//------------------------------// // 2.11 Fire To My Soul // Story: Unforgiven Memories // by Hidden Brony //------------------------------// Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did. Flight From Memories Chapter Eleven: Fire To My Soul I stared at the alicorn as she stared back, her eyes seemingly trying to bore into my skull. "So," I said, "how is this going down?" "That is entirely up to you," she said. "If you try and kill me, you will die." "Good thing we started this off on a good hoof," I snarked. "I am trying to make sure that you understand the basics. You can't kill all your problems," she said. "I haven't killed them all, Shining Armor just has some broken bones," I pointed out. "Since when?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "Since he attacked me earlier today," I said, waving my injured hoof. "Don't you teach unicorns not to stab their horns into their enemies anymore?" "He what," she deadpanned with no inflection to indicate it was a question. "But hell, I would have done the same if I had an incredibly strong emotion amplification spell on me," I continued, ignoring her question. Hurry up, Murphy. I can't stall for long. "Where would he have gotten such a thing?" she asked as if she didn't know. "A spell of the level placed on him? It turned minor annoyance into murderous rage, Luna. That takes an insane amount of magic," I said. "A level reached by only four beings in the world." Hurry the hell up. "I don't like your implications," the alicorn growled. "I wouldn't resort to such underhoofed tactics." "Wouldn't you? I can feel about seven spells radiating off of you from here, six of them are—” I stopped, staring at her. So that’s what it was. I walked directly up to her and stared her in the eyes. "Do you want something?" she asked, lowering her head to keep her eyes level with mine. "Murphy, now would be a great time!" I yelled. I saw a flash from behind me, indicating that something was going down. I assumed that it was something good and jumped up, clamping my teeth on the diarch's horn. She whinnied, whipping her head back and forth in an attempt to dislodge me. Every movement was agony as it ground my teeth into her horn. It is difficult to describe what was going on at the moment if you can't experience devouring magic, but I shall endeavor to be as accurate as I could be. Let’s step into the metaphysical world, where nothing I say is literal, but is the best way for you to understand what I’m saying. Imagine Luna's mind as a castle. This castle has many buildings, these store her memory and personality. What you would have seen from my position amounts to a huge, glowing, pale gold dome blocking entry or exit from the castle. There was a fake castle made of a similar material to the dome right next to it. This castle was nearly identical to the real one, save for a few changed buildings. I had to remove both the dome and the fake castle to remove Celestia's influence on her little sister. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to destroy a castle by yourself, but you can't just walk up to it and start hitting it with a hammer. You have to be precise in your strikes, and hit hard. Combine that with the fact that the enchantment was designed to defend itself, it was a daunting task. Steeling myself, I took my first metaphysical step forward. The world around me seemed to stretch momentarily, before snapping back into place, putting me at my destination: the gates of the false castle. Distance was not a constant here. Within moments, faceless apparitions pulled themselves out of the ground to attack me. Jumping back, I avoiding their beginning swings. I launched myself forward, getting a solid hit on one of the three constructs. It shattered, sinking back into the ground. Two more strikes wiped out the other creatures, allowing me access to the front gate. With a single buck, they crumpled inwards. Cracks formed with each step and the color of the ground faded slightly as I damaged the enchantment with my mere presence. "You cannot win," the last voice I wanted to hear called out from all around me as I walked through the now-open gate. "You will fail." "Celestia," I growled. "I killed you." "You did, and that wasn't very nice of you. After all the years we knew each other, after all the times I lifted my tail for you, you buried a knife in my throat." She was trying to distract me. I kept looking around as I wandered through the town surrounding the keep, watching for more apparitions. "You betrayed me, Celestia. You betrayed all of us." "Please, I did what any ruler would have in my place. I had something and I wanted more, so I took more.” “How much of you is left?” I asked. “So you can destroy it all?” her voice echoed as she chuckled. “I don’t think so. Keep in mind that what you have found is a tiny fraction of me, just enough to keep Luna compliant.” “You’re a bitch,” I said, walking down a wide, empty street. It was weird, seeing so many well-kept buildings and roads, but not a single resident. “You wound me, Streak!” she said with obviously false hurt. “I thought you would be overjoyed by your chance to fix me again!” “The only thing I will be fixing is accidentally leaving a tiny shred of you alive,” I growled. The keep was in sight now. “So be it,” Celestia growled. “You will never be safe from me again. You have proven that you won’t be a tool again. I don’t get my favorite toy back.” “Rainbow Dash is the only one who can play with me, thank you very much,” I said, taking a step on the road. “I don’t think so,” she said quietly. Hundreds of automatons melted up out of the ground and off of walls to stand in my way. “I have more than one way of playing. Only one is enjoyable for you, but you don’t get that anymore.” “Please, you think that was enjoyable?” I said, getting angry. I think this was her plan, and if it was, it was a stupid plan. “Now that I have something to compare it to, it was—frankly—boring, unoriginal, and tedious.” “Tedious?” she shouted, causing the entire spell to shake. The constructs seemed to be robbed of their sustaining enchantments and crumbled. “That’s what I said, or are you getting hard of hearing in your advanced age?” I asked. “I wouldn’t put it past you, after all.” “I will destroy your life,” she growled. “I will kill all you love, destroy all you hold dear, and obliterate everything you care for. Then, and only then, will I kill you.” “Aww,” I said, “is someone getting cranky? Is it time for little Celly to have a nap?” “I am a Guardian!” she shouted again, shaking the spell to its foundations. Cracks formed as the enchantment started to break apart. This was working better than I thought it would. “I am thousands of years old! I influence the course of generations when I so much as blink! I have been working magic beyond the likes of you for millennia! I. Do. Not. Need. A. Nap!” “With how childish you’re being, I couldn’t possibly see how you work the magics you claim to work.” The cracks started to get wider as everything continued to shudder. “Maybe I’ll show you,” she growled. “When you join me in hell!” The ground went from cracking to full on shattering as the castle in the center exploded. She let out a shriek of frustration and anger as her spell failed, causing a tremor in the spell as I bolted, barely in front of the fast vanishing ground and barely able to keep my step due to the ground bucking like a wild bull. As soon as my hooves cleared the barrier between the metaphysical world and the real one, I unclenched my jaw, letting go of Luna’s horn. I was immediately sent flying through the air, landing none-too-gracefully in a heap on the ground. The whole event—from entering the metaphysical to landing on the ground—took less than three seconds, real-time. “Damn, that bitch is resilient,” I moaned aloud. “What does it take to kill her?” A spear pressed lightly into my throat. “A little more than that, asshole,” a strangely familiar red guard at the non-pointy end of the stick growled. “Release him,” Luna said, walking up to us. “But—” the guard tried to complain. “Release. Him,” she reiterated, her tone implying that there would be no disobedience. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, lifting his spear up and stepping back. I stood up, stretching. “That was a most interesting experience, I must say. How much of that did you see?” I asked. “All of it, and I must say, that was a clever way of removing an enchantment,” she replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone dispel something by pissing off the owner of it.” “This is all fine and dandy,” Murphy said, “but can we be released, too?” I chuckled when I saw how pitiful the four of them looked. Star was just standing there with a magic-inhibiting ring on her horn, sullen. Murphy was on his back with no fewer than four spears sticking at his head, chest, and groin. Gilda was in the same predicament as Murphy, just without the groin spears. Rainbow, however, was tied up for some reason. “Just like old times, Rainbow?” I asked. “Shut up,” she muttered, blushing. Luna giggled at our antics. “Guard, release them, as well.” “Nah, leave Rainbow all tied up,” I chuckled. Luna and Rainbow gave me looks at that, and were there not a guard blocking my view or my daughter, I would have seen her look, too. “Untie Rainbow Dash,” Luna said with deliberate slowness. As soon as the flier was untied, she walked over to me and smacked me upside the head. “Be careful about hitting me,” I warned. “I hit back.” “You couldn’t hit a girl,” Rainbow said. “It’s against the guy code.” “Self defense works for murder, I think it words for a breach in the guy code,” I reasoned. “If someone’s hitting me, I’ll hit them back.” “Ah, but what if that someone’s the one that controls your ability to get tail?” she asked. The guards around us snickered as she walked around me, dragging her tail across my face. She gave me a smirk as I got flustered before walking off . I’ll never admit to looking, but her hips were swaying a little—okay, a lot—more than they needed to for her motions. Damn! “I hate to interrupt this conversation, I really do, but I had you brought here to speak with you,” Luna said. “Given recent developments, I think I should readjust what I was going to say. So instead of ‘This is for murdering my sister’, I’ll say ‘Welcome back to Equestria with a full pardon for all offences.’ “ “But what about—” I started. “This is for all of you, Rainbow Dash included,” Luna said. “As soon as Twilight is better, this whole debacle is over, as far as the government is concerned. You’ll still have to work things between yourselves, of course.” “Of course,” Rainbow said, walking up next to me again. “I assume we’re on the next train out?” she asked. “Yes,” the diarch said. “The next train actually leaves soon, so if we want to make it, we need to move.” To make a short story even shorter, we made it. Soon after we were all seated—Rainbow and Star next to me, of course, and Murphy, Gilda, and Luna on the other side of the personal car Luna got for us—the train started to move. I didn’t get more than a moment’s respite, however. “Okay, what the hell was that?” Rainbow asked. “You attacked the Princess, even after I tried my hardest to get you to avoid a fight!” “That wasn’t for the defense of another,” I reminded. “Attacking Luna was for her own defense.” “How could—” she started, being cut off. “Because my mind wasn’t my own at that time,” Luna interrupted. “Celestia was crafty, and placed behavior modifying spells on those most likely to help her.” “Behavior modification?” Star asked. “I realize that you guys are on a different level than the rest of us, but isn’t that ridiculously difficult to do?” “Especially with no magic,” my fillyfriend added. “She planted them before I returned,” I deduced. “That’s why you didn’t expose her immediately when you returned. She got you with a spell right as you came back.” “She planted two on me before banishing me,” she corrected. “One that was designed to hide from the Elements and keep me compliant to her, and one that turned me into Nightmare Moon that was designed to be so obvious that the Elements wouldn’t look past it to find the other one.” “Clever, I’ll admit,” I said, “but all that means is that my work isn’t over. I need to find every last shred of her and destroy them all.” “Check those that aren’t mortal first,” Murphy said. “Enchantments like this are nearly impossible to transfer from one—” he paused in thought, ” ‘host’, we’ll say—to another. Once the pony she enchanted had died, the spell will fail, giving her a limited time to live once we remove the long-lasting enchantments.” I nodded. I paused for a moment, thinking. “Hey, Murphy,” I asked. “Hmm?” he asked, looking at me. “How did you get taken down so easily? There couldn’t have been nearly enough guards there to stop you, especially as fast as they did.” “Because I knew the second I saw Luna what was going on, and I trusted in you to win,” was his reply. I narrowed my eyes, “You put my family in danger because you thought I could win?” “You aren’t winning any points here,” Rainbow said to the demigod, “with this so soon after the abuse remark.” “It worked, didn’t it?” he said. Gilda smacked him on the back of the head, making him exclaim quietly in pain. He rubbed the back of his head, saying, “Okay, not my smartest move.” “No, it wasn’t,” I said. “Granted, it wasn’t your dumbest move, either, so there’s that.” “Abuse remark?” Luna asked. “He basically said that since Dad and Celestia were lovers and he killed her, that he would hurt Rainbow Dash, too,” Star said. Luna leveled a glare at him, “You are the dumbest smart person I have ever met.” “Yeah?” he said. “Well you’re the dumbest. . . dumb person I have ever met!” His childlike grin of pride perfectly fit the childish nature of the comeback. We all stared at him for a moment, before shaking our heads and dropping the matter. “So are we returning directly to Ponyville?” I asked. “I can imagine that would not blow over very well, no matter what Pinkie might have to say about it.” “What does—” Luna started. At our ‘don’t question Pinkie Pie’ glances, she changed topics, “No, we will be stopping off at Canterlot for a few days so that the news of your pardons to spread.” She sighed, shaking her head before saying, “The news of your crimes have not finished spreading yet, and I’m already talking about pardons.” “Considering the crimes, that makes sense,” I said. “I have, what? Four counts of assault, breaking Rainbow out of prison, regicide, one count of attempted murder, who knows how many counts of assault on my way out of Canterlot, and another count of assault in the Griffon Empire.” “That,” Luna began, pausing, “is quite the impressive rap sheet.” “And then you remember that he’s the good guy,” Star said those last two words with more than a hint of sarcasm, leading me to believe she doesn’t approve of my life choices, “and you wonder who the bad guy had to be to be worse.” “Someone with over four thousand counts of murder, and someone guilty of attempted genocide,” I said without skipping a beat. “There is that on his side, he’s the lesser of two evils” Rainbow said, nuzzling me. “It doesn’t hurt that he’s also incredibly hot.” Star stuck her tongue out as I sighed. Some people never change. “He’s a necessary evil,” Gilda said. “Equestria has needed someone who’s willing to get their hooves dirty for a while.” “Speaking of, I need to make a stop before we go to Ponyville,” I said. “Talk to me once we’re in Canterlot and I’ll arrange your transport there and back,” Luna said. She added in a tone of voice usually reserved for giving orders on the battlefield, “I don’t need to know what you’re doing while there, so keep that to yourself. I’m putting a lot of trust in you here, Streak. If any of my little ponies turn up dead wherever you went, I will not hesitate to send you to the darkest depths of Tartarus.” “Understood, ma’am,” I said, giving her a small salute. I blushed invisibly as I drug my hoof back down. “Sorry, old habits die hard, I guess,” I said. “Nothing to be sorry about,” Luna said, chuckling. “It’s flattering.” “Why don’t you call me ma’am?” Rainbow asked teasingly. “Because so far I’ve been on top?” I suggested, poking her in the ribs. “I will be after your little trip,” Rainbow reminded, “no fighting, remember?” “It won’t be a fight, it will be a massacre,” I growled. You know you’re more than slightly upset when there was a stone cold predator looking at you with a worried expression. “That sounds like something I’d pay to see.” On the other hand, you know your idea is insane when it has the approval of a demigod of chaos. “Twelve bits,” he said, holding out his talon, twelve shiny gold coins cupped in his palm. “No, Murphy,” Gilda said, sighing. “You aren’t going to pay Streak to watch him beat the ever-living hell out of somepony.” The rest of the trip passed in relative silence after that conversation. This was a fairly heavy hitting day for anyone, let alone being at the end of a long chain of such days. The sun was still relatively high in the sky when the train pulled into the station. “You know, a little longer than two years ago, I would have believed that when Celestia died, the sun stopped moving,” Rainbow commented as we walked through the crowded streets. The crowds respectfully parted around what I’m sure they believed was the guard escorting the Princess and some prisoners. “I would have believed that only a few days ago,” Star added. “I never really thought about it before now, though.” “I still can’t believe that she convinced people she honestly moved the sun,” I mentioned. “If she tried that during my time, it would have failed and landed her a reputation as a laughingstock.” “It took her centuries,” Murphy said. "That just makes you think what she could have done had she not been stopped," Rainbow said. We approached the castle as I replied, "Much worse. Much, much worse." "I don't want to think about it either," Luna said. We ended on that sobering note, walking in silence to the castle. By the time we arrived, my limp had become pronounced, getting me worried looks from Rainbow, Star, and Gilda. Frankly I think that neither Murphy nor Luna noticed anything because they were having freaky mind-conversations about things us mortals couldn’t comprehend, like the actual rules to Monopoly. My poor leg was saved by a passing pony with a cross on her flank. She immediately yanked me out of the group, spouting something about “police brutality” and how it was a major thorn in her side. Before any of the guards could stop her, she grabbed onto Rainbow and pulled us both through hallways to a medical room. By the time my eyes stopped spinning, she had cleaned, stitched, and dressed my stab wound. Before I could say anything about the enchantment I felt on the bandages, she had Rainbow’s wing out of the makeshift bandages I had put it in and into a cast radiating magic. Right as I opened my mouth, she trotted right out of the room. “What. The. Hell?” Rainbow asked. “Your guess is as good as mine,” I said in way of reply. “I’m thinking that she thought the guards roughed us up during our arrest, and is now having stern words with Luna.” “That makes a surprising amount of sense,” she replied. “That also explains why the door is locked magically.” “How do you know that?” I asked. “I can’t feel anything from over there, and I can feel strong magics from a fair distance.” “She had a badge on her uniform that glowed for a moment when she walked through the doorway,” she pointed out. “That must have something to do with keeping us in here, since we don’t have badges.” “Ah, but we have a master key,” I said, getting up. I was reminded of the bandages as I walked up to the door, and decided to check them for possible enchantments. All I found was a continuous healing spell woven into the cloth itself, baffling me as to how they make this stuff. Then again, I was the soldier, not the mage. With a single tap against the doorframe, both Rainbow and I were able to leave the room unhindered. Rainbow knew her way to the throne room from where we were, which didn’t do much for my confidence in her ability to not hurt herself often. We arrived in time to see an angry nurse chewing out Luna, who sat there by her throne, shellshocked about the whole thing. “—and again, why do I constantly have to heal ponies that didn’t need to be healed before your royal guard got to them?” she was saying. “I am constantly fixing broken bones and wounds obviously caused by a weapon, but I think healing a horn wound was a new one—even for me.” “I must say,” I interrupted, “it is mighty impressive to see Luna so afraid of a normal, mortal pony.” The nurse whirled around. “How did you get out of that room? It had magic negating enchantments on it and everything!” “I eat magic for breakfast, literally,” I said. “Your door tasted of licorice and lemons. Not the best combination, and the sour taste in my mouth points to Celestia as being the one to cast the spell.” “Streak, take this seriously,” Rainbow chastised me. “You are already in enough trouble for your remarks to Iron Will at the Clanhold.” I groaned. Luna sat down, placing her head in her hooves. "He's not a prisoner, and the guards weren't the cause of their injuries." "Those guards, at least," I commented. "I'm fairly sure that you can blame the guard for both our injuries when you look back at it." “Streak, shut up,” Rainbow said smacking me on the shoulder with her uninjured wing. “You aren’t helping.” “I wasn’t supposed to be,” I said, ducking under her next swing. “Wait, he’s not a prisoner?” the nurse asked, tilting her head. “Isn’t he the second pony charged with murder in. . . ever?” “There were extenuating circumstances,” Luna said. “He has been given a full pardon, something I have to get ready to announce to the public.” “If you’re going to give a nice big speech, let me get up on the podium for a few seconds,” I said. “Streak—” Luna began. “There is a pony I want to find,” I said. “I ran into him while changing the government of the Griffon Empire.” The nurse looked back and forth between us, growing more and more confused as we went on. Obviously not Redheart, as she would have joined in and pointed out something someone missed by now. Luna noticed the poor mare’s distress, and dismissed her. When the thankful nurse left the room, we continued our conversation. “Why do you want to find this pony?” Luna asked me. “How many details do you know about the massacre of the Senate?” I asked. “Not many,” she admitted, “I wasn’t looking when it happened. That was a huge amount of magic being used.” “It was also a pony,” Rainbow mentioned. “A single pony, using amounts of magic described by immortals as ‘huge’.” “And I want to find him,” I said. “If he’s an ally, then he’ll be great to have along. If he’s an enemy, I need to kill him fast, before he flattens a city.” Luna was silent for a moment, thinking. Even her ever-flowing mane seemed to slow down its movements while she thought. I saw that both Rainbow and I were leaning forward, awaiting a response. “Fine,” she finally said, much to my relief, “you can have your few minutes. I owe you that much.” “The advantage of dying for your country twice,” I said, smirking. Star and Rainbow shot me looks, showing their disapproval of my choice of words. Picky, picky. “Also,” I continued, “I need to speak with you privately.” Luna nodded. “We can meet in my quarters.” I didn’t even have to look at my fillyfriend to know that was a bad idea, especially after my comments to Iron Will. “How about the archives?” I suggested. “What I need will be found there, anyway.” Luna looked at me sideways, nodding slowly. “Okay,” she said cautiously, “when?” “We could head there now, depending on when your speech will be,” I said. “It will be in two days, to give the public time to be able to attend,” she replied. “What are you going to be doing?” Rainbow asked me. “Something you wouldn’t approve of,” was my reply. “Trust me when I say I won’t get in a fight, nor will I kill anyone.” “But you’re going to do something I don’t approve of,” she said, as if asking for confirmation. “Yes,” I said. I turned back to Luna. “Ready?” She sighed, rubbing her temples. “Yes, I guess we might as well get this out of the way.” I turned to Murphy. “And don’t you go listening in on us, Chance.” He held his hands up defensively. The two of us walked in silence to the archives. As soon as we got there, she whirled on me. “What do you need from the archives that requires me being here?” she asked in an accusatory tone. “I need to access the family records of Ponyville,” I said. “After that, I need the list of names and addresses for Cloudsdale. After I have what I need, I’ll get out of your mane on a quick jaunt to Cloudsdale.” “You can’t walk on clouds,” Luna said, “only pegasi can.” “I was a pegasus before your sister ripped my wings off, remember?” I reminded. “If it doesn’t work, I need you to give someone a royal summons.” “There is a limit to what I will do, even with the services you’ve rendered to Equestria,” Luna said. “Remember that.” “Of course,” I said. “There are very few things I need done, and I don’t need them done at the same time. Nor are they as disruptive as this task.” Luna nodded, accepting what I was telling her. Within seconds, I had the Ponyville census in my hooves. Running down the list, I found the name I was looking for. “Gotcha, you son of a bitch,” I growled. I ran through the address book of Cloudsdale, finding that he hadn’t moved in over a decade. I smiled a malicious smile as I walked up to Luna, giving her the address that I needed to be delivered to. As an afterthought, I searched through the Canterlot address book. I took note of the address I was looking for and ran to catch up with the alicorn. —*~*~*— I heard the door open just before sundown. There were a few clops on the hardened cloud floor as my target walked inside, before I heard the door close. He walked obliviously into the dark room I was standing in. I could see from here that his hair was red and yellow, with tinges of orange in it. His coat was the strange color you get when you mix a bit of orange into sky blue, like that of a sky at the edge of dusk. He paused at the darkness—I had shut the lights off when I hid, and I assumed he left them an at all times—but shrugged it off and walked over to the lightswitch. When he flicked it, nothing happened. “Hello, Aurora Blast,” I said. The such-named stallion jumped, whirling to look at the darkness. “Who–who’s there?” he asked, whipping his head back and forth. “Show yourself!” I didn’t comply with his wishes. In the darkness I was completely invisible, since I had Luna apply an illusion that hid my rainbow streak from view. I was the darkness. I said, “You have a lovely daughter.” “You can have her,” he yelled in panic, “just leave me alone!” I growled, “I don’t think you understand. I’m not here for you, I’m here for her.” “Wha—” he started, but didn’t get any farther than that before I began. I slammed a hoof into the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. He groaned as I let him sit for a moment, before resting a hoof onto his upper left foreleg. “I care quite greatly for your daughter, you bastard. I don’t take kindly to abusive assholes like you.” I ground my hoof down just slightly not hard enough to break the bone, but enough that it bent quite painfully. I had learned of this sweet spot during the war, when I needed to get information out of an unwilling captive, but couldn’t leave any lasting damage on them. “St–stop!” he whimpered. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll be a good stallion! I’ll be a good father! I’ll make up for my mistakes! I’m sorry!” I stared down coldly at him, feeling disgust well up inside me at his worthlessness. “Too late.” CRUNCH! He screamed in agony as my hoof snapped his leg, jutting bone out the other side. He cried out, tears running down his face as he sobbed. “That was for being negligent when she was young,” I said. “She was your responsibility, and you ignored her.” I lifted my hoof, planting it on his other foreleg. “N–no, please!” he blubbered pitifully as I slowly increased the pressure I put onto the bone. “Don’t! I’ll do anything!” CRACK! “That was for abusing her at your leisure. She is not a toy, not a punching bag. She was a child, and you beat her.” “I–I–I—” he stuttered as he writhed in utter agony. I walked to his hindlegs, and began the process again. I put my hoof down on his hindleg, and started pushing. He blubbered incoherently, and I could tell from the smell that he had long ago wet himself. SNAP! His third scream of agony was ripped out of his mouth as I broke another of his bones. “That was for forcing her to abandon her child because it was an inconvenience to you, you bastard,” I growled in his ear. I don’t even think he heard me through the haze of pain I knew was over his mind at that moment. I chose to ignore his lack of a response, slowly pressing onto his last unbroken leg. I heard his whimpers intensify as I pushed harder and harder before, just as the last ones, this leg gave out. CRUNCH! He cried out again as I broke his last leg. I watched him writhe on the ground as every move antagonised his legs, causing him to writhe more. I felt nothing watching him. This wasn’t for me, this wasn’t about him. It was the principle. He put her in the hospital with broken bones a dozen times, and I was here now, breaking his bones right damn back. “This is what it feels like to break a bone, Aurora,” I said. “This is what Rainbow Dash felt each time you put her in the hospital. This is justice.” I walked so that I was standing at his back. I hesitated as I placed my hoof over his wing, remembering what Celestia had done a thousand years ago. I felt a flash of remorse at what I had done, but quickly pushed it back down. He deserved worse. Much worse. This was mercy. I reared up, lifting both my hooves above my head. I used my downwards momentum to increase the strength of my swing. SNAP! CRACK! His screams were worse than before. The wings were the most sensitive parts of a pegasi’s body, and I had just obliterated part of this stallion’s. I stared coldly down at the mutilated stallion. My eyes were drawn to the knife rack in the next room, and I felt my rage flare. This bastard was a monster, and I would make sure everyone knew. —*~*~*— The guards didn’t even question what had happened when I had walked up to them, especially since I removed Luna's enchantment as soon as I got into the carriage. I could tell by their body language that they wanted to know, but this was something I would take to my grave. It would be obvious that it was me, but I would never admit to it. I spent the return trip in silence, mulling over what I had done. Perhaps I had gone too far. I had a genuine smile on my face as we flew into the carriage hangar. Rainbow was there waiting for me to come back, and I pretended that it was because she had missed me. "What did you do?" she asked as soon as I walked onto the floor. "A little much," I replied, starting to walk to the rooms Luna had assigned us, "but I got what I needed to do done." "And what was that?" she asked. "Not a fight," I replied. "Streak, tell me what you did," she said crossly. I stopped moving and she stopped right beside her. I pressed my lips into hers, surprising her. "Trust me, you're better not knowing." She sighed, "Fine. I'll drop it. Don't expect me to be happy about it, though." "Ah, but you were already mad at me," I said. "This just adds one more thing to the list of things I have to make up to you." She gave me a look. Not one of the woman looks that tells you you said the wrong thing or did something stupid, but one of the looks that at first glance was totally innocent, but when you really look at it is promising a wild night. And how wild it was, let me tell you. *~*~* "Citizens of Canterlot, lend me your ears!" Luna projected her voice across the assembled ponies. "Just days ago, I brought you news that Celestia had been slain during her rehabilitation. Today I bring you news again! Streak, the stallion responsible for exposing her and, later, slaying her, is in Canterlot right now! "However, I have to say that the nation owes him for saving it from destruction on more than one occasion. First, when he commanded the armies that enabled Celestia, Chance, and I to imprison Discord over a thousand years ago. Once more when he exposed Celestia not once, but twice, dying twice in the process. Once more when he came back from his second death to slay Celestia and remove enchantments she had woven over me keeping me her pawn. And one more time when he stopped the Emperor of the Griffon Empire from attempting genocide of the pony species. "In light of these, and in light that any and all of his crimes were committed during the process of one of these, I have extended a full pardon of any and all crimes to Streak and his companions, the ponies Rainbow Dash and Star, and the griffons Gilda and Murphy, and to supply the five with homes wherever they wish to live." The crowd burst into noise, some positive and some negative. Luna quieted the assembled ponies with a raised hoof. "Streak wishes to speak to the assembled ponies, and I have granted that wish. Streak, if you will?" I stepped forward as she cast a voice amplification spell on me. I cleared my throat to make sure the spell worked a it should. When it did, I began, "There is one of you that I wish to speak with. When I was on trial in the Empire for false charges, a stallion teleported in and saved not just my life, but the lives of Rainbow Dash and my daughter. I wish to see you again, to shake your hoof and get to know you. To make sure you know that I owe you for saving those I care about most. Thank you.” I stepped back and walked off as Luna started to be bombarded with questions. I spent the rest of the day with my daughter, since I felt I had been ignoring her. Luckily, Luna gave me a card that told ponies to bill the royal treasury for any expenses. A wonderful little card that let me give my daughter free reign of the local bookstores. She ran around like a kid in a candy shop, grabbing this book and that. By the end of a three-hour shopping spree, she had amassed a personal library containing books about everything. Her science books ranged from astronomy to zoology, she actually got excited about buying a full set of encyclopedias, and she had a book penned by Starswirl the Bearded himself about advanced magic topics. She was nervous about that last choice, I have to say. When she brought it up with me, the conversation went as so. “And,” she paused, hesitating to place her order for the last book to the shellshocked store owner. She looked at me, and pointed at a book in a glass case. “That one.” I looked at the book. It was a thick volume, easily being twice the size of any of the other books. The cover was plain, as well as being written—not printed—and read: Advanced Magic Techniques Part One: Spell Modification By: Starswirl the Bearded The owner of the store, a slightly overweight middle-aged blue mare, dropped her jaw. “That’s a first edition of Advanced Magic Techniques! That was personally penned by Starswirl the Bearded!” I could tell Star was watching my reaction with trepidation. I think she was worried about me not letting her get the book because of my dislike of the author. Never being one to purposely let personal differences influence anothers’ education, I promptly said, “So it is. You wouldn’t know how many parts there are to that series, would you?” “Uh, six,” she said. “I think we have all of them in print in the back of the store.” “You wouldn’t know where I could acquire the rest of these, would you?” I asked. “And not the printed ones.” Star’s jaw was the one to drop this time. I had almost literally said that I was going to find her a complete first edition set of magic books she could use, penned by the author himself. An author whose guts I hated. “The rest of them are owned by private collectors,” she said, “and not likely to give up their copies for any price.” “I’ll find a way,” I said cryptically. I gave Star a smile. “I should have the next one within a few months.” “Luna won’t let us keep these cards forever,” Star advised, “especially after this shopping spree.” “I know,” I said. “I have other plans.” Star seemed to accept that, and happily finished placing her order. It was going to be delayed by a few days, both because of our current lack of a house and because of the vast quantity of the books. That didn’t seem to bother the bibliophilic teenager in the slightest, and she grabbed some magic books to carry in her saddlebags. Not the ridiculously expensive first edition one, though. I spent the rest of the day with her, just letting her be a filly. An odd, antisocial, incredibly intelligent filly, but a filly nonetheless. The next day, it was announced that we would be heading to Ponyville on train, and that the town had been alerted. By sunup, the five of us—since each one of us, save Rainbow, requested a house in Ponyville—were loaded on the train and on the way. As usual, I shared a car with Rainbow and my daughter. Murphy and Gilda were sharing their own car right next to ours. Luckily for me, I did a good enough job the nights prior that Rainbow wasn’t mad at me anymore. That fact was not lost by Star, who rolled her eyes every time one of us nuzzled the other. About halfway through the trip, Rainbow brought up a good point. “So how do you think the other Bearers will respond to our arrival?” “I hope they don’t respond negatively,” Star said. She added in a tone that indicated that she was teasing, “They seem like nice ponies, and I don’t want dad to hurt one of them.” “I don’t deal with all my problems with violence,” I played along. “Name one problem that wasn’t a minor annoyance that you didn’t beat against a wall until it wasn’t a problem, or threaten to do so,” Rainbow said. I opened my mouth for a moment, before closing it. “Valid. I promise that I won’t hurt them for hating us, how’s that?” “Good,” Star said, smiling. “Seriously, though,” I said, “I think that we will only have to worry about Twilight.” “Why’s that?” Star asked. “Because I kinda tried to kill her. That’s why I was in prison,” Rainbow said sheepishly. Star was silent for a moment, before deadpanning, “You two are perfect for each other.” The two of us looked at each other and burst out laughing. We kinda did deal with things the same way, didn’t we? We kept talking about small things as we pulled into the station. When we stepped out, the streets were deserted. Rainbow looked around and muttered, “This either means that they’re afraid of us, or Pinkie is throwing us a surprise party.” “Shocking, on both counts,” I sarcastically replied. A faint voice floated over the wind, sounding an awful lot like “Oh, come on!” “I think the Crusaders were involved,” my fillyfriend giggled. “No point delaying,” I said, walking towards the town hall. When we arrived, there was nobody there. Not even the mayor, which only minorly surprised me. I turned around to leave to be met with a massive wall of pink. “HIYOU’REBACKOHMYGOSHIT’SSOGOODTOSEEYOUANDWE’REGONNAHAVESOMUCHFUNANDWE’LLBEBESFRIENDSANDEVERYONEWILLLOVEEACHOTHERAGAINANDTWILIGHTWILLSTOPBEINGAMEANIEPANTSABOUTDASHIEANDSWEETIEWILLHAVEANEWFRIENDTHATUNDERSTANDSANDDASHIE’SBACKAND - You have a daughter! I’m not sure what impressed me more, the fact that she said that all in one breath, or that she knew to aim that last comment at both Rainbow and me. “Dashie?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow. “There’s not something going on here that I should be aware of, is there Rainbow?” Rainbow blushed, “Just Pinkie being Pinkie.” I looked back at the pink enigma, only to find that she wasn’t where I thought she was. A squeal of alarm from my daughter brought my eyes over instantly, to find Pinkie on her back legs holding Star up with her forehooves. “Hmm, unicorn, twelve and a half years old, proficient at magic, and has a huge talent for it. To Twilight we go!” There was a pink and blue blur as the party pony zipped off with my daughter, leaving me staring at where they were standing in shock. “Wha?” I muttered, trying to puzzle out what had just happened. "What did I say about Pinkie?" Rainbow asked. "Don't try to understand her." I shrugged. "Guess I just have to walk you home, then." Rainbow chuckled, doing a pretty good fake swoon, "What a gentlecolt!" We laughed as we walked through the abandoned town all the way to where a floating house of clouds sat. "This it?" I asked. "Yep," she replied. "I might have to install a ramp, since you don't have wings." "We could just meet at my place," I suggested. "Ah, but do you remember how comfortable clouds are?" she asked. "Of course," I replied. "Why?" She leaned over to whisper into my ear, her breath making it twitch as it ran across. "Imagine what it feels to rut on one." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and jumped into the air, spreading her wings and flying up to her house. "Maybe you'll get to experience that, knot boy!" she shouted, before vanishing to where I couldn't see her. I turned around to run directly into Rarity. "Knot boy?" she asked with a smirk. "It's from years ago," I explained, flustered. "Ask Fluttershy.” “Ooh, you got innocent Fluttershy in on your debauchery too?” she asked, smirking. “I didn’t think she was like that.” I gave Rarity a deadpan look. “What do you want, Rarity?” “Am I not allowed to see a friend after having him be missing for two years?” she asked, sounding honestly hurt. I sighed. Damn it. “Sorry, it’s just been a long week.” “You’ll have to tell me sometime,” she said, “but things haven’t been all quiet on the homefront.” “You don’t say?” I asked. “Yeah. Just yesterday in Cloudsdale a stallion was admitted into the hospital, severely beaten,” she said. “The doctor they interviewed said that it was the worst thing he had ever seen, and he worked in the hospital closest to the rainbow factory for five years.” “I assume there are a lot of accidents in this factory?” I asked, hoping to deflect the conversation away from my dirty deed. “Oh, many,” she said. “None that broke quite as many bones. The doctors say he’ll be lucky to walk again, let alone fly, even with the advances healing has taken.” “Sounds brutal,” I said, starting to walk back into town. Unfortunately, Rarity came along right next to me, intent on talking with me. “”Put him into a coma, it did,” she said. “They said it was a combination of blood loss and shock, and that he might not wake up.” “I hope he does,” I replied. So that he will have to live the rest of his life with my punishment, if for no other reason. “They said that it was Rainbow’s father,” she continued, unaware of my thoughts. “I was on my way to tell her when I saw you. I thought I’d give her a few minutes to settle back in before giving her the news. Maybe you’d like to give it to her?” “I think it would be better coming from you,” I said. “I don’t know what happened besides the tidbits you told me.” “Ah, tut tut,” she said. “Come with me, I still have the article in the Boutique.” I sighed, having no real choice but to follow her. We walked through the town, and I was again confused as to why it was so empty. “Is Pinkie throwing a party?” I asked. “The streets are eerie this empty at this time of day.” “She is,” she said. “It wasn’t my kind of thing, so I didn’t stay for long. The poor dear needs to learn that we can’t throw a ‘It’s Getting Close to Winter so Start Thinking Warm Thoughts’ party every November.” “It’s innocent enough,” I said, “and everyone seems to enjoy it, so what’s the harm?” “I guess you’re right,” she said as we walked up to the doors of her place of business. The doors were all closed, and the windows all drawn. “It’s just inside,” she said. I nodded, moving to walk in. As I did, I didn’t notice the foal’s toy on the deck, causing me to slip. During my stumble, I bumped into Rarity. Neither of us fell, thankfully, and she didn’t seem to be insulted or disgusted that I had touched her. However, I did notice something that shouldn’t have been there. I furrowed my brow, placing my hoof on her shoulder. I felt magic. Transformation magic. She smiled at me maliciously. “Go ahead, Streak. The table is right inside, you couldn’t miss it.” I felt panic rise in my throat, choosing to ignore whatever the hell she was to rip open the door. Light flooded into the building, illuminating the entry room. What I saw made my blood boil. Rarity was sitting on the floor, bound and gagged. She looked disheveled, and her mane was what she would describe as “no condition to go out in.” I could tell from the tears sliding down her face and her wide eyes that she was in full panic mode. As soon as I looked away from her to the rest of the room, I understood why. Standing around her were three ponified bugs. That was the only way to really describe them. They were covered in black chitin, with eyes of pure blue. They had wickedly curving horns and holes in their legs that looked anything but natural. Each one of them looked exactly identical, and were grinning at me in victory. The door behind me closed. “This is a message from our Queen: there are always worse monsters.” I whipped around to behold Rarity in her regular beauty. With a flash of green fire, she turned into the pony I was used to dealing with. So that is what a changeling looked like. “I decided to add on my own: we are always watching, and we know who you care for.” I growled and lunged forward to punch his smug face in, but he dodged. “Uh, uh. A word from me, and that house of clouds turns to steam, and that beautiful daughter of yours gains another smile. Right. Under. Her. Chin.” He moved his hoof across his throat to emphasize his point. “Now we’re going to disappear, and there will be no trace of our visit. This is just another step in a plan you won’t understand until it’s over.” “If I ever see your queen—or any of your kind, for that matter—I will leave less than a stain on the ground,” I growled. The changeling smirked at me. “You won’t see us unless we want to be seen, Streak. Did you think we would do something as stupid as invading Canterlot and announcing our presence to the public without a point?” Without a single word or twitch on his part, the other three changelings left the room in unison. He got in a parting shot before leaving, “He wanted us to not hurt you or anyone you care about. This was a message to him as much as you. We don’t need him, it’s just nice to have him.” I was torn between bolting after them and helping Rarity, but a pitiful sob made my mind up for me. I quickly ran over to the terrified mare’s prone form, having her untied in seconds. She immediately latched onto me, sobbing in terror. She kept trying to talk through her sobs, but couldn’t. “It’ll be okay, Rarity,” I said, hugging her back. No transformation magic. “They’re gone.” “They have Sweetie Belle!” she cried out. “They have my little sister!” My eyes hardened as I looked into hers. “Where?” She sniffled. “They brought her by to keep me compliant. They were keeping her upstairs.” “I’ll make sure she’s okay,” I said, bolting for the stairs. I avoided tripping as I sprinted three steps at a time, not even noticing when I bounced off a wall. I tore doors open, looking for a little filly. Right as I was losing hope, I opened the last door. Inside was a young filly of Star’s age. She looked more confused and startled than scared when I burst through the door. I sighed in relief at the sight of her, before thinking. I walked up to her, watching as her confusion morphed into nervousness. She nearly ran when I placed a hoof on her shoulder. No transformation magic. She was clean. “Sweetie Belle?” “Y—yes?” she asked. “Did I do something wrong?” I sighed in relief again, sitting down on the ground. “Thank god. I don’t even care which one at this point.” “What are you talking about, mister?” she asked, her curious nature showing through her caution of the stranger that knew her name. “Come downstairs,” I said, walking towards the hallway. “Rarity says that I shouldn’t listen to strangers anymore,” Sweetie said. “She says that even if they say I’m in danger or she’s hurt that I should not go with them.” “Sweetie, you’re in your own house. If I was trying to abduct or hurt you, there wouldn’t be a thing you could do about it at this point,” I said. “Your sister really needs to see you downstairs.” “I guess you have a point,” she said. “What happened? You looked panicked when you opened the door.” “Rarity could tell you more than I could,” I said. “I just showed up for the end of it.” The two of us walked downstairs together. “She’s okay, Rarity. She didn’t even know what was going on.” The panicked mare tackle-hugged her little sister. “Oh, Sweetie! I thought you were hurt!” “Rarity!” Sweetie groaned. “Don’t! You’re embarrassing me in front of a guest!” I smiled at the display, before my face fell. “Shit! Star!” The two looked at me as I moved swiftly for the door. I practically tore the portal off its hinges as I sprinted outside. I quickly realized I had no damned idea where I was going. I ran back to the doorway before the duo even looked away. “Is Pinkie having a party?” I asked. “Sugarcube Corner,” Sweetie said. “It’s just down the street to the right. You can’t miss it.” I nodded and resumed my sprinting. I tore through the empty streets, thankful that my nature allowed me to not get winded as I ran. I saw a massive gingerbread house that looked like a single bite would cause diabeetus. I assumed this was Sugarcube Corner. I burst through the door like a bat out of hell, caring not for the surprised faces of the ponies standing near the door. I whipped my head around, looking for Star. I found her in the most likely place; she was hiding in the corner, being antisocial. Pinkie was right next to her, trying to get her to join in the party. I had my suspicions about the pink party pony at the moment, to be honest. I ran over to them, placing my hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. No transformation magic. “Pinkie, did anyone leave the party in the last minute or so?” “No,” she said. “Why?” “Because—” I paused, seeing we had attracted the attention of some of the ponies around us. We took a few steps away and Pinkie shooed them away with her hooves. I began again, quieter this time, “Because I just had a changeling threaten to kill Rainbow and Star.” “What?” she gasped. She looked in the distance for a moment, before frowning. She started mouthing words to herself, and I caught “—that house of clouds turns to steam, and that beautiful daughter of yours gains another smile. Right. Under. Her. Chin.” Her eyes widened. “You weren’t kidding! This is what happens when I stop reading ahead in the chapter, I get left behind!” “Pinkie, now is not the time to be Pinkie,” I said. “Now is the time to find some changelings so I can disembowel them.” “Why are we killing changelings?” Star asked, walking up to us. “Because they’re being not nice ponies,” Pinkie said, “so your dad wants to hunt them down.” My daughter gave me a look. “They threatened you and Rainbow, Star,” I said quietly. “I can’t let them get away with this.” “Then we alert the guard,” Star said, “and live as normal a life as we can.” I stared down at her and finally realized that this is what she really wanted. She wanted a normal life. No orphanage, no being the target, no government-collapsing adventures. She just wanted to be normal. Mundane. Average. She wanted to live a life like the other kids do. I sighed, “Alright, Star. We’ll do things your way.” She got a huge grin on her face as I said that, and I said, “But if I run into one, I’m ripping its throat out.” “Fair compromise,” she reluctantly said, “but you have to be one-hundred-percent sure that it’s a changeling before you even touch them.” “Touch is how I make sure it’s not a changeling,” I mentioned, “but I get what you’re saying.” She nodded. “I saw a pony I assume is the mayor, if her demeanor is nothing to go by. She said something about our house being the one with the sold sign right next to the Boutique.” “Then let’s go,” I said as I walked with my daughter out of the store-turned-party. “We can check on Rarity as we go.” “Wait, check on Rarity?” Pinkie somehow silently exploded next to me. “What happened?” “You know those changelings I was talking about? One of them was disguised as Rarity and led me to the Boutique,” I said. “They had the real Rarity, and were holding Sweetie Belle hostage for good behavior.” Star gasped and Pinkie nodded solemnly. “So you’re saying that changelings held a hostage? Why? To send us a message?” “We weren’t even the target,” I said. “They have some kind of ally—I assume that it was the pony that saved us in the Empire—and he doesn’t want them to hurt me for some reason. This extends to those I care about. This was to show him that they didn’t give a damn what he wanted.” “That’s–that’s not smart,” Star said. “I mean, you saw what he could do.” “That meant that their Queen is at least that strong,” I said. “They keep talking about a plan that I can’t follow. It’s a point of pride for the prick that has been following me around. I think it’s much more likely that they can keep him in line with force than they are just stupid.” “That is a much scarier option,” Pinkie said. “Let’s see. . . oh, come on! ‘Reply hazy, ask again?’ “ “Pinkie, what are you– Nevermind, I don’t want to know,” I said, pausing to rub my temples for a moment as she put a strange black orb away wherever she kept things for whenever she needed them. “Let’s just get moving.” We walked up to Rarity’s place of business together. I knocked on the door to get the attention of the owner. “Sorry, dear,” I heard her call out. “We’re closed.” “Aw, but it’s the middle of the day!” I mock-whined. There was a pause before the door opened. Rarity looked much better—it looked like she had spent some time freshening up—and happy to see me. “I even brought you a Pinkie to make you feel better.” Pinkie was very solemn, with only a small smile. “Hiya Rares,” she said. “I heard about your bug problem.” Rarity smiled and stepped aside to let us in. “Sweetie feels bad that she had no idea what was going on,” she said. “All she knows it that I was arguing with four customers before she went upstairs.” “Hey, Star,” I said, “she’s about your age. I think you have a better chance of getting through to her than we do.” “But—” she started. “But nothing, missy!” Pinkie insisted more seriously than I had ever seen her before. “She’s hurt and sad and you can help her, so you will.” “I—” she tried to say. “She’s right, you know,” Rarity said. “Fine,” she sighed in defeat. “Where is she?” “Just in the next room,” the unicorn said. Star started walking to the doorway, and the three of us shared a look that said “we’re watching this.” We stood in the doorway as she walked up to the dejected filly. I saw my daughter stop when she beheld Sweetie, and I swear she had to pick her jaw up off the floor. Rarity nudged me in the ribs, whispering in my ear, “I haven’t seen a reaction like that yet, even from colts.” “Let me tell you the story of how I adopted Star sometime,” I said. “That will explain everything.” We resumed watching. as Star sat down next to Sweetie Belle. “H–hey,” she said. Sweetie didn’t even look up at her. “Oh, hi,” she said without interest. “We’re going to get them,” Star said. “Hmm?” Rarity’s sister asked. “The changelings,” Star clarified. “If the guard isn’t enough to get them, then I’ll sick my dad on them.” “If the guard can’t find them, I fail to see what one stallion could do,” the other filly muttered. “If Dad can kill Celestia and stop a war between Equestria and the Griffon Empire, I think he can find a few oversized bugs,” my daughter said, showing a surprising amount of support for my particular talents and achievements. Sweetie finally looked up to behold a blushing Star. I saw a small flush start in the filly’s cheeks. “You sure he’ll get them?” “You just tell him if you want them extra-crispy or not,” Star said. “He’ll find them.” “I don’t want them dead,” Sweetie said, frowning slightly. “They didn’t hurt her. They scared her, sure, and they invaded Canterlot a few years ago, but I still don’t want them dead.” Star smiled at the other filly. ”Maybe we could get you to talk with him,” she suggested. “His first response to a problem is to hit it. If that doesn’t work, he hits it again.” The fillies shared a chuckle together. Sweetie caused my daughter’s blush to intensify when she said, “Hey, you’re pretty cool. Want to come hang out with the other Crusaders and me sometime?” “ ‘Crusaders’?” Star asked. “What’s that?” Sweetie brightened at the chance to talk about something she loved to talk about. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders! We’re crusading for our cutie marks!” Star blushed even more as she dropped her ever-present saddlebags, revealing her own blank flanks. I blinked. That was surprising. “Can I join?” she asked. Sweetie swept her up in a huge hug. Just when I thought she couldn’t get any redder. Looks like someone has a crush. “Of course!” Sweetie said. “Anyone without a cutie mark is free to join!” My daughter returned the hug with gusto. “When do we meet?” “Every day after school,” the older Crusader said. That reminded me, talk to the teacher about enrolling Star in school. She didn’t need it, but it was likely part of her normal life she wanted. “I’ll be sure to come,” Star said. “I think I need to get going soon, though. Dad and I wanted to check out our new house.” “Where do you live? Sweetie asked. “Each Crusader has to host sleepovers at least once a month.” That was a bullshit rule, but then again I was the parent, not the kid. Star smirked. “Right next door.” Sweetie’s smile threatened to split her face. “Then we can hang out even when the other Crusaders can’t, or when Rarity says it’s too late to go all the way to Sweet Apple Acres!” They started to excitedly talk about what they were going to do to get their cutie marks. Frankly, it was the most energized I had ever seen her, and she had just met the other filly minutes ago. We decided to let the fillies have their talk amongst themselves, and returned to the other room. “So,” Rarity said, “you said something about an interesting adoption story?” “It’s actually pretty simple,” I said. “I threatened the matron with death and left with her.” Rarity rightly gave me an odd look, but Pinkie ruined my fun. “Tell the rest of it, Streak.” I sighed. “She was in the orphanage in Tall Tale, and was being bullied constantly. It got so bad that she experimented with opening a portal to the Void. When she succeeded, I came through. Turned out that she was gay, and the matron not only encouraged the kids to bully Star, but engaged in it as well. I told the matron that if she was still running the orphanage when I got back, I would kill her.” Rarity’s jaw dropped. She latched onto the wrong part of the sentence, however. “Your daughter’s gay?” “That’s the part you heard?” I exploded. “I mentioned bullying, abuse, magical experimentation, and murder, but you latched onto the word ‘gay’?” Rarity stuttered. “U–uh, ye–yes?” I scoffed. “You disappoint me, Rarity,” I said. “I expected better from you.” “I–I didn’t mean to be insensitive, it just surprised me,” she said. “I didn’t mean anything by it, Streak.” “She really didn’t,” Pinkie piped in. “It just wasn’t what she expected to hear.” I stared Rarity in the eyes and saw no sign of deceit in them. “Okay,” I said. “I guess I just overreacted.” “We all do,” Rarity said. “No you didn’t,” Pinkie said at the same time. I gave her a look, so she continued, “Think about it. I think everyone in your family has some kind of suck in their past, and Rarity stumbled ass over teakettle into the dirt in your daughter’s. You had a right to get upset.” “When you put it so indelicately,” Rarity muttered. “When I put it so accurately,” Pinkie said. “Not everything that comes out of my mouth is confusing or gibberish. Just most of it.” “Thank you, Pinkie,” I said, smiling. At that moment two giggling fillies, both bright red, came through the doorway. I had the distinct feeling we had missed something important. “That was fun!” Sweetie squeaked. “We should do it again!” “Yeah,” Star said, “that would be awesome!” I smiled at their antics. “Come on, Star. We should go check out our house.” “Okay Dad!” she said, practically skipping for the door. I haven’t seen someone so happy since. . . last night. Nevermind. As I moved to follow her, I noticed something. A newspaper was sitting on the table, right where the changeling-Rarity said it was. I looked at the headlines. “Streak Given Pardon?” was one of them. The one underneath it, however caught my attention. Brutal Assault In Cloudsdale Earlier today, the Cloudsdale General Hospital reported a brutal beating of local Aurora Blast. They didn’t report specifics, but it is known that he is in intensive care from multiple broken bones. The doctors refuse to specify beyond that, stating doctor-patient confidentiality, but an anonymous source came through, reporting that every one of his legs was broken, and that both his wings were shattered near the base. This brutal beating was discovered when Cloud Wing, a neighbor of Blast’s, was approached by a pony that he claimed was “made of darkness and evil” that told him that Blast was inside and badly wounded. “He urged me to get Aurora to the hospital as fast as I could,” Cloud claimed. “When I got there, I was sickened. He had bones sticking out of places bones shouldn’t be seen in, and had a bloody mess on his forehead.” That same anonymous source that confirmed the broken limbs, the unknown perpetrator had carved [continued on page A2] I quickly flipped the page over to finish the article. the word “MONSTER” into his forehead with a kitchen knife. Investigators scoff at the description of the only known possible witness. “There is no such thing as a shadow pony,” guard investigator Bright Dirk reported. “This is all nonsense and distracting us from the real perp.” This reporter wants to be the first to inform you that the demons of the Void still do exist, and that they match the description later given by a calmed-down Cloud. “He was like a hole in the world. Like, he not only didn’t exist, but he caused everything behind him to not exist either. Something about him felt malevolent, but it wasn’t aimed at me, if you know what I’m trying to say.” So while it’s too early to say anything conclusive, this reporter believes that there is a demon walking the mortal world. Why he chose Blast, nopony can say for now, but with some research, we discovered that Blast is the father of Rainbow Dash, our very own Element of Loyalty. Princess Luna could not be reached for comment, but she has promised that she will explain all that she can. “Dad!” Star called from out the door. “Come on!” I looked up from the article. News spreads fast, it seems. “Coming, Star!” I called out. I turned to Rarity and Sweetie. “If either of you needs anything, even three months from now, come and see me. We’re neighbors now, and neighbors take care of each other.” The duo smiled and nodded as I left the building. My new house was nothing special, honestly. It was a three bedroom house, with just enough room for ponies living in those three bedrooms. It came pre-furnished, which was good. I had literally no money since Luna took away my card. First order of business: get a job. Star looked around the house. “Now all we need is for you to get a job.” “And you to start going to school,” I said. Star groaned. “Hey, you legally have to go to school, no matter how boring it is.” “Fine, fine.” —*~*~*— It had been three weeks since I had finally moved in. The guard had been notified by Spike of changeling activity. Twilight had gotten out of the hospital, and had avoided Rainbow, Star, and me like the plague. All the Bearers had stopped by to talk at least once. Rainbow came second only to Rarity in frequency of visits. Every sleepover that Star had at another Crusader’s house coincided with a sleepover involving Rainbow and me. It was a Friday, and like any other Friday, Rainbow and I had a dinner plan. So far, we’d gone out to a fancy restaurant, had stopped by Sugarcube Corner, and had stayed in and had Rainbow cook a meal. I was comfortable saying that that wasn’t happening again, and she agreed with me. How do you burn cheese sandwiches, I’ll never know. I suspect she was trying to make grilled cheese. I was in the shower at that moment, preparing for Rainbow’s arrival. We both agreed that we needed at least one more guaranteed good meal before I tried my hoof at cooking. Star and I had been treated to home cooked meals for the entire last week. I had almost made them edible. But I digress. Shower. I had just gotten, when I heard the door open. “Sorry, Rainbow,” I said, fully expecting my fillyfriend, “Solo shower this time.” “Eww, eww, and eww,” my daughter answered instead. “Just. . . eww. There’s somepony at the door for you.” “Tell them they can wait for me to be out of the shower,” I said. “I’ll be down in a couple seconds.” I heard the door close. I quickly finished my shower and spent thirty seconds to make sure I was presentable. No need to be messy for a guest, when thirty seconds of work is all it took to appear nice. As I was walking down the stairs, I heard a voice that tickled the back of my mind. “Is that so?” he said. “I much prefer his multiverse theory.” “Please,” Star scoffed. “It’s like he just made things up and called it a theory. Just because he was right about the Void means nothing. Starswirl was a smart man, but his multiverse theory just doesn’t fit!” “He couldn’t have been all that bright if he made such a nonsensical theory, as you call it,” the stallion said. I neared the end of the stairs. “What if he knew more than anyone thought? What if he knew, and decided to teach?” Star spoke up as we reached the bottom of the stairs, “If that’s true, then how come he was so readily disproved on his time travel theorem? When ponies actually looked at it, it was filled with so many holes it couldn’t be used to pan for gold in the gold rush!” I finally saw the pony that my daughter was talking with. “Well—” that’s as far as he got before he was pressed to a wall by the throat. “Stay the fuck away from my daughter, you fucking son of a bitch,” I growled. He strained to get a sentence out through his nearly-closed throat. “Hello, my friend.”