the alliance have broken through and are in pursuit, among them the airship of King Gifford, Queen Sheeris' personal cruiser and an airship of the Crystal Empire... We believe this is the very ship holding Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.”

Looking into the dark clouds of Black Omen, Lamira began to grin.
“They shall be dealt with. Three citadels and Nagohod against a nearly defenseless Equestria... Victory is at hoof.” Shooting Celestia a victorious gloat, the dark alicorn couldn't help but grin. “Where is your harmony? Where is it gone, huh? Look at all your precious hopes! Destroyed and battered by us. Your champions defeated and withering... Dying!”

But instead of giving in, Celestia’s face hardened.
“There is one force yet untapped. If my calculations are correct, you are yet to recognize that Equestria also has a dark side. I am sorry she has to unleash this once again, but you leave us no choice!”

A distant rumble went through the fortress and Lamira's eyes widened for a moment.
“What's the meaning of this?”

A Descendant looked up from his terminal.
“Queen Sheeris has caught up with us. Her artillery is firing.”

Gritting her teeth, Lamira shook her head.
“That little fur ball is forgetting her place. I mean, if she so desperately wants her son back, we could send him down to her... without a shuttle!”

The Descendant behind her began to grimace nervously.
“Uh...”

Lamira stood perfectly still and looked over her shoulder.
“Let me guess... They freed them while they were here the first time?”

“It... It appears so, your highness...”

Lamira sighed and charged her horn up.
“Who's responsible for the guards in the prison cells?”

Looking over to another stallion, the asked stallion pointed at him.
“H-he is, your highness.”

A sudden flash went from the tip of her horn and the stallion at his side detonated, his organs and blood splattered all over the place. Lamira sighed in frustration.
“Correction: He was!” Turning around she looked at the shivering stallion, who's right side was smeared with the blood of his executed comrade. “By now you should know how little patience I have with incompetence... Go and take as many forces as you need! Come back to me with them subdued and imprisoned or die trying! Don't disappoint me any further...”

While the stallion saluted and stormed out of the throne room, Asira came to the side of her sister.
“Contact the captains of the remaining citadels! Tell them to stall-” Another detonation, this time quite close made the throne room rumble. Looking up, Asira gritted her teeth. “That came from above.”

Lamira's glance remained on target, on Equestria. Something was out there. A presence that lurked in the darkness of Black Omen. And it wasn't her doing or that of her sister.
“The griffin airships are of no concern! The other citadels should handle the remains of their fleet with ease!” And not one minute later, the three remaining citadels turned around from Nagohod to attack the Nephelion, the Tiger's Claw and the Crystal Empire's flagship, the Eros.

On the Eros, Shining Armor huffed a bit.
“That last citadel really meant business. So... What now?”

Looking over to her husband, Cadance shook her head.
“What now? These bloodthirsty maniacs just decimated half our crystal fleet! The rest is still fighting miles behind us. Do you know what this means?”

Smirking, Shining looked over to his beautiful wife.
“That you'll cause a medium sized foal boom once we go home?”

A dreamy expression came on Cadance's face.
“Maybe even a big one...” Once she licked her lips, she snapped out of it and shook her head once again. “Not the point! It means we'll need an opening. I don't know how we're going through that thick armor, but we'll need to get into that fortress!” And with that the Eros engaged the three citadels together with the Nephelion, prompting several cannons to blast their devastating payloads and several horns and rifles to strike with precision.

It was in this moment, when the battlefield was again in uproar, when several high screeches from the horizon silenced the battling armadas in an instant. Hundreds turned their head towards these unnatural screeches, who came from the north, from Equestria itself.

A certain sphere of dark blue emitted enough light to make the one or another sharp eye see the figures coming down from the sky. Thousands of them, winged ponies in wings of leather, but unlike their harmless brethren with a fiery red than a golden glow in their eyes. Terror struck several hundred Descendants as the swarms of dark figures descended upon them, mouths wide open, revealing sharp fangs.
“Vamponies... Shoot them! Shoot them for your life's sake!!!

But already it was too late. Causing a bloody slaughter among the Descendants in their citadels, the vamponies quickly turned the tide in favor for the Alliance. To the surprise of anyone they were aided with several bright and highly energized beams of dark blue, when another figure landed on top of one of the citadels. With a booming voice this darkest of all figures raised a hoof and pointed at Nagohod.
“TO BATTLE!!! Find and destroy them!”

While Shining Armor teleported King Gifford and Queen Sheeris and their entourages onto the Eros in the meantime, Cadance raised a shield around the Eros in order to protect them all. With worry did she look up to see the winged menace that descended down onto the Eros. As it landed in front of King Gifford, Queen Sheeris, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, Shining attempted to step in front of his wive, but was held back by her as she stepped in front of the group.
“Aunt... Aunt Luna?”

Turning her head slightly around, Nightmare Moon gave Cadance a strict glare, prompting the Princess of Love to gulp.
“I must beg thy pardon, child... But until mine sister is set free again, I'm not very willing to fond titles. Even talking in this... this state of anger is a trial not to shout all the while. King Gifford and Queen Sheeris!” The eyes of both monarchs narrowed in anticipation. “I must ask for thy forgiveness! I'm a bit late, I fear. I would have come earlier, but I took an oath to someone I love with all my heart to postpone my anger to this moment now.”

Sheeris growled in excitement as she came to Nightmare's side.
“The embodiment of fear and shadows... If you want me to forgive you, I demand one thing from you...”

“Very well then... State thy demand!”

“Let me hunt them down at your side! Hunting together with the night and the fear will make several good songs for the feast.”

Nightmare merely glared at Nagohod.
“Then so be it! I shall let thou all accompany me on my way inside. While I will free my sister, thou can free thy sons and kill whatever crosses thy ways. Our enemies will surely redo that favor, if thou hesitate.”

When the dark alicorn turned around and joined the battlefield once more, Cadance leaned over to her husband.
“Honey, I am deeply worried about her. Don't you think this goes way beyond reason?”

But Shining simply shrugged.
“Didn't you snap as well when I was held captive by the Changelings? Seems to me alicorn mares are quite protective if it comes to their loved ones... And who am I to question that?” Exchanging a few fond glances with Cadance, Shining's expression then became concerned again. “I worry more about another princess out there fighting for her beloved ones.”

* * * * *

The wind blew strongly through the broken window. More and more the New Jersey' hull groaned under the structural stress she was put under. But Twilight was determined to make it back to Equestria. With this ship preferably, but if she had to, then without it as well.

The intercom was sounding off and Sam's voice became audible.
“Am I the only one finding it a bit odd that no one is trying to stop us?”

Rachel answered over the intercom as well.
“There are plenty of reasons why they might oversee us. One: A major city was attacked by a series of enemies not responding to conventional arms. Two: They deployed a tactical nuke and instead of destroying the enemy, that nuke fell flat on its ass, not doing any kind of damage at all. They have a lot to explain anyway because of that nuke and the Draconequis wonderland this morning. There's no TV here right now, but I bet the nation's reeling from that incident similar to the towers. I think they'd rather follow us in a safe distance to see what's happening.”

Coming to Twilight's side on the bridge, Flynn shook his head frantically.
“Twilight! I have no freaking idea how long this ship can take this sort of stress! Put her back into the water for God's sake! She's a battleship, not an airplane! She will fly apart!”

Looking up front, Twilight shook her head in determination.
“We'll fly her apart then!”

Right after she said that, the clouds massed up like they did a long time ago and Flynn looked out the windows, seeing the raindrops flying upwards again. Gulping a heavy lump down, he looked up front where the water was sucked into the sky. Not losing time, he then looked over to one of the veterans.
“We're at Bermuda! Sound the alarm; it's going to get bumpy!”

Not three seconds later, the ship-wide alarm howled off and Rachel pulled in Rarity and Lyra.
“Hang on, girls! This will be some ride we take!” Both unicorns nodded and braced themselves for the worst.

More and more the battleship gained altitude and Twilight did her best not to hold the ship in a horizontal position. The weight was fading from the ship, what came to her relief, but it started to tilt upwards towards the growing pillar of water. Sweat ran down her forehead. All the magic she had stored was almost used up. Only a few more seconds and she would have-

Her train of thought was abruptly ended by a sudden flash and all of a sudden, the clouds had turned from dark gray to total black. And the sudden surge of magic flowing through her body once again confirmed it.
“We are back on Equis!”

Narrowing his eyes, one of the veterans looked outside and opened his eyes wide.
“Jeez... It sure is dark in this place. That about right? Howard! Something on your side? Here I see only blackness.”

Howard Stelter corrected his cap and shook his head, not believing his eyes.
“Well... I see something, but I don't know what to make of it. There are several lights flying around that sky fortress over there!”

Looking over to the southeast, they spotted Nagohod being surrounded by several citadels and airships, which in turn seemed surrounded by several objects even smaller and faster. Slowly but surely, the citadels fell one after another. This only caused Nagohod to activate its defenses. Taking a look, Rainbow simply shook her head.
“Whoah... You guys won't believe what's going on over there!

Recognizing that Dash had the best eyes of all of them, Twilight turned to the window Rainbow was leaning in to.
“Rainbow! What's going on over there?”

Throwing her hooves in the air, Rainbow shook her head in confusion.
“Bat ponies! Hundreds of them! But from what I see, they're all Wonderbolt material head on! I never saw such agility and speed!” Harrumphing a bit, she closed her eyes with a smirk. “Except in me, I mean...”

Gritting her teeth, Twilight looked over to Nagohod.
“If that's true then Princess Luna has finally mobilized the vamponies! Which means she's on the field of battle already. And I'm sure these airships are the Nephelion and the Eros. Cadance and Shining are over there as well!”

Coming into the bridge, Rainbow then landed beside her friend.
“Well? What are we waiting for? We have this sweet human battleship, let's do something awesome with it!”

Giving a nod and a smirk, Twilight took a look at Nagohod. 'We're coming, Tyler! Hang on!'
“Yes! We've been away from this fight for far too long. Now... Let's give them something else to think about!”

And while the three large barrel runs at the New Jersey's front aimed for Nagohod, Rachel's magic flooded all of the cannon tower, giving it a distinctive glow. Once the aim was perfect, a sly grin formed on her lips.
“Yippie kay yay, motherfuckers!”
The magic detonation thundered throughout the night when Rachel released the magic projectile with a scream. The projectiles struck Nagohod's front and ripped open three holes in its stone hull, revealing several floors inside.

In the throne room, the tremors of the impact caught everyone's attention. A magic hologram appeared in front of the Darkness Sisters showing the battleship. Princess Asira's eyes darted over the screen in a hurry.
“The Tartarus was that? It had way more power than these measly little cannons they used.”

Lamira spotted the New Jersey and shook her head while clenching her teeth.
“These damned monkeys... They're persistent like cockroaches. You'll see to the intruders in Nagohod, I will take care of this steel abomination.”

Giving a nod, Asira made her way to the doors, a big grin on her face.
“How typical of you to hog all the fun, Lamira.”

Gasping for air, Rachel fought for control over her shivering arms and shaking legs, as a wet warmth crawled down her tighs. Wrinkling her nose a bit, Rarity took a step back.
“Darling! You're-”

“I know!” Rachel retorted sharply.

Looking up, the unicorn shook her head.
“Maybe you should-”

“I KNOW!!!” the marine huffed under her breath while gaining a safe stance again.

Wiping Rachel's forehead clean with a handkerchief, Lyra leaned in with a grin.
“That good, huh?”

Laughing a bit, Rachel shook her head while the blush on her face grew.
“I'll try to remain standing...”

In the throne room of Nagohod, Princess Lamira gritted her teeth. These cannons fired shells way bigger than any unicorn could muster and thus caused way more damage to Nagohod's shell, which actually was thick enough to be considered magic-proof for attack spells.
“Give this pest a full volley of our cannons and attack spells!” Cannons were fired in retaliation and perforated the hull of the battleship, yet caused little damage at all. Attack spells cut the outer hull, yet since the New Jersey was flying and not swimming, it was unable to sink.

However, each hit shook the ship fiercely and Sam held Pinkie and Applejack close.
“We're hit!”

The veterans couldn't but laugh at this.
“Are you kidding me? Cannon balls and laser beams?”

“Now that's cute!”

“They won't sink a battleship that easily with that little firepower!”

But Twilight shook her head, already expecting it to become worse.
“Don't get cocky! Right now they're probably just charging the next spell, this time even stronger!” In this moment, Sam and Pinkie exchanged some determined glances and nodded at each other.

In the throne room, Lamira shook her head and swatted the Descendants out of the way.
“Incompetent good-for-nothings! Slackers! Do I have to do everything myself?” Aiming her horn at the battleship, she then began to grin. “Now... The game's afoot!”

In the next moment a fierce beam of energy sliced right through the cannon tower at the stern end of the New Jersey, prompting it to explode. The detonation shook the ship fiercely and Twilight gritted her teeth.
“See?!?” Getting to the radio, Twilight took a look at the other two towers. “Rachel! They are firing precisely for the cannons! You're in the front cannon! Get out of there!” Right in this moment, the middle tower began to turn to the left side of the ship, causing Twilight's eyes to widen. “What in Celestia's name is happening?!? Rachel?”

Sam's voice roared as he triggered the firing mechanism.
“TAKE THIS, YOU BASTARD!!!” The following blast caused the ship to tilt to the other side and Twilight to wince at the thundering sound. The three shells flew right through the skies and penetrated Nagohod's front with ease before the detonation on the inside ripped the fortress a new hole into the front, softening up the heavy armor more and more. Inside the tower, Sam and Pinkie brohoofed before getting out of the tower. Just when the beam of alicorn magic blasted the tower to shreds, both of them slid over deck and gasped for air. “Hell, Pinkie... You just lifted three 16"/50 caliber shells, each of them weights about 2000 pounds!”

But the pink pony waved it away like nothing.
“Psshhhh! Pounds... If you would be an earth pony and were raised on a rock farm, you wouldn't see that as much. 2000 pounds is nothing! My sister Maud hauls rocks about ten thousand pounds!”

Helping her up, Sam looked at her with wide eyes.
“Alright... More about that later! We are hundreds of meters above sea level, we should go inside. NOW!” Meanwhile Rachel, Rarity and Lyra were on their way back when the third turret was blown away, prompting them to tumble over their feet and hooves in the narrow corridor. The New Jersey had now lost her main cannons and Nagohod's front stone hull had taken a heavy beating. Lots of the many firing turrets with Descendants had been damaged or destroyed. But at least now with the main turrets gone, there was no alicorn magic fired at them anymore as Princess Lamira seemed satisfied to disarm the battleship to a helpless state.

On the bridge of the New Jersey, Twilight brought the battleship directly to the front of Nagohod.
“It's too quiet. Why don't they fire at us anymore?”

Howard Jackson glared at the fortress of Nagohod. He never waged war against something like that in his days, yet now he could be of use to his fullest by giving his knowledge and experience to that young girl they called Twilight.
“They don't deem us a threat anymore, now with our main cannons gone. Ben, what's your take on that?”

Ben Faultermeyer stood up, patting some small shards of glass from his clothes.
“Well, you know what me and my boys said back in the day? If they cut off your arms, we'll just punch them with our heads! We might be battered and our limbs broken, but we will get this girl back to the harbor or accompany her to the ocean ground!” This made the two Navy veterans chuckle a bit.

In Nagohod's throne room, Lamira sneered at the heavily battered New Jersey confronting Nagohod.
“What is this little upstart princess trying? She has no more means to fight us!”

Twilight's face grew more stern. This was her choice and hers alone. The Descendants deemed them not a threat. Narrowing her eyes, she grew more aggressive. This hubris was the Descendants' greatest weakness and their window for an attack. By now all her friends were with her either on or beneath the bridge.
"That's it..." she said, prompting the others to look at her. "They don't think an Alicorn of Light can fight without the Elements of Harmony or without any weapons. But in that they are sadly mistaken! We will show them that we're able to fight for our friends! And for Tyler!" The Element Bearers all nodded and prepared themselves of what would come next. Twilight grinned. And for once, she herself felt ready to fight. Inside that massive citadel were Tyler as well as Princess Celestia and Luna. Her herd mates, who she loved and cared for. And no one would harm them if she could help it. "Everypony! Prepare for impact!"

The order brought several replies, reaching from amazed over to panicked.
“Wha-?”

“Impact? B-but... Darling!!!”

“Is she serious?!?”

“Aw yeah!”

“Oh my goodness!”

Shaking her head, Rachel held on for dear life.
“Oh my God! She's crazy!”

As the New Jersey was shown on a screen in Nagohod's throne room, Lamira looked over her shoulder to Celestia.
“Take a good long look at your faithful protege, Celestia. In a few seconds I'll reduce her to-”

But right then a Descendant looked up in panic.
“Incoming!”

Stumped, Lamira looked at her minion.
“WHAT?!?” Looking at the screen once more, she saw the battered New Jersey closing in directly at Nagohod's upper section. Several Descendants rose from their seats in the throne room, not believing the incoming threat. Slowly Lamira's eyes widened and she gritted her teeth. Looking over to her minions, the inability to react enraged her. “TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!!!” But it was too late already. Like a dagger the New Jersey slashed deep into Nagohod's softened hull and pushed several towers aside. All over the mighty war citadel the Descendants tumbled over one another or fell to their demise.

* * * * *

The air was dusty and filled with cold smoke. Resting a hand on Pinkie Pie's flank, Sam looked around.
“Damn it! I'm still alive... Amen, Hallelujah and peanut-butter! Every pony alright?”

Groaning a bit, Lyra tried to stand up.
“Ugh... I don't feel my legs anymore...”

This immediately caused Sam to listen up.
“What?!?”

Pushing at Pinkie, the mint-coated unicorn shook her head.
“Pinkie! Get down from me! I've got pins and needles in my hooves due to you lying on them!”

Jumping up at once, Pinkie inspected her herdmates hooves at once, only to shake her head.
“No, silly! Your hooves are totally fine. No needle anywhere. Or did Rarity stick some into you? If she did, I could retaliate... with cake!”

Sam couldn't help but arching his brows and shaking his head.
“How can one even retaliate with cake? Pinkie, this is no time for nonsense!”

But the pink earth pony looked at him with a dead serious expression.
“Sam, the cake wars were one of the most brutal and devastating wars in pony history before the princesses came to power and the last great conflict before Hearths Warming Eve!”

Both exchanged glances for a few seconds. Sam was sober and searching, Pinkie's was dead serious. This went on until Sam shook his head.
“We'll talk about that later.”

“Okidokiloki!”

As the friends regrouped outside of the battleship, they got into cover quickly.
“Hurry!” Rachel exclaimed, “We don't have much firepower to take on the entire citadel!”

Listening for noises in the gigantic hall the New Jersey had slashed herself in, Flynn narrowed his eyes while standing outside.
“I hear some detonations in the distance. Maybe we're not the only ones fighting the Descendants in here.”

Picking up pieces of debris or some tools, the veterans stayed behind.
“We're no fighters anymore. But we'll wait here and secure the New Jersey. Once you're done in there, I guess you'll most likely need something to get down to the ground. So promise to come back here and take the New Jersey down, will you?”

Turning around, Twilight gave them a determined smile.
“I will! I promise!”

* * * * *

In the same moment, in another part of Nagohod, a large metal door detonated open and was ripped out of the wall. Once the debris landed on the ground, several dozens of Descendants fired either their horns or firearms. But like an unstoppable killing machine Nightmare Moon simply trotted onward, the bullets bouncing off of her, the spells deflected like nothing ever happened. Her eyes glowed in a demonic turquoise when her own horn started to charge up, her face only showing that death glare. Creating two orbs of magic left and right of her, both orbs levitated half a hoof length in front of her.
“Thou are all going to die up here...” Lightning shot to the ground from both orbs as light itself was absorbed into them and the corridor the Mistress of Nightmares was standing in became darker.

Fear got the best of several Descendants, backing away, while others looked at the orbs, puzzled. An alarm went off and in the throne room, a section was displayed and enlarged.

ALICORN ATTACK SPELLS ACTIVATED<<<

Lamira arched both brows.
“What the...? Asira, what are you doing?”

Celestia looked up, only to shake her head with tears in her eyes.
“No... Not Asira. Somepony far more angered.”

Both orbs were suddenly connected with a sharp laser blade and shot towards the Descendants, who mostly jumped out of harms way in the narrow corridor.
“LOOK OUT!!!” One mare, however didn't evade and was just standing still.

Looking up from a fellow Descendant with a cut off hoof, one stallion look up to her.
“We got injured! Silver Flower! SILVER FLOWER!!!” But the mare didn't respond to their calls. Slowly a red line appeared all over her neck until her head fell off due to a clean laser cut. One by one the Descendants were reduced to corpses and Nightmare Moon showed little to no regret in her rampage.

Approaching the scene behind the Descendants, Asira laid witness to the massacre in front of her.
“Luna! Finally you show your true face. A real Princess of Darkness!”

Looking at Asira, Nightmare Moon paid no more attention to the minions cowering on the ground as she stepped over the lifeless limbs of torn apart ponies. And despite all the blood and gore left and right of her, the war-maiden never once stained herself with a single drop of blood.
“Luna? That's Nightmare Moon for thee! Thou insolent scoundrels have taken mine sister…” A pressure wave emitted from the dark war-maiden and several limbs were tossed around. “MINE BELOVED SISTER!!! She has the right to use that name. Not thou! Do thou have any idea what I will do to thee for this?”

An earth pony Descendant fell to the ground before her and shook his head.
“Princess Luna! I beg of you! Stop this! This isn't you!”

“What’s the matter, traitor? Afraid of the real dark?” the Princess of the Night taunted with sadism in her voice as she glared down at him. “Thou have started this. Now it is I who will bring it to an end! And all thy begging for mercy won't save thee.”

Next, her own shadow grew like a veil and surrounded the Descendant, who wriggled and squirmed in panic to get free while being wrapped in darkness.
“No! NO!!! I SURRENDER!!! PLEASE!!! SPARE ME!!!”

As Nightmare Moon released the earth pony stallion from her dark shadow veil ten seconds later, he lied on the floor, coiled together, shivering. His face was terrified and pale. His mane had turned white and he looked dirty, as if he had spent several days in this dark veil.
“It- it was… so dark…” he stammered as Nightmare Moon passed him.

Ignoring him for being not worthy of her time, the dark alicorn war maiden had her eyes fixed on Princess Asira, who backed away with every step Nightmare Moon took. Summoning a black scythe and levitating it in front of her, Nightmare inspected the blade lovingly, like caressing a child which was about to be fed.
“Now... Where were we? Oh, yes, of course... Thou were talking about Darkness. Thou know? Thou really have sparked my interest in this topic. What do thou think to know about Darkness?” Asira took a gulp once the dark war-maiden in front of her looked up and those slits in her eyes became thin in determination.
'That level of power... We've trained a million years and she's only awake for a few thousand one! And yet the gap between her and me is breathtaking! She’s the highest Alicorn of Darkness, direct daughter of the King and Queen, born from the highest royalty. She may be a bastard, but she's one of the two most powerful bastards ever conceived. There is no chance for me to win this fight on my own... Lamira, where are you?' Reluctantly, Asira had to accept defeat for now and retreated to the throne room.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, a few dozen floors above, the Harmony Rangers were engaging the enemy when all of a sudden a small group of crystal ponies covered their right flank and aided them in their fight. Recognizing Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, Sam made room for them behind their cover.
“Princess Cadance? What are you doing here? We thought you were engaging the enemy outside.”

Looking over to her husband, Cadance couldn't but grin.
“Well, Shining takes me to the most wonderful places.”

Embracing his younger sister, Shining Armor made sure they both were well protected by a shield dome.
“Twily!”

“Shining Armor!”

After embracing Twilight for a short time, her older brother looked down to her, deeply concerned.
“What's going on? Why is Tyler not with you?”

Looking down, tears filled her eyes.
“They took him.”

“What?”

Placing a few shots at the Descendants, Rachel then turned around.
“Rather “Mr. I woo Pony Princesses” wanted to play hero and sacrificed his freedom and the freaking Elements of Harmony for us to be spared.”

Both Shining and Cadance exchanged some concerned looks, but then nodded at each other with smiles before Shining raised Twilight's chin again.
“Well then his plan came together. You're here to fight another round in the ring. We brought the Griffins and Masar as well, each party is wreaking havoc among the Descendants.”

Pointing his thumb at the shooting behind the cover, Flynn shook his head.
“Yeah, about that? We're stuck here. I suppose you don't have some Masar to help us out here?”

“So, seems you all have a nice shootout with the Descendants?”

“Well, we're short on weapons. Rachel is our only means to fight back.”

While Lyra and Rarity charged her up, Rachel looked over to Shining.
“I may be just one Marine, but I'm taking some of them down at least. These Descendants have a worse aim than the imperial troopers from Star Wars!”

Holding his head down, Flynn grinned.
“Oh yeah? Well, they managed to hit each R2D2 and Princess Leia once.”

Rolling his eyes, Sam couldn't but chuckle.
“Oh yes... Out of all the hundreds of shots fired, two actually hit the main cast. Progress!”

Cadance arched a brow.
“There are princesses on your world as well? I though you didn't have monarchy anymore.”

Shaking her head, Rachel grinned.
“Oh, we do! But they're talking about a movie princess. Just forget it!”

Giving her husband another concerned look, Cadance shook her head now.
“Shining, what are we going to-”

“Cady! I have to wonder a bit about you. This is the man who got me out of the clutches of a Changeling hive! Tyler is like a brother to me. We owe it to him to redo the favor!” Shining retorted on the spot.

Giving it a smirk, Cadance arched a brow at her husband.
“Alright then! We'll bolster their defenses with our force fields.”

Rachel nodded and looked at the couple.
“Well, your help sure is welcome. I could take them down far more easily if I only had the time to aim properly. With a bulletproof shield that would be a walk through the park.”

Aiming blindly, she shot several times out of her cover, resulting in one distinctive scream.
“Will Helm! NO!!!”

Now another voice barked over the covers.
“You Rangers are surrounded! Surrender your weapons and we'll spare you!”

Fighting the urge to laugh, Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Oh, I'm sure they'll do that.”

Cadance then began to beam.
“Maybe now's the right time to hand you over what we got out of the Ranger HQ before heading to the battlefield. Shining?”

Hauling a big bag from the shadows, Shining placed it in front of Rachel.
“Heavy stuff. But they told us you were trained in handling this one.”

When Rachel opened the bag and took a brief look at the content, she beamed and placed a big kiss on Cadance's nose.
“That's going to work wonderfully!”

The Descendants were on their edge now. For half an hour they were fighting the Harmony Rangers with prolonged resistance, yet all of a sudden, the Rangers seized their fire.
“What's this? Are they out of ammo?”

“Must be... They can't charge them up so fast with only two unicorns.

It was then when Rachel's voice became audible again.
“Alright! You've won! We're coming out! Don't shoot us!”

One Descendant wanted to arrest them at once, but was held back by another.
“Don't be fooled so easily... We lower our guard and they'll shoot us in the head...” Raising his voice, he faced the Rangers again. “Throw over your weapon! I know you still have your pistol! I've seen it!”

“OK!” The Beretta was tossed over to the Descendants, who now began to smirk. A shield was erected and one by one, the Rangers stood up with their arms held high. Sam and Flynn looked not happy about the situation. Even Shining Armor and Cadance peeked up. The sight caused the Descendants to smirk in mischief. Finally they had their arch nemesis in captivity. But then Rachel stood up and all the smirks withered.

Coming in front, Rachel held her 'Bic Mac' vulcan minigun with a big sadistic grin. Pointing the barrels at the Descendants, she started the motor and with a whirring sound, the barrels began to spin. What followed was an inferno of attack spells raining upon her targets as Rachel began to laugh maniacally as well. When she seized fire, the Descendants in front of them were nothing more than smoking corpses or shaking ponies too afraid to even move a muscle. The only thing making a sound in that moment was the still whirring motor. Giving a satisfied sigh, Rachel closed her eyes and grinned.
“Man, what a kick...”

Cadance grimaced at the sight in front of her.
“Such a terrible weapon of destruction...”

“Not comparable with what the alicorn attack spells did to Shadowgate...” Rachel retorted. Cadance didn't like this comparison but had to agree. Alicorns were able to do so much more damage than humans.

* * * * *

In the throne room, Asira appeared after a sudden flash of teleportation, much to Lamira's surprise.
“Asira? What happened?”

Gasping for air, Asira shook her head.
“Luna turned into Nighmare Moon again! One can't reason with her anymore. She's out for blood.”

Just when Lamira wanted to say something, Celestia raised her head again, a stern expression on her face.
“How many lives do you have to ruin until your lust for revenge is sated, Lamira? How many of your Descendants have to die in vain until you give up this fruitless crusade?”

Foaming in anger, Lamira turned to Celestia.
“Why don't you just shut the buck up before I-”

Interrupted in midsentence, the door was blown open and Twilight stood in it with the Elements and Harmony Rangers as well as the Crystal Pony members of the alliance.
“Your plans are finished, Darkness Sisters!”

Raising her minigun up, Rachel's eyes narrowed.
“Hand over Princess Celestia and Head Ranger Tyler and leave this land at once!”

The Descendants also raised their weapons, but Princess Lamira interfered.
“HOLD IT!” The pressure wave with her command caused several Descendants to fall over, causing Lamira to giggle and harrumph a bit. “Hold it, my beloved subjects. Stand aside and make way for them.”

While the Descendants made way towards the throne, Rachel shook her head.
“Not gonna happen, bitch! At least here in the doorway we could find cover from your attacks!”

Looking over to her sister, Asira now arched a brow. Lamira enjoyed this visibly. Coming over to the Rangers, she eyed Rachel with the wish for murder in her eyes.
“Quite a fancy weapon you got there... Do you know how to use it or is it just for show?”

Aiming the six barrels at Princess Lamira's face, Rachel's eyes narrowed.
“Considering the amount of dead Descendants this baby got me in the last ten minutes, you bet I do!”

“Don't waste your magic on her, Rachel...” Cadance now interfered, “...She's trying to make fun out of you. There's no way alicorns can be harmed by unicorn magic in the little magnitude the human body can endure. But alicorn magic can harm her for sure...”

Looking over to Cadance, Lamira now sneered at her.
“Ooooohh... The Princess of Love... I'm shaking! What are you planning to do? Turn the Descendants against us? Forcing them to kiss us to death?” Laughter now filled the hall.

But Cadance kept her cool.
“No, I was more thinking of a close bond between your heart and my horn. Release my aunt right this instant!”

That threat was enough to bring Lamira's amusement to a sudden stop.
“You are right. Perhaps the opportunity to joke is best saved for another time...” While trotting back towards the throne, Lamira's horn charged up and all of a sudden the floor behind the friends was under fire, cutting off their only way to escape. The fire was spreading fast and within a second, had the friends surrounded. “Descendants! Shoot everypony jumping out to safety! It will be a nice training for the bombardment of Equestria. We're just getting warmed up!”

Trying to get a clear aim despite the flames, Rachel held the minigun high.
“Are you afraid to face us yourself without any hostages, you cowardly snakes?”

Stepping through the flames unharmed, both alicorns approached the Rangers,
“Snakes we are now...? Perhaps you'd like to see-” A loud and primal roar which reminded the ponies of dragons, yet sounded more like a T-Rex to the humans, interrupted the two sisters, followed by a loud, almost thundering heartbeat. Upon hearing this heartbeat, a feeling of unrest and anxiety befell the alicorn mares present in Nagohod. A feeling powerful enough to snap Nightmare Moon out of her killing frenzy. Like the shell of an egg, the dark sphere cracked and hiccuped like trying to keep its content further in bondage. Then, with yet another audible heartbeat, the Heart of Darkness shattered and splattered all over the floor. Celestia, who was directly behind the Heart of Darkness, felt her throat tightening, feeling the presence of the entity coming outside the most. Her pupils shrank down to dots while her eyes widened. 'This vile being... This can't be Tyler...'

And what emerged was nothing good. Soaked in blood, the humanoid form rose from the ground. And though it was Tyler, at the same time it wasn't him. The exposure to the full power of the Heart of Darkness had turned him into a wicked form of his former self. His once blue eyes turned red and his pupils had become cat-like slits. The white in his eyes had vanished to a complete dark coloration and his dark hair had turned into a dark blue, almost moving by itself while sparkling. The aura surrounding him… It was the mighty aura of an alicorn of darkness and icy cold emanated from him. Celestia didn't recognize the tears running down her cheeks. It was the corruption of evil all over again. Just like with Luna before. 'No... Not again...'

Inhaling sharp, the new form had exhaled breath smoldering hot. With another primal and deafening roar this new demonic Tyler freed himself from the chains holding him, revealing a body with four times of the usual muscle mass. The blaring roar caused everyone around to cover their ears, a primal form of the Royal Canterlot Voice seemed to be at work here. Another sharp inhale followed as he turned around to Princess Lamira, who began to beam widely. Not interested in the all too easy targets trapped inside the flames, both Lamira and Asira approached this new dark champion.
“Welcome, my friend. Feel and indulge in the power of darkness. Commander Sonara? Undo the rest of his chains!” Sonara nodded and approached Tyler. While the unicorn stallion came closer, he noticed that Tyler's eyes followed him at his every move, empty and emotionless. Tyler was feared by the Descendants for a reason by now, was the cause of many of their recent defeats. But none of these defeats were of importance right now as the feeling of terror crawled up the stallion's back. Standing in front of Tyler, he levitated the chain just a second, before it happened.

With a quick and sudden move, Tyler had grabbed the head of the Commander and snapped the neck like a twig. This prompted the rest of the Descendants to jump away. It was as Celestia had feared. Now, filled to the brim with dark influence, Tyler had become a mindless berserker, not able to differ friend from enemy and with no valuation for life. Coming down the stairs one echoing step after another, the dark champion looked around as if taking note where to find the kills. Lamira gritted her teeth as her Descendants backed away more and more. The situation began to get out of hoof. A dark champion working against them was not what she intended.
"We are both part of the same grand game, Tyler Jones! But we don’t have to find ourselves on opposite sides of the board… Join us and you shall be granted powers beyond your imagination!"

But while Lamira got Tyler's attention, the only thing she earned from him was a low growl, before he unleashed another deafening roar. Whatever it was that had control over him, it deemed her its enemy. With Gravitation spells he hasted down the throne hall on the floor, the walls as well as on the ceiling, evading several dozen shots by the Descendants standing between Lamira and him before he jumped right into the middle of them for a bloody slaughter as bloody pony limbs flew through the air.

Flying up high, Princess Lamira looked down in shock at the terror her creation caused among her servants. No, ripping them apart limb for limb, this truly was no longer the man she captured on Earth. He looked at her with an empty impression, hissing like a predator readying itself for killing its prey. “What kind of monster are you…?” she said, shaking her head as his now dark colored fingernails carved deep into the stone pillar next to him, leaving no doubt on his intent to murder her just like the mortal ponies down there. 'Who… What is this creature? Are humans really so much more powerful when they are in the midst of our noble alicorn presence?' Slowly the black alicorn backed away. Reluctantly, she had to admit that she didn’t know how to handle such a wild human under so much dark influence. He seemed to be totally erratic and a complete berserk.

There was something in his eyes, something she couldn’t make out. And suddenly, without any further hesitation, Tyler leaped at her with superhuman strength. The first punch sent her head to the side, her vision flashing white for a moment, her ears ringing.
He could cause her pain, but he could never harm or hope to kill her. For this, she knew, he needed the horn of an alicorn and in her wisdom she didn't transform him to one. As her dark magic hit his shoulder, he clenched his teeth. The wound seemed painful, yet not deterring enough for him. Streams of dark magic left his body. “CURSES!!! WHY AREN’T YOU DYING?” But the monster she created didn’t answer to her.

* * * * *

Tyler woke up. He wasn't in the throne room. All around him was nothing but a gargantuan cathedral. While looking around, he overheard a heavy breathing, before he turned to face it. A human like himself, looking like himself, but with a stance far from anything civilized. Whirling around, this being growled like a rabid dog as it saw Tyler. Taking a step back, Tyler shook his head. This thing was him, only crossed with a caveman attitude. What struck him the most were these bloody red eyes that shined in this beast's eye-sockets. Without hesitation, this other creature jumped at him and delivered several punches, before it jumped back and Tyler fell to the ground. To say that it was simple and primitive in its attacks would be the understatement of the century. This wasn't the clumsy pummeling of an untrained man, these were precise strikes, hurtful, punctual, skillfully executed. And yet this creature punched out the wind of Tyler without killing him. Sitting there, it just growled at him.
“Great... Just what I need. A fucking stranger in God knows what a place and the others in peril...”

In this moment, another voice rose in the cathedral.
“Oh, he's not a stranger as such... He is Rage, awakened by Twilight and strengthened and surfaced by the Heart of Darkness.” When Tyler looked up, he saw himself standing in front of him in a third form as well. This third Tyler, his eyes were glowing in a blue tone, his irises not round, but like cat like slits... and the cold. He emanated this uneasy coldness, like a shiver running down the spine. Calm and sober he looked at Tyler, his face showing almost no emotion. 'Why isn't he attacked as I am?' Tyler thought. “Because Rage knows that he can not take on me...” The answer left Tyler stumped. He could read his mind? Shaking his head, this other Tyler now began to smile. “No... Our thoughts are one. Yet I am far more used to this than you are. Yet... Sooner or later you will learn to hear my thoughts as I can hear yours.”

“What is this place?”

“This is your mind. Or rather: The image we three agreed on in our subconscious mindsets to communicate with one another. A mind limbo, if you will.”

Looking around, Tyler eyed the walls of the cathedral.
“So... None of this here is real?”

“It is as real as you want it to be.”

“Wait a second... Agreed? I never agreed to have both of you here!”

Crossing his arms, the other Tyler shook his head.
“And we both didn't agree to be put in here. And yet: Here we are!”

Rolling to his side, Tyler looked up.
“Who are you...?”

But this earned him another growl from Rage.
“Careful! Rage doesn't like you moving. If you move too much, you'll have to face him again and we both know how that went until now.” When Tyler laid down once again, his alter ego came over and looked down to him. “I am Sage. But we don't have time to discuss pleasantries now. Tyler! That beast within you is rampaging in the real world.”

Looking up, Tyler nodded.
“I know. There’s little I can do. But at least he’s ripping them a new one in my name…”

“Oh? You leave him that much control over your body?”

“Well, do I have a choice?”

Sage wrinkled his nose at the remark.
“There’s always a choice, you pathetic worm! Don't talk like you don't have a choice! Besides… There are other warriors of Equestria on the field of battle right now…”

“WHAT???” A window opened in midair, showing Tyler the real world through the eyes of his own body. Right now, behind the enemy lines, who stood between his amok running body, were Cadance, Shining Armor and the others. A fact that filled Tyler's mind both with relief and concern. They had survived, yet they had to face the Descendants while his body was out on control on a bloody carnage. “I have to help them!”

“I agree. Rage currently doesn't care who or what he kills. But in order to defeat him out there, you'll have to defeat him in here first!” Glaring at the red-eyed Rage, Tyler had enough of this and stemmed himself up to his feet.

* * * * *

In the throne room, Cadence, Shining, the Harmony Rangers and the Element Bearers went into cover. A droplet of sweat ran down Cadance's forehead.
“By the stars... That's not a human anymore... He's murdering everypony!”

Shaking his head, Flynn remained in cover as not to be seen by this berserk.
“Well, basically he's just killing Descendants now. Comes to no surprise since there are mostly no other ponies than Descendants here. We should be lucky he's not after us.”

“Oh yeah? Well that might still-” Rachel was interrupted abruptly as two thundering noises came from the wall they were hiding in front. Raising a shield, Shining prepared himself for the worst. And as the wall detonated and the bricks flew left and right, Nightmare Moon stepped into the throne room, causing the Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers to look at her with big eyes.

But just as Twilight was about to say something, the Mare of Nightmares glared at Tyler and stepped right through Shining's shield dome like it wasn't even there.
“Cadance! Child! On your hooves and aid me! NOW!” Not knowing what's going on, Cadance complied and they both raised a massive shield dome.

It was then that another roar came from the amok running Tyler and he angled his limbs close to his body into a fetus stance while levitating over the ground. A harsh wind came up and a fierce vortex of magic leeching prompted the unicorns among the Descendants to collapse to the ground as if all life had faded them. With an immense quake, the vortex around the berserk running Tyler gained strength and sucked magic into his body, only for him to stretch his limbs out once again and release the magic into a fast growing dome of crackling, black lightning strikes with a wild roar. The floor was a smoking field of sheer rubble now. Whoever got hit by these strikes fell to the ground as well. Within seconds, the once filled throne room was void of all Descendants.

Cadance eyes were wide in terror.
“What a devastating magic attack technique... If we wouldn't have raised this shield up...”

“All that dark influence... It's like my darker side returned to wreak havoc upon all of us!”
Stomping her hoof on the ground, Nightmare Moon went into fighting stance. “But I am the Princess of the Night! The Warmaiden of Darkness! The Dark follows MINE every command! My father's dark madness will not avail over mine beloved!"

Looking over to the berserker running amok, Cadance narrowed her eyes.
“Tyler is fighting inside that beast! I can sense it! Deep within there's a battle for control over his body!”

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Shining glanced at his wife in worry..
“But how do we aid him?”

“The big question is, Shining: Can we aid him at all?”

* * * * *

Meanwhile Tyler got the beating of his life by his darker form. With inhumane speed and swiftness Rage kicked Tyler's legs off the ground, teleported to his side and delivered a hay-maker into Tyler's face while he still was falling. The impact to the ground felt hard and almost real.

It was then when Tyler thought he saw through it. Rage had to be his own subconscious, the darker part of him, the animal always out for a fight, the monster deep within. Of course it would be faster, stronger and more ruthless. It knew no restraints, no fear, no control, but it had all of his knowledge about fighting. Without any care for the opponent, Rage was the absolute fighter, the perfect killing machine.

And right now it was in total control over his body.

But how could he possibly destroy this thing in order to save the others? How could anyone ever hope to destroy a part of oneself? He seemed untouchable. Whenever Tyler tried to stand up, Rage simply took him and delivered a punch to keep him down.

Arching a brow, Sage looked down at Tyler, disgust in his eyes.
"And who do you think you are? You want to defeat dangers in order to defend others… But you cannot even defeat yourself!"

"SILENCE!!!" Tyler barked, "If you're not going to help, stay at least quiet!"

Folding his arms, Sage shook his head in disappointment.
“You're still trying to destroy yourself rather to accept of what you truly are?”

This made Tyler listen up.
“What is that supposed to mean?”

"It means that you began to accept me already because you deem me useful, but you refuse to accept your violent, ruthless version that yearns for bloodshed."

Tyler's eyes widened. Of course! Assimilating this ultimate fighter into himself would make him... Realization brought him back to the ground.
"No, forget it! If this goes wrong, I'll be more violent than before!"

“Wrong!” Sage retorted, “You would be unbeatable. Of course, it would be a given that you would struggle with your inner demon for the rest of your life..." Another punch threw Tyler around and he gritted his teeth. 'Either I risk it or I die trying. Time is running out for the others.' But the sudden silence unnerved Tyler. That's when Sage spoke up again. “Well then... Seems he finally spotted Luna's form of Nightmare Moon.”

Looking up to the window to the outside world, he could see how Rage was storming at the others. That's when his pupils shrank to dots.
“Not them… NOT THEM!!!”

* * * * *

As soon as the berserker almost reached Nightmare Moon, there was a sudden pressure wave and a blinding white light emitting from Tyler’s body. Dust was whirled through the air and the War Maiden of the Night raised her wing in order to keep the dust at bay. But there was no hurtful blow that hit her. Instead Tyler’s silhouette just stood there,static. When the dust began to sink down, Nightmare could see that this wasn’t Tyler anymore. What stood there was yet another form of his. No longer the mindless berserker, but something frightening in a completely different way… a man who looked similar to Tyler’s usual look, but had slightly, shoulder-long dark brown hair. His pupils were like Nightmare Moon’s and the iris was glowing in a bright blue in contrast to the former red.

Dressed in a dark billowing coat that billowed without a breeze like a cape. Narrowing her eyes, she gave this a closer look. This clothing… Then, as she realized the meaning of it, her eyes widened. Tyler wasn’t merely a puppet in this transformation. No, he was actually channeling the dark influence that went into his body outside of it again. But while he was unable to get rid of it completely, he made sure that it wrapped around him like clothing and armor instead of clouding his mind and judgment. Gulping down a heavy lump, she looked at her own armor.

He copied her! Yes, this was exactly the thing she was doing right now. Her own magic and influence had hardened her cuirass. 'To copy an alicorn technique just like that…' Just how strong was the human will? No longer was he a plaything for alicorns, no leaf flying helpless among their enormous winds of power… Like a bird, he was able to bend and catch on these winds, taking full advantage of them. And filled with that much dark influence… despite being mortal, he was a force to reckon with. Deep within, her heart raced like a young filly in heat. This beat got even faster as he bowed down to her to put his lips on hers for an intimate kiss.

Turning around, this new Tyler now then gazed at Princess Lamira and Princess Asira. His very presence felt different than before. No longer the boasting daredevil or the mindless berserker, but something far worse. And Tyler himself? An unprecedented force of life rushed through his body as he felt the influence Sage had put him under. Now that Rage was tamed, Sage and Tyler seemed to share the control to some degree. But never before did he feel so alive. There was no battle he couldn't face feeling like this. Whatever Sage had done now, there was no feeling like this. The whole world had a whole new spectrum of thrills and sensations. 'What would loving someone feel in this state? What would killing...' It was then when he snapped out of it with a dark chuckle and finally recognized the two alicorn enemies in front of him. Upon seeing them in front of him, his eyes fixated Asira, stabbed right through her. Yet somehow, Tyler could hear his own voice despite having nothing to say. In an instant it occurred to him. Sage was in control of his body now.
“Wait! What's this? Dark Miss... I thought you'd have enough. It's fate. What bliss... Dark Miss... Your folly will cost you dear. My dear... You'll see, you'll never escape me! I'm here! I fear that you will pay dear, my dear...”

Cocking her head, Lamira gave this new Tyler a sneering glance.
“And who in Tartarus' name do you think you are?”

Intensifying the eye contact with Asira, Tyler now stared at the alicorn, his catlike eyes beginning to glow blue while a sadistic grin formed on his lips. Slowly but surely, that glow became fierce as his eyes almost penetrated directly through the Alicorn of Darkness.
“Why don't you ask your sister?” he hissed.

Lamira clenched her teeth as an all too familiar voice erected right beside her.
“La- Lamira... He's hurting me...” When the alicorn princess looked at her sister, she saw Asira's lips shaking, her body trembling in fear, her wings clamped down as she stared at Tyler. That gaze... Somehow this human was having telepathic contact with Asira, showing her sinister, dark and unknown horrors. Once Asira closed her eyes and shook her head in terror with a helpless yelp, she took a step back, causing Tyler to laugh out loud. Without laying a hand on her, he had make her retreat, what filled his mind with victory.

“ASIRA!!! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!!!” Lamira barked at her, causing the alicorn to snap out of it.

Taking a heavy gulp, the alicorn nodded while a drop of sweat was running down her forehead.
“Forgive me, dear sister... He got me by surprise there... It... It was a mental violation!”

Whatever happened to this human, he sure was a whole different type of dangerous than in the unpredictable berserk before. This berserk had been a wild animal, this human here was calculating, perverse and sinister. To make matters worse, he was of nigh equal stand. This was by no chance the same human they captured back on Earth. Giving a smirk, this new Tyler now shook his head gently.
“You done goofed!” This sentence alone caused the humans to snort in laughter.

“Beast of Tartarus!” Not wasting any time, Asira shot her dark magic right at Tyler’s shoulder, but the dark coat he was wearing absorbed the most of the blow and grew larger. Several drops of his blood fell to the ground, leaving Asira stumped. That blow was powerful enough to obliterate his shoulder into a bloody carnage. More so, it already detonated an entire pony stallion!

Erecting a forcefield, Tyler then turned to Twilight.
“Get the Elements and free Celestia!” Giving a brief nod, Twilight galloped towards the chest as more Descendants stormed in from the main entrance, but also the Masar and Griffin that stormed in from the sides. Among them Grinko and Griffith, both covered in the blood of Descendants and accompanied by their parents.

In the mind limbo, Tyler looked over to Sage
“Sage, hand me some control, will you? I've got to ask the girls something while I can.”

“Hm... Nothing wrong with that, but make it quick. I need full concentration, OK? Your thoughts are still too unfocused.”

Standing back to back to her in the real world, Tyler then turned his head to Nightmare Moon.
“Luna! Girls… Will you four marry me?”

It was then when the members of his herd listened up in a surprised manner. Asking such a thing in the heat of battle… The Tyler they knew was surely in this person and not some evil berserker any more.
“Thou really ask the strangest things in the midst of battle... But it's certainly not unwelcome. Let us discuss this later!”

Back in Tyler's mind limbo, Sage looked over to him, puzzled.
“Really? That question? Out of the blue and in this situation?”

Tyler, standing right next to him only chuckled.
“Shut up! Something to look ahead for is never wrong.” Firing another round at the Descendants while Twilight attempted to break the elements free from the case, Tyler then raised several force fields like shields to get the others more cover from the sides.

Taking a look at the case the elements were kept in, Twilight shook her head. These locks were quite sturdy and protected by several dozen spells in order to repel any attempt of magical lock-picking. But as it was, she knew someone who could help her opening them anyway.
“Tyler! Help me out!”

Seeing Tyler running towards Twilight and the chest with the locked away Elements of Harmony, Princess Lamira gritted her teeth, seeing their intent at once.
“NO!!!” Shooting a highly energized beams of magic, Lamira bombarded the area around the case, to hinder Tyler from getting them. Several shields broke down and Tyler pushed Twilight back into cover before the first couple of beams went down on him. Concentrating the attack spell on his hands, Lamira gritted her teeth as his grip on the locks didn't seem to cease. With a fierce roar he used the charged magic to destroy the case's locks and stemmed it open, freeing the elements, which now emanated a bright, almost blinding light as they were levitated up, forcing the Darkness Sisters and their minions to turn away.

As the light ceased, the Elements had returned to their rightful bearers and Tyler and the Harmony Rangers stood united between the Element Bearers and the Darkness Sisters with their Descendants. Fuming in anger, Lamira gritted her teeth while looking at Tyler.
“YOU!!! You shall stand no longer between us and our fate!”

His glare hardening, Tyler clenched his fists, focusing the magic in them.
“But I will! I will always stand before you if you want to harm the ones I love!”

Lamira was about to spit another curse, before she realized the situation, re-evaluating it completely. And while Nagohod was still ascending into the sky, something far worse than anger rose on her face. Princess Lamira began to smile.
“I see… Your power has grown in the Heart of Darkness and you somehow managed to preserve your mind… I don’t know how and frankly I don’t care! You’re just another mortal… Powerful, yet still mortal! So I will just keep hacking and slicing until you die!”

Standing in front of the others, Tyler smirked. The way things turned out now could be to their advantage.
“Princess Lamira… the more you two fight me, the mightier I will become… But I won't hinder you to do mistakes... Are you mare enough to face me on your own?”

Lamira's smile withered and the friends were uncertain if that was for good or for worse. With a strict and sober glare she faced Tyler.
“Anyone who opposes us will be destroyed... No matter who! Masar, Griffin, ponies or apes like you!”

Looking over to Tyler, Rachel shook her head.
“Jones! You can't do that on your own!”

Never letting Lamira and Asira out of sight, Tyler began to focus.
“Oh yes, I can! Rangers! Get the royals and Elements of Harmony back to safety! Don't wait for me, evacuate the alliance members without me. The four of you, that's an order!!!”

Now Cadance, Shining Armor, Grinko, Griffith and Twilight lead the rest of the Mane Six and the regal sisters towards the Rangers, who escorted them out.
“Come on! That's not the Tyler we know anymore. The stars know what's going on in his head right now.”

While they retreated Queen Sheeris nodded over to Celestia.
“An impressive young man...”

Nodding over to Lamira, Tyler now continued to smirk, causing the Princess of Malice to grit her teeth. 'What insolence! How dares he to challenge us like that... But I can oblige... I will make an example out of him.'
“Descendants!!! Out!!! Drive the enemies back down into the sea and out of the skies! LEAVE US!!!”

Two minutes passed and both the members of the alliance as well as all remaining Descendants had retreated from the throne room. As the two alicorns approached him, his boots and their hooves echoed with every step the three of them took. This would be it. Himself and these two settling it. No bystanders, no Descendants or Rangers to interfere. Tyler could almost see the silent rage Lamira was enduring now. It all played into his plan now. Gritting her teeth, Lamira then suddenly smiled again.
“You know, I should thank you. Your own stupidity to believe that you could face the two of us on your own has sealed your fate. To get rid of the worst troublemaker after he lost all his strength will make a fine treat. You have made me a happy mare...”

It was in this moment when Tyler once more began to grin sadistically. 'She fell for it...'
“Next I'll make you a dead one!” With that, he began to charge directly at them both Just as Lamira wanted to blast Tyler with alicorn magic, he teleported and reappeared to the left of her, punching her face hard to the right, causing her to tilt back.

Lightning strikes twitched through Black Omen as the three opponents faced each other.
Foaming in rage, Lamira snorted at Tyler's insolence. How dared he to oppose them in close combat!
“You have to do better than that!”

But this only earned her a grin from Tyler.
“OK!” Again, he teleported out of sight, only to re-appear behind them and shot a ball of energy at Lamira's sweet spot right between her hind legs, causing her to shriek in pain. “Not that you'll use that without an alicorn stallion, you barren, incestuous lesbian!”

Turning around, Lamira got out of her mind and roared in blind anger before a pressure wave blasted away half of the throne room's east wing. Tyler, being caught by the wave, barely managed to cast a shield strong enough to withstand such power. The result was certain damage to his clothing. Shaking his head for a bit he then grinned once more. A sight that worried Asira for a bit.
“He’s stronger. Way stronger than before, my sister! Could it be that-”

“NO!!!” Lamira exclaimed while stomping her hoof to the ground. “The prophecy of the Tilerions is false! An ancient pony’s tale to scare alicorn foals! And even IF he were to be Tilerions, he's still weak enough to die! The fact that he's down there now gives proof to that! You've been quite passive these last few minutes... How about you do your duty, little sister while I get a cool head and patch up these aching, sore muscles of mine?”

Arching a brow, Asira shook her head.
“A muscle? Really? I think he aimed for something below that muscle.” Ignoring her sister's enraged growl, Asira focused on Tyler. “You love to provoke, don't you? Playing mind games with us...” The surroundings became darker and darker until Asira and Tyler were engulfed in total darkness. Only her voice was audible now. “I wonder... You see, Celestia told us about how your kind has horses and ponies in similar shape and form to ours, only as animals. And there I thought Celestia would be the one who's sickening...”

In Tyler's mind limbo, he looked over to Sage and gulped.
“She's trying to provoke us.”

Sage only gave it a sneer.
“Not gonna happen. She doesn't know what really ticks us off. We've passed the cultural shock a long, long time ago. Appleseed is testimony to that.”

While Tyler tried to see something in the blackness, Asira slowly encircled him, seeing him clearly in the darkness.
“Celestia also told us about you, Tyler Jones... About your many achievements... If one could name them as such. What surprised me the most was the procreation of a little filly...” Now both Sage and Tyler looked up, both equally silent. There was a certain sadism in her tone that showed her ill will for Tyler's daughter. “She made it sound like a real cutie. Once we're done with you, and before we begin with our crusade of destruction throughout Equestria, I shall take personal pleasure in taking care of this little bastard on my own...”

In the next moment, Sage supercharged in Tyler's mind limbo with a fierce roar and Tyler's body jumped at Asira, breaking through the darkness with a hellish blue glow in his eyes.
“NO!!!”

Surprised, the alicorn mare didn't expect him either to break so easily through her illusion, nor to attack that boldly, so she raised a shield to repel him. But each of his punches sucked some energy from her shield and thus each blow became stronger than the one before. Backing away, Asira quickly ran out of space to evade. Although Tyler agreed to protect his daughter from the clutches of the dark princesses, the extent of violence wasn't to his liking.
“Sage! Stop! Do you want to stop her or do you want to kill her?!?”

Gritting his teeth, Sage simply stared at Asira, lust for blood all over his face.
“As if it's not your wish as well! This beast! THIS BITCH!!! I'LL DESTROY HER!!! I'LL DESTROY EVERYONE WHO ATTEMPTS TO HARM APPLESEED!!! RAGE!!! HAND ME MORE POWER!!!”

Staring at Sage, Tyler didn't believe his ears. Like Rage, who knew no restraints at all while running amok, Sage seemed to have no moral restraints in his fury as it came to punish those who wanted to harm the ones he held dear. Sage, unlike Tyler, wasn't bound to conscience. Was he a darker version of Tyler, a mastermind of evil? No doubt his name was chosen with a purpose, since he could take one type of magic and transform it to another. He was a master of magic, yet his goals remained a mystery.

But as Tyler looked a bit more closer at Sage, he saw the fine glitter of tears. Tears of sheer hatred. There was this unforgiving and abyssal hatred oozing and emanating from him that frightened Tyler. The darkest pit of human behavior, the dark mirror image of what Tyler wanted to be. This was Sage. Pure magic power with no regard for the life of others than those who are held dear. And deep within, in the darkest corners of himself, Tyler had to admit that the wish to harm Asira just like that had occurred to him as well, if only for a second. Then it occurred to him: Sage was his very own version of Nightmare Moon. But this destructive hatred, however just it may be, had taken control over him in the past, now he had to overcome this fathomless hatred of his darker self. For this was Tyler's body and above all he would have a say if his hands were spoiled with alicorn blood.

By now Tyler's real fists slammed down with thundering brute force to the magic shield protecting the cornered Asira, the shield fluctuated under the constant barrage of punches and the mare's face beneath it showed an expression of fear and terror with each hit while deep inside Tyler struggled against his own shadows.
“Stop it! SAGE, I SAID STOP IT!!!” But then the final blow pierced through Asira's shield and hit its target with an unhindered blow. With a painful screech, Asira fell to the ground, her eyes shut tight in pain, the tip of her horn broken.

Just in this moment, Tyler regained control over his body and he saw what Sage had done in his anger. Unlike before, when Tyler demolished Queen Chrysalis' entire horn, this time merely the tip was broken. For the alicorn, this seemed to be painful nonetheless. But there was no time to regret this as up above Lamira's voice boomed down.
“ASIRA!”

Jumping back, Tyler then evaded the magic beam attack as the older sister came to Asira's aid. Standing in front of her sister, shielding her with her wings and body, Lamira's eyes glowed in a fierce red coloration.
“You accursed monkey... For what you did right now, I want your head on a spit!”

“She brought that upon herself by enraging me to that extent.” Tyler retorted, “I didn't want to hurt her like that, but she left me no choice. By fueling my anger to that level, she had to endure the attack until I was able to reel it back in. That's what you get for turning others into monsters.”

Lamira eyed him coldly, her voice sounded as poisonous as if she wanted to attack Tyler with every word of hers.
“Excuses to save your own skin from my own rage now. But I will make you pay for that wound. HOW DARE YOU TO HARM HER!!! It is blasphemy, it is outrageous...”

Pointing over to Asira, Tyler arched a brow. Maybe this incident could flip to his advantage. Sadly, of that he was certain, this was a very big maybe.
“I know about the pain this had inflicted to her. I have seen it before in a similar case. By now her will to fight is broken. I have proven to you that I can take on you two... Let us stop this fight while we still can. There is no reason to continue this madness!”

“Madness?” A sneer formed on her lips just for a second before her voice boomed through the entire hall. “WE! ARE!! ALICORN!!!” Stomping her hoof to the ground, Lamira lowered her head as she went into fighting stance. “Fighting Asira has weakened you. But since you're able to cause injury to our horns by no doubt some sort of sneaky trickery, I'll stop toying with you.”

Tyler shook his head.
“You mistake losing power with getting it under control again! Lamira... I pity you!” Inside his head, Tyler's mind was racing. 'Alright... Sage? Tell me she's bluffing. Is there any way she can have more where that power came from?' A humming became audible as Sage was thinking. 'You know? Maybe it wasn't that wise of me to put out one without the other...' Tyler gritted his teeth. 'Shit!'

In the next moment, Lamira had moved faster than he could react. With alicorn agility, the Princess of Malice had raised her right hoof and buried it bent and deep within his stomach. Like this it had the same effect of a strong punch or a knee rammed into his belly. Tyler gasped desperately for air. Lamira remained on her place and began to smirk.
“You beating me? I'm too determined to be defeated by a worm like you...” Turning around, she used her hind legs and gave Tyler a kick that sent him flying. Sliding over the ground, he held his ribs, which had cracked during that attack and was bending in agony. Slowly approaching her opponent, Lamira then charged her horn. “Something wrong, monkey? Come here prepared to face a madmare and instead you find a goddess?” Lightning struck from her horn into his body, causing him to scream in agony until his skin began to smoke. Looking up, Tyler stemmed himself up with a roar and attempted to counterattack, but a magic beam into his stomach ended that approach at once.

Blood now dripped to the ground. All of his muscles were burning, shivering. His right side limp, his upper body free of any clothing with scorched skin all over him and partially ripped off by jumping from the ground, Tyler was barely able to stand. The sound of hoof-steps echoed in his mind as Lamira stood in front of him.
“You are a fool for fighting me, monkey. No matter how you reach for the stars, you will never EVER reach them.” A sadistic grin grew on her face. “Now... Begone!” With that a pressure wave tossed Tyler out of the great eye socket of the gargantuan pony bust and out of Nagohod in a wide trajectory.

The world grew dark once more. Cold air passed him and he knew he was falling to his demise. This was the end. There was no hope to survive this. Not if the opponents were immortal and have an unlimited supply of magic and you don't. 'I thought you said we could take them on...' The reply didn't need any waiting time, for Sage answered on the spot. '“I did. But I never said it would be a walk in the park if you bitch around for morality! You're still holding back Rage. Which is understandable. He was a berserker that attacked anyone and out of every control. You are alone now, the others are out of reach and only you, the two of us and these alicorns are fighting here. Nothing to stop you from releasing him and me now to full capacity. Do it! Only with the full power of the two of us can you hope to defeat Lamira. Only our combined force can take her on as equal. So grant him some space inside of you. Rage is the beast deep inside of you. And right now this beast agrees that they are the enemy, not you or me. It will not die! It will fight back, surpassing limits that are yours alone!”'

Live or die..

Another heartbeat thumped through Tyler as the cold air around him suddenly became blazingly hot. As he opened his eyes, they were glowing blue as before, yet this time with normal irises. A pressure wave emitted from him as he kick-started a force field around him and gained in altitude again. As his wounds healed by within seconds, he felt alive. So infinitely alive as light, darkness and instinct were united as one unbroken force of nature. Like this, it felt like nothing in the world could ever hope to stop him. Crashing through several tons of falling debris, he hauled off with a fierce roar and penetrated the immense stone armor of Nagohod. This sudden immense well of magic... It was nothing like being charged with magic. He felt the princesses' magic grip on Nagohod and could tap in on that. Both Sage and Rage could do what he couldn't and this made them necessary evils at the moment. Not fighting each other, the three of them created something completely new and powerful. He could sense the very magic he used and that surrounded him.

Up above in the throne room, Lamira stood above her Asira, caressing her mane while her sister shed tears in pain.
“Asira... My beloved sister...No need to be afraid of this insect. I took care of that”

Shaking her head, Asira looked up to her big sister, her once booming voice frail and timid.
“These humans... They are worse than the terrors of old.” Clenching her teeth, Asira shed another couple of tears. “My horn hurts so much...”

Bowing her head down to Asira, Lamira nuzzled her crying sibling.
“I will get them for what that monster did to you. Time to end them all...” Standing tall again, Lamira trotted over to her eye of the throne room. 'I'll bombard Equestria from up here. These little maggots won't know what's coming until the flames will give them insight to their impending and inevitable doom...' However, just when she was standing next to the giant eye socket and supercharged her horn for the final attack, she stopped when she noticed something out of the ordinary. “What the Tartarus?” A tremble went trough the hall Lamira was standing in as Tyler smashed through the ground and stormed right at her, roaring in a mixture of pain and rage. Fighting like this was taking it's toll on his body no matter what. But now he had a fighting chance.

Spinning around, the Princess of Malice was more than surprised to see him return. He was different once again. And this aura? This was not the aura of an alicorn, but equally strong. The following punch set her vision flashing white and send her back to her sister
“Get away from the window, YOU BITCH!!!”

With sheer hatred, Lamira hissed at Tyler. Unlike Asira, who was intimidated by his unfamiliar power, Lamira showed no signs of fear and was willing to take the fight to Tyler.
“YOU!!! How many times do I have to kill you, ape?”

The feeling of empowerment rushed through Tyler's veins. No longer was dialogue between him and the two phantoms needed. Every single one agreed on it. They would face the Darkness Sisters and end this conflict once and for all.
“Sorry it took so long. I was setting some things right with myself. But now I'm all here for you for a nice beating.”

Anger and confusion formed on Lamira's face.
“How could you regain consciousness after being beaten to nigh death? Or gather so much magic again? You alone shouldn't be able to do that!”

Looking down to his muscles, Tyler had to agree that this wondrous revival of his fighting prowess and the surpassing of his former limits wasn't easy to explain. Looking up to Lamira once again, he gave her a challenging smirk.
“You're quite right that I couldn't do that on my own...” His voice now became different once more. As his eyes began to glow blue, Tyler spoke in two voices at once, underlined with a steady growl from a third voice. “By your doing, I've become the legendary Tilerions, the tri-faced time scourge feared by the time ponies and alicorns of old. I am the 'first human', your worst nightmare!”

While Asira winced at these words, Lamira spat on the ground in hatred while supercharging her horn once more.
“You shall be my first human victim, ape!”

Within split seconds, Tyler's entire body supercharged and orbs of energy formed in his hands while he jumped up and levitated high over Lamira.
“EAT THIS!!!” In the next moment Tyler unleashed a fierce beam of hellish red lightning magic. Gritting her teeth, Lamira raised a shield, blocking the immense beam of destructive magic while the very air around her shield quaked.
'Impossible! How can he suddenly muster so much power? The Heart of Darkness was only supposed to turn him over to Darkness, maybe strengthening him to some degree, but not like this!' The shield withstood the lightning beam, but Lamira was slowly pushed away while everything else in the path of the beam was obliterated.

Seeing the immense spells shooting high up in the sky, the enormous beams firing from the still ascending Nagohod into the far horizon, the myriad of different detonations both chemical and magical, the ponies down below shook their heads in awe. Celestia looked up to Nagohod with an expression of worry.
“I wonder if he's alright...”

Twilight merely shook her head in disbelief.
“How can he still have all that magic? Or withstand all that stress? This doesn't make sense...”

With a sudden flash, Discord appeared leaning against the lavender alicorn, a smirk on his lips.
“Making sense? Oh what ever do you mean, Twilight? With all the chaos he's currently lacking, I deem him perfectly fit to battle these two now. It makes perfect sense to me.”

Looking up to Discord, Twilight shook her head, not understanding a word.
“Lacking chaos? What do you mean?”

At the sound of yet another, more fierce detonation, Discord's eyes returned back to Nagohod.
“You will learn about it soon enough, Twilight. He seems to have finally found a way to overcome his inner chaos...”

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other.
“Inner chaos?” Celestia and Discord exchanged some glances and despite his earlier smirking, the former Spirit of Chaos gave her a concerned nod.

Meanwhile the clash inside of Nagohod grew more fierce with each passing moment. Firing a highly energized beam of magic at him, Lamira tried to hold Tyler at bay. But Tyler simply absorbed the alicorn magic and ejected it out at once while homing in to her. Maybe he wasn't able to store big amounts of it, but the little he could take with Sage's help was enough to face Lamira. Stemming himself against her never-ending beam of magic, Tyler teleported away and reappeared directly below her, digging his fist deep into her stomach with a thundering punch that caused Lamira to spit blood. Looking up and into her eyes, Tyler thought he saw skull shaped pupils in her eyes just for a second. And before Tyler knew it, her magic got hold of him and catapulted him away with a powerful blow, prompting Tyler to yell in temporary helplessness.

Smashing Tyler into one of the many towers of Nagohod, Lamira took off and homed in on him. Tyler looked up from the impact hole he caused into the wall as he saw the incoming alicorn menace charging directly at him, lust for blood in her red glowing eyes.
“TYLER JONES!!!”

It didn't matter to her if he was of equal strength as an alicorn. This could only mean he was suffering the same weaknesses. She only had to pierce his heart with her horn and he would be done for. The tower collapsed as she smashed into him and they broke out on the other side of the tower. Her horn, however, only managed to pierce his right shoulder. Tyler, upon recognizing her plan, grabbed her head and planted his knee into her throat, forcing her to sway back from him, what only gave him time to kick her hard, so her body slammed down into Nagohod's main body, causing a deep impact. Several other towers now fell as well.

Flying high above, Tyler raised his arms high and accumulated massive amounts of magic to form a gigantic, bright orb of magic for his next attack

Down below, Lamira's hateful screams became audible again.
“That bucking ape! How I hate you! Wait! What's going on? I can see a light.”

With a sadistic grin, Tyler slammed the bright orb down into the hole.
“WALK TOWARDS IT!!!” The resulting detonation thundered throughout the entire fortress, causing several more parts to collapse. Landing down there, he held his bleeding shoulder as healing magic was working in a rapid rate. Looking through the clouds of dust, he gave his best to spot her.“Where are you?!?” The ground to his feet began to tremble and seconds after, Lamira broke through from below, her mane a mess, her coat dirty and roughed up, her eyes showing only one wish: The wish to end him. And in the midst of the mighty fortress, which was falling apart under their clash, both opponents gave their all to best the other in close combat, exchanging punches and kicks. From the side, Asira mustered all her strength to lift her head. There they were, fighting, their punches thundering through the hall.

Infuriated by Tyler's persistence and defiance, Lamira more and more got more lurid with her attacks.
“Why aren't you dying? Your body shouldn't be able to withstand all this magic!” And yet, his body managed to evade most of her powerful punches by magically accelerating out of harms way. When both Tyler and Lamira blocked each others attacks, Tyler's whole body began shining brightly, prompting Lamira to teleport away just in time before a magical detonation emanated from him, blasting several tons of rubble away. Reappearing in mid-air, she spread her wings and bombarded him with a shower of magical projectiles.

Asira's body shivered at the sight of him simply ascending of the cloud of smoke her sister's attack had left. He was nothing but a destroyer. When he, the destroyer came for them and stood in their way, they attacked. Never had they've been defeated. He was like the many others that came before him in all the ages. Strange, hideous, resisting, fighting. Yet one thing about him was different. He did not die nor did he hesitate to fight them. Unlike the others before him, he inflicted them pain, brought them misery and defeat. And most of all: Try as they might, they couldn't defeat his will to fight them. Now her sister was fighting him with her all and still this creature showed no sign of fear or intimidation. No, not since they've left Earth. But maybe this was just what he wanted in the first place? 'What could have possibly happen to a mortal to become so strong?' It was in this moment, when the fighting between Tyler and Lamira seemed to happen in slow motion for Asira, that she noticed something about Tyler. The eyes. His ever so shining blue bright eyes. From far away, it seemed like a fierce bright blue would shine, but upon closer inspection, Asira could make out a glow like a welding tool inside his eyeballs. Paired together with his grin, these eyes left only one conclusion. He was enjoying to fight them. Only one thought sprang to her mind:

'Tilerions'

And for the first time in a very long time, Princess Asira was terrified. Not just afraid of receiving harm from others, a deep rooted terror took hold of her. All the stories alicorn mothers told their children about the demon who would come to bring them misery if they're not behaving now came back to Asira's mind. 'And to think that these stories were true...' Both of them created the very demon who was now coming for them, to punish them. Petrified, the once proud and composed alicorn mare could only stare at Tyler, who withstood her sister's power in combat, while fear and terror got a fierce grip on her and rendered her unable to even move a muscle. Until all the fear erupted into one terrified scream.

Surprised by the sudden scream of her sister, Lamira turned around forgot about her opponent for a second. It was the second Tyler needed. Not hesitating, he delivered a group of punches to Lamira's face, followed by a very strong ray of attack spells fired into her sides, causing her to slide over to her sister. Looking down to the ground Lamira gritted her teeth in anger, when she suddenly saw something red on the ground right below her. Puzzled for a split second, she blinked as the little red dot suddenly had another red dot next to him. Then it occurred to her: Blood. Her muzzle was bleeding! Her rage nearly exploded in that moment. How could he, a mere mortal, ever hope to inflict injury to her? Was it because of the Heart of Darkness? Yes, it had to be that way, there was no other explanation.
“You damn dirty monkey!”

But Tyler shook his head, looking down to the two of them.
“You are beaten! Defeated by a monkey. That humiliation is punishment enough. Do yourself a favor and let us stop!” At that moment he felt the strength of his body to wither a bit. Seemingly Rage and Sage disagreed and were out to deliver a final blow. The mere thought about sparing them was enough to dim the power they provided.

Gritting her teeth, Lamira spat some blood on the ground.
“Oh please... Don't take me for some cheap fairy tale villain like Nightmare Moon or Discord. Do you think I would have started all this, prepared all of this over all these centuries and millenia if I would have left even the slightest chance of you monkeys and your friends to stop us? I have one last weapon at hoof.”

Arching a brow, Tyler followed her every move with his eyes while slowly approaching them. Seemingly this battle was not yet over.
“Oh? What is it? There is no weapon system to launch an attack and you won't have time to fire a spell towards the ground with me around. So there is no way you've-”

“I'll drop it!” Lamira interrupted him, putting up a sadistic grin on her face. “Gravity does the rest...”

Looking around in surprise, Tyler then halted his approach. The sudden tremble let the ground began to shake more and more as a breeze began to come up, becoming a strong wind fast.
“What have you done?!?”

Huffing in slight fatigue, Lamira raised her head while standing protective over Asira.
“I finished it! My grip over this citadel has ceased and it begins its descent. Now Nagohod with all its explosives, armaments and negative energy banks from the Machina Infernum will smash right down into Equestria and turn it into a crater significantly greater than the one in the Amasian Empire... I'll retaliate one holocaust with another! Everything that will survive the blast will be irradiated with enough negative energy radiation to become anything but equine. And you... Tyler Jones or Tilerions, you will die here just like all these traitors down there!”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler clenched his fists. 'So that's why you built a giant stone fortress... Not only to show off with shock and awe, not only to make it almost indestructible, but to have a final weapon if everything fails. A stone, smashed into a skull, still kills. Clever bitch... But Machina Infernum? Negative energy? What does she know I don't know about?'
“No, I won't! I will survive this shit, save Equestria in the process and then I'll come to kill you once and for all!”

This only prompted Lamira to laugh maniacally while her younger sister's body rested over her,
“Killing me? You, mortal? Ha!” Flying up high with her sister still on her back, Lamira made her final announcement.

“I AM ALICORN!
I AM ETERNAL!!!”

A bright red sphere engulfed both sisters until one last beam of hellish red light penetrated Nagahod and was shot into the ocean to the south-east. Once the beam ceased, the red sphere lost its brightness and both princesses had disappeared with only the tip of Asira's horn remaining in the throne room.

Standing up and taking the tip as the only trophy and proof of partial victory over the Darkness Sisters, Tyler then held his aching shoulder while looking around. The winds in the throne room now became strong and began to howl.
“Sage! Come on, asshole! Speak with me! I need you on this!”

Not a few yards away, a large chunk of glass showed Tyler's reflection and it began to move on its own as it depicted Rage and Sage.
“Oh, now you want our help again... Not like a few seconds ago when we had the chance to finish it once and for all...”

Throwing his arms into the air, Tyler looked around in amazement. Just how stubborn was this phantom?
“Forget about your revenge for a moment! The others are going to DIE if we won't do anything!!!”

Growling a bit, Rage hustled Sage, only for him to roll his eyes with a groan.
“Alright... Point taken. I'm not such a monster, I will grant you the magic necessary to contact them. Seemingly you care more about them than us, then let THEM help you out of this one. I can only transform magic, not create it. Frankly I don't know how to stop such a big pile of rock from falling down without us biting the dust...”

“Come on, tough guy... THINK!!! The human mind is said to move mountains... Let's see if we can make it happen...” Gritting his teeth, Sage accumulated all the magic he could muster in Tyler's body while the very air around the human began to charge up. As he took out the most of his body, Tyler gritted his teeth as well. 'Twilight... Girls, help me to save them all!' Down below the four princesses stood on a hill and charged their horns. With alicorn power they sent the magic directly to Tyler, their own hearts beating with excitement. This was unprecedented and they as well would go to their limits to save Equestria.

Down in Ponyville, the Element Bearers looked up in shock. With an attack like this, no princess alone could gather enough magic quickly enough to repel or block such an attack. Taking Big Macintosh by the neck, Rachel gave him an uncertain glance just for a second.
“Last chance for romance, big guy! Let's make the best of it if we're about to die.” The stallion's confusion quickly turned into surprise as she pulled him in and pressed her lips on his.

The veins in Tyler's body began to glow as an all too familiar pain returned. The magic was slowly eating his body away and he began to overcharge his body with processing too much magic at once. Rage growled in pain and aggression as the stress grew in magnitude and tried his best to maintain Tyler's body. Maybe it was a glimpse of intelligence or maybe just survival instincts not to die of overcharge, but Tyler nodded at the fierce beast in gratitude. Looking forward, he tried to focus as best as he could while howling wind was gushing through his face. More and more the mighty citadel was collapsing into itself, the large towers and halls crumbled without the hold of the dark mistresses that held them together and the machinery that was powering several deadly turrets broke out in flames, which quickly engulfed Nagohod into a smoking inferno with Tyler in the center of it all.

Acceleration spells, teleportation spells, strength spells, attack spells, healing spells, everything began whirling in his mind as the idea for salvation occurred to the three of them. It was worth a try, but time was extremely short. Only a few thousand meters stood between Nagohod and the utter destruction of Equestria. Tears filled Tyler's eyes as his mind saw short flashes of all the battlefields it took to face the Darkness Sisters in an epiphany. The thousands that died on these ancient battlefields, the misery they brought upon each other. The millions that died along the ages for a conflict that bore no fruit other than even more misery. The senseless fighting had to stop. The senseless suffering had to stop. Nagohod's fall was only the latest climax of all the hatred and fear in this fiery storm of the Alicorn War he was now undeniably a part of. And deep within the determination to end this war once and for all to end all the fighting. Even if would take an eternity. He uttered only two words as he let go of the spell they've created.

“No more!”

There was one bright flash and the gigantic fortress vanished instantly. Looking up in surprise, the alicorn princesses looked around, yet there were no signs of debris. Then, almost in an instant, the air whirled pass them with a thundering noise and ripped the dark veil of Dark Omen apart, releasing the sunlight onto Equestria again.

Looking the way the dark clouds ripped open more and more, Twilight shook her head.
“That wasn't mere teleportation! It was actual movement! But this was movement faster than pony eyes, maybe even faster than light.”

Celestia blinked in disbelief, her head slowly shaking.
“Deflecting the fall by rerouting the inertia and accelerating the fortress away into open sea... Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

Luna and Applejack each took a gulp in worry.
“Celestia!”

Understanding the worry, the white alicorn mare nodded.
“Already on it. Let's salvage our hero.” And with that, the two sisters took off accompanied by Twilight, a levitated Applejack and Cadance.

Author's Note

Not proofread yet, any notice about typos welcome. ^__^

25 - Epilogue - A new age *

The sudden flash was followed by a thundering noise as the ruins of Nagohod appeared high over the sea near the continent of Aresios, southeast to the Amasian Empire. And while the fortress still had some momentum in it, it was slowly losing acceleration and would soon fall from the skies for good. Coming to the edge of the ruin, Tyler took a look outside. Whatever horrible materials were left in this ruin, they would fall into uninhabited sea or land. Equestria was safe.

However, his heart ached with this distinctive pain and breathing became hard. Leaning against a wall, Tyler took a glance into a shard of glass, where Sage was depicted as he spoke to him.
“Your body was exposed to an amount of magic lethal to you. With our help, you managed to stay in fighting shape, but frankly? This was way too early for you, boy. Your mortal body can't handle us three at the same time AND all this magic. It might have been able to do so in the future, but now...”

'This is it.' Tyler thought. 'This time there is nothing to save me. Not from this. My victory is a defeat as well since I'm dying from the stress.' Tears filled his eyes as he looked down to Equis. Its beauty unveiled more and more as the cloud of Black Omen ripped apart with each passing second. His new homeworld, safe and sound again. And yet, he was unsatisfied. He always thought he would give his life in battle or some heroic stunt, but it never occurred to him that he would die after winning a battle. There was this certain distinct pain in his chest and he knew all too well the meaning of all this. The overcharge was approaching its final stages and would kill him very soon now. His fate was sealed. Looking down to Equis, he didn't recognize his own tears until his vision became blurry. His loved ones, his daughter, his friends... No farewell, no kiss, no one to weep over his remains. Just dust sprinkled over the sea.
“Not like this...”

Then, all of a sudden, Tyler felt a whole different pain in his back. A breathtaking pain like a thousand frozen needles in his heart whipped up his spine, prompted him to gasp with wide eyes. 'Is this death?' Unable to move, He only heard Rage growling from behind. Was the beast unleashed again? Now the growl came to his left and a hissing voice to his right. Unable to turn his head, Tyler eyed to the right, only to see Sage there, grinning at him with an unsettling smile
“No! You're far from death. You're not alone, so it isn't your time to go down. We still have need for you, Tyler Jones... And while it will force us back into your subconsciousness, I'd rather see you alive than dead. We'll be in touch, boy...”

With a force unknown to Tyler, his body then automatically stretched out all four limbs and unleashed all the remaining magic in his body. A breathtaking pain fogged his mind as the inferno unleashed by his body teared the remnants of Nagohod apart with flames and wild unhindered beams of magic. Then suddenly there was a moment when some magic was directed at him, but in the inferno, his body ejected this as well.

In the magical plane, his herd mates and Cadance were actually waiting for Tyler, but after a moment, Celestia blinked twice in surprise, shaking her head in confusion.
“Did he... Did he just withstood alicorn magic? I wanted to teleport him out of harms way, yet it seems he withstood it with ease...”

Luna shook her head.
“Obviously he broke another limitation. We should get closer to him and try again.”

* * * * *

By now the inferno ceased and Tyler's body slammed down on the main stone ground while Nagohod collapsed into itself. But only his back hurt right now from the fall. The pain in his chest had vanished all of a sudden. Shaking his head in wonder, he stood up. “Well, whatever you did Sage... It worked. Sage? Rage?” They were gone. Just like the threat of overcharge, both phantoms were gone. However, as convenient as this was, Tyler knew that this was just cheating death. Whatever little miracle Sage made happen, Tyler expected him to return. Until then, of that Tyler was certain, he himself was a ticking time-bomb that could go off any day now. But right now, this was of smaller concern. Right now Nagohod's husk was falling. Maybe the dangerous energy banks Princess Lamira mentioned were destroyed and disposed right over the south-eastern sea due to his little inferno, but he was still hundreds of meter above sea and falling down. Hastily looking around, he spotted a Descendant lying on the floor. The unicorn stallion was wounded badly and had several cuts and bruises all over his body. Slapping him several times, Tyler already got a grip on his horn.
“Sorry to do this to you, buddy... But if we're going to survive, I have to take it with or without your consent.”

Taking a bit of magic by force, Tyler then used this to raise up a magical sphere and slowed down their descend, while the rest of Nagohod continued to fall unhindered. Closing in to sea-level, Tyler tried to take them as close to land as possible. Then, once they hit the ocean, they where about 3 miles away from land and Tyler grabbed the unicorn by the neck, tugging the stallion towards land as well. Slowly, the Descendant regained consciousness.
“W-what is happening?”

Shooting the stallion a glare, Tyler continued to swim.
“Shut up! I'm only saving your life because I took some of your magic while you were unconscious. Don't struggle or I'll leave you to drown!”

His mind racing, the eyes of the unicorn darted around in panic.
“But we're enemies! Why are you helping me?”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler shook his head.
“Tsk! 'If you have to ask that, you're not ready for the answer.' That would be my usual answer to you. But not today. Enough blood had been shed today. I've had enough of this!”

There was a certain pause between them before the stallion continued.
“Tyler Jones!”

“What is it now?”

“Thank you!”

Tyler took a glance at the stallion, only to nod at it while continuing to swim.
“Just make sure I won't regret this later on...”

An hour later, after an hour of almost over-exerting himself, Tyler hauled the stallion onto the beach. Gasping for air, he pulled the pony out of the water before the stallion nodded.
“I'm OK. Really!”

Giving a nod of his own, Tyler rose up to his feet and tumbled slowly towards the trees. Once there, he sat down and rested for a bit.
“Ok... At... At least the tide won't get us here. You know this place?”

The stallion shook his head.
“I woke up in the middle of the sea, you dragging me to safety. As far as I know, this is a beach. Don't know if this is an island or continent... Could be anywhere. Hey... um... You're not going to kill me like the rest of us Descendants, do you?”

Tyler looked at the stallion with a sober expression.
“That depends...”

“On what?”

“On whether you look tasty enough with an apple in your mouth or not.”

Both remained silent for a second until they both burst into laughter.
“I'm afraid not, but I get your point.”

“It's getting late,” Tyler then stated, “In a few hours we'll have sunset. We should find something to eat by then and some things to build a first improvised shelter. We'll need one in case there are... predators... around... What the hell?” Getting up, Tyler recognized the whirring sounds he knew all too well from the fleet the Descendants had created. And all of a sudden, several shuttles flew right over the two of them, taking circles over the open sea. “I guess your colleagues are curious of what crashed into the sea.”

The stallion nodded.
“It appears so...”

Looking over to him, Tyler nodded at him.
“By the way, I didn't catch your name.”

“It's Crosswing Bellows.”

Other voices became audible now.
“Search the beach! There might be survivors. From all we know, it was a citadel that went down!”

Crosswing shook his head before looking at Tyler.
“Search parties... Will you be alright? I know I will be, but...”

Tyler nodded with a reassuring smile.
“Don't worry. I fought two alicorns alright. What more to frighten me?” And with this they approached the search parties.

* * * * *

An hour later, the search parties brought Crosswing and Tyler to a base by carriage. Following a road deeper into the land, Tyler could make out a distinctive green glow in the distance. But as he observed the Descendants, he noticed that they were packing everything into shuttles and flew these into a single war citadel. In the base, a medium sized complex of concrete, they were led into an office with a unicorn officer clopping his hooves together.
“So... Tyler Jones... It's a privilege to have you as a prisoner.”

Tyler let out a bored sigh.
“Here we go again... Do me a favor and pump me full of magic from the get-go, I want to blow this place up and go home, OK?”

But Crosswing stomped his hoof to the ground.
“No, this conflict is over! Continuing would be pointless!”

Looking at Crosswing, the officer went through a few documents.
“Your cutie mark looks familiar... Ah yes! Crosswing Bellows, technical battery sergeant transferred to Nagohod. What are you doing here? Have you defected to the enemy?”

Crosswing stammered aghast, but Tyler patted his shoulder.
“Whatever you say, they won't believe you. I mean these guys are so dense they don't even recognize that this black cloud stuff is out of the skies. Do you actually think they would believe any word of you telling them that you guys lost?”

“Silence!!!” the officer snapped at Tyler

Crosswing stepped forth.
“But he's right, you know. I was there. What fell into the sea northwest of here were the remains of Nagohod. The fleet is destroyed. Princess Lamira and Asira... are defeated.”

The message was hard to hear for the Descendants.
“What?!?”

“Impossible!”

“500 war citadels! 50.000 ponies! All gone?!?”

A mare to Tyler's right side looked up to him, a grim expression on her face.
“You witnessed the defeat of our princesses?”

Slowly, Tyler had enough of this. He didn't endure all of this so no one would believe he did it.
“Oh, I didn't just watch it happen... I MADE it happen!”

A few ponies backed away now.
“He defeated alicorns...”

“He's the foretold destroyer... Just like in the alicorn legends...”

Tyler looked to the ground.
“I'm no destroyer. I only fought in Nagohod. The rest of the fleet was destroyed before they took me hostage and placed me inside their... their 'Heart of Darkness' as they called it. There a things no one should be forced to undergo. No human, no pony... no one!” Looking up to the Descendants, he shook his head. “They left me no choice. I tried to reason with them to stop, but Lamira wasn't about to hear me. Not even after I broke her sister's horn.”

This caused a unicorn mare to gasp in shock.
“The worst act of violence for anyone with a horn.”

The officer, however, shook his head.
“And I still call it minotaurshit! He just claims to have done that! Where is the proof?”

“It's right here!” Holding up Asira's black horn tip, Tyler noticed how the Descendants one by one were kneeling in front of him in surrender. But this only caused Tyler to shake his head. “Well, I don't want you to kneel, I rather have you explaining to me why you all are busy packing like the continent is about to be blown to pieces.”

Standing up, a unicorn stallion looked up to Tyler.
“Because it actually is! Project Chrysalia has entered its final stage: Forced Enviromental Evolution, FEE for short. As far as we could translate from ancient alicorn language, this project not only was there to defeat the enemy, but to shape the world into the liking of its master.”

Tyler smirked as he heard this.
“Well, Shiria is her own master now, so she will decide. Another stupid idea biting you Descendants in the ass. What a frightening idea… A Changeling Queen reshaping the world.”

Another Descendant shook his head.
“Yeah, maybe not. The Changelings have caused an overload somewhere in the Machina Infernum by causing a malfunction after the last process. The alicorn blood samples have been activated and the malfunction caused a chain reaction. Now the machine is charging with no way to release all the stored alicorn magic. The blast might evaporate half the continent.”

This caused Tyler to look at the eerie green glow in the sky. Whatever Shiria's plans were, it was coming to an end with huge steps.
“So the Changelings are blowing up one of your damned Tacitus machines? Problem solved. They did the work for me. It's not the first time I blow up your dreaded war devices!”

Another mare shook her head, glaring at Tyler.
“It's not that simple! The detonation you caused in Dragon Mountain was child's play compared to this. A detonation of... let's say a few Kilomarics. But here we are talking about alicorn treshholds easily in Megamarics.” The term caused Tyler to frown a bit. 'Marics... Either a value of magical force or of detonation force... I'll have to ask Twilight or Celestia about this once I'm home again... IF I manage to come home again.' The mare continued. “The problem is as follows: Shiria's magic is getting stronger before she turns to an equivalent of an alicorn. That’s because she’s an alicorn deep within. Or rather... Her mother Queen Chrysalis was. But that origin should be in her as well. The effect of changing the environment she’s causing right now will grow because of that. Maybe it will be strong enough in time for her to survive the blast by changing the very fabrics of the Machina. Nopony can predict the extent of the damage this effect will have until she turns. It might even grow until it will engulf all of Equis. We can’t let that happen, Tyler Jones. You have to stop her.”

Tyler's facial expression darkened. 'Shiria, what are you doing?' Making his way, he shook his head.
“I'll go. She might be willing to let me get close enough to discuss things.”

“Wait!” Looking back, Tyler arched both brows as he looked at the stallion, who pointed his hoof at a rifle next to him. “I thought you knew what had to be done? She's a weapon beyond any control. Be aware of what you're agreeing to: The only way to stop Queen Shiria for certain is to kill her.”

Giving the professor a strict glare, Tyler cocked his head.
“You don’t have to tell me what I have to do, OK?” And with that, he made his way towards the green glow at the horizon. After a march of about an hour, he could see the first signs of Changeling wax all around the path. Covering more and more of the vegetation and ground like an infestation, the hive seemed very aggressive this time.

Finally Tyler reached an enormous clearing with a hive towering high up into the sky. But still this wasn't the source of the green glow, which was still a few miles into the south-east. Carefully making his way into the hive, he tried his best to remain unseen. But all of a sudden, a drone crossed his way. Inhaling sharp, Tyler stepped back, bumping into another drone, which almost dropped an egg. What followed came to a surprise for Tyler. Turning around, the drone hissed at him before talking.
“Hey! Watch it where you're going, human! Or else I'll alarm the warriors!”

Tyler's eyes were wide as plates and he simply nodded. This was most unusual. Changelings were bound to a hive mind. Yet these here seemed to act on their own. Mostly ignoring him, they seemed to deem him no threat. Slightly relieved, Tyler deemed it good for now since it would speed his search up a bit. Upon entering a bigger hall, he approached a trio of changelings. It was a small drone, a medium sized warrior and a hulk of a brute. Upon seeing Tyler, they didn't ignore him, but began to converse with each other as he came closer.
“Isn't that this human feller?”

Cocking her head, the drone eyed Tyler for a while.
“He looks... nervous.”

Stomping onto the ground, the Brute hissed eagerly.
“I would like to kill him.” Tyler gulped as he halted in his movement.

Licking his fangs, the warrior nodded.
“As would I...” Both the brute and warrior now went into attack stance and Tyler was already worrying to have to fight the entire hive from here on.

Looking up, the drone shook her head with a sly grin.
“The Queen ordered us not to!”

Now mustering Tyler, the warrior began to sneer. Both him and the brute went back into more casual stances.
“You're right. It would be impolite.” Tyler slowly continued walking by them. There were only ten feet between them, five... Their heads followed him as he passed them.

Bowing down, the head of the Brute was on height as the warrior's.
“We give him a head start?”

A smile returned, showing the warrior's fangs.
“There's an idea!”

With a growl, the Brute shivered in anticipation.
“I want his tongue and liver...”

“They are yours.” the warrior replied.

Tyler gulped, Changelings with own free will seemed far more dangerous and vile than the ones with hive mind. He couldn't decide what was more frightening to him; the murderous lust in their free will or them being so gosh darn polite while talking about their plans. Now continuing his way, Tyler went deeper into the hive. But the deeper he went, the more surprised he was. By now he expected to find the lair of the queen, but as far as he looked, there was no such hall. And there were no fresh eggs, nowhere. Following a long corridor, Tyler expected the worst to come.

But no such thing revealed itself to him. This was a garden of flowers, no alien construct, no changeling hive, just a normal, lovely decorated garden with tidy grass, flowers and a playground. It even had butterflies flying through the air. Resting on a bench, Shiria was looking at the playground until her eyes turned over to him.
“Tyler…”

Approaching her with a nod, Tyler stood in front of her and stopped one meter in front of her.
“Shiria…”

Tapping her perforated hoof at the free place beside her she waited for him to sit down before she began to talk.
“When mother was but a child, they trained her for all of this. 'Chrysalia, can you perform that spell?' 'Can you move that weight with your horn?'” Her eyes narrowed angrily and a tree next to her got ripped out of the ground as easily like pulling out weed from the ground. “Yeah… she could do all of it… With ease! So much potential and all they could see was a weapon to bring destruction.” Closing her eyes shut, Tyler could see she was close to an outrage. But she sighed and shook her head. “They got their weapon… Mother and I got cheated out of our heritage…”

Looking to the ground, Tyler shook his head.
“I can’t imagine the cruel mind able to do this to a little filly…”

Opening her eyes again, her voice became more gentle.
“You’re better than this. You wouldn’t forge a child into a weapon. You care too much for being like this.” Looking at Tyler, Shiria saw his concern for her. This caused her to smirk a bit. “You don’t have to answer… The worry is all over your face…That’s how I can see you’re not going to kill me… Even if they asked you to do so…”

Looking towards the way he came from, Tyler looked back to her with a smile.
“No… I’m not here to kill you…”

Taking a questioning glance into his eyes, she seemed to try and read his mind. Tyler didn't know if she was able to, but he wasn't about to hide his intentions from her.
“You want me to order the drones and warriors of my swarm to kill themselves. Before they go berserk… Before I turn and can’t stop them anymore…”

“Yes… that idea occurred to me.”

Looking down to the ground, she narrowed her eyes.
“I’m turning very soon. Everything that I was, everything I ever achieved… won’t be a part of me anymore… Like I never existed in the first place…”

He nodded and closed his eyes. What she had done to herself was, as far as he understood, irreversible by now.
“Yes… I’m so sorry…”

With a frightened expression she looked up to him.
“Would you stay with me?” Tyler now saw the tears running down her black cheeks, glittering like little diamonds. “I’m scared…” She looked so helpless right now, her eyes begging him for help. She wasn’t facing death; she was facing being erased out of existence. The thought of being forgotten terrified her like a little girl.

Fighting his own tears, he came closer and embraced her.
“Hey... It will be alright… I will be at your side until the very end… And whatever you will become… I will tell it your story. The story of the Changeling Queen that became more…”

With this she closed her eyes as the tears now streamed down her smiling face.
“Thank you for being there for me, Papa…”

He gasped as the tears finally got him and caressed her Changeling mane. It was true to some degree. In the entire world he was the closest thing she could have as a father figure.
“It will be alright, child… You will be among friends soon…”

As he looked up with tears running over his cheeks, he noticed three Changelings approaching him and Shiria, a big bag being dragged behind them.
“We gathered around in the hive, took a letter from every single one of us, tried to explain ourselves as best as we could.”

This confused Tyler for a bit.
“Why?”

“This hive might end, but our queen and mother will live on, even if she's in another form. As long as she remembers us, we can go with the certainty that life will go on and that maybe others will be spared the same fate. That and...”

Another drone now stepped forth.
“...we also want to be remembered. Being forgotten is worse than death.”

Levitating the sack to himself, Tyler nodded with a smile.
“Thank you...” His hand caressed through the mane of the Changeling queen, when a certain feeling filled her. A feeling known to her all to well. She was fed love. Looking around, Tyler saw that the Changelings laid down all around, each one of them forming a small white orb over its horn, which then then traveled over to Shiria. Another heavy lump grew in his throat as he understood the meaning behind all this. A final farewell forever by the hundreds, maybe thousands of remaining members of the hive to strengthen their queen for her final trip. Slowly but surely the world went dark for Queen Shiria as if a deep slumber took hold of her. But with Tyler around, there was no dread, no fear of danger, just this warm feeling of safety. And in midst of this good feeling, her body cocooned itself in his arms.

* * * * *

Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Applejack and Cadance went out of the teleportation spell and while Applejack was levitated by Twilight, the alicorns descended down to the beach southeast of the Amasian Empire. In the distance, the glow of the magical detonation was visible and thundering noises were audible even though the continent of Aresios was 300 miles away from this beach. Whatever detonated over there a few hundred miles away, it surely was something fierce. None of them could imagine the demonic machine which was destroyed by the very species it brought forth, but they felt the magic presence. A vast amount of energy was working over there and the alicorn mares looked at each other with troubled glances. Somewhere over there Tyler was at stake, maybe even in the midst of these detonations. Taking off her Stetson, Applejack saw the dread on the royal faces and tried to imagine the extent of this.
“Whoa, Nelly...” Then there was a sudden sound. A sound all too familiar to the herd. It was the sound of magical teleportation. Twilight used it on an almost daily basis. Turning left looking at the beach, their hearts skipped for a moment.

There he stood. His upper clothes were torn apart, his skin smoking, his boots being washed by the tide. His hair slowly fell down as the magic in his body ceased. In his arms he was carrying a black alicorn filly with a soft and dark cerulean mane and to his feet rested a brown sack. A gentle grin formed on his face as his eyes met theirs.
“From the brink of destruction and darkness I came back to you four... Bringing forth a fifth.”

Celestia's eyes slowly widened. Her lower lip trembled. No, this wasn't the face of someone who killed an alicorn. 'He went out to kill two alicorns and instead he saved one.' Not noticing how the tears ran down her cheeks, she shook her head with a smile and began galloping towards him, shortly followed by Luna, Applejack and Twilight. The filly was levitated down and Tyler embraced his girls as the herd was finally united and whole again.

Smiling proudly, the Princess of Love stood by the young filly and smiled upon the herd in front of her, feeling happy for her aunts and friends. Once more, love and compassion had tamed an angered mind for the better. Looking down towards the young filly, she recognized several features from Shiria. Shocked that this alicorn filly once was a Changeling, Cadance gasped and took a step back. Her most hated nemesis was actually the same as her, only deformed and twisted by a mind more twisted than a Changeling could ever be. Whatever demonic will caused this, Tyler seemed to had found a way to reverse the process.

Bowing closer to the filly, Cadance then rested her lips on its forehead, placing a gentle kiss upon it.
“Welcome to a better you, Princess of Change...”

As kisses and hugs were exchanged in the herd, Tyler held Twilight's cheeks and looked into her eyes.
“Twilight…Please tell Spike that I need him once we’re back… I want to write down a letter. It will be the most important letter that he’ll ever write…”

“A letter? To whom?”

“It is a letter to the alicorn Princess Shiria. Or whatever name she chooses to bear from now on. Her memory was wiped, but I think she deserves to see her own past… To see the courage she possessed as a Changeling… the courage to become more. Even if it means to sacrifice everything familiar… I think with this bag of mail here she might need some sort of preparation before seeing so many voices wishing her luck or saying good bye.”

Looking at each other, Celestia and Luna gave each other a brief nod before they approached Tyler. Arching a brow, Celestia leaned in with a smile.
“Well then, young man... Does your request still stand?”

Tyler was stumped for a moment and frowned a bit.
“Request, what request do you-” It then occurred to him and he whirled over to her. “Oh! Oh yes, you mean that. Why... Yes, it does!”

Giggling a bit, Celestia shook her head.
“9287.”

Tyler didn't know what to make of this.
“Come again?”

Giving a warm and gentle chuckle, the white alicorn mare gently shook her head.
“Over the years of our lives we've faced 9287 proposals together. I myself faced 7950 proposals. Due to her banishment time, Luna only faced 1337. 620 of all those had the audacity to marry the both of us, three of those coming from King Sombra. You have no idea how stubborn some stallions and dragons could be back in the days of old... While I think Applejack and Twilight would gladly take you anytime as a husband, you certainly have our reputation as an obstacle before you. And still you ask like we're the average street mares from around the corner. If one lives as long as we do, everything new becomes priceless. A new world, a new species, a new mindset, a new level of mental strength? Luna and I would lie through our teeth if we would claim this wasn't exciting and you keep reaching new heights with each new challenge. “

Arching a brow, Tyler cocked his head.
“So... Does this mean...?”

Celestia and Luna then supercharged their horns and their eyes began to shine brightly white.
“It means you're in for a very tough ride, young man!” At the next moment, a shining bright flash blinded Applejack and Twilight and Cadance came closer. Tyler, Celestia and Luna were gone. In their place only a scorched mark on the ground remained.

Arching a brow, the Princess of Love looked around.
“What do you think they're up to do with him now? I never saw them like that!”

Looking at the scorched sand before them, AJ then looked over to Twilight.
“Not gonna lie to ya there, Sugarcube... But the last time Ah saw somepony disappearing with a scorched mark on the ground...” The sentence made Twilight gulp. She as well could think of only one place they could have brought him.

* * * * *

Tyler was hovering in the ethereal plane until his feet seemed to find invisible ground.
“Uh... Hello?”

Celestia's voice became audible half a second before she appeared right in front of him.
"Welcome, Tyler... You are dead."

His eyes opening wide, Tyler jumped at the announcement.
"WHAT?!? YOU KILLED ME FOR PROPOSING TO YOU?!?"

But right then another voice spoke up and Luna appeared right next beside her sister.
"Oh stop jesting, Tia... Tis not funny!"

Giving a heavy sigh of relief, Tyler shook his head.
“So... I'm not dead after all?”

Celestia couldn't resist to giggle.
“Of course not, silly.” Resting her right wing onto his shoulder, she pulled him in. “Congratulations, Tyler! You stood and fared well against all odds and despite having sworn to kill, you did not. Instead you preserved life and brought to us another filly to welcome in our midst. An alicorn filly you already seem to care about like she would be your very own daughter. You have proven that you’re worthy, Tyler…”

This left Tyler stumped for a bit.
“Worthy? Worthy in what way now?”

Both Sisters trotted at his sides as they went along an ethereal corridor. On its sides, Tyler could lay witness on all his past adventures in Equestria and beyond. Each moment preserved like a treasure. Celestia's tender voice broke into song as they went on.
“You've travelled such a long, long way,
And we've watched you from that very first day.
To learn of your strange race,
To see what you might face,
To see what you adore…
And all the ways you've made us love you more.”

Giving her beloved herdmate a smile, Luna gave him a nod and continued.
“It's time now for a new step to abide
Thou are ready for thy new life at our side
To go where thou will go...
To see what thou will see...
To find what thou will be.”

Both regal sisters stood at his sides and their horns charged up, singing the last line together.
“For it's time for you to fulfill your destiny…”

A blue flame sprang out of Tyler’s chest and encircled him.
“Woah! What the serious hell?!?” But before he knew it, he was engulfed by a bright light and levitated into the air and light took away his perception. It was bright, yet not painful. All around him and through his entire body there was this wonderful feeling of warmth, as if life would fill every fiber in his body. There was a slight dizziness in his perception and as the light ceased he landed on solid ground in Ponyville, where everyone besides Twilight, AJ, Celestia and Luna was standing around him.

Blocking the light with a hand, Rachel tried her best to see behind the light.
“Tyler... Is that you?”

When Tyler landed and the light ceased, he felt his chest and body. He was still alive, no doubt about it. But what did the alicorns do to him? 'Wings!' That thought sprang into his mind and he felt his back, but no, there were no wings.
“Folks… What the hell is going-” Tyler was interrupted as magic engulfed him and his torn clothing was changed into a white uniform suit. White velvet gloves materialized over his hands and a blue sash with the equestrian banner on it rested on his right shoulder. His bulky survival boots were replaced with white shoes. The silver Ranger Star, pinned on his uniform, sparkled polished and shiny.

The girls were silent in awe. Rarity found her words as the first one, beaming wide in wild wonder.
“WA-HA-HAAA!!! Tyler!!! You… You look like a real prince!“

Right then the warm voice of Princess Celestia sounded from above as she, Luna and Twilight with a levitated Applejack approached from above.
“That's because he IS a prince.”

Looking over to Celestia, Tyler shook his head.
“Well you two said something about entering royalty in the past… But honestly? I’m not a prince.”

“Yes, you are.” Celestia retorted.

“Haven’t thou learned anything from Princess Lamira, Asira and Queen Shiria?” Luna asked.

Tyler hummed a bit, thinking for a moment.
“When I was fighting them I learned only one thing…”

“And what is that?”

Looking up, Tyler opened his hands to gesture while he was explaining his findings.
“While to look beyond the glory is the hardest part, a ruler's strength is measured by his heart. Lamira was only guided by hatred and saw herself as the only proper ruler for the Descendants. Maybe a lot of good ponies would still be alive today if not for her ill-willed ambitions. Shiria on the other side, although a Changeling Queen, was willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good. She wanted to be more than a pawn for the ancient Alicorns of Darkness, wanted to be more. What they did to Chrysalis... or Chrysalia, was nothing more than an atrocity. She decided that she wouldn't condemn her swarm to this eternal struggle and chose to correct this ancient project. In an epiphany of some sort, she gave each drone individuality and a voice of its own. This bag of letters I brought with me is their legacy, Shiria's heritage. And that’s why I chose to save her at all cost.”

Celestia closed her eyes with a smile and nodded,
“True... Just because someone has a dark past, it doesn’t mean that he or she has to live in darkness forever…”

Luna nodded as well and nuzzled her big sister,
“And by learning this lesson thou are more than qualified for the tasks ahead of thee, Tyler.”

Twilight beamed up with a nod.
“Yes, I think so, too. The man who was a mercenary is no more. You've outgrown that man, Tyler.”

Tyler, however, took a step back. This quickly got out of hand.
“Hold it right there! I’m not fit for all this royal stuff!”

This made the regal sisters frown,
“Why don’t you be the prince we know you are? The prince we see inside? You once said that a good ruler is someone who has the power forced upon him instead of taking it. We absolutely agree. Luna and I had to step up to Discord once. Not because we wanted to, but because we had no other choice."

Hearing his own words against him, Tyler searched for words to worm himself out of there.
“Well... true, but-”

Celestia shook her head gently , causing her ethereal mane to move a little more than usual.
“No buts! You fit in perfectly! Now step up and show us what a human prince can do!” A giggle escaped her and she leaned over to him. “Otherwise, that proposal of yours will lose a hefty amount of foundation.”

* * * * *

The night came and went and in the morning, a parade was organized in the streets of Canterlot. While most of the ponies cheered for their heroes on the wagons, one particular mare went back into the alley she came from, towards the blue box she was now responsible for. Her head hung deep. What a tremendous responsibility. Maybe it would be the best to place the TARDIS somewhere no one could ever hope to find her, not even in a million years. 'I don't know what to do. I was the companion of the Doctor. But the Doctor is dead now. I'm the Eye of Time an my part here is done.' Closing the door of the TARDIS from the inside, Derpy listened up for a moment. Were there any distant noises? The Doctor never actually showed her the real size of the TARDIS, but for what it was worth, it could be huge.
“Doctor?” Listening for a bit, she cocked her head and yelled a bit. “Doctor?!?” But no, there was no Doctor. Only her, this gigantic time pony ship and loneliness. Slumping down to the ground, Derpy began to cry bitter tears. Already she was hearing things over the loss of her loved one. “Oh please! Please! Don't haunt me like this!”

It was in this moment when Derpy heard the Doctor's voice deep within.
“Derpy!” The voice caused her to look up again, a sudden spark of hope inside her eyes. “You can hear me... I know you can.”

Looking around in the TARDIS control room, she couldn't make out anything that even looked like a time pony.
“I don't see you.”

But once more, the voice inside her spoke up, like it was speaking to and answering her
“You should see it coming now every second.”

Now Derpy could make something out. Silhouettes of ponies galloped up and down the control room and corridors of the TARDIS, each pony looking different than the other, yet all strangely familiar to Derpy, for in her eyes, she could make them out as one and the same pony in different time-frames-
“Yes, now I see something!”

“Images from my past, I'm syncing up with your time.”

Right in that moment, the Doctor yelled up and a pressure wave knocked Derpy from her hooves. Confused, the gray mare looked up.
“What is wrong? What is happening with me?”

“I'm traveling through your time stream, it's not a very pleasant or safe way of time travel.”

Gritting her teeth, Derpy shook her head.
“Don't risk your life! Get out of there!!!”

“Not until I'm back with you! I'm sending you something to aid us both. Look up. Look!” Looking up, Derpy had a letter dropped onto her muzzle. “This is your confession, Derpy. It is everything you wanted to tell me before I was snatched away from you. Hold tight. It will lead me to you.” Taking the letter into her grasp, Derpy pressed it tightly against her chest. It was opened. If the Doctor knew about her feelings, maybe he was able to understand her. Maybe he wouldn't be mad at her for what she had done to him. Warm tears ran over her cheeks as she imagined it: He just standing there and hugging her.

And all of a sudden, the Doctor's voice became audible again. Not from the inside, but from behind.
“Derpy! Derpy, come on!”

Slowly turning around, Derpy shook her head, not believing her eyes.
“How...?”

“Because it's impossible! How many times did we two do the impossible? Just this once... Just for the hay of it nopony will lose anypony. You have to trust me, I'm real.” Almost stumbling into him, Derpy took hold of the stallion. It was real. HE was real. Hugging her tightly, he held the gray mare close to him, nuzzling her blonde mane. “Derpy! My Derpy...”

When she let go of him and looked up into his eyes with tears running over her cheeks, she simply shook her head in confusion.
“But how?”

Taking a handkerchief, the stallion dried her tears and patted her right cheek twice.
“The mirror pool water you bought... It was the real thing. I got a little agreement with ponies in high places. My life for keeping yet another secret and making others believe I'm dead.” Trotting over to the controls, the Doctor looked at the exit. “Take a good long look outside. You can't return to that time-frame for some time now, Derpy... Maybe later once I've done some research and investigations... Seems to me I was wrong. Tyler Jones didn't alter the time-line, he connected two time-lines together. The one of his universe and ours. This Abarasion spell mystery goes deeper and deeper!”

Opening the door of the TARDIS, Derpy looked to the Doctor.
“What do you mean? Why should Tyler and the others think you are dead?”

A sigh escaped the time pony and he looked up.
“I mean that we've been tricked all along. A trick so elaborate that I almost didn't see it.”

“I don't understand...”

With some anger in his eyes, the stallion gritted his teeth.
“The greatest trick the royal herd ever pulled was to convince me that they didn't mess with time.”

Looking outside and to the princesses and Tyler on the balcony, Derpy's eyes widened,
“You mean...?”

But the Doctor only shook his head while coming over to her.
“Oh, not this royal herd... Way too early. No, somepony else is manipulating from the shadows. Somepony we've yet to see. And this pony wants to end the Alicorn War once and for all. She's been very good at that.”

It was then when Derpy recognized something else. There were seven humans instead of four. Surrounding Tyler, there were three who she could see, but they were blurry and vague.
“Who are these men around Tyler? I can't see them clearly.”

Gulping in silent terror, the Doctor turned around.
“Never mind... Let's get back.”

“But who are they? There is only one Tyler Jones in Equestria at this point in time, so I wouldn't see them if it wasn't of temporal importance! A disturbance in the temporal fabric. Why are there so many men looking like Tyler?”

Gulping even harder now, the Doctor once more thought in overdrive. He had to explain it to Derpy without breaking the oath that guaranteed his survival right now.
“They are part of Tilerions. Rage and Sage. Two alternate versions fighting for control. They've been awoken by the alicorns we fought with and against. You can probably see them because of the change they brought and still bring to both timelines. Now let's get back!”

More and more confusion took hold of Derpy.
“But I see a fourth one there. Is Tyler suffering a split personality?”

Taking a short glance at Tyler, the stallion tried to pull her away from the door, but to no avail.
“I said they are part of Tilerions. I never said they were part of Tyler!”

“I don't get it.”

“Look! The Tyler we know is the original one. The men you see there are what Tyler could become. A mindless magical beast or a magic mastermind. Light and Darkness have let their marks on him. And the fourth one...” Looking to Tyler, he saw the three alternative versions of him as well and gulped. '...he's the final result once all three agree on something. Tilerions...' but his train of thought was interrupted as Derpy collapsed at his side. It was all too much for the gray mare. Catching her, the Doctor hurled her over his back. Tyler, Derpy, so many others and himself. The royal herd of the future sacrificed each and everyone in order to maintain harmony. “He's what they all dreaded since the ancient times. Queen Faust's cruelest secret the universe must never know.”

Slowly the other versions of Tyler looked over to the two of them and the Doctor glared at him with a disapproving look. Already the stallion knew that this wasn't the last time the two of them were meant to face each other. And the Doctor knew that all future encounters would be more of the unpleasant nature. What these creatures were doing, they did for many reasons, good or bad, but not in the name of Tyler Jones. And as the door to the TARDIS closed, it vanished into the depths of the time vortex.

* * * * *

Two days passed and while the nation was recovering from the shock of well-nigh annihilation, its heroes recovered from their wounds both physically and mentally. While the seven mares exchanged their little adventures in different paths of their journey on Earth, Princess Celestia recovered from the short duration she had to endure without a connection to her sun in her captivity. United with their sons, Queen Sheeris and King Gifford remained in their chambers in Canterlot, surrounded by their vassals while hearing the stories their kids had to tell.

Luna, however, recovered quite fast from her temporal transformation back to Nightmare Moon and even without the Elements, the Princess was able to return to her former harmonic self. Using her time well, she worked in the workshop in Canterlot Castle. Just like the tiaras made for Cadance, Celestia and herself, Luna took it upon herself that this piece of jewelry was nothing but another example of alicorn craftsmanship. It was a rather humble crown, made out of dragon leather. Luna rolled her eyes when Celestia asked if any live dragons were harmed for making this and assured her big sister that these pieces of leather were from the times when dragons were much more numerous and vengeful. She didn’t kill any new ones, but thought the crown to be more fitting in this material, for the leather would emphasize the unyielding will of its bearer. A round and dim sapphire was embedded on the front side and would rest on the forehead. This was not a hint towards Luna herself, but the blue world Tyler was from.
“You’ve spent quite some time thinking about this crown, haven’t you?” Celestia asked with a smile.

Clearing her throat a bit, Luna then began to smile.
“But of course! It’s only fitting for the soon to be father of my children. It's also secured against theft. Only we, his herd mates and he himself will be able to lift it.

In the distance, bells were ringing, announcing the end of the preparations for the coronation. Hearing the bells ring brought a smile upon Celestia's face
“There he comes! We should get ready.”

And while they were trotting outside of the chamber, a choir of griffins send by King Gifford himself announced the coming of the hero with a hymn the griffins had prepared for Tyler's day.

“Oh, ascended one
You've proven yourself with this deed.
Gone are the enemies of old
Glory and honor are yours...”

A huge portal to the inner palace walls was opened and ponies on the balconies as well as the Pegasi on the clouds cheered for their hero. Flower petals were thrown with only one name in the air: Tyler. As the large doors slammed against the walls and Tyler continued his way, still accompanied by the victorious chorus.

“Gloria!
Honorifice!
Pralium Facio!
Animus!

Gloria!
On this festive day
A new prince is crowned.”

Tyler looked up to the many ponies above him on balconies or clouds, cheering and throwing white petals at him. Catching one of the petals, Tyler looked down at it, gently rubbing it with his thumb. None of them were aware of his dark secret, the alliance he formed with his darker sides in order to overcome the challenges in front of him. For the sake of ponykind, for the sake of Equestria and Equis it had to remain that way. 'No one must ever learn of this... I'll probably keep it hidden until my final day, not even the girls must know.' Clenching his fist and teeth together, Tyler closed his eyes. Lying the girls straight into the face. Of all the things he'd done, he deemed this the most ugly deed. But the herd had to be protected from Rage and Sage as well. These two were bloodhounds of war, unleashed only when the situation was so dire nothing else could help. Even with the many advantages they would deliver, they were simply too dangerous for... well, everyone else. The world of Equis seemed secure for now and the others may think that the Alicorns of Darkness were vanquished, possibly never to return. But none of them witnessed the real dangers the Darkness Sisters held or the threat which was born inside the Heart of Darkness. The two extra shadows he now had were still existent. He couldn't see them, but feel their omnipresence. The day was bright and cheerful, but in Tyler's head he was wading through a storm of emotional turmoil.

And this storm raged on with every step he took in the throne room, followed by oh so many eyes. It felt like ascending the scaffold. Kneeling down before Celestia and Luna, he bowed his head. From the outside, it looked like humility. For Tyler, it was shame. He had been tainted. Each of Celestia's words became a needle stabbed into his heart.
“A great threat was cast aside and Equestria was rescued in the brink of time. Today we honor the man who not only averted our total destruction, but also brought a new alicorn princess into our midst. Princess Shiria, an alicorn of Darkness like my beloved sister Luna and daughter to Queen Chrysalis...” Celestia hesitated for a brief moment. “No, Queen Chrysalia, an Alicorn of Darkness that was taken and deformed into the twisted being we know as a Changeling Queen. But while my poor half sister found her death without salvation, our niece Shiria has decided to return back to us. For bringing her back to us, no honor can ever be enough.”

The crown was levitated by Luna and she approached Tyler with a proud smile. One could see that she was more than happy to introduce him into nobility, so even the last voices protesting against him could be silenced. A happiness Tyler couldn't take from her, but also couldn't grant her wholeheartedly. 'No, honey... Please don't do this.' His mind raged, screamed for help, but his lips could only form a smile. Smiling up to his loved ones, his mind closed for them not to see into his troubled thoughts. In an instant the whole coronation could be canceled and Celestia would try to help him in any way possible. But there was no way out of it. He was on his own.
“For showing great courage and leadership in times of crisis, for having willpower beyond measure against enemies beyond compare, we crown thee, Tyler Jones, Prince of Willpower. May thy willpower be a shining example for everypony in the world.” When the crown rested on his head, his heart ached at his own helplessness. No tear could be shed, no shiver could be risked. And yet, a nightmare in the making had become a prince. Standing up, he came to Celestia's side between her and Luna and gave the crowd his best smile. In his thought, he believed to stand there merely like a puppet. If Luna knew about his troubles, he would never have a quiet waking or sleeping moment with this. She would battle Rage and Sage in his mind, but if she would, what about their reaction to her? Rage might hurt or rape her and Sage... Heaven knew what Sage might be capable of.

However, his train of thought was disturbed as Celestia spoke up.
“Is everything alright, Tyler?”

Listening up, Tyler's head turned to her.
“Uh... Yes! Yes, I'm fine...”

Leaning in to him, she arched a brow with a smirk.
“Then smile a bit. You look like someone stepped onto your foot.”

Tyler gulped and smiled at the crowd as they approached the balcony.
“Sorry... It's just... so surreal to me.”

Giggling a bit, Celestia nodded.
“You will adapt to that in good time.”

Down below the ponies cheered for their hero and prince, a sight that imprinted itself into Tyler's mind. It felt good, but uncertainty about his own fate made him wish they wouldn't cheer for him like that. Deep inside he felt that his work had only just begun. If it would have been his achievement alone, he would stand behind each and every word. But now that two uncontrollable forces slumbered inside of him, he felt it was like a lie towards the Equestrian Ponies.
“-Never cruel or cowardly, never to give up, never to give in.- This is my pledge for Equestria and the peace-loving people of Equis. The forces of darkness stood against us, but united in friendship we had overcome this dark challenge. But now that Earth, my former home, knows of this nation, knows of this world and the threats this our world can muster, the basic nature of mankind will lead them here. The nature of curiosity. We will have to prepare ourselves and show them that the equestrian ponies and their allies mean them no harm, but are curious themselves about this new world. Let us work hard to ensure that they will learn quickly that our friendship is an honest and true friendship, worthy to reach out for.”

While the ponies, Griffins and Masar continued to cheer below, four Masar and four Griffins stepped outside the balcony behind Tyler and the princesses, announcing the two monarchs Queen Sheeris and King Gifford. Sheeris was the first to addressing the crowd below.
“A glorious day, a day of honor! Today we Masar as well honor the man who brought back to us the light of day and averted the catastrophe of Nagohod.”

Tyler turned towards Queen Sheeris and bowed.
“Thank you, your majesty.”

Sheeris only shook her head as she lowered her voice a bit.
“No... Again you brought my son back to me. I have to thank you. There is no way to ever show my gratitude to a proper extent. This is your day, my boy. Enjoy it.”

Coming to Tyler's side, King Gifford patted his shoulder and nodded with a smile.
“Griffith told me about your adventures up there. No one alive could ever hope to last against an alicorn.”

Looking down, Tyler shook his head.
“It was more than close sometimes. And I didn't defeat them.”

But King Gifford wasn't dissuaded by that and continued.
“You injured one of them and made them retreat. For now this was more than anyone could hope for. Don't make your victory smaller than you have to, my boy.”

Turning to the crowd below, Queen Sheeris nodded, her voice strong and loud again.
“And due to the friendship both our sons found on the battlefield, King Gifford and I have come to an agreement.”

With this she stretched out her paw to him and he took it with a friendly smile.
“Agreed. Let there be peace between our nations for our sons' sake. Let us follow their example as best as we can.”

Standing behind, Griffith looked up to Grinko.
“What do you think?”

Grinko chuckled with a growl.
“That the Tartaric Raiders aiming for griffin airships are out of business...”

Rachel arched a brow as she overheard them.
“You think this peace will last?”

Turning around to her, Grinko nodded.
“Oh yes, indeed. Masar and Griffins share one thing: The Principal of Honor. Only a dishonorable dog would disgrace this peace treaty in pride.”

Rarity looked over to Fluttershy, a smirk on her face.
“Fluttershy! Do you know what this means? This means that by being with Grinko, you would become a princess as well!”

A deep blush started to rise on the yellow Pegasus' face.
“Um... It's just... We're not... you know... married and all...”

Nudging Grinko into the ribs, Flynn smirked.
“That would the next step, huh?”

Grinko simply shook his head.
“No. First, we will have a conversation with mother and Princess Luna. But that will have to wait. Until then, 'Lady' Fluttershy will enjoy my thorough protection.”

* * * * *

Later that evening, Tyler conversed a bit with Celestia and Luna over a cup of tea in their chambers while Applejack was already on to Ponyville, taking a look at Appleseed and the other members of the family.
“How is she?”

Luna had her eyes closed while resting the cup down on the table. Looking over to Tyler, she gave him a reassuring nod
“I inspected Shiria myself. She is fine and well. She's currently taking a nap at the moment.”

Cocking his head, Tyler looked over to Luna.
“...and?”

Giving it a short giggle, Luna winked at him.
“Only the sweetest dreams. Thou did good. I'm not the only protector she has in her dreams.”

It was in this moment that Twilight entered the room. The young princess shook her head and groaned.
“Ugh… I’m feeling sick this morning… I wonder if I ate something wrong…”

Both regal sisters looked at Twilight, only to wink at each other with a smile. While Luna conversed a bit more with Tyler, Celestia left the room with Twilight.
“Twilight… Why don’t we determine a new room for you?”

“A new room? Will this become my new room for further studies?”

With a giggle Celestia rolled her eyes.
“In a manner… But maybe we will recolor it to pink or blue later on.”

Now Twilight narrowed her eyes.
“What good would that do? Are these colors any better for studying than other colors?”

Fighting the urge to laugh, the adult alicorn mare nodded.
“You will see it in good time, Twilight…”

* * * * *

In the meantime, Rachel was giving a Harmony Ranger debriefing with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, going through the reports a second time with them.
“And the New Jersey is battered, yet salvageable. A fact I'm most relieved about. You know everything now and we went through with this twice. I thought the reports were sufficient...?”

Shaking his head, Shining showed a tired smile.
“No, the reports are fine, there is just this one subject...”

Cadance, however, seemed rather displeased with Rachel's lack of will to declassify the desired information.
“Where. Is. The Tip?”

Letting go a sigh, Rachel closed her eyes.
“I thought we settled that. The tip is at a very safe place.”

“Safe from who?” Shining asked.

Knocking her hoof onto the table, Cadance's voice was very strict now.
“An alicorn horn tip is an object of tremendous danger and needs to be disposed!”

Raising her hands to calm the princess down, Rachel never let go of her calm tone.
“And it will be! I assure you, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining: We have top ponies working on it right now.”

“Who?” Shining asked, a brow arching high.

This was a question Rachel only answered with a sober expression and voice.
“Top... ponies...”

In the meantime, Sam, Lyra, Flynn, Rainbow Dash, Vinyl, Octavia and two members of the Telly Hawk squadron stood around a crate. Sam looked and nodded at each one present before he opened a small box and held it up. A single bullet with a black tip of alicorn horn. Octavia gently shook her head.
“To think that it would take only such a small thing to end a mighty being like an alicorn...”

Vinyl nodded.
“Yeah, this is wicked stuff. And not even the cool kind of wicked...”

Flynn simply shook his head.
“This bullet is the most dangerous bullet on two entire worlds, able to bring entire nations down or to ensure their peace and prosperity for ages to come. No one must ever learn of its existence. All involved here have sworn to undergo a geas procedure with Princess Luna and Celestia that will ensure we will never ever speak of it. Not even under torture.”

Both members of the Telly Hawks nodded.
“We understand, we will oblige.”

“We made sure we were alone in this Bag of Holding Storage Hall. The room outside was locked when we came in. No one else is here. Ranger Scratch and Ranger Heartstrings confirmed it with magic: We are alone and no one else knows about this.”

“No one but Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Prince Tyler that is...

Rainbow looked at the tip, uneasy.
“If you ask me, we should get rid of it! It's a threat to our princesses as well.”

Lyra looked up to Flynn and Rainbow, arching a brow.
“This bullet tip might be the last straw we have the next time. Tyler barely made it away. Next time it might even get harder.”

Sam placed the bullet into a small box inside the crate and looked at it. It looked so unlikely, so simple. And yet the threat this one bullet could cause to Equestria, was tremendous.
“IF there will be a next time. And he made it clear: Should this be the case, he will only allow it as a last resort in order to save the world.” The crate was closed, nailed and sealed shut with magic. Several seals and spells were worked on by the unicorns to make it impossible for even a unicorn of the highest degree to locate, levitate or teleport either the crate or its dangerous content. Getting labeled the single word 'Longinus', the crate was then brought on a wagon and Sam stowed it away in a seemingly endless hall of crates deep within the storage halls of the Ranger Headquarters.

Roll Credits image
__________________________

Author
Varius Mayhem

Director
Varius Mayhem

Producer
Varius Mayhem

Lighting
Varius Mayhem

6D effects
Varius Mayhem

Reference network
Varius Mayhem

Proofreader
Truthseeker
Shwaggy

Department of Awesomeness
Rainbow Dash
Spitfire
Vinyl Scratch

Costumes
Rarity
Coco Pommel

Camera
Photo Finish & Staff

Public Relations
Princess 'So Hot' Celestia
Princess 'So Cool' Luna

Shipping
Princess 'FedEx' Cadance

Catering Team
Pinkie Pie
Fluttershy
Applejack
Milky Way

Dawwww
Cutie Mark Crusaders

Security
Shining Armor
Soarin

Cut
Babs Seed
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Pinkamina Diane Pie

Decorations with a twist
The Weeping Pegasi

Department of Extermination
The Daleks

Department of Upgrading
The Cyberponies

Best Pony
Insert best pony here

Legion of Awesome
You, the readers. :rainbowwild:

My Little Pony © is a copyrighted trademark registered by Hasbro
Cutie Mark Crusaders© is a copyrighted trademark registered in Equestria, Ponyville

* * * * *

The icy winds howled against the unicorn scientist as they lied on the ground. Pain engulfed his body as he stemmed himself up. The cold... If he saw it correctly, he was surrounded in an icy wasteland. Shaking his head not to be overwhelmed by the pain and dizziness, he stood up on shaky legs. He remembered he was inside the changeling wax float until the sea became rough and there was water everywhere in the float. There was a blinding light and then he fell unconscious. And woke up not on sea but here. Was the sea frozen all of a sudden? No, he could make out mountains a few hundred meters ahead and before that something like a couple of houses, maybe even proper shelter against the cold. There were figures in the distance, standing tall. 'Could that be humans or minotaurs?'

But as he made his first step, something pulled his hooves away under him and he fell. Rolling on his back, he looked up and slowly his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to dots at the sight of a monstrous black maw opening in front of him. A Changeling Brute was standing above him and several drones, all of them covered in glass shrapnel. 'The negative energy tanks! Destroyed!' It occurred to him before his screams echoed over the ice, ending in gurgling as his throat was ripped to shreds. Not long after that the Changelings made way to the houses in the distance.

1 - Poker and some poison jokes **

Several weeks had passed since the incursion of the Descendants and the brave crusade of the Equestrians. Although the memories of these dark days were still lingering in the minds of the ponies, so were the memories of bravery and victory over the ponies that tried to take away the equestrian way of life. Reassured of the humans, the ponies of Equestria soon forgot their doubts about the Harmony Rangers and greeted them like before. During the winter, the damage caused by the Descendants was undone and repairs were made.

In Canterlot, Rachel Higgins and Tyler Jones made their report to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Memory snippets of several guards played in front of the two regal sisters. The bombardment of the citadels, the fights in the streets, the betrayal of so many once believed to be faithful and loyal to both of them. While Luna’s face remained calm and disapproving, Celestia shook her head, not understanding the sheer hatred,
“Why… why do this? We never harmed anyone to deserve this.”

Rachel sighed,
“If you ask me: It was a message… To all of Equis… ‘We do what we want to do. And not even your precious princesses can stop us!’”

Hearing this caused Celestia’s face to grow grim,
“Rachel… Tyler… I want your Ranger team assembled as quickly as possible. No one will harm our subjects like this unpunished! You will have access to the equestrian armory, treasury and research facilities. Do whatever is necessary to counter this threat!”

Tyler sighed as he heard this and slowly shook his head,
“It seems the ‘war on terror’ has followed man into this world…”

“Silence!” Celestia snapped back at him. “None of you has caused this. This isn’t the doing of mankind… This is the doing of some occultists worshipping an ancient alicorn king! And for killing so many of our beloved subjects Luna and I will punish them.”

Tyler rested a hand on Celestia’s shoulder,
“Harsh strictness doesn’t suit you, beloved… This is MY part…”

Celestia blushed a bit, but smiled at Tyler’s hint. Did he fear her heart to harden over this? That was sweet of him. Placing a short peck on his cheek, she winked at him shortly with a nod, assuring him that he hadn’t to worry about her before she returned to her strict face,
“As soon as it is late spring, I wish you Harmony Rangers to investigate in the lands around for hints about who these ‘Darkness Sisters’ are. Saddle Arabia, the Amasian Empire, the Crystal Empire… Even the Griffin Kingdom, Zebrica and Minauria. Meanwhile Luna and I shall send diplomats to all nations. This is a threat not only for ponykind, but every peace-loving being on Equis!”

Tyler took a look on the globe,
“Amasian Enclave, travel time three days, Zebrica would be two days... Minauria and the Griffin kingdom… Boy, these are far away… a week for each one of them? Quite a travel we have to do there… Even more so if we’re all in one group. We’re too small in numbers to do that within a week. And there could be another attack in our absence. Not again! I think either Rachel or me should stay in Equestria to support the Royal Guard. And some sort of headquarter wouldn’t be a bad idea…”

Rachel arched a brow with a wide smile,
"A Ranger Headquarter! I like that idea! We could recruit some loyal ponies into it. After the march of Equestria, patriotism is at its peak. And perhaps some recruits from the other countries might join as well.” Coming over to the globe, she glanced over it, standing on the opposite side as Tyler. "Even more eyes to look out for some sort of crossing..."

Tyler looked up from the globe and to Rachel, slowly nodding.
"Your search for the crossing home to Earth, yes." Looking over to Celestia, he then arched a brow. "I guess there are no cases of mass disappearing ponies, griffins or anything?"

But Celestia only shook her head.
"I am afraid not. If there is a crossing to the human world, Earth... It is beyond Luna's and my jurisdiction, beyond the borders of Equestria."

Looking back to Rachel, Tyler nodded once again.
"I'm aware that you want that crossing found in order to secure it. So do I. But for now, let's continue about some more pressing matters. We need to establish some sort of fighting force here and have to find out who these Darkness sisters are. As far as I'm concerned, they could be anything! From a pair of female dragons to some unicorns with too much ego and power. We need to know more about our enemy before we can ever hope to defeat them." Rachel agreed with a simple nod.

Luna then nodded,
“Very well then, I shall inform some of the loyal secret agents living in Ponyville. My guess is they would very much like to help thee in defending Equestrian borders, Tyler.”

Tyler arched a brow,
“I didn’t know Equestria had a secret service…”

Luna held her chin high,
“Tis a secret service after all, beloved. What good would it be if any knave and villain would know about it?”

“I guess that’s true…” Hearing his admittance prompted Luna to hold her head even higher in pride. Noticing this, Tyler smirked. “But they didn’t warn you two from the insurgents as well, right? So they don’t cover everything… “ Luna bowed her head, reluctantly admitting that the equestrian secret service was with flaws. But Tyler patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry… Would you be so kind and order the guard to clean up the CCF and empty it? I’d like to give that facility a new purpose.”

Luna then nodded, her mood getting better again,
“That I will, Tyler…” Tyler and the two sisters now hugged as the meeting was over and the Rangers left the throne room.

As soon as they were out, two other visitors now entered the room, only to be greeted by a now beaming Celestia,
“Ah! There you are… It’s so good to see you again. It’s been so long…”

Tyler recognized Derpy, who waved at him with her hoof while giving him a friendly smile, before following the stallion into the throne room, but Tyler didn’t recognize the brown stallion with an even darker brown mane. Both shared a glance at each other and there was something between these two. Both seemed to recognize that the other was more than what met the eye. And this made Tyler wary. Who was that? But then their glances parted from each other and the stallion now looked at Celestia and seemed to be smiling,
“You’ve had this place redecorated, haven’t you?” He looked around and shook his head. “I don’t like it.” Then the door closed and Tyler arched a brow, but let it go. Celestia had many connections, maybe Derpy and that stallion were another one.

* * * * *

Several days later the first snow fell in Ponyville. While Tyler and Twilight watched in awe, Grinko, who lived in the library to this point, arched a brow. As soon as he felt the icy cold and saw the white snow, he backed off,
“What is this trickery?” he growled with distrust. Grinko’s hair began to stand up on end as he went backwards into the library.

Tyler arched a brow,
“Oh this… Right, you’re a Masar. You probably never saw snow in your life, huh?”

Raising a brow, the hefty Masar leaned forward,
“Snow? Is that this white stuff coming from the sky?”

“It is.” Twilight started to explain. “Snow is frozen water falling from the sky like rain.”

With careful gesture he held out his big paw as several snowflakes landed on it,
“Frozen… It’s cold like the night… These lands hold numerous wonders…” With that he shivered. “I miss Moranji… There one could walk on warm sand all day…”

As they came back inside, Twilight nodded over to him,
“I’m curious about your country, Grinko… Tell me about Moranji, please.”

Grinko looked down to the pony and narrowed his eyes a bit,
“Where I come from… we eat meat or fish! We hunt for prey and fish in the ocean. On a good and festive day… we have zebra…” A cold chill ran down Twilight’s spine. Again the Masar reminded her that he was a pure predator. Sentient and pleasant-natured, but still a predator. When Zecora heard about his presence in Ponyville, she was furious, demanding his immediate departure. Twilight now understood why. But Grinko nodded as he continued. “I know you fear me to some extent, Twilight Sparkle… and for good reason. My kind hunts zebras for prey and zebras and ponies are alike…” He then looked at Tyler. “But I own this man a debt. If he wants me to overcome these daily temptations, I will have to do so.”

Twilight cocked her head and arched a brow,
“Well, you fought well for Equestria, but there are no guarantees you don’t give in for your lust for flesh.”

He grumbled, slightly frustrated by her mistrust,
“That is why I HAVE to go on a strict diet of fish! And once this… snow goes back in spring as you say, I and Tyler will go hunting for my lust for prey and flesh in this Everfree Forest of yours. While enduring these hard times I hope for you all to see that I am an honorable being.”

Tyler patted Twilight’s shoulder and nodded,
“When Zecora was new to Ponyville, everyone avoided her, fearing her for being different. When I was here, they were wary as well first. Give them some time to know you better and they will accept you as well.” Twilight looked up to Tyler and smiled.

Grinko, however, grumbled a bit,
“There is another thing… I want to have my own room.”

Arching a brow, Twilight shook her head,
“Why? Do you want more privacy? I told you I’m not mad at the hairballs as long as you clean them up afterwards.”

But he growled unhappy,
“Twilight Sparkle! I deem it improper to sleep in the same room as two… lair mates!”

“Lair mates…? But what-” As Tyler whispered something into her ear, her eyes widened and she blushed heavily. “Oh!”

The Masar now bowed before Twilight,
“You are one of the companions of the man who saved my life. I serve you as I serve him. These fangs shall never touch you or your friends.”

Twilight nodded at this, unsure what to say at this. Tyler, however, smiled at this,
“Why don’t we let Grinko pay the rent by telling you about the Masar ways, Twilight? All the things you could learn without putting yourself in danger of hungry Masar eyes…” With a grin he leaned down to Twilight and lowered his voice. “But we both know you like a little soft bite into your flank once in a while…”

Pushing Tyler back with her hoof, she looked back to Grinko,
“I would love to learn about your people, Grinko.”

Nodding again, the Masar bowed,
“My pleasure… Then it shall be so! My wisdom, although limited compared to the priestesses and shamans of my land, shall be yours in exchange for shelter.”

However, before Twilight could shoot her first question about his whereabouts and way of living, the sound of a carriage landing sounded from outside and while they turned their heads towards the windows, it knocked on the door.

While Spike went to answer the door, Tyler looked at Twilight,
“Are we expecting someone today?”

But the librarian only shook her head,
“Not that I know…”

Half a minute later, Spike came back in and looked at Grinko,
“G-Grinko? Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are here. You better come; they want to… have a talk with you…”

As they entered the main library hall and living room, both princesses were standing inside while the guards waited outside. Celestia recognized their coming at once and approached them with a gentle smile,
“What a wonderful winter day it is, Twilight. I’m happy to see you again so soon, my faithful student.”

Both the librarian and her mentor hugged and Tyler caressed Luna’s cheek to greet her welcome,
“How are you, Luna?”

“Oh, tis quite bright outside, the ongoing reflection of sunlight in the snow makes my eyes hurt a little bit. After all, I had slept very little today…”

But Grinko was still quite confused about the situation at hand,
“The rulers of this realm want to talk with me all by themself? Don’t you worry that I as a Masar might attack you without the protection of the Guard?”

Celestia looked over to Luna and both grinned a bit,
“Oh, it would be a nice relief of stress. After handling the sun and moon for so many millennia… it would truly be nice for a change to handle an assassination attempt.”

All attendees looked at Celestia with big eyes. Tyler’s brows arched,
“Huh?”

But Celestia simply smiled,
“Of course, Tyler! The last one was approximately…” She thought for a bit. “7.854 years ago! Cute little feller tried to burn Luna and me with his dragon breath. But we made him learn his place.” Beaming at Grinko, the princesses nodded. “You are welcome to try your luck as well, Grinko! We promise we’ll try to go easy on you.”

Tyler leaned down to Twilight and lowered his voice,
“Is she kidding?”

But the unicorn simply shook her head,
“I don’t know…”

After some giggle, Celestia harrumphed a bit and got serious again,
“Now, why we’re here… Grinko derka Khass’ra , son of Tass’kra… Step forth!”

Luna now turned to Tyler and Twilight,
“This might take a while and we wish to have this conversation in private. Why don’t thou take Spike and go outside for a few minutes?”

Looking over to Celestia, Tyler received a reassuring nod and looked over to Grinko,
”Sure… Twilight? Come on, let’s go!”

Outside Spike began to bibber from the cold,
“H-hopefully this won’t t-take long…”

Leaning against the tree, Tyler closed his eyes while Twilight looked up to him,
“What do you think will they talk about?”

Looking down to her, Tyler smiled a bit,
“Probably stuff about staying here and under what conditions…”

Both princesses now sat down on their haunches in front of Grinko and he as well sat down with a gulp. There was something in the air, something he couldn’t point out, but it made him fully aware of his surroundings and alarmed about these two mares. He had killed ponies, even unicorns before, but these two were a fully different league. The feeling in his guts slowly became unbearable. They may look like prey, but they were unreachable. And deep within he slowly fought the urge to flee.
It was like he was the prey and they’re supreme predators. The sound of a simple spoon clinking in a cup of tea made him come back to reality, as Celestia spoke up,
“We have heard plenty of things about the Masar… Not many of them are good. Piracy, killing zebras and ponies for prey…Our list of reasons for allowing you to remain here is short… Yet you fought with Tyler against the Descendants when he returned. And you contained yourself from killing anyone in this battle…”

“Yes…” Looking down to his paws Grinko gulped.

Luna now arched a brow,
“But the lust for their blood was in thy mind?”

Flashbacks came to the mind of the Masar. How he had to force himself sometimes not to perform that final blow. His paws now clenched together in fear the claws might jump out,
“It was, indeed…”

“So why didn’t you kill?”

Looking out of the window to Tyler, Grinko took a deep breath,
“I vowed loyalty to Tyler Jones, the human who freed me from the Changeling hive. By my honor I must follow his command and path until the day my debt is repaid. If he wishes me not to kill, I shall not kill.”

With a gentle smile, the Princess of the Sun looked at him. Grinko didn’t like this. It was like she was looking into his very soul and could see right through him,
“I see… And if this debt is repaid, will you go on hunting ponies or zebras?”

Grinko knew what she was up to and looked into Celestia’s face,
“Not if I don’t have to…”

Celestia now arched a brow,
“If you don’t have to…? What’s this supposed to mean?”

“We talked about it before you two arrived. I will hunt the wild animals of the Everfree Forest or will go fishing. As long as I get my diet of meat or fish from these sources, I do not hunger. And if I don’t hunger, my honor will keep me holding my vows. So if you want me to pledge myself to give up hunting ponies, I can do this. Yet I will have to do something for winter seasons… I can’t fish with this much snow stuff around… But I could build some storage of smoked fish and meat, if you let me. If the humans want some meat, I could go hunting for them as well and hunt for a living.”

Luna nodded,
“An interesting proposal, my sister… They are omnivores, they long for the taste of meat as well once in a while. Having a hunter in the Everfree Forest might help them concentrate more on their missions at hand.”

Celestia now eyed the Masar for a long time and then approached him,
“It seems your proposal is not without reason. I will take your word on this, Grinko derka Khass’ra… It is now up to YOU to prove to us two what the word of a Masar is worth… If honor is such a high value among your race, I give to you this one chance to prove yourself.”

Bowing down, the Masar looked after them with a nervous gulp. Luna now clopped two times against the window and Twilight and Tyler came back in with Spike, who hastily ran to the fireplace to warm him up again.

After that little talk, Grinko now turned to Tyler in private while the princesses approached the door,
“These two mares are not natural… They possess an aura beyond this world… I can sense something like that!”

Tyler nodded with a smile,
“Of course they are something special… Why do you think I love both of them so much?”

As Grinko heard this, he leaned down to Twilight,
“He and the princesses…”

Twilight smiled proudly while she nodded,
“Lair mates as well…”

This only caused the Masar to shake his head,
“I don’t know if I should feel honored or afraid to owe this human a debt…”

The lavender unicorn now shook her head with an arched brow,
“Grinko… Don’t do either… He’s not that kind of guy.” Tyler now said goodbye to the princesses as they returned to their carriage before he returned into the warmth of the library.

For the rest of the winter, Grinko paid his rent with stories and facts about Moranji and Twilight slowly learned to lose her fear for the Masar, this honor-driven being. Often she caught herself fearing for Tyler, when he discussed things with Grinko and argued with him, for Grinko sometimes got out his claws. But his debt was held dear and he never harmed someone, although everypony was at least wary. Everypony except Pinkie that is. With a big grin she presented a cake of fish and cream to the Masar one day, who first arched his brows, but then bowed and accepted the gift as if it was a present of great importance.

Learning more about Grinko brought Twilight to write more letters to Princess Celestia, giving report on his progress. Masar history was a rather interesting topic and Twilight would love to converse a bit with a Masar scribe in order to hear more about their history under Queen Cleopawtra before the kingdom crumbled and devolved into several smaller tribes. Maybe this behavior in and strive for honor came from these ancient days under the queen’s reign.

However, there was a certain aversion to the cold of winter, making him stay indoors all the time. Him coming from a country with vast deserts, she categorized him as being only comfortable in warmer climate. Equestria's winter was obviously much colder than the one in a desert nation.

As Winter-Wrap up was there, Twilight was very excited,
“This is the first Winter Wrap Up when you’re not injured, Tyler! What teams do you and the others want to join?”

Tyler arched a brow,
“Oh yes… Um… Listen, Twilight… On Earth, we humans leave everything to nature and get the snow out from the roofs and streets, nothing more… We can do that if you want us to.”

Twilight nodded as she went through her many checklists and preparation notes,
“Ah yes, you already said that there are no weather patrols on Earth and that weather controls itself… Good! It’s nice to see we can get a bit of participation from you four as well; every bit of help to wrap up winter is quite welcome."

When Tyler informed the others about winter wrap up, the reactions varied. Sam on his part, simply nodded.
"I saw some Earth ponies pushing these snow plows. I could do that for the Ponyville main street. That is, I could do that even faster, if it would have an engine, but for now, raw muscle strength seems to be enough."

Flynn, when addressed with this, simply smirked.
"So they clean winter all by themselves by tomorrow? Well, I could help out. You know that I'm fast." In the next moment, he had massed all the snow around Tyler and had piled it up around him. "Maybe even faster!" Next, every icicle in the near neighborhood was missing from the roofs and decorated Tyler's snow-packed body. Flynn was now standing in front of him with a wide grin, holding up a carrot. "Hungry?"

With a dead-panned look on his face, Tyler melted the snow around himself with heat magic while levitating the icicles, pointing them at Flynn.
"Run!"

Rachel's reaction was the most expected one.
"I. Have. Only. Magic. At. My. Disposal! What do you want me to do? Shoot the snow down the roof? They said 'No magic'!"

Tyler wanted to protest, but had to agree with her.
"Damn, you're right. I haven't thought about that." Looking down, thinking for a moment, he then nodded. "Could you then at least help Rarity out?"

She nodded and arched a brow.
"I can do that. But what about you, Ponyfucker? We all know that Sam has superhuman strength and Flynn superhuman speed. You and I are using magic, me using weapons for it. You? What will you do?"

Lifting up a snow shovel, Tyler shrugged.
"Doing my part the old-fashioned way, I guess..."

* * * * *

Later that day in a dark room…

Rachel and Pinkie Pie looked at each other with determined glances,
“This is it, Pinkie Pie… I want to see!”

The pink mare nodded and grinned as she looked up,
“It will cost you 50 to see them!”

Rachel then nodded and put another chip onto the pot. Rachel now laid down her cards,
“A Full House!”

Derpy shook her head and laid down two pairs,
“I just don’t know what went wrong…”

Rainbow slammed her cards down, a pair,
“Darn it! I should have skipped this game!”

Lyra shrunk together, laying down three of a kind,
“I wasn’t lucky this time either…”

Applejack shook her head,
“Tarnation! Only a flush…”

Twilight looked over to her,
“You should learn when to quit, AJ… Tyler told me that there’s a feeling you must learn to develop for this game."

But the country mare grinned,
“Twilight, ya left in the third round! If Ah would play as cautious like ya, where would be mah fun?"

Rarity pouted,
“My! Only three of a kind! Fortune is not with me this time!”

Now the human looked over to Pinkie Pie,
“Well? What do you have?”

With a big grin, Pinkie presented four nines,
“Tee-hee! Four of a kind, seems like the pot is mine!” While Pinkie leaned over the table, Fluttershy spoke up.

“Um… Excuse me? What points do I receive?”

Rachel looked at Fluttershy,
“Well? What cards do you have?”

“Oh, um… it’s… only these…”

Her cards were a ten, a joker, a queen, a king and an ace… all of the same suit. Grinning wide, Rachel looked over to Pinkie,
“Well, I’ll be damned… A Royal Flush… Looks like Fluttershy beat you this time, Pinkie…”

Looking down, Pinkie Pie nodded and shrugged,
“Just a game… Here you go, Fluttershy!”

With that Pinkie pushed the pot towards the yellow Pegasus, who held her cheeks with a slight blush,
“Oh… My… “

Derpy whimpered a bit, as she saw the muffin on top of the pot going over to Fluttershy, but the yellow mare picked it up and gave it back to her, making the gray Pegasus smile happily again.

As the next game started, Rachel gave the cards,
“So Rainbow… How goes your dating with your boyfriend Flynn?”

Arching a brow as she took her cards, Rainbow looked over to Rachel,
“Flynn and I are not dating! We’re just… a mare and a stallion doing various activities together.”

“Which essentially means you’re dating…” With a grin Rachel raised her bet by twenty and looked over to Rainbow. “Also I can’t help but notice that you didn’t deny that he was your boyfriend…”

Meanwhile Tyler, Sam, Flynn, Grinko and Big Macintosh were playing a poker game of their own in the barn of Sweet Apple Acres as Flynn looked up from his cards,
“She’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a buddy to me.”

Tyler smirked and handed the cards out,
“If you say so… It’s not like you two were almost glued together in the recent weeks… Why don’t you ask her out?” Tyler now noticed the looks of Spike which was glued at Tyler’s chin the whole evening. “What’s up in your mind, champ? The gemstones I got you for the evening not tasty enough?”

“Why can’t I play with you guys?” the baby dragon asked with a frown.

“That’s because I promised Twilight to keep you from participating actively in gambling activity. You can hang out with some guys for a change. Is that nothing?”

Grinko grinned,
“For a young male it is best to have someone male to orient to, an example. Twilight told me you were raised only by a female… But it’s good for a boy to have some father figure…”

Arching a brow Spike now cocked his head,
“Yeah, like any of you guys could be my father without scales… Speaking of guy business… Why did you cut off that beard? I thought you looked awesome with it!”

Tyler looked to the other men at the table and felt his shaved chin,
“Best guess is it’s for the ladies. Care to feel it, Spike? Smooth as a baby dragon’s butt.”

Spike touched Tyler’s chin, felt the skin, but then briefly shook his head with a smirk, not agreeing with the human, prompting the one or another chuckle at the table. Sam nodded over to Flynn,
“Back to topic… What’s the big deal, Flynn? You hang out with Rainbow, why don’t you ask her out? It’s just two pals who enjoy a meal together. Or are you afraid she would see that as something more?”

Meanwhile Rainbow stood up and stared at Rachel, pointing her left hoof at the human,
“I’m not afraid of anything! I could ask him out on a date anytime! But I won’t. I don’t have to prove anything to you, Rachel.”

Twilight looked back and forth between those two and smirked,
“You like to provoke, Rachel… but what about you? Is there nopony on your mind who might be special to you?”

Rainbow now nodded,
“Yeah! You tell her, Twi! What about you, huh?”

Smirking widely, Rachel rolled her eyes in mischief while looking over to Rainbow,
“Hmmm… Tyler and Sam are already given away… Maybe I’ll go for Flynn.”

“NO!” Rainbow shouted, her wings erect and glaring at Rachel. “You stay away from him!”

Applejack now arched a brow and gave Rainbow a smirk,
“RD, what the hay are ya doing? Claiming someone maybe?”

Rainbow now looked over to Applejack, not noticing the way she responded to these provocations,
“What? Uh… No! I’m just… you know… angered because she says she wants to decide Flynn’s life like she owns him!”

“’Angered’ isn’t quite the word I would use…” Rachel said with a wide grin as she pointed at Rainbow’s wingboner.

The girls now giggled a bit while Rachel stood up and went into the kitchen,
“So you like Flynn… What about it?”

Rainbow arched a brow,
“This coming from the woman who always verbally attacked Tyler for being with us ponies?”

“That’s right… I have my issues with this, but that doesn’t mean I’m right with every relationship. Maybe some characters DO fit together nicely, even when they’re of different species…”

Applejack leaned back and looked into the kitchen,
“Ya know, Rachel… Yer always telling us that we’re good and decent ponyfolk in yer eyes, but yer against bonding between our two species… Especially sexual binding. Maybe ya should try it yerself?

Thinking about idea this made Rachel shudder,
“Well… Thanks but no thanks. I think I would throw up if a stallion would… You know… enter me with his…” She slightly gagged. “Oh you know what I mean…”

But the farm mare kept being persistent,
“Rachel… Trust me, Ah have had one stallion before Tyler and beside from a human’s endurance and some positions that drive a mare crazy, there’s almost no difference whatsoever in matters of how it feels.”

Twilight looked over to AJ with a big smirk,
“Besides the exotic feeling of course… But if that’s not her way, then there’s nothing we can do. We can’t force her.”

Lyra leaned over,
“Positions? You girls willing to share your knowledge with me?” Applejack grinned and winked over to the unicorn.

Rachel sat down again and took a sip of her lemonade and shook her head,
“Girls… As much as I appreciate the thought…. You shouldn’t do anything in the first place, OK? Not even thinking about what to do.”

Fluttershy looked over to Rachel,
“But… Uh… if you don’t mind me asking… Don’t you feel lonely all by yourself?”

Rachel Higgins now cocked her head in thought,
“Well… sometimes… I wouldn’t mind to have someone at my side for a little social interaction. But sex with a pony? No, definitely not going to happen!”

Rarity levitated a drink in front of her and took a small sip of it,
“Darling, you overthink this… I mean Princess Luna was able to transform Applejack into a human woman. If you prefer your partner to be human… why not find someone whose character you like and ask him if he would agree in having sex with you in human form?”

Rachel blinked as she looked at the white unicorn,
“That’s one idea I could pursuit… And yet… A bit shallow as well, don’t you think?”

Rainbow arched a brow,
“I don’t know… That wouldn’t be my thing. But if you love the guy for his personality, why should it matter what species he is?”

Applejack chuckled,
“Sometimes it takes time for the heart to accept the pardner in his or her whole entity. Maybe Rachel must find honest love in a character first before acceptin’ him having a different species. Ya know, RD: First comes honesty, then comes loyalty.”

The Pegasus mare glared into the farmmare’s grinning face, before she shrugged and shook her head with a smirk,
“Yeah… I guess that’s true in a way. One cannot be loyal to a guy who isn’t honest in his words.”

As the poker evening was over, the two groups split up again. While Tyler went back to the library with Spike and Grinko, Flynn and Sam went back to Bon Bon’s and Lyra’s house. On the way there they met Rainbow, Pinkie and Lyra. Flynn looked over to Rainbow and smiled,
“Hey! How was your evening, girls?”

Rainbow grimaced a bit,
“Well… Poker isn’t exactly my game… I have no solid poker face yet. And Pinkie is constantly smiling or grinning, you can’t make much of her reactions.”

Looking over to Pinkie, Flynn smiled,
“Yeah… I guess so…”

There was building up an awkward silence between the two of them that endured until Sam broke it and placed one poker chip on Pinkie’s nose,
"I bet 50 on him…”

Lyra looked up to Sam, grinned and levitated a chip of her own on his chip,
“I say 50 on her!”

Both Flynn and Rainbow arched a brow and looked at each other before they looked at the others,
“Ummm…”

“What are you guys doing?”

Lyra smiled widely,
“Actually we bet on who’s going to do something first!”

“Doing something first? Like what? Lyra, haven’t we talked about this before? I mean why are you folks so persistent that Flynn and I are dating?”

Flynn nodded,
“Yeah! We’re just… a guy and a girl, right?”

As they tried to defend themselves, Sam looked over to Pinkie,
“Well Pinkie? What do you think? “Who’s going to give in first?”

Pinkie giggled a bit, before her eyes popped open, she looked behind herself, then forward again and closed her eyes with a beaming smile,
“I think Derpy will be the one!”

Now everybody was stumped and a collective “Huh?” sounded off. But merely a second later, Derpy crash-landed into Flynn and Rainbow and the three of them rolled over the ground like a ball of meat. When Derpy opened her eyes again, her hoof reached for her head,
“Ooouuuch… Well, that was not so bad… At least I landed on something soft!”

When Sam, Pinkie and Lyra came to help the three of them, Lyra suddenly halted and giggled. Sam began to chuckle and that chuckle turned into laughter,
“Pinkie… How could you know that?”

Pinkie grinned widely and booped the two chips into her saddlebag,
“That’s my Pinkie sense! It never fails!”

Rainbow’s eyes were wide open as she stared into Flynn’s brown eyes. He was lying on the ground, Rainbow over him and Derpy on top of the two of them. Both their lips were pressed together and in an instant Rainbow’s wings erected. Jumping up she caused Derpy to fall down from her and made way for Flynn to stand up, her face deeply red,
“I… Uh… Ishouldgo!”

With that she dashed away and flew to her home, a large patch of clouds over some hills. Looking after her, Flynn touched his lips, his eyes looking shortly on his fingers before he looked after her again.

Sam patted his shoulder,
“Well… If she would be anything but a flying pony, I would say ‘run after her’… But it seems you have to wait before she comes down again.” Chuckling a bit, he patted Derpy’s head. “I don’t know if you did that on purpose, Derpy, but that really helped! I’ll get you a batch of muffins tomorrow.”

“Yay! Love angel Derpy to the rescue!” Sticking her tongue out in good fun, the blond Pegasus mare trotted away.

When Sam looked after her, he saw she was trotting towards something like a blue booth. Since when do they have chemical toilets in Equestria? However, he disregarded that booth for now and turned to Pinkie,
“A Pinkie sense? Is that some sort of sense alarming you about danger?”

“Uh-huh… but not only that. My body has many combinations of reactions and they all mean something. By listening to these signals, I can avoid many dangers.” Tipping her chin with her hoof, she thought for a minute. “Come to think of it, my Pinkie sense never said something about you humans… Either it doesn’t work on you, or you aren’t dangerous…”

But Sam only chuckled,
“Oh, that’s not right. We humans can be real assholes. But that’s not a given.” Taking out a pack of cards, he smiled. “Hey, Pinkie? Have you played a lot of card games before?”

Looking up to him, she smiled,
“Of course, silly! Card games are fun!”

“Well, I know some things about the magic of cards. For today, I’ll show you one little piece of magic, OK?” As they both nodded, he continued and opened the pack. “Alright… You see, I have this pack of cards here… Lyra, could you mix them for me? Everything should be decent here…”

Rolling her eyes, the unicorn levitated the cards outside of the pack and mixed them good,
“Sam, you know, humans can do no magic on their own?”

Putting his index finger on her lips, he grinned,
“Hush, sweetie… You are my wonderful and beautiful assistant today.” Rolling her eyes again, she then handed Sam the cards with a smile. "OK, I can’t see them, but you can see they’re all different?

“Yes, they are…” Pinkie confirmed. “A complete set of cards.”

Sam then continued to explain,
“Alright, here’s what I want you to do: I want you to pick one of the cards, but I also want you to do something special to it, OK? So I want you to pick one, don’t show me and then I want you to kiss the back of the card and put it back to the other cards.” With that he turned away and Pinkie took one of the cards and showed it Lyra. It was the Spades King. The unicorn nodded and Pinkie now gave the back of the card a kiss and put it back into the others. Sam now turned back to both of them. “OK… You kissed one of the cards, right? It’s all different from the others. It feels a bit special right now.”

Both mares looked at each other, but nodded with a smile.

“So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to go through each of the cards and I’m going to feel for the kiss, but I don’t know what your kiss feels like. Could I have one on the cheek?” Grinning a bit, the earth pony pulled him in and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. Sam looked over to Lyra with a smile. “Gosh, that kiss can make one smile…” A little embarrassed, Pinkie giggled. Lyra, however, arched a brow now, seemed determined to see that magic trick for herself.

Closing his eyes, Sam went through the cards, rubbing them once in a while, until he held up the Heart Ace,
“Was it this one?”

Shaking her head with a grin, Pinkie chuckled a bit,
“Nope! Wrong card!”

Sam now smirked a bit,
“Oh, OK… Doesn’t matter, you just hold on to it. I will get your card…” With this he placed the card he showed to them on Pinkie’s hoof and searched for Pinkie’s card again.

Shaking her head, Lyra grinned,
“You’re just guessing, right? There is no such magic that can let you do that.”

Sam looked over to the unicorn and grinned,
“You dare to doubt me? Oh, Lyra…” After a few seconds, he looked up from the cards again. “Uh… What was your card again?”

Chuckling now over his defeat, both mares looked at each other and Pinkie shook her head,
“Give it up already, Sam. It was the Spades King.”

Now Sam frowned for a second and looked at the card on her hoof,
“Are you sure it wasn’t this card? I’m pretty sure that this was the card.”

“No, silly! This is the-” But just as Pinkie looked at the card in her hoof again, she gasped. This wasn’t the Heart Ace, it was the Spades King! “Holy lackomoley! How did you do that? That’s amazing!” Looking over to Lyra, Pinkie grinned. “That’s amazing!!! I was holding it in my hoof! How did he do that?”

Lyra now began to smile surprised,
“Seems to me some humans know a bit of magic on their own after all… Alright, how did you do it?”

But Sam simply shook his head,
“Like I’m going to tell you… If you want to see it again, the price is one kiss on one of the cards and one kiss on the cheek.” Chuckling along, Lyra followed at his side while they went home, saying goodbye to Pinkie. Pinkie, however, touched her lips with her hoof and looked after Sam, only to smile a bit. That rascal had tricked her into kissing him. Quite a prank…

* * * * *

On the next day Grinko, Tyler and Rachel went into the Everfree Forest. At noon, the light conditions of the woods were the best. It was for about an hour of persistent looking for tracks, when Rachel looked up and gasped. Before her a large field of flowers bloomed. As she separated from the other two, she wandered through the large field of blue flowers, she picked up a few and smelled one of them,
“This flower… It’s beautiful… Hmmmm… And this scent…”

While she was lost in her little world of flowers, Grinko and Tyler went ahead. While Grinko sniffed around and tried to get some scent of prey into his nose, he looked over to Tyler,
“So you and Rachel aren’t the best of friends despite being comrades, eh?”

Tyler tried not to grimace too much,
“Well, she has her point of view, I have mine. But despite all the arguments we both know we could rely on each other if it counts.”

“Does she have experience in hunting? And I don’t mean these little maneuvers of war you humans call tactics.”

“I don’t think so, Grinko… Why?”

“Well you should tell her that hunting isn’t the same as fetching flowers.”

As Tyler now looked at the Masar with a puzzled expression, Grinko pointed behind them and Rachel knelt down in the field of flowers quite obvious in the open. He then sighed and went back,
“I’ll talk to her…”

Approaching her, Tyler went into the field of flowers as well,
“Rachel, come on! Grinko is right; we didn’t come here to fetch flowers! If you want some tasty meat on your plate, you have to hunt it down first! They don’t have McDonald’s here!”

“Yes, yes… I just want a hand full of these to decorate my room a bit.”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler shook his head,
“Rachel, we came here to get something to eat. So unless you intend to make a soup out of these flowers, this is nothing but a waste of time right now!”

Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a cold look,
“Oh yeah? Well then, Mr. ‘I’m the man!’ Jones! It wouldn’t harm you to fetch some for your mares once in a while. You have sex with them, so you should do something for them as well!”

Folding his arms, Tyler looked down to Rachel,
“It’s not my problem you don’t want to have a relationship with a stallion. But maybe you should have one. Getting laid might help you loosen up a bit!”

Enraged, Rachel stood up,
“I dare you to repeat that! I would never EVER touch a horsecock! Even if they can talk and think like we do!”

Both were interrupted as Grinko harrumphed outside of the field of flowers,
“Are you two done yet? I want to continue hunting. So if you’re not silent, all you are going to be are my bait for a large predator hungry for meat. I’ll eat that meat as well!”

Tyler sighed and nodded to Grinko,
“We’re coming…” Trying to find some tracks again, the three of them searched the woods, but other than a timber wolf they weren’t able to slay something with meat on its ribs. Tyler looked over to Grinko. “I’m sorry our first hunting trip wasn’t that successful…”

Grinko nodded,
“Well it seems we weren’t deep enough yet. I think we should try that bog the next time around. A hydra can’t hide herself that easily.” Looking over to Rachel, who sniffed at the scent of the flower, Grinko arched a brow. “At least one of us got something out of the forest today…”

* * * * *

It was morning when Tyler woke up. The bed was cozy and warm as always. But something was odd. As he turned around to Twilight, the unicorns face looked enormous. It wasn’t because of the intimate closeness they both shared, her head seemed huge now,
“What in the world?!?” As he opened his mouth, it didn’t need long for Tyler to realize that his voice wasn’t actually his voice anymore. It was more of that of a young boy, maybe eight to twelve years. Holding his mouth he hastily looked around in the bed. The mirror! Jumping out of the bed, he looked into the mirror and gulped as his hands touched his face while he stared at the reflection. “No, no, no! No! No!! NO!!! This can’t be fucking happening!”

Waking up from the ruckus, Twilight looked up,
“Tyler…?” When she saw the young boy in front of the mirror, her eyes slowly widened. In the next moment, her scream went through the entire library, causing Owlowiscious to fly away with a distressed “Whoo!” Hiding her face beneath her hooves, Twilight shook her head. “Now I’ve done it! I performed an age spell while asleep and transformed you into a boy!”

Tyler narrowed his eyes,
“Would you snap out of it? I’m a human; I would have simply absorbed such a spell.”

This made Twilight snap out of it,
“Oh by Celestia’s beard, you’re right!” in the next moment she pushed Tyler down the stairs and wired him up to many instruments of the laboratory. “I have to see if this is some sort of allergy or sickness!”

One hour later the Elements of Harmony came together in the library as Spike called all of them. Coming down the stairs, they entered the laboratory, where Twilight was in front of three chalk boards and was writing on several formulas. Applejack approached her, slightly worried. Among the floor were various cables, measuring instruments and machines and plenty of books,
“Twilight? Spike said something’s wrong with Tyler?”

Looking over to the others with a worried face, Twilight sighed and pointed at some curtains where Tyler was already dressing up in some clothes more fitting for his new body. The shadow he casted was small, maybe he was transformed into a baby dragon? When Fluttershy pulled the curtain away, Tyler grumbled a bit as he put on a jacket fitting to the trousers. Everything was stitched together roughly and lacked Rarity’s skill. A boy around twelve or fourteen years age. The girls couldn’t say it exactly due to the lack of experience with human children. Maybe Tyler was at the age of six as well. Fluttershy wasn’t sure if to speak to him like an adult or if to talk to him like a child,
“Oh… my…”

Rainbow snickered heavily, fighting the urge to burst in laughter until she finally gave in,
“You’re not T-Man… You’re T-Boy! Pffffft Bwahahaha!”

Growling a bit, Tyler looked on the ground where Rainbow now lied on her back, cracking up and pedaled her hooves,
“This isn’t funny! I can’t stay in this form!” At least now the girls knew that Tyler’s mental state hadn’t changed.

Applejack, however, shook her head while arching a brow,
“Tyler… Sugarcube, this is extremely odd…”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler simply shook his head,
“You don’t say…”

“Ah mean… We’re still herd mates and Ah love ya, but… Ah can’t have sex with ya in that form… Ah mean… Yer a colt! Ah may have a strong urge, but Ah won’t misuse a young colt.”

Arching a brow now, the young Tyler looked over to Applejack,
“Misuse? AJ, I’m still the same Tyler inside this body. All what was transformed was my body, not my mental state!”

“Yeah, Ah know that. But… ya know… It wouldn’t FEEL right, now that yer in this state…” Looking over to Twilight, AJ smirked and bumped her flank into Twilight’s. “Celestia knows when this transformation occurred this night. Yer sure ya and Tyler weren’t at it while it happened? Maybe ya had sex with a colt, ya know that?”

With a slight blush Twilight raised her chin,
“I would notice this! We both were fully awake last night and nothing like this happened while we were…” Noticing her confession, Twilight now blushed even deeper. “Listen, this isn’t helping! We need to find out what caused this!”

Tyler thought for a minute,
“Well there wasn’t much that could have caused it… No potions, no strange spells… just hunting in the Everfree Forest. All what stood out yesterday was my usual argument with Rachel in these flowers…”

Twilight’s ears twitched,
“Flowers? What kind of flowers? Were they, by any chance… blue in color?”

“Yeah they actually were blue… a whole field of them. Rachel and I stood right in the middle of it. Why?”

While the girls grumbled, Twilight face hoofed,
“Tyler, you stepped right into a field of Poison Joke!”

He grimaced at the name,
“I don’t like the poison in that name… So, what do they do? Are they toxic?”

Twilight fetched out a green book out of the shelf and shook her head,
“No… Fortunately for you they are not. But their magic can be quite potent. But Zecora, who brew the remedy for us when we had issues with this plant, is on a field trip through the Everfree Forest. It would take days to find her in there and that’s not a good plan. She’s used of being in this Forest. We on the other hoof are not! And I don’t know how to find the necessary herbs and ingredients to mix up the remedy. Some are growing here in Ponyville, but others grow in the Everfree Forest. I’m a librarian, not an herbalist…”

Tyler nodded,
“Alright… What are we going to do about it? Do I have to stay in this form until she returns? Maybe she’s gone for weeks!”

Rarity whirled her mane around and looked at Tyler,
“Well! It’s obvious you can’t stay in this form, Darling… Although I must say you now are as cute as Spike is.”

With narrowed eyes Tyler looked at the white unicorn,
“Rarity? Focus, please…”

“Oh! Yes, of course, dear… I will ask later in the spa. Zecora delivered them some of the herbal mixture that cured us the last time we had this little flower causing so much trouble. I’ll get it to you later this afternoon, alright?”

While Tyler was grumbling a bit, Applejack chuckled,
“Come on, Tyler… One measly little day as a boy surely isn’t THAT bad, eh? Which reminds me… All colts and fillies have to go to school.”

Looking at her aghast, Tyler turned around,
“WHAT?!? You can’t be serious! I’m actually way too old for these grades of school!!!”

* * * * *

Half an hour later Tyler was sitting on Applejack’s back and narrowed his eyes,
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this…”

But the country mare simply smiled,
“Well, it’s not that we could do the usual stuff with this body of yers now, pardner. Yer in no condition to work on the fields right now. Or on me…” She gave him a seductive look now. “Trust me, Ah want ya to return to normal as well… for the upcoming heat season… Just humor the kids a bit for now. Ya could spend some time with the crusaders as well. After all… We’re having a foal at home and spending time with children will come to ya whether ya like it or not. See it as an unusual training session in being a parent.”

Nodding thoughtful, Tyler then looked up,
“You DO have a point there, honey…” Climbing down from her, he nodded at her and smirked. “OK… I’ll do it. If it’s for getting a better understanding of colts and fillies… Only the best Dad for Appleseed, hm?”

“That’s the spirit, Sugarcube!”

“Right… But you come and explain to Cheerilee why I’m so young right now! I think it would take two to make this believable…”

Within the next few minutes, both Applejack and Tyler explained to Cheerilee the whereabouts about his current condition. The school teacher visibly tried to resist the urge to snicker at this and Tyler grumbled, but she patted his shoulder,
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that you look very cute as a boy!”

Tyler narrowed his eyes,
“Yeah… Heard that before…”

A few minutes later, both Cheerilee and Tyler entered the classroom,
“Class? Today we have a guest here with us. I think you all still know Tyler Jones?”

As Tyler stepped inside, the young ponies gasped a bit. A slim colt raised his hoof and lowered it when Cheerilee nodded at him,
“But… Why is he so young? I mean Tyler Jones is an adult human…”

The mare nodded and went to the board, drawing a short scribble of the Poison Joke flower with chalk,
“That’s a good question, Snails. Tyler went hunting into the Everfree Forest and by mistake came too close to this flower: Poison Joke. You’ve all heard Apple Bloom’s report on the events when this flower came in contact with some of us ponies and what effect it had on them. It even shrunk Applejack to the size of a mouse! That’s why I again emphasize to you all never to go inside the Everfree Forest without a parent or an adult!”

Apple Bloom now raised her hoof,
“Miss Cheerilee? Since Tyler’s now a human boy, don’t ya think it would be a nice demonstration for him to witness our lesson for today?”

Cheerilee arched a brow and looked at Tyler,
“Would you agree with this?”

Tyler smirked and looked into the many eyes of thrilled colts and fillies,
“Sure, why not? I can’t do my usual work in this state at the moment anyway…”

Scootaloo jumped up in excitement,
“Awesome! Tyler, here! Take a seat beside me!”

After a short nod from Cheerilee, Tyler sat down on Scootaloo’s left side.

From behind, Tyler heard a voice he hadn’t heard in a while. It was Diamond Tiara, giggling over to Silver Spoon,
“I wonder… What about your cutie mark? Maybe you developed back and it’s gone as well?”

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head,
“Sorry, Diamond Tiara… I checked right away and it’s still there! Are you still so fixated over the flanks of others? You should stop doing that, you know? It’s bad manners…”

The one or another giggle went through the class before Cherilee raised her hoof,
“Now, now, class… Stop it. Get your focus back to the lesson.”

Scootaloo looked over to Tyler and smiled,
“Last lesson, we had some simple math exercises. But geometry is quite hard…”

Tyler smirked,
“It’s important for Pegasi, I suppose…” The young Pegasus nodded. From what she had heard, the weather patrol hat to be very good at geometry to water some parts of Equestria while others didn’t need to be watered. With the view from above, the fields and plains were laid out almost like in these simple geometry exercises.

Sweetie Belle now nudged Tyler from the side,
“After school, we’re going to the clubhouse! You want to join?”

“Well, actually…” But then he remembered Applejack’s words.

“We’re having a foal at home and spending time with children will come to ya whether ya like it or not. See it as an unusual training session in being a parent.”

He then nodded,
“Actually that sounds pretty good!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, far in the lands of the east…

A little mouse was crawling over the mountain stones as a shadow flew over it. Squeaking a bit, the mouse looked up, until it was in the iron grasp of an eagle claw. The mighty paws of lion hind legs landed with a thump only a fraction of a second later and the strong beak ripped a good chunk out of the mouse. Galrasian mountain mice… a delicacy for every self-respecting Griffin of the kingdom. Rare and bred by the kingdom in order to have a steady supply ready for the hunt. A heavy chain harness rattled as the highly decorated Griffin approached the doors of the fortress. The guards nodded and bowed before they opened the doors for the Griffin. From inside, a slim looking Griffin approached the highly decorated one and began his report,
“Memret Marek! Lak Istaramnir erek Ekirandanir kadi’sh kruj elembor Pakrah! [General Marek! Traders from Equestria speak of four mighty warriors…]”

This awakened the General’s immediate attention and he arched a brow. His advisor, a weak looking Griffin with the name of Boret wasn’t easily unnerved. He wasn’t a fighter, but he also wasn’t a coward,
“Ij pa ru mai t era Pakrah? [Who are these warriors you talk about?]”

“Rihorim paj da brok nerem shin do Nefelok! Rihorim paj da fira no Ekirandanir barani milji akros. Akros bim shaltonik sundrera koron zapari. [Rumor has it they are big and bipedal warriors! They say they freed Equestria from a mighty enemy; an enemy that came from the south with fortresses that roamed the skies.]”

This was making even less sense now in the mind of the General. Equestria was rumored to be a land of magic, not of warriors. Were these warriors ponies? No, that was out of the question. Boret described them as bipedal. It had to be another species forming an alliance with Equestria. An Alliance he wasn’t informed about by the Griffin bureau of Secrecy. If they didn’t know about it either, where did these creatures came from? Analyzing the report a bit more, he thought of what was lying in the south,
“Tik shaltonik Amaska pori saduun… Mifo da suk elembor Pakrah jasim… Loksar to niforim u kandra mihorim! [In the south there are the Amasian ponies of shadows… I shall see these mighty warriors for myself… Prepare my entourage and inform the king!]”

* * * * *

At noon, Sam came home for a short snack. His break at the spa would last an hour and Aloe and Lotus allowed that he left for getting himself something to eat. On the way home, he met Flynn who grumbled a bit,
“What’s the matter, Flynn? No luck in finding a decent job?”

"Only temporarily ones for now… I’m helping out a bit here and there for the one or another bit, but it’s nothing I want to do on a regular basis… I’m actually on my way to my next job.”

“Good luck with that!” Both men now went separate ways and while Flynn went on a few streets, Sam went home. But just as he was coming near the house, he started to hear frantic screaming. That’s when he knew something was wrong.

As he ran upstairs, he could already hear Rachel’s voice in a frenzy,
“I’m not a pony… I’M NOT A PONY!!! I AM A HUMAN WOMAN!!!” When he stormed into her room, a dark blue earth pony mare stumbled through the furniture, the hooves flailing around uncontrollable.

But Lyra wrestled the mare down,
“Rachel! Rachel calm down! You’ll hurt yourself if you don’t calm down!”

With wide eyes, Sam looked at the entire wrestling,
“What the hell is going on here?”

Bon Bon came to his side, visibly afraid Lyra or the blue earth pony mare could injure each other in a way,
“Well, we came back home to have a little lunch break here… That’s usually the time Rachel stands up. When we came home, there was loud screaming and shouting. So we galloped upstairs and found Rachel in this state. Not that we know what caused it. She demolished half of her room before you came.”

Now Lyra pinned down the earth pony,
“STOP!!!” she barked at her. “JUST HOLD STILL AND COME TO YOUR BUCKING SENSES!!!”

Halting in her motion, Rachel now looked up and began to sob. Lyra eased down a bit and stepped aside as Sam came to their side. Rachel bent over Sam’s shoulder and cried bitter tears,
“I’m not a pony… What have I done to deserve this, Sam?”

“Hey! You make it sound like the worst thing to be a pony!” Bon Bon snapped at her, visibly angered.

Sam looked over to Bon Bon and gave her a harsh look,
“She’s never been a pony! Someone transformed her into this against her will! Of course this is a bad thing! Or would you like being turned into a human against your will, Bon Bon?”

Looking to the ground, the earth pony mare shook her head,
“N-No… Of course not… I’m sorry.”

Lyra looked around in the room and saw the broken vase on the ground. Near it was a blue flower and Lyra knew from Twilight and her friends about this precise flower,
“Poison joke…” Coming back to Rachel, who still whimpered in Sam’s arms, Lyra nuzzled the blue coated earth pony mare for a bit. “The good news is: there’s a ‘cure’ for this state.”

Hearing this prompted Rachel to stop crying,
“There is?”

Giving a nod, Lyra smiled gently,
“Yes, there is. From what I’ve heard from Twilight and the others, Zecora has one herbal potion that can reverse any effect caused by this flower. “I’ll go and tell Twilight…”

As Lyra was gone, Rachel looked around in mild panic,
“Sam? I know you and Tyler fuck ponies, but don’t get any wild ideas, OK?”

Rolling his eyes, Sam chuckled a bit,
"Yeah, yeah… Shut up and come into the living room. You got yourself some bruises and I want to put some band aids on them.”

Rachel now looked down in shame,
“I… I don’t know how to walk as a pony…”

Bon Bon sighed heavily at this and approached the blue mare in front of her,
“First things first, get up!” Rachel looked at the others and tried to stem herself up. Her legs seemed a bit shaky, but her balance was quite there. Bon Bon arched a brow. “Hmph! Seems to me getting used to walking on two legs is harder than walking on four… Lyra had spent years of training standing on two legs.”

Sam nodded,
“That might be because we humans begin to crawl on all four limbs before our legs grow strong enough to walk upright. And we are able to walk on all fours if we really have to.”

Rachel looked at him and rolled her eyes,
“Well I’m only standing right now… walking is something different.” Trying to take a step, her legs wobbled and she fell down. “Ow!” Standing up again, she tried again, only to fall down once more. “Damn it!”

One hour later, Rachel sat on the couch in the living room with the others and sighed deeply as Sam placed a band aid on her nose,
“I can’t walk right, I can’t grab things and I’m…” Now Rachel blushed. “I’m beginning to get horny for some reason…”

Bon Bon harrumphed a bit,
“Well it IS getting heat season? Everypony gets horny around this time. But it’s OK, if a mare has… certain equipment. You should ask Lyra about this. Maybe you can have her stuff, I doubt she’ll need that anymore after becoming Sam’s special somepony. Otherwise you could also get a little friendly with a stallion? But at this time of the year this almost guarantees pregnancy. So we better scratch that.”

Rachel gulped,
“What a terrifying concept… How do you mares endure this every year? It’s so degrading!”

But Bon Bon simply shrugged,
“I don’t know… How do you human women endure bleeding for three days each month?”

Sam now fought against his urge to laugh,
“Touché, Rachel!”

* * * * *

Once school was over, the three crusaders went back to their clubhouse with Tyler. Not long after that, Applejack called for her little sister,
“Apple Bloom! Come here for a minute! I have someone here for ya!” Apple Bloom arched a brow. “Odd… We’re not supposed to have any visitors today… Please excuse us, Tyler.”

“But of course, Apple Bloom…” Tyler said with a nod.

As the three fillies trotted over to the farmhouse, they couldn’t but wonder of the reason,
“Who might that be?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Maybe your sister found a new recruit for us crusaders?” Scootaloo said. “You know… Someone new with no friends who need a kick-start by some fillies showing him or her around…”

“No… Some ponies just come over to visit the family. Got any problem with that?” Out from the shadow of the barn a brown coated filly with short pink mane and tail stepped outside. An early mature grin was on her face.

When Apple Bloom recognized the filly, she beamed,
“Babs!”

“Cous!” Embracing each other, both fillies smiled. “It’s good to be here again! Ah have so many things to tell ya guys! Manehattan Crusaders now has five members!”

“Really?”

“Awesome!”

Apple Bloom nodded as they trotted back to the clubhouse,
“Ah guess living in a major city has its perks… There are so many colts and fillies. Of course yer Manehattan branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders would grow faster than our Ponyville branch, Babs.”

Scootaloo grinned,
“Anyway, we have gotten ourselves an honorary member! He’s… Well, not in top condition right now due to an accident, but he’s totally cool!”

Sweetie Belle nodded with a big smile,
“Mhm! He’s always eager to help us getting motivated again when we’re down!”

When the four fillies entered the clubhouse again, Apple Bloom beamed proudly at Tyler,
“Tyler? May Ah introduce to ya my favorite cousin Babs Seed? She’s from Manehattan!” Seeing Tyler, Babs gasped for a bit, but smiled shyly. Her tail quickly covered her blank flank while she blushed a bit.

Tyler approached the young filly,
“Nice to see another member of the Apple family. Apple Bloom always is excited when she speaks about you. You know, where I’m from, a city girl like you is a very common thing.”

But Apple Bloom waved the thought away,
“Ahhh, Babs hasn’t this uptight attitude of the city. She’s one of us, just bein’ herself. Right, cousin?”

Babs didn’t really listen, but stared into Tyler’s face, blushing a bit like under a spell,
“Uh-huh…”

Tyler smiled at the young filly,
“Well, you seem a bit nervous to strangers, why don’t we-”

He was interrupted as Applejack called in the distance,
“Apple Bloom! I need ya here for a minute! And bring Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle with ya!”

Apple Bloom grimaced a bit,
“Darn! Ya two start thinking about crusadin’ while we’re away for a bit, okay?”

Tyler nodded and rested a hand on Babs’ shoulder,
“Don’t worry… When you’re back, we will have enough ideas for you to pursuit.”

As the three fillies ran down the stairs of their clubhouse, passed the barn and galloped over to the farmhouse, Applejack nodded at the three of them,
“There ya three are… Come on! We best be goin’.”

While doing some errands in the city, Apple Bloom looked at the list her big sister handed her,
“Milk from Trottingham, bags of ice, sugar, spice, something nice… What are ya planning?”

“The bags of ice are to cool her down a bit. Or rather her mood… Ah’m gonna tell you this once, Apple Bloom. It’s important, so listen up! This is an important year for yer cousin! Ya crusaders might go and keep her mind busy during her visit this time.”

Scootaloo cocked her head,
“Why’s that?”

“Oh, ya know… Babs comes into the age where she’s getting’ her first heat season. We must do everythin’ we can to support her. First heat is always hard, ya know… That’s the reason our relatives had sent Babs to us this year, because there are much lesser colts in Ponyville than in Manehattan. It’s just for two weeks until heat season is over. Whoa nelly… Ah think if it weren’t for Granny I would have jumped at Big Mac when Ah was that age… Luckily Ah didn’t.” Giving a short laugh, Applejack shook her head. “And cousin Braeburn? He was about to hump a cac-”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders didn’t listen anymore. All three of them were looking at each other,
“Y’all thinkin’ what Ah’m thinkin’?”

Scootaloo nodded hastily,
“Tyler and Babs are totally alone now! If she gets into heat right now…”

Sweetie Belle giggle interrupted the little Pegasus now,
“Oooh! OH!!! They will kiss each other!”

Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at her with shaking heads,
“Worse, Sweetie Belle! She will… ya know… raise her tail for him!” Now the little unicorn understood and blushed deeply as she gasped. Frowning a bit, Apple Bloom now shook her head furiously. “But Tyler’s mah sister’s herd mate! Babs can’t do that kind of stuff with him! He’s an adult, even if he looks like a boy.”

Scootaloo smirked,
“I guess that leaves us with only one choice, huh?” With that, the three fillies galloped along the street.

CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HERD RESCUE!!! YAY!!!

Meanwhile Babs looked over to Tyler like a filly in love while Tyler looked out of the window. Being a kid again was every man’s dream. Then again, the things one can’t do all of a sudden… Who came up with the idea that eternal youth at this age would be great? No beverage, no horror movies, no sex! No, being a child was boring for an adult in the long run.

Babs’ heart pounded heavily and fast. He seemed to take things easy, like nothing in the world could get to him. While he now started to write down ideas, she sat down beside him and watched him thoroughly. His hands held the paper gently while the pencil was held tight. And his eyes… Yes, these amazing blue eyes. There was even a scar on his right eye, like something almost cut the eye in half. Had he been injured in the past? That was so exciting,
“So… Have ya… kissed before?”

Without taking his eyes from the paper, he nodded with a smile,
“Sure… Kissing someone is absolutely great!”

This answer brought up Babs’ hopes,
“Ya know… For a human ya sure look cute… Want to kiss me?”

“What?” As Tyler looked at her, he saw that the young filly had pursed her lips, readying herself to be kissed. A slight blush had formed on her face, she was nervous about this. Resting an index finger on her lips, he shook his head. “I think I shouldn’t kiss such a beautiful young filly…”

Hearing this compliment, Babs’ mind checked a few points on her mental checklist,
“Oh…? So do ya want to do something naughty instead?”

Tyler’s brow instantly arched up as he looked to her at the corner of his eye,
“N-naughty?”

“If I show you mine… will you show me yours?”

Now all alarm signals rang in Tyler’s mind. The young filly was in heat and wanted some ‘attention’ from him,
“Babs… You know, right now isn’t the right time…

“It’s the perfect time for you to get naked… All these unnecessary clothes…” Licking her lips she slowly approached him. “I want to experience it with you… Why shouldn’t my special somepony be someone so especially cute?” While her short tail twitched a bit, she grinned. From his herd mates Tyler knew that a twitching tail could only mean that Babs was expecting to be mounted.

Slipping by her he evaded her approach,
“OK! OK… Timeout! Let’s not rush things, shall we?”

Looking over her shoulder, she first frowned, and then smirked with a seductive look,
“Oh… Ya want to do it slowly and inspect your little mare, huh? That’s so kinky…” Just as she had said this, her tail slowly rose up, giving Tyler a clear view of her young filly vagina. “Juicy and tight… What ya say, big boy?”

Harrumphing with a blush, he looked away,
”T-tempting, but I already have a-“

“A marefriend? Really? Maybe Ah should talk to her as well and we could open our own little herd. Think of it… Two mares at your disposal. And Ah let ya cum in me all day long…”

Tyler rolled his eyes. Seriously, why does this little filly have to have the hots for me now? If I fuck her, I’m in more trouble than ever. Celestia wouldn’t send me to the moon... She would take my sorry filly-fucking ass for a Barbecue on the sun! But Babs is so much in heat she doesn’t seem to response to common sense.
“That’s… That’s actually a great idea! You stay here and wait, I’ll go and ask her.”

Nodding with a wide smile, Babs suddenly frowned as Tyler ran out of the clubhouse, slamming the door behind him. Looking over to the door with a smirk, she slowly went to the door,
“Ya want to play 'catch me if ya can', eh? Now THAT’S kinky…”

Just as the crusaders were halfway on the farm, they recognized someone running towards them. It was Tyler. Apple Bloom smiled and raised her hoof to greet him,
“Tyler! There ya are! We-”

But Tyler simply ran pass them and didn’t stop for a moment,
“Talk later, run now!!!”

As he ran down the street to Ponyville, Babs passed them, a lustful grin on her face and her eyes locked on target as she galloped after Tyler,
“Come back here!”

The three fillies blinked for a moment, before Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes,
“Time to inform mah big sis about this mess…”

* * * * *

Meanwhile Bon Bon and Fluttershy accompanied Rachel a bit around in the village,
“Thank you for taking time for us, Fluttershy… Rachel really needs some help getting accustomed with being a pony.”

But the yellow Pegasus mare shook her head,
“No problem at all. I think this is a lovely way for Rachel to see things our way for a change… Like… what was that saying? Walk a mile in somepony’s horseshoes…” She then shook her head. “Anyway, it’s good to see you getting better at walking without falling down immediately.”

Stumbling a bit once in a while, Rachel concentrated on walking,
“Shit! What’s taking Lyra so long getting that herbal mixture?” looking up to the hovering Pegasus, Rachel forced a smile. “Thanks… I really appreciate your help, Fluttershy. It’s just… I want to be human again as soon as possible.”

The Pegasus simply shook her head,
“It’s fine… The whole thing must be so very scary for you… I don’t know how I would react of having only two legs and these giant lumps of fat hanging from my chest.”

Grimacing a bit in forcing a smile, Rachel’s eyebrow twitched a bit,
“Is… Is that so?” Maybe her own body and behavior was strange to them as well.

Three streets further, four young stallions trotted along,
“You think this is the right place, Silver Bolt?”

But Silver bolt, a gray stallion with white mane, simply shook his head,
“Hey… Folks, trust me! Ponyville is so filled with mares, a little wooing, a drink or two and during heat season they all get willingly enough. When it’s not heat season, I usually try my luck with Berry Punch, she’s almost always drunk enough.”

It was then when they noticed Rachel. Right now she was all by herself. She had lost the others while inspecting the stand of a street vendor for too long and now searched for them. Seeing Fluttershy one street further, she decided to make a shortcut through a narrow alley. For the average pony, her swaying and clumsy walking was similar of that of a drunken pony. It was this misunderstanding that made her all too easy prey in Silver Bolt’s eyes.

Halfway through the alley, Rachel suddenly heard the male voice behind her,
“Hey, sweetheart… Having trouble to walk normally?”

Rachel looked up,
“Huh? Oh, uh… Yeah…”

While the stallions grinned at each other, Silver rested a hoof over Rachel’s shoulder,
“A beauty like you drunk at such an early hour? You must have had a great time and an even better reason to party that hard…”

This made Rachel only arch a brow. She had quite the idea what these stallions were up to, but it wasn’t going to happen,
“What? I’m not drunk! I’m as sober as you!” But not watching where she was going made her fall down once more, her rump up high.

This prompted the four stallions to laugh,
“Look at that, boys… She’s not drunk, hm? And yet she exposes herself to us in such a way… The tail high up, the plot round and ample, the labia clearly visible…"

As Rachel saw the unsheathing members of the young stallions erecting, she gulped. Standing up again, she shook her head,
“I will not have sex with anyone of you lousy bastards! Who do you think you are?”

“We? We are the stallions that will give this mare the rutting of her life.”

Rachel gulped again. In her normal human body, she would have wiped the floor with these guys, but in this pony body of hers… That’s when it occurred to her. I’ll simply kick these jackasses into the face!
“You scum… I swear I hate your kind more than anything!” With a sudden move she turned around and kicked, but failed to hit anything.

“Whoa! Quite a kick, sweetie! That wasn’t very nice! If that would have hit, you would have injured one of us.” With that, one of them slapped her, causing her nose to bleed.

Trying to crawl away, Rachel tried to get out of the alley and back to the main street. They wouldn’t dare to do that right in the open,
“N-No! Stay the fuck away from me!”

With that, Silver Bolt grabbed Rachel’s flank and got her into position,
“Such a lovely rump… Don’t worry. In a few seconds, everything will be much clearer…”

Only one thought filled Rachel’s mind as she could slowly feel how the stallion pulled her in, the tip of his pole poking at her butt, obviously to finally mount her.

Help!!!

It was in this moment when a hoof behind them slammed to the ground behind them. The paving stones already gave in under the mighty hoof and a blade of grass was spat on the ground,
“Folks… Ya know if a mare says Nnnnope…. It actually means NNNNOPE!!!“

With that Big Macintosh ran at the stallions and jumped at the one trying to mount the mare. The sound of punching hooves and slams on the ground was audible before Rachel, who still clenched her eyes shut and cowered on the ground rolled together. Then the sounds suddenly stopped and only the hooves of one stallion were audible. As she opened her eyes again, the four stallions who tried to mount her were lying on the ground, beaten up quite badly. Before them sat Big Mac and watched them with a grim look on his face.

He looked to his side, over to Rachel and nodded,
“Ya alright?” Rachel simply nodded, prompting him to give another nod. “Good. Some ponies tend to go nuts during heat season. Thinkin’ ‘Nope’ means ‘Eeyup’ and ‘Get lost’ means ‘Ah love ya’… Don’t worry… Ah’ll stay here until the Guard arrives. Yer really alright? Ya seem quite wobbly on these legs.”

Slowly, Rachel stood up and looked over to the others,
“Will they…?”

“Stand up again? Nnnope! When I beat up somepony, he lays still for the rest of the day! Don’t actually do that often or happily, but these fellers asked for it!”

At this moment, Bon Bon and Fluttershy came around the corner,
“Rachel! Oh Celestia! What happened here?”

Rachel stammered a bit, but Big Macintosh shook his head,
“Ya two go easy on that filly, will ya? She was through a lot for today already!” Looking down to the four stallions, bloody and with half erected members, both mares looked at Rachel with a horrified gasp.

Fluttershy took immediate care of her,
“Oh, Rachel! I’m so sorry! We should have stayed at your side! Come, I’ll bring you back to my cottage and make you some tea.”

As Bon Bon wanted to follow, Big Mac held her back for a second,
“Rachel? Like… That human woman?”

Bon Bon looked down,
“That’s a longer story, Big Mac… But thanks for stepping in. Will you get into trouble for beating them up?”

Big Mac looked down at them and shook his head,
“Nnope! Not for rescuing a mare from attempted rape during heat season…”

A few streets further, Applejack and Rarity conversed a bit in front of the Carousel Boutique as Applejack carried a bag in her mouth and placed it on the dry ground,
“Thank ya, Rarity… Tyler is so busy now with his Ranger duties, he sure lacks the time to get his stuff fixed once he damages it. And Ah know how much he just loves that jacket of yers.”

The elegant unicorn smiled proudly,
“Well… The best praise for a present is to hold it dear, is it not? A shame he lacks the time to bring it to me in person. It would be a chance to get new measures… But it’s a wonder that he lets you bring this to me. I know how reluctantly he parts from this piece of mine. It’s like his lucky charm, this leather jacket. And a pity it won’t fit him in his current form. But: Aloe said I was lucky! I got the last bottle of the herbal mixture. She said Lyra Heartstrings was there before me and took the next to last one.”

Applejack smirked,
“Now that’s good news! For him as well as for us, his herd mates.”

Rolling her eyes a bit, Rarity smiled,
“Don’t go into details Darling… I can imagine what Tyler can do to my ears with his words he can do tenfold with his body to you and Twilight.”

But the country mare simply chuckled,
“Tenfold? Ah wouldn’t be so happy about heat season, if it would be only tenfold…” With that she turned around and lowered her voice. “A human male can satisfy a mare not just for 20 minutes, Rarity… We are talkin’ about two to three hours, if he gets into the mood.”

Now Rarity’s jaw dropped. “H…. Hours?!?”

“Yeah… Oh, OK… with pauses of course!”

Biting her bottom lip, Rarity shook her head, a slight blush over her nose,
“Now I’ve done it! I caused myself to think unladylike!”

Applejack only rolled her eyes,
“Well… Even a lady is a mare.”

Harrumphing a bit, the unicorn recollected herself,
“True… But I should be above-”

Rarity was interrupted as the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran to the both of them, out of breath,
“Applejack! Ya have to come! Tyler is getting chased by Babs!”

The mare chuckled first, but that chuckle died in an instant. With Tyler being a boy and Babs in this delicate age, all sorts of things could happen. And the crusaders didn’t seem to joke around about this issue,
“Seriously now… He WHAT?”

“Yeah! Like ya already said, Babs is in her first heat and thinks Tyler is the right one to be her special somepony.”

Sweetie Belle pointed at the streets behind them,
“We saw her chasing him down the street to Ponyville!”

Stomping her hoof on the ground, Applejack looked around in haste,
“Well Ah be damned! What was he doin’ around her in the first place? First heat support is supposed to get rid of all male objects around the young mare!”

Scootaloo grinned a bit,
“Well… We introduced them to each other before you told us…”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed,
“Apple Bloom? Get my rope… If things go for the worse, Ah’ll have to lasso that young mare in before she-” It was in this moment when Tyler ran around the corner, hastily towards her and Babs on his tails.

With a jump, Tyler grabbed Applejack’s front hoof and looked up to her,
“AJ… Honey! Please help me! Talk some sense into that filly!” In the next moment Babs jumped at him and embraced the young boy, nuzzled him furiously.

Looking over to Rarity with a smirk, both adult mares giggled a bit as AJ shook her head as she looked down to Tyler while Rarity got inside,
“Well, Ah don’t know, Sugarcube… Ya seem to enjoy yerself with yer new marefriend! And how young she is…”

Tyler’s voice now grew in panic as Babs placed a big smooch on his cheek and nuzzled him further,
“Come on! You know I would never-” Applejack chuckled and when Rarity came out with a small bottle levitating in front of her, Applejack grabbed the bottle with her mouth and poured some of the mixture over Tyler, causing him to grow back to his former adult form. Although his shirt was ripped to shreds, his trousers, much to his relief, became shorts. With a sigh of relief, he then patted Babs on the head. “Now… Now that I’m to my normal state… Let’s start this discussion anew, shall we?”

Looking up to the adult Tyler, Babs was confused now. The cute human boy she nuzzled a few moments ago was suddenly a grown adult? She took a deep gulp. The thought of how an adult penis would feel in her petite womb made her blush. It would go into her deepest places, maybe even her uterus. The sheer thought of the tip of a huge adult penis reaching into her uterus and dumping all the sticky sperm inside of her made her all moist.

As Tyler now stood up, he shook his head,
“Sorry, Babs… But me having such a deep relationship with such a young mare, sexual or not, is out of the question. You are too young for my taste. I would feel bad while doing so. Can you understand that?”

Babs now snapped out of her daydreams. She then saw Applejack standing next to Tyler and leaning against him. That’s when she knew that she wasn’t ready for this league yet and looked down in defeat,
“Ah… Ah understand…”

Seeing Babs’ frustration, Tyler thought of something,
“Listen, kid… One day… and that day will come sooner as you might think, you will be one hell of a mare and stallions all over Equestria will whistle after your flank. But… until that day comes I’ll give you something else to brag with." With this Tyler took his leather jacket from Rarity’s bag on the ground and reached it to Babs.

The young mare looked at it with big eyes,
“For me? Wow!”

Tyler smirked down,
“This jacket will bring far better memories than a short orgasm, don’t you think? You go and wear that with pride, girl. You look like the type of girl it would suit.”

Applejack and Rarity both gasped,
“Sugarcube!”

“Darling, this jacket means everything to you!”

But Tyler simply shrugged,
“It is mine so I give it to whomever I see fit…” With a smirk, he pulled in Applejack. “Just like my heart…”

It smells like him… Babs took a deep sniff at the leather jacket before she took it on and looked up to Tyler, when he suddenly grabbed the young mare’s cheeks and knelt down to her, gently kissing her lips,
“Maybe you’ll find the right mate when you’re older, kid… And it’s only a maybe…” With that he turned around and went back to Applejack, went down the streets with her towards the library.

Babs looked after him with a deep blush on her face and touched her lips with her left hoof. My first kiss… She then looked up again and watched Tyler wave her goodbye. That’s when she gulped,
“Hey, Cous…?”

Coming to her side, Apple Bloom arched a brow,
“What is it, Babs?”

“Yer sister’s got herself one cool stallion.”

“Eeyup! Sooo… Can I wear the jacket as well?”

“What? No way! He gave it to me!”

Scootaloo smirked behind them,
“Maybe your special talent has to do with stallions and wooing around with them?”

Chuckling, Babs shook her head,
"Ah sure hope not! Ah want a special somepony as well someday.” Looking back to Tyler and AJ, the young mare smiled. “One day I’ll find somepony like him…”

Meanwhile in the library, Lyra poured the herbal mixture over Rachel, causing her to go back into her human form while Twilight took note of this,
“I didn’t know Poison Joke could change the complete species to play its cruel joke.”

Winding herself up with a towel, Rachel nodded and went to the bathroom, took a quick shower and came back dressed in some clothes,
“I can’t underline enough how happy I am to be a human again… Being a pony sure was weird…”

Twilight grinned,
“Not only that, but it is heat season right now… If Big Macintosh wouldn’t have stepped in…”

Rachel grumbled and looked over to the lavender unicorn as she went over to Big Mac,
“Shut up, Twilight! I know that!” Clearing her throat she stood in front of the hefty stallion. “Well… you deserve a reward, don’t you think?”

Shaking his head with a brief motion, the stallion looked at Rachel,
“Nnnope! Any stallion with backbone should have done that!” Big Macintosh looked up to her with a gentle smile.

Arching her brow now, she inspected him,
“Quite an attitude, but I’m not going to remain in your debt, so here you go!” Once she had said that, she grabbed Big Mac at the cheeks and pulled him in for a deep and long kiss.

It was in this moment when Rachel heard the door opening and Tyler’s voice behind Big Macintosh,
“Well, well, well… Rachel? Getting a bit friendly with Big Macintosh?” In an instant, Rachel thought her heart was going to stop. But Tyler passed her and Big Mac with a wide grin. “Oh, don’t mind me… You two just go on with what you’re doing, as long as you’re not starting indecent behavior.”

“IDIOT!!! I JUST REWARDED HIM BECAUSE HE SAVED ME FROM BEING RAPED AS A PONY!!!!”

“There’s no reason to yell, Rachel… Just stay calm, OK?”

“I AM CALM!!! YOU’RE JUST MISUNDERSTANDING THE WHOLE THING!!!”

While the yelling echoed a bit through Ponyville, Derpy Hooves and her special somepony Doctor Whooves stood on top of a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville,
“I must say these humans really are something… ” He then suddenly frowned. “Well! I must look into that more in detail. There are no records about these humans in the TARDIS… But there should be, especially if one of them has a relationship with the princesses. Odd…”

Derpy arched a brow. Unsure, she raised a hoof,
“M-maybe it’s because they’re from a different universe?”

Tipping his chin in thought, the Doctor looked into the sky,
“You mean that they are not part of this continuum in origin? Nah, too easy… They are here now and part of this universe’s timeline. The TARDIS should know at least something about them… Especially this young man, Tyler… This human was chosen by the alicorns. He’s at the crossroad between light and darkness and he’s in the epicenter of a universal fight of superpowers… I wouldn’t be surprised to find more hints to this prophecy of his in other time periods of Equis. We shouldn’t have any difficulties with finding something about him.”

“But he’s only a human? How can he be that important?”

“You know we had this talk once in the dark ages? Yeah… that was a close one… I almost met my former self from the past helping the royal sisters. Meh! I should keep track when I was around and when not. Anyway: Some fates are fixed and some are in flux, meaning that they can change.”

“Hmmm… So that means it was destined for him to come here? But how do you know he’s a fixed fate?”

Turning around, the Doctor looked into Derpy’s eyes,
“He’s a fixed fate because of the way even the ancient alicorns reacted on his name. There must be some sort of connection. They feared the ‘eternal fighter’ from the very beginning, a being that will never stop to fight in order to achieve its goal. If he would become immortal, this would mean a never ending struggle. To protect, to fight, forevermore until the end of time. It’s the burden of the First Human, Derpy.”

The First Human… Derpy didn’t understand all of this, but she understood that Tyler was a very important human being for Equis. The Doctor once told her that he as a time pony could see the universe with different eyes. That the Doctor knew of a yet unknown title for Tyler could only mean that this importance went far beyond her measures. Now Tyler being her friend made her almost as proud as being the Doctor’s special somepony. And it made her eager to find out the importance of this human,
“That means that in a way he’s like you!”

For a moment, the Doctor looked at her before he nodded,
“Well… I guess one could say so… Anyway, have you ever been on Marfa three? That’s the first planet ponies found and colonized after reaching for the stars. The woods there have transparent fruits that are rumored to show the dreams of everyone on the planet. They say if you find your very own dream and eat that fruit, your dream comes true.”

Derpy arched a brow,
“The Stars? But they are only these tiny dots in the night sky!”

“Yes… Until Ponies learn that they are actually quite more than that! That’s why space travel is such a highly policed thing in the future.” Walking up to the blue box of his, the Doctor now turned around. “Well! Why don’t I show you the first colony on Marfa Three?”

“Oh… OK!” Derpy entered the TARDIS now with careful steps. Until now she and the Doctor mostly had journeys in other time periods, but never on another planet.

4 - Of Shamans, Beauties and Beasts ***

“… The duty… Being a soldier means a life of many duties and it is a life devoted to protect those who can’t fight on their own. I became a United States Marine when I was 18 and I wanted to serve my country, give something back. The training was harsh and there were times when I thought I couldn’t go on. But quitting never was an option to me. I’ve seen many comrades come and leave… I lost some due to combat and terror attacks. And now that I am here in Equestria, I think it’s only proper to use the strength I developed over the years to protect this world, so that no threat can make it back to my world.” The fillies and colts of the class looked at Rachel with wide eyes until a gray filly with blue glasses clopped her hooves together and applauded with a genuine smile. Following her example, the ponies all began to applaud with their hooves.

Rachel smiled at the class before she nodded.
“Alright… Who has a question?”

It was then when a filly with scarlet mane and purple glasses raised her hoof.
“Ranger Rachel, did you earn yourself a cutie mark like Ranger Tyler and Ranger Flynn?”

Rachel smirked at the little pony who was audibly lisping.
“Yes I did. It was when the captured Changelings tried to escape near Canterlot. And it stung badly. I had my hands in bandages for a day or two.” With that she pulled off her mitten gloves and held her hands up, so the young ponies could see her cutie marks.

Cheerilee now came to her side.
“You see that, my little ponies? Humans are able to get cutie marks as well, but they have to endure much more pain than we ponies do. If you remember the reports Ranger Tyler and Ranger Flynn gave us last month during their visits, the cutie mark of a human isn’t mandatory to appear on the flank like it does on us ponies, but happens to appear on random places. They appear on the shoulders, the legs or in the case of Ranger Rachel, her hands. Very often it appears to happen in contact with magic. And you all remember what the other rangers told us. In the world the humans live in there are no such things as magic or cutie marks.”

Snips and Snails looked at each other before they looked at Rachel again.
“No magic at all?”

“And no cutie marks? But how do you know what your special talent is?”

“That’s the main difference between humans and ponies.” Rachel began to explain. “A human can do everything, but that doesn’t mean he’s very good at everything. There are a very few that can do complex mathematics even the smartest humans can’t comprehend. Since we can do everything with enough effort, we decide for ourselves what we want to achieve in our life. It is quite different from the way ponies are. You will find the one thing you excel in sooner or later and will stick to it for the rest of your life.” Rubbing her chin, Rachel thought for a minute. “Hmmm… Think of it that way: We Rangers earned our cutie marks because we decided to excel in something. Ranger Tyler decided to jump in front of others in order to protect them, Ranger Flynn loves to run because he misses to fly in an airplane and running was the closest thing that made him feel like flying. Thus he overexerted himself just to get faster no matter the cost. And I decided to fight against the monsters that live on this world because I want to make sure they don’t find the way to my home. These decisions made us earn our cutie marks. Not mandatorily the special talents in terms of destiny, but the means we need to fulfill our self-determined goals. I chose to fight the ones who want to harm you ponies, for they will continue to harm others if they aren’t stopped.”

An excited murmur went through the class as the young ponies conversed a bit before the school bell rang. Cheerilee stepped forth.
“Alright, my little ponies. Next week we will have Ranger Sam with us telling us how he managed to get his cutie mark with the help of Lyra Heartstrings. Make sure to bring your notebooks with you again.” More and more of the young ponies left the class room and Cheerilee looked up to Rachel. “Thank you for coming today, Rachel.”

But the Ranger simply shook her head.
“It’s alright… I enjoy being among these kids. They are so well behaved in comparison to the kids on Earth…”

“No, I… I mean thank you for coming so I don’t have to organize normal class. It gets a bit troublesome during these two weeks.”

Rachel gave this another smile.
“Again… It’s alright. I enjoyed coming here.”

“Well, if it weren’t for the peculiar whereabouts of how humans earn their cutie marks, this would have been so eternally boring.” Rachel heard a voice behind her. “But picture it, Silver Spoon… a whole world of blank flanks!” Both fillies giggled now in the mischievously way only they could.

Rachel arched a brow as she turned around. During class, Diamond Tiara had paid little attention. And with that attitude she reminded Rachel of the sorry asses of spoiled rich bitches on Earth, famous only for being spoiled rich bitches. It was time for a little wake-up-call while she was still young. Tapping the filly on her back, she bent down to both of them. “With that ‘I have something you don’t have’ mindset you won’t make any friends. At least not true ones... You will learn, Diamond Tiara… You will learn that being rich and privileged isn’t everything because despite all the riches you are alone. And a bag of money can’t hug you back!”

Diamond Tiara arched back, aghast. How dared that human woman speak to her?
“My… If my daddy would be here…”

Leaning in even more, Rachel arched a brow.
“Then what, young lady? Is that your special talent? Hiding yourself behind your father and the wealth of your family? That’s pretty sad, you know?”

“Whatever… Come, Silver Spoon…” With that the two fillies went home and passed Flynn who came to school as well to accompany Scootaloo back home.

A little while after that the Cutie Mark Crusaders left the school building. As they came outside, Flynn and Rachel were conversing until Flynn recognized them.
“Hey there girls…”

Kneeling down, he opened his arms for Scootaloo who gave him a hug.
“Scoots, how was school today?”

“School was great today! Ranger Rachel already gave me some ideas for our crusading!”

Flynn now raised his index finger in a reminding manner.
“No crusading for you girls that includes firearms, Scoots. There are other things that can be your cutie mark. Shooting shouldn’t be the one you’re trying to achieve.” Looking down in disappointment, Scootaloo sighed, but Flynn nudged her into the shoulder. “Come on! Show me what you can do on that scooter!”

That immediately piqued the filly’s attention.
“Really?”

“Yeah! Rainbow said that you had some nice moves…”

“REALLY?!?” Now galloping over to her scooter with a huge smile on her face, she waited for him and after a few seconds, he nodded down to her and ran along as she scooted along the street..

“Ah never saw Scootaloo that happy before.” Apple Bloom stated while looking over to Sweetie Belle.

The white unicorn tapped her chin before looking to her earth pony friend.
“I do! Remember when we build that float to trick Babs?”

“Oh yeah! She seemed pretty excited when she thought she earned her cutie mark, a black wrench.”

“Or the day after Rainbow Dash said she would take her under her wing…”

Rachel overheard the two fillies and smiled as she knelt down to them.
“Well… Ranger Flynn and Rainbow Dash are giving Scootaloo something that she didn’t have for quite a while. Don’t worry about her, though. She will be all about crusading with you again before you know it."

Apple Bloom looked up to Rachel, mildly confused.
“That means Ranger Flynn and Rainbow Dash are now her parents?”

With a smile, Rachel stroke Apple Bloom’s red mane.
“How do you know that, Apple Bloom?”

“Because that’s what Ah would look like when mah Ma and Pa would be around again.” The country filly answered.

“Oh, that’s right… I never saw your parents either, Apple Bloom. Would you mind if I ask where they are?

Kicking at the dirt, the little earth pony evaded Rachel’s glance now. It was obvious she didn’t like this topic.
“We don’t talk much about that day on the farm, ya know? Granny only mentioned a twister on the day Ah was born… Pa was bringing Granny, Applejack, Big Mac and mahself to the cellar before he went up again to get Ma…”

Rachel held a hand in front of her mouth before she knelt down to the filly.
“Apple Bloom! I’m so sorry!”

But the farm filly just shook her head and smiled.
“Nah… It’s OK… Ah never learned to know mah Ma and Pa, so Ah can’t grief like mah older siblings. But ya better watch it when around them! There was this one stallion who insulted our parents in front of Big Mac… Whoa Nelly! Mah brother sent that guy flyin’!”

Rachel nodded.
“Can’t say that I blame him for that. Talking bad about the dead is really low. Especially if it’s about the loved ones…”

Meanwhile there was quite a ruckus in Bon Bon’s home. Galloping all over the place, the earth pony cleaned every speck of dust, no matter how tiny. Sam arched a brow and looked over to Lyra.
“Why is Bon Bon so excited today?”

The unicorn watched her earth pony friend a bit before she smiled.
“Oh, it’s only because of her cousin from Trottingham is coming today for a visit. She wants the house to be spotless by that time.”

Chuckling a bit, Sam looked at his herd mate.
“Nice! That cousin… Is he a decent feller?”

Grinningly Lyra shook her head.
“You’ll see. Usually Bonnie’s business booms with the fudges she makes once her cousin comes.”

“Wow! It must be a delicacy of some sort then…”

But Lyra only chuckled.
“It’s not so much the fudge that lures the customers in…”

“Well, I hope Bonnie has fun with him, you and I are to go to the Ranger meeting.” As they went outside, Sam couldn’t but notice Lyra’s constant giggle. Was there something about that cousin he wasn’t aware of yet?

* * * * *

Half an hour later it knocked on the door.
“Just a minute! I’ll be right there!” Bon Bon shouted before she gritted her teeth. “Ohhh… I’ll never be finished on time…”

In the next moment an earth pony with a cream-colored coat stepped in and beamed at Bon Bon.
“Hey there, Cousin Candy-flanks!”

Jumping up startled, Bon Bon turned around.
“Milky! You…” With that Bon Bon sighed in defeat and looked down a bit. “You’re already here…”

Nevertheless both mares hugged each other and Milky giggled.
“Oh, Bonnie… You’re always trying to make it spotless. I told you so often that I don’t care about your home, but I care about you.”

Smiling touched, Bon Bon nodded.
“Well then come in and let me take care of your saddlebags” With that she took off the saddlebags, revealing two large breasts under Milky’s crotch. “Had any problems on the way here, Milky?”

“No… I relieved myself this morning, so I’m quite alright. And I should be fine for another three hours. The ride was nice and I already got greeted by this Pinkie Pie earth pony. That mare sure likes to welcome visitors like they were first-time newcomers.”

When Sam and Lyra returned with Pinkie from the meeting three hours later, both Milky and Bon Bon were already working in the kitchen. Standing behind a table concealed the enormous breasts Milky had. As they entered the kitchen, Sam reached out a hand towards the mare.
“You must be Bon Bon’s Cousin. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I must say that I expected a male cousin, but I’m not disappointed. The name’s Sam O’Donnell.”

Laying a hoof into his hand, the mare nodded with a smile.
“Milky Way. Bonnie already mentioned you human guys in one of her letters. To think that my cousin lives with so many important individuals in one house…” It was then when Milky noticed something at the way Sam looked at her. “Is something the matter?”

“It’s lovely.” Sam stated with a smile.

This comment brought Milky out of context.
“Pardon?”

“Your mane cut! I must say it really suits you.” Sam answered, his smile not fading.

Giving a shy smile herself now, Milky nodded at Sam.
“Normally most stallions flatter me for other things…”

“Oh? They flatter you for your cute face?”

“No.” She answered, blushing a bit.

“Then for that cream-colored coat maybe?”

Milky giggled.
“Nope!” But it felt good for being complimented for other things like her enormous bust. Like any other mare, Milky enjoyed these things. And yet, she knew that he didn’t know about her special ‘assets’. Normally stallions changed their behavior once they knew.

Now Sam arched a brow and grinned.
“Ok… Then they flatter you for your firm rump?"

But this earned him a moderate nudge from Lyra.
“Would you stop flirting with her? We’re in the same room, you know?”

He looked at Lyra, only to give her a grin.
“Well, do you want me to lie to a mare with a mane that I like? Being with you girls doesn’t mean I have to be a jerk to others…”

Lyra now leaned over and looked to Pinkie.
“P-Pinkie! You say something to this!”

Seeing the gentle smile on Milky’s face made Pinkie beam wide.
“Well, it brought a smile to her face, so if it stays with cheering somepony up, I’ll allow it!” With that, she bounced outside of the kitchen and into the living room.

Sam tickled Lyra’s chin and shook his head.
“Come on, Lyra… How long are we together now? Do you really think I would cheat on you and Pinkie just because Milky has a cute face and a nice mane-cut?”

With this they went back to the living room as well, leaving a slightly confused Bon Bon and a smirking Milky.
“He’s a very nice guy…”

After giving a sigh, Bon Bon nodded with a smile.
“That he is. But he and Lyra go a bit over the top at times.”

Milky giggled.
“Is that so… I remember some colts from our youth that could say the same about you, cousin…”

“Hey!” Bon Bon now raised a hoof. “We were young! Nowadays I want this house to be decent.”

* * * * *

In the evening, Sam sat together with Lyra and Pinkie after having a great dinner. Sam and Lyra cooked some nice au gratin potatoes scalloped with some cheese while Pinkie made the dessert. Now sitting together at the window like so often, they gazed at the slow ascending moon and the twinkling stars. The new herd had found this as their way to come together. It was relaxing and comforting, especially for Pinkie. In these evenings, the party pony was able to bring smiles to both of her herd mates just by staying calm and quiet. It was a new way to have fun; one she was happy to learn about. Every so often they just spend hours in silence while Sam rubbed the tummies of his girls. Tonight was one of the other evenings though. It was one of their evenings spending time together playing music. It was the peace and tranquility when they harmonized with each other and Pinkie enjoyed listening to both of them.

And while Lyra played her lyre, Sam played an ocarina for a short while before looking at the blue instrument.
“This is a good ocarina, Pinkie. Where did you get that?”

“I bought it from a pony with a green jelly bag cap.” Pinkie answered with a smile. “That poor feller…. He didn’t even accepted my bits, said something about roo-peas. But I thought he meant rubies. Wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, but he was absolutely crazy for emeralds. Good thing I had some stored just in case of an emerald emergency.”

Sam gave this a grin.
“It’s good to know you’re always well prepared, Pinkie. Want to try?”

Holding the ocarina to her, she giggled and shook her head.
“Flutes and ocarinas are more a unicorn thing, Sam. We earth ponies lack the magic to handle these tiny holes properly. I can play several instruments at once, but a flute? That’s a bit tricky. I tried once to save Ponyville, but decided myself for different instruments.”

Tickling her chin, Sam began to grin.
“Nice to see that there are things my Pinkie can’t do. A photographic memory, playing so many things at once and thinking so many things at once… Some would say these are the traits of a genius.”

Pinkie, blushing a bit now, looked down.
“A genius, huh? Well, what do you know…? No one ever called me that before. I’m getting more of the glances a madmare gets sometimes.”

“A madmare?” Sam arched a brow before he leaned her back. “Certainly… You are a mare that drives me mad. But mostly in a good way…” With that he slowly began to lick and kiss her neck while his hands caressed her tummy and chest. “Why don’t you bring an instrument next time around? I’m sure you’re going to fit in nicely.” He then looked to Lyra. “And we’re having so much fun playing some peaceful music togeth-“

“Sleep with me…” Pinkie now whispered into his ear, causing him to halt in his sentence.

As he looked down to her with a surprised look, she smiled up to him.
“Pinkie? Are you sure?”

“Yeah I’m sure! You should be the one who does that.”

Looking up to Lyra who still played her instrument as if nothing happened, he shook his head.
“It’s a bit off that you don’t say anything…”

“Oh, Pinkie and I have talked about it, Sam. I’m OK with this. This is part of a herd. Since we’re all three one little community, I don’t have any issues with you sleeping with her. I would have a problem if you would mount a mare not accepted into the herd. If you want to have something with a mare, have at least the decency to bring up that topic to me and Pinkie. If she’s part of our herd, no harm is done.”

Sam nodded and undressed as Pinkie laid down on her back. Since she saw Lyra and Sam at it multiple times now, she knew a bit about Sam’s favorite position. For ponies it was a kinky position to face each other during sex. Normally they would do it pony style or doggy style as humans call it. But this missionary position made Lyra cum quite often before Sam even came once. And it brought a satisfied smile on her face.

But as soon as she felt his touch on her, the pink pony shivered a bit.
“I’m a bit nervous… I know it hurts a bit on the first time. Be gentle, OK?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll wait once I popped your cherry until you say it’s fine. Alright?” Giving him a slightly unsure nod, Pinkie gave her OK. She trusted him and his eyes looked deep into hers as she could feel his member.

With a long slide he entered Pinkie in one go, causing the earth pony to clench her teeth together. Her mane deflated due to the sudden sharp pain and a tear was shed. Leaning over her, Sam turned her face to himself, pressing his lips on hers to make up for the pain he had caused. Welcoming his lips, Pinkie relaxed more and more until her lips parted from his.
“It’s OK now, Sam. The pain is almost gone.” Leaning her head back with a moan, she embraced him as he gently began to move. This would be a night of fun she would never, ever, ever, ever, EVER forget…

* * * * *

On the next day the three of them walked along the streets of Ponyville. That is, Lyra and Sam walked, Pinkie bounced along, smiling all the while. In fact, she seemed happier than before. “I can’t believe I missed this all these years! It was so much fun! Almost like the satisfaction from a good party pressed together into several seconds!”

Lyra smirked at this before she looked at Sam.
“And you were afraid it could ruin the way she goes through life…” Giving this comment a smile, Sam nodded. Yes, his fears that Pinkie’s innocent mind might get a dent from having sex weren’t justified. Quite the contrary, she embraced this experience with open arms and was happy about it. However, what he also noticed was that Pinkie bounced before them and not beside them after last night, giving him a good sight of her private parts.

As he harrumphed, she stopped bouncing and trotted along beside him, giving him a wink. “Oh? You noticed?”

“I certainly did… And although I love the view, let’s not overdo it for now, OK?” While Pinkie nodded with a bit disappointment, Sam rolled his eyes with a smile and whispered into her ear.

This made her beam again. “Really? Tonight?”

“I promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

Exhaling with a smile, he held a fist to his eye.
“Pinkie Promise…”

After that Pinkie walked at Sam’s side and he caressed her back as they walked together. Although Pinkie never behaved much like other mares during heat season, never went sex-crazed like so many others, the looks in her eyes spoke a language that was obvious. Pinkie was in love with Sam. Totally and absolutely in love... And Sam could feel her glances and smirks as she often caught him red-handed staring at her rump. That were the times when Sam was happy to wear clothes. It was hard not to stare when the sexual partners walked around nude all day long. Time would adapt him to that. It would become normal and the excitement would cease. Right now Lyra and Pinkie enjoyed his behavior since the almost constant erection in his pants gave them the feeling of being desirable and wanted.

And what red-blooded mare in heat wouldn’t love that? Sam then decided to humor them for a while until the topic would be changed.
“Aside from that… Say, Pinkie… Everyone ever told you that you have a great butt?"

A blush formed on the earth pony’s face.
“No, silly. But I noticed several glances here and there. And that’s very nice of you. Seems to me like the whole cake eating serves a good purpose. You like?”

Eying her rump for a second, he nodded with a grin.
“Very…” Looking over to Lyra, his grin maintained. “Lyra has more of a firm butt. Good thing you have a completely different quality.”

Lyra nodded.
“Well, yes… Diversity is said to be the recipe for a good and healthy herd. No one’s competing that much in that case. That goes for stature as well as character. I must admit that I was a bit worried that Pinkie would behave like a fool in our herd, but it’s wonderful to see that you have such consideration for all of us not to freak out.”

Pinkie blinked twice before she smiled.
“Of course! With you guys, I can learn much about new ways of fun. Sam’s very personal ‘party cannon’ Is only one of these new ways…” Only mere minutes after they passed the library, Fluttershy came out with a saddlebag full of novels.

Live was good to Fluttershy. In these days of heat season though, she wished, like every other mare, to have a bit more self-control. Even her friends, the woodland critters, noticed and hinted her at her strong odor of pheromones the timid Pegasus mare emanated. It was only a natural thing, but Fluttershy always disciplined herself. 'Oh Fluttershy, you’re such a lewd pony…' Her critter friends meant well, she knew that. But still she felt a little embarrassed. The other ponies always complimented her for being beautiful, yes, even having nature’s beauty within and wondered why she wasn’t with somepony else. There were those stallions in her past that tried to conquer her heart in several ways with burning passion, strength and wealth. But Fluttershy didn’t feel comfortable with any of them.

Those with wealth wanted her as some trophy wife. To shine and glitter with her beauty like a diamond. Remembering these stallions only made her shook her head. And during the incident with Photo Finish this kind of stallions tried to get close to her.
Then there were those with their burning passion… They had a hot temper as well and didn’t really suit her in character either. When the time came that they were told that they didn’t stood a chance to win her heart, they usually began yelling. Fluttershy was very uncomfortable with this kind of stallions. Usually she hid under her bed for a full day after rejecting such a stallion.

And then, there were the strong ones. Such as Big Macintosh. Fluttershy blushed at the thought of him. Yes, those stallions were strong and many of them were handsome as well, but they were adored by many mares and it showed that she could never compete against the hordes of mares hungry for love or sexual activity. But unlike the down-to-earth Big Mac, other stallions exceeding in strength knew of the many mares adoring them and indulged themselves in this. Big Mac himself had much to do and… No he would never do either…

As Fluttershy went on, she passed Grinko and Pinkie, who once more gave him a cake of cream and fish. This was when Grinko finally asked.
“Pinkie Pie… Why aren’t you wary of me like all the others are?”

“Well duh?” the Element of Laughter stated. “You made a promise to Tyler and from what I understand, as long as you’re not hungry, you will keep that promise! That’s because I want you to have enough to eat so you can be happy as everypony else!”

Nodding in acceptance, he bowed down to her as before.
“Pinkie Pie, there is a strange aura of wisdom around you. As always, I’ll accept your gift.”

This prompted Pinkie to salute.
“If it helps to bring a smile on your face, I’ve done my job!”

Grinko nodded.
"Indeed, you did. But you shouldn’t be around me. You should be with your partner. The one who causes you to spread these pheromones…”

“Phero-what?”

“It’s the scent a mare spreads with her body. Since this is your first time you did that during this heat season I think you have someone special to you that should get your attention?”

Pinkie beamed.
“Yeah, that’s right! And I will have it tonight.”

With a nod Grinko waved after her.
“Good. He will surely be a lucky guy.” After that Grinko bid her farewell and sat down to devour the creamy fish pie while Pinkie bounced off.

But then he noticed her. The yellow coat of hers, the gentle wings, the timid expression... She seemed so vulnerable, but this, he knew, was merely a masquerade. It had to be. Sure, Fluttershy was an herbivore and socially very shy, but there was something about her. Something he couldn’t point his claw at. What he knew was that for a pony, she was beautiful. Just looking at her made him ease down even though his heart should be pounding in excitement before slamming his fangs into her body. His oath to Tyler and his presence in this realm of ponies somehow changed him. He wasn’t sure if it was for the worse or the better, but he didn’t feel like dishonoring himself by living among these ponies. It was a constant test and temptation. And he prevailed every day. There was no routine and there never would be any.

But seeing Fluttershy in this moment, to scent her odor… This odor of readiness he scented quite often these days. But coming from her it was different. And only one word sprang to his mind describing her.

Glorious

There was no mistake that she was precisely that. Every facet of her seemed beautiful, even though she was a pony. Without noticing it himself, he followed her to her cottage. Standing before her door he gulped once before he knocked. As she answered the door, it became obvious in an instant that she didn’t know what to do.
“G-Grinko?!? What are you-“ Before her sentence ended, he leaped at her and grabbed her, causing her to scream. For a moment, Fluttershy believed she would die.

But somehow she didn’t.

There was no fang biting her neck, there was no claw digging into her flesh. This wasn’t the predatory behavior of a beast trying to kill her… Yes, his giant paws held her tightly and his tongue slid up her back when- Now Fluttershy blushed deep as the sound of purring emitted from his throat. He wasn’t attacking her, he was cleaning her. But this wasn’t very much better as well, he wasn’t aware of the delicate spots of a Pegasus mare and could do something that would cause her to embarrass herself. Wriggling out of his grasp, she tried to escape, but he held her tight. With narrowing eyes she looked up.
“Now, unhand me, um… Or I’ll do something terrible to you!”

Grinko halted for a second, but then continued, ignoring her threat. Snorting in frustration, she wriggled to face him and gave him her infamous look. In an instant he unhanded her and cowered in the corner of the room with wide eyes. Fluttershy now approached the Masar with an angered face. “I said no! And no means no! You got that, buster?” With a whimper, the giant Masar nodded. Fluttershy, however, continued to stare at him. “You promise to respect my personal space from now on?”

“I do!” he hastily nodded.

With that Fluttershy’s stare ceased and she nodded with her usual gentle smile.
“Now then… It’s a promise. And if you break it, you’ll have to eat a thousand needles.”

Grinko looked up.
“A proper punishment for betraying my own word to you.”

“Its… just a saying…” she said, forcing a smile.

What Fluttershy didn’t expect was the fact that Grinko was kneeling down to her next, bowing deep before the mare.
“Shaman Fluttershy! I’d be honored if I could serve you…”

Fluttershy gulped heavily and searched for words. This was unexpected. Did her stare intimidate him so that he wanted to be her servant?
“Oh… My… I… I don’t know what to say… I… I need to see someone!” With that she ran out of her cottage.

Meanwhile Twilight was lying on her back, snuggled close to Tyler. With her head on his lap, he fed her petals and one after another disappeared in Twilight’s mouth while he gently rubbed her tummy.
“I’m in Canterlot the next days. Luna wants to go through the plans for the new Ranger Headquarter and Celestia said something about some master spells.”

“Master Spells?” Twilight asked; her interest was piqued immediately.

But Tyler shrugged.
“I think even a princess like Celestia wants to refine her magic once in a while. When I’m back, I will tell you about the one or another spell. IF I’m allowed to that is.”

In the next moment Fluttershy barged in and Twilight looked over to her.
“Hello, Fluttershy… Back so soon? Is something wrong with your books?”

Frantically, Fluttershy turned around and slammed the door shut before leaning against it.
“Yes! I mean no! I mean… What exactly are you two doing there?”

“Well… We finished all our chores and Tyler can’t perform certain herd duties while Spike is around…” Twilight began to explain. “So he convinced me to spend some time with me like this. He already gave AJ a massage.”

Tyler grinned as he fed Twilight another petal and let his finger slide over her lips.
“And it almost escalated… You girls are so into sex during heat season it’s hard to talk with you. But that scent you emanate is so pleasant…”

While Twilight began to suck on his finger gently, he looked over to Fluttershy.
“But you didn’t come here for that, did you Fluttershy? Is something the matter?”

Blushing a bit now while witnessing the two lovebirds, Fluttershy ducked a bit.
“It’s… um… It’s about Grinko…”

Arching his brows, Tyler looked at the Pegasus before he nodded and bend down to Twilight to place a kiss on her lips.
“Sorry, my love… I’ll have to see after our friend…” Twilight whispered something into his ear, what caused him to grin before both stood up. “Alright… I hope he didn’t misbehaved or I’ll have a serious word with him!”

Half an hour later, Tyler entered Fluttershy’s cottage and was sitting at her table having a cup of coffee with her.
“He did what? Kneel before you?”

“And before that I had to make him stop doing… You know… embarrassing things to me…”

This made Tyler look at Fluttershy with an unbelieving look.
“You? Making that big guy stop something? I must say I don’t see how that is going to work… You give in so often.”

“I… um… I have my ways… Even though I rather, you know… not use them that often…”

Taking another sip from his coffee, Tyler nodded.
“Fluttershy? I know this is a very personal question and I want you to answer it as briefly as you can. I need to assess the situation a bit. Concerning heat season… How far down the road are you right now?”

Now Fluttershy turned beet red while Angel tugged a rope out of a chest.
“I… um… I…”

When Tyler saw the little bunny, his brows arched and he grinned a bit.
“You let Angel tie you down each night? Well… Better safe than sorry, huh? Alright… I think I have an idea right now.” Fluttershy, however, looked down with her red glowing face. “Oh, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, Fluttershy… I bet every mare out there is living through exactly the same. And you have such a good friend in Angel who you probably should reward for this.”

The bunny now stood up proud and held his paws up in order to receive rewards, but Tyler tipped at the chest of Angel and frowned.
“Don’t get cocky now, little one…”

Fluttershy then looked up to her human friend.
“Tyler?”

From her voice Tyler already could hear that all of this was heavily mortifying for the timid Pegasus.
“Yes?”

“I would prefer it that this stays… you know… between us two.”

Smiling gently at her, he shook his head.
“Don’t mention it. I would never betray the trust you put in me. “

“Do you promise?”

“Pinkie Promise!” With that Tyler held his right fist at his right eye socket and smiled. The sight was enough to make Fluttershy giggle. The Pegasus mare now lightened up a bit and Tyler leaned back on the couch. “You know, we two never talked much with each other, but you seem to prefer talking with animals anyway, so I gave you your space, not invading into your business…”

“It… um… It wasn’t my intention to scare you away with my shyness…”

“Oh no! No, no…” He tried to calm her down. “You didn’t frighten me, I was just afraid to startle you in a way. You seem to have quite frail nerves, so I didn’t want to be a burden. You know… being an omnivore, eating meat and all that. Although I must say that Angel sometimes behaves in a manner that makes me want to threaten him to turn him into bunny stew for treating you so roughly sometimes…”

While the rabbit hid behind Fluttershy, she arched a brow at Tyler before shoving Angel to her side with a wing, giving the rabbit a mischievous grin.
“Angel can be a real rascal sometimes… But we are there for each other… I would never allow anyone to make a stew out of him.”

* * * * *

Later that day Tyler, Twilight and Applejack were invited to Lyra’s and Bon Bon’s house. Sitting at the table, they all conversed a bit. Milky was a bit uncomfortable with sitting on a chair since her breasts were hanging a bit awkward. It was a miracle no one even noticed them until now. At the time Bon Bon brought some glasses and a big can of milk to go with the fudges that were served on a plate, Tyler filled each glass and handed each of them a glass before he raised his own.
“A toast! To Bon Bon and her cousin Milky Way! And to the best fudges I’ve eaten in years!” The mares all raised their glasses before Tyler leaned back a bit. “You know, Bon Bon… I’m currently trying to look for independent contractors for food supplies for the new Ranger Headquarters. If you let me, I’d like to propose a contract to you that should give you and your business a tremendous boost. Applejack here already told me that the Apple family would agree to that as well. Food suppliers under a royal contract to help secure the country… not only benefit from the payment, but the prestige as well.”

Bon Bon frowned a bit.
“I must admit it sounds like you Rangers are going to become a second Royal Guard.”

Tyler nodded.
“Yes, we’re about to be Equestria’s answer to the Descendants of Tacitus. And since they are having influence all over this world, we are going to fight them in several lands. Celestia is going to tell the leaders of other nations about us in detail later. I’m not sure who’s going to attend exactly, but I’m pretty sure there will be folks of Saddle Arabia, the Griffin Kingdom and the Crystal Empire.”

A few minutes later Flynn Rachel and Sam entered the room. Flynn looked at them.
“Tyler, We’ve got a letter from Princess Luna that they’re about to be clear with the former CCF. They’re now reconstructing…” Now he noticed the fudge. “Oh, can I have some as well?”

Bon Bon beamed up to him.
“Suit yourself!” While Flynn and Sam sat down on the table Rachel got some glasses. It was then when she recognized the immense breasts hanging from Milky’s crotch. Seeing the milk on the table, Rachel knew where it came from.

That’s when she placed the last glass in front of Sam and leaned to Flynn.
“That’s her breastmilk…”

Rachel’s whispering into his ear caused Flynn to spit out the milk and putting the glass down before making haste towards the bathroom. When Tyler heard what Rachel whispered into his ear, he gulped heavily.
“I… I must say this isn’t exactly my preferred kind of milk.”

Twilight arched a brow.
“Why? Nothing’s wrong with it…” But as soon as Tyler whispered into her ear what Rachel just told him, Twilight blushed a bit and smiled shyly. “Oh… I didn’t know this is possible… But it tastes fine to me.”

Applejack arched a brow when hearing about the origin of the milk From Twilight.
“Well, whaddya know? Ah thought this was normal cow milk. But it IS some good milk…”

As Sam heard of the origin of the milk, his eyes popped open, wandered to Rachel, then to Milky, then to the glass of milk in his hand. Taking another big mouthful from the milk, he emptied the glass and nodded towards Milky.
“It’s very delicious, Miss Way…” This earned him some glances from the others.

Milky blushed a bit. Once more he was nice to her without being invasive.
“Just Milky…”

Sam nodded before he glared at Rachel.
“And you? What is your major malfunction? Everything was right before you messed up with that dick move!”

“Dick move, huh? Well I say we’re among friends and should be honest to each other. What would you say if I would fill my breast milk into a glass and serve it to you?”

Sam halted for a second and sighed a bit.
“That doesn’t make it any better, Rachel. It’s true that there are worlds colliding here, but a bit of tolerance is in order!”

“Tolerance…” Rachel repeated thoughtfully before looking to Milky. “I tolerate everything, but I demand to know before I drink it. Now if you would excuse me? I’ll have to beat Flynn for being an insensitive asshole… I wanted to unveil all this, but that sucker went berserk with his reaction…” With that she left the room as well.

Applejack frowned a bit.
“Ah don’t get it. Why did she do that? Everything was right before she let that out. Ah’m all for honesty, but sometimes it’s better to shut yer yapper.”

Tyler shook his head over the situation.
“That’s because we humans don’t drink body fluids from higher beings. None of us would drink Rachel’s breast milk even if she would offer it to us. I can understand her in a way. It takes time to adapt to the fact that ponies seem to do it differently.” With that he stood up. "Bon Bon? Miss Milky Way? Thank you for the nice afternoon. And Miss Way?” With that he took Milky’s hoof into his hand and looked into her eyes. “Don’t let it to your heart. It was a little mishap. Please give them some time.” With that he went out with Twilight and Applejack. As they left, Lyra and Pinkie entered the living room.

Sam remained on his seat and sighed.
“I want to apologize. Normally Flynn and Rachel are good and decent people.” Milky looked down to the table. While Flynn’s glass was almost full, Tyler’s was half full. Sam however poured another glass in. “You know, it’s true… Normally we humans don’t drink breast milk from a sentient being. It’s a thing solely shared between a mother and her baby. Only exception is the milk from certain farm animals such as cows and goats. I guess now you understand why Flynn acted like this was something very revolting. And Tyler…”

While Bon Bon started to clear the table, Milky nodded.
“He was trying to be polite. I noticed. Well, not everypony or in your case everyone is eager to accept this. I’m used to this from some ponies already.”

Lyra and Pinkie now sat down to Sam’s sides and Lyra levitated some fudge into her mouth.
“What happened? You finally found out about Milky? Too bad I wasn’t here at that moment. I’d love to note down your reactions…”

Looking at his glass, Sam swayed it a bit like it didn’t have milk but good wine in it.
“But… I wonder… How do you manage to give such large quantities?” Milky sighed. There was no point in hiding it any longer. As she stepped forward, her breasts were revealed to him. When he saw the breasts, Sam gulped. “I must say I wouldn’t believe it if I wouldn’t see it…” As he gave her breasts a closer look, he hummed a bit before he looked over to Lyra. “What do you think, Lyra? A mare with a bust between her legs that’s similar to a human woman? Wouldn’t that make a good chapter in your Anthropology?”

Lyra tipped her hoof against her chin, not sure what to think of it.
“Oh it’s just part of her special talent, you know? Teats that size are rare, but it’s no sickness. But if you really want to put it that way… hmmm… maybe genetic endowments in the Pony gene pool leading to traits similar to the human species… Yeah, that would make a nice theory… If I can ever validate it that is…”

Milky only looked at Lyra with big eyes and shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand one word you said…”

“Oh that’s nothing to be concerned about.” Sam said with a smirk. “I sometimes have difficulties understanding her as well. But that only makes her more fascinating.”

Lyra first wanted to respond with sarcasm on this, but smirked instead.
“Yeah, yeah… whatever you say, you big bipedal idiot.” This caused him to chuckle and tickle her chin, what prompted Lyra to hold her head high so he could do so.

It was then when Pinkie bounced at Sam and jumped into his arms.
“Aha… Sam, you want to court her!”

Like on cue, Lyra now bumped her rump at Sam.
“Courting two mares at once into the herd? Sam, you hound you…”

Pinkie tipped her hoof at her chin.
“Well, it sure would have certain advantages. Milky needs to be milked every once in a while, hands have more dexterity than hooves, Lyra could see your hands milking her breasts and I… Well, I could use that milk for some cakes at Sugarcube Corner. If I can have it, that is.”

But Sam simply raised his hands, prompting Pinkie to bounce at the floor and back on her hooves.
“Girls, don’t haste it like that! I can’t simply milk her! That’s a private thing and should only be done by someone she trusts! And who am I to say that I should be the one?”

This visibly touched Milky.
“I like your attitude, Sam… There are stallions who ask if they can drink from the tap, but I’m glad to meet someone such as you who thinks different. It sometimes goes into harassment, but it’s never been so bad that I have to call the guard. Um…” She noticed a few drops leaking. “I would be thankful if I could relieve myself in a bucket or pot or something like that.”

Sam immediately looked up.
"Oh! Uh… Sure!” Shortly after that he handed a small pot to Milky. “Come on, girls… Let’s give her some space. Milky surely wants to be alone if she’s doing that.” With that, the herd of three left the kitchen and went to the living room.

Bon Bon, however, looked to her cousin before she intercepted Sam not far away from the door.
“I know you are a faithful man that would never betray his mares. I respect you for that, Sam. But Milky is putting on a brave face. Without her equipment from Trottingham it will take her an hour to get done with this. That is an hour of uncomfortable pain, even if it’s a minor pain.”

Sam nodded.
“You mean it would be of help if I go in there and milk her? Well, she could handle it herself… Then again: If I simply leave her, what kind of jerk would I be then?” With an unsure glance he looked over to Lyra and Pinkie. “It’s your choice, girls. I would be OK with helping, but if you don’t want me to, I won’t do that.”

But Pinkie shook her head.
“No, no, no, no, no… A mare won’t suffer because I’m with you. As for me, you should go in there and help her.”

Lyra thought for a bit.
“That aside, we should also ask Milky if she agrees to this. It is her body you are laying hand on, Sam.” Sam nodded. No eagerness to help would help Milky I she would refuse to accept it.

As he entered the kitchen again, Milky was kneeling on the floor and squeezed her left breast with her hooves and grimaced a bit while at it. Merely watching this was painful.
“Is it true? Is this process taking one hour in pain?” That spooked Milky a bit since she thought he wouldn’t come back so soon. Gulping a bit in shock, Milky only managed to bring out a silent “Yes.” With this Sam’s eyes grew sterner and he huffed a bit. “Alright! On your hooves, girl! I’ll help you so it’s done faster.” His commanding tone spooked her even more and she jumped up on all four hooves. Sam could see her little mess on the pot. She tried to milk herself just with her hooves pressing against the breast, forcing the milk out with pressure. Like this it would take longer and would be extra painful. Sitting down on the floor next to her, he looked to her head. “Milky? I’m going to start now… Please don’t feel spooked, OK?”

Gulping a bit, the milkmare nodded and looked straight forward with a heavy blush on her face. Sam didn’t blame her. He knew that if he would do this to a woman, this would be awkward as hell. His hand glided over her belly and gently slid over her breasts before he took hold of her nipples. 'What would I give to know the right technique for this right now…' he thought. And without wasting any time with anything, he tried to milk her. The first few attempts were in vain until he got the hang of it, milking a few streams of milk into the pot.

Milky tried her best to stay put, even if she was blushing heavily. Although Sam had the skill of a absolute beginner, he was a swift learner. It almost felt as pleasant as being milked by her machine at home. With every minute, the pressure in her breasts ceased bit after bit. When the pot was full, Pinkie got another one. That was when Sam noticed it. Milky was feeling it. Even if she didn’t say a word her body was giving her away. Like every other mare in Equestria, she was in heat right now and his ‘playing’ with her breasts brought her into this certain mood. There was this unspoken wish in her eyes, the readiness of her to let him climb on top of her to relieve her of this other urge as well. At this point, maybe all it would take would be just asking her. But Sam shook his head.
“Why don’t you tell me more about Trottingham?”

This really caught Milky out of context.
“Huh?”

“Distract yourself a bit! Tell me about your hometown Trottingham. That’s way better than enduring the pain.” After a short glance to him, Milky smirked. He was actually trying to get her away from these thoughts in order to spare her the embarrassment of making a fool of herself. That was very nice of him.

Once again, he was different from the stallions she knew from her daily life in Trottingham.
“If you insist… Well, where do I start…?” With that they conversed a bit and Milky told them about her life in Trottingham, her customers, her friends, her daily routines and before they knew it, the milking was over. In hindsight, Milky had to admit that she temporarily even forgot she was being milked. “It was a lovely conversation, Sam. With all of you.”

Lyra nodded proudly.
“That’s my Sam: Having the decency to treat a mare in distress even in complicated situations as well as loving his mares with passion.”

Wiping his hands clean with a handkerchief, Sam smiled.
“Big and heavy like that of a human woman… I would lie if I would say that it doesn’t intrigue me… But that doesn’t justify bad manners. If you need a reliable pair of hands coming along with a nice conversation, feel free to tell me. As long as I don’t do it with you I think Lyra isn’t going to be mad. And I’m eager to help.”

Milky nodded.
“I understand. And I must thank you for helping me out today.” With that she jumped up on her hind legs and placed a peck on his cheek. “That should do the trick…” Looking over to Lyra, Milky nodded. “I envy you. That man sure is a keeper.”

* * * * *

On the next day Tyler as well as the Elements of Harmony were sitting together in the library.
“I talked with Grinko. She understood him quite right. He wishes to serve Fluttershy.”

“But why?” Rarity asked. “Darling, Fluttershy is not a mare who has demand for a servant…”

Fluttershy looked down, embarrassed.
“He… He also called me a shaman…”

Twilight nodded.
“Yes, of course… In his culture, someone who can communicate with nature is deemed a shaman. And mostly Masar females are shamans. It is an important and respected position in their culture. It is, in fact, so respected that Masar males offer their services to the shaman to become one of her possible candidates for her closer choice of the lair mate.”

The girls looked at each other in mild confusion and looked at Twilight. “Lair mate?” they asked in unison.

“It’s the Masar way to say ‘special somepony’… “ Twilight explained. “The lair mate is the one you live together with, you share the food with this individual, you go hunting together and you…” She harrumphed briefly. “Well, you mate with each other.”

It was in this moment that Fluttershy blushed so red, she hid her face beneath her mane.
“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!! Oh my goodness!!!”

“Whoah nelly… Ah say that’s storming at Fluttershy like a hurricane. Ah mean we all know how delicate she is in these matters.” Applejack stated as she came to Fluttershy’s side, resting a hoof on her shoulders.

Rainbow nudged Tyler into the ribcage and whispered a “Virgin…” in his ear.

That caused Tyler to kneel down to the shivering yellow Pegasus.
“Fluttershy… He left the choice to you… He considered your shyness as well as your dignity as a mare important, so he won’t force you to something. You can say no of course, but then you should come up with some reasons. And those should be better than him being a Masar…”

“Tyler’s right there, Fluttershy!” Rarity added. “A true lady who is rejecting a gentlecolt asking for her attention has no right to be rude. Even if he looks like a ruffian…” The others now gave Rarity a stern look, but she only blinked at them. “Well, have you seen his mane?”

Tyler patted the timid Pegasus’ back and looked down to her.
“Someone was brave enough to turn away his pride to tell you his feelings… Don’t you think you should have the bravery to response?”

“I… I don’t know… I should do it, but… BUT…”

As she tried to escape through the door, Rainbow stepped inside her way.
“Fluttershy! Some dude confessed to you! If you run away from this, that’s not only cowardly, but unkind as well!"

This snapped Fluttershy out of her fear and she gulped heavily, before nodding at the others.
“I’m… I’m game! I’ll response to him!”

Tyler nodded.
“Wonderful! I told him to go over to Rachel; I wanted to have him supervised in this situation because frankly I don’t know about his current status. Maybe he’s in heat, too?”

All eyes went to Twilight now.
“What? We never talked about THIS topic! And I’m with Tyler! I wouldn’t ask about it if he wouldn’t mention it!”

Meanwhile Grinko stood before a mirror with Rachel standing behind him.
“I don’t know if I can do this…”

Folding her arms, she shook her head.
”The big predator behaves like a tame kitten? Are you kidding me? Come on! You must be bold… Daring!”

“Bold…” he repeated and adjusted his stance to a heroic one. “Daring!”

Rachel patted his shoulder.
“That’s the spirit! The moment will come. And if everything seems right, you’ll confess your love!”

Looking up, his brows arched.
“Yes… I’ll… I…” But then he shook his head. “No! I can’t…”

Rachel cocked her head, arching a brow.
“Well as far as I understood you, you love her. Don’t you?”

“More than anything!”

With that Rachel gave him a nod.
“Then you must tell her! Trust me, as long as you don’t become invasive and show her your persistent interest, she sooner or later will wonder about you.”

Looking into the mirror, Grinko tried to give it a smile, but as soon as he saw his own fangs, he gritted his teeth.
“Argh… It’s no USE!!! She’s deemed a beauty among pony mares and I… YEAH, WELL!!! LOOK AT ME!!! A beast with claws and fangs… Even my smile would distress her…”

As Tyler and Fluttershy arrived in this moment in front of the door to the room Rachel and Grinko were in, Tyler looked over to her and held her back. “You see?” He whispered.

Fluttershy nodded timidly and backed away with Tyler as Rachel’s voice suddenly emitted from the room.
“Fluttershy may be a beauty, but she sure isn’t unkind, Grinko. You should give her time.”

Grinko growled, visibly inpatient.
“Hmph! Where I’m from, the deeds of the individual are known throughout the entire clan. The female decides in a matter of seconds if he’s worthy or not. I’m not used to all these pony customs. Haven’t I waited long enough now?” As he looked up, Rachel shook her head, answering him already that he should have more patience. But this made him growl in frustration. “Yeah… I know… If she means anything to me, then waiting should be no sweat. But I think I might lose time. She’s a pony mare among ponies! What if someone steals her away from me before I even…”

Rachel now smirked.
“If you don’t mind me asking… Why are you attracted to her in the first place? She’s an herbivore, you’re a carnivore. Before you joined the Harmony Rangers, you deemed ponies and zebras prey.” It was in this moment that Fluttershy held her breath in the hallway outside the room. This actually was THE question burning in her mind.

Why her?

Grinko looked down.
“There was something in her eyes from the very start, something I noticed all along. You humans don’t have that much sensitivity and the other ponies? They don’t have that kind of predatory instinct. She seems timid, but deep inside of her is a beast, ready to awaken if it is needed.”

“A beast?” Rachel asked.” What do you mean with-”

“Not a beast in forms of bodily change that she goes through… but a transformation in character.” He then looked up to Rachel. “And lately, when I misbehaved to her… She let me see the eyes of this beast! And never before was I so afraid…”

Outside of the room, Fluttershy gasped. Her wings erected and she blushed.
“He means ‘The Stare’…”

Rachel blinked and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand…”

Grinko smirked.
“You don’t have to. But I must say I don’t feel shame in announcing that I deem a mare that can send a full grown Masar into the corner like a scared kitten more than interesting. In fact, I would be more than happy to kneel down for her to give her a nice bath.”

Now Rachel blushed.
“A bath? You mean… like a cat? With the tongue?” Tyler clenched his teeth together and looked over to Fluttershy. By now her face was deep red and she breathed heavily. One could see in her eyes that the urge to flee the situation grew in her. As their eyes met, Tyler signalized her to calm down.

But then Grinko’s voice became audible again.
“It’s not necessarily something sexual, if you think that. It’s the most intimate caring a Masar can offer to someone. This is only done in family and between lair mates. I would feel no disgust in cleaning her like that. But I’m afraid she thinks I want to eat her or something… It’s not easy caring for someone if the one you have feelings for is repelled by a wall of claws and fangs…”His paws stroke over a pillow and pressed it dearly. “And it certainly isn’t easy to withhold all these feelings. I’m afraid that if I express my true and honest feelings for her to full extent, I could rip her to shreds!” With that his claws ripped the pillow to pieces. “I cannot allow this to happen! I can NOT! I would rather gnaw off my own paws before I would willingly hurt her.”

It was in this moment that a level was switched in Fluttershy’s mind and her wingboner slowly ceased. Slowly turning around, she looked at the door. He had such deep feelings for her and she was just too afraid to face him. He tried desperately to be kind to her despite his appearance and she, the Element of Kindness was too afraid to approach him. What a joke! Shaking her head, she grew bolder and snorted a bit before approaching the door. Tyler tried to stop her, but she simply slapped his hands away.
“Fluttershy, you can’t go in right now. It would be-

“It would be the right thing to do!” She interrupted him. “An Element of Kindness has to do what an Element of Kindness has to do!” In the moment Tyler tried to hold her back again, Fluttershy pinned him against the wall and gritted her teeth while speaking. Her eyes gazed hard at him, giving him the full blow of the Stare. “Now don’t try to stop me anymore, buster! Or I’ll stare you down!” With that Fluttershy gasped and caressed Tyler’s cheek with her hooves, returning to her gentle and timid tone as the Stare ceased. “If… that’s OK with you…” Tyler looked at her with wide eyes and gulped as he nodded in silence. What the hell just happened? He had been completely paralyzed. And most of his motivation, if not all, to go against her had vanished into thin air. Was that part of herself? But nothing of this mattered right now as the door opened and Fluttershy stood in it.

“You… You do have these feelings for me?” Her words pierced through the silence caused when she opened the door and echoed through her mind. A part of her wanted to flee. To run away from the embarrassment like so many times before. Grinko wasn’t very wealthy, but he sure was strong, maybe even stronger than an earth pony. And the temper of a Masar could be very short. Tyler and Twilight had told her that in her curiosity about his species. Because after all, caring about animals big and small was her special talent, even if a Masar was sentient and intelligent. It helped her to see him as a big kitty cat and calmed her fear regarding him. Big and strong and a short temper… Not exactly the things she adored. But Grinko tried, tried so hard to appear kinder. And that very trying for her sake and her sake alone was what impressed the timid Pegasus.

In her mind Fluttershy forced herself to step forward, one step after another.
“I… uh…”Grinko began to stammer. That was a fact that made Rachel smirk almost immediately. She remained silent and slowly went out of the room while maintaining her smirk. Seems like beauty once more tamed a beast…

With that she approached Tyler, who by that time had recovered from the Stare.
“Our work here seems done! Best to leave these two alone right now…”

“Agreed! Some things should remain private…”

As they left the building, Rachel looked over to him.
“Jones, are you OK? You look a bit off the track.”

A mixture of excitement and being nervous took hold of Fluttershy. Grinko yearned for the chance of being kind and who would be the best mentor for him than the Element of Kindness herself? She could help him becoming a better being, one that wasn’t feared by everypony. After hearing his opinion about her she lost almost all fear of him.
“I’d like to give you a little kiss, you big old kitty…”

“What? But what about my fangs?” he asked while arching a brow.

But the timid Pegasus only shook her head as she smiled up to him.
“Oh I don’t care… Lots of my friends have fangs, too.”

Grinko frowned a bit and looked down to the ground.
“But they’re woodland critters! I on the other hand…”

“…are a Masar. I know that. I… um…” Kicking the ground a bit, the little Pegasus looked up to him. “Did you… you know… meant what you said there?” In his mind he thought about how he would have ended that sentence. Something about a beast with claws and teeth was the thing he would have said. This little Pegasus mare wasn’t just beautiful and kind, but she gave him a chance. And by no means was he about to let it go to waste.

Grinko looked at her for a moment and then grabbed her hoof with a nod.
“I did!”

Looking at her hoof Fluttershy blushed and smiled a bit.
“Um… You know… It was very brave to say something like that in front of others… I… I couldn’t do that with such ease… I’m not that assertive.”

Grinko arched a brow before he shook his head.
“If you have to, you are more than that. This look of yours… Where did you learn to do this?”

“Well… It… it runs in the family… After all, we Pegasi once were a race of mighty warrior ponies… But I really don’t like to use it very often.”

His eyes now widened.
“Magnificent! An ancient art that needs to be refined…” He now held her hoof with both paws. “Shaman-“

In an instant Fluttershy pulled her hoof away.
“I’m not a shaman! Stop calling me that!”

“But you can talk to the animals! How else should I call you?”

"My name is Fluttershy!” With a sigh she shook her head. “If you really want to become my special somepony, you have a lot of things to learn, Grinko…” In an instant she blushed. Now she said it out loud. 'Oh Fluttershy, you’re such a loudmouth.'

Meanwhile Rachel and Tyler were on their way back.
“You say she’s able to have some sort of psychological stare or something? Now I understand what Grinko meant… Ha! Who would have thought that Fluttershy would turn out to become the dominant one in this relationship of Beauty and Beast?”

Tyler grinned as they left the cottage hill.
“Always the silent ones…”

Only five minutes later, Fluttershy’s hoof tapped on the chalkboard on which she had written certain basic rules for Grinko.
“It doesn’t hurt to start with the basics in this. I once had a certain training of a minotaur that sort of helped me to understand myself better. So pony up your mind and you will grow more kind!” With a giggle she placed her hoof to the first line on the Chalkboard. “Rule One…?”

Grinko now read the line out loud, even though he arched a brow. This felt a tad weird.
“We don’t eat ponies, zebras or humans…”

This earned him a nod from Fluttershy.
“Yes… Rule Two?”

“No eating of woodland critters outside of the Everfree Forest… But I already know-”

“Rule three?” Grinko hesitated this time. Waiting a bit, Fluttershy tapped the chalk board again. “Rule three?”

While growling in refusal, Grinko looked down.
“Do I have to?”

Giving him a sly grin, she nodded.
“Come on… Say it?”

“Grmph… Alright… Fluttershy is always right!”

With a giggle, she patted him on the shoulder.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” While he still grumbled a bit, she took his paw and inspected it. “I won’t lie to you though… I heard about your worries about your claws…”

“If you wish it, I could pull-“

“NO!” Fluttershy interrupted him. “No one will be hurt or injured for my sake! Your claws are a part of you as my Stare is part of me. You need them for your fighting and hunting! You must never get rid of them!”

“But what if I want to express my feelings for you and injure you in a way? I couldn’t bear that guilt…”

But the Pegasus looked up to him.
“We will find another way… Until then, you have my trust.”

“But…”

Fluttershy held his head with both of her hooves.
“My absolute! Unconditional! Trust!”

Later that day Fluttershy returned the novels to the library. This caused Twilight to frown.
“But Fluttershy, you just borrowed these novels this morning!”

“Oh, I know… But… um… things are different now. I have a new project over at my cottage that needs full attention.”
Twilight grasped the books with her levitation magic and cocked her head as she put them back into the shelf. “Well, if you say so…”

In the doorway Fluttershy halted and turned around once more, beaming while she did it.
“Oh and hey… stay out of my shed, OK?” With that the yellow Pegasus left the library and Spike looked to her unicorn friend and arched a brow. “Why should we stay out of her shed all of a sudden? We didn’t go in there in the first place.”

Twilight simply shrugged.
“Maybe she’s working on a new project with light sensitive animals? You know Fluttershy… She’s probably using that shed to get those animals the best caring she could muster… Let’s just stay out of her shed until she says it’s OK…”

Behind her cottage, Fluttershy approached her shed. As the door opened it was dark inside since there were no windows. As she ignited the content of the lamp, the light revealed Grinko’s silhouette. The Masar folded his arms.
“Why are we hiding in here? Are you ashamed of me being your lair mate?”

Fluttershy shook her head.
“Oh no… But we are undisturbed in here. No one comes in here and that gives us plenty of private time to learn about each other’s customs.”

Arching a brow, the Masar smirked.
“You’re just afraid someone could barge in and witness us doing something embarrassing…”

Caressing his face with her hooves, she nuzzled him a bit.
“Well… Masar baths are a very intimate moment. I think nothing and nopony should interfere with this.”

Grinko’s eyes and smile grew and he nodded.
“It would be my pleasure…”

Dear Princess Celestia,
Having an appearance that frightens others or being too shy to draw somepony’s attention might be a problem if you don’t work on yourself. But it can also be a gift if you realize that you share the wish for kindness.
Just because something, someone or somepony looks scary and big doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t wish to share kindness with others as well.

Looking up from the letter and the quill in her mouth, she closed her eyes as the purring behind her grew in volume. Having agreed to get a bath from him without going into erogenous zones, it was a start. Fluttershy had to start trusting him and wanted to give him an opportunity to be kind and caring to her while expressing his feelings in the same time. Giving her a bath while limiting his access to certain spots, was both reward and test for him. Being accustomed to animal tongues for affection this was nothing completely new to Fluttershy. The extent of this, however, was. A Masar is a great proud feline who show its affection by bathing family and lair mate. She thought. It was important to him and it showed her that Masar aren’t just murderous beasts. “Careful with my wing muscles…” She said in a slightly seductive tone. “We’ll save them for later…” A nod later Grinko’s tongue slid over her back again as he bathed Fluttershy.

And I’m proud to report that our friend Grinko wants to learn all about kindness from me, his new special somepony.

Your Element of Kindness,
Fluttershy

Reading the letter, Celestia smiled and opened a little casket, where a small amulet in form of a tooth glittered.

19 - Sirens in the distance, Brothers in arms *

The music played in the car radio as the van drove along the street.

As the song continued, the ponies looked silently at the car radio, eyes wide open in wonder.
“This is magnificent...” Rarity stated, “No record, no gramophone...”

Lyra smirked as she looked over to the seamstress.
“Human technology, folks... I told you this is going to be sweet...”

Tyler looked into the mirror and by that, at the girls.
“Well? What do you think about Earth for now?”

Looking outside the glittering lights of the cities, Twilight gently shook her head.
“It's vast. And so foreign. You were right. It's a very hasty world where one can reach so many places in so little time. And with that television set, one can look even further into places you don't have the time to go to. If I could spend more time here, I'm sure I could learn a lot about humans and their many cultures.”

Fluttershy smiled brightly.
“I've never seen so many different animals at once than in that television set. It surely shows many different climate regions you'll have to travel far for. “ She then looked down. “The downside is, one can't touch the animals or befriend them. I would love to see a real elephant. Maybe even an orca!”

Rachel looked over to the yellow mare, a grin on her face.
“Believe me: An orca is nothing you want to have in your close proximity...”

Since the song ended and advertisement started, Rachel switched the radio channel, until she got one with the news.
“...and the amount of bodies in the incident is yet to be announced as official statements claim this to be the latest mass murder in the war against drugs.” a reporter sounding like speaking through a phone. “In the early morning hours, the inn was raided by federal agents and SWAT units and ever since then, there has been a complete lock-down. By the scarce statements from the officials one can assume that everyone who was in that inn is probably dead by now.”

Tyler and Rachel looked at each other from the corner of their eyes before Tyler nodded.
“You see? Twilight was right. When it comes to Changelings, she seems to be always right. I trust her completely.”

The girls shared a group hug around Twilight.
“Saved our coats yet another time, Twi! Good work!” Rainbow stated.

* * * * *

Back in the federal department in Sacramento, Ben and Rick went down the corridor towards their temporary offices. Ben Miller nodded over to Rick, a dry smile on his face.
“Rick, remember the slaughter at that inn?”

Going through the case files while going and drinking a coffee, Rick simply looked over to his colleague.
“You're going to tell me you found some survivors?“

Ben sighed.
“We found one... And frankly he's not so happy about that. Lost his young daughter due to this. I have Catherine having an eye on him, he's able to answer some questions, but we shouldn't expect too much from that poor guy.”

Rick placed the files onto his desk and turned around, facing Ben.
“Well, can you blame him? If I knew I escaped hell you couldn't expect much from me neither, Ben. Even less if I lost someone dear on that day. Let's take it slowly, this should do the trick.” A few minutes later, Rick sat in front of the young man, who seemed on the edge of his seat for some reason. Nevertheless he began the conversation. “Enrico Avelino, age 34, Mexican origin, U.S. Citizen for four years now. Do you like it here?”

Enrico Avelino's breath was shivering and he looked up, his palms sweaty and shaking.
“Am I...?”

Both agents looked at each other before Rick gave Enrico a warm smile.
“Yes, Enrico. You are perfectly safe here. Whoever did this in the inn, he can't get you here. My colleague already told me about your loss. You have my sympathy. We want to get whoever did this. So why don't you start at the beginning? Please tell us all what happened that night. ”

Enrico nodded and took a few deep breaths before he found enough composure to begin.
“My daughter, Maria, had her evening bath and I went to the inn landlord due to the fact that there were peeping Toms at the window. By that time our room was closed and Maria had permission to watch some TV on the bed as long as she wouldn't open up to anyone. I went into the bar a few streets further for two beers. There was a game showing in the TV at the bar. I wanted to make a call, when I noticed my phone wasn't in my jacket. So I went back to the inn to get it. That was about... twelve, I guess. The inn is only two blocks away, so I took my time. However, when it was only across the street, I heard screaming coming from the inn. I began to run towards the parking lot, when I saw...” He stopped in an instant and looked down, sweat running down his forehead.

Rick shot a glance over to Ben Miller before he leaned in to Enrico.
“Enrico... What did you see?”

Enrico's eyes widened.
“That... THING!!!” Looking up to Rick, Enrico's face showed fear. “THAT NIGHTMARE!” The mexican now began to sob. “He... No, IT!!!” More uncontrollable crying followed and Enrico fought to get the words out. “Maria's clothes... in one of its... one of its claws...”

Rick looked over to Ben; Miller nodded and handed the Mexican a glass of water and a handkerchief.
“We hate to put you through this again, but you have to tell us, Mr. Avelino. Can you describe it?”

Recovering some of his composure, the young man gasped for air and tried to get a hold of himself again.
“It was tall. It... it appeared to be wearing clothes, but... there's no way it was human. There's NO way... The revealed body was covered in some sort of black plating. I've never seen anything like it. Its... face...”

Both agents exchanged troubled glances, before Rick nodded at Enrico.
“It's OK, Enrico. Please continue.”

Enrico now looked up to Rick, his pupils shrank down to tiny dots, his expression of absolute terror.
“That horrible fucking face! Staring at me like an animal! But no this was no face! Not with this horrible snout! What did I see?”

Rick leaned back a bit.
“Enrico, please calm yourse-”

But the mexican slammed his flat hands on the table in rage before he pointed at Rick.
“NO, ESE'! NO! I'm not crazy! I fucking saw that son of a bitch! That puta took my little girl! I shouldn't be in here! I should be out there coming for it with my homies!! You don't know! YOU DON'T KNOW!!! Somewhere out there is a monster and no single man can stop it!”

Calling for security, both agents stepped back as the officers subdued the Mexican. As he was brought to his cell to calm down, both agents huffed a bit.
“That was something... That poor bastard got quite a story, eh?”

Ben nodded.
“It sure was. A guy looking like a monster? Do we have someone on that profile?”

“Not that I know of. At least not in our jurisdiction, Ben. The guys in Washington have their problems with these masked clowns. We? We only get a rogue hacker hunted by a killer. But let's not scratch that possibility, shall we? We have a new player in town. And until I see the predator alien in front of me, we are hunting two guys with one trying to kill the other. Let's go down to Forensics, shall we?”

Ben Miller arched his brows and shook his head.
“Down to the dungeon? Do we have to go there?” As they both went down the stairs, Ben groaned. “You know I hate that place and her snarky remarks...”

* * * * *

In the forensic bureau, a woman no older than 36 was known as Andrea Borielli, head of forensics. Having a smoke, she turned around to the two agents in a happy mood, even though her face seemed expressionless at all times.
“Ah, Agent Marshall! Good to see you bring me more people who lose their heads.” Miller rolled his eyes, already regretting to be here. “Well, what your boys brought me was most interesting, that much is certain.”

Rick Marshall frowned a bit and cocked his head.
“Oh? So you could make something out of that sticky mess? Can you tell us more about the crime weapon? Do you have an idea what kind of weapon was used?

“A very big one, that I can say for sure. The most victims had acidic corrosion at their wounds, making determining the exact extent of the stress on tissue and bones almost impossible. But there where three other victims from another crime scene with similar attack patterns.”

Looking through the case file, Rick arched a brow as he looked up to Borielli,
“Three punks, huh? One of them naked before the perpetrator killed him. Where is the connection with the victims in the inn?”

“The bite marks.” Borielli flatly stated.

“Bite marks?”

“For lack of a better term? Yes. The skull was crushed like you would crush an egg with your hand.”

Ben Miller shook his head as he heard this.
“Isn't the human skull very durable?”

Turning around to Miller, Borielli eyed him for a second and nodded with a smirk.
“It is! Very good, Agent Miller. Maybe you should make use of what is in your skull more often!” This only earned her a grumble from Miller.

Rick Marshall frowned.
“What makes you think these cases are connected?”

A young man brought in a laptop and started up the operation system and once everything was booted up, a 3D program.
“I ordered John here to make a 3D model of how it could been.” A 3D animation depicting a human skull and a very disturbing looking tool with four arms engulfing the skull with two arms from above, two from below. “You see? Four different sides are pushing the blades or whatever used onto the skull until the blades punctuate the skull and the sheer pressure lets it snap. The end result is quite messy as you can imagine.”

Ben Miller gulped.
“You had to be a very strong son of a bitch to pull that kind of muscle power. Or it was a hydraulic tool of some sort.”

“If it was a human doing that.” Borielli stated flatly.

Rick arched his brows in surprise.
“What do you mean with that? Is there any reason to doubt Ben's theory?”

Andrea Borielli nodded her head with a concerned hum.
“You see... we took some samples from the wounds and compared them to the victim's DNA. Each time there was something amiss. So we filtered out what stood out and this is what we came up with.”

A list of percentages came up and Rick looked closer, frowned at what he saw.
“Foreign human, equine and... insect DNA? Is that correct?”

Ben Miller shook his head in disbelief.
“Are you telling me that out there is a thing that is part human, part insect and part horse?”

“I'm not telling you anything but the facts laid out in front of me, Agent Miller. You are the federal agents, you make sense of this. Let's get over to the samples from this acid your men brought me, shall we?” Taking a few steps to some petri dishes, Borielli sighed and grabbed a sheet of paper. “Well, this acid sure is a nightmare. It's like almost a mixture of pure phospholipase A and melittin.”

When she gave the sheet of paper to Rick, his eyes read through the details. Numbers, diagrams and facts were tightly cramped on the printed sheet.
“What do these substances normally do?”

“Melittin usually is part of a bee venom while phosphelipase A is a component of wasp venom. They get stung into the skin and destroy cell membranes and cells. There are a few other minor components in the mixture, but they look more like some sort of gastric acid of unknown origin. I've never seen such a highly concentrated form of these components. It can liquify organic tissue within seconds.

Miller's eyes bulged and he looked over to his colleague before he cocked his head and gave Borielli a questioning look.
“Unknown origin?”

“The guys in our lab went crazy over this.” Borielli nodded, “Some minor and unknown radiation is in that stuff as well. Not nuclear radiation, that much is certain, but something is emitting from these components, but it's half-life is estimated at only 3 days. I don't know for certain what kind of stuff this is. It's more aggressive than anything in the animal kingdom. Due to this aggressive mixture, my best tip is to avoid that stuff all together. I wish I could get my hands on a pure sample to verify the lethality of this, but I'm sure you'll find the lab they produce it in before that.”

Now Rick smirked.
“So you think this is man-made stuff?”

Taking and lighting another smoke, Andrea Borielli shook her head.
“Agent Marshall... You've seen what this stuff does to people firsthand. You've seen that it almost instantly liquifies people. Of all the creatures on God's good Earth only man comes up with the idea to weaponize biological substances to that high level of lethality. If that stuff isn't man-made, I don't want to meet the biological terror who spat it out! Because if it is not man-made, that stuff had to come out of the belly of a beast. But maybe this creature was man-made. Heck if I know. The missing results are still due. Let's just say that in my entire fifteen year career in forensics I've never encountered anything like this.”

Nodding in thought, Rick then looked up to Borielli.
“Thank you for your time. Should the other results come in, please send the report directly to me.” Handshakes were exchanged and the two agents left forensics.

On their way up, Ben looked over to Rick.
“Well? What do you think?”

“I'm thinking that we are either dealing with a monster or a syndicate having a new super acid formula in their lab. Both options are unbelievable, both pose a threat of unknown proportions. What are you thinking, Ben? This shit is getting weirder and weirder. I mean the only survivor makes up a horror story and forensics delivers facts supporting this.” Going through his hair with his right hand, Rick Marshall groaned. “We need to get Tyler Jones...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile the van of the friends parked at a gas station while Tyler and Rachel went inside. Flynn looked over to Sam, pointing at the station.
“Why are we here again?”

Sam sighed and closed his eyes when he rubbed his nose.
“We are here because if Mimesis IS out there, the last thing we want is an empty gas tank. Also the two of them are in there to get us some food. Food edible for the girls as well. A cheese and salad sandwich would be great right now.”

Rachel went through the shelves while Tyler was looking at the magazines, trying to see something that in the newspaper that could help him determine what happened during their absence in the world. True to his expectations, the world didn't change much. The economy was still in a bad shape all over the world, Justin Bieber was still unpopular and some celebrity died although Tyler had thought he would still live a couple of years. Meanwhile the TV inside the gas station store was still on.
“...Missing from the incident was this man. If you should see him, please report him to the nearest police station. Do not approach him on your own, since his whereabouts are unknown.”

A heavy sigh came from the counter when the young man behind it rested his head on his hand while sitting in place.
“They keep bringing that shit for hours now... I just hope that fucker doesn't come here.”

While paying the products she was buying, Rachel arched a brow.
“Hm? Pardon me?”

Pointing at the TV, the young man smirked.
“That guy!” Rachel looked up and saw Tyler's face all over the TV screen, depicted in a photofit picture. “I sure hope I don't get that guy in here...”

Rachel gulped, paid and forced a smile.
“Ahehe... Yeah...” Just when she was out to go to the entrance, she passed by Tyler and gritted her teeth. “Move your fuckin' ass, Ponyfucker!”

Tyler waved the thought away, still focused on the magazines.
“Yes, yes... Give me a minute, I'm kinda busy here...”

But already Rachel heard the gasp behind her and the beeping of dials being pushed. When she looked at the counter again, she saw the same young man with a phone in his hand and a worried expression while looking at Tyler. But his attempt to whisper was utterly futile.
“Yes, it's him. He's... he's not dangerous, is he?””

“Jones!” Tyler shot a fast glance to Rachel after her yell, and after her pointing at the shopkeeper and the television, it occurred to him. Gritting his teeth, he shot her another glance, followed by a brief nod. A response Rachel expected, yet hoped not for, then came from her. “DOWN! GET DOWN!!!”

Seconds later, both Tyler and Rachel came running out and Sam started the engine while they jumped in.
“What the hell happened?”

Closing her eyes, Rachel sighed.
“Weeelll.... We ran into some difficulties... Apparently the authorities think Tyler's linked to the incident with the inn.”

“We're all linked with that incident.” Tyler stated, “But not like that! Shit! Try to explain that to the cops.” Giving full throttle the wheels of the van screeched as it started. Slowly, sirens began to howl in the distance. And all of a sudden, the ponies could see a pair of fast driving cars behind the van.

First it was only two. But seconds later six cars joined in for the car chase. Flynn shook his head in disbelief.
“What the hell? Do they think we have a ton of cocaine with us?”

Sam gritted his teeth.
“He's right! There's no way in hell that there are so many cops around at one time! Not for a robbery! And you didn't even take something!”

Tyler's facial expression hardened.
“That's why I wanted no attention! Hang on!” The van did a sharp turn to the left and was about to canter, what prompted the ponies to scream in fear. But with an immense amount of magic Tyler managed to keep the clunky van on the road, the more agile police cars now in hot pursuit. Several police cars rammed one another when they took the sharp turn to the right.

Looking behind, Flynn shook his head at the sight of thirty police cars after them.
“Damn it! I never saw so many cops in one place! There's at least twenty cars! What do they all want from us? “

Gritting his teeth, Tyler shook his head.
“Nothing from you! From me!”

Rachel shook her head in disbelief.
“From you? Jones, what would they want from- WHOA!!!” The van took a ramp and jumped high into the air, directly over a construction area on the street.

When it landed, 11 heads bobbed their head and Tyler still gritted his teeth.
“Fuck! Rachel! See if you can shoot their tires!”

Shaking her head, Rachel gave Tyler the finger.
“Are you out of your freaking mind?!? Fuck you, I'm not shooting anything!”

Tyler began yelling.
“We can't afford the girls to be captured! Once captured, we are easier targets for our Changeling shadow. And we don't have the freaking time for this!” Behind the van, shots were fired, obviously aimed at the tires. 'It's over, man... Now it got you. Your fucking past got on to you...'

Suddenly another noise became audible and the windows began shaking as the roaring rotors of a helicopter passed over the van and faced it.
“THIS IS THE SACRAMENTO POLICE!” the speakers bellowed down to the street. “STOP YOUR VEHICLE AND SURRENDER! OTHERWISE WE ARE AUTHORIZED TO MAKE USE OF LETHAL FORCE!”

An adrenaline surge rushed through Tyler's veins and under a highway bridge he stepped into the irons just before a SWAT van rammed the van the friends were sitting in from the side. While no one was injured thanks to their seat-belts, all were numbed to a degree due to the collision. Tyler, coming to his senses first due to all the adrenaline, unfastened his seat-belt and opened the door.
“Shit! Shit, shit, SHIT!!! You stay here! They're after me!”

And with that, he began running. However, not knowing that the doors of the SWAT van had opened as well and out stepped a muscular man, dressed in camouflage black and with a green visor on his face. Without further warning, that same special unit stormed directly at Tyler, jumped and kicked him over. And while Tyler still gasped for air after that kick, his opponent jumped up and grabbed for his equipment.
“I know, I know... I'm late. But sometimes wishes do come true, right?” A baton was whipped out and raised, before the masked special unit began to beat up Tyler with it. “Alright, the safe-word is police brutality.”

Inside the van, the ponies began yelling at the showcase of violence until Twilight teleported. All of a sudden, the masked special unit recognized the baton had been ripped from its hands. Looking up, the man could see the baton levitated above him. Glancing over to Twilight, the armored special unit halted in an instant, frozen without any further insult to Tyler. When the policemen caught up with the van and several of them stormed at Tyler, one of them approached the special unit. “Everything alright, Johnson? Johnson! What... are... you... Oh my God...”

More and more officers now took notice of Twilight who pointed her horn at the special unit officer, tears in her hateful eyes.
“I won't stand for this! Stop this violence at once!” Climbing out of the van, the other Elements came to her aid and formed a line at her sides.

Taking off his green visor, the special unit looked at the other police officers.
“I'm not hallucinating, am I? Did... did that purple pony just talk? Are there seven multicolored ponies standing against us?”

A police officer shook his head,
“No, I heard that, too... You Washington special units are crazy, but craziness isn't contagious... I hope...”

“Horns and wings... That ain't no normal pony...”

“How... how... how do we report this?”

“Maybe we don't report it at all for now. We got the man and Richard hasn't beaten him that often...”

One of the other officers wanted to grab the gun from his holster, but was stopped by his nearby colleague.
“Don't! All she did was taking the baton from Johnson to stop him from beating up the suspect. She's yet to harm anyone.”

A female police officer now approached the ponies and pointed at Tyler.
“This is a wanted man. We take him into custody. I... uh... I take it you demand an explanation...?”

Twilight glared and pointed her hoof at Johnson, who now avoided eye contact with her.
“Where Tyler goes, we go as well! I won't leave him with that kind of humans!”

Nodding, the officer then looked over to the others.
“Mahoney! Get your sorry ass into their van and drive them to the station house.”

“You think that's wise, Hunningway?”

“Don't question it, rookie!” she barked at him, “Do it! Or I'll kick your sorry ass back to the academy!”

“Alright, alright... But YOU explain this to the higher ups!”

Hunningway then turned back to Twilight, trying to give the warmest smile she could. This was crazy, but if these ponies were able to speak and communicate, maybe they could be reasonable as well
“Mahoney will bring you to the police station where you will meet up with Mr. Jones. I will bring him there myself. I promise.” Twilight looked over to Tyler, then gave Officer Hunningway a serious nod.

While Mahoney took the driver's seat in the van of the friends, Hunningway looked over to the special unit.
“Johnson, I suggest you get into another van than the suspect. She's pissed at you, she will be even more pissed if you and Jones drive to the station in one van.”

“A 'she'?” Johnson asked, “How do you know?”

“By listening, you moron! She has a female voice! So she's either a girl or a dude with the most female voice I've ever heard.”

Johnson shook his head in frustration, but obliged.
“I got the suspect, did I not? I get all those little suckers. What do I care about some pony shit? I got a job to do!”

Looking to one of her colleagues, Hunningway shrugged and pointed her thumb at the van behind her.
“Ransome! They were with Jones, I say we question them.”

But Ransome shook his head, arching a brow while eying the van with suspicion.
“You do know how ridiculous this sounds? Sacramento police officers questioning multicolored, talking ponies... Mahoney and Johnson are right in a way.”

Hunningway only shook her head.
“Ransome, I won't argue with you about it; just do it. I'm not getting paid enough to argue with multicolored, talking ponies in the streets. None of us is.”

* * * * *

One hour later they were all brought to the police station and while Sam, Flynn and Rachel were questioned elsewhere and Tyler's wounds were treated due to Johnson's harsh beating, the ponies were waiting with Officer Ransome before a man called Lieutenant Bennett entered the room.

Pointing at Rainbow, the Lieutenant sat down at the table. Rainbow looked over to the other Element Bearers as well as Lyra and each mare nodded in agreement. Taking flight, she hovered over the ground. It was hard, but Rainbow wasn't going to let the lack of magic get the best of her. Taking a seat, she placed both front hooves on the table and waved over to the sitting man.
“Yo! What's up?”

Bennett arched a brow and took note on his piece of paper.
“So... talking ponies, eh? Who... or what are you?”

Rainbow just snickered and slowly shook her head.
“Um… I-I don’t even know where to start with you… I mean, do you even know, who you’re talking to?” Both men were exchanging uncertain glances as the cerulean mare simply continued. “Do you have any idea… any idea of who I am?” The mares behind Rainbow snickered. Dash was at her finest, but the policemen were utterly clueless. “Basically kind of a big deal…” By now the two men were simply staring at her. This was so unreal. She was talking, yet they both were perfectly sober. “Are you listening? OK:" She jumped onto the table, grinning at the two policemen in front of her. "Grass grows, sun shines, birds sing... And brother: I set standards! I’m a force in nature! If you were from where I was from you would be bucking dead! Whooo!!!” The door closed as both Ransome and Bennett went outside without a further word and the girls broke out in loud laughter.

Bennett went through his hair with his right hand before recognizing the other officers staring at him. Clearing his throat, he nodded.
“Alright, one thing is certain, folks: If this is a prank, this is ultimately one for Guinness. But so far? We have, as stupid as this sounds, seven talking ponies in that room...” The station was utterly silent. Bennett expected laughter, snickering or the one or another grin, but everyone had seen the ponies walk into that room, no one doubted that there was something in that story.

Meanwhile Rarity took a look at the barred windows and wrinkled her nose, when the door opened again, this time Bennett and Ransome had their composure and seemed mentally prepared for the task at hand.
“My! Caged into a dungeon like common criminals!”

Bennett shook his head.
“Actually... No, the cells are down below. You are however detained until the federal agents appear to get you. Talking ponies are NOT the jurisdiction of a police department. Heck, I don't even know if federal agents are responsible for you.”

Twilight stomped her right hoof to the ground.
“I demand to see Tyler! Now!”

Bennett took a look at her and his palm opened to her for a shake.
“Ah yes! I was informed that you protested heavily against the procedures our cloaker unit took to arrest Mr. Jones. Lieutenant Miles Bennett, nice to meet you.” Ransome snickered a bit, taking note that Bennett was holding out his hand to a pony.

His snickering, however, died in an instant, when Twilight rested her hoof in Bennett's hand and exchanged a shake with him.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. And please tell me that man is getting disciplined.”

Bennett grimaced.
“A princess, huh? Well this day gets better and better... Regarding Johnson: Usually this is not the normal way to arrest people, but Mr. Jones could have simply surrendered. Resisting arrest-"

“What's the charge anyway?” Rainbow interrupted him.

“The charge? You can talk about the charge with the federal agents once they are here. All I know is it's about treason.”

Twilight's expression grew grim.
“Tyler is not a criminal! Nor is he a traitor.”

The door opened and Hunningway escorted Tyler, Sam, Flynn and Rachel into the room, where they were welcomed with relieved smiles. Bennett nodded at this and pointed to Tyler.
“As you can see, there...” He now was surprised about the eagerness with which Tyler sat down. “How can you be so active after such a beating? Johnson told me he stunned your muscles for good. Hunningway, how can he walk in here like nothing ever happened?”

Hunningway shook her head while pointing at Tyler.
“Lieutenant, you can think I'm crazy, but that guy began glowing in the bruises and wounds and all of a sudden, his injuries were gone!”

Bennet then gave Tyler a serious glance.
“How did you pull that off?”

“Healing magic.” Tyler flatly stated.

“Healing... magic. Right...”

Twilight now began to shake her head, a serious expression on her face.
“If you can't bring up plausible charges, I demand that you let us leave!”

Bennett sat down and shook his head.
“Look... I'm no expert in talking ponies. I don't care if you are a big shot where ever you are from, being a princess of the stable or something. But here? Here you have no fucking authority, Missy! So sit down and relax, hmkay?” A silent anger boiled in Twilight. For good or for worse she would have buckled that human's face with pleasure. But her anger vanished once Tyler patted her back. Twilight was unsure about Tyler in that moment. For some reason he was on the edge before. Like being caught by the authorities would be the worst that could happen. He even fled the scene. The Tyler she knew would never flee from a confrontation. But all that had now vanished. Tyler seemed at peace like he gave up to fate. When Bennett opened a case file, he began to read out loud. “Tyler Jones… alias Mario Garcia… alias Savek Krovtschenko… alias Klaus Meerbusch… and so on… and on… aaand oooon… Former PMC of Blackwater USA… connections to the Russian Mafia, connections to several Yakuza families... Vanished after ending his PMC contracts.”

Twilight frowned at first, but then looked up to Tyler.
“What does that mean?”

Bennett folded his hands together and rested his chin on it.
“It means that this man here is a former soldier of a private military company. Put simply, he’s a mercenary. That alone wouldn’t be that worrying, but during his service under contract… certain things happened in Iraq.”

Rachel looked up, her attention piqued.
“Iraq?”

“That's something the FBI will talk to you about.” Bennett continued, “Also the massacre you left inside the inn.

Now Tyler's attention was in full force.
“Massacre...” Tyler gulped. So the radio news back then DID report on the inn they were in.

Bennett's eyes narrowed.
“Oh don't play dumb now. My boys took a peek when the feds were not paying attention. The Donald inn! You wasted it! Most of the people in there are now dead!”

Tyler's expression grew sober now and he closed his eyes.
“You have to allow us to leave. Now!”

“Yeah... You and what Starfleet are making me do this?”

Opening his eyes again, Tyler looked at the officer in front of him.
“Every second we stay here more innocent people in this station house are about to die.”

“Aw, how sweet... This guy is making threats now... Didn't Johnson beat you up enough or did he beat you too hard?”

But Tyler looked at Bennett and shook his head.
“I don't mean it that way. What wasted this inn is probably after us and these ponies. If it finds us here, you will stand in its way and it will shove you all aside. One by one it will kill your men and you will curse the fact you didn't let us go!”

“Yeah... um... Ransome? Get them back to the cells with four other officers until the FBI is here. I'd have enough of his bullshit!” Ransome nodded and brought Tyler and the others to the door.

In the door, Tyler halted and took a last look at the lieutenant.
“Bennett, was it? This was the last mistake of your life... Even more people will suffer due to us staying here. Don't say you weren't warned.” And with that Tyler was led out with the ponies, down to the cells, where in several cells other potential perpetrators of crimes were kept. The Ponies and Harmony Rangers got their own cell, since no one wanted to put them into a cell with criminals.

Shaking her head, Rachel looked over to Tyler.
“I always knew you had too much military expertise to be a simple civilian! What happened in Iraq? What did you do?”

Sitting on a bench, Tyler hesitated to answer, but a certain orange hoof suddenly rested on his left leg. When he looked up from the floor, Applejack sat in front of him.
“Sugarcube... Ah sure as hay don't want to force ya into somethin'... But whatever it is, it's eatin' at ya. Let it go and tell us. And Ah promise ya right here and now: Ya will feel better afterward.”

Tyler sighed and sat down.
“Alright... No reason to keep the bag, now that the cat is out of it... I am... Or more so I was connected with the leakage of certain information datapacks that jeopardized American soldiers in Iraq.”

Rachel's eyes bulged open wide.
“The Manning leak...” In an instant she jumped up and wanted to storm at Tyler, but Flynn and Sam held her back. “Murderer! YOU GODDAMN MURDERER!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY DIED BECAUSE OF THAT?!?”

Tyler looked up to her, a certain blue glow in his eyes.
“You call me murderer?!? I know murderers!!! But their victims are not a few thousands killed quickly in an explosion, but hundreds of thousands dying slowly in agony!” Taking a deep breath, he calmed down. “The real murderers in this world wear suits and neckties. Politicians... They don't have to wage war, only sell it to the public, shiny and glittering with the promise of swift and undoubted victory. And all for what? Cash and resources for their lobbies, sold to the public as a fight for democracy. It NEEDED to be exposed. The western world needed a wake-up-call. You folks here in the states were the greatest country in the whole world. And now look at you. You stopped to care and blindly trust your governments, allowing them to bend over your principals and have their way with them. And all of that in your name. Nowadays more and more Americans demonstrate and begin to ask questions again. So maybe my hands are covered in blood... But if it helped America see that it slowly became the same as the monsters it went out to hunt down... I did the right thing.

“You leaked data that killed thousands of soldiers!” Rachel barked.

Tyler closed his eyes and shook his head before he looked up again.
“I never leaked anything... No, I got them in and they leaked it. I gave them the authorization codes needed to get the data. I later gave the files a view myself. Mostly video feed, but also that infamous gunship video. And a list...” He closed his eyes and sighed. “5217 names of U.S. Soldiers and their orders. That list got leaked as well. 5217 names in jeopardy... 372 of them were killed. 372 men and women are dead because of me. Because I helped to show the world the ugly face of the military. Was it for good or evil? Heck if I know... Maybe I averted more misery to happen, maybe I caused more misery. One could argue that everyday lives are on the line anyway. You step outside and a meteorite could smite your face just like that.” He shrugged. “Happened... We came to find weapons that never existed on accusations made up by secret services. And then they bragged about their lies, made fun of it. As if these hundreds of thousands were of no importance. It was time for a wake-up-call... If we mourn for US soldiers, but not for Iraqi civilians, then maybe that bloody nose we got in this wake-up-call was well deserved for our own hypocrisy. Every life has value. I don't give a shit if it's a German guy dying, an American, a Canadian or an Iraqi civilian. For me? They are all the same. And I dare you to tell me otherwise, Rachel! The blood of 372 combatants is on my hands... But I'm rather responsible for the deaths of hundreds of combatants than hundreds of thousands of non-combatants.”

Rachel looked down, still with an angered face. Tyler had good points, but still it was hard not to be angry.
“And who are you to decide, Jones? Who are you to decide who should die and who should live?”

“I made a moral decision for myself, Rachel. You as a former soldier should know what this means. Simply following orders without thinking isn't the right thing to do.” He then looked up to the ceiling. “I simply quit the contract as soon as I could and the data was handed to some folks here and there. Who can keep check in the deep web anyway? I was tired of all this and wanted to get away from it. When I found this Rainbow Gem and was brought to Equestria, I decided to bury this and leave my life on Earth behind once and for all. It was of no importance any longer. It was tough the first few months living without air conditioning or microwaves or telephones. But the more I lived without it, the more I learned to love the life without it.” He closed his eyes, took a breath and opened his eyes, looking at the ponies. “So guys... I was a mercenary hacker... What I did could be called controversial in the strongest degree. But that was before my time on Equis. Now I'm a Harmony Ranger and my loyalty is with Equestria. If you want to hate me from now on for what I've done, go ahead. I won't blame you.”

Rainbow looked to Flynn, who also seemed angered while sitting on the bench. Resting a hoof on his leg, she looked into his eyes. When he looked up from the floor to her, it was hard to maintain that angered expression, but he closed his eyes and shook his head.
“No, baby... I need time to digest this revelation. Because of that, I lost people too.”

Fluttershy looked up to Tyler and cocked her head.
“The others seemed rather upset of what you had done in the past... Tyler, tell me: Have humans become so hard and unkind that they prey upon the weak in this world?”

Kneeling down to her, Tyler shook his head.
“Go into each country of this world and you will find parents raising their children with love and kindness. Look closely enough and you will see examples of kindness and chivalry among humans. Humans want to help one another. Compassion... It's our instinct to help one another in order to preserve the species. However, this only counts for the people on the street. Our politicians are not as wise and kind as you know it from Princess Celestia. Some of them smile but this smile is only facade. They don't care about the people, but crave power. The media all praise some sunny-boy in politics like a chorus and you can bet your last bit on it that he has an ugly detail in his past. These politicians lead the western world into war with lies. They played with the fears of the frightened and angered people in order to achieve their goal: Profit for themselves.”

Now Flynn shook his head.
“You have no proof of that!”

Tyler shot him a glare.
“That's true. The leak I was involved in had no proof of that. But there's a thing called common sense! When the relative of a U.S. politician suddenly sits in the managing board in a company in the land that was struck by conflict a few months earlier, you call this a coincidence? I call that bullshit! After the thing in Iraq I didn’t wanted to do anything with PMCs ever again. Blood money for being a thug... I got out of my contract and started traveling. Anything was better than seeking revenge for an incident that frightened almost every human on the planet… And I’ve met friends and enemies on these travels…”

Twilight gently shook her head.
“Why didn’t you tell anypony? Me or Applejack at least!”

Tyler sighed.
“Well, I guess Celestia knows since I offered her an insight to my memory… That telepathic contact with her showed her my entire life. I was grateful that she granted me the chance to show that I'm better than my past, that I'm more than just a hired hand. And even then… Twilight, after the defeat of the void beings, I wanted to start from scratch, you know? A man is what he does and not what he did and all this… I actually wanted to leave this all behind me.”

Twilight frowned a bit.
“I understand that you had to do this in order to follow your inner moral compass… But you should have told us about it. You should have told me and AJ about it. We're your herd mates, Tyler… We love you for the man you are today, not for the man you were before. You're an idiot if you think your past would change that.” Tyler nodded silently. Twilight was mad at him and rightfully so. Looking over to Rachel, Twilight shook her head. “In all the time you were Rangers together, Tyler never betrayed you, right?”

“Well... No, but-”

“But what? Rachel, you guys fought together! We all fought together against that void dragon! Tyler had the choice but he chose us before him. You stood side by side against Mimesis... Twice! And Tyler never stabbed your back, did he?” Rachel grumbled and looked down. Twilight looked up to her herd mate and shook her head, a sparkle in her eyes. “You aren't a traitor, I know that. You would go through fire for each of us and that's why I love you.”

One of the inmates looked at the others.
“Did I hear right? Did she say that she loves him?”

“If they really are from another world or so… My guess would be she’s his… you know…”

“Ugh! This is sick!”

“Like you would play with yourself for the rest of your life! I was in prison once! You think men go behind bars for several years without a woman? After some months you don't give a fuck and accept new possible ways to relieve yourself!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile at the entrance of the police station, a young man with leather jacket came in and walked to the police officer at the front desk.
“I'm a friend of Tyler Jones. I was told that he's in custody, could I see him, please?”

“No, he's being interrogated alongside the others that were with him. A federal agent will be here soon, maybe you can ask him closer details on this case.”

The man nodded, took a look at the frame of the entrance and revealed a smirk, before he finally leaned forward, his eyes shortly flashing up with a green glow.
“I'll be right back...”

Without a further word, he left the entrance hall and the officer on duty shook his head. The sound of his pencil was the only audible thing right now, as it suddenly occurred to him.
Wait a second... Who leaked that we got Jones? But as he looked up again, a truck crushed into the entrance, ran him over and as the engine stopped, Mimesis stepped outside, his teeth grinning, showing fangs. Inside the building, the officers looked at each other in confusion as they stood up.
“...the hell was that?”

Raising his arm, Mimesis opened his hand and a slit opened as shrapnel of chitin shot out in full volley as if a sub machine gun was used. Each shot was accompanied by a small detonation at the hand of the Changeling. The first burst killed three officers in the corridor at the vending machine. Blood and coffee sprinkled over the floor as the three men died. But this earned the Changeling unwanted attention from the other police officers,
“Gunshots!” Another burst became audible as Mimesis reached the first office, killing the officer pointing his revolver at him. Office after office was cleared until he found a locked door. A blast of magic was all it took to blow the lock to pieces and one kick later the door was out of its hinges. The officer pointed his gun and fired three shots. All three hit the Changeling in the chest, prompting green blood to flow down, if only just for a second before the healing magic kicked in. Raising his arm, Mimesis took aim when the officer jumped into cover. But the next volley took aim of where the man had taken cover and perforated the wooden desk. “What kind of guy is that?”

“A terrorist or something?”

“He's not wearing visible weapons!” Arming themselves, the police officers took shotguns, sub-machine guns and assault rifles as well as protective body armor.

Bennett nodded at the others.
“Whatever happens, work in pairs! We'll try to get that asshole into our crossfire.”

“Understood!”

“Now let's nail that son of a bitch!”

Meanwhile Mimesis continued with his killing spree and walked through a corridor, the offices left and right burning. Johnson kicked open the door behind Mimesis and faced the Changeling from behind, saw the bloody mess caused by him.
“Well, I'll be...” Switching on his visor, he charged at Mimesis, guns blazing, before he again jumped in for a kick.

* * * * *

Down the cell block the friends heard the gunshots and when everyone nodded, Tyler cracked his knuckles.
“Alright. We have enjoyed the peaceful hospitality of the Sacramento Police long enough. Time to say our goodbyes.” He then used some magic onto the mechanical lock of the cell and opened it before he pointed Twilight to the other prisoners and the alicorn unlocked the cell doors one by one. “Listen up, folks! Whatever you did, I'll grant you a temporary pardon for tonight. Tomorrow the cops will probably be after you again, but no one deserves the terror that wreaks havoc upstairs. This fine lady here will let you out and you won't cause any problems. You will be thankful and leave quietly. Is that understood?”

Twilight didn't like this. Whatever these men and women down here were doing, they were in this human dungeon for a reason. But she agreed with Tyler, no one deserved being murdered by a Changeling. When she opened another cell, a big and strong looking guy looked down to her and nodded in respect. He then turned over to Tyler.
“I don't know about you, mate... But this is too crazy to kill a pony who talks and sets us free again. You said there is a thing upstairs killing the cops? Then we should go before it cuts us off. There is only one way out.”

Tyler nodded in agreement.
“OK... then we should make haste.” While the prisoners all went upstairs already, Tyler looked at the others. “Just in case we'll get separated, we should agree on one city to meet in.”

“New York!” Flynn shot directly at Tyler, prompting everyone to look at him. “When we were coming from Bermuda, I had the course set for New York. I think the crossing would be best reached if we fly that route again, this time going to Bermuda instead of coming from it.”

Tyler gave this a thoughtful nod,
“Then Big Apple it is.”

* * * * *

Coming in slowly, Mimesis approached the wounded man. Another police officer was still moving at the ground and without looking at his victim, Mimesis raised his right hand and shot a volley of his chitin thorns, which penetrated the skull, killing the officer . Johnson shook his head in terror as he crawled back into the corner as best as he could. His arms and legs penetrated by chitin projectiles and beaten like a dog, he was outmatched, completely at the mercy of the Changeling.
“This isn't happening... This is a freaking nightmare...” Standing in front of Johnson, Mimesis looked down to him and the shooting opening of his hand closed. Turning away, the Changeling looked outside towards the parking lot. From Johnson' point of view, a floodlight outside shined in and its light was obscured by the monster in front of him. A warm and wet sensation started in his crotch. A camera was still running at one corner of the ceiling. Mimesis looked at it and smiled. One of the mechanical eyes the humans had. Audience made this even better.

With terror the special unit member saw how the right hand first formed into an inhuman claw and then into something like a monstrous sickle or blade, accompanied by the sounds of chitin breaking and flesh ripping apart. Tones even Johnson was uneasy to hear. When Mimesis turned around, a sick and sadistic grin was on his lips as his eyes stared the man in front of him, void of all empathy like an animal or madman. The only sound in the room was the heavy, frantic and terrified breathing and whimpering of Johnson. This was no terrorist, no murderer, it wasn't even human. But unlike the ponies from earlier, this thing was hostile, not even he was trained for anything like this. And right now the monster leaned down to him, the green eyes fiercely glowing, this hellish grin on his face. These teeth, these horrible, razor-sharp teeth...

Then, with a raspy inhuman voice the creature spoke up to him.
“Do you know what time it is...?” Without waiting for a reply, Mimesis then slashed the sickle limb of his through the head of Johnson, resulting in brain and blood splattering all over the wall behind the special unit. The visor ripped of what was left of the head, the blood sprinkled all over the floor.

What the camera recorded next wasn't meant for human, pony or any eyes to see. Licking the pieces of brain from the sickle, Mimesis grinned before he bend over, seemingly in pain. His clothes now teared apart and his back became wider, his spine breaking through to form spikes at the outside. Both his legs split into several limbs and he gained the lower body of an arachnid.

A painful screech went through the station when Tyler and the others came out of the cell block. Looking up, Tyler tried to locate the sound as best as he could. Somewhere above, that seemed the best guess.
“You hear that? It's our cue to get the hell out of here.”

* * * * *

Driving on the road towards Sacramento, Rick Marshall got a call on his smartphone. Activating his hands-free kit, he already saw it was his colleague Ben Miller.
“Yes, Ben?”

Miller's voice was in an uproar.
“Rick! The station house in Sacramento, where they are holding Tyler Jones, is under attack! Witnesses claim to hear rapid shooting coming from the building.”

With the pedal to the metal, Rick then accelerated and gritted his teeth.
“Shit! Ben! Send all SWAT units we have there to secure the area! I'm going there myself! We either have a syndicate assassin here or a total sociopath!”

“Rick! Don't play the hero now! You'll get killed!”

But Rick shook his head.
“Whoever is there, wants Jones dead! Our 'Acid killer' is in that station! No one kills the key to this case on my watch! I want this asshole put down like the rabid dog he is!”

* * * * *

Coming up from the cell block, the Rangers entered a hellbound version of the once tidy police station. Corpses, some of them charred, some torn apart and some molten by some sort of acid as well as cut off limbs were plastered all over the floor. Blood was splattered over the walls and several rooms were burning. Shaking his head, Tyler pointed onwards.
“Watch your steps! Don't step into these puddles of acid or into something still burning!”

Rachel spotted something on a corpse and grabbed it, revealing it to be a Colt Revolver, which she pointed at Tyler.
“Jones!”

Closing his eyes, Tyler gently shook his head.
“Rachel, you really should work on the habit of pointing a gun at my head.” He then turned around to her. “So... You're about to shoot?”

“God knows I should do it! I lost half a dozen friends in Iraq!” She placed the pistol muzzle onto Tyler's forehead. “This time it's a bullet, not magic. Now... Give me one good reason why I shouldn't do it.” In this moment, the screeching and shooting came closer and a droplet of sweat ran down Tyler's temple. Rachel gulped, visibly on her edge. “Alright, you ponyfucking bastard... It seems fate wants you alive. We'll deal with our little problem AFTER we nailed that motherfucker. Let's get the ponies out of here and lure him away.” But just as they went on, a door was slammed down and a dead cop in heavy duty riot armor was bloody and burning as he slumped down to the ground, separating the group so Flynn and Rainbow were cut off from the rest. Both Tyler and Flynn looked at each other in shock, but recovered quickly at the sound of heavy sniffing. Leaving the corridor they were just in, they agreed with hand-signs to part ways for the time being until they were back to safety. Just in time they left the opposite door sills, when Mimesis' gigantic head lurked in, trying to spot new prey. But just as he was about to squeeze himself through the door, a volley of gunshots splattered down his chitin plating on the back. Turning around, the changeling drider roared at the firing teams of SWAT. They were the first on the scene, the first to enter combat. And unfortunately for them the first to gain Mimesis' attention. Storming at them with a fierce roar, the Changeling took their bullets with no effect, before their bodies went flying limb for limb.

More and more SWAT-members arrived on the scene and the howling of sirens came from the streets. Hearing gunshots, human screams and unnatural roars, they already expected the worst.
“Somebody tell command that we're not prepared for this sort of engagement!!!”

“Is the building surrounded?”

“Yeah, it is. But what are we going to do about that thing?”

“Hell, maybe it can dig a tunnel or fly! Heck if I know!”

Bullets filled the air as the teams fortified behind vans and police cars. While reloading his assault rifle, one of the SWAT members shook his head.
“I saw that thing impaling one of us. Impaling! What are we fighting here?”

“We need more firepower!” yelled another, only to get patted on the back by a colleague.

“A M113 unit is on its way here. Then we can get the survivors inside out of there.”

“Or maybe we end as canned food!”

Inside the flames in the offices began to grow stronger and the stench of smoke was everywhere. Leading the ponies down the corridor, Tyler tried his best to see through the sweltering heat
“Jones!” Tyler halted, recognizing the voice. In the corner of a room not burning yet, Bennett was sitting, his limbs perforated with projectiles, a large bloody wound on his chest despite the body armor.

Checking his wounds, Tyler looked to the others and shook his head.
“His lungs are punctuated, he's not going to make it. Even magic won't help now.”

Bennett sneered over that fact.
“Well, I can't say I wasn't warned.” Coughing up some blood, he grabbed for Tyler's shoulder. “It's all about duty... You saw it as your duty to do whatever you did in Iraq... It was my duty to detain you... Now your goddamn duty is to bring these ponies away from here. End this thing before it starts its rampage in a populated area...” Tyler gave Bennett a determined nod before the Lieutenant smiled and slumped down, the last remnants of life fading his ruined body.

Twilight looked back to Bennett.
“Shouldn't we...?”

Shaking his head, Tyler went on.
“Lieutenant Bennett died while performing his duty, Twilight. He didn't knew about what I did, he was told that I was a wanted man and he caught me. That was all that mattered to him. Maybe he was an asshole, maybe, on different terms, he would be an awesome guy. I don't know. But I respect him for staying true to his mission.”

Twilight's eyes widened, looking at Tyler aghast.
“What?!? You can't be serious! If we would have been away, Mimesis might have not attacked at all!”

Tyler looked to her, nodding.
“True, but letting us go without any good and believable reason was no option for him. Maybe he knew that whatever happened in the inn would happen here as well. I once spoke with Rainbow about that. Loyalty to your mission is something I deeply respect. He knew he had it coming and still he went on on his course.”

* * * * *

Stomping through the halls, the changeling menace searched for its prey, screeching and sniffing while doing so. Rainbow and Flynn couldn't see Mimesis, but could hear the one or another SWAT-member opening fire on it, resulting in a loud and fierce roar shortly before the new prey was slaughtered. Flynn looked over to Rainbow and lowered his voice.
“Stay at my side whatever comes, you hear?” Replying with a silent nod, Rainbow then looked around. The stench of smoke everywhere, the dead humans on the ground... Mimesis wasn't a threat anymore, he exceeded the definition of threat by far now. Like a never-ending nightmare he was in pursuit of them, slaying bystanders without prejudice. It was a frightening situation, but she was happy Flynn was with her to take care of her safety.

As they went around a corner, the barrel of a Beretta was pointing in Flynn's face and he raised his arms in surrender as he took a step back.
“Don't shoot!!!”

Upon seeing his target, Rick Marshall lowered his gun with wide unbelieving eyes.
“Flynn...? What are you-” He was interrupted as the monstrous screech sounded off in the distance.

Flynn looked into the direction the screech came from.
“Yeah... About that? We clarify that later!”

Looking into the same direction, Rick simply nodded.
“Agreed!” When he noticed Rainbow, his eyes widened once more. But before he could ask any more questions, Flynn already urged him to move on and he did

Making a hurry towards the car on the parking lot, the three of them entered the car with Rainbow taking the entire backseat while Rick jumped into the driver seat and Flynn took the place at his side. Most SWAT units were either murdered or in pursuit of the threat, so there was no one to hinder them. The engine started just in time when a fierce roar approached the parking lot. Cowering down, the three of them ducked while the car drove off, the windows being perforated by several chitin projectiles.
“FUCK!!! What the hell is following us, Flyboy? AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!?”

Flynn held his and Rainbow's head down until they got away three blocks further.
“Believe me, big brother... You wouldn't believe me!” Looking up at the sixth block they passed, he nodded at Rainbow. “We seem to have left his firing range thanks to Rick, you can look up again.”

Looking up, she took a look behind before turning to Rick.
“So that's your brother? Awesome!”

In surprise, Rick almost lost control of the car, but recollected himself fast enough to avoid hitting the next street lamp.
“Holy shit! So they can really talk?!?”

Giving a chuckle, Flynn rolled his eyes.
“Yeah... But she's way better in flying than talking. Trust me, Rick! It's complicated.”

But Rick shook his head fiercely.
“That thing killed a whole police station full of good men and women and several SWAT teams. People with families! So whatever the complicated story, you two better start talking. You have a lot of explaining to do!”

Both Flynn and Rainbow exchanged some glances before Rainbow turned over to Rick.
“I'm Rainbow Dash, Flynn's marefriend.”

Rick's right brow twitched.
“That's a start... So what, Flynn? You got lost in Bermuda, were stranded on a lonely island and went desperate enough to turn to a pony?”

“She's not an animal!”

“Of course not! She's a mythical talking creature thingie... And you think it would be crazy to expect you and Rachel could be hitting it?”

Rainbow looked over to Flynn, aghast.
“You and Rachel?”

Flynn only rolled his eyes.
“Rick always thought I would sooner or later make a move on Rachel. He doesn't know her that good, though.”

“Yeah, well he should know that you are a hero over at our place with a healthy herd.”

This caught Rick's attention.
“Little Flynn a hero? What did he do? Free the stable?”

Rainbow now shot Rick a glare.
“No! He's a Harmony Ranger! He helped defeating several threats to my homeland.”

After dozens of streets the car came to a slow halt and parked in an abandoned parking lot. Rick Marshall looked over to his brother and inspected him. Then all of a sudden, he grabbed him and pulled him in for a tight embrace.
“I don't know how... But God be my witness: I don't care! It's you, you stupid little shit!” Flynn was first surprised, but then patted the back of his brother. Letting go of Flynn, Rick then looked over to Rainbow. “A talking pony. Mom will be surprised... I don't know how to tell her that, but... Somehow I will. So, uh... you two...”

Leaning against Flynn, Rainbow snickered.
“Yup! And he sure treats me good.”

Shooting Flynn a glare, Rick pointed his index finger at him.
“Flynn, you know that in several states of this country I would have to arrest you for this? Not to speak of Mom! What should I tell her?”

Flynn, however, shook his head.
“I'm sorry, but we don't have much time for the extra-dimensional culture shock. We agreed with the others we should head for New York in case we have to split. So that's where we need to be!”

Rick frowned upon this. This made no sense for him.
“New York? What do you want there?"

“We have to go back to Bermuda. Bermuda is the place where we can cross over into her world.”

Rick whirled around and stared at Flynn, aghast.
“You want to go back? Flynn, you just got back here!”

“We have to! I know this is hard to understand but right now on their world it's a major crisis and we are probably the only ones who can stop this entire mess. That thing that followed us is one of the henchmen from the duo we are fighting against. If we don't go back, it's only a matter of time before they come over here and cause serious trouble!”

Rick halted for several seconds and looked at Flynn, before he turned over to Rainbow.
“That hero talk wasn't just talk, huh?” When she shook her head with a sober expression, the FBI agent closed his eyes with a sigh. “I have order to arrest Tyler Jones, not you, Flynn. So you and your pony can go...”

Now Rainbow stomped her hoof at Rick's seat.
“No! We need Tyler! He's in charge of the Rangers. And he's our friend!”

Flynn nodded in agreement.
“I know that, due to Tyler's past, they want to put him to trial... But Rick, that man has changed over there in the other world. So much in fact that I think he could do much more for mankind over there than he could do in a prison cell here on Earth.”

Looking deep into the brown eyes of his younger brother, Rick shook his head.
“New York? Why not Philadelphia? It's less crowded in there.”

“It has to be New York. If I know one thing for certain, it's the fact that I went from Bermuda straight for New York. So whatever lies there in the ocean, it's between New York and Bermuda.”

“On the same day I find living, breathing evidence that beings from another dimension exist, that my brother is not dead, but was on another planet and that he's with a pony...” Rick Marshall said before he closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. Leaning his head on his arms resting on the wheel, he gently shook it. Then, all of a sudden, he stood up and left the car.

Rainbow wanted to say something, but Flynn held a finger on her lips and shook his head before he stepped outside as well.
“Rick...”

But his older brother simply raised his left index finger as a warning, tears in angered eyes.
“You know... We had a burial for you. Mom was devastated. We thought we lost you! And in all that time you never once send a message or something?”

Shaking his head, Flynn opened his arms, trying to explain.
“We only know of this one stable way to their world. We think there is one back into this world, but we haven't found it yet. It's merely a coincidence that we landed back here. I would have called. Rick you know me. That would be the least I would do. Even a few hours earlier I came up with the idea first, but the others expected this situation here.”

Grabbing Flynn by the collar, Rick gritted his teeth.
“What do you expect me to say to Mom now, Flynn? That you're back from the dead? She would think I'd lost it! Even more so if I tell her the story with this pony you are with!”

Flynn nodded, understanding his brother's confusion about the entire situation.
“Things went crazy, I know that. I want you to tell Mom that I was lost, but found my way again. Her youngest son may not live the most normal life, but he's doing the best he can to make her proud. The people I am with are goodhearted, decent people and what we are doing does make a difference for the better.”

Looking over to Rainbow, who eyed the both of them from the car, Rick then sighed.
“I guess it's all... a bit too much at once. You back all of a sudden, ponies and that thing hunting us. That pony...” He shot Flynn a strict glance. “I at least hope it's not just...”

Flynn rolled his eyes.
“No, not just that. We took care of an orphan who's also a fan of hers. She's quite important herself over there. She's more into sports than anything else, but you know... A fresh wind once in a while...”

“A daughter? That's news Mom will love to hear, even if it's an adopted child. But she would simply adore it if it were your own child.”

“These ponies have magic, they for instance have a spell transforming them into a human form for the night. Rainbow and I could beget a child with that. Also that spell is partially responsible for that thing in the police station. Its mother raped Sam.” When Flynn saw the confused expression on his brother's face, he nodded. “I told you it's complicated...”

They both came back to the car and sat down on the seats. After a while and several deep breaths, Rick turned back to Rainbow and held his hand to her.
“Rick Marshall, the brother of this no good brother of mine.”

Rainbow replied with a nod and rested her hoof in his hand and they exchange a shake.
“Rainbow Dash, the alpha mare of this no good stallion of mine.”

While Rick started the car, Flynn looked back to a grinning Rainbow Dash.
“Careful honey... I'm stuck with him, but I chose you to be the love of my life.”

Being in good mood, Rainbow stretched out her tongue.
“Aw, it's all in good fun.”

It was when the car went into motion that it occurred to Rick.
“Alpha mare? Flynn, you are with more than one of them?”

“Ummm...”

* * * * *

In the meantime, the other Elements of Harmony and Harmony rangers arrived near a warehouse, their van torn from bullet holes, chitin projectile holes and burns. With the engine giving up, they stepped outside and Tyler nodded towards the warehouse.
“Perfect... Maybe fortune is on our good side.”

Rachel arched a brow.
“What's perfect about that? It's a warehouse. A bunker or a tank would be perfect against that Changeling.”
As they approached the warehouse, Tyler disabled the camera with a magical cut to the wires and used some magic on the lock of a back door. Twilight frowned upon this and poked Tyler's side with her horn.
“Burglary now? I can't believe you, Tyler!”

“Sweetie, we're not going to steal anything!”

“Who charged you that lock-pick spell anyway? I know I didn't!”

Tyler grinned as the lock clicked and the door opened.
“A Great and Powerful Escape Artist...” They went inside and looked around. Crates of all shapes and sizes stood around. Looking around for some minutes, Tyler then finally nodded, putting his hands on a group of crates. “These here will do perfect! We can use these crates to ship ourselves to New York.”

Rarity hesitated.
“Like animals? Meh... Darling, please! Isn't there a better way?”

Tyler shrugged.
“I think so, Rarity... But it would mean that we're constantly on the run from the police and it would mean hiding most of the time.”

Giving the crate in front of her a doubting look, the seamstress gave a defeated sigh.
“This is not the most clean way to go, but I fear it will have to do.”

Hopping into one of the crates, Applejack waved her friend in.
“C'mon, Rarity... It's plenty of room in here for all of us.”

Looking over to the country mare, Rarity arched a brow.
“Being cramped together and breathing each others stink and sweat is the least way I want to travel!”

While Applejack rolled her eyes with a frustrated groan, Tyler patted her shoulder.
“It will do, honey. Twilight and I are going in the crate over there. They are all addressed to the same person, so we will stick together.”

Magic levitated the lids over the crates and while Rarity tried to find a way to fit into one small crate without making too much of a mess with her mane and coat, Lyra, Pinkie and Sam went into one larger crate while Applejack, Fluttershy and Rachel went into a second. In the meantime, Rarity seemed pleased with her fitting in her crate and closed the lid. Twilight looked up to Tyler while her magic drilled tiny air-holes into the crates.
“Are you sure about that, Tyler?”

Giving her a nod, he began climbing into the fourth crate and helped her in.
“It's not very comfortable, but at the moment the best idea. Reminds me of my way to get into Colombia.” Taking a last glance at the other crates, he nodded. “Good luck, everyone!” Within the crates, the others listened up and smiled.

Fluttershy rested down into the packing material.
“It's not so bad... If we take a little nap, we might not even notice the travel.” This caused AJ and Rachel to smile in the dark.

Moments passed, maybe even hours. Finally, someone came into the hall and footsteps as well as a voice became audible.
“Do you know why the cops are making such a fuzz out there? It seems all of Sacramento is in Panic Mode!”

“The news say that there was an attack on a police station. Possible terror attack or a massive shooting. They say the perpetrator might still be on the loose. So what's the deal here?”

With the sound of patting the crates, one of the male voices chuckled.
“Jim, the new guy, made a mistake yesterday. These crates go to the same guy, yes... But that guy is some rich kid and has several estates. That one over there goes to a penthouse in New York near the central park, that one over there to a loft on the other side of town and these two go directly to the New York Harbor.” Inside his crate, Tyler gritted his teeth, silently cursing their bad luck. 'Shit! Hopefully the others got that as well...' The crates were re-labeled and brought to several trucks with forklifts, each of the three teams now going their separate ways to New York.

Author's Note

Not proofread yet, any notification about mistakes are welcome.
Also: first time implementing YT-Videos. Leave a comment about your opinion regarding that, if you like.