Shadows of the past

After the initial, and rather pleasant surprise I got from the note Ruby gave me, I started to plan ahead for what to do in the meantime while I waited for her shift to end.

I still have several hours before it would be six o'clock and there is still a lot to see here. So I was now studying my map to see what Canterlot had to offer and where everything was located.

''Hmm, let's see.'' I muttered, ''I've been to the market and have seen several of those landmarks too as I made my way to the restaurant, so that leaves this here.'' I said while tapping a spot on the map and read what the description of it said.

The royal sculpture garden, home of many statues collected over the ages by Princess Celestia herself, as well as the famous hedge maze the Elements of Harmony had to go through during their quest to stop Discord. Open for public.

''Elements of Harmony, Discord, what do they mean with that?'' I Thought as I scanned the short description, trying to find more information about it, but it was just a tourist map so not much information could be gained from it. ''Oh well, I guess I better go see it for myself and see if there is more information about these elements or Discord over there.''

With my mind made up I've started to head towards the gardens while grabbing my camera and made sure it had still enough power in it, it wouldn't be very useful if I ended up with a dead battery now would it. As my camera checked out and after several detours to see some of the other things that had gained my attention, I arrived at the gardens with my camera at the ready.

As I stood there watching, I couldn't help let out a slow whistle as I took in the sight before me.

''WOW, that's a big maze.'' I said as I noticed a small group of ponies walking past some of the statues. From what I could see it was an adult with several children.

As I got closer to see the statues for myself I heard her talk to the group of children as she explained the meaning of the statues to them, ''Ah, so a teacher and her class.'' I thought as I picked up more of their conversation.

''.... nd this statue represents friendship, and this on is victory an-.''

''Ahm, miss Cheerilee.'' one of the eh.. filly's, said

''Yes Apple Bloom.'' Cheerilee said.

''Ah don't mean to intarrupt or somethang, but haven't we'll done this already a few years ago?''

''Yes, you are right about that dear, however, as all of you know, your grades concerning history leaves a lot of room for improvement so I thought it wise to refresh all of your memory with another tour through the sculpture gard-.''

I stopped listening to them as I noticed some of the children were looking at me, making me feel uncomfortable, and I walked away to look at the statues that were here.

There were several pieces that took my interest as I took pictures of them all, two of them were from the princesses Celestia and Luna.

But one statue stood out from the rest. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. It appeared to be some creature made up from various animal bodyparts. This thing was standing in a manner in which it looked like it was shielding itself from something.

Although this thing was rather unusual, it would make a fun picture, however, as I was adjusting my camera to take the shot I got hit by a sudden wave of dizziness making me stumble as I tried to keep my balance, but failing that, I slowly, carefully made my way to the statue to hold on to it to balance myself as I grabbed my head with my free hand and waited for this to end.

''what was that?'' I asked to no one in particular as the dizziness stopped after several uncomfortable minutes, ''Wait, was thi-.... Oh no, don't tell me... no no no this can't be from that right, oh this is bad, this is really, really bad.'' I mumbled as I started to realize that this was most likely the result from that fucked up lump of cancerous tissue in my head.

''Ehm, mister are you alright?'' someone asked me, but as I turned around to see who it was I couldn't see anyone, ''Down here silly.'' another voice said, still a bit disorientated from that dizzy spell, it took me a  moment to process what I heard before I looked down to see three young filly's looking up at me.

One was a Pegasus with an orange coat and purple mane and tail, a unicorn with a white coat and a light purple and pink curly mane and tail and a music note fore a cutie mark and a earth pony with a yellow coat and red mane while wearing a big red ribbon in her mane.

''eehh, did you say something?'' I asked them.

''We asked if you were all right, seeing how you were leaning against the statue of Discord while talking to yourself.'' the white unicorn filly chirped happily.

''Yeah, you were all weird, mumbling to yourself and such.'' the Pegasus told me with a questioning look.

''Eh, freeing who now?'' I asked them.

''Discord, you'll know, that guy stuck in tha statue you were leaning against.'' the earth pony answered me.

''Wait what? There is actually someone trapped in this thing?'' I said in shock.

"Well yes, you know, Discord, evil lord of chaos, caused a lot of problems a couple of years back when he escaped.'' the unicorn told me.

''Wait a couple of years back you say?'' I asked them as they nod their heads, ''So those problems I heard of were caused by this guy that is now stuck in stone.'' they nod their heads once again, ''Huh, I thought it was just some unicorn going a bit crazy with their magic or something.'' I told them, finding it a bit hard to believe that there was actually a living being inside this statue.

''What'' all three said simultaneously, ''How could you not have heard of Discord?'' the earth pony asked me.

''Eh, I just haven't.''

''Then why were you leaning against his statue and mumbling  something to yourself, huh?'' the Pegasus filly stated before she got a look of horrified realization, ''GHASP, you aren't trying to free Discord now aren't you?''

''Wait, wha-.''

''Of course he isn't trying to free Discord you dodo, he just said he didn't even know who that was.'' the unicorn said to the Pegasus with an annoyed tone.

''Don't call me things I don't know the meaning of,'' The Pegasus told her friend with a raised voice, ''And then why was he leaning against him and mumbling something to himself, huh, I bet he was performing some spell to break Discord free. He probably is just playing dumb because we caught him in the act.'' she said as she pointed her hoof at me

''Hey yeah,'' the earth pony began, ''isn't he tha same humhan who was looking at us just a moment ago, and then left when he noticed us looking at him.''

''Then why does he have a camera with him?'' the unicorn asked her friends, ''The last time I checked you couldn't cast a spell with one of those.''

''Probably to take photographic evidence for his evil spy masters.''

''Eehh....... wha-.'' I tried to begin before I was interrupted again.

''That's just stupid Scootaloo.'' the unicorn said with a heavily annoyed tone and a roll of her eyes.

''NO, YOU'RE STUPID.'' the Pegasus who apparently was called Scootaloo shouted to the unicorn while taking an aggressive stance.

''NO YOU ARE, YOU DODO.''

''I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THINGS I DON'T KNOW THE MEANING OF.'' Scootaloo yelled as she tackled the other to the ground where the two of them started to fight.

''Eh.. wait.. what.... What is going on?'' I asked more to myself than them, as I stood there with a heavily confused expression as I watched the Pegasus and unicorn fight each other while the earth pony sat there giving a well practiced eye roll and an annoyed look like this was nothing new to her.

''GIRLS.'' someone shouted, but the two filly's didn't seem to realize because they kept on fighting while I still stood there, confused as ever.

An angry looking earth pony mare with a purple coat, a two toned pink mane and three smiling flowers for a cutie mark, their teacher I realized, walked up to the two fighting filly's and called out to them again.

''GIRLS'' this time it got their attention as they stopped their fighting to look at their teacher, only to flinch away when they noticed her angry expression.

''Girls,'' she began in a surprisingly calm voice, ''Can somepony please tell me why the two of you are fighting.'' she paused for a moment as she looked in my direction, ''and in front of this good mister no less. What do you two have to say for yourself?''

''We are sorry miss Cheerilee, it's just that we thought that this human was trying to release Discord an-.'' Scootaloo began before the unicorn interrupted her.

''Hey, don't involve me with this, you thought he was trying to do that, while I said that that was just stup-.''

''ENOUGH, you're not starting this again.'' Cheerilee began before turning to Scootaloo. ''Now why on the world would you think that this human...., oh I'm sorry, but could I please know your name? Just calling you human or mister seems a bit rude, seeing how you are standing right here.'' she asked me.

''Ehh Sam.., its Sam Richards.'' I told here as I was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

''Pleasure to meet you mister Richards, my name is Cheerilee,'' she said as she turned back to the two filly's in front of her, ''Now why would you think that mister Richards here was trying to release Discord Scootaloo?''

''Because he was leaning against the statue while mumbling to himself.'' Scootaloo told her teacher, which caused all the children as well as the teacher to look at me.

''Is that true?'' Cheerilee asked me.

''Eh, well yeah, although I wasn't trying to release anything. I didn't even know that there was someone in this thing.'' I said as I pointed to the statue.

''Then why would you lean against the statue, or mumble to yourself?''

''Because I got hit by a sudden wave of dizziness and this statue was the only thing close by to help me balance myself. As for the talking to myself, I was just trying to figure out what caused the dizziness.'' came my honest reply.

''Wait, you mean that you suddenly got dizzy without reason while standing close to Discord?'' Cheerilee asked me while looking a bit frightful at the statue behind me while placing herself in front of the children, who all shared the same look of fear towards the statue.

''I never said there wasn't a reason for it,'' I said before realizing what I just told them, and I mentally kicked myself for it as I saw Cheerilee's confused look about what I just said. ''You see, some humans get a bit off an ill reaction from the portal

when they go through it,'' I told them, using the same lie I had used with Ruby. ''Dizziness is just one of the symptoms one could get from it.''

''Really, I've heard that you might get nauseous from it when going through the portal, but I've never heard of that before.'' she said, clearly relieved this apparently had nothing to do with this Discord, but not quite buying my explanation either.

''Damn teacher must have read up on the whole portal business.'' I thought, better come up with a good excuse now, I really don't want to go over the whole I've got cancer thing now, especially in front of all these kids.

''Yes, well you see, it's rather rare, just like those select group of humans that are susceptible to your magic instead of being immune to it.'' I lied, hoping that she would buy it.

''Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.'' she said making me mentally sigh out in relieve. ''Well then,'' she started as she turned once more to the two filly's in front of her, '' I do believe that you two owe Mister Richards here an apology for fighting in front of him, and Scootaloo, you also need to apologize for accusing him for trying to release Discord.'' Cheerilee said while she gave a stern look at the two.

With their head held low, the two of them walked towards me and sat down before the unicorn spoke up first. ''I'm sorry for fighting in front of you mister.'' she said without looking up, ''Yeah, and I'm, eh, you know, sorry for saying you wanted to release Discord.'' Scootaloo followed while awkwardly rubbing the back of her front leg.

''It's alright,'' I told them, causing their ears to perk up as they hesitantly looked up at me, making me feel rather big in front of them, so I knelt down so I was a bit more at their level before continuing, ''No harm was done.... well not to me at least.'' Recalling how they started to fight over all this making me add that last part, ''So everything is all right.''

''Really?'' they both asked simultaneously.

''Sure, just don't go accusing others of releasing guys stuck in stone like that again, it will save you a lot of trouble.''

''Yes, I will, and thank you mister Richards.'' the unicorn said happily.

''Yeah, thanks for not being mad, and I'll try not to jump to concl-.. conclusi...''

''Conclusions.'' the unicorn filled her in.

''Eh yeah, that, I'll try not to do that again mister Richards.'' Scootaloo finished.

''And that´s one more thing.'' I said while laughing a bit, ''You know my name, but I would like to know the names of the would be spy catchers.'' this caused them to chuckle a bit before they answered me.

''Well, I am Sweetie Belle.''

''And I am Scootaloo.'' they said as both of them turned to the earth pony, who was now walking towards them, ''And she is Apple Bloom.'' Scootaloo said as she introduced her friend, ''And together we are,'' they paused for a moment to take a deep breath, ''THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, YAY'' they yelled out in unison.

I reared back from the sudden outburst as Apple Bloom continued, ''Although technically only Scootaloo and me are crusaders, Sweetie Belle is more of an overseer now, seeing how she already earned her cutie mark.

''Yeah'' Sweetie Bell chirped happily as she looked at her mark.

''Eh, ok.'' was all I said as I was trying to get the ringing out of my ears.

''Girls, you really shouldn't bother mister Richards like that.'' Cheerilee cut in.

''It's all right,'' I said with a wave of my hand, ''I always enjoy meeting new people.. eh ponies, just try to keep the volume down next time.'' I told the Crusaders who were smiling sheepishly.

''Ok than, seeing how everything is all right now, I think we have intruded enough in your time, but Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle.'' Cheerilee said as she returned her attention to the two filly's, ''Don't think that you're done with this, when we get back home I want the two of you to write me an essay about why it's inappropriate to fight like you two just did.''

As she said this Scootaloo's and Sweetie Belle's expression immediately fell. ''AAAWWW, come on.'' they both said.

"No buts, just be glad you two get off this easy with this.'' she said before turning to me, ''I also want to apologize for my students behavior just now, it was absolutely uncalled for.''

''It's alright miss Cheerilee, really, children will be  children, it is how they learn,'' I said with a chuckle, ''Now let's just forget this little incident and go on our separate ways. I guess there is still a lot you need to do, right.''

''You're right about that,'' she responded with a smile,'' now then, come on class, let's go.'' And with that Cheerilee and her class left to continue with their tour, all the while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked like they were grumbling to them selves, While Apple Bloom stopped for a moment to wave me goodbye before picking up with the group.

As I stood there, seeing how they went around the corner and left my field of view, I couldn't help but laugh a bit about the absurdity of it all, ''He, children. Oh well, let's just get out of here, there is still a maze I need to get lost in, not to mention to meet up with Ruby in a couple of hours.''

As I walked away I failed to notice the quiet chuckle coming from the statue of Discord.

''muhahaha, such delicious chaos surrounds him. I haven't felt anything quite like it in a long time, oh so many interesting things will happen to you dear boy, so many chaotic things.''

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''Hhmmmm, interesting.'' H muttered as she observed the events that just occurred, ''Boss, this is double H, reporting in.''

.....

''Sir, are you there?''

''Yes H, I'm here.''

''Eh, why did you not responded immediately when I called you?''

''BECAUSE, you imbecile, I do have other thing to do than to just wait for your sorry flank to find something worthwhile to report, Now do you have something to report or not?''

Double H almost dropped the communications device because of the volume that came out of it, as she stammered a response, knowing that she fucked up and was trying to save some face.

''Y-yes Sir, I'm s-sorry Si-.''

''Do not waste my time with petty excuses, did you find something, yes or no?'' he said with an angry voice.

''Y-y-es S-sir, I think I've seen something worthwhile.''

''You think you've seen something, you're not there to think H, you're there to follow the target and make sure that any changes regarding his health, or anything else that could be useful to us, are reported in.''

''Yes Sir, I know Sir, that's why I am reporting in right now. It seems that a few minutes ago the target suffered from a serious case of vertigo, to such an extent that he had to hold on to something to balance himself.''

''Interesting.''

''But Sir, I can't be sure about this though.''

''And why is that?'' he asked in a forced calm tone.

''Because... Because the object he used to balance himself with is Discords statue, Sir.''

......

''Sir?'' H asked hesitantly.

''DISCORD, DISCORD, you say that he got a bit dizzy close to Discord. Do you even know what this could mean, either his condition is deteriorating, or Celestia FUCKING Discord is just trying to play games to who ever gets close to him. YOU'VE GOT NOTHING, SO STOP WASTING MY TIME AND GO DO SOMETHING USEFULL, AND NEXT TIME THAT THE HUMAN IS LOOKING A BIT UNSTABLE, MAKE SURE IT COULDN'T BE CAUSED BY SOMETHING ELSE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?''

''Y-y-ye-es S-si-r.''

''GOOD.''was the last he said when a distinct CLICK could be heard, indicating that he closed the channel.

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''Damn, damn, damn,'' was all I could think off as I was running back to the restaurant to meet up with Ruby, ''Of course I had to get lost in that fucking maze, and of course it only took me close to two hours to find my way out, ARRGGH.' Oh come on, get out of my way,'' I thought as I dodged around a group of ponies who walked in front of me who all gave me confused looks as I sped past them.

As I kept running towards the restaurant I took a look at my watch and saw that I was one to six, ''FUCK.'' I shouted, giving me a few disapproving glances from those around me, as I picked up my pace knowing I wouldn't be there in time.

After several more minutes of running and swearing under my breath I made it to the restaurant, but I didn't see Ruby anywhere. While I stood there panting, trying to catch my breath, I looked around to see if I could find her, but I was unable to do so, until I saw her walking a few hundred meters away, obviously a bit down.

''WAIT.'' I called out,  as I ran towards her, causing her ears to perk up as she looked behind her and began to smile almost immediately.

''WAIT,'' I call out again, as I run up towards her.

''You're late.'' she says in a rather cold tone, the smile from a second ago gone, as I stop in front of her, trying hard to catch my breath, but failing miserably at it.

''Yeah, panth... I.. know, I sigh kind of.. got lost, breath in that... maze, panth in the royal.. garden.'' I struggled to say.

''You got lost... in the maze...'' she tried to keep a neutral expression, but failed at it a few moments later when she burst out in laughter, ''You got lost, hahaha, in the maze, and then, snicker obviously ran all the way from, haha, there to meet me, only to be almost to late, heheha. Well, that has to mean something.'' Ruby manages to say through her laughter while she gives me a kind smile.

''Yeah, Daar likt het wel op.'' I said, as I accidentally slipped back to my native language

''Wait, what? What did you just say?''

''Wait.. aw damn it, I spoke Dutch, didn't I?'' I asked her as I realized my mistake.

''Is that what it was?''

''Yes, it is, I was trying to say: I guess it does, but I said it in my own language by mistake, in fact, a direct translation from what I just said would be: It looks like it. Heh, our languages don't translate so well some times, but still, it seems something got a bit mixed up up here.'' I told her as I patted my head.

''Huh, so let's see if I get this right. You got lost in a maze, arrived too late and almost missed me and then speak in a language I don't understand by mistake.''

''Eh, yeah...''

''Not much for a good first impression now, isn't it Sam?''

''Eehhhh.'' was all I could say as I was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, only for Ruby to burst out in laughter again.

''pfffhhahaha, oh, you're to easy, hahaha. You are an odd one, that's for sure.''

''Hey-.''

''Luckily for you, I like odd.''

''...... Wait, what? You aren't mad or something?''

''Hahaha How, snicker, how could I possibly be mad with you if you make me laugh this much. heh, Besides, you did try your hardest to get here on time, so I guess I could let this one slide.''

''Eh, wow, ok... Didn't expected that to be honest, ok. Well then, Ruby, would you like to join me for a drink while we have that talk of ours?''

''I would like that very much, yes.''

''Great... eh.''

''Something wrong?''

''Well, it seems that I don't really know many places around here to get a drink, other than the place you work at.... eehhh, Do you happen to kno-.''

''pfffhhahaha, yes, yes I know a place or two, haha, just follow me mister smooth.'' As I follow her the same way she was walking before I stopped her, I couldn't help stop the immense blush that was spreading on my face. All the while Ruby was quietly laughing about my clumsiness, which only made my blush worse.

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August 03th. 1006.

Time /unknown/.

Location /unknown/.

Alarms were blaring and red lights were flashing as ponies, all of them wearing blood stained surgical clothes and some of them having small wounds on their bodys, fled from a particular location with all due haste as a loud crash could be heard behind them. As this group of ponies fled from this disaster, they ran past a small group of both griffins and minotaur's, who were heading towards where they just ran away from, all of them having menacing looks on their faces. Almost as if they looked forward to what they were about to do, which, in hindsight, they did.

A loud, distorted scream, a sound no pony, griffin or minotaur  could make, could be heard shortly after the group of griffins and minotaur's arrived at the scene, then all was quiet. It stayed like that for only a heartbeat, then the screaming started. Not the same unholy sound that could be heard before, but the sound from this group of individuals as, whatever it was they found, caused them great distress.

The pony scientists that ran away from there knew all to well what they found there, and only ran faster to get out of there alive, knowing that the containment protocol was about to be enacted, sealing all in there with this thing that they had created.

As they ran for their lives they could hear the sound of bones snapping, screams of agony as who knows what limb was torn from the bodys of the griffons or minotaur's, and the occasional scream of pure terror as the onslaught continued.

One of the pony scientists, a unicorn with a dark blue coat and red mane, dared to look behind him, causing him to fall behind of the rest of the group, as he saw bodyparts of several beings being flung through the air, all of them followed by a small fountain of blood that was still flowing out of the severed limbs.

With his mouth even drier than before and his legs shaking so hard that it would be impossible for him to even run away if his survival instinct wasn't screaming at him to get the fuck out of there, he picked up his pace and focused his attention forward once more, only to discover that his team of fellow scientists were nowhere to be seen. In the split second that he looked at the carnage behind him, he had all but come to a dead stop without realizing it until it was already too late.

As he ran to the nearest exit point, he could hear this thing still going strong against its attackers, who, as he already knew, never stood a chance. As he came to the door to exit this part of the facility he came to the horrible realization that the containment protocol was now in affect. Deadbolts were in place and the door couldn't be opened. Desperately trying to get out, he tried using his magic to remove the locks in place, but the deadbolts remained unaffected, he tried to pull out the door entirely, but knew deep down that a door as large and heavy as this steel behemoth would not budge by his magic alone so he tried blasting the door out of its frame, which would be his final mistake.

As the small detonation ended and the smoke cleared away, he could see that the door was only slightly singed. He was about to try again when he found something, something missing. It was quiet, to quiet, almost as I-..

''GGGRRUUUAAARGGGHHHHH''

His blood ran cold as, once again, a  horrible realization came to him. The sound of the explosion gave away his location to this thing, and seeing how the screams from the griffins and minotaur's had stopped, it would mean that they are all dead, and now this thing is coming for him.

''Oh no, oh no, no no no no no. Let me out of here,'' he yells to the door as he rears up on his hind legs, and uses his front hooves to slam against the door, to no avail as the sound of the approaching monstrosity made him panic even more.  ''SOMEPONY, ANYPONY, HELP ME, PLEASE HEL-....''.

He stopped his yelling and slamming against the door as he felt a chill run through his spine. Slowly he turned around on his hind legs as he sees the thing standing just a few meters away from him. Vaguely human shaped, but with longer arms and legs, bones protruding from them, making it seem impossible for this former human to even stand on his legs.

His arms no longer had any hands on them, instead, one arm had a sharp piece of bone sticking out of it, making it act like a spear of sorts, while the other had a large three digit claw like appendage which could easily cover the pony's entire head and crush it like a grape, knowing this things strength.

His torso wasn't much better, the scientist was there with the first successful test, and saw what happened with that human, only where that one had died, this one lived, his chest was ripped open, showing the organs within. At first, it was believed that this was caused through the heart exploding, but now he knew it was caused through a large build up of gasses within the humans digestive system, especially his stomach, which would inflate to a point where it would eventually rupture, resulting in a large explosion within the body, causing the chest to rip open, and show the inner workings of the mutants chest. One overly large lung, while the other was torn to pieces, it was not like that when this experiment first went wrong and they fled, so this must have happened during the fight with the griffins and minotaur's, which only served as a testimony to this things unnatural strength. Its heart was three times its normal size and his ribs protruded out in such a fashion that it seemed like a large predators mouth ready to devour its prey.

Large gashes and torn flesh that hung limply on its body from which blood flowed out and collected in a small puddle beneath it. But despite all that, his head still remained relatively normal, with the exception from his eyes, which glowed an intense white as a look of pure hatred was send to the pony the former human looked down on.

''GGGRRUUUAAARGGGHHHHH''

The pony starts to scream as he presses his back against the door and holds his frond legs in front of him in a futile  attempt to shield himself as he lost control of his bladder.

In a burst of unexpected speed, the former human launches forward to strike the pony who foolishly gave him a bigger target by standing on his hind legs like that. With jet another terrifying scream the former human drives the spike he had on his arm through the body of the pony that was there when they turned them into this, thing. He punched clean through the pony and impaled him on the spike and lifted him up to look directly into the eyes of the pony who, miraculous, was still alive.

As the pony was lifted in the air he noticed he couldn't feel his lower body, the spike must have severed his spine, which was both fortunate and unfortunate as he could not feel the pain from his wound, but it also meant he had nothing to distract him from the horror that lifted him in front of its face.

He coughed up some blood as more of the life giving substance flowed out the hole in his body as he was finally brought up to eye level with the thing he helped creating. As he looked in the glowing orbs that were the things eyes, strangely, he didn't feel fear, just a burning hatred towards humans in a whole, especially to the thing that impaled him.

''Do your worst you freak,'' he said as he spat some blood in the former humans face,'' there are more where I came from, you are just a failed experiment, soon we will get this right, and no matter what you or any other human will do to us, there is nothing you can do to stop what we have set in motion. Soon all will see what you truly are, and we will show everypony how to deal with the human disease, just you see, hehehehehe, although you won't be there to whiteness it now, huh.''

As the crazy scientist started to laugh weakly, the former human slammed him against the door, leaving a large dent in it, before grabbing the head of the pony in its claw and pulled it clean of its body, a part of its spine still attached to the head,

before tossing the body on the floor and started to deliver crushing blows with his claw held in a fist, each blow had the force of a sledge hammer, and before long there wasn't much left of the pony other than a large pool of blood and a spread out lump of tenderized flesh that had once been its body.

The former human, although, been through hell, still had a small portion of his mind left, and when his gruesome work was done he fell to his knees, or what passed for them, and screamed out in pure agony, hatred and pain. He screamed for two minutes straight, which was only possible through his enlarged lungs, or the one he had left. Once he had no air left to scream he just sat there, not knowing what to do, until a glimmer got his attention. As he looked into the direction the flash of light had come from he saw a camera, the light reflecting of the lens when the viewing angle was changed.

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Several minutes earlier.

He sat there, the one who called all the shots, watching on his screen at the carnage this latest failure had produced. He had a look of dismay, not for all the dead that this freak had caused, no he didn't care about any of them at all, they're just expendable pawn's, easy to replace. No what was bothering him is that after the first initial ''success'' some time ago, the next several test subjects that were subjected to the same procedure, albeit with some modifications that they came up with after the first try, all ended up surviving the procedure. Which was good, what wasn't good is that each human ended up horribly disfigured, which, once again, was not really a problem, but they also became extremely strong and violent. Breaking out of their restrains and killing all that came in their way, that is were his problems where.

''Yes, they survive, sort of, but they also become much stronger, which is unacceptable,'' he muttered to himself, ''We need to drastically change this experiment, not only is it impossible to re-introduce them in the general population as the look like that, but the last thing I want to do is make them stronger.''

He kept muttering to himself as he watched the mutated human tear of the head of one of his scientist's and then fell to its knees to scream out.

''Yes, scream you freak, soon the rest of your disgusting kind will follow.'' after the former human stopped his wail of agony, he re-orientated the camera, which drew the attention of the mutant. He watched as the mutant came closer before a large claw shot up and grabbed the camera and tore it of, but the system remained intact, and the camera continued to record everything within its range of view, which was a horribly disfigured, angry human holding the camera to its face as if to look who was on the other end.

''And now he is destroying the camera'' He sight and pressed a button on a console on his desk before focusing on the screen once more to see the mutants startled and then enraged reaction before the screen went to static and a large tremor could be felt.

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The former human was looking in the camera as if he could see who was on the other end of it, when an artificial voice came from all around him, taking him by surprise.

''Specimen breach detected, all systems locked down, engaging full biological sterilization!''

As the mutant looked around to find the source of the voice, several hatches opened in the walls and gas poured out of it.

Realizing what was happening as the entire complex was filled up with the clearly poisonous cloud, he refocused his enraged attention back to the camera. He could never return home, not like this, but he could make sure that they weren't using this place for a long time to come. So as the air started to grow thin as the gas replaced it, he crushed the camera and pulled it free from its wires, which started to spark from the electricity, igniting the gas. Causing it to explode and consuming everything in a inferno straight from hell it self, as a large shock-wave went through the entire structure destroying everything in its path.

                                <>______________<><>______________<>

outskirts of Ponyville,

Near everfree forest.

A yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail was busy feeding all the animals that were living at her cottage, when a large tremor in the ground scared here.

''EEP,'' she dropped the bag of food she was carrying, ''E-e-e-earth-q-quake.'' she screams, before she shoots towards her house, slams the door shut and carefully peeks out of her hiding spot underneath her couch as a white rabbit hops over to her, trying to get her out of her improvised shelter.

Meanwhile in the village not to far away, chaos reigned supreme as ponies were running around in panic, trying to find a safe spot. One earth pony started to yell; ''THE HORROR, THE HORROR.'' before running off with the crowd. Mothers pulled their foals indoors or slammed the windows shut while an elderly mare with grey mane tried to calm down the panicking villagers.

But in between the uncoordinated scramble of the ponies, one pony seemed to have the time of her life. A bright pink mare with a slightly darker pink mane and tail was bouncing around the vibrating ground, seemingly in no panic at all with a joyful smile on her face and happy blue eyes, until she stopped in mid-air, defying gravity as she didn't came back down, and her legs started to shake in a seemingly random pattern. Her eyes, once full with joy that could bring a smile to any face, were now cold and frightening, her joyful smile gone, replaced by a menacing smile that radiated no friendliness at all. ''Hmmm, so, someone just had their last party. Shame they didn't invite me, it would have been a blast,'' She said with a cold dead voice to no one in particular. This sudden change in behavior remained unnoticed however, as the villagers had either fled into their houses or were still running around on the street in panic, paying no attention to the pink mare, who, as they all knew, was as random as you could possibly get, probably even more.

                                <>______________<><>______________<>

''You're kidding, right?'' Ruby asked me, a few drinks, some small talk and a little walk after we had our drinks later, as our topic of discussion had shifted to the meaning behind my name, only for me to tell her that there wasn't a meaning behind it, just a name, nothing more.

''No I'm not, there really isn't a meaning behind my name, it's just a name, nothing more.''  I tell her, as we approach the edge of the city, giving us a clear view of the valley below where I notice a small village in the distance.

''Nothing more,'' she said, sounding a bit shocked, ''youy name is what identifies you, what tells others who you are, as in, this is me, and there is nopony else like me.''

''Well yes, that is the same with my name, there is just no meaning behind it, in fact, there are a lot of Sam's and a lot of Richard's on my world, the same name, but a different person.''

Ruby looks at me like I've gone crazy, unable to process what I've just told her.

''You humans are a crazy bunch, aren't you?''

''Well yes, yes we are.'' I told her with a laugh, ''But this does raise a question.''

''Yyyeeessss.'' she said with a cocked eyebrow.

''Well, I've heard that your names are somewhat linked to your special talent, plus, as you said that your name is also given a meaning beside just a name, then ho-.''

''You want to know how Fire Ruby fits in with a waitress, right?''

''Well, yes, if it isn't too forward of me.''

''Oh no, chuckle it's all right. Well for the ruby part, first off, it's my mother's first name, Ruby Hearth, and with my red coat similar to the color of a ruby, the choice was easy there. As for the fire part, well you did notice my eyes earlier today.'' She said with a smirk making me blush as I looked away embarrassed.

''Well that Is related to my special talent. You see, I can actually see the 'inner fire' of ponies, and apparently humans as well, think of it as the force that makes them do what they love to do. Everywhere I go I can see this inner fire. It's stronger with ponies that are happy, doing what they like, and weaker when they are sad or unable to 'use' their special talent in their everyday life. That's why I am called Fire Ruby.

''Wow... ok, eh, but how did your parents know about that before you even did, and named you after it?''

''....Magic.'' she tells me with a poorly hidden grin.

''No really, how?''

''Like I said, magic. We don't really know how this works ourselves, but somehow, we just know without really knowing.''

''Okeeeee, but what about the whole waitress thing than?''

''Chuckle, Well a mare does need to make a living, right, and my talent is not really useful to make bits, sssoooooo.'' she explains to me.

''But my talent is also why I took notice of you earlier today Sam.'' She told me as her gaze locks with mine, and the glow in her eyes intensifies. ''There is something different about you, something that causes your fire to burn brighter than any I've ever seen before. You live your life as if each day could be your last, to get the most out of each day with such a fiery passion that it is almost overwhelming. ''

I flinched mentally as she said that, she didn't give an indication that she knew what was going on with me, but her talent made her able to see something was going on.

''Ehehe, yeah, I guess I just live my life the best I can, no day like today, right?'' I tell her as I keep shifting my gaze away from her, hoping that we could drop this particular topic, but no such luck.

''Oh, but it's a lot more than that, I can see it.'' she says as she steps a bit closer with half lidded eyes, which were glowing a bit brighter again as she looked me in the eyes again.

''Really, it's nothing special.'' I tried to play it cool, ''Once you get to know me you'll se-.''

''Oh, but I want to get to know you, ''Ruby said as she rears up on her hind legs and hooks her fore legs over my shoulders as she, now at almost the same height as me, looks directly into my eyes, ''I really do.''

''Wow, is this really happening?'' I thought as I looked back at Ruby, unable to avert my eyes as I, without thinking, wrap my arms around her. ''So, you really want to get to know me a bit better heh, got any ideas on how to do so?''

''I've got some ideas,'' she replied, having a naughty grin on her face, ''But we probably should just stick to some more talking before we get to know each other that well.'' She gave me a peck on the cheek before pushing away from me and returned to all fours while holding an amused grin as she took notice of my flustered expression.

''Huh.. wait.... what... Ow come on, really.'' I said as I realized what just happened and looked down, only to see Ruby holding a large grin on her muzzle, ''Sigh, women.''

''hahaha Like I said, you're to easy, but don't worry, you might just get lucky later tonight, but for now, lets just talk a bit because I really do want to get to know you a bit more.'' She said as she walked towards a bench close to us, indicating me to follow her.

''Sooo, let's see, I already know about your name, that you get lost rather easily and speak in a different language, but I don't really know much more than that about you. Let's see if we can fill in the blanks.'' Ruby tells me as I took a spot next to her on the bench, having a clear view of the valley and village from here.

''Sounds good, but I would like to get to know a bit more about you as well.'' I tell her, not liking where this is going though, I can only tell so much before I would have to tell her why I am living my life as if each day could be my last, that will be a mood killer for sure.

''Well of course, this isn't an interrogation, you can ask me anything you want.''

''Anything huh?'' I ask her with a sly grin.

''Sure, but it doesn't mean I will answer everything, but it will tell me a bit more about you, and just how dirty your mind is. And seeing how you already asked me something, I will go next.''

''..... Damn, I really am that easy.''

''Yes, yes you are,chuckle, now, let's see. I know you speak a different language, but don't know where you from, I mean, I know some of the places of your world, but I haven't heard from Dutch before, so where is that?''

''haha Well first of, Dutch is how my language is called in your language, the country I'm from is often referred to as Dutchland, once again because of your language, they call it like that because my language and country name are basically the same, but this is wrong. As I said before, our languages don't really translate so well some times, and because of that they ended up with Dutchland because I'm Dutch and I speak Dutch. The correct name would be the Netherlands, if you go for a direct translation, and that would make me a Netherlander, which is really confusing and odd sounding, so it's made into Dutch. As for where it is, well you know about Belgium?, the country the portal is located.'' Ruby gives me a small nod, ''Well the Netherlands is right next to it, almost next door, so to speak.''

''Wow,'' Ruby says, ''That was a lot more information than I thought it would be.''

''chuckle, Yeah, I can imagine, but now it's my turn to ask you a question, right?''

''hah, So it would seem, well ask away.''

''Hmm, I don't have a question regarding your language, and I know a bit about your special talent, and in extend your eyes and I know what kind of work you do, so no need to ask about that.'' I sum up as I try to come up with a good question to ask, ''Well, let's just start simple shall we. What do you do for fun around here?''

''Well, if I'm not busy with my work, I often like to just walk around town to see this 'fire' ponies have around them, it's quite the sight to be honest, especially on the market with all the sales ponies haggling, which is something they truly enjoy doing, and it shows.''

''Ha, yeah I've noticed that for myself.''

Ruby gives me a smile and continues, ''But sometimes it does get a bit too much, so I like to just spent my time at home at times, and either read a book or watch some television. I especially like those cooking shows, and from time to time I watch one of those animal series from your world out of curiosity, it's so weird to see so many animals over there that are intelligent, active members of our society on this world.''

''Yes, I can see how that would be weird. It would be pretty unnerving for me if I would come across some human like species around here, only for them to be more like a primitive version of myself.... weird.''

''Indeed it is, but let's get back on topic, and it's my turn again. Hmm, I'll go with something similar, what do you do for fun on your world when you're not busy visiting mine?''

''Well I used to spend most of my days either working or playing video games, maybe read something from time to time, but not much more to be honest.''

''Used to?''

''Oh shit, ok just act normal and play it of as nothing special'' I thought, ''Yeah, I just had a moment sometime back that I wanted to see more of the world, well worlds, and just packed up and went, before I had this 'fire' as you call it, I just wasted my time doing nothing much, now though, I just live my life one day after the other, getting as much out of each day as I can.''

''I see.'' Ruby said with a slightly suspicious tone, ''So you went from doing nothing much to traveling all the way to a different world, to do what?''

''Just to explore the world of magic, something I've always wanted to do, but never actually did until now.''

''Hmm, it's weird though, you just went to do all that just like that, it's a bit strange, you would normally need some kind of motivation to just change your life like that, especially for a change as big as yours.''

''hehe, Yeah, that is a bit weird.'' I said nervously while looking away from Ruby's scrutinizing gaze.

''I know you're lying Sam, I can see it, it's part of my talent, your 'fire' is dimming. That only happens when one is unhappy, or lying, and each emotional state has a different effect on the change in your 'fire'. I noticed it earlier today when you lied about your medicine, but I ignored it because it was something rather personal, but this is different, I know that my talent gives a bit of an unfair advantage, and although I am not the element of honesty,  it does help me see who I can trust and who not. Now I want to trust you, I really do, but this isn't helping you in the slightest, I'm sure that you have a good reason to hide the truth though because I see that you are not completely deceitful, you only lie about a small part, but why?''

This revelation completely blew me away, Ruby knew something was up, all because of this talent of hers dammit. No way I can come up with some other story now, she will see right to it. This leaves two options, either I tell her, or I just say I don't want to talk about it, neither are a choice I want, I tell her and who knows how she will react, or I say that it is non of her business, but that may not work out so well either, either way, I'm fucked, and she wants a answer.

''I-I, you.. you can see if I'm lying or not?'' I ask her, trying to stall.

''Yes, and please answer my question Sam, if you don't want to tell me, so be it, but please don't lie to me about it. You seem like a nice guy, and you've been truthful most of the time, so why cant you now?''

''.......I- I don't real-.'' I stop myself as I said that. Would it really be so bad if I told her, I mean, yes I did only meet her earlier today, so I would be going quite a bit fast there, but she has been nice to me, and she has been honest with me as far as I can tell, which doesn't mean much, seeing that she can actually see if one is lying or not. But still, would it really be that bad.

''SIGH'' I stood up and walked to the fence at the edge of the city and leaned down, using my arms for support as I looked out over the valley, soon followed by ruby, who came standing next to me in a similar fashion, the glow in her eyes a bit duller but still strong.

''SIGH, Your right, I have not been entirely honest, but with a good reason though. You said that you could see that  I lived my life like each day would be my last. You have no idea how right you were with that.'' I said and notice the look of confusion on her face. ''I'm dying, I don't know exactly when, it might be next week, next month or next year, but it won't be much more than a couple of years at best, and I've already used up a year and a half, so I might not have much time left.''

The look of shock on her face said it all as I dropped that bombshell.

''You.. you're dy-.''

''Yes.'' I said as I hung my head with my eyes closed, ''It's why I have those medicine, they slow it down, but not stop it, I've got a small supply of them with me so I can spend as much time exploring this world without stopping at the local hospital every time for a refill. And the story I told you about humans getting ill because of the portal is also not true, it has nothing to do with it,'' (oh how wrong I was), ''I merely used it as an easy way out so I didn't have to tell the truth.''

''I... I'm.. I'm sorry Sam.''

''It's alright, I've came to terms with it, I might not like it, but there isn't much there can be done about it. So, instead of sitting around feeling bad for myself, I've spend the last one and a half years just living my life as best I could.''

Ruby didn't say anything after that, she just stared out over the valley thinking about what I just told her, her eyes a lot less bright now.

''Yeah, I know, it's quite the mood kill, isn't it.'' I tell her as I too look out over the valley down below.

''So that's why.'' Ruby quietly said to herself.

''Hmm, did you say something?''

''So that's why.'' She repeats, ''That's why your 'fire' is so intense. You're burning up, so to speak, but before your flame dies out you're getting as much as you can out of it.''

''That's one way to say it.'' I remark, ''This is also why we're here, although I didn't plan on the chance to meet a pretty mare and to end up going on an improvised date. Sure, it was a chance I took because it might not present itself to me again. I can't say I regret it though, but I would understand it if you aren't completely comfortable around me because of this.'' I tell her as I stand upright again and stepped away from the edge.

''And why would I be uncomfortable?''

''Because I lied to you, and you knew it. And because of the whole, I'm dying, thing, which really killed the mood. And I just realized what a horrible choice of words that was.''

As I said that Ruby gave me a sad laugh. ''True, you did lie, but with a good reason so I can forgive that. And there is nothing wrong with taking a chance at an opportunity that presents itself to you, no matter the reason behind it. Besides, I have been teasing you a bit too, sooo~.'' she tells me as she steps closer to me.

''So, you're not mad or disappointed or anythi-.'' I'm interrupted, and taken by surprise by Ruby as she rears up on her hind legs and kisses me, not a peck on the cheek, but a kiss full on the lips.

''Mad? how could I possibly be mad at somepo-.. one that makes me laugh this much.'' she answers my unfinished question with a smile and a heavy blush, the glow in her eyes increasing once more.

''Wow, I guess you are a bit easy too, huh...... soooo, what happens now then?'' I ask her in a tone that doesn't leave much to the imagination as I wrap my arms around her again and hold her in a hug.

''How about, we get to know each other a bit better.'' Ruby says in a seductive tone.

''So more talking then.'' I joked.

''Hmmm, I think we can find a better use for that mouth of yours other than talking.'' she replies before kissing me again, this time I returned the kiss.

                                <>______________<><>______________<>

A Pegasus mare was hasting towards the office of her superior, who, after the latest incident with one of the test subjects, was not in a patience mood. Luckily she had her wings to propel her forward faster than she could run, unfortunately the hallways were packed with ponies, griffins and minotaur´s, each hurrying to get to their own business. Several groups were there for repair of the damage that had occurred thanks to the explosion not too long ago, other groups were there for search and recovery of any vital research projects, documents or other things of importance. And a few groups were searching for anypony/griffin or taur missing, although most that were where in the same facility that was obliterated in the blast.

As she sped through the many hallways to her target she toppled over many in her path, not bothering to slowdown or even apologize to those she had flown over, until she came to a dead stop in front of the door to 'his' office. Not many have seen him, but all have heard the rumors. Yes, they were all involved in the attempt to get rid of the humans in every horrible imaginable way possible, the latest failure was a testimony of that, but he, he surpassed those procedures in terms of horror by what he had done to some humans personally. Of course his victims never mutated like the test subjects here, but the stories told of what he had done were more horrifying than the monsters that they created in here.

From dissecting humans alive, and using any means necessary to keep them alive for as long as possible during the dissection, just so they would suffer longer, forcing them too both feel and see what he was doing to them. To abducting humans, and then let them go in an unknown area, just so he could hunt them down for sport, never quite catching up to those humans as he would use any non lethal weapon, but would still severally injure any it was used on. These hunts could last for several days, depending on the humans survival skills, and how long it would last until he would grow tired of this and move in for the kill, which would be slow and extremely painful.

Yes, the mare didn't like humans, not one bit, but as she stood there in front of the door to 'his' office, she couldn't help feel a bit of fear as a small tremor went down her spine. Not many had seen him, only a few knew who he was and even less knew what he looked like, and although there were rumors about the species he is supposed to be, there wasn't a single word about his name.

Knowing what might happen though if she kept him waiting any longer than was necessary, she hesitantly knocked on the door.

''Enter'' came the only response.

As she opened the door she couldn't stop thinking about what she would find. She had heard some of the rumors about 'what' he would be, but knew that most if not all where not true. That didn't stop her from coming up with her own idea of what to expect, still using some of the rumors to fill in the blanks. She expected an elderly griffin. It would make sense, considering the rumors about his hunts and blood lust. One who, according to the rumors, had a large facial scar thanks to the humans, which he gained when a small group from the E.L.F. invaded his home and killed his wife and hatchlings. It's because of this that he swore vengeance against the human scum and became the one leading this operation.

She kept going over and over again about what he would look like as she entered the office and looked around. The entire place was a mess, all kinds of documents lay scattered over the floor, a cabinet had fallen over, spilling the reports within all around. A large desk seemed to have moved half-way across the room, and sitting behind it was.

''Wait... a unicorn?'' the mare said out loud in her surprise, she was expecting many things, but not this. She would have thought him to be an experienced stallion of middle age, maybe a Pegasus using wing blades during his hunts on the humans, or a former unicorn guard, with his training to use all kinds of weapons. And although the idea of an earth pony crossed her mind, she dismissed it as it seemed to unlikely, Yes they could easily outrun any human, but most of the weapons we have are not build for earth ponies except for the swords and some crossbows, unless you count the human created designs, which non of them would ever use without very good reason. Although the irony behind it, being killed with the weapons your kind designed, might make the idea of earth ponies using human made weapons more plausible, after all, they also used their computer technology to speed up the process of their research, but still. Yes, she expected many things, but not this. Not this young unicorn stallion sitting behind the desk.

There were no scars, not any she could see. Nor was he especially old, maybe in his late twenty's. What surprised her most though was his color scheme. And no matter what he would be, she was convinced that he would be a dark, menacing looking individual, and certainly not this.

He had a two tone light blue mane and tail and a light green coat, three hoof irons with soap bubbles over them for a cutie mark and an angry look on his face.

''Yes, a unicorn, what of it?'' he sneered, not in the mood for pointless trivia.

''N-nothing sir, it's just, you're not what I was expecting.''

''That's the whole point, now stop wasting my time and give me the damn report about the damage to the project.''

''Yes Sir.'' she said as she snapped back into formality, ''As expected, the entire south wing was destroyed in the explosion, search and recovery teams are still looking for anything salvageable, but it seems unlikely.''

''A pity, but nothing that will set us back for too long. How about the main facility? Did anything happen to the subjects there?''

The mare shifted uncomfortably in place for a moment before answering, ''The main facility is mostly undamaged, but due to a large power surge through the system some damage has occurred there. Some blown fuses, broken computers and a few injuries from falling objects, nothing major.''

''Good, atlea-.''

''However,'' she interrupted him, not meeting his eyes, ''The power surge also went through the cloning facility, resulting in the loss of several of the incubation tanks, and the subjects in them, Sir.''

''WHAT.''

The mare flinched back as her ears folded flat on her head from the sudden outburst. Trying to be as professional as possible without looking at her superior she continued, albeit a bit more hesitantly.

''T-the numbers are not clear sir, the crew is still working to assess the full damage and loss of the subjects, but preliminary numbers indicate that subject's four to twelve, twenty nine to thirty three and eighty eight to ninety three are lost, twenty confirmed losses, more might come up.''

When she finished her report she looked up to her superior, and her heart almost stopped. The angry look he had before was gone, replaced by a look of pure rage and hatred as his horn sparked with uncontrolled magic through it all. It was at this moment that she truly feared for her life as she remembered some of the other rumors about him and those that failed him, or brought him very, very bad news. And she belonged to the latter.

As she stood there in fear, conflicted with what to do. Should she run to safety and possibly be killed for running away from her superior, or remain where she was, keep some level of professionalism, and possibly be killed in a fit of rage. But her boss made the choice for her when he spoke in a forced calm voice.

''What is your name?''

''Eehhhh... what?'' she was not expecting this at all.

''What is your name?'' he repeated in a raised voice. He was not in the mood for this kind of stupidity.

''S-storm Chaser, Sir.''

''Well miss Chaser, you are not allowed to speak of anything that you have seen and heard here, including your own report, especially about me. The only reason you are even here is because of the failure in the com system, which forced me to rely on personal reports. So, do not speak of this with anypony/griffin/taur or otherwise. I must remain anonymous at all cost. Do I make myself clear?!''

''Yes Sir.'' she responded, catching on to the unspoken part of his statement.

''Then leave now, I've got a big mess to sort out.''

Wasting no time to get out of there, she hurried out of the room and didn't slow down until she felt that she was far enough away from that place, unable to believe that she was actually still alive. ''I guess the rumors about him killing those that bring him bad news are not true.'' she thought as she got a thin smile on her face and went back to her station to continue her work.

                                <>______________<><>______________<>

''Incompetent fool'' he said to nopony in particular as Storm Chaser almost ran out of his office. ''No witnesses.'' he muttered as he walked over to a console embedded in the wall behind him. ''The facilitys com system may be down, but fortunately my personal system is still working. He thought as he typed in a password and contacted his most trusted 'garbage disposal' assets, one he knew would never fail him.

''Sir.''

''Razor Claw, I have a new assignment for you.''

''Yes Sir, what is it?''

''There is a certain Pegasus mare that needs to 'disappear'.''

''Information about the target?''

''Name, Storm Chaser, grey coat, white mane and tail, storm cloud which shoots two lighting bolts for a cutie mark.''

''Location?''

''She lives in Cloudsdale. I'll make sure she will return home tonight, you'll be able to follow her when she leaves her 'work'.'' he told Razor Claw as he pulled up her personal file on the screen.

''hehehe Problems at work?''

''You don't know the half of it.'' he said through clenched teeth.

''Well then, let me help you to get rid of some of your problems.''

''Make sure you do.''

''Consider it already done.'' and with that the conversation ended with a click, indicating the transmission had stopped.

''Good, now to find out what went wrong.'' He said as he looked over one of the case files on the console.

                                <>______________<><>______________<>

Several items fell on the floor as Ruby and I stumbled past them on our way to her bedroom, this was mostly because of Ruby, as she was not used to walking on two legs, but neither of us paid much mind to it. Ruby´s fore legs were wrapped around my neck as I held her in my arms, one arm held her close to me and helped her with her balance as the other moved upwards, my hand going through her mane as our lips seemed all but fused together, only breaking the bond for that stupid thing called oxygen, as we knocked over a lamp, Ruby momentarily losing her balance before she corrected herself as I kicked of my shoes. Non of this would stop us though on our seemingly endless journey to her bedroom, but neither one of us would even think of just going there as we were both lost in the moment.

As we neared our destination, only blocked in our progress by a simple door, Ruby completely lost her balance as I reached for the doorknob to open it. Acting fast, I rotated her so that she had the door against her back, stopping her before she fell as I continued like this was part of the plan. Pressing in closer to her as I start kissing her neck causing  Ruby to arch her head back a bit as she uses her magic to try to take my shirt off, causing me to stop for a moment as she figured out how to removed the obstructing piece of fabric and tossing it aside. The moment it was gone I went back to work, kissing and slightly nib her as I swirled through her fur with my tongue making her breathing grow heavy with desire.

Slowly I moved up until I was at her ear. Lightly kissing the tip before I start to nibble on it causing Ruby to moan breathlessly, indicating I'm doing a good job so far, as I alternate between kisses and nibbles as my left hand slowly slid down her body towards her flank, as my fingers brushed past her cutie mark she led out an audible gasp, her tail swished from left to right, as I caress her flank, making sure I cover as much of her cutie mark as I do so.

''Ghaa-aa Oh goddess, yes, like that.'' Ruby exclaimed between breaths as I continue to knead her flank, while I use my other hand to grab her mane and bring her in for another kiss. The door, which was half unlocked because of my earlier attempt to open it, swung open completely, causing Ruby to yelp out in surprise as she falls backwards, pulling me with her as she holds on to me for support.

''OOF'' Ruby breath out as she hit the ground, followed a split second later by me, as she breaks my fall.

''Are you alright?'' I ask her, to preoccupied with whether she hurt herself or not, to really notice that I landed with my crotch firmly pressed against hers, only separated through my trousers, which were getting damp because of the wetness from her marehood, a clear indication of her arousal, as my cock was pressing firmly against my pants, demanding release.

''Y-yes, I'm fine, just a bit surprised there. Nice landing though.'' She said with a seductive undertone as she took notice of the position we were lying in and the all to obvious bulge in my pants. ''Taking full advantage of the situation I see.''

''Well technically you pulled me in with you.'' I replied as I catch on on her change in tone and begin to realize the position we were lying in and the dampness near my cock. ''Soft landing though.'' I remark as I press my crotch a bit firmer against hers.

''GHA Oh, I bet it was,'' she said as she looked at me with half lidded eyes. ''And he certainly seems to enjoy it too.'' she continued as she pointed out the bulge in my pants, still firmly pressed against her vagina, and her horn started to glow with a magical aura. ''How about we get rid of those obstructing clothes?''

For a moment she struggles with the button, but it doesn't take long for her to figure it out. The zipper went down without any trouble, and before long she had completely removed my pants, leaving me with nothing more than my boxer and socks still on.

''Wait, clothes underneath clothes?!'' Ruby half asked, half stated in mild surprise, as she looked down to the thin piece of fabric that was still between her and the prize she wanted. ''Why would you wear clothes underneath your clothes?''

''Meh, it's a human thing.''

''You humans are a weird bunch, aren't you.'' she said again with a chuckle, her horn glowing once more, my boxers glowing with the same magical aura as her horn as she removed both it and the socks, leaving me completely naked, my dick, no longer confined by my clothing, was standing at full attention.

''Heh Yes, yes we are.'' I say as I lean in and kiss her as she throws my clothes somewhere in a corner.

As I kissed her Ruby slightly parted her lips, inviting me in. Obliging her unspoken request, I slip my tongue in and start feeling around as we deepen our kiss, Knowing that ponies were herbivore is one thing, but to be able to feel the difference in the teeth is another. As I alternate between exploring her mouth and wrestling with her tongue we reluctantly had to break our bond for air.

Ruby looked at me with half lidded eyes as she was trying to catch her breath. Seeing the desire and need in her eyes, I start to nibble on her ear again while my left hand moved down to her flank to continue its work there.

Ruby let out a large gasp that turned into a lustful moan. ''Bed.'' she half whispered, half demanded.

''What was that?'' I ask as I continue to nib on her ear.

''NHHA... Bed.'' She said over a moan as she was struggling to form a coherent thought, but every time she came close to do so, it would shatter from either a nibble on her ear or my hand caressing her flank.

''..P-please... on t-the... bed, NNHAA.... no-t on.. the... floor.'' she finally managed to say.

''You do realize that I would have to stop with this then.'' I spoke in her ear as I grope her flank, making her moan again.

''I-I do, jus- NNGG, just make... it quick.''

As I took my hand away from her flank and moved away from her, Ruby couldn't help let out a small sigh in disappointment, but was quick to make it to the bed where she jumped on and lied down in a seductive manner.

Her rear end was lying on its side, her tail placed in such a way it was barely covering her clearly wet sex, her front was in an upright position, one of her fore legs moved down her body to her flank where she started rubbing her cutie mark while she gave me her best bedroom eyes and a sultry smile.

''Are you coming or not?'' she asked, her voice heavy with lust.

''Oh, I plan to.'' I respond as I make my way over to her.

As I stand next to the bed, I bend forward, holding Ruby´s head in my hand and kiss her again as I try to roll her on her back, but she stops me as she presses her hoof against my chest. ''Oh no, you did most of the work just now, now it's my turn.'' She uses her magic to lift me of the ground and places me on the bed in front of her.

Eyeing the target in front of her, she moves forward and gently traces the tip of her hoof along the length of my dick. Even though the contact was minimal it still caused me to gasp in a shuddery breath because of how sensitive my dick was of the constant teasing, but not getting any attention until now.

''Like that, don't you.'' Ruby remarks after my reaction, ''Let's see if we can get out more noise out of you though.'' using both her hooves she slowly starts to stroke my manhood along its length while kissing the tip. This caused my eyes to roll back in my head as I let out a long drawn out moan, making Ruby giggle a bit, ''Success.''.

My mind is partially lost in a haze of pleasure from the han-.. hoofjob Ruby is giving me as it is suddenly pulled back to reality, only to be sent away even further as ruby uses her magic to fondle my balls while she used her tongue to lick all the way from my balls to the tip of my dick, before she took the tip in her mouth and started to bob her head a bit, her tongue swirling around my member every time she pulls back, moving a bit faster with each go, taking more of me in her mouth as she went. In no time Ruby had my entire length in her mouth, greedily sucking me off. I hold my hands on her head to guide her speed as I feel my dick slam against the back of her throat. Knowing that if she keeps this up I would finish sooner rather than later.

''R-ru NGHA ruby.'' I managed to say, making her stop for a moment as she looks at me. Using this small moment of respite to form a coherent sentence, ''T-turn around.''

For a moment she loos at me in confusion, than her eyes lit up in understanding and she stands up to turn around, my dick never leaving her mouth, making me moan out a bit from the sudden friction, as she lowers her hind quarters onto my face, giving me a clear view of her now thoroughly soaked marehood, as she continues to suck me of with a fervent pace, making loud slurping noises as she does so.

Knowing that, unless I distract her somewhat, this won't last long. So, in order to catch up I drag a slow lick over her vagina, savoring the taste, before sticking my tongue in past her puffy lips, trying to coax out more of that sweet nectar. This in turn made Ruby stop as she released my cock from her mouth to moan out loud.

As I continue to eat her out one of my hands starts to caress her flank once more, while the other slips under her belly and finds her teats. Taking one in between my fingers and pinch it slightly before massaging it, using the dexterity of my fingers to my advantage, as Ruby lets out another loud moan before she continues to suck me off, although more erratic, as she is having trouble concentrating with all the pleasurable stimulation assaulting her. Making her moan again, around my member. The vibration only increasing the pleasure I feel, making me work harder in return.

Working my tongue in her as deep as I could, I took notice of her clit sticking out, I decided to change tactics a bit and slip out my tongue and start suck on her hard nub. This makes Ruby shudder as she completely loses focus in a lust induced haze, giving me a chance to focus once more as Ruby gives a few weak bobs of the head, unable to do much more as she gives in to the sensation of the rapidly approaching orgasm.

Sensing that she was getting close I started to suck her clit even harder as I used my teeth to ad even more stimulation.

This drove her over the edge, Ruby screamed out as she arched her head back and her body went ridged. Her juices spraying all over my face before I locked my mouth over her folds and drank as much as I could while she rode out her orgasm.

After several long seconds Ruby relaxes and slumps down, breathing heavily as she lay on top of me. Juices still leaking from her marehood as she uses her hoof to stroke my member.

''Well, you certainly seem to know how to please a mare, let's see if I can return the favor.'' she said between breaths before she resumed with the fellatio, taking all of me in in a single move. Bobbing her head up and down and using her tongue to swirl around the tip. Still close to the edge myself from her work on me, and although I had cooled down a bit as I drove her over the edge, I was rapidly returning to where she had left off.

My mind was shutting down on me as I gave in to the pleasure I was feeling. Every bob of Ruby's head brought me closer to the point of no-return, her tongue working on my member felt like heaven. I was resisting the urge to release for as long as I could.

Realizing that I was getting close Ruby picked up her pace, moving her head faster and sucking even harder until she felt my member started to twitch, alerting her of my approaching orgasm.

Taking a deep breath she slid all of me down her mouth to the back of her throat as she started to use her magic again to fondle my balls and swirled her tongue all around my member. This drove me over the edge, arching my back while I grabbed her by the flank, I moan out lout as I shoot the first load down her throat. Ruby swallows as much as she can as I deliver load after load, making her pull back a bit as she keeps sucking my dick trying to coax out every last drop.

After my mind came back to me, and Ruby was sure I had nothing left to give, she released my member with a wet pop and turned around to look at me as my dick slowly went limp. Seeing that she had my attention she opened her mouth to show the pool of white before closing it again and tilt her head back to swallow it all, licking her lips after she did so.

''Wow, that was freaking hot.'' I said through heavy breaths making her grin seductively.

''And it didn't taste too bad either,'' she remarked as she leans in closer and kisses me, tasting herself on me and vice versa. ''But this was just the appetizer, now it's time for the main course.'' she said and kissed me again.

''And what about dessert?'' I asked playfully.

''That depends on how generous your tip is for the hard-working waitress that is servicing you.'' she said hot and seductive, making me hard all over again, and my dick slapped her against her flank.

Ruby looked behind her to see me stand firm and ready to go, returning her gaze to me with a hunger and desire burning in her eyes as she kisses me, forcing her tongue in my mouth and places her soaping sex right above the tip of my member as we wrestle for dominance in each other's mouths. She was grinding her dripping flower over the tip of my member as a means to tease, but I grabbed her behind with both my hands and forced her down, spearing her on to me as she lets out a throaty moan as she slides effortlessly down the length due to the saliva she coated my member in and the wetness flowing from her flower. Sitting on top of me, joined together in the most intimate way possible, she started to move. Slow at first, but soon found a rhythm we both enjoyed. Swaying her hips back and forth while placing her fore hooves by my sides to help her balance, my hands still placed firmly on her flank, kneading and molding her supple behind, as we both moan out in pleasure.

Ruby kept pumping her hips up and down, her tongue lolling out her mouth. Every time she moved down I would thrust up, meeting her in the middle, making me penetrate her deeper, to both our pleasure, as our moans joined together in the throes of passion.

Acting purely on lust fueled instinct, I moved forward and kissed Ruby, moaning in each other's mouths, as I pushed her onto her back. With her laying like this and me in an upright position, holding her by her tights as her hind legs were sticking up, I was able to really put some force behind my own thrusts, instead of just meeting her on the halfway point. I immediately started thrusting faster, ramming myself in her burning marehood.

''NHAA, oh by Luna's flank, YES, MORE, HARDER, FASTER.'' Ruby yelled out loud as I picked up my pace and started to move my hips as fast as I could.

Ruby's cries of pleasure were increasing in volume with each thrust, I noticed her body starting to tense up, telling me how close she was, with me not far behind as my thrust started to become erratic as I tried to keep up the pace. With clear determination in my foggy mind I willed my hips to move even faster, making me go as fast and as deep as I possibly could.

''NNHHAAA, oh y-yes.... S-Sam, I-I'm cummi-.'' Ruby's pressed her fore hooves as hard into the bed as she could as her body tensed up. Her mouth open in a soundless scream as she quivered from how tens her muscles were. Her birth canal tightened its grip on my member, pushing me over the edge as well. Moaning out loud in ecstasy as I shoot glob after glob of hot white sticky cum deep into her. Ruby's muscles working hard to milk my cock for every drop of it.

Eventually we both relaxed, and I fell forward, lying on top of Ruby as I had no energy to remain upright. Panting for air as we shared a weak, sloppy kiss and I felt my member recede out of Ruby, some white leaking out of her flower without my dick blocking the way.

''H-how was that for a main course?'' I asked her between breaths.

''Certainly one of the better ones I've had.'' Ruby said as she gives me a light kiss. ''And a generous tip too.'' she adds as she feels my cum slowly leak out of her. ''Do you still have room for dessert?''

Giving a weak laugh, ''Wow, you mares are something else.'' I reply, giving her a peck on the lips. ''As for dessert.'' I kissed her at the base of her horn, making it glow weakly with magic. ''Surprise me.'' I licked her horn from the base all the way to the tip, making Ruby moan a bit as she tried to hold her head still as I took her in my mouth.

Now I've had spent a fair amount of time on the more shady parts of the internet and knew that unicorn horns were quite sensitive when stimulated in the right way. Point proven by the mare wriggling under me as I continued with my oral assault. I've seen various pictures and videos of ponies giving a hornjob, among others, and although the thought of me sucking a hard appendage was a bit offsetting, it was with a hot mare. So confident in my sexual orientation I continued with my work on her horn. Swirling my tongue around it, following the spiral pattern on it, as I moved my head up and down, making Ruby squirm even harder, having a heated blush on her face as she desperately tries to hold her head still so she wouldn't accidentally stab me.

Ruby, after having two orgasms already, was quite sensitive, and it didn't take long for her quiet moans to pick up in volume as the glow of her horn intensified, showing through my cheeks. Taking her horn out of my mouth I swirl my tongue around it and took notice of a small point of magic concentrated at the tip. Knowing full well what this means, I flick my tongue against it, making ruby jerk, as the small point starts to increase in brightness and volume. Wrapping my mouth over her horn again, taking the full length inside and start to suck on it as I swirl my tongue around it, making sure I put as much pressure on the tip as I could.

Ruby screams out as her body jerks uncontrollably, jet she forces her head to remain still, as a magic analog for cum shoots from her horn and in my mouth, giving me a tingling sensation as I swallowed as much of it as I could, but some of it seeps out past the corners of my mouth and onto her head.

After Ruby's mind returned to her and she relaxed I slid her out of my mouth and lapped up the remains of her horngasm.

After I cleaned her horn and took care of the few drops that escaped me earlier on, I pressed my mouth to hers, pushing my tongue in her mouth as I gave her a taste of herself. Ruby weakly returned the kiss, still out of breath and energy from the orgasm she just went through.

''wow,'' Ruby said as she finally got her breathing under control, ''Nopony has ever done that before with me.''

''Really? Well I am no pony after all.'' I responded lamely.

''True.'' she giggled a bit as she said that and wrapped her fore legs around me in a hug.

I returned the hug as she levitated the blanket that was kicked of the bed over us, albeit with some effort as her magic was a bit weak from the magic overload she had just experienced.

''We should probably talk a bit more about this in the morning.'' she continued.

''Yeah, I believe we should, but fo-.''

''For now we should just enjoy the moment.'' she finished for me as she pressed a bit closer to me. We laid like this for some time until sleep overtook us.

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Storm Chaser was on her way home after being let off of work early, normally it would be strange to her that she could leave before her job was done. There was always something to do, but now, after the explosion and the damage done, there wasn't much to do for her until this mess was all sorted out. So when she was told that she could leave she didn't hesitate to do so, just to get out of the mess for several hours. Of course she still had a long flight ahead of her to return home, because of that she would normally stay in some cheap hotel in the nearby village, and taking the required time to make sure she wasn't spotted by any prying eyes when she came and left also took a while. But now she had several hours extra of free time so she could afford to slow down a bit and calmly made her way towards Cloudsdale. Unbeknown to her that a shadow was going from cloud to cloud, following her every move.

After a couple hours of flight, enjoying the rays of the afternoon sun, she arrived at her home. A modest abode, nothing to fancy to draw attention to her, but more than luxurious enough to live quite comfortable. And of course, no human technology what so ever. Just good old fashioned Pegasus design.

She made her way inside, closed the door, and went straight for the kitchen. Even after calmly making her way here, it was still a long distance to go. And not having eaten anything since the blast she was obviously hungry, this fact was reinforced by a loud rumble from her stomach. Opening the refrigerator she came to the realization that she hadn't been home for some time. There wasn't much in there to begin with, but what was in there didn't quite look right, colored in ways it shouldn't, lettuce isn't supposed to be brown, right?

''Damnit,'' she said as her stomach called for attention once more. ''looks like I'm eating out.'' she sight as she went to pick up some bits she had stored in a drawer. Taking the appropriate amount of money with her, she turned and headed for the door, only to see it was slightly ajar. ''Weird, I thought I closed it.'' she said before shrugging and walking out, making sure she closed the door properly this time.

''And now we wait.'' Iron Claw thought as he watched the mare close the door behind her, locking him in. Hidden, waiting. Waiting for the unsuspected prey to walk right into the trap he had just laid. ''Enjoy your meal little pony, it will be your last.''

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It was already getting dark by the time Storm Chaser returned home. She was tired and frustrated, Se went to get something to eat. Instead she ran into some of her former friends. Former friends because they either had or were currently in a relation with a human. Of course they didn't know of Storm's attitude towards humans, and still thought they were friends. Storm, unable to really tell what she thought, less she gave her away, was forced to put on a fake smile and pretend she was happy to see these traitors. Doing everything she could to get away without raising suspicion, but without success. In the end she and her ''friends'' joined together to eat at a local restaurant. Needless to say, she didn't enjoy it at all. What was supposed to be an afternoon of relaxation became several hours of tasteless food, fake laughs and pretending that she actually gave a fuck about any of her ''friends'' relations, it took all of her willpower not to lash out to them. Especially when one of them revealed that she was engaged. Engaged to a human. Storm almost spit out her drink at that. Her ''friends'' thought it was a reaction from surprised joy, they were, however, to elated to notice the look of disgust in Storm eyes.

No, she didn't have a good time.

''UUGGHH, I need a shower.'' she said as she closed the door, feeling disgusted from just sitting near such filth.

Making haste to get clean again, she flew up to the bathroom, grabbed a towel from one of the closets and hung it over a nearby rack for easy reach, and gave a kick to the shower cloud, starting a small downpour which she jumped under immediately. Sitting down on her haunches, she closed her eyes and just let the warming water wash over her, completely missing the shadow that could be seen from underneath the door as it passed by.

She opened her eyes and picked up one of the bottles standing there. Biting down on it to press out some of the shampoo in it on her hooves. She spat out the bottle, sending it flying to some far away corner, and started to wash her mane.

''Fucking traitors,'' she said, ''Bending over like some mare in heat for that filth isn't good enough for you. Noohoo, you need to marry them too. DISGUSTING.'' she yelled as she slammed her front hooves against the floor. This did nothing to help her vent her anger as her house was made of clouds and she simply slammed straight through the floor. Sending soapy water to the floor below through the hole.

''AARRGGHHH.'' She closed the hole and stepped out of the shower, the calming water not being able to soothe her, and she dried off with the towel before tossing it in a corner in a fit of rage.

''I need to get to bed, this day has been one disaster after the other.'' she thought as her anger was slowly dissipating, being replaced by exhaustion. ''hopefully tomorrow will be better.'' she continued until she remembered the long flight back, and how early she would need to get up so she would be in time. ''UURRGHH''.

Slowly she made her way to her bed, looking forward to sleeping on a real bed again instead on one of those horrible things they have at those hotels. A tiny smile formed on her lips as she looked at her cloud bed. ''Finally some goodnight sleep.'' she whispered to herself as she jumped on top of her bed and sunk into the plush clouds forming to her body.

Despite the angry thought she had about what had happened on the job, and with her ''friends'', sleep was quick to come.

Quickly drifting of and dreaming of a world where humans would be hunted for fun by everypony, where all would see them for the filth that they are, where their invention would be turned against them, improved of course for use by ponies, not those freaky human hands.

Storm had, of course, a C.M.F. emitter, enchanted with a spell that would shield her dreams from prying eyes, mainly a certain blue, pain in the flank, princess who likes to sneak into ponies dreams from time to time. Her emitter would make sure that the princess wouldn't catch on to her by looking into her dream, she hoped.

But princess Luna was the least of her worries now as a dark figure stood next to her. A smirk on his beak as he looked over the clueless mare, ''Too easy.'' He said quietly as Storm moved a bit in her sleep, a twisted smile on her face. He stood there watching a little longer, giving the mare some time to enjoy her dream which he could see she was enjoying quite a bit.

''Well,'' he said after a couple of minutes, ''Time to die.''

In a sudden burst of speed he wrapped a claw around Storm's muzzle, making it impossible for her to scream as she woke up, while his other claw pressed her body down into her bed, immobilizing her, and pressing the tips of his claws into her side to keep her from struggling.

Fear was evident in her eyes as she looked up at the griffin who is holding her down.

''Now, keep calm and this will all be over soon, struggle and I will take my time.'' he told her in a menacing voice.

Despite the claw wrapped around her muzzle and immobilizing her head, she was able to give a slight nod in understanding.

''Good, now just so that you know, this is nothing personal, just business.'' he said as he lifted his claw that was pressing down her body.

Storms pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks as the words sunk into her while she looked up at the claw hovering above her head.

''Struggle and I will take my time.'' he repeated.

Strom was looking at the claw as it descended to her neck, it seemed to happen in slow-motion for her, burning every agonizing second in her mind, feeling her skin starting to tear from the sharp tips of the claw, or the blood that shot out of her neck as flesh was ripped away, and the lack of air as every breath she took failed to reach her lungs, instead it would escape from the hole in her neck as she could feel blood flow in her lungs with every failed attempt to suck in some air, drowning her in her own blood.

A massive blood stain formed on the bed, her grey coat was almost completely red from the waist up as she twitched slightly in a pool of her own blood as the last of her life force flowed away and her eyes became cold, staring into nothing as the griffin finally let go of her. His claws and face were covered in the mares blood as it sprayed out of the wound he inflicted. Satisfied with a quick kill, he went to work on the next phase of his contract. Whipping off as much of the blood as he could so it wouldn't drip and leave a trail, he went to the room he was hiding in a retrieved a bag he had brought with him, it contained several human product, mainly the kind of products used by the E.L.F. during their more direct approach to deal with his kind, as well as all the other species that were living here.

One was a metallic claw, made to fit around a human hand, and simulate a griffins claw. Enabling them to kill and put the blame on a griffin. There was also a broken C.M.F. emitter. And when investigated by a unicorn, they would find it holds a trace amount of a cloud walking enchantment. a few more pieces where in the bag that, once in place, would point the blame straight to the humans. Taking the bag to the bedroom he took his time to place everything in just the right way. Having done such a thing before on several occasions, he knew what would fit, and what didn't. Looking over his work to make sure that the scene was believable and that no evidence of him ever being there was removed, he took one last look at the mare.

''Just so that you know, it's nothing personal, just business.'' And with that he left into the dark of night, returning to report his contract fulfilled.