The World-Jumper

by NightmareDash

Twilight of the Gods

It began and ended with that cube.

The Doctor(s) had warned Jack of the dangers of taking messages from the future too seriously. Time was flexible, the future could be rewritten. Twilight shared with him her own experience with time-travel, and meeting her future self. But no matter what they said, he could not shake the utter, gripping fear as he himself narrated what appeared to be his own demise.

Of course, he was there when Ponyville was attacked by sentient plant life, fending off rogue foliage with a flame-throwing pistol and, when that ran out of fuel, a stylishly-wielded katana blade. It seemed danger could still reliably bring him out to play. He even followed Twilight into the Everfree and to the Tree of Harmony, protecting her from whatever vines or pony-eating flowers got in their way. As Spike managed to catch sight of the others by crawling up to a tree branch, a particularly vicious pack of rhododendrons attacked, forcing Jack into action.

"Keep going! Get to the others, I'll catch up!"

Not even bothering to argue, Twilight and Spike made a break for the gorge, teleporting down to catch up to the rest of the group. They had their friendly make-up moment, but then looked back when Twilight mentioned what had happened. And to their relief, Jack stood at the top of the gorge, scratched up in places but otherwise none the worse for wear. As he descended the very long stone staircase to reach them, they proceeded into the cavern containing the Tree of Harmony. After some mild debate, they agreed to sacrifice their Elements to restore it. Jack, who had just sliced a smaller black vine off of its root for study, only took notice of what they were doing when that root, along with all the others, were vaporized by a rolling wave of magic. He raced into the cavern, in time to watch as Princesses Celestia and Luna were freed.

"We know how difficult it must have been for you to give up the Elements," Celestia congratulated the group. "It took great courage to relinquish them." This forced Jack to take notice of the Tree itself, which now housed six very familiar gems.

"Oh, God..." Feeling suddenly nauseous, he quickly took leave of the others, trekking back to base while muttering, "Elements captured, no hope, no hope..."

They did not see him for a long time after that.

While Rainbow Dash convinced the others to join her in her stalking of one A.K. Yearling, Jack went looking for a few books of his own. Under the cover of darkness, and with the help of a nanotechnological skeleton key (reforming itself to fit the lock it was inserted into), he paid an after-hours visit to the Ponyville library. Down the stairwell, into the lab, where a very traumatic experience had once begun. And on one of the worktables, just where he last remembered them, were two thin black books, striped tape still hanging off their edges.

"Hello, Rani."

Knockknockknock "Hey Jack! Open up!"

Twilight had told everypony to give Jack his space, after what he had been through with the Master and the hypercube. But Rainbow Dash had never been a very good listener, and now she had the perfect bait to draw him out of his shell. And with Pinkie by her side, she was certain she could sell him on getting back into action.

"Hey, Spike found this awesome new kind of comic book! It literally sucks you in and makes you part of the story! You should totally come with us and fight crime!"

No reply.

"Jaaaaack!" Pinkie offered, "There'll be major flank-kicking involllllved!"

Still no reply.

"Alright, new strategy!" She reared back and pressed both hooves against the door, as if to climb it. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" she sang in a ridiculously cute voice.

Dash gave her a decent slap on the back of the head. "Pinkie, it's July!"

"Oh, yeah. Do you wanna build a sand castle?"

"Pinkie, I don't think that would work on ordinary Jack."

She backed down, head sinking low.

"Hey, it's alright! We can try again tomorrow! I bet he's just... out getting groceries!" Dash reassured her.

And try again they did, the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that...

Alert! Intruder detected! Scanning... Intruder identified: Princess Luna, alicorn. Threat Level: 8. Engage?

What? Jack was ripped from his work by a sudden alert pop-up on his computer screen. No, he typed, then spun around in his chair to see that indeed, Princess Luna had appeared in the middle of his weapons lab. She looked around, surveying the racks and racks of guns, launchers, a few crossbows, and the odd shelf of melee weapons. Jack sat at a 3-screen computer workstation, against the only wall not lined with weapons.

"Princess Luna, what an unexpected pleasure. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. West, Princess Twilight informed me of your sudden reclusiveness, and given my... similar social experience, asked me to speak to you on her behalf."

"Please, call me Jack." His casual tone practically reeked of practice, though Princess Luna only knew this because she had practiced it herself. "Can I show you around?" Without waiting for an answer, he strolled out the door, which wooshed open on approach. He led her into a very much larger room, with at least two more stories of overhead clearance, and littered from wall to wall with vehicles and machines. Jets and helicopters, cars of all sorts, from utility to sport, and even a few boats mounted on large trailers. Rows upon rows of fluorescent lights shone down on them, glinting off glass windshields and filling up almost every dark corner. Jack suddenly took a running start, leapt up and handsprung off the roof of an Aston Martin Vanquish, then vaulted onto and slid across the wing of an A-10 Warthog. To conclude, he made a wall-jump off the side of a black Hummer, reaching out for then pulling himself up to sit on the rotorblade of what appeared to be a Comanche gunship.

"You spin my head right round, right round... Computer, a Dr. Pepper, if you please!"

Riding around on the rotorblade almost merrily for a few seconds, Jack then reached out to pluck a maroon can from a mechanical arm that had descended from the ceiling. He proceeded to swing down from his perch one-handed, then popped the tab and indulged. Slightly irritated, but also just-ever-so-much-more-slightly amused by this sudden burst of youthful exuberance, Luna followed with her wings, touching down as he did.

"Quite a display of agility, Mr. Wes-Jack, I mean."

"Thank you, nothing like a bit of acrobatics to rouse the spirit. Except Dr. Pepper, of course. This is one of the few reasons I ever go back to Earth: grocery shopping."

He took another long swig from the can.

"Anyway, this is the hangar, where I keep all my larger toys. You arrived in the armory, where the small ones go. There are other labs and facilities down here, but that's enough of that. Twilight wanted you to check up on me, eh?"

"...Among other things."

"Such as?"

"There was a break-in at the Royal Library in Canterlot several weeks ago."

"Oh, how horrible! What was stolen?"

"Nothing, actually, but several archives that we ordinarily restrict access to had been compromised. My sister wanted to know if you had any involvement in the affair."

"What, me?" He gasped in feigned shock. "Well, I don't know what to say, except that I'd suppose this intruder, whoever they were, probably didn't find what they were looking for."

They exchanged knowing smiles.

"What do you suppose 'they'd' have been interested in?"

"Oh, that would be little more than a wild guess on my part, but I'd have to put my money on it having something to do with the name 'Tirek'."

Luna's smile vanished at the drop of that name. Both of them knew things had just become very serious.

"Some information is better left unwritten, Jack."

"What do you know about it, Luna? Believe me, it's important."

"That is a story it is not my place to tell."

Jack knew he was hitting a brick wall. Or rather, a stonewall.

"I see. But back to our intruder; I suspect he did uncover information about another name."

"Whose?"

"Yours. Apparently, in an age gone by, you were referred to as 'Dreamwalker'. True?"

"Yes, I am the guardian of ponies' dreams. I keep watch, and sometimes intervene, but only for the benefit of my subjects."

"Have you ever walked through a human's dream?"

"No, though I did try on occasion. Your mind is too unlike that of a pony for me to see your dreams. Your subconscious, in particular, is radically different."

"Mmmm... There was another name you were once known by."

"What would that be?"

"...Nightmare Moon."

"That part of my life is long behind me!" Luna replied adamantly.

"No, no, I'm not accusing you! In fact, I think I can relate..." Jack wobbled backward, leaning against the helicopter with his right index finger and thumb on his temples. "But what I've learned intrigues me. When you became Nightmare Moon, you gained physical strength and magical power, yes?"

"That is true," she replied with obvious discomfort.

"So, if there was a threat, a danger, something you needed every bit of power you could muster to confront..."

"If you know of Nightmare Moon, you also know the great evil she brought with her."

"Yes, yes, but is it possible? Could you become Nightmare Moon again?" His tone was very nearly a shout.

"Twilight gave me reason to be concerned, but now you truly frighten me, Jack West."

The two stood there for a good long time, silent. At a conversational impasse, both were afraid to press their points any further for fear of alienating the other. Taking a final sip, Jack dropped his Dr. Pepper can and crushed it under his heel. "Come on, I want to show you something." He took them back to the armory, and sat down at his work-station. Hypercube in hand, he spun back to face Luna and held it up to her.

"So Twilight told you about this?"

Luna nodded. "She told me you received a message from your future self, and its contents were... harrowing."

"That's one way of putting it." Concentrating, Jack mentally persuaded the Gallifreyan device to repeat its message, which had lost none of its original effect in spite of being replayed, dissected and analyzed several times over.

Luna took a few seconds to ponder the warning. "I can imagine what this means for you."

"You don't have to imagine, I'll tell you!" Jack replied, with flippancy born of desperation. "It means not only am I going to die painfully, most likely at the claws of this Tirek, but it won't just be me! You and Celestia, the Elements of Harmony, probably all of Equestria will suffer, and there's nothing I can do about it!"

The Princess brought a hoof to Jack's shoulder. "You have every right to be concerned about this, but if you are to change the future, you will not do it by panicking!" With a few deep breaths, he took back his composure.

"Yes, yes, you're right.... I suppose I've never really had to confront my own mortality like this before. I've always been the 'never say die' type, but now I'm telling myself 'die'... Meh, it's irrelevant. Yes, let's change the future!" The spirit had definitely returned to his voice. "Now, anything strong enough to defeat the Elements of Harmony, all four Princesses of Equestria, and me must either be ridiculously powerful or have some kind of edge on us. My running theory is that we underestimate this 'Tirek', and by the time we realize our mistake it's too late." Jack was on a roll, and it was all Luna could do to keep up as he wandered about the room, making energetic gestures like an excited college professor. Like the Doctor, even.

"That would make sense."

"But even then, at that point I'm sure we would all fight with everything we had. But it appears that that will not be enough."

"So what do we do?"

"We need an edge of our own, something truly extraordinary. Now, the problem is we can't really seek out and attack Tirek, we have to wait for it to strike first. That takes out a lot of the usual options, like surprise or advanced planning. So we have to look at the unusual. Right now, I think our most likely option to turn this thing around is a limit break."

"A limit break?"

"Yes. Barring an act of God, or I guess you'd call it an act of Faust, one of us would have to do something completely out of left field, something we would never even try to do otherwise. Something like..."

"....Nightmare Moon?"

"Exactly. If we're willing to truly disregard our inhibitions, open up to every possibility, I think that's how we find our game-changer."

Luna couldn't help but pause, and the excitement quickly faded. "...So you are still serious about that proposal?"

Jack sighed, collecting his thoughts. "Luna, I certainly can't force you to do it if you're not comfortable. But please, ask yourself: if Nightmare Moon was all that stood between Equestria and Tirek..."

"Would I be willing to use her to defeat him?"

"...It's something to think about. It may be necessary, but at the same time it might not. I just need you to know your answer in advance, should the need arise."

"I will give it thought."

Jack was already back to work on his computer. "Good. In that case, unless you want me to build a gun for you, I can't think of anything else to talk about."

Luna turned to leave, but doubled back. "Jack?"

He stopped typing and looked over his shoulder at her. "Yes?"

"Please, do not isolate yourself because of this. It will do nothing but destroy you inside, and I speak from experience."

"Thank you for the advice. Oh, wait, I did think of something! Tell Rainbow Dash that if she needs me, the key is in her hoof. She'll know what I mean."

"I will pass on the message. Good night to you, Jack West."

She walked away, then vanished in a magical flash of light. With her gone, Jack could return to his work.

Limit break, limit break... now then, which of my limits can I break?

Books. Endlessly tall shelves of books, never-ending rows running out into the horizon. More than anypony could ever hope to read...

Paradise!

Twilight ran down the first aisleway she could find giddily, simply awestruck. But awe turned to horror as she pulled a random book out, only to find it completely unreadable. Where there should have been words, there were only mindless scribbles.

"What? No!" She pulled out the next book in the row, which was equally illegible. "No! No! No!" She teleported down the aisle, examining books but never finding one to read. Somewhere along the way, she lost all hope in this false heaven, breaking down sobbing.

"Worry not, Princess Twilight. The world of dreams was not made for merely reading books."

Princess Luna descended from somewhere above, snapping Twilight out of it and causing her to think for a moment.

"This is... a dream? Wait, of course! Word processing is done by the left hemisphere of the brain, but dreams are controlled by the right hemisphere! Hello, Twilight!"

"And it does not strike you as odd that you, without cause or reason, appeared in a seemingly infinite library?"

Twilight chuckled with embarrassment. "Well... Why are we here, anyway?"

Luna shrugged. "This is still your dream; I am but a visitor."

"Well then, why are you here?"

"It appears I prevented a nightmare in the making," the dark Princess replied with a royal smirk.

"I would've figured it out!" A cocked eyebrow of disbelief shot that assertion down. "Eventually..."

"Regardless, I have done as you asked."

"You got through to Jack? How is he doing?"

"You were right to be concerned. He appears truly traumatized by the message he received, although he's very good at keeping up appearances, I believe the phrase is. He's become obsessed with finding an 'edge' with which to defeat the enemy he believes may eventually kill him."

"So what do we do?"

"I would advise you to give him his space. Let his obsession run its course: he will either discover the 'edge' he seeks and be satisfied, or eventually realize that he is overreacting to an event that may never come to pass. But if you intrude on him now, it would only aggravate him. I believe he resents that you relinquished the Elements of Harmony to revitalize the Tree, since they are the most powerful defense against threats to Equestria. At least for the moment, the more you push him, the more he'll push back."

"But how long is that? We can't just let him rot alone down there in his bunker!"

"I believe it may not be as long as you fear. That is the other reason I am here; we have another dreamer to meet with."

Luna magically pulled a book from the shelf behind her, causing it to slide open and revealing what seemed to be a classroom on the other side. It was full of foals, though there was not a teacher in sight, and all of them were laughing and jeering. At what? Twilight wondered. And then she saw it: Rainbow Dash, standing in the middle of the class, with the body of a filly and wings in full molt. Tears in her eyes, she was viciously tugging at the ground, where her hooves were stuck fast by some kind of tar. Princess Luna immediately zapped the substance with a magical beam, vaporizing it and allowing the Element of Loyalty to escape through the open bookcase and to her friends. As she ran, the molting feathers vanished and she regained her full-grown body.

"Ohmigosh thank you Princess Luna! I can't believe... Oh, wait. None of this makes sense, and you're here. I'm dreaming, aren't I?" she asked with obvious annoyance and frustration.

"What an astute observation," Luna mockingly congratulated, further aggravating Twilight. "I have brought you into a shared dream, because Jack asked me to relay a message to you."

"He did?" they asked simultaneously, surprised but hopeful all the same.

"Yes. Rainbow Dash, he told me to tell you that if you need him, the key is in your hoof."

"Just Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah," Dash replied smugly, "me and Jack are like this!" She flared her wings up, then wrapped their tips about each other and pulled them tight.

Snubbed as she felt, Twilight pressed on. "But what does that even mean?"

"Well, duh! Jack's given me the key to get into his home! I'm the one he trusts the most!"

Alright, Twilight could handle the usual Rainbow Dash brand of braggadocio, but this was becoming ridiculous. "When did he give you this key?"

"Don't you remember, it was when he... When he... Wait, when did he give me that key?"

"I think the better question is, did he give you a key at all? If you had a key to get to Jack, wouldn't you have used it by now?"

"Twilight may be right," Luna intervened. "Jack was not in a very sound state of mind when he gave me this message. It would not surprise me if he is speaking in riddles. Even so, if you somehow do have a key to get to him, I would suggest you refrain from using it just yet. If Jack is given time to return to society of his own accord, so much the better for both of you."

"Agreed," replied Twilight firmly.

"...Agreed," concluded Rainbow Dash with a sigh, much less firmly.

"Very well then, I shall keep you informed of any new developments. Now, would you like to return to your respective dreams, or shall I wake you up?"

"Yeah, if you could just go ahead and wake us up, that definitely sounds like a better option," Rainbow Dash answered hastily.

The night Rarity and the girls left Ponyville on the train to Manehatten, a number of trees disappeared from the Everfree. The now-bare ground shifted and parted, creating a massive chasm and sending woodland creatures scattering. From this opening rose a large metal platform, and from that platform rose a Comanche helicopter. It soared out over the Everfree, deployed its payload, and returned to base, all in less than 15 minutes.

Very high above the Mane 6's train, two bird-like drones, dorsal surfaces covered in solar panels, followed.

"En garde, mon capitan!"

Foils cracked against each other as two white-suited humans dueled in a stylish 18th-century English club. They exchanged advances and retreats, lunges and parries, ever-increasing in pace. But as the foils swung frantically, one of the duelists managed to land his tip dead on his opponent's chest. "Point!" he called proudly.

The two figures disengaged, backing away and removing their masks. The victor was a fresh-faced lieutenant, sweating profusely but grinning unusually wide. The other, a much older, bald Frenchman, smiled back kindly, far from a sore loser.

"Mr. Barclay, that was very impressive! You said you're self-taught?"

"Yes sir... well, I mean... I used to spend so much time on the holodeck, I figured why not learn something from it? So I started with a basic fencing tutor program, and..."

"Captain?"

A radio-like crackle interrupted Lieutenant Barclay, with a voice belonging to one Commander William Riker, second-in-command of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D.

"What is it, Number One?" Captain Picard answered.

"Captain, you may want to come to the bridge, Lieutenant Data has something you should see."

"Understood. Picard, out. I'm sorry, Mr. Barclay, I have to cut our match short."

"Of course, Captain. Um... another time, perhaps?"

"Certainly."

As Picard left the holodeck, his fencing gear was wiped away instantaneously, leaving only an immaculate Starfleet uniform beneath. A turbolift trip later, he arrived on the bridge. "What do you have for me, Mr. Data?" Without waiting for a reply, he followed the rear walkway of the room to the tactical station where the android was sitting.

"Captain, a Lieutenant Hogan reported several minutes ago that the replicator in his quarters had disappeared. Mr. La Forge dispatched an ensign to investigate his claim, and it appears that Lieutenant Hogan's replicator has indeed disappeared."

Data tapped a few commands into the computer, pulling up an image of a very standard Starfleet wall. Standard, except for the fact that a large rectangular section was completely missing. A few wire bundles dangled about in the opening, but otherwise it was a perfectly empty box, as though the replicator had been pulled out like a Jenga block.

"What in God's name..."

"I checked the security footage in Lieutenant Hogan's quarters for the past hour, and until approximately 1324 hours, it remained unoccupied."

Another image came up, showing the cabin in question, with the replicator still there. The picture came to life, as a black-jacketed figure suddenly appeared inside. He attached four small disks to the wall around the replicator, then tapped on what appeared to be a small data-pad he had produced from his pocket. And as quickly as he came, he (and the replicator) vanished.

"Someone transported onto the Enterprise, how did we not detect it?" Picard demanded angrily.

"Sir, that is impossible," Data replied with android unflappability. "We are in deep space; there is not a staging ground in range from which someone could transport aboard. However, internal sensors did detect sudden spikes in verteron particle emissions, indicating the quantum flux associated with a rip in the space-time continuum."

"So if he has the technology to do that, he can teleport himself anywhere, at any time he wants?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"Wonderful..." Picard sighed, because he really needed yet another menace to worry about.

"Captain, I was able to determine the identity of the intruder."

"Then please tell us, Mr. Data!"

"Sir, after the theft was reported, the security team investigating initiated a localized genetic scan of..."

"Today, Data!" bellowed the captain, at the end of his rope.

Data paused, affecting surprise. "I matched the foreign DNA in Lieutenant Hogan's quarters through the Starfleet database. It belongs to a 'Jack West'."

A third image appeared on the computer-screen, a large profile picture with accompanying biography in small print.

"Jack West?" asked Riker incredulously.

"Yes, a mercenary and criminal mastermind from 21st-century America. He was rumored to make use of incredibly advanced technology.

"...Including one Starfleet replicator," Picard finished, with a sense of resignation. "Move Lieutenant Hogan to new quarters until his replicator is replaced, and ask Starfleet Command to put out a fleet-wide advisory about Mr. West." He walked down toward the conn, then took a seat in his captain's chair. "But until we learn to shield against rips in space and time, I'm afraid the best we can do is hope he doesn't come back for more."

As Rainbow Dash's birthiversary approached, an invitation was left on Jack's doorstep. And on Jack's doorstep it stayed, presumably until a strong gust of wind or small animal carried it away to parts unknown. He was able to watch the festivities, however, as both of the two high-altitude surveillance drones circling Ponyville detected the large crowds gathering and alerted him. Checking in on the situation occasionally, he quickly became annoyed with the incessant polka music, and responded by muting the proceedings, turning up the Fall Out Boy, and returning to his design work.

"Back to business... geo-synchronized orbit... orbital launch platform... precision munition guidance..."

"But why do we wait, father? These ponies barely know how to defend themselves, all their land is ours for the taking!" Kamran spoke with the fire of youth, burning as passionately as the evening flames he and the Hookclaw tribal chieftain had gathered around. "My warriors are ready, and await my command; with your blessing, we could set out tomorrow morning, charge over the Great Forest and take the settlement they call Ponyville by sundown!"

"Calm yourself, my son," the wizened old griffon replied. "Just as there is a time to hunt, there is a time to eat. As we will, in time, leave for the warmth of the southern plains, we will someday after return to this, our mountain home."

Though Kamran had expected such an answer, it was none the more pleasing for its predictability. "But think of the glory, father! The first victory against the Equestrian Empire in at least a hundred moons, struck by the Hookclaw! Now is their moment of weakness, and our moment of opportunity!"

"Look around you, Kamran," the elder instructed. "These mountains grant us refuge from wind and storm, and there is fresh water and game to hunt in the valleys below. What need have we for your 'glory'?"

"Father, we aughh!" Suddenly, Kamran was struck in the head by some projectile, small but painful. He instinctively clutched at the wound with his claw, gripping it tightly to ward off its sting. "Father, what was that?"

But his father did not reply. As the young griffon prince turned, he found him laying on his side, a puddle of blood forming about his head. Though Kamran couldn't hope to understand how, he did know that his father was dead, and as such, cried out with agony into the empty mountain night.

And in response, a large metal bird, the likes of which griffonkind had never seen before, turned about and began to hover back toward Equestrian airspace. Its many small wings did not flap, but rather spun about themselves, and smoke still trailed from its long, shaft-like nose.

"Hey, uh, Jack? Ah need some help!"

Applejack pounded on his door relentlessly, disregarding the previous failures of the direct approach.

"Hello, Applejack! What can I do for you?" Jack's modulated voice replied, although he was still nowhere to be seen.

"Jack? That you?"

"Of course!... Oh, wait, I see the problem. Look up, and to your left."

She did so, and spotted a small black dome tucked in the ceiling corner of the cabin's front porch.

"Hello there! Yeah, I've got the porch wired for video and sound, so go right ahead."

"Pheww, glad yer not... I mean, sure is good to talk to you. But the Flim-Flam Brothers are back in town, and they're peddlin' snake oil to everypony!"

There was a brief pause at the other end. "Hmm, yes, I see... That is a problem. Not a Tirek-level problem, but a problem all the same... Oh, there they are! Don't worry, Applejack, I'll take care of them!"

This last phrase, stated as carelessly as it was, made Applejack realize that Jack might've taken her request the wrong way. "Whaddya mean, 'take care of them'?"

"Oh, look around back, you'll see what I mean."

She quickly circled the house, to find the trees once again disappearing and the ground opening up. Out of the garage rose a khaki-colored Humvee, which could've easily been imported straight from Afghanistan. Its motor gunned threateningly, telling the Element of Honesty exactly what Jack meant.

"Whoahboy..." She threw herself onto the vehicle, grabbing hold of the gear rack on the roof as the truck shot off. Using the momentum of a right turn to swing herself up onto the roof, she rode the mechanical bull like her life depended on it. Every bump in the road or sudden turn sent her back legs swinging about wildly, as she struggled to keep a firm grip on the metal bar. But after a near-eternity of bull-riding, the beast came to a stop, allowing Applejack to roll off the side unceremoniously, then pick herself up. They had returned to the field where the Flim-Flam Brothers were peddling their latest ware, pitching to even more customers now that they lacked a tent to pen them inside.

"Everypony clear out! You're in danger, get out of here!"

Verifying her claim were two horn blasts from behind, and two hatch-doors on the top of the vehicle opened, allowing a very large, very frightening M134 Minigun to emerge. Ponies screamed and fled in panic as it rotated toward the sales platform; even in Equestria, it was a well-known fact that you run away from big guns. Flim and Flam exchanged nervous glances.

"Brother?"

"Brother!"

They bolted for each other, hiding behind a shared magical force-field as the rotary cannon spun to life. 2000 rounds a minute shredded their display into very tiny bits, every flourish and decoration receiving a new lead aesthetic. Applejack didn't even bother to scream in fright over the chainsaw-like roar of the gun, but was able to pull Silver Shill away to relative safety. The burst of fire soon ended, though, and the Humvee pulled forward, back wheels running over the pile of brass it had deposited in its wake. But as the minigun retracted, the truck shifted into reverse gear, turning and backing toward the decimated platform. When the rear doors began to swing open, Applejack knew Jack wasn't done quite yet.

"Flim, Flam, get out of there!"

The two scrambled out of the hole in the stage their magic-bubble had sunken into, as an automated turret deployed from the rear of the vehicle. Though nopony would recognize it by name, it was rigged with a Milikor MGL grenade launcher, with several mechanical enhancements fully automating the firing process. The P.A. system from inside announced, "This show's closing early, due to criminal intent! And bad reviews." And with a motorized whir and a solitary pop, the ramshackle stage burst violently into flames. A thump as the drum magazine rotated, another pop, and the backstage area was ransacked instantaneously. The doors closed, signifying completion of the onslaught, but Flim and Flam were stunned, if not furious.

"What outrage! We are a legitimate enterprise..."

"...free to do business in Equestria as we wish!"

"Who has the utter gall to interfere with our sales..."

"...and, even worse, insult our showmanship?!"

"Show yourself, you ruffian!" they chanted in unison. And in response, the driver's door opened, revealing... an empty cockpit. The speaker mounted on the inside of the door spoke in place of the driver.

"Let's just say I'm a concerned citizen who conscientiously objects to your business practices." The voice was definitely Jack's, of that Applejack was sure, but there was an icy menace to it that caught her off guard. She had never heard him... but she had, hadn't she? The words rang back from so long ago, as she remembered herself tied up and hung from a rooftop, hidden beneath a navy mask and purple hat.

"Do me a favor, Mare-Do-Well. Hang around for a little while."

And the gap between what seemed to be so long ago and the immediate moment was closed in a heartbeat.

"So he accepted responsibility for the library break-in?"

"He did not deny it."

"Of course..." Celestia replied. She strolled over to a large plate-glass window, looking down on Canterlot by evening as she mused to herself. Freed by the privacy of the throne room, shared only with her sister, she found it much easier to think clearly. "But who else could it be?"

"It does fit with what we know. Jack told me he was looking for information on Tirek..." Luna was troubled, not by this fact but by the other name Jack had mentioned to her, and the decision he'd asked her to make. But Celestia would've stamped that idea out entirely had she brought it up, while she herself was still unsure, which is exactly why she didn't bring it up. Some things were better kept to herself, anyway. "Sister, perhaps it is time we told Equestria..."

"No." The word was definitive, murdering any sort of chance for argument or appeal. Very typical of the serious side of Celestia Luna had come to know and not-quite love. "I had those books destroyed for a reason, Luna. Tirek is powerless, imprisoned for all eternity in Tartarus; spreading his name would only sow unnecessary fear." Celestia approached her throne, pensively. "Which is why Jack's sudden and relentless interest in him concerns me."

"Twilight Sparkle told you of the message he received, did she not? He has every right to be interested in Tirek!"

"He is overreacting..."

"He is facing the possibility of his own death and the destruction of everything he cares about, including us."

Celestia sighed, at an impasse with her sister. With a few calming breaths, they restored their conversational tone.

"He is a good man at heart, and he does have his reasons. But his methods are growing out of control."

"He told me he thought Tirek would catch us off-guard, and he was looking for an 'edge' that could do the same to Tirek."

"Twilight told me he nearly killed two traveling salesponies with heavy weapons after Applejack told him about their fraudulent practices."

Luna had seen the brothers' nightmares afterward, and privately believed they had it coming. But that did not exactly become a Princess. "That is regrettable."

At such underreaction, Celestia did not believe her point was getting across. "And I believe we have already encountered one of his 'edges'." From behind the throne she pulled out a large metal bird, fixed wings swept back and covered in reflective paneling. "A guard on patrol found this circling the city at high altitude. Guards in Manehatten, Fillydelphia, every major city in Equestria, are starting to report the same thing. Jack has been keeping most of the nation under 24-hour surveillance."

But she paused after that, clearly stuck on a certain thought. Closing her eyes almost serenely, she meditated for a few moments, then suddenly snapped them open. "Including this room." With an energized flash, she telekinetically ripped a small metal spider from the wall and pinned it to the cobblestone floor. Its body was little more than a camera lens, with six legs attached around the edge. Disgusted, Celestia crushed the small robot where it lay.

And elsewhere in Equestria, a live video-feed, triggered by speech recognition of the word "Tirek", went dead. This development was met with a very loud string of curse words, and a fury-induced blast of energy from the palm of an armored gauntlet, leaving a scorch mark on whatever concrete wall it hit.

"This is too far, something has to be done!" Celestia declared, making for the balcony as though she was going to fly off and put paid to Jack herself.

"What would that be, Celestia, overpower him? You don't even know if you can!" Incensed as the Sun Princess was, Luna spoke with reason, which forced her to stop and pay heed to it. "If you and Jack waste effort trying to destroy each other, how much easier will it be for Tirek to defeat us? Something can be done, but not by a show of force!"

Celestia reflected on her options, now that the obvious military solution was out of the question. Settling on a good one or two, her voice lost its fire. "The magic of friendship has much more power than I sometimes give it credit for. When are Twilight and her friends supposed to return from that trade convention? I have a job for her."

Dammit, not ready yet!

Orbital strike platform was a failure, too large to build here, no way to get it off the ground without waking up all of Ponyville. Really a shame, I haven't put anything into orbit for a long time, and space-based missiles could definitely be useful. Can't get the same delivery speed with ballistic launches, or payload size with air-to-ground strikes. Meh, it's a lost cause. At least for now...

Oughta eat something, probably. But got to keep working, it'll have to be another snack meal. Let's see, sweet, spicy, salty, yes, salty would be nice. Jerky, sure, could use some protein anyway. And a drink, of course. Computer, a bag of Jack Link's and a can of Coke! Wow, out of Jack Links already? Scrap it... Alright then, just the Coke. Good, at least we still have that. Christ, I'm gonna have to work all these off eventually. Might as well start designing a running track down here...

Wonder if Luna made her decision yet. If she's willing, Nightmare Moon could be the most powerful ally we have. I don't believe, I don't, don't buy her evil monster theory, she's already transformed of her own free will once. When was that?... Oh yes, the, uh, Nightmare Night celebration, Twilight told me. It's like their version of Hallo...

Dammit, did I just doze off? Caffeine's not doing it, have to up the ante. Computer, do we have any Red Bull? Monster? No, didn't figure we did, never liked that stuff anyway. So what's left, alcohol? No, not going to waste my good scotch just to stay awake. Alright, have to go to the hard stuff. Computer, 20cc's of neuromuscular stimulant. Alright, let's get it over with. Here we go... Ugh, it's easier when there's someone else to do it for you. But I can definitely feel the stuff working. Ha ha, gonna live while I'm alive, I'll sleep when I'm dead! Oh, there's an idea. Computer, move music playback from headphones to overhead speakers, and increase volume to 35%! Now change track to "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Bon Jovi, from album Keep the Faith. There we go! Now, back to work.

Could probably use some range time, get back in practice with the big guns. Haven't really needed to handle anything bigger than a submachine gun since I got here, and God knows where my sniping skills have gone in that time. But then again, if I want accuracy, might as well computerize it, and those sniper drones do get the job done. Really, I just need to be sure I'm good with my MP7, M1216, and... the crossbow. Shotgun and crossbow have a ton of variant ammunition loadouts, should probably go through them all, just to refamiliarize myself. Let's see, the range, one floor up and to the right...

Damn, that took too long, gotta keep planning. Computer, use the replicator to replenish all the ammunition I just used up, and I'm feeling groggy, give me 30cc's neurostim and a Dr. Pepper! God, I hate this part. Just take the shot... and knock it back, there goes. And now comes the muscle soreness, gotta take my mind off that. Up the volume to 50%, and switch over to Skillet, shuffle all songs by artist!

Endgame, what's my endgame? Endgame, endgame, endgame... If all else fails, it's just me against Tirek, what do I do? Obviously, first move is to retreat, if he's that powerful, I'm not going to stand a chance going head-on with him. Next step would be full mobilization, first aircraft then ground vehicles, faster ones going first. No watercraft of course, and the running track... Wait, what? Running track's not even off the drawing board yet, and none of this is the least bit relevant, is it? Wow, I am going crazy. But anywho, leading the charge would be the Osprey Oh wait, Osprey's not repaired yet. Whole wing got sliced off, and the rest hit the ground and exploded, yeah, that would mess it up pretty bad. Okay, new plan, leading the charge will be the A-10...

Blast it, I can't think straight with all this noise! Computer, up the volume to 75%! And switch to my 1:16 Clique playlist! So if Tirek doesn't follow me in, I'll have to use the fleet to push him towards base. Then I turn on the full defense system, hit him with literally everything I have. I'll armor up, go for the hit and run. He'll probably try and shield himself like Trixie did, so we have to go for 360-coverage with firepower, never let up. That will buy me time to launch the ballistic arsenal on him, and between the ground support and the punch those things pack, there's no way he'll be able to survive. But what if he does? If he can take every last thing I throw at him, what's the single most powerful attack I have?... No, I couldn't! Well... Actually, I guess I could.... Oh, dear. Better get to work on that, and probably ought to take another round of neurostim for good measure.

Woohoo! Day I-don't-even-know-and-don't-really-care-either of the neurostim and Dr. Pepper diet! Haven't touched a bed the entire time, not to mention how much weight I'm losing from the neurostim speeding up my metabolism! And this time, I'll keep it off. Oh wow, now I'm making jokes to myself. Or was that a reference? Or was it both? It was both. But anywho, track idea didn't work out, so I changed plans and built a treadmill. I run on a treadmill now, treadmills are cool. Really wonder why I didn't think of it before, so much more economical. But between that, improvised weight-lifting and garage gymnastics, I'm definitely staying in shape! In fact, I'm up here now, might as well fit in a handspring or two. No, I'm drinking a DP, you can't handspring and drink DP at the same time. Just gonna finish this one, crush it and throw it in the pile with the others. There we go, now I'm good to handspring. Oh, stop, no, not good to handspring, not to this song. This isn't a handspring-y song. Change it! Computer, play "Uma Thurman", and if you ask 'which one' again I will personally restore you to factory defaults, because there is only one song in the world called "Uma Thurman" and it's by Fall Out Boy and you should know that! And up the volume to... more than whatever it is now! Now then, where was I? Yes, have to handspring over to the Osprey and fix it before Nightmare Moon and the orbital strike Oh hello, there's the ground-

"The key is in her hoof. What could that mean?" Although Twilight supposed she probably should've answered this question before they literally showed up on Jack's doorstep, it did bring some mind-clearing immediacy to the problem.

"Obvious, ain't it? Jack meant he gave Rainbow Dash a key, she just didn't know he'd given it to'er."

"But if Rainbow Dash had a key," Rarity replied, "wouldn't Jack have asked her to use it to get inside when he was turned into a pony?"

"Umm, maybe it's some kind of metaphor. Not that your ideas aren't good, of course, but what if he was talking about a figurative key?"

"Ooh, ooh! I know! I bet Jack surgically implanted a key to the door inside Rainbow Dash's hoof when her back was turned! Somepony get me a scalpel!"

The intelligent conversation quickly fell apart, until one by one, the others noticed that Rainbow Dash had managed to open the door herself. "I think he meant the key was my hoof. Remember, he has that fancy scanning lock that looks at your DNA or something?"

"A biometric lock!" exclaimed Twilight. "Jack must've added your genetic material to his computer, so the lock would recognize you and let us in! Brilliant!"

"Umm, I just turned the handle and it opened," Rainbow Dash replied sheepishly, not even trying to dissect the egghead-speak. Entering, the first thing she noticed was a steady pounding in the floor, like some kind of heavy machinery at work. "Hey Jack, you home? Celestia wanted to know if you could work security for the Equestria Games!" The offer received no reply.

"He's probably downstairs; that's where all his labs and workshops are," supposed Twilight, following close behind into the front room.

"Well, how do we get there?"

And almost in reply, there was a soft ping as a set of double-doors opened in a connecting hallway. Recognizing the elevator for what it was, the Mane 6 loaded up inside, then let the doors close and began to descend. The pounding grew more pronounced, almost rhythmic, and when the doors opened to the main hangar, treble was added to the bass. It wasn't machinery, it was music. And more importantly, it was deafening. As the elevator car flooded with sound, the girls scrambled out, shocked and painfully battered by the sheer volume.

"So loud... So violent!" Fluttershy was the exception, recoiling into the back corner of the elevator until the closing doors forced her to make an escape.

"Turn this crud off!" shouted Applejack, who was no stranger to very loud noises in the past few weeks. But unlike the survivably low roar of the minigun, the song's shredding electric guitar slashed at her ears viciously. Even Pinkie found the genre less than pleasant.

"Turn it down!" cried Rainbow Dash in desperation, and surprisingly it did so, down to a bearable 15% from its previous full blast. The girls took a moment to recover from shell-shock, but it took another moment for them all to realize that they were not the only ones in the area. Sprawled out on the concrete floor, with a large brown sticky spot and upturned, long-since-gone-flat can of Dr. Pepper at his fingertips, Jack lay wide-eyed and comatose.

"Sweet Celestia..." stuttered Rarity, before the ponies sprung into action to help him. And all the while the band played on.

"Give me a shot to remember, and you can take all the pain away from me. Your kiss and I will surrender, the sharpest lives are the deadliest to lead..."

After all this time, it appeared the edge Jack had been living on had finally cut him down.

He woke with his feet pressed against the railing of a hospital bed, definitely built for a pony and definitely too small. Trying to kick his heels up, Jack found them unresponsive, as were his arms. This white sheet was practically tying him down to the bed, and he flexed any muscle he could access in a desperate bid to get free. All this managed to do was attract the attention of a nurse.

"Please, Mr. West, don't struggle. You're still recovering, physical activity would only make you backslide. Redfern, Princess Sparkle, he's awake!"

A British accent? All this time in Equestria and he had just now met a mare with a British accent. Refreshing. But suddenly the Mane 6 came streaming into the room, all relieved smiles and chatter, until the British nurse managed to calm them down.

"...What the hell happened to me?"

"Welcome to Ponyville General Hospital, Mr. West. When your friends brought you here the other day, you were deep in a coma; frankly, it's a miracle you lasted as long as you did in that condition."

"Wait, a coma?"

"Jack, Rainbow Dash got us into your cabin," interjected Twilight, "and when we came down to find you, you were passed out on the floor!"

"As I was saying, we took blood and tissue sample and ran some tests. In your muscle tissue we found heavy concentrations of toxic residue associated with the breakdown of steroids. You also appeared to be suffering from massive sleep deprivation."

"Ha, the Dr. Pepper and neurostim diet..."

"Neurostim?"

"Neuromuscular stimulant. Cool-sounding name, but at the end of the day, I guess it's a steroid like any other."

"Yes, well, thankfully we were able to magically detoxify your system, and your body appears to be healing itself now. As for your sleep issue, all that can be done for that is the combination of time and rest."

"Jack...?" Rainbow Dash asked with worry.

"Yes, yes, confession time, I suppose. Nurse, could you give us a moment?"

She ducked outside politely, leaving the seven of them alone in Jack's room.

"I've been pushing myself past normal limits for about the past week or so, working harder than ever before. Designing, building, upgrading, repairing, everything. That didn't give me a lot of time for things like sleep, and when that started taking its toll after a few days, I resorted to caffeine to keep myself awake. Eventually that quit working, so I started using neurostim. It's a chemical I developed to temporarily enhance my body and mind, so I can think and act faster than normal. That residue is the price I pay for the boost. I had to keep upping the dosage to get the same effect, and I guess I eventually overdosed. All the stress I was putting on my body came together and made me crash."

"Jack, why in Celestia's name would you do this to yourself? If we hadn't arrived when we did, you could've died down there!" Rarity chastised.

"Because I need to be ready. Any one strategy I came up with or weapon I built during the time I was down there could be the key to defeating Tirek and saving all of us. That hypercube told me that carrying on business-as-usual was not gonna cut it..."

"Jack, you stupid, stubborn, arrogant, pig-headed, scruffy-looking..." Twilight paused to catch her breath. "...At this rate, it isn't going to be Tirek that kills you, it's going to be that cube!"

The silence that followed was long and awkward, as Jack realized she had a point.

"I've been a pretty crappy friend, haven't I? Locking you all out and almost getting myself killed like that."

"That'd be one way to put it," Applejack noted.

"Well, if time itself has me scheduled to go down in a blaze of glory against Tirek, then so be it. It's not worth ruining the present trying to fight the future. As soon as I'm out of this bed, I'm going to put things back to normal and make it up to you, and that's a promise."

"Finally, some good news!" cheered Pinkie. "That's a reason for a party if I ever heard one!"

"And something I'm sure Princess Celestia would be happy to hear as well." Jack leered at Twilight with suspicion, very aware of what the monarch's sentiment toward him must've been after the destruction of his surveillance drone. "...She asked me to keep her updated on your condition- she's been as concerned as we were."

"Very good, very good..." The forgiveness must've been running thick today. "Rainbow Dash, can you go back to my place? Tell the computer a Code Omega-5 is in effect, and tell it to give you a wireless tablet to bring back to me. It's about time I got back on the grid."

"...and after a substantial period of rest and recuperation, we expect Mr. West to make a full recovery," Celestia read from the enchanted parchment. Although it was indeed a letter from Twilight, Nurse Redfern had apparently insisted on attaching a professional medical note to the end. Though somewhat redundant, it was helpful all the same.

Luna retreated from the balcony window, having surveyed Canterlot to her liking. "Excellent news, in light of the circumstances. As the nurse said, he could've died alone, had you not sent Twilight Sparkle to reach out to him."

"Yes, but it could not come at a worse time." Unable to help but shudder as she remembered the nightmare, Celestia approached her sister from the throne. "After our visions, it occurred to me that Jack may truly have been onto something. If we shared with him the information he sought, I doubt there would be a more qualified individual in Equestria to hunt Tirek. But now..."

"Who else in the world could oppose his wickedness and power?" Luna replied with the same despondency. "Cadence is too young, as are Twilight Sparkle and her friends."

"And without the Elements of Harmony, Tirek would overwhelm them. We do not have enough evidence to justify mobilizing the Guard or the Wonderbolts... What is left?"

After a bit of thought, a memory struck Luna, one she decided was finally worth sharing. "When I met with Jack, he talked about something he called a 'limit break'. According to him, we might find a method to defeating Tirek by looking beyond our usual inhibitions. I believe the phrase he was referring to is 'thinking without packaging'."

"You mean 'thinking outside the box', and while that may be the concept, I'm afraid Jack's intention was most likely far more extreme. The inhibitions he's referring to are those of morality, and we cannot..."

"Oh, morality, what a pesky little thing it is. That's why I decided to give it the proverbial boot ages ago!"

With a not-quite-as-menacing sense of deja vu, a stained-glass figure came to life once more, and the throne room echoed with that charming, serpentine voice.

"Now then, you want to think outside the box? Well think no further, ladies, because you just got there! Say hello to your very own personal limit break!"

Rainbow Dash returned the next day with a tablet and a get-well-soon card, and between the two of them it made it much easier for Jack to tolerate an otherwise murderously-boring recovery period. But after running down a checklist of plans to undo, he found 'getting back on the grid' to be more difficult than anticipated. Equestria had not yet developed internet, meaning no online journalism, and having recalled his swarm of surveillance drones, he had no way of keeping tabs on current events. Nurse Redfern was kind enough to bring by a newspaper every so often, but it was definitely a poor man's substitute. Which left him with solitaire, a nice little library of e-books, and not much else. Next time he would be sure to ask Rainbow Dash to bring him a tablet loaded with a few seasons of NCIS...

The problem with newspapers was that somepony had to report the news for it to be published. So when everypony in Fillydelphia was drained of their magic en masse, that included anypony who could do so, as well as anypony who dared investigate when the city seemed to fall off the face of Equestria. No trade, no news, no travelers, nothing. Fillydelphia might as well have been dead, and its citizens with it. As the days went by, other cities followed; Manehatten, Cloudsdale, Appleloosa... With magical omnipresence, the Princesses watched as the Tirek-Discord tag-team ran roughshod across the nation, until Canterlot and Ponyville were the only enclaves of ponykind left unmolested. They watched and planned, hoping to make the best of a hopeless situation. And all the while Jack recuperated in Ponyville General, his greatest concern being whether Ziva's replacement was up to snuff.

"Jack?"

"Nurse Redfern? What is..." It wasn't Nurse Redfern. "Princess Celestia, what can I do for you?"

"How are you recovering?"

"Slow but steady, slow but steady. I should be out by the end of the week, they say."

"I'm afraid I may need to ask you to leave sooner than that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Jack, I haven't been showing you the trust you deserve, and for that I apologize. But your theories appear to have been vindicated; Tirek has returned."

He suddenly snapped out of the daze recovery had let him linger in, battle-ready mindset taking hold once more.

"Now's not the time to hold grudges, Celestia, but I can't help you if I'm not in the loop on this. What's our situation?"

"Tirek has been draining ponies of their magical energy and using it to grow stronger. You had just started recovery, so Luna and I sent Discord to track and capture him."

"Unconventional thinking, I approve."

"Unfortunately, Tirek was able to convince Discord to return to his old ways, and now the two of them are absorbing energy from entire cities of ponies. Unicorns have no magic, pegasi cannot fly, and earth ponies have become frail and weak. Tirek has become powerful enough to drain alicorn magic, and if he gets it, there will be no force in Equestria capable of stopping him."

"So do you have a plan to protect yourselves from him?"

"Yes. Luna, Cadence and I are going to channel our magic into Twilight, so that Tirek will be unable to steal it from us. I do not believe he is aware of her ascension, and she may be able to escape his clutches."

Jack sighed with frustration; this appeared to be a no-win scenario. "It's not an endgame, but it will work for the moment. I need to get back to base and get things moving, can you do without me for one more day?" He quickly twisted, sat up and launched himself out of his bed, only to stumble awkwardly on legs that had not seen use in a while. Celestia caught him with telekinetic magic.

"You are in no condition to fight; I'm going to evacuate you to Canterlot."

"Not so fast..." Leaning back against his bed, Jack flicked a switch on the side of his tablet, allowing a compartment on the side to open and a long glass tube to fall into his palm. Inside was a phosphorescent-green liquid, and each end was capped with metal. "Before I asked Rainbow Dash to bring me this, I instructed my computer to make a few modifications. I don't believe in unnecessary vulnerability." Twisting open one of the caps, he revealed a needle's point, before jabbing into his forearm and injecting. "This is the steroid I'm sure the nurse told you about." Both of them were well aware of the risk of returning to the chemical Jack had just kicked an arguable addiction to, but the strength he was feeling spoke for itself.

"I know, I know, it's dangerous and stupid, but I don't have time to recover. Here's our strategy: proceed with your plan. When Tirek arrives in Ponyville, I'll engage him as soon as possible. If I beat him, great. If not, I'll be sure to buy you some time on the way down."

And so events continued. As the Princesses of Equestria bestowed their combined magical power onto the youngest of them, Jack sprinted to his cabin, letting every muscle surge back to life. By the time Tirek had reached Canterlot, surveillance drones had returned to the air. They picked him up as he made his way to Ponyville, and monitored his every move. Loading and arming every weapon and prepping every vehicle took time, though, even for Jack's advanced automated system, and in between coordinating battle-plans for his armada he found he could only watch as Discord betrayed his friends into Tirek's hands. It was painful, but Jack knew it would be suicide to show his hand before he was ready.

It was surprising, though not entirely unexpected, to see Tirek betray Discord in turn. But this was the last Jack could see of the situation, as the fleet was ready; now he needed to prepare himself. The neurostim injection from the hospital was still in full effect, but he strapped two smaller syringes into his belt for good measure. Combing through his personal armory, he picked out every tool and weapon he thought would serve him best. No possibility was off the table...

Blow after overpowered blow collided as Twilight and Tirek dueled in the Everfree. This was no showy battle of technique, but absolute war, a question of who could bring the most raw magical power to bear against the other; the combined powers of the sun, moon, love and friendship against the innate magical power of all of ponykind, with some chaos magic stirred in for good measure. Every charge, every blast sowed further destruction, as these two titans shrugged off attacks capable of felling mountains. In the aftermath of a crater-making beam collision, there was a mutual pause to catch their breath.

"It appears we are at an impasse..."

"Not quite!"

A new voice came from the sky, modulated but recognizable. Following it was the roar of energy thrusters and a flying, armored humanoid. Bringing his legs in under him, Jack cut the power to his flight systems and dropped to the ground, between Twilight and Tirek. He was encased in shadowy-silver plate armor, red-tinged white energy running along it from the core at his chest like exposed veins. Another human would've called the suit an Iron Man knockoff, which wasn't all that far from the mark, actually, but Equestria had yet to see the likes of Tony Stark. Besides, knockoff implied lower quality. This suit was all kinds of improvement on the original.

"Twilight, run for it! I'll hold him off!"

She beat a hasty airborne retreat, while Tirek laughed arrogantly. "You think you can defeat me?"

"Maybe, maybe not, but I'm dying to find out."

With a jet-powered assist, Jack leapt up to the level of Tirek's head and hit him square between the eyes with a repulsor blast. As he cried out in shock and clutched at his face, Jack soared skyward, settling into a holding pattern well out of his enemy's reach. Energy beams then rained down from above, striking Tirek on every side as he swatted blindly. But when his eyes opened, he saw and locked onto Jack immediately, smiting him out of the air with a burst of magical power. Jack stabilized as he fell, landing on both feet and with one hand out to form a tripod. He then ran forward, leaping up to dropkick Tirek in the chest, and his boot thrusters fired on impact to add even more force to the hit.

The jet force threw Jack away, but he landed on his feet once more, faced the centaur and let loose a relentless barrage of repulsor fire. Tirek brought his massive arms up to absorb most of the shots, before charging forward like they weren't even hitting. He reached out and grabbed Jack with one hand, lifting him up and crushing him at the same time. But the armored warrior brought his left hand up, and a panel on his forearm popped out, then slid forward. A fiery blast erupted from the nozzle on its front edge, scorching Tirek and forcing him to let go. As Jack took flight, Tirek wiped away the flames with a cleansing wave of magic.

"Haha! You are crafty, little man! If you surrender now, I just might let you live to tell the story!"

"How about no?"

Bringing his palms up and together at an angle, Jack fired off two simultaneous energy blasts. On collision with each other, they produced a brilliant flare of light, like he was holding a miniature sun between his hands. With the monster distracted, he made a jet-leap retreat, then took steady footing and opened up his right shoulder in the front. From it shot a powerful micromissile, which hit Tirek square in the chest and exploded, kicking up smoke and dust. But as this cloud began to dissipate, Jack lost sight of Tirek, at least until he came straight at him with a punishing right haymaker. There was enough of an uppercut in it to send him flying, deep into the Everfree.

"Now then, where was I?"

Twilight, who had been watching from the clouds, swooped down to attack. She let off another magical energy blast, which Tirek deflected with a force-field.

"Yes, Princess Twilight! How about a trade?"

Above his head suddenly materialized a ring of bubbles, each containing one of the Mane 5, as well as Spike and Discord.

"Your friends, for all the alicorn magic in Equestria!"

Realizing what might happen, everypony began pleading with Twilight not to give in for their sake. Indeed, it would've been illogical to do so. But Twilight Sparkle was the Princess of Friendship, and sometimes friendship didn't make sense. "Deal." Tirek snapped his fingers, and the bubbles popped, releasing the Mane 5 and Spike. "All of my friends."

Tirek chortled. "Even after he's betrayed you, you still call him friend? Pitiful. But as you wish, Princess." The last bubble burst, allowing Discord to crawl away. "Now it's your turn."

With agonizing guilt, Twilight presented herself before him, allowing him to bleed her dry of every bit of magic she had been entrusted with. She was barely able to stand as it was finished.

"Hahaha! Nothing in Equestria can stand against me now!" But Tirek cut himself short to hear the returning shriek of repulsor-jets. "Unfinished business..."

Jack touched down more slowly this time, armor scuffed up but otherwise none the worse for wear. "You didn't think I would be beaten that easily, did you?" His voice had an electronic stammer to it, but bringing up both palms and loosing a barrage of energy blasts spoke for itself. Tirek took each shot without flinching, advancing steadily under fire.

"You should've taken my offer, mortal."

Blasting magic from his horns, he shot out one of Jack's gauntlets, causing him to stagger sideways. And without skipping a beat, Tirek reached out, wrapped Jack's head inside his massive palm, and squeezed. The armor suddenly became very limp, and as he let go, it collapsed, helmet literally flattened into two dimensions. Imagining a human body inside, it was a gruesome image.

"No! Jack!" screamed Twilight, and the Mane 6 hugged each other tight, their last hope having seemingly been snuffed out. But suddenly, Jack rolled over, onto his stomach, and climbed back to his feet. A mechanical hand reached up, as several fastenings around the neck popped loose, and ripped off the mutilated helmet. There was nothing underneath.

"WHAT?!"

"Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to attack you head-on?"

This was the same voice, though far quieter and more natural-sounding than before. It also came from above, revealing that while Tirek had been fighting an empty suit of armor, a freshly-refurbished V22 Osprey had taken position over the Everfree. Its rear bay door hung open, and on the edge sat Jack in the flesh, tapping away at his tablet computer. "Remember that trick, Applejack?" The headless warrior backed away, then spun quickly around, wrapping its arms around the tight-knit group of ponies (and not-ponies). And with the revving of a spatiotemporal rip engine, they were all warped away to the relative safety of Jack's cabin.

"Alright, Tirek, it's just you and me!"

The Osprey's bay door closed up, it rotated in place, and deployed both weapons and P.A. system. The shout of angry electric guitars echoed down, only to find itself fighting for aural dominance with incoming energy-jet turbines. The Osprey made an aerial sidestep, getting out of the way of an A-10 Warthog which strafed the hell out of Tirek with rockets and minigun fire. He cried out, bringing up a shield to protect himself, but as he dropped it to counterattack, he found himself under attack by the Osprey's nose-mounted cannon and missile batteries. This was added to by the staccato of turret-fire from the belly, forcing him to restore his force-field.

The Osprey was soon joined by a Comanche attack helicopter, laying down a second stream of continuous fire as the A-10 came around for another pass. But as it came overhead, the centaur was able to channel a blast of magic through his shield, cooking off an unfired missile on its wing and blowing the whole assembly off the craft. It spiraled away and down into the forest, finding oblivion as it experienced uncontrolled flight into terrain. Jack frantically sent the Comanche to orbit around his foe and create a 360-degree field of fire, forcing Tirek to divide his attention.

"Impudent fool!"

He launched another beam attack, targeting Jack's command craft, but just before it reached the fuselage its tip exploded perpendicularly, having collided with a dark red energy shield. And if that weren't bad news enough, the cavalry had arrived. Over the forest flew a veritable swarm of drones, spreading out and encircling Tirek as they arrived. Some, more sleek and jetlike, fired missile upon missile as they flew about him, while others, equipped with vertical-tilt turbines, came to a hover and opened up with high-caliber machine guns. As each projectile was shot, reverse-engineered replicator technology produced another to take its place. And on the ground, a convoy of Humvees broke through the treeline and charged ahead. In their wake followed less rough-and-tumble ground vehicles, Aston Martins, BMWs, Jaguars, all incredibly out of place in the rough-edged military chaos. But regardless of make or model, each one took its place around Tirek and deployed every weapon in its arsenal.

The Mane 6 and company materialized in Jack's front room, along with their automaton guardian. As they picked themselves up from what had been dirt and was now area rug, the suit walked into the nearby elevator, presumably to go get itself a new head. "Jack saved us," observed Rarity, "and now he's alone against Tirek!"

Discord couldn't help but feel that this was entirely his fault, and though he knew it was actually closer to 75%, that quarter of not-guilt didn't really do much for him. "I was such a fool..." he muttered mournfully. "I used to have friendship and magic, but then I sold out one for the other, and now I've lost them both." For once in his very long life, all facades had fallen away and he was completely earnest, a broken and bleeding soul too pained to lie.

"Princess Twilight, you gave me my freedom when I had given you every reason not to. Without my powers, there's not much I can offer you in return, but there is this." He pulled the triangular medallion from his neck, and offered it to her in an open paw. "Tirek lied to me when he said this represented his loyalty and our friendship, but when I tell you it is a token of my gratitude for your compassion and kindness, I am telling the truth. I will never be so foolish again..."

Twilight took the trinket from him, but as she held it up to inspect, noticed a very familiar almost-rainbow shimmer. "This has to be the last key!"

"Key?"

"We've got to get back to the Tree of Harmony!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "It could be our only chance to beat Tirek!"

The audiovisual intensity of Jack's all-out assault on Trixie seemed like absolutely nothing compared to what had developed now. The streams of glaringly bright tracer rounds were starting to blend together, a massive circular wave of sustained fire. Missiles would get lost in the radiance, only to reappear upon detonation, blasting smoke and metal shards against Tirek's shield.

Raining spent brass from its three-barrel autocannon, the Comanche attack chopper backed away to avoid turbulence. It was literally at the peak of its offensive capability, no weapon left to deploy, short of kamikaziing into its target.

A pack of quadrotor drones continued to scramble about in the air, guns locked on Tirek no matter where they went. Precision computerized guidance allowed them to nearly clip wings while still maintaining stable flight.

On the ground, a green Jaguar XKR had deployed a minigun from its rear compartment, as well as missiles concealed behind the grille and inside the doors. But these were almost inconsequential compared to the rockets being launched next door, from the heavy-duty SAM turret mounted on the roof of a desert-camo Humvee.

Altogether, it was almost too much for Jack to keep track of. But thankfully, he had programmed the AI with enough sense to know what "fire everything" meant. Without ammunition to be immediately concerned about, he wondered which would burn out first: the replicators, the guns or the vehicles themselves. Tirek, however, was not going to give him the chance to find out.

"ENOUGH!"

He reached up with both arms, producing a starburst of magic from between his horns. It expanded outward, knocking back whatever it hit and downing most of the drone swarm. This also exposed one of the biggest weaknesses of Jack's fleet: its complexity. In most situations, a high-caliber machine gun would only need a few seconds' fire to decimate a target, and missile batteries would be used sparingly, to say nothing of being emptied and reloaded multiple times. Suffice to say, each vehicle was being put under a ridiculous degree of stress, and Tirek's attack was enough to trigger the failure of numerous already-weakened systems. Though the Osprey's energy-shield dampened the attack considerably, Jack still realized its effect through the vehicles' digital telemetry.

"Christ, mass systems failure!.. Anything not already out of the game is about to be if we try to attack again." He punched in a few commands to his tablet, signaling every craft still mobile to retreat; all he had left now was the endgame. And as he looked out across the western horizon, he saw the first move of that game arriving now.

"Attaaack! For the glory of Hookclaw!"

Tirek turned to face the new voice, which belonged to the leader of a group of flying figures coming in over the Everfree. He had drained everypony in Equestria of their magic, what pegasi could be left to oppose him? But they weren't pegasi, they were griffons, and the nomadic warrior variety no less. They swarmed down on him, hitting and running with all manner of exotic blades as he swatted at them madly. "I will massacre you!"

Back in the Osprey, Jack sent one more command; increase aggression. He then pulled a lever to open up the rear door, and flipped a switch to reveal a spool of rappelling cable from the floor. Meanwhile, Tirek had telepathically ripped the Hookclaw warriors off and was holding them aloft, ready for draining. But he was interrupted by a volley of MP7 fire from Jack, descending on a line from the back of the Osprey. Kamran took advantage of this distraction to thrash himself free, and as Jack reloaded, the ascended griffon prince flung himself onto Tirek, clawing violently at his face. But the centaur quickly reached up and pulled him off, crushing his ribcage in his grip before flinging him down and trampling him underhoof.

Pulling on the rappelling line overhead to bring his feet down, Jack rattled off another clip one-handed. Undeterred, Tirek quickly sucked the life-force out of the remaining griffons, then returned his attention to his main enemy. But in that time, a silver Aston Martin Vanquish had pulled up, and Jack had landed not on the ground, but on its roof. He unclipped from his line, ducked into the open sunroof, and the car promptly sped away.

"You cannot escape me!"

The Vanquish roared back down the path it had arrived by, with Tirek tearing up the forest in hot pursuit. Though the massive beast probably had an incredible running speed, the numerous obstacles he was forced to smash through made it a struggle to keep up with the unimpeded supercar. Now comfortable in the driver's seat, Jack was about to engage the active camouflage system when he stopped himself. No, need Tirek to follow me, need him to see me... It was a good thing he had, because coming along the same path from the opposite direction, the Mane 6 and Discord would've found it exponentially harder to get out of the way of an invisible car.

After a short, relatively uneventful chase through the Everfree (the Vanquish's weapons systems were all offline), Jack saw its edge approaching; his base was less than a minute away at this speed. "Computer, open the hangar doors!"

"Hangar doors open."

"Great, now engage all perimeter defenses, lock onto pursuing hostile!"

As they approached, even more miniguns and missile batteries emerged from all manner of concealment. Some were built into the cabin, others hidden under holographic vegetation, and others just popped out of the ground. They opened fire as soon as Tirek was in range, but he smited each one down with a fiery magical beam in a matter of seconds. Now in attack mode, he launched another such beam at Jack's Aston Martin. It was much less effective, thanks to a familiar dark-red energy shield. That was really starting to become annoying.

Jack jumped the path and offroaded to the back of his cabin, finding the hangar doors to indeed be open. They had left a massive chasm where the ground once was, opening up underground facilities to the evening sunlight. Knowing he didn't have time for the platform, he floored the Vanquish's accelerator and jumped over to the passenger seat. The British car promptly plummeted over the edge, into the empty hangar below, at which point Jack hit another button inside the central console. Almost in slow-motion, the canopy above him was swept back, and the seat below shot out, flinging him clear of the soon-to-be wreck. Though tumbling and skidding across the hangar floor was not a pleasant experience, it certainly beat the faceplant (or hood-plant, you might call it) the Vanquish had endured. Dammit, that was one of my favorites!

Tirek reached the edge of the opening, spotting the crashed vehicle and Jack below. Jumping down, he began to charge magic for what was sure to be the killing blow. "Now you die, and Equestria shall be mine!" Jack stood up to face him, arms spread open like he was truly ready to meet his maker.

"What about my last words?"

"There is nothing you can say that would have any meaning to me."

"Humor me."

"...Very well. As a respected adversary, I will honor that final request. What are your last words?"

"Oh, nothing too terribly interesting. Just activate Code Omega-Null, password 'Sound of Drums'!"

Suddenly, every light in the hangar went red, and a painfully loud klaxon alarm rang. Startled, Tirek swooped forward, snatching Jack up and holding him at eye-level. "What have you done?!"

"My tech is powered by a high-yield nuclear fusion reactor, just one floor down from here. Code Omega-Null will cause it to experience catastrophic meltdown, by a process I honestly do not remember at all. But I do know that it will make a very. Big. Boom. Even you won't survive it."

"You underestimate my power!"

"Maybe, but even if you don't die the fallout will spread across Equestria. And then, even if the radiation poisoning doesn't kill you, you'll have nothing but a barren, dead wasteland to rule over."

Tirek realized Jack was completely serious, and for the first time in a very long time he was frightened. "You don't dare, you'll be killed too!"

"I know. Omega-Null, the end, nothing left." There was a cold, suicidal determination in his voice, which was quickly taken over by devil-may-care cavalierism. "But all bad things must end, I suppose." Suddenly, the klaxon ended, replaced by the appropriate Motley Crue guitar riffs. "Oh yeah, this is the countdown! When this song ends, we all go up in flames. Sorry, I was a bit loopy when I made Code Omega-Null."

You saw this coming like a freight train, you motherfuckers saw the writing on the wall...

Enraged, Tirek squeezed even harder, though Jack seemed not to notice. "Tell me how to stop it!"

"Give up. Restore all the magic you've stolen, every last drop, and I will abort the countdown. That's the deal, big boy, take it or leave it."

Tirek glared bullets at Jack, but he just smirked back, as though even in defeat he had still managed to win. After a few seconds, Tirek hurled him away in frustration, sending him crashing into a workbench.

"I will survive. Better to rule a wasteland than go back to Tartarus in chains."

All bad things must end, all bad things must die, even the devil's gotta pay for his crimes...

The monster turned to pull himself out of the hangar, while Jack brushed the table's contents off him and stood up, only to pick up some of those same contents, inspired. "Hey, Tirek!" As Tirek looked back, he saw a small metal disc flying right at him. Chuckling to himself, he shot it down with a beam of magic, only for it to explode in his face. The ensuing concussion and smoke concealed from him a grapnel line soaring over his shoulder and wedging itself into the edge of the retracted overhead door. A second later, Jack winched up the cable at incredible speed, catapulting onto his enemy.

"Gotcha!"

Crawling about Tirek's neck with gymnastic agility, he kicked and punched at whatever vulnerable area was in range. But familiar with this style of attack after dealing with the griffons, Tirek pulled him off telekinetically before he could get in more than a few blows.

"Enough! You have been a thorn in my side for far too long! Now I end you!"

It's been one hell of a ride, it's been one hell of a night, it's been a damn good life, this ain't farewell, it's goodbye.

But just as he said this, the evening sunlight behind him became very intense, not to mention polychromatic. Six familiar, but now rainbow-colored (and very marketable) ponies appeared above; the Mane 6 had mega-evolved. "How is this possible?! You have no magic!"

"You're wrong, Tirek! I may have given you my alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!" Twilight replied, before firing down a beam of pure white energy which enveloped Tirek and stripped away, layer by layer, his absorbed power. While all this 'friendship is magic' hokiness was going on, Jack had ducked away to a computer console and was proceeding through the lengthy disarmament sequence for Code Omega-Null. All the while he gratefully pondered just how he had managed to not die, and when he hit the final key to stop the fusion meltdown, the lighting returned to normal but the music did not stop. Chuckling at this error in his programming, he hummed along, only to burst out laughing at the delicious irony of the song's last words.

All bad things must die!

And then Jack promptly collapsed and blacked out.

Cleanup from this turn of events was going to be hell. Although the Tree of Harmony had seen fit to replace Twilight's library with a massive crystal treehouse-palace, it showed no such courtesy to Jack's battered fleet of drones, aircraft and fancy cars. So after a day or two of obligatory bed-rest, it fell to him to recover and repair every asset he had deployed. While most had been able to retreat when the order was given and were being restored in the garage, some unlucky few were still left in that clearing in the Everfree. That was where Jack was, wiring up wreckage to be airlifted out by the Osprey. It was quiet, dull work, waiting for the assault-craft-turned-cargo-crane to make its round trip, but almost on cue, he spotted the Mane 6 coming down the pathway to ease his boredom.

"Hello, girls! I'm afraid you couldn't have picked a less interesting occasion to visit."

"Oh, we don't mind!" Pinkie beamed. "We just came to keep you company!"

"Besides, the movers are quite busy inside that new castle of ours, so it seemed like the perfect chance for a quick excursion," Rarity chimed in.

"Well, I've got time to kill until the Osprey comes back, why not?"

"What exactly is it you're doing out here?" asked Twilight.

"After battling Tirek, some of my cars and aircraft took damage that kept them from returning themselves to base." He picked up the multi-barrel assembly of his Jaguar's minigun, which had been torn loose by the magical blast, and placed it carefully in the passenger seat. "So I'm using the Osprey to airlift them out of here. And here it comes now!"

The girls noticed the growing whupwhupwhup of propellers, and looked up to see Jack's favorite aircraft overhead. It did an aerial u-turn, then lowered a winch cable down. The bottom section was actually four separate cables, and as they touched the ground and slacked out, Jack took one over to the far corner of the Jaguar. Going down to his knees, then onto his back, he magnetically locked it onto the underbelly, slid out and stood up.

"It's important to hook these cables in just the right place..." he told them (and himself, to a degree) as he repeated the process, "so that the strongest sections of the frame are bearing the weight. Otherwise, one might just pull whatever it's attached to loose, increasing the strain on the other three. And if they all come loose..."

"Splat," Rainbow Dash finished.

"Exactly. And now that this last one's in, we should be set to go." Jack gripped the connector that brought all four lines together, and pressed a button on its side. In response, the slack was pulled out and the winch began to retract, lifting the Jaguar slowly but surely. The pace increased shortly, but this was due to the Osprey itself gaining altitude, and soon the two were well above the Everfree treeline and flew out of sight. Jack wandered about the site, stepping carefully over the wreckage of drones.

"I'm not sure what to do about these, since they're a bit too small to airlift. But apart from them and that Humvee, I think..." He poked his head around the truck he had just referenced, expecting either another damaged sports car or empty flatland. What he found was neither of those. "Oh my God..."

There were at least five of them. They just laid in the dirt, tribal tattoos adorning their dry, pale-grey skin. Roughly-hewn iron bracers and leather necklaces holding arrowheads and animal teeth hung loosely, several sizes too large for the withered flesh they covered. Feathers were already beginning to fall off; soon, the bodies would decompose, leaving only skeletal remains. Something hit Jack at that moment, like a truck he had somehow forgotten to step out of the way of. The girls followed him to see what he had found, although a part of his mind was desperately urging him not to let them.

"Yes, very unpleasant. Without proper magic to drain, it appears Tirek simply sucked the life right out of them instead. Quite an odd coincidence, though, that these griffons would show up and attack, just as he had you on the proverbial rrrropes."

This r-trilling voice was a new one, belonging to a small pegasus with a Panama hat and question-mark-handled umbrella. As the seven of them looked his way with surprise, he pushed off the tree he had been leaning against and strolled over, nonchalantly.

"Ah, Doctor," Jack replied, with a bittersweet taste to his words. "Where were you when we didn't need you?"

"Discord marooned me and my fellow selves in a time loop," Seven answered irately. "And he could only release us when he had his magic back."

Twilight interrupted their passive-aggressive standoff. "Jack, how did these griffons end up here? They haven't tried to invade Equestrian soil in decades!"

"Yes, Hookclaw griffons are a very proud race, and just as xenophobic. Even I would've found it difficult to persuade them into an alliance. How did you manage to succeed?"

Jack realized another truth would have to come out. He stepped over to the particulary battered corpse of Kamran, their leader, and reached down, feeling around his head for a wound that would've just healed by the time the griffon died. Locating it, he drew a knife, then made a quick, deep cut. He pulled from inside a small metal tubule, no thicker than a pencil or longer than his pinkie. In short, around the same size as a bullet.

"With this, Doctor." But he pocketed the implement and cut himself short to begin attaching cables to the Humvee. "Meet me back at the cabin." He then hooked in the last line, pressed the button and climbed quickly into the driver's seat, shutting the door just as it left the ground.

An Osprey ride and a TARDIS trip later, they reconvened in Jack's garage, where the wreckage of the Vanquish had long since been tidied up and the floor was once again filled with fast, powerful vehicles. Jack himself was busy working at a computer workstation, some odds and ends collected on the desk beside him. Seven led the Mane 6 out of the police box, getting his bearings and then finding Jack. "You were saying?' the Doctor beckoned as they approached. Jack held up two familiar black books in response.

"The Rani left quite a thick pile of notes here, Doctor. Some of her developments were far too complex for even me to understand, but others were just simple enough to reverse-engineer. Like this." He set the books down and picked up the bloodstained capsule. "Implanted near the brain, it secretes chemicals that stimulate the production of certain hormones."

"Creating emotions that shouldn't be there," Seven noted with contempt. "How very Rani."

Jack continued regardless, emotionally shut down. "Would-be conquerors of Equestria focus on subduing ponykind almost exclusively, so I decided to look for reinforcements elsewhere. My surveillance drones picked up on the tribe's situation, and I decided to use it to my advantage. It was almost cliche: Kamran was all too eager to invade Equestria, only held back by his pacifist father, the tribe leader. I stuck the implant in him, then... removed his father from the picture, so that Kamran could inherit his role. With a spike in chemicals to elevate his aggression and pride, I could count on him to charge into Equestria, ready for battle. Manipulating him from there would've been child's play."

Twilight and her friends were awestruck and frightened at such cruelty. "Jack..." she stammered, "...how could you?"

"They died so I could defeat..." He tried to finish, but the words would not come; in fact, the only thing that was coming to him was an emotional trainwreck he had been fighting off since he found the bodies. "Tir... Tir... Oh my God, I-I...I killed him." Shock, fear, sorrow and shame were all running thick now, as the Doctor was the only one still able to maintain stoicism. "I killed him, so I could send them to their deaths... I made them all die for me." Jack's breaths were becoming short and choppy, as he turned back to the desk and buried his head in his arms, before pounding it with a grunt of frustrated rage.

"Go to him," whispered Seven to the Mane 6. "If you are his friends, now is the time to show it." And go to him they did, swamping him in a massive group hug of shared tears and forgiveness. Whatever had been done, whatever the future brought, they would get through it together. He thanked them as he stood back up, then eyed the Doctor. "But there's still a loose end or two to tie up." Jack drew his iPhone and began to tap in commands, over a period of about fifteen seconds. He then pocketed it, and picked up the Rani's notes files and the hypercube from the desk.

"I believe these are better off in your hooves, Doctor." He handed the books to Seven, who tucked them safely under his wing. "And this. You know what to do with it?"

"Are you sure about this, Jack?"

"Completely." He handed the hypercube over as well. Seven tipped his hat to the mares, then returned to his TARDIS.

"Good to see you all again. Another time, perhaps."

And with a closed door and a vworpvworpvworp, he was gone.

"...and the human, Jack West. Yes, I shall find his death particularly gratifying."

The cracked old voice slithered over every syllable, relishing the ideas it articulated. And deep in the bowels of Tartarus, those ideas were what Tirek lived on. He nursed them and let them fester, dreaming and scheming of his eventual, inevitable revenge. Figuring out how to escape would take time, yes, but that did not concern him. If there were two things he had in abundance, they were hatred and time.

Unfortunately for Tirek, he had not taken any of that time to notice the four black studs that had been attached around his upper torso. In fact, he only realized they were there when an indicator light on one of the front two discs began to blink red. That blinking meant the disc was receiving a long-range activation signal, marking the target of a space-time rip engine. And as that engine fired, it opened a portal between the studs.

In a cell deep in the pits of Tartarus sat Tirek. Well, Tirek, minus a large cubic chunk of everything between the shoulders, head included.

Seven's TARDIS drifted through the Time Vortex, aimless. But then the Doctor started fiddling with the controls, looking for a particular time and place. He didn't begin to fly the TARDIS in, though; instead, he took a look at the coordinates, and compared them with the hypercube's. They were a perfect match. But in light of what he had just seen, a second guess was almost obligatory.

"Sometimes, in the name of the greater good, sacrifices must be made," the Time Lord declared resolutely. On the scanner, he could see his predecessor and eventually successor guarding the door of a log cabin, mouthing off to each other animatedly. He checked to be sure the shields were up, then opened the doors of the TARDIS. Holding up the hypercube, he brought his hoof down and let it float in front of him, before pushing it out with the point of his umbrella. He closed the door and checked the scanner again. There it was, right at Jack's front door, ready to be received.

It began and ended with that cube.