> Equestria Fighter(revised)
>  by GenerousGhibli
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Assemble The Elements!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Now, if you decrease your magical output, but focus the aura more tightly around an object, you can increase the efficiency with which you use your telekinesis,” the princess said as she stood in front of a group of three unicorn students, each of varying colors, ages and magical skill. 

One was pale white with a flowing light pink and purple mane. The princess could remember when the mare had been barely as tall as her leg, and her voice had squeaked when she got excited. It did not squeak now, as she spoke up for the first time since class began an hour earlier. Rather, it was smooth and silky, a far cry from her younger days. “But Princess, if you reduce your output, how can you manipulate the object effectively? It seems to me that, rather than hold back, you should try and increase your magic reserves as much as you can, and then you would eventually be able to move any object you wished.”

“Well, Sweetie Belle, you are half  right. You should, of course, try to increase your reserves. However, learning to be more efficient in output is always useful. If you do both, then it would eventually be many times easier to move something than if you only increased your reserves. As for effective manipulation, by focusing the aura tightly around it, you can produce a magical density equal to that of a larger, less concentrated output. Do you understand now?”

“Yes, Princess. Thank you for explaining.” While Sweetie Belle's special talent was singing, she was still very gifted in magic. The other two were good, but not on Sweetie Belle’s level... yet. They were both much younger than she was.

“Sugar Plum, you have exceptional control over your output. Would you mind giving a demonstration?” the princess said, turning to a young mare with a pale purple coat and a light blue mane. She kept her mane short, claiming that it often got in her way.

“Sure. Whatever,” the girl said, standing and sauntering forward. She was a very melancholic individual, but had an eagerness to learn. And pick on her classmates. Especially- “Hey Shining, catch!” she shouted, levitating a heavy statue and tossing it towards the third student, Shining Star, who caught the massive object with little trouble.

“Suuugaaar that’s not funny! What if I hadn’t caught it? I’d be dead. And then you’d be short a marefriend! Sometimes you are so careless…”

“Careless? Love, look closer. I never let go of it. I wouldn’t have let it reach you, and you know that.”

“I…” she trailed off as she sat the statue back down. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me…”

The Princess cleared her throat loudly, and interrupted the couple. “Now, Sweetie Belle, what you just witnessed was an example of both large reserves, and efficient magic output.”

“It was also really cute,” she added, smiling warmly at Shining and Sugar. SugarShine, as everypony called them. Their open affection often made her... uncomfortable. “Princess, why–”

“Twilight! Twiiiillliiight!”

“Hey! That’s Princess Twilight to you!”

“Easy, Sweetie Belle. What is it my dear assistant?”

“Alicorn…  Amulet! Missing!” The light blue mare’s mouth opened a couple of times frantically as her eyes darted around in panic.

“Trixie, calm down. Explain what happened,” the princess coaxed as she trotted next to Trixie and lay her wing over the assistant’s back. Lowering her head, as she was somewhat taller, she looked her assistant in the eye and addressed her. “Better?”

“Yes ma’am…”

“Now... what happened?”

“You know how sometimes I go to the amulet’s chamber to reflect on my… many mistakes. Well it felt a bit odd when I entered the room… there wasn’t a pull in my mind like there usually is-I never give in to it, by the way.” The princess nodded, her gaze warm, but serious all the same. “When I lit the lamps, I saw that it was gone… the thief wasn’t even subtle about it! The bell jar was shattered, and I found the guards tied up in a corner.”

“Did you notice anything else?” Sweetie Belle asked as she stepped forward and stood tall over Trixie.

“There was some blood of the floor, but I figured that it was from the guards.”

“Sugar Plum, would you please gather the other 5 elements, and their apprentices? I feel they may be needed. As for you Shining Star, I need you to send a letter Princess Celestia.” The two nodded in unison and dashed out into the hall.

“Princess, am I to assist in the investigation? I think my afterimage spell might help.”

“Of course. The rest of the founding Crusaders will arrive with the elements." Twilight paused, a faint smile crossing her lips for a brief moment. "It will be good to see our friends again… Trixie, take us to the crime scene. We must get started as soon as possible.”

As they galloped through the castle, Twilight could see the fear in her assistant’s strained face. She was no doubt remembering her own time with the Alicorn Amulet, and how hard she had worked to make up for her crimes.

Sweetie Belle surprised them both by asking her first. “Hey, Trixie, you okay? You look down.”

“Yes, Miss Belle. I’m just worried. When I had the Amulet, all I did was antagonize Ponyville. What if someone really bad got a hold of it? Someone like… I don‘t know, Sombra! Anyone worse than me, really. The thought just… it scares me, you know?”

“Don’t worry, Trixie. I’ll find who did it and we’ll stop them before they hurt anypony," Sweetie said, trying to ease the mare's mind.

“Thank you… but I hope you aren’t planning to use the same strategy that I fell for. I don’t think it would work on anypony else.”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure ‘The Great and Gullible Trixie’ is the only one dim enough to fall for a fake amulet!” came a mocking voice from above Trixie.

“Ah, Rainbow Dash! You got here rather quick. It’s only been ten minutes since I sent for you.” The princess turned towards the hovering pegasus, with her rainbow colored mane and heavily decorated jacket. “You’re still in uniform?”

“Yes ma‘am, I was on my way here after today’s drills. Captain Spitfire and I have really upped the training regimen for new recruits. Glad I’m not them!” she said as she dropped to the floor, the hoof fall echoing through out the broad hallway. “Can’t say the same for–”

“SWEEETIIIEE BEEELLLEEE!!!” an orange pegasus mare screamed as she tackled the aforementioned unicorn, causing her to topple to the ground.

“–Scootaloo. Kid you’re way behind. That’s not what I expect of you.”

“Sorry Captain! I won’t let it happen again!” she replied, springing up with a salute. It  still felt odd, hearing one of her best friends called Captain. Of course, Twilight always knew that it was coming. She even had her own team, the Wonderbolts First Aerial Reconnaissance Squad, nicknamed the Rainbolts.

“Scootaloo, how have you been? I’ve missed you so much! I would’ve written to you, but Princess Twilight has kept me busy with my studies,” the unicorn said as she nuzzled her old friend’s cheek affectionately.

“It’s okay, I’ve been busy too. I guess Bloom isn’t here yet?”

“No, not yet. But I’m sure she will be soon. After all, my sister’s boutique isn’t that far from here. So I guess that means that Spike will be here soon too! Oh I haven’t seen that overgrown lizard in for ever!”

“Hey! Who you callin ‘lizard?’ I am a mighty dragon! Get it right, already!” a tall purple dragon said as he strode through the halls, his crimson cape flowing behind him, attached to his shining steel armor. Embedded in it’s chest left plate were three teal gems, in the shape of his lover’s cutie mark. He stood as tall as Princess Twilight now, and had grown to be quite slender and muscular. Unfortunately, his claws were now too big and sharp to hold any form of paper, let alone a quill. Instead, they took up a sword and Spike had vowed to protect the ponies he loved with that blade. And he had done just that, fighting in each of Equestria’s world threatening battles.

“Spike, love, be nice to my darling sister. I don’t think she meant any real offense.” Speaking of ponies that Spike loved, his beloved wife, Rarity, now sashayed out from behind him. She was as well kempt as always, her mane and tail as glossy as if they were made of glass. On her horn she wore her wedding band, a simple gold ring with a small fire ruby as its centerpiece. Her outfit was just as simple, but stylish all the same; it was a white blouse, with draped sleeves and a low collar. In all honesty, it wasn’t difficult to see why the drake had fallen for her and vice versa. Even Twilight, who had thought of the dragon as a younger brother, could see the attraction. 

“Don’t worry honey, I know she wasn’t serious,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Sis, is Apple Bloom with you?”

Suddenly, a cream colored mare galloped in, swerving around Rarity and Spike. “Of course I am! Like I’m gonna miss a Cutie Mark Crusaders reunion!" she exclaimed and slowed to a trot as she reached her friends.

"Apple bloom... what happened to your face?" Sweetie Belle asked, and pointed at the bandages adorning the mares left cheek.

"Spike sneezed on me."

Both of the other Crusaders scrunched up their muzzles. "Gross!"

“I said I was sorry…” Spike said as he eyed the young tailor with slight dejection. “But in my defense, it was you that brought dragon’s bane into the boutique.”

“And I apologized for that. But my apothecary studies with Zecora end before my studies with Rarity, so I had no choice.”

“Ah sure hope that ain’t complainin I’m hearin from my little sister! But then again, she ain’t so little Ah guess,” Applejack said as she trotted through the hallway. “Hell, she’s even taller than me now!”

“Oh, but of course she is! Apple Bloom is taller than the other crusaders too, I think,” Fluttershy said softly as she slunk in alongside her bright pink companion, who, in sharp contrast, bounced energetically over the yellow mare.

“She’s like a giant! Waaay taller than us old timers! You know I never really understood that. Why are they taller than us? It really doesn’t make sense. I mean, I don’t make a lot of sense a lot of times either, but that reeeally doesn’t make any se–”

“Pinkie, sweetheart, your rambling again.”

“Ooopsie! Sorry Shy.” Pinkie stopped bouncing and nuzzled her partner affectionately, but with some considerable restraint. The party pony truly did understood Fluttershy’s sensitive nature, something that most wouldn’t think possible. But she did, and the two were perfect for one another. “Thanks for catching me.”

“Your welcome. I know you’re trying to be better about it, so I want to help you.”

“OOOOH you are the sweetest mare a pony could ask for! I love you so much baby!” she said, giving Fluttershy a quick peck on the cheek, making her blush slightly.

“I love you too, Pinkie.” she replied, smiling wide and warm for her lover. There really isn’t much to say about Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy; the two had started spending more and more time with each other, and soon, they decided that they wanted to be more than just friends. After that, it was merely an eventuality before they married. They were happy with each other, and that’s all anypony could want for them.

“So, not to be cliché, but I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today.” The phrase elicited a chuckle from several of the elements and the apprentices. “I’ve summoned you because the Alicorn Amulet has been stolen.”

“But Ah thought y'all had that thing locked up tighter than a bank vault!”

“I did AJ In fact, the only ponies with access to the chamber were myself, the guard, and Trixie, who alerted me a few minutes ago of the theft. We’re on our way now to investigate the crime scene using one of Sweetie Belle’s spells. I’m hoping we can catch them before the get too far.”

“Then we need to move out now, Princess,” Rainbow Dash said as she flared her wings out. “I’ll head back to the academy and get the Rainbolts on the job.”

“That would be excellent, but only after we’ve identified the intruder. And Dash, you don’t have to call me Princess,” Twilight said as she trotted off towards the amulet’s chamber.

“Actually ma’am, I do. We may be friends, but I’m a Wonderbolt, and that means I’m your subordinate. If I go around calling you by name, how would that reflect on you? Poorly, that’s how. It’s... a military thing.”

Twilight sighed to herself, wishing it weren’t so, “I get it. I suppose, I should call you ‘Captain’ then?”

“Yes, ma’am. I hadn‘t said anything yet because I didn‘t pay it any mind, but Captain Spitfire brought it to my attention a few weeks ago. I‘m sorry ma‘am.”

“It’s alright, ahem, Captain. I’ll overlook the, uh, transgression,” she said, smiling at the pegasus.

“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”

“Extremely, Captain.”

“Very funny, ma’am.”

“That’s going to get old really quick.” She suddenly stopped before a tall bronze door, which was pushed slightly open, as if an earth pony had opened it. Gripping it with her magic, she moved it open even further so that everypony could fit through. “Okay, where was that blood at, Trixie?”

“Right here,” she answered, and pointed at a spot in front of the pedestal in the rooms center. It wasn’t just a few drops, but a rather large splatter, as if somepony had dumped it from a bucket.

“That’s… a lot of blood. No normal pony could lose that much and still be alive,” Rarity stated as she trotted up behind Trixie and Twilight. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Good, that means the amulet didn’t get real far.”

“Applejack! That‘s a horrid thing to say!”

“Ah’m just bein honest,” she replied with a shrug as she set to work untying the guards in the corner.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie’s anxious voice filled the room, as she tried to keep her wife away from the gore. “Uh, babe, maybe you should stay back? I mean, if it’s enough to make Rarity sick, I don–”

“Pinkie Pie, I know you’re trying to protect me, and that’s sweet of you, but I can handle a little blood. I've seen a cougar eat a fox before. This can’t be much…" Fluttershy trailed off as she brought her gaze to the large red splatter in the middle of the room. Her eyes slowly widened and her face twisted in horror at what she beheld. "Oh, Celestia… that’s horrible. I… I’m so sorry Pinkie! I should’ve listened to you!” Fluttershy wailed as she ran and buried her muzzle into Pinkie’s fluffy mane. “I should’ve–”

“Sssshhh… it’s okay Shy," Pinkie cooed, stroking the back of Fluttershy's neck. "My mane is a safe place.”

Twilight, however, had seen worse. She stood over the pool of blood and stared at it intently. It was fresh. Only the edges and patches towards the middle had started to dry up. It was also quite thin. It was like it had been flung off of something. It was splattered in an arcing pattern, but not a big arc. Like the pony that had flung it had done so straight at the ground. “Sweetie Belle, I need you to cast your spell here. I think this is where we’ll get the best view of our thief.”

“Yes, princess.” The pretty mare stepped forward, and began gathering magic around her horn. The spell was complicated, and required a lot of concentration. The room was silent for several minutes before she finished casting, and released the spell. It took the form of a broad ray of light, which would show everything that had happened wherever she pointed it within a specified time frame.

“Set it for the past four hours, and play it back at 30 times the normal speed.” As the playback commenced, it took only a few minutes  for something to happen. And did it ever happen. “Sweetie, stop the playback!”

A creature appeared frozen in frame, save for the occasional static-like disruption. It stood on it’s hind legs, wearing a red jacket, with… it had…

Hands.

“BRING ME LYRA! NOW!”
> Pursuit of Knowledge And The Enemy!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She heard the Princess’s roar, even from the dungeon. The castle carried sound well. It was curious to her, as crystal typically absorbed all kinds of energy. In fact, the mare had even developed a method of using them as a power source. If she’d had her magic, she would have built the device. She would’ve built many things, had she her magic. But alas, the device on her horn prevented her from so much as levitating her pen and pad. One of the…

“Lyra? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” The mare snapped out of her daze and looked back at her visitor.

“You were spacing out.”

“Sorry Bon Bon. I was just thinking. I really don’t have much else to do, you know?” Lyra smiled at her best friend, Bon Bon, wishing the bars between them would disappear. Not that it would matter. Without forelegs, she could not hug her friend as she wished to, and with no magic, she couldn’t even levitate over to her. All the same, Lyra was grateful for the company. It was sweet of  her best friend to visit every week, even after seven years in the crystal dungeon. “What were you saying?”

“That sounded like Princess Twilight. What do you think she wants?” The visitor asked, letting panic flood her voice.

“Who knows. Maybe Spike burnt one of her books?” the prisoner joked, her smile immediately fading at Bon Bon's bemused glare.

“She said ‘bring me Lyra.’ I don’t think she wants you to fix a book,” Bon Bon said as her panicked eyes darted between her friend and the stairway leading up to the main floor. “Maybe she’s decided to exe…”

“NO! Don’t even say it! She PROMISED me! Ten years and I can get out and I… and I… and…” Lyra trailed off. The mare’s angry scowl had made Bon Bon flinch at it’s harshness. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t shout at you. If that is the case, it’s not your fault, Bon.”

“Yes it is! I went to the guards… it’s my fault your even in here…” the beige mare cast her gaze down at her hooves.

“You only did what you thought was right," Lyra said, flashing a warm smile at her friend. "Can’t say I agree with it, but whatever. It’s in the past. Oh, here come the guards. Hey fellas! Can it wait a sec? I‘m in the middle of a visit,” she said, noting with great disdain who accompanied her typically friendly warden.

“No. The Princess has demanded your presence. Immediately,” an orange pegasus stallion with a blue mane said as he trotted down into the cell block.

“Oh come on, Lieutenant Flash… Please?” she said teasingly, batting her eyes at him in mock sweetness.

“Are you serious? You’re more damaged than I thought. Why in Equestria would I be attracted to a two legged mare like you? You’re a monster!” he scoffed, glaring at the amputee in her cell.

“Am I? What’s more monstrous, improving myself or tearing somepony’s dreams away from them?” she replied, grinning menacingly at the guard.

“Flash! That’s enough chatter. Princess Twilight wants her now,” the older stallion reprimanded the lieutenant, as he unlocked Lyra’s cell.

“Oh hiya there, Cap! How ya been? Wife and filly doin well?” the prisoner asked, smiling genuinely at the Captain of Twilight's guard.

“Very well, Lyra. Thanks for asking,” he answered, lifting her by aid of his magic.

“You’re so much nicer than your underlings. How come?” she said as the greyed stallion assisted her onto a waiting hover cart. Captain Stronghoof’s coat was actually red, and his mane orange, but age and stress had worked together to turn them both pale.

“Because we’re a lot alike,” he replied shortly as he, Flash and Bon Bon stepped into the harness. “Miss Bon Bon, you don’t have to help.”

The mare shifted on her hooves a bit, before stepping away from the cart. “If you say so… Is it okay if I come anyway? I’m worried.”

“I don’t think the Princess would mind. You head on up,” the captain answered, smiling at her.

“All right. I’ll see you up there Lyra,” she said with a nervous smile, and made her way towards the stairs.

As the confectioner trotted up the stairs, Lyra shuddered, remembering having pulled her down a similar flight some years ago. She had broken the poor mare’s leg that day. “No…” she whimpered, shaking her head violently. 

“What was that, Monster?” Flash snapped, scowling fiercely at the mare.

“Not that it concerns a plothole like you, but I was remembering, or rather trying not to remember, something that could make that nickname true,” she snapped back, as a single, barely unstifled  tear rolled down her cheek, which was quickly wiped away be the Captain.

“It’s like you said, it’s in the past, Lyra,” he said, smiling kindly to her, then turned back towards the bumper, letting it rest across his broad chest, and began to push. The captain was so kind to her… he said it was because they were similar. How could a sick mare like her be anything like this great stallion? He had never ridiculed her, as Flash had. He had never condemned her, or even shown the slightest contempt for her. But why? Why would anypony treat her any other way than with hate? There was no feasible reason…

Lyra felt the cart tilt upwards as it began to ascend the stairs. She wouldn’t slide off, thanks to a vertical panel that her flank rested against. She gazed at the back of the Captain’s head, wishing he’d give her that smile again. It was a magical smile… she loved it. Perhaps it was not just the smile that she loved. After seven years of imprisonment, he and Bon Bon were the only ones to show her any kindness. Perhaps she had allowed herself to become smitten with the old guard. Lyra quickly dismissed the notion. If she chose to pursue Captain Stronghoof, she would only end up hurt. He was married and had a little filly to care for.

The light of the ground floor burned her eyes, and caused her to blink several times before she could start to see anything at all. However, her brow remained furrowed and her eyes cut, so she could at least tell where she was going. They approached a magical lift that Lyra herself had designed before her incarceration. Almost a perfect year before, actually. She smiled softly at her handiwork. It had taken twenty-six work stallions and three weeks to build the device. A rock specialist name Maud had been called in to clear out some of the wall and ceiling for the lift. Now that Lyra thought about it, she recalled Pinkie Pie bouncing around the specialist like they were best friends or something. It was weird.

As they boarded the device, she watched as Captain Stronghoof activated the control panel with his magic and the machine hummed to life. Bon Bon was already on before them. Unfortunately, the device could only be operated by a unicorn, so she, an earth pony, had to wait for them. 

The Captain’s kindness flooded her mind again. She still couldn’t fathom how they were alike! No. she was done thinking about it. She was determined to find out. “Captain.”

“Yes?”

“Earlier, you said we were alike. How did you mean? It’s puzzling, that’s all.”


>X<


With a sigh, Flint Stronghoof  turned towards his ward. Summoning a small amount of magic, he gripped his armor’s fastener and unclasped it, revealing to Lyra a long, jagged scar that ran across his chest. “When I was sent to Manehattan to help with the riots, one of the civilians stabbed me with a makeshift spear. It broke off in my heart, and it had to be replaced. Unfortunately, despite having a common blood type, there were no donor hearts available. Lots of healthy ponies in that city apparently. It was decided that I would be given an experimental, artificial heart. One of your design, actually.”

“I… I see. So you… you’re body is like mine was. Partly artificial. I‘m sorry. It must have been hard for you. I chose my modifications. Yours were forced unto you.”

“Yeah, it was. Thank Celestia that the solar guard insurance plan covers all work related operations,” he replied with a chuckle, and refastened his armor. It was strange; it felt good to speak to the mare about his past. Maybe later he’d tell her about some of his adventures in the Everfree forest with that strange red and white gypsy pony. The lift screeched to a halt when they reached their floor.

“I’ll go ahead and tell the Princess that you’re coming,” the Lieutenant muttered as he hopped over the carts bumper and flew off towards a massive bronze door down the hall.


>X<


“Princess, I don’t care that he lost his heart because of his duties! He should be expelled from the guard!” The orange stallion grimaced as he argued with Princess Twilight over the matter of Captain Stronghoof’s artificial organ. “And I can’t believe you still haven’t executed that sick, monster of a mare!”

“Lieutenant! Stand down!” Rainbow Dash commanded as she stomped over to glare at him in the eye. “You’ve overstepped your bounds, colt!”

“I don’t have to listen to you, fake Wonderbolt! You aren’t my CO!” he shouted back, pawing at the ground aggressively.

The Captain's eyes widened, then promptly narrowed, as her hoof nearly raised itself to strike the lieutenant's muzzle. “FAKE?! You watch your step, lieutenant! I’ll have you court marshaled!” she threatened, and slowly lowered her foreleg.

“I’d like to see you try, Captain Wannabe!” he roared in response, clearly lacking the restraint of his superior.

“Stand down, Lieutenant! Captain Dash is still your superior, and you will show her the respect she deserves!” Captain Stronghoof commanded as he entered the chamber. However all eyes were on the mare resting on the hover cart, not him. Most of the ponies in the room had never seen Lyra after her arrest.

“Lieutenant Flash. Return to your barracks," Twilight ordered, stepping forward. "You will be relieved of your duties until further notice. You are dismissed.”

“Yes… Princess,” the pegasus growled, before slinking out into the corridor, passing by Lyra on the way. that of course, drew everypony's attention back to her.

Rarity was the most perturbed by the seafoam mare’s appearance. They had once been relatively close acquaintances, but Rarity had cut off contact with her after the incident. She had changed so much, too. Her once bright golden eyes were now a dull yellow and had sunken in, leaving dark circles under them, and her coat was matted and her mane and tail were left unkempt. But what stood out most were the bronze colored sockets on either shoulder, with the flesh around them cauterized and bare.

Pinkie had seen it before. She had accidentally wandered down to the dungeon one day a few years back, and then promptly un-wandered back out after seeing Lyra. Thankfully, Fluttershy still had her face buried in her mane. She didn’t need to see this. Pinkie remembered seeing the article about it in the Ponyville newspaper. The head line was ‘Psychotic Mare Modifies Body.’ She hadn’t read the actual article. She knew it would be depressing, and depression was not something she could handle. Not anymore.

Applejack, on the other hoof had read the article. It sickened her to think that the engineer would go this far to be like a human. According to the papers, Lyra had removed her own forelegs and replaced them with… oh what did they call them things? Harms? No that wasn’t it. It was something to that affect, though. 

Rainbow Dash however, had been in charge of crime scene security. At the time, almost all of the Princess’s guards had been incapacitated by Lyra’s resistance, so the Wonderbolt reserves had been called in to assist, as the training facility was closer to Ponyville than Canterlot. Rainbow Dash had seen the crime scene and everything that it entailed. They had found the mares forelegs in a garbage can, cut into three pieces each. She had seen the saw that she had used. She saw the blueprints for the arms. The amount of time Lyra had put into planning the procedure… she wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t desperate, either. She wasn’t anything like that. She was determined to get what she wanted. The pegasus had almost wanted to praise her for it. But that was then. Now, she only saw a pitiful excuse for a unicorn mare that had given up too easy. She saw a pony that let her dreams get snatched away from her. It was pathetic.

Trixie had seen the amputee on a number of occasions, and had become somewhat amicable with her, having chatted with her on occasions when she was asked to check the wards on the castle's dungeon cells. In Lyra, Trixie could see what she might've become, had she not been stopped and given not one, or two, but three chances to start over. It was a sobering sentiment.

“Hello Lyra, Bon Bon. How have you been?” The princess asked, smiling politely, her earlier harshness having vanished completely.

“I have been well, Princess,” Bon Bon said, bowing slightly for the alicorn. “My shop has seen a business boom in recent years.”

“I’m glad to hear it! Lyra, how are you? I trust the dungeon isn’t too uncomfortable?”

“Eeeehhh it’s so-so. Bed could be softer, but it is a prison. Oh, and my ears are still ringing from earlier. Maybe you should try again, I don’t think they heard you in Germaney,” Lyra said, grinning all the way. Her grin may have seemed malevolent, but that was just her face. It was truly a good natured smile, and the princess knew that.

“Very funny. I am sorry for my outburst. I promise, you are not in any trouble." The princess paused for a moment before continuing. "Not yet, anyway. However, what you tell me in a moment may determine the truth of that statement, and what your future holds.”

“Wow, that‘s… frightening,” the prisoner replied with an audible gulp.

“Indeed," the violet Alicorn replied, and turned to her prized pupil. "Sweetie Belle, will you replay the recording for Lyra?”

“Yes, Princess,” the pale apprentice answered, bowing her head slightly.


>X<


The creature pushed the door open without so much as a grunt. With considerable ease, he pulled the guards through, and tossed them into a corner. The thing stood on two legs that closely resembled a pony’s hinds, and its head was that of a pony, but that’s where the pony ended. Its barrel was wider and flatter, with two lanky arms. Of course, those arms had hands at the ends. It was a stallion, judging from its mustachioed muzzle. He was of a muscular build, so he was probably a draft breed, like a Clydesdale or a Shire. His hooves-but not his hands-had black feathering around them, to match his long black mane and tail. Said mane was slicked back behind his ears, and fit well with his black and white piebald coat. He wore a short, red, double breasted jacket with his sleeves pulled up to the elbow, along with a pair of black trousers that reached to a few inches past his hocks. On his flank resided what appeared to be a black katana.

He made his way to the bell jar and reached for his blade. “Alright, then. This was a lot…” He stopped and turned towards the door. He suddenly grimaced, and brought his fist down and shattered the bell jar, causing several pieces to cut through his arm. It immediately gushed a massive amount of blood, but he just flung it to the ground, then grabbed the amulet. He followed up by running up the wall beside the door and grabbed the top of the door frame.

Moments later, Trixie cautiously entered through the opened door as the intruder watched intently from above. After Trixie had passed under, he swung through, and a light clop noise could be heard from the other side. As Trixie finished lighting all the lanterns, she gasped at the scene before her, and galloped out of the room.

“This transpired twenty minutes ago. Tell me Lyra, can you identify the creature, or is it perhaps your own handiwork, carried out by another?” Twilight asked, then trotted over to the amputee and leaned down to get close to her face. The unicorn did not flinch, but met the Princess’s gaze with her own stoicism. “I suggest you tell me the truth.”

“Well, Princess, as much as I would like to take credit for those amazing arms, they appeared to be natural to me. I can’t help but reason that he may have done it to himself using magic. Or perhaps he is like a human, and not of this world. I recall reading of a mirror that allows one to travel to another world. Perhaps he used a similar device? I am greatly intrigued by this theory, and would like to help in any way I can.”

“Thank you, Lyra, you’ve given me all I need, and more." The Princess sighed, and gingerly raised a hoof to wipe her face in exasperation. She did not want to send Lyra back down there... "But I no longer require your assistance, so I am afraid you must return to your cell.”

Before Lyra could reply, a loud crash interrupted the discussion, and a teal pegasus mare with a blonde mane crashed through the window and galloped up to Twilight. “Sorry for the glass Princess, but we found the thief! He’s on his way out of Ponyville now!”

“Thank you, Lightning Dust," the Alicorn replied, and turned to her friends. "Let’s move, everypony.”

As the elements and their apprentices fled to give chase, Lyra was left alone with the Captain and her only two friends, Bon Bon and Trixie, the latter of whom was beginning to clean up the blood. The captain looked down at Lyra dejectedly. “You really want to help, huh?”

“Mostly for research purposes, but yeah, I do,” she said as the Captain and Bon Bon pushed the cart back into the hall. It did not take long to reach the lift, and from there it was a matter of moments to arrive at the dungeon.

“Lyra, I wish there was something I could do to help you…” Bon Bon whispered, just before the cell came crashing closed between the two friends.

“Aw it’s okay. In three more years, I’ll get out and build me some new forelegs," she said, shaking her head, "Then we can go on our own adventures."

“Alright. Well, Captain, I leave her in your capable hooves,” the confectioner said quietly, an left to return to her home and business.

“I’ll take good care of her ma’am.” Once Bon Bon had left the castle the Captain turned towards Lyra and grimaced. “If things go south, should we proceed ahead of schedule?”

“Perhaps… we need to wait. The Princess may come back, or send for me,” the mare said, lowering her gaze to the floor.

“Right..." The Captain paused. "I do have a question, though.”

“Yes?”

“Did you really not plan this?” he asked, taking a seat on the bench across from Lyra's cell.

“Again, I am sad to say that I did not. I wish I had, because that was cool!" Lyra's face began to light up as she became more excited by the Idea of something even remotely similar to a human being present in her world. "I mean, did you the way he climbed up the wall? It was like a monkey or something!”

“There it is,” he remarked, smiling gently at Lyra.

The mare blinked in response. “What?”

“The shine in your eyes,” he said, still giving her that warm smile from before. “I’ve watched it disappear over the years and now it’s coming back. It’s good to know that you’ve still got that passion in you somewhere.”

“Why, Captain, you’re making me blush!” she said, then promptly burst into laughter. The captain quickly followed suit, lying on the bench in front of the cell.


>X<


“Rainbow, Scootaloo, Fluttershy, circle around and head him off! Pinkie, Applejack and Bloom, I need you to catch up and steer him to Spike! Rarity, Sweetie, form a daisy chain net spell with me and get ready to catch him! Spike, be ready to fight; he’s armed, and probably dangerous! Is everypony in position?”

A unanimous “Roger that!” sounded throughout the telepathic ‘radio’ spell they used.

“Good, now, break!” Everypony splintered off to perform there assigned task, and Spike dashed away into the forest, grinning. No doubt he had grown bored from a lack of combat as of late. There had been a surprising lack of world threatening villains in the past two years. Yet he always wore his sword. He claimed it was so that he would always be ready. 

The maneuver they were using was intended to corner, and eventually capture, but not eliminate. It had actually been adapted from one of Applejack’s herding formations. One of many formations, actually, that had been adapted from certain backgrounds. They had even used a formation based on Rarity’s signature stitch pattern on one occasion.

In recent years, the elements had learned to operate as a cohesive unit, instead of a group of individuals acting separately. While many had complained about the months of practice, they had participated, and the unit mentality became almost second nature. Eventually, even the apprentices were able to pick up on the elements’ cues and act in synchronization.

Twilight could see the thief ahead, galloping at full speed into the forest. “Alright, U-team, start the spell!” The three mare’s horns started simultaneously glowing, and a beam of energy connected between them and formed a triangle. Slowly, smaller beams began weaving themselves from each of the points, and made their way to the opposite side. The net was soon complete, and all that was left was for the others to do their jobs.

“Listen up, P-team, don’t give an inch!” Rainbow Dash shouted as they circled to the thief’s left with a slight descent. Their plan was working, he spotted them and changed direction, heading for Spike. P-team dropped even lower, and flanked him, but maintained a 60 hoof altitude. That was too close, apparently. A loud bang sounded, startling a lot of birds from the trees. Suddenly, Fluttershy screamed and spiraled towards the ground. “Scoots! B.O.T.A.R. Flutters! E-team, I’m dropping now. I need a flank on his right. Pinkie, transfer to my team!”

Rainbow dropped down below the tree line, spiraling so she didn’t clip her wings. “RD, was that Shy screaming?”

“Roger that. I sent Scoots after her,” she replied as she dropped to a mere ten feet and moved into position as Pinkie Pie did the same.

“That… Jerk!” Suddenly the pink mares fluffy mane deflated and she started to gallop even harder after the thief. “I’ll break him in two! Nopony hurts my wife and gets away!”

“Pinkie, no! I’m okay! He just clipped my wing! Please dear, stay in formaton,” the gentle mare’s voice said over the radio. She sounded pained, but no doubt was putting on for her wife.

An awkward silence filled the air for a moment until Pinkie answered. “Alright. I trust you.”

Rainbow Dash nearly breathed a sigh of relief, but stopped when she saw that Pinkie’s mane had not re-inflated.

The thief was led closer to P-team, herded like cattle by E-team. “Spike, are you in position?”

“Roger that Dash.”

They were closing in on the clearing he stood in. Fast. That was okay. He was ready. Baring his teeth, he took a stance he had learned from an old sword master from Neighpon. He breathed in deeply, preparing to draw his blade in a flash. His grip on the sword’s hilt tightened, his eyes narrowed, and his breathing became slow and controlled. Spike played out how the encounter would go. The thief would move in slow motion to Spike, as his blade would slide from its scabbard, and swing forth with blinding speed. He would miss. He would know he would miss the instant the thief stepped within the clearing. His steps would have changed. He would have jumped over the sword. And he would have gotten away. He altered his plan slightly. Now he would not miss.

80 yards. 60 yards. 40 yards. 20 yards. The dragon counted the distance excitedly. The thief reached to his flank, where his own blade resided. His eyes narrowed at Spike for a moment. He was also plotting out how the encounter would go. Spikes prediction seemed to have won out, as his steps changed pace slightly as he entered the clearing. The thief dew his blade, and jumped, spiraling over spike’s head. He wore a confused look as Spike did not swing. That look turned to pain as the tip of Spkie’s scabbard crashed into the stranger’s stomach, causing him to flip and correct his landing. As he slid to a stop, he tsk’d lightly, and dashed back at Spike.

The ponies had stayed back to let their friend handle the swordplay. Rapid clangs could be heard as the two dueled fiercely. The U-team was behind slightly, but the dragon seemed to have things locked down.

Fluttershy galloped up and stopped short, eyeing Pinkie’s mane. “It’s not inflated…”

“It’s hard to smile when you’re worried about somepony getting hurt. Especially when it’s your wife.”

“But look, I’m okay. It just grazed my wing. Please don’t be angry. Scootaloo says that I’ll be back in the air in no time.” She stepped up and nuzzled Pinkie softly, then pulled back and kissed her lips gently. “Smile for me, my love.”

“Okay… I’ll smile. But only cuz ya kissed me and called me your love,” she said, barely suppressing a burning urge to grab the mare and smother her in affection. Her mane was starting to slowly rise back up. 

Fluttershy smiled, but on the inside, she was terrified. It seemed like it was getting harder and harder for Pinkie to cheer up after her episodes, and increasingly easier to slip into said episodes. She was terrified that Pinkie might not com back next time.

The clanging in the clearing stopped, and everypony turned their gazes to the duelists.  They were at a stand off, resizing each other. But this did not last long, as the U-team burst through the tree line and launched their net at the thief. It hit home and he found himself trapped in a glowing, sparking cage.

“Nice work everypony. We got him.”

> Bidding Our Farewells!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The thief stroked his mustache in confusion. He had been told that this was a primitive dimension, with only primal four legged ponies. Furthermore, he understood them. They spoke the same language he did. Oh well. Time to use his trump card.

“Excuse me, ladies. Oh, and dragon. I hate to ruin your celebration, but I have this,” he said as he held up a small dagger, with a crystal embedded in its pommel. “It, unfortunately for you, nullifies most types of magic. Like this cage, for example.” He demonstrated by slicing through the energy field like it were made of butter, then promptly stepped out.

The mares all stood in shocked silence. The first to speak was the purple unico… not a unicorn. An Alicorn. A Queen. “Who are you? And more importantly, what are you?”

The stallion bowed low, ashamed that he had been so foolish not to recognize an Alicorn. “Apologies, Your Majesty. My name is Roma Heart, and I am a pony, much like you. Though I see evolution progressed differently here.”

“What do you mean ‘here?’ Where are you from? Did you bring others? If so where are they?” she demanded, and trotted closer.

“I mean here, as in this dimension, your majesty. I am from a different dimension, and I came alone. But I fear that I must get back soon. My people need me.” He paused for a moment. “I ask, Your Majesty, what is your name?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Well then, Queen Twilight, I must apologize for being so rude. I haven’t seen an Alicorn in decades. I also must apologize for this,” he said, and quickly brought up his fist in an brutal uppercut, before turning and galloping away. “Sorry, but I really must be going!”

“Rainbow, after him!” the Queen shouted behind him.

“I think not!” Roma shouted as he threw a small incendiary up into the air. A moment later, there was a bright flash of light, and the Rainbow mare fell to the ground. He briefly worried about setting the trees ablaze, but quickly dismissed the idea. He had thrown it into the clearing, after all.

The terrain of the forest was easy to navigate for him. Much like a minefield really. Step here, dodge there. Maybe you hop over that one. These thoughts amused him. He never thought he would need this level of skill to run away from a Queen’s guard. Not in this dimension, anyway. So entertained was he by these thoughts that he almost tripped over the Well of Worlds. Almost. Without a second thought, he dove in, and swam through to the other side.


>X<


Twilight stood over the well and inspected it closely. It seemed pretty normal, but so did both of the magic mirrors in the Crystal Castle and Canterlot. This was clearly a portal to a different dimension, but how did she not know of this?

“Princess Twilight, what’s the matter?” Sweetie Belle asked as she trotted up behind her, with concern painted on her face. “It’s obviously more than just the amulet.”

“A couple of things, actually. I’ve never heard anything of this portal, for one. Next, he said ‘My people need me.’" she answered, pausing as she realized something else. "Then he called  me ‘Queen.’ I want to investigate, but it may be like the other portals. I may get trapped for Celestia knows how long.”

“Right, well, there’s only one way to find out. We just have to dive right in.”

“I suppose. But there is somepony I would like to bring with us.”


>X<


Lyra sat in her cell, humming along to a tune on the radio while the Captain sat on the bench steadily sewing some fabrics together. He wouldn’t tell her what it was, but she had an inkling of a feeling that it was intended to accompany her arms. “I have to say, when you told me that you were a tailor before a soldier, I didn’t quite believe you. What changed?”

“You mean, why did I join the guard?” he asked, looking up from his project.

“Yup.”

“It paid better. I was married with a filly on the way, so I needed a bit of extra income,” he said with a shrug, “No grand reason, just needed the money. It just turned out that I enjoyed the job.”

“Neat.”

A sudden presence made itself known before the princess even arrived. Being unicorns, they could easily feel the presence of somepony as powerful as the Princesses, through the magical distortion in the air. As she came into the cell block, her hooves echoed viciously throughout the room. “Hello Captain. May I have a moment alone with Lyra?”

“Of course, Princess,” he said, before quickly trotting out.

“What’s up Princess?" the prisoner asked, grinning. "Did you catch him?”

“No, he slipped through a portal back to his own dimension. He still has the amulet,” the Princess said with a sigh, and sat on the guest bench. “I don’t want to do this… but I want you to come with us. We don’t know if we will morph into his kind, or if we will stay the same, as he did when he came here. If you are with us, you can at least cover your… robotics with a cloak, and blend in.”

“So I get them back?” Lyra's eyes lit up as she raised her head in surprise.

“Yes.” Twilight used her magic to teleport a white bundle into the cell. “Now, if you’ll let me…”

Whatever she was about to say was lost, as Lyra squirmed off of her bed, and worked her way over to the package. She ripped the fabric apart with her teeth, and savagely tore at the thin cord around the devices. She could’ve wept with joy if she hadn’t been so desperate to get them on. Finally, they were unwrapped. The seafoam mare squirmed around until she was in an acceptable position to link up with the right arm. The screws hummed as they fastened itself to her shoulder.

“I… am impressed and somewhat disturbed by the display I just witnessed.”

“Psh. Don’t be,” Lyra scoffed as she reached up with her hand, and crushed the device around her horn. She swung her arm to the side and rolled over onto her left, then pushed herself up with the hand. She stood up, managing to get on her hind legs, and lean against the cell bars. “Whoa. Been a while since I could do this. Been a while since I could even walk.”

The Princess levitated the other arm up and held it in place for Lyra to link up. “I’m sorry, I had intended to have some forelegs built, but you’re the only pony with that kind of expertise.”

“Oh don’t worry about it. I got my babies back, so I’m happy. Hang on a sec," she said, then turned to the stair way leading to the ground floor. "HEY CAPTAIN!"

“What? What’s wrong?!” the old guard shouted as he leapt down the stairs, and gathered a bit of magic around his horn. He stopped immediately when he saw Lyra standing on her legs, with her arms dangling beside her. “You… you got your arms back.”

“Yup! Princess needs my help with something super important," she said proudly, "So I’m going to another world.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m done with this,” he said with a smile, and levitated a  layered black cloak in front of him. It had a shoulder layer with three toggle fasteners across the chest, and a high collar, and its lower layer would come around to cover her arms, but it would probably be easy enough to move and fight in. “I figured you could, uh, use something to keep you warm this winter. You know, it’s only a month or so away.”

Twilight opened up the cell and allowed Lyra to take a few precious, awkwardly balanced steps towards the Captain and receive the cloak. The Princess couldn’t stop the smile on her lips even if she had wanted to. Lyra looked truly happy to be on her own hooves again. Twilight had never wanted to imprison Lyra… but Celestia had commanded it. While Twilight was a Princess, she did not rule anything, as the other three did. So she was forced to abide by the Solar Alicorn’s wishes.

Lyra took the cloak from Stronghoof and twirled it around her shoulders, letting it fall gingerly around her arms. It reached past her flanks, and covered half of her legs. It suited her well, the Princess thought. The green unicorn raised and lowered her arms a couple of times in experiment, testing whether or not the cloak would fall away properly. It did, and she smiled, even throwing a few shadow punches in earnest play. 

“Alright Princess, I’m ready." She stopped testing her arms and cloak, and turned to the Alicorn. "I just have to make one little stop, before we leave.”

“Oh?” Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh. Bon needs to know where I am," she said with a grim smile, "If she comes back and sees me gone, she’ll be worried sick.”

“Understood, meet us at this location when you are finished.” the Princess said, levitating a scrap of paper out of her saddle bag and into Lyra’s hand. To her surprise, the claw-like appendage did not rip the paper to shreds, but clutched it gently between two fingers. The scrap had coordinates for the well, and directions on how to find it in the dense forest. Some might think it foolish to have allowed Lyra to wander on her own, but the Princess was a fair pony. She was giving all the others time to bid there loved ones farewell. So she would be remiss if she did not allow the same concession to her bionic comrade.

“Princess, if you permit, I’ll take my leave now,” She said, bowing to the Princess.

“Go ahead Lyra.”


>X<


“Spike, Dear? Where are you?” Rarity called forth, searching for her husband in the vast manor, though she suspected she already knew where he was.

“I’m in the shrine room,” he answered calmly, from a door not twelve feet ahead of the unicorn. Of course, she had been right. He visited the shrine before any adventure. It was his way of paying respect to his mentor. “I’m almost ready, honey.”

“Well, we must hurry to meet Twilight soon. It’s rude to keep royal…” She froze as she peeked around the corner into the shrine. Spike was on his knees, in front of his mentors armor, and holding the samurai's katana in his claws. “Love, is everything alright?”

“Just remembering what Hikari-dono told me. About how no matter what the odds, no matter what stands in my way, I must always use this blade to protect those I love.”

“I think Hikari-dono would be very proud to see the sword master you’ve become,” she said, then sighed and trotted in to sit next to the drake. “You really miss him, don’t you?”

“I do. He was a great pony. Not just as a swordspony, but as a pony in general," he said, pausing to wipe a stray tear from his eye. "He was kind, generous, honest, loyal. I just wonder if I’m carrying on his legacy as I should.”

“Don‘t be ridiculous!" Rarity scolded, causing Spike to flinch. "Of course you are. Every time you draw that sword, you honor his name, and his memory. Even in day-to-day life, you honor him by remembering how he lived, and living with the same principals.”

“You’re right, of course. You’re always right, aren’t you?”

“Mmm, most of the time. Ready to go, Dear?”

“More than ready.”


>X<


Applejack waved goodbye to her brother and sister before turning to leave. If only she could take them with her… but Apple Bloom was needed to run the boutique, and Big Mac had a family to care for. Heck, Cheerilee would probably never forgive her for taking him from her! The mare gave a small chuckle as she trotted away from her home. She hated saying goodbye to them, but she was needed by her friends’ side. And Celestia have mercy if she were to fail them. 

She trotted with her head held high, and her face stern. She was ready for any challenge she would face on the other side of that portal. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t afraid. Oh no, she was terrified. But without fear, one can never be brave. And her courage was something she was very proud of. She breathed a sigh to calm herself.

“Ah’m ready.”


>X<


Pinkie and Fluttershy walked steadily away from the Pie family’s rock farm, which they had visited mostly to see Maud. Though to their surprise, the whole family had wished them luck on their journey. Mr. and Mrs. Pie weren’t the most opened minded ponies in Equestria, and openly disapproved of Fluttershy and Pinkie’s marriage, but they accepted it and lived their lives.

“Pinkie, are you sure you're ready?” Fluttershy asked, walking at a relaxed pace.

“Of course! This so exciting! You ready babe?” the party mare replied, bouncing around her wife.

“I am if you’re with me,” she said with a warm smile.

“Then we’re both...” Pinkie trailed off and looked to her wife with a grin, who promptly sighed, though she still smiled.

"Ready like Freddy!" she said loudly, causing Pinkie to clap her hooves excitedly.


>X<


Rainbow dash stood at the entrance to the Wonderbolts HQ in Cloudsdale, conversing with her fellow officer, whilst the RainBolts stood at ease off to the side. “Sorry Captain Spitfire, but the Princess requires my help on an important mission.”

“I understand Captain Dash. You want me to take over the RainBolts while you’re gone?” It may have been her imagination, but Rainbow swore she heard the other Captain’s voice falter a bit as she affirmed the information.

“No, I’m leaving Lieutenant Dust in command," Rainbow was not unaware of her comrade's rising eyebrow. "But I would appreciate it if you would keep an eye on them.”

“Will do. Be careful out there Filly,” Spitfire said quietly.

“Oh come on, I’m so not a filly anymore!” The younger Captain replied, chuckling at her senior.

“Well, regardless, be careful. I don’t know what we would do without you,” Spitfire said with a nod, her face twisting up a bit.

“Aw you’d just miss me.”

“And your point? We’re friends, and I just want to be sure you’re ready,” the Wonderbolt practically whispered, and stepped forward to give Rainbow a hug. “I really would miss you, Dash.”

“Trust me, Spit, I’m ready for this,” she assured, returning the completely unprofessional hug. They separated and Rainbow flew off towards the well.

“I hope I’m ready for this…”


>X<


They just stared at each other. Bon Bon was speechless. Her friend towered over her, casting an imposing shadow throughout the small room. A strong gust blew through the open window that Lyra had used to gain entry. It blew her cloak away from her arms a bit, prompting her to grab the hem and pull it tight to hide the devices. “Bon…”

The beige mare stepped forward and used her hoof to push the cloak aside, and placed the same hoof into the right hand. “You don’t have to hide them, Lyra.”

“But they scared you last time,” the cyborg replied softly.

“Yes, but only because I didn’t try to understand them. These... Uh…”

“Arms,” Lyra prompted.

“Arms, they’re a part of you, as much as your horn or your cutie mark. I get that now." Bon Bon pulled back to inspect the artificial limbs before giggling. "They look kind of cool, actually.”

The unicorn felt her throat seize up, and her lip began to quiver, despite her best efforts to keep them from doing so. She knelt down, and wrapped her arms around her best friend’s neck, while Bon Bon wrapped her forelegs around Lyra’s middle. “Bon, you’re so awesome…”

“Yeah, I know,” she said, and as she pulled out of the hug, her smile faded. “You should get going before the guards find you.”

“Nah, it’s not like that," Lyra said, waving her left hand in front of her. "The Princess is enlisting my aid in catching the amulet thief. Says it’s so I can go undercover and stuff like that.”

“Wow that’s a pretty big job. Think you can handle it?”

"Psh. I kept my arm project a secret from you, until you found me with the prototypes. I can totally handle just covering them up.”

“If you say so. Here, before you go...” she said, walking over to a bedside table. She reached in, and pulled out a small black box. “I want you to have this back.”

“Is that what I think it is?”

“It’s your locket," the confectioner affirmed. "You gave it back to me when you got arrested, remember?”

“Yeah. How could I forget? It was such a big day…” the unicorn let her head drop a little, but immediately perked back up, taking the locket out of its box and placing it around her neck, and under the cloak. “I think I should get going. Everypony else is probably already there.

“You’re sure you’re ready for this?”

“Absolutely.”


>X<


The six ponies stood around the well, staring into its depths. The light seemed to not reflect off the water’s surface at all, but rather, it penetrated straight through. Spike wasn’t interested. He was off to the side, taking inventory of their rations and supplies. Everything seemed to be in order, so he slid his stone tablet into his side pouch. It was a gift from Twilight. Whatever damage the stone took, including scratches, would be reverse within a matter of minutes. In fact, he had dropped it once, and split it in two. But it still managed to repair itself. An apt substitute for parchment, really.

“Twilight, when does this mystery pony of yours plan on showing up?” the dragon grumbled, and bit down on an emerald bar. Good thing nopony ate gems, he thought. He didn’t like to share his food, unless Rarity needed it for a project. Then he was happy to. “I’m getting tired of waiting.”

“Be patient Spike. There, she’s coming up now.” Twilight gestured over to the horizon, where a single figure walked at a constant pace. They approached slowly, and their cloak flapped in the wind, revealing two large, claw like hands. Nopony could believe it. “I decided to bring Lyra along, in case we don’t change when we go through. She can cover her arms to blend in, and gather information.”

The mare finally reached the seven others and bowed to them. “Sorry for keeping you. My goodbyes took longer than expected.”

“It’s quite alright Lyra. Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes, Princess,” Lyra said with a bow.

“Then what’re we waitin for? Let’s get this rodeo started!”

“Lyra, you go first. You’ll be less conspicuous if we don’t change,” Twilight commanded, nodding at the well.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She promptly complied, jumping onto the well’s rim, then dropping into the water. After her, one by one, the others dove into the crystal clear depths.

Now, the real adventure begins.

> Welcome To Equinus!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roma stood in his tent, binding the cuts on his forearm. He had intended to use his sword to cut the container, but that damned mare just had to interrupt. The wound stung badly, mostly from dumping vodka in it upon his return, but also from the fact that there was dirt in it. He shivered as a sharp wind blew his tent’s flaps open. Maybe taking off his jacket had been a bad idea after all. He glanced at his desk, where the Alicorn Amulet rested on top of his maps. It gleamed in the lamplight, despite the lamp being rather dim. Magic, no doubt. This world could use more of that.

“Sir!” A young pegasus mare burst in, panting heavily. She didn’t say anything for several seconds. She was staring. He could tell without looking. Everypony stared. The scars on his back were broad and there were many, so it was not as though they could be overlooked. “I, uh… there are eight strangers in the center of Camp. They’re demanding to see you. One of them is an Alicorn, sir.”

“Very well. Tell them I am tending my wound and will be out momentarily,” he said with a stern tone. She nodded and galloped off. Of course they had followed him. Why wouldn’t they? He finished binding his arm and picked up his brush, then used it to pull all the stray lochs of his mane back in place, then quickly and deftly braided it. He glanced at his coat rack. What to wear? He shrugged and selected a white dress shirt, and a red vest. He stepped back and realized with some humor, that his wardrobe was almost all red. Why not? It was his favorite color. He donned his semi-formal attire and selected his favorite sword. An elegant swept hilt sword, crafted in Germaney, and enchanted to never break, or rust, or… anything, really. It just, existed. It had for a centuries, since the time when he forged it with his own hands. He strapped the weapon to his flank and grabbed the Alicorn Amulet. It found it’s place in his left vest pocket.

After emerging from the tent, he made his way to the center of Camp. He could see the dragon he had crossed blades with before. The next to be seen was Queen Twilight. She stood nearly as tall as the drake. The others came into view shortly after. They had changed form upon crossing into this dimension, apparently. Now that they were his own kind, he could see that they were all quite pretty. Particularly the pale one with the purple mane. But none were as pretty as his wife. He smiled at that small fact. The Queen spotted him and pointed him out to the others. The pink one glared, the yellow one cowered behind the pink one, the tan one just stared, the pale one put a hand on the dragon’s shoulder, the rainbow one squinted at him, and the… green one? The green one was curious. The others wore little or no clothes, but she had a heavy cloak over her shoulders. In fact, it seemed to actually be made for her current form. Her face was partially covered, so he moved on.

“Your majesty, Queen Twilight,” he said, bowing once again to the Alicorn.

“I’m not a queen,” she said flatly. Bluntly. Without grace. “I’m a Princess.”

“I see. Well, perhaps one day you shall ascend to the throne. In this world, Alicorns promptly become queens.”

“They don’t where we’re from. The highest rank we can attain is Princess." She paused and sighed. "But I suppose one can’t expect things to be the same over several dimensions.”

“Quite. Well, Princess Twilight, please allow me to formally welcome you to our humble world, Equinus,” he said, raising his hands to the sides to indicate his surroundings. “I don’t suppose I need to ask why you’re here.”

“We came for the amulet,” the green one said harshly. She had a gruff, but still feminine voice, like she’d been inhaling dust for seven years.

“Yes, and we would very much appreciate it if you would return it peacefully,” the pale one said as she awkwardly stepped forward. She had a smooth voice. Like… vanilla pudding.

“I am very sorry, but I simply cannot do that. Why don’t we go for a walk? I’ll explain the situation on the way.” He put one hand behind his back and swung the other out. “I’m due to meet somepony in this direction.”

“Very well. But if you try anything, my bodyguards, Lyra and Spike, will tear you to shreds.”

In response to the Princess’s statement, the green one raised her arms and punched her hands together. She had bionics. How peculiar. He hadn’t thought their world would have such technology.

“I presume that you, mighty dragon, are Spike?" Roma asked, bowing slightly. "Your skill with a blade is admirable, even by my standards.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

Roma put his hands up defensively. “Nothing, merely that I have seen many great sword masters in my time, and as such, I have very high standards.”

“Hey now, don’t you two be gettin into fights over nothin! Let’s get this tour over with, so we can all go home. This two legs stuff ain’t normal.”

“Yes, the tan one is right. We should proceed.”


>X<


As they followed Roma through the Camp, they saw ponies and creatures of all kinds working together. Diamond dogs, griffons, deer, rams, all of them were coexisting seamlessly. It was perfect harmony. As it turned out, Camp was actually a small town that had been abandoned before Roma’s people had occupied it. They had never intended to stay in one place for so long, but they wound up calling the place home, and rather than give it a new name, they simply kept calling it Camp.

“Since none of you are going to ask, I stole the amulet because we needed it. See, for the past three hundred years or so, a tyrant has ruled over Equinus, and my people seek to overthrow him. However, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, unicorns and pegasi possess no magic. Earth ponies do, but only because they are need to grow crops, and only enough magic to survive…”

“I did notice. Why is that? Was it always this way?” Twilight asked, scratching her shoulder. The cloak Roma had given her itched. He had claimed that the heavy garment would hide her wings, as seeing an Alicorn might give a false hope to the people. The claim had puzzled her, but she let the subject lie.

“No, it was not. Once, everypony had magic to spare. But when Tirek took over, he stole almost every ounce of magic in the world. He could not take mine, thankfully. Please know, it would be wrong of me to say that he is an unfair ruler. To the contrary, if you obey his laws, he will leave you alone. And he is not neglectful of the environment, he cares for the planet, maintains the seasons and provides whatever weather is needed. He could, in fact, be a relatively decent emperor," Roma said, but stopped to sigh, and Twilight waited for the inevitable counter. "But he lets his citizens starve. He and his council take everything for themselves, and leave nearly nothing for us. Their soldiers abuse the power they have, and the citizens live in fear. Most were born into this life, so they know nothing of freedom. It saddens me to no end.”

Roma’s entire demeanor had changed during his speech. Before, he had stood straight, with shoulders squared and his hands behind his back. Now, his shoulders drooped, and his head hung a little lower. His expression was softer, too. His eye were gentle and distant. They no longer seemed hateful of malicious, like he was planning to kill the pony he was looking at. But a few things still didn’t check out with his story.

“What about newborns? Are they stripped of their magic at birth? And you speak of these events as though you were there yourself. And if you had Alicorn Queens, why did they not stand up against Tirek? In my dimension, I held my own against Tirek in single combat, after I absorbed the other Princesses’ magic,” Twilight said, then trotted around in front of Roma, forcing him to stop.

His face twisted in anger. The purple Princess was beginning to infuriate him with all these questions. “Well, that might work, if we still had all of our Queens. Two of them are dead, and the other is occupied with ruling The New Lunar Republic," he said harshly, then forced himself to calm down. It would not due to anger an Alicorn. "And as for newborns, ponies are born with little or no magic, now. A seal was placed everypony centuries ago. It passes on to the newborn, and each generation is the same. Pegasi have adapted to fly without the aid of magic, though.”

“There is no fourth Queen?” She asked, a little unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“No.”

“And you still haven’t told me why you act like you were there when this happened,” she scolded, pursing her lips and putting a hand on her hip.

“Because I was there."

“You expect me to believe that? You cant be any older than me. I’m 29.”

“What a coincidence. I am 1,429. I’m surprised you haven’t already noticed, but I am a vampony,” he replied and grinned, displaying his fangs. He had expected them to panic and run for the garlic and stakes, but they did not. 

“They’re kind of short, don’t you think?” the green one- Lyra- said with a chuckle. This in turn elicited giggles from the other mares as well. Roma could practically feel his face turning red.

“Well they, ahem, extend. When I am exposed to blood, my fangs triple in length,” he replied. “It works a bit like sexual arousal, really.”

Rarity decided to cut in. “Let’s change the subject, shall we? Who are you taking us to meet?”

“My wife,” he stated bluntly.

“Dude, you had us thinking it was some big important meeting!” the dragon shouted throwing his arms up.

“Sir Spike, short of a meeting with both my generals and allies, there is no bigger, more important meeting.” Roma said with a grimace. 

“Amen to that!” Pinkie Pie blurted. She wore a grin like an idiot. Who could possibly be married to her? He was answered by the ring she wore on her necklace. Fluttershy wore one similar. It would certainly explain why the yellow mare was so attached to the pink one.

“And is your wife as old as you?” Twilight asked.

“Older, actually. She is about a hundred years older than I am,” he said with a shrug. It didn’t really matter to him how old she was.

“So is she a vampony as well?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“No, but she is right there,” he said and pointed to a group of performers in the middle of a large circle of ponies.

“Which one? There’s like, seven mares,” Rainbow Dash said, hovering above Roma.

“The one singing and dancing. Her name is Sonata.”

She was thin and slightly muscular, and dressed in odd clothes. A short top, with flared sleeves that ended at the elbow, and a long ruffled skirt, with a broad band of jingling coins around her flanks. Her electric and midnight blue mane was held back by floral patterned band across the top of her forehead.

The Princess gasped upon seeing her. She knew what Sonata was. “You’re married to a siren?!”

“Yes, and quite happily I might add.” Roma allowed a smile to spread across his face as he watched Sonata Dusk, his beloved wife, dance and bring joy to his people. Fate would have it that he happened to fall for another immortal, unlike his sister in law... he pushed the thought from his mind. “But it’s not as bad as it seems.”

“How is it not bad? I encountered three sirens once, and they almost enslaved an entire city! Sonata was one of them,” The princess shouted, putting a hand on the vampony's shoulder.

“Well, as you said, each dimension is different. Here, Sonata is a kind, good mare. She doesn’t feed on negativity, but is sustained by joy,” he explained, as he waved to Sonata. She smiled and winked at him, but continued to sing and dance. She finished the song she was on, and began a new one.

It was quite beautiful, really. The song had a mellow tune, and it kind of made Twilight sad. It was a song of lost chances at love, and of how the stallion depicted had left the mare, believing she was happy with her new husband. Twilight could hear- no, she could feel, the pain in Sonata’s voice. How was she doing that? Surely a siren could not feel such things as compassion? Starswirl’s journal stated that they were cold and unfeeling beasts, that thrived on disharmony. And her encounter with the Dazzlings had proven that to be true. This version of Sonata did have a blue gem in her chest, so perhaps… Or maybe that was just how they looked here. The Princess didn’t know what to think about the situation.

Suddenly, she realized that the music had stopped. She looked around for the siren, and was surprised to find her standing casually in front of her. “Are you okay?” she asked sweetly.

“Um, yes. I suppose I am. Why do you ask?”

“Your face was all scrunched up. I thought maybe you were upset or something.”

“No, I’m just confused.” She looked around, and saw Roma telling some red mare to find her friends some clothes, on his tab.

“Because I’m not mean, right?” the tiny mare asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Um… how did you guess?”

“I didn’t. I can feel your doubt. You want to trust me, but something makes you hesitant,” she said, leaning in close. She was a fair bit shorter than Twilight, so she couldn't quite manage to look the Alicorn in the face. “You’ve met my kind before, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I don’t mean any offense, it’s just that I had a very, very bad experience. They were horrible. I’m not saying you are, but-” Twilight's ramble was cut short as Sonata raised her hand, and pressed it to Twilight's mouth.

“It’s okay. I know my kind are almost all bad. But see, I’m a good siren," she said, still smiling, "and I make people happy with my singing. I like it when ponies smile instead of throw things at me.”

“Do you, uh, feed off that happiness?” she asked hesitantly.

“Not in the same way my sister would. She gains power from bad feelings, but I don’t gain power from good ones." She paused for a moment, and put on a pensive expression, followed quickly by one of realization. "See this blue gem is kind of like a battery. It keeps me running. So I have to keep it charged or I’ll die. Roma helps with that. He’s always so happy when I’m around him.”

“Is that why you married him? To have an excuse to charge your gem?”

“Oh, Queens no! I Married him because I love him, silly. Why would you marry somepony for something like that?!” Sonata said, giving her a puzzled look.

Twilight was tempted to mention the Canterlot wedding, but declined to, in favor of not offending the tiny mare. That was another thing, wasn’t it? She was so small and thin. Was she malnourished? It didn’t seem that way, with how she had been dancing before. Compared to her counterpart in the human world, she was like a mouse. Her other version had been lean and strong, seemingly capable of knocking somep- someone on their backside with one punch. But this Sonata seemed like one punch would snap her neck. Surely Roma didn’t drink from her that often? Did he even drink from her? She was so confused.

“Have you two gotten acquainted?” Roma asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

“Um… I think so?”

“Roma! Did your trip go well?” Sonata shouted, and ran up to throw her arms around the vampony’s neck. He was massive next to her. His two hands covered her entire back when he held her. His eyes shone and his grin was broad, and that was mirrored in Sonata’s face. Maybe, just maybe, they were truly happy together.

“It went as well as it could have gone. Obviously, I had some unwanted guests follow me back,” he answered, scratching the back of his head. Again, his demeanor had changed. where he was stern and aggressive moments ago, he was now tender and soft-spoken. Their love flew in the face of everything she believed… How could a siren feel love?

“Twilight?” she was shaken out of her daze by Lyra’s voice, and a cold hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Oh, yes. This whole, siren-vampony thing is confusing. What did you need Lyra?” she said, shaking her head. The unicorn had a concerned look on her face. Was she worried about Twilight?

“I’m just letting you know that the others have gone to get new clothes. Spike is with them.”

“Right. Thanks. Why didn’t you go?”

“I’ve got all the clothes I need.” she paused for a moment, glancing at Roma. “And right now, your safety is more important. We don’t know these ponies, and I don’t trust his story.”

“I understand. And thank you for staying,” she said, turning back towards Roma and Sonata.


>X<


-Tirek’s palace-

“Adagio. You might as well stop fooling with that mane of yours. It’s going to look terrible no matter what you do.”

“Excuse me, Chrysalis? Some of us like to at least try and look nice,” the siren queen stated to the changeling pointing at her with her brush. Her mane was extremely precious to her. Almost as precious as the three red gems in her chest. Chrysalis however, didn’t care either way. She just woke up in the morning and brushed her mane once through. “Why do you think the Emperor’s summoned us?”

“I have no idea. Philomena? What do you think?”

The massive creature walked calmly among the other five of the gathered monarchs, towering over them all. It was a female, to most ponies’ shock. But more surprising, she had once been a simple old phoenix, the pet of the dead solar queen. Unfortunately, she did not speak much, if at all. Her appearance was terrifying for anypony, even her servants. She stood at least two and a half yards tall and had nasty sets of talons on each leg, and hand. She had massive wings that spread to at least ten feet, and her face remained similar to a phoenix.

“Silly Chryssi, don’t you know she’s the ‘Silent Queen’ for a reason?” Discord teased as he floated over the other five, his grin mischievous, but not vile. What he did with his eye was what was truly vile. They always roamed over a mare’s body, no matter what species. Being a draconaquus apparently came with that privilege.

The other two monarchs simply rolled their eyes and scoffed. None of them liked each other much, and that was fine. Their states all had thick borders between them. “Tell me King Sombra, why do you  think he has summoned us?”

“I’m not sure King Nightmare. But it can’t be good.” Sombra and Nightmare were likely the most mature of the monarchs, and as such, led the two most powerful of the six states. “I wonder why your dear sister isn’t here?”

“I’ve told you that the Lunar Queen is not my sister. If anything, we are cousins.” King Nightmare’s build was similar to that of a normal stallion, save for the flowing mane and ridiculously massive wings. His wings were even bigger than that of Philomena, who was an actual bird… thing. “But it would be nice to see her again.”

“It’s too bad, really. I don’t thing the last Alicorn will be here,” Sombra replied with a grimace as he watched Chrysalis slap the god of chaos for staring at her flanks again. “Honestly, older than we are, and he still behaves like a child… they all do.”

“I don’t think Adagio is too immature. Perhaps a tad too vane, but when attraction is your… uh, what do the foals call it? A shtick? When attraction is your shtick, I suppose one must look their best at all times.” King Nightmare replied with a slight smirk. Despite his name, he was a fairly kind god. He treated his subjects with kindness, unlike the younger members. While he understood that love bred loyalty better than fear, he was still very strict and harsh with his subjects whenever the law was concerned.

The throne room approached and the doors swung open for them, manipulated by Tirek’s power. He stood almost as tall as the room itself. To him, the Emperor of Equinus, the monarchs were like insects. And they felt that way too.

The three who had been bickering before now bowed quietly to their master. To anger him was to bring the wrath of Tartarus itself upon you. King Sombra was the first to speak to the Emperor.

“My master, you have summoned us, and now we are here. May I ask, why have you summoned us?” he said, following protocol and completing each sentence. He made sure that there were no edges to his words, and made double sure that his words could be interpreted in only one way.

“Yes, you may ask. I have summoned you here, because in three days, Roma of the Revolutionary Camp will make his way here,” the emperor replied, his voice booming throughout the castle.

“Would you have us destroy him, my master?” King Discord asked, gritting his teeth. Why was he worried? True, Roma and the Chaos God had once been rivals, but Discord was much more powerful now. Crushing the gypsy would be no problem for him.

“No. Though I can understand why you would think that, Discord. You are to welcome him with open arms, and warm smiles. He has declared his Camp to be a sovereign nation, outside of your six. As such he has diplomatic immunity, and as you know, I am nothing if not fair,” he replied, clearly displeased with his own nature.

“If that is what my master seeks… Philomena will obey,” the phoenix stated calmly and slowly, carefully sounding out her words. Everypony was shocked, including Emperor Tirek. But he grinned regardless.

“Adagio, Sombra, you will prepare for his arrival. It will, no doubt, be a momentous occasion. Be gone with the rest of you,” he commanded. The monarchs quickly obeyed, exiting the throne room with haste.

While the other four returned to their states, Adagio and Sombra stayed behind, contemplating how to welcome the vampony, and his reasons for even visiting.

“Adagio, he’s your brother in law, what do you think?” the King asked, stroking his muzzle.

“He likes wine, so a wine tasting party? It‘s been a long time since I‘ve spoken with him, so his tastes may have-”

“I meant, why he’s coming,” he cut in, giving the queen a deadpan stare. “You forget, he and I were once traveling companions. I know what the stallion is interested in.”

“Riiight. I did forget. He’s probably coming here to try and have his little Camp expanded. Make it a State Proper,” Adagio replied with a chuckle.

“Perhaps. That would land him on the council. Give him some influence. But that’s not really his style, is it?”

“Regardless, we should get started,” Adagio said, cutting the conversation short. Many preparations were to be made if they would be receiving somepony so dangerous as her dear brother in law.

> An Agreement Reached... Kind of?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So wait, you’re not freedom fighters, you’re freedom Negotiators? how come you don’t just go kick Tirek’s plot and take back the throne?” Rainbow said incredulously, hovering upside down inside of the council tent. The thing was huge, to accommodate plenty of ponies. Big enough for a griffon to hover in, actually. The tent was pretty bare, save for a few shelves, some crates, and a table in the middle.

“Yes, negotiators. We can’t kick his plot because we don’t have that kind of power. He not only possesses the majority of Equinus’s magic, but he also has two Alicorn queen’s worth of magic. That’s why we have the amulet," Roma responded calmly, as he sat at the meeting table, filing his nails. Curiously, they always grew into points.

“You still haven’t explained that to me yet,” Twilight announced, standing over the table and watching Roma. Watching, not glaring, thankfully. She had been extremely persistent in speaking in private so she could take off her cloak, in exchange for a pegasi’s hooded jacket and cargo pants. It suited her, somehow. She had agreed to use a simple cloaking spell on her horn, so no risk of false hopes in Camp.

The vampony took a moment to look over the group, and their new attire. Rainbow dash had reluctantly surrendered her jacket for repairs and adjustments, and had donned some Camp fatigues. Rarity had added a black miniskirt with a plain belt to her ensemble. Fluttershy now wore a large green turtleneck sweater, with a pair of tan shorts. Pinkie had taken on a pair of cream colored overalls and a blue, yellow, and pink striped shirt. Applejack had just grabbed a white work shirt and some jeans, and a pair of gloves that resided in her back pocket, all accompanied by her own hat. They all looked pretty good, considering the five minute shopping spree and limited options. Of course, Spike and Lyra remained the same. The clothes were mostly meant to cover up their cutie marks, and for a modest sense of decency.

“Alright, if you insist on knowing…” he said, sitting up and flicking his nail file over onto shelf. He touched a panel on the table’s edge, and a 3-D hologram appeared of a grey unicorn with a curved, red horn and luminously white fangs. “This is King Sombra. Currently the third strongest magic user on the planet; obviously Tirek is the first. Sombra’s power rivals that of Queen Luna in terms of raw might. I’ve seen the two fight. It wasn‘t pretty.”

“What happened?” Lyra asked, staring at the table with avid interest.

“There's a desert to the south. It wasn’t always a desert, and let‘s leave it there. King Sombra is one of six monarchs directly under Emperor Tirek’s command. He and I were once good friends, and traveling companions. Two-hundred-fifty-three years ago, a group of 59 unicorns was taken overseas, so that Tirek would not find them,” Roma explained, and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He stood up, pulled the amulet out of his vest, and sat it on the table. “Now it seems the descendant of those unicorns, Miracle, has returned, and is intent of taking Tirek down. I advised her against it, but she refuses to listen. That is why I took the amulet. So that she can at least have a fighting chance.”

“Why not use it yourself?” the Princess asked, cupping her thumb and forefinger around her chin. “After all, you said you had magic that Tirek couldn’t steal.”

“‘Couldn’t’ may not be the best word. ‘Wouldn’t’ probably works better. You can’t take a vampony’s magic without becoming one. Tirek refuses to become like his enemy. And the amulet won‘t do anything for me. My magic is too different from yours. It only works on normal ponies and Alicorns,” he said, clearly forcing himself to remain calm. It must have bothered him to be powerless like that… “Make no mistake, I will fight against him in the end, but for now, I negotiate with him to improve the living conditions of the people. It’s been working, but this STUPID LITTLE MARE!” he shouted, nearly slamming his fist on the table. But he didn‘t, instead, he stopped just before impact, and unclenched his hand. “She’s… she’s ruining everything Camp has worked for all this time. She is forcing my hand, and the only way to stop her is by killing her.”

“But, Mr. Roma, can’t you just talk to her? Certainly she can be reasoned with?” Rarity asked, planting one hand on her flank, and raising the other. She was adapting quickly to her new body.

“I have tried. She won’t listen. I even sent my second in command after her, to negotiate. She is… was far better than I was at it, after all,” he said with a faint half-smile, half-grimace.

“What do ya’ll mean, was?”

“Miracle killed General Shimmer for standing in her way. Claimed that if we would not help her, then we were her enemies. Just, disintegrated her… on the spot,” he said shakily, clutching the hilt of his sword in anger. Sunset had been such a wonderful friend to him…

“I’m so sorry for your loss…” Fluttershy piped in, nervously playing with a lock of her mane. She had been avoiding speaking to him, for some reason.

And, then it hit him, like a hoof to the face.

“And I’m sorry I shot your wing, Misses Fluttershy," he said, standing, and bowing to her.

“Oh, n-no, don’t bow it’s okay I’m not mad I promise you were just trying to get home I understand it‘s okay please stop…” she rambled, quickly ducking behind her wife, who glared maliciously at him.

“I’m still pretty pissed about that, buddy,” she said, and grabbed Roma’s shirt, pulling him up and to her face. “I don’t like you, pal. Just because she’s okay with you don’t mean I am.”

“Understood, Misses Pie. I figured you would still be upset with me,” he said with a shrug.

“Oh yeah? And how’s that?”

“Because I would have killed me in your position. Only four people have ever hurt Sonata under my watch. None of them are alive,” he explained, his expression darkening.

“You’ve… killed ponies?” Twilight whispered solemnly. She had expected as much, but hearing him say it so coldly… it was frightening.

“Many, yes. Though never without reason. Some were self defense, and others were under orders, while a few were… uh, let’s move on,” he said, stepping back, and pulling out of the angry mare’s grip. “If Miracle has an amulet, she, myself, and a few allies could likely take Tirek down for good.”

“For good? Wait, you said ‘an amulet.’ does somepony else here have one?” Twilight asked anxiously.

“Yes, for good, Princess. And only if you consider Tirek a pony. He has a similar one embedded in his chest. It’s how he killed Queens Celestia and Cadance. Did I not mention that?” he said, looking at them with some grim curiosity.

“No! You didn’t!” she shouted, slamming her hands on the table. “You should have said so! How powerful is this Miracle? Is she on par with me? I’m practically the greatest mage in all of Equestria!”

“First off, her power is nearly double that of Sombra. It would be foal’s play to wipe him, and likely you as well, off the face of the planet. Simultaneously. Second, I would ask you not to hit the table. It was a gift from our engineer. Third, I would prefer you kept your voice down. If you shout…”

“Sir! I heard shouting! Is everything al right?!” an orange pegasus mare with a dark pink mane burst in, poised to attack. She had a leather jacket and cutoff denim shorts on. Her jacket had a butterfly on it.

“Yes, Scootaloo. Everything is fine. Say, is my bike finished yet?”

“Almost Sir! I’m finishing a few tweaks now. She’ll be ready for the trip, Sir!” the mare said, giving a stiff salute.

“Very well, dismissed,” he said, and Scootaloo dashed back out, no doubt to work on the bike. 

“What trip are you taking?” Spike asked, speaking up for the first time since entering the tent.

“In three days I will be meeting Tirek in the capital. Not that it’s a real big deal. I do it quite often. Myself, Sonata, and my new second, General Biceps, will be attending the conference,” he said, tapping a few keys of the table’s control panel. An image of a massive white pegasus stallion with diminutive wings appeared. He wore a tight, grey long sleeve t-shirt, with a pair of black jeans. On his right leg was holstered a pistol, and the left bore a knife with a ring on its hilt. “He is skilled in both single combat and long range firefighting. His leadership skills are exceptional and his physical power trumps that of most earth stallions his size. Incapable of flight.”

“Yeah, that last part totally wasn’t obvio- ow! What was that for Lyra?” Rainbow said, dropping to the ground after a jab from Lyra‘s pointed finger.

“Ponies with deformities are not always useless, Rainbow Dash. Whilst in prison, I drew hundreds, maybe thousands of blueprints using only my mouth. Who did you think  designed the power carriage?” the bionic said, narrowing her eyes. She continued. “It may have been my own fault, but I still made do. Even our Scootaloo, bless her, became one of your RainBolts. Don’t ever judge a pony by their handicaps, judge them from their abilities.”

“…Sorry.”

“Lyra is right, Miss Dash. Though General Biceps is flightless, he is one of the most capable fighters I know. I’d not have anypony else by my side, save for King Sombra.”

“Moving on, Roma. Why don’t you give me a little information about these monarchs you mentioned?” Twilight asked.

“Why? You’ll be back in your own dimension soon, anyways,” he said coldly.

“Oh no. You have a powerful artifact from my kingdom. I’m going to stay here and keep my eye on it,” she argued, waving a finger at him.

“Would Everypony please give me a moment with the Princess? Alone?” Roma asked calmly, taking his seat and clearing off the table’s hologram. “We have some matters to discuss.”


>X<


After some deliberation, it was decided that Twilight could handle herself, so they agreed to exit the tent and remain outside until they finished their discussion. It was quiet for several minutes, but then, all Tartarus broke loose.

“I don’t care if you’re a powerful mage! I won’t endanger royalty from another land!”

“What if I refuse to leave? Will you fight me? Beat me unconscious and drag me back to my own world? Sounds pretty bucking dangerous!”

“You are so impossible! UGH! What are you, the Alicorn of Stubbornness? By the Queens it would make SO much sense!”

“Try Alicorn of Friendship, pal! My job is to bring harmony and friendship all across Equestria and I dare say I do a damn good job of it!”

“Well aren’t we confident?! If you’re so powerful, why don’t you just TAKE the amulet back?”

“That’s not how I do things! But by Celestia’s shimmering mane I will END you if I need too!”

“I’d LOVE to see that! Queen Celestia herself tried to destroy me! Yeah that’s right, not even the might of the sun goddess could kill me!”

“Roma, You are a fool! Why will you not accept our help and be done with it?”

“Because I don’t WANT your help you stupid, arrogant, overbearing, childish little mare!”

“Arrogant?! Childish?! STUPID?! You’ve got some nerve!” 

“So I’m told! And I don’t see how somepony as stubborn and quick tempered as you could EVER become the Princess of Friendsh-”

A loud smack could be heard throughout Camp, followed moments later by a long series of grunts, yelps and growls and crashes. After about five minutes of presumably brutal brawling, everything went quiet again. It was some twenty more minutes before twilight emerged from the tent, looking like she’d been hit by an avalanche. Her left eye was black, her lip swollen and busted, her nose bleeding, her feathers ruffled, mane disheveled, with a thick coat of dust on her clothes, while her knuckles dripped with blood.

“We’re staying. He will allow me to fight if it comes to it. You will all either return home, serve as ground troops, become Camp laborers, or care for sick and wounded. These are his terms. I have accepted them. Make your decisions. I am to report to the medical center for treatment. He won’t let me use healing magic. Stupid bastard vampony…” she said, scowling viciously. As she walked away towards a big flag with a red cross on it, she punched a metal lamppost on her way, heavily denting it. 

Moments later, an even more mangled Roma emerged from the tent, and glared angrily at the group. “I will be with my wife. Let me know your decisions tomorrow morning. You are to bunk with the soldiers tonight. Here’s a few maps of Camp,” he all but growled, and walked away, also punching a lamp post. However, he knocked his clean off its base.

“If he weren’t married, those two would be so perfect for one another,” Lyra said with a chuckle, prompting the others to laugh with her. “You all go do your thing. I’m gonna go see this engineer of theirs. Ask about the technology of this world.”

“Ah’m gonna go stay with Twi. Make sure she don’t do something stupid,” Applejack stated and awkwardly walked off. 

“So I guess we’ll go to the barracks?” Spike suggested, prompting the others to agree, save for Rainbow Dash.

“Actually, I’m gonna go speak to General Biceps. I‘m curious about him…” she said, taking off and heading away at a leisurely pace.

“And I wanna take a look around. This place is soooo super different, I wanna see everything I can while we're here. Shy babe, you wanna come with?” Pinkie said, a little more subdued than was normal.

“I’ll, uh, go with you. Not sure I want to face a bunch of soldiers.”

“Oki doki loki! Let’s roll out!” she said, and trotted away, with Fluttershy galloping to catch up.

“Where do you want to go?” Spike asked, crossing his arms.

“No where. We’ll be there when they get back. You could mingle with the soldiers, and I can fix Rainbow’s coat,” Rarity replied,heading off in the direction the map said the barracks were.

“I can just tell, this is gonna be a weird night,” he stated calmly, and followed her.
> Curiousity Regarding Our Hosts!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The engineer’s workshop wasn’t to hard to find. It was massive, with a veritable junkyard surrounding it. The building itself was merely a series of metal beams hastily riveted together, with massive amounts of sheet metal covering the outside.

Lyra suddenly had a though. Her cutie mark. The others had covered theirs up, but she hadn’t, because she didn’t plan on actually interacting with anypony. Looking around, she spotted a big scrap of cloth hanging off a piece of metal. She grabbed it, and wrapped it around her waist twice and tied the corners, creating a makeshift skirt. Not very stylish, but it would do. She continued forward at slow pace, taking in all of her surroundings.

It wasn’t too long before she had passed into the shop itself, and was ogling all the wondrous machines. Some were familiar, while some were completely foreign. She spotted a pale, blue maned unicorn mare hanging upside down from a series of cables and tubes with her arms crossed. As Lyra came around the mare, she spotted a pair of ruby goggles and an exasperated frown on her face. 

“Um… do you need some help up there?”

“Oh, naaaah. Just thought I’d hang around a bit. Yes I need help! Come up in my workshop askin stupid questions. But then, I ain’t expectin you to get your hands dirty,” she said. Her voice was harsh and scratchy, like she had a cold.

“And why wouldn’t you? I’m more than willing to help a pony in need,” Lyra countered, eyeing the mare with interest. How had she gotten into this situation?

“The cape says it all. Wealthy, civilized, ain’t seen a speck of dirt in your life. I know the type,” she scoffed, letting her arms drop. She obviously had experience with high class snobs before, but the bionic was neither rich or snobby.

“Is it okay if I cut those?”

“Yeah it’s fine. I got plenty of them.”

“Alright, I’m coming up!” Lyra shouted, and took a few steps back.

“Ladder’s over- hey!” she said, as the mare jumped all six feet into the air and used her finger tips to slice through several of the ropes, prompting the snared unicorn to fall, hollering all the way down. 

Lyra hit the ground first, and caught the unicorn before she could land. As she carefully set the mare down, she made sure not to scratch her with the claws.

The mare gawked at Lyra‘s arms, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. “Those… those are bionics.” she stated blandly.

“Yeah… I’m sorry, I should go,” Lyra said as she turned to leave. “It was a mistake to come.”

“NO!”

“What?” she turned back around to stare at the mare. Why shouldn’t she leave? Obviously, the pale mare was frightened be her arms. Perhaps she had expected this world to react differently. And she had been…

“I’m going to examine those!” Wait, what?

“Wait… what?”

The mare rushed forward ripping her goggles off and grabbing one of Lyra’s hands. “Such simplicity… but still sophisticated in their own right… where did you get these? I gotta have one!” she was starting to frighten Lyra.

“But… you still have both arms… why would you need them?” Lyra was having no small amount of difficulty processing this strange pony's behavior.

“To study! Now answer me! Where. Did. You. Get. Them?” she demanded, getting close to Lyra's face.

“I, uh, built them,” she answered flatly.

The mare's mouth gaped open for a moment before she regained her composure. “You’re buckin me. You built these? Do you have the prototypes? Even better, the blueprints?”

“Um, Yes, No, No, the prototypes were destroyed, and the blueprints burned,” she said, gently pulling her hand away, only to have it grabbed again.

“What?! WHY?!”

“Because I cut off my own, ah… arms and replaced them with these, and that was illegal where I’m from,” Lyra said, gritting her teeth. What if the engineer thought she was crazy? Tartarus, even she was starting to think she was crazy. But… this mare might be a little crazy too.

“Whoa, filly that’s some serious dedication to your work. I’m impressed. I wish I had the guts to do some crazy junk like that.” she was still holding Lyra’s hand… It was weird. “Say, where are you from that this would be illegal?”

“Um… Equestria?”

“Never heard of it. Some back water town outside the states?” she said, lifting Lyra’s hand up to look at the underside.

“Uh, yeah. You know, if you keep holding my hand, you’ll have to by me dinner.”

“Psh, deal. Name’s Scratch, Vinyl Scratch. Yours?” she said with a smirk.

Lyra’s face turned red, and her heart started beating faster. Blushing from embarrassment, and anxious because she was talking to another version of her old friend. How could she have not recognized her?! True, she hadn‘t seen Vinyl since her arrest, and this was certainly not how she imagined it happening, but that was no excuse! Beyond that, this Vinyl seemed completely different from the one back home. The one back home was mellow and impossible to motivate unless Octavia was involved; she was the classic definition of lazy. This Vinyl was excitable and energetic, with no apparent problems getting motivated. “I- I was just kidding! My name’s Lyra Heartstrings…”

“Oh… well can I still take a look at the arms?”

“Sure. You want me to disengage it?” she asked, raising her free hand to level with her other.

“Like… disconnect? Is it really that easy?” Vinyl’s eyes grew wider at the suggestion.

“Yeah. All I have to do is press this button on the underside of it,” she said, demonstrating the process. The screws made their usual humming noise, and the limb disengaged fell away for Vinyl to catch. She looked ecstatic to examine the device, and heartbroken when Lyra took it back.  “Tell you what, you can take a look at it tomorrow. Meet me at the barracks in the morning?”

“Sure thing!” Vinyl said, beaming from ear to ear.

“So, tell me, what kind of tech have you developed?” she said, not realizing just how long that would take. She briefly wondered if the others faring as well as she, but pushed the thought away, and followed Vinyl into the bowels of her gargantuan workshop.


>X<


General Biceps wasn’t too difficult to spot. He was of course, a very large stallion. Even in the mass of ponies of the ground, she spotted him easily, standing at a booth of some kind. The place looked like some kind of market. As Rainbow lighted in an adjoining alleyway, she could see that she was right. Fresh produce, purses, clothes, baskets. Celestia, there was even a sword kiosk. Like, really?

She briefly realized that she was dressed as a soldier. Would the General think she was one of his? Didn’t matter. She would set it straight if he did. There was nothing wrong with  civilians wearing fatigues.

As she calmly walked out of the alley, she spotted him again, coming her way. The crowd seemed to part just for him, and she deftly slipped into the mass and fell in alongside him. It wasn’t too hard, really. The new body was a little tricky to use, but she was a fast learner. She would still much rather be on four legs, but whatever. This body had it’s uses, she supposed. Easier to weave through crowds, for one.

She shook her head. Her thoughts were wandering again. “Something the matter soldier?” a deep voice sounded above her. She realized suddenly that the General was looking right at her.

“Uh… Sir?”

“You look like you’ve got something on your mind. So, what’s the matter soldier?” he asked again, his face remaining stern.

“I’m actually not a soldier, Sir. I’m just borrowing these clothes.”

“I see. Well, I’d still like to know what’s wrong,” he said, making his way towards a booth selling clothes. He looked like he was ready to break her in two…

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. But I will say, I’m just a bit curious about you,” she replied, adjusting to a brisk trot to keep up with the massive stallion. Quick fella, he was.

“And why is that?”

“I was just with Roma. He talked like you were some amazing warrior hero… I was curious if he was exaggerating.”

“He always does. I‘m no slouch, mind you. But that foolish pony likes his stories. Always tells them in a way that makes them seem so unbelievable. It‘s his special talent, you know,” he explained, a broad smile spreading across his muzzle. He laughed and continued, “At first, I though his cutie mark meant something dainty, but no! It’s for his love of telling stories!”

“So how did he become leader of Camp?” she asked, leaning forward to try and get a better look at the general's face.

“Don’t rightly know, to be honest. I just know that before this, he traveled a lot. His wife was always with him, they say. Don’t know how that dainty little siren could ever survive the elements…”

“She is pretty small… They seem very dear to each other; how long have they been married?" Rainbow asked, stopping with the General to look at some clothes. He wasn’t looking at any in his size though…

“They’ve been together for the past five hundred years, she told me. Seen a lot together, too. She sang to me once about a land full of dragons, and friendly ones, at that. I can’t fathom it, being as old as they are… how much has he really seen? What tales are locked away in his memories? How long would it take to hear them all?” he told her, his eyes growing wide with wonder and anticipation.

“I… honestly hadn’t thought about that… He just seemed like an angry, bitter stallion to me,” she said, looking at the ground. Roma suddenly seemed so much more mysterious now. What was he really like? Maybe he was nice, and they had just made him mad by following him? Made sense.

“Here, go change into these,” she heard, just as a stack of clothes was thrust into her hands. Biceps pointed at a small stall beside the booth, just big enough for her to wiggle around in. She did as she was told, entering the cube, though with some hesitation. She shut the door behind her and wiggled out of her fatigues, letting the pants and shirt fall to the floor. She looked at herself in the small mirror provided. Her simple white underclothes, a tank top and panties, stood out so sharply from her blue coat. She’d never really worn underwear before. They had seemed unnecessary to her. Almost nopony else did, why should she? Even now, she didn’t like them much. But she was told they were important here. So, she wore them. She sighed and pulled the new shirt over her head. It was light and comfortable, and had wing slots in its back. Tag said %80 cotton, %20 polyester. The pants were different. They hugged her flanks hungrily, and conformed well to her legs. The clothes were pretty comfortable, really. There was even a backpack for her. Why had General Biceps bought these for her? Just… randomly bought a stranger new clothes… But hadn’t Roma done the same for all of them? The phrase ‘lead by example’ briefly came to mind.

She stepped  out and Biceps was nowhere to be seen. He’d gotten away. He was pretty quick for a big guy. Well, he wasn’t too hard to find. But something stopped her. Did… he want her to follow him? She was probably being inconsiderate by seeking him out. She stuffed her old fatigues into the bag and turned to leave, but the old mare at the booth called to her.

“S’cuse me young miss.”

“Let me guess, he left me with the bill?” Why wasn’t she surprised? Act nice to a girl, then ditch her to fend for herself.

“No ma’am, he said these were for you.” she held up another stack of clothes, and on top rested a small pistol, two magazines, and a case of ammo. “No, in fact, he paid for all of it, except the gun. He just left it here.”

She took the clothes and put them in her bag with her fatigues. There was a note stuck in the gun’s magazine slot. She carefully opened it, and read it’s contents out loud.

“I know where you‘re from, and what you’re here for. A bit of protection in the days to come. Signed, Bulk Biceps.” She finished and just stared at it. Bulk Biceps. How in Equestria had she not seen it? He was just like him, too. Or, the one back home. Both were big ol’ sweethearts, apparently.

She looked at the gun, and saw that it’s design was familiar, a 9mm ponybellum. It wasn’t very different from the Griffon-made one Rarity had given Spike a few years back. His was much bigger, of course, but the basic design was the same.

She’d seen the dragon shoot it before. He’d showed her how to load it, and all kinds of stuff. She opened up the box of ammo and plucked a few out; they were hollow points. She picked up the magazine and tentatively put a few rounds into it. Simple enough, even with her being new to hands. She filled the magazines up, and pulled the pistol’s slide back, locking it in place, then inserted a magazine. It didn’t hold but 7 rounds. She flicked a switch on the side, and the slide jolted forward. Cool. She flipped the safety on and slid it into the back of her jeans, and started back towards the barracks, which she had spotted on her way to the market.

She had a lot to think about.


>X<


Applejack stared at the floor nervously as Twilight was told to remover her vest and sit on the examination table. Normally, naked ponies were no big deal. Everything was hidden on the underside of their bodies. But the way these ponies were built, it was all on display up front. It wasn’t right. Indecent feeling. Breasts weren’t supposed to be that high on the body, they were supposed to be lower, close to the hindquarters. She just was not comfortable with it. It was so hard not to stare at the nurse, too. Celestia’s tits, she had some big ones, like canon balls. At least these ponies knew how to cover up. She counted that as one tiny blessing.

“Hello, Miss. Is something wrong?” a sweet voice asked. It was the nurse. Applejack didn’t look up, she just stared at the mare’s hooves.

“No, Ma’am. Ah just ain’t fond uh doctors,” she said, forcing her voice to stay calm. Freaking out wouldn’t do any good.

“Well, I’m a nurse, so I suppose that’s good for you,” she said with a giggle. “Don’t worry. Roma sent me a message, and told me about your situation. Must be weird, seeing bodies so different from your own.”

“You ain’t got no clue...” she replied, as the pale nurse sat down beside her. She could at least lift her head now. Twi was getting the once over from a brown stallion in a lab coat.

“I think I do. It’s kind of like seeing a stallion for the first time. You can’t help but stare at it.”

“Actually, that’s pretty damn close,” she said with a sigh, and looked at her. “Name’s Applejack.”

“Redheart. If you need any help learning about your new body, just let me know. You can trust me, I’m a professional,” she told the cowpony, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Ah got a lot uh questions, actually. You got time?”

“Plenty. No wounded or sick, today. Well, except for your friend anyway,” she explained with a wink. Was… was Nurse Redheart flirting with her? Nah. Couldn’t be. Mare like her was bound to have a fine stallion at home. “You know, not many can hold their own against a vampony that strong.”

“How strong?” AJ asked, raising an eyebrow at the nurse.

“He’s what I call ‘punch-through-the-ribs-without-breaking-a-sweat’ strong. I’ve seen him do it, too. It was terrifying. Truth be told, Lil’ Missy here shouldn’t even have her head still on.”

“He said that, uh, Queen Celestia tried to kill him once. How’d he fare after that?” she said, putting emphasis on the word 'queen,' so as not to forget that she was one.

“Dunno, I wasn’t there. That was a thousand yearsago, the way I hear. But the Solar Queen’s power was nearly absolute, that much I know. They say that she brought the entire sun’s wrath upon him, and he shrugged it off like a mosquito bite. What a spectacle that must have been! I bet he didn’t even flinch. He seems like the type who wouldn’t,” she said, her eyes full of something Applejack couldn’t name. Adoration? Respect? Admiration?

“Y'all must really admire him. Seems like a right respectable fella too.”

“I respect him. But I’m a little afraid too," she explained, and grew a tad quieter, before continuing. "He’s just so powerful. If he wanted to… I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Shall we get started?”

“With wut?” Applejack asked, a little confused.

“You learning about this body, of course!” she said cheerfully, and grabbed Applejack’s hand. “Don’t worry, it’s not too complicated.”

“Alright, but where ya’ll takin me?”

“To a private room. Nopony privy to the chat,” she said, and pulled Applejack into a dark room. She promptly turned on the lights and shut the door behind them. “Are you ready?”

“Ah’m not so sure anymore. This feels like it’s goin somewhere Ah damn sure ain’t comfortable following,” she said, eyeing the nurse suspiciously.

Nurse Redheart gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh goodness NO! I am so sorry, that is NOT what I meant!”

“It‘s, uh, alright Ah guess. So, wut’s first?”

“Let’s start with walking. You’re terrible at it.”


>X<


Twilight looked over to Applejack and the nurse. The two seemed to be in the midst of a very deep discussion. About what, she couldn’t tell, but it wasn’t too long before the nurse led AJ into another room. Well, that wasn’t suspicious at all.

“Miss Sparkle, are you listening?” the doctor asked, giving her a stern look.

“Yes, Doctor,” she said, and flipped a wing around in front of her, and began fiddling with her feathers. “Preen my wings immediately, ice pack on my eye, and change my bandages every morning,”

“Is that sass?”

“No, Doctor,” she said nonchalantly. It was true, she wasn’t being sassy. She had the utmost respect for the stallion in front of her, but she could have diagnosed herself. Why did she even go there? Roma. That was why. After they had cooled down, he had insisted on it, like he felt bad for beating her up. She momentarily smiled to herself. It wasn’t as though he had done any better; Twilight  was fairly certain she broke his jaw.

“Very well. Head on over to the barracks. Try and be easy on yourself,” he said, and gave her several packs of bandages. “That means no more brawling with the vamponies.

“I will, Sir. Wait, is there more than one vampony here?” she asked, grabbing the doctor’s shoulders in a fit of curiosity.

“Two, actually. The other is our arms specialist. Nice little filly,” he said, delicately pulling her bandaged hand off his shoulder.

“Filly?”

“Physically, she’s only twelve. But In truth, Octavia is around thirty. Maybe thirty-one?  Yes I think that’s it. Her birthday was last week,” he answered.

“Wha… why would somepony turn her at such a young age?” Octavia… it added up. This world seemed a lot like the human world. It would only make sense that there were versions of themselves here. “Say, have you ever heard of the Pie family?”

“You’ll have to ask Roma that first one, he’s her sire. As for the Pies, they’re a family of nobles in the city of Dreamscape. Why do you ask?”

“Do they have a daughter?” she asked, hopping down off the table.

“Don’t know. Roma would. Why don’t you head on down to the barracks? Some rest would do you good,” he said, giving her a polite-looking smile. What the smile really said was, ‘get out you stupid mare.’

“Well, thanks anyway,” she replied with a nod, and trotted over to the door Applejack was behind. She could hear some giggling behind it, so she decided to write a note on the back of her map. ‘I’ve gone to see Roma. I’ll meet you all at the barracks later.’

With that, she left, and took off into the rapidly darkening sky to find her host.


>X<


“Pinkie, why were you so aggressive with Roma?”

The question shocked her. She stopped prancing and just stared at her wife. “Why else? He shot you, Shy. What if he hadn’t missed? You’d be dead, that’s what, and I won’t let that happen.”

“He did apologize though. I think he might actually be a nice pony, if we gave him a chance,” she said quietly, looking at Pinkie from behind a veil of pink hair. True, the vampony had shot her, but he was also desperate. He had need to get home. He needed to protect his people. He had a wife to get back to. “Besides, wouldn’t you have done the same to get back to me?”

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“He is married, dear. I think maybe he wanted to get back to Sonata,” she said, shrinking back a little. Pinkie seemed a little upset. Fluttershy knew her wife wouldn’t hurt her, but retreat was a natural instinct for her.

“I know he’s married, but even if he hadn’t shot you, the outcome would have been the same. I'm sorry, but that's something I just can't forgive," she said, and hung her head a bit. She never wanted to deny her Shy what she wanted, but she had learned to, in recent years.

“I’m not asking you to forgive him,” she said softly, and put a hand on Pinkie's shoulder, “I’m asking you to see things from his eyes.”

“I think I can do that. On a different note, the map says there’s a bazaar down town. Let’s get some more duds. If we’re gonna be here for a while, I wanna at least have clean clothes.”

“I think we can manage that. That nice lady did give us that bag of money, after all.” she said with a smile, not noticing the slight droop of her dear Pinkie’s mane.

Pinkie, on the other hand, was all too aware of it as they walked towards a large, open area full of stalls, and crowded with busy ponies. She didn’t want to say it, but she did want to forgive Roma. Yeah, he seemed pretty nice, but he had flat out admitted to killing ponies before. It didn’t matter how old he was, it wasn’t right. But none of this was betrayed by her happy exterior, while she and the mare of her dreams shopped for cheap, yet stylish clothes, of which there were many.

She could never know of Pinkie’s despair, ever.


>X<


Spike and Rarity silently occupied a set of bunk beds at the end of the barracks, while the soldiers of Camp eyed them with caution. Maybe fear? Or perhaps it was anger, or maybe even both. The couple were not soldiers, and had no right to stay in their quarters. Perhaps that was how they viewed the dragon and his wife, as outsiders. These thoughts raced through Rarity’s mind until one of the stallions came over to them and smiled casually. 

He spoke softly and politely, but there was still an obvious edge to his words. “You two must be the ones that got Roma so worked up. Name’s Thunder Blitz, you can call me Blitz.”

“What do you mean, worked up? He seemed rather calm when we parted ways, eerily so. Well, aside from the lamp post,” Rarity said, looking up from Rainbow’s jacket. She had immediately began fixing it upon entry to the building, with borrowed supplies from that delightful mare that had provided their clothes.

“Oh no, that’s normal. Vinyl’s always patching them up, and you know, she doesn’t seem to mind too much. No, when Roma gets upset, he forces himself to remain calm, just shuts himself down,” Blitz said, pulling up a chair and straddling its back. He seemed rather nice, it was hard to believe he was a soldier.

“That sounds taxing. I tried that once, and it did not end well,” Spike said as he leaned back in the bed. For military beds, they were oddly comfortable. “Wait, Vinyl? I knew a mare named Vinyl back home.”

“Might be the same mare. You from Sirenis?” Spike and Rarity shook their heads. “Well, she's a proud Sirenian, and she's always loyal to Queen Adagio first, and Roma second. You know, not many know this, but Vinyl is the one who synthesizes Lady Sonata’s gems.”

“Lady Sonata? Is she a noble of some sort?” Rarity asked as she decided to give up on the jacket for now, and placed it to the side.

“Naturally, yes, Lady Sonata is Queen Adagio’s sister,” he replied, and paused for a moment before continuing. “There was a third sister, if I am not mistaken, name of Aria. Nopony knows what happened to her. Some think that Adagio killed her and took her gem. I think that’s hogwash; Queen Adagio is a kind ruler. I met her one when she visited Camp to see Lady Sonata, and she spoke to us as equals. Refused to let Roma bow to her too!”

“He does seem to do that a lot, might you know why?”

“Can’t say for sure. I think it’s out of respect, he seems like a fellow that wants to stay humble,” Blitz said, scratching his chin. “Well, no matter, you’ll be meeting with him tomorrow, so you can ask him then. It getting pretty late, so you’d best get to bed, mornings start early here,” he finished, then stood up and walked away towards another bunk.


>X<


Twilight landed in front of a decent sized house, with two floors, heavy oak doors and grey brick walls. Not terribly ritzy, but it was probably pretty comfortable. She had asked a couple of ponies where she could find the elusive vampony, and out of the nine, two of them had said he lived here. It seemed like they were anxious to trust her, for reasons beyond her knowledge. It could have been anything, but she suspected that they could sense the magic emanating from her. In theory, all Equestrians could potentially have the ability to detect magic through their own unique connection to it, so why would… Equinites? Equinites, why would they be any different?

Enough with these rambling thoughts, Twilight, you have work to do, she thought to herself as she trotted up to the door. Tentatively, she gave three knocks, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything.

It creaked open to reveal a small figure clad in a tattered grey cloak, with their face concealed by it’s hood. A slight tch came from under the veil, and the figure turned and headed towards a set of stairs, briefly stopping to hold out a grey hand, and gesture to follow. She hesitated to follow, but obeyed despite this. The figure felt like she could trust them… but who were they? Roma’s servant? No, he didn’t seem the type to keep servants, regardless of  his position. So, who was the figure?

They gestured for her to remain at the foot of the stairs, and continued on up and into a bedroom. “Ugh, really? She followed me? Fine, I’ll come down,” she heard Roma say from upstairs, and he didn’t sound happy either.

He strode out clad in only his pants, which he was in the process of fastening. This inexplicably caused Twilight to blush, but then after she thought about it, it was less inexplicable. After all, a new body came with new hormones, right? Because of this, Twilight was really left with no choice but to take in his features. He was large and well toned, with a few scars here and there on his chest, but not so many that he was unattractive.

“Um… Hi?” she said meekly, feeling a little awkward around the half naked stallion.

“Hi? You come to my home in these late hours, disturbing Sonata and myself, and all you have to say is ‘Hi’?” He stopped at the top of the stairs, and glared down at Twilight with some anger in his eyes. There wasn’t as much as before, but it was present. “Well done. Your tenacity has succeeded in impressing me.”

“Sorry to disturb your rest…” she trailed off as sonata came out of the room with a blanket held over her bare chest, and it didn’t quite cover her elegantly curved hips and  thighs. She continued with a slight smile. “Or lack thereof. I just had a few questions about how things worked here, and this world’s history. Could you help me with that?”

“I could, but I won’t,” he said, and sat on the handrail, promptly sliding down. “I don’t care how old you are, that never stops being fun.”

“You should see the ones in my castle. There are no handrails, but there is a seven story tower with stairs, and the bottom is smooth. A bit of gravity magic and boom. Instant crystal slide… one of the few fun things I still indulge in. So, why won’t you help me?”

“Oh I will, tomorrow," he said bluntly, eliciting a confused grimace from the Alicorn, which in turn brought a smile onto his face. "Princess, I am a man of my word, and I said we would discuss things tomorrow. Since you are here though, how about something to eat?”

“Um… no thanks. So, if you won’t tell me about history, what about biology?” she asked, prompting him to arc an eyebrow at her.

“I’m not following,” he deadpanned.

“Vampony biology. How does the condition transfer? Is it magic or genetics? Is it common? You know, stuff like that.” 

“Ah. I can most certainly be of some assistance, if you’ll follow me to the library,” he said, and turned away to go back up the stairs. Twilight gasped as she saw the vast number of broad scars criss-crossed all across the entirety of his shoulders and lower back. “Yes, they are quite gruesome, but I deserved every one of the ninety-two lashes from Queen Celestia’s anti-magic whip.”

“Wh-Why would she do that?!” she hollered, covering her mouth in shock.

“Because I disobeyed her orders, and they were very, very strict orders.”

“My goodness… this world is awful.”

“Nah, it’s not so bad. Or, it wasn’t then. It kind of sucks now. Come on, let’s get you educated on my species,” he said as the grey clad pony appeared beside him, seemingly from no where and handed him a red dress shirt.

“Alright then...” she said and followed him up the stairs as a newly clad Sonata exited their room to accompany them, along side the grey cloaked pony.

Its going to be a long night, she thought to herself.
> Learning About His Kind!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, it’s a magical process, not genetic?” Twilight asked, staring at the giant tome on the table, titled ‘Die Geschichte der Vampir,’ or ‘The History of The Vampire.’ It was in Germane, but thankfully, she was fluent, and had little trouble reading it.

“Exactly. It’s a might bit like becoming an Alicorn, except my kind don’t become royalty. We aren’t hated per say, but we aren’t loved, either. Read that paragraph, I think you’ll find it interesting,” he said, pointing at a section about two thirds down the page.

“There are six known types of Vampires; there are Siphons, which need not make contact to absorb your blood, see page thirty-six. There are Vanishers, which can disappear in the blink of an eye, see page forty-two. There are Shifters, whose shape can change in a matter of moments, see page forty-nine. The most dangerous is the Berserker, capable of leveling an entire mountain, see page  fifty-four. The two final types are quite possibly the most terrifying, and it is ill advised that any hunter seek them out. Hunter?” He nodded, and pointed back at the book. “The Shadow Caster, capable of wielding the very shadows as a weapon, see page sixty-one. The final, the Devourer, is the most dreaded creature in all of Equinus. The Devourer is just that, one that devours. This type consumes all in its path, and is known to be capable of biting through, and digesting, pure diamond. The Shadow Caster… that sounds a lot like the Sombra from my dimension.”

“Makes sense, the Sombra here is one. Though, Casting is- was, a very common type of magic, save for Shadow Casting. It was not hard to control the elements. Fire, air, water, earth, light, all of them were easily tamable. The only difference is that Shadow Caster Vampires are created with that specific ability, and are typically able to control it. For a normal mage, it would take decades to master Shadow Casting. No other Casting type Vampire exists, I‘ve looked,” he said, standing up and flipping to page thirty-six. “This is my type, rather, the type that I am. A Siphon, we are unique among our race. So long is there is even the tiniest bit of a bleeding wound, we can turn the blood to mist and inhale it, and it is directly infused into our body as sustenance. In addition, if there is an open wound on our body, we can take the blood in through it, or expel our own. Some unicorn Siphons have been know to use their own blood as a weapon. I was never fond of the concept.”

“I notice it says, ‘hunter’ a lot. And it also has more about your type than the others. Why is that?” she asked, skimming a few of the stories about Siphons. Apparently, they were the most powerful type, capable of going head to head with the Alicorn… Godesses? Weeell, okay then.

“Yes, because my type are the most mysterious, and require the most details. Even this old tome does not know everything about us, nor do I, for that matter.” He stopped briefly, and stroked his mustache. “As for hunters, this was written some two-thousand years ago. This edition was printed seven-hundred ago; it was a gift from Sombra. At the time of both, most interest in my kind was directed at killing us. At one point, I even filed down my fangs, just so I wouldn’t be attacked in a town.”

“So fascinating. Sombra is a Vampire. That’s another thing, you introduced yourself as a ‘vampony,’ but the book refers to you as ‘-pire.’ Why is that?”

He chuckled at the young Alicorn, and sat on the table. “Seriously, ‘why is that?’ must be your favorite question! This tome is not referring only to ponies, but all Equinites. Goats, griffons, minotaur, even diamond dogs, they can become vampires as well. See?” he said, and flipped to a section about a Devourer ram named Grogar. “I knew him personally.”

“A friend?” Twilight asked, leaning back in her chair.

“Once upon a time, yes, but he became a threat to Sonata and her sisters. He was dealt with swiftly. Took three weeks to grow my arm back, too,” he said, holding up his right arm to show a scar going around his bicep. “That’s why this arm doesn’t have piebald on it, see it just stops right here. But you know what?”  he glanced at Sonata, who blushed. “Totally. Worth. It.”

“Wait, you can regenerate entire limbs?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

“With enough blood, yes. It’s a grueling process, unless you’ve drained an entire town of unicorns. Unfortunately, that was not the case then, and I spent several nights screaming in a cave, three miles south of Canterlot,” he answered grimly, hopping off the table.

“Town… of unicorns…” she trailed off as she scanned the tome for the details. “Roma, That’s not in here.”

He hadn’t…

“I know. It wouldn’t be in there. I left none to tell the tale,” he said, scowling at the floor.

He had.

Roma… had killed an entire town? But he was so kind, so understanding. He had allowed her passage into his home, despite having only met. How could somepony like him, do something like that? She noticed that Roma had left the room, and a small grey filly sat on the table in front of her, cross legged, and staring at Twilight. She had a short, slicked back, black mane, with a streak of blue going through it. She was quite adorable, to be honest.

“Don’t worry. He didn’t mean to.”

“Mean to what?” Twilight blinked several times in confusion.

“Kill them. He was mad, and he lost control of his abilities, so he can’t be blamed. He was very young then, not even my age,” she said sweetly, her Canterlot accent enriching her speech.

“Uh…Your age?” Twilight was dumbstruck, this little filly couldn’t be more that… twelve?

“My name is Octavia Melody, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess. I am thirty-one years old, and I am a vampony sired by Roma the Wanderer,” she said, giving what could be considered a sitting bow.

“What type are you?” she asked bluntly, making the filly scowl. 

“I’m a Vanisher. Roma thought that Vanisher would be a good type for me. I would have preferred Shadow Caster, but Roma said that a filly my size would be destroyed in a matter of years by Casting, thus making redundant his reason for siring me,” she said sharply, as she stood up and hopped off the table.

Twilight crossed her arms. “And those reasons were?” she asked.

“None of your business,” she huffed in response, and trotted off after her sire.

“Princess, if I may, they are both quite sensitive about their pasts, Roma especially,” Sonata said, leaning against the table beside her. “They have terrible memories, ones that nopony should be forced to recall.”

She was so pretty with her hair down, and her white gown accented her blue coat very well. Twilight could see why Roma had fallen for her so deeply.

Twilight sighed and hung her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was so bad.”

“I don’t think they were mad at you. If you would like a story, I can tell you mine. It’s not quite so dark,” she offered, cupping Twilight’s chin in her thumb and forefinger to lift her face to her.

“Sure, I’d like that.”

“Well, It really starts nine-hundred-thirty years ago, when my sister, Aria, betrayed…” Twilight only half listened to the siren as she told her tale, and instead found herself pondering how the others were doing.


>X<


Lyra stared in awe at the massive machine in front of her. Arms, legs, torso, it was in all essence, a giant robot, and it was amazing!

“Got anything like that in your world?” Vinyl said cockily, leaning back against the machine’s leg. Lyra had opted to explain the situation to Vinyl, if she agreed to keep it a secret. She had actually taken the news pretty well, to Lyra’s shock.

“Not outside of comic books… how long did this thing take to build?” Lyra stepped forward and laid a hand on it’s head. It’s head was at least twice her size, though it very little resembled a head. It looked more like a pod that the pilot sat it, and upon closer inspection, it was. The lift next to the walkway hummed to life and Vinyl soon stepped off and walked over next to Lyra.

“She took about six years to build. Of course, it would have never been possible without the funding and supplies from Queen Adagio. Her majesty made QueenSlayer a reality,” she said, touching her own hand to the robot’s head. She smiled at it as she would a loved one, like a son or a daughter.

“And Queen Adagio is one of the Monarchs?” Lyra asked, letting her arm fall back behind her cloak.

“Yep. I used to be her personal engineer, up until she was unable to synthesize Lady Sonata’s gems herself. She’s got some pretty nasty scars from the accident,” she explained with a faint frown.

Lyra scowled. She was tired of these ponies saying things without giving any explanation. “What happened?”

Vinyl sighed and leaned forward against the handrail. “Her lab blew up. Hundreds of artificial siren gems, lost, along with her left arm and part of her face. I saw the wounds when they were fresh. I tried building her several bionics, but she would wind up breaking it. It wasn’t natural, she’d say, and she’d rip it out and throw it at the wall. I stopped after five because each new one I made, she just got angrier. The Queen… She’s got some issues. I hated leaving her alone, but she ordered my transfer to Camp, as a sign of good will. I knew she just wanted me to make her sister’s gems.”

“Wow… I can’t imagine. And how is she doing now?” Lyra asked.

“Crazy as shit, but she’s an outstanding ruler. Her kingdom does well, despite Tirek’s rule, and I couldn‘t be more proud to have been her servant,” Vinyl answered, smiling despite herself.

“So, why did you build this thing?”

“Because no matter what Roma says, I know there’s a war coming. I built this to deal with the Phoenix Queen, Philomena. She-” she stopped as a small device buzzed on the collar of her jumpsuit, prompting her to hold up her finger and touch her other hand to her earpiece. “Yeah, okay. Well, I have  a guest now. What?! You want three more?! Are you insane?! No way I can fill that, not if you want me to continue making Sonata's gems. Four days, yeah I know, but that’s a lot of… alright! Queens you are needy!”

“Everything alright?” Lyra asked as she stepped forward and put a hand on Vinyl’s shoulder.

“No. Roma wants me to synthesize a special gem, and replicate it’s enchantment. Five buckin times. The colt’s raving mad!” she said, slamming her forearm down on the handrail. “I’m just one pony… I can’t do all these things he asks of me.”

Lyra turned her new friend around and put her hands on both of Vinyl’s shoulders. “Show me how to synthesize Sonata’s gems. I’m an engineer, just like you, so it can’t be too hard for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive!” she shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

“Okay, follow me,” she said, also smiling. She grabbed Lyra’s hand and pulled her onto the lift, and then into an underground area, beneath the workshop.


>X<


Rainbow glided slowly through the air, trying not to draw much attention. Apparently, non-magical pegasi were very slow flyers, if they could fly at all. She saw a lot of them on the ground, struggling to make it through the crowded market street. She spotted the general, but decided to leave him be.

It was not long before she cleared the market place and found herself passing over a large group of wagons. That was when she saw him.

Roma was walking towards a large campfire, carrying a bunch of split logs on his shoulder. That mane, the piebald coat, it was unmistakable.

She landed quietly behind… It wasn’t Roma. It was a mare that looked like Roma. She had feathering around her hooves, a thick, luscious mane, and a muscular build, but she was still beautiful. She had elegant flanks that flowed up gently into her torso, and curved down into her legs perfectly. Her shoulders were sloped, and blended well with the rest of her, including the rather muscular arms. Unfortunately, her coat was different than his. Her coat was a light caramel, with soot covering parts of her body. Her mane, she noted, was not actually black, but also covered in soot.

“It is very rude to stare at a gypsy’s flanks, no matter what you have been told,” she said, dropping the logs and turning to face Rainbow. “Contrary to what most think, gypsy mares are not pleasure girls.” She had a somewhat slight accent, one that she could not quite place… something middle eastern. “Well, not most of us.”

“I’m sorry, that’s not why I was staring. You just remind me of someone I know,” Rainbow replied, barely managing not to stutter in surprise.

“And who might that be?” she asked, placing her hands on her flanks. There was obvious edge to her voice, reminding her to watch what she said.

“Um… Roma?” she winced as the mare shouted and clapped her hands.

Puffs of soot erupted from her as she jumped cheerfully. “Oh, Great-Uncle Roma! Please, do come and have a seat, we were just about to eat!”

Two hours later

“So Miss Rainbow, do you find our food to the liking?” a white and tan filly asked her. Her name was Luminista, and she was a stupendous cook. She had prepared for Rainbow a smoked cabbage, with herd spices and some strange powder that made it really spicy.

“Totally! It’s like, a fire dancing in my mouth!” she said happily, before biting into her cabbage, which had been skewered for easier consumption. The gypsies had welcomed her whole heartedly, despite her differences. She had explained to the mare she had met- Dahlia- that she wasn’t friends with Roma, rather, she was a soldier for one of his allies. Which was completely true, by the way. Wonderbolts were soldiers, and Princess Twilight had allied herself with Roma. Still, Dahlia had introduced her to the ‘troupe’ and they had welcomed her. 

“Miss Rainbow, how does a mare as pretty as you become a soldier?” another mare asked, sitting cross-legged in front of her. Her name was Brazil, and she had a goldish white coat, like a partially-roasted marshmallow.

“Well, first off, thank you for the compliment, and second: I’m a member of the Wonderbolts, an elite team of flyers under service to the princess. I’m the best of the best flyers in Equestria,” she said, pointing a thumb at her chest.

“Where’s Equestria?” Luminista chimed in, leaning in excitedly.

“It’s uh, like a whole other world. You have to go through a magic portal to get there. It’s so different in fact, that we still have magic,” she explained, never once lying to them. AJ would be very proud.

“Even the unicorns?” Dahlia asked, returning from their water reservoir with a pitcher.

“Even the unicorns. My friend Rarity, she uses magic to make clothes. And dig this, she’s married to a dragon! And he‘s a sword master, at that!” She exclaimed as Dahlia handed her a small metal cup, and poured some water in it. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome. I have a particularly forward question for you, Miss Rainbow,” she said, putting the pitcher down, and sitting beside her. “If you are truly a soldier, then where is your uniform?”

“It got torn coming through the portal, so Rarity is fixing it for me,” he explained, sipping her water carefully. She didn’t know how much these ponies actually had, so she didn’t want to be greedy. “Why do you ask?”

“Because that is an Equinus-made Firearm in pants. My friend, Prominence, owns the company,” she said, pouring herself a cup of water. “Also, I saw those clothes earlier today in the market. I wanted to make sure that you were no thief.”

“The gun was a gift from General Biceps, as were the clothes. He’s so nice…” Rainbow found herself blushing, in spite of her efforts to hide it.

“Ooooh, Miss Rainbow likes the General!” Brazil said, covering her mouth and giving a ‘hohoho’ kind of laugh.

“Maybe I do think he’s kind of handsome… but I wouldn’t want to date him or anything. He’s just, not my type of stallion, that’s all,” she said, fidgeting with her cup’s handle.

“What do you mean, type?” Luminista asked, tilting her head to the side.

Rainbow stood up and hopped back onto the logs she was on. “You know, the kind of stallion you would want to be with… Me, I like somepony I can fly with, we can hold hands and soar across the twilit clouds, and all kinds of fun stuff in the air,” she said, spreading her arms and twirling, like she was pretending to fly.

“Well, I hope you find someone like that, Miss Rainbow. I only wish that we could have such free choice,” Brazil said, nearly muttering the last part.

“Wait, why can’t you choose?” Rainbow asked, stopping mid twirl, and promptly losing her balance, falling back behind the log. “Is it like, an arranged marriage kind of thing?”

“Perhaps, I can explain it better,” Dahlia stated, her earlier joy completely emptied from her voice. “You see, we do not arrange marriages, but we are not quite so free as you are. In our culture, it is forbidden for a mare to romantically approach a stallion; he must come to her. We are free to choose not to be with him, but that is the extent of it. Most gypsy mares choose the first stallion that comes their way, and they are promptly married. They do this for fear of ending up as I have, a tired old work mare, far past her prime.”

“Old? No way you’re any older than me. Come on, give me a number,” Rainbow coaxed, putting a delicate hand on Dahlia’s shoulder.

“Twenty-three,” she deadpanned, staring at the blue mare coldly. “I am twenty-three, and I am too old to marry anymore. As such, I resigned myself to becoming a worker for the troupe.”

“That’s… I’m thirty-two. How young do you typically marry?” she asked hesitantly, really not wanting to hear the answer.

“Around fourteen,” she whispered, hugging her chest tightly, and gazing at her knees. All the other mares had left, and gone about their business. “You must think it is rather disgusting, putting such a young one into that kind of situation.”

“It wouldn’t fly where I’m from, but hey, a fillyfooler’s got no right to judge,” she said, giving Dahlia a pat on the back. “Hell, I almost ran away from home with a filly named Surprise when I was twelve.”

“Fillyfooler…you mean, a lesbian?” Dahlia’s eyes widened in shock, and a hand flew up to cover her mouth. “I… can’t imagine, being in love with a mare.”

“Well, it’s not exactly that common where I’m from,” she paused for a moment, thinking. “Actually, the city I’m from is pretty uptight, real strict on marriage laws and stuff. No rights for gay couples.”

“That’s awful. Why would anypony deny rights to another, simply because of their sexuality?”

“Ponies fear what they don’t understand, and that fear turns to hate.” Rainbow stopped and sighed. ‘It’s not as common as it used to be, since the princess came to power. She helped spread harmony throughout Equestria, and eventually, ponies became a little more tolerant.”

“She sounds wonderful,” Dahlia said through a sigh.

“She is,” Rainbow said just as softly, then Dahlia did something she never expected. She leaned in against Rainbow’s shoulder, and nestled her head against it. “Uh… Dahlia?”

“Yes?”

“Is this one of those gypsy things I probably won’t understand?” she asked, her face turning redder by the second.

“No, Miss Rainbow, I just find myself liking you,” she answered, prompting Rainbow to put a hesitant arm around the light mare’s shoulders. “I wish I were a Pegasus.”

“Why?”

“Because flight is the ultimate freedom. If I could fly, I would not be here. I would be somewhere across the continent, soaring through the clouds, feeling the wind in my face.” she explained, smiling broadly. “I could find a lover, and we would enjoy the sky together and-”

“Come fly with me.” Rainbow cut her off, and pulled away so she could look the gypsy in the eye. “I’ll take you flying. I’ll carry you. Let’s go, right now.”

“Are you sure? It’s dark, and I’m not sure if you can lift me…” her breath grew ragged and her shoulders shook at the very prospect. 

“How much do you weigh?” she asked, pulling her belt off.

“Around one-hundred-ninety pounds, why?” her face went beet red as rainbow grabbed her arm, and tied it to her own with the cloth belt. There was about two feet of slack between the two.

“I’ve flown two-hundred pound pegasi to a hospital, without breaking a sweat.” she said confidently, and hoisted Dahlia into her arms. “I think I can handle you.”


>X<


“Shy, LOOK! They have ponyental clothes!” Pinkie hollered, and dragged her wife over to a stand occupied by a pale green unicorn. “How much for these, sir?”

“Twenty bits for the dresses, ten for pants, and twelve for shirts,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Oh Dear, what about you? You need clothes too,” Fluttershy said quietly, fiddling with her mane.

“Don’t worry babe, we got plenty. See?” she said, holding out the bag for Fluttershy.

“Oh, ok. I want these four,” she pointed out a red quipao, a blue cheongsam, and a red halter top and embroidered jeans.

Pinkie wasn’t listening. Her attention had fallen on a long black coat in the back. She handed her companion the bag of bits and stepped closer to the stand. “I want to see that.”

“It’s 90 bits,” he said with a grin.

“Shy. Is there enough?” she asked, never taking her eyes off the garment.

“Yes, plenty. We still have three-hundred or so left,” she replied, giving Pinkie a cautious look.

“Give it to me. I want to try it on.” He chuckled and brought the coat forward, and passed it over the counter to her. It looked like it had been painstakingly crafted by hand, with stunning attention to detail. It was wool, and had two front pockets, with slanted openings, and one on the inner left side. It was single breasted, with a mandarin collar, that would easily cover most of her neck, and it wasn’t that long, probably coming down just past her knees.  The sleeves were tapered with a zipper expansion. The back was the most beautiful part, though. It had embroidered in black, two long wings, folded against the wearer gracefully, with a few feathers gently falling away. She slipped the masterpiece on, letting it gently embrace her curves, fill every nook and cranny. It was tight against her sizable chest, but not stifling, and the sleeves were perfect for her strong arms. It covered her body almost completely, save for her hands, face, and hooves.

“Well, how does it feel?” the clerk asked, rubbing his hands nervously.

“Perfect. Why is it so cheap? Rarity would charge out the plot for something like this,” she asked, smiling at the stallion.

“Because it’s cursed. That monstrous coat, The Cloak of Internal Strife, finds whoever’s in turmoil, and it makes them want it. You must be going through some tough shit, if that thing wants you, though,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I'm sorry, but you're both going to hate me in a few minutes...”

Pinkie glared at the pony, feeling her coat bristle. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Damned thing just creeps me out. You know what, take it. I don’t feel right taking your money for it. Just, go. Get away from my kiosk,” he said, putting a hand on his forehead. He seemed genuinely anxious to be rid of the thing, Pinkie thought.

“Fine. Shy, grab your clothes and lets scram.” She turned to leave, but suddenly found herself somewhere completely foreign to her. She stood on top of some kind of tower, in the middle of some massive, industrial city. The cloak. It must’ve done it. She could feel it, the raw magic coursing through every stitch of fabric. The vile thing, it had ripped her away from Fluttershy. Pinkie grabbed the buttons and pulled at them as hard as she could, trying to get them undone. They wouldn’t budge. She closed her eyes and whispered to herself, “Okay, Pinkie, focus.”

She focused hard on where she wanted to be. When she opened her  eyes, she found herself standing on the sidewalk, some hundreds of feet from where she was before. That stupid stallion obviously didn’t know what he had on his hands. There was a filly standing not far from her, staring wide eyed at her, tears beginning to form in he eyes. “M-magic…”

Pinkie raised her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. “It’s a secret, okay?” The filly nodded.

Alright, Pinkie thought, where the hell am I?


>X<


Fluttershy stared at the spot her lover had just been. Horror began to flood her mind, heart, and soul as she realized what had happened. She was gone. Her wife, lover, best friend, her WORLD was gone.

“Where did she go?” she whispered, tears beginning to stream down her face.

“I don’t know. That coat takes you wherever you need to go to heal,” The stallion said, massaging his forehead. “I’m sorry, but if that coat has her, she needed to go where she is.”

“LIAR! Where is my wife?!” she screamed, turning and grabbing the clerks collar and pulling him close. “You tell me where she is, or I will end you.”

“I told you, I don’t know! Please… I had my turn with the coat, and before me it was Pegasus named Nimbus, and before that it was Roma!” His expression softened a bit, and he gingerly removed the yellow mare’s hands from his collar. “Look, we all needed it to heal our scars… now your wife needs it, so let her heal.”

“If she isn’t back in three days, I’m coming for you,” she growled, and threw him back against the wall.

The made her way through all the ponies that had gathered to stare at her going ballistic, trying to make herself calm down. She hadn’t been angry like that for a very long time… not since she had met Iron Will…

She hoped Pinkie would be okay.


>X<


“At it girl Applejack! One hoof in front of the other. You’re walking like a pro now!” Redheart said, clapping as AJ trudged across the small room.

“Damn it Red, ya ain’t gotta talk to me like a foal. Ah appreciate all this help, but buck, if you keep talking to me like that, Ah’m gonna snap,” she said, glaring at the gentle nurse, who frowned at her language.

“AJ. I told you about that mouth of yours. I don’t like foul language, so watch it, or I’ll snap, got it sugarcube?” she said, giving a razor’s edge to her words. The nurse was sweet, but she could be vicious if she needed to be, and lately, she had been needing to a lot. “There are foals in this facility, and I’ll not have their ears corrupted by such foulness.”

“Yes, uh, ma’am,” was all she could say. It had been two hours since they had started, and Applejack was getting to be a bit nervous around the pale medic. There was a lot she didn’t know bout Redheart, and that worried the farmer. What if the mare was a spy from Roma? She’d said the fella had sent her a message, so it was possible.

“AJ, I think you’ve got the hang of walking, so why don’t we go get something to eat? You must be exhausted and starving,” she said, and stood to head towards the door.

“Say, Red?” Applejack said, scratching her shoulder.

“Yes?”

“Why are ya’ll helpin me? Ah ain’t done nothing but make yah mad, and you’re still so nice to me,” she asked, and immediately regretted it.

Redheart slowly unbuttoned her top, and let in fall around her shoulders. Her back, and likely her front, were covered in nasty burns, so bad that most of them caused a massive indention in her skin. “When I was seven years old, I ran  up to Queen Philomena, wanting her autograph. She is a beautiful Queen, but a ruthless and vicious one. The townsponies had been ordered to bow and allow her passage through the street, and I disobeyed. I was arrested, and my family killed. I was thrown in the dungeon, and tortured for two years before I was rescued by a brave pony named Granny Smith, though she was probably about twenty, to be honest. She tended my wounds and gave me a dune buggy, and pointed me to Camp. I have been here since I was nine, when Roma took me in, and gave me a new home. I met Doctor, and he taught me about medicine, and I decided I wanted to help ponies with that knowledge. See, AJ, Roma leads by example. By showing kindness to others, he has taught us to be kind as well, and we will continue to pass that lesson down through the generations. I’m helping you, because it’s what he would do.” She finished her little speech, and covered herself back up. AJ could only stare at the nurse.

“Ah’m sorry. What ever happened to Granny Smith?”

“Killed in one of Tirek’s conquests, two years after my rescue. Why do you ask?” The nurse turned back to her, cocking her head sideways.

“Because in my world, she’s my grandmother.” The autumn colored pony hung her head in sadness. “That means, Ah don’t exist here.”

“I’m so sorry.” The nurse fidgeted with the last few open buttons on her shirt, unsure of what to say. AJ now seemed like a different pony to her. Rather than the crass country mare, she now looked like she was ready to cry. What had happened to her Granny Smith?

“Four years ago. She passed of old age. A nice, peaceful death. It was the kind she deserved, after everything she did for us. It didn’t matter to mah lil’ sister, though. Granny was gone, and poor gal was devastated. Ah think she’s okay now, but it took it’s toll on all of us.” a few tears escaped from her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. “Let’s go get some eats.”

“…Right.”
> Conflicts Emerge!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow soared above Camp, with Dahlia in her arms, who was screaming in excitement. In all honesty, it hurt Rainbow’s ears a bit, and it was a wonder the mare wasn’t going hoarse. Suddenly, she adjusted the way she was holding Dahlia, causing her to panic and grab a hold of her carrier’s clothes. “Please don’t drop me, Miss Rainbow!”

“Don’t worry! I’m just adjusting your weight a bit. Makes it easier to fly straight!” she hollered back, looping and her arms around Dahlia’s middle. Now she rested a bit more parallel to the Pegasus, and all her weight was closer to the center. Dahlia wrapped her arms around Rainbow’s neck and nestled in close. It might have bothered a unicorn or an earth pony to be this close, but it was different for pegasi, they viewed physical contact differently than other species. It was not uncommon to see two pegasi preening one another’s wings, be they friends, lovers, or family. For RD, it was just Dahlia holding on so she wouldn’t fall, and she was okay with that. A thought occurred to her.

“Dahlia!”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to go higher!” she said, and flapped her wings harder, ascending at a rapid pace. They were just below the clouds now, and Dahlia reached out and let her hand run through one, pulling it back and licking the moisture from one of her fingers. “Look down,” she said, and the gypsy did.

She could see camp in it’s entirety, a massive cluster of buildings, intermingled with tents here and there. Dahlia looked sideways, and spotted the city of Sirenis in the distance. The view from this height was breathtaking. “Let’s never land… this is just so wonderful, I don’t want it to end.”

“We’ll have to land in a few hours, I’m sad to say.” The look on Dahlia’s face tore at RD’s heart, and she had to admit, this was a nice time they were having. “But I’ll take you flying again in the morning, I promise.”

“Okay,” was her reply. A small peck on the side of her cheek told Rainbow that she had succeeded in making her new friend very happy.

Three hours passed, and they found themselves in a completely different city. A sign on the outskirts said ‘Welcome to Sirenis.’

“Uh, I think maybe we should have stayed in Camp.” Rainbow hesitantly followed Dahlia down a street and into the front door of a hotel. “Dahlia, why are we in a hotel?”

“Because no matter how nice this city is, it is one place we cannot sleep on the streets. One room please,” she said, stepping casually up to the counter.

“All we have available is single beds.” the stallion there said, not really caring.

“That will be fine.” She was handed a key and pointed down the hall. The place seemed pretty swanky, but it wasn’t much compared to Rainbow's quarters in Cloudsdale. Dahlia pulled Dash into a small room with a twin bed, a couch, a bathroom, and not much else, really.

“Uh, won’t somepony miss us?” Rainbow asked hesitantly, wishing she could tell what was going through the gypsy mare’s mind. Was this going somewhere, or were they really just here to stay the night?

“No. The troupe is quite lenient with me, especially since my sister is the leader,” she replied casually, and flopped down on the couch. “And there is also the fact that I do more work around the campsite than most stallions.”

“You do look pretty strong. Honestly, you remind me a lot of my friend, Applejack,” Rainbow stated, and chuckled at the thought of them meeting. AJ was huge, taller than Princess Twilight, and she was even taller after coming to Equinus. “AJ’s a farmer, so she’s pretty tough, and the size of a Clydesdale, to boot.”

“I could likely take her. Great-Uncle Roma trained me to fight himself. But, you may be shocked to know that he does not like to fight,” she said, stretching out along the couch. “Miss Rainbow?”

“Sup?”

“Why did you take me flying?”

“Um…” she thought for a minute, and then thought some more. Why did she take Dahlia up? “I guess, I wanted to see you smile.”

“I see,” she commented, almost critically. “That is very kind of you.”

“Not the answer you expected?” Rainbow asked, sitting on the edge of the couch.

“Hmm… I am not sure what exactly I expected. I know I did not expect you to declare love for me, or say you wanted to engage in coitus!” she said with a giggle. “But I suppose I had hoped for… something...”

“I see. It would never work with us.”

“Because I cannot fly?” she snapped, and immediately turned away from Rainbow.

“No. Because I’m from another world. Equestria, it’s not some place you can go without changing yourself. Where I’m from, we don’t have hands. We have four hooves, and walk on four legs; it’s a completely different dimension,” the blue mare explained solemnly.

“I know. Great-Uncle Roma told me of it when he came back. I was at the well, waiting for him to come through.”

“Are you two close?” Rainbow asked quietly. The way she talked, it sounded as though they were like father and daughter.

“He and my sister are the only blood kin I have. My mother died giving birth, and my father… I never met him. The way Amaranth tells, he hitched a ride with the troupe, and abandoned them when he found  my mother was pregnant. Amaranth is our fortune teller, and a damn good one. She practically raised myself and Champaign, so I believe what she says.” She sighed, and sat up to look at her friend. “Miss Rainbow, what were your parents like?”

“My Dad, Spectrum, He was pretty cool, totally okay with the whole FF thing. He wasn’t really a great flyer, kind of directionally challenged. My Mom though, she was an ace flyer. Her name was Firefly,” Rainbow said with a faint smile, and let out a pleased sigh. “I haven‘t seen them since I dropped out of school, when I tried to get Surprise to run away with me. She’s a lot like my friend Pinkie Pie, always ready for a party, and definitely as hyper. But she didn’t have the same issues Pinkie has; the mare’s literally standing on the brink of psychosis.”

“Did she not wish to come with you?”

“No… Surprise is two years younger than me, and kind of a wimp. She would’ve never made it on the road, so I told her to go home, and I set off on my own.” Rainbow froze as Dahlia’s hand cupped under her chin, and turned her to face the sweet gypsy.

“Why did you leave them? You had a family, a wonderful one, by the sound of it. You had a mare that was willing to run away with you… what happened?” Dahlia asked, leaning in closer, resting her forehead against RD’s. 

“I couldn’t face them. I was ashamed of myself, of wasting their money like that. I was ashamed that I had let them down.”

Dahlia whispered to her now, stroking her cheek, and putting her hand around Dash’s neck. “And Surprise? What of the would be runaway?” Rainbow put her hands on her friend’s shoulder, and gently pushed back, trying to escape her comforting hands.

“I tried to see Surprise, but she went ballistic.” She grabbed Dahlia’s hand, and brought it up to her scalp, and ran it over a small scar in front of her right ear. “She threw an alarm clock at me, and broke down in tears, screaming, ‘I loved you, bitch, I loved you!’ I left her alone after that.”

“Rainbow, I think when you go home, you need to make amends with them. Your parents, and Surprise, they deserve an apology.” Dahlia stood, and went over to the small bed. “I believe the term is ‘dibs?’”

“You sneaky little… Fine, take the bed,” the blue mare said as she stretched out and splayed herself out on the couch. “Hey, Dahlia?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Good night.”

“Night.”


>X<


Applejack stirred reluctantly from her sleep, looking around the barracks. She had opted sleep in a chair, sitting up, so she could be ready for anything. Troops were up, and dressing themselves in black uniforms. Some were already dressed, and were strapping guns and knives to their waists. There were all kinds of creatures in the barracks. There were two griffins, a diamond dog at the end of the long room, a zebra a few bunks over, and she spotted a silhouette in one of the shower stalls, with what appeared to be antelope horns, and several crystal ponies, though their coats were somewhat dull. She silently chuckled to herself. How had Roma done this? It had taken Celestia millennia to bring harmony across Equestria, and it seemed like he had done it in a few centuries.

“Hey.” She raised her head as the zebra came up to stand in front of her. “You got a problem with zebras?”

“Nope. Pretty good friends with one back home, actually.”

“Seemed like you were eyeing me. Watch yourself, not everyone’s as friendly as me,” he said, and walked back to his bunk and pulled on his shirt and gun.

“Thanks for the advice,” she muttered, and stood to wake the others. She froze, and her eyes widened. Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight, and Lyra, were all gone. Fluttershy’s pillow looked wet, so she had been crying, and Rainbow was an early riser, so maybe… There were plenty of things to consider, but one thing kept surfacing in her mind: Roma did this. He did something to her friends.

“Hey, zebra fella, what’s yer name?” she asked bluntly, catching a glare from the aforementioned zebra.

“Maan. Don’t ever address me like that again.”

“Sorry, Meant yuh no offense, just needed yer attention.” His expression seemed to soften a bit, but he still looked a little ticked. “Know where Ah can find Roma?”

“Big house, bout eighty meters away. Why?”

“Ah’m supposed to meet him later. ‘Preciate the help,” she said, tipping her hat. “Name’s Applejack, By the way.”

“A pleasure.”


>X<


Roma trotted quickly down the stairs, Octavia and Sonata hot on his hooves. There was a continuous pounding on the door, and it was starting to piss him off. Grabbing the knob, he pulled hard, and snatched the door off it’s hinges, letting it fly back against the wall behind him. “What in the names of the Dearly Deceased Queens do you want?!” he shouted at the four Equestrians at his doorstep.

“Where are our friends?” Rarity demanded, grabbing him by the collar, only to be tackled by Octavia, who raise a fist, ready to smash the unicorns head.

“You don’t touch him!” she screamed, and brought her hand down a few inches away from the taller mare’s head, making a three inch deep crater. “You don’t ever touch my Sire!”

“Then I’ll skewer his throat!” the dragon all but roared, and raised his longsword, poised to thrust the blade straight through Roma’s neck.

“Oh, Please. If that could kill me, I would have been done in a millennium ago,” the vampony said with a sneer, and gripped the blade between his forefinger and thumb, then snapped the tip off. “Poor craftsmanship. I’ll have a better one made for you.”

“You gonna answer our question, or am ah gonna have to pound you to dust?” the orange mare asked, taking a stance. It appeared that their new bodies were influencing their instincts, Roma thought. The stance she took was one natural to bipeds, fists raised and legs wide, ready to strike and to take a strike.

“I will. Princess Twilight is in my library, presumably asleep atop my history tome, and Lyra is aiding my engineer. As for the other two, I cannot say for sure. I was told that Rainbow Dash flew off with my Great-Niece, Dahlia, and Slick reports that, after he disobeyed my orders to lock it up, Pinkie Pie donned my Cloak of Internal Strife, and was whisked away to Queens know where. Satisfied?” He crossed his arms and stared the country pony down, meeting the intensity of her gaze, if he did not double it.

“Uh…” AJ was left speechless.

“Rest assured, while I have been monitoring you movements, I have not harmed any of your friends,” he explained, uncrossing his arms, and gesturing for them to come inside. “Octavia, I’m sure Lady Rarity, and Sir Spike, would appreciate it if you dismount the poor mare.”

“But she… Sorry Roma.” The filly hung her head in shame, and trudged back inside. Even at thirty-two, her mentality and emotions remained to be those of a child.

“It’s alright, Dear, you wanted to protect Roma. Let’s go make some waffles for everypony,” Sonata said, and held out a hand, which Octavia gladly took. “I think they might like that, don‘t you?” She was answered with a slight nod, and pulled the small vampony away.

“Now, let’s get this started. We will deal with your missing friends in a moment. First there is the matter of summoning those we require at the meeting,” he explained, and retreated into his home.

Minutes later:

Five Generals had been gathered in Roma’s study, along with Twilight‘s court, the latter of which groups stood opposite Roma. His own generals, Bulk Biceps(male, pegasus, whit coat), Orange Crème(male, earth, pale tangerine coat, grey mane), Lemon Drop(female, unicorn, cut off horn, pale yellow coat, blue mane), Vinyl Scratch(female, unicorn, white coat, blue mane), and Rose(female, earth, off white coat, raspberry mane) stood in a line beside him.

They all wore strange clothes and equipment. Rose wore a mask with a canister in front, and one filter on each side, and her outfit was an orange and red sweater, with a denim skirt, and a long white lab coat.

Lemon wore a black turtle neck shirt, and a shoulder holster, with a pair of black jeans.

Orange wore ponyental clothes, a red shirt and black pants, with a Jian on his waist.

Bulk was dressed the same as his hologram, and Vinyl had her jumpsuit pulled halfway down and the sleeves were tied around her waist, leaving only her halter top to cover her chest.

At least one of the missing Equestrians had returned; Captain Dash had sped back to Camp an near mach speeds, with Dahlia in her arms. Unfortunately, the pink one had not. This is what the two groups now debated in earnest.

“No, Roma, you don’t understand, Pinkie is unstable! If she slips into an episode, there’s no telling what could happen!” Twilight shouted, slamming her hands on the wooden table.

“You keep saying, ‘episode, episode, episode,’ what does that even mean?” Roma countered calmly, leaning forward.

With a sigh, Twilight stood up straight and ran a hand down her muzzle. “Pinkie Pie, she’s… special. She suffers from a mild form of psychosis, and increasingly severe chronic depression. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that those things should never, ever meet, but they have. The first time Pinkie slipped, I hardly recognized her. The second time, she nearly killed me. I never saw it coming; she’s a special ops genius. The third time, she nearly killed herself. This last time, she could have likely killed you if she had caught you.” Roma nearly interjected, but a raised hand from the Princess silenced him. “I’m aware of your condition, and I’ve taken that into consideration. When we fought, well, I don’t need to explain the results on my part. But you have mostly healed, and I feel that you would’ve had an advantage there. I know for certain, I broke your jaw, knocked out some teeth, and broke your arm. Now consider, if I was able to do that, and pinkie was nearly able to kill me, what could she have done to you?”

The vampony’s eyes widened in realization. “Queens… Are all of you that dangerous?” he asked, looking across the seven.

“Ah can kick down a forty foot tall tree.”

“I can hurl a needle with, well, needle point accuracy. Using my magic, of course.”

“I can fly at mach seven.”

“I‘ not really good at anything like that...”

Spike sneered at the vampony. “I held my own against you didn’t I?”

“I took out nineteen of Princess Twilights guards, without using magic, three days after my surgery. In the end, she herself had to come to stop me.” Even the other Equestrians turned to Lyra with shocked expressions.

Roma simply stared. It seemed like these extra-dimensional visitors were stronger than even the generals at his side. “I… I see. It’s possible for nearly any one of you to kill me then. My apologies. I will have Vinyl scan for a magical signature in the closest cities. Miss Fluttershy, were you and your wife having any marital problems?”

“Um… she seemed pretty upset when I told her I had wanted foals a while back… but I can’t think of anything else…” she paused for a moment, thinking. “No, that’s it. We support each others careers fully, and we never argue, except about her diet. Too much sugar and such. Could she… could she really have been that upset about it?”

“There is an orphanage… Shit!”

“What?! Roma, What’s wrong?!” Twilight exclaimed, leaning back over the table.

“It’s very likely that she is in enemy territory. There is an orphanage in Pyre City, domain of the Phoenix Queen,” Roma growled, clutching the edge of the table so hard that it broke a chunk off the edge. “We have to find her, immediately. I’ll send Lemon and her task force in, they’ll locate her, and monitor her. If anything should go wrong, they’ll know, and they’ll assist.”

“We need to bring her back!” Fluttershy cut in, holding her hands close to her chest.

“We can’t. She needs to heal, and the Cloak won’t stop until she has. It’ll keep pulling her away until she comes to terms with what she needs to understand,” Roma said, clenching his teeth together, causing a loud crack to sound through out the room. His jaw had snapped back open. “I Showwy. Buh we cahn’t brung huh bahck.”

“Here, Sir, drink,” Rose said, holding out her arm. “You need to heal.”

“Yo blood ish toshic, membuh?” he deadpanned, and Vinyl left the room, returning in a moment with a bag of blood, which she promptly held over Roma’s face, and stabbed a whole in it with a kitchen knife. The red liquid poured all over him, but quickly turned to mist as he inhaled it all. His jaw creaked back into place, as he began coughing violently for several minutes. “There we go. Thank you General. Rose, I know you want to help, but there are too many chemicals swimming around in that body of yours. You serve me best by making medicine.”

“Right. Sorry, Sir,” she said, moving back to her prior position.

“Why are there chemicals in your body?” Lyra asked, crossing her arms. The General frowned behind her mask, really not wanting to talk about it.

“General Rose specializes in chemical warfare, most of which is based on botanical toxins. When denied field testing by King Sombra, she requested a transfer to my forces.” He stopped to look at the general, who nodded in approval. “During the transfer of her lab equipment, there was an accident, and every single one of her projects were released, killing fifty-three workers, and nearly killing her. Vinyl designed the mask she wears, which medicates the oxygen she breathes, and that nullifies the chemicals in her blood.”

“If I remove my mask, I would die within the hour,” Rose cut in, and hugged her chest. “It… It makes it hard to sleep some nights.” The statement was double-true. Firstly, the mask was very uncomfortable to sleep in. Secondly, the deaths of those workers still haunted her. Broken ponies like her was the reason Roma had ordered the cloak to be locked away.

“However tragic, Rose’s work yielded results. Those results may serve us in the future.” Roma hung his head. “I have seen too many wars, and I do not wish to see another.”

“Sir, I’ve located a small magic signal in Pyre City. It’s earth pony magic, Sir.,” The pale engineer said, fiddling with a device attached to her wrist.

“Give the coordinates to Lemon, and Lemon, take five soldiers. No more. Deploy immediately,” Roma said, waving his hand. Lemon took a sheet of paper from Vinyl and saluted, before running out the door. “Now, for the matter of teachings: you need to learn how things work here. To aid in this, General Orange Crème.”

“Let us start with government. This is a simple matter. At the top is Emperor Tirek, and beneath him, six Monarchs. Queen Chrysalis, Queen Adagio, King Sombra, King Discord, King Nightmare, and Queen Philomena. Monarchs that have allied with Camp include Queen Adagio, and King Sombra. King Nightmare is still weighing his options. Each Monarch rules a state, comprised of several cities, one city of which is the capital. The capitals are Shifter City, Sirenis, Darkbourough, the so creatively named Chaos, Dreamscape, and the place your friend resides, Pyre City.” Orange stopped briefly to clear his throat, and take a sip of water. “Each Monarch has absolute rule in their capital, and near absolute in the state itself. As such, only three states are run properly. Sirenis, Darkbourough, and Dreamscape are all run with equality and justice. Now, there are actually no legitimate borders between states. A number of cites, scattered through out the land, qualify as a state. As such, territories often cross over. Any land that is not ruled by a Monarch, is ruled by Tirek’s enforcers.”

“Sounds relatively simple. Do you have any authority among the Monarchs, Roma?” Twilight asked, crossing her arms and putting her hand to her chin.

“Formally, no. Though, they know not to trifle with Camp, or me for that matter. Decimating an entire city tends to earn you some, uh… what was it you called it, Vinyl?”

“Street cred, Sir.”

“Decimating an entire city tends to earn you some street cred,” he said with a dark hint of humor. “Also, destroying a knight of harmony did help my case, a bit.”

“What are the knights of harmony?” Rainbow asked from where she stood, at ease, beside the table,

“Something you would approve of, Captain Dash,” Orange cut in, adjusting his glasses. “They were a group of knights that would be deployed anywhere there was disharmony in Equinus. Despite their title, they were not just warriors, but peace keepers. There were six of them, King Sombra, King Discord, Sir Grogar, Roma, Sir Therion, and King Nightmare. However, some five hundred years ago, Roma and Sonata-”

“Five hundred, thirty-seven years, six months, and twenty two days ago, at seven-thirty a.m.”

“What he said, that time frame ago, Roma and Sonata became engaged. Sir Grogar was displeased by this, as Roma was in service to the late Queen Celestia at the time. By law, the Knights of Harmony were rarely allowed to marry. While Roma was a member, Grogar believed himself to be Roma’s equal, in status and strength, and thus asserted to the Queen that she not allow Roma to be wed. The Queen denied his request, so he took matters into his own hands.” Orange stopped as Roma held up his hand.

“He attacked Sonata, and whilst protecting her, he devoured my arm. He was a vampire, similar to myself, however he was a different type. He was severely outclassed,” he said, pulling his sleeve up to show the scar around it. “I slaughtered him in a fit of rage, beating him to death with my one fist. After that, I left the Queen’s service, believing her to have ordered the attack.”

“Roma, have you ever thought of counseling?” Twilight asked, smiling humorously. “Seems like you’ve got some anger issues.”

“I deal with them appropriately. Waffles are ready.”

“Waaaaffles are readyyyyyy!” Sonata sang as she danced into the room, gracefully setting two platters stacked tall with the food on the table, and Octavia hesitantly followed, passing out plates and utensils, and a few bottles of syrup. “Please, everypony enjoy, Tavi and I worked hard on them.”

“They look delicious, Lady Sonata,” Rarity stated politely, taking a waffle off the stack.

“Oh, please! It’s just Sonata. Contrary to what you may have heard, I’m not a noble. I’m just a wife to an old storyteller,” she said with a giggle.

“Oi, you’re older than me!” Roma piped up, poking Sonata playfully in the side, making her ‘eep!’ in surprise.

“Wait, Storyteller?” Twilight leaned forward curiously. “This is news to me.”

“Aye, before all this,” he said, gesturing around him, “Before I served Celestia, and for a while after I married Sonata, I was just a traveling tale weaver. I’ve been all over the land, and parts of some others, collecting and telling story after story.”

“It was a wonderful life, seeing so many wondrous things! Remember the time you cut your own fingers off when you forged Titan-Pierce? I just couldn’t stop laughing!”

Roma’s face turned beet red, and he crossed his arms defiantly. “Well, you deal with an razor sharp, red hot blade, and let’s see how you fare.”

“Ah, but sir, she has, remember when you got shot a few months ago? She used a burning scalpel to dig the bullet out!” Orange chimed in, taking three waffles. “That was amusing, to watch somepony as legendary as you scream like a child.”

“Hm, I tik ofnfe to vaf!” Octavia cut in, before swallowing a large chunk of waffles, and taking a deep breath. “Hey, I take offense to that! Rose had to dig a bullet out of me, and I didn’t scream nearly that bad!”

“Oh, my, it seems Mr. Roma isn’t quite as tough as he claims to be,” Rarity stated playfully.

“Well, maybe not, but I’m still-” Roma stopped as he looked at his engineer. “Vinyl, what’s wrong?”

The unicorn had been standing completely still, tears were beginning to form in  her eyes, as she stared at her wrist mounted device. “Sir, do you think the Equestrians can handle Miracle?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then we’re bucked. Her signal’s changed direction, and she’s headed for Camp.” Vinyl said, and fell back against the wall, promptly sliding down. “Sir… Sunset didn’t lift a finger and she was destroyed… What’s she gonna do to us?”

“Nothing. If she wants a fight, I’ll give her one.” Roma turned and walked briskly out of the room, heading up the stairs to his room, returning a moment later with a sword at his waist, and a gold colored gauntlet on his left hand. “Rose, contact Redheart, and tell her I’ll be needing a room.”

“Yes sir.”

“Principessa, can you teleport?” Roma asked, his accent changing slightly to a more antiquated Bitalian one.

“Yes, I’ve already checked the coordinates. We can be there in a matter of seconds,” she replied, deactivating her horn’s cloak, and grabbing his arm.

With a loud PEW, the Princess and Roma found themselves face with a unicorn whose coat was blood red and whose mane was an oily black. Her cutie mark was a gothic cross, with thorns around it.

“Out of my way, I have business at Camp!” she snarled, revealing jagged, yellow teeth. “If you do not move, I will destroy you!”

“That’ll be the day. Allow me introduce myself and my friend. I am Roma, leader of Camp, and this is Queen Twilight, an Alicorn Goddess from Equestria,” he said, bowing slightly. “Any business you have, I will deal with personally.”

“Lies! You want to stop me!”

“If I wanted to stop you, the Queen would have obliterated you, or I would have shot you with a sniping rifle,” he replied casually.

“Roma… I think you are going to get us killed…” Twilight whispered to him.

“Nonsense, your majesty, I think Miss Miracle would make a wonderful ally. Shame on you for suggesting otherwise!”

Miracle’s face softened a bit as she eyed the vampony cautiously. “What do you mean, ally?”

“Just that. A pony to fight alongside us, and our comrade. What do you say?”

“I say… No.” Her horn began crackling as a lightning-like aura gathered around it. In a split second, she had gathered a massive amount of magic, and unleashed it at Roma.

“Well, Buck.” was all he could manage before the blast overtook him. The blast lasted for nineteen seconds, Twilight had counted, and when the magical tide subsided, Roma was left standing tall, with his left hand outstretched. Part of the skin on his face was burnt away, as were his legs, and most of his torso. “Queen Celestia’s anti-magic gauntlet. I knew this thing would come in handy.”

“Look at your skin though!” It took a lot for Twilight to keep her gaze on Roma. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Oh of course! It’ll take a few days, but I’ll heal,” he said with a chuckle.

“How are you alive?! That should have decimated you! Burnt you to a crisp!” Miracle screamed, clenching her teeth, causing one of them to chip. That would explain why they were so jagged, Roma thought.

“It’s quite simple, I’m no mortal. I am a vampire, and the moment you attacked me, you sealed your fate.”

“Sealed my fate? Like an earth pony could kill me!” Miracle laughed hysterically at the vampony’s threat, clutching her chest dramatically. “Your pathetic general said that my power exceeded that of one of the kings! What hope do you haugh!” the last word was cut off as Roma seemingly teleported in front of the Unicorn, his right hand closing around her throat.

“That too, is quite simple. I was the one who gave Sombra his powers, and his powers do not begin to compare to my own. Now, you list-” BOOM! Another arcane blast washed over his face, burning his skin completely off. “-en to me, child. You cannot kill me, how could you hope to defeat Tirek? Not even I am capable of bringing him down. Hmm? I asked you a QUESTION!”

The unicorn remained motionless as she stared, horrified, at the mass of charred muscle and bone that served as Roma’s face. The last blast was more powerful that the first, and he took it point blank! How? She knew how. “M-Monster! That’s what you are! You aren’t a pony, you’re a demon in a pony’s form! Let me go!”

“Monster? Fair enough, but I’m not the one who slaughtered a peaceful ambassador, now am I? Not even I have gone that far. You bear a cross on your flank, but you are no savior, you are a fool,” Roma growled, closing his hand even tighter. “Now, why don't we settle down and talk this over like civilized ponies?”

“Never!” Another blast, washing over his torso, eliminated the rest of his skin, and bits of his musculature, as well.

“Too bad. You could have been a great ally.” Roma drew his sword with his free hand, and plunged the long blade through Miracle’s heart. In a moment, she stopped struggling, and fell limp. “Apologies, Your Majesty, but it had to be done. I think, they did something to her mind, during her training oversees. Let us return to camp.”

Twilight happily obliged.
> Some Stuff Happened A Long Time Ago!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of Twilight’s court and the Generals, save for Lyra, Vinyl, Rose, Fluttershy, and Twilight, sat outside the medical pavilion, waiting anxiously for news on Roma’s status. They had all been shocked when Roma returned, devoid of skin, and tossed the lifeless Miracle onto the floor before collapsing. Sonata, oddly enough, was the least worried, claiming that he had experienced far worse in his life. Redheart was unaffected by any of it. Fluttershy had, of course fainted. Lyra and Vinyl had returned to the latter’s lab to continue whatever they were doing, and Rose was concocting some medicine to speed up Roma’s recovery.

A ruckus from inside drew everypony’s attention to the second floor of the hospital, and soon, Redheart was thrown out of a second floor window, landing perfectly on her hooves. “Honestly, must he be so ridiculously aggressive?” She then ran back inside, as a terrifying roar shook the facility. None could guess what was going on in there, and none particularly wanted to know.

“I’m a bit worried. I’ve seen him take some severe wounds, but nothing like this before,” Orange said quietly, wiping some dust off of his glasses.

“He will be fine, General,” Sonata said sternly, before she turned and trudged away towards Vinyl’s workshop.

It was some time before anymore news came of Roma’s condition, and it came in the form of Nurse Redheart emerging from the pavilion, panting as though she had run a marathon.

“He’ll be needing some time to recover. I suggest you all go do something to occupy yourselves for a couple of days,” she said, before walking away, and leaving the gathered ponies confused.


>X<


Twilight stared at the control panel in confusion. Roma had written out very explicit directions for her, but it still boggled her to comprehend this level of tech. It was the same table that had previously rested in Roma’s ‘stratagem tent’ as he called it. A small placement on the edge of Camp for meeting with normal soldiers and the like. The thing had been moved to replace the damaged table in the study. She quickly unfolded the crumpled sheet of paper, which had several splotches of blood staining it. “Okay, so I hit this button, and then, slide this bar…” the device hummed to life and a variety of holographic charts filled up, signaling the boot up procedure. The directions said to wait until the charts disappeared, before moving on to the next step. They did and she typed in a command sequence, which brought up a set of six bars, each with names in them, and colored either green or red. She tentatively raised her hand, and touched ‘Adagio’ and ‘Sombra,’ (which were highlighted in green) then hit the little bar that said, ‘proceed.’

Two images appeared, one of a grey unicorn in regal, yet ominous, robes; the other was a one armed, orange mare with half of her face scarred by a burn. An attendant carefully brushed the latter’s mane, while the former simply sat at his desk and glared at the Princess.

“Ugh, make it quick, Brother. Sombra and I- Oh! You are not my sister’s husband. Who are you?” Adagio asked cautiously. Her attendant never faltered in her gentle brushing of the Queen’s mane. “Speak, Violet One.”

“Yes. Do tell us who you are, and why you deem yourself so important to summon us,” Sombra commanded.

“I-I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, of Equestria. Roma asked me to contact you, and inform you that he now has, and is replicating, the amulet, against my advice. Also, Miracle has refused to ally herself with him, and she has been eliminated,” she managed to choke out. These were strong beings, she could feel it in their gazes that their power far surpassed her own. “In addition, I am here in your world because I have allied myself to Roma’s cause, and have brought with me seven members of my court.”

“And why has my dear friend not contacted us himself? Why has he asked you, somepony who no doubt just learned five seconds ago to operate a hologram projector?” Sombra growled, leaning back in his chair.

“There was… an altercation during the negotiations with Miracle, and Roma has been infirmed until his skin re-grows,” Twilight explained, wording her sentence carefully.

“Oh, my! Is Brother dear alright?” Adagio asked, opening her eyes wide, though she did not move a muscle in her body. Such restraint… it was to be admired. Even Twilight had trouble sitting still when it came to having her mane brushed.

“His wife claims he will make a full recovery, but I’m skeptical. What do you think, Your Majesties?”

“He likely will, but it will take some time. I hope he is recovered before-” Adagio stopped as her attendant finished brushing and prepared to leave. “Um, Fleur, dear, where are you going?”

A look of panic overtook the elegant mare’s face, and she nervously fiddled with her own hands. “I-I finished, so I was going to leave… I’m just in a hurry to get back to my room. I’m sorry, Your Majesty, did I do poorly?”

“No, you simply did not receive your payment. Why pray tell, are you so anxious?” Adagio stood and walked over to a small chest and extracted a number of bits.

“Oh. It’s not important, My Queen, honest.”

“Fleur, my darling, you are my mane-dresser, wardrobe specialist, and- ahem- confidant. Your worries are as important as my own.” she said sternly, causing the attendant to flinch. “I care for you very much Fleur, and I want you to be happy. Now, I will ask again, what is wrong?”

“My daughter is sick. She has a high fever, and I fear to leave her alone for long.”

“I see. What is she taking?” The Queen turned back to her ‘confidant,’ and handed her a small pouch of coins.

“Nothing, your majesty, I used the last of my funds for food,” the mare said sheepishly.

“A pity. Here, dear, a bit of Zerasol," Adagio said, handing a small brown bottle to the attendant. "Give it to Aria in small dosages, very small dosages. More than a teaspoon could make her vomit three days worth of food, along with her stomach, as well. I myself take a teaspoon, so I would recommend a half one for her. It will ease her fever a bit.”

“Your Majesty… why?” Fleur was floored, it seemed.

“Because, Aria is a sweet girl, and because it is a Queen’s duty to aid her citizens. Now, go tend to your darling, darling,” Adagio said, beaming, as Fleur’s eyes flooded. The latter nodded and dashed out, intent on obeying her mistress’s wishes.

“Adagio, your homosexuality is disgusting,” Sombra rumbled, with a sneer. “But, it lightens my heart that you are still as generous as ever.”

Adagio responded by sticking her tongue out at him. “You’re just a big ol’ sourpuss. And it’s called love. I never had any interest in mares until I met Fleur. So, Princess, Miracle is truly dead?”

“Yes, Your majesty. I saw Roma drive his blade through her heart,” Twilight said, still a little unnerved by the Vampire’s coldness towards Miracle.

“I see. You know, he used to be so kind…” The Queen sighed as she no doubt relived some long past memory.

“Princess, Be sure Roma is recovered before he is due in Canterlot,” the dark king stated bluntly.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she answered, and bowed. The two holograms disappeared, and she was left alone to contemplate her next move.


>X<


“Vinyl, why does Roma need six amulets?” Lyra asked as she dipped another lump of minerals into the boiling cauldron. It turned out that synthesizing a siren’s gem was relatively simple. All you needed was the right amount of certain minerals, and you mixed them all together, and dumped them into the catalyst. It was simple alchemy, stuff that could be done by a novice alchemist like Lyra.

“I wish I knew. It doesn’t make sense. The only magic users I can think of are you, King Sombra, that Rarity chick, the Princess. I would include Miracle but…” The engineer pulled away from her microscope, and rubbed her forehead. “What is he planning? He can’t use it, he says he tried one similar centuries ago. Lady sonata couldn’t use it, neither can her sister, they aren’t even ponies. I guess, if Queen Luna were to join us, she would have one. But then there’s still one more.”

“Maybe he was still planning on having Miracle join him?” Lyra offered, pulling her third successful gem from the cauldron. “I think I’m getting the hang of it!”

“Looks like it. This one looks a bit more like her current one. But, it still needs a lot of work.”

“Hey, Vinyl?” the bionic asked, grabbing another lump of minerals.

“Sup?”

“Why does Lady Sonata have a fake gem?”

Vinyl sighed and turned once again from her microscope. “Queen Adagio said it happened a long time ago. She and Sonata had a fight with the third sister, Aria, and they were betrayed. Aria stole their gems, and King Sombra came and killed her. She says that he pulled the gems back out of Aria and put them into the other two. A century later, the Queens summoned the Sirens, and they became royal Vassals, at the recommendation of Roma and Sombra. A long time later, something happened, and Queen Adagio became too powerful for only two gems, so, Sonata sacrificed her own to keep Adagio’s body from being torn apart by her own magic.” Vinyl stood, and walked over to the cauldron, gazing wistfully into its depths. “Since then, Adagio has been making artificial gems for her beloved sister. Until the accident, sixteen years ago, that is. After that, I took over.”

“That’s… beautiful.”

“Indeed, Cyborg, it’s a very touching tale.” Sonata’s voice startled the two engineers, causing them to stumble back. “If it were a novel, it would likely be a best seller.”

“My Lady! What brings you here?” Vinyl asked, as she kneeled on one knee.

“Would you stop that?! Geez, you’re as bad as the soldiers!” Vinyl stood back up, blushing. “I’m here for a new gem. This one cracked a little while ago.”

“You were singing again, weren’t you? I told you, with the amount of happiness Roma gives off, singing gives it too much juice,” the engineer said, scolding the siren.

“Yes, well, after all this monotony, the troops could use a morale boost.”

Vinyl sighed, and reached for the gem in Sonata’s chest. “Fair enough.” The gem came loose with a sickening squelch. “It just so happens, that my new friend just finished with a new one.”

“Wonderful! May I have it, please?” the siren asked, smiling at Lyra.

“Of course. Lyra, grab the second one. It was your best,” Vinyl instructed. Lyra complied, grabbing the shiniest of three gems, and handing it to the siren.

Sonata gazed at it with a keen eye. “Vinyl, is this a new recipe?”

“Yes, My Lady; I changed the makeup a little, so it can hold more power than the old ones.”

“Ah. Good. Carry on your work then.” Sonata turned and walked back up the stairs, and left the two alone.


>X<


“More power, huh?” She doubted it. Artificial gems could only take so much before breaking. In the end, they were no substitute for the real deal. She placed the gem into her empty chest, and the flesh hungrily closed around it. It felt odd, and it was a moment before she realized that this was because it was changing shape. Instead of the usual octagonal shape, it began to shape itself into a heart. How peculiar.

It was of no consequence to her, as long as it did as Vinyl promised.


>X<


-Tirek’s Palace: Royal Accommodations-

A sharp knock sounded at Adagio’s door, prompting her to quickly pull her robe back over her empty shoulder. “One moment, I’m not decent!”

“It’s me.” The gravelly voice was unmistakable. “I think we need to talk about your brother in law. Immediately.”

“Fine. Come in Sombra,” she said, awkwardly tying the belt of her satin robe. The King of Shadows strode into her chambers much in the way he did everything, fiercely. He was an intense pony, that could wear you down to nothingness, just by looking at you. He had dressed himself quite quickly, to have just finished chatting with that little princess. He was clad in full regalia, cape and all. That cape was glorious, though. It came just shy of his massive hooves, and was made of a material only found in the crystal empire. It was light, but durable, and shimmered whenever it caught the light in just the right way. “What-”

“Your brother is going to ruin everything we’ve been working for!” he roared, grabbing Adagio by the arm. “That fool is reckless, and impulsive, and… and…”

“Calm yourself, Sombra, I’m sure he had a reason to kill Miracle. Perhaps, it is a similar situation to when he faced Sir Grogar. You remember what happened then, don’t you?” She gently pulled her arm from his grasp, and guided him calmly over to a plush chair. “The Knight of Generosity was corrupted by Discord’s Amulet. Unlike the Amulet from the other realm, the wearer cannot be saved. You know this. Roma knew this, and so did Grogar. Roma, that day, gave the Ram Knight his greatest kindness. It was played off by Celestia and Roma that Grogar threatened me and my beloved sister, but such was not the case, and we knew it. I have spoken with Twilight Velvet, and she claims that Moon Dancer did something to Miracle. Something that made her unstable. He may not have intended it, but Roma showed her kindness this day.”

“I suppose so… Wait, weren’t your breasts bigger before?”

“You idiot!” she screamed, slamming her hoof into is muzzle in a brutal roundhouse. “Of course they were! Sixteen years ago, that is! Really, I know honesty is your thing, but come on! A little more subtlety, please? I had them reduced after the accident so I could keep my balance better.”

“Still pretty big, though.”

“I know, right? Fleur loves them,” Adagio practically sang, before walking over to her closet. “Sombra, since Fleur is not here, can I trust you to help me dress?

“Naturally. I know you must have difficulties, having…” Sombra trailed off, scratching the side of his neck.

“It’s all right, you don’t have to restrain yourself. I’ve come to terms with my missing limb for a long while now.”

“I see. Well ha-”

“MY QUEEN!!!” an unmistakable voice screamed, echoing severely throughout the massive chamber. Fleur came sprinting full tilt into the room with a bundle in her arms that was about three feet long. “Y- Adagio, Aria is even sicker than before! I don’t know what’s wrong!”

“Bring her here. I’ll have a look,” she commanded, striding over to her vassal. Her fellow monarch trailed behind her, no doubt concerned about the child. As Fleur unwrapped the child’s face, Adagio immediately knew what was wrong. The child’s eyes were completely bloodshot, there was blood leaking from the corners of her eyes, and she was foaming at the mouth. Adagio could only bring to mind one substance that could do this. “Fleur, do you have that Zerasol I gave you?”

“Yes, it’s right here.”

The queen snatched the bottle from the vassal’s hand, and her face twisted in rage. One look at the bottle’s contents told anyone who had even remedial apothecary training that this was not Zerasol. It was changeling venom. Zerasol was a bright red color, whereas this liquid was neon green. The color was somewhat obscured by the tinted brown bottle, but not enough for a skilled alchemist like Adagio to overlook. “Sombra, Find Chrysalis, and bring the bitch to me. I would have words with her.”

The dark unicorn sprinted towards the balcony and leapt off. 

“Come, I have an antidote in my transport.” Adagio strode over to her vanity, retrieved a violet colored remote, and pressed it’s solitary button. Outside, an engine roared to life and Adagio’s personal aircraft, which was also violet colored, floated out from underneath the massive balcony, and up to hover level with the hand rail. Adagio approached without hesitation, and stepped on the rail as a small platform folded out to meet her. She turned briefly to Fleur, and gestured for her to follow.


>X<


Fleur had never been inside the flyer before. It was a far cry from the escort that  she normally rode with. It was not unpleasant, traveling as she usually did. Her typical vehicle was quite comfortable, being a mid-size cruising craft. But if her normal travel accommodations were comfortable, then Adagio’s craft was absolutely luxurious. There was soft carpet that felt divine on the hooves, and there were numerous things scattered about the massive craft that would be beyond any noble’s dreams. Aria squirmed in her arms a bit, attempting to get comfortable, which brought Fleur back to her senses.

The queen stood in front of a large cabinet, sorting through a few bottles, and finally plucked one from its secure resting place. It was a large bottle, and it bore some resemblance to an alcohol bottle. “This is a simple anti-venom I developed centuries ago, when Celestia was still in power. After Chrysalis rose to power, the Solar Queen asked that I concoct a way to counter their venom. Or, specifically, her venom. Only the Queen can produce venom; the only thing you can call what the typical drone produces, is a foul tasting saliva.” As she spoke, she uncorked the anti-venom with her teeth, and nodded towards a door in the back. “My quarters,” she said around the cork.

Fleur was confused. There was a large bed in the main area, what was wrong with it? She did not question her mistress, but followed her. She entered in time to see Adagio spit the cork onto the floor, and expertly pull the blankets aside using one of her hooves. It was apparent that she wanted Aria to be lain there, so Fleur gently laid her child on the soft bed. Adagio lifted Aria’s head, put the bottle to her lips, and whispered softly, but sternly, “Drink.”

Aria did as she was told, and allowed the clear liquid to be poured down her throat. Suddenly, the queen pulled the bottle away, and Aria coughed for a moment. Fleur was ushered out, and steered towards a couch in the main compartment.

“My Queen, will she be okay?”

“Naturally, my dear. Do you doubt your lover’s capabilities?” Adagio said with a smug grin.

“No, yo- Adagio. I do not doubt your abilities, but is it not a mother’s duty to worry?” Fleur replied with a cautious and grim smile.

“Quite so, my love. Once I have the bitch queen tied down, do you want a few swings at her?”

“No, my love, I was taught that you should not seek revenge.” She paused to sigh deeply. “My father said to only avenge those who have fallen by the enemy's hand.”

“And this would also happen to-”

“Yes. Vile and deviant as he was, mine and Aria’s father was a wise man. Many of the lessons he taught me have been useful to me in life. The martial arts were fairly useful in defending myself and my daughter until you found us.” Now the mare’s smile was absolutely genuine as she leaned against the Queen’s good shoulder. “I’ll never, ever forget how you bravely stormed into his home and arrested him yourself. And then, you gave us a home, and insisted on covering all our expenses.”

Adagio rolled her eyes, and blushed. “But of course, you have that stallion’s stubbornness, and you insisted I give you a job. So I did.”

“The greatest job on the planet, in my opinion. All I have to do is brush your hair, dress you, and occasionally deliver a message for you. The second one is my favorite part," she said, smirking at the queen, and reached slowly towards her lovers belt, then abruptly stopped. “WAIT, how the hell do you know what changeling spit tastes like?!”

“See that bed over there?”

“Yeah…” Fleur's eyes widened in expectation.

“It’s a harem bed. Chrysalis treats her allies very well," the queen explained, then noticed the look Fleur was giving her. "I have not been allied with her for forty two years, just so you know.”

“You made out… with bugs?” Fleur recoiled and leaned back from Adagio.

“Oh we did more than make out, my love. And to be fair, they took the form of handsome stallions. I didn’t know until I kissed one that they were bugs, as you so rudely call them,” she said callously. “They are insectoids, yes, but they are still sentient, despite the hive mind. Calling them bugs is like calling a pony a mule.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’ve done the same thing," she said haughtily. "To Chrysalis’s face, actually.”

“Adagio! That’s awful!”

“Oh hush you. You know she and I despise one another. Simply for the fact that she unallied herself with my brother in law.” Adagio explained with a sarcastic grimace.

“Yeah…” Fleur trailed off in remembrance.

“Sorry, I know you aren’t fond of Roma…”

“He frightens me more than Queen Philomena,” the gentle mare said calmly.

“Why? You know he won’t harm you.”

“But he COULD! I saw him go berserk! I watched the archive video. It was horrifying…” Fleur turned from the Queen and walked over towards the room her daughter was in. “How does he not frighten you?”

“Because, what you saw in that archive was not the true Roma.” Adagio calmly walked over to the cabinet under her potions shelf  “Tell me, what color was his mane?”

“Black,” the attendant replied bluntly.

"And his coat?"

"The same. where are you going with this?"

“Did you know, that until Tirek took over, Roma’s mane was actually red? And so was Emperor Tirek’s skin, for that matter.” The queen sighed as she pulled an old hologram projector out of one of the drawers. She turned it on and held it out to Fleur, who stared at the image in shock. Tirek’s usual grey skin had been replaced with vibrant red, as was Roma’s black mane. The vampire’s coat wasn’t even black, or piebald, it was pure white! “Ever heard of an artifact called ‘Discord’s Amulet?’” Fleur nodded. “Well, first, it’s actually a brooch, not a necklace. Secondly, whenever a being puts it on, they undergo a transformation. Their colors fade and they become the opposite of what they were. Tirek and Roma used to be so very kind, but one day, the Amulet called out to Tirek, and he took it. I don’t think he ever realized what it would do to him.”

“And what of Roma? Why did the Vampire’s color change?”

“For a similar reason, one I’d rather not discuss at this time,” Adagio said with a grimace, not because she was sad, but because she sensed a familiar presence. “Come out, Discord, you know I hate spies more than anything.”

“Right. Sorry Adagio, old habits die hard, don’t they?” The Draconequus appeared hovering behind Adagio’s head. “You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?

“You refer to Roma?” she replied, furrowing her brow.

“Who else but the bastard vampire?” The god barely avoided his fellow monarch’s fist. “Temper temper, Dagy. Can’t have you blasting me with laser eyes.”

“For the last time, Discord, my eyes glowing red on occasion doesn’t mean they shoot lasers!" she shouted aggressively.

“The same way Sombra’s eyes glowing dark doesn’t mean he can control shadows?” the god said with a sneer.

“That’s completely different, Dissy. Sombra is a vampire. That is part of his ability,” she replied harshly.

“Yes, yes, and speaking of Vampire abilities, lookie what I found in a cave down south.” Adagio’s eyes grew wide even before the book she hated appeared in the god’s hands. “Curious, though, there was an empty grave next to where it was buried.”

“You wouldn’t dare disturb her…”

“I didn’t. I actually intended to pay my respects while I was there. It seems the grave had been empty for a long while before I got there. I’m not that cruel Adagio. Only your brother is.” He scowled at her and threw the book to Fleur. “I understand you are fluent in Germane? Help your lover out and read her a bed time story tonight.”

“Discord, did you investigate the scene?” adagio asked, even as she felt her blood pressure rising.

“I saw… I don’t know what to make of it, Old Friend, but there were burns all over the tombstone..." the draconequus trailed off and paused, before sighing and continuing. "They were the kind of burns only a shadow can leave.”

“You know it wasn’t Sombra, Discord. Get out of my craft, before I make you.” He quickly complied, turning back when Adagio spoke again. “Thank you for retrieving that book. I truly think it will help Roma, in the end.”

“Yeah, Whatever. I only did it for you Dagy. I hate that pony, and you know it." He topped and grit his teeth. "I should hate you just as much, but I just can’t bring myself to.” With that final bit, he disappeared and Adagio felt his presence disappear.

“I know it hurt, Old Friend…” she said to no one in particular, as a single tear trickled down her face, at the thought of the two former friends hatred for each other. She dried her eyes when a dull ringing interrupted her recollection. “What is it, Sombra?”

The dark king’s face appeared on a hologram projector at the front of the cabin. “Chrysalis has left the city. It seems her hive is in chaos right now. Some kind of fire broke out while she was here.”

“How do you know?” She cut her eyes at the hologram.

“I asked her correspondent. Look, I’ve got him right here.” He moved the camera over to a small, insect like creature with holes in its legs.

It spoke in a harsh voice, like nails on a chalkboard. “Hello, your majesty. A pleasure as always.”

An idea crossed her mind, a realization that could have changed what had happened. “Seraph… Can you produce venom?”

“Um… Of course not, Your Majesty! How absurd. Only the Queen, and a few workers can do that!”

“Seraph. You are a worker. Sombra, bring him to my room. He and I have things to discuss.” A large grey hand shot out to grab Seraph’s shoulder, which made him cry out in shock.

“Be there in a moment,” Sombra said and the line went dead.

“My love, can workers really produce venom?” Fleur asked, putting her arms around Adagio’s waist.

“It’s possible. They’re what come after the queen in the buzzing order. In fact, Seraph is to be Chrysalis’s heir. It’s not a far stretch for him,” she replied honestly, then turned around in Fleur’s embrace. “You are really riled aren’t you? You’re hardly ever this forward. I like it.”

“Oh, Really?” Adagio was given no chance to respond, as her lover’s lips came crashing into her own, and the battle of tongues soon followed.

“EEEW grooosss…” A small voice from their left interrupted them, and they both turned to see the little violet filly standing there, wiping the blood from her eyes. “Mommy, I think my fever’s gone.”

Of course, this prompted Fleur to pull free of Adagio’s arm, and run to her daughter to put a hand against her forehead. “It is! Oh, by the Emperor, it is!”

“The venom may have shocked her system out of it. Or… perhaps I should research the substance. It may have medical uses. But for now, I must deal with a potential source of it,” she said, and walked away to wait for Sombra's return.

“Mommy, Momma's kind of scary sometimes,” Aria said, pausing for a moment. “Not her, uh, face I mean. The way she acts is kind of scary.”

“Oh, you know Momma is a super sweet when she isn’t dealing with work stuff!” she said teasingly, and bopped Aria against the back of her head playfully. “But, let’s hope she can actually deal with this.”

Aria simply stared at her mother’s darkening face. That was even scarier than Momma’s attitude.
> Fixing The Fracture: Part 1!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light filtered in through train tracks occupying the bridge she was sleeping under, as her eyes fluttered open to meet the day. With a slight groan, she stretched against the concrete column she had slept against, feeling the cool stone against her back. She was warm, despite the horribly cold weather. She suspected the cloak was responsible. She’d tried several times to get the cursed garment off, but to no avail. She had, however succeed in pulling back one of the sleeves to her elbow. It was fused to the rest of her, like some kind of parasite.

“Good morning, Miss Pie.”

Pinkie stopped moving completely. “W-who said that?” she asked, casting her eyes around the area.

“The cloak. You act as though you don‘t have sentient clothes in Equestria. Odd.”

“Sentient?” Her jaw dropped. “You’re a living jacket?”

“Cloak. And, you may want to keep it down. Other ponies don’t hear me. Just, think whatever you want to ask, alright?”

“O-” (Okay, how’s this?) the mare asked, standing up and finishing her stretch.

“Much better. Now, we have a LOT of work to do,” the cloak said, and suddenly, Pinkie found herself walking forward.

(Whoa hold on! What work?) she asked, doing her best to force her legs to stop. They only slowed down a bit.

“Miss Pie, you’ve got problems, and it’s my job to fix them. So let’s just get this over with.”

(Maybe I don’t want to?) Pinkie offered, happily noting that the cloak had stopped moving her.

“Well, we’re going to have problems, aren’t we?” The cloak crossed Pinkie’s arms against her will. “Look, it’s my job to fix you. I’m supposed to do whatever it takes to do that. You should know, that does entail me physically harming you.”

(Uh, y-you wouldn’t do that, right?)

It felt like the cloak sighed, and uncrossed Pinkie’s arms, only to put them against her flanks. “I most certainly would. My host before Slick Slopes, Nimbus Crush, was afraid of flying. As such, he couldn’t help his marefriend. You know what I did?”

(You didn’t…)

“I broke his arms and legs. Made him fly to the hospital.” the cloak said, and took a step forward.

(Wait! I’ll cooperate, but I want control of my body,) she said, praying it would agree.

“Hm. Alright. But if you start rebelling, I’m taking over.” it said, and Pinkie felt her body loosen back up, as she regained control. “First thing’s first.”

(And that would be?)

“Getting you armed and protected.”

(Like, what, am I gonna carry around a sword or something?) Pinkie said, and started walking forward.

“Depends. You don’t have much experience with swords, so I think a gun would be better,” Cloak answered as they emerged from under the bridge. “Turn right. There’s a pawn shop nearby that Slick used to frequent. Atrocious place, owned by scum.”

(What was Slick’s problem?) she asked, following the garment’s direction. (Wait, how the heck do you know I’m not used to swords?)

“I’m in your head, Pinkie. And Slick was addicted to a shamefully legal substance called Sickle. It makes the user insane, and causes unbearable pain during withdrawals.”

(I’m afraid to ask how you helped him.)

“You should be. It was decidedly more cruel that what I did to Nimbus. Turn left.” Pinkie complied, heading down a street with a number of unsavory looking types crowding the streets. “During one of Slick’s episodes, he butchered his wife because she wouldn’t let him leave the house. He had security cameras, so-”

(You made him watch it, didn’t you? That’s a little much, isn’t it?)

“I made him watch it thirty-two times. Perhaps… it was a tad excessive,” the cloak admitted, causing Pinkie to smile.

(I bet you feel pretty guilty about it, huh?) the pink mare said with a warm mental smile.

“Third door on the right. I feel… something. I don’t know if it’s guilt, or pride. I was never taught the difference.”

Pinkie came to a building with barred windows and a motorcycle chained up outside. (Well, does it make you feel bad, or good?) she asked as she walked through the front door.

“Bad. It makes me feel very, very bad.”

(Well, then when we get back, I’ll apologize for you. Now, we have a problem. I know next to nothing about guns,) she said with a mental shrug.

“Don’t worry, I will help you. Walk up to that fellow with the eye patch. Whatever you do, don’t call him patches. Tell him, ‘I want Slick’s bundle.’”

Pinkie stepped up in front of a very large stallion with a right side eye patch, and nervously looked him in the face. “Um… Hi?”

“What can I get for ya, lil’ lady?” he asked with a smile, easing Pinkie’s nerves a bit.

“I’m here for, uh, Slick’s bundle?” she said, making the pony’s face fall.

“Pass word?”

“Ckicken fried turkey butt.”

(Are… you kidding me?)

“No.”

Pinkie let lose an exasperated sigh, and leaned against the counter on one elbow. With as straight of a face as she could manage, she looked the clerk in the eye and said in a gruff voice, “Chicken fried turkey butt.”

She felt her face turn red as the cloak and the clerk both burst into hysterical laughter. (What? Why are you laughing?)

“Because, you seemed so damn serious! I’ve never seen anyone say something like that without dying of laughter!” the cloak said, calming down a bit.

“Okay, okay, let me grab it for ya. I can’t believe how cool that was.” The clerk turned and went into a room behind him, and came out with a bag, and a sword. “It’s got everything ya need. Two pistols, chambered in .22Lr, with a double holster, twelve cases of ammo, a gas mask, extra filters, a pocket knife, and of course, the wakizashi.”

“H-how much do I owe you?” Pinkie asked shakily. She didn’t have any money on her, so how could she pay for it?

“Nothing, lil’ lady. If Slick sent ya, then it’s on the house. Now scoot on outta here.”

A smile spread across the mare’s face. “Thank you!” she said, before running out of the store. (Well, Cloakie, That was easy. Where to next?)

“Now, we start on your recovery. We head to Sister Lulamoon’s orphanage.”

“I recognize that name,” Pinkie said, realizing afterwards that she’d said it out loud. (Crap.)

“Don’t worry, You’ll get used to it.”


>X<


Pinkie Pie, now clad in all her new gear, save for the mask, made her way down Derelict Avenue- yeah that’s the actual name- towards a run down orphanage at the end of the street. The sign hung crooked on it, and the roof looked as though it was ready to collapse under it’s own weight. There was a massive hole in the side, with a blackened rim, as though it had been burnt away, and the front door was cut clean in two.

(Cloakie, what is this place?)

“This is an orphanage, run by the benevolent and generous Sister Bellatrix Lulamoon,” the article explained, reaching up to grasp the wakizashi on her back.

(HEY! What the hell are you doing? Don’t tell me you plan on slaughtering orphans to fix me?!)

“No. Somepony’s been here, or is in there now,” Cloakie said, wrapping Pinkie’s fingers around the hilt of the small sword. “Draw your damn sword, Pinkie.”

Pinkie stared at the building in disbelief, as a pair of glowing green eyes appeared in the space where half of the door was missing. (I think it’s safe to say that they’re still there.)

“Odd. Those look like Lycan eyes. I don’t remember the Sister tak-” Cloakie was cut off as a shaggy green form came barreling out of the door, howling like a wolf. “Draw Pinkie! Do it Now!” the garment commanded, trying to force her to obey.

“I can’t! it’s a foal!” she shouted out loud, as the beast tackled her, and promptly sniffing her all over. When it was satisfied that she was no threat, the Lycan sat back on Pinkie’s barrel, letting their tongue loll out, and panted at her with a smile.

“Emmie! Bad girl!” came a sharp voice that Pinkie recognized immediately as the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon. The beast was suddenly pulled off of Pinkie, and she got her first look at the mare who had ‘rescued’ her. She wore a plain white shirt, and a pair of black jeans that reached just below her hocks. Her mane was tied back with a bandanna, and around her neck was what appeared to be a rosary, with a blackened steel Alicorn at the center, and a crescent moon as it’s main ornament. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she worshiped. “I’m so sorry, she can be quite a handful this time of month… full moon and such,” the light blue mare said, dragging the Lycan away.

“Um… it’s alright, I’ve dealt with Lycan’s before. Though, the last one tried to kill me,” Pinkie replied, standing and dusting off her cloak.

“Really? How did that happen?” the mare asked, her eyes growing wide.

“My wife is an animal trainer and a vet. I’ve seen all kinds of creatures,” Pinkie replied, walking up and kneeling in front of the Lycan filly. “I learned a lot about exotic species from her, especially ones of supernatural origin.”

“My, that sounds exciting! Wait…” The Sister finally took note of Pinkies sword, and her black coat. “You… You’re a monster hunter, aren’t you?!” she hollered, pulling her Lycan ward behind her.

“No! I swear I-”

“Prove it!” she all but screamed, drawing a small dagger from behind her back, prompting pinkie to fall backwards from her crouched position, as she took her fighting stance.

“Roma sends his regards.”

“Roma sends his regards!” she shouted, causing the Sister to drop her dagger and run over to Pinkie, and help her up.

“I am so sorry, I wasn’t expecting an emissary for another few weeks. Please, come in to the orphanage,” the mare said, guiding the so called ‘emissary’ into the aforementioned facility.


>X<


Pinkie Pie had never seen so many orphans, of so many different species, in one place. There were seventeen of them, all staring down the pink mare with suspicion in their eyes, as she sat at the end of a long mahogany table. Sister Lulamoon scurried around the room, passing out bowls, spoons, and napkins. When she went to place a bowl in front of Pinkie, she raised her hands and shook her head in refusal. Lulamoon raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and took the bowl back to the cabinet from which she took it. Another Sister came in, carrying a large pot, and began dipping gruel into each bowl with a spoon.

“Are you sure you don’t want any, Ma’am? It’s only a few days old,” the first Sister asked, leaning against the wall next to Pinkie.

“Thank you, Sister Lulamoon, But I don’t want to burden you.”

“Pish posh dearie! Our Lady and Savior would be ashamed if we did not aid a hungry emissary of her former consort!” the second nun said, carefully sitting the pot down on the table. “Can we at least get a name from you?”

“My name is Pinkie,” she said, her mane starting to deflate a little. She didn’t like where things were going at this rate. “And, I’m not… actually… “

“Don’t say it!

“Roma’s emissary. As a matter of fact, the last time I saw him, I got in his face and told him I hated him for shooting my wife in her wing,” she explained, watching as the mares’ faces drooped in disappointment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lie to you, but this-”

“Hush child.”

Pinkie clamped her mouth shut, as Sister Lulamoon stepped forward, and slammed a hand on the table, and glared into the pink mare’s eyes for a moment. All of the foals had stopped eating and were watching with bated breath as their guardian stared her down.

“And you promise you aren’t a monster hunter?” she said, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Mm-hmm,” Pinkie mumbled, her mane now completely flat.

“You’d swear on the Lunar Tomes?”

“I have no idea what those are,” Pinkie deadpanned, earning shocked looks from all of the gathered orphans and the two sisters.

“You must be agnostic,” the second Sister observed.

“Nope, I’ve just never heard of these Lunar Tomes. What are they?”

“Come, child. I see why our Savior sent you to us. You need enlightenment, at the hands of the Lunar Sisterhood,” Sister Lulamoon said, and took Pinkies hand, before leading her away into another room.

“Sister Lulamoon, can’t you just tell me what these Tome thingies are?” Pinkie asked, planting her hooves firmly on the floor, and stopping the mare from dragging her any further.

The nun sighed and turned to Pinkie. “Call me Bella,” she said coldly, and gestured over to a bench. “I’m sorry for being so pushy. I was hoping I had found somepony I could guide into the glory of Luna’s Radiance.”

“It’s alright, Bella. Just, tell me what the Tomes are.”

Bella sat down, noting that her guest did not follow. “The Lunar Tomes are sacred scriptures, that tell of all the Lunar Goddess’s feats, big and small, important or insignificant. They also detail her moral teachings, and we in the Lunar Sisterhood take those teachings as law, and live our lives by them. Surely, you understand what it would mean to swear upon them?”

“Yeah. We’ve got something back home called a Pinkie Pie promise, and nopony ever breaks one of those. Though, I guess it would seem a little silly for somepony as serious as you Sisters,” Pinkie said, crouching in front of the Lunar Nun. Bella seemed to frown at the statement.

“We aren’t that serious… all the time.”

“Oh please, look at what you’re wearing! Does being a Lunar Sister mean you have to dress like that?” Pinkie asked, earning a head shake from Bella. “You know what I’m wearing under this cloak? Pink overalls. Pink bucking overalls. And in a few hours, I’ll probably be fighting for my life, so what’s your excuse?”

“I have none.”

“Pinkie.”

(I’m busy Cloakie,) she scolded. “So brighten up, Bella, ther-”

“The Phoenix guard is closing in on the orphanage,” the cloak said, cutting the party mare off.

“Bella, what is the phoenix guard?” she asked, causing the mare’s eyes to grow wide.

“General Felix…” she whimpered, tears falling down her cheeks. “You have to get out of here! General Felix is a pig, he’ll force himself onto you, and if you refuse, he’ll kill you!”

“Wait, this Felix guy molests you, and you just… let him?” Pinkie stared at the Sister in shock.

“There were once many Sisters in this building, until he came along,” she said solemnly, standing and facing the door. “I cannot fight. I have sworn only to fight to protect the orphans, not myself.”

“Then I’ll fight for you.”

“That is a VERY bad idea,” the cloak stated, crossing Pinkie’s arms. “You have no experience with that sword of yours, and you haven’t a clue how to operate your guns.”

(But I’m willing to bet you do. Besides, how broken would I be if you forced me to stand aside and let this wonderful mare to be raped?)

“… I hate you so much right now.”

(So you’ll help?) Pinkie asked, smiling despite herself, as her mane poofed back up.

“I suppose,” the Cloak conceded, and Pinkie felt it take hold of her body. “You owe me for this one, Pinkie.”

“Name it,” she said out loud, causing the Sister to give her a confused stare.

“You suck at keeping your thoughts in,” the Cloak teased, giving a mental smile. “I like getting dry cleaned. After I fix your problems, I want a good, expensive dry cleaning.”

(Deal,) she said, smiling. “Bella, wait here.”

“Please don’t! He’ll kill you!” she hollered, and reached forward to grab her guest, her eyes widening when she only grasped thin air.


>X<


Pinkie suddenly appeared outside the orphanage in a mass of swirling black tendrils, reaching for her sword, and the gas mask that hung on her waist.

She could feel the cloak’s power, surging all along her body, preparing to fight. It has done this before, she thought… it has… killed before…

“Yes, many times.”

The mask came over her face as she scowled fiercely in her mind. She’d given the garment complete control over her body, including her face.

“But then, so have you, haven’t you?” Pinkie’s mental eyes widened.

(Shut up. You don’t understand, so shut up.)

“You could have had a foal… bu-”

(I SAID SHUT UP!!!)

A vehicle, probably carrying troops, rolled down the road, coming to a halt about twenty yards from Pinkie.

“But I do understand. Your father would have been so disappointed, wouldn’t he?”

(SHUT THE BUCK UP. You don’t understand. You can’t understand. You’ll never understand.)

“What makes you think that, Pinkie? I spent all of last night invading your mind, finding every little piece of pain I could get my hands on. There’s nothing you can hide from me.”

(SHUT. THE. BUCK. UP!!! Just because you know all about me, doesn’t mean you know me.)

A number of griffins began piling out of the back of the truck, thirty, in total. They all had weapons: assault rifles, pistols, swords, everything. And the cloak was going to deal with them.

“You killed her, Pinkie. You didn’t need your fancy part-”

“I SAID SHUT MMMM!!!”

“Looks like I need to keep a tighter grip.”

One of the soldiers walked forward, standing tall over Pinkie. “Interesting gear you’ve got, citizen,” he said calmly, as Pinkie’s arm pulled up, drawing the Wakizashi. “Be a smart mare, and hand it a-” The soldier was cut off by a loud thump, as his head fell from his shoulders.

“As I was saying, you didn’t need your fancy party cannon to do it, and you didn’t need magic, or medicine.”

(No…) she whimpered in her mind, as the rest of the griffins circled around her. Pointing weapons at her.

“All.”

(Please…)

“Ready!” one of the soldiers yelled, followed by a series of clicks, as they deactivated their guns’ safeties.

“It.”

(No,) she said sternly, as her eyes began to water.

“Took.”

(I’m asking you, please?)

“Was a…”

Tears now flowed freely from the pink mare’s eyes, and her breath became ragged, but she did not wail, for the cloak had her mouth in its control. Her sadness turned suddenly to anger, and her mane now completely deflated. (I. Said…)

“Aim!”

“bottle of bleach…”

“MmmmrrRRAAHHH NOOOOOO!!!” she screamed, gaining control of her mouth, to the cloak’s shock. The soldiers all stared at her in silence, their fingers trembling over their triggers, too scared to move. The mare’s shoulders heaved, and she took a step forward towards one of the griffins.

“Pinkie, stop! How… how are you doing this?! I have control! You sho-”

“I said… shut… UP.” The cloak physically recoiled at her tone, loosening its bond to the Equestrian’s skin. “You are mine, jacket, and I WILL control you. Is that clear?”

“No! That is how this work-”

“Is. That. CLEAR?” she said harshly, gritting her teeth, as one of her eyes flooded from a burst vessel. It obviously took a lot of effort to maintain her dominance. It was so difficult in fact, that as she took a second step, her nose began bleeding beneath her mask. Another step, and one of her teeth chipped, sending the tiny shard stabbing into her lip.

“Yes! They’re going to kill you!”

“Give me your power…” she growled, and took another step forward. She was only a meter way from the griffin. Her other eye burst into red, as she growled in agony.

“Fine! You’ve got access to everything, all of my powers, my knowledge! Please Pinkie! They are going to kill us!”

“No. They aren’t.”


>X<


The soldier was scared, to be sure. This pink mare had decapitated one of his comrades, and was now moving towards him. Perhaps she was the fabled Octavia, the last vampony sired by Roma the Monstrous? Her build would indicate that she was of an appropriate age. And her eyes were turning red. He had read about that somewhere. If this was Octavia, the one they called the Ravager, then they were all doomed.

He was no fool. He had heard the stories. He had seen the aftermath. Hundreds of corpses littering the street, a few hanging from power lines, one skewered onto a lamp post… it was nightmarish. The last survivor, who died a few minutes after giving his report, had claimed that she had been everywhere. He told of how you could train your sights on her, and then she was gone, only to reappear behind you.

Buck, she was coming after him. Oh BUCK! She was coming after him!!!

The soldier, who had seen many gruesome things in his life, was terrified. The soldier, who had single-handedly gunned an entire family of six to death, was ready to piss himself. The soldier, who had set fire to a hospital after sealing all the exits, and watched the sick burn to death, was trembling on his paws. The soldier, who many could only call a monster, was terrified of a pink pony that didn’t come up to his neck.

As the griffin stood trembling, the mare said something that made the fluids in his bladder release into his trousers.

“No. They aren’t.”

And then, she vanished, reappearing behind a soldier across from him, and drove her sword into his heart from behind. And then she was gone again.

A bang to his left made him look to see her standing with her gun pointed out, and a body falling away from said gun. And she vanished again, appearing between two soldiers to his right, with one arm extending a gun  left soldiers head, and her sword against the right’s throat. The blade was held back handed, with the edge facing backwards. Those soldiers were frightened too. But not for long, as the mare shot the left one’s head, and pulled back sharply against the right one’s throat, cutting it wide open.

The vile soldier, who had done so many horrible things, had never see something so horrible in his life.

He watched as one by one, she dispatched all of ten soldiers, in increasingly creative ways. Suddenly one came falling to the ground with a horrified scream, slamming down head first, briefly followed by his detached wings.

Another soldier crushed by a falling truck- THEIR truck, and this was the final straw. The soldiers scattered, forming a few tightly knit groups, and began waiving their guns around, shouting for the mare to show herself.

He did not join of these groups. Instead, he dropped his gun, and fell to all fours, preparing to sprint towards the half-door of the orphanage.

The mare appeared above one of the groups, falling into their midst with her sword spinning in a circle around her.

He took his chance, and launched from his position, only slowed a little by his wet pants.

As he closed the gap between him and the door, he saw a small round object impact the wall beside it. He recognized The General’s beak sticking out of the new hole. With a grimace, he leapt through the space where the door had been cut in half.


>X<


Pinkie stood in the street, surrounded by bodies. Cold, unmoving corpses, and she was horrified. She’d done this. She’d slaughtered thirty griffin soldiers in a matter of minutes.

“Hey!”

The pink mare slowly turned her head to the right, where she saw Sister Lulamoon held at gunpoint by one of the soldiers. The Sister was crying.

Sister Lulamoon was crying, and this soldier had a gun to her head. Pinkie’s face twisted in rage, and her mane did something it never did before.

It changed color.

Black streaks began cascading through her blood stained fuchsia locks, giving her a look that would make most mane stylists jealous. She was angry, and she was sad, and she was emotionless, all at once. She vanished from the griffin’s sight, and reappeared beside him, with her gun to his head.

“You should have died like the rest of them.” That was all he heard before a thunderclap ended his life.


>X<


Sister Cake stood outside the bathroom door, listening as their guest shouted to herself on the other side.

She had no idea what was going on, and she didn’t really care to know. It seemed like this always happened when her Lady’s former consort was concerned. That vampony always had something crazy going on around him, and she had to be honest, she was sick of it.

A loud crash sounded from the other side of the door, and her eyes widened.

“Miss Pinkie? Was that the shrine?”

“NO! it was the SINK!” the mare screamed back, followed by what sounded like sobbing.

What on Equinus was that mare doing in there?


>X<


“What happened Cloakie? Why did I kill all those griffins?!”

“No, it-it wasn’t you! It was me!” He shuddered at the face his wearer made.

“Don’t bucking lie to me You STUPID SCRAP OF CLOTH!!! That wasn’t you, it was all me! I know what happened, I was in control the whole time!” she screamed, slamming her fist down onto the sink, and breaking it in two. One of the sisters shouted outside the bathroom. “No! it was the SINK!”

Pinkie let herself fall back and slide down the wall, and promptly sob into her knees. “Cloakie, what really happened?”

The dark garment gave a mental sigh. “I was created by Discord, about a hundred years ago, using dark magic. That’s what I possess, darkness, on a number of levels. Mental, mystical, and probably a couple of other places too. When Discord agreed to make me for Roma, he warned my former host, not to fight me.” The cloak paused for a moment, having noticed that Pinkie was no longer crying. “See, when Queen Celestia died, it sent our dark friend on a spiraling path towards insanity. I was made to counter this. After losing so much, and watching so many of his brothers perish at the hands of Tirek, he was broken. He needed a push to fix himself.”

“Like me?”

“Worse, Pinkie. So, so much worse. But, just like you, he fought my control, refusing to visit the Queen’s grave, refusing to acknowledge that he had failed, and certainly refusing to move past it. He gained need of my powers one day, when facing my creator in combat. He did exactly the same thing you did. The fight lasted for hours, and Roma was flooded with my dark magic by the second. It eventually filled his entire body, nullifying the majority of his vampire abilities, particularly his ability to control blood. I don’t think that will ever come back to him.”

“Cloakie, how come I can break free?” she asked, feeling her eyes getting heavy. Her escapade had tired her out more than she though.

“It’s your will. Somehow, for some ungodly reason, it’s even stronger than Roma’s. He… Pinkie?”

The cloak was answered by a light snore, signifying that its… its mistress was asleep. That was going to take some getting used to. The cloak had never had a true master before. Not even Roma the Desperate was considered his master. In the cloak’s mind, it smiled. As bad as it felt about what it was doing to her, this mare was genuinely cute.

“Sleep tight, Miss Pie. You've earned it.”