> Angel of Gold
>  by Magna85
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I almost tasted the dirt again, after yet another root caught my foot during my walk through the forest. Geez, this is getting annoying. But I put up with it, as I wanted to get to my favorite place. Where the rain that fell around me sounded like a hymn...

There it is. A small tombstone in the middle of a clearing of trees, right where I left her. Just as I was about to sit down under a tree and relax in the cool night, my phone went off.

"Hey Ralph! I'm gonna be at your house in half an hour to pick up that helmet you made for me. Before I get out into this rain, could you tell me if it's ready?" a friendly voice asked. I recognized the voice of my friend Tim instantly, bringing a smile to my face. 

I answered, "Yeah, it's done. I'll see you when you get here."

"Alright, I'll be over in a jiffy!" he answered with enthusiasm. The call ended. I put my phone back in my pocket, then gave the tombstone a sad smile. 

Sorry love, I've got to go...I'll talk to you soon. I thought. Of course her tombstone didn't answer me, but it still gave me some comfort that she might be listening. Somehow.

As I began to walk toward my house, a shadow out of the corner of my eye flashed, but when I looked at it, there was nothing. Squinting in the night, I struggled to see through the black of the night. But nothing showed up in my vision.

I shrugged my shoulders and turned away, trudging back through the forest. As my small house came into sight, I smiled again as memories resurfaced about all the wonderful times I had in the house. I shook my head lightly to focus on getting Tim's helmet to him. It was done, but I wanted to give it a nice box. The wooden steps squeaked a little as I walked onto the front porch.

I put my umbrella away and hung up my raincoat, and then went to the small forge I had step up in the garage. The helmet was sitting there, looking every bit of perfect as I had crafted it to be. The black main piece went well with the red visor, just like Berserker's helmet from Fate/Zero. I had just grabbed a pair of gloves when the doorbell rang.

I walked over to the light brown door and opened it, revealing my friend Tim. His cropped brown hair was above an almost childish looking face. His green eyes held a bit of excitedness in them, probably from getting the final piece to his costume.

"Hey man! How's it been with you?" he asked as I stepped back and let him into the house. 

"It's been pretty good, I can't complain. And you?" I answered as I closed the door.

"Same, same. Now, where is that helmet, I'm dying to see it," he said as he walked to the forge.

I chuckled lightly and said, "Don't worry, it's fine. All polished and everything."

I heard a very unmanly squeak from Tim as I walked up behind him into the forge room. Before he could rush in and grab it, I said, "Please use a pair of gloves. Once I get it into the box and you get it back home, you can do whatever you like with it." He turned around and pouted a little, but complied. Then he picked up the helmet and looked all around it and inside it, appraising my work.

He then looked at me with a goofy smile and said, "Oh yeah. This is gonna be perfect. How much do I owe you?"

I shook my head and smiled, then said, "You don't need to pay me right now, just enjoy the 'con. I'll send you a text with the price tomorrow. I need to get some sleep." This was emphasized by me yawning and stretching my arms. 

After a short and friendly argument about wanting to know right then, eventually, Tim left with his boxed up helmet.

But, just as I was about to walk upstairs, I felt someone place a thin wire around my neck. I tried to breathe in, but my lungs had no oxygen. The pressure felt horrible, my throat was trying to reject the wire being forced on my neck. I grappled with the object keeping me from breathing, but the hold was far too strong to move. I was gasping, but no air was getting to my lungs.

My vision started to blur, before my body gave out. All I felt as blackness encroached on my vision was, Why me? What did I do to deserve this?
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ow, was the first thought that came to my mind. The next thought was the fact that I was laying on the ground on top of a mountain in the middle of a snowbank. How I hadn't been frozen in the no-doubt-long time I had been knocked out was a mystery. 

Then came the next surprise. As I tried to push myself off the ground, I could feel something else helping to pull me up, but it was a repetitive motion, like wing beats. The snow moved from these motions, and I was suddenly standing up. 

Finally, I noticed the slight change in my center of gravity as I took inventory of my body. I looked down, only to be blocked by some type of golden cloth.

I reached up to remove it, but as I touched it, my own chest felt stimulated. My eyes widened as I slowly removed my now noticeably thinner and golden colored hand from what I dearly hoped wasn't true.

One quick check down the front of my new golden robe confirmed it. I now had a woman's chest. One minor freak out session later, I calmed down enough to look around a little more which resulted in my finding the large golden wings attached to my back. The feathers were extremely sensitive as I ran my fingers across them. However, as I tried to move them, they clipped a boulder behind me, where the feathers effortlessly sliced through the large rock. My eyes widened in surprise and I gasped while I tried to fold my wings to my back. I noticed that my voice had changed to a woman's pitch, but I had guessed that my voice would have changed, since I now had...ahem.

Anyway, I eventually gained a measure of control over my wings, letting me hold them to my back where I hoped they wouldn't slice me to ribbons. Thus started my trudging journey through the snow that still wasn't affecting me, somehow.

There was a light snow falling from the sky, with the sunrise coming from just beyond the horizon. I looked down the mountain and saw a beautiful green vista, along with a castle surrounded by a city on the side of the mountain. How the builders got that to work I couldn't imagine. The colors seemed to be a bit brighter than normal for a regular city.

I decided to head down to the city, perhaps they could tell me where I was.

Somehow, my robe was not being soaked by the snow, and my uncovered feet were not being frozen to the bone. As I walked, I picked up some snow and packed it into a ball. Experimentally, I chucked the ball, and watched as it sailed off the mountain at a pretty good pace. I tried to follow the path of it into the forest below, but it was too far away. 

Shrugging, I kept walking down the mountain, as carefully as I could. Never know what might cause an avalanche.



Me and my big mouth.

I had just stepped onto what I thought was a small pebble, when it turned out to be a large boulder covered by the snow. Somehow my weight was enough to get it to move, which sent it cascading down the mountain, quickly gathering other rocks and a wave of snow behind it. Wary, I looked up the mountain. 

As I had suspected, the vibrations from the first wave of rocks had dislodged enough snow on the upper parts of the mountain to cause a second wave of snow, and it was heading right for me.

"Well crap," I said. I didn't really have time to think on it, but my voice definitely sounded much more musically intoned than a normal woman's voice.

Wasting no more time, I took off down the mountain, trying to open my wings behind me. They snapped open at my command, and I tried to flap them experimentally. While I might have seemed calm about the situation, I was internally freaking out. Wouldn't anyone else do the same if they were being chased by a wall of snow rocketing towards them?

My wings caught a lucky blast of wind, lifting me off the ground for a few dozen feet while I tried to glide down the mountain. My feet touched the hard ground while I tried to take off again. The rumbling of the avalanche was right behind me, as I shouted, "Work blast it!"

The sound blasted away the snow in front of me, as well as opening a hole in the avalanche for a short time. However, I did not notice this because I was still trying to figure out how to use my wings. I grit my teeth with effort as I forced my wings to the ground in a powerful flap. Sound stopped all around me as it felt like the world was trying to catch up to the amount of power in the motion.

Suddenly, I shot off the mountain like a golden comet, reaching Mach 1 and breaking through it. I was also screaming just a little bit. I had no control over my flight path, and I was headed right towards the large castle.

I heard the sound of glass shattering before I slammed into the stone floor, blurring my eyes. Muffled voices came from in front of me where I lazily turned my head. I saw two points of color, one pastel rainbow, the other a dark blue all over. Then my eyes shut.

Great, knocked out twice in one day. I'm pretty sure this isn't healthy... I thought right before blackness enveloped my mind.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly, I was awake. I found myself on a rather comfortable bed, uncovered by the soft velvet blankets. However, as I sat up, I heard a melodic voice say, "Ah, you are awake. How are you feeling?"

I turned to the voice, where I saw a beautiful woman standing before me. She was tall, but not grotesquely so, and she had long hair reaching her lower back. Said hair was the rainbow pastel that I had seen before. It was also moving with no wind behind it. 

She exuded kindness, and this came forth through her eyes the most, with the magenta orbs looking at me over a soft smile. Her white outfit was simple, yet complemented her perfectly, with golden accents tastefully placed all around the outfit. The most eye-drawing point was the large sun emblem right above her heart.

While I took her form in, I said, "I am fine, I think. At least, I don't feel like anything is broken..."

She nodded her head with the smile never moving from its position. Beside her, a dark blue form materialized from the shadows, where a slightly more powerful voice asked, "That is good. Now, wouldst thou explain why you crashed into our throne room?"

The one who spoke was also a woman, though she was slightly shorter than the other one. Her hair was also around the same length as the other's but was transparent and filled with points of light, like stars. It was also waving in a non-existent wind.

She was much colder in her body language, and her icy blue eyes never left mine. I figured she was the bad cop of the situation. Her outfit was about the same as the other woman's, but was a dark blue with black accents. Like the white and gold one, there was a crescent moon over her heart, along with a splotch of black underneath it.

The first woman spoke up, turning to the second woman with a calming tone, "Now now, sister, she just woke up from what I don't doubt was a very hard fall." She then brought her mouth closer to the woman's, her sister's, ear and whispered, "You also slipped into the old tongue." The smaller of the two blushed slightly, but regained her composure well enough.

However, I did answer her question by saying, "Well, I woke up on the top of the mountain above your castle, where I accidentally set off an avalanche. I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" I crawled to the edge of the bed and took on a pleading tone for my question. I brought my hands in front of my chest and gripped my right fist with my left hand. I dearly hoped that I hadn't. 

Both of them looked at me curiously, while the first sister said, "So you were the cause of that...it should do you conscience well that no one was harmed. The walls around this city were magically reinforced against such a thing." The smile was back on her face. I breathed out a sigh of relief and relaxed, closing my eyes in thanks to whatever deity was watching over me. 

"Thou-ahem, you still have yet to answer my question. How did you end up in our throne room from the top of the mountain?" the, presumably, younger sister asked. 

Crap, I think of a good story to get them off my back. But I don't want to lie...But then they might lock me up for sounding insane...AGH! Fine, I'll see if I can get a good story up to snuff, I thought, trying to look like I was remembering the journey. 

I took another glance at the women, when I suddenly noticed that they both had wings as well. The taller sibling had alabaster colored wings, while the younger one had dark blue wings. This led me to believe that my wings were not that strange, as evidenced by the kinder sister not asking about them. Though, I was wondering why they did not ask about my golden skin. I folded my legs to my right side, like I was about to recount a story.

"I...It's hard to remember..." I started. Taking a deep breath, I tried to look like I was focusing. "I think I was flying over the mountains on an adventure, when I was hit by an extremely strong downdraft. I was slammed into the side of the mountain, where I presumably fell into the snow," I said, taking a quick glance at the two sister's faces. 

They both did not look too amused. The nervous smile on my face dropped, and I bowed my head a little in guilt. I could feel my wings droop a little as well.

I heard one of the two breath in, like she was about to speak, but she was cut off. Footsteps came towards me and I felt a soft hand on my left shoulder. I tensed up, but I didn't need to. The taller one was suddenly in my vision as she knelt down to my level. 

"If you do not truly remember, then you need only say so, child," she said in an extremely soothing voice. She still had that small smile on her face, inviting me to trust her.

I looked away slightly and said, "It's not that I don't remember. It's just, the truth is hard to believe. I wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't here."

"Let's just take this one step at a time. Why were you in such an uncontrolled fall that you crashed into our castle?" she asked calmly.

"I...I had just figured out how to use these," I said, fluttering my wings a little, while trying not to shred the blanket underneath me. "I was trying to fly away from the avalanche coming after me, so I flapped down as hard as I could. But...something happened, and I suddenly shot off the mountain. As my wings went all the way down, I could almost feel as if something was shooting me out of a cannon."

"You mean, you did not have wings before?" the young sister asked, who had come to sit next to me on my left. She looked a little puzzled. Not that I would blame her. I was relatively sure I was not on my Earth anymore, as evidenced by the fact I was now a golden angel thing, two women with wings were asking me questions, and I'm pretty sure they had mentioned magic earlier.

"No ma'am," I said, shaking my head.

"...Tia, I don't think she is lying now," she said to the taller sister. She had stood up by now and had a hand to her chin in contemplation. I waited for a couple seconds, while 'Tia' was thinking. 

"What were you before you gained your wings?" she suddenly asked me.

"Uh, I was sort of a blacksmith with a focus on decorative armor and weapons, nothing meant for war really," I answered truthfully. Even if I did leave the part out about being a guy and also being not-gold.

She nodded her head once, still in the same pose. Then she asked another question, "Is this change permanent?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but closed it again as I thought. I then said, "I honestly don't know."

She 'Hmmm'-ed. 

I looked at the other sister in confusion. She glanced at me before she stood up and said to her sister, "I will oversee the repairing of the window before the Day Court begins." Tia nodded absentmindedly. 

Then the younger sister left the room. While Tia was thinking, I looked around the room. It was very extravagant, with white walls and pillars with other colors designed into the wall, making interesting symbols if I looked at it in a certain way. There was a small balcony through which the sun could be shown rising. The vista outside reminded me of the sight from the mountain, with green fields and blue lakes dotting the landscape. 

I heard a light chuckle from Tia, and I turned back to see her smiling wistfully at the same balcony I was looking out of from the bed. I believe we both knew what she wanted to say, but we also both knew that it was unnecessary. Breaking the comfortable silence, Tia said, "Alright, since nothing was really damaged and no one was hurt, and since you are quite obviously new here, I have an idea for you. But I would like to use a small spell to analyze your memories in order to determine the kind of person you are. I will not personally see these memories, but this small orb," she help up a crystal clear ball that had materialized from somewhere, "will indicate who you are based on your memories."

I didn't see any harm in it, so I nodded. She held out the crystal and indicated for me to take it. The instant I touched it, the crystal started swirling with colors, probably getting aligned to my body. Once the colors died down, a small golden ball appeared in the center of the crystal, and just kept swelling in size and brilliance. White stripes flowed around in the gold, like clouds across a golden planet.

I looked up at Tia, who was smiling almost giddily. With a wave of her hand, the orb disintegrated and flowed to her hand. It reformed in her hand while I looked on in awe. I had never seen something so simple and yet so beautiful. She set the orb down on a desk and said, "Thank you. Now then, I shall introduce myself. I am Princess Celestia, and my sister who left a few minutes ago is Princess Luna." 

I hastily got to my feet and bowed, but Princess Celestia laughed and said, "Don't worry about that, child." I straightened my back and held my hands in front of me. 

"I am...Celedon," I said, hesitating at the name. It almost seemed to come to my mouth without my knowledge. But the name just seemed to fit.

Princess Celestia smiled and nodded, "Well then, Celedon, I formally welcome you to Equestria."
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I was led through the castle by Princess Celestia, I played with my golden hair that I had only just noticed. The smooth fibers slid through my hands effortlessly, not a single knot or tangle. I almost ran into Princess Celestia, who was just a tiny bit shorter than I was. Her wings were also  noticeably smaller than mine, but I didn't want to look like a braggart by mentioning this. 

She led me to a large hall with a rather long table. The table was covered with a plain white table cloth, and Princess Luna was already sitting at the table eating a modest breakfast. A plate of food was also at the head of the table, presumably where Princess Celestia sat. Surprisingly, there was also a plate to the left of Princess Celestia, across from Princess Luna. It was filled with rather simple fruits, vegetables, meats, and desserts, but there also seemed to be a small cube of gold next to the main plate.

I observed this curious sight as Princess Celestia took her seat. She then gestured for me to take the seat on her left. Once I took my seat, I picked up a piece of fruit, brought it to my mouth and bit down just as the smell hit my nostrils. Suppressing a gag, I bore the absolutely horrid taste and swallowed. Suddenly, my lower body felt warm, but only for a second. I glanced at the two sisters, trying to see if they saw my face of disgust. Thankfully, they were discussing politics. 

I discreetly took a whiff of the rest of the food, and it all seemed like it was spoiled. However, I picked up the cube of gold and experimentally sniffed it, hoping I didn't look too weird.

Heaven. That is what I smelled. Without thinking, I bit into the solid metal. But as the thought that I had just bit through metal as if it were food hit my brain, my tongue signaled to my brain that there was a piece of pure ecstasy in my mouth. It took everything I had not to moan and shudder in pleasure. However, that meant I could not hold back from stuffing the rest of the one inch cube into my mouth like a piece of chocolate.

My abdomen felt warm again, but this time stayed at a constant heat for a much longer period. Apparently, in my distraction from the pure pleasure block, the two sisters had noticed my scarfing of the block of metal. I opened my eyes after feeling the heat dissipate from my stomach, only to look into the eyes of the two sisters. Princess Luna was staring at me, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in disbelief and surprise. Princess Celestia was only slightly more subdued than her sister. 

I sheepishly smiled and asked, "Uh, not to be rude your highnesses, but why are you staring at me?"

Princess Celestia shook her head lightly and said, "Well, it's not every day that we get to see someone eat solid metal. Even if it is soft gold."

I felt like I would be blushing from embarrassment, but no heat flooded my face. I bowed my head slightly and said, "I'm sorry if I disturbed your breakfast."

Princess Luna finally regained her composure and said, "No, it is not that. The only creatures were have observed to eat metal in its raw form would be some types of half-dragons and other burrowing lizards who feed on the abundant gems in the ground."

"Oh," I said, wondering at this new information. I've always wanted to see a dragon... I thought to myself.

"I shall assume that you cannot eat the rest of your meal as it is?" Princess Celestia asked. With a bit of regret, I nodded.

A few minutes later, a plate made of gold piled with the same small cubes was brought before me, along with modified flatware, in order to cut through without using my hands (or feathers, now that I think of it). The cubes still tasted the same as before, but I had to get used to the absolutely delicious flavor so I could talk without being overwhelmed. Eventually, I was able to keep my eyes open while eating. I still could not speak while whatever was going on in my stomach digested the metal.

"So, Celedon, where are you from? I have not seen skin like that before," Princess Celestia asked, folding her hands underneath her chin and leaning forward inquisitively, having finished her breakfast.

I swallowed the delicious gold and covered my mouth with a hand to signal that she had caught me in the middle of eating. After a few seconds, I said, "Well, I'm pretty sure that my home is really far away. I don't think your maps would have it, because it's so unknown."

"Truly? That is a pity. Do you not have family and friends back home?" she asked as she frowned slightly.

My eyes widened as I thought about the people that I had left behind after being strangled by whatever that thing was. The many friends I had would definitely miss me. However, before I tried to figure out if my new body would produce tears, I forced myself to smile and said, "I'm sure they could live without me. I will miss them, no doubt, but I think I'll be fine."

But just thinking that they would forget me chilled my heart. I'm sure the sisters wanted to ask more questions, but they must have sensed that I did not want to talk about it. After that, I finished eating, though the gold had lost some of its taste. As I finished off the plate, I excused myself and asked the sisters for the more interesting places in the castle.

Apparently, they had a garden close by. A few other locations were named, such as the library, but I wanted to go to the garden. Once I got there, thanks to the perfect directions given to me from Princess Celestia, I started walking around to find a quiet spot away from the entrance to the garden.

After wandering around for a bit in the maze, I found a clearing with only one statue. Many of the other statues looked like they belonged, somehow. But this one...this one had a whole new type of anger and evil to it. As I looked at it, it started to appear much more familiar to me. The helmet especially.

Berserker?
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked at the fearsome visage of Berserker, visibly shaken at the similarity from Berserker from Fate/Zero. Surprisingly, that is actually the name they put on the plaque.

Berserker: Spirit of Mad Rage and Hatred.

This statue shows just how far a human can be driven to madness. Berserker, that is the only name he would reveal when he was sane, had appeared suddenly over one thousand years ago. He then proceeded to wage a one-man war on the Princesses and Equestria. His ferocity and martial ability were almost unmatched, but the Elements of Harmony destroyed him, and the Princesses left this statue here as a warning to those who delve too far into their war-like thoughts.

What? This guy actually existed in Equestria’s history? I thought. Besides the surprise I felt at the similarity from Fate/Zero’s Berserker, I also felt an incredible pity for this soul. What would he have to endure to drive him to madness that would cause him to do such a thing?

Even if I was a male in a female body, I was overcome with sadness. Perhaps the facts were finally coming back to me. I was stuck in a new world, in a body that was wholly unfamiliar. I had no way of knowing if I could return home, if I could see my friends again. This world might have seemed beautiful at first sight, and it still seems to be, but nothing is perfect.

Why am I here?

At the height of this anguish, two words came to my mouth.

Cithara ostendas…

The words hung in the air for a long period of time. A golden light burst into existence right in front of me. The light morphed and changed until a beautiful golden harp lay ready for me to play.

The only problem was that I didn’t know how to play the harp. However, apparently this body did, or the harp was magical, because I approached the harp with a confidence that led would have led me to believe that I had been playing for years, had I been looking on from the outside.

I lifted my fingers to the strings, and began to play.

The notes of the harp echoed in the still air of the garden. My fingers danced over the strings, producing something that was strangely sad and yet beautiful. I played for a few seconds by myself, but then I could hear something like drum beats and other instruments joining me. Perhaps it was all in my mind.

A wooden wind instrument took over the lead while the harp seemed strangely muted. It was joined with a violin, singing a sweet song into the air. The two instruments effortlessly put my feelings into song.

Then my mouth opened of its own accord and I began to sing a haunting melody, no words, just letting my sadness into the air. Somehow I could hear a multitude of women in just my own voice. I stopped while a few drum beats softly rang out, and the birds sang.

A small organ began playing, short notes combining into an almost mournful tune to my ears. Several bars of what would have sounded like the same notes to some produced an incredible noise to me. I rejoined with my harp as the other instruments played. My own voice replaced most of the instruments and morphed into the sound of a choir, providing all the voices for a beautiful and sad song. The other instruments rejoined me for a few seconds, seemingly like a crescendo. I barely seemed to notice when only a drum beat was left with the birds.

Then a harpsichord was being played, just by itself. It was a simple tone, but held such meaning to me. It started to crescendo, echoing within the garden. I joined in with my voices, the voices of angels. The flute rejoined us for a few seconds before the song faded out from my mind, ending the sad song.

A feeling of profound peace came with the end of the song, a feeling of catharsis. I sighed with relief as the harp dissipated into golden dust. A small smile came over my face.

Then I looked at the statue, only to find something unexpected.

The statue had moved.

I jumped back and beat my wings once, which caused me to jump back a little farther than I would have, normally. It wasn’t so much the fact that the statue had moved than it was the pose that it had taken. It almost looked like it was reaching out to me.

The left gauntlet was reaching to where my head had been, and the stone itself looked cracked in places, near the joints. However, light was coming from the cracks, slowly repairing the statue.

It looked like I hadn’t done anything to the statue with my music, thankfully.  Just as I sighed in relief, I heard more cracking, along with a metallic creaking. Black smoke began to float from the cracks, and the statue began to move ever so slowly.

The fist closed and opened again, breaking the stone even more. Fragments began falling off, almost like they were covering something. Then the hand appeared, covered in black smoke, just like in the anime. Light had stopped beaming from the cracks in the statue. Was it even a statue?

The metallic creaking started back up, along with some sort of growling. I wanted to back away, but something kept me rooted to the spot. All of a sudden, I heard wing beats behind me and felt a hand clamp on my shoulder, forcing me to turn around.

Furious turquoise eyes glared at me as Princess Luna shouted, with more far force than necessary, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!”

“No!” I yelled back, before turning back to the crumbling statue. My natural instinct was to protect Princess Luna, and I saw Princess Celestia also coming down for a landing. The stone had fallen off the left arm, and it was now thrashing, cracking the stone even more. I need to fix this, even if I don’t know what I did.

I heard Princess Celestia say to Princess Luna, “Luna, summon the Elements, we need to reseal Berserker.” I heard more wing beats as I gathered that Luna had taken off. I heard a large amount of bootsteps coming my way, along with several dozen landing sounds, but all I had eyes for was Berserker.

What do I do? I thought hopelessly to myself, even as Berserker freed most of his upper torso. I wanted to help him, but at the same time I didn’t want to get in the way of a potential battle. Though if it came down to it I would try my best to protect the princesses. Berserker was roaring now, while men and women in golden armor were forming ranks around him, pointing swords and spears at him, while a few had raised their hands, that were glowing, and conjured some form of ball above their hands.

I could try to sing again… I think. However, it might have been my singing that caused this to happen, and I don’t want to upset anyone too much. However, before I could think on it anymore, Berserker roared as he broke free from the rest of his stone prison. He charged straight through the guards before grabbing a spear and a sword. He then proceeded to attack the other guards, who desperately tried to hold him back.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

No choice! I thought, and open my mouth to sing. 

My voice sounded airy for a moment, but began to gain volume and power as the sounds of fighting slow to almost nothing. I looked up and saw that everyone, including Berserker and Princess Celestia were staring at me as I continued to sing a slow, relaxing song. I closed my mouth once I heard strings in the air, like violins. Berserker began to move towards me, slowly, dropping the weapons that he had scavenged. For Someone’s Glory was still active, keeping his helmet behind the smoke. I opened my mouth again to sing as Berserker got down on both knees at my feet, staring up at me like a little child. I closed my eyes as I keep singing, hoping that my guess was right, that music does soothe the savage beast.

Even after my song ended, I just stood there while Berserker looked at me, calmly, like he was waiting for something. Slowly, the guards and the Princess regained their composure, but had to double-take as they saw Berserker kneeling at my feet. A few seconds later, and the guards rushed in between Berserker and I. This set him off and he began to growl again as he jumped up to grab two spears out of their owner's hands. He had not yet revealed Knight of Honor, so the weapons were still at their regular strength.

Just as he was about to piece the neck of one of the guards with his spears, I shouted, “Stop!”

There was some sort of weird reverb to my voice, but everything stopped. Everyone once again stared at me.

To my astonishment, Berserker lowered his spears from a guard’s neck, allowing the guard to breathe a sigh of relief. Then Berserker walked forward, shoving the guards aside. He had dropped the weapons somewhere, perhaps because he was relaxed. Thankfully, the guards seemed to have learned that getting in the way of Berserker would rapidly lead to injuries. He then knelt down again and looked into my eyes. I heard murmurs from the guards, probably about how I was controlling him or something. I was staring at him as well, but looked up when I heard Celestia walking towards me. The guards bowed a little as she passed, but kept up their guard. Eventually, she stood behind four guards that barred her from getting closer to Berserker.

“Celedon, is there something you want to tell me?” she asked, looking straight into my eyes. I stared back at her and shook my head.

I replied, “I don’t have any idea what I would talk about. I don’t even know what I did to wake him up.”

Suddenly, there were wingbeats above us as I saw a carriage come in for a landing. At the front there seemed to be a horse made of cloud, while a man with wings was guiding the horse down with flaps from said appendages.

Wait, what?

As I looked on in surprise, six young women walked out of the carriage, along with Princess Luna. The six were wearing some type of fancy jewelry, each with a different symbol as the main piece of the necklace. However, a girl with lightly tan skin and a purple-focused outfit had a crown on her head, instead of a necklace.

The one with rainbow hair instantly charged towards me, her sky blue wings beating the air furiously, flying faster than anything I had ever seen. Surprised as I was, she was able to land a solid punch to my right cheek. However, as I had gathered from eating gold, my feathers' ability to slice rock to ribbons, and being of a golden coloration, along with a few other glaring things, this body was made of metal.

Several pops and cracks could be heard from the girl’s hand as she reared back into the sky. Granted, she did force my head to turn, but I wasn’t worried about myself at the moment. Berserker was still kneeling, but I could feel something about to happen.

So I took measures to prevent the possible bloodshed. Utilizing this body’s apparent influence over Berserker, I knelt down and reached out to his shoulders. The smoke covered my hands, but I eventually found his pauldrons.

“Listen,” I said, again hearing a reverb in my voice. He immediately refocused his attention on me. I then said, “I’m not hurt. She didn’t hurt me. Don’t hurt her, okay?” I didn’t feel any pain, leading me to conclude that I hadn’t been hurt.

He lifted his left hand and gently turned my face so he could see where she had hit me. It surprised me that he was being so gentle.

A few tense seconds later and I felt his shoulders relax. I nodded and smiled at him while he resumed his stare. The girl who had hit me was arguing with the other girls that had come, while I saw Princess Celestia shake her head. Apparently, Princess Luna had returned to Princess Celestia’s side while Berserker was examining me. Princess Celestia called out to them, saying, “Girls, if you would please come here.”

They immediately stopped arguing and walked towards us, blushing a little, probably from having to be told to focus like they were children. They looked like adults to me. The six girls finally stopped in front of Princess Celestia and bowed quickly. The one with the crown then asked, “Princess Celestia, what’s going on? Who is that woman and why do you need the Elements of Harmony?”

The Princess had a serious look on her face as she said, “I need you and your friends to use the Elements to reseal this man,” she pointed at Berserker, causing the new arrivals to gasp. She continues, saying, “As for her, you can ask her yourself once this matter is solved.”

Reseal? I thought, then realized what she meant. But why? If he stays like this it doesn’t look like he would hurt anyone. Granted, he did wage a one-man war with an entire country.

Help him...Use your voice...You will need him…

My eyes widened as I looked around discretely. The six girls were now lining up and the emblems were starting to glow. I had to do something, fast.

“Wait!” I yell, again causing everyone to look at me. The six arrivals did the same thing, doing just what I asked, waiting.

“Why do you need to reseal him? He looks like he wouldn’t hurt anyone,” I said. I honestly just wanted to see if I could get his sanity to return, since it looks like he is mesmerized by my voice. Perhaps I can do something to help him…

“Celedon, do you know who this man is?” Princess Celestia asked me, boring into me with a piercing stare.

“No...not really,” I say, saying only what I want her to hear. I didn’t know who he was now, but I knew who he was in the past, so I was technically telling the truth. Sort of.

“He almost destroyed my country, he razed many cities to the ground by himself, and almost killed my sister and I, along with injuring thousands of my subjects,” she said. Princess Luna nodded from her place beside her sister.

I looked down at Berserker, only for pity and grief to once again fill my heart. I wanted to help. It is in my nature, my very being.

“Let me try something,” I said, and knelt down to where Berserker was. He followed my face with his gaze, and just kept staring at me. 

Then, I slowly reached up to where I thought his helmet clasps should be, while saying, “Berserker, would you allow me to take your helmet off?”

I received no response. He just kept staring at me. 

At least he wasn’t staring at my new chest, though I don’t exactly know how to feel about that.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finally found the catch for his helmet and popped it open. The black smoke dissipated, revealing the full armor of Berserker. Several gasps came from the girls behind Princess Celestia and Princess Luna at this.

I turned my attention back to Berserker, who had grabbed a hold of my wrists. Clanking of armor behind him almost caused him to look away from me, but I gently said, “Berserker, look at me.” His head turned back to look at me, just staring at me, like before. He did not release my arms though. Then, he looked to where his hands are, and looked back at me, before slowly shaking his head. He pulled my arms down gently and stood up as I did. He then replaced the catch on his helmet before growling and pointing to a section farther into the maze. He started to walk off without me, but guards blocked his way. Immediately, he punched a guard out and grabbed the sword that fell out of the guard's grasp and charged at the other guards blocking his way.

“Stop!” I yelled, again reaching his ears just in time. He started to turn towards me but shook his head and jumped over the guards, throwing the stolen sword right in the middle of them. He landed behind them, causing cracks to spider out from his feet. He looked at me before bounding away again.

“Princess Celestia, I’m going after him,” I said, and began to walk after him.

“Celedon, no. I understand that you may be a guest here in Equestria, but he is a dangerous criminal. I cannot let you go after him,” she said with a face that brooked no argument. From behind her I saw the girl with the rainbow hair being glared at by almost every one of the other girls of the group.

“Please, let me go after him. It is in my nature to help people. I must help him,” said, with the weird reverb emphasizing a few of the words that I said. Some of the guards looked surprised and shook their heads, and I saw that Celestia was seriously contemplating my plea.

Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework…

She sighed and said, “Fine, but four guards will follow after you and stay hidden.”

I’m pretty sure Berserker would notice them, but if what I plan on doing goes well, then he won’t attack them on sight. Hopefully.

I nodded and began to walk down the path that Berserker had gone down. Four guards joined me at my sides and behind me, escorting me through the maze. The atmosphere was awkward, to say the least.

We walked in silence before I decided that I hated silence. I sighed and said, "You could at least talk to your friends like normal people." They didn't even acknowledge that I said anything.  "Well, if you won't I will," I said, and turned to the guard on my right, a woman.

"Hello, my name is Celedon," I said with a smile. I stuck out my right hand for her to shake. 

I saw her surprise through the golden helmet, but she regained her composure quickly enough and stated, "Star Saber." She didn't shake my hand though. I saw a lock of silver hair underneath her helmet, and her pink eyes stared straight ahead.

I lowered my hand and said, "Nice to meet you Star." 

I turned to my left and the guard automatically said, "My name is Snow Lance." His light grey wings fluttered a little as he said his name. Probably a nervous habit.

"Nice to meet you Snow," I said as I went for a handshake. Like the guardswoman before him, he did not take my hand.

Behind me, I heard a man's voice saying, "I'm Rock Breaker." 

I turned around and began to walk backwards, thankfully not hitting anyone with my wings, and said, "Nice to meet you Rock." Perhaps it was because I was practically in front of him, but this time he did shake my hand in greeting. It might have also been the fact that I didn't see any weapons on him beside the heavily armored gauntlets that he was wearing. He had soft brown eyes, but he was still focused on his objective, namely, escorting me. I didn't see any wings on him, nor on Star now that I think about it.

"Jade Hunter," the last member of our little group curtly said. Her bright emerald eyes looked almost angry to me, and I could see that a few of her pale green feathers were ruffled on her wings. Before I even had a chance to say anything, she said, "What purpose does this have? I don't need to talk to you, and I don't really want to."

Surprised, I said, "Well, I'm only trying to be friendly."

"We are guards. We don't need you to be friendly with us," she said.

The three others glanced at her before they stared ahead. My shoulders slumped a little as I turned to face forward. On my right, Star sighed and whispered, "Don't worry about her. She's just a little testy right now. I can't really say more than that."

I nodded discretely, and stayed quiet through the rest of the time walking down the broken path that Berserker left.  The four guards stayed in formation as I turned left at a corner where another impact had been made. I suddenly saw Berserker standing in the middle of a small clearing, with some benches here and there. I held out my hand to the four, and they stayed behind the corner to observe me. As I walked towards him, Berserker turned to stare at me. Hopefully the four guards and potential friends stayed out of Berserker's line of sight.

I walked right up to Berserker, who stood stock still. I reached behind his helmet to unlatch it. He grabbed my arms again, but I said, “Trust me.”

He held me for a few more seconds before he slowly released my arms. I undid the clasp at the back of his helmet and took care to slowly remove it. However I nearly dropped it when I saw who had been wearing it.

“Tim?!”
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stepped back, shocked at the sight before me. My best friend, Tim, was standing before me in full Berserker armor. Except, he existed in Equestria's history as a one-man-army? But the Tim I knew would only ever act in violence to protect someone... 

What's going on?!

During these few seconds of complete surprise, Tim stood there. His eyelids drooped, like he was tired, even though his body language screamed knight. I blinked multiple times and rubbed at my eyes with my left arm. I was still clutching to his helmet, like a lifeline. It was the only physical thing I had in my hands saying that this was real.

Tim just stared at me, when his eyes suddenly widened. Then, he charged at me, yelling incoherently.

He must still be under Mad Enhancement, I thought. His sanity was all but gone. 

Due to the pause of this thought, plus the fact that I was still paralyzed by the fact that he was here, as Berserker, he was able to savagely smash a fist into the left side of my face. 

Suffice to say, I was thrown across the clearing from the force of the blow. 

With a grunt, I hit the base of another statue. I could feel my wings effortlessly slicing through the stone. Thankfully, the statue did not collapse. 

I still did not feel any pain from the blow, but my face felt a little weird. It was like something wasn't moving correctly. Before I could feel the spot where he had hit me, I felt something flowing through my body, originating from my stomach, and my face returned to normal. I saw the guards about to rush in and waved frantically to stop. I knew that right now, four guards would stand no chance against him.

Again, Tim used this pause to charge at me, leaping forward to try and crush my head into the stone pedestal with his foot. I moved my head out of the way, just in time. He landed and embedded his foot in the stone up to his calf.

"Tim! Stop this right now!" I shouted. He glared at me, baring his teeth, but his struggles to pull his foot out of the stone ceased.

"Come to your senses," I pleaded, looking up at him. Immediately, his eyes glazed over, and he relaxed. I sat there, tense, and waited. The group of guards I walked with were watching, ready to spring out at the sign of him going, well, berserk, again. 

Instead, light returned to his eyes and he brought a hand to his head, growling. Then, he looked to me and asked, "What? Who are you? What are you?!"

"Calm down! Tim, just calm down," I said as I stood up. I still held his helmet in my right hand, amazingly, and watched as he frantically looked around himself, before noticing that his foot was stuck in stone. He put all his effort into pulling it out, that he started to fall backwards until he executed a perfect backflip, landing on his feet. 

He looked surprised at the maneuver, and stared at his hands in astonishment. Then, my saying his name while unfamiliar to him registered, and he shouted, "Wait, how do you know my name?!" 

"Tim, I need you to trust me. I'll tell you all about this later, but I need you to confirm whether or not you waged a war against Equestria by yourself," I said, stepping towards him.

"What?! War?! I would never-could never, do that! And by my self?! That's just impossible!" he shouted at me, still panicked by his apparent awakening. 

"Calm down," I said. I was getting the hang of using my voice to emphasize certain words, though I still didn't know how I was doing it.

Just as before, he relaxed. Granted, after a few seconds he started to take in deep breaths, to calm himself even more. 

He breathed deeply one final time, and then said, "Alright...I'm calm. But you own me explanations, angel," while pointing at me. I nodded and offered him his helmet, which he took but did not place on his head. Apparently he had modified the armor and added a belt clip so he did not need to wear his helmet all the time. 

The four guards then came out from the bushes, weapons at the ready. Immediately, Tim's posture changed, and I could see the beginnings of madness return to his eyes.

"Stop," I declared. The guards, and Tim, all stopped what they were doing. I turned towards the guards and made a gesture to lower their weapons. After a few seconds of hesitation, they did so. I know I probably shouldn't be ordering these guys around, but I really have no choice, as otherwise Tim would probably slaughter them.

"Alright, let's all just go back and explain to Princess Celestia what the situation with Berserker is," I said in a placating tone. I didn't want to use his real name, and I only hoped that I didn't say his name loud enough for the guards to hear during our argument.

"I'm surprised he even has a face, though it's probably just a mask," Jade Hunter said with an aggressive grimace. I quickly glanced at Tim, who tensed up, but relaxed just as quickly. He probably had enough logic in his head by now to know that he is currently under watch, and he cannot afford to look even worse to those judging him.

"Jade, try not to purposefully antagonize him, please?" Star Saber said, exasperated. Jade scoffed, but stayed quiet.

I could feel the tension in the air, so I decided to break it by saying, "Let's get going, shall we?"

"You had better be right about this, Angel," Tim said, glaring at me. I had never seen him like that before, and it caused me to flinch. 

"It's Celedon, Berserker," I said. I was saddened that he still did not trust me. Then again, from his perspective, I was a living gold statue with wings, so it was not too hard to imagine his wariness.

We walked in silence for all of the walk back to the main garden. Tim was walking slightly in front of me and to my right, while the guards that accompanied me walked behind us, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

All of the guards where Celestia, Luna, and the group of girls were, tensed up upon seeing us calmly walking down the path. The sisters and the other girls did the same after coming out of some conversation they were having with each other.

Suddenly, pink.

"Hi!"
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My eyes, nose, and ears were suddenly assaulted as a fluffy pink wall appeared in my vision. My ears must be more sensitive than normal, because her voice grated on me so much that I almost had to cover them. And as for the smell, contrary to what I though she might have smelled like, she smelled like bubble-gum. Or at least, her hair did.

Then I heard what must have been black speech.

"Ohmygoshyou'renewtoEquestria!*gasp*Thatmeansthatyou'renewtoPonyvillewhichalsomeansthatIneedtoplanaWelcometoPonyvillepartyormaybeitshouldbeWelcometoEquestriaohwellIjustwannasayhiandaskifyoulikemeetingnewpeopleohIwanttointroducemyfriendstoyoubutPrincessCelestianeedstotalktoyouandMrScaryPantsrightthereandtheauthorisgettingirritatedsomynameisPinkiePiewhat'syours?"

...

What...did I just hear?

The girl in front of me was grinning broadly. Much more broadly than I thought possible. 

I looked towards Tim. He was staring at the pink menace, a confused expression on his face. Thankfully he did not flip out from the surprise.

"Well? What's your name?" the girl spoke up again, thankfully not speaking in a foreign language.

I hesitated briefly, shook my head and smiled while saying, "My name is Celedon. It's nice to meet you, um, Pinkie Pie."

"Ooh, that's an interesting name! It's like Satori, but Greek!" she said.

While I was focused on this insanity, the girl who had punched me before had flown forward to cover the mouth of Pinkie Pie. The girl was still talking, even through the hand of the rainbow haired girl. Slowly, the winged girl was able to drag Pinkie Pie back to their little group.

Celestia and Luna blinked a few times before Celestia shook her head and said, "Anyway, Celedon, would you like to explain what I am seeing here?"

I nodded and said, "Berserker, would you like to explain your position?"

Tim jerked backwards, and said, "Wait what? What position?"

"The fact that you were not in your right mind during the war?" I said, trying to remind him of what we had discussed.

"Oh. Right," he said, sheepishly.

Face, meet palm.

"What? You do know that I just, like, woke up a few minutes ago, right? Don't I get a little lee-way in how much stuff I can remember in a short time?" he said, exasperated.

I looked at him between my fingers, then sighed and said, "As you can see, the defendant was not in his right mind during the events one thousand years ago. I move to drop all charges, on the condition that he be allowed to prove his sanity as of current events. A second chance, if you will." Now I started to worry about one of them noticing my blatant manipulation.

Also, I apparently turned into a lawyer.

Celestia and Luna shared a glance, before Luna, surprisingly, came forward and said, "That is acceptable. We will give Berserker a second chance. But, as you said, he will be under a week long proving time. Any indication that he has returned to his previous mindset will result in summary sealing via Elements of Harmony."

Color me shocked, that actually worked.

"Huh?!" Tim said, surprised.

"Th-thank you, your highness," I said, bowing. Thankfully, Tim recovered from his surprise enough to bow as I did.

Literally everyone, besides the Princesses, had their mouths open in shock.

"Don't thank us just yet. You still need to explain how you are able to control him," Celestia said, crossing her arms.

"Your highness, I can explain that," Tim said, confident. 

My eyes widened at Tim's sudden surge of bravery. Here he was, under probation, and he was going to explain to royalty something that I didn't really know myself?

"One, she is very shiny, so any simple minded being would automatically be attracted to her. Two, can't you just feel the kind aura emanating from her? I believe that, if she wanted to, she could control an entire army of dragons," he said. The princesses looked at each other, probably evaluating how useful a political tool I could be in that regard. Tim glanced back at me and winked.

I probably would have blushed, if I could have, but not for the reason that everyone would have thought. I really need to get that cleared up with him as soon as possible.

"Were you really that dull-minded without your sanity?" Luna asked.

"Well, I can't really remember whatever battles you say I was in, but I do remember this overwhelmingly beautiful music breaking through my madness. It's still a little fuzzy, but all I wanted to do was listen to more of that music," Tim stated.

I didn't think I did that well...

"Really now?" Celestia said, intrigued. "Would I be correct to assume that Celedon was the one making this apparently wonderful music?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," Tim said.

"Well then! Celedon, would you mind demonstrating?" Celestia said, smiling. I was a little paranoid that she might be testing me, but I didn't see any problem otherwise.

Thus, I said, "No, I don't mind," and walked forward a few steps. I had a feeling Tim was doing this as a way to get back at me for not explaining myself to him, but whatever. I tried to remember the words that allowed me to summon that golden harp...

I breathed in and said, 

Cithara ostendas.

Again, the words hung in the air for an unnatural amount of time, before the same golden light appeared in front of me. "Oohs" and "Aahs" came from the surrounding group, and I could distinctly hear someone squeal with excitement. A quick glance confirmed that it was the girl in the purple clothing.

I really need to go introduce myself to them, but I'll do that after this song.

My arms once again felt like they were moving by themselves. I lifted my hands to the strings, and began to play.

Light, quick notes rang out, echoing throughout the garden. My fingers plucked the strings expertly, allowing pure music to form in the air.

As the song went on, I began going into the lower notes, and I could hear a few guitar chords interspersed with the harp. After a dozen seconds like this, I began to pluck a few of the higher strings with more force. A piano joined me for a few notes, before the harp returned to its solo. Guitar chords once again joined me, but my harp still rang out above them.

All too soon, the song ended with the fading of my harp into silence.

I had closed my eyes during the performance, and when I opened them, everyone was staring at me in awe. The Princesses obviously were more refined in their staring, but most of the guards and all of the group of girls were expressing some form of surprise or shock.

A couple of the guards looked like they were about to clap, before their training kicked back in and they returned to their stoic expression. However, Princess Celestia herself began applauding, leading to everyone doing the same. During my performance, Tim must have moved closer to me, as he was sitting on the ground just a few feet away, staring up at me like before. Yet now I could see the pure awe on his face.

A few seconds into the applause, I bowed deeply and the harp flashed out of existence. As I straightened back up, Celestia looked like she was trying to form words, but was still processing the music.

After the applause died down, she was finally able to say, "Well, Celedon, I must say that I have never heard music of that caliber outside of professional music halls and concerts. I now do not blame Berserker for being woken up by your music."

I smiled bashfully and accepted the praise with a, "Thank you," before turning back to Tim. He blinked and shook his head, coming out of the awe-inspired stupor.

He looked like he was about to say something, before a blinding pain seared my head and reversed notes screamed through the air. It was unnatural, and it hurt. 

But then I saw it.

A gigantic golden sphere, covered in feathers, floating above a snowy plain. 

Chimes in the air.

Tim, screaming at the sphere with tears in his eyes, before throwing Arondight straight through it.

Silence. Blackness.

...

I was vaguely aware of someone calling for help. 

Huh, when did I fall down?
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up to the feeling of weightlessness.

When I opened my eyes, I was floating in a black void, with a few points of light, like stars, shining at me.

Where am I? I thought.

YOU ARE IN MY REALM, CHILD.

"What the-" I started to say, but I was cut off by the voice again.

I WILL EXPLAIN IN DUE TIME. HOWEVER, THAT TIME IS NOT NOW. I DID NOT EXPECT YOU TO UNLOCK THAT POWER THIS EARLY, AND SO I MUST WARN YOU...DO NOT LOOK INTO THE FUTURE TOO OFTEN.

There was a pause. Thoughts and questions were running through my head. What's happening? Who is this guy? Where am I? What's he talking about?

I SEE THAT YOU STILL WORRY.

Suddenly, I was standing in a grassy field, with the sunrise right in front of me. There was a single apple tree to my right, and a mountain far away on my left. A man was leaning against the tree, staring right at me.

His outfit was surprising, to say the least. And just a little scary.

He was wearing black combat boots, black and white camouflage pants, a plain black t-shirt with a white symbol of a pair of scales on it and a black and white trench coat that looked like the void I was previously in that reached to his calves. On his head was a black cowboy hat with a skull on the front. He had calm greyish blue eyes, and did not seem too overly hostile.

"Um..." I mumbled, not sure of how to start this conversation.

"Mornin'," he said, still leaning on the tree.

"Good morning..." I replied, still unsure of what was going on.

He stood there for a few seconds before asking, "Well? You gonna ask me a question or not?"

I jumped, but a second later said, "Oh, right, um...Who are you?"

"I don't have a name. You can thank me for your food later," he said.

I didn't even mention food...What was he talking about?

"The gold block," he stated, like he was reading my mind.

"It's because I am."

"Wha-!" I was shocked, to say the least. But he interrupted me again before I could continue.

"I would explain it to you, but you simply don't have the time. You're about to wake up. Also, don't breathe too hard when you're right in someone's face unless they're your enemy."

"Wait! I still have questions!" I yelled, but he faded from my sight, just as the landscape did.

Blackness.



Suddenly I felt like I was laying on my back, and the smell of antiseptic and the sounds of a constant tone made themselves known to my senses. I wanted to open my eyes, but the bright lights forced me to keep my eyes closed.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I sat up. Or tried to.

I felt something pulling at my wings, keeping me from rising completely. I could feel something warm dripping from my feathers. I tried to angle myself to see what it was, but someone walked into the room.

"Who's there?" I asked, still unable to see correctly.

"Oh! Um, sorry, I, uh, have to go tell the Princesses that you're awake," the voice said. From what I could tell, the voice belonged to a girl, and she seemed extremely nervous for some reason.

"Wait!" I said.

"Yes?"

"Is there any way you could turn down the lights?"

"Oh! Right," the voice said, footsteps coming closer to me. I felt something pressed into my left hand, and dainty fingers maneuvered my thumb over a round button.

"The lights have three settings besides off, and they are currently on the brightest setting. Each press of the button will dim the lights until they turn off," the voice said. Any trace of her nervousness from before had disappeared as she explained the functions of the remote in my hand.

"I'm sorry, but you can't move the back of your bed right now, due to...due to..." the voice trailed off. 

"Due to what?" I asked, confused at this sudden change of tone.

"Nothing! I just, um, have to go! I'll come back in a few minutes with the Princesses!" she said.

Still wondering just what she saw, I pressed the button for the lights two times, and tentatively opened my eyes.

I was greeted by a sterile white ceiling, since I couldn't really see in front of me, somewhat. My chest kept getting in the way.

I sighed and turned my head to the right, and saw an EKG monitor, which was the source of the constant tone. Suddenly wary, I followed the cords coming from the machine.

They were attached to me. I wasn't concerned with where they were attached to, my chest if you must know, but the fact that they were connected.

And I apparently didn't have a heart beat.

"Wha...what..." I started to say.

I would like to say I took this calmly. A few deep breaths and a logical thinking process. Perhaps the machine was malfunctioning or didn't have a good connection. Or maybe their technology wasn't compatible with my new body. Or just maybe they couldn't get through my new skin.

...

Yeah, no. What if you woke up and a machine told you that you didn't have a heart beat?

"WHAT THE-"






At the same time, in another part of the castle...


"Thank you for informing us that Celedon is awake, Nurse Bone Setter," Celestia said, nodding at the nurse. The nurse looked like she was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by an explosion that rocked the castle.

"-CK'S GOING ON?!" rang out from the medical ward.

The two sisters shared a worried glance, before they rushed off to calm Celedon down.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I screamed.

I screamed at the apparent impossibility that I was looking at.

My heart wasn't beating, yet I was looking at the machine that was telling me this. I was obviously alive, but the machines didn't want to say that. No, they conspired against me. They want me to think that I'm dead!

Suddenly, I heard the sounds of multiple pairs of footsteps coming from the doorway. Celestia, Luna, and the group of girls from before were at the door. An unfamiliar nurse was standing behind them as well. I looked at them, panicked.

I was trying to speak to them, but I was too disturbed to form words. Celestia, bless her heart, recognized this and knelt by the bedside, placing a palm on my forehead and grasping my left hand. A calming sensation quickly followed. My hyperventilating breaths slowed down gradually, until I felt like I could go to sleep.

Sometime during this, someone had turned off the monitor, so the constant tone signifying that I was supposed to be dead no longer had power over me. The machines were thwarted!

Just as I was about to close my eyes to sleep, Celestia removed her hands and gently asked, "How do you feel?"

Surprisingly, my voice did not hurt from the amount of screaming that had left my mouth. I answered her, saying, "Better."

She smiled and said, "Good." I sighed and tried to wipe away some imaginary sweat, but I found that my arm was restrained.

"Uh, Princess Celestia? Why can't I move my arm?" I asked, starting to worry again.

"Oh! That was to prevent you from releasing your wings before they could be cleaned," she said as she stood up and released my arms.

"Cleaned?" I said, curious.

"Yes. Take a look," she said, suddenly grimacing and gently moving my head to look at my left wing.

A thick red liquid was dripping into a large basin, and some of the liquid looked like it had formed a hard crust on some of my feathers.

Wait, is that blood?!

My eyes widened and I whispered, "I hurt someone."

"It was an accident," Celestia said, putting herself into my vision. She fixed me with a stern gaze. "It is not your fault," she said forcefully, like she was trying to cram the words into my head.

I slowly nodded, but glanced back at my bloody wings. It was a very ominous and terrifying sight.

There was a sudden commotion, like metal clashing with metal.

"Where is she?!" I heard a familiar voice yell.

Blast it, Tim. At least he can speak, so that means he hasn't gone truly berserk, yet.

I looked back toward the door, where the girls scurried out of the way of Tim. He barreled into the room, frantic. Upon sighting me, he rushed over to the other side of the bed.

Now this is just getting embarrassing. Thankfully, he did not grab my hand and start petting it like some cheesy romance movie.

Surprisingly, no one else spoke up, and just watched him. Perhaps it was because he wasn't attacking everything in sight.

I needed to tell him the truth, now, before this got out of hand.

"Princess Celestia, could you perhaps leave me alone with Berserker for a minute?" I asked, still watching Tim.

She didn't respond immediately, prompting me to look over at her. Her face was a mixture of annoyance and contemplation. A few seconds later, she sighed and said, "Fine. Just don't do anything stupid, and don't release your wings."

"Will do," I said, before I turned back to Berserker. I heard whispering from the group walking out the door, probably some juvenile fantasy about a forbidden love or something like that.

"Alright, Tim, you've got to stop this little crush you have," I stated. It would probably be best to be blunt.

"Wha-?! Um, I, uh..." he stammered. Blood came to his cheeks. Wow, he was blushing?

"Not only are you on probation, but there is another factor that you don't know about," I continued.

He shook his head and said, "And what would that be?" He was obviously a little irritated at being found out and suddenly rejected.

"My real name is Ralph Bergson," I said.

"..."

He blinked a few times, tilted his head a little, and started chuckling. Eventually it turned into full blown laughter.

I was starting to get irritated myself. I curtly said, "What's so funny?"

"Oh man. Wow. I don't know how you know that name, but you can't possibly be Ralph. For one, you're a golden angel, and a girl on top of that. Two-" he said as he started to list off the reasons that I simply could not be who I know I was before I was changed and brought to Equestria.

"My signature is exactly three inches left from the center on your breastplate," I said, interrupting him.

His face froze in shock. Then he narrowed his eyes and asked, "How do you know that?"

"Because I forged that armor you're wearing," I stated matter-of-factly.

"That's impossible."

"Ask me something only Ralph would know."

"...Alright..." he said, hesitating. Her turned away from me and brought a hand to his chin in thought. I waited for him to come up with a question.

He turned to me with a smirk and asked, "Who was your first kiss?"

That question immediately brought pain to my heart.

"...Dude. Don't bring her up right now..." I said, grief evident in my voice. I would never be able to visit her again, never see the glade she loved again.

"Who was it?" he repeated, though now he was starting to look a little worried.

I brought an arm over my face as I thought I felt something begin to run down my face. Was I crying?

I sniffed, and then said, "Alice...DeLaney."

I heard something metal collapse to the ground. Wiping my face off, I looked to see that Tim was sitting on the ground, staring at me with wide eyes.

I wished for nothing more than to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

I held out my hand towards him, palm down. He recognized the gesture and got off the floor, and then grasped my hand before he began to pull away, leading into the three-move handshake we had made. It ended in us punching the other's fists, and Tim said, "Ralph?"

Chuckling, I said, "Yeah. It's me. Even though I don't think that name really applies anymore."

"Yeah...WHOA! Hold on! Back up!" he suddenly shouted.

"What?" I asked.

"I had a crush on you?!" he said, utterly horrified.

A few seconds passed, before I burst out laughing. Mostly at his reaction, and a little at the actual context. Eventually, he joined in with me.
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After our laughter subsided, I sighed and said, "Alright, how are we going to handle names? I'm pretty sure I can't really be called Ralph anymore when I'm like this."

Tim brought his hand to his chin, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "I'd say we just keep doing what we were doing before, with your name being Celedon." Then he got a mischievous grin and said, "Or I could call you Kelly."

I fixed him with a flat glare before saying, "Would you like me to call you Timmy?"

He stared at me while he processed the thought. Then he shuddered.

"No. Never. Ugh," he said in a disgusted tone.

"Then don't call me Kelly," I stated, smirking.

"Fine," he sighed. He continued, "I guess you can just call me Berserker while anyone else is around."

I nodded once, then I chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Tim said as he quirked an eyebrow at me.

I let my giggles fade, and then said, "Well, it's just like the anime. No one knows your real name, for the most part."

"Ah."

"Are you two lovebirds done in there?" a tomboyish voice said from outside the door.

For all his effort to stay cool, Tim still blushed, probably thinking about inappropriate things. 

Annnnnd I'm gonna stop that thought right there.

I shook my head and said, "Yes, we're done talking. And that's all it was." In preparation for their return, I turned the lights back up to full brightness.

The group walked back into  the room, led by Celestia. 

I want to meet these people, but being strapped to a bed while blood drips down from your feathers is probably not the best way to talk to someone.

Before anyone could say anything, I asked Celestia, "Your majesty, if I could ask a favor, I would like to get my wings cleaned as soon as possible, so I can get off this bed." She didn't look too surprised and just waved her hand to the door. A woman dressed in a work uniform stained with oil and grease walked in. She had one long black braid that laid over her right shoulder. Her eyes were yellow, and wherever she looked it was like she was appraising a price for the item or person in question.

She looked around for a little bit before she settled her eyes on the princesses. She looked a little tired as she said, "Your highness, I know you called me to the medical ward for some purpose, but I don't see it."

Celestia just smiled and said, "Well, I don't order my subjects around with no purpose, do I? Take a look at the woman on the bed, and see if you notice anything off about her."

The woman turned her piercing eyes on me. She then stepped back in surprise.

"That...that's not possible," she whispered. 

"What isn't possible?" Celestia said, still smiling.

The woman shook her head and averted her eyes from me, before looking back. Somehow, her eyes didn't look as scary as before. She then saw the blood on my wings and breathed a sigh of relief.

What did she see?

"Right, okay, I can clean off the blood," she said, bringing out a can of something that looked like oil, and a plain white cloth.

She was avoiding the topic of what she saw. Something spooked her, and I still don't know what.

"Celedon, can you talk while Smithed Steel cleans your wings?" Celestia asked breaking me out of my thoughts.

I nodded and said, "I don't see why not."

Smithed Steel stepped forward to kneel at my left wing. She then opened up the can of oil stuff and dipped the cloth into it.

"Celedon, I would like to introduce you to the Elements of Harmony," Celestia said. 

The six girls stepped forward, led by the girl in purple.

"This is Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, indcating the lead girl. Smithed Steel was wiping my feathers down now, and whatever she had on the cloth just swept it all away. She was doing it feather by feather, quickly and efficiently. It tickled a little bit.

"Hello! It's nice to officially meet you," Twilight said, nodding in my direction. Her outfit was a traditional good-school girl type outfit. She had a purple sweater-vest on, as well as a long-sleeved white button-up shirt. She was wearing plain blue jeans which had a purple six-pointed star on her right hip. I couldn't really see her feet, due to my position.

"Sup! I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!" the rainbow haired girl said suddenly. I could tell that she was a little bit on the arrogant side. Just a bit. She was puffing her chest out, which was covered in a sky blue tank top. She had on dark blue track pants with a jagged rainbow stripe going down each leg. At both of her hips, the stripe seemed to start from a fluffy cloud.

"Hello dear, my name is Rarity, and I absolutely must know how you get you hair to shine the way it does!" a purple haired woman said. Is was obvious from her tone, manner of speaking, and outfit, that she was quite a bit more refined than the rest of her friends. She was wearing a white business shirt combined with a straight cut black skirt. She also had on a very light grey jacket that really only covered her arms. Over her left shirt pocket was a set of three blue gems embroidered into the cloth.

Smithed Steel had finished my left wing and started on my right while the girls introduced themselves. I looked over and saw that my wing was shining much more brilliantly than before. Light danced off the surface of the golden feathers, shining tiny spot lights all over the room. 

"Howdy! Mah name's Applejack, it's nice ta meetcha!" a girl with a blonde pony tail and a Stetson on her head said. This girl's outfit was very physical labor oriented, and reminded me of farmers from the Deep South. Her accent encouraged that notion. She was wearing an orange plaid ranch shirt and blue jeans, with an apple emblem sewn over both of her pants pockets. 

"HI! I'm Pinkie Pie, but you probably remember that from a couple chapters ago! *Gasp!* Please don't say you forgot about me already!" the hyper girl shouted, suddenly in my face. Her outfit was a pink t-shirt with a trio of blue and yellow balloons on the front. She was wearing jean shorts that came to about mid thigh.

Once she backed off, the final girl was hiding behind her long pink hair, and I heard, just barely, "Hello, I, um, I'm Fluttershy..." First off, I have to say that the first thing I wanted to do when I heard her voice was go hug her. She was so adorable! Fluttershy was wearing a yellow sweater and a loose brown dress that reached to the floor, I think. Perspective was still not that good due to my position.

"It's good to meet you all, officially, though I wish it was under better circumstances," I said with a chuckle.

Beside me, Smithed Steel rose and wiped her hands off on the rag. I could totally imagine her having a cigarette in her mouth. Her scary eyes had come back, but she only glanced at me before turning to Princess Celestia. She said, "Alrighty, I believe that your friend here is ready to go." 

Celestia nodded and raised a hand, a yellow aura encompassing it. The cages enclosing my wings glowed the same color, before there was a click, and the front pieces of each cage were pulled backwards by an unseen force. They laid against the walls on hinges. Smithed Steel nodded and then walked out of the room. However she glanced at me time one last time. She tried and failed to suppress a shudder. I still wanted to know what she saw whenever she looked at me.

However, I shook that thought from my head before I sat up and stretched my arms and wings, taking care not to clip anything with them. I made a satisfied noise and began to pop my knuckles. However, I looked over at Tim to see that he was blushing heavily for some reason. I then looked over at the girls. Some of the more innocent ones were blushing slightly, like Fluttershy and Twilight, while Rarity looked like she was about to fall in love for some reason. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just squinted at me while Pinkie Pie had pulled a pair of sunglasses from...her hair...and she put them on her face.

Excuse me, what?

Celestia giggled, causing me to look over at her. Behind her, I saw shadows wavering before disappearing. Luna had pulled a disappearing act, probably to attend to some royal duties. However, what I was interested in was the reactions of everyone.

"Uh, Princess Celestia, could you explain why everyone is acting this way?" I asked, slightly nervous.

She chuckled and shook her head, before waving a hand through the air, magicking up a mirror. She then levitated it towards me, back first for some reason.

I quirked an eyebrow at this as I grabbed the mirror. Slowly turning it around, I was scared to see what I might find.

...

HOLY FRICK, I'M GORGEOUS. 

AND SHINY.

Ahem. My face could accurately being called that of an angel's. Nothing looked out of place, and if I saw a person like myself walking down the road I would probably walk into a lamp post just from the sheer beauty. But one thing I did notice was off were my eyes.

When I first looked at the mirror, I could barely look into it. Then, the glare was suddenly gone. Looking at my eyes now explained this. Instead of regular eyes, my eyes had changed to be all gold, except for the pupil. But were they even normal to begin with in this body?

"Right. Uh, sorry if I blinded you guys," I said sheepishly as I handed the mirror back to Celestia. I turned to Tim and asked, "Now, why are you blushing, Berserker?"

He tried to stammer out a response, but I decided to tease him a little from that 'Kelly' comment. I interrupted him by saying, "Nevermind, I'm sure you just couldn't resist looking at my beauty and being amazed." I punctuated this with a toss of my hair, which garnered everyone's attention as light bounced all in the small room.

Tim looked like he was about to object, but just huffed and turned around. He looked and sounded like a pouting child, crossing his arms like he did.

Celestia smiled at this, but it slowly changed to a neutral expression. She then asked, "Now that we have that taken care of, could you tell us what caused you to collapse in the way you did?"

Surprised by the sudden change in topic, I saw many pairs of eyes focus on me.

I nodded before I closed my eyes and remembered.

...

Chimes in the air, filling the world with dread and despair
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I opened my eyes and began to tell them about what I saw.

"Just before I collapsed, and just after those horrible sounds scraped at my hearing, I saw something," I said. It felt like I was telling a ghost story around a campfire, though the reason for it was much more serious.

"I saw this gigantic golden sphere, floating above a snowy plain. It was covered in feathers," I continued. Everyone was listening intently, drinking in my words.

"I saw Berserker here roaring at the sphere, just before he threw something at it. Then the vision cut out." I didn't want to reveal that I saw tears in his eyes, and I also didn't want them to know that I knew about Arondight. That would raise too many questions that I would rather not answer.

"After that, I felt myself falling before losing consciousness. And now, I'm here."

As I completed my recollection, I looked over everyone's faces. Practically everyone seemed confused or intrigued by what the vision might mean. However, Celestia looked troubled, like she knew something that I didn't. 

"Princess Celestia? Is something wrong?" I said. She glanced at me before returning her eyes to where they were. The room was in silence for a while as everyone processed my ominous dream.

I heard someone whisper right in my ear, "Play some happy music."

It was Pinkie Pie, who was smiling brightly. I smiled at her. She truly does care for her friends.

I broke the tense silence by clearing my throat. "Alright, now that I've sufficiently dampened the mood, I think it's my job to make it right again! Let's move to a place where we can all sit down."

"Oh, oh, I know just the place!" Pinkie Pie jumped up and down with her hand in the air.

"And where would that be?" I asked, smiling at Pinkie Pie's randomness.

"The dining hall!" Not a few seconds later, literally everyone's stomachs rumbled.

"Oh my, I completely forgot the time," Celestia said while chuckling.

Tim, speaking up for the first time in ages, said, "Don't you control the sun? Wouldn't it be hard to forget the time if you knew exactly where it is at all times?"

"I don't keep a watch constantly over the sun, Berserker," Celestia replied, surprisingly cordial with Tim.

Then what Tim said hit me.

"Ah, alright. Let's go get some food then! I'm starving over here!" Tim said as he began to dramatize his reaction, holding both arms over his stomach and swaying about in a comical way. Everyone chuckled, though they still looked a little nervous when they were reminded that Tim, the "Spirit of Mad Rage and Hatred," was standing in the room with them. They were probably confused as well by his trying to be funny.

I laughed at him as I got out of the surprisingly soft hospital bed, slowly moving to make sure that I didn't clip something with my wings. That reminds me...

As everyone walked out of the room, I grabbed Tim's left shoulder and said, "Wait for just a moment."

He turned around and looked at me with a questioning face.

"Princess Celestia controls the sun? As in, the heavenly body that provides light for the whole world?"

Tim nodded.

I sighed and said, "I supposed that sun emblem has some meaning to it then."

Tim nodded sagely this time, and said, "Every symbol or emblem you see on a person here, unless told otherwise, has some type of meaning for them. Princess Luna has a symbol with the moon right? She controls the moon."

"Ah. Alright then," I nodded. Before he could turn to leave I said, "Who did I hurt?"

"Celedon,-wow, that's going to take some getting used to-it's not your fault. His injuries weren't even that bad, just a bunch of small cuts," he said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. "But I still want to apologize to this 'him.'"

"I know, and that's one of the reasons you're my best friend," he said with an almost straight face. We both tried to suppress a snicker at his corny line.

"Wow, that was so cheesy I thought you were going to hand me some from the massive amount of cheese you made with that line," I said. He laughed, and I then said, "Let's go get some food."





"Finally! I thought you two would never come out!" Rainbow Dash said once we entered the dining hall.

I sighed while I saw Tim lock up.

"Rainbow Dash, we are not in that type of relationship," I stated. Granted, I feel like I would be blushing at this if I had a normal body, but I used this new body's apparent lack of embarrassment signals to the fullest.

She almost seemed to pout! I could also see that a couple of the girls also looked a little saddened.

I just brought a hand to my face.

I glanced at Tim, who was still blushing. I decided to tease him a little more.

"However..." I purred as I leaned towards him. I didn't even do anything else, but his face looked like was about to explode.

"Kidding!" I giggled. Was I getting too into acting as a woman?

...Nah.

He took a deep breath before sitting down at the long table, one chair away from Fluttershy on the left side.

I lightly shook my head and walked a little further up the table on its right side before I closed my eyes and thought about something happy. I heard chairs move, and once I opened my eyes saw that everyone had turned to me. I was still surprised that my music was apparently amazing.

Either way, I remembered the phrase to summon my harp.

Cithara ostendas

As before, the words echoed for much longer than they should have, and a bright light flashed into existence right in front of me. I heard sounds of paper being turned, and saw that Twilight had found a notepad and was writing furiously in it.

Shrugging my shoulders, I again focused on happiness. The meaning of happiness to me...

My hands moved by themselves to the strings, and began the song.

I began playing a very fast piece that just exuded giddiness and joy. My fingers danced over the lighter strings, playing a simpler part for the first dozen seconds or so, before returning to the melody. I then transitioned into a more complicated piece, deftly moving my hands over the many strings and plucking them at precisely the right moments. Apparently, the song I had 'chosen' did not have any other instruments, as I heard nothing but my harp. While I was thinking about this, the piece returned to the melody for a few seconds before abruptly stopping.

Silence fell in the dining hall, before everyone present began applauding. I then heard some claps that were louder than others.

Eventually, the applause died down, but someone was still slowly clapping. Everyone turned to look at the entrance to the dining hall.

A man stood there in a white suit with a blue bow tie. His blonde hair was neatly combed, and he did not look like he had a blemish on his face at all.

I heard a noise of disgust from a few of the girls at the table. Most notably, Rarity seemed angry at him.

"Bravo! Simply marvelous!" he said as he lowered his hands. 

Confused, I looked at him inquisitively as my harp flashed out of existence. Then I asked, "Who are you?"

Seemingly shocked, the man recovered and began to smile, though it did not reach his eyes. He answered, "My dear, normally I would not answer such a question, as I am known all throughout Canterlot! But, for such a beauty as yourself, I will introduce myself."

Oh great, one of these guys.

"My name is Prince Blueblood, and I would love to know if you are free tomorrow evening."

...


WHAT?!
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My eyes widened at this man's brazen attitude. Granted, I thought he might have gone for a much, much, more direct approach. However, I still had no intention of accepting, since I was still a guy on the inside, and I did not like the look he was giving me.

Still, no need to be disrespectful. I bowed and said, "Thank you for your offer, Prince Blueblood, but I am not currently seeking a relationship right now."

His smile did not leave his face, but he blinked his eyes multiple times. Then, his smile dropped and he said, "You honestly don't know who I am, do you?"

I shook my head.

He began chuckling, before walking towards me. He said, "Well, there is one thing you must know about me."

He made no overly threatening moves, so I stood still, a neutral expression on my face. Everyone seemed to be ignoring him, all for Tim, who was watching him with a barely hidden anger. Once Blueblood had walked up to me he cast a discrete glance at the table, which he was facing away from, before returning his gaze at me. He then whispered, "I usually get what I want, one way or another. And I want you."

Well, this is going to get interesting. I was sure I could defend myself if need be, but I would rather avoid violence if possible.

"Well, no one can get everything they want," I said.

His eye twitched. His face twisted into rage. He looked like he was about to shout something, but a shadow had appeared behind him and grabbed his shoulder. A creaking, smoky, shadow.

"You dare lay a hand on me?!" Blueblood cried, turning around and forcing Tim's hand off his shoulder.

"Princess Celestia," Tim said, though his voice had changed, becoming unrecognizable. For Someone's Glory must have also changed his voice.

"Do you mind if I teach this brat some manners?"

"Brat?! How dare you! I am a prince, and I expect to be treated as such, knave!" Blueblood shouted, getting right in Tim's face.

Just had a thought. He's a Prince, so he must be related to the Princesses...that must have been an interesting marriage. Also, Tim was about ten inches taller than Blueblood.

"I challenge you to a duel!" Blueblood shouted, enraged.

"Blueblood!" Celestia said, getting up from the table.

"Aunt Celestia, this man has insulted my name, my title, and I have a grievance with him! I must be satisfied!"

Celestia calmed herself and sighed. I swear I could see her composure drop for a second and she mouthed, "Your funeral." 

She actually said, "Fine, but you will not have your duel here. Go to the guard's sparring arena for your match."

Blueblood nodded, but before he left he fixed me with a disgustingly perverted gaze. Despite myself, I shuddered, causing my feathers to ruffle and sending out small sounds like wind chimes. Blueblood then turned around and walked haughtily out the door.

After he left, I beckoned to Tim.

"Don't kill him, but please make him suffer."

I could feel the grin forming behind the helmet of Berserker.





After Tim and I had followed the Princesses and the Elements to the guard barracks, they separated from us to go to the stands to watch. Tim and I, however, went to the armory to get a weapon for Tim that would not seriously injure Blueblood when Tim swung at him. Suddenly, Blueblood came from a room connected to the armory. He was wearing full golden armor, except for the helmet he held in the crook of his right arm. He had a simple longsword on his hip, but no shield. Was he really that overconfident?

"So, you actually came to battle me! Very well, I have decided to make things interesting," Blueblood said with a smirk. 

We both waited for his wager.

It looked like he was waiting for a reaction from us. Surprised by the lack of one, he cleared his throat and continued, "Whoever wins receives this woman's hand." 

Immediately, metal rang against metal, producing a wonderfully terrifying noise. However, it was not Tim who had drawn a sword or even moved. Rather, it was I who had, at the time unknowingly, straightened my feathers, causing them to lock together like armor and form a single straight blade down the edge of both wings. I stalked forwards, fixing him with a glare that cowed him almost instantly.

I was not going to sit there while this moron dictated my fate like a piece of property.

"Listen, buster, I am not something you own, I am not something you can just ask to get, and I most certainly am not yours to deal with as you see fit!" I said, feeling my voice reverberate throughout the small armory. 

He looked like he was about to wet himself, but shook his head roughly and said, "When you become mine, I'm going to have to teach you not to talk back to your superiors." He then strutted out onto the arena.

I looked to Tim who was just standing there, fists tightly clenched.

"Tim."

He focused on me.

"Crush. His. Royal. Blue. Balls."

Tim chuckled darkly, grinding a fist into his palm.





Blueblood was standing in the center of the arena, his back towards us, absorbing the praise the guards were shouting at him. Tim walked out onto the field, not even wielding a weapon, probably to make sure that my request was fulfilled before Blueblood inevitably gave up. As he did this, many of the soldiers jeered and booed at him. However, I did notice a few of the older soldiers' eyes widen before they rushed off to their commanding officers.

Blueblood turned around and saw Tim standing there, weaponless. "You don't even have a weapon with you? What, are you going to beg for my forgiveness?"

Tim just stood there, motionless, before a deep growl came from his throat. 

"Ha! So a dog has challenged me! Fine then, I'll put you down!" Blueblood shouted. Then, he did the most idiotic thing he could have done.

He drew his sword, and threw it at Tim. Granted, he was using his magic to levitate the blade, but still. This match could have been won several times over by now, but Tim was just waiting for the right moment.

Just as the blade was about to reach him, he grabbed it out of mid air, dispelling Blueblood's aura. Heh, Tim's Magic Resistance must have made sure of that.

"What?!"

Then, Tim charged. Faster than I could see, he was in front of Blueblood, who just barely dodged backwards as Tim's fist came crashing down where his head had been. He continued on to the ground however, which collapsed into a small crater around his fist.

Blueblood was stunned from the display of strength. I knew that, with his stats from the game, Tim could easily have hit Blueblood and knocked him out with one blow. He must want to play around.

As Tim pulled his fist out of the ground, I decided now would be a good time for a battle-song. 

All around the arena, people began to hear a song from the anime. Apparently, the same effect that helped me create multiple instrumental sounds extended to rock instruments. Then I opened my mouth and began to sing.

Below, Tim was dancing around, playing with Blueblood, who was desperately dodging. Every time he landed, Tim was there, already swinging the sword at him.

However, credit where credit is due, Blueblood knew how to dodge. But I could see the exhaustion in his movements. After a few more seconds of this, Tim looked at the sword in his hand and tossed it back at Blueblood, where it stuck in the ground right between his legs. 

Then, Tim charged again and slammed a fist into the prince's chest, blasting him backwards. Of course, he still was not using his full strength, so the prince only fell backwards and slid a few feet. Granted, there was a sizable dent in his breastplate.

Tim slowly walked forwards, taking in the fear in the prince's eyes. Blueblood tried to stand, but Tim knocked him over, flat on his back. As the music reached a crescendo, I closed my mouth. Tim looked towards me. I lifted my arm and held it out, with my fist clenched and a thumb pointing down.

Tim turned back to Blueblood, and  slowly raised a foot over his crotch.

"No! Not there!"

The male soldiers who were standing around the arena were already grasping at themselves in preparation. Truth be told, I was also feeling a slight twinge of sympathy for him, but I ruthlessly crushed it under my hatred for slimeballs like him.

Like a bullet, Tim brought his foot down. The world went silent.

Then a crater appeared underneath Blueblood, centered around his groin.

Blueblood went red, then purple.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the medics began to circle the still screaming Blueblood, we in the spectator box had joined up with Tim on the ground. He still had his helmet on, but he had deactivated For Someone's Glory.

Princess Celestia looked a little troubled, so I would probably have to ask her about it at a later time. 

"Celedon, are you alright?" an elegant voice asked me. I looked to see that it was Rarity who had asked the question.

"What do you mean?" I was confused. I mean, I don't really have to worry about Blueblood anymore, and he didn't do anything to me, physically...oh. She must be thinking about the emotional trauma of the experience. Perhaps an actual woman might have had that reaction, but I still had the mind of a male, so it didn't really faze me. But still, I needed to keep up appearances, so I let Rarity talk to me.

"Oh don't you worry! We'll just get you a nice relaxing massage to take your mind off of this fiasco with that...prince," she said as she hugged me. She spat that last part in the direction of said Prince, who was being carried away on a stretcher. He was tied down to prevent him from thrashing.

"Berserker, did you really have to do that?" Celestia asked as she watched the medics cart Blueblood away.

"Celedon wanted it done." His voice had changed back to his normal tone, but he still kept the helmet on.

Her eyes widened as she glanced over at me. I nervously laughed and said, "Yeah...uh, if it makes you feel better, I have a kind of vendetta against guys like him."

Celestia's face returned to a neutral expression and held my gaze for a few more seconds. Then she sighed.

"At least our doctors can heal him, though I don't know if that type of trauma will, or can, ever be recovered from," she said. She shook her head. "Nevermind that, we still have a meal to eat, don't we?"

Tim's stomach rumbled loudly. Everyone else laughed at this as we went on our way back to the dining hall.





We once again sat down at the table, though everyone was still wary of Tim, for a very good reason. I just shook my head and waited for my meal to come.

Oh, no one besides the princesses have seen me eat, have they? Well, this is going to be interesting.

"Your dinner, madam," a butler said as he brought out a golden platter. Just as I wanted, there were golden cubes making a small pyramid. Just to test and see if they were the same, I sniffed one.

...

There was a chomping sound just now, and everyone besides the Princesses were looking at me with astonishment. There was also a lovely warmth in my stomach.

Tim seemed the most surprised, and was eventually able to say, "Uh, Celedon...Did you just eat a block of solid metal?"

I grinned sheepishly and said, "Yep, I did just eat a block of solid gold."

"Gold?!"

"But what do you do with it once you have eaten it?" an inquisitive voice interrupted from my left.

Twilight had taken out her note book and looked ready to write down answers for a test.

"Uh, well, I digest it, I guess," I replied, unsure of the actual process that went on in my stomach. The heat had died down in my stomach, and now I was wondering the same thing as Twilight. What did go on down there?

"Would you mind if I took a few scans and-slash-or examinations? After dinner, of course," she said, something of a manic gleam coming to her eye.

Courteous as I was, I shook my head and said, "I don't mind, just nothing invasive."

She looked slightly disappointed, but nodded anyway and went back to eating. 

I did the same, and bit into another cube of gold.

Ohhhh, where have you been all my life? I thought to the gold.





After we had finished dinner, Twilight had brought me over to a very scientific room, full of various tools and things that just screamed science!

"So, what are we going to do first?" I asked, only slightly wary.

Twilight had thankfully become more professional than when she was at the table, and said, "First, we are going to do a simple x-ray to examine your bone structure." She indicated a table behind her with a large machine towering over it. 

I nodded and moved to lay on the bed, maneuvering my wings so as not to slice anything with them. Once I was comfortable, Twilight put on a vest and stood behind a divider. A few seconds passed, and a screen came down from the ceiling. It showed my full body, but not the bones.

"Interesting..." Twilight said as she adopted a pose of contemplation.

"Is that supposed to happen?" I asked. I only asked to clarify if their x-ray machines were different from the ones back home.

"No, it was supposed to show your entire skeleton, but it only shows your skin, or muscles. Your muscles or skin must be unnaturally dense," Twilight postulated as she wrote this information down on a notepad.

"Alright, since we can't use x-rays, we are going to use a thaumatic scanner. Essentially, it's a magical x-ray machine, and can allow us to project a cone or beam around an area that lets us see under however many layers of tissue we want to see." She pointed to a different machine, with many more glowing bits and crystals in what looked like input ports.

"Just lie right here," she indicated a different bed. She started pressing a few buttons on the machine, and it began making whirring noises. Then, her hands began to glow, and a purple cone of energy floated out from an emitting port on the machine. The beam touched my skin and froze. I saw Twilight put more force into the machine, and the beam started to reveal what was underneath my skin.

More solid gold.

Twilight put even more energy into the machine, and the beam finally revealed my inner workings.

First thought: What? 

Second thought: What?! 

Final thought: WHAT?!
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I...I don't understand.

"What?!" I shouted, looking down at my stomach.

Twilight reeled back from the device, which caused it to power down.

...

We looked at each other for a few seconds.

"...Did I just see what I think I saw?" I dubiously asked.

Twilight was speechless for a few more seconds, but started to say, "Um, I don't know. Should we try again?"

I nodded hesitantly and laid back on the table.

The machine started up again, though Twilight knew how much power to put into the machine now into order to get to my innards.

And hoo boy howdy were they complicated.

"Is...is that a furnace?"

Apparently, I did not have a traditional stomach. Rather, a hollow gold sphere connected to various tubes and wires was my stomach. The largest connection was to another sphere that held a tiny, but blazing, fire.

"..."

We stayed silent for a while, but then Twilight said, "I'm going to get some gold, I'll be right back."

She immediately left, causing the machine to power down. I wanted to call after her, but I was still frozen in shock.

I thought it was just the skin and wings, but no, I'm just not that lucky. I don't even have the organs to call myself human anymore.

I sat up and just pondered that thought, sinking deeper into a dark mood.

"I'm back."

I looked to the door to see Twilight holding one of the cubes that I loved to eat. However, I didn't know if I was going to enjoy it right now.

The machine restarted, and I could see inside myself again.

I started to slowly bite the gold, but natural instinct took over and I gobbled it down. After swallowing, I was able to look down and see the gold traveling through a pipe leading to my stomach. Suddenly, the fire flared, spilling into the main chamber. The same heat from before filled my stomach, and now I knew why.

The metal just melted in the flames, and began flowing down several of the tubes connected to the stomach chamber. The molten liquid reached what looked like a pump. Turns out it was, as the liquefied gold was pumped through my 'veins,' into other chambers.

Twilight moved the machine to focus on one of these new chambers. It was half filled with molten gold. It was generally the same for every other chamber she looked at. 

I really was not even close to a human, was I? 

"I'm..."

Twilight noticed my despair and walked over to pull me into a hug. She felt soft and warm.

Granted, if I needed to I could just get up and ignore this situation. But right now, too many things have happened at once and I could barely hold back from wallowing in depression.

"Twilight."

"Hm?"

"See if there's anything else. I have a feeling that my digestive system is not the only difference to a regular body," I said. There was a noticeable monotone in my voice.

She seemed hesitant to let go, but eventually did. Once she powered the machine back up, she began searching around my upper torso. More of the reservoirs were found, along with several 'organs' that had what looked like cords stretched throughout the chamber. Every chamber was different due to the thickness of the cords. Some were as thin as a wire, while others were as thick as a baby's arm. These were connected to my own voice box via what looked like regular tubes but was in fact sheathed in a soundproof material on the outside. These tubes would not let the sounds escape into my body, so a clear tone was always achieved. Said voice box was also mechanical in nature. Twilight postulated that those specific organs were resonant chambers that provided me with my excellent singing voice. 

Deeper in my body there was a seemingly empty chamber, but it was directly connected to my throat and had several valves separating it from the rest of my body. At the entrance to my throat there was another pump. Several modified pumps were attached to the main chamber, though I did not know how to activate them.

On top of that, several vital organs were missing in my body. The heart, obviously, though I did have a sort of engine that gave me constant power to my body. The lungs, so I didn't need to breathe. The digestive system, of course. Unsurprisingly, I did not have a reproductive system (which I was secretly glad for). The events surrounding that discovery were a little interesting...





"Alright, Celedon, I need you to remove your clothes."

I jumped a good foot in the air at that request. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had not even seen myself before. I was sure that my face would be red as a tomato by now, but again I felt no blood rush to my cheeks.

However, I also realized that I would eventually have to get over my embarrassment, so I nodded and went behind a divider Twilight had set up for this purpose.

Then I realised that I did not know how to remove my robe. The slits for my wings were tiny, and most definitely would not fit the admittedly large wingspan that I normally had. However, while I was thinking about this, I could feel two places where the material was separating. Looking in a mirror, I saw that the cloth had separated above my wings, and I only need to slip my arms out of the cloth in order for it to fall to the ground.

Steeling myself, I did so.

The next moment, a combination of a scream and sigh of relief came from my mouth.

"Celedon?" Twilight asked, respectfully not looking behind the divider.

I replied, "I'm fine, but you need to come see this."

I heard her make a questioning noise before footsteps came from behind me.

I turned around to face her. Her eyes widened and she started blushing, but her expression quickly morphed into confusion. However, with all the revelations that we had both gone through about my body at that point, she just shook her head and said, "Well, that takes care of a few things."

I had nothing explicitly 'female' on my body, besides the general shape of my body. Granted, I still had a larger bust line when compared to the people here, but I looked like a mannequin underneath my clothes.





Yeah, that discovery I had mixed feelings about. The examinations had continued, focusing on my limbs this time. I had no 'bones' to speak of, but I did have a mechanical skeleton. Twilight did not have the equipment to test my strength, though she said that I would most likely be able to lift a grown horse with no problem.

The only thing that stumped both of us was my 'skin's' flexibility. It was unnaturally dense and had all the properties of being made of gold, yet moved just like regular skin. Another thing that surprised both of us was my 'brain.' It was really only a huge mess of wires and other things connecting to my body, but at the center, behind two very dense shells of diamond, was a small golden sphere. Twilight hypothesized that was where my consciousness truly lied.

Eventually, I had accepted the fact that I was not remotely close to being a human, and was just interested in finding out what I could do. I'm pretty sure I was bottling up my feelings and would eventually break down, but that time was not for right now.

Thus, the testing ended, and Twilight had already filled several notepads with various facts and questions about my body. I'm sure I had given her a lot to think about, what with discovering a life form that, for all intents and purposes, was artificial.

...

Nevermind, I'll get used to that at a later time.

On a side note, Tim had come by to see what was happening, and just so happened to open the door while I was in a state of undress. Granted, there was nothing to show off, but it was funny to see his head turn red before he realized that I had nothing for him to be embarrassed about seeing. 

Except for my rear and maybe the sides of my chest. Maybe.
> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Twilight's testing was finished, it was already late in the night.

Twilight yawned before she sleepily said, "You know, I think I've written everything I could about you down. Sorry if I took up all your time..." She yawned again.

I sighed and said, "Nevermind that, it was eye-opening to me as well."

Twilight nodded, before her eyes widened and she said, "Wait what? Didn't you know about your own body before?"

She must have been so focused that she didn't notice my own reaction, or at least forgot it near instantly, I thought.

"I, uh, never really had tests like this done before..." I said with an embarrassed smile. It was the truth.

Twilight looked at me with slightly narrowed eyes. Then, she yawned for the third time and stretched backwards.

"Maybe you should get to bed. Don't want to damage anything in here if you fall asleep suddenly," I said, getting up from the bed I was laying on. My robe was lying on a nearby table, though the table looked like it was drooping for some reason. I slipped the clothing on and felt the material seal itself back up above my wings.

I'm sure Twilight would have flipped out even more if she saw that.





I was laying on a bed, replaced after I laid down on a regular bed and it started to collapse. The bed I had now was made for heavy creatures, and after I learned that I weighed as much as a solid gold statue of me would weigh, it was a justifiable change.

I was also trying to make sure I didn't slice my bed up with my feathers as I tried to go to sleep. I sincerely hoped that I could still sleep, even if my body was almost completely artificial. I don't want to have to hit my head on a brick wall to get to sleep.

I closed my eyes and tried to forget just what I was...





WAKE UP, CHILD

Bwuh?

I SAID, WAKE UP.

I woke up to the starry void again. 

WELCOME BACK TO THE LAND OF THE WAKING.

"What do you want?" I spat out into the void.

AH, SO YOU HAVE FINALLY SEEN WHAT YOU ARE.

My eyes widened, until I remembered that this guy could apparently read my mind.

LET US CONVENE IN A MORE NATURAL PLACE.

The void faded out, replaced with the rolling hills from before. And just like the previous dream, I saw that man with the black and white long coat leaning against a tree.

"So. What do you want to know?"

"Wuh?" I eloquently said. Shocked, I asked, "Just like that?"

"Yep. I said I would explain stuff to you, so I'm taking the opportunity of your dreams to do that," he said. He then stood straight before sitting down underneath the tree and beckoning over to me. 

I was still suspicious of him, but I sat down next to him.

There was a few seconds of awkward silence.

"So..."

I flinched, startled by his voice. I took a deep breath and asked, "Who are you, really?"

He looked out over the field and sighed. Then he said, "I have no name, but I am a very powerful being. Essentially, I am akin to a god, though I am not all knowing. And before you start trying to rationalize that, think about where you are and what I can do, such as reading your mind with no apparent effort."

I was shocked to learn this. I still doubted him, and he quirked an eyebrow in my direction.

I shook my head and said, "Alright, nevermind. Did you bring me here?"

He nodded, but did not say anything else.

"Why?"

"I cannot answer that right now," was his curt reply. 

He continued, "There are beings more powerful than I who I am trying to not grab the attention of." 

After that cryptic remark, he stood up and said, seemingly to himself, "Alright, it's time to go." He glanced at me for a second, before scrunching his eyebrows together. Then, he snapped his fingers.





Man, what a dream... I thought as I got up out of my bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. When I opened them, I stopped for a couple seconds.

Why is my skin not gold?

I was still processing this when I heard a voice. A woman's voice.

"Ralphy! Breakfast is ready!"

It can't be...

It is. This is an interactive memory.

I looked around frantically, searching for the voice.

You won't find me here, I am just giving you some relaxation after having your new form revealed to you.

"Ralph? You okay up there?"

"Yeah! I'll be down in a second!" I yelled down to the first floor of my house.

I dressed myself in a simple pair of pants and a t-shirt before heading downstairs to the small kitchen.

"There you are! I thought you would never wake up."

The most beautiful being in the whole world stood before me, covered in stains and grease. Yet, nothing tarnished her beauty. Her brown hair was tied back into a ponytail, and her bright hazel eyes shined in the light of the sun coming through the kitchen window. Her lightly tanned arms held two plates of delicious eggs and bacon, and some pancakes were ready to be served on the table. 

The kitchen looked just like it did before...then. The whole kitchen was shaped like a square, with two three foot wide openings near the corners on the side facing the dining room. The section of kitchen counter that was separated from the rest was where we had stored the canned foods. The countertops were green marble and covered with various cooking utensils. The cabinets were a light colored wood with brass knobs. The stove was a simple steel two-in-one with a two-person oven on the bottom. 

Suddenly, everything grayed out.

Don't waste time gawking. Just be happy that you are here, and enjoy the time you have, I heard the voice say from everywhere.

I couldn't move, but I thought, But she's been dead for years! How can I act normally around her?

Simple. She knows that she has died, but she wants to help you relax.

I was struck dumb by his words.

However, don't mention that to her, as it would not be good for your mental health.

The surroundings regained their color, and the most beautiful woman of my life set the two plates down on the table. 

She turned towards me, where her face changed to one of worry. She walked over to me and stroked my face before saying, "Ralph, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I leaned into her touch and said, "Sorry, I just had a bad dream." I decided to follow the advice of the voice and enjoy the small amount of time I had with her.

She then said, smiling, "Oh is that all? Well then, you need to get some of this food in you! It'll make those nightmares go away before you can say scared!"

Thus, I sat down to eat the best food that I could ever have.





I was in my forge, working on a piece of armor for Tim’s Berserker cosplay. The breastplate was almost done and just needed a few finishing touches. I was etching my signature just three inches  to the right from the center of the chest piece. 

“Ralph? Tim’s here!” I hear my beloved’s voice shout from the living room.

“Alright! I’ll be out in a sec!” I yell over the din of the etching machine. 

Just as I finished up with the last letter, I heard footsteps from behind me. Feeling the phantom sensation of something against my neck, I whirl around. Instead of seeing a shadowy figure, I see Tim with his hands up, surprised.

“Whoa dude! It’s just me. You know, your best buddy Tim?” he said with a worried look on his face.

I took a few deep breaths before shaking my head. “Sorry, just had a bad dream last night,” I said before I turned back to my work, polishing the etching.

I heard more footsteps, until Tim was right next to me with a troubled look on his face. I noticed this and looked up, asking, “What’s wrong? You’ve got a little bit of ‘Long Face Syndrome’ going on right there.”

He glanced at me for a second before he begins slowly talking. “A bad dream…? Did...Was I in a Berserker costume in your dream?”

A chill ran down my spine. I slowly nodded.

He sighed. “I also had a dream, and some hot golden angel that said that she was you was there. She called herself Celedon. Ring any bells?”

I almost dropped the tool in my hands.

“This really is just a memory, isn’t it?” he said, despondent.

Yes, it is.

I jumped from the sudden appearance of the voice. Apparently, Tim did as well.

You have both been through quite a bit, in different ways. I decided to be a little nice, though I will require you to do something for me at a later time.

After a few seconds of silence, we both looked at each other.

“Ralph! Lunch is ready!” I heard from the kitchen.

“Just a second!” I yelled back.

“Oh! See if Tim wants anything! We’ve got plenty!”

A few more seconds of silence stretched between us. Then I took a deep breath and said, “Well, you feel up to eating something? Best make the time you’ve got here something good, right?”

He slowly smiled and said, “Yeah, let’s go eat. It’s been awhile since I had some good cooking.”

“Hey! I cooked decently for a guy living by himself!” I said as I faked an indignant tone.

“But you know her meals are better.”

“...Can’t argue with you there…”

We both laughed at that as we sat down to some delicious barbecue ribs and salad. 





“Hey Ralph?” Tim asked as he washed his dishes. 

“Mm?” I couldn’t talk due to the food in my mouth.

“What say we all go to the Crazy Station?”

“I don’t know…You alright with it?” I said as I looked across the table.

She nodded and said, “Yeah, I think it’d be a nice way to spend some time together.” She had a small smile on her face.

“I’m driving!” Tim said as he rushed out the door.

“Shotgun!” we both shout. A second later we chuckled.

“I guess we both get the backseat, then,” I said.

“Mmhm,” she purred. As I stood up from the table she walked over to me and placed a kiss on my cheek. I had missed that feeling...





“WHOOO!!!” Tim screamed. We were riding on the ‘Skin Peeler,’ since it went so fast you felt like your skin was being peeled off your face. It was quite a morbid name to tell the truth, but it was one of the best roller-coasters in the state.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” She and I screamed as we clung to each other. We both were adrenaline junkies, though you wouldn’t see it from our reactions.

Just a few minutes later, we were getting off the ride. Her hair was messed up, Tim looked like he couldn’t stand straight, and I leaning on her because my balance was so messed up.

“Woo man, that was fun!” Tim said, still giddy from the ride.

“I’d say we go on a gentler ride for now…” I said. Granted, I loved the sensation of speed, but that one just wore me out.

All of a sudden, I felt water hit my nose. I looked up to see that there were dark clouds moving in above us. 

“Tim, I think it’s time to go,” I said, still looking up at the sky.

He followed my gaze and said, “Shoot. Alright, let’s hurry back to the car.”

Without warning, the rain just starting pouring down. It wasn’t harsh, but there was a lot. We were immediately soaked to the bone. Thunder rumbled overhead. Our footsteps squished through the amusement park grounds as we ran to the car. Other people were taking shelter underneath awnings and inside buildings, while some, like us, were heading to their cars.

“Tim!” I shouted over the rain. “You go ahead! Get the car started up!” I covered her as best as I could with my body, though it was a meager protection.

I saw him nod before he sprinted away. I held her close as we tried to run to the entrance to the amusement park grounds. She slipped on the wet ground and almost brought me down with her, but I found a spot to lean my foot into so we didn’t fall. Not two steps later I did the same thing, bringing her down on top of me.

Everything around us stopped. I looked into her eyes, and she into mine. We stayed there for a few seconds, the curtain of her hair blocking sight from everything else. After those long few seconds, we got up. I was completely soaked and covered with mud. We both laughed a little at the irony of me falling down just after having held her up. 

We also laughed just because we were in each other’s arms.





The love of my life and I were on a couch, snuggled together in front of a cozy fire and wrapped in towels. I was stroking her sopping wet hair while we both took in each other's presence and warmed ourselves by the fire. 

"Hey Ralph?"

"Yes?" I looked into her eyes. The eyes of someone I love and had missed.

"It's time to wake up."

...My time was up. I sadly sighed and whispered, "Alright."

But before I got up, I pulled her in for a light kiss, just to remember her.

"Goodbye Ralph," she said as she let go of me.

I could feel my body becoming different, like I was not really there. I felt my shape morph into that of my new body, with the wings and the...chest. 

"Goodbye...Alice."

Those were my final words to my wife before I woke up.
> Chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Rise and shiiine!”

My eyes opened. A pink blur was in front of my face. It smelled like bubble-gum.

I rubbed my bleary eyes. 

“Come ooooon! I’ve got something to show yoooou!”

Said pink blur, now a pink person started shaking me. 

“Alright! I’m up, I’m up,” I said as I waved Pinkie Pie off.

“Come on! You’ve gotta come see this!” Suddenly she sped out of the room.

I continued rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Before I opened my eyes, I remembered what had happened last night. I silently thanked whoever that guy was for the time with Alice.

I heard a bird chirping at me from the bedroom window. It was a small bird, maybe about four inches tall. It was mostly black with a few white feathers. I tilted my head in confusion at the odd coloration in such a vibrant world. Then it flew away.

I shook my head and proceeded to try and get out of the bed. I say try, because apparently I had shredded my sheets with my wings last night.

“Aren’t you coming?” I heard a voice ask from my door.

“I will in just a minute, I need to get this stuff out of my wings,” I said as I tried to reach around to grab at the material.

Another pink blur zoomed by my wings and surrounded one, then the other. After the blur left my wings, Pinkie Pie was standing there with a bright grin on her face covered head to toe in torn bed sheets. Surprised both at the sudden kindness and almost cartoon like action, I opened my mouth in shock.

Then she looked at herself and began to spin, throwing the sheets everywhere. After she stopped, she grabbed my hand and almost ripped my joint apart pulling me out of the bed. I just barely missed slicing the door frame to pieces from the sudden movement.

“This way!” Pinkie Pie said as she zoomed off in front of me.

No, really. She zoomed. She didn’t sprint, she zoomed.

I shook my head in bewilderment.

“Celedon?” I heard a voice behind me say.

“Hm?” I turned around to see Tim standing there in his armor.

He sighed and said, “You know, I wish I could have stayed asleep, just for a little while longer…”

“No kidding,” I replied. However, I took a deep breath and said, “But we’re here now. We need to stay in the present.”

“I guess you’re right,” he said as he started walking after Pinkie Pie.

“Did she get you up too?” I ask. He nodded but didn’t say anything else.

We walked in silence until we reached the corner she had disappeared behind. As we turned said corner, we saw pink disappear around the next corner. It continued like this for a good few minutes. We saw her go through a large door, which I knew was the dining hall.

Just for a few seconds, I felt very wary. I glanced at Tim, who shrugged his shoulders before opening the door.

“SURPRISE!”

I jumped two feet into the air. I heard a yelp from Tim as he shot to the doorframe, trying to hide from the sudden noise. 

Inside the dining hall was a party made up of the Elements and the Princesses, along with a weird mishmash of creature parts. The general shape was an Eastern dragon, and it would take far too long to describe all the animals that made up his body. I saw a lion’s paw, a rooster claw, an antler, and two mismatched wings. The most striking part to me were his bright yellow eyes with red irises. The glint of madness could easily be seen in those eyes.

I worried that he might have an effect on Tim.

“Ah! I assume these are the guests of honor? Or should I say, guest and prisoner-on-probation?” the thing asked in a smug voice.

“Hey! I wasn’t aware of myself during this so called war. I literally could not help it!" Tim yelled at the thing, indignant. 

Suddenly, the thing popped behind Tim and pulled his arms behind his back with a pair of handcuffs, and Tim was suddenly in an orange prison jumpsuit. The thing was also wearing a police officer's cap.

Make that he will have an effect on Tim.

"Discord, that is enough. Don't set him off on purpose, please," Celestia commanded.

"Oh fine, have it your way Celestia," Discord said right before he snapped his fingers, causing the jumpsuit, handcuffs, and officer's hat to disappear in a flash.

Pink.

"Alrighty! Celedon and Berserker are both here for their 'Welcome-to-Equestria-but-not-really-for-Berserker' party!"

"Wait, what?" Tim said, barely registering the not so subtle hint at him being here for over a thousand years. He was still reeling from the sudden arrest.

I shook my head and walked into the room. On the dining table there was an absolute mountain of foods of all types and sizes. At the end of the table were golden things that looked like cupcakes. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie had brought me one of the cupcakes and held it under my nose. "Try one!" she said, smiling brightly.

The instant I sniffed the confection, I almost bit her fingers trying to get at the treat. Thankfully, she moved her hand out of the way and I calmed down. I took a deep breath and thanked her before munching down on the absolutely heavenly taste that was Pinkie's Golden Cupcake. It even had frosting, made of gold, on the top. The entire thing was light and fluffy, just like the good cupcakes I had before, but I could eat it without feeling like I was going to puke.

I think I shouldn't ask her how she made them, however.

I saw Discord looking at me from across the room with a mischievous glint in his eye. Then he just shook his head and floated off to some other part of the room. I still didn't know what Discord was, so in curiosity I went up to Celestia and asked, "Your highness, what is Discord?"

She looked over to where Discord was making it rain chocolate milk into a glass from a cotton candy cloud, and blew out a sigh. "Discord is chaos personified, and right now he is wearing that form. I'm sure he would show you his natural form if you asked. Maybe," she said. She looked a little tired from dealing with him.

"I don't need to see what Discord really looks like that badly," I said.

"Did someone mention my name?" a suave voice asked into my right ear. Completely by accident, my wing flared out and sliced right through him. Just as I was about to begin panicking, he just floated there with a look of nonchalance on his face. 

"What? Do I have cake on my face?" he asked, his head completely disconnected from his body. I was speechless.

"Discord, pull yourself together," Celestia said as she put a hand to her face.

"Of course, Celly," he said with a grin. His various pieces smashed themselves together and there was a flash, and Discord was back to defying logic with a complete body.

...I could feel a headache coming on.





After several hours of delicious gold and some dancing from the music that had been set up by a DJ PON3, Tim proving to be surprisingly adept at it, I was asked to play a song.

I didn't really have any idea of what to play, not that I ever did. I just decided to see what my fingers would do.

As before, I invoked the phrase to summon my harp. However, as I said the words, Discord's face became troubled. He had changed to his 'normal' form about halfway into the party. He was just taller than Celestia, taller than me even, and wore an unkempt brown blazer with a split color button up shirt. His pants were two different colors as well, a green right leg and a red left leg. His wings were complete opposites, his left being a bright blue feathered wing, while his right was a dark purple draconic wing. Even his shoes didn't match, the right a white snakeskin boot and the other a type of formal shoe that clacked against the floor with every step.

I had talked with him once he changed for a little while, learning his history with the Princess and the Elements, or 'Main Six' as he called them. He had been on probation just like Tim, and had redeemed himself. Though he cannot be fully controlled, and he never will be, he learned that too much chaos all the time would become boring. That and, as he looked over at Fluttershy, "I have friends now, who I do truly care about." I smiled at this. Even former villains have their good moments. 

Anyway, my harp appeared in a flash and I saw Twilight smack her head in frustration. All the examinations she had done were based around my body, now that I think about it. Shaking my head from that thought, my hands touched the strings. I closed my eyes, and began to play.

The notes were slow as I plucked the strings. I even used my feathers to provide chiming sounds. I went through the melody once before transitioning to using both hands for a higher and lower part that synced together quite nicely. A drum joined in as I played, feeling the beat like an artificial heart. A woodwind instrument joined the higher part soon after that, with the drum coming about every fourth beat. I began a more complex piece with the higher section, the woodwind following every note to perfection. The drums beat softly, doubling up during the intense parts. Meanwhile, the lower section stayed on tempo, never once straying. The chimes were constantly there. During the last few seconds, everything else cut out except for the drums and the lower section. I played the low strings for a few seconds, leading into the last drum beat and chiming cascade. 

Once I finished my song, I again saw the naked awe in all who listened. It was pretty much the same as before, though Discord did still look troubled. I bowed to my audience as my harp disappeared again. As I went to grab another cupcake, I saw Discord conversing with the Princesses, with a surprisingly serious look on his face. I was a little suspicious, but I trusted the sisters. However, the instant I picked up one of the delicious golden treats, I was suddenly standing in front of Discord, with the sisters behind him.

"Do you know what The Song is?" he asked pointedly, not mincing words.

Stunned by the sudden movement and question I hesitated for a couple seconds. However, I shook my head and said, "No, I don't know anything about ‘The Song.’"

Discord leaned in and narrowed his eyes in distrust. Behind him, Celestia said, "Discord, if she did know it, she would have been battling her urge to sing it all this time."

He cast a glance back in the direction of the Princesses before leaning backwards and adopting his smug snaggle-toothed grin again, "Well nevermind then. Just, try to keep your ears closed to things you shouldn't listen to. Arrivederci!"

And with that paranoia-inducing remark, he popped out of existence. 
> Chapter 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Song...

Just what is The Song?

"Should I be worried about this Song, Princess Celestia?" I asked, wary of her answer.

She didn't respond immediately. However, Luna took that as her cue to answer, "It is a very old legend, older than Discord and ourselves. Believe me when I say that it is nothing more than folklore."

I saw Celestia glance at Luna before she returned to pondering. 

"I still want to know about it, just in case it might be important at a later time," I said.

The Princesses looked at me before sharing a glance. Celestia sighed and told me about The Song.

A Song of Creation to all will be the final note
A Song of Destruction brings pain, even to the tiniest mote
Chimes and bells herald death
Screams and rage bring breath
A choice be made, thus the world spins
Past loss to future gain, ere all shall gain fins
Betrayal, loss, hatred, and fear
All these and more shall be encountered there

"These words were written down in a very old book, long before this castle was built, perhaps even longer than Equestria existed," she said.

What type of nut wrote that poem? "But that's just a poem, right? Not some prophecy that will be fulfilled soon?" I said, starting to get worried.

Celestia looked away, while Luna said, "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. The Song is...for lack of a better word, ethereal.  Discord, my sister, myself, and some few others can feel its presence… somewhere. It is not truly present as a piece of sheet music in the physical world. Beyond that, I cannot provide any information. It would probably be for the best if you forgot that Discord even mentioned it to you."

"Oh, okay..." I said, confused and slightly disappointed.

I left the Princesses to their talking and met up with Twilight, who had been talking to Rainbow Dash about something. The instant I showed up, however, Rainbow tried to excuse herself to grab something to eat. Twilight's hand glowed as she lifted Rainbow Dash off the ground and back towards us.

"Rainbow, you need to apologize for that unprovoked attack against Celedon."

"But she was surrounded by guards! I thought they were after her! If anything, she should apologize for taking that punch and not even having the common courtesy to act like she was in pain," Rainbow said as she tried to wriggle out of the magical grasp of Twilight Sparkle.

"I don't think that's how this works," Twilight said, a bored look on her face.

"Ugh, fine." Rainbow Dash took in a deep breath before saying, "I'msorryIpunchedyou! Now could you let me down? I'm still hungry!"

Twilight kept her in the air for a few more seconds, looking at Rainbow with narrowed eyes. I spoke up then, saying, "Twilight, don't worry about it. Like she said, I didn't get hurt, nor did I feel any pain from the impact."

Twilight looked at me before sighing and releasing Rainbow Dash. "That's not the point of the matter, Celedon," Twilight said as Rainbow shot off to get some more food. She shook her head at her friend's antics. 

"Oh right! We never did any testing on your harp, did we?" Twilight said.

"I guess not, though I'm feeling a little tired right now," I said. So much food and the various antics of Pinkie Pie could really tire someone out. 

Twilight looked a little sad at that, but she shook it off and said, "That's fine, I understand."

I thanked her for understanding and smiled gratefully as Twilight said goodbye and walked over to one of her other friends.

"Hey, Celedon."

I heard Tim behind me.

"Yes Berserker?"

"You mind if we take a walk?"

I turned around to look at him. If I had to say something about his expression, he looked like he had been thinking for quite a while. I was confused, but I nodded my head anyway. He nodded and started walking out to the garden. I caught Pinkie Pie and told her that I would be stepping out for a little bit. Can't be rude at my own party after all.





I finally found Tim looking at the pedestal he had been standing on before I had awakened him. Still don't know how that happened, but anyway.

"Trying to remember the past?" I questioned as I walked to his side.

"No. I'm just trying to remember something that the guy said to tell you," Tim said, closing his eyes in concentration.

"You mean Void-coat?" I said. Only something or someone like him could have a coat like that, I think.

"Yeah. Now that you mention it, I guess we were brought here by the same guy." Tim stood there for a few more moments, before snapping his fingers and saying, "That's right! He told me to tell you that you need to "Seek The Song in the place where Sirens Call," or something like that. Ring any bells?"

If I could breathe, my breath would have caught in my throat. 

"Did someone mention The Song?" A rather irritated sounding voice came from behind me. 

"Uh, yeah. What is it?" Tim said, still confused on what The Song really was. I turned around and saw Discord standing there with a very pointed glare.

"It is something you do not need to concern yourself with. However, you," he pointed at me. 

"...You need to be careful. Normally, I am very bad at giving advice, but certain rules are in place that even I cannot break. I hate the fact that I have to obey rules, but listen to me when I tell you this; The Song is extremely dangerous, even when wielded by those of a pure heart. I have conversed with your handler and have been made aware of a few things. Oh don't look so surprised, he was the one who contacted me."

I tried to wipe the surprise off my face, but it didn't really work.

"Wait, you actually talked with Void-coat?" Tim said, picking up on the nick name I used before.

"Void-coat? Oh, he must have used a 'normal' form so you didn't go insane. Ugh, I hate having to be so serious," Discord said with obvious frustration.

"Anyway, even though I don't like it, you do need to seek out The Song. I cannot tell you what it will do, one of his stupid rules, but let me say that the next few weeks will be a very tumultuous time for you two," he continued.

I stood there with my mouth open. Then I said, "Hold on, time out. I am supposed to seek out this 'Song,' something that doesn't really exist as a physical thing, and figure out what to do with it?" Discord nodded once, his unnaturally serious expression not doing anything to calm my nerves.

"But what about the Princesses?" I said, worried about their reaction.

"They'll be fine. The only thing they might have a problem with is having Berserker here along with you before the one-week probationary period is over. I'll explain it to them after you leave. Also, you need to get going about yesterday, because there was a small part of the poem that Celestia neglected to mention to you that is taking place right now. ‘At the first light of the last day, during the time of Mermaid Bay, The Song will be revealed, but only to the strong-willed.’ The time of Mermaid Bay is in reference to a specific time that King Triton hosts in order to decide the Royal Siren. I can tell you only that much, you have to decide how to approach it."

Overwhelmed, I waved my hands in front of me. "Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. What are you talking about?"

Discord sighed and said, "You need to go to the Mer Kingdom and participate in the competition. There, the Song will be revealed and, your handler specifically stated this, you need to gain control of it. As much as I hate having to entrust something like that to you, or anyone for the matter, you are the one that needs to win."
> Chapter 20
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was sitting on a bench, looking down at the ground, thinking about what I had just been told.

I had to go to a far off land, meet Mer-people, enter into a competition that most likely only gets entrants from their own species, and win said competition to get The Song?

It all seemed just a little bit too much for one person.

"Hey, Celedon."

I looked up to see Tim kneeling in front of me. Smiling, as he said, "I know you can do it. After all, you woke me up when I was encased in stone. You even got Mad Enhancement to release my mind. I doubt any old mermaid could do that."

My face slowly changed from one of grim pondering to an expression of silent gratitude.

"Thanks Berserker. I needed that," I said before getting up from the bench. If the competition was going to be happening soon, then I had best get going.

"All you two done over there?" Discord asked with folded arms. He really did not look to be in the mood to be patient.

"I guess...Is this really happening? Not some prank of yours?" I asked him.

He sighed and said, "I wish that were true. If it was I could be having some delightful fun with this. However, this is not a simple prank."

I nodded decisively. "Alright. What do I have to do to get started?"

Discord seemed to lighten up a bit. "Okay, first, you need to learn how to fly, play your harp, and sing properly, without any meddling from Void-coat. The competition is very sacred to the Mer-people, and only natural talent and abilities are allowed. And since I am being so generous right now and you need to get going, I think I'll just let you skip the training montage," he said. He then snapped his fingers.

Ever had the feeling of getting your mind broken into, stuff put into it, and then resealed, all in the space of a quarter of a second that felt like an eternity?

I didn't think so.

I almost immediately collapsed to the ground from the sheer pain of having my mind invaded. Images flew by in my mind's eye, leaving me speechless.

After a few seconds of this excruciating pain, I was able to open my eyes again. I was still a little deaf, as my senses 'rebooted." I saw Tim roaring and swinging wildly at Discord, who was having fun with him by making Tim slip in hot sauce puddles that appeared from the ground. And by hot sauce, I meant liquid fire. Not magma or lava, liquid fire.

...I don't even care anymore.

"Ugh...Stop it you two," I said, not willing to deal with another second of insanity.

They both looked at me, Discord with a noticeable amount of hostility, before stepping away from each other. Tim was still under the effects of Mad Enhancement, but walked over to kneel at my side.

"Come back, Berserker." I commanded. Hopefully the message got across about Tim's sanity returning.

Tim looked at me and tilted his head. Then, his eyes glazed over for a few seconds before he shook his head vigorously. Apparently the command registered.

"Wha, what happened?" Tim asked as he brought a hand to his head.

"You tried to attack me while I rid myself of the horrible feeling of obeying rules by making you trip in hot sauce," Discord said with a grin. Though once he glanced at me his face turned sour. "And you just had to ruin that by forcing me to obey your ridiculous voice."

Apparently, this man(?) likes his freedom a lot. 

"Well, now that you know how to do the stuff, I need to be going. Lots of chaos to spread, very little time to do it! Or maybe it's the other way around..." he said a second before he exploded.

I looked at Tim out of the corner of my eyes. 

He raised his hands in defense, saying, "What are you looking at me for?"

I sighed before saying, "I was looking at you to confirm whether or not I really do exist as a golden angel thing in a land where the impossible happens hourly, or even by the minute."

"Oh..."





As we walked back inside the party hall, the girls could be seen cleaning up, along with help from the castle staff. I decided to help out by getting the party banner with the rather long title down from where it hung from the high ceiling. Might as well test and see if I could fly correctly.

I flapped my wings experimentally. Newton's Third Law decided to rear its ugly head, to incredible results. 

The sheer amount of force behind my simple flap caused a massive gust of wind to blow through the dining hall. I did achieve flight for all of one second as I was launched into the air. I didn't want to try and keep myself in the air like that if I was going to cause tornado force winds just by hovering.

I didn't account for my weight upon landing, however. I thought I would land gracefully, and in a way I did. However, when you are made of solid gold and you fall from even a moderate height, things tend to break. Namely, floors.

Let's just say that the palace repairmen were going to have their work cut out for them trying to repair a crater that appeared in the dining hall.

Everyone was still coughing from the dust cloud when I emerged from the new hole in the floor.

"*cough* Is, *cough* is everyone alright?" I heard Applejack say. 

A chorus of agreements rang through the hall. I wanted to try and clear the dust, but I'm pretty sure I would just make it worse.

"Celedon, *cough* why did you try to fly like that?" Celestia asked from somewhere in the dust cloud.

"Discord shoved the information into my mind, along with a couple other things. I wanted to try it out," I said. I had learned not to lie to the Princesses, though half-truths still worked.

I heard several sounds of exasperation. 





A couple minutes later, the room had been cleared of the dust, thanks to some of the people who had been helping clean up the party. 

"Alright, Celedon, describe the conversation that caused Discord to force information into your mind," Celestia asked, a gentle expression on her face. 

"I'm sure he could do better than I could at explaining. He was talking about the Mer-people and their competition around this time of year. The way he phrased it, he was hinting at my possible entrance into the contest due to my, apparently, amazing musical talent. I agreed to go, and he put the stuff in my head," I said. All of that was true, but some important factors were left out, such as him having had contact with Void-coat. I still need to figure out his name...

Back to the present, the Princesses seemed a little suspicious. 

"It would cause enough chaos for Discord that he might say something about it..." Luna hypothesized.

"True, but I don't like how it was so coincidental to now, of all times," Celestia countered.

"It is in his nature to be annoying, in any way possible."

Celestia grimaced slightly at that.

"So...do I need to do any type of immigration or something to go to the competition?" I asked.

The sisters gave me a confused stare. "Only the northern Griffin Kingdoms have a system like that in place," Celestia said.

Luna looked over to her sister, "Really? They still use it even when there is no reason to?"

"You remember how the Griffin Kingdoms like their privacy, of course they would still have it," Celestia explained.

"So I could just walk up to the competition and enter?"

Again the sisters looked at me. "Technically, yes. Though you would have to get them to agree to let you in. They also only hold the contest underwater and no magic is allowed, so only those with some natural way of breathing under water would enter," Celestia clarified.

"I think I've got that taken care of," said as I nodded. I didn't need to breathe, being a golden robot.

The Princesses were looking a little worried, maybe because I would be out of their supervision just after having arrived in their country.

"Did I hear something about the Mer-people?" I heard an inquisitive voice from behind me.

As the owner of the voice showed herself and stood to my right, Luna's left, Celestia said, "Yes, Celedon was asking about them because Discord apparently thinks it would be a good idea for her to go and enter into the competition at Mermaid Bay." 

"The Ocean's Call? But isn't that supposed to decide the Royal Siren?" Twilight asked, looking confused.

"Correct. However, there have never been any rules stating that outsiders cannot enter and the Royal Siren is not decided by the competition alone. It merely boosts their public approval rate which might sway that King's decision," Celestia said. 

I guess being the ruler of a country has its perks. Namely, knowing about other country's culture. Though I didn't understand why Luna looked like she was learning something new. If she was a ruler at the same time as her sister, wouldn't she know this information as well.

"Oh, can I please go with her?" Twilight suddenly requested. "I would love to go there and learn about the people! Living underwater like that, it must be amazing to see!" She got a dreamy expression on her face.

Celestia looked a little pained as she said, "I'm sorry Twilight, but you cannot leave here yet. You must be present in case Berserker loses his mind again."

Twilight slumped forward. I decided to step up and said, "Why not bring him with us, along with the rest of the Elements?"

Twilight's eyes brightened while Celestia's brow narrowed in thought. Luna was looking like she was thinking as well. Then, Luna whispered in Celestia's ear for a second before waiting on her sister's reaction. A few seconds of silence resulted in Celestia letting out a long breath through her nose before she said, "As long as you have several guards with you for the trip. I will not leave you and the other Elements unprotected, especially while in the presence someone like Berserker."

Twilight seemed to take in the first sentence and ignored the rest of the statement, jumping up and down and rushing to give Celestia a hug. Seeing her so happy put a smile on my face. 

"Alright then!" Twilight said as she back away from Celestia. "I'll go see if I can't get the rest of the girls on-board for the trip!" She then rushed off to speak with the others.

"Your highnesses, would you mind if I named a couple guards to bring with us?" I asked.

The two rulers looked confused, but nodded their heads to indicate their acceptance of my request. "Would it be possible to bring Star Saber, Snow Lance, Rock Breaker, and Jade Hunter?"

For some reason, Celestia smiled at this. "No, it won't be a problem. I was actually going to send them with you anyway. They are four of my finest guards and I would feel much better if they went along with you and the Elements," she said.

Surprised but not shocked, I thanked her and excused myself. I walked over to Tim, who was helping tear down the DJ's turntable set-up.

"So, we're going on an adventure?"

"You heard it all?" I asked, surprised.

"Yep. Not that I mind, I don't want to be kept in this stuffy castle for a week on probation," he said, unplugging a speaker from the main control board.

I nodded in understanding. I remembered that Tim had never liked being cooped up for long periods of time back when he was a normal guy. 

Hopefully nothing would hinder us from our goal. Discord had sounded angry when he told us about The Song, but I thought I heard an underlying hint of worry in his tone. I probably would not have given much thought to it if it had been anything other than the fact that Void-coat had told Discord to relay the information.

...

Nevermind, that is reason enough to worry about everything.
> Chapter 21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

That cretin! Blueblood thought, his nethers still in severe pain from his injury yesterday. How dare he do such a thing to me! ME! I swear on my aunties, I will have that dog’s head and that golden woman if it's the last thing I-!

At the moment a hole opened up in the prince's room. Before he could even process what he was looking at a large figure fell out of it into his room, slamming into the floor with a thud. Right behind him was a large green canine the size of lion who landed much more gracefully. The being groaned as the hole closed up. 

"How in the hell do I trip on infinite nothingness?" He asked aloud before standing up and dusting himself off. 

The being was a massive height, as tall as Berserker, maybe even taller. He was dressed in armor that covered everything but his face around his eyes and a long red scarf with a golden emblem at the end wrapped around his neck. Clipped to his back was spear nearly as long as he was. 

"Now where am-?" he muttered before catching sight of Blueblood lying in his bed, staring back at him with a stunned expression. They gazed at each other for a few moments more. "Um... Is this Canterlot?"

"Y-Yes?" he answered hesitantly,

"Huh... So you're human in this dimension. And not the EG version of humans either. That's interesting," he muttered. "Anyway, apologies for crashing into your room, sir." he said with a bow. "We will take our leave, good sir."

Well, at least he's polite, unlike that other brute... Wait a moment…

"Wait a moment!" Blueblood called, wincing in pain as he sat up.

"Are you alright?" the armored man asked.

"Believe me, my pride was hurt the most. But maybe you could help with that, fine sir."

The warrior turned to look at him. "I'm listening."

"Within these city walls lies two outsiders who have humiliated me. They brazenly walk around as if the city was their own, and blatantly disregard royalty. I attempted to stand against them and put them in their place, but they were too strong. One is a man covered in black armor and of incredible strength and speed, and the other a golden angel with power over song who commands him. Please sir, I and our kingdom would be deeply indebted to you if you could defeat them."

The warrior pondered this for a moment before responding. "What is your name good, sir?"

"Prince Blueblood."

"Thought as much," he muttered under his breath. "Well, Prince Blueblood, what must I do to help you regain your honor?"

Blueblood smiled. "Challenge the brute to a duel on my behalf, and make sure to wager that they have to obey me if they lose."

Even behind his face guard, Blueblood could see the warrior smirk. "I agree to fight them."

"Excellent! I promise you will be rewarded for this, warrior. Just let me handle setting up the duel. Oh, and may I have your name?"

"You may call me Gilgamesh."





A few minutes later

Inside the dining hall, I had joined Tim in disassembling the DJ’s equipment, much to her gratitude. Though, she looked like she was listening to her music more than she was helping clean up. Ah well, she needed to get going either way and I guess I didn’t really get tired like others would.

Suddenly, there was a loud groan as the front doors of the hall opened up.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this? I thought.

Everyone inside watched as Blueblood was rolled forwards from the doorway on a wheelchair. I smirked as I remembered the painful injury that Tim had given the pompous moron.

Then someone walked in behind the servant rolling in Blueblood.

My eyes widened on seeing the massive warrior. My only thoughts were, How in blazes did Blueblood get that guy to work for him? 

There is only one reason the Prince would waltz in even while he was injured. That would be to challenge Tim and try to, again, receive my hand. Ugh, even thinking about that made me shiver in disgust.

“Blueblood, what are you doing out of the medical ward? You need to recover after your...injury,” Celestia said, looking slightly worried at his current state.

“Aunt Celestia, I am perfectly able to travel the castle like this," he replied. But as he went over a crack on the floor, he jerked and tried to keep his face neutral. 

“Now, I must have a talk with... with Angel and uh, Armor,” he said, still ignorant to our names. 

Beside me, Tim had already put on his helmet and For Someone’s Glory was active, the black smoke obscuring his body.

I fixed Blueblood with a cold glare and said, “We have no reason to speak with you and I would rather we not have a repeat of yesterday’s battle. That was honestly pathetic, but understandable, given your opponent.”

Tim chuckled, his voice sounding terrifying under the effects of the smoke.

The warrior had not yet moved, but I could see that he was focused on Tim more than me. He probably could sense Tim’s strength, even under the effects of For Someone’s Glory. 

Blueblood tried to cringe away from Tim, even across the room. However, he jerked again, probably from the pain of moving anything after having his pelvis pulverized.

Blueblood let out a pain filled breath before he said, “I did not come here to hear your petty insults. But you will be fighting my champion in a duel. His name is Gilgamesh!”

My eyes widened. He looked nothing like the Gilgamesh that I knew. However, Tim would probably react by name alone.

“Stop!” I shouted, putting an arm in front of Tim.

Tim could only roar in response, struggling against me. I had moved in front of Tim, using all of my strength to push him backward. My feet dug into the ground, cracking even more flooring that would need to be taken care of.

“He’s not the King of Heroes!”

Tim’s struggles immediately stopped.

“Hm, I guess she really does command him,” Gilgamesh muttered. He then walked forwards and stopped in front of us before walking around us both, scanning us intently. “Interesting. It’s obvious the big guy does the real fighting, but you don’t seem to be without your own powers either.”

“That comes with being who I am, Gilgamesh.” Not that he knew what I was made of.

“Hm. Given what you two are you must be strong, however I don’t want to go too hard on you. I guess a test is in order.”

In a flash he jumped up and kicked at Tim’s face, who managed to block it. The force was enough to send a small shockwave through the room, forcing even me back a few steps. Gilgamesh then pushed off Tim in mid-air, backflipping and landing on his feet.

“Nice. Strength, speed and reflexes. Let’s see how you handle this!” he exclaimed before rushing forwards and unleashing a flurry of punches at Tim, fast enough that it looked like he had a dozen arms, all while shouting ”DORARARARARARARARARARARARA!”

Tim, taking his agility parameter straight from Berserker, an A+, was able to keep up with his punches, weaving and deflecting the warrior’s fists. Tim then ducked underneath the main section of punches and cocked a fist back for a brutal uppercut. Amazingly Gilgamesh countered with a headbutt, slamming his own head into the oncoming attack. A punch like that would’ve been enough to smash through a normal man’s skull and come out the other side. Instead, the same shock wave as his starting kick erupted from the impact, sending out force through the whole room again.

Everyone looked on in stunned silence, which was then filled as Gilgamesh threw his head back and began laughing, applauding vigorously.

“Ha ha ha! Not bad! Looks like you’ll be worth my time after all! Ok then, a battle it is! I think we’ll have to take the fight outside though. I guess the base of Canterlot would be fine.”

I was still stunned that he had been able to take Tim’s hit, with his head of all things! But I regained my composure and said, “That should work, but I still don’t understand how that...man, was able to get someone of your strength on his side.”

“Irrelevant for now. By the way, big guy, what’s your name?” he asked Tim.

I glanced at Tim, praying that Mad Enhancement had not taken effect. 

“Berserker.” I let out a breath.

“Hm, appropriate. And you, miss?”

My natural tendency for politeness showed itself as I bowed a little and said, “My name is Celedon. A pleasure to meet you, though I wish it was under different circumstances.”

“Huh, sounds like a Pokemon name,” he muttered. I could then see him smirking behind his face guard. “I want you, too.”

I felt and heard my wings extend. “I am not a damn trophy,” I replied angrily.

“You misunderstand. I meant I want to fight you, too.”

My wings relaxed and I tilted my head to the left in confusion. I doubt I had a chance of fighting him, since unlike Tim, I had no special advantages in the way of speed or reaction time. All I had was my unnaturally dense golden body and my wings. 

“I don’t know how much you can actually fight, but you must have some kind of power, support or otherwise. I’ll take on both of you at the same time. You might actually be able to provide me some challenge.”

The almost arrogant attitude of this warrior stunned me. Tim had been able to counter Gilgamesh, if just for a second, and he was asking for another combatant? Just who was this guy?

However, I answered and said, “I don’t know about that. I’ve never really been in a fight before…”

“And I would rather she not fight at all.” I heard the voice Celestia speak up from the other side of the room. She continued, “Celedon is a guest of the Crown, and I will not stand here and let you bully her into something she would rather not do.”

He shrugged. “That’s fine. She doesn’t have to fight me. Hell, even Berserker doesn’t have to fight me,” he answered simply. I could then see another smirk creep up from under his faceguard. “However, what happens when you come across someone as powerful who doesn’t care about what you want? Just gonna ask them politely to stop and just hope it all works out?”

His reasoning caused me to grimace. What with the trip we would be on soon, it would probably be best to get some type of combat experience. I looked at Tim, who was ready and raring to go, but he was also staring at me.

I sighed. “Princess Celestia, thank you for your concern. But, with our plans being what they are,” I took a deep breath, “it would probably be for the best that I participated in this...battle.”

“Excellent! Oh, also, one last stipulation: The winner gets to have one irrefutable request of the loser,” Gilgamesh added quickly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

My own eyes narrowed in suspicion. Blueblood would only get someone to challenge Tim if they would agree to add on that little condition. Hell, I could even see Blueblood smirking behind him, which all but confirmed this. But, I really had no choice if I wanted to see battle myself. I rolled my eyes and said, “Fine. Just don’t get too cocky.”

He chuckled. “We’ll see who’s really the one who’d doing the underestimating. Oh, and Fluttershy, could you watch Enkidu? Thanks,” he said before quickly turning around and walking out the door.

“Um, wh-what?” the shy girl asked before turning to her left and jumping back with a meep, coming face to face with the massive green dog-wolf-thing that we some how hadn’t noticed until now. “U-U-Um… good doggie?” she asked hesitantly. The canine responded by immediately flopping over onto it’s back in front of her, obviously asking for a belly rub.

Hold on, what? I thought. Gilgamesh knew Fluttershy? And he owned a dog that size? Who is this guy?

“Waiting on you fellas!” he called back from down the hall.

I took one last glance at Fluttershy, who had now gotten into rubbing the huge dog that was now wagging its tail happily, and sighed.

What have I gotten myself into?





I stared at the two across from me, Berserker’s armor obscured in some kind of black fog while Celedon looked on nervously between both him and me. I could also feel the gazes of a large crowd from above at the city, perhaps even all of Canterlot. An audience is always nice.

Hm… something’s odd about her aura… Can’t quite put my finger on it. I mentally shrugged. Oh well. I guess I need more training in aura sense.

“Just so you know, I have no intention of killing or horribly maiming you. However, I have no intention of losing and I’ll fight as hard as I have to to win. Aside from the aforementioned killing and maiming, as I mentioned before,” I clarified.

“Well, that’s a relief, but it wouldn’t hurt for you to not go all out. We are trying to go on a journey soon and we need to at least be able to walk, if not fight,” she said. 

I chuckled. “I’ll do my best, but like I said, I have full intents to win. Besides, I have some healing spells if worse come to worst.” 

A strange mix of confusion and relief flitted across Celedon’s face for a second before her face returned to its previous wariness. 

“I guess that helps…” she said.

“Now then,” I began, unclipping my naginata from my back, spinning it for some flourish before taking a ready stance. “Don’t dissapoint me. It’s been a few months since I’ve had a decent fight.”

“Berserker,” she said, her face hardening while she stared at me. The knight looked at her.

“Don’t fail. Use everything you have at your disposal.” He snapped his gaze back to me, before his armor started creaking and several tassels detached from his back and began flying around behind him. His own armor began glowing red through the smoke and he let out an insane roar.

“BEGIN!” I shouted as I dashed forwards, Berserker responding with the same. The distance of several yards was covered in almost a second. Deciding to test how he fought I tried a more unorthodox attack and simply launched a shoulder barge at him. To my surprise, Berserker twisted out of the way to get in my blind spot. 

So, he’s more inclined to dodge than take a hit. Interesting. Not a brute after all.

I slammed my naginata into the the ground and used it as a pole to swing myself in a circle, dodging his attack and launching my own in response, a kick to the head with the added momentum of swinging my whole body.

Berserker ducked swiftly, and aimed a punch to the back of my knee. I uprooted my weapon in response and slashed at his head, which he skillfully dodged and tried to kick my torso in response. I twisted my body so his kick came in contact with my feet, using the force of his attack to propel me into the air. Giving me an overhead view of them both. I then used my control of the wind to shoot me down at him with as much force as I could muster. He dodged to the side, my impact with the ground sending out a shockwave and kicking up a large dirt cloud, and I followed up with hurling my weapon at him like a javelin. Even though it was was inches from his face he dodged and grabbed it before dashing at me, preparing to attack me with it. I stood still as he pulled back his swing before summoning it back to my hand, causing him to whiff his now empty hands at me, before I backhanded him to the side, sending him sliding for several yards.

“My weapons are as my own limbs. You cannot wield them if I do not permit it so.”

Suddenly I felt a massive gust of wind coming from Celedon’s direction, dispelling all of the dirt. It felt almost like a tornado was raging at me. I was about to send out my own gust of wind in response when Berserker came back and began to hail on me with a series of punches, finishing off with a strong haymaker that sent me sliding along the ground for a few  yards, though I managed to stay standing the whole time.

I cracked my neck before turning back to face them. “Thank you sir, may I have another?”

In reply, Berserker roared at me and darted forward, trying to do as I asked. A little ways away, I saw Celedon looking at me in astonishment. She must’ve been expecting me to at least have some noticeable damage from that. Luckily, my experimentation was working like I planned, my Osmosion genes allowing me to absorb energy, even kinetic energy. I was taking it all, of course, no sense in easy victories, but sometimes the appearance of invincibility is just as important as true power.

Besides, I still need to take my new powers out for more of a spin. I’ll be staying in my base form for as much as possible. But first, an old favorite.

Once Berserker was within point-blank range I hit him with a Penetrating Beam as wide as my head. The beam of fire was near instantaneous and, without any tells, actually managed to land a hit and sent him tumbling backwards.

“Your speed and technique are impressive. Though simple, your style is exceedingly effective. Truly you are no mere brute. However,” I began as I grabbed my scarf and flicked my wrist, the cloth transforming into a pair of red draconic wings as large as my body. "I am more than meets the eye as well!" 

As the song played I wordlessly activated Kage Bushin no Justu and summoned four clones. We all took to the air before casting Haste on ourselves and attacking Berserker from multiple angles like swooping hawks.

The knight stood there and watched as we all flew towards him. As the first clone came within arms reach, he dodged the strike as before and flipped out of the way of the second clone. He continued by backflipping over the third clone as he came in to strike and stuck a foot into the clone’s back. The clone disintegrated in a puff of air, but the fourth clone was able to tackle Berserker out of the air. Berserker rolled on the ground as the first clone once again tried to swoop down on him with his blade. He continued his roll and backflipped, barely scraping the clone’s faceguard with a rising kick.

I was right behind my clone and slashed at Berserker with my naginata as I flew forward. He dodged to the side again and cartwheeled out of the way of another clone.

Hm, I suppose even with the multiple fighters the attack is a bit too obvious. I backed off and had my clones retreat with me, summoning another one to replace the one defeated before summoning a ball of flame into my hand. I suppose this is as good a time as any to try and bring more video game moves to life. I then tucked my hand to my chest as I covered my upper torso with my wings, having my clones do the same. We all hovered on the wind, weaving between each other to try and confuse him before quickly positioning ourselves around Berserker, close enough for the attack but enough out of his reach to react if he charged. We all opened our wing cloaks in quick succession, going in a circle like a row of dominos, throwing out our hands like we meant to attack. Of course, only I had the ball of flame, and was second to last in the procession, shooting it at his back.

“Behind you!” I heard Celedon yell. Berserker backflipped over the fireball, which sailed between two of my clones. He charged towards me after completing his acrobatic maneuver, screaming in rage like the Viking warriors he was named after.

I chuckled as I sailed over him, landing where he just was, and summoning about another fifty clones to arrange themselves around him, once again out of his immediate striking range, boxing him in on all sides except mine. I summoned one more clone of myself who extended his naginata out and began to spin before I struck him, swinging my own weapon like a baseball bat. The clone was launched at Berserker, who dodged to the side, only to jump back as one of the wall clones swung its own weapon at him. The clone I launched hit the wall of clones in the back, sending several up into the air, before bouncing back at Berserker, who dodged again. I struck my clone again and the cycle continued three more times, the clone bouncing off the wall of other clones like a pinball, its path becoming more and more erratic, before it and I finally stopped and jumped high into the air. Unnoticed by Berserker, this whole time the other clones had launched themselves into the sky and we now all bore down on him, our weapons and bodies forming a house sized wall of spikes, before we shot ourselves at him.

”Gilginary Wall!” I called just moments before striking.

Suddenly, a golden streak shot out and hit Berserker, carrying him out of range of the attack. I looked from where Celedon had flown and saw that the earth behind where she had shot forward was bare. Trees had been uprooted and the dirt had been pushed backwards into massive piles from the force in her wings.

Wow. That’s some force behind her wings. I guess she really is as heavy as she looks. Would explain why her wings produce so much wind. But now that she’s gotten involved-

As I and the rest of my clones struck the ground, producing a massive shockwave and dirt cloud, I had them jump up into the air while I raised my weapon. They all quickly latched onto it and then each other, forming a human hammer. I jumped up into the air and spun forwards, shouting ”Gilginary Hammer!” as I brought it down at them both.

However, Celedon spread her wings and blasted towards the head of the hammer, impacting against it. She then went straight through it like a knife through butter, ending up on the other side. I could see that she had taken some damage by flying through a dense cloud of armor and blades, as a golden liquid trickled down her arms and face. In just a few seconds, the cuts had been sealed though, even the larger gashes that should have taken at least a day to heal.

Quite the durable one, isn’t she?

I jumped back several yards by backflipping before rushing towards Berserker, ordering my remaining clones to form a large ball out of their own bodies as they fell to earth. Just before they hit the ground I launched myself at them, bringing my foot back. ”Gilginary Ball!” I called before kicking the human sphere at Berserker with the force of an oncoming semi-truck.

He didn’t dodge this time. He actually ran towards the ball of clones and dropped a shoulder into it, then quickly lifted said shoulder and deflected it into the air. 

I chuckled as I dispersed all the clones, this really was amusing. Not as challenging as that time I fought the Ginyu Force, but still pretty good.

“So, you have finally decided to start working as a team! Much better! Show me what you can do together!” I called as I spun my weapon for flourish.

Celedon shouted out, “Berserker!” as I felt a breeze behind me. I dodged to the side, watching Celedon streak by me, ready to slash at her in response. My blade connected, but not in the way I expected. Instead of sinking into her arm like I thought, it sliced a small line down her arm as she passed by. Small drops of the golden liquid rained on the ground, where the ichor started steaming against the grass.

Tougher than she looks. I thought pure gold was soft, I thought as I landed, ready to dash at her and follow up the attack. Instead of stopping, she soared at Berserker, who already had his hands out. Instead of them colliding, Berserker grabbed her arms and spun around, flinging her back at me with an incredible speed. As she flew towards me this time, Celedon had folded her wings around her upper body like a bullet, and her feathers had aligned into a single smooth sheet of gold.

Not bad, I thought before extending my arm. But not good enough. Just before she hit me I released all the kinetic energy I had stored from Berserker’s blows in one burst of force, enough to equal the force she intended to hit me with. I smiled at the shocked expression on her face before firing another Penetrating Beam and sending her tumbling.

“That’s right! More! Give me more of that! Make me work for my victory!” I shouted. I could feel the joy of combat burning inside me, waiting with great anticipation for what they would try next.

After recovering next to Berserker, she whispered something into his ear, through his helmet. He stiffened before he charged at me, while Celedon stayed where she was. Her eyes were closed in concentration before she opened them. However, something was different this time. Her eyes were glowing slightly as drum beats filled the air and she began to sing. She opened her wings as well and crouched almost like a runner preparing for a race.

Berserker seemed to gain strength from the song and rushed even faster than before in my direction. In addition, I noticed my own song was beginning to fade. Berserker attacked me viciously, the two of us dodging and trading blows as Celedon’s song grew in power. I almost felt myself fighting to the beat of the song.

What’s going on? I thought as I deflected a blow by Berserker, only to take another to the face. Even still, I felt my breathing begin to slow and I didn’t feel the same drive as before. Wait, that’s it! She’s a songstress! Her music has power! It’s affecting my mind! It’s weakening my fighter’s spirit and empowering his!

I growled and unleashed a burst of wind from my body with enough force to send Berserker flying several feet back.

“Clever, angel! But my will won’t be broken so easily! Setting battle to songs is my shtick! And even without magic, I still have force!"

I began to bob my head and tap my foot to the beat as Berserker charged at me. I took his charging punch to my face, letting my anger build, before quickly grabbing him by the arm and slamming him into the ground, then lifting him up again hitting him with my naginata, sending him into the sky. As the song began to swell into the first chorus I yelled as fiercely as I could and charged Celedon, our songs clashing in tone as I brought back my weapon and readied a strike.

She almost seemed to smirk before her wings flapped down quickly, launching her body at me.

“FOOL! THE WIND IS MY ALLY! HURRICANE!” I shouted, swinging my weapon and unleashing a funnel of wind at her the size of a car. Her eyes widened as she slowed down considerably, but with one flap she shot out the top of the wind tunnel and flew over my head. By this time, I heard a roar from above my head. Berserker was falling towards me with a foot outstretched. I responded by summoning my gravity powers and catching him mid-air before throwing him into Celedon, the clang of metal against metal ringing out over the battlefield. Celedon stopped singing from the impact.

“I wanted to keep this a mostly physical battle, but if this is how you fight, so be it,” I declared as I inhaled deeply. “SHABON BREATH!” I shouted, combining my Aqua Breath attack with the power of Hamon and breathing countless bubbles from my mouth. I then commanded them to swarm my two opponents, moving erratically like a horde of wasps.

Celedon shook her head before noticing the bubbles moving towards her and Berserker. He had gotten up and was standing in a ready position, trying to anticipate the movement of the bubbles, while she was sitting on the ground, her wings halfway into the earth. 

She opened her mouth then and screamed. This wasn’t a simple sound of exclamation. She screamed with enough force that the bubbles slowed down and started popping, prompting them to explode. The explosive force caused her to be pushed backwards along the ground. She stayed there, dazed from the power of Hamon. Berserker looked over at Celedon, then charged at me, roaring with more fervor than before.

“You did well last time, let’s see how good you do now,” I muttered, clipping my naginata to my back and pulling back my arms. “Muda da,” I said before dashing forwards and unleashing a flurry of lightning-fast punches. ”MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!”

Berserker roared and dodged or deflected almost every single one of my punches. A few were able to get past his defenses, but it seemed like he was tiring ever so slightly. He suddenly wove past a punch aimed for his face and shot an open palm to my chest.

“Down, boy,” I said with a smirk and increased the gravity around him to the point he struggled to stand up. “Not bad. You know there’s, something else I’ve been wanting to try out.” I held my arm out and concentrated before summoning a rocket launcher into my hand. “Well look at that, I don’t need to transform to bring it out anymore. Oh, and also?” I aimed it at his head and fired, the rocket carrying him several feet before exploding. “Boom, headshot,” I said before dismissing the weapon.

I heard Celedon yell out “Berserker!” as she flapped her wings and landed beside the stunned knight. 

“Oh please. After everything else we’ve hit each other with, that was practically a love tap.” I said with a chuckle. Oddly enough the freaking rocket launcher was less powerful than my transformed weapons, but there is something to be said for range.

As Celedon looked over Berserker, he flipped up and started to run forwards but was stopped by Celedon with a hand to his chestplate. She brought her left wing in front of them and I heard two metallic pings. When she removed her wing, Berserker was holding two of her golden feathers in his hands like daggers. A red and black color overcame both however, and he charged at me again, roaring. Celedon had flown forward as well, speeding up to match Berserker in a second. Celedon suddenly peeled off, flying straight up and blasting me with a burst of wind, while Berserker still ran at me.

WHOA, HELLO! I thought as I instinctively hopped back. Deciding distance might be best I took my stance and pulled my arms back, gathering my energy. ”Hadouken! I shouted, firing a small ball of blue ball of energy from my hands at him.

Instead of dodging this time, Berserker flashed a hand forward and threw the feather-dagger. Its spinning arc sliced through the energy ball and stuck into the ground. Berserker kept moving, performing a flip to grab the dagger from the ground. 





High above, the audience of the battle below had trouble keeping up with the sheer speed and power that was being used. Gilgamesh’s attacks were easily seen, though the black and gold duo seemed to be able to counter his more flashy moves. Gilgamesh did have a noticeable advantage by virtue of having a weapon, or weapons, on his person. The spectators had basically bet all their money on the massive warrior, though some believed that the black knight and the golden angel would win simply because they worked as a team.

Twilight looked down at the raging fight and started to worry about the two recent additions to the castle. Gilgamesh was easily able to keep up with Berserker, and as she said, Celedon had no battle experience. Still, it was surprising how well the two worked together. 

“Twilight?” a calm voice sounded from behind her.

She started and turned around, seeing Princess Celestia standing there with an amused smile on her face.

“Princess Celestia. Please don’t scare me like that,” Twilight implored before returning her eyes down below at the battleground.

Celestia walked up beside her with a grimace on her face.

“Do you think they’ll win?” Twilight asked as she looked to her mentor.

The Princess stared at the spear wielding warrior for a few seconds before answering. “It is possible as of right now. They might be able to get a lucky hit in and take him down. But he is so experienced, you could see it in his bearing,” she said after a sigh.

Twilight’s gaze found the base of the mountain again, where she started to worry heavily about the outcome of the battle.

And she didn’t know if her new friend(s)? would win.





I swung my naginata, which Berserker ducked under like I expected, before kicking up at his head. His reflexes and agility served him well that despite being inches from my foot he backflipped out of the way.

This is pretty fun, but I think I’m gonna have to start wrapping this up soon. Maybe a few more of my new moves, then I’ll decide whether or not to… wait, where’s Celedon been this whole time? I would’ve thought she’d attack in some form by-

Just as I thought this, I heard the aforementioned Angel scream, “Berserker!”

The knight flipped out of my reach and kept going until he was right beside her. She again whispered something into his ear. This time, he actually looked at her, as if confirming the order. She nodded and an electric guitar started playing.

The knight turned back to me and began laughing, madness in his voice. The black smoke from his armor started to fade, like it was being blown off. The armor underneath the smoke was of incredible craftsmanship, though it looked more suited to destruction than nobility. Then, twin clouds of the smoke swirled down from his right hand and formed a dark blade. The intense malice from the sword was easily noticeable, though I could not decipher why it was so evil.

As the song swelled, Celedon began singing. Both of them charged, Celedon taking to the skies to wear down my spirit with her song and Berserker sprinting forward at an extremely fast pace, much faster than before. Maybe the blade enhanced his strength and speed somehow?

Time these guys got a taste of pure Gilgy sound, I thought while activating my next song.

“Ok big guy, you look like you’re pulling out the stops! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!” I shouted charging forwards before leaping into the air and firing dozens of lasers from my eyes with Laser Barrage.  

Celedon flew above Berserker, and reflected the lasers off of her body. Then, she shot into the air and kept singing while Berserker launched himself at me from the ground, pulling back his blade for a rising slice.

As good a time as any to use this, I thought, blocking his slice with my naginata. As the two weapons locked I activated the rotation and spun my fingernails. “Tusk, Act 2!” I called and fired my thumb, middle, ring, and pinkie fingernails from my left hand at him. Surprised and at point blank range, all four struck him in the chest. However, since I didn’t want to kill him, I directed the attacks as Tusk itself appeared behind me in its second form.

”Chumiiiiiiiin!~” it called in its high pitched voice as I pushed Berserker off me. As he fell the four holes moved, two to his elbows, and two his knees.

“THESE HOLES WILL SHOOT YOU!” I shouted before each hole activated and fired through his body. Though non-lethal, hitting all of his major limb joints would definitely hinder him, and I heard him roar in pain as he fell to the earth.

Just before he hit the ground, he flipped and landed perfectly, even with the holes in his limbs. Even from my place in the air, I could hear his growling.

“Wow, high pain tolerance,” I muttered as I landed myself before raising a hand at him. “Electrocute!” I called and fired a bolt of lightning at him.

However, he anticipated the movement of my arm and ducked to the side right before I fired. Celedon then shot out of the sky and tried to slash at me with both of her wings while spinning forward.

Oh, this’ll be fun, I thought with a smirk. First I brought her to the ground with my gravity powers before pointing my left index finger at my head and spinning the nail. “Tusk, Act 3!” I declared before firing the nail into my head. As my body fell back and hit the ground my body from the waist up contorted through a bullet sized hole in the ground. I could feel my body move as I emerged from a hole appearing on Celedon’s back. “Hi there. Come around her often?” I asked cheekily before pointing my five right fingers at her, their nails spinning, and firing into her neck, Tusk’s third form behind me. As I retreated back through the hole I commanded the holes in her body to move to her collarbone before firing. She got up, surprisingly with not even a groan as they pierced her body. Undeterred,  I hopped to my feet and held my fist out at her. “Rocket Punch!” I said, causing a massive boxing glove to appear in front of me before firing at her and exploding.

She flew backwards, the impact stopping her song. She almost collided with Berserker  as he acrobatically flipped over her body. He howled in rage as he began moving erratically towards me, never going in a straight line.

”Fire Spin!” I shouted, summoning a whirlwind of flames around me. Instead of deterring him, however, he charged right through them. Oh shit, was my only thought before he began his assault.

He brought his blade down and back up in a flash, slashing me once, then twice, then a third time all in the space of a second. He kicked me into the air and followed after me before blasting me back into the ground with his sword. Celedon rammed into me from the side as I got up off the ground, before she threw me back at Berserker. He slammed a fist into the side of my head with surprising strength, tossing me away from him. 

However, he had thrown me back towards Celedon with that punch, so I tried to ready a punch of my own at her. Instead of flying up, her wings flattened and stuck into the ground, causing me to feel just how dense her wings were. She then shot forward again and grabbed me, flipping and tossing me into the air where Berserker slashed at me again a dozen times in quick succession before grabbing me by the foot and throwing me back down to earth.

Dazed from the attack, I saw Celedon shoot towards Berserker, his hands held out. 

Well, that’s gonna hurt.

Still too dazed to dodge, I saw Celedon grab Berserker’s arms and spin around once, twice, three times before flinging her at me. Her wings were completely smooth and angled to give as little wind resistance as possible. I even saw a mach cone around the tip of the angelic bullet.

She hit me with the force of a hundred freight trains going max speed, perhaps even harder, and I folded over the wings. She carried me for several dozen yards before pushing her wings out and grabbing my arm.

She nearly took my arm with her from the force of her wings beating against gravity as she flew up into the sky. She spun and tossed me back at the arena where Berserker was already waiting. He jumped into the air and hit me a couple more times with his sword before slashing upwards, sending me even farther into the air. 

Then I felt a heavy pain from my back. Still flying, I saw Celedon standing on top of me, her arms crossed and feet together. Her eyes were glowing slightly red and she had a smirk on her face.

M.Bison? That you?

With no further warning, her wings pushed the both of us down towards the ground. The earth quickly came up to greet me, followed by what must have to have been a two thousand pound force being pushed down at terminal velocity.

The weight lifted itself from my back and I lazily picked myself out of the me shaped hole in the ground I was in. The duo were standing next to each other a couple yards away, Berserker on the left and looking menacing, while Celedon looked slightly surprised on the right before shaking her head.

“You forgot… to say… ‘This place… shall become… your grave,’” I wheezed out.

Celedon looked at me with a confused expression before Berserker placed a hand on her head. Apparently the motion conveyed something to them, as they reassumed their battle stances.

I groaned as I stood up, dusting myself off. Then I chuckled. Before I could stop I threw my head back and laughed like a maniac. I could feel the spirit of battle exploding inside me.

“FUN! FUN! FUN FUN FUN! FUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! SO MUCH FUN! YOU TWO REALLY KNOW HOW TO GIVE A FIGHT!” I then threw my head back and laughed again. I finally calmed myself down after about twenty seconds. “But all good things come to an end, and I’m afraid it’s about time this ends. Pick your final song, songstress, for this fight ends now!”

If these guys are any level of JRPG fan, they’ll recognize this and know I mean business.

The pounding orchestral began as I decided to add a little flourish to my transformation. I wordlessly went into my first form, and after the initial flash I began to absorb the energy of the light waves around me, making it impossible to see me. I also summoned a tornado to swirl around me and floated up using the wind. As the final swells before the vocals began I dispersed the tornado and revealed my eight armed form, my two unarmed limbs folded across my chest and my eyes glowing red as my body was kept aloft by my scarf wings.

”BEHOLD, MY COMBATANTS, A TASTE OF REAL POWER!” I shouted in a magically enhanced voice just before the vocals began.

Yup. Still got the timing down.

My opponents looked up in astonishment, Celedon more so than Berserker. Celedon’s face then hardened, before I heard some techno-ish sounds fading into the air. The sounds then turned into a fast paced guitar section with a hard and fast beat behind it, and she began singing.

Huh. Didn’t expect something that sounded like that outta her. But now, to get down to business, I thought before firing dozens of shots from Laser Barrage at them, all the size of my head. As before, Celedon shielded Berserker with her wings, reflecting the beams of light off her body. 

Ah, right. In that case…

I casually swung my naginata and unleashed Wind Slash on them, raining down dozens of sharp blades of air, each one strong enough to cut a fully grown tree in half. Berserker grabbed onto Celedon as she took flight, blasting off the ground and just barely missing the blades.

Not that easy.

I raised Caliburn, the broadsword lighting aflame, and swung, unleashing an arc of fire as long as a train. I then used the wind to contort it into a flaming tornado and sent it at them.

To my surprise, Celedon tried to plow straight through the tornado, flipping and throwing Berserker above the fiery winds. The sheer mass of her body went through the outer shell and into the eye of the storm. She shot out of the top and caught Berserker, completely disregarding the vacuum and heat inside the vortex. They continued on their flight towards me, and it looked almost like Celedon was about to toss Berserker again.

”FOOLS! I COMMAND THE VERY WIND YOU RIDE!” I bellowed before raising my spear to the sky. With a few twirls of the weapon I brought down a tornado as large as Mt. Canter itself. Even Celedon couldn’t withstand the winds from a cyclone that massive. 

The angel looked like she was trying to keep steady, but eventually fell prey to the forces of the winds. She was able to keep a hold on Berserker, but they rode into the side of the tornado, buffeted by the incredibly strong winds. I did see Celedon folding her wings around the both of them, before letting the current carrying them up the wind storm.

”IMPRESSIVE FOR YOU TO RESIST THIS MUCH! BUT I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SHOW MY FULL POWER!” I boasted before adding fire to the winds. Within only a few seconds the storm changed from a mere cyclone into a giant funnel of flames. The golden bullet did not waver however, though I saw her wings straighten into flat surfaces. They continued riding the flames higher and higher, probably waiting to reach the top and catch their breath.

Sorry, but the end comes now, I thought before forcing all the flames and winds upwards, forming a massive ball of flames above me and pulling them along with it. I then hurled the fireball at the ground, where it then exploded like a napalm bomb.

And now, to make sure you’re down, I thought before dispersing my weapons and using six to perform the proper hand signs. Won’t go too hard on them though. Just one should be enough.

”Tengai Shinsei.” 

I then folded my eight arms and smiled as the skyscraper sized meteor fell down from the sky, falling past me before landing in the center of the previous explosion. It jutted into the ground for a few moments just before exploding, right at the climax of my song as well.

“If that doesn’t take them down, I’ll be stunned,” I thought aloud before gently descending to the ground. As I landed a thought hit me and I looked back towards Canterlot, which was thankfully still intact.

Wow. I got a little too carried away, didn’t I? This was pretty close for that kind of thing. Good thing I didn’t destroy it.

I walked towards the center of the crater, using my ki to try and sense their auras. After about a minute, I started to get worried.

I… Didn’t overdo it… did I?

The dust cleared, and I saw Celedon kneeling beside Berserker, who was barely breathing. She wasn’t looking too hot herself, as open gashes and scorch marks covered her. She looked like she was trying to rouse Berserker, unsuccessfully. However, I did not hear any crying from her.

”You…” she whispered. 

”You did this to him...To my friend.” she said louder. I noticed that her voice seemed to have an underlying growl.

“And I can heal him as well. I have that power. I just need to-”

”YOU DID THIS TO HIM!” she screamed as she jumped up and whirled to face me before letting out a terrifying roar. The gravel under her feet was smashed away as she charged towards me, not even bothering to use her wings.

”Perfect Defense!” I shouted, barely having time to activate the invincibility spell before she slammed both of her fists into my chestplate. The attack caused no physical damage, but the force was still enough to send me sliding back by several yards, which was pretty damn impressive considering the last attack to be able to do that had roughly the force of a sonic boom behind it. After that hit she charged at me again.

“Down, girl!” I said, increasing her gravity as much as possible, roughly thirty times the normal gravity. She staggered down to a knee, but still attempted to get up. Her wings lay flat on the ground behind her as she tried to stand. Her face was a mask of complete fury even as she had to be feeling crushed under the gravity. Her eyes glowed red with rage and her teeth were bared at me. 

“Ok, I understand you’re very upset right now, but I did mention that I could heal him, right? Seriously, aside from some exhaustion he’ll be just fine! I just need to get to him, alright?”

The glow in her eyes seemed to lessen a fraction, and her mouth closed into a thin grimace. ”Then get over there, now.” she said in a tight voice. She then collapsed to the ground under the force of gravity, trying feebly to move her arms.

“Ok, ok, jeez, gimmie a second!” I said quickly before rushing over to Berserker, making sure to keep Celedon pinned down with gravity. I found his limp body and focused for a moment before casting Curaja, a green light spreading over his body for small time. After a moment of waiting, he began to groan. I sighed in relief. “Ok big guy, up and at ‘em,” I said, grabbing his arm and pulling it over my back, using my others to keep him steady. I then turned back to Celedon. “See? A good night’s rest, maybe a soothing spa treatment, he’ll be good as new! Now, uh, do you need some treatment too?”

The glow had fully faded from her eyes. She seemed to focus in on me before trying to get up, still under the effects of gravity, just in case.

“Why can’t I move?” she asked.

“Oh, hold on,” I said as I disengaged the gravity, allowing her to stand. “So yeah, sorry, but I kinda wanted to drive the point home for later. But first, I believe you and the big guy owe me, as per our deal.”

Celedon’s eyes widened a fraction before her face fell. She looked incredibly depressed before she heaved a great sigh and quietly said, “Fine...I...Just say it, get it over with.”

I returned to my base form and smirked. “Now now, don’t make that face. It doesn’t suit a pretty girl like you. And besides, did you actually think I was doing this so that little pompous douche could get what he wanted?”

Her eyes lit back up and she looked at me in shock and confusion. “W-what do you mean? You’re not going to tell me to go to B...that disgusting little…” she tried to continue but instead shuddered, her feathers making small chiming sounds.

I chuckled. “Oh please, this was just an excuse for me to have a good fight with another Displaced without having to act like the bad guy and attack you out of the blue.” My smile widened as I summoned my naginata to my hand and cut a hole in reality. “Now come on, I want you both to have a good look at his face when I tell him off.”

Celedon’s face looked even more shocked as she struggled for words. “Wha, but, you, I…” she stuttered, before she furrowed her eyebrows and said, “What’s a Displaced?”

“Oh, am I your first meeting? Well, I’ll get to that later,” I said just as Berserker finally began to regain consciousness. “Oh hey, you’re up too.”

Celedon rushed over to him and began removing his helmet. Strangely, she didn’t have a look of worry on her face, but a look more characteristic of a soldier checking on his comrade. His helmet came off and I saw his face for the first time.

“T-...Ahem. Berserker, you alright?” Celedon asked.

It took a second for his eyes to focus, but he nodded groggily. Then he held his head and said, “Ugh, I feel like I got hit by a freight train carrying depleted uranium cargo.”

“Wow, is that all? You must be tougher than I thought,” I commented. The helmetless knight gave me a flat look. “Huh, you know, I don’t know what I was expecting under that helmet, but you look a bit more youthful than I would’ve thought. Anyway, let’s go. Your girlfriend and I were just about to make Blueblood look like an idiot.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” “He’s just a friend!” They said at the same time. A blush rose to Berserker’s face while Celedon kept a non-hostile glare on me.

I chuckled. “I’m just teasing. Now come on, let’s go,” I said, carrying the knight into the Rift.





As I walked out of the strange rift, I saw us appearing right in the middle of our unexpected audience. Blueblood was sitting in his wheelchair with a smug smile on his face. Gilgamesh handed Tim over to me while he walked forward and said, “I have defeated my opponents.”

Surprisingly humble words from the guy who can throw freaking meteors!

Blueblood clapped his hands once and started to chuckle before he said, “Well, then! You! Angel! Come here!”

When I didn’t move, he forcefully said, “I said now!” I simply smirked at him.

“Gilgamesh! What is the meaning of this?!” Blueblood practically screamed.

“Oh, well, you see, I didn’t actually declare what they needed to do yet. I just wanted to see your reaction when it happened,” he replied.

“Oh! Well, that is, good! Now then, give them the terms!” he said as he recovered his composure.

“Of course. Now let’s see here… I want you, Celedon, to make me a sandwich. Preferably with pastrami, but I’ll take anything you make with meat.”

“... Wow, that’s really sexist,” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

“You just told a woman to go into the kitchen and make you a sandwich.”

“... Oh wow, that is bad. I’m gonna have to think of something else.”

“Gilgamesh! I gave you an order! Command them to obey me for the rest of their lives!” Blueblood shrieked. A surprisingly high pitch, if I do say so myself.

Gilgamesh cocked his head curiously at the wheelchair bound man. “Why would I do that?”

“It was our agreement!” Blueblood yelled. He looked like a child about to throw a tantrum.

“No I didn’t.”

Taken aback, Blueblood said, “What?”

“I believe my exact words were ‘I agree to fight them.’ I didn’t say anything else. It’s not my fault if you made assumptions based on that.”

Stunned by Gilgamesh’s words, Blueblood remained silent as the warrior continued. As he did, I heard whispers begin to emerge in the crowd surrounding us. 

“Besides, I’m the kind of guy that values personal freedom over all else. Why would I ever agree to something that would force others into what is basically slavery? Oh, and on a side note, you’ve really got to work on your personality. Seriously, it stuns me that two people as regal and upstanding as Celestia and Luna could have any blood relation to you.”

The aforementioned sisters were both glaring at Blueblood with a very heavy gaze. He tried to shrink away from them, but contorted his face in pain from his injury. He tried to save face by saying, “Well, I, um, didn’t really mean what I said when I said for the rest of their lives, I just-”

“Guards, take him to the isolation ward,” Celestia said, a hard expression on her face.

“WHAT!?” he shouted, a completely terrified expression on his face.

“Ooh, harsh,” Gilgamesh said, a smirk clearly visible under his facemask. “Oh, hey Celedon, I think I’ve got my request,” he said before whispering into my ear. “I don’t suppose you’re a fan of the Rolling Stones?”

I looked back, raised an eyebrow, and whispered , “You seriously asking me that?”

“Just making sure. I think Blueblood here could learn a little lesson about… getting what you need,” he said with a shit-eating grin.

My flat expression turned into a devious smirk. “I believe that would be just perfect.”

I handed Tim back over to Gilgamesh while Tim grumbled something about being a sack of potatoes, and remembered the words of the song Gilgamesh was thinking of. Before I sang, I said, “Gilgamesh, I trust you’ll provide some of the music. I did really get a bit tired with all that singing.” 

“I happen to be quite good at Karaoke, if I do say so myself. Additionally,” he began before turning to Pinkie Pie. “Hey Pinks, do you have a stash for guitar emergencies?”

“Sure do! Do you need someone on drums?” the pink covered girl said before pulling a guitar from behind her back.

“If you’re willing,” he said levitating Tim over to a nearby seat and catching the guitar as Pinkie tossed it to him. “Hit it, Cel!”

I glanced at Blueblood for a second before I began to sing.

”I saw her today at the reception

A glass of wine in her hand

I knew she would meet her connection

At her feet was a footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want

You can't always get what you want

You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometime you find

You get what you need”

I sang out the small chorus before Gilgamesh joined in with the guitar, smirking smugly at Blueblood’s still stunned expression. Then he demonstrated his karaoke skills by joining in as the lead, while I sang back-up vocals.

”I saw her today at the reception

A glass of wine in her hand

I knew she was gonna meet her connection

At her feet was a footloose man

You can't always get what you want

You can't always get what you want

You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometimes well you might find

You get what you need”

Blueblood looked utterly gobsmacked, unable to form even a proper response as he was wheeled away. Gilgamesh and I continued as Pinkie joined in with all the percussion instruments… somehow.

We eventually stopped the song, and stood there in the middle of large crowd. Then they began applauding. I smiled and bowed a little, while Gilgamesh twirled the guitar and tossed it to Pinkie, who placed it behind her back only for it to disappear.

Not even gonna comment on that. I value my sanity too much, I thought. Then I turned to Gilgamesh and said, “Alright, now about these Displaced you were talking about…”

“Oh, right, um… honestly not sure how much you want everyone to hear, but basically… well, let me tell you a little bit first and you can decide,” he stepped closer and whispered into my ear. “What would you say if this was actually an alternate version of a little girl’s cartoon, and there are nigh countless alternate realities possessing people like you and me and your friend over there that got sent there with powers based of costumes they were wearing?”

I turned to him with a flat look before sighing. “I would have never believed you until I got here, as this,” I indicated my new body. But I noticed all the prying eyes and said, “Grab T-Berserker, let’s go to a more discrete place. I want to hear everything.”

“Gotcha,” he said before dashing over and grabbing Tim, easily lifting him above his head with both hands, much to Tim’s surprise. “SORRYEVERYBODYPRIVATECONVERSATIONPOSSIBLESHATTERINGOFYOURWORLDVIEWSTALKLATERMAYBE!” he said quickly before dashing away, grabbing me as he ran out of the room.
> Chapter 22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I directed him to my bedroom, hopefully we wouldn’t be disturbed there. My sense of direction held true as he dropped me and I opened the door. Unfortunately, the shredded sheets were still on the floor, even after all this time. Maybe the servants only come through in the evening…

“Ok!” he began, tossing Tim on the bed and then picking me up and doing the same. “First thing’s first: Does the name ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’ mean anything to you?”

“No...Not really. I think it was a cartoon or something,” I said, confused. Tim shook his head beside me.

“Hm… ok, several possibilities with that. What’s the last year either of you remember before coming here?”

“It was early 2013, why?” I answered, wondering just where he was going with this.

“Ok, well that strikes that possibility. Does Hasbro still exist in your dimension? Or did it ever?”

“Yeah, I loved Transformers as a kid, I still do actually,” I answered, fondly recalling the disaster that was my first attempt at transforming Ultra Magnus.

“Hm, ok then, that’s another of the list. How about the ‘Powerpuff Girls’ and ‘Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends’?”

Tim spoke up this time, “My sister used to watch Powerpuff girls. I admit, that show caught my attention a little. Foster’s...eh, not so much.” I nodded, agreeing with him.

“Ok, so it seems Lauren Faust did her thing. Final question, about how much time did you guys spend surfing the internet as a daily routine?”

“I had work to do in my forge, I was a blacksmith by the way, and I did other odd jobs for my friends, so I didn’t have much time in the way of computers. I know how to use one, since I had a website and everything for orders, but nothing for recreation,” I answered, still confused as to where was going with this.

“I surfed the web quite a bit, actually. It was mostly watching videos, anime, and reading,” Tim answered. He had tried several times to get me into stuff like that, but I couldn’t afford to because of my work.

“Huh. And yet somehow you missed it. Either that, or everything lined up except the creation of that one show,” he muttered. Finally he shrugged. “Ok here’s the skinny: in 2010 Hasbro restarted the My Little Pony franchise under the guidance of Lauren Faust, giving it the secondary title of ‘Friendship is Magic.’ It was a huge success, the writing and voice acting, not to mention world-building, making devoted fans not only out of it’s intended audience of little girls, but also even grown men. Of them including yours truly.”

“It’s not that I didn’t see it, I just didn’t bother to watch the show or look up the controversy or whatever surrounding it,” Tim clarified. “I don’t care what someone watches, it’s their choice, and if it’s a good show, let them watch what they enjoy.”

I nodded and said, “Even if I didn’t really notice it, I hold the same opinion. It’s your choice whether or not to watch something like that, and as long as you aren’t forcing it down someone’s throat, I would be fine with it.”

"Gotcha. Ok, well here's the starting plot, and stop me if you heard this one. One thousand years ago the alicorn sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, ruled peacefully over Equestria until Luna, upset that none of the ponies appeared to be appreciating the night she made, rebelled and attempted to take over, christening herself Nightmare Moon. Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister to the moon and ruled for one thousand years, over the course those events faded into myth."

Tim and my eyes widened, not only at the story but the names. 

"On that thousandth year Princess Celestia's personal student, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle, believed the story was real, and warned her teacher of the danger. Curiously, Celestia told her to go to the nearby town of Ponyville and prepare the Summer Sun Celebration as well as 'make friends.' Not one to disobey her teacher, she and her dragon assistant Spike went to the town as told and met five interesting mares: earth ponies Pinkie Pie and Applejack, pegasi Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and unicorn Rarity. As Twilight feared, Nightmare Moon returned and with her came the threat of unending night. Twilight set out to find the Elements of Harmony, and the five mares she met went with her. Over the course of this journey she made friends with the girls and, as it turned out, they all were the new bearers of the Elements and with their power purified Princess Luna of the dark power influencing her. The Princesses were reunited, and light returned to the world. And that," he smirked, "is the end of the first two episodes."

“...” An awkward silence stretched in my small bed room.

“Are you serious?” I asked him. Tim was laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling in shock. There were too many names that were similar for it to be a joke, and the suddenness of being transported here in my new body certainly made it a possibility...But still. A CARTOON?!

“Welcome to magical pony land, where love and friendship are not merely emotions and relations but literal magical forces capable of exuding power on the extent of non-lethal atomic bombs! Enjoy the diabetes inducing cuteness, the occasional sudden musical number, and villains that look like they’d be at home in Middle-Earth!” Gilgamesh said gleefully.

“Except these guys aren’t ponies,” Tim said from his place on the bed.

“Yeah, you’ve got an interesting version like that. Usually they’re candy colored ponies, like in my dimension, other times they’re more anthro, then they could also be basically human just with strange skin and hair colors. Yours is the first I’ve been to where they seem complete normal aside from the anime colored eyes and hair. Oh, and the pegasi wings.”

“Hm…” I hmmed.

“So, you’ve been to other universes then. Is that a normal thing for the Displaced?” Tim asked.

“Ah yes, Displaced, need to mention that. Ok then, first off, do you remember your previous lives before you came here?”

“Well yeah, I do at least, and I’m pretty sure Berserker does as well,” I confirmed. Tim nodded after sitting up on his elbows.

“Ok, well the usual story is you go to a convention of some kind, you get something related to your costume, you get transported to a version of Equestria. Usually the one responsible is a void-dweller and Sys Admin by the title of ‘The Merchant.’ There are some discrepancies, of course, but that’s the usual story.”

“Well the last thing I remember is something strangling me to death, then waking up like this on the top of the mountain, surprisingly not frozen. What about you Berserker?”

“I actually did go to a con, that’s why I had you,” he points to me, “smith me this armor. Wanted to be authentic for the fans. I just didn’t have Arondight, or at least a prop of it. I did meet up with a guy in a long black coat who said he could get me one. He didn’t look too threatening, and I thought his costume was nice, even if I didn’t recognize it. I followed him to a less populated area where he brings out a true replica of my sword. While I was stunned from the reveal, he stabs me through the chest with it. I black out, then wake up and wonder where I am. After that, everything is a little blurry until I got released by Celedon here,” he explained. He gave me a light punch on my arm as he said the last sentence.

“Huh. Well yours sounds pretty typical, Berserker, aside from the stabbing part. As for Celedon’s… eesh. Strangulation. Not fun. You’d be the second Displaced I’d met that got sent to Equestria after they died. Anyway, judging from what you mentioned you, Berserker, likely suffered the other similarity between Displaced: pissing of Celestia and/or Luna and getting sealed in stone for a thousand years… at least. I know I’ve been there.”

“I did find a statue of him that I didn’t know was actually him, just sealed. He was, quote, ‘Berserker: Spirit of Mad Rage and Hatred.’ End quote. Apparently, he waged a one-man war against Equestria and her allies a thousand years ago. Only the Elements of Harmony were able to defeat him. Though the plaque said that he was destroyed and the statue was left as a warning,” I confirmed.

“Huh, not too different from mine. In my universe there was a war that had been going on for five years between the ponies, the griffons, and the minotaurs. I showed up, kicked all their asses, even the Princesses, and basically had a winning streak for one hundred years before they all finally got the idea to join up against me and, after a suitably long battle, let myself get beaten so they could become allies. I was dubbed ‘Combat,’ avatar of battle itself,” he said proudly.

“Nice,” Tim said with a grin. I shook my head with a smile at his behavior.

“I’d believe that, after the thrashing you gave both of us. I mean, seriously? Meteors?” I said, still a little overwhelmed by that last attack.

“Actually, that’s more recent. Originally I was given my insane physical prowess, magical abilities, and my three transformations. Other abilities I got were either given to me as gifts from other Displaced or bought from an extremely powerful Displaced named either Umbra Shadow Walker or Aaron Heibai. He actually is the only Displaced I know that used to be a Sys Admin, and he basically has a store that sells absolutely anything you can think of.”

“Um…‘three transformations?’” I asked.

“Yup! Sorry to say this, but I only used about… thirty percent of my full power, tops, to beat you guys. In my final form my physical strength alone would literally allow me to pick up Mt. Canter and swing it at you like a baseball bat.”

My mouth was open in shock. Beside me, Tim just said, “That’s it. I’m out,” and flopped onto the bed.

“Sorry guys, but I’ve been getting the luck of the draw for a while now. Not to mention, I’ve been in this game for a long time, too. It’s a wide, wide multiverse out there. You’re a couple of big fishes in a small pond, and you just met a shark,” he said before he smirked. “Pray if you meet any whales that they’re friendly.”

“And how exactly would we even contact the friendly ones? I still don’t know how this whole ‘contact through the multiverse’ things works,” I said, exasperated. 

“Well, got good news and bad news for you there. First of all, most of us are actually pretty good guys. Maybe a bit selfish at times, but when push comes to shove, we stand up for the side of heroism. Of course, that just makes the truly evil ones out there just seem even more evil. As for the contact thing, we basically send these ‘Tokens’ of ours out into the multiverse with a message attached to them, letting others know about our names, goals, etc. You guys could probably make your own easily now. The one thing I have to warn you about is being newbies that if anyone catches your token and calls for you, more then likely you’re gonna get pulled into their world whether you want to or not. And then there’s the problem of different time speed. All the dimensions move at different rates of time. There’s the possibility you could be gone for months, but only an hour would pass in this dimension. Of course, one time I was gone for a day, only to come back and find out a week had passed.”

“Of course, time shenanigans. There’s always time shenanigans included with the multiverse package,” Berserker said, still laying on his back.

“So, these ‘Tokens,’ how would they get to other Displaced?” I asked.

“Well, basically you kinda just… send them out into the multiverse. To be honest, they kinda work on willpower and when you try them they do what you want kinda on auto-pilot. But like I said, if someone gets them, chances are you… hold on, I forgot about that one!”

“Forgot about what?” Tim and I asked at the same time.

“Another Displaced I met named Robin found a work around with the whole ‘being called no matter what’ clause for newbies. Basically he made his token a book and made it so that anyone who wanted his help would have to write in it and try to convince him to help him. Basically so he wouldn’t be called in for stupid things or called in and attacked by the more villainous Displaced. If you made something like that, then maybe you could make yourself known without having to worry about unwanted trips.”

“Hm. That could be a definite possibility...Just need to figure out something like that,” I said, resting my head on my fist.

“Why not do something song related?” Tim offered, perking up.

“Obviously, but what about it?” I asked.

“How about...making a haiku or poem related to their request for assistance? And it has to be good enough that we take notice of it.”

I closed my eyes in thought. Then I looked at my feathers, all of which could be made into chimes if I let them move in the wind. I plucked a small one, a medium sized one, and a large feather out, all of them making a ping sound after pulling them. I saw them start to regrow as the familiar heat in my stomach started building.

I held out the small one and tapped it with a finger, producing a loud, high note. I repeated the process with the other two, which were noticeably softer and lower notes. I then plucked out one of my hairs and folded it twice, before forcing the hair through a tiny hole near the base of each feather. I then tied the hair in a knot, securing the three feathers together and forming a feather keychain.

I tested the tones again and heard the resonance due to the connected materials. The smallest feather still gave out the loudest tone, with the vibrations passing into the other feathers. Then I thought about the words I would say.

“Greetings, you have reached the Token of Celedon and Berserker, the golden angel and the mad warrior. Please ring your message after the tone. The tone you choose will decide our responsiveness to your request, but we still hold the right to answer.” I rang out a simple low to high scale on the feathers.

“I think that should work,” I affirmed.

"Probably. Now just imbue it with some of your power and send it into the void. Should happen pretty automatically," Gilgamesh said. 

My power… I thought. An idea popped into my head. I started humming, gradually reaching the resonance frequency needed to cause the feathers to vibrate by my voice alone. Suddenly, a swirling black vortex opened up to my left, the right of Gilgamesh. 

Looking once more at Gilgamesh, he nodded. I walked in front of the vortex and tossed the feather-chain in. Once inside, the feathers split into hundreds of copies, and zoomed off to parts unknown. The vortex then closed like it never existed.

“So that’s it?” I asked, still unsure if I did it right. Before Gilgamesh could answer, a smaller vortex opened above his head, dropping a copy of the chain onto his right shoulder where it managed to hang itself from a piece of his armor.

"I'd say that's a yes," he replied. 

“Huh. Well, I guess that takes care of that,” I said with a tilted head.

“Well, as far as tokens go. You still need a heads up with a few other things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for one, the kinds of things you might be facing here. This place might seem like fairy tail, but it's got some real nasties lurking in the shadows.”

“Hm. I kind of expected that, but hearing you confirm it just makes me paranoid now.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I can take whatever this places throws at us,” Tim said from beside me. He continued, “Or you can just talk them down with your voice, Celedon.”

“I don’t think that would work on everything, Berserker,” I replied with a sigh. I turned back to Gilgamesh and asked, “So what will we be facing for the most part?”

“Well, first let me ask, have you met anyone named Discord?”

“Yeah, he actually forced the knowledge of flight, harp playing, and singing into my head. Before, I would sing and play my harp as if someone else was moving my hands, and I never learned how to fly. Or at least, I hadn’t taken lessons yet. He did say he was being forced to do so because of my ‘handler’s’ wishes. He’s a pretty interesting character, for a god of chaos.”

“Handler, huh? Might be a Sys Admin. Anyway, I might be making some assumptions with the timeline here, but one group you might encounter are the Changelings. In the show they were bug-pony things with fly-like wings, horns, black bodies, and horns. Considering everypony here is a human, I’m not sure how that would work out. Anyway, they live off love and can disguise themselves with magic, usually replacing a victim and feeding of other’s love for them, which makes them stronger. Their Queen is named Chrysalis, and she can be a very manipulative opponent. Some versions of them in the multiverse are outright evil, but just as many of them are just rival nations, or even just evil out of necessity if they’ve been ostracized for centuries. I’d personally prefer if you found a way to make some sort of peace treaty between them and the Equestrians.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem for Celedon. You heard how good her voice is, right? Well, there are a couple times she said something, like in a request or command, and literally everyone who heard would try to do whatever she asked before coming back to their senses. That’s the only way she keeps me under control when I’m not myself,” Tim recounted. I rolled my eyes and let out a breath. Surely I’m not that powerful.

“Hm. That would certainly be useful, but there’s a difference between a legitimate treaty and just magical compliance. I think it would be best if you used that to help them calm down if things get heated. Just to let you know, many of the Equestrians might not be too thrilled about the idea, especially Shining Armor and Cadance, Twilight’s brother and sister-in-law. Anyway, moving on, although he should’ve been dealt with by now, there might be a man named King Sombra showing up. Pretty much your traditional evil overlord with dark powers, you should be careful around him because he has the power to seal other’s magic and turn himself into an intangible cloud of darkness. Like I said, he’s probably been beaten by now, but I don’t want to make assumptions with the timeline.”

“Right, evil overlord guy, got it.” I nodded.

“Next isn’t an actual villain, per se, but there are things things called Plunderseeds that could pop up from the Everfree forest. They mess with magic and grow out of control, not to mention they kidnap Celestia and Luna, and attack basically the source of all good in this world, the Tree of Harmony. Just so you know, Discord planted them over a thousand years ago when he was still evil. Ask the girls if they still have the Elements of Harmony, and if so, confront Discord about it.”

“You mean those huge necklaces and that one crown Twilight wore? I saw them wearing those when they came to try and seal Berserker again,” I remembered.

“Did someone call my name?” a familiar voice called from above me. Apparently, Discord had been sticking to the ceiling as a mural of a flower pot with balloons growing out of it.

“Oh boy,” I said with a face palm.

“‘Sup, Dissy? How you been?” Gilgamesh asked, not at all disturbed by the man’s appearance.

“I’ve been quite upside-down as of late. These two and their, ugh, handler, have been nearly gagging me with the amount of order that I can feel rolling off them. Then again, that battle was positively splendid!” the god’s mood did a complete one-eighty with just one sentence that I almost felt my head spin.

“Uh, Celedon?” Then I realized that my head literally was spinning.

“Discord, please put my head on straight,” I asked in a calm voice.

“Oh fine,” he said as he snapped his fingers. I shook my head before looking back at Gilgamesh.

“If you can get used to Pinkie Pie, you can get used to him,” Gilgamesh shrugged. “Actually it’s good you’re here Dissy, because I think you should hear about this next one. Name’s Tirek, and aside from Discord he was probably the big baddie of this world as far as I know.”

Sometime during the explanation, Discord had turned into a microphone connected to a tape recorder. The tape deck opened and closed like a mouth, and Discord’s voice said, “Tirek, eh? Well, I can’t say that I haven’t heard of him, he caused quite a ruckus back in the day. Granted, I was made out of stone at the time, but Celly and Lulu talked about him abducting someone and trying to drain their magic. Nasty character.” The tape recorder and mic flashed back into Discord’s mis-matched form, where I could see a small frown of Discord’s face.

“Yeah, well, in the original universe and timeline he’s already escaped by now and is biding his time. And he was also a centaur. Draining magic for his own use was kind of his thing and, unfortunately, by this time the girls had had to give the Elements of Harmony back to the Tree, so they couldn’t use them. Recognizing the threat, Celestia decides to enlist you, Discord, to take him down before he gets too powerful. You succeed,” Gilgamesh then glared at the draconequus. “And then he manages to convince you to abandon you friends and ‘spread chaos’ with him, causing the Princesses to get desperate and give all their magic to Twilight. In the meantime Tirek absorbs all of the rest of Equestria’s magic with your help, Tirek banishes the weakened Princesses to Tartarus, and you promptly get stabbed in the back and drained of your own magic for your trouble.”

Discord’s frown deepened into a scowl, and Tim suddenly said, “Well, since you’ve just told him that, you probably changed the timeline now.” 

Discord brightened immediately and said, after transforming to his human form, “Yes, quite. This ‘Tirek’ character will never see me coming, and his plea for my help shall fall upon deaf ears.” A pair of ear-muffs flashed into existence on top of Discord’s head.

“Good, but just in case, don’t be afraid to whip out the big-guns if he starts coming. In my universe, Tirek was responsible for the deaths of thousands, and he did that without your help, although he did have help from another. There’s also the possibility he could be reasoned with, maybe even reformed, there are always possibilities in this huge and crazy multiverse, but if push comes to shove do not be afraid to kill the bastard.”

“I can’t promise that I would kill him, but I’m sure I can find some who would be willing to.” Discord gave a pointed glance at Tim.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Tim said with a wave of his hand.

“Moving on, this may or may not happen, but there could be an alternate version of Equestria set in a high school through a mirror portal in the Crystal Empire. Now, considering that in the original verse all the characters were pony’s in this world and human in the other, I have no idea how that might work out, but the point is there may be former student of Celestia’s named Sunset Shimmer who will come to take the Element of Magic and use it to brainwash the people of that world to take over this one. I don’t know if you’ll actually be able to do anything about that, considering there’s a limit on how many can travel to the other dimension before reality starts to break, but it’s best to keep your eyes out. Oh, and some sirens who feed on hate were also banished to that dimension as well.”

“Well, that’s an interesting way to take a cartoon,” I said a slightly confused expression.

“Then again, it is not that much of a stretch considering who it’s fanbase is,” a low voice came from everywhere. I heard Discord sigh as shadows began morphing onto a wall. They formed the shape of a man, who then walked out of the wall. The familiar star-and-space colored coat immediately signified who we were seeing. He nodded to Tim and I first, then looked to Gilgamesh. “I see that another has finally arrived in this universe.”

“The ‘handler’, I presume?” Gilgamesh asked Discord.

“Yup. You owe me for that little stunt, Cr-” Discord started to say, but a motion from Void-coat’s hand hushed Discord.

“Don’t say my name here, it will attract too much attention. And I do apologize for that, but my plans required your help, whether or not you agreed to it.”

Discord grumbled before Void-coat, or whatever his true name was, said, “Yes, I am their ‘handler,’ as Discord introduced me. For now, you may call me Void-coat, as Celedon has been repeatedly thinking.”

“So you can read minds even out of your mindspace?”

“Of course, it’s practically a necessity in my line of work,” he answered without looking at me.

“Please stay out of mind, thank you very much. If you don’t, well… I’ve had mind readers curse doing so before,” Gilgamesh warned with a smirk.

Void-coat looked at Gilgamesh with a pointed stare for a few seconds, before he raised an eyebrow. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“What did you come here for, Void-coat?” I asked.

He turned to me with a serious expression. “You will not need to worry about it now, but future events will require alliances from all the nations on this planet, and possibly some from others. There is something coming, something I cannot reveal yet, it would be disastrous to the timeline. But, again, don’t worry about it for now, just concentrate on your current journey,” he explained.

“Right, tell us we need to bring whole world together, then tell us not to worry about it. That’s not going to make me paranoid, not at all,” I said with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

“Hey, play your cards right, and it shouldn’t be too hard. I did the same thing in my world,” Gilgamesh said. “Then again, I did have the added benefit of the threat of the world being completely obliterated to move things along. Nothing gets opposing sides to forget their differences than the threat of something trying to wipe them both out.”

“A good analogy. I cannot stay for much longer, revealing myself like this has already attracted far too much attention, though your presence,” Void-coat glanced at Gilgamesh, “is camouflaging my own, slightly. So, I must be leaving, I have universes to attend to.” He melted back into shadow before the room brightened.

“Well, that was a thing,” Tim said.

“Meh, seen weirder. Anyway, two last things I’ve got to warn you about, the first being Starlight Glimmer. But first, a bit of an explanation is needed. In the original universe the ponies have these things called ‘cutie marks’ which magically show up when they realize what their special talents are. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent to that here.”

“I believe I can answer that,” Discord spoke up. His mood had been down ever since Void-coat waltzed in, but now that he was gone and Discord had something to do, he was a little bit happier. “The Equestrians do still have their cutie marks, though the position is a little weird. They will wear clothing that shows the marks that they own, but the true mark lies above their heart. Celly and Lulu both have their cutie marks showing where their true marks would be. Most attire would have their cutie marks in some form or fashion.”

I nodded and said, “I remember seeing a sun over Celestia’s heart on her outfit. I’m guessing that is her Cutie Mark?”

“Huh. Anyway, back to Starlight Glimmer. I don’t know if she set it up in this universe yet, but she starts up a town called Our Town in the middle nowhere. It’s meant to be an ‘equalist’ society, where no one is better than anyone else. I bet you can already see where this is going.”

“Do I smell,” Tim sniffed the air comically, “communism? And,” he sniffed again, “corruption?”

“More like Stalinism, if we’re going to get specific, and there’s definitely hypocrisy in there. Starlight pretended to use an ‘artifact’ called the ‘Staff of Sameness’ to remove everyone’s cutie marks. This does more than you think, as it actually takes away any special talent the pony has, even dampens their personality. On top of that, she basically locks anyone ‘indoctrinated’ into a room with repeating messages to try and brainwash them. Turns out, it’s not the staff that did it, but her own magic, and locks the cutie marks away in a vault. She eventually gets revealed and everyone turns on her, but she manages to escape. I didn’t have to deal with her in my dimension, probably due to the World War going on, but I think it’s a problem you might want to nip in the bud. Although, don’t jump to conclusions, she might be different in this universe.”

“Perhaps,” I said.

“Eh, I would rather sic a particular communism-hating robot on her and introduce her to DEMOCRACY!” Tim shouted at the end.

I facepalmed, emitting a clang from my metal hand meeting my face.

“The United States isn’t a democracy, it’s a democratic republic. Small but important difference,” Gilgamesh corrected.

“Dude, I know that. I thought you got your references down,” Tim whined.

“Hey man, I don’t know everything.”

“Whatever. What was the last thing you needed to share with us?” I brought the conversation back to the original topic.

“Yes, though I am intrigued as to this interesting democracy topic, we do need to get you two on track to the Mer-kingdom,” Discord interjected. I blinked a couple times at that.

“Oh, mer-people exist here? Interesting. I’ll have to do a double-check on my own dimension when I get back. Anyway, the final thing is what happens to pretty much all the Displaced, and what I guess Void-Coat, or whatever that guy’s name is, warned you about. Pretty much every Displaced has to deal with a threat related to whatever universe their costume is from. For example, that world war I was talking about? All of Equus versus monsters from Final Fantasy led by Exdeath, the main villain of Final Fantasy V if you don’t know.”

My eyes widened as I’m sure Tim’s did as well. I didn’t have a costume per say, but I would hate to see the Grail Wars reenacted on Equestria.

“Uh, yeah, let’s hope that something else happens. Berserker comes from a very...dark...place,” I nervously answered.

“Like I said, be prepared. Also, you should warn the Princesses and the Elements. I don’t know how much you want to tell them, but you should definitely give them a heads up. And now, for what I usually do before I leave.” Gilgamesh stood up and walked over to Tim. “Berserker, I want you to be perfectly honest with me here. If I gave you something that could help you in battle, do you think you could keep yourself from using it to harm innocents? And I don’t mean ‘could Celedon keep you in check’, I mean do you think you could be responsible enough?”

Tim stared up at Gilgamesh for a couple tense seconds before closing his eyes and deeply breathing. A few more seconds passed like this, before he said, “Being absolutely completely honest, I don’t know. I’ve never had practice with controlling myself in battle, though I’m pretty sure I would go only for the largest threats in my vicinity. Otherwise, I would,” he held up two fingers, air quotes, “‘deactivate,’ so to speak.”

Gilgamesh hesitated for a moment before sighing. “I guess I’m an optimist, but I think you could do it if you tried. So in that case…” Gilgamesh trailed off as he summoned a sub-machine gun into his hand. He then grabbed it with his other hand and began to pull. As he pulled harder it began to glow brightly, before finally it flashed a bright light. After it cleared, he was now holding an identical gun in his other hand. He tossed it to Tim, who caught it. “Never know when you might need a ranged weapon.”

Visions of Berserker shooting at Saber with a machine gun flashed in my mind as Tim began to grin ferally. But he shook his head and said, “Thank you, Gilgamesh. I’m sure it will come in handy. But do I constantly need to carry it?”

I saw him smirk. “Snap your finger.”

Tim did so, and the gun flashed before disappearing. Tim raised his eyebrow and snapped his fingers again, summoning the weapon.

Tim smirked as he simply stated, “Cool.” A third snap banished the gun to wherever it was stored.

“And, because I’m feeling generous,” he said before summoning a rocket launcher and doing the same thing as before. “Do not use this in confined spaces. Oh, and they both have unlimited ammo. The rocket will reform itself after about thirty seconds.”

Tim’s eyes widened. I saw the sheer glee in his eyes. He looked like a kid at a candy store. But before he started jumping off the walls, he shook his head again and calmly said, “Thanks. I know I’m going to use this some time in the future.” He snapped his fingers and banished the rocket launcher.

“And one last thing,” Gilgamesh stated before stepping forwards and grabbing Tim’s hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated and then Tim’s gauntlets shone. After the light subsided, a symbol was on the back of each gauntlet. I recognized them as the same symbol at the end of his scarf. “I’ve given your gauntlets the same properties as my Genji Gloves. In addition to more protection against physical and magical attacks, you are now immune to paralyzing spells and any spells that would transform you into something you wouldn’t want to be. Like, say, a frog.”

Tim looked a tiny bit overwhelmed by all the new additions, but stood up and held out a fist, “Thank you, again. Can’t really say much more than I know they’ll come in handy.”

Gilgamesh bumped him back. “Don’t make me regret it, kid, or I’ll come back and put you down myself.” Despite the warning, his tone was lighthearted. “As for you,” he began before turning to me. After a pause he finished with “I can’t think of anything.”

“I don’t suppose you can give me a staff type weapon? I had a little practice with them back on Earth,” I requested.

He shrugged and unclipped his naginata, doing the same thing he did with the gun and the rocket launcher, and handed the duplicate to me. “I call it Enkidu. It’s completely indestructible and will never lose its edge. Unlike mine, however, it can’t cut holes in reality, so no teleportation for you.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” I said as an afterthought as I twirled the weapon around a few times, getting used to the weight of it. Of course I would have to accommodate my wings, which could make for some interesting transitions. Settling the naginata into a resting position, I experimentally snapped my fingers. The staff flashed out of existence, though I could feel it just barely out of existence.

“And I guess that’s all I can do for you guys. As much as I’d love to stay, I think I need to get a move on. More universes to see, more people to help, and more people to fight,” he said before taking two fingers to his mouth and whistling. A few moments later, the dog from before barreled into the room, panting happily. “Time to go, big guy.” The canine whined in response. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get to have Fluttershy take care of you in the next dimension.” The dog spun in place and barked happily. Gilgamesh then reached for his weapon again before pausing to stare at me.

After a few seconds of his stare, I nervously asked, “What?”

He raised an eyebrow before a look of realization came. “So that’s what I felt before! You’re a guy!”

I decided to come up with my own Look in the few seconds before he left. A flat stare, followed by a roll of the eyes and a breath out of my nose. Then again, I didn’t have lungs to begin with, but the motion is what I was going for.

“Yes, though I don’t really have anything embarrassing underneath this thing. Made it a whole lot less awkward when Twilight was examining me.”

“Oh, interesting. But mostly it was me knowing that I’m getting better at sensing people’s auras. You’re actually the first Displaced I’ve met that’s been gender swapped. At least, I think you are… Wow, I think I’ll stop myself before my mind wanders. Ok then, see ya, hope everything goes well, and may the winds of Freedom carry your wings,” he said before cutting a hole in the air and jumping in, his canine companion following afterwards, and the portal closing behind him.

Then I suddenly heard Discord saying, “Hey! What about my new weapon?”

I shared a look with Tim before we burst out laughing. Discord then did as well.
> Chapter 23
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord suddenly stopped laughing. "Alright you two, enough silliness. What are you going to tell Celly and Lulu?" he asked.

It took Tim and I a little bit longer to stop laughing. "Ahem. I was actually going to see if you had any recommendations on what we should tell them. I don't know what might cause a change in the timeline that could be harmful to the world," I stated, still giggling a little.

Discord put a hand to his chin. Such a pensive pose for the god of Chaos. "I would probably leave out Starlight Glimmer. That one sounds like Twilight and her friends learn a lesson from their experiences."

"And what about the rest of them? We need to get political alliances underway if Void-coat was right about us needing everything we can get for whatever this threat is," I continued the line of questioning.

"You let me handle that, I can be serious if I need to be. But as for you and the Song, you need to get prepared for your journey, and alert the rest of the girls that they will be heading out with you," Discord answered.

"But where are they?" Tim inquired.

"Why, they're right," Discord started, before snapping his fingers. A flash enveloped my senses before I was standing in the throne room.

"Here!" he finished.

"Celedon, Berserker! You're okay!" Pinkie Pie yelled at us before attempted to pull us both into a hug. I say attempted, because I still weighed over a ton.

"Yes, they're quite fine, and our visitor has already left. He had some other important business to attend to, before you ask," Discord stated before anyone could speak on Gilgamesh's sudden absence.

"Well, I guess that takes care of that...But still what are you two doing here?" Twilight questioned, a look of curiosity on her face.

"I hope you remember the thing about getting everyone on board to go the Mer-kingdom for the contest," I reminded her.

"The Mer-kingdom? Oh my, Twilight, are we going to the mer-kingdom? I've heard tales of the many great fashions and sights there!" Rarity said from slightly behind Twilight.

Applejack spoke up next by saying, "Well, Ah don't know if Ah will be able ta make it, Ah've got the orchard to think of."

Fluttershy spoke up in her whispering voice, "I have all my animals to think about as well..."

Twilight looked at her friends and assuaged their inquiries. "It was at Princess Celestia's own request, as Celedon wants to bring Berserker with her." She added in a smaller voice, "I also kind of want to go myself..."

"Why can't the big guy stay here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because it's for the plot!" Pinkie Pie shouted from next to my ear.

The rest of the girls took a look at Pinkie before shrugging. 

"Ah guess I can get Big Mac to keep the farm in order and look after Applebloom. We are in off season as well," Applejack grudgingly acquiesced.

"And my animals can take care of themselves for a little while...But I do need to set out some food so they don't go hungry while I'm gone, so could I have a day or two to prepare? Um, if you don't mind, that is..." Fluttershy looked too adorable as she requested her preparation time.

Discord spoke up then. "If Celedon leaves by tomorrow, she'll make it easily, with a smooth trip. After that, it would take a bit of finagling to keep up a good pace."

"Couldn't you help? Just transport us all there?" Twilight asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, my dear, I would love to, but that would make me predictable! So I shall just walk along with you and your merry little band of friends!" Discord replied happily, with not too little a hint of smugness.

Practically everyone groaned at that, except for Pinkie Pie. She instead cheered and pulled out a glass from somewhere for some reason.

Discord snapped his fingers with a smirk, causing a small cloud of chocolate milk to appear over her glass, while it rained cotton candy.

Oh dear, sugar rush in a glass, I thought as I smelled the intense fragrance of liquefied sugar.

"Yay!" Pinkie said before gulping down the entire glass. She then tossed the glass at Discord, where it turned into a pie. Instead of a white explosion, the pie stayed quite solid as it reached his face.

I tilted my head at the insanity that just happened.

"Just don't think about it," Tim said beside me with a hollow look on his face.

While the girls were discussing their plans, Tim turned towards me and said, "Right, I was going to tell you what Gilgamesh was referring to during the battle after you stomped him into the ground. He was talking about the main antagonist, M.Bison, who used that exact pose you used in order to do the same, if slightly less painful, attack."

"Huh. So, if I do that again, I need to say, "This place shall become your grave!" in an over-the-top villain-like manner?" I questioned.

"Yup."

"Well alright then."

I turned back to where the girls had finished saying their goodbyes to Discord and the Princesses and were heading off to get their affairs in order. 

"Alright, Celedon, we will meet you in the throne room tomorrow evening. Hopefully Discord can take us at least a part of the way up the path." Twilight laid out the plan for tomorrow. I nodded my head and said my goodbyes, Tim doing the same.

"So, Celedon, what was it like down there, fighting Gilgamesh?" Celestia asked me.

After a few seconds, I answered, "At first, I was apprehensive. Then, I just flowed into the combat where I was needed. It was quite exhilarating after I really got into it."

Tim was nodding furiously beside me. "He gave me-ow!" I sharply poked him with a feather on his back.

"A good battle!" Tim almost revealed something that the Princesses most likely would not want to hear about him getting two new weapons. I tried covering for him, once again using my voice to influence them. I didn't think it was magical in nature, or at least I hoped it wasn't.

The Princesses squinted their eyes at me for a few seconds before sighing as one. "As you can see, Tim here still needs to get a little rest before we head out tomorrow." Tim eventually got my subtle signal and hunched forward slightly.

The sisters still looked a little skeptical, Luna more than Celestia, but Discord intervened by saying, "Alright, you two run along now while I discuss some things with Celly and Lulu here."

"What things?" Luna asked innocently. I took that as our cue to leave and dragged Tim out of the throne room with me.

Discord's expression became grave before I turned completely out of the throne room.
> Chapter 24
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We didn't have dinner at the traditional time, rather, Tim and I chose to have our meals sent to our rooms. I brought my 'food' with me to his room, the next one over. I didn't try to sit on his bed though. His room was pretty much the same as mine, though without the heavy-duty bed frame.

"So, Celedon, how are we going to handle this many people on our trip?" Tim asked me suddenly.

The gold still blinded me for a moment in its ecstasy, so it was a few seconds before I answered. "I honestly don't know. I didn't plan on that happening, but having more people along for the journey is a good thing, I guess."

"Hopefully the Mer-kingdom isn't too far away. Did Discord ever say when the contest would actually be held?"

"Now that I think about it, no, he didn't." We remained silent for a few more minutes as we ate. I started thinking about what we might come across during our travels, if we might come against highwaymen, beasts, or other annoyances like that. Unconsciously, I began humming in infrasound as I continued to think and speculate.

Then, I heard the familiar and horrible noise of reversed notes, along with a blinding pain.

Everything went white.





Pain.

Sorrow.

Confusion.

I was looking from on high down at the snow covered ground. I felt three very negative things while I was floating. I also felt...larger. Then I heard chimes and incoherent noise that barely whispered into my mind. 

A slight flash of light reflecting off of armor, a scream of rage and sorrow, a sword flying towards me, and then...

...

PAIN! UNBEARABLE PAIN!





I woke with a start, still on the floor in Tim's room.

"Celedon! Are you alright?" Tim was kneeling over me, about to slap my face again.

I held up an arm and blocked his hand before saying, "I'm...fine."

"No you're not. You just passed out on me. There has to be something going on that neither of us know about! Now tell me what you did to make that happen!" Tim was getting a little worried, as it hadn't two days since I had done the same thing.

"I, I was just thinking about what might happen, like what we might meet down the road. I think I was humming by the end of it, before I heard horrible sounding noises. They sounded like reversed notes, unnatural things. Then I saw myself floating above...something. I saw a glint of armor and a scream, before a sword flashed towards me. After that, nothing but pain filled my mind," I recounted.

"So, what, you saw the future?"

"I sincerely hope not!" I exclaimed. I certainly did not want to feel that pain again.

"Um..." We heard a voice call from the doorway.

Celestia was there with a slight blush and a smile hidden behind her hand. "Is this a bad time?"

Tim scrabbled away and back onto his bed while I sat up, once again thanking whatever deity that ruled this realm that I couldn't blush, and said, "No, I just blacked out again."

Celestia's face became serious at that. "Did you have another vision?"

"I don't know. Maybe? It wasn't quite the same..."

"If you're sure it's nothing," Celestia started.

"It's fine, I'm sure nothing will come of it," I interjected.

Celestia once again looked at me with skeptical eyes before breathing out through her nose. "Discord told us about what Gilgamesh had revealed to you, and about this Void-coat person's request. It may take some time, but we are optimistic in being able to gain alliances from most of the civilized inhabitants of the planet. If we knew what was coming, then we would have a better chance of gaining even more allies," Celestia explained, giving me a subtle hint at a question.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's coming. Void-coat said it wouldn't be for a long while now. He did say to just worry about the current journey we're about to embark on."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Right. You don't need to worry about politics right now. Just go see the contest. It would be an interesting change of pace to hear that an outsider entered in the Ocean's Call. If you need an explanation as to why you want in, I would recommend telling them about how having an outsider joining the contest would rake in a lot more attention for their cities. It would boost their economy quite a bit with the tourists, businessmen making deals, and all the networking that would inevitably abound upon learning of such a rare phenomena."

"Wow...I don't know what to say. You really thought this though, didn't you?" I was overwhelmed at the planning that Celestia could do just in a day in order to get something done.

"Well, I'm not a Princess for no reason. Luna would probably tell you the same thing, though in a more archaic way. She is still a little out of touch with the times." Celestia's face changed to a wistful one.

I stood up and, hopefully not breaching any protocols, placed a hand on her shoulder. Learning that Celestia had to banish her sister and be alone for a thousand years...I don't know how I would've taken it.

Celestia met my eyes. She focused back on the present and said, "Thank you." After I released her shoulder, she continued, "You two should get some sleep. You need to go in the morning to meet with your chosen guards. Who knows? You might learn something from them."

"Alright. Thank you, your highness," I said as I bowed. I heard Tim doing the same behind me.

As I stood straight I saw her shaking her head lightly with a smile. Then she closed the door.

I looked over to Tim and said, "I guess we'd better get our rest then."

"Yeah." He yawned and stretched. "Good night Celedon."

"Good night Berserker."





Help me... I heard a small voice in a blackened void. There was nothing around me, not even little points of light.

Hello? I called as I floated through the void towards the voice.

Save me... The voice was louder now. I thought I could make out a shape of someone sitting down with their knees to their chest.

Who's there? I called again, still wondering just what I was looking at. Then, the being appeared in front of my face. It was covered in flames. A face that was completely grayed out and made of static gazed at me with glowing yellow eyes before shrieking,

KILL ME!!





"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" I screamed as I shot up off the bed. The room was quiet and dark, barely even any noise came from outside. I listened for footsteps, in case I woke anyone up. There was silence for at least half a minute. Then I clutched my head with my hands.

What was that...?
> Chapter 25
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim and I were walking around close to the barracks to find the four guards that I had met. A quick question to a commanding officer directed us to a small building that was a little bit away from the main place where most of the guards were. As we got closer I was able to hear the whispers of some other guards.

"What are they doing?"

"They're going to get themselves killed!"

"No, that's Berserker and Celedon! They're the guys that had the battle yesterday!"

"Why are they going after the C Squad?"

C Squad? An interesting title. Then I heard more whispers that I would rather have never even thought about.

"Man, Celedon's hot."

I shuddered as I walked.

Either way, we reached the front door and we heard shouting from inside.

"Come on, put your back into it!" a female voice. It sounded like Jade Hunter.

"It's not my back that I need to put into it, it's my arm!" a male voice. That sounded like Snow Lance.

"Oh don't be so literal." The same female voice.

"Guys, do you really need to do this right here?" a different female voice. Probably Star Saber.

"Let them have their fun, Star. Besides, we need to practice. You saw how Berserker moved out there, he used a sword during the last moments before that Gilgamesh guy tossed a meteor on them." A deeper male voice, Rock Breaker.

"Wait, what?! Ow!" Jade's voice cried out.

"Ha! I win!" Snow shouted before we heard a chair move back.

"Wait, stop! What are you doing?!"

By then we had heard enough, so I knocked on the door.

Everything went silent in the building. I heard a few whispers about who was going to answer the door before I heard Rock sigh and heavy footsteps stomped on the floor. Then he opened the door, his massive frame taking up the whole doorway. He didn't have an ounce of hair on his head, but he had a well-trimmed brown goatee on his chin.

"Yes, wh-...oh. Celedon," Rock started to say in an annoyed tone before he caught himself. His soft brown eyes stared at me in surprise.

"Hi Rock! How've you been?" I asked sweetly. Or what I hoped sounded sweetly.

"I've been good, though I didn't expect you to be out and about so early after being thrashed like you were yesterday." It looked like my attempt at small talk worked and he relaxed a little, though he immediately noticed Tim standing next to me.

"Wait, Celedon's at the door?! Lemme see!" I heard Jade's voice call over from further in the building. A hand grabbed at Rock's right shoulder and pulled him away from the door. Slightly unkempt two tone medium length green hair framed bright emerald eyes that gazed at me in something approaching awe.

"You. Two. Were. So. COOL!" Then she was suddenly hopping all around us, her green wings buffeting us unintentionally with air.

"I mean, when you spun around and blasted at him like a bullet but then stopped in mid air, or the time where Berserker tossed him up in the air and you did an air combo! And when you just straight up flew into a flaming tornado! It was so! AWESOME!!!!" Jade was fawning over us when previously she had been more than a little cold towards me. I almost heard a switch click before she stood straight and shook her head. Probably her guard training kicking back in.

"Jade, while I agree that their battle was quite spectacular, maybe you shouldn't be standing around Berserker like that." I heard Star, the voice of logic and reason, speak from the doorway. Her eyes were pink and her silver hair was cut in almost the same way as Jade's, though quite a bit more ordered. Military regulations most likely.

"Right. Excuse my outburst," Jade said as she backed away from us.

"No, it's fine. We just, uh, never had that happen before," I answered. It should have been obvious to me before, but walking into a place where battlefield prowess is something to be desired would obviously lead to getting some fans.

"Also, I'm not that unstable as to lash out at someone like that," Tim crowed indignantly.

Star raised an eyebrow before sighing and said, "Of course, how could I be so bland as to not know this, Berserker." A flat stare told Tim what she meant. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. It seems Star Saber has a sharp tongue.

"So, what did you guys come here for?" Jade asked me.

"Well, Princess Celestia has enlisted you for a mission to escort the Elements of Harmony, myself, and Berserker to the Mer-kingdom," I replied.

The three guards blinked before looking at each other. Then they all looked back inside, where Snow Lance was standing with his chin in his hand. His hair was an icy blue while his eyes were an even lighter shade of blue. Judging by their looks, Snow Lance was the squad leader. "You hear that Snow? We got an escort mission," Jade yelled.

"I heard. I have only one condition," he voiced before he stepped out to join us.

"Let's hear it," I said.

"Make sure you pull your own weight. The Elements I can believe needing extra support for a long trip. But you two, after what I saw yesterday..." he trailed off.

"Was it seriously that entertaining?" Tim questioned.

"Not as much entertaining as enlightening to your abilities. I know that you both can handle yourselves in a fight, so I would expect you to be able to carry a little bit more than the average person." Snow was looking at us with a critical eye, Tim more than me for obvious reasons.

"Don't worry about that, we're more than capable of handling whatever you might ask of us for the travels,” I answered confidently.

"Alright then. C Squad, get your equipment ready for a three day journey." His squad-mates piled back into the room where I heard clanks and voices asking for a piece of missing armor. 

"I'm assuming we're leaving soon?" Snow asked. He was still standing in the door, leaning on the doorpost with his arms crossed.

"This evening, actually. If at all possible. We're meeting up with the Elements after dinner in the throne room."

He frowned slightly at that. "Squad, double time! We're to be in the throne room by twenty-thirty, let's go, let's go!" Snow gave orders to his team as he walked back inside, closing the door in the process.
> Chapter 26
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim and I were walking towards the dining hall, thinking about just what we needed for the trip. 

"I never expected a guy named Snow to be the leader of a bunch of elite guardsmen." Or apparently only I was thinking about what to bring.

"Berserker, you need to be thinking about what needs to be brought on the trip, not about names," I said.

"That's fine, I was just making an observation."

As we walked in silence, I looked over at the beautiful tapestries on the walls. They described several instances of Equestria's history, all captured in a beautiful art form. Discord's reign, the banishing of Luna and her subsequent redemption, and many others.

"Celedon, we're here." I was pulled from my musings by Tim's hand on my shoulder. We were alone in the dining hall, our footsteps echoing loudly in the silence.

"Yeesh, kind of creepy without anyone else in here, isn't it?" Tim rhetorically stated.

"It reminds me of that time we went into that haunted house. Didn't you run out screaming?" My voice had a great amount of humor in it.

"Hey, dude, that 'drop-a-fake-corpse-on-your-head' trick was freaking terrifying at that age. But wait, you were standing behind me weren't you?" he retorted.

"That's because I was smart," I said as I tapped the side of my head with a finger. The taps turned into bell-like tones. Apparently, that was a signal for a few servants to come out and begin putting food on the table.

"Sir, madam, the Princesses are unavailable to eat with you for lunch today due to an unexpected delay. They have instructed us to seat and serve you," a random butler said in a suave voice. He had neatly cropped black hair and his red eyes stared into my own.

I nodded politely. "Thank you for the information. What's on the menu for today?"

The butler looked a little confused before he recovered and answered, "Well, madam, your usual is ready for you, and for Berserker here, it is a three course sandwich special. Packed food will be provided at dinner for your trip, a request by Princess Celestia. So, please don't worry about keeping some food for later, it has all been provided."

"Alright, thank you." Tim and I took our seats across from each other. A golden platter with the same small pyramid of golden blocks was set before me, while Tim had a small bowl of foul smelling soup in front of him. 

Wait, that's right, I can't smell anything correctly anymore, I corrected myself. I distracted myself with my golden meal.

How can something taste so good?! I once again thought.

Lunch was a silent affair, not much talk between us. Once Tim had finished his soup, a rather fancy looking sandwich was brought before him. He looked like he enjoyed it while I was trying not to gag from looking at him eating what I knew would have tasted horrid to my own tongue.

I shook my head and returned to my own meal. An unfamiliar feeling crept into my chest.

Am I...jealous?

I shook my head again.





After finishing the meal, Tim and I decided to distract ourselves by heading out to the sparring field. I needed to get some practice in with my naginata, and I had my own combat instructor right next to me.

After I summoned my staff and assumed a ready position, Tim called out from across the field. "I don't know if I'll be able to hold back!"

"I'll be fine. Let's just go!" I said before sprinting forward. I tried to control my wings so that tiny flaps gave me some extra speed. I didn't want to destroy the surrounding area during our spar.

Tim had charged forward much faster than I, no weapons in his hands. However, as I slashed downwards at him after lightly jumping into the air, he dodged around me and kicked me in the back. I went sprawling from the force. However, as I got up, I saw Tim holding his foot and hopping around.

"Ow, ow, owowowowowowow. Geez Celedon! Warn me about that next time!"

"What? Don't you remember what Twilight said? And how I refused to eat on your bed?" Did he really forget that easily?

He stopped hopping and balanced on one foot. Then he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and grinned crookedly. "No...of course I didn't forget something like that." I gave him the Look.

"What?" 

My face met my hand again.





After the disastrous sparring session, mostly because Tim couldn't take me seriously without trying to kill me, we joined back up in the dining hall. The Princesses were there this time, along with eight full backpacks, two of which were noticeably larger. The backpacks were all of different colors, and six of them had familiar marks somewhere on them.

Then there was the slightly larger than normal yellow backpack, mine, and the significantly larger than normal backpack, Tim's.

"Aw, come on! Why do I have to get the huge one?" Tim whined upon seeing his new back-buddy.

Celestia and Luna chuckled a little before the older sibling said, "I would sincerely hope that a brave, strong man like yourself would be able to handle just a few huge packages. Or would you rather Celedon take care of it instead?" I could see the troll in her eyes.

Tim bristled at that statement and made to pick up the bag, succeeding easily. Then he attempted to lift mine at the same time with one arm.

It didn't budge. Shocked, he looked inside my bag before I pulled his head back from it. Before I even laid eyes on the inside of the backpack, I could smell the contents.

Gold!

"Nice try, but I believe I have the heaviest weight after all," I said smugly before easily lifting the bag and throwing it over my shoulder. Hopefully the bag was enchanted so it wouldn't break under the heavy weight of the pure gold.

Tim let out a huff and set his bag back down before sitting down at the table. The same butler from before with the smooth voice served us both, though Celestia seemed to be keeping a very close eye on him.

We ate mostly in silence, a little bit of small talk here and there. Eventually, we finished our meal and brought all the backpacks to the throne room. The Princesses telekinesis was very helpful in this regard.
> Chapter 27
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Exactly at eight thirty P.M., C Squad arrived in the Throne room. They were all carrying their equipment, though they were wearing a much lighter form of armor than what I had seen before. It was also not a bright and noticeable gold, but a more mundane steel grey. They looked almost like mercenaries rather than guardsmen.

Then again, that might be a good thing.

"Hey guys. You ready for the trip?" Instead of answering me, they all looked to the Princesses. Celestia nodded with a smile and the guards' stoic expressions melted off.

"Yep, though Snow here had to triple check our equipment before he even let us get dinner," Jade said.

"You do remember that I am standing right here." The aforementioned squad leader crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at Jade. Star sighed and walked forward while Jade and Snow had a small argument. There wasn't really any hostility in their words. Either way, Rock was standing near by in case one of them took it too far.

"While what she said was true, that's also standard procedure," Star clarified.

"Huh. So C Squad is really that strict?" I inquired.

"Not normally. It's just that missions outside the country require a bit more of a thorough hand. Snow is especially good with stuff like that."

"Ah. On another note, what does the 'C' in C Squad stand for?"

"'Celestia's.' Though it could also mean 'Custom,' since we all have custom weapons and equipment."

"Cool," Tim said from beside me. He continued, "What's it take to get into C Squad?" 

Star turned to him with a slightly bored look. "Firstly, you have to have been in the Equestrian Military for at least two years. Then, you have to apply for 'Watched' status, so officers will know to watch you for good behavior and excellence in your duties. Finally, after you have received the recommendation, you have to go through an absolutely brutal training regime with every single weapon and armor type in the Equestrian Military's arsenal. That is the only way you can figure out what your best armor type and weapon is. However, due to the training, every single person who has been able to make it into C Squad is able to wield any standard weapon. Some exotics, like the snake-sword, require far too much training to be able to use properly in a short amount of time, but special permission can be gained to pick up one to five exotics. After you've been trained with at least five exotics, you would have to apply again, but with the express recommendation of your training instructor saying that you still have yet to find your best weapon. Then free reign is allowed with the exotics, but average skills with all weapons is still a requirement." Almost as an after thought, she added, "If you would like to learn more, please ask your nearest military application agency about applying to the Equestrian Military."

Holy crap... I looked at her with incredulity all over my face. Tim's mouth was open in shock. Star smirked slightly at Tim's expression.

"Yeah, we can kick pretty much anyone's butt six ways to Sunday with practically anything. The thing is, only one of the current squad applied for exotics training. Snow Lance, with his laser lance."

"Laser lance?!" Tim exclaimed.

Snow apparently heard the commotion and walked over, prompting the other two to walk over as well. He sounded quite bored when he explained his lance's functions, "Yes, laser lance. My lance hold a very complicated series of mirrors and solar capacitors to charge up a high-energy laser. At the highest setting, it can burn through steel in about two seconds. Thankfully, I can still use it as a regular lance due to durability enchantments on the main body."

"That doesn't mean we don't have special things for our weapons, though," Jade interjected.

"Correct. Everyone of us has our own fighting style, and we use teamwork to exponentially increase our battlefield effectiveness with our particular talents," Rock continued. Snow looked like he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by the Throne Room doors creaking open.

"Sorry we're late!" Twilight and the rest of the girls nearly bowled each other over in getting into the room.

They were all panting a little bit, Twilight and Rarity more than the rest of them. Pinkie Pie, ever the impossibility, was hopping around on the balls of her feet looking like she hadn't even done anything strenuous.

"Well, I believe that's everyone here, now we-" Celestia started suddenly before a familiar voice cut her off.

"My dear, aren't you forgetting someone?" A stained glass window moved by itself, allowing my to see a dancing caricature of Discord.

"Discord, please stop being annoying," Celestia said with a hand to her forehead.

The stained glass man disappeared from the window before appearing before Celestia with a lamp that had a diamond in place of the lightbulb. "Celly, dearest, you know I can't stop being annoying for more than a day, and that day has already passed!" he said cheerfully before placing the lamp on top of Celestia's head. She looked quite done with Discord.

"My lady, we were not told that Discord would be joining us, if you would like us to-" Snow began before a motion from Celestia's hand silenced him. He had walked forward to speak with the sisters while Discord had been a nuisance.

"No, Discord is really more of a tag-along for the rest of them. Concentrate on protecting them, rather than keeping an eye on Discord."

"Yes, my lady." Snow bowed to his liege before stepping back. 

"Alright everyone! Let's get this show on the road!" Discord shouted. Pinkie Pie jumped in the air with a whoop. During the previous conversation, the Elements had all put on their respective bags, sometimes helped by one of the members of C Squad.

Once everyone was situated, Discord called us around him, after which he said, "Let us be off!" and snapped his fingers.





We had been walking for a few minutes, Discord being lazy and floating around on a deck chair, before we met our first problem. The surrounding area was basically flat grasslands, with very few trees. Due to it being evening by the time we got going, the more biological members of our party didn't have to worry about the sun beating over their heads. In the waning light I could see a few snow-capped mountains far off in the distance. Discord had teleported us, by his calculations, at least one fifth of the way to the Mer-kingdom. Also by his thinking, that would give us enough time for, quote, "Seven tiny delays, five small delays, three medium delays, two large delays, or one day-long delay."

Only Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy didn't sigh in exasperation at that.

Anyway, the first problem we encountered was a roving pack of tumble-cats. Apparently, branches and twigs can assume the form of an actual creature. Also, apparently Fluttershy can placate practically any animal with her voice and mannerisms, so we were left alone. Then I also learned that timberwolves were a thing in the larger forests, though they were especially prevalent in the Everfree forest.

This world just keeps getting better and better, I thought sarcasically.

The guards were not as talkative as before, probably because of the presence of the Elements of harmony. There was not a bunch of talk from them either, most likely because of the incoming night time. Another thing that I was told was that the Elements of Harmony were national heroes, due to their actions in several major conflicts. 

You learn new things every day... I thought, seeing the group of girls in a new light.

Eventually, we stopped to set up camp. Apparently Tim had most of the camping equipment, so he was enlisted to help set up the tents for the Elements. Rock helped him while the rest of C Squad took care of their own tents. I discovered a smaller tent for myself in my backpack, in a side pocket separate from the main section that was full of solid gold. 

A little bit of observation of Rock instructing Tim gave me the knowledge to set up my own tent. 

"Celedon, may I have a moment?" I heard a high class voice behind me after I finished setting up my tent.

"Sure. What do you need Rarity?" I turned around to see Rarity gazing at me with a critical eye. Rather, she was staring at my robe.

She shook her head and said, "I would love to take a look at the fabric of your outfit. I have never seen anything quite like it. It almost seems to be metal, yet moves with the ease of the softest silk. I don't want to be a bother, but would you mind terribly if I could ‘put it under a magnifying glass,’ as it were?"

I hesitated before saying, "I don't actually have any other outfits except this one. If I could separate a piece of the material for you without needing diamond edged scissors, I would." However, as I was saying this, I felt the bottom hem of my robe fall around my feet. I looked down in alarm, but only saw an inch wide section of the material touching my feet.

"Well, that is quite an interesting development," Rarity stated in confusion. After stepping out of the ring of fabric, I shrugged and handed it to the seamstress. "Oh thank you, I will take great care of this and see if I can't make you more outfits with the same properties," she said as she took the material. As I released it, I saw her arms drop heavily. But she grit her teeth and said goodbye, walking slowly back to her tent.

I shook my head and thought, Let's hope my entire outfit doesn't fall off one day. Not that anything will show, but it would still be embarrassing.

As I laid my head down to sleep, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched...






Elsewhere...


"Boss, they got this statue made of pure gold inside the smallest tent."

"You're sure its pure?"

"Yeah."

"Any guards?"

"Just four mercs and a guy in heavy black armor."

"Hmm...Alright. I don't like the smell of this, but get some of the guys and get the statue with Penny Pincher."

"You got it, Boss."

"If what you say is true, we're going to be rich before sundown tomorrow."
> Chapter 28
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Holy Celestia! This thing's heavy!"

"Of course it is you idiot! It's pure gold! And keep your voice down!"

The sounds of something heavy being lifted along with quiet grunts of exertion and the creaking of metal echoed silently in the night. Then there were several voices panting before a male voice said, "Alright, it's ready. Let's get this thing back to camp." Silently, three figures appeared from the smallest tent in the small camp that Celedon and co. had set up.

Unknown to the burglars, four pairs of eyes were watching them. Three devious grins showed up underneath three of those pair of eyes, while the pair of brown eyes simply had a smirk under them.





Back at the main camp of the highwaymen, everyone had surrounded the 'statue.'

"Wow. If I didn't know better, I'd say that thing was asleep!"

"She's pretty."

"It's a statue you dolt!"

"Why did someone make a statue of someone sleeping?"

"It's called art for a reason. There is no reason to art."

"Everyone, quiet!"

A tall man with a long red cloak around his neck strode out of a large tent. His eyes were gold and his medium length hair was two different colors, red and blue.

"So, Penny Pincher, how much do you think its worth?" The man's voice was relatively average, though there was an underlying current of confidence in his tone.

"Boss, I'd say it's worth at least five million, if not more." A thin man with a glowing orange aura covering his hands spoke. He was staring down at something that looked like a screen, with words and numbers floating across it.

"If you say more, I expect more. This was a risky operation." The man with the cloak stepped forward and gazed upon the beauty of the 'statue.'

"I understand that, but we got what we wanted." The thin man looked up at the larger of the two, wire-rimmed glasses perched on a young but intelligent looking face. His eyes were the same color as his aura, orange. His short hair was a light red.

"And we need to get moving," the cloaked man started. "Everyone, I need you to get everything ready for another move, because at first light tomorrow, we never stayed here."

A chorus of agreements rang out from the assembled thieves and they scattered. At a signal from 'Boss,' four large men hoisted the 'statue' up on their shoulders, a flat plate of metal keeping it from moving too much while riding their shoulders. After they had set it down, they left the tent, leaving the Boss with the statue.

Why do I have a feeling that this was a very bad idea...? the Boss thought. He lightly shook his head before he laid down on his bed.





Ugh, why do I feel like I'm lying on a metal plate? I thought as I rose from my bed. Before, I had laid down on a heavy-duty cot capable of sustaining my weight through enchantments. I looked at my cot and saw that I was, indeed, lying on a metal plate.

Ok, what the heck.

I stood up and stretched before turning around to look behind me. Then I saw a tall man sleeping on a large cot, lightly snoring. All around him and inside the tent were many, many treasures of various make, material, and size. Instead of gears turning in my head, I felt wires heating up and electricity zipping around in my brain as I figured out what had happened. I then, lightly, brought my hand to my forehead and shook my head.

Either C Squad didn't catch these guys, which I doubt, or they let them have me so they could watch me break out.

Then a thought occurred to me. If they had thought I was statue, then...

A malicious grin came over my face.

Well, people have been calling me "Angel" a couple times. Just have to add the "Weeping" part to get something terrifying.

Slowly and silently, I crept over to the tall man's sleeping place. Just as I was about half way there, I heard him stir and stood stock still. He didn't go back to sleep, so I held my hands over my face, head down, and stood straight.

"What the...why am I-WHOA!" I heard. Through a crack between my fingers, I saw the man leaning away from me on his bed. He then shook his head before laying back down to sleep.

I grinned again. All too easy...

I stepped forward again, quickly. He rolled over again and opened his eyes. I was still in the 'pose' of a Weeping Angel.

"Holy..." He started. Then he narrowed his eyes at me before shaking his head again and saying, "Must've been something in the mead. Yeah, that's it..."

I'll admit it, I giggled a little.

He jerked his eyes back to me. I could practically see him straining to hear another sound. With his eyes still on me, he laid back down to sleep. He kept one eye on me for about a minute, blinking rarely. Then he relaxed and closed his other eye.

Alright, time to play.

I got up nice and close to his face before I whispered, "Boo." Right before I said that, I felt some vibrations in my chest, and as I breathed out, a greenish gas came with it. The man's eyes shot open and he started to scream, before the gas took its apparent effect and knocked him out cold.

Huh, so I have tranquilizer breath. That must have been what those pumps connected to that empty chamber were for.

I straightened up and turned around, listening for any noise of footsteps coming to look into the large tent. Unfortunately, nothing came to check on the man.

I stalked outside the tent, watching for sentinels in the night. There was a slowly dying fire in the center of a ring of a half-dozen tents. Snores came in different volumes from different tents. I chose the one directly to the right of the one I came out of, and crept inside.

Ugh, these guys need to take a bath.

Inside were at least eight men of varying sizes, all of whom were sleeping soundly. The one directly in front of me did stir a little, probably from the light I was letting into the tent.

"Urgh...turn out the lamp..." a voice to my left said.

I assumed the pose and turned to where I heard the voice. Between my fingers, a man with dark blue wings was slowly waking up because of the shine that my entire body put into the tent.

"Come on, I said-WHAT THE?!" He started to say something before noticing me standing in the entrance. "Guys! Guys, wake up!" he shouted, trying to rouse his tent-mates.

"Wolf, go back to sleep..." a voice to my right whispered.

"They can't help you," I covered his voice with my own.

"What are you?!" He was hysterical now. The others were waking up.





"I'm your worst nightmare!" the shining angel said, eyes blazing red. Her voice was like a signal that sent fear down every single spine present. She then spread her wings slowly before metal slid against metal and her feathers locked together. Now her wings were single edged blades of terror. 

I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'MGONNADIE!!!!!!

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the man screamed. The angel then flapped her wings, blowing the tent and the men inside away with the gusts. The whole camp had woken by now, except for the Boss obviously. She swooped down and tried to grab at one of them, to further scare the camp. 

"Hahahahahahaha! You're all going to die!" The voice in the sky, coming from the flying angel that blasted everything away with her wings, terrifying everyone in the camp. It was utter chaos as tents and equipment was sent flying, men were forced to the ground, and all the while the angel was taunting them.

"Come on! Show me that you've got some backbone! 





This is too much fun! I thought as I flew above the now flaming camp. One of the tents must have rolled onto the fire. Of course, my wings weren't helping put it out, rather they were just weak enough to spread the flames. I was laughing madly now.

Run! Run for your lives! RUN YOU PATHETIC PIECES OF MEAT!" I screamed into the air.

What the... I stopped flying and hovered, still blowing everything underneath me away and adding further to the chaos below.

I've never said anything like that before. The words that had come from my mouth were not my own. I decided that for now, it would be best to leave them.

Still, I had an act to keep up.

"Be glad that I am sparing your lives! But I will not be so merciful if I find out that you have returned to your lives of crime! Scatter, and never return!" I roared.

And scatter they did.

As they were doing so, four familiar faces showed up from the surrounding forest. I hadn't even noticed them from my place in the air. I dropped to the earth, not wanting to blow them back with my wing beats. Of course, doing so caused a massive crater to appear underneath me and a dust cloud to spring up from the impact. After walking through the dust cloud, I met up with C Squad.

"Hey guys, how's it going?”
> Chapter 29
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The general look of C Squad as I asked my question ranged from disbelief to astonishment.

"Wow, mood whiplash, much?" Jade said, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.

"What could you ever mean?" I forced a subtle bit of sarcasm into my words.

Jade gave me a flat look while the rest of C Squad sighed and went about trying to loot whatever they could from the camp. A bunch of treasures and other valuables, along with the leader. Who was still asleep for some reason.

Dang, must have been a potent tranquilizer.

"What did you do to him? Scare him to death?" Star asked once I had met up with her at her behest.

"No, actually. I was doing this whole living statue act from my home, but when I got up in his face and whispered 'boo,' I saw some type of green gas come from my mouth. He almost screamed, but inhaled the gas first, knocking him out cold. There was a random empty chamber that was connected to my throat that had several pumps connected to it. I'm assuming that's where the gas came from."

"Well, that means we can actually arrest him. Rock?!" she yelled over to the big guy.

A few seconds later he had trundled his way over to us. "What do you need, Star?"

"You got any magi-cuffs? We need to get this guy carted up for transportation to Canterlot."

The man nodded and pulled out a pair of golden cuffs, covered in multi-colored runes. Before he put them on, Snow landed next to me and said, "Celedon, it would be appreciated if you could get back to the camp. We're all a little on edge after that...display, of yours. Jade is the only one who seems less affected by it, so she'll be going back to guard the camp and lead you there while the rest of us pick this place clean. We'll be back before morning and ready to go by first light, so try and get some sleep."

I nodded and jogged away from the camp for a little bit, Jade joining up with me. Then, with a nod, she took off into the air. I did the same, with a much more dramatic effect of course. I also tried to stay behind Jade, since I intrinsically knew that the wake behind my wings could easily take over even a master flyer's skills.

"So, Celedon, about what just happened a few minutes ago?" I heard Jade yell over the wind.

"Well, I was just having a little bit of fun with those idiots."

"And what about them being, quote, 'pathetic pieces of meat?'" she continued. I stayed silent at that. A look of intense concentration came over my brow. I'm sure that she could see it from her place in front of me. I saw her look back and her face told me that the discussion was not over. Eventually, I saw the camp coming up under us on the grassland.

"Wow, they really carried me far, didn't they?" I shouted over the wind as I looked back to the forest far behind us. Jade nodded before she dove into a graceful landing. I wasn't about to try the same maneuver, but I did just drop out of the sky.

Now, I had again underestimated how much force I could exert on the ground. As I landed, from about forty feet up, a split second observer would see two ripples expanding from my feet on the earth. Then the earth cracked, shattered, and exploded from the extreme kinetic force that I exerted on it, in that order.

Jade was coughing about ten feet away from me. "Geez, *cough* do you *cough* always have to do *cough* that when you land?" she called through the dust cloud.

"Not intentionally!" I yelled back. Turning where I hoped I wasn't facing the camp, I beat my wings twice. The dust was immediately swept away.

Jade coughed a little bit more before she started walking over to the camp.

Wait, didn't Snow say something about guard duty? I thought. Only then did I notice the complicated looking compound bow strapped to her back, along with the black quiver full of arrows. And I learned why she had 'Hunter' in her name.

She removed the bow with practiced ease and shot an arrow into the night, barely even turning her head to her supposed target. I heard a squawk and something hitting the ground. 

"You go on ahead, I'm just going to get us some extra food." Jade then sprinted off into the darkness. Shrugging, I jogged towards the camp. After I made sure my entrance hadn't woken anyone, Geez, Tim's still asleep, I laid myself back down in my rather more comfortable cot.





No! _____! Get off her! I heard shouting in my dreams this time. I was surrounded by fire, explosions were going off, and vaguely human shaped blobs of static were clashing against static shapes that thoroughly terrified me. Some were tiny, while others were massive beasts greater than fifty feet in height.

________! Charge! Several of the humanoids jumped into the air and brought down what I hoped were swords.

Then I was spun on my feet by a hand on my shoulder. One of the larger beings then jammed a blade through my torso, cackling.





I woke with a jerk, thankfully not screaming this time.

I had woken up just before sunrise, if the light across the eastern horizon was any indication. "Rise and shine! Celedon, we've got to get a move on!" Jade stuck her head in the tent to deliver the message before going back to whatever she was doing.

"Alright everyone!! It's time for a 'First-Breakfast-on-the-Road-to-the-Mer-kingdom-adventure' party! You can even eat them as you walk!"

Oh right, there were other people. I was in the process of getting up and packing down the tent when Pinkie Pie appeared just out of my peripheral vision and held out a golden looking muffin.

"I even baked you one, especially for you! See, it even says, 'For Celedon' on the top!" Sure enough, the message was etched on the delicious looking treat. I looked over to the rest of the group, and saw they all had their own baskets of different flavors of muffins. 

I smiled at Pinkie and thanked her before gently grabbing the muffin. She zoomed off to help Rainbow Dash. Poor girl looked like she hadn't slept in a week with the way she was lazing about. Must not be a morning person.

Once again, Pinkie Pie astounded me. The muffin was everything that I had hoped, pure gold. Somehow, she had made it taste even better! I almost collapsed on the spot from the ecstasy. After I recovered, I looked around.

Thankfully, no one had noticed me being overwhelmed with pleasure. I started back up with my task in disassembling my tent. A few minutes later we were back on the road. Discord was being annoying by turning me into a bird for a few seconds.

Let me tell you, being a bird and hopping all over the place instead of walking is ridiculously hard.
> Chapter 30
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Discord changed me back to my normal self (for a given definition of normal), Rainbow Dash suddenly walked up to me. "Hey, Celedon, I got a question for you."

I was surprised for a second, before I answered, "Shoot."

"How fast are you? In the air I mean." For some reason she looked quite nervous.

"Well, I never measured my speed, but I have a feeling that I could technically reach Mach one, and maybe surpass it. The last time I remember that though was when Berserker tossed me at Gilgamesh. Why do you ask?"

She puffed out her chest as she said, "Well, I've got to live up to my name of 'Fastest Flier in Equestria!' What say, after we make camp, you and I have a race?"

I had a feeling several things could go wrong with us messing around. "Rainbow, not to hurt your pride, I don't think racing a two-thousand pound being would be a good idea...and if I ever got past you, you would be blown off your flight path from the wind generated from my wings."

"Ah, don't worry about that! I've created tornadoes before!"

"With the help of a whole team of other flyers," Fluttershy corrected.

Rainbow Dash looked pained for a second and apologized to Fluttershy. Then she turned back to me and said, "Right, yeah, uh, still...I want to have a race!"

I gave her a sidelong glance. She had even brought the puppy-dog eyes! Though I don't think she knew she was doing it.

I sighed. "Fine, but only one lap."

"Awesome!" She gave little leap into the air. I smirked at her reaction before returning my attention to the road ahead.

Tim, who had been walking beside me, asked, "You think you can beat her?"

"I don't know. I know she's fast, and probably much more maneuverable than I am, on account of being literally a ton lighter than me. But then again, I can maneuver at a master's level due to the knowledge Discord put into my head, I just have to put out a, pardon the expression, ton more energy to achieve the same level of flying as a normal person." I looked over to her again, she was lazily hovering backwards while talking to Twilight. Probably hypothesizing about my own abilities.





Eventually Snow Lance called to set up for a lunch break. I saw him conversing with Discord once we had stopped. If I listened closely, I heard something about being "on schedule."

"Comeoncomeoncomeon! We've got a race to do!" The instant my backpack hit the ground I was grabbed by Rainbow Dash. She tried to pull me over to a starting line.

Emphasis on tried.

I noticed right away that if I took off at max strength from where the starting line was, I would blow everything away in a massive gust.

"Rainbow, did you take into account how I have to take off?" I asked while she tried to push me towards the line. This question made her stop, stand up straight, and chuckle nervously. I shook my head lightly. Between the two of us, and with some help from Twilight, we made a starting line far enough away from the rest point that Twilight calculated wouldn't be affected by the take off.

"Alright, first one to break the sound barrier and come back wins!" Rainbow Dash said as she slipped down into a runners pose, wings flared.

Well, this is going to be interesting, I thought as I nodded and assumed the same pose. My feathers lightly chimed in the wind over the grassland. Twilight was off to my right, Dash on my left, and Twilight had conjured up a windscreen that she said would be able to negate the gusts of my wings. She was also the referee. Apparently everyone else had come to watch.

"On your marks!" I tensed my entire body to jump off the ground and into the air.

"Get set!" I could feel a faint sense of adrenaline surging through my body, even though I knew that shouldn't have been possible.

"GO!" And I took off.





Back on the ground, while the race just started, everyone was coughing from the absolutely massive dirt and dust cloud that has sprung up from Celedon's take off. A quick spell from Twilight cleared the dirt.

Almost everyone gasped at the huge craters that Celedon's feet had left when she launched herself into the air. Looking backwards, the earth was scoured to hard clay from her wings and piles of grassy earth, soil, and smaller rocks were several dozen feet away from the starting line.

"Wow...I know she's made of metal, and the appropriate force to lift something of her weight would have to be gigantic, but seeing the results..." Twilight started. Then she shuddered before she could finish.

"Ah'm worried about RD bein' caught in her wake. She might be one of the best fliers in Equestria, but those wings Celedon has are monstrous!" Applejack said.





I was pumping my wings as hard as I could, and I was just barely behind Rainbow Dash. Her wings were almost a blur with how fast she was going. I could feel the wind blowing through my hair and all over me, trying to resist my movement. I just plowed straight through. I could see Dash twisting and turning, probably her wings responding to the air currents to try and find the best path to ride the winds on.

Meanwhile, I was trying desperately to not knock her out of the sky with a mis-aimed wing beat. Slowly, she pulled ahead of me. I could see the beginning of a mach cone forming. Then I had an epiphany.

Why not use gravity to help speed me up? Still beating my wings furiously, I began rising higher into the air. Dash pulled further and further ahead due to my change in elevation, but I kept rising higher and higher. Then I flattened and folded my wings around myself after setting myself into a very fast spin. I had practically turned into a bullet.

Gravity started talking hold and tilted me downwards. I dared not peek out and look for the telltale cone of moisture just in case I lost speed. 

Then I heard a thoom. 

I looked out from where my wings had folded over me. Of course, I was still rapidly spinning, but I saw a huge rainbow ring exploding from a point a little ways in front of and below me. A solid trail of rainbow was being emitted from the center of the ring, and I could see it beginning a wide turn into the air.

So, she made it first...Let's see if I can't do the same thing.

Careful manipulation of the flat surface of my feathers increased my spinning, like a drill going through the earth. I could feel resistance forming at the 'tip' of my wings. But then, it was gone.

I opened my wings and slowly stopped spinning, before looking backwards and seeing a huge golden ring exploding from where the sound had suddenly stopped. Judging that to be my cue, I executed a left turn, in order to head back to the starting line. As I did so, I was able to hear the weirdly melodic, but still loud thoom from my own sonic boom. I looked off to my right and saw Rainbow with her fists out, hair streaking behind her. She was nearly flat in the air.

Then the golden ring passed right in front of her.
> Chapter 31
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crap! I thought as the golden ring passed in front of Rainbow Dash. The wind generated by the ring threw her off her flight path and sent her on a shallow decline back to the earth. I altered my flight path to follow after her descent.

She kept tumbling end over end, trying to right herself. I desperately hoped she would, because at my current speed I would have to be incredibly lucky to not smash every single bone in her body to paste if I tried to catch her. 

Then she folded her wings in and spread them quickly, which jerked her into a stable position. Then again, that position was pointed straight at the ground, but she recovered well enough. I smiled into the wind before straightening myself back towards the finish line.

The instant my wings beat, I felt my speed increase exponentially. The wind was no longer just content to run towards me either. It was roaring in my ears and over my body. I hazarded a look backwards and saw Rainbow steadily speeding back up. Then I looked forward and saw that I had almost made it back over the line. I heard another thoom and saw that Rainbow had been holding out on me.

A double rainbow ring had exploded behind me, and a rainbow streak was rapidly catching up to me. My eyes widened and I beat my wings harder and harder, struggling to get over the line. Just as I neared it, a flash went off underneath me and the streak of rainbow blasted over the line at what looked like the same time.

Now I had to stop myself. Still flying at mach one, I glided on my speed far away from the camp. Then I entered into a steep dive before pulling up and turning back to the camp, barely skimming the ground. I then put out my feet in front of me and tried to slowly brake.

I believe I don't need to explain how that turned out. A greater than one ton being flying at sound breaking speeds trying to use relatively soft dirt to slow down? Yeah...let's just say that I scarred the earth pretty bad.

After waving a hand in front of her face, Twilight said, "It was almost a tie, but Rainbow Dash pulled ahead with the double-rainboom!"

"Whoo! Oh yeah! Who's the fastest? I am!" The aforementioned Rainbow Dash was jumping all over the place and doing poses while performing a couple stunts. 

"Well, at least we know you can withstand the G forces of flying at mach one," Twilight told me as she wrote down something on a notepad.

"Yeah, not really much difference from normal flying, except for the louder wind." Twilight nodded and wandered off to do some more sciencey stuff. All things considered, I was actually surprised by Rainbow Dash's attitude. I would have pegged her as one to gloat right to my face, but she even, after she calmed down, came over to me and shook my hand and told me it was a good race...Even if I did try to sabotage her.

Which I didn't mean to do.

Anyway, we all ate a delicious lunch, including me for obvious reasons. By the time we had finished, the sun was already past its zenith in the sky. 

"Alright everyone, we need to get a move on if we want to get anywhere by nightfall. Plus, we're going to make a pit stop in the next town, Witherton," Snow announced. As we all started to pack up, Rarity came over to me with the ring of cloth. This time her hands were glowing a light blue, the same color of the aura covering the material.

"Celedon, I must say, this material, while heavy, is simply astounding! It is almost like armor in the way that it works, and it made of incredibly tight weaves of pure golden thread! A quick once-over with a thaumatic scan also showed me that it is heavily enchanted to resist tearing, but is directly linked to the wearer's consciousness! Do you have any idea what you are wearing?" 

While stunned by her words, I recovered and said, "Honestly, no I don't. Also, I am once again surprised today."

After handing the cloth back to me, she asked, "What ever could you mean?"

"I never took you to be into 'thaumatic scans' and stuff like that."

She tittered lightly. "Oh, darling, in my line of work, I have to be very thorough with the outfits I sell. While that may have sounded like something out of Twilight's mouth, I am indeed very knowledgeable about clothing manufacture and repair. That said, you would need a seamstress with much more skill than I to repair that dress. However, I have a feeling that it can repair itself."

Without thinking, I had already put the cloth on the ground and stepped into it, lowering my shoulders so that the edges of my robe and the cloth touched. Sure enough, it stitched itself together without a single indication that a piece had been removed.

Rarity was staring at the place where my robe had been fixed. "Remarkable..." A few seconds later, Star came by to tell us to get back to packing.





Focused as I was on the road, I almost didn't hear Tim calling to me from right next to me.

"Celedon! Look ahead." He pointed to a place that appeared from behind Rock as he kept walking.

I saw a little town with a couple of brick buildings, while the rest were wood based. Or at least, the ones on the edge were like that. In the center of the town I could see a tall bell tower with a shining glint at the top. 

I hope that's not gold, cause I don't know if I'll be able to hold back... I thought, hesitance clear on my face.

"Looks like an interesting place, doesn't it?" Tim said, not noticing my distress.

"I guess...Looks a little old fashioned." Then again, I only lived in the castle for all of three days, never know if this is the norm.

"Well, since we lived in a literal castle, I kinda expected something like this."

I gave him a sidelong glance. He noticed and just shrugged. The rest of the walk, on my side, was silent. The girls were chattering back and forth, Jade and Star even joined in a couple times, Jade more than Star. Discord was also being a general nuisance, though nothing he did was really notable or harmful enough for any memory.

Eventually we reached the outskirts of the buildings and a man in an expensive looking suit walked up with quite a large amount of townspeople behind him. At an unspoken signal, he exclaimed with a wave of the cane he held in his hand, "Welcome to Witherton!"
> Chapter 32
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the sudden greeting, we were swept into the town for the grand tour. Suffice to say, I was bored out of my mind. I never liked tours.

Then again, I was also too nice to voice said opinion.

"And here is the City Hall!" The mayor, Equal Trust, was far too enthusiastic for someone with his job. But having national heroes arrive would warrant a tour, I guess...

I just wanted to eat and go to sleep. Then get back on the road to the Mer-kingdom.

Tim was glancing at me every now and then. He had been with me during the time we were given a tour of a museum that Alice had wanted to go to. I grit my teeth and bore it, then complained at length to Tim why I did not like tours. Well, more like at Tim. I'm pretty sure he had fallen asleep during my speech. 

But I digress.

"This is our best inn, where you will be staying!" The way he said that made me suspicious that he was only talking to the Elements of Harmony. Then I suddenly had a thought.

Where's Discord? I scanned the crowd for the brown suited god of chaos. After a few turns I saw a pair of yellow eyes looking right at me, along with a smirk under those eyes.

Just the eyes and mouth.

I rolled my eyes at his prank and turned back to hear the verdict about where I would be getting to lie down.

"Unfortunately, your...companions, will need to stay somewhere else. The inn does not have enough rooms for them." He had on this utterly pathetic looking pout, as if he actually cared about us.

I felt a tapping on my shoulder, but I ignored it. I could only guess as to what these people did and how corrupt the mayor was. Probably took money straight out of people's bank accounts or something. If they even had bank accounts in this backwater town.

It was making me physically ill to even think about these people.

Hold the phone… Why am I getting so worked up?

I shook my head, banishing those poisonous thoughts. The tapping on my shoulder increased, causing me to turn and look straight into Tim's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something before surprise showed up on his face.

"What? What did you want?" I whisper-asked.

He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Nevermind, I thought I saw something on your face."

I shrugged my shoulders and turned back to Equal Trust. I caught the tail end of the conversation, where Snow was explaining to Twilight that, yes, we would be perfectly fine outside. But, I couldn't help but notice that he had glanced over at the eyes and smirking mouth, who winked back at him before fading away. Snow probably had made a plan with Discord about this before.

"Berserker, Celedon, let's go. We need to restock on a couple things," Jade spoke from behind me. The bow-woman parted the crowds with what had to be a terrifying face as she walked us through the masses.

"Alright, Celedon, since you can do the heavy-lifting without too much trouble, you're coming with me. Berserker, Rock is going with you to pick up some other essential foods." Rock suddenly appeared from my left and nodded before turning down the road, Tim following after him.

"Okay, apparently we are going to be needing a literal crate of food for the rest of the trip," Jade talked as she walked. “Or at least, from our side. Berserker and Rock are going to get some vegetables.”

“Alright, so what are we going for?”

“Some meat products, for protein. Plus, we need to get one of those fancy fridge-crates, so the meat won’t spoil before we even pack it up.”

"Ah, okay."

So we went walking off to the meat market that we had apparently been to. 

"Celedon, exactly how out of it were you?" she asked incredulously.

I had the good graces to look embarrassed and told her, "I've never been a big fan of tours. It's a little restricting for me. I'd rather find out where the specific place I wanted to be is on my own, rather than have someone lead me to every other place and then finally reach my true destination. That or see the place I wanted to go and then have to walk right past it."

"Huh. Never would've pegged you for someone who doesn't like tours. Anyway, we're here." She spread her arms wide, showing the big meat market. 

"Now do you get why I asked you? We literally were walked through that, and you didn't know where it was?"

"...Yeah, I can see how you would find it almost impossible for someone to miss it."

We walked into the entrance of the bazaar, Jade leading the way. All of a sudden, she stopped, focused off to the left of her for a few seconds, squealed, and ran off to look at a certain stall.

"Jade? Is that you?" Rather, she was running off to the owner of said stall. He was an older man, with a messy mop of dark green hair, interspersed with a little bit of white at his temples.

"Daddy!" She then proceeded to jump over the shelf in front of her and glomp her apparent father.

"Oof! Jade, you've got to be more careful! I'm not as young as I used to be." The man scolded her lightly, but I could hear the joy in his voice at seeing his daughter.

"But Daaaad, it's been five years! I think your daughter can be a little happy to see her Dad, don't you?" While they had been having their conversation, I was slowly walking over to them.

"Hahaha, yes, I believe I can allow it. Now, let me up, I've got some business to attend to." Sure enough, they both got up off the ground, Jade helping her father up. As he looked in my direction he couldn't help but be startled but my sudden appearance.

"Oh! Forgive me, my daughter is a little excitable at the best of times. What can I get for you?" 

Instead of me replying, Jade said, "Dad, this is Celedon, she's with me." She then proceeded to climb out of the little stall and stand next to me on my left.

I bowed lightly. "A pleasure to meet the father of Jade Hunter."

Surprised by my formality, he nodded his head and introduced himself. "And a pleasure to meet you. My name is Malachite Tusk. It's been awhile since my daughter has introduced me to a new friend."

"Well, it's more like she's part of a mission. But!" she added with a finger pointing to the sky, "That doesn't mean I can't be friendly." Jade tried to get an arm around my neck, but ended up settling for just laying a hand on my shoulder. 

Wow, I'm actually pretty tall compared to most people here.

Her father chuckled before saying, "Of course, I understand. But, since you're on a mission, I suppose you have another reason to be here besides looking for me?"

"It's not like I knew you were going to be here or something. But yeah, we need some fresh meat for the rest of the trip." And so Jade detailed out a list of meat products for her father, who gave the best cuts he could find. He almost gave them to her for free, but she insisted on paying for them, since it was government funds that she was using.

I was smiling the whole time at the interactions between father and daughter. Then my smile turned a little wistful at imagining what it would have been like...

"Celedon, hey, Equestria to Captain Celedon!" Jade was snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, got lost in thought." Malachite seemed to chuckle at that.

"It's alright, happens to the best of us. Now, I need you to lift this," Jade indicated a medium-sized crate covered in light blue runes. Condensation was rolling off of it.

"The fridge box I assume." Jade nodded.

"Jade, I'm pretty sure even you would have trouble with that box by yourself," her father interjected, looking a little stern and worried at the same time.

"Just watch," she replied with a smirk.

Effortlessly picking up the two feet cubed box, I enjoyed seeing the look of shock on Malachite's face. Then he looked to his daughter.

"You're making stranger and stranger company these days." Jade giggled and hopped the counter again. She gave her father a hug and jumped back over to me before saying goodbye to Malachite.

"Again, it was a pleasure to meet you Celedon. Have a nice day!"

"You too, and thank you." Then Jade led me off to a secluded spot outside of town where I could see the camp being set up.
> Chapter 33
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Celedon, set the crate down right here." Jade had led me over to a large tent where I could hear various clangs and bangs. I also detected a horrible aroma from the inside.

The 'kitchen,' I assume.

After putting the cold box down, I saw Star working over a small cauldron. I walked over to her side and saw that she was stirring what looked like a light tan-ish soup.

"I didn't know you cooked," I stated.

She barely looked at me before returning to her work. "You never asked. But, being the only magic user in C Squad, I can do it with much more ease than the rest of the guys."

"You can use magic?" Sure enough, her left hand was glowing a light pink, and a knife covered in an aura of the same color was chopping up some meager vegetables on a wooden board. After it was done, the board gained an aura of the same color and it was lifted over the stew while the knife scraped the veggies into the pot.

"Yeah. Makes things quite a bit easier. Duck." Instead of questioning why, I immediately crouched. The box that I had set down flew over my head, covered in the same pink aura as before. Then I saw the top of the box being sliced perfectly around the edges by an invisible blade before being lifted into the air and set aside.

"Other than telekinesis, I can also separate things from each other, like a saber slicing through a material. Can't put them back together though." I stood up and watched as some of the fresh meat floated out of the box and was minced by the knife from before. Then it was put into another pot that was full of boiling water.

"Besides my ability, I do actually use a saber as my weapon." 

"Huh."

"Either way, I need you to move, this place is about to become a storm of blades once Rock and Berserker are here." A cursory glance allowed me to see that there was, indeed, at least ten various knives scattered at strategic places.

"Alright. Talk to you later." Star 'mmhm'-ed as I walked out of the tent.

"Perfect timing, Celedon! I need you to help me set up a tent over here," Jade suddenly called from my left. She was sitting at one end of a flat piece of canvas, fitting some metallic tubes together.

I walked over to her when she pointed to the opposite end of the flattened tent. A few steps, and then I was sitting down, hunched over the same fittings as Jade.

"Say, Jade, why was your dad in the market? Does he live here?" I suddenly asked.

I looked up a little to see that she was still concentrated on her work, but she replied, "My family kind of goes around several places in a circuit. We hunt vermin and bigger game, selling the good stuff to people for good prices. The run-off we use in our traps and stuff. My Dad has a good sense for the time to move, so whenever he said it was time to pack up and move to a different location, we did so. That helped replenish the population of the animals so we didn't over-hunt. It wasn't super stable, but we lived well enough." She had a small smile on her face as she recounted her life to me.

"How big is your family? From the skill I saw last night when you shot...whatever that was, you were probably one of the better hunters in your family, right?" I didn't want to intrude too much, but her story seemed just too interesting for me to stop asking questions.

"I guess you could say that. I mean, right now I would probably best my older siblings in a target shooting contest, but back then I was only average compared to them."

"Oh, that's interesting."

She snorted. "Yeah, I only had to go through C Squad training to get past them. Not that I blame them for being good with their methods, we had to have at least competent hunters in our family to get our money. But I've been rambling too much, we need to get these tents up." The rest of the time we worked in silence.





Eventually we had the tents all ready in a ring around a fire pit, where Star had put a small pot full of stew that I assumed would have tasted good. Then again, my nose was biased against everything that wasn't gold.

I just sat around the campfire eating my blocks of pure ecstasy.

Shouldn't this stuff have stopped tasting so amazing by now? Not that I'm complaining.

Without the Elements of Harmony or Discord, the atmosphere was decidedly more relaxed, if silent. 

"C Squad, it's time." Snow suddenly said. Wordlessly, the squad set down their food and looked straight into the fire. They were all stone-faced, no expression could be seen.

After a few minutes, Tim, who was sitting next to me, looked like he was about to say something. I put my hand on his arm to stop him. Once he looked at me I held a finger over my lips and pointed to Jade. I could see tears streaming down her face even though her mood looked neutral. After a few minutes of silence, at an unspoken signal they resumed eating. 

"Thank you for staying silent during our Time of Remembrance," Snow said. I even saw a single tear on his face.

"Lost friends?" I hypothesized.

"Yes, and strangers who died under our watch. C Squad has this monthly ritual, forcing us to remember that we are not all powerful. It keeps us from becoming too inflated on our own strength," Rock explained.

"It hurts, but then again, exercise hurts. It humbles us," Jade continued. This almost seemed like a practiced speech.

"And remembering them gives us a reason to become even stronger, so we won't lose any more people," Star finished.

I couldn't really think of any words to say on that. The atmosphere around the fire had turned a little sullen.

I decided to do something about that.

"Snow, would you mind if I played a song to commemorate those who've gone on ahead?" He looked up from his barely touched food and nodded once.

Putting away the gold I had been about to eat, I concentrated and summoned my harp. As I put my fingers to the strings, instead of them moving by themselves, I could 'see' the notes in my mind's eye. I knew exactly how to pluck, pull, and strum the harp. Thus, I began to play.

I began plucking the lower strings constantly. The notes rose into the night like a new sun. I could hear some other stringed instruments underneath my harp, playing softly. Then a wooden pipe flowed into the song, like the high points of someone's life. It continued in that way for several dozen seconds, the pipe blowing powerful but soft notes until it faded away. My harp and the strings played together for a long while, neither of us overpowering the other. We filled the silence with beautiful music. A light crescendo with some guitar chords sounded through the night. Then I was left alone with my harp, playing softly. It sounded like the end of life, slowly fading away, surrounded by family. There was never a moment of true silence during my song, until the notes kept getting softer and softer. With a final strum, I finished the melancholy song. 

The song reminded me of life; starting slowly, bursting forth, and then a slow decline until a peaceful death. 

If only that had been describing how Alice's life had been...

There was silence in the camp as C Squad and Tim took in the song. My harp disappeared with a flash as I felt something running down my face.

I gave a sad chuckle on finding out that I could actually cry. Golden tears ran down my face, but I could tell that this was completely different from the golden ichor that I had spilled during the battle with Gilgamesh.

"Celedon..." Snow began.

"That was beautiful," Star finished. There wasn't a dry eye in the camp. Even Tim had a few blackish tears rolling down his face.

With a short breath, Snow said, "I believe that's enough remembrance for one night. Everyone, let's get to bed. We need to be rested for the final leg of the journey tomorrow."

And so we went to sleep.
> Chapter 34
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

WAKE UP, CHILD.

What in the... "Oh." I woke up to the same void as before.

YES, IT IS ME. BUT FOR NOW, TO THE NORMAL MEETING PLACE.

The void fazed into the same plain as before, with Void-coat leaning on the tree. Instead of being laid-back, however, he looked much more tense than normal.

"On your journey, you need to make as many allies as you possibly can. You have no idea how much they will help you in the later part of your expedition." Straight to the point. Definitely unlike normal.

"Is something bad going to happen?" I went up to the tree and sat down. He joined me after a few seconds.

"Many things. And yet, nothing. It all depends..." Aaand he's back to being cryptic.

He sighed. "There are some things I cannot tell you, as it would complicate matters in too many ways for it to be recoverable. Just know that, the more allies you have, the better your life will turn out while you are here."

"And why would that be?"

He stared flatly at me. "I just said that I cannot tell you certain things."

"Is this one of them?"

He was silent for a second, before he smirked. "No, actually. Sort of. At the end of your journey, you will be faced with a choice. The choice you make will change this world, for good, or for evil. Your allies will help you make that choice. The more, the merrier, as the expression goes."

"Oh, so I have to worry about getting everyone to work together for something far off in the future, and now you're telling me that I have a fifty-fifty chance of doing something good or evil for the world? Great job, you just made my life a whole lot easier," I sarcastically snarked.

"You're the one who asked about it. Just remember to be wise. Don't jump into the choice on instinct."

Then the world started fading away.





"Celedon! Come on, get up you two-ton statue!" I felt someone trying to roll me off my bed, and the voice sounded suspiciously like Jade.

"Ugh, what? Jade, what are you doing here?" I asked while rubbing my eyes. Artificial I may be, I still felt like a regular person. However that works.

"We've gotta get packing! Discord's come by to tell us that, quote, 'In order to stay on schedule, we need to be leaving within the hour.'"

"Oh, well then, let me up." She backed away as I got up off my cot. 

"I've got to get packing some stuff, so you've got to take care of your tent by yourself." She then rushed out of my presence.

Shrugging, I set to work. Or tried to, as I heard someone walking into my tent.

"Celedon, I need your help with something." Apparently Rock had decided to visit.

"Alright, what do you need?" I asked curiously.

"Snow has enlisted me to go over and retrieve the Elements and escort them through the city. A partner is always preferable when going through an urban environment," he explained.

"Huh, didn't know that. But I do need to pack up my own stuff." 

At me saying this, he stuck his head out of the tent and yelled, "Berserker! Over here as well!" I heard a yell of affirmation, after which Rock turned back to me and said, "Berserker will take care of it. Plus, with all you've been eating, I believe that he should be able to lift your bag now."

Embarrassed, I said, "Heh, have I really been eating that much?"

"To me, yes. However, I don't know the nutritional value of gold. Come, we must be off." He said all this with a straight face. I didn't know whether or not he was joking or being serious.





As Rock and I were walking through the streets of Witherton, I wanted to learn more about him. I already learned about Jade's life, but she was easy to talk to. Rock, while he might talk easily, has sort of an 'unapproachable' aura.

That was, unless he talked himself. "What was your family like, if you had a family at all? It must have been interesting being part of a race of super-dense golden beings."

Surprised by his question, I almost blurted out that I was a widower, but then thought better of it. "I did have a family, but it was just me and my...husband." 

Oh geez, that sounds so weird.

"You're married?" Rock asked incredulously.

"Yeah...I was married." Hopefully he could hear the very subtle hint at I don't want to talk about it.

He heard it. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything."

"No, it's fine. It's just...it's been a while." Suppressing a sigh, I redirected the question. "What about you? If I may ask."

"My family?" he questioned. I nodded and he got this look. It was an interesting cross between happiness and melancholy.

"My family is actually part of the Canterlot nobility. They've been around since the founding of Canterlot. As for my immediate family...my father wasn't around a lot until I joined the military. My family might not have access to magic, but our strength and stamina work heavily in our favor for a soldier's life. Once I joined up, I learned that my father was a full-time officer who worked his way up from before I was born to reach his position. He barely had any down time, which he would always spend by coming back home." He smiled fondly. "Seeing him come home and hearing about his work, it was a good time. Everyone sitting around the hearth, listening to fantastic stories from my father, then we would all head down to bed. " Then his smile lessened itself by a fraction.

"After I joined I also saw how my father worked. He was fair, but strict. He knew I was his son, but would only do what he would do for any other soldier. Not that I ever asked for preferential treatment. Then again, a few people knew that I was working in the same force that my father commanded. Rumors are notoriously easy to start, and even easier to spread in the military. That's part of the reason I applied to C Squad. I wanted to show those people gossiping behind my back that I could get there, with only my own hard work. Only problem was that my commanding officer was my father, so I had to actually work even harder than the norm in order for another officer or higher-up to notice that I was an upstanding soldier. Even if my father had been allowed to recommend me, he would have needed someone to verify his story that was a bystander, not someone under his command. Nepotism is something that is not tolerated in the Equestrian Military."

"Wow. You must have had a hard time trying to do all that." The sheer amount of regulations that the military had were astounding.

He smirked. "Yeah, comes with the territory. If someone applied for C Squad entrance and a relative had recommended them, the person might never actually be good enough for the squad. It could bring in someone who doesn't work well in a team, or just had a plain bad attitude. Everything after the recommendation was a cakewalk compared to the politics and red-tape that I had to cut through. I knew what I was getting into though, so I was expecting it."

"Sheesh. Turning to a different topic for a second, I see that you are always wearing those heavily armored gauntlets. Is it safe to assume that they are you weapons?" We walked past the city hall where Equal Trust was standing outside and surveying the building with a team of construction workers. He noticed us and gave a polite wave, before turning back to the work.

"You assume correctly. Due to my strength, the only weapons that I was able to use effectively were my own fists. Even knuckle-dusters or other things like that were known to warp and crack if I punched something with them. Even these," he lifted his arms, "need to be repaired if I hit something with them. I didn't want to enchant them so they wouldn't need repairing as the crumple factor actually would keep my target alive if I hit them. The gauntlets also protect my fists if I punch something that my bones would break against normally."

I whistled. "Must cost quite a bit to get them fixed."

"If I actually hit something, then yes, it does. I still would rather have an actual weapon when fighting, like a sword or a mace. Keeps them at arms reach, but I can bring out my fists if I am disarmed. That surprise factor has saved my life more times than I know."

"Interesting..." The rest of the journey was silent as we walked to the inn.





"Celedon! Hiya! It's been a whole day since I saw you last!" Pinkie Pie said as she hugged me.

"Actually, it's been less than a day, since I saw you in the afternoon, yesterday," I recounted.

"But I still missed you!" I sighed at the overabundant energy that the girl had.

"Pinkie, my dear, we must be off. I'm not one to be late. Except for some things," Discord interrupted.

"Aw, alright." Pinkie said sadly even though she still looked joyful.

"Where's the rest of the guys?" Twilight asked.

"They are packing up right now, we needed to be moving on as soon as possible, so they sent myself and Celedon to escort you. Snow takes no chances when it comes to protection," Rock answered.

"Ah, okay."

"Let's get a move on, then!" Rainbow Dash said as she started jogging in place.
> Chapter 35
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good-bye! Come back soon!" I sighed as I heard Equal Trust behind us.

"Riiiight. Good-bye!" Twilight said as she waved.

"Bye! Bye-bye! See you guys later! I'll make some more wither-cake!" Pinkie shouted. A quick glance backwards revealed that, whatever the wither-cake was, it seemingly caused conflicting emotions. Then again, I never understood what Pinkie does with her cooking. Especially those delicious golden cupcakes.

"Come, come, my dears, we must not delay!" Discord said in a posh British accent. He apparently had found a monocle and a top-hat as well.

"So, what was it like in the town?" Tim asked.

"It was nice. A little overbearing, but it was a comfortable stay either way," Twilight answered.

"Quite. Several of the members of the town offered to buy some of my outfits the second they got a chance to go to Ponyville, but you are right Twilight, they did seem a little bit too interested in us." Rarity and Twilight were smart in their reasoning. But then again, what to do? They were national heroes, so best make a good first impression.

General small talk commenced, and the terrain transitioned into a lush forest. The bright green trees stood tall and proud, rising into the sky. 

"Excuse me, Celedon?" Star's voice came from my left. We had been walking for a while and the less disciplined party members were greatly thankful for the shade that the trees provided. I hadn't even noticed that she had sidled up next to me.

"Yeah? What do you need, Star?" I asked curiously.

"I heard that you were...married. And, I, um...I would like your advice on something." She was much more nervous than when I had previously seen her. Apparently matters of the heart did not come without trouble to the stoic swordswoman.

"Alright. Lay it on me."

"I am...engaged. I joined the military in order to stall it, but his family is getting impatient. I mean, he's nice and all, but I, um, don't want to get married yet." And yet her traditional bluntness comes through, for the good of my male programmed mind.

"Huh. Is there a specific reason besides that? Like, you want him to do something first, or...what?" I hoped she would reveal how this came to be, and she did not disappoint.

"I, well, my family, we never had much money. We lived comfortably, but big expenses were out of the question. So, when my mother got sick with a very bad disease, measures had to be taken. Unfortunately, everyone but myself was a boy, and they all were off doing something else. Only my twin brother was at home during this. I mean, my brothers would send money, but the bills were just too much for us. They had their own families to look after as well. We did what we could but my father and I had a long talk one night." I could see her eyes glaze over slightly from the memory.

Then she shook her head and returned to the present. "I agreed to the proposal, where I would marry into a noble family through an arranged marriage. My father set it all up, meeting and stuff. I thought I was ready. We, I, he...He really is nice. His family is also not too bad compared to most other nobles, but they do have their own patience. We were at a restaurant, my fiance and I, and he actually did the right thing and proposed to me...but I ran. I ran away. I, I wasn't ready for it. I thought I was, but I wasn't. I ran to the military, who didn't care who I was or who I was engaged with. I spent two years in the forces, applied for C Squad, and stayed there for a long time. Still not as long as Snow, but...um, nevermind. How do I get out of the engagement? I just, don't...feel ready for it." Her words turned into whispers by the time she had finished, and she looked scared, tired, and anxious. Time to tell her something that might shock her, but would benefit both him and Star.

"Just tell him how you feel. Straight up. Tell him that he's a nice guy, but you aren't sure that marriage is where you want to go right now. If he's as nice as you say, then don't be afraid of him. You won't scare him away, either. Sure, he will feel a little bad due to your rejection, but by saying that marriage is not on the table and you still like him, it leaves the option open to him. He will become even more invested than he already is." She seemed as surprised as I had expected, but then I had a thought about her mother's medical bills.

"As for the bills....Once we get back to Canterlot, I'll get Twilight to extract some of the gold from my body. Enough to cover the costs. I will make sure your family will be fine. I promise." Star's eyes widened and I could almost see some tears coming to her eyes. But, her face flattened into her normal expression, even though a single tear did run down her face in joy.

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me," she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I leaned down to accept the embrace. Then I walked into a tree.

Thankfully, Star was not injured, though I did make a slight crater when I fell onto the ground. Star stared at me in surprise, before laughing lightly. She tried to help me up, as well as Tim who had come over on seeing my butt hitting the ground.

Suffice to say, I didn't budge.






Elsewhere...


"Gold Tongue! Heard you got nabbed by the Royal Guard! How'd you get out?" the bartender asked a man with red and blue hair. He looked a little haggard as he walked into the seedy den of thieves.

"A little bit of persuasion, some smoke, the tail of a timber wolf, and a scrying orb. Other than that, you don't want to know."

The bartender laughed heartily. "That's the spirit! For your daring escape, why not have a drink? It's on the house. You look like you need it!" A few seconds later, Gold Tongue saw a tankard sliding down his way. After stopping it and taking a gulp, he sat up straighter and regained his natural charisma.

"Now, why don't you regale the fine patrons of this establishment with your exploits? I'm sure you might be looking for some...new members," the bartender subtly stated.

After narrowing his eyes at the man, Gold Tongue turned around and stood up. Whispers abounded in the tavern as the tall man began speaking.

"Who of you lot is looking for a payout that will break every single heist ever performed?"

The inhabitants quieted down and just stared, then a big man off to Gold Tongue's right rumbled out, "How much we talking about?"

Gold Tongue's disarming smile sliced a line onto his face.

"More than five million."

Outside, several upstanding citizens jumped as a great commotion could be heard inside the tavern.