"We're just about there, fellas," Apple Bloom called out as the group tromped through the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. "Can't wait, we haven't had company in a while. Big Mac's never been one for conversatin' an between him not really invitin' anypony over and my havin' to pick up the slack since AJ disappeared, we ain't had nopony over in a long time."
Cimmerian smiled at the mare's eagerness, though he did worry about using such a public location to rest. Needs must, however, and the farmer had even promised to whip them up a cure for the poison joke that they could take with them. That had been helpful, considering they weren't quite done with the Everfree just yet.
"Hey Bloom, is there any way to replicate the effects of poison joke at a later time? Or is it random every time one is afflicted by it?"
The yellow mare thought deeply for a few moments before answering.
"Ah don't rightly know, Mr Cimmerian. Most ponies don't look to gettin' another cursin' at the hooves of poison joak. Ah'll ask Zecora next time I see her, but Ah do know how to whip up a smoke bomb usin' poison joak leaves. Pinkie and Dash asked Zecora for some for prankin' a long while ago, and it was one of the first things Ah mixed up for anypony. They got in lotsa' trouble though, and Ah did too once Applejack figured out Ah was the one who made the powder.
"Ah just gotta ask though, why didn't ya seem too shocked about the bunnies?"
"I was, Bloom," the changeling replied. "But I've also been through quite a few shocks since I started helping out. I don't think I'm immune to shocks, but I'm almost to the point where I just kind of go along with whatever shows up. I mean by our recollection, magic didn't exist last year. Now it's one of the fundamental forces of the world I live in. I'm married to an egg-laying emotivore, I've personally killed a snake longer than a bus, I got drunk sharing drinks with a dragon, we had our species altered because of some weird pollen, and I talk to immortal demi-god ponies in my dreams. Weird is par for the course at this point."
The group slowed a bit, noticing they were coming out of the forest and that the ambient temperature was dropping sharply, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo continued on their path. The farmer called over her shoulder to them, telling them there was no need for alarm.
"We're comin' up on the back of the farm now, Ain't nopony gonna bother us round this time. Oh, Ah can't wait. Ain't gotten no visitors in a long while, with AJ bein' gone and Big Mac not gettin' out much. Ah have a few friends of mah own I invite over every now and again, but Big Mac don't like us havin' parties at the farm, he's gotten kinda reclusive since he spent a few years in the Royal Guard."
After only a few moments exposed to the cold, Cimmerian found himself shivering, or at least attempting to. His new form wasn't equipped with the proper muscles, leaving him spasming painfully every few moments.
"Dammit, this is w-w-worse than I expected. Z-zelus, allow us to wield thy brac-c-cers."
The alicorn took a quick look at him before her eyes widened, looking around her at the gathering snow and likely realizing it wasn't effecting her at all. She dropped her bag and dug out her bracers, helping the stallion snap them on and activating them with her own magic, seeing as how her magic pool now regenerated without feeding on emotions.
"Something wrong?" Scootaloo asked, noticing the group had stopped.
"Changelings can't shiver. I'm sorry, Cimmerian, I should have noticed," Zelus responded, holding the shape shifter against her barrel as he'd done for her on the ship. "We can replicate the visual cues, pretending we're shivering, but for the most part we either burn emotion to keep going in the cold, or we hibernate through it. Since shivering is instinctive for most races though, he's trying to shiver with muscles that aren't there. It's causing the muscle-spasms." Almost as if in response Cimmerian began seizing again, his body shuddering uselessly every now and again.
After a minute the bracers and proximity to the alicorn mare began to have a noticeable effect and his body temperature finally began to approach comfortable levels.
"Okay. I, I think I'm good now. Thanks Zel."
The group approached the farmhouse, a few lights on the house showing it was occupied. Apple Bloom smiled widely, turning to face the group while walking backwards.
"Looks like Big Mac's home. Ah'm gonna let him know ya'll are comin so he don't get too much of a shock, kay?"
With that, the mare took off, easily plowing through the light dusting of snow and rushing up to the door, kicking the snow off of her hooves before running inside and shouting for her brother. The rest of the group slowly came up to the farmhouse, arriving at the porch just as the red farming stallion walked out the door. He took one quick look over the group before turning around and slamming the door shut, leaving Apple Bloom outside with everyone else.
"Big Mac? Macintosh, you get yer flank out here!" Apple Bloom shouted. "You know well as Ah do we don't turn away guests. Open the door and at least let us in outa the cold!"
The door peeked open, the farmer sticking his head out just enough to glare at his little sister for a moment before turning his glare to the orange pegasus.
"Don't deal with monsters, carnivores, or traitors. Git off mah farm. You too Bloom, maybe yer new friends can give ya a new place to stay."
"AJ'd sock ya for sayin' that an' you know it!" the yellow farm mare growled while pointing an accusing hoof at him.
Big Mac narrowed his eyes at her for the comment.
"Well AJ's gone, and she ain't comin back. Farm's all Ah got left of 'em, so Ah ain't gonna let nopony take it from me."
"I think your sister would be a bit upset that you buried her without a body," Cimmerian cut in, realizing they were speaking of the orange mare from the Elements of Harmony. "We're actually in the area to find out where she's being held."
"Ain't nopony in the area got the power or ponies to keep those mares squirreled away for this many years. Besides that, we got family all over the place, we'da heard sumthin' on her by now."
"Big Mac, this is Cimmerian," the yellow mare introduced. "He's supposed to be an alicorn right now, but he's had a run in with poison joak. He's linked ta Luna, and he's the reason ponies started dreamin' again. He saw her, Big Mac. He spoke to her, and Scoots got ta speak to Dash."
"They're still young, like they haven't aged a day since they disappeared," Scootaloo added. "Luna said Queen Twilight cast some sort of petrification spell on them, and they're being used to keep the princesses sealed away."
"That's not true. Twalight told the guard the changelin's did something to her an' the others. That's why we were checkin' all the hives."
"So what happened after you checked the hives?" Zelus asked dangerously. "What happened to the changelings that you broke from their hives, to the eggs and queens and nymphs?"
"Dunno, was too busy lookin' fer any sign of missin' ponies to really care," the farmer replied without missing a beat. "Found a bunch of em, some had been missin' fer years. Others we had no idea were gone. Never found AJ or her friends though."
"Well, it's likely you never found her because she never left Equestria," Cimmerian said, a slight smile on his face. "I know the dream originated from this area, so she's gotta be in the neighborhood. I'll be getting a better idea tonight. Scootaloo, while I'm working on that, do you think you can take care of something for me? I was going to do it, but with the cold, we do not believe I could manage it even if we did figure out shape shifting."
Scootaloo nodded.
"Probably. I can take care of it in the morning, if nothing else."
The big red stallion looked over the large changeling for a few moments, as if weighing his word against his form before nodding.
"You prove to me you can find mah sister, and I'll give ya whatever help ya need. Give me the run-around though, and Ah'll plant ya in the western fields."
Zelus chuckled at the threat, knowing the stallion would likely get his flank hoofed to him on a platter. Between herself, the guards, and Cimmerian's own power, there wasn't much the earth pony could do to lay out the changeling. Still, with an uneasy truce worked out the group moved into the farmhouse. Apple Bloom immediately appropriated the thestrals and Scootaloo to help her prepare a decent meal, while everyone else warmed up in the living room.
Cimmerian sat as close to the fire as he dared. Even with the bracers, a blanket, the fire, and the alicorn sitting beside him, he'd have sworn he'd never be warm again.
'I'm never dismissing changelings' complaints about cold again.'
<-(0)->
Luna was passing through the dream realm, a grin on her ethereal muzzle. Pony dreams, the dreams of her ponies once more accessible to the lunar princess. She flitted her and there, calming nightmares and enhancing already wonderful dreams to be truly memorable. She had no idea how long it would last, or if it would disappear the moment Cimmerian left the area.
'I suppose I should enjoy this, but I must be cautious. Ponies speaking of my appearance in their dreams will only exacerbate Twilight's instability. More so than the return of dreams, at least.'
Flitting hither and thither, the mare reveled in the large number of dreams, even spotting her sisters before the white alicorn left to attempt some dream walking of her own. With so many in close proximity, she could practice much more easily. Her decrease in power would also leave Celestia less likely to burst the dreams when she attempted to enter them.
An oddity soon grabbed the lunar princess' attention, a dream-orb that simply wasn't. She slowly circled the dream, wondering just what it could be when it suddenly started pulling her towards it. With a soundless yelp Luna was sucked into the dream, leaving her floating in an endless white space.
"Who's there?" she challenged, attempting to get her bearings. "Show yourself!"
"Well, it's good to see you too, Little Lu," a voice from behind her answered, causing the mare to jump with a squeak. Turning, she found herself muzzle to muzzle with the avatar of chaos. Discord took out a measuring tape, taking the measurements of her eye and then the bottom of a hoof, tutting as he checked the numbers in a notepad.
"I seem to remember you being a bit larger than this the last time we met, Luna. What happened, has your sister been eating your portions as well now? I told you she was getting bad."
"Discord? Wha-when did you return to Equis? I was told you were traveling beyond the veil!"
"Oh I was, so much to see out there, it was a real eye opener," Discord said, pulling out a photograph of himself and a strange, many eyed and betentacled creature. Luna cocked her head, attempting to decipher how the draconequus had taken the picture so accurately before it was replaced by yet another, this one of Discord sunning himself on a world that had four suns. All around him were molten pools of various materials. He seemed to be enjoying it, even if he looked a bit, yellowed with pink spots?
"Zantrox Seven, four suns all circling each other, leaving all the planets in the area absolutely inhospitable. But you know my favorite part? There was civilization there! It wasn't native, but some creatures had figured out how to mine the cooler side of the planet. Oh, the technological marvels that race created. It was a shame about the flesh-eating parasites that wiped them out, though. I had to learn about them from a little robot they left behind, 666 Devil's Advocate. Charming fellow, if a bit out there. Just between you and I though, I think he was a tad insane.
"Oh, and the fungal gardens of Se'Percian Alpha, absolutely stunning. Of course, the spores kind of grew out of control, so nothing goes there at all anymore," Discord explained, a small picture that seemed to be mostly covered in black spots. What was visible though, were large mushrooms and fungal stalks larger than mountains.
"Ah, it was wonderful, each world home or unwilling host to its own brand of chaos. Even met a few other multi-dimensional beings. One chap invited me along for a visit to one of his favorite spots, a restaurant at the end of the known universe? Of course, it was their own universe, and some time travel was involved, but still, to watch it all just disappear in a flash of light...I don't know, I don't think I liked that part. The soup was fabulous, though. Can't say enough about it."
Tossing the album of photos away, chaos reclined in the void, stretching his arms and yawning unrealistically wide, causing the mare to flinch as his jaw slowly stretched to envelope most of his face.
"Still, it seems that you and yours haven't been without their own brand of chaos. I come home to find things all a mess, and I wasn't the one to cause it. Do you know what that does for my self-image, Luna? Absolutely destroys it! I mean, Sparkle-butt has done more to damage this world in a few years than I managed at my release, and I'm suppsed to be the Avatar of Chaos, the Duke of Diversity, the Viceroy of Variation, the-"
Luna rolled her eyes at his titles.
"I understand, Discord. Twilight is not herself though, she has been-"
"Taken over by a Nightmare, yada-yada. I know, I could tell the moment I looked at her," Discord said, waving a paw dismissively.
"Truly Luna, I messed with ponies' heads often enough to know about how they work. I've been able to read most of them like open books for centuries; how do you think I can twist them so accurately? The Nightmares though, they're a tricky bunch. There are a few races out there that have actually managed to hunt them down and destroy them, even warding their veil against further intrusions by the little ear-worms. My big question though, is if you already knew they were out there, why didn't you act before this? Aren't you and Tia supposed to be the responsible ones?"
The alicorn looked away in shame.
"My sister and I, we wanted nothing more than to forget about the incident. We know now that this was foolish, but by the time it was made apparent to us, it was too late to act."
"Made apparent..." the draconequus repeated with a raised eyebrow, "You didn't even notice on your own, did you? You and your sister, one of whom knew this pony her whole life, who practically raised her, needed someone else to tell you there was something wrong with her.
"I'm sorry Luna. You and your sister usually get top marks for intentions, but this time, I'm afraid I have to fail you on perception," Discord said, handing her a paper with a large F emblazoned on the front, a flowing red cape wrapped around the document.
Pulling out a rolodex, the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos began flipping through the cards.
"So who was it? Tirek's still in Tartarus for another few centuries at least, Chrysalis, no, couldn't have been, ew, Grogar's found other things to occupy his time, heard he even started a school of his own, Sombra got vaporized a while ago..." Discord frowned as he pulled a single card out of Luna's ear and began to inspect it.
"New guy, shadows, yada yada. Oh, changeling wife, that must be interesting. Shape-shifters can be a real hoot in the hay. Currently living in the Temple, well at least someone found a use for that old place. Used to be dedicated to me, you know. I think there were a few hidden rooms in the area, I even left them with a few gifts, though your sister destroyed most of them. Then the Nightmare cultists decided to use it, I think. Those guys were truer to the Nightmare than they realize. Didn't do a lick of work themselves."
The misshapen creature walked casually around Luna, tossing cards left and right as he skimmed through the information.
"Original species, human? Oh, I think I saw a few of those in my travels. Odd little things, most didn't have much in the way of magic, but by chaos are they fun to watch. Did you know they're the only species I came across that developed crystal matrices to allow for magic spells even among the magically inept? Even someone devoid of magic could use basic spells that way. Spent forty years in, ouch. That must have been less than, no never mind, he likely doesn't remember much of it. I know my own frame of reference was off when I became petrified. Adoring subjects, the usual hooey when it comes to alicorns ruling ponies, ooh, gnolls huh?"
"Cimmerian is currently ruling a mixed country. Gnolls, ponies, thestrals, griffons and changelings," Luna said, watching Discord warily. "Fluttershy asked him to use something to contact you, something that she was unable to reach."
"Yes, yes. The coin I gave her. I honestly thought for a while that the instructions were beyond ponies; I thought Flutters couldn't figure it out, and that's why it never called me. But no, it was because Tia's wonderful student had a mental breakdown and a Nightmare capitalized on it. She's quite clever, you know. Had a teleport trap all set up for me the moment I returned to this dimension. It drew me in like a lightning rod, plopped me right in the center of this big ol' chamber designed just for yours truly. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so used to these kinds of things. You know she's not the first to try this kind of thing, right? Starswirl spent a good decade working out the kinks that come into play when trying to contain my power as a mental exercise, never could figure it out. What hope does she have?"
"You mean she can't hold you?" Luna asked incredulously. "If she cannot contain you, why are you allowing her to hold you captive?"
"Oh, it's not that simple. Nothing ever is. You see she can keep a good chunk of my power contained, but the wards that solidify reality around me actually damage the strength of her magic barriers. It's one of those things that drove so many beings that tried to capture me to drink. The more arrays and barriers you start layering over an area, the more they start to interfere with each other; the more holes you try to plug, the more leaks you cause. I've been held in this kind of trap before, so I know the holes. But what fun is it to just walk right out of a trap? I like poking it, and I like to poke the one who made it even more. You know she came by to gloat? Oh it was adorable, a little pony princess trying to tell me how she would destroy the world, bring darkness and end all life, yada yada."
The draconequus' expression turned serious for a moment, pressing his muzzle up against Luna's own.
"I hope your friend can find a way to pull that Nightmare out of her Luna, considering she's already taken out the Elements of Harmony. I'd hate to have to smear that nerdy little librarian across the aether of the world. I like this world, and while I'm no good at the reformation and 'saving everypony' that Tia seemed to live by, I won't let this world die."
The seriousness left his expression almost as quickly as it appeared.
"Well, we're not getting anything important done besides some extra exposition, so why don't we head to the next dream?"
Before the alicorn could ask what he meant, Discord snapped his fingers, whisking the two of them away with a loud belch.
<-(0)->
"So this is how you keep track of where all the buildings in the Temple are located?" Zelus asked as she followed the stallion through the blocky corridors.
Cimmerian, able to reclaim his alicorn form in his dreams, nodded as he led the changeling queen through the replica of the Temple of the Shadows.
"It's been a big help. I can plan a bit ahead, guess as to the traffic that will be flowing through an area, decide on fortifications, and I can even see how it's all going to look ahead of time. It's been a bit help, I even taught Din the basics of the physics and block types so she can use it if she wants."
"I think I saw one of her early models," Zelus said, poking at a strange green-speckled creature. "It made no sense when I came across it in the link, but seeing this, seeing what it's supposed to be... Yea, I can see this being useful. I'll ask her for the basics as well when we get back. Maybe I'll design an obstacle course or some sort of arena."
Leaving the Temple and taking off for the West, the stallion called back to the queen.
"Come on, I want to go make sure I updated Shadow Talon before we left. Otherwise I'll have nothing to base it off of. See, we can already see the tower...from here..."
As the two came to a stop just shy of the town's border, Zelus could only stare in wonder at the strange sight before her.
"Cimmerian, why does the town look like cheese?"
The stallion quickly approached the tower, testing it with a hoof.
"Sponge...there's only one type of person who would dare turn someone else's creations into sponge."
"HAX!!" the stallion shouted, launching several televisions at a mismatched creature even as he was turning another building into sponges. Zelus stared with her jaw hanging open as the alicorn persued the creature throughout the town, soon realizing that the misshapen creature was none other than Discord.
Even as the draconequus warped in various barriers between himself and the alicorn, the stallion continued to pursue.
"You may be a hacker, but I'm the admin, bitch! I'll teach you to screw with my stuff!"
Even as the queen watched as the two took off into the distance, a smaller alicorn came flying up to Zelus.
"Have, have you seen Discord? I came across him earlier, and, and he said we would go see the next dream," Luna gasped out, "I, recognized this as being something Cimmerian used but, Discord took off before I could say anything."
Zelus merely pointed across the way to the sight of Discord zipping through the town, the dark stallion keeping pace while swinging around a large hammer that seemed to vaporize anything it came into contact with. Wincing as yet another building was removed from existence by the enraged alicorn's wild blows, Luna shouted for their attention.
"Cimmerian! I need to speak with you! Both of you!"
Cimmerian came to a sharp stop, looking back to the two mares before launching the hammer at his opponent. Discord stopped as well, looking at the two mares before looking back to his pursuer, only to get a hammer to his face for the trouble.
Both males reached the queen and the alicorn at about the same time, Cimmerian still glaring at the draconequus while Discord was pouting, a large imprint of a hammer inlaid with the word 'BAN' still highlighted on the mismatched beings face.
"We must be going. Please calm yourself, Discord is not an enemy," Luna told the dark alicorn.
"I know, but I'm still pissed he was messing with my stuff. That, and I just felt really angry when I saw him. Luna, after this, do you think you can check the seal again? I think I'm leaking a bit."
"Leaking?" Discord inquired, leaning over and peering into the alicorn's ear. Sticking most of his face into the ear, he was quickly yanked out by a still irritated Cimmerian, but ignored the glares of the stallion.
"Luna, when I said you needed to do something about those anger issues of yours, I didn't mean give them to someone else. Though you do get bonus points for creativity on this one."
Luna rolled her eyes, before addressing the other alicorn.
"I will check it after the meeting. You know who you will be bringing?"
Cimmerian nodded "Yup, got one extra on my end, AJ's older brother, but otherwise we're good to go. I should be able to pinpoint their location this time by comparing my current location versus where their dreams are."
"He can find people based on the locations of their dreams?" Discord said with feigned offense, "Hello, can you say police state?"
The dark alicorn raised a hoof while holding another over his heart.
"I promise to only use my powers for evil, I mean good."
"I like this guy." Discord stage whispered, leaning into Luna. "He's actually got a sense of humor. Welp, lets go everyone. Before we waste too much time ruining Cimmerians cruddy replica of his own house."
Once more the draconequus snapped his fingers, and once more the entire group was pulled into another dream.
Once Cimmerian's vision cleared, he found himself staring at the house that Pinkie was using to host the other element bearers, while a confused Celestia looked about wildly and gibbered nonsensically at her unexpected displacement to his left. Rolling his eyes, the stallion picked up the pony princess and followed after the slithering form of Discord as the reality warper rang the doorbell. The door soon swung open, the cheerful expression on Pinkie's face soon dropping as she took in the sight of the draconequus. The mare glared for some reason, stomping right up to Discord with no fear and pointing down by her hooves. With a sigh and crossing his arms, Discord floated down to her level and Cimmerian fully expected the mare to begin chewing him out for not showing up sooner. To both their surprise though, Pinkie grappled Discord in a fierce hug, giggling and nuzzling into his chest.
"Dissy! Why didn't you send me a letter? We missed you, and nopony knew where you disappeared to!" Pinkie shouted, the smile back on her face.
"Well, trans-dimensional postage is horrendous, my dear," Discord answered nonchalantly "Not to mention you never know if the mailman actually knows how to reach the address you wrote down. That and the whole point of the trip was to wander around. I really didn't know where I was going most of the time."
The mare nodded in understanding, opening the door for her guests "That's okay, I hear the reliability gets worse the farther from the Source you get. Eventually it just gets so bad that the Outsiders deliver it, just to throw off the numbers. They probably read your mail, though, so I wouldn't send it that way either."
The large group soon entered into the building, following the pink mare into the living room once more, though the room was about twice the size as before. Even as family rushed to see loved ones once more, Cimmerian pulled Pinkie Pie aside for a moment.
"How did you know we were visiting tonight?"
"Well, my tail itched, then my nose wiggled, or at least tried to, then the voices in my head started singing the pony pokey. That means a family reunion, and since I knew that would mean more ponies, I expanded the room a bit," Pinkie answered with a smile.
Cimmerian frowned at the mare, gripping her head between his hooves to her confusion. He stared at her for a few moments before nodding.
"You're hurting yourself doing this. Pinkie, I know you like to help, but you need to take a break."
"What are you talking about, Cimmy? I'm fine, I mean-"
"Pinkie, I can feel you straining from here. Three minutes and we're leaving," he told her.
"No, no you can't. We, I can't do this anymore. I can't be alone like this anymore, I need this!" Pinkie sobbed, her mane deflating. Before she could continue, Discord was in front of her, having noticed the alicorn's inspection.
"Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie," the draconequus tutted, "I thought you knew better than to do that to yourself. If you needed the extra help holding the ponies here, you should just say so. Luna, Cimmerian, Tia or myself would be happy to help take the weight off of your mind."
With a quick tap on her forehead, the pink party pony seemed to relax, her form going limp in Discords paws. Picking her up, he floated out the doorway, calling to them that he'd return shortly.
"I cannot believe I didn't think of such a thing," Luna muttered darkly from beside Cimmerian. "I'm supposed to be the one who understands dreams. I feel like a little filly, having my ponies discomfort discovered by other beings."
"Well, technically it was your abilities that spotted it, remember? I just tend to rely on them a bit when around individuals I don't know. Helps me read them easier. You've also been kind of starved for interaction, and Pinkie was trying to hide her discomfort from everyone."
Looking about the room once more, the conversations much more reserved without Pinkie's constant zipping about the room, he turned back to Luna.
"I'll try to get them out of this in the next few days. From what I can tell, they're about where my, where your old castle was. It's pretty out of the way, and the rabbits said there was something out there guarding it now. It's likely Queen Twilight is following the bad-guy handbook here and has them guarded by some monster, the question is what is it and how difficult will it be to defeat."
Luna nodded.
"I will teach you how to dispel the petrification after the party. After that, it will be putting the multiple-target teleport to use. You have been practicing it, correct?"
"Yeah, I have. I think I've got it down pat, but I'm going to use an anchor point for this and leave them as statues. That way I don't have to worry about them fidgeting while I'm casting, and Zelus can make sure they don't tip over after the teleport."
Watching the changeling queen arguing with Rainbow dash over who went next on the game system, Cimmerian chuckled.
"We're likely going to have to use the antidote for the poison joak once we reach the Castle. I need to be at my best; we all do, so I'll be hitting Apple Bloom up for that tomorrow morning. While we're working on that, Scootaloo is going to take my list over to the town hall. I want to know if there's been missing persons posters put out for the kids. Even if I can't get them home, or let the parents know they're okay, I can tell the kids their parents are still looking, or worse case scenario, I'll adopt them. Most of them already call me father or daddy, so I may as well go the extra mile for them."
"What of your apprehension with beginning a family here?" Luna asked with a sly smile. The stallion shoved her while wearing a grin of his own.
"I think that idea went out the door when I ended up giving Din exactly what she'd been asking for. She's showing now, you know. Scared her to death when she realized she wasn't going to lay these like she normally does."
"I am well aware of that. She was screaming at me when I visited her dreams one of those first nights. She's calmed since then obviously, but she misses you quite a bit. They all do," leaning against the larger alicorn, Luna sighed.
"Be careful Cimmerian. Do what you can to rescue us, but please put our ponies first. The girls deserve more than they've received in their lives. They're heroes, and most of their world is now beyond them. Life has passed them by; I fear what may become of them if they are left to fend for themselves."
"I know, Luna. It's a common motto back home, 'Leave no man behind.' Or mare, in this case." The stallion said with a chuckle.