An Extended Holiday

by Commander_Pensword

102 - This Time, I Want a Hooded Spotted Puppy Coat!

Extended Holiday
Ch 102: This Time, I Want a Hooded Spotted Puppy Coat!
Act 16

---

It was early in the morning as Matthew stared at a single black rectangle that sat on a flat desk, in a room that had a bed with boxes on it as items from shelves were packed away. He sat like a cat on the arm of a chair to one side, while Lunar Fang lay out on her belly looking at everything from the main cushion. Ethan sat in the swiveling computer chair midst all the clutter with his fingers at the ready to use the keyboard as they waited for the startup to finish.

The screen popped up, and the background log-in showed a smiling fox with snow on its muzzle while it opened its muzzle in a half grin.

“Okay.” Eric looked at a piece of paper as he typed in some information. Matthew casually looked at the clock and noted the time; it was five AM.

“Why do I need to use this machine again?” Matthew asked.

“Because,” Eric paused. “Well. . . .”

“You are hoping that you can jog my memory on something? Or what? You can use that machine for what you want–.” he stopped suddenly. “Well, I do have my novel I would like to work on. And there was that research I have stored on there.”

“Well, it's a good thing your agent friends bought a box of twenty of those papers then, and a lot of ink. What did you do to get that?”

“I gave them a pouch with six rubies. Seems they were rare cut,” Matthew said as he shrugged.

Lunar Fang flew curiously to one of the boxes and started rooting around inside until her rear hoof disturbed something beneath the covers. She quickly dove under the sheets to investigate, then stopped quite suddenly. “Dear, could you come take a look over here?”

The hum of the printer warming up distracted Matthew for only a moment before he flew to join his wife on the bed. “What seems to be the–?” He gawked at the sight as Lunar Fang pulled the sheets back. She smiled as that look of shock turned to one of recognition, and then widened to a grin as his eyes lit up. “BUNNY!”

Matthew instantly pounced the worn stuffed rabbit. The poor thing never stood a chance as he proceeded to lock it into a cuddle squeeze of death. Its two front paws had been sewn together to give the appearance of a monk with his hands in his habit. “Lunar Fang, you found Bunny. You found my Bunny!” He laughed. “I never thought I would see him again.”

“I thought you might be pleased. It’s been a long time, but I still remember when you told me about him from your childhood days. He helped you through a lot of your surgeries, didn’t he?”

“More than you can begin to imagine.” He continued to snug it as a tear formed at the corner of his eye.

“I take it you’ll be taking him with you?” Matthew turned, surprised to see his mother standing at the door. He nodded quickly, and she sighed. “Well, I’ll get the others to take down the stuffed animals from the nets, then. You should be able to pick which ones you want to bring back with you. After all, they were yours in the first place.”

Eric looked at the list, as he turned to his son. “Come on. I need to know I’m printing the right stuff, Matthew. Get your tail over here.” He chuckled at the joke. Matthew immediately flew back over and hovered next to his father’s shoulder to watch the screen. “Looks good to me. I hope that Grif and the Clouds are doing well in packing my books away.” He looked around the rest of the room. “Well, I don’t think I need to do anything else in here.”

“What about Skype?” Eric asked.

“Just put a message under my name stating that my account is no longer in use, and that I have moved to a location that does not have internet access.”

“You don’t want to talk to your friends?”

“What would I tell them? ‘Hi, I am sorry I haven’t been online, but I got to go to another world, changed species, got married, have a daughter, and, oh, I am building a military from the ground up?’ I would rather not deal with that headache.”

“Oh, uh, your friends Justin and Joel are on their way up today,” Nancy said. “Sorry They wanted to spend some time with you, and after the cat got out of the bag, well. . .” She shrugged.

Matthew sighed. “Not too much. I’ve still got packing to do. Maybe they’ll want to help a little.” He looked around. “Oh, right. The blueprint of the Titanic needs to come with me.” He stopped as he fixated on a small picture frame. Him and Eric smiled from their place in the photo op booth in the Titanic Museum at Branson, MO. “I would like to take that with me as well.”

“I’d hoped you would say that. You’ll be taking other family pictures, too, right?” Nancy smiled with tears in her eyes as she thought of her little boy about to leave again.

“Of course, Mom. Aunt Selma said Uncle Cloud was working on that, and you finished it for him.”

“Well, there's one last picture to take as soon as the morning light hits, and the kids are awake.”

“Which is?” Pensword asked.

“Well, we have some new members in the family now, don’t we? Did you really think we’d let you leave again without adding you two to the photo?” Nancy laughed as she grabbed her son in midair and hugged him close. “At least this time we’ll know where you are. We’re so proud of you, Matthew.”

“Mom.” Matthew blushed from the tips of his ears to the base of his cheeks. Then he chuckled. “Okay, Mom. I can do that, but we need to get Grif in the picture as well. Either that, or Taze. He is our daughter’s godfather, after all.”

“Sure. And maybe the next time you visit, we can get an Equestrian photo as well?” Nancy fished.

“You bet, Mom. But I do have a bit of a question.”

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you think you could maybe let me go now? My wings are getting cramped.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Nancy let Matthew go, and he flapped his wings a few times to work out the kinks, then settled down to the floor.

“I had better get going. With those two coming, that gives me even more to do today.” He chuckled as he scooped Bunny beneath his wing and left the room with Lunar Fang in tow. “Oh, and do you think we could set up a few hay bales at the back of the barn? I need to practice with my bow this morning.”

Nancy and Eric both shook their heads. “Sure, Son. Sure.”

---

Conor groaned as he rose slowly out of bed. He rubbed his eyes blearily before checking his cell phone, and was shocked to find he’d slept in until noon. Why was he feeling so tired lately? Well, other than staying up until the odd hours of the evening. He had Clover to thank for that one. He smiled sadly as he recalled the mage with fondness. “Wish we’d had more time together,” he muttered to himself as he reached for the pearl that was the heart of his focus.

“Dinner and a date first, bud.”

Conor jolted in his bed, nearly dropping the pearl as he turned violently towards the window. “Geez! Don’t you guys knock?”

Agent Mulder shrugged. “Your parents let me in. I was sent to give you an update on how things are going at the White House and all that jazz.”

“I’m guessing you don’t get along too well with the secret service?”

Mulder winced. “Are you sure you’re not psychic?”

“Deduction. So what, you came here to watch me sleep, and wait till I woke up to tell me about my appointment?”

“Pretty much. If you didn’t wake up in the next half hour, I was going to have to make you get up.”

“So I’m guessing it’s today?”

“Yup.”

“And we’re on a schedule?”

“Yup.”

“And your partner’s waiting downstairs for me to get dressed and eat something, so we can get going?”

“Eeyup.”

Conor chuckled.

“Something funny?”

“You just reminded me of someone I know is all. I’ll be down in about a half hour. Any dress code I should worry about?”

Agent Mulder shrugged. “Just wear what you want. I’m pretty sure they won’t mind.”

“And by they, you mean. . . ?”

“The President and his cabinet.”

“Great. Just great.”

“Yeah, I know. Not the most fun in the world, but hey, look at it this way. You’re one of the four most important people in the world right now.”

“Gee, thanks,” Conor said as he rolled his eyes. “Now do you think you could leave my room? I need to get dressed.”

Agent Mulder chuckled. “Sure thing, kid. I’ll see you downstairs.”

---

Shawn snapped to attention in his chair, and nearly attacked the desk out of reflex. He looked around for a few moments to reorient himself. That’s right, he was on Earth, and the clock was still counting down. He must have fallen asleep. After taking a moment to realize what happened, he sighed. A faint groan escaped him as he could practically feel his injuries flaring up once again. His reserves definitely weren’t running high, but they weren’t gone just yet, either, so he was stuck somewhere in the middle of feeling a slowly building throb of pain and nearly passing out. It would take a few minutes before he could stand, but he finally did it.

Turning back towards his computer, he closed a few of the modeling programs, and finished typing a few lines, before printing yet another page of projects to work on in Equestria. He made certain to double check the edits he’d made for grammar and punctuation. Naturally, he couldn’t afford to allow any Ponies or other races to translate these blueprints, so he did the one thing he knew would be foolproof; he translated them all to Latin.

He nodded to himself as he closed the blueprints to more modern arcade systems. ‘Note to self. Purchase a laptop and some way to charge it,’ he thought to himself as he closed the designs to a more modern hydro-electric generator. The Equestrian plant was due for an upgrade anyway.

Nothing dangerous at all.

He slowly brought the cursor over the designs to a fifty caliber anti-tank rifle.

“Soon. . . .”

He heard a knock on his door.

“Yeah?” Shawn called out.

The door opened, and Agent Bubbles walked into the room. He noticed nothing out of the ordinary. “So, you having fun with all that tech?”

“Hello, Agent Bubbles. So far, yes. Just got to figure out a room to store it in when I get back.”

“From what I’ve seen of your family, you’ll have a room ready as soon as you get back.” Agent Bubbles chuckled as he pulled off his sunglasses to clean the lenses.

“You don’t even know the half of it.”

“Nor do I want to know. I just wanted to check on how you were doing. I’ve also been instructed to ask you to join your family for breakfast. You might want to get ready. I heard your grandmother making a few idle threats I’m not so sure are idle.” He smiled as he turned around and gently closed the door behind him. As he did so, Shawn noticed the familiar wagging tail of one of the family’s chihuahuas. Somehow, that dog had decided to follow him everywhere he went, since he got home.

“Joey, how in the world did you get in here? I had the door closed!”

Joey just barked in response, and panted happily.

---

The doorbell rang as the family fought to get everyone out to the backyard. “What? But they shouldn’t be here yet!” Nancy cried in confusion and frustration. She looked out the window and moaned. “What’s she doing here?”

The house was stunned as they looked out the door. “Shouldn’t she be downtown picketing the train station today?” Matthew’s father asked.

“I know you’re in there! I know you want to spend time with this outdated artificial construct called a family. Let me in, or else come out! I want to talk to our future saviors. Change is coming, and we must adapt to make them want to live with us! Come out! Let me see you! Let me talk with you! Let me welcome you!” She pounded on the door again, waving her sign as her long black hair waved frizzily behind her, obscuring the practically blinding flower prints on her dress. A heavy aluminum foil cap had been wrapped around her head like a turban with a pointed cone at its top, giving it the appearance of a typical turban mixed with a dunce cap.

Pensword’s left ear twitched multiple times. The doorknob jiggled and the woman pounded on the door and rang the bell again. “Meet her on the front yard,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Nancy asked.

“Grif, Lunar Fang, and I will have fun, and we cannot hide away forever. The whole world will know about us sooner or later.” He chuckled. “Unless she’s gotten worse, we should be able to get her logic looped into a tangled mess, and then she’ll leave us alone. An hour now is better then her hounding us for the rest of our stay, and risking her ripping books out of my carts because they could ‘destroy our utopia.’”

“I take it you’ve had to deal with this crazy lady before?” Grif asked with a raised eyebrow.

“So many times,” Matthew responded. “And now you get to meet the town crazy, too.” He smirked. “She’s usually at the train station deriding the use of coal, and fuming about how trains are a sign of us killing Mother Earth with our technology.”

“Oh, this should be fun.” Grif smiled maliciously.

“Yeah, well, just a warning. She’s in her own little world,” Selma shot back. “Be careful with her.”

The woman was even more disheveled than they first thought as Grif, Matthew, and Lunar Fang approached. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and her hastily scrawled sign had been glued over with fresh paper to cover the original slogan, before a hastily scrawled Welcome to Earth! had been painstakingly drawn. She had to be somewhere in her late forties, and was busy trying to pick the lock to the large flagpole that stood a ways out from the house, so she could lower the American flag to do nobody knew what, though they could make a few guesses.

Matthew sighed and shook his head. “What did we tell you about touching our property?”

“Well what did you expect? There’s no equal representation here. If America is supposed to be a land of equality, then they should be flying colors for the Native Americans and the Mexicans, too. They’re key players in our economy, and they deserve representation, especially since these people stole this–.”

Pensword snapped a wing out and that caused her to stare wide-eyed.

“Please.” She knelt down and clasped her hands together to stare at the Ponies and Gryphon. “You’ve got to help right the wrongs of this land. Teach us the ways of clean energy and flight, so we can save the Earth from our own childish, selfish wants.” She cried as she prostrated herself on the ground, and proceeded to grovel before them. “Why do you live in the home of such un-enlight–” She paused, and her eyes widened with the light of a sudden understanding. “You must think you can save them from their follies,” she whispered, almost reverently. “That will be difficult, I can tell you that now. I’ve been trying for decades, and they just won’t listen. They celebrate war machines, they play hero and support actions that will only lead to us wiping out all life before the great stars will return to uplift us to the next plane of existence.”

Pensword turned to Lunar Fang and muttered sadly in Equish, “She’s worse than when I left.”

The woman’s tirade and ravings were cut short as the loud roar of a lion ripped through the area. The blood-chilling sound had such stopping power that several people began running. The kids just cheered from the backyard. Grif snarled at the woman with contempt as he stalked towards her. “You are the worst type of person,” he growled. “The worst type of coward. You have so little spine that the only thing you can think to do is try and force your infantile beliefs onto others,” he said. “It’s people like you that make tyrants,” he half purred, half growled, in her face.

Much to his surprise, she looked up from her groveling with a pale face and a smile. “I know that I’m a coward, that I’m not the best, and yet those who came before you blessed me to be their mouthpiece. I am only here as a herald. What do you wish for me to do? Should I disobey those who have spoken to me from beyond the stars? You have taken the image of old legends to show how far we have fallen from the simple times of Greece and Turkey.” She bowed again. “I am only here to help spread your word, and work to bring the world back to your time, so you can shape us anew, reverse the harm we have done without your guidance.”

“Listen closely,” he said. “If you cannot set yourself to be the example, then you are not worthy to speak. It is not the place of any one to force their position on others. They must come to it of their own free will.” He was careful to think his words through. “We do not wish for slaves, for there is no purpose in our advice, if not taken willingly, and of their own accord. This show, the protest, the verbal attacks on your neighbors,” he said as he waved his hand to the flagpole. “You attack what they hold sacred. Your actions disgrace and diminish what you are taught. Let how you live be the example. Otherwise, all your memory will be to them is that of a crazy person, a menace. We are a gentle hand, not a forceful one.”

The woman blinked in surprise and confusion at the words. “I–.” She didn’t know what to think. “But so much has changed, since the time you helped us. We need your guidence. I need your guidance. Without it, we will fall. We’ll remain in the filth we have created, and we will die in it with this world.” Tears of sorrow coursed down her cheeks, washing at the dirt smudges that had formed there from when she placed her face in the dirt.

Matthew felt something twitch inside him. “Maybe, but then again, maybe not. You say we know more than humans. But if that is the case, then why do you question why we do what we do? Consider this. Perhaps this is a time of trial. We wish to see how humanity does without our guidance, to see if they are ready to stand on their own.” He smiled kindly at her. “Do you bake, human?”

She paused at the very strange question. “No. I buy my food premade from the farmer’s market. I don’t trust the food not to have bad stuff the government puts in it, but I know the concept.”

“Do you fiddle with a pie when you put it into the oven and close the door? I don’t. I watch it carefully through the glass to see how it does. Once you put the pie into the oven, you have to wait patiently. Open the oven, and all the heat rushes out before the pie is done, and you spoil the dessert.”

Her eyes blinked owlishly. “Are you saying Earth is a pie? That we’re all being cooked?” Her eyes began to roll as her voice trembled in panic.

Grif immediately stepped in to head off the belligerent mass hysteria that was coming. “My friend chose poor wording. Tell me, do you garden?” Grif asked.

“I do. I water my plants every day. I talk to them about how they will protect me from all the harms of the world around me. I also take care of cats, and birds, but I love to sing to the garden and my plants.”

“My dear, when you place a seed in a planter, once you’ve added the water and the fertilizer, you make sure it has sun, and then tell me, what is the last ingredient to make the flowers bloom?”

“Love,” she responded. “Sometimes it takes me a lot of love before it shows up from the ground.”

Grif shook his head with a kindly smile. “Time. Love is important, make no mistake, but time turns the seed into a sprout, and the sprout into a shoot, and the shoot into a bud, and the bud into a bloom.”

“Yes, but a garden also needs to be weeded, tended, protected. When will you weed, so we don’t lose the blooms and flowers?” she asked. “I hate weeds. Such ugly plants. They make me sick.”

“When you weed, you must always be careful not to let the trauma damage the bloom. The handle must be deft and gentle, calculated, and loving. The reason you have not seen us weed is simply because it would stop the purpose of our actions if you did.”

She paused before looking terrified. “Am I to be weeded ,then? Is that why you’re showing yourselves to me?”

“No, no,” Matthew quickly interjected. “We will not weed you out of Earth. However. . . .” He hated to say this, but it felt right. “We had to weed around you, so you could grow and prosper, to teach you a few new things. That is why you can see us this time.”

“But you must trust us,” Grif continued. “We are acting as is needed, and our eye is never far from you, but nothing is accomplished like this. To act this way only breeds negativity.”

“Then how do I act?” she asked.

“Listen and learn from this family, from the town. Show that you are willing to learn how to act. It will take time, but it should work. If you find yourself in need of guidance, look to the writings of Mahatma Gandhi. He was also one of the blessed, and he understood many mysteries well.”

“I would also suggest one Martin Luther King. He taught how to also treat others with respect while initiating the change that the race of man needed at the time,” Matthew said.

She nodded her head as she slowly got up from the ground with trembling limbs and wide, glassy eyes. “I . . . I think I’m going to go home and pet my cats now. Th-thank you.” She turned around and slowly walked away.

Matthew waited till she was gone. “Do you know how long the town has been trying to help her? Why is it that in one afternoon, you and I got further help for her than the last decade combined?”

“Because the townspeople never tried changing themselves into mythical beasts?” Grif chuckled.

“Let’s try to keep it that way,” Matthew answered.

“Agreed,” Grif said. Then he chuckled as Lunar Fang grabbed her husband in her arms, swept him off his hooves, and kissed him heavily on the lips.

When the couple finally came up for air again, Lunar Fang smiled. “That was for all the contractions you used during that little exchange. I’ll share the rest of my gratitude with you later,” she said with a mischievous wink.

Matthew blushed violently as Grif broke into a full bout of laughter midst the catcalls from the back yard and the front door.

---

The cool whir of the AC units and fans swirling in the halls of the White House only added to Conor’s nerves as he followed with his escort past the tour groups, paintings, busts, and other historical artifacts on display. He thought back to the last time he’d visited DC as a child. He’d never been able to see the White House then, though he did get the chance to see the many other monuments and historical buildings that dotted the landscape. Now he was inside the very heart of the nation, about to meet who was essentially the most important and powerful man in the world. A wall of secret service men had formed up around them to guard against any viewers who might try to peek at the guests as they all passed through the final guard, and into the oval office.

The US insignia carpet was massive, and Conor couldn’t help but feel as if the creature portrayed were about to engulf him in its wings as his heart raced within his chest. The American flag sat on the side by the window, just as it had in all the movies he’d seen on TV over the years. Bookshelves lined with aged books gave a more aesthetic appeal to the location, and lent the impression of deep historical thought. Finally, his eyes rested on the source of his anxiety. The high-backed leather swivel chair turned to reveal President Douglass, the United States’ first African American President.

“Welcome to the White House, Mister Vulpes.” The President spoke kindly, with a voice that sounded deceptively like that of a younger Morgan Freeman. “Please, take a seat.” He motioned to two white couches that had been prepared.

Conor and his family each took their seats to stare at the man who had summoned them.

“So, uh, you wanted to see me?” Conor asked.

President Douglass nodded as an aide handed a bound leather folder to Conor.

“That’s right. I’ll just cut straight to the point. It’ll save us a lot of time in the long run, and I can tell you’re nervous enough as it is. Inside that folder, you’ll find that you now have the same privileges, duties, and security clearance as any diplomat in the United States. I know you’re already a Citizen of the United States, but based on the information we’ve gathered from certain documents delivered to me by Director Jon, it would prove risky to have any,” he cleared his throat, “equines fill that office. That puts you in a rather unique position, seeing as, from the intel we’ve received from your friends, you have the ability to maintain your human form in both worlds, while any others we send would slowly change to become, for all intents and purposes, a denizen of that world.

“Your real purpose, should you choose to accept, is to actually head up a team of men and women hand-picked by you and us to create an Equestrian response team, so when official channels are opened, we can transition smoothly into foreign relations. Essentially, I’m offering you a handsomely paid position in the United States Government, and possibly the World Government, with all the benefits your position would require. You’ll be able to retire at the end of your service with the thanks of your government, as well as the President, and the option to retire in whichever community you choose between the two worlds, assuming that we have a working means of travel by that point. You and your friends are our bridge to first contact with another sentient race, another world, and while we have plans for such contingencies, I cannot strain the importance of your position enough. Your country needs you, Mister Vulpes. Will you answer its call?”

“So let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you want me to become an official diplomat between Equestria and America, and that you want me to decide who will join my staff, and how, and that you want me to essentially report to you on a regular basis as events progress between our two peoples?”

President Douglass nodded his head. “That is correct. After the summit, you’ll have a team who will be reporting to their respective governments as well. You’ll start in DC; however, I must warn you. Based on how things progress, you might be moving either to New York City or Brussels to be closer to the UN.” He looked to Conor’s parents and then to Conor. “I highly recommend picking New York, myself. It would allow weekend visits to your family, and based on your background check, I understand family is a rather big pillar in your life.”

“I’m going to have someone to help me learn the ropes, right? And translators for the other nations?”

The President nodded his head. “Yes, you’ll have translators, and you’ll receive some basic training; however, you’ll be expected to run most things yourself. Shifts, meetings, and the like. You can run it like what you’ve seen in Equestria; like your work, assuming you’ve had work; or take suggestions from some of your fellow diplomats here at the White House. No matter which policies you choose, you will have final say for your department.”

“You do realize I’m not the administrative type, right?”

“Then delegate,” President Douglass countered.

“And you know negotiations and the like won’t be the same as they are with most other nations here on Earth. The cultures there vary significantly, and are focused around the ideals of love, tolerance, and friendship.”

“I do,” the president replied, “which is why you will be training and teaching those around you on how to act around those from the principality of Equestria, as well as drafting the handbook for future meetings. According to your friends, there are Gryphons, Kitsune,” he looked down at another piece of paper from the folder on the table. “Minotaurs, Breezies.” he looked up and smiled. “One of the scrolls had a list of all species that could talk and communicate, and we feel confident with moving forward. Would you care to eat lunch with the first lady and me? Your parents will be joining us as well.”

“No strings attached?”

President Douglass laughed at the comment. “No strings attached. Just lunch. No photographers, no press, and no aides or secretaries asking questions. Just the six of us, the secret service, and plenty of questions about your experiences in Equestria.”

“Well . . . I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” Conor smiled, even as he watched his family’s mortified expressions.

“Oh, we’re going to get along just fine, Mister Vulpes,” President Douglass laughed. “Just fine.”

---

Shawn had to spend the morning going over what he had done the previous day to both family and agents. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long conversation, but it certainly did involve more questions, one of the key ones being the answer to why two firefighters were freaking out over the fact he may or may not have vanished right in front of them. He couldn’t help but chuckle at their reactions. After all, he simply merged into the shadows and transferred his mass to another location through said means.

While his family had purchased more organic products at his request, he could still faintly taste the effects of the environment. Though it would take time for him to admit it, he did miss steak, and hamburger, but he could live without it. It didn’t mean he had to enjoy it, but they had good meals on Equestria to make up for it.

A knock on the door disturbed his thoughts as he automatically stood up and made his way to answer. Upon opening it, he was greeted by a taller, thin man with short messy hair. His green eyes were open in shock as he looked over Shawn. He wore a brown jacket with blue pants and a pair of sneakers.

The next thing Shawn knew, he had a pair of arms wrapped around him.

“It’s really you! I saw some recordings on youtube, and I saw you on Skype, but. . .” He let go as he stood back. “God, what happened to you? Where have you been?”

Shawn gasped as he finally realized who was standing in front of him. “Andrew? I . . . It’s a bit hard to explain.”

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’re back!” He grinned. “You can tell me about it all later. I’m just surprised you’re actually alive. Everyone was told you vanished. They said you were probably dead.”

“It hasn’t been easy, but I’m still alive. I’m . . . sorry to say, though, that I’ll be gone by tonight once again.”

“What?” Andrew shouted in alarm. “Why?”

“Because if I don’t, I’ll be dead. Potentially by tomorrow.”

---

Matthew sat in the white screened gazebo as he watched the two men walking up to it. The human on the left was tall, over six foot five inches, and the other stood at six feet exactly. Both of them, while taller than Pensword when he was a human, were now giants in his eyes. He eyed the one on the left, the six foot one. This was Joel, otherwise known to him as Riku. He looked to Lunar Fang, who watched with intrigue as she analyzed the two humans.

“So the smaller one is the Discord of this world?” she asked in Equish.

“Yes,” Matthew said. “Please note that whatever he does, you should not retaliate. I have a feeling he is going to do something that is going to cause problems, if we don’t let it go.”

He smiled as Lunar Fang kissed him yet again. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said impishly.

“That is the best I can ask of you,” he said as the pair entered the gazebo.

“So,” Justin spoke with a grin. “It seems you beat us to the punch. Congrats man.”

Matthew raised an eyebrow as he realized what he was referring to. “I am a father as well. I’ll have to leave to return to her tonight.” He lay down on the cushions on the lounge chair. “It’s good to see you both, though. How’s life down the mountain?”

“Well,” Riku answered loudly, “I’m moving up here to work security for the railroad, and Sammy is coming up to work, too. I think in the bakery.”

Matthew pulled his ears back flat against his head, and winced. “That is good.” He raised an eyebrow as Riku stepped forward with a devious grin on his beard-clad face, looking very much like either part Wolverine or wolfman. Wolverine was the more likely candidate, if the shirt of the classic X-Man cartoon Riku wore was any indication.

“Do you remember what I said would happen if a pony showed up?”

Matthew’s eyes widened. “No. You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t!” He didn’t get a chance to object any further before he was promptly slugged in the nose. “You did,” he muttered flatly as he rubbed his nose. Fortunately, combat training had hardened him against such blows.

“Yep. Just be glad Sammy isn’t here. She would scream and hug you, then comb your mane, and tie it in bows and ribbons,” Riku replied as he widened his smile into a manic grin, followed by a series of giggles.

Lunar Fang jumped to her hooves, and glared at Riku as she crouched.

Matthew immediately moved a wing to block her. “Let him be.”

“Yep. I’m a free soul. You can’t touch me, and you sure as hell can’t force me to watch that show . . . though I will admit Discord is pretty awesome. I mean, come on, he’s voiced by John Delancey!” Yet again, Riku had shouted. It would seem he only had one sound setting. “And come on! Who wouldn’t love making it rain chocolate milk, or oh, oh, a giant pudding the size of your house! Better yet, make it the size of the capitol building! That would me amazing.”

“Don’t forget the whipped cream the size of the white house,” Justin added.

Matthew slapped his wing to his muzzle. “Don’t egg him on. I also do not want. . . .” He sighed, and let it go. “Okay, so, you wanted to see me?”

“Well, yeah. Why else do you think we’d crash your family reunion?” Riku said as he pulled off his backpack. “I got you all the Harry Potter books to take back, and the Wheel of Time. Those books are awesome.”

“I agree,” Justin responded with a grin. “I also dropped off some things to your mom to take back, Stardust,” he said playfully.

“Argh!” Riku cried out, which prompted Justin to join. They both looked at Matthew as he realized he had to say it with them.

“Uh . . . Argh?” Matthew offered weakly. Lunar Fang soon followed, just as uncertainly.

“Oh, and we can go driving tonight, and you can tell us all about–” Riku made a gagging gesture “–Equestria.”

Matthew promptly facehoofed and groaned. “It’s not like the show, Riku. The ponies there are actually real people. The show hardly does our world justice.”

“I figured as much,” Justin said, immediately cutting Riku off. “But don’t you have to go back tonight?”

Matthew sighed. “Yes, but next time I visit, we’ll drive around the valley and visit the ghost mines and towns.”

“Awesome!” Riku fistpumped as he jumped into the air. “With folks like you around, maybe we’ll actually get to see some real ghosts.”

“Right,” Matthew muttered, already regretting saying that. Riku didn’t realize just how right he was, and he wasn’t about to tell him.

“If I may interject,” Lunar Fang spoke.

“Sure.” Riku waved his hand as he grinned. “But after that, I need to eat. Seriously, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”

“Riku!” Matthew shouted in shock. “Remember who you are sitting with.”

“What?” he asked as he looked at them. “Oh, sorry. I’ll try not to say something like that. If we don’t eat, I’m going to eat you, Justin.”

“But I taste bad,” Justin fake whined.

“Don’t care. Nom!” Riku shouted as he snapped his teeth at Justin.

“Okay,” Lunar Fang cried out as she threw something at Riku. “Eat that. Just calm down. I don’t want to see you eating your friend.”

“He’s joking,” Matthew whispered in her ear.

Riku looked curiously at the disc as he turned it many different ways. Matthew nearly stopped him, but Riku was too fast for him, and immediately chomped down on the item in question. After chewing and swallowing, he grinned.

“Okay, you. Justin, was it?” Lunar Fang asked.

“That’s me,” Justin replied with a wave of his hand.

“Why did you let Riku punch my husband in the nose?”

“Because that was what Riku said he’d do, if he ever met a real character from My Little Pony, since they act like marshmallows when they get hit. Well, they were supposed to, anyways. I guess it didn’t for Matthew.”

“Right. . . .” Lunar Fang droned out. She eeped in surprise as Riku suddenly jumped in front of her face out of nowhere. “Do you have another one? That was good. Or maybe your medallion is made of chocolate.”

“It’s not,” Lunar Fang responded.

“Don’t care. Poof!” he cried out as he waved a hand in front of it. “Now it is.”

“MAGIC SHIELD!” Matthew roared, before blinking in surprise. “Why did I do that?”

“Because magic shield blocks everything,” Justin responded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.” He got up and left.

Matthew felt worried being left alone in the gazebo with Riku and Lunar Fang. “Uh, if you’re still hungry, you can try going into the kitchen. They might have cookies or cake done.”

“CAKE!” Riku cried out as he jumped up, and raced out of the gazebo after Justin.

Matthew watched them go. “I never want Discord meeting Riku.”

“I concur,” Lunar Fang said resolutely. “Though they sure seem excited to have you back.”

“Yeah.” He frowned. “I wish they had asked more questions. I think they would have enjoyed the fact I was in the military, or that I beat up monsters, and that I am living in the Everfree forest.”

“Maybe later tonight they will?” Lunar Fang offered consolingly. “You do still have the rest of the day to spend with them, after all.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Matthew sighed heavily as Lunar Fang snuggled next to him and laid a wing on his back. The two laid there together as they watched the fields and forest surrounding the property and shared their feelings. For now, spending time together was what they both needed.

---

“Wait a minute, you say Equestria is how rich?” President Douglass asked from his seat at the table. A literal smorgasbord of Chinese food had been set before the leader and his guests as they dined, and the atmosphere had changed to the point where it was almost like a family night around the dinner table back home.

“They literally use priceless gems and gold coins as a currency. If you wanted to weigh their bit to our dollar, they’d probably have over a hundred dollars in one coin, and several hundreds, if not thousands or millions in precious gems,” Conor said pointedly as he took another bite of sweet and sour chicken. “They could literally pay for our national debt with a sack full of gems. Heck, they could probably pay for the whole world’s debt, if they were feeling generous enough.” He took another bite, and chewed slowly. “Huh. You know, it’s funny. This is probably the best stuff I’ve had to eat since I got back home.”

“Conor!” Mister Vulpes chided.

“I don’t mean to insult Mom’s cooking, Dad. You, of all people know how much I enjoy it. Things have just . . . I don’t know. They’ve been off since I got back. The flavors are just, well, sort of dull. It’s like I’m not really eating food at all. The texture is there, but everything is, well, it’s bitter, I guess, or something like that. It’s hard for me to explain.”

“Perhaps it has something to do with your time in Equestria?” President Douglass ventured.

Conor sighed. “Probably. I started changing species at one point while I was over there. I suppose it’s possible it messed with my taste buds. Either that, or their techniques just produce better food than ours do.”

“How so?”

“Well, for one, they’re literally tuned to the earth. They can cause a plant to sprout and grow into a healthy sapling before your very eyes. They direct the weather to ensure perfect conditions and growth for the crops. And to top it all off, they provide magical protection to keep pests and other unwanted creatures from raiding their crops. Well, some of them do anyways. Their buffer crops put ours to shame.”

“Sounds like we’ll need to get some samples to perform some tests,” the President mused.

“I doubt you’ll find much difference, except maybe there’s more nutrients in the soil. The ponies don’t generally infringe too much on nature. You don’t usually see asphalt and the like. Maybe cobblestones, but not much else, except for the really big cities like Manehattan. The rest is usually dusty roads and plantlife.”

“And a boatload of dangerous magical creatures?”

Conor quickly swallowed his chow mein before resuming the narrative. “Those usually stick to Everfree forest. It’s basically a land where pony magic doesn’t work the same way. Everything is natural there. The clouds move on their own, the weather operates how it sees fit, and, most of the time, the creatures act the same way animals in our world do. The bigger ones eat the smaller ones.” He shrugged. “We don’t generally get bothered by them, since Shawn is basically the most intimidating creature in all of Equestria. Well, his pony counterpart is anyways.”

“This . . . Hammer Strike? Is that right?” Mrs. Douglass asked. Her shoulder-length black hair cascaded down in shining ripples, and with her suit coat and skirt, she looked the spitting image of Mrs. Cosby on the Bill Cosby Show.

Conor nodded. “That’s the name. Pretty much any major events to happen in Equestria, he’s been part of them, or will be as the case may be.”

“And how does he do that?” President Douglass asked, intrigued as he dunked his egg roll into some sweet and sour sauce and took a bite.

Conor shrugged. “It varies. The first time, it was the result of dark magic. It was supposed to send them back to the dawn of time, apparently, but somehow the spell went wrong, and it flung them back into the Crystal Empire, instead, at a key pivotal point in its history. And so the story goes. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of alien tech, a little help from The Doctor and his TARDIS–”

The narrative was interrupted as President Douglas, Mrs. Douglas, and Mr. and Mrs. Vulpes all either spat their drinks out in shock, spewed their drinks out their nostrils, or proceeded to swallow down the wrong pipe and enter into a coughing fit.

“What? Your researchers didn’t pick up on all the fan fiction circling around Doctor Whooves? Come on. If your department is designed to look into the sheer number of psychic interference incidents with the warp and weave between the worlds, you would think they’d guess that the sheer number of plotlines invented for that character would imply that he’s a real being in Equestria, just as much as the Mane Six are.”

It took a few minutes for the president to regain his composure. “First of all, until you four came back, we had no idea that world even existed, let alone its makeup. Secondly, that popularity was attributed namely to the hype that exists for the actual Doctor Who television series. Thirdly, you’re telling me that in that world, The Doctor is real?”

“Quite,” Conor said as he calmly bit into another egg roll. “I’ve ridden in his TARDIS myself a couple of times.”

“Clearly, we have a lot more to discuss than I first thought.”

“On the plus side, we’ll have plenty of time to do just that in the coming week.”

---

After converting some bits and gems into dollars, Shawn was happy to spend the day picking up a few things to keep hidden away for his own use and projects in Equestria. After all, you wouldn’t want everyone to find a computing device more than twenty times better than the most advanced device on the planet just sitting around on a desk.

He smiled as he placed the laptop into his cart. He would likely end up with a fairly substantial stack by the end of this, or perhaps a reasonable stack. He’d have to consider getting a swivel chair, too. It was so hard to find a good one back in Equestria, and there were so many good materials here that just weren’t available on Equis, well, not without certain moral condemnations anyways. He shook his head as he moved past the gaming section. It was a little early to bring any of those to Equestria. He’d figure something out another time. Maybe he’d bring them later, after helping bring Equestria up to speed on gaming modules.

About an hour or two later, a laptop, a few of those small solar panel battery chargers, wires, a few additional cables, and said swivel chair were neatly packed into the cart. Shawn didn’t need too many additional items, but he would have to go to a hardware store to pick up some things for electrical circuits and other electrical situations. He may have printed out how to make a majority of the things he needed, but some things, he would prefer just buying, as it was a lot less complicated. Equestria was still only just starting into the field of electronics, after all. If he could help them design or reverse engineer better methods of transmitting and using that power, it was possible to give their technological development a little bit more of a kickstart without disturbing the natural balance. The cashier was more than a little surprised when he produced all the funds he needed in cash.

Next on his list were some tools to make woodworking and smithing easier. While he could do these things already, the right tools would make things so much faster. He frowned as he realised this may cause him to become slightly lazy if he went too far.

He paused when he noticed someone almost familiar to him at the main entrance. “I know you from somewhere.”

Military Police Officer Barrett looked directly at Shawn for a moment. Then his eyes locked on Shawn’s coat. His reaction was near instantaneous. His eyes widened so fast, it looked like they’d pop right out of his head, before the man let out a panicked yell. He then proceeded to do a one-eighty, and run for it, heedless to the risk to his safety as he raced past a car coming into the parking lot, and narrowly missed being hit.

“. . . Okay?” Shawn muttered aloud as he cocked a confused eyebrow.

---

Grif chuckled as he went over the packages he’d ordered, checking the list he’d made on his phone. There were a few cases of some rarer books and DVDs he’d managed to track down online, but the more common items were replicas and items based on videogames and anime: things like a replica pip boy with a cell phone holder inside it, a life-sized paladin handgun from the Mass Effect series, and several fantasy daggers and swords he’d not been able to afford previously. He mentally checked off each item as he placed it in his pack. As he finished stuffing away the rare replicas of Zar’roc and Brisingr into his bag, he checked the time. It was almost to the point where Matthew had wanted him to show off some of his archery skills.

It took Grif several minutes to find his proper bow and quiver, hidden deep within the bag amongst a mound of necessary items. He took the remaining time to clean the bow, wax the string, and check the fletchings on the arrows. When he was satisfied, he headed towards the rear of the property with a confident smirk. This was going to be fun.

A roped-off area had been set up far into the back, near the end of a field. A series of five hay bales formed the targets he would be using. The familiar scent of relatively fresh mountain air, wild grass, and many wild animals wafted into his nostrils, making him feel all the better. Two humans he had not meet were watching on the edge. The shorter of the two was talking to one of the teens, most likely lecturing over the rules of the range, and possibly how to avoid offending Gryphons. A line of sifted hay marked where they would be shooting from. Two teens from the Cloud clan were already standing at the ready with their bows. Matthew held the modified Gryphon bow, and was busy working on adjusting a few of the mechanisms. At least he was having a better time with it than before.

Finally, Grif focused on the taller of the two figures. The man stared at him as he tugged on the shorter man’s sleeve, then raced towards him. Apparently, this wasn’t one of the usual members of the cloud clan. Maybe a friend from the city?

“Gryphon. That’s . . . that’s a real life Gryphon. This is so awesome! Way cooler than the Ponies!”

“And yet ponies sent the Gryphons packing in three full scale wars,” Grif said, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t care. You’re cooler looking.” He immediately proceeded to gush. “Oh man. Do you really eat live prey? Can you fly? I wish I could fly. You get to see everything from the air. Oh, man!” He grinned madly. “And the wingspan! Look at those paws and claws! And you can talk!” He put his hand out. “Riku. It’s an honor to meet you.” He looked around. “By the way, did you know that you show up in a cartoon? Well, many cartoons and mythology in our world actually.” He moved a hand. “Pow. Like the power of the gods are great, and I bet you can face them and win.”

“Looks aren't everything.” Grif sighed. “And believe me, Gryphons can’t take down gods.”

“You can if I say you can,” the energetic human responded.

“Oi! Riku, can you let my friend get to showing off his skills?” Matthew shouted.

“Wait, you can shoot weapons? What about beak and claws?” Riku gasped in shock, which, naturally, everyone could hear.

“As great as talons are, they don’t tend to have the range of a spear or a bow,” Grif said. “Ranged weapons are ranged weapons. Just because we can hurt by our own biological ones doesn’t mean we can’t use other weapons and skills as well.”

“Okay.” Despite the gravity of the statements the two had made, it seemed Riku’s manic optimism could not be repressed. He continued to grin stubbornly. “I want to see what happens, but if you lose to my Pony friend, you have to take me up in the sky.”

“And if I lose?” Matthew shouted.

“Then. . . .” he hummmed. “Then you’ll have to be human again,” Riku answered.

“I can’t!” Matthew facehoofed. “I told you before, Riku. If I try turning back into a human, I will die.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” Riku wilted. “Then, uh, you get to let me use your bow?”

Grif offered it to him with a somewhat amused look on his face. “There’s no need to gamble with me to hold it. I’ll let you. Just treat it with respect.”

“Sweet.” He raised it up to the proper position and pulled against the string, then paused. He growled as struggled to get the weapon to cock. The resistance was incredible. Much to Grif’s surprise, the stubborn human did actually manage to he this time used all of his strength and moved it by Grif’s eye, a half centimeter.

“Not so easy, is it?” Grif asked, holding his talons out.

“I guess I’ll use the Pony bow then,” he said in a sulking tone. Then he laughed.

“After Grif and I have our fun!” Matthew insisted.

“Yeah. Let us see how we stack up to the war heroes!” The Cloud Clan at the line yelled.

“You fought in a war?” Riku gaped. “You don’t look like you did.” He noticed Grif was looking at his hands. “Oh. You want this back,” he said somewhat sheepishly, before he turned his head. Once the bow was back in Grif’s possession, he hastily returned to the taller human, who Matthew identified as Justin. One thing Grif noticed was that the tallest Cloud member was, at most, five foot seven.

Grif shot the Pegasus a wink as he held the bow up, and drew it experimentally to his head. “Huh. It’s a bit slack. I’ll have to tighten the string later.”

Riku acted like he didn’t hear it, and, in fact, may not have, since he was busy talking about Star Wars with some of the other children, and how he would be a master of the Grey Force, a combination of the light and dark sides.

“Okay, you go first, Grif,” Matthew spoke as he did his best to tone out Riku’s exceptionally loud voice.

In a fluid motion, Grif drew an arrow and pulled it back on the bow string as he scanned the horizon. A cluster of targets stood on the first bale at seventy meters, and another set was a hundred meters back. “Three shots bullseye on the left and rightmost target, inner ring on the hundred meter,” Grif called. With a practiced ease, he fired, drew, fired again, and drew and fired a third time. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! As if they’d heard him speak the command, the three arrows found their targets.

Matthew grinned. “Showoff.” He picked up the modified Gryphon bow. “Three bullseyes. Seventy meters.” He flapped his wings and rose up into the air. Many of the family members were filming off to the side, and more than a few of the kids gaped or grinned as they saw Matthew hovering in the air. He allowed himself a brief smile, then tuned them out to focus on his shots. He took a deep breath, exhaled, then let the arrows fly one after the other with skilled hooves. Three arrows clustered around the other edge of the red dot. It may not have been a perfect bullseye, but it was still better than he had performed previously with the bow. He looked down at it with surprise. “Well, thank you,” he said as he stroked its grip.

“Let’s see how you like the hundred meter targets. Three arrows.” Grif launched his three arrows and the same triple thunk sounded as they sank home. One of the arrows dug itself into the outer ring of the target. The other two dug into the central outer ring.

“You feeling okay?” Grif asked. “Usually, you’d make that shot pretty easily.”

“Earth,” Matthew groaned, huffing as he slowly descended to the ground to catch his breath. Grif realized that he must have been tapping into either the thaumic field or the magic of his form. “I . . . think it is good we are leaving today.” Matthew looked at the bow as he gently put it on the hay bale in front of him. “However, I do believe she’s finally accepted me.”

“That's good to hear.” Grif nodded, making a draw. “Hundred meters to split my last arrow,” he said, even as he took the shot. True to his word, the arrow proceeded to split his previous arrow right down the middle.

“Show off!”

“Robin Hood!” the two Cloud twins cried out at the same time with laughter. Their targets were also peppered with arrows.

Matthew smirked. “Split arrow, seventy meters.” He reclaimed his bow and made the shot. Two arrows hit the bullseye, but the third split one of his arrows. “Yeah. I wish you could see us practice at home, he said with a sigh as he turned to face his friends and cousins.

“Dude, you’ve gotta teach me to do that!” Riku cried out from the sideline. “I thought that was just an old wive’s tail. No one could split an arrow, but you all just did!”

Matthew smiled. “Well, I think I am going to take a breather,” he said as his breathing grew heavy again. “Why don’t you see if you can draw back my bow string.

“Sure. If you can pull it back, then I should be able to do it no problem,” Riku said as he waved a hand negligently in a sweeping gesture. “No offense, Matthew, but I am stronger.”

“When I was human, true. But I am not human anymore,” Matthew responded with a devious smile.

Riku picked up the bow, nocked an arrow, and drew the string back, or at least he tried to. With a notable strain and trembling arms, he finally managed to get the string back a full seven centimeters, before it slipped from his hand and returned to its resting position with a twang. The arrow dropped harmlessly to the ground, having hardly been propelled.

Riku looked at the bow, then Matthew, and then at Grif. “Dude. You have got to take me with you. Seriously, you have to. I’ve reached my peak here, but there. I mean, just look at what happened to you two! I can be even stronger!”

Matthew slapped a wing to his muzzle, which seemed to be something of a constant now. “No, I am not going to do that, and neither is Grif. You would never be human again. You like your hands and fingers, right?”

“Right,” Riku muttered. “But I could be like Discord, maybe?” he asked, missing the panicked look on Matthew and Lunar Fang’s faces.

“I would rather not. No. Just . . . let’s just keep you here on Earth, okay, Riku?”

Riku nodded his head before he grinned. “Gryphon tackle!” Grif had literally stepped out of the designated firing line for only a moment. That moment was enough, though. A ton of children suddenly swarmed him as they tried to join Riku on his back.

Grif chuckled as he withdrew one of his few remaining bits. It had been polished to a near mirror shine. He flicked it into the air ahead of him.

Riku looked at it, but the children abandoned him to try and be the one to get the shiny bit. They knew it was gold, and soon enough, Riku was the only one left. “What was that?” he asked.

“Gold coin,” Matthew answered, right before Grif acted.

The Gryphon flipped, and rolled in one quick motion, dumping his passenger onto the grass, before landing back on his paws and talons. Riku was on the ground beside him, doing his best to recover from the sudden fall. Grif casually placed his talons on Riku’s chest, spreading them wide, so Riku's neck was safely between two of them, and then he sat there, holdinging Riku down with no discernable effort.

If Grif had hoped to give Riku a fright, he was sorely disappointed. Riku stared, wide-eyed, in shock, and then broke out with a manic grin. “That was so cool!” He looked around him, and despite being pinned by the talons, quickly struck up a conversation with the Gryphon like they were enjoying a casual lunch together. “So, do you know Star Wars?”

“Yes. Though I do have to tell you, Riku, had you been another member of my species,” Grif whispered, keeping an amused expression, but with a cold edge to his voice, “you’d have been split from shoulder to hip during that flip, and bits of you would be spread across this area. Only an idiot tackles a Gryphon.”

“I’m not an idiot. I just like to see what I can do, and act,” he answered. “I can say I punched a Pegasus, and now I can say I tackled a Gryphon. Two things not even on my list to do before I die, and I did them.”

“You ever move to punch the Pegasus again, and you can add getting punched in the face with your own dissevered fist to the list,” Grif said, patting his chest to get the dust off his feathers, before turning away.

“Well, I guess you’ll have to wait till after I get back next Tuesday,” he said, still grinning from ear to ear.

“Believe me, I can cut your hand off, ball it into a fist, if necessary, and bludgeon you with it, before he’d even realized you’d punched him.” With a single flick of his wrist, Grif collapsed the bow.

“You’re that fast? As fast as Superman? I so want to see that now. Though, for the record, Batman’s still cooler.”

“Matthew, I’m going to put this away. If there’s anything extra you need packed away, bring it to me. I have room. What time did you want to take Lunar Fang and me into town? You implied there was something you wanted to do before we go, right?”

“Yeah. How about in thirty minutes? I can pack things up as well. You’ll find the books in stacks in the library. You can add those to your pack. We’ve been packing for the last few days.” He paused. “Oh, yeah. Dad?”

Eric was walking into the backyard just after the scene had finished. “I just wanted to say that when you and Lunar Fang go back, you’ll have a solar powered generator.”

“Dad, I cannot accept that. That is a bit too advanced.”

“Nonsense,” Selma interrupted. “You have an iPod, your cellphone, and the laptop. I just put together a package full of some more items to help. You’re the Commander. Can’t you create an Area 51 or something like that to store these things, if they’re really that dangerous? I certainly didn’t see them on your list of things not to bring back, and I checked it thoroughly.”

Matthew frowned. “You aren’t going to budge on this one, are you?”

“Nope. And your friend has a crazy bag, so it should fit in just fine,” his mother answered. “I don’t know how he got all those books to fit in there, but he did, and I’m guessing he can do the same for that generator. Whatever it is he did to it, the weight is still the same. Even I was able to pick it up.” She turned to Grif. “You want a solar powered generator?”

“How’d you get that anyway?” Robert asked. “Don’t they cost like four grand or something?”

“Gift from Director Jon. Something about showing that we’re willing to trade when routes open, or something like that,” Eric replied. “Look, it showed up, and the crate has the US logo on it. No way am I going to keep it.”

“Fine.” Matthew wilted. “Grif, we leave as soon as our weapons are put away. I need a milkshake.”

“Just be prepared,” Grif said “It may not be all you remember it to be.” With that, he left the area, and Riku sprung up like his usual hyperactive self.

“That was fun! Let’s do it again!”

The whole yard promptly facepalmed or facehoofed according to their species.

---

Conor sighed as he looked over the complex pile of legal jargon that was the supposed contract, security application, and other releases involved. He wouldn’t be surprised to find it spanned the whole table twice as he looked down the long expanse to the television cabinet on the other end.

“I feel like I’m at a meeting for a board of directors,” he grumbled.

“Well, technically, you are,” his mother said. “Are you sure about all this, Conor?”

“Not really.” Conor sighed again and shook his head. “But there’s not really anybody else qualified for the job.”

“You know you’ll be a target,” his dad pointed out.

“I’ve been trained for that.”

“Enough that you’re willing to gamble your life over this?”

“If it means keeping contact with my friends, yes.”

“Conor–”

“Dad, first of all, I’m friends with both rulers in that kingdom, and they’re capable of manipulating celestial bodies. If anybody did try to hurt me, they could easily figure out who did it, when, what they were wearing, and what they even had for breakfast that morning, before targeting them with either solar fire, a surge in the tides, or the equivalent of a devastating death ray. They could teleport into the room in an instant, dispatch whoever was responsible, and then bring their corpse back as a warning to whichever government sent them, and the list goes on. Is it scary? Yes. Is it life threatening? Potentially. But it’s good pay, a good life, and I know that my friends will keep me safe. And since I’m one of the only humans to have contact with this nation, and to have actually visited another world, this is probably the best bet I’ll have at freedom, since I’m pretty sure the government will be breathing down my neck regardless. It’s just a matter of whether I’m aware and allowing it, or whether they’re forcing it on me behind my back.”

“And if you have to go there again?” his mother asked.

“Then I’ll go, and I’ll come back to visit. It’ll basically be like I’m moving out of the house, just a little earlier than expected.”

“And without a phone to call with.”

Conor shrugged. “Discord would probably figure out a way.” He turned to the aide. “But I’m not signing these papers till I know exactly what they’re supposed to mean, what they’re saying, and I sure as heck won’t sign a privacy statement. I’ll tell who I want, when I want, if I want. It’s not like I’m going to blab all over to my friends here about it. Like they’d actually believe me anyways.” He rolled his eyes. “It’d make a fun story, though.”

“Would you at least consent to fingerprinting and retinal identification?” the aide pleaded.

“Well that’s a given. I just mean all the other legal and technical garbage. No offense to the bureaucracy, but it’s seriously way too complicated. I’m a man of my word. If I say I’ll do something, I’ll do it, and that’s that.”

“And your contract?”

“I’m pretty sure Celestia’s document will suffice on that score.”

“You won’t sign anything?”

“I have to look at the bigger picture. I’m loyal to the ideals I’ve been taught from birth, and the American Dream, but assuming this goes further, I’ll need to be an ambassador for the world, not just for our government alone. That means I have to stay neutral.”

“Yes, but until then, we have to have at least document saying you’re willing to take at least one secret service detail for protection. That’s going to be one of main the issues at the summit, how to provide security for you. Under UN Charter, secret clause sixteen, which I only got debriefed on yesterday, I might add, it’s acceptable for the host nation that initiated first contact to provide security till the first contact summit officially commences. Unless you prefer a bunch of US Marines following you everywhere, I suggest you sign.”

Conor rolled his eyes. “Fine, but only if I can tell that’s the only thing the document is binding me to.”

“Read for yourself.” The aide shifted the document in question across the table. “‘The undersigned hereby agrees to entrust his or her person to the protection of the secret service, and agrees to turn over all matters of his or her personal safety to their hands, should a life-threatening or harmful situation arise.’ It also requires you to give up your driver’s license for the time that you would be needing a protection detail, and quite possibly beyond, depending on how the situation develops. You’ll be getting a different form of identification instead. You’ll get a new car with bulletproof tinted windows, and an escort. Of course, for the less-formal events outside of Washington, you won’t have to worry about having so many cars, and circumstances will change based on the level of threat involved at the time, but that’s pretty much the long and the short of it. Then there’s this last one, which authorizes whoever you pick as your personal aide and secretary to read and translate the ‘legal jargon,’ as you so eloquently put it, into plain English. That person will also have the same security clearance that you will receive, at least in regards to the documents that you would need to review in your position.”

“Seriously?” Conor groaned. “Why so much when nobody even knows about me yet? Or has the President been broadcasting my face to every major government in the world?” He leaned back in his chair and sighed as he swiveled in it. “And I’m guessing the President has a pile of candidates somewhere in all this mess for me to review?”

“Yes, the President does have a list,” the aide responded. “As for your other question, your face actually has been shown to various world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth the Second, who most likely gave it personally to her prime minister; Putin of the Russian Federation; the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping; and the Secretary-General of the UN. From there, your face will be transmitted to the other countries’ inner departments as we all get ready for the summit. Your face will be on the news wires tonight, and it won’t matter if this is the weekend. Like it or not, this will be blowing up. It’s better to control things now, rather than let things get out of hand. You’ll have your first press conference on Tuesday afternoon in the Rose Garden, assuming the weather holds.”

“You do realize that’s going to be incredibly difficult for America to swallow, right?”

“The other option is much worse.”

Conor groaned. “Politics.”

“My sentiments exactly, Sir.”

---

“Thank you for coming in on such short notice,” Agent Scully said. “I know you want to spend time with your family; however, Agent Bubbles noticed that you’ve been doing worse, and overheard that you need to return to Equestria soon. We just want to gather some information to compare with your first tests to see just how much you’ve changed since your arrival. We won’t keep you for any observations. It’ll just be a quick in and out. You can even ask questions, if you want.”

“I already have a feeling you’re lying when you say this will be quick.” Shawn frowned before sighing. “So, what do you test first?”

“Well, CAT scan, MRI, and then an X-ray. After that, we’ll need you to cut yourself again, and, well, that’s actually it. We want to see if you’ll still spike the radiation tests.”

“Yeah. A ‘quick’ visit, huh?”

Scully sighed and rolled her eyes. “You get first priority, so you should be done in two hours to three hours tops.”

“I have a feeling you have more tests that you aren’t listing,” Shawn commented flatly.

“Well, they are the kind that, if I told you what they were, it would defeat the purpose of said test. I promise, four hours at the very most, and that’s pushing well beyond the limits of reason. If we pass four hours, you tell us, and we’ll let you go.”

Shawn sighed. “I have my doubts, but fine. Let’s just get this over with. So what comes first? You want to throw a geiger counter my way?”

Scully handed the device in question over to him, which had already started clicking away. “So far, we don’t know why you set it off. We can tell we’re not getting radiation sickness from you, nor are we growing any fur.”

“You guys got some weird theories.”

“Well, excuse us for being thorough. If you brought some of that Equestrian magic here, it was a viable theory that you could have spread it to one of us as a sort of virus.”

“First of all, no, that couldn’t happen, because Earth would absorb any mana we brought with us. Secondly, yes, it’s still weird.”

“Says the man who can create fire from his hands.”

“. . . Touché.”

“Shall we begin?” one of the nurses asked with a smile.

“Sure.”

The ‘brief’ tests took a good two hours to finish. As they had suspected, Shawn had to, once again, cut his own arm open, as nobody had a proper tool, nor the strength, apparently, to do it themselves.

“Now, if you would please head out that door there, you’ll meet Doctor Goldberg. He’ll tell you the next part. This should only take an hour to perform, since we know what needs to be done.”

Shawn sighed as he stood and moved to the door, pushing it open with not so much ease as he made his way to the next section.

Doctor Goldberg was a larger, surprisingly muscular man with a bald head. “Hello, Mister Viginti,” he started. “You're here today, so that we can get an idea about the limits of your . . . special abilities.”

“So you want me to melt stuff?”

“Eventually. But first we’ll do some more standard tests: check your speed, endurance, physical strength, that sort of thing.”

“Well, speed is certainly not something I’ll excell at.” Shawn frowned. “Strength, on the other hand. . . .”

“Well let's start with that, then,” the doctor said, taking him to a machine where a single bar stood between two large rectangular pieces. The ends of the bar were slotted into large tracks that ran all the way up the bar. “What I need you to do is lift this bar. We’ll start adding resistance to it until it becomes too much for you, okay?”

“Got it,” Shawn replied as he moved over and lifted said bar, which felt like it had no weights on it. The doctor started to push a slider further and further up on the control console to add more pressure.

A half hour later, Doctor Goldberg had checked and double checked the machine, which was currently running at peak capacity. He looked to Shawn, who stood there with the bar in his hands like it weighed nothing. “Uh, yeah. You . . . you can set it down now.”

Shawn let go of the bar, which proceeded to slam downward, shifting the machine as the force of the collision channeled into the floor. “So, how much was that?”

“Four thousand imperial pounds,” Goldberg said in a quiet voice. His shock was evident as he looked at the bar and the dents it had made in the metal beneath it. “And that's inconclusive”

“It couldn’t go any further?”

“The world's strongest man competition makes their competitors lift eleven hundred pounds, so the machine was created for the maximum weight to be impossible under normal means”

“Oh. Well that’s a shame. So what comes next?”

“I’d suggest testing how much you can pull, but i’m not entirely certain we can trust the machinery for that now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll break it.”

“. . . True. So what comes after that, then?”

“How about cardiovascular endurance?” Goldberg suggested as he motioned towards a larger treadmill.

What followed was an hour long test that revealed part of the data they wanted, but not Shawn’s real limit. After determining he didn’t run too much faster than an average marathon runner, they put him to the test of pushing that limit and seeing how he responded.

Shawn was certainly not impressed with the results. “So . . . once again inconclusive?” he questioned, having already guessed the response.

“Whatever your limits are,” Dr.Goldberg said as he took a shot of scotch, “they’re above what I have the means to determine.”

“That’s a shame. I was curious myself of what my limit was.”

“We’ll work on making a better machine for next time.”

“Let’s hope it can at least get closer to finding said limit, yeah?”

“Agreed.”

---

George Park was home to many an eccentric person, and held a rich history that stretched from its initial founding all the way to the modern day. And in all of that colorful vibrant history, not once in a million years would anyone have thought that this one sight would happen. Two ponies, one with feathered wings, another with bat wings, were walking with a Gryphon behind them through the square. At that moment, Matthew was speaking in Equish.

“So we are coming up to the middle of town, and the location of the restaurant and ice cream shop, both of which are classics. In fact, the ice cream parlor has been serving residents here for three generations. It has an organ playing, and they have a table for kids that . . . might be able to fit Lunar Fang and I if we wanted. Or we can sit at the counter. The shop next door has a soda jerk fountain with a sandwich counter like you would find in the fifties. They have one behind plexiglass, and some signs from the sixties with the historical reasons why they are still displayed. The sandwich shop has been there for three generations as well, but they make the best burgers. The beef comes from one of the ranches run down the mountain. The cheese is from Boulder, and, well, they try to make everything fresh.”

Matthew looked up to the other end of the street, where a boxy horseshoe building made of local stones and masonwork wrapped around the end of the street. “There is the county building/town hall. The bank is nearby, and it is the only place that you can still deposit gems and gold dust. I stopped there yesterday to cash in some of the gems, which frankly turned into them just depositing it into my old savings account from before I left. It’s going to gain interest, and then my family can use it to help the local community. Well, at least I hope.” His stomach growled. “Shall we eat? Riku and Justin . . . I am both sorry and glad they were heading back down for their date nights with their girlfriends.”

Lunar Fang smiled as she listened to Matthew talk about the history of his town, which he had been doing for the last half hour at each building.

“After our late lunch. I’ll show you where I used to work before Equestria.”

“Like I said, just be careful,” Grif warned. “Food here is going to taste different.”

“As long as it doesn’t taste like cardboard, I’ll be fine. You’re talking to the military food lover, after all,” Matthew shot back. “Like I said. They try to make it as fresh as they can.”

He led them into the ice cream shop, Zephyr. “My father took me here when I was a foal, and his father took him when he was a foal as well. Three generations have dined here. If you want, we can also eat at the Daylight next door.” He grinned, wondering if Grif would catch all the train names.

“Lets see how this place is first,” Grif said. “You order.”

“Oh, I shall,” Matthew said as they found three open stools at the counter. The kids’ table was currently occupied. When they entered the shop, all noise stopped for a moment while phones were brought out and turned on to record the three. He flapped his wings to jump to the stool, which he could sit on fully without having his legs dangling. Lunar Fang landed on the stool next to Matthew, while Grif sat down on the stool on his other side.

Matthew grinned as they waited for the waiter. He looked at Lunar Fang, and then at Grif before he opened his wings and flapped one wing that sent him spinning around on the stool. Lunar Fang caught the goofy grin on his muzzle, and couldn’t help but laugh at the antics, before she joined her husband for no other purpose then to keep him smiling.

“Ahem,” a voice cleared as an older man with thinning hair at the top of his head walked up to them. “Welcome to Zephyr. As a member of the staff here, I am obligated to remind you that we are a food establishment, not a playground.” One could tell he was doing his hardest not to laugh at the antics. “Despite how cute it may be.”

The two ponies used their wings to stop their spinning. “Hello, Doctor Zephyr,” Matthew spoke happily. “Can we get two Moon Oreo shakes?” He asked with a smile. “Light side.”

Dr. Zephyr blinked as he heard the voice. “Wow, so you really can speak English. my children said talking ponies were at the party last night, but still. . . . Well, two moon shakes coming up, I guess.” He looked at the Gryphon. “And you?” he asked as he pointed to the list of shakes and sundaes written on the chalkboard. “We have some spooky Halloween treats, if you’re interested.”

“How about you suggest something?” Grif said.

“I‘d recommend The Works.”

Grif dropped a few fifties on the counter. “Let's do it, then.”

“Just one fifty would work for all three of you,” Dr. Zephyr replied with a chuckle. And you don’t have to pay till after you eat.”

“Call the rest a tip.” Grif smiled “I don’t need it.”

“I . . . well, I guess . . . well, thank you,” Dr. Zephyr responded as he took the bills and slowly made his way to the back of the kitchen.

Matthew smiled as he looked around at the customers in the dining area. “So, you think we are going to be giving our friend a headache by eating here? I doubt they can cover this up,” he said in Equish.

“Why do you say that?” Grif asked.

“Well, we are three aliens, eating Earth food, sitting on chairs, and I just did something random and unpredictable. I wonder how hard they will try covering this up till they can’t anymore.”

“We paid for it,” Grif said as he shrugged.

“Yes, and we are being recorded by every single phone in the place,” Matthew countered with a laugh.

“Most people only get fifteen minutes,” Grif said, before joining his friend in a chuckle.

“We are going to get way more than fifteen,” Matthew pointed out.

They soon had their desserts brought out to them, and began their meal, complete with two large metal cups that held extra milkshakes. Matthew used a wing to pick up the very long handled spoon. He took a small bite, and then frowned. He remembered how it tasted before, but as much as he hated to admit it, Sugarcube Corner was better. He made sure he spoke only in Equish. “Grif, this was my favorite place for milkshakes and treats, and on an Earth scale, it still is, and I can tell they’re trying their best, but. . . .”

Grif patted a consoling hand on his friend’s back. “I know, my friend. I know.”

“Still, I am going to try a burger next.”

“It’s better than some of the food I’ve had,” Grif admitted.

“Why do you think I like these places so much? You might try one of the foods from the Daylight,” Matthew suggested.

“Excuse me,” Lunar Fang broke in, her southern belle accent clear and pure as crystal goblets. “May we have some hay–?” She broke off as Matthew stopped her, whispering into her ear. “Oh. I’m sorry. I meant to say french fries.”

“Sure. I can do that for a polite young…” The man stopped for a moment as he tried to process how best to continue. “Uh, it’s okay to call you a lady, right?”

Lunar Fang giggled and nodded her ascent.

“Phew. Thanks.” He looked to Matthew. “What kind of dipping sauce do you want?”

“The house fry sauce,” Matthew answered. “Yes I know about the sauce, and I think it sounds amazing.”

“I heard you talking about eating over next door. I can get you menus from the Daylight, if you want to eat here. I’m sure the owners won’t mind.”

“That would be nice.” What followed next was a simple, enjoyable meal handled with a mix of Equish and English, and, much to Grif’s continuing surprise, the food was actually pleasing to his pallet.

---

Shawn knew his time was nearly up, both by the fact that he was running low on energy, and the fact that it was the end of the third day. He’d already said his goodbyes, and stored everything away in his coat. Now he waited in his living room, watching time slip by.

He looked out the window at the city around him, the cars roaming the streets, some people possibly returning home or going to a graveyard shift. Some people were even walking around on a late night jog.

While he may have been great at acting, he was running low on power, and it was obvious in his posture and lack of physical energy. His internal injuries were staying sealed for the most part, but if he did too many actions he could easily open them up again, and that would cause a lot of problems. Next trip over, he needed to remember to bring some crystals to give him more energy. That, and he would need to figure out something for the others. If he was feeling this bad, he didn’t know exactly how bad it was for the others. The only thing he knew was that he should be feeling it the worst.

He sighed aloud as he removed a familiar golden blade, and placed it against the wall across from the door. He quickly moved to write a note:

My time here has ended, but I will return one day. I don’t know how long it will be, but I will return. I wanted to leave something to remember me by, more than just memories. What better than the very sword that I had for Halloween that fateful night? This once decorative blade is now very much real, and has saved my life many times. I wanted to return it, as well as a small additional thing.

Signed,

Shawn Octo Viginti

Shawn smiled as he placed the note on the blade, and pulled a small pouch from his pocket. The faint clicking of shifting bits emanated from it as he laid it down next to the sword. His family wasn’t in any real need of money, but he was sure they would enjoy the extra cash to spend on themselves, rather than bills.

And then he waited. He didn’t have to wait long.

It was sudden, just a feeling of energy growing in him, before everything faded to black.

---

Matthew looked around. The sun had set, and the moon was rising. The pony carts were packed with the models, and Grif had his pack filled with his materials and the extra things that couldn’t fit into the carts, including several books from the library. Matthew finished helping his wife hitch her cart’s harness before moving to his own. He stopped as he heard voices being cleared, then turned his head to look at the family. Eric, Nancy, Mark, Selma, and many of his cousins held items in their hands. Each of them were some type of picture. Eric stepped forward first, and presented a thick three ring binder that had been decorated with intricate steam train designs. “This is a family photo album your great-uncle started for you. All of them are replicas, but they’ve got the stories from them written in there, too, so you won’t feel like you missed so much from when you were gone.” He carefully put the book into the cart next to a box of vinyl disks.

Next came Nancy and the majority of the family. Each of them held a shadow box with pictures from his old ROTC days and a variety of stories from his family’s history of military service ranging from the modern day to the French and Indian War. He looked at each one quickly, but his hampered breathing reminded him only too well just how short his time was. He smiled and nodded his head. “They will hang in my personal quarters, so my family will know our history.”

“I can’t wait to get home,” Grif said. “I’ve got so much to show the girls.”

“Same here. You do know that you are carrying my library as well, correct?” Matthew said with a smirk, before stopping as Great Aunt Selma stepped forward.

“It’s a bit tight in there, but they should fit.” Grif nodded, patting his bag.

Matthew nodded as his aunt stood in front of him. She turned around an item shaped like a triangle. “Your grandfather, the VFW, and I got together to make this. It was meant to be for your birthday, but you vanished before we could give it to you.”

Selma turned it around to reveal a glass case covering a folded American Flag. The little brass plate at the front read the following. “In memory of all those who have served, will serve, and wish to serve.” She smiled. “We have more replicas like these at home, so don’t worry about feeling like you’re stealing from me. Your great-uncle felt that we should have these ready, and he wanted you to have it.”

“Thank you,” Matthew said as tears formed in his eyes and slowly poured down his cheeks. Selma put the case into the cart with the album, then turned around and bent down to the ground to throw her arms around the Pegasus’ neck.

Matthew wrapped his hoof around her neck and wrapped the other foreleg around her as he hugged. The tears came faster now. He felt a welling in his chest, and for a moment, all sound cut out. It was getting hard to hide how tired he was, and how weak.

“Here it comes,” Grif said, a moment before there was an audible pop, and the three Equestrian figures vanished. Great Aunt Selma was left hugging air. All signs of the Equestrian visitors had disappeared.

---

“Thanks again for helping me with all of this adjustment, Barry,” Conor said as he carried yet another box full of office supplies into the admittedly smaller space. He chuckled as he took in the rectangular office. A pair of pale cream book shelves stood on either side behind the swivel chair on his new desk. A professionally embossed copy of Equestria’s seal had been placed on top of the dark mahogany desk, and polished to a shine. Stacks of folders, documents, and other miscellaneous items, including various binders containing the manuals surrounding diplomatic policy and terms. “This reminds me of my room at college. Then again, I suppose that makes sense, since we’re opening this embassy from scratch.” He heaved a dictionary, and slammed it onto the desk, and as he did so, the arm band Luna had forged for him reflected the light from the fixtures in the walls and ceiling. The dictionary bore the twin seals of America and Equestria. “Do I seriously have to fact check every single word in this thing?”

“Well, it was typed quickly from the dictionary scrolls, and we’d rather make sure that we didn’t mix up the words ‘friend’ and ‘fiend’, you know, that sort of thing,” the aide responded. “Oh, and thank you again for your trial run, Sir.”

“You’re the only one I’ve actually gotten to know thus far, and for all I know, you could be an agent yourself that was deliberately planted as a last line of defense.”

“I have none of that training. Besides, under the second rule for those asked to help, total honesty is to be used, just in case any of the . . . magic from the element of honesty rubbed off on you. We aren’t going to take any chances.”

“But the President is authorized to select whatever safety measures he deems important to me, so, in this case, should he deem that you lying to me is necessary for my safety, he would probably order you to do it, and you would.” Conor shrugged. “Either way, it’s not that big of a deal, and I need someone with the knowhow to help me get started.”

“Well, that leads me to introducing your secretary.” He nodded as an older women about Conor’s mother’s age walked into the room. “This is Mrs. Cunningham.”

“Good afternoon, Mister Ambassador. I have your schedule for the next week lined up. You’ll find a copy of it on your desk later, and another copy will be kept in the conference room. In thirty minutes, you’ll have your first staff meeting. That’s charted to go for about an hour, after which your parents and you will be having dinner at 1789. For the record, that’s the restaurant's name, not the time. After that, you’ll all be driven to your temporary quarters, and you’ll start again on Monday. I can have a paper copy ready by your dinner tonight,” Mrs. Cunningham said cheerfully as she looked up from her PDA.

“I guess I should’ve expected that one.” Conor sighed, then extended a hand. “Thanks for all the help, Mrs. Cunningham, but I’d appreciate it if you just called me Conor. I’m not exactly the most formal kind of person.”

“Oh, I could never do that, Mister Ambassador,” Mrs. Cunningham responded. “It wouldn’t be right. I’m supposed to be the secretary to the ambassador, not Conor’s secretary.”

“. . . I’m the same person,” he said sardonically.

“Okay, note to self, don’t use sarcasm around the boss,” Mrs. Cunningham muttered.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Conor said with a nervous chuckle. “It took a long time for the guys to get used to that one, but I guess that’s another reason why Celestia chose me in the first place. She knows I’m not the type to use sarcasm unless it’s obvious, and she knows I can be trusted.” He shrugged. “At least I try to be trustworthy.” He shuddered suddenly. “Is it a little cold in here, or is it just me?”

“I’ll have them check out the vents Monday,” Mrs. Cunningham replied. “It might be differences of climate.” She shrugged. “If you need me, please use the intercom. You don’t need to shout.” She turned around and walked back to her desk and the outer office, closing the door behind her.

“Right. I’ll get to work prepping the binders for your meeting. Also, Monday afternoon you’ll be going to one of the DC tailors to get a suit made, unless you have a suit and tie you feel comfortable in.”

“I might need to get a new one. I’ve lost a lot of weight since this all started,” Conor said. “Thanks, Barry. Though I have to admit, I’d honestly prefer to go just as myself, if I can. I know some situations require a suit, but I like to present me as me, you know? Not just some other member of the White House staff. No offense.” He strode over to one of the shelves and took a seat, well, more fell into it with all the extra boxes around. Then he pulled out a large pearl from his cargo pocket and stared at it for a time before casting his eyes around the office once more. “Say, Barry, you said this office was supposed to be new, right?”

“That’s right. Well, the building itself isn’t that new, but we did just finish a renovation.”

“So why’s there a big crack over the door?”

Barry looked back and over the door’s frame. “That was not there before,” he muttered. He turned to look at Conor. “I assure you, when we looked over the building this morning, there were no cracks in any of the walls.”

Conor shuddered again and leaned heavily on the chair’s arm as the crack suddenly widened. “I feel . . . funny, and not in a good way.”

“Mrs. Cunningham, get first contact staff. We have possible inbound!” Barry shouted.

“No need to shout, Mister Nathan,” she replied as the sound of the receiver clicked into the room.

“What should we do?” Barry asked as the crack widened again, letting a white light bleed into the room.

“Nothing,” Conor said simply as he stood. His whole body shivered as he stepped towards the widening gap, clenching tightly to the pearl. “If it’s someone coming, then we greet them with courtesy, and try to accommodate them until we figure out a way to send them back. Otherwise, we just wait for the anomaly to close again.”

“What’s that buzzing?”

Conor stiffened. “On second thought, go to red alert, or whatever equivalent you have here.”

“Why would–?”

“Buzzing means insect wings, which means one of three things. Either there’s a horde of parasprites, in which case you should probably shoot on sight or risk the entirety of the nation being ravaged with no food to speak of; a horde of Changelings who are loyal to Equestria, or more specifically to Shawn and Hammer Strike; or it could be the worst option.”

“Which is?”

“Changelings that serve Chrysalis, and if you don’t already have a bio on her, she’s basically a tyrant who uses her hive like a bloody fist. If it’s her Changelings on the other end, we’ll definitely need as much firepower as we can muster.” He swayed on his feet as the crack broadened to the point where the light spread across the door and formed a hole that hovered inexplicably within the frame and the wall itself. “And whatever you do, do not touch that rift.”

“Rule number one in our packet,” he muttered. “Mrs. Cunningham, we need Marines. This could be a hostile portal,” he grumped. “We should have gotten heavier protection sooner, but no, someone in the department thought it would all be fine till next Tuesday!”

“Well, it’s not a bad system to follow when it comes to Equestria,” Conor pointed out. He approached the crack with closed eyes and an extended hand. “It doesn’t feel like anything’s traveling through. I think I’d be able to tell.”

“Based on what, a feeling?”

Conor sighed and shook his head. “Magic, remember?” He turned to make his way back to his desk, only for a sudden sense of vertigo to overtake him. He stumbled, felt something next to his foot, saw a flash of blue as his world shifted from the floor to the ceiling as he windmilled his arms. “Not again!” he wailed as he touched the rift. There was a bright flash of white light, and then he was gone.

Barry gawked at the door, then at the offending article that had caused Conor to trip in the first place. “How the heck didn’t he notice these before?” he muttered to himself as he picked up the books of The Inheritance Cycle from their scattered positions across the floor. “Mrs. Cunningham, cancel that order, and get the President on the line.” He groaned and massaged his forehead. “He’s not going to like this.”

---

As New Unity set to its own fortifications, the Bladefeathers prepared for the siege. The cliffside entrances to the compound were each carefully sealed with a sheet of heavy chitin donated by Me-Me’s hive. Behind these walls, boulders large enough to require three of the bigger males to move were placed behind it to seal the entrance. Homes were emptied of their occupants, and all usable food stores were moved to the main building.

The windows on the main compound were each sealed using specially carved stone slabs that clicked into place using hidden ridges only a Gryphon’s eye could uncover. When it was certain the only usable entrances were the front doors and the gate of the wall surrounding the compound, the armory was opened. At the orders of Talon Hammer: an Equestrian-born Gryphon with the large wings, a proud, deadly beak, the piercing eyes of a bald eagle, and the powerful coiled body of a spotted leopard, weapons were distributed. Seventy warriors of varying gender and species flooded the yard in front of the compound’s main building. The foremost portion of the gate was walled off by several lines of Gryphons carrying massive great shields and spears. Up on the wall, more Gryphons perched, and removed their bows. Ping and her three companions stood with the warriors, their swords and other weapons at the ready.

Inside the main building, twenty more guards barred the door with a large phalanx punctuated by long steel pikes. They were led by Thalia, who issued orders as she squeezed her dual hand axe.

Shrial and Avalon had been put in charge of collecting up the Gryphons that were either too old or too young to fight; or, as in their own personal cases, some few others who were either pregnant or with young cubs. They were placed inside the innermost chamber, where another set of doors closed, sealing so completely that, from the outside, no one would be able to see the seam and know there was a door in the first place.

“Where is the clan lord?” one of the older male Gryphons asked. “He should be here.”

Shrial stepped forward and bared her teeth. “He will be here, Terrence, if you’d be willing to actually have some faith in him.” She raised a sword to his face, despite the distortion of her belly, and Terrence backed away accordingly. Every male knew not to mess with a female when she was pregnant, especially this close to her time. “Now you’d better shut your beak, before I shut it for you, or so help me–”

Shrial never got to finish that sentence. Her sword clattered to the ground, filling the room with the echo of ringing metal. She clutched at her stomach, collapsed onto the chamber’s floor, and screamed.

Kalima rushed instantly to the expecting mother’s side. “It’s time!” she said, looking to Avalon. “Come. We must get her comfortable.” The two managed to move Shrial to one of the corners of the room. A group of Gryphonesses quickly huddled around them, and extended their wings to form a makeshift curtain. Birthing was meant to be a private affair, and with the exception of the father, who wasn’t present, only females were generally allowed to attend to it. The males wisely backed away as they each went about a task to try not to draw the ire of the protective females.

“It’s too soon!” Shrial protested, even as she grunted, while the contractions began to pick up pace. “They were supposed to wait for their father!”

“We can’t always choose these kinds of things, Shrial. Now I want you to take deep breaths. This is likely going to take some time,” Kalima said calmly as she dipped a cloth into a bowl of water Avalon had poured.

“How much . . . time . . . exactly?” Shrial huffed.

“Enough to make you want to curse the Winds for ever granting you children in the first place,” she said frankly.

“Great. When I see Grif next time, remind me to kill him.” She groaned as she clutched at her stomach again. “It hurts!”

“I know, child. I know.”

As Shrial screamed inside the confines of the clan building, outside, the archers drew their first arrows, and the guards at the gate bristled. From the edge of the Everfree, black figures emerged in formations. Their numbers soon covered every visible inch of space,turning the ground into a wave of pitch blackness and glowing blue eyes, all mindlessly focused on one target, one desire, one will. The first Changeling advance had come, and the second battle for New Unity had begun.

Author's Note:

Good Morning or Evening to our great readers. IF you missed it on my blog posts to this story, we have a Discord Channel, and so I want to say that if you want to chat with the authors, or fellow readers about the story. Don't hesitate coming by to visit and enjoy the company. Here is the link for you all

https://discord.gg/8CcteCH

Comments

[Hiirome]

And. Here. We. Go.

Soooo this chapter was rich in friends... Dammit, Riku need some counseling from Pinkie, because i feel that seriously he can go too, too far. And damn, this guy just don't perceive danger, isn't it ? Because, the punch on Mattew, then the tackle on Griff... Griff was right, if it vas any other pegasus and griffon war veterans, he would be dead meat. If he ever go to Equestria, especially in this time, where Chryssie seems to go overboard, he's in for a very painful wake up call. Or Equestria's magic transform him into a Draconequus, then we're all screwed. XD
But nah, let's avoid to think about that.

So, Shaun's coat strike again, traumatizing the poor officer, mwahahaha ! Seriously, i think somehow the Coat KNOW about the Changeling attack, so on chapter 101 it grabbed as much guns as it could to help. How ? This coat is empowered by a mix of Shaun and Pinkie's powers ! Logic is staying out of that, she don't want to get punched like this poor Death !

On Connor Side, welp, no last second change of mind, just Murphy who really DON'T want him to stay on Earth. And probably some force on Equestria's side, at the light of this blue flash... initially in while reading i thought discord, but the color of the flash would now make me more think of the Tree. No, seriously, i refuse to believe that the books were initially placed were he struck them to fall into the rift. Not knowing the kind of entities populating the other side of this Rift.
Also, it's not totally clear : has the Rift closed when Connor went through, or is it still open ?

[Biker_Dash]

WOW... the epicness of all this.

“Oh, uh, your friends Justin and Joel are on their way up today,”

My reaction:

Yeah... cause guess which one shares the same name as me. (And no... I was NOT inserted into this fic. Justin in this story is NOTHING like me lol)

A heavy aluminum foil cap had been wrapped around her head

PRICELESS!

and was busy trying to pick the lock to the large flagpole that stood a ways out from the house, so she could lower the American flag to do nobody knew what, though they could make a few guesses.

I gotta give Matthew credit here for not tearing Ms. Crazylady into bloody chunks of stew meat. As patriotic as he is (just like me, in that regard) messing with Old Glory is tantamount to eleven of the Seven Deadly Sins COMBINED! How Matthew and Grif dealt with her was simply beautiful, though.

I read all of President Douglass' lines in this guy's voice.
images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTc0MDMyMzI2OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzM2OTk1MQ@@._V1_UX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_.jpg

Shawn gasped as he finally realized who was standing in front of him. “Andrew? I . . . It’s a bit hard to explain.”

This the same Andrew that would run around as Medic a lot when we all did Mann vs Machine matches?

The narrative was interrupted as President Douglas, Mrs. Douglas, and Mr. and Mrs. Vulpes all either spat their drinks out in shock, spewed their drinks out their nostrils, or proceeded to swallow down the wrong pipe and enter into a coughing fit.

He made BOTH the President and the First Lady do spit takes, plus two others as well. ALL at once!
Conor, you just won the game!

Military Police Officer Barrett looked directly at Shawn for a moment. Then his eyes locked on Shawn’s coat. His reaction was near instantaneous. His eyes widened so fast, it looked like they’d pop right out of his head, before the man let out a panicked yell. He then proceeded to do a one-eighty, and run for it, heedless to the risk to his safety as he raced past a car coming into the parking lot, and narrowly missed being hit.

The ONLY way the scene could have been any better would be if Shawn had been listening to Foozogz's version of Smile. (The version of the song MisterDavey used for Smile HD.) Or would that have been excessively cruel?

“Gryphon tackle!”

Riku, you ignorant FOAL! Didn't you already talk about how awesome and deadly a Griffin must be? And yet, you go ahead and JUMP ON HIS FREAKIN BACK! And Grif is a combat veteran, too, a fact that you have already been informed about! You're lucky you hadn't been reduced down into little meaty giblets.
(Hey, I used a contraction... Do I get a kiss from a thestral mare too? Any single thestral mare will do, as long as she's cute... wait, ALL thestral mares are cute... when they're not ripping their enemies to pieces. )
Also... punching Matthew in the snout like that? Dude! Riku, you are seriously WRONG in the head! I give kudos to Lunar Fang and Grif for not tearing off your head and placing it inside your opposite end for that stunt!

So... Conor becomes Equestria's Ambassador. I cannot think of a better man/stallion for the job. Matthew/Pensword would probably have the entire UN assembly doing pushups and laps around the UN headquarters all day after dealing with them for five minutes. Taze/Grif would terrify them all into heart attacks the first time they got stupid with him. (Knowing the UN, that will take all of three seconds to happen.) Shawn/Hammer Strike would just be bored and build a forge in the middle of the assembly hall.

And the doctors once again wanna run tests on Shawn. Give the man a break! At least buy him dinner and a movie first!

Matthew grinned as they waited for the waiter. He looked at Lunar Fang, and then at Grif before he opened his wings and flapped one wing that sent him spinning around on the stool. Lunar Fang caught the goofy grin on his muzzle, and couldn’t help but laugh at the antics, before she joined her husband for no other purpose then to keep him smiling.

My time here has ended, but I will return one day. I don’t know how long it will be, but I will return. I wanted to leave something to remember me by, more than just memories. What better than the very sword that I had for Halloween that fateful night? This once decorative blade is now very much real, and has saved my life many times. I wanted to return it, as well as a small additional thing.

Signed,
Shawn Octo Viginti

Very fitting, though for some reason, I get the feeling that leaving that particular sword behind will end up biting him in the flank someday. Just a hunch, cause... you know... Tuesdays.

“Here it comes,” Grif said, a moment before there was an audible pop, and the three Equestrian figures vanished. Great Aunt Selma was left hugging air. All signs of the Equestrian visitors had disappeared.

I am not ashamed to admit that this scene brought tears to my eyes.

So... Conor returns to Equestria after all. And it looks as if the choice was made for him. Somehow, I suspect Pinkie Pie placed the magazine there. In my eyes, he HAD to return. It's about balance for one. Vital Spark is a vital member of the team, as well as one of their best friends. He brings balance, and is the spark of their friendship. (I regret nothing)

“It’s too soon!” Shrial protested, even as she grunted, while the contractions began to pick up pace. “They were supposed to wait for their father!”

Grif, you had better hurry... you do NOT want to miss this. As a father who was there for the births of his two, I know.

Seventy warriors of varying gender and species flooded the yard in front of the compound’s main building.

And how many changelings? I think it was said in the last chapter a hundred thousand. (Or was that in Chapter 100?) Yeah... That kind of odds makes for a seriously bad situation.

All I can think of is this:

All in all, this was an outstanding chapter. I DID notice one thing missed in the edits. One tiny detail. That is okay, though, because it detracts nothing from this epic tale.

[SilentMech]

7804834 The coat also grabbed and held a marine captive for more than an hour. Because it felt like it. It also stripped a small group of Marines who were aiming at it after one of their side arms vanished, and unmade an armory camera.

[Booster Spice]

Fianl wrap up of the three days on Earth has lots of nice family detail, and clean up, but wh hasnt realised tehres a whole lot of small bits to still go through just before they set off on a trip? Im hoping to go down my sisters at least for teh holiday weekend and maybe for the week, and I ahd trouble getting on FF last year due to Wifi and forgetting password problems.

I think certain persons forgot what they mentioned the prior day, in that returning on a Tuesday means they should really be fully tooled up to take on the tuesday disaster. Was it part of the spell or author license that let them bring back tightly coupled non living carts and supplies while not brinign back tightly hugging gramma?

Its just taken me a few minutes to realise that The Inheritance Cycle is the collection of books starting with Eragon. Given the light was blue, I take it that Conner is going to accidentally end up in a compromising situation with Ember and be given the option of a position he just cant refuse? That, and just who had the shere amount of Discordant energy available to force open a rift to Conner? At least tehres something for teh eggheads to work on, analysing Conners office, if the rifts already gone, as theres various theoretical research groups and experiments been carried out that would give dimentional matches, but only if they realised thats what the results they were getting from their measurements and calculations showed.

At least theres one thing. Pensword, Lunar Fang and Griff might be coming in Hard.

Hammerstrike is going to be coming in HOT.

I see a bit of Blackboard Monitor Vimes in Crysalis immediate future.

TL:DR

Eraser.

[Sulpher]

Well then,
If Shawn doesn't want to be to OP, may I suggest a Pistol caliber carbine? That shoots .50AE, like a Desert Eagle.
Or just keep the rifle, I'll take that too.
Also

Matthew grinned as they waited for the waiter. He looked at Lunar Fang, and then at Grif before he opened his wings and flapped one wing that sent him spinning around on the stool. Lunar Fang caught the goofy grin on his muzzle, and couldn’t help but laugh at the antics, before she joined her husband for no other purpose then to keep him smiling.

Reminds me of This

[ihatehaters1994]

Thankyou for not using current politicians in this story it keeps tensions down and keeps us all as friends.
Also i want shaun's jacket.
Also yes connor is getting sent back this rocks now he can finally confess his feelings to clover.

[Lunason]

Just one question, is the rift in Connors office still there or did it dissapear?

Other than that, this chapter was nice.

[Vital Spark]

7809776
It sealed shut behind him.

[Mortefleur]

#BringRikutoEquestria