Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Nights Like These

Ray pursed his lips silently as he began to wash the blood from his hands into the barrel of saltwater nearby. His eyes remained locked on the dissected minotaur, the strange smell of minotaur blood heated up in the tent causing his nose to crinkle. The display was grizzly as well, the minotaur’s inner cavities exposed to the world. The tent was quiet since nobody else but Ray was in it, either having better or less disgusting things to do. Still, this job was an unexpectedly important one, attempting to understand the physical nature of their foe.

So far, his findings had been quite extensive, ranging from important details to rather strange anomalies. This one in particular confirmed several theories proposed by Kraven about the individuality of each minotaur. Thanks to it being one of the very few minotaur’s whose body was perfectly untouched, they were able to pick apart its skin, bones, and muscles. Compared to other minotaurs, there were slight differences, including what Kraven theorized was a healed broken bone and favor to its left shoulder for weapons, not its right like others. Unfortunately, the drawback to having an untouched body was that its face was a complete mess, having a spear burst it open like a bloody melon.

His face, actually. As interesting as it was that each minotaur was in fact its own individual with some semblance of a personality, they were all male. Each and every minotaur corpse they had observed had male genitalia and general male body parts, and according to what most Fallen had seen, it wasn’t just the corpses they preserved. The discovery was one of their first and by far the most important, showing not only that they were facing at least half the numbers that appeared on the battlefield. Each minotaur had to come from somewhere, and the lack of reproductive diversity amongst the warriors meant that there had to be female counterparts elsewhere on the continent.

It also meant that there was some sort of social organization in the minotaurs, perhaps a patriarchy with male warriors and female reproducers. The idea was heavily supported as well by what they had discovered in the minotaurs’ camp and mine. Rations of grain, dried meats of something, and water storages proved that there had to be some sort of domestic control somewhere as well. The grain wasn’t too unsimilar from the Equestrian variety as far as he and the Fallen could tell, maybe just harder and more golden. Unfortunately, it was a clear indication that they were fighting a civilization of some sort, the amount of organization they had and the support of munitions to their army evidence of permanent establishments somewhere out there.

Unfortunately, even with the past week to search the rolling golden hills and open plains between the mounds, they had found nothing. The spiders had spent almost every moment after their battles scuttling across the continent, searching for signs of life. In spite of scouring almost eighty miles north of their current camp, there had been nothing but endless golden grasses layering rolling hills. Worse, however, was that there wasn’t just a lack of enemies, but a lack of life at all.

Even with how huge the killing had been and the relative neglect of the battlefield after the fighting was done, there were no scavengers. Ray had expected carrion birds or animals to pick through the corpses of the minotaurs and cause issues for studying them, but other than bacteria, there was nothing in assisting in their decomposition. It was unnerving, the sheer lack of life on this part of the continent, the complete neglect the land seemed to be facing. The golden grasses seemed to be the only living things on the continent, and even then they were probably golden not for their beauty but from how scorched the land was.

The earth here was hard, almost impossible to indent. It was causing troubles for the archers, whose primary method was lodging the sharp ends of their bow into the ground and firing their arrows. In fact, they were already several hundred bows down from them being broken on the tough soil. Adant and Kraven were working tirelessly with Horum, one of the few scientific Fallen, to resolve the issues before their next battle. Ray hadn’t been able to keep track of their progress, unfortunately, as he had taken to the dissections personally.

Thanks to the large bodies and tough skin of their foe, hooves had trouble finding purchase when it came to incisions and the sort. It seemed they had been correct in changing their method to spearing the minotaurs, as even with serrated blades and a still target, Ray found some difficulty in picking apart the minotaurs. Skalos had been concerned that Ray was too involved in the matter, but given that after two days of establishing a camp there was nothing else to do, his objections fell silent. The human was just lucky to have something to still be busy with.

Most of the army had been sitting around after they had established camp, training on the new terrain and getting accustomed to the harsh climate. The sun bore down on them constantly, turning the ground into sizzling gravel and each blade of grass into a slim brand. The wind that blew through the hills was hot and heavy, making the sun’s burden heavier. Their tents weren’t much relief as they had been designed with the threat of rain and snow, made to retain heat instead of ventilate it out. Most of the time, the soldiers crowded in the slim shade provided by their tents rather than inside of them. With rarely a cloud in the sky, trips to the cold ocean became a relief that soldiers regularly were granted.

Sweating profusely in this tent, Ray flicked the water from his washed arms, his chest glistening like his hands. Huffing in exertion, he made the mistake of breathing in through his nose, cussing softly as the awful stench of cooking minotaur assaulted him. Shaking his head, he turned back to the corpse. He had pried its chest open in order for Kraven and the others who were interested to observe while he was away. Hopefully they could discover something more useful, though Ray had no clue what it could be. All he knew is that the sun was setting soon, and if he wanted to be presentable at all to the ponies back in Equestria, he had to clean himself up.

As common as it was for him to go basically naked in the camp thanks to the soaring heat and inconvenience of a shirt, it also meant that he was usually covered in any number of substances. Today’s concoction just happened to be a healthy splash of blood, mud, and digestive juices that had exploded from the minotaur’s stomach when he had opened it up. Given his own look and smell had caused his two companions to leave him alone in the tent, he doubted the ponies back home would very much like to greet him in this state. Grunting, he set aside one of his tools and took out a wet cloth to clean his knife.

Glancing around the messy tent, he wondered for a moment if he should try to clean up the various things lying around. The only way to preserve bodies out here was with thick layers of spiderling silk, which lay in sticky heaps all over the back side of the small tent. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that effective at preservation, which meant a few disgusting fluids had leaked into the hard ground, puddling in various places. There were also patches of removed skin haphazardly placed on top of one of the other tables. Ray didn’t know if any of the others wanted the skin samples, but he had left them out for them just in case. Taking a peek at the crack in the tent flaps, he deduced that there was neither the time nor need to clean his mess up.

Sheathing a clean knife, he pushed his way out of the tent and into a large avenue of the camp, he squinted in the setting sunlight. It was still outrageously hot outside, but an early night breeze alleviated some of the burn. Right outside the flaps, one of the Fallen who just happened to be walking by let out a gag at the sight and smell of her general, shaking her muzzle to try and get the stench out.

“Sorry,” Ray apologized with a sheepish laugh, beginning a slow jog away and down the dusty, beaten out path. Unlike their last camp, this one was both dry and spread out, meaning there was plenty of space on the dusty paths. There were far fewer Fallen in this sector as well, thanks to it being for strictly miscellaneous tents like the scientific group he had frequented. Many more of the Fallen would be relaxing in the army and supply sectors, either going to bed or breaking out some food for early dinners.

Shuffling down the path, nodding to the occasional familiar face, Ray made his way towards the back end of the camp. They had established it as closely to the shore as possible, some of the back parts being established right on the slopes of the hill that led down to the beach. It had meant a much quicker and safer establishment than anywhere else, and considering how empty the terrain was elsewhere, it was considered the better option. The dusty path became the dull, loose rocks of the beachhead as he nodded in surprise to Linium, a uniquely normal soldier.

“Howdy, lordling,” the Fallen greeted with persistent enthusiasm. He began trotting besides the human, asking, “Mind if I join ya on yer little run?”

“If you can manage the smell,” Ray warned, gesturing to the grotesque display of substances on his skin.

“Gah, you haven’t smelled anything bad ‘til you’ve helped Orpin through a case of hyper-flagrance,” the cheerful stallion rebutted. “That stallion turned halfa the Harkening into a toxic wasteland when he tried that damned bullwater soup recipe.”

“Is ‘hyper-flagrance’ even a real word,” Ray questioned with a knowing quirk of the brow.

“I mean, it hasta be real ‘cuz I said it,” Linium argued. “Hasta be real if ya can say it.”

“I love your logic, soldier.”

“It’s a shining beacon of sanity in this chaotic world, lordling,” the purple stallion laughed. “Full moon tonight, right?”

“Yep, and I’m trying to milk the most time out of it as I can,” Ray confirmed. He slowed down as he approached the actual water, stepping past a piece of broken wood. They hadn’t quite cleaned up the beachhead to its full extent, but considering they could be finding debris three miles from the landing itself, they had done enough for what was necessary. About half a mile north, the fleet floated silently on the little waves of the shore, the ships empty and practically abandoned. A few Fallen still slept on the ships to make sure nothing happened to them in the nights, but for the most part, they were ready to be scuttled.

“Gotta wash that crap offa you, then,” Linium nodded to the viscera.

“Precisely, and for that, I’m gonna need to ask you for some privacy,” Ray requested.

“Gah, you and your privacy.” The soldier rolled his eyes sarcastically. “We can all still practically see yer junk there, lordling. Don’t know why you try ta hide it behind a little cloth.”

“Mildly concerning that you're staring, soldier, but let me have my strange human tendencies, please.”

“Fair point, and duly noted, sir,” Linium replied, but he did turn his back. “Oh well, I’m hoping somepony’s finally bored enough to finally let me take a shot at their plot, so I’ll be off now. I think I can pull a few strings to get with Perin again.”

“Best of luck to whoever you flirt with then in resisting your charm, my friend,” Ray muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. Setting aside his various weapons, he pulled off his pants and dove into the cold water.

---

“Hell,” Ray cursed, scrambling through his messy tent desperately. There had to be something that wasn’t torn or bloodstained to wear, right? Miraculously, he found a shirt that must have just been rolled through the dirt instead, soot patches and strange golden grass marks staining it. Well, it was much better that bringing the shirt he had worn into battle or heaven forbid the shirt he’d worn helping move crates off of the ships. Throwing it on over himself, he desperately fell out of his tent flaps.

Unfortunately, the Fallen had a tendency to be exactly on the opposite side of any entrance, as Ray hit his shin against the side of an unseen ally, sending him tumbling to the ground. Both parties let out a string of obscenities that brought on laughter from observing Fallen elsewhere on the avenue. As Ray finally managed to pull the shirt over himself, he glanced to the side, where the Fallen was picking himself up.

“You’re a damned hypocrite,” Garish exclaimed with an exuberant laugh. “Trip over a fella and then cuss out his momma!”

“To be fair, you are a trip-sized guy standing on the other side of a tripable-sized guy’s door,” Ray pointed out, though he couldn’t help but grin. Wagging a finger at the stallion, he explained, “You’re lucky I didn’t fall on you and break your back or something. Woulda been real embarrassing if Adant learned her stallion had died to my tall ass and not bravely in the field.”

“Well, maybe leave the falling part out,” Garish muttered sheepishly. “I was actually just about to ask if you were ready to go. Skalos has been getting angsty since the moon came up about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Yeah yeah yea, I know I’m already late,” Ray grumbled. Turning towards the cliffs he added, “Also, hearing the word ‘angsty’ in regard to Skalos has so many implications it gave me mental whiplash.”

“Get a move on it or angsty will become angry,” Garish warned. With a playful whack to the back of his leg to get the human started, he called, “Go get some tonight, ya here?”

“Only if anyone else says so,” Ray called back, beginning to race past his fellow soldiers. Over his back he quickly ordered, “Don’t let anyone kill Linium while I’m gone. He’s looking for trouble outright.”

“Probably too late then, lordling,” the stallion laughed, shaking his head and turning over his shoulder.

Ray focused on running now, dodging around his small comrades as he hastily made his way towards the cliffside where they had established a waypoint. It was carefully designed to match any of the three configurations of the pendant that hung around his neck and only with them. They didn’t know exactly what magic the minotaurs might have on their side but giving them a direct magical port to the throne room or Ray’s lawn was less than ideal. So, the intricate bronze pendant was the only direct way to Equestria. Within the next few days, it would be the only way back home, the ships being scuttled as soon as they had removed the last useful materials from them.

Ducking between some more densely packed tents, he finally escaped the living sector. Dashing down another barely beaten-out path that wound through a more open spread of tents, Ray checked the sky briefly, cursing under his breath. The moon was just barely rising over the cliffs, lighting the camp where fires didn’t. Thanks to the steady upward slope that led to the cliffs, it looked like he was running right at the pale moon, and in a way, he was. Ray raced past a pair of Fallen who probably had something better to do whoop and holler at him as he ran, but whoop and holler they did.

It was no secret where Ray was going, but thanks to the way gossip had mangled the truth, a rumor that these retreats were more… romantic than what they were in truth permeated the event. While the Fallen would never be ones to judge, they certainly wouldn’t keep the jokes and jeers to themselves. The human didn’t give it much thought, however, and didn’t exactly deny the rumors that spread through the ranks. Strangely enough, the idea that their leader was some fierce romantic fighting the war to defend a hidden love in Equestria boosted morale, and if it benefited them, who was Ray to deny them their strange fancy.

Finally, he burst out of the camp main and onto the open slope that led to the cliff’s edge. Not too far away, he could see Skalos waiting quite impatiently for his arrival, his blue glow illuminated in the full moon’s light. Ray skipped the trail completely and ran straight at the spot, golden grass taller than the Fallen whipping his sides. The stallion gestured for Ray to pick up the pace, but given that Ray was already running as fast as he could, the human simply continued.

“Finally,” Skalos shouted once Ray was close enough. “You’re almost half an hour late, lordling. What in Equestria could have kept you so long?”

“Digestive juices don’t just wipe off and the smell is almost impossible to remove,” Ray answered, slowing to a stop. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It isn’t me you have to apologize to, Ray,” his friend warned with raised brows. “You better pray to whatever gods you believe in that your friends back on Equestria don’t kill you on sight. With how late you are, they probably are thinking the worst right about now.”

“Then I really oughta get going,” he quipped, tugging the pendant out and stepping into the carvings on the ground. Raising the pendant to the moon, he held it so the bronze outer circle bordered the celestial body completely, the inner intricacies enveloped in moonlight. Carefully, he rotated the inner dial so the figures became more prominent, the first combination clicking into place. He recognized it instantly as the one that led to Twilight’s castle in Canterlot. “So, do I-”

Instantly, he felt himself consumed by warm, silvery light as the pendant activated the wayport. He smiled at the peaceful, comforting sensations of light travel, having almost forgotten perhaps the best magic in Equestria. Even as he was surrounded by light, he wasn’t blinded, simply staring into a silver void of warm moonlight. He hadn’t ever traveled by moonlight before, but it seemed to be much the same as traveling through sunlight. The warmth wasn’t like that of sunlight with its summery heat, but more what a warm spring day felt like, calmer and gentler.

As softly as it had come, it went, leaving him in the very center of Twilight’s throne room. He actually hadn’t been here in months, not even during the meeting with the rulers of Equestria. He wasn’t surprised that Twilight had committed to putting a portal straight in her living room, but the number of changes that had to be made for it was… astounding. The once domed roof was now more a kaleidoscope into an open-air top, allowing moonlight to fall directly onto the waypoint. Blinking in surprise, he realized that the painted windows that formed the spiraling shape to the moon were depictions of him.

He smiled slightly at the images, slightly elongated and oddly shaped to try and capture his semblance. They had definitely shrunk him down for the panes as he stood as tall as the ponies in them, but he was still flattered by the gesture. Whether Twilight had commissioned those or if they had simply come about by the work of other admirers, he couldn’t tell. Either way, he probably hadn’t been told about them on purpose, as knowing himself, he would have denied the honor. Regardless, there they were, three different images.

There was one of him on first arrival in this very room, though he wore more clothes than in actuality. The palace guards were frozen in time quivering in fear while Twilight shrunk back in her throne as he glared at them. He felt something twinge in his heart at the sight, ancient memories of those first days resurfacing. Meeting Fluttershy, Discord, Rarity, the Apples… learning of his purpose. His jaw clenched slightly at the thought, but then, more memories eased away the pain. Meeting Skalos, falling in love with the Fallen, living in the Harkening, all those faces cheering with him as he charged down the hill and into the fray. Those memories far outweighed the other memories, the ones of pain.

The other two depicted him sitting at the table with the leaders of Equestria as he swore to defend their nations with his army. He wondered distantly how they were, if they awaited his return like he knew his friends and family did. With a smile, he glanced at the last one, an image of the last of his fleet leaving the shores of Equestria, fireworks from the last ship celebrating their journey. He laughed at the sight, knowing exactly who would make sure to add the detail. Garish was going to be pleased beyond words that his actions had been noted in the glass halls of history.

Spinning around slowly, he stared at the dark, empty throne room. Where was everyone? Briefly, he wondered if this was some sort of surprise party planned by Pinkie, everybody waiting to jump out from hiding places and yell “Surprise!” Unfortunately, he knew that if that were the case, his arrival would have initiated them, especially because he had been standing and staring for at least a few minutes now.

“Hello,” Ray asked loudly, his words echoing slightly. No answer came. Sweet Celestia, had he teleported to the wrong wayport? He slapped a hand over his face, realizing quickly that had to be the only option for the distinct lack of life around him. Reaching down to the pendant, he grabbed it to try and use the waypoint again, this time to go to his home. Yelping in pain, he pulled his hand away, the metal burning to the touch. Well, that ruled out any option of using a waypoint for a few hours.

Before Ray could figure out any other method to quickly get to Ponyville, there was a flash of light. Discord suddenly appeared a few feet in front of him, his strange head quickly whipping around the room. His eyes locked on him even as his head kept moving, making his eyes hover out of his head for an instant.

“Ray,” he cried in delight, launching himself into the human for a strange hug. Wrapping a paw around his neck as he went side-to-side with Ray, he exclaimed, “Oh thank Eris you’re alright. I didn’t have a doubt in my minds that you’d be A okay, but after you were late, I was worried you might have stubbed your toe or lost your hands!”

“Discord, it’s great to see you,” Ray cheerfully replied, ignoring the draconequus’ strange presumptions. “Don’t worry, I promised that I would return at the full moon, and I did!”

“That’s not what the others are thinking,” Discord warned with wide eyes. “Why, the whole town’s worried you weren’t gonna come back after how late you are. Twilight’s on the brink of tears, and most everypony else is beyond that. Kind of funny, since you just went to the wrong portal thingy like a goof!”

“Well, let’s not keep them waiting,” Ray commanded, guilt tugging at his gut. Stupid minotaur guts.

“Posthaste,” Discord exclaimed. In an instant, Ray’s surroundings were consumed in a harsh checkered black, dirty orange, and dark violet. The chaotic teleportation was violent compared to the soft transport of the waypoints, throwing Ray for a loop. Then, as swiftly as it started, everything lurched to a halt.

“I told you,” Discord shouted proudly to a group of spinning, blurred images, the draconequus’ paw resting on Ray’s shoulder. Chaos comparable to the Lord himself followed his grand declaration, the poor human not even having time to comprehend what was going on or where he was. He felt himself tackled to the grass by a pile of warm, wet, colorful fur, his kharamh thudding across his back painfully.

“Careful, careful, careful,” he shouted quickly, raising a hand to carefully cover the exposed blade. He had completely forgotten about it being there, along with the dozen other weapons he carried on him at all times. He probably should have thought about those before…

“Oh, goodness, you aren’t hurt are you,” Rarity questioned, pushing herself and the others of him. “We’re sorry, we were just so excited to finally see you again.”

“I’m not injured, no, quite the opposite, I was actually worried that…” Ray trailed off as he looked around, his eyes focused now. He paused in heartbroken shock as he took a moment to stare at the ponies all around him, staring gratefully at him as he sat on the ground.

Discord hadn’t been lying. Rarity, Applejack, the CMC, even Pinkie, all had bleary red eyes. Ray’s throat tightened, and without a moment’s hesitation, he pulled the nearest ponies into a tight embrace with one hand, throwing his kharamh aside with the other. With the dangerous weapon out of the way, the others quickly surrounded him in a huge pile of silent hugging. Ray didn’t know why, but in spite of his swelling emotions, he didn’t feel the need to cry. In spite of his friends’ despair and stress, something about being here now, after everything that had already happened across the world, filled him with more joy than longing.

Realizing that Rarity was the one he had pulled in the closest, he smiled against her mane and muttered, “I’m so happy to see you all again. You have no idea how much I’ve looked forward to tonight.”

“Oh, Ray,” Rarity squeaked before being overcome by emotion, nestling her head against him. Patting a hand on her neck, he reached down to Apple Bloom, who was silently crying into his leg. He began rubbing her ear gently, interrupting a tearful hiccup. She looked up at him, her teary honey eyes wide and her lip quivering.

“Hey, I promised you, didn’t I,” he reminded her with a reassuring smile. The younger Apple grinned broadly at that, nodding vigorously in agreement. Then, without warning, he felt a light tap on his shoulder as Rainbow Dash punched him lightly.

“Ya didn’t hafta make us worry, ya goon,” she croaked, rubbing some of her own tears away. A few of them laughed lightly at that, pulling away to actually look him up and down. “What in the hay didja even need to do that made you so late?”

“Well, I figured ya didn’t want me to… y’know what, nevermind,” Ray revised. He didn’t want to ruin the moment by explaining exactly what had kept him late and why. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Ah, golly, I didn’t expect it all ta be this emotional,” Applejack muttered, smiling through teary eyes. “We can’t waste a second though! We only have ‘im fer a few hours, so let's make it a few good’ns.“

“Agreed wholeheartedly,” Rarity resolved, picking herself up off him and taking Sweetie with her. “Pinkie?”

“Already on it,” the pink mare cried distantly, excitement dripping from her voice even from however far away she was. Ray didn’t even have time to stand up though as suddenly a huge explosion of light and confetti rocked the ground, colorful paper and glowing magic launching right above his head. He watched with amused wonder, his eyes following the arcanic trails as they faded away.

“A party,” he asked nobody in particular.

“Oh ya had ta know Pinkie’d be plannin’ one after she missed out on yer leavin’,” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“No, I didn’t expect this at all,” Ray admitted with delight. He didn’t have time to think about it.

“Trust me, this is just the beginning,” Scootaloo suddenly spoke up. She grabbed his hand with both her hooves, tugging at him to get him to stand up.

Halfway up, a small, impossibly sharp fluffball collided with his neck, the twittering of a very annoyed bird sharply interrupting his progress.

“Ohs,” Ray cried with a laugh, reaching up a hand and grasping the bird as she attacked his ear. “Hell, it’s been so long my little problem-child.”

The bird twittered fiercely at him, giving him an earful for being so late to the party. “I know, trust me, it wasn’t a choice.” Have better control then. “You should see the other side of the world, Ohs. Then you’d have nothing to complain about here.”

“Yeah, what’s th’ other world like,” Apple Bloom inquired, tilting her little head. “Ain’t got any a’ those giant dreamwalker things like Tender’s been sayin’ exist, right?”

Ray chuckled slightly, petting the top of Otolo’s head with one hand while holding her in the other. “There's no animals on the other side at all, not even little bugs or anything. There’s just this strange golden grass that covers the endless hills. It burns like hell out there too, at least forty degrees every day with no clouds in sight. We don’t go to bed ‘till after the sun sets because our tents become ovens in the sun. Ground’s rough too, like walking on pavements constantly. There’s a lotta land out there, but none of it's any good.”

“So, there’s no minotaurs,” Sweetie asked excitedly, begging the question everyone else probably had on their minds. Ray considered his words very carefully, not wanting to cause a stir but also knowing he needed to both answer the question and speak honestly. Too many ponies would be able to see right through any lies he made, and he couldn’t afford to cause a panic.

“Well, not anymore,” Ray replied with the best cocksure smile he could muster. He watched as the faces of the ponies around him lit up and their jaws dropped. He had just confirmed they had reason to fear he wouldn’t return.

“So… So you fought them,” Rarity dared to ask.

“We clashed, yes,” Ray answered as casually as possible. Still, his eyes sweeping around at all the familiar faces and voices he had begun to miss, he didn’t want to start this conversation. Especially not in front of Apple Bloom or Fluttershy. “It was nothing, though, we wiped them out in ten minutes. Literally, ten minutes! Which is roughly how late to the party I am!”

“That was half an hour, mister,” Pinkie cried, taking the bait.

Some of the older ponies glanced at each other warily, but Ray was quick to add, “Ten minutes late to a party that shoulda started half an hour ago.”

“That’s more like it,” the pink mare grinned. She dashed to his house- which he took a moment to look up and down for memory’s sake- and pulled out a large speaker out of his front door. How and why ponies had technology like this while also being behind elsewhere was beyond him, but he had stopped questioning it when he remembered where he was. In a blur of motion, she threw out several tables, chairs, and food stands. “Let’s get this party rolling!”

“C’mon, Tender, let’s go dance,” Apple Bloom shouted over the sudden cacophony of music that blared from the speakers. She glanced up and Ray and gave him a piercing wink. “The adults all wanna talk ta Ray anyhows.”

“Alright,” the colt agreed with an eager smile. He gave Ray a curt nod, saying, “Nice to see you again, Mr. Ray!”

Ray didn’t even have time to chuckle at the sight of the fleeing couple before Applejack flicked the back of his leg with her tail. “Don’t encourage them none,” she warned grumpily. “I still don’t approve a’ their relationship.”

“And ya never will,” Big Mac said simply. He looked up at Ray and gave him a massive grin, stretching a hoof as high as he could. As the human took the proffered hoof and shook it, the stallion added, “Welcome back, Ray. ‘S been a right pain ‘n th’ hip ta wait fer ya ta return. Sugar Belle made some a’ yer fav’rite pies fer ya.”

Looking over to the purple mare, Ray beamed at her as he remembered the delicious pies she had made for a party not too different from this months ago. “Sugar Belle, you shouldn’t have! I’m gonna go home sick tonight!”

“Well, applewood smoked berry pies have kinda become a staple,” Sugar Belle admitted sheepishly. “Every week I have to make a few dozen pies for ponies who drop by. It sells better than anything I’ve ever baked before. I mean, we raised enough money with it to expand the house!”

“Wait, are you expecting,” Ray questioned, his eyes going wide as his mind raced to the conclusion.

“Oh, Celestia no, not yet,” she replied with a meek smile. Then, taking one of Big Mac’s hooves with her own, she added, “Just preparing.”

“Well best of luck to the two of you, and thank you kindly for everything,” Ray nodded. Realizing his kharamh was still precariously lying in the grass, he reached down and grasped the leather grip of the weapon with one hand. A twinge of panic made him freeze as he remembered at the sight of the newly added leather exactly what one of the uses of the minotaur’s hide had been. He didn’t have time to freeze up though, so forcing himself to remain calm and refuse to acknowledge the admittedly gruesome use of his foe’s corpse, he whipped the weapon upwards and spun it into its strap across his back.

“Whoa ho ho,” Scootaloo suddenly exclaimed. “That was awesome dude!”

“I’ll say,” Rainbow agreed, zipping down from out of the sky with two drinks. Handing one to Applejack with a kiss, she commented, “You sure seem to have gotten the hang of that thing down.”

“Well, it’s a bit of a necessity when you do my line of work,” Ray pointed out. Setting Otolo on his shoulder, he let his hands come to rest deliberately on his knives. “Besides, I’ve had a bit of time to get used to it.”

“Neat,” Rainbow complimented with a nod. “How many minotaurs have ya killed?”

There was a beat of silence as everyone around them went silent, AJ slowly turning to look at her marefriend with strange, fearful panic. Without thinking, Ray answered, “Five, though trust me, they’re worse off dead than when they’re alive.”

“You didn’t get scratched or injured or nothing,” Rainbow questioned, invigorated by the human’s honest response.

“Not even a bruise,” Ray confirmed with that same cocksure smile as before. “Though it did ruin one of Rarity’s nice shirts. I don’t think she wants to hear about it. The shirt getting ruined, I mean.”

There was a moment of silence as his joke sunk in, and then, like pressure being released, Rarity let out a soft little laugh.

“Well, please, spare me the details,” she dramatically demanded. “Hearing how such stitchwork was mauled in the blazing sun would absolutely ruin my evening!”

“I think I’ll refrain then,” Ray smiled, ducking his head slightly. Glancing to an especially temptatious stand of pies, he pointed to it and added, “Besides, I see a lovely distraction.”

Taking his leave, he took a few steps to the table. Funnily enough, there was one pie in particular that looked like Sugar Belle had attempted to make human-sized. Grabbing a slice, downed half of it in one slice, physically melting at the mouthwatering sweetness. Food had and never would be a problem for the Fallen thanks to the great amount of munitions they had brought over, pony preservation tactics, and a lack of life in the new continent. Still, it meant dull grain and soggy vegetables most of the time. While for the Fallen that was efficient enough, especially given they didn’t need to eat much to maintain energy, Ray had been drastically affected by the lack of true nourishment.

Disregarding all of that, he chowed down on three more slices before he decided he would be down for the moment. Licking off his fingers, he turned to find the party was continuing on well without him. Pinkie did have a talent for parties, but, somehow, she had managed to get a majority of ponies who would probably be fighting for his attention to actually have a good time. He smiled as he watched them dance, Apple Bloom with Tender, AJ with Rainbow, Sweetie with that one colt, Big Mac with Sugar Belle, and Fluttershy-

Fluttershy was there.

Here.

Discord stood beside her, a paw resting on her back as if in support. The mare stood silently on the downward slope of the grassy hill next his house, deadpanned even as their eyes locked. Grimly, Ray made his way around the party as discreetly as he could. Things needed to be discussed between them.

“You might wanna clear out, Ohs,” he whispered to the little bird as he closed in, eyes locked on the mare. The bird whistled softly in protest, but he reaffirmed, “Things are gonna be tense.”

Fortunately, Otolo actually listened and left his shoulder, retreating back to the party. As he approached, Fluttershy softly asked, “Should we do this somewhere else.”

“Well, what is ‘this’,” he questioned in return. Without waiting for an answer, though, he continued down the grassy hill. “Is there something wrong?”

“Well, actually, we were about to ask you the same thing,” the mare muttered quietly. “Is something wrong, Ray? Why are you so anxious about avoiding what happened on the other side of the world, what’s happening? Is there something terrible going on?”

“It’s a war, Fluttershy, of course something terrible is going on,” Ray answered with a groan. Running a hand through his hair, he looked up at the sky, the full moon that was slowly counting down the time until he returned. The stars were definitely different in Equestria.

“What’s going wrong then,” Discord asked, stepping in front of Fluttershy… defensively?

“Sweet Celestia, Skalos didn’t…” Fluttershy began from behind him.

“Skalos is fine, and so is Garish and Adant and Pelios,” Ray reassured them softly, staring out across the grassy hills. It was a bit strange that they didn’t glow with the moonlight like the golden grasses. Then again, it was strange that they would. “Everyone I told you about is fine and well. Like I said, we rolled over their army with almost no casualties. The only one I knew was Captain Rohan. I didn’t know him well, but he was the first Fallen other than Skalos that I met. After the insurrection, he was a very public supporter of mine who helped reunify the Fallen in the Harkening.”

“Do you want to talk about it,” Fluttershy probed, pushing past Discord and sitting down, staring up at him.

“No.” Ray blinked at the mare, then looked back up at the sky. “I know you’re trying to fulfill the promise we made to each other, but so am I. I can say with complete honesty that I don’t want to nor need to talk about it. The stallion was a good one and he’ll be missed, but he’s not a devastating loss in any regard.”

“And what about the fighting,” she continued to softly prod.

“Well, it wasn’t anything like Discord trained me with,” Ray admitted. Giving the draconequus a smirk, he said, “Your guys gave me a run for my money and nicked me a good few times. These minotaurs are nothing but heavy swinging brutes.”

Pausing for a moment, Ray slowly realized what had been going on, his eyes drifting back to Fluttershy, who finally gave him a shy smile. His own sheepish grin began to spread as the understanding of Fluttershy’s true intention with this little conversation came to light. The mare had managed to trick him into saying exactly what she needed to hear to put her mind and his at ease. And damn it, it worked.

“Okay, I’ll give you props for that one, Flutters,” he said. “Why do you have to be such a good friend?”

“It’s part of her nature,” Discord warned with an earnest nod. “The mare could sweetly talk you into sleeping with her.”

The human’s eyebrows shot up at the comment, his eyes darting between the two of them as he asked, “Pardon? The hell did I miss while I was gone?”

“It’s just a stupid joke,” Fluttershy protested as she hid her face behind her hair, cheeks flushed deeply red. “We fell asleep together a few months ago.”

“Oh, my dear Fluttershy, it was much more than a nap,” the draconequus insisted with a wink. “It was one of my most formative memories to date!”

“It was just a nap,” the flustered mare exclaimed before launching into the air like she was Dash. Both Ray and Discord cackled as she zipped away to the party, perhaps the first time in her life that she had retreated to the crowd. Still staring uphill to where the mare had gone, Ray felt emboldened to ask his own question.

“So... when are the two of you gonna tie the knot?”

Discord instantly froze, quite literally as he suddenly became ice from head to toe. Turning fully to face the Lord of Chaos, he gave the ice sculpture a firm push, making it fall backwards down the hill. It shattered as soon as it hit the ground, the various pieces melting instantly and forming back into the draconequus.

“What do you mean, tie the knot,” Discord asked nervously, his hands shaking. “Do you want a square knot, overhand knot, fisher’s knot, hitch knot, or-”

“Cut the crap, Discord,” Ray told him blankly, crossing his arms.

“A Gordian knot it is, then,” Discord sighed in defeat, glancing in the direction Fluttershy had gone one last time. Finally, he turned to stare at Ray, asking him softly, “Why do you care? I thought you and I were competing for her affection.”

“Maye that was once true, but you should have recognized those days are past us now,” Ray explained, reaching out and resting a hand on his shoulder. “Once upon a time I loved her like you did, but that was just the sprouting of my growth here. You’ve lived eons Discord, all here, in this world. Not only am I young by my world's standards, when I was brought here over a year ago, I had to reestablish who and what I was. Mistakes were made and I mistook things that occurred. Once, I did believe that there was a potential for me to become what I needed to be and love Fluttershy. Those days died the moment I killed Cohin. The hero you all call me was born that day, and any chance of not becoming a monster was dashed.

“But I’m well and okay with that. Looking around me, I can see why it needs to happen, and you would be blind to deny that any good has come from it. But we both know Fluttershy would never be able to let go of the Ray she found crying on a hill outside of Ponyville. She still wants to believe that I’m something that can be purified, someone that doesn’t have to do horrible things. Her acceptance is only because she knows the truths I tell her. What I leave out… would break her heart. The danger is, I will have to break her heart.

“One day soon, I won’t return with happy news of an easy victory and minimal losses. I may not return at all. On that day, she needs someone she trusts, someone who loves her for being exactly who she is, to pick her up and help her stand again. You doubt yourself constantly, think you have all the time in the world to figure out how to express your infinite life and love to someone who’s mortal. I’m warning you now, Discord, that there will come a day, this year, or next year, or the year after that, when I will force your hand. It would be better for the both of you to move now than move when you have to.”

“Ray,” Discord began hopelessly, suddenly looking like the thousands of years he had lived. “I’m a monster too. I’ve done some awful things in my past, even to Fluttershy. She’s forgiven me, but…”

“But you haven’t forgiven yourself,” Ray finished astutely. “You’re intelligent, Discord, but you’re also incredibly stupid. When you said that it was more than a nap, I picked up on what else it could be. You told her the truth in your own way, playing it off as some sort of sarcastic joke. It’s how you play off all your emotions, so people won’t pick up on them. It’s smart, but unfortunately for you, that’s also how most of my soldiers disregard themselves.”

“But that doesn't change the fact that I am a monster,” Discord protested, his gaze dropping to the ground. “I…”

“You can’t see past the many mistakes in your life,” Ray guessed compassionately. “I felt the same for a very, very long time. But then I found people I love, people who listened, understood, and forgave me. The Fallen took me as I was, flawed and confused, and put me on a pedestal to show me the greatness I could do. You’ve been on the pedestal a long time, Discord. Fluttershy has given you the opportunity to see the greatness within, but guilt is blinding you. I’m not going to repeat myself, but I want you to think of this. If it weren’t for Fluttershy’s love, I would have shattered your statue along with Tirek and Chrysalis’.”

Discord’s head whipped up to stare intently at Ray, his jaw dropping slightly at the inclination. With a shrug, Ray stepped away from his friend, adding with emphasis, “That’s the difference between you and I, Discord. You’re a monster gone good, a monster no longer. Me? I’m a monster for good.”

Leaving the draconequus to his thoughts, Ray turned over his shoulder, but instead of heading uphill towards the party, he continued down to another hill’s slope. Scanning the top of the hill, his eyes locked onto a figure at its small crest, standing silently in the moonlight, watching the whole engagement. Without a moment’s hesitation, he began to ascend the hill, reaching the top within the minute. Twilight watched as he approached, silently regarding the human.

“That was profound,” she stated simply when he stopped a few feet short of her.

“It’s true, isn’t it,” Ray countered, folding his arms.

“It’d argue elsewise, but your visit isn’t to argue on the ethics of your situation,” Twilight said with reservation. Still, as Ray stared at the princess, he couldn’t help but notice how disheveled she was. There were dangerously dark circles beneath her eyes, her coat was matted, and it looked like she was shaking, though relative darkness hid it for the most part. Recognizing the front, he crouched down and reached forward, bringing the mare into a soft hug.

That did the trick.

In an instant, her walls came crashing down as she began to cry relieved tears against him, pressing her face into his shoulder as she wrapped her hooves around him. She attempted to say something, but her hiccuped sobs interrupted her too much for anything understandable to come out. Smiling in understanding, he simply patted her back lightly. He couldn’t imagine the thoughts and worries that had kept her up these past two weeks, the lack of information that caused worries that would eat her away. Deciding to not allow the moment to last for fear of humiliating her, he whispered, “You’re gonna want a notepad.”

The mare giggled a little through her tears, lifting up a pad, ink, and quill that had been set aside for the purpose. Taking a few more seconds to compose herself against him, she finally pulled away, sniffling slightly. “Well, what do you have for me?”

Prepping himself, Ray sat back down on the soft, green Equestrian grass. “Well, your vision was correct. Day seven on the sea our fleet came across two minotaur ships sailing straight towards Equestria. It was kinda pathetic, though. The first dozen ships who engaged, including mine, sank them quickly. We don’t know how many there were, but we’re guessing between five thousand and seven thousand in total. Either way, none survived the engagement. The next day, we landed. The spiderlings cleared the beachhead with minimal losses and allowed my army to land unmolested.

“There were two more engagements shortly after. The Matriarch wanted to prove her spiderlings’ effectiveness in combat, so they took on a force to our northwest in a mine while we Fallen centralized on the slopes up from the beach to face a second enemy army. We engaged none of our archers in the battle, and only nine thousand of our forces engaged the foe in combat, though, more accurately, the first and second waves of spears were the ones that saw the most intense of the fighting. We estimate that by the time the third wave engaged, some four or five hundred minotaurs remained fighting. None were spared.

“We suffered remarkably low casualties for our first land combat engagement, suffering forty-two fatalities and one hundred seventy-six injured. Thanks to Zecora’s presence, all but a few of those injured have made full recoveries and are once again prepared for combat. We did lose Captain Rohan, though. In fact, all fatalities were suffered by his Reformed Third Spears due to a small amount being collapsed on after they charged too deeply into the face of the minotaurs. The casualties suffered by the minotaurs were… unbelievable, frankly. If we’re counting the minotaurs killed out at sea, then we killed fifteen thousand, nine hundred, and eighty-two minotaurs.”

“Sweet Celestia…” Twilight slowly breathed out, her feather dropping from its magical grasp. For once, he appreciated her being wrong. Once, about two months back, she had taken to estimating the force she saw and the force they had with several different situations. From there, casualties were estimated, and he refused to remember them until now. Seven hundred to eight hundred fifty Fallen dead on landing in the new world, with as many as two thousand dead in their first battle. It was theorized to be a five-to-one trade in lives. “Three hundred eighty to one.”

“Hell yeah,” he agreed softly with a cheeky smile. “What I think you’ll find most interesting and more… suitable to your tastes, is the many things we’ve discovered about our enemy and their land.”

“Consider my curiosity piqued,” Twilight eagerly agreed, her pen launching itself back onto the pad.

“The land is terrible, for one, with what seems like endless hills covered in quite literally golden grass. At first, I had assumed the grass was just dead, but no, the grass there is legitimately gold-colored. The ground is hard, like walking on pavement, and the fact that there hasn’t been a day that didn’t hit forty degrees means walking, or even living in general, is miserably hot. Along with being hot, it’s dry, with almost no clouds in the sky and no signs of rainfall yet. There're also no living creatures in what we’ve started calling the ‘golden plains’. It’s haunting to have so much empty space around us without any signs of minotaur activity.

“The minotaurs, however, have proven to us that there is a society or at least some sort of permanent settlement that assists their armies. Firstly, every minotaur is male with the proper male bits to match. Their inner biology is strangely similar to what human anatomy looks like, though I’m not really a doctor so I can’t say exactly. They have two lungs, a heart, a stomach, a large and small intestine, and a bladder, all in relatively the same spot as mine would be.”

“Wait wait wait,” Twilight interrupted, looking up from her notes. With an inquisitive stare, she asked, “Have you been dissecting minotaurs?”

“Yes,” Ray confirmed, causing the alicorn to gag slightly. Shrugging, he explained, “It’s necessary. We’ve learned a great deal about them physically and societally thanks to all of the stuff that’s in them. I was actually late today because of an unfortunate accident with dissecting one in particular, but I’ll spare you the details. They have smaller brains than us humans, about the size of my fist, for comparison, so they aren’t very intellectually developed. That and a lack of strong vocal cords suggests something along the lines of them not communicating vocally very frequently.

“Crucially, though, their diet consists of grain, meat, and milk, all of which have to be cultivated for such widespread use. This suggests that there are indeed permanent establishments, though none have been found. They also had a mine, which was the force of minotaurs the Matriarch took on. We haven’t found evidence of forges within the mine, but from what we’ve seen so far, we’ve guessed they have a specific area where their weaponry is forged. While it is concerning how centralized our enemy is, based on the battles we fought with them, they both failed to realize Equestria would put up resistance and were unprepared for truthful combat. While the forces we eliminated totaled close to the number of Fallen in our army, when taken in different accounts, they had two armies of around five thousand and a workforce of five thousand in the mines.

“While underprepared, it does mean that this was a preemptive preparation for an invasion of Equestria. They moved to take the continent, and from what we’ve seen so far, had the home front backing the cause as well. With that in mind, we’ve decided the best course of action would be to scout out any establishments possible and eliminate any strategic value they may have.”

“You’re going to attack civilians,” Twilight questioned instantly, her eyes shooting up from her notes.

“Not the civilians themselves, but anything of value,” Ray carefully detailed. “Farms, houses, storehouses, barns… infrastructure in general, really. We want them to lose this war crippled not just by huge military losses, but also devastated morally. If they have to rebuild, they also will have to face the fact that we were able to not only defend ourselves but destroy what they thought would go untouched. Part of the worry is that even if we win, we probably won’t be able to completely annihilate them. If they only lose their troops, some twenty years from now they’ll simply replenish their forces and strike again, this time with the knowledge of what we’re capable of. We don’t have the troops to fight a second war, and while having the spiderlings helps with the pains of no replenishment, I have doubts about my original plan.”

“The plan you wouldn’t tell me about,” Twilight probed, setting her notes aside. “The plan where- I assume- you and your Fallen march through their continent and eliminate all minotaurs and occupy it to ensure there are no more threats from over there.”

“Precisely,” Ray revealed. “The plan you would never approve of. As much this is about defending Equestria and redeeming the Fallen, it’s also to ensure safety of you and your ponies. Unfortunately, that means things you would never approve of. In order to complete my mission, I have to sever myself from the ethical values that prevented Equestria from defending itself.”

“Why do you always deal in absolutes,” Twilight questioned with frustration.

“Because that’s how I see this war, Twi,” Ray grumbled, glancing at the opposite hill where the party seemed to have slowed, realizing the human had been absent for so long. Indeed, the moon looked like it was already beginning to descend. “If we don’t do this right, all of this killing and death will be worthless. We neglected to think about all of the possibilities, and now that we are, Skalos, Kraven, and I all have come to an agreement that this may not be the first conflict between Equestria and the minotaurs.”

Getting to his feet, Ray stated, “I’ve told you all you need to know. It’s getting late, and by Kraven’s estimates, we’re about two hours ahead of you. Tomorrow I join our first scouting mission into the continent itself. The spiderlings went as far north as they could in a week, and there was still nothing but empty golden hills and plains. We’re hoping maybe there’s something inside the continent, but small scouting parties southward only found the same. At the least, we hope to find a semblance of roads or picket lines that suggest nearby establishments.”

“So, you’re going, then,” Twilight asked softly.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Ray sighed, his heart softening slightly. “I think, in the future, I meet you in the palace first and then have Discord bring me here. I accidentally visited the throne room today, anyway. I like what you’ve done with the place.”

“Really,” Twilight exclaimed with a smile. “Most of it was Discord, actually. He made all of it the day you left, and some Canterlot officials who noticed it funded a permanent change and three murals of your most important moments of Equestrian history. They raised enough money on day one from not only the city, but across the world to instantly get the work done.”

“Well, inform everyone I’m humbled and honored,” Ray replied with a thankful grin of his own. Pausing briefly, he glanced over at the crowd that had calmed down on the hill. “Could you take me back to the throne room? I… don’t want to say good-bye again. I don’t… want to make them say good-bye…”

“I understand,” Twilight muttered with a nod, sharing a look at the party. “They don’t know I’m here. You sure you don’t want to stay just a bit longer?”

“I’m preparing for another fight tomorrow,” Ray reminded her. “During the battle, I didn’t have a thought. I want it to be the same tomorrow, whether there’s a fight or not. A miscalculation in emotion tonight is better than a devastating loss tomorrow.”

“I’ll take the fall then,” Twilight offered. Ray opened his mouth to protest, but she raised a hoof, to silence him. “It’ll be more believable for me to say that I had to steal you away for information. You almost missed the opportunity to return because of how many questions I asked.”

Ray remained silent for a moment, regarding the princess. Finally, he said, “Thank you, Princess.”

Author's Note:

A very long chapter both in word count and production time, but also cut short. My schedule accidentally filled itself, so some longer chapters will take longer to produce. Anyways, as always, comments, questions, and concerns welcome and wanted!

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

11312374
Does Blood Moon only update when there's a real-life blood moon?

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11485363
Unfortunately. I'm trying to work through a bout of writer's block with both Blood Moon and The Menace of Canterlot, and a lot of my focus has been on finishing out this story. Rest assured, updates will come, I'm just not sure how soon. It's why the story isn't on hiatus though.

[ShortCaveman]

So goood

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11485506
Oh, why thank you!