Equestrian Psycho

by BlakeCorman

Chapter 20- Behind Closed Doors [CO]

A white flash signaled the start of another recording as Chris’ face appeared on the computer screen. “Guess these are getting more and more spread out aren’t they?” The blonde asked with a small, awkward laugh before he let out a breath. A small whine drew the ranger’s attention. He gave a small little smile before he reached down and picked Veral up to set the timberwolf pup on his lap. For a few moments, he simply pet the top of the young monster’s head, letting a small smile warm his face as Veral looked up at him. The man let out a chuckle as the timberwolf threw his head back and attempted to lick his face, Chris letting out a little smile before he looked back to the camera.

“Luckily,” the young man started again, his expression a little more light than when he’d started. “Veral is adapting well to his new leg, and Chrysalis is finally out of bed. She doesn’t really appreciate being wheeled around, but Artemus seems to be more than able to get away with it. Sam's really taking to having his own form. He usually spends most of his time away from me, actually. He even got up before I was awake and took off, which seems to be really good for him….”

The ranger went silent for a moment and let his eyes fall towards the desk. Veral looked up as the petting slowed, his ears falling back as he put one of his large, wooden paws onto Chris’ arm like a small hug. Still, it didn't do much to lighten the ranger’s mood. “...Sweetie’s still mad at me,” he finally muttered. “We haven't really spoken in the better half of a week. We don't see each other outside of Ranger Operations and we haven't really had any missions-”

The familiar jingle of his communicator interrupted anything he was about to say. Without a moment to spare, he flicked his wrist up to his face. “What’s up?” He questioned, eyes narrowing as he answered the call.

“We’ve got a problem on the outskirts of the Everfree,” Artemus replied from the other side. “I need you and your team out there immediately.”

“We’re on it,” the man answered quickly, dropping the call before setting Veral on the ground. As he got to his feet, he once more lifted his communicator and opened a new line. “All rangers to the launch bay, asap. We got trouble and we need to go now!”

He didn’t wait for the answers to come in as he raced across the room, throwing open the door and running out, the two timberwolves quickly following after him before the door closed behind him.

“Gottverdammt!” Chris shouted as he and his team flew back into the hangar on the galaxy gliders, the ranger stepping off the hovercraft the moment it was docked. Chris stalked forward, his face contorted into a frown as Cobalt, Firefly, and Sweetie all docked their own gliders and stepped off. “Another ficken strike….” The young man stopped next to the Delta and put his hand on the hull, looking to the ground as Rose and Veral popped up from their resting spots and ran over to meet him.

“You think Midnight was injured in that last fight or something?” Cobalt questioned as he and Firefly walked up behind him. “She may be trying to recupe while still trying to keep us on our toes.”

“Who knows…,” Chris muttered before letting out a tired sigh, turning so that he was leaning back first against the megaship. “But what I do know is that if she keeps this up, our cloak is going to become practically non-existent. After every one of these skirmishes, more monsters get hurt, and, seeing as the monsters still aren’t cooperative enough to let vets anywhere near them, we have to ask Mage Ops to come in and help.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Cobalt muttered in agreement with his leader before shaking his head. “We’ll just have to hold on and hope for the best. But until then, Firefly and I are going to be in the training room. Right, Fly?”

The pegasus mare groaned in response. “Are you really going to make me train after the battle we just fought?” Firefly asked only to be met by a sideways grin from the stallion.

“We hardly broke a sweat out there,” Cobalt answered, turning to face her. “But don’t worry. I’m no cog, so you should have no problem breaking one in the ring.” Another groan drew a chuckle from the thestral before he put a hand on Fly’s shoulder and started to lead her away. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

Chris watched them go before a small whine and patting at his ankle drew his attention to Rose as she pawed at him. The young she-wolf looked up at him with wide eyes, turning in a circle and letting out another low whine as she did so. A small smile played out on the young man’s face as he pushed himself off the Delta’s hull. “You want outside?” He asked the timberwolf pup in an excited tone, Rose letting out a happy yip and standing on her rear paws before running off towards the door of the hangar. Chris continued to smile as he followed, Veral running to catch up with his sister scraped at the door. The young man opened the door and followed the two pups outside into the clearing surrounding the forest and hangar.

The ranger watched them run off, his smile still on his face even as he felt someone stop behind him. “You were slow out there today,” Sweetie Belle said, the man not turning around to look at her.

“Sam wasn’t with me,” he said in a tired voice.

“And why is that?” The mare asked, drawing a small sigh from the blonde.

“I’m sorry, Sweetie,” he finally said, turning to face her. “I lost my cool the other day and I yelled at you even though you don’t deserve that. Ever. But…,” he stopped for a second. “I just can’t-”

“Chris!” The sudden shout cut the man off as a black orb with red and yellow patterns shifting in it flew out of the hangar doors.“Chris, are you guys okay?”

The young man gave a small breath before throwing a reassuring smile to his brother. “We’re all fine, Sam,” Chris answered, hiding his relief of being free from Sweetie’s predatory lecture. “It was just like the last few, nothing but cogs.”

Samson let out the sound of a breath at that, floating a little lower before coming closer to them. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he apologized. “I should’ve been there instead of talking to Trixie.”

“It’s really no problem,” Chris said before a pair of barks drew the trio’s attention to Rose and Veral as they ran back, a spot in the air behind them shimmering before a portal open up, a voice speaking in Chris and Sam’s mind. Come, Psycho Ranger, and let us speak. I may have an offer for you. They were all quiet for a moment before Chris cleared his throat. “I guess… duty calls.”

“Yep,” Sam answered, a small, excited spark in his voice as he and his brother moved towards the swirling doorway. “Another world to visit and another chance to stretch my legs!”

Chris let out a little chuckle at that as they stopped. “Stay safe, bro,” he said simply, flashing another smile.

“Always!” The orb answered before flying into the portal alone. Chris looked over his shoulder and gave her a weak, apologetic smile before he turned into a sphere himself and got dragged into the portal.

Ash Seeketh Embers…
Perspective: Octavius

It had been many weeks since we left the town of Zebril. The moon was rising, and we still hadn’t found a place to lay our heads. No shelter could be seen for miles, and I did not fancy becoming the evening snack of a pack of coyotes. Meanwhile, Miss Mia was staring at the moon like it had grown a face.

“Why is it red?” She asked. I looked up at the blood red moon, glowing an eerie crimson.

“I’d imagine tis part of the curse as well. Much like the sun,” I told her as we continued walking through the now chilled sands. “Anyway, do you see any form of shelter we could use yet?”

“Not really,” Mia said. I hummed in thought. This did not bode well. I may not know much about this dessert, but I know that staying in the open at night is never a good thing.

We walked for about ten minutes until something impacted the top of my helmet and dropped to the sand below. Curious, I bent over and picked it up.

It appeared to be a medallion with bronze plating, the emblem of a twisted upside down “M” encircled in an oval, and as soon as I touched it, I heard a voice in my head.

“I am the shadow the darkness fears, the malice that quails evil. Call my name if you fight for justice, but beware the wrath of darkness if you chose wrong, for it is you who will face the dark clone. I am Psycho Ranger.”

The shadow the darkness fears… I’m not certain how I feel about that. Then again, another ally would still be welcome in this dead world. So, with a deep breath, I called out, “Come, Psycho Ranger, and let us speak. I may have an offer for you.”

A swirling portal opened up nearby, a figure stepping out soon after. He had a well-muscled build, messy reddish-brown hair falling into his hazel eyes. He was dressed in what one might imagine a mage would wear; loose black pants with numerous pockets and pouches, simple black shoes, a white, sleeveless shirt, and blue vest with white lines, matching bracers on his wrists. A black oval device sat on his right bracer, the emblem from the medallion sitting on top. “Someone ring for a psycho?” he asked as the portal closed behind him, a cocky little grin splitting his features. I nodded.

“That would be correct, yes,” I affirmed.

The young man looked me up and down, his grin giving a little twitch. “...You’re not one of the bad ones, are you?” He questioned, his body language becoming a little tenser. I tilted my head in question.

“Bad ones? No, I would not consider myself bad. I am a Knight-Scholar of Equestria, after all,” I answered. Mia tilted her head, simply watching this from the side.

The young man’s body let go of its tension and his grin ceased to waiver. “Right, sorry,” he said, taking a few steps forward. “You can never be too careful about these things. So, what kind of offer did you have in mind?”

“Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I have been reduced to a wanderer. Thus, I might come across fantastical ruins with treasure of all sorts. My companion can attest that it has happened before. So, my offer is this, travel with us, and you may have as much of the treasure you wish for,” I offered.

The young man gave a little chuckle. “I’d love to,” he answered before he dropped his gaze and shook his head. “But unfortunately, I’ve got a war going on back home with a lot of ponies looking to me for hope. I can stay for a little while, sure, but I will have to go back eventually.”

“A war, you say?” I crossed my arms and hummed in thought. This man was far too young to be fighting a war, much less leading it like his choice of words implied. True, if he was leading it, he would most certainly be a capable fighter, but…

I hummed again in thought, before looking up at the moon. I sighed. “Well, to be quite honest, while I may make it seem like my quest is on a time limit, it truly isn’t. So, mayhaps I and my companion can come and help you? I know a great many miracles as well as spells that I could teach your soldiers, and Miss Mia here knows a very unique form of magic as well that I’m sure she’d love to teach.”

The youth blinked a bit in surprise. “You guys would really just drop what you’re doing…,” he started, trying to form a bigger picture. “To help in a war you have no part in after summoning me to your home world?” He gave a little huff of laughter and a look of disbelief as he looked at the two of us. “...I don’t even know your names,” he muttered as if mystified.

“Mia,” Miss Mia greeted, tail waving slowly behind her as she held a hand out. I bowed, one arm crossed under my chest.

“Octavius,” I informed the youth, standing back up. “And yes. Tis a knight’s duty to help those in need, even if it be those from another world.”

The young man bowed towards me before straightening back up and stepping forward to shake Mia’s hand. “Samson Jaeger,” he answered, his grin seeming to grow. “Thank you for your offer… it is really appreciated.” I smiled beneath my helm.

“Tis no trouble, my friend. Now, let us make haste, yes? There is a war for us to win, after all!” I urged, smile growing.

“Probably be more amusing than here’s been lately,” Miss Mia commented, hands in her pockets.

Sam gave a nod of his head… before his smile once again faded a bit. “...How do we get back?” He asked. “I know, you guys can send me back, and maybe you could follow me through, but how would you guys get back here?”

“I will find a way, do not worry. After all, I am a Knight-Scholar. I know plenty about magic, so I’m certain I will figure it out,” I assured. “Speaking of which, I believe I know a spell that could send us there quickly. Though tis experimental and I shall need a catalyst.”

Sam stared for a moment before melting the doubt from his features with a nod. “Okay, so what kind of catalyst are we talking about?” He questioned, the gears turning visibly behind his eyes.

“A staff would be preferable. Although a crystal laced chime or talisman would work as well,” I informed.

“I can handle that,” Sam said, taking a few steps back. He put his right hand over his left wrist, black electricity dancing over the appendage and device on his wrist. Black grid lines formed under his hand and shaped themselves before he grabbed them and yanked. A black staff, topped with devilish silver horns formed, crackling with energy for a moment. “Will this do?” More than a little bewildered by all this, I simply stared. After a few seconds, I shook my head to clear my surprise.

“Uh, yes, yes, that should do nicely,” I said, taking the staff. I then started channeling my energy, my soul, into it, feeling the soul magic do its work. “Grab onto me, and imagine your home. Miss Mia, grab onto me as well, but keep your mind clear.”

Samson did as he was bid and took a hold of my shoulder, closing his eyes tightly as his features formed into concentration. Miss Mia grabbed my other shoulder, closing her eyes. An image appeared in my head at this. Seeing it, I then raised my staff and swept it in an arc above my head. And then, the crackling of fire sounded around us.

“Do not move, and keep focusing on your home. Miss Mia, continue to keep your mind clear,” I ordered. The flames continued to roar, and I felt them lick at my form, but it was not unpleasant or painful in the least. And then, they rose up and swallowed us, and the next I knew, we were blazing through a deep, black void. The next thing to form was a darkened forest, the sounds of twilight echoing through the darkening landscape as a large castle illuminated the area in the background. We arrived with a blaze of blue, magical fire that quickly disappeared.

Chris opened his eyes and took in a breath before shaking the blonde mess from his face. “Well that was something,” he said, his tone less dense than Samson’s.

“Are we there yet?” Mia asked, eyes still shut. I chuckled.

“Yes, we are,” Octavius told her. He turned back to the ranger. “Your voice seems to have changed, my friend.”

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” a voice suddenly spoke, though it was more mental than verbal. A small, black sphere with dark yellow and orange energy flowing through and off it formed next to the blonde’s head. “Though, I suppose I should have warned you about the body switch.”

The blonde tsk’d. “How so very inconsiderate of you, Sam,” he said in a teasing manner, drawing a huff from the sphere.

Mia opened her eyes, tilting her head in confusion.

“I… I’m sorry, but what is going on?” The Unkindled queried, staring at the two in befuddlement.

“I would like to know that, too, Chris,” an off-white unicorn mare said, stepping out from behind him as two timberwolf pups sat nearby, staring at the scene in confusion.

The blonde gave a nervous chuckle before leaning towards the sphere. “You take Octavius and Mia and I take Sweetie Belle?” He questioned, the sphere bobbing much like a nod before Chris gently took Sweetie by the shoulders and led her a little ways away.

“Chris and I had split personality disorder before we got displaced,” Sam began to explain once they were gone. “When we got here, our condition advanced itself. Now, whenever we get called to new worlds, our body turns into my form and I get control of the wheel.”

“I see… That sounds intriguing. Do you by chance know why or how?” Octavius queried, curious now.

Sam moved up and down as if to shrug. “We don’t really know. Harmony might know something, but if she does she didn’t tell me- er, us.” Shouting could be heard from behind Sam as Sweetie appeared to begin getting more than a little heated at Chris who held his hands up defensively. I glanced over.

“I assume that mare is young Chris’ lover?” The knight guessed.

A chuckle emanated from the sphere. “They’re kinda cute together,” he said, though his tone betrayed a sense of… sadness. I frowned at this.

“Are you alright, Samson?” The undead queried.

Sam’s sphere was still. “...Let’s just say that this isn’t the only war we got dragged into,” he said tensely. Octavius’ frown deepened, but he nodded, respecting the brother’s wish to not speak of it. He glanced back at the young mare and Chris.

“-o big deal my foot, Chris!” Sweetie yelled. “Who knows who could have seen that light show! You know that our mages aren’t holding up the mirage right now, it’s too straining right now with all the injured monsters we’re still treating!”

“I know, Sweetie, I know,” Chris answered nervously. “I’m sorry. I don’t think Sam knew what would happen, and I couldn’t stop him from here.”

The mare eyed him for a long moment, her eyes shifting for just a moment towards Sam before shooting back to the blonde. She let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of her snout. “We’ll talk about this more later,” she said before bending down and picking up one of the pups, the one with a metallic front leg. “Veral needs his medicine soon.” With that, she turned and left the scene, leaving Chris and a confused timberwolf pup in her wake as it followed. I approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I apologize for not thinking more on how my actions would affect you, young Chris,” Octavius said sincerely.

Chris gave a small shrug. “If what you told Sam was true,” he began, turning to face me. “It’ll be worth it this time.” The knight-scholar simply nodded, letting go of his shoulder.

“Well, if you would kindly show us the way to your home than I can begin teaching your soldiers what I know,” he said, scanning the environment before turning my gaze back to the ranger. Chris nodded his head before a yawn echoed from Sam’s form.

“Chris, I need to crash,” he said. “You know how these forms affect us.”

“Sure thing, bro,” Chris answered before the sphere faded away. Chris looked back towards me and nodded towards the castle. “Right this way.” With that, he turned and started on his way.

As they walked, Miss Mia simply following in silence, and Octavius took in their surroundings. The forest was certainly a good place to hide a base, but improvements could still be made. After all, a forest is full of opportunities for ambush or traps. And, being a Knight-Scholar, he knew a few concoctions commonly used in his home. Regardless, I continued to follow my guide.

“The Everfree keeps us covered for the most part,” Chris started. “Especially now that the monsters are on our side. The castle’s been renovated with all the high tech gear we can reverse engineer from the cogs and machine captains that attack. Everyone here is a refugee, seeing as the rest of Equis basically belongs to the Machine Empire except select territories in Zebrica and the Dragon Lands.”

“Do you mean Zebran and Divala?” The undead queried, unfamiliar with the names.

Chris shot him a confused look. “I guess, maybe?” He answered. “Different worlds have different names. But anyway, I’ll have to get Artemus’ permission for a proper training session with our fighters, but my team is in the training room if you’re looking for immediate results and more… durable trainees.” Octavius smirked.

“Durability is not necessarily needed for miracles or the magic I know of, but it is still a welcome trait,” he commented.

Chris let out a relieved breath. “Thank goodness because this request will probably take a few hours to process, thanks to the council. That and we don’t train at night to avoid flashing lights that are more easily seen.”

“A smart move. Though I may not remember any wars in my world, I do know plenty about tactics. I had to, as it was yet another job of a Knight-Scholar,” the Unkindled noted.

Chris gave a little chuckle. “Well that’s a relief,” he said. “We need all the help we can get for the time being. Who knows what Midnight is planning next.”

“I’m glad to help,” Octavius said with a smile. Chris gave a little smile and entered the castle, traveling down the intricately decorated walls.

As they walked, Octavius admired the decor, not having seen anything with this kind of splendor in many long years. Sadly, this came at the cost of me not paying more attention to where he was going and bumped into someone, which knocked the helmet off of his head and the pony who impacted him to the ground. The undead looked down at the light gold mare dress as a secretary, now fearing he might be thrown out.

“Ms. Leaflet,” Chris said in surprise, drawing her attention away from Octavius’ face and flashing her a grin as he helped her up. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah, I guess,” she murmured, her eyes starting to go back towards the Unkindled before a flash of green drew her attention back to Chris as green electricity danced over his arms. The winds on the floor picked up and blew the stack of paper that she had dropped into his hands.

“There you go,” Chris said, keeping up his smile. “You should probably get going. Don’t want to be late now.”

“O-oh, right,” she muttered before turning and rushing away, giving the knight a last sideways glance as she went.

Chris let out a breath. “That could’ve been a problem,” he admitted as he used the wind to pick the helmet off the floor and hand it to Octavius. The undead looked at him, surprise managing to make it to his features.

“You… Aren’t afraid?” The knight-scholar queried. “Or disgusted?”

Chris shrugged. “Why bother?” He said. “The horrors of war are bad enough. Some images I still can’t get out of my head….”

“Told you you were too hard on yourself,” Mia commented. Octavius smiled lightly and placed the helmet back on his head.

“Tis good to know there are some people who do not shun or scorn my kind,” he said. “Thank you both. You’ve given this old Hollow hope. You do not know what that means to me.” The knight adjusted his helm for a second before looking back Chris. “Well, let us not dally further, yes?”

“Agreed,” Chris answered, turning briskly and starting along again. Mia started humming some kinda tune. It didn’t take them much longer to reach a pair of heavy steel doors. He waved the device on his wrist in front of a pad next to the door and the sound of hydraulics could be heard as the doors drew back. Chris gave a bit of a proud smile as he stepped through the threshold. “Welcome to Ranger Operations,” he said as two ponies, a thestral and a pegasus, went around a fenced-in arena, sparring more fiercely than what most would consider reasonable.

“Hmm, they look promising,” Octavius noted as he followed Chris inside.

“Eh,” Mia said. She seemed unimpressed.

Chris gave Mia a little look, his confident smile not leaving before he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted towards the arena. “Co, Fly, we got company!” The thestral immediately stopped mid punch, his eyes going to the man… right before the pegasus’s thunderpunch connected with his jaw. The thestral rocketed across the arena, his body aiming to slam into the fencing only for it to melt into shadows and pass through before solidifying on the other side to have him crash to the ground with a thud and a roll.

A loud gasp echoed from the mare before she took to the air, quickly moving to Cobalt’s side as he groaned and started getting to his feet. Chris just winced and shot a slightly embarrassed look at us before walking over to the two.

Octavius watched on, observing the event before me. “Flashy,” Mia commented beside me.

Chris and the pegasus helped the thestral to his feet, the stallion shaking his head to clear the stars. The thestral raised his amber eyes towards me and gave a quiet huff, straightening up to take his own weight. “Who’re these guys?” He asked, his tone a bit suspicious.

Chris looked between the pair and the Displaced before clearing his throat. “Cobalt, Firefly, this is Octavius and Mia, Displaced that called me not too long ago. They’ve generously offered to help us in our fight.”

Cobalt and Firefly looked towards the other two, the thestral still not convinced. The pink pegasus noticed this and, hesitantly, walked towards them, extending a hand. “Hi, I’m Firefly,” she greeted a bit shyly.

“Mia,” the flame-tailed human said, holding a hand out. The knight bowed, arm tucked under his chest.

“Sir Octavius, Knight-Scholar of Equestria,” he greeted politely.

Firefly gave a gentle smile before nodding towards Cobalt. “Don’t mind him,” she said, a mischievous light in her eyes. “He’s always prickly.”

“Oi, I am not prickly!” Cobalt exclaimed, folding his arms and giving a small huff.

Chris just chuckled a bit before looking towards me. “I’m going to make the call to Artemus real quick,” he said before heading towards a door on the back wall. He stopped mid-stride and turned on his heel. “This might take some time. You should probably get started instead of waiting.”

“We fighting soon?” Mia asked.

“I suppose we are,” Octavius turned to the two in front of us. “Tell me, how familiar are you two with souls?”

Chris gave a little nod before turning and going back towards the door while the ponies exchanged confused looks. “I’m sorry,” Cobalt said, turning back to look at me. “Did you just say souls?” The knight-scholar nodded.

“Indeed I did. Is there something wrong?” He queried.

“Just a little… confused, I guess,” the thestral answered truthfully with a shrug.

“Well, it shall make sense soon. But first, we require some catalysts. Do any of you by chance have any staves, chimes, or talismans?” The undead inquired.

Cobalt and Firefly once again exchanged looks. “Not really,” Firefly answered, looking back. “Chris and Sweetie usually handle the magic stuff. We just use shadows and weather.”

“I see…” the armored man hummed in thought. An idea formed in his head then. “Well, maybe we can make our own.” ?He glanced around, trying to find something suitable for the two, before laying his eyes on a barbell. The unkindled smiled and walked over to it, picking it up and examining it. “Hmm, this should do nicely, just need to…” He took hold of it and, with a swift snap, broke it in two. The knight then walked over to Cobalt and Firefly, handing them both a piece of the rod.

The ponies stared in shock between the rods in their hands and me. Cobalt looked up with a newfound respect. “I, uh… what’s next?” He asked. Octavius smiled.

“Simple. Try to imagine your center, your very essence, and channel it into the staff. We’ll go from there,” the knight-scholar explained, standing back and watching with interest.

Firefly closed her eyes almost immediately, seeming to concentrate hard. Cobalt, though, gave a questioning look to his partner, then to Octavius, then the staff, then Octavius again. He finally let out a breath and closed his eyes, starting to concentrate as well. After a short few moments of pure concentration, their staves glowed a soft blue. The undead grinned, clapping his hands in applause.

“Wonderful! You two are naturals at this!” He said, quite pleased.

“Say what now?” Cobalt questioned, opening his eyes suddenly. He blinked when he noticed the glowing object in his hand. “...How…?”

“It’s actually quite simple. You just used soul magic,” the knight-scholar explained, before turning to Miss Firefly. “You can open your eyes now too, Miss Firefly.”

Firefly opened her eyes slowly, locking on to her catalyst instantly. A small look of wonder grew on her face. “Wow…,” she murmured. “I know they say all ponies have magic but… I didn’t think it was true…”

“Well, it is not just ponies, but every living thing. Soul magic is simply one bit of evidence for that. Now, keep focusing on your staves,” Octavius instructed, pointing to the now lifeless rods in their hands.

Both nodded and returned to concentrating, Cobalt attempting to keep his eyes open this time around. The Unkindled smiled as the glow returned.

“Good, now, picture your essence flowing through the staff, and then out of it. Just make sure to point it away from us,” he told them. Cobalt and Firefly complied, each pointing their staves in different directions as they did what was instructed of them. At the command of their souls, a blue, ethereal bolt shot from each of their staves, impacting the wall to the right of us.

“Wonderful job! This is going swimmingly!” The scholar praised.

Cobalt just stared in shock for a long while. “...What was that?” He asked in surprise, suddenly much more wary of where he pointed his catalyst.

“A magic thing,” Mia said sarcastically. Octavius chuckled and shook my head at Mia.

“She is right, but there is more to it than that. You see, that was a Soul Dart, one of the most basic spells there is in the school of soul magic,” The Unkindled explained. “But there is much, much more soul magic can do. It can use light to rewind time, block magical attacks, and even muffle your footsteps entirely.”

Cobalt’s ear flicked as he gave a questioning look. “You mean that everyone in the Resistance could have the potential to be a full blown mage?” He asked, slight disbelief in his voice.

“Yes, although the more advanced spells normally require great study, I happen to know enough to teach you all efficiently,” he confirmed.

Mia, while the knight was explaining things, seemed to just be messing around with her own magic, flames and ice both wrapping around her arm at the same time, doing a kind of dance.

While Firefly seemed mesmerized by Mia’s display, Cobalt kept his eyes on me. “This could give us just the edge we needed,” he said, glancing at his staff for a moment. “The machines will never see it coming.”

“Yeah, whatever. When can we fight some stuff?” Mia asked.

“In time, Miss Mia, in time. Right now, it is time I taught you all about Miracles,” Octavius said, taking out my bundle of white silk.

Firefly was shocked from her stupor at the statement. “Miracles? As in acts of deities?”

“Technically, yes. Miracles, at least, from my world, are tales told by the Gods since the time of the First Flame. Reciting them allows the user to tap into the divine power hidden within the phrases. Sadly, Miracles are limited only to the faithful. Although it does not truly matter if it is faith in the gods or something else,” the knight told them.

Cobalt raised an eyebrow at this, though Firefly shot a quick, unnoticed glance at the stallion beside her before averting it again. “...Our faith in anything will let us perform these… miracles?” She asked, seemingly nervous. Octavius nodded.

“Indeed. Miracles can do a great many things as well. Heal even the greatest wounds, create a nigh-impervious magical barrier around yourself, summon lightning, emit a blast of holy force, and much more,” he continued before he idly noted Mia adding electricity to her display, humming as she did.

Firefly looked towards the floor for a moment before looking back up, far more resolute than before. “How do we perform them?” She asked, drawing a look of surprise from Cobalt in her sudden change in tone.

“Well, thankfully, I have a few scrolls in my pouches detailing a number of the Miracles know, but there are some not in there that I’ve known by heart for many years. I can teach you all of them if you so wish, but whether they work or not depends on the strength of your faith,” the knight-scholar answered truthfully, patting one of the pouches on his belt. “Just keep in mind that these are tales told by the gods themselves, and thus some are quite lengthy.”

Firefly nodded determinedly. “Whatever it takes,” she said softly. The Unkindled smiled, glad to see she had such strong determination.

“Good. And you, sir?” Octavius said, turning to Cobalt.

“I’ve always been up for anything,” he said with a shrug. “And if I can shoot little magic bolts, I don’t see why I couldn’t do this, too.” My smile grew.

“Excellent! Now, let me just….” The knight scrounged around in his pouch for a moment, before pulling out two scrolls. “Ah, there we are!” He turned back to the two ponies. “Now, would you two prefer to learn the Heal Miracle first, or Lightning Spear?”

“Lightning Spear,” Cobalt answered, cutting off Firefly as she opened her mouth. She closed her lips and went back to her more passive behavior, giving a little nod.

“Very well,” the undead handed the scroll to them. “Now, you shall need to share, since that is the only copy I have, but I’m sure you can figure it out. All you need do is recite the Miracle and memorize it until you know it by heart, so you can more easily recite the words in battle.”

Cobalt took the scroll and opened it, leaning towards Firefly as they began to read the text. After a few moments, they seemed to get more and more confused, but in time they seemed to understand it and finished reading, looking back up to Octavius.

“Finished?” He queried. “Are you certain you both have it down?”

“I do,” Firefly answered with confidence, looking up at the undead while Cobalt still squinted at the scroll, seemingly confused. The knight-scholar nodded and looked towards Cobalt.

“Having trouble?” Octavius queried.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Cobalt mumbled back, bringing the page closer and straightening up now that Firefly was done. After a few more moments he looked up. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Good, now, we need either a talisman or a chime…” Octavius hummed in thought and started to scrounge through his pouches. After a short while, he succeeded in my search and found two canvas talismans, looted from the Hollow Zebra’s of Zebril. They had the mark of the Zebra High Priest, namely a crown dripping with green liquid. “Yes, this should do well enough.” The undead handed them to the two. “Now, take your talismans and recite the Miracle, pouring as much of your faith as you can into your words.”

Firefly took the offered talisman and looked at it as if she were trying to burn a hole through it. Cobalt meanwhile… didn’t look quite so optimistic. After a moment both ponies looked up and began reciting the Miracle towards the same spot they’d shot their last magical bolts. When they came to the end of the Miracle, a crackling bolt of lightning appeared in the hand Firefly held the talisman, whilst Cobalt still held only the talisman.

“Good job, Miss Firefly! Very good!” Octavius applauded. “You successfully performed a Miracle!” The knight turned to Cobalt. “As for you, Sir Cobalt, I’m afraid your faith just isn’t that strong. My apologies.”

Cobalt stared between his empty hand and Firefly’s. “...Lightning probably is easier for pegasi,” he muttered before handing back the talisman. “That, and I don’t put much faith in anything besides my abilities and the person that directs them.” The knight-scholar nodded.

“Tis fine. I can respect a warrior no matter where their faith lies,” he said truthfully, before turning back to Firefly, the lightning in her hand now gone. “Either way, it is good that at least one of you has the ability to perform Miracles.”

Mia wasn’t even paying attention to us anymore, seeming lost in her own amusement, directing the elements around her arms. Octavius turned to her, deciding it was time she do some teaching of her own.

“Miss Mia? Do you think you could teach these two what you know as well?” He queried. “I must create more copies of the scrolls I have if I am to continue teaching, so I shall be over there if anyone shall have need of me.” The undead said, pointing to a bench on the other side of the room.

“What?” Mia asked, breaking concentration, the streams vanishing as she looked up.

“Can you teach these two what you know while I work on making more copies of these Miracles?” Octavius repeated.

“Oh, sure, whatever,” she said. The Unkindled smiled.

“Wonderful. I shall be on that bench, in the meantime,” he said, before walking over to said bench and pulling out some writing utensils and blank scrolls procured from the library of Zebril.

This is going to be a while.

Chris rounded his desk and sat down before picking up the receiver on his desk phone, turning it over and setting it back down before dialing for Artemus’ private communicator and setting the device to speaker. The phone rang for several moments before it stopped.

“Artemus here,” the alicorn’s voice answered through the phone.

“Artemus, it’s Chris,” the human replied. “Listen, I got called off earlier by another Displaced. He’s offered to teach our fighters some magic and a few other things.”

There was silence for several moments before she answered. “Chris, you understand that only unicorns can use magic,” she said, her voice tired. “How would that benefit us?”

“Not the way he describes it,” the Ranger answered. “From what he’s said, everyone in the Resistance will be able to use magic. We just need a chance to get them to learn.”

There was silence for a little while before there was an answer. “I’ll get a message out to the other captains and we’ll get started tomorrow.”

“That’s great-”

“But something else has come up,” The sudden statement cut him off and his expression turned to confusion. “Early this evening we ran into strange readings coming from the atmosphere. We tracked it for as long as we could until it landed just outside the boundaries of the Everfree. We don’t know what it is, but whatever it is it sparked activity in Ponyville. Midnight is gathering up a force and they began to march towards the last place the signal had been received from.”

Chris was quiet for a moment, putting the puzzle pieces together in his head. “So.. you want me and the rangers to investigate?” He questioned, shifting his feet a little.

“That is correct,” she answered.

“We’ll get right on it,” he said, straightening up. “I’ll call Sweetie Belle and we’ll be on our way. I’ll report the moment we get back.”

“I pray you do,” Artemus answered. “Good luck out there, and come back to us safely.”

“Will do,” Chris promised before he heard the sound of the mare cutting the line. He replaced the phone and rubbed his face a bit before lifting his communicator. “Scoots, get the galaxy gliders ready for lift off. We’re going out.” With that, he marched around his desk and back out the door.

Once he made it back to the training room, he saw random bits of ice and charred bits of land, some fires still burning around the arena. The ranger’s eyes widened at the sight, his jaw dropping. He stared at the scene for so long, one might have thought that he had stopped breathing. Eventually, he just gave an exasperated sigh and slammed his balled up hand into the red button next to his door. Hidden doors in the walls slid up and miniscule machines flew out, beginning to repair the training room. Chris took a deep breath and straightened up, starting to walk towards where he had left the group. “....What. Happened. To my. Training room!?” He half shouted as he came to a stop.

“Miss Mia was making an endeavor to teach these two how to use her moves. It did not work out well,” Octavius explained, not having looked up from his piece of paper of which he was still writing on. A stack of scrolls lay next to him.

Chris’ eye twitched for a moment before he sighed again. “Okay, where’s Cobalt and Firefly?” He asked, rubbing his eyes. Octavius pointed to the wall beside him, where the two lay in a heap on top of one another, groaning with minor cuts, bruises, and burns as well as frost all over their bodies.

Chris’ hand promptly met his face before he walked over to them and knelt down. “Cobalt…,” he said softly, poking the thestral stallion a bit… before shouting directly into his ear. “GET UP!”

The dark pony jumped up, Firefly tumbling off of him with a shout of surprise. “WHAT!?” The taller stallion shouted back angrily once he was properly oriented.

“We have a mission.”

“...Oh.”

Chris turned back and made his way to Octavius where he stood and waited for Firefly and Cobalt to follow him over as well. “Okay,” he said clapping his hands together. “We’re going to have to talk on the way because we’ve got a group of machines headed straight for our objective. Besides that, Sweetie isn’t-”

“Sweetie isn’t what?” The mare asked as she appeared in a flash behind him.

“...Here,” the young man finished before coughing. “Anyway, we need to go.” He turned towards Octavius. “You coming with?” Octavius looked up at him, then down to his paper, and slowly rolled it up and placed it in the pile. He stood up.

“I would not miss it for the world,” he said with a grin hidden behind his helmet. He glanced towards Mia. “What about you, Miss Mia? You have been wanting a fight, after all, yes?”

“Yes, finally!” Mia said, smirking.

Chris nodded and turned so that he could face his team and the two Displaced. “We’ll be leaving and heading south on the galaxy gliders. We’re on a clock, so let’s get moving while the moving’s still good.” Octavius seemed confused at the terminology but nodded nonetheless.

“Yes, well, let us be on our way!” he urged, picking up his sword and shield from the side of the bench.

Mia was bouncing from one foot to the other, excited.

“Then let’s get moving,” Chris stated, moving towards the double doors once more, his team following closely behind. Octavius was right behind them, Mia following him as well.

“What we’re tracking is a signal that was picked up by our sensors earlier,” he began to explain as the group made their way down the halls. “It landed on the outskirts of the Everfree where the signal went dead. Reports came in that Midnight picked up the signal as well and immediately mobilized her own forces. With the galaxy gliders, we should be able to beat them there without a problem, but they’ll show up sooner or later. ...They always do….”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but it sounds bad. I just hope these, ‘galaxy gliders’ are as fast a mode of transportation as you make them out to be,” Octavius hoped.

“Better be,” Mia commented. She had no patience apparently.

Chris let out a little chuckle. “Are they fast?” He questioned rhetorically before they came to a set of double doors that opened up as he swiped his morpher over the reader panel. The doors opened up to reveal the hanger. The Delta megaship took up the center of the large building in all of its black, star-shaped glory. Scootaloo stood off to the side, doing a few last minute adjustments to a set of six ramps, each with a different colored, high tech rocket board on it. “We ready to go?” He asked as he closed the gap between himself and the pegasus.

“Ready as can be with these jury-rigged things,” the orange mare answered. “Seriously, you really need a proper launching point for these things.” Octavius seemed very confused, but also amazed at the size of the, what was to him, a giant metal beast.

“Extraordinary…” he breathed, gazing in wonder at the machines before him.

“Let’s go!” Mia said.

Chris nodded his head as his team went past him and stepped up onto the boards; Sweetie on silver, Cobalt an black, and Firefly on the pink. “Let’s,” the young man answered as he stepped up onto the red board, leaving the yellow and blue galaxy gliders open. “Crash course, the boards mostly guide themselves. Leaning forward slightly makes it go faster while heavy leaning descends. Lean back to ascend and lean from one side or the other to go left and right.” Octavius snapped out of it quick enough to hear what Chris said, though he was still quite confused.

“I see…” he said, slowly approaching the blue glider and stepping on it. He tried to balance on it and managed to do so well enough. “So… Now what?”

Mia closed her eyes for a second, concentrating. She mumbled something under her breath, and two glowing wings appeared from her back, seemingly made of energy. She flapped a bit, sending a wind that buffeted everyone a little, floating with a thumbs up.

“Well… I’m at a loss for words,” Octavius said, gazing at Mia in bewilderment.

Chris blinked for a second before shaking his head and chuckling, looking towards Scootaloo. “Scoots, launch door please.”

Scoots threw him a remote connected to a heavy cord and the base for the gliders before walking over to a panel on the wall. She grabbed and yanked a lever, the hangar roof starting to slide back.

A bit of a wild grin lit up on the ranger’s face. “Hang onto your butts!” He shouted before pressing the button on the remote. The galaxy gliders shot forward and up the ramps, rushing like bullets into the twilight sky.

Mia yawned, before flying after them. Octavius was, for lack of a better word, hanging on for dear life, and he most certainly was not screaming. Mia was definitely not laughing at his not screaming. Chris was definitely laughing at his screaming. They rushed through the air, becoming little more than streaks of multicolored lights in the darkening sky as they headed south. Within minutes they reached the site… and Chris’ expression wasn’t something that could be easily explained at the sight of the disk-shaped ship ahead of them, the front cabin extending out opposite the silver fins that extend from the rest of the black ship. Chris and the others brought their galaxy gliders to a stop in front of the ship, Chris stumbling off of his vehicle, and Octavius falling off of his own.

Mia snickered, hovering next to him. “Great job there.”

“Yes, yes, let’s laugh at the doddery old warrior,” Octavius groused, pulling himself up off the ground.

“Okay,” Mia said, laughing teasingly. Chris, meanwhile, paid no mind as he stared up at the ship. Cobalt watched him as the young man stepped towards the machine, Sweetie just walking after Chris while Firefly checked on Octavius.

“I am fine, nothing I can’t handle,” he assured her, waving off her concerns. He looked towards the ship in front of them. “So, that is the vessel you spoke of… It certainly looks powerful.”

Firefly followed his gaze towards the ship. “It sure does,” she said nervously.

“So now what?” Mia asked, wings flapping.

Firefly gulped nervously as she stared at the ship the others were approaching without hesitation. “I guess… now we follow,” she answered before forcing herself to walk forward after the other three. Octavius followed after, still gazing at the massive ship in wonder, Mia shrugging and went in with him.

They caught up with the others just in time to hear Sweetie Belle’s question. “What is this thing, Chris?”

The young man just shook his head dumbly. “It’s another zord…,” he muttered in response, lifting a hand to put it on the metal plating of one of the landing skits, hesitating a bit before he touched it.

“I do not know what that means,” Octavius said, before adding, “But I’m assuming it is another mode of transport?”

“In a way,” Cobalt spoke up, his eyes going over the black and silver exterior. “The Delta, that ship you saw in the hangar, is also a zord. They’re basically giant fighting machines… I just didn’t think another one existed.” The sudden sound of hydraulics firing up had the Rangers’ gazes shoot towards Chris as he jumped back and a door in the skit opened.

For a few moments, he was completely still… up until he turned to face them with the look of a kid who just found the candy store. Mia snickered at this, shaking her head, whilst Octavius simply smiled. Sweetie swatted him with a bit of a cross expression. “You couldn’t give us a warning?” She questioned, sending him back into the panicked verbal flustering he’d been in earlier that evening. Sweetie just sighed and put a hand to her eyes. “Just… lead us inside, Chris.”

Chris froze where he was before nodding his head stiffly. “Right,” he answered before turning on his heel and walking into the gigantic ship, his team following behind him, Cobalt drawing out his laser blade in anticipation. Octavius tightened his grip on his weapons as he walked in with the others.

The interior was nothing but gray hallways with supports every ten feet or so, doors occasionally found between two of the supports. The Rangers kept quiet as they walked, tensing up as lights suddenly lit up the hallway. Octavius tried to keep his eyes on the surroundings for enemies and not the marvel of science he had not seen before, and for the most part, he was managing.

Mia started humming a tune to herself, looking around.

Chris took a deep. “Come on, guys,” he muttered before moving forward once more, his team following behind him. It didn’t take long before the group entered a room with computers and other technology lining the walls, five consoles taking up the center of the room, three in front of the other two. A large window at the opposite end of the room from the entrance showed off the scenery outside.

“This is far more advanced than anything I’ve seen before…” Octavius breathed, completely in awe.

“Eh,” Mia said boredly.

“Not sure you’d be thinking that if you saw this thing in-”

“Greetings, ranger.” The sudden feminine voice startled Chris quiet, as his and the ponies’ gazes locked onto a small orb with a red dot sitting on a black stalk, hanging from the corner of the room. “I am DECA. It is nice to meet you after so many years. Would you like me to initiate orientation protocols?”

“Um…?” Chris responded, taking a look at the others, receiving shrugs from the majority of his team.

“Neat,” Mia commented.

“I shall take that as a yes,” DECA said, drawing attention back to the camera. “If you would follow the black line on the floor, it will take you to the vault.”

“I am very confused, as well as curious,” Octavius commented.

“I’m sure it’ll be clear once we see the vault,” Chris answered, turning towards the doorway. “And who knows, maybe it’ll have something that will help us with what’s coming.” He started on his way, the rest of the team following along behind as he went.

“I hope so,” Octavius said, walking after them. The black line on the floor led them further into the ship, past even more closed doors except for one space that led into a sort of mess hall.

Cobalt’s eyes swept over the walls and occasional doors. “This is nothing like the Delta,” he muttered after a while.

“That’s because the Delta is just a zord,” Chris answered. “The Astro Megaship is anything but. This puppy can travel at light speed, house and provide for a crew of at least six for a prolonged amount of time, and transform into fighter mode to do even more damage than Delta.”

“I am still thoroughly confused,” Octavius informed the group as he followed, looking around in bewilderment.

“Think of it like a giant golem you can live in,” Mia told him.

“Mostly,” Firefly added softly. “Zords are like golems that are mostly piloted by somepony of our stature but still be autonomous. But when it comes to golems, they don’t get sick or decay. They just add to themselves over time. Zords can get viruses, suffer from wear and tear and require a heck of a lot of maintenance.” She explained this all expertly… before suddenly shrinking back a bit. “Sorry, I, uh….”

“Tis fine, I appreciate the explanation,” Octavius assured. Mia giggled a little in bemusement.

Firefly smiled a bit at the two before promptly walking into Cobalt’s back. The pink pegasus stumbled as if to fall only to end up in front of the thestral with his wings wrapped around her. “...You really need to be more careful,” he chided softly, drawing out a nervous chuckle from the mare before she looked in front of her.

They’d arrived at a large door that filled the hallway, a wheel taking up its center while a keypad sat on its right edge. “Welcome to the vault,” DECA’s voice spoke up once more, emanating from yet another small camera in the corner of the hall. “The pin pad can be reset once the door has been opened with your morpher.”

Chris hesitated a moment before lifting his morpher, a panel on the wall opening up to reveal a pad similar to the ones found in the castle. There was a buzzing sound followed by clinking as the vault’s wheel half-rotated counterclockwise. “Proceed to turn the wheel clockwise for three rotations.” The young man lowered his morpher before doing just that. The door let out a hydraulic hiss before sliding back and into the left wall. What the room revealed within… was mostly blocked by Chris.

“...Sweetie. Could you take Cobalt and Firefly to find the engine room?” He asked in a low tone, not turning to face them. “I’d like to get her up and running as soon as possible.”

The off-white mare looked a bit confused for a moment before nodding. “Alright,” she said, half turning before looking at the others. “C’mon guys.” She turned and walked off, Firefly following without hesitation. Cobalt turned but threw one last look at his leader before following after the mares.

Octavius seemed curious but proceeded with the others out of the room. Mia shrugged, following him.

The group moved along in silence for a long while before someone finally spoke up. “...What’s he trying to hide?” Cobalt questioned. Not out of suspicion or mistrust, but simple curiosity.

“I know not,” Octavius said truthfully.

“Stuff,” Mia said sarcastically.

Cobalt huffed at Mia’s answer before his attention was drawn away by Sweetie Belle. “Keep it cool, Co,” she said before continuing. “As for Chris, he’s never led us astray, so we’re just going to have-” An explosion suddenly rocked the ship and cut off the unicorn, knocking the ponies off their balance, Sweetie and Cobalt grabbing for the wall supports while the thestral put an arm around Firefly’s shoulders.

“What the hell?!” Mia cried, looking around.

“Hurry, outside!” Octavius ordered, rushing past them all.

“Warning! Warning!” DECA’s voice rang out through the halls, red alarm lights flashing. “Attempted breach on the starboard side! Forty enemy signatures detected and a single large signa-” Another explosion rocked the ship as Deka’s voice decayed into wordless static. “D-D-D-Day-ay-ay-anger! Ener-ner-ner-nergy drai-ai-ai-aining! Imm-me-me-mediate action requi-i-i-ired!”

“Well, that’s not good,” Mia commented. Octavius popped his head back in the hall.

“Make haste! We have enemies on the horizon!” he called, before turning back down the hall and rushing off. Mia rolled her eyes, following him. The three ponies rushed after them, Sweetie summoning her mage staff while Cobalt drew his laser pistol and tossed it to Firefly who caught it and held it in her left as she assembled her advanced laser pistol in her right. The group found themselves exiting the same door they had entered from only to be met by the flashing lights of laser fire.

Sweetie’s eyes widened and she slammed her staff into the ground, a green field of energy forming a partial dome shield in front of them. The bolts slammed into the barrier, throwing up explosions and smoke. Sweetie clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth to keep the barrier up, though it was certainly taking its toll as sweat started to form on her brow and cracks started to form in her shield.

“Allow me,” Mia said, standing next to Sweetie. Putting her arms up, she smirked. “Protect.” She said, a barrier of energy forming over Sweetie’s.

Then, all of a sudden, Octavius yelled, “Hold on to anything you can, and hold on tight!” he said, before taking out his white silk talisman walking out of the barrier for a moment and seemingly hugging himself, doing so tighter and tighter, until, with a blast of concussive force, all the lasers that shot his way were blown away, a few landing on the shield behind him but most harmlessly flying into the rest of the environment or into the enemy lines.

Then, with another motion of his talisman, he slammed a large bolt of lightning into the ground, and the sound of roaring thunder could be heard for miles around, until a wave, nay, a storm of lightning bolts decimated the enemy ranks.

Many of the cogs fell to pieces while others just managed to get out of the way. However, in the midst of the crowd, a large white robot was not only hit by the bolts but seemed to be drawing in some of the others. When the bolts died down, the robot still stood, completely unharmed. Sweetie let her barrier fall and got a good look at the machine captain.

It seemed rather ramshackle, its metallic frame visible underneath its white exoskeleton, red wires running to and fro around the silver frame. A dome-like head with two red eyes topped its skeletal appearance, staring at them as if it was completely unfazed.

“Damn…” Octavius cursed, gripping his blade tighter in his other hand.

Sweetie huffed for breath as Cobalt and Firefly stepped in front of her. “This… is not something that we’ve come across,” she breathed as she leaned on her staff.

“Blizzaga!” Mia shouted, sending a blizzard at the robot. The robot didn’t move at all until a cog came flying out of nowhere and took the hit for the machine captain, drawing a little cackle from the white automaton.

Octavius growled, taking his talisman and reeling it back, a white, glowing disc of holy magic appearing in his palm before he launched it at the captain. When a cog tried to take the hit for the captain, it was split in half and it continued on, slicing through one of the captain’s hands, then coming back to Octavius and dissipating after sitting behind the white captain for a few seconds.

The white machine let out a roar of pain and stumbled back a few steps before stopping. It lifted its arms to stare at its sparking wrists. Wires leaped from the wounds and began to reform into hands that flexed a few times. Once it was satisfied, it clenched its fists and stared directly at Octavius as electricity started to pour from its body. “...You die first,” its deep voice declared before black armor began to form over the gaps in its frame. Suddenly, the cogs that had somehow survived the first blast surrounded them, the ranger team tensing up and staring them down.

“We’ll take these clowns,” Cobalt declared, putting away his laser blade as he waved his hand over the charm on his hip, his greatsword forming before he drew it. “Think you guys can handle that thing?”

“Sure,” Mia said, making her hands go in a claw shape, a dark purple energy forming.

“A fight to the death… What more could an old Hollow ask for?” Octavius joked, before getting into a battle-ready stance, taking his shield from his back.

“Kill them all!” The machine captain commanded, the cogs rushing to follow the order. Cobalt and Firefly ran towards the left while Sweetie ran right, all of them raising their weapons. Firefly let loose with her twin pistols as Cobalt followed behind her, downing quite a few of her foes as shadows from Cobalt’s eyes and wings flooded to his blade. Sweetie flashed out of sight before reappearing in the midst of her opponents, whirling through the crowd like a green whirlwind.

The captain didn’t wait for the other two to move, slamming its reformed hands and a cable from its back into the ground, launching three waves of electricity at the pair. Octavius grit his teeth from the pain but forced himself to charge through it and towards the machine captain, sword poised to slash and shield raised to block.

Mia blocked it with another Protect, before charging with her claws, coming at him from his side. The captain straightened up and turned to face the oncoming threat. It rushed to meet Mia, raising a fist and swinging, its bulk throwing off its accuracy, letting her dodge and cut into its side with her claws.

Octavius took this opportunity to get closer as well and thrust his shield into the abdomen of the captain, then sliced into its the arm, but it did not do anything to the dark metal covering it. He followed up with a number of swift slashes to the white-plated chest area, leaving sparks in his blade’s wake.

Mia, deciding to take advantage of the open wounds, breathed a jet of hot flames into them, flames warm enough to cut through stone like butter.

The machine captain gave out another cry of pain as the flames licked at its side, stumbling back as the static buzzed, rushing to patch the area as quickly as it could. Mia didn’t let up, sending another, stronger, jet of flame into the wounds. The automaton let out another roar of pain, but this time, rather than retreat, it rushed forward, aiming a punch at Mia’s head.

She moved to dodge the punch, charging another flame burst. Except the blow never came, the captain dropping the punch and instead wrapping its cable around her throat tightly and lifting her up from the ground before zapping her for all it was worth.

Mia snarled, annoyance building as she kept building flame. The captain reared its appendage back and threw Mia away, launching a few bolts of electricity after her just for good measure.

Mia, angered, fired a beam of fire so hot it had more business being a plasma than a fire beam. Octavius, at the same time, took advantage of Mia’s distraction and pulled out the staff that Samson had given him, and raised it, and then thrust it forwards, summoning a barrage of blue, nearly crystalline looking, bolts of soul magic, which tore into the captain’s back, ignoring it’s armor and penetrating it.

Two more barrages followed, leaving the captain with strange scars that wouldn’t heal, thanks to a number of blue, glowing crystals left in the wounds, seeming to be residue from the bolts.

The machine yelled in pain as it was ping-ponged around the battlefield. When it finally came to a stop, it laid where it had landed, smoke rising from its sparking body. Octavius approached the body, stomping a boot on a twitching arm and keeping his sword at the ready for any surprise attacks.

“And stay down monster,” he growled, crushing the arm further. The machine lie still, not making a single peep as its body was mangled further… but then again, it didn’t have to. A scream and shout sounded out across the battlefield.

“Cobalt! Fly!” Sweetie’s yell pierced the sounds of battle, the commotion caused by her magically enhanced attacks growing tenfold. Octavius’ head snapped towards the sound, seeing Cobalt hold his own against a growing crowd of cogs, Firefly lying on her back as she clutched at her side, her armor beginning to stain red in the same region. Sweetie was doing all she could to join them, but the weak opponents just kept coming.

Octavius, angered at his companion and new students being driven back and harmed so much, let loose a feral growl and raised his staff one, final time. An eerie purple glow emanated from it for but a moment, before a terrifying, large, ethereal orb of dark magic shot towards the cogs, two wide, glowing white eyes in the center of the orb granting an eerie sense of humanity to it, before it barreled into the cogs around Cobalt and Firefly, smashing them with its darkness and leaving naught but piles of bodies, all crumpled and sparking.

Octavius panted as he fell to his knees, eyes wide in shock as he stared at his staff like it had just betrayed him. He was trembling, almost as if he were cold.

That’s when the machine below him struck. The sound of rending metal split the air as it drove the spike of its cable into the Unkindled’s back before unleashing just as much electricity as had been dealt to it by the knight. Octavius could not help the blackish blood that spewed from his mouth and splattered the inside of his helm, nor could he help the cold in his chest growing colder. He fell limp quickly, his blackish blood dripping down the cable as he did, while his body was smoking from the electricity. The only remnants of him being remotely alive were the twitches of his limbs.

The machine stood to its feet, electricity sparking as the wounds that could be healed sealed themselves off. It yanked the cable from Octavius’ back and gave a wicked chuckle as it aimed the next thrust at the metallic helm. The strike never came.

A rushing sound filled the air, followed by the sound of shredding metal and a thud. Not long after, an explosion shook the ground. Footsteps rushed towards Octavius before Chris knelt beside him in his Psycho Chrome armor. “Oh, gott, what did Main Drain do to you?” He muttered before putting his hands on the Unkindled, Pink Static charging Octavius as he tried to get the wounds healed.

But it did not work. The wounds continued weeping blood, and Octavius was still badly burnt and occasionally sparking.

“Verdammt…,” the ranger muttered, trying to push more healing magic into the fallen warrior.

Mia seemed to come out of a trance, looking at Octavius. “Curaga,” She said. But that didn’t work either.

A growl emanated from the helmet on Chris’ head. “Why isn’t this working?” He questioned angrily, undertones of fear weeding through his voice.

“He’s probably dead if healing doesn’t work,” Mia said, huffing.

Chris completely stopped at that, even his Static dying away. “...Dead?” He questioned, his voice hollow.

“Don’t worry. He’s a Hollow, they come back. He just needs to catch up to us,” Mia told him.

The brakes slamming could almost be heard from Chris’ head. “Wait, what?” He asked, looking up at Mia.

“I said, he’s a Hollow, he’ll come back,” Mia said.

Chris let this sink in as the black lenses stared at Mia. Eventually, he stood to his feet, stature resolute in its entirety. “How does he come back?” He questioned, the forming plan clear in his voice.

“Bonfires,” Mia said.

“...A Bonfire, huh?” The ranger muttered before he looked off slightly to their left. Pink Static arced through him and into the ground, roots suddenly bursting from the ground and forming the usual form of a bonfire. With a quick flick of his wrist, Chris threw a fireball into the wood, the pile bursting into flames. Chris lowered his hand and waited… and waited… and waited….

But nothing emerged from the flames.

“Oh, come on!”

“They usually need a soul,” Mia commented.

“How do we get one of those?” Chris asked before pausing. “...We’re not actually going to have to kill something are we?”

“Well, that was a big fight. See if anything’s dying around here,” Mia said with a shrug.

The ranger stayed where he was for several moments before a sigh emanated from him. “Sorry, Flutters…,” he muttered before Pink Static burst through the ground in a wave. A few moments passed before the wave came back and entered Chris, telling him all he needed to know. “....There’s a dying squirrel about thirty feet behind us…,” he reported morosely.

“That should work,” Mia said.

The squares in his gauntlets turned gray, Gray Static lighting up around him before shadows formed on the ground and shot away from them. Chris turned his eyes away as the shadows returned with the body of the squirrel, simply tossing it into the flames. The ranger let out a long breath and lowered his head as the Gray Static died away and the squares returned to the shifting colors they had been before.

Then, Octavius’ body dissolved into ashes, flew over to the Bonfire, and then he reformed in the flames, stepping out as if he wasn’t even bothered by them. His armor was back to its pristine condition, and he looked the same as ever.

“Aaaand he’s back,” Mia said, smirking.

Chris looked up the moment Octavius came through. “Thank goodness,” he said in a low tone… before a ball of electricity slammed into his back. The resulting explosion rocked him forward but did little more as the lightning was absorbed into his armor, the young man letting out a sigh. “...Ready to finish this guy?” Octavius simply nodded, getting into a battle ready stance.

Mia was ahead of them, breathing purple energy at the thing. Main Drain seemed to be learning though as it dodged to the side, jumping out of the way and launching lightning at the one assaulting it. However, the bolts never reached her as Chris appeared at her side, arms crossed over his chest as he absorbed the electricity. Octavius simply cracked his neck, before whipping out his staff again.

“My first mistake was aiming for your back. This time, I shall aim for your heart,” he growled, before raising his staff, rearing it back as blue magic collected in it, and as soon as Main Drain turned around, a solid beam of pure soul magic, larger than any bolt, slammed into him, blowing a humongous hole in his chest that would not heal thanks to the crystals starting to eat away at his form.

“No, wait-” Chris started dropping his arms and reaching forward, but it was too late as Main Drain fell back and laid still. Octavius approached Chris.

“The beast lies dead, so why do you look concerned, young Chris?” Octavius queried, stomping on Main Drain’s head for emphasis.

“Run,” was the Ranger's only response as all the cogs in the area started to retreat. “Get to the Astro now.” Octavius blinked, before looking at the machine captain’s corpse.

“I’m not sure I understand-,” Octavius began to say only to be cut off as the corpse began to glow a dark green and black. The energy flared as the robot began to grow in size. “Oh.” He said, before following the group inside the Astro as quick as he could.

The ponies limped into the ship first, Cobalt and Sweetie supporting Firefly even as healing magic pulsed into her from the unicorn mage. Chris followed after them followed by Octavius and Mia, the door slamming as Main Drain’s growth reached the halfway point. “Get to the main deck!” Chris shouted worriedly as they rounded the several bends of the ship’s interior.

“So, what the hell’s going on? I keep zoning out,” Mia commented.

“The machine we were fighting is getting big now,” Chris answered as they ran. “The only chance we have of surviving is to get Astro on its feet.”

“Pft, maybe for you, I got summons,” Mia said.

“I believe we should be focusing on the matter at hand, Miss Mia!” Octavius admonished as they ran.

“Nevah!” Mia exclaimed.

They reached the main control room just as a flash of light filled the windows. A low, loud chuckle shook the ship slightly as Main Drain could be seen outside. “Everybody take a console!”

“What in the world is a ‘console’?” Octavius wondered to himself as he walked to what he assumed was one. “So, now what do we do, young Chris?”

“We do stuff,” Mia said, going to one as well.

Chris and the others took up the rest of the consoles, Chris taking the foremost as Cobalt and Sweetie took the seats nearest, Firefly falling into the last nearest Mia and Octavius. “We hold on,” Chris answered as he took the controls. “DECA, get this bird in the air!”

“If your intent is to fight, there is a problem,” the A.I. replied. “The Astro requires the combined efforts of two or more rangers to operate correctly.”

“What does that mean, spirit?” Octavius queried the A.I.

“It means one of you would need to take up the form of a ranger,” DECA answered. “Perhaps if one of you took up the power in the-”

“DECA!” Chris interrupted sharply. “Give me manual flight control.”

“Manual flight controls activated.” Chris jerked the controls and the Astro shuddered into the air, the main windows giving them a perfect view of the giant machine in front of them.

“Well…” Octavius began, staring ahead at the monstrous machine captain. “That’s certainly not good.”

“I’m tempted to summon something but I wanna see the fight,” Mia said.

Chris jerked the controls again, forcing everyone in the cabin to jerk to one side as a blur went passed the windows. A loud boom sounded out as the machine captain’s fist barely missed them and slammed into the ground. “Hang on!” The ranger shouted, moving the joysticks more fluidly before pushing them forward. The Astro shot forward and around Main Drain until the crew could look up through the viewing window and see Main Drain far below, straightening up to glare at them after its attack.

“We can’t take that thing as we are,” Cobalt pointed out as they circled their opponent.

Chris nodded his helmeted head. “DECA, we need fighter mode,” he said, not letting his eyes come off the machine captain.

“Sir, fighter mode will not function properly without two ranger pilots,” the computer answered, once again iterating its point.

Chris was silent for a moment before he answered. “DECA, Astro has an AI, correct?”

“Correct,” DECA answered. “It was her decision to follow Delta’s signal to this planet after he exited the wormhole.”

“Put her in control alongside me,” Chris said, looking towards his console as different readouts lit up. “Now, initiate fighter mode.” The reaction was immediate. The cabin doors sealed themselves as the orientation of the cockpit changed. Lights surrounded the cabin’s occupants before they disappeared and reappeared in a new cockpit, much smaller than before.

“What in the-?!” Octavius cried in surprise.

“Well, this is a thing,” Mia comments.

“Hold on folks!” Chris warned as he pushed the controllers forward, bringing Astro into her dive position as she began to descend. “We’re going in rough!” The Astro fell towards the machine captain as he stared at them, her shield held in front of her and sword raised, body leaned forward with one knee hiked forward.

Main Drain launched his cable towards the Astro, only to have the machine’s only weapon ricochet off the shield with a bang and a spark. Astro slammed into the captain with her shield, showers of sparks exploding from the collision. Main Drain staggered back as the Astro finally got her feet under her with a shudder.

“I AM BOTH THOROUGHLY CONFUSED AND EXCITED AT THE SAME TIME!” Octavius yelled, holding onto the console for dear life whilst also watching the fight. Mia was just laughing.

Chris’ head tilted forward. “Now, the real fight begins,” he muttered as Main Drain righted itself, staring at them with its one bright red eye.

“...You’re all going to die,” the machine captain declared before rushing towards them, its cable poised over its shoulder for an attack. Chris thrust the controls forward and Astro responded accordingly, rushing towards Main Drain with her shield held out front and sword raised high. The titans clashed in a shower of sparks and loud booms as the machine captain launched its main weapon forward, the spike barely bouncing off the edge of the shield as Astro swung her sword, the blade meeting the black armor on the automaton’s forearm as it raised the limb to defend itself. The captain raised its other fist and slammed it into Astro’s shield, once again shooting up an array of sparks as the Megazord staggered back. Within the cabin, Firefly gripped the console before her and grit her teeth while Cobalt and Sweetie both held on tightly, eyes locked on Main Drain.

Octavius, starting to calm down from the miraculous things going on around him, finally started to analyze the fight. As he did, he noted Chris was not using his shield to its full potential.

“Young Chris! That shield is more than protection, tis a weapon as good as any blade!” Octavius instructed the ranger.

Chris cocked his head back towards Octavius before nodding. “Astra,” he said, turning back to his controls. “Magnetize the left forearm, get the shield in a side grip rather than frontal.” There was no response as the Astro’s feet ground into the earth below them, stopping them before raising its yellow eyes towards Main Drain. With a buzz and a hollow, metal boom, the shield shifted its position and stuck to the side of the zord’s arm rather than sitting in her hand. Chris jerked the joysticks forward once more.

They ran forward once more, Main Drain ready for their assault… or so it thought. The machine raised its arm, electricity bounding off of the knuckles before it swung down, aiming towards Astro’s head. The shield shot up, deflecting the blow with little effort. The black zord swung upward diagonally with its sword, slashing the captain across the chest and sending up a shower of sparks. Even as Main Drain staggered back, Astro spun with her momentum, extending her left arm and slamming the edge of her shield into the side of the robot’s head. Main Drain lost it's balanced as the blow lifted it off its feet and tossed it away from them.

“Well done, young Chris! Now finish it off!” Octavius encouraged.

“With pleasure,” two voices responded, the first being Chris’ and the other feminine, but different from DECA. Main Drain started to rise, Astro running to meet it. The robot took notice and launched its spike cable forward, only for the zord to sidestep and slash down, severing the captain’s one weapon in an explosion of sparks.

“AGGGHHH!” Main Drain cried out in pain, attempting to stand to its feet only to cry out once more as the astro saber buried itself in its leg and the ground beneath, pinning the automaton. Chris spun the controls in a quick wide circle, Astro responding by spinning counterclockwise and backhanding Main Drain’s head once more with the shield as the zord stepped passed it, bringing an arm back and over her shoulder. The machine captain’s head slammed into the ground, dazing it before it started to raise itself back up, its head raising… only to find itself staring into a black hole.

“Night night, arschhut,” Chris muttered before he pulled the trigger of his joystick. Light filled the captain’s vision as the astro blaster whirred to life. With a loud boom, a hole bored itself through Main Drain’s head, its red eye flickering before going dark. The machine slumped to the ground and lie still.

“Ha ha ha ha! Marvelous, the cretin lies dead!” Octavius cheered.

“Well, that was a good show,” Mia commented.

Chris slumped back in his chair. Sweetie looked at him with concern before putting a hand to his armored shoulder, drawing his attention. “We should get home,” the mare said quietly, receiving only a nod from the young man. He lifted himself back up in his seat and took the controls once more.

“Astro, return to megaship mode,” he said tiredly. They were returned to the main cockpit as Astro rose into the air and transformed into its ship mode. Chris demorphed and leaned back once more, sweat-drenched hair sticking to his head. “...Take us home,” he muttered before resting his morpher on the console, the ship rushing forward and back towards the Everfree castle.

“Are you alright, young Chris?” Octavius asked as he approached.

“Y-yeah,” the young man answered, rubbing a hand over his face to clear the sweat from his eyes. “But I see why the Astro needs more than one pilot….”

“A bit too hard on ya?” Mia asked.

Chris nodded. “Controlling the Megazord is just as much mental as it is physical,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “And… there are a lot of moving parts….” Octavius rested a hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“Will you be alright once we return? I do not wish to see a friend push themselves too far, after all,” Octavius asked worriedly.

Chris nodded his head. “I’ll be fine,” he muttered before starting to push himself off his chair. “But there’s something I want to discuss with you and Mia if you don’t mind.” Octavius simply nodded.

“What’s up?” Mia asked.

“Um, something… very important,” he said before nodding his head towards the door in a signal to follow him. Octavius did so, following him through the door.

Mia nodded, following. The young man walked through the halls of the megaship, leading them down a path they had already walked that day. “...After what you’ve seen today, you guys understand what we face… right?” He asked as they walked. Octavius nodded.

“Automatons of a sort, and a very unique kind of which I have not seen the likes of before. A tough enemy to be sure,” Octavius surmised.

“Robots,” Mia said simply.

Chris nodded. “These machines are incredibly powerful, but I’ve been able to take them down one at a time… until recently.” He came to a stop in front of the vault doors. “They’re getting stronger, and I can’t keep beating them.” He lifted his arm and scanned his morpher on the security pad. “The inhabitants of Equis are who I’m afraid for. They keep standing up and getting knocked down and each time is worse… they’re not like us. So, I have to make a decision….” He reached for the wheel and turned it, the door opening up to reveal what was inside the vault. “Do I stand alone and keep protecting them… or do I put them in harm’s way?”

In the back of the vault hung two suits, one primarily silver and the other primarily black, each with a stand in front of it holding some sort of device. The silver was simple and streamlined with gold accents wrapping around it here and there, the band across the chest containing five green squares, the helmet following the same design pattern with a black dome that decorated the top.

The black suit was much bigger and looked to be more like a suit of armor, complete with shoulder pads, a cape, and a horned helmet. A green hexagon occupied the middle of the chest and matched a jewel that sat in the crown of the helmet above the black visor, gold bands with zig-zag designs running through them adorned its middle and shoulders.

Octavius examined them for a moment, taking in the designs of each one, before turning to Chris. He placed both hands on each of Chris’ shoulders and stared straight into his eyes, and into his soul.

“Ask yourself this instead. Do you wish for them to be obliterated for not having the means to protect themselves, or be a true hero of the ages and give them what they require for retaliation instead of being a lone wolf?” Octavius asked his tone even.

Chris stared back at him, fear clear as day in his eyes. “What if they get hurt?” He asked. “Putting on these suits, taking this power… it could be a death sentence….”

“Not if you teach them well. Death is not a certainty. Harm is, but that is life at its simplest. We are all beaten down, time and time again, by Life. What really matters is standing back up, and how you do so,” Octavius informed him. Chris was about to retaliate, but Octavius stopped him short. “Keep your worries with you, but do not let them rule you.’ That is a lesson I have taken from my lord, and one you should take to heart as well.”

Chris looked at the knight for a moment before glancing back at the suits on the wall. After a moment, he let out a breath, his body relaxing. “I’ll get them up to snuff then,” he said. “Thank you.” Octavius simply smiled, clapping the young man on the back.

“Anytime, young Chris. Anytime. An old man has to pass on wisdom every now and then, after all, or he’s useless,” Octavius joked.

“Well, who’s gonna help ya?” Mia questioned.

“Sweetie will volunteer,” Chris answered without hesitance. “The only question is up to Cobalt and Firefly, but I’m pretty sure which one of them is going to step up.”

“Good, seems you know your team well. That is always a good thing,” Octavius praised.

“Well, do you need us for anything else?” Mia asked.

“I believe we still need to teach the soldiers our techniques, Miss Mia,” Octavius reminded.

“Oh, right,” Mia said.

Chris gave a little smile. “Thank you both for all the help you’ve been giving us,” he said, looking to each of them.

“Of course! Though I believe I should thank you as well. You’ve given not just hope, but a solid purpose. That is more than most Hollows can say,” Octavius said gratefully.

Chris nodded his head. “I’m glad I could repay you somehow,” he said, reaching a hand out. Octavius took the hand and shook it firmly, but not too firmly.

“Well, my turn to teach, right?” Mia asked with a smirk.

“Ehhh, maybe wait until after-”

“Captain, we have reached our destination,” DECA spoke up, cutting off the ranger. “Where would you like us to put down?”

“Set us down outside the hangar,” Chris answered the AI, looking up at the ceiling-mounted camera. “I’ll make a spot for the Astro as soon as I can.” He looked down at the others. “Guess that invalidates what I was going to say next.” Octavius chuckled.

“Indeed,” he turned to the door, making his way to it before stopping short. “...Might I inquire as to where the exit is?” he asked, turning around and rubbing the back of his helm sheepishly.

“The way we came silly,” Mia said.

Chris chuckled. “She’s right,” he said, nodding towards Mia for a moment. “But it’s the blue line on the floor that leads to the exit.”

“Ah, thank you,” he said as followed the blue line out of the room. Giggling, Mia followed.

Chris closed the vault doors and followed them. After a bit of walking, they met the rest of his team and a very shocked looking Scootaloo at the doors. “...Where the heck did you guys find this thing!?” The pegasus shouted, holding her arms out with a grease rag in one hand towards the enormous ship.

“A place,” Mia said with a small grin.

Scootaloo looked towards her with an annoyed look. “Thanks, I gathered that much,” the mare said, rolling her eyes to look at Chris, who chuckled.

“Turns out that the Astro was the mysterious signal you guys picked up,” Chris answered before Firefly tugged on his sleeve to draw his attention. “Hm? What is it, Fly?”

“Um, I think we left the galaxy gliders back at the landing site,” she answered. A soft tapping followed by a feeling of dread had Chris hunching his shoulders and turning to face a very irritated looking Scootaloo.

“You lost… the galaxy gliders?” She questioned, her eyes narrowed.

“Is that bad?” Octavius asked in a whisper to Mia.

“Matter of perspective, really,” Mia whispered back.

“And my perspective is that some numbskull left five very advanced, very difficult to manufacture pieces of equipment out in the field!” Scootaloo shouted, having stomped right up to Chris’ understandably frightened face.

“S-Scoots just calm down,” Chris said, holding up his hands defensively. “I-I’m sure we can just y’know, j-just jump back over there and grab them real quick-”

“If I may,” DECA suddenly spoke up. “The galaxy gliders have been stored in the launch bay.”

The ponies and Chris blinked at that, Scootaloo bringing a hand up to point at the ship as they all stared at the Astro. “...Did… the ship just talk?” She questioned.

“Yeah, it does that,” Chris answered before shaking his head. “DECA, when did you manage that?”

“Right before our take off to escape Main Drain,” the AI answered. “Astra feared they would be crushed underfoot or worse.” Octavius leaned towards Scootaloo.

“Trust me, I do not understand it any more than you do, Miss,” he whispered in her ear.

Scootaloo’s eye twitched for a second before just face-palming and shaking her head. “I”m just going to prep the hangar and get the Astro ready for a systems diagnostic.” With that, she turned and walked away.

Chris was quiet for a second before Cobalt stepped up behind him. “Not going to thank her?” The taller stallion asked.

“I think it’s best we just let her go,” Chris said, a slight twinge in his voice. “Seems safer that way…. Also, remind me to thank her later….”

“Well…that was…something,” Octavius noted lamely.

“Meh,” Mia said, shrugging.

Chris and the others watched as Scootaloo disappeared around a corner and winced as loud banging and cursing ensued. “I, uh…,” Chris started, slowly lifting a finger before letting it fall. “...I think it’s time to show you guys to your bunks….”

“Okay,” Mia said.

“Very well,” Octavius agreed.

“Right!” Chris said, jumping a bit as a much louder crash sounded out from Scootaloo’s direction. “This way.” He turned quickly on his heel and started to walk back towards the castle, the others outpacing him as they walked. Mia followed, humming.

Octavius looked around for a good long while, observing the cobblestone walls before they entered through a wooden door. The walls were intricately decorated with different paintings that had been rescued from the empire and other furnishings like small stands and tables with pottery or vases on them to give what was basically a refugee camp a more homey feeling.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Chris said after a while when he noticed Octavius taking in the castle. Octavius, however, wasn’t paying attention to him. In fact, he had actually stopped walking as a memory flooded his mind….

“-ey, Octavius?” Chris said, his hand on the knight's shoulder as he looked at him worriedly. “You okay?”

“Oct?” Mia asked, looking worried. Octavius shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“Wh-What? Huh?” he looked around in bewilderment for a moment before noticing the group looking at him worriedly. “Oh, apologies, I must have not been paying attention.”

The young man’s eyes drifted over his helmet as if he could see past it and to the knight's face. After a moment, he simply nodded his head. “Your rooms aren't much farther,” he said as he turned around and started walking again.

“Cool,” Mia said, hands in her pockets. Octavius seemed to be deep in thought as he walked with the group through the castle, staying silent the whole way.

Chris eventually led the group to a pair of doors that sat beside each other in the wall. “Alright, this is your stop,” the ranger announced as he turned back to the pair. “A room for the each of you, complete with full-sized beds, closets, bathrooms, and a desk.” He turned and pointed to the next door further down. “I'm right down there. If you guys need anything, just come knock on the door.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Octavius thanked as he approached the door to his room. “I shall be in here, should you have further need of me. Have a good evening, my friends.” And with that, he walked in and closed the door behind him.

Chris looked at the door for a while before turning towards Sweetie Belle and the others. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up,” he said, the ponies exchanging glances before turning and walking away, Sweetie hesitating only a moment. The ranger turned back to Mia once they were out of earshot. “Is Octavius okay?” He asked, true worry coming to his voice and face.

“Yeah, why?” Mia asked.

“Just making sure,” he answered with a shrug. “He seemed kinda… distant back there….”

“He does that sometimes,” Mia said simply.

Chris nodded slowly before turning around. “Alright, you have a good night!” He said over his shoulder, giving a little wave before looking forward. The young man eventually made it to his room and closed the door behind him, slumping back to rest his back.

“Man, what a day…” he muttered before a loud yawn echoed through his mind, eliciting a chuckle from the young man. “Mornin’, sleepy head.”

Mmm, mornin’, Sam mumbled sleepily from within Chris’ head. ...Wait, how long was I out?!

“Couple of hours,” Chris answered, walking towards the bed and sitting down to take off his shoes.

Ahh, man! The second personality whined. What’d I miss?