//------------------------------//
// Chapter 50 - Anomaly 
// Story: My Family and Other Equestrians 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

Well, that was it; Hearth’s Warming had come and gone. Today was the equine equivalent of Boxing Day. And just like on Earth, everypony was either shopping, or resting at home, still tired out from the day before. 

As I suspected, Apple Bloom had woken up at around half-past five and ensured the entire household got up to celebrate. She was thrilled with the chemistry set I had bought for her. She said she’d take it with her during her next lesson with Twilight to save the princess funds on raw materials. She spent the better part of the day making invisible ink to send messages to her fellow Crusaders. 

Granny Smith, as Applejack had warned, quickly took the yarn I had got her, and turned them into the itchiest sweaters in the history of the world. It was like being infested with fleas. And there was no way we dared remove the damned things lest we draw the ire of the apple matriarch. 

As for me, I’d already taken to wearing my newly gained Stetson on a permanent basis. And if I do say so myself I pulled off the look quite well. It certainly made me feel even more like a member of the Apple family than I already did. We were sitting down to lunch when Spike turned up at the door.

Apparently, Shining and Strong Shield had been able to come down to Ponyville a couple days early. We’d expected them to arrive on the twenty-ninth, but with everything quiet in Canterlot, the two had left matters in the hooves of Shining’s XO and taken the train down here. Deciding it would be nice to see the two war horses I quickly finished my lunch and headed to Ponyville with Spike for company. 





Spike too had had a pleasant Hearth’s Warming, though he was still a little sore about the fact that Twilight had got him a book, again. Still, he said he appreciated my gift of twenty-year old sapphires. The snow was still fairly deep to Spike on Sweet Apple Acres, despite Big Mac’s efforts, so I let him sit on my back as Twilight would. There was something strangely comical having a small dragon perched on my back.  

“So where’d that hat come from, Blade Star?” he asked as I continued to plod through the snow.

“It was a present from Applejack, Spike,” I replied contentedly. I was still loving the fact that I had it. “She said Ah’d earned it over the last few months.”

“And it seems like only yesterday you and your family turned up at the library for the first time.” 

I chuckled to myself.

“Come on Spike we haven’t been here that long, it’s only been ‘bout three months.” By my reckoning, we’d arrived in late September.

“Yeah, but you guys have settled in now. It feels like you’ve been here as long as me and Twilight.” I smiled to myself. 

“If we do ever find a way back, we’re all definitely gonna miss you guys, particularly you and Twi. You took my folks in, gave ‘em food and a bed when y’all had no idea who we were. Ah owe you a lot.” I paused to readjust the scarf round my neck. “So, how’s Strong Shield and Shining then, they settled in okay?” Spike nodded.

“Shining Armour’s staying with Twilight, and I think Strong Shield got himself a room above the tavern.” The one-eyed guard instructor would naturally set himself up at the nearest watering hole wouldn’t he? 

“Alright, Ah’ll drop you off back at the library Spike, then ah think Ah’ll go see what Strong Shield’s up to.”





After dropping Spike off back at the library and of course, saying hi to Twilight and her brother, wishing the latter a happy Hearth’s Warming, I headed to the local tavern where Strong Shield was staying.

Ponyville only has one watering hole, but it’s a decent one. Simply called ‘The Tavern’, the place was what you’d expect from a pub; a tap room, a few games and some rooms upstairs for ponies passing through to spend the night in. I’d seen and walked past it a few times, though I never really considered myself the type to go out to pubs. Still, it had the same friendly feel as the Officers Club back in Canterlot and it was in Ponyville, I decided to head on in. 

Heading inside, the place was a little dark inside owing to the small number of windows. Wooden beams were dotted around the room and the whole place felt very rustic. At this time of day, the place was quiet, with only a couple of ponies about, plus the mare behind the bar, one Berry Punch who remarkably, appeared sober. I spotted Strong Shield sitting on one of the stools there, a mug of cider in his hoof. 

“Ah thought Ah’d find you here, Captain. Though ain’t it a bit early for that?” I said, gesturing to the foaming mug.

“It’s regular cider, Rookie, not that hard stuff. Jeez what do you take me for, a drunk?” he answered with feigned offense. It was no secret that Strong Shield had a taste for the strong stuff particularly sweeter things like cider, but he was always careful. Smiling, I trotted over and settled myself down in the stool next to him.   

“So, what news from the exciting world of the Royal Guard?” I asked. Strong Shield gave a laugh and motioned the bartender to bring me a cider.

“Not much, Rookie,” he said. “There’s a little training exercise coming up in a month or so but that’s about it.”

“Training exercise, like a war game?” I asked.

“Pretty much, since we’ve done as much as we can with sieges, I figured it might be a good idea to try some mobile warfare, just in case those Griffons try anything again.” I sipped at my own cider.

“Don’t let Major Hartwin hear you say that,” I replied jokingly. We both laughed and drained our mugs. “So what are you planning on doing here then, Captain. You ain’t gonna stay cooped up in here are you?” He shook his head.

“Nah, though I might try helping some ponies with some odd jobs in town, and maybe drop by say hello to a few folks I know around here.” A thought occurred to me.

“You know, Captain, Applejack did say we could use a couple extra hooves for patrols round the orchards.” Due to having both cattle, which occasionally went AWOL, and the recent attempt to steal our crops, Applejack had started a semi-serious night watch, usually it just meant checking the fences and looking to make sure trees weren’t suddenly appearing clean of apples. “It’d mean workin’ at night, but it sounds like it’d suit you pretty well.” Strong Shield put a hoof to his chin in thought.

“I suppose I could try that, just so long as I don’t have to imitate a statue for six hours.” I laughed and cracked a wry smile.

“No, Captain. It’s nothin’ like that. And you’ll get access to Apple family cooking.” The blue coated stallion quickly agreed on that note, and we headed off to talk to Applejack and Granny Smith. 





The Apple family were more than happy to have a serving officer of the Royal Guard on hand for a few days. Granny Smith quickly gave him the job, along with me, allowing Big Mac to have a few nights off. She offered to pay the captain twenty five bits per night, but Strong Shield refused any sort of payment, saying that he was doing this as a favour, not as a job. 

Over the next few nights, we’d both follow the fence lines that marked the boundaries of Sweet Apple Acres, checking for any evidence of unlawful entry. We also would frequently check in on the cattle, ensuring they were comfortable and nothing was amiss. It also happened to give me a chance to discuss the principles of Animalism with a few of the older cows, a topic they found most interesting. 

We didn’t have any trouble really. Aside from a few of those vampire fruit bats wandering off their reservation, we effectively just ambled around the farm chatting to ourselves. 

Strong Shield was the kind of pony, or person, I admired; a respectable officer and gentlecolt. He was good at his job, but he was also a fun guy to be around. Most guards were like Shining; at times too dedicated to their job. Strong Shield had loads of stories to tell, an advantage of being a mustang, in that he began as a regular guard and rose through the ranks on merit. Everything he had, had been earned rather than given. Shining was a good leader, but at times his officer school training would cause difficulties. He only ever saw things from a command perspective; Strong Shield had a much better relationship with your common guard. That’s not to say that Shining was not as good a leader as Strong Shield, just that they had a different command style, and I happened to prefer Strong Shield’s approach. 

Anyway, I ramble. 





It was now New Year’s Eve; tonight, everypony would be at Sweet Apple Acres for a full blown celebration and to ring in the New Year. Me, Applejack and Big Mac had spent all afternoon getting the barn decorated and set up, whilst Granny Smith busily cooked up pies, sandwiches and other party foods. And Apple Bloom and the Crusaders had been allowed, amidst great trepidation, to make the punch. 

The sun had not long dipped below the horizon, replaced by its counterpart and its many accompanying stars. I often wonder if Luna is actually more powerful than Celestia, being able to move a number of stars to Celestia’s sun. Maybe that was why the Elements were needed on that darkest of days. 

It looked to be a clear night, and Strong Shield and I were just getting back in from our rounds. With his help, I’d managed to pick up a few tricks for keeping a careful eye out, things he’d learnt the hard way. Always keep your head on a swivel, don’t follow the same track night after night, only light up your horn when you need to, and above all else always keep your opponent on the defensive; better to attack and make them back up, than hold your ground and get jumped. 

The only issue to speak of was the weather. Dash and her mob had been having trouble from the Everfree. Unlike typical weather, the Everfree’s could not be controlled. It went where it wanted and did what it wanted; it was just that usually, it stayed inside the forest’s boundaries. Recently though, a few clouds had come barrelling out spewing thunderstorms, with strong winds and even the odd lightning strike, affecting the normal weather patterns. Dash wasn’t sure what was causing it and neither did the higher ups in Cloudsdale. Twilight had taken it upon herself to investigate the phenomenon; she hypothesised that this may be a residual effect of our arrival. The only question then was; why now? 

As I pondered this and the two of us were settling down, Apple Bloom came out. Perched on her back, carefully balanced, was what looked to be a rudimentary telescope. Not an advanced piece of kit, but good enough for the basics. Her two friends had come with her as well. Scootaloo had turned up on her scooter and was carrying the tripod that attached to the telescope itself in a small cart behind her, whilst Sweetie Belle was carrying a number of star charts in her mouth. 

“Hey girls,” I said as they approached. “What are you three doin’ out this way?” The trio came to a halt in front of us. In a fluid motion, Apple Bloom cast the scope off her back, Scootaloo set up the tripod and connected the scope when it landed, whilst Sweetie Belle found the correct chart for their location and time opening it out for everypony to see.  

“Twilight got me a telescope and tonight’s the first clear night we’ve had since Hearth’s Warming,” she replied.

“So we went and got a bunch of star charts, and then Apple Bloom told us you knew loads of stuff about the stars,” Scootaloo continued.

“We thought you could help us out and teach us, and then we could be Cutie Mark Crusader astronomers.” Sweetie Belle finished. I splayed and covered my ears with my hooves, knowing what was inevitably about to happen.

“YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ASTRONOMERS!” they cheered. I turned to Strong Shield, who hadn’t caught on to what was happening quickly enough. The poor fellow was rubbing his ears in an effort to get the ringing to stop. 





While the party began to get going inside the barn, I stayed out with the Crusaders, teaching them what I could. Unfortunately, this was somewhat difficult when three fillies all wanted to look through one telescope at once. In the end I managed to convince them to take turns, assuring them that the night sky was not going anywhere just yet. 

I’d been listening to the nearby town clock as it stuck through the quarter hours. I looked up as it rang off the quarter to. Only fifteen more minutes until New Year. At this point, I’d taught the Crusaders to find the North Star, the Plough, and Orion’s Belt and taught them a little bit about the moon, naming the odd crater here and there. 

“Alright you three,” I said as the clock finished striking. “We best be gettin’ in; not long 'till New Year’s now.” The Crusaders, with some reluctance, packed up their telescope and charts, which were now covered in annotations, and headed inside with me following behind. 

The party in the barn was in full swing now, with everypony preparing for the count down to the New Year. Strong Shield was contentedly chatting away with Twilight, whilst Shining was all but trapped in a conversation with my mother. Lizzie too was with her, eyeing the guard captain at times. Rarity trotted over to us as we entered.

“Hello, Darling,” she said as she approached. “Glad to see you finally decided to join the party. I was getting worried that we’d have to ring in the New Year without you.”

“Well give me some credit, Rarity. Ah can hardly leave these fillies alone with a telescope and star charts. Not if Ah want the farm to be here tomorrow.” We both chuckled at that. Strong Shield silently excused himself and went to chat with Rainbow. “Anyway, how have you been, it’s been a while since we had a chance to chat.” I hadn’t seen much of Rarity at the Hearth’s Warming party; Applejack took up a decent portion of my time.    

“Oh just fine and dandy, I do hope you like that jacket I made for you.” She batted her eyelids before quickly turned moved on to what I’m sure she viewed as a more pressing subject. “Though I did hear that you got a more surprising gift that night.” Dammit, she must have been talking to Dad.

“Ah have no idea what you mean, Rarity,” I replied, keeping my voice even and hoping she would get the hint. 

“Now, now, Blade Star. I doubt the Element of Honesty would care for such denial,” she parried.

“Rarity, just leave it be,” I all but pleaded.

“Just admit that you like her and I will. Honestly, darling, it’s painful to see a stallion resisting his feelings so.” I was about to snap at her and tell her to mind her own business and that my views on love or Applejack were nothing to do with her. Unfortunately, that was the moment Twilight chose to speak up, and all Tartarus broke loose. 

“Everypony, look at that, in the Everfree Forest.” My anger died as our gathering turned to look out of the window. 

The Everfree is typically a dark and foreboding place, where neither sun nor moon can offer much light. That is what makes it so unsettling to most creatures. What we beheld now though was far worse. A strange, unnatural light was emanating from the forest, flickering and glowing with ill intent. The whole room went quiet after we all pressed ourselves against the barn’s windows. 

“What is it?” Lizzie asked concernedly. Nopony could form a response, while my mother and Fluttershy each took to hugging her. The two attending guard captains, along with Rainbow Dash had their eyes narrowed in an effort to get a clearer view of whatever the hay it was. Even Rarity had forgotten all her gossiping and was transfixed by the strange light. And off to my side, I felt Applejack pressing herself closer to me, with Apple Bloom clinging to her. 

And then, it happened.

The light began to flicker more intensely, almost vanishing then reappearing brighter than before. It seemed to emanate an angry presence, like a growing storm. And what a storm it was. With little warning, it flashed brighter than the sun. We all put our various appendages up in an effort to protect our eyes. Remembering some very old OTC training, I began to count to ten, before lowering my foreleg. We all then had a chance to see what was coming.

The ground seemed to be rippling, like water, and a huge cloud of dust was heading out from the forest. Trees swayed and buckled, while wayward clouds streaked out in all directions. If I’d had a mirror, I’d have seen my eyes widen in horror.

“Everypony down!” Shining cried, doing his best to force us away from the windows. 

As soon as he spoke, my own training kicked in. I grabbed Applejack and Apple Bloom along with her, and dragged them as far away from the wall as I could, before all but forcing them onto the floor, covering them with my form. Everypony else had done something similar, though of course, I didn’t have time to take in the view. It was then, that the blast wave hit. 

Instantly, windows shattered sending glass flying everywhere. Balloons hung on the tables popped and flying glass and debris slammed into them. My ears were filled with the roaring of the wind and I did my best to keep AJ and Apple Bloom protected. After about ten seconds the wave passed and I dared to look up. 

The whole of the barn was a mess. Broken glass was strewn everywhere, tables had been overturned; the place looked like a fifty pound bomb had gone off. Luckily, nopony seemed to be hurt. Lizzie, Mum and Fluttershy had moved to protect the other Crusaders, whilst the rest of the Mane Six had done their best to protect themselves. 

Shining and Strong Shield were the first on their hooves, quickly going back to the window, or rather where the window was to look at the forest. I quickly got up, briefly checking on everypony else, especially my family, before joining them. They both stood stock still, mouths agape.

“Sweet Celestia,” Strong Shield muttered. “What the hay is it?”

“Twiley, any ideas?” Shining asked, looking to his younger sister. The young alicorn leaned closer, studying the phenomenon.

“I’m not certain, but it looks to be near to where Blade Star and his family arrived. This could be the rift forming again.” Instantly, I began to get my family up. With any luck this may be our chance, it would certainly be a good start to the New Year to get my family home as promised. 

“We best get a closer look then,” I offered, pausing to remove some dust from my Stetson. Rainbow quickly agreed with me, as did Shining. Whatever this thing was, it had the potential to drag other humans through. As a group, we left the barn and headed out into the forest. 





As we headed out, I, along with AJ and Big Mac, turned to look at the barn. It was a bit battered here and there but otherwise, it seemed to have stood up to the blast quite well. To quote a certain film, it was going to need a new paint job and a shit load of screen doors. 

After the blast, the rift had formed itself more clearly. Suspended above the Everfree was, to use the scientific term, a big wibbly wobbly swirly thing. It was extremely bright, with a hot white light in the centre, turning to blue as you reached the edge. All in all, it looked like a wormhole, a rift, or whatever else you may wish to call a tear in the fabric of space/time.

The rift’s arrival had had a severe effect on the Everfree and its inhabitants. In addition to felling several large trees near the epicentre of the blast, it had also created a sort of void in the weather, with a large patch of clear sky above the rift. The blast had been so strong that even creatures like manticores had run for cover, hiding under tree trunks or in bushes. I just hoped it hadn’t woken up the Ursa Major. 

It was a fair trek to the rift’s location. But at a full gallop, which left my human companions behind a little, we got there in about ten minutes. Shining, AJ, Rainbow, Strong Shield and I were the first to get there, being the fastest of the group. Pinkie Pie had doubled back to check on my family, while Fluttershy had refused flat out to leave Lizzie’s side. Twilight too, was weighed down, having to carry Spike on her back. 

The whole area of the clearing, which was the very same clearing where we’d first arrived, was strewn with objects. Among them I could see an alarm clock or two, books, clothes, CDs, DVDs, photo frames, pretty much everything you might find in any typical house. They were literally falling out of this rift. As I looked up, I could see what looked to be an iPad hurling toward the event horizon. As soon as it came into contact, the entire thing detonated and vanished; vaporised. Looking down, I couldn’t see anything electronic; no TVs, computers, consoles or anything else, they seemed to just blow up before passing through. By this point a large amount of stuff had collected on the forest floor. 

“What do you make of this Twilight?” I called as she galloped up, her sides heaving from exertion. She quickly set her horn aglow, her eyes promptly widening.

“It’s the rift alright, Blade Star! The same one that brought you here! The entire thing has opened up again and is venting to this side. If we can reverse the energy flow through it, it should allow you to cross back to your own world!” She charged her horn with a spell. 

Firing directly at the rift’s centre, Twilight’s spell caused it to fluctuate wildly. It began to flicker between a white void and what looked like a landscape. Unfortunately though, this didn’t last, the void promptly returned with a small blast that sent the princess back on her rear. 

“Twiley!” Shining exclaimed, rushing over to her. “You okay?” She nodded rubbing her forehead.

“I don’t have enough power to reverse the flow; we’ll need to work together. Intertwining our magic should allow us to reverse the particle flow through the rift.” My inner sci-fi geek, combined with my knowledge of magical theory promptly spoke up.

“Twilight, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that just a little bit risky. Combining magic as far as you’ve taught me is a big no go.” By now, everypony had arrived and was either listening in, or examining either the rift, or what it was churning out. My father came over to offer his help. 

“What do you mean ‘a big no go’, Bones?” he asked. I tried to think of a way to quickly explain it to him. 

“Dad, we do this, well, does the phrase ‘Total Protonic Reversal’ mean anything to you?” He noticeably gulped.  

“It’s risky, Blade Star, but the way I see it, this rift is barely stable now, for all we know it could collapse at any moment. If we don’t do this, we may never be able to get you and your family back to where you came from.” Twilight had a point. This could very well be the one chance we had. I turned to my dad and asked him to get Mum and Lizzie to come over here; they’d been sifting through the debris since they arrived. 

“What do you think then?” I asked them. “Do you want to try it?” I may have made a couple of decisions on my family’s behalf when we first got here, but this was something we all had to agree on.

“Are we sure that it will get us home?” my mother asked. I nodded.

“Twilight says the magical signatures are an exact match and I saw a landscape when it fluctuated; it looked like Earth to me.”

“But what are the chances of it going wrong? From what you just said, if this does go south, it could destroy everything, here and back home,” my father added. 

“Dad, there’s no guarantee this will ever happen again. We don’t try, and that’s it for all we know.”

“Or it may open again this time next week,” my mother countered. “We don’t know enough, never mind the risks. I say stay.”

“So do I,” my dad said, nodding.

“Me too,” followed Lizzie.

Well, that pretty much decided it. For the moment at least, we were going to stay in Equestria. I couldn’t help but still be in two minds, but I knew they were right. Personally, I did not want to go through the pearly gates as the one responsible for the destruction of at least one world. I went over to Twilight, who was stealing herself, along with Rarity, Shining and Strong Shield, to try again.

“Twilight, it’s okay, we’re staying.” She looked up in astonishment. “We all agreed; there’s no way we’re going to risk all of Equestria on an unknown chance.”

“All right, Blade Star,” she said, sounding uncertain. “As long as you’re all sure.”

“If we let the rift collapse now on its own, we may be able to open it safely later on when we’ve done more research. You know any good scientist looks before they leap.” She smiled at that.

“Okay, I’d like to collect some of this stuff for study though. Some of it looks quite…” She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. 





I’m not sure how long I was out for, it was probably only a few seconds, but when I came to it, things had taken a serious downturn. The previously calm portal was now swirling like mad, creating a strong wind that was blowing leaves and debris around like shrapnel. The rift was fluctuating wildly; every now and again I could see the same landscape from earlier. I knew it had to be the same one because of the strange stone pillars I could glimpse every now and again. Looking around, I saw everypony else similarly recovering. The wind was bordering on deafening, and we were all forced to shout to make ourselves heard.

“Twilight, what in the name of Celestia is happening?!” I demanded.

“The rift’s destabilising, the neutron flow between the two sides isn’t equal, it’s causing the event horizon to shift. If we don’t stabilise it soon it could reach critical mass!” she warned, clearly frightened. I thought, trying to come up with some sort of plan with my existing magical knowledge that might stabilise it. As it happened though, my father interrupted all that.

“Then close the rift, seal it up!” he called. Twilight and I turned to him.

“If we do that,” Twilight warned. “The rift will seal permanently; there’ll be no way for us to get you back!”

“And if this thing blows up in our faces we won’t get back either! There’s no time to study this thing, we need to shut it off!”

“No,” I replied firmly. “Ah’m not going to let you get stranded here forever; you have the right to return home!” Thus a small but nonetheless loud argument broke out. On the one hand, Twilight and I wanted to try and stabilise the rift and get my family home. On the other, my family and the rest of the girls wanted to seal it to protect Equestria and Earth.    

“I’m a princess of Equestria and I say we’re stabilising the rift!” Twilight bellowed, actually exercising her authority for a change. My father irritably turned to the two guardsmen beside him.

“Captain Armour, Captain Shield, you are both Solar Guards correct?” They both nodded. “Then as chief legal advisor to Her Grand Royal Highness Princess Celestia of Equestria, I command you to seal that rift.” Mad as it was, I later learned that my father’s position in court did place him a fair way up the food chain; as a member of the Equestrian version of a cabinet, he could order Solar Guards to act on Celestia’s behalf as long as that act could be reasonably deemed necessary to preserve Equestria, harmony and the diarchy. And I’d say sealing a potentially world destroying rift was necessary. 

Since he was acting on Celestia’s behalf, he could overrule Twilight, and since it was his family who had the most to lose, Twilight relented and agreed to help seal the portal. I couldn't help but hear the advice Luna had given me not so long ago which finally swayed me: 'Blade Star, not everything is in your power. Some things you just have to accept and cope with'. So, the two captains, myself, Rarity and Twilight all gathered at the foot of the rift, not an easy task considering the fact that stuff was still flying out of it at a rate of knots. 

Under Twilight’s instruction, we all began to fire off the same spell directly at the centre of the rift. Instantly, my head began to pound with the feedback effect, though with the extra help it was possible to keep the spell going. Quite quickly, our streams began to intertwine, forming one single beam aimed directly at the centre of the event horizon. Looking up at it, I saw the rift fluctuate and I got a clearer view of the landscape.

Stonehenge. That was the odd stone structure I had seen, it was clearer now, and it definitely was Stonehenge. That was miles away from where we lived, but evidently that was where that end of the rift had manifested, suggesting that it wasn’t fixed. 

My examination was short lived though as the rift began to steadily seal. The feedback began to become more and more intense, going from a mild hangover to a huge migraine. As the rift shrank to about the size of a pony’s head Twilight called out. 

“Hold on, everypony. When it seals, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” 

Finally, the rift shrank to the size of a pin prick. Then, quite simply, it exploded. 

The whole area was briefly bathed in white light, just as when it had opened, and a similar blast wave followed. Off to the side I saw a hint of green. All of us were sent flying backwards, luckily we all landed safely, though I’m sure everypony got a few bruises at least. 

Looking up at where the rift was there was now nothing to be seen, aside from all objects that had been brought through. My attention though, was focused mainly on my pounding head. I attempted to cast a light spell to see better, but when I tried, I found my horn only spluttered like a flooded engine.

“Twilight, there’s something wrong with my magic,” I called. I heard her groan and the tell-tale sound of a casting spell, but like me, she couldn’t.

“It must have been the blast, Blade Star. When it sealed, the influx of energy created an energy wave, it temporarily knocks out active magic. We should be okay in a day or so,” she said as we both struggled to our hooves. 

We looked about, steadily getting a reply for everypony else. Rarity too found her magic to be temporarily out of action. Apart from a few cuts and bruises though, nopony was hurt. The only one we couldn’t find was Strong Shield. Calling out for him, we heard a groan from some nearby bushes. Rushing over, we began to clear it off of him.

“You okay, Captain?” I asked as we pushed away the plants. All we got was a groan.

“Dammit, that’s bucking twice,” he complained, his voice having an unusual buzz to it. 

I pushed the last of the leaves and branches off expecting to find my friend. Instead, I found the exact opposite.

An enemy.

A threat.

A Changeling.