Techorse Short Stories

by Spirals95

#12 - Captain Arbiter's Revenge: Part II

Captain Arbiter's Revenge: Part II

Techorse Series: #12

By Spirals95

---

The tower on the mountain stood ominously against the sun, casting a large shadow on the valley below. It was a vertical structure designed to prevent the escape of flightless occupants in particular, taking advantage of gravity. Any captive dumb enough to attempt escape would likely plummet onto the sharp mountain rocks below. It was made out of white stone from the mountains, and was topped by a large red cubic roof, making it more of a keep than a true tower. It was here that Rarity was being held captive at the very top, inside a room accessible only by the massive spiral staircase inside. Although the tower had other cells along the way up, they were empty as the building was commissioned specifically for this one plan. More guards patrolled the inside of the tower and around the perimeter. Most of the forces were comprised of earth ponies and unicorns, as the unmarked lands were home to very few pegasi due to the lack of floating cities nearby. They patrolled mindlessly around the area, bored, but with happiness in their hearts, their lands would finally get recognition under Arbiter's leadership. Occasionally they would trade shifts and some of them would go inside the tower and walk up and down the stairs, while the others would circle the base. The team of heroes found themselves looking at the tower from behind a boulder, carefully looking at the massive wooden doors.

"How are we gonna get in this time?" asked Applejack.

Techorse opened his mouth to speak his plan but was interrupted by Spike's snoring, so he shook his back to wake him up. Apparently the young dragon had fallen asleep on his back on the way to the fortress.

"Get up Spike, plan time." He said. The dragon opened his eyes and fell off in shock, thankfully landing behind the boulder without being seen.

"Ok, I'm up!" he said as he got off the ground and rubbed the sore leg he crushed from falling.

"Good, it's time to make a plan." said Rainbow Dash. She peeked over the top of the boulder and looked straight up the tower, seeing a large window with bars at the top.

"I could just fly up there." She said to the others, "but they've barred up the windows."

"We could try sneaking inside." suggested Fluttershy.

"The problem is that it's broad daylight and they probably know who we are." Said Techorse, "if we were to try to sneak in, chances are we'd get caught."

"Ooh! I know!" shouted Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down.

"Yes Pinkie?" Acknowledged Applejack grudgingly, knowing a stupid idea was imminent.

"We should try pretending we've been captured ourselves, and then they'd let us in! We just have to disguise two of us as the capturers."

Rainbow dash got a little upset, "that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!"

"No, she's right." Said Techorse happily, "That idea worked once in an old Earth book I read."

"Books ain't real life!" protested Applejack.

"Yeah, but those guards haven't seen a single Earth book." He retorted, "It might work on them."

"Fine, we'll try it." said Applejack reluctantly.

"Ok then, we'll need disguises." said Techorse as he looked at Pinkie and Applejack, "Grab some mud over there and blot out your cutie marks. Arbiter has his guards trained to identify ours, so you have to do it as part of the disguise."

Applejack nodded and went over to the nearby mud puddle with Pinkie Pie.

"In this scenario, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and I will be the captives. You, Pinkie and Spike will pretend to be bounty hunters who have captured us and are requesting a reward."

"This plan's sweet!" said Spike excitedly as he made war paint marks on his face with some of the mud.

"Applejack, I know you have a spare rope under your hat. If you give it to me, I can tie us three up to make it more convincing. I'll leave Rainbow Dash's a little loose so she can free us when we get to Rarity's cell."

The team finished the preparations, tying Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's wings to their sides will putting the last loop around Techorse's neck.

Then, they walked out as a group out from behind the boulder and proceeded to the front of the tower. Four earth ponies of various colors approached them.

One of them said, "Halt. What is your business here?"

Applejack said in a gruff tone to disguise her voice, "We're bounty hunters who have captured Techorse, Fluttershy, and the incredibly stuck up Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow spun her head around and glared angrily at Applejack.

"We'd like to lock them up in this tower so Arbiter can pick them up at his will."

The guard stomped her front hoof on the ground in joy and said, "Wonderful, excellent work bounty hunters. You will be paid the bit reward as soon as we lock them up. Follow me."

They entered the tower and looked up in awe at the sheer size of the stone staircase. It seemed to go up forever, as the top was darkened by the lack of windows in the place. They continued their charade, talking with the guards as they walked up the stairs.

"So tell me your names." said one of the guards, "Arbiter will want to honor you for this."

"Uh…" said Applejack nervously, "I'm, um."

She looked around for something to base a name off of and spotted a hammer shaped cutie mark on a passing guard. "I'm Warhammer."

She finished, "this is Agent Random, and the little guy is Forbidden Love. Spike crossed his arms and grunted, Applejack was abusing the plan to throw insults.

"You three sure think you're tough bounty hunters." Said Techorse, "but you'll never get Applejack or Spike the dragon. They'd kick your tails."

"Hey, what about Pinkie Pie?" asked Agent Random as she looked back at Techorse.

He answered, "Of course. She escaped you didn't she, Agent Random?"

"Shut up prisoner!" shouted the guard, flipping her yellow mane in the air, "I didn't ask you to talk."

The guard did take interest in what Techorse had said though, so she turned back to Warhammer and asked, "I can see you've recaptured Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but Techorse has more friends?"

"Two of them" said Applejack, "both earth ponies."

"Well, what about this Spike the dragon guy?" Applejack feared the plan might fall through, as Spike was standing right there and was still obviously a dragon.

But to her surprise, he spoke up in a fake accent that seemed to be a mix of Italian and Spanish, "This Spike guy is an old enemy of mine. 40 foot tall beast who plays kiss up to the pony's friends. The only one he doesn't get along with is this Applejack we're talking about, who teases him about his crush."

"How mean, to tease someone about who they love." said the guard pitifully, "I don't know why Arbiter didn't want to get her too, she's rude."

Warhammer frowned and hung her head sadly.

"I'm also curious about the one named Pinkie Pie." Continued the guard, "know anything about her?"

"She's the most sweetest and fun pony in all of Ponyville!" shouted Agent Random, "Everypony likes her parties!"

She realized she wasn't supposed to say that and corrected in a tough voice, "But she's against everything Arbiter's for! We should nab her next chance we get!"

They reached the top of the staircase at this point, where there were two large cell doors. "All right, we're here. Put these guys in the other cell separate from the first prisoner. We don't want them conspiring."

"Please." begged Fluttershy sadly to the guard, "what are you going to do to me? Please don't hurt me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you." Assured the guard, "We haven't been ordered to torture any prisoners, yet." Fluttershy gulped and shut her light blue eyes.

"Now Rainbow Dash!" shouted Techorse.

Rainbow tore the loosened rope from around her middle and pounced on the female guard, hammering her head with multiple blows from her hooves. Techorse worked the rest of the ropes off with his robotic hands and threw the rope down the well of the staircase. He then switched to his laser cannons and shot one of the stairs, breaking it up and leaving a gap between them and the top floor they were standing on. No more guards were going to come up that way. Rainbow Dash finished with the guard and put her over to the side, where she lay unconcious.

"That was mean." criticized Fluttershy.

"I didn't hurt her badly. Just put her lights out," said Rainbow, folding her wings back up after combat, "she'll be fine."

Applejack brushed off her mud disguise and said, "Great, with her down and no way for the guards to get up the stairs, all we have to do is…" A hush fell over the room as the flames on the torches lining the walls bent in one direction, as if wind had moved them.

"It's the ninjas." said Spike ominously.

Techorse took out his laser cannons and scanned the area.

"What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow, confused as to what the dragon meant.

"They're what captured you!" he explained, "and now they're here to defend Rarity from us."

"I don't see anyone!" continued Rainbow, "I think you've just being paranoid. There are no ninja ponies."

"Not even the ones behind you?" asked Fluttershy with mortal terror in her voice.

"Not even the ones behind me."

Rainbow Dash's pupils shrank as the information entered her brain. She slowly turned around to look at them. The three ninjas stared at her angrily from behind the masks of black cloth. Rainbow Dash yelled in fright and took off into the air to avoid being smacked by their wings.

"Hey, ninjas!" shouted Techorse, "stand down before we have to do this the hard way!"

The ninjas looked at each other and flicked their wings, sending a number of throwing stars at them. Techorse ducked and looked back as the shuriken stuck in the wall behind him. Applejack ran up to one of the ninjas and turned around to buck him, but the pony was simply gone by the time she reached his location.

"That does it!" shouted Techorse, sliding the laser cannons out of his saddle.

Bolts of yellow energy streamed out of the cannons, but the ninjas moved quickly, becoming black blurs that surrounded the friends. It was obvious Techorse was missing and not doing any damage with his lasers whatsoever, but he continued to fire in hopes he could score a hit of some kind.

"Spike, breath fire on them!" he said loudly over the noise of his guns.

"They have fireproof outfits!" he replied, "It won't do any good!"

One of the ninjas rushed up and smacked Techorse in the side, knocking him over and crushing the right laser on the stone floor. He stood back up and looked at the wrecked gun, it drooped to the side and sparked. Grunting, he continued fire with the other weapon, blasting away. Another black blur zoomed to his left, missing him by an inch. Techorse noticed his gun wasn't shooting anymore, and he looked at it. It seemed to be fine, but after a second, it slid off the saddle and hit the floor, cut cleanly from the gadget. Fluttershy couldn't back out of the tornado of ninjas, and laid down on the floor, covering her head with her front hooves in fear. Rainbow Dash tried to put up a fight, but even though she was a fast flier, the ninjas were faster on the ground, and they couldn't be hit by her dives from the air.

"There has to be a way to stop them!" she said before shrieking in pain as a hoof punched her in the side.

Techorse thought about it and said, "Maybe they're fast, but they still have body heat. Time to use my newest gadget." The panels on the sides of the saddle opened up, and out of them emerged a pair of simple metal racks, each with a small red rocket on top.

"Are those fireworks? Where did you get those?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"I made some plastic-encased missiles to give me a little extra punch in a tight jam. It cuts back on the shrapnel, meaning we might be able to use them in this tower without getting caught in the blast ourselves."

"Cool!" she replied as she ducked a shuriken. Techorse scanned the room for the blurs that were the pony ninjas and aimed his launchers at the first one he found. He locked on the first missile and mentally "pulled the trigger".

A pair of missiles left the racks with a whoosh and flew around in a circle. An explosion occurred as it hit its target, and the first ninja was flung into the air, where Rainbow Dash clobbered him. The burned ninja dropped on the ground next to the guard. The smoking racks at the sides of Techorse retracted back into the saddle for a second, before re-emerging reloaded with a fresh pair of projectiles. Firing his other missiles, Techorse repeated his tactic against the other two ninjas, and soon they were all defeated and piled up on the floor.

"We did it, we beat the ninjas!" cheered Pinkie.

Techorse said, "But without my lasers, and being out of missiles, I'm not sure how we're going to open the cell. Doubt the ninjas have the keys on them."

Spike walked up to the iron door and looked at the lock. He breathed in deeply and breathed a very small but concentrated flame on it. The padlock began to glow red, and then white, before it finally melted into a puddle of useless lead on the ground. Spike dragged open the heavy door and ran inside the cell to find the love of his life.

"Wow." Said Rainbow Dash plainly, "I didn't know he could do that."

"Anything's possible when your crush is in danger." Fluttershy told her. Spike entered the room containing Rarity and found her crying on her bed in the dismal cell.

"Rarity!" he said as he ran up and gave her a big hug.

"Spike?" said Rarity as she looked up in surprise in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

"I've come to rescue you!" he replied.

She cried, "Oh, thank you Spike! It's so nasty in here, they never clean. You're so brave to come here by yourself darling."

Rarity kissed him on the forehead, which nearly caused him to faint.

Techorse entered the room at this time and said, "Time's up Spike, I can't hold the girls off any longer."

"Techorse?" asked Rarity in surprise as she looked up at him.

He rolled his eyes in response, "Of course it's me."

"Sorry, you were a little hard to recognize by that mud on your head." giggled Rarity.

"It's a disguise." He replied as he rubbed the dirt off with his robotic arms, "They'll do that to you."

"Anyways, let's get out of here. I'm glad Spike could save you, but we need to keep moving and stop Arbiter."

"Is he the one who got me locked up in here?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah." said Spike, "as well as Twilight."

"Why, when I get my hooves on him for cramming me in this place." She said with gritted teeth.

"Oh boy." said Techorse.

He thought to himself, "With Rarity back on the team, we're never going to hear the end of how awful this tower was.”

Interestingly enough, the team left the tower without much further resistance from the guards. It seemed that they abandoned their posts when they expected the ninjas to win the battle for them. So the team escaped the hold and made a straight line for Arbiter's castle. To Techorse's dismay, the trip was much farther than he had anticipated. Luckily, Applejack had a relative who owned an inn in a small town just a few clicks from Arbiter's castle, and they decided to spend the night in relative safety before finally confronting the rouge Captain.

---

Twilight was getting used to being locked up in Arbiter's castle. She had kept herself busy writing plenty of things on the paper and parchment provided by the guards. It seemed as if a few of them actually had pity on her situation, and even brought her something special like a ration of fruit. But Twilight only wanted one thing, to go home with her head still attached to her neck. She looked at herself in a mirror and decided the best thing to do was to go out with dignity in the event that her best friends didn't arrive to save her. During her captivity, Twilight had practiced regeneration spells and had managed to grow back the chunk of tail hair that Arbiter had shaved off. Although only a cosmetic spell, it was practice that kept her occupied. She had nightmares every night she had stayed in the castle, and started to face reality that eventually Arbiter was going to do something horrible to her. Tomorrow afternoon was the deadline for Techorse to arrive, if he didn't, it was certain Arbiter would keep his word. She continued to get a last look at herself as she heard two mares having a discussion outside.

"So, do you think that guy is going to show up?" said one of the girls. "I sure hope so. I really don't want to see this poor girl's head come off. Such a thing has never happened in our peaceful land before."

Twilight slowly walked up to the door to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Arbiter says that if we keep up this image of fearsomeness though, we'll finally get on the map! Don't you want that?"

"Well, yeah, but I really don't want to earn our place with so much violence. Why hasn't our coal sales won us our recognition yet?"

"That's what I want to know.”

Twilight learned that many of the citizens of the country she was in felt unloved because Celestia had somehow managed to overlook them. They had never received any help in defending against monsters or repairs from natural disasters. Arbiter had come in one day and turned the place around through the ramp up in coal production, and was hoping this commodity would get his people to be appreciated by the princesses. The two guards stopped talking as the door barged open, pushing Twilight down onto the ground.

Arbiter groaned and said nastily, "Get up you idiot, and stop eavesdropping on my troops. If you must know anything, you can ask me."

Twilight rolled over onto her legs and stood up.

Arbiter let his black cape settle on the ground gently, "I have a confession to make. I was bluffing this whole time, you'll be out of here tomorrow if Techorse fails to show up."

"Really?" asked Twilight hopefully.

"Not really." Replied Arbiter, smirking evilly, "I just wanted to make sure you're thoroughly demoralized for tomorrow."

Twilight frowned, and started crying in front of the stallion. She let her horn start to glow, attempting to fire a bolt at the pony she hated so much.

"Cut it out." He shouted, "You know there's nothing you can do. My unicorns have most of your powers neutralized. Your only hope is if your stupid coltfriend shows up and turns himself in to me."

"You'll be sorry you did this." Whispered Twilight, sobbing.

"Let me explain something to you, lass." said Arbiter as he shook his head slowly, "I have nothing against you personally. But that pony you love is actually a bloodthirsty alien who threatens the stability of this very planet!"

"I can't believe you're this upset with Tech just because he got you fired!" complained Twilight.

Arbiter shook his head, "This isn't about losing my post as captain of the guard. Granted I was the best Celestia ever had, but this is really about protecting the planet from the last external threat to it."

Twilight, nearly angry enough to spit, growled at him, "My brother was a much better captain than you'll ever be."

Arbiter immediately burst out laughing, "Shining? Oh come now, everypony this side of the world knows that he's completely useless as a captain! He never studied his potential enemies, and as a result he fell for the tricks of a rouge group of changelings! I would have been able to see right through it immediately."

For some reason, Twilight found it hard to disagree with Arbiter about her brother's lack of knowledge, but still put forth another argument, "Well, if you think you're a better captain, why don't you let me write him? I'm sure he'll be happy to try and rescue me from you."

Arbiter laughed subtly and said with a sinister tone, "If you want to be an only foal quickly, go right ahead and do that. Your brother is terrible with weapons, something my family excels at."

"Might doesn't make right." argued Twilight.

"Perhaps not." agreed Arbiter, "But I'm sure Techorse follows that rule. When he arrives here, he will most certainly attack me for capturing you."

"He won't hurt you." said Twilight, "I know him better."

"We'll see." Sneered Arbiter, "he has until tomorrow at noon to show up at the front gate. Should he fail, you know what I must do to you. Tonight my guards will bring you one final delivery of paper. You may write a letter to your parents explaining what's going to happen to you."

Arbiter backed out of the room and smiled, "And don't worry. I'm not going to send your parents your head. They can come and get it themselves." Arbiter laughed and left down the hallway, making sure his cape wasn't dragging behind him. The two mares standing outside entered the room, one was a silver coated unicorn, and the other an orange Pegasus. Both of them were frowning and looking at Twilight with pity.

The unicorn said to Twilight, "Here's the paper and the envelope. Write and address the letter, and we'll send it out tomorrow afternoon."

The unicorn magically moved the paper and the ominous black envelope over to the writing desk and set it down. Twilight looked at the paper and turned away from the desk. She set herself down on the cot and stared miserably at the floor, letting her front legs hang over the edge of the bed. The orange Pegasus approached Twilight and ran a hoof through her hair.

"We don't want this either." She said, "Honest."

Twilight looked up at her and said, "I know it's not your fault. But I wish you'd all work up the courage to overthrow Arbiter and find another way to come out of your situation."

"I'm sorry, but we can't just stage a rebellion." replied the unicorn.

Twilight turned her head towards her and asked mournfully, "If I don't get out of here... Will it hurt?"

The unicorn let tears well up in her eyes and sobbed, "I have no idea, please don't ask me that!"

"I just don't want to suffer." said Twilight.

Finally, one of the two unicorn mares couldn't contain her secret anymore, and started talking more confidently to Twilight.

“Listen, just because Arbiter brought us up out of the dust doesn't mean we're going to let him get away with this.” she said sternly, “The other castle servants have gotten tired of his constant raging about this Techorse guy, and we aren't going to let an innocent mare get hurt over him.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” asked Twilight, interested in the plan but unsure how it will work.

“We've let the citizens know about all of this.” she answered, “They proposed something that might just help you.”

Twilight smiled as she heard the plan from the servants. Perhaps she wasn't going to come to harm after all.

---

The light from the sunrise entered the slits on the blinds of the Old Apple Inn. The rays of light brushed over Applejack's eyes as she slept in her bed. She was woken up naturally by the photons and got up out of her bed to begin the last day of their mission. Applejack woke the others up and got them ready to leave the inn, but not before thanking her second cousin Applepocket for the stay. The team was out of the inn after breakfast around 8 in the morning, ready to make the hour long walk to Arbiter's castle. As the group started down the path that led through the small village where the inn was located, they discussed what was going to happen that day.

Spike said sadly, "Today's not going to end well, is it?"

Fluttershy answered him, "Twilight's going to be ok, Spike. I promise."

"Usually when Fluttershy promises something, it's kept." Said Rarity, "I'm sure she'll be ok." At the back of the group was Techorse and Rainbow Dash.

"So" she asked, "how many of Arbiter's bones are you going to break for all this?"

"Zero." Replied Techorse sternly as he looked at his friend, "and you're breaking zero too."

"What?" shouted Rainbow in shock and offense.

"You heard me, we're not going to hurt Arbiter for this." He declared, "I'm going to reason with him and prove I'm innocent of what he accuses me of."

Rarity turned around and stuck her face into Techorse's, making sure he knew she was angry.

"He locked me up in an old, dusty building on a whim, and you're telling us not to hurt him? How selfish!"

"Hey, he's right." said Fluttershy, picking her head up, "I think Arbiter's just confused. We should forgive and move on with our lives."

"Thank you Fluttershy." said Techorse, giving Rarity a smile as he pushed her aside.

Applejack looked back and said to them, "Enough arguin' about how painfully we're gonna beat 'em up. The castle should be just over this here hill."

"I think it's important we talk about this!" said Pinkie Pie, "I gotta know why Techorse doesn't want to hurt Arbiter after all the mean stuff he did to us!"

"And Twilight!" reminded Spike. "Aren't you supposed to be the element of justice?" asked Rainbow teasingly, "because you sure don't want to bring him to justice!"

Techorse addressed the entire group, "Justice doesn't always mean judgment has to be passed you know. Besides, Arbiter is doing all of this because he sees me as a threat. If I show myself to not be a threat, his followers will see he was wrong and force him to let us all go. Maybe even Arbiter himself will change his mind."

"You're dumb." said Rainbow Dash, shaking her head, "he's not going to listen."

"If he doesn't, I'm not fighting my way out of this. These employees of his are ponies too who are only following orders and deserve to live. I'm not going to hurt any innocent citizens just because I want to escape intact."

"It's still a noble idea." said Fluttershy happily.

"Well, we're here." said Applejack plainly as if a tour guide, "There's the castle."

"That place is huge!" commented Pinkie Pie, "do you think Arbiter ever throws any parties in there?"

"Probably." said Applejack, "he'll want to celebrate after he gets us."

"Relax Applejack." comforted Techorse as he placed a robotic hand on her shoulder, "It's me he wants, not you."

"So what now?" asked Rainbow, "If we're not going to fight, do we just go up and knock?"

"Yes." He replied, "It's exactly what we're going to do."

---

Arbiter was in his study reading a book on great leadership skills. His reading glasses consisted of a pair of lenses, one was shaded black to match his eyepatch. As he read, there was a loud pounding on the door.

Arbiter groaned due to the interruption and asked, "Yes, what is it?"

A light brown earth pony entered and said, "Sir, Techorse and his companions have shown up at the front door. He must have freed the others before coming here!"

"Casualty report." Said Arbiter, certain the arrival of his enemy meant trouble.

"Nothing. He's surrendered." replied the messenger.

Arbiter took the glasses off and asked in awe, "What?"

"He simply knocked and requested to see you."

"Where's Sparkle?" asked Arbiter.

"Still in her cell sir, shall I get her for you?" he asked.

Arbiter nodded his head slowly, "Get her out of there and to the main entrance immediately."

As the messenger galloped away, Arbiter went to the closet in his room and selected a fine purple cape lined with a gold thread seam. He tied the cape around his neck and felt the thick cloth drape over his back. The stallion walked over to a wide mirror and observed the cape.

"No reason looking like a mess." He said. Arbiter continued the preparations for his meeting, exchanging his eye patch for a blue band of silk which he wore at an angle on his head to completely hide the scar. Finally, he made sure to brush his teeth and mane to look as presentable as possible to his guest.

"Showtime." He said as he put the brush back down and observed his self-described beauty with pride.

The stallion left his private room and moved quickly through his castle, making sure to nod and smile at his various workers as he traveled in the hallways. Eventually, he reached the main entrance of the castle, where ten of his guards were flanking the six ponies and the dragon that had recently entered.

Arbiter descended down the main staircase and shouted with joy to the team, "Ah, you're finally here!" Techorse walked up to meet his enemy. The guards tried to block him off, but Arbiter shook a hoof at them.

"No, no, no." He said, waving a hoof jokingly at the trooper, "that's no way to treat a guest."

Arbiter walked over to Techorse and said, "So, you actually showed up. That takes guts, Techorse."

"Where's Twilight?" He asked plainly.

"In one piece!" replied Arbiter, "In fact, look at the clock! You made it with one hour to spare."

"Why are you so happy?" asked Rainbow Dash suspiciously.

Rarity looked at his outfit and added, "and why are you dressed so much better than last time we saw you?"

Arbiter replied, "I wanted to look presentable for you. What, you thought I was without class? Far from it."

Techorse said, "Captain Arbiter, I come here to give myself up to you in exchange for the release of my friends."

Arbiter laughed and said, "Please, things are different for me here in Quartz Valley. I am now Viscount Arbiter."

"What?" asked Pinkie Pie in confusion.

Arbiter explained, "Well, you see, when I was fired by Celestia, I found this country. It was so poorly led by some idiot unicorn prince that it had been thrust into poverty and despair."

Arbiter sighed before continuing, "Using the mining equipment salvaged from the alien's factory base, we've been digging up enough coal to fix the economy in a matter of months! As a reward, I was made supreme leader of this country, the admirable Viscount Arbiter!"

"You have to stop burning the coal or the plants might all die." Begged Fluttershy, "you can sell it any other way, but please, stop the pollution! Techorse told me about this, and I'm begging you."

Arbiter acted strangely at this moment, he actually said something sweetly, "Fluttershy, I promise I will switch the coal to other uses after tomorrow. We've made enough money to afford to do so now, and I will make sure the environment doesn't get hurt on my watch. I know how much you care about it."

Fluttershy smiled, she was overjoyed her kindness had convinced Arbiter so quickly.

"I'm glad you decided not to burn too much more coal." Said Applejack, "now can you please stop this other nonsense?"

Arbiter shook his head, "This isn't nonsense, miss Applejack. Techorse here must pay for his alien nature. You and the others are free to go however."

"We're not leaving without him!" said Spike with anger. Arbiter gave Spike a rub on the head with his front leg.

"Look at this cute little dragon!" he said, "is this that pet of hers Twilight was talking about?"

"I'm not a pet!" replied Spike in rage, nearly about to set Arbiter on fire.

Twilight was led down the stairs by two guards, and when she saw Techorse, she gave a huge smile and galloped down to meet him. She grabbed him and they embraced, hugging each other tightly.

"I knew you'd make it!" she said.

"Of course Twilight, I love you." He replied.

Spike ran over and gave Twilight a hug too.

"You're ok!" he shouted, glad to see his best friend alive and well.

"Oh Spike, you came too?" she asked.

"Techorse let me." He answered.

Twilight gave him a look of disbelief and shook her head. Arbiter sighed and said sarcastically, "Such fine young love. Too bad I have to destroy it."

"It is!" said Pinkie Pie, "Maybe you could just let us all go. I'll throw you a big party for it!"

One of the guards shoved a rag in Pinkie's mouth to shut her up.

Arbiter threw his wing around Techorse and said to him, "It's time I take you on a tour of my castle and let you see what I've accomplished."

"Guards!" he ordered, "take the others to the dining hall and fix them something. We'll be back."

Arbiter led Techorse away out of the room and deeper into the castle.

"Can you just speed this up and do me in now?" he asked of the Viscount.

"Oh no, I plan to rub in my achievement first, half pony alien." He replied.

Techorse sighed, if he couldn't reason with Arbiter, he was going to get impatient for his own demise. Arbiter led Techorse into a small room where workers were busy writing messages and taking orders.

"Here, you can see where we sell off our coal to bring in money for our country." He said, "I make one hundred times what your company does."

"Money isn't everything." replied Techorse, "I'm not impressed. Arbiter, can I try to show you that..."

Arbiter frowned and whisked him away to the next room of the castle, silencing him and interrupting his attempt at peace.

"Here is my royal armory." He said, pointing out the ponies trying on armor and messing with head-mounted weapons, "I have a large army of willing troops under my command now. Much larger than you'll ever lead I'm sure."

"I don't always want to be the guy in charge." Answered Techorse, "Being a big military leader isn't a life goal of mine. Can't you see that being a violent conquering like what you think I am just isn't true?"

Arbiter gritted his teeth, he wasn't getting to his mortal enemy like he thought he was going to. In his mind, he thought Techorse would break down, being jealous or sad about all his achievements. But Arbiter had an ace in the hole that he was sure would make Techorse see how insignificant and lowly he was compared to him.

---

Arbiter led his foe over to one last door, a big golden one with a round silver handle. The door had many hearts carved into it. The Viscount stomped his hoof, and a servant pulled the door open for him. Techorse and Arbiter stepped into a very large room bathed in brilliant white light. The room was made completely out of marble and featured many beautiful carved stone columns, on which baskets filled with flowers hung. In the center of the room was a beautiful ivory fountain with a carving of a Pegasus pony foal spitting water at the top. To the sides were very beautiful large cushions of many different colors, each made of the finest material in the world. But the most interesting feature of all of this room was its occupants. They could hear the laughter of a dozen beautiful mares which inhabited the room. To their species, these mares were the most beautiful examples of their kind. Some of them talked and gossiped while sitting on the cushions, others splashed and played in the fountains like young ones, despite being full grown adults. Three of the mares got up from the cushions and approached Arbiter with smiles and spiritual fire in their eyes. The first one was a Pegasus pony that had a gorgeous silver coat, with a yellow mane which flowed freely over the sides of her head and neck. To her right was a unicorn with stunning green eyes, a glowing swirl of white and pink hair, and a very shiny light blue coat. The last one was another Pegasus who had an exotic orange coat, and her black mane and tail to complement that. The three mares surrounded Arbiter and sighed as they stroked his mane and brushed his tail gently.

Arbiter said to Techorse, "These are the mares who want to marry me, Techorse. One dozen of the most beautiful mares in all of Equestria, and they all love me too. You could never achieve this kind of status with this large number of girls, Techorse."

Techorse shook his head and answered with this, "I only need the love of one mare, Arbiter, and you tried to take her from me. I don't want a dozen mares, no matter how attractive you say they are. I want Twilight Sparkle."

“Besides.” he added, unable to resist at least one shot at Arbiter, “How do you know that these mares don't want to just marry you for your money and huge army you were just bragging about?”

The mares gave him a rather annoyed look, although a few looked guilty at the ground knowing full well how they felt.

Arbiter shook his head at the overall stupidity of the situation and dragged Techorse out of his most private place in the castle. He threw the young colt against the wall outside and screamed at him,"You're supposed to be broken now, saying how you're just dirt under my hooves and to beg for mercy! Why won't you admit defeat?"

Techorse stood up from the wall and said, "I'm happy with what I've accomplished, I don't need to achieve your level of success to be the better stallion."

Arbiter shouted at him, "I was planning on letting you go if you had just admitted your place beneath me."

“I doubt it,” responded Techorse, “No matter what, you'll always view me as a threat to Equestria. I'm sorry I couldn't change your mind by reasoning with you, and telling you that I don't need the kinds of things you have to be happy.”

"Stop!" shouted Twilight. She had slipped away from the guards and galloped up to Arbiter. "Please!" she begged, "just let it go, Arbiter. Can't you see Techorse doesn't want to hurt anypony?"

"Stay out of this!" he demanded, "Techorse is an alien who's tricked you into thinking he's actually some sort of good being at heart!"

"He's not!" she answered sternly.

"I don't care what you think, I'm still disposing of him immediately." Said Arbiter.

Twilight took notice at the number of his subjects watching the argument and remembered what the plan was from the night before.

She then said, "Well, if you think Techorse is evil, why don't you prove it?"

"What do you mean?" asked Arbiter.

Twilight continued, "Doesn't Techorse deserve a trial?"

"Of course." he said.

"A fair trial." Corrected Twilight, knowing what the stallion was thinking.

"Oh come now, there's always a catch!" grumbled Arbiter.

Twilight said loudly to the observers, "I'm sure your loyal subjects would enjoy knowing their leader is going to give every pony under his authority a fair trial."

Twilight smiled as she heard the subjects whisper to themselves things along the line of, "She's right."
And "Techorse should get a trial!" but most importantly, "if he doesn't get a trial, we won't either!"

Arbiter looked around at the ponies and knew he had been duped into delaying Techorse's doom.

"Fine.” He said sharply, "we'll hold the trial in a few hours. It will be of his peers, as usual, but neither you nor his six friends, with the exception of Fluttershy, can be on the jury."

"Why Fluttershy?" asked Techorse.

Arbiter said nervously, "Um, because she would keep the other jury members quiet. They're sure to get all riled up about how bad you really are, human."

Arbiter summoned a few of his guards and said, "In the meantime, enjoy lunch with your friends. You can request anything you want Techorse, since you know... it's your last meal."

The former Captain shook his head and stormed off to prepare for the trial. Techorse and Twilight looked at each other, and the smiles on the faces of the citizens of Quartz Valley. Despite his influence, Arbiter was about to lose through the will of the ponies he'd brought up.

---

The trial was held inside a courtroom in the middle of the castle itself, and many of Arbiter's subjects had attended to witness the events. Arbiter stood in the judge's chair, he knew he couldn't simply order Techorse dead right now or else he'd look bad in front of his ponies. Instead, he was going to have to give overwhelming evidence that the green pony in the defendant's booth was evil. Arbiter had changed back into his eyepatch and black cape, and was ready to deal what he thought was perfect justice.

He tapped on the stand he was in with his hoof and said, "Order, please, my subjects."

The crowd fell silent, ready to start the case. Arbiter stood up and said, "We have before us Techorse..."

"I have no last name." finished the defendant.

"No matter." Said Arbiter, "Carrying on, Techorse is guilty of being a violent and destructive alien known as a human at heart. Should the court find him guilty, he is to die this afternoon."

"I can't believe this." Whispered Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy as Arbiter talked, "he's set up a kangaroo court."

"I know, but everything's going to be ok." Replied Fluttershy, "trust me."

Arbiter continued to lecture, "I have evidence that Techorse is the violent alien I say he is. But to be kind, as you subjects know I am, I will allow his attorney Miss Sparkle to speak first in his defense."

Twilight said, "Ladies and gentlecolts of the court, my friend here Techorse is not the evil alien Arbiter says he is, but actually one hundred percent pony at heart. He will not hurt you or cause you any worry."

"Objection." called Arbiter.

"What?" asked Twilight.

"Techorse has already caused worry." replied Arbiter, "I call this family over here to the stand to prove my point."

A family of two earth ponies and their young daughter, who was shaking nervously walked over to the stand.

"Tell me what the humans have done to our planet." Said Arbiter to the father.

He said to the court, "The humans attacked our world six months ago, but it's psychological effects are still present. My daughter here is still asking us to check under her bed for humans."

"Oh brother." Commented Applejack as she rolled her eyes.

"From what I've heard." Said the mother, "thousands of other foals around the world are asking the same thing every night, costing them the precious sleep they need to grow. Our foals are suffering because of that alien's actions!"

"Objection!" shouted Applejack.

"Go ahead." Groaned Arbiter. Applejack said to the family,
"It wasn't his actions at all. The humans in general did this to our planet, but ponies of the court, Techorse here betrayed the humans to help us." The crowd mumbled in agreement, they had heard the reports.

"Not only that!" said Pinkie Pie loudly as she jumped out of the rows of seats, "but he also is a really nice guy! He invents all these neat gadgets that do stuff like peel vegetables, not blast ponies!"

"Maybe he's nice to you." said Arbiter, "but what about ponies from this country?"

"What do you mean?" asked Rarity. "I call forward Keeper to the stand." said Arbiter. Keeper walked onto the platform, passing the sad family on the way.

Arbiter asked of him, "Keeper, you're one of my favorite employees, right?" Keeper nodded without saying a word.

"Now, all I did was ask you to manage my prison, something every legal system needs to survive. I didn't tell you to torture ponies, but just to keep them under watch, right?"

Keeper said, "Yes sir."

Arbiter asked him, "Now, that being said, you peacefully handle all situations in the jail, correct?"

"True." said Keeper, about to weep.

Arbiter pointed at Techorse and asked, "Tell me, when this pony entered the jail you were assigned to and demanded the release of his friends, what did he do to you when you refused?"

"He fed me to a dragon!" wailed Keeper, bawling and letting his tears wet the stand. The crowd of ponies took pity on the pony and stared grumbling.

Many of the ponies in the courtroom also stared at Spike with rage in their eyes. Spike noticed their piercing gazes and refuted, "Oh come on, I'm not the dragon he's talking about! That guy wouldn't even fit!"

"He's using insane logic!" declared Rainbow Dash, "Keeper was watching over us, and we were locked up unfairly! Techorse was only trying to break us out!"

"Silence!" shouted Arbiter.

"Never!" declared Rainbow, "you're cheating this trial!"

"Shut up you stupid rainbow-colored tomboy!" he replied.

Rainbow Dash screamed and darted out of her seat, flying through the air of the courtroom. She landed a blow on Arbiter's head, knocking him out of his chair and sending him down hard on the ground. The crowd gasped at Rainbow's sudden burst of violence.

Arbiter picked himself up and said plainly, "This Rainbow Dash here, she is one of Techorse's closest friends. He even keeps violent company, my subjects."

Rainbow realized in horror that she may have doomed Techorse with her actions, and the angry looks of her friends confirmed that. She landed gently on the ground and walked out of the courtroom without saying another word.

"Rainbow Dash, wait." Called Techorse, attempting to get her to come back, but she was already out the door.

"I have four last witnesses to the evils of this pony."

Arbiter continued, "I call forward four of my friends."

"Interesting, Arbiter actually has friends." Said Rarity, "I wonder what they have to do with Techorse though."

Rarity's mouth fell open when the three ninja ponies and the guard leader of her prison tower entered the courtroom and stood at the stand to replace Keeper.

"These are my four best friends in the whole land." said Arbiter, "I gave them summer jobs guarding some precious objects."

Rarity grunted at the statement and refused to look at Arbiter. She knew he was referring to them, not some pieces of treasure.

The Viscount continued, "When Techorse entered the tower to steal them, look what he did to my own friends, my very best companions!"

The ninja ponies took off their robes and showed the burns they received from the missiles they took earlier, while the mare showed every pony in the court the bruises on her head from Rainbow Dash's beating.

"Can't you see that Techorse destroys everything in his path and beats up any pony who doesn't give him what he wants? If we do not punish him, he shall destroy not only Quartz Valley's tranquility, but Equestria's tranquility as well!" finished Arbiter, certain he had won, "Go and vote now."

"Just a minute!" shouted Twilight.

"Oh what now?" asked Arbiter angrily.

"I call Viscount Arbiter to the stand." declared Twilight.

"ME?" complained Arbiter.

"Ponies of the court, please let me offer one last defense for my friend." begged Twilight.

Techorse smiled at the court, hoping they would grant him one last chance at life.

"Very well." declared the leader of the jury.

Arbiter told his friends, "Go get a drink or something."

As he flapped his wings and landed with a heavy thwack on the stand.

"Viscount Arbiter." Said Twilight as she walked up to the stand, "can you answer me one question?"

"Of course." He responded. Twilight smiled and continued, "Do you know why Techorse was invading your jails and towers? Rainbow Dash gave us the answer earlier."

"I don't know." replied Arbiter, looking away from her.

"Might I remind you that you're under oath?" continued Twilight with a bit of teasing in her voice.

Arbiter grunted and replied, "Fine, I do know, but I'm not telling."

"Isn't it true that you kidnapped miss Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity and put them in the towers to lure Techorse there and commit these acts of violence?" Twilight asked politely.

Arbiter said sternly, "I'm not saying anything!"

"Ladies and gentlecolts, it's obvious why Techorse did the violent things he did. He was trying to rescue his friends from your Viscount, who wanted him gone. In fact, he even kidnapped me and threatened to decapitate me if Techorse did not show up today."

The court gasped at this knowledge which made a good deal of logical sense and began to talk over what they had just heard.

"Isn't this true, Viscount?" asked Twilight of Arbiter.

Arbiter looked at the ponies in the courtroom and knew he had lost.

He said, "It is true. I ordered you and the others kidnapped and incarcerated in order to make Techorse show up here today. However, I would have returned all of you unharmed if he had simply come directly to the castle. Despite that, Techorse still committed violence against my family members and Keeper without reason. He and his friends Applejack and Pinkie Pie, along with that dragon who's name I forget, went on a crusade to rescue the others before coming here. Yes, I may have set up the pony, but he still took unnecessary action, and I ask the court to consider that in their decision."

“One more thing.” urged Twilight, the jury listening in.

She then continued ominously, “While I was here in captivity, I learned that more than anything, Quartz Valley wants to be on the map and appreciated by Equestria. One of the most sacred laws of Equestria is that capital punishment is illegal! If it is true that you want to get on the map, you won't be able to if you're found breaking this law. If Arbiter gets his way, you may never get noticed no matter how much money you make!”

The jury left the room to decide, and Arbiter spread his wings and returned to his seat. Twilight said excitedly to Techorse, "I think we did it!"

"Thanks Twilight, you've saved my life again." He replied lovingly as he stared into her purple eyes. The jury soon returned to their seats and the leader gave their verdict.

"Have you come to a decision?" asked Arbiter eagerly.

The leader cleared his throat and said, "We have reached a fair decision. We find Techorse not guilty of being this evil alien you claim him to be. It seems he only took action to save his friends, something any of us would do. We do however, believe you may demand him to make medical payments and reparations for your harmed friends."

"Seems fair." said Techorse after taking a sigh of relief, "Arbiter, I really didn't mean to hurt them. I had no idea who they were to you."

“I'm sorry my lord.” said the leader of the jury to Arbiter, “But Twilight Sparkle is right. We cannot let you risk our chance of getting on the map over one colt who's clearly not done anything wrong.”

"The court has found Techorse not guilty." Said Arbiter slowly, "but that doesn't remove any of my power as Viscount, supreme leader of this land. Guards!"

The guards filed in and filled the room, leaving Arbiter and the friends surrounded. One of the stallions dragged Rainbow Dash back into the room by her tail, and threw her in with the others.

"But, we won fair and square!" protested Rarity, "you lost!"

Arbiter laughed, "I wasn't planning on losing in the first place, Miss Rarity. I would offer a fair trial to any other pony, but I simply won't allow this one to go free."

"Sir!" declared one of the guards, "Your subjects have already made a ruling. If you go against that, you'll be dethroned."

The jury leaned in, angry looks on their faces. Although Arbiter had given them money, he had failed to give them what they really wanted, which was a leader who had justice and the interests of his ponies at heart.

Arbiter shouted angrily, "Then I challenge Techorse to a duel!"

The jury gasped, and recoiled at the statement.

“A duel?” shrieked Pinkie Pie.

“There's no law against that.” explained Arbiter, “We'll settle this all like gentlecolts. If I can't use my influence to take down Techorse, then I'll use my might.”

“Twilight, do something!” begged Spike.

Arbiter interuppted the conversation, “I hear all the time of magical duels in Equestria. Surely a normal one won't hurt? Take them to the roof, I'll be there shortly!”

"Yes sir!" replied the guard, beginning to rally the stallions and mares under him to lead them away.

Arbiter laughed, and addressed the jury one more time, “I'll prove to you all just how wrong you were.”

---

The friends were all taken to the large open roof area on the top of the castle. There, they were led out before Arbiter, who stood with rage in his eyes as he looked at his enemies. Arbiter dismissed all but 10 of his soldiers. Half of them remaining were mares, including the two who had stayed with Twilight the night before.

"I can't touch you now without being overthrown." said Arbiter to Techorse, "However, duels are still a thing in Equestria. We shall fight with swords."

"What if he should decline?" asked Applejack, “After all, duels aren't meant to be this dangerous in Equestria, they're short challenges, not brawls! This is the letter of the law, not the spirit!”

Arbiter had his guards lead them over to a large rectangular hole cut in the stones of the roof. It was a deep pit leading fifty feet down. At the bottom was a sand floor, where a large purple worm sat writhing in the dirt. As the ponies stared down into the pit, the monster opened its mouth consisting of a jaw lined with sharp teeth.

"If you do not accept my duel Techorse, I shall feed your friends to this purple worm." said Arbiter, smirking.

Rarity's face turned into that of horror at the thought of being thrown to the monster.

Spike nervously asked Arbiter, "What does it think of dragons?"

"Not sure." Replied Arbiter, "Although I was just going to let you go too, honestly. No sense keeping the pet from living freely."

Rainbow Dash got a confident look about her, if Arbiter planned to throw her in the pit with the annelid monster, she could just fly out. But somehow the Viscount picked up on her intentions and added, "One more thing, I will be clipping your wings before you are thrown in, just in case."

Rainbow folded her wings quickly, shying them away from the evil stallion.

Fluttershy looked at the monster and whined, "I don't want to be fed to that worm!"

Techorse assured her, "I won't let him feed you to that thing."

"Then duel me, human." demanded Arbiter, spreading his wings in rage.

"I don't want the chance of you getting injured either Arbiter, because no matter how much you hate me, I don't hate you." Said Techorse boldly, "I'm asking for a peaceful way we can settle this."

Arbiter shouted, "There is no way, fight me you coward!"

Twilight remembered a key part of the laws she had studied in the past and said, "He'll fight you tomorrow, no sooner."

"What?" asked Arbiter, shattered that he wasn't getting to fight now.

"The laws state that you must wait at least one day after challenging to a duel before it can be accepted." explained Twilight, "Equestria and Quartz Valley both share this rule.”

Arbiter said angrily, "Fine, you'll spend the night here in different rooms. But tomorrow morning Techorse must decide whether to duel me, or to let you all become snacks for that worm down there." Arbiter ordered his guards to take them away and lock them in a large living area until tomorrow, when the duel would occur. They were sealed inside and security was ramped up to prevent their escape.

Rainbow Dash looked around the small room crammed with beds. "So, why couldn't Techorse just duel Arbiter today?"

"I wanted to make sure he got one more chance at a peaceful solution to this." answered Twilight.

"There is none." said Techorse plainly.

"What?" came the others' shocked response. All eyes were now on the male's sad look.

"Arbiter is only interested in either ending me or making me miserable beyond repair. We tried peace, the legal system, offers and bargains, and he will have none of it. It's obvious to me that Arbiter is begging for this duel tomorrow."

"Doesn't mean you have to lose." said Spike, putting his hand on Techorse's nose, "if you win, we can all just go home."

"Every pony in this land will be watching the fight tomorrow." Said Techorse, "what will they think of me if I strike down Arbiter?"

"They'll think you really are a monster!" figured Pinkie Pie.

"Right." He said, "Arbiter has me now. If I win tomorrow, the citizens of Quartz Valley will demonize me for it. If I lose, Arbiter gets me."

Twilight said desperately, "There's got to be a way where you can make it!" Techorse looked at her and said, "I'm sorry Twilight, but there isn't. This is my last day."

"Don't say that." comforted Fluttershy, "I'm sure you'll find a way out of all of this." They looked up as they heard Rarity crying in the corner of the room. Spike walked up to her and gently stroked her curly mane.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "are you upset for Techorse?"

“Not just him, but us too! If we try to stop this barbarism we'll be fed to that monster.” she wailed.

Applejack reminded them, "Look, in all of this mayhem we got to remember that we're all connected as friends. Nothing is going to tear us apart, not Arbiter, not the worm, or anythin' evil on this planet. Think of all the things we've been through together, Wizard's war, battles with monsters, and the threat of nighttime forever. We can't give up hope now."

"She's absolutely right." said Techorse, "I'll find a way tomorrow to stop this once and for all. This could still have a happy ending, but as of now, we're going to have to earn it together."

"That's the spirit." said Rainbow Dash, "so tomorrow you'll beat that Arbiter and we leave this country for good!"

"Maybe, but don't count on that ending, Rainbow." said Techorse. The door to the detainment room was flung open as three very powerful looking guards entered the room.

"You're coming with us!" they demanded as they grabbed Fluttershy and started to drag her away. She screamed, and Rainbow tried to save her by grabbing on to her tail, but the guards overpowered them and escorted her quickly out of the room, slamming the door behind them. It had all happened so quickly that the friends were left in shock.

"Oh no." said Twilight, "what are they going to do to Fluttershy?"

"They're going to torture her!" screeched Rarity, "oh the poor thing." Applejack frowned and took off her hat as she imagined her friend being stretched on a rack.

"This is all my fault." said Techorse, pounding a robotic fist onto the ground, "if I had just let him do me in, Fluttershy wouldn't be in this mess."

"I think we've had enough of this crud." shouted Rainbow. She jumped in front of Techorse and screamed at him, "Stop being a pansy and destroy Arbiter tomorrow! Get rid of him so we can go home!"

"Fine."

"Really?" asked Rainbow, surprised her rage had reached him.

"I'll do it, as long as you'll watch," he said, “I'm just not sure if we could live with ourselves after that.”

"Never mind." She said while wincing.

"So what do we do now?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"We go to bed." answered Twilight, "Techorse needs his rest for tomorrow."

They retired to the cots to try to get some sleep for the inevitable bloodbath the next day. Meanwhile, the three guards carried Fluttershy across the castle and to a large double door made of white-painted wood. They opened the door and placed Fluttershy gently down on a carpeted area. She looked up and saw a beautiful queen sized bed with a velvet comforter. It was built upon a cherry wood frame with posts carved in an artistic curling shape. To the right of the bed was a nightstand with a glass reading lamp on it. A gold-framed mirror and small closet completed the cozy room.

One of the guards told Fluttershy, "Lord Arbiter wishes for you to stay here tonight. Through that door is a bath where you can clean yourself up. There's also a nightgown he wants you to have in that closet. Have a good night."

They left Fluttershy looking at the room in confusion. As they left the room, she gently lifted into the air with her wings and drifted over to the soft bed, where she laid down upon it. She stretched out her body over the velvet comforter and felt the smooth material against her body.

"This isn't fair." She thought out loud, "My friends are still in that jail cell, and I'm here for some reason. But why?"

Fluttershy heard the lock on the door click and knew it was too late to protest, so she resigned herself to bathe and retire for the night immediately afterwords.

---

The team was torn from their beds early in the morning and marched back up to the roof of the castle again. This time as they were led out, their expressions became gloomy as they noticed the worm's pit had been opened up again. They waited in silence for five minutes before Arbiter approached them, wearing his dark cape again.

The stallion addressed them, "Good morning. It's decision time."

He picked up a sword with his teeth and threw it down on the ground in front of Techorse. The blade was about two and half inches in width, two feet long, and had a plain T-bar hilt with a simple red padded grip.

"This is the sword you shall duel me with. You may use that dreadful saddle of yours to pick up this blade Techorse. In order to make the fight fair, I've employed my own invention."

Arbiter called for two unicorns, and they walked up to him, each carrying a metal gauntlet with an amethyst crystal on the palm of each one. The unicorns placed the two metal gloves at Arbiter's sides, and then touched the crystal with their horns, making them glow. They placed the metal hands under Arbiter's control, and the lord of Quartz Valley lifted his new extremities into the air.

Techorse looked at the floating metal hands and said, "That's impressive, half magic and half technology."

Arbiter nodded and pointed with the metal hand at the hilt tied around his waist, "I shall use them to wield this sword. It beats holding it with my teeth like I used to." Arbiter spread his wings and opened the palms of both hands, extending them out to give him a very powerful appearance.

"This is the day I finally defeat the alien who threatens the peace of our planet." He proclaimed, "But he must first accept my challenge to duel."
"Please." Begged Twilight desperately, "isn't there any way we can settle this peacefully? Maybe you and Techorse don't have to duel."

Arbiter almost said no instinctively, but thought of something important to him and said, "Well, there actually is a way for us to settle this peacefully. If it is accepted, even you get to go free, Techorse!"

"What is it?" asked Twilight eagerly, hoping the captain had a change of heart.

Arbiter folded his wings to his sides and walked slowly up to Fluttershy. He looked into her blue eyes and said, "I will let you all go with no trouble, if Fluttershy agrees to marry me. Her beauty absolutely astonishes me. That stunning light yellow coat of yours and that flowing pink hair and tail make you beautiful. I love to stare into those blue eyes of yours. Your cutie mark, those three pink butterflies are something precious to me as well. But it's your shy and kind personality that would make you a good wife Fluttershy. It's so innocent that I can't resist it."

Fluttershy blushed and backed up one step, she knew now why Arbiter had treated her so special during her captivity, "Oh, my."

Rarity looked like she was about to throw up, she couldn't believe what Arbiter wanted to do to her friend.

"I can't believe he just said that." said Applejack in utter shock.

"Please, marry me and accept my love, and all your friends go free." promised Arbiter.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and lowered her head, "I'll do it."

"No Fluttershy!" shouted Applejack, "ya can't!"

Fluttershy ignored her and asked Arbiter, "keep your promise about not burning the coal, and bring my animals here to your castle, and I'll be your mistress."

"Fluttershy, please don't submit yourself to him like this!" begged Rarity.

"Girls, there's no sense in you all getting hurt." Said Fluttershy softly, "I can learn to love Arbiter to make sure you go free."

Techorse felt rage building up in his heart. He knew Arbiter had the audacity to kidnap his friends and threaten the life of his love interest. But this attempt to make Fluttershy his trophy wife had brought him to a boiling point.

"She will not do any such thing, and that's final!" shouted Rarity, firmly planting her hoof into the ground.

"Yeah, what she said!" agreed Spike, hoping to win brownie points.

"Very well." Said Arbiter, frowning and picking up the gauntlets again, "then Techorse must duel me or let you all be eaten by the purple worm."

"What if he says nothin'?" asked Applejack confidently, knowing that legally they could just filibuster the whole ordeal.

Arbiter replied with a smirk, "I'll pick you off one at a time to speed up his decision. Starting with you and his marefriend."

The guards grabbed Applejack and subdued her, then positioned her on a platform above the worm pit, a trapdoor built to funnel prisoners down to the beast. Finally, to make sure nothing funny was attempted by the country girl, they tied up her legs and positioned her over the trapdoor. Applejack swallowed hard as an earth pony wearing a black ski mask removed her stetson hat and approached a lever.

"Oh my gosh, they're gonna dump Applejack in!" shrieked Rainbow Dash in horror.

"Please, I'll be your wife!" begged Fluttershy, "there's no need for this."

Arbiter scoffed, "I'll take you anyways after I deal with them. I don't care if you don't love me back, you'll be my girl and like it."

Arbiter ordered Twilight to be thrown on the platform as well, and the two of them sat 30 feet above the purple worm below, which squirmed around, making loud roars and ramming itself into the walls of the enclosure.

Arbiter pointed to the sword on the ground before Techorse and said darkly, "I'm going to back up and count to ten, Techorse. Pick up the sword and duel me or both of them go in."

Techorse looked down at the blade and saw his reflection in it. He knew someone's blood was going on the cold steel, it was just a matter of who.

He heard Twilight cry out, "Just pick it up! You don't have to fight him, but pick it up!"

Applejack felt the trapdoor slipping as the two frightful ponies started to push on the lever to drop them in.

Applejack said to Techorse, "I'm sorry Techorse. Please, just help us."

Pinkie Pie looked around at the terror. Something in her mind knew that her best friends were about to lose their lives because of the desires of the large white pony in front of her. Pinkie Pie's hair fell into a straight and limp style as her psyche shattered. She marched right up to Arbiter and spat in his face.

"You big fat, arrogant, mean, rude, nasty, controlling, evil, scheming bully!" she shouted at him, "Let us go and give up your downright cruel scheme, or so help me I will tear you apart, Arbiter!"

Arbiter pulled back a metal fist and grabbed Pinkie Pie before throwing her, sending her flying backwards through the air. Techorse's mouth fell open as the pink girl flew back onto the ground. Her hair had returned to normal, but she sat up, and tears ran down from her eyes from the pain.

“I only wanted you to stop.” she said, before crying, “That hurt!”

"What was that about tearing me apart miss Pie?" asked Arbiter teasingly as he turned his head and raised a gauntlet to his ear, "I couldn't hear you over the sound of your ribs breaking!"

For Techorse, this had been the end of his patience. Arbiter had not only tried to take Fluttershy for himself, but he had caused serious harm to Pinkie Pie by throwing her like a toy. The threats on everypony, the pain, and the suffering were far too much. It was time to end it.

"ARBITER!" screamed Techorse as he extended his robot arms and rushed forward.

“Now the real fight begins.” he said, laughing.

Techorse grabbed the sword and charged at Arbiter, yelling in rage. Arbiter quickly reached for his sword and held it in front of him with his metal gauntlets. Steel hit steel as Techorse's blade crossed Arbiter's, each hit sending a shower of sparks over the side of the castle. They clashed blades and moved backwards, away from the others and deep into the cloisters of the rooftop. The ponies of Quartz Valley watched in awe as their leader fought the green coated colt, blocking each blow with skill and attempting to return with his own. Arbiter concentrated with his one eye, using the spell of the gauntlets to attack Techorse while avoiding his swings.

As they retreated into the cloister, Arbiter swung horizontally and struck a blow across his enemy's side. Techorse yelled in pain as a small flesh wound opened up on his right, the gash stung like crazy. But still he fought on, for Pinkie Pie's injury had sent him over the edge, and justice was demanded for it. He brought the blade down, nearly bisecting the Viscount, but Arbiter flew backwards, using his wings to evade the powerful strike. The sword hit the ground and kicked up a chunk of stone.

Techorse brought the robotic arms closer to his body and shouted at Arbiter with nothing but rage in his heart, "I tried peace, Arbiter. I wanted to give you a chance, but you blew it. You're going down."

"It is you who will fall, alien." Replied Arbiter as he galloped forward, swinging the gauntlets to bring his longsword around. Techorse held his blade vertically and blocked the move before returning with a sharp kick from his front leg. This sent Arbiter tumbling down the cloister, where he came to a stop near a gothic-styled window. He got up and took one gauntlet off the sword, raising it so Techorse could see it. Arbiter smirked and made the symbol for "bring it on" with the device.

Another war cry and the green pony charged again, readying the blade to run through the evil Viscount. But Arbiter jumped in the air and hovered with his wings, and as Techorse went under him, he brought the blade down to try and stab him in the head. Luckily, Techorse sped up and dodged the downwards stab, and Arbiter had to turn around to face him. This time, Arbiter pushed Techorse back further into the cloister, rather than the other way around, and they continued to cross blades and hack away at each other in an epic form of combat by today's standards. As they continued to fight, one of the mares watching over the surviving friends looked around and said, "He's gone, let them go now." The “executioners” took off their ski masks and untied Applejack and Twilight before removing them from the platform.

"Wait, so you're letting us go?" asked Twilight in confusion.

"Yeah." Replied the guard, "we're just so scared of what Arbiter might do to us that we had to follow his orders."

"Aw, you're so sweet." She replied half heartedly, trying hard to resist smacking him. Spike ran up to the now liberated Twilight and hugged her.

"I thought you were history!" he said.

"So did I." she replied honestly. "Ok, now that we're free, we should help Techorse!" declared Rainbow Dash.

"Quite right, but where are they?" asked Rarity.

Techorse and Arbiter emerged from the cloister about two hundred feet in front of the friends. Arbiter swung his sword at an angle, attempting to decapitate Techorse with one blow, but he was simply too fast for the swing. The large attack threw him off balance, and Techorse took advantage of this by bringing his sword down on Arbiter. The steel blade cut through the left gauntlet, and the magical object exploded in flash of light and energy as it was destroyed.

Arbiter gripped his weapon tightly with the other hand and continued to dodge Techorse's other blows. After a few moments of crossing blades, Arbiter saw a gap. As the green pony fell off balance, the Captain gave a delightful shout and thrusted his sword forward right through Techorse's sternum. The young colt fell down upon the stone floor of the castle roof and gasped weakly as the blade pierced him. Twilight watched this in terror and galloped to assist. The others tried to follow, but Fluttershy held out a leg.

"No." she said with anger in her eyes, "let Twilight handle this."

"Finally!" cheered Arbiter as he looked at the wounded Techorse, "I've been waiting for this."

The light purple unicorn reached her love interest and threw herself down next to him. She turned him over and looked him in the eyes. He was losing consciousness fast.

"How did you escape?" asked Arbiter angrily.

"Hold still!" she said, ignoring Arbiter. Twilight's horn glowed as she touched Techorse's wound. The deep wound began to heal, and Techorse felt the strength of his lungs returned as Twilight's spell patched up the injury in a glow of purple light. Normally healing spells were too weak to heal anything but a scratch, but Twilight's love for Techorse powered her will to cure the deep cut.

Arbiter screamed, "Stop that!"

But Twilight finished healing the love of her life and kissed him gently on the head. She got up from the ground and turned to face Arbiter. Twilight continued to let her horn glow and picked up Techorse's sword from the stone ground.

She said to the overlord with rage, "You threaten my life and the lives of my friends, you stab my coltfriend, and you tell me to 'stop that?' You're mine now!"

The sword's blade was wrapped in a purple glow, and Twilight swung the blade at him. Arbiter blocked the weapon and was pushed back towards the walls of the cloister, but made sure he did not actually go back inside again. Twilight swung furiously and accurately, pushing the Viscount backwards until finally he was pinned against the wall. With one last shout of anger, Twilight telekinetically hacked the blade downwards and sliced through the right gauntlet, breaking it and causing Arbiter's sword to fall to the ground. Twilight picked up that blade also with her magic and crossed the two. She moved the blades around Arbiter's neck, threatening to use them like a giant pair of scissors. Techorse stood up and let the robotic hands slide back into the mechanical saddle he enjoyed using so dearly. He casually walked over to the outside of the cloister and stood in front of Twilight Sparkle and Arbiter.

Twilight prepared to push the blades and sever Arbiter's head, ending the life of the evil lord.

Techorse looked at Arbiter, and the Viscount looked over with his one good eye. He saw fear in his face, the once powerful and mighty lord had been brought down to the status of a whimpering child. But more importantly, he finally figured out that Arbiter was likely suffering from some kind of insanity in all of this. Perhaps the invasion of the humans had driven the captain mad, a madness that Equestria was being taken over, and there was nothing he could have done about it. Now, as Twilight prepared to finish him off, the swordspony had a look of failure on his face.

Arbiter would not beg for his life, but simply said with a dry throat, "You and your mare have beaten me in this duel Techorse. Just tell her to do it quickly."

Techorse walked up to Twilight and kissed her on the cheek before saying, "Put the swords down."

"But what about Pinkie Pie?"

"Just drop them, please." Twilight powered down the swords and dropped the blades as she stepped back from Arbiter.

"Why?" he asked, "after all the things I did, why couldn't you let her finish me?" Techorse extended a robotic hand to help the lord up.

"I'm proving I'm a good pony." He replied, "All of your citizens who just watched this duel would agree that because I've spared you, I'm not such a beast anymore."

Techorse pointed out the number of citizens of Quartz Valley who had gathered at the base of the castle to watch the fight.

Arbiter simply watched as the citizens began to chant, "Set them free!"

Arbiter silenced them and said to his followers, "I will release them."

"Let's go back home." said Twilight, gathering up her friends to leave. Techorse turned his back on Arbiter and walked over to the edge of the worm pit.

He looked down at the monster and said sadly, "Oh, Pinkie Pie."

He let tears fall into the pit and onto the annelid, which screeched at him.

"I'm so sorry." bawled Techorse, "I should have acted sooner."

Arbiter saw Techorse perched in an undefendable position over the worm pit. He had one last shot at accomplishing his objectives. Arbiter picked up his sword with his teeth and aimed it at Techorse's rear end before charging.

Rainbow Dash noticed the charge and shouted, "Techorse, watch out!"

He span around and saw Arbiter about to strike. Acting quickly, Techorse took out his turbofans and lifted vertically into the air, letting Arbiter pass underneath him. Arbiter attempted to stop, but momentum was too great, and over he went down into the deep pit. The others refused to watch as the stallion was swallowed whole by his own pet.

Techorse landed next to his friends and said to them, "I can't believe that just happened. Even at the end, he still felt that he needed to try and finish me off. Now he's gone."

"I guess we should just go home then." Said Applejack sadly, removing her hat once again.

"Oh no.” said Pinkie Pie, her ears drooping, “Getting thrown like a ball wasn't that bad! It might have hurt my head a bit, but Arbiter didn't deserve that!”

“I thought he said he broke your ribs!” protested Techorse.

“That's what he said, but he was wrong.” admitted Pinkie Pie, smiling, “I'm a little more bouncy than that!”

“Well, I guess I charged at him for nothing then.” he said, frowning.

“You did the right thing.” assured Rainbow Dash.

"Maybe..." he answered sadly, "But it's a shame I couldn't have made peace with him."

A thud was heard by the team between their conversation as princess Celestia's chariot landed on the roof of the castle. It was being pulled by twenty of her guards, with Jools and Jops at the front.

"Thank goodness I finally found you." said the princess, glad to see that her team was mostly intact. She frowned as she saw her friends staring into the dismal hole in the castle roof.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Techorse finally took notice of Celestia.

"Princess!" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"An enchanted paper plane entered Canterlot one day." She replied, "Twilight sent them out as a cry for help. When I heard about Arbiter's plans for her, I brought some troops with me."

Techorse saluted Jools and Jops, who nodded in acknowledgment. Twilight approached Celestia and bowed before her.

She stood up afterwords and said, "Thank you for coming, but we've already stopped Arbiter."

"Then why are you all so sad?" asked Celestia.

"It's terrible." said Twilight, "Arbiter was killed by the purple worm in this pit."

"What?"

“Techie thought I had gotten hurt badly, but I really hadn't, so he fought Arbiter!” explained Pinkie Pie rapidly, “Then Arbiter hurt him, but Twilight healed him, and then she beat him with all these super cool sword moves! Twilight and Techie wanted to let him go, but he wouldn't, and he fell in trying to get Techie again!”

Princess Celestia listened and stared, trying to process all the information at once.

"It's true." explained Fluttershy, "He fell in making a lunge at Techorse, and it gobbled him up."

The princess smiled and walked over to the edge, then looked down at the twelve foot long creature.

"It's going to be ok." Comforted the princess, "Twilight, did you ever study purple worms?"

"No." she replied, “Is there something I'm forgetting here?”

Celestia tilted her head upwards and addressed her team, "Purple worms don't eat meat. They eat giant mushrooms that grow underground in this area. Anything else is inedible to them."

"Then why did it eat him?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well, the worm is blind and can't smell either, so it simply takes in anything it can find." Explained Celestia, "however, anything that isn't a giant mushroom doesn't quite sit well on the worm's stomach.

The irritated worm will coat the object with a special hardening amber to soothe the problem."

"A soothing coat?" asked Rarity, not quite making a connection.

"Like how oysters make pearls, Rarity."

The worm began to cough and sputter, as if hacking up a hairball. A chunk of amber-colored plastic shot out of its mouth and landed on the roof. Arbiter was trapped inside, a sad look to him, as if he was disappointed in his own failure and that his home world was doomed.

Twilight looked at the amber cubes and said, "He's just in stasis. If we remove the amber, he should wake up.”

"I bet if we heat up the amber, it will melt away." suggested Spike, ready to breathe fire.

Celestia said, "For now, let's put Arbiter in storage back at my castle. He's going to need to answer for what he's done."

"I suppose that's it then." said Applejack cheerfully, "Let's head on home to celebrate!”

"Not yet." said Twilight. She said to the princess, "Princess Celestia, I need to ask you a favor."

"What is it?" she replied, acknowledging her request. Twilight led the princess and had her look down at the ponies of Quartz Valley.

"These ponies never got their towns on the maps of Equestria." Twilight explained, "They felt unloved by you and Luna, thinking they were forgotten. That's why they turned to Arbiter. Please, let them send representatives to Canterlot and be accepted as citizens of your kingdom."

Celestia watched the ponies as they stared up in awe at her flowing hair and stunning appearance.

She called down to them sweetly, "Citizens of Quartz Valley, from this day forward you shall have your place on the maps of Equestria. I apologize for my unkind forgetfulness in adding your small country to the records. A thousand years ago, the day I was to add your country to our maps, my sister attempted to overthrow the planet, and my depression after her banishment caused me to forget your country. Although I do not expect it, can you forgive me for my mistake?"

The citizens cheered a happy response; they were finally going to be accepted by the princesses. Princess Celestia's heart filled with joy at the eagerness of the citizens to forgive her, and felt as if she was continuing to reconcile with her past more and more every day.

Twilight turned and faced Techorse. He looked up and smiled at her, then took off his saddle and approached her slowly. They gave each other a loving look before Techorse said,

"Thanks for saving me again."

"I was just about to say the same thing..." She replied before they began to kiss.

A week later, every last banner and creation of Arbiter had been burned, and the purple worm was returned to its home underground in the mines, which it very much appreciated as it could finally eat the mushrooms it craved again. The former leader of Quartz Valley was freed from Arbiter's prisoners and returned to work, happy to have his job back. The mining probes were switched from purely retrieving coal to looking for precious metals, gems, and construction materials. Quartz Valley's economy continued to grow, but the environmental harm had ceased.

Back in Ponyville, the team of seven were once again considered heroes for stopping the terror Arbiter had inflicted with his ninjas. But even they were welcome in town from time to time, as it was soon proved that they would much rather practice their martial arts in defense of others rather than take them away. After apologizing for their actions and admitting they were not related to Arbiter, they started a small karate dojo in Quartz Valley, and the Three Brothers Karate became a popular after school program for the town's foals. As for the seven friends, they returned to their normal lives after gathering for a party Pinkie Pie threw for everyone in celebration of their success. For Equestria, another tyrant had been defeated, and the planet was once again safe.