Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Arc XXVI Episode VI: Coming Back Home

“Is that some idle threat?” Ren asked.

“It’s not a threat…it’s a promise,” she said with a cocksure grin on her face, noticing who had appeared behind him.

Sensing something’s nearby presence, Ren slowly turned around…to see a massive bear standing behind him, growling with thick swabs of drool dripping from its maw.

“...mother of fuc--”

CRACK!

With a single slap from its massive paw, Ren was sent flying into the nearest tree thanks to the bear. Then it was immediately teleported away by Fluttershy--disappearing as soon as it had appeared.

“Nice one, Francis,” Fluttershy commented as she rapidly dodged the punches being slung at her from the knuckle-wearing assailant. “Yikes!” And as soon as she leapt backwards, she fired off another arrow that hit the ground and exploded in a burst of light magic.

Her attacker dodged it and immediately rushed forward, tackling Fluttershy to the ground and tried to throw a punch in her face. But the latter blocked it with her hand, locking them in a struggle for who could overpower the other first…

Meanwhile, Ren had picked himself up off of the ground and tried to retaliate by aiming a pistol at Fluttershy’s head. “...you worked hard for nothing--”

BLAM!

He was interrupted by a weighted object that knocked the gun out of his hand and cut in in half in one fell swoop--followed by someone literally jumping into the battle, slamming an axe down in front of Ren, causing a shockwave that threw him off-balance yet again.

“Eeegh! What…?”

With her left hand on her hip, Diamond Tiara raised the double-sided axe over her shoulder with her right. “...I’ve got the power now.”

“...Boss said she had no power,” Tohru commented as she stared at Tiara in awe. “What the hell is this?”

“...I’m not entirely sure,” Ren muttered, visibly shaken by having been thrown off his balance yet again. It was a struggle for him to simply be able to stand on his own two feet at this point. “...Ergh…but I don’t think we’re in a position to negotiate.”

“Damn right you aren’t,” Tiara pointed the axe directly at him, “You’d be smart to give up now. I’ve got too many friends--and a boyfriend to protect.”

Fluttershy had kicked Tohru off of herself and got up to greet Diamond Tiara. “...Diamond Tiara? How did you?”

“I…I have no clue,” she replied, “When your horse was teleported back to the reserve, I could feel something was wrong, so I followed you here. And I guess…I managed to get some magic within me somehow. Believe me, I’m just as confused as you are.”

“The aether in the air must’ve reacted to your desire to come help me,” Fluttershy mused, “Or at least--that’s what I think Twilight would say.”

“Regardless, these guys are gonna be in big trouble once my dad gets ahold of them,” Tiara muttered as she walked up to the now-disabled Ren. “Explain who you’re working for. Now.”

---

Meanwhile…

Sunset, Aidon, and Starswirl stepped through a portal back into the human world just outside of the city. Now human, the latter was finally able to experience the world where he had cast many a creature away to in the past.

“...Here we are,” Sunset announced once they all arrived. “It may take you a bit of time to get used to walking here, sir. But--”

To her surprise, Starswirl walked through on two legs without much issue. “...This place certainly has changed since the last time I was here.”

“...You’ve actually been here before?”

Starswirl looked around at the various buildings and roads. “When I first checked on this location, there was nothing but empty wilderness as far as the eye could see. I never imagined an entire civilization would someday erect itself here…”

“...I see,” Aidon replied quietly as he thought about the wizard’s words. “So you didn’t intentionally want to bring destruction to the beings of this world. You simply thought it was uninhabited.”

“In a word, yes,” Starswirl replied, “Though now I can see that this place isn’t exactly ideal for dumping rogue creatures….you have my apologies.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset shook her head, “I’ve been able to deal with the problems for the most part. However, the reason we called you here was actually to bring a human gang out of hiding. They’re the ones causing problems this time because they don’t agree with our methods.”

“Normally we’d be open to discussion,” Aidon added, “But considering that they opted for violence instead, we’ve decided to retaliate in self-defense.”

“So you want me to serve as bait?” Starswirl raised a brow then rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something as ridiculous as that. Though I suppose I have no choice if it means keeping the people of this realm safe.”

Sunset took a breath and put her hands together. “...So you’ll help us? Thank you so much, sir. This…this is an honor beyond what I ever could’ve--”

“Yeah, yeah, big deal, blah blah blah,” the wizard simply took a step forward and started walking, visibly annoyed at Sunset’s praise. “Let’s just get to the extermination, shall we?”

“...Damn,” Sunset muttered, “Guess he’s a bit more strict in person…”

Aidon put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t sweat yourself. He’s probably bored of being known as a legend. The man isn’t foolish--he knows he’s not perfect and doesn’t want to be paraded as such.”

His words put Sunset at ease. “...Fair point. Though I’m surprised at how calm you are. I guess realizing that his intent wasn’t malicious has helped quell your stress, huh?”

Aidon removed his hand and folded his arms. “You could say that. Then again, I’m also rather grateful that I came here. I got to help mold young minds that I wouldn’t have been able to mold in Equestria and...there are some rather nice people I’ve come to know--”

Sunset giggled, then teased him with a grin, “Like Vice Principal Luna--?”

“Shut your mouth, child--”