//------------------------------// // Part 3 (chapters 10-12) // Story: Techorse // by Spirals95 //------------------------------// Techorse By Spirals95 Chapter 10 The next morning, the team got ready to continue their search for Wizard’s henchman. As the ponies got out of their cabins, Pinkie Pie sang, “Good morning everypony! It’s a brand new day to start in a new way!” Techorse laughed and said, “Pinkie Pie, I love your positive attitude! You’re making today so much better.” Twilight felt her stomach growl and said, “We haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, and we left the saddlebags behind because we wanted to lighten our load. I’ll use a spell to locate plants we can eat.” Twilight’s horn glowed for a moment, and then she said, “Good news. There’s a grove of wild apple trees a few hundred feet from here.” “Oh boy!” said Rainbow Dash, “I really could use some fruit right now. I can’t fly well without blood sugar.” The group of ponies walked out into the woods to find the fruit trees. Finally, they came across the large plants growing with dozens of wild apples on the branches. Techorse activated his saddle’s robotic arms, and picked a large yellow apple from one of the trees. He handed it to Twilight and said, “Here you go.” Twilight quickly ate the yellow apple and thanked Techorse for it. Applejack said, “Wait a minute. We’ll be here all day picking them one at a time.” She then jumped in front of one of the trees, turned around, and gave the trunk a mighty kick with both of her hind legs. The tree gave up all its fruit at once, and apples littered the ground. “That is some talent you got there.” said Techorse with an impressed tone. Applejack flicked her tail and said, “Aw, thanks. When you farm apples for as long as I have, you learn to get ‘em off the tree in one buck.” Rainbow Dash, seeing the mass of fruit, dove into the pile and started gorging herself. Rarity rolled her eyes at the pegasus’ rude behavior, and daintily started taking small bites out of a single apple she had picked out for herself. The others ate like normal ponies, one apple at a time in a few large bites. Techorse would not eat the core of the apples like the others were. Twilight pointed this out, “You can eat those you know.” He replied, “I didn’t know that I could. A human can’t digest most of an apple core. Guess I forgot I’m a pony.” She said, “Well, you learned something new. If you don’t like seeds though, you don’t have to eat the core.” After the entire party had eaten their fill, they began to walk around again to find the human terrorizing the forest. Twilight began to notice that the forest was beginning to thicken again. It started out initially very thick with trees, but had thinned out a bit as they got near bodies of water. In this section of the forest, the trees were growing closer together again, and they had to stay exactly on the path in order to prevent getting lost in the tangle. Eventually they wandered into a more open space. The trees here had been cleared away, as it was in too perfect of a circle to be caused by nature. Even in this forest, where ponies didn’t normally interfere with processes, something had to have caused this clearing of trees. “I know this place.” said Twilight, “we’ve been here before. It’s also very close to the entrance of the forest. I think we’ve been walking along the edge, rather than headed for the middle.” “Oh that’s just great.” said Rainbow sarcastically, “we’re going in circles looking for one guy in this huge forest. We’ll never find him.” Fluttershy admitted, “I hope we don’t. He sounds scary, out here hunting innocent creatures.” Rarity looked at her and said, “He’s actually looking for us ponies, my dear. He isn’t after the animals, I’m sure.” Pinkie Pie hopped alongside the two and said, “Besides, if he catches animals, he’ll just send ‘em to that crazy factory over the mountains. Right, Techorse?” Techorse said, “Oh yes Pinkie Pie.” He then thought, “But if I remember who was at that table a while ago, I know who’s in these woods. He doesn’t exactly spare animals.” “Uh-oh”, said Twilight, stopping the party in its tracks. “What is it now?” asked Applejack. Twilight pointed out a very large, spread out cluster of cyan flowers on the ground. “Poison joke. Don’t touch it.”, she said. Techorse asked, “What is it?” Pinkie Pie got her face right next to Techorse’s and said with an annoyed tone, “Only the most evil plant in existence! It makes you act weird, talk weird, or change into something silly looking.” Techorse, trying to break away from Pinkie Pie, said, “Oh, I thought you were going to say it was deadly to touch. Well, that’s not so bad.” “Don’t be so sure.” said Rarity, “It messed with my hair when I touched it. It shrank poor Applejack to the size of an apple. Pinkie Pie’s tongue swelled up. Rainbow Dash lost her balance, and Twilight’s horn wilted.” Techorse asked, “What happened to Fluttershy?” She replied, “I don’t like to talk about it.” Twilight said, “Well, there’s no way around these plants. The path’s on the other side of them.” Techorse came up with a plan and announced, “I know what to do.” There was a mechanical noise, and the twin laser cannons came out of Techorse’s saddle. “Time for a little gardening.” he said as he took aim at the blue flowers. Techorse shot laser bolts at the plants, blasting them away. Eventually, a path right through the poison joke was cut. Twilight was impressed by the creative use of the weaponry and said, “Wow. That was easy. Thanks.” He said, “You’re welcome. Sorry to disturb nature, but they’re plants right? They will grow back.” They crossed the scorched earth Techorse had left behind and continued their trek into the woods. As the team went by, they heard the familiar zapping sound the robots made when they fired their guns. Twilight pointed and said, “The human’s over there! We need to follow that sound to the northeast.” They started galloping in that direction. Eventually though, they grew tired following the zapping noise and collapsed on the ground. “Phew.”, said Applejack, “I need a rest.” Rainbow Dash said, “I actually agree with Applejack. I’m tired for once.” Twilight reluctantly agreed with them, “Well maybe we can rest in a bit. But we have to keep following the noises.” “We could if we could see anything. It’s darker in here than when we first entered the forest due to the number of trees.” said Techorse. Pinkie Pie took notice of a ray of light and shouted while pointing in the direction of the rays, “Guys, look! I see light! We can go over there.” They got up and walked over towards the light source. Passing through the bundles of twisting trees, the team came across a very large hollowed out tree stump. Twilight recognized their location and said, “Wait a minute, I know where we are. This is Zecora’s house.” Techorse asked, “Who’s she?” Pinkie Pie darted in front of Twilight and said, “She’s a zebra who lives out here in the forest by herself! She used to come into town once in awhile and scratch at the ground. At one time she acted so strange none of us trusted her. In fact, she seemed so evil I wrote a song about her! Here it goes: She’s an evil enchantress who does evil dances!” As Pinkie Pie burst into song, Rainbow Dash shook her head in annoyance and told Techorse, “Zecora acts differently from us ponies, but she’s not bad. She cured us of our poison joke problem. She’s just misunderstood because she’s not from Ponyville.” Twilight said, “Rainbow’s right, Techorse. Zecora is very friendly and won’t hurt anypony. We just thought we’d let you know so you didn’t think she was an evil witch of some kind.” He understood clearly what they were saying and replied to them, “Sounds to me like she’s just following her people’s customs. On Earth, we try to learn how to respect that early on. It’s interesting to know there are sentient zebras living here on Equestria as well. You know, I’d even like to meet her if she’s home.” Twilight pointed to the top of the house and said, “There’s smoke coming from the chimney. She probably wouldn’t leave a fire unattended, so she’s probably home. Let’s go.” The ponies walked up to the door to introduce Techorse to Zecora. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was still singing, “then she’ll gobble you up in a big tasty stew, so watch out! See Techorse, that’s what we used to think of Zecora until we got to know her better.” Pinkie Pie noticed everyone had left her for the house. “Oh come on!” she said, huffing and walking off. Twilight knocked gently on the door with her front right hoof. The door opened, and Zecora took a look at her friends. She was wearing her typical gold rings on her ears and neck. “Come inside.” she said worriedly, “you need a place to hide.” Everypony filed into the zebra’s humble tree home. Inside were dozens of tribal masks Zecora had collected from her people. In the center of the room was the fireplace, where a cauldron was boiling something down. “It’s good to see you again, Zecora. But you seem worried. Is something wrong?” asked Twilight. Zecora looked around nervously and replied, “Life in the forest has been no fun. A weird creature had me on the run.” Applejack said, “Zecora, did you get a look at this creature?” Zecora nodded and continued in her rhyming voice, “This beast I saw was very new. It stood not on four legs, but two.” Techorse took in the information and said, “I know what she means, even though she talks like she’s Doctor Seuss’s wife. That creature you saw, did it have white skin?” Zecora simply nodded, but said nothing. Rainbow Dash shouted, “You saw the human! He’s who we’re out to stop! Which way did he go?” Zecora turned to her cauldron and said, “The creature that you seek is not tame and is not meek. He stopped by here for a minute or two, then went back in the forest without further ado.” Techorse asked another question “Was this guy carrying a metal tube? What was he wearing?” She answered, “The creature carries a metal stick. Anything it hits vanishes quick.” “This is definitely one of Wizard’s men. He has a teleporter beam with him too. We must be careful.” said Twilight. Fluttershy took a look into the cauldron and asked, “What’s cooking in the cauldron today, Zecora?” She answered, “An old recipe that’s for sure. This is a pot of forgetfulness cure.” Twilight explained to Techorse, “Zecora typically collects plants and boils them to make natural cures for diseases and ailments found here on Equestria. They can really come in handy.” Applejack said, “But right now we don’t really need any potions. What we need is a hint to find that man huntin’ our friends.” Just then, they heard a zapping noise outside, followed by an angry shout. “That’s your hint. Let’s go outside and see if we can find that guy.” said Twilight. They all walked outside, including Zecora, to find out where that noise had come from. But when they exited the house they couldn’t see anything but trees and vines. “Well, whatever that noise was, it’s gone now.” said Rarity. She spoke too soon. A red beam of light shot out from the bushes, and narrowly missed Rarity’s body. She jumped out of the way and shrieked loudly. A large machete cut through a group of vines, and from them emerged a man. This man was tall, had blond hair, and was wearing a pith helmet. “It looks like I’ve finally found you ponies. It sure took a long time in these huge trees. But that’s ok, the forest is my personal playground, the woods my home.” said the man as he gave them a smile. “Hunter.”, said Techorse with a vengeful tone. Hunter cackled and replied, “Well, if it isn’t private Techman. Look at you; you look absolutely ridiculous as a pony. With that green coat and red topped saddle, you kind of look like Yoshi!” Techorse looked around and replied, “Um, who is this Techman you speak of? I’m just another pony like these girls!” The human laughed again and said, “Don’t lie. Wizard’s told everybody about your little transformation, Techman. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to do a little more hunting before I come back for you. So many animals to hunt out here, I’m having a blast. But I have yet to bag my first animal.” Twilight shouted at him, “Not so fast, Hunter. You’re not going anywhere!” “Is that so?” said Hunter, “I don’t believe I take lip like that from purple ponies.” He raised his teleporter gun. This one was a little different in that it was shaped like an old bolt-action rifle from an era long past. In contrast to the design’s age, the gun also featured a rather modern scope. Hunter took a shot at Twilight, but she rolled to dodge the beam. The bolt struck a small rock nearby and sent it away in a flash of light. The human moved to the right to take another shot at another pony, but he was stopped by Rainbow Dash knocking him over with a tackle. Hunter used the butt of his gun to push Rainbow Dash off of him and then fired his teleporter beam again. The beam was rather large, but the ponies were fast enough to avoid the blasts. Hunter could feel that he was losing; he knew he had to find a way to deal with the ponies quickly, or else he would fail. All of a sudden, a wooden vial hit him and as soon as the contents wet his shirt, large ice crystals started to spread across his body. The chill put Hunter in a panic, and he yelled out as he started to try to break the crystals off his body. Zecora smirked as she watched the ice potion she threw take effect on the human’s body. “Good shot, Zecora!” called Applejack as she moved in to attack Hunter. Moving in front of the human, she landed a kick right in the middle of Hunter’s chest. However, the ice crystals protected him, and they simply shattered. “Thanks, dumb blonde.” said Hunter mockingly as he clubbed back Applejack with his gun. Hunter then screamed in pain as a hail of laser bolts from Techorse’s guns started burning holes in his suit and skin. He eventually got out of the line of lasers, and fired a beam at Techorse. He narrowly dodged the blast, but was forced to stop firing his laser cannons to do so. Hunter tried to collect his thoughts and assess the battle unfolding, but a pounding headache overtook him. He realized Pinkie Pie was hopping up and down on his head, attempting to knock him unconscious. “Stop… Attacking…. My… Friends!” was her cry as she desperately tried to knock out the human. Hunter pushed the pink pony off his head and threw bolas at her legs. They tied her up, and Pinkie Pie fell down with a thud. “Alright kids, playtime’s over.” said Hunter with a sneer. It was then Twilight Sparkle noticed a glowing crystal hanging from Hunter’s neck. It started to glow a red color in a more intense fashion. Hunter continued, “Since I can’t beat you myself, I’ll use Wizard’s mind control beam to make you fight yourselves!” The crystal glowed an intense color, and then the gun glowed green. Hunter aimed and fired his mind control blast. The green blast was avoided by most of the ponies, but Zecora was caught in the energy. “Alright zebra”, said Hunter, “You take care of these little ponies while I continue my hunting trip.” Then, with dark laughter, he turned around and walked away. Zecora’s eyes were glowing an eerie green, the same color as the mind control ray. She turned around and began to throw potions of various kinds at the ponies in front of her house. “Zecora, it’s us!” wailed Fluttershy as she tried to dodge the vials. Pinkie Pie said frantically while hopping around with the ropes still on her legs, “She can’t hear us because she’s a zombie!” Twilight replied, “No Pinkie Pie, she’s only under that hunter’s control!” Techorse confronted the zebra and tried to reason with her, “Zecora, I don’t want to hurt you. You’ll have to fight against the mind control to regain control of your body! I know you are still in there!” A red potion fell in front of Techorse and surrounded him with a ring of fire. The flames separated him from his friends, and the heat from the fires shut down the sensitive circuitry of his saddle. “Sorry Zecora, but I have to do this.” said Applejack, running up to get a hit in. Unfortunately Applejack was bad at evasive maneuvers and was hit by a light blue vial. She immediately shrunk down, which sounded not unlike a plumber being hit by a sentient turtle. “Aw shoot”, cried Applejack in a midget voice, “that one had poison joke in it.” Zecora tossed a glass jar at the tiny Applejack. It fell over her, leaving her trapped. “Twilight!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “use your magic to stop the mind control!” Techorse called out from inside the fire, “She’s right. That mind control is magic based, the gun simply served as a focal point for Wizard’s magic. You can stop it!” Twilight Sparkle’s horn started glowing as she prepared to try and remove the mind control spell. She was then promptly struck with another light blue vial, and her horn flopped over in her face. Twilight exclaimed, “Oh no, I’ve been poisoned too! My magic’s useless!” Rainbow Dash finally shrugged and said, “I guess it’s up to me.” Rarity complained to her, “Oh, thanks! Am I worthless now?” Rainbow Dash ignored Rarity and flew at full speed towards Zecora, and managed to knock the zebra backwards inside her house. She fell into the cauldron of liquid she had been brewing since the ponies had arrived at her home. Immediately Zecora became lucid after drinking some of the liquid. She shot up from the cauldron because of the water temperature, and saw Rainbow Dash looking at her and breathing heavily. Zecora said, “I assume from your breathing a ton that we won?” Rainbow Dash shook her head and answered, “The guy got away.” Chapter 11 Zecora cured the ailments of the team. The poisoned ones simply had to wash away the poison joke fluid, but the others had more complicated problems. For starters, putting out the ring of fire around Techorse required the sap of a special tree, as water only made the oil-based fire spread around. It then took the team several minutes to find out where Fluttershy was. Apparently, Hunter had scared her off, and she had hid inside the bushes around Zecora’s house to try to protect herself. Sadly, she had picked the wrong bush, and was forced to pick a large number of burs out of her coat. Afterwards, it took another 5 minutes to untie the ropes binding Pinkie Pie’s legs. Techorse could have used his robotic hands, but the flames had overheated his battle saddle and shut it down. The fire had also melted the red polyester cushion away, leaving the entire saddle a less than pretty pewter-gray color. The only one who managed to get away completely unchanged was Rarity, who had done absolutely nothing to assist in the battle in order to avoid scraping her hooves on the hard ground. In total, about a half an hour was wasted recovering from this failed attempt to stop the human’s hunting in the forest. After recovering, Twilight Sparkle announced, “Alright everypony, we have to get back out there and find Hunter before he gets another chance to attack.” Rainbow Dash complained, “But he could be anywhere by now! He could have escaped so deep in the woods we’ll never find him!” Techorse put on his saddle and replied, “Rainbow Dash, I hate to break it to you, but Hunter is dumb. It’s likely he assumed Zecora finished us off and is hunting nearby.” Fluttershy shivered at the thought, “He nearly, f-finished us?” Applejack answered sharply, “If you hadn’t run off, you woulda known this, Fluttershy!” Rarity added in, “He nearly did get us though. I almost singed my mane trying to get out of the way of his dreadful attacks!” “Can’t you see though? The human didn’t finish us. He left to go hunt for more animals. This gives us a chance to stop him again.” Twilight said. Techorse added, “Hunter has made a critical error by not making sure we lost. We can attack him by surprise this way.” Pinkie Pie couldn’t resist trying to communicate her own idea. She asked out loud, “Hey, what if we lured him into a trap? I could set up a line of cookies, and put a large pile under a huge cardboard box propped up by a stick! When he tries to get the pile, I pull the string attached to the stick, and we catch him!” Twilight shook her head and said, “Pinkie Pie, he’s not that stupid.” “Maybe not.” said Techorse, “But I do like the idea of laying a trap for Hunter. Perhaps, with Zecora’s help in choosing the right spot, we can make the hunter become the hunted.” The seven ponies, followed by Zecora, went out into a place they knew small animals tended to roam. Knowing Hunter liked going for small game first before moving on to larger prey, they dug a deep pit in the ground, and then covered it well with dirt and leaves. The trap could support the weight of a rabbit or squirrel, but a human such as Hunter would be too heavy and fall right in. Twilight said to Zecora, “Thanks for all your help Zecora. It’s probably best you head home now. We’ll take it from here.” “Be careful my friends.” said Zecora, “Or you will surely meet your ends.” She then sadly walked off, as if to indicate she knew they were toast. Techorse said, “Alright, Twilight and I have a plan to catch Hunter off guard. Hunter has left tracks with his boots. We’ll simply find him by following the tracks. Once we find Hunter, we’ll have him chase us through the forest back to this spot. Lure him over the trap, and we have him down the hole!” “Then what?” asked Rarity, “Do we simply leave the creature down there?” Twilight said sternly, “No, and don’t call them creatures Rarity. Remember that Techorse is really a human, and I think he’s proved not every human is bad.” “He’s pony enough to me.”, Rainbow Dash said confidently. Techorse felt his heart sink again, but refused to show it on his face. He said, “Rarity’s right. I’m just an evil creature at heart.” Rarity corrected her statement, “Actually, I said this Hunter fellow is a creature. You, good sir, are most definitely not like him!” “Well, that’s a little better.”, said Techorse, picking himself up. The ears of the ponies perked up as they heard a cry for help coming from beyond a clump of trees. “Help me! He’s trying to get me!” called the female voice as it drifted towards them from across the forest. Twilight said, “That sounds like someone in trouble. Maybe finding Hunter’s going to be easier than we thought.” Pinkie Pie, busy laying cookies on the trap, turned her head and listened. She gasped loudly and shouted, “Oh no, that sounds like Butterscotch’s scream of terror! We have to help her!” Butterscotch was a young earth pony who often visited Pinkie Pie’s bakery for a treat and a talk. The small blue pony with a curly yellow mane frequently got herself into trouble, but now she was in mortal peril. Pinkie Pie took off at her traditional speed of cartoonish blur. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll follow her.” She flew off to go help Pinkie Pie. Techorse deployed his turbofans, but looked back at Twilight and asked, “Should I take off too? Or should I walk with you?” Twilight quickly answered, “Go ahead and follow them. Make sure they don’t get spotted, or we’ll lose the element of surprise.” Techorse nodded and with the whir of fan blades, he lifted into the air and flew after Rainbow Dash. Twilight, already galloping after them said, “Try to stay with me. We’ve got to make sure we get the drop on the human.” Applejack replied, “You got it, Twilight. Formin’ on your lead.” Rarity called out, “Right behind you! Please wait up!” Poor Fluttershy was left standing alone. She had wings, but was often too afraid to fly very fast. “Oh dear.” she said as she sorrowfully walked after the cloud of dust her friends were leaving. In the meantime, Pinkie Pie had already spotted where she heard the cry coming from. She could not see too well in the darkness of the woods, but she could see the silhouette of a small pony out in the open. Pinkie Pie hid in a bush, took out a pair of binoculars, and got a closer look at the pony. It was too dark, however, and she couldn’t tell if it was really Butterscotch or not. Rainbow Dash darted down into the bush and whispered, “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing? You’re going to give us away and ruin the plan!” Pinkie Pie shoved the binoculars at her friend and answered, “Look for yourself! Butterscotch is standing right there all defenseless. If we don’t do something, she’s history!” “Pinkie, I can’t tell if that’s her or not! It’s too dark.” Rainbow replied as she looked through the binoculars. Techorse landed in the bush and said quietly, “It’s too dangerous to rush ahead like this. We have to stay together.” Rainbow Dash put down the binoculars and said, “Techorse is right. Let’s wait for the others.” They waited for a moment, and the team assembled inside the bush. Rarity was the first to ask a question, “Did you find the little one? Is she ok?” Pinkie Pie answered, “She’s standing right there in the open! Hunter’s going to nab her for sure!” Twilight Sparkle squinted and said, “Pinkie Pie, I can’t see well enough to know if that’s her or not, and if I use my magic to light up the area, it will give away our position to Hunter.” Applejack asked, “Why isn’t she moving? If she was in trouble, wouldn’t she be runnin’ around in a worry?” A voice came from the silhouette, “Help me Pinkie Pie! Please! Anybody, please help!” “See! It really is her! I’m going to help her!” shouted Pinkie Pie, already running for the outline. Ok, it must be her. That’s Butterscotch’s voice. Everyone to her rescue!” said Twilight, thoroughly convinced. Six of them were running straight for the silhouette. “Wait a minute”, said Fluttershy. But it was too quiet for any of the others to hear, and they were already too far away. She galloped a bit to try to catch up and tried to muster up a louder call. She tried to shout, “It might be a trap!” But it was too late. As Pinkie Pie approached the silhouette, the cloud blocking the sun moved, and revealed the figure. It was actually a doll that looked like a pony made out of feed sack. Behind it was a tape recorder playing clips of Butterscotch’s voice. The group of six ponies bunched up around Pinkie Pie, unable to stop in time. Steel bars emerged from the ground around them. One of them screamed, and the others simply looked around in confusion. “It’s a trap!” shouted Techorse, stating the obvious. Rainbow Dash tried to take off vertically, but the steel bars bent at the top and formed a cage, preventing her escape. The rest of the cage rose out of the ground on a thick base pole. The only one not trapped inside was Fluttershy, who watched her friends get trapped in horror. She stared at the cage with a look of horror on her face. “What now?” asked Twilight as she heard evil laughter. Hunter emerged from behind a tree and walked over to the cage. “You morons fell right for my trap.” he said in glee that his plan had worked. “What have you done with Butterscotch?” Pinkie Pie demanded angrily. She tried to bite Hunter's arm through the bars, but Hunter simply stepped backwards to avoid her teeth. Hunter replied while looking at his rifle, “I teleported her to the factory. She was a tough one to shoot. But I eventually plugged the little sucker. Before she went, I managed to get a recording of her voice on my tape recorder. I used it to make this trap you’re stuck in right now.” He then looked at Techorse and said, “Oh, and Techman, you really thought I would fall for that stupid pitfall trap? I was spying on you the whole time you made that idiot plan. So I decided to mastermind my own. You will always be my prey, you dumb ponies.” Applejack said with rage, “When I get out of here, I’m gonna kick you so hard you’ll learn what your spine tastes like!” Hunter teased her, “Ooh, the southern belle is making threats. You really are the dumbest of them, aren’t you? Not much of a brain under that hat.” Twilight defended her friend, “Like you’re any smarter for messing with us. I’m going to bend these bars with a little magic, and then Applejack will take care of you.” She tried to bend open the cage, but in shock realized she could not. Hunter said, “Nice try missy, but these bars are protected by Wizard’s power. Even if you know magic like him, it’s probably much weaker.” Twilight sat back and thought, “He’s also probably willing against me breaking the bars as well.” Hunter stepped forward and turned around his teleporter gun, then stuck it between the bars of the cage and started poking at the ponies. “Sure are some pretty fine specimens. I especially like the ivory one over here in the corner.” He said as he shoved the wooden stock of the weapon into Rarity’s gut. She exhaled sharply as the wooden handle squished her belly in. Techorse saw this as a chance to use his robotic hands to grab the gun. Hunter reacted quickly and withdrew his rifle from the cage. He then touched a button on the side of the cage, causing a mild but painful electric current to surge through the occupants. Techorse’s battle saddle shorted out, and the arms retracted quickly to prevent damage. Hunter laughed as the girls tried to fix their frizzy manes from the electric shock. He said, “Well, I have you where I want you. I can do whatever I want from here.” Hunter then realized one pony was missing. Fluttershy was observing Hunter torment her friends from a “safe” distance. But seeing her friends suffer and hearing Hunter’s arrogant words finally flipped a switch in her mind that for the sake of all that exists, should never be flipped. “HOW DARE YOU!” screamed Fluttershy as she flew towards the man. “How dare you hurt my friends like this! You may be a big human, and you may be strong, but you’re not entitled to do whatever you want!” As Fluttershy chewed out Hunter, Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight, “This is a repeat of what happened with that dragon we fought last year. Remember?” Twilight nodded her head and looked at the scene unfolding. Fluttershy continued her tirade, “Furthermore, you are just a bully and bad person for hunting for animals that don’t deserve to be hunted. They do nothing to you, and yet you have to take them as trophies, just for fun! You free my friends this instant, or you’ll be sorry!” Hunter drew his machete and took a swing at Fluttershy, who was hovering inches in front of his face. Fluttershy grabbed the blade with her teeth and flung it to the side, where it embedded in the ground. “Wow.”, said Techorse looking on in amazement. Fluttershy screamed, “I’m not asking again! Let them go, or else!” Fluttershy’s look went from outraged to confused as she watched Hunter start laughing like crazy. “Or else what?” the human asked. “Shoot me? You don’t have any guns. Are you going to eat me? You’re a vegetarian! Love me to death? You’re all just a bunch of peace-loving vegetarian hippies!” Twilight bumped Techorse and whispered to him, “Prove him wrong, Techorse. Use your lasers.” He replied with frustration, “I can’t, that electric shock fried my saddle and it needs time to reset.” Fluttershy screamed, “I hate to do this, but you leave me no choice!” Fluttershy gave Hunter her taming stare. To her horror, the soul-piercing move had no effect. Although Hunter had shrunk back a little bit, perhaps in expectation of Fluttershy having heat vision, he too realized the stare was harmless to him. Hunter spread his arms and said, “Well miss, I admire your courage. You really had me going there that you were actually a threat.” Fluttershy landed, turned around, and ran off back into the woods screaming, “You’ll see you monster!” Hunter simply put on a smile and shook his head in disbelief. He said, “What a coward. Didn’t even have to use my teleporter rifle.” He then turned to the cage and addressed his captives, “Now that that issue has been settled, time to deal with you guys.” Rarity asked in a scared voice, “W-what are you planning on doing with us, exactly?” Hunter pointed his teleporter gun at her and replied, “Well, I could just teleport you all to the factory. But chances are you’d make the best of that and sabotage it.” He then looked at Applejack and continued, “I could also make you my personal pets. Back on Earth you’d be good at hauling my hunting equipment for me.” He looked at Techorse and said, “I might release you into a closed arena and let other people pay me to hunt you.” The man then put on a sinister expression and said darkly, “But I think I’ve enjoyed hunting you myself. You’ve really been a challenge to capture. So now that I’ve completed my mission and captured you, I think I need a reminder of my success.” He walked over to his machete and wiped the mud off of it, then carried it back to the cage. Hunter looked at his reflection in the blade and said, “I think I’ll make all of you into seven very colorful hunting trophies. I’ll hang them all in a row in my collection, right under the exotic creatures section.” Rarity asked nervously, “What does that mean?” Hunter put the tip of the machete under Rarity’s chin and lifted her head up to make eye contact with him. “It means”, he said cruelly, “I’m going to cut off your pretty little head, stuff it, attach it to a plaque, and hang it on my wall to remember the day I beat you.” Rarity gulped, and Rainbow Dash put her front hooves over her neck. “Not today!” came a voice from behind Hunter. He span around to look at who had said that. He then heard a roaring from the trees. Several tree trunks splintered immediately as a large beast emerged from them with Fluttershy riding on its back. The beast resembled a lion with the tail of a scorpion. “So, you like hunting big game?” asked Fluttershy, “then try this manticore on for size!” Hunter’s eyes dilated in surprise, but he quickly regained his train of thought and raised his gun. Pulling the trigger, the beam shot out and struck the manticore dead center. Nothing happened. Hunter started backing up and fired again and again, but the manticore would not disappear. “What’s the matter?” asked Techorse in a mocking tone “Is your teleporter beam too weak to teleport a beast of that size? Let’s see you beat him, if you really are the master hunter.” “Get him!” ordered Fluttershy. The beast charged forward at Hunter. The human screamed in terror, but he backpedaled and fired his gun constantly hoping he would at least hit Fluttershy. But the manticore had already closed the gap, and its right claw came down on Hunter’s chest. His shirt was immediately torn open at the front, revealing a bulletproof vest he was wearing underneath. The manticore struck with his other claw, and to Hunter’s horror the claw tore the bulletproof vest off in one swing, leaving him bare-chested. He fell to his knees in front of the creature, and looked up helplessly at Fluttershy. The manticore reached up with his right paw to deal the finishing blow to the human. Hunter immediately dropped his rifle and began pleading with Fluttershy. “Please don’t kill me!” he wailed. “I’m sorry! I really am!”. “It’s too late for that.” said Fluttershy coldly, “You’re finished”. “I wasn’t going to do anything to your friends, I swear!” said Hunter in tears. “I heard you quite clearly mister. You were going to turn my friends into stuffed animals. You meant what you said.” said Fluttershy. Applejack threw in, “And he called me a dumb blonde!” “You shouldn’t kill me just for threats!” reasoned Hunter, “after all, I did mean it about you loving peace. It’d be a shame to wreck your reputation just to get rid of me! Aren’t you guys supposed to be loving and caring?” “Maybe you should have thought about the consequences before you decided to torture my friends.” said Fluttershy, intent on letting the human die. Hunter shut his eyes and screamed, “Please, have mercy! I’ll give up hunting and pick a new career! I’ll become a vegetarian, whatever it takes, just please don’t do this to me!” Twilight knew the human was telling the truth and said, “Fluttershy, that’s enough. Do not do what I think you’re about to do! Calm down and tell him to let us out of this cage.” Fluttershy dropped her eyelids a bit. She did feel a little bad about how far she had taken the situation. She had initially only wanted to teach the human a lesson, but here she was about to show every pony she knew what this man’s internal organs looked like. Fluttershy said to Hunter, “let my friends go now, and I won’t tell him to finish you.” Hunter took a key out of the tattered remains of his shirt and unlocked the cage. The friends filed out of the metal container and looked at Hunter. Fluttershy got off of the manticore and said to Applejack, “Tie him up so we can take him to prison.” Techorse then remembered something, “Wait a minute, I’ve got a better idea. Hunter, find that vial of blue fluid Wizard gave to you.” Hunter took the vial out of his pocket. “Now”, Techorse said, “When you pour this over your head, you will be transported back to Earth. Wizard said there’s no penalty for quitting, so go ahead and do it. Quit, leave this planet, and never come back again.” Hunter wept, looked at the ponies and said, “thank you for sparing me, and showing a little love.” “Hey”, said Rainbow Dash, “it’s what we do.” Hunter then unscrewed the cap on the vial and poured the liquid over his head. He then vanished in a large blue cloud of smoke. All that was left on the ground was the crystal given to him by Wizard. Techorse walked up to it and smashed it to pieces with his hoof. As Techorse watched the red color drain from the fragments, he smiled. He knew Wizard had lost a way to take control of the planet. Wizard was looking out one of the space station’s gigantic windows. He looked down at the planet below with contempt. As the goateed man watched the surface, a warning tone sounded throughout the room. Wizard turned around and walked over to his map of the surface. He sat down at the table and took a look at the location of the ponies. The older man watched with anger as the figure of Hunter melted and evaporated into the air. He clenched his fist and looked around at the table to decide his next move. Noticing a settlement in the desert, Wizard smirked and plotted the strategy to capture it. Moving over to a large model representing the factory he had planted behind the mountains, Wizard picked up a handful of models representing robots and moved them over to the settlement. He then turned around and walked over to a pillar with a metal disk on it. His hands glowed, and he touched the disk. Immediately, Bossman appeared as a hologram before Wizard. “Bossman”, ordered Wizard, “ramp up production of robots to 60% capacity. None of the others are building portals except the general, so we have to ship robots manually. Send the new robots over to the desert and have them attack the pony settlement there. It will lure my targets over, where one of our men can take care of them.” Bossman said, “Excellent plan, except that the factory is not ready to produce at that speed yet. We’re only up to 20% capacity, and the mining probes can’t dig up enough metals to produce that many robots!” Wizard shouted at Bossman, “Just turn the dials and speed everything up! We need to strike now!” “Alright”, Bossman replied, “I’ll make as many robots as I can and send them over. But we won’t have any reserves to attack their capital cities with.” Wizard threw his arm over to the side and said, “That matters little. Get a large enough army to handle these seven ponies I’m concerned about, and we won’t need very many robots to handle the cities.” Bossman smiled and said, “Is Techman’s little party wrecking our machines? Those idiots have no chance of stopping us.” Wizard leaned closer to the hologram and said menacingly, “Listen you fool. Hunter just quit, his crystal was shattered seconds ago. He’s back on earth now recovering from what Techman did to him. If you don’t want to suffer the same fate, I suggest you follow my orders and send out those robots.” Bossman’s eyebrows lifted and he replied, “Hunter quit? Maybe those ponies are a bit of a threat after all. Alright then, Wizard my friend, I will try to ramp up production and send some robots into the desert. But I think I can only manage about 40% capacity.” “Fine.” said Wizard, “Just make sure a good number are headed for the desert.” Wizard shut down the hologram disk and turned to face his map. He took a look over at the desert and looked at the railroad there. A small figure representing a train was moving towards the city. Wizard said, “Soon Gunslinger will arrive there in his train and begin loading up the natives. If Bossman proves competent, he will get an army of robots to back him up.” Wizard leaned back in his chair, and rested his hand on his chin, “Gunslinger will do better against the ponies than Hunter.” Chapter 12 “Alright Fluttershy!” cheered Rainbow Dash. “You got rid of that human once and for all.” Everypony cheered for Fluttershy’s victory against Hunter. After it quieted down, Techorse said, “We managed to beat Hunter. But, there are still 5 other men out there attacking your planet. Let’s figure out where the next one is so we can stop him.” Twilight gave her response, “Hold on, Techorse. We need to rest a bit. Since we’re so close to Ponyville, let’s just go back and spend the day recovering. Tomorrow, we’ll head back out to find the next human.” Rarity said, “Twilight Sparkle is right. We need to clean up a bit. I probably smell terrible after all this.” “No you don’t”, said Applejack, “You take good care of yourself Rarity.” “Ugh”, Rarity answered with a sniff, “you're only saying that because you never think you need a bath, Applejack.” “Let’s not get at each other’s throats.” said Twilight, looking back and forth at Applejack and Rarity. Fluttershy agreed, “We need to stay on each other’s good side.” The manticore purred and sat down with a thud on the ground, drawing attention away from the argument. “Saaaay!” said Pinkie Pie, “Isn’t this the same manticore from a while ago? When we first met?” “Yes”, said Fluttershy as she scratched the beast behind his right ear, “this is him. I found him having a drink from a river, and begged him to help us stop Hunter. He said he’d be glad too, because Hunter was scaring his friends away.” Fluttershy turned to the beast and said, “You can go now. Thank you so much for helping us.” The beast bowed and walked slowly back into the thick stands of trees. Techorse asked curiously, “So, how long have you girls known each other anyways? When did you all meet?” Rainbow Dash whipped her rainbow hair eagerly and answered, “I can tell you the story! Come back to my cloudhouse and we can talk and snuggle.” Rainbow Dash realized her mistake and added quickly, “I mean, share stories!” Techorse snickered a bit at Rainbow Dash’s Freudian slip. Twilight said, “Techorse, I can tell you what you need to know. I just have to bring you a book from the library to explain it better.” He looked at her and replied, “That sounds great Twilight. Come over to the castle tonight and we can talk.” Rainbow Dash pouted and glared at Twilight Sparkle as jealousy overtook her. As the ponies turned to walk back towards Ponyville, Applejack whispered to Rainbow Dash, “Don’t get green with envy because Techorse chose Twilight over you. His smarts are like Twilight’s, and he hopes that’ll help her explain our friendship better.” Rainbow Dash said, “Well, I still don’t see why he can’t talk to me instead.” Applejack put on a smirk to tease Rainbow Dash and said, “You do have a crush on that guy. Just admit it.” She said angrily, “I do not! I’m looking for a great sidekick, and I think Techorse is perfect for that!” Applejack smiled and said, “Sure, you just wanted to snuggle with him. I heard you say that.” Pinkie Pie interrupted the argument, “Hey! I’m having a party at my place to celebrate our first victory! Want to come?” “I guess I’ve got nothing better to do”, said Rainbow Dash sadly. Applejack answered, “Of course, Pinkie Pie. But then I’ve got to check up on the farm first.” As the team split up to go back to their homes in Ponyville, the three young mares looked at them from behind a tree. “Aw shoot. We were too slow. The older ponies already beat the human.” Said Apple Bloom. Scootaloo told her friend, “Don’t worry. There are more humans around here causing trouble. I’m sure we’ll get the chance to take one of them down and earn our cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle looked around and asked, “Should we just go back to Ponyville then? I don’t think Rarity’s going on another adventure until she cleans up a bit.” Apple Bloom answered, “Probably. We’ll just take a break, and then follow ‘em again next time they leave.” The three young ones started walking back in the direction of Ponyville. Back at the castle, Techorse was waiting for Twilight Sparkle’s arrival. He entered the front gate of the castle and watched as the massive wooden door closed behind him. Losing a little less than half his height in becoming a pony made everything seem massive to him. PAL’s android form walked up to him and said, “Master! You’re alive!” The machine ran forward and hugged his creator. “Don’t you have any confidence in me PAL? I promised I’d be back.” Techorse replied. The machine released his master. “Sorry, I’m just so glad my best friend is ok.” said PAL as he stepped back. Techorse said, “Listen, PAL. Twilight Sparkle’s coming over in a few minutes to talk. Is the castle clean?” PAL nodded and said, “I’ve kept the castle in shape for your return. It’s clean, the metal bins have been filled by the probes, and your lab is in top condition.” PAL looked over at Techorse’s saddle and said, “That looks horribly out of repair.” He replied, “Yeah, can I get you to repair it for me? The blueprints are in the database. Just connect to the central computer and download them.” PAL removed the saddle from Techorse’s back and said, “Of course master. I’ll have this patched up in a jiffy.” As the robot turned to leave Techorse asked, “One last thing, PAL. How’s the castle library doing?” The robot responded, “Nothing’s missing or damaged if that’s what you’re asking. I just dusted the collection, so it should be clean too.” “Alright, thanks.” Within the hour, the doorbell rang at the front of the castle. Techorse ran over to one of the castle walls and threw the switch hanging there. The drawbridge lowered gradually and gently touched down on the path outside. Twilight entered wearing a bag on her side. She walked through the open gateway and greeted Techorse, “Hey, thanks for inviting me over.” He said, “No problem, Twilight.” Twilight and Techorse began their walk deeper into the castle. “Wow”, said Twilight, “you know, when I was last in here, I was just running after you. It’s actually pretty nice in here once you stop to look around.” Techorse explained the atmosphere of the castle, “When I designed this castle, I didn’t want it to be a creepy place. There’s plenty of electric lights powered by solar panels on the roof.” Twilight asked, “What’s a solar panel?” “Oh”, he answered, “It’s a piece of equipment that takes the sun’s rays and turns it into electric power. During the day, the panels gather energy and put it into a large battery underneath the castle. That way, I can run the lights all night without burning a drop of fuel. Green and happy.” Twilight marveled at the technology, “You don’t see electric lights much out here. I mean, we have them in the cities, but they’re connected to a power plant. They’re relatively high tech.” Techorse frowned and said to her, “This is basic technology back home on Earth.” Twilight, still looking around, continued “I guess humans are very smart then. But I still wonder why they need all this technology.” He answered, “When you don’t have wings and it’s very difficult to learn magic, you use your brain to invent machines that complete those tasks.” “Did you invent the solar panels?” asked Twilight. “No.” replied Techorse humbly, “I just used them as a part of the castle’s wiring.” Twilight asked another question, “So, how did you even build this place? I saw it fall from the sky, but it was already in one piece.” Techorse answered, “Wizard gave us all a choice as to how we wanted our base of operations to look like. I designed this using a computer, an electronic machine that works quickly with data.” Twilight asked, “Like PAL?” Techorse nodded, “PAL is a special type of computer. He’s a robot that’s been programmed by me to interact with others like a real person.” “Programming?”, yet another question from Twilight. Techorse patiently continued his explanation, “Machines need instructions in the form of a special language called code. We have to write it, like an instruction manual, to get machines to do what we want to.” Twilight said, “Wow. You really are a smart pony.” Correcting her mistake, she continued, ”I mean human.” “Don’t worry”, he responded, “I’m pretty much a pony now. Just call me that.” They arrived at a red door, ending the awkwardness. Techorse looked at the rounded knob and said, “I have to refit this place for hooves.” He turned the knob with his teeth, swung open the door, and walked in with Twilight following him. Twilight’s mouth hung open a bit in joy as she looked at the room. It was an open room with multiple bookcases on the walls, each with 3 shelves. A few hundreds of books of various types were neatly arranged on them. In the center of the room were brown leather chairs to sit and read on. “Welcome to my library.” said Techorse, “Do you like it?” Twilight said with great joy, “I love it! Where did you get all these books?” Techorse replied, “Wizard said we could have anything we wanted. So, I added in a library to my design. All the classic stories of Earth history are here, as well as plenty of general informational books.” Twilight’s horn glowed, and she picked up a book about plants that live on Earth. “So much to learn about your planet from these books.” she said, “can I take some back with me?” “Yes, but do not add them to Ponyville’s library”, warned Techorse, “The information is useless to Ponyville, and all of the fictional stories feature humans as main characters, so no pony would understand them.” “Don’t worry Techorse. I wasn’t planning on it.” she said. He asked, “Hey, do you want something to drink while you read? I built a carbonator and can make us soda.” Twilight actually was feeling a little thirsty, so she said, “Sure. What flavor?” Techorse answered, “Just pick a fruit juice and I can make fresh soda in no time.” Twilight thought for a second, walked past Techorse, and answered, “Orange soda.” “Ok”, he replied. As Techorse turned to leave, he looked back at Twilight reading the books she had taken off the shelf. He looked at her straight hair, mostly a darker purple color than her skin, with a pink stripe and a purple stripe down the middle. Techorse watched her curved tail flick as she took in the information from the books. He followed it down to the base, and glanced at her cutie mark, a large pointed star with five smaller stars surrounding it. Techorse then turned away from admiring Twilight and felt an interesting emotional feeling inside him. Sighing once, he exited the library to the right and began his walk down the hallway. Techorse entered the kitchen of the castle, which contained an oven with a stove, a microwave, a refrigerator in the corner, and a center counter with the carbonator. Opening the refrigerator door, he took out a carton of orange juice and poured its contents into the opening of a machine. Techorse put down two glasses filled with ice in front of the faucets at the front of the machine. At the press of a red button, the machine whirred for a moment before neatly dispensing two glasses of bubbling orange soda. After the drink was dispensed, the colt took two red plastic straws and placed one into each drink. Techorse was really starting to miss his battle saddle’s robotic hands at this point. It took him a while to figure out how to grab the glasses and put them on a wheeled tray. Getting used to having no hands, he began pushing the tray with his head back towards the library. Along the way, he passed a computer monitor that displayed the status of various parts of the castle. Techorse noticed something unusual on the screen out of the corner of his eye and stopped pushing the cart. He looked at the screen and asked, “PAL? You in the central computer?” A robotic face appeared in the corner of the screen. “Been so for about 10 minutes”, replied the icon representing PAL, “What do you need to know?” Techorse asked, “It says here the castle’s roof hot tub has been turned on. Is there something you want to tell me PAL?” The icon disappeared, and PAL’s android form walked in. “Well master, I don’t know. It must be an electrical short.” The pony looked up at the robot and scolded, “Don’t play dumb. I know it’s one of the tactics I built you with, but it helps me tell when you try to lie. What’s going on?” PAL said nervously, “I was in the central computer, looking around the castle, and I happened to notice you and Twilight in the library through the surveillance cameras. It doesn’t take high-end thermal scanners to know you’re in love with that girl.” Techorse said sternly, “PAL, I’m not Captain Kirk. Twilight Sparkle is my friend, not some alien babe.” PAL quickly shook his head and waved his hands sideways, “Master, I didn’t mean it like that.” He stopped motioning and put a hand behind his head. The robot continued, “I mean you really love her for who she is! I just thought I’d be helpful by offering a more romantic atmosphere on the roof of the castle.” Techorse looked at the ground in embarrassment and said, “Well, I appreciate your ‘help’. But I don’t think Twilight wants a romantic relationship with a pony who’s actually a human.” PAL put a metal hand on Techorse’s “shoulder” and said, “To her, you are a pony. You might as well tell her you love her and get it over with.” He said to the robot, “I’ll think about. But don’t spy on me again PAL.” The machine nodded and walked off. Techorse returned to the library with the tray in tow. He said, “I brought the sodas.” Twilight put down the book she was reading and took a large sip from the glass closest to her. “This is really great! We have sodas in Ponyville, but they have to be made in batches in other cities.” she said as she enjoyed the orange drink. Techorse said, “Thanks, Twilight.” After a short pause, he continued, “So, what book were you reading there?” She held up the novel and replied, “It’s called The War of The Worlds.” Techorse said, “Yeah, that one’s kind of related to your struggle against humans isn’t it? Giant machines shooting laser beams at defenseless people.” Twilight looked up at him and said, “It is a little different. In this story, the humans are all good, and the invaders are all evil. I know one alien who’s not so bad.” Techorse changed the subject, “Twilight, the reason I asked you over here is to learn how you became friends with the others. Can you tell me the story now?” She answered, “Of course. Let me get out the book I brought.” Twilight opened her saddlebag and took out the old, worn out book. Using magic, she laid it down on the table next to Techorse and turned the pages. “This is a book of prophecy I’ve kept with me since I came to Ponyville. It was written by princess Celestia’s servants more than a millennium ago.” “Oh, the princess! This is the same one who’s royal guard has her safe in her castle, right? You know, from the letter earlier?” said Techorse, remembering what Twilight had said. She nodded and said, “Yes. She and her sister have ruled Equestria for as long as most ponies can remember.” Techorse figured, “Not even a human’s lifespan is that long. I sense magic is at work here.” Twilight confirmed his theory, “Our happiness and joy keeps them alive somehow. They’re such noble and kind leaders that they’ve been able to stay alive forever.” Being an ex-American, Techorse asked in a confused tone, “Being ruled by two leaders with total power has never bothered you? It would drive humanity to revolution very fast.” She shook her head and continued, “They’re so fair to us that there aren’t any complaints. But so you know, we also have an elected board too for most legal issues.” “Ok”, said Techorse wanting to get to the point, “learning about the princesses is great. But how did you all become friends?” Twilight raised a hoof at him to tease his impatience and said, “I was getting to that. You see, I am the star student of princess Celestia’s magic school. In the past, I spent my days studying in Canterlot’s royal library. Because I didn’t have any social life, however, the princess sent me out here in Ponyville to make friends. I then ended up making friends with the others, after some interesting events.” Techorse took a look at the prophecy book and said, “I’m reading here something quite dark. It says the princesses didn’t exactly get along in the past.” Twilight said, “Sadly, Luna became jealous of her sister. Because she controls the night and Celestia controls the day, ponies would play during the day and sleep right through the night. This rejection made her bitter.” Techorse, ever the scientist, said, “That’s ridiculous. Sleep is absolutely vital for life, even more so than exercise. Sleep repairs your body and keeps you from going nuts due to exhaustion.” “But she wouldn’t think of that. She craved attention, and it wasn’t good enough for her that sleep was necessary for life. Anyways, she got so violent that princess Celestia used 5 Elements of Harmony carved out of magical stone to banish Luna. Each of these Elements represents a single characteristic of harmony. A sixth element exists when the five are brought together.” Techorse took a look at the diagram in the book and said, “I’ve got the perfect place for this image. Bring the book and follow me!” They walked down a narrow hallway and entered a small room with a table with a light blue wire-grid on it. He instructed, “Twilight please lay the book down on the table with the picture facing up.” She did so, and a blue beam came from a box in the ceiling that swept across the book. “Scan complete”, read a plain voice not belonging to PAL. “projecting hologram”. The six crystals in the picture were displayed holographically, floating above the book in the air. The five outermost crystals spun around the middle one. Techorse took a look at Twilight’s awed expression and said, “Holographic book display. Like it?” Twilight regained composure and replied, “It’s pretty neat. But let me finish what I was going to say. Princess Celestia used these 6 elements to seal Luna inside a prison on the moon. She stayed there for 1000 years. I was in Ponyville when the 1000 years expired.” He interrupted her, “So Luna predictably came back and tried to destroy you all.” Twilight nodded and continued, “She cast a spell to make it night forever. That’s when we became friends. We set out to stop Luna by finding the element stones and banishing her again.” Techorse said, “But you must have failed if Luna is still here on the planet.” She shook her head, “No, we found the elements. But we didn’t use just the plain stones. Along the way, we learned each of us represents one of the six elements by our behaviors. Pinkie Pie represents the element of laughter. Rainbow Dash represents loyalty. Fluttershy represents kindness. Rarity represents generosity, and Applejack holds honesty as her element.” “Leaving you.” he said, curious as to what Twilight represented. She said, “I represent the combination of all elements, magic. When the elements combined, the stones changed into wearable artifacts, and a beam from them took out Luna’s evil form. All that was left was the real Luna, and she was sad about what she had done. Now the sisters co-rule Equestria in peace. After that, we decided to put the artifacts away for safekeeping, figuring that once Luna’s evil form was down, we wouldn’t need them again for another millennium. However, sometimes we’ve had to use them again.” Techorse frowned in guilt and said, “No wonder you were crushed when I told you magic was an advanced process of the mind. The truth must have made you think you were unimportant.” Twilight looked at Techorse with hope in her eyes and said, “No, it’s because I realized that my friends helped me defeat Luna by concentrating our emotional thoughts and desires at the same time. You’re right that magic is of our minds. But what you don’t know is how strong friendship truly is in respect to magic.” “I know what you mean.” he said, “You made friends, and together your combined will and spirit beat evil at all odds. Now, I think it’s time for you to do it yet again. We need to get those artifacts out of storage and use them against Wizard.” She said with uncertainty, “I don’t think they can beat Wizard. The elements were designed to banish evil magic, not get rid of it. I’m sure Wizard can simply break its power.” In frustration, Techorse shouted, “Twilight, make up your mind. Is it the elements that beat Luna that day? Or was it you and your friends’ ultimate will and emotion? If it’s the latter, we can beat Wizard. I know it!” The hologram table’s voice came back on and announced, “Another layer of ink has been detected underneath of the picture. Should I display it as a hologram?” Twilight asked, “Another layer? What does that mean?” He explained, “The computer has found out that this picture has been painted over another one. It’s going to scan underneath and display it as a hologram. Go ahead, computer, display second layer.” A buzz was heard, and then, to Twilight’s shock, a seventh crystal floated from the book, and rested underneath the central crystal. Techorse asked, “What is that?” “Text display initiated.” sang out the computer. The text of the second ink layer appeared in front of the two ponies. Techorse read, “I cannot know if what I’m doing is right. Should I banish my sister to end this nightmare? To know, I have created a seventh element of Harmony. It’s not needed for the banishing spell, but I will use it to let me know if I’m doing the right thing here. Is this really the reality I want? This element can destroy evil magic when combined with the others instead of banish it, but I don’t plan on using it for that. This separation will cause great sadness for both of us, and I don’t want it to be permanent.” Twilight Sparkle stared at the text, and then sat on the floor. Techorse sat down next to her and asked, “This is Celestia’s writing, isn’t it? What does this mean?" Twilight said slowly, “There… There’s a seventh element of harmony. It can destroy bad magic rather than banish it.” “If there’s a seventh one and it can destroy bad magic,” figured Techorse, ”maybe it can be used to defeat Wizard. He’s pure bad magic, down to the core. Of course, we do have to find the pony that represents this element first.” Twilight Sparkle looked Techorse in the eyes and said with joy, “It’s you! You’re the seventh element!” Techorse sputtered and said, “What? No, it can’t be. I’m not a pony, I’m a human, remember?” Twilight replied, “That doesn’t matter. You're a pony now, and you’re friends with the six other element holders! You must be it.” He rolled his eyes and said, “Ok, let’s say I am this seventh element. The text says it’s unnecessary.” “Unnecessary for banishing Luna. But necessary for destroying bad magic forever!” said Twilight, attempting to stay optimistic. Techorse took a look at the seventh crystal floating underneath the ring of 6. He then shut off the hologram projector and said, “Thanks for telling me this. Now, I really have to think hard. If I am this seventh element, we need to find out what it is before I can use it.” Twilight said, “Tomorrow we can meet and tell the others this news. They’re going to be thrilled. In the meantime, I’ll write the princess and ask about this.” Techorse, who was mistrusting of world leaders, said, “She’ll deny existence of the element. We need to keep our knowledge a secret from the princesses for as long as possible.” “Why?” she asked him, “Shouldn’t we just ask so we can win this struggle quickly?” Techorse answered, “I don’t want to cause trouble by revealing my knowledge of the element to the princesses. What will Luna think of her sister if she finds out there’s something she made that could have been used to kill her?” Twilight reasoned with him, “But we can still ask Celestia about them to try to get a little more information. We just have to keep this knowledge from Luna.” He finally caved in and said, “Ok, go ahead and write to princess Celestia. In the meantime while we search for what the element is, we need to plan out our attack against Wizard’s remaining henchman. Their lack of magic will make them invincible to this super weapon.” Twilight nodded her head in agreement. After a moment of silence she said, “Well, that’s pretty much our story anyways. I need to get home.” Techorse walked her out to the front door and watched her leave back for her library. The drawbridge started going back up, and Techorse turned around to head for bed and think over the shocking information he had learned. As she walked away, Twilight paused and looked back at the castle. She thought, “I should have told him I loved him once I knew he held an element, but he wouldn’t have understood. He keeps thinking he’s a human, so he probably doesn’t want a relationship with a pony.” Twilight hung her head and walked off into the miserable night.